.op
=================================================================

                               The

                             $ R / O

                        R E A D   O N L Y

                  
                     -=( July 1986 Issue )=-



The   monthly   news  magazine of the Tampa Bay   Kaypro   User's 
             Group and the DataCOM Super Systems(tm)

=================================================================
News and reviews of programs, hardware, and peripherals for users 
of microcomputers with CP/M,  MP/M,  MS-DOS,  PC-DOS, or TurboDOS 
operating systems.
=================================================================

               Steven L. Sanders - Editor (Sysop)

=================================================================

The  DataCOM Super Systems(tm) is a "state of the art" multi-user 
remote  database  with  40mb of files online.   An annual fee  of 
$35.00 is required  for access,  an application may be downloaded 
by  calling (813) 791-1454 at 300/1200/2400 baud or send a   SASE 
along with your request to:


                TBKUG / DataCOM Super Systems(tm)
                      2643 Cedar View Court
                      Clearwater, FL 33519


                      -==( DISCLAIMER )==-

Articles and reviews of microcomputers,  hardware,  software, and 
other peripherals reflect currently advertised prices as released  
by  the distributors and are included here for  YOUR  INFORMATION  
ONLY.   The  TBKUG/DataCOM Super Systems(tm) is  NOT  being  paid  
to    advertise   these  products  and  we   cannot    be    held 
accountable   for  the  actual retail price  and/or   performance  
of  said products.

=================================================================
.pa
.pn
.fo$R/O - The news magazine of the DataCOM Super Systems     Page #
                 -={ ZERO LENGTH CP/M FILES }=-

            by Mark Walsh,  Denver Kaypro Association

I made a mistake once.  It could possibly  happen again,  so  I'm 
prepared.    There  is  an  old trick used  mostly  by   assembly 
language CP/M hackers called the Zero Length File.   It is a very 
simple program that can be used by anyone.
 
One  evening,  after diligently entering data for several  hours, 
the  program  (because   of   poor   design   of   course)   took  
offense   at  something  I'd innocently  done.    She  packed her 
bags and without even a  beep  goodbye caught the Red-eye for New 
York.   I  had  nothing  left by my memories and  an  ugly  green 
picture.    I pressed Return in hopes that she might return,  but 
it  was  time  to accept  the  inevitable.    I  pressed  CTRL-C.   
Nothing  happened!    I  rationally tried pressing  several  keys 
simultaneously  in  a fist pattern,  but that tearless green  eye 
only stared back at my misery.

It  was last resort time.    I found a flashlight and prepared to 
search the outback  for  the fabled re-set button.    When I  saw 
the familiar sign  on message,  I knew that I was finally back in 
control.  The "A>" prompt had never looked so good.   I typed  in 
DIR  and  the list of files reassured me.   There was my  program 
HARTBRAK.COM  still  on disk next to the  file  SAD.TXT.    So  I 
turned on my printer, pressed CTRL-P and entered TYPE SAD.TXT.

Soon  I had a copy of SAD.TXT (Software Ain't Decent)  on  paper.   
This   ode for lovelorn users advised me to cherish my  memories, 
and  keep  them  intact  in   the   hope   that   they  could  be  
resurrected.    Eureka!   She  might  be somewhere over the Ohio, 
but my memories were safe.

The  wizards  at  Digital  Research created  some  resident  CP/M 
commands:  DIR, ERA, REN, SAVE, TYPE, USER, A:, B:.

These commands don't use program memory.   What a relief.   If  I 
had entered D instead of DIR,   CP/M would have loaded D.COM into 
my  memory and all  my work  would have been lost.    There was a 
way  to  get her back from memory.   If  I created  a  file  with 
nothing  in  it,   and told CP/M to  "run"  it,   it should  load 
nothing into memory and then begin executing whatever it found in 
the  transient  memory of my Kaypro.   CP/M only loads  and  runs 
files  with  a  .COM  extension.    I could create  a  file  with 
nothing  in  it  by  telling CP/M  to "SAVE" 0  pages  (256  byte 
blocks).    I  knew  that  I had  everything under control  as  I 
entered "A>SAVE 0 REDO.COM"

I got this message:  NO SPACE.

