Chapter 3

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3.8.6 CONFIG

The CONFIG program is used to set those system parameters which are not changed very often. It is complementary to the System Display, and the cur- rent values of some of the parameters changed by the CONFIG program are shown on the System Display. The CONFIG program can also be used to check the settings of parameters not shown on the System Display.

WARNING:
Do not switch off the PX-8 (either manually or by allowing the auto power off to be activated) after changing the RAM disk or USER BIOS size without exiting from the CONFIG program. The full configuration can only be carried out by CP/M. If the PX-8 is switched off, the RAM disk could be destroyed and it may also be necessary to re-initialise the sys- tem. You will see repeated message of "RAM disk format (Y/N)" until you press Y(es) key.

When you have entered CONFIG, either from the MENU or CP/M command line, the screen will show the following:

The CONFIG program is used in a similar way to the System Display,but with 12 options. As with the System Display the ESC key is used to move back to the main menu and to exit. 1. AUTO POWER OFF FUNCTION Press the 1 key from the main CONFIG menu to change the auto power off time. The screen will clear and change to:

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The value shown against the semi-colon on the fifth line is the current setting in minutes for the auto power off time. This is the time for which the PX-8 will wait before switching itself off in continue mode if no key is pressed. It is advisable to keep the time short, otherwise the battery will run down. The reason for having such a system is to conserve the battery.

As can be seen from the display, the time can be set in intervals of one minute (up to 255 minutes) or switched off altogether using the value Q. When you have entered the time you require, press RETURN. The chosen time will be displayed on the fifth line, and you can use the ESC key to return to the main CONFIG menu.

2. THE CP/M FUNCTION KEY ASSIGNMENTS When the 2 key is pressed on the main CONFIG menu, the display changes to:

These are the strings assigned to the programmable function keys on the top of the keyboard. A description of the use of the keys is given in Chapter 2 sec-tion 2.2.le. The screen above shows the default setting, i.e. the strings which will be assigned when the system is initialized or a reset is performed.

Note that when shown on the eighth line of the CP/M screen, some of the strings terminate in the ¿ character. In setting them up with the CONFIG program, this carriage return is shown as “¿M”. These strings have a carriage return (CTRL-M) added to them because there is no possibility that any more charac-ters need to be typed after the string. For example the PF5 key can be used to run the CONFIG program as follows. On the CP/M command line type the drive name where the CONFIG program is located (e.g. C:) and then press the PF5 key. All the letters of the word CONFIG will appear, and the carriage return will be ‘typed’ also. In a few seconds the CONFIG main menu will appear on the screen.

The CTRL-M is not added to all commands since some of them might possibly require extending. For example with DIR you might want to add the name of

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a drive other than the current one to find out the files on that particular drive ¿ instead of changing the logged in drive first. When the key is pressed, the letters "DIR" are printed, and the PX-8 will wait for any further input. If you simply press the key, the directory of the current drive will be print- ed. If you press the space bar and then the two keys "C:" followed by the key, the directory of the C: drive will be printed on the screen.

To change the assigned string, press the number corresponding to the PF key (i.e. 1 for PF1, 2 for PF2 etc, remembering that 0 is used for PF10). The se-cond line of the screen will display the message:

Terminate function key string with HELP

and the third line of the screen will then display the name of the key whose function is to be changed, with the cursor to the right of it awaiting input. Up to 15 characters can be inserted into each PF string. If a control key is to be added, e.g. a carriage return (CTRL-M), this MUST be added by pressing the ¿CTRL and the appropriate alphabetic key. However, in the special case of the carriage return simply pressing the RETURN key will add the characters "^M"

¿ backspace ( pcs ) key will remove it as a pair if the nes key is pressed once. to denote the CTRL-M for the carriage return. This counts as one character of the string, although it is displayed as two ( "^" and "M") in this section of the CONFIG program. If a control character has been added correctly, the

When a carriage return is inserted correctly it will be seen on the function key display line as a character. If the characters "^M" appear on the function key display line, they are represented as those characters and DO NOT REPRESENT A CARRIAGE RETURN. For example if the function key dis-play line shows "DIR^M" for one of the keys when the corresponding key is pressed, all five characters will be displayed and the cursor will be placed at the right of the last one awaiting further input.

