What's new in SpartaDOS 4.40
============================

News in no particular order.

KERNEL
------

* handle 128k cartridges and Maxflash cartridges.
* fixed the banked memory management so that all
  PORTB-based memory extensions are handled properly.
* the user can now force the DOS to use the
  specified RAM bank when in BANKED mode.
* the CONFIG.SYS file can now contain comments:
  any line starting with a semicolon is ignored.
* the default CONFIG.SYS is now stored as a file
  on the CAR: device and loaded from there instead
  of being hardcoded inside the kernel.
* CONFIG.SYS selection mechanism integrated with
  the kernel: if there's a subdir named SELECT.CFG
  in the main directory of the boot drive, and it
  contains *.CFG files, a menu is displayed allowing
  the user to use any of the *.CFG files instead
  of the main CONFIG.SYS file to configure the
  system.
* do not force boot drive number to D1:, unless it
  is unset by the OS.
* make CRUNCH recognize a comma as an argument
  separator in command lines.
* new symbol U_GETKEY pointing to a routine reading
  a byte from the keyboard. Make it to be done through
  HATABS. COMMAND.COM & friends now use the symbol.
* new symbols: COMTAB2, DEVSPEC, DEVNAME giving access
  to new variables and device tables.
* detect and use the 65C816 CPU for faster DOS
  initialization, if present. Also set a flag (at
  COMTAB2+$B4) for programs, indicating the presence
  of this CPU.
* fixes to load CONFIG.SYS from extended FS.
* fixes to use 15 disks.
* an attempt to overwrite DOS kernel or I/O library
  while loading a file aborts the loading and causes
  the error 179 "Memory conflict" to occur.
* new version of the SpartaDOS filesystem (2.1), able
  to cope with sectors greater than 256 bytes,
  implemented in the formatter's BUILDDIR function.
* new density (DD 512) added to the formatter's menu.
* PRINTF has a new subfunction: %L - print long
  (32-bit) decimal.
* NUL: (null) device is now available; writing to
  the device has no effect, reading from NUL1: (NUL:)
  causes end of file error, NUL2: returns unlimited
  zeros, NUL3: returns unlimited random bytes.
* closer integration of the SpartaDOS-specific
  devices (CON:, PRN:) with the underlying OS.
  Installing any E: driver changes the CON: driver
  now as well.
* the international charset is now usable in
  OSRAM modes (in SPARTA OSRAM only if not more
  than 6 buffers are defined).

SPARTA.SYS
----------

* fixed to access 15 disks (A: - O:)
* implemented new, extended version of the SpartaDOS
  filesystem, able to handle 512-byte sectors.
  Partitions up to 32 MB are now possible.
* implemented user-selectable date/time formatting
  for directories.
* for files larger than 999999 bytes, display the
  file size in kilobytes when listing the directory.
* added new function of the misc entry: 32-bit
  integer to decimal ASCII conversion (misc 11).
* the MKDIR bug (wrong status code in the new
  directory header) is fixed.
* the RMDIR bug (while removing a directory,
  the status byte was set to a value identical as
  for a deleted file, so you could never undelete
  a directory reliably) is fixed.
* the ERASE bug (when the file being deleted was
  marked as "boot", the boot pointer in the
  bootsector remained unchanged) is fixed.
* the GETCWD bug, causing it to omit filename
  extensions in the path returned, is fixed.
* the RENAME function is modified so that you
  shouldn't be able to generate two (or more)
  files with the same name using the RENAME
  command.
* fixed the bug in directory formatting routines
  causing it to screw up displaying the year
  number in the directory listing.
* fixed the 'Y2K' bug in directory formatting
  (when year == 2000, the datestamp was not
  displayed).
* ODATER/OTIMER/TDOVER are back.
* FS inconsistency no longer causes the DOS to
  halt, it now aborts the operation and displays
  an error 181 "Filesystem corrupt".
* warm reset no longer resets current directories.
* the SEEK (i.e. POINT) function should now be
  much faster on very long files.

