MTOOLS v1.2

This is a collection of MSDOS tools to allow you to read and write to
MSDOS formatted diskettes from an AT&T Unix PC 7300.

The following MSDOS commands are emulated:

Mtool 		MSDOS
name		equivalent	Description
-----		----		-----------
mdel		DEL/ERASE	delete a MSDOS file
mdir		DIR		display a MSDOS directory
mmd		MD/MKDIR	make a MSDOS sub directory
mrd		RD/RMDIR	remove a MSDOS sub directory
mread		COPY		read (copy) a MSDOS file to Unix
mren		REN/RENAME	rename an existing MSDOS file
mtype		TYPE		display contents of a MSDOS file
mwrite		COPY		write (copy) a Unix file to MSDOS
*		CD		change working directory

	* by use of the environmental variable MCWD

The standard format of the floppy disk drive associated with the device
/dev/rfp020 is:

	512 bytes / sector		512 x 8 x 40 x 2 = 320k
	8 sectors / track
	40 tracks / side
	2 sides

However, the formats of 5.25 inch 40 track IBM PC disk drives are:

   bytes per  sectors per  tracks    number    total     disk   introduced
    sector      track     per side  of sides  capacity   size    in MSDOS
     512         8          40        1        160k      5.25      1.0
     512         9          40        1        180k      5.25      1.1
     512         8          40        2        320k      5.25      2.0
     512         9          40        2        360k      5.25      2.0

The application software has the ability to detect the type of media and
to switch to the proper format as appropriate.

The manuals are very terse... it's assumed that the reader is already
familiar with MSDOS.

The use of the environmental variable MCWD to keep track of the current
working directory is a little awkward, especially since there is no
'change directory' command.  Bourne shell users will have to type two
commands to first set their working directory, ie:

	MCWD=/TMP
	export MCWD

Wildcards are only applied to filenames and not to directory names.
For example '/usr/local/*.c' is appropriate, but '/usr/l*/main.c' is not.

I really wanted to avoid the use of a 'text' mode and a 'data' mode
when transferring files, but I couldn't find a better way.  It gets rather
confusing and it's quite possible to mess up a file if you apply the
text mode when it is not appropriate (ie: to a COM or EXE file).  Likewise,
if you forget to apply the text mode (to a Unix text file) then if the
file is used under MSDOS, it will be missing carriage returns.  However,
if you aren't going to use the files on your Unix system (you just
intend to hold the files and then transfer them back to MSDOS later) then
you shouldn't use the text mode during either mread or mwrite.  This is
because, the text mode is only useful if the files are gonna be used
under Unix.

Mwrite adds an EOF marker to every file (not just text files).  Mread
ignores all EOF markers.

The MSDOS 'copy' command had to be broken down into two separate Unix
commands since the MSDOS device designations (A: or C:) would be
clumsy to implement.

Mtools is also available in a 'generic' version and in a version written
especially for Masscomp computers.

Emmet P. Gray				US Army, HQ III Corps & Fort Hood
...!ihnp4!uiucuxc!fthood!egray		Attn: AFZF-DE-ENV
					Directorate of Engineering & Housing
					Environmental Management Office
					Fort Hood, TX 76544-5057