0010 ^ma8 73 ^pl66 4 4 ^ju ^pn 0020 PROPOSAL: THE "SWAPTAPE" SOFTWARE EXCHANGE PROJECT 0030 ^sk0 By Michael Markov, P.O.Box 17, Lockwood, NY 14859 (USA) 0040 ^sk1 BACKGROUND: One of the benefits of being a member of a computer user's club is that 0050 you get an opportunity to exchange software with other users. This activity is 0060 an integral part of every get-together, Chapter 0070 meeting or conference. 0080 ^sk1 In the past, software exchange was a person to person process -- if you wanted 0090 something, you had to go ask the author for a copy, individually. 0100 This rather inefficient procedure limited both the quantity of material that could be 0110 exchanged, and the time available for other activities. 0120 ^sk1 The Atlanta Conference (May 4th & 5th, 1985), 0130 which was hosted by the Atlanta HP Handheld Club, handled software exchange more 0140 efficiently: The user community was asked to 0150 contribute PUBLIC DOMAIN software & documentation BEFORE the conference. 0160 Contributors were urged to provide a one-page description of the software, with enough 0170 information to allow any reasonably competent programer to use (or learn from) the 0180 contribution. 0190 All submissions were to be sent to me, the "Swaptape" Manager. I had 0200 the job of putting all the contributions onto a "Master" tape that could be duplicated at 0210 the Saturday Evening Mass Copy Special. 0220^sk1 This approach was intended to encourage the distribution of the most advanced 0230 software 0240 available today to the largest possible audience. 0250 It provided an alternative to the time consuming job of preparing formal 0260 presentations or publishable articles, since comprehensive documentation was NOT required. 0270 ^sk1 The Atlanta Conference "SWAPTAPE" project succeeded beyond my wildest hopes. 0280 Altogether, people contributed 0290 over 600K bytes of HP-41/71/75 software. 0300 This incredible result is especially amazing when you consider that the Atlanta 0310 Conference was not widely advertised. Many contributors / participants learned about 0320 the Conference and the "SWAPTAPE" project through the grapevine. 0330 Nonetheless, contributions arrived from as far as Australia -- hand carried courtesy of 0340 Robert O. Bradley. 0350 Altogether, including contributions that were added to the master tapes at Atlanta, 0360 people 0370 contributed a total of 277 files. There were 45 HP-41 files, 105 HP-75 files, and 127 0380 HP-71 files (on 1, 2 & 3 cassettes, respectively, or on two 3.5" discs.) 0390^sk1 I was very pleased with the variety of the material submitted. There was a good number 0400 of general interest items such as games, demonstration programs & utility routines. 0410 There were contributions from both relative newcomers and "old" pros. 0420 Documentation was provided on either tape or paper. 0430 ^sk1 Bob Bradley and John R. Baker deserve a special honorable mention: 0440 Bob contributed an incredible 57 files that take us several giant step forwards 0450 into the such fields as HP-75 machine language & 0460 HP-75/71 FORTH. Among other gems, Bob provides a "lobotomized" version of 0470 the "PMSCMDS" file that allows you to copy ANY HP-75 ROM to RAM... Also, PODPMS1C supports 0480 up to 96K of Plug-in Module Simulator expansion! 0490 ^ad John practically wrote the 0500 book on how to create your own HP-71 LEX files. 0510 John's contribution sets a new standard for future "Swaptapes" -- John kindly 0520 placed the documentation on the tapes, to include a comprehensive description of the files 0530 he provided, an introduction to HP-71 assembly language, source listings for numerous LEX 0540 files, with many valuable descriptive comments, 0550 and the LEX files themselves. 0560 This will allow others to adapt / build~on John's work with relative ease. 0570 ^sk1 "ATLANTA SWAPTAPE" AVAILABILITY: Copies of the "Swaptape" material should be 0580 available on 0590 tape or disc from people who went to Atlanta, or who obtained copies afterward. 0600Copies of the documentation are presently 0610 available from Brian Walsh, 2103 Huntingdon Chase, Dunwoody, GA 30338 (USA). 0620 ^sk1 If you CANNOT get copies of the "SWAPTAPE" from your Chapter Coordinator, or 0630 from a friend, 0640 you can send a suitable SASE & FORMATTED tapes or 3.5" discs to either Brian, 0650 Jan Buitenhuis, or to me. Please read "SWAPTAPE DISTRIBUTION" first. 0660 We will copy the Atlanta Swaptape material to your media as time allows. 0670 ^sk1 Jan Buitenhuis has offered to handle "Overseas" distribution. European users 0680 can write to Jan at: LAGE DUIN 44, NL-2121 CH BENNEBROEK, THE NETHERLANDS. 