S2E04 Atari Home Filing Manager

This episode features Home Filing Manager, originally released in 1982 by Atari.

Podcast: Download

Box and Supplement Scans

Scan of the front of the revised box:

Scan of the back of the revised box:

Scan of the front of the original box (from AtariMania):

Scan of the back of the original box (from AtariMania):

Home Filing Manager in Action

The boot splash:

Don’t try to boot the data disk. There is at least a stub of code to let you know what you’ve done wrong:

If there is only 1 drive present and turned on, you are prompted to insert the data diskette in drive 1:

If there is a 2nd drive present and turned on, you are prompted to insert the data diskette in drive 2:

Data Disk Initialization

If you do not insert a disk with valid Home Filing Manager data, you are presented with this initialization menu which is a subset of the main menu. You must prepare a diskette before you can use the program, or have a valid one inserted when it requests the data diskette:

PREPARE AND FORMAT

When selecting PREPARE AND FORMAT, you are prompted for confirmation:

After formatting, you give it a name:

SWITCH

The SWITCH menu option presents this confirmation:

QUIT

When choosing QUIT from the menu, it goes here. Time for a reboot.

Main Menu

This is the main program menu. Instead of single word choices, entire phrases are your options:

LOOK AT first card

Adding a card presents a blank one. The title line (red) will be indexed:

Finishing an Add by completing the data:

Using Add to create an index card. This is achieved by placing a ! at the start of the title line:

Invoking EDIT on the currently displayed card and adding to it:

Erasing a card. Note the confirmation:

Copy a card by navigating to the card you want to copy then selecting COPY:

Editing the copied card:

GETting a card pulls up the next in the index based on the sort order A->Z or Z->A:

LISTing a card is the only way to print it. Use SHIFT when choosing to only list the title:

FETCH a card by title

Searches the card titles only (red line) for your input. First enter what you want to find:

Matching cards are marked with a paperclip on the left:

MARK AND LOOK at cards by phrase

Marking cards by matching any content on them with your input. First enter the search term:

Watch the number of marks (matches) rise and the number of cards left to search change:

After marking is done, you are placed in the Look view at the first mark (match). Notice the paperclip:

Navigate to the next mark by using Find:

PREPARE AND FORMAT a diskette

See the PREPARE AND FORMAT option above under DATA DISK INITIALIZATION. Well, if you must see it, it really is the same except the menu has other options. Also note, it shows you the name of the currently open card deck at the top:

SWITCH data diskettes

See the SWITCH option above under DATA DISK INITIALIZATION

QUIT

See the QUIT option above under DATA DISK INITIALIZATION

Files

Home Filing Manager uses a single density DOS, presumably Atari DOS 2.0. The contents of the program and data disk are masked by a hidden VTOC. Program disk: