9:00 AM PDT Sunday, April 19, 1987 (Larry L) Hiya Tony...got your EMAIL I seem to be having conflicts with other programs. (Sysop Tony) What conflicts? Some getting used to is required. (Larry L) ok I can't seem to get the macro to print. All I get is the first letter of the macro then the M100 freezes and I have to BREAK to get it back. (Sysop Tony) Print where? (Larry L) sorry ..say again.. (Sysop Tony) You say it won't "Print"... Print where? On a printer? On the screen? (Larry L) Oh.. I tried it by hooking up to my Apple in telcom mode.. (Sysop Tony) Aha! Won't work! The program expects the character to be echoed back by the receiving computer. The Apple won't do that. It's optimized for use on CIS. (Larry L) ok I think I can get the Apple to echo..will try that Also... the Cancel program doesn't seem to really get rid of MACROS...It seem to overwrite the first line of the program I run after (DIRACC for example) (Sysop Tony) CANCEL is designed to "disconnect" the call routines from the TELCOM vector table, and kill the function key definition in BASIC. I can't guarantee that it's going to be fully compatible with other "trick" programs. (Larry L) ok How about trying a shell routine like in Diracc..(you wrote that didn't you) (Sysop Tony) No, I didn't write DIRACC. I believe it came from Hugo Ferraya in South America. I had enough trouble writing that as a first machine language project, without modifying it further. it works as described, but may conflict with other programs. Since I can't control how it will be used in each situation, you really can't expect me to be able to guard against all problems, can you? (Larry L) No. I will try it in an empty bank...thanks again. (Phil W) [cummon, Tony -- walk on Lake TAhoe for us!] (Sysop Tony) OK.... next week sometime... (Jon Payne) Larry L, What kind of Apple do you have?. (Larry L) [Apple IIGS] (Jon Payne) ok never mind....done (Larry L) [//e also] (REX) HI FOLKS IM NEW HERE AND DONT KNOW THE PROTOCOL SO BEAR WITH ME PLEASE CAN I ASK A GENERAL QUESTION? (Sysop Tony) Rex... can you use lower case? Looks like you're shouting. The protocol is described in the file CONFER.HLP, which was mentioned in the greeting when you came in. (REX) is this better? (Sysop Tony) yep...thanks (REX) ill try again is this better (Jon Payne) clumsy fingers? (REX) yes (Sysop Tony) Once you have been recognized, you have the floor and don't have to ask if you can ask a question. That's what you've been recognized for. Your question? (REX) ok ill exit and read the file (Sysop Tony) Why do that, now that you have the floor? He's gone already! (R Caley) Tony, I read your file on your new macro program - pretty nifty. Have you got the program running in TEXT yet?? (Sysop Tony) No. It requires some major changes for use in TEXT. We can't use the same technique. So Martin Zimmerman and I are both looking at hooking into the keyboard scan interrupt, and using that. Each of these modifications is the equivalent of an entire ML program, by itself. and have to be integrated to work together. If we get the TEXT technique working, may even change the two previous versions. (R Caley) ok You might try looking at the routines in PCSG's Write Rom LIBRARY feature... one more comment I've missed you while you have been gone..they have been using big words like "MAVEN" here.. (Sysop Tony) (grin!) Well, that's Denny for you... probably speaks Jewish. PCSG has not provided me with any samples of their product, from which I could do research of the type you mention. And can't really steal technique from commercial products, anyway. (R Caley) ok I wasn't suggesting you steal anything, just that LIBRARY allows user to set up codes for text from 1 to 256 chrs, then when you print it expands the text..I think it would be neat if you could get it to work in your macro program..that's what I meant... (Sysop Tony) Well I have a philosophical problem in seeing how someone else does the job and trying to emulate it. ... MACPGM is original work, and no one can claim I copied their idea. Sometimes it's better not to have seen the other guys program, in case any question arises as to where it came from. There are some commercial possibilities for MACPGM if we get it working. We missed the boat on the spelling checker, you know. (R Caley) ok I'm with you. I detest piracy it's just that your program iimplied that this was a possibility for TEXT. I thought it was a great idea. (Sysop Tony) It IS a possibility in TEXT, and I'm working toward that. would be very useful but it takes some time, since I'm just learning machine language, and this is my first program. Also, I see it in a different application than PCSG sees it. But working on it. (R Caley) ok You know, if you are looking for collaborators, Greg Susong is the best ML programmer I know. (Sysop Tony) Greg is no longer supporting the Model 100 family. He's moved on to other interests, and has sold his Portable stuff to someone else for distribution. I got the last assembler package he intended to ship. (He said) (R Caley) ok No one "quits" the M-100!!! He'll be back. (Sysop Tony) Could be. I wouldn't put money on it either way. Let's see what Larry has to say. ga Larry ga (Larry L) OK... I have been trying my hand at programming and I need some help with PRINT. Can anyone reccommend a book on the subset of basic that the M100 uses? (Sysop Tony) There are a lot of good books. See the file BOOKS.001 in DL13 for a list. But what specific problem are you having with PRINT statement? (Larry L) ok I want to print a string,then a # with Print using ,then another string..all on the same line.