From QCDEZE to QCDEZE 2

[HAOUI]

Some time ago, I tried amending QCDeze program from Duncan to make it working with QubATA driver for exploring Data CDs.

After some investigations, I wanted to enhance functionalities and to have a program working on various QL platforms.

So, I decided to write my own program but conserving graphical concepts of QCDeze and nice icons.
This is now achieved and I called it for now simply QCDeze2.

The new QCDEZE2 is a multipurpose devices browser for QL platforms and compatibles. It can browse :
- foreign physical devices (CDROMs, Hard disks/Memory Cards - ATA/ATAPI)
- binary device images (e.g. .iso .img)
- containers (QXL.win) and QUB/BDI

CDROM and DATA CD images should be ISO 9660 format compliant
Hard disks and disk binary images could be multipartitioned QWA/QLWA from SMSQ/E or QLW1 from QubIDE format.
Direct access read is done with QubATA, SMSQ/E WIN drivers and TG ATAPI/CDROM Things.

Some images and containers may be enclosed inside a parent image, e.g. a QXL.WIN in parent.ISO in grandparent.ISO in DOS2_distrib.ISO

As the original QCDEZE, all files shown by the software, regardless of media beeing read, can be executed, viewed or copied to any QL native drive present on the system.

I made my best effort to keep this software as "slim and fast" as possible to allow runing on almost all QL platforms with a mimimum of resources :

Prerequisites are simply TK2, PE and ~300KB of free memory.
FileInfo2 and QMenu are usefull but not mandatory.
Behaviour of PE is made very close to QPTR/QPAC2 standard.
This software should run indifferently under QDOS (may be any ROM) with PE or SMSQ/E systems.

This software was tested on following systems :

- Original standard QL with Tetroid (768KB)-CF card and JS ROM
- Original standard QL with QubIde clone (512KB)-CF to SD adapter
and JS ROM
- AURORA+SGC+QubIDE Minerva ROM, QDOS and SMSQ/E with QubATA
driver
- AURORA+SGC+QubIDE Minerva, SMSQ/E with TG ATAPI/CDROM Things
- Q40 SMSQ/E 3.17/3.31 with TG ATAPI/CDROM things (unstable not
recommended)
- Q40 SMSQ/E 3.17/3.31 with QubATA driver (CF card/ZIP 100/Hard
disk/CDROM reader)
- QPC2 4.04

Here are some screenshots :
QCDEZE2 on QPC2

On BBQL with Tetroid 768Kb/QubIDE

On SGC/AURORA/QubIDE exploring RAW disk

Copying files

I upload here the archive with program and instructions for those who want to take a look.
Feedback, comments, review : Welcome

QCDEZE2.ZIP

(62.27 KiB) Downloaded 176 times

Alain

[duncan]

Hi Alain,
Its nice that you have taken QCDEZE on to a new edition with greater access to disk formats. But I have also worked on it and released a version 2 http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/files/qcdeze2.zip last year which is on Dilwyn Jones site. What I have done with it is to give it a facelift and make it GD2 compatible. Perhaps if you sent me the source code for your version 2 we could incorporate the GD2 changes and we could make a version 3. I also had plans for a drag and drop method of copying files and my version 2 also contains rudimentary code for reading FAT16 formatted cards.

[HAOUI]

Hi Duncan,

Really sorry for having missed your update despite my regular visits to DJW site.
Anyway, pleased to know that you could take time to evolve this program.

I mailed to you my sources, hoping target address was good. Technical stuff was made very compact and memory efficient but surley not enough documented :O(

However, I am thinking most of QL QubIDE/Clone/Tetroid owners are not able to run a full blowed program like QCDEZE with GD2/HiColours, ...

This is why I will suggest a multipurpose polyvalent "QCDEZE lite" like mine for small systems with enhanced access functionalities. Up to you to decide.

Also, happy to know that you have started interfacing to FAT16, this is what I has planed for next step ;o)

Alain

[duncan]

Hi Alain,

I understand where you are coming from. It could be possible to combine the lite and GD2. The GD2 sprites are loaded as binary linked lists of sprites in libraries as it takes too long to generate them on startup. They are combined in the QLIBed code just like any other extension and accessed through a keyword for each of the libraries. The sprites probably do not however need to be in the actual program and could be accessed from anywhere in memory as the keyword for each library returns the address of the library. The default startup for the next version could be mode 4 icons/sprites as in your version but loading the GD2 icons and switching on GD2 colour mode depending on an additional users config item which would be the location on disk of the GD2 sprite libraries. On start then QcdEze 3 would go for mode 4 if the config item for GD2 sprite libraries was an empty string and switch to GD2 mode if it was given the device the libraries existed on. Thats the theory anyway.

[HAOUI]

No objection Duncan. You are surely more qualified than me in this area.
My wish is that a such useful utility could run on almost of ql platforms and emulators with a minimum of limitations/restrictions.
Sources i supplied are (I think/hope) enough debugged/optimized for the rest and still at disposal for any help.
Also, I wish pushing forward the FAT16/32 support as the use of CF and SD memory cards is more and more the only realistic mass storage perspective on ql platforms.
Alain

[pjw]

Nice job, Alain and Duncan I used it in its first incarnation on my Q60, back in the day. Then, as it was still under early development, it was a bit touch-an-go. I was never a fan of the "GEM" GUI, but Im glad there is hope in that department! The program is compact, does what it says on the can, and I havent managed to crash it yet