Loading
Usually loading data is called directly from an instance (ZX81 session) with pressing
DS-L
which switches temporarily to ZXblast instance 0, access the loader, loads a entered program
while reading it from USB flash disk and write it into memory from location $4009 and setting
the system up in the same way the LOAD basic command does. The basic LOAD routine is not
hooked in any way, it is a parallel way to load programs, the audio LOAD function via EAR
(tape) is still exisiting and working.
When the loader is called from an ZX81 instance it's context is saved (instance number) and
automatically loaded at the desired address ($4009) into memory and system setup. If the
loader is called from the tools menu the desired instance and address have to be setup
manually by user with additional parameters. This is more complicate but more powerful on
the other hand also. If several loading steps have to be done manually to setup the session
correctly it can be saved after preparing with the backup mechanism later (see section backup
& restore).
To execute a load command first the filename has to be entered. All filenames have to be in
8.3 format with 8 letters/digits for the filename and followed by 3 letters/digits for the
extension. LFN (long filenames) are not supported by ZXblast firmware. If you copy programs
with long filenames to a USB flash media the filename may have to be shortened first to be
found from ZXblast. ZXblast supports USB flash media with FAT16 or FAT32 only, FAT32 is
recommended.
Special characters may be used as well as long as they are valid for a 8.3 filename.
Allowed chars in filenames are:
A-Z, 0-9, ! # $ % & ' ( ) - @ _ ` { } ~
A typical program has the extension .P like ZX81DEMO.p – anyway all extensions may be
used for load and save with one exception .BAK this is used for complete instance backups,
see section backup & restore for more details. The extension can be used freely but it is
recommended to use .P to mark it as an executable ZX81 program.
V1.0 02/2017
ZXblast – user manual
Seite 11 von 17
