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ST-ZMagazine 048
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Issue #48 November 24, 1989
= 1989 by Rovac Industries, Inc.
ST*ZMagazine - (ZNet Online)
Publisher/Editor: Ron Kovacs
The Z*Net BBS CompuServe:71777,2140
(201) 968-8148 GEnie: ZMAGAZINE
Xx CONTENTS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
<*> Editors Desk..................Ron Kovacs
Update to Issue #47
<*> Atari Reaches Out!!............John Nagy
plus Charles Cherry Interview
<*> Z*Net Newswire..........................
Latest News Update
<*> Revolutionary Concepts.....Donald Thomas
The Revolution Continues
<*> Regent Base Update...........Frank Cohen
Latest revisions discussed
<*> Alice Amore's Shareware Survey..........
Latest Shareware offerings
<*> Animate4.Prg Update......Ctsy CompuServe
Programmers project
<*> Hotwire Plus Reviewed.........WK Whitton
<*> ST Bashing......................Tim Holt
Xx EDITORS DESK
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
by Ron Kovacs
Hope your holiday has been safe and pleasant! Get ready Christmas is
only 30 days away!!
The Z*Net BBS is finally getting regular callers and the feedback is
encouraging. If you have a few free minutes available, please give us a
call at (201) 968-8148 and let us know your thoughts. Article donations
and issues of our regular online magazines are available, including the
shareware files covered in Alice Amore's column. If you are carrying
this publication on a BBS, please call and let us know who you are so
that we can add you to our list!
Last week John Nagy's article on Comdex was missing an important item.
It is included below, we apologize for skipping this information.
Addendum to: ATARI TAKES COMDEX
by John Nagy (In ST*ZMAGAZINE #47)
These are the missing QUICK INDEX figures from ST*ZMAGAZINE #47! Sorry
for the inconvenience, but we had SO much COMDEX news, the table below
got inadvertantly left out of the final issue. The tables are also the
same as earlier uploaded but with insufficient support information. Be
sure to get ST*ZMAG47 for the most comprehensive COMDEX details
available!
I ran the QUICK INDEX program (by Darek Mihocka and Ignac Kolenko) on a
sample Atari TT 68030 computer at COMDEX this week, and wanted to share
the results. Please remember that the numbers only record the
performance of the TT computer running the QUICK INDEX program. While
this program provides interesting speed information, it cannot be
assured that the very standards used by the program to measure with are
in fact valid on the TT computer. Although unlikely, the possibility
that the "ruler isn't a foot long" must be considered when viewing these
results. The modes tested were, for this reason, only the LOW
RESOLUTION and HIGH RESOLUTION ST modes and NOT in the three new
resolutions offered by the TT (which cannot be measured properly without
anything to compare them to... although the new TT modes appear to be
faster).
Figures shown are each a percentage of "Normal ST" operation for that
function. 200% would be double speed. See the QuickIndex program and
documentation for more information on the tests. The CACHE referred to
in the tests are the TT's internal caches within the operating system
and CPU (which can be turned off via an entry in the OPTIONS menu item
on the desktop for adjusting compatibility with programs that cannot
cope with the caching).
QuickIndex identified the TT as having "TOS Version 3.0".
QuickIndex TT In (ST) Low Rez TT In (ST) High Rez
TEST CACHE / NO CACHE CACHE / NO CACHE
Processor Tests:
CPU Memory 360% 146% 361% 165%
CPU register 409% 197% 410% 204%
CPU divide 509% 450% 510% 451%
CPU shift 1734% 1574% 1737% 1577%
Disk Access Tests:
DMA Read (Disk) 181% 181% 181% 181%
Gem (Create File) 100% 100% 100% 100%
Screen Speed Tests:
Text write 190% 143% 193% 147%
string display 185% 148% 187% 150%
scroll 290% 208% 295% 206%
Gemdraw (boxes) 225% 173% 225% 171%
In general, ST programs will run on the TT without alteration, and
perform at speeds greatly exceeding the "old" ST machine speed.
- John Nagy
Read on for the continued article on Comdex!
Xx ATARI REACHES OUT TO DEVELOPERS ----
Xx CLOSE-UP INTERVIEW WITH CHARLES CHERRY
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
by John Nagy
Last week at the Fall COMDEX, Atari Corporation's Antonio Salerno
introduced a new Developer Support Program at a Wednesday evening
cocktail party. The drinks and finger-food helped loosen the mood, as
did birthday wishes to Leonard Tramiel. MIDI-music was performed on
several STACY units, and when Antonio explained his plans to assist the
dealers and developers, most in attendance were at least somewhat
optimistic. Antonio reflected on the problems that Atari has been
having, and mentioned that he and Sam Tramiel had been in contact with
many developers recently in order to gather ideas on what could be done
to become "partners" with developers in the recovery of the Atari
market.
