ftp.barnyard.co.uk/2015.02.ftp.barnyard.co.uk.tar/ftp.barnyard.co.uk/cpm/walnut-creek-CDROM/BEEHIVE/UTILITYS/VDE26.ARC/VINST26.DOC

Text File | 1990-07-21 | 21KB | 329 lines

                                 VINST26.DOC
                                 -----------
                           [Supplement to VDE.DOC]

                    Instuctions for VINSTALL 2.60 (07/87)
                Installation Utility for Video Display Editor

                               (c)1987 E. Meyer


     As distributed, VDE is set up for a very basic Generic Terminal, and VDM
is set up for an Osborne Executive.  If you use another computer/terminal, you
will probably need to re-"install" VDE/M before using it.  VDE can now be
installed for ANY terminal; if improperly installed, the display may be a
mess, but there are no other side effects.  VDM requires a computer with
memory-mapped video; if improperly installed, it may crash.
     Most users should be able to install VDE simply by going to the Terminal
Installation and choosing the <L>ist option to select from a menu of terminals
already built into VINSTALL.  The list is not exhaustive, but it includes most
basic types: for example, the "LearSiegler ADM3" data should do well enough on
Qume, Wyse, Freedom and many other terminals, as well as many computers, that
emulate an ADM3 terminal.  Check your manual to see whether your machine
emulates one on the menu, or comes close.  Once you have VDE basically
working, you may want to go through the detailed <E>dit procedure to fine tune
things; the better the installation, the faster the display will work.
     Installing VDE for your computer should not be difficult.  If you find
that it was, please consider dropping me a note with the details of what was
required, so that future versions of VINSTALL can be improved.

     Terminal installation, while necessary, is only one part of VINSTALL.
There are also a number of User Options affecting the operation of VDE that
you can select or modify to suit your taste, and a default set of Macro Keys.
     The default printer installation is a basic Teletype (no special codes
enabled); VDE assumes only that the printer responds normally to Backspace (if
^PH is used), Linefeed, and Formfeed.  You will probably want to redo this, so
you will have access to your printer's special features.


=============================  RUNNING VINSTALL  =============================

VINSTALL SYNTAX:    A>vinstall {d:}vdename{.com} {instfil}     "{}"=optional

     Typically, you can use VINST26 to modify VDE26.COM (of course, feel free
to rename these files more conveniently) simply by typing:
                    A>vinst26 vde26
and selecting the values you want to change.  If you have to do a manual
installation of VDE for your computer, you may want to create an "installation
file" which you can use (and give to others) to supplement the built-in
terminal list of VINSTALL.  This is done by specifying another filename:
                    A>vinst26 vde26 termname{.vde}
VINSTALL will load and use (or create) the file TERMNAME.VDE (or .VDM), and
update it as well as VDE.COM when you exit.  The installation file is very
small, containing just terminal parameters (no user options, etc).
     It is also possible to create "key files" of VDE macro key definitions.
These work just the same way, except they must have a filetype of ".VDK", and
this must be specified on the command line, eg:
                    A>vinst26 vdm26 mykeys.vdk
     There are also "printer files" of type ".VDP", which store your printer
installation data, and work the same way:
                    A>vinst26 vdm26 okidata.vdp
(No, you can't specify more than one supplemental file at once.)  The version
numbers of VDE/M, VINSTALL, and any other files must "agree" or you will get
an error.  The match need not be exact, as there may be a new release of VDE
without modifying the installation areas.

     VINSTALL is largely self-documenting, and steps you through each item
individually.  If this is your first time running the program, take advantage
of its "Help" option before you start in, for some basic instructions.  Note
that ALL the number entry in VINSTALL is HEXADECIMAL; you will find a good
ASCII/base-conversion chart helpful.  VINSTALL can't check for illegal values;
be careful what you enter!
     What follows is a more detailed explanation of installation items, in
about the same order as in the VINSTALL procedure.  Most people will be using
VDE; you can try to use VDM instead if you have memory mapped video with:  (1)
a high bit that can be used to highlight and provide a cursor; (2) an absolute
address at or above 3000h.  The advantages of VDM over VDE are faster screen
updates and a little more free memory.

