Date   : Tue, 04 Sep 1984 19:43:00 MDT (Tue)
From   : Richard Conn <RCONN@simtel20.ARPA>
Subject: [LYMAN: zcpr3 comments/questions]

       My replies to the following questions may be of general
interest to the community. -- Rick


Date: Saturday, 1 September 1984  23:45-MDT
From: Peter Lyman <LYMAN at JPL-VLSI.ARPA>
To:   rconn
cc:   lyman at jpl-vlsi
Re:   zcpr3 comments/questions

Rick...

Just got zcpr3 up and running on a Discovery Multi Processor...

Great system...  having lots of fun with it... 

1.  HELP.MAC uses COUT from syslib...  COUT goes direct to bios
    thus bypassing BDOS and in particular TAB expansion....
    A regression from prior versions of HELP...  (I just used
    an internal COUT to solve the problem)

Reply:
       The routine BOUT (BDOS Output) in SYSLIB3 can also be used.
BOUT and COUT both output the char in A with no side effects, but BOUT
uses the BDOS while COUT uses the BIOS.

2.  Prior versions of HELP (at least the ones I have) display
    available HLP files on the disk when HELP is typed...
    Why is is this gone?

Reply:
       I was not happy with that feature of HELP.  I removed it for
the following reasons:

               (1) I didn't feel it was used very frequently and it
cost in terms of space
               (2) I didn't like its operation; if the SYSLIB series
of HLP files was in the path, for example, then all 20 of them would
appear as options, but it only makes sense to see SYSLIB.HLP and not
the rest unless you have memorized what SYSLIBA.HLP, etc, contains
               (3) Aliases are fundamental under ZCPR3, and, with
them, a feature like this can be replaced via the FINDF (Find File)
command:
                       IF NUL $1
                               FINDF *.HLP
                       ELSE
                               HELP $1
                       FI
               (4) the above alias simply "simulates" the older HELP
in this sense; a solution that I prefer is:
                       IF NUL $1
                               MENU HELPMENU
                       ELSE
                               HELP $1
                       FI
so that a (probably multiple) menu of valid HLP files with their names
as the user would prefer to see them would come up instead


3.  In your sample bios you have an equate symbol CPMDRV which
    is undefined..  I ignored it...  What was it?

Reply:
       CPMDRV is an internal buffer to my BIOS.  It should not have
been in the example.

4.  Is there a ZEX.HLP file available...

Reply:
       Yes.  The file CMDFILES.HLP contains data on both SUB and ZEX.

                             Peter Lyman
                             LYMAN@JPL-VLSI
                             WB6WXK

ps  I got my system via SIMTEL20