.PC 38 ========================================================================== XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XX XX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XX XX HHHHHHHH HHHHHHHH HHHHHHHH HH HH HHHHHHHH HHHHHHHH HH HH IIIIIIII IIIIIIII IIIIIIII II II IIIIIIII IIIIIIII II II XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XX XX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXX XX HHHHHHHH HHHHHHHH HHHHHHHH HH HH HHHHHHHH HHHHHHHH HHH HH IIIIIIII IIIIIIII IIIIIIII II II IIIIIIII IIIIIIII III II XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XXXX XX HH HH HH HH HH HH HH HH HH HH HHHH HH II II II II II II II II II II IIII II XXXXXXX XX XX XX XXXX XXXXXXXX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX HHHHHHH HH HH HH HHHH HHHHHHHH HH HH HH HH HH HH HH IIIIIII II II II IIII IIIIIIII II II II II II II II XXXXXXX XX XX XX XXXX XXXXXXXX XX XX XXXXXXXX XX XX XX HHHHHHH HH HH HH HHHH HHHHHHHH HH HH HHHHHHHH HH HH HH IIIIIII II II II IIII IIIIIIII II II IIIIIIII II II II XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XXXXXX XX XXXX HH HH HH HH HH HH HH HH HH HHHHHH HH HHHH II II II II II II II II II IIIIII II IIII XX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XX XX XXXXXXXX XX XX XX XXX HH HHHHHHHH HHHHHHHH HH HH HHHHHHHH HH HH HH HHH II IIIIIIII IIIIIIII II II IIIIIIII II II II III XX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XX XX XXXXXXXX XX XX XX XX HH HHHHHHHH HHHHHHHH HH HH HHHHHHHH HH HH HH HH II IIIIIIII IIIIIIII II II IIIIIIII II II II II =========================================================================== THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE FIRST OSBORNE GROUP - - - - - - - - - F O G =========================================================================== Vol. 1 No. 7 (Non-member price $1.50/copy) APRIL 1982 =========================================================================== The First Osborne Group (F O G) has been formed as a users group for all persons who use or are interested in Osborne Computers. Membership is available to any interested party whether or not they currently own an Osborne Computer. Dues are $24.00/yr. in U.S., $30.00/yr. elsewhere. OFFICERS IN THE F O G President/Founder Frank Morton Treasurer Leo E. Grandi Vice President Jeri Edwards Disk Librarian Kent Walker Technical Counsel Byron A. McKay Editor, FOGHORN David M. Oates NEXT FOG MEETING: 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 15, 1982 The Dysan Corporation Auditorium 5201 Patrick Henry Drive Santa Clara CA FOGHORN DEADLINE - All material for the May FOGHORN must be submitted by April 26th. Bulk mail needs more lead time! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE F O G - - - REGARDING DEALER SUPPORT - - - ..... By Frank Morton Dealer (and other) support! We hear a lot of comments about dealer support (mostly bad, it is supposed to be good -right?) Like it or not, the way OCC set up sales, we were supposed to receive training and other support from our dealer. OCC tried to choose good dealers who were capable of providing support to the users. I know how hard they tried; I saw one of the Dealer inquiry forms and I was really impressed! I've had a retail business before, but their requirements are tough! Obviously, OCC was not totally successful. There are a number of Dealers who know as little about the machine as we did when we got ours (in some cases even less). The Corporation is trying to rectify this by putting together a comprehensive training program on videocassettes to educate the dealers. They are good programs; you may have seen a few at the Osborne booth at the Faire. So we all want better support! What should we do about it? I have a novel idea - why not SUPPORT YOUR DEALER? If you have a good one, spread the word and give him your business! If you have a bad one, write to OCC and tell them!!! Then, ask around and find a good one, within driving range .HEFOGHORN APRIL 1982 if possible. The extra distance will be worth it in loss of frustration. I know for a fact that any good Dealer will bend over backwards to try to solve your problems, if they know you to be a loyal customer. You can save some money buying from discounters, but you wind up paying in time and frustration!! Why should you expect a dealer to spend time helping you hook up and get working a peripheral (printer, modem, etc.) that you got from mail-order or a discounter? What is in it for him? Why do I and others get calls asking how to make Backup copies of their Osborne original software? A good dealer will check out the machine and tell you how to backup your diskettes before you leave the store! You are going to say "He's a stooge for the establishment!" Well, as most of you know I do work for the Digital Deli computer store on Saturdays. I do it to learn more about computers, maintain contact with all of you, and also for the pay! I can tell you one thing, when we deliver an Osborne, even though it has been checked by the factory and our repair shop, we take it out of the box right there in the store, check to make sure the drives are working (reading & writing), the Keyboard is O.K., and offer to make one copy of the diskettes right then. It really pays off, because the chances of getting problems the first day or so are