Wait a
few
seconds then switch it
on
again. The screen will clear and place you
on
the
CP/M
command line and the characters
"B:BASIC"
will be printed
next to the system prompt. Since the carriage return has been added by the PX-8
from the
"AM"
characters
at
the end
of
the
AUm
START
string, this will then
be executed and about ten seconds later the BASIC program menu will be dis-
played.
To cancel the auto start string, press theWkey when the display
is
as shown
in Fig. 2.21, and the display will change as shown in Fig. 2.13b.
To change the AUTO START string, carry
out
the procedure for assigning a
string. The previous string will be displayed and can be edited.
It
is
possible
to delete the character to the left
of
the cursor but not to insert characters. Typing
over a character replaces it. In many cases it
is
simpler
to
cancel the string and
then reassign another one.
v) Rules
for
setting
up
AUTO
START
and
WAKE
Strings
1)
If
no carriage return
is
entered
at
the end
of
a string meant to be executed,
the PX-8
will
wait for the next character to be typed manually when switched
on. This
is
the case either when the string
is
a WAKE string
or
an
AUTO
START string. A carriage return should be entered as the pair
of
characters
"AM"
and not
as
a lower case
"Am".
If
the characters have been entered
as
"Am",
the string will
show"
-"
instead
of
the correct
"AM"
.
If
the carriage return
is
not present, the PX-8 will wait until the auto-power-
off
time
is
reached and then switch off.
2)
If
the WAKE string switches
on
the PX-8 the AUTO START string will be
ignored even
if
the WAKE string
is
blank.
3)
If
the PX-8 is restarted, either manually
or
by the WAKE function, and the
computer
is
in the continue mode the WAKE
or
AUTO START strings will
be ignored.
4)
If
the PASSWORD
is
set the PX-8 will not be able to AUTO START or
use the WAKE string until the password has been correctly entered.
5)
If
the MENU (next module)
is
set then the AUTO START
or
WAKE string
will be printed next
to
whatever is on the command line. When the carriage
return
is
entered the complete string on.the command line is executed. Since
this includes the file name which
is
in the top left hand corner
of
the menu
2-34
list,
an
invalid command will almost certainly be present.
This can be overcome
if
the AUTO START
or
WAKE string backspaces over
the file name entered onto the command line by the MENU. The control charac-
ter for a backspace
is
CTRL-H. Thus
if
the MENU
is
likely to be set when the
WAKE or AUTO START strings are used, add the following characters to the
string:-"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH". Eleven characters are need-
ed. Thus to run BASIC as in the example above, the WAKE or AUTO START
string should be "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHB:BASICAM".
As
with
the <:arriage return the characters should be
"AH"
and not
"Ah".
It
will not matter
if
this string
is
entered when the MENU
is
inoperative, and
the PX-8 WAKEs
or
AUTO STARTs
on
the
CP/M
command line.
The best course
of
action
is
to
switch
off
the MENU
if
a WAKE or AUTO
START string
is
used.
6)
There
is
one case when it
is
not necessarily beneficial to switch
off
the MENU.
This
is
when BASIC
is
resident in memory and a number
of
programs are
loaded into the five BASIC program areas.
In
this case the AUTO START
or WAKE string would be set up either
to
run one
of
the loaded programs,
or to load a program from one
of
the disk drives.
The BASIC Reference Manual gives details
of
how to set up AUTO START
and WAKE strings under the AUTO START and ALARM commands
of
BASIC. These examples can be used in the same way to enter AUTO START
and WAKE strings directly through the System Display.
7)
Control Codes
OOH
to
1FH can be set using the combination
of
"A"
and
ASCII codes (40H to 5FH).
WARNING:
It
BASIC
is
resident and the A
UTOSTART
or
WAKE
string is not a BAS-
IC
program name (or even requests
BASIC
to be loaded),
an.
error will
be generated. Thus
in
setting up
WAKE
and A
UTOST
ART
strings, note
should be taken
of
the way tlie system
is
set up.
It
is best to set the system
up specially
for
the A
UTOSTART
or WAKE, so that errors do not occur.
2-35
To Next Page
Loading...
Need help?
General
