****************************************

*                                      *

*  Portfolio User 6                    *

*                                      *

*  October 1995                        *

*                                      *

*  Edited By: Paul Jolliffe            *

*             paulj@jollyp.demon.co.uk *

*                                      *

****************************************



Contents:

=========



Introduction

PF Shareware List

PF Tools

Programming

Problem Corner

For Sale

Questionaire



Introduction

============



As Jan said in issue 5 I will be taking over the running of

the PF news so that he can pursue developing hardware and

software for the PF.  I am sure that I speak for the whole

of the PF community when I thank Jan for all his hard work.



To make a successful news letter I need input from the PF

community, to help me create a news letter.



One things that I would like to do is to highlight any

unusual uses that people have or had for the PF, so if you

know anyone or you have such a use then please email me an

article decribing it.



If anyone has any ideas no matter how strange they may think

then please let me know, if anyone one wants to write any

aricles then please let me know.



I would like to start running the news letter more like a

magazine.  When I was growing up I owned a Sinclair ZX81

(Timex 2000) computer.  It had a massive 1K of ram and

blistering graphics (NOT!) but the magazines that were

produced were great.  They included source code listings

and reviews of software, obviously there is little or no

new software being released but people are and have written

software that the vast majority of us don't know about.



There are people like Jan developing hardware addons for

the PF, I'm sure that there are people out there who have

built small gadgets and bits for the PF, if so write about

it and e-mail me.



Due to my strange domestic and work arragements I generally

pick up my e-mail every 2-3 days, I always pick it up on a

Friday or Saturday.  I am hoping to set my home machine to

forward the mail to my office address.  If anyone wants a

more immeadiate response then email me a work:



    paulj@trideuk.demon.co.uk



It is safer to CC to my home address as well, just in case:



    paulj@jollyp.demon.co.uk



PF Shareware List

=================



In issue 5 Jan published a list of PF shareware on

ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk, for those who do not have access to

ftp I can email you the programs in the uucode format, the

files will then need to be 'pkunzipped' using ver 2.04,

should you have any problems receiving files in this format

please let me know and I should be able to sor something

out.  I will send out any requested files on a friday

night, please limit each request to a maximum of 5 files

per request.



If anyone has any programs that are not listed or knows of

any other sites then could you email them to me and I will

perodiclly send out an updated list with this letter, or

alternatively I can bundle a 'software package' with the

news letter, let me know what you think.



PF Tools

========



I use a program called pk-lite ver 1.5 with my PF, the

program strips out and compresses .exe and .com files, this

makes them a lot smaller, typacally by 25%.  Again if you want

a copy please e-mail me.  If anyone else uses any small

utilities that they would like other people to know about

then let me know, these might be text editors or other

compression software.



Problem Page

============



Once a month I will pick a couple of the e-mail queries

that I get or posting to the comp.sys.handhelds new group

and the replies that I send back.  If I can't answer the

query myself then I will try and find someone who can.



Help: PORTFOLIO AND INTERNET



  From J.Geheniau@solair1.inter.NL.net Sat Sep 23 01:05:25 1995



  > I want to use my portfolio on the internet.

  > It is possible now with my rs232 interface, but when I use acom 11 or

  > xterm2 a lot of strange sign are on my little lcd screen. I think acom or

  > xterm don't emulate the right terminal. Is there a program for the

  > portfolio that can emulate vt100 or vt102 ?

  > IRC is possible but reading mail is a problem.



Answer: (From Jan Sedlak)



  I do not know any vt100 terminal for PF. But I think there must

  be some way to use PF as an internet terminal.



  I hope other PF fans will have some ideas.



Help: PORTFOLIO AND COMPUSERVE



  From: "Gayle L. Mills" <102400.2570@compuserve.com>



  > Hi, do you know if there is a Compuserve version for the Portfolio?

  > Something that would just ket me do mail(on-line and offline) #

  > visit a forum and get news, and weather.  If you know anything,

  > please let me know.



  > Thanks, Gayle, 102400.2570@compuserve.com



Help: Manuals



  From: molyneux@tcel.com



  > Hello,

  > Presently I am missing manuals for the memory expansion and PC

  > card drive.



