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Difference between revisions of "AmigaDOS Packets"

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−
[[Category:DOS]]{{WIP}}
 +
[[Category:DOS]]
 
= Introduction =
  
= Introduction =
   
Line 39: Line 39:
 
Exec Message structure and an AmigaDOS DOSPacket structure:
  
Exec Message structure and an AmigaDOS DOSPacket structure:
   
  +
<syntaxhighlight>
 
struct StandardPacket
  
struct StandardPacket
 
{ struct Message sp_Msg;
  
{ struct Message sp_Msg;
 
struct DOSPacket sp_Pkt;
  
struct DOSPacket sp_Pkt;
 
};
  
};
  +
</syntaxhighlight>
   
 
This structure must be longword-aligned, and initialized to link the
  
This structure must be longword-aligned, and initialized to link the
 
Message and DOSPacket sections to each other:
  
Message and DOSPacket sections to each other:
   
  +
<syntaxhighlight>
 
packet->sp_Msg.mn_Node.ln_Name = (char *) &(packet->sp_Pkt);
  
packet->sp_Msg.mn_Node.ln_Name = (char *) &(packet->sp_Pkt);
 
packet->sp_Pkt.dp_Link = &(packet->sp_Msg);
  
packet->sp_Pkt.dp_Link = &(packet->sp_Msg);
  +
</syntaxhighlight>
   
−
Packets must also be initialized with a ReplyPort which can be created
 +
Packets must also be initialized with a ReplyPort which is created with AllocSysObject():
−
with the amiga.lib function CreatePort():
  
   
  +
<syntaxhighlight>
−
if (replyport = (struct MsgPort *) CreatePort(NULL, 0))
  
  +
if (replyport = (struct MsgPort *) IExec->AllocSysObjectTags(ASOT_PORT, TAG_END))
 
packet->sp_Pkt.dp_Port = replyport;
  
packet->sp_Pkt.dp_Port = replyport;
  +
</syntaxhighlight>
   
 
The DOSPacket portion of the StandardPacket structure is used to pass the
  
The DOSPacket portion of the StandardPacket structure is used to pass the
Line 75: Line 80:
 
| Reply port for the packet. Must be filled in each send
  
| Reply port for the packet. Must be filled in each send
 
|-
  
|-
−
| LONG
 +
| int32
 
| dp_Type
  
| dp_Type
 
| Packet type
  
| Packet type
 
|-
  
|-
−
| LONG
 +
| int32
 
| dp_Res1
  
| dp_Res1
−
| For filesystem calls this is the result that would have been returned by the function; eg. Write("W") returns actual length written.
 +
| For file system calls this is the result that would have been returned by the function; eg. Write("W") returns actual length written.
 
|-
  
|-
−
| LONG
 +
| int32
 
| dp_Res2
  
| dp_Res2
−
| For filesystem calls this is what would have been returned by IoErr()
 +
| For file system calls this is what would have been returned by IoErr()
 
|-
  
|-
−
| LONG
 +
| int32
 
| dp_Arg1
  
| dp_Arg1
 
| Argument 1 (depends on packet type)
  
| Argument 1 (depends on packet type)
 
|-
  
|-
−
| LONG
 +
| int32
 
| dp_Arg2
  
| dp_Arg2
 
| Argument 2 (depends on packet type)
  
| Argument 2 (depends on packet type)
 
|-
  
|-
−
| LONG
 +
| int32
 
| dp_Arg3
  
| dp_Arg3
 
| Argument 3 (depends on packet type)
  
| Argument 3 (depends on packet type)
 
|-
  
|-
−
| LONG
 +
| int32
 
| dp_Arg4
  
| dp_Arg4
 
| Argument 4 (depends on packet type)
  
| Argument 4 (depends on packet type)
 
|-
  
|-
−
| LONG
 +
| int32
 
| dp_Arg5
  
| dp_Arg5
 
| Argument 5 (depends on packet type)
  
| Argument 5 (depends on packet type)
 
|-
  
|-
−
| LONG
 +
| int32
 
| dp_Arg6
  
| dp_Arg6
 
| Argument 6 (depends on packet type)
  
| Argument 6 (depends on packet type)
 
|-
  
|-
−
| LONG
 +
| int32
 
| dp_Arg7
  
| dp_Arg7
 
| Argument 7 (depends on packet type)
  
| Argument 7 (depends on packet type)
 
|}
  
|}
   
  +
The format of a specific packet depends on its type; but in all cases it contains a back-pointer to the Message structure, the MsgPort for the reply, and two result fields. When AmigaDOS sends a packet, the reply port is overwritten with the process ID of the sender so that the packet can be returned. Thus, when sending a packet to an AmigaDOS handler process, you must fill in the reply MsgPort each time; otherwise when the packet returns, AmigaDOS has overwritten the original port. AmigaDOS maintains all other fields except the result fields.
−
The format of a specific packet depends on its type; but in all cases it
  
−
contains a back-pointer to the Message structure, the MsgPort for the
  
−
reply, and two result fields. When AmigaDOS sends a packet, the reply port
  
−
is overwritten with the process ID of the sender so that the packet can be
  
−
returned. Thus, when sending a packet to an AmigaDOS handler process, you
  
−
must fill in the reply MsgPort each time; otherwise when the packet
  
−
returns, AmigaDOS has overwritten the original port. AmigaDOS maintains
  
−
all other fields except the result fields.
  
   
  +
All AmigaDOS packets are sent to the message port created as part of a process; this message port is initialized so that arriving messages cause signal bit 8 to be set. An AmigaDOS process that is waiting for a message waits for signal 8 to be set. When the process wakes up because this event has occurred, GetMsg() takes the message from the message port and
−
All AmigaDOS packets are sent to the message port created as part of a
  
  +
extracts the packet address. If the process is an AmigaDOS handler process, then the packet contains a value in the PktType field that indicates an action to be performed, such as reading some data. The argument fields contain specific information such as the size of the buffer where the characters go.
−
process; this message port is initialized so that arriving messages cause
  
−
signal bit 8 to be set. An AmigaDOS process that is waiting for a message
  
−
waits for signal 8 to be set. When the process wakes up because this event
  
−
has occurred, GetMsg() takes the message from the message port and
  
−
extracts the packet address. If the process is an AmigaDOS handler
  
−
process, then the packet contains a value in the PktType field that
  
−
indicates an action to be performed, such as reading some data. The
  
−
argument fields contain specific information such as the size of the
  
−
buffer where the characters go.
  
   
  +
When the handler process has completed the work required to satisfy this request, the packet returns to the sender, using the same message structure. Both the message structure and the packet structure must be allocated by the client and not deallocated before the reply has been received. Normally AmigaDOS is called by the client to send the packet, such as when a call to Read() is made. However, there are cases where asynchronous I/O is required, and in this case the client may send packets to the handler process as required. The packet and message structures must be allocated, and the process ID field filled in with the message port where this packet must return. A call to PutMsg() then sends the message to the destination. Note that many packets may be sent out, returning to either the same or different message ports.
−
When the handler process has completed the work required to satisfy this
  
−
request, the packet returns to the sender, using the same message
  
−
structure. Both the message structure and the packet structure must be
  
−
allocated by the client and not deallocated before the reply has been
  
−
received. Normally AmigaDOS is called by the client to send the packet,
  
−
such as when a call to Read() is made. However, there are cases where
  
−
asynchronous I/O is required, and in this case the client may send packets
  
−
to the handler process as required. The packet and message structures must
  
−
be allocated, and the process ID field filled in with the message port
  
−
where this packet must return. A call to PutMsg() then sends the message
  
−
to the destination. Note that many packets may be sent out, returning to
  
−
either the same or different message ports.
  
   
 
= Packet Types =
  
= Packet Types =
   
−
Packets sent to a filesystem or handler can be divided into several basic
 +
Packets sent to a file system or handler can be divided into several basic
 
categories:
  
categories:
   
−
; Basic Input/Output.
 +
; Basic Input/Output
 
: These actions deal with transferring data to and from objects controlled by the handler.
  
: These actions deal with transferring data to and from objects controlled by the handler.
−
; File/Directory Manipulation/Information.
  
−
: These actions are used to gain access to and manipulate the high-level structures of the filesystem.
  
−
; Volume Manipulation/Information.
  
−
: These actions allow access to the specific volume controlled by the filesystem.
  
−
; Handler Maintenance and Control.
  
−
: These actions allow control over the handler/filesystem itself, independent of the actual volume or structure underneath.
  
−
; Handler Internal.
  
−
: These actions are never sent to the handler directly. Instead they are generally responses to I/O requests made by the handler. The handler makes these responses look like packets to simplify processing.
  
−
; Obsolete Packets.
 
−
: These packets are no longer valid for use by handlers and filesystems.
  
−
; Console Only Packets.
  
−
: These packets are specific to console handlers. Filesystems can ignore these packets.
  
   
  +
; File/Directory Manipulation/Information
−
Each packet type documented in this section is listed with its action
  
  +
: These actions are used to gain access to and manipulate the high level structures of the file system.
−
name, its corresponding number, any AmigaDOS routines that use this
  
  +
−
packet, and the list of parameters that the packet uses. The C variable
  
  +
; Volume Manipulation/Information
−
types for the packet parameters are one of the following types:
  
  +
: These actions allow access to the specific volume controlled by the file system.
  +
  +
; Handler Maintenance and Control
  +
: These allow control over the handler/file system itself, independent of the actual volume or structure underneath.
  +
  +
; Handler Internal
  +
: These actions are never sent to the handler directly. Instead they are generally responses to IO requests made by the handler.
  +
  +
; Obsolete Packets
  +
: These packets are no longer valid for use by handlers/file systems.
  +
  +
; Deprecated Packets
  +
: These packets are superceded by new ones with updated functionality and file systems/handlers should avoid implementing these packets at all and let dos.library emulate the old and limited functionality.
  +
  +
; Console Only Packets
  +
: These packets are specific to console handlers.
  +
: File Systems can ignore these packets.
  +
  +
Each packet type documented in this section is listed with its action name, its corresponding number, any AmigaDOS routines that use this
  +
packet, and the list of parameters that the packet uses. The C variable types for the packet parameters are one of the following types:
   
 
{| class="wikitable"
  
{| class="wikitable"
Line 179: Line 166:
 
|-
  
|-
 
| BPTR
  
| BPTR
−
| This is a BCPL pointer (the address of the given object shifted right by 2).<br/>''Note:'' This means that the object must be aligned on a longword boundary.
 +
| This is BCPL pointer (an address which is right shifted by 2). This means that the object must be aligned on a 32 bit address.
−
|-
  
−
| LOCK
  
−
| This is a BPTR to a FileLock structure returned by a previous ACTION_LOCATE_OBJECT. A lock of 0 is legal, indicating the root of the volume for the handler.
  
 
|-
  
|-
 
| BSTR
  
| BSTR
−
| This is a BPTR to a string where the first byte indicates the number of characters in the string. A byte of this length is unsigned but because the information is stored in a byte, the strings are limited to 255 characters in length.
 +
| This is a BCPL pointer to a string where the first byte indicates the number of characters in the string. This length byte is unsigned but because it is stored in only 8 bits, the strings are limited to 255 characters in length before V52 of dos.library.<br/>
  +
  +
As of V52+ dos.library, "extended BSTR" (XBSTR) strings can be sent to handlers and file systems from dos.library for extensibility reasons, while still maintaining legacy backward compatibility. These extended BSTR strings are in the same format as a legacy BSTR string but are guaranteed to have a null-terminator byte added to the end, and the length byte of these will be correct only up to 255 characters, past that length, the length byte will always read 255 (0xFF) and is there just for limited legacy compatibility. These extended BSTR strings are always documented and identified by having an additional dospacket identifier parameter supplied, consult the individual DOS packet documentation for details.<br/>
  +
  +
See also ACTION_INHIBIT_DOS_LONGPATH_HANDLING for details on this DOS packet and how to formally control the use of XBSTR strings.
 
|-
  
|-
−
| BOOL
 +
| BOOLEAN
  +
| A 32-bit boolean value which is either ZERO or NON-ZERO. For implementation purposes, non-zero boolean values should be -1 this is also defined as DOSTRUE. However for compatibility reasons, performing equality comparisons with any value other than zero is absolutely forbidden, only 0 or FALSE may be used in a value comparison test.<br/>
−
| A 32-bit boolean value either containing DOSTRUE (-1) or DOSFALSE (0).<br/>''Note:'' Equality comparisons with DOSTRUE should be avoided.
  
