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North Star System Software Manual •'•i ' NorthSlorCompulerslnc. 2547 Ninth Street Berkeley, Co. 94710 North Star System Software Manual Copyright© 1979, North Star Computers, Inc. SOFT-DOC Revision 2.1 25013 PREFACE This manual describes all the system software that is included with a North Star HORIZON computer or Micro Disk System. Use of the North Star Disk Operating System (DOS), Monitor, and BASIC are described in three of the major sections of this manual. The first major section, GETTING STARTED, describes the initial procedure required to begin using the North Star software. The table of contents for all the major sections of this manual follows this preface. Two indexes for the BASIC section appear at the very end of the manual. If you receive errata sheets for this manual, be sure to incorporate all the corrections into the manual, or attach the errata sheets to the manual. This manual applies to North Star system software diskettes stamped "RELEASE 5" or "RELEASE 5.X" where X is a digit indicating the update number. If you are working with earlier releases of North Star software, you should order a copy of the most recent release to take full advantage of all the features described in this manual. This manual covers both single-density and double-density versions of the North Star software. Differences between single- and double- density versions are noted in the text. Other software available for your North Star system is not described here. For example, North Star Pascal and the North Star Software Exchange diskettes are not described here. Consult a North Star Catalog, Newsletter, or your local computer dealer for up-to-date descriptions of available North Star software. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the material presented here. Nevertheless, experience shows that some textual errors always go undetected. If you find any errors, or have some suggestions on how to improve this manual, please contact North Star at the following address: NORTH STAR COMPUTERS, INC. ATTN SOFTWARE DOCUMENTATION 2547 NINTH STREET BERKELEY CA 94710 - NORTH STAR SYSTEM SOFTWARE MANUAL - TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 I. GETTING STARTED INTRODUCTION A. DISK DRIVES AND DISKETTES B. LIST OF SYSTEM SOFTWARE PROGRAMS /" C. RAM ALLOCATION / D. PERSONALIZING THE DOS FOR INPUT/OUTPUT / E. SYSTEM START-UP F. PERSONALIZING A NEW DISKETTE FROM AND OLD DISKETTE G. INSTALLING THE INPUT/OUTPUT ROUTINES H. HORIZON PERSONALIZED INPUT/OUTPUT ROUTINES I. CREATING THE WORKING DISKETTE J. HARDWARE TESTING II. THE NORTH STAR DISK OPERATING SYSTEM (DOS) INTRODUCTION A. ABOUT FILES B. COMMANDS C. SYSTEM START-UP D. DISK ERRORS E. DOS LIBRARY ROUTINES F. ADDITIONAL DOS PERSONALIZATION G. DOS ENTRY POINTS AND FLAGS H. UTILITIES DT (DISK TEST) CF (COPY FILE) CD (COPY DISK) CO (COMPACT) III. THE NORTH STAR MONITOR INTRODUCTION A. COMMAND FORMAT B. COMMANDS C. HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS D. PERSONALIZING THE MONITOR E. EXAMPLE - TABLE OF CONTENTS - TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) IV. THE NORTH STAR BASIC SYSTEM A. INTRODUCTION B. BECOMING FAMILIAR WITH BASIC 1 . LOADING BASIC B-l 2. COMMUNICATING WITH BASIC B-2 3. ENTERING A BASIC PROGRAM B-6 4 . SOME BASIC CONCEPTS B-9 C. COMMANDS 1. PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE LIST C-l DEL C-2 SCR C-3 REN C-4 AUTO C-6 2. PROGRAM MAINTENANCE ON DISK CAT C-7 SAVE C-8 NSAVE C-9 LOAD C-10 APPEND C-ll 3. EXECUTION CONTROL RUN C-l 2 CONTROL-C, THE PANIC BUTTON C-13 CONT C-15 4. MISCELLANEOUS COMMANDS PSIZE C-16 MEMSET C-17 LINE (STATEMENT) C-18 BYE C-20 D. USING NUMBERS E. USING ARRAYS F. USING STRINGS G. THREE IMPORTANT STATEMENTS DIM G-l REM G-3 LET G-4 H. INPUT AND OUTPUT 1. STATEMENT: PRINT H-l 2. FORMATTED PRINTING H-3 3. STATEMENT: INPUT H-9 STATEMENT: INPUT1 H-ll 4. MULTIPLE I/O DEVICES H-12 - TABLE OF CONTENTS - TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) IV. THE NORTH STAR BASIC SYSTEM (Continued) I. STORING DATA WITHIN THE PROGRAM TEXT STATEMENTS: DATA 1-1 READ 1-2 RESTORE 1-4 J. PROGRAM CONTROL 1. EXECUTION AND CONTROL FLOW J-l 2. STATEMENTS: GOTO J-2 IF ... THEN ... ELSE J-3 ON ... GOTO J-4 STOP J-5 END J-6 3. THE FOR-NEXT LOOP DISCUSSION J-7 STATEMENTS: FOR J-12 NEXT J-13 EXIT J-14 4. SUBROUTINES DISCUSSION J-15 STATEMENTS: GOSUB J-17 RETURN J-18 K. FUNCTIONS 1. DISCUSSION BUILT-IN FUNCTIONS K-l USER-FUNCTIONS K-8 2. STATEMENTS: DBF K-12 RETURN K-l 3 FNEND K-l 4 L. DATA FILES 1. DISCUSSION L-l 2. STATEMENTS: CREATE L-10 DESTROY L-ll OPEN L-l 2 CLOSE L-13 READ! L-l 4 WRITE! L-16 - TABLE OF CONTENTS - TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) IV. THE NORTH STAR