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P4 documentation drive: rewrite doc-holder as a real documentation page - printed title, author, publisher, year, ISBN and page count, what the book covers, and a plain statement that it is not a repair source, pointing at Commodore's own service documentation instead
Add year 1985 and ISBN from copyright page; LoC extent vii, 271 pp. (was 293, the PDF length); contents list; cite foreword; cut boilerplate
 
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'''''COMPUTE!'s Data File Handler for the Commodore 64''''' by '''Blaine D. Standage, John L. Darling and Kenneth D. Standage''' is an applications book for the [[Commodore 64]], 293 pages, published by COMPUTE! Publications, Inc., Greensboro, North Carolina; cover price $12.95.
'''''COMPUTE!'s Data File Handler for the Commodore 64''''' is a 1985 book by Blaine D. Standage, John L. Darling and Kenneth D. Standage, published by COMPUTE! Publications of Greensboro, North Carolina. ISBN 0-942386-86-8.<ref name="tp">Blaine D. Standage, John L. Darling and Kenneth D. Standage, ''COMPUTE!'s Data File Handler for the Commodore 64'' (COMPUTE! Publications, 1985), title page and copyright page (PDF pp. 3-4).</ref> The Library of Congress record gives the extent as vii, 271 pages (call number QA76.8.C64 S718 1985).<ref name="ol">Open Library, [https://openlibrary.org/books/OL2615717M ''Compute!'s data file handler for the Commodore 64'', record OL2615717M], from Library of Congress catalogue data (LCCN 85-180529). Retrieved 2026-10-01.</ref>


A typed-in database manager &mdash; database processor, sequential file editor and disk operation support set. The publisher notes it also runs on the Commodore PET/CBM.
The book is the listing and manual for a type-in database manager for the [[Commodore 64]], the Data File Handler (DFH). The system stores, sorts, merges, splits, extracts and prints records of up to 20 fields, and comes with a sequential file editor, four machine language subroutines and a set of disk commands. The cover and foreword say the programs also run on the Commodore PET/CBM.<ref name="fwd">Standage, Darling and Standage, ''Data File Handler'', front cover and Foreword, p. v (PDF pp. 1, 7).</ref> The listings use COMPUTE!'s "Automatic Proofreader" checksum program for typing them in; a disk of the programs was sold separately.<ref name="toc">Standage, Darling and Standage, ''Data File Handler'', Contents (PDF pp. 5-6).</ref>


== What this book is not ==
== Contents ==
Page numbers are from the book's contents list.<ref name="toc" />
* Foreword, p. v
* Author's Preface, p. vii
* Chapter 1: Getting Started with DFH, p. 1
* Chapter 2: Operating DFH, p. 25
* Chapter 3: File Manipulation, p. 51
* Chapter 4: The DFH Editor, p. 75
* Chapter 5: Disk Use, p. 93
* Chapter 6: DFH Applications Examples, p. 111 (a magazine cardfile and a genealogy file)
* Chapter 7: File Conversion, p. 129
* Chapter 8: The ML Subroutines, p. 145
* Chapter 9: Entering the Programs, p. 163
* Chapter 10: Program Listings, p. 179 (machine language programs, p. 181; BASIC programs, p. 209)
* Index, p. 269
* Coupon for ordering disk, p. 273


'''It is an applications book, not a service document.''' It carries '''no schematics, no parts list, no component values and no board layouts''', and it is not a source for a repair figure. Citing it for a capacitor value, a voltage rating or a chip location would be citing the wrong kind of document.
== What this book does not contain ==
It is an applications book. It has no schematics, parts lists or component values; for those use the [[Commodore 64 / 64C Service Manual]].


For component-level data on the machine use Commodore's own documentation instead:
<pdf> File:Computes_Data_file_handler_for_the_Commodore_64.pdf </pdf>


* [[Commodore 64 / 64C Service Manual]] &mdash; parts lists, board identification and schematics for every mainboard revision
Download: [[:File:Computes Data file handler for the Commodore 64.pdf|Computes Data file handler for the Commodore 64.pdf]]
* [[Commodore 64 Technical Manual and Parts List]] &mdash; the drawing package, P/N 990439
* [[Commodore 64 Capacitor Replacement Guide]] &mdash; the wiki's component list, built from those two
 
== Other books hosted here ==
 
This is one of 60 Commodore books on this wiki. See [[:Category:Commodore Books]] for the annotated index, which groups them by what they are for and marks the handful that do carry hardware data.
 
<pdf> File:Computes_Data_file_handler_for_the_Commodore_64.pdf </pdf>


Download '''Data file handler for the Commodore 64''' here: [[:File:Computes Data file handler for the Commodore 64.pdf|Computes Data file handler for the Commodore 64.pdf]]
== References ==
<references />


[[Category:Commodore Documentation]]
[[Category:Commodore Documentation]]
[[Category:Commodore Books]]
[[Category:Commodore Books]]

Latest revision as of 09:26, 1 October 2026

COMPUTE!'s Data File Handler for the Commodore 64 is a 1985 book by Blaine D. Standage, John L. Darling and Kenneth D. Standage, published by COMPUTE! Publications of Greensboro, North Carolina. ISBN 0-942386-86-8.[1] The Library of Congress record gives the extent as vii, 271 pages (call number QA76.8.C64 S718 1985).[2]

The book is the listing and manual for a type-in database manager for the Commodore 64, the Data File Handler (DFH). The system stores, sorts, merges, splits, extracts and prints records of up to 20 fields, and comes with a sequential file editor, four machine language subroutines and a set of disk commands. The cover and foreword say the programs also run on the Commodore PET/CBM.[3] The listings use COMPUTE!'s "Automatic Proofreader" checksum program for typing them in; a disk of the programs was sold separately.[4]

Contents

[edit | edit source]

Page numbers are from the book's contents list.[4]

  • Foreword, p. v
  • Author's Preface, p. vii
  • Chapter 1: Getting Started with DFH, p. 1
  • Chapter 2: Operating DFH, p. 25
  • Chapter 3: File Manipulation, p. 51
  • Chapter 4: The DFH Editor, p. 75
  • Chapter 5: Disk Use, p. 93
  • Chapter 6: DFH Applications Examples, p. 111 (a magazine cardfile and a genealogy file)
  • Chapter 7: File Conversion, p. 129
  • Chapter 8: The ML Subroutines, p. 145
  • Chapter 9: Entering the Programs, p. 163
  • Chapter 10: Program Listings, p. 179 (machine language programs, p. 181; BASIC programs, p. 209)
  • Index, p. 269
  • Coupon for ordering disk, p. 273

What this book does not contain

[edit | edit source]

It is an applications book. It has no schematics, parts lists or component values; for those use the Commodore 64 / 64C Service Manual.

Download: Computes Data file handler for the Commodore 64.pdf

References

[edit | edit source]
  1. ↑ Blaine D. Standage, John L. Darling and Kenneth D. Standage, COMPUTE!'s Data File Handler for the Commodore 64 (COMPUTE! Publications, 1985), title page and copyright page (PDF pp. 3-4).
  2. ↑ Open Library, Compute!'s data file handler for the Commodore 64, record OL2615717M, from Library of Congress catalogue data (LCCN 85-180529). Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  3. ↑ Standage, Darling and Standage, Data File Handler, front cover and Foreword, p. v (PDF pp. 1, 7).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Standage, Darling and Standage, Data File Handler, Contents (PDF pp. 5-6).
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