FROM THE PAGES OF MOAUG NEWSLETTER COMES THE FOLLOWING WELL WRITTEN COLUMN ON CP/M BY JEROME HESS.
 
 
Jerome Hess, 1st CPM column from July MOAUG:

     Welcome one welcome all to the first BIOS CALL!!

     Hi, I'm Jerome Hess and I'm your new CP/M librarian.  I'll not waste the space with an introduction in hopes that over the next few months we'll get to know a lot about each other.

     Instead I'm going to just jump right in and start off by glossing over the CP/M starter pack that I have put together. On this Disk (or DDP) are 18 of the PD utilities that I think that everyone should have in order to get comfortable with CP/M.  Over the next several articles I will be going in depth about each of the programs as well as answering any questions that might arise. The starter pack is yours for the asking; all that is required is that you supply me with a SYSGENED CP/M DDP or Disk that will show me that you have a legitimate copy of CP/M and that I won't be breaking any laws by handing out the revised BIOS.

     Enough of that, on with this show.

     FILE EXTENSIONS - and how they are used.  

     On this "pack" you will notice 4 different file extensions (the 3 letters that come after the "." in the file name), .DZC , .COM , .4Z , .LBR . These extensions are short indicators of what kind of files these may be.  The .COM files are all "command" files that may be "run" by merely typing in the first part of the file name ; ie:  TRUE30 <return> . This will load and run the file from the drive that is indicated. 

     Secondly there are .LBR files.  These are actually groups of files that have been arranged together in a "library" so as to save space and make storage more efficient. Usually all the files in a single "library" are related. To access these files you must use NULU.COM. For those of you who can't wait for the article on NULU I'll give you this: You must put a dash "-" before all of the one-letter commands and -m or -h will give you the command screen. 

     Lastly there are the .DZC files.  These are Documentation files for programs or they may be information files.  The "Z" in the second position indicates that these files have been "crunched" using CRUNCH.COM. As they are, they are only good for saving space, but by using UNCR20.COM you can turn them back into   completely readable text files. 

     The other file extension present is 4Z and that is really just another crunched file. It's not a CP/M program, but a SmartBASIC program; but I think that it is such a great program that everyone ought to have a copy.  Once you've uncrunched it, use CPMADAM.COM to transfer it to an EOS tape and run it from there.

     On to the STARTER PACK! The first thing that you will notice when you boot up this pack is that the LOG-ON screen is different from the original. This can be changed using CONFIG.COM, but since I don't have a color monitor I just left it the way it was. The Smartkeys along the bottom are missing, but if you really like them, they may be toggled back by using SHIFT-UNDO in sequence.  Several other modifications are that a DIR will show files in single column and that the size of each file as well as the space used and remaining are displayed. These are just a few of the mods, for more info, uncrunch ADAMNEW.DZC and print it out. If you do this please disregard the INSTALLATION instructions for the new CCP, as you already have it installed on your STARTER PACK.

     Upon Boot-up I would STRONGLY encourage EVERYONE (who doesn't have an 80 column display) to use TRUE30.COM. True30 is a utility that allows ADAM CP/M to use a 30 column display instead of the "moving window" format that it originates in. Merely type TRUE30 <return> and when it asks if you would like the 80 columns changed, just hit the "y" key, and it will implement the change for you. Any other key will result in the program aborting.
     
     Next there's UNCR20.COM, that will allow you to get at all those .*Z* files. This is a very easy program to use and I'll even step-by-step an example for you: Let's get at ADAMNEW.DZC. When using UNCR20 always make sure that you have twice as much free space as the file is when it's crunched. For example ADAMNEW
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