..[echelon.004] .op .po 10 3 September 1984 ZCPR3 Newsletter 004 Notice the ZCPR3 System uses a consistent command and utility program syntax. Programmers writing new support utilities or application programs should know and please remember established syntax for Z3 commands. Recognize uniform syntax is of great benefit to end users. Conversely, Unix doesn't have uniformity in its command language structure, this being one of many reasons for its reputation, even among programmers, of user-unfriendliness. Thus, let's keep our advantage as it is presently and show overall concordancy within our community, while sustaining a system of extreme versatility¬ power¬ anä easå oæ use®  Maintaiî existinç syntax. Amen! ----------------- EDITORIAL .heZCPR3 Newsletter 004 Z3 Tips Our point of view: RAM is and will remain more expensive than physically small Winchester hard disk drives, drives so popular with small computer users. The Winchester's price advantage, byte for byte, is tens to one over RAM. A 10 to 40 megabyte packaged disk unit (e.g., using Seagate, Ampex, MicroSciences, etc. drives) goes for less than $3,000. RAM costs up to $600 per quarter megabyte. What we are leading up to is: an 8-bit, 64K byte system using disk memory overlays (like WordStar does so effectively) is all we need for a really fast personal, desktop, portable or lap computer. Why? Those little Winchesters can load 50K of files in less than two (2) seconds! WordStar loading with any size text file takes about 1 1/2 seconds. A demonstration we recently gave: loaded WordStar and a 68K source listing in less than 2 seconds, then scanned from the top of file to bottom in 10 seconds using ^Q^C; scanned the same file, using ^Q^R, from bottom back to top in 11 seconds! (See footnote.) Who needs a RAM disk? What with all the hassle of loading to volatile memory and making sure saves are performed, a fast Winchester appears a better way to go. Who needs 16-bit machine and big RAM capacity expense? Users of ZCPR3 don't! We have the definitive operating system with all the features to do the things we want to do. But a good Winchester makes the floppy appear really slow, by a factor of over ten to one. That 10-to-1 is enough to make the difference in success of overlays (or chaining) or not. Application programs using overlays can be any size required, using callable disk files. T/Maker III uses this technique with its many support files resulting in a fully integrated program for word processing, list and database management, and a fast spreadsheet. Such programs are a wonder to behold when run from a Winchester using an Adaptec- type of controller. (Adaptec of Milpitas, California makes controller boards having fastest hard-disk data transfer techniques.) Additionally, it seems because of human nature being what it is, less efficient (looser) code is written when more RAM is known to be available. Eight-bit programs require Assembly Language for speed and code tightness; C Language is simply not good enough here for high performance operations. C programs run- ning on 16-bit machines are not any better than Assembler running on 8-bit machines. Portability... so write application programs in structured Assembler (SYSLIB3, of course) for Z-80's and in C for 8086's. The rest of the cpu's don't presently count for much in the commercial world. (Sorry 68000's, 8000's, 16000's and 6502's, but here at Echelon we're CP/M-80 folks.) .cp 4 Š We challenge 16-bit machines running portable software to match ZCPR3 CP/M's flexibility, speed, ease of use, and total environmental control, along with total system price. .pn 2 .fo Page # The ZCPR3 System consists of 70, or so, utilities controlled by the ZCPR3 Command Processor (CP), the console module functional after complete system installation. Complementing this array of support utilities are these recommended application programs: 1. WordStar for general wordprocessing 2. The WORD Plus for spelling check and correction 3. Punctuation & Style for punctuation and grammar 4. WordMaster for Assembly Language program development 5. dBASE II for relational database management 6. SuperCalc II for spreadsheet calculations 7. T/Maker III for an integrated environment of wordprocessing, spreadsheet, accounting, file and data management, and full online HELP documentation (editor set to WordStar commands as noted in User's Guide Magazine Issue #7, Feb 1984) 8. MODEM7, MDM7, MEX, COMM7, or TERM III for communications Such programs combine with MENU and VMENU to produce a super powerful (and useful) turnkey computer software set. Don't be mislead by hype ads; 8-bit software does the job at lowest cost and with minimum expenditure of your time. Single-user, networked workstations is the efficient method of resource management and communications of the future. Time-share CPU methods used by Unix, and the like, will not survive! Each user with his own CPU -- that's the long-term future. Let's quietly wait 'til Zilog's Z-800 is available; then we'll see what happens to time-share concepts and systems. Central processing, as an efficient multiuser concept, is dead! With ZCPR3, we have moved to high efficiency, as well as resource economy and high individual console operator productivity®  That'ó thå routå tï winner-circles¡  (Enä oæ Editorial.) ----------------- Z³ TIPSº Noticå XDIR.COÍ displayó fileó iî alì Useò Areaó iæ thå "U" trailing parameter is entered at the command line, e.g., XDIR *.