Re: BRUN HELLO (was Re: Appl //c Basic)

[mark.percival@videotron.ca (Mark Percival)]

dalloff@gcfn.org (Dave Althoff Jr) wrote:

> Under DOS 3.3, the name of the startup program is determined by the
> filename specified in the INIT command.  

True.

> There is also a frequently overlooked second startup program
> option...under DOS 3.3, if an attempt to run the usual startup program
> (with the name specified during format) results in a LANGUAGE NOT
> AVAILABLE error, DOS 3.3 will proceed to attempt to load a program called
> APPLESOFT instead.

This is true too but I'd like to clarify the conditions when this
happens.

If you are running an Apple ][ or ][ plus that has the old Integer
Basic ROMs on the motherboard the follow sequence of events happens
when you try to run an Applesoft program.

1) If Applesoft is unavailable, DOS 3.3 will look for a program called
"APPLESOFT" and run it.

2) If the program "APPLESOFT" is not available DOS will return
"LANGUAGE NOT AVAILABLE" error and stop.

3) If the program "APPLESOFT" is sucessfully loaded and it is the RAM
version of Applesoft, it will then run the original requested
Applesoft program.

The DOS manual also tells you that if you wish to load the RAM version
of Applesoft that you should do so by using the "FP" DOS command and
not by just running the "APPLESOFT" program directly.  Running it
directly results in DOS being disconnected.  Using "FP" starts the
proper sequence of looking for "APPLESOFT" if not already loaded.

When the DOS 3.3 System Master is booted on this sort of setup and
trys to load the Applesoft HELLO program it runs the Integer Basic
APPLESOFT program instead.  In this case the APPLESOFT program isn't
the RAM version of Applesoft but an Integer Basic version of the
standard HELLO program.  This will check for the presence of a
Language Card/16K Card and if it finds one loads FPBASIC from System
Master into the card.

On any Apple II system that already has Applesoft available in ROM at
boot, the APPLESOFT file never comes into play.  If Integer Basic is
requested and not available then LANGUAGE NOT AVAILABLE is displayed.

Mark Percival
Syndicomm Online RTC Host