  +
  +
See the dos.doc file introduction paragraph for more details on this issue.
 
|-
  
|-
−
| CODE
 +
| RESULT1
−
| A 32-bit error code as defined in the <dos/dos.h> include file. Handlers should not return error codes besides those defined in <dos/dos.h>.
 +
| A 32 bit primary result code as defined for the function.
 
|-
  
|-
−
| ARG1
 +
| RESULT2
  +
| A 32 bit error code as defined in the dos/errors.h include file. Handlers should not return error codes besides those defined. For some functions a secondary result can also be returned here upon success.
−
| The FileHandle->fh_Arg1 field.
  
−
|-
  
−
| LONG
  
−
| A 32-bit integer value.
  
 
|}
  
|}
   
  +
== Summary of Defined Packet Numbers ==
−
== Basic Input/Output ==
  
   
  +
Summary of defined packet numbers, as of DOS library version 53.71
−
The Basic Input/Output actions are supported by both handlers and file systems. In this way, the application can get a stream level access to both devices and files. One difference that arises between the two is that a handler will not necessarily support an ACTION_SEEK while it is generally expected for a file system to do so.
  
   
  +
This is a listing of all the DOS packets defined by Commodore and other relevant authorities since.
−
These actions work based on a FileHandle which is filled in by one of the three forms of opens:
  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_FINDINPUT''' 1005 Open(..., MODE_OLDFILE)
 
−
'''ACTION_FINDOUTPUT''' 1006 Open(..., MODE_NEWFILE)
  
−
'''ACTION_FINDUPDATE''' 1004 Open(..., MODE_READWRITE)
  
−
ARG1: BPTR FileHandle to fill in
  
−
ARG2: LOCK Lock on directory that ARG3 is relative to
  
−
ARG3: BSTR Name of file to be opened (relative to ARG1)
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE
  
   
  +
Unless otherwise noted, packets 2050-2999 and 8500-8999 are reserved for use by third party developers (see chart below).
−
All three actions use the lock (ARG2) as a base directory location from which to open the file. If this lock is NULL, then the file name (ARG3) is relative to the root of the current volume. Because of this, file names are not limited to a single file name but instead can include a volume name (followed by a colon) and multiple slashes allowing the file system to fully resolve the name. This eliminates the need for AmigaDOS or the application to parse names before sending them to the file system. Note that the lock in ARG2 must be associated with the file system in question. It is illegal to use a lock from another file system.
  
  +
  +
All remaining packets are reserved for future OS expansion.
   
  +
{| class="wikitable"
−
The calling program owns the file handle (ARG1). The program must initialize the file handle before trying to open anything (in the case of a call to Open(), AmigaDOS allocates the file handle automatically and then frees it in Close() ). All fields must be zero except the fh_Pos and fh_End fields which should be set to -1. The Open() function fills in the fh_Type field with a pointer to the MsgPort of the handler process. Lastly, the handler must initialize fh_Arg1 with something that allows the handler to uniquely locate the object being opened (normally a file). This value is implementation specific. This field is passed to the READ/WRITE/SEEK/ END/TRUNCATE operations and not the file handle itself.
  
  +
! Decimal !! Hex !! Action #define !! Status
−  
  +
|-
−
FINDINPUT and FINDUPDATE are similar in that they only succeed if the file already exists. FINDINPUT will open with a shared lock while FINDUPDATE will open it with a shared lock but if the file doesn't exist, FINDUPDATE will create the file. FINDOUTPUT will always open the file (deleting any existing one) with an exclusive lock.
  
  +
| 0 || 0x0000 || ACTION_NIL or ACTION_STARTUP
  +
|-
  +
| 1 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 2 || 0x0002 || ACTION_GET_BLOCK || Obsolete
  +
|-
  +
| 3 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 4 || 0x0004 || ACTION_SET_MAP || Obsolete
  +
|-
  +
| 5 || 0x0005 || ACTION_DIE || Deprecated
  +
|-
  +
| 6 || 0x0006 || ACTION_EVENT || Obsolete
  +
|-
  +
| 7 || 0x0007 || ACTION_CURRENT_VOLUME || Obsolete
  +
|-
  +
| 8 || 0x0008 || ACTION_LOCATE_OBJECT
  +
|-
  +
| 9 || 0x0009 || ACTION_RENAME_DISK
  +
|-
  +
| 10-14 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 15 || 0x000F || ACTION_FREE_LOCK
  +
|-
  +
| 16 || 0x0010 || ACTION_DELETE_OBJECT
  +
|-
  +
| 17 || 0x0011 || ACTION_RENAME_OBJECT
  +
|-
  +
| 18 || 0x0012 || ACTION_MORE_CACHE || Deprecated
  +
|-
  +
| 19 || 0x0013 || ACTION_COPY_DIR or ACTION_COPY_LOCK
  +
|-
  +
| 20 || 0x0014 || ACTION_WAIT_CHAR
  +
|-
  +
| 21 || 0x0015 || ACTION_SET_PROTECT
  +
|-
  +
| 22 || 0x0016 || ACTION_CREATE_DIR
  +
|-
  +
| 23 || 0x0017 || ACTION_EXAMINE_OBJECT || Deprecated
  +
|-
  +
| 24 || 0x0018 || ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT || Deprecated
  +
|-
  +
| 25 || 0x0019 || ACTION_DISK_INFO
  +
|-
  +
| 26 || 0x001A || ACTION_INFO
  +
|-
  +
| 27 || 0x001B || ACTION_FLUSH
  +
|-
  +
| 28 || 0x001C || ACTION_SET_COMMENT
  +
|-
  +
| 29 || 0x001D || ACTION_PARENT
  +
|-
  +
| 30 || 0x001E || ACTION_TIMER || Internal
  +
|-
  +
| 31 || 0x001F || ACTION_INHIBIT
  +
|-
  +
| 32 || 0x0020 || ACTION_DISK_TYPE || Obsolete
  +
|-
  +
| 33 || 0x0021 || ACTION_DISK_CHANGE || Obsolete
  +
|-
  +
| 34 || 0x0022 || ACTION_SET_DATE
  +
|-
  +
| 35-39 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 40 || 0x0028 || ACTION_SAME_LOCK
  +
|-
  +
| 41-52 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 53 || 0x0035 || ACTION_SAME_FH
  +
|-
  +
| 54-81 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 82 || 0x0052 || ACTION_READ
  +
|-
  +
| 83-86 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 87 || 0x0057 || ACTION_WRITE
  +
|-
  +
| 88-993 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 994 || 0x03E2 || ACTION_SCREEN_MODE or ACTION_SINGLE_CHARACTER_MODE
  +
|-
  +
| 995 || 0x03E3 || ACTION_CHANGE_SIGNAL
  +
|-
  +
| 996-1000 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 1001 || 0x03E9 || ACTION_READ_RETURN || Internal
  +
|-
  +
| 1002 || 0x03EA || ACTION_WRITE_RETURN || Internal
  +
|-
  +
| 1003 || 0x03EB || ACTION_INT_WRITE_RETURN || Internal
  +
|-
  +
| 1004 || 0x03EC || ACTION_FINDUPDATE (MODE_READWRITE)
  +
|-
  +
| 1005 || 0x03ED || ACTION_FINDINPUT (MODE_OLDFILE)
  +
|-
  +
| 1006 || 0x03EE || ACTION_FINDOUTPUT (MODE_NEWFILE)
  +
|-
  +
| 1007 || 0x03EF || ACTION_END
  +
|-
  +
| 1008 || 0x03F0 || ACTION_SEEK || Deprecated
  +
|-
  +
| 1009 || 0x03F1 || ACTION_ICONIFY || Internal
  +
|-
  +
| 1010-1019 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 1020 || 0x03FC || ACTION_FORMAT
  +
|-
  +
| 1021 || 0x03FD || ACTION_MAKE_LINK
  +
|-
  +
| 1022 || 0x03FE || ACTION_SET_FILE_SIZE || Deprecated
  +
|-
  +
| 1023 || 0x03FF || ACTION_WRITE_PROTECT
  +
|-
  +
| 1024 || 0x0400 || ACTION_READ_LINK
  +
|-
  +
| 1025 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 1026 || 0x0402 || ACTION_FH_FROM_LOCK
  +
|-
  +
| 1027 || 0x0403 || ACTION_IS_FILESYSTEM
  +
|-
  +
| 1028 || 0x0404 || ACTION_CHANGE_MODE
  +
|-
  +
| 1029 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 1030 || 0x0406 || ACTION_COPY_DIR_FH
  +
|-
  +
| 1031 || 0x0407 || ACTION_PARENT_FH
  +
|-
  +
| 1032 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 1033 || 0x0409 || ACTION_EXAMINE_ALL || Deprecated
  +
|-
  +
| 1034 || 0x040A || ACTION_EXAMINE_FH || Deprecated
  +
|-
  +
| 1035 || 0x040B || ACTION_EXAMINE_ALL_END || Deprecated
  +
|-
  +
| 1036 || 0x040C || ACTION_SET_OWNER || Deprecated
  +
|-
  +
| 1037 || 0x040D || ACTION_SET_OWNER_INFO
  +
|-
  +
| 1038 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 1039 || 0x040F || ACTION_NEWMEMFILE || Internal
  +
|-
  +
| 1040 || 0x0410 || ACTION_NEWMEMLOCK || Internal
  +
|-
  +
| 1041-1997 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 1998 || 0x07CE || ACTION_WAIT_FOR_DATA
  +
|-
  +
| 1999 || 0x07CF || ACTION_SET_BLOCKING_MODE
  +
|-
  +
| 2000-2007 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 2008 || 0x07D8 || ACTION_LOCK_RECORD || Optional
  +
|-
  +
| 2009 || 0x07D9 || ACTION_FREE_RECORD || Optional
  +
|-
  +
| 2010-2049 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 2050-2999 || || <Reserved for 3rd Party Handlers>
  +
|-
  +
| 3000 || 0x0BB8 || ACTION_SHUTDOWN
  +
|-
  +
| 3001 || 0x0BB9 || ACTION_COLLECT
  +
|-
  +
| 3002-3004 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 3005 || 0x0BBD || ACTION_FILESYSTEM_ATTR
  +
|-
  +
| 3006 || 0x0BBE || ACTION_OBTAIN_CON_INFO
  +
|-
  +
| 3007 || 0x0BBF || ACTION_RELEASE_CON_INFO
  +
|-
  +
| 3008-3029 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 3030 || 0x0BD6 || ACTION_EXAMINEDATA
  +
|-
  +
| 3031 || 0x0BD7 || ACTION_EXAMINEDATA_FH
  +
|-
  +
| 3032-3039 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 3040 || 0x0BE0 || ACTION_EXAMINEDATA_DIR
  +
|-
  +
| 3041-4096 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 4097 || 0x1001 || ACTION_ADD_NOTIFY || Optional
  +
|-
  +
| 4098 || 0x1002 || ACTION_REMOVE_NOTIFY || Optional
  +
|-
  +
| 4099-4199 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 4200 || 0x1068 || ACTION_SERIALIZE_DISK
  +
|-
  +
| 4201 || 0x1069 || ACTION_GET_DISK_FSSM
  +
|-
  +
| 4202 || 0x106A || ACTION_FREE_DISK_FSSM
  +
|-
  +
| 4203-5322 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 5323 || 0x14CB || ACTION_INHIBIT_DOS_LONGPATH_HANDLING
  +
|-
  +
| 5324-8000 || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|-
  +
| 8001 || 0x1F41 || ACTION_CHANGE_FILE_POSITION64
  +
|-
  +
| 8002 || 0x1F42 || ACTION_GET_FILE_POSITION64
  +
|-
  +
| 8003 || 0x1F43 || ACTION_CHANGE_FILE_SIZE64
  +
|-
  +
| 8004 || 0x1F44 || ACTION_GET_FILE_SIZE64
  +
|-
  +
| 8005-8499 || || <Reserved for operating system 64 bit functions>
  +
|-
  +
| 8500-8999 || || <Reserved for use by 3rd Party Handlers for 64 bit functions>
  +
|-
  +
| 9000-... || || <Reserved for operating system>
  +
|}
   
  +
== Detailed DOS Packet Documentation ==
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_READ''' 'R' Read(...)
  
