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WARRANTY

The warranty on this product is for a period of 12 months only from purchase date. If within this time the program can be shown to be faulty, we will replace the item or refund the purchase price.

Eidersoft will not in any event be liable for any loss, including consequential loss, caused by any error, defect or failure of the program, or howsoever otherwise arising, including but not limited to loss of use, loss of stored data, loss of profit or loss of contracts.

Textbase was written by Simon Macdonald for EIDERSOFT SOFTWARE LTD.

Printed by John Knight Publicity Limited, London.

INTRODUCTION

Textbase is a general purpose text-based database program written in OPL, the programming language of the PSION ORGANISER II and has been written for people with no programming experience, and is "menu- driven" throughout making it very easy to use.

The ORGANISER II is a very powerful computer, but the built-in database facilities such as SAVE and FIND are very rudimentary and do not allow you to organise your information in a structured way. TEXTBASE allows you to do this by setting up a card-index system to collector retrieve information. You can use up to 16 separate "Fields" or questions of your own choice, and record field can have up to a total of 230 characters. This gives plenty of scope to collect information such as names and addresses, company details, work output, jobs-to- do, or anything else you might have in mind. The only limit to the number of records you can have are the size of your Datapaks.

If you have an RS232 link you can collect vast quantities of information and then transfer it to a larger computer for analysis, or you can transfer information from a larger computer back into your organiser. If you are running ARCHIVE on a Sinclair QL or with PSION's XCHANGE on an IBM- compatible PC, TEXTBASE will set out your

TEXTBASE also allows you to design and print labels from your databases. You can also read in data from a barcode reader into fields which could be very useful for libraries, bookshops or any kind of shop that sells products with baroodes. It could be ideal for reordering or stock-keeping. although you cannot perform calculations within the system.

TEXTBASE has been designed mainly for text information and if you want to use the PSION ORGANISER to collect and analyse numeric data, such as questionnaires, with up to 255 fields per record, you can do this with EIDERSOFT's NUMBASE program.

CHAPTER ONE

Getting Started

Plug in the datapak containing the program Textbase. Choose the FROG option from the main menu by pressing the "P" key. You will now be in the PROG menu. Choose RUN option by pressing the "R" key. Type in TEXTBASE, and press the MODE key until the datapak (A.,B:, or C:) is shown where the program resides, then press EXE key.

Alternatively, you can call the program from the main menu, just as you would call the diary or the calculator. When in the main menu, position the cursor where you want the new option TEXTBASE to go and press the MODE key. Then type in "TEXTBASE" and press EXE. TEXTBASE will now appear on your main menu, and will work just like all the other options.

As a general rule, use firm but quick key presses, as prolonged key presses can be interpreted as pressing the key twice. Once you have started the program, you will be greeted by the title.

****Textbase**** **by EIDERSOFT**

The program will wait for you to read the information and will then continue after you have pressed any key. Whenever information is presented the computer waits, and will only continue if you press a key.

Formats

The first question the computer asks is for the format filename. A format is a set of, or the layout of fields or questions that you want the computer to ask you when you are entering in information. So that you don't have to keep re-entering in all the questions every time you use the program, these sets of fields are stored in a format file. If this is the first time that you have used the program, or you want to create a new format, you must enter a new format filename.

The screen will display:

Format Filename  A:F

You will note that pack A: is shown followed by the letter "F". It is recommended, but not essential, that you use the letter "F" at the beginning of format filenames. This is to distinguish a format file from a data file or labels file. The two latter files are explained on pages 8 and 20. Do not use non- numeric or non-alphabetic characters such as spaces or "/" or dots. Filenames have a maximum of eight characters.

Examples of valid filenames would be:

A:FADDRESS for addresses
B:FADD1 "        "
C:FCUSTOM2 for customers

These filenames would be invalid:

A:FADD.1 A:FADDRESS 1 A:FADD/1 A:FCUSTOM,2

You can use datapaks to store your data. To do this press the MODE key, either before, or at any time while entering the filename. In our example, call the format filename A:FADDRESS, by typing in "ADDRESS" and pressing the EXE key. If there is no format file with this name on the chosen device, the computer will decide that it is a new filename and asks you whether or not you want to "Make a new format". You can reply by pressing "Y" or EXE key.

