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.po5 .FO FRONT.DOC v. 5.1 (C) 1984, 1986 BY CLAUDE OSTYN PAGE # FRONT.DOC Documentation for FRONT.COM version 5.1 Copyright (c) 1984, 1986 by Claude Ostyn This document and the programs it describes may be copied, used and distributed freely at no cost for the benefit and enjoyment of all CP/M users. They may not be sold or included in a package for sale, under any name, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, but copies may be sold by non-profit users groups as long as the price does not exceed the cost of the blank media and duplication. Commercial use is subject to payment of a fee or of royalties. The programs may only be distributed as a package including FRONT51.COM, FRNSTL51.COM, FRNT51PT.ASM, FRONTSUB.DOC and FRONT51.DOC (this document). The copyright notices may not be altered. I specifically disclaim any warranties, implied or otherwise, as to the performance and suitability of this software for any purpose. If it works, great. If it doesn't, don't blame me, but feel free to blame whoever concocted your version of CP/M. Since I spent considerable time and effort to develop and debug this software, I would like a reasonable payment if it turns out to be useful to you. A modest contribution ($15 or more) will be welcome as a tangible sign of appreciation. I also trust that you will be totally honest and will mention this when you pass FRONT around. Comments, reviews, picture postcards, gourmet chocolate, suggestions and bug reports are also welcome, of course. Claude Ostyn P.O. Box 2035 Sitka, Alaska 99835 CONTENTS 1. Changes since last versions 2. Introduction 3. Description of FRONT A. Short description B. Hardware/software requirements C. Using FRONT 4. Installation 5. Installation procedures using FRNSTL51.COM A. Terminal installation B. File types installation C. Special features D. Saving the installed FRONT file 6. Custom installation using FRNT51PT.ASM 7. Technical notes 8. Troubleshooting 9. Using FRONT with a hard disk. 1. CHANGES SINCE LAST VERSION The last circulated version FRONT was FRONT50. The following have been added or corrected in v.5.1: - Added support for newer versions of ZCPR and ZCMD. - Fixed a bug in execution of certain commands. Other improvements over the original FRONT.COM which had been added in previous versions include: - fixed bug in Osborne 1 installation - supports more non-standard CP/M implementations - CP/M Plus compatibility; - ability to change the user area as well as the logged drive; - optional alphabetic sorting of the command on the menu; - compatibility with some Trantor hard disk CCP modifications; - improved compatibility with CP/M Plus; - compatibility with JG Communications clock software version 3.2 for the Osborne 1; - automatic repetition of FRONT after execution of the called program by using a standard CP/M feature available on most systems (the feature can be cancelled by ESCaping); - improved installation program with display of all settings at main menu; - support for ANSI terminal video addressing and support for arrow keys on more terminals; - optional and adjustable delay before execution of the called program (for those "oops!" situations); - optional display of disk label below drive name; - for Osborne 1 owners, more reliable screen size recognition with or without Screen-Pac. - additional terminal support - options submenu - improved compatibility with old Kaypro II; - conflict with SUBMIT in the standard Osborne 1 installation has been eliminated; ----- 2. INTRODUCTION A while back I got frustrated with the otherwise excellent public-domain program MENU.COM because it did not allow me to enter arguments after selecting a command, or to run BASIC and DBASE programs without creating an extra alias .COM program. I also needed to set up turn-key systems for people who were utterly confused by CP/M. Out of this came FRONT.COM. 3. DESCRIPTION A. SHORT FRONT.COM is a front-end utility for CP/M. It DESCRIPTION replaces the A> prompt with a menu of available programs and lets you select the command to run by just moving a highlight to the command name with the arrow keys and pressing one other key. Its size is only 6K. The menu shows the names of programs (.COM) files present on the disk. Optionally, the menu will also show the names of .SUB, .BAS and other program files which require an interpreter to run. The menu is automatically updated as files are added to the disk or erased, or if you log in another disk or user area. The menu is normally arranged in alphabetic order. At your option, the order of file names in the menu can also be the same as in the disk directory. There are two ways to execute a command from the menu. One way is to use the arrow keys to move the cursor to the name of the program to run and press either RETURN or the space bar. If you