greatly reduced. When we deliver a printer or modem, we check it out right there in the store to make sure it is working with your machine. A lot of our store personnel are actively engaged with helping users groups; F O G, Piconet for CP/M Users, and the Northstar group.Also, two Bulletin Board Systems are now in operation, run by Deli salesmen. The Computer Center, Inc. of Berkeley played Host to our first East Bay F O G meeting and has offered to help that group with support. How many people from mail-order or discount outlets do you see at our users' meetings, or doing anything else to support the users' groups and customers? While we are on the subject of supporting users' groups, let me clear up an apparent misconception. When asked to help at our FOG Table at the Faire one member was heard to reply,"You are doing fine; and besides you're getting paid to do this, not me!" NOT SO! Not one person in F O G has gotten paid a cent for their help! Everything is done by volunteer labor. It is a lot of fun in many ways, but time consuming at times, and work non- the-less. As a matter of fact many loose some cash from time to time as they forget to record expenses and get reimbursed! It also cuts down on the time we can play or experiment with our own computers! In six months we have grown from 18 to more than 375 members! So get out and offer to help your local FOG group! If you are too far from the closest one, we will try our best to help you start a local one! Speaking of getting paid! One of the reasons I sell computers on Saturdays is to pay for my phone bill that results from answering the calls I am getting from all over the country! I love to talk as well as the next person, but sooner or later Ma Bell wants her dues. I haven't been taking that out of the Treasury, I call it part of my business expense in selling computers. You may not be aware that many salepersons work on direct commission! We only get paid when we ring up a sale of $100 or more! Is it any wonder that when we get phone calls about problems, we ask where the unit was purchased? While we expect to support our loyal customers, and enjoy doing so, it does detract from our ability to work with potential new customers. Of course some stores take it to the extreme; they don't want to be bothered at all after the sale! At the other extreme, our FOG Technical Consultant, Byron, was so good at helping all of us new Osborne owners that the last three months of 1981 were the worst sales (and therefore income months) he has ever had!!! So helping with FOG and answering all those phone calls actually cost him money. I have had a bit of the same problem myself. What I have been saying here is this; If you want good dealer support, find one worthy of your business and support him! It is a two-way street. Show your appreciation of those salespersons who are active in the Users' Groups, who maintain Bulletin Boards for your modem queries, and help in other ways, by referring your friends' business to them by name! Show your appreciation of others active in the Users' Groups by offerring to pitch in and help some yourself. This can only increase the amount of help and support that you will receive from the Dealer of your choice and from your Users' Group! ............. Frank --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE F O G .. (AGAIN?) - - - PIRACY - - - This one will be brief, but it needs repeating! I received a call a few days ago inquiring about FOG and the library of diskettes we are building. In paricular, the caller wanted to know how soon we would have Dbase II in the library! My reply was NEVER! This misconception of Users' Groups has to be changed. We at FOG need all of your help to spread and keep spreading the word that our Library of Software useful as it may or may not be, is not intended to be anything but Non-Proprietary, Non- Commercial Software! It will never be anything but down-loaded or User contributed public-access software. We must keep the public aware of this fact, and not allow them to stereotype us with any misconception!...Frank --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [FROM THE F O G]**3 ... (Can you stand one more?) - - SURVEY - - We have received a number of completed survey forms from the last FOGHORN, but there are still MANY, MANY not returned! This SURVEY is important for you. The OCC magazine "Portable Companion" is for you, the O-1 owner and user. They want to make the magazine what you want of it! OCC has much better resources than FOG and obviously much more technical expertise. So fill out that survey form and get it back to FOG so we can help Thom Hogan put together the magazine that you, the Users want! My thanks to those who have already done so. ..............Frank --------------------------------------------------------------------------- KUDOS FROM THE FOG ...... Let me not forget to thank everyone who helped to make the Faire so successful for F O G! Simon Kisch of the East Bay group, Glen Evans of the San Francisco group, and our Editor David Oates each took responsability of the table for a day so that I could try to be everywhere at once. They got our three free passes. But we also had fantastic help from Gale Rhoades, who managed to keep everything organized, her Dad - Ted Pinney, Bill Houk, Peter Fleming, Kent Walker, and many more I cannot remember at the moment. We so appreciate the contributions of John Gaudio and Jim Morefield, and of course our featured speaker Dr. Adam Osborne and all of his people. Last but not least I want to thank all of you for joining FOG and for your continued support. I tried to tell them we needed a bigger room! And I am sorry some of you were not able to get in. It was a weekend I will never forget! ...... Frank (I think I'm done.) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE F O G TABLE .............by Gale Rhoades The 7th Annual West Coast Computer Faire was a great success for FOG. Our allotted table was almost immediately expanded to include a second table--without which we could not have operated. Since the booth was really a last minute decision, we were not well organized but we managed to be ready for the first rush of interest. Before the doors were opened to the public, we had our first new members. All were exhibitors from other booths. The Faire saw the addition of 77 new paid members. Untold others took home applications. The balance of the more than $2300 which was added to our treasury came from the sale of several items. We sold the green and amber screens, discs for copying individual discs from the library, a cassette recording for the new Osborne owner, and copies of March FOGHORN (given freely to new members and representatives of other Osborne user groups--sold for cover price to others). In addition, arrangements were made to ship copies of the library to individuals and groups all over the country. A special message for those distant members who have not yet gotten copies of the library. Send a note with a SASE (large size) and we will send you the name of the person nearest you with a copy of the library. If there is no one in your area, we'll make arrangements for you to get copies of the library. At this moment, the library is about 30 discs and includes the back issues of FOGHORN. Suggestions are solicited from all who came by the booth--we need to plan now for next year. One of the things we noticed during the Faire was that the number of people who stopped appeared to be related to the number of volunteers behind the desk. In order for next year's volunteers to be able to see much of the Faire, it will be necessary for more of the member ship to volunteer some of their time. This way, everyone will be able to limit their time to a couple of hours. It was a great pleasure for all of us who spent time at the booth to meet so many Osborne users--a great example in the value of a strong, well organized user's group. So many people were so delighted to find that FOG really did exist and so full of enthusiasm that the time just rushed by. In response to the many inquiries about local chapters, we will sort the membership and interest lists to facilitate the organization of local chapters. For those readers who are eagerly awaiting answers to specific questions, I can only say that you are not forgotten. The volume of inquiries has been enormous and takes an equal amount of time to deal with. The library for example, takes about two hours to copy in it's entirety. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHRONICLE - The FOG, 7th West Coast Computer Faire, meeting - 3/21/82 by Mike Mehr Well, there I was at the Computer Faire, my Osborne in one hand, my bag of Faire goodies and literature clutched firmly in the other. I had naively taken my computer in the front door without thinking about how I could expect them to let me out without a receipt for it. Oh well, I'd have to worry about that later. For now, there were about thirty people waiting for the Atari group to vacate OUR meeting room, and it was still 45 minutes before the scheduled meeting time! I insinuated myself into the meeting, unobtrusively stepping on toes and finally settling myself next to one of the few electrical outlets in the room so that I could take notes on Ozzie. Ignoring incredulous glances and dirty looks from Atari users (can't expect THEM to understand, anyway), I set up Ozzie on a spare chair and began typing sidesaddle. What an experience! There is a definite need for hinges on the keyboard to allow in-lap typing. Or maybe I needed a periscope to the monitor. After Frank's introduction, John Gaudio of the Denver Osborne Group showed some slides of their first meeting of 80 people and mentioned some of the things they are working on. He also passed out a handout showing some helpful ways to use the programmable function keys on our machines, including a keyboard overlay sheet to remind us what's there, as well as a flyer showing several useful items his company is selling for the Osborne, including an anti-static cable and a serial port expander box. Then Jim Morefield of the San Diego Computer Society Special Interest Group on Osbornes answered hardware-related questions with an occasional assist from Byron McKay and others. He also strongly urged all of us with neat ideas for hardware or software products to follow our ideas to their conclusions and start companies to sell them. Considering how many Osbornes will be in the field by the end of the year, this idea has a lot of merit! Finally, the speaker we were all waiting for, Adam Osborne himself, was introduced. Frank