The computer asks for the first field. Lets suppose that you wanted to set up a "names and addresses" information storage/retrieval system with the following questions, headings or "field names".

TITLE FIRSTNAME SURNAME STREET TOWN COUNTY COUNTRY POSTCODE PHONE NO DATESTAMP

Field 1   :

Type in "TITLE" and press EXE key.

The computer will then ask you if the field is text or numeric information.

TITLE:-   Text Numeric

You can reply by selecting "Text" for letters, or "Numeric" for numbers, for example, phone numbers. This can be done by moving the cursor onto the appropriate choice and pressing EXE, or by pressing "T" or "N". Note that when entering data, the keyboard mode (text or numbers) will change according to how you have designed your format. However, the shift and "cap" keys still work, so it is possible to enter "24 Essex Rd" by pressing the shift key and "cap", and shift and "num".

After choosing your option, the computer will then want to check that the information you have supplied is correct.

TITLE (T)   OK (Y/N)?

will now appear on the screen. Press "Y" or EXE if it is correct, else press "N" and you will have an opportunity to re-enter it.

You will now go on to "field 2". Type in "FIRSTNAME" and so on through the fields until you come to PHONE NO. Here there will be a slight problem if you plan to export the file to PSION's Archive program running on another computer as Archive will not accept a space between "PHONE" and "NO". If this is the case it would be best to omit the space, otherwise it does not matter and you can type in "PHONE NO". Do not forget that the "PHONE NO" will be numeric so press "N" instead of "T" for text. Type in the word "DATESTAMP" as the last field (see below for explanation).

When you are up to field 11, but no more fields to enter, press EXE instead of entering another field name. This will tell the computer that you have finished your list of fields.

After confirming that you have finished, the screen should look like this:

Set-up Complete  No.Fields=10

You have now successfully entered in your first the main part of the program.

The screen will now display:

Data Filename   A:DADDRESS

Note that the filename "C:DADDRESS" has been suggested. You can either accept it or change it with the DEL key. Note that it starts with a "D" to tell you that it is a Data file. Use MODE key to change device if necessary. You will now be in the main menu.

Date Stamping

If you desire, the date each record was entered in to the computer can be stored as a field. To do this, call one of your fieldnames "DATESTAMP". Whenever you enter a new record the current date will automatically be placed in this "DATESTAMP" field.

Barcode Readers

The field name "BARCODE", like "DATESTAMP". has a special significance. If you want to use a barcode reader, you must make one or more of your fields "BARCODE". When inputting data using the Input command the computer will expect data to be entered normally via the keyboard, except when it reaches the field "BARCODE".

Here it will display the following:

Barcode Reading  now:

You must now wipe the barcode reader over the barcode and if it is done correctly the computer will bleep and the barcode will display on the screen. You have 30 seconds to do this, otherwise you will be asked to confirm that you still want to read a barcode. Pressing the ON/CLEAR key will abort the barcode reading. After confirming that it is the correct barcode, the Input command will continue as usual. Before using the barcode reader, you must follow the instructions for its use. It is important that you press the ON/CLEAR key twice from the main ORGANISER menu to load the barcode software.

Directories

If you already have entered several formats but cannot remember the filenames that already exist, press SHIFT AND "N" to get "$". The "$" symbol is used as there is no key for "?". The Directory will be displayed after you select the appropriate datapak with the MODE key and press EXE.

Press space or EXE keys to see the next file in the directory. Pressing the ON/CLEAR key will return you to the screen which asks you to enter the "Format Filename".

Altering Formats

Occasionally, after entering a lot of data, you may find that you wished you had another field for extra data. It is possible to delete your format file and create a new one with the extra field as the last field. It is not possible to add the extra field in the middle of your list of fields. It is possible to open any datafile with any format file and vice versa.

