Z TIPS: We feel conditional testing aliases and IF12 submitted by Charles
McManis (Sunnyvale, CA) so important we reproduce some of his work here for
your information. Notice technique of indenting to indicate conditional nest
level. Effective during alias design, but code is entered as one long line
when keystroking in actual alias. IF12.LBR is on Z-Nodes; extract IF12.COM and
it's ready to run after installing to your Z3 environment.
"One small modification to IF.COM allows comparing wild card characters and
ambiguous file names (AFNs). Feature adds needed flexibility to some aliases.
Change affects only fcb conditional statement: IF fcb1=fcb2, where now fcb1
and fcb2 may be AFNs and still set IF state true if a match occurs. Following
statement is thus accepted:
IF $1=*.?Q? ;NOTE sets condition TRUE if $1 is a squeezed file.
"Both fcb1 and fcb2 may contain ? and * ambiguous characters. An example of
use of this new situation is shown in following aliases that manipulate a
library containing squeezed ZCPR3 utility source files."
Alias: PUT - Store source file in SOURCES library
Usage: PUT <name> [E]
where E indicates external files are erased at completion.
Statements Comments
---------- --------
IF $1=*; Match filename with no type
IF EX $1.MAC; Check if file exists
SQ $1.MAC; Squeeze before storing
INSERT $1.MQC; Insert into library
IF $2=E; See if externals are to be erased
ERA $1.M?C; Erase squeezed/unsqueezed copies
FI;
ELSE;
ECHO $1.MAC NOT FOUND; Announce unable to find file
FI;
ELSE; Syntax reminder
ECHO PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE FILETYPE.;
FI Done
Alias: GET - Retrieve source file from SOURCES library
Usage: GET <name>
Statements Comments
---------- --------
IF $1=*; Match filename with no type
IF EX $1.MAC; Check if file exists and..
ECHO FILE EXISTS!; ..do not overwrite if it does.
ELSE;
EXTRACT $1.MQC; Get named file from library
FI;
ELSE; Syntax reminder
ECHO PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE FILETYPE.;
FI Done
Statement Comment
--------- -------
NULU -O SOURCES -Q $1 -X Extract file, unsqueeze
if necessary, then exit.
Of course, INSERT and EXTRACT could be placed directly in GET and PUT.
Advantage to having these outside (nested) is ease of change, and can be used
alone, if desired. (One day soon we will have a full editor to enter and
alter alias command text, making changes easily without having to completely
re-do.)
IF12 contains built-in help, obtained by entering command name followed
by ZCPR3 conventional double slash, //. IF12 //<cr>:
IF, Version 1.2 - Conditional Test
Syntax:
IF condition arguments -or- IF ~condition arguments
where a leading "~" negates the effect of the IF Condition
Possible IF Conditions are:
T Always TRUE
F Always FALSE
EMPTY <file list> T if Files are Empty
ERROR T if Error Flag Set
EXIST <file list> T if Files Exist
INPUT T if User Hits T, Y, CR, or SP
NULL arg T if No Arg Follows
TCAP T if ZCPR3 TCAP Available
WHEEL T if Wheel Byte Set
reg value T if Register reg = value
fcb1=fcb2 T if the Two FCB values are =
Only first 2 letters of keywords are required
The leading "~" is effective with all conditions except fcb1=fcb2
Congratulations and thanks, Charles, for upgrading IF and providing such
useful aliases--super job!
Do remember, before using Charles' aliases and new IF.COM, to disable
your resident (RCP) IF, if you have one; else use a different name, e.g.,
IF12, as upgraded COM file name and as conditional (IF12) name in Alias and
Zex files.
The above four aliases plus those we described in newsletter 109, dated 8
April 1985, demonstrate automation ease using Z System utilities. Also, Z-
Node #2 Sysop, Al Hawley, has released a file (ALIAS.FUN) showing many tricks
possible with aliases.
