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- Enter pop-downs or applications.
- Check whether the external cards have been recognised.
- Start PipeDream (or BBC BASIC) with a new, blank, document (or program).
- Obtain a list of all the suspended activities you have in the Cambridge Z88, and remove activities you no longer need.
- Insert and remove RAM, ROM, EPROM or FLASH cards, as explained in Section One - Getting started,
- Central point for information of the Z88 OZ 4.5 system.
- Run Install or Remove an Application in RAM, rather than using a Flash or EPROM card (Refer to Appendix J - Installing an application).
The Index screen
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To re-enter a suspended activity, select it by moving the highlighting bar across with the cursor keys, and then press the key. Alternatively, pressing
P or
B repeatedly will enter each PipeDream or BBC BASIC activity in turn.
Run Application in RAM
Originally written to enable programmers to develop their software this facility may be used by users without having to blow the image into a Flash or EPROM card.
There are two types of files used. The application information file (extension .APP) and the binary images of the application's banks (extensions from .AP0 to .AP7). These files are normally supplied together so that the user need not get involved with the technical aspect of creating the .app file.
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At first sight, using RAM for applications may look attractive but users need to note that all files and applications stored in RAM can be lost quickly. Just as it is important to Backup RAM files, applications running in RAM can also be lost quickly. For critical applications, using EPROMs and Flash cards are preferable. Data or applications stored on them will still be there after a HARD reset or after the batteries have gone flat. |
Creating the .app file
The bank image files are the easiest to create. Each file contains a binary image of the appropriate bank. Bank 63 ($3F) is held in the file with extension .AP0, bank 62 in .AP1 etc, up to file .AP7 which contains bank 56 ($38).
At their simplest, these files are 16K images of the bank contents. However, if you do not use the entire bank, then any contiguous area can be used, as the offset from the bank start and the length of the area are specified in the .APP file. This saves space, and is also extremely helpful during development work; you can simply re-assemble your application and rename the .BIN file to .AP0 (or whatever), and you're ready to re-install it!
APPmaker
This BBC BASIC program was written by Garry Lancaster for his Installer application and provides a quick and easy way to create .APP files for applications. Run this program, enter the name of the application (without an extension) and fill in the details requested.
After entering the number of banks in your application, and entering zero for the number of patches, you are asked for the first DOR address and bank. If you have included a ROM Front DOR in your top bank image, it is not necessary to specify this.
The next question is "Even bank flags?". Enter through this unless any of your application's banks will be bound to segment 0, thus requiring to be located in an even bank. If any are, calculate the byte value by setting a bit for each file requiring an even bank. For example, if the .AP1 and .AP2 files need even banks, set bits 1 and 2, giving a value of 2+4=6.
Next you are asked for the offset and length of each bank image. Simply press through these if you are using full 16K images.
Patches has not been implemented so use 0.
All .APP files are at least 40 bytes long.
I haven't had any success using this (yet).
See RAM Application Install and Removal for further details.
Menu
To enter the Menu, use the key.
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