This fine emulator fascinates by his full support for the graphic plotter, the RAM disk, the data recorder ( full LOAD / SAVE support ), joy sticks, the QuickDisk, reading floppy disks, K&P 80-column card, and some other well emulated useful features. You can use this emulator if you want to get your plotouts onto screen and / or you want to print them by your normal printer.

You get the source code of this emulator too, so you're able to change and advance this emulator for your own purposes!

The emulator works with DOSBox under Linux and all Windows.

The first window informs you about the key usage for the emulator and his setup values. Read the Readme.txt file for further instructions, the meaning of used keyboard LEDs during SAVE / LOAD ( for tape ), and for information about all MZ-emulated keys.

The next screen starts in full screen mode:

First slow down the emulator to a useable speed for the keyboard usage by pressing down the F11 key. You'll see the values counting up in the last line of the screen ( break value ). This value will be put into the emulator's INI-file and the emulator uses the value again at his next run(s).

Now load the Basic or your machine code program by pressing either the F9 key ( load without run ) or the F10 key ( load and run ). Or type in "L". When you're prompted to press the PLAY key, then do it by pressing the SCROLL key at your PC keyboard. This key is the emulated PLAY key of the data recorder. If the program is loaded ( the cursor returns in addition to the messages "Found..." and "Loading..." ), then press the emulated STOP key of the data recorder, this is the PAUSE key at your PC keyboard. Now you can start your program if no autostart will be executed.

To start the K&P 80-column Disk Basic do the following:

• start the emulator using the option -80z
• press the F9-key and select the K&P 80-column Disk BASIC by using the space bar. The K&P 80-column Disk BASIC must reside in the emulator's directory.
• you have now 2 screens: the normal 40-column screen and the 80-column screen. Use the NUM-key to toggle between these screens. When the K&P 80-column BASIC is started, you can toggle I/O by using the commands SCREEN 0 and SCREEN 1.
  

For more details and to download the 80-column Disk BASIC go to this page: download and description of the BASIC.

The emulator loads MZT-files only. Use the converter program MZFTOMZT.EXE to convert your files to this format. You get this program too in the ZIP-file of the emulator.

If your program loads a part subsequentially do the following first: Convert all MZF-files of this program into MZT. Last concatenate both files to one file by using the DOS copy command. Use the option /b for a binary copy operation:

copy /b part1.mzt + part2.mzt both.mzt ( the result of the operation is stored into i.e. both.mzt )

You're prompted to select a file to load by a short 2 lines selection prompt at the top of the screen:

Search and find your file by using the Space key then press the Enter key.

You get in the download file also a utility to convert from MZT to MZF.

There are several options to control the execution of the emulator:

The option -1R12 emulates the 32kb RAM disk. It is full supported. Use the RAM disk as known ( documentation at my site is here ). If the option is used, then the emulator starts showing the RAM disk screen:

The option -fxyz.rom causes the emulator to use the font file xyz.rom.
The option -1E14 will emulate the quick disk.
The option -1E05 will emulate the floppy disk drive ( read only this time ).
The option -pmprinter will use your printer connected to the parallel port of your PC if the option -ppx is used too ( x is the printer port number ). If the option -ppx is not used, a printing file will be generated: MZ700.prn. Don't use the option -pmprint if you want to use the plotter.
The option -80z activates the K&P 80-column interface.

Other options:
-h shows the help text
-soff sound off, default is on
-ioff intro off, default is on
-bx set break value, default is 0
-j the joystick will be recalibrated
-1E24 enables MZ-1E24 RS232 extension, default is off ( function is in progress )
-80z enables the K&P 80 character card, default is off

See the file Readme.txt for a complete description of all options ( for controlling the sound, printer, plotter, and more ) and their meaning.

Use the parameters FD1= and FD2= in the MZ700.INI-file of the emulator to set the configuration of the floppy drives as needed. For example, FD1=B and FD2=A sets drive A: as the 2nd drive and drive B: as the 1st drive.

Start the emulator using the option -1E05: mz700 -1E05.

If you want to explore your floppy disk to get a better knowledge about the format of your MZ-700 disk, you can use MZFDTOOL MAP B: > textdir to transfer the complete contents of the floppy disk to a text-file. Use a hex-editor to view this file.

The emulator uses original MZ-700 floppy disks in your floppy drive.

Copy the file MZ700.QD to a diskette in drive A:. You find this file in the downloadable ZIP-file of the emulator and it contains the S-BASIC. Start the emulator by MZ700 -1E14. When the S-BASIC is active, change the diskette in drive A: and use "INIT" to generate a new QD-image MZ700.QD. Use this one for writing data from a BASIC program, SAVE your BASIC program, or whatever you want.

If you don't want to use the pre-installed QD-image, generate your own QD-image containing your own MZF-files by the following procedure:

Run MZQDTOOL.EXE ( DOS or Win ) by MZQDTOOL format. This generates a new QD-image MZ700.QD into the emulator's directory. Be sure, there does not exist any other QD-image-file MZ-700.QD - it will be overwritten.

Add all files to this QD-image by using MZQDTOOL add myfile.mzf for each file you want to copy ( max. is 64 kb for all like an original QD ). If you want to boot from a file from the QD ( e.g. the S-BASIC or another OBJ-file ) you have to copy it at first. It must be the first file on the QD-Image. The AUTO RUN-file-function is supported by the emulator.

If all files are copied, you can copy this QD-image-file to a diskette in drive A:.

Start the emulator using the option -1E14: mz700 -1E14 while the diskette is in drive A.

You can use MZQDTOOL dir to show the directory of the QD-image.

There is nothing to do to use the plotter. Program the plotter as known or use your programs using the plotter unchanged and without any limitations.

If the plotter's work is done then stop the emulator by pressing the End key at your PC keyboard. You'll find a file MZ700-x.plt for each plotted page in the emulator's directory, whereby "x" means the page number. The PLT-file is in HPGL format. To view and / or print the file use any HPGL viewer program.

You can download a HPGL viewer from this site:

http://cern.web.cern.ch/CERN/Divisions/EST/CAD/hpglviewer.html.

It is a very fine one with a few features, but its usage is time limited. This is a sample screenshot of it:

The print option panel of this HPGLVIEWer.

You can set the colors used by the plotter too by an option window of the viewer. Normally the plotter uses 4 pens ( black, green, red, and blue )

But you can change the colours to your own purposes by HPGLVIEW.

Here are some screenshots taken from HPGLVIEW which were generated by the MZ-700 PLOTTER DEMO running on this emulator:

A tool is included in the download which displays the information of a given MZF-file:

You can download now:

- The MZ-700 emulator V0.37 you saw above. The emulator will run under DOSBox for Linux and all Windows ( ZIP-file 535 kb )
- Unzip the files
- Change line 232 of the file MZ-700.conf if you do not install the emulator at "c:\mz-700". See line 232 for further information. No changes are required if you install the emultor at "c:\mz-700".
- All source files of the emulator are included
- All ROM-files are included
- Download DOSBox for free and install it

There is no permission to copy the ZIP-file(s) of the emulator or parts of them to other servers for download services.

The emulator is now ready for work.

Use the Japanese character-set MZ7CGjp.rom or the European character-set MZ7CGint.rom which can be selected by the F8 key. You can set it by an execution option too.