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DOS 3.3 Launcher v2.2
File: DOS33Launcher.shk (length: 40,710 bytes)
by John MacLean, v2.2 1996
now maintained by Andrew Roughan
Requirements
128k Enhanced Apple //e, //c, IIc+, or IIgs
5.25" drive (to read 5.25" diskettes)
ProDOS 3.5" disk drive, RAM disk, Zip disk, hard disk, ...
An appropriate program launcher (e.g. ProSel on 8-bit II's; Finder on
the IIgs)
UnShrink DOS33Launcher.shk using 8-bit ShrinkIt or GS-ShrinkIt. (Text docs
file is included.)
DOS 3.3 Launcher is a utility which permits running many DOS 3.3
programs from ProDOS-formatted 3.5" diskette, RAM disk, hard disk, or other
large media. It offers two major options:
1- You can save some DOS 3.3 programs to ProDOS disk (including 3.5" disk or
hard disk). These must be single-file programs that do not access the disk
once they are loaded into memory. DOS 3.3 Launcher's Copier is used to set
launch options.
2- Using the DOS 3.3 Launcher Copier, you can save an entire DOS 3.3 disk as
a disk image to a ProDOS 3.5" diskette, hard disk, etc.. According to
'Launcher's docs:
>>
Any disk that uses a standard RWTS (Read/Write Track/Sector) routine can be
copied in this manner. This includes not only DOS 3.3 disks, but also many
old games which use a standard RWTS, but are not actually DOS 3.3. They can
then be launched by DOS 3.3 Launcher, which "boots" the large file directly
from your hard disk.
<<
To run a program on a ProDOS-8, you start DOS 3.3 Launcher from a
program selector such as ProSel-8 which supports the ProDOS 8 startup
protocol-- i.e. it can make applications automatically open a data file. (The
DOS 3.3 Launcher docs tell how to setup a ProSel entry for a program.)
Running a program from the IIgs System Finder is much easier.
>>
If you have properly installed DOS 3.3 Launcher, your DOS 3.3 programs should
appear with DOS 3.3 icons when viewed through the Finder. To launch them, you
simply double click on them, which launches them via ProDOS 8.
<<
DOS 3.3 Launcher enjoys a few important advantages vis-a-vis special
3.5" disk versions of DOS 3.3:
First, it is easy to set up the contents of a DOS 3.3 disk prior to
converting it to disk image form-- you can use any of the popular disk
management utilities such as Copy II Plus. Moving DOS 3.3 files onto an AmDOS
or OzDOS disk with the crude FID-type copiers available is a hassle.
Second, DOS 3.3 Launcher turns out to create and use standard 143,360-byte
ProDOS order (.po) disk images except that 'Launcher requires the filetype to
be User#1. (It may accept User#2-4, too; not sure.) So, you should be able
to download any .dsk disk image on your PC, use an emulator to transfer the
contents to a .po disk image, and transfer the .po file via NULL modem to
your Apple II. Here you just need to adjust the filetype for use under DOS
3.3 Launcher. Or you can convert 5.25" .sdk (shrinked disk) files to .po disk
image form and transfer these via NULL modem.
Third, DOS 3.3 Launcher disk image files can reside on hard disk.
R/