
	HP MEASUREMENT COPROCESSOR         		Revision D.00.00
                                                                10/04/91

	Welcome to the HP Measurement Coprocessor system revision D.00.00.
	This system enables you to use your personal computer to develop and
	run programs in one of the most powerful, yet flexible instrumentation 
	BASIC environments available.

	If you are already familiar with the HP Measurement Coprocessor, 
        please note that this is a significant revision of the software to
	support the version 6.2 of HP BASIC.  It also fully supports the
        BASIC PLUS product, which adds powerful graphical user interface
        statements to HP BASIC.  This software also fully supports both the
        HP82300 Measurement Coprocessor and the HP82324 High Performance Meas-
        urement Coprocessor.

        This file is organized into the following sections:

            PRODUCT NOTES:          information on configuring and running the
                                    HP Measurement Coprocessor Software.

            DOCUMENTATION CHANGES:  up-to-date product information that wasn't
                                    included in the manual set.

            REVISION HISTORY:       information on this and previous revisions
                                    of the software.

            KNOWN BUGS/LIMITATIONS: known problems with the software and
                                    workarounds for them.

	We recommend that you read the important notes below to learn about
        proper operation procedures, limitations, and new features.

	*************************** PRODUCT NOTES ****************************

	* The best way to get your system up and running is to insert Disk
	  One into drive A: and type INSTALL. Then follow the process and
	  respond to the prompts as required. If you encounter problems,
          refer to chapter 2 in the "Installing and Using HP BASIC/DOS 6.2"
          manual.
 
	* EISA bus machines (such as the HP Vectra 486) have a configuration
          program to manage hardware resources.  Disk 1 contains two EISA
          configuration files:  !HWP1430.CFG for the 82300 Measurement Co-
          processor, and !HWP1470.CFG for the 82324 High Performance Meas-
          urement Coprocessor.  Using these files may simplify installation
          of your measurement coprocessor.  Do this before running the
          installation program as described above!

        * If you have a HP82324 High Performance Measurement Coprocessor and
          you have one or more memory managers installed on your PC (e.g.
          EMM386.SYS, HIMEM.SYS, etc.), you must alter your CONFIG.SYS file
          to prevent buffer address conflicts.  Do this before running the
          installation program as described above! See pages 11-18 through
          11-23 of your "Installing and Using HP BASIC/DOS 6.2" manual.

	* Some memory resident programs (TSR's) such as SIDEKICK(c),
	  SUPERKEY(c) do not work when HP BASIC is running in the foreground.
	  Also, concurrent operation with Novell NetWare(c) or Microsoft
	  Windows is currently not supported.

	* Programs supplied with your display system to blank the screen 
          while not in use (HGC.COM, HPEGA.COM, etc.) should not be used 
	  when operating with HP BASIC.  The screen may inadvertently be 
	  turned off and left off until the user returns to DOS (using 
	  <CTRL>F10) and strikes a key.

	* Users of the VGA Monochrome display please note that gray-scale
	  summing (the transformation of red-green-blue values into gray-scale
	  values) is disabled in the default configuration. This is done to
	  prevent the default alpha screen (ALPHA PEN 4) from appearing too 
	  dim.  To enable gray-scale summing copy the file NTSC.CON in your
          installation directory onto BLP.CON, also in the same directory,
	  and reboot BASIC. After that, you will probably want to change the
	  alpha pen to 1 (white).

	* The HP Measurement Coprocessor software includes the utility
	  LIFINIT for initialization of LIF floppy disks of any size and
	  capacity. A description of this utility as well as examples of its
	  use can be found in the file LIFINIT.DOC on the "Manual Examples,
	  LIFINIT, and Selected CSUBs and Utilities" disks.

	* BASIC programs that perform I/O on DOS files while running in 
 	  BACKGROUND mode may conflict with certain foreground applications.
	  See your manuals and the file BACKGND.DOC on the "Manual Examples,
	  LIFINIT, Selected CSUBS" disk for more information on supported
	  applications and possible limitations.

	* The CRT commands ALPHA HEIGHT <n> and KEY LABELS OFF may produce
	  incorrect results if executed in background.  To guarantee correct
	  results, execute the appropriate commands to restore the desired
	  screen when re-entering BASIC.

