CFOG's PIP, December 1987, Volume 6 No. 2, Whole No. 62, page 1
CFOG II Adds 20 Mb, Z-Message System, LUX
CFOG II, our RCPM [312-235-7902] has expanded. An additional 20 Mb hard disk has been added, bring its current capacity to 55 Mb. The additional hard disk, initially comprising Drive F, is devoted to MS-DOS public domain and shareware software for the many CFOG members who are using MS-DOS computers. As of January 2, there was already 5 Mb of software on the system.
At about the same time as the new hard drive went on line, system administrator Bill Kuykendall did a marathon installation of the Z-Message system, a version of the Metal Message System previously used on CFOG I. Users will find many improvements over the PBBS message system previously used. One especially nice thing is that it will make life much easier for the sysops. That's good for users because it means less time taken for maintenance and better maintenance, too. That means more time to fix things up to make them better for the users.
Another nice new feature is LUX, a new utility that allows you to easily check out ARC, ARK and LBR files on the RCPM. When you enter
LUX [filename][RETURN]
where [filename] is the name of an ARC, ARK, or LBR file, you'll be presented with a directory of the ARC, ARK, or LBR and a special prompt that shows you are in LUX and logged onto the file you've selected. While you are in LUX you can read any file in the ARC, ARK, or LBR by simply entering
TYPE [member.typ][RETURN]
You can LUX onto another ARC, ARK, or LBR or send individual members of the ARC, ARK, or LBR. For complete details, turn on your capture buffer and check out the LUX help facility.
Don't hesitate: get on line!
CFOG's PIP, December 1987, Volume 6 No. 2, Whole No. 62, page 2
PRINT CONTROL CHARACTERS IN DBASE FIELDS
by Hanns Trostli, Brazil
Necessity is the mother of invention, they say. I needed double wide characters in the printout of one field of my DBase II file and could not imagine how to do it. It is impossible to put control codes into a DBase field, nor the escape character. Then I remembered SmartPrint.
SmartPrint is a great program, sold by Software Research Technologies, who also sell SmartKey which is more widely known. For me the use of SmartPrint is a real boon as I'll explain below. The effect of this program is to change the character you type to something else on the way to the printer. This is the exact reverse of the "you get what you see" endeavor -- here you do not get what you see but something else. I think it is the only program that is available for this purpose. [Well, actually, I believe that XtraPrint and FlashPrint are similar in function. --bhc]
In this case I made the opening square bracket ([) signify ^[^N (ESC, CTRL-N) (hex 1B, 0E) which means to most dot-matrix printers "Shift Out" (SO) and makes them print the following characters in double wide style. (Some printers get by with ^N only.) A line feed ends the double-wide printing, which is what I wanted in my case. Thus into the field "Last" (for last name) I typed "[Smith" instead of "Smith". And, lo!... Smith came out in wide type.
You can establish all sort of print commands this way, underscore, emphasized, compressed, just anything. But do use signs or characters that you won't use otherwise, if not you are in trouble.
I use the closing square bracket (]) to mean ^H (CTRL-H), (hex 08), which is the signal for backspace, to write a cents sign into a SuperCalc field by typing: "/]c". This can be also used to print accents where you need them, something which I suppose must interest those who use foreign languages.
I use SmartKey since way back. I explained once in an article published in PIP how I print Portuguese characters using SmartKey for my Juki 6100 printer or downloading a set of characters designed by myself when using my Epson FX-80. These are perfect and easy solutions.
But there is another case in which the use of SmartKey is a must. Juki sells only three styles of typefaces on its daisywheels, but the Juki 6100 can use Triumph-Adler printwheels and the choice of typefaces of these is much greater. (It is regrettable that the choice of these for the Portuguese language is quite limited.) I needed compressed type for printing spreadsheets on the Juki and chose the Mini-Tile wheel with 15 cpi. I reccommend it, as it is very legible and one can print 120 characters in an 8" wide line. But -- some characters are not at the same place as on the Juki typewheels and the result is that when I have a vertical bar in my file, I get a "grave" accent in its place. Other signs have to be accessed by escape sequences (Escape K gives a c with cedilla, etc.) All this can be put right with SmartKey -- easily.
