Simtel MSDOS 1992 June/SIMTEL_0692.cdr/msdos/dskutl/rwcpm.arc/RWCPM.DOC

Text File | 1987-06-19 | 13KB | 323 lines

RWCPM.COM and RWCPM.DOC are copyrighted by Epson America Inc.
These files may be copied freely, but may not be sold except in
collections of public domain programs where costs are for
duplication and distribution only.

(c) 1986 Epson America Inc.
2780 Lomita Blvd.
Torrance CA 90505


     RWCPM runs under MS-DOS, and will allow you to move data
and text files back and forth between the MS-DOS and CP/M-80
operating systems.  It was designed for the Epson QX-16 computer,
which supports both CP/M and MS-DOS.  However it also runs on the
Epson Equity series and other MS-DOS machines.

     RWCPM reads files from one disk and writes them to another,
converting the file's format in the process. To use RWCPM, follow
these steps:

1.   Boot the MS-DOS system and log onto the drive you intend to
     use as either the source or destination for MS-DOS files.
     The left floppy disk drive (drive A) is reserved for the
     CP/M-80 diskette, so log onto either the right floppy disk
     drive (drive B) or the hard disk (drive C) if you have one.

2.   Run RWCPM from the logged-on drive.

3.   When the RWCPM main menu appears, put the CP/M-80 diskette
     in the left drive.

4.   Select MS-DOS-to-CP/M or CP/M-to-MS-DOS.

5.   Select the files to be converted, copy them over, and exit
     to the MS-DOS command prompt.

Note:     Although RWCPM allows you to transfer and convert the
          format of any MS-DOS or CP/M file, only text or data
          files can be converted and used.  Executable (.EXE) and
          command (.COM) program files can be converted as files
          but do not run under other systems.


** Options

  After choosing which way you want to convert your files, you
are given options for handling file displays and file movements.
The file displays for CP/M and MS-DOS disks are the same, and
offer you these controls:

o    [LEFT ARROW][UP ARROW][DOWN ARROW][RIGHT ARROW] = Select file.
     Use the arrow keys to move the cursor around the directory
     of files. This is how you select the files to be converted.

o    HOME = First file
     Press HOME to move the cursor to the first (upper left) file
     of the directory. This reorients you when there are more
     files than the screen can show at once.

o    END = Last file
     Press End to move the cursor to the last (lower right) file
     of the directory. This makes it easy to check the latter
     files of the directory when there are more files than the
     screen can show at once.

o    T = Tag on/off
     Use T to place or remove tags (diamond symbols) next to file
     names. Tagged files can be transferred as a group by the M
     key command.

o    C = Copy file
     Press C to copy individual files to the other format.
     The file copied is the one on which the cursor rests.

o    M = Copy tagged files
     Press M to copy over all tagged files (a mass copy). This
     saves time when you have several files to transfer.

o    Q = Quit to DOS
     Press Q to terminate RWCPM and return to the MS-DOS command
     prompt.

     The last RWCPM option asks you to decide whether or not to
overwrite files during file transfers.  If you copy a file to a
disk that already has a file of the same name, you see one of two
prompts, depending on the format of the target disk:

                CP/M file existed, overwrite (Y/N) ?

or

               MS-DOS file existed, overwrite (Y/N) ?

Press Y to overwrite or N to cancel the command. Be very
cautious--files with exactly the same name may be entirely
different in content.


** Operation

     When you use RWCPM, always remember that the CP/M diskette
must be located in the left drive (drive A) and that you must be
logged onto either the right drive (drive B) or the hard disk
(drive C). All CP/M files originate from or arrive at the left
drive and all MS-DOS files originate from or arrive at the
logged-on drive.

Note:     RWCPM works only with user area 0 on CP/M diskettes and
          the currently logged directory on the MS-DOS disk.
          Files are always copied from and received at these
          locations on your disks.

  In this example, you'll use RWCPM to move three files from a
CP/M diskette to an MS-DOS diskette:

1.   Boot MS-DOS in the left drive of your QX-16 or Equity.

2.   Place a formatted MS-DOS diskette in the right drive. Use
     the MS-DOS command DIR B: to make sure your diskette has
     room for additional files.

3.   Type B: and press RETURN to log onto the right drive.

4.   At the B> prompt, type A:RWCPM and press RETURN.

5.   Once RWCPM has loaded, you see this main menu:

     QX-16 MS-DOS RWCPM (C) COPYRIGHT 1985 BY EPSON Version 1.0


                      ---------------------
                      >>> Exit RWCPM    <<<
                      -   MS-DOS to CP/M  -
                      -   CP/M to MS-DOS  -
                      ---------------------

     A cursor will highlight the first function.  Use your arrow
     keys and a RETURN to select the function you want.

     Remove your MS-DOS system diskette from the left drive and
     replace it with a CP/M diskette containing text or data
     files.

6.   Press DOWN ARROW twice to position the cursor on CP/M to MS-
     DOS and press RETURN.

7.   A reminder message appears concerning the correct drives for
     your diskettes. If your diskettes aren't in the proper
     drives, press ESC to exit and start over. If they are, press
     any key to continue.

8.   RWCPM now reads the directory of the source diskette (in
     this case, the CP/M data diskette in the left drive). The
     directory screen appears and you see a list of files.

     A cursor will highlight the first file. Your arrow keys will
     allow you to select the file you want to operate on.

9.   Press END to move to the end of the list. Then press UP
     ARROW twice to position the cursor next to the third file
     from the end.

