 x	E                                                                 rticular file. From that point on, the file should be almost universally ASCII, and useable by almost any computer anywhere.
 
NOTICE:  In the past several months, a BIOS CALL, by MOAUG CP/M Librarian Jerome Hess (as printed in January, 1990 MOAUG Newsletter) 
 
Welcome one, welcome all to 1990's very first BIOS CALL! !!!
 
This column will (I hope) be printed in the January, '90 issue of the newsletter, and yet here it is only the middle of November. I'm sure that as Christmas gets a lot closer, there will be a lot of exciting things happening in ADAMLAND; but in light of extreme procrastination tendencies on my part, I'm going to try to get ahead a little <gasp>.
 
This column is being written entirely from memory, as I have neither an ADAM nor a list of the STARTER PAK with me at the moment.  I'm writing this column on a very ADAM-CP/M compatible laptop computer, the NEC PC-5000.  To digress for a moment, the NEC is a really great companion for the ADAMITE on the go.  It has ROM-based software which consists of Wordstar, Calcstar, Telecom and Filer.  These are all very scaled-down versions of their parent versions, but it seems as though I do a lot of pretty good stuff utilizing them.
 
The NEC is the second CP/M laptop that I've owned, the first being an EPSON PX-8.  Both have their good and bad points, but I would like to point out a few things about the NEC.  First off, it has a full 80x25 LCD screen which is VERY unusual for the early laptops. Tandy's model 100, which is probably the largest seller of the NON-MS machines, has only a 40x4 screen. Secondly, the built-in software negates the need to carry around software cartridges or programs, and is very good for most uses. On the down side, the NEC has no built-in storage device, although it has a 64k ram disk and an additional 128k ram disk can be had for only $12.  It comes with a standard RS232C port and a centronics parallel printer port, making transfers to and from the ADAM a snap with a null modem.  In addition, the NEC also has a built-in 300 bps modem, allowing for those nights away from home when you can hear Compuserve calling your name.
 
NEC ceased production of the PC-8500 several years ago, but they can still be had through wholesalers (or, as in my case, pawn shops) for under $200.  NEC did produce an external drive chassis that housed other hardware capabilities, including a disk drive and an external monitor.  I don't have one of these yet, but if you know someone who does and who would like to get rid of it at a reasonable price, please mention my name.
 
Well, I think that I've used enough space on that; but I would like to emphasize that many of the programs for the ADAM CP/M will work on the NEC, including the two programs I am going to cover tonight.
 
The first program I want to cover is probably one that you'll find yourself using more and more as your use of CP/M progreses.  The program is called UNERAS.COM.  As its name suggests, it was designed to UN-erase a file that has been erased using CP/M's ERA command.
 
The proper use of ERA is covered in the CP/M manual, so I'll only mention that it's very similar to UNERAS.
 
The command line
 
ERA A:BOB.TXT 
 
will erase a file called BOB.TXT from drive A:.  You can use ERA from any drive to any drive, as it is what's called a "transient" command, which is always there as long as CP/M is in memory.
 
Well, let's say that in our case, we got mad at BOB just after we'd finished a letter to him, so we erased his letter. But then BOB calls and apologizes for not sending the right number of stamps to cover the disk mailer, so we decide that we really DO want to send him a letter, but we really DON'T want to re-type it!  Now we have two options:  1) We could just scribble him a note on the back of an old DDP label, or (2) we could try to recover the file.
 
WHAT? Recover a File ?  But we thought that only the sophisticates of MS-DOS could do magic like that!  Nope.  That hasn't been true for a long time.  We ADAMITES can recover files just like the big blues; as long as certain things have/haven't been done. 
 
First of all, we're hackers, not wizards. So if we've already re-formatted the disk that BOB's letter was on, we can pretty much forget it.  (I hear that there ARE a few gurus who might attempt such a trick, but I sure wouldn't want to be around to see it. ) 
 
Secondly, the disk can't have been "packed (if you don't recognize that term, fear not !  We'll cover that later, and besides, if you don't know it you probably haven't done it.) 
 
Assuming the medium hasn't been reformatted or packed, then let's see if we can retrieve BOB's letter. 
 
First off, transfer URERAS.COM from your STARTER PAK to the ddp that had BOB.TXT on it; or, if you have 2 drives, put UNERAS in one and BOB in the othewr.  From there it's as easy as entering the command line: 
 
UREAS A:BOB.TXT <Return>


                  
 
Now, in order for UNERAS to work, YOU MUST HAVE THE FILENAME SPELLED EXACTLY RIGHT. Let me reiterate this: THE SPELLING MUST BE THE SAME!!  No problem if your friend is BOB.  On the other hand, if you happen to be pen pals with a few Romanian nationals, well, we can only hope.
 
If you don't get it spelled right, UNERAS will tell you in the form of the message, "FILE NOT FOUND." Try again, using the spelling you think your fingers might have used, rather than the name you SHOULD have used.
 
As with most CP/M programs, UNERAS can be used from and to almost any drive.  And (this is kind of neat) it can also be used to UNERAS a file that was on your RAM disk (drive M:) as long as the two earlier conditions have been met AND you haven't turned off your ADAM.  There was talk awhile ago of battery backup for the RAM disk, but I think it was just more VAPORware.
 
The next utility I want to tell you about is FILTA.COM.  If you are still in love with SmartWriter or are still heavily into EOS, then this one is for you!
 
FILTA.COM is a filter program for CP/M that will filter out many different problems from several different types of files.
 
For example, if you have written a really great article for MOAUG's newsletter, but want to upload it to a few different bulletin boards around the country, then your best bet would be to use the XMODEM protocol to transfer the file.  Unfortunately, neither ADAMLINK I or II have that capability, so you would probably resort to a CP/M-based terminal program.
 
Well, the first thing that you'd want to do is transfer the files from the EOS format to CP/M using ADAM.COM.  Unfortunately, this process will occasionally ADD character garbage to your text file.  Well, FILTA will get rid of that!  FILTA is also very adept at straining out extraneous characters from WordStar files that you want to convert to SmartWriter use.
 
FILTA is a very simple program to use. The command is:
 
FILTA A:BOB.TXT <Return>
 

 
When it's done running, FILTA will tell you that it's done, as well as what functions it has performed upon that particular file. From that point on, the file should be almost universally ASCII, and useable by almost any computer anywhere.
 
NOTICE:  In the past several months, a lot of confusion has beset my computer desk and it has come to my attention that there are still a few copies of CATPRTV1.4 (discussed in the December issue) that are incomplete. If your copy uncrunches to less than 10k, then you have an incomplete copy.  So I'll tell ya what I'm gonna do!  If you have a bad copy, send me a disk (formatted and SYSGENed) with your bad copy of CATPRT on it, and I'll not only give you a good copy, but I'll also fill up the medium with GAMES or UTILITIES (please choose only one!) I just catalogued the library again, so I've got a real good handle on where everything is.  Fair enough?  I thought so.
 
One thing I will ask is that any time that you write, PLEASE include a self-addressed envelope with the postage on it.  I know that it's a pain, but with this method your response time is ALMOST guaranteed to be overnight.  Otherwise it may take awhile.
 
Questions?  Comments?  (Ixnay on the criticisms!!) 
 
JEROME HESS 
PO BOX 678203 
ORLANDO, FL 32867 
(407) 671-1063 

, a lot of confusion has beset my computer desk and it has come to my attention that there are still a few c
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