mentioned that he had been granted an honorary FOG membership, but the presentation had to be delayed since the documentation was late! Adam proceeded to introduce Thom Hogan, Maureen Harris, Jackie Rae, and Barbara Burdick from Osborne. He then stated that Osborne will support any efforts of us users to produce software and hardware products that will make Osbornes more widely useful or fun. He gave a brief summary of some of the hardships of bringing up a new kid on the block, emphasizing their commitment to quality in all their products. He also thanked everyone for being patient with their phone line fiasco, assuring us that they now have over 50 lines and that even he can finally call out for pizza. Finally, he and Thom Hogan answered questions from the audience. Asked about plans for future products, Thom mentioned that there will be many surprises in store for us this year. Some of the goodies they plan to include in their new 24x80 screen package include selectable screen widths of 64, 72, 80 (readable), and 96 (get a big screen!) columns, a writable character set to allow some graphics, composite video output, and full 3270 and X.25 protocol emulation. Oh, and probably several more things they couldn't mention. Not bad for a simple board swap! The modem is in for FCC approval now, and they mentioned that we would probably see it at NCC. They also mentioned plans for a user dial-up hotline bulletin board that may be implemented at Osborne for calling in suggestions, problems, etc., using modems. Adam mentioned he would be reviving his column "From the Fountainhead" for the Portable Companion magazine. It was noted that by year's end they're planning to have over 100 software products and be churning out over 30,000 machines a month. Quite a rise to power, I'd say. Other comments included mention of us seeing the technical manual in about 8 weeks, letters being out about us getting the new users' manual for $5 (at cost), the announced battery pack including 12 volt operation for use from a car (hopefully parked -- watch that EMI!), FAA approval being sought airline by airline, no plans for color, and plans for double-sided disks awaiting multiple sources and better quality control from drive manufacturers. Some hints were dropped about summer's round of new software products being less widely known than the current crop, but definitely as useful and "aggressively priced." Asked about business graphics, Adam wound up the presentation with an enigmatic wink and "Wait and see." Well, we'll all be waiting, Adam. Thanks for making this all possible! ..... Mike SAN FRANCISCO OSBORNE GROUP - MEETING OF 24 MARCH, 1982 The meeting was called to order by Glen Evans, President, at 8:08PM in Room C-205 at Fort Mason Center, San Francisco. The members introduced themselves and gave a brief statement of their interests and level of experience with the Osborne-1. The group includes attorneys, authors, an actuary, an architect, a systems analyst, physi cians, college students, people involved in composing, printing and type setting using computers. Special interests included real-time instrument interfacing, using remote CP/M bulletin-board systems, downloading soft ware, finding new applications for Supercalc, learning BASIC, COBOL and MUMPS, graphics, assembly language, database management, retail and inven tory control. These responses certainly mean that we can support a lively program of workshops and special interest groups for a long time to come! One member pointed out that there is a new OSBORNE dealer, Matrix Computers of Santa Rosa, who is in the Network Of Bay Area Dealers (NOBAD) with Digital Deli of Mountain View and Computer Center, Inc. of Berkeley. Hunter Morey demonstrated how to program the special function keys, and distributed a handout giving suggestions for WORDSTAR. (This handout is reproduced in SYSTEM NOTES, this issue. David) There followed an open discussion of WS options, justification, mar gins, reformatting, etc., and how to get the most out of them. Pete Fleming announced that he has encountered difficulties getting the newest version of MUMPS to run on upgraded O-1's, but that he hopes to get this ironed out in the near future. (Added note: I went to UC Davis on Friday, and Steve Johnson, one of the authors of MicroMUMPS, was able to find the problem...it seems that the O-1 Operating system changes the contents of the X register whenever it encounters a BIOS or BDOS call. MUMPS uses this register as a pointer to the "syntax stack", which contains addresses of MUMPS instructions waiting to be executed. This problem was overcome, for those of you who dig ASM, by inserting a "PUSH X" before, and a "POP X" after, every CALL BIOS or CALL BDOS in the MUMPS interpreter. The result is that MUMPS now runs like a Swiss watch on the O-1! Those of you who have ordered the system will be getting it soon, and those of you who would like to can contact me: The cost: $33.00, which covers two diskettes and documentation.) Glenn discussed the functions of SFOG - generally to provide support to our members' use of the OSBORNE-1 to assure that they get the most possible benefit and enjoyment from their machines. He pointed out that the only limitation to the accomplishments of the group is our willingness to share our