CP/M Plus™

(CP/M® Version 3)
Operating System

User’s Guide
 COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1983 Digital Research Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into
any language or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
magnetic, optical, chemical, manual, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of
Digital Research Inc., Post Office Box 579, Pacific Grove, California 93950.

DISCLAIMER
DIGITAL RESEARCH INC. MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES
WITH RESPECT TO THE CONTENTS HEREOF AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS
ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY
PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Further, Digital Research Inc. reserves the right to revise this
publication and to make changes from time to time in the content hereof without obligation
of Digital Research Inc. to notify any person of such revision or changes.

NOTICE TO USER
From time to time changes are made in the filenames and in the files actually included on
the distribution disk. This manual should not be construed as a representation or warranty
that such files or materials and facilities exist on the distribution disk or as part of the materials
and programs distributed. Most distribution disks include a “README.DOC” file. This file
explains variations from the manual which do constitute modification of the manual and the
items included therewith. Be sure to read this file before using the software.

TRADEMARKS
CBASIC, CP/M, Digital Research and its logo are registered trademarks of Digital Re-
search Inc. CP/M Plus, LINK-80, MAC, MP/M, Pascal/MT+, PL/I-80, RMAC, SID, and
TEX-80 are trademarks of Digital Research Inc. Z80 is a registered trademark of Zilog, Inc.
Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. MicroSoft is a registered trademark of
MicroSoft Corporation.

This is a recreation of the original manual based on publicly available OCRed sources on
the internet and proof-read with the original physical manual as a reference.

First Edition: January 1983

Second Edition: March 1983
Third Edition: December 2022

PDF of Version 1.1 generated on 17.03.23

ii
 Foreword

Welcome to the world of microcomputers opened to you by your

eight-bit microprocessor. Welcome also to the world of application
software accessible with your Digital Research CP/M Plus™ operating
system, also called CP/M 3. Digital Research designed CP/M® 3 es-
pecially for the 8080, 8085, Z80® or equivalent microprocessor that is
the heart of your computer.

What CP/M 3 Does For You

CP/M 3 manages and supervises your computer’s resources, including
memory and disk storage, the console (screen and keyboard), printer,
and communications devices. It also manages information stored mag-
netically on disks by grouping this information into files of programs
or data. CP/M 3 can copy files from a disk to your computer’s memory,
or to a peripheral device such as a printer. To do this, CP/M 3 places
various programs in memory and executes them in response to com-
mands you enter at your console.

Once in memory, a program executes through a set of steps that

instruct your computer to perform a certain task. You can use CP/M 3
to create your own programs, or you can choose from the wide variety
of CP/M 3 application programs that entertain you, educate you, and
help you solve commercial and scientific problems.

What You Need to Run CP/M 3 on Your Computer

Digital Research provides two kinds of CP/M 3 systems: banked and
nonbanked. Your computer dealer can tell you if you have a banked or
nonbanked system. The banked system requires more memory, but in

iii
turn provides more memory space for application programs. The banked
version also has additional enhancements that are noted in the text.

The minimum hardware requirement for both versions of CP/M 3

is a computer based on an 8080, 8085, or equivalent microprocessor, a
console device (generally a keyboard and display device such as a CRT
screen), and at least one floppy disk drive. To use all the capabilities of
CP/M 3, you should have two disk drives. At least one should be a single
density floppy drive, because CP/M 3 and most CP/M applications
are distributed on single density floppy disks.

The nonbanked system requires at least 32K (kilobytes) of Random

Access Memory (RAM). The larger banked system requires at least
96K of RAM. If you want to expand beyond these requirements you
will appreciate that the banked system can include up to sixteen banks
of memory.

CP/M 3 and its utility programs are distributed on two floppy disks.
The system disk contains the operating system and the most commonly
used utility programs. A second disk contains additional utilities.

How To Use CP/M 3 Documentation

The CP/M 3 documentation set includes three manuals:

■ CP/M Plus (CP/M Version 3) Operating System User’s Guide

■ CP/M Plus (CP/M Version 3) Operating System Programmer’s Guide
■ Programmer’s Utilities Guide for the CP/M Family of O
​ perating
Systems

The CP/M Plus (CP/M Version 3) Operating System User’s Guide

introduces you to the CP/M 3 operating system and tells you how to
use it. The User’s Guide assumes that the version of CP/M 3 on your
distribution disk is ready to run on your computer. To use this manual,
iv
you must be familiar with the parts of your computer, know how to set
it up and turn it on, and how to handle, insert, and store disks. However,
you do not need a great deal of experience with computers.

The CP/M Plus (CP/M Version 3) Operating System Programmer’s

Guide presents information for application programmers who are creating
or adapting programs to run under CP/M 3. The Programmer’s Utilities
Guide for the CP/M Family of Operating Systems includes information
on the CP/M assemblers and debuggers that experienced programmers
use to create new CP/M 3 programs.

How This Guide is Organized

This guide begins with simple examples, proceeds with basic concepts,
then presents a detailed reference section on commands. The first four
sections describe CP/M 3 operation for the first-time user. Section 1
introduces CP/M 3 and tells you how to start the operating system, enter
commands, edit the command line, and create back-up copies of your
distribution disks. Section 2 discusses files, disks, and drives. Section 3
describes how you can use CP/M 3 to manage your printer and console.
Section 4 develops the concepts you need to use CP/M 3 commands.
If you are new to CP/M read the first four sections carefully to get a
general understanding of how to use CP/M 3 before you proceed to
the specific command descriptions.

Section 5 provides detailed information on each CP/M 3 utility

program, arranged alphabetically for easy reference. Many of these
are programming utilities that you will not use until you start writing
your own CP/M 3 programs. Section 6 tells you how to use ED, the
CP/M 3 file editor. With ED, you can create and edit program source
codes, text, and data files.

Appendix A lists the messages CP/M 3 displays when it encounters

special conditions, and describes corrective action where necessary.
v
Appendix B provides an ASCII to hexadecimal conversion table. Ap-
pendix C lists the filetypes associated with CP/M 3. Appendix D lists
and defines the CP/M 3 control characters. Appendix E provides a
glossary of commonly used computer terms.

If you are new to computers, you might find some of the topics, such
as the programming utilities, difficult to understand at first. Learning
to use your computer is a challenge, and we hope you will find it fun.
This book proceeds step-by-step so that you can quickly proceed from
opening your new system disk package to mastering CP/M 3’s powerful
facilities.

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 Table of Contents

Introduction to CP/M 3
How to Start CP/M 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
The Command Line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Why You Should Back Up Your Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
How to Make Copies of Your CP/M 3 Disks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6

Files, Disks, and Drives

What is a File? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
How Are Files Created?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
How Are Files Named? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Do You have the Correct Drive? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-4
Do You Have the Correct User Number?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Accessing More Than One File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
How to Protect Your Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
File Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Date and Time Stamping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
Passwords (Banked CP/M 3 Only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10
How Are Files Stored on a Disk?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10
Changing Floppy Disks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
Protecting a Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12

Console and Printer

Controlling Console Output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Controlling Printer Output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Console Line Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Line Editing in Nonbanked CP/M 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Line Editing in Banked CP/M 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Redirecting Input and Output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Assigning Logical Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
vii
CP/M 3 Command Concepts
Two Kinds of Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Built-in Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Transient Utility Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
How CP/M 3 Searches for Program and Data Files. . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Finding Data Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Finding Program Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Executing Multiple Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8
Terminating Programs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9
Getting Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10

Command Summary
Let’s Get Past the Formalities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
How Commands Are Described. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5
The COPYSYS Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10
The DATE Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Display Current Date and Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Set the Date and Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
The DEVICE Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
Display Device Characteristics and Assignments. . . . . . . . . . 5-16
Assign a Logical Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-18
Set Attributes of a Physical Device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-19
Display or Set the Current Console Screen Size. . . . . . . . . . . 5-20
The DIR Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21
Display Directory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21
Display Directory with Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
The DUMP Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-32
The ED Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-33
The ERASE Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-42
The GENCOM Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-44
Attach RSX Files to a COM File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-45
Generate a COM File Using only RSX Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-45
Restore a File with Attached RSXs to Original COM File. 5-46
viii
 Update (Add or Replace) RSX Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-46
Attach a Header Record. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-47
The GET Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-48
Get Console Input from a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-49
Terminate Console Input from a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-50
The HELP Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-51
Display Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-52
Add Your Own Descriptions to the HELP.HLP File. . . . . . 5-53
The HEXCOM Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-57
The INITDIR Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-58
The LIB Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-60
The LINK Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-64
The MAC Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-67
The PATCH Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-70
The PIP Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-72
Single File Copy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-73
Multiple File Copy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-76
Combining Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-78
Copy Files to and from Auxiliary Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-79
Multiple Command Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-81
Using Options With PIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-83
The PUT Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-91
Direct Console Output to a File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-92
Put Printer Output to a File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-93
Terminate Console Output to a File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-94
Terminate Printer Output to a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-94
The RENAME Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-95
The RMAC Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-98
The SAVE Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-100
The SET Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-102
Set File Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-102
Set Drive Attribute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-104
Assign a Label to the Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-105
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 Assign Password to the Label. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-105
Enable/Disable Password Protection for Files on a Disk. . 5-106
Assign Passwords to Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-107
Set Password Protection Mode for Files with Passwords. . 5-107
Assign a Default Password. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-108
Set Time Stamp Options on Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-109
Additional SET Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-112
The SETDEF Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-113
Display the Program Loading Search Definitions. . . . . . . . 5-113
Assign the Drive for Temporary Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-114
Define the Disk Drive Search Order. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-114
Define the Filetype Search Order. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-115
Turn On/Off System Display Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-115
Turn On/Off System Page Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-116
The SHOW Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-118
Display Access Mode and Disk Space Available. . . . . . . . . . 5-118
Display Disk Label. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-119
Display User Number Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-120
Display Number of Free Directory Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-120
Display Drive Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-121
The SID Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-122
SID Utilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-127
The SUBMIT Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-129
Program Input Lines in a SUB File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-131
The SUB File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-132
Executing the SUBMIT Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-133
The PROFILE.SUB Start-up File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-134
The TYPE Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-135
The USER Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-137
The XREF Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-138

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ED, The CP/M 3 Context Editor
Introduction to ED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1
Starting ED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
ED Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Appending Text into the Buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
ED Exit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Basic Editing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8
Moving the Character Pointer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-10
Displaying Memory Buffer Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-12
Deleting Characters The D (Delete) Command . . . . . . . . . . 6-13
Inserting Characters into the Memory Buffer. . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-15
Replacing Characters The S (Substitute) Command. . . . . . . 6-18
Combining ED Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-18
Moving the Character Pointer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-19
Displaying Text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-20
Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-21
Advanced ED Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-21
Moving the CP and Displaying Text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-22
Finding and Replacing Character Strings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-23
Moving Text Blocks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-29
Saving or Abandoning Changes: ED Exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-31
ED Error Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-33

List of Tables
Nonbanked CP/M 3 Line-editing Control Characters. . . . . . . . 3-3
CP/M 3 Logical Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
Built-in Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Transient Utility Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Reserved Characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
CP/M 3 Filetypes Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4

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Syntax Notation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
DEVICE options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-18
DIR Display Options Function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-25
ED Command Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-34
GET Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-49
LIB Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-61
LIB Modifiers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-61
LINK Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-64
Input/Output Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68
Output File Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68
PIP Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-83
PUT Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-92
RMAC Command Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-98
SET File Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-102
Password Protection Modes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-108
SID Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-124
Text Transfer Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Basic Editing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9
CP/M 3 Line-editing Controls Result. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-16
ED Diskette File Error Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-35
CP/M 3 Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
ASCII Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-1
ASCII Conversion Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-2
Common Filetypes Meaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-1
Nonbanked CP/M 3 Control Characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-1
Banked CP/M 3 Line-editing Control Characters. . . . . . . . . . . D-2

xii
 Appendixes
CP/M 3 Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
ASCII and Hexadecimal Conversions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-1
Filetypes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-1
CP/M 3 Control Character Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-1
User’s Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-1

xiii
CP/M 3 User’s Guide How to Start CP/M 3

Section 1 
Introduction to CP/M 3

This section tells you how to start CP/M 3, how to enter and edit
the command line, and how to make back-up copies of your CP/M 3
distribution disks.

1.1.  How to Start CP/M 3

Starting or loading CP/M 3 means reading a copy of the operating
system from your CP/M 3 system disk (1 of 2 of your distribution disks)
into your computer’s memory,

First, check that your computer’s power is on. Next, insert the CP/M 3
system disk into your initial drive. In this section, assume that the initial
drive is A and the disk is removable. Close the drive door. Then, press
the RESET or RESTART button. This automatically loads CP/M 3
into memory. This process is called booting, cold starting, or loading
the system.

After CP/M 3 is loaded into memory, a message similar to the fol-

lowing is displayed on your screen:

CP/M 3 Version V.V

The version number, represented above by V.V, tells you the version of
CP/M 3 that you own. After this display, the following two-character
message appears on your screen:

A›

This is the CP/M 3 system prompt. The system prompt tells you that

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The Command Line CP/M 3 User’s Guide

CP/M 3 is ready to read a command from your keyboard. In this example,

the prompt also tells you that drive A is your default drive. This means
that until you tell CP/M 3 to do otherwise, it looks for program and
data files on the disk in drive A. It also tells you that you are logged in
as user 0, by the absence of a user number other than 0.

1.2.  The Command Line

CP/M 3 performs tasks according to specific commands that you
type at your keyboard. A CP/M 3 command line is composed of a
command keyword, an optional command tail, and a carriage return
keystroke. The command keyword identifies a command (program)
to be executed. The command tail can contain extra information for
the command, such as a filename or parameters. To end the command
line, you must press the carriage return or ENTER key. The following
example shows a command line.

A›DIR MYFILE

The characters that the user types are slanted to distinguish them
from characters that the system displays. In this example, DIR is the
command keyword and MYFILE is the command tail. The carriage
return keystroke does not appear on the screen or in the example. You
must remember to press the carriage return key to send a command
line to CP/M 3 for processing. Note that the carriage return key can
be marked ENTER, RETURN, CR, or something similar on your
keyboard. In this guide, RETURN signifies the carriage return key.

As you type characters at the keyboard, they appear on your screen.

The single-character position indicator, called the cursor, moves to the
right as you type characters. If you make a typing error, press either the
BACKSPACE key (if your keyboard has one) or CTRL-H to move the
cursor to the left and correct the error. CTRL is the abbreviation for
the Control key. To type a control character, hold down the Control

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The Command Line

key and press the required letter key. For example, to move the cursor
to the left, hold down CTRL and press the H key.

You can type the keyword and command tail in any combination
of upper-case and lower-case letters. CP/M 3 treats all letters in the
command line as upper-case.

Generally, you type a command line directly after the system prompt.
However, CP/M 3 does allow spaces between the prompt and the
command keyword.

CP/M 3 recognizes two different types of commands: built-in com-

mands and transient utitity commands. Built-in commands execute
programs that reside in memory as a part of the CP/M 3 operating
system. Built-in commands can be executed immediately. Transient
utility commands are stored on disk as program files. They must be
loaded from disk to perform their task. You can recognize transient
utility program files when a directory is displayed on the screen because
their filenames are followed by COM. Section 4 presents lists of the
CP/M 3 built-in and transient utility commands.

For transient utilities, CP/M 3 checks only the command keyword.

If you include a command tail, CP/M 3 passes it to the utility without
checking it because many utilities require unique command tails. A
command tail cannot contain more than 128 characters. Of course,
CP/M 3 cannot read either the command keyword or the command
tail until you press the RETURN key.

Let’s use one command to demonstrate how CP/M 3 reads command

lines. The DIR command, which is an abbreviation for directory, tells
CP/M 3 to display a directory of disk files on your screen. Type the
DIR keyword after the system prompt, omit the command tail, and
press RETURN.

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A›DIR

CP/M 3 responds to this command by writing the names of all the files
that are stored on the disk in drive A. For example, if you have your
CP/M 3 system disk in drive A, these filenames, among others, appear
on your screen:

COPYSYS COM
PIP COM
SET COM

CP/M 3 recognizes only correctly spelled command keywords. If

you make a typing error and press RETURN before correcting your
mistake, CP/M 3 echoes the command line followed with a question
mark. If you mistype the DIR command, as in the following example,
CP/M 3 responds

A›DJR
DJR?

to tell you that it cannot find the command keyword. To correct simple
typing errors, use the BACKSPACE key, or hold down the CTRL key
and press H to move the cursor to the left. CP/M 3 supports other
control characters that help you efficiently edit command lines. Section
3 tells how to use control characters to edit command lines and other
information you enter at your console.

DIR accepts a filename as a command tail. You can use DIR with a
filename to if a specific file is on the disk. For example, to check that the
transient utility program COPYSYS.COM is on your system disk, type

A›DIR COPYSYS*COM

CP/M 3 performs this task by displaying either the name of the file you
specified, or the message

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide Why You Should Back Up Your Files

No File.

Be sure you type at least one space after DIR to separate the command
keyword from the command tail. If you do not, CP/M 3 responds as
follows.

A›DIRCOPYSYS.COM
DIRCOPYSYS.COM?

1.3.  Why You Should Back Up Your Files

Humans have faults, and so do computers. Human or computer er-
rors sometimes destroy valuable programs or data files. By mistyping a
command, for example, you could accidentally erase a program that you
just created or a data file that has been months in the making. A similar
disaster could result from an electronic component failure.

Data processing professionals avoid losing programs and data by

making copies of valuable files. Always make a working copy of any
new program that you purchase and save the original. If the program
is accidentally erased from the working copy, you can easily restore it
from the original.

It is also wise to make frequent copies of new programs or data files

as you develop them. The frequency of making copies varies with each
programmer. However, as a general rule, make a copy at the point where
it takes ten to twenty times longer to reenter the information than it
takes to make the copy.

So far, we have not discussed any commands that change informa-

tion recorded on your CP/M 3 system disk. Before we do, make a few
working copies of your distribution disks.

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How to Make Copies of Your CP/M 3 Disks CP/M 3 User’s Guide

1.4.  How to Make Copies of Your CP/M 3 Disks

To back up your CP/M 3 disks, you need two or more floppy disks
for the back-ups. The back-up disks can be new or used. You might
want to format new, or reformat used disks with the disk formatting
program that accompanies your particular computer. If the disks are
used, be sure that there are no other files on the disks.

If your computer’s manufacturer has provided a special program

to copy disks, you might use it to make back-ups of your distribution
disks. Otherwise, use the COPYSYS and PIP utility programs found
on your CP/M 3 distribution disks. PIP can copy all program and data
files, but only COPYSYS can copy the operating system. Note that the
COPYSYS utility distributed by Digital Resarch only functions with
eight-inch, single-density drives. However, your computer’s manufac-
turer might have modified COPYSYS to work with your equipment.

This section shows how to make distribution disk back-ups on a

system that has two drives: drive A and drive B. Your drives might
be named with other letters from the range A through P. To make a
copy of your CP/M 3 distribution system disk, labeled 1 of 2, first use
the COPYSYS utility to copy the operating system loader. Make sure
that your distribution system disk is in drive A, the default drive, and
the blank disk is in drive B. Then enter the following command at the
system prompt:

A›COPYSYS

CP/M 3 loads COPYSYS into memory and runs it. COPYSYS dis-
plays the following output on your screen. When the program prompts
you, press RETURN only when you have verified that the correct disk
is in the correct drive.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide How to Make Copies of Your CP/M 3 Disks

Copysys Ver 3.0

Source drive (or return for default) ?A
Source on A then type return
Function complete
Destination drive name (or return to reboot) ?B
Destination on B then type return
Function complete
Do You wish to copy CPM3.SYS? Yes

(CP/M 3 repeats the above prompts to copy CPM3.SYS.)

A›

You now have a copy of the operating system only. To copy the remaining
files from disk 1 of 2, enter the following PIP command.

A›PIP B:=A:*.*

This PIP command copies all the files in your disk directory to drive B
from drive A. PIP displays the message COPYING followed by each
filename as the copy operation proceeds. When PIP finishes copying,
CP/M 3 displays the system prompt.

Now you have an exact copy of the distribution disk 1 of 2 in drive B.

Remove the original from drive A and store it in a safe place. If your
original remains safe and unchanged, you can easily restore your CP/M 3
program files if something happens to your working copy.

Remove the copy from drive B and insert it in drive A. Use this copy
as your CP/M 3 system disk to make more back-ups, to try the examples
shown throughout this manual, and to start CP/M 3 the next time you
turn on your computer. Cold start the computer to check copy operations.

You still need to make a back-up copy of distribution disk 2 of 2. This

disk contains programmer’s utility programs and source files. Place

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another new or reformatted disk in drive B. This time, type only the
command keyword:

A›PIP

PIP responds with an asterisk prompt, *. You can now remove disk
1 of 2 from drive A and insert the disk you want to copy, disk 2 of 2.
Type the following PIP command after the asterisk prompt, for example,

*B:=A:*.*

Again, PIP displays the message COPYING, followed by each filename.

When PIP completes the copy and displays the asterisk prompt, press
RETURN. CP/M 3 then displays the familiar A› system prompt. You
now have a copy of disk 2 of 2 in drive B. Remove both 2 of 2 disks and
store them in a safe place. You can now reinsert your working system
disk and continue to use the system.

End of Section 1

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 Section 2 
Files, Disks, and Drives

CP/M 3’s most important task is to access and maintain files on

your disks. With CP/M 3 you can create, read, write, copy, and erase
disk files. This section tells you what a file is, how to create, name, and
access a file, and how files are stored on your disks. It also tells how to
change disks and change the default drive.

2.1.  What is a File?

A CP/M 3 file is a collection of related information stored on a disk.
Every file must have a unique name because CP/M 3 uses that name to
access that file. A directory is also stored on each disk. The directory
contains a list of the filenames stored on that disk and the locations of
each file on the disk.

In general, there are two kinds of files: program (command) files

and data files. A program file contains an executable program, a series
of instructions that the computer follows step-by-step. A data file is
usually a collection of information: a list of names and addresses, the
inventory of a store, the accounting records of a business, the text of a
document, or similar related information. For example, your computer
cannot execute names and addresses, but it can execute a program that
prints names and addresses on mailing labels.

A data file can also contain the source code for a program. Generally,
a program source file must be processed by an assembler or compiler
before it becomes a program file. In most cases, an executing program
processes a data file. However, there are times when an executing pro-

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gram processes a program file. For example, the copy program PIP can
copy one or more program files.

2.2.  How Are Files Created?

There are many ways to create a file. One way is to use a text editor.
The CP/M 3 text editor ED (described in Section 6) can create a file
and assign it the name you specify. You can also create a file by copying
an existing file to a new location, perhaps renaming it in the process.
Under CP/M 3, you can use the PIP command to copy and rename
files. Finally, some programs such as MAC™ create output files as they
process input files.

2.3.  How Are Files Named?

CP/M 3 identifies every file by its unique file specification. A file
specification can be simply a one- to eight-character filename, such as:

MYFILE

A file specification can have four parts: a drive specifier, a filename,

a filetype, and a password.

The drive specifier is a single letter (A–P) followed by a colon. Each

drive in your system is assigned a letter. When you include a drive spec-
ifier as part of the file specification, you are telling CP/M 3 that the file
is stored on the disk currently in that drive. For example, if you enter

B:MYFILE

CP/M 3 looks in drive B for the file MYFILE.

The filename can be from one to eight characters. When you make
up a filename, try to let the name tell you something about what the

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide How Are Files Named?

file contains. For example, if you have a list of customer names for your
business, you could name the file:

CUSTOMER

so that the name gives you some idea of what is in the file.

As you begin to use your computer with CP/M 3, you will find that
files fall naturally into categories. To help you identify files belonging
to the same category, CP/M 3 allows you to add an optional one- to
three-character extension, called a filetype, to the filename. When you
add a filetype to the filename, separate the filetype from the filename
with a period. Try to use three letters that tell something about the file’s
category. For example, you could add the following filetype to the file
that contains a list of customer names:

CUSTOMER.NAM

When CP/M 3 displays file specifications in response to a DIR com-

mand, it adds blanks to short filenames so that you can compare filetypes
quickly. The program files that CP/M 3 loads into memory from a disk
have different filenames, but all have the filetype COM.

In banked CP/M 3, you can add a password as an optional part of

the file specification. The password can be from one to eight characters.
If you include a password, separate it from the filetype (or filename, if
no filetype is included) with a semicolon, as follows:

CUSTOMER.NAM;ACCOUNT

If a file has been protected with a password, you must ENTER the
password as part of the file specification to access the file. Section 2.7.3
describes passwords in more detail.

We recommend that you create filenames, filetypes, and passwords

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Do You have the Correct Drive? CP/M 3 User’s Guide

from letters and numbers. You must not use the following characters in
filenames, filetypes, or passwords because they have special meanings
for CP/M 3:

‹›=, !|*?& /$ []().: ; \ + -

A complete file specification containing all possible elements consists

of a drive specification, a primary filename, a filetype, and a password, all
separated by their appropriate delimiters, as in the following example:

A:DOCUMENT.LAW;SUSAN

2.4.  Do You have the Correct Drive?

When you type a file specification in a command tail without a drive
specifier, the program looks for the file in the drive named by the system
prompt, called the default drive. For example, if you type the command

A›DIR COPYSYS.COM

DIR looks in the directory of the disk in drive A for COPYSYS.COM.

If you have another drive, B for example, you need a way to tell CP/M 3
to access the disk in drive B instead. For this reason, CP/M 3 lets you
precede a filename with a drive specifier. For example, in response to
the command

A›DIR B:MYFILE.LIB

CP/M 3 looks for the file MYFILE.LIB in the directory of the disk in
drive B. When you give a command to CP/M 3, note which disk is in
the default drive. Many application programs require that the data files
they access be stored in the default drive.

You can also precede a program filename with a drive specifier, even

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide Do You Have the Correct User Number?

if you use the program filename as a command keyword. For example,

if you type the following command

A›B:PIP

CP/M 3 looks in the directory of the disk in drive B for the file PIP.
COM. If CP/M 3 finds PIP on drive B, it loads PIP into memory and
executes it.

If you need to access many files on the same drive, you might find it
convenient to change the default drive so that you do not need to repeat-
edly enter a drive specifier. To change the default drive, enter the drive
specifier next to the system prompt and press RETURN. In response,
CP/M 3 changes the system prompt to display the new default drive:

A›B:
B›

Unlike the filename and filetype which are stored in the disk direc-
tory, the drive specifier for a file changes as you move the disk from one
drive to another. Therefore, a file has a different file specification when
you move a disk from one drive to another. Section 4 presents more
information on how CP/M 3 locates program and data files.

2.5.  Do You Have the Correct User Number?

CP/M 3 further identifies all files by assigning each one a user num-
ber which ranges from 0 to 15. CP/M 3 assigns the user number to a
file when the file is created. User numbers allow you to separate your
files into sixteen file groups. User numbers are particularly useful for
organizing files on a hard disk.

When you use a CP/M 3 utility to create a file, the file is assigned to
the current user number, unless you use PIP to copy the file to another

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user number. You can determine the current user number by looking
at the system prompt.

4A› User number 4, driva A

A› User number 0, drive A
2B› User number 2, drive B

The user number always precedes the drive identifier. User 0, however,
is the default user number and is not displayed in the prompt.

You can use the built-in command USER to change the current user
number.

A›USER 3
3A›

You can change both the user number and the drive by entering the
new user number and drive specifier together at the system prompt:

A›3B:
3B›

Most commands can access only those files that have the current
user number. For example, if the current user number is 7, a DIR com-
mand with no options displays only the files that were created under
user number 7. However, if a file resides in user 0 and is marked with
a special file attribute, the file can be accessed from any user number.
(Section 2.7.1 discusses file attributes.)

2.6.  Accessing More Than One File

Certain CP/M 3 built-in and transient utilities can select and pro-
cess several files when special wildcard characters are included in the
filename or filetype. A file specification containing wildcards is called an
ambiguous filespec and can refer to more than one file because it gives

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide Accessing More Than One File

CP/M 3 a pattern to match. CP/M 3 searches the disk directory and

selects any file whose filename or filetype matches the pattern.

The two wildcard characters are ?, which matches any single letter in
the same position, and *, which matches any character at that position
and any other characters remaining in the filename or filetype. The
following list presents the rules for using wildcards.

■ A ? matches any character in a name, including a space character.

■ An * must be the last, or only, character in the filename or filetype.
CP/M 3 internally replaces an * with ? characters to the end of
the filename or filetype.
■ When the filename to match is shorter than eight characters,
CP/M 3 treats the name as if it ends with spaces.
■ When the filetype to match is shorter than three characters,
CP/M 3 treats the filetype as if it ends with spaces.

Suppose, for example, you have a disk that contains the following
six files:

A.COM AA.COM AAA.COM B.COM A.ASM and B.ASM

The following wildcard specifications match all, or a portion of, these files:

*.* is treated as ????????.???

????????.??? matches all six names
*.COM is treated as ????????.COM
????????.COM matches the first four names
?.COM matches A.COM and B.COM
?.* is treated as ?.???
?.??? matches A.COM, B.COM, A.ASM, and B.ASM
A?.COM matches A.COM and AA.COM
A*.COM is treated as A???????.COM
A???????.COM matches A.COM, AA.COM, and AAA.COM

Remember that CP/M 3 uses wildcard patterns only while searching

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How to Protect Your Files CP/M 3 User’s Guide

a disk directory, and therefore wildcards are valid only in filenames and
filetypes. You cannot use a wildcard character in a drive specifier. You
also cannot use a wildcard character as part of a filename or filetype
when you create a file.

2.7.  How to Protect Your Files

Under CP/M 3 you can organize your files into groups to protect
them from accidental change and from unauthorized access. You can
specify how your files are displayed in response to a DIR command,
and monitor when your files were last accessed or modified. CP/M 3
supports these features by assigning the following to files:

■ user numbers
■ attributes
■ time and date stamps
■ passwords (banked CP/M 3 only)

All of this information for each file is recorded in the disk directory.

2.7.1.  File Attributes

File attributes control how a file can be accessed. When you create
a file, CP/M 3 gives it two attributes. You can change the attributes
with a SET command.

The first attribute can be set to either DIR (Directory) or SYS (Sys-
tem). This attribute controls whether CP/M 3 displays the file’s name in
response to a DIR command or DIRSYS command. When you create
a file, CP/M 3 automatically sets this attribute to DIR. You can display
the name of a file marked with the DIR attribute with a DIR command.
If you give a file the SYS attribute, you must use a DIRSYS command
to display the filename. Simple DIR and DIRSYS commands display
only the filenames created under the current user number.

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 A file with the SYS attribute has a special advantage when it is created
under user 0. When you give a file with user number 0 the SYS attribute,
you can read and execute that file from any user number. This feature
gives you a convenient way to make your commonly used programs
available under any user number. Note, however, that a user 0 SYS file
does not appear in response to a DIRSYS command unless 0 is the
current user number.

The second file attribute can be set to either R/W (Read-Write) or

R/O (Read-Only). If a file is marked R/O, any attempt to write data
to that file produces a Read-Only error message. Therefore, you can
use the R/O attribute to protect important files. A file with the R/W
attribute can be read or written to, or erased at any time, unless the disk
is physically write-protected.

2.7.2.  Date and Time Stamping

If you use date and time stamps, you can quickly locate the most
recent copy of a file, and check when it was last updated or changed.
You can choose to have the system tell you either when you created the
file, or when you last read from or wrote to the file. You use the SET
command to enable date and time stamping, and the DIR command
with the DATE option to display a file’s time and date stamp.

A SET command enables the option you want to monitor. You can
use the following commands to enable time and date stamping on a
disk, but you must choose between ACCESS and CREATE. If you
choose ACCESS, the stamp records the last time the file was accessed.
If you choose CREATE, the stamp records when the file was created.

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How Are Files Stored on a Disk? CP/M 3 User’s Guide

A›SET [ACCESS=ON]
A›SET [CREATE=ON]
A›SET [UPDATE=ON]

Files created on or copied to a disk that has time and date stamping
are automatically stamped. The DATE command allows you to display
and reset the time and date that CP/M 3 is using. For a complete dis-
cussion of time and date stamping, see the descriptions of the SET and
INITDIR commands in Section 5.

2.7.3.  Passwords (Banked CP/M 3 Only)

Passwords allow you to protect your files from access by other users.
You can use passwords to limit access to certain files for security purposes.

The SET utility allows you to enable password protection on a

drive, assign a password to SET itself (so that unauthorized users can-
not disable password protection on a drive), and assign passwords to
specific files that have already been created. You can assign passwords
to all program and data files. This means that a command line could
require the entry of two passwords in order to execute: one password
to access the command program, and a second password to access the
file specified in the command tail.

Some CP/M 3 commands and most word processing, accounting,

and other application programs running under CP/M 3 do not accept
passwords in the command tail. If you want to protect your file and still
use those programs, you can set a default password before executing
the application program. See the description of the SET command in
Section 5 for an explanation of this process.

2.8.  How Are Files Stored on a Disk?

CP/M 3 records the filename, filetype, password, user number, and

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attributes of each file in a special area of the disk called the directory.
In the directory, CP/M 3 also records which parts of the disk belong
to which file.

CP/M 3 allocates directory and storage space for a file as records are
added to the file. When you erase a file, CP/M 3 reclaims storage in two
ways: it makes the file’s directory space available to catalog a different file,
and frees the file’s storage space for later use. It is this dynamic allocation
feature that makes CP/M 3 powerful. You do not have to tell CP/M 3
how big your file will become, because it automatically allocates more
storage for a file as needed, and releases the storage for reallocation
when the file is erased. Use the SHOW command to determine how
much space remains on the disk.

2.9.  Changing Floppy Disks

CP/M 3 cannot, of course, do anything to a file unless the disk that
holds the file is inserted into a drive and the drive is ready. When a disk
is in a drive, it is online and CP/M 3 can access its directory and files.

At some time, you will need to take a disk out of a drive and insert
another that contains different files. You can replace an online disk
whenever you see the system prompt at your console. This is a clear
indication that no program is reading or writing to the drive.

You can also remove a disk and insert a new one when an application
program prompts you to do so. This can occur, for example, when the
data that the program uses does not fit on one floppy disk.

Note: you must never remove a disk if a program is reading or writing

to it.

You can change disks on the drive without sending any special signals

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Protecting a Drive CP/M 3 User’s Guide

to CP/M 3. This allows you to insert another disk at a program’s request

and read files from or create files on the new disk.

2.10.  Protecting a Drive

Under CP/M 3, drives can be marked R/O just as files can be given
the R/O attribute. The default state of a drive is R/W. You can give
a drive the R/O attribute by using the SET command described in
Section 5. To return the drive to R/W, use the SET command or press
a CTRL-C at the system prompt.

End of Section 2

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 Section 3 
Console and Printer

This section describes how CP/M 3 communicates with your console

and printer. It tells how to start and stop console and printer output,
edit commands you enter at your console, and redirect console and
printer input and output. It also explains the concept of logical devices
under CP/M 3.

3.1.  Controlling Console Output

Sometimes CP/M 3 displays information on your screen too quickly
for you to read it. Sometimes an especially long display scrolls off the
top of your screen before you have a chance to study it. To ask the
system to wait while you read the display, hold down the CONTROL
(CTRL) key and press S. A CTRL-S keystroke causes the display to
pause. When you are ready, press CTRL-Q to resume the display. If
you press any key besides CTRL-Q during a display pause, CP/M 3
sounds the console bell or beeper.

DIR, TYPE, and other CP/M 3 utilities support automatic paging

at the console. This means that if the program’s output is longer than
what the screen can display at one time, the display automatically halts
when the screen is filled. When this occurs, CP/M 3 prompts you to
press RETURN to continue.

3.2.  Controlling Printer Output

You can also use a control command to echo console output to the
printer. To start printer echo, press a CTRL-P. To stop, press CTRL-P

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again. While printer echo is in effect, any characters that appear on

your screen are listed at your printer.

You can use printer echo with a DIR command to make a list of files
stored on a floppy disk. You can also use CTRL-P with CTRL-S and
CTRL-Q to make a hard copy of part of a file. Use a TYPE command
to start a display of the file at the console. When the display reaches the
part you need to print, press CTRL-S to stop the display, CTRL-P to
enable printer echo, and then CTRL-Q to resume the display and start
pr inting. You can use another CTRL-S, CTRL-P, CTRL-Q sequence
to terminate printer echo.