Answer From: sedlakj@dec59



  I cannot help we have only Czech translations. The PC card should be

  no problem. Just one free slot and the CD.SYS mentioned in the config.sys

  and I think you will be ready to go. I installed my PC card reader

  in 2 minutes.



  > If anyone could send me a copy of these manuals, it would be

  > gratefully appreciated.



  Can anybody help???



Help: PORTFOLIO UPGRADE, Where to start?



  From: molyneux@tcel.com



  > I would like to upgrade my Portfolio but I am unsure where

  > to start. Could you please advise.



  Portfolio is designed to use a RAM card as a data storage medium.

  The C: disk is not much reliable and it takes much of the RAM which

  is very scarce on PF.



  So please get at least one RAM card and it will make your life

  much easier. The RAM cards range from 32 KB capacity up to 4

  Megabytes.



Help: Portfolio and remote access



  From: molyneux@tcel.com



  > I would also like to use my Portfolio when on

  > the road to send and receive my e-mail and faxes.



  Will anybody help???





RESPONSE TO SEPTEMBER ISSUE



  From: Brian Mooney <71023.756@compuserve.com>



  >       I just finished reading the Sept issue of the Portfolio

  > newsletter you edit, and I want to say "Thank you!"!!  It was

  > posted on the Portfolio area on Compuserve.  There hasn't been

  > much traffic there lately and I've wondered if I was alone in

  > my continued devotion to the Portfolio.  Thank you for letting

  > me know others are out there.



  >       The products that are being produced are of interest to

  > me.  I am particularly interested in an interface for PCMCIA

  > cards.  I teach at a university, and I see the Port as a great

  > datalogger and also as a rugged little computer.



  I do not belive there will ever be a PCMCIA interface for PF,

  although it is not so hard to make as the PF has ISA-BUS coming

  out of it. Which no other (I think) palmtop has.



  > A company here in the USA sells a geiger counter device that

  > can be hooked up to the Port, and I am experimenting with it

  > now.  If it works as well with the Port as it does with an

  > IBM PC, I'll send a review  for the newsletter that you can

  > use if you wish.   The device is very reasonably

  > priced ($150 USD), especially for its quality, small

  > (size of a pack of cigarettes), and might be of interest to

  > some Portfolio users.



  > I hope my use of the Portfolio will stimulate some other

  > academic interest to support the products now being made.

  > Please count me a regular reader and supporter, and I'm

  > always willing to help if I can.  If there are any other

  > scientific or technical Portfolio users, I'd like to hear

  > from them.



Programming

===========



In issue 4 of PF news Jan covered some of the reduments on

proramming the PF.  The problem with the PF is its hardware

compatability, a lot of the programming environments around

use hardware calls that crash the PF, even those that allow

you to turn them off.



About 8 months ago I found the PF archive at

ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk and I dusted off my PF to give the

programs a try.  I got the PF bug and decided to write

some small programs for the PF.  I wrote a couple of small

routines with Quick Basic but they crashed the PF.  I

then saw a posting in the comp.sys.handhelds group from

Graison Swaan for the Turbo Pascal portfolio unit, since

then the world has been wonderful.



Turbo pascal is a very easy language to use and learn, it

is syntacially simila to 'c' but as I seem to have problems

picking up 'c' it is an easy option for me.  The Borland

compiler compiles programs nice and small, ideal for the

PF.  It also employs 'UNITS' these are similar to include

files and contain procedures and functions that the main

program will use.



I would like to start including source code listing in the

PF news letter that have been written by PF users.  The

source code can be in any language, although I think the

majority of code knocking around is in 'C', Pascal or

assembler.



I know quite a few people use the excellent P-Basic

package, if any one has any source they have written and

they would like to share then please send it in.  If anyone

is feeling adventurous they could always write a set of

articles teaching people P-Basic, any takers ??



Here are two contributions that I have received from Jan

that were sent to him:



-----------------------------------------------------------

From: BJ GLEASON



Program: GO!



Language: Turbo C, Version 2.0



From: bj gleason <73337.2011@compuserve.com>



Here is my contribution...  Here is the TC 2.0 source code

for the LOAD program... I called it go many years ago...  I

never released it becasue I felt that it was too big (K wise)

and I never bothered trying to trim it down.



