CP/M/CPM_CDROM.iso/cpminfo/cpm-cc10.art

Text File | 1994-07-13 | 8KB | 153 lines

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[   THE KAY*FOG RBBS  |  CPM-CC10.ART  |  posted 01/18/86  |  150 lines  9k  ]

          The CP/M Connection                   Originally published in
                  by                               Computer Currents
             Ted Silveira                           2550 9th Street
  (copyright and all rights reserved)             Berkeley, CA  94710


                               August 27, 1985
                            SOMETHING NEW FOR CP/M

     I'm going to depart from my charter this week and review an
interesting new piece of low-priced commercial CP/M software.  Write-Hand-
Man is a RAM-resident program that brings some (but not all) of the
features of the MS-DOS favorite, Sidekick, to CP/M.

     [RAM-RESIDENT PROGRAMS]  Once loaded, a RAM-resident program stays in
the upper section of your computer's RAM (Random Access Memory) while you
run other programs like WordStar or dBase II.  The RAM-resident program is
transparent until you call it; then it does its job and disappears again,
leaving your main program none the wiser.  Key-definition programs like
XtraKey and SmartKey II work this way and have become very popular among
CP/M users.

     Recently, another kind of RAM-resident program has become popular in
the world of IBM clones.  Programs like Sidekick and Spotlight give instant
access to several useful tools:  a calculator, a notepad, an appointment
calendar, a list of phone numbers, and so on.  If you need to make notes
while working on a spreadsheet, you can jump to the notepad and then jump
right back to the spreadsheet when you're done.

     Unfortunately, these programs eat up large chunks of RAM, 70K or more.
If you have an IBM clone with 512K RAM, you can set aside 70K, but if you
have a CP/M machine limited to 64K RAM, you obviously can't.  Because of
this limited RAM, few people expected to see Sidekick running on a CP/M
machine.

     [ENTER WRITE-HAND-MAN]  Write-Hand-Man is not Sidekick, but in a
limited way, it brings some of Sidekick's functions to CP/M.  Once loaded,
it gives you quick access to a notepad, a calculator, a phone book, and an
appointment calendar, and it lets you view the disk directory or a text
file.  In addition, if you know assembly language, you can add new
functions to Write-Hand-Man or modify the present ones.

     When you call Write-Hand-Man, it opens a window in the upper-left
corner of your screen and shows a menu.  Everything takes place in this
part of the screen, in windows ranging from 16 to 32 columns wide and from
8 to 12 columns long.

     Write-Hand-Man's notepad lets you write and save notes in the middle
of any other program.  Recently, I had to write a review of four disk
editing programs.  Using the notepad, I jotted down comments while I was
actually using the programs.  Then, while writing the review, I popped up
the notepad again and reread my notes.

     The calculator is a simple one (add, subtract, multiply, divide), with
no memory or other fancy features.  It can calculate either in the normal
decimal form or in hexadecimal, but it does only integer arithmetic--no
fractions or decimals.

     The phone book is much like the notepad, except that each page is
labeled with a pair of letters (A-B, C-D, etc.).  When you've entered your
phone numbers on appropriate pages, you can locate them again by jumping
directly to a particular page.

     The calendar is also like the notepad except that the pages are
labeled with days of the week.  The calendar handles two weeks at a time,
and the pages carry no date, only the day of the week (Monday, Tuesday,
etc.) and a number signifying whether this is the current week or the
coming one.

     The file directory function shows files but doesn't show file sizes or
free space remaining on the disk.  The file viewing function lets you scan
forward and back through a file, but viewing is a little awkward because
the window is small.

     Write-Hand-Man has a communications module that comes in source code
only because it must be adapted to the hardware of your computer.  To make
it workable, you'll need to know a little assembly language and have an
assembler that can produce Microsoft-compatible REL files.  What you get is
a dumb terminal program--no file transfers or capture buffer.

     Write-Hand-Man can also be expanded.  With Microsoft's M80 or a
compatible assembler, you can enhance the existing functions or produce
your own that will run through Write-Hand-Man.  Write-Hand-Man comes with
the source code for all its functions and a brief set of rules for building
new ones.

     [DRAWBACKS]  Write-Hand-Man takes up space--about 5K of your
computer's working memory.  Since CP/M itself already takes 8K or 9K,
loading Write-Hand-Man will leave 50-51K for other programs, like WordStar
or dBase II, to run in.  That's enough for most programs; if you run into a
problem, you can easily remove Write-Hand-Man.

     If you want to use Write-Hand-Man together with a key-redefinition
program like XtraKey or SmartKey II, you'll lose even more space, of
course, though not as much as you'd think.  I found that Write-Hand-Man and
SmartKey II together take up only 7.5K, about 2K more either one alone.
(Write-Hand-Man works with both XtraKey and SmartKey, though the key-
redefinition program must be loaded first.)

     The standard version of Write-Hand-Man (WHM.COM) doesn't restore your
screen after it's done but leaves a blank hole where its window was.  Along
with WHM.COM, you also get WHMT.COM, an enhanced version that will restore
your screen but takes up an extra 2K of memory.  Do you sacrifice the extra
memory, or do without the screen-restore?  It's a tough choice because
while some programs, like WordStar, can rewrite the screen themselves,
others can't.  In addition, WHMT.COM won't work on all terminals.

     Finally, Write-Hand-Man's functions are limited (mainly by CP/M's
scanty memory); you need to realize you're not getting a full-blown
Sidekick clone here.  On the other hand, because Write-Hand-Man is open-
ended, new functions can be added and old ones expanded.  If the program
catches on with public domain programmers, who knows what might happen?

     [HOW USEFUL IS IT?]  I find the notepad function very useful.  If
you're the kind of person who's constantly jotting down notes or thinking
of two things at once, you probably will too.  I also find the calculator
useful, mainly because it can calculate and convert hexadecimal numbers.
If you don't program or write about computers, you'll probably find a cheap
pocket calculator more useful.

     I find I don't use Write-Hand-Man's phone book and calendar, not
because they don't work, but because I don't have any need to.  People who
do need such things may find these functions useful, though people who have
heavy schedules will certainly find the calendar too limited.

     I don't often use the file directory and file viewing functions
because I can do both in WordStar, my workhorse program.  However, when you
use programs that don't have such functions, these can be useful.

     Write-Hand-Man sells for $49.95 and should run on any CP/M computer.
Contact:
          Poor Person Software
          3721 Starr King Circle
          Palo Alto, CA  94306
          415/493-3735

Poor Person Software also sells a number of other low-cost products,
including a spelling checker, spreadsheet, print spooler, and windowing
system (programmers only).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Ted Silveira is a freelance writer and contributing editor to several
   computer-oriented publications.  He appreciates suggestions or feedback
   and can be reached through the KAY*FOG RBBS [phone] and CompuServe
   (72135,1447) or by mail to 2756 Mattison Lane, Santa Cruz, CA 95065.

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