3.3.  Console Line Editing

You can correct simple typing errors with the BACKSPACE key.
CP/M 3 also supports additional line-editing functions for banked
and nonbanked systems that you perform with control characters. You
can use the control characters to edit command lines or input lines to
most programs.

3.3.1.  Line Editing in Nonbanked CP/M 3

Nonbanked CP/M 3 allows you to edit your command line using

the set of characters listed in Table 3-1. To edit a command line in
nonbanked CP/M 3, use control characters to delete characters left of
the cursor, then replace them with new characters.

In the following example command line, the command keyword PIP

is mistyped. The underbar represents the cursor.

A›POP A:=B:*.*

To move the cursor to the letter O, hold down the CTRL key and

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide Console Line Editing

press the letter H eleven times. CTRL-H deletes characters as it moves

the cursor left, leaving the following command line:

A›P

Now, type the correct letters, press RETURN, and send the com-
mand to CP/M 3.

A›PIP A:=B:*.*

Table 3-1 lists all line-editing control characters for nonbanked

CP/M 3.

Table 3-1. Nonbanked CP/M 3 Line-editing Control Characters

Character Meaning
CTRL-E Forces a physical carriage return but does not send
the command line to CP/M 3. Moves the cursor to
the beginning of the next line without erasing your
previous input.
CTRL-H Deletes a character and moves the cursor left one
character position.
CTRL-I Moves the cursor to the next tab stop. Tab stops are
automatically set at each eighth column. Has the
same effect as pressing the TAB key.
CTRL-J Sends the command line to CP/M 3 and returns the
cursor to the left of the current line. Has the same
effect as a RETURN or a CTRL-M.
CTRL-M Sends the command line to CP/M 3 and returns the
cursor to the left of the current line. Has the same
effect as a RETURN or a CTRL-J.

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Console Line Editing CP/M 3 User’s Guide

Character Meaning
CTRL-R Places a # at the current cursor location, moves
the cursor to the next line, and displays any partial
command you typed so far.
CTRL-U Discards all the characters in the command line,
places a # at the current cursor position, and moves
the cursor to the next command line.
CTRL-X Discards all the characters in the command line, and
moves the cursor to the beginning of the current line.

You probably noticed that some control characters have the same
meaning. For example, the CTRL-J and CTRL-M keystrokes have the
same effect as pressing the RETURN key; all three send the command
line to CP/M 3 for processing. Also, CTRL-H has the same effect as
pressing the BACKSPACE key.

3.3.2.  Line Editing in Banked CP/M 3

Banked CP/M 3 allows you to edit your command line without de-
leting all characters. Using the line-editing control characters listed in ,
you can move the cursor left and right to insert and delete characters in
the middle of a command line. You do not have to retype everything to
the right of your correction. In banked CP/M 3, you can press RETURN
when the cursor is in any position in the command line; CP/M 3 reads
the entire command line. You can also recall a command for reediting
and reexecution.

In the following sample session, the user mistyped PIP, and CP/M 3
returned an error message. The user recalls the erroneous command line
by pressing CTRL-W and corrects the error (the underbar represents
the cursor):

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide Console Line Editing

A›POP A:=B:*.* (PIP mistyped)

POP?

A›POP A:=B:*.* (CTRL-W recalls the line)

A›POP A:=B:*.* (CTRL-B to beginning of line)

A›POP A:=B:*.* (CTRL-F to move cursor right)

A›PP A:=B:*.* (CTRL-G to delete error)

A›PIP A:=B:*.* (type I to correct the command name)

To execute the corrected command line, the user can press return
even though the cursor is in the middle of the line. A return keystroke,
or one of its equivalent control characters, not only executes the com-
mand, but also stores the command in a buffer so that you can recall it
for editing or reexecution by pressing CTRL-W.

When you insert a character in the middle of a line, characters to the

right of the cursor move to the right. If the line becomes longer than
your screen is wide, characters disappear off the right side of the screen.
These characters are not lost. They reappear if you delete characters
from the line or if you press CTRL-E when the cursor is in the middle
of the line. CTRL-E moves all characters to the right of the cursor to
the next line on the screen.

gives a complete list of line-editing control characters for a banked

CP/M 3 system.

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Banked CP/M 3 Line-editing Control Characters

Character Meaning
CTRL-A Moves the cursor one character to the left.
CTRL-B Moves the cursor to the beginning of the command
line without having any effect on the contents of
the line. If the cursor is atthe beginning, CTRL-B
moves it to the end of the line.
CTRL-E Forces a physical carriage return but does not send
the command line to CP/M 3. Moves the cursor to
the beginning of the next line without erasing your
previous input.
CTRL-F Moves the cursor one character to the right.
CTRL-G Deletes the character indicated by the cursor. The
cursor does not move.
CTRL-H Deletes a character and moves the cursor left one
character position.
CTRL-I Moves the cursor to the next tab stop. Tab stops are
automatically set at each eighth column. Has the
same effect as pressing the TAB key.
CTRL-J Sends the command line to CP/M 3 and returns the
cursor to the left of the current line. Has the same
effect as a RETURN or a CTRL-M.
CTRL-K Deletes to the end of the line from the cursor.
CTRL-M Sends the command line to CP/M 3 and returns the
cursor to the left of the current line. Has the same
effect as a RETURN or a CTRL-J.
CTRL-R Places a # at the current cursor location, moves
the cursor to the next line, and displays any partial
command you typed so far.

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Character Meaning
CTRL-U Discards all the characters in the command line,
places a # at the current cursor position, and moves
the cursor to the next command line.
CTRL-W Recalls and displays previously entered command
line both at the operating system level and within
executing programs, if the CTRL-W is the first char-
acter entered after the prompt. CTRL-J, CTRL-M,
CTRL-U, and RETURN define the command line
you can recall. If the command line contains charac-
ters, CTRL-W moves the cursor to the end of the
command line. If you press RETURN, CP/M 3
executes the recalled command.
CTRL-X Discards all the characters in the command line, and
moves the cursor to the beginning of the current line.

You probably noticed that some control characters have the same
meaning. For example, the CTRL-J and CTRL-M keystrokes have the
same effect as pressing the RETURN key; all three send the command
line to CP/M 3 for processing. Also, CTRL-H has the same effect as
pressing the BACKSPACE key. Notice that when a control character is
displayed on your screen, it is preceded by an up-arrow, ^. For example,
a CTRL-C keystroke appears as ^C on your screen.

3.4.  Redirecting Input and Output

CP/M 3’s PUT command allows you to direct console or printer
output to a disk file. You can use a GET command to make CP/M 3
or a utility program take console input from a disk file. The following
examples illustrate some of the conveniences GET and PUT offer.

You can use a PUT command to direct console output to a disk file

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Redirecting Input and Output CP/M 3 User’s Guide

as well as the console. With PUT, you can create a disk file containing
a directory of all files on that disk, as follows:
A›PUT CONSOLE OUTPUT TO FILE DIR,PRN
Putting console output to file: DIR.PRN

A›DIR
A: FILENAME TEX : FRONT TEX : FRONT BAK : ONE BAK : THREE TEX
A: FOUR TEX : ONE TEX : LINEDIT TEX : EXAMP1 TXT : TWO BAK
A: TWO TEX : THREE BAK : EXAMP2 TXT

A›TYPE DIR.PRN
A: FILENAME TEX : FRONT TEX : FRONT BAK : ONE BAK : THREE TEX
A: FOUR TEX : ONE TEX : LINEDIT TEX : EXAMP1 TXT : TWO BAK
A: TWO TEX : THREE BAK : EXAMP2 TXT

You can use a similar PUT command to direct printer output to a disk
file as well as the printer.

A GET command can direct CP/M 3 or a program to read a disk

file for console input instead of the keyboard. If the file is to be read by
CP/M 3, it must contain standard CP/M 3 command lines. If the file
is to be read by a utility program, it must contain input appropriate
for that program. A file can contain both CP/M 3 command lines and
program input if it also includes a command to start a program.

You add or omit the SYSTEM option in the GET command line
to specify whether CP/M 3 or a utility program is to start reading the
file, as shown in the following sample session. If you omit the SYSTEM
option, the system prompt returns so that you can initiate the program
that is to take input from the specified file. If you include the SYSTEM
option, CP/M 3 immediately takes input from the specified file.
3A›type pip.dat
B:=front.tex
b:=one.tex

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B:=two.tex

3A›get console input from file pip.dat

Getting console input from file: PIP.DAT

3A›pip
CP/M 3 PIP VERSION 3.0
*b:=front.tex
*b:=one.tex
*b:=two.tex
* ^‹cr›

3A›type ccp.dat
dir
show
dirsys

3A›get console input from file ccp.dat [system]

Getting console input from file: CCP:DAT

3A›dir
A: FILENAME TEX : FRONT TEX : FRONT BAK : ONE BAK : THREE TEX
A: FOUR TEX : ONE TEX : LINEDIT TEX : EXAMP1 TXT : TWO BAK
A: TWO TEX : EXAMP3 : EXAMP2 TXT : PIP DAT : EXAMP4
A: THREE BAK : EXAMP5 : CCP DAT

3A›show
A: RW, Space: 3,392k
B: RW, Space: 452k

3A›dirsys
NON-SYSTEM FILE(S) EXIST

See the descriptions of GET and PUT in Section 5 for more ways
to use redirected input and output.

3.5.  Assigning Logical Devices

Most CP/M 3 computer systems have a traditional console with a
keyboard and screen display. Many also have letter-quality printers. If
you use your computer for unusual tasks, you might want to add a dif-

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Assigning Logical Devices CP/M 3 User’s Guide

ferent kind of character device to your system: a line printer, a teletype

terminal, a modem, or even a joystick for playing games. To keep track of
these physically different input and output devices, CP/M 3 associates
different physical devices with logical devices. Table 3-2 gives the names
of CP/M 3 logical devices. It also shows the physical devices assigned
to these logical devices in the distributed CP/M 3 system.

Table 3-2. CP/M 3 Logical Devices

Logical Device Device Type Physical Device
Name Assignment
CONIN: Console input Keyboard
CONOUT: Console output Screen
AUXIN: Auxiliary input Null
AUXOUT: Auxiliary output Null
LST: List output Printer

In some implementations of CP/M 3, you can change these assign-

ments with a DEVICE command. If your system supports the DEVICE
command, you can, for example, assign AUXIN and AUXOUT to a
modem so that your computer can communicate with others over the
telephone.

End of Section 3

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 Section 4 
CP/M 3 Command Concepts

As we discussed in Section 1, a CP/M 3 command line consists of a

command keyword, an optional command tail, and a carriage return
keystroke. This section describes the two kinds of programs the command
keyword can identify, and tells how CP/M 3 searches for a program
file on a disk. This section also tells how to execute multiple CP/M 3
commands, and how to reset the disk system.

4.1.  Two Kinds of Commands

A command keyword identifies a program that resides either in mem-
ory as part of CP/M 3, or on a disk as a program file. Commands that
identify programs in memory are called built-in commands. Commands
that identify program files on a disk are called transient utility commands.

CP/M 3 has six built-in commands and over twenty transient utility
commands. You can add utilities to your system by purchasing various
CP/M 3-compatible application programs. If you are an experienced
programmer, you can also write your own utilities that operate with
CP/M 3.

4.2.  Built-in Commands

Built-in commands are part of CP/M 3 and are always available
for your use regardless of which disk you have in which drive. Built-in
commands reside in memory as a part of CP/M 3 and therefore execute
more quickly than the transient utilities.

Some built-in commands have options that require support from

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Built-in Commands CP/M 3 User’s Guide

a related transient utility. The related transient has the same name as
the built-in and has a filetype of COM. This type of transient utility is
loaded only when a built-in command line contains options that cannot
be performed by the built-in command.

If you include certain options in the command tail for a built-in com-
mand, CP/M 3 might return a .COM Required message, This means
that the command tail options require support from a related transient
utility and CP/M 3 could not find that program file. The following
files must be accessible to support all the functions these built-ins offer:
ERASE.COM, RENAME.COM, TYPE.COM, and DIR.COM.

Section 5 explains in detail the built-in commands listed in Table 4-1.

Table 4-1. Built-in Commands

Command Function
DIR Displays filenames of all files in the directory except
those marked with the SYS attribute.
DIRSYS Displays filenames of files marked with the SYS
(system) attribute in the directory.
ERASE Erases a filename from the disk directory and releases
the storage space occupied by the file.
RENAME Renames a disk file.
TYPE Displays contents of an ASCII (TEXT) file at your
screen. Changes to a different user number.
USER Changes to a different user number.

CP/M 3 allows you to abbreviate the built-in commands as follows:

DIRSYS DIRS
ERASE ERA
RENAME REN

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide Transient Utility Commands

TYPE TYP
USER USE

4.3.  Transient Utility Commands

When you enter a command keyword that identifies a transient
utility, CP/M 3 loads the program file from the disk and passes it any
filenames, data, or parameters you entered in the command tail. Section
5 provides the operating details for the CP/M 3 transient utilities listed
in Table 4-2.

Table 4-2. Transient Utility Commands

Name Function
COPYSYS Creates a new boot disk.
DATE Sets or displays the date and time.
DEVICE Assigns logical CP/M devices to one or more physi-
cal devices, changes device driver protocol and baud
rates, or sets console screen size
DUMP Displays a file in ASCII and hexadecimal format.
ED Creates and alters character files.
GET Temporarily gets console input from a disk file rather
than the keyboard.
HELP Displays information on how to use CP/M 3 com-
mands.
HEXCOM Uses the output from MAC to produce a program
file.
INITDIR Initializes a disk directory to allow time and date
stamping.
LINK Links REL (relocatable) program modules pro-
duced by RMAC™ (relocatable macro assembler)
and produces program files.

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Name Function
MAC Translates assembly language programs into machine
code form.
PIP Copies files and combines files.
PUT Temporarily directs printer or console output to a
disk file.
RMAC Translates assembly language programs into relo-
catable program modules.
SET Sets file options including disk labels, file attributes,
type of time and date stamping, and password pro-
tection.
SETDEF Sets system options including the drive search chain.
SHOW Displays disk and drive statistics.
SID Helps you check your programs and interactively
correct programming errors.
SUBMIT Automatically executes multiple commands.
XREF Produces a cross-reference list of variables used in
an assembler program.

4.4.  How CP/M 3 Searches for Program and Data Files

This section describes how CP/M 3 searches for program and data
files on disk. If it appears that CP/M 3 cannot find a program file you
specified in a command line, the problem might be that CP/M 3 is
not looking on the drive where the file is stored. Therefore, you need
to understand the steps CP/M 3 follows in searching for program and
data files.

4.4.1.  Finding Data Files

As you recall, when you enter a command line, CP/M 3 passes the

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide How CP/M 3 Searches for Program and Data Files

command tail to the program identified by the command keyword.

If the command tail contains a file specification, the program calls
CP/M 3 to search for the data file. If CP/M 3 cannot find the data file,
the program displays an error message at the console. Typically, this
message is File not found or No File, but the message depends on the
program identified by the command keyword.

If you do not include a drive specifier with the filename in a command

tail, CP/M 3 searches the directory of the current user number on the
default drive. If the file is not there, CP/M 3 looks for the file with the
SYS attribute in the directory of user 0 on the default drive. If CP/M 3
finds the file under user 0, it allows the program Read-Only access to
the file. For example, if you enter the following command line,

3A›TYPE MYFILE.TXT

CP/M 3 first searches the directory for user 3 on drive A. If it does

not find MYFILE.TXT there, it searches the directory of user 0 on
drive A for MYFILE.TXT marked with the SYS attribute. If the file is
not in either directory, CP/M 3 returns control to TYPE, which then
displays No File.

Some CP/M 3 utilities, such as PIP and DIR, restrict their file search
to the current user number. Because CP/M 3 does not allow Read-Write
access to SYS files, ERASE and RENAME also restrict their search to
the current user number.

The search procedure is basically the same if you do include a drive

specifier with the filename. CP/M 3 first looks in the directory of the
current user number on the specified drive. Then, if it does not find the
file, it looks in the directory for user 0 on the specified drive for the file
with the SYS attribute. If CP/M 3 does not find the data file after these
two searches, it displays an error message.

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4.4.2.  Finding Program Files

The search procedure for a program file can be very different from
a data file search. This is because you can use the SETDEF command
described in Section 5 to define the search procedure you want CP/M 3
to follow when it is looking for a program file. With SETDEF you can
ask CP/M 3 to make as many as sixteen searches when you do not in-
clude a drive specifier before the command keyword, but that is a rare
case! We will begin by describing how CP/M 3 searches for program
files when you have not yet entered a SETDEF command.

If a command keyword identifies a transient utility, CP/M 3 looks

for that program file on the default or specified drive. It looks under the
current user number, and then under user 0 for the same file marked
with the SYS attribute. At any point in the search process, CP/M 3 stops
the search if it finds the program file. CP/M 3 then loads the program
into memory and executes it. When the program terminates, CP/M 3
displays the system prompt and waits for your next command. However,
if CP/M 3 does not find the command file, it repeats the command
line followed by a question mark, and waits for your next command.

If you include a drive specifier before the command keyword, you are
telling CP/M 3 precisely where to look for the program file. Therefore,
CP/M 3 searches only two locations: the directory for the current user
on the specified drive, and then for user 0 on the specified drive, before it
repeats the command line with a question mark. For example, if you enter

4C›A:SHOW [SPACE]

CP/M 3 looks on drive A, user 4 and then user 0 for the file SHOW.
COM.

If you do not include a drive specifier before the command keyword,

CP/M 3 searches directories in a sequence called a drive chain. When

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide How CP/M 3 Searches for Program and Data Files

you first receive CP/M 3, there is only one drive in your chain, the default
drive. Unless you change the chain with a SETDEF command, CP/M 3
looks in two places for the program file. For example, if you enter

7E›SHOW [SPACE]

CP/M 3 searches the following locations for the file SHOW.COM:

1. drive E, user 7
2. drive E, user 0

Remember that a SHOW.COM file under user 0 must be marked

with the SYS attribute or else CP/M 3 cannot find it. Use a SET com-
mand to give program files under user 0 to the SYS attribute because
they can then be accessed automatically from all other user areas. You
do not have to duplicate frequently used program files in all user areas
on all drives.

When you use a SETDEF command to define your own drive chain,
include the default drive, and the drive that contains your most frequently
used utilities. For an example, assume you defined your drive chain as *
(the default drive) and drive A. When you enter the following command:

2D›SHOW [SPACE]

CP/M 3 looks for SHOW.COM in the following sequence:

1. drive D, user 2
2. drive D, user 0
3. drive A, user 2
4. drive A, user 0

You can include your default drive in your drive chain with an option
in a SETDEF command. Any drive chain you specify with SETDEF
remains in effect until you restart or reset the system.

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You can also use a SETDEF command to enable automatic submit in

your drive chain. See Section 4.5 for a description of automatic submit.

4.5.  Executing Multiple Commands

In the examples so far, CP/M 3 has executed only one command
at a time. CP/M 3 can also execute a sequence of commands. You can
enter a sequence of commands at the system prompt, or you can put
a frequently needed sequence of commands in a disk file. Once you
have stored the sequence in a disk file, you can execute the sequence
whenever you need to with a SUBMIT command.

To enter multiple commands at the system prompt, separate each

command keyword and associated command tail from the next keyword
with an exclamation point, !. When you complete the sequence, press
RETURN. CP/M 3 executes your commands in order:
3A›dirsys!dir examp*.*!show [space]
NON-SYSTEM FILE(S) EXIST
3A›dir examp*.*
A: EXAMP7 : EXAMP1 TXT : EXAMP3 : EXAMP2 TXT : EXAMP4
A: EXAMP5 : EXAMP6
3A›show [space]
A: RW, Space: 3,344K

If you find you need to execute the same command sequence fre-
quently, store the sequence in a disk file. To create this file, use ED or
another character file editor. The file must have a filetype of SUB. Each
command in the file must start on a new line. For example, an UPDATE.
SUB file might look like this:

DIR A:*.COM
ERA B:*.COM
PIP B:=A:*.COM

To execute this list, enter the following command:

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A›SUBMIT UPDATE

The SUBMIT utility passes each command to CP/M 3 for sequen-

tial execution. While SUBMIT executes, the commands are usually
echoed at the console, as well as any program’s screen display, such as
the directory or PIP’s “COPYING…” message.

When one command completes, the system prompt reappears ei-

ther with the next command in the SUB file, or, when the SUB file is
exhausted, by itself to wait for your next command from the keyboard.

If PROFILE exists, PROFILE.SUB is a special submit file that

CP/M 3 automatically executes at each cold start. This feature is espe-
cially convenient if you regularly execute a standard set of commands,
such as SETDEF and DATE SET, before beginning a work session. A
PROFILE.SUB might already exist on your distribution disk. If not,
you can create one using ED or another editor.

The description of the SUBMIT utility in Section 5 gives more de-

tails on how to create a SUB file and use SUBMIT parameters to pass
options to the programs to be executed.

4.6.  Terminating Programs

You can use the two keystroke command CTRL-C to terminate pro-
gram execution or reset the disk system. To enter a CTRL-C command,
hold down the CTRL key and press C.

Not all application programs that run under CP/M can be termi-
nated by a CTRL-C, However, most of the transient utilities supplied
with CP/M 3 can be terminated immediately by a CTRL-C keystroke.
If you try to terminate a program while it is sending a display to the
screen, you might need to press a CTRL-S to halt the display before
entering CTRL-C.

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Getting Help CP/M 3 User’s Guide

You can also use CTRL-C to reset the disk system. This is sometimes
called a warm start. When you press CTRL-C and the cursor is at the
system prompt, CP/M 3 logs out all the active drives, then logs in the
default drive. The active drives are any drives you have accessed since
the last cold or warm start. A SHOW [SPACE] command displays the
remaining space on all active drives. In the following example, SHOW
[SPACE] indicates that three drives are active. However, if you press
CTRL-C immediately after this display and then enter another SHOW
[SPACE] command, only the space for the default drive, A, is displayed.

A›SHOW [SPACE]
A: RW, Space: 9,488k
B: RO, Space: 2,454k
C: RO, Space: 1,665k
A›^C
A›SHOW [SPACE]
A: RW, Space: 9,488k

4.7.  Getting Help

CP/M 3 includes a transient utility command called HELP that can
display a summary of what you need to know to use each command
described in this manual. To get help, simply enter the command:

A›HELP

In response, the HELP utility displays a list of topics for which sum-
maries are available. After HELP lists the topics available, it displays
its own prompt:

HELP›

To this prompt, you can enter one of the topics presented in the list,
for example,

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide Getting Help

HELP›SHOW

After displaying a summary of the SHOW command, HELP lists sub-

topics that detail different aspects of the SHOW command. To display
the information on a subtopic when you have just finished reading the
main topic, enter the name of the subtopic preceded by a period.

HELP›.OPTIONS

In the preceding example, HELP then displays the options available

for the SHOW command. As you become familiar with HELP, you
might want to call a HELP subtopic directly from the system prompt
as follows:

A›HELP SHOW OPTIONS

HELP lets you learn the basic CP/M 3 commands quickly. You might
find that you reference the command summary in Section 5 only when
you need details not provided in the HELP summaries. When you add
new utilities, you can modify HELP to add or subtract topics, or even
modify the summaries HELP presents. See the description of HELP
in Section 5 for complete details.

End of Section 4

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 Section 5 
Command Summary

This section describes the commands and programs supplied with

your CP/M 3 operating system. The commands are in alphabetical order.
Each command is followed by a short explanation of its operation and
examples. More complicated commands are described later in detail.
For example, ED is described in Section 6. Other commands, such as
SID and MAC, are described fully in other CP/M manuals.

CP/M 3 has replaced some commands from previous CP/M versions.

MAC replaces ASM; SHOW and DIR include the previous STAT
functions; and SID replaces DDT.

5.1.  Let’s Get Past the Formalities

This section describes the parts of a file specification in a command
line. There are four parts in a file specification; to avoid confusion, each
part has a formal name:

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Let’s Get Past the Formalities CP/M 3 User’s Guide

■ drive specifier—the optional disk drive A, B, C, …, P that con-

tains the file or group of files to which you are referring. If a drive
specifier is included in your command line, a colon must follow it.
■ filename—the one- to eight-character first name of a file or group
of files.
■ filetype—the optional one- to three-character category name
of a file or group of files. If the filetype is present, a period must
separate it from the filename.
■ password—the optional one- to eight-character password which
allows you to protect your files. It follows the filetype, or the
filename if no filetype is assigned, and is preceded by a semicolon.

If you do not include a drive specifier, CP/M 3 automatically uses

the default drive. If you omit the period and the filetype, CP/M 3
automatically includes a filetype of three blanks.

This general form is called a file specification. A file specification

names a particular file or group of files in the directory of the on-line
disk given by the drive specifier. For example,

B:MYFILE.DAT

is a file specification that indicates drive B:, filename MYFILE, and

filetype DAT. File specification is abbreviated to

filespec

in the command syntax statements.

Some CP/M 3 commands accept wildcards in the filename and

filetype parts of the command tail. For example,

B:MY*.A??

is a file specification with drive specifier B:, filename MY*, and filetype

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide Let’s Get Past the Formalities

A??. This ambiguous file specification might match several files in the
directory.

Put together, the parts of a file specification are represented like this:

d:filename.typ;password

In the preceding form, d: represents the optional drive specifier, file-

name represents the one- to eight-character filename, and typ represents
the optional one- to three-character filetype. The syntax descriptions in
this section use the term filespec to indicate any valid combination of
the elements included in the file specification. The following list shows
valid combinations of the elements of a CP/M 3 file specification.

■ filename
■ filename.typ
■ filename;password
■ filename.typ;password
■ d:filename
■ d:filename.typ
■ d:filename;password
■ d:filename.typ;password

The characters in Table 5-1 have special meaning in CP/M 3, so do

not use these characters in file specifications except as indicated.

Table 5-1. Reserved Characters

Character Meaning
‹ = , ! | › [ ] file specification delimiters
tab space
carriage return
: drive delimiter in file specification
. filetype delimiter in file specification

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Let’s Get Past the Formalities CP/M 3 User’s Guide

Character Meaning
; password delimiter in file specification
*? wildcard characters in an ambiguous file spec-
ification
‹›&!|\+- option list delimiters
[] option list delimiters for global and local options
() delimiters for multiple modifiers inside square
brackets for options that have modifiers
/$ option delimiters in a command line
; comment delimiter at the beginning of a com-
mand line

CP/M 3 has already established several file groups. Table 5-2 lists
some of their filetypes with a short description of each family. Appendix
C provides the complete lst.

Table 5-2. CP/M 3 Filetypes Meaning

Filetype Meaning
ASM Assembler source file
BAS CBASIC® source program
COM 8080, 8085 or equivalent machine language program
HLP HELP message file
SUB List of commands to be executed by SUBMIT
$$$ Temporary file

In some commands, descriptive qualifiers are used with filespecs

to further qualify the type of filespec accepted by the commands. For
example, wildcard-filespec denotes wildcard specifications, dest-filespec
denotes a destination filespec, and src-filespec denotes a source filespec.

You now understand command keywords, command tails, control

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide How Commands Are Described

characters, default drive, and wildcards. You also see how to use the
formal names filespec, drive specifier, filename, and filetype. These
concepts give you the background necessary to compose complete
command lines.

5.2.  How Commands Are Described

CP/M 3 commands appear in alphabetical order. Each command
description is given in a specific form. This section also describes the
notation that indicates the optional parts of a command line and other
syntax notation.

■ The description begins with the command keyword in upper-case.

■ The syntax section gives you one or more general forms to follow
when you compose the command line.
■ The explanation section defines the general use of the command
keyword, and points out exceptions and special cases. The expla-
nation sometimes includes tables or lists of options that you can
use in the command line.
■ The examples section lists a number of valid command lines that
use the command keyword. To clarify examples of interactions
between you and the operating system, the characters that you
enter are slanted. The responses that CP/M 3 shows on your
screen are in vertical type.

The notation in the syntax lines describes the general command form
using these rules:

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How Commands Are Described CP/M 3 User’s Guide

■ Words in capital letters must be spelled as shown, but you can

use any combination of upper- or lower-case letters.
■ The symbolic notation d:, filename, .typ, ;password, and filespec
have the general meanings described in Section 5.1.
■ You must include one or more space characters where a space is
shown, unless otherwise specified. For example, the PIP options
do not need to be separated by spaces.

The following table defines the special symbols and abbreviations

used in syntax lines.

Table 5-3. Syntax Notation

Symbol Meaning
DIR Directory attribute.
n You can substitute a number for n.
o Indicates an option or an option list.
RO Read-Only
RW Read-Write
s You can substitute a string, which consists of a group
of characters, for s.
SYS System attribute
{} Items within braces are optional. You can enter a
command without the optional items. The optional
items add effects to your command line.
[] Items in square brackets are options or an option list.
If you use an option specified within the brackets,
you must type the brackets to enclose the option.
If the right bracket is the last character on the com-
mand line, it can be omitted.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide How Commands Are Described

Symbol Meaning
() Items in parentheses indicate a range of options. If
you use a range from an option list, you must enclose
the range in parentheses.
… Ellipses tell you that the previous item can be re-
peated any number of times.
| The or bar separates alternative items in a command
line.
^ or CTRL Represent the CTRL key on your keyboard. (CTRL
characters show as ^ on your screen.)
‹cr› Indicates a carriage return keystroke.
* Wildcard character—replaces all or part of a file-
name and/or filetype.
? Wildcard character—replaces any single character
in the same position of a filename or filetype.

Let’s look at some examples of syntax notation. The CP/M 3 DIR

(DIRectory) command displays the names of files cataloged in the disk
directory and, optionally, displays other information about the files.

The syntax of the DIR command with options shows how to use the
command line syntax notation:

Syntax: DIR {fd:}|{filespec}{[options]}

| | |
optional optional optional

This tells you that the command tail following the command keyword
DIR is optional. DIR alone is a valid command, but you can include
a file specification, or a drive specification, or just the options in the
command line. Therefore,

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How Commands Are Described CP/M 3 User’s Guide

DIR
DIR filespec
DIR d:
DIR [RO]

are valid commands. Furthermore, the drive or file specification can be

followed by another optional value selected from one of the following
list of DIR options:

RO
RW
DIR
SYS

Therefore,

DIR d:filespec [RO]

is a valid command.

Recall that in Section 2 you learned about wildcards in filenames and

filetypes. The DIR command accepts wildcards in the file specification.

Using this syntax, you can construct several valid command lines:

DIR
DIR X.PAS
DIR X.PAS [RO]
DIR X.PAS [SYS]
DIR *.PAS
DIR *.* [RW]
DIR X.* [DIR]

The CP/M 3 command PIP (Peripheral Interchange Program) is the

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file copy program. PIP can copy information from the disk to the screen
or printer. PIP can combine two or more files into one longer file. PIP
can also rename files after copying them. Look at one of the formats of
the PIP command line for another example of how to use command
line notation. PIP also copies files from one disk to another disk.

Syntax: PIP dest-filespec = src-filespec{,filespec…}

In the preceding example, dest-filespec is further defined as a des-

tination file specification or peripheral device (printer, for example)
that receives data. Similarly, src-filespec is a source file specification or
peripheral device (keyboard, for example) that transmits data. PIP ac-
cepts wildcards in the filename and filetype. (See the PIP command for
details regarding other capabilities of PIP.) There are, of course, many
valid command lines that come from this syntax. Some examples follow.

PIP NEWFILE.DAT=OLDFILE.DAT
PIP B:=A:THISFILE.DAT
PIP B:X.BAS=Y.BAS, Z.BAS
PIP X.BAS=A.BAS, B.BAS, C.BAS
PIP B:=A:*.BAK
PIP B:=A:*.*

The remainder of this section contains a complete description of each

CP/M 3 utility. The descriptions are arranged alphabetically for easy
reference.

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The COPYSYS Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

The COPYSYS Command

Syntax: COPYSYS

Explanation: The COPYSYS command copies the CP/M 3 system

from a CP/M 3 system disk to another disk. The disk
must have the same format as the original system disk.
For example, if the system disk is a single-density disk,
the disk you use to copy onto must also be in single-den-
sity format.

The COPYSYS utility copies only the system tracks

onto the new disk.

To use the new disk as a CP/M 3 system disk, you must

also copy the system file CPM3.SYS to the new disk.
COPYSYS gives you the option to copy CPM3.SYS
to the new disk. To copy other files onto the new disk,
use the PIP command.

Example: A›COPYSYS
Copysys Ver 3.0
Source drive name (or return for default)C
Source on C then type return

Place the disk to be copied in drive C, then enter ‹cr›.

Function Complete
Destination drive name (or return to reboot)C
Destination on C then type return

Replace the system disk in C with the new disk, then

enter ‹cr›.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The COPYSYS Command

Function complete
Do You wish to copy CPM3.SYS?)Y
Source drive name (or return for default)‹cr›
Source on default then type return
Function complete
Destination drive name (or return to reboot)C
Destination on C then type return

Place the disk to be copied in drive C then enter ‹cr›.

Function complete

The preceding example copies the CP/M 3 system using

only one disk drive C. In the preceding messages, the
word source refers to the disk that contains the CP/M 3
system, and the word destination refers to the disk to
which the CP/M 3 system is to be copied.

The system file CPM3.SYS is copied from the default

drive A to the new disk in drive C. CP/M 3 requires
the file CPM3.SYS to be on the system disk.

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The DATE Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

The DATE Command

Syntax: DATE {CONTINUOUS}
DATE {time-specification}
DATE SET

Explanation: The DATE command is a transient utility that lets you

display and set the date and time of day. When you start
CP/M 3, the date and time are set to the creation date
of your CP/M 3 system. Use DATE to change this
initial value to the current date and time.

Display Current Date and Time

Syntax: DATE {CONTINUOUS}

Explanation: The preceding form of the DATE command displays the

current date and time. The CONTINUOUS option
allows continuous display of the date and time. The
CONTINUOUS option can be abbreviated to C. You
can stop the continuous display by pressing any key.

Examples: A›DATE
A›DATE C

The first example displays the current date and time. A

sample display might be:

Fri 08/13/82 09:15:37

The second example displays the date and time contin-

uously until you press any key to stop the display.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The DATE Command

Set the Date and Time

Syntax: DATE {time-specification}

DATE SET

Explanation: The first form allows the user to enter both date and
time in the command. The time-specification format
is

MM/DD/YY HH:MM:SS

where:

MM is a month value in the range 1 to 12.

DD is a day value in the range 1 to 31.
YY is the two-digit year value relative to 1900.
HH is the hour value in the range of 0 to 23.
MM is the minute value in the range of 0 to 59.
SS is the second value in the range of 0 to 59.

The system checks the validity of the date and time entry
and determines the day for the date entered.

The second form prompts you to enter the date and the
time. To keep the current system date or time, press the
carriage return.

Examples: A›DATE 08/14/82 10:30:00

The system responds with

Press any key to set time

When the time occurs, press any key. DATE initializes

the time at that instant, and displays the date and time:

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The DATE Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

Sat 08/14/82 10:30:00

A›DATE SET

The system prompts with

Enter today's date (MM/DD/YY)

Press the carriage return to skip or enter the date. Then

the system prompts with

Enter the time (HH:MM:SS)

Press the carriage return to skip or enter the time and

the system prompts with

Press any key to set time

to allow you to set the time exactly.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The DEVICE Command

The DEVICE Command

Syntax: DEVICE {NAMES | VALUES |
physical-dev | logical-dev}
DEVICE logical-dev = physical-dev {option}
{,physical-dev {option},...}
DEVICE logical-dev = NULL
DEVICE physical-dev {option}
DEVICE CONSOLE [PAGE |
COLUMNS = columns |
LINES = lines}

Explanation: The DEVICE command is a transient utility that displays

current assignments of CP/M 3 logical devices and the
names of physical devices. DEVICE allows you to assign
logical CP/M 3 devices to peripheral devices attached
to the computer. The DEVICE command also sets the
communications protocol and speed of a peripheral
device, and displays or sets the current console screen
size.

CP/M 3 supports the following five logical devices:

CONIN:
CONOUT:
AUXIN:
AUXOUT:
LST:

These logical devices are also known by the following

names:

CON: (for CONIN: and CONOUT:)

CONSOLE: (for CONIN: and CONOUT:)

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The DEVICE Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

KEYBOARD: (for CONIN:)

AUX: (for AUXIN: and AUXOUT:)
AUXILIARY: (for AUXIN: and AUXOUT:)
PRINTER: (for LST:)

The physical device names on a computer vary from

system to system. You can use the DEVICE command
to display the names and attributes of the physical
devices that your system accepts.

