*************************************************************** * This is a file I am leaving on Steven Greenberg's * * CRUNCH (Compression of Redundancy through * * Utilitization of New Computer Heuristics -- that's * * great!) RCP/M in response to the discussion there * * regarding the attempted ZCPR3-ification of the * * superb program QL. * * - Rick Charnes, 7/18/88 * *************************************************************** Amidst all this ruckus about the difficulty we're having putting together a Z3 version of QL I'd like to interject a different note. I created a Z3 version of QL31 no problem. In fact, I made a Z3 version out of QL24 no problem. Sort of. As far as I'm concerned, the *main* thing that "Z3-ifying a straight CP/M utility" *means* is giving it the ability to reference a named directory. The concept of "getting its terminal information from the ZCPR3 environment descriptor and TCAP" is all well and good but is really a minor consideration for me in a program for which we are furnished source code and the ability to -- without too great a difficulty -- otherwise hard-code this information in. There isn't a doubt in the world that this certainly does defeat the very noble and important Z3 concept of providing a SYSTEM-WIDE software independence from the awesome array of terminals that has played such a large role in the demise of CP/M --- but hey, this is life. I'd rather enjoy myself than bemoan the demise of all purity in the world. I went through the QL31 source code looking for IF ZCPR3 statements and the only thing of significance I found besides the above-mentioned items was ye old wheel byte information. All right, I know this is important to sysops but for most of us this is not directly relevant. I'm sure, also, that Z3 folks with non-standard terminals who labored long and hard to write their own TCAP -- and who face the task of changing a large number of equates in source code to provide this information to non-Z programs -- might feel differently than I. In any case, I don't know if people just don't know about this, but in Vol. 1, number 11 of The One Eighty-File, the magazine officially for Micromint SB180 owners but practically for all users of ZCPR3 that Bruce Morgen puts out there is a wonderful section, worth its weight in gold, that provides information on precisely how to patch straight CP/M programs (I tire so of the phrase "vanilla CP/M" --- who says that "vanilla" is any less fancy than "double pistachio berry choco-nut?") the ability to reference named directories. I haven't seen this technique discussed much on the BBS circuit so I can only assume either that everyone already knows about or that no one knows about it. Well, everyone _should_ know about it; Bruce has done an absolute yeoman's job in this field and he has done the Z world a wonderful favor in releasing this gem of a technique to us. I used this technique on QL24 months ago and have been doing things like "QL24 DOC:PPIP173" since then with no problem. I don't know what all the fuss is about. So for those who fall into the latter category above be sure to get a subscription to The One Eighty File at P.O. Box 2781, Warminster, PA and ask for back issue v1, #11. (Bruce, do you know you don't provide the subscription price in the magazine!?) It's a superb magazine, full of excellent tips that for the last year and a half has provided me with a wealth of information that has helped me in my wonderful adventures on the wild and wonderful seas of Z.