Review of file managers on the computer “Profi”
Perhaps the most frequently used programs on any computer are file managers. Today we will consider what file managers exist in the CP/M OS for the “Profi” computer.
The article was published in 2020 in Issue 27 of the ZX Spectrum magazine “ZaRulem Printed Word”.
CopyK (CKI) (c) Krestyanikov A.A. (KiiA)
The most common Norton-like file manager on the Profi computer is CopyK (CKI) by A.A. Krest'yanikov (KiiA). Any user who has ever loaded CP/M has worked in this program. The latest version is 4.4.
The appearance and corporate logo of the program are shown in Figure 1.
Initially, the program was distributed with copy protection. Which was cracked in several cities. Currently, three unlicensed versions are known, in which the program emblem was replaced (Figure 2). No other changes were found.
The CKI manager does not have a program menu, all settings are made through the configuration file “CK.CMD”. It defines both actions when launching files by extension, as well as the user menu called by “F2” (“2”), which is a list of commands available to the user, the command is selected by a hot key (Figure 3).
The help window, called by the key “F1” (“1”), with the main key combinations is shown in Figure 4.
The CKI Manager has a number of features that you need to be aware of:
When working with file panels, the command line is not active. It is activated by pressing the “F9” (“9”) key, in this mode the file panels are not available, return to them by pressing the “Esc” (“^1”) key. This is caused by the need to support working with the standard Spectrum keyboard, which does not have system and function keys. Because of this, the same keys are used differently. The file name under the cursor on the panel can be copied to the command line using the “^J” key combination. There is a history of entered commands.
The first line in the list of files on the panels is a line (pseudofile) with the current USER number. Clicking on it opens a list of USERS for switching.
The main feature of CKI is support for working with TR-DOS and MS-DOS disks. Free copying, deleting, and renaming of files is available. On MS-DOS disks, you can navigate through directories, perform actions with files, but you cannot create directories themselves. It should be taken into account that due to the difference in requirements for files of different DOS, their names may be changed during transfer. Also, some information is not transferred, for example, starting addresses for code blocks are not transferred from TR-DOS disks.
If after launching any program or batch file there is no return to the CKI manager, only the console is active, then to return you need to type the DOS command “1”. It is also better to complete command files with it. This is caused by the peculiarity of interaction with DOS, due to which a direct return to the program is not always possible.
Disks are selected only for the current panel, by pressing the “D” key. To select a disk on the adjacent panel, you need to go to it. It should also be taken into account that when switching between panels, the current disk and user for the command line do not change.
The “C” key can be used to open/close the current panel to see the information on the console.
The main disadvantage of CKI is its slowness, the output to the screen is not as fast as we would like. This is the cost of the fact that CKI performs all operations exclusively by means of the OS. This increases the stability of the program in different versions of the OS, but negatively affects the speed of its execution. Nevertheless, the program is very relevant, especially for intersystem data exchange.
Hop Commander (c) HOPSOFT
Another Norton-like file manager is Hop Commander (HC) from HOPSOFT. There is no information about the presence of protection on licensed copies. Versions of the program that differ from the official ones are not known. The appearance of the commander is shown in Figure 5.
As you can see, HC is visually very similar to CKI, which is not surprising, since both programs were written with a single prototype in mind. Let's see what else they have in common:
HC also has separate modes for working with panels and in the command line for the same reason as CKI. Only the transition to the command line occurs with the key “F7” (“7”). Also, the key combination “^J” copies the name of the current file from the panel to the command line. There is also a command history.
The formats for describing actions for extensions and user menus are the same. Only extensions are described in the file “HCOM.EXT”, and menus in the file “HCOM.MNU”.
Also, to restart the commander, use the DOS command “1”.
And that's probably it. Now let's talk about the differences:
Displaying information on the screen and a number of other operations are significantly accelerated compared to the CKI file manager.
There is no possibility to work with TR-DOS and MS-DOS disks. Such possibility is an exclusive feature of CKI manager.
A full program menu has appeared, called by the button “F9” (“9”) (Figure 6). All menu functions are also available by hot keys. Unfortunately, changes to the settings are not saved.
If in the CKI manager disks are selected only for the current panel, then in HC disks for the right panel are selected by pressing the “D” key, and for the left one by pressing the “F” key. Which is more convenient.
The current USER number is displayed in the header of each panel. And it is changed through the menu called for the right panel by the “O” button, and for the left panel by the “P” button (Figure 7).
The user menu has become similar to a “menu”, although the selection of an item in it is also done using hot keys (Figure 8).
By pressing “Ecs” (“^1”) you can toggle the display of both panels at the same time to see the contents of the console.
Otherwise, the functionality is very similar to that of any file manager on any platform. Brief help can also be obtained by pressing the “F1” (“1”) key, so it is almost impossible to get confused.
The latest version of the program is 2.04, but it requires OS version no lower than 5.3 to work. For other OS versions, you will have to use Commander version 1.03.
