The X-Philes (2nd Revision)/The X-Philes Number 1 (1995).iso/xphiles/hp48_2/areuh.tar/areuh/doc/areuh110.doc

Text File | 1990-10-10 | 9KB | 149 lines

             USING AREUH WITH A HP110

              Michael Markov (PPC Paris 301)


Using AREUH with an HP110 presents a variety of problems, most of which are
related to the fact that AREUH requires about 200+K of memory to run. This leaves
you with 70K of EDISC for your source code, intermediate files, listing files,
and anything else you may feel you absolutely have to have, such as ED110, in
case you need to edit the source file, or HPILLINK to upload and download LEX
files.... Keep in mind that listing files are roughly twice the size of source
files, and that the object file takes some room. Needless to say, this means
that you cannot keep the 150K byte AAS.EXE program in the A: drive.

Therefore, HP100 owners who still want to use AREUH for serious work must resign
themselves to loading AAS.EXE from disk each time they wish to assemble a LEX
file. Worse, unless they are working with source files of 20K or less, they must
also resign themselves to either sending the listing file to a disk file, or to
a printer. Either approach means that execution time is much slower than you
would expect from the AREUH documentation. Still, my HP110 and AREUH allow me to assemble a 42K source code files about 4 minutes, while my
HP71 requires over half an hour to do the same job, in spite of a 1.9 times
speed-up. (Yes, I am considering the purchase of a 512K base Portable Plus with
a 1 or 2 Meg RAM card, but considering the cost, maybe I would be better off
with a full-size desk top machine.)

Let me hasten to say that 20K source files are quite sufficient for individual
keywords. Assembling such small files is unbelievably fast, and very convenient
for debugging sessions. You will have few problems assembling such files using
either the compatibility mode or the modular mode. However, source code files
show a definite tendency to grow: TXTSORTS, once less than 13K, is now 42K. TKS,
the source for DISASMLX, grew to 77K from similar beginnings. The following
material describes the work-arounds I developed to allow me to assemble such
source files more or less painlessly.

Since the major space and memory waster is saving the listing file, you must ask
yourself whether you need a listing file. In the compatibility mode, you can use
the LIST OFF and LIST ON keywords to suppress the listing file for portions of
the files that you have already assembled successfully in previous sessions.
For example, with the LIST OFF suppressing most of the TKS listing, DISASMLX
can be assembled in about two minutes. This is definitely worth taking advantage
of -- just list the portion of the source that includes any new keyword you add
to the file you are building. This will let you know if any jumps are out of
range, which is the most common problem when adding a new keyword to a file,
assuming you have already tested and assembled the keyword separately. However,
there always comes the time when you need a complete listing for code-packing/
code review purposes. When this happens, I use the following procedure:

1)  If your source code file is more than 20K bytes long, prepare a work disk
    that contains ONLY HPILLINK, the source code and any symbol files you use,
    to include the entry point files found in the AREUH disk \LIB subdirectory.
    You should first format this disk, then copy the symbol files from AREUH to
    the work disk with   COPY C:\LIB\*.EP D: (If you have only one drive, first
    copy the files to the A: drive, then to the work disk. Next, copy any
    special Symbol files  to be loaded with RDSYMB. Finally, copy the source
    code file to the work disk. This may sound complicated, but if you use AREUH
    frequently, you will prepare several work disks in a single session, so that
    all you have to do in this step is add the source code. You can reuse such
    work disks at any time by simply deleting old source and listing files. Do
    not forget to add any special symbol files. When your souce file grows
    beyond the size that can be edited with MEMOMAKER, you may want to add your
    favorite EDitor software. While this limits the space remaining free for the
    source and listing files, it is very convenient.

    You should seriously consider breaking-up your larger source code files into
    smaller files (20K or less) that can be assembled from the A: drive, as
    execution time suffers badly when assembling the source from mass storage.
    The AREUH loader-linker will allow you to combine the resulting intermediate
    files into a single large LEX file. See WRITHEAD.BAS and WRITHEAD.DOC on the
    disk. These files help a lot when using the modular mode.