−
ARG1: ARG1 fh_Arg1 field of the opened FileHandle
  
−
ARG2: APTR Buffer to put data into
  
−
ARG3: LONG Number of bytes to read
  
−
 
−
RES1: LONG Number of bytes read.
  
−
0 indicates EOF.
  
−
-1 indicates ERROR
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 is -1
  
   
  +
See the [http://wiki.amigaos.net/amiga/autodocs/dos.dospackets.txt dos.dospackets.doc autodoc] for all the detailed information regarding each DOS packet.
−
This action extracts data from the file (or input channel) at the current position. If fewer bytes remain in the file than requested, only those bytes remaining will be returned with the number of bytes stored in RES1. The handler indicates an error is indicated by placing a -1 in RES1 and the error code in RES2. If the read fails, the current file position remains unchanged. Note that a handler may return a smaller number of bytes than requested, even if not at the end of a file. This happens with interactive type file handles which may return one line at a time as the user hits return, for example the console handler, CON:.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_WRITE''' 'W' Write(...)
  
−
ARG1: ARG1 fh_Arg1 field of the opened file handle
  
−
ARG2: APTR Buffer to write to the file handle
  
−
ARG3: LONG Number of bytes to write
  
−
 
−
RES1: LONG Number of bytes written.
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 not the same as ARG3
  
−  
−
This action copies data into the file (or output channel) at the current position. The file is automatically extended if the write passes the end of the file. The handler indicates failure by returning a byte count in RES1 that differs from the number of bytes requested in ARG3. In the case of a failure, the handler does not update the current file position (although the file may have been extended and some data overwritten) so that an application can safely retry the operation.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_SEEK''' 1008 Seek(...)
  
−
ARG1: ARG1 fh_Arg1 field of the opened FileHandle
  
−
ARG2: LONG New Position
  
−
ARG3: LONG Mode: OFFSET_BEGINNING,OFFSET_END, or OFFSET_CURRENT
  
−
 
−
RES1: LONG Old Position. -1 indicates an error
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 = -1
  
−  
−
This packet sets the current file position. The new position (ARG2) is relative to either the beginning of the file (OFFSET_BEGINNING), the end of the file (OFFSET_END), or the current file position (OFFSET_CURRENT), depending on the mode set in ARG3. Note that ARG2
  
−
can be negative. The handler returns the previous file position in RES1. Any attempt to seek past the end of the file will result in an error and will leave the current file position in an unknown location.
 
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_END''' 1007 Close(...)
  
−
ARG1: ARG1 fh_Arg1 field of the opened FileHandle
  
−
 
−
RES1: LONG DOSTRUE
  
−  
−
This packet closes an open file handle. This function generally returns a DOSTRUE as there is little the application can do to recover from a file closing failure. If an error is returned under 2.0, DOS will not deallocate the file handle. Under 1.3, it does not check the result.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_LOCK_RECORD''' 2008 LockRecord(fh,pos,len,mod,tim)
  
−
ARG1: BPTR FileHandle to lock record in
  
−
ARG2: LONG Start position (in bytes) of record in the file
  
−
ARG3: LONG Length (in bytes) of record to be locked
  
−
ARG4: LONG Mode
  
−
0 = Exclusive
  
−
1 = Immediate Exclusive (timeout is ignored)
  
−
2 = Shared
  
−
3 = Immediate Shared (timeout is ignored)
  
−
ARG5: LONG Timeout period in AmigaDOS ticks (0 is legal)
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE
  
−  
−
This function locks an area of a file in either a sharable (indicating read-only) or exclusive (indicating read/write) mode. Several sharable record locks from different file handles can exist simultaneously on a particular file area but only one file handle can have exclusive record locks on a particular area at a time. The exclusivity of an exclusive file lock only applies to record locks from other file handles, not to record locks within the file handle. One file handle can have any number of overlapping exclusive record locks. In the event of overlapping lock ranges, the entire range must be lockable before the request can succeed. The timeout period (ARG5) is the number of AmigaDOS ticks (1/50 second) to wait for success before failing the operation.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_FREE_RECORD''' 2009 UnLockRecord(file,pos,len)
  
−
ARG1: BPTR FileHandle to unlock record in
  
−
ARG2: LONG Start position (in bytes) of record in the file
  
−
ARG3: LONG Length of record (in bytes) to be unlocked
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE
  
−  
−
This function unlocks any previous record lock. If the given range does not represent one that is currently locked in the file, ACTION_FREE_RECORD returns an error. In the event of multiple locks on a given area, only one lock is freed.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_SET_FILE_SIZE''' 1022 SetFileSize(file,off,mode)
  
−
ARG1: BPTR FileHandle of opened file to modify
  
−
ARG2: LONG New end of file location based on mode
  
−
ARG3: LONG Mode. One of OFFSET_CURRENT, OFFSET_BEGIN, or OFFSET_END
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE
  
−  
−
This function is used to change the physical size of an opened file. ARG2, the new end-of-file position, is relative to either the current file position (OFFSET_CURRENT), the beginning of the file (OFFSET_BEGIN), or the end of the file (OFFSET_END), depending on the mode set in ARG3. The current file position will not change unless the current file position is past the new end-of-file position. In this case, the new file position will move to the new end of the file. If there are other open file handles on this file, ACTION_SET_FILE_SIZE sets the end-of-file for these alternate file handles to either their respective current file position or to the new end-of-file position of the file handle in ARG1, whichever makes the file appear longer.
  
−  
−
== Directory/File Manipulation/Information ==
  
−
 
−
The directory/file actions permits an application to make queries about and modifications to handler objects. These packets perform functions such as creating subdirectories, resolving links, and filling in FileInfoBlock structures for specific files.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_LOCATE_OBJECT''' 8 Lock(...)
  
−
ARG1: LOCK Lock on directory to which ARG2 is relative
  
−
ARG2: BSTR Name (possibly with a path) of object to lock
  
−
ARG3: LONG Mode: ACCESS_READ/SHARED_LOCK, ACCESS_WRITE/EXCLUSIVE_LOCK
  
−
 
−
RES1: LOCK Lock on requested object or 0 to indicate failure
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 = 0
  
−  
−
The AmigaDOS function Lock() uses this action to create its locks. Given a name for the object, which may include a path, (ARG2) and a lock on a directory from which to look for the name (and path), ACTION_LOCATE_OBJECT will locate the object within the file system and create a FileLock structure associated with the object. If the directory lock in ARG1 is NULL, the name is relative to the root of the file handler's volume (a.k.a. ''':'''). The memory for the FileLock structure returned in RES1 is maintained by the handler and freed by an ACTION_FREE_LOCK. Although it's not a requirement, if an handler expects to support the pre-1.3 Format command, it must accept any illegal mode as ACCESS_READ.
  
−  
−
A handler can create an exclusive lock only if there are no other outstanding locks on the given object. Once created, an exclusive lock prevents any other locks from being created for that object. In general, a handler uses the FileLock->fl_Key field to uniquely identify an object. Note that some applications rely on this (although a handler is not required to implement this packet).
  
−  
−
The fl_Volume field of the returned FileLock structure should point to the DOS device list's volume entry for the volume on which the lock exists. In addition, there are several diagnostic programs that expect all locks for a volume to be chained together off the dl_LockList field in the volume entry. Note that relying on this chaining is not safe, and can cause serious problems including a system crash. No application should use it.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_COPY_DIR''' 19 DupLock(...)
  
−
ARG1: LOCK Lock to duplicate
  
−
 
−
RES1: LOCK Duplicated Lock or 0 to indicate failure
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 = 0
  
−  
−
This action's name is misleading as it does not manipulate directories. Instead, it creates a copy of a shared lock. The copy is subsequently freed with an ACTION_FREE_LOCK. Note that it is valid to pass a NULL lock. Currently, the DupLock() call always returns 0 if passed a 0, although a handler is not required to return a 0.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_FREE_LOCK''' 15 UnLock(...)
  
−
ARG1: LOCK Lock to free
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL TRUE
  
−  
−
This action frees the lock passed to it. The AmigaDOS function Unlock() uses this packet. If passed a NULL lock, the handler should return success.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_EXAMINE_OBJECT''' 23 Examine(...)
  
−
ARG1: LOCK Lock of object to examine
  
−
ARG2: BPTR FileInfoBlock to fill in
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 = DOSFALSE
  
−  
−
This action fills in the FileInfoBlock with information about the locked object. The Examine() function uses this packet. This packet is actually used for two different types of operations. It is called to obtain information about a given object while in other cases, it is called to prepare for a sequence of EXAMINE_NEXT operations in order to traverse a directory.
  
−  
−
This seemingly simple operation is not without its quirks. One in particular is the FileInfoBlock->fib_Comment field. This field used to be 116 bytes long, but was changed to 80 bytes in release 1.2. The extra 36 bytes lie in the fib_Reserved field. Another quirk of this packet is that both the fib_EntryType and the fib_DirEntryType fields must be set to the same value, as some programs look at one field while other programs look at the other.
  
−  
−
File systems should use the same values for fib_DirEntryType as the ROM file system and ram-handler do. These are as follows:
  
−  
−
ST_ROOT 1
  
−
ST_USERDIR 2
  
−
ST_SOFTLINK 3 NOTE: this Shows up as a directory unless checked for explicitly
  
−
ST_LINKDIR 4
  
−
ST_FILE -3
  
−
ST_LINKFILE -4
  
−  
−
Also note that for directories, handlers must use numbers greater than 0, since some programs test to see if fib_DirEntryType is greater than zero, ignoring the case where fib_DirEntryType equals 0. Handlers should avoid using 0 because it is not interpreted consistently.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT''' 24 ExNext(...)
  
