George Pope wrote to Ron Lauzon <=-
Tandy dd more than run Tandy's Command Language? (their form of DOS -
-
it's how I learned batch file programming before ever seeing a PC)
I've never heard of a Tandy Command Language.
I know that their TRSDOS/LDOS systems had a batch file system similar to MS-DOS' .BAT files. Then there's the Model II line with Xenix with the
more
Unix-like batch files.
JCL (Job Control Language) -- 'twas essentially, an early DOS batch
programming capability. I could use it to create a RAMDrive to do my playing around in, so I wasn't limited to a tiny(bytes) floppy disk. . .
This was in 1991 -- someone gave me the computer as yhey new I was into such.
I ended up setting up a menu so my home care person's child could use it for homework, after I got a 286(DOS 4.1, on a 30Mb HD) for $30. . .
My next was a 386 with 40Mb HD, & DOS 5.0 -- IBM MVA Terue Blue, & I never looked back, stuck with true IBM computers intil Pentium era. . .
I had a dozen notebooks filed with tinily hand-printed programs, both from Compute! magazine & my own creations!
Yup. Back in the day when we were poor kids and no access to a printer.
My
hand-printed programs disappeared decades ago.
Minne, too. . I'd likely go crosseyd now trying to make sens of them -- I recasll a few things, which enabled me, when I was in DOS, to ask for input
in my *.BAT programs (by generating a mini BASIC routine/program from within the batch file.)
BASIC provided me some basis to leaen rreal programmiong, I had to learn that GOSUB was bad, & that CALL is the usual method now to run a subroutine. I
never did complete my programming learning, besides some basic utilitarian Excel formulas. . .
Now I stick to tweaking settings of any program/app I use, to make it do MY thing!
In my computer classes, in '91 & '92, I had the entire class afrtaid to use
any computer I'd been sitting at until the teacher cleared it as okay
(usually formatted & restored from the Novell Network)
My cmputers did things differently, including making unexpected sounds.
My coup was in college a coule years later, hen I'd creayed & comiled (into *.COM) batch files that would do exactly the opposite what a user wanted.
If they typed 123, insteasd iof running Lotus, it ran Wordperfect, & if they tytped WP, it ran Lotus, even if they changed directory into their intended program (e.g. C:\123 to run 123.EXE(they thought, but they ran my 123.COM
whch runs before an *.EXE)
Even my prof was stumped, & asked me to show him how, with promise of no repercussions.
The entire class learned, on one lesson, that if I've claimed a computer,
don't sit there! :D (of course that went from other classes on our off days, too)
Prof got me, later -- I'd been interrupted while logged into the network, & hadn't logged out. Later, whenever I tried to access the network, I got a message saying "Please remember to log out after every use" & no network access.
I found the prof, laughing, & he showed jme how he did it (there's a little program that runs as soon as you join the nework)
So for the rest of the term, I watched for others to leave while logged in,
but sadly, nobody did.
Met a sweey girl in the network chat, one day, though. She staerted asking me computer questions & I answered them; eventually we figured out she thought
she had addressed the prof!
We dated a while. . . I learned that a Taiwan girl's first date includes the guy meeting her family! (they bought the meal, at a local Asian-only mall, so all good. . .)
Buddy of mine had a copy of pre-DOS DOS, I was hoping to get, but he accidentally sat on it the day before coming out to meet me. . . :(
I've used DOS 1.0, 2.1, 4.01, 5.0, 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, 6.22
Windows 2.0, 3.0, 3.1, 3.11, 95, 98, 98SE, 2000, ME(slow as molasses in January, in Alaska), Vista(pure evil!), XP(not bad), 7.0, 7.1., 8.0, 8.1, 10(only until Sep-2022, apparently)
I've used Commodore Vic20, C64, 386, but not yet used an Amiga myself (just gone on several BBSes running it)
I got my start in Radio Shack on weekends, or when playing hooky. . .
whastever display they had up (Colecovision game system, a 286, or whatever,
I explored--usually just a wee bit beyond what they expected/allowed) (I was That Guy -- rules were made because of me! *sigh*)
I loved text adventure games, especially those by Infocom!
Your friend,
<+]:{)}
Cyberpope, Bishop of ROM
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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.2)