Dos Navigator (c) Vadim Chertkov
The most advanced in all respects commander on the computer “Profi” is “Dos Navigator” (DN) author Vadim Chertkov. At the same time, and in many ways due to its uniqueness, it is the most controversial program.
Let's start with the fact that the prototype was the program of the same name from IBM PC, and not “Norton Commander”, as in the two previous programs. Although visually it is similar to CKI and HC (Figure 9).
It should be noted that the level of implementation of the DN manager is a class or even two classes higher than that of CKI and HC, it can safely be called a professional program. This applies to all aspects of working in DN, starting with the description, the delivery set includes a detailed, well-written instruction. Therefore, here we will describe only the key features, everything else, if necessary, you will find in it.
As can be seen from Figure 9, the DN manager has implemented such a very useful function as coloring files by extension. At the same time, the author managed to achieve a significant acceleration of information output to the screen, so that DN is the clear leader in this indicator, which has a positive effect on the convenience of work.
An important difference between the DN manager and CKI and HC is that the command line is always active. And the function keys on the standard Spectrum keyboard are the combinations “^1” … “^0”. Disks are selected for each panel using the combinations “Ctrl + 1” and “Ctrl + 2” respectively. All this is initially confusing. But this is a question of practice. There are other features with working on the keyboard, including depending on what keyboard (ZX or IBM) the computer has. The attached instructions describe all the features perfectly, so we will not touch on this issue here.
Another key feature of the DN manager is that it treats USERs as pseudo-directories and works with them as directories. This is reflected in the organization of the transition between USERs as a transition between directories and in their display in all dialogs.
A functional program menu appears in the DN manager, with a bunch of various settings and saving parameters (Figure 10). It allows you to configure the program parameters in a convenient window mode, and even analyze the system information about the machine (Figure 11).
The DN manager has a fully functional user menu, in which menu items are selected both by the cursor and by hot keys (Figure 12).
It is worth noting the developed mechanism of working with panels. You can manage panels separately, together, one adjacent panel. A very interesting mode of reducing the size of panels “Mini status” has been implemented, allowing you to simultaneously work with files and see part of the console (Figure 13).
This material describes less than half of all the capabilities of the DN manager. But this is enough to understand that the program definitely deserves attention. However, at the beginning of the description, DN was called an “ambiguous” program. Let's now talk about the “fly in the ointment”.
The capabilities of the DN manager significantly exceed the capabilities of similar programs, which required the implementation of a unique control system, including hot keys. And the constantly active command line makes the presence of an IBM keyboard extremely desirable and causes complications for an untrained user, even with experience in CKI and HC managers. All this comes with practice, but it still needs to be obtained.
The second disadvantage is that the DN manager was developed for CP/M 3.3. Later, CP/M 5.3 was released, which introduced the ability to work with a hard drive, which is why changes were made to the system concerning working with devices. The program had to be adapted to these changes, which was not done for DN. And having one file manager on the hard drive and another on the floppy disks, and significantly different ones, is a dubious pleasure.
These two drops of tar do not allow to use the DN manager as it deserves. The situation will change in the new PQ-DOS OS, which is fully compatible not only with the CP/M OS, but also partially with the MSX OS. And other significant changes and improvements will also be implemented. In it, “Dos Navogator” will be the main file manager. But we will talk about this after the release of the PQ-DOS OS.
Taking into account all of the above, at present, we often have to work with the HC file manager, since this manager has a version adapted for CP/M 5.3.
Jazz (c) Vilensky A.A.
All the programs reviewed so far are, to one degree or another, successors of the file manager “Norton Commander”. But in the second half of the 90s, various window systems a la Windows became popular. Just such a program is the shell of application programs (Program Manager) “Jazz” by Vilensky A.A. (Figure 14).
As you can see, the working space of the Jazz shell is represented by a desktop with folders placed on it, which contain shortcuts for launching programs. You can open several windows, change the location and size. In addition to the desktop, the shell includes a built-in text viewer (Figure 15) and a built-in file manager, very similar to the Explorer program from Windows OS (Figure 16). There is support for working with the command line (Figure 17). Other functions are implemented through external programs.
The Jazz shell package includes a detailed description and a set of 33 icons, the number of which can be increased to 64.
The overall impressions of working in the “Jazz” shell are very positive. The response to user actions is prompt, no obvious slowdowns were noticed. If you are not involved in programming, then working in this shell is a completely reasonable choice.
An interesting fact is that the “Jazz” shell is written in the Turbo Pascal 3.0 programming language, with inserts in the assembler language. At the same time, all the capabilities of the OS and hardware are used (including working with upper memory), which indicates a high level of professionalism of the program's author.
In conclusion, I will say that there are source code archives for all the programs described. If you want to study them, please contact us at the following addresses:
There is also a lot of material on the forum and in the VK group.
