DALTON DISK DISINTEGRATER 1.2 (C)July 1984/May 1985 Program & dox written by: DALTON Special thanks to: THE NECROMANCER Distributed by: The Disketteer ______________ INTRODUCTION ______________ First, I would like to point out that the soul purpose of this new DDD 1.2 version is to enable Catsend 3.0 to function properly with DDD 1.0 which it didn't to start off with! Therefore DDD 1.2 should only be used with Catsend!! DDD 1.2 works with all transfer programs but please use DDD ][ (new version!) with all other transfering programs. All DDD 1.2 supported commands are identical to those of DDD 1.0. Therefore please refer to DDD 1.0 documentation for a complete tutorial on the supported commands! ____________________________ WHY D.D.D. VERSION 1.2 ??? ____________________________ The soul purpose of this version is to content Catsend users. DDD 1.2 performs flawlessly with all Catsend versions! Therefore I suggest all Catsend sysops to switch from Disk Rigger to DDD 1.2 because DDD's packing algorithm is much more efficient than Disk Rigger's or any other present disk compresser except for DDD ]['s. Packing disks with DDD 1.2 will only be more beneficial to you. - More available disk space for Catsend sysops with few floppies. I regret for not having released this DDD 1.2/CATSEND 3.0 compatible version sooner. But now there is DDD ][ which works properly with CATSEND (to a certain extent). ______________ COMPATIBILITY ______________ DDD 1.0 and DDD 1.2 are not at all compatible with eachother!! DDD 1.2 compressed files contain 2 less than signs <<, a slngle digit and 2 greater that signs >> at end of their filenames so that you can differ both versions apart. [DDD 1.2] - Catsend compatible version. Example: *B 123 SUPER PINBALL<<0>> *B 040 SUPER PINBALL<<1>> [DDD 1.0] - Not Catsend compatible. Example: *B 123 SUPER PINBALL<0> *B 040 SUPER PINBALL<1> _____________________ ROACHES IN CATSEND! _____________________ Why didn't DDD 1.0 work properly with Catsend to start off with??? Your guess was as good as mine. I recently located a bug in good old Catsend! (Believe it or not..) Following many experiments on this matter, I noticed a glitch (bug!!) in Catsend that wouldn't transmit every byte of a binary file! This error only occured randomly throughout the tests. Which in turn explains why some DDD 1.0 packed files successfuly unpacked after they were transmitted using Catsend. Here are the following bugs I located in Castend. This section is a little technical; therefore if you are curious, keep reading... Roach Number 1 =-=-=-=-=-=-=- This bug concerns regular BINARY FILES as well as DDD 1.0 packed files when transmitted over by Catsend. (Only Binary files; not Applesoft, Integer or Text files...). DDD 1.0 failed to unpack the packed files because of this following error: With certain binary files Catsend will not transmit the last bytes. For example, with DDD 1.0 packed files (123 Sectors) Catsend will not transmit the last 3 bytes. These last bytes are vital to the UNPACK command in DDD 1.0! At the same token, I tried various binary files other than DDD 1.0 files and sometimes Catsend refuses to transmit the last bytes. I am unsure where the error is in Catsend, although I am sure it exists! One certain fact I was able to determine is that this error revolves around the length of the binary file being transmitted. Roach Number 2 =-=-=-=-=-=-=- Catsend is unable to transmit any file exceeding 255 sectors! In effect if you attempt transmitting a file that towers over 255 sectors, Catsend will only transmit the difference. Example: *B 300 SUPER PINBALL Catsend in this case would only transmit 44 blocks: 300 minus 256 = 44 sectors. Here is where the error arises! The file (or compressed file) Catsend saves on your disk will not be the complete version. This error will cause a huge delima with DDD ][ (new version!) because DDD ][ usually compresses a whole disk into one file exceeding the length of 256 sectors. Note: This bug is not in any way responsible for the original malfunction of DDD version 1.0 with Catsend! _________________________________ NOTE TO: THE WOMBAT & THE GONIF _________________________________ Your Catsend has revolutionized distribution of software! Please be aware that it contains unpleasant ROACHES. Unless you correct these errors I believe Catsend will remain absolete in comparison to the awesome Catfur ][!! Perhaps you dudes should consider a catsend version IV!? ____________ CONCLUSION ____________ I corrected the original DDD 1.0 to cooperate with Catsend by simply reducing the compressed files by 3 lovely bytes! And another miracle was casted. Therefore I decided to name this new version, DDD 1.2!! One word to all Catsend sysops: Why in the hell don't you switch your system to a Catfur ][ line? It will save you a lot of bloody trouble because all DDD versions function perfectly with Catfur! Especially DDD ][!! Besides Catfur is the new mode nowdays.. You don't see computer geeks wearing Catsend anymore!? Signed: //\\ ////// \\\\\\ /// DALTON \\\ \\\\\\ ////// \\//