That sounds like a nice workflow. This ought to be in a FAQ of tips and hints for people new to the M100.
I might just try it out. I'm pretty rigorous about using *SAVE "COM:98N1ENN"*, but I have to tell my Unix box to receive the file each time (cp /dev/ttyUSB0 foo.do). And every copy I save overwrites the previous one, unlike the natural history you'll have in your log file if you find you need to go back a few revisions. One question though: why do you send at 9600 bps? I thought all Model T's could do 19,200bps. —b9 On Sat, Oct 29, 2022 at 10:26 AM MikeS <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Will, > > Too many times I've made some changes and either accidentally deleted the > file or messed it up so badly that I want to revert to the previous > version, so I've learned the hard way that it's a good idea to save the > work before making major changes. > > One way is to SAVE it locally on the M100 as a .DO file ("Foo.do" or > "Foo",A) , changing the name as appropriate; note that BASIC will save a > file as .BA by default but will LOAD a .DO file without specifying the > '.DO' or ',A' if no .BA file with the same file exists. Of course if it's a > very large file you may not have room for both the .BA and .DO files in RAM > at the same time. > > What I do if I'm close enough to a PC to easily connect or stay connected > is to open a file (e.g. "backup.txt") on the PC for ASCII text download > with a terminal program and just leave it open. > > On the M100 I've programmed F7 to 'Key 7, "COM:88N1E"', so when I want to > save the file I'm working on I press F3 to save, F7 in response to 'Save "' > and Return. It's a good idea to embed a version no. in the program and > update it every time. > > This concatenates all the saved files in one file; if you actually need to > go back then you'd have to stop the transfer, edit the file on the PC and > send it back to the M100. Of course you can open a new file on the PC every > time if you don't mind typing on the PC every time. > > To Load a .DO file from the PC, open TEXT, enter the File name, LOAD (F2) > and enter 'COM:88N1E' in response to 'Load from:'; on the PC terminal > program select Upload ASCII or whatever it's called and the file name > (which does not have to be the same as on the M100). You may not see > anything happening but the terminal program should indicate somehow when > the transfer is finished. Type a CTL-Z on the PC and the file should appear > on the M100; switch to BASIC and Load it, and Bob's your mother's brother. > > This is mainly meant for folks who want to or have to just use the M100's > built-in functions, and to show how to avoid overruns when Loading BASIC > .DO programs as in a previous post here a few days ago. > > Teeny, TS-DOS etc. certainly are very useful and in fact necessary if > you're working with .BA tokenized files or Machine language code. > > Other than my phone I'm not an Apple kind of guy, so I can't give any > Mac-specific hints. > > One other hint: to simplify switching from RUN to EDIT mode I've > programmed 'F6,"Edit"+chr$(13)' > > Not too verbose, I hope... > > m > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Will Senn <[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected] > *Sent:* Saturday, October 29, 2022 10:16 AM > *Subject:* Re: [M100] Notoriously S.L.O.W BASIC posted - help speeding it > up appreciated > > Hi Mike, > > I'm curious about the COM stuff. In a later note you said: > > It's actually sorta been fun programming on the 'real' M100; I left a > download running on the PC and every time I wanted to backup an interim > version just in case, I just pressed F3 and F7 (which I'd programmed with > the COM stats). > > and here, you say stuff about programming the function keys with > "COM:88N1E"... > > It would be nice to be able to transfer / save from BASIC and/or my > terminal on the Mac without the overhead of dl/TEENY.CO. I know enough to > be dangerous and that the keys can easily be programmed to effectively type > stuff. I'm just not clear on is how this works mechanically. Are you in > BASIC, typing away, having just fixed some bit and are ready to SAVE it > remotely, so you press F3 and voila, it just does it, or do you press F3 > and then do something to get it transferring, or what? > > I have the cables hooked up and usually, I: > 1. SAVE from BASIC to .DO or .BA > 2. Start up DL on the Mac side, if it isn't already running in my ~/m100 > directory > 3. Press F8 to get menu > 4. Select TEENY.CO > 5. Type S HEXIT .DO > 6. Watch it complete without error (so long as HEXIT.DO doesn't already > exist, I think) > > What I'm imagining happen is: > 1. SAVE from BASIC to .DO or .BA > 2. Press F3 > 3. Magically a file is sent and received on the Mac (where does it's name > come from?) > 4. Celebration > or > 1. F2 from BASIC > 2. Start sending a file (how?) from the Mac > 3. Celebration > > Just curious! > > Will > > > On 10/28/22 12:30 PM, MikeS wrote: > > > Yeah, that's a setup I used for a while, sort of a poor man's > tablet/clamshell 'convertible. ;-) No problem extending the cable to around > 2 feet. > > Never did use the disk drives very much although I did install a second > one; even today while playing with Will's dump program it's so simple to > plug in the cable to the PC, select download or upload on the PC and either > BASIC F3 (SAVE) to com: or TEXT F2 (LOAD) from com:, not to mention being > able to print on the PC and send/receive over the Internet. > > Question for the experts: I have "COM:88N1E" stored in one of the BASIC > function keys; I don't suppose there's a way to do that for TEXT? > > Back in the day IIRC the DVI and the M100 were both around $800; probably > still have the receipts somewhere; don't know what that'd be today.. > > And yes, the Model T and NEC BASICs are remarkably versatile, especially > considering the size constraints. > > Definitely unique and, I don't know, friendly in a way... > > m > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* B 9 <[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected] > *Sent:* Friday, October 28, 2022 12:39 AM > *Subject:* Re: [M100] Notoriously S.L.O.W BASIC posted - help speeding it > up appreciated > > > > On Thu, Oct 27, 2022 at 8:51 AM MikeS <[email protected]> wrote: > >> It might not be so bad on a 200 but my main annoyance is having to >> scroll up and down on the M100's 8 line screen; as a matter of fact the >> larger screen was the main reason I bought a DVI when they came out. >> > > When they came out? I wonder if they were more expensive when they were > new or now that they are rare and "vintage". Is that a picture of your > Disk/Video Interface setup? Looks nifty! > > >> For a lot of stuff in the old days I actually used GWBASIC or TBASIC to >> program on a PC; except for screen printing and graphics they're almost >> completely compatible and with a few conditional lines many programs could >> be run and tested on both the PC and the M100. >> > > There's something I didn't know! I've been surprised at how capable the > Model T's 8-bit BASIC is. Was it the last one Microsoft made? Given what I > had expected after seeing the Apple ][ and C64, it's quite a bit more > advanced. (For example, ON COM GOSUB). And I read that the NEC 8201A > version of the DVI allowed not only color graphics, but extended the BASIC > language with graphics commands that I think may be from GW-BASIC. > > >> I can understand that some folks want to relive the total experience of >> doing everything on the old hardware [...] >> > > Sure, and there's nothing wrong with reliving the past. But, that's not > me. I didn't get to experience the M100 when it was current. This is my > first time around with this technology, so part of the fun is trying to see > what it was like back then. I know, it's sort of like people who go camping > for a week to get in touch with their primitive hunter-gatherer ancestors. > Not likely to be terribly accurate, but still, it's fun. > > >> Nevertheless, for just noodling around while relaxing on the couch not >> much can beat the M100. >> > > I'm beginning to learn that! I still haven't got a true Model 100. I only > have a Tandy 200 because my neighbor was throwing it away and wondered if I > could use "an old laptop". I had no idea what it was. But, given my > experiences so far, maybe I should look into getting the real thing some > day. > > —b9 > > >
