TOS 4.0x FIX

                     Freeware by Charles F. Johnson
                      ½ 1994 CodeHead Technologies
                          All Rights Reserved

                              Version 1.0


Introduction
------------

For reasons known only to them, Atari changed some important things about
the GEMDOS portion of TOS when they developed TOS 4.0x, the Falcon version
of TOS.  Specifically, they changed the behavior of five operating system
functions -- Ddelete(), Fopen(), Frename(), Pexec(), and Fwrite() -- and
NOT for the better.  These changes caused serious incompatibilities to
appear in software that had worked flawlessly with every previous version
of TOS. 

As fate would have it, I wrote two programs that run afoul of Atari's
capricious GEMDOS changes: MaxiFile (for CodeHead Technologies) and Desk
Manager (for my own shareware company, LGF Software).  When run on a
Falcon, MaxiFile can't delete folders (because of the Ddelete() change)
and Desk Manager can't rename AUTO programs and DAs (because of the
Frename() change). 

Since Atari apparently has no plans to release a TOS ROM upgrade for the
Falcon to fix these problems, I decided to write this little patch program
as a show of support for CodeHead's and my customers.  TOS4_FIX brings
back the functionality of older TOS versions, and allows MaxiFile and Desk
Manager to work properly on a Falcon.  It may benefit other software as
well. 

Although TOS4_FIX is distributed as freeware, if it solves a problem for
you and you want to show your gratitude by sending $5, $2, 10 cents, or
even just a postcard, I certainly wouldn't be averse to receiving it! 
Send correspondence about TOS4_FIX to:

  Charles F. Johnson
  P.O. Box 1250
  Pacific Palisades, CA 90272


Installation
------------

Although TOS4_FIX can be run from the desktop like any other program, the
best way to install it is to copy it to the AUTO folder on your Falcon's
hard drive.  If you want it to help Desk Manager, make sure that TOS4_FIX
runs before Desk Manager in the bootup sequence. 

NOTE: programs in the AUTO folder run in the same order they were copied
into the folder.  One way to ensure that TOS4_FIX runs before Desk Manager
is to use a utility like AUTO_ORG (from the CodeHead Utilities package),
which lets you quickly specify the AUTO folder order.  If you don't have
such a utility, you can reorder the programs by moving them all to a
temporary folder, then moving them back in the order you want them to run.


Technical Info
--------------

TOS4_FIX patches the following GEMDOS calls:

  Ddelete() - allows a path specification with a trailing backslash.

  Fopen()   - allows wildcards in file specification.

  Frename() - allows wildcards in file specification.

  Pexec()   - allows wildcards in file specification.

  Fwrite()  - allows -3 as standard printer handle.  (Fixes LPRINT in GFA
              Basic, and printing blocks of text in STalker.)


Copyright
---------

Copyright 1994 CodeHead Technologies.  All Rights Reserved.

TOS4_FIX and its accompanying text file may be freely distributed, but we
retain the copyright.  To use in a commercial package or for any
commercial purpose, you must obtain permission from:

  CodeHead Technologies
  P.O. Box 74090
  Los Angeles, CA 90004

  Voice: (213) 386-5735
    FAX: (213) 386-5789