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============================================================ T H E $ R / O R E A D O N L Y --=={ May 1985 Issue }==-- The news magazine of the TBKUG/DataCOM Network ============================================================ Steve Sanders - Editor Tony Stanley - Associate Editor ============================================================ DataCOM Network Nodes: System #1 (813) 937-3608 10mb 300/1200 System #2 (813) 937-6829 20mb 300/1200 System #3 (404) 632-2109 10mb 300/1200 The DataCOM Network is a subscription service database system that is accessible for an annual fee of $30.00. Systems 1 and 3 carry CP/M-80 software, system #2 has a growing IBM/Kaypro 16/Compatible file section as well as CP/M-80/86 files. Call System #1 or #3 to download a membership application on-line or send SASE to: TBKUG/DataCOM Network 14 Cypress Drive Palm Harbor, FL 33563 ============================================================ Purpose: The purpose of this electronic news magazine is to help owners of microcomputers keep up with some of the latest hardware and software currently available. We cover subjects concerning CP/M-80, CP/M-86, and PC/MS-DOS operating systems. The articles reflect the opinions of the authors and prices are based on published figures as of the current date of this newsletter. Distribution: This newsletter may be distributed freely on RCP/M systems as long as the title page and all contents remain un- altered. Articles and reviews may be taken for other newsletters ONLY if the author is properly credited. ============================================================ --=={ Goodbye to PC-Jr }==-- It should be no big surprise to anyone that IBM has decided to cease production and sales of the PC-Jr model. After a lot more media hype then anyone ever needed to see and loud ravings from dealers, the PC-Jr model is vanishing. Diminishing sales and bad reviews, especially the initial reviews that centered around the "chicklet" keyboard and non-expandability problems seemed to have killed the buyer's interests. IBM is not one to beat a dead horse and have scheduled the Jr for a quiet extinction after standing production orders are filled. Expect to see Jrs being sold in all kinds of places very soon. Wharehouse sales outfits that specialize in selling large lots of goods from bankrupt companies will probably jump on this bandwagon quickly. Maybe even K-Mart or other large discount purchasers as well will probably follow with PC-Jr specials at un-heard-of prices for an IBM computer. Charlie is probably in the wings pinning diapers on the new PC-2 (maybe a AT Jr?) and making television ads by the dozens. Lots of rumours flying about IBM going with one of the new high-tech 3-1/2" 20 mega-byte hard disk drives instead of the scheduled 5-1/4" 20mb for the AT model. --=={ Hello to Kaypro 2000 }==-- Remember the rumoured lap-top portable computer that Kaypro was supposed to sell last year? Well it finally made it off the drawing board and into production. The Kaypro 2000 was just announced during the April shareholder's meeting and will be Kaypro's FOURTH entry into the DOS world. Kaypro 2000 Specifications: 8088 processor, 256k RAM expandable to 640k, 11 pounds, adjustable 25x80 LCD display with resolution of 640x200 pixels, 3-1/2" Citizen (720k) micro-disk drive, internal rechargeable batteries/charger unit, and detachable key- board. Suggested price is $1995.00 (at press time.) The new 2000 model will come with a standard software bundle of (what else?) Wordstar, Infostar, Calcstar, and GW Basic plus the MS-DOS 2.11 operating system. Kaypro claims the unit will run on it's internal batteries for about 4 hours between charges. The system goes into an auto-standby mode drawing less power if the keyboard is inactive for more than 60 seconds. The Kaypro 2000 does NOT have an internal modem at this time, however Kaypro claims a 300/1200 baud modem and optional second disk drive are definitely in the works and should be available within 60 days. The 2000 can communicate with a modem via the serial port so any standard external stand-alone modem can be used. {sls} --=={ New 3-1/2" Hard Drives }==-- Miniscribe is pushing their new 3-1/2" 20mb HDD as the "start-of-the-art" in fixed disk media. This drive with an incredibly fast head settling time could make computers much faster due to increased disk I/O without even speeding up the CPU. Not long ago hard drives were available only in 8", 14", and larger sizes. The 5" drives became the defacto standard for size, speed, and especially power consumption. But, technology never stands still, facing a wave of laser- this/that/and the other things, the hard drive companies are meeting the challenge. Smaller, faster, and more efficient drives are the end results. Laser drives capable of holding GIGABYTES of data on a 5" or smaller platter are now being developed. These drives can hold fantastic amounts of data that is optically stored on the surface by a laser beam. The problem so far is to be able to make it a Read/Write media like conventional drives. So far they have been able to Write-once and read forever but this really limits the media to