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Respecifying Tape I/O Routines

The Spectrum ROM tape routines provide two main entry points - SA_BYTES and LD_BYTES. These two routines load and save data from and to tape, with the entry parameters specifying

However, these entry parameters can be thought of slightly differently as opening a file for input or output, and reading or writing data from or to that opened file. Defining the entry parameters in this way allows the tape routines to be replaced with code that accesses different media, but still have the same functionality.

Original Specification
======================

0556 - LD_BYTES - Load Bytes From Tape
--------------------------------------
On entry:
  A:  00=header, FF=data
  Cy: 1=load, 0=verify
  IX= start address to load/verify to
  DE= number of bytes to load/verify
On exit:
  C : bytes loaded or verified
  NC: nothing done, or load or verify error

New specification
=================

0556 - RD_FILE - Scan For Next
------------------------------
On entry:
  A=00, Cy=1   : Scan for next file
  DE           =filename length+7 (minimum 10+7)
  IX+0..IX+DE-1: Space to return file information
On exit:
  Cy=1         : A file found, data in IX+0 onwards.
  Cy=0         : File not found

0556 - RD_FILE - Open For Input
-------------------------------
On entry:
  A=00, Cy=1   : Open file for input, closing any previously open file
  DE           =filename length+7 (minimum 10+7)
  IX-DE        =>file type
  IX-DE+1      =>filename to search for (padded with spaces)
  IX-4         =>address to load to or zero to use file's load address
  IX+0..IX+DE-1: Space to return file information
On exit:
  Cy=1         : A file found, data in IX+0 onwards. Calling program must
		check if names match
  Cy=0         : File not found
Note:
  This call looks identical to 'Scan For Next'. The called routine can't
  tell if the calling program is cataloguing the media or is wanting to
  open a file. Consequently, the called code should not expect anything in
  memory at negative offsets from IX, and the calling code caller should
  check for the filenames matching.

0556 - RD_FILE - Read from input file
-------------------------------------
On entry:
  A=FF, Cy=1   : Read data from current input file
  DE           =length to read
  IX           =address to read to
On exit:
  Cy=1         : Data read ok
  Cy=0         : Not all data read
  IX           =>byte after last byte read
  DE           =amount of data not read

0556 - RD_FILE - Verify from input file
---------------------------------------
On entry:
  A=FF, Cy=0   : Verify data in current input file
  DE           =length to verify
  IX           =address of data to verify
On exit:
  Cy=1         : Data verified ok
  Cy=0         : Verification error
  IX           =>byte where verification error
  DE           =(amount of data not verified)+1

0556 - RD_FILE - Verify file header
-----------------------------------
On entry:
  A=00, Cy=0   : Verify file information
  DE           =filename length+7
  IX-DE        =>file type
  IX-DE+1      =>filename
  IX-6         =>
  IX-4         =>
  IX-2         =>
  IX+0..IX+DE-1: Space to return file information

On exit:
  Cy=1         : Data verified ok
  Cy=0         : Verification error
  IX           =>byte where verification error
  DE           =(amount of data not verified)+1


Original specification
======================

04C2 - SA_BYTES - Save bytes to tape
------------------------------------
On entry:
  A:  00=header, FF=data
  IX= start address to save from
  DE= number of bytes to save

New specification
=================

04C2 - WR_FILE - Open For Output
--------------------------------
On entry:
  A=00         : Open file for output, closing any previously open file
  DE           =  filename length+7
  IX+0         => file type
  IX+1         => filename
  IX+DE-6      => file length
  IX+DE-4      => file load address
  IX+DE-2      => file exec address
On exit:
  Cy=1         : File opened
  Cy=0         : File not opened

04C2 - WR_FILE - Write data to output file
------------------------------------------
On entry:
  A=FF         : Write data to current output file
  DE           =  data length
  IX           => data start
On exit:
  Cy=1         : Data written ok
  Cy=0         : Data not written

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Last update: 10-Jul-2005