Although the string can consist of up to 15 characters, if more than seven are assigned to the string, only the first seven will be seen on the function key dis-play line. However, if the function key is pressed the complete number of charac-ters will be printed to the screen.

If a wrong character is input, the backspace key ( ) can be used to erase the previous character.

Because the key can be use to enter the carriage return as a "^M", the key is used to terminate the string. The key is used to return to the CONFIG main menu.

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3. SETTING THE CURSOR AND THE FUNCTION KEY DISPLAY If key 3 is pressed from the CONFIG main menu, the display changes to:

The left of the screen shows the current status of the various parameters which can be altered by this section of the CONFIG program. The right part of the screen shows which keys will change them. The parameter setting is altered sim-ply by pressing the key. For example if the 9 key is pressed, the left hand side of the screen will change to show the function key display to be ‘on’ and whenever the CP/M command line is displayed, the assignments to the func-tion keys will be shown on the base of the screen. The display can be switched off using the A key on this option of the CONFIG program.

This option also allows the type of cursor displayed to be changed, by typing any of the keys 5 to 8. These keys do not affect the cursor on the command line of the MENU and System Display.

Keys 3 and 4 switch the cursor on and off. This affects both the cursor on the CP/M command line and the cursor on the MENU command line.

Keys 1 and 2 switch the tracking mode on and off. The tracking mode means that the cursor follows the window as the real screen moves over the virtual screen. The non-tracking mode means that the window is locked on a particu-lar part of the virtual screen and the cursor (where input is made, or the PX-8 prints the next character) will move along the virtual screen, and once it moves outside the window will not be visible. The tracking and non-tracking modes can also be set using the key. Setting the non tracking mode with the CONFIG program will set the window at the top of the screen. The key can be used to set the window anywhere on the virtual screen.

Futher details of using the tracking and non tracking modes are given in sec-tion 2.2.6.

NOTE:
In the screen mode 3, the type of cursor is always set to “underline, nonblink” and cannot be changed with the CONFIG program.

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Setting the date and time can be achieved by taking option 4 of the CONFIG main menu. The time is entered the moment the key is pressed. When the date is input calculation of the day of the week is earned out automatically.

When option 4 is taken from the CONFIG main menu, the display changes to:

Although the PX-8 is waiting for the date to be input, simply pressing the key will switch to asking for the time to be input. As soon as the time option is selected, the time is no longer updated on the sixth line. Change the time by inputting the hours, minutes and seconds separated by a colon. If any of the data is a single digit number, it does not have to be preceded by a zero; however, data must be input for the hours minutes and seconds or an error will be detected and the input line will be cleared. When the correct time as required has been entered press the key to enter it into the memory of the computer. The time will be updated when the key is pressed. If an error is made the key can be used to erase the characters to the left of the cursor.

When the key is pressed after setting the time, or directly on selecting option 4 from the CONFIG main menu, the date can be input as month and day followed by the last two digits of the year, each item being separated by a backslash "/" character. The date will then be entered when the key is pressed. The input will then be entered into the memory of the PX-8 to update the date. If an error is made, such as trying to enter a day of the month greater than the number of days in that month, the input line clears and awaits a correct input.

When a date has been entered on the screen the display changes to input a time. Neither the time or date is updated at this stage. To see if the correct date has been entered, press key once more to change the input line to date

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input. The date will be updated on the screen when the time is first updated as the seconds change.

Pressing the key at any time returns to the CONFIG main menu.

5. ALLOCATION OF DISK DRIVES

Selecting option 5 on the CONFIG main menu will cause the screen to change to:

This menu makes it possible to allocate the logical disk drives to the physical disk drives in one of three ways. The three tables on the right show the ways in which the allocations are made. The default drives are set as in table 1. The number to the right of the first colon on line two shows which table is selected. Pressing the 1, 2 or 3 keys will change the selected table, and the selected set will then be shown on line 2. The ESC key is used to return to the CONFIG main menu, and keys other than 1,2 3 and ESC are ignored.

It is only possible to reallocate the drives in these three ways. The Microcas-sette drive is always drive H: and so is not shown on this menu. The terms FDD1, FDD2, FDD3 and FDD4 refer to to additional Floppy Disk Drives which are connected to the PX-8 via the serial interface. The ROM drives are shown in section 4.1.2.