Atari will be giving active, registered developers:
- a complete list of all registered Atari product owners with
monthly updates (said to contain 60,000 names now)
- a complete dealer list with quarterly updates
Getting owners to register has been a problem, of course, with probably
under 20% participation. In order to bolster the registration, Atari
has arranged to give new registered owners a three-month demo
subscription to START, ST-INFORMER, ATARI EXPLORER, and ST WORLD
magazines, with others possibly to be added. This exposure to the
literature and advertising available to the Atari owner is expected to
result in significant additional purchases of software and peripherals.
This will, if it works, provide an increase in third party product
sales and support.
Registered developers will also now be able to buy most Atari hardware
at 50% off retail. This is hoped to make it easier for developers to
stay abreast of the newest equipment without eating all their profits.
Atari wants developers to participate in their dealer support effort by
sending both full and disabled "demo" versions of all their software to
Atari. An online database (rumored to be placed on CompuServe) will
carry listings of all available software, cross indexed by type, price
range, features, and company. End users will be able to find
information and request additional information via mail, as well as
being directed to a demo version of the software that will be available
on line.
The final phase of the "Softsource" plan is to put all of the above data
and sample programs on CD-ROM, and put a unit in every dealer's store
for dealer or customer look-ups. Similarly, self-exercising programs on
the CD will allow "background" demonstrations while no one is looking up
data.
The new man at Atari who will be running point for the support plan is
Charles Cherry. Charles, a greying but youthful six-foot-six and lanky
fellow with the casual air of a surf-shop owner, is excited about his
new job. His eyes sparkle with intensity from behind his wire-rim
glasses as he talks of his plans for Softsource. "We have the tools,
and for the first time, we have Atari's entire owner data in our hands..
this is a radical move, it's never been done before... it shows that
Atari is serious about making a partnership with third party
developers."
Charles comes to Atari from ANTIC SOFTWARE, where he ran the sales
division that remains a major source of Atari product like FLASH and the
CYBER series. He says that the focus at ANTIC was moving towards the
AMIGA and other lines, and that he was powerless to influence the higher
-ups. The fact that many of the ST products steadily sold more copies,
or had more stable followings, had little effect. However, in his time
at ANTIC, Charles got a thorough understanding of what it was like to be
an Atari developer without adequate support. In fact, Charles was part
of what looked like a swat team at the last (Spring, 1989 Chicago)
COMDEX where the newly installed Antonio Salerno got his trial-by-fire.
Surrounded by frustrated developers, Antonio listened to endless
complaints and horror-stories, and vowed to change things. "It says a
lot that Antonio turned around and hired one of his most vocal critics
to help turn things around," says Charles.
"Many computer buyers today have a specific purpose in mind for their
machine. Like a refrigerator, they have one image of what it is going
to do for them, and they don't join a club or become an enthusiast. Who
ever heard of a refrigerator users group? I hope to be able expose the
new owners to the wider range of what their computer is capable of.
It's like letting a refrigerator owner know that it can also chop wood..
it may never have occurred to him!" The magazine subscriptions will
certainly do a lot to help convey the range and power of the Atari
products to the new owners.
Some critics of the plan claim that it may undermine new dealers. The
thought is that the exposure to mail-order may create an anti-dealer
attitude in the new buyers. Charles refutes this by citing the in-
dealership Softsource program. Walk-in buyers can see everything in one
place... impossible through mail order.
Lack of dealers is another real problem for the Corporation as well as
for third party developers. It is hoped that well over 100 new dealers
will result from the COMDEX push, and the Softsource program will help
more. Dealers are also being told that they are "more likely" to get
the popular Portfolios that they want to sell if the store is a full-
line dealer. The leverage plan (that Charles mentioned that he would
have thought would amount to market suicide) has been an easier sell
than expected. Dealers are now somewhat more enamored to the new look
of the full Atari product line.
I asked Charles Cherry if he felt that the new push in developer support
from Atari was a reaction to the AAD, the Atari Association of
Developers, formed earlier this fall. Developers had banded together in
a self-help effort, citing lack of sufficient help form Atari itself.
Charles said, "Support is our job. We are going to do that job",
although he admitted that the moves of the AAD had certainly made the
need for Atari to act even more obvious. He sees the group not as a
competitor for development support, but potentially a useful group.
"They should help each each other in the things they can do best, and
Atari will provided the machine support as we can do best."
Charles projects quiet assurance that he will accomplish most of the
difficult goals set by Antonio Salerno and Atari. The "new crop" of
Atari employees are more reason for hope... Charles, Antonio, Bob
Brodie, Mike Morand each have the spirit and character that can make an
Atari comeback a believable event.
Developers or potential developers can contact Charles Cherry at (408)
745-2082. Gail Johnson of Atari can help with developers registration
at (408) 745-2568, or at Atari Corp, 1196 Borregas Ave, Sunnyvale, CA
94086.
Xx Z*NET NEWSWIRE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
COMDEX UPDATE
To complete the coverage of last week's Comdex Newswire, here are a few
more products released at the Fall Comdex.
Cyberspace released a keyboard-sized laptop 286 PC, which uses headgear
to suspend a postage-stamp-sized screen in front of one eye. A hologram
like image appears to float two feet in front of wherever you look. The
286cx displays IBM CGA graphics and runs under MS-DOS. It also has a
built in 2400-baud Hayes-compatible modem.