DRIVERS
-------

* XEP80.SYS fixed to work with PAL computers.
* RAMDISK.SYS and SIO.SYS fixed to access 15 disks.
* RAMDISK.SYS uses 65C816 block move instructions
  if the new CPU is present.
* RAMDISK.SYS now defaults to the O: drive.
* new SIO driver SIO.SYS featuring better serial
  speeds control and other nifty stuff.
* new COMMAND.COM extensions: RUNEXT.SYS and
  COMEXE.SYS. The former provides custom filetype
  associations, the latter automatically manages
  the module while executing an *.EXE file.
* new driver: ARCCLOCK.SYS (ARC clock driver)
* new driver: CA2001.SYS (CA-2001 Synchromesh)
* new driver: PBI.SYS fixing the problem with
  burst transfers from a harddisk to the memory
  at $D800-$DFFF.
* new driver: Z.SYS, allows you to access the
  time/date functions from BASIC (compatible with
  the old ZHAND from SpartaDOS 3.2).
* new driver: QUICKED.SYS, a software screen
  accelerator.

UTILITIES
---------

* imported available utilities and incorporated
  into the CAR device.
* make DUMP.COM recognize the /A switch (activating
  the ICD's code present in the program, but not
  actually used).
* fixed a bug in DELTREE.COM causing it to hang
  occasionally (DELTREE is former KILLDIR).
* INIDOS.SYS cleaned up, made more idiot proof.
  It can now initialize the Maxflash version also.
* CHKDSK command removed from the command.com and
  added as a separate and a bit more sophisticated
  program (try CHKDSK /B).
* minor cleanups in MDUMP.COM.
* CHVOL.COM and RPM.COM fixed to work with the new FS.
* TD.COM fixed to be Y2K compliant. It now also exports
  new symbol I_TDON, so that user programs might
  control the TD Line externally.
* similar thing made to KEY.COM (I_KEYON is the symbol
  exported). Some cleanups made, too.
* COMMAND.COM is now extensible.
* preceding a binary filename with a # in COMMAND.COM
  now forces the SDX module to be switched off before
  loading.
* the COMMAND.COM can now do ECHO ON/OFF while executing
  batch files.
* cleanups in FIND.COM
* fixes in the DF.COM related to 15 disks and other
  problems.
* CAR.COM now can execute internal BASIC properly even
  if the computer has a 1 MB RAM extension.
* CS.SYS obsolete, now integrated with the kernel.
* quite a few new utility programs added.
* UNERASE.COM famous bug (described by Nelson Nieves
  in 1991) is fixed.

ENVIRONMENT
-----------

1) CAR=d:>CAR.SAV, BASIC=d:>BASIC.SAV

These variables used to point to the I: drive in a fixed
manner. Now they are set by RAMDISK.SYS to the actual
ramdisk drive number (O: by default), unless already
set by user. 

2) COMSPEC=CAR:COMMAND.COM

This variable does not get set by the system now - you
can still define it on your own, though, and its function
is the same as before.

3) COPY=d:>path>fname.com

Should point to an existing executable. If defined, the
Command Processor uses this executable instead of its
internal COPY command.

4) DAYTIME=1 or DAYTIME=2

Selects the date/time format for SPARTA.SYS and the
Command Processor. 1 is MM/DD/YY and 2 is DD/MM/YY.

5) TEMP=d:

Points to the disk where temporary files are welcome.
Set by RAMDISK.SYS to its drive number (O: by default)
unless it was already set by user before.

CREDITS
=======

- based on works done by: Prof!, MMMG, DLT Ltd.
- new code and design: DLT Ltd.
- hardware: Pasiu/SSG, Jad, Zenon/Dial, DLT Ltd.
- hosting: krap.pl
- devtools: DLT Ltd., Tebe/Madteam, others
- other support: Epi/TRS, Krap, Mikey, Pin/TRS