knowledge and experience, and to make the effort to learn together. The meeting was adjourned about 10PM. Most members stayed for an additional hour, sharing programs and assisting one another. The next regular meeting will be held on Wedesday, April 21. we will discuss the relationship of SFOG to FOG at that meeting. Glenn will be meeting with the Constitution and Bylaws Committee of FOG prior to that date. The following Workshops will be held in April: Wed. 14 April - Beginners/CP/M Wed. 28 April - Advanced and Intermediate. Subjects to include programming, interfacing (Printers, modems, etc.) and other subjects of interest. These workshops will be held in C-205 at Fort Mason unless members are notified otherwise by mail. Respectfully submitted. Pete Fleming FROM THE DOGHOUSE.........................By John Gaudio The special function keys on the Osborne 1 are considerably more powerfull than most users realize. Of course they can save you the time and trouble required to type often used words like XDIR, PRINT, MBASIC, and others, and that can be a great help. But if you stop there, you're cheating yourself! For example, with one keystroke you can tell Wordstar to make B: the logged drive, set the help level at 2, turn off justification & hyphen help, set the right margin to 48, and return to the "editing no file" menu. (Whew!) The procedure is simple. First do it all manually, (just once of course). Boot the Wordstar diskette, type LB: to select B: as the logged drive, and type H2 to set the help level. Then type DT to get into the file editing mode. Now, to turn justification off, just type ^OJ. To turn off hyphen help type ^OH , and to set the right margin to 48, type ^OR48 . Typing ^KQ will then return you to the "editing no file" menu. If you make a list as each key is pressed, you can use SETUP to store that list, LB:H2DT^OJ^OH^OR48^KQ on one of the special function keys. Now use that single special function key to do everything described above, or modify the list to make Wordstar do what you like, every time you bring it up. You can do similar things using the special function keys with SUPERCALC, MBASIC, CBASIC, and other programs, and it's easy to make a legend that fits just over the function keys, to remind you of what's been stored on each key. That's all the room I've got for now, but if you want more information on using these keys, and making the legend mentioned above, please send a self addressed stamped envelope to: John Gaudio NOTE: P.O. Box 27826 ^O is read "control O", etc. Denver, Colorado 80227 designates a carriage return. EAST BAY FOG MEETING - - is scheduled for April 15, 1982. Call Mark Goldowitz (415) 652-2531 or Simon Kisch (415) 841-5900 for the location. MONTEREY BAY AREA OSBORNE USERS' GROUP An informative get-together was held on March 22nd. Star Reierson shared her notes from the Computer Faire. The group, numbering about 25, seems to favor staying a loosely organized splinter group of FOG with regular meetings on the third friday of each month. The meetings will be in the form of opened-ended workshops with some member/representatives reporting info picked up at the FOG meeting of the previous night. Since the membership area ranges from Scotts Valley to Carmel Valley, Watsonville seems to be the central point for meeting. A search for a meeting place is under way; your input will be appreciated. For information contact Marcia Miller-Dowdy, (408) 722-4272. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee FROM THE EDITOR Boy, if we were publishing this newsletter with a particular "topic of the month", this would have to be the User Programmable Keys issue. * * * HELP WANTED. I think we could do a better job on FOGHORN if we had some more help! I also think the most valuable help, at this point, would be from a Technical Editor, who would receive the submissions for the Applications Toolbox and the System Notes, and arrange, reformat, and check them for technical errors. (Even blatant errors may get by me and I don't have time to check them all out.) Once these sections are secure, I can simply insert them into the body of the newsletter and go to press. This should take only a few hours a month, so come on and volunteer - the FOGHORN needs YOU! * * * I'd like to see some "level 1" submissions for FOGHORN. Maybe a simple tutorial or a report of your Osborne 1 adventures and discoveries. You know, some "1" to "1" stuff. While some of this info may not excite the more technically advanced readers, there are many of us that would be delighted, to say the least! * * * And, in reference to FOGHORN submissions, (1) when you finish keyboarding your work please reformat it to 75 columns, (2) use the old, indented-first-line paragraphs instead of blocks, it saves space, (3) run your spelling checker software - if you have it, and (4) submit your file to me either by providing it on diskette that I can copy (at a meeting, through the mail, etc.) or send it by modem-telecommunications. Paid commercial advertisements can be on diskette or hard copy. Hard copy ads will be published in the FOGHORN but, will not appear in the library diskette version. These policies may change in the future but for now your adherence will be appreciated - and may help save this editor from "newsletter burn- out". David .PA *************************************************************************** SYSTEMS NOTES *************************************************************************** RANDOM BITS by Jim Woolley WordStar with Epson In answer to a question regarding my March FOGHORN article on this subject, I observed no typographical errors, with the possible exception of a stray "s" that found its way into my last name. I'm sure this was the result of a misdirected byte originally intended for someone else's Apple. Joseph Ryus informed me of the Epson Graftrax control code for italics. If you wish to patch WordStar so that the printer control character CTRL-Y (^Y) toggles italics, use: RIBBON: = 02 RIBOFF: = 02 RIBBON:+1 = 1B RIBOFF:+1 = 1B RIBBON:+2 = 34 RIBOFF:+2 = 35 If you don't have Graftrax, forget it. My hat's off to Lori Small and Steve Beckerman for doing a great printing job on the March FOGHORN in general, and especially on the diffi cult WordStar article. Stripping WordStar Document Files In the March FOGHORN, Lori and Steve asked a question on this subject. It is also applicable if you've ever tried to use the CP/M command TYPE on a file created using WordStar in the Document mode. (Byron McKay is notorious for submitting library disks having .DOC files which you can't read by use of TYPE.) Normal ASCII code is 7 bits with the most significant 8th bit (or parity bit) equal to zero (even parity). WordStar uses the parity bit and non-printing ASCII characters (hex 00 thru 1F) to represent its own inter nal control commands (e.g., printer control, soft hyphen, end of word, etc.). Therefore, WordStar control commands are generally distinguished by the parity bit being set to one (odd parity). It is easy to strip the parity bit and set each character to even parity by using the Z parameter in PIP. Use the following to send a file created with WordStar in the Document mode: -- To a printer, PIP LST:=filename.typ[Z] -- To the console, PIP CON:=filename.type[Z] -- To another file, PIP otherfil.typ=filename.typ[Z] Since WordStar uses non-printing ASCII characters for printer control commands such as ^S (underscore), these commands will not appear in the resulting visual output from the first two examples above. They will remain in the other file created from the third example, however. They can be interpreted by comparison with their hexadecimal or CHR$(decimal) equivalent, where ^A = hex 01 = CHR$(1) and ^Z = hex 1A = CHR$(26). WordStar "dot" commands will not be altered by the stripping process and will appear in visual and file results from all three examples given. General Ledger Update In the February FOGHORN, I described modifications of the Osborne/McGraw-Hill General Ledger (G/L) system adapting it to the Osborne 1 computer. Since my original January submittal to the FOG library (imple mented as disk no. 23), I have installed some improvements. These are outlined below: 1. A PRINTER.CONTROL$ string was added in CURSOR.BAS to automatically send the Epson condensed mode control character at the beginning of each report. This is useful since most reports are formatted for 120 columns. For other printers, the printer control string may be altered accordingly. 2. Cosmetic screen entry improvements were made to the Direct Posting and Cash Journal programs. 3. A reminder to turn on the printer was added to the Update program. Since the program generated a report without any notice to the oper ator, if the printer was off, the system could hang up mysteriously. 4. At any entry prompt, the ESCape key will now toggle the 52 character screen window to move right or left over the 64 character display. This greatly simplifies reading the display. I hope to have this latest version implemented in the FOG library eventually. Meanwhile, I am aware of the difficulties some of you have had in obtaining a working G/L system. First there is the hassle of trying to get a copy of the library disk. Once you have a copy, it is necessary to compile all .BAS source programs and to initialize all .DAT data files; this step takes nearly an hour if you know what you're doing -- longer if you don't. Then you must figure out where to get the G/L document. For those who wish to avoid the hassle, I am willing to mail you two Verbatim Datalife SS/DD diskettes with my latest version of the Osborne/McGraw-Hill G/L system. These diskettes will contain all .BAS source files, all .INT compiled intermediate files, and all initialized .DAT data files. There will also be an automatic startup file (AUTOST.COM) providing display of the Osborne "Big O" and automatic initiation of the G/L system upon cold start or RESET-RETURN. (Thanks to Byron McKay for the AUTOST idea he presented in the March FOGHORN.) It will only be necessary for you to initialize the diskettes with a copy of your CP/M system (SYS GEN) and copies of your SUBMIT.COM (CP/M) and CRUN2.COM (CBASIC) programs. In addition to the two diskettes, I will send detailed instructions for getting the system up and an order form for purchase of the G/L docu ment directly from Osborne/McGraw-Hill. All I request for this service is a nominal handling fee of $25.00. If you need non-Epson printer control, departmentalization, customized reports, or interfacing to other programs, let me know. I can be reached by phone at (408)377-4870 during the day or (408)268-5790 in the evening. BDOS Error - Bad Sector If you ever get the above message, it helps to have DiskDoctor. But if you are like me and have not yet invested in that software product from SuperSoft, don't throw away the offending disk. Use PIP to salvage as many of the files as possible. If you are unsure which file is bad, simply try to PIP all files to an empty, FORMATed disk. Put your CP/M disk containing PIP.COM in drive A and the empty disk in B. Initialize using CTRL-C (^C). At the A> prompt, enter PIP. When the * prompt is displayed, remove the disk from A and replace it with your problem disk. Enter B:=A:*.