CFOG's PIP, December 1987, Volume 6 No. 2, Whole No. 62, page 3
CFOG 1986 Financial Report
[The following financial report is a bit late, coming as it does near the end of 1987. Note that the loss indicated derives completely from depreciation of assets acquired earlier and a small net cash flow was achieved for the period. We hope to have the 1987 financial report shortly. In any event, note that our change of meeting places is intended to reduce the cost of meetings substantially for 1988. The values shown for equipment are estimated market value of the items at December 31, 1986]
Income Statement 01-01-86 to 12-31-86
Income
Membership Revenues $ 5145.93
PIP Advertising Revenues 250.00
FOG Rebates 672.00
Sale of PIP Back Issues
Other Income 244.19
---------
Total Income 6312.12
Expense
New Membership Related Costs $ 244.89
PIP Related Costs 2721.34
Library Costs 1416.05
Asset Depreciation blur 2430.00
Meeting Expenses 1367.77
Other Expenses 251.63
---------
Total Expenses 8431.68
Net Income (Loss) 1986 -2119.56
=========
Balance Sheet at 12-31-86
Cash $ 3595.58
Osborne 1s 400.00
Osborne 2 Exec 450.00
Westwind Hard Disks 2800.00
Televideo Hardware 2050.00
Design One Hard Disk 0.00
3/1200 Modems 300.00
2400 Modems 600.00
----------
Total Assets $ 10195.58
Compumat Ad Credit Due -210.00
----------
Net Assets $ 9985.58
==========
CAPITAL:
Prior Period Retained Earnings 12105.14
Current Period Income (Loss) -2119.56
New Retained Earnings 10195.58
========
CFOG's PIP, December 1987, Volume 6 No. 2, Whole No. 62, page 5
DOS DOINGS
by Steve Lucius
The latest user magazine from MICROPRO is full of news of their new WORDSTAR 4 for CPM and the new version of WORDSTAR 2000 for MSDOS. Nothing new on WS 5.
For months BORLAND was running advertisements for new Telcom, Editor and Database Toolboxes for Turbo Basic. When I called a couple of months ago they had shipping dates for the Editor and Database toolboxes but not the Telcom. Haven't seen any advertisements for any of them lately. The latest shipping date I have heard for the Telcom one is mid-December, however that is the third back order notice I have received. Looks like Borland is having problems with these. The Telcom toolbox requires the full 640k of memory as a minimum: maybe that wasn't enough?
The November and December issues of Computer Shopper have had several articles of use to our members. The November one had a basic article on modems. December's offering included articles on setting up a hard drive, on shareware, sources of help for orphan machines and most wonderful of all how to use WORDSTAR with a mouse. (Notice I said how and not why.)
CFOG DOS New Member Disk
The CFOG new member disk for MS-DOS is finally ready and is already in revision 1 as I took out a couple of programs and improved the installation batch file. The batch file is still no great work of art, but it works. Programs in the new member disk include file handling programs such as NSWP, archiving programs such as Archive and BAC, and file compression programs like ARC, PKARC, UNCR and UNSQ. There are also some oddball programs to all use of the PC for a datascope, run CPM programs on a V20 chip and assorted programs for inspecting PCS for the performance and included parts such as 8087 chips and hard drives. Also included is a program to do partial screen prints to paper and files, wonderful for taking out errors. Finally a couple of directory programs and print spoolers are included.
Archive
The Archive file backup program is well worth while in that it is a menu driven backup that allows easy partial backups. Recently I upgraded from DOS 2.11 to 3.1. To do this you have to back up the hard drive to floppies, reformat the hard drive, reinstall DOS and the new utility files and finally restore the rest of the files. Archive let me back up only the files that I had tagged to back up, similar to NSWP except you can tag whole directories, or tag all and then untag selectively. I didn't want to tag a directory full of protected software that wouldn't restore anyway, and didn't want to back up the DOS 2.11 utilities and files. Archive made it easy compared with other methods I have seen written up.
