The PCW16: CATALOG.TXT file
The CATALOG.TXT file is laid out as a sequence of 64-byte records; it is
also designed to be easily readable when displayed on the screen. The first
record contains a heading for display purposes and does not describe a
file; the other records are as follows:
- 0-8:
- Folder name - the name of the folder containing the file. For example,
if the file were in \PCW\FOLDER12, this would read FOLDER12.
The last character of the name is a space, probably meaning that the matching
directory on disc has nothing after the . in its name.
- 9:
- Space, for display purposes.
- 10-17:
- File date, ASCII, UK format. All figures are 2-digit, packed if necessary with
zeroes.
- 18:
- Space, for display purposes.
- 19-24:
- DOS filename, 6 characters (it seems that the PCW only generates
filenames of the form PCWnnn.typ).
- 25:
- Dot, for display purposes.
- 26-28:
- DOS filetype. The PCW16 uses the filetype to decide which icon
to display; for example, HLP denotes a "help" file and WPD
is a word-processor document.
- 29:
- Space, for display purposes.
- 30-61:
- PCW16 31-character name.
- 62-63:
- CR,LF. For display purposes.
CATALOG.TXT is always 32k in size. Unused records are filled with ^Z
characters. I would imagine that the used records have to be contiguous.
