ATARI RAINBOW TOS ADDENDUM

@atari

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atari

· 2 years ago

NOTICE: Rainbow TOS must be installed by an authorized Atari dealer.

The new Rainbow TOS provides many improvements to your computer's GEM Desktop operating speed and make your computer easier to use.

To make sure you have Rainbow TOS installed in your computer, select the Desktop Info option from the Desk menu. This dialog box appears.

 ------------------------------------- 
|   GEM, Graphic Environment Manager  | 
|                TOS                  | 
|   ------------------------------    | 
|                /|\                  | 
|               ATARI                 | 
|                                     | 
|     Copyright 1985,86,87,88,89      | 
|         Atari Corporation           | 
|       Digital Research, Inc.        | 
|        All Rights Reserved          | 
|                                     | 
|             ----------              | 
|            |    OK    |             | 
|             ----------              | 
 -------------------------------------

File Selector (formerly Item Selector)

Two important changes affect this dialog box. One is the the addition of the Drive Selector. The other is improved use of wildcard characters.

The Drive Selector displays drive identifier letters A through P. Click on a letter to select that drive. Drive identifiers representing uninstalled drives appear in a light typeface and cannot be selected.

Use of wildcard characters allows you to more easily control the Directory window display. Use wildcard characters to replace portions of the last section of a pathname on the Directory Line.

For example, if D:\SALES\*.DOC appears on the Directory Line, only files with the .DOC extension will display in the Directory window. To display the entire contents of the subdirectory SALES delete .DOC and replace it with the asterisk wildcard character. Refer to your computer owner's manual for further instructions on using wildcard characters.

To display the new directory, press [Return].

Move Files

With Rainbow TOS you can move a file from one folder or drive to another in addition to copying the file.

First, select the file(s) you wish to move. Then hold down [Control] as you click on and drag the selected file(s) to a new location. During the move process, a Move File(s) dialog box displays the number of files being moved. As each file is moved, the Move File(s) dialog box displays the file's name and complete destination (disk or logical drive letter and folder name).

When you copy or move files, Rainbow TOS does not change the date and time stamp of those files. File date and time information will only be updated when the file is changed.

Skip a Single File During Group Copying

The option to skip a single file during a group copy procedure becomes available when a file name conflict occurs. A file name conflict occurs when a file is copied from one location to another and a copy of the file already exists at the new location. The following three options are presented when a name conflict occurs:

Copy: Rainbow TOS overwrites the existing file and the copy operation continues.
Skip: Rainbow TOS does not overwrite the file. Continues with the copy operation.
Quit: Rainbow TOS does not overwrite the file. Ends the copy operation.

Abort Group Copy, Move, and Delete Operations

You can abort the copy, move, and delete operations performed by Rainbow TOS. Press and hold down [Undo]. A dialog box displays, giving you the choice of continuing or ending the operation.

MS-DOS Compatible Floppy Disk Formatting

Disks formatted with Rainbow TOS are fully MS-DOS compatible.

Auto-Boot Applications

The Install Application option of the Options menu allows you to assign an auto-boot feature to any GEM based application programs. An installed application automatically opens when you boot the system. You can select applications with .PRG, .APP, or .TOS extensions.

Follow these instructions to start an application from a data file or autoboot an application.

1. Select a program file (.TOS, .APP, .PRG) from a directory window.

Select Install Application from the Options menu. The Install Application dialog box appears, listing the application program file you selected from the desktop.

2. To install the application to run from a data file, type the correct data file extension in the Document Type field. This is the common extension of the files that use that application. (Consult the manual supplied with the application for the most common file extension.) If you install an application to autoboot, you may leave the Document Type field blank.

Note: Some applications can open from a desktop data file only if the data file resides in the same folder as the application program files. Check the documentation supplied with the application for more information.

3. Select boot status: Auto to autoboot an application, or Normal to start an application from the desktop.

4. Select an application type. Your choices are GEM, TOS, and TOS-takes-parameters.

Most programs that run from the desktop have the extension .PRG or .APP. Both of these extensions indicate a GEM application. However, some applications have the extension .TOS or .TTP. The extension .TOS indicates a TOS application. The extension .TTP indicates a TOS-takes- parameters application.

Note: To use a .TTP application, first select the application, then enter the required parameters when the dialog box appears.

5. Select OK to finish.

6. To save the application's installation, select Save Desktop from the Options menu.

Disk Copy/Format Dialog Box

Rainbow TOS uses a combined dialog box for copy and format operations. This box displays when you select either the Format option from the File menu, or drag a disk drive icon on top of another disk drive icon.

Select Copy or Format from the Copy and Format dialog box. Select from the available options and click on OK. The bar graphs in the lower half of the screen graphically detail the copying or formatting that occurs.

Changing a Folder's Name

With Rainbow TOS you can change the name of a folder. Click on a folder and select the Show Info option from the File menu. The Folder Information dialog box displays. You can now type in a new name for that folder.

Keyboard Reset

You can now reset your computer from the keyboard. Hold down [Control] and [Alternate], then press [Delete]. This key combination is exactly the same as pressing the Reset button.

Pressing [Control] [Alternate] [Right Shift] [Delete] causes a VERY cold boot. It clears all of RAM (except about 64 bytes at the bottom) and then jumps to the ROMs. This cold boot clears all reset-proof RAMdisks and other data and variables that are cleared by a cold boot but not a warm boot.

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Atari, the Atari logo, Rainbow TOS and TOS are trademarks or registered trademarks of Atari Corporation. GEM and GEM Desktop are trademarks or registered trademarks of Digital Research, Inc. MS-DOS is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.