Sharp PC-G850VS

[mfleming]

This is truly an impressive accomplishment! I too have a G850VS that I've wanted to explore in more depth. I think I'll set aside a little time each day to work through the manual and keep track of any problem I find.

Does anyone know of software to generate the Table of Contents in the PDF Reader sidebar? That I would love to figure out how to add.

Many thanks for your work,
~Mark

[foroplus]

(07-11-2018 11:01 PM)jwhsu Wrote:  I'm not sure if anyone is interested. I made an English translation of the PC-G850VS Users Guide based off the German translation using Google Translate. I also added some additional material from the PC-E500 manual and the 11-pin SIO interface PDF to help with examples and to make it more readable. Hopefully, the instructions on how to use CASL, Assembler, and C are accurate. I have tested some of the BASIC instructions, however, I am not familiar with C or assembly and haven't tested those functions. If anyone uses this and finds any errors, please let me know so I can make corrections. Thanks.

Sharp PC-G850V(S) Manual

Yes, thanks, it's very interesting and what a lot of people were looking for.
Thanks.

[Eddie W. Shore]

(07-11-2018 11:01 PM)jwhsu Wrote:  I'm not sure if anyone is interested. I made an English translation of the PC-G850VS Users Guide based off the German translation using Google Translate. I also added some additional material from the PC-E500 manual and the 11-pin SIO interface PDF to help with examples and to make it more readable. Hopefully, the instructions on how to use CASL, Assembler, and C are accurate. I have tested some of the BASIC instructions, however, I am not familiar with C or assembly and haven't tested those functions. If anyone uses this and finds any errors, please let me know so I can make corrections. Thanks.

Sharp PC-G850V(S) Manual

Thank you!

[Helix]

(07-11-2018 11:01 PM)jwhsu Wrote:  I'm not sure if anyone is interested. I made an English translation of the PC-G850VS Users Guide based off the German translation using Google Translate. I also added some additional material from the PC-E500 manual and the 11-pin SIO interface PDF to help with examples and to make it more readable. Hopefully, the instructions on how to use CASL, Assembler, and C are accurate. I have tested some of the BASIC instructions, however, I am not familiar with C or assembly and haven't tested those functions. If anyone uses this and finds any errors, please let me know so I can make corrections. Thanks.

Sharp PC-G850V(S) Manual

Impressive work! This is much more than a Google Translate version. I had tried this tool to translate one chapter, and the result was clearly not as understandable and clean as your version. Thank you very much!

Just a small remark: p54, at the end of the S and E paragraphs, it seems you have replaced ¥" by "¥.

[jwhsu]

(07-12-2018 02:44 PM)Helix Wrote:  

(07-11-2018 11:01 PM)jwhsu Wrote:  I'm not sure if anyone is interested. I made an English translation of the PC-G850VS Users Guide based off the German translation using Google Translate. I also added some additional material from the PC-E500 manual and the 11-pin SIO interface PDF to help with examples and to make it more readable. Hopefully, the instructions on how to use CASL, Assembler, and C are accurate. I have tested some of the BASIC instructions, however, I am not familiar with C or assembly and haven't tested those functions. If anyone uses this and finds any errors, please let me know so I can make corrections. Thanks.

Sharp PC-G850V(S) Manual

Impressive work! This is much more than a Google Translate version. I had tried this tool to translate one chapter, and the result was clearly not as understandable and clean as your version. Thank you very much!

Just a small remark: p54, at the end of the S and E paragraphs, it seems you have replaced ¥" by "¥.

Thanks for catching that error. It will be added to the next revision of the manual (some formatting changes and editing). Thanks to everyone else for the praise. Google Translate made a reasonable translation of the German Manual, however, it was still difficult to figure out what they were trying to say at times. I started cleaning up some of the English and decided since I was going to spend time making the translation more readable, I should go ahead and turn it into a reference manual. It took a while, but I'm happy that others are finding this manuscript interesting and useful. Thanks again.

[jwhsu]

Users guide updated. You can download from the link on post #39. Corrections were:
Minor change in organization of document.
Correction of typos on page 54 on including " in a search string (thanks Helix).

[rprosperi]

Thanks for the update Jack!

Though the page count is the same as the prior version, and I believe both downloads were completed properly, this new file is about 4.9MB vs. 12.4MB for the prior version. Did you process this version with a different program?

[jwhsu]

(07-19-2018 01:35 AM)rprosperi Wrote:  Thanks for the update Jack!

Though the page count is the same as the prior version, and I believe both downloads were completed properly, this new file is about 4.9MB vs. 12.4MB for the prior version. Did you process this version with a different program?

The previous version was created on Word for the Mac and exported as a PDF. To created the latest PDF, I used Word 2016 on Windows. I'm not sure why there is such a large difference in the size of the files created when I essentially used the same document to create the PDFs. The only thing I can think of is whether there is a difference in how OS X and Windows handles images when creating the PDFs? I'll have to look into that. Thanks

[rprosperi]

(07-19-2018 03:13 AM)jwhsu Wrote:  The previous version was created on Word for the Mac and exported as a PDF. To created the latest PDF, I used Word 2016 on Windows. I'm not sure why there is such a large difference in the size of the files created when I essentially used the same document to create the PDFs. The only thing I can think of is whether there is a difference in how OS X and Windows handles images when creating the PDFs? I'll have to look into that. Thanks

Thanks for clarifying, makes sense.

Mac users pay a whole lot more for their PCs than Windows users, so it's only right that they get bigger files to go with them.

