*************************************** * * * Portfolio User 7 * * December 1995 * * * * The Internet Magazine For The * * ** Atari Portfolio ** * * * * Edited By: Paul Jolliffe * * paulj@jollyp.demon.co.uk * * * *************************************** Contents: ========= Introduction PF On The Net Superb Web Page New FTP Site and Mirror A Few Answers Pbasic Vt100 Emulator Pbasic/ZBasic Which Is Best Hardware Problems/Queries and Ideas Fmap Card Crash Portfolio Hardware Idea Atari ST, RS232, RAM Card and Folidrive What and Where Is Portfolio New Things In Germany Programming Walls, Very Simple Crash Game Parallel Interface Addresses Epilogue Introduction ============ Sorry for the late posting of the letter but I had to go to Toronto unexpectantly on business for 11 days. I was hoping to send it out the morning of my flight but my internet provider seemed to be having problems with mail, and lets face it, at 4 a.m. on a Sunday morning who am I going to ring to give grief to ? Well, its that time again, PF user number 7. The good news is that our 'group' has grown by another 9 people. Since last month and the user letter gets circulated to as far away as Australia !! I must admit that I have to take my hat off to Jan and his friends for running the PF News letter, I didn't think there was as much work involved as there is, I thought just send a letter out once a month and thats its, phew I should be so lucky !! I am hoping to release the PF user magazine on or around the fifth of each month. If any one wants to submit anything for the magazine then can you email it to me by the 25th of each month. It doesn't matter how insignificant you think your contribution might be but every little bit helps. -------------------- PF On The Net ============= A Superb Portfolio WWW Page --------------------------- From: wwg28@rzserv2.fh-lueneburg.de (Wolf R. Gross) Latest Information on Portfolio including the Newsletters can be find on my Portfolio-Page now. The URL is... http://rzserv2.fh-lueneburg.de:8080/Portfolio Try it, it is a perfect page. And you can get back issues of PNEWS and software packages. New FTP Site ------------ As some of your might have seen from the comp.sys.palmtops news group a new ftp site has opened up at: dec59.ruk.cuni.cz The PF programs can be found in the following directory, I have tried the site and it contains the following files: pub/upload/portfolio addadr.lzh program for adding ADR data into your texts cardcopy.lzh copying RAM (ROM) cards f1demo.lzh demo of a graphic game that is under development fdrive.lzh the drivers for FolioDrive 1.44 MB unit gtools.lzh tools for making PGC and PGX files joystick.lzh description of joystick for Portfolio + asm rutines mmjoy.lzh a maze game with joystick support pterm.lzh freeware version of ZMODEM terminal program update.lzh ... no comment (fixes bug in Portfolio ROM) bitmap.lzh asm routines for bitmap display on Portfolio asmdisk.lzh asm routines for work with disk devices lha.exe decompressor of *.lzh files int60.lzh description of INT 60h on Portfolio romlist.lzh listing of Portfolio ROM version 1.052 portfol2.lzh text about Portfolio II (Sharp PC 3000) a86.lzh assembler + debugger + docs working on PF prgcalc.lzh programmer's calculator (BIN/OCT/DEC/HEX) pkbtools.lzh a collection of simple but powerful tools phoenix.lzh another joystick driven game. COOL!!!! almboost.lzh changes tone and increases volume of PF's speaker chime.lzh announces time by beeps morse.lzh converts text into morse and beeps it out phonetmr.lzh stop watch to measure the time you phone bestform.zip adds up to 10 KB to a RAM card by smaller sector size portlink.zip finally a file transfer software for ATARI ST users sft.arj serial terminal + file tranfer, including source code shirt_up.lzh PGC picture of a naked girl vanoce.lzh some christmas songs There is also a mirror site setup at ftp.toad.net in the directory /pub/portfolio. Existing FTP Sites ------------------ ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk (Imperial College Of London) /computing/systems/atari/portfolio See PF User number 6 for the file list. Again, if anyone does not have ftp capabilities or is unsure on how to I can either email the files to them or send intructions on how to use ftp. -------------------- A FEW ANSWERS ============= From: Bjgleas@aol.com > 1. Is there any way to compile the PBASIC *.BAS files into > COM or EXE files? (The most common question) No... PBASIC was designed as an interpreter, and a compiler would be much more complex... the best that I can tell you is that there is a PowerBASIC library (source code on compuserve) that will perform some of the functions of PBASIC (accessing the internal functions)... that is about the best that can be done. A compiler is a huge undertaking, and probably