*[V]. Or try PIPing each file in turn with B:=A:filename.typ[V]. At the least you will isolate the bad file and save the good ones. If your BDOS error message occurs when you are doing a cold start (RESET-RETURN), try using SYSGEN to rewrite the system tracks. Once you've recovered all you can from the troublesome disk, it generally is still useable. Simply FORMAT it to write over all tracks. If you get a FORMAT error, which is indicated by E instead of F on one track, run FORMAT again. Usually you will have success. Then SYSGEN the disk and it will be ready to use. .MB 7 USING YOUR SPECIAL FUNCTION KEYS ON THE OSBORNE 1 R. Hunter Morey (415) 585-4335 1. Follow the instructions on pages 2 and 3 of the OSBORNE 1 USER'S GUIDE ADDENDUM supplied with the keyboard upgrades. 2. Use the SETUP.COM program on your CP/M Master diskette also supplied on the UPGRADE DISKETTE 1 (CP/M). 3. Decide what functions, keystrokes, or things that you do that are so repetitious and that you do so often, that it would be handy to be able to press one key to do them instead. 4. Here are the functions I am now using: (J. Gaudio has others) WORDSTAR FUNCTION KEYS CP/M FUNCTION KEYS 0: LB: 0: B: 1: A:WS LB: 1: XDIR: A: 2: ^OR50 2: XDIR: B: 3: ^OR65 3: COPY 4: ^KS^QP 4: LIST 5: ^KS^QP^KP^R 5: PIP 6: ^KDP^R 6: SETUP 7: ^QQ^B 7: SYSGEN 8: .MT 0 .MB 0 .PL 8: WASH 9: LA: 9: A: 5. Here is a function I used before I implemented Jim Woolley's WordStar patches, in the March FOGHORN: DTEMP ^OJ^OH^JH2^OT^V^KQLB: 6. Here are some additional patches I used to get my WordStar coming up the way I wanted it: ITHELP: 02 Sets help level to 2 instead of 3 INITWF:+4 00 Sets hyphen-help off 038B: 00 Sets ruler line off WID: 80 Sets screen for 128 columns DON'T use Install's Printer Option C for Epsons, use A. 7. I fold over and tuck-in these two label strips above my keys. .PO 5 ___________________________________________________________________________ WORD- 50 Col 65 Col SAVE SAVE SAVE REFORM .MT 0 LOG LOG STAR RIGHT RIGHT & PRINT & ENTIRE .MB 0 DRIVE DRIVE ON B: MARGIN MARGINRETURN RETURN PRINT FILE .PL A: B: A:WS to facilitate changing the logged disk drive, or ^OR52 to get a 52 column screen. The Osborne people left a little confusion in the SETUP program. When you run it the program will first ask which disk you want to configure (A or B). It will take your answer (A or B) and read the existing configuration stored on that disk and display it on the selection menu. In other words, it really should have asked which disk's configuration (A or B) you want displayed. There is an area in the computer's volatile memory (RAM) that stores the characters that each SFK represents. This area is loaded from disk memory each time you press RETURN after pressing RESET or turning on power (i. e., after a cold start, or cold boot). The SETUP program itself does not directly affect this area of memory. To change this area, you must perform a cold boot or use some method of changing the contents of RAM, such as is provided by the Set command of the DDT utility program, or the POKE command in BASIC. I'll describe how to use DDT to program a special SFK with an example. Suppose you want to setup SFK 1 to be the HOME key. In other words, when CTRL 1 is pressed, ASCII code 1E hex will be output. First, decide which SFK you want to program and what characters you want it to represent. In this example I want SFK 1 to represent ASCII RS (code 1E hex). Use the SETUP program to make sure SFK 1 has the same number of characters that you want it to have when you are finished. In this example, I want it to have one character. I'll setup SFK 1 to represent the character 1. Next, exit the SETUP program to a disk that is not write protected, then perform a cold boot (RESET and RETURN) with this disk in drive A. This procedure causes the SFK's to take on the values entered in the SETUP program. If you do not have the CP/M prompt at this point, exit whatever program you are in so that you get the CP/M prompt A>. Now type CTRL 1 to examine the code stored in SFK 1. Then type RETURN to get the CP/M prompt again. Next remove the disk in drive A and insert the disk containing DDT (probably the CP/M UTILITIES disk). Type DDT to run the DDT program. stands for Carriage Return and means hit the RETURN key. In response to the dash prompt (-) type DE580 . You will see the current values of the SFK's displayed starting at E592 after the word AUTOST. Unless you have used the SETUP program to change them, these values are 0123456789. Type SE593 to examine the code for SFK 1. The display will show: E593 31 where 31 is the ASCII hexadecimal code for 1 (see Table 8-1 in the