.he The Word on the Z-System .foThe Word Page # Revision 1 What's the Word on the Z-System? by Richard Conn Thå  followinç presentó thå fouò maiî questionó askeä  abouô the Z-System (ZCPR3 and ZRDOS) and gives some basic facts. The four main questions are: 1. Is ZCPR3 hard to bring up on my computer? What are my options? 2. How much memory does a Z-System take? 3. Do I have to have a hard disk to run the Z-System? How much disk space is needed? 4. How can I find out more about the Z-System? .pa Š.foQuestion 1: Bringing up ZCPR3 Page # QUESTION 1: Bringing up ZCPR3 --> 1. Is ZCPR3 hard to bring up on my computer? What are my options? 2. How much memory does a Z-System take? 3. Do I have to have a hard disk to run the Z-System? How much disk space is needed? 4. How can I find out more about the Z-System? ANSWER Iæ  yoõ  trù  tï  brinç uð  ZCPR³  manuallù  (followinç  thå installatioî  instructionó iî ZCPR3º  Thå Manual)¬  thå answeò ió YES®  Experiencå iî assembly-languagå programminç ió  necessary® Sourcå codå tï youò BIOÓ ió necessary®  Aî understandinç oæ CP/Í and Z-System concepts is necessary. However¬  yoõ  maù noô havå tï brinç ZCPR³ manually®  Therå are options ... .pa Š ZCPR3 Installation Options OPTIONS Your basic options are: 1) Manual Installation o no cost (download the software) o complex with many options o requires knowledge of assembly language 2) Automatic Installation (Auto-Install) o commercial products: Z3-DOT-COM (includes all help files and alì utilitieó iî COÍ filå form© $ 99.00 Z3-DOT-COM (without utilities) $ 49.95 Z-COM (full Z3-DOT-COM with ZRDOS) $119.00 ZRDOS (CP/M BDOS Replacement) $ 49.50 ZRDOS+ (ZRDOS with Public Dirs) $ 59.50 o write or call Echelon for current prices 3) Pre-installed for specific systems o soon to be released o write or call Echelon for availability/prices o target installations: Ampro Kaypro Eagle Morrow Epson QX-10 Osborne Heath/Zenith SB180 4) User Groups o major user groups often have complete ZCPR3 o examples: First Osborne user's Group (FOG) Tampa Bay Kaypro User's Group 5) Echelon Good-Neighbor Helper Roster ADDRESSES general: Echelon, Inc. 101 First Street Loó Altos¬ CÁ 9402² 415-948-3820 Z-NODES Foò interactioî oî keù Z-Nodeó (Remotå Accesó Systemó - Bulletin Boards) and questions: in USA: Z-Node Central (CA,very busy) 415-489-9005 Z-Node 3 (Massachusetts) 617-965-7259 Z-Node 25 (California) 408-253-1309 Z-Node 31 (Texas) 915-821-3638 else: Z-Node 16 (Canada) 416-231-9202 Z-Nodå 2¶ (France© 011-33-90-77-60-1µ  (USA) Z-Nodå 5° (Australia© 011-61 (089© 528 85² (USA) .pa Š.foQuestion 2: How Much Memory is Used? Page # QUESTIOÎ 2º Ho÷ Mucè Memorù ió Takeî Uð bù á Z-System? 1. Is ZCPR3 hard to bring up on my computer? What are my options? --> 2. How much memory does a Z-System take? 3. Do I have to have a hard disk to run the Z-System? How much disk space is needed? 