And Z-Team Member, Joseph Wright, wisely seeing need for less message
display from certain Z3 utilities, has produced a group of "silent" utilities
responding to QUIET.COM. These (CD, LDR, PATH, QUIET, WHEEL) are on Z-Node
Central as SILENCE.LBR and show no messages under QUIET--very useful for
secure installations and many turn-key applications.
Additional Z-Nodes coming online:
31. Richard A. Peterson - El Paso, TX - 915/755-3342
32. Allan E. Levy - Satellite Beach, FL -
33. Mark R. Evans - San Angelo, TX -
Doug Thom (San Jose, CA), Z-Node #25, wants all to know he is online now and
desires callers, lots of them. His modem number is 408/253-1306. Let him
know you appreciate his activities to support high performance 8-bit computer
developments.
EDIT by Mike Rejsa (Minneapolis, MN) is now supported by Echelon and bundled
as OS editor in our OEM packages (it's fully public domain, not copyrighted).
EDIT is adequate for short document creation and maintenance, and ideal for
use in Zex or Sub files. We supply an easy to read and learn from operator's
manual. Look for COM and summary command reference card on our Z-Nodes as
files EDIT.OBJ/CRD.
EDIT is more than 1) an editor: it's 2) a file patcher, 3) list to
printer with pagination, 4) hex dumper, 5) file size and disk status reporter,
and 6) copy file to another disk utility--in 2k-byte COM file! EDIT doesn't
generally replace WordStar, WordMaster, Mix, Vedit, etc.; nonetheless, it's
quick and doesn't use much disk space. We're using EDIT in aliases and Zex
batch files 'cause it loads so fast; try it and let us know what you think.
Apple (CP/M disk format) ZCPR3 Core, Utilities, Z3-Dot-Com and Syslib3 are
shipping. For so much patience, thanks Martin Rosenfeld, Jerry Levy, Mike
Damiani, Julio Ibarra, George Proctor, and especially, Lloyd Hogan. Also, the
gang at Hughes Aircraft get several gold stars for unusual forbearance.
Wyse Technology, our favorite peripherals company, returned a profit of 2.2
million dollars on sales of 22.3 million for last quarter. Increases of 385
and 238 percent, respectively, over similar period last year! Their
competitor, TeleVideo, didn't fair well with loss of 8 million on sales of
26.7 million--sales reduction of 38 percent and loss of .19 cents a share
compared to last year's .14 cent profit. Perhaps their new Model 955 terminal
($699.00) will put them into hunt, be what they need to get going again.
Wyse has real winners with their WY-50, 75 and 85 terminals (they've sold
nearly 200,000 of 'em), enough better to keep ahead of competition. Echelon
wishes Wyse President, Mr. Bernard Tse, and his team of spirited workers
continued good fortune! With IBM's image tarnished by PCjr production
cancellation, time is ripe (interval within the octave) for big position
gains.
EXPECTATIONS: One main advantage of microcomputers is that you control
hardware/software without having an expert intermediary (priest) doing the
work. But to be effective you must dedicate yourself to learning how to
efficiently use your machine, to have it do constructive work for you! The
two-edged knife: finding time (simply by setting priorities there's always
time) to become more than we presently are--induced magically by learning,
through self-discovery! We call everything WORK that's conscientious effort
and intentional suffering performed to improve ourselves. "There's no free
lunch!" So many think, act as if there were. What does free-lunch mean to
you?
See you down the lines...
Echelon, Inc.
101 First Street
Los Altos, CA 94022
Telephone: 415/948-3820
Z-Node Central: 415/489-9005
Trademarks: HD64180, Hitachi; Z80/800, Zilog; WY-50/75/85, Wyse; Model 955,
TeleVideo; Z-System, Z-Tools, ZCPR3, ZRDOS, Z-Com, Zas, Zlink, DSD, ZDM, ITOZ,
Z-Msg, Lasting-Value Software, Echelon and their respective owners and
authors; CP/M, Digital Research.
Z-News 201 is Copyright 1985 Echelon, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Permission
to reprint, wholly or partially, automatically granted if source credit is
given to Echelon.