−
ARG1: LOCK Lock on directory being examined
  
−
ARG2: BPTR BPTR FileInfoBlock
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 = DOSFALSE
  
−  
−
The ExNext() function uses this packet to obtain information on all the objects in a directory. ACTION_EXAMINE fills in a FileInfoBlock structure describing the first file or directory stored in the directory referred to in the lock in ARG1. ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT is used to find out about the rest of the files and directories stored in the ARG1 directory. ARG2 contains a pointer to a valid FileInfoBlock field that was filled in by either an ACTION_EXAMINE or a previous ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT call. It uses this structure to find the next entry in the directory. This packets writes over the old FileInfoBlock with information on the next file or directory in the ARG2 directory. ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT returns a failure code of ERROR_NO_MORE_ENTRIES when there are no more files or directories left to be examined. Unfortunately, like ACTION_EXAMINE, this packet has its own peculiarities. Among the quirks that ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT must account for are:
  
−  
−
* The situation where an application calls ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT one or more times and then stops invoking it before encountering the end of the directory.
  
−  
−
* The situation where a FileInfoBlock passed to ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT is not the same as the one passed to ACTION_EXAMINE or even the previous EXAMINE_NEXT operation. Instead, it is a copy of the FileInfoBlock with only the fib_DiskKey and the first 30 bytes of the fib_FileName fields copied over. This is now considered to be illegal and will not work in the future. Any new code should not be written in this manner.
  
−  
−
* Because a handler can receive other packet types between ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT operations, the ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT function must handle any special cases that may result.
  
−  
−
* The LOCK passed to ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT is not always the same lock used in previous operations. It is however a lock on the same object.
  
−  
−
Because of these problems, ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT is probably the trickiest action to write in any handler. Failure to handle any of the above cases can be quite disastrous.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_CREATE_DIR''' 22 CreateDir(...)
  
−
ARG1: LOCK Lock to which ARG2 is relative
  
−
ARG2: BSTR Name of new directory (relative to ARG1)
  
−
 
−
RES1: LOCK Lock on new directory
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 = DOSFALSE
  
−
 
−
'''ACTION_DELETE_OBJECT''' 16 DeleteFile(...)
  
−
ARG1: LOCK Lock to which ARG2 is relative
  
−
ARG2: BSTR Name of object to delete (relative to ARG1)
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 = DOSFALSE
  
−
 
−
'''ACTION_RENAME_OBJECT''' 17 Rename(...)
  
−
ARG1: LOCK Lock to which ARG2 is relative
  
−
ARG2: BSTR Name of object to rename (relative to ARG1)
  
−
ARG3: LOCK Lock associated with target directory
  
−
ARG4: BSTR Requested new name for the object
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 = DOSFALSE
  
−  
−
These three actions perform most of the work behind the AmigaDOS commands MakeDir, Delete, and Rename (for single files). These packets take as their parameters a lock describing where the file is and a name relative to that lock. It is the responsibility of the file system to ensure that the operation is not going to cause adverse effects. In particular, the RENAME_OBJECT action allows moving files across directory bounds and as such must ensure that it doesn't create hidden directory loops by renaming a directory into a child of itself.
  
−  
−
For Directory objects, the DELETE_OBJECT action must ensure that the directory is empty before allowing the operation.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_PARENT''' 29 Parent(...)
  
−
ARG1: LOCK Lock on object to get the parent of
  
−
 
−
RES1: LOCK Parent Lock
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 = 0
  
−  
−
This action receives a lock on an object and creates a shared lock on the object's parent. If the original object has no parent, then a lock of 0 is returned. Note that this operation is typically used in the process of constructing the absolute path name of a given object.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_SET_PROTECT''' 21 SetProtection(...)
  
−
ARG1: Unused
  
−
ARG2: LOCK Lock to which ARG3 is relative
  
−
ARG3: BSTR Name of object (relative to ARG2)
  
−
ARG4: LONG Mask of new protection bits
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 = DOSFALSE
  
−  
−
This action allows an application to modify the protection bits of an object. The 4 lowest order bits (RWED) are a bit peculiar. If their respective bit is set, that operation is not allowed (i.e. if a file's delete bit is set the file is not deleteable). By default, files are created with the RWED bits set and all others cleared. Additionally, any action which modifies a file is required to clear the A (archive) bit. See the dos/dos.h include file for the definitions of the bit fields.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_SET_COMMENT''' 28 SetComment(...)
  
−
ARG1: Unused
  
−
ARG2: LOCK Lock to which ARG3 is relative
  
−
ARG3: BSTR Name of object (relative to ARG2)
  
−
ARG4: BSTR New Comment string
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 = DOSFALSE
  
−  
−
This action allows an application to set the comment string of an object. If the object does not exist then DOSFALSE will be returned in RES1 with the failure code in RES2. The comment string is limited to 79 characters.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_SET_DATE''' 34 SetFileDate(...) in 2.0
  
−
ARG1: Unused
  
−
ARG2: LOCK Lock to which ARG3 is relative
  
−
ARG3: BSTR Name of Object (relative to ARG2)
  
−
ARG4: CPTR DateStamp
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 = DOSFALSE
  
−  
−
This action allows an application to set an object's creation date.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_FH_FROM_LOCK''' 1026 OpenFromLock(lock)
  
−
ARG1: BPTR BPTR to file handle to fill in
  
−
ARG2: LOCK Lock of file to open
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 = NULL
  
−  
−
This action open a file from a given lock. If this action is successful, the file system will essentially steal the lock so a program should not use it anymore. If ACTION_FH_FROM_LOCK fails, the lock is still usable by an application.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_SAME_LOCK''' 40 SameLock(lock1,lock2)
  
−
ARG1: BPTR Lock 1 to compare
  
−
ARG2: BPTR Lock 2 to compare
  
−
 
−
RES1: LONG Result of comparison, one of
  
−
DOSTRUE if locks are for the same object
  
−
DOSFALSE if locks are on different objects
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 is LOCK_DIFFERENT
  
−  
−
This action compares the targets of two locks. If they point to the same object, ACTION_SAME_LOCK should return LOCK_SAME.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_MAKE_LINK''' 1021 MakeLink(name,targ,mode)
  
−
ARG1: BPTR Lock on directory ARG2 is relative to
  
−
ARG2: BSTR Name of the link to be created (relative to ARG1)
  
−
ARG3: BPTR Lock on target object or name (for soft links).
  
−
ARG4: LONG Mode of link, either LINK_SOFT or LINK_HARD
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE
  
−  
−
This packet causes the file system to create a link to an already existing file or directory. There are two kinds of links, hard links and soft links. The basic difference between them is that a file system resolves a hard link itself, while the file system passes a string back to DOS telling it where to find a soft linked file or directory. To the packet level programmer, there is essentially no difference between referencing a file by its original name or by its hard link name. In the case of a hard link, ARG3 is a lock on the file or directory that the link is linked to, while in a soft link, ARG3 is a pointer (CPTR) to a C-style string.
  
−  
−
In an over-simplified model of the ROM file system, when asked to locate a file, the system scans a disk looking for a file header with a specific (file) name. That file header points to the actual file data somewhere on the disk. With hard links, more than one file header can point to the same file data, so data can be referenced by more than one name. When the user tries to delete a hard link to a file, the system first checks to see if there are any other hard links to the file. If there are, only the hard link is deleted, the actual file data the hard link used to reference remains, so the existing hard links can still use it. In the case where the original link (not a hard or soft link) to a file is deleted, the file system will make one of its hard links the new ''real'' link to the file. Hard links can exist on directories as well. Because hard links ''link'' directly to the underlying media, hard links in one file system cannot reference objects in another file system.
  
−  
−
Soft links are resolved through DOS calls. When the file system scans a disk for a file or directory name and finds that the name is a soft link, it returns an error code (ERROR_IS_SOFT_LINK). If this happens, the application must ask the file system to tell it what the link the link refers to by calling ACTION_READ_LINK. Soft Links are stored on the media, but instead of pointing directly to data on the disk, a soft link contains a path to its object. This path can be relative to the lock in ARG1, relative to the volume (where the string will be prepended by a colon ':'), or an absolute path. An absolute path contains the name of another volume, so a soft link can reference files and directories on other disks.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_READ_LINK''' 1024 ReadLink(port,lck,nam,buf,len)
  
−
ARG1: BPTR Lock on directory that ARG2 is relative to
  
−
ARG2: CPTR Path and name of link (relative to ARG1).
  
−
NOTE: This is a C string not a BSTR
  
−
ARG3: APTR Buffer for new path string
  
−
ARG4: LONG Size of buffer in bytes
  
−
 
−
RES1: LONG Actual length of returned string, -2 if there isn't
  
−
enough space in buffer,or -1 for other errors
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code
  
−  
−
This action reads a link and returns a path name to the link's object. The link's name (plus any necessary path) is passed as a CPTR (ARG2) which points to a C-style string, not a BSTR. ACTION_READ_LINK returns the path name in ARG3. The length of the target string is returned in RES1 (or a -1 indicating an error).
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_CHANGE_MODE''' 1028 ChangeMode(type,obj,mode)
  
−
ARG1: LONG Type of object to change - either CHANGE_FH
  
−
or CHANGE_LOCK
  
−
ARG2: BPTR object to be changed
  
−
ARG3: LONG New mode for object - see ACTION_FINDINPUT,
  
−
and ACTION_LOCATE_OBJECT
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE
  
−  
−
This action requests that the handler change the mode of the given file handle or lock to the mode in ARG3. This request should fail if the handler can't change the mode as requested (for example an exclusive request for an object that has multiple users).
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_COPY_DIR_FH''' 1030 DupLockFromFH(fh)
  
−
ARG1: LONG fh_Arg1 of file handle
  
−
 
−
RES1: BPTR Lock associated with file handle or NULL
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 = NULL
  
−  
−
This action requests that the handler return a lock associated with the currently opened file handle. The request may fail for any restriction imposed by the file system (for example when the file handle is not opened in a shared mode). The file handle is still usable after this call, unlike the lock in ACTION_FH_FROM_LOCK.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_PARENT_FH''' 1031 ParentOfFH(fh)
  
−
ARG1: LONG fh_Arg1 of File handle to get parent of
  
−
 
−
RES1: BPTR Lock on parent of a file handle
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 = NULL
  
−  
−
This action obtains a lock on the parent directory (or root of the volume if at the top level) for a currently opened file handle. The lock is returned as a shared lock and must be freed. Note that unlike ACTION_COPY_DIR_FH, the mode of the file handle is unimportant. For an open file, ACTION_PARENT_FH should return a lock under all circumstances.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_EXAMINE_ALL''' 1033 ExAll(lock,buff,size,type,ctl)
  
−
ARG1: BPTR Lock on directory to examine
  
−
ARG2: APTR Buffer to store results
  
−
ARG3: LONG Length (in bytes) of buffer (ARG2)
  
−
ARG4: LONG Type of request - one of the following:
  
−
ED_NAME Return only file names
  
−
ED_TYPE Return above plus file type
  
−
ED_SIZE Return above plus file size
  
−
ED_PROTECTION Return above plus file protection
  
−
ED_DATE Return above plus 3 longwords of date
  
−
ED_COMMENT Return above plus comment or NULL
  
−
ARG5: BPTR Control structure to store state information. The control
  
−
structure must be allocated with AllocDosObject()!
  
−
 
−
RES1: LONG Continuation flag - DOSFALSE indicates termination
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE
  
−  
−
This action allows an application to obtain information on multiple directory entries. It is particularly useful for applications that need to obtain information on a large number of files and directories.
  
−  
−
This action fills the buffer (ARG2) with partial or whole ExAllData structures. The size of the ExAllData structure depends on the type of request. If the request type field (ARG4) is set to ED_NAME, only the ed_Name field is filled in. Instead of copying the unused fields of the ExAllData structure into the buffer, ACTION_EXAMINE_ALL truncates the unused fields. This effect is cumulative, so requests to fill in other fields in the ExAllData structure causes all fields that appear in the structure before the requested field will be filled in as well. Like the ED_NAME case mentioned above, any field that appears after the requested field will be truncated (see the ExAllData structure below). For example, if the request field is set to ED_COMMENT, ACTION_EXAMINE_ALL fills in all the fields of the ExAllData structure, because the ed_Comment field is last. This is the only case where the packet returns entire ExAllData structures.
  
