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- Introduction to PATCHCPM.
- Why you might want to PATCHCPM.
- How to use.
- How to modify.
- Features and limitations.
- : Introduction to PATCHCPM.
-
- This utility enables you to easily PATCHCPM. It is
- simply a collection of available patches put together in one
- program. It was purposely written in 8080 code and is easily
- modified.
-
- Feel free to add any other patches you have come across
- - if you do then how about sharing them with me?
-
- Jim Dreher
- 1937 Armory Road
- Barstow, CA
- 92311
-
- Barstow RCP/M -- (619) 256-3914
-
- : Why you might want to PATCHCPM.
-
- I see a lot of people are switching to ZCPR2, but I have
- decided NOT to go that route on my ROBIN. Don't get me
- wrong, I agree that ZCPR2 has some really nice features, but
- the ROBIN simply doesn't have that much disk space to manage
- (only 169k per disk). I believe that ZCPR2 is better suited
- for a large disk system such as a 5 or 10Mb Winni (or maybe
- even a double-density 8 inch). That way you would have
- enough room to make the USER areas work to your advantage --
- very similar to the heiarchial structure of UNIX or VMS.
-
- Consider an alternative system that I currently use.
- This works GREAT on a system with four drives -- I don't know
- if it would be all that great on a system with only two
- drives. Everybody and their grandmother has written better
- utilities than the CCP "built-in" ones, but are a little
- awkward to use. How many times can you type XDIR or ERAQ
- without looking at the keyboard and not make a mistake? My
- utility called PATCHCPM solves this problem. Using PATCHCPM
- here's what I've done:
-
-
-
- 1. Using a patch by Lewis Moseley, my DELETE key now
- works the same as my BACK SPACE key. (Hooka!)
-
- 2. Using another patch from an unknown hacker, I've
- designated my drive A to be my "system drive". If
- I'm logged into a disk other than A and call for a
- program that's not on that disk, CP/M will
- automatically go and get it from drive A. The next
- patch indicates how useful this is.
-
- 3. Using patches that I thought up (I don't know if
- I'm the first, but I haven't seen them documented
- anywhere else yet), I disabled the "built-in" DIR,
- ERA, and TYPE commands. Now when I type in DIR
- instead of doing the directory, CP/M looks for a
- file called DIR.COM. Then I RENamed the following:
- SD.COM became DIR.COM, ERAQ.COM became ERA.COM, and
- TYPE17.COM became (you guessed it!) TYPE.COM.
- Reference #2 above, now I can get a directory from
- any disk in any drive and the DIR.COM only has to
- be on the disk in drive A!
-
- I use the patch that makes drive A the system drive and
- I find it very useful and more importantly practical to use
- (on a ROBIN with four drives). On my "system disk" are all
- of the programs that I frequently use and can be invoked
- while logged into any drive. The best example is my new DIR
- command -- I ran PATCHCPM to enable drive A as the "system
- drive", disabled the "built-in" DIR command, then I did "PIP
- A:DIR.COM=B:SD.COM[V]". Now I can get a comprehensive
- directory while logged into any disk and only the system disk
- needs to have the DIR.COM file! (SD.COM is Super Directory -
- VERY NICE!).
-
- There are many other worthy replacements avaliable for
- the "built-in" CCP commands. I also use TYPE17.COM renamed
- to TYPE.COM and ERAQ.COM renamed to (you guessed it!)
- ERA.COM.
-
-
- CP/M Copyright,TM Digital Research
- ZCPR2 written by Richard Conn
- ROBIN is Digital Equipment Corporation's VT180.
- SD.COM written by David Boruff.
- Unix TM Bell Labs
- VMS TM Digital Equipment Corporation.
- ERAQ.COM written by ?
- TYPE17.COM writen by Dave Rand.
- XDIR written by ?
-
- : How to use.
-
- 1. d>PATCHCPM<cr>
- 2. PATCHCPM asks "Need help (Y/N)?"
- 3. Answer 'Y' for details.
-
- : How to modify.
-
- PATCH.ASM should be adequately self-documented to aid
- you in making any modifications. Keep in mind that it was
- purposely written in 8080 code and please read the help
- section "Features and Limitations." Please let me know if
- you come up with some other useful patches.
-
- : Features and limitations.
-
- 1. This program cannot load past 08FFH or it will
- overwrite the memory image of the CP/M system you
- are patching - if necessary then remove some of the
- less useful patches to include yours.
-
- 2. If you answer 'N' to a question it will NOT restore
- the CCP to it's original state. If you wish to
- remove the patch(s) then start with a "fresh" CP/M
- system.
-
- 3. Note that if you disable one of the built-in
- commands you must have a .COM file of that name on
- the disk for that command to work. For example you
- may want to disable the built-in "DIR" command and
- put "SD.COM" renamed to "DIR.COM" on the disk.
-
- 4. This program was purposely written in 8080 code so
- that all can use.