by John Clark Graig
This brilliant vintage programming book published in 1982 has a special place in our hearts and minds. It introduced practical numerical programs for a tiny computer, the famous 1980 Sharp PC-1211 rebadged the TRS-80 Pocket Computer ("PC-1"), known as the first pocket computer in existence. For modern standards it is not impressive. However, in 1980, the same year the Sinclair ZX80 was introduced and two years before the Commodore 64 was launched, this Pocket Computer already had an enhanced version of Basic with line labelling, computed GOTOs, INPUT and DATA statements that accepts expressions instead of just constants, SHIFT+KEY to run a labelled program (DEF mode) with AREAD to read the last answer into the running program, and computations with high accuracy in 10+2 digit decimal floating point.
The 119 programs were tested and converted to wav files. Five programs had minor bugs that were fixed.
Multiple programs can be loaded by merging them with CLOAD 1", see the next section for details. You can also create a collection of programs to load at once with CLOAD", see the section further below.
The program title, the starting page number describing the program and input, the Basic source file, the Basic image size, and program labels are listed in the table below. Data A() means that the program may use array values A(27) and above to store application data. If insufficient memory is available to allocate A(27) and higher, then the program may terminate with a memory error.
| title | page | file | size | data | labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-Purpose Driver | 1 | =.bas | 25 | = | |
| Bernoulli Numbers | 3 | B.bas | 97 | B | |
| Bessel Functions | 5 | BSLJ.bas | 362 | BSLJ BSLI | |
| Black Holes | 7 | BH.bas | 287 | BH | |
| Boolean Logic Truth Table | 9 | BOOL.bas | 181 | A() | BOOL |
| Calendar - Date | 13 | DATE.bas | 148 | DATE | |
| Calendar - Easter | 15 | EASTER.bas | 297 | EASTER | |
| Calendar - Moon | 17 | MOON.bas | 172 | MOON | |
| Calendar - Subroutines | 19 | DJ.bas | 303 | DJ JD | |
| Calendar - Two Dates | 21 | 2DATES.bas | 191 | 2DATES | |
| Checkbook | 23 | CHECKS.bas | 243 | CHECKS | |
| Chi-Square | 25 | CHI.bas | 75 | CHI | |
| Circle - Determined by Three X,Y Points | 27 | CIR.bas | 240 | CIR | |
| Combinations | 29 | CO.bas | 71 | CO | |
| Complex Number Functions | 33 | C.bas | 501 | C+ C- C* C/ 1/C RP PR C2 [SQR]C | |
| Complex Numbers - Simultaneous Equations, Size Two | 35 | CSE2.bas | 215 | CSE2 | |
| Coordinate Systems for Three Dimensions | 37 | CYL.bas | 338 | CYL SPH REC | |
| Coordinate Translation / Rotation | 41 | CTR.bas | 127 | CTR | |
| Cubic Equations | 43 | CUB.bas | 398 | CUB | |
| Curve Fit - Exponential | 45 | CFE.bas | 199 | CFE | |
| Curve Fit - Geometric | 47 | CFG.bas | 200 | CFG | |
| Curve Fit - Linear | 49 | CFL.bas | 185 | CFL | |
| Curve Fit - Logarithmic | 51 | CFLN.bas | 197 | CFLN | |
| Curve Fit - Multiple Linear Regression | 53 | MLR.bas | 267 | MLR | |
| Curve Fit - Parabolic | 55 | CFP.bas | 333 | CFP | |
| Decimal to Fraction Conversion | 57 | DF.bas | 138 | DF | |
| Derivatives of a Function | 59 | D.bas | 227 | D0 D1 D2 FX | |
| Determinant - Three by Three Matrix | 63 | DT3.bas | 54 | DT3 | |
| Determinant - Two by Two Matrix | 61 | DT2.bas | 26 | DT2 | |
| Dice Thrower | 65 | DICE.bas | 62 | DICE R | |
| Differential Equations | 67 | DE.bas | 170 | DE FX | |
| Distribution - Binomial | 69 | BIN.bas | 115 | BIN | |
| Distribution - Hypergeometric | 71 | HYP.bas | 176 | HYP | |
| Distribution - Normal | 73 | NORM.bas | 145 | NORM | |
| Distribution - Poisson | 75 | POI.bas | 62 | POI | |
| Electronics - Balanced Bridge | 77 | BRI.bas | 116 | BRI | |
| Electronics - Decibels | 79 | DCBL.bas | 163 | DCBL | |
| Electronics - Ohm's Law | 81 | OHM.bas | 174 | OHM | |
| Electronics - RC Timing | 83 | RC.bas | 233 | RC | |
| Electronics - Resistor Analysis | 87 | RR.bas | 142 | RR RRR | |
| Electronics - Resonant Frequency | 91 | FLC.bas | 129 | FLC | |
| Error Function - And Complement | 93 | ERF.bas | 222 | ERF | |
