Loadstar 128 #26

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Text File | 1991-01-01 | 17.7 KB | 503 lines

Upload Module ------------- This module allows you to use fast 1541 DOS routines for disk uploads. This can significantly improve the throughput rate (the upload is faster!) This module currently supports one other major function. For multi-punter and Y-modem batch transfers you will see a menu of the file names on the current disk. This allows you to pick which files you want to send. Commands are: Y - Yes, send this file N - No, do not send this file A - Send all files from the current file on D - Done selecting files, now go to it! Q - Quit, which aborts the entire upload. Display Parameters ------------------ Terminal Character: Selects the character color for the terminal screen (the screen used in "Terminal Mode.") Background: Selects the background color for the terminal screen. Reverse: This option reverses the character & background colors for each character on the terminal screen. By setting this option to "Yes" you can create a border. Flash: "No" means characters printed to the terminal screen will not flash. "Yes" means characters printed to the terminal screen will flash. The following terminal emulations may change this setting: Vt-100, C/G, and Ansi. You can change this setting manually. (See "Display Notes") Underline: "No" means characters printed to the terminal screen will not be underlined. "Yes" means characters printed to the terminal screen will be underlined. The following terminal emulations may change this setting: Vt-100, C/G, and Ansi. You can change this setting manually. (See "Display Notes") Inverse: "No" means characters printed to the terminal screen will not be inversed. "Yes" means characters printed to the terminal screen will be inversed. The following terminal emulations may change this setting: Vt-100, DataMedia 1500, ProTerm Special, and Ansi. You can change this setting manually. (See "Display Notes"). C/G inverse printing does not use this setting. Mousetext: "No" means Mouse Text is not active. "Yes" means Mouse Text is active. When active, characters "@" to "{CBM-*}" (Ascii 64-95) will display extended Apple characters when printed to the terminal screen. This is for ProTerm Special exclusively. Insert: "No" means terminal printing will be in overstrike mode (the same mode as ESC-C key sequence on the 128). "Yes" means terminal printing will be in insert mode. When a character is printed, all characters after the current print location are pushed to the right. (The same as the ESC-A key sequence on the 128). Due to the way the VDC works, printing in this mode may occasionally be too slow to keep up at higher baud rate speeds. Quote/Insert: This option determines whether insert and quote modes are allowed in C/G mode. Normally this should be set to "No." Configure System: This is a system module where you can set various display parameters and create a configuration file that will automatically load and adjust the system to your own preferences. Display Notes: You may find from time to time that line noise will inadvertently change some of the attribute settings. This is especially true while using DataMedia 1500 or ProTerm Special which use single character commands. For example, DataMedia 1500 uses CTRL-O (Ascii 15) to turn on inverse mode. If line noise generates this character (the noise created from hanging up can cause it too) inverse mode will be turned on. If this happens go to the "Display Parameters" option and reset the affected attribute. The C/G terminal does recognize the ESC A & C sequences but the status of ESC-A insert mode is NOT shown here. To enter or exit insert mode in the C/G terminal you will have to turn on local echo and type ESC A to enable insert mode or ESC C to enable overstrike mode (normal). Phone Help ---------- When you load this module from the Miscellaneous menu you can access phone directory help by pressing the HELP key while in the phone directory. Press any key to advance to the next window or ESCape to abort. Term Help --------- This module is intended to help you learn the ALT key functions in terminal mode. To use it select the "Term Help" option in the "Miscellaneous" menu. Once loaded you activate the module by pressing HELP in terminal mode. You advance to the next window by pressing any key or ESCape to abort. While a window is displayed the RS-232 input buffer is not emptied. You should view windows only when there is a pause in receiving characters, i.e. at prompts. Because this module uses the HELP key you cannot generate a "BREAK" signal while this module is in memory. Buffer Help ----------- Like the other two HELP modules, this will display a pull-down menu of the hot keys you can use in the Buffer Editor. The explanation of the keys is found in the Keyboard docs file. Blind Dial ---------- This module allows you to dial numbers in the phone directory while you work in the buffer editor. This can be very useful if the number(s) you are attempting to call are busy. Within the "Miscellaneous" menu you will find "Blind Dial." Select that option to load this module. To use this module you must first enter the phone directory and select the number(s) that you want to call. Do this by highlighting the number and then pressing F3 to toggle the dial status to "Yes." The dial column is on the far right of the first phone directory page. Then you must enter the buffer editor. While in the editor press F1 Keypad 2. This activates the blind dialer. A flashing buffer indicator alerts you to the fact that this module is active. The blind dialer operates in the background and it uses the same calling parameters that are used from within the