vendors who will supply laser disks pre-loaded with data. Let us also not forget that the current price of a laser drive is also in the GIGA-dollar range! With all the new advancements however the prices of Hard drives are falling daily. A 20mb 5-1/4" drive can be bought today for $350-600 depending on manufacturer and whether the drive is full-size or half-height. OEM prices in quantity are so small now I think every computer should be equipped with a hard drive or at least make it a cheap option. It's really nice not having to hunt through a 1000 floppies looking for a program you use all the time and then have it accessed by the compu- ter at incredible speed. {sls} --=={ Public Domain }==-- This section deals with some of the newest programs currently available on the TBKUG/DataCOM Network systems. All programs may be obtained via US Mail at the current $10 per disk copying charge. Send requests to us at the address on the front cover of this magazine. [ KTIME10, WAIT12K, and KPRINT21 ] I have just completed modifying the ZCPR3 real-time clock utilities originally written by Joe Griffith of the Tampa CP/M User's Group for Kaypro video support. These are some really nice utilities if you have any of the following real- time clocks in your Kaypro: Kaypro Internal Clock - 4'84s and all new 2.2u1 models Kenmore ZTIME1 Z-80 based clock board Legacy Kaypro 2/4 or Kaypro 10 clock boards KTIME10 will display the current time and/or date string either single-shot on the command line, or the 25th status line in dim inverse video, or continuously until a CTRL-C is entered. It can also send the time/date string to the printer for time-stamping of screen dumps or whatever. WAIT12K was covered in last month's magazine and is a great delay-timing utility that can be easily utilized in any ZCPR3 multiple commandline. You simply program WAIT12K with a time and then it waits until the programmed time equals the current time and continues with the stored multiple commandline. You could set it to wait until 3am and then auto-start MEX or another communications program and call up a RCP/M during cheap LD time. Or any of a thousand other uses when a delayed start is desired. KPRINT21 is a file listing utility with many options and features. It will print a file paginated with a header, page number, time/date stamp, and a comments line. All of it's features and options are completely togglable by the user. All of these utilities are true ZCPR3 utils and must be installed with Z3INS and your SYS.ENV file before use. These are a great way to get some good use out of your real- time clock and enjoy the Kaypro video enhancements. [ TM-LEG10.ASM ] This is the Legacy real-time clock overlay for the above mentioned ZCPR3 utilities. It can be set for either the Kaypro 2/4 board or the Kaypro 10 board by selecting the proper port numbers for the board in use. [ QK-21.LBR ] QK or QWIKEY is the public domain version of the highly useful SmartKey keyboard re-definer program. QK allows you to program strings to be sent when a sequence of keys is entered. QK can also be programmed to read-in or store definitions in a diskfile. The maximum length of the defined string can not exceed 31 minus the length of the character or string normally genrated by the re-defined key. The first time you run QK it will prompt you for an "attention" character and an "escape sequence lead-in" character. The attention key is used to enter new definitions and the escape character pre-fixes all your QK keyboard requests. Suppose you wanted ^D to display all the files on your hard drive without entering the "SD *.* $AND" everytime. You would just program QK as follows: Key: ^D = SD *.* $AND Now just enter "<ESC character> ^D" and presto, SD will now list all files automatically. I'm sure you can see the uses for this are about as limited as your imagination. Now add this to the fact that QK can save definitions to a diskfile to be called in for use at any time and you have a real class utility here. QK is a definite WINNER folks - well worth getting. [ ROLOKP11.LBR ] This is a name, telephone number, and comment Roladex-type program that allows you to quickly find names and associated phone numbers. ROLOKP11 is specially designed for any model Kaypro using inverse and dim video modes and cannot be used on early model Kaypro II or pre-'84 models. ROLO is very fast and presents a very flashy screen display on the Kaypro. It builds and uses a file called ROLO.DAT on the B drive to hold all the names and numbers. The program itself is simple to use and self-prompting, just get it and use it! I have also written a modified version for use on a Wyse50 terminal called ROLOWY11.LBR and it is available on System #2 for download. [ KPKEYSET.LBR ] TBKUG member Lindsay Haisley has written a nice set of utilities to re-configure the vector (arrow) and numeric keypad keys. This set consists of 3 programs, one is called KEYCON and installs your particular key configurations into the other two. One program is called KPAD and it sets the numeric keypad keys and the other is called KVEC and it is used to re-configure the arrow keys. You simply program the desired configurations into each utility and then can