I does not have all the options that you mention, but they

should be easy to add to it...  It will invoke the app after

it modifies the permdata by stuffing the keyboard buffer...



You could always add an option where it doesn't stuff the

buffer, and then it could be used in a batch file as well...



When you specify the name of the file, it needs to be

complete with the path... perhaps someone else could add

that as well...



Enjoy...



bj



----------- Source Listing For: GO! -----------------------



/* go program for the portfolio... by bj gleason  */

/* share and enjoy */



#include <stdlib.h>

#include <dos.h>

#include <string.h>

#include <stdio.h>

#include <dir.h>

#include <conio.h>



#define WORKSHEETNAME 0x08

#define DIARYNAME 0x62

#define EDITORNAME 0xb6

#define EDITORLINE 0x107

#define EDITORCOL 0x109

#define ADDRESSNAME 0x110

#define PERMDATA "C:\\SYSTEM\\PERMDATA.DAT"

#define PERMSIZE 730



char startapps[6]={"app/x"};

int line;

char file_input[80];





int push_kb(int key, int ascii) {

    unsigned int code;

    int head, tail;



    head = peek(0x40,0x1a);

    tail = peek(0x40,0x1c);



    code = (key << 8) + ascii;

    poke(0x40,tail,code);

    if(tail < 60) {

	tail += 2;

	if (head == tail) return(0);

	poke(0x40,0x1c,tail);

    }

    else

    {

       tail = 30;

       if(tail == head) return(0);

       poke(0x40,0x1c,tail);

    }

    return(1);

}



void push_keys(char *b){

    poke(0x40,0x1c,peek(0x40,0x1a));

    while (*b) push_kb(0x00,*b++);

    push_kb(0x1c,0x0d);

}



int read_permdata(char *p) {

    FILE *fp;



    if((fp = fopen(PERMDATA, "rb"))==NULL) return 0;

    fread(p,PERMSIZE,1,fp);

    fclose(fp);

    return 1;

}



int write_permdata(char *p) {

    FILE *fp;



    if((fp = fopen(PERMDATA, "wb"))==NULL) return 0;

    fwrite(p,PERMSIZE,1,fp);

    fclose(fp);

    return 1;

}



void set_name(int nameoffset) {

    char buffer[PERMSIZE+1];



    if(!(read_permdata(buffer))){

	 puts("C:\\SYSTEM\\PERMDATA.DAT Not Found");

	 exit(1);

    }

    strcpy(&buffer[nameoffset],file_input);

    if (nameoffset==EDITORNAME) {

	buffer[EDITORLINE]=line;

	buffer[EDITORCOL]=(int) 0;

    }

    write_permdata(buffer);

}



void main(void) {

    if (_argc==1) {

	puts("Usage: GO a [filename.ext]");

	puts("Where: a is the app: A C D E S W Z");

	exit(1);

    }

    if (_argc==3) {

       strcpy(file_input,_argv[2]);



       switch (*_argv[1]|0x20) {

	case 'e' : set_name(EDITORNAME); break;

	case 'w' : set_name(WORKSHEETNAME); break;

	case 'a' : set_name(ADDRESSNAME); break;

	case 'd' : set_name(DIARYNAME); break;

	default  : puts ("Filename not allowed");

       }

    }

    startapps[4]=*_argv[1];

    push_keys(startapps);

}



----------- End Of Source Code ----------------------------



From: David E. Stewart



Program: LOAD



Language: Pascal



Hi!  Another great Portfolio News ... long one!  I'm glad there is still

much interest in the Port, especially in Europe.



Second, I read with interest the specs for creating a "LOAD" program.

Re:Port Issue #4 contains "Launch" which does pretty much what the author

suggests, but with a menu type interface.  It is also available in a more

simple format on CompuServe (I think ... it's been a long time).

However, anyone with Re:Port can look in the "source" directory of pretty

much any disk and find EDITBX.PAS, which includes routines for setting

the current filename in PERMDATA.DAT for any internal app.  I found that

the second part (loading the interal programs) was a tad more difficult,

and I never found a good answer for that.  I just shelled out to a batch

file to sort of "fake" it out.