4. How can I find out more about the Z-System? ANSWER Á Z-Systeí can“ takå uð á loô oæ memory¬ buô iô caî alsï takå as little as 1K, depending on how it's installed. É  havå  ruî thå followinç programó iî  á  full-uð  Z-Systeí (whicè  takeó 5Ë morå thaî á similaò CP/Í system)¬  anä theù havå worked well for my applications: dBase II Wordstar Spellstar Mailmerge MBASIC CBASIC2 BDS C C80 Pascal/MT+ Multiplan ASM, M80, MAC, ZAS Z-MSG Therå  arå  somå programó whicè hoç sï mucè  TPÁ  thaô  theù can'ô ruî undeò mù full-uð Z-System¬ buô É don'ô uså theí oò neeä them for my applications. Thå  impacô oî memorù ió reallù noô THAÔ significanô iæ  yoõ look at a true picture ... .pa Š Z-SYSTEM compared to CP/M memory maps CP/M Minimum ZCPR3 Full ZCPR3 No Overhead 1K Overhead 5K Overhead --------------------- -_Overhead_____- ---------------- - BIOS (1.5K) and - - BIOS (1.5K) - - Overhead - 62 -_BDOS (3.5K) = 5K__- - ZRDOS (3.5K) - -______________- 60 -_CCP (2K)__________- ---------------- - BIOS (1.5K) - 58 - - --ZCPR3 (2K)---- - ZRDOS (3.5K) - 56 - 57K TPA - - - ---------------- 54 - - - 56K TPA - --ZCPR3 (2K)---- 52 - - - - - - 50 - - - - - 52K TPA - 48 - - - - - - 46 - - - - - - 44 - - - - - - 42 - - - - - - 40 - - - - - - 38 - - - - - - 36 - - - - - - 34 - - - - - - 32 - - - - - - 30 - - - - - - 28 - - - - - - 26 - - - - - - 24 - - - - - - 22 - - - - - - 20 - - - - - - 18 - - - - - - 16 - - - - - - 14 - - - - - - 12 - - - - - - 10 - - - - - - 8 - - - - - - 6 - - - - - - 4 - - - - - - 2 --------------------- ---------------- ---------------- 0 % of Memory Occupied by Operating System: 10.9% 12.5% 18.8% Functionality Enhancements over CP/M: None Shells Shells Named Dirs Named Dirs Public Dirs Public Dirs Multiple Cmds Multiple Cmds Terminal Cap Terminal Cap External FCB External FCB Messages Messages Z3 Data Base Z3 Data Base I/O Package Flow Cmd Package Resident Cmd Package Note: BIOS Sizes may vary from the 1.5K given above and affect percentages .pa Š Breakdown of BIOS Overhead Growth BIOS Size Standard CP/M Minimum ZCPR3 Maximum ZCPR3 --------- ------------- ------------- ------------- 1.5K 7K = 10.9% 8K = 12.5% 12K = 18.8% 2.5K 8K = 12.5% 9K = 14.1% 13K = 20.3% 3.5K 9K = 14.1% 10K = 15.6% 14K = 21.9% 4.5K 10K = 15.6% 11K = 17.2% 15K = 23.4% 5.5K 11K = 17.2% 12K = 18.8% 16K = 25.0% Noteº  nË ½ p¥ indicateó thå sizå oæ thå systeí iî Ë (BIOÓ « BDOÓ  «  CPR© anä thå percentagå oæ thå totaì memorù takeî uð  bù thå operatinç system®  Iî mù case¬  É aí runninç á Maximuí ZCPR³ witè  á 5.5Ë BIOÓ overhead¬  sï thió leaveó á 48Ë TPÁ (64Ë  - 16Ë System© whicè expandó tï 50Ë iæ thå prograí overlayó ZCPR3®  Alì mù programs¬ includinç WordStaò anä dBASÅ IÉ continuå tï run¬ anä I have full ZCPR3 features. Eveî witè thió argument¬  peoplå wilì stilì ignorå thå  vasô gainó  iî  functionalitù  anä  capabilitù offereä  bù  ZCPR³  anä concentratå oî theiò single-mindeä fixatioî witè TPÁ (foò reasonó nï onå haó adequatelù explaineä tï me)®  Á futurå ZCPR³ release¬ ZCPRB3¬ wilì offeò á bankeä memorù systeí witè aô leasô á 60Ë TPÁ (now¬ THAÔ shoulä makå theí happy)® Notå thaô É aí noô movinç tï á  bankeä systeí oî theiò account¬  buô É aí doinç sï aó  á  steð towarä multitaskinç (whicè ió somethinç É REALLÙ want). .pa Š.foQuestion 3: How Much Disk Space is Used? Page # QUESTIOÎ 3º Must I have a hard disk to run the Z-System? 1. Is ZCPR3 hard to bring up on my computer? What are my options? 2. How much memory does a Z-System take? --> 3. Do I have to have a hard disk to run the Z-System? How much disk space is needed? 4. How can I find out more about the Z-System? ANSWER NO. Thå  Z-Systeí  runó  betteò  oî  á  harä  disë  ..®  becauså EVERYTHINÇ  runó betteò oî á harä disk®  Also¬  á harä disë runó betteò  oî  á Z-Systeí becauså oæ alì thå programó  anä  featureó which support the hard disk: Named directories with passwords Public directories under ZRDOS+ Paths Shells Special commands, like CD Mosô Z-Systeí featureó arå practicaì regardlesó oæ thå  disë used. Thå followinç showó somå disë configurations¬ froí á full-uð harä  disë  (oveò 1Í bytå oæ supporô files© tï á  minimuí  systeí (less than 40K of support files) ... .pa Š.foQuestion 3: How Much Disk Space is Used? Page # How Much Disk Space Does a Z-System Require? 1. This shows my hard disk, which is extensive: XDIR III, Version 2.0 Vertical Listing by File Type/Name Disk: A User: 15 Name: ROOT, File Attributes: Non-System System Filename.Typ Size K Filename.Typ Size K Filename.Typ Size K -------- --- ------ -------- --- ------ -------- --- ------ VITALS .BAD 4 CPY .COM 4 EDXLT .COM 8 VFILER .CMD 4 CRC .COM 8 ERASE .COM 4 AC .COM 8 DDT .COM 8 ERROR1 .COM 4 ALIAS .COM 4 DEFDIR .COM 4 ERROR2 .COM 4 BAD .COM 28 DEV .COM 4 ERROR3 .COM 4 BANNER .COM 4 DEVICE .COM 4 ERROR4 .COM 4 BOOTHD .COM 4 DIFF .COM 4 ERRORX .COM 4 CALENDAR.COM 16 DIR .COM 4 FINDBAD .COM 4 CAT .COM 4 DPROG .COM 4 FINDERR .COM 4 CATFREE .COM 4 DSD .COM 16 FINDF .COM 4 CCOPY .COM 4 DSDZ .COM 16 FORMAT2 .COM 4 CD .COM 4 DU3 .COM 12 FORMATHD.COM 8 CLEANDIR.COM 4 DUMP .COM 4 GOTO .COM 4 CMD .COM 4 ECHO .COM 4 HDSYSGEN.COM 4 CMDRUN .COM 4 ED .COM 8 HELP .COM 4 COMMENT .COM 4 EDCST .COM 8 HELPCK .COM 4 COMP .COM 4 EDTMC .COM 8 HELPPR .COM 8 CPSEL .COM 4 EDTXD .COM 8 IF .COM 4 Filename.Typ Size K Filename.Typ Size K Filename.Typ Size K -------- --- ------ -------- --- ------ -------- --- ------ IFSTAT .COM 4 MSG .COM 4 SAK .COM 4 INUSE .COM 4 MU3 .COM 4 SCRAMBLE.COM 4 IOBUG .COM 16 NOTE .COM 4 SETFILE .COM 4 IOINIT .COM 4 NULU .COM 16 SGEN .COM 4 KERMIT .COM 16 PAGE .COM 8 SH .COM 4 LDR .COM 4 PATH .COM 4 SHCTRL .COM 4 LGET .COM 4 PIP .COM 8 SHDEFINE.COM 4 LHELP .COM 4 PRINT .COM 8 SHFILE .COM 4 LLF .COM 8 PROTECT .COM 4 SHOW .COM 8 LRUN .COM 4 PWD .COM 4 SHSET .COM 4 LX .COM 4 Q .COM 4 SHVAR .COM 4 MBASIC .COM 24 QUIET .COM 4 SQ .COM 16 MCOPY .COM 8 RCOPY .COM 4 STARTUP .COM 4 MEMTEST .COM 4 RECORD .COM 4 STAT .COM 8 MENU .COM 8 REG .COM 4 SUB .COM 4 MENUCK .COM 4 REGEN .COM 4 T3ANSWER.COM 4 MKDIR .COM 8 REMOTE .COM 16 T3DIAL .COM 8 MOVE .COM 4 RENAME .COM 4 T3FILER .COM 16 .pa Š Ho÷ Mucè Disë Spacå Doeó á Z-Systeí Require¿ (Continued) 1. (Continued) My Hard Disk Filename.Typ Size K Filename.Typ Size K Filename.Typ Size K -------- --- ------ -------- --- ------ -------- --- ------ T3FLUSH .COM 4 TCMAKE .COM 8 Z3INS .COM 4 T3HANGUP.COM 4 TCSELECT.COM 4 Z3LOC .COM 4 T3INIT .COM 4 TESTERR .COM 4 ZDM .COM 8 T3INS .COM 8 TIME .COM 8 ZDMH .COM 8 T3LOGCHG.COM 8 UNERASE .COM 4 ZDMZ .COM 8 T3LOGCK .COM 8 USQ .COM 12 ZEX .COM 8 T3LOGIN .COM 12 VALIAS .COM 8 ZSID .COM 12 T3MASTER.COM 16 VDO .COM 8 BAD .DOC 8 T3MONRPT.COM 4 VERROR .COM 4 NOTESHD .DOC 16 T3NOTE .COM 4 VFILER .COM 16 P1350 .DPG 4 T3SELMOD.COM 4 VIEW .COM 4 STD .DPG 4 T3SEND .COM 4 VMENU .COM 8 TEXT .DPG 4 T3SERVER.COM 8 VMENUCK .COM 4 TVI950 .DPG 4 T3TERM .COM 12 VTYPE .COM 8 SYS .ENV 4 T3TERMB .COM 8 WHEEL .COM 4 SYS .FCP 4 T3TEST .COM 4 WM .COM 12 SYS .IOP 4 T3VIEW .COM 8 XD .COM 4 SYS .NDR 4 TCCHECK .COM 4 XDIR .COM 8 DEBUG .RCP 4 Filename.Typ Size K Filename.Typ Size K Filename.Typ Size K -------- --- ------ -------- --- ------ -------- --- ------ SYS .RCP 4 Z3TCAP .TCP 12 164 Files Using 1052K, 299 Files on Disk and 2088K Left .pa Š Ho÷ Mucè Disë Spacå Doeó á Z-Systeí Require¿ (Continued) 2. The following shows a "reasonable" systems disk: XDIR III, Version 2.0 Vertical Listing by File Type/Name Disk: C User: 15 Name: BACKROOT, File Attributes: Non-System Filename.Typ Size K Filename.Typ Size K Filename.Typ Size K -------- --- ------ -------- --- ------ -------- --- ------ VFILER .CMD 1 HELP .COM 4 STARTUP .COM 1 AC .COM 5 LDR .COM 3 SUB .COM 3 ALIAS .COM 4 LGET .COM 4 UNERASE .COM 2 CD .COM 1 LHELP .COM 4 VALIAS .COM 7 CLEANDIR.COM 2 LLF .COM 5 VERROR .COM 2 COMP .COM 3 LX .COM 3 VFILER .COM 13 CPSEL .COM 1 MCOPY .COM 5 VMENU .COM 8 CRC .COM 6 MENU .COM 5 VTYPE .COM 6 DEV .COM 2 MKDIR .COM 6 WHEEL .COM 2 DIR .COM 3 MOVE .COM 2 WM .COM 10 DPROG .COM 3 PATH .COM 2 XD .COM 4 DU3 .COM 12 PRINT .COM 6 XDIR .COM 8 ECHO .COM 1 PWD .COM 2 ZDM .COM 6 ERASE .COM 3 RENAME .COM 4 ZEX .COM 5 ERROR3 .COM 1 SAK .COM 1 SYS .ENV 1 ERRORX .COM 1 SH .COM 4 SYS .FCP 1 FINDF .COM 2 SHCTRL .COM 1 SYS .IOP 2 GOTO .COM 1 SHOW .COM 8 SYS .NDR 1 Filename.Typ Size K Filename.Typ Size K Filename.Typ Size K -------- --- ------ -------- --- ------ -------- --- ------ SYS .RCP 2 55 Files Using 205K, 55 Files on Disk and 36K Left .pa Š Ho÷ Mucè Disë Spacå Doeó á Z-Systeí Require¿ (Continued) 3. The following shows a "more reasonable" systems disk: XDIR III, Version 2.0 Vertical Listing by File Type/Name Disk: C User: 15 Name: BACKROOT, File Attributes: Non-System Filename.Typ Size K Filename.Typ Size K Filename.Typ Size K -------- --- ------ -------- --- ------ -------- --- ------ VFILER .CMD 1 LGET .COM 4 VALIAS .COM 7 AC .COM 5 LHELP .COM 4 VERROR .COM 2 CLEANDIR.COM 2 LLF .COM 5 VFILER .COM 13 COMP .COM 3 LX .COM 3 VMENU .COM 8 CPSEL .COM 1 MENU .COM 5 WM .COM 10 CRC .COM 6 PATH .COM 2 XD .COM 4 DEV .COM 2 PRINT .COM 6 ZEX .COM 5 DPROG .COM 3 SAK .COM 1 SYS .ENV 1 ERROR3 .COM 1 SH .COM 4 SYS .FCP 1 ERRORX .COM 1 SHCTRL .COM 1 SYS .IOP 2 GOTO .COM 1 STARTUP .COM 1 SYS .NDR 1 HELP .COM 4 SUB .COM 3 SYS .RCP 2 LDR .COM 3 UNERASE .COM 2 38 Files Using 