call them up as needed. The arrow key utility allows for up to 16 configurations to be stored internally. You call them up with a simple command like: A0>kvec vp01 this installs the number one configuration which could be like mine and sets the arrow keys for Wordstar's diamond pattern. When running under ZCPR3 you can easily use an ALIAS to run KVEC first before loading another program or you could use it in a SUBmit file with EX under standard CP/M 2.2 systems. KPAD.COM is the utility for modifying or re-defining the numeric keypad keys. It also allows for entry of 16 pre- defined configurations to be stored for later use. You may call your "entries" by any name you choose such as the TEST, WSD, and WSA entries indicate above or the default names of KP01 thru KP16, whatever is easiest for you to remember and/or use later. The whole configuring process is menu-driven and self-prompting and is VERY easy to use. The KPKEYSET (KAYSET) programs are very useful and can save a lot of time that used to be wasted by running the CONFIG program every time a change is desired. These programs may be used on any model Kaypro except the newest 2.2u and 2.2u1 CP/M version machines which hold the majority of the operating system in ROM. {sls} [ DR13+.LBR ] Yes it's another DIRectory program, but this one has a definite twist from the normal programs. It has one option that will list the ERAsed files currently in your directory. This is real handy to use BEFORE running the UNERA utility to keep you from UNERAsing two or more files with the same name. How many times have you used UNERA only to find you now have two (or more) file entries with the same name and different 'k' sizes? DR13.COM also has a few other options that make it a worthwhile utility (who ever has enough utilities?). In it's normal display mode, DR also lists the size of files in 'k' and also in RECORDS. DR can give you a consolidated list of ALL files in ALL user areas also with the '*' parameter on the commandline. DR13.COM is very small, fast, and handy - it is highly reccommended for anybody's bag of tricks and works well on all CP/M machines it has been tested on (yes, even Kaypros running ZCPR3). [ TURBSCRN.LBR ] SCREEN.PAS is a Turbo Pascal source code file that, when compiled, can be used to create editable input screens for your programs. Ever wanted some fancy looking menu screens without having to go through all the hassles of coding all those WriteLn statements? Well you're not alone my friend. The files created from the program are: <filename>.INC - the source code file to include in your application program. <filename>.SCR - the screen file that can be edited to make changes in a previously created screen. Main menu selections: <1> Select file - you will be prompted to enter <N>ew or <O>ld file. <2> Draw Screen - will clear the the screen and place the cursor in the upper left corner. If you are editing an existing file, the file will be displayed so you will not accidently overwrite it. <3> Display Screen - will display the screen in the current named .SCR file. <4> Save Screen - will write the <filename>.INC and <filename>.INC to the currently logged disk. The source code produced and saved in the <filename>.INC file will structured to write all of the text first, the write(variables) next and then the read(variables) sequen- tially as there are presented on the screen i.e. top to bottom left to right. <5> Quit - Before exiting the program, if you have edited a file, the program will prompt you to see if you wish to save the screen files. Files included TESTSCR.SCR - an editable screen file to demonstrate SCREEN.PAS TESTSCR.INC - source code produced from the above TESTSCR.PAS - a sample program using the above include file SCREEN.PAS - source code for the screen generator SCREEN.DOC - this file Suggested usage - using Turbo Pascal compile the SCREEN.PAS to a .COM file. You may then call the program from the Turbo Pascal editor using the X (execute option) and create your screen. Upon exiting SCREEN.COM you will be returned to the Turbo Pascal editor and your application program. At the appropriate place, enter (*$I <filename>.INC *). See the example files TESTSCR.INC, TESTSCR.SCR and TESTSCR.PAS Released to the Public Domain 02/09/85. Not to be used for profit or resale. Author: David McCourt, R D 2, Williamsport, PA 17701 Editor's note: I have not yet had a chance to try out the TURBSCRN program in actual use so if anyone has any reports either good or bad, let's hear em. {sls} --=={ NightOwl's Nest }==-- NightOwl Software is pleased to announce the availability of the U.S Robotics Courier modem, direct from NightOwl. We're bundling this modem with some of our own products as part of our Spring Special promotional effort. Buy a Courier 2400, get an "A" class subscription to our NightOwl Connection remote-access system and a copy of our MEX-PC communications software for your IBM-PC or compati- ble. This is an $860 value, for 689.95. A Courier 2400 and an "A" class subscription to the NightOwl Connection; an $800 value, for only $639.95. Courier 2400 and a copy of MEX-PC; purchased separately at list prices, you'd pay $760; our price: $609.95! (Note: If you've already