This feature is a collection of longer contributions which cover the areas of !BOOT files, function keys, the Master 128 and the ADFS.

The contributors are:

1) Roger Cawkwell

- Suggestions for the !BOOT file

2) Andy Gillanders

- Ideas for Master 128 users

3) Frances Wymans

- Loading music files using ADFS

- Using directories and !BOOT files with ADFS

Suggestions for the !BOOT file

Roger Cawkwell

Losing a valuable program by hitting "SAVE (f8) instead of "LOAD (f9) (my finger slipped!) inspired me to rewrite the !BOOT file so that there was no chance of this happening again.

After some struggles in what was then unfamiliar territory, I found out (by asking someone, actually) how to include " (the double quote character) in function key definitions and started to write my own !BOOT files. (For more information on function keys see the BBC Micro User Guide, p.22).

When you use the !BOOT file provided on the Studio 5000 Issue Disc it INSTALLs the PREPARE module which, among other things, loads the red function keys with definitions corresponding to the key strip in the Installation Guide

The PREPARE module defines Key 8 as:

*KEY8|"SAVE|M

and it is the |M in the string which lost me my program, as it tells AMPLE that RETURN has been pressed. We need a chance to see and correct our mistakes before they're executed.

The simplest way of avoiding this happening is to type:

*KEY 8 " ""SAVE "

(the spaces are optional) whilst in command mode. The long row of quote marks is necessary because if you type only:

*KEY 8 "SAVE

the BBC's Operating System interprets the first double quote character as the start of a string containing the key definition and assumes that a closing double quote is missing. This causes a "Bad string" error message.

The two outer quotes, therefore, delimit the string and the pair of quotes immediately to the left of SAVE represent a lone " inside the string. Although this is simple enough, you would have to repeat it each time you !BOOTed up the Studio 5000 disc as this would restore the old key 8 definition.

A neater solution is to rewrite the !BOOT file including a few extra lines after PREPARE which will immediately redefine any keys you wish.

If the mere thought of this fills you with horror, never fear, I found it just as horrendous at first.

If you've never done it before, have a look at your current !BOOT file by typing *LIST !BOOT (with the Issue Disc in the drive!).

You should see something like this:

0001 *BASIC

0002 */C.PREPARE R S K

0003 *FX 202,48

0004 *FX 118

0005 *AMPLE

0006 % Release 2

0007 "M." MPREFIX

0008 "INT" INSTALL

0009 "M5" INSTALL

0010 "EW" INSTALL

0011 "MENU" INSTALL

0012 "FX1A" INSTALL

0013 "INS1" INSTALL

0014 MAIN

If you have the Acorn DFS, new !BOOT files are made with *BUILD (see Acorn DFS User Guide page 30). If you have another DFS, read this through and I'm sure you'll be able to adapt the idea. With the *LISTed !BOOT still on the screen type:

*BUILD !BOOT

*BUILD supplies the line numbers, so just use the cursor and RETURN keys to copy the file, adding lines with your own definitions immediately after the PREPARE line. After pressing RETURN for the last line press ESCAPE and your new !BOOT will be put on the disc.

One possible source of confusion is that the two !BOOT files, old and new, will be numbered differently, though a little concentration will ensure a successful outcome.

For the faint-hearted, let's go over that in a little more detail.

The lines in which we are interested come near the beginning of the file:

0002 */C.PREPARE R S K

0003 *FX 202,48

When you get to line 0003, instead of copying the FX instruction type your own key definition(s), one per line, and then resume copying from the old line 0003. This and all subsequent lines will now have higher numbers in your new !BOOT file. Not all that confusing, is it?

Assuming you've changed key 7 ("LOAD) as well as key 8 ("SAVE), your new file will look like:

0002 */C.PREPARE R S K

0003 *KEY 7 " ""LOAD "

0004 *KEY 8 " ""SAVE "

0005 *FX 202,48 etc.

This means that when you press f8 in future, "SAVE will be printed at the cursor leaving you to press RETURN. Or maybe you'll hastily press ESCAPE because what you really meant was "LOAD.

Summary

· Type: *LIST !BOOT

· Type: *BUILD !BOOT

· Copy file with cursor keys

· Add new definitions after PREPARE

· When the new !BOOT is complete press ESCAPE and the DFS will save it.

Happy BOOTing!

Editor's note: An alternative method for getting the double quote character into function key definitions is by use of the | (vertical bar) character.

The vertical bar is normally used to allow control codes (0 to 31) to be represented in a function key definition (for example the |M to represent the RETURN key - ASCII code 13 - mentioned above). A list of the characters used to produce each of the control codes can be found on page 507 of the BBC Micro User Guide.

However, some characters placed after the vertical bar character do not have a control code function. In these cases the vertical bar has no effect and the following character is treated normally. One such character is the double quote so the |" combination produces the same effect as " alone.

One side-effect of the vertical bar, however, is to let the Operating System know that the key definition has begun. This means that the following double quote character will be treated as part of the definition not as a string delimiter marking the start of it.