Improving on DOS Resident Commands
An additional use of some of the programs on the new member disk can be to improve the operation of the DOS "TYPE" and "DIR" commands on hard drives by replacing them with programs from the new member disk.
First the "AUTOEXEC.BAT" file should be changed to add a PATH statement to allow the programs to be addressed from any directory by only typing the name. Assuming the CFOG new member disk is in the CFOGUTIL directory of the C: drive add the statement:
PATH C:|CFOGUTIL
to the AUTOEXEC.BAT program, for multiple paths it should look like:
PATH C:|;C:|DOS;C:|CFOGUTIL
[We don't have a backslash on this print wheel, so the "|" represents a backslash here. -- bhc]
If you have never used the DU.COM program before it would be a good idea to read the documentation before doing the procedure below.
Now format a floppy disk with system on it and leave it in the "A:" floppy drive. Change directories to the CFOGUTIL directory and type "DU" for the disk utility program. It will ask you to "select drive A or B", so enter an "A". It will then ask side 0 or 1, enter 0. It will then ask for track, enter 00, and sector, enter 1. Read forward using the F10 function key until you find a list of resident commands. The left side of the display is the address, the center is the hexadecimal code and the right side is the ASCII code, if printable. For CORDATA 3.1 DOS this is at side 0, track 7, sector 2 and for CORDATA 2.11 DOS it is side 1, track 4, sector 6, so it will take a while to get to the correct area. Then use the F7 function key to edit. You want to change the name of the "DIR" and "TYPE" commands. In ASCII these are 44 49 52, and 54 59 50 45. You will have to change these in HEX. Changing DIR to DDR changes the HEX to 44 44 52 and changing TYPE to TTPE changes the HEX from 54 59 50 45 to 54 54 59 45. You only have to type in the one digit that you change. Then hit F8 to save these changes and enter a Y if you have no further changes then enter two ESC commands to leave the program.
You can also do the above with NORTON or some other commercial package, but the idea of this article is to show what can be done with the software on the new member disk.
Reboot the computer from the floppy disk. When it comes up there will be no DIR or TYPE commands, only DDR and TTPE. Reboot the computer from the hard drive. If the floppy disk worked correctly it now has the new version of COMMAND.COM on it. If there are problems repeat the use of DU. The address should not have changed so you can go directly to it instead of having to go forward a screen at a time. Assuming the disk worked correctly go onto the next step.
If you don't have a backup copy of COMMAND.COM make NOW. (Always make a backup copy of something that you are trying to change with DU or DEBUG and work on backups, for safety.) Change directories to the root and copy COMMAND.COM from the floppy to the hard drive root directory. Reboot with CNTRL-ALT-DELETE. When the computer comes back up the DIR command will have been changed to DDR and TYPE will now be TTPE. Rename the BROWSE.COM program to TYPE.COM and you will have the TYPE command restored only now using BROWSE. This will give you a page at a time viewing and allow use of PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN keys. Try out the two sorted directory programs, SDL.COM and SDIR.COM to see which one you like best. To use SDL.COM instead of DIR make a batch file named DIR.BAT that looks like this:
SDL %1 /P
This forces SDL.COM into the page mode and passes any parameters like *.COM to the SDL.COM program. This will work for the usual applications of DIR except making a printed directory with DIR *.* > PRN. For this you will have to type SDL *.* > PRN. If using SDIR.COM substitute SDIR for SDL in the paragraph above.
Both of these make life much easier. If the only computer you ever use is your own then you don't need to go through the effort of renaming the utilities, but if you use other peoples computers you might as well stay used to the TYPE and DIR commands. After you've used SDL (or SDIR) and Browse the DOS commarids are hard to take.
Selecting Programs for the MS/PC-D0S New Member Disk
Making up the new member disk was not the easiest thing in the world in that there is a wealth of good free software in public domain, and also good shareware. Sometimes there are two different programs that do the same thing such as ARC and PKARC. If you are the only one using your programs you should use PKARC exclusively for its speed and more powerful compression techniques. If you upload programs to bulletin boards they should be compressed with ARC as it only uses standard compression techniques and can be uncompressed with ARC, PKARC or NSWP. There are no modem programs or menu programs as they all take up a lot of disk space. I'm sure there is a lot of good software that I've ignored, however what is on the disk is about 600K of good software. I am looking for a candidate for a better print spooler as I have used 2 different public domain ones and have had minor problems with both. Leave your comments on the BBS or P.O. Box with problems etc.
