[sebhc] Re: H8 data record format

[Steven Parker]

Scott asks:
>Hmmm ... I'm not clear if/how the 'Tape Format' described is related the
>'Absolute Binary Format'. Anyone know?

Sure thing.  The .PID (AKA .tape) format contains all the bytes that would 
be written to a tape in a dump operation.  This makes it ideal for 
emulation.  In the case of a PAM-8 dump this would be:

      bytes    contents

        32      SYN chars (0x16)
         1      STX char (0x02)
         1      record type / end flag
         1      block sequence number
         2      byte count (of data)
         2      execute address
         2      load address
        (cnt)   data bytes
         2      checksum
         2      extra bytes to flush buffer (actually a 2nd copy of 
checksum)

        (the above may be repeated for multiple-block files)

The .BIN binary format is just the data bytes.   Since the execute and load 
address are missing, and there's no way to represent non-contiguous multiple 
blocks, it is therefore not as well suited for storing tape software.

Cheers,

- Steven

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