Default filenames

For speed and convenience, default format, data and label filenames will be used if you do not enter your own filename. If you want to use the default filenames, leave the "F", "D", or "L" and press EXE. You can alter the datapak by pressing the MODE key. If you confuse data files and format files, unpredictable problems will arise. It is best to begin format files with the letter "F", data files with the letter "D" and label format files with the letter "L".

The program will use the following default names for each file:

(Note; "TB"="TextBase")

The first time you use the default format or labels option, you will go through the usual set-up procedures, as when you use your own filenames, this is only necessary once. If you later decide to change the default format or label file, you must first delete these "data" files.

You cannot delete them if you are actually using them because the files will still be open. If this is the case, you will have to Quit TEXTBASE and delete them by opening other files temporarily and use TEXTBASE's Files option to delete them. After deleting them, you can start TEXTBASE again, choosing the default filenames and set them up as new.

Main Menu

This menu works just like all the other menus on the ORGANISER. You can move around the menu with the arrow keys.

If you move down you will see the full menu which has four lines:

Input Search   Display Files Labels Print Off Mode Erase Quit

The ON/CLEAR key no important. Where ever you are in the program, pressing ON/CLEAR will allow you to "escape" back to the main menu.

Main Menu Commands

Input

If you press "I" or EXE when the cursor is on "input" you can start entering in your information. You will see that the computer is asking your first field "TITLE?". Type your own title and press EXE. The computer now asks the second field "FIRSTNAME?" and you can go through entering in the information.

If you press the ON/CLEAR button before typing anything in the screen will display:

Jump to   Field:

This allows you to jump to another field to change it. Type in "TI" for TITLE and the computer will ask if it has the correct field.

TITLE   OK (Y/N)?

Press EXE or "Y" and it will allow you to change or edit the title you entered before. It will then carry on through the list of fields as before but will display the information that you have already typed in. Press EXE to continue pass each field until you have got to where you want to be. If you press the ON/CLEAR key after you have typed in some text, the line will be cleared. Press ON/CLEAR again and you will go to the "Jump to" option. If you press ON/CLEAR when on the first field, the computer will go back to the main menu.

After answering all the 9 fields, the computer will ask if everything is correct. If the answer is no, type "N" and the computer will display:

Edit   Field:

Type just the first part of the field you want to change, such as "SUR" for SURNAME, and you can then edit that field. After doing this, it will again ask "All correct?". If you press EXE or "Y" the computer will display the main menu again. If you enter a lot of data on pack A:, the amount of room available for TEXTBASE will obviously reduce. If this drops down to 2000 bytes, a warning will appear on the screen to tell you that you are running out of memory.

Datapaks and Memory

You may use either the internal memory, datapaks or RAMpaks to save your files. We recommend Important data should be saved onto datapaks.

When programs are run from datapaks, the ORGANISER temporarily copies the currently in- use procedures into RAM or pack A:. This may have the effect of making the space used on pack A: larger than you might otherwise expect.

The amount of space used may also vary according to the size of the procedures that are in- use. Make sure that the "Space Used" on pack A: never gets too large as TEXTBASE may run out of memory. On the ORGANISER II model CM, memory management is more important and data that does not need to be kept on pack A: should be transferred elsewhere.

Search

The next option from the main menu is "Search". This searches from the first record to the last and tries to find your "search words". After choosing this option, the display looks like this:

Select by:-   Word,Barcode

This is giving you the choice of searching by words or by a barcode reading. If you press "B" for Barcode, the screen will display:

Barcode Reading  Now:

Assuming you have a barcode reader attached, you can now read the barcode. After you have done this the computer will bleep and ask you to confirm that it has read the code correctly.

It will then search your data file for records contain that barcode.