	* If you are upgrading from an old version of the HP BASIC Language
	  Processor and are an SRM user set the PC I/O devices to Int Level
	  6 using the CONF utility (factory default is level 6 for PC HPIB 
	  and PC Serial beginning with release C.00.00). 

	* Serial TRANSFERs or interrupts are not supported. Instead, ENTERs
	  and OUTPUTs are recommended. However, live keyboard operation may
	  interfere with serial I/O and should be avoided. The live keyboard
	  may be disabled before serial ENTER and OUTPUT statements with a
	  CONTROL 2,7;0 command, and enabled thereafter with a CONTROL 2,7;1
	  command. For example

		10  CONTROL 2,7;0	! Disable keyboard
		20  ENTER 21;A$		! Enter a string from SC 21
		30  CONTROL 2,7;1	! Enable keyboard 

	* The performance of a serial ENTER statement may be greatly enhanced
	  by executing the following once at the beginning of your program:

		10  STATUS 9,10;Sts	! Clear UART error and status flags

        * With the enhanced 101/102 key European localized keyboards,
	  certain characters on the front face of keys and to the right side
	  of the key caps are accessed using the CTRL key in BASIC (hold down
	  CTRL and also press the desired key).  These keys are accessed using
	  the ALT modifier in DOS.  Additionally, to display all extended
	  characters in the combined modes the BASIC command "CONTROL CRT,11;1"
	  should be executed to disable the default CRT character mapping.
	  See chapter 5 in the manual "Installing and Using HP BASIC/DOS 6.2".

	* The default keyboard mapping for the newly supported Swiss keyboards
	  is Swiss/German. To change to Swiss/French you should copy the
	  file SWISFREN.CON in the installation directory onto BLP.CON.

	********************** DOCUMENTATION CHANGES *************************

        Language Reference, Vol 2.:
        
            P. S-110:   SYSTEM$("CRT ID") returns "6: 80HCGB15 " for both
                        color and monochrome VGA displays.  Single-plane
                        displays (such as Hercules) return with a space
                        instead of the letter "M". (This preserves compat-
                        ibility with previous releases.)

            P. S-112:   SYSTEM$("SYSTEM ID") always returns "PC300 " instead
                        of "PC300" for the 82300 and "PC300:30" for the 83234.
                        (Again, this is to preserve compatibility with previous
                        releases.)  Use SYSTEM$("VERSION:MCP_HW") to determine
                        which Measurement Coprocessor is being used.

                        Also, SYSTEM$("SERIAL NUMBER") returns "111111111"
                        instead of the null string when no HP HIL ID module
                        is present.

            P. S-114:   The following SYSTEM$ keyword has been added (for
                        RMB/DOS 6.2 only):

                        GETENV:<varname>    Returns value of a DOS environment
                                            variable; if varname has not been
                                            set, a null string is returned.

                        For example, SYSTEM$("GETENV:PATH") returns your
                        DOS path (e.g. "C:\DOS;C:\BLP").

        Installing and Using RMB/DOS 6.2:

            All pages:  Many references are made to the "Manual Examples"
                        diskette.  The files on this disk have been grouped
                        into subdirectories.  See the INS0 file on that disk
                        for detailed information.

            P. C-13:    See the PCBLOCK.DOC file in the CSUBS subdirectory on
                        the "Manual Examples" diskette for updated information
                        on these routines.

	************************ REVISION HISTORY ****************************

        Revision D.00.00 defect fixes and enhancements:

        - HP BASIC 6.2 with wildcards and HP BASIC PLUS fully supported
        - Mouse support improved -- all PC mice should work properly
        - EXECUTE, QUIT, and BYE keywords, plus new SYSTEM$() functions
          supercede DOS command port (select code 19) functionality
        - Some DOS 5.0 configurations would hang during HPBLP.SYS initiali-
          zation due to a bug in HIMEM.SYS; HPBLP.SYS now has a workaround
          for this situation.
        - HPBLP.SYS device driver will no longer hang if pause key pressed
        - Boot display fixed for Hercules monochrome display adapter

	Revision C.01.01 defect fixes and enhancements:

        - The B0.EXE boot loader program no longer hangs the system when
          Upper Memory Blocks (UMB's) are used in DOS 5.0 (and other
          memory managers implementing the XMS 2.0 specification).
        - The D1171B HP-HIL card is now supported in the Vectra 286/12.
        - The GRiD GRiDCASE 1535 portable with enhanced CGA-compatible LCD
          display is now supported.