Display Device Characteristics and Assignments

Syntax: DEVICE {NAMES | VALUES |

physical-dev | logical-dev}

Explanation: The preceding form of the DEVICE command displays

the names and attributes of the physical devices and the
current assignments of the logical devices in the system.

Examples: A›DEVICE

The preceding command displays the physical devices

and current assignments of the logical devices in the
system. The following is a sample response:

Physical Devices:
I=Input,O=Output,S=Serial,X=Xon-Xoff
CRT 9600 IOS LPT 9600 IOSX CRT1 9600 IOS
CRT2 9600 IOS CRT3 4800 IOS LPT1 134 IOSX
CEN NONE O MODEM1 19200 IOS MODEM2 300 S
CTRLR1 150 O GRACRT 19200 IOS DIABLO 110 O
CTRLR2 200 O SCRTY 7200

Current Assignments:

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The DEVICE Command

CONIN: = CRT
CONOUT: = CRT
AUXIN: = Null Device
AUXOUT: = Null Device
LST: = LPT

Enter new assignment or hit RETURN:

The system prompts for a new device assignment. You

can enter any valid device assignment (as described in
the next section). If you do not want to change any
device assignments, press the RETURN key.

A›DEVICE NAMES

The preceding command lists the physical devices with

a summary of the device characteristics.

A›DEVICE VALUES

The preceding command displays the current logical

device assignments.

A›DEVICE CRT

The preceding command displays the attributes of the

physical device CRT.

A›DEVICE CON

The preceding command displays the assignment of the

logical device CON:

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The DEVICE Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

Assign a Logical Device

Syntax: DEVICE logical-dev = physical-dev {option}

{,physical-dev {option},...}
DEVICE logical-dev = NULL

Explanation: The first form assigns a logical device to one or more

physical devices. The second form disconnects the
logical device from any physical device.

Table 5-4. DEVICE options

Option Meaning
XON refers to the XON/XOFF commu-
nications protocol. This protocol
uses two special characters in the
ASCII character set called XON and
XOFF. XON signals transmission
on, and XOFF signals transmission
off. Before each character is output
from the computer to the peripheral
device, the computer checks to see if
there is any incoming data from the
peripheral. If the incoming character
is XOFF, the computer suspends all
further output until it receives an
XON from the device, indicating
that the device is again ready to re-
ceive more data.
NOXON indicates no protocol and the com-
puter sends data to the device wheth-
er or not the device is ready to receive
it.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The DEVICE Command

Option Meaning
baud-rate is the speed of the device. The system
accepts the following baud rates:

50 75 110 134
150 300 600 1200
1800 2400 3600 4800
7200 9600 19200

Examples: A›DEVICE CONOUT:=LPT,CRT

A›DEVICE AUXIN:=CRT2 [XON,9600]
A›DEVICE LST:=NULL

The first example assigns the system console output,

CONOUT:, to the printer, LPT, and the screen, CRT.
The second example assigns the auxiliary logical input
device, AUXIN:, to the physical device CRT using
protocol XON/XOFF and sets the transmission rate
for the device at 9600. The third example disconnects
the list output logical device, LST:.

Set Attributes of a Physical Device

Syntax: DEVICE physical-dev {option}

Explanation: The preceding form of the DEVICE command sets

the attributes of the physical device specified in the
command.

Example: A›DEVICE LPT [XON,96OO]

The preceding command sets the XON/XOFF protocol

for the physical device LPT and sets the transmission
speed at 9600.

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The DEVICE Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

Display or Set the Current Console Screen Size

Syntax: DEVICE CONSOLE [PAGE |

COLUMNS = columns | LINES = lines]

Explanation: The preceding form of the DEVICE command displays

or sets the current console size.

Examples: A›DEVICE CONSOLE [PAGE]

A›DEVICE CONSOLE [COLUMNS=40,LINES=16]

The first example displays the current console page width

in columns and length in lines. The second example sets
the screen size to 40 columns and 16 lines.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The DIR Command

The DIR Command

Syntax: DIR {d:}
DIR {filespec}

DIRSYS {d:}
DIRSYS {filespec}

DIR {d:} [options]

DIR {filespec} {filespec} ... [options]

Explanation: The DIR command displays the names of files and the
attributes associated with the files. DIR and DIRSYS
are built-in utilities; DIR with options is a transient
utility.

Display Directory

Syntax: DIR {d:}

DIR {filespec}

DIRSYS {d:}
DIRSYS {filespec}

Explanation: The DIR and DIRSYS commands display the names of

files cataloged in the directory of an on-line disk. The
DIR command lists the names of files in the current
user number that have the Directory (DIR) attribute.
DIR accepts wildcards in the file specification. You can
abbreviate the DIRSYS command to DIRS.

The DIRSYS command displays the names of files in

the current user number that have the System (SYS)
attribute. Although you can read System (SYS) files

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The DIR Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

that are stored in user 0 from any other user number on

the same drive, DIRSYS only displays user 0 files if the
current user number is 0. DIRSYS accepts wildcards
in the file specification.

If you omit the drive and file specifications, the DIR

command displays the names of all files with the DIR
attribute on the default drive for the current user num-
ber. Similarly, DIRSYS displays all the SYS files.

If the drive specifier is included, but the filename and

filetype are omitted, the DIR command displays the
names of all DIR files in the current user on the disk
in the specified drive. DIRSYS displays the SYS files.

If the file specification contains wildcard characters,

all filenames that satisfy the match are displayed on
the screen.

If no filenames match the file specification, or if no

files are cataloged in the directory of the disk in the
named drive, the DIR or DIRSYS command displays
the message:

No File

If system (SYS) files match the file specification, DIR

displays the message:

SYSTEM FILE(S) EXIST

If nonsystem (DIR) files match the file specification,

DIRSYS displays the message:

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The DIR Command

NON-SYSTEM FILES(S) EXIST

The DIR command pauses after filling the screen. Press

any key to continue the display.

Note: You can use the DEVICE command to change

the number of columns displayed by DIR or DIRSYS.

Examples: A›DIR

Displays all DIR files cataloged in user 0 on the default

drive A.

A›DIR B:

Displays all DIR files for user 0 on drive B.

A›DIR B:X.BAS

Displays the name X.BAS if the file X.BAS is present

on drive B.

4A›DIR *.BAS

Displays all DIR files with filetype BAS for user 4 on

drive A.

B›DIR A:X*.C?D

Displays all DIR files for user 0 on drive A whose file-

name begins with the letter X, and whose three char-
acter filetype contains the first chatacter C and last
character D.

A›DIRSYS

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The DIR Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

Displays all files for user 0 on drive A that have the

system (SYS) attribute.

3A›DIRS *.COM

This abbreviated form of the DIRSYS command dis-

plays all SYS files with filetype COM on the default
drive A for user 3.

Display Directory with Options

Syntax: DIR {d:} [options]

DIR {filespec} {filespec}…[options]

Explanation: The DIR command with options is an enhanced version

of the DIR command. The DIR command displays
CP/M 3 files In a variety of ways. DIR can search for
files on any or all drives, for any or all user numbers.

DIR allows the option list to occur anywhere in the

command tail. These options modify the entire com-
mand line. Only one option list is allowed.

Options must be enclosed in square brackets. The

options can be used individually, or strung together
separated by commas or spaces. Options can be ab-
breviated to only one or two letters if the abbreviation
unambiguously identifies the option.

If a directory listing exceeds the size of your screen, DIR

automatically halts the display when it fills the screen.
Press any key to continue the display.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The DIR Command

Table 5-5. DIR Display Options Function

Option Function
ATT

displays the user-definable file attri-

butes F1, F2, F3, and F4.
DATE

displays files with date and time

stamps. If date and time stamping is
not active, DIR displays the message:

Date and Time Stamping Inac-

tive.
DIR

displays only files that have the DIR

attribute.
DRIVE = ALL

displays files on all accessed drives.

DISK is also acceptable in place of
DRIVE in all the DRIVE options.
DRIVE = (A, B, C, …, P)

displays files on the drives specified.

DRIVE = d

displays files on the drive specified

by d.

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The DIR Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

Option Function
EXCLUDE

displays the files on the default drive

and user area that do not match the
files specified in the command line.
FF

sends an initial form-feed to the

printer device if the printer has
been activated by CTRL-P. If the
LENGTH = n option is also spec-
ified, DIR issues a form-feed every
n lines. Otherwise, the FF option
deactivates the default paged output
display.
FULL

shows the name of the file and the

size of the file. The size is shown as
the amount of space in kilobytes and
the number of 128-byte records al-
located to the file. FULL also shows
the attributes the file. (See the SET
command for description of file at-
tributes). If there is a directory label
on the drive, DIR shows the pass-
word protection mode and the time
stamps. The display is alphabetically
sorted. FULL is the default output
format for display when using DIR
with options.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The DIR Command

Option Function
LENGTH = n

displays n lines of output before in-

serting a table heading. n must be
in the range between 5 and 65536.
The default length is one full screen
of information.
MESSAGE

displays the names of the specified

drives and user numbers it is current-
ly searching. If there are no files in the
specified locations, DIR displays the
file not found message.
NOPAGE

continuously scrolls information by

on the screen. Does not wait for you
to press a key to restart the scrolling
movement.
NOSORT

displays files in the order it finds

them on the disk. If this option is
not included, DIR displays the files
alphabetically.
RO

displays only the files that have the

Read-​Only attribute.

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Option Function
RW

displays only the files that are set to

Read-​Write.
SIZE

displays the filename and file size in

kilobytes.
SYS

displays only the files that have the

SYS attribute.
USER = ALL

displays all files under all the user

numbers for the default drive.
USER = n

displays the files under the user num-

ber specified by n.
USER = (0, 1, …, 15)

displays files under the user numbers

specified.

Examples: A›DIR C: [FULL]

A›DIR C: [SIZE]

The following is sample output of the [FULL] option

display format shown in the first example of the DIR
command:

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The DIR Command

Directory for Drive C: User 0

Name Bytes Recs Attributes Prot Update Access

------------ ----- ------- ---------- ------ --------------- ---------------
DITS BAK 1k 1 Dir RW Read 09/01/82 13:04 08/01/82 13:07
DITS TES 1k 1 Dir RO None 09/01/82 13:07 08/01/82 13:09
DITS Y 1k 1 Dir RW None 08/25/82 03:33 08/25/82 03:33
DITS ZZ 1k 1 Dir RW None 08/25/82 03:36 08/25/82 03:36
SETDEF COM 4k 29 Dir RO None 08/25/82 03:36
SUBMIT TX2 1k 1 Dir RO None
SUBMIT TX1 5k 43 Dir RO None

Total Bytes = 14k Total Records = 77 Files Found = 7

Total 1k Blocks = 14 Used/Max Dir Entries for Drive C: 11/ 64

The following is sample output of the [SIZE] option

display format shown in the second example of the
DIR command:
Directory for Drive C: User 0

C: DITS BAK 1k : DITS TES 1k : DITS Y 1k

C: DITS ZZ 1k : SETDEF COM 4k : SUBMIT TX2 1k
C: SUBMIT TX1 5k :

Total Bytes = 14k Total Records = 77 Files Found = 7

Total 1k Blocks = 14 Used/Max Dir Entries for Drive C: 11/ 64

Both the full format and the size format follow their
display with two lines of totals. The first line displays
the total number of kilobytes, the total number of re-
cords, and the total number of files for that drive and
user area. The second line displays the total number of
1K blocks needed to store the listed files. The number
of 1K blocks shows the amount of storage needed to
store the files on a single density disk, or on any drive
that has a block size of one kilobyte. The second line

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The DIR Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

also shows the number of directory entries used per

number of directory entries available on the drive.

A›DIR [DRIVE=C,FF]

DIR sends a form-feed to the printer before displaying

the files on drive C.

A›DIR D: [RW,SYS]

The preceding example displays all the files on drive D

with Read-Write and SYS attributes.

A›DIR C: [USER=ALL]

Displays all the files under each user number (0-15)

on drive C.

A›DIR [USER=2]

Displays all the files under user 2 on the default drive.

A›DIR C: [USER=(3,4,10)]

This example displays all the files under user numbers

3, 4, and 10 on drive C.

A›DIR [DRIVE=ALL]

Displays all the files under user 0 on all the drives in

the drive search chain. (See the SETDEF command.)

4A›DIR [DRIVE=C]

Displays all the files under user 4 on drive C.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The DIR Command

A›DIR [DRIVE=(B,D)]

Displays all the files under user 0 on drives B and D.

A›DIR [exclude] *.COM

The preceding example above lists all the files on the default
drive and user 0 that do not have a filetype of COM.

A›DIR [user=all,drive=all,sys] *.PLI *.COM *.ASM

The preceding command line instructs DIR to list all the system
files of type PLI, COM, and ASM on the system in the currently
active drives for all the user numbers on the drives.

A›DIR X.SUB [MESSAGE,USER=ALL,DRIVE=ALL]

The preceding command searches all drives under each user

number for X.SUB. During the search, DIR displays the drives
and user numbers.

A›DIR [drive=all user=all] TESTFILE.BOB

The preceding example instructs DIR to display the filename

TESTFILE.BOB if it is found on any logged-in drive for any
user number.

A›DIR [size,rw]D:

The preceding example instructs DIR to list each Read-​Write

file that resides on drive D with its size in kilobytes. Note that
D: is equivalent to D:*.*.

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The DUMP Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

The DUMP Command

Syntax: DUMP filespec

Explanation: Dump displays the contents of a file in hexadecimal

and ASCII format.

Example: A›DUMP ABC.TEX

Console output can look like the following:

DUMP - Version 3.0
0000: 41 42 43 0D 0A 44 45 46 0D 0A 47 48 49 0D 0A 1A ABC..DEF..GHI....
0010: 1A 1A 1A 1A 1A LA 1A 1A 1A 1A 1A 1A 1A 1A 1A 1A .................
.
.
.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The ED Command

The ED Command
Syntax: ED {input-filespec {d: | output-filespec}}

Explanation: The ED transient utility lets you create and edit a disk
file.

The ED utility is a line-oriented context editor. This

means that you create and change character files line-by-
line, or by referencing individual characters within a line.

The ED utility lets you create or alter the file named in

the file specification. Refer to Section 6 for a description
of the ED utility.

The ED utility uses a portion of your user memory as

the active text buffer where you add, delete, or alter
the characters in the file. You use the A command to
read all or a portion of the file into the buffer. You use
the W or E command to write all or a portion of the
characters from the buffer back to the file.

An imaginary character pointer, called CP, is at the

beginning of the buffer, between two characters in the
buffer, or at the end of the buffer.

You interact with the ED utility in either command or

insert mode. ED displays the * prompt on the screen
when ED is in command mode. When the * appears,
you can enter the single letter command that reads text
from the buffer, moves the CP, or changes the ED mode
of operation. When in command mode, you can use the
line-editing characters CTRL-C, CTRL-E, CTRL-H,
CTRL-U, CTRL-X, and RUBOUT to edit your input.

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In insert mode, however, you use only CTRL-H, CTRL-U,

CTRL-X, and RUBOUT.

Table 5-6. ED Command Summary

Command Action
nA

Append n lines from original file

to memory buffer.
0A

Append file until buffer is one half

full.
#A

Append file until buffer is full (or

end of file).
B, -B

Move CP to beginning (B) or bot-

tom (-B) of buffer.
nC, -nC

Move CP n characters forward (C)

or back (-C) through buffer.
nD, -nD

Delete n characters before (-D) or

from (D) the CP.
E

Save new file and return to CP/M 3.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The ED Command

Command Action
Fstring{^Z}

Find character string

H

Save the new file, then reedit, using

the new file as the original file,
I

Enter insert mode; use ^Z or

ESCape to exit insert mode.
Istring{^Z}

Insert string at CP.

Note: upper-case I forces all input to upper-case;

while lower-case i allows upper- and lower-case.
Jsearch_str^Zins_str^Zdel_to_str{^Z}

Juxtapose strings.
nK, -nK

Delete (kill) n lines from the CP.

nL, -nL, 0L

Move CP n lines.
nMcommands

Execute commands n times.

n, -n

Move CP n lines and display that

line.

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Command Action
n:

Move to line n.
:ncommand

Execute command through line n.

Nstring{^Z}

Extended find string.

O

Return to original file.

nP, -nP

Move CP n lines forward and dis-

play n lines at console.
Q

Abandon new files, return to

CP/M 3.
R{^Z}

Read X$$$$$$$.LIB file into buf-

fer.
Rfilespec{^Z}

Read filespec into buffer.

Sdelete string^Zinsert string{^Z}

Substitute string

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The ED Command

Command Action
nT, -nT, 0T

Type n lines.
U, -U

Upper-case translation
V, -V, 0V

Line numbering on/off, display

free buffer space.
nW

Write n lines to updated file.

nX{^Z}

Write or append n lines to

X$$$$$$$.LIB.
nXfilespec{^Z}

Write lines to filespec or append

if previous x command applied to
the same file.
0X{^Z}

Delete file X$$$$$$$.LIB.

0Xfilespec{^Z}

Delete filespec.
nZ

Wait n seconds.

Section 6 gives a detailed description of the overall op-

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The ED Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

eration of the ED utility and the use of each command.

If you do not include a command tail in the ED com-

mand, it prompts you for the input filespec and the
output filespec as follows:

Enter Input File:

After you enter the input filespec, ED prompts again:

Enter Output File:

Enter a filename or drive if you want the output file or

its location to be different from that of the input file.
Press RETURN if you want the output file to replace
the input file. In this case, the input file is renamed to
type BAK.

If the second file specification contains only the drive

specifier, the second filename and filetype become the
same as the first filename and filetype.

If the file given by the first file specification is not present,

ED creates the file and writes the message:

NEW FILE

If the file given by the first filespec is already present,

you must issue the A command to read portions of the
file to the buffer. If the size of the file does not exceed
the size of the buffer, the command

#a

reads the entire file to the buffer.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The ED Command

The i (Insert) command places ED in insert mode. In this

mode, any characters you type are stored in sequence
in the buffer starting at the current CP.

Any single letter commands typed in insert mode are

not interpreted as commands, but are simply stored in
the buffer. To return from insert mode to command
mode, press CTRL-Z or the ESC key. Note that you
can always substitute the ESC key for CTRL-Z in ED.

The single letter commands are usually typed in low-

er-case. The commands that must be followed by a
character sequence end with CTRL-Z if they are to
be followed by another command letter.

Any single letter command typed in upper-case tells

ED to internally translate to upper-case all characters
up to the CTRL-Z that ends the command.

When enabled, line numbers that appear on the left of

the screen take the form:

nnnnn:

where nnnnn is a number in the range 1 through 65535.

Line numbers are displayed for your reference and are
not contained in either the buffer or the character file.
The screen line starts with

:*

when the CP is at the beginning or end of the buffer.

Examples: A›ED MYPROG.PAS

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If not already present, this command line creates the

file MYPROG.PAS on drive A. The command prompt

:*

appears on the screen. This tells you that the CP is at

the beginning of the buffer. If the file is already present,
issue the command

:*#a

to fill the buffer. Then type the command

:*0p

to fill the screen with the first n lines of the buffer , where
n is the current default page size (See the DEVICE
command to set the page size).

Type the command

:*e

to stop the ED utility when you are finished changing

the character file. The ED utility leaves the original file
unchanged as MYPROG.BAK and the altered file as
MYPROG.PAS.

A›ED MYPROG.PAS B:NEWPROG.PAS

The original file is MYPROG.PAS on the default

drive A. The original file remains unchanged when
the ED utility finishes, with the altered file stored as
NEWPROG.PAS on drive B.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The ED Command

A›B:ED MYPROG.PAS B:

The ED.COM file must be on drive B. The original

file is MYPROG.PAS located on drive A. It remains
unchanged, with the altered program stored on drive
B as MYPROG.PAS.

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The ERASE Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

The ERASE Command

Syntax: ERASE {filespec} {[CONFIRM]}

Explanation: The ERASE command removes one or more files from

a disk’s directory in the current user number. Wildcard
characters are accepted in the filespec. Directory and
data space are automatically reclaimed for later use by
another file. The ERASE command can be abbreviated
to ERA.

Use the ERASE command with care because all files in

the current user number that satisfy the file specification
are removed from the disk directory.

Command lines that take the form

ERASE {d:}wildcard-filespec

require your confirmation because they erase an entire

group of files, not just one file. The system prompts
with the following message:

ERASE {d:}wildcard-filespec (Y/N)?

Respond with y if you want to remove all matching files,

and n if you want to avoid erasing any files.

If no files match the file specification, you see the fol-

lowing message:

No File

The CONFIRM option informs the system to prompt

for verification before erasing each file that matches the

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The ERASE Command

filespec. You can abbreviate CONFIRM to C.

If you use the CONFIRM option with wildcard-filespec,

then ERASE prompts for confirmation for each file. You
can selectively erase the files you want by responding Y
to the confirm message, or keep the files by responding
N to the confirm message.

Examples: A›ERASE X.PAS

This command removes the file X.PAS from the disk

in drive A.

A›ERA *.PRN

The system asks to confirm:

ERASE *.PRN (Y/N)?Y

All files with the filetype PRN are removed from the
disk in drive A.

B›ERA A:MY*.* [CONFIRM]

Each file on drive A with a filename that begins with

MY is displayed with a question mark for confirmation.
Type Y to erase the file displayed, N to keep the file.

A›ERA B:*.*
ERASE B:*.* (Y/N)?Y

All files on drive B are removed from the disk.

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The GENCOM Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

The GENCOM Command

Syntax: GENCOM {COM-filespec} {RSX-filespec}…
{[LOADER|NULL|SCB = (offset,value)]}

Explanation: The GENCOM command is a transient utility that

creates a special COM file with attached RSX files.
RSX files are used as Resident System Extensions and
are discussed in detail in the CP/M Plus (CP/M Version
3) Operating System Programmer’s Guide. GENCOM
places a special header at the beginning of the output
program file to indicate to the system that RSX loading
is required. It can also set a flag to keep the program
loader active.

The GENCOM command can also restore a file already

processed by GENCOM to the original COM file
without the header and RSXS. GENCOM has three
options that help you attach RSX files:

■ The LOADER option sets a flag to keep the pro-

gram loader active. (For complete details on the
LOADER option read about CP/M function 59 in
the CP/M Plus (CP/M Version 3) Operating System
Programmer’s Guide.) This option is used only if no
RSX files are attached to the COM file.
■ The NULL option indicates that only RSX files
are specified. GENCOM creates a dummy COM
file for the RSX files. The output COM filename
is taken from the filename of the first RSX-filespec.
■ The SCB = (offset,value) option sets the System
Control Block from the program by using the hex
values specified by (offset,value). For complete de-

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The GENCOM Command

tails on the SCB option read about CP/M function

49 in the CP/M Plus (CP/M Version 3) Operating
System Programmer’s Guide.

Attach RSX Files to a COM File

Syntax: GENCOM COM-filespec RSX-filespec…

{[LOADER|SCB = (offset,value)]}

Explanation: The preceding form of the GENCOM command

creates a COM file with a header and attached RSXs.
A maximum of 15 RSXs can be attached. GENCOM
expects the first filespec to be a COM file and the fol-
lowing filespecs to be RSX files. Note that the original
COM file is replaced by the newly-created COM file.

Example: A›GENCOM MYPROG PROG1 PROG2

The preceding command generates a new COM file

MYPROG.COM with attached RSXs PROG1 and
PROG2.

Generate a COM File Using only RSX Files

Syntax: GENCOM RSX-filespec {RSX-filespec}...

[NULL {SCB = (offset,value)}]

Explanation: The preceding form of the GENCOM command at-

taches the RSX files to a dummy COM file. GENCOM
creates a COM file with the filename of the first RSX-
filespec in the command tail. This format allows the
system to load RSXs directly.

Example: A›GENCOM PROG1 PROG2 [NULL]

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The GENCOM Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

The preceding command creates a COM file PROG1.

COM with Resident System Extensions PROG1.RSX
and PROG2.RSX.

Restore a File with Attached RSXs to Original COM File

Syntax: GENCOM filename

Explanation: The preceding form of the GENCOM file takes a file

that has already been processed by GENCOM and
restores it to its original COM file format. This form
of the command assumes a filetype of COM.

Example: A›GENCOM MYPROG

In the preceding command, GENCOM takes MYPROG.COM,

strips off the header and deletes all attached RSXs to restore it to its
original COM format.

Update (Add or Replace) RSX Files

Syntax: GENCOM COM-filespec RSX-filespec…

{[LOADER | SCB = (offset,value)]}

Explanation: The preceding form of the GENCOM command adds

and/or replaces RSX files to a file already processed by
GENCOM.

GENCOM inspects the list of RSX files. If they are

new, they are added to the file already processed by
GENCOM. If they already exist, then GENCOM
replaces the existing RSXs with the new RSX files.

Example: A›GENCOM MYPROG PROG1 PROG2

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The GENCOM Command

In the preceding example, GENCOM looks at

MYPROG.COM, which is already processed by
GENCOM, to see if PROG1.RSX and PROG2.RSX
are already attached RSX files in the module. If either
one is already attached, GENCOM replaces it with the
new RSX module. Otherwise, GENCOM appends the
specified RSX files to the COM file.

Attach a Header Record

Syntax: GENCOM filename [SCB = (offset, value), … |

LOADER]

Explanation: The preceding syntax line attaches a GENCOM head-

er record, with the SCB or loader flag set, to a file of
type COM that contains no RSXs. This form of the
command does not attach RSXs to a file.

Examples: A›GENCOM FILETWO [loader]

The preceding command attaches a 256-byte header

record to the file FILETWO.COM and sets the loader
flag in the header record.

A›GENCOM FILEFOUR [scb=(1,1)]

The preceding command causes the program loader

to set byte 1 of the System Control Block to 1 when it
loads FILEFOUR.COM.

For more information, see functions 49, Set/Get Sys-

tem Control Block, and 59, Load Overlay or Resident
System Extensions, in the CP/M Plus (CP/M Version
3) Operating System Programmer’s Guide.

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The GET Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

The GET Command

Syntax: GET {CONSOLE INPUT FROM} FILE filespec
{[{ECHO|NO ECHO}|SYSTEM]}
GET {CONSOLE INPUT FROM} CONSOLE

Explanation: The GET command is a transient utility that directs

CP/M 3 to take console input from a file. The file can
contain CP/M 3 system commands and/or input for
a user program. If you use the SYSTEM option, GET
immediately takes the next system command from the
file.

Console input is taken from a file until the program

terminates. If the file is exhausted before program input
is terminated, the program looks for subsequent input
from the console. If the program terminates before
exhausting all its input, the system reverts back to the
console for console input.

When the SYSTEM option is used, the system imme-

diately goes to the file specified for console input. If you
omit the SYSTEM option, you can enter one system
command to initiate a user program whose console
input is taken from the file specified in the GET com-
mand. The system reverts to the console for input when
it reaches the end of the GET file input. The system
also reverts to the console for console input if a GET
CONSOLE INPUT FROM CONSOLE command
is included in the input file.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The GET Command

Get Console Input from a File

Syntax: GET {CONSOLE INPUT FROM} FILE filespec

{[options]}

Explanation: The preceding form of the GET command tells the

system to get subsequent console input from a file. Table
5-7 lists the GET options that you use in the following
format:

[{ECHO | NO ECHO} | SYSTEM]

Table 5-7. GET Options

Option Meaning
ECHO specifies that the input is echoed
to the console. This is the default
option.
NO ECHO specifies that the file input is not
to be echoed to the console. The
program output and the system
prompts are not affected by this
option and are still echoed to the
console.
SYSTEM specifies that all system input is to
be taken from the disk file specified
in the command line. GET takes
system and program input from
the file until the file is exhausted
or until GET reads a GET console
command from the file.

Examples: A›GET FILE XINPUT

A›MYPROG

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The GET Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

The preceding sequence of commands tells the system to

activate the GET utility. However, because SYSTEM is
not specified, the system reads the next input line from
the console and executes MYPROG. If MYPROG
program requires console input, it is taken from the file
XINPUT. When MYPROG terminates, the system
reverts to the console for console input.

A›GET FILE XIN2 [SYSTEM]

The preceding command immediately directs the system

to get subsequent console input from file XIN2 because
it includes the SYSTEM option. The system reverts to
the console for console input when it reaches the end of
file in XIN2. Or, XIN2 can redirect the system back to
the console if it contains a GET CONSOLE command.

Terminate Console Input from a File

Syntax: GET {CONSOLE INPUT FROM} CONSOLE

Explanation: The preceding form of the GET command tells the

system to get console input from the console.

Example: A›GET CONSOLE

The preceding GET command tells the system to get

console input from the console. You can use this com-
mand in a file (previously specified in a GET FILE
command) which is already being read by the system
for console input. It is used to redirect the console in-
put to the console before the end of the file is reached.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The HELP Command

The HELP Command

Syntax: HELP {topic}{subtopic1 subtopic2…subtopic8}
{[NO PAGE|LIST]}
HELP [EXTRACT]
HELP[CREATE]

Explanation: The HELP command is a transient utility that pro-

vides summarized information for all of the CP/M 3
commands described in this manual. In the distributed
CP/M 3 system, HELP presents general information
on a command as a topic and detailed information on a
command as a subtopic. HELP with no command tail
displays a list of all the available topics. HELP with a
topic in the command tail displays information about
that topic, followed by any available subtopics. HELP
with a topic and a subtopic displays information about
the specific subtopic.

After HELP displays the information for your speci-

fied topic, it displays the special prompt HELP› on
your screen. Subtopics can be accessed by preceding
the subtopic with a period. The period causes the sub-
topic search to begin at the last known level. You can
continue to specify topics for additional information,
or simply press the RETURN key to return to the
CP/M 3 system prompt.

You can abbreviate the names of topics and subtopics.

Usually one or two letters is enough to specifically
identify the topics.

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The HELP Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

Display Information

Syntax: HELP topic {subtopic1…subtopic8}

{[NO PAGE|LIST]}
HELP›.Subtopic

Explanation: The preceding forms of the HELP command display

the information for the specified topic and subtopics.
Use the following two options with this form of the
HELP command:

■ The NOPAGE option disables the default paged

display of every n lines, where n is the number of
lines per page as set by the system or as set by the
user. To stop the display, press CTRL-S. To resume
the display, press CTRL-Q. You can abbreviate
NOPAGE to N. (See the DEVICE command for
more information about setting the number of
lines per page.)
■ The LIST option is the same as NOPAGE, except
that it eliminates extra lines between headings. Use
this option with CTRL-P to list the help informa-
tion on the printer.

Examples: A›HELP

The preceding command displays a list of topics for

which help is available.

A›HELP DATE

This command displays general information about the

DATE command. It also displays any available subtopics.

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A›HELP DIR OPTIONS [N]

The preceding command includes the subtopic options.

In response, HELP displays information about options
associated with the DIR command. The display is not
in paged mode.

A›HELP ED

The preceding command displays general information

about the ED utility.

A›HELP ED COMMANDS

This form of HELP displays information about com-

mands internal to ED. The preceding example can also
be entered as

A›HELP ED
HELP›.COMMANDS

Add Your Own Descriptions to the HELP.HLP File

Syntax: HELP [EXTRACT]

HELP [CREATE]

Explanation: CP/M 3 is distributed with two related HELP files:

HELP.COM and HELP.HLP. The HELP.COM file is
the command file that processes the text of the HELP.
HLP file and displays it on the screen. The HELP.
HLP file is a text file to which you can add customized
information, but you cannot directly edit the HELP.
HLP file. You must use the HELP.COM file to convert
HELP.HLP to a file named HELP.DAT before you can
edit or add your own text.

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This form of the HELP command has the following

options:
■ The EXTRACT option accesses the file HELP.HLP
on the default drive and creates a file called HELP.
DAT on the default drive. You can now invoke a
word processing program to edit or add your own
text to the HELP.DAT file. EXTRACT can be
abbreviated to E.
■ The CREATE option accesses your edited HELP.
DAT file on the default drive and builds a revised
HELP.HLP file on the default drive. CREATE can
be abbreviated to C.

You must add topics and subtopics to the HELP.DAT file

in a specific format. A topic heading in the HELP.DAT
file takes the form:

///nTopicname‹cr›

The three backslashes are the topic delimiters and must

begin in column one. In the preceding format statement,
n is a number in the range from 1 through 9 that signifies
the level of the topic. A main topic always has a level
number of 1. The first subtopic has a level number of 2.
The next level of subtopic has a level number of 3, and
so forth, up to a maximum of nine levels. Topicname
is the name of your topic, and allows a maximum of
twelve characters. The entire line is terminated with a
carriage return.

Use the following guidelines to edit and insert text into

the HELP.DAT file.

■ Topics should be placed in alphabetical order.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The HELP Command

■ Subtopics should be placed alphabetically within

their respective supertopic.
■ Levels must be indicated by a number 1–9.

Some examples of topic and subtopic lines in the

HELP.HLP file follow

///1NEW UTILITY‹cr›

///2COMMANDS‹cr›

///3PARAMETERS‹cr›

///2EXAMPLES‹cr›

The first example illustrates the format of a main topic

line. The second example shows how to number the first
subtopic of that main topic. The third example shows
how the next level subtopic under level 2 should be
numbered. The fourth example shows how to return to
the lower level subtopics Any topic name with a level
number of 1 is a main topic. Any topic name with a
level number of 2 is a subtopic within its main topic.

When you are executing the HELP.COM file, you need

only enter enough letters of the topic to unambiguously
identify the topic name. When referencing a subtop-
ics you must type the topic name AND the subtopic,
otherwise the HELP program cannot determine which
main topic you are referencing. You can also enter a
topic and subtopic following the program’s internal
prompt, HELP›, as follows

HELP›ED COMMANDS

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This form of HELP displays information about com-

mands internal to the editing program, ED.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The HEXCOM Command

The HEXCOM Command

Syntax: HEXCOM filename

Explanation: The HEXCOM command is a transient utility that gen-

erates a command file (filetype COM) from a HEX in-
put file. It names the output file with the same filename
as the input file but with filetype COM. HEXCOM
always looks for a file with filetype HEX.

Example: A›HEXCOM B:PROGRAM

In the preceding command, HEXCOM generates a

command file PROGRAM.COM from the input hex
file PROGRAM.HEX.

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The INITDIR Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

The INITDIR Command

Syntax: INITDIR d:

Explanation: The INITDIR command can initialize a disk directory

to allow date and time stamping of files on that disk or
remove date and time stamps.

You must use INITDIR to initialize the directory for

any disk on which you plan to record date and time
stamps for your files. If the disk is blank, INITDIR
initializes the directory to record date and time stamps.
If files already exist on the disk, INITDIR checks the
space available for date and time stamps in the directory.
If there is not enough room for date and time stamps,
INITDIR does not initialize the directory and returns
an error message.

After you initialize the directory for date and time

stamps, you must use the SET command to specify
time stamp options on the disk.

Examples: A›INITDIR C:

The system prompts to confirm:

INITDIR WILL ACTIVATE TIME STAMPS FOR SPECIFIED DRIVE.

Do you really want to re-format the directory : C (Y/N)?

If the directory has previously been initialized for date

and time stamps, INITDIR displays the message:

Directory already re-formatted

Do you wish to recover date/time directory space (Y/N)?

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Enter Y to reinitialize the directory to eliminate date

and time stamps. If you enter N, date and time stamping
remains active on your disk and INITDIR displays the
following message:

Do you want the existing date/time stamps cleared (Y/N)?

Enter Y to clear the existing stamps. Enter N to keep

the existing date and time stamps.

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The LIB Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

The LIB Command

Syntax: LIB filespec{[I|M|P|D]}
LIB filespec{[I|M|P]} = filespec{modifier}
{,filespec{modifier} … }

Explanation: A library file contains a collection of object modules.

Use the LIB utility to create libraries, and to append,
replace, select, or delete modules from an existing library.
You can also use LIB to obtain information about the
contents of library files.

LIB creates and maintains library files that contain

object modules in MicroSoft® REL format. These mod-
ules are produced by Digital Research’s relocatable
macro-assembler program, RMAC, or any other lan-
guage translator that produces modules in MicroSoft
REL format.

