2.3 Features of ProDOS

ProDOS allowed directories to be created and files stored in them,
time/date stamping of files, and support for disks other than the
original Disk ][ drive-- up to 32MB per disk volume (partition). It
did go with far more restrictive filenames (possibly as an attempt to
move 'towards' MS-DOS), and case insensitive filenames at the cost of
everything appearing in uppercase.

Apart from the very earliest versions, ProDOS has required a 64K Apple
II. When the Apple IIGS came out, the need for a 16-bit OS was
apparent, so with a quick wrapper around ProDOS, 'ProDOS 16' was
created, turning the existing ProDOS to 'ProDOS 8'. Versions 2.x of
ProDOS 8 require an enhanced //e, //c, IIc+ or GS.

ProDOS incorporates most to all of the disk read speedups provided by
DOS 3.3 third party enhancements, so it does not need to be patched to
sped up.

ProDOS also has the ability to not reside on a disk when first
formatted (at obvious disk space savings), but be copied on later and
the disk will be bootable if copied correctly to the root directory as
well as an application to run at boot. Similar functionality could be
gained in DOS 3.x by using certain utility programs, but is not
standard.

ProDOS's 'BASIC.SYSTEM' commandline functionality gained a few
features over DOS 3.3, such as support for typing commands in
lowercase. A few lesser-used commands were removed, most notably the
ability to switch to 'Integer Basic', as well as disk formatting.

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Section 3: Commands quick reference

A listing of all commands, one per line, to facilitate finding the
appropriate commands. Only the required part of each command is shown
here; optional parts are detailed in the sections on DOS 3.x optional
params and ProDOS optional params.

Commands common to both DOS 3.x and ProDOS:

CATALOGShows a directory listing. [ProDOS: see also cat]
LOAD filenameLoads a Applesoft BASIC program.
SAVE filenameSaves a Applesoft BASIC program.
RUN filenameLoads and runs a Applesoft BASIC program.
BLOAD filenameLoads a binary file.
BSAVE filename,Aaddr,LlenSaves a binary file.
BRUN filenameLoads and executes a binary file
OPEN filenameOpens a text file. For BASIC programs only.
CLOSE [filename]Closes specified (or all) open text files.
READ filenameReads from a text file. For BASIC programs only.
WRITE filenameWrites to a text file. For BASIC programs only.
APPEND filenameAppends to a text file. For BASIC programs only.
POSITION filenameSets position in text file. For BASIC programs only
.
EXEC filename'Executes' a text file, as if every line was typed.
DELETE filenameAttempts to remove a file from disk
LOCK filennameQuick file protect from change or deletion
UNLOCK filennameUndoes a LOCK
RENAME file1,file2Renames 'file1' to 'file2'
IN#slotnumRedirects input from the specified slot
PR#slotnumRedirects output to the specified slot
VERIFY filenameChecks existence, DOS 3.3 checks if is readable