* U or XDIR /U. Entering XDIR // recalls full range of options for the command. ALIAS permits one alias to call another alias. STARTUP.COM could call SULDR.COM, where latter is a loader that doesn't change very often. So it is used in an alias in which the rest does changes often. The nesting saves frequent re- typing the constant. STARTUP.COM could consist of: SULDR;SHOW E;VFILER;B0: where SULDR (for StartUp Loading) is an alias made up of: LDR SYS.RCP,SYS.FCP,SYS.NDR,MYTERM.Z3T SHO× waó entereä aó aî Erroò Handleò witè "E¢ trailinç thå command name. ERROR² could have been used instead and ió anotheò handleò that'ó spectaculaò iî performancå anä flexibility. Try both, and the other error handlers too, before deciding which recovery program is best used in a specific activity. .cp 2 ŠA chain of three sample menus are on the AMPRO BBS, as MENU.MNU. These can be customized for your specific needs, but show some of the techniques getting you started. The ability to use the current directory ($D) and user ($U) to return from a firm login is not shown but could be used wherever a hard B: drive is declared. When you get some general interest menus working, please put them up on the BBS so others can see your handy work! The community will certainly give you its appreciation. SAK (strike any key) adds the key missing link to making complex command lines and aliases really work. Typing SAK // gives the customary reminder of what the command does and its syntax. As an example, SAK placed after an assembly command and before the load command permits the operator to abort if errors occurred in assembly, if operator is present at CRT screen to notice. But the load command may be auto executed, if after a preset time operator has not pressed a key to abort. The alias could look like: ASM $1;SAK /P10 Enter ^C if Errors Occurred;LOAD $1 If the operator hasn't struck ^C within ten seconds after the assembly has occurred, the program executes LOAD. Add a B before the P and the console belì ringó tï alert®  (Ð haó á rangå oæ ± tï 9999!© Trù iô anä see the ways to simply command-line programming. $1 is filename to be assembled. At command line, enter ALIASNAME . Remember, ALIAS passes parameters similar to ZEX and SUB plus has the ability to know the home directory with $D for disk and $U for user. $* passes the entire command line tail and $0, the alias filename itself. See ALIAS HELP for complete details. CLEANDIÒ (similaò tï publiã domaiî SAÐ -- sï deaò tï ouò heartó -- but much faster acting) of Phase 2 Distribution is more than handy to have around and use on a regular basis. Used often on all your disks, when the time comes to use UNERASE to recover an accidentally erased file, chances are near 100% for recovery being successful. Remember we told you so. A Note about VALUE: Some_realize_the_true-value_nature_of_ZCPR3_and_the_ZCPR3 System,_others_do_not.__Look_at_it_this_way.__Unix_is_about_8_megabytes_of software_costing_$40,000.00_for_the_source;_object_code_goes_for_$750.00_for single-user_systems.__ZCPR3_consists_of_about_3_megabytes_of_object,_source, and_online_documentation_on_16_disks_--_the_collection_costs_$173.00!__The value_represented_here_is_300_to_1_in_favor_of_ZCPR3_over_Unix. AXIOM:„ Sustaineä succesó dependó oî meetinç continuing needs of you, our customers, and spending less than we take in; it's that simple, or that complicated without individual discipline. When David goes up against Goliath, his sling shot must be in good repair! "Sept d'un coup" -- seven in one blow; that's the number of Goliaths out there. Waste no blows. Our motto: Echelon earns before it spends. Adhering to such a motto means no financial debt; thus we will never be a candidate for Chapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy Act. Certainly we don't neeä anotheò companù producinç whaô everybodù elså produces¬ anä wå do our best to be different while being useful to you. See you down the lines... Echelon, Inc. 101 First Street Los Altos, CA 94022 Telephone: 415/948-3820 Modem: 408/258-8128 ŠFootnote: Demonstration components consisted of AMPRO BOOKSHELF Series 122 computer, Media Distributing Ampex Hard Disk Add-on with Adaptec controller, and Wyse Technology WY-50 CRT terminal. We believe the Wyse terminal to be of highest value. The Wyseword function-key overlay-strip makes using WordStar (and T/Maker) a joy. Feel and quality of the unit is super, as is its $695 retail price. And it runs at 38,400 baud! So does the AMPRO -- the two make an extremely attractive combination with T/Maker spreadsheets and 132 console screen columns. .fo .op Trademarks: CP/M, Digital Research; BOOKSHELF, AMPRO Computers; Z-80, Zilog; Unix, Bell Laboratories; WordStar, WordMaster, MicroPro Int'l; dBASE, Ashton- Tate; SuperCalc, Sorcim/IUS Corp.; T/Maker, T/Maker Company; TERM III, Richard L. Conn; The WORD Plus, Punctuation & Style, Oasis Systems; WY-50, Wyse Technology. Newsletter 004 is Copyright 1984 Echelon, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Echelon, Inc. 101 First Street Los Altos, CA 94022