| Euler Function | 95 | EU.bas | 103 | EU | |
| Euler Numbers | 97 | EN.bas | 73 | EN | |
| EXP(X) for Large X | 99 | EX.bas | 47 | EX | |
| Factorial - Three Versions | 101 | FA.bas | 117 | FA1 FA2 FA3 | |
| Factors of a Positive Integer | 103 | FS.bas | 71 | FS | |
| Fibonacci Numbers | 105 | FIB.bas | 57 | FIB | |
| Flash Cards - Multiplication Table | 107 | MT.bas | 229 | MT | |
| Fractions | 109 | F.bas | 234 | F+ F- F* F/ FLT | |
| Games - "Deal 'Em" | 113 | DEAL.bas | 357 | A() | DEAL |
| Games - "Huh?" | 115 | HUH.bas | 265 | HUH | |
| Games - "Lunar Landing" | 117 | LUNAR.bas | 393 | LUNAR | |
| Games - "Numb" | 119 | NUMB.bas | 203 | NUMB | |
| Games - "Pool" | 121 | POOL.bas | 302 | POOL | |
| Games - "Wug Hunt" | 123 | WUG.bas | 282 | WUG | |
| Gamma Function | 125 | GA.bas | 203 | GA | |
| Graphing Helper - Creating a "Nice" Axis | 127 | GR.bas | 243 | GR | |
| Graphing Helper - Plotting a Function | 131 | FUN.bas | 118 | FUN FX | |
| Greatest Common Divisor | 133 | GCD.bas | 56 | GCD | |
| Gudermannian Function and Inverse | 135 | GD.bas | 49 | GD IGD | |
| Histogram Bins | 137 | HB.bas | 182 | A() | HB |
| Hyperbolic Functions | 141 | SINH.bas | 173 | SINH COSH TANH ASNH ACSH ATNH | |
| Integrals - Cosine Integral | 143 | CI.bas | 115 | CI | |
| Integrals - Exponential Integral | 145 | EI.bas | 81 | EI | |
| Integrals - Sine Integral | 147 | SI.bas | 107 | SI | |
| Integration - Gaussian Quadrature | 149 | GQ.bas | 332 | GQ FX FX | |
| Integration - Simpson's Rule | 153 | SIMP.bas | 162 | SIMP FX | |
| Integration - Weddle's Rule | 155 | WEDD.bas | 162 | WEDD FX | |
| Interpolation - Lagrange | 159 | LGI.bas | 187 | A() | LGI |
| Interpolation - Linear | 161 | LI.bas | 113 | LI | |
| Least Common Multiple | 163 | LCM.bas | 74 | LCM | |
| Limit of a Function | 165 | LIM.bas | 144 | LIM FX | |
| Line Analysis | 167 | LN.bas | 151 | LN | |
| Loan | 169 | LOAN.bas | 531 | LOAN | |
| Logarithms in any Base | 171 | LB.bas | 34 | LB | |
| Matrix Inversion | 173 | MATI.bas | 537 | A() | MATI MATOUT |
| Mean And Standard Deviation - Grouped Data | 177 | MSDG.bas | 110 | MSDG | |
| Mean And Standard Deviation - Ungrouped Data | 179 | MSD.bas | 97 | MSD | |
| Means - Arithmetic, Geometric, And Harmonic | 181 | MNS.bas | 124 | MNS | |
| Metric Conversions | 183 | CONV.bas | 67 | G.L M.K | |
| Miles Per Gallon | 185 | MPG.bas | 156 | MPG | |
| Miles Per Hour | 187 | MPH.bas | 108 | MPH | |
| Moving Average | 189 | MAV.bas | 162 | A() | MAV |
| Number Conversions - Binary to Decimal | 191 | BD.bas | 87 | BD | |
| Number Conversions - Decimal to Binary | 193 | DB.bas | 82 | DB | |
| Number Conversions - Decimal to Hexadecimal | 195 | DH.bas | 88 | DH | |
| Number Conversions - Decimal to Octal | 197 | DO.bas | 84 | DO | |
| Number Conversions - Hexadecimal to Decimal | 199 | HD.bas | 93 | HD | |
| Number Conversions - Octal to Decimal | 201 | OD.bas | 87 | OD | |
| Permutations | 203 | PERM.bas | 50 | PERM | |
| Pi - By Dartboard | 205 | PI.bas | 151 | PI | |
| Plotting - Three Dimensions | 209 | 3D.bas | 115 | 3D | |
| Pocket Alarm Clock | 215 | ACLK.bas | 181 | ACLK | |
| Pocket Watch | 217 | CLK.bas | 141 | CLK | |
| Pocketext | 213 | WRI.bas | 195 | WRI REA EDI | |
| Polar to Rectangular | 219 | PR.bas | 45 | PR | |
| Polygon by Walkaround | 225 | PW.bas | 123 | PW | |
| Polygons - Regular | 227 | POLY.bas | 373 | POLY | |
| Prime Numbers | 231 | PRI.bas | 100 | PRI | |
| Quadratic Equations | 233 | QE.bas | 149 | QE | |
| Radioisotope Activity | 235 | RAD.bas | 238 | RAD | |
| Random Numbers - Exponential Distribution | 237 | RNDE.bas | 49 | RNDE | |
| Random Numbers - Integers from I to J | 239 | RNDI.bas | 68 | RNDI | |
| Random Numbers - Normal Distribution | 241 | RNDN.bas | 118 | RNDN | |
| Random Numbers - Reals from A to B | 243 | RNDR.bas | 63 | RNDR | |
| Rectangular to Polar | 245 | RP.bas | 66 | RP | |
| Relativity | 247 | REL.bas | 203 | REL | |
| Simultaneous Equations - Flexible Size | 253 | SIEQ.bas | 456 | A() | SIEQ |
| Simultaneous Equations - Size Three | 251 | SE3.bas | 204 | SE3 | |
| Simultaneous Equations - Size Two | 249 | SE2.bas | 56 | SE2 | |
