HP Forum Archive 14

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Survey & Announcment: Which CCD module fcns are most wanted Message #1 Posted by Raymond Del Tondo on 9 June 2004, 4:19 a.m. Hi all, my long-time project has reached a new stage. I made a 4K (single page) version of the CCD module, which mainly consists of the operating systems extensions, like extended CAT, XEQ, ASN, LC ALPHA, direct complete register access (e.g. RCL M), and some utilities, like CON(trast for halfnut). Matrix stuff has been abandonned, so far included are the following CCD module fcns: CAS & SAS ABSP ARCLI CLA- CODE & DCD F/E PMTA PMTK and some others from other people: B>BCD, BCD>B, CFX, CVIEW, HEXKB, HEXKN, MSGE, PTC, PTS, REVX?, ROM>X, SFX, X>$, XQ>GO There are still about 250 bytes left for more functions. So here's the question: Which functions of the original CCD module would you want to have included, or in other words, which are the user's favourite fcns of the CCD module (except matrix stuff, of course;-) Regards, Raymond

Re: Survey & Announcment: Which CCD module fcns are most wanted Message #2 Posted by Ángel Martin on 9 June 2004, 10:05 a.m., in response to message #1 by Raymond Del Tondo Raymond, good to hear from you on this great subject ;-? If you ask me, I'd approach it as a purely OS enhancements project. If you think about it, it's always possible to taylor a set of MCODE functions into a custom ROM, however it isn't trivial at all to write OS extensions like those on the CCD. So my *ideal* scenario would be: forget about any standard function, and leave the page as a "silent" one; and to put the icing on the cake, place it on address #4h - so it doesn't take up any space on the address bus. This would be akin to the FORTH ROM, which does the same (although it messes up by using address #5h as well, something yours won't have to). My next-to-ideal scenario would be also from the system extension perspective: if you must include standard functions, make them so that they are "natural" extensions to mainframe functions. Some examples that come to mind are: FC?S, FS?S, CFX, SFX (all 55 flags), CNT, CNT? (contrast stuff), etc. I wouldn't put the strength on MCODE-related functions (like B>BCD and BCD>B in particular), nor would I worry about yet another set of CODE and DECODE (let me count the ways these two show up in the libraries...). And finally, my two favorite functions from the CCD, which I also consider in the "natural extensions" category, are: PMTA and PMTK. These two would have to make it!! One last thought: whatever set of functions (if any) you decide to include will be fine, and is entirely up to you. Just make it soon so we can enjoy your work!! Best, Ángel

Re: Survey & Announcment: Which CCD module fcns are most wanted Message #3 Posted by DavidMY on 9 June 2004, 1:21 p.m., in response to message #2 by Ángel Martin I think your choices are the best. The only one I would add is "PMTH". I find it and the other PMT functions very useful. Generally, I'd agree with Angel and say focus in on those functions truly unique to the CCD. Just out of curiousity: Why 4K? And, have you considered using paging to add another 4K of code space without taking up module/slot space? Using the second page is relatively easy (pgs. 3&4 aren't) and while it dosen't help the 64 function limit it does alow for almost 4k of code.

Re: Survey & Announcment: Which CCD module fcns are most wanted Message #4 Posted by Angel Martin on 9 June 2004, 2:50 p.m., in response to message #3 by DavidMY Yes, PMTH is great as well, but it has the dependency on WSIZE, and its corresponding buffer in memory; thus IMHO better stay away from it. As per the 4k, I think it's much better like this, because a small foorprint makes it really more convenient and flexible: you can allocate it on any page (hopefully #4h) and doesn't require other supportive page. In fact, striping the ARRAY functions off the CCD module is doable (I know it for a fact), but condensing its OS extensions on a single page is a real feat, not for the faint of heart - I cannot do it. Bank switching would definitely be a great accomplishment, but I'm afraid would take quite some effort even for Raymond's prowess! Best, AM.

Update: 4K CCD OS/X Message #5 Posted by Raymond Del Tondo on 10 June 2004, 5:31 p.m., in response to message #1 by Raymond Del Tondo Hi, and thanks for your responses. The idea putting the OS/X on page 4 isn't bad, but unfortunately it won't work w/o a helper page in the range 5-F. This is because page 4 is flat, w/o the normal ROM structure, interrupt services are only available from page 5 on (see =ROMCHK). The functions I mentioned in my initial posting are already included. CODE/DCD are in because HEXKB/HEXKN need it. HEXKB is similar to PMTH, but was more suitable for my purposes back then. More to follow;-) Raymond

Re: Update: 4K CCD OS/X Message #6 Posted by Ángel Martin on 11 June 2004, 7:20 a.m., in response to message #5 by Raymond Del Tondo Thanks Raymond, I can't wait...

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