From an early PCW review the author observes:
Below are the Trans-Express 85.2 specific instructions rendered in the original 24x32 character glory:The user will want to see the instructions first - these consist of several on-screen pages of explanation which can be printed as desired.
Romantic Robot supplies no other documentation, and says that all the instructions are clear, and prompts are given from within the program.
This is true, but still, I would have liked a manual.
Spoiler
Code: Select all
PART 1: CARTRIDGE TO CARTRIDGE
________________________________
CARTRIDGE TO CARTRIDGE transfers
any file of any length using one
or two microdrives.
Instructions, list of commands
or current operation are always
shown at the bottom of screen.
Cartridge files are displayed in
a full catalogue, which can also
be copied to a printer.
The catalogue displays cartridge
name, remaining memory, and file
position - its 1st sector number
length - rounded to .5K with 0.0
marking corrupted files
type - B=Basic, C=Code, $=String
array, N=Numeric array
D=Datafile
name - inverse letters showing
hexadecimal numbers of
unprintable characters.
You can transfer selected files
or an entire cartridge.
Entire cartridge is transferred
by pressing t - provided no file
has yet been selected, else the
file(s) will be transferred.
To select a file move the cursor
using keys 6 or 7 next to a file
chosen for transferring/erasing
& press s. The file sector will
flash & file will be added to a
list of selected files which you
can see by pressing t. Selected
files can be deselected from the
list by pressing d.
Selected files are transferred
in the order of selection and if
room on back-up cartridge allows
placed consecutively to speed up
loading of multi-part programs.
There are various error-trapping
routines & tests. Cartridges are
checked if there's room enough &
if files to be transferred don't
already exist. If a file of the
same name is found, there is an
option to erase and overwrite it
on the back-up cartridge.
Files can also be erased on the
original cartridge if you select
them, press t to get to transfer
mode and press e to erase them.
Finally, you can also format the
back-up cartridge, if required.
You can abort at any stage & go
a step backwards until you reach
the start of the program.
Pressing BREAK, CAPS SHIFT and b
together lets you exit to BASIC.
PART 2: TAPE TO CARTRIDGE
________________________________
TAPE TO CARTRIDGE transfers and
modifies programs of any length.
All operations are automatic and
you are only required to insert
a formatted back-up cartridge &
operate your tape recorder. Most
programs are transferred part by
part,some continuosly in one go.
Unfortunately, some programs can
not RUN from m'drives because of
the Interface 1 design.
You should always simply follow
the on-screen prompts. Sometimes
the screen may show garbage when
used as a buffer, which is O.K.
Most SPECTRUM programs consist
of several parts that are loaded
in a given sequence from tape.
Same sequence must be achieved
when loading from microdrive and
each part must have its name.
TRANS-EXPRESS takes care of it.
At the start of each session you
should see No. 1 flashing at the
bottom left of the screen-if not
then BREAK & No.1 should appear.
TRANS-EXPRESS always takes first
part of program separately since
you may want to rename it as you
then use this name to load the
whole program from microdrives.
The same name will automatically
be given to all other parts with
their 10th character changing as
an index to distinguish them.
Parts are scanned & modified as
necessary, unless you switch the
scanning off by pressing 0; you
can then also stop Basic autorun
by pressing s to alter the Basic
yourself, should you wish so.
Extra long part can sometimes be
transferred in two parts.
This is called a 2-PART TRANSFER
when only a portion of a part is
taken first,you must then rewind
to its start and the 2nd portion
is taken next.It's good practice
to zero the tape counter at the
start of each part.
TAPE TO CARTRIDGE always checks
available space on cartridge and
prevents you from using names of
already existing files by either
erasing the old ones or renaming
the new ones.
When transferring of all parts
has been completed you can press
BREAK,CAPS SHIFT and b to escape
to BASIC or BREAK only to start
transferring another program.
Sometimes it may be necessary to
reload the TRANS-EXPRESS.
PART 3: TAPE TO TAPE
________________________________
TAPE TO TAPE is self-explanatory
& little has to be added to it.
Following on-screen instructions
you can transfer programs with
all their parts continuosly up
to the overall length of 40k.