(it will fit) (Sysop Tony) Is the string always the same? (Larry L) yes...both..just the # changes.. (Sysop Tony) Try: PRINTUSING,"There are ### Slots left";N (Larry L) ok Thanks..that makes sense..will try it I also have a request to everyone My program will very accurately compute either the elapsed time or couter #,or interval time on a VHS tape..I need data cooresponding to hours and counter #'s Eg. 1 hour = 456, 2=666 etc..Please send to 73765,605..thanks. (D.T. KING) YOU MIGHT MAKE IT VARIABLE FOR THE INDIVIDUAL USER. (DaveW.) I think the variable is needed. It is my experience that each machines counter is slightly different. (Jon Payne) some counters dont count length of tape... they count revolutions so the count will vary depending on how far thru the tape you are. (DaveW.) [Not always linear.] (Larry L) ok That's why I need the data. The variables my equations are specific to the data numbers I put in. The program that generates the variables is about 3 times as long as the timer program...When run,though it is VERY accurate througout the entire tape...SEND DATA to 73765,605 (Sysop Tony) You might want to set up your program so that a user times a tape once, and puts his results in a data statement, thus making the program specific for his machine. (Jon Payne) you made my point... the data will need to be machine specific and will depend upon, rather vary according to how far along the tape is. (Larry L) ok. I like your idea Tony..If I get data that are near my #'s then there is no problem..If not then I will do as you suggest. (RICH MINTZ) My first time in conference, was going to ask what was being discussed, but I see you're wanting to go ahead with another topic. (Sysop Tony) Rich, we don't go over previous conversations for the benefit of latecomers... it would take too much time. But we do provide a transcript, which will be in DL1 in a few hours. (RICH MINTZ) ok. (REGINA DENNIS) I HAVE A MEMORY PROBLEM. IS THERE A WAY TO TRANSFER FILES? BOUGHT TWO EXTRA BANKS. HOW TO TRANSFER FILES BETWEEN BANKS? (Sysop Tony) What computer do you have? (REGINA DENNIS) TANDY M200 (Sysop Tony) When you are at the main menu, move the cursor over a file name, And press the F4 button. You will be asked what bank you want to copy the file to. Type 1, 2 or 3, and away it goes. (REGINA DENNIS) REALLY! OK. WILL TRY IT. THANKS A LOT (Sysop Tony) Yours was an easy one to solve. I use a 200 all the time. Any more? Or shall we move on? (REGINA DENNIS) I LOVE MY TANDY 200 I'M AN ANTHROPOLOGIST AND TAKE IT EVERYWHERE. I JUST NEED MORE SPACE FOR MY LONG REPORTS. (Sysop Tony) Yes, don't we all! (REGINA DENNIS) MOVE ON. (Sysop Tony) OK... on to the next question. ga MarkN (markN) happy easter all I'd Like to find a way to do a "files" command from basic and send output to a ram file,,,any ideas??? (D.T. KING) The file info is in memory of M100 starting at 63842, it is in 11 byte chunks the first byte tells if the file is active and what kind it is. 4-11 have the name of the file. Just write a simple basic routine to peek the info and send it to a ram file. (Sysop Tony) I don't know why you'd want that, but it should be an easy thing to do. You should be able to convert either of the RAMDIR programs to do it quite easily. But I seem to get the idea you want to do it with a single command? That might be a little more difficult. (markN) to be more specific, and change flavor entirely I'd like to do a Lfiles command on a TDD w/ts-dos(ts-random). (Sysop Tony) Well, that IS a bit different.... However, we have just the program for that. since TS-DOS didn't supply it. DIRLST.TDD in DL9 will do it. (Phil W) Well, not sure I quite understand, but there may be a direct keystroke command in TS-DOS to do that. Do you mean that or from within a running Basic program? (markN) I know ya can do LFILES from basic but not how to send output to file. (Sysop Tony) Mark, as I said before, DIRLST.TDD was designed specifically to provide the same function as LFILES TO FILE command that POWR-DISK has. It copies the disk directory into a RAM file. Exactly what you said you wanted. (markN) yea,,,sounds good,i'll check it out thanks tony ,,,,thanks all. (Bill H.) ok this is just so you wont get the slides out If I do a control C while on CO will that louse anything up? the reason is that I could get some coffee and let the buffer hold