DZ-FIXES.DOC 29 Nov 86 This file includes a brief comparison with the previous version of DazzleStar. Since the last major issue of DazzleStar (DZ-FEB86.LBR), there have been two small sets of patches (Apr86 & Jun86). This new issue entirely supercedes those versions, and even the old files of the same names should not be mixed with the new. In some cases there are checks to warn you if a mixture is attempted, but there are other cases that will give unpredictable results, SO DON'T MIX ELEMENTS FROM DIFFERENT VERSIONS. The .DZ symbol files you may have generated with the previous version are compatible with the new one (but the reverse is not true, so don't use Feb86 once you've started creating .DZ files with the new version). DZINSTAL changes ---------------- DZINSTAL has been reworked to be more menu oriented. It should be easier for the novice to use. However, if you tell DZINSTAL that you're an expert, you gain access to a mish-mash of extra options (don't try this until you've had DazzleStar running fine for a few days and feel it's time to ruin it!). If you find your first installation difficult then I'd be grateful if you'd take the time to jot some notes describing your experiences and send them to me. I never have any trouble at all doing the installation, but there could be a good reason for that! New terminals have been added to the extensive list supported. Cross references have been added. For example, you'll find a Lear Siegler ADM terminal regardless of whether you search under 'L' or 'A', and Apple users will find a reference to 'S' for Soroc. Again, if you find difficulties during installation, it's really important to feed back to me -- I'm very well aware that difficulties during installation can be enough to make me give up trying a program. One thing that's unlikely to be fixed in DZINSTAL is its sluggish reading of terminal definitions. Since you won't instal different terminals very often (more than once?) I don't consider that a serious drawback. In case you're not certain which terminal your machine emulates, or you have to resort to typing individual screen control codes, DZINSTAL now offers you a quick check of cursor positioning and highlighting. This is under development, so don't trust it completely -- the proof of the DazzleStar pudding is in the executing (of DZ itself). But I hope it will help you spot obvious problems (like getting the column/row order the wrong way round) and test your ideas more quickly than before. I had expected to extend DZINSTAL to be able to look at your configured copy of VDE, Turbo Paslog, dBase 72 or whatever, and figure out how to drive your screen by itself. However, there seems so little interest in this idea that I've not yet pursued it. DZ changes ---------- The old BA and SA commands have been dropped. Instead there's a new SA command, more interactive than before. If you're prepared to put in some work to get a thorough disassembly, the new SA is well worth a try (I've been using it myself for several months -- if you can show me something better I'll get quite excited!). It even lets you handle calls followed by inline parameters (see the new family of P commands). Support has been included for reading .BRK files from Ken Gielow's Z80DIS21. Try the KG command (untested). Ken, if you're reading this -- did you ever get my airmail letter? I no longer have any reason for this command, so it will be dropped in the next version unless I get requests. The .PHASE directive (the BO command) is now supported as fully as possible. Multiple .PHASEs are permitted, and the code can even be shuffled. Of course, two chunks of code in the same place are a headache -- the chunk that is later in the file becomes hidden. To avoid making DazzleStar too gross, .PHASEs cannot be deleted (if you need to do this, exit and use your favorite text editor on the .DZ file). The format of the .DZ file is slightly different for BO inform- ation. However, the old format is also recognized. Support for the old format will probably be dropped in future. SY now only removes fake symbols. Anything more seems too dangerous. BY removes redundant breaks (useful after SA sessions). BY is incredibly slow, but speeding it up would make DazzleStar fatter. Internally there are many changes. In particular, the symbol table, which used to be searched linearly, is now searched using binary chop. Screen display is much faster as a result. Probable bugs ------------- Minor comments (command /) are still in much the same state as they were in Feb86. You may find entering such comments causes the screen to be updated as if a symbol or break has disappeared. Almost certainly nothing is lost. Try forcing a redisplay of the screen (e.g. QE0). During testing I even found rare situations where the symbol table got out of order, and only KX, restarting, and KR got things back again (KR reads a .DZ file without needing the addresses to be in any order). But I think I've fixed this (however, the circumstances are complicated, so it's hard to be sure I've caught them all). Regions of words, triples or quads, used to be displayed as garbage if you didn't start the screen on the "right" address. DazzleStar is now smarter, and backs up a few bytes in these situations. However, I once saw something which looked as though this was being done elsewhere, perhaps just after displaying a region of triples. Much as I dislike sending out something with known or suspected bugs, these don't seem serious enough to justify delaying this release. There shouldn't be any circumstances where you get a little message "Error" followed by a letter and four hex digits. If it happens, I'd like to know. Commodore C-128 --------------- Many thanks to Chris Bailey (a visitor to England from Texas) for his help in confirming that a pre-release of these versions of DZINSTAL and DZ run on his C-128. And no thanks whatsoever to John Collins of Commodore who volunteered to do this checkout, took away a couple of my disks and refuses to give them back despite dozens of calls. Distribution ------------ If this version is now more than a year old, try looking for a later version. Regrettably I can't force the withdrawal of out of date versions. BULLETIN BOARDS: Going on past experience, many bulletin boards will carry future versions of DazzleStar. The first are likely to be: Northern England: MBBS Leconfield, sysop Martin Taylor, 0401 50745 300 & 1200/75 baud. In my (admittedly limited) survey of UK boards, this one strikes me as the best I've found for "techies", with a sysop who doesn't offer bullshit on the rare occasions when he's stumped for an answer. Many thanks, Martin. Southern England: London West, sysop John Bolton, 0895 420164 300 & 1200/75 North America: MWUG-1, Winnipeg, sysop Terry Smythe, (204) 832-4593 Thanks again for all the megabytes, Terry! Australia: No details yet, but this month I had a phone call from someone in Salisbury Heights with a really ancient DazzleStar. I hope this will soon lead to contact with an Aussie sysop. Ireland: I suspect the Irish have too much sense to run bulletin boards (phone bills there come in units of crocks of gold). My Irish friend Rory O'Farrell has been a DazzleStar guinea pig since the start, and unstinting with his time and ideas. If you're one of the many acquainted with Rory, I recommend you carry a disk in your knapsack when passing his front door in Co. Wicklow. Off-Earth: No contacts with alien sysops yet made. Does this mean the Zilog instruction set is not galactic state-of-the-art? DISKS: Disks can be obtained in almost any format from: PD SIG, 138 Holtye Rd, East Grinstead, Sussex RH19 3EA Telephone 0342 313883 Rod Smith and his mates at PD Sig are offering excellent service at modest prices (once you've bitten the annual subscription bullet). Several correspondents have suggested I submit DazzleStar to the library of the UK CP/M User's Group. The group has a wide selection of software and a volunteer librarian who does a sterling job copying to many different formats, turning around orders efficiently. I tried submitting a program to this library in 1985. After more than six months it was still not released, so I asked for it to be withdrawn (by then I'd brought out another version). Perhaps I was unlucky, but once bitten, twice shy. I'd be glad to hear better news, and reconsider. Their magazine is a delight, and so much in it I find my bath-water is stone cold as I turn the final page. Thoroughly recommended.