wouldn't run on the Portfolio without a ton of work. > 2. If no (I think the answer is NO), can you suggest any > other way? See above... PowerBASIC is a compiler, and there is another BASIC floating about from Germany I think... > 3. The WKS functions in your PBASIC are very powerfull. I think it is the only way how to make references from more than one WKS files. (The built-in Worksheet does not enable outer files references, as far as I know.) Thanks... I was always very proud of those functions. > Unfortunately all the WKS functions are just read-only. I am > missing a function that will write text,value,formula into > a WKS file. For example: > WKSWRITE ("budget.wks",9,9,@sum(b3..b10)) > Can you help me in implementing this function? This would > solve the problem of cross-file references in wks on PF. Reading from a WKS is simple compared to writing a file, or modifying a file. There is a book called "FILE FORMATS" and "MORE FILE FORMATS" that explain the .WKS format and it is complex and scary... :-o Again, it just looked like it would be a lot of work, more work that what it was worth, and it appeared as if you had to read in the entire file and then write it back out again, to allow modifications to take place... not that much room in the Portfolio... > Last small question - How are you doing? I read the reprint > of your good-bye mail in Re:Port. Maybe the PF users reading > the PNews on Internet would enjoy a few lines from you. Well, as I write this, I am giving an exam to my students. I am now living and working at the Yongsan Army Base in Seoul, South Korea for the University of Maryland. I teach military and civilian students all about computers. Right now I am teaching Intro to Computer, C++, and Expert Systems. In a few months they want to move me to Japan, and possibly other places... we'll see what happens. As for the Portfolio, expect for the APP program running on my HP 100, it is all packed away back in New Jersey. It was a fun machine, and every so often I would take it out, play with it, and it would remind me of all the fun I've had with it over the years. - bj ---------------------------------------------------- Answer To VT 100emulator Questions ---------------------------------- From: "David E. Stewart" As for Internet connectivity, there is a VT100 emulator for the Port, but the company that made it is out of business (same old Port story, I'm afraid). There are a lot of regular terminal programs, but nothing for VT100. ----------------------------- MDIR problem on DOS 2.xx ------------------------ From: "Jan Sedlak" As you may know there is a problem with making new directories on large disks connected to Portfolio. If you have e.g. Radio Shack external HDD you will get your PF locked up after the MD command. The same problem was with MD command on FolioDrive FDD unit for Portfolio. The problem has nothing to do with Portfolio, but with DOS 2.xx. This version of DOS cannot handle disk devices with cluster size greater than one sector. On some occasions the DOS will lock up while working with some INT 21 functions. The solution to this is ATMD.COM program. On FolioDrive the MD fixing routines are included in the body of the device driver. ----------------------------- PBASIC, ZBASIC, PB5: which is the best? --------------------------------------- From: sammyc@.hkstar.com > I have another question is how can I run the PBASIC > because my PF only have 128k RAM??( I mean, what is the > best number of "K" to set for RAM drive, that can contain > the main program and also to run it). As far as I know it is not possible to run the PBASIC by BJ Gleason from internal C: drive on Portfolio. For example the PBASIC 4.91 that takes 43(?)KB on disk is compressed so that it actually needs about 70 KB of RAM to run. And thus there is no way to have it both on C: and execute it. The solution: 1. You will have to get a RAM card to run the program from another drive that is drive A: The 128 KB card, 1 MB and 4 MB cards are available. or 2. You will have to get your PF upgraded to 512 KB RAM so that you can have let's say 200 KB of C: and 300 KB of system RAM. > 2. Is ZBASIC the basic language for PF too? Which is better(PB&ZB)? The ZBASIC works on PF too. There are two versions on "src.doc.ic.ac.uk" archive the 3.xx version is poor. The 4.xx version is better but takes a more than 50 KB on disk. The ZBASIC was written for PC. So that you may have some problems running it on PF. It takes some times till you learn how to work with ZBASIC on PF. I ran it on my PC while running it on the PF and this was the only way I was able to find there I was in the ZBASIC on PF. PBASIC by BJ Gleason is 100 times better (I may say "the Best") than the ZBASIC. There is also the "PowerBasic" - which actually is not a shareware and so it is