Mitsubishi announced a 386SX color portable, which displays 640x480
pixels in 256 colors on a backlit florescent screen. An active matrix
handles motion. The computer will be available within a year in 286
12Mhz and 386sx 16MHz or 20MHz models.
Ricoh Corp. announced a Voice Recognizer for IBM PC/ATs and compatibles.
The speaker-dependent voice-recognition board runs commercially
available software with spoken commands and records up to 1,000 words in
a voice dictionary. Designers say word recognition accuracy is 98
percent. The voice recognition chip also will be marketed to industry
and consumer electronics firms.
Microteck Labs announced a Color/Gray Scanner which allows 16.8 million
colors and scans photos and drawings into the Macintosh, PC or PS/2 for
use with many paint programs. It comes with three scanning and editing
software packages. The MSF-300Z scanner is $2,195. The Macintosh
interface is being shipped now for $500. The PC interface will be
shipped in December for $400.
Canon announced the Color Laser Copier 500 by Canon USA Inc., supported
by Macintosh and IBM third-party developed drivers. An IPU (intelligent
processing unit) produces full color output from video equipment,
television signals and computers. Text and color photos are
differentiated by Advanced Image Recognition technology. Pictures are
reproduced in four colors and type in pure black. The copier allows
digital image sizing (zoom), color conversion and many more features.
The Color Laser Copier 500 will be for sale at the end of December for
$49,000. The expandable IPU will cost from $18,000 to $40,000.
LYNX UPDATE
Challenging arch rival Nintendo's Game Boy system, Atari Corp. has
introduced a one-pound hand-held game machine called Lynx that features
detailed color graphics and sound effects. Analysts have told business
writer Marybeth Nibley of The Associated Press that the clarity of the
Lynx screen and its technological capability give Atari's machine an
edge over the black-and-white Game Boy system. But, they note, Lynx
retails for $179, compared with $89.99 for Game Boy.
Both Lynx and Game Boy come with one game cartridge, cables to link
machines and other accessories. Individual games for Lynx cost $35 to
$40 while Game Boy's cartridges average $25.
In unveiling the new product, Atari called Lynx "the most innovative
consumer electronics product since ... the Sony Walkman." In a New York
press conference, Atari President Sam Tramiel added, "The first day that
I saw it ... it just blew my mind."
Nibley notes that fewer than 70,000 Lynx systems will be available in
the US before Christmas and those only in New York area stores. Five
game cartridges will be ready for holiday sales. Atari said full
national distribution will begin in the first half of next year and that
about a dozen titles will be brought out then, with dozens more expected
later in the year.
FEDERATED UPDATE
Greg Pratt, who is Atari's Chief financial officer, revealed this week
that his company is looking for other buyers to take over the remaining
leases they hold on the chain of Federated Group stores. Silo, an
electronics specialty division of the Dixon Group, has acquired the
rights and leases to 26 of the Federated stores. These southern
California facilities will now bring the total of Silo's current log of
stores to 100. Atari has not been able to find a buyer for the troubled
chain, so has now resigned itself to selling the troubled stores in
smaller chunks. The remainder of the Federated stores will be kept open
until they are sold.
Xx REVOLUTIONARY CONCEPTS - PART 7
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"REGISTER MY WARRANTY?" by Donald A. Thomas, Jr.
(c)1989 ARTISAN SOFTWARE
(This is PART 7 of a series of articles published and distributed by
Artisan Software. Please feel free to copy and distribute this article
as you please provided you include all unedited text. Also feel free to
upload to boards and communication services. These articles are
designed to entice you to take constructive action. Write to involved
parties and tell them how YOU feel about the subject.)
Over the years, I have been sent various programs for review,
constructive criticism or to aid in debugging potential compatibility
problems. In most cases the programs soon come face to face to the
trash can icon on the desktop or into an archive if reference is
expected later. They are not "trashed" because they have no worth, but
I have not found a personal need for it and I am obligated to purchase
it if I use it. In some cases, however, I am very impressed with what
I see. Case in point most recently, is the Universal Item Selector by
Application & Design Software. I do not intend to review their product
here, but it has proven to be quite helpful while developing software
due to its versatile access to buried files on my hard drive.
Recently, an Artisan Software customer has had interference apparently
caused by the installation of an on-board clock. An analysis of his
particular configuration was made and I quickly assembled a local group
of people to allow me to borrow the programs my customer was using. I
am pleased to report that none was causing the interference, but having
played with the Universal Item Selector, I ran out and purchased version
II from B&C Computervisions in Santa Clara.
This now brings us to the topic in hand. While the packaging for the
UIS II was no more than a zip lock vegetable bag, Application & Design
Software did an excellent job otherwise. The instructions were complete
and easy to read. An invitation to subscribe to ST INFORMER was
enclosed and a postcard size warranty registration card was also
enclosed.
There was a day when I as well do many people took little time to
understand the value of a warranty