purchased any of the components of any of the above packages, we'll apply your FULL purchase price (less shipping) toward the rest of the package of your choice.) The Courier 2400: The U.S. Robotics Courier 2400 is an attractively packaged auto dial/auto answer modem; features include: 300/1200/2400 baud operation: auto-answers and auto-dials at any of these rates -- 2400-baud "fallback"; nine front panels LEDs (including transmit/receive data) keep status in front of you at all times; busy detector: when used with the MEX Smartmodem overlay and the MEX repeat-list dialing feature , increases your dialing "throughput" enor- mously; 3 built-in help screens; status screen; volume-controlled speaker with 4 modes of operation; dip- switch on bottom of modem allows transmit-receive reversal (no need for a "null modem" cable); 10 function mode switch (with silkscreen explaining each dipswitch set- ting, as well as the entire modem command set); adaptive dialing; full "AT" command set; much more. Price: $599.00 + shipping/handling MEX 2.0: NightOwl will be previewing its MEX 2.0 communi- cations package (8-bit CP/M only, for the time being) to NightOwl Connection subscribers ("A" class only) in late April. We're working overtime to make this one of the most complete communications packages ever devised; MEX 2.0 will be initially available only to NightOwl Conne- ction "A" class subscribers. For more info write to: NightOwl Software, Inc., Route 1 Box 7 Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 --=={ Turbo Tutor }==-- How many Turbo Pascal v2.0 users out there are using it on a hard disk based machine and are tired of it always re- booting to User 0? I keep my TURBO.COM and other Pascal files on the B4: area of my Kaypro 10 and hate to see the prompt "B0>" appear after "Q"uitting the Turbo editor. I was to say the least annoyed, until I came across the file called TURBUSER.BUG that someone graciously uploaded to one of the DataCOM systems. The actual fix is real simple using DDT as follows: B4:TURBO>ddt turbo.com DDT VERS 2.2 NEXT PC 7800 0100 -a2051 <-- you enter "a2051" <RETURN> 2051 lda 0004 <-- you enter "lda 0004" <RETURN> 2054 nop <-- you enter "nop" <RETURN> 2055 nop <-- you enter "nop" <RETURN> 2056 . <-- you enter "." <RETURN> -g0 <-- you enter "g0" <RETURN> B4:TURBO>save 119 turbo.com <-- now save the new file That's all there is to it! Now when exiting the Turbo editor with the "Q"uit option you will find yourself on the same user area you started from. {Editor's side note: In putting this info together I was reminded of my earlier days of CP/M-stupidity. All the books I read about how-to-use CP/M always showed the same type of exit from DDT as illustrated above. And all the books shared the same lack of a REAL printed ZERO with a slash through it - so I always thought you exited DDT with the command "GO". Needless to say, DDT does not like the command GO vs G0 and a year or so later I found out that the best way to exit was (what else?) but good ole ^C. Whenever you are looking at language code source listings always be sure you find the actual difference in shape between a zero and the letter O. This can be the difference between a program that runs and one that bombs out! {sls} --=={ Turbo 3.0 Smokescreen? }==-- Let me just start out by saying that I truly believe that Borland International sells a great line of products at some incredibly low prices. Considering that Turbo 2.0 sells for $49 when compared to other Pascal compilers that sell for upwards of several hundred dollars. They have (in my opinion anyway) led us CP/M owners down the rose-lined path with the new Turbo Pascal 3.0 version. I rushed my master Turbo 2.0 disk back to Borland with a check for $30 to get my new Turbo 3.0 disk and manual. Now this is a good deal considering that Turbo 3.0 sells for $69.95 and they gave me $39.95 for my old 2.0 master but... All the ads I read (and have since gone back and re-read) stated that Turbo 3.0 now compiles in half the time of the 2.0 version. True - but only for DOS users not CP/M-80! I have run several benchmark tests like the sieve program and 3.0 does NOT compile much faster than the earlier 2.0 version. I have also found some files that compile and run fine under 2.0 now give me memory errors when compiling the same code under 3.0 {Kaypro 10 running BIOSMMR + ZCPR3 with a 49.2k TPA}. I am also now testing to see whether compiled programs run slower with the new overlay handling routines. Turbo 3.0 now opens an overlay file, reads it in and then closes it on every access. I myself prefer to close files that I have previously opened when I feel like closing them! This is only Standard Operating Procedure folks, if you open it - then close it when you're done. It seems as all the improvements for Turbo 3.0 are only there for the DOS users and Borland is leaving us CP/M owners out in the cold like most of the other companies today. I just wish they had been CLEARER in their ads and told the real truth - Turbo 3.0 is new and improved for DOS users ONLY... Save your money and keep using Turbo v2.0, it's solid, works great, and can now be patched to run the 'right' way. I'm not sure whether Turbo 2.0 is going