If you choose "W" for word, the screen will display:

1st Search   Word:

Enter in a few letters from something you know must be there, for example, "Smi" for "Smith" and press EXE. The display will now look like this:

2nd Search   Word:

If you only want to search for records containing one search word. press EXE again. The record containing "Smi" will scroll across the top line. The record number will be displayed in brackets before the record. You will be asked whether this is the correct one, and if it is not, the search will continue until it reaches the "End of Pack". It is possible to do a more thorough search by up to six search words. Instead of pressing EXE when asked for the "2nd Search Word" you can type in your next search word, for example, "London". You may also want to search for records containing other search words and you can continue to enter these too.

Pressing the ON/CLEAR key at any time will return you to the main menu. When you have reached the sixth search word, or pressed EXE twice for the last search word, the screen will display:

Selected Have:-  All, Only one

If you choose "All", then only records that contain all of your search words will be displayed. If you press "O" for "Only one", any records that contain at least one of the search words will be displayed, starting with the first search word. Records that contain more that one search word will be displayed more than once. Each record that is found will scroll across the screen and you will be asked to confirm that this is the correct record. If not, the computer will continue to search until there are none left and it will display the "End of Pack" message.

Once you have found the record you were looking for and have confirmed that this is the case by pressing "Y" or EXE key, the computer will display the following menu:

Return Edit   Delete

If you press "R" or EXE while the cursor is on "Return" you will return to the main menu.

The "Edit" option is a combination of "Find" and "Jump to" in the Input option and works in exactly the same way. First you have to find the record you want to change, and then find the field you want to alter. After editing, a record will change its position in the tile to become the last record.

The "Delete" option lets you delete a record you have just found. It first asks you if you are sure that you want to do this as once a record has been deleted it cannot be recovered. Editing and Deleting records can also be achieved using the "Display" option (see below).

Display

The display option looks like this:

A/F/N/B/L/J 12

The first record will scroll on the bottom line of the screen. Scrolling can be speeded up, stopped or reversed by pressing the left or right cursor keys. The abbreviations in Display are as follows:

These commands will be executed immediately except for Alter and Jump. Alter allows you to either edit or delete the current record. Jump asks for the record number you want to jump to. The number at the end of the top line tells you how many records are contained in the current file.

Files

To get to the Files option, press "F" twice or more with the arrows. The Files option has is own sub- menu displayed as:

Copy Delete   Export Dir Rename Space

Copy

Copy works in exactly the same manner as the copy in the ORGANISER's main menu (Read manual). It will only transfer data files, format files and label files, but not programs or procedures. Please note that if you are copying to a pak that already contains a file with the same name, then the records will be added to the bottom of that file. If you unintentionally copy a format file to a pack that already has a file with the same filename, you will get some curious results. (The Input option will go through the field names of both format files!). If you want to copy all files from one pack to another, the ORGANISER provides no quick way to do this. You must use the COPY command on the main ORGANISER menu if you want to copy over _all_ your Textbase files contained on one pak to another.

WARNING: Copying datafiles into pack A: cause TEXTBASE to run out of memory due to the datafiles occupying too much space. When this happens you cannot use TEXTBASE to delete.

A small procedure named "DELETE" is provided for deleting datafiles if this happens. You must RUN the procedure from the PROG menu.

Delete

This allows you to delete a Data, Format or Label file. Entering in "$" will give you the Directory.

Export

This allows you to transfer your data to another computer. It will only transfer data from the current data file. You are asked whether you want to export the data to PSION's ARCHIVE or to Other formats. It you press "A", the file will be transferred in an ARCHIVE compatible format. If you press "O" the data will be sent with spaces between the fields. Finally, you will be asked if the terminal is ready. If the receiving computer is setup to receive, press "Y" or EXE. Further details on file transfers are give in Chapter 2.

Dir

This option will show you a directory of data files on any pack. Use the MODE key to change datapaks.

Rename

Rename allows you to rename a data file. First enter the filename and datapak using the MODE and press EXE. Then enter the new filename.

Space

This allows you to see how many bytes are left on each datapak or device. When this command is used on B: or C: a small file called "LOOKUP" will be deposited on the datapak.

