
                                    Ram Copy

                             Written by Terry King
                              Ninth Wave Software

                            This program is FREEWARE


  Synopsis
  --------

  This program is an automatic ram disk installer and file copier.  Mainly for 
  use  by  programmers  needing  fast access to a  number  of  include  files, 
  utilities or any programs that you regularly need access to.

  How it works
  ------------

  Ram  Copy works as a Gem Takes Parameters program,  that is to say that  you 
  should  install the program as an auto running application but unlike a  TTP 
  this program still needs access to GEM.  The idea of Ram Copy is to create a 
  list  containing  all of files that you would like to put into a  ram  disk, 
  then  simply  by double clicking on that file it will create a ram  disk  of 
  correct size and copy all of the files to the ram disk.

  Ram  Copy allows you to specify which drive the ram disk should be  or  will 
  use drive F as the default if none is specified. You can also state how much 
  extra  memory the disk should have so that you can also save extra files  to 
  it.
  
  How to use it
  -------------

  Copy  RAM_COPY.PRG and RAM_DISK.TTP to a folder and install RAM_COPY.PRG  as 
  an application with the extension *.RAM.  TOS users above 1.4 should have no 
  trouble with this,  but for other users you may have to use a text editor to 
  edit your DESKTOP.INF file to include the full pathname of the programs.  Of 
  course,  if  you don't know what I'm talking about then you  probably  won't 
  ever use this program anyway !

  Note:  You  can also run RAM_COPY.PRG directly,  in which case you  will  be 
  presesented with a fileselector to load the required RAM file. This is ideal 
  for using within DEVPAC.

  Once installed you can create a shell file with the extension RAM. Here's an 
  example :

  {Start of File}
  c:\language\68k\includes\gemdos.s
  c:\language\68k\includes\bios.s
  c:\language\68k\includes\xbios.s
  {End of File}

  When  you double click on this file the Ram Copy program will run  which  in 
  turn will call the Ram Disk program to create a ram disk of the correct size 
  and then it will copy each file specified to the ram disk (which is drive  F 
  as none was specified).

  Another example :

  {Start of File}
  DRIVE=O
  EXTRA=50
  c:\language\68k\includes\gemdos.s
  c:\language\68k\includes\bios.s
  c:\language\68k\includes\xbios.s
  d:\develope\game\map.gfx
  d:\develope\game\map.dat
  d:\develope\game\levels.dat
  {End of File}

  As  you can see,  to specify which drive you would like the ram disk  simply 
  put 'DRIVE=' followed by the drive letter. 

  By  default,  there will be 0 bytes left after copying the files so  if  you 
  want extra space put 'EXTRA=' followed by the number of kilobytes (1024 byte 
  blocks) you want free after copying.

  It  doesn't matter whether characters are lower or uppercase as the  program 
  converts everything to uppercase anyway.

  If  you  run another RAM file then the program will alert you if  the  drive 
  already exists in which case it will ask whether you if you want to continue 
  and  will try to add/update the files.  It won't delete any  existing  files 
  (unless it's updating a file) so it will only work if you've specified EXTRA 
  space or have manually deleted the files from the ram disk.  If you have too 
  many files then it may give a disk full error, in which case you'll probably 
  need to reset the computer if you do need to allocate a bigger ram disk.

  Using the ram disk
  ------------------

  I was originally going to have the ram disk within the Ram Copy program  but 
  opted to have a separate ram disk program so that you could run just the ram 
  disk program if you wanted.  If you run RAM_DISK.TTP you can type the number 
  of kilobytes you want and a ram disk on drive F will be created.  To specify 
  another drive simply put the drive first followed by the number of kilobytes 
  that you want (put a space to separate them though!). You can also leave the 
  command  line  completely  blank,  in which case a 100K  ram  disk  will  be 
  created.

  RAM_DISK.TTP [drive] [kilobytes]

  Note:  There is a maximum of 112 files allowed.  Pretty unlikely to be used, 
  but I thought I'd mention it !

  Why was it written
  ------------------

  In  my  assembly  programming  I tend to use alot  of  includes  and  incbin 
  statements from all different drives and folders.  This program can put  all 
  my common files into a ramdisk which means I know exactly where they are and 
  also improves compiling time by an essential few seconds.  Obviously  floppy 
  drive users will have big savings on compiling time.

  This  program  is FREEWARE,  you are free to make copies for  you  and  your 
  friends.  Freeware  simply  means that the copyright to the  code  is  mine, 
  unlike public domain which means anyone is free to rip the code and call  it 
  their own !

  RAM_COPY was written in GFA Basic 3.07 and RAM_DISK was written in DEVPAC  2 
  based on a ram disk that appeared in 'Atari ST Tricks & Tips'. KRESOURCE was 
  also used for the little copying progress window.