to continue to be sold or replaced altogether by the 3.0 version. >> Sorry Borland, but this month my hat stays on my head. --=={ CPR86 - A CP/M-86 ZCPR? }==-- by Richard R. Stephens Houston, Texas The following is a review of the public domain CPR86 command interpereter as implemented on CompuPro equipment. It is intended merely as commentary and reflects the personal opinions and attitudes of the author. It is placed here merely for your entertainment and education. After using an MP/M system for a couple of years, and using ZCPR on a Kaypro, a few months back, I bought (or should I say, went into hock over) a CompuPro Dual Processor System 8/16. This system comes in several configurations, and not having the fortune to be blessed with great wealth, I opted for the bottom-end system with 128k static ram & CompuPro's (now calling themselves Viasyn) proprietary im- plementation of CP/M 86, CP/M 8-16. This superset of CP/M 86 has a neat feature that allows you to run 8-bit CP/M programs on the dual processor's 8085 as well as CP/M 86 programs on the 8088. Full source code for the BIOS is included so you can do all sorts of snazzy customization of peripheral drivers, etc. However, the operator interface looks just like plain old vanilla CP/M 2.2, with the exception of a DIRS command to look at files with the SYS attribute set. After having used ZCPR and doing applications programming in an MP/M environment, it was sort of hard to go back to the old 'A>' prompt and the limited scope of most standard CP/M utilities. My system uses 8" drives with a 1.2 MB capacity, and with space like that, you can really use different user areas on each disk to help keep stuff from getting too jumbled together. Con- sequently, I sometimes find myself wandering off into user 12 drive B: or somewhere to work on projects in manageable- sized pieces. Although CP/M 8-16 will look on the logged-in drive,user 0 for a program, if you are logged in on B: and want to call a program that resides on A: in user 0, you have to ask for it with the drive prefix as part of the programname (i.e: B>A:<programname> <commandline> ). I like to run my terminal at 19200 baud (makes my editor's screen rewrites almost invisible), and as you might suspect, TYPEing a file at that speed leaves little time to react with the ^S to stop and examine the six lines you wanted to see anyway. Without waxing verbose over the limitations of the standard CP/M CCP, (after all, ZCPR didn't happen by acci- dent!) suffice it to say that there oughta be a better way, and sure enough there is! CPR86 is a command line replacement for CPM 86 and 8- 16, modeled after the ZCPR environment. DU (drive/user) vectors are displayed in the prompt and moving around is as easy as entering the desired DU followed by a colon (i.e. B12:<cr>). TYPE pages and allows reading back and forth through the file. There is a command that allows you set up as many as 5 path stops to be searched for a requested program. The FIND command searches all drives, all users for a file search query. The DIR command recognizes the DU form as well, and in fact, logs you into the queried DU. In addition, there are now 32 user areas, 0-31! Ever sat through renaming a number of files or erasing a number of files one at a time for lack of (or in the case of the standard ERA command, fear of) a wildcard specification? Sure, you can do all that stuff with SWEEP, but you have to load SWEEP first, and for just a few little changes, it shouldn't be such a hassle. Well, it isn't with CPR86. Wildcard filespecs, when submitted to the resident ERA function, prompt for confirmation file by file unless other- wise specified. Likewise, you can do mass renamings with or without query, by issuing a single command. CPR86 uses an overlay to the CP/M 86 BIOS that resides in memory along with it. The overlay is called using a hardware interrupt, just as a BDOS call in CP/M 86 is made with a hardware interrupt instead of a call to a specific address. With the CompuPro system, this requires that you reassemble the BIOS, after editing the source code. I learned a lot about my machine in the process of implemen- ting the CCP replacement. For instance, when I get ready to install a hard disk, it will be a breeze to go back into the BIOS source and flip the switches to plug the software in to new hardware (now, if I could only figure out which computer to sell to come up with the cash for a hard disk and contro- ller. the agonies of being a computer freak...). Since CPR86 replaces the CCP, the SUBMIT utility will NOT work. Instead, ZIP is provided. ZIP works almost exactly like SUBMIT, but is a resident command instead of a transient loaded from the disk. A special character placed in the .ZIP file will pause execution and allow you to abort the batch. Truly a useful capability when using edit/compile/link sequences. All in all, the CPR86 overlay provides a superior environment to complement the fine hardware by Viasyn/CompuPro. Unfortunately, source code is not provided with CPR860.LBR. It is patched into the CPM.SYS file using DDT86. The INSTL0 file has clear instructions for sucessfuly patching the CCP. As soon as my brother gets CP/M 86 for his PC clone, we're going to try to get it running under that too. The documentation states that this SHOULD work, but makes no guarantees. We'll see. Also, it will not run in a 128k system. In closing, the combination of CPR86 and CompuPro System 8/16 makes great software development system. You can use compilers, editors, assemblers, debuggers, etc. for and from both CP/M 80 and 86 with the exception of Z-80 specific code. Of course, now Macrotech has come up with that new board that plugs right in in place of the 8085/88 and has a 8 mhz Z80H and a 80286. And gee, only $1400...