textfiles/apple/DOCUMENTATION/ecp8.txt

 Extended Command Processor 8
 ============================
 Copyright 1987 by Don Elton
 
 Carolina System Software
 2916-A Chatsworth Road
 Columbia, SC  29223
 
 (803) 788-7360
 
 
 This is the electronic version of the Extended Command Processor 8 (ECP-8)
 for ProDOS.  This is a shareware combination operating system shell,
 program selector, and utility package for any Apple II computer that can
 run ProDOS.  The electronic version is a subset of the full program
 package in that several utilities, commands, and features are missing
 from this package.  There is still pleny of usefulness to be gained from
 this limited version though.  It is my hope that you'll like what you
 see and send in the paltry $30 registration fee to receive the full
 package along with over 50 pages of in-depth documentation in the form
 of a user's guide for the non-programmer as well as a technical reference
 for the assembly language or C programmer who would like to extends
 further the capabilities of this already powerful package.
 
 Registered ECP-8 owners will tell you that it is worth your while to
 register so you can receive the frequent update notices when new
 features are added to this package.  Most of these new features are
 added as a direct result of user suggestions/requests so I want to
 hear from you if you have ideas of how the package might be
 improved.
 
 If you don't find the program useful then just erase the files and
 respect this shareware agreement by not using the software.  The only
 way I'll continue to write programs like this for shareware distribution
 is if users support the effort.  You'll do yourself and all of us a
 favor if you support shareware software authors of programs you use.
 If this program were being marketed on the retail level it would
 cost you at least $80 or so if not more based on comparisons with
 commercial competitors.
 
 Because ECP-8 is a large software package you'll need to spend a few
 minutes putting the package together on your disk.  First off, a word
 about program selectors.  A program selector is a special type of
 ProDOS program that is used to select or start application programs
 such as your word processor or terminal program.  When you use the
 QUIT option from most ProDOS programs you ordinarily reach an
 unfriendly screen that asks you for a prefix of the next application.
 When a program selector is installed you are brought back to the
 selector program automatically when you leave a ProDOS system program.
 This way you no longer reboot your computer in frustration to switch
 between your various application programs.  For this scheme to work
 correctly, the program selector itself (in this case ECP8.SYSTEM) should
 be the first "system" program to be executed when you boot your computer.
 You can assure that this will be the case by making sure that the file
 ECP8.SYSTEM is the first file to be listed in the catalog of your boot
 disk.  You may need to do some renaming and file copying (using FILER
 until you're more familiar with ECP-8) to accomplish this.
 
 ECP-8 will look for two special subdirectories when it boots up.  The
 first is a directory named HELP.  The HELP subdirectory should be
 listed in the same directory as ECP8.SYSTEM.  When you type the command
 
 HELP <command.name>
 
 at the ECP-8 prompt ":" then ECP-8 will search the HELP subdirectory for
 a text file named <command.name> and will display it to the screen.
 The HELP subdirectory is optional.  If you don't have room for it or
 don't need it then don't create it and ECP-8 will just disable the
 HELP command no questions asked.
 
 The other special subdirectory is the CMDS subdirectory.  This is a
 very useful (though still not required) subdirectory.  It too should
 reside in the same directory that ECP8.SYSTEM is found in.  When you
 type a command that isn't a built-in command to ECP-8 it will first
 search for a file by that name in the directory that the ProDOS prefix
 is set to.  If it doesn't find the file there it will look for the file
 in the CMDS subdirectory.  This means that you can put ECP-8 external
 commands, batch programs, or your own basic, assembler, c or other
 utilities in this directory and never again have to remember where you
 put them on your disk.  ECP-8 always knows to look for any file in the
 CMDS subdirectory if it can't find it in the current prefix directory.
 
 
 To set up ECP-8 you should extract all of the members from the Binary II
 file you downloaded onto a blank diskette.  You will have to use the
 Apple Library Utility (ALU) to do this.  It is available separately
 for downloading here on MAUG.
 
 
 The following files are contained in ECP8.BNY:
 
 ECP8.SYSTEM     - the main ECP-8 system program
 
 CP.STARTUP      - an auto-start batch file for ECP-8
 
 READ.ME         - any last minute notices are included here
 
 CMDS.BNY        - several ECP-8 external commands are stored here
                   The contents of this BNY file should be placed in
                   your "CMDS" subdirectory described above.  There's
                   one standard ECP-8 external command not supplied in
                   this file that you already have a copy of.  You should
                   move your copy of BASIC.SYSTEM into the "CMDS" subdirectory
                   and then rename it as simply "BASIC".  Then delete the
                   original BASIC.SYSTEM off your boot directory if it was
                   there as ECP8.SYSTEM should now be your default system
                   program.
 
 HELP.BQY        - this contains help files to be placed in the "HELP"
                   subdirectory described above.  This is a SQUEEZED Binary II
                   file.  Use the ECP command USQ to unsqueeze this file.
                   Just type "usq help.bqy" and the unsqueezed Binary II
                   file will be written to your disk.  Then use a utility
                   such as ALU, BLU, or Binary.Dwn to unpack the Binary II
                   file into your HELP subdirectory.  USQ is an external command
                   that you will find in CMDS.BNY so unpack CMDS.BNY first.
 
 
 
 Brief pointers on how to use ECP-8:
 ----------------------------------
 
 Read the help files.. they explain how to use most of the commands both
 built-in to ECP-8 and several of the external commands.  If you see help
 for a command not included in this electronic version they are included
 with the full version.  There are also commands included in the full version
 that do not have help files included with this electronic version of ECP-8.
 
 To set a prefix just type the name of the directory.
 
 To back up a prefix directory level just enter the "\" command.
 
 To run a basic program just enter its name.  So long as you have
 the file BASIC in your "CMDS" subdirectory (and it's really a renamed
 BASIC.SYSTEM) ECP-8 will run your basic program for you via BASIC.
 
 To run a system program, binary program, or batch program, or external
 command just type its name (see the pattern here?)  ECP-8 will look at
 anything you type and try to find a built-in command by that name.  If
 it's not built-in ECP-8 checks the PREFIX and then the CMDS directories
 for a file of that name.  If the file is a directory the PREFIX is
 set there.  If it's an executable file ECP-8 will try to run it.
 
 
 Have fun and don't forget to mail in your check today for the latest
 version of the software, the full utility package, a user's guide,
 the technical reference guide, update notices, and a real warm
 feeling inside for keeping low cost Apple software on the market.
 
 -Don Elton
 
 
 P.S. You may have noticed that this package is called ECP *8*.  This is
 because ProDOS 8 is the base operating system for the package (and is
 included for registered users) and because there's now a 16-bit version
 of ECP called ECP-16 that runs under ProDOS 16.  ECP-16 is also a
 shareware program that sells for $40 (and includes ECP-8 as a part of
 the package).