A problem exists in using the Aerco FD-68 DOS. Since there is no Character Array SAVE LOAD, the data files must be either CODE files or a complete Variable file save load. When a vars file is loaded the existing basic program vars are replaced. This means that I could not do what I’m now doing; ie, I could not SAVE several data files as VARS files, and re-load them sequentially to print a continuous document. This is because the printing variables (line length, print style, etc) would be wiped out with the LOAD of a vars file. The INIT utility for the Aerco FD-68 takes care of this by providing 67 extra bytes of code ABOVE the 800 byte prcode, for storage of variables. So, the solution is to “hide the essential vars” above the prcode before loading in a new vars data file for printing.
A small counter from 1 to 67, using a READ DATA within the counter can be used to stash these vars before a vars file is booted in. The DATA line can contain the letter designations of the essential vars to be preserved. Then AFTER the new Vars file (a data file) has been loaded, the essential vars (numbers) can be PEEKed out and re-assigned to the essential vars. Then the basic program can resume with identical printing and set-up variables. This is the way the Aerco FD-68 version of Smart Text conducts automatic printing of multiple data files booted in from disk. This requires the variables to be poked to the (appended) prcode just before the new data file (a vars file) is loaded.