Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!ORION.CF.UCI.EDU!mdelama1
From: mdelama1@ORION.CF.UCI.EDU (Michael De La Maza)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: DOS 3.3 File Manager
Message-ID: <8802191720.aa28823@SMOKE.BRL.ARPA>
Date: 19 Feb 88 21:20:31 GMT
References: <1568@mind.UUCP>
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 3

Worth's Beneath Apple DOS has a good description of the File Manager.
If that is not enough try Sandy Mossberg's column in Nibble.  He
disassembled all of Dos a while back.
In any case, your second alternate method should work.