OK, because I know Jan will bug me for it <g>, here is the Pascal source

for getting/setting the PERMDATA.DAT filenames ... don't say I never gave

you anything.  You may use this freely in your own projects.  The

functions should be very easy to port into C, C++, Assembler, whatever.



When the function looks for a "filenum" it really is looking for one of

these values (sorry, I wrote these for my own use, and before I learned

Hungarian notation, so very often my variables make little sense!):



1 = Worksheet

2 = Diary

3 = Editor

4 = Address Book



------- Source Listing For: LOAD --------------------------



function getappfile(filenum : integer) : string;



var

   editfile : string;

   permdata : file of char;

   a,start : integer;

   ch : char;



begin

     assign(permdata,'c:\system\permdata.dat');

     reset(permdata);

     editfile := '';

     case filenum of

	  1 : start := $08;

	  2 : start := $62;

	  3 : start := $b6;

	  4 : start := $110;

     end;

     for a := 0 to start do read(permdata,ch);

     while ch <> #0 do begin

	   editfile := editfile + ch;

	   read(permdata,ch);

     end;

     close(permdata);

     getappfile := editfile;

end;



procedure setappfile(filenum : integer; filename : string);



var

   permdata : file;

   a,b,c,start : integer;

   ch : char;

   perminfo : array[0..730] of char;



begin

     assign(permdata,'c:\system\permdata.dat');

     reset(permdata,1);

     blockread(permdata,perminfo[0],730,a);

     close(permdata);

     case filenum of

	   1 : start := $08;

	   2 : start := $62;

	   3 : start := $b6;

	   4 : start := $110;

     end;

     filename := filename + chr(0);

     c := 1;

     for b := start to start+length(filename) do begin

	 perminfo[b] := filename[c];

	 inc(c);

     end;

     assign(permdata,'c:\system\permdata.dat');

     rewrite(permdata,1);

     blockwrite(permdata,perminfo[0],730);

     close(permdata);

end;



  ===============================

  REAL LIFE : David E. Stewart

  INTERNET  : davestew@netcom.com

  COMPUSERVE: 73770,2021

  ===============================





-------- End Of Source Listing ----------------------------





Clubs, Magazines and Events

===========================





Germany

-------



ULTIMATE PORTFOLIO SUPPORT IN GERMANY



  From: sedlakj@dec59



  Good news for everybody, but specially for users in Germany:

  The Portfolio activities are increasing and increasing...

  There is a club now, with about 500 people in database.

  AND they are selling all Portfolio products of our Czech club.

  This means that PF users in Germany do not have to order

  the products from CZ but directly from German Portfolio Club.

  It is also a good chance for all the rest of the PF users who

  live in EC (European Community) countries, because there

  is no extra taxation, and the whole transaction is quicker

  than odering the product directly from our club here in

  Czech Republic.



  So please, take you chance and contact:



  Mr Wolf-Theo Holl

  Neue Marktstr. 16

  D-47051 Duisburg



  tel/fax  + 49 203 299 880

  email    wolf-theo_holl@du.maus.de

	   100113.2626@compuserve.com





ANOTHER MAGAZINE ABOUT PORTFOLIO



  From: Klaus Peichl



  >Do you know Steffen and his magazine?



  I can't remember the Postleitzahl (5-digit-number of his

  hometown), but the rest of his address is:



    Steffen Kuehnert

    Thalheimer Strasse 29

    ????? Dorfchemnitz

    Germany



  I looked up the city-code for Steffen Kuehnert's hometown:

  It's 09380 Dorfchemnitz. And his phone nr is  Germany, 0377542984.



  He is editing a disk magazine named "P&P" for Pocket- and

  Palmtop- Computers. The Portfolio is always the most important

  subject. The magazine comes out 4 times a year and there were

  6 issues so far, which I have all. He is normally selling them

  for 5 DM each, but afaik this is only a copy fee and you are

  allowed to copy it on your own. So I could send you the past

  6 issues, too. But maybe you want to contact him first. A

  few weeks ago, I called him, and he said it should be

  possible to reach him via e-mail, but he didn't know how.



