Date : Thu, 14 Feb 1991 12:11:47 GMT
From : att!pacbell.com!pacbell!sactoh0!ijpc!ianj@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Ian Justman)
Subject: ZCPR.
fmgst@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Filip Gieszczykiewicz) writes:
>
> Greetings. Even though I have been running ZCPR (3.3) for
> only a few days, I can say that I will never go back - even
> if you pay me. :-)
Amen, brother! I run Z33 plus NovaDOS on my Dynabyte DB8/1 and
my Ampro Little Board. Great software!!! Plus you have source
code if you want to extend its capabilities which are already
great.
> YOU NEED A K10 PLUS A HARD DISK (the more the better)
I'm running it on an S100 box with 20 megs, and it works like a
champ. Ran it with 10 before but didn't have many problems. Had
to be a little conscientious with my management...
>
> Advantages?
Nothing but!!!
>
> 1) path works much better - even if I'm on C0: I can still
> run anything like FLPYFMT.COM without having to first
> go to A0:.... With the Alias program, you can run anything
> you wish.
Yes, paths are probably the most notable feature of ZCPR33. And
since you have source code, you can make it as big or small as
you need (I believe it's all in the ENVironment discriptor file).
However, if you plan to have a LARGE number of aliases, don't
bother with ALIAS. Use ARUNZ. ALIAS creates small .COM
executable files for each alias, and with my hard disk using
questionably large allocation units, 8K, they can add up fast.
You have all your aliases in one file that you locate at the end
of your path called ALIAS.CMD, which is nothing more than a text
file with prototypes for your command lines you wish to execute.
Regardez:
poll a5:ccico -x66 -s$1 -f$2 -l
which tells my system to do a UUCP poll (I'll explain about UUCP
for CP/M later) using the first and second arguments as 3-letter
system name and a letter for its script (which can be blank or a
letter from A to Z). Plus it has other neat capabilities whereby
you can get at information in the environment discriptor, like
the CPR location, BDOS location, whatever. Plus it can parse
named or DU: type drive addressing. With a little bit of
ingenuity, I have made PIP, a typical non-ZCPR system utility, to
work with ZCPR33 (and you have to have at LEAST ZCPR33 in order
to use ARUNZ). It's available at SIMTEL20. I _EXTREMELY_ highly
recommend it. Yet I still think ALIAS has its place. You can
use an alias to tell the system to use a customized startup
sequence if you didn't hardcode it (which is one thing I'm going
to change because I hardcoded the startup sequence, like a
dolt...). And if you tell it to run a program call "STARTUP",
you can create a specialized alias that suits your needs, and you
can easily change it if your needs change and you don't need to
re-hardcode your command line.
> 2) No need for NSWEEP. ZCPR 3.3 comes with Zfiler which is a
> superior program. It also allows macros and such. For example,
> I can point at a file and run WordStar on it without exiting!
> (Had to write an alias but what the heck :-)
Another great program. Get it as well. I have used it zillions
of times and cannot complain at all!!!!
> 3) you can name your "users". For example, A0: is called "A0:BASE"
> So, I can type "dir base:" or "dir A0:" and get the same thing.
Plus you can have several different named directories on your
disk. And, like the path, it can be as small or big as you need.
My sytem has 28 entries. I upgraded from 14 when I was running a
10, and 14 was too SMALL, if you can believe that! Now, I have
room to expand if need be. Same went with the path, only I
upgraded to 10 elements from 5.
> 4) built in copy (cp) command. Same format as PIP but don't have
> to run it as a com file
That's optional. It's a great facility to have available. You
don't need to reload PIP every time you want to do this.
>
> 5) let me explore it more and download more utilities from my
> UNIX account to my K10.... then I'll let you know.
Have at it! You won't regret it!!!! I speak from experience.
> I think that it will be better if I post ZCPR 3.3, uuencoded,
> on this newsgroup. I don't think it's a good idea if a lot of
> people start logging into Simtel when it's alrady so loaded.
> (Besides, most of the time you can't anyways so many might just
> give up.... and have to suffer with CP/M 2.2 ;-) ;-) ;-)
Word of caution: It is EXTREMELY huge. Something like 130K
total. It's available at a BBS I call locally (uploaded it
myself). It's at Omni BBS, (916) 386-2521, in the room CP/M
ZCPR3/ZCPR33, I think (it's a Citadel-type system). My handle
there is IJ if you want to shmooze with me there.
>
> Take care.
>
> P.S. Will keep you all up to date.
Would appreciate that. (grinsmilegrin)
End of INFO-CPM Digest V91 Issue #37
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