CHall.PA@parc-maxc.arpa (04/21/83)
Iam a little late late replying to your request due to some problems with my mail server. I seen demo's and talked to the people at Carousel. The system I saw the demo on was an S-100 with a semi-disk the package seemed very fast. The documentation was complete. The people who wrote the code are part of the group that did LBL Software Tools. The Software Tools are in public domain and are available from the Software Tools Users Group. But the port to a CPM system is going to be a long project. On the whole I think the Carousel software is the way to go. Cliff Let me know what you decide.
Cargo.PD@hi-multics.arpa (04/25/83)
I finally got around to writing to Carosel. They sent me a four page flyer (dated March 1983) with lots of useful information. Major fetures: 61 ultility programs, a versatile command interpreter (shell), a consistent way to access all the tools, the ability to redirect tool input and output, a feature that transmits data between tools (pipe simulations), and a better way to organize your file directories (simulated hierarchical directories). The tool kits come in two flavors, the Build-a-ToolKit, and Use-a-ToolKit. The former is the more complete and expensive, the latter smaller and cheaper. Stated requirements: CP/M 2.2, 64K-bytes of memory (for optimum performance), Two 8-inch floppy disk drives, Microsoft's Fortran-80 if compiling tool sources from the Build-a-ToolKit is desired (no version of Fortran-80 is specified). Prices: Carousel ToolKit Manual for CP/M 80 (338 page manual with a beginner's introduction to using the tools on CP/M, tutorials, and detailed descriptions of each command and library routine), $40.00 (this does not seem to be good for any credit on a later purchase). Carousel Use-a-ToolKit (manual, license, 3 diskettes with 61 tools in binary form) $249.00 Carousel Build-a-ToolKit (everything from the above plus 6 diskettes with the tool sources, the linkable library, ratfor, and the associated tool-building tools) $395.00 Additional licenses for single user/machine $40.00 They will pay shipping if prepaid by check or money order. California sales tax collected where apppropriate. This looks like a good deal, since the shell functions alone would cost on the order of $150 for something like the MicroShell (no brosure handy). I am certain I have the price wrong for that but I am not too far off. I don't feel like typing the descriptions of all 61 tools. Write Carousel MicroTools, Inc. at 609 Kearney Street, El Cerrito, CA 94530 for more info. (415) 528-1300 is their phone number. Carousel Tools, ToolKit, Build-a-ToolKit, and Use-a-ToolKit are trademarks of Carousel MicroTools, Inc. CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research.