BASIC Installer
===============

(c) Garry Lancaster, 2000


Introduction
------------
Installer is a utility that allows you to run proper Z88 applications 
and popdowns without having to go through the tedious process of 
blowing them to EPROMs. Instead, it uses free space found in your Z88's 
RAM to hold the applications, where they can be run exactly as if they 
were on a ROM card.

BASIC Installer is a cut-down version of the full "Installer" popdown
provided on the Z88 Forever! compilation ROM. It performs some of the
basic functions of Installer, and is intended for those people who don't
have any EPROM cards at all, and so cannot use the full version.

There are several limitations to this version, however. Firstly, there is
no support for packages or other Z88 enhancements, so applications which
require this will not be able to run (at the time of release, however,
there are no such applications yet available!)

Secondly, since Bootstrap is not provided with this version, if you
perform a soft reset for any reason, any installed applications will be
vulnerable to being overwritten by the operating system. Therefore, after
a soft reset you should always uninstall all the applications you have
previously loaded.


Installing the Z88 Forever! compilation
---------------------------------------
A version of the "Z88 Forever!" compilation which includes the full
versions of Installer and Bootstrap is now available. You can install this
card using BASIC Installer, and then use the full version of Installer in
future.

Doing this will allow you to run applications that use the new
operating system features included with Installer. However, once you have
installed this particular card, you WILL NOT BE ABLE TO UNINSTALL IT
AGAIN, so you should be sure that you have a lot of free RAM (the "Z88
Forever!" compilation takes up 32K that you won't be able to get back
again). The only way to uninstall this card is to backup all your files
and then do a HARD RESET on your Z88...


Installing an application
-------------------------
Applications which can be installed by the BASIC Installer are 
supplied in two or more files, depending on the amount of free space 
they require.

The main application information file has an extension of .APP, and the 
files containing the application itself have extensions from .AP0 up to
a maximum of .AP7 (16K applications have only a .AP0 file, while 32K 
applications have both an .AP0 and .AP1 file, etc).

To install an application, choose option 1 and type in the name of the
application file (without the .APP extension).  

If you now look in the Index, you will see the application in the list, 
and can start it by pressing ENTER in the usual way. There will 
probably be no key listed by it - this is because the Z88 only 
re-creates its hotkey list when a card is changed.

You can install as many applications as you like, provided you have 
enough free 16K banks in your RAM devices. If you have enough free space
in total to install  an application, but not enough completely free banks,
you will probably have to close some applications and delete some files
until space is available in the right places.

Please note that no applications can be installed in the internal 
:RAM.0 memory (even if you have 128K or 512K available there). This is 
because the Z88 only checks slots 1-3 for applications.


Reserving banks for use with applications
-----------------------------------------
If you want to install a large number of applications in RAM, or if you 
have limited available RAM (perhaps only a 128K card), you will 
probably often find that although you have enough space in total to 
install an application, you do not have any totally free banks. To 
overcome this problem, BASIC Installer includes a menu option to reserve 
banks for use with applications before you transfer the files to the 
Z88.

It is most effective to use this option just after a hard reset, when 
the maximum free space is available. Simply choose option 3 and select the
number of banks that you will require for your applications, and they will
be reserved for application use. You can do this as many times as you like.

It is now possible to transfer the application files and install them 
in the usual way. During installation, reserved banks are used up first 
before other free banks are sought. Note that if an error occurs during 
installation, or when you uninstall the application, banks are not 
reserved again; you must choose the reserve banks option again.


Freeing reserved banks
----------------------
If you wish to release reserved banks back to the general Z88 memory, 
use option 4.


Uninstalling an application
---------------------------
To remove an application and reclaim the memory it uses, choose option 2
and type in the application name.

The program will not allow you to uninstall an application if there are 
any applications active in the same slot. This is a safety feature,
designed to prevent some nasty crashes! To be able to uninstall an 
application, first KILL off any applications using the same slot in the 
Index.


Uninstalling all RAM applications
---------------------------------
If you accidentally delete an .APU file, the Installer program has no 
way of knowing how to uninstall a particular application. In this case, 
you can choose to uninstall every RAM application at the same time.

To do this, simply choose option 5, which will attempt to remove all
installed applications in the Z88. Only slots containing no active 
applications or packages will be purged.


Error messages
--------------
It is possible for various errors to occur when installing and 
uninstalling applications. The most common errors are:

Already Exists
	The application is already installed (an .APU file was found)
No Room
	Not enough free 16K banks could be found for installation
File Not Found
	One of the installation files is missing
End Of File
	One of the installation files is invalid
Cannot Satisfy Request
	Could not find a valid application to uninstall; or application
	or package was active in same slot


Obtaining installable RAM applications
--------------------------------------
Most of the application ROMs on the Z88 Forever! website are now 
available in RAM-installable format.

Z88 software developers can also obtain a kit containing details of the 
application file format, and a tool for creating .APP files quickly and 
easily.


Comments
--------
If you encounter any problems using BASIC Installer, or have any other 
comments or suggestions to make, please contact me via the Z88 Forever!
website.

Garry Lancaster, 13th March 2000
