As mentioned in the introduction, A-Shell provides binary file compatibility with all of your data files, and in most cases your program source code (*.BAS, *.BSI, etc.) as well. The only files that must be converted are any ISAM PLUS files, which you must first dump using ISMUTL on the Alpha, and then use a binary transfer method to get the dump file to the UNIX or Windows box, where you can reload it using the A-Shell version of ISMUTL.LIT.

Source files (BAS, CMD/DO) and other text files are binary compatible between AMOS and Windows. Under UNIX, these files normally have line terminators of LF instead of CRLF, but since A-Shell can accept either format, the easiest approach is to just transfer all your files using the binary transfer method. The main down side of not using an ASCII or text transfer method to transfer your source files to UNIX is that VUE will give you a warning that the file is in AMOS format and will be converted. (You can, however, turn off the warning; see CVTWARN.) On the other hand, by not converting the line terminators from CRLF to LF, you preserve the hash code and size of the files, which allows you to verify the transfer results by comparing the hash codes using DIR/H and/or VERIFY which are implemented on both AMOS and A-Shell.

In particular, it is not desirable to expand TABs to spaces when transferring program source code, as this may cause some lines to exceed the 510 byte limit of AlphaBASIC.

Because of the difference in directory structures between AMOS, Windows and UNIX, it is virtually impossible to do wildcard transfers of files involving multiple PPNs and devices. Instead, it will be necessary for you to manually specify the UNIX or Windows path that corresponds to the AMOS PPN for each directory. (See the discussion of the DEVICE parameter of the miame.ini file for information on how PPNs are mapped to directories.) The only way around this with FTP transfers is to use an FTP package that allows programmatic scripting. A free utility program is available from MicroSabio that uses this technique in conjunction with the ZTERM terminal emulator to transfer multiple PPNs in bulk.

If you don’t have FTP on your AMOS system or can’t connect the two systems via a network, then there are still several ways to get your files from the Alpha to your UNIX box or PC. One approach is to use a communications package (such as AutoLog) to transfer files over a serial or modem connection. Another is to first transfer from the Alpha to a PC using a PC-to-Alpha communications package such as ZTERM or AlphaLAN, and then (if using the target is UNIX) to transfer from the PC to the UNIX box using FTP.

A third method is to use a TAR format tape transfer, provided that you have a compatible tape drive on both systems.

Contact Soft Machines for information about the UNIX version of AutoLog. Contact MicroSabio or your dealer for information on obtaining ZTERM. Contact your Alpha Micro dealer or U.A. Systems for information on obtaining AlphaLAN. Contact MicroSabio for information on TAR tape transfers and on scripting ZTERM transfers of multiple PPNs in a batch operation.