BASIC SYSTEM (Continued) M. ADVANCED FEATURES 1. TWO ADVANCED STATEMENTS FILL M-l OUT M-3 2. MACHINE LANGUAGE SUBROUTINES M-4 3. AUTOMATIC PROGRAM SEQUENCING M-6 DISCUSSION M-6 STATEMENT: CHAIN M-8 4. ERROR TRAPPING AND RECOVERY DISCUSSION M-9 STATEMENT: ERRSET M-ll 5 . THE LINE EDITOR M-13 N. COMPATIBILITY WITH OTHER BASICS 1. STRING HANDLING N-l 2 . INPUT TRANSLATION N- 2 3. NORTH STAR'S BCD ARITHMETIC N-2 4. IF ... THEN EVALUATION N-3 0. MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS 1. SPECIAL ENTRY POINTS 0-1 2. PERSONALIZING BASIC 0-2 3. NON-STANDARD VERSIONS OF BASIC 0-12 APPENDICES: ' 1. SAMPLE PROGRAMS 2. ERROR MESSAGES 3. IMPLEMENTATION NOTES 4. DECIMAL-HEX-BINARY-ASCII CONVERSION TABLE 5. BASIC TOPICS INDEX 6. BASIC KEYWORD INDEX - TABLE OF CONTENTS - GETTING STARTED INTRODUCTION This part of the manual provides the information and procedures required to make initial use of the North Star system software. This material should be referenced at any of the following times: A. You are about to use an assembled HORIZON computer or MICRO DISK System for the first time. B. You have just finished assembling and checking a HORIZON or MICRO DISK System from kit. C. You are about to use a new release system software diskette for the first time. The sections that follow provide: A. Information on the disk drives and how to use them. B. Itemization of the system software provided with North Star disk systems. C. Procedures for personalizing the DOS software to make possible input/output communication with your computer's console terminal. »- D. Procedures for testing your computer's RAM memory and disk system for correct and reliable operation. These sections should be read carefully and the specified procedures should be followed in the order given. DISK DRIVES AND DISKETTES Your North Star HORIZON or MICRO DISK System equipped computer includes capability for storing large amounts of data and program information on "floppy" diskettes. There may be up to four floppy disk drives connected to your computer through one disk controller board (only three drives for single density controllers). Looking at the front of a disk drive, you will see a small red LED indicator lamp, a slot running through the center of the face, and hinged door at the center, perpendicular to the slot. When the door is closed, no diskette may be inserted into the disk drive. Opening the door permits the withdrawal of the diskette and insertion, through the slot, of another diskette. When the LED light is on, it indicates that that drive is active. The disk system incorporates an automatic shut off feature which will turn off the drive motor(s) when not in use to save wear on both diskettes and disk drives. DESCRIPTION OF DISKETTES A diskette is a magnetically coated, thin plastic disk which is permanently sealed within a square protective jacket. The label on the jacket should be in the upper left corner as you are looking at the diskette. There are three holes in the front face of the jacket. The large hole in the middle allows the disk drive spindle to clamp directly onto the diskette in order to spin it around. Data is stored onto and retrieved from diskette much as with a phonograph record, except that, for a diskette, the needle is a magnetic record/playback head. The small, round hole to the lower right of the diskette is called the sector detect hole and is of no importance to this discussion. The large oblong hole at the bottom and the corresponding hole on the flip side expose the diskette's magnetic surface for the record/playback heads. The little square notch in the upper right corner of the diskette is a write protect notch. If you cover this notch with an adhesive tab, then the disk drive will be inhibited from writing over the information stored on the diskette. It will be read-only until the write protect tab is removed at which time both reading and writing of the diskette will be possible. INSERTION OF DISKETTES When you insert the diskette into the disk drive, be sure that you are holding the label edge of the diskette, and that it slides all the way in, oblong hole first, with the label facing away from the drive's LED indicator. In a HORIZON, the write protect notch should be at the top. In a horizontally oriented disk drive the notch should be at the left. After the diskette is inserted, make sure the door on the drive is locked into the closed position before you attempt to use the diskette. - GETTING STARTED - A-l DISK DRIVES AND DISKETTES (Continued) CARE OF DISKETTES Diskettes are delicate and should be handled with great care. Always observe the following rules in the handling and storing of diskettes.
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