hard to get a legal copy. There is also a "PBASIC 5" by Sjoerd Spoestra from Holland. This is also a very powerfull tool. It is nearly as good as BJ's PBASIC but with the great advantage of only 12 KB disk length. I am sure that Sjoerd will agree with placing a copy of the PB5 on the "src.doc..." archive. There is also another basic that was developed in Germany. It is called Swift!Basic I think. I have never seen it, so I cannot report. (I hope some users from Germany will respond to this note!!!) There is also a TINY BASIC which takes less than 3 KB on disk and I think you can find it on "src.doc....". But is has very limited abilities. -------------------- Hardware Problems/Queries and Ideas =================================== Problem After A Fmap Card Crash ------------------------------- From: dburkey@pcug.org.au (Darrell Burkey) > I purchased a 1meg card from the USA. They have a boot > sector that reads as A drive and the data is held in an > area as drive D. You can not write to the A drive except > with a special program they supply. That is the design of the OPTROL cards. BTW when did you order your card and when did you get it? I ordered mine in July, I paid in July and I still have not recevived any. I am a bit angry with TOAD Computers. > Well my A drive became corrupt while using it in the PC > Card Drive and because I do not have the software in the > Portfolio itself I have no way to fix it. I also had ACOM > on the card so even if I had backups I would not be able > to transfer it to my Port anyway. Needless to say I am > not too happy about it all. That is the Portfolio problem. PF was designed to be used with the original ATARI card and with parallel interface. Serial interface is unfortunately supported by ROM software and once PF gets totally erased there is no way to get the soft inside only via parallel interface or the RAM card. If one has only the serial and the card gets corrupted.... then the hell starts. ----------------------------- Portfolio Hardware Idea ----------------------- From: Klaus Peichl What do you think about my latest project (not yet begun): A 4-channel (12 would also be possible) TTL-logic-analyzer using the parallel port for input and graphics mode to display the signals. I will probably carry this out soon, because I need it. I had another idea: Use the DTMF-tones and a decoder-circuit (do you know any) for data exchange via telephone. The transfer rate would be rather low, though. Atari ST, Serial Interface, RAM Card, Foliodrive ------------------------------------------------ From: "A.G. Haigh-Hutchinson" > HPC 102 Atari serial interface > > (I assume that I can connect it to the serial port on my MegaST4) > (query about software availability - which and cost?) The serial port is the best solution for ST users. I guess you have tried the parallel transfer already (maybe using PCditto), but due to missing lines on ST parallel interface file transfer it will never work without special hardware. So the serial remains. I will load XTERM and ACOM at no cost. But you need also a software on your ST. Both ACOM and XTERM support XMODE file transfer protocol. So any ST *.PRG with XMODEM abilities should work. I thing that ACOM may be run even under the PC ditto emulator, though I have never tested it. There should be no problem with serial file transfer. > HPD 400 128 Kb RAM card OK, if you do not have a RAM card, Portfolio is a curse and hell. Portfolio as a MS DOS machine needs some reliable disk (not RAM disk like the PF's C:) to work with. Get at least 1 RAM card and your PF will be something different. > HPC 500 FolioDrive > > As I do not have a 1.44 Mb FDD on my MegaST4, and am not > likely to get one, is the HPD 500 item a viable one for me? > How much bigger does it make the PF? The HPD 500 is 10cm x 15cm x 1,75cm in cize. So it will add 10cm on the right side of your PF.It does not need any external power source when powered from the PF plugged into original (!!!) AC adapter. If you want to run HPD 500 outdoors you need a battery pack. It works with IBM PC diskettes both 1,44 MB and 720 kB. They are like another drive: A>CHKDSK D: 1457664 bytes total disk capacity 20480 bytes in 3 user files 1436672 bytes available on disk 520192 bytes total memory 468464 bytes free This is what FolioDrive HPD 500 gives you on Portfolio with 512 KB RAM. Do you like it? BUT your problem is that Atari ST and PC diskettes are not 100% compatible, even if you would use 720 kb only. I think you have to think this over again. If you have positive experiences with data transfer between ST and PC using the diskettes than you can plan to get this device. I have to emphasize that the DOS 2.11 may have different behaviour with ST 720kB diskettes than DOS 6.20 on PCs have. And the ST<->PF data transfer on diskettes