Longer programs can usually be
transferred in two sections.
If a single part exceeds the 40k
limit, please use SUPERTRANS for
transferring. It is a simplified
version of TAPE TO TAPE stripped
of any messages so that it could
transfer up to 48.4k. SUPERTRANS
shows upon loading just a blank
screen, which is later used as a
buffer & shows garbage only.
SUPERTRANS allows transferring
of multi-part programs, too.
When loading/saving you can see
the type of current program with
its name,length & either address
(in m/c) or self-starting line
in basic. The information comes
from the header & can be false.
The actual length is shown after
loading in the following line.
TAPE TO TAPE carries on loading
till you BREAK or exhaust memory
when it goes to saving mode.
If you BREAK or exhaust memory
during loading & the part being
loaded is left incomplete & thus
defective, it will automatically
be removed both from the display
and from the memory.
Saving is continuos and programs
can be re-saved (by pressing y).
You can stop saving by pressing
BREAK and either save again from
the start or go to loading mode.
Tape loading errors are shown on
headers only. If an error occurs
in the data that follows or in a
headerless program, loading will
stop & the part recorded up to
the error taken as finished.
Pressing BREAK, CAPS SHIFT and b
together lets you exit to BASIC.
PART 4: SUPERTRANS
________________________________
TAPE TO TAPE is self-explanatory
& little has to be added to it.
Following on-screen instructions
you can transfer programs with
all their parts continuosly up
to the overall length of 40k.
Longer programs can usually be
transferred in two sections.
If a single part exceeds the 40k
limit, please use SUPERTRANS for
transferring. It is a simplified
version of TAPE TO TAPE stripped
of any messages so that it could
transfer up to 48.4k. SUPERTRANS
shows upon loading just a blank
screen, which is later used as a
buffer & shows garbage only.
SUPERTRANS allows transferring
of multi-part programs, too.
When loading/saving you can see
the type of current program with
its name,length & either address
(in m/c) or self-starting line
in basic. The information comes
from the header & can be false.
The actual length is shown after
loading in the following line.
TAPE TO TAPE carries on loading
till you BREAK or exhaust memory
when it goes to saving mode.
If you BREAK or exhaust memory
during loading & the part being
loaded is left incomplete & thus
defective, it will automatically
be removed both from the display
and from the memory.
Saving is continuos and programs
can be re-saved (by pressing y).
You can stop saving by pressing
BREAK and either save again from
the start or go to loading mode.
Tape loading errors are shown on
headers only. If an error occurs
in the data that follows or in a
headerless program, loading will
stop & the part recorded up to
the error taken as finished.
Pressing BREAK, CAPS SHIFT and b
together lets you exit to BASIC.
PART 5: CARTRIDGE TO TAPE
________________________________
CARTRIDGE TO TAPE serves as pure
back-up facility, as it does not
modify files when transferring
them to tape. Programs are not
meant to RUN from tapes & you're
expected to put them on tape for
security reasons only.
It is good practice to have tape
back-ups of your cartridge files
because of reliability problems
with microdrives.
Programs stored on tape can be
transferred back to microdrives
using TAPE TO CARTRIDGE with the
scanning/modifying switched off
(pressing BREAK & then 0 before
each transfer back from TAPE TO
CARTRIDGE).
CARTRIDGE TO TAPE instructions
are otherwise nearly the same as
for CARTRIDGE TO CARTRIDGE.
PART 6: GENERAL
________________________________
Use TRANS-EXPRESS to transfer
your programs as desired, then
switch the SPECTRUM off and on
or press BREAK, CAPS SHIFT and b
together & load the transferred
programs in the usual way.
********************************
TRANS-EXPRESS must not be used
to infringe copyright laws.
If in doubt, consult the owners
of the copyright of a particular
program you'd like to transfer.
********************************
ROMANTIC ROBOT hopes you'll find
TRANS-EXPRESS useful & friendly
& wishes you best of luck!Note, I've added a header for the different parts, and that the instructions for PART 3: TAPE TO TAPE and PART 4: SUPERTRANS are the same
