SDB EXTENDED DOCUMENTATION FOR HP-71B October 3, 1986 1. FORMATSS a. This program was taken from the "Using your Disc Drive" manual for the 9114A/B dated 11/01/84. This program allows you to format diskettes single-sided, which will be compatible with HP series 40 and 70 handheld computers as well as HP 200/300 series desktop computers using either single or double-sided 3.5-inch drives. b. Input the numeric position number of the disk drive in the HPIL loop. Example: If you have 3 items on the loop, and item number 1 is a printer, item number 2 is the disk drive, and item number 3 is the video interface, input 2. c. Input the number of directory entries to be allocated to the disk directory. The normal number is 200; a larger number will cost you a small amount of free space on the disk, and a smaller number will free up a tiny portion of disk space. d. Input the volume label. If you will need to read your diskette on an HP series 200 or 300 computer, you must supply a volume label with a maximum of 6 characters, beginning with a letter between A and Z. The default volume label in HP's series 200/300 Basic is B9826. e. If you are satisfied that your inputs are correct, hit ENDLINE to begin. f. After formatting is complete, you can input Y to format another disk, or N to end the program. 2. LISTER a. This program is a simple means for listing ASCII (TEXT) files on your selected PRINTER IS device. b. Input the numeric Accessory ID of your printer (or the interface to your printer), such as 35 for the 2225B Thinkjet, or 66 for the HP82164A interface. c. Input the print width. The 2225B Thinkjet has a maximum width of 80 in the standard print mode, and 142 in compressed. The 2227A Quietjet can do 80 in 10-pitch and 96 in 12-pitch on 8.5 x 11 paper, and 170 in compressed print. d. You can now input up to 10 escape sequences to set up the printer; when you have input the sequences you wish, input "END" to go on to the next prompt. Do not include the escape character itself in the sequences. Example: If you are trying for bold print on the 2225B printer, input these 4 characters: (s1B. If you want compressed print, input &k2S. e. Input the filename and Mass Device with a colon (:) between them. Examples: LETTER:2 LETTER:TAPE LETTER (same as LETTER:MAIN) f. Input the top margin; the number of spaces from the top of each page where you want the printing to begin. g. Input the left margin; the number of spaces from the left side of each page where you want the printing to begin. h. Input the total number of copies of the document you want to print. Note that if you have a 7-page document, and you request 4 copies, the printer will be printing 28 total pages of text. .PA i. After printing is complete, the computer will prompt you for another filename and Mass Device. You can type QUIT here to end the program, but if you continue with another filename, note that the previously entered escape sequences will still be effective unless you reset the printer somehow. SPECIAL NOTE: This program is set up to issue a form-feed to the printer when a .PA (page break) is encountered in the text. The .PA must be at the beginning of the line, and not preceded by any blank spaces. 3. CATSORT a. This program can sort the directory of files in memory or on a mass storage medium. The maximum number of files has been limited to 255 because of the 1-character ASCII addressing scheme used by the program, but more files could be attempted by modification of the program or elimination of the address coding. b. If you have a diskette with 128 or more files, make sure the value N1=nnn in Line 40 is set to 255. It is easy to determine this; simply type CAT$(128,":TAPE"). If you get a blank response, you have less than 128 files. If you have between 64 and 127 files, you will get much faster sorting by setting nnn equal to 127 in Line 40. If the number of files is between 32 and 63, set nnn equal to 63. If the number of files is between 1 and 31, set nnn equal to 31. c. Input the source media location. If it is main memory, input :MAIN. If it is a tape or disk drive, you can get fastest results by inputting the physical location on the loop preceded by a colon, as explained in section 1 paragraph b at the beginning of this documentation. d. If you input a destination medium when you are prompted for it, the computer will first sort the catalog, and then copy each file in alphabetic sequence from the source medium to the destination medium. If you hit ENDLINE without any input, the computer will not do any copying. e. The last prompt is for printing the catalog list in alphabetic order. Any setup necessary for the printer should be performed beforehand. SPECIAL NOTE: This program is set up to sort a catalog by filename. It could also be modified to sort by other criteria, and if there is a demand for such a utility, it will be provided in future revisions.