6. PRINTER INTERFACING

It is possible to drive a serial printer from either of the interface ports. Select-ing option 6 on the CONFIG main menu changes the display to:

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The fourth line shows which option is selected. The 1 and 2 keys can be used to change the selection. Details of using a printer with the PX-8 are given in Chapter 4.

As with the other sub-menus, after checking which interface is selected, or chan- ing the selection, the key is used to return to the CONFIG main menu.

7. RAM DISK

This option can be used to change the RAM disk size if part of the memory is being used for file storage.

If option 7 is taken from the CONFIG main menu the screen display changes to:

The current RAM disk size is shown on the fifth line, and can be changed by typing in the new size. If the size is decreased any files already on the RAM disk will be destroyed. If the RAM disk size is increased the files will remain. The value of the RAM disk size is entered into the memory of the PX-8 by pressing . If the value is greater than allowed, the input line will be cleared. If the value input is less than the current value the fourth line will dis-play the message:

RAM disk files will be destroyed (Y/N) ?

followed by a flashing cursor. If the Y key is pressed, the new size RAM disk will be set up, destroying the files currently saved there. If the N key is pressed, the fourth line will clear and place the cursor next to the RAM size input message.

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The maximum size the RAM disk can be extended to is shown on the right of the fifth line. The above display shows the maximum possible (24 kb) which occurs when no RAM is reserved for USER BIOS. If a USER BIOS area has been reserved, the value of the maximum value will reflect this. The total USER BIOS and RAM disk must not exceed 24 kb.

If an Intelligent RAM disk is connected it is not possible to use part of the memory of the PX-8 to extend the size of this RAM disk. For example, if the RAM Disk Unit 120 is connected, when option 7 is chosen from the CONFIG main menu, the screen changes to show:

The ESC key can then be used to return to the CONFIG main menu. Further details of the Intelligent RAM disk can be found in Chapter 4.

WARNING:
Do not switch off the PX-8 (either manually or by allowing the auto power off to be activated) after changing the RAM disk size without exiting from the CONFIG program. The full configuration can only be carried out by CP/M. If the PX-8 is switched off, the RAM disk could be destroyed and it may also be necessary to re-initialise the system.

8. CHANGING THE RS-232C INTERFACE PARAMETERS

Option 8 on the CONFIG main menu allows the settings of the RS-232C inter-face to be set.

The RS-232C interface is used to transmit data to and from the PX-8. For ex-ample if a text file has been written on the PX-8 and the data needs to be used on a desk top computer such as the EPSON Qx-10, the file can be sent to the other computer using the TERM or FILINK program in the CP/M UTILITY ROM. This transmission can be by cable directly to the other computer, or over a telephone line using an acoustic coupler.

The RS-232C interface or the serial interface can be used to connect to a printer.

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The printer must have a serial interface in order to receive the information. This allows program listings as well as letters/reports or other text data from applications programs to be printed for a permanent record.

In both these cases the parameters of the interface have to be matched. This option on the menu allows the parameters to be set. In general they should be set or checked with this option before using the communications program (e.g. TERM or FILINK). Further details of the RS-232C interface are given in Chap-ter 4.

When option 8 is chosen from the CONFIG main menu the screen changes to display:

The bit rate (bits per second or baud rate) currently set is shown on the fourth line. It can be changed to various settings using keys 1 to 9 and keys A and B. The settings produced by keys 1 to 9 set transmission rates in both direc-tions (transmit and receive). The A and B keys set a rate which is different for transmitting and receiving. The A key sets 75 baud transmit (Tx) and 1200 receive (Rx) with the reverse for key B.

The number of data bits is shown on the sixth line and can be changed using the C and D keys.

The parity is shown on the seventh line and can be changed using the E, F and G keys.

The number of stop bits is shown on the eighth line and can be changed using the H and I keys.

When the parameters have been set or checked, the ESC key returns the PX-8 to the main menu.

9. SCREEN MODE

This option can be used to change the screen configuration. Details of the types

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of screen and its use are given in Chapter 2 (section 2.2.7). There is also a detailed detailed practical guide to using the different screen modes in the BASIC Refer-ence Manual (Chapter 2 section 2.14).