−  
−
<syntaxhighlight>struct ExAllData {
  
−
struct ExAllData *ed_Next;
  
−
UBYTE *ed_Name;
  
−
LONG ed_Type;
  
−
ULONG ed_Size;
  
−
ULONG ed_Prot;
  
−
ULONG ed_Days;
  
−
ULONG ed_Mins;
  
−
ULONG ed_Ticks;
  
−
UBYTE *ed_Comment; /* strings will be after last used field. */
  
−
}; </syntaxhighlight>
  
−  
−
Each ExAllData structure entry has an ead_Next field which points to the next ExAllData structure. Using these links, a program can easily chain through the ExAllData structures without having to worry about how large the structure is. Do not examine the fields beyond those requested as they certainly will not be initialized (and will probably overlay the next entry).
  
−  
−
The most important part of this action is the ExAllControl structure. It must be allocated and freed through AllocDosObject()/FreeDosObject(). This allows the structure to grow if necessary with future revisions of the operating and file systems. Currently, ExAllControl contains four fields:
  
−  
−
* Entries - This field is maintained by the file system and indicates the actual number of entries present in the buffer after the action is complete. Note that a value of zero is possible here as no entries may match the match string.
  
−  
−
* LastKey - This field must be initialized to 0 by the calling application before using this packet for the first time. This field is maintained by the file system as a state indicator of the current place in the list of entries to be examined. The file system may test this field to determine if this is the first or a subsequent call to this action.
  
−  
−
* MatchString - This field points to a pattern matching string parsed by ParsePattern() or ParsePatternNoCase(). The string controls which directory entries are returned. If this field is NULL, then all entries are returned. Otherwise, this string is used to pattern match the names of all directory entries before putting them into the buffer. The default AmigaDOS pattern match routine is used unless MatchFunc is not NULL (see below). Note that it is not acceptable for the application to change this field between subsequent calls to this action for the same directory.
  
−  
−
* MatchFunc - This field contains a pointer to an alternate pattern matching routine to validate entries. If it is NULL then the standard AmigaDOS wild card routines will be used. Otherwise, MatchFunc points to a hook function that is called in the following manner:
  
−  
−
BOOL = MatchFunc(hookptr, data,typeptr)
  
−
A0 A1 A2
  
−
hookptr Pointer to hook being called
  
−
data Pointer to (partially) filled in ExAllData for item
  
−
being checked.
  
−
typeptr Pointer to longword indicating the type of the
  
−
ExAll request (ARG4).
  
−  
−
This function is expected to return DOSTRUE if the entry is acceptedand DOSFALSE if it is to be discarded.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_EXAMINE_FH''' 1034 ExamineFH(fh,fib)
  
−
ARG1: BPTR File handle on open file
  
−
ARG2: BPTR FileInfoBlock to fill in
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE
  
−  
−
This function examines a file handle and fills in the FileInfoBlock (found in ARG2) with information about the current state of the file. This routine is analogous to the ACTION_EXAMINE_OBJECT action for locks. Because it is not always possible to provide an accurate file size (for example when buffers have not been flushed or two processes are writing to a file), the fib_Size field (see dos/dos.h) may be inaccurate.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_ADD_NOTIFY''' 4097 StartNotify(NotifyRequest)
  
−
ARG1: BPTR NotifyRequest structure
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE
  
−  
−
This action asks a file system to notify the calling program if a particular file is altered. A file system notifies a program either by sending a message or by signaling a task.
  
−  
−
<syntaxhighlight>struct NotifyRequest {
  
−
UBYTE *nr_Name;
  
−
UBYTE *nr_FullName; /* set by dos - don't touch */
  
−
ULONG nr_UserData; /* for applications use */
  
−
ULONG nr_Flags;
  
−
 
−
union {
  
−
 
−
struct {
  
−
struct MsgPort *nr_Port; /* for SEND_MESSAGE */
  
−
} nr_Msg;
  
−
 
−
struct {
  
−
struct Task *nr_Task; /* for SEND_SIGNAL */
  
−
UBYTE nr_SignalNum; /* for SEND_SIGNAL */
  
−
UBYTE nr_pad[3];
  
−
} nr_Signal;
  
−
} nr_stuff;
  
−
 
−
ULONG nr_Reserved[4]; /* leave 0 for now */
  
−
 
−
/* internal use by handlers */
  
−
ULONG nr_MsgCount; /* # of outstanding msgs */
  
−
struct MsgPort *nr_Handler; /* handler sent to (for EndNotify) */
  
−
};</syntaxhighlight>
  
−  
−
To use this packet, an application needs to allocate and initialize a NotifyRequest structure (see above). As of this writing, NotifyRequest structures are not allocated by AllocDosObject(), but this may change in the future. The handler gets the watched file's name from the nr_FullName field. The current file system does not currently support wild cards in this field, although there is nothing to prevent other handlers from doing so.
  
−  
−
The string in nr_FullName must be an absolute path, including the name of the root volume (no assigns). The absolute path is necessary because the file or its parent directories do not have to exist when the notification is set up. This allows notification on files in directories that do not yet exist. Notification will not occur until the directories and file are created.
  
−  
−
An application that uses the StartNotify() DOS call does not fill in the NotifyRequest's nr_FullName field, but instead fills in the nr_Name field. StartNotify() takes the name from the nr_Name field and uses GetDeviceProc() and NameFromLock() to expand any assigns (such as ENV:), storing the result in nr_FullName. Any application utilizing the packet level interface instead of StartNotify() must expand their own assigns. Handlers must not count on nr_Name being correct.
  
−  
−
The notification type depends on which bit is set in the NotifyRequest.nr_Flags field. If the NRF_SEND_MESSAGE bit is set, an application receives notification of changes to the file through a message (see NotifyMessage from dos/notify.h). In this case, the nr_Port field must point to the message port that will receive the notifying message . If the nr_Flags NRF_SEND_SIGNAL bit is set, the file system will signal a task instead of sending a message. In this case, nr_Task points to the task and nr_SignalNum is the signal number. Only one of these two bits should be set!
  
−  
−
When an application wants to limit the number of NotifyMessages an handler can send per NotifyRequest, the application sets the NRF_WAIT_REPLY bit in the nr_Flags field. This bit tells the handler not to send new NotifyMessages to a NotifyRequest's message port if the application has not returned a previous NotifyMessage. This pertains only to a specific NotifyRequest--if other NotifyRequests exist on the same file (or directory) the handler will still send NotifyMessages to the other NotifyRequest's message ports. The NRF_WAIT_REPLY bit only applies to message notification.
  
−  
−
If an application needs to know if a file or directory exists at the time the application sets up notification on that file or directory, the application can set the NRF_NOTIFY_INITIAL bit in the nr_Flags field. If the file or directory exists, the handler sends an initial message or gives an initial signal.
  
−  
−
Handlers should only perform a notification when the actual contents of the file have changed. This includes ACTION_WRITE, ACTION_SET_DATE, ACTION_DELETE, ACTION_RENAME_OBJECT, ACTION_FINDUPDATE, ACTION_FINDINPUT, and ACTION_FINDOUTPUT. It may also include other actions such as ACTION_SET_COMMENT or ACTION_SET_PROTECT, but this is not required (and may not be expected by the application as there is no need to reread the data).
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_REMOVE_NOTIFY''' 4098 EndNotify(NotifyRequest)
 
−
ARG1: BPTR Pointer to previously added notify request
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE
  
−  
−
This action cancels a notification (see ACTION_ADD_NOTIFY) . ARG1 is the NotifyRequest structure used to initiate the notification. The handler should abandon any pending notification messages. Note that it is possible for a file system to receive a reply from a previously sent notification message even after the notification has been terminated. It should accept these messages silently and throw them away.
  
−  
−
== Volume Manipulation/Information ==
  
−  
−
The Volume Manipulation and Information actions are used to allow access to the underlying volume currently being manipulated by the file system.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_CURRENT_VOLUME''' 7 ''sendpkt only''
  
−
RES1: BPTR Pointer to volume node of current volume
  
−  
−
This action returns a pointer to the volume node (from the DOS device list) associated with the file system. As the volume node may be removed from the device list when the file system mounts a different volume (such as when directed to by an ACTION_INHIBIT) there is no guarantee that this pointer will remain valid for any amount of time. This action is generally used by AmigaDOS to provide the volume line of a requester.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_DISK_INFO''' 25 Info(...)
  
−
ARG1: BPTR Pointer to an InfoData structure to fill in
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
 
−
'''ACTION_INFO''' 26 <sendpkt only>
  
−
ARG1: LOCK Lock
  
−
ARG2: BPTR Pointer to a InfoData Structure to fill in
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−  
−
These actions are used to get information about the device and status of the file handler. ACTION_DISK_INFO is used by the info command to report the status of the volume currently in the drive. It fills in an InfoData structure about the volume the file system currently controls. This structure should be longword aligned. ACTION_INFO fills in an InfoData structure for the volume the lock (ARG1) is on instead of the volume currently in the drive. These actions are generally expected to return DOSTRUE.
  
−  
−
The ACTION_DISK_INFO packet has a special meaning for console style handlers. When presented with this packet, a console style handler should return a pointer to the window associated with the open handle.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_RENAME_DISK''' 9 Relabel(...) in 2.0
  
−
ARG1: BSTR New disk name
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−  
−
This action allows an application to change the name of the current volume. A file system implementing this function must also change the name stored in the volume node of the DOS device list.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_FORMAT''' 1020 Format(fs,vol,type)
  
−
ARG1: BSTR Name for volume (if supported)
  
−
ARG2: LONG Type of format (file system specific)
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE
  
−  
−
This packet tells a file system to perform any device or file system specific formatting on any newly initialized media. Upon receiving this action, a file system can assume that the media has already been low level formatted and should proceed to write out any high level disk structure necessary to create an empty volume.
  
−  
−
== Handler Maintenance and Control ==
  
−  
−
A number of packets are defined to give an application some control over a file system:
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_DIE''' 5 ''sendpkt only''
  
−
RES1: BOOL DOSTRUE
  
−  
−
As its name implies, the ACTION_DIE packet tells a handler to quit. All new handlers are expected to implement this packet. Because of outstanding locks and the fact that the handler address is returned by the DeviceProc() routine, it is unlikely that the handler can disappear completely, but instead will have to release as many resources as possible and simply return an error on all packets sent to it.
  
−  
−
In the future, the system may be able to determine if there are any outstanding DeviceProc() references to a handler, and therefore make it is safe to shut down completely.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_FLUSH''' 27 ''sendpkt only''
  
−
RES1: BOOL DOSTRUE
  
−  
−
This action causes the file system to flush out all buffers to disk before returning this packet. If any writes are pending, they must be processed before responding to this packet. This packet allows an application to make sure that the data that is supposed to be on the disk is actually written to the disk instead of waiting in a buffer.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_MORE_CACHE''' 18 AddBuffers(...) in 2.0
  
−
ARG1: LONG Number of buffers to add
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL DOSTRUE (-1L)
  
−
RES2: LONG New total number of buffers
  
−  
−
This action allows an application to change the number of internal buffers used by the file system for caching. Note that a positive number increases the number of buffers while a negative number decreases the number of buffers. In all cases, the number of current buffers should be returned in RES2. This allows an application to inquire the number of buffers by sending in a value of 0 (resulting in no change). Note that the OFS and FFS in 1.3 do not accept a negative number of buffers.
  