Osborne 1 Users Guide, looseleaf version). This assumes that SFK 1 has been programmed with the character 1. Next type 1E to change the code from 31 hex to 1E hex. Then type . (that's a period followed by a carriage return) to exit the Set command. Then type CTRL 1. The display will show: - ^^ ? - The ^^ shows that the new code for SFK 1 is 1E hex. It would have been nice if you could just type CTRL SHIFT 6 to get this code but the Osborne was not designed that way. Now we will use the SETUP program to store this SFK on disk. Type CTRL C to exit DDT. Remove the disk containing DDT and insert the disk containing SETUP into drive A. Type SETUP to load the program, and then type A when it asks you which disk to configure. Again, this first question determines which disk is read for display on the SETUP menu. When the menu comes up, type E for SFK and then 1 for SFK 1. Press CTRL 1, then ESC twice. The menu will now show ^^ for SFK 1. To make the contents of this menu effective we must store it on disk and then perform a cold boot with this disk. Press X to return to the main menu. Put the disk that you want configured into drive A and press A. Be sure the disk is not write protected. Now when you do a cold boot with this disk the SFK 1 will act like a HOME key. Try it when you have the CP/M prompt. The cursor will fly to the HOME position and then CP/M will give you a ? because it does not understand this command. I recommend you use DDT to examine the E592 memory area for various SFK setups. you will notice, for example, that SFK's with multiple ASCII codes occupy adjacent memory locations. The SFK program somehow knows how many characters are in each SFK. I do not know if all versions of the Osborne store the SFK's at location E592 hex. It's easy enough to find them. I loaded SFK 2 with a few dozen /////////// marks, then used DDT to examine memory with the command D100,F000. After staring at the screen a few minutes the ///////// marks rolled by. Hitting any key stops the display. Thus ends the wordy version of how to program special SFK's. CHANGES IN WORDSTAR by Howie Starkey Here are a few changes that I think makes life better on the Osborne. With these changes WordStar boots up without "Insert", "Menu", "Help mes sage", and directory, freeing the screen to 22 usable lines. The first change will allow the ruler to be set to 120 characters without wrap and the next one will boot up with a ruler length of 52 characters instead of 65. The last one will clear the screen before WordStar appears on screen. Changes are made when WS is loaded using pip. Change the following: Address Orig. New Result 249 50 79 Allows 120 characters length ruler. 360 03 00 Removes "Help" message. 361 FF 00 Removes "HELP" display at bood. 362 FF 00 Comes up with the "INSERT" off. 363 FF 00 Removes Dictory at boot. 380 40 33 Ruler set to 52 at boot. 292 00 01 Clears Screen before loading. 293 00 1A *************************************************************************** A MEMBER'S ANOUNCEMENT HELP ME support my computer habit. Let me do your small software applica tions at home after hours. MBASIC, CBASIC, Assembler, SuperCalc models, hardware interfaces, database design, business or engineering related. Call Jim Woolley at (408)268-5790, evenings. *************************************************************************** .PA SUBMIT CONTROL CHARACTERS by Howie Starkey NOTE: ALWAYS MAKE CHANGES IN PROGRAM COPIES - NEVER ORIGIONAL DISKS! Several inquires have been made regarding the use of control characters in SUBMIT files. Standard Digital Research's SUBMIT program does not allow control characters to be used. However, a change in your SUBMIT Program will allow use of some control characters when entered as follows: ^Z (UP-ARROW plus Z) = CONTROL-z To alter SUBMIT: 1. Place copy of CP/M UTILITY disk in "A" 2. Type: DDT SUBMIT.COM (Then press RETURN) 3. Type: R (Press RETURN). The computer will display: DDT VER 2.2 NEXT PC 0700 0100 4. TYPE: L441 (Press RETURN). The computer will display: 0441 SUI 61 0443 STA 0E7D 0446 MOV C,A 0447 MVI A,19 0449 CMP C 044A JNC 0456 044D LXI B,019D 0450 CALL 02A7 0452 JMP 045E 0456 LDA 0E70 0459 INR A 5. TYPE: S442 (Press RETURN). The computer will display: S442 61 _ 6. Do not move curser - type: 41 (Press RETURN) 7. Type: . (period) (Press RETURN) 8. Type: CONTROL-C 9. Type: SAVE 6 SUBMIT.COM (Press RETURN) 10. To check your work, REPEAT steps 2 thru 4. With the repeat of step 4 the computer should display: 0441 SUI 41 and NO other changes. NOW TYPE A CONTROL-C Now you should be able to use CONTROL characters in SUBMIT files. This patch is from DIGITAL RESEARCH Inc. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH Osborne Computer Corporation is extremely interested in the kinds of applications its users are putting their computers to. If you, or someone you know, are currently using the Osborne 1 in some unique way, please fill out the form on the back of this request and return it to OCC. We will appreciate the feedback and so will your fellow users. If the application is particularly inventive or illuminating, we may write up an article for publication in the upcoming user's magazine, The Portable Companion, or another publication. So, please keep us posted! 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