    If you do NOT use supported entry points, you can assemble source files of
    up to about 60K from the A: drive, since you do not need to have the entry
    point files in either the A: drive (current directory) or the C: drive...

2)  Format a blank 3.5" disk in drive C:
3)  Backup your HP110 with COPY *.* C:    (from MS-DOS)
4)  Delete all files except the source code file to be assembled, and PACK.COM.
    If the file is in excess of 30K or 60K (see step 1 above), delete everything
    except PACK.COM since you have to assemble the source from the work disk
    prepared in step 1 above.
NOTE: If you use AREUH frequently, you will already have back-up disks, and you
    need only back-up current work in progress.
5)  PACK the A: drive (Type PACK [Return]).
6)  You may now delete PACK.COM if you are real short of memory.
7)  EXIT MS-DOS, and press the f6 key (System Configuration).
8)  Increase the Memory allocation to 200+ Kbytes.
9)  Exit the configuration menu, and return to MS-DOS.
10) Replace the disk in your C: drive with the AREUH disk.
11) Copy any entry point files required from the C:\LIB subdirectory to the A:
    drive (unless these files are available on your work disk).
11) Load AAS.EXE with C:AAS - The interactive mode is a must if you have only
    one drive. Otherwise, you can use toggles documented in the README file to
    more or less duplicate what follows.
12) Once the interactive menu comes up, replace the AREUH disk with your work
    disk. This may be the work disk prepared in step 1, or the back-up disk
    created in step 2 and 3. This disk will be used to save the listing file.
13) Now, you are ready to respond to the prompts in the interactive menu:

                   Source in drive A:      Source in drive C:
    Source file :  TXTSORTS.TEX            C:TXTSORTS.TEX
    Object file :  TSORT                   TSORT             output to A: drive
    Listing File : C:LIST                  C:LIST            listing to disk
    Cross Reference: Y                     Y                 Yes, nice to have
    Page length :  88                      88                I use 8 lines per
                                          inch to save paper

While assembling version 7 of the above LEX, I got an object file of 3066 bytes
and a listing file of 74K bytes. The LEX itself, after conversion to HPILLINK
format with the AREUH A2LEX.EXE program and downloading to the HP71 was 1513
bytes long (TSORTLX7).

You can read the source from one external drive, direct the object file to the
same disk, while having the AREUH disk in a second drive, and send the listing
file to a third drive, assuming you can borrow one (I used a cassette drive to
check this.)  This flexibility should allows HP110 users to assemble LEX files
of up to 32K.

14) I actually work with two disk drives, which simplifies things. I keep the
    AREUH disk in drive C: and the work disk in drive D:, so that I respond to
    the Listing file : prompt with  D:LIST. Minor difference that makes life
    somewhat easier.

15) Now, I look at the listing file using Ed Gilbert's Editor, which I keep on
    the work disk:  D:ED D:LIST     (EDit file LIST on drive D:). If you have
    only one drive, you may do the same using drive C:

16) If there are errors, edit the source file and go back to step 1. Otherwise,
    put the AREUH disk in drive C: and  execute the A2LEX program:

    C:A2LEX  TSORT    This creates a new file in HPILLINK format with the LEX
                      extension.

17) Finally, you are ready to download the LEX file to your HP71 using HPILLINK:

    D:HPILLINK (or, if you have only one drive, replace the AREUH disk with your
               work disk, and use C:HPILLINK)

18) See the PCCOMM file elsewhere on this disk to findout how to transfer files
    between your HP-17 and your HP110 with a minimum of effort.

NOTE: The HP-71 MAY REMAIN ON THE LOOP WHILE ALL OF THE ABOVE IS GOING ON,
PROVIDED THAT YOU FIRST EXECUTE  "CONTROL OFF".

WARNING: The HP110 may tell you that your drive has a bad unit if you try any
mass storage operation after the HP-71 has been the controller. This is because
the HP110 usually works with 512 byte mass storage sectors, while the HP71
normally uses 256 byte sectors. Reply Ignore to the problem prompt. Thereafter,
you should no longer have problems.