File Browser

BOW Commander

Spectranext's file browser is based on BOW Commander. Many thanks to its author for allowing it to be embedded into Spectranext.

128K machines only for now

The built-in browser currently requires a 128K or later ZX Spectrum-compatible machine. Work is in progress to bring 48K support.

Spectranext includes the file browser as part of the launcher. Select File Browser from the launcher menu to start it.

You can also start it from BASIC:

%browser

Internally, Spectranext loads the bundled browser TAP through the normal tape input mechanism.

Mount Requirements

The built-in launcher/browser flow expects the local overlay filesystem to be mounted as:

xfs://ram/

in mount slot 0.

This is the default local filesystem setup. If mount slot 0 points somewhere else, the bundled browser entry point may not work as expected.

You are still free to download a browser TAP yourself and start it manually with %tapein, for example:

%tapein "browser.tap" : LOAD ""

Changing Volumes

The browser can switch between mounted volumes.

From inside the browser:

1. Select 0 for the menu.
2. Press Right.
3. Choose Change Disk.

Mounted filesystems can then be selected from the available disk list.

Compatibility Notes

The browser uses esxDOS-style filesystem calls. Spectranext provides a compatibility layer for the supported subset of those calls.

The embedded browser is the supported path, but other esxDOS-oriented browsers may also work when loaded manually.