CFOG's PIP, August 1989, Volume 8 No. 3, Whole No. 71, page 25
MCOPY Makes Multiple Copies
by Benjamin R Cohen
Every time I start using another Eric Meyer utility I marvel at how neatly he has done a job that is needed. MCOPY makes multiple copies of a single file, a task that I perform with some regularity because of my desire to make multiple backup copies of files. I've used (and still use) a lot of different programs, for this, but Eric's MCOPY does something that the others don't do: it copies the file into a memory buffer and then copies it from there to as many different drives as you want That means that if you want to make three copies of the file it has only to be read into memory once from the disk.
MCOPY is just 1K bytes, a typical Eric Meyer assembly language effort: no more size than is absolutely necessary. That's a mixed bag: Eric's utilities offer no help if you don't know what to do. MCOPY's only real deficiency is that it doesn't recognize user areas.
On a system with about 51.5K TPA I was able to copy a test file of 51K bytes! Tested on a file of 55K bytes, MCOPY (not surprisingly) hung the system and I had to reset.
CFOG's PIP, August 1989, Volume 8 No. 3, Whole No. 71, page 25
VDE and ZDE Have New Versions
I've been telling WordStar users, especially, that if they are not using VDE (for MS-DOS) or ZDE (for CP/M) they are missing out on the best part of WordStar: VDE and ZDE! These programs were originated by Eric Meyer as VDE, and the CP/M edition is continued by Carson Wilson as ZDE. Both CP/M and MS-DOS users have something to rejoice about this month: Eric Meyer has released Version 1.40 of VDE for MS-DOS and Carson Wilson has released Version 1.3 of ZDE for CP/M and Z-System.
It's redundant, but true, so I'll repeat it again: if you've been using WordStar you owe it to yourself to try out VDE or ZDE. If you need more explanation, I've written about these little gems in a number of issues of PIP, so look at your file of back issues (or order them if you don't have them).
ZDE Version 1.3 -- CP/M
The functional enhancements in ZDE 1.3 include hardware video scrolling in the delete line command, if your terminal has a delete line capabality. This works noticeably faster when you delete one or more lines. The ruler line now displays L-----R instead of the former [-----]. Soft tabs now display as "!" instead of "T". Cursor "dance" has been eliminated. If cursor on/off has been installed for your terminal, ZDE 1.3 completely blanks the screen with ^OZ. File input/output has been slightly improved. And "quiet" operations in macros and the "*" option in find and replace show greatly improved speed of operations due to improved program logic.
A few enhancements are Z-System specific or related. For ZCPR users, especially programmers, you can exit ZDE, perform other commands, and then return to the same line in the file with the ^QQ command. The lead-in character for the mode indicator has been changed from the "[" common in CP/M Plus operations (remember, Eric Meyer ran an Osborne Executive) to the "/" delimiter used in Z-System utilities. If you have a filename that starts with a slash, you can echo the slash to edit the file.
There are about ten bug fixes in ZDE 1.3.
The installation program now allows a full 512 character ZDK file, up to four default file types, several new terminal definitions, and some new terminal codes. The 25 terminals offered run from ADDS25 to Zenith ZT10.
New manuals were not issued: users can find the manuals in ZDE10.LBR.
There is a price for the increased functionality of ZDE Version 1.3: the maximum file size that you can edit has gotten just a wee bit smaller. Here's a comparison list on showing V/ZDE capacities on my Kaypro 1 (51.5K TPA) and Osborne Executive (59K TPA):
Version Kaypro 1 Executive VDE 2.10 52,349 VDE 2.62 39,400 47,070 VDE 2.66 38,059 45,889 ZDE 1.0 37,634 45,314 ZDE 1.3 37,444 45,124
The critical nature of TPA here can be seen here: the Executive has an additional 7,680 bytes free. ZDE compresses files 'on the fly' so you can edit files about 20% larger than the indicated number of bytes free. This magnifies the difference that additional TPA makes: 7.5K additional TPA means 9K bytes in file size. That's why I keep VDE 2.1 around: it adds another 7,225 bytes of memory available, almost 8.5K bytes of file!
VDE 1.40A -- MS-DOS
For non-WordStar users VDE 1.40a offers a menu-bar mode for most commands (the default, but changeable with VINSTALL) and a set of function key definitions that allow VDE to mimic WordPerfect. A new command, ^OJ, sets "proportional spacing" mode. This can be used with proportional fonts on your printer. Formatting commands will take the width of the characters into account in judging the right margin. This doesn't display proportionally on your screen, but improves the print-out.
VDE now has a recording macro feature. And to make VDE's limited number of macros more flexible, you can save macros created while editing (as well as load them).
You can now chose to exclude COM and EXE files from VDE's directory listings, and you won't be able to overwrite such files, either. You can now reserve the 25th line for use as a status line or function key list for special software.
VDE now supports overstruck lines, has a "reverse delete" function, prompts you before overwriting a file with a block, checks for mismatched printer toggles, has an explicit "number the pages" command, and allows you to send printer setup codes when printing. Graphics handling has been improved. Finally, the ^KE command (to erase a file) has been changed to ^KJ for WordStar compatibility.
VDE 1.40 worked fine with EGA/VGA systems but did not properly recognize the size of the screen with MDA/CGA. Version 1.40A corrects this.
All in all, it's two nice series of improvements for V/ZDE users. Both programs are available on the Antelope Freeway Rcmote Access Systems and at CFOG meetings.