press the space bar, you will be prompted for additional arguments. The second way is to start typing in the command. As you type, the names which do not match the command you are typing disappear from the menu, so you only have to type in enough characters to uniquely identify the command. As soon as FRONT recognizes what you want, it will show you the command and ask for optional arguments. To run a Basic program, for instance, you would not have to type in MBASIC MYPROGRM, but you would just move the cursor over the name MYPROGRM and press RETURN and it will be executed. Or you could start typing "M" and all the names which don't begin with "M" would disappear from the menu. Then you would type "Y" and, if no other command begins with "MY", FRONT would show you "MYPROGRM" and ask for optional arguments. As soon as you press RETURN, FRONT will execute the command MBASIC MYPROGRAM. FRONT.COM is designed to be reloaded every time a program ends with a "warm boot", so it is very possible that you will never see the A> prompt. However, it will also let you exit to CP/M and cancel that feature by just pressing the ESC key. B. HARDWARE FRONT.COM can run on just about any computer & SOFTWARE which has an addressable cursor video display and REQUIREMENTS runs CP/M 2.2 or CP/M Plus. The minimum allowable screen width is 52 columns. Video control FRNSTL51.COM, which should be distributed along with FRONT.COM, will automatically patch FRONT.COM for a number of different terminals and computers. Note that the version number for FRNSTL51 has to match the version number for FRONT. When installed for an Osborne 1, FRONT will automatically adjust the width of the menu according to the current screen size if it detects the Osborne 80-column upgrade. Operating FRONT has no special requirements and will run system with any standard CP/M 2.2 or CP/M Plus system configuration, and with reasonably standard ZCPR implementations. It has been tested successfully on several models of Kaypro, Osborne and other brands. FRONT will automatically recognize and adjust itself to work with different CP/M sizes and versions. It does not leave a "sleeper" or loader in memory and therefore has no effect on the size of the TPA and does not interfere with programs which make direct calls or integrity checks on the BDOS or BIOS. Auto-repeat With most CP/M machines, FRONT can reload itself feature automatically after executing the selected program. Since different machines can handle this differently, FRNSTL51 will allow you to select a method to do this. Auto-start With the Osborne 1, FRONT should normally be feature renamed AUTOST and will then be loaded automatically. With other machines, you may have to patch your system to take advantage of the undocumented CP/M autoload feature. More details in the technical section. C. USING FRONT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + Drive A FRONT - (c) 1986 by Claude Ostyn - Version 5.1 + + Label: -WSASM.001 + + + + [WORDSTAR] SUPERDIR FILTER XERA UNERA + + PROOF NSWEEP PIP COPYDISK IMP + + ASM LOAD ASM&LOAD RESOURCE + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Arrow keys to select command, [RETURN] to execute, + + [SPACE] to enter optional execution parameters, + + [+] to change logged drive/user or [ESC] for options + +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Fig. 1: FRONT.COM menu display. Yours will probably look different, depending on the files on your disk and your screen size. The "sorted menu" option has been turned off in this example. Higlighting or inverse video will be used instead of [brackets] if your screen supports it. HOW IT WORKS FRONT looks up all the files of certain types (such as .COM, .SUB, .BAS, etc.--as determined during installation ) present on the disk in the default user area and displays them as a menu. The type can be shown after the name or not (this can be toggled by calling the options menu). What's on Files with the SYS attribute set, which would the menu not be show with the CP/M DIR command, are not included in the menu. Files are listed in the same order as in the directory, with the first name in the top left corner, then second one to its right, etc. (see Figure 1), unless the sorted menu option has been selected with FRNSTL51, in which case they are listed in alphabetic order. Selecting The first name on the list is underlined or a command highlighted (depending on the terminal), or set with the between brackets on terminals which do not have cursor highlighting or underlining capabilities. By using the arrow keys (or either the standard CP/M ^H^J^K^L or the WordStar ^S^X^D^E diamond if the arrow keys don't work), the highlight is moved from name to name. It can be moved freely in any direction and will wrap around at the end of each line and back to the first name if moved beyond the last one on the list. Logging