SECTION F FILE INTRO.F USING THE PRINTER ***************** NOTE: This text contains notes on ways of using your printer to supplement this course but is not a full treatise on the printer. For more information see INTER SECTION I. ------------------------------------------------------------------ The printer supplied with your PCW can be a very useful aid to your progress with this course. It can make a hard copy of all the files on this disc, enabling you if you wish to make up a file for study away from the computer. More immediately, it will print out listings before you work on them , so that you can make comparisons. Each time you start work on the course make sure that your printer is supplied with paper. Continuous paper 11"x 9.5"is recommended, but A4 sheets can be used if preferred. To print out a listing from a BASIC program is very simple. The commands used are the same as the LIST commands except that LLIST is used as follows 1) To list a whole program:- Type LLIST then press RETURN 2) To list lines up to 300:- Type LLIST -300 " " " 3) To list lines 300 onward:- Type LLIST 300- " " " 4) To list lines 250 to 530:- Type LLIST 250-530 " " " Needless to say, you must be in direct mode when typing the instruction. Line numbers quoted are, of course, simply examples. You will use your own line numbers. PRINTING TEXT FILES The first requirement is to find the file name of the file you want. A list of the files on disc can be seen by typing DIR at the prompt either in CP/M or BASIC Files with names such as INTRO.A, PRIMER.C, INTER.F are text files which form part of the section after which they are named, those such as DEBUG.TXT; COPYING.TXT are from the TEXT FILES section. Files with a .BAS extension are programs in BASIC but are still printable as they are in ASCII format PRINTING OUT FILES IS BEST DONE FROM CP/M, not BASIC and can be done in several ways. 1) Files can be read on the screen by typing at the CP/M prompt. A>TYPE filename.txt where 'filename.txt',of course, represents the name of your required file,then pressing RETURN. The file will be displayed for reading one page at a time, with the note ' Press return to continue ' at the bottom of each page. To print the file on paper the same command is used, but before pressing RETURN, press ALT and P together to activate the printer.The machine will emit a beep. On pressing RETURM, the printer will commence to print out the file, assuming it is loaded with paper. At the end of each page, press RETURN as requested to print out the next page. When you have finished with the printer press ALT and P again to deactivate the printer or it will continue to print everything you type, which can be maddening. ALT and P is a 'toggle'. With a beep,printer on; with no beep, printer off. 2) USING TYPE.COM : When using the above method, the words 'Press RETURN to Continue' will be printed periodically, which looks a bit untidy. To get over this we can use the utility TYPE.COM, which is to be found on the CP/M master supplied with the machine. Insert tha CP/M disc and at the prompt put A>TYPE and press return. This loads TYPE.COM and you will be rewarded with a further prompt:- File Name: At this you type the following; filename.txt [no page] (note the square brackets) and press ALT and P as before. But before you press RETURN change the CP/M disc for your course disc with the required file on it. When you press RETURN the file will print neatly. However this method does involve swapping discs for each file printed, unless you know how to transfer files from disc to disc, which is outside the scope of this course. 3) USING PIP.COM : This utility is also to be found on the CP/M master disc. With the CP/M disc in the drive type PIP at the A> prompt. A short heading will appear with the character * below it. Replace the CP/M disc with the disc containing the file to be printed, then type the command line * LST:= A:filename.ext (not forgetting the colons) press ALT and P as described before, to activate the printer, then press RETURN and your selected file will print out. When the file is completely printed, another * will appear, allowing another file to be printed and so on. To return to CP/M press RETURN without a command line. This method saves a lot of disc changing. If you want to view a file on screen use the similar command line * CON:=A:filename.ext 4) NEWSWEEP.COM : This Public Domain utility, if you have it or can get it is a very convenient way to view and print out files. ************************************************************ POKEing BASIC ============= Using the POKE command in BASIC calls up a machine code routine from within BASIC, and there is a routine for using the printer. To start it go into Direct Mode in BASIC then type at the prompt :- POKE 8792, 205 and press [RETURN]. Thereafter anything which appears on screen will be echoed by the printer, so you can call up files with TYPE or DISPLAY and they will printed out. Unfortunately you cannot be selective, and everything which is on the screen will print. To stop this facility type at the prompt:- POKE 8792,195 and press [RETURN]. These commands can be used in a BASIC listing also and can be used to capture a program or parts of a program as it runs All of the above methods have their own merits. Try them all to find out which you prefer SCREEN DUMP =========== A copy of what is being displayed on screen at any time can be obtained, although to a smaller scale by pressing keys [EXTRA] and [PTR] together. End of file INTRO.F tained, although to a smaller scale by pressing keys [EXTRA] and