What?   Surely there must be room to load nothing!  It seems that 
CP/M has room  for  64 directory entries.    There were not  that 
many  files   on  the disk,   but  any file longer than 16k  will 
take  up  more than one  directory  space.    No   problem.    My 
memory still is intact and I haven't given  up.   Another disk in 
the A drive will solve the problem.  I tried again.

          Bdos Err on A: R/O

I   was getting mad now,   but I tried to stay cool.    I  wasn't  
taking   any chances  this time.    I typed CTRL-C  twice.    Two 
warm boots and I finally managed  to save absolutely nothing in a 
file  named  REDO.COM.    My  palms were  moist as I prepared  to 
try  something that hadn't been seen in almost 2000   years.    I 
would  rename  REDO.COM  as  LAZARUS.COM  with   the    following 
command:
 
          REN LAZARUS.COM=REDO.COM

I  entered LAZARUS and hit <CR>.    The drive spun and there  was 
HARTBRAKer, running with my data intact.

The   zero   length  file can be used for a lot more than  simply  
trying  to recover from catastrophe.   It always tries to run the 
program you had  in memory.  Experiment a little.

Someone seems to have put REDO.COM on most of my disks,  and it's 
there  for much more than that remote possibility,  which I  hope 
may never recur.

If you,   too,   make a mistake once,   you can possibly  recover 
your program and data by using the zero length file.    Just keep 
your  computer's  memory safe  by  using  only the resident  CP/M  
commands   listed  earlier.    Some programs  modify  their  code 
when  they are run and can't be recovered  (DDT moves itself into 
high memory).    Some programs can be recovered,  but they  leave 
the  data  in  Central Park.    It won't hurt  to  try,  if  your 
HARTBRAKer  visits  the Big Apple.    Just be careful not to load 
STAT or D.COM or some other transient program on top of it.


                   -={ What is ANSI.SYS ? }=-

                        by Steve Sanders

"What is ANSI.SYS",  and,  "why do I need a CONFIG.SYS file to be 
loaded  at boot-up?"  These questions keep coming up when I  talk 
to new IBM-PC or clone owners and even though I'm no expert, I'll 
attempt  to  explain  their use.   To keep this text  simple  all 
referrences to DOS will mean either MS-DOS or PC-DOS version  2.1 
or newer.  

One  of  the  built-in  features of DOS is the  ability  to  load 
special device drivers at boot time.   When DOS is booted it will 
first  look for the file CONFIG.SYS in the default directory  and 
executes the commands it finds.   These commands can set  certain 
DOS  parameters  like  the number of files it can handle  at  any 
given time or set the number of available buffers for faster disk 
I/O.  You can also load special device drivers by including their 
names  after  the statement "DEVICE=".   The most  common  device 
driver  is  the ANSI.SYS screen driver that will  make  your  CRT 
respond  to  the standard ANSI escape  sequences.   The  ANSI.SYS 
driver  is included with the support programs furnished with your 
DOS  distribution diskettes and SHOULD BE LOADED  everytime  your 
computer boots up.

Here's a sample CONFIG.SYS file, the comments are for clarity and 
should not be included in YOUR file:

FILES=20                  Manipulate up to 20 files
BUFFERS=20                Assign 20 buffers
DEVICE=ANSI.SYS           Load ANSI.SYS device driver
BREAK=ON                  Respond to ^C requests

The  CONFIG.SYS file is just an ordinary ASCII text file  created 
with  any  text editor,  ED,  or the COPY program.   If  you  use 
Wordstar,  be sure to create the file in non-document mode or the 
hi-bits  and  other characters inserted by Wordstar  will  really 
mess  things up.   The "BREAK=ON" statement will make DOS respond 
to a control-C request from the keyboard to interrupt the current 
task and serves to abort most programs.