Making use of this means that the key definition described above:

*KEY 8 " ""SAVE "

could be entered as:

*KEY 8 |"SAVE

(the spaces being optional in both cases).

Some ideas for Master 128 users

Andy Gillanders

Instrument files

The ADFS is well suited for use with the Music 5000 because of the large number of files needed; particularly for all the instruments that have been designed and/or collected.

I find the best way to organise all the instruments is to keep them in a separate directory - say 'INST1'. Since it is very slow to have to keep *EXECing each individual file in, only to find it is not the one wanted after all, I have found that it saves time to create a large file using a word processor with 12 instruments in each. It is tempting to have more instruments but twelve is a useful number since when using MIX, if there are more than 10 lines of instruments available when selecting with SHIFT, then the top few will scroll off the screen and therefore cannot be selected.

I find it useful to collect similar types of instruments together and I conventionally name the resulting file '12bass', '12drums', or '12guitar1' as appropriate.

Having *EXECed such a file into my program, tried the instruments and selected the one(s) I want, I then need to get rid of the rest. I find it easier to *EXEC another file which deletes all of those instruments automatically (say filename 'N12bass') and then *EXEC back in the instrument I wish to keep in the normal way.

Thus the directory INST1 will probably hold 36 individual instrument files, 3 '12xxxxxxx' compilation files and 3 compilation delete files 'N12xxxxxx'. The file which deletes the instruments merely holds the instrument name followed by DELETE. For example:

"strbass" DELETE

"flangbass" DELETE

... etc.

COMPACT

Obviously, this idea is easily extended to any collection of AMPLE words that you often *EXEC in and make a selection from.

EXEC files

Remember that if you create a EXEC file using *SPOOL with a Master, it automatically creates a file with an execute address of &FFFFFFFF which will then allow you to *EXEC that file in by typing '*filename' instead of the full command '*EXEC filename'.

For those of you with ACP'S excellent Advanced Disc Toolkit ROM, you can keep all the EXEC files in one directory and use *MENU. Any file selected will automatically be *EXECed provided that the execute address is either 00000000 or &FFFFFFFF. Even if it is not (because the file was created with VIEW for example) then you can reset the execute address to &FFFFFFFF with:

*SETADR filename 0 FFFFFFFF

This technique used with ADT will greatly speed up your music development - especially if you keep your files organised well!

Description files

It is useful to keep a file in each directory describing the contents and functions of the other files. This file can be displayed at any time using the techniques described above or by '*TYPE filename'.

If you wish to display a description file by *EXECing it (as described above), it can be created using a wordprocessor (or Notepad) as normal. But remember to prefix each line with a '%' before saving, otherwise error messages will be given when *EXECed into AMPLE.

If you are using VIEW, remember to turn off right justification since the justifying, 'soft', spaces will be interpreted as VDU 26 (restore default windows). When *PRINTed these cause the cursor to keep returning to the top left-hand corner of the screen and when *TYPEd these 'soft' spaces will be replaced by '|Z' making the text impossible to read.

Using *PRINT has advantages - inserted VDU and teletext codes will be printed on the screen properly and so they will increase the readability of your text. However, to *PRINT properly there must be CR/LF pair at the end of each line which is not provided by VIEW. The best way to ensure that the text file has CR/LF and to insert other control codes is to use the system editor - *EDIT.

In EDIT, if you select the option Shift-f0 to display RETURNs then each line should have a reverse field J and M at either the beginning or end. If not - it is probably the Js that are missing - the quickest way to get the correct format for *PRINTing is, to get back into BASIC, then:

*SPOOL temp

*TYPE yourfilename

*SPOOL

*EDIT temp

You can now take out the additional lines at the top and end of the file put there by the *SPOOL operation. You should then have a *PRINTable file.

One annoying 'feature' of AMPLE is that it will not recognise the Ctrl-N and Ctrl-O keypresses which turn paging on and off. These may be inserted at the start and end of the text in EDIT by pressing Ctrl-N and Ctrl-O as required. Ctrl-L will clear the screen. Other codes can be used but will require a bit more thought.

Loading music files from ADFS

Frances Wymans

Assuming that you have moved your files from DFS into ADFS already, this will enable you to call up your music files from a "star" command, rather than use long involved pathways (fraught with typing errors) to load them.

First alter the existing !BOOT file as follows:

· Put the ADFS disc into drive 0 and type *MOUNT 0

This nominates the current directory as $ (the root directory)

· Type *LIST !BOOT, and the current !BOOT file will be displayed

· Type *BUILD !BOOT, and automatic numbering is displayed for each command that you type in.

· Add the following lines, BEFORE copying the existing commands:

0001 *DIR $

0002 *LIB $.LIBRARY

then continue, starting with the first lines of the original !BOOT file, to copy the rest of the original file:

0003 *BASIC

0004 */C.PREPARE R S K

...

