All ZCPR3 and CP/M users: I have taken the notice of ZSDOS' release that Carson Wilson wrote up and added to it information about datestamping, which I feel Carson doesn't enough emphasize, including an alphabetized list of supported available programs. - Rick Charnes ANNOUNCING: ZSDOS, NEW CP/M-COMPATIBLE OPERATING SYSTEM WITH OPTIONAL BUILT-IN DATESTAMPING The following notice of the release of ZSDOS was posted on Lillipute Z-Node in Chicago, headquarters BBS of both The Computer Journal and the Z-System Special Interest Group, by Carson Wilson, author of Z80DOS and now one of several joint authors of ZSDOS. For users with a real-time clock ZSDOS will be a godsend. For those without it will be an absolute joy as full datestamping without timestamping will finally be theirs. One thing that I feel Carson's advertisement does not emphasize is what I consider to be the most important thing that a user would gain from switching from ZRDOS to ZSDOS: the built-in datestamping, and with almost no loss of TPA. With my clock driver in my BIOS I have added complete time- and date-stamping on my system at a cost of 256 bytes (.25k) Whether the commercial ZSDOS/DateStamper (the two use the same protocol) is superior to the public domain Z80DOS datestamping is a question over which wiser men than I continue to spill gallons of ink debating. For myself and many others, however, the issue is easily resolved by one factor alone: the number of programs that support ZSDOS/DateStamper protocol is far greater than those with Z80DOS support. I have compiled a list of these programs. With ZSDOS users of ZCPR3 will have datestamping support for the following programs, most of which except MexPlus are non- commercial and available through the BBS circuit or on the ZSDOS distriution disk: APPEND Concatenate files like PIP can, but inserts the date of concatenation as a line of text between each file. ARUNZ Allows for display, manipulation and other use of several date-related parameters in macro command scripts; $dd is the current date, $dm the month, $dy the year $dh the hour, $dn the minute, etc. Extremely useful and powerful. CRUNCH23D With the datestamping version of CRUNCH, we can embed the date stamps in the compressed file itself (it's not dependent on the directory entry) and we can thus transfer datestamp information via modem. DATE Displays current date on screen. DATSWEEP More like NSWEEP with datestamping features added. Displays create, access and modify date of all files. Can copy or archive files by date using '=', '<' or '>' operators ("copy all files modified in the last two weeks of January"). Can manually change a file's datestamp. DBASE Yep, we have a patch for this venerable program. No longer will you have to enter the date when the program loads as you've been doing for years. ZSDOS/DateStamper will do it for you. DIFF Compares files by date or otherwise FD "FILEDATE." Perhaps the most exciting of them all. A directory utility that not only displays the creation, access and modification dates of files in a directory, but is sensitive to and can sort by date. Options to sort from most recent files to oldest, oldest to newest, list only files modified or created today, only modified/created since a given date, etc. It truly opens up a whole new world of computing. LBREXT Preserves a file's datestamp (create, access and modify) upon extraction from a LBR). LOG Perfect way to keep track of how long you spend on each "type" of task on your computer. Will "log" time spent on each of several self-chosen or given categories into a file for later viewing and displaying. Excellent for record-keeping for IRS. LPUT Preserves a file's datestamp upon insertion into a LBR. MCAT, XCAT Complete floppy or hard disk cataloging system; ZSDOS version of Irv Hoff's classics. Allows user to display to the screen, for example, all files in one's collection of floppy disks created before July 1988, or during the month December, 1987, etc. When used normally, will display files' datestamps along with their names. MCOPY Copy program allowing simultaneous copy of multiple unrelated files using filelist feature of ZCPR3. MEXPLUS Scripts can display, wait for and measure time. Perhaps my greatest programming feat was a MEXPLUS script to log on to PCP Pursuit. The script can tell you how long you have been on a BBS, how long you were on the last logged BBS, the current time, how long you have been attempting to connect to PCP, how long was the last attempt, etc. NT Loads and saves virtually instantly, NT is a quick "note"-maker and mini-editor. It begins all files with the current date and time at the top. PPIP Copy program, sensitive to archive bit if desired; always preserves date of source to destination. PRINT Prints date and time at top of each printed page. SAVESTMP For editors other than ZDE that do not preserve creation date. Stores this stamp information