USER OPTIONS
       Create BAKup files (Y/N) - Should a backup file be made when you edit
    an existing file?  Choose "Y" to play safe, "N" to save disk space.
       Default file mode W/A/N -  Which of the three file modes "W","A","N"
    described in VDE.DOC do you want as the default?
       Default insert on (Y/N) - Do you want the INSERT toggle to start out ON
    when first entering VDE?
       Default ruler on (Y/N) - Do you want the Ruler line (^OT) to start out
    ON when first entering VDE?
       Left and Right margin columns (00-FF) - Default margin settings for
    "W/A" modes.  Set both to 1 to entirely disable wordwrap and reformatting.
       Page length (00-FF) - Set the number of text lines to print on a page.
    (Does not include another 3 lines for a header, if used.)  Setting to 0
    disables pagination entirely.
       Scroll overlap (00-lines) - This is the number of lines overlap between
    screens when scrolling with ^R/^C.  The smaller, the larger the scroll.
       Show system files (Y/N) - Do you want files with the SYStem attribute
    to show in the VDE directory display?
       Fixed drives (A-P) -  This lets you specify that up to two CP/M logical
    drives are nonremovable media (hard or RAM disk), so VDE won't reset them
    before writing to them, speeding up some systems.  Enter two drives from
    "A" to "P"; to leave either blank, enter "@".  (The default is "@@", or
    none; if you have a RAM drive C:, enter "C@".)  Caution: naming a floppy
    drive here can cause serious BDOS errors on CP/M 2 systems.
       Ring bell on error (Y/N) - Do you want your terminal bell to ring when
    a VDE error message displays?
       Alternate video in header (Y/N) - Do you want the header, messages, etc
    to appear in a contrasting video mode (if installed)?
       Block mark character (00-7F) - Usually ^B (02), but if you need to
    imbed that code in your files for any reason (eg, ZCPR3) you can change
    this to some other (otherwise unused) ASCII code, such as 00 (^@).
       Wildcard character - Normally "_", this is the character that will be
    used as a wildcard in FIND strings.  Change if you wish.
       Clock speed in MHz (01-FF) - Set this to reflect your CPU clock speed;
    most Z80 computers are 4.0 MHz (use 40 here).
       Horizontal scroll delay (01-FF) - This adjusts the delay between
    scrolling the current line and scrolling the rest of the screen, when
    working beyond the right screen edge.  The average value is 80; adjust up
    or down as you like.  (VDM is so fast that a value of 01 is recommended.)
       Hard Tab display spacing  -  This determines how any actual Tabs (^I)
    in your text will display.  Usually 08, this can be made 02, 04, 10, or
    any other power of two.  Other values will produce erratic results.
       Variable tab stops -  Enter a list of up to 8 variable tab stop
    columns, in ascending order.  (Column 01 is the leftmost.)

TERMINAL INSTALLATION (Both versions)
       Terminal ID - Identify the terminal you are installing. (16 characters)
       Viewable screen columns (28-FF) - Enter the width of your screen in
    columns.  The normal value is 50h for an 80-column screen.
       Screen lines (04-FF) - Enter the number of lines on your screen.
    Normally 18h for 24-line screens.
       DELete character (00-7F) - VDE always accepts 7F as a delete key.  If
    your keyboard can't generate this you can install an alternate value here
    (example: 1F enables ^_ on an Osborne 1).  If you have a DEL key, you can
    leave this at the default value, FF for "not used".
       Arrows up, down, right, left (00-7F) - Enter the ASCII codes generated
    by your terminal arrow keys in this order, one byte each.  Ignore parity.
    Use a value of FF to mean "not used".  (WordStar arrows and BS need not be
    redefined here.)  The default is CP/M ^K,^J,^L, entered as 0B0A0CFF.  (If
    you have ANSI standard arrow keys, you can set all these to FF.)
       Terminal init, uninit - Enter the codes you want sent to initialize
    your screen on entry into VDE, and to uninitialize on exit, in the form
    (# of bytes),bytes.  Example: ^Z is (01)1A.  Minimally, both sets of codes
    should clear the screen.

