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Programmer's Reference Manual

 

Acorn Access


Introduction and Overview

Acorn Access is Acorn's entry level product for AUN networking. It provides peer to peer networking using TCP/IP protocols, allowing sharing of resources such as discs and printers.

From RISC OS 3.6 onwards, Access is supplied as a part of the operating system.

Access components

There are three main modules that make up Access: Freeway, ShareFS and RemotePrinterSupport.

Freeway

Freeway provides the protocols used by Access so it knows what shared resources are available and can display windows showing them.

  • The interfaces used by Freeway are for internal use only; you must not use them in your own code.
ShareFS

ShareFS is a filing system that is used to share resources, both granting other hosts access to your machine, and vice versa.

  • ShareFS provides * Commands that you can use to share your own filing systems with other Access users. The use of these is described in * Commands.
  • It also provides SWIs that you can use to add a Share option to a Filer's icon bar menu; see the section Writing Filers so they integrate with Access.
RemotePrinterSupport

RemotePrinterSupport provides the support needed to share printers over an Access network.

  • The interfaces used by RemotePrinterSupport are for internal use only; you must not use them in your own code.

Writing filing systems so they integrate with Access

The Access * Commands call standard entry points to filing systems when making them shared. You do not need to take any special steps to make a filing system work with Access; any filing system will work, provided it conforms to the specifications in the chapters Writing a filing system (volume 2) and Writing a filing system (volume 5a); and (where applicable) Writing a FileCore module (volume 2) and Writing a FileCore module (volume 5a).

Writing Filers so they integrate with Access

For a Filer to integrate with Access, it needs to provide a Share menu option, and take appropriate action when the option is chosen. This is done using a SWI interface to ShareFS.

These SWIs are subject to change as the range of Acorn networking products is expanded and updated, so we don't document them here. Should you wish to write a Filer to integrate with Access, you should contact Acorn Customer Services.

* Commands


*Desktop_ShareFSFiler

Command to start up ShareFS Filer

Syntax

*Desktop_ShareFSFiler

Parameters

None

Use

*Desktop_... commands are used by the Desktop to start up ROM-resident Desktop utilities that appear automatically on the icon bar. However, they are for internal use only, and you should not use them; use *Desktop instead.

See *Desktop_... for further details of *Desktop_... commands.

Related commands

*Desktop


*Dismount

Ensures that it is safe to finish using a remote shared disc

Syntax

*Dismount :disc_name

Parameters

disc_name - the name of the remote shared disc

Use

*Dismount ensures that it is safe to finish using a remote shared disc by closing all its files, unsetting all its directories and libraries, and discarding its local caches. *Dismount is useful before finishing sharing a particular disc. However, the *Shutdown command is usually to be preferred, especially when switching off the computer.

Example

*Dismount :Maths

Related commands

*ShutDown


*Free

Displays the total free space remaining on a remote shared disc

Syntax

*Free :disc_name

Parameters

disc_name - the name of the remote shared disc

Use

*Free displays the total free space remaining on a remote shared disc.

Example

*Free :Maths
Bytes free &00504400 =   5260288
Bytes used &02413c00 =  37829632

Related commands

None


*FwShow

Displays all currently known Freeway objects

Syntax

*FwShow

Parameters

None

Use

*FwShow displays all currently known Freeway objects. Local objects are prefixed with a '*'.

Example

*FwShow
No remote nets
Type 2:
Type 5: (Hosts)
   *Name=794148708  Holder=1.97.238.89
    Name=528163826  Holder=1.97.238.93
    Name=873634028  Holder=1.97.238.88
Type 1: (Discs)
    Name=English    Holder=1.97.238.93
    Name=Science    Holder=1.97.238.88
   *Name=Maths      Holder=1.97.238.89

Related commands

None


*Share

Makes a local directory available as a shared disc

Syntax

*Share directory [disc_name] [-protected] [-cdrom] [-noicon]

Parameters
directory - a valid pathname specifying a directory

disc_name - the name to use for the shared disc

-protected - causes the directory to be shared protected, rather than the default of unprotected

-cdrom - indicates that the shared directory is on a CD-ROM

-noicon - prevents an icon appearing for the shared disc

Use

*Share makes a local directory available as a shared disc. If no name is given for the shared disc, then the name of the directory is used, or - for the root directory - the name of the disc itself.

If the directory is shared unprotected, then remote users have read and write access to all objects beneath it. If the directory is shared protected, then remote users' access to an object beneath it is determined by that object's public access attributes.

Example

*Share ADFS::Maths.$ Maths -protected

Related commands

*Shares, *UnShare


*ShareFS

Selects the Shared Filing System as the current filing system

Syntax

*ShareFS

Parameters

None

Use

*ShareFS selects the Shared Filing System as the filing system for subsequent operations. Remember that it is not necessary to switch filing systems if you use the full pathnames of objects. For example, you can refer to ADFS objects (on a local disc) when ShareFS is the current filing system.

Example

*ShareFS

Related commands

*ADFS, *Net, *RAM, *ResourceFS


*ShareFSIcon

Adds an icon to the icon bar for a remote shared disc

Syntax

*ShareFSIcon disc_name

Parameters

disc_name - the name of the remote shared disc

Use

*ShareFSIcon adds an icon to the icon bar for a remote shared disc.

Example

*ShareFSIcon Maths

Related commands

None


*ShareFSWindow

Changes or reports the size of the ShareFS transmission window

Syntax

*ShareFSWindow [size]

Parameters

size - the size of the ShareFS transmission window

Use

*ShareFSWindow changes the size of the ShareFS transmission window, or - with no parameter - reports its current size. You should not change the size unless you know what you are doing.

Example

*ShareFSWindow
Current ShareFS window size: 2

Related commands

None


*Shares

*Shares lists the local directories currently made available as shared discs

Syntax

*Shares

Parameters

None

Use

*Shares lists the local directories currently made available as shared discs, showing the full *Share command with which it was shared.

Example

*Shares
Share ADFS::Maths.$ Maths -protected

Related commands

*Share


*UnShare

*UnShare makes a local directory no longer available as a shared disc

Syntax

*UnShare disc_name

Parameters

disc_name - the name of the remote shared disc

Use

*UnShare makes a local directory no longer available as a shared disc.

Example

*Unshare Maths

Related commands

*Share

This edition Copyright © 3QD Developments Ltd 2015
Last Edit: Tue,03 Nov 2015