LINK-80™ links the object modules contained in a

library to other object files. LINK-80 automatically
selects from the library only those modules needed by
the program being linked, and then forms an executable
file with a filetype of COM.

The library file has the filetype REL or IRL depending

on the option you choose. Modules in a REL library file
must not contain backward references to modules that
occur earlier in the library, because LINK-80 currently
makes only one pass through a library.

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Table 5-8. LIB Options

Option Meaning
I The INDEX option creates an indexed
library file of type IRL. LINK-80
searches faster on indexed libraries
than on nonindexed libraries.
M The MODULE option displays mod-
ule names.
P The PUBLICS option displays module
names and the public variables for the
new library file.
D The DUMP option displays the con-
tents of object modules in ASCII form.

Use modifiers in the command line to instruct LIB to

delete, replace, or select modules in a library file. Angle
brackets enclose the modules to be deleted or replaced.
Parentheses enclose the modules to be selected.

Unless otherwise specified, LIB assumes a filetype of

REL for all source filenames. When you follow a file-
name by a group of module names enclosed in paren-
theses, these modules are included in the new library file.
If modules are not specified, LIB includes all modules
from the source file in the new library file.

Table 5-9. LIB Modifiers

Modifier Meaning
Delete <module = ›

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Modifier Meaning
Replace <module = filename.REL›

If module name and filename are the

same this shorthand can be used:

<filename›
Select (modFIR ST-modL A ST,mod1,
mod2,…,modN)

Examples: A›LIB TEST4[P]

A›LIB TEST5[P]=FILE1,FILE2

The first example displays all modules and publics in

TEST4.REL. The second example creates TEST5.REL
from FILEL.REL and FILE2.REL, and displays all
modules and publics in TEST5.REL.

A›LIB TEST=TEST1(MOD1,MOD4),TEST2(C1-C4,C6)

In the preceding example LIB creates a library file

TEST.REL from modules in two source files. TEST1.
REL contributes MOD1 and MOD4. LIB extracts
modules C1, C4, all the modules located between them,
and module C6 from TEST2.REL.

A›LIB FILE2=FILE3<MODA=›

In this example, LIB creates FILE2.REL from FILE3.

REL, omitting MODA which is a module in FILE3.
REL.

A›LIB FILE6=FILE5<MODA=FILEB.REL›
A›LIB FILE6=FILE5<THISNAME›

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The LIB Command

In the first example, MODA is in the existing FILE5.

REL. When LIB creates FILE6.REL from FILE5.REL,
FILEB.REL replaces MODA.

In the second example, module THISNAME is in

FILES.REL. When LIB creates FILE6.REL, from
FILES.REL the file THISNAME.REL replaces the
similarly named module THISNAME.

A›LIB FILE1[I]=B:FILE2(PLOTS,FIND,SEARCH-DISPLAY)

In this example LIB creates FILE1.IRL on drive A from

the selected modules PLOTS, FIND, and modules
SEARCH through the module DISPLAY, in FILE2.
REL on drive B.

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The LINK Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

The LINK Command

Syntax: LINK d:{filespec,{[o]} = }filespec{[o]}{,…}

Explanation: The LINK command combines relocatable object mod-

ules such as those produced by RMAC and PL/I-80™
into a COM file ready for execution. Relocatable files
can contain external references and publics. Relocat-
able files can reference modules in library files. LINK
searches the library files and includes the referenced
modules in the output file. The LINK command is the
LINK-80 utility and are synonymous in this discussion.
See the Programmer’s Utilities Guide for the CP/M
Family of Operating Systems for a complete description
of LINK-80.

You can use LINK option switches to control the exe-

cution parameters of LINK-80. LINK options follow
the file specifications and are enclosed within square
brackets. Multiple switches are separated by commas.

Table 5-10. LINK Options

Option Meaning
A Additional memory; reduces buffer
space and writes temporary data to
disk.
B BIOS link in banked CP/M 3 system.
Aligns data segment on page boundary;
puts length of code segment in header;
defaults to SPR filetype.
Dhhhh Data origin; sets memory origin for
common and data area.

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Option Meaning
Gn Go; set start address to label n.
Lhhhh Load; change default load address of
module to hhhh. Default 0100H.
Mhhhh Memory size; define free memory re-
quirements for MP/M™ modules.
NL No listing of symbol table at console.
NR No symbol table file.
OC Output COM command file. Default.
OP Output PRL page relocatable file for
execution under MP/M in relocatable
segment.
OR Output RSP Resident System Process
file for execution under MP/M.
OS Output SPR System Page Relocatable
file for execution under MP/M.
Phhhh Program origin; changes default pro-
gram origin address to hhhh. Default
is 0100H.
Q Lists symbols with leading question
mark.
S Search preceding file as a library.
$Cd Destination of console messages, d,
can be X for console, Y for printer, or
Z for zero output. Default is X.
$Id Source of intermediate files; d is disk
drive A–P. Default is current drive.
$Ld Source of library files; d is disk drive
A–P. Default is current drive.

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Option Meaning
$Od Destination of object file; d can be Z,
or disk drive A–P. Default is to same
drive as first file in the LINK-80 com-
mand.
$Sd Destination of symbol file; d can be Y,
Z, or disk drive A–P. Default is to same
drive as first file in LINK-80 command.

Examples: A›LINK B:MYFILE[NR]

LINK-80 on drive A uses as input MYFILE.REL on

drive B and produces the executable machine code file
MYFILE.COM on drive B. The [NR] option specifies
no symbol table file.

A›LINK m1,m2,m3

LINK-80 combines the separately compiled files m1,

m2, and m3, resolves their external references, and
produces the executable machine code file m1.COM.

A›LINK m=m1,m2,m3

LINK-80 combines the separately compiled files m1,

m2, and m3 and produces the executable machine
code file m.COM.

A›LINK MYFILE,FILE5[s]

The [s] option tells LINK-80 to search FILE5 as a library.

LINK-80 combines MYFILE.REL with the referenced
subroutines contained in FILE5.REL on the default
drive A and produces MYFILE.COM on drive A.
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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The MAC Command

The MAC Command

Syntax: MAC filename {$options}

Explanation: MAC, the CP/M Macro Assembler, is a transient utility

that reads assembly language statements from a disk file
of filetype ASM. MAC assembles the statements and
produces three output files with the input filename and
output filetypes of HEX, PRN, and SYM.

Filename.HEX contains Intel® hexadecimal format ob-

ject code. You can debug the HEX file with a debugger,
or use HEX COM to create a COM file and execute it.

Filename.PRN contains an annotated source listing that

can be printed or examined at the console. The PRN
file includes a 16-column wide listing at the left side of
the page that shows the values of literals, machine code
addresses, and generated machine code. An equal sign
denotes literal addresses to eliminate confusion with
machine code addresses.

Filename.SYM contains a sorted list of symbols defined

in the program.

Before invoking MAC, you must prepare a source pro-

gram file with the filetype ASM containing assembly
language statements.

You can direct the input and output of MAC using the
options listed in the following table. Use a letter with
the option to indicate the source and destination drives,
console, printer, or zero output. Valid drive names are
A through O. X directs output to the console. P directs

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output to the printer. Z specifies that output files will

not be created.

Table 5-11. Input/Output Options

Option Meaning
A source drive for ASM file (A–O)
H destination drive for HEX file (A–O,
Z)
L source drive for macro library LIB files
called by the MACLIB statement.
P destination drive for PRN file (A–O,
X, P, Z)
S destination drive for SYM file (A–O,
X, P, Z)

Table 5-12. Output File Modifiers

Modifier Meaning
+L lists input lines read from macro
library LIB files
-L suppresses listing (default)
+M lists all macro lines as they are pro-
cessed during assembly
-M suppresses all macro lines as they are
read during assembly
*M lists only hex generated by macro
expansions
+Q lists all LOCAL symbols in the
symbol list
-Q suppresses all LOCAL symbols in
the symbol list (default)

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Modifier Meaning
+S appends symbol file to print file
-S suppresses creation of symbol file
+1 produces a pass 1 listing for macro
debugging in PRN file
-1 suppresses listing on pass 1 (default)

Examples: A›MAC SAMPLE

In the preceding example MAC is invoked from drive A

and operates on the file SAMPLE.ASM also on drive A.

A›MAC SAMPLE $PB AA HB SX

In this example, an assembly option parameter list

follows the MAC command and the source filename.
The parameters direct the PRN file to drive B. obtain
the ASM file from drive A, direct the HEX file to drive
B, and send the SYM file to the console. You can use
blanks between option parameters.

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The PATCH Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

The PATCH Command

Syntax: PATCH filename {typ} {n}

Explanation: The PATCH command displays or installs patch number

n to the CP/M 3 system or CP/M 3 command files.

Only CP/M 3 system files of filetype COM, PRL, or

SPR can be patched with the PATCH command. If the
typ option is not specified, the PATCH utility looks
for a file with a filetype of COM.

The patch number n must be between 1 and 32 inclusive.

Examples: A›PATCH SHOW 2

The preceding command patches the system

SHOW.COM file with patch number 2. The system
displays the following question:

Do you want to indicate that Patch #2

has been installed for SHOW.COM?Y

If the patch is successful, the system displays the message:

Patch Installed

If the patch is not successful, the system displays the

following message:

Patch not Installed

One of the following error messages might be displayed:

■ ERROR: Patch requires CP/M 3.

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■ ERROR: Invalid filetype typ.

■ ERROR: Serial Number mismatch.
■ ERROR: Invalid patch number n

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The PIP Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

The PIP Command

Syntax: PIP dest-filespec|d:{[Gn]} =
src-filespec{[o]}{,...} | d: {[o]}

Explanation: PIP is a transient utility that copies one or more files

from one disk and/or user number to another. PIP can
rename a file after copying it. PIP can combine two or
more files into one file. PIP can also copy a character
file from disk to the printer or other auxiliary logical
output device. PIP can create a file on disk from input
from the console or other logical input device. PIP can
transfer data from a logical input device to a logical
output device, thus the name Peripheral Interchange
Program.

PIP copies file attributes with the file. This includes

Read-Write or Read-Only and SYS or DIR file attributes
and the user-definable attributes F1 through F4. If a
file is password-protected, you must enter the password
in the command line following the filename and/or
filetype to which it belongs. If the password fails, the
file is skipped and the failure noted.

When you specify a destination file with a password,

PIP assigns that password to the destination file and
automatically sets the password protection mode to
READ. When you specify a destination file with no
password, PIP does not assign a password to the desti-
nation file. When you only specify a destination drive,
PIP assigns the same password and password protection
mode to the destination file as specified in the source
file. When you specify a destination file with a password,

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PIP automatically sets the password protection mode

to READ. This means that you need a password to read
the file. (See the SET command.)

Single File Copy

Syntax: PIP d:{[Gn]} = src-filespec{[options]}

PIP dest-filespec{[Gn]} = d:{[options]}
PIP dest-filespec{[Gn]} = src-filespec{[o]}

Explanation: The first form shows the simplest way to copy a file. PIP
looks for the file named by src-filespec on the default
or optionally specified drive. PIP copies the file to the
drive specified by d: and gives it the name specified by
src-filespec. If you want, you can use the [Gn] option
to place your destination file (dest-filespec) in the user
number specified by n. The only option recognized
for the destination file is [Gn]. Several options can
be combined together for the source file specification
(src-filespec). See the Table 5-13, PIP Options.

The second form is a variation of the first. PIP looks for

the file named by dest-filespec on the drive specified by
d:, copies it to the default or optionally specified drive,
and gives it the name specified by dest-filespec.

The third form shows how to rename the file after you
copy it. You can copy it to the same drive and user
number, or to a different drive and/or user number.
Rules for options are the same. PIP looks for the file
specified by src-filespec, copies it to the location spec-
ified in dest-filespec, and gives it the name indicated
by dest-filespec.

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Remember that PIP always goes to and gets from the

current default user number unless you specify other-
wise with the [Gn] option.

Before you start PIP, be sure that you have enough free
space in kilobytes on your destination disk to hold the
entire file or files that you are copying. Even if you are
replacing an old copy on the destination disk with a
new copy, PIP still needs enough room for the new
copy before it deletes the old copy. Use the DIR com-
mand to determine filesize and the SHOW command
to determine disk space. If there is not enough space,
you can delete the old copy first by using the ERASE
command.

Data is first copied to a temporary file to ensure that

the entire data file can be constructed in the space
available on the disk. PIP gives the temporary file the
filename specified for the destination, with the filetype
$$$. If the copy operation is successful, PIP changes
the temporary filetype $$$ to the filetype specified in
the destination.

If the copy operation succeeds and a file with the same

name as the destination file already exists, the old file
with the same name is erased before renaming the
temporary file.

File attributes (DIR, SYS, RO, RW) are transferred

with the files.

If the existing destination file is set to Read-Only (RO),

PIP asks you if you want to delete it. Answer Y or N.
Use the [W] option to write over Read-Only files.

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You can include PIP options following each source

name. There is one valid option ([Gn]-go to user num-
ber n) for the destination file specification. Options
are enclosed in square brackets. Several options can
be included for the source files. They can be packed
together or separated by spaces. Options can verify
that a file was copied correctly, allow PIP to read a file
with the system (SYS) attribute, cause PIP to write over
Read-Only files, cause PIP to put a file into or copy it
from a specified user number, transfer from lower- to
upper-case, and much more.

Examples: A›PIP B:=A:oldfile.dat

A›PIP B:oldfile.dat=A:

Both forms of this command cause PIP to read the file

oldfile.dat from drive A and put an exact copy of it onto
drive B. This is called the short form of PIP, because the
source or destination names only a drive and does not
include a filename. When using this form you cannot
copy a file from one drive and user number to the same
drive and user number. You must put the destination file
on a different drive or in a different user number. (See
the section on PIP Options, and the USER Command.)
The second short form produces exactly the same result
as the first one. PIP looks for the file oldfile.dat on drive
A, the drive specified as the source.

A›PIP B:newfile.dat=A:oldfile.dat

This command copies the file oldfile.dat from drive A to

drive B and renames it to newfile.dat. The file remains
as oldfile.dat on drive A. This is the long form of the
PIP command, because it names a file on both sides of

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the command line.

A›PIP newfile.dat=oldfile.dat

Using this long form of PIP, you can copy a file from
one drive and user number (usually user 0 because
CP/M 3 automatically starts out in user 0—the default
user number) to the same drive and user number. This
gives you two copies of the same file on one drive and
user number, each with a different name.

A›PIP B:PROGRAM.BAK=A:PROGRAM.DAT [G1]

The preceding command copies the file

PROGRAM.DAT from user 1 on drive A to the cur-
rent selected user number on drive B and renames the
filetype on drive B to BAK.

B›PIP program2.dat=A:program1.dat[E V G3]

In this command, PIP copies the file named programl.

dat on drive A and echoes [E] the transfer to the console,
verifies [V] that the two copies are exactly the same, and
gets [G3] the file programl.dat from user 3 on drive A.
Because there is no drive specified for the destination,
PIP automatically copies the file to the default user
number and drive, in this case user 0 and drive B.

Multiple File Copy

Syntax: PIP d:{[Gn]} = {d:}wildcard-filespec{[options]}

Explanation: When you use a wildcard in the source specification, PIP

copies matching files one-by-one to the destination drive,

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retaining the original name of each file. PIP displays the

message COPYING followed by each filename as the
copy operation proceeds. PIP issues an error message
and aborts the copy operation if the destination drive
and user number are the same as those specified in the
source.

Examples: A›PIP B:=A:*.COM

This command causes PIP to copy all the files on drive

A with the filetype COM to drive B.

A›PIP B:=A:*.*

This command causes PIP to copy all the files on drive A

to drive B. You can use this command to make a back-up
copy of your distribution disk. Note, however, that this
command does not copy the CP/M 3 system from the
system tracks. COPYSYS copies the system for you.

A›PIP B:=A:PROG????.*

The preceding command copies all files whose filenames

be gin with PROG from drive A to drive B.

A›PIP B:[G1]=A:*.BAS

This command causes PIP to copy all the files with a

filetype of BAS on drive A in the default user number
(user 0) to drive B in user number 1. Remember that
the DIR, TYPE, ERASE, and other commands only
access files in the same user number from which they
were invoked. (See the USER Command.)

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Combining Files

Syntax: PIP dest-filespec{[Gn]} = src-filespec{[o]},

src-filespec{[o]}{,...}

Explanation: This form of the PIP command lets you specify two or
more files in the source. PIP copies the files specified in
the source from left to right and combines them into
one file with the name indicated by the destination file
specification. This procedure is called file concatenation.
You can use the [Gn] option after the destination file
to place it in the user number specified by n. You can
specify one or more options for each source file.

Some of the options force PIP to copy files charac-

ter-by-character. In these cases, PIP looks for a CTRL-Z
character to determine where the end of the file is. All
of the PIP options force a character transfer except
the following:

A, C, Gn, K, O, R, V, and W.

Copying data to or from logical devices also forces a

character transfer.

You can terminate PIP operations by typing CTRL-C.

When concatenating files, PIP only searches the last

record of a file for the CTRL-Z end-of-file character.
However, if PIP is doing a character transfer, it stops
when it encounters a CTRL-Z character.

Use the [O] option if you are concatenating machine

code files. The [O] option causes PIP to ignore embed-

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ded CTRL-Z (end-of-file) characters, which indicate

the end-of-file character in text files, but might be valid
data in object code files.

Examples: A›PIP NEWFILE=FILE1,FILE2,FILE3

The three files named FILE1, FILE2, and FILE3 are

joined from left to right and copied to NEWFILE.$$$.
NEWFILE.$$$ is renamed to NEWFILE upon success-
ful completion of the copy operation. All source and
destination files are on the disk in the default drive A.

A›PIP B:X.BAS = Y.BAS, B:Z.BAS

The file Y.BAS on drive A is joined with Z.BAS from

drive B and placed in the temporary file X.$$$ on drive
B. The file X.$$$ is renamed to X.BAS on drive B when
PIP runs to successful completion.

Copy Files to and from Auxiliary Devices

Syntax: PIP dest-filespec{[Gn]} = src-filespec{[o]}

AUX: AUX:{[o]}
CON: CON:{[o]}
PRN: NUL:
LST: EOF:

Explanation: This form is a special case of the PIP command line that
lets you copy a file from a disk to a device, from a device
to a disk or from one device to another. The files must
contain printable characters. Each peripheral device
is assigned to a logical device that identifies a source
device that can transmit data or a destination device
that can receive data. (See the DEVICE command.) A

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colon follows each logical device name so it cannot be

confused with a filename. Enter CTRL-C to abort a
copy operation that uses a logical device in the source
or destination.

The logical device names are listed as follows:

■ CON: Console input or output device. When used

as a source, usually the keyboard; when used as a
destination, usually the screen.
■ AUX: Auxiliary Input or Output Device.
■ LST: The destination device assigned to the list
output device, usually the printer.

The following three device names have special meaning:

■ NUL: A source device that produces 40 hexadec-

imal zeros.
■ EOF: A source device that produces a single
CTRL-Z, the CP/M 3 end-of-file mark.
■ PRN: The printer device with tab expansion to
every eighth column, line numbers, and page ejects
every sixtieth line.

Examples: B›PIP PRN:=CON:,MYDATA.DAT

Characters are first read from the console input device,

generally the keyboard, and sent directly to your printer
device. You type a CTRL-Z character to tell PIP that
keyboard input is complete. At that time, PIP continues
by reading character data from the file MYDATA.DAT
on drive B. Because PRN: is the destination device, tabs
are expanded, line numbers are added, and page ejects
occur every sixty lines.

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Note that when the CON: device is the source you

must enter both the carriage return (RETURN) and
line-feed (LF) keys for a new line.

A›PIP B:FUNFILE.SUE = CON:

Whatever you type at the console is written to the file

FUNFILE.SUE on drive B. End the keyboard input
by typing a CTRL-Z.

A›PIP LST:=CON:

Whatever you type at the console keyboard is written

to the list device, generally the printer. Terminate input
with a CTRL-Z.

A›PIP LST:=B:DRAFT.TXT[T8]

The file DRAFT.TXT on drive B is written to the

printer device. Any tab characters are expanded to the
nearest column that is a multiple of 8.

A›PIP PRN:=B:DRAFT.TXT

The preceding command causes PIP to write the file

DRAFT.TXT to the list device. It automatically ex-
pands the tabs, adds line numbers, and ejects pages
after sixty lines.

Multiple Command Mode

Syntax: PIP

Explanation: This form of the PIP command starts the PIP utility
and lets you type multiple command lines while PIP

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remains in user memory.

PIP writes an asterisk on your screen when ready to

accept input command lines.

You can type any valid command line described under

previous PIP formats following the asterisk prompt.

Terminate PIP by pressing only the RETURN key

following the asterisk prompt. The empty command
line tells PIP to discontinue operation and return to
the CP/M 3 system prompt.

Examples: A›PIP
CP/M 3 PIP VERSION 3.0
*NEWFILE=FILE1,FILE2,FILE3
* APROG.COM=BPROG.COM
* A:=B:X.BAS
*B:=*.*
*^M
A›

This command loads the PIP program. The PIP com-

mand input prompt, *, tells you that PIP is ready to
accept commands. The effects of this sequence of com-
mands are the same as in the previous examples, where
the command line is included in the command tail. PIP
is not loaded into memory for each command. To exit
this PIP command mode, press RETURN or one of
its equivalent control characters, CTRL-J or CTRL-M
as shown.

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Using Options With PIP

Explanation: With options you can process your source file in special
ways. You can expand tab characters, translate from up-
per- to lower-case, extract portions of your text, verify
that the copy is correct, and much more.

The PIP options are listed in Table 5-13 using n to

represent a number and s to represent a sequence of
characters terminated by a CTRL-Z. An option must
immediately follow the file or device it affects. The
option must be enclosed in square brackets [ ]. For
those options that require a numeric value, no blanks
can occur between the letter and the value.

You can include the [Gn] option after a destination file

specification. You can include a list of options after a
source file or source device. An option list is a sequence
of single letters and numeric values that are optionally
separated by blanks and enclosed in square brackets [ ].

Table 5-13. PIP Options

Option Function
A Copy only the files that have been
modified since the last copy. To back
up only the files that have been mod-
ified since the last back-up, use PIP
with the archive option, [A].
C Prompt for confirmation before per-
forming each copy operation. Use the
[C] option when you want to copy
only some files of a particular filetype.

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Option Function
Dn Delete any characters past column n.
This parameter follows a source file that
contains lines too long to be handled
by the destination device, for exam-
ple, an 80-character printer or narrow
console. The number n should be the
maximum column width of the desti-
nation device.
E Echo transfer at console. When this
parameter follows a source name, PIP
displays the source data at the console
as the copy is taking place. The source
must contain character data.
F Filter form-feeds. When this parame-
ter follows a source name, PIP removes
all form-feeds embedded in the source
data. To change form-feeds set for one
page length in the source file to an-
other page length in the destination
file, use the F command to delete the
old form-feeds and a P command to
simultaneously add new form-feeds
to the destination file.

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Option Function
Gn Get source from or go to user num-
ber n. When this parameter follows a
source name, PIP searches the direc-
tory of user number n for the source
file. When it follows the destination
name, PIP places the destination file
in the user number specified by n. The
number must be in the range 0 to 15
H Hex data transfer. PIP checks all data
for proper Intel hexadecimal file for-
mat. The console displays error mes-
sages when errors occur.
I Ignore :00 records in the transfer of
Intel hexadecimal format file. The I
option automatically sets the H option.
L Translate upper-case alphabetics in the
source file to lower-case in the desti-
nation file. This parameter follows the
source device or filename.
N Add line numbers to the destination
file. When this parameter follows
the source filename, PIP adds a line
number to each line copied, starting
with 1 and incrementing by one. A
colon follows the line number. If N2
is specified, PIP adds leading zeros to
the line number and inserts a tab after
the number. If the T parameter is also
set, PIP expands the tab.

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Option Function
O Object file transfer for machine code
(noncharacter and therefore nonprint-
able) files. PIP ignores any CTRL-Z
end-of-file during concatenation and
transfer. Use this option if you are com-
bining object code files.
Pn Set page length. n specifies the number
of lines per page. When this parameter
modifies a source file, PIP includes
a page eject at the beginning of the
destination file and at every n lines. If
n = 1 or is not specified, PIP inserts
page ejects every sixty lines. When you
also specify the F option, PIP ignores
form-feeds in the source data and in-
serts new form-feeds in the destination
data at the page length specified by n.
Qs Quit copying from the source device
after the string s.When used with the
S parameter, this parameter can ex-
tract a portion of a source file. The
string argument must be terminated
by CTRL-Z.
R Read system (SYS) files. Usually, PIP
ignores files marked with the system at-
tribute in the disk directory. But when
this parameter follows a source file-
name, PIP copies system files, includ-
ing their attributes, to the destination.

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Option Function
Ss Start copying from the source device
at the string s. The string argument
must be terminated by CTRL-Z.
When used with the Q parameter, this
parameter can extract a portion of a
source file. Both start and quit strings
are included in the destination file.
Tn Expand tabs. When this parameter
follows a source filename, PIP expands
tab (CTRL-1) characters in the desti-
nation file. PIP replaces each CTRL-1
with enough spaces to position the
next character in a column divisible
by n.
U Translate lower-case alphabetic char-
acters in the source file to upper-case
in the destination file. This parameter
follows the source device or filename.
V Verify that data has been copied cor-
rectly. PIP compares the destination
to the source data to ensure that the
data has been written correctly. The
destination must be a disk file.

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Option Function
W Write over files with RO (Read-Only)
attribute. Usually, if a PIP command
tail includes an existing RO file as
a destination, PIP sends a query to
the console to make sure you want
to write over the existing file. When
this parameter follows a source name,
PIP overwrites the RO file without
a console exchange. If the command
tail contains multiple source files, this
parameter need follow only the last
file in the list.
Z Zero the parity bit. When this param-
eter follows a source name, PIP sets
the parity bit of each data byte in the
destination file to zero. The source
must contain character data.

Examples: A›PIP NEWPROG.BAS=CODE.BAS[L],DATA.BAS[U]

This command constructs the file NEWPROG.BAS

on drive A by joining the two files CODE.BAS and
DATA.BAS from drive A. During the copy opera-
tion, CODE.BAS is translated to lower-case, while
DATA.BAS is translated to upper-case.

A›PIP CON:=WIDEFILE.BAS[D80]

This command writes the character file WIDEFILE.BAS

from drive A to the console device, but deletes all char-
acters following the 80th column position.

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A›PIP B:=LETTER.TXT[E]

The file LETTER.TXT from drive A is copied to

LETTER.TXT on drive B. The LETTER.TXT file is
also written to the screen as the copy operation proceeds.

A›PIP LST:=B:LONGPAGE.TXT[FP65]

This command writes the file LONGPAGE.TXT from

drive B to the printer device. As the file is written,
form-feed characters are removed and reinserted at the
beginning and every 65th line thereafter.

B›PIP LST:=PROGRAM.BAS[NTBU]

This command writes the file PROGRAM.BAS from

drive B to the printer device. The N parameter tells PIP
to number each line. The T8 parameter expands tabs
to every eighth column. The U parameter translates
lower-case letters to upper-case as the file is printed.

A›PIP PORTION.TXT=LETTER.TXT[SDear Sir^ZQSincerely^Z]

This command abstracts a portion of the LETTER.TXT

file from drive A by searching for the character sequence
“Dear Sir” before starting the copy operation. When
found, the characters are copied to PORTION.TXT
on drive A until the sequence “Sincerely” is found in
the source file.

B›PIP B:=A:*.COM[VMR]

This command copies all files with filetype COM from

drive A to drive B. The V parameter tells PIP to read
the destination files to ensure that data was correctly

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transferred. The W parameter lets PIP overwrite any

destination files that are marked as RO (Read-Only).
The R parameter tells PIP to read files from drive A that
are marked with the SYS (System) attribute.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The PUT Command

The PUT Command

Syntax: PUT CONSOLE {OUTPUT TO}
FILE filespec {[o]}
PUT PRINTER {OUTPUT TO}
FILE filespec {[o]}
PUT CONSOLE {OUTPUT TO} CONSOLE
PUT PRINTER {OUTPUT TO} PRINTER

Explanation: The PUT command is a transient utility that lets you

direct console output or printer output to a file. PUT
allows you to direct the system to put console output or
printer output to a file for the next system command or
user program entered at the console. Or, PUT directs
all subsequent console or printer output to a file when
you include the SYSTEM option.

Console output is directed to a file until the program

terminates. Then, console output reverts to the console.
Printer output is directed to a file until the program
terminates. Then printer output is directed back to
the printer.

When you use the SYSTEM option, all subsequent

console/printer output is directed to the specified
file. This option terminates when you enter the PUT
CONSOLE or PUT PRINTER command.

The syntax for the option list is

[{ECHO | NO ECHO} {FILTER | NO FILTER} |

{SYSTEM}]

Table 5-14 defines the preceding option list.

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Table 5-14. PUT Options

Option Meaning
ECHO specifies that the output is echoed
to the console. ECHO is the de-
fault option when you direct con-
sole output to a file.
NO ECHO specifies that the file output is not
to be echoed to the console.
FILTER specifies that filtering of con-
trol characters is allowed, which
means that control characters are
translated to printable characters.
For example, an escape character
is translated to ^[.
NO FILTER means that PUT does not trans-
late control characters. This is the
default option.
SYSTEM specifies that system output and
program output is written to the
file specified by filespec. Output
is written to the file until a sub-
sequent PUT CONSOLE com-
mand redirects console output
back to the console.

Direct Console Output to a File

Syntax: PUT CONSOLE {OUTPUT} TO FILE filespec {[o]}

Explanation: The preceding form of the PUT command tells the

system to direct subsequent console output to a file.

Example: A›PUT CONSOLE OUTPUT TO FILE XOUT [ECHO]

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The preceding command directs console output to file

XOUT with the output echoed to the console.

Put Printer Output to a File

Syntax: PUT PRINTER {OUTPUT TO} FILE filespec {[o]}

Explanation: The preceding form of the PUT command directs

printer output to a file.

The options are the same as in the PUT CONSOLE

command, except that option NO ECHO is the default
for the PUT PRINTER command. Note that if ECHO
is specified, printer output is echoed to the printer.

Examples: A›PUT PRINTER OUTPUT TO FILE XOUT

A›MYPROG

The preceding example directs the printer output of

program MYPROG to file XOUT. The output is not
echoed to the printer.

A›PUT PRINTER OUTPUT TO FILE XOUT2 [ECHO,SYSTEM]

The preceding command directs all printer output to

file XOUT2 and to the printer, and the PUT is in
effect until you enter a PUT PRINTER OUTPUT
TO PRINTER command.

The printer output can be directed to one or more

files. The output to these files is terminated when you
revert printer output to the printer using the following
command:

PUT PRINTER OUTPUT TO PRINTER

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Terminate Console Output to a File

Syntax: PUT CONSOLE {OUTPUT TO} CONSOLE

Explanation: The preceding form of the PUT command directs

console output to the console.

Example: A›PUT CONSOLE OUTPUT TO CONSOLE

The preceding command directs console output to the

console.

Terminate Printer Output to a File

Syntax: PUT PRINTER {OUTPUT TO} PRINTER

Explanation: The preceding form of the PUT command directs the

printer output to the printer.

Example: A›PUT PRINTER OUTPUT TO PRINTER

The preceding example directs printer output to the

printer.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The RENAME Command

The RENAME Command

Syntax: RENAME {new-filespec = old-filespec}

Explanation: The RENAME command lets you change the name of

a file that is cataloged in the directory of a disk. It also
lets you change several filenames if you use wildcards
in the filespecs. You can abbreviate RENAME to REN.

The new-filespec must not be the name of any existing

file on the disk. The old-filespec identifies an existing
file or files on the disk.

The RENAME command changes the file named by

old-filespec to the name given as new-filespec.

RENAME does not make a copy of the file. RENAME

changes only the name of the file.

If you omit the drive specifier, RENAME assumes the

file to rename is on the default drive. You can include
a drive specifier as a part of the newname. If both file
specifications name a drive, it must be the same drive.

If the file given by oldname does not exist, RENAME

displays the following message on the screen:

No File

If the file given by newname is already present in the

directory, RENAME displays the following message
on the screen:

Not renamed: filename.typ file already exists, delete (Y/N)?

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If you want to delete the old file, type Y to delete. Oth-

erwise, type N to keep the old file and not rename the
new file.

If you use wildcards in the filespecs, the wildcards in the

new filespec must correspond exactly to the wildcards
in the old filespec. For example, in the following two
commands, the wildcard filespecs correspond exactly:

A›REN *.TX1=*.TEX
A›REN A*.T*=S*.T*

In the following example, the wildcards do not match

and CP/M 3 returns an error message.

A›REN A*.TEX=A.T*

Examples: A›RENAME NEWASM.BAS=OLDFILE.BAS

The file OLDFILE.BAS changes to NEWASM.BAS

on drive A.

A›RENAME

The system prompts for the filespecs:

Enter New Name:X.PRN

Enter Old Name:Y.PRN
Y .PRN=X .PRN
A›

File Y.PRN is renamed X.PRN on drive A.

B›REN A:X.PAS = Y.PLI

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The file Y.PLI changes to X.PAS on drive A.

A›RENAME S*.TEX=A*.TEX

The preceding command renames all the files matching

the wildcard A*.TEX to files with filenames matching
the wildcard S*.TEX, respectively.

A›REN B:NEWLIST=B:OLDLIST

The file OLDLIST changes to NEWLIST on drive B.

Because the second drive specifier, B: is implied by the
first, it is unnecessary in this example. The preceding
command line has the same effect as the following:

A›REN B:NEWLIST=OLDLIST

or

A›REN NEWLIST=B: OLDLIST

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The RMAC Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

The RMAC Command

Syntax: RMAC filespec {$Rd | $Sd | $Pd}

Explanation: RMAC is a relocatable macro assembler that assembles

files of type ASM into REL files that can be linked to
create COM files.

The RMAC command options specify the destination

of the output files. The additional specifier d defines
the destination drive of the output files. A–O specifies
drives A through O. X means output to the console, P
means output to the printer, and Z means zero output.
Table 5-15 lists the RMAC command options.

Table 5-15. RMAC Command Options

Option d = output option
R drive for REL file (A–O, Z)
S drive for SYM file (A–O, X, P, Z)
P drive for PRN file (A–O, X, P, Z)

In the MAC command, the assembly parameter of H

controls the destination of the HEX file. In the RMAC
command this parameter is replaced by R, which con-
trols the destination of the REL file; however, you
cannot direct the REL file to the console or printer,
RX or RP, because the REL file is not an ASCII file.

Examples: A›RMAC TEST $PX SB RB

In the preceding example RMAC assembles the

file TEST.ASM from drive A, sends the listing file
(TEST.PRN) to the console, puts the symbol file

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(TEST.SYM) on drive B and puts the relocatable ob-

ject file (TEST.REL) on drive B.

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The SAVE Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

The SAVE Command

Syntax: SAVE

Explanation: The SAVE command copies the contents of memory

to a file. To use the SAVE utility, first issue the SAVE
command, then run your program which reads a file
into memory. When your program exits, it exits to the
SAVE utility. The SAVE utility prompts you for the
filespec to which the memory is to be copied, and the
beginning and ending address of the memory to be
saved.

Example: A›SAVE

The preceding command activates the SAVE utility.

Now enter the name of the program that loads a file
into memory.

A›SID dump.com

Next, execute the program.

#g0

When the program exits, SAVE intercepts the return

to the system and prompts you for the filespec and the
bounds of memory to be saved.

SAVE Ver3.0
File (or RETURN to exit)?dump2.com
Delete dump2.com?Y
From?100
To?400

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A›

The contents of memory from 100H, hexadecimal, to

400H is copied to file DUMP2.COM.

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The SET Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

The SET Command

Syntax: SET [options]
SET d: [options]
SET filespec [options]

Explanation: The SET command initiates password protection and

time stamping of files in the CP/M 3 system. It also
sets file and drive attributes, such as the Read-Only,
SYS, and user-definable attributes. It lets you label a
disk and password protect the label.

The SET command include options that affect the disk

directory, the drive, or a file or set of files. The discussion
of the SET command explicitly states which of the three
categories are affected.

To enable time stamping of files, you must first run

INITDIR to format the disk directory.