CFOG's PIP, December 1987, Volume 6 No. 2, Whole No. 62, page 6
Removing Labels from Diskettes
Question:
How does one remove labels from a diskette? Is there a liquid that can be used that won't harm the diskette?
Answer:
Use peelable labels. I know there's a trade-off here, too. The easier it is to remove the label when you want to remove it the more likely it will come off when you don't want it to, usually when the disk is inside the drive and you're tugging at it to get it out and it doesn't want to come out.
Sometimes the label is on the diskette when you get it, adhering tightly. You can get some of it off by peeling with your fingernail, but there's a bit of it left, and lots of sticky adhesive. The problem isn't just diskettes. Some stores use the same kind of adhesive labels so 'label switchers' can't do their dirty deeds. We honest consumers pay the price: adhesive residue all over the flashlight, clipboard, or whatever.
The only solution I've found is floor adhesive remover. It's a smelly potion, and you should be sure to use it with adequate ventilation, but it does the job. It won't harm metals and most plastics that I've tried it on, including diskette jackets. Get it at your hardware store or any store that sells floor tile.
CFOG's PIP, December 1987, Volume 6 No. 2, Whole No. 62, page 7
Setting Input/Output Parameters with MODE.COM
by Bill Kuykendall
A number of callers on GFOG II inquired about a program called VSWITCH, referred to in the Kaypro 16 documents. VSWITCH is supposed to allow Kaypro 16 users to move between monochrome and color modes. Unfortunately, it appears that the VSWITCH program doesn't exist. What these callers need to learn about is MODE.COM -- one of the programs supplied with MS-DOS. Since MODE is not one of DOS's internal commands but rather, a separate program on the disk, you will need to make sure that it is available in a subdirectory that is included in the directory search path.
Now is as good a time as any to become familiar with your computer's DOS manual. There is generally a chapter with descriptions of each command listed alphabetically. The MODE command is one that it usually pays to check out because it is the one most often modified by computer manufacturers to provide extra features. As far as I know, however, all versions of MODE contain the basic set of functions provided by MicroSoft, unchanged. The commands for changing video modes, setting parameters for serial ports, and redirecting printer output are part of this basic set of instructions.
Video Modes
There may be modes other than those listed here available depending on the graphics adapter(s) provided with your machine:
40 CO40 80 CO80 BW40 MONO BW80
The syntax is MODE (argument). All of the above modes with the exception of the MONO option assume you are using a CGA (low resolution Color Graphics Adapter) video card. The MONO option selects an MDA (Monochrome Display Adapter) card if one is installed in the system.
From the description of the Kaypro 16 hardware provided in one of the messages I was fairly certain that the Kaypro 16 was using a GGA adapter only. If that was correct, the proper command for Monochrome operation would be MODE BW80 -- not MODE MONO. A bit of testing by a Kaypro 16 user determined that the Kaypro 16 has both CGA and MDA. The proper command is MODE MONO to specify a monochrome 80 column monitor. MODE BW80 specifies a GGA monitor with color disabled.
Setting Serial Communications Port Parameters
Serial ports are called COM1 or COM2 at the DOS level. You may have more COM ports than these 2, but only ports 1 and 2 are named devices in DOS versions up through at least 3.2. The only way to access a third or fourth COM port is through software packages such as ProComm which bypass DOS to access the ports directly.
Most modem programs and a few programs which support serial printers, plotters or other devices, allow you to specify the port setup, and take care of port initialization themselves. Many programs do not, however, and you may also wish to access the ports directly from DOS. You can, for example, print a file quickly from DOS by simply using the COPY command to COPY the file to the Serial port your laser printer is attached to:
COPY (filename) COM1:
To ensure that the port is initialized with the proper parameters prior to the first access you should place the following MODE command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT. The syntax is:
MODE COMx:baud[,parity,databits,stopbits,P]
Take note of the colon in this command. This is the only place where the colon is required. All other references to DOS devices may include the colon if desired but DOS does not require them.