The file is very small and only uses 11 bytes. You may delete the file from the datapak after using the SPACE command although another one will replace it next time the SPACE command is used, and a further 11 bytes will be used. This functions will not work with 64k or 128k datapaks.

Returning to the Main Menu

This is achieved by pressing the ON/CLEAR key.

Labels

The Labels option allows you to design your own labels, store the design for later use, and print out all or selected records as address labels. After choosing this option, you go into a Labels set-up procedure similar to entering your set of fields into the format file. First. you must enter in your Label format filename. If this is the first time you have used this option, you will enter a new filename, for example, "A:LADDRESS". Use "L" as the first letter to indicate that it is a Label format filename. If you only press EXE for the the Format filename, the default, "LTBMAIN" will be used. If you realise that you have made a mistake, you can press the ON/ CLEAR key to return to the main menu. The next question is how many lines per label? Usually there are 9 but it is possible to change this by forward deleting the default value using the SHIFT/DEL keys together. When the number 9 has been deleted, type the number of lines that you want. This program only supports vertically arranged labels. The computer now asks:

Field on Line 1  :

This is asking which field should go on line 1. You may not want anything printed on lines 1 and 2 or 7 to 10, in which case you should press EXE only. The display then looks like this:

Blank Line (N)   OK(Y/N)?

The "N" in brackets shows you that a new line will follow this Blank line (see below). If you do not want a blank line type in the field name, e.g. TITLE and press EXE. Now the screen displays:

Chr After Field? Newline,Space

If you choose "S", this will print a space after the field and will not make the printer go on to a new line. Choosing "N" will make it go on to a new line. For example. if you wanted a label to look like:

You will want a space after TITLE, FIRSTNAME and COUNTY and a Newline, (Carriage Return) after SURNAME, STREET, TOWN, and after the blank lines. Some printers require Carriage Returns (CR) and Line Feeds (LF) at the end of each line. If your printer prints everything on the same line or uses double spacing, then you can experiment with the RS232 Link SETUP, which allows you to alter the Transmit End of Line (TEOL). You will most probably need either a CR and a LF or only a CR. The ASCII codes for CR and LF are 13 and 10 respectively.

As you go through you will see that the computer keeps track of which line number you are on. If you want just a blank line, press EXE. When you have completed the number of lines you asked for, the screen will then display:

Print Labels   All,Some

Fortunately, you do not need to set up labels every time you use them, as entering in the same label format filename will skip this part and take you directly to the options above. If you choose "A" it prints out all records as labels. If you choose "S", you will be asked for the "Search Words" as in FIND. The computer will only print out the labels containing your search word. Lastly, the program asks if the printer is ready.

Print

This option allows you to print out records containing your "Search Words", again, as in FIND. The program will display:

Print Out   All,Some

Press "A" to print all records. Press "S", if you want to do a selective print out. You will then be asked for the Search Words, for example, LONDON, if you only want the people in your address file who live in London. Before the program prints, it asks you if the printer is ready. All fields in the record will be printed.

Off

This option switches the liquid crystal display off to conserve the battery. When you next press ON/CLEAR, you will still be in TEXTBASE.

Mode

The Mode option lets you decide how the Input option operates. When you choose this option the screen displays:

Entry Mode:-   Blank, Retained

If you press "B", then the information entered into the previous record will be wiped off and each field question will be blank. If you choose "R" the previous record's information will be retained or copied and you can edit it into the current record. This can be useful if much of the information you are entering is repetitive. Pressing ON/CLEAR once deletes the line. The default Mode is blank.

Erase

This command allows you to find a record as in the Find command and then allows you to delete it. Records can also be deleted using Display.

Quit

This option from the main menu terminates your session in TEXTBASE.

CHAPTER TWO

ORGANISER II COMMUNICATIONS AND FILE TRANSFERS TO SINCLAIR QL'S AND IBM-PC'S

INTRODUCTION

This chapter tells you how to set-up your ORGANISER II to communicate with other computers, particularly with Sinclair QL's and IBM- PC's. You can transfer data files and programs to and from the ORGANISER II, and you can use program compatible formats so that the data files can be used immediately on other systems. You will need to SETUP your ORGANISER in the following way to communicate with a Sinclair QL. Connect your RS232 link and go into the COMMS option and choose SETUP.

