KIX is a powerful disk and file management system that gives Kyan Pascal users immediate and direct access to the file system, without the need of exiting to the Atari DOS menu. The KIX system on the Atari 8-bit platform is a subset of the more extensive KIX system on the Apple II platform.
More information on the Kix command set for the Atari 8-bit platform can be found in the Working With Kix section of the Kyan Pascal manual.
The Kyan Pascal 2.04 diskette contains the following KIX commands:
CAT - Lists the contents of a file
CD - Changes the working directory
CHMOD - Changes the protection status of a file
CP - Copy a file
FORMAT - Format a disk
LS - Lists the files (and directories) on the disk
MV - Move or rename a file
PWD - Display user device or working device
RM - Delete a file (or directory)
SD - Print screen contents to the printer
At the % prompt, enter MENU and press RETURN.
Notice that the "User Device" at the top of the screen is set to "D1:". This is the "user device" or "working directory", that is, where you source code resides. Kyan Pascal and Kix will default to this device. With the User Drive set to "D1:", the development environment is currently set to using a one disk drive system.
At the % prompt, enter PWD and press RETURN. PWD (Print Working Directory) will also display D1:.
The development environment we are using is Altirra configured as an Atari 130XE with two virtual floppy drives (D1: and D2:) as well as one RAM drive (D8:). This will minimize disk swapping by having Kyan Pascal 2.04 system files and commands on drive D1: and source code on drive D2:.
To configure the development environment to use drive D2: as the working drive, at the % prompt, enter CD D2:.
Both the MENU command and the PWD command should now show the user device or working drive as drive D2:.
Both Kyan Pascal and Kix commands will now use drive D2: by default where appropriate.
To see a list of files on the working drive, at the % prompt, enter LS and press RETURN.
The default drive can be overridden by entering a explicit drive after the LS command:
- LS D1:
- LS D2:
- LS D8:
The contents of the text screen can be dumped to the "printer" by using the SD (Screen Dump) command. At the % prompt, enter SD and press RETURN. The contents of the screen will be dumped to the "printer".
To see output to the printer in Altirra 3.20, first add a printer by selecting System > Configure System... > Peripherals > Devices > Add > High-level emulation (HLE) devices > Printer (P:). Once the printer is configured, open the printer output window by selecting View > Printer Output. The SD command can now be run and the virtual printer output will be displayed.
The CAT command will list the contents of a file on disk to the screen. At the % prompt, enter CAT FIRSTWRD.P and press RETURN. If the FIRSTWRD.ATR is in disk drive D2: and the user drive has been set to device D2: using the CD command, the contents of the FIRSTWRD.P should be displayed to the screen.
Use the LS command to list the contents of drive D8:.
The RAM Drive D8: should contain two files that Atari DOS 2.5 placed there when the Altirra emulator, configured as an Atari 130XE, was booted.
The command CP can be used to copy a file. At the % prompt, enter CP FIRSTWRD.P D8:FIRSTWRD.P (or more explicitly CP D2:FIRSTWRD.P D8:FIRSTWRD.P ), then press RETURN. The file FIRSTWRD.P will be copied from disk drive D2: to disk drive D8:. Use the command LS D8: to verify.
The command MV (Move) can be used to rename a file. At the % prompt, enter MV D8:FIRSTWRD.P FIRSTWRD.2, then press RETURN. The file FIRSTWRD.P on disk drive D8: should now be renamed to FIRSTWRD.2. Use the command LS D8: to verify.
The command CHMOD (Change Mode) can be used to lock and unlock files so that they can not be written to or deleted. At the % prompt, enter CHMOD -W D8:FIRSTWRD.2. Use the command LS D8: to verify that the FIRSTWRD.2 file is now locked (there is an asterisk next to the file name).
Attempting to to use the RM (Remove) command to delete the file should now fail. At the % prompt, enter RM D8:FIRSTWRD.2. Kix should return a "File Locked" message.
Use the CHMOD +W D8:FIRSTWRD.2 command to unlock the file. Use the command LS D8: to verify the file is now unlocked (asterisk is removed).
The RM D8:FIRSTWRD.2 command should now delete the file. Use the command LS D8: to verify the file is now deleted.
The Kix FORMAT command can be used to format a disk. Note that the FORMAT command will permanently erase any file on the target drive. From the % prompt, enter FORMAT 8 S. The system will prompt for confirmation and then format the drive. Use the command LS D8: to verify the D8: drive has been formatted and there are no longer any files on the disk.
Here are some examples of the FORMAT command:
- FORMAT 1 S - Format drive D1: as single density
- FORMAT 1 D - Format drive D1: as enhanced (Atari DOS 2.5) density
- FORMAT 2 S - Format drive D2: as single density
- FORMAT 2 D - Format drive D2: as enhanced (Atari DOS 2.5) density
- FORMAT 8 S - Format drive D8: as single density
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