Any of the values inside the brackets may be omitted if the defaults suit you, but if you choose to specify any of the optional parameters you must put in the appropriate number of commas to get the parameter in the right field. The default parameters are: E,7,1,- (even parity, seven databits, 1 stopbit, P option not selected). Don't worry, I'll get to that mysterious P option in a bit.
To set your first COM port up for an HP Laserjet printer you'd use this command:
MODE COM1:9600,n,8,1
or
MODE COM1:96,n,8,1
As you can see, you may also use just the first 2 digits of the baud rate if you prefer. Even though the hardware is capable of much higher rates of speed, MODE only recognizes the following baud rates: 110, 150, 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600. In practice this is not a problem because printers do not print faster than 9600 baud, and modem software usually provides its own rate selections.
If you experience timeout errors when you're printing something, add the [,P] option to your MODE command. This designates the port as a printer port and provides for continuous retries until the job is finished. CAUTION: Do NOT use the P option unless you know you need it. If you are printing from a program that does not pass control-break keypresses to DOS, you will have to reboot if there is an error. MODE also loads a memory resident kernel with this option that is notorious for causing hangups and crashes when certain other memory resident programs such as Sidekick are also loaded.
Redirecting Standard Printer Output to a COM Port
Parallel ports are named LPT#. DOS recognizes LPT1, LPT2, and LPT3. The actual DOS name for the logical Print Device is PRN. When DOS receives output destined for the PRN device it routes it to the first available parallel port usually LPT1.
Some programs such as WordStar and DOS's own PrintScreen function do not allow you to specify an output port. If your printer is attached to a parallel port this is no problem, because DOS will figure out which printer port is ready and send the output there. If your printer is attached to a serial port, however, you need to help DOS out a bit. The syntax is:
MODE LPT#=COMx
Normally, with only one printer you will want this to be LPT1=COMx. But suppose you have a parallel dot matrix printer on your desk and a serial connection to a shared laser printer that's located at your secretary's desk. By attaching the dot matrix to LPT1 and redirecting LPT2 to the serial printer port DOS can attend to your printing needs painlessly, without the need to reconfigure your software. Whenever the dot matrix printer is turned on it is the default for draft quality output. If you need laser quality, turn off your local printer. DOS will send the output to your secretary's printer automagically.
CFOG's PIP, December 1987, Volume 6 No. 2, Whole No. 62, page 8
The Osborne Survival Kit
reviewed by Phyllis M. Brace
This winter's most popular video tape may turn out to be not something you pick up at your favorite movie video store but Mark Witt's Osborne Survival Kit. If, like me, you worry about taking your computer apart because you're afraid all the pieces won't fit back in the case or you regard the interior as a maze of wires and chips, then you are probably concerned about the decreasing amount of support for the Osborne and the possible decrease in readily available repair service.
Mark Witt comes to our rescue with his usual foresight. The sixty-five minute video tape invites comments such as "so easy even a child can do it!" Mark co-stars with sons William and Daniel, ages 7 and 9. William demonstrates how to clean your disk drives and Daniel shows you how to install a new keyboard. Although William, with two years less sophistication than Daniel, is sometimes a little difficult to understand, both do a convincing job, and the directions are easy to follow. Their performance definitely deserve an "Adam."
Mark, dressed in a business suit, then proceeds to demonstrate repairs and improvements such as installing an 80-column board. The tools you need for any particular operation are all listed and shown on screen, and each section is complete in itself, so you won't have to replay the tape to pick up any previous information you may have missed. Mark includes such cautions for beginners as reminding us to put the screws where we won't lose them, not to remove the screws all the way, or to put the case where we won't step on it. With his usual droll humor, Mark remarks that when assembling the case you can put the handle in backwards and it will almost -- but not quite -- fit.
