Subject: REVIEW: The AmigaDOS Manual, 3rd Edition
From: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Moderator <[email-masked]>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

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The newest AmigaDOS Manual from Bantam and Commodore-Amiga, Inc. is an
updated version of the earlier books.  Editions number one and two covered
AmigaDOS v1.1 and V1.2 respectively, while the third edition is written
for AmigaDOS v2.04 specifically.

[This was sent to me by Charles Hill of AMReport fame.  The last working
address I have for him is: Charles Hill/InfoTrak
<[email-masked]>. -JLT3]

                      The AmigaDOS Manual, 3rd Edition
                      --------------------------------

The first editions were bound in a silly plastic spiral, which I found
to be *real* annoying at times.  The new version is a standard paperback
binding, as the manual IS a large paperback.  The cover and format hasn't
changed much -- the cover is still white with some blue and the layout is
still broken into three sections:  User, Developer & Technical Reference.

The user manual starts out real simple, explaining on what a shell,
directories and files are and how they are arranged.  Logical devices,
file redirection, formatting & installing a disk as well as some of the
more primitive operations of DOS are covered early.  The manual here has
really only been updated to reflect the details of v2.04 as opposed to
earlier versions.  The descriptions and diagrams of directories and tree
structures are the same as in the 1st Edition.

The next chapter steps through each AmigaDOS command and tells you the
command format and what it does.  The explanations are simple and a good
way to see the differences in v1.3 and v2.04 of AmigaDOS for those who
don't have access to both operating systems.

Chapter three details AmigaDOS Error messages giving the error number,
name, meaning (in English) and possible solutions.

Chapter four is a glossary of terms, and that is the end of the User
portion on the manual.

                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Developer's portion of the manual is complete, and as far as I can
tell, accurate.  Bantam claims that Commodore went over the book with a
fine-toothed comb so as to make it as accurate as possible.  Publishing
date is July 1991, so I guess that means CBM had 2.04 finished as early
as May (just squashing bugs thereafter).

While the User's manual was written on a very simple level, the Developer's
manual assumes that you know a bit about programming and programming
techniques.  It jumps in with both feet.  Short explanations on file I/O,
Workbench rules, programming environments, file handlers and command line
parsing get you started.

Chapter six does the same thing as Chapter two but uses the AmigaDOS
resident library functions instead of the C: commands.  A sample AmigaDOS
function description as found in Chapter 6 follows.

    DELAY

    _name_
      Delay: delays a process for a specified time.

    _synopsis_
      Delay(ticks)
             D1
      Void Delay(ULONG)

    _function_
      The argument 'ticks' specifies how many ticks (50 per second) to
      wait before returning control.

    _inputs_
      ticks: Integer

    _bugs_
      Due to a bug in the timer.device in V1.2/V1.3, specifying a timeout
      of zero for Delay() can cause unreliable timer and floppy disk
      operations.  This defect has been fixed in V36 and later versions.

Chapter seven details the CBM supplied linker:  ALINK.  Details include
overlay trees, command line syntax, etc.

Chapter eight covers device I/O and covers all the named devices (PAR:,
SER:, PRT:, RAW:, etc.)  The Developer's section ends here.

                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part three, the Technical Reference Manual goes into detail on the
nitty-gritty parts of AmigaDOS.  The filing structure is first, and the
book details the different block types and their formats in both OFS and
FFS.

Binary file structure is next, detailing the HUNK structures and their
details.  AmigaDOS Data structures are next, then finally some tidbits
on strange stuff.

Chapter 12 covers "Additional Information for the Advanced Developer",
which includes overlay hunks, linking in new disk and non-disk devices,
ad using AmigaDOS without Intuition.  This chapter is short, and a bit
beyond my reach, so I really can't comment on its effectiveness.

An index rounds everything out and ends on page 447.

The books is good, though I find it a bit TOO simple in the User manual,
and a bit obtuse in points in the Developer's section.  The Technical
Reference Manual was complete, and gives everything in a straight-forward
manner.  The book will make a good hold-over until the RKMs arrive, and
then it should complement them nicely.