to If the desired command is not on the disk, another disk pressing the "+" or "=" key will let you log in another disk, drive or user area. Executing Once the desired command is highlighted, a command pressing RETURN will automatically load and execute it. If additional arguments are required, pressing SPACE instead will allow you to enter the arguments. Another way You can also start typing the name of the to select a command. The names that do not match are erased command from the menu until only one name is left, and then you are prompted for parameters. If the name you want is shorter than other names which begin with the same letter, just press RETURN to indicate the end of the name. Special types In addition to the .COM files, the following on the menu file types can be listed in the menu: .SUB, .BAS, INT, .CMD, or other types of your choice. Up to eight different file types, in addition to COM, may be selected by using FRNSTL51.COM. Files with the type .SUB require that SUBMIT.COM or an improved version of it such as EX14.COM be available--usually on drive A. If the .COM file is not present, you will be warned with an error message when you try to execute that command, and returned to the menu. Similarly, .BAS files will require MBASIC, etc. You may have to use FRNSTL51.COM to change the name and default drive of the .COM file used to run the files of each type. Running FRONT Some programs do not end with a warm boot, and again you will just see the dreaded old A> prompt. If your system is set to re-run FRONT at every warm boot (as on the Osborne 1 with FRONT renamed AUTOST), just force the warm boot by typing ^C. On some machines, you may have to log back to the A: drive, user 0 before typing ^C. If FRONT still does not run, type A:FRONT (or whatever name under which FRONT was installed). The last line of any submit file must be the command A:FRONT (or the name under which FRONT was installed). Adding hidden To see and execute commands which have been files to the "hidden" by setting the SYS attribute, press ESC menu for the options menu, then H to toggle the hidden file display. These files will now be added to the menu. The "?" If you read this far, you deserve a goodie. By peek trick pressing '?' when the highlight is over a command name, whatever is printable in the first 128 bytes of the corresponding file will be displayed. If the command is a .SUB file, you will be able to read at least the first few lines and figure out what it does. Most .COM files do or should have some kind of ASCII tag at the beginning to identify the program and version number. Painless You can exit to CP/M without executing a menu exit with ESC command by pressing ESC then selecting X for eXit. This turns off the auto-repeat feature, so you will have to restart FRONT yourself at the A> prompt if you want to see the menu again. 4. INSTALLATION Setting up On most disks, the most often used program the menu should be listed first on the menu. Since FRONT will find and list the executable files on any disk, this section deals with how to set up the disks from which you will be reading a menu. Using the To be listed first on the menu, a name must be directory first in the disk directory and the sorted menu. order option option must be off. There are two ways to achieve this: a. Use PIP or NSWEEP to copy the programs onto an empty formatted disk in the order in which you want them to appear. b. Use a utility such a SAP.COM or SORTDIR.COM to rearrange the directory. Temporarily rename the files, giving them names in the alphabetic order of the final directory. Run SAP, and rename the files to their old name. c. If you are using a hard disk, use NSWEEP to copy all the files to another user area, delete them in the current area, log to the other user area and copy the files back one by one in the desired order to the original area. Using the The file starting with the smallest valid ASCII sorted menu character will be listed first on a sorted menu. option Therefore, the command ABC will be listed before (default) the command BCD if the sorted menu option is installed (see FRNSTL51 below). The advantage is that you don't have to do any copying of files or manipulation of your directory, and it makes commands easier to find in a crowded menu. The disadvantage is that your favorite commands will usually not be listed first. Selecting Use the "STAT filename $SYS" command or the what to show attribute setting facility of NSWEEP to hide the .COM files and other files which you want to have on the disk but which should not be listed. (If you have CP/M Plus, use the SET command). I usually hide FRONT.COM itself also. It is a good idea to have a directory program such as SUPERDIR.COM, SD.COM or NSWEEP.COM which can list files hidden with the SYS attribute. Obviously this directory program is one you will want to be able to call from the menu. Do not set it to SYS. Note that since it is no longer necessary to type the command names, they can be as long as CP/M will allow. "WORDSTAR" is a lot friendlier than WS. Easy FRNSTL51.COM will patch FRONT.COM (or its installation renamed version AUTOST.COM on an Osborne 1). with It will prompt you and you can run through the FRNSTL51 whole procedure in less than three minutes. FRNSTL51.COM installs the video screen control codes for your terminal or computer, and certain functional characteristics, such as whether to show the type after the command name, which types of files will be listed on the menu, and which .COM files are used to run the commands listed. 