There  are several enhanced ANSI drivers available in the  public 
domain,  two of them are NANSI and FANSI.  NANSI means "new ANSI" 
and  contains all of the sequences found in ANSI.SYS plus  a  few 
new ones for inserting/deleting lines and characters not found in 
the  original ANSI.SYS driver.   FANSI means "fast ANSI" and  has 
all  of the original sequences plus increases the speed of screen 
writes when in the raw console output mode.   NANSI and FANSI are 
not  "cure  all" drivers and don't always work  well  with  other 
resident  programs,  experimentation will be your best bet.   The 
NANSI driver induces some flickering (snow) on my clone's screen. 
The  new  FANSI driver (v1.15H) seems to be the best  replacement 
for ANSI.SYS and most of its old bugs are now fixed.

What  are  ANSI escape sequences?   ANSI escape sequences can  be 
used to position the cursor at a specific x/y  coordinate,  clear 
the screen, erase lines, change modes, or even re-define keyboard 
keys.   

The  following  tables  list  the  sequences  understood  by  the 
ANSI.SYS device driver:

Cursor Positioning:
     Cursor position          ESC[y;xH       where x= 1...79
     Cursor Up                ESC[nA         n = # of lines up
     Cursor Down              ESC[nB         n = # lines down
     Cursor Forward           ESC[nC         n = # cols to move
     Cursor Backward          ESC[nD
     Device Status Report     ESC[6n         Find cursor position
     Cursor Position Report   ESC[y;xR
     Save Cursor Position     ESC[s
     Restore Cursor Position  ESC[u

Editing:
     Erase in Display         ESC[2J         Clear screen
     Erase in Line            ESC[K          Clear to end of line

Mode Setting:
     Set Graphics Rendition   ESC[n;n;...nm  Character attribute
     Set Mode                 ESC[=nh        See mode table below
     Reset Mode               ESC[=nl        "        "         "
     Keyboard Key Reass.      ESC["string"p

The  first character of the "string" gives the key  to  redefine, 
the rest of the string is the key's new value.  IBM function keys 
are two byte strings, see the IBM Basic Manual.

Example:  ESC[0;"dir a:";13;p

The  above example will redefine the F1 key to generate "dir  a:" 
followed by a carriage return "13".

Character Attributes:
     The  Set  Graphics Rendition command is used to  select  the 
foreground  and  background colors or attributes.   When you  use 
multiple  parameters,  they  are  executed in  sequence  and  the 
effects are cumulative.

     Attribute code      Value
          0              All attributes OFF (white on black)
          1              Bold (high intensity)
          4              Underscore (IBM mono only)
          5              Blink
          7              Reverse video
          8              Invisible
          30-37          Foreground blk/red/grn/yel/blu/magenta/
                                    cyan/white
          40-47          Background blk/red/grn/yel/blu/magenta/
                                    cyan/white

Screen Modes:

     The IBM BIOS supports several video modes;  the codes  given 
in  the BIOS documentation are used as parameters to the Set Mode 
command.

     Mode Code           Value
          0              text 40x25 black & white
          1              text 40x25 color
          2              text 80x25 black & white
          3              text 80x25 color
          4              bitmap 320x200 4 bits/pixel
          5              bitmap 320x200 1 bit/pixel
          6              bitmap 640x200 1 bit/pixel
          7              (cursor wrap kludge)
          13 (EGA)       bitmap 320x200 4 bits/pixel
          14 (EGA)       bitmap 640x200 4 bits/pixel
          16 (EGA)       bitmap 640x350 4 bits/pixel
Mode 7 is an unfortunate kludge;  Setting mode 7 tells the cursor 
to wrap around to the next line when it passes the end of a line; 
resetting  mode 7 tells the cursor to NOT wrap,  but rather  stay 
put.