phone directory, i.e. the timers, cancel call waiting, interpret call progress strings, etc. You cannot, however, pause a number being dialed by holding down the shift key, or cancel a call by pressing a key. Once the blind dialer has been activated you have no direct control of it. The only way to stop the blind dialer is by exiting the editor. If a connection is made with the blind dialer you are taken out of the editor and placed in terminal mode with the terminal characteristics and log on macro defined for the number in the phone directory. Because of this, it is recommended that you blind dial only with the modem speaker turned on. That way you can hear when a number is ringing and prepare yourself for a sudden exit. If you are doing something important make a note of the "BYTES BEG" indicator. Then you can later pick up where you left off by using the keypad 6 command in the editor to go back to where you were. The module enters a pause mode whenever a command is working (the far right "W" indicator). This prevents an interruption of a command that hasn't finished thus preventing a corruption of the buffer contents. When you exit the editor with the blind dialer activate you turn it off and cancel any call already in progress. Because of this you should exit the editor only between calls. RS-232 ------ Here is where you can set the parameters for RS-232 communications. BBS's almost always use a word length of 8 bits, no parity, and 1 stop bit. Mainframes often use 7 bit word lengths with either even or odd parity. Use Custom Drivers: This option allows you to choose between two different sets of software to handle RS-232 communications. If this option is set to "no" the standard ROM code is used to communicate with the modem. (Actually, there is one difference. This program allows you to vary the transmit and receive baud rates independently). If this option is set to "yes" customized software is used to communicate with the modem. The operating characteristics are as follows: Standard ROM code: Allows full baud speed, 256 byte buffered transmission for all output functions to the modem. Simultaneous transmission/reception is very poor. Full RS-232 error checking is performed on incoming bytes. Program code is relatively inefficient. Can use 3-line or X-line handshaking. Custom Drivers: Output to modem is not buffered before transmitted. Transmission speed is slightly slower than the baud rate. Simultaneous transmission/reception is very good (it works!) No RS-232 error checking is performed on incoming bytes. Program code is very efficient. Can only use 3-line handshaking. The custom drivers are more reliable than the standard ROM code because they allow simultaneous I/O. They are a must on mainframes and other computer systems that use any emulations. Also, when you are in remote mode and have remote echo on (normally you will in remote mode) the custom drivers are preferred. The only advantage to selecting the ROM code is when you upload as it will be slightly faster. Downloads are the same speed with either. Configure RS-232: Selecting this option allows you configure the system to your modem. Modem String: Select this option to edit the system's modem initialization string. Type a quote to recall the previous string (you don't have to re-type the entire line). Consult your manual for the commands that your modem will recognize. Initialize Modem: Select this option to alter the modem's operating characteristics. The way this command works depends on the carrier status and the modem type. If you are offline the modem string is sent to the modem. If you are online the modem type determines the action taken. If the modem type is "1670" the initialization will fail. If the modem type is "Hayes" the modem escape string is sent to the modem to put the modem in command mode, then the modem string is sent, then the modem is instructed to go back online. Always watch the status window to be sure the initialization worked (you'll see "ok" if all went well). Notes: Which devices on the serial bus are on and off can make a difference and can keep the modem from working correctly. Zip --- Zip is a 1541 disk utility which will pack an entire 1541 formatted disk into 4 files. Each of these begins with a number from 1-4 followed by an exclamation point. The files created by Zip are: Zip File Data for Tracks -------- --------------- 1! 1 - 8 2! 9 - 16 3! 17 - 25 4! 26 - 35 Disk Directory: Displays the directory of the source device used by Zip! Zip a Disk: Select this option to zip a disk. Place the source disk in the source device. If you have more than 1 device you can place a formatted disk in the zip destination device to avoid disk swapping. Press return when ready. From this point on follow the prompts. ZIP Write: Set to "No" if you are saving your files to a device other than a 1541. This option is not specifically needed because the modules first checks the device type before writing. If it isn't a 1541 normal DOS routines are used regardless of this setting. File Source: This is the device that contains the disk to be zipped. File Destination: This is the device that the 4 zip files are written to. If this is the same as the source device you will be prompted to swap disks during each pass. Before a Zip file is written to the destination disk the module checks to make sure that there is enough room to save the file. If not, you will be prompted to insert another destination disk. Notes: The source device must be a 1541. Press ESCape at the "Insert a disk" prompt to abort Zip. You can also press RUN/STOP to abort. The stop key is only recognized after a full pass has ended. Do not use any device/drive overrides and never use '*' or '?' in Zip file names. This module is compatible with the C64 version of Zip! Since Zip archives all 683 blocks of a 1541 diskette (664 free + 19 on track 18, the directory) the 4 files created may not fit on 1 destination disk. Before using this utility you should use the "Error Scan" option in the fast format module. If no errors are present on the source disk then this utility will work correctly. If even 1 DOS error occurs in the scan use Zip Six-Pack (see below). Unzip ----- Unzip is a 1541 disk utility which will unpack an entire 1541 formatted disk that was packed with Zip. The 4 files created by Zip are used to re- write an entire disk, re-creating the original. Disk Directory: Displays the directory of the source device used by Unzip. Unzip a Disk: Select this option to unzip a disk. Place the source disk in the source device. If you have more than 1 device you can place a disk in the destination device to avoid disk swapping. The destination disk does not need to be formatted as this utility will automatically format the destination disk as it writes each track. ZIP Read: Set to "No" if you are loading your files from a device other than a 1541. This option is not specifically needed because the modules first checks the device type before loading. If it isn't a 1541 normal DOS routines are used regardless of this setting. File Source: This is the device that contains the 4 "!" files to be unzipped. File Destination: This is the device that contains the destination disk. The disk in this device is completely overwritten, and will be a copy of the original disk. If this device is the same as the source device you will be prompted to swap disks during each pass. Notes: The destination device must be a 1541. Press ESCape at an "Insert a disk" prompt to abort Unzip. You can also press RUN/STOP to abort. The stop key is only recognized after a full pass has ended. This module is compatible with the C64 version of Unzip. Do not use any device/drive overrides in unzip file names. Enter Monitor ------------- WARNING... If you are not an experienced machine language programmer then you have no reason to select this option. Accidentally changing 1 byte of memory could cause a program lock-up!! If you wander here by accident, type "x" and press RETURN. Have you ever heard of a terminal program that has a built-in machine language monitor? Yes, here it is. It is essentially the C128's own monitor with a few exceptions. If you have the capture buffer open, all monitor output will be sent to the screen and capture buffer. Remember, the monitor uses PetAscii codes which will not look correct in the editor. You can convert the monitor's output text to Ascii in the editor with the F1 CTRL-keypad 2 command (see "Buffer Editor"). All screen editor routines work as usual on the C128, including escape sequences and windowing. The only exception is the ESCape-X sequence. This is ignored. This is one of the few places where continuous terminal mode printing does not work. You must be offline, or you must make sure the remote system is not sending characters before entering this option or you risk an RS-232 buffer overrun. For a summary of commands refer to your C128's owner's guide. EXTREME CAUTION should be exercised if you select this option. Almost all memory locations in Bank 0 are used for "something." Bank 0 is also where DT128 is located! Changing any part of Bank 0 memory will likely cause a crash. See the memory map below: Address Range (Bank 0) ------------------------- $00-$01 Never change these registers $02-$FF Most of the locations in this area are used either by DT128 or operating system routines. Location $D8 must contain the value $FF $0100-$01FF processor stack area (busy!) $0200-$02A1 Main command buffer - used a lot! $02A2-$02FB This area should not be changed! $02FC-$033D These vectors should not be changed. This includes $0312-$0313. NEVER change these locations. $033E-$03FF This area is used by the screen editor $0400-$0804 This is the only "free" memory in Bank 0. This area is used extensively by DT128. While you are in the monitor you may freely change any of this memory for temporary work space. You can even assemble and "run" short ML routines in this area. However, do not call any KERNAL or BASIC routines that affect memory configuration, or alter any work space used by DT128, including vectors. Many system modules use this area. $0805-$097F default system/user configuration storage area $0980-$09FF DT128 work space $0A00-$0AFF Used by the C128, bit 0 of $0A04 must be %0 $0B00-$0BFF Every memory location in this area is used by DT128. Leave this area alone $0C00-$0CFF RS-232 input buffer $0D00-$0DFF RS-232 output buffer $0E00-$12FF work space for DT128 DO NOT TOUCH $1300-$AFFF DT128 resides here! Do not touch or a crash is likely! $B000-$BFFF This 4K area is reserved for system modules $C000-$C790 Phone directory $C791-$C79F future expansion $C7A0-$D7FF reserved area for text $D800-$DFFF DT128 editor work space $E000-$EFFF used for character/music sets $F000-$FFFF DO NOT CHANGE ANY LOCATION IN THIS RANGE Bank 1 is used for the capture buffer, from $0400-$FEFF. This memory is available if the buffer is empty. $FF00-$FFFF should not be changed!! Memory locations $02-$03FF in bank 1 are reserved for future versions. The screen editor portion of the IRQ must be left disabled. Memory location $D8 must always contain $FF. BASIC's IRQ must also be disabled. Bit 0 of $0A04 must be %0 or problems will arise. The preconfiguration registers at $D501-$D504 should not be changed as DT128 relies on these registers to have certain values. Changing any of these registers will change the banking scheme and will almost certainly cause a crash.