[SlideRule]

I added Bookmarks w/ page numbers - PDF is optimized & compacted to 3.49mb (if interested, send PM for copy)

BEST!
SlideRule

[Zaphod]

Thanks JWHSU

I've not had time to play with my Sharp recently , life got in the way

I've got two now actually , cos the Japanese guy sent me another to replace the one with unclean battery terminals

[Jlouis]

Thank you very much indeed for the manual in English!

I always wanted to buy those pockets computers but the lack of documentation was not encourage me.

By the way, what is the difference between the v or s or vs or whatever models?

Cheers

JL

[rprosperi]

(07-25-2018 10:29 PM)Jlouis Wrote:  By the way, what is the difference between the v or s or vs or whatever models?

The answer is contained in the manual on page i, as follows:

Quote:This guide is made for both the Sharp G850V and Sharp G850VS. The difference between the two models is the slightly lower weight (10g) and the location of the operating system of the VS in flash memory. However, since there never was an update for the operating system, this property is irrelevant.

I spent a long (!) time wondering about this, and nearly bought a G850VS (I have a G850V) not long ago to find out. Glad I was too distracted with other things, as there is clearly no functional difference.

[Helix]

(07-25-2018 10:29 PM)Jlouis Wrote:  By the way, what is the difference between the v or s or vs or whatever models?

The displays of the V and VS models have a higher contrast than those of the G850 and G850S.
The cases of V and VS have also a more blueish hue, as seen in the right of this image.

[mfleming]

I've been going through the posted manual and have found only a few trivial spelling or phrasing quibbles. Overall, a really excellent piece of work. I did discover though when I reached Section 13, the BASIC Command Glossary, that a number of commands are missing from that section that appear in the German version of the manual. They seem to be many of the mathematical functions. Here is the list of missing commands I found:

ABS, ACS, AHC, AHS, AHT, ASN, ATN,
COS, CUB, CUR, DEG, DMS, EXP, FACT, HCS, INT, LN, LOG, NCR, NPR,
PI, POL, RCP, REC, SGN, SIN, SQR, SQU, TAN, TEN

I believe all of theses appear in Section 2, BASIC Functions & Modes, but they are in a more abbreviated form. The Section 13 entry includes example program usage for some of the commands, so it would be nice to have them added in.

Thanks again for the translation work!
~Mark
BTW, can't wait to follow directions to add a speaker

[jwhsu]

Quote:I've been going through the posted manual and have found only a few trivial spelling or phrasing quibbles. Overall, a really excellent piece of work. I did discover though when I reached Section 13, the BASIC Command Glossary, that a number of commands are missing from that section that appear in the German version of the manual. They seem to be many of the mathematical functions. Here is the list of missing commands I found:

ABS, ACS, AHC, AHS, AHT, ASN, ATN,
COS, CUB, CUR, DEG, DMS, EXP, FACT, HCS, INT, LN, LOG, NCR, NPR,
PI, POL, RCP, REC, SGN, SIN, SQR, SQU, TAN, TEN

I believe all of theses appear in Section 2, BASIC Functions & Modes, but they are in a more abbreviated form. The Section 13 entry includes example program usage for some of the commands, so it would be nice to have them added in.

Mark,

Thanks for the feedback. I initially removed the math functions from the BASIC glossary because I thought they would be redundant. However, you do make a point with the programming examples. I'll get a new version up with the math functions described in the BASIC command glossary.

[jwhsu]

New version (V2.1) of the PC-850V(S) manual available for download (please see post 39 for link).

Major revisions:

1. Addition of math functions in BASIC command dictionary (with examples).
2. Formatting of some entries in Assembly address table.
3. Replacement of Enter with return arrow icon throughout document (there is no key labeled "ENTER" on the 850VS).
   

Minor revisions:

1. Corrected various spelling and formatting errors.
2. Addition of Bookmarks to make the document easier to navigate.
3. Addition of pictures of fill patterns for CIRCLE and PAINT instead of verbal descriptions.
   

I was debating on whether to add an index. However, since the document is searchable, I think it is probably redundant. Also, I created the manual with even/odd pages and added additional space in the inner margins so if someone wanted to print out the manual, there is some extra space for binding. Again please send any corrections to me. Thanks.

[mfleming]

Hi JW,

The graphics are a welcome addition and the return keys are a nice touch. I agree with you about not needing an index. The document is growing quite large as it is! I was thrown off a bit by the change in the Glossary until I saw you arranged it in two sections; Mathematical and General. The page header for Chapter 13 is off though, saying "Appendix A - 11-Pin Interface" instead of BASIC Command Glossary.

The other minor notes I have are
Page 12, reference to page number for romanji should be page 259
Page 27, the &H command example should not have a space between &H and F82
Page 134, the "INC AH" command should be "INC A" in the Z80 code example (error
in the original source)

Really nice to have this manual!
~Mark

[Zaphod]

Small error in the original pdf

Edit: I should have read the previous message as mfleming picked up on the typo on page 134 lol

[jwhsu]

New version of the manual is up. Please see post #39 for downloading. Changes are as follows:

Major
1) Moved all the math functions into the BASIC Command Glossary and removed the separate math functions chapter. This was done to remove redundancy in the manual. Organization is now similar to the Sharp E-500 manual (As far as I can tell, the Japanese PC-850V(S) manual is a combination of Users Guide and workbook. Since this is strictly a Users Guide, it makes sense to eliminate redundancies). All examples are preserved.

Minor
1) Errors identified by mfleming and Zaphod have been incorporated.
2) Addition of a delimiter after function names to make reading the descriptions easier.
3) Renaming of Appendix L from Z80 Guide to Reference as the appendix doesn't teach you assembly.

Thanks again for any feedback/corrections.