Set File Attributes

Syntax: SET filespec[attribute-options]

Explanation: The preceding SET command sets the specified attri-

butes of a file or a group of files.

Table 5-16. SET File Attributes

Option Meaning
DIR Sets the file from the SYS
directory to the (DIR) at-
tribute.

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Option Meaning
SYS Gives the file the System SYS
attribute.
RO Sets the file attribute to allow
Read-Only access.
RW Sets the file attribute to allow
Read-Write access.
ARCHIVE = OFF Sets the archive attribute to
off. This means that the file
has not been backed up (ar-
chived). PIP with the [A] op-
tion can copy files with the
archive attribute set to OFF.
PIP with this option requires
an ambiguous filespec and
copies only files that have
been created or changed
since the last time they were
backed up with the PIP[A]
option. PIP then sets the
archive attribute to ON for
each file successfully copied.
ARCHIVE = ON Sets the archive attribute
to on. This means that the
file has been backed up (ar-
chived).
F1 = ON|OFF Turns on or off the user-de-
finable file attribute F1.
F2 = ON|OFF Turns on or off the user-de-
finable file attribute F2.

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Option Meaning
F3 = ON|OFF Turns on or off the user-de-
finable file attribute F3.
F4 = ON|OFF Turns on or off the user-de-
finable file attribute F4.

Example: A›SET MYFILE.TEX[RO SYS]

The preceding command sets MYFILE.TEX to

Read-Only and System.

A›SET MYFILE.TEX [RW DIR]

The preceding command sets MYFILE.TEX to

Read-Write with the Directory (DIR) attribute.

Set Drive Attribute

Syntax: SET {d:} [RO]

SET {d:} [RW]

Explanation: The preceding SET commands set the specified drive

to Read-Only or Read-Write.

If a drive is set to Read-Only, PIP cannot copy a file to it,

ERASE cannot delete a file from it, RENAME cannot
rename a file on it. You cannot perform any operation
that requires writing to the disk. When the specified
drive is set to Read-Write, you can read or write to the
disk in that drive. If you enter a CTRL-C at the system
prompt, all drives are reset to Read-Write.

Example: A›SET B:[RO]

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The SET Command

The preceding command sets drive B to Read-Only.

Assign a Label to the Disk

Syntax: SET {D:}[NAME = labelname.typ]

Explanation: The preceding SET command assigns a label (name)

to the disk in the specified or default drive.

CP/M 3 provides a facility for creating a directory label

for each disk. The directory label can be assigned an
eight-character name and a three-character type similar
to a filename and filetype. Label names make it easier to
catalog disks and keep track of different disk directories.
The default label name is LABEL.

Example: A›SET[NAME=DISK100]

The preceding example labels the disk on the default

drive DISK100.

Assign Password to the Label

Syntax: SET [PASSWORD = password]

SET [PASSWORD = ‹cr›

Explanation: The first form of the preceding SET command assigns

a password to the disk label. The second form of the
command removes password protection from the label.

You can assign a password to the label. If the label has

no password, any user who has access to the SET pro-
gram can set other attributes to the disk which might
make the disk inaccessible to you. However, if you
assign a password to the label, then you must supply

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the password to set any of the functions controlled by

the label. SET always prompts for the password if the
label is password-protected.

Examples: A›SET[PASSWORD=SECRET]
A›SET [PASSWORD=‹cr›

The first command assigns SECRET to the disk label.

The second command nullifies the existing password.

Note: If you use password protection on your disk, be

sure to record the password. If you forget the password,
you lose access to your disk or files.

Enable/Disable Password Protection for Files on a Disk

Syntax: SET [PROTECT = ON]

SET [PROTECT = OFF]

Explanation: The first form of the SET command turns on password

protection for all the files on the disk. The password
protection must be turned on before you can assign
passwords to individual files or commands.

The second SET command disables password protection

for the files on your disk.

After a password is assigned to the label and the

PROTECT option is turned on, you are ready to as-
sign passwords to your files.

You can always determine if a disk is password-protected

by using the SHOW command to display the label.

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Assign Passwords to Files

Syntax: SET filespec[PASSWORD = password]

Explanation: The preceding SET command sets the password for

filespec to the password indicated in the command tail.
Passwords can be up to eight characters long. Lower-case
letters are translated to upper-case.

You can use wildcards in the filespec. SET assigns the

specified password to the files that match the wild-
card-filespec.

Note: always record the passwords that you assign to

your files. Without the password, you cannot access
those files unless password protection is turned off
for the whole disk. If you forget the password to the
directory label, you cannot turn off the password pro-
tection for the disk.

Example: A›SET MYFILE.TEX[PASSWORD=MYFIL]

MYFIL is the password assigned to file MYFILE.TEX.

Set Password Protection Mode for Files with Passwords

Syntax: SET filespec [PROTECT= READ]

SET filespec [PROTECT= WRITE]
SET filespec [PROTECT= DELETE]
SET filespec [PROTECT= NONE]

Explanation: You can assign one of four modes of password pro-

tection to your file. The protection modes are READ,
WRITE, DELETE, and NONE and are described in

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the following table.

Table 5-17. Password Protection Modes

Mode Protection
READ The password is required for reading,
copying, writing, deleting, or renam-
ing the file.
WRITE The password is required for writing,
deleting, or renaming the file. You do
not need a password to read the file.
DELETE The password is only required for
deleting or renaming the file. You
do not need a password to read or
modify the file.
NONE No password exists for the file. If a
password exists, this modifier can be
used to delete the password.

Assign a Default Password

Syntax: SET [DEFAULT = password]

Explanation: The preceding set command assigns a default password

for the system to use during your computer session.
The system uses the default password to access pass-
word-protected files if you do not specify a password,
or if you enter an incorrect password. The system lets
you access the file if the default password matches the
password assigned to the file.

Example: B›SET *.TEX[PASSWORD=SECRET,PROTECT=WRITE]

The preceding command assigns the password SECRET

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The SET Command

to all the TEX files on drive B. Each TEX file is given a

WRITE protect mode to prevent unauthorized editing.

Example: A›SET[DEFAULT=dd]

The preceding command instructs the system to use

dd as a password if you do not enter a password for a
password-protected file.

Set Time Stamp Options on Disk

Syntax: SET [CREATE = ON]

SET [ACCESS = ON]
SET [UPDATE = ON]

Explanation: The preceding SET commands allow you to keep a

record of the time and date of file creation and update,
or of the last access and update of your files.

[CREATE = ON] turns on CREATE time stamps

on the disk in the default drive.
To record the creation time of a
file, the CREATE option must
have been turned on before the
file is created.

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[ACCESS = ON] turns on ACCESS time stamps

on the disk in the default drive.
ACCESS and CREATE options
are mutually exclusive. This
means that only one can be in
effect at a time. If you turn on
the ACCESS time stamp on a
disk that has the CREATE time
stamp, the CREATE time stamp
is automatically turned off.
[UPDATE = ON] turns on UPDATE time stamps
on the disk in the default drive.
UPDATE time stamps record
the time the file was last mod-
ified

To enable time stamping, you must first run INITDIR

to format the disk directory for time and date stamping.

Although there are three kinds of date/time stamps, only

two date/time stamps can be associated with a given file
at one time. You can choose to have either a CREATE
date or an ACCESS date for files on a particular disk.

When you set both UPDATE and CREATE time

stamps, notice that editing a file changes both the
UPDATE and CREATE time stamps. This is because
ED does not update the original file but creates a new
version with the name of the original file.

Example: A›SET[ACCESS=ON]

The DIR with [FULL] option displays the following

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date and time stamps:

B›DIR [FULL]

Directory for Drive B:

Name Bytes Recs Attributes Prot Update Access
------------ ----- ---- ---------- ---- -------------- --------------
ONE .TEX 9k 71 Dir RW None 08/03/81 10:56
THREE .TEX 12k 95 Dir RW None 08/05/81 15:45
TWO .TEX 10k 76 Dir RW None 08/10/81 09:13

The access time stamps displayed or edited. Note that

displaying a filename in a directory listing does not
constitute an access and is not recorded.

A›SET [CREATE=ON,UPDATE=ON]

The following DIR output below shows how files with

create and update time stamps are displayed.

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B›DIR [FULL]

Directory for Drive B:

Name Bytes Recs Attributes Prot Update Access
------------ ----- ---- ---------- ---- -------------- --------------
GENLED .DAT 109k 873 Dir RW None 08/05/81 14:01 08/01/81 09:36
RECEIPTS.DAT 59k 475 Dir RW None 08/08/81 12:11 08/01/81 09:40
INVOICES.DAT 76k 608 Dir RW None 08/08/81 08:46 08/01/81 10:15

Additional SET Examples

Examples: A›SET *.COM[SYS,RO,PASS=123,PROT=READ]

The preceding setting gives the most protection for all

the COM files on drive A. With the password pro-
tection mode set to READ, you cannot even read one
of the COM files without entering the password 123,
unless the default password has been set to 123. Even if
the correct password is entered, you still cannot write
to the file because the file is Read-Only.

A›SET *.COM [RW,PROTECT=NONE,DIR]

The preceding command reverses the protection and

access attributes of the COM files affected by the pre-
vious example. After executing the preceding command,
there is no password protection, the files of type COM
can be read from or written to, and are set to DIR files.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The SETDEF Command

The SETDEF Command

Syntax: SETDEF {d:{,d:{,d:{,d:}}}} {TEMPORARY=d:] |
[ORDER = (typ {,typ})]}
SETDEF [DISPLAY | NO DISPLAY]
SETDEF [PAGE | NO PAGE]

Explanation: The SETDEF command lets you display or define the

disk search order, the temporary drive, and the filetype
search order. The SETDEF definitions affect only the
loading of programs and/or execution of SUBMIT
(SUB) files. The SETDEF command also lets you turn
on/off the DISPLAY and PAGE modes for the system.
When DISPLAY mode is on, the system displays the
location and name of programs loaded or SUB files
executed. When PAGE mode is on, CP/M 3 utilities
stop after displaying one full screen of information.
Press any key to continue the display.

The system usually searches the specified drive or the

default drive for files. The user can use the SETDEF
command, to extend the search for program files and
submit files, for execution purposes only.

Note: A CP/M 3 program file has a filetype of COM. A

file containing commands to be executed by SUBMIT
has a filetype of SUB.

Display the Program Loading Search Definitions

Syntax: SETDEF

Explanation: The preceding form of the SETDEF command displays

the disk search order, the temporary drive, and the

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filetype search order.

Assign the Drive for Temporary Files

Syntax: SETDEF [TEMPORARY = D:]

Explanation: The preceding form of the SETDEF command defines

the disk drive to be used for temporary files. The default
drive used for temporary files is the system default drive.

Example: A›SETDEF [TEMPORARY=C:]

The preceding command sets disk drive C as the drive

to be used for temporary files.

Define the Disk Drive Search Order

Syntax: SETDEF { d: {,d: {,d: {,d:}}}}

Explanation: The preceding form of the SETDEF command defines

the disks to be searched by the system for programs and/
or submit files to be executed. The CP/M 3 default is
to search only the default drive.

Note: * can be substituted for d: to indicate that the

default drive is to be included in the drive search order.

Example: A›SETDEF C:,*

The preceding example tells the system to search for a

program on drive C, then, if not found, search for it
on the default drive.

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Define the Filetype Search Order

Syntax: SETDEF [ ORDER = (typ {,typ}) ]

where typ = COM or SUB

Explanation: The preceding form of the SETDEF command de-

fines the filetype search order to be used by system
for program loading. The filetype, indicated as typ in
the syntax line, must be COM or SUB. The CP/M 3
default search is for COM files only.

Example: A›SETDEF [ORDER=(SUB,COM)]

The preceding command instructs the system to search

for a SUB file to execute. If no SUB file is found, search
for a COM file.

Turn On/Off System Display Mode

Syntax: SETDEF [DISPLAY | NO DISPLAY]

Explanation: The preceding command turns the system display mode

on or off. The default system display mode is off. When
the display mode is on, CP/M 3 displays the following
information about a program file before loading it for
execution: drive, filename, filetype (if any), and user
number (if not the default user number).

Example: A›SETDEF [DISPLAY]

The preceding command turns on the system display

mode. The system now displays the name and location
of programs loaded or submit files executed. For exam-
ple, if you enter the PIP command after turning on the

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system display mode, CP/M 3 displays the following:

A›PIP
A:PIP COM
CP/M 3 PIP VERSION 3.0
*

indicating that the file PIP.COM was loaded from

drive A under the current user number. If the current
user number is not 0, and if PIP.COM does not exist
under the current user number, then the system displays
the location of PIP.COM as follows:

4A›PIP
A:PIP COM (User 0)
CP/M 3 PIP VERSION 3.0
*

indicating that PIP.COM was loaded from drive A un-

der user number 0. This mode is in effect until you enter

SETDEF [NO DISPLAY]

to turn off the system DISPLAY mode.

Turn On/Off System Page Mode

Syntax: SETDEF [ PAGE | NO PAGE ]

Explanation: The preceding command turns on/off the system page

mode. When the PAGE mode is set to on, CP/M 3
utilities stop after displaying one full screen of infor-
mation, called a console page. The utilities resume after
you press any key.

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The default setting of the system page mode is ON.

Example: A›SETDEF [NO PAGE]

The preceding command turns off the system page

mode. CP/M 3 utilities do not pause after displaying
a full console page, but continue to scroll.

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The SHOW Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

The SHOW Command

Syntax: SHOW {d:}{[SPACE |LABEL |USERS |DIR |DRIVE]}

Explanation: The SHOW command displays the following disk drive

information:

■ access mode and amount of free disk space

■ disk label
■ current user number
■ number of files for each user number on the disk
■ number of free directory entries for the disk
■ drive characteristics

Display Access Mode and Disk Space Available

Syntax: SHOW {d:}{[SPACE]}

Explanation: The preceding form of the SHOW command displays

the drive, the access mode for that drive, and the remain-
ing space in kilobytes for the specified drive. SHOW by
itself displays the information for all logged-in drives
in the system.

Examples: A›SHOW B:
B: RW, Space: 9,488k
A›SHOW
A: RW, Space: 4k
B: RW, Space: 9,488k

The first example shows that drive B has Read-Write

access and it has 9,488K bytes of space left. The second
example shows that drive A also is Read-Write and has
only 4K bytes left and drive B is Read-Write and has

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9,488K bytes left.

Display Disk Label

Syntax: SHOW {d:}[LABEL]

Explanation: The preceding form of the SHOW command displays

disk label information.

Example: A›SHOW B: [LABEL]

The preceding command displays the following for drive

B: Label for drive B:
Label for drive B:

Directory Passwds Stamp Stamp Label Created Label Updated

Label Reqd Create Update
---------- ------- ------ ------ -------------- --------------
TOMSDISK. on on on 07/04/81 10:30 07/08/81 09:30

The first column, directory label, displays the name

assigned to that drive directory. The second column,
Passwds Reqd, shows that password protection has
been turned on for that drive.

As described in the SET command, each file can have

up to two time stamps. The first of these time stamps
can be either the creation date and time for the file or
the date and time of the last access to the file. Access is
defined as reading from or writing to the file. The third
column of the SHOW [LABEL] output displays both
the type of stamp and whether or not it is on. In the
preceding example, creation time stamps are given to
new files as shown by the stamp create column heading.

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The fourth column displays the status of the second

time stamp field, the update time stamp. Update time
stamps display the date and time of the last update to
a file, that is, the last time someone wrote to the file.
In the SHOW [LABEL] display, update time stamps
are turned on.

Besides showing the password protection and the ac-

tive time stamps on a drive, SHOW [LABEL] also
displays the date and time that the label was created
and last updated.

Display User Number Information

Syntax: SHOW {d:}[USERS]

Explanation: The preceding command displays the current user num-

ber and all the users on the drive and the corresponding
number of files assigned to them.

Example: A›SHOW [USERS]

Active User : 1
Active Files: 0 2 3 4
A: # of files: 95 40 1 26
A: Number of free directory entries: 350
A›

Display Number of Free Directory Entries

Syntax: SHOW {d:}[DIR]

Explanation: The preceding command displays the number of free

directory entries the specified drive.

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Example: A›SHOW C: [DIR]

C:Number of free directory entries:24
A›

The preceding command shows that there are only 24

free directory entries on drive C.

Display Drive Characteristics

Syntax: SHOW {d:}[DRIVE]

Explanation: The preceding form of the SHOW command displays

the drive characteristics of the specified drive.

Example: A›SHOW [DRIVE]

The following is an example of the system display for

the preceding command:

A: Drive Characteristics
3,600: 128 Byte Record Capacity
450: Kilobyte Drive Capacity
96: 32 Byte Directory Entries
96: Checked Directory Entries
128: Records / Directory Entry
16: Records / Block
48: Sectors / Track
512: Bytes / Physical Record

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The SID Command

Syntax: SID {pgm-filespec} {,sym-filespec}

Explanation: The SID (Symbolic Instruction Debugger) allows you

to monitor and test programs developed for the 8080
microprocessor. SID supports real-time breakpoints,
fully monitored execution, symbolic disassembly, as-
sembly, and memory display and fill functions. Utility
programs are supplied with CP/M 3 that can be dy-
namically loaded with SID to provide traceback and
histogram facilities.

SID commands display memory and CPU registers

and direct the breakpoint operations during the de-
bugging session.

Without a file specification SID loads into memory

without a test program. Use this form to examine mem-
ory or to write and test simple programs using the A
command. You must not use the SID commands G, T,
or U, described later, until you have first loaded a test
program.

A SID command line with a pgm-filespec loads both

SID and the test program into memory. If the filetype
is omitted from the filespec, COM is assumed. SID
optionally loads in a symbol table file specified by sym-
filespec. The sym-filespec needs no filetype because SID
looks for a file with filetype SYM. Use the C, G, T, or
U command to begin execution of the test program
under supervision of SID.

Use CTRL-S to halt the screen display. CTRL-Q re-

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starts the display. Abort lengthy displays by typing any

keyboard character. Use CTRL-C to exit from SID.

SID can address absolute memory locations through

symbolic expressions. A symbolic expression evaluates
to either an address or a data item.

A symbolic expression can be a name from a SYM

file produced from your program by a CP/M Macro
Assembler. When you precede the symbolic expression
with a period, SID returns its address in hexadecimal.
When you precede the symbolic expression with the
at sign, @, SID returns the 16-bit value stored at that
location and the next contiguous location. When you
precede the symbolic expression with an equal sign,
SID returns the 8-bit value stored at that location. For
two-byte expressions, this is the low byte because the
8080 microprocessor stores the low value of a two-byte
word first.

A symbolic expression can be a literal value in hex,

decimal, or ASCII, as indicated in the following list:

■ SID uses literal hex values as given, but truncates

any digits in excess of four on the left. The leftmost
digit is the most significant digit. The rightmost
digit is the least significant digit.
■ To indicate decimal values precede them with a
pound sign, #, Decimal values that evaluate to more
than four hex digits are evaluated as the modulo of
hex value FFFF. For example, #65534 = 0FFFEH,
while #65536 = 0001H.
■ SID translates literal ASCII character strings be-
tween apostrophes to the hex value of the two right-

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most ASCII characters.

You can combine symbolic expressions with the sym-

bolic operators, + or -, to produce another symbolic
expression. Symbolic expressions combined in this
way can be used to calculate the offset of an indirectly
addressed data item, for example a subscripted variable.
A special up-arrow operator, ^, can reference the top-
of-stack item. A string of n ^ operators can reference
the nth stack item without changing stack content or
the stack pointer.

Table 5-18 lists the SID commands with their corre-

sponding parameters and options. The actual command
letter is printed in boldface. The parameters are in
lower-case and follow the command letter. Optional
items are in braces. Replace the arguments with the
appropriate symbolic expressions as listed. Where two
symbolic expressions are needed, SID can calculate the
second one from the first using the symbolic operators
described previously.

Table 5-18. SID Commands

Name Syntax Meaning
Assemble As Enter assembly language statements.
s is the start address.
Call Cs {b{,d}} Call to memory location from SID. s
is the called address, b is the value of
the BC register pair, and d is the value
of the DE register pair.

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Name Syntax Meaning

Display D{W}{s}{,f } Display memory in hex and ASCII. W
specifies a 16-bit word format, s is the
start address, and f is the finish address.
Load Epgm-filespec Load program and symbol table for
{,sym-filespec} execution.
Load E* sym-filespec Load a symbol table file.
Fill Fs,f,d Fill memory with constant value. s is
the start address, f is the finish address,
and d is an 8-bit data item.
Go G{p}{,a{,b}} Begin execution. p is a start address,
a is a temporary breakpoint, and b is
a second temporary breakpoint. GO
exits SID by performing a warm boot.
Hex H Displays all symbols with addresses
Ha in hex. The first syntax displays hex,
Ha,b decimal, and ASCII values of a. The
second syntax performs number and
character conversion, where a is a sym-
bolic expression, and the third syntax
computes hex sum and difference of
a and b, where a and b are symbolic
expressions.
Input Icommand tail Input CCP command line.
List L {s}{,F} List 8080 mnemonic instructions. s
is the start address, and f is the finish
address.
Move Ms,h,d Move memory block. s is the start ad-
dress, h is the high address of the block,
and d is the destination start address.

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Name Syntax Meaning

Pass P{p{,c}} Pass point set, reset, and display. p is a
permanent breakpoint address, and c
is initial value of pass counter.
Read Rfilespec{,d} Read code/symbols. d is an offset to
each address.
Set S{W}s Set memory values. s is an address
where value is sent, W is a 16-bit word.
Trace T{n{,c}} Trace program execution. n is the
number of program steps, and c is the
utility entry address.
Trace T{W}{n{,c}} Trace without call. W instructs SID
not to trace subroutines, n is the num-
ber of program steps, and c is the util-
ity entry address.
Untrace U{W}{n{,c}} Monitor execution without trace. n is
the number of program steps, c is the
utility entry address, W instructs SID
not to trace subroutines.
Value V Display the value of the next available
location in memory (NEXT), the next
location after the largest file read in
(MSZE), the current value of the pro-
gram counter (PC), and the address of
the end of available memory (END).
Write Wfilespec{,s,f } Write the contents of a contiguous
block of memory to filespec. s is the
start address, f is the finish address.
Examine X{f }{r} Examine/alter CPU state. f is flag bit
C, E, I, M, or Z; r is register A, B, D,
H, P or S.

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Examples: A›SID

In the preceding example CP/M 3 loads SID from drive

A into memory. SID displays the # prompt when it is
ready to accept commands.

A›B:SID SAMPLE.HEX

In the preceding example, CP/M 3 loads SID and the

program file SAMPLE.HEX into memory from drive
B. SID displays:

NEXT MSZE PC END

nnnn mmmm pppp eeee

In the preceding example, nnnn is a hexadecimal address

of the next free location following the loaded program,
and mmmm is the next location after the largest pro-
gram. This is initially the same value as NEXT. pppp
is the initial hexadecimal value of the the program
counter. eeee is the hexadecimal address of the logical
end of the TPA.

#DFE00+#128+5

In the preceding example the first pound sign, #, is

the SID prompt. This SID command, D, displays
the values stored in memory starting at address FE80
(FE00 + #128) and ending at address FE85 (FE80 + 5).

SID Utilities

The SID utilities HIST.UTL and TRACE.UTL are

special programs that operate with SID to provide

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additional debugging facilities. The mechanisms for

system initialization, data collection, and data display
are described in the CP/M SID™ Symbolic Instruction
Debugger User’s Guide. The following discussion illus-
trates how a utility is activated. You load the utility by
naming it as a parameter when invoking SID:

SID filename.UTL

In the preceding example filename is the name of the

utility. Following the initial sign-on, the utility can
prompt you for additional debugging parameters.

The HIST utility creates a histogram (bar graph) show-

ing the relative frequency of execution of code within
selected program segments of the test program. The
HIST utility allows you to monitor those sections of
code that execute most frequently.

Upon start-up HIST prompts

TYPE HISTOGRAM BOUNDS

Enter the bounds in the following format:

aaaa,bbbb

for a histogram between locations aaaa and bbbb inclu-

sive. Collect data in U or T mode, then display results.

The TRACE utility obtains a traceback of the instruc-

tions that led to a particular breakpoint address in a
program under test. You can collect the addresses of
up to 256 instructions between pass points in U or T
modes.
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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The SUBMIT Command

The SUBMIT Command

Syntax: SUBMIT {filespec} {argument} … {argument}

Explanation: The SUBMIT command lets you execute a group or

batch of commands from a SUB file, which is a file with
filetype of SUB.

Usually, you enter commands one line at a time. If you

must enter the same sequence of commands several
times, you might find it easier to batch the commands
together using the SUBMIT command. To do this,
create a file and enter your commands in this file. The
file is identified by the filename, and must have a file-
type of SUB. When you issue the SUBMIT command,
SUBMIT reads the file named by the filespec and pre-
pares it for interpretation by CP/M 3. When the prepa-
ration is complete, SUBMIT sends the file to CP/M 3
line-by-line, as if you were typing each command.

The SUBMIT command executes the commands from

a SUB file as if you are entering the commands from
the keyboard.

You create the SUB file with the ED utility. It can con-
tain CP/M 3 commands, nested SUBMIT commands,
and input data for a CP/M 3 command or a program.

You can pass arguments to SUB files when you exe-

cute them. Each argument you enter is assigned to a
parameter in the SUB file. The first argument replaces
every occurrence of $1 in the file, the second argument
replaces parameter $2, etc., up to parameter $9. For ex-
ample, if your file START.SUB contains the following

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commands:

ERA $1.BAK
DIR $1
PIP $1 =A: $2.COM

and you enter the following SUBMIT command:

A›SUBMIT START SAM TEX

the argument SAM is substituted for every $1 in the

START.SUB file, and TEX for every occurrence of $2
in the START.SUB file. SUBMIT then creates a file
with the parameter substitutions and executes this file.
This file now contains the following commands:

ERA SAM.BAK
DIR SAM
PIP SAM= A:TEX.COM

If you enter fewer arguments in the SUBMIT com-

mand than parameters in the SUB file, the remaining
parameters are not included in the commands.

If you enter more arguments in the SUBMIT com-

mand than parameters in the SUB file, the remaining
arguments are ignored.

To include an actual dollar sign, $ in your SUB file, type

two dollar signs, $$. SUBMIT replaces them with a
single dollar sign when it substitutes an argument for a
parameter in the SUB file. For example, if file AA.SUB
contains line:

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MAC $1 $$$2

and you enter the following SUBMIT command:

A›SUBMIT AA ZZ SZ

then the translated file contains the following:

MAC ZZ $SZ

Program Input Lines in a SUB File

A SUB file can contain program input lines. Any pro-

gram input is preceded by a less than sign, <, as in the
following example:

PIP
‹B:=*.ASM
‹CON:=DUMP.ASM
‹
DIR

The three lines after PIP are input lines to the PIP
command. The third line consists only of the < sign,
indicating a carriage return. The carriage return causes
PIP to return to the system to execute the final DIR
command.

If the program terminates before using all of the input,

SUBMIT ignores the excess input lines and displays
the following warning message:

Warning : Program input ignored

If the program requires more input than is in the SUB

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file, it expects you to enter the remaining input from

the keyboard.

You can enter control characters in a SUB file by using

the usual convention of preceding the control character
by an up-arrow character, ^, followed by the letter to
be converted to a control character. To enter an actual
^ character, use the combination ^^. This combination
translates to a single ^ in the same manner that $$
translates to a single $.

The SUB File

The SUB file can contain the following types of lines:

■ Any valid CP/M 3 command

■ Any valid CP/M 3 command with SUBMIT pa-
rameters
■ Any data input line
■ Any program input line with parameters ($0 to $9)

CP/M 3 command lines cannot exceed 128 characters.

Example: The following lines illustrate the variety of lines that

can be entered in a SUB file:

DIR
DIR *.BAK
MAC $1 $$$4
PIP LST:=$1.PRN[T$2 $3 $5]
DIR *.ASM
PIP
‹B:=*.ASM
‹CON:=DUMP.ASM

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The SUBMIT Command

‹
DIR B:

Executing the SUBMIT Command

Syntax: SUBMIT
SUBMIT filespec
SUBMIT filespec argument … argument

If you enter only SUBMIT, the system prompts for

the rest of the command. You enter the filespec and
arguments.

Example: A›SUBMIT

The system displays the following prompt. Enter filespec

and arguments here, such as:

Enter File to Submit:START B TEX

Another example could be

A›SUBMIT SUBA

Still another example using parameters is

A›SUBMIT AA ZZ SZ

where AA is the SUB file AA.SUB, ZZ is the argument

to replace any occurrences of $1 in the AA.SUB file
and SZ is the argument to replace all occurrences of
$2 in the AA.SUB file.

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The PROFILE.SUB Start-up File

Every time you turn on or reset your computer,

CP/M 3 automatically looks for a special SUB file
named PROFILE.SUB to execute. If it does not ex-
ist, then CP/M 3 resumes normal operation. If the
PROFILE.SUB file exists, the system executes the
commands in the file. This file is convenient to use if
you regularly execute a set of commands before you do
your regular session on the computer. For example, if
you want to be sure that you always enter the current
date and time on your computer before you enter any
other commands, you can create the PROFILE.SUB
file, with ED, and enter the DATE command as follows:

DATE SET

Then, whenever you bring up the system, the system

executes the DATE command and prompts you to
enter the date and time. By using this facility, you can
be sure to execute a regular sequence of commands
before starting your usual session.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The TYPE Command

The TYPE Command

Syntax: TYPE {filespec {[PAGE]|[NO PAGE]}}

Explanation: The TYPE command displays the contents of an ASCII

character file on your screen. The PAGE option displays
the console listing in paged mode, which means that
the console listing stops automatically after listing n
lines of text, where n is usually the system default of
24 lines per page. (See the DEVICE command to set
n to a different value.) Press any character to continue
listing another n lines of text. Press CTRL-C to exit
back to the system. PAGE is the default mode.

The NO PAGE option displays the console listing con-

tinuously.

If you do not enter a file specification in the TYPE

command the system prompts for a filename with the
message:

Enter filename:

Respond with the filespec of the file you want listed.

Tab characters occurring in the file named by the file

specification are expanded to every eighth column
position of your screen.

At any time during the display, you can interrupt the

listing by pressing CTRL-S. Press CTRL-Q to resume
the listing.

Press CTRL-C to exit back to the system.

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Make sure the file specification identifies a file contain-

ing character data.

If the file named by the file specification is not present

on the specified drive, TYPE displays the following
message on your screen:

No File

To list the file at the printer and on the screen, type a

CTRL-P before entering the TYPE command line. To
stop echoing console output at the printer, type a second
CTRL-P. The type command displays the contents of
the file until the screen is filled. It then pauses until you
press any key to continue the display.

Examples: A›TYPE MYPROG.PLI

This command displays the contents of the file

MYPROG.PLI on your screen, a page at a time.

A›TYPE B:THISFILE[NO PAGE]

This command continuously displays the contents of

the file THISFILE from drive B on your screen.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide The USER Command

The USER Command

Syntax: USER {number}

Explanation: The USER command sets the current user number.

When you start CP/M 3, 0 is the current user number.
You can use a USER command to change the current
user number to another in the range 0–15.

CP/M 3 identifies every file with a user number. In

general, you can access only files identified with the
current user number. However, if you mark a file in
user 0 with the SYS attribute, the file can be accessed
from all other user numbers.

Examples: A›USER

The system command prompts for the user number,

as follows:

Enter User#:5
5A›

The current user number is now 5 on drive A.

A›USER 3
3A›

This command changes the current user number to 3.

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The XREF Command CP/M 3 User’s Guide

The XREF Command

Syntax: XREF {d:} filename {$P}

Explanation: The XREF command provides a cross-reference sum-

mary of variable usage in a program. XREF requires the
PRN and SYM files produced by MAC or RMAC for
the program.

The SYM and PRN files must have the same filename
as the filename in the XREF command tail. XREF
outputs a file of type XRF.

Examples: A›XREF B:MYPROG

In this example, XREF is on drive A. XREF operates on

the file MYPROG.SYM and MYPROG.PRN which
are on drive B. XREF produces the file MYPROG.XRF
on drive B.

A›XREF B:MYPROG $P

In the preceding example, the $P option directs output

to the printer.

End of Section 5

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 Section 6 
ED, The CP/M 3 Context Editor

6.1.  Introduction to ED
To do almost anything with a computer you need some way to enter
data, a way to give the computer the information you want it to process.
The programs most commonly used for this task are called editors. They
transfer your keystrokes at the keyboard to a disk file. CP/M 3’s editor is
named ED. Using ED, you can easily create and alter CP/M 3 text files.

The correct command format for invoking the CP/M 3 editor is given
in Section 6.2, “Starting ED”. After starting ED, you issue commands
that transfer text from a disk file to memory for editing. Section 6.3, “ED
Operation” details this operation and describes the basic text transfer
commands that allow you to easily enter and exit the editor.

Section 6.4, “Basic Editing Commands” details the commands that

edit a file. Section 6.5, “Combining ED Commands” describes how to
combine the basic commands to edit more efficiently. Although you
can edit any file with the basic ED commands, ED provides several
more commands that perform more complicated editing functions, as
described in Section 6.6, “Advanced ED Commands”.

During an editing session, ED can return two types of error messages.

Section 6.7, “ED Error Messages” lists these messages and provides
examples that indicate how to recover from common editing error
conditions.

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6.2.  Starting ED
Syntax:

ED input-filespec {d: | output-filespec}

To start ED, enter its name after the CP/M 3 prompt. The command
ED must be followed by a file specification, one that contains no wild-
card characters, such as:

A›ED MYFILE.TEX

The file specification, MYFILE.TEX in the preceding example, spec-

ifies a file to be edited or created. The file specification can be preceded
by a drive specification, but a drive specification is unnecessary if the file
to be edited is on your default drive. Optionally, the file specification can
be followed by a drive specification, as shown in the following example:

A›ED MYFILE.TEX B:

In response to this command, ED opens the file to be edited, MYFILE.

TEX, on drive A, but sends all the edited material to a file on drive B.

Optionally, you can send the edited material to a file with a different
filename, as in the following example:

A›ED MYFILE.TEX YOURFILE.TEX

The file with the different filename cannot already exist or ED prints
the following message and terminates.

Output File Exists, Erase It

The ED prompt, *, appears at the screen when ED is ready to accept

a command, as follows

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide ED Operation

A›ED MYFILE.TEX
:*

If no previous version of the file exists on the current disk, ED auto-

matically creates a new file and displays the following message:

NEW FILE
:*

Note: before starting an editing session, use the SHOW command to

check the amount of free space on your disk. Make sure that the unused
portion of your disk is at least as large as the file you are editing, or
larger if you plan to add characters to the file. When ED finds a disk
or directory full, ED has only limited recovery mechanisms. These are
explained in Section 6.7, “ED Error Messages”.

6.3.  ED Operation
With ED, you change portions of a file that pass through a memory
buffer. When you start ED with one of the preceding commands, this
memory buffer is empty. At your command, ED reads segments of the
source file, for example MYFILE.TEX, into the memory buffer for you
to edit. If the file is new, you must insert text into the file before you
can edit. During the edit, ED writes the edited text onto a temporary
work file, MYFILE.$$$.

When you end the edit, ED writes the memory buffer contents to
the temporary file, followed by any remaining text in the source file.
ED then changes the name of the source file from MYFILE.TEX to
MYFILE.BAK, so you can reclaim this original material from the back-
up file if necessary. ED then renames the temporary file, MYFILE.$$$,
to MYFILE.TEX, the new edited file. The following figure illustrates
the relationship between the source file, the temporary work file, and
the new file.

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ED Operation CP/M 3 User’s Guide

Note: when you invoke ED with two filespecs, an input file and an
output file, ED does not rename the input file to type BAK; therefore,
the input file can be Read-Only or on a write-protected disk if the
output file is written to another disk.

SOURCE
LIBRARIES

SOURCE APPEND (R) WRITE TEMPORARY

FILES (A) (W) FILE
MYFILE.TEX MYFILE.$$$

MEMORY
BUFFER

AFTER AFTER
(E) (E)
EDIT EDIT

INSERT TYPE
(I) (T)

BACKUP NEW
FILES SOURCE
MYFILE.BAK FILE
MYFILE.TEX

Figure 6-1. Overall ED Operation

In the preceding figure, the memory buffer is logically between the

source file and the temporary work file. ED supports several commands
that transfer lines of text between the source file, the memory buffer,
and the temporary, and eventually final, file. The following table lists
the three basic text transfer commands that allow you to easily enter
the editor, write text to the temporary file, and exit the editor.

