AOL File Library: 2,801 to 2,900/aol-file-protocol-4400-2801-to-2900.zip/AOLDLs/TAWUG/TAWUG Disk No. 66 (SHK)/TAWUG66.shk/APPLE.INTRO

AppleWorks Document | 1988-03-11 | 17KB | 255 lines

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AN INTRODUCTION TO THE APPLE II
A     An important, and sometimes confusing, point for first-time H
Fcomputer users is the fact the computer can NOT do anything unless it =
;has specific instructions about what to do.  Some of these D
Binstructions are built into the computer's chips (ROM memory--see F
Dbelow) but many have to be loaded into RAM memory--in the form of a I
Gprogram {also called "software" } which is then run.  Just because you H
Fhave a computer, you won't necessarily be able to do word processing, G
Efor example, unless you have a word processing program to run on the I
Gcomputer. DON'T LAUGH....THIS ISN'T AS OBVIOUS AS IT SOUNDS--THERE ARE H
FA FAIR NUMBER OF FIRST TIME COMPUTER USERS WHO DIDN'T KNOW THIS UNTIL
SOMEONE TOLD THEM.
D     Another important point is that NO MATTER WHAT YOU TYPE ON THE F
DKEYBOARD, YOU CANNOT BREAK YOUR APPLE.  You may "crash" the program H
Fyou are running and lose some of the data you entered, but you should D
Bbe able to shut off the computer and restart the program from the ?
=place you last saved your data onto disk--hint, hint: saving G
Efrequently is a VERY good habit to get into. And, as I said, you can F
DNOT break a computer simply by typing on it (unless you type with a G
Esledge hammer).  In fact, your Apple is a pretty hearty creature and H
Fcan tolerate almost anything by way of normal use.  Dropping it off a G
E10-story building, pouring your morning coffee into it or leaving it E
Cinside a closed car on a hot summer day are not examples of normal
use.G
E     Passing a magnet over your floppy disks, or leaving them on top I
Gof magnets (including your stereo speakers, near your telephone's bell I
Gringer, etc.) or subjecting them to extremes of hot or cold or getting @
>them wet, are no better for your disks than they are for your @
>computer.  And remember, while disks cost a lot less than the F
Dcomputer, they also are the place where you save your valuable data H
Fwhen the computer gets turned off, so they deserve as much respect as G
your Apple does--at least if you value the data stored on your disks.
=     What can I use my Apple to do?  Given the right program ?
={software}, just about anything, from word processing (fancy G
Ecorrectable typewriter), data bases (computerized filing system) and I
Gspreadsheets (programs that, once you set them up with formulas in the F
Dright places, do calculations for you and if you change one part of C
Athe sheet, all other parts of the sheet will reflect the change) C
A[AppleWorks and a number of other programs do all three of these ;
9functions in one] to education (learning ABC's, reading, A
?algebra,etc.), to fun-- games from arcade games (which improve E
Chand-eye coordination) to adventure games (which require deductive H
Freasoning skills--at least those which are well written), to learning I
Gprogramming--the BASIC programming language is built in to every Apple H
FII and there are a multitude of other programming languages available G
Efor use on your Apple.  We'll cover some examples of what you can do I
Gwith your Apple in the second half of this talk, but for now let's get G
Edown to the basics of how your Apple works and to make your Apple do
what you want it to do.
RAM AND ROM MEMORY:
D     The Apple II understands many different programming languages, I
Gbut only two languages are built in (or to use the computerese jargon, C
Aresident in ROM --Read Only Memory);these built-in languages are C
AApplesoft Basic (hereafter referred to as Applesoft) and machine
language (a Binary code).B
@     The Apple has two different kinds of memory ROM (Read Only B
@Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory). ROM is built-in and not E
Cuser-changeable; it contains such things as the instructions which I
Gtell the Apple how to understand programs written in Applesoft. ROM is G
Ealso structured so that there are specific memory addresses which at G
Ewhich certain types of information are loaded, e.g. ROM has specific I
Gsites to which it will load an Applesoft program,to which it will load I
Ga high resolution graphics picture,etc.  You don't need to worry about H
Fthese addresses now,since they are automatically set when you turn on G
Ethe computer. ROM is built into the silicon chips inside your Apple; C
Ait doesn't change--hence the name Read Only Memory(ROM)--this is I
Gmemory designed only to be read by the Apple,not changed by the user.  I
GThe memory you use when you load a program, run a program and so on is G
Ecalled RAM (Random Access Memory). When an Apple is referred to as a I
G64 K or 128 K Apple , this refers only to RAM not to ROM, since RAM is F
Dthe only part of memory which changes depending on which program is G
Ebeing run at a given time. Remember, ROM is for the computer to use,
RAM is for you to use.