10.  Press T three times to tag the last three files of the list.
     Diamond symbols appear next to the file names.

11.  Press M to begin a mass copy of tagged files from user area
     0 of the CP/M diskette to the MS-DOS root directory.  As each
     file is converted and copied over, a message line at the
     bottom of the screen identifies the file and its new format.

12.  When copying is completed, the tags are removed from the
     file names. At this point, you can either copy more files or
     exit.

     Now that you have finished this example, press Q to return
to the MS-DOS B> prompt.


** Cautions

     Keep several things in mind when you use RWCPM:

o    Be careful when overwriting files. Files with the same name
     might not be similar, and you might accidentally overwrite
     important data. To prevent losing important MS-DOS files,
     you can use XTREE to mark them as read-only.

o    RWCPM runs under MS-DOS, so you cannot access the CP/M
     partition of a hard disk. Before you can convert a CP/M hard
     disk file to MS-DOS, you must first copy it to a CP/M
     diskette using PIP or INDEXER.

o    MS-DOS and CP/M differ in the way in which they build
     files--MS-DOS uses individual bytes and CP/M uses 128-byte
     blocks.

     When an MS-DOS file is converted to CP/M, the number of
     bytes it contains is rounded up to the next 128-byte block.
     The characters added to fill in the file are CTRL Z (end of
     file) characters.

o    Only data or text files can be usefully converted.
     Executable (.EXE) and command (.COM) files can be converted
     as files, but do not run under other systems.

o    The maximum size file you can convert is 376K, the capacity
     of a double-density CP/M diskette.

o    RWCPM works only with 40-track (double-density), Epson-
     formatted diskettes for CP/M files. However, it can use
     either 40- or 80-track (double- or quad-density) diskettes,
     or a hard disk, for MS-DOS files.

o    RWCPM is designed specifically to work with CP/M and MS-DOS
     files while running under MS-DOS. It does not run under
     CP/M-80 or TPM-III.  Also, the default 80-track format of
     TPM-III files on the QX-16 makes them incompatible with RWCPM.


** Error messages

     If you see one of these error messages while you're using
RWCPM, refer to this list for an explanation, and for a
suggestion on how to recover from the problem.

Error - MS-DOS file not found

     This could occur if you changed MS-DOS diskettes after the
     directory was displayed but before file transfer began.
     Restart the program and put the correct diskettes in place.

Error - MS-DOS directory full or file read-only

     No more files can be added to the MS-DOS disk, either
     because its directory is full or because a read-only file
     prevents overwriting. If the MS-DOS directory is full, you
     can delete files to create more room. Or, you can use the
     Epson utility XTREE to see if MS-DOS files have been marked
     as read-only and change their status if necessary.

Error - MS-DOS disk full

     All available space on the MS-DOS disk is occupied,
     preventing transfer from CP/M. Use another MS-DOS disk or
     delete some files before adding others.

Error - No space on CP/M directory

     No more files can be added to the CP/M diskette from MS-DOS
     because the directory is full. Use another CP/M diskette, or
     delete some files before adding others.

Error - Not enough memory for the CP/M file

     RWCPM reads the entire CP/M file into memory before
     converting it to MS-DOS format and writing it to disk. (Your
     QX-16 has 512K of memory, so it's unlikely you'll see this
     message. However, it is possible to set aside so much memory
     for other things that not enough is available for a large
     file.) To convert the file, free more memory or divide the
     file into smaller segments.

Error - Not enough memory for the MS-DOS file

     RWCPM reads the entire MS-DOS file into memory before
     converting it to CP/M format and transferring it. (Your QX-
     16 has 512K of memory, so you probably won't see this
     message. However, you might have set aside so much memory
     for other things that there isn't enough left for a large
     file. It is also possible for an MS-DOS file--e.g., a hard
     disk file--to be too large to fit in memory.) To convert the
     file, free more memory or divide the file into smaller
     segments.

Error - Read CP/M directory

     When RWCPM attempted to read the CP/M diskette directory,
     one of various possible problems existed;  the diskette
     wasn't in the drive, wasn't formatted, had the wrong format,
     or had errors. Insert the correct diskette, then restart the
     program.

Error - Read CP/M file

     When RWCPM attempted to read a CP/M file, one of various
     possible problems existed:  the diskette had been changed,
     had the wrong format, or contained errors. Insert the
     correct diskette or check it for errors.

Error - Read MS-DOS file

     When RWCPM attempted to read an MS-DOS file, one of various
     possible problems existed:  the diskette had been changed,
     had the wrong format, or contained errors. Insert the
     correct diskette or check the disk for errors.

Error - Update CP/M directory

     When RWCPM attempted to update the CP/M diskette directory,
     one of various problems existed:  the diskette wasn't in the
     drive, was write-protected, or was in the wrong format.
     Check or replace it and run the program again.

Error - Write CP/M file

     When RWCPM attempted to write a file to the CP/M diskette,
     one of various problems existed:  the drive was empty, the
     diskette or file was write-protected, or the diskette was in
     the wrong format. Check or replace it and run the program
     again.

No file on the CP/M diskette in the left drive

     The CP/M diskette contains no files to transfer to MS-DOS.
     The program aborts automatically.  Restart RWCPM, using a
     CP/M diskette that has data files to convert.

No file on the MS-DOS log-on drive/directory

     The MS-DOS disk contains no files to transfer to CP/M. The
     program aborts automatically.  Restart RWCPM, using an MS-
     DOS disk that has data files to convert.