When option 9 is chosen from the main CONFIG menu, the screen changes to:

The cursor is located next to the prompt on the third line of the screen. The rest of the screen shows the current configuration of the screen.

Since different screen modes show and require different configurations they will be treated individually as follows:

Screen Mode 0

Pressing the 0 key followed by , will cause the third line of the screen to change to:

Number of lines of virtual screen 1 ?

You can then enter the number of lines of the screen you require for this screen in the range 8 to 40. If you attempt to enter value outside this range, the line will clear after the prompt, and you can then enter a correct value. When the key is pressed the prompt line alters to read:

Number of lines of virtual screen 2 ?

Again the number of lines of the screen is in the range 8 to 40, but the total of the number of lines on the two virtual screens MUST be the less than 48. Also each screen must have a minimum of eight lines, so the maximum lines on a screen is 40 if the minimum is used on either screen. When entering a value for the second screen if the total of the two screens would be greater than 48 with the value you have entered for the second screen, the prompt line will clear so that you can enter a correct value. When is pressed and a valid entry has been made, the prompt line will display:

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Select virtual screen (1,2) ?

You can then choose which screen will be displayed.

If you wish to change only one of the parameters, simply pressing RETURN will enter the current value. Thus if you only wanted to change the virtual screen, the RETURN key would be pressed until the required prompt string was dis-played.

When the selected screen is entered, the display changes to show the values selected.

Since screen mode 0 can only display one virtual screen at a time, the separa-tion character parameter will not be shown.

In screen mode 1, both virtual screens have the same number of lines. Thus in answer to the prompt:

Number of lines of virtual screen 1?

you are in fact choosing the number of lines on both virtual screens. Since also each the virtual screen when displayed is split into two columns of 39 charac-ters with a separation character, a minimum of 16 lines is required on each vir-tual screens. Also the maximum number of lines on each screen is 48. If a value outside the range 16 to 48 to entered the line will clear from the prompt in ord-er that a correct value can be inserted.

When the key has been pressed and a correct value has been entered, the prompt line changes to: Select virtual screen (1,2) ?

One of the two virtual screens can then be chosen to be displayed as split on either side of the separator. Since the separator is fixed, the screen changes to show the changed values.

In screen mode 2 both virtual screens are displayed at once. It is also possible

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to alter the number of columns of the display of each screen. The number of lines on each screen must be the same.

When the number of lines in the virtual screens have been chosen correctly in the range 8 to 48, the prompt line changes to show:

Number of columns of virtual screen 1?

It is thus possible to alter the width of the two halves of the display. The num-ber of columns must be in the range 1 to 79. When the width of the left hand side of the screen is chosen the width of the right hand side is set to a value of 79 minus the size of the left hand side.

When the screen width has been set the prompt line changes to:

Select virtual screen (1,2) ? and it is possible to set which screen the cursor lies in. When this has been chosen, the final input required is the separator character. If the RETURN key is pressed, the default character is used; this is the same character as is used as separator for the screen mode l. On pressing when the separator character has been chosen, the screen shows all the parameters chosen, and it is then possible to use the mesc key to return to the CONFIG main menu.

There is only one setting for the parameters of screen mode 3. The screen has only one virtual screen of 8 lines and 80 columns. Thus entering screen mode 3 and pressing causes the prompt line to revert to the same prompt line, awaiting either the screen to be changed again or the key to be pressed to return to the main CONFIG menu.

10. THE SERIAL INTERFACE

The Serial interface is used for communication with other devices (in particu-lar printers and floppy disk drives) but not for general communication in the way that the RS-232C interface is. If an EPSON disk drive is connected, the transmission rate is set by the PX-8. If a printer is connected, the transmission rate can be adjusted using CONFIG command.

Selecting option A from the CONFIG main menu shows the following display:

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If a printer is being used check that the bit rate setting is the same otherwise unintelligible data will be printed on the printer. Three settings are provided, and they can be changed using the 1, 2 and 3 keys. If the printer you are using does not have a serial port which can be set to any of these values, you will only be able to print using the RS-232C interface of the PX-8, as this has the standard settings from 19200 to 110 baud. Other protocols are set to 8-bit, non-parity, 1 stop-bit.

