Getting to know MYZ80

Having downloaded, unzipped and run MYZ80 you eventually finish up with a prompt A0> and nothing else. You are, however, in CP/M and the prompt is waiting for you to do something. If you are familiar with the PCW the prompt will look a little strange, but bringing up the directory with the familiar dir then [Return] gets the result below.

Yes, MYZ80 has some utilities to start you off . Files with the suffix .COM are executable and can be run by typing the filename only without the suffix. Thus COLDBOOT typed at the prompt will, when the [Return] key is pressed, reboot MYZ80. Thought I'd warn you about that. Filenames can be typed in upper or lower case CP/M isn't fussy. I use upper case to make them stand out from the body of text.

Some of these files require parameters to make them work. Often, in this case, typing the filename without parameters will bring up information on how to use the program. This is true of some of the above and below will be found examples copied from MYZ80.

A0>import

++ IMPORT vers 1.12 by Simeon Cran. ++

A MYZ80 utility to import files from DOS to CP/M.
Syntax: IMPORT [path\]afn [-o]
- where "path\" is an optional DOS path specification for the DOS file,
"afn" is the ambiguous filename of the file or files to import and
"o" is an optional flag: M=Delete the original DOS file.
O=Overwrite any CP/M files of the same name.

......EXAMPLES..............................................................

Import a file called SIMEON.TXT from the current DOS directory to the
current CP/M drive and user area:
- IMPORT SIMEON.TXT

Import all files with a tail of .Z80 from a DOS directory called \Z80\MYZ80:
- IMPORT \Z80\MYZ80\*.Z80

Import the file ZFILER.CMD from a directory called \ZSYSTEM overwriting
any existing file called ZFILER.CMD in the current CP/M drive and user area:

- IMPORT \ZSYSTEM\ZFILER.CMD -O
Move all the files from the root directory of the A: floppy disk to the
current CP/M drive and user area, overwriting any files of the same name:
- IMPORT A:\*.* -MO

A0>export

++ EXPORT vers 1.14 by Simeon Cran. ++

A MYZ80 utility to export files from CP/M to DOS.
Syntax: EXPORT [path\]afn [-o]
- where "path\" is an optional DOS path specification for the DOS destination,
"afn" is the ambiguous filename of the file or files to export and
"o" is an optional flag: M=Delete the original CP/M file.
O=Overwrite any DOS files of the same name.

......EXAMPLES..............................................................

Export a file called SIMEON.TXT from the current CP/M drive and user area to
the current DOS directory:
- EXPORT SIMEON.TXT

Export all files with a tail of .Z80 from the current drive and user area
to a DOS directory called \Z80\MYZ80:
- EXPORT \Z80\MYZ80\*.Z80

Export the file ZFILER.CMD to a directory called \ZSYSTEM overwriting any
existing file called ZFILER.CMD:
- EXPORT \ZSYSTEM\ZFILER.CMD -O

Move all the files from the the current CP/M drive and user area to the
root directory of the A: floppy disk, overwriting existing files:
- EXPORT A:\*.* -MO

A0>shrink

++ SHRINK vers 1.20 by Simeon Cran. ++

MYZ80 utility to shrink disk files to their minimum size.

Syntax: SHRINK d:
- where "d" is the letter of the drive you wish to shrink (A:, B: or C:).

......EXAMPLES..............................................................

Shrink disk A:
- SHRINK A:

Shrink disk B:
- SHRINK B:

Shrink disk C:
- SHRINK C:

A0>key

++ KEY vers 1.15 by Simeon Cran. ++

A MYZ80 utility to load and save the keyboard definitions.

Syntax: KEY ufn [-o]
- where "ufn" is the name of a MYZ80 Key Definition File on A0: or
inside KEY.LBR on A0: (NB Key Definition Files have a .KEY tail),
or "LIST" to list the available definitions.

"o" is an optional flag: S=Save definitions to a file.
M=Maintenance on existing .KEY file.

Syntax: KEY CLEAR
- where "CLEAR" causes the current transient definitions to be cleared.

......EXAMPLES..............................................................

Load the key definitions from a file called EDIT.KEY on A0: or in KEY.LBR
- KEY EDIT

Save the current definitions to a file called ZFILER.KEY
- KEY ZFILER -S

Perform maintenance on the file GAMES.KEY on A0:
- KEY GAMES -M

A0>slowdisp

++ SLOWDISP vers 1.02 by Simeon Cran. ++

A MYZ80 utility to slow down the display of characters on the screen.

Syntax: SLOWDISP arg
- where "arg" is a number from 0-9 which determines how slow the
display will be. A value of 0 restores the display to normal
speed again.

......EXAMPLES..............................................................

Slow down the display to make a game play at a reasonable speed.
- SLOWDISP 4

Restore the display speed to normal.
- SLOWDISP 0

A0>terminal

++ TERMINAL vers 1.11 by Simeon Cran. ++

A MYZ80 utility to change the current terminal emulation.

Syntax: TERMINAL name para=val para=val
- where "name" is the name of a MYZ80 terminal, "LIST" to list terminals,
or "SHOW" to show the current terminal settings.
"para" is a parameter (LINES or WRAP) and
"val" is the value for that parameter.

*LINES val is 1-25, WRAP val is ON or OFF*

*CP/M 3.0 and ZCPR 3.3+ system values are automatically set*

......EXAMPLES..............................................................

Change to the VT52 emulation
- TERMINAL VT52

Change the number of screen lines to 24
- TERMINAL LINES=24

Turn line-wrap off
- TERMINAL WRAP=OFF

Change to the default MYZ80 terminal with 24 lines and wrap off
- TERMINAL MYZ80 LINES=24 WRAP=OFF

List available terminal emulation choices
- TERMINAL LIST

Display current terminal emulation settings
- TERMINAL SHOW

Looking at the directory again, HELLO.TXT is the introductory text file which you will already have seen, and MYZ80GO.COM is the file that runs it. (Type MYZ80GO at the prompt). COLDBOOT.COM will reboot MYZ80, COLOUR.COM enables MYZ80 to be rendered in glorious technicolour and flashing lights-ugh, and QUIT.COM dumps you back into PC-land.

IMPORT.COM is probably the utility which will prove of most use, as it enables files to be imported into MYZ80. I'll need to come back to this as I've got some experimenting to do, but I have used it successfully in conjunction with EXPORT.COM to transfer files between MYZ80 and the PC's floppy drive. If you go back and read the notes on EXPORT.COM all should be clear. This is the relevant bit

Move all the files from the the current CP/M drive and user area to the
root directory of the A: floppy disk, overwriting existing files:
EXPORT A:\*.* -MO

So I typed in:-

A0> export A:\ *.* -mo, pressed [Return] and was rewarded by the sound of the floppy drive as it transferred all the files in A0: to the floppy. Unfortunately I hadn't read the destructions properly and when I dir'd A0: it came up with "NO FILES"; the -mo switch erases all the files on A0: However, all the files were on the floppy. I was stumped then because I needed IMPORT.COM on A0: to get the files back. It can probably be done, but I simple reinstalled MYZ80 and had another go. This time I moved the current drive to B0: (A0>B: [Return]) and this time typed

B0>import A:\ *.* without using -mo the result was to copy the files from the floppy to B0: but leaving the files on the floppy intact. Good!

I've done a lot of other odds and ends, but I'll leave it at that for the moment. Have a go at trying out some of the other utilities, such as TERMINAL.COM I found this easy to use. The PCW terminal is VT52 but the prompt doesn't change to look like that of a PCW.

Ron King

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