−  
−
Note that there is a bug in the ROM file system in both Release 2.04 and Release 3.0 that jumbles its return values for this packet. The file system erroneously returns the new number of buffers in RES1 instead of RES2 (it returns a failure code in RES2). To work around this bug when using this packet, test RES1 to see if it is DOSTRUE (-1L). If it is, look at RES2 for the number of buffers, otherwise RES1 should contain the new total number of buffers.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_INHIBIT''' 31 Inhibit(...) in 2.0
  
−
ARG1: BOOL DOSTRUE = inhibit, DOSFALSE = uninhibit
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−  
−
This action is probably one of the most dangerous that a file system has to handle. When inhibited (ARG1 = DOSTRUE), the file system must not access any underlying media and return an error code on all attempts to access the device. Once uninhibited (ARG1 = DOSFALSE), the file system must assume that the medium has been changed. The file system must flush the buffers before the ACTION_INHIBIT, popping up a requester demanding that the user put back the current disk, if necessary. The handler may choose to reject an inhibit request if any objects are open for writing.
  
−  
−
Although it's not required, a handler should nest inhibits. Prior to 2.0, the system handlers did not keep a nesting count and were subject to some obscure race conditions. The 2.0 ROM filing system introduced a nesting count.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_WRITE_PROTECT''' 1023 ''sendpkt only''
  
−
ARG1: BOOL DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE (write protect /un-write protect)
  
−
ARG2: LONG 32 Bit pass key
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE
  
−  
−
This is a new packet defined for the Fast File System. This packet allows an application to change the write protect flag of a disk (if possible - applications cannot write to floppies that have their write-protect tabs set). This packet is primarily intended to allow write-protecting non-removable media such as hard disks. The value in ARG1 toggles the write status. The 32-bit passkey allows a program to prevent other programs from unwrite-protecting a disk. To unlock a disk, ARG2 must match the passkey of the packet that locked the disk, unless the disk was locked with a passkey of 0. In this case, no passkey is necessary to unlock the disk.
  
−  
−
Packet Mnemonic ID Function Syntax
  
−
======================== ======= ==========================
  
−
'''ACTION_IS_FILESYSTEM''' 1027 IsFileSystem(devname)
  
−
 
−
RES1: BOOL Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
  
−
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE
  
−  
−
Through this function, a handler can indicates whether or not it is a file system (whether or not it can support separate files for storing information). Programs will assume a handler can create multiple, distinct files through calls to Open() if the handler returns this packet with a DOSTRUE value. A handler does not need to support directories and subdirectories in order to qualify as a file system. It does have to support the Examine()/ExNext() calls.
  
−  
−
Note that the AmigaDOS routine IsFileSystem() will attempt to use Lock(\":\",SHARED_ACCESS) if this packet returns ERROR_ACTION_NOT_KNOWN.
  
−  
−
== Handler Internal ==
  
−  
−
== Obsolete Packets ==
  
−  
−
== Console Only Packets ==
  
−  
−
== Summary of Defined Packet Numbers ==
  
−  
−
''The following text was copied from an AmigaMail issue which coincided with the release of OS 2.0. The packet IDs may have changed and will be updated here to reflect new/changed packet IDs/actions as of OS 4.1.
  
−
''
  
−  
−
This is a listing of all the DOS packets defined by Commodore with the release of OS 2.0. Packets 0-1999 are reserved for use by Commodore. Unless otherwise noted, packets 2050-2999 are reserved for use by third party developers (see chart below). The remaining packets are reserved for future expansion (Note: packets 2008, 2009, 4097, and 4098 are in use by Commodore).
  
−  
−
Decimal Hex Action #define
  
−
======= ======= ================
  
−
0 0x0000 ACTION_NIL
  
−
1 <Reserved by Commodore>
  
−
2 0x0002 ACTION_GET_BLOCK
  
−
3 <Reserved by Commodore>
  
−
4 0x0004 ACTION_SET_MAP
  
−
5 0x0005 ACTION_DIE
  
−
6 0x0006 ACTION_EVENT
  
−
7 0x0007 ACTION_CURRENT_VOLUME
  
−
8 0x0008 ACTION_LOCATE_OBJECT
  
−
9 0x0009 ACTION_RENAME_DISK
  
−
10-14 <Reserved by Commodore>
  
−
15 0x000F ACTION_FREE_LOCK
  
−
16 0x0010 ACTION_DELETE_OBJECT
  
−
17 0x0011 ACTION_RENAME_OBJECT
  
−
18 0x0012 ACTION_MORE_CACHE
  
−
19 0x0013 ACTION_COPY_DIR
  
−
20 0x0014 ACTION_WAIT_CHAR
  
−
21 0x0015 ACTION_SET_PROTECT
  
−
22 0x0016 ACTION_CREATE_DIR
  
−
23 0x0017 ACTION_EXAMINE_OBJECT
  
−
24 0x0018 ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT
  
−
25 0x0019 ACTION_DISK_INFO
  
−
26 0x001A ACTION_INFO
  
−
27 0x001B ACTION_FLUSH
  
−
28 0x001C ACTION_SET_COMMENT
  
−
29 0x001D ACTION_PARENT
  
−
30 0x001E ACTION_TIMER
  
−
31 0x001F ACTION_INHIBIT
  
−
32 0x0020 ACTION_DISK_TYPE
  
−
33 0x0021 ACTION_DISK_CHANGE
  
−
34 0x0022 ACTION_SET_DATE
  
−
35-39 <Reserved by Commodore>
  
−
40 0x0028 ACTION_SAME_LOCK
  
−
41-81 <Reserved by Commodore>
  
−
82 0x0052 ACTION_READ
  
−
83-86 <Reserved by Commodore>
  
−
87 0x0057 ACTION_WRITE
  
−
88-993 <Reserved by Commodore>
  
−
994 0x03E2 ACTION_SCREEN_MODE
  
−
995 0x03E3 ACTION_CHANGE_SIGNAL
  
−
996-1000 <Reserved by Commodore>
  
−
1001 0x03E9 ACTION_READ_RETURN
  
−
1002 0x03EA ACTION_WRITE_RETURN
  
−
1003 <Reserved by Commodore>
  
−
1004 0x03EC ACTION_FINDUPDATE
  
−
1005 0x03ED ACTION_FINDINPUT
  
−
1006 0x03EE ACTION_FINDOUTPUT
  
−
1007 0x03EF ACTION_END
  
−
1008 0x03F0 ACTION_SEEK
  
−
1009-1019 <Reserved by Commodore>
  
−
1020 0x03FC ACTION_FORMAT
  
−
1021 0x03FD ACTION_MAKE_LINK
  
−
1022 0x03FE ACTION_SET_FILE_SIZE
  
−
1023 0x03FF ACTION_WRITE_PROTECT
  
−
1024 0x0400 ACTION_READ_LINK
  
−
1025 <Reserved by Commodore>
  
−
1026 0x0402 ACTION_FH_FROM_LOCK
  
−
1027 0x0403 ACTION_IS_FILESYSTEM
  
−
1028 0x0404 ACTION_CHANGE_MODE
  
−
1029 <Reserved by Commodore>
  
−
1030 0x0406 ACTION_COPY_DIR_FH
  
−
1031 0x0407 ACTION_PARENT_FH
  
−
1032 <Reserved by Commodore>
  
−
1033 0x0409 ACTION_EXAMINE_ALL
  
−
1034 0x040A ACTION_EXAMINE_FH
  
−
1035-2007 <Reserved by Commodore>
  
−
2008 0x07D8 ACTION_LOCK_RECORD
  
−
2009 0x07D9 ACTION_FREE_RECORD
  
−
2010-2049 <Reserved by Commodore>
  
−
2050-2999 <Reserved for 3rd Party Handlers>
  
−
4097 0x1001 ACTION_ADD_NOTIFY
  
−
4098 0x1002 ACTION_REMOVE_NOTIFY
  
−
4099- <Reserved by Commodore for Future Expansion>
  
   
 
= Using Packets Directly =
  
= Using Packets Directly =
   
  +
AmigaDOS contains many features that can only be accessed by sending a packet directly to a process. For example, the ACTION_DISK_INFO packet may be used to find the Intuition window pointer of a CON: or RAW: window. This is useful for redirecting system requesters so that they appear where the user can see them (see "Redirecting System Requesters" above). The Window pointer will be returned in the ID_VolumeNode field, and a pointer to the console's I/O request will be returned in the ID_InUse field. Note that auxiliary consoles (AUX:) can return a NULL Window pointer, and also may have no ConUnit (io_Unit) associated with their I/O request block. Be careful to check for these possibilities when you use this packet. If your application runs in a CLI window, a user may be running you in an auxiliary (AUX:) CLI.
−
AmigaDOS contains many features that can only be accessed by sending a
  
−
packet directly to a process. For example, the ACTION_DISK_INFO packet may
  
−
be used to find the Intuition window pointer of a CON: or RAW: window.
  
−
This is useful for redirecting system requesters so that they appear where
  
−
the user can see them (see "Redirecting System Requesters" above). The Window
  
−
pointer will be returned in the ID_VolumeNode field, and a pointer to the
  
−
console's I/O request will be returned in the ID_InUse field. Note that
  
−
auxilary consoles (AUX:) can return a NULL Window pointer, and also may
  
−
have no ConUnit (io_Unit) associated with their I/O request block. Be
  
−
careful to check for these possibilities when you use this packet. If your
  
−
application runs in a CLI window, a user may be running you in an auxilary
  
−
(AUX:) CLI.
  
   
−
Another example is the ACTION_SCREENMODE_MODE packet which can be sent
 +
Another example is the ACTION_SCREENMODE_MODE packet which can be sent to the handler process of a CON: window to put the console into raw or cooked mode.
−
to the handler process of a CON: window to put the console into raw or
  
−
cooked mode.
  
   
  +
By default, CON: provides mapped keyboard input which is filtered, buffered, and automatically echoed. Many of the special key escape sequences (such as those generated by the function, cursor, and help keys) are filtered out; all strokes are buffered and held back from the reader until the user hits the RETURN key; and the nonfiltered keypresses (such
−
By default, CON: provides mapped keyboard input which is filtered,
  
  +
as alphanumeric keys and backspace) are automatically echoed to the CON: window. This "cooked" mode is perfect for general line input from a user because it provides automatic line editing features (same as in the Shell command line).
−
buffered, and automatically echoed. Many of the special key escape
  
−
sequences (such as those generated by the function, cursor, and help keys)
  
−
are filtered out; all strokes are buffered and held back from the reader
  
−
until the user hits the RETURN key; and the nonfiltered keypresses (such
  
−
as alphanumeric keys and backspace) are automatically echoed to the CON:
  
−
window. This "cooked" mode is perfect for general line input from a user
  
−
because it provides automatic line editing features (same as in the Shell
  
−
command line).
  
   
−
Sometimes, however, an application needs to get individual keys
 +
Sometimes, however, an application needs to get individual keys immediately from a CON: window, or control its own echoing, or receive the escape strings that the keymap generates for special keys such as the Help key or cursor keys.
−
immediately from a CON: window, or control its own echoing, or receive the
  
−
escape strings that the keymap generates for special keys such as the Help
  
−
key or cursor keys.
  