The Floppy Disk Drive bit rate is shown on the sixth line for reference.

When the parameters have been set or checked, the ESC key returns the PX-8 to the main menu.

11. USER BIOS SETTING

The USER BIOS is used by some applications programs. It can also be used by advanced programmers. If you are such a user, please refer to the OS Refer-ence Manual.

An applications program will normally change the USER BIOS size automati-cally. The manual which describes the program may tell you to alter the USER BIOS manually in which case follow the instructions given.

Normally the setting of the USER BIOS will be 0 pages. If you find it is not zero it will probably have been set by an application program. For example Portable Scheduler^TM uses the USER BIOS area to store the alarm times. If you change the size of the USER BIOS area in this case, the values set up will no longer be actioned.

WARNING:
Do not switch off the PX-8 (either manually or by allowing the auto power off to be activated) after changing the USER BIOS size without exiting from the CONFIG program. The full configuration can only be carried out by CP/M. If the PX-8 is switched off, the RAM disk could be des-troyed and it may also be necessary to re-initialize the system.

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12. CHANGING THE CHARACTER SET BY COUNTRY

The DIP switch is normally used to set the keyboard layout. Occasionally, it is useful to be able to temporarily change the characters but not the keyboard layout so that, for example, a word processed file written in French can be read on the screen with the correct characters. Taking the last option by pressing the key marked C, will enable the character set for the different countries to be displayed. The menu shows:

The country whose characters are displayed is changed by pressing the key cor-responding to the country in the table on the right of the screen. The currently chosen country is displayed on the fourth row on the left hand half of the screen.

International Character Sets

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3.9 Communications

The PX-8 can be used to communicate with other computers, either directly or using telephone lines. This means that program and data files can be sent from one computer to another directly along a simple pair of wires - the cables and telephone lines connecting the computers are really no more than this. Con-necting a printer to a computer is a very simple form of communication, as is the addition of disk drives, so it is not really much more complicated to con-nect another computer. The length of the pair of wires between the computers is irrelevant so long as the correct equipment is used. For instance, if you want to connect your PX-8 at home to your Qx-10 desktop microcomputer at the office, all you would need is an acoustic coupler at each end into which to plug the telephone handset and the appropriate sending and receiving software to run on each computer. It wouldn’t matter if one computer was in New York and the other in London - the system would still work.

The examples given here relate mainly to communication with the EPSON Qx-10 desktop microcomputer, the EPSON acoustic coupler and EPSON printers, although any other computers and printers may be used given the appropriate cables and utility software.

HARDWARE

When the PX-8 is required to ‘talk’ to other hardware, the following cables are necessary to connect via the RS232C I/0 ports:

Cable Type PX-8 to PX-8 # 726 Qx-10 # 725 Acoustic Coupler # 724

There are various configurations possible of which the following are a few:

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For an explanation of RS232C communication see Chapter 4.

SOFTWARE

The two utility programs available on the PX-8 are TERM and FILINK. Vari-ous other communications programs are available which work in roughly the same way, and you should consult their respective manuals for instructions as to their use.

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3.9.1 TERM

The TERM utility is used when it is necessary to ‘talk’ to a remote computer, using the PX-8 as a terminal, sending single files in either direction or simply using both as ‘dumb’ messengers. In the following descriptions the second com-puter is assumed to be an EPSON Qx-10 (MultiFont CP/M version) for the sake of clarity, but equivalent software may be used on other machines for this type of communication.

The first thing to do is make sure the PX-8 is connected to the required exter-nal devices using the relevant cables, then load the TERM program from the appropriate drive.

When TERM is run the screen shows the following:

The top line of the screen shows the default RS232C settings (they may not be the same as the ones shown here). These can be changed using the CONFIG program and should be set before running the TERM program. Make sure the receiving computer has the same settings, and change one or other machine’s settings so that they agree.

The three options given on the screen refer to how data is sent and received.

i)The default is option 1 which merely requires you to press the key, and sets the computer to send and receive data without any modification. This is the most commonly used setting.

ii)Some computers automatically add a line feed to any carriage return in the data they receive, so in this case you would select Option 2 (delete LF). This will have the effect of deleting line feed codes (ASCII code 10 decimal; hexadecimal OA) following carriage returns (hex OD) during transmission, that is, when sending data. It also adds a line feed code immediately after any carriage return code in received data. Remember that a carriage return merely moves the cursor to the beginning of a line - it is the line feed code that moves it to the next line down.