0690 By now, the Swaptape material should also be available from CCD (West Germany) & PPC-T 0700 (France) & the United Kingdom HP Handheld Users Club (England). 0710 Similarily, our friends from "Down-Under" should get in touch with either 0720 the Sidney or the Melbourne Chapters. 0730 ^sk1 THE PROPOSED SOFTWARE EXCHANGE PROJECT: 0740 ^sk0 The success of the Atlanta Swaptape project provides considerable incentive for 0750 continuing the "Swaptape" project. An ongoing "Swaptape" project should make available a 0760 wealth of 0770 new interesting material to suit the tastes of most users. 0780 It would complement data exchange via modem. 0790 ^sk1 Swaptape material should NOT be 0800 be a problem -- 0810 in fact, I already have a respectable amount of new 0820 material for a future Swaptape. 0830 I believe that enough new material is being produced to support 0840 the production of a new Swapdisc (about 600K) every six months. 0850 Rather, the problem is finding the material you are interested in. Annotated directory 0860 listings will help somewhat. What we really need is a subject index & abstracts catalog. 0870 Does anybody want the job? 0880 ^sk1 COPYRIGHT: 0881 All material published in the SWAPTAPE mass storage media or in the SWAPTAPE documentation 0882 shall be Copyright SWAPTAPE. SWAPTAPE does not ask for exclusive rights, and all the 0883 items contributed remain the property of the author unless otherwise expressed in writing. 0890 ^sk1 If the Swaptape is to become a regular activity, we will have to pay strict 0900 attention to copyrights. In other words, I need to know that the authors specifically 0910 authorized us to make copies of every file on the disc, for distribution within the user 0920 community. COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE FROM HP OR ANY OTHER SOURCE SHOULD NOT BE INCLUDED ON THE 0921 ON THE SWAPTAPE WITHOUT A WRITEN AUTORIZATION FROM THE COPYRIGHT OWNER! 0940 This will help protect all participants from possible lawsuits. 0960 Please keep in mind that you must make "substantial" changes (improvements) 0970 to existing software before submiting it under your name. 0980 ^sk1 SWAPTAPE MATERIAL: The idea behind the Swaptape project is 0990 the RAPID distribution of new ideas, tips, programming tricks, or any other information 1000 of general interest to users of personal handheld HP computers. 1010 Most of this material will normally be implemented in a program, since 1020 this helps illustrate the intended use. However, this is NOT a requirement. 1030 For examples, tables with execution time data, assembly source files and articles are 1040 all welcome. If you submit a program / article for publication, consider putting a copy 1050 of the program on the swaptape. 1060 This will help people save 1070 time programming / improve programs. Also, users will now have a means of sharing 1080 information that may not be suitable for publication because of a) 1090 inadequate documentation, or b) any other as yet unresolved problems. Of course, if there 1100 are any potentially dangerous bugs, this MUST be mentioned, preferably as part of the 1110 program. 1120 ^sk1 SENSITIVE MATERIAL: Contributors may wish to place restrictions on 1130 the distribution of sensitive material. NOMAS material will be clearly labeled, 1131 and participants agree not to contact the manufacturer. Also, if your 1132 material is to be published in a periodical that insists on first 1139 publication rights, 1150 a reasonable restriction would be "Do Not release until AFTER Publication in ...". 1160 Any such restrictions MUST be clearly visible. Please underline such 1170 restrictions with a RED ink -- on page 1 of your cover letter / documentation. 1180 A footnote in a text file is NOT enough, since I study in detail less than 1190 30% of the material I receive. 1200 ^sk1 DOCUMENTATION: You should provide user instructions, as may be 1210 required by any reasonably competent user. 1220 However, documentation IS NOT REQUIRED -- I do not want to discourage contributors! 1230 Some menu driven programs are effectively self-documenting. Still, 1240 knowing what the program is supposed to do always helps. 1250 Also, complex programs may provide a large variety of options, some of which are far 1260 from obvious. Therefore, step by step examples often are the best way to 1270 show others how a program works. 1280 ^sk1 If your program has been published, please provide details -- 1290 Publication Name, Volume~#, Issue~#, Pg.