Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!chinet!saj
From: saj@chinet.chi.il.us (Stephen Jacobs)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: AUTO folder
Summary: You can re-order a directory with a sector editor (shudder)
Message-ID: <8552@chinet.chi.il.us>
Date: 25 May 89 14:28:17 GMT
References: <8905231618.AA24695@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> <861@per2.UUCP>
Organization: Chinet - Chicago, Ill.
Lines: 18

In article <861@per2.UUCP>, dag@per2.UUCP (Daniel A. Glasser) writes:
> 
> I have a DANGEROUS program which can be used to reorder the files in
> a directory, get rid of empty entries in the middle and mark the ones
> at the end as unused (to speed up directory searches) rather than deleted.
> I have used this program without any problems since I got it working, but
> if ANYTHING goes wrong while it's doing its dirty work, look out!
> I will submit this program (and source) to comp.binaries.atari.st and
> comp.sources.atari.st sometime in early June (I'm going on a vacation soon

It's not especially difficult to re-order the entries in a subdirectory
by hand, using an absolute sector editor (DRFLOPPY is available on a lot
of BBS-s).  In my experience, this produces the appropriate amount of terror
while one is screwing with critical disk information.  Since every sector
editor I've seen lets you finish the whole sector before writing it back,
there is some VERY MINIMAL protection against errors.  Once Dan distributes
his program, I'll probably quit doing this.
                                  Steve J.