   
  +
In this case, an ACTION_SCREEN_MODE packet with the argument DOSTRUE (-1) may be sent to the MsgPort of a CON: window to put the CON: into "raw" mode. In raw mode, a CON: behaves much like a RAW: window. Keyboard console input is not automatically filtered, buffered, or echoed. When reading a CON: which has been set to "raw" mode, each keypress can be read immediately as the ASCII value or string to which the key is mapped by the keymap.
−
In this case, an ACTION_SCREEN_MODE packet with the argument DOSTRUE
  
−
(-1) may be sent to the MsgPort of a CON: window to put the CON: into
  
−
"raw" mode. In raw mode, a CON: behaves much like a RAW: window. Keyboard
  
−
console input is not automatically filtered, buffered, or echoed. When
  
−
reading a CON: which has been set to "raw" mode, each keypress can be read
  
−
immediately as the ASCII value or string to which the key is mapped by the
  
−
keymap.
  
   
−
For some applications, it may be convenient to toggle a CON: window
 +
For some applications, it may be convenient to toggle a CON: window between cooked and raw modes, to use cooked mode for use line input, and raw mode when keypresses should cause immediate actions.
−
between cooked and raw modes, to use cooked mode for use line input, and
  
−
raw mode when keypresses should cause immediate actions.
  
   
−
ACTION_SCREEN_MODE with the argument DOSFALSE (0L) will place a CON:
 +
ACTION_SCREEN_MODE with the argument DOSFALSE (0L) will place a CON: window in cooked mode. Note that the ACTION_SCREEN_MODE packet may also be used on auxiliary (AUX:) consoles.
−
window in cooked mode. Note that the ACTION_SCREEN_MODE packet may also be
  
−
used on auxilary (AUX:) consoles.
  
   
  +
The handler MsgPort of most named AmigaDOS devices (like DF0:) can be found with the DeviceProc() function. Note that DeviceProc() cannot be used to find a CON: or RAW: handler because there may be many handlers for each of these. The handler MsgPort (ProcessID) of a CON: or RAW: window is in its FileHandle structure (fh_Type). The MsgPort of a CLI process's "*" window is process->pr_ConsoleTask.
−
The handler MsgPort of most named AmigaDOS devices (like DF0:) can be
  
−
found with the DeviceProc() function. Note that DeviceProc() cannot be
  
−
used to find a CON: or RAW: handler because there may be many handlers for
  
−
each of these. The handler MsgPort (ProcessID) of a CON: or RAW: window is
  
−
in its FileHandle structure (fh_Type). The MsgPort of a CLI process's "*"
  
−
window is process->pr_ConsoleTask.
  
   
−
Here's how to find the MsgPort of a handler process (in all cases make
 +
Here's how to find the MsgPort of a handler process (in all cases make sure that port is non-NULL before using it):
−
sure that port is non-NULL before using it):
  
   
 
Finding the MsgPort of a unique named handler process such as "DF0:":
  
Finding the MsgPort of a unique named handler process such as "DF0:":
  +
<syntaxhighlight>
−
<pre>
  
−
port = (struct MsgPort *) DeviceProc("DF1:");
 +
port = (struct MsgPort *) IDOS->DeviceProc("DF1:");
  +
</syntaxhighlight>
−
</pre>
  
   
 
Finding the MsgPort of the handler process for an open file:
  
Finding the MsgPort of the handler process for an open file:
  +
<syntaxhighlight>
−
<pre>
  
−
fh = Open("CON:0/40/640/140/Test", MODE_NEWFILE);
 +
fh = IDOS->Open("CON:0/40/640/140/Test", MODE_NEWFILE);
 
if ((fh) && (fh->Type))
  
if ((fh) && (fh->Type))
 
{ /* if Open() succeeded and fh_Type is non-NULL */
  
{ /* if Open() succeeded and fh_Type is non-NULL */
Line 967: Line 459:
 
(((struct FileHandle *) (fh << 2))->fh_Type);
  
(((struct FileHandle *) (fh << 2))->fh_Type);
 
}
  
}
  +
</syntaxhighlight>
−
</pre>
  
   
 
Finding the MsgPort of your process's console handler:
  
Finding the MsgPort of your process's console handler:
  +
<syntaxhighlight>
−
<pre>
  
−
struct Task* task = FindTask(NULL);
 +
struct Task* task = IExec->FindTask(NULL);
 
if (task->tc_Node.ln_Type == NT_PROCESS)
  
if (task->tc_Node.ln_Type == NT_PROCESS)
 
{ /* port may be NULL - check before using! */
  
{ /* port may be NULL - check before using! */
 
port = ((struct Process *) task)->pr_ConsoleTask;
  
port = ((struct Process *) task)->pr_ConsoleTask;
 
}
  
}
  +
</syntaxhighlight>
−
</pre>
  
   
−
Packets are sent by initializing a longword-aligned StandardPacket
 +
Packets are sent by initializing a longword-aligned StandardPacket structure and sending the packet to the MsgPort of a handler process.
−
structure and sending the packet to the MsgPort of a handler process.
  
   
−
The dos.library provides new simple functions for sending and
 +
The dos.library provides simple functions for sending and replying to packets:
−
replying to packets:
  
   
  +
{| class="wikitable"
−
SendPkt() - asynchronously send your initialized packet
  
  +
| SendPkt() || asynchronously send your initialized packet
−
WaitPkt() - wait for asynchronous packet to complete
  
  +
|-
−
ReplyPkt() - reply a packet which has been sent to you
  
−
DoPkt() - creates and sends a packet, and waits for completion
 +
| WaitPkt() || wait for asynchronous packet to complete
  +
|-
  +
| ReplyPkt() || reply a packet which has been sent to you
  +
|-
  +
| DoPkt() || creates and sends a packet, and waits for completion
  +
|}

Latest revision as of 19:59, 2 October 2015

Introduction

Packet passing handles all communication performed by AmigaDOS between processes. The function diagram below shows how packets fit in with the other components of the Amiga operating system. 

   +--------------+
   | User Process +-----------------------+
   +-------+------+                       |
           |                              |
           |                              |
    Function Calls                        |
           |                              |
          \|/                             |
 +---------+--------+                     |
 | AmigaDOS Open(), |                     |
 |   Close(), etc.  |                     |
 +---------+--------+                     |
           |                              |
           |                              |
      +-Packets---+--------+     +-----Packets--------+
      |           |        |     |        |           |
     \|/         \|/      \|/   \|/      \|/         \|/
 +----+----+ +----+----+ +-+--+--+-+ +----+----+ +----+----+
 | FFS/OFS | | FFS/OFS | | FFS/OFS | |   CON:  | |   CON:  |
 |   DH0:  | |   DF0:  | |   DF1:  | | Window1 | | Window2 |
 | Handler | | Handler | | Handler | | Handler | | Handler |
 | Process | | Process | | Process | | Process | | Process |
 +----+----+ +-------+-+ +----+----+ +----+----+ +----+----+
      |              |        |           |           |
     \|/            \|/      \|/         \|/         \|/
 +----+--------+  +--+--------+----+ +----+-----------+----+
 |Hddisk.device|  |Trackdisk.device| |    Console.device   |
 +-------------+  +----------------+ +---------------------+

A StandardPacket (defined in <dos/dosextens.h>) is used to send packet commands to a process's MsgPort. The StandardPacket structure contains an Exec Message structure and an AmigaDOS DOSPacket structure: 

    struct StandardPacket
    {   struct Message   sp_Msg;
        struct DOSPacket sp_Pkt;
    };

This structure must be longword-aligned, and initialized to link the Message and DOSPacket sections to each other: 

    packet->sp_Msg.mn_Node.ln_Name = (char *) &(packet->sp_Pkt);
    packet->sp_Pkt.dp_Link         = &(packet->sp_Msg);

Packets must also be initialized with a ReplyPort which is created with AllocSysObject(): 

    if (replyport = (struct MsgPort *) IExec->AllocSysObjectTags(ASOT_PORT, TAG_END))
        packet->sp_Pkt.dp_Port = replyport;

The DOSPacket portion of the StandardPacket structure is used to pass the packet type and arguments, and to receive the results of the packet. The argument types, number of arguments, and results vary for different packet types and are documented with each packet description. A DOSPacket must be longword-aligned and has the following general structure:

Type Name Description
struct Message* dp_Link Pointer back to Exec message structure
struct Message* dp_Port Reply port for the packet. Must be filled in each send
int32 dp_Type Packet type
int32 dp_Res1 For file system calls this is the result that would have been returned by the function; eg. Write("W") returns actual length written.
int32 dp_Res2 For file system calls this is what would have been returned by IoErr()
int32 dp_Arg1 Argument 1 (depends on packet type)
int32 dp_Arg2 Argument 2 (depends on packet type)
int32 dp_Arg3 Argument 3 (depends on packet type)
int32 dp_Arg4 Argument 4 (depends on packet type)
int32 dp_Arg5 Argument 5 (depends on packet type)
int32 dp_Arg6 Argument 6 (depends on packet type)
int32 dp_Arg7 Argument 7 (depends on packet type)

The format of a specific packet depends on its type; but in all cases it contains a back-pointer to the Message structure, the MsgPort for the reply, and two result fields. When AmigaDOS sends a packet, the reply port is overwritten with the process ID of the sender so that the packet can be returned. Thus, when sending a packet to an AmigaDOS handler process, you must fill in the reply MsgPort each time; otherwise when the packet returns, AmigaDOS has overwritten the original port. AmigaDOS maintains all other fields except the result fields.

All AmigaDOS packets are sent to the message port created as part of a process; this message port is initialized so that arriving messages cause signal bit 8 to be set. An AmigaDOS process that is waiting for a message waits for signal 8 to be set. When the process wakes up because this event has occurred, GetMsg() takes the message from the message port and extracts the packet address. If the process is an AmigaDOS handler process, then the packet contains a value in the PktType field that indicates an action to be performed, such as reading some data. The argument fields contain specific information such as the size of the buffer where the characters go.

When the handler process has completed the work required to satisfy this request, the packet returns to the sender, using the same message structure. Both the message structure and the packet structure must be allocated by the client and not deallocated before the reply has been received. Normally AmigaDOS is called by the client to send the packet, such as when a call to Read() is made. However, there are cases where asynchronous I/O is required, and in this case the client may send packets to the handler process as required. The packet and message structures must be allocated, and the process ID field filled in with the message port where this packet must return. A call to PutMsg() then sends the message to the destination. Note that many packets may be sent out, returning to either the same or different message ports.

Packet Types

Packets sent to a file system or handler can be divided into several basic categories:

Basic Input/Output
These actions deal with transferring data to and from objects controlled by the handler.
File/Directory Manipulation/Information
These actions are used to gain access to and manipulate the high level structures of the file system.
Volume Manipulation/Information
These actions allow access to the specific volume controlled by the file system.
Handler Maintenance and Control
These allow control over the handler/file system itself, independent of the actual volume or structure underneath.
Handler Internal
These actions are never sent to the handler directly. Instead they are generally responses to IO requests made by the handler.
Obsolete Packets
These packets are no longer valid for use by handlers/file systems.
Deprecated Packets
These packets are superceded by new ones with updated functionality and file systems/handlers should avoid implementing these packets at all and let dos.library emulate the old and limited functionality.
Console Only Packets
These packets are specific to console handlers.
File Systems can ignore these packets.

Each packet type documented in this section is listed with its action name, its corresponding number, any AmigaDOS routines that use this packet, and the list of parameters that the packet uses. The C variable types for the packet parameters are one of the following types:

Type Description
BPTR This is BCPL pointer (an address which is right shifted by 2). This means that the object must be aligned on a 32 bit address.
BSTR This is a BCPL pointer to a string where the first byte indicates the number of characters in the string. This length byte is unsigned but because it is stored in only 8 bits, the strings are limited to 255 characters in length before V52 of dos.library.

