                                    USET.128
                        UTILITY FOR THE COMMODORE C-128



        IT IS AMAZING WHAT SOME PEOPLE WILL DO WHEN THEY ARE  BORED.   SOME
    DRINK THEMSELVES INTO OBLIVION, OTHERS  SHOOT  UP  WITH  DRUGS.   STILL
    OTHERS RACE HIGHWAY PATROL TROOPERS UP AND DOWN I-4.  MY  THING  IS  TO
    MAKE SIMPLE PROGRAMS FOR MY COMPUTER.
        USET.128 CAME ABOUT AS THE  RESULT  OF  THE  REMOTE  SYSOP  OF  THE
    SMOKEHOUSE BBS REQUESTING A CONVERSION UTILITY AND ONE TO CUT DOWN  THE
    SIZE OF BIG SEQUENTIAL FILES.  WELL, MY TRUSTY  UTILITY  KIT  HAD  JUST
    SUCH PROGRAMS IN IT, SO I SENT THEM OFF TO THE REMOTE SYSOP.   (I  HAVE
    YET TO FIGURE OUT WHAT A REMOTE SYSOP IS.  THE WAY I FIGURE IT, YOU ARE
    EITHER A SYSOP OR  YOU  AREN'T.   OH  WELL,  SO  MUCH  FOR  SEMANTICS.)
    HOWEVER, THE PROGRAMS WERE FOR THE C-64.  I DIDN'T  HAVE  SUCH  ANIMALS
    FOR THE 128!
        HORRORS!  JUST WHEN I HAD THOUGHT I WAS GETTING A HANDLE ON THE 128
    BEAST (AFTER ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF), I  FOUND  IT  WAS  MISSING  SOME
    BASIC UTILITIES.  THIS WOULD NEVER DO - EVEN THOUGH I  HAD  NOT  REALLY
    MISSED THE UTILITIES UNTIL IT WAS POINTED OUT IN THAT REQUEST  FOR  THE
    64 PROGRAMS.  WELL, I DECIDED TO MAKE SIMILAR  PROGRAMS  AVAILABLE  FOR
    THE 128 - SOMEDAY.
        IT IS NOW SATURDAY NIGHT.  WITH THE CABLE, I HAVE AROUND 40  OR  SO
    CHANNELS TO WATCH ON TV.  AFTER "OUTLAWS" WENT  OFF,  THE  JUST  WASN'T
    ANYTHING INTERESTING ON ANY OF THE CHANNELS, SO I CAME IN HERE  TO  THE
    TRUSTY OLE COMPUTER (HIS NAME IS WAN - SHORT FOR SRI WAN TU EHT) TO SEE
    WHAT I COULD DO TO KILL SOME TIME.   USET.128  IS  THE  RESULT  OF  THE
    SATURDAY NIGHT VAST WASTELAND RESPONSE.
        USET.128 COMBINES A BUNCH OF UTILITIES YOU PROBABLY  WOULDN'T  TAKE
    THE TIME TO PROGRAM FOR YOURSELF, MUCH LESS PUT INTO A SINGLE  PACKAGE.
    INCLUDED IN IT ARE:
         1. A NORMAL SPEED SEQUENTIAL FILE READER.  READS SEQUENTIAL  FILES
    TO SCREEN - NOTHING FANCY.  CONTROL-C STOPS THE  FILE  AND  RETURNS  TO
    MENU.  CONTROL-S STOPS THE FILE, AND CONTROL-Q  CONTINUES  READING  IT.
    THESE ARE NORMAL ASCII CONVENTIONS, AND I JUST THREW THEM  IN  FOR  THE
    FUN OF IT.  (IT IS AN  EITHER  OR  SITUATION  -  THE  FILE  HAS  TO  BE
    SCROLLING TO BE CANCELLED WITH  THE  CTL-C,  THE  CTL-S  STOPPAGE  ONLY
    RESPONDS TO THE CTL-Q CONTINUE.)  IF YOU ARE USING THE 128 IN 80 COLUMN
    MODE, IT DOES DEFAULT TO THE 2 MHZ (FAST) MODE.  OTHER THAN THAT, IT IS
    A PLAIN VANILLA FILE READER.
         2. A FAST SPEED SEQUENTIAL FILE READER.  THIS IS BASED LOOSELY  ON
    JIM BUTTERFIELD'S STRING THING.  STRING THING DOESN'T WORK ON THE  128,
    BUT RICK STERLING OF MICROTECHNIQUES SOLUTIONS, REWROTE THE PROGRAM FOR
    ME SO I HAD THE EQUIVALENT OF STRING THING FOR THE 128.   (IT  PAYS  TO
    HAVE FRIENDS WHO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING WITH THESE  MYSTICAL  BOXES!)
    NO STOPS OR CANCELS ON THIS ONE - YA ANSWERS THE PROMPTS AND  IT  SPITS
    OUT THE FILE.