In spite of its simplicity, you should review the tape in advance before undertaking any unfamiliar repair. For example, for some repairs, Mark tells you that the power source should be turned off half an hour before disassembly. Now, why didn't you tell us that sooner, Mark?
Lest you think this is all fund and games, as the difficulty of repairs progress, Mark includes suitable cautions such as warning you to wear protective goggles and have the kids leave the room or proceed slowly since a particular operation may be very delicate and flying pieces of plastic can be injurious. Mark is quite frank about the fact that some of these repairs should not be undertaken by beginners -- but having the tape available may help you persuade a repairman not familiar with the Osborne to undertake them.
Three of us, representing various stages of expertise (or lack thereof) watched this tape enthralled one Saturday morning. We were impressed with the very good close ups and the attention to detail, and the only criticism we could make was that we wished that some of the detailed close ups that Mark shows had been a little more brightly lit.
Aside from the entertainment value of this tape, Mark also offers you information about several sources of parts other than Witt Services. A number of other offers are made on the tape, but since the tape was made Mark Witt has closed his business and these offers are no longer available.
[The Osborne Survival Kit is still available from Witt Services, Box 1609, Bolingbrook, IL 60439. The tape was originally $49.95 and was offered with technical support and an offer to apply the purchase price to service charges you incurred if you couldn't fix your Osborne 1 yourself. Since Mark Witt no longer offers Osborne service, the price has been reduced to $39.95, without the support or service deals. -- bhc]
CFOG's PIP, December 1987, Volume 6 No. 2, Whole No. 62, page 9
MacInker Update
by Benjamin H. Cohen
Copyright 1987 by Benjamin H. Cohen. All rights reserved.
Among the most useful peripherals I've ever purchased are my MacInkers. MacInkers reink nylon cloth ribbons. There's a felt pad you drip ink onto, a motor to pull on the ribbon, and with not too much fuss and sometimes a little ink on your fingers you get ribbons that print darker than the originals out of the box.
There are MacInker versions for cartridge ribbons and for open spool ribbons. The first two I bought were 'dedicated' types, one for Diablo Hytype II used by my law office Wang Word Processor with its Wang-label Diablo printer and one for my Transtar 130. Later I bought a 'universal' MacInker and have adapters so I can reink ribbons for Transtar 130, C. Itoh Prowriter, Epson LX-86, Comrex CR-IIe, and IDS MicroPrism 480 printers. For under $10 I can buy more adapters to reink more different cartridge ribbons. I save a ton of bucks every year by reinking ribbons rather than throwing them out.
One of the problems with the Maclnker setup has always been knowing how much ink to put on the felt pad to get the ribbon sufficiently dark to make it useable without making it so dark that it splotches everywhere. Likewise, you needed to judge whether one turn around the ribbon was enough, or were two or more needed?
Recently Computer Friends came out with a new style of ink transfer mechanism. Instead of a drum with a felt pad, this one has an ink reservoir in the center and a pair of holes in it. On the outside are two rubber rings. You position the rings so that the ribbon passes over the holes, set the inker up with the holes on the far side away from the cartridge, fill the ink reservoir up and let 'er rip. You can see two dark lines of ink on the ribbon as it is pulled across the two holes: the new ink reservoir is stationary, unlike the old felt pad that used to rotate as the ribbon went by. One turn around the ink reservoir and its holes is generally sufficient to make the ribbon nice and dark again. You do have to time it, once, but it's easy enough to see when the darkened section is coming out of the cartridge. On the other hand, you can determine how much ink you need for a particular ribbon, put it in the reservoir, and come back when you think of it.
The new system can be quicker. But it's not quite as neat as the old system. You have to put more ink in the reservoir, since you have to fill it above the top hole or you'll only ink half the ribbon. When you are done you'll need a dropper to suck the excess ink out, or you may have a mess the next time you come to do ribbon inking. I find my fingers a bit dirtier than they used to be, though it's quite easy to get off the ink with DL waterless hand cleaner. I try to save up as many ribbon cartridges as I can to do at one time.