(sigh) --=={ The Kaypro Keyboard }==-- The Kaypro Keyboard Newsletter is edited and published every month by Randy Gleich and has some really good Kaypro- related info in it. Randy is sending every 'known' KUG in the country a free copy so check with your KUG's newsletter editor to get a copy. Even better yet, subscribe and help Randy keep bringing out this quality newsletter. You may contact him at: The Kaypro Keyboard P.O. Box 85 Vermillion, SD 57069 The newsletter is $24 (twelve issues) a year. --=={ SOFTWARE REVIEW - MICROSHELL ]==-- by Lindsay Haisley I have a piece of software which has saved me more key- strokes (and hence mistakes) than any other program that I have in my library. The software is called MicroShell (from New Generation Systems, Inc.) and most of the time I don't even realize that it's up and running! MicroShell is a replacement for that part of the CP/M system (called the CCP) which provides the "A0>" command prompt, executes SUBMIT files, does TYPE, DIR, ERA (and other "System" commands) and loads other programs for subsequent execution. Some of you may be familiar with ZCPR, a public domain CCP replacement which provides numerous extra features not available with standard CP/M. MicroShell is quite similar to ZCPR, but goes one step further, and this is the step that makes it worth its cost (about $120). This "extra step" is MicroShell's built-in submit facility which is a full programming language in itself. A SUBMIT file, in case you've never used one, is a file of commands to be given to your computer in the same manner in which you would type them after your command prompt. Thus, to get an idea of what's on your disk drives, you might enter the commands "DIR A: <Return>", "DIR B: <Return>" and "STAT <Return>". After each entry you would see a listing of files on your disks followed by a statement of the free space left on them. If you did this operation frequently, you could make up a file using your editor or word processor containing these three commands just as you would type them at your keyboard and name the file, say, SEE.SUB. Under plain vanilla CP/M you could then enter the command "SUBMIT SEE <Return>" and, assuming that the program SUBMIT.COM is available on your A disk, the commands in SEE.SUB would be executed in succession. Pretty handy - - but supposing you want to execute a series of commands and at some point in the series you need to stop and make a decision affecting the rest of the commands based on what's happened so far. CP/M SUBMIT doesn't know how to do this, but MicroShell has the ability to allow all sorts of decisions on the part of the operator. You can program a whole series of operations, make choices, select from menus, enter data and see results without ever seeing the command prompt. MicroShell's SUBMIT file language is, in fact, similar to MBASIC in what it can do, and if you have mastered MBASIC you can learn the Micro-Shell command language with little difficulty. In addition to numerous other features, MicroShell also provides something called "Redirection" which is quite useful. Redirection allows you to save what a program shows on your screen to a file or send it to a printer, or even send the printer output to a file instead. It also allows you to tell a program to get it's input from a file when it would normally expect input from your keyboard. All this is not without a price. Unlike CP/M's CCP which is only there when you need it, MicroShell stays in your computer's memory all the time, and won't tolerate a number of programs which need to use portions of your high memory. Among the programs which are not compatible with MicroShell are MITE, SMARTKEY (and other programs like it), certain features of SD (Super Directory) and UNIFORM. If you have a KayPro 10, BEWARE!! Using MicroShell with the wrong program will occasionally cause a crash all over your hard disk directory, leaving you with a couple hours of work to clean up the mess. The vast majority of programs, however, run just fine with MicroShell, and getting out of MicroShell to your primary operating system is as easy as typing "-x". MicroShell is not for beginners (although a beginner would have no trouble using it just like ordinary CP/M) but on the other hand one doesn't have to be a Super Hacker to use and appreciate what it will do. If you have a little program- ming skill and use your Kaypro for a variety of jobs you would certainly find MicroShell a useful addition to your software library. --=={ HARDWARE REVIEW - PROGRAPHICS VIDEO BOARD }==-- by Steve Cohen I had to have some video graphics. Yes, I knew what I was getting when I chose