TERMINAL INSTALLATION (Generic VDE only)
       Autowrap at line end (Y/N) -  Usually Yes, as most terminals wrap down
    to the next line when a character is printed at the right edge of the
    screen.  If yours discards characters instead, set this to No.
       Clear to end of line - Enter the codes to clear to the end of the line,
    as (#),bytes.  Example: ESC-T is (02)1B54.  If your terminal can't do this
    then zero it out (00).
       Alternate video on/off - Enter the codes (#),bytes to turn your
    favorite video attribute (eg inverse, dim) on and off.  This will be used
    for control codes and (optionally) the header and messages.  If your
    terminal has no attributes, zero these out (00).
       Use high bit for alt. video (Y/N) - If, instead, your terminal needs
    the high bit set on characters to put them in alternate video, zero the
    above strings out and say Yes here; otherwise, No.
       Console filter (7D-FF) - This is the highest ASCII code that will be
    sent to the screen.  Normally 7F; if your terminal can't display codes 7F
    or 7E (DEL and tilde), lower this to 7E or 7D.  Characters filtered out
    will display as a "?".
       Cursor positioning mode (S/R/A/N) - This tells VDE how your terminal
    can be made to put the cursor at any given row/column on the screen:
              "S"tandard = leadin byte(s), row byte, column byte (default)
              "R"eversed = leadin byte(s), column byte, row byte
              "A"NSI std = ANSI standard sequences "ESC[rr;ccH"
              "N"one     = no absolute cursor addressing supported
       Cursor positioning sequence - This is the actual sequence used to
    address the cursor.  IF YOU CHOSE "A" above, you can skip this entirely.
    IF YOU CHOSE "S" or "R", then enter the 4-byte sequence for addressing the
    cursor to the top left:  two lead bytes, then two row/column offsets.
    Most terminals use ESC,=,20h+row,20h+col, or 1B3D2020.  If you have only
    one lead byte, enter 00 for the second.  IF YOU CHOSE "N", then you must
    enter two 2-byte sequences instead: first one to home the cursor, then one
    to move it right.  If either is only one byte, enter 00 for the second.
    Typical values are home=1Eh, right=0Ch, which would make 1E000C00.
       Delay after cursor positioning (00-FF) - Normally 00.  Some slow
    terminals require a delay here to accomplish cursor movement; adjust this
    value upwards as necessary.
       Insert, Delete line - Sequences that will cause the current cursor line
    to be deleted, or a new line inserted there.  Most terminals can do this.
    Example: on an ADM3-style terminal, ESC-E or (02)1B45 inserts a line,
    while ESC-R or (02)1B52 deletes a line.  For some terminals, you have to
    specify which line is to be inserted/deleted; in this case, enter the
    sequences for line 1 (the second screen line).  If your terminal can't do
    this at all, zero these out (00).
       Ins/del specific to line 1 - Usually No; set to Yes only if the ins/del
    sequences you installed above are for line 1 only, rather than general.

TERMINAL INSTALLATION (Memory-mapped VDM only)
       Unused columns of RAM (00-FF) - Enter the number of unused bytes in
    video RAM between the end of one visible line and the start of the next.
    Example: many computers have 80h (128) bytes of RAM per line, but only
    show 50h (80) of them.  So there would be 30h unused columns.
       Cursor on/off - Enter the codes (#),bytes to turn the regular CP/M
    cursor on and off, so it won't appear on the VDE screen.  If you can't do
    this zero them out (00), and the cursor will remain visible at the upper
    corner of the screen.
       Video RAM start (3000-FFFF) - Enter the starting address of your video
    memory, as four hex digits.
       Video in/out code - If your video RAM is in the ordinary bank of
    memory (eg, at F000), just enter "C9" here (that's a RET instruction).
    Otherwise, you will need the machine-language code to switch video memory
    in and out.  There are 16 bytes available for each routine, and you must
    preserve all the CPU registers, and end with a RET.  You should find the
    assembler code to do this in your terminal manual; to convert it to hex,
    either look up the hex values in a Z80 reference book, or use DDT or
    ASM/MAC to write and assemble the code to hex form.

PRINTER INSTALLATION
       Printer ID - Identify the printer you are installing.  (16 characters)
       Send LF after CR (Y/N) - Normally Yes.  But with some printers, which
    manufacture their own LF on receiving a CR, you will want No here.
       Printer initialization - Enter a string of code (#),bytes to send to
    the printer before each print job, to set margins, print modes etc.
       Printer uninit - Enter another string (#),bytes to send to the printer
    after each print job, to restore printer to desired state on exit.
       Toggles and switches - These are the ^P-codes that will be used to call
    up predefined sequences.  There are four toggles, then four switches.
    The defaults (^D,^S,^Y,^T; ^Q,^W,^E,^R) are chosen for WordStar compat-
    ibility, but can be changed if you want.  (Avoid ^B,^H,^I,^J,^L,^M,^Z,
    which are used for other purposes.)
       Codes for toggles (on/off) - Enter the actual codes (#),bytes to send
    to fhe printer on encountering each of the four toggle codes defined
    above, first to turn a feature on, then off.
       Codes for switches - Enter the actual codes (#),bytes to send to the
    printer on encountering each of the four switches defined above.

MACRO KEYS
       VINSTALL gives you the ability to examine and change the default set of
    macro Keys in VDE.  (Any Keys defined with ESC-K while running VDE
    override the defaults.)  VINSTALL gives you a display much like this:
      MACRO KEYS:  (01C6 bytes free)  <---- note free bytes (up to 01F4 = 500)
      <0><>
      <1><>                           <---- "<>" flag means empty
      <2><>
      <3>^C^W                         <---- normal macro key
      <4><>
      <5><N>World Wide Widgets Inc.   <---- "<N>" flag means no-rpt key
      <6><>
      <7><Q>^QR^[B^QC^[T^[C           <---- "<Q>" flag means quiet key
      <8><>
      <9><>
    This is pretty straightforward; you just select the number of the Key you
    wish to redefine, then type in the new definition, much as you would in
    VDE.  All the same rules apply (but VINSTALL will accept longer keys, up
    to 128 bytes).  If the new definition is too long to fit it will be
    rejected.