· After the last line of instructions are inserted, and the next number comes up, press ESCAPE to write the file to disc.

· If the option is not already set to 3, type:

*OPT 4,3 <return>

Next it is necessary to create a series of EXEC files in the library. These can then be called by "star" commands. The file names must be different from any ROM calls used by the OS, as "star" calls are only offered to the library after they have been rejected by the OS and paged ROMs.

First, make the LIBRARY the current directory:

*DIR $.LIBRARY

Now, suppose that you keep your own creations in a directory called FILES in the Root directory, and your masterpiece is called SONG. You should then go through a similar routine to building a !BOOT file, but this time you in fact create an EXEC file in the LIBRARY as follows:

*BUILD SONG

0001 "$.FILES.SONG"LOAD RUN

0002 <Escape>

This is now written to disc under the name SONG, and will appear in the LIBRARY directory.

If you now !BOOT the disc in the normal way, when the main menu appears, instead of choosing the option LOAD PROGRAM, and fighting involved pathways, choose the option 'Commands', and type *SONG; the EXEC file will do the rest.

Using ADFS Directories

Frances Wymans

Having done (for a beginner with ADFS) the impossible and completely filled a double sided, 80 track ADFS disc, I decided to do a bit of file shifting. I set up three different discs, each containing one aspect of AMPLE:

MASTER JUKEBOX AMPLINEX

The MASTER disc contains all music files, instrument definitions etc., held in different directories.

The JUKEBOX disc contains the jukebox from the Studio 5000 Issue disc (the 'To the Manor Born' one), AMPLE BYTES BACK, and COSMIX. Each is held in a different directory.

The AMPLINEX disc contains a directory for each issue.

I have copied the original Studio 5000 !BOOT file on to each disc, and made a few alterations, some related to ADFS and some related to running a relevant program.

Here are the files (spooled into a wordprocessor from the original discs, so there should be no typing errors), with modifications. Comments are in angled brackets '<...>'.

MASTER

0001 *DIR $ <Only if disc not initialised at startup>

0002 *LIB $.LIBRARY <Sets library>

0003 *BASIC

0004 */C.PREPARE R S K

0005 *FX 202,48

0006 *FX 118

0007 *AMPLE

0008 % Studio 5000-4 Release 2

0009 ":0.M." MPREFIX

0010 "INT" INSTALL

0011 "M4" INSTALL

0012 "M5" INSTALL

0013 "EW" INSTALL

0014 "MENU" INSTALL

0015 "FX1A" INSTALL

0016 "INS1" INSTALL

0017 *DIR $.FILES <Sets directory for files>

0018 MAIN

The library contains a series of EXEC files (as outlined in the previous article) with calls to each of the completed pieces.

JUKEBOX

0001 *DIR $

0002 *LIB $.LIBRARY

0003 *BASIC

0004 */C.PREPARE R S K

0005 *FX 202,48

0006 *FX 118

0007 *AMPLE

0008 % Studio 5000-4 Release 2

0009 ":0.M." MPREFIX

0010 "INT" INSTALL

0011 "M4" INSTALL

0012 "M5" INSTALL

0013 "EW" INSTALL

0014 "MENU" INSTALL

0015 "FX1A" INSTALL

0016 "INS1" INSTALL

0017 *DIR BYTESBACK <Name of directory holding favourite JUKEBOX>

0018 "JUKEBOX"LOAD RUN

This automatically loads my favourite jukebox, and the library contains EXEC files calling to all other directories

AMPLINEX

0001 *DIR $

0002 *LIB $.LIBRARY

0003 *BASIC

0004 */C.PREPARE R S K

0005 *FX 202,48

0006 *FX 118

0007 *AMPLE

0008 % Studio 5000-4 Release 2

0009 ":0.M." MPREFIX

0010 "INT" INSTALL

0011 "M4" INSTALL

0012 "M5" INSTALL

0013 "EW" INSTALL

0014 "MENU" INSTALL

0015 "FX1A" INSTALL

0016 "INS1" INSTALL

0017 *LC. <This lists the EXEC files>

Below are the files in the Root directory:

>*.

$ (18)

Drive:0 Option 03 (Exec)

Dir. $ Lib. LIBRARY

!BOOT WR (18) ASEP87 DLR(14)

ANOV87 DLR(15) C DLR(04)

LIBRARY DLR(05) M DLR(03)

ASEP87 AND ANOV87 hold the contents of those issues of AMPLINEX.

Below is the library of the AMPLINEX disc:

>*LC.

LIBRARY (03)

Drive:0 Option 03 (Exec)

Dir. $ Lib. LIBRARY

SEP87 WR (02) NOV87 WR (03)

Below are the EXEC files from the LIBRARY, taking you directly into the title page of the relevant issue.

>*LIST SEP87

0001 *DIR $.ASEP87

0002 "AMPLINX"LOAD RUN

>*LIST NOV87

0001 *DIR $.ANOV87

0002 "AMPLINX"LOAD RUN