DISK OPERATING SYSTEMS (DOS 3.3
 and
DOS):
=     We will now turn to a discussion of DOS (disk operating I
Gsystems--the instructions which tell your Apple how to access the disk G
Edrive).  We'll start with DOS 3.3, even though some of you may never G
Ehave run across DOS 3.3 before. DOS 3.3 is the disk operating system G
Ewhich came with all Apples from 1980 to 1984, and, hence, there is a >
<great deal of very good software out there which is DOS 3.3 D
Bbased--much of it Public Domain (i.e. FREE).  Because the manuals D
Bwhich come with newer model Apples do NOT even mention DOS 3.3 in F
Dpassing, and because there is no other readily available source for G
Enew users who don't know anything about DOS 3.3 to read about it , I G
Eam going to discuss DOS 3.3 in detail. Before you get bored and turn F
Dme off completely, remember--what you learn about DOS 3.3 will form C
Athe building blocks on which your learning ProDOS {the currently I
Gfavored disk operating system} will be based.  If you don't understand F
DDOS 3.3 (which is the easier of the two systems to understand), you 5
will have more difficulty in learning about ProDOS.
DOS 3.3 --DISK OPERATING SYSTEM:
C     The instructions which tell your Apple how to access the disk G
Edrive are called DOS (Disk Operating System) are not built into ROM, F
Dbecause, among other things, your Apple II is still very similar to F
Dthe first Apples built in 1977 and those Apples did not have a disk H
Fdrive; they used a cassette recorder instead.  DOS occupies the first I
Gthree (of 35) tracks on each "bootable" floppy disk and is loaded each E
Ctime you boot a disk.  The term boot arises from the fact that you H
Fload the instructions that run the computer's interface with the disk I
Gdrive up from the disk, thus pulling the system "up by its bootstraps" H
Fso to speak. Whenever you start with a computer that is off, insert a G
Edisk into the drive and turn on the system you are BOOTing DOS.  You H
Fcan also re-BOOT DOS by hitting control-Open Apple-reset.  This wipes F
Dout whatever was in RAM at the time, reloads DOS into RAM and then, H
Fusing DOS, load a HELLO , or greeting program (see below).  There are I
Gseveral very  important DOS commands which you should know and we will
now go through them.
D     INIT  This stands for initialize.  When you initialize a blank F
Ddisk you first "format" it--set up the tracks and sectors in a form C
Awhich DOS will recognize, including setting up a volume table of %
contents (called VTOC) on track 17.F
D     The second half of the initialization process involves putting G
EDOS onto the first three tracks of the disk (tracks 00 through 02).  =
;Some people mistakenly use the terms format and initialize (
synonymously, but now you know better.
Why do you initialize a disk?C
A  1) to use it to store DATA saved from another program, such as C
Apictures from the Graphics Magician or games in progress from an 1
adventure game or financial data from VisiCalc.>
<  2) to ERASE a disk if you are sure you no longer want the I
Ginformation on it. REMEMBER INITIALIZING A DISK PERMANENTLY ERASES THE I
GDATA ALREADY ON THE DISK SO BE SURE YOU WANT TO DO THIS BEFORE YOU USE
THE INIT COMMAND.@
  3) you can initialize a disk so you can SAVE PROGRAMS on it.
