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Understanding DOSDisc Partitions

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Understanding

I sometimes find that PC card users fail to understand that the DOSdisc partition create on your RISC OS drive is nothing more than a file. A large file but a file is all it is.

Because the file has a DOSDisc file type, causes RISC OS to display the file in a Window as Directorys and files. If you changed the file type to say Data this would not happen. However the PC card would still be able to use it, but RiscOS could no longer decode the file to give you a meaningful graphical representation of what is stored.

What name is given to a partition file or where it is located on a RISC OS formatted harddrive is not important, but the fact that it is just a file means that it can be easy to copy and thus is the best backup of the C: partition you are going to get on any platform.

Tutorial

In an effort to help you understand this more try the following. You will require David Pillings SparkPlug or SparkFS to view the contents of the zip. In the unlikely event that you don't have it you can get a self extracting copy from:-
David Pilling - Free Software

After downloading the Test/zip (600k) file you will find a very small DOSdisc partition. Copy the DOSDisc file called Goboldygok on to you harddrive. Now view the contents using RISC OS by double selecting on the Goboldygok file. It should open up and look like any other DOSDisc partition.

Now make a new configuration using this DOSdisc partition called Goboldygok as the C: using !PCconfig. If you have PCPro 2 or older copy the config file from within !PC to a safe place so you can put it back when you have finished. If you have PCPro 3 make a new config using the new button called Test.

Now run !PC with the new configuration to prove that Goboldygok is a true DOSDisc partition.

Then close !PC and then change the file type of Goboldygok partition file to "Text". Now the icon should have changed and double selecting on the file you should just see a mash of data. Now run !PC again and you should find that the partition should still work as long as you have not edited the contents of the file.

This should prove to you that:-

  1. The partition can be named anything you like no need for it to be called drive_C.
  2. The partition when set to a DOSDisc filetype allows RISC OS to be used to view or edit the file.
  3. Regardles of the file type as long as the file is edited correctly !PC will always be able to use it.
  4. The partition is nothing more than a file, normally very large in size.
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