Set-up the ORGANISER II using the following settings:

* We have found through extensive usage that a BAUD RATE of 4800 is a much more reliable data transfer setting for any Organiser II communications work. You should adjust your Organiser COMMS setting, printer baud rate and any communicating computers baud rate to 4800.

Note: If you intend to transfer TEXTBASE files to Psion Archive you must set up your field names with a maximum length of no more than 9 alpha-numeric characters containing no spaces, symbols or punctuation marks, and the first letter must not be a 0 or 9.

CONNECTING UP

ORGANISER and QL

To connect a Sinclair QL and an ORGANISER II, plug together the RS232 link and a modified QL serial cable. Plug the Telecomm connector into the serial 2 port on the QL. To modify a standard QL serial lead to work with an ORGANISER you will need a soldering iron or a friendly electrical engineer. The wires from the QL telecomm-type connector should be soldered to the 25-pin D- socket in the following way:

ORGANISER and IBM-PC

Connect the RS232 link directly into the serial port on the IBM-PC.

DATA FILES TRANSFERS

A) From ORGANISER to QL

i) Data in ARCHIVE formats

SET-UP ORGANISER

Go into the TEXTBASE and open the file that you want to send. Choose the Files option and then choose the Export option. You will then be asked which tile type you want; ARCHIVE, dBase II or Other. Pressing "A" will send the file in an ARCHIVE compatible format, and pressing "O" will send the file with spaces between the fields and with a carriage return at the end of each line. Lastly, you will be asked if the terminal is ready. If the receiving computer is ready press "Y" or EXE.

SET-UP QL

Load ARCHIVE. Type the following statement on the command line;

import "_ser2hz" [ENTER]

Then add your file as "filename" [ENTER]

The disks or microdrives will start whirring and you can tell the ORGANISER to send the file. After a pause, the ORGANISER will display the record number that it is exporting, and will bleep when its finished. You may now DISPLAY your file on the QL. Use the Print count() statement to check that you have all your records and then close the file.

ii) Data in non-ARCHIVE formats

SET-UP the ORGANISER

It is possible to send files from TEXTBASE in a non- Archive formats by choosing "O" for other from the Files menu or you can use the RS232 COMMS option. The ORGANISER II data file uses TAB (ASCII 9) as a field separator. You can translate this TAB in to a space, a comma, or any other character using the TTRN in the SET-UP option of COMMS. To convert a TAB to a space, move the arrow to TTRN and press MODE, then "9,32" and EXE. Keep all the other settings the same as above. and TRANSMIT the file.

SET-UP QL

Load and run the SUPERBASIC program listed in appendix 1. Type in the filename and press "R" to receive. Then TRANSMIT the file you want to send from your ORGANISER.

B) From ORGANISER to IBM-PC

i) Data in ARCHIVE formats

If you want to use the ORGANISER II file in ARCHIVE, use TEXTBASE to Export the file, as in section 1 and capture the file with XTALK. You can then IMPORT the file into ARCHIVE. It is best to use the file extension ".exp".

ii) Data in dBase II formats

Choosing the dBase II options allows you to set up Textbase to send a file with fixed field lengths. When you have entered all the field lengths and answered YES to the READY prompt, Textbase will send the file in a dBase II compatible format.

C) From QL to ORGANISER

i) ARCHIVE data files

SET-UP ORGANISER

Go into the COMMS option from the ORGANISER main menu, choose RECEIVE and select FILE. Type in the filename and press EXE.

The display will show:

busy....  