FURTHER USER PATCHING
       The address of the User Patch area will be given to you by VINSTALL.
    This small region in VDE can be used to install any extra patch code you
    need.  (Example:  if your video in/out routines won't fit into 16 bytes,
    you can jump to the User Patch area and put more code there.)  This is the
    ONLY such area available, as VDE uses all available memory after its own
    code for editing text.  Note: if you find the User Patch area too small,
    you can also use up to 32 extra bytes before it.  This is the Print Switch
    code area; you must then avoid using the four Switch codes.
       VINSTALL also tells you the addresses of the command tables in VDE/M.
    You may find this useful if you need to go in and change a VDE command key
    that conflicts with your computer's firmware.  There are four command
    tables: basic, ESC, ^Q, and ^O.  Each is a list of 3-byte entries, with a
    one byte keycode, then a two byte address.  (Examples: you will find the
    ^T command and the ESC prefix in the basic table; the ^OX command appears
    in the ^O table, as ^X.)  Find the problem keycode, and use DDT or another
    utility to change it.  (You will also see the "keycodes" 80-84h in the
    tables; these mean DEL and the arrow keys, however installed.)
       Don't try to change the ESC- prefix to ^K- to make VDE more "WordStar-
    like".  It will take you a while to locate all the occurrences, and leave
    you with some pretty confusing pairs of commands (eg ^KX = eXit, ^K^X =
    shift screen down).

RESTORE DEFAULTS
       This option is provided in the event that someone has so mucked up your
    copy of VDE that you can't sort out what's wrong.  This should return VDE
    to nearly the state it was distributed in: all User Options restored to
    their defaults, Terminal Installation set to Generic (or Osborne Exec),
    printer set to a basic Teletype, no Macro Keys, no User Patch code.


==========================  GOING BEYOND VINSTALL  ===========================

     If your computer requires special additional code, and you know how to
use an assembler, you may want to make an overlay to add this code to VDE.
(You may also find this the easiest way to install other data, such as the
VidIN/OUT routines for the VDM Terminal Installation.)  Write the overlay
file, generate a HEX file with your assembler, then merge it with VDE.COM
using MLOAD or a similar utility.  (Be sure the code fits!)
     Example: the following overlay adds special code for the NEC Starlet to
the User Patch area, where it is immediately executed when VDE is called up.
The Starlet has different terminal emulations and key definitions; most of
this code just ensures that it's in Soroc mode (which is what VINSTALL is set
up for), and sets the cursor and DEL key definitions properly.
     There is another problem: the VDE case toggle command (^^) has to be
changed, as it will conflict with one of the Soroc arrow keys.  (On some other
computers, you can't generate ^^ from the keyboard at all.)  Note how the
overlay finds the address of the main command menu (all the menu addresses are
stored at 0108-010Fh in VDE.COM; alternatively, you can get VINSTALL to tell
you what they are), adds the appropriate offset (determine this yourself), and
then changes the command key to something else.
       ;NEC8401 Patch for VDE 2.6 (8080 mnemonics)
       org  0100h           ;At beginning of VDE.COM,
              jmp  0248h    ; jump to User Patch area
       org  0248h           ;At User Patch area,
              mvi  c,08h    ; set screen mode:
              mvi  e,81h    ;  Soroc, wrap on, fnkeys off, etc
              rst  2        ;   call special BIOS
              mvi  c,4Eh    ; set cursor keys:
              mvi  e,3      ;  to mapped codes
              rst  2        ;   call special BIOS
              mvi  c,4Dh    ; set definable key:
              lxi  d,data   ;  using data below
              rst  2        ;   call special BIOS
              lhld 0108h    ; get address of main command menu
              lxi  d,6*3    ;  offset of ^^ (this may change)
              dad  d        ;   point to offending ^^ code
              mvi  m,0Ch    ;    change it to ^L instead
              jmp  0480h    ;Jump to VDE Start point
       data:  db  4,7Fh,0,0 ;Data to set "DEL" key as DEL (7F)
              end
You can also add code like this to VDE.COM using the "a" command to enter
assembler mnemonics in a debugging utility like DDT or SID.



  Eric Meyer, 427 N. Washington, Bloomington IN 47401  ---  CIS [74415,1305]

==============================================================================