FCode Driver Class will be held on January 13 - 16, 1997

["Gregory R. Hill" <gregh@FirmWorks.COM>]

Are you designing peripheral cards for the Power Macintosh and/or CHRP
marketplace?  If so, an FCode driver is in your future.

This is the class announcement for the January, 1997 FCode driver class to 
be held in Mountain View, CA from January 13 to January 16.  Registrations 
are currently being accepted for this class and should be received no later 
than December 23, 1996 to allow students adequate time to prepare.

** Sufficient registrations have already been received for this class to
guarantee that it will be held on January 13 - 16, 1997. **

The complete course syllabus is attached.  Any questions can be
directed to Greg Hill, gregh@firmworks.com, 415-917-6985.


	     Forth Language/FCode Driver Programming Class

To equip qualified engineers to work with Open Firmware (as defined by
IEEE Standard 1275-1994) and to write Open Firmware device drivers,
FirmWorks conducts a four day class which provides the knowledge
necessary to write Open Firmware-compliant FCode Drivers.

No prior knowledge of the Forth language or Open Firmware is
assumed.  However, participants should have the following:

*  Some experience with programming in a high level language.

*  Some knowledge of the hardware organization of a general purpose
   computer.
        
*  Some knowledge of what a device driver is and what it does.

The course consists of lecture and in-class programming exercises for
which each student is provided his/her own computer.  By the end of the
class, participants will have a basic understanding of Forth, Open
Firmware and FCode, and will have written their first FCode device
driver.


COURSE DESCRIPTION

Pre-Work -- approximately 20 hours

   Materials:

   "Starting Forth"
   Class workbook

   Description:

   Two weeks in advance of the class, each student is provided with a
   class workbook, a copy of "Starting Forth, Second Edition" by Leo
   Brodie, and, if necessary, a Forth interpreter suitable for use on
   an IBM-PC compatible computer.  The class workbook contains
   clarifications of the material in "Starting Forth", additional
   information related to Open Firmware's Forth environment, and
   exercises to help the student master Forth in preparation for the
   classroom environment.

   Although some class time will be spent reviewing the Forth language,
   it is important that the student have scheduled time available prior
   to the class for completing the pre-work assignment.


Forth Language, Debugging Tools and Forth Laboratory -- 1 day

   Materials:

   "Starting Forth"
   Class workbook

   Description:

   At the start of the class, students will be given a short
   questionnaire with which they can evaluate their Forth skills.
   Based upon the quiz results and student feedback, the instructor
   will review the topics with which the students need help, and will
   review all of the language constructs that the students should need
   over the course of the class.

   At the end of this review, the students will be given a programming
   exercise with which to refine their Forth skills.  Experience has
   shown that refining Forth language skills in this laboratory helps
   prepare students for the FCode driver laboratory later in the week.


Open Firmware and FCode Drivers -- 1.5 days

Materials:

   "Open Firmware Command Reference"
   "Writing FCode Programs for PCI"
   Open Firmware presentation handouts

Topics:

   Open Firmware Overview
   Device Tree
      Device Names
         node names
         pathnames
         aliases
         ambiguous paths
         wildcards
      Packages
      Properties
         names
         encoding
         browsing
      Methods
         Static
         Instance-specific
         Instance chains
         Instance records
      Data
         Static
         Instance-specific
      Wildcard Nodes
      FCode Overview
      Standard Device Types
         Standard method sets
         block
         byte
         network
         serial
         memory
         mmu
      Support Packages
         disk-label
         obp-tftp
         deblocker
      Software Nodes
      Method execution
         $call-method
         $call-parent
         execute-device-method
      Memory types
   User Interface Tools
      "Magic" keyboard chords
      Command line editor
      Hardware debugging
      FCode debugging
   Device Interface and FCode
      Source
      Binary
      Tokenizing
      Downloading and debugging


FCode Driver Laboratory -- 1 day

   Description:

   Each student will write a simple FCode driver for their classroom
   computer's serial port.  Adjacent computers will have their serial
   ports connected, and the students will test their drivers by
   "chatting" through their drivers across the serial ports.


Open Firmware Conclusion -- 0.5 day

   Description:

   Standard Device Types
      display
   Support Packages
      fb1
      fb8
      terminal emulator
   Console selection issues
      fallback devices
   Configuration Variables
   Start-up sequence
      nvramrc
      banner and probing
      Drop-in drivers
   Booting
   Interrupts
   Client Program Interface
      Initial program state
      Calling conventions
      Services
      Callbacks
      Debugging and tools

The training is conducted in English.  Course materials are provided.


FEES

Our standard single student rate for a class at our Mountain View,
California site is $1960.  Alternatively, multiple enrollments from a
single company for a single class may be purchased for $7,000 plus
$950 per student.

Discounts are available from both these rates for holders of FirmWorks
system ROM source or manufacturing kit licenses. Please contact
FirmWorks for details.

Our fees do not include meals, hotels or transportation.

We will also run single company classes on our site or yours given a
minimum class size of 4 for $7,000 plus $950 per student.  Travel
expenses are charged for off-site classes.

We accept Mastercard, Visa, Diners Club, Carte Blanche, JCB, check,
money order or company purchase order (subject to credit approval).
(Sorry.  We do not accept American Express.)


CLASS SCHEDULES

Classes are scheduled for the second full week of each month at our
Mountain View, CA site and are subject to cancellation if a minimum
class size of 4 is not achieved.  

** Sufficient registrations have already been received to guarantee that it 
will be held on January 13 - 16. **

Classes are also scheduled on demand in Mountain View or on your site
subject to a guaranteed minimum class size of 4.  Please call to make
arrangements for a class scheduled for your needs.


TO REGISTER

FirmWorks
Suite 210
480 San Antonio Road
Mountain View, CA 94040-1218

Tel: +1 (415) 917-0100
Fax: +1 (415) 917-6990

info@firmworks.com

ftp://ftp.firmworks.com/pub/open_fw
http://www.firmworks.com


TERMS
-----

1. All prices are exclusive of sales, use and other applicable taxes,
   which must be paid by customer.
2. Prices, offering and terms subject to change without notice.

Greg Hill                               FirmWorks
Director of Technical Communications    Suite 210, 480 San Antonio Road
gregh@firmworks.com                     Mountain View, CA 94040-1218
415-917-6985 (voice)                    ftp://ftp.firmworks.com/pub
415-917-6990 (fax)                      http://www.firmworks.com 
_hU