Updated 27 August 2004

Z88 File Transfers

Table of Contents
Protocols	Platforms
Imp-Export, PCLink II, EazyLink, RangerLink, SpecLink, Ascii Text, Xmodem, Ymodem, MacBinary, Kermit, CET, TFTP, HTTP, FTP	Acorn Archimedes, Acorn RISC OS, Amiga, Amstrad PCW, Apple MacIntosh, Atari ST, BBC, Nimbus, PC DOS, PC Windows 3.1, PC Windows 95, PC Linux, Sinclair QL, Sinclair Spectrum, Unix, Z88
File Formats	Character Sets
Wordstar, Lotus 123, WordPerfect, MacWrite, Lotus, 6502 BBC BASIC, BASIC V, QL Archive, Tasword, RTF, HTML, Excel, View, Interword, Mini Office, Wordwise, Wordwise+, First Word Plus, Digita Organiser, MacWrite, WKS, BBC BASIC, To be completed..	ISO-8859-1 (Latin1), ISO-8859-3 (Latin3), IBM PC8 code page 437, Mac To be completed..

• Imp-Export
Introduced by Cambridge Computer Ltd in the internal Z88 application Imp-Export. Documented in the Z88 User Guide at least from the second edition. Transfers files individually or batchwise in both directions. Files containing binary data like BASIC programs are slower to transfer then text files like PipeDream documents because of protocol encoding overhead. Can transfer files over 7-bit data links.
• PCLink II
Extension to the Imp-Export protocol. Introduced by Cambridge Computer Ltd in the external ROM card Z88 application PCLink. Documented at least in the PC-Link User Guide second edition. The Z88 application PCLink acts as a server and all commands are entered at the client computer. Transfers device, directory and file names and files in both directions. Files containing binary data like BASIC programs are slower to transfer then text files like PipeDream documents because of protocol encoding overhead. Can transfer files over 7-bit data links. Flow control managed by acknowledging every byte separatly makes transfers very slow taking twice the time needed by the Imp-Export protocol.
• EazyLink
Extension to the PCLink II protocol. Introduced by InterLogic in the external ROM card Z88 application EazyLink. The Z88 application EazyLink acts as a server and all commands are entered at the client computer. Transfers device, directory and file names, file sizes and files in both directions. Optional newline and configurable character set conversions, also remotely controlled. Gets and sets Z88 file creation and modification date/time. Gets and sets Z88 system date/time. Checks if specified Z88 file exists. Deletes Z88 directories and files. Creates Z88 directories. Renames Z88 files. Gets Z88 RAM estimated free space and device free space.
• RangerLink
Based on the Christie tape drive protocol. Introduced by Ranger Computers in the external ROM card Z88 application LexLink later named RangerLink. The PC program acts as a server and all commands are entered in the Z88 application. Transfers device, directory and file names, file sizes and attributes and files in both directions. Deletes PC directories and files. Creates PC directories. Renames PC files. Gets PC free space.
• SpecLink
Proprietary protocol for batch and individual transfer of files with preserved names and lengths to Sinclair Spectrum Microdrive.
• Ascii Text
All but the most primitive terminal programs have the ability to capture/save received text to file. The reverse ability, that is sending text not typed on the keyboard but sent from a file is also common. Text conversion regarding character set or more often newline convention is often employed. Sometimes flow control or pacing, by character or row, is utilised to prevent overflow and loosing text. Useful for transfering PipeDream documents saved as plain text and BASIC programs in text (CLI) format when no other protocol is available.
• Xmodem.
File transfer etiquette introduced by Ward Christensen's 1977 MODEM.ASM program. Common extensions are CRC error check instead of checksum, 1KB blocksize instead of 128 bytes and sometimes -G (GoGoGo) for faster streaming mode on reliable links with slow response. Received files are filled out with padding characters to make the file length a multiple of 128 or even 1024 bytes.
• Ymodem.
Extension to Xmodem introduced by Chuck Forsberg in his CP/M "YAM" program in the early 1980s. Transmission of filename permits batch transfers. CRC error check and 1K blocksize is usually used and sometimes -G mode. True Ymodem preserves file modification date/time and size (no padding).
• MacBinary
Extension to Xmodem introduced in MacTerminal by Mike Boich and Martin Haeberli in 1985 or earlier. Enables transfer of filenames for batch transfers and preservation of file size, modification date/time and other attributes.
• Kermit
Developed at Columbia University in New York City in 1981. Named after Kermit the Frog, star of the television series, The Muppet Show. Kermit software has been written for hundreds of different computers and operating systems.
• CET
Council for Educational Technology. For telesoftware downloading from viewdata (Videotex) services like Prestel.
• TFTP
Trivial File Transfer Protocol
• HTTP/0.9
Hypertext Transfer Protocol 0.9 defined in 1991.
• FTP
File Transfer Protocol