So  what  can  we  do with all  this?   Good  question  and  best 
demonstrated.   The following is a .BAT file that you can use  to 
give your IBM-PC or clone a very special prompt.

PROMPT $e[s$e[1;1H$d$e[K$e[1;27HLogged Directory is $p
       $e[1;69H$t$h$h$h$e[u$p$g

(Please  excuse my line break above and put all this it into your 
NUPROMPT.BAT file as one un-broken line.)  

What you end up with is;  the current date in your upper lefthand 
corner,  the  currently logged directory in the center,  and  the 
current time in the upper righthand corner.  This info is updated 
everytime the DOS prompt is re-written.  You also end up with the 
current directory name on your prompt.

It looks like this:

Wed 5-28-1986       Logged Directory is C:\ROOT          23:35:49
C:\ROOT>

If you have a color monitor, try adding $e[44;37m right after the 
$e[s  - this will make the line print in white with a solid  blue 
background.  You will also need to add $e[0m just before the $e[u 
- this  will make the prompt and everything else print in  normal 
white on black except for your top line.  The "$e" is the same as 
ESC when used in .BAT files.

I hope this info is of use to you,  if not, it's fun just playing 
with  the escape sequences and seeing what comes of it  all!   My 
thanks  to Bond Shands,  System Operator of Kay*FOG RBBS  in  San 
Francisco (415-285-2687) for the original idea of this custom DOS 
prompt.


           -={ RETRIEVING DELETED TEXT IN WORDSTAR }=-

                      by Laurie J. Braaten

Anyone  who  has worked with WordStar for any length of time  has 
probably  had the misfortune of deleting the wrong line or  block 
of text.  By some fancy manuevering, you might be able to recover 
the  text  from your backup file.   If you  have  a  photographic 
memory, you may be able to retype it in no time.  But if these do 
not  work,  you  should  be set for a frustating time  trying  to 
reconstruct  your  lost data.   Now you can  avoid  this  problem 
altogether by adding a "Yankback" feature to WordStar.   This can 
be  done quite simply with a series of command strings ("macros") 
which  I call "WS Yankback," set up in a key definition  program.  
(The  more  popular commercial key definition  programs  such  as 
Smartkey,  Xtrakey  and  the Backgrounder have been  reviewed  by 
Glenn  Grant in the December 1985 issue of  PROFILES.   KSSTROKES 
4.0,  QWIKEY21,  &  GKEY2 are  public domain programs which  give 
good, but more limited results.)

                    HOW TO SET UP WS YANKBACK

FIRST,  set  up four macros which will now be used to delete text 
in place of their WordStar counterparts.  The first will delete a 
line.  The second will delete a block of text.  The third deletes 
text  left of the cursor;  the fourth deletes text right  of  the 
cursor.   All macros should be entered as continuous text without 
spaces.   The  ^ symbol is the control key,  held down while  you 
type the key which follows it; <cr> is a carriage return (or ^M).

MACRO #1:  ^QS^KB^X^S^KK^KWA:YANKEE<cr>Y^KY
MACRO #2:  ^KWA:YANKEE<cr>Y^KY
MACRO #3:  ^KK^QS^KB^KWA:YANKEE<cr>Y^KY 
MACRO #4:  ^KB^X^QS^S^KK^KWA:YANKEE<cr>Y^KY 

SECOND, enter the yankback command: 

MACRO #5:  ^KRA:YANKEE<cr>

THIRD,  on your WordStar disk,  open a file named "YANKEE."  This 
is  where  your deleted text will be stored.   This file will  be 
overwritten  every time you delete text,  so it does  not  matter 
what you type in it--a  single character will do.   But make sure 
that  you  have adequate disk space for any text you may want  to 
delete (2K-6K should be plenty for most operations). 