the text until I returned. (Sysop Tony) Somebody STOLE my slides! (Phil W) [Denny] (Sysop Tony) CTRL-C will take you back to the forum; CTRL-S might stop everything for you. But can't guarantee it. CTRL-Q to restart. (Bill H.) I was more concerned about the CO.. freezing it that is. (Sysop Tony) No, what you do, shouldn't affect us. (Bill H.) OK thanks. (Sysop Tony) So, Phil.... you think Denny stole my slides? (Phil W) Yeah ... he started to describe them a couple of weeks ago in response to a tumultuous demand! (Bill H.) haha (Phil W) Odd, on the tariff thing -- virtually nothing in LA Times today no info, no comments, nothing! (Sysop Tony) Aha! That's probably where they went. Oh, well. On the tariff thing, perhaps it's now considered "old news". (Phil W) Well, or maybe it is so new that the editorial writers haven't decided how to editorialize! Notice that the head of Dept of Commerce Chicago office has decided to resign over this -- based on feeling strongly that it is contraproductive (produces Contras?) (Sysop Tony) Well, that's a "Who cares?" His action is like throwning a glass of water into lake Michigan. Nobody's gonna notice, or give a damn. I think we get the LA Times edition that's printed on Saturday, up here. Or maybe one printed by a satelite plant in San Francisco. (Phil W) On another topic, are you still using rubber bands under your keys? (Sysop Tony) Yes, they're still there. Haven't rotted, or anything. But only have them on the M100. (Phil W) One or two per key? (Sysop Tony) Lemmee see... I think I put 2 on each key, 3 on NUM and ENTER. Don't remember the rest. (Phil W) I did not like the feel all that well, so I took them off (Sysop Tony) (Maybe not 3 on ENTER.) (Phil W) But now I want to start using the M100 for taking notes in meetings so I'm going to re-install them. Thot maybe one (vs. two) would make it feel better to me. BTW -- when I installed them before, a couple of keys became intermittent. Ever experience that? (Sysop Tony) No, I've had no problems with them. But there was another technique you might like to explore. It was suggested to use a piece of felt, with adhesive on the back side; carefully punch holes in the felt where the key plungers go. And install it over the entire keyboard. Might take some laying out, or drafting ability, but as I understand it, Engineers know all the angles! (grin) (Phil W) Yeah, we sure do -- but have to make a map of the keyboard first since we can't spell QWERTY. (Sysop Tony) And that's hard to pronounce, too... That's what Polaroid cameras are for. (grin). (Phil W) [job for my wife!] re tariffs: Big question for me will be whether Toshiba goes ahead with their screen upgrade program. I bought one just 4 days before they announced the new supertwist screen. Great timing, huh! (Sysop Tony) Yeah, great! Murphy's Law. But I found it quite interesting that you indicated that after the "newness" wore off, you've gone back to the Model 100. (Phil W) Yes,very true -- tho I am using the Tosh just now due to the split screen software that I have for it. M100 is much easier to travel with and I like the casual use of it (no need to boot disks, etc. to get started Both have a place in my normal use pattern now, but use M100 about 2 to 1. (Sysop Tony) I got a chance to look at a Toshiba up here one day. Don't know which model.... it was black, with a matte black screen, and orange letters. About the same size as used on the T600. (Phil W) Toshiba has split screen software available (Sysop Tony) Split Screen software is not all that difficult! (Phil W) That is a 3100, has plasma display and 10MB hard disk; 80286 processor in CMOS. (Sysop Tony) It could be done for the Tandy 200 easily. Maybe for the 100, too. scrolling typed input on the bottom line. and using the new /NOECHO capability of the CO software. (Phil W) What is needed is to use bottom two lines (80 col total); Denny has it on his list for his muy grande Comm program. Not so easy, I guess. (Sysop Tony) Well, Denny is taking a different approach... He'll get a "Grande" program up and running while I would whip up a short TELCOM emulator ... (Sysop Denny) [boy, are my ears burning!] (Sysop Tony) That would be set up to take advantage of the new software command. Well! (Phil W) Aha ... from under the rock comes...Denny! (Sysop Denny) No, from out of the waterbed. (Phil W) [gross!] (Sysop Tony) California excess! (Phil W) [Nevada negativism!] (Sysop Tony) So, they say you stole my slides, Denny. Wanna give them back? (Sysop Denny) You were speaking of comm programs? (Sysop Tony) We was discussing split screen TELCOM et al. (I see he ignored my request to give back the slides!) (grin) (Sysop Denny) Ah, the elusive split screen I figured out a way to do it Use two computers! (Phil W) [some maven he turns out to be!] (Sysop Tony) Hmmm... that's a possibility... send from one, receive on another. But I think folks would like it more if they only had to use one. I was suggesting a scrolling line on line 8 