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Table 6-1. Text Transfer Commands

Command Result
nA Append the next n unprocessed source lines from
the source file to the end of the memory buffer.
nW Write the first n lines of the memory buffer to the
temporary file free space.
E End the edit. Copy all buffered text to the tempo-
rary file, and copy all unprocessed source lines to
the temporary file. Rename files.

6.3.1.  Appending Text into the Buffer

When you start ED and the memory buffer is empty, you can use the
A (append) command to add text to the memory buffer.

Note: ED can number lines of text to help you keep track of data in the
memory buffer. The colon that appears when you start ED indicates that
line numbering is turned on. Type -V after the ED prompt to turn the
line number display off. Line numbers appear on the screen but never
become a part of the output file.

The V (Verify Line Numbers) Command

The V command turns the line number display in front of each line
of text on or off. The V command also displays the free bytes and total
size of the memory buffer. The V command takes the following forms:

V, -V, 0V

Initially, the line number display is on. Use -V to turn it off. If the
memory buffer is empty, or if the current line is at the end of the memory
buffer, ED represents the line number as five blanks. The OV command
prints the memory buffer statistics in the form:

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free/total

where free is the number of free bytes in the memory buffer, and total
is the size of the memory buffer. For example, if you have a total of
48,253 bytes in the memory buffer and 46,652 of them are free, the
OV command displays this information as follows

46652/48253

If the buffer is full, the first field, which indicates free space, is blank.

The A (Append) Command

The A command appends, copies, lines from an existing source file

into the memory buffer. The A command takes the following form:

nA

where n is the number of unprocessed source lines to append into the

memory buffer. If a pound sign, #, is given in place of n, then the integer
65,535 is assumed. Because the memory buffer can contain most rea-
sonably sized source files, it is often possible to issue the command #A
at the beginning of the edit to read the entire source file into memory.

When n is 0, ED appends the unprocessed source lines into the mem-

ory buffer until the buffer is approximately half full. If you do not specify
n, ED appends one line from the source file into the memory buffer.

6.3.2.  ED Exit

You can use the W (Write) command and the E (Exit) command
to save your editing changes. The W command writes lines from the
memory buffer to the new file without ending the ED session. An E
command saves the contents of the buffer and any unprocessed material
from the source file and exits ED.

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The W (Write) Command

The W command writes lines from the buffer to the new file. The W
command takes the form:

nW

where n is the number of lines to be written from the beginning of

the buffer to the end of the new file. If n is greater than 0, ED writes n
lines from the beginning of the buffer to the end of the new file. If n is
0, ED writes lines until the buffer is half empty. The 0W command is a
convenient way of making room in the memory buffer for more lines
from the source file. If the buffer is full, you can use the 0W command
to write half the contents of the memory buffer to the new file. You
can use the #W command to write the entire contents of the buffer to
the new file. Then you can use the 0A command to read in more lines
from the source file.

Note: after a W command is executed, you must enter the H command

to reedit the saved lines during the current editing session.

The E (Exit) Command

An E command performs a normal exit from ED. The E command

takes the form:

followed by a carriage return.

When you enter an E command, ED first writes all data lines from the
buffer and the original source file to the $$$ file. If a BAK file exists, ED
deletes it, then renames the original file with the BAK filetype. Finally,

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ED renames the $$$ file from filename.$$$ to the original filetype and
returns control to the operating system.

The operation of the E command makes it unwise to edit a back-up

file. When vou edit a BAK file and exit with an E command, ED erases
your original file because it has a BAK filetype. To avoid this, always
rename a back-up file to some other filetype before editing it with ED.

Note: any command that terminates an ED session must be the only

command on the line.

6.4.  Basic Editing Commands

The text transfer commands discussed previously allow you to easily
enter and exit the editor. This section discusses the basic commands
that edit a file.

ED treats a file as a long chain of characters grouped together in lines.

ED displays and edits characters and lines in relation to an imaginary
device called the character pointer (CP). During an edit session, you
must mentally picture the CP’s location in the memory buffer and issue
commands to move the CP and edit the file.

The following commands move the character pointer or display text

in the vicinity of the CP. These ED commands consist of a numeric ar-
gument and a single command letter and must be followed by a carriage
return. The numeric argument, n, determines the number of times ED
executes a command; however, there are four special cases to consider
in regard to the numeric argument:

■ If the numeric argument is omitted, ED assumes an argument of 1.

■ Use a negative number if the command is to be executed backwards
through the memory buffer. The B command is an exception.

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 ■ If you enter a pound sign, #, in place of a number, ED uses the
value 65,535 as the argument. A pound sign argument can be
preceded by a minus sign to cause the command to execute
backwards through the memory buffer, -#.
■ ED accepts 0 as a numeric argument only in certain commands. In
some cases, 0 causes the command to be executed approximately
half the possible number of times, while in other cases it prevents
the movement of the CP.

The following table alphabetically summarizes the basic editing

commands and their valid arguments.

Table 6-2. Basic Editing Commands

Command Action
B, -B Move CP to the beginning (B) or end (-B) of
the memory buffer.
nC, -nC Move CP n characters forward (nC) or back-
ward (-nC) through the memory buffer.
nD, -nD Delete n characters before (-nD) or after (nD)
the CP.
I Enter insert mode.
Istring CTRL-Z Insert a string of characters.
nK, -nK Delete (kill) n lines before the CP (-nK) or
after the CP (nK).
nL, -nL Move the CP n lines forward (nL) or backward
(-nL) through the memory buffer.
nT, -nT Type n lines before the CP (-nT) or after the
CP (nT).
n, -n Move the CP n lines before the CP (-n) or after
the CP (n) and display the destination line.

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The following sections discuss ED’s basic editing commands in more

detail. The examples in these sections illustrate how the commands
affect the position of the character pointer in the memory buffer. Later
examples in Section 6.5, “Combining ED Commands” illustrate how
the commands appear at the screen. For these sections, however, the
symbol ^ in command examples represents the character pointer, which
you must imagine in the memory buffer.

6.4.1.  Moving the Character Pointer

This section describes commands that move the character pointer in

useful increments but do not display the destination line. Although ED
is used primarily to create and edit program source files, the following
sections present a simple text as an example to make ED easier to learn
and understand.

The B (Beginning/Bottom) Command

The B command moves the CP to the beginning or bottom of the

memory buffer. The B command takes the following forms:

B, -B

-B moves the CP to the end or bottom of the memory buffer; B moves

the CP to the beginning of the buffer.

The C (Character) Command

The C command moves the CP forward or backward the specified

number of characters. The C command takes the following forms:

nC, -nC

when n is the number of characters the CP is to be moved. A positive

number moves the CP towards the end of the line and the bottom of

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the buffer. A negative number moves the CP towards the beginning of

the line and the top of the buffer. You can enter an n large enough to
move the CP to a different line. However, each line is separated from
the next by two invisible characters: a carriage return and a line-feed,
represented by ‹cr›‹lf›. You must compensate for their presence. For
example, if the CP is pointing to the beginning of the line, the command
30C moves the CP to the next line:

Emily Dickinson said,‹cr›‹lf›

“I fin^d ecstasy in living —‹cr›‹lf›

The L (Line) Command

The L command moves the CP the specified number of lines. After

an L command, the CP always points to the beginning of a line. The L
command takes the following forms:

nL, -nL

where n is the number of lines the CP is to be moved. A positive num-

ber moves the CP towards the end of the buffer. A negative number
moves the CP back toward the beginning of the buffer. The command
2L moves the CP two lines forward through the memory buffer and
positions the character pointer at the beginning of the line.

“I find ecstasy in living —‹cr›‹lf›

the mere sense of living‹cr›‹lf›
^is joy enough.” ‹cr›‹lf›

The command -L moves the CP to the beginning of the previous

line, even if the CP originally points to a character in the middle of
the line. Use the special character 0 to move the CP to the beginning
of the current line.

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The n (Number) Command

The n command moves the CP and displays the destination line. The
n command takes the following forms:

n, -n

where n is the number of lines the CP is to be moved. In response to

this command, ED moves the CP forward or backward the number of
lines specified, then prints only the destination line. For example, the
command -2 moves the CP back two lines.

Emily Dickinson said,‹cr›‹lf›

^“I find ecstasy In living —‹cr›‹lf›
the mere sense of living‹cr›‹lf›
is Joy enough.”‹cr›‹lf›

A further abbreviation of this command is to enter no number at

all. In response to a carriage return without a preceding command, ED
assumes a n command of 1 and moves the CP down to the next line
and prints it, as follows

Emily Dickinson said,‹cr›‹lf›

“I find ecstasy in living —‹cr›‹lf›
^the mere sense of living ‹cr› ‹lf›

Also, a minus sign, −, without a number moves the CP back one line.

6.4.2.  Displaying Memory Buffer Contents

ED does not display the contents of the memory buffer until you
specify which part of the text you want to see. The T command displays
text without moving the CP.

The T (Type) Command

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The T command types a specified number of lines from the CP at

the screen. The T command takes the forms

nT, -nT

where n specifies the number of lines to be displayed. If a negative

number is entered, ED displays n lines before the CP. A positive num-
ber displays n lines after the CP. If no number is specified, ED types
from the character pointer to the end of the line. The CP remains in
its original position no matter how many lines are typed. For example,
if the character pointer is at the beginning of the memory buffer, and
you instruct ED to type four lines (4T), four lines are displayed at the
screen, but the CP stays at the beginning of line 1.

^Emily Dickinson said,‹cr›‹lf›

“I find ecstasy in living —‹cr›‹lf›
the mere sense of living‹cr›‹lf›
is joy enough.”‹cr›‹lf›

If the CP is between two characters in the middle of the line, a T

command with no number specified types only the characters between
the CP and the end of the line, but the character pointer stays in the
same position, as shown in the following memory buffer example:

"I find ec^stasy in living -

Whenever ED is displaying text with the T command, you can enter

a CTRL-S to stop the display, then press any key when you are ready to
continue scrolling. Enter a CTRL-C to abort long type-outs.

6.4.3.  Deleting Characters The D (Delete) Command

The D command deletes a specified number of characters and takes

the forms:

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nD, -nD

where n is the number of characters to be deleted. If no number is

specified, ED deletes the character to the right of the CP. A positive
number deletes multiple characters to the right of the CP, towards the
bottom of the file. A negative number deletes characters to the left of
the CP, towards the top of the file. If the character pointer is positioned
in the memory buffer as follows

Emily Dickinson said,‹cr›‹lf›

“I find ecstasy in living —‹cr›‹lf›
the mere sense of living‹cr›‹lf›
is joy ^enough.”‹cr›‹lf›

the command 6D deletes the six characters after the CP, and the resulting
memory buffer looks like this:

Emily Dickinson said,‹cr›‹lf›

“I find ecstasy in living —‹cr›‹lf›
the mere sense of living‹cr›‹lf›
is joy ^.”‹cr›‹lf›

You can also use a D command to delete the ‹cr›‹lf› between two
lines to join them together. Remember that the ‹cr› and ‹lf› are two
characters.

The K (Kill) Command

The K command kills or deletes whole lines from the memory buffer
and takes the forms:

nK, -nK

where n is the number of lines to be deleted. A positive number kills

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lines after the CP. A negative number kills lines before the CP. When
no number is specified, ED kills the current line. If the character pointer
is at the beginning of the second line,

Emily Dickinson said,‹cr›‹lf›

^“I find ecstasy in living —‹cr›‹lf›
the mere sense of living‹cr›‹lf›
is joy enough.” ‹cr›‹lf›

then the command -K deletes the previous line and the memory buffer
changes:

^“I find ecstasy in living —‹cr›‹lf›

the mere sense of living‹cr›‹lf›
is joy enough.”‹cr›‹lf›

If the CP is in the middle of a line, a K command kills only the

characters from the CP to the end of the line and concatenates the
characters before the CP with the next line. A -K command deletes all
the characters between the beginning of the previous line and the CP.
A OK command deletes the characters on the line up to the CP.

You can use the special # character to delete all the text from the CP
to the beginning or end of the buffer. Be careful when using #K because
you cannot reclaim lines after they are removed from the memory buffer.

6.4.4.  Inserting Characters into the Memory Buffer

The I (Insert) Command

To insert characters into the memory buffer from the screen, use the
I command.

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If you enter the command in upper-case, ED automatically converts

the string to upper-case. The I command takes the forms:

I
Istring^Z

When you type the first command, ED enters insert mode. In this
mode, all keystrokes are added directly to the memory buffer. ED
enters characters in lines and does not start a new line until you press
the enter key.

A›ED B:QUOTE.TEX

NEW FILE
: *i
1: Emily Dickinson said,
2: "I find ecstasy in living -
3: the mere sense of living
4: is joy enough."
5: ^Z
: *

Note: to exit from insert mode, you must press CTRL-Z or ESC. When
the ED prompt, *, appears on the screen, ED is not in insert mode.

In command mode, you can use CP/M 3 command line-editing

control characters. In insert mode, you can use the control characters
listed in Table 6-3.

Table 6-3. CP/M 3 Line-editing Controls Result

Command Result
CTRL-H Delete the last character typed on the current line.
CTRL-U Delete the entire line currently being typed.

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Command Result
CTRL-X Delete the entire line currently being typed. Same
as CTRL-U.
Backspace Remove the last character.

When entering a combination of numbers and letters, you might find

it inconvenient to press a caps-lock key if your terminal translates the
upper-case of numbers to special characters. ED provides two ways to
translate your alphabetic input to upper-case without affecting num-
bers. The first is to enter the insert command letter in uppercase: I. All
alphabetics entered during the course of the capitalized command, either
in insert mode or as a string, are translated to upper-case. If you enter
the insert command letter in lower-case, all alphabetics are inserted as
typed. The second method is to enter a U command before inserting text.
Upper-case translation remains in effect until you enter a -U command.

The Istring^Z (Insert String) Command

The second form of the I command does not enter insert mode. It
inserts the character string into the memory buffer and returns imme-
diately to the ED prompt. You can use CP/M 3’s line-editing control
characters to edit the command string.

To insert a string, first use one of the commands that position the CP.
You must move the CP to the place where vou want to insert a string.
For example, if you want to insert a string at the beginning of the first
line, use a B command to move the CP to the beginning of the buffer.
With the CP positioned correctly, enter an insert string, as follows

iIn 1870, ^Z

This inserts the phrase “In 1870,” at the beginning of the first line,

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and returns immediately to the ED prompt. In the memory buffer, the

CP appears after the inserted string, as follows

In 1870,^ Emily Dickinson said, ‹cr›‹lf›

6.4.5.  Replacing Characters The S (Substitute) Command

The S command searches the memory buffer for the specified string,
but when it finds it, automatically substitutes a new string for the search
string. Whenever you enter a command in upper-case, ED automatically
converts the string to upper-case. The S command takes the form:

nSsearch string^Znew string

where n is the number of substitutions to make. If no number is specified,

ED searches for the next occurrence of the search string in the memory
buffer. For example, the command

sEmily Dickinson^ZThe Poet

searches for the first occurrence of “Emily Dickinson” and substitutes

“The poet.” In the memory buffer, the CP appears after the substituted
phrase, as follows

The poet^ said, ‹cr›‹lf›

If upper-case translation is enabled by a capital S command letter,

ED looks for a capitalized search string and inserts a capitalized insert
string. Note that if you combine this command with other commands,
you must terminate the new string with a CTRL-Z,

6.5.  Combining ED Commands

It saves keystrokes and editing time to combine the editing and dis-
play commands. You can type any number of ED commands on the

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide Combining ED Commands

same line. ED executes the command string only after you press the
carriage return key. Use CP/M 3’s line-editing controls to manipulate
ED command strings.

When you combine several commands on a line, ED executes them

in the same order they are entered, from left to right on the command
line. There are four restrictions to combining ED commands:

■ The combined-command line must not exceed CP/M 3’s 128

character maximum.
■ If the combined-command line contains a character string, the
line must not exceed 100 characters.
■ Commands to terminate an editing session must not appear in
a combined-command line.
■ Commands, such as the I, J, R, S, and X commands, that require
character strings or filespecs must be either the last command on
a line or must be terminated with a CTRL-Z or ESC character,
even if no character string or filespec is given.

While the examples in the previous section show the memory buffer
and the position of the character pointer, the examples in this section
show how the screen looks during an editing session. Remember that the
character pointer is imaginary, but you must picture its location because
ED’s commands display and edit text in relation to the character pointer.

6.5.1.  Moving the Character Pointer

To move the CP to the end of a line without calculating the number

of characters, combine an L command with a C command, L-2C. This
command string accounts for the ‹cr›‹lf› sequence at the end of the line.

Change the C command in this command string to move the CP

more characters to the left. You can use this command string if you must

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make a change at the end of the line and you do not want to calculate
the number of characters before the change, as in the following example:

1: *T
1: Emily Dickinson said,
1: *L-7CT
said,
1: *

6.5.2.  Displaying Text

A T command types from the CP to the end of the line. To see the
entire line, you can combine an L command and a T command. Type
0lt to move the CP from the middle to the beginning of the line and
then display the entire line. In the following example, the CP is in the
middle of the line. 0L moves the CP to the beginning of the line. T types
from the CP to the end of the line, allowing you to see the entire line.

3: *T
sense of living
3: *0LT
3: the mere sense of living
3: *

The command 0TT displays the entire line without moving the CP.

To verify that an ED command moves the CP correctly, combine

the command with the T command to display the line. The following
example combines a C command and a T command.

2: *8CT
ecstasy in living -
2: *

4: *B#T
1: Emily Dickinson said,
2: "I find ecstasy in living -

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3: the mere sense of living

4: is joy enough."
1: *

6.5.3.  Editing

To edit text and verify corrections quickly, combine the edit com-
mands with other ED commands that move the CP and display text.
Command strings like the one that follows move the CP, delete specified
characters, and verify changes quickly.

1: *15C5D0LT
1: Emily DicKinson,
1: *

Combine the edit command K with other ED commands to delete

entire lines and verify the correction quickly, as follows

1: *2L2KB#T
1: Emily Dickinson said,
2: "I find ecstasy in living -
1: *

The abbreviated form of the I (insert) command makes simple textual

changes. To make and verify these changes, combine the I command
string with the C command and the 0LT command string as follows.
Remember that the insert string must be terminated by a CTRL-Z.

1: *20Ci to a friend ^Z0LT

1: Emily Dickinson said to a friend,
1: *

6.6.  Advanced ED Commands

The basic editing commands discussed previously allow you to use ED

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for all your editing. The following ED commands, however, enhance

ED’s usefulness.

6.6.1.  Moving the CP and Displaying Text

The P (Page) Command

Although you can display any amount of text at the screen with a T
command, it is sometimes more convenient to page through the buffer,
viewing whole screens of data and moving the CP to the top of each
new screen at the same time. To do this, use ED’s P command. The P
command takes the following forms:

nP, -nP

where n is the number of pages to be displayed. If you do not specify n,

ED types the 23 lines following the CP and then moves the CP forward
23 lines. This leaves the CP pointing to the first character on the screen.

To display the current page without moving the CP, enter 0P. The
special character 0 prevents the movement of the CP. If you specify a
negative number for n, P pages backwards towards the top of the file.

The n: (Line Number) Command

When line numbers are being displayed, ED accepts a line number

as a command to specify a destination for the CP. The line number
command takes the following form:

n:

where n is the number of the destination line. This command places the
CP at the beginning of the specified line. For example, the command
4: moves the CP to the beginning of the fourth line.

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Remember that ED dynamically renumbers text lines in the buffer

each time a line is added or deleted. Therefore, the number of the des-
tination line you have in mind can change during editing.

The :n (Through Line Number) Command

The inverse of the line number command specifies that a command

should be executed through a certain line number. You can use this
command with only three ED commands: the K (kill) command, the
L (line) command, and the T (type) command. The :n command takes
the following form:

:ncommand

where n is the line number through which the command is to be executed.

The :n part of the command does not move the CP, but the command
that follows it might.

You can combine n: with :n to specify a range of lines through which

a command should be executed. For example, the command 2::4T types
the second, third, and fourth lines:

1: *2::4T
2: "I find ecstasy in living -
3: the mere sense of living
4: is joy enough."
2: *

6.6.2.  Finding and Replacing Character Strings

ED supports a find command, F, that searches through the memory

buffer and places the CP after the word or phrase you want. The N
command allows ED to search through the entire source file instead
of just the buffer. The J command searches for and then juxtaposes
character strings.

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The F (Find) Command

The F command performs the simplest find function; it takes the form:

nFstring

where n is the occurrence of the string to be found. Any number you

enter must be positive because ED can only search from the CP to the
bottom of the buffer. If you enter no number, ED finds the next oc-
currence of the string in the file. In the following example, the second
occurrence of the word living is found.

1: *2fliving
3: *

The character pointer moves to the beginning of the third line where
the second occurrence of the word “living” is located. To display the
line, combine the find command with a type command. Note that if
you follow an F command with another ED command on the same line,
you must terminate the string with a CTRL-Z, as follows

1: *2fliving^Z0lt
3: *the mere sense of living

It makes a difference whether you enter the F command in upper- or

lower-case. If you enter F, ED internally translates the argument string
to upper-case. If you specify f, ED looks for an exact match. For example,
Fcp/m 3 searches for CP/M 3 but fcp/m 3 searches for cp/m 3, and
cannot find CP/M 3.

If ED does not find a match for the string in the memory buffer, it
issues the message,

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BREAK "#" AT

where the symbol # indicates that the search failed during the execution
of an F command.

The N Command

The N command extends the search function beyond the memory

buffer to include the source file. If the search is successful, it leaves
the CP pointing to the first char- acter after the search string. The N
command takes the form:

nNstring

where n is the occurrence of the string to be found. If no number is

entered, ED looks for the next occurrence of the string in the file. The
case of the N command has the same effect on an N command as it
does on an F command. Note that if you follow an N command with
another ED command, you must terminate the string with a CTRL-Z.

When an N command is executed, ED searches the memory buffer for

the specified string, but if ED does not find the string, it does not issue
an error message. Instead, ED automatically writes the searched data
from the buffer into the new file. Then ED performs a OA command to
fill the buffer with unsearched data from the source file. ED continues
to search the buffer, write out data, and append new data until it either
finds the string or reaches the end of the source file. If ED reaches the
end of the source file, ED issues the following message:

BREAK "*" AT

Because ED writes the searched data to the new file before looking
for more data in the source file, ED usually writes the contents of the

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buffer to the new file before finding the end of the source file and issuing
the error message.

Note: you must use the H command to continue an edit session after
the source file is exhausted and the memory buffer is emptied.

The J ( Juxtapose) Command

The J command inserts a string after the search string, then deletes
any characters between the end of the inserted string to the beginning
of the a third delete-to string. This juxtaposes the string between the
search and delete-to strings with the insert string. The J command
takes the form:

nJsearch string^Zinsert string^Zdelete-to string

where n is the occurrence of the search string. If no number is specified,

ED searches for the next occurrence of the search string in the memory
buffer. In the following example, ED searches for the word “Dickinson”,
inserts the phrase “told a friend” after it, and then deletes everything
up to the comma.

1: *#T
1: Emily Dickinson said,
2: "I find ecstasy in living -
3: the mere of living
4: is joy enough."
1: *jDickinson^Z told a friend^Z,
1: *0lt
1: Emily Dickinson told a friend,
1: *

If you combine this command with other commands, you must ter-
minate the delete-to string with a CTRL-Z or ESC, as in the following
example. If an upper-case J command letter is specified, ED looks for

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upper-case search and delete-to strings and inserts an upper-case insert

string.

The J command is especially useful when revising comments in as-

sembly language source code, as follows

236: SORT LXI H, SW ;ADDRESS TOGGLE SWITCH

236: *j;^ZADDRESS SWITCH TOGGLE^Z^L^Z0LT
236: SORT LXI H, SW ;ADDRESS SWITCH TOGGLE
236: *

In this example, ED searches for the first semicolon and inserts

ADDRESS SWITCH TOGGLE after the mark and then deletes to
the ‹cr›‹lf› sequence, represented by CTRL-L. In any search string,
you can use CTRL-L to represent a ‹cr›‹lf› when the phrase that you
want extends across a line break. You can also use a CTRL-I in a search
string to represent a tab.

Note: if long strings make your command longer than your screen line
length, enter a CTRL-E to cause a physical carriage return at the screen.
A CTRL-E returns the cursor to the left edge of the screen, but does
not send the command line to ED. Remember that no ED command
line containing strings can exceed 100 characters. When you finish your
command, press the carriage return key to send the command to ED.

The M (Macro) Command

An ED macro command, M, can increase the usefulness of a string

of commands. The M command allows you to group ED commands
together for repeated execution. The M command takes the following
form:

nMcommand string

where n is the number of times the command string is to be executed.

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A negative number is not a valid argument for an M command. If no

number is specified, the special character # is assumed, and ED exe-
cutes the command string until it reaches the end of data in the buffer
or the end of the source file, depending on the commands specified in
the string. In the following example, ED executes the four com mands
repetitively until it reaches the end of the memory buffer:

1: *mfliving^Z-6diLiving^Z0lt
2: "I find ecstasy in Living -
3: the mere sense of Living

BREAK "*" AT ^Z
3: *

The terminator for an M command is a carriage return; therefore, an

M command must be the last command on the line. Also, all character
strings that appear in a macro must be terminated by CTRL-Z or ESC.
If a character string ends the combined-command string, it must be ter-
minated by CTRL-Z, then followed by a ‹cr› to end the M command.

The execution of a macro command always ends in a BREAK "#" mes-

sage, even when you have limited the number of times the macro is to
be performed, and ED does not reach the end of the buffer or source
file. Usually the command letter displayed in the message is one of the
commands from the string and not M.

To abort a macro command, press a CTRL-C at the keyboard.

The Z (Sleep) Command

Use the Z command to make the editor pause between operations.

The pauses give you a chance to review what you have done. The Z
command takes the following form:

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide Advanced ED Commands

nZ

where n is the number of seconds to wait before proceeding to the next

instruction.

Usually, the Z command has no real effect unless you use it with a
macro command. The following example shows you how you can use
the Z command to cause a brief pause each time ED finds the word
TEXT in a file.

A›*mfliving^Z0tt10z

6.6.3.  Moving Text Blocks

To move a group of lines from one area of your data to another, use
an X command to write the text block into a temporary LIB file, then
a K command to remove these lines from their original location, and
finally an R command to read the block into its new location.

The X (Transfer) Command

The X command takes the forms:

nX
nXfilespec^Z

where n is the number of lines from the CP towards the bottom of the
buffer that are to be transferred to a file. Therefore, n must always be a
positive number. The nX command with no file specified creates a tem-
porary file named X$$$$$$$.LIB. This file is erased when you terminate
the edit session. The nX command with a file specified creates a file of
the specified name. If no filetype is specified, LIB is assumed. This file
is saved when you terminate the edit session. If the X command is not
the last command on the line, the command must be terminated by a

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CTRL-Z or ESC. In the following example, just one line is transferred

to the temporary file:
1: *X
1: *t
1: *Emily Dickinson said,
1: *kt
1: *"I find ecstacy in living -
1: *

If no library file is specified, ED looks for a file named X$$$$$$$.

LIB. If the file does not exist, ED creates it. If a previous X command
already created the library file, ED appends the specified lines to the
end of the existing file.

Use the special character 0 as the n argument in an X command to

delete any file from within ED.

The R (Read) Command

The X command transfers the next n lines from the current line to
a library file. The R command can retrieve the transferred lines. The R
command takes the forms:

R
Rfilespec

If no filename is specified, X$$$$$$$ is assumed. If no filetype is

specified, LIB is assumed. R inserts the library file in front of the CP;
therefore, after the file is added to the memory buffer, the CP points to
the same character it did before the read, although the character is on a
new line number. If you combine an R command with other commands,
you must separate the filename from subsequent command letters with
a CTRL-Z as in the following example where ED types the entire file
to verify the read.

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1: *41
: *R^ZB#T
1: "I find ecstasy in living -
2: the mere sense of living
3: is joy enough."
4: Emily Dickinson said,
1: *

6.6.4.  Saving or Abandoning Changes: ED Exit

You can save or abandon editing changes with the following three
commands.

The H (Head of File) Command

An H command saves the contents of the memory buffer without

ending the ED session, but it returns to the head of the file. It saves the
current changes and lets you reedit the file without exiting ED. The H
command takes the following form:

followed by a carriage return.

To execute an H command, ED first finalizes the new file, transfer-

ring all lines remaining ‘in the buffer and the source file to the new file.
Then ED closes the new file, erases any BAK file that has the same file
specification as the original source file, and renames the original source
file filename.BAK. ED then renames the new file, which has had the
filetype $$$, with the original file specification. Finally, ED opens the
newly renamed file as the new source file for a new edit, and opens a
new $$$ file. When ED returns the * prompt, the CP is at the beginning
of an empty memory buffer.

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If you want to send the edited material to a file other than the original
file, use the following command:
A›ED filespec differentfilespec

If you then restart the edit with the H command, ED renames the
file differentfilename.$$$ to differentfilename.BAK and creates a new
file of differentfilespec when you finish editing.

The O (Original) Command

An O command abandons changes made since the beginning of the

edit and allows you to return to the original source file and begin reed-
iting without ending the ED session. The O command takes the form:

followed by a carriage return. When you enter an 0 command, ED

confirms that you want to abandon your changes by asking

O (Y/N)?

You must respond with either a Y or an N; if you press any other key,
ED repeats the question. When you enter Y, ED erases the temporary
file and the contents of the memory buffer. When the * prompt returns,
the character pointer is pointing to the beginning of an empty memory
buffer, just as it is when you start ED.

The Q (Quit) Command

A Q command abandons changes made since the beginning of the

ED session and exits ED. The Q command takes the form:

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followed by a carriage return.

When you enter a Q command, ED verifies that you want to abandon

the changes by asking

Q (Y/N)?

You must respond with either a Y or an N; if you press any other key,
ED repeats the question. When you enter Y, ED erases the temporary
file, closes the source file, and returns control to CP/M 3.

Note: you can enter a CTRL-Break or a CTRL-C to return control

immediately to CP/M 3. This does not give ED a chance to close the
source or new files, but it prevents ED from deleting any temporary files.

6.7.  ED Error Messages

ED returns one of two types of error messages: an ED error message
if ED cannot execute an edit command, or a CP/M 3 error message
if ED cannot read or write to the specified file. An ED error message
takes the form:

BREAK “x” AT c

where x is one of the symbols defined in the following table and c is the
command letter where the error occurred.

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ED Error Symbols
Symbol Meaning
# Search failure. ED cannot find the string specified in
a F, S, or N command.
?c Unrecognized command letter c. ED does not recog-
nize the indicated command letter, or an E, H, O, or
Q command is not alone on its command line.
0 No. LIB file. ED did not find the LIB file specified in
an R command.
› Buffer full. ED cannot put anymore characters in the
memory buffer, or string specified in an F, N, or S
command is too long.
E Command aborted. A keystroke at the keyboard abort-
ed command execution.
F File error. Followed by either disk FULL or
DIRECTORY FULL.

The following examples show how to recover from common editing

error conditions. For example

BREAK "›" AT A

means that ED filled the memory buffer before completing the execution
of an A command. When this occurs, the character pointer is at the
end of the buffer and no editing is possible. Use the 0W command to
write out half the buffer or use an O or H command and reedit the file.

BREAK "#" AT F

means that ED reached the end of the memory buffer without matching
the string in an F command. At this point, the character pointer is at the
end of the buffer. Move the CP with a B or n: line number command
to resume editing.

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BREAK "F" AT F
DISK FULL

Use the 0X command to erase an unnecessary file on the disk or a

B#Xd:buffer.sav command to write the contents of the memory buffer
onto another disk.

BREAK "F" AT n
DIRECTORY FULL

Use the same commands described in the previous message to recover

from this file error.

The following table defines the disk file error messages ED returns
when it cannot read or write a file.

Table 6-4. ED Diskette File Error Messages

Message Meaning
CP/M Error on d: Read/Only File
BDOS Function = NN File = FILENAME.TYP

Disk d: has Read-Only attribute. This occurs if a

different disk has been inserted in the drive since
the last cold or warm boot.
** FILE IS READ ONLY **

The file specified in the command to invoke ED

has the R/O attribute. ED can read the file so that
the user can examine it, but ED cannot change a
Read-Only file.

End of Section 6

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 Appendix A 
CP/M 3 Messages

Messages come from several different sources. CP/M 3 can display

error messages when the Basic Disk Operating System (BDOS) returns
an error code. CP/M 3 can also display messages when there are errors
in command lines. Each utility supplied with CP/M 3 has its own set
of messages. The following table lists CP/M 3 messages and utility
messages. If you are running an application program, you might see
messages other than those listed here. Check the application program’s
documentation for explanations of those messages.

The messages in Table A-1 might be preceded by ERROR:. Some of

them might also be preceded or followed by the filespec of the file caus-
ing the error condition. Sometimes the input line is flagged with an up
arrow ^, to indicate the character that caused the error. In this case, the
message, Error at the ^, precedes the appropriate error message. Some
of the messages are followed by an additional line preceded by INPUT:,
OPTION:, or DRIVE: followed by the applicable error message.

Table A-1. CP/M 3 Messages

Message Meaning
Assign a Password to this file.

SET. A password mode has been selected for this

file but no password has been assigned.
Auxiliary device redirection not implemented.

GET and PUT. AUXIN and AUXOUT cannot

be redirected to a file.

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Message Meaning
Bad character, re-enter

GENCPM. The character entered was not a number.

Bad close.

SAVE. An error occurred during the attempt to close

the file, probably because the file is write-protected.
Bad Logical Device Assignment;

DEVICE. Only the following logical devices are val-

id: CONIN:, CONOUT:, AUXIN:, AUXOUT:,
LST:.
BAD PARAMETER

PIP. You entered an illegal parameter in a PIP com-

mand. Retype the entry correctly.
Bad Password.

RENAME. The password supplied by the user is

incorrect.
Bank one not allowed.

GENCPM. Bank 1 cannot be defined as available

during system generation.
Baud rate cannot be set for this device.

DEVICE. Only physical devices that have the

SOFT-BAUD attribute can have their baud rates
changed. To check the attributes of the physical
device, type DEVICE physical-dev.

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Message Meaning
Break "x" at c

ED. “x” is one of the symbols described below and

c is the command letter being executed when the
error occurred.
# Search failure. ED cannot find the string
specified in an F, N, or S command.
? Unrecognized command letter c. ED does
not recognize the indicated command letter,
or an E, H, O, or Q command is not alone
on its command line.
0 The file specified in an R command cannot
be found.
› Buffer full. ED cannot put any more char-
acters in the memory buffer, or the string
specified in an F, N, or S command is too
long.
E Command aborted. A keystroke at the con-
sole aborted command execution.
F Disk or directory full. This error is followed
by either the disk or directory full message.
Refer to the recovery procedures listed un-
der these messages.

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Message Meaning
CANNOT CLOSE:
Cannot close file
CANNOT CLOSE FILE.
CANNOT CLOSE DESTINATION FILE - filespec

GENCOM, HEXCOM, LIB-80™, LINK-80, MAC,

PIP, RMAC, SUBMIT. An output file cannot be
closed. This can occur if the disk is removed before
the program terminates.
Cannot delete file.

GENCOM. CP/M cannot delete a file. Check to see

if the COM file is Read-Only or password-protected.
Cannot have both create and access time stamps.

SET. CP/M 3 supports either create or access time

stamps, but not both.
Cannot label a drive with a file referenced

SET. SET does not allow mixing of files and drives.

CANNOT OPEN SOURCE FILE

HEXCOM. The HEX file is not on the specified

drive(s).
Cannot redirect from BIOS.

GET, PUT. This message is displayed as a warning

only if the system has an invalid BIOS.
Cannot set both RO and RW.

SET. A file cannot be set to both Read-Only and

Read-Write.

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Message Meaning
Cannot set both SYS and DIR.

SET. A file cannot be set to both SYS and DIR.

