Date : Fri, 10 Aug 1984 05:14:51-MDT
From : Rick Conn <RCONN@SIMTEL20.ARPA>
Subject: ZCPR3 Newsletter 2
From MICRO:<CPM.ZCPR3>NEWS002.Z3 on SIMTEL20 --
..echelon.002
.op
6 August 1984
ZCPR3 Newsletter 002
Thanks for your enthusiastic support of ZCPR3 and the ZCPR3 System. Early
reactions indicate a near revolution of new interest in 8-bit CP/M systems
is occurring. Those who had left CP/M so quickly to follow a trail of hype
for pseudo 16-bit machines appear to be reconsidering what they thought was
the death of the 8-bit world! Amen! Let's face it: 8 bits are ideal for
personal and lap size computers.
No less than 9 major magazine articles are presently in the works. Rick Conn
has a feature article in the October issue of COMPUTER LANGAUGE; USER'S
GUIDE has one written by Tony Bove and Cheryl Rhoades, August/September issue
# 10; a comparison of ZCPR3 and PC-DOS 2.2 in DISCOVER by John Gliedman; John
also has one coming out in PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY. Ezra Shapiro, BYTE west coast
bureau chief, has a shorty about it in October issue of that magazine and a
full-length feature in December. Robert Blum of DR. DOBB'S JOURNAL devotes a
couple pages in their September issue thoroughly covering SYSLIB3 and some
review of ZCPR3 and the System.
Rick Conn is writing three articles in the coming months for MICROSYSTEMS
magazine: one each on the AMPRO BOOKSHELF series of computers, ZCPR3 and
SYSLIB3. We hope COMPUTER LANGUAGE magazine gives some ink to SYSLIB3,
because this macro subroutine library clearly is in a LANGUAGE class by itself
and should be utterly newsworthy.
All these magazines seem ready-willing-able to report the features of 8-bit
ZCPR3 enhanced CP/M systems.
Lots of questions have come from interested users of ZCPR3 and those instal-
ling for the first time. Careful reading and re-reading of SAMPLER answers
most questions ... still nothing is perfect for all levels of understanding.
So don't be embarassed to write us a line if there is something unclear after
several readings. We are here to help! The entire process of getting ZCPR3
and the utilities up and running is a grand learning experience -- well worth
the effort when you finally get to use the results. ZCPR3: the MANUAL, soon
to be shipped will be a great aid to learning the ins-and-outs of Z3. Until
that time, the online documentation is extremely helpful as is the "//" after
the command name. The latter never allows you to be in the dark about syntax,
and such, for a command you are ready to use. But for complete online help,
type:
HELP ZCPR3
HELP.COM and all the .HLP files must be in the same user area along the search
path you've chosen. The top ZCPR3.HLP file chains to the rest producing a
tree structure menu-driven help system.
.heZCPR3 Newsletter 002
Incidently, the LDR.COM loader program must be installed before it can be used.
Use Z3INS.COM, ZCPR3.INS and your SYS.ENV files to do this. Type "Z3INS //" to
see how this is done. Or patch the base page address of your Environmental
Descriptor at location 10AH of the utility object file, using DDT. The release
version has F4 at this loaction; put yours in its place.
LDR is used to load all the system segments including MYTERM.Z3T. MYTERM.Z3T
overlays a portion of your SYS.ENV segment. This seems to have been a
stumbling block for a few of you.
Here at Echelon we use a STARTUP.COM file to initialize the corporate computer
at cold boot time. It is created using ALIAS.COM. Enter the string command
at ALIAS prompt:
LDR SYS.ENV,SYS.RCP,SYS.FCP,SYS.NDR,MYTERM.Z3T;VFILER;B0:
Because MYTERM.Z3T overlays a portion of SYS.ENV, it should always be loaded
last. Note all our Z3 utilities are in A15:ROOT> and we use B0: as our WORK>
directory. Standard application programs (T/Maker III, Comm7, WordStar, etc.)
are in A0:BASE>. STARTUP should be coded into your BIOS, before BIOS assembly,
to be the file executed just after cold boot.
Hints you think others may find helpful would be appreciated. Pass along by
placing them as files or messages on the AMPRO BBS at 408/258-8128 or mail
directly to Echelon. By the way, we use an AMPRO BOOKSHELF 122 (with
T/Maker III) for a significant amount of Echelon data and text processing. It
has never failed in 8 months of near 24-hour a day service. Super machine!
.pn 2
.fo Page #
Phase 2 Release is in deep beta test now. The utility extensions contained
in the next phase are significant. VFILER has been upgraded from ZCPR2.
DU3 and MU3 are full-screen and cursor-oriented disk and memory editors.
VMENU permits cursor control in menus as well as screen highlighting. SHSET
is used to make a SHELL of any application program, even programs like
WordStar and dBase II! Several other new utilities are as useful.
We like SHOW, ALIAS, and MENU best of the original utilities. MU3 is dynamite,
as is DU3. It is thought system integrators will find VMENU most useful in
setting up turn-key systems for their customers.
Phase 2 should ship 3 September 1984, barring unforeseen major bugs. Existing
owners of ZCPR3 may obtain Phase 2 two-disk set by sending $16.00 plus shipping
and handling of $2.00 to Echelon. (The auto-install version of ZCPR3, now
called Z3-Dot-Com, a trademark of Alpha Systems Corporation of San Jose, is
soon going into beta testing. More next issue.)
The Z3 System -- what a system of productivity tools! You can create the
computer environment your dreams were made of. Many large main-frames do not
have the power of ZCPR3 and the ZCPR3 System.
Next Newsletter has listing of sample BIOS buffers and a CBIOS.LIB file you
may find useful to complement your present knowledge of ZCPR3 techniques.
Long live 8-bit CP/M! See you down the lines...
Echelon, Inc.
101 First Street
Los Altos, CA 94022
Telephone: 415/948-5321