Turnkey Amstrad Basic Discs; Turnkey Cp/M Discs - AMSTRAD cpc 6128 User Instruction

Turnkey AMSTRAD BASIC discs
If you buy an application program written in AMSTRAD BASIC for the CPC6128, it
should be ready to operate when you switch on. (The expression 'turnkey' comes from
the days when all small computers had a key-operated power switch). As with the
Master system discs package supplied with the CPC6128, it is strongly recommended
that you keep the original safe, and work from a copy.
Turnkey CP/M discs
The CP/M operating system allows you to load and run an immense library of
software which has already been written for personal computers that support CP/M.
The fundamental 'logic' of these programs has already been devised; all that is
required to use them on your 6128 is to establish them on a suitable disc, and maybe
to inform them of the particular method that the 6128 uses to operate the screen.
A set of programs on one disc designed to fulfil a specific application is called a
'package'. These packages are normally designed to work on a large ra:t:lge of different
computers, each of which has its own size of screen and way of moving the cursor
around.
The 6128 is provided with a built-in 'terminal emulator' when running CP/M Plus
programs, and the characteristics are different from the Control Codes supported by
BASIC.
Sometimes the package that you buy will have already been 'installed' for the
AMSTRAD system, or cater for it by offering an installation compatible with the
6128. If available, simply follow the instructions provided with the software for a
Zenith Z19/Z29 protocol. If the package does not have this, nor a specific AMSTRAD
variant built in, then the section ahead entitled 'Configuring a CP/M Program'
indicates some of the commands that can be sent to the 6128 screen to produce the
sorts of effects that packages require. Normally, the installation, or customisation,
procedure will involve typing in the relevant codes when requested to. Again, follow
the instructions provided with the package.
The software you have purchased must be on a disc suitable for use in this system.
Almost every different computer uses a different form of disc. Although many have
the same size of disc, this does not necessarily mean that there is any compatibility
between one and another in the information contained on them. Ask your supplier for
an AMSTRAD 3 inch version.
Using Discs and Cassettes
Chapter 4 Page 5