CAN'T DELETE TEMP FILE

PIP. A temporary $$$ file already exists which is

Read-Only. Use the SET command to change the
attribute to Read-Write, then erase it.
CHECKSUM ERROR.
Checksum error

HEXCOM, PIP. A hex record checksum error was

encoutered. The hex record that produced the error
must be corrected, probably by recreating the hex file.
Close error.

XREF. This message is preceded by the filename.

XRF. The disk might have been removed before the
program terminated.
Close operation failed.

COPYSYS. There was a problem in closing the file

at the end of the file copy operation.
Closing file HELP.DAT
Closing file HELP.HLP

HELP. HELP encountered error while processing

the HELP.DAT or the HELP.HLP file.
COM file found and NULL option

GENCOM. The NULL option implies that no

COM file is to be loaded, just the RSXs.

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Message Meaning
.COM file required

DIR, ERASE, RENAME, TYPE. Options in the

built-in command line require support from a tran-
sient COM file that CP/M 3 cannot find on disk.
COMMON ERROR:

LINK-80 An undefined common block has been

selected.
CORRECT ERROR, TYPE RETURN OR CTRL-Z

PIP. A hex record checksum was encountered

during the transfer of a hex file. The hex file with
the checksum error should be corrected, probably
by recreating the hex file.
CPMLDR error: failed to open CPM3.SYS

CPMLDR. The system file CPM3.SYS is missing.

CPMLDR error: failed to read CPM3.SYS

CPMLDR. An error occurred while reading CPM3.

SYS.
CP/M Error on d: Disk I/O
BDOS Function = xx File = filespec

CP/M displays the preceding message if the disk is

defective or improperly formatted (wrong density).

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Message Meaning
CP/M Error on d: Invalid Drive
BDOS Function = xx File = filespec

CP/M 3 displays the preceding message when there

is no disk in the drive, the drive latch is open, or the
power is off. It also displays the message when the
specified drive is not in the system.
CP/M Error on d: Read/Only Disk
BDOS Function = xx File = filespec

CP/M 3 does not allow you to erase, rename, update,

or set attributes of a file residing in a Read-Only
drive. Use the SET command to set the drive attri-
bute to Read-Write.
CP/M Error on d: Read/Only File
BDOS Function = xx File = filespec

CP/M 3 does not allow you to erase, rename, update,

or set attributes of a file that is Read-Only. Use the
SET command to set the file attribute to Read-Write.
Date and Time Stamping Inactive.

DIR. The DATE option was specified, but the disk

directory has not been initialized with date/time
stamping.
DESTINATION IS R/O , DELETE (Y/N)?

PIP. The destination file specified in a PIP command

already exists and it is Read-Only. If you type Y,
the destination file is deleted before the file copy
is done. If you type N, PIP displays the message
**NOT DELETED** and aborts the copy operation.

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Message Meaning
Device Reassignment Not Supported.
Enter new assignment or hit RETURN.

DEVICE. A device assignment is invalid.

Directory already re-formatted.

INITDIR. The directory already has date/time

stamping.
Directory full
DIRECTORY FULL

ED. There is not enough directory space for the file

being written to the destination disk. You can use
the 0Xfilespec command to erase any unnecessary
files on the disk without leaving the editor.

SUBMIT. There is not enough directory space on

the temporary file drive to write the temporary file
used for processing SUBMIT files. Use the SETDEF
command to determine which drive is the tempo-
rary file drive. Use the ERASE command to erase
unnecessary files or set the temporary file drive to
a different drive and retry.

LIB-80, LINK-80. There is no directory space for

the output or intermediate files. Use the ERASE
command to remove unnecessary files.

GENCPM. There is no directory space for

CPM3.SYS.

HEXCOM. There is no directory space for the

output COM file.

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Message Meaning
Directory needs to be reformatted for date/time stamps.

SET. A date/time option was specified, but the

directory has not been initialized for date/time
stamping. Use the INITDIR command to initialize
the directory for date/time stamping.
DISK FULL

ED. There is not enough disk space for the out-

put file. This error can occur on the E, H, W, or X
commands. If it occurs with X command, you can
repeat the command prefixing the filename with a
different drive.
DISK READ
DISK REID ERROR:
Disk read error: filespec
DISK READ ERROR - filespec

GENCPM, HEXCOM, LIB-80, LINK-80, PIP.

The disk file specified cannot be read.
DISK WRITE.
Disk Write Error
DISK WRITE ERROR:
DISK WRITE ERROR - filespec

HEXCOM, LIB-80, LINK-80, PIP, SUBMIT. A

disk write operation cannot be successfully per-
formed probably because the disk is full. Use the
ERASE command to remove unnecessary files.
Do you want another file? (Y/N)

PUT. Enter Y to redirect output to an additional

file. Otherwise, enter N.

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Message Meaning
Drive defined twice in search path

SETDEF. A drive can be specified only once in the

search path order.
Drive Read Only

ERASE, RENAME. The specified file is on a

Read-Only drive and cannot be erased or renamed.
Drive specified has not been defined.

GENCPM. The drive specified has not been defined

yet. Buffer(s) have not been allocated for the drive.
Duplicate RSX in header. Replacing old by new
This file was not used

GENCOM. The specified RSX is already attached

to the COM file. The old one is discarded.
Duplicate input RSX.

GENCOM. Two or more RSXs of the same name

are specified. GENCOM uses only one of the RSXs.
Equals (=) delimiter missing at line NN.

GENCPM. The equal sign is missing in the spec-

ified line.
END OF FILE, ^Z, ?

PIP encountered an unexpected end-of-file during

a HEX file transfer.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide 

Message Meaning
End of line expected

DEVICE, GET, PUT, SETDEF. The command

typed does not have any further parameters. An
end-of-line was expected. Any further characters
on the line were ignored.
Error at end of line:

DEVICE, GET, PUT, SETDEF. The error detected

occurred at the end of the input line.
Error on line nnnnn:

SUBMIT. The SUBMIT program displays its

messages in the preceding format, where nnnnn
represents the line number of the SUBMIT file.
Refer to the message following the line number for
explanation of the error.
FILE ERROR

ED. Disk or directory is full, and ED cannot write

anything more on the disk. This is a fatal error, so
make sure there is enough space on the disk to hold
a second copy of the file before invoking ED.

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CP/M 3 Messages CP/M 3 User’s Guide

Message Meaning
File already exists; Delete it? (Y/N)
file already exists, delete (Y/N)?

PUT. Enter Y to delete the file. Otherwise the pro-

gram terminates.

RENAME. The above message is preceded by

filespec. You have asked CP/M 3 to create or re-
name a file using a file specification that is already
assigned to another file. Either delete the existing
file or use another file specification.
File cannot fit into GENCPM buffer: filename.SPR

GENCPM. There is not enough memory to gen-

erate a system.
File exists, erase it

ED. The destination filename already exists when

you are placing the destination file on a different
disk than the source. It should be erased or another
disk selected to receive the output file.
FILE IS READ/ONLY
File is Read Only

ED. The file specified in the command to invoke ED

has the Read-Only attribute. ED can read the file
so that you can examine it, but ED cannot change
a Read-Only file.

PUT. The file specified to receive the output is a

Read-Only file.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide CP/M 3 Messages

Message Meaning
FILE NAME ERROR:

LIB-80. The form of a source filename is invalid.

File not found.
FILE NOT FOUND - filespec

DUMP, ED, GENCOM, GET, PIP, SET. An input

file that you have specified does not exist. Check that
you have entered the correct drive specification or
that you have the correct disk in the drive.
First submitted file must be a COM file.

GENCOM. A COM file is expected as the first file

in the command tail. The only time GENCOM does
not expect to see a COM file in the first position
of the command tail is when the NULL option is
specified.
FIRST COMMON NOT LARGEST:

LINK-80. A subsequent COMMON declaration

is larger than the first COMMON declaration
for the indicated block. Check that the files being
linked are in the proper order, or that the modules
in a library are in the proper order.
HELP.DAT not on current drive.

HELP. HELP cannot find HELP.DAT file to pro-

cess.
Illegal command tail.

DIR. The command line has an invalid format or

option.

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CP/M 3 Messages CP/M 3 User’s Guide

Message Meaning
Illegal Format Value.

DIR. Only SIZE and FULL options can be used

for display formats.
Illegal Global/Local Drive Spec Mixing.

DIR. Both a filespec with a drive specifier and the

DRIVE option appears in the command.
Illegal filename.

SAVE. There is an error in the filespec on the com-

mand line.
Illegal Option or Modifier.

DIR. An invalid option or abbreviation was used.

Illegal date/time specification.

DATE. Date/time format is invalid.

Incorrect file specification.

RENAME. The format of the filespec is invalid.

INDEX ERROR:

LINK-80. The index of an IRL contains invalid

information.
Insufficient Memory
INSUFFICIENT MEMORY:

GET, LINK-80, PUT, SUBMIT. There is not

enough memory to allocate buffers, or there are
too many levels of SUBMIT nesting.

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Message Meaning
Invalid ASCII character

SUBMIT. The SUBMIT file contains an invalid

character (0FFH).
Invalid character at line NN.

GENCPM. The character must be a number.

Invalid command.

GET and PUT. The string or substring typed in

the command line was not recognized as a valid
command in the context used.
Invalid delimiter.

DEVICE, GET, PUT, SETDEF. The delimiter, [ ],

= or space, — was not valid at the location used.
For example, a [ was used where an = should have
been used.
INVALID DESTINATION:

PIP. An invalid drive or device was specified.

INVALID DIGIT - filespec

PIP. An invalid hex digit has been encountered while

reading a hex file. The hex file with the invalid hex
digit should be corrected, probably by recreating
the hex file.

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Message Meaning
Invalid drive.

SETDEF. The specified drive was not a valid drive.

Drives recognized by SETDEF are * (default drive)
and A to P.

GENCPM, TYPE. Valid drives are A to P.

Invalid drive ignored at line NN.

GENCPM. Valid drives are A to P.

Invalid drive name (Use A, B, C, D)

COPYSYS, GENCPM. Only drives A, B, C and

D are valid destination drives for system generation.
Invalid File.
INVALID FILENAME
Invalid file name.
Invalid Filename.
Invalid file specification.

ED, ERASE, GENCOM, GET, PIP, PUT, SET,

SUBMIT, TYPE. The filename typed does not con-
form to the normal CP/M 3 file naming conventions.
INVALID FORMAT

PIP. The format of your PIP command is illegal. See

the description of the PIP command.
INVALID HEX DIGIT.

HEXCOM. An invalid hex digit has been encoun-

tered while reading a hex file. The hex file with the
invalid hex digit should be corrected by recreating
the hex file.

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Message Meaning
Invalid number.

DEVICE. A number was expected but not found,

or the num- ber was out of range; numbers must
be from 0 to 255.
Invalid option.

DEVICE and GET. An option was expected and

the string found was not a device option or was not
valid in the context used.

SETDEF. The option typed in the command line

is not a valid option. Valid options are DISPLAY,
NO DISPLAY, NO PAGE, ORDER, PAGE,
TEMPORARY.
Invalid option or modifier.

DIR, GET, PUT. The option typed is not a valid

option.
INVALID PARAMETER:

MAC, RMAC. An invalid assembly parameter was

found in the input line. The assembly parameters are
printed at the console up to the point of the error.
Invalid parameter variable at line NN.

GENCPM. The parameter variable does not exist.

Check spelling.

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Message Meaning
INVALID PASSWORD
Invalid Password or Passwords not allowed.

ED, PIP. The specified password is incorrect, or

a password was specified, but the file is not pass-
word-protected.
Invalid physical device.

DEVICE. A physical device name was expected. The

name found in the command string does not cor-
respond to any physical device name in the system.
INVALID REL FILE:

LINK-80. The file indicated contains an invalid

bit pattern. Make sure that a REL or IRL file has
been specified.
Invalid RSX type.

GENCOM. Filetype must be RSX.

Invalid SCB offset.

GENCOM. The specified SCB is out of range. The

SCB offset range is 00H–64H.
INVALID SEPARATOR

PIP. You have placed an invalid character for a sep-

arator between two input filenames.
INVALID SOURCE

PIP. An invalid drive or device was specified. AUX

and CON are the only valid devices.

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Message Meaning
Invalid type for ORDER option.

SETDEF. The type specified in the command line

was not COM or SUB.
Invalid SYM file format

XREF. The filename.SYM file input to XREF is

invalid.
INVALID USER NUMBER

PIP. You have specified a user number greater than

15. User numbers are in the range 0 to 15.
Invalid wildcard.

RENAME. The filespec contained an invalid wild-

card specification.
Invalid wild card in the FCB name or type field.

GENCOM. GENCOM does not allow wildcards

in filespecs.
LOAD ADDRESS LESS THAN 100.

HEXCOM. The program origin is less than 100H.

MAIN MODULE ERROR:

LINK-80. A second main module was encountered.

Make error

XREF. There is not more directory space on the

specified drive.

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Message Meaning
Memory conflict - cannot trim segment.

GENCPM. The defined memory segment overlaps

another segment.
Memory conflict - segment trimmed.

GENCPM. The defined memory segment overlaps

with other segments.
MEMORY OVERFLOW:

LINK-80. There is not enough memory to complete

the link operation.
Minimum number of buffers is 1.

GENCPM. The first drive must have at least one

buffer defined.
Missing delimeter or Unrecognised Option.

ERASE. The ERASE command line format is in-

valid.
Missing parameter variable at line NN.

GENCPM. The line is missing a variable name.

Missing left parenthesis.

GENCOM. The SCB option must be enclosed by

a left parenthesis.
Missing right parenthesis.

GENCOM. The SCB option is not enclosed with

a right parenthesis.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide CP/M 3 Messages

Message Meaning
Missing SCB value.

GENCOM. The SCB option requires a value.

More than four drives specified.

SETDEF. More than four drives were specified for

the drive search chain.
MULTIPLE DEFINITION:

LINK-80. The specified symbol is defined in more

than one of the modules being linked.
n?

USER. You specified a number greater than fifteen

for a user area number. For example, if you type
USER 18, the screen displays 18?.
No directory label exists.

SHOW. The LABEL option was requested but the

disk has no label.
No directory space
NO DIRECTORY SPACE - filespec

COPYSYS, GENCOM, MAC, PIP, RMAC, AND

SAVE. There is not enough directory space for the
output file. Use the ERASE command to remove
unnecessary files on the disk and try again.

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Message Meaning
No disk space.

SAVE. There is not enough space on the disk for the

output file. Use the SHOW command to display
the amount of disk space left and use the ERASE
command to remove unnecessary files from the disk,
or use another disk with more file space.
No file
NO FILE:
NO FILE - filespec

DIR, ERASE, LIB-80, LINK-80, PATCH, PIP,

RENAME, TYPE. The specified file cannot be
found in the specified drive(s).
No HELP.HLP file on the default drive.

HELP. The file HELP.HLP must be on the default

drive.
NO INPUT FILE PRESENT ON DISK

DUMP. The file you requested does not exist.

No memory

There is not enough memory available for loading

the specified program.
No modifier for this option.

GENCOM. A modifier was specified but none is

required.
NO MODULE:

LIB-80. The indicated module cannot be found.

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Message Meaning
No more space in the header for RSXs or SCB
initialization.

GENCOM. The header has room for only 15 entries,

or the combination of RSXs and SCBs exceed the
maximum.
No options specified.

SET. Specify an option.

No PRN file.

XREF. The file filename.PRN is not present on the

specified drive.
No Records Exist

DUMP. Only a directory entry exists for the file.

No source file on disk.

COPYSYS. The file CPM3.SYS is not on the disk

specified.
NO SOURCE FILE PRESENT:

MAC, RMAC. The source file cannot be found on

the specified drive.
NO SPACE

SAVE. There is no space in the directory for the

file being written.
No 'SUB' file found.

SUBMIT. The SUB file typed in the command line

cannot be found in the drive search process.

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Message Meaning
No such file to rename.

RENAME. The file to be renamed does not exist

on the specified drive(s).
No SYM file

XREF. The file filename SYM is not present on the

specified drive.
NON-SYSTEM FILE(S) EXIST

DIRS. If nonsystem (DIR) files reside on the spec-

ified drive, DIRS displays this message.
Not enough available memory.
Not Enough Memory.
Not Enough Memory for Sort.

DIR, INITDIR. There is not enough memory for

data or sort buffers.
Not enough room in directory.

INITDIR. There is not enough remaining directory

space to allow for the date and time extension.
NOT FOUND

PIP. PIP cannot find the specified file.

Not renamed, filespec read only.

RENAME. The specified file cannot be renamed

because it is Read-Only.
OPEN FILE NONRECOVERABLE

PIP. A disk has the wrong format or a bad sector.

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Message Meaning
Option only for drives.

SET. The specified option is not valid for files.

Option requires a file reference.

SET. The specified option requires a filespec.

Out of data space.

COPYSYS. The destination drive ran out of space

during the transfer of the CPM3.SYS file.
Options not grouped together.

DIR. Options can only be specified within one set

of brackets.
Output file exists, Erase it.

The output file specified must not already exist.

OUTPUT FILE READ ERROR:

MAC, RMAC. An output file cannot be written

properly, probably because the disk is full. Use the
ERASE command to delete unnecessary files from
the disk.
OVERLAPPING SEGMENTS:

LINK-80. LINK-80 attempted to write a segment

into memory already used by another segment.
Page and nopage option selected.
No Page in effect.

SET. The preceding options are mutually exclusive.

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Message Meaning
Parameter Error.

SUBMIT. Within the SUBMIT file of type SUB,

valid parameters are $0 through $9.
Password Error.

DUMP, ERASE, GENCOM, TYPE. The password

is incorrect.
Physical Device Does Not Exist.

DEVICE. The specified physical device is not de-

fined in the system.
Possible incompartible disk format.

COPYSYS. The system disk and the output disk

have different formats.
PROGRAM INPUT IGNORED.

SUBMIT. This message is preceded by “WARNING”.

The SUBMIT file contains a line with <, and the
program does not require additional input.
PUT›

PUT. This prompt occurs when a program requests

input while running a PUT FILE [NO ECHO]
command.
PUT ERROR: FILE ERASED.

PUT. The PUT output file was erased and could

not be closed.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide CP/M 3 Messages

Message Meaning
QUIT NOT FOUND

PIP. The string argument to a Q parameter was not

found in your input file.
Random Read

SUBMIT. An error occurred when reading the

temporary file used by the SUBMIT command.
Read only.

GENCOM, SET. The drive or file specified is

write-protected.
Read error

TYPE. An error occurred when reading the file

specified in the TYPE command. Check the disk
and try again.
Reading file: filespec

GENCPM. An error occurred while attempting to

read the file specified by filespec.
Reading file HELP.HLP
Reading HELP.HLP index

HELP. An error occurred while reading HELP.HLP.

Copy the HELP.HLP file from the system disk.
RECORD TOO LONG

PIP. A HEX record exceeds 80 characters in a file

being copied with the [H] option.

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Message Meaning
Requires CP/M 3.0 or higher.

DATE, DEVICE, DIR, ERASE, GENCOM,

HELP, INITDIR, PIP, SET, SETDEF, SHOW,
RENAME, TYPE. This version of the utility must
only be run under CP/M 3.0 or higher.
R/O DISK

PIP. The destination drive is set to Read-Only and

PIP cannot write to it.
R/O FILE

PIP. The destination file is set to Read-Only and

PIP cannot write to it.
Sort Stack Overflow

DIR. There is not enough memory available for

the sort stack.
Source file is incomplete.

GENCPM. GENCPM cannot use your CP/M 3

system source file.
SOURCE FILE READ ERROR:

MAC, RMAC. The source file cannot be read prop-

erly by MAC.
SOURCE FILENAME ERROR:

MAC, RMAC. The form of the source filename

is invalid.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide CP/M 3 Messages

Message Meaning
START NOT FOUND

PIP. The string argument to an S parameter cannot

be found in the source file.
Symbol Table overflow

XREF. No space is available for an attempted symbol

allocation.
Symbol Table reference overflow

XREF. No space is available for an attempted symbol

reference allocation.
SYNTAX ERROR:

LIB. The LIB-80 command is not properly formed.

Too many entries in Index Table.
Not enough memory

HELP. There is not enough memory available to

hold the topic table while creating HELP.HLP.
Topic:
xxxxxx
Not found.

HELP. The topic requested does not exist in the

HELP.HLP file. HELP displays the topics available.
Total file size exceeds 64K.

GENCOM. The output file exceeds the maximum

allowed.
Try 'PAGE' or 'NO PAGE'

TYPE. The only valid option is PAGE or NO PAGE.

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Message Meaning
Unable to allocate Data deblocking buffer space.

GENCPM. There is not enough space left in gen-

erated system to allocate a data deblocking buffer.
Unable to allocate Dir deblocking buffer space.

GENCPM. There is not enough space left in gener-

ated system to allocate a directory deblocking buffer.
Unable to allocate space for hash table.

GENCPM. There is not enough contiguous mem-

ory to allocate space for the hash table in the gen-
erated system.
Unable to close HELP.DAT.
Unable to close HELP.HLP.

HELP. An error occurred while closing file HELP.

HLP or HELP.DAT. There might not be enough
disk or directory space on the drive.
Unable to find file HELP.HLP.

HELP. HELP requires HELP.HLP file to operate.

Copy it to your default drive from your CP/M 3
system disk.
Unable to Make HELP.DAT.
Unable to Make HELP.HLP.

HELP. There is not enough space on the disk

for HELP.HLP or HELP.DAT, or the files are
Read-Only.

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Message Meaning
Unable to open: filename.SPR

GENCPM. The file specified cannot be found on

the default drive.
UNBALANCED MACRO LIBRARY.

MAC, RMAC. A MACRO definition was started

within a macro library, but the end of the file was
found in the library before the balancing ENDM
was encountered.
UNDEFINED START SYMBOL:

LINK-80. The symbol specified with the G switch

is not defined in any of the modules being linked.
UNDEFINED SYMBOLS:

LINK-80. The symbols following this message are

referenced but not defined in any of the modules
being linked.
UNEXPECTED END OF HEX FILE - filespec

PIP. An end-of-file was encountered before a termi-

nation hex record. The hex file without a termination
record should be corrected, probably by recreating
the hex file.
Unrecognized drive.

SHOW. The specified drive is not valid, Valid drives

are A to P.

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Message Meaning
UNRECOGNIZED ITEM:

LINK-80. An unfamiliar bit pattern has been

scanned and ignored by LINK-80.
Unrecognized input.

SHOW. The SHOW command line has an invalid

format.
Unrecognized option.

GENCOM and SHOW. An option typed in the

command line is not valid for the command.
USER ABORTED

PIP. You stopped a PIP operation by pressing

CTRL-C.
VERIFY ERROR - filespec

PIP. When copying with the V option, PIP found

a difference when rereading the data just written
and comparing it to the data in its memory buffer.
Write error

XREF. This message is preceded by filename.XRF

and indicates that no disk space is available, or no
directory space exists on the specified drive.
Write Protected?

COPYSYS. The drive or disk to which the system

is to be written is Read-Only.

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Message Meaning
Writing file: filespec

GENCPM, HELP. An error occurred while at-

tempting to write the file specified by filespec.
Wrong Password.

SET. The specified password is incorrect or invalid.

Zero length segment not allowed.

GENCPM. A memory segment cannot have zero

length.
0FFFFH is an invalid value in the DPH directory BCB
address field.

GENCPM. This value is allowed only in the

DTABCB field.
?

SID. SID has encountered an error.

End of Appendix A

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 Appendix B 
ASCII and Hexadecimal
Conversions

ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Inter-

change. The code contains 96 printing and 32 non-printing characters
used to store data on a disk.

Table B-1 defines ASCII symbols, then Table B-2 lists the ASCII
and hexadecimal conversions. The table includes binary, decimal, hexa-
decimal, and ASCII conversions.

Table B-1. ASCII Symbols

Symbol Meaning Symbol Meaning
ACK acknowledge FS file separator
BEL bell GS group separator
BS backspace HT horizontal tabulation
CAN cancel LF line-feed
CR carriage return NAK negative acknowledge
DC device control NUL null
DEL delete RS record separator
DLE data link escape SI shift in
EM end of medium SO shift out
ENQ enquiry SOH start of heading
EOT end of transmission SP space
ESC escape STX start of text
ETB end of transmission SUB substitute

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ASCII and Hexadecimal Conversions CP/M 3 User’s Guide

Symbol Meaning Symbol Meaning

ETX end of text SYN synchronous idle
FF form-feed US unit separator
VT vertical tabulation

Table B-2. ASCII Conversion Table

Binary Decimal Hexadecimal ASCII
0000000 0 0 NUL
0000001 1 1 SOH (CTRL-A)
0000010 2 2 STX (CTRL-B)
0000011 3 3 ETX (CTRL-C)
0000100 4 4 EOT (CTRL-D)
0000101 5 5 ENQ (CTRL-E)
0000110 6 6 ACK (CTRL-F)
0000111 7 7 BEL (CTRL-G)
0001000 8 8 BS (CTRL-H)
0001001 9 9 HT (CTRL-I)
0001010 10 a LF (CTRL-J)
0001011 11 b VT (CTRL-K)
0001100 12 c FF (CTRL-L)
0001101 13 d CR (CTRL-M)
0001110 14 e SO (CTRL-N)
0001111 15 f SI (CTRL-O)
0010000 16 10 DLE (CTRL-P)
0010001 17 11 DC1 (CTRL-Q)
0010010 18 12 DC2 (CTRL-R)
0010011 19 13 DC3 (CTRL-S)
0010100 20 14 DC4 (CTRL-T)

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide ASCII and Hexadecimal Conversions

Binary Decimal Hexadecimal ASCII

0010101 21 15 NAK (CTRL-U)
0010110 22 16 SYM (CTRL-V)
0010111 23 17 ETB (CTRL-W)
0011000 24 18 CAN (CTRL-X)
0011001 25 19 EM (CTRL-Y)
0011010 26 1a SUB (CTRL-Z)
0011011 27 1b ESC (CTRL-[)
0011100 28 1c FS (CTRL-\)
0011101 29 1d GS (CTRL-])
0011110 30 1e RS (CTRL-^)
0011111 31 1f US (CTRL-_)
0100000 32 20 (SPACE)
0100001 33 21 !
0100010 34 22 "
0100011 35 23 #
0100100 36 24 $
0100101 37 25 %
0100110 38 26 &
0100111 39 27 '
0101000 40 28 (
0101001 41 29 )
0101010 42 2a *
0101011 43 2b +
0101100 44 2c ,
0101101 45 2d -
0101110 46 2e .
0101111 47 2f /

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ASCII and Hexadecimal Conversions CP/M 3 User’s Guide

Binary Decimal Hexadecimal ASCII

0110000 48 30 0
0110001 49 31 1
0110010 50 32 2
0110011 51 33 3
0110100 52 34 4
0110101 53 35 5
0110110 54 36 6
0110111 55 37 7
0111000 56 38 8
0111001 57 39 9
0111010 58 3a :
0111011 59 3b ;
0111100 60 3c <
0111101 61 3d =
0111110 62 3e >
0111111 63 3f ?
1000000 64 40 @
1000001 65 41 A
1000010 66 42 B
1000011 67 43 C
1000100 68 44 D
1000101 69 45 E
1000110 70 46 F
1000111 71 47 G
1001000 72 48 H
1001001 73 49 I
1001010 74 4a J

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide ASCII and Hexadecimal Conversions

Binary Decimal Hexadecimal ASCII

1001011 75 4b K
1001100 76 4c L
1001101 77 4d M
1001110 78 4e N
1001111 79 4f O
1010000 80 50 P
1010001 81 51 Q
1010010 82 52 R
1010011 83 53 S
1010100 84 54 T
1010101 85 55 U
1010110 86 56 V
1010111 87 57 W
1011000 88 58 X
1011001 89 59 Y
1011010 90 5a Z
1011011 91 5b [
1011100 92 5c \
1011101 93 5d ]
1011110 94 5e ^
1011111 95 5f _
1100000 96 60 `
1100001 97 61 a
1100010 98 62 b
1100011 99 63 c
1100100 100 64 d
1100101 101 65 e

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ASCII and Hexadecimal Conversions CP/M 3 User’s Guide

Binary Decimal Hexadecimal ASCII

1100110 102 66 f
1100111 103 67 g
1101000 104 68 h
1101001 105 69 i
1101010 106 6a j
1101011 107 6b k
1101100 108 6c l
1101101 109 6d m
1101110 110 6e n
1101111 111 6f o
1110000 112 70 p
1110001 113 71 q
1110010 114 72 r
1110011 115 73 s
1110100 116 74 t
1110101 117 75 u
1110110 118 76 v
1110111 119 77 w
1111000 120 78 x
1111001 121 79 y
1111010 122 7a z
1111011 123 7b {
1111100 124 7c |
1111101 125 7d }
1111110 126 7e ~
1111111 127 7f DEL

End of Appendix B
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 Appendix C 
Filetypes

CP/M 3 identifies every file by a unique file specification, which

consists of a drive specification, a filename, a filetype, and an optional
password. The filetype is an optional three-character ending separated
from the filename by a period. The filetype generally indicates a spe-
cial kind of file. The following table lists common filetypes and their
meanings.

Table C-1. Common Filetypes Meaning

Type Meaning
ASM Assembly language source file; the CP/M 3 assemblers
assemble or translate a type ASM file into machine
language.
BAK Back-up file created by text editor; the editor renames
the source file with this filetype to indicate that the
original file has been processed. The original file stays
on disk as the back-up file, so you can refer to it.
BAS CBASIC program source file.
COM 8080 executable file.
ERL Pascal/MT+™ relocatable file.
HEX Program file in hexadecimal format.
INT CBASIC program intermediate language file.
IRL Indexed REL file produced by LIB.
LIB Used by MAC and RMAC for macro libraries. The ED
R command reads files of type LIB. The ED X command
writes files of type LIB. Printable file displayable on
console or printer.

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Filetypes CP/M 3 User’s Guide

Type Meaning
OVL Program overlay file. PL/I-80 compiler overlays files;
you can create overlay files with LINK-80.
PAS Pascal/MT+ source program filetype.
PLI PL/I-80 source program filetype.
PRL Page Relocatable file; a file that does not require an ab-
solute segment. It can be relocated in any Page Boundary
(256 Bytes).
PRN Printable file displayable on console or printer.
REL Relocatable file produced by RMAC and PL/I-80 that
can be linked by LINK-80.
SPR System Page Relocatable file; system files required to
generate CP/M 3, such as BNKBDOS.SPR, BDOS.
SPR, BIOS.SPR, and RESBDOS.SPR.
SUB Filetype required for submit file containing one or
more CP/M 3 commands. The SUBMIT program
executes commands in files of type SUB, providing a
batch execution mode for CP/M 3.
SYM Symbol table file. MAC, RMAC, and LINK-80 output
files of type SYM. SID and ZSID read files of type SYM.
SYS System file for CP/M 3.
TEX Source file for TEX-80™, the Digital Research text
formatter.
TOK Pascal/MT+ intermediate language file.
XRF Cross-reference file produced by XREF.
$$$ Temporary file.

End of Appendix C

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 Appendix D 
CP/M 3 Control Character
Summary

Table D-1. Nonbanked CP/M 3 Control Characters

Character Meaning
CTRL-C Terminates the executing program and redisplays the
system prompt, provided the cursor is at the begin-
ning of the command line. Also, if you halt scrolling
with CTRL-S, you can terminate the program with
CTRL-C.
CTRL-E Forces a physical carriage return but does not send
the command line to CP/M 3. Moves the cursor to
the beginning of the next line without erasing the
previous input.
CTRL-H Deletes a character and moves the cursor left one
character position.
CTRL-I Moves the cursor to the next tab stop. Tab stops are
automatically set at each eighth column. Has the same
effect as pressing the TAB key.
CTRL-J Sends the command line to CP/M 3 and returns the
cursor to the beginning of a new line. Has the same
effect as a RETURN or a CTRL-M keystroke.
CTRL-M Sends the command line to CP/M 3 and returns the
cursor to the beginning of a new line. Has the same
effect as a RETURN or a CTRL-J keystroke.

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CP/M 3 Control Character Summary CP/M 3 User’s Guide

Character Meaning
CTRL-P Echoes all console activity to the printer. The first
time you type CTRL-P, CP/M 3 rings a bell at your
console. You can use CTRL- P after you halt scrolling
with CTRL-S. A second CTRL-P ends printer echo;
no bell rings. CTRL-P has no effect if your system
does not include a printer.
CTRL-R Places a # at the current cursor location, moves the
cursor to the next line, and retypes any partial com-
mand you typed so far.
CTRL-S Stops screen scrolling. If a display scrolls by too fast
for you to read it, type CTRL-S. CTRL-Q restarts
screen scrolling.
CTRL-U Discards all the characters in the command line, places
a # at the current cursor position, and moves the cursor
to the next command line.
CTRL-X Discards all the characters in the command line, and
moves the cursor to the beginning of the current line.

Table D-2. Banked CP/M 3 Line-editing Control Characters

Character Meaning
CTRL-A Moves the cursor one character to the left.
CTRL-B Moves the cursor to the beginning of the command
line without having any effect on the contents of the
line. If the cursor is at the beginning, CTRL-B moves
it to the end of the line.
CTRL-C Terminates the executing program and redisplays the
system prompt, provided the cursor is at the begin-
ning of the command line. Also, if you halt scrolling
with CTRL-S, you can terminate the program with
a CTRL-C.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide CP/M 3 Control Character Summary

Character Meaning
CTRL-E Forces a physical carriage return but does not send
the command line to CP/M 3. Moves the cursor to
the beginning of the next line without erasing the
previous input.
CTRL-F Moves the cursor one character to the right.
CTRL-G Deletes the character indicated by the cursor. The
cursor does not move.
CTRL-H Deletes a character and moves the cursor left one
character position.
CTRL-I Moves the cursor to the next tab stop. Tab stops are
automatically set at each eighth column. Has the same
effect as pressing the TAB key.
CTRL-J Sends the command line to CP/M 3 and returns the
cursor to the beginning of a new line. Has the same
effect as a RETURN or CTRL-M keystroke.
CTRL-K Deletes to the end of the line from the cursor.
CTRL-M Sends the command line to CP/M 3 and returns the
cursor to the beginning of a new line. Has the same
effect as a RETURN or CTRL-J keystroke.
CTRL-P Echoes all console activity to the printer. The first
time you type CTRL-P, CP/M 3 rings a bell at your
console. You can use CTRL-P after you halt scrolling
with CTRL-S. A second CTRL-P ands printer echo;
no bell rings. CTRL-P has no effect if your system
does not include a printer.
CTRL-R Retypes the command line. Places a # at the current
cursor location, moves the cursor to the next line, and
retypes any partial command you typed so far.

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CP/M 3 Control Character Summary CP/M 3 User’s Guide

Character Meaning
CTRL-S Stops screen scrolling. If a display scrolls by too fast
for you to read it, type CTRL-S. CTRL-Q restarts
screen scrolling.
CTRL-U Discards all the characters in the command line, places
a # at the current cursor position, and moves the cursor
to the next line. However, you can use a CTRL-W to
recall any characters that were to the left of the cursor
when you pressed CTRL-U.
CTRL-W Recalls and displays previously entered command line
both at the operating system level and in executing
programs, if the CTRL-W is the first character en-
tered after the prompt. CTRL-J, CTRL-M, CTRL-U,
and RETURN define the command line contains
characters, CTRL-W moves the cursor to the end of
the command line. If you press RETURN, CP/M 3
executes the recalled command.
CTRL-X Discards all the characters left of the cursor and
moves the cursor to the beginning of the current
line. CTRL-X saves any characters right of the cursor.

End of Appendix D

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 Appendix E 
User’s Glossary

ambiguous filename: Filename that contains either of the CP/M 3

wildcard characters, ? or *, in the primary filename or the filetype or
both. When you use wildcard characters, you create an ambiguous
filespec and can easily reference more than one CP/M 3 file. See Section
2 of this manual.

applications program: Program that solves a specific problem. Typical

applications programs are business accounting packages, word processing
(editing) programs, and mailing list programs.

argument: Symbol indicating a place into which you can substitute a

number, letter, or name to give an appropriate meaning to a command
line.