Kaypro over an Apple, and graphics were pretty far down on my wish list. But ... have you tried using Turbo-Pascal without being able to see the marked blocks? Have you ever played 'MyChess' with those conglomerations of characters that they call Chess Men? I decided that I had to add a video board. But I was leery. This one was said to be incompatible with PluPerfect Sof- tware, that one looked tough to install. So when I saw the full page ad for Advent Products' Prographics System, compa- tible with all existing software, all the different highlig- hting features, and its advertised ease of installation (VERY important to a non-electronic type like me) I threw caution to the wind and plunked my $300 down. (now sold for $249). Let me give the bottom line first: after 'many a slip twixt the cup and the lip' the Prographics System is up and running in my Kaypro 4 and doing everything I bought it for. It makes the old Kaypros a lot nicer to use. Since I've never tried any other of the video board add-ons I have no comparisons to make -- maybe some other board is a better value, I don't know. What the Prographics Board gives you is an add-on video Board that works off an unused Parallel I/O Port. With one important exception it was exceptionally easy to install. It uses none of the Kaypro's 64K RAM, and can put lots of characters on the screen faster than your Kaypro can do it now. There is no soldering involved nor do you have to make any permanent changes to the Original Kaypro Board - You can always go back. It takes 30-45 minutes to install, and the manual is well illustrated with pictures to show you what to do. You get to choose one of nine video-attribute configu- rations (e.g. reduced intensity, reverse video, half inte- nsity reverse video, etc.). You can't mix these on the screen, but you can switch between them if you're willing to keep opening the cover. (I hooked up an additional circuit to enable me to change the video attributes with an outside switch, described in another article -- "VIDEO.MOD" in this library). You get true-descender characters, and 160x50 block graphics (not pixel mapped) as well as line-graphics. (The new Kaypros have 160 x 100, a finer resolution). You also get a 25th protected status line which contains a relative-time clock (not real-time), a row/column cursor position indicator as well as indicators for keyclick on/off and attribute on/off. This 25th line is alternatively user programmable to contain other information. You get a program to patch your WordStar to the new specs, as well as some sample programs that take advantage of the graphics. It's supposed to be compatible with the Micro-C Pro-8 ROM chip. The board performs well, although it didn't when I first bought it. There was a problem with an occasional stray character appearing on the screen which would disap- pear after scrolling. A phone call brought me a replacement chip which ameliorated but didn't cure the problem. On the second phone call they said there was a bug in the circuitry which they'd fixed and I could send the board back for an update. (The newer boards they're selling all have this fix - be careful if you buy one from another retailer that you get the most recent version).I had my board back within two weeks and it now works perfectly. While Advent is due some criticism for putting the board out with this bug, I must compliment them for sticking with me until it was fixed. My main criticism of this board is that the easy insta- llation claim is violated in one place. There is a timing adjustment necessary to center the image on the video screen. This is a delicate operation requiring some knowle- dge and care, and the adjustment is located in different places on different machines depending on which brand of CRT your Kaypro has. Unfortunately Advent found out after releasing the product that there were six different configu- rations, not the two that their manual lists. If you're not careful you could short the high-voltage video circuitry could blow your CRT. I wisely decided, when my machine didn't match their descriptions, to have my dealer make the adjustment. It cost $20, and took about a minute, but I was all set to adjust the wrong component. This is inexcusable; Advent should at least illustrate the different possible configurations. I can understand their dismay at finding that Kaypro changed their design so often, but this one point really renders their easy-installation claim somewhat less than honest. An alternative solution that occurs to this non-engineer would be to place a timing adjustment on the Pro-Graphics Board itself - then there would be no problem describing where to find it. The Prographics Board is supposed to be compatible with the Televideo and Soroq video control sequences, so programs with installation routines can usually select one of these terminals to install the video. I wonder why they didn't choose to emulate the video of the Kaypro-84s to give full compatibility with future Kaypro Software. Nonetheless, the Televideo and Soroq are also well supported terminals, so installation of new software shouldn't be a problem -- what problems there are seem to be due to hard-wired terminal