temporarily in a buffer, then re-imprints it onto file upon exit. SDD Similar to FILEDATE, but more limited. Only displays filedates, cannot sort by date. TIME Displays current time on screen. UNCRUNCH Uncompresses the file and restores its datestamp. WAIT Will "wait" until a specific time before performing a given operation. Useful for SUBMIT scripts and other multiple-command line operations. ZCAL With no parameters, displays a calendar of the current month with the current day highlighted. With parameters it will display a calendar of any month in the 20th century. ZDE Coming shortly. ZCPR3/ZSDOS version of VDE. Automatically preserve a file's creation date after editing. ZFILER Extraordinary file management utility shell. Like NSWEEP taken to the 100th power. Displays current time on the screen, preserves datestamp of copied or "moved" files. ZMANAGER Another file utility menu/shell, displays current time on screen, etc. - end of text by Rick Charnes And now for Carson's announcement... * * * ANNOUNCING.... ZZZZZZ SSSSS DDDDD OOOO SSSSS ZZ SS S DD DD OO OO SS S ZZ SSS DD DD OO OO SSS ZZ SSS DD DD OO OO SSS ZZ S SS DD DD OO OO S SS ZZZZZZ SSSSS DDDDD OOOO SSSSS Z-System Disk Operating System AFTER a year of intense work and nearly three years of background research, ZSDOS is ready! The package includes over 300k of files and nearly 150 pages of documentation, and is available for $75.00 plus $3 shipping from Plu*Perfect Systems (owners of ZRDOS may upgrade for $60.00 plus $3 shipping). ZSDOS replaces the BDOS segment of CP/M 2.2, and offers programmers and users of all types of Z80 computers a host of enhancements not yet found in any CP/M compatible operating system, including: o Built-in DateStamper-type file datestamping. If desired, full datestamping can be implemented at the cost of under 512 bytes of TPA, or if your system already has a real-time clock and driver, no TPA at all is required. o Public and Path Access to files. Now programs can access any file from anywhere on your system. Public and path may be combined for even greater efficiency, and either form of access may be set to read-write or read-only for greater security. o ZSDOS is dynamically configurable by the user or by programs. File access modes, the path, fast fixed disk relog, Wheel protection, disk read only sustain, the clock address, file datestamping, and other capabilities of ZSDOS may be reconfigured even while programs are operating. o Menu-Driven Installation. Even clock driver installation takes place automatically, and no assembly language skill whatsoever are required to get a full ZSDOS system up and running. o Eleven fully tested utility programs are included to help you use the full power of ZSDOS to automate file and system maintenance and daily planning. o The ZSDOS User's Manual explains in plain terms how and why ZSDOS works, how to install ZSDOS, and how to use the utilities, and consists of 147 full-size looseleaf pages of laser printed text including a table of contents, a glossary, an annotated bibliography, an index, and many useful appendices. In addition, ZSDOS includes all of the capabilities of CP/M 2.2, ZRDOS, P2DOS, and Z80DOS, and removes all of the defects of those systems: o Floppy disks are automatically reset when changed. o Error messages are in plain English and give a full report of the function, drive, and file involved, and read or write errors are retryable. Error handling may be taken over by the application program as with CP/M Plus. ZSDOS error return codes provide more information than those of other BDOS replacements. o ZSDOS supports file sizes of up to 32 megabytes and disk sizes of up to 1 gigabyte. o Fast fixed disk relog allows users of hard disks to skip the time- consuming relogs required by CP/M. o All ZRDOS 1.7 functions are supported by ZSDOS, so all programs which work under ZRDOS versions 1.7 and before are also usable under ZSDOS. Popular ZRDOS features such as re-entrancy, file archiving, and wheel protection are fully supported by ZSDOS. o ZSDOS is compatible with Plu*Perfect's BackGrounder II, the windowing and task-switching system for Z80 computers. o ZSDOS adds ten new function calls to CP/M 2.2, and enhances and corrects CP/M functions 6, 10, and 37. IN SUMMARY, ZSDOS offers significant improvements over ZRDOS, P2DOS, and Z80DOS, and offers _amazing_ improvements over CP/M 2.2! ZSDOS is available now from Plu*Perfect Systems 410 23rd St. Santa Monica, CA 90402 and should soon be available from Sage Microsystems East, 1435 Centre St. Newton, MA 02159 voice phone 617-965-3552 (9 AM-11:30 PM Eastern time) modem phone 617-965-7259 (24 hours, password DDT) To order, specify 5 1/4" disk format and enclose a check, adding $3 for shipping and handling ($4 if ordering from Sage Microsystems). Enclose your invoice if you are upgrading from ZRDOS. Sage Microsystems East also accepts VISA or MasterCard payments.