ASCII: The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a

standard code for representation of numbers, letters, and symbols. An
ASCII text file Is a file that can be intelligibly displayed on the video
screen or printed on paper. See Appendix B.

attribute: File characteristic that can be set to on or off.

back-up: Copy of a disk or file made for safe keeping, or the creation
of the back-up disk or file.

bit: Switch in memory that can be set to on (1) or off (0). Bits are
grouped into bytes.

block: Area of disk.

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bootstrap: Process of loading an operating system into memory. Boot-

strap procedures vary from system to system. The boot for an operating
system must be customized for the memory size and hardware environ-
ment that the operating system manages. Typically, the boot is loaded
automatically and executed at power up or when the computer is reset.
Sometimes called a “cold start.”

buffer: Area of memory that temporarily stores data during the transfer
of information.

built-in commands: Commands that permanently reside in memory.

They respond quickly because they are not accessed from a disk.

byte: Unit of memory or disk storage containing eight bits.

character string: Any combination of letters, numbers, or special

characters on your keyboard.

command: Elements of a CP/M 3 command line. In general, a CP/M 3

command has three parts: the command keyword, the command tail,
and a carriage return keystroke.

command file: Series of coded machine executable instructions stored

on disk as a program file, invoked in CP/M 3 by typing the command
keyword next to the system prompt on the console. CP/M 3 command
files generally have a filetype of COM. Files are either command files
or data files. Same as a command program.

command keyword: Name that identifies an CP/M 3 command, usually

the primary filename of a file of type COM, or a built-in command. The
command keyword precedes the command tail and the carriage return
in the command line.

command syntax: Statement that defines the correct way to enter

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide User’s Glossary

a command. The correct structure generally includes the command

keyword, the command tail, and a carriage return. A syntax line usually
contains symbols that you should replace with actual values when you
enter the command.

command tail: Part of a command that follows the command keyword

in the command line. The command tail can include a drive specifica-
tion, a filename and/or filetype, and options or parameters, but cannot
exceed 128 characters. Some commands do not require a command tail.

concatenate: Term that describes one of PIP’s operations that combines

two or more separate files into one new file in the specified sequence.

console: Primary input/output device. The console consists of a listing

device such as a screen and a keyboard through which the user commu-
nicates with the operating system or applications program.

control character: Nonprinting character combination that sends a

simple cornmand to CP/M 3. Some control characters perform line
editing functions. To enter a control character, hold down the CTRL key
on your terminal and strike the character key specified. See Appendix D.

cursor: One-character symbol that can appear anywhere on the console

screen. The cursor indicates the position where the next keystroke at
the console will have an effect.

data file: Nonexecutable collection of similar information that generally

requires a command file to manipulate it.

default: Currently selected disk drive and/or user number. Any com-
mand that does not specify a disk drive or a user number references
the default disk drive and user number. When CP/M 3 is first invoked,
the default disk drive is drive A, and the default user number is 0, until
changed with the USER command.

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delimiter: Special characters that separate different items in a command

line. For example, in CP/M 3, a colon separates the drive spec from the
filename. A period separates the filename from the filetype. Brackets
separate any options from their command or filespec. Commas separate
one item in an option list from another. All of the preceding special
characters are delimiters.

directory: Portion of a disk that contains descriptions of each file

on the disk. In response to the DIR command, CP/M 3 displays the
filenames stored in the directory.

DIR attribute: File attribute. A file with the DIR attribute can be
displayed by a DIR command. The file can be accessed from the default
user number only.

disk, diskette: Magnetic media used to store information. Programs

and data are recorded on the disk in the same way that music is recorded
on a cassette tape. The term diskette refers to smaller capacity removable
floppy diskettes. Disk can refer to a diskette, a removable cartridge disk,
or a fixed hard disk.

disk drive: Peripheral device that reads and writes on hard or floppy
disks. CP/M 3 assigns a letter to each drive under its control. For example,
CP/M 3 can refer to the drives in a four-drive system as A, B, C, and D.

editor: Utility program that creates and modifies text files. An editor
can be used for creation of documents or creation of code for computer
programs. The CP/M 3 editor is invoked by typing the command ED
next to the system prompt on the console. (See ED in Section 6 of this
manual).

executable: Ready to be run by the computer. Executable code is a series

of instructions that can be carried out by the computer. For example,

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide User’s Glossary

the computer cannot execute names and addresses, but it can execute
a program that prints all those names and addresses on mailing labels.

execute a program: Start a program executing. When a program is

running, the computer is executing a sequence of instructions.

FCB: See File Control Block.

file: Collection of characters, instructions or data stored on a disk. The

user can create files on a disk.

File Control Block: Structure used for accessing files on disk. Contains
the drive, filename, filetype and other information describing a file to
be accessed or created on the disk.

filename: Name assigned to a file. A filename can include a primary

filename of 1–8 characters and a filetype of 0–3 characters. A period
separates the primary filename from the filetype.

file specification: Unique file identifier. A complete CP/M 3 file

specification includes a disk drive specification followed by a colon
(d:), a primary filename of 1 to 8 characters, a period, and a filetype of
0 to 3 characters. For example, b:example.tex is a complete CP/M 3
file specification.

filetype: Extension to a filename. A filetype can be from 0 to 3 characters

and must be separated from the primary filename by a period. A filetype
can tell something about the file. Certain programs require that files to
be processed have certain filetypes (see Appendix C).

floppy disk: Flexible magnetic disk used to store information. Floppy

disks come in 5 1/4- and 8-inch diameters.

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hard disk: Rigid, platter-like, magnetic disk sealed in a container. A

hard disk stores more information than a floppy disk.

hardware: Physical components of a computer.

hex file: ASCII-printable representation of a command (machine

language) file.

hexadecimal notation: Notation for the base 16 number system using

the symbols 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, and F to. represent
the sixteen digits. Machine code is often converted to hexadecimal
notation because it can be easily represented by ASCII characters and
therefore printed on the console screen or on paper (see Appendix B).

input: Data going into the system, usually from an operator typing at
the terminal or by a program reading from the disk.

interface: Object that allows two independent systems to communi-

cate with each other, as an interface between hardware and software in
a microcomputer.

I/O: Abbreviation for input/output.

keyword: See command keyword.

kilobyte: 1024 bytes denoted as 1K. 32 kilobytes equal 32K. 1024

kilobytes equal one megabyte, or over one million bytes.

list device: Device such as a printer onto which data can be listed or
printed.

logical: Representation of something that might or might not be the

same in its actual physical form. For example, a hard disk can occupy
one physical drive, and yet you can divide the available storage on it to

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide User’s Glossary

appear to the user as if it were in several different drives. These apparent

drives are the logical drives.

megabyte: Over one million bytes; 1024 kilobytes. See byte and kilo-
byte. microprocessor: Silicon chip that is the Central Processing Unit
(CPU) of the microcomputer.

operating system: Collection of programs that supervises the running

of other programs and the management of computer resources. An op-
erating system provides an orderly input/output environment between
the computer and its peripheral devices.

option: One of many parameters that can be part of a command tail.

Use options to specifiy additional conditions for a command’s execution.

output: Data that the svstem sends to the console or disk.

parameter: Value in the command tail that provides additional infor-

mation for the command. Technically, a parameter is a required element
of a command.

peripheral devices: Devices external to the CPU. For example, termi-

nals, printers, and disk drives are common peripheral devices that are
not part of the processor, but are used in conjunction with it.

physical: Actual hardware of a computer. The physical environment

varies from computer to computer.

primary filename: First 8 characters of a filename. The primary file-

name is a unique name that helps the user identify the file contents. A
primary filename contains 1 to 8 characters and can include any letter
or number and some special characters. The primary filename follows
the optional drive specification and precedes the optional filetype.

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User’s Glossary CP/M 3 User’s Guide

program: Series of specially coded instructions that performs specific

tasks when executed by a computer.

prompt: Characters displayed on the screen to help the user decide

what the next appropriate action is. A system prompt is a special prompt
displayed by the operating system. The system prompt indicates to the
user that the operating system is ready to accept input. The CP/M 3
system prompt is an alphabetic character followed by an angle bracket.
The alphabetic character indicates the default drive. Some applications
programs have their own special system prompts.

Read-Only: Attribute that can be assigned to a disk file or a disk drive.

When assigned to a file, the Read-Only attribute allows you to read from
that file but not change it. When assigned to a drive, the Read-Only
attribute allows you to read any file on the disk, but prevents you from
adding a new file, erasing or changing a file, renaming a file, or writing
on the disk. The SET command can set a file or a drive to Read-Only.
Every file and drive is either Read-Only or Read-Write. The default set-
ting for drives and files is Read-Write, but an error in resetting the disk
or changing media automatically sets the drive to Read-Only until the
error is corrected. Files and disk drives can be set to either Read-Only
or Read-Write.

Read-Write: Attribute that can be assigned to a disk file or a disk drive.

The Read- Write attribute allows you to read from and write to a specific
Read-Write file or to any file on a disk that is in a drive set to Read-Write.
A file or drive can be set to either Read-Only or Read-Write.

record: Collection of data. A file consists of one or more records stored

on disk. An CP/M 3 record is 128 bytes long.

RO: See Read-Only.

RW: See Read-Write.

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide User’s Glossary

sector: Portion of a disk track. There are a specified number of sectors

on each track.

software: Specially coded programs that transmit machine-readable

instructions to the computer, as opposed to hardware, which is the
actual physical components of a computer.

source file: ASCII text file that is an input file for a processing program,
such as an editor, text formatter, or assembler.

string: See character string

syntax: Format for entering a given command.

system attribute: File attribute. You can give a file the system attribute
by using the SYS option in the SET command. A file with the SYS
attribute is not displayed in response to a DIR command; you must
use DIRS (see Section 5). If you give a file with user number 0 the SYS
attribute, you can read and execute that file from anv user number on
the same drive. Use this feature to make your commonly used programs
available under any user number.

system prompt: Symbol displayed by the operating system indicating

that the system is ready to receive input. See prompt.

terminal: See console.

track: Concentric rings dividing a disk. There are 77 tracks on a typical

eight-inch floppy disk.

turn-key application: Application designed for the noncomputer-ori-

ented user. For example, a typical turn-key application is designed so
that the operator needs only to turn on the computer, insert the proper

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User’s Glossary CP/M 3 User’s Guide

program disk, and select the desired procedure from a selection of

functions (menu) displayed on the screen.

upward-compatible: Term meaning that a program created for the

previously released operating system (or compiler, etc.) runs under the
newly released version of the same operating system.

user number: Number from 0 to 15 assigned to a file when it is created.

User numbers can organize files into sixteen file groups.

utility: Tool. Program that enables the user to perform certain opera-
tions, such as copying files, erasing files, and editing files. Utilities are
created for the convenience of programmers and users.

wildcard characters: Special characters that give CP/M 3 a pattern to

match when it searches the directory for a file. CP/M 3 recognizes two
wildcard characters, ? and *. The ? can be substituted for any single char-
acter in a filespec, and the * an be substituted for the primary filename
or the filetype or both. By placing wildcard characters in a filespec, you
create an ambiguous filespec and can quickly reference one or more files.

End of Appendix E

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 Index
Symbols *M option (MAC™). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68
-nL command (ED). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-35
:* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-39 -nP command (ED). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-36
? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7 -nT command (ED). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37
( ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7 [O] option (PIP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-78
[ ] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6 -Q option (MAC™). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68
{ } . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6 -S option (MAC™). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-69
* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7 -U command (ED). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37
as default drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-114 -V command (ED). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37
# . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4, 5-123, 5-127, 6-6
^ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7 A
as operator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-124
+1 option (MAC™). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-69 access mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-118
+L option (MAC™). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68 ACCESS option (SET). . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
+M option (MAC™). . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68 A command
+Q option (MAC™) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68 ED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-34
+S option (MAC™). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-69 SID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-124
<cr>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7 active text buffer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-33
< precedes input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-131 add
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7 line numbers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-85
$$$ memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-64
filetype. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4 RSX file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-46
$Cd option (LINK™). . . . . . . . . . . . .5-65 address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65
$Id option (LINK™). . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-65 literal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-67
$ in SUB file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-130 machine code. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-67
$Ld option (LINK™). . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65 ALL option
$Od option (LINK™) . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-66 DRIVES (DIR). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-25
$P option (XREF™). . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-138 USERS (DIR). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-28
$Sd option (LINK™). . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-66 alter CPU state. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-126
:00 records. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-85 alternative items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7
-1 option (MAC™). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-69 ambiguous filespec. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
128-byte records. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-26 A option
#A command (ED) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-34 Input/Output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68
[Gn] option (PIP). . . . . . . . . . 5-75, 5-78 LINK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-64
-L option (MAC™). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68 PIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-83
-M option (MAC™). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68 Append command (ED). . . . . . . . . . 5-34

DIGITAL RESEARCH™
Index-1
 CP/M 3 User’s Guide

ARCHIVE=OFF (SET). . . . . . . . 5-103 backtrace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-128

ARCHIVE=ON (SET). . . . . . . . . 5-103 back-up disks. . . . . . . . . . . 1-6, 5-72, 5-73
ARCHIVE option (PIP). . . . . . . . . 5-83 BAK file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-38
arguments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-129 banked CP/M 3 line-editing control
ASCII. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-32 characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6, D-2
character strings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-123 BAS filetype. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4
conversions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-2 batch commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-129
file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2 baud rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3, 5-19
format. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-32 B command (ED). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-34
ASM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1, 5-67 BDOS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
filetype. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4 BIOS link. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-64
source drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68 booting the system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
Assemble command (SID™). . . . . . 5-124 B option
assembly language program. . . . . . . . 4-4 LINK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-64
assign braces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
label password. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-105 breakpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125
logical device. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15, 5-18 built-in commands. . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3, 4-1
asterisk prompt abbreviations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
ED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-33
PIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8, 5-82 C
attach
header record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-47 Call command
RSX files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-45 SID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-124
ATT option (DIR). . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-25 C command
automatic SID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-124
paging. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1 CCP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125
submit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8 change
AUX:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-16, 5-80 disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
auxiliary filename. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-95
input device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-80 characters
logical input device. . . . . . . . . . . . 5-19 reserved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
output device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-80 transfer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-78
AUXILIARY:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-16 cold start. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1, 1-7, 4-9
AUXIN:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10, 5-15 COM. . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3, 5-4, 5-98, 5-115
AUXOUT: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10, 5-15 filetype. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4
restore file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-46
B combining files . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-72, 5-78
command
BACKSPACE key. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2 built-in. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2

DIGITAL RESEARCH™
Index-2
CP/M 3 User’s Guide 

description. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5 CPM3.SYS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10

file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-57 CR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
form rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5 create
keyword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2, 5-5 COM file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-44
line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2, 4-2 file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-33, 5-72
summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1 option (HELP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-53
tail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2 option (SET) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
transient. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3 cross-reference
comment delimiter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4 list of variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
communications protocol . . . . . . . . 5-15 summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-138
CON:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15, 5-80 CTRL
concatenation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-78 key. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
CONFIRM option (ERASE). . . . . 5-42 syntax notation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7
CONIN: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10, 5-15 CTRL-C . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12, 5-78, 5-135
CONOUT:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10, 5-15 CTRL-P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1, 5-136
console CTRL-Q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1, 5-135
controlling output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1 CTRL-S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1, 5-135
input device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-80 CTRL-Z. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-78, 5-79, 5-83
input from file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-48 currently active drives . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-31
message destination. . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65 current user number. . . . . . . . . 2-5, 5-137
output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-67 cursor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
output device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-80
page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-116 D
CONSOLE:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
context editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-33 data
control characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2 files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
banked CP/M 3. . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6, D-2 origin option (LINK). . . . . . . . . . 5-64
in SUB file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-132 DATE command . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3, 5-12
nonbanked CP/M 3. . . . . . . . 3-3, D-1 option (DIR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9, 5-25
C option (PIP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-83 stamping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9, 5-58
copy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6 D command
disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6 ED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-34
files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-72 SID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125
system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10 DD (DATE). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
to/from devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-79 DDT™. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
COPYSYS command. . . . . . . . . 1-6, 4-3, debug. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-67
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10, 5-77 program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-122
CP (character pointer) . . . . . . . . . . . 5-33 decimal values (SID). . . . . . . . . . . . 5-123
CP/M 3 Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1

DIGITAL RESEARCH™
Index-3
 CP/M 3 User’s Guide

default [FULL] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-26

drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2, 1-6, 2-4 options. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21, 5-24, 5-25
drive attribute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-104 [SIZE] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-28
label name. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-105 syntax notation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10, 5-108 directory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1, 2-11, 5-21
system page mode. . . . . . . . . . . . 5-116 displaying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21, 5-24
define free entries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-120
disk search order . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-114 label. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-26, 5-105, 5-119
filetype search order . . . . . . . . . . 5-115 space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
temporary drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-114 DIRS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2, 5-21
delete DIRSYS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8, 4-2, 5-21
characters. . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2, 5-34, 5-84 disable
command (ED). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-34 password protection. . . . . . . . . . 5-106
file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37, 5-95 disk
mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-108 back-up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6, 5-10, 5-72
modifier (LIB). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-61 changing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
delimiters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3 destination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11
dest-filename drive search order. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-114
characteristics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-16 formatting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
dest-filespec. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4, 5-9, 5-73 label. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-105, 5-119
assignments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-16 password protected. . . . . . . . . . . 5-102
CON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17 reformat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
CONSOLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15 space available. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-118
CRT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17 display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-115
device command . . . . . . . . . . 4-3, 5-15 access mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-118
driver protocol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3 command (SID). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125
names. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17, 5-80 console size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-20
physical-dev option. . . . . . . . . . . . 5-19 CPU registers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-122
speed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-19 date. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
device directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21
auxiliary input/output. . . . . . . . . 5-80 directory with options. . . . . . . . . 5-24
auxiliary logical input. . . . . . . . . . 5-19 disk drive search order. . . . . . . . 5-114
input/output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9 disk label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-119
physical. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15 disk space available . . . . . . . . . . . 5-118
DEVICE command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3 drive characteristics. . . . . . . . . . . 5-121
DIR. . . . . . . 2-8, 4-2, 5-21, 5-102, 5-120 file contents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-135
attribute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21, 5-25 filenames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21
command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2, 5-21 logical device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17
display options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-25 memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-122, 5-125

DIGITAL RESEARCH™
Index-4
CP/M 3 User’s Guide 

mode (SETDEF). . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-115 character pointer (CP). . . . . . . . . 5-33

patch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-70 diskette file error messages. . . . . . 6-35
physical device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15 error symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-34
screen size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15, 5-20 summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-34
search definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-113 E (echo transfer) option
symbols. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-125 GET. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-49
time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12 PIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-76, 5-84
user number information. . . . . . 5-120 PUT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-92
Dn (delete characters) option (PIP) . . . . ellipses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-84 enable
D option line numbering command. . . . . . 5-37
LIB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-61 password protection. . . . . . . . . . 5-106
LINK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-64 end-of-file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-80
PIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-84 EOF: source device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-80
drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4, 2-12, 5-121 ERA (ERASE) command . . . . 4-2, 5-42
A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2 error messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
attribute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12, 5-104 ESCape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-35
characteristics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-121 examine CPU state . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-126
default. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-2, 1-6, 2-4 exclamation point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8
delimiter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3 EXCLUDE option (DIR). . . . . . . . 5-26
names. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-67 expand tabs (PIP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-87
protection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12 extended find string command (ED). . . .
search chain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-36
specifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2, 2-4, 5-2 EXTRACT option (HELP).5-53, 5-54
DRIVE options (DIR). . . . . . . . . . . 5-25
DUMP F
command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3, 5-32
option (LIB). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-61 F1=ON|OFF (SET). . . . . . . . . . . . 5-103
DUMP option (LIB) . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-61 F1 attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-25
F2=ON|OFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-103
E F2 attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-25
F3=ON|OFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-104
E command F3 attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-25
ED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-34 F4=ON|OFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-104
option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-84 F4 attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-25
SID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125 F command
E* command (SID) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125 ED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-35
ED command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3, 5-33 SID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125
affect on time stamps . . . . . . . . . 5-110 FF (form feed) option (DIR) . . . . . 5-26

DIGITAL RESEARCH™
Index-5
 CP/M 3 User’s Guide

F (filter form-feeds) option (PIP). .5-84 form-feed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-26

file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1 change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-84
accessing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1 full format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-28
categories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3 FULL option (DIR). . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-26
concatenation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-78
copy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-73 G
creating. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
deleting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37, 5-95 GENCOM command. . . . . . . . . . . . 5-44
displays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21 generate RSX files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-45
maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1 GET command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
naming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2 console input from a file. . . . . . . . . . . .
program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8, 4-3, 5-48
protection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8 options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-49
search. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4, 5-65 G (Gn) option
size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-26 LINK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65
space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-26 PIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-85
specification . . . . . . . 2-2, 2-3, 5-1, 5-3 G (Go) command (SID). . . . . . . . . 5-125
temporary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-74, 5-114 global option delimiters. . . . . . . . . . . 5-4
file attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8, 5-21 go
DIR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8, 5-21 command (SID). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125
PIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-72, 5-74 G option
Read-Only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9 LINK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65
Read-Write . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9 group commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-129
SYS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
filename. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2, 5-2 H
changing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-95
listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21 hard disk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
filespec. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6, 5-2 H command
filetype. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2, 5-2, 5-4, C-1 ED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-35
delimiter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3 SID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125
search order. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-115 header record. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-47
fill HELP.COM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-53
command (SID). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125 HELP command . . . . . . . 4-3, 4-10, 5-51
fill functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-122 options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-51
filter form-feeds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-84 HELP.DAT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-54
FILTER option (PUT) . . . . . . . . . . 5-92 HELP.HLP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-53
find character string (ED) . . . . . . . . 5-35 hexadecimal output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-32
finish address (SID). . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125 conversions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-2
zeroes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-80

DIGITAL RESEARCH™
Index-6
CP/M 3 User’s Guide 

HEXCOM command. . . . . . . .4-3, 5-57 J

HEX file
debugging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-67 J (juxtapose) command (ED) . . . . . 5-35
destination drive . . . . . . . . . 5-68, 5-98
generation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-57 K
transfer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-85
HH (DATE). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13 keyboard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-16
histogram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-128 kilobyte. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-118
HIST utility (SID) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-127 K (kill) command (ED). . . . . . . . . . 5-35
HLP filetype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4
H option L
MAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68
PIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-85 label. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-105, 5-118
created . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-119
I disk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-102, 5-105
updated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-119
I command L command
ED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-35 SID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125
SID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125 L command (ED). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-35
Ignore option (PIP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-85 least significant digit . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-123
imaginary character pointer. . . . . . . 5-33 LENGTH option (DIR). . . . . . . . . 5-27
INDEX option (LIB). . . . . . . . . . . . 5-61 levels (HELP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-54
INITDIR command. . . 4-3, 5-58, 5-110 LIB (library) command . . . . . 5-60, 5-68
initialize disk directory. . . . . . . 4-3, 5-58 file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-60
Input file source. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65
CCP command line . . . . . . . . . . 5-125 modifiers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-61
command (SID). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125 line editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10 banked CP/M 3. . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6, D-2
insert control characters . . . . . . . . . . 3-3, 3-6
mode command (ED) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . nonbanked CP/M 3. . . . . . . . 3-3, D-1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-35, 5-39, 6-15 line-feed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-81
mode (ED) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-34 line number (n:) command. . . . . . . 6-22
string command (ED) . . . . . . . . . 5-35 line numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-80, 5-85
install patch number . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-70 lines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15, 5-20
intermediate files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65 LINK-80™. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-60
I option LINK command. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3, 5-64
LIB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-61 options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-64
PIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-85 list
IRL filetype. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-60 at printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-136

DIGITAL RESEARCH™
Index-7
 CP/M 3 User’s Guide

filenames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21 SID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125

instructions (SID). . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125 memory
option (HELP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-51 adding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-64
LIST (HELP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-51 buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
lists copying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-100
input lines (MAC) . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68 display (SID) . . . . . . . . . . 5-122, 5-125
macro lines (MAC). . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68 size option (LINK). . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65
literal hex values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-123 MESSAGE option (DIR) . . . . . . . . 5-27
load MM (DATE). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65 M modifier (MAC). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68
CP/M 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1 mnemonic instructions. . . . . . . . . . 5-125
program (SID). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125 MODULE option (LIB). . . . . . . . . 5-61
symbol table (SID). . . . . . . . . . . 5-125 monitor
LOADER option (GENCOM). . . 5-44 execution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-122, 5-126
LOCAL symbols. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68 M option
logged in. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2 LIB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-61
logical devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LINK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65
. . . . . . . . . . 3-9, 5-15, 5-18, 5-72, 5-79 most significant digit. . . . . . . . . . . . 5-123
L option move
LINK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65 character pointer (ED). . . . . . . . . 5-34
MAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68 command (SID). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125
L option (PIP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-85 line command (ED). . . . . . . . . . . 5-35
lower-case option (PIP) . . . . . . . . . . 5-85 memory block (SID) . . . . . . . . . 5-125
LPT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-19 MSZE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-126, 5-127
LST:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10, 5-15, 5-80 multiple
commands. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1, 4-8, 5-81
M file copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-76

MAC command. . . . . . . 4-4, 5-67, 5-138 N

input/output options. . . . . . . . . . 5-68
output file modifiers. . . . . . . . . . . 5-68 n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
macro name disk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-105
assembler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-67 NAME option (SET). . . . . . . . . . . 5-105
expansion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68 NAMES option (DEVICE). . . . . . 5-16
library source drive. . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68 N command (ED) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-36
lines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68 NEXT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-127
main topic (HELP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-54 NL option
M command LINK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65
ED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-35 NO

DIGITAL RESEARCH™
Index-8
CP/M 3 User’s Guide 

DISPLAY option (SETDEF). . . . . . . O option (PIP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-86

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-113, 5-115 operating system loader. . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
ECHO option (GET). . . . 5-48, 5-49 OP option (LINK) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65
FILTER option (PUT). . . . . . . . 5-92 option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
listing (LINK). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65 delimiters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4
output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68 list. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
PAGE option (DIR). . . . . . . . . . . 5-27 optional items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
PAGE option (HELP). . . . . . . . . 5-51 or bar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7
PAGE option (SETDEF). . . . . 5-113 ORDER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-115
PAGE option (TYPE). . . . . . . . 5-135 OR option (LINK). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65
NO ECHO option (PUT). . . . . . . 5-92 OS option (LINK). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65
nonbanked CP/M 3 control characters. output
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3 COM file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65
NONE mode (SET). . . . . . . . . . . . 5-108 console. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
non-system files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-23 devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
N option (PIP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-85 printer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
NOSORT option (DIR). . . . . . . . . 5-27 PRL file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65
NOXON option (DEVICE) . . . . . 5-18 RSP file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-65
NR option (LINK). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65 Output
NUL:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-80 devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
NULL option output SPR file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65
DEVICE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-18 overwrite Read-Only. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-90
GENCOM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-44
number P
of files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-118
of free directory entries . . . . . . . 5-118 page
syntax notation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6 display command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-40
eject. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-80, 5-86
O length. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-86
PAGE option
o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6 DEVICE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-20
object SETDEF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-116
file destination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-66 TYPE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-135
file transfer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-86 parameter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-129
modules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-60 parentheses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7
O command (ED) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-36 parity bit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-88
OC option partial command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
LINK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65 pass 1 listing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-69
online disk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11 pass breakpoint set. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-126

DIGITAL RESEARCH™
Index-9
 CP/M 3 User’s Guide

pass breakpoint set (SID). . . . . . . . 5-126 PRN:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-80

password PROFILE.SUB start-up file. 4-9, 5-134
assigning to file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-107 program
assigning to label. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-105 command files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
in file specification. . . . . . . . . . 2-3, 2-4 counter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-126
in PIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-72 files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2, 2-1
purpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10, 5-2 finding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
password-protection mode loading search definitions. . . . . 5-115
disabling/enabling. . . . . . . . . . . . 5-106 origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65
in DIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-26 PUBLICS option (LIB). . . . . . . . . . 5-61
showing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-119 PUT command. . . . . . . . . . 3-7, 4-4, 5-91
types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-108 console output to file . . . . . . . . . . 5-92
PATCH command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-70 options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-92
PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-126, 5-127 printer output to file. . . . . . . . . . . 5-93
P command
ED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-36 Q
SID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-126
physical device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15 Q command (ED) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-36
PIP command. . . 1-6, 2-2, 4-4, 5-8, 5-72 Q option
file concatenation. . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-78 LINK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65
long form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-75 PIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-86
messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-77 quit copy (PIP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-86
options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-75, 5-83
short form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-75 R
P option
LIB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-61 range of options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7
LINK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65 R command
MAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68 ED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-36
PIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-86 SID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-126
RMAC™. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-98 read
pound sign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-123 code/symbols (SID). . . . . . . . . . 5-126
PRINTER: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-16 mode (SET). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-108
printer echo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1 system files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-86
printer output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1 Read-Only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
to file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-91 attribute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9, 5-103
PRN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-67 files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-74
destination drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68 option (DIR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-69, 5-138 syntax notation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
file drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-98

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide 

Read-Write. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9 RSX files

attribute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9, 5-103 add. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-46
option (DIR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-28 attach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-47
syntax notation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6 RW
real-time breakpoints. . . . . . . . . . . . 5-122   See Read-Write
recovering from editing errors. . . . . 6-34
redirect console/printer input/output . . S
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
register pair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-124 SAVE command. . . . . . . . . . . 5-34, 5-100
relocatable macro assembler save memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-100
  See RMAC SCB option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-44
REL (relocatable) program . . . . . . . . 4-3 SCB option (GENCOM). . . . . . . . 5-44
file drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-98 S command
format. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-60 ED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-36
modules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4 SID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-126
REN (RENAME) command . 4-2, 5-95 screen size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15, 5-20
file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-72 scroll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-95, 5-96 search
repeated execution of editing com- disk drives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-114
mands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-27 file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4, 5-65
replace filetypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-115
modifier (LIB). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-62 order procedure for a program file. . .
online disk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
RSX files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-46 select modifier (LIB). . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-62
reserved characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3 set
RESET/RESTART button. . . . . . . . 1-1 communications protocol. . . . . . 5-15
resident system console size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-20
extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-44 current user number. . . . . . . . . . 5-137
process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65 date. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
restore COM file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-46 memory values (SID). . . . . . . . . 5-126
RETURN key. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8 physical device attributes. . . . . . . 5-19
equivalent characters. . . . . . . . . . .5-82 screen size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-20
RMAC command . . . . . 4-4, 5-98, 5-138 time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-98 time of day. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
RO time stamps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-109
  See Read-Only SET command . . . . . . . . . 2-8, 4-4, 5-102
R option [ACCESS=ON]. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-109
PIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-86 [CREATE=ON]. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-109
RMAC™. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-98 [DEFAULT=password] . . . . . . 5-108

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 CP/M 3 User’s Guide

default password . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-108 source

drive attribute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-104 files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
{d:} [RO]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-104 program file (MAC). . . . . . . . . . . 5-67
{d:} [RW]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-104 space
memory values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-126 available. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-58
password protection. . . . . . . . . . 5-106 characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3, 5-6
[PROTECT=OFF]. . . . . . . . . . 5-106 SPACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-118
[PROTECT=ON]. . . . . . . . . . . 5-106 special header. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-44
[UPDATE=ON] . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-109 square brackets . . . . . . . . 5-64, 5-75, 5-83
SETDEF command. . . . . . . . . 4-4, 5-113 src-filespec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4, 5-73
drive temporary files. . . . . . . . . . 5-114 SS (DATE). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
search definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-113 s string. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
search order. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-114 stack pointer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-124
system display mode. . . . . . . . . . 5-115 stamp update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-119
system page mode. . . . . . . . . . . . 5-116 start
[TEMPORARY=D:]. . . . . . . . 5-114 address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125
SHOW command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . console/printer output. . . . . . . . . . 3-1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11, 4-4, 5-106, 5-118 copy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-87
access mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-118 starting CP/M 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
{d:} [DIR]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-120 STAT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
{d:} [DRIVE]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-121 stop console/printer output. . . . . . . . 3-1
directory entries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-120 storage space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
disk space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-118 SUB
{d:} [LABEL]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-119 file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-132
{d:} [USERS]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-120 filetype. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4
user number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-120 SUBMIT command . . . . . . . . 4-4, 5-129
SID command. . . . . . . 4-4, 5-122, 5-124 program input files . . . . . . . . . . . 5-131
prompt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-127 start-up file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-134
utilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-127 subroutines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-126
single file copy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-73 substitute string command. . . . . . . . 5-36
size subtopic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-52, 5-54
format. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-29 supertopic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-55
of screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15, 5-20 SYM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-67
option (DIR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-28 destination drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68
S option file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-67, 5-138
LINK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65 file drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-98
MAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-68 symbol
PIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-87 file destination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-66
RMAC™. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-98 table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65, 5-66

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide 

table file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125 TEMPORARY option (SETDEF). . . . .

symbolic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-114
disassembly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-122 terminate
expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-123 console input from file. . . . . . . . . 5-50
expressions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-123 console output to file . . . . . . . . . . 5-94
operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-124 PIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-78
Symbolic Instruction Debugger. . 5-122 printer output to file. . . . . . . . . . . 5-94
symbols with question mark . . . . . . 5-65 programs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9
syntax notation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6, 5-7 test program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-122
SYS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8 text
file attribute. . . . . . . . . 2-8, 5-21, 5-103 buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-33
option (DIR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-28 editor (ED). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
system time-specification format. . . . . . . . . 5-13
console output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-19 time stamp
control block. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-44 update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-110
copying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10, 5-77 time stamps . . . . . . . . 5-58, 5-102, 5-119
disk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1, 5-11 access. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-110
file CPM3.SYS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10 create. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-109
messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1 date stamps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8, 2-9
options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4 time file modified . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-110
page mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-116 topic
page relocatable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65 format. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-54
prompt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1, 1-6, 2-11 levels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-55
RESET. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1 name. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-54
tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-10 top-of-stack items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-124
SYSTEM option T option (PIP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-87
GET. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-49 trace
PUT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-92, 5-93 program execution. . . . . . . . . . . .5-126
program execution (SID) . . . . . 5-126
T without call. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-126
traceback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-122
tab TRACE.UTL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-127
characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-135 transient utility commands . . . . 4-1, 4-3
expansion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-80, 5-87 transient utitity commands. . . . . . . . 1-3
key. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3 transmission
stop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3 rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-19
T command speed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-19
ED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37 turn on/off
SID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-126 system display mode. . . . . . . . . . 5-115

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 CP/M 3 User’s Guide

system page mode. . . . . . . . . . . . 5-116 V (verify) option. . . . . . . . . . . . 5-76, 5-87

TYP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3, 5-3
TYPE command. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2, 5-135 W
messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-135
TYP (TYPE) command. . . . . . . . . . . 4-3 wait command (ED). . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37
warm start. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10
U W command
ED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37
U command SID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-126
ED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37 wildcard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4, 5-7, 5-96
SID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-126 characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
U option (PIP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-87 filespec. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4, 5-42, 5-76
up-arrow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7 patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7
operator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-124 specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4
update W option
RSX files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-46 PIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-88
time stamp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-119 write
uppercase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3, 5-39, 5-88 command (ED). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37
command (ED). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37 memory to file (SID) . . . . . . . . . 5-126
USE mode (SET). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-108
  See USER command over files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-90
user over RO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-90
memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-33 write-protected. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
option (DIR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-28
USER command. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3, 5-137 X
number. . . . . . . . 2-5, 2-8, 5-85, 5-118
number information. . . . . . . . . . 5-120 X command
number range. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-137 ED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37
user-definable file attributes. . . . . . . 5-25 XON option (DEVICE). . . . . . . . . 5-18
XON/XOFF protocol. . . . . . . . . . . 5-18
V X output option (RMAC). . . . . . . . 5-98
XREF command. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4, 5-138
VALUES option (DEVICE).5-16, 5-17 XRF file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-138
V command
ED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37 Y
SID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-126
verify copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-76, 5-87 YY (DATE). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
version number. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
V option (PIP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-87

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CP/M 3 User’s Guide 

Z command (ED). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37

zero
output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-98
parity bit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-88
Z option
PIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-88

DIGITAL RESEARCH™
Index-15