MacInker is from Computer Friends, 14250 NW Science Park Drive, Portland, OR 97229, 1-800-547-3303 except Oregon. Prices are around $60 for a dedicated MacInker, about $68 for a Universal MacInker that accepts adapters (about $9) for many different ribbons. Extra ink is $3 for 2 ounces, good for many ribbons (they say 5 cents a ribbon).
CFOG's PIP, December 1987, Volume 6 No. 2, Whole No. 62, page 10
VDE News: CP/M and MS-DOS!
by Benjamin H. Cohen
Copyright 1987 by Benjamin H. Cohen. All rights reserved.
Eric Meyer has no grass growing under his feet. VDE Versions 2.62 and 1.01 are now out. Version 1.01? Yes, MS-DOS version 1.01. The MS-DOS version of VDE is at this point about the same in features as CP/M version, so let's get right to the newest features in the CP/M version.
CP/M Version Updates
What's new in VDE version 2.62? More WordStar compatability, if you can believe that. If you do not have the keys [CTRL]J, [CTRL]K, [CTRL]L, installed as CP/M arrow keys you will have them work as WordStar synonyms for VDE commands:
[CTRL]J = ESC-H (help) [CTRL]K = ESC- (block prefix) [CTRL]L = [CTRL]Z (repeat find)
This means that the ESC commands in VDE can also be accessed with [CTRL]K: [CTRL]KS, [CTRL]KX, etc, instead of ESC-S, ESC-X.
New synonyms have also been defined for block operations:
[CTRL]KK = ESC-T (end block) [CTRL]KY = ESC-D (delete block)
Installing VDE for WordStar Compatability
It took me a few minutes to figure out how to get this working. Run the VDE installation program, VINST262.COM, in this case. Assuming this is your first installation of VDE262.COM, the command line would be:
VINST262 VDE262.COM MY.VDK[RETURN]
(I've assumed you have function keys defined as part of the program and have saved them in a separate VDK file. If you haven't figured out how to do that read the VINST262.DOC file.)
Pick the option to select a terminal. You'll be asked whether you want to list the terminals or edit the current option. The first time you should pick the (L) option to list the terminals and pick the one for your computer system. When you've done that and are back to the main menu, pick the option to select a terininal again, but pick the (E) option to edit the definition. Hit the [RETURN] until you see a line that says: "Extra arrow keys u/d/r/l: [etc.]. Press the "0" [that's a zero] eight times. Unless you want to change something else, just hit the [RETURN] until you are prompted to hit [ESC] to return to the main menu. Do any function key editing, etc., that you want to do, then save the new version.
More New Stuff
As a side effect of the WordStar [CTRL]K compatibility change, it was necessary to redefine the "Window Shift" commands. These shift the whole text displayed on the screen up, down, left, and right by pressing ESC and an arrow key. These now use [CTRL]W and the arrow keys. New in Version 2.6 is greater ability to deal with hyphenation. VDE won't do hyphenation, but can now deal with hyphens better. The new command [CTRL]OH toggles the manner in which VDE deals with hyphens.
Print Options
VDE has a number of print options, including the ability to print a set number of pages starting at a particular page number. This isn't quite the same as WordStar's selection of beginning and ending pages, but it has the same effect. You can now tell VDE to start numbering the pages with particular number, rather than always 1. This means you can break a long work into a series of files small enough to edit with VDE and then print with VDE and still get them correctly paginated.
One of the things I asked Eric to do a long time ago was to allow me to put my WordStar dot commands in a VDE file and get a quick and dirty printout from VDE without the WordStar dot commands. He flatly refused, because he didn't want VDE to get fat and bloated like WordStar. But like me and probably lots of other folks, Eric uses WordStar to print fancily formatted files. So: it's here. Edit a file in "W" or WordStar mode, and a printout will ignore any dot command lines.
Still More
The "W" or Wordstar file mode now removes soft spaces in text when reading in a file. Left margins are retained. This was always the intent, and now it works. This won't work on files sent via telecommunications, which turns the soft spaces into hard ones, but it's a FAST way to 'unjustify' a file.
VDE has always turned insert off when running a macro. This makes macros run consistently regardless of the status of insert at the time you run the macro. Now original insert status is restored after running a macro.
