QUIKIES Version: 3 Update: October 21, 1981 Home: HP/RCPM, 312-955-4493, 1am-5pm Editor: Roy Lipscomb, Logic Associates, Chicago Permission has been granted to copy any of these items for non-commercial use, provided each copy properly credits the sources. Reproduction for other uses must receive prior permission from the individual sources. Comments and contributions are invited, and may be forwarded to the home system. 1.-------------------------------------------------- ITEM: The "re-execute" command. DESCRIPTION: After exiting to CP/M from a program, the program may be re-executed without reloading it into RAM from disk. REQUIREMENTS: Issue the command SAVE 0 @.COM to create the null command "@". PROCEDURE: Issue the null command: @ This will cause CP/M to load precisely nothing into the transient program area (thus leaving the old program intact), then transfer control to the TPA. SOURCE: (Anyone know?) 2.-------------------------------------------------- ITEM: Using the I command of DDT to read files from disks other than A. PROCEDURE: Translate the desired drive's name into its alphabetic sequence number; for instance, "1" for "A", "2" for "B", and so on. Then perform the following sequence of commands to install the file's name and drive number, and read the file into RAM: -Ifilenam.typ (desired file's name) -S5C 005C 00 x ("x" = the above sequence number) 005D yy . ("yy" = don't care) -R SOURCE: Hal Walchli, Pittsburg Area Computer Club Newsletter, June 17, 1981. (Also seen in other newsletters.) 3.-------------------------------------------------- ITEM: Fix for bug in SUBMIT.COM (2.X only) DESCRIPTION: SUBMIT will not accept pseudo-control characters. DIAGNOSIS: Create a file X.SUB consisting of one line-- PIP X.SUB=X.SUB[S^Z] where "^" and "Z" are separate characters. Then issue the command SUBMIT X. The faulty version of SUBMIT will display the message "Error on line 001 Invalid Control Character," then exit to CP/M. FIX: Execute the following procedure: A>DDT SUBMIT.COM DDT VERS 2.2 NEXT PC 0600 0100 -S442 0042 61 41 0443 32 . -^C A>SAVE 5 SUBMIT.COM RETEST: Issue the command SUBMIT X. No error should occur, and X.SUB should remain unchanged. SOURCE: Dave Marschall of AMSI. 4.-------------------------------------------------- ITEM: Comparing two .COM files via DDT. PROCEDURE: Load one file and dump a stretch of RAM. Load the second file, and dump the same location. If both dumps are small enough to fit together on the screen, the areas can be compared visually. (To perform the actual program loads, use the I and the R commands. If either program is not on the logged-in disk, you can read it by using the pro- cedure described in item #2 above.) SOURCE: Hal Walchli, Pittsburg Area Computer Club Newsletter, June 17, 1981 5.-------------------------------------------------- ITEM: Insert any control code into an ED file. DESCRIPTION: ^C, ^E, ^L, ^P, ^S, ^R, ^U, and ^X are command codes for ED; when encountered, they are executed instead of inserted into the file. It is possible to have ED insert these codes instead of executing them. PROCEDURE: 1) Create CODES.LIB by issuing the command PIP CODES.LIB=CON: and typing the above control codes (they will not echo to the screen), followed by a control-Z. 2) Whenever you are in ED now, and wish to insert one of these codes, read the codes in with the R command (specifi- cally, RCODES), then use the C and D commands to remove the unwanted codes. SOURCE: Roy Lipscomb, Logic Associates 6.-------------------------------------------------- ITEM: Counting records in a file. PROCEDURE: PIP CON:=filename.typ[ND6] EFFECT: The "virtual" record numbers for each record will be output to the screen. The last number will be the record count of the file. (Records are assumed to be terminated by a carriage return.) EXTENSION: Instead of CON:, you can substitute any valid CP/M filename, and the "count up" will be entered into that file instead. (Numbers under 6 digits are preceded by blank fill.) This type of file can be useful during program testing. This option reveals a slight anomaly in PIP: if a line begins with tabs, those tabs will not be deleted but will be retained and appended to the line number. SOURCE: Roy Lipscomb, Logic Associates 7.-------------------------------------------------- ITEM: Execute any commands by pressing only 2 keys. REQUIREMENT: Public domain program SYNONYM.COM, version 2 or later, available on various RCPMs. PROCEDURE: Select an unused alphanumeric, or other character allowable as part of a file name. As an example, let's take "A". Let "command" be a command-plus-parameters. Issue this command: SYNONYM A command Now whenever you wish to execute "command", just A and carriage return. EXTENSION1: To create a single name for a sequence of several commands, 1) place the commands into a .SUB file (eg, TESTIT.SUB), and 2) follow the above procedure to create a name for the command "SUBMIT TESTIT". EXTENSION2: Better yet, use /.COM or SUPERSUB.COM to eliminate the need for a separate .SUB file. That way, all the commands to be executed can be coded as part of "command" above. SOURCE: Roy Lipscomb, Logic Associates