To initialize a disk (DOS 3.3):
      Boot the DOS 3.3 SYSTEM MASTER DISK **F
      type NEW (this erases whatever program is currently in memory)E
C      insert the disk to be initialized into drive 1 {the internal
drive:
      on a IIc write a short APPLESOFT Program, such as:
      10     PRINT "BULLFEATHERS"
E      type INIT HELLO and wait about 2 minutes until the drive stops @
>whirring and the in use light goes off---and POOF you have an
initialized disk
G** (DOS 3.3 SYSTEM MASTER DISKS used to come packaged with every Apple @
>until Apple upgraded DOS 3.3 to a new DOS, called ProDOS {for G
Eprofessional DOS--more about ProDOS later}-- if you don't have a DOS H
F3.3 system master disk, you should be able to get one from your Apple I
Gdealer or your user's group. {It even says so on Page 134 of the Apple G
EIIGS Owner's Guide, if you get wierd looks from someone when you ask
for a DOS 3.3 System Master}.@
>     NOTE: the program you write as your HELLO program can be C
Aanything; in fact it can simply be a line number such as 10 with I
Gnothing after it, but doing this is very confusing since when the disk F
Dboots you will see a blank screen with just a cursor on it, nothing C
Aelse--you will then have to type CATALOG to find out if the disk
booted alright.
     My favorite HELLO program is:
     10  PRINT CHR$(4);"CATALOG"
G     This program starts out by telling the Apple it is going to issue G
Ea DOS command --PRINT CHR$(4); tells the Apple this--and then issues G
Ethe command CATALOG.  Note: you must type this program in exactly as I
Gwritten above, including the semicolon and the two quotation marks, or
it won't work.E
C      If you want to make a bootable DOS 3.3 disk you must use the I
Gfull initialization process described above under INIT.  If you happen D
Bto have a copy of the System Utilities disk {the Apple IIc System E
CUtilities Disk has such a choice, the Apple II GS System disk does I
GNOT} which allow you to choose DOS 3.3 as one of the operating systems E
Cunder the FORMAT A DISK option, and you use that process, you will H
Fliterally be formatting the disk (laying down tracks and sectors) but E
Cyou will have NO way to install DOS 3.3 itself on the disk, so the I
Gdisk will be useable ONLY as a data disk on which you can store data.  F
DYou will not be able to boot the disk by itself and you will not be E
Cable to store programs on the disk--you will be able to store data I
Gonly.  In fact, if you format a disk this way and then try to boot it, H
Fyou will get an error message which says "Not a DOS 3.3 startup disk" B
@--which means your Apple recognized it as having DOS 3.3 format H
F(location of tracks, sectors and VTOC) but was unable to find DOS 3.3
itself on the disk.
EREAD THE FOLLOWING NOTE ONLY IF YOU ARE HAVING THE PROBLEM DESCRIBED G
EABOVE AND WANT TO KNOW THE FIX, OR IF YOU ARE A REAL TECH-FREAK--ALL I
GOTHERS WILL CERTAINLY FIND IT TERMINALLY BORING AND MOST WILL PROBABLY
FIND IT INCOMPREHENSIBLE, TOO:F
D       {Note: in actuality, there is a way, using a special utility I
Gprogram called Copy II+ from Central Point Software to install DOS 3.3 F
Don such a disk, but you must copy DOS 3.3 from a disk which has DOS G
E3.3 on it and even then, the first time you boot the newly formatted F
Ddisk with DOS 3.3, you will be greeted by a different error message E
C--File Not Found--meaning "I found DOS but I didn't find the HELLO E
Cprogram."  At this point you can type in your greeting program and I
GSAVE HELLO; NOTE ALSO that, in this case, the greeting program must be
named HELLO !!!!}.