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iii)Option 3 (add ETX and delete LF) has the same effect on line feeds as Option 2, but it also adds an ‘end of text’ code (ASCII code 03 decimal; hexadecimal 03) to each transmitted carriage return after delet-ing LF code there. When receiving, data is processed as is. This allows communication with computers which require the ETX code instead of the LF code.

When you have selected which mode you wish to use on the PX-8 by pressing key, the screen will display:

The bottom line of the screen shows the functions assigned to the ¿¿¿ keys. When these functions are inactive they appear in lower case characters, and when activated by pressing the relevant key they appear in upper case. These have the following effect:

- DISPLAY ON/OFF

This switches the display ON or OFF while transmission is in progress. Nor- mally, transmitted data does not show on the PX-8’s screen, so switching the display on allows you to see what is transmitted as it is sent. If the display is switched on while data is being received (either from the keyboard or from an external source) the data will show twice on the screen. The effect is that any- thing sent from an outside source instead of appearing on the screen as ‘Hello’ will appear as ‘HHeelllloo’. This would also be the case if the display were switched on while using the PX-8 as a terminal.

- PRINTER ON/OFF

Printer output can be switched on or off during reception or transmission to produce a hard copy of the data to be transferred. Thus, whatever appears on the screen will also appear on the printer. Remember that because the TERM program uses the RS232C port the printer must be connected to the serial port. ¿The and assignments at the bottom of the screen disappear when PRINTER is ON.

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- SEND A FILE/TERMINATE TRANSMISSION

A file can be sent to the external device and its transmission ended using this key. This procedure is fully described in 1.4 below.

- RECEIVE A FILE/TERMINATE RECEPTION

¿ Pressing the key will make the PX-8 prompt for the name of the file to be received. A full description of this can be found in 1.3 below.

- EXIT

Pressing and will cause the PX-8 to exit from the TERM program at any time.

- OUTPUT BREAK SIGNAL

Pressing the

Comparison of the RS232C parameters with the default parameters of TERM on the PX-8 will show that the handshaking does not match. The quickest way to make an alteration is to change the Qx-10 parameters by selecting ‘X’. When the screen changes to that of fig. below press ‘B’ and ‘5’ to change the bit rate to 4800 and the stop bits to 2:

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The parameters given on the PX-8 screen are the default settings, as are those for the Qx-10. Either computer’s settings can be changed using the CONFIG command, but only the QX-10’s can be changed from within the TERM pro- gram. However, the Qx-10 parameters are only temporarily affected by the TERM program and the Qx-10 CONFIG program must be used to alter per- manently the Qx-10 default parameters. If it is necessary to change the parameters on the PX-8 press then (shifted ) to exit from TERM. Now you can use CONFIG to alter the parameters.

Now select Option 1 (default) on the PX-8 and Option 1 on the Qx-10. The QX-10’s screen will clear and the message

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Qx-10 Terminal Mode

will appear at the top with the flashing cursor beneath it. The PX-8’s cursor will move to the beginning of the line above the function key assignment dis-play. Typing a message on the PX-8 will result in the message appearing on the screen of the Qx-10. At the end of a sentence or paragraph the key can be pressed which returns the cursor to the beginning of the same line and a line feed can be sent by pressing the key. Exactly the same thing will happen in reverse if you type in a message from the keyboard of the QX-10. The characters will appear on the screen of the PX-8 - pressing the the key will move the cursor down a line. Pressing on the PX-8 key will move the cursor back to the beginning of the current line and pressing will turn the display on and result in characters input from the PX-8’s keyboard showing on both screens instead of just the Qx-10 screen. Remember that both computers are completely ‘dumb’ in this mode and cannot perform any process-ing. All they do is display on their screens whatever has been typed in on the keyboard of the other computer.

If the printer is switched on using the ¿vFz key all output from the Qx-10 key-board will be echoed to the printer.

WARNING
If the printer is not switched on, off line or wrongly connected, the function key display of ‘PRINT’ will flash.
To exit from this mode press (shifted j on the PX-8 and the key on the QX-10.

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