Startup message of DOS Wedge (DOS MANAGER) V5.1/July 13, 1982. (Commodore 64 screenshot)

The DOS Wedge was a popular piece of Commodore 64 system software. Written by Bob Fairbairn, it was included by Commodore (CBM) on the 1541 disk drive Test/Demo Disk (filename: "DOS 5.1") and also packaged with the C64 Macro Assembler (filename: "DOS WEDGE64"). The DOS Wedge was referred to in the 1541 drive manual as DOS Support and on the software startup screen as DOS MANAGER. For the hip hop group, see Commodore 64 (band). ... System software is a generic term referring to any computer software whose purpose is to help run the computer system. ... Commodore is the commonly used name for Commodore International, a West Chester, Pennsylvania based electronics company who was a vital player in the home/personal computer field in the 1980s. ... The Commodore 1541 (aka CBM 1541, and originally called VIC-1541), made by Commodore International, was the best-known floppy disk drive for the Commodore 64 home computer. ...

The Wedge made disk operations in BASIC 2.0 significantly easier by introducing several keyword shortcuts. The DOS Wedge became somewhat of a de facto standard, with third party vendors such as Epyx often incorporating identical commands into fastloader cartridges and other Commodore 64 expansion devices. COMPUTE!'s Gazette published several type-in variations on the DOS Wedge, including a C128 version in its February 1987 issue (see External links, below). Commodore DOS, aka CBM DOS, was the disk operating system used with Commodores 8-bit computers. ... Commodore BASIC is the dialect of BASIC used in Commodore Internationals 8-bit home computer line, stretching from the PET of 1977 to the C128 of 1985. ... In computer science, a keyword is an identifier which indicates a specific command. ... De facto is a Latin expression that means in fact or in practice. It is commonly used as opposed to de jure (meaning by law) when referring to matters of law or governance or technique (such as standards), that are found in the common experience as created or developed without... Epyx, Inc. ... Compute!s Gazette was a computer magazine of the 1980s, directed at to users of Commodore home computers. ... A type-in program, or just type-in, is a computer program listing printed in a computer magazine or book, meant to be typed in by the reader in order to run the program on a computer. ... The Commodore 128 is a home/personal computer, also known as the C128. ... February is the second month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The original Commodore DOS Wedge was a 1-KB program written in MOS 6502 assembly language. It resided in the otherwise unused memory block $CC00–$CFFF (52224–53247) and worked by altering the KERNAL subroutine "CHRGET", accessed via address $0073 (115), so that each character passing by the BASIC interpreter would be checked for wedge commands, and the associated "wedged-in" routines run if needed. A kilobyte (derived from the SI prefix kilo-, meaning 1000) is a unit of information or computer storage equal to either 1024 or 1000 bytes. ... The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by MOS Technology in 1975. ... It has been suggested that Assembler be merged into this article or section. ... james In mathematics and computer science, base-16, hexadecimal, or simply hex, is a numeral system with a radix or base of 16 usually written using the symbols 0–9 and A–F or a–f. ... The KERNAL is Commodores name for the ROM-resident operating system core in its 8-bit home computers; from the original PET of 1977, via the extended, but strongly related, versions used in its successors; the VIC-20, C64, Plus/4, C16, and C128. ... In computer science, a subroutine (function, method, procedure, or subprogram) is a portion of code within a larger program, which performs a specific task and is relatively independent of the remaining code. ...

DOS Wedge functions

Any command that contains an @ symbol may substitute > instead, if desired.

• /filename – Load a BASIC program into RAM
• %filename – Load a machine language program into RAM
• ↑filename – Load a BASIC program into RAM and then automatically run it
• ←filename – Save a BASIC program to disk
• @ – Display (and clear) the disk drive status
• @$ – Display the disk directory without overwriting the BASIC program in memory
• @command – Execute a disk drive command (e.g. S0:filename, V0:, I0:)
• @Q – Deactivate the DOS Wedge

References

• CBM Professional Computer Division (1982). Commodore 64 Macro Assembler Development System Manual. West Chester, PA: Commodore Business Machines. Chapter 5.0. Additional BASIC Disk Commands.

External links

• Commodore DOS Wedges: An Overview - Jim Butterfield, COMPUTE!, October 1983.
• Commodore 64 Macro Assembler Development System Manual
• COMPUTE!'s Gazette February 1987 issue: "DOS Wedge 128" (Part A), (Part B)
• Commodore Disk Loading Basics
• Commodore 1541 Drive Manual (ZIPped text file)