5. INSTALLATION PROCEDURES USING FRNSTL51.COM (FRONT INSTALLATION PROGRAM, version 5.1) To use FRNSTL51, put the disk with FRNSTL51.COM (normally distributed under the name FRNSTL51.COM) and FRONT.COM (normally distributed under the name FRONT51.COM) in drive A. If FRONT51.COM is not on the same disk as FRNSTL51, put the disk that contains it in drive B. STARTING At the A> prompt, type FRNSTL51 <cr> FRNSTL51 (<cr> stands for "press the RETURN key"). If the file name offered by FRNSTL51 is not correct, type in the file name under which we should look for FRONT51, then <cr>. If the file is found and is indeed a compatible version, you will be presented with the main menu, otherwise try another name, or press CTRL-C to exit. All the changes you make with FRNSTL51 are reversible at any time. FRNSTL51 will only work with version 5.1 of FRONT. In fact, FRNSTL51 will check and refuse to install an incorrect version. Installation The main menu presents you with a screenful of main menu information. It will show: - The current file name for the copy of FRONT you are installing; - the computer or terminal for which FRONT is currently installed; - which file types will be listed and executed by FRONT; - current settings of some special features; - a menu from which you may select an item by pressing just one key. The choices are "A", "B", "C", "S" ,"?" or "ESC". You press "?" for more information or "ESC" to quit and return to CP/M. The other choices are explained below. A. TERMINAL All you have to do here is press one key for the INSTALLATION terminal or computer of your choice. Then look at the top of the screen to confirm your selection and press "X" to return to the main menu. If your terminal is not listed, another selection might work, or special installation will be required. (See section 6). B. FILE TYPES The file types which FRONT will list and execute can be modified here. There are 8 "slots" for file types in addition to .COM (only the "occupied" slots are shown on the main menu). If you change, add or remove any of the types, you will also be asked to define the name and drive for the .COM file used to execute the command. An empty type (you must type in 3 spaces) is legal. You might use that type to call text files to be used with a word processing program. C. SPECIAL Here you are prompted for certain operational FEATURES settings. If you like the current setting, just press RETURN to leave it as it is. The first question you must answer here is whether you want the type to be shown after the file name on the FRONT menu. This has no effect on whether the file names themselves will be listed. Answering "N" for no makes for a less cluttered menu on which more names can fit. You will then be asked if you want the menu sorted alphabetically. The next question is whether to display the disk label. The disk label is an empty file beginning with a "-" which many CP/M users put on their disks for use with the public-domain CAT.COM cataloguing program. If you are using CPM Plus and there is a label in the directory that label will be shown instead. Next is the auto-repeat method. Auto-repeat If you have an Osborne 1, you may select the method auto-repeat option 1, "Osborne 1 AUTOST", and then save FRONT under the name A:AUTOST.COM. On most other systems, you may select option 2, "Standard CP/M autorepeat", unless your version of CP/M has a better way to do it, in which case you would select option 0. Option 3 is for users of newer versions of ZCPR. If you select option 2 or 3, you will have to follow certain simple rules when using FRONT (see FRONTSUB.DOC for details). In case of doubt, try option 2 first. D. SAVING You can save as many copies of your installed AFTER FRONT under as many names as you want. Just enter INSTAL- the new name after selecting "S" for save, or <cr> LATION to save under the current name. Since FRNSTL51 does a disk reset, do NOT press CTRL-C if you put in a new disk. You will be returned to the main menu after each save operation. If you are using option 2 or 3 to auto-repeat FRONT, rename it ONLY by reading it then saving it under another name with FRNSTL51. 