130K, 38 Files on Disk and 111K Left 4. The following shows two "minimum" systems disks: XDIR III, Version 2.0 Vertical Listing by File Type/Name Disk: C User: 15 Name: BACKROOT, File Attributes: Non-System Filename.Typ Size K Filename.Typ Size K Filename.Typ Size K -------- --- ------ -------- --- ------ -------- --- ------ VFILER .CMD 1 MENU .COM 5 WM .COM 10 CLEANDIR.COM 2 PRINT .COM 6 XD .COM 4 DEV .COM 2 SAK .COM 1 ZEX .COM 5 DPROG .COM 3 STARTUP .COM 1 SYS .ENV 1 ERROR3 .COM 1 SUB .COM 3 SYS .FCP 1 ERRORX .COM 1 UNERASE .COM 2 SYS .IOP 2 GOTO .COM 1 VALIAS .COM 7 SYS .NDR 1 LDR .COM 3 VERROR .COM 2 SYS .RCP 2 LHELP .COM 4 VFILER .COM 13 26 Files Using 84K, 26 Files on Disk and 157K Left XDIR III, Version 2.0 Vertical Listing by File Type/Name Disk: C User: 15 Name: BACKROOT, File Attributes: Non-System Filename.Typ Size K Filename.Typ Size K Filename.Typ Size K -------- --- ------ -------- --- ------ -------- --- ------ VFILER .CMD 1 UNERASE .COM 2 SYS .FCP 1 DEV .COM 2 VERROR .COM 2 SYS .IOP 2 ERRORX .COM 1 VFILER .COM 13 SYS .NDR 1 LDR .COM 3 XD .COM 4 SYS .RCP 2 STARTUP .COM 1 SYS .ENV 1 14 Files Using 36K, 14 Files on Disk and 205K Left .pa Š.foQuesiton 4: How Can I Find Out More? Page # QUESTIOÎ 4º How can I find out more about the Z-System? 1. Is ZCPR3 hard to bring up on my computer? What are my options? 2. How much memory does a Z-System take? 3. Do I have to have a hard disk to run the Z-System? How much disk space is needed? --> 4. How can I find out more about the Z-System? ANSWER There are lots of ways: o talking to Z-System users o magazines o books o user's groups o Echelon Newsletters (Z-NEWS) o Echelon, Inc Whilå  thå  firsô  documentatioî oî thå  Z-Systeí  waó  verù technical¬  Echeloî  anä itó friendó arå producinç morå anä  morå user-orienteä  documentatioî whicè ió aimeä aô thå  non-technicaì user®  Many¬  manù magazinå articleó havå alsï comå ouô witè thå intentioî  oæ aidinç thå non-technicaì useò iî understandinç whaô the Z-System does for him. The documentation is abundant ... .pa Š Z-System Documentation o Lots of magazine articles (Byte, Profiles, Remark, etc.) o Books and Newsletters (contact Echelon for current prices) ZCPR3: The Manual (over 300 pages, bound) $19.95 alone $24.00 with 6-month newsletter data: over 8,000 sold now in 2nd printing ZCPR3 and IOPs (50 pages, loose-leaf) $ 9.95 available on Z-Nodes for downloading ZRDOS Programmer's Manual (35 pages, loose-leaf) $ 8.95 Z-System Newsletter (every 2 weeks) available on Z-Nodes for downloading printed version free from Echelon for 6 months with $44+ order $24.00 per year, printed version Z-Systeí Newsletteò Indexeä Compendiuí (nï datå yet) summary of first series of newsletters with extensive index ZRDOSº Thå Manuaì (expecteä ± Mar 86) ZCPR3: The Libraries (expected 1 Mar 86) ZCPR3: For the User (expected 1 July 86) ZCPR3 User's Guide Series (by Bruce Morgan et al) Getting Started (expected 1 Feb 86) Creating Aliases (no date yet) Using ZEX (no date yet) Using Shells (no date yet) ...