BBC KERMIT 1.42
===============
BBC Kermit version 1.42 for models B, B+, B+128 and Master 128 is now
available. The features and changes in the new release are as follows:
- The Master 128 is now fully supported, the minor incompatibilities which
existed in version 1.33 being cleared.
- ADFS is now fully supported. BBC Kermit will generate local file names of
length appropriate to the selected filing system.
- The character used when modifying non-unique names has been changed to be
a "+" as "&" is not legal under ADFS or some Econet file server systems.
- The disc based version will utilise the shadow screen on the B+, B+128 and
Master 128 and will provide a VT52 terminal emulation.
- The SET VT52 and SET VDU-WIDTH commands are removed, and a new command SET
TERMINAL introduced. This takes a parameter describing the emulation
needed, which can be one of TT40 or TT80 for teletype emulations, or VT52.
For future use, additional types of VT100, TEK, A and B are also
selectable but will not, of course, be usable (see below).
- The default terminal type will be set automatically from the machine type.
The ROM version will default to VT52 always; the RAM version will default
to VT52 on the B+, B+128 and Master 128, and to TT40 on the B.
- Files are no longer closed on entry, so that the system can be started
from auto-boot with set up commands in the !BOOT file. A new command CLOSE
alllows all open files to be closed if this is necessary. Since there are
now two commands beginning with "C", a new command "C" has been provided
as a synonym for CONNECT, so that the commonly-used abbreviation will
still work.
- The RAM version now sets OSHWM to lie above the program image, so that
commands such as *COPY will not destroy the program. The mode to be
selected on reset is changed to 7 to avoid corruption when BREAK is
pressed. Note that the change to OSHWM is not undone if, for example, a
*BASIC command is issued to leave KERMIT: the EXIT command shoud always be
used.
- CONTROL-BREAK now exits the RAM version.
- The code for sending break levels on the comms line has been changed and
should reduce or eliminate the garbling that occurred in earlier releases.
- A new command SET FILE NAME controls how file names sent by a remote
Kermit are handled. NORMAL, the default, treats them as "name.type" as
before; UNTRANSLATED uses the name exactly as sent, so it must be a legal
BBc file name.
- User vectors have been removed (no-one responded to a newsletter question
on whether this feature was used). The JSR command had been removed on the
pre-release 1.40n versions, but has been re-instated.
- A file being received from a remote Kermit is now correctly deleted if the
remote sends an EOF(D) packet.
- An ACK(X) or an ACK(Z) in response to a data packet sent by BBC Kermit is
now handled correctly.
- The system no longer forces selection of the parallel printer, so debug or
file transfer to network printer should now work. It's up to the user to
make sure he doesn't have the serial printer selected!
- OSBYTE calls with A=70 (decimal) are now used by BBC Kermit, so there may
be interactions if run in a machine with another ROM that responds to this
call.
- The bug in DFS 2.24 on the Master 128, which affects the OSFIND call to
close all files, is substantially circumvented, but the real solution to
this must be to obtain DFS2.25 or remember to use the correct release of
the CONVERT utility.
- The source is now compatible with both the ADE assembler and the free
65C02 assembler distributed with it. A question is output at the start of
an assembly to determine which is being used.
- A new command, TRANSFER, allows raw uploading of files with full flow
control to systems without Kermit.
- The Master 128 keypad is used in VT52 mode to emulate a real VT52 pad.
Version 1.42 also contains code to make use of terminal emulation in other
ROMs. The main program (both ROM and RAM versions) will make a service call
with OSBYTE 70 if the currently-selected terminal type is not one they support:
the Terminal Extension ROM may take the call and provide terminal emulation if
it wishes.
Files on the Lancaster distribution machine
-------------------------------------------
Version 1.42 is available on the Lancaster distribution machine either by FTP
or by using Kermit. The files are:
[.BBC]BBC*.ADE The assembly-language source
[.BBC]BBCROM.HEX An Intel hex dump of the sideways ROM version
[.BBC]BBCRAM.HEX An Intel hex dump of the disc based version
[.BBC]BBCDEHEX.BAS A program in BASIC to convert Intel hex to binary
[.BBC]BBCKERMIT.DOC The full User Guide
[.BBC]BBCBUILD.HLP An extract from the User Guide on how to build BBC Kermit
[.BBC]BBCASM.HEX An Intel hex dump of the Lancaster 65C02 assembler
[.BBC]BBCASM.DOC Documentation for the assembler
[.BBC]BBCPATCH.BAS A BASIC program to convert hex to binary, and also to
make changes to the default parameter tables in the code.
This program is by Dave Walker (WalkerDM@CF.MULTICS)