                                                                   30 March 1980


        AN UPDATE ON THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE UCSD PASCAL USERS' GROUP

A Visit with SofTech.

     A recent development of the UCSD Pascal Users' Group is my recent visit
with Al Irvin and Bruce Sherman at SofTech Microsystems, the primary licensee
of UCSD Pascal.  They responded to my inquiry with great enthusiasm, and I
will summarize our discussion and its results.

     As you have probably already learned, in early 1979 Bowles' group at UCSD
was notified that it would have to discontinue the software distribution
business because of the threat to the nonprofit standing of the University of
California system caused by the financial success of UCSD Pascal.  Months of
deliberations followed to determine which course would be the fairest to all
yet protect the hardware independence of the UCSD Pascal system.  Ultimately,
an established East coast software firm, SofTech, created a San Diego
subsidiary, SofTech Microsystems, which became the primary UCSD Pascal
licensee.  Its job is specifically to distribute UCSD Pascal as widely as
possible, while improving it and offering the vigorous user support Bowles'
students could not provide.  (In addition, a number of other firms obtained
OEM licenses which are still in effect; the best known is Apple computers.) 

     Many users have written to UCSD and SofTech asking for a newsletter,
regional meetings, and possibly a job bulletin board.  There were many
volunteers.  As a result, SofTech has been planning to sponsor the birth of a
users group with a meeting in San Diego this summer. Once it is formed, they
will turn over its management to volunteers not associated with UCSD or
SofTech. 

     A number of users have begun sharing UCSD Pascal software and have
indicated an interest in forming a UCSD Pascal library.  In order to utilize
their contributions, SofTech drafted a proposal for a users library that would
be contributed to by a number of software "editors," who would compile and
submit disk volumes of quality software not previously included in the
library, along with adequate documentation and estimation of the quality of
the software contents.  These volumes would be forwarded to one or more
central distribution points.  To partially compensate the editors for their
time, they would receive a small payment per disk sold, with the understanding
that users would be encouraged to copy and distribute the users group disks
for free, and that the editors would receive no payment for disks not sold.
kctual payment of editing fee would be on a quarterly basis.

     Since the software sharing system organized by Datamed Research is
similar to what SofTech was planning to develop, we have agreed to cooperate
with each other as much as possible.  To avoid confusion with a UCSD Pascal
Users' Group that would publish a newsletter, hold meetings, etc., the present
sharing of software will be called the UCSD Pascal Users' Group Library, and I
have taken the role of interim librarian.  I like their proposal for a system
of editors a great deal.  To avoid duplication, however, someone must
coordinate the library centrally.  For example, I have already seen four
copies of the Pascal prettyprinters floating around.  I have presented a
proposal for the way editors may interface with the group in POLICY.DOC.TEXT
elsewhere on this volume.

The Multitude of Floppies.

     There are a multitude of disk formats that now run UCSD Pascal.  For two
years, the system utilized virtually exclusively one 8-inch, single-density
format on a number of different machines.  Now, with the rise of UCSD Pascal
on the Apple, the TRS-80 Mod I, the North Star, the Microengine (yes, the
disks are close but not compatible), and a host of other drives (e.g., the
Micropolis, and also I've heard of it running on a Helios hard-sector floppy)
with more to come, it may seem impossible to support all these different 
disk drives.  Certainly, the job is too large for one person, but there are 
signs of help on the way.

     Western Digital is quite interested in supporting their system directly,
and you can get routines from them that will move data from a UCSD disk to a
Microengine disk and vice versa, all on a Microengine system.  I have received
offers of help from several users with dual systems of varying types. Because
so little RAM is available for the system, the TRS-80 Mod I has a fatal flaw:
only small to mid-sized programs will compile, and it is almost useless.
Because it requires a lot of memory to compile a UNIT, this facility is not
available. (Hot tip -- if you want to make a bundle, figure out a way to
replace the Level II BASIC ROM card with a card that holds the UCSD Z-80
interpreter in ROM, preferably switch-selectable with the BASIC card.) This
leaves the Apple as the other major UCSD system that requires support. Indeed,
I've received quite a number of inquiries from Apple users in the past two
weeks since the announcement of the Users' Group.

     SofTech has agreed to download programs from master 8- inch floppies to
the Apple and TRS-80 and possibly other, 5- 1/4 inch disk systems.  They are
concerned, however, about how expensive it is for them to just process an
order.  So we're looking for some other means of distributing Apple Pascal
programs.

     In other words, HELP!!! Those of you who have a dual- disk Apple system
and would like to earn a small fee ($2) per disk volume shipped, please get in
touch.  If you are nearby, I can supply you with raw materials (disks and
cartons).

Other Pascals Supported.

     In addition to UCSD Pascal, the users group software library will also 
support Pascal M, Pascal/Z, and Pascal/MT, the other major Pascals available 
that run under CP/M.  Other CP/M-compatible Pascals may be added as they 
become available.  Please contact Datamed Research if you would like to 
contribute software that runs under these systems.  However, because of time 
limitations, we cannot convert UCSD Pascal programs to the other systems; we
will supply UCSD Pascal library software on CP/M disks for you to complete
your own conversions.  (As it turns out, the syntax of Pascal M is virtually
identical to that of UCSD, and the other systems lack primarily GET, PUT,
variant records, and compatibility with nonstandard extensions.  So with
Pascal/Z or /MT, your major problem is file i/o.  Also, if the program is
large, you'll have to find a way to fit it in memory.)

Other Activities of DATAMED RESEARCH

     As a certified Pascal fanatic, I also plan to become a major retailer of
proprietary Pascal utilities and application software.  In addition, I am
interested in selling other Pascal systems as well as UCSD.  Please contact me
if you have Pascal software that you would like to offer for sale to the
computing community.

     In addition, Datamed Research has announced a call for software related 
to health care for its new disk-based software journal, SOFTDOC, to be 
published quarterly beginning in June.  Contact me directly for further 
information.


     Sincerely,

Jim Gagne, President
DATAMED RESEARCH
1433 Roscomare Road
Los Angeles, CA 90024