	Revision C.01.00 defect fixes and enhancements:

	- The new Vectra 386/25 and Vectra 486 models are fully supported.
	- The new 82324A High-Performance Measurement Coprocessor is fully
	  supported.
	- Systems on SRM or external HP-IB disks are now found reliably on
	  fast PC's (20Mhz+).
	- The HP-HIL barcode reader no longer drops characters.
	- The cursor no longer appears in odd places during boot on certain
	  PC's.
	- The Num Lock and Caps Lock indicators on the keyboard now toggle
	  correctly on fast PC's (20Mhz+).
	- The install program no longer loops continuously on reboot if
	  the HPBLP.SYS device driver installs correctly but no good cards
	  are recognized.
	- The WAIT statement now gives a much more accurate delay; see the
	  "Porting Guide for the Measurement Coprocessor" manual for more
	  information.

	Revision C.00.02 defect fixes and enhancements:

	- The new Vectra 286/12 (ES/12 replacement) is fully supported.
	- The new Super VGA adapters are supported in 640x480 resolution.
	- HP-HIL mouse READ LOCATOR problem introduced in C.00.01 is corrected.
	- Alphanumeric output to the screen is 25% faster.
	- Added a PCBLOCK csub for faster on-screen bit block moves.
	- HPWLIF filenames are case sensitive.
	- Enhanced ASCII to TEXT file conversion utility (example program).
	- Added ID text to the zero length files INS1..INS4.
	- A DFS "media overflow error" has been corrected.
	- CAT of HFS floppies on Vectra drives produces the correct output.

	Revision C.00.01 defect fixes and enhancements:

	- The serial mouse buttons are recognized by the READ LOCATOR statement.
	- Repeated execution of CAT;NAMES no longer causes a system error.
	- CAT will not show negative values for some BDAT file sizes.
	- Multi-com supports DOS 4.01.
	- Multi-com routine Blp_set_idle is now included in ADVLIB.
	- Popcom works with EGA set to Hercules emulation mode.
	- BASIC timer is now maintained during DOS access via OUTPUT 19.
	- Local keyboards are now recognized by new sw and old boot roms.
	- HP-HIL knob works correctly.
	- Num-lock & Caps-lock lights updated in BASIC (DIN keyboards only).
	- Returning to BASIC in separate mode no longer leaves screen blank.
	- ALPHA HEIGHT and KEY LABELS work correctly returning from background.
	- LIFINIT cosmetic fixes (blinking error & blue screen).
	- ASCII to text file conversion utility (example program).

	********************* KNOWN BUGS / LIMITATIONS ***********************

	Problem:

	  While BASIC is running in the background, starting up LOTUS 1-2-3
	  in 43- or 50-line mode will cause the PC to hang.

	Workaround:

	  Do not use 43- or 50-line mode in LOTUS while running BASIC in
	  background mode.

	---------------------------------------------------------------------

	Problem:

	  Sending a large amount of data to a serial printer will cause a
	  printer timeout message.  This message will occur more frequently
	  on faster PC's than on slower PC's.

	Workaround:

	  1) Use a parallel printer, or
	  2) use WAIT statements to cause delays between outputs to the
	     printer, or
	  3) Slow down the CPU speed of the PC.

	---------------------------------------------------------------------

	Problem:

	  The comma (,) key on the numeric keypad of the Swedish keyboard
	  is incorrectly mapped to a period (.).

	Workaround:

	  Use the CONF program to remap the numeric keypad '.' to a ','.

	---------------------------------------------------------------------

	Problem:

	  On the Zenith Z100, running BASIC gives a "Could not load ACTDISP"
	  message after CONF is run.

	Workaround:

	  Enter the DOS command "MODE CO80" after running CONF to reset the
	  CRT controller before running BASIC.

	*************************** TRADEMARKS *******************************

	SIDEKICK(c) and SUPERKEY(c) are trademarks of Borland International.
	WINDOWS(c) is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
	Novell NetWare(c) is a trademark of Novell Corporation.