~# & 1300 publication date. 1310 ^sk1 If you use an HP-IL controller (HP-41/71/75) to prepare your documentation, 1320 please put a copy of the text file on the tape or disc you 1325 send me. HP-75 text files should be transformed into LIF1 (Logical Interchange Format) 1330 files. This could help reduce the cost of providing readable documentation to 1340 a minimum. Handwriten / typed notes should be single-spaced & in dark black ink. Please 1341 leave a 1" margin all around -- think of 1350 the person who will get a photocopy of a photocopy of... 1360 ^sk1 I have received many comments that say that, without suitable 1370 documentation, the best software in the world can be useless. Therefore, 1380 contributors are asked to document software as best they can. 1381 Preformatted documentation files (or files with 1390 embedded Text Formatter commands) are very welcome. 1391 ^sk1 Users who develop their own documentation for Swaptape software are 1392 asked to send me copies. I think this information could be included in 1393 future Swaptapes, or, if we get enough material, we could start a regular 1394 "Swaptape Tips" column. 1400 ^sk1 Formatted Interchange files are probably best for distribution, 1410 since this will allow HP-41/71/75 users to 1420 print nice documentation even if they do not own a Formatter ROM. This 1421 is done by PLISTing the file, or, if the file does not fit in available 1430 RAM, with "CP" (HP-41), PRINTEXT (HP-71) or PRTEXT75 (HP-75). 1440 (See next Swaptape, if not elsewhere in this issue). However, contributors 1450 should NOT waste time & effort by formatting files manually: I have modified 1451 the EDRDPR subroutines (HP-71 Text Formatter ROM) to produce a formatted file in RAM, 1460 rather than printed output. See EDRDPRAM listing. If you use the FILL mode and 1461 if the left margin is set to column #1, the formatted file should not be 1462 significantly larger than the file with the embedded formatter commands. 1463 In other words, you need a LOT of RAM! I can do this job when I will 1464 be assembling the master copies of future swaptapes. 1470 ^sk1 I believe that it is more economical to make a hundred (or more) photocopies 1480 at a time. The prices quoted were five to ten cents per page for low volumes, versus 1490 three to six cents per page for a hundred copies. Therefore, we probably should 1500 make 200-300 copies of the Swaptape documentation 1510 for the users who may want one. Since someone must 1520 put out a considerable amount of "up-front" money, I would like to find out 1530 how many people would be willing to pay $5.00 to $10.00 for a hundred (or more) 1540 pages of documentation. People who are interested should send me a postcard that 1550 says so. If a member can do the job for less, please let me know! 1560 ^sk1 "SWAPTAPE" DISTRIBUTION: Major conferences provide a logical time & place for the 1570 release of "Swaptapes": The most active members of the user community are gathered in 1580 a known location, and many bring at least one cassette drive. At Atlanta, we had 1590 about 7 disc drives in one HP-IL loop, and a dozen cassette drives in another. This kind 1600 of equipment availability can provide a unique impetus to swaptape distribution. However, 1610 the 30 to 40 sets of copies made can help only if they are used to make 1620 more copies. 1630 Obviously, we need some orderly method for handling requests from the rest 1640 of the user community. 1650 A possible approach is selling copies through EDUCALC, at a sizable mark-up. I would by 1660 far prefer a low-key network of users, where people make copies of swaptape material for 1670 their friends, free of charge, on an "AS IS" basis. 1680 This would allow the distribution of material that is not suitable for a commercial 1690 product. Therefore: 1700 ^sk1 WANTED: Volunteers who will help make copies of the Swaptape material for fellow 1710 users. You should own (or have access to) two or more disc (or cassette) drives. 1720 If you own an HP-71, I can provide efficient Mass Copy software to help you do the job. 1730 ^ad We need help because three individuals cannot possibly make hundreds of copies, 1740 because, even if we had the time to spare, the batteries in our drives would only allow 1750 us to make 3 to 5 sets of copies per day. However, if 1760 each volunteer makes 10 copies (which can be done in a relatively short time -- 1770 a week, at most), 1780 we could have some 3000 copies distributed in less than a month! 1790 ^sk1 Ideally, we should have some 30 1800 volunteers / distribution points in direct contact with either Brian, Jan or me. 1810 Individuals, Chapters 1820 or Affiliated Clubs that can organize mass copy sessions with more than two or three 1830 drives 1840 could help speed-up distribution significantly. 1850 Thereafter, distribution to the rest of the user community should usually involve 1860 only one additional individual with mass copy capability. (30~*~10+~*10~=3000+). 