Now, when you want to delete a line, use macro #1.  It works just 
like ^Y: place the cursor anywhere on a line and use it to delete 
the  entire  line.   If you want to yank back the  deleted  line, 
execute macro #5.  When deleting a block of text, use macro #2 in 
the  same way you would use ^KY.   Mark the beginning and end  of 
the block with ^KB and ^KK respectively,  and execute macro #2 to 
delete  the marked block.   If the block needs to  be  recovered, 
macro  #5 will yank it back.   Numbers 3 and 4 work like  ^Q<del> 
and  ^QY--only  now  the deleted text can be retrieved  with  the 
yankback command.   (Macro #1 leaves a blank line where the  text 
has  been  removed.   If this is undesirable simple omit  the  ^S 
after the ^X.)

Before  using  WS Yankback,  be sure to test it  thoroughly.   If 
there  are  errors in the way the macros were entered  you  could 
lose  more text than you planned to delete,  and not be  able  to 
recover  it.   Use a practice file and check all of the commands.  
If  they do not work,  carefully recheck the macros to make  sure 
they have been entered correctly.

N.B.  The  yankback  command WILL NOT WORK if you  use  ^Y,  ^KY, 
^Q<del> or ^QY to delete text.   The four macros given above must 
be  used instead of these WordStar commands for the  yankback  to 
recover the deleted text.
                      HOW WS YANKBACK WORKS

WS  Yankback  simply writes the deleted text onto the file  named 
YANKEE,  and  then deletes it from the working  text.   When  the 
yankback  is  used,  the text is read back into your file at  the 
present position of the cursor.   This operation takes some time, 
which  is  its major drawback.   When deleting  blocks  of  text, 
however,  it  may  be worth the extra time to have the  assurance 
that the data can be recovered.   Since WS Yankback always writes 
the deleted line on the text YANKEE,  the recovery operation will 
ONLY  WORK  FOR  THE  LAST  DELETION--you  cannot  retrieve   any 
materials deleted before the last text was deleted.  

                         WHAT ABOUT ^Y ?

If you decide to use the first macro in place of ^Y, you may find 
that  you still have problems with ^Y.   You may accidentally hit 
^Y when you want a ^T,  or you may attempt to type an upper  case 
"Y"  (which,  believe  or  not,  I use quite often) and  hit  the 
control key instead of the shift key.  I have solved this problem 
by following Ted Silveira's advice in PROFILES, July/August 1985, 
p.  44.   Using DDT (etc.) or Winstall's custom patch "+"  (which 
does not appear on the options menu), you may change address 054D 
(0535  in WordStar 3.0) to read "19 19" (hex) instead of "19 00."  
The  result  is that it now takes TWO ^Ys (or ^YY)  to  delete  a 
line,  minimizing the possibilities for an accident.   Now when a 
^Y  is  hit  by mistake,  the space bar will get you out  of  the 
partially executed command.   If you find yourself rapidly typing 
two  or  more ^Ts without looking at either the keyboard  or  the 
results onscreen,  you may want to try Melvyn Halbert's solution, 
found  on  the Tampa Bay KUG board (813-791-1454).   He  suggests 
changing the "19" at the appropriate address to "1C" (hex), which 
will reassign the delete line function to ^\ instead of ^Y. 


                  -={ AVATEX 300/1200 MODEM }=-

The  AVATEX  1200 modem is a very attractive alternative  to  the 
Hayes Smartmodem(tm) 1200 and costs a lot less.   The AVATEX is a 
full  duplex modem that matches the design specs for  Bell  212A, 
feature  by feature,  and is  completely Hayes compatible  except 
for settable 'S' registers.

I  now  own  one  of the AVATEX  300/1200  modems  and  it  works 
perfectly  with MEX 1.14 and the Smartmodem overlay.   The AVATEX 
responds to the normal "ATDT" or "ATDP" dialing commands used  by 
the Hayes 300 and 1200 Smartmodems.