installation in much of the cheap bundled software that Kaypros come with. Which brings me to my other complaint - I'd like to see a little better software support - patch programs for the Perfect Software come most readily to mind. (Can anyone out there supply the program PWCONFIG without the video instal- lation routine disabled? The Perfect Software that came with the Kaypro hardwired the video in so that it can't be modified to take advantage of the new video - although Perfect Filer takes advantage of the new video without needing modification. Let me emphasize that these old sof- tware programs WILL STILL WORK EXACTLY AS THEY DID BEFORE, even if you can't take advantage of the new video. The only exception I've found is that not surprisingly, screen-dump routines written for the old Kaypros won't work. Advent really ought to have included a screen dump although they've told me they're working on one now - or could this be a project for you hotshot A-L programmers?? -- Answer as of March, 1985 -- Not likely. When I had learned enough AL to try to tackle this myself I called Advent to find out what Port to access the new video memory on and was told this: Unlike the Kaypro 84s the Prographics has ONE WAY Communication with the main Kaypro memory. That is, as far as the Kaypro is concerned the Prographics video memory is "WRITE ONLY". NO CIRCUITRY IS PROVIDED FOR THE KAYPRO TO ACCESS THE PROGRAPHICS MEMORY. Once it gets onto the screen its lost to main memory forever. So any screen- dump would involve a 5-6K routine to keep track of each byte that was written there making note of things like scrolling, control characters, etc. No wonder they haven't written a screen-dump. This causes me to lower my rating of the Prographics by a notch or so. A screendump isn't something you need every day, but when you need it, you need it. There is no routine to set the clock, but I had fun learning to write an assembly language routine to do this. I've also changed the MPSETUP.FIL file which contains codes to control the video (and printer enhancements, and other things) in MICROPLAN. These files can be found in the PROGRAFX.LBR file on the DataCOM Super System or can be had by writing to the TBKUG at the address on page 1. To sum up, I'm glad I bought the Pro-Graphics Board. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a little graphic pizazz in their Kaypro. It's also an excellent way to overcome reluctance to 'go under the hood' and learn to handle elec- tronic chips. But you may need an experienced hand available to help you with the video adjustment. Hopefully, Advent will improve the documentation in this area and also continue to provide new software support. I wrote the above paragraph last summer. Since then the board has worked absolutely reliably. However discovering the truth about the screendump has soured me a little on the board. Has anyone ever been able to upgrade a Kaypro 2 or 4 to a 2-84 or a 4-84? That's what I'd really like! Leave me a message -- either on compuserve 75776,3603 or on the ProCOM Database. I also think that Advent is really just trying to reduce their inventory on this item and not in providing new support for it. The advent (no pun intended) of the -84's has made this item less than viable economical- ly. With the reservations above, I do recommend this product. --=={ Editor's Soap Box }==-- It's that time to say goodbye again until next month when we'll attempt to once again delve into the mysteries of the microcomputer world and all that goes with it... As always -- articles, product reviews, problems, gripes, complaints -- let us hear em, see em, or use em! I was asked the other day if you could use one of those floppy notchers to use BOTH sides of a double-sided diskette, anyone care to comment on this? Speaking of the infamous 'notchers', have you ever considered what happens when a diskette is run through your floppy drive backwards? The inside lining of a diskette is supposed to catch and hold dirt and other crap and keep it from your heads. Now imagine what happens when the diskette is spun the other way - you got it, all the dirt goes right onto the heads! Nuff said? Kaypro Corp is now building 4 DOS machines and 4 CP/M machines - anybody see a trend here? When was the last time you removed and cleaned the little foam filter on the back of your Kaypro 10? Makers of 2400 baud modems have NOT as yet come to terms on a common protocol for this new high-speed medium. Also, most of the major modem manufacturers are waiting for Rockwell Corp to de-bug the new chip set so they can at least use a common chip. Until these problems are resolved I would be rather leary of buying a 2400 baud modem. If you have a modem connected to a telephone line all the time, do you have a transient suppressor inline? Last year's electrical storms cost me $100 in modem repair for a zapped Racal-Vadic. I bought a bunch of ZAPPERS (tm) from Transorb Products on the East Coast of Florida for $12 each and sleep much better these days. See their ads in Computer Shopper each month for more details. And as always: TBKUG User Disk sales and VIP memberships keep the doors open, the lights on, and the modems answering... Steve Sanders