C      CATALOG   This command writes out a catalog of what's on the E
Cdisk to the monitor screen.  The letters in front of the file name #
tell you what type of file it is:
      A = Applesoft.F
D      I = Integer Basic.  To run this type of program you must have H
Ffirst loaded integer basic into RAM--the easiest way of doing this is E
Cby booting a DOS 3.3 System Master disk.  As I said before, if you I
Gdon't have a DOS 3.3 system master disk, you should be able to get one I
Gfor the cost of a blank disk from your Apple dealer--or you can make a I
Gcopy of one onto your own disk at the end of this session) The DOS 3.3 G
Esystem master's HELLO program automatically loads integer basic into 3
RAM.  You can then simply type RUN <Program Name>D
B     T = text file (e.g. a letter written on some word processors F
D(such as AppleWriter but not AppleWorks, a data file from VisiCalc,
etc.)C
A     B = Binary a machine language program-- to run this type of +
program you must type BRUN <Program Name>
D     LOAD loads an Applesoft or integer basic program from the disk F
Dinto memory (RAM) but does not run it.  You can use this command to G
Eload a program which you want to LIST (see below) to see the program H
Fline statements. Once you have LOADed a program you can run it simply G
Eby typing RUN (without using the program name).  Typing RUN <program H
Fname> will cause the Apple to reload the program from the disk before
running it.
F     LIST lists the program line statements (commands)for the program B
@currently in memory (RAM).  Usually, this is listed only to the G
Emonitor but if you want a printed list, you can type PR #1, FOLLOWED I
GBY RETURN , then type LIST.  PR #1 stands for peripheral number 1--the E
Cslot into which the printer is usually plugged--if your printer is I
Gplugged into a slot/port other than slot 1 then you would need to type B
@PR #N (where N equals the slot number into which the printer is A
plugged.), followed by a RETURN,. followed by the command LIST.
@     RUN <PROGRAM NAME>    loads the Applesoft or Integer BASIC H
Fprogram of that name from the disk and then automatically proceeds to
run it.
F     BRUN <PROGRAM NAME>   load the Binary (machine language) program F
of that name from the disk and then automatically proceeds to run it
B     SAVE <PROGRAM NAME>   saves the Applesoft or Integer program D
Bcurrently in memory (RAM) to the disk using the specified program I
Gname.  If there is already a file on the disk with that same name SAVE E
Cwill automatically erase the old file and write the new one in its A
?place (unless the old file is LOCKed--see below).  Be sure you H
Factually want to erase the old file before you SAVE using a file name I
Gthat already exists on the disk you are SAVEing to.  (P.S. I know that A
isn't the right way to spell saving but it helps for emphasis.)I
G     NOTE:   BLOAD  AND BSAVE COMMANDS WORK SIMILARLY TO  THE LOAD AND F
DSAVE COMMANDS ABOVE, BUT FOR BINARY PROGRAMS.  HOWEVER,THEY REQUIRE F
DTHAT YOU SPECIFY A MEMORY LOCATION TO EITHER BLOAD TO OR BSAVE FROM H
F(BSAVE ALSO REQUIRES THAT YOU SPECIFY THE LENGTH OF THE PROGRAM/FILE. I
GYOU CAN FORGET ABOUT BSAVE AND BLOAD FOR NOW, BUT DON'T FORGET THAT TO C
RUN A BINARY PROGRAM YOU MUST BRUN (NOT JUST RUN) <PROGRAM NAME>.
F     LOCK <FILE NAME>   enables you to lock a file so that no one can >
<accidentally erase or change it.  You should lock important G
Efiles/programs which you are not likely to want to change often. You I
Gprobably will not want to lock files (e.g.household finances) that you
are modifying frequently.
F     UNLOCK <FILE NAME>  unlocks  locked file/program and enables you H
Fto change it and then re-SAVE the modified form on the disk under the H
Fsame name as the original.  The new file replaces the old one and the G
Eold one is deleted from the disk--be sure you want to delete the old :
file before you SAVE a new file using the old file name.
D     DELETE <FILE NAME>  deletes the file from the disk, unless the F
Dfile is locked or the disk is "write protected,"  in which case you I
Gwill get an error message to that effect.  Once you delete a file, you I
Gcan NOT undelete it (except under certain very specific circumstances, F
Dusing special programs), so be sure you mean what you type when you
type DELETE <FILE NAME> !!
(ProDOS section is continued in next topic.)