Date   : Mon, 17 Mar 1986 15:09:00 EST
From   : Paul.Birkel@cmu-cs-a.ARPA
Subject: NBI to PC-DOS (and CP/M) Connections

I've received a number of responses to my query last month, and made a
number of phone calls. Here's what I found out:

There are three and two-halves solutions to my problem. As you would
expect, functionality is proportional to cost.

The first solution, and the most cost-effective one, is a piece of software
which NBI had Microsoft write about two years ago. It took a little while
to figure this out, but it's called:

       OASys 4000SC MS-DOS Conversion Utility

This assumes, of course, 5 1/4" disk drives. This package allows you to
read and write such disks (DSDD - 48 tpi) plus it allows some mapping
between WP tokens and ASCII characters. The mapping is limited but does
take care of things like CR/LF, tabs, backspaces and form feeds so that
your ASCII files will be in a readable "generic" form. There is no
"format code/command mapping". It runs on all MS-DOS machines (NBI has
their own clone, the 4100PC), and costs $200. One caveat on the AT is that
you have a problem with the 96 tpi drive since the 4000SC is (typically,
unless you have the "high capacity" drives) equipped with 48 tpi drives.
The solution is to buy a second 48 tpi drive, about $100 additional plus
your effort in installing it (easy). That totals $300 and buys you a
simple, direct file transfer not dependent on physical proximity. For a
CP/M'er use a similar transfer program (Media Master, Uniform, etc.) to
go from CP/M to MS-DOS first. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any software
supporting a direct CP/M to 4000SC route. Sigh.

Solution one and one-half is a NBI card known as the M-400. It costs $700
and buys you a 68B00 (remember the Commodore PET?)-based co-processor running
an early version of WP called "Docu-Writer". It also reads and writes NBI
disks and resides on the PC bus. Although "Docu-Writer" is less powerful
than WP, it offers the same interface as WP so that your word processing
skills transfer easily. It runs in most (all?) PC/PC-XT clones. It DOES
NOT run in the AT/AT-clones due to the higher system clock speed. It appears
likely that it never will as NBI has other plans for AT owners. If you don't
have an AT-type machine and you would like to leverage your WP skills then
this card may be for you since you still get the MS-DOS conversion utility
functionality discussed above.

The other solution one and one-half, is a commercially available box for
disk conversions:

       Keyword Office Technologies, Inc.
       2816 11th Street NE
       Calgary, Alberta, T2E 7S7
       (800) 227-1817 x825A

Two US (West Coast) offices:

       649 Mission at New Montgomery
       San Francisco, CA  94105
       (415) 543-5426
       Contact: Deborah McAfee

       2047 E. Hamilton Ave.
       San Jose, CA  95125
       (408) 371-7770

The list price for the Keyword 7000 is $7996 (US).

Solution number two is based on a serial link between the NBI and the target
machine. This requires the NBI ASYNC/BISYNC Advanced Communications package
which will run you $2500, plus the cost of an external modem and installation.
All told you're touching $3,000. What you get is the ability to do terminal
emulation-like things and serial file transfers. You also get a software
package called TAILORS that lets you do very reasonable (but apparently not
complete) mappings between the file formats on each end. You use your own
word processor on the PC-DOS/MS-DOS or CP/M or what-have-you end and one
of the commercially available communications packages. Of course you may need
either two modems, or proximity in order to run a cable, but you get added
flexibility. Like to take your dBase or 1-2-3 file and ship it over to the
NBI to put into a document? Well, TAILORS is supposed to make that possible.
But it's not cheap.

Solution number three is the Rolls-Royce of systems; the System 64, or OASys.
It'll run you upwards of $15,000 and more depending on configuration. What it
buys you in this context is:

       1) A star-organized LAN with a PC-DOS 8086 central processor, hard
disk, and 6809-based channels.

       2) Transparent file access from any "device" where "device" may be
an NBI machine, or a PC-class machine, including file format conversions.

       3) The ability to run WP through your PC-class machine (actually
on the 6809 <I think>). You can even run WP from home over a dial-up line.

This is only a brief description, but you get the general impression.
Slick, but a rather expensive for my needs.

This investigation has been an education for me. Although I still think
that technically the 4000SC is not impressive for the price (one can go
buy a PC plus a major word processing package for less), what you do
get is hand-holding and a clear upgrade path: a networking solution.
Although I won't pay that much for the hand-holding, many office automation
managers will (and perhaps reasonably so). My problem in initial NBI contacts
was probably due to too much knowledge and too little understanding of the NBI
philosophy/market-place on my part. I've had many contacts with NBI personnel,
and all have been pleasant and helpful, but it was a user of NBI equipment on
this net that actually pointed me to the disk conversion solution.

While I'll probably never buy NBI equipment, if I were responsible for
automating a large word processing environment I'd certainly consider NBI,
especially since they appear to be offering a reasonable LAN solution while
IBM is still (basically) dithering.

So . . . back to the beginning:

Can anyone tell what the actual format of a 4000SC 5 1/4" floppy is so that
I can roll my own CP/M conversion utility?

       Paul A. Birkel
       Dept. of Computer Science
       Carnegie-Mellon University
       Pittsburgh, PA  15213

       (412) 628-3074