6. CUSTOM INSTALLATION USING FRNT51PT.ASM The file FRNT51PT.ASM contains a listing of the user-patchable areas of FRONT.COM. If you are knowledgeable in 8080 assembly language and FRNSTL51.COM is not enough for you, you can use this listing to create a patch overlay for FRONT, or you can use DDT or EDFILE to make the changes. There are 3 major patch areas: terminal installation, the additional patch area MORPAT which could be used to set up FRONT to auto-repeat, and functional installation. Every label shown in the listing corresponds to an address called by FRONT, so be careful not to change the memory location of any label or the copyright notice. In case of doubt, it is safer to use ORG address before any label in your ASM file. FRNSTL51 may affect the INISUB, UNISUB, EXESUB, ESCSUB and MORPAT areas. The Osborne 1 and Radio-Shack installations, for instance, modify these areas. Do not try to patch your original version of FRONT; always work on a copy. Note that FRONT will not work if the copyright notice is altered. 7. TECHNICAL AND SPECIAL SYSTEM INFORMATION Setting up to start FRONT automatically OSBORNE 1: If your computer is an Osborne 1, rename FRONT.COM to AUTOST.COM. Make sure your system has not been modified to look for a file other than AUTOST. You should run the FRNSTL51 program to confirm that FRONT or AUTOST is set correctly and to see what other functional choices are available. If you use the newer JG Communications clock software, use auto-repeat option 2 only since it does its own thing with warm boots and defeats the normal Osborne way of doing things. MORROW The default setting for the arrow keys on the MD5 & MD11 Morrow is bizarre and non-standard. You can insert the command KEY CPM into PROFILE.SUB, and create a CPM.KEY file with standard definitions. FRONT will not run properly if COPILOT has been run, so it should be listed before COPILOT GO in PROFILE.SUB. ALL Insert the command FRONT as the last line of CP/M Plus the file PROFILE.SUB on your boot disk (except on SYSTEMS Morrow, see above). FRONT will execute automatically every time you start or reset your computer. It will be executed again at the end of a called program if the autorepeat option 2 has been selected. FRONT.COM must be in user area 0 on drive A and set to SYS with the SET command. OTHER If your computer is not an Osborne and you want CP/M 2.2 FRONT to start automatically, it is a little more SYSTEMS complicated. First check if your particular CP/M is set up to run a program automatically (a menu program, for instance). If it does, you're in luck: just install FRONT.COM with FRNSTL51 and rename it to whatever name your CP/M looks for. If you're really lucky (as with Pickles & Trout CP/M), there may be a way to make it run the program at every warm boot (in which case you'd use the autorepeat option 0 in the special features menu). If your CP/M implementation does not have a convenient way to set up a program to run automatically, when you boot, you will have to patch it. Follow the instructions below very carefully, and it should work. You will need the public domain program DU.COM or equivalent. It is available on most CP/M bulletin boards and in the FOG library on the disk FOG/UTL.019 disk under the name DU-V77.COM. In the instructions that follow, (cr) means "press the RETURN or ENTER key". First make a working copy of your system disk and put DU.COM and FRONT.COM on the working disk. Use SYSGEN to copy the system tracks onto the working disk. Put your originals away. Do no write-protect the new disk. Boot the new disk and at the A> prompt, type DU(cr) The DU prompt is a ':' Type in the following lines in UPPERCASE. Do not type the ':' which is just the prompt. The "0" in "T0" is a zero. :T0;S1;=COPYRIGHT(cr) (Do not type this: DU will show track and sector number, then "AT 21". If you do not see "AT 21", quit now, you have a nonstandard version of CP/M) :CH7,5(cr) :CA8,FRONT (cr) :W(cr) :X(cr) A> (you are back at CP/M prompt) This will patch your system to run FRONT automatically. Reboot, and FRONT.COM should come on. If it does not, use SYSGEN to copy the CP/M system again on your working disk and try again, watching your typing carefully. If it still does not work, seek help from someone familiar with your version of CP/M. Some versions, like the Pickles & Trout CP/M for the TRS-80 computers, have a special utility to set up a program to run automatically, and this patch may not work with them. This is why you did this experiment using a copy, not an irreplaceable master disk... Right? If this patch does work, you can use SYSGEN to copy the modified CP/M to any disk on which you might put FRONT. Remember: Never modify or copy anything on your original disks! Automatic re-execution of FRONT With most CP/M machines, FRONT can reload itself automatically at a warm boot. Since different machines can handle this