The  AVATEX  has  eight front panel  LED  indicators;  (1)  Power 
ON/OFF,  (2)  TR  (Terminal Ready),  (3) SD (Send Data),  (4)  RD 
(Receive Data),  (5) HS (High Speed - 1200 baud),  (6) MC  (Modem 
Clear [ready]),  (7) TM (Test Mode - Analog Loopback), and (8) RI 
(Ring  Indicator [for auto-answer]).   There are also three  push 
button switches on the front;  (1) Power ON/OFF,  (2) Voice/Data, 
and (3) 300/1200 modem speed.
Unlike  the Hayes and other look-a-like modems,  the AVATEX  does 
NOT have a speaker for monitoring the phone line.  It does have a 
modular  telephone  jack in the back into which you can  plug  an 
ordinary phone to "listen in" during dialing.

The  AVATEX  is  supplied as a RS232C standalone  external  modem 
housed  in  an  attractive   beige-colored  lightweight   plastic 
cabinet.  It has eight dip switches located in an "easy to get to 
place"  on  the  backside - but you should never really  need  to 
change  them from the factory setting of all eight up.   It  also 
comes  with  its own 6-foot modular telephone cord and   external 
wallplug  transformer/power supply.   You do need to supply  your 
own modem cable, it should have a DB25 male connector on each end 
and support pins 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, & 20.

Source:  PeopleTalk Associates, Plano, Texas
  Price:   $129.00

Call  1-800-PTBOOKS  for order information


                  -={ Disable Call-Waiting }=-

Doesn't   it  drive you  nuts  when  you're trying  to  use  your 
modem  and  the cherished "call waiting"  option on   your  phone 
interrupts  to tell you someone is trying to  reach  you?    Norm  
Hartman,  director  of   corporate  communications   for  Pacific  
Bell,  advises us that you can temporarily  cancel   call-waiting  
before   using your modem.   Just tap in  the  string  *70 before 
initiating  the call.   (so that's what the asterisk key  on  the  
touch-tone  phone is for!)  If you have a rotary  dial,  you must 
enter 1170 instead.  You should hear a double beep  followed by a 
dial tone.   Go ahead and place your call;  call-waiting  will be  
disabled until you hang up.   Of course, you ought to be  able to 
put the initialization string into your modem program so  that it 
will automatically take care of suspending call-waiting.   Let us 
know  how it works out.   Bob VanWagenen informs us that the  new 
feature  is  being installed as part of the conversion  of  phone 
exchanges to the new easy access system.  If it doesn't work  for 
you right now, it should later on.

---Taken from SacraBlue, September 1985.  No author indicated.


                       -={ Correction }=-

In  the  May 1986 issue of Read Only I had stated that  Worldwide 
Access  had  the Adaptec 2070A controller and  20mb  Microscience 
drive  for  the IBM-PC or clones for $499.00.   Worldwide  had  a 
problem  obtaining the Microscience drives and cannot supply this 
combination.   They do however have the Adaptec 2070A  controller 
bundled  with a Seagate ST238 20mb hard disk drive for a price of 
$579.00 and they are in stock and shipping.   Contact:  Worldwide 
Access,  6311-L Desoto Ave., Woodland Hills, CA. 91367 or call 1-
800-826-3736.
                -={ WHATSNEW in Public Domain }=-

All files listed are available on The DataCOM Super Systems, your 
One-Stop remote database for personal computer users.

[PC/MS-DOS]

CACHE2.ARC     Speeds up disk I/O by using the disk cache method, 
great  improvements noticed especially by floppy-only  users  but 
works effectively to speed-up hard disk systems as well.

GALAXY11.ARC   Galaxy is a  full-blown text editor that uses  the 
same commands as Wordstar.   It also features pull-down menus and 
split-screen editing.  This is a commercial quality program.

WSSI211.LBR    This  is  the latest  update to  WSSINDEX,  a  DOS 
diskette  cataloging system.   WSSINDEX is an all-in-one  program 
that catalogs,  sorts, lists, finds, and generally keeps track of 
every file you have on floppies.  This is the best for IBM-DOS.

