Date   : Wed, 13 Jan 1993 16:35:20 GMT
From   : zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!usc!cs.utexas.edu!milano!cactus.org!wixer!fmouse@uunet.uu.net (Lindsay Haisley)
Subject: Re: Anyone familiar with Micro 5 Turbo 1000 system running MP/M ?

In article <1993Jan9.144150.19232@ryn.mro4.dec.com> chungh@armory.enet.dec.com
(Henry Chung) writes:
>One of my friends' company has a Micro 5 System running an acounting
>program (written in MBASIC). The system is a multi-user system and 
>has 24 serial ports on the back.  Since the system is very old, he
>is afraid the system may die someday and lose all of his data.
>He would like to replace the machine with a standard 386 compatiable PC
>The Questions that I have are: 
>
>1) Can I replace the MP/M with another multi-user operating system
>   such as DR. DOS mult-user version or DesQview running on top of 
>   regular DOS ?

One cannot run programs (or operating systems) designed for use on Intel
80x86 based system (MS-DOS, PC-DOS, DR-DOS, etc.) on the older 8080 or Z80
based systems (CP/M, TP/M, CP/M+ etc.) or vice versa (without and emulator). 
I assume the Micro 5 System falls into the latter category and that MP/M is
a CP/M workalike.  It is possible that one could get the programs up and
running on an AT with the help of an emulator such as MYZ80, but it would
probably be slower than on the Micro 5, and I'm not sure what I/O support is
available in these environments.  It is highly doubtful that the Micro 5's
support of 24 serial ports could be translated into anything meaningful in a
DOS environment.


>2) Will the accounting program run on DOS ?  (I do have the
>   source code if I need to make minor modification to the program.)

You may be able to translate the BASIC programs into GWBASIC or another
dialect which will run under DOS.  BASIC is not as easily transported as C
or other languages which were designed work across different platforms, so
I'm not sure how "minor" the modifications will be, and, depending on the
complexity of the programs, the job may turn you into a BASIC expert,
assuming you have the time for the required research.

From a cost/time point of view, the most economical solution might well be
for your friend to print out as much data as possible from your old system
and then reenter it manually into one of the excellent accounting packages
available for use in a DOS environment.  If necessary, you may be able to
move the data files and source code from your Micro 5 to an AT on floppies
using Uniform-PC from MicroSolutions or 22DISK from Sydex, both of which are
excellent products for the purpose.


-- 
"Everything works if you let it"    |                Lindsay Haisley
-- The Roadie                       |            fmouse@wixer.cactus.org
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                                   |               Austin, Texas, USA