As of V52+ dos.library, "extended BSTR" (XBSTR) strings can be sent to handlers and file systems from dos.library for extensibility reasons, while still maintaining legacy backward compatibility. These extended BSTR strings are in the same format as a legacy BSTR string but are guaranteed to have a null-terminator byte added to the end, and the length byte of these will be correct only up to 255 characters, past that length, the length byte will always read 255 (0xFF) and is there just for limited legacy compatibility. These extended BSTR strings are always documented and identified by having an additional dospacket identifier parameter supplied, consult the individual DOS packet documentation for details.

See also ACTION_INHIBIT_DOS_LONGPATH_HANDLING for details on this DOS packet and how to formally control the use of XBSTR strings.

BOOLEAN A 32-bit boolean value which is either ZERO or NON-ZERO. For implementation purposes, non-zero boolean values should be -1 this is also defined as DOSTRUE. However for compatibility reasons, performing equality comparisons with any value other than zero is absolutely forbidden, only 0 or FALSE may be used in a value comparison test.

See the dos.doc file introduction paragraph for more details on this issue.

RESULT1 A 32 bit primary result code as defined for the function.
RESULT2 A 32 bit error code as defined in the dos/errors.h include file. Handlers should not return error codes besides those defined. For some functions a secondary result can also be returned here upon success.

Summary of Defined Packet Numbers

Summary of defined packet numbers, as of DOS library version 53.71

This is a listing of all the DOS packets defined by Commodore and other relevant authorities since.

Unless otherwise noted, packets 2050-2999 and 8500-8999 are reserved for use by third party developers (see chart below).

All remaining packets are reserved for future OS expansion.

Decimal Hex Action #define Status
0 0x0000 ACTION_NIL or ACTION_STARTUP
1 <Reserved for operating system>
2 0x0002 ACTION_GET_BLOCK Obsolete
3 <Reserved for operating system>
4 0x0004 ACTION_SET_MAP Obsolete
5 0x0005 ACTION_DIE Deprecated
6 0x0006 ACTION_EVENT Obsolete
7 0x0007 ACTION_CURRENT_VOLUME Obsolete
8 0x0008 ACTION_LOCATE_OBJECT
9 0x0009 ACTION_RENAME_DISK
10-14 <Reserved for operating system>
15 0x000F ACTION_FREE_LOCK
16 0x0010 ACTION_DELETE_OBJECT
17 0x0011 ACTION_RENAME_OBJECT
18 0x0012 ACTION_MORE_CACHE Deprecated
19 0x0013 ACTION_COPY_DIR or ACTION_COPY_LOCK
20 0x0014 ACTION_WAIT_CHAR
21 0x0015 ACTION_SET_PROTECT
22 0x0016 ACTION_CREATE_DIR
23 0x0017 ACTION_EXAMINE_OBJECT Deprecated
24 0x0018 ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT Deprecated
25 0x0019 ACTION_DISK_INFO
26 0x001A ACTION_INFO
27 0x001B ACTION_FLUSH
28 0x001C ACTION_SET_COMMENT
29 0x001D ACTION_PARENT
30 0x001E ACTION_TIMER Internal
31 0x001F ACTION_INHIBIT
32 0x0020 ACTION_DISK_TYPE Obsolete
33 0x0021 ACTION_DISK_CHANGE Obsolete
34 0x0022 ACTION_SET_DATE
35-39 <Reserved for operating system>
40 0x0028 ACTION_SAME_LOCK
41-52 <Reserved for operating system>
53 0x0035 ACTION_SAME_FH
54-81 <Reserved for operating system>
82 0x0052 ACTION_READ
83-86 <Reserved for operating system>
87 0x0057 ACTION_WRITE
88-993 <Reserved for operating system>
994 0x03E2 ACTION_SCREEN_MODE or ACTION_SINGLE_CHARACTER_MODE
995 0x03E3 ACTION_CHANGE_SIGNAL
996-1000 <Reserved for operating system>
1001 0x03E9 ACTION_READ_RETURN Internal
1002 0x03EA ACTION_WRITE_RETURN Internal
1003 0x03EB ACTION_INT_WRITE_RETURN Internal
1004 0x03EC ACTION_FINDUPDATE (MODE_READWRITE)
1005 0x03ED ACTION_FINDINPUT (MODE_OLDFILE)
1006 0x03EE ACTION_FINDOUTPUT (MODE_NEWFILE)
1007 0x03EF ACTION_END
1008 0x03F0 ACTION_SEEK Deprecated
1009 0x03F1 ACTION_ICONIFY Internal
1010-1019 <Reserved for operating system>
1020 0x03FC ACTION_FORMAT
1021 0x03FD ACTION_MAKE_LINK
1022 0x03FE ACTION_SET_FILE_SIZE Deprecated
1023 0x03FF ACTION_WRITE_PROTECT
1024 0x0400 ACTION_READ_LINK
1025 <Reserved for operating system>
1026 0x0402 ACTION_FH_FROM_LOCK
1027 0x0403 ACTION_IS_FILESYSTEM
1028 0x0404 ACTION_CHANGE_MODE
1029 <Reserved for operating system>
1030 0x0406 ACTION_COPY_DIR_FH
1031 0x0407 ACTION_PARENT_FH
1032 <Reserved for operating system>
1033 0x0409 ACTION_EXAMINE_ALL Deprecated
1034 0x040A ACTION_EXAMINE_FH Deprecated
1035 0x040B ACTION_EXAMINE_ALL_END Deprecated
1036 0x040C ACTION_SET_OWNER Deprecated
1037 0x040D ACTION_SET_OWNER_INFO
1038 <Reserved for operating system>
1039 0x040F ACTION_NEWMEMFILE Internal
1040 0x0410 ACTION_NEWMEMLOCK Internal
1041-1997 <Reserved for operating system>
1998 0x07CE ACTION_WAIT_FOR_DATA
1999 0x07CF ACTION_SET_BLOCKING_MODE
2000-2007 <Reserved for operating system>
2008 0x07D8 ACTION_LOCK_RECORD Optional
2009 0x07D9 ACTION_FREE_RECORD Optional
2010-2049 <Reserved for operating system>
2050-2999 <Reserved for 3rd Party Handlers>
3000 0x0BB8 ACTION_SHUTDOWN
3001 0x0BB9 ACTION_COLLECT
3002-3004 <Reserved for operating system>
3005 0x0BBD ACTION_FILESYSTEM_ATTR
3006 0x0BBE ACTION_OBTAIN_CON_INFO
3007 0x0BBF ACTION_RELEASE_CON_INFO
3008-3029 <Reserved for operating system>
3030 0x0BD6 ACTION_EXAMINEDATA
3031 0x0BD7 ACTION_EXAMINEDATA_FH
3032-3039 <Reserved for operating system>
3040 0x0BE0 ACTION_EXAMINEDATA_DIR
3041-4096 <Reserved for operating system>
4097 0x1001 ACTION_ADD_NOTIFY Optional
4098 0x1002 ACTION_REMOVE_NOTIFY Optional
4099-4199 <Reserved for operating system>
4200 0x1068 ACTION_SERIALIZE_DISK
4201 0x1069 ACTION_GET_DISK_FSSM
4202 0x106A ACTION_FREE_DISK_FSSM
4203-5322 <Reserved for operating system>
5323 0x14CB ACTION_INHIBIT_DOS_LONGPATH_HANDLING
5324-8000 <Reserved for operating system>
8001 0x1F41 ACTION_CHANGE_FILE_POSITION64
8002 0x1F42 ACTION_GET_FILE_POSITION64
8003 0x1F43 ACTION_CHANGE_FILE_SIZE64
8004 0x1F44 ACTION_GET_FILE_SIZE64
8005-8499 <Reserved for operating system 64 bit functions>
8500-8999 <Reserved for use by 3rd Party Handlers for 64 bit functions>
9000-... <Reserved for operating system>

Detailed DOS Packet Documentation

See the dos.dospackets.doc autodoc for all the detailed information regarding each DOS packet.

Using Packets Directly

AmigaDOS contains many features that can only be accessed by sending a packet directly to a process. For example, the ACTION_DISK_INFO packet may be used to find the Intuition window pointer of a CON: or RAW: window. This is useful for redirecting system requesters so that they appear where the user can see them (see "Redirecting System Requesters" above). The Window pointer will be returned in the ID_VolumeNode field, and a pointer to the console's I/O request will be returned in the ID_InUse field. Note that auxiliary consoles (AUX:) can return a NULL Window pointer, and also may have no ConUnit (io_Unit) associated with their I/O request block. Be careful to check for these possibilities when you use this packet. If your application runs in a CLI window, a user may be running you in an auxiliary (AUX:) CLI.

Another example is the ACTION_SCREENMODE_MODE packet which can be sent to the handler process of a CON: window to put the console into raw or cooked mode.

By default, CON: provides mapped keyboard input which is filtered, buffered, and automatically echoed. Many of the special key escape sequences (such as those generated by the function, cursor, and help keys) are filtered out; all strokes are buffered and held back from the reader until the user hits the RETURN key; and the nonfiltered keypresses (such as alphanumeric keys and backspace) are automatically echoed to the CON: window. This "cooked" mode is perfect for general line input from a user because it provides automatic line editing features (same as in the Shell command line).

Sometimes, however, an application needs to get individual keys immediately from a CON: window, or control its own echoing, or receive the escape strings that the keymap generates for special keys such as the Help key or cursor keys.

In this case, an ACTION_SCREEN_MODE packet with the argument DOSTRUE (-1) may be sent to the MsgPort of a CON: window to put the CON: into "raw" mode. In raw mode, a CON: behaves much like a RAW: window. Keyboard console input is not automatically filtered, buffered, or echoed. When reading a CON: which has been set to "raw" mode, each keypress can be read immediately as the ASCII value or string to which the key is mapped by the keymap.

For some applications, it may be convenient to toggle a CON: window between cooked and raw modes, to use cooked mode for use line input, and raw mode when keypresses should cause immediate actions.

ACTION_SCREEN_MODE with the argument DOSFALSE (0L) will place a CON: window in cooked mode. Note that the ACTION_SCREEN_MODE packet may also be used on auxiliary (AUX:) consoles.

The handler MsgPort of most named AmigaDOS devices (like DF0:) can be found with the DeviceProc() function. Note that DeviceProc() cannot be used to find a CON: or RAW: handler because there may be many handlers for each of these. The handler MsgPort (ProcessID) of a CON: or RAW: window is in its FileHandle structure (fh_Type). The MsgPort of a CLI process's "*" window is process->pr_ConsoleTask.

Here's how to find the MsgPort of a handler process (in all cases make sure that port is non-NULL before using it):

Finding the MsgPort of a unique named handler process such as "DF0:": 

    port = (struct MsgPort *) IDOS->DeviceProc("DF1:");

Finding the MsgPort of the handler process for an open file: 

    fh = IDOS->Open("CON:0/40/640/140/Test", MODE_NEWFILE);
    if ((fh) && (fh->Type))
    {   /* if Open() succeeded and fh_Type is non-NULL */
        port = (struct MsgPort *)
               (((struct FileHandle *) (fh << 2))->fh_Type);
    }

Finding the MsgPort of your process's console handler: 

    struct Task* task = IExec->FindTask(NULL);
    if (task->tc_Node.ln_Type == NT_PROCESS)
    {   /* port may be NULL - check before using! */
        port = ((struct Process *) task)->pr_ConsoleTask;
    }

Packets are sent by initializing a longword-aligned StandardPacket structure and sending the packet to the MsgPort of a handler process.

The dos.library provides simple functions for sending and replying to packets:

SendPkt() asynchronously send your initialized packet
WaitPkt() wait for asynchronous packet to complete
ReplyPkt() reply a packet which has been sent to you
DoPkt() creates and sends a packet, and waits for completion
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