DISKOVR3.LBR   A utility that uses the printer's (Epson FX/RX/MX, 
IBM Graphix,  Okidata) compressed mode to print-out a listing  of 
all files on a diskette.   It is just the right size to be pasted 
on the front of your floppy's sleave.  Expands ARC & LBR files.

DIRTYDOZ.0Q5    This  is a listing of known  pirated,  bogus,  or 
destructive  files  uploaded to remote systems  handling  IBM-DOS 
files.   Most importantly it lists "Trojan horse" programs, these 
are the ones that do damage to your drives and/or files.

NEWPROMP.BAT    This batch file when used on a PC  with  ANSI.SYS 
loaded  will  give you a very nice screen display.   It prints  a 
header  line  on  your monitor consisting of  the  current  date, 
logged directory, and current time.

FBILIST.ARC     This  archive has a display program  and  VIDTEXT 
picture files of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Men.  Super graphics!

COMM3.ARC    Details  on how-to-use  DOS'  COMM3:  communications 
port.  Hardware modifications are required - not for the novice.

FANSI115.ARC   The newest Fast-ANSI console driver,  replaces the 
standard  ANSI.SYS driver and adds new sequences,  faster  screen 
writes, and transient color support.  (see ANSI.SYS article)

COMANDO3.LBR    The latest update to File Commando,  a DOS front-
end  processor/file maint utility.   This is from the authors  of 
PCSWEEP and is a very nice does-it-all program for PCs.

OPTMIZER.LBR    This  is a disk packing  utility,  it  moves  and 
organizes file data into contiguous sectors for faster operation.

[CP/M 2.x]

EPEX11.LBR     This is an extended command processor for CP/M 2.2 
systems   with  most  of  the  features  of  ZCPR3  and   instant 
installation.  See the June 1986 Read Only for full details.

GKEY2.LBR    This  is  a key redefinition program  from  our  old 
friend  Eric Gans.   It offers more features than QWIKEY  (QK-21) 
and  SMARTKEY and uses less memory.   Great for defining keyboard 
macro commands and other special function keys.   Loads and saves 
definitions  to and from diskfiles for quick or  automated  start 
ups.

KAY256.LBR      Describes and details changing 64k RAM chips  for 
256k  RAM chips in the Kaypro 4.   This may also be done to  most 
any Z80 system using 64k chips (almost all of em.)  Requires mods 
to  the mainboard (not for the inexperienced!)  After the mod you 
can  alter  your  BIOS to use the extra memory as  a  RAMDISK  or 
printer  buffer.   NOTE:  I do not as yet have the modified  BIOS 
code the author talks about in one of the files.   I will make it 
available ASAP after we receive it.

FILECARD.LBR    This is a freeform text database program  written 
in Turbo Pascal.   It is kind of like an electronic card file and 
has several different sort keys available for fast access to your 
data.

ZMODEM.DQC      Text file describing the next evolution  of  file 
transfer  protocols  to  be used on future  versions  of  popular 
public domain modem programs and XMODEM.  These changes are based 
on  wide  acceptance of the new (and fast) 2400 baud  modems  and 
will   also  help  overcome  delays  in  packet-switched  network 
telephone (satellite) services.

FILT7A.LBR     Filters ASCII files,  especially Wordstar DOCument 
files.   Resets  hi-bits,  removes unwanted characters like  soft 
hyphens  and  carriage returns or dot  commands.   It  optionally 
removes or adds TABs at all optimum locations.

ZDP.LBR   A Z80 de-bugging program,  unlike DDT or ZSID,  ZDP may 
run in any memory position and does not overwrite the CCP.

CRUNCH11.LBR   Updated file compression utilities, similar to the 
SQueeze   concept  but  using  a  different  alogrythm  and   NOT 
compatible  with  SQ/USQ  programs.    CRunch.COM  uses  the  LZW 
(Lempel/Zev/Welch)  alogrythm  scheme  to  gain  an  even  better 
compression ratio thus producing smaller compressed files.

