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- BACKUP.ASM USED TO BACKUP HARD DISKS
- WRITTEN BY G. YOUNG, PO BOX 3218, NO. HOLLYWOOD, CA 91609
-
- The Winchester hard disk offers file storage approaching mainframe
- performance on microcomputers. The problem of backing up the data is
- a serious drawback, however. The only option currently available is to
- use PIP to copy one file at a time. To PIP an entire file type would
- quickly fill a floppy and not copy the rest of the files. To PIP one
- file at a time would be unbearably time consuming. Another alternative
- is obviously necessary.
- BACKUP is used to copy files from large volume hard disks to low
- volume floppy disks for backup and recovery purposes. It is intended
- for CP/M files where the entire file will fit on one floppy disk.
- There are three phases in BACKUP. The first phase reads the
- directories of all the hard disks, sorts the file names into alphabetical
- order within file type, and prints a master directory by type on the list
- device. The program assumes drives A:, B:, and C:. If there are more
- drives than this, change NODRV to the number of drives, change DRIVE
- to add in the extra drive letters, and reassemble.
- Next the program attempts to restrict the files it backs up. Since
- a twentysix megabyte disk could take up to forty four double density
- floppy disks to completely back up, only essential files are saved.
- Duplicate files are eliminated saving only the file on the lowest
- drive (A: is saved if the file also exists on B: or C:). The file
- is considered duplicate if the names are the same, the actual contents
- are not compared. Certain file types are considered unnecessary and
- are not saved. PRN, BAK, SYM, HEX, and TMP are eliminated from the
- backup list. To change this list of skipped file types, simply change
- the variable NOSKIP and SKIPFILES within the program and reassemble.
- Each file type will then be displayed on the console and the program will
- ask if you want to back up all of the files of this type (enter Y), skip
- all of the files of this type (enter N), or select certain files within
- this type (enter S). If you enter S, each file name within the current
- type will be displayed on the console and the program will ask if you
- want to backup this particular file (enter Y), skip this file (enter N),
- or continue to backup all the rest of the files within this type without
- listing each name (enter C). This feature is used to restart the backup
- if it was terminated before it completed during a previous run. At
- this time you can also skip any files that will not fit entirely on
- one disk. The program will skip this file also if it encounters it, but
- it will prompt for a blank diskette to try the backup before it discovers
- that it cannot be backed up with this program. When the list of files
- to backup has been reduced, the list will be printed and the program will
- ask if it should begin the copy procedure or abort. This allows you to
- rerun if the list of files to backup is not correct.
- Finally, the backup procedure will begin. The program uses all of
- RAM from the end of the file list table to the end of the TPA as the
- buffer for copying files. As the files are finished being copied, the
- tabled is decreased and the buffer area is increased thereby speeding up
- the copy process. The program will display a message asking to mount
- a floppy in the first drive (assumed to be D: but changable with the
- program) and enter a three digit disk id or "END" to terminate
- prematurely. This may happen if you run out of diskettes!!!
- The first file that BACKUP writes on the floppy is a null file. It
- has zero length so it only takes up one directory entry and no space on
- the disk. This null file has the name equal to the eight character date
- listed on the reports and the file type is the three character disk id.
- The purpose of this file is to identify the disk against the directory
- listing and to automatically mark the date. The
- heading line for an index report will then be printed on the list
- device showing the disk id and current date. As the files are copied,
- the index report is created showing the files copied to each floppy.
- While the file is being copied, the file name will be displayed on the
- console. When the file has been completely copied, the file name will
- be added to the index report. If the file will not fit completely on
- the floppy, the file name will be deleted from the floppy directory, a
- new floppy requested, and the file recopied to the new floppy. This
- process continues until the entire file name table has been processed
- using as many floppy disks as required.
- Restoring or recovering can be done with PIP. You can PIP the
- entire floppy disk to the hard disk, or using the disk id/file name index,
- restore only certain files.
- When using PIP to copy any REL files back to the hard disk, be sure to
- use the OV option in PIP.
- The source code is provided in file BACKUP.ASM for your convenience
- in changing certain parameters for your installation. The variables that
- may need to be changed are all on the first page of the source and are
- the following:
- NODRV This is the number of hard disk drives. Set to 3 if you have
- one hard disk named A: B: C:
- DRIVES This is the letters for the drives to search. Set to ABC if
- you have one hard disk, and the hard disk is addressed before
- any floppy disks.
- BACKUPDRV This is the floppy drive letter that the backup will be copied
- to. Set to D if you have hard disk drives A B and C.
- NOSKIP This is the number of file types in the file skip list.
- SKIPTYPE This is the list of file types to skip. It is normally set
- to PRNHEXSYMBAK$$$TMP to skip those six file types.
- LINESPAGE This is the number of lines per page and is used to print the
- various directories.
- RECLINE This is the number of file names that will appear on one line
- in the directories.
-
-
- The program uses the COMPUTIME board to get the date, but the code
- is in the program to request the date from the console. Just remove
- the * in the columns to convert the code from comments if you do not have
- a clock board.
-
- 6/23/82...RESTART CAPABILITY ADDED
- BY ENTERING BACKUP FILENAME.TYP THE PROGRAM WILL SKIP THE CROSSREFERENCE
- REPORT AND POSITION THE LIST TO FILENAME.TYP AND REPROMPT FOR FILES TO
- BACKUP FROM THAT POINT.
- EXAMPLE A>BACKUP LOAD.COM
-
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