| Spherical Triangles | 257 | SSS.bas | 542 | SSS AAA SAS ASA SSA AAS | |
| Temperature Conversions | 261 | CF.bas | 46 | CF | |
| Triangle Analysis | 262 | SSA.bas | 399 | ASA SSS SAA SAS SSA | |
| Triangles - In Space | 267 | T3D.bas | 300 | T3D | |
| Vectors | 269 | V.bas | 561 | V+ V- VC VT VD VM VU VK STP | |
| Volume - Defined by Four Cartesian Space Points | 281 | VS.bas | 195 | VS | |
| Wind Chill Index | 285 | WCI.bas | 122 | WCI | |
| Zero of a Function | 287 | ZF.bas | 166 | ZF FX |
Enter CLOAD" on your TRS-80 or PC-1211 equipped with a cassette interface or a printer unit. Play the =.wav file to load the "All-Purpose Driver" program first.
Enter CLOAD 1" (with a 1) on your TRS-80/PC-1211. This command merges (actually appends) the next program to the existing ones. Play the wav file of the Basic program you want to merge.
Note: If the last program loaded has a line 900 or 910 with an "FX" labelled function, then remove this line first before loading additional programs. Loading additional programs makes it impossible to edit the previous programs. Therefore, line 900 "FX" becomes non-modifyable, which is not what we want.
All of the Basic programs use different labels and can be loaded together, except the two programs SSS.bas and SSA.bas that use the same set of labels.
The combine.sh script takes a list of Basic programs with suffix .bas to combine them into one combined.bas by merging them. The script removes lines 900 and 910 labelled "FX" to avoid saving non-modifyable 900 "FX" labelled functions. The combined.bas program should be converted with PocketTools to a wav file. See the next section on PocketTools for details.
For example, the following command creates and plays one combined.wav file for six programs, including the All-Purpose Driver that is always included:
./combine.sh 2DATES.bas DATE.bas EASTER.bas MOON.bas DJ.bas
Converting BAS file combined.bas to combined.wav
Target file: BASIC image, format of PC-1211
File combined.bas was opened
File size of combined.bas is 1877 bytes
bas2img: Merged line number 10: not higher than previous line number 90
bas2img: Merged line number 100: not higher than previous line number 250
File combined.img was written
with 1136 bytes, 2 warning(s)
Pocket format : 0x80 <- Basic (or RSV) image with intermediate code, PC-1211
Save name :
File combined.wav was written.
Saved combined.img combined.wav
Sending combined.wav (must turn volume up to max)
The two warnings should be ignored. These are just to confirm that the programs will be merged. The resulting image size is 1136 bytes.
The total size of the Basic image should not exceed 1424 bytes. The table lists the image size of each program. Some programs may need A() data space as well, as indicated in the table.
All of the Basic programs use different labels and can in principle be combined, except the two programs SSS.bas and SSA.bas that use the same set of labels.
The Basic programs are converted to wav form using PocketTools. PocketTools runs on Windows. On MacOS, Linux or Android, compile the PocketTools source code with a C compiler as follows:
cd PocketTools_vvv/POCKTOOL/Sources
make
This creates the bas2img, bin2wav and wav2bin utilities. The conversion of a Basic file to a wav file takes two steps:
bas2img --pc=1211 FILENAME.bas
bin2wav --pc=1211 FILENAME.img
The special characters E (decimal exponent), π (pi) and √ (square root) are specified as [E], [PI] and [SQR] in the Basic source code. These notations are converted by PocketTools to the corresponding character codes for the TRS-80/PC-1211.
- Pressing
SHIFT-=when the computer is waiting on input brings you back to the top command line. No need to press ON. - Printing of the output works by switching the printer on and pressing ON twice
These bugs were found and fixed:
- GA.bas: fixed bug in line 40 typo in constant parameter
- LOAN.bas: fixed bug in line 80 missing ^ operator
- MPH.bas: fixed bug in line 10 missing minus sign in exponent
- POOL.bas: fixed bug in line 60 missing multiplication by S
- T3D.bas: fixed bug in line 70 assignment typo