differently, FRNSTL51 will allow you to select a method. The easiest is if your version of CP/M can be set to execute the program at every warm boot. In that case, you would select autorepeat option 0. The "standard CP/M" method (autorepeat option 2) uses the facility built into the CCP to handle SUBMIT files. See FRONTSUB.DOC for more details. Autorepeat option 3 is for ZCPR systems such as the WestWind ZCPR modification which look for a $$$.SUB file on the current drive, rather than on drive A as the standard CCP and older ZCPRs do. With the Osborne 1, if FRONT has been renamed AUTOST and the autorepeat option 1 selected, then it can be reloaded automatically if you end up on drive A. It does this by setting a "legal" flag in the Osborne 1 BIOS (versions 1.3 and 1.4x) to make this happen again at every warm boot. This method cannot be used when a .SUB file is executed, and thus your .SUB files must end with a command to run FRONT again. 8. TROUBLESHOOTING Garbage on screen - Run FRNSTL51 and check terminal installation. If it is correct according to FRNSTL51 and it does not work, drop me a note. Arrow keys don't work properly - Check terminal installation or use CTRL-H, CTRL-J, CTRL-K, CTRL-L. - If you are using a Morrow machine, see your documentation on how to set the arrow keys. - If you know how to use DDT or SID, use the information in FRNT51PT.ASM to modify the arrow key definitions. System crashes when trying to execute a command - Probably non-standard CCP or system configuration. Use FRNSTL51 and set "Standard CP/M" to "No". This will also happen if you use a CPR with modified command buffer size. Setting Standard CP/M to "no" should cure it. - Some programs which alter high memory may interfere with the normal functioning of CP/M (UNIFORM, or CO-PILOT on the Morrow, for example). Try without these programs. FRONT won't run again automatically after executing a command - FRONT.COM must be on drive A, user 0. - FRONT.COM should only be renamed by reading it with FRNSTL51 and saving it under the new name. - Check that the self-repeat option has been installed correctly (by reading FRONT.COM with FRNSTL51). - If using option 2 or 3, read FRONTSUB.DOC. - If using the Osborne 1 AUTOST repeat method, you must log back to drive A and do a ^C if your program did not return you to drive A. - If you use the Osborne 1 AUTOST method, a copy of AUTOST.COM must be present in each user area. - You can use options 2 or 3 with the Osborne 1 if you don't like the AUTOST method. - The last line of a .SUB file executed by FRONT must be the command to run FRONT again. "A$" or " A>" followed by a number and other cryptic messages appear on the screen after executing a command. Are those error messages? - No, it is only CP/M executing a command that FRONT put in $$$.SUB to make sure you would be returned to the user area you started from (this is mostly for the benefit of hard disk users). Do not press any key (except Control-S, see below) while these messages are being written, as CP/M will take that as a sign that you want to take over and you will be left hanging there. When executing a command, there is no time to read the screen before FRONT runs again and overwrites it - Try to freeze the screen with Control-S. Hit Control-S again to continue. Not enough space on screen for all the names to list - See Section 9 below. System crashes when exiting the called program - See installation notes about the auto- repeat feature - Make sure the disk in drive A has valid system tracks. Front crashes or freezes up when using a hard disk - There may be too many files to list and the internal name buffer was not large enough. See section 9. - Your hard disk BIOS or CCP location in memory may be non-standard. Answer 'no' to the Standard CP/M question. Other bizarre behavior - Drop me a note. Describe what happened as precisely and completely as possible. Also describe your machine and disk setup. Be sure to indicate which FRONT version number you are using. Be patient. 9. FRONT WITH A HARD DISK The menu space in FRONT is limited (it depends on your screen size) and hard disk users may find that there is not enough room for all the commands to be listed, so the names will start overwriting each other as the cursor moves around. FRONT itself will in theory still be functional, so if you select a command or press ESC it will respond, though it may display garbage instead of the name of the executed command. There are two ways around this problem: - Use the 16 user areas which are available under CP/M. Put your word processing stuff in one user area, your spreadsheet stuff in another one, etc. - Hide all non-menu executable files of the types listed by FRONT by setting them to "SYS" status; this way they won't be crowding the menu, but they will still be available by ESCaping to CP/M or for use by SUBMIT or other programs.