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Amperdos v1.0
(c) 1999 Kandi's Kreations
{Intro}
Welcome to Amperdos. A replacement for Basic.system. While Amperdos may
not give you all the functionality of Basic.system it will give you some
functionality that Basic.system doesn't offer.
I created Amperdos because I wanted a basic environment that supported
128k. I never had the time before and/or the resources to do all this. Then
came the internet and access to some Apple ][ info which I previously did not
have. After I found the program RDOS for P8 and found the archives of Beagle
Brothers programs I had the tools I needed.
Many thanks to MM McFadden for RDOS. More thanks to the great programmers
at Beagle Bros for creating such great programs and releasing them as freeware!
Amperdos is basically a HACK! I did not create a whole new program but
modified RDOS to meet my needs. The source for Amperdos has changed so much
that it barely resembles the original but there is still a lot of the RDOS
code in there. Unfortunately, this makes the code somewhat ugly. It really
needs to be cleaned up more or even re-written. Due to the complexity of this
task I have not undertaken it yet. So please don't laugh at the mess!
Notes:
I patched Extra K to work with Amperdos then converted it to a text
file to be assembled into the source. This allows a single system file to
be used on stand alone programs. Credit to Beagle Brothers is displayed at
startup. Your STARTBASIC program should give adequate pause to display this
credit.
I also patched the program editor from the Program Writer series. I wanted
to use the LC version but it conflicted with Extra K. So we're stuck with the
standard version. This is not a problem since Amperdos programs can easily be
chained together and there is still approximately 27k free while editing. The
editor is not needed during program runs and stand alone applications so you
may use this memory (with care) if needed for things like machine language
code. The editor has it's own jmp vector and is patched to use it. It won't
work under Basic.System because of this.
Amperdos runs strictly by using the ampersand vector! You must remember
this if you add other ampersand utilities. Most binaries of ampersand utilities
will disconnect Amperdos. You can get around this by patching the utility to
use the external vector in amperdos. See the source code. If you have the
source for these utilities you should modify them to chain the Amperdos vector
ie: store the address in Amperdos at a jmp location in your code then place
your M/L address in the Amperdos extra vector.
Amperdos was designed to allow external routines by using character tokens
to define the type of function desired. This allows a programmer to use other
Applesoft tokens in their m/l code. This makes the basic code look a little
cryptic but allows for greater flexibility with other utilities. It also allows
me to use the same tokens for different functions if needed.
For example:
AMPERDOS uses
&=list - catalog current path
YOUR CODE uses
&list - whatever desired
Thanks to the = token you can use the list token for whatever you want.
Currently Amperdos only uses the = token and the ^ token. This may change
later. If so I will try to use the ~ token or some other punctuation
character.
There are both advantages and disadvantages to using Amperdos:
The disadvantages include: (but may not be limited to)
Hardware requirements. Amperdos will not run on all Apples.
Basic.system has some functionality which is not
included or difficult to implement in Amperdos.
Currently Amperdos reads text files one character at a time.
This is a bit slow but I haven't taken the time to change the
original code yet.
Variables are stored in aux memory. This makes it a bit harder
to code some m/l routines which access variables. There are
simple ROM routines which can access them - see source code.
Extra K doesn't clear the string space in the aux language card
area. Normally this should not be a problem but you may need to
keep this in mind. This is mainly important with garbage collection.
Extra K does garbage collection itself!
P8 functions require the filename be a quoted string or string
variable. You get used to this though. This follows the Applesoft
standards. If the quoted string is at the end of the line or the
last command on the input line you can leave the trailing quote
off.
Has limited error checking. I am working on this but it may require
the code to be rewritten. It does have some trapping but I can't remember
what all it is at the moment.
The advantages include: (but not limited to)
Fast and simple program chaining. Simply &=run"nextprogram"
all variables are passed intact! Note: The Applesoft RUN
command will clear variables as expected!
No character scanning like Dos 3.3 and Basic.system. This results
in faster execution.
Load your program wherever you want from $2000 to himem just by
including the address in the run command. This could be useful
for graphics programming. Himem is currently $B000 without the
AMPED program loaded. You should probably check it if you need
to load programs that high in memory.
Uses it's own filetype code. It is listed as AMP in Amperdos but
it really is the BA3 filetype. I used this one because I have never
seen a BA3 file in a P8 disk directory. They may exist but aren't
common.
It will load (but not save or run) BAS files. This allows for converting
Basic.System programs.
Has functions to simplify screen access. I hope to add more.
Defaults to 80 column. Most of the time this is what you want. It will
also run in the extended 40 column mode which may be neccessary for
graphics programs on standard composite monitors.
Screen functions follow the VTAB/HTAB standard of screen locations. IE:
1..24 x 1..80. This allows you to do something like the following code
and get the results you expect.
10 vt=10:ht=50
20 &^tab(vt,ht)
30 print "HI";:htab ht+5:print "THERE"
Has a simple popup screen window to overlay a warning or such without
damaging the screen when removed. See DEMO1 and DEMO2
Lots of free memory. About 60k for variables. See DEMO1.
Is copyright by me but you may use it however you like!
{Required Hardware}
An Apple ][ with a 65c02 processor and 128k memory
An 80 column card in slot 3
or an Apple emulator which meets these specifications
I like ApplePc 2.52 for MSDOS. But beware. It has a bug
in the keyboard code and sometimes gives the wrong key.
(This doesn't seem to be happening as frequently on my
Pentium II system. May be an old BIOS bug?)
I like Apple Oasis for Windows. This program is shareware
but offers the most configurability. It also offers the
best support for printing since it uses the Windows printer!
It does not have the best graphics output due to Windows but
the text screen is great and you can even change the screen
colors. I use white text on a blue background.
I like KEGS (Apple //gs) emulator for Linux. This is actually
my favorite emulator. But I like Linux too so I might be a
bit biased. Kent still supports this program and has done
an excellent job on //gs emulation.
{MORE NOTES}
I should probably add more documentation. If you are an Applesoft
programmer. You have a good idea of how to use it. If you develop something
useful with it please send me a copy. I am an avid Apple user and fan!
Hopefully I will have a web site online someday to help Apple users around
the world. Until then you should be able to EMAIL BluPhoenyx@aol.com.
{CURRENT FUNCTIONS}