         3. A SEQUENTIAL FILE SPLITTER.  IF YOU  EVER  GET  BIG  SEQUENTIAL
    FILES, LIKE THE PAMS LIST OR SOME THOROUGH DOCUMENTATION FOR A PROGRAM,
    YOU SOON FIND THAT THEY DON'T FIT INTO NORMAL  WORD  PROCESSORS.   THIS
    ONE TAKES THOSE BIG FILES AND SPLITS THEM INTO LITTLE FILES  THAT  WILL
    FIT INTO YOUR WORD PROCESSOR.  I SEEM TO RECALL THAT ABOUT 7 K WAS  THE
    SIZE FOR WORDPRO 3+/64.  YOU WILL HAVE TO EXPERIMENT  WITH  SIZING  THE
    FILES TO FIT YOUR WORD PROCESSOR.  THE ORIGINAL PROGRAM FOR THE 64  WAS
    CALLED SPLIT.IMG, BY JOEL REUBEN.  IT USED BUTTERFIELD'S  STRING  THING
    FOR SPEED, WHICH IS WHY I JUST HAPPENED TO  HAVE  IT  INCLUDED  IN  THE
    PROGRAM.  JOEL DID SOME THINGS THAT I CHOSE NOT TO DO...... I JUST  PUT
    THE LITTLE FILES INTO A BIG ARRAY AND WRITE  THE  LITTLE  FILE  ALL  AT
    ONCE.
         4. AN ASCII/PETSCII AND PETSCII/ASCII CONVERSION KIT.  IF  YOU  DO
    MUCH TELECOMMUNICATING, AND YOU DON'T HAVE A  FANCY  TERMINAL  PROGRAM,
    YOU CAN EASILY END UP WITH TEXT FILES THAT COME BACK  INVERTED.   (LIKE
    THIS - WHERE THE BIG LETTERS COME OUT SMALL AND THE SMALL LETTERS  COME
    OUT CAPITALIZED.)  THIS IS THE RESULT OF YOUR GETTING A TRUE ASCII FILE
    ON YOUR DISK.  COMMODORE USES A VARIATION OF  ASCII,  SOMETIMES  CALLED
    PETSCII, AND YOU HAVE TO CONVERT TRUE ASCII  TO  PETSCII  TO  COME  OUT
    LOOKING RIGHT.  CONVERSELY, IF YOU SEND FILES TO OTHERS,  YOU  PROBABLY
    NEED TO SEND THEM AS TRUE ASCII SO OTHER MACHINES CAN UNDERSTAND  THEM.
    THESE TWO OPTIONS ALLOW YOU TO CONVERT FILES FROM ONE TO THE  OTHER  ON
    YOUR DISK.  (ASCII - AMERICAN STANDARD  CODE  FOR  THE  INTERCHANGE  OF
    INFORMATION)
         5. A PRINTER DUMP FOR SEQUENTIAL FILES.  WHY  NOT?   I  HAVE  BEEN
    READING THEM, AND HAVE THE FACILITIES AVAILABLE, SO THREW THIS  ONE  IN
    GRATIS.  IT USES THE MODIFIED STRING THING FOR SPEED  AND  DEFAULTS  TO
    PRINTERS USING DEVICE #4 AND A SECONDARY ADDRESS OF 7.  THAT'S A CARDCO
    SETTING, BUT FAIRLY COMMON.  COMMODORE PRINTERS SHOULD WORK JUST FINE -
    THEY DON'T NEED SECONDARY ADDRESSING.
         6. A DISK DIRECTORY.  I NEVER CAN REMEMBER THE NAMES OF THE  FILES
    I WANT TO LOOK AT  WHEN  I  FINALLY  GET  A  UTILITY  LOADED  INTO  THE
    COMPUTER.  SO, I STICK DIRECTORIES INTO  ALL  MY  UTILITIES.   IT  ONLY
    COSTS A LINE OF CODE, AND SAVES ME BUNCHES OF TIME TRYING  TO  REMEMBER
    WHY I LOADED UP THE UTILITY IN THE FIRST PLACE.
        USET.128 IS ENTIRELY IN BASIC 7.0, SO YOU CAN  MODIFY  IT  ALL  YOU
    WANT, OR MAYBE JUST STUDY IT TO LEARN WHAT SOME OF THE  BASIC  COMMANDS
    DO.  THE DATA STATEMENTS DO POKE IN A SMALL ML PROGRAM NEEDED  FOR  THE
    STRING THING EQUIVALENT.  IF YOU WANT TO LOOK AT IT WITH THE  128'S  ML
    MONITOR, THE MEMORY LOCATION IS 0B00 TO 0B67.   I  MADE  NO  EFFORT  TO
    CRUNCH USET.128, NOR DID I CHOOSE TO PUT ANY BELLS  AND  WHISTLES  INTO
    IT.  IT IS JUST A LITTLE WORK-HORSE PROGRAM THAT YOU  MIGHT  JUST  FIND
    USEFUL FROM TIME TO TIME.
        THE MOST USEFUL AND BEST PART OF  THE  PROGRAM  IS  THE  LAST  MENU
    OPTION.  IT DOES A SCREEN CLEAR AND ENDS THE PROGRAM SO YOU CAN GET  ON
    WITH SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT.




