A2FileCmd

Two panels. Your Apple II. Start with 48 KB.

Select on one side. Copy to the other.
From the essentials of DOS3.3 to a complete ProDOS workspace.

Try in your browser · Download · Read the guide · PDF guide

The browser demo boots the published 1.0 800K edition automatically in POM2 WebAssembly on an emulated Apple IIe. Nothing to install.

ProDOS XL in 80 columns on an enhanced Apple IIe, captured in POM2 at the screen's proportions (how, source image).

A file manager in the Commander tradition

One panel is the source, the other the destination. Tag files on one side, copy or move them across, and A2FileCmd reads back what it wrote. Browse folders and disk images, read documents, view pictures, play music and extract archives without leaving the panels.

It comes in two programs that share one idea:

• ProDOS, 80 columns and 128 KB on an Apple IIe, //c or IIgs: the complete workspace shown above, with its tools behind !.
• DOS3.3, 40 columns and 48 KB on an Apple II+ with two Disk II drives: the essentials in pure 6502 assembly (below).

You want to…	ProDOS gives you…
Organize a disk	Copy and move directory trees, tags, sorting, attributes, file comparison and a text editor.
Open old files	Text, hex, BASIC listings, AppleWorks documents and sheets, VisiCalc worksheets, Epistole, Papyrus and Bank Street Writer documents; extract ShrinkIt, Binary II and other classic archives.
Browse a collection	HGR/DHGR and specialist picture viewers, fonts and shapes, Fantavision and Take 1 movies. Arrow through an album without returning to the panels.
Listen	Mockingboard MB1/PT3 playback, including Mockingboard 4c on //c; Electric Duet also plays through the speaker.
Work with disks	Browse images as folders, extract files, create and convert images, transfer DOS files, compare, format and check volumes.

The guide lists the supported formats and each tool's limits.

Choose your disk

1.0 is the published release. Its qualification report records 172 native steps, 2,437 host tests and the remaining physical-hardware checks. No build is needed to use the release downloads.

Your setup	Download from 1.0
ProDOS · hard disk or emulator, any IIe	XL — complete with demonstrations
ProDOS · enhanced IIe, //c or IIgs	XL enhanced — MouseText, optional mouse
ProDOS · practical tools on a floppy	800K — selected tools
Apple II+ · 48 KB · two Disk II drives	DOS3.3 — standalone 40-column edition

• Every ProDOS edition needs 128 KB and 80 columns.
• Enhanced or not is the only choice: the enhanced XL is for an enhanced IIe, a //c or a IIgs, and adds MouseText and the optional mouse. Every other ProDOS image runs on any IIe, enhanced or not. Mouse and Mockingboard are optional.
• 800K carries a practical selection, with space left for files; XL carries every tool. Each disk is self-contained.
• DOS3.3 is DOS-order .dsk, 800K is ProDOS-order .po, XL is .2mg. Changing the extension does not convert a disk.
• To install ProDOS elsewhere, keep A2FILE.SYSTEM and its complete A2FILE/ folder side by side, from the same build, and copy the root RECOVER guide.

Check a downloaded image

Get SHA256SUMS-<version>.txt from the same release. Compare the output of shasum -a 256 <image> on macOS with its entry. With every release image and the PDF together, Linux can check the whole set:

sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS-<version>.txt

Your first minute

1. Boot the matching image. ProDOS starts with A2FILE.SYSTEM, also from a program selector; DOS3.3 can start with BRUN A2FC.
2. Try the shared basics: TAB switches panels, arrows select, Return opens, Space tags, C copies and ? shows the edition's help.
3. Use a spare disk for a first copy. In ProDOS, / lists volumes: open the destination in the opposite panel. In DOS3.3, / selects the active panel's drive.
4. On XL, explore DEMO, one folder per kind of file: read DOCUMENTS/SAMPLE, arrow through PICTURES/ALBUM, browse DISKS/TINY.PO, or play MUSIC/CANON.ED through the speaker. Advanced tools are in !.

DOS3.3: the essentials in 48 KB

The product distilled: an Apple II+, 48 KB and two Disk II drives, 40 columns, pure 6502 assembly, no ProDOS, 80-column card or plugins. Choose a file, tag a few more, copy them across and let A2FileCmd verify the result. Read text, inspect bytes, view a hi-res picture or edit a small note; rename, lock, delete and format are a key away.

Copies refuse existing destination names, keep the source and read back what was written. The bottom bar shows the main keys and ? opens help. The developer guide has its keys, write guarantees and measurements.

Keep the originals safe

A2FileCmd checks copies, preserves originals during supported replacements, and names files left for recovery when an operation cannot finish. Read the result before retrying or removing a disk. Verification cannot make a physical metadata write atomic through a power cut.

Some ProDOS tools need auxiliary memory and can clear all files in /RAM. They ask before using it when /RAM holds files; save those files elsewhere first. DOS3.3 has no auxiliary-memory requirement; once a disk write starts, its keyboard cannot interrupt it.

The guide includes a practical incident recovery procedure: identify the temporary or backup, preserve a disk image, and recover from a duplicate to a fresh destination. Data-safety details explain the protections and remaining limits.

Read, build or contribute

• Use it: manual, printable PDF, changes and roadmap.
• Explore DOS3.3: developer guide and measurements.
• Add a ProDOS tool: plugin SDK, with an example and build script.
• Test it: emulator benches and real-hardware checklist.
• Report a problem: open an issue with version, machine/emulator, disk format, exact message and reproduction steps.

With the cc65 toolchain installed:

make mini    # standalone DOS3.3 binary
make         # ProDOS program and overlays
make disk    # all four distribution images
make test    # host checks

Previous versions have been tried on real //c, enhanced and unenhanced IIe machines by the maintainer and testers, and in Virtual II and POM2. Current-release qualification is tracked separately; emulator results are not a physical-drive guarantee. Contributors must follow AGENTS.md: preserving data comes first.

Credits

Created by Arnaud Verhille (@habib256), under GNU GPL v3. Inspired by A2Command, Ammonoid by Colin Leroy and Norton Commander. Full attributions and reference links identify reused code, formats and test material, including cc65, Hyper-FORMAT, Electric Duet, CiderPress II and the PT3 player work.

ProDOS images include ProDOS 8 2.4.3; 800K and XL supply BASIC.SYSTEM, Apple software distributed for the community by John Brooks, and INTBASIC.SYSTEM by Joshua Bell. Generated demonstrations and third-party samples are distinguished in their source notices. The companion emulator POM2 is a separate project by the same author.