SAPP12.LBR      This  is a sort-and-pack utility  for  CP/M  Plus 
(3.0) users.  Sorts the directory, moves deleted files to the end 
of  the directory and packs the remaining active entries.   Makes 
SD and other programs that access the directory run faster.

ACOPY10.LBR   Attribute COPY, a super replacement for PIP, usable 
by any CP/M 2.2 or ZCPR3 system.   Syntax is very  flexible,  use 
either  CP/M  destination=source format or  ZCPR3  du:  commands.  
Also  copies according to what file attributes have been set  and 
checks F1 thru F7 bits with optional switch.
                 -={ DOS Wordstar 3.3 Patch }=-

The  following patches should be applied to WORDSTAR 3.3 to speed 
up its screen access.   Note that the patched routines may not be 
in exactly the same place in your version of WS.COM,  so...   Use 
on a COPY of your WS.COM only, do not use your original file!

With  the  following command,  DEBUG will apply these patches  to 
WordStar.
               debug ws.com <wordstar.pch

Use  your text editor and create a file called  WORDSTAR.PCH  and 
type in the following lines EXACTLY as you see them here.

a2ac8
db d0,c8,72

a2ace
db d0,c8,73

a2a66
jmp 2a8f
nop
ret

a2a71
mov es,[44ce]

a2a85
jmp 2a8f
nop
ret

a2a94
mov es,[44ce]
shl di,1
call 2aa2
jmp 2a8f
nop
nop
ret

A
;....  want COM2:  for serial printer?, if so remove the ';' from 
;      the next 7 lines.   00 = COM1: (default),  01 = COM2:
;
;a81d
;mov dx,01
;
;a832
;mov dx,01
;

W
Q
            -={ Expand DOS 3.x Environment Space }=-

                         by Gee M. Wong

There  is an undocumented switch which may be used in both PC and 
MS  DOS  version 3.x which will expand the default  size  of  the 
environment.   This  switch  may be specified in your  CONFIG.SYS 
file using the following format:

       SHELL = [d:][\path]\COMMAND.COM [d:][\path] /p/e:##

	[d:] 	is  the  drive where the  command  processor  is 
located  on.   If  the command processor is located on  the  boot 
drive, this field may be omitted.

	[\path]  	is  the path to the  subdirectory  which 
contains  the  command processor.   If the command  processor  is 
located on the root directory, this field may be omitted.

	COMMAND.COM 	is  the name of the  command  processor.  
This is the name of the command processor found in both PC and MS 
DOS version 3.x .

	/p 	is  a required switch to make sure that the  new 
COMMAND.COM  with  the expanded environment remains  resident  in 
memory after DOS initialization.   If this switch is omitted then 
DOS will discard the command processor after initialization,  and 
leave you hanging somewhere in the twilight zone.
								
	/e: 	is the undocummented switch which may be used to 
expand the size of the default environment.
								
	## 	is a decimal integer between 11  and  63.   This 
number  represents  the number of paragraphs to be allocated  for 
the environment.  A paragraph is 16 bytes of storage.


                    -={ DataCOM Drop-Outs }=-

The number of CP/M users who fail to renew is getting to be  more 
and  more  every  month.    Help  us spread the  word  about  the 
services and programs we offer - WE NEED MORE ACTIVE USERS !!!

Almost  all of the new members these days are IBM-DOS  users  who 
never used the systems before - this is fine,  but where have all 
the  old CP/Mers gone?   Is this first-stage modemitis  or  what?  

All  this fancy hardware (about $10,000 worth) we have  dedicated 
to  the remote systems costs us a small fortune to run each month 
and can only exist through the support of the users.

Whether  we flourish and continue to expand or fade  into  never-
never land depends on YOU, the users !!

Until next month...