1870 This system should share out the work & expenses more or less evenly, especially if the 1880 communication network works both ways, with contributions going up the pyramid. 1890 ^sk1 If you want to volunteer for this job, 1900 write me a letter. I need a PERMANENT address. Also, please let me know 1910 whether you can handle 3.5" discs (HP), 5.25" discs (Steinmetz & Brown drives) and/or 1920 mini-data cassettes. Please try to answer all the questions on the "Swaptape Volunteer" 1930 form. 1931 ^sk1 When I get enough volunteers to make this system work, I will prepare 1932 a directory of volunteers. This directory will be made available to the 1933 user community, who shall then be able to locate the nearest volunteer. 1934 This approach should help minimize postage costs. 1940 ^sk1 MAKING A CONTRIBUTION: All contributions should be mailed to Michael Markov, 1950 Swaptape Coordinator, P.O. Box 17, Lockwood, New York 14859 (USA). 1970 Your material should be recorded on magnetic cards, mini-data cassettes or 3.5" disc. 1971 HP-41 barcode is also OK. 1980 Please use cassettes or 3.5" discs, if possible. These media are more convenient for me. 1990 Also, discs or tapes allow me to add files to your medium that you may find interesting, 2000 before I return it to you. 2010 If you send in typed documentation, please send me the original copy, use a DARK black 2020 ribbon -- and let me know if you want a good Xerox copy in return. 2040 ^sk1 Please provide a TYPED (or PRINT legibly) return address on your SASE 2050 (Self-Addressed,~Stamped~Envelope). Otherwise, 2060 I may not 2070 be able to return your magnetic cards, ect. 2080 Overseas contributors should provide postal reply coupons. 2090 ^sk0 NOTE: People I correspond with regularly should NOT provide either SASE or postage. 2100 As in the past, I will pay my share of the postage. 2110 The problem here is that the cost of returning hundreds of tapes to their owners could 2120 become prohibitive. 2130 ^sk1 Contributors are asked to use only UPPERCASE A-Z, 0-9 in Swaptape file names. 2140 The first character should NOT be 0-9. Special characters or spaces should NOT be 2150 used, because HP-71 & HP-75 computers will not allow the user to 2160 copy such files from one mass storage device to another since the 2170 file specification is invalid. This makes additional work for people 2180 who try to add this file to a Master tape or disc. 2190 ^sk1 LEGAL & FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS: Envelopes, packing material & postage should 2200 make-up the 2210 bulk of the expenses, assuming the labor is provided free of charge by 2220 volunteers from the user community. My swaptape proposal basically tries to insure that 2230 all such expense be pre-paid. Past experience with 2240 Murphy's Law suggests that we should plan for any number of unexpected (and therefore 2250 expensive) mistakes. For example -- who pays for 2260 media that have been damaged or lost in the mail? 2270 What is our liability as the operators of a software exchange bulletin board if a member 2280 puts copyrighted commercial material on the "Swaptape"? (This question is NOT trivial! 2290 I would appreciate feed-back from members who are knowledgeable on this subject.) 2300 Normal business practice calls for setting-up a contingency fund (hard to do when there 2310 is no income) and carrying some kind of insurance. I considered collecting some nominal 2320 fee (say $5.00 - $10.00) per swaptape copy made. This could have allowed me to cover the 2330 cost of returning media to contributors. However, once we begin collecting money, we must 2340 initiate some kind of accounting system to keep the IRS happy -- which is more work & 2350 expense. Suggestions, anyone? 2360 ^sk1 I feel that users who are concerned about items lost or damaged in the mail should 2370 pay for postal insurance, both ways. However, I believe you will pay a lot more for 2380 insurance, as opposed to buying replacements. Also, insuring mail is a time wasting 2381 procedure that I, for one, would rather avoid. 2390 ^sk1 Finally, it is important to point out that the proposed "Swaptapes" are / will 2400 be provided "AS IS", without warranty as to performance or 2410 merchantability whatsoever. No warranty of fitness for any particular purpose is offered. 2420 The user who obtains a copy must assume the entire risk of using the information or 2430 software contained therein. The contributors and / or the distributors of "Swaptapes" 2439 SHALL NOT BE LIABLE for incidental or consequential damages 2440 in connection with or arising out 2450 of the furnishing, use or performance of this material. 2460 ^sk1HAPPY SWAPPING! ~~~~~~~Michael Markov