Ensure that the BAUD rate on the QL is still on the default of 9600. Load ARCHIVE and then type:

run "export"

The program "export" is listed in Appendix 2 and you can type it in using EDIT command and then save it under the name "export". The ARCHIVE program first asks you for the data filename that you want to transfer. It then sends the file to serial port 2. The ORGANISER will bleep when the file has been transferred and you can then use the file from TEXTBASE. The program sends an ASCII 128 character to separate the fields. The ORGANISER uses TAB or ASCII 9 to separate the fields but this character is used by ARCHIVE as a special character and cannot be used in the normal way. The ARCHIVE program therefore sends a different character (ASCII 128) which is then translated back to the TAB by the ORGANISER II RTRN setting.

ii) non-ARCHIVE data files

You can use the SUPERBASIC program in Appendix 1 to send any file to the ORGANISER II.

You must ensure that you either use TAB character to separate fields or use the RTRN setting in the COMMS option on the ORGANISER to translate a different field separator character to a TAB (ASCII 9).

D) From IBM-PC to ORGANISER.

Use XTALK or a similar package to send any file and RECEIVE it with the RS232 link option.

i) ARCHIVE data files

If you want to send an ARCHIVE file from XCHANGE ARCHIVE run the program in Appendix 3. Then send the file with XTALK and RECEIVE it as in part C)i).

ii) Non-ARCHIVE data tiles

These can be sent via XTALK remembering that the ORGANISER II file requires TABs as field separators. You can use the RTRN setting to convert other field separators into TABs.

E) From Organiser to QUILL

i) QL

In Superbasic type in;

copy_n ser2hz to mdv2_name etc.

Now set up the ORGANISER. There are two ways of doing this. Firstly, you can go into the COMMS Option and TRANSMIT the procedure. Secondly YOU can use LIST option in the PROG menu. Often it is more convenient to be in the PROG menu when moving files about. However the LIST option does not send an "end-of-file" character (ASCII 26 or Control Z). You can do this yourself by going into the PROG option and writing the following procedure:

Z: LPRINT CHR$(26)

You can then TRANSLATE and RUN it. Now you can choose the LIST option, enter the procedure name that you want to transfer to the QL and then press EXE. The file will transfer and the ORGANISER will return the PROG menu but the QL is still waiting for its "end-of-file" character. To send this RUN the procedure Z: and the QL screen will fill with the transferred procedure. An export file has now been saved on to microdrive and can be imported in to Quill.

Loading Export file in to Quill

First load Quill, then press F3 for commands, choose Files and the Import.

Import from "mdv2_name.

Choose by line and the QL will import the file from microdrive. The message "importing" is displayed.

ii) From ORGANISER procedures to QL SUPERBASIC

Setup the QL by loading and running the SUPERBASIC program in Appendix 1. Type in the filename and press "R" to receive. Then TRANSMIT the PROCEDURE from the ORGANISER using the COMMS option.

F) Transferring Procedures from an ORGANISER to IBM-PC.

i) It is best to use a communication package such as XTALK. Set up XTALK to Capture the file and TRANSMIT the PROCEDURE using the COMMS option on the RS232 link.

ii) There is a program listing at the back of the ORGANISER RS232 link manual for IBM-PC BASIC. You can experiment with this type of program but we have found that programs written in BASIC are too slow to handle communications very well.

G) Transferring Programs or Procedures From a QL to the ORGANISER.

i) Writing procedures in QUILL and transferring them to the ORGANISER.

The main advantages of this are that you have a full sized keyboard and can copy, cut and paste, rather then using the rudimentary editor on the ORGANISER.

First make a printer driver (printer_dat file) using the INSTALL_BAS program copied on all four of the PSION programs provided with the QL.

After plugging in the QL press F1 or F2 without a microdrive in mdv1_. Place a cartridge such as QUILL in mdv1_and type in:

run mdv1_install_bas

Read the manual on how to use this program and use the following settings.