  I had forgotten to tell you that his magazine is in German,

  so it might be useless for you, except for the software

  included.





For Sale

========



1 MB and 4 MB RAM Cards for Portfolio



Please if you are interested in these cards, send your order as soon

as possible. We are collecting orders and we will send them soon

to the manufacturer.



You can order the 1 MB and 4MB cards both from Czech Portfolio Club

and the German Portfolio Club



PORTFOLIO PRODUCTS - valid from 20 September 1995



Here is the price list for the products that we can offer you.

All prices are in German Marks (DEM) and all prices

do not take local tax and VAT into consideration.



PERIPHERALS MADE IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC - 2 year warranty



code    description                               quant./price

			       END

			       PRICE   1-5   6-30  31-100  101-250 251-1000

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

HPD 103 Genuine Leather Case

	with battery pocket     29      20      19      17      16      15



HPD 300 Parallel inteface 25 pin,

	cable, software         79      60      55      50      45      40



HPD 350 Serial interface 9 pin,

	RS 232, software       115     86      80      75      70      60



HPD 400 RAM Card 128 KB,

	min 2 yr. battery life-span   119     94      89      79      65      60



HPD 450 PORTFOLIO MEGA-PACK

	RAM Card 128 KB,

	Parallel interf. 25 pin,

	soft, cable, file man.

	more, soft instal.     169     136     130     118     105     95



HPD 500 FolioDrive 3,5TS FDD Unit

	to read and write 1,44 MB

	diskettes from Portfolio

	Par. inferf., NiCd battery

	pack, cable, soft and 32 KB

	RAM Card incl. in the price

			       349     280     260     call    call    call



HPD 600 PortWalk tape recorder

    interface mono/stereo 2MB

    on 60 minutes tape          59      35      30      25      22      20



---------------------------------

LITERATURE



HPD 202 Portfolio Technical Guide

	in English 120 pgs,+ disk      29      18      17      15      14      13



HPD 203 Portfolio Programmier Praxis,

	in Deutsch 345pgs,+ disk       29      18      17      15      14      13



---------------------------------

ORIGINAL ATARI PRODUCTS



HPC 402 AC adapter 220 V        24      14      12      -       -       -



---------------------------------

OTHER SUPPORT



HPD 700 Upgrade your PF RAM

	to 512 KB               195     150     call    -       -       -

HPD 801 60 pin BUS connector    14      10      7       -       -       -

HPD 802 128KB SRAM chip         20      16      15      -       -       -

----------------------------------------------------

NOTES:



END PRICE       - suggested end-user price, we sell to individuals

		  at this price



call            - get current information personally

----------------------------------------------------



contact person:         Jan Sedlak      sedlakj@dec59.ruk.cuni.cz



			Portfolio

			Sarajevska 29

			120 00 Praha 2

			The Czech Republic



			Tel: + 42 2 99 61 894

			Fax: + 42 2 29 51 86



To order please e-mail Jan and he will let you know about availability,

shipping costs etc..., his bank details are as follows:



*** Czech Portfolio Club Bank Connection



BANK:  Ceska sporitelna

       Jugoslavska 19

       120 00 Praha 2

       the Czech Republic



BANK CODE:  0800



OWNER OF ACCOUNT: Jan SEDLAK - Portfolio

		  Sarajevska 29

		  120 00 Praha 2

		  the Czech Republic



NUMBER OF ACCOUNT: 720252-028/0800



Without our suuport, Jan and his friends will not be able to

carry on developing equipment for the PF, so please if you

need anything order now, treat yourself for Christmas !!



Questionaire

============



To help me maintain more accurate information about the PF

community I would be grateful if you could fill out the

following short questionaire.  The information supplied

will be treated with the utmost privacy.



1 Full Name and email address



2 State/county and country where you live



3 Portfolio Hardware you use



4 Main uses of Portfolio



  If you develop software what language and version do you

  use and would you supply source code for the magazine ?



5 Would you be interested in writing an article for the

  'magazine' and if so what subject.



6 What you would like to see covered in the future ?





- Paul

28/10/95