for your keyboard input, and /NOECHO in CO to suppress your input echo until finished, at which time, it would "pop" off your line 8 onto the input lines, scrolling them up. (Sysop Denny) Yes, that would be the plan, although Phil suggested that perhaps it should be two lines of non-scroll on the bottom for an 80 char buffer so you would be able to do a useful length line. (Sysop Tony) Yes, but that reduces actual screen display to the point where you only see about two complete previous lines. I looked at the 100 screen while you was typing, and I saw only two complete lines displayed. And, new CO software allows lines longer than 80 characters. (Sysop Denny) Right, but a one line display would possibly need a toggle between 1st and 2nd half of input. if you just overwrite... (Phil W) [how about a scroll to the left?] (Sysop Denny) after 40 characters, you're almost worse off than now. (Phil W) [as in THINK.IT?] (Sysop Denny) Hmmm.. that would be the other option - and also be able to scroll back to the right. (Sysop Tony) I'd just make it a horizontal crawl. (Bill H.) just gonna say that line 8 on my 102 is a dead line anyhow just a curser blinking there. (Sysop Tony) Yeah... ready for input. (LARRY R.) If'n ya toggle the label line by pressing label key on top row, ya gets one whole extra line! (Sysop Tony) Yes, but the bottom line either line 8 on the 100/102, or 16 on a 200 has nothing on it. The cursor just sits there waiting for input. If your label line is on, then it sits on line 7. Line 8 CAN be used for split screen software. (LARRY R.) Split screen software????? (Sysop Denny) Well, I was just going to say that I have been able to lock line 8 out while online, and the only thing that is needed now, is the software for input on that line. (Sysop Tony) Yes... line 8(16) can be locked, so that it won't scroll. All your input would appear on lines 1-7(15). So you could put a horizontal scroll on line 8, for keyboard input, probably by calling the routine that displays a character in A at the cursor position. That would also allow backspace to work. (Phil W) This would be a real boon to CO'ing -- so get with it, Denny (Sysop Tony) (Larry, you want to change the subject?) (LARRY R.) Yes, but only slightly (Phil W) gotta stop polishing your many Ports and move onto new and better things! (Sysop Tony) Denny, you gotta learn to live out of boxes, like I do. (grin) (Phil W) [a project a day keeps the catery at bay!] (LARRY R.) When offline, is there anyway to clean out that little hidey-hole where the previous screen is stored from the online session? How much RAM does that little sucker hold??? (Sysop Tony) That area is also used by BASIC and other routines... It is the exact same size as your screen buffer 320 bytes on the 100/102 and 640 on a 200. You can use it by poking stuff into it, but since it is volatile, no guarantee what you put in will stay there long. (LARRY R.) Thanks, I always sorta wondered. New LU mag. has this article which described a call so you can take a peek at what's stashed there. a most interesting collection of garbage, 4 sure! (Sysop Tony) Constantly changing. But folks have used it successfully to store and execute ML programs, so they didn't have to be in the normal high RAM space. Of course, when the program was finished the ML code was erased next time the buffer was used, but that's not a problem. James Yi is a proponent of that technique, and he programs mostly for the 200. (LARRY R.) That's all from me for 2day, that is!!! (Sysop Tony) OK... Looks like we're about at a wrap up point Anyone have any final comments to make? (LARRY R.) Club 100, as advertised in LU looks like a good deal. (Sysop Tony) Well, I guess it's a good deal for "joiners". ... You DO get the magazine (which is free anyway) by first class mail; they seem to hold up everyone else's issue for a month before mailing it by camel pack. But I've not felt it necessary to pay a subscription fee for use of a BBS, plus the long distance charges. the other "perks" are questionable. (LARRY R.) HMM!!!... (Phil W) re earlier question --- one band per key seems to work fine! (Sysop Tony) Modifying while we speak, Phil??? (Phil W) Yup! (Sysop Tony) OK... well, we seem to be at a natural break here, so... Well, it looks like we're out of time for this morning's conference. So I'll end the formal conference now. Feel free to stick around and chat further, if you like. Thanks for coming this morning, we appreciate your input. *** END OF CONFERENCE *** List of Participants: 70026,350 John McLay 70250,211 PETER 70545,472 Rog Carpenter 71266,125 Phil W 71560,1142 RICH MINTZ 72165,1752 DAVE F 72300,3072 Bill H. 72306,1776 markN 72316,647 R Caley 72407,3224 Marty T 72516,475 LARRY R. 73127,36 David Edwards 73226,2751 William Martin 73347,3357 REGINA DENNIS 73765,605 Larry L 74026,635 D.T. KING 75765,1124 Mike A. 75775,202 DaveW. 76257,3015 REX 76456,3262 Brian G Job 76576,2713 Jon Payne 76703,444 Sysop Denny 76703,4062 Sysop Tony