Porting Amstrad NC100 programs to the Z88

[Journeyman]

OK, so I own both an Amstrad NC100 and a Z88. Both have strengths and weaknesses, and a lot of things in common, including BBC BASIC.

Over on https://www.ncus.org.uk/, there's a bunch of BASIC programs for the NC100, including ones that convert NC100 word processor files into RTF and HTML formats, which is seriously handy for moving stuff onto a PC. I've actually used my NC100 for producing properly finished up and formatted documents, and once converted to RTF, all I need to do is zap them over to my PC, open up in Word and save using a more modern file format. Brilliant!

So...I'm wondering whether this program will work on a Z88, and what changes it will need. I'm no expert so wondered if someone could do some hand-holding here. The questions I have are...

Does Z88 BASIC access the file system in the same way? Is there a way to select the memory card/device from BASIC on the Z88? This isn't necessary on the NC100, as it treats internal memory and PCMCIA cards in the same way, and specifying the location isn't necessary.

How does Pipedream format text, and does it bear any relation to Protext on the NC100? Obviously, once I know how it works, modifying the BASIC to insert the right tags in the right places won't be too hard.

Any ideas welcome. I really love my Z88, and love Pipedream, but I find exporting to the PC and getting decently-formatted text into Word too much of a faff to bother on a regular basis.

If it's relevant, my Z88 is unexpanded and unmodded and therefore has an original 80s version of OZ.

[Jbizzel]

Sounds interesting

I hope these points help a bit...

1) https://www.croftnuisk.co.uk/coltsoft/ - Fireworks can open pipedream documents and sheets on Windows
2) Pipedream can save as plain text, which can be opened on Windows too.
3) z88 basic can access the file system, and reading and writing from it is straight forward. You will need to specify where you put it (but why wouldn't you want to?)
4) Basic will default to the Ram location set in Panel shortcut... []S.

Does Z88 BASIC access the file system in the same way? Is there a way to select the memory card/device from BASIC on the Z88? This isn't necessary on the NC100, as it treats internal memory and PCMCIA cards in the same way, and specifying the location isn't necessary.

- what if you want to remove the memory? How do you control where things are stored on the NC100?

Not sure about the difference between the PD and NC100 file formats.

The full BBC Basic for Z88 book is here:

https://cambridgez88.jira.com/wiki/spac ... F/overview

Finally, I think the User group software library has similar programs in basic - I think for Lotus. Maybe you can modify one of those?

[Journeyman]

- what if you want to remove the memory? How do you control where things are stored on the NC100?

You don't! The computer handles it automatically. It automatically chooses the memory card if it's installed, otherwise it selects a location in upper or lower RAM, depending on how much room there is in each. In terms of accessing files, the file list shows everything regardless of where it's stored, and normally doesn't tell you where it is. It actually works quite well. The NC100 was designed as a kind of "My First Computer", so it deliberately keeps things VERY simple. In that regard, it's quite a different beast from the Z88, which exposes all of its quirks/settings/options to the user.

The Protext word processor on the NC100 is really good, and the keyboard ain't bad either.

Thanks for the other pointers!

[Jbizzel]

No worries.

Quite a few of the BBC basic files on NCUS.ORG work on the z88.

- The text adventures mostly seem too fine

Luna lander and Patience partly work, (surprisingly) but need some changes.

Obvious changes needed seem to be:-

MODE 1 activates graphic mode on Z88, that seems to be not needed on the NC100
The *bold* command is done via VDU commands on z88.
There is no SOUND command in z88 bbc basic.
You can't print text into the graphical area on the z88 - that looks to be different on the nc100

[Jbizzel]

Remember the NC100 came out a full 5 years after the z88. It should have been lightyears ahead.

The reason they are similar is that the NC100 is a direct ripoff of the Z88.

[Journeyman]

Remember the NC100 came out a full 5 years after the z88. It should have been lightyears ahead.

The reason they are similar is that the NC100 is a direct ripoff of the Z88.

They're very interesting to compare, actually. Very similar in lots of ways, light years apart in others. I'd say the NC100 has the edge in terms of being easier to use these days (see my weary travails with file transfer on the Z88), but the Z88 is, in a somewhat undefinable way, just nicer.

I think there's a blog post in there somewhere, in terms of comparing them.

[Jbizzel]

You don't! The computer handles it automatically. It automatically chooses the memory card if it's installed, otherwise it selects a location in upper or lower RAM, depending on how much room there is in each. In terms of accessing files, the file list shows everything regardless of where it's stored, and normally doesn't tell you where it is. It actually works quite well. The NC100 was designed as a kind of "My First Computer", so it deliberately keeps things VERY simple. In that regard, it's quite a different beast from the Z88, which exposes all of its quirks/settings/options to the user.

The Protext word processor on the NC100 is really good, and the keyboard ain't bad either.

Thanks for the other pointers!

I've looked into this a bit.

The nc100 is expandable to 1 meg

The z88 is capable of addressing 4 meg.

There is only one card slot on the Nc100.

The z88 has 3 expansion slots which can be ram/rom or a mix of the two.