has not been tested with HPD 500. One note more: the HPD 500 does not solve the problem of "at least one RAM card (128kb) with every PF". > As I tend to use my PF mainly for diary and short notes, > would the addition of a FDD unit improve useage, eg as > a wordprocessor? for taking notes in class at uni? I for myself keep whole business agenda on my PF. I have lots of WKS files and I wrote an invoicing program in PBASIC, so I use PF daily sometimes several hours. HPD 500 is ideal for saving and loading data. I do not have to change RAM cards at all. I just plug in the FDD and work and 1.44 MB is enough for about 1 year. There are also a lot of diskettes with PD software that are distributed by our club and it is also a good thigk to run the soft directly from the diskette with no need to modify files on a RAM card in order to get new free space for files. > Thank you for your co-operation with this inquiry. Just a trifle, that is why I go on running this business. It is a bit strange feeling to know that although hundreds of thousands of PFs were made in 1989-1995, there are actually very few people in the world who care for this palmtop and that we are the only ones who have such a product like HPD 500. (PF is the only palmtop with direct FDD unit available) New Portfolios Still Available ------------------------------ From: "Klekas, Steve" 1. What is the Atari Portfolio? The Portfolio is a "palmtop" personal computer that is very (but not completely) compatible with the IBM PC computer systems. The base unit, when folded, is about the size of a VHS tape. It unfolds to reveal a 40 characters by 8 lines screen and a 63 key keyboard. It comes with 128k of RAM, which is divided between memory and a RAMdisk. The Liquid Crystal Display screen is very easy to read, even in poor lighting, and has contrast adjustment built into the keyboard. The keyboard is arranged in the standard QWERTY fashion (like a typewriter), making it very easy to find the keys, but the spacing of the keys is a bit tight. The unit is powered by three AA batteries, which last about 100 hours. With the addition of the parallel interface you can upload and download files to another PC that has a parallel port. A serial port is also available. Aside from DOS 2.11, the Portfolio also has a simple ASCII text editor, a calculator, a diary with alarms, and an address book that can dial numbers on touch tone phones. Perhaps the most impressive built in application is a spreadsheet program that is compatible with Lotus 1-2-3. Pricing: You can get a new PF from our club here in Czech Republic for: HPD 004 Portfolio 128 KB 200 USD HPD 011 Portfolio 512 KB 320 USD The prices are valid for the week of 27th September. Send your order to: sedlakj@dec59.ruk.cuni.cz In the USA you can get the Portfolio from: - TOAD toad@charm.net (410)544-6943 - DAYTON DISCOUNT 424-6111 Highway 92 west Belleville, WI. 53508 ---------------------- New Things From Germany ----------------------- From: Stefan_Kaechele@fr.maus.de (Stefan Kaechele) On my desktop is a prototype of a PoFo with backlight I finished a few days ago. The whole electronic fits into the display of the PoFo. Hope to offer this soon as a building- in-service and kit for do-it-your-self. Another project is a "diet" to the PoFo. PoFo looses weight of more than 50g by exchanging some parts. Other tasks are: the 512KB-DIL-EPROM-card a PCMCIA-card adaptor from PoFo to PCMCIA up to 1MB recreate the displaycable and a lot more to tell later on. -------------------- Programming =========== Below is some code and questions that were sent to Jan Sedlak, some of last months questionaires indicated that some of you out there are budding programmers, but are reluctant to send me your source as you don't think it will be good enough. Well don't worry about it, even simple 10 line programs are of use to other people who are trying to learn to program as it gives them examples they can learn from. It doesn't even matter if it is not completed, so please help me to help others, thanks. Below is one of the first programs I wrote on the PF in Turbo Pascal, I am currently working on an adventure program and font editor but I don't expect them to be finished this year. Very simple Crash Game (I Mean Very) ------------------------------------ From: paulj@jollyp.demon.co.uk Program: walls Language: Turbo PASCAL Description: Dodge the walls without crashing, using A and D This is a very simple program that uses nothing more complicated than the IBM graphics character set. It will work on either the PF or a PC, feel free to chop, change, modify as any of you see fit. The program uses the port turbo pascal unit that was developed by Graison Swaan. I can forward a copy should any one need it. -------------------- Start Of Source Code -------------------- uses