NSB8 Datasheet, PDF (128/158 Pages) List of Unclassifed Manufacturers – BASIC interpreter for Z80 family

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ITALIAN TECHNOLOGY
PERSONALIZING BASIC
You may change certain of BASIC’s internal features so that system operation is more convenient
for you and/or better fits your particular computer’s capabilities. For example, the limits of the
memory area used by BASIC may be enlarged or constricted, leaving more or less space for user
programs and data. These changes are accomplished through the modification of information stored
in various memory locations within the BASIC interpreter itself.
In general, modifications of these personalization bytes are best handled through use of BASIC’s
FILL statement, and, occasionally, the built in EXAM function. What follows is a complete, step by
step procedure which you may use to personalize BASIC in your computer system. If you want the
changes made to be permanent, be sure to follow all of the steps (from A to E). If you want only
temporary modification, which will endure until the end of the current session of BASIC, then do
only step C, omitting all the rest.
A) Test your system’s memory by using an operating system memory test function to be sure that
you will not be making a copy of BASIC from bad memory. In particular, the area where
BASIC and GDOS 80 reside should be tested thoroughly.
B) At this point, you should make sure that the GDOS 80 is operational, and that you are in its
command mode (signified by the GDOS 80 prompt). Now, run the original NSB8 saved in the
received disk, by typing:
NSB8<CR>
When BASIC responds with READY, go to step C.
C) Now you are ready to make the various modifications to BASIC. In order to do so, follow the
substeps of the following paragraphs in exactly the order given. If you do not wish to make one
or more of the individual changes listed, then simply skip it, but don't mix up the order of the
steps! In any case, you must always do step 2 before attempting any higher numbered steps.
D) Type BYE in order to return to the GDOS 80 and save the modified version of BASIC to a new
file on one of the managed drives. This operation is performed through the following GDOS
command:
SAVE <size of BASIC file in 256 bytes blocks> <drive:filename><CR>
With the standard version, then the above simplifies to the following actual command:
SAVE 43 C:NSB8MOD.G80<CR>
E) Now type:
C:NSB8MOD<CR>
to test your personalized copy and make sure that all the modifications have been made
correctly. If not, get back into GDOS 80 and return to step A. The new copy of BASIC may
now be used as your personalized master copy, and it is a good practise to make a back up copy
for example on write protect disk.
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