DTS - Disk Tracking System 128

A Review by John Blackmer,  for MCUC Magazine

  After 11 years of using my Commodores,  I have collected a sizable library and organizing it has always been a major pain in the whatever.   I have used  ( and re - organized each time )  several catalog type programs.   From the well known DCMR 64 to the,  till now,  best 128 program,  CAT - 80.   None comes even close to the capabilities of DTS 128 !  If you ' re as resistors to organization as I am,  you ' ll appreciate the fact that you don ' t even have to catagorize your disks to use DTS.   

  You simply boot up the main program and slide your disks into the drive and hit ESC to have the program read the directory and add it to the rest of your disks.   When you have about 1700 filenames read by the program the memory will begin to get low.   The maximum number of files held by DTS is 2000.   PER FILE !  On a 1581 I have files A thru P and still have plenty of room for more.   Each of those files may contain up to 2000 filenames ! 

 DTS assigns a letter and a number to each disk.   I . E.   A001 would be the first disk in the file.   So you need to number your disks to make it easier to find the physical disk.   

 Besides keeping track of the filenames,  DTS reads and keeps track of disk header,  ID ' s,  disk size  ( 3 . 5 - 1571 - 1581 ),  blocks free,  number of files on a given disk,  track and sector and starting address of every program.   It even tracks the last time you updated a disk or added to one.   To update a disk put it in the drive,  hit ESC and let the program read the directory.   It will ask if it is a backup disk.   If you answer NO to that prompt it will update that disk number in the file . 

 After entering your disks,  you may sort it by any of the above data ..... AND MORE !  

  If you choose to use it,  you may catagorize each filename by using the catagories supplied or defining them to suit your library.   15 catagory choices are available with the touch of the cursor keys.   DTS also has a rating system built in to it.   1 to 4 stars  (*)  to make it easier to sort out your favorite programs.   Regardless of the way your file is sorted,  DTS will display any given disk directory at the touch of 2 keys.   

 What ' s that you say,  you have 2 different drives ?  DTS will read any Commodore drive.   I ' ve used it with a 1541,  Indus GT and a 1581 and yet to have had any problems reading the disk.   If you use 2 or more drives you may select which drive is the file drive and which is the active drive.   Disk commands are the usual wedge commands and very reliable.   

 There ' s more !  Along with the main program is a small 18 block program called DTS Q - SEARCH.   This is the GEM of the whole thing !  Q search will boot from any drive,  ask for search data then proceed to go thru each and every DTS file on the disk to satisfy your query !  On it ' s own it will open DTS file A,  check it,  display matches and then close A and open B etc ..  till it reaches the last DTS file on the disk OR you hit run / stop.   UNDOCUMENTED NOTE :  if you are searching for a filename or range of filenames,  say,  a Sid music file.   Type  *. mus and DTS Q - search will find all the files with  . MUS in ANY position.   Without the  *  it will find only those files that START with  . MUS

 Another support program is DTS LABELS.   It prints out labels designed for the 3 . 5 "  disk but I ' m sure it will work for the 5 . 25 "  just as well.   

 DTS REPORT is the last program to talk about.   It prints out a report on each and every file in sequence.   The report includes totals of catagories,  ratings,  filetype,  total  #  of files,  partitions,  and  #  of disks in the file.   Headers for each disk are also printed out . 

All that packed into 82 blocks,  to me is an exceptional utility ! 

DTS is available thru the MCUC Library and there is a 64 version,  though it may not be quite so extensive.    HMMM I ' ve got to check that one out too  :)  Double HMMM I did and it ' s reviewed elsewhere in this issue . 
                          == JOHN ==