port; var wall : string; a, key : char; p,x, w, dist, q, cnt, sk :integer; begin writeln('Valley Run - Ver 1.0'); writeln('~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'); writeln('Written By: P. Jolliffe (C) 1995'); writeln; writeln('Steer your space cruiser through the'); writeln('valley avoiding the walls.'); writeln; write('Move left with and right with '); readln; clrscr; write('Skill Level [1-6]: '); readln(sk); clrscr; a:=' '; x:=17; dist:=0; q:=0; w:=9+sk; p:=x+(w div 2); randomize; while (a <> 'q') and (q=0) do begin wall:=' '; inc(dist); if ( random(2) < 1 ) then dec(x) else inc(x); if x<1 then x:=1; if x+w>38 then dec(x); wall[x]:=chr(219); wall[x+w]:=chr(219); wall[p]:='V'; if (p<=x) or (p>=x+w) then q:=1 else writeln(wall); a:=readkey; if (a='a') or (a='A') then dec(p); if (a='l') or (a='L') then inc(p); for cnt:=0 to 1400*sk do a:=' '; if int(dist/100)=dist/100 then begin w:=w-2; inc(x); if w<4 then q:=2; end; end; if q=1 then writeln('You Failed !!!'); if q=2 then writeln('Congrats You Finished'); writeln; writeln('Your Score is: ',dist*5); end. ---------------------- End Of Source Code -------------------- PARALLEL INTERFACE ADRESSES --------------------------- From: ran@elc.beijer.se > I have some questions regarding the"Smart Paralell printer Interface". > * What is the base address of the 8255-PIO? Try following addresses: (not cheched) OUT 8078h d0-d7 OUT 8079h control lines IN 807ah control lines > * The pinout of the 25pin D-SUB. The pin-out was taken from original Atari parallel port guidebook. 1 out strobe 2 out d0 3 out d1 4-8 ............. etc. 9 out d7 10 in acknowledge 11 in busy 12 in paper error 13 in select 14 out auto feed 15 in error 16 out initialize 17 out select input 18-25 ground > I'm working on a small I/O-port project (file transfer) > for the Atari Portfolio, and your help would be most > appriciated. Here is some help: I have collected some routines for file transfer so I anybody needs them I will mail them. All the routines were written for PC, so there may be a need to adopt them for use on PF. ------------------------ *** SJ SPOELSTRA: program review From: "S.J.Spoelstra" Hello! Good to see that the Portfolio News is alive and kicking and even mentions the name Spoelstra here and there. I have read it with interest and I have one or two points to make about your News #5: Atari Dealer in Holland I live quite near the company DATA-SKIP in Gouda that you mention. I think they have gone out of business some time ago, and if not I am positive they do not supply Portfolios anymore. Two businesses in Holland that may still stock Portfolios and parts are: Atin Electronics (they upgrade portfolios to larger memory sizes) Bloemenlaan 3 2235EM Valkenburg Netherlands Tracks Computers (advertised recently with low-priced memory cards) Santpoorterstraat 40 2023DD Haarlem Netherlands The Dutch Portfolio club has probably folded: their last magazine I received in june 1994. Their editor then was Hans Verhoef Bogerd 38 2922EB Krimpen a/d IJssel Netherlands. They offered 10 different diskettes with Portfolio software, so they might have some new things for you. In the listing of software I came across some old friends: >pfcijf.lzh 18 ??? worksheet program ??? This is a teachers' agenda program for keeping pupils and grades on the portfolio. It is derived from a program I made on a PC : the first I made for the Portfolio (and the reason for Atari Benelux to let me keep the Portfolio I had on loan from them). It has a manual in Dutch, and I don't think it would be of much use outside Holland. > w_sheet.lzh 7 ??? sample worksheets ??? This might be a couple of sample worksheets I sent to the Atari BBS in Holland: if so, it contains 1 worksheet that calculates the price of a railway ticket for several distances and classes on the Dutch railways, and another one that calculates car costs. Not much use either in the Czech republik, I'm afraid. > pf_demo.lzh 6 ??? atari portfolio demo ??? If this is the demo with the Christmas Tree, then I'm guilty again: I made it to demonstrate the graphical possibilities of the Port. If I remember correctly you see a moving Atari logo and the seasons greetings for 1992 or about. Greetings from a (still warm) Holland, hoping to hear from you again! Sjoerd -------------------- Epilogue ======== I would like to thank Jan Sedlak and friends for supplying most of the material in this and the previous issue of PF user. Happy Christmas Every One Speak To You In The New Year. /\ M M EEEEE RRRR RRRR Y Y / \ MM MM E R R R R Y Y / * \ M M M EEE RRRR RRRR Y / * \ M M E R R R R Y / * * \ M M EEEEE R R R R Y / * \ / * * \ X X M M AAA SSS / * * \ X X MM MM A A S / * * * * \ X M M M AAAAA SSS /__________________\ X X M M A A S __||__ X X M M A A SSS | | \____/ - Paul 16/12/95