Leave all other settings as NONE. Install this printer_dat file on a microdrive and quit the program. Reset the computer and load QUILL. Then place the new cartridge in mdv1_ (or flp1_ if you have disks). You do not want upper and lower margins, left or right margins, or page numbering in your ORGANISER II procedures so use the QUILL DESIGN command to set:

Now use MARGINS to move the left margin and indent as far to the left as possible and the right margin as far to the right as possible. You are now ready to start writing your ORGANISER procedures. (TIP: Before you type anything you can avoid having to set-up QUILL like this every time you use it, by saving the current blank page

to a file, called say "BLANK_doc". You can then load "BLANK_doc" each time you start a new procedure.) You can now try typing in the following ORGANISER procedure.

CLS PRINT "THIS IS MY FIRST" PRINT "OPL PROCEDURE"; GET

Press [ENTER] after each line. The procedure name is assigned on the ORGANISER during set- up for the file transfer. You must make sure that the procedure name is at the very top of the screen or page that you are going to send. NEVER translate and run a procedure that has been written in QUILL and has the procedure name more than one line down. The problem that will occur is that the procedure name will appear in the procedure itself. If you RUN this procedure, it will go into an endless loop calling itself and you will either have to wait a very long time until the loop runs out of memory and crashes, or remove the battery and lose all your data in RAM.

Now go into the COMMS RECEIVE option and choose the PROCEDURE option. Type in the filename RECV A:TEST and press EXE. The ORGANISER will display:

busy....  

and will wait for the file to be sent. Now go back to the QL. Press F3 key for commands, and press "P" for PRINT and then press three [ENTER]s as if you were going to print a document. The QL will examine the new printer_dat file you have put in mdv1_ and will send the file to SER2. It will transmit a control Z (ASCII 26) at the end of the file and the ORGANISER will bleep to tell you it has received the file. Note: if you only want to send part of the current document, or procedure, you can use the PAGE command to split off the part you want and only "print" that page.

You can now press the ON/CLEAR key three times until you return to the main menu and you then go into the PROG option. Choose EDIT and enter your filename EDIT A:TEST and press EXE. Your procedure should now be ready to translate and you can then RUN it.

It is possible to send any file using the QL SUPERBASIC program in Appendix 1. Load and run the program and type in the filename. Press "T" to transmit, but before sending it go into the COMMS section on the ORGANISER, choose the RECEIVE option and select PROCEDURE. Type in the filename and press EXE. The display will then show:

busy....  

You can now send the file from the QL and the ORGANISER will bleep when the file transfer is complete.

APPENDIX 1.

QL SUPERBASIC program for file transfers.

You may have to change lines 100, 120 and 125 to "mdv1_".

10 BAUD 9600 15 CLS 16 PRINT "RS-232 communication Program running" 18 INPUT "Enter filename :";f$ 20 INPUT "(T)ransmit or (R)eceive? ";a$ 100 IF a$="t" OR a$="T":COPY_N "flp1_"&f$ TO ser2hz 110 END IF 120 IF a$="r" OR a$="R":COPY ser2hz TO "flp1_"&f$ 125 COPY "flp1_"&f$ TO scr_ 130 END IF 140 GO TO 10

APPENDIX 2

QL ARCHIVE Program to transfer data files into the Organiser II.

Proc start input "Enter the data filename :";file$ look file$ if numfld()>16 : print "Too many fields for an ORGANISER" close : stop : endif spoolon "_ser2hz" export all let n=0 while n<numfld() lprint fieldv(n); if n<>numfld()-1 lprint chr(128); endif let n=n+1 endwhile lprint chr(13):chr(10); endall lprint chr(0)+chr(26) close spooloff print "All done" endproc

APPENDIX 3

IBM-PC XCHANGE ARCHIVE Program to transfer data files into ORGANSER II.

Proc start input "Enter the data filename :";file$ input "Enter the export filename :';expfile$ look file$ if numfld()>16 : print "Too many fields for an ORGANISER" close : stop : endif spoolon expfile$ export all let n=0 while n<numfld() lprint fieldv(n); if n<>numfld()-1 lprint chr(128); endif let n=n+1 endwhile lprint chr(13);chr(10); endall lprint chr(0)+chr(26) close spooloff print "All done" endproc