Commodore 128 users with RGB monitors can now use colors for highlighting.
The memory mapped version can be used on a wider variety of computers, including the Exidy Sorcerer.
There is a bit of additional explanation of macros in the VDE262.UPD file.
MS-DOS VDE is Here!
Eric has talked about an MS-DOS version of VDE for several months. In late November or early December I heard the word: "It's out." A few days later I heard another word: "It's buggy." A few days later I got on Cincinnati Osborne Group's RCPM to try to locate a few files mentioned in its excellent newsletter COGWheels that had just arrived and I saw VDE101.ARC. Aha! That's the one with the bug fixes!
VDE for MS-DOS is VDE. My brother has been complaining to me for as long as I can remember about the lack of small fast editors for MS-DOS. He uses Microsoft Word, but for quick and dirty editing of small files that don't need fancy formatting he was using a fast editor called ACE. As I recall, ACE was about 70K bytes of program. Alas, when his Above Board arrived ACE turned out to be incompatible.
While VDE, like most MS-DOS programs, is a bit bigger than its CP/M counterpart, it's still under 18K. The greased lightning is still there. It puts the big klunky WordStar to shame for editing small files (up to about 78K at this point, but watch for new versions that will edit up to 500K before long!).
Some MS-DOSers are using fancy desktop publishing programs to print even their mundane memos. But desktop publishers aren't word processing programs and most of them are lousy at it. VDE fits right in here: powerful word processing and text editing, but lean and fast.
Many of us are aware that Eric sometimes expressed the desire to add features, like extended printer support for his 24 pin dot-rnatrix printer, but refused to do so because he didn't want VDE to become fat and bloated like WordStar. A big part of this had to do, of course, with the limitations of CP/M: 64K RAM, and not that much area for program and text file. With 640K RAM in most MS-DOS systems these days, there's not much reason for Eric to hold back now: watch VDE mushroom to 40K or so before long, as features that you and I and MicroPro haven't even thought of yet get added!
VDE Is Now Shareware
Eric has turned the MS-DOS version of VDE into shareware, or what some folks call beggarware. Eric's just a beginner at this: some shareware authors demand that you register and pay lots of bucks and offer the latest version plus support plus a printed manual and other goodies when you do. Some have turned the shareware concept into a full time business. Eric only requests that you send $20, but on the other hand all he offers is the next version of VDE sent on disk. He hasn't really gotten into the really commercial end of it yet, but whether he does or not I hope he makes a bundle: VDE is worth it and he deserves it!
CFOG's PIP, December 1987, Volume 6 No. 2, Whole No. 62, page 11
PC-File 80 is Here
PC-File 80 is finally released. The new version of Jim Button's popular flat database program for CP/M 80 users has been in the works for quite a while. The program is accompanied by a 76 page laser printed User's Guide which includes a 4 page outline/table of contents and a 12 page comprehensive index. A double-sided quick reference card is printed on an Avery non-tear sheet for permanence
PC-File 80 programs interact from a master menu. Databases may have up to 40 fields. Fields may be up to 65 characters. A "super" field can use up the balance of the record, up to 253 bytes, the maximum record length. Up to 16,384 records may be sorted on up to 10 keys at one time, in ascending or descending order or any mix of the two.
Searches and sorts are case independent. Searches may begin at the beginning of the field or for strings appearing anywhere in the field. Soundex and wild card searches are supported.
PC-File 80 provides a conversion program for PC-File Version 8.4, 8.5, or 8.6 existing databases. PC-File 80 is $49.95. CFOGgers may obtain PC-File 80 for $30.00 (until March 31, 1988, only). 'Standard' formats for PC-File 80 are Osborne and Kaypro formats. A $2 format charge will be made for other soft-sectored 48TPI [DD] CP/M formats. Other formats are extra. A $3 shipping charge applies to copies not picked up at CFOG meetings. PC-File 80 is distributed by KaftorWare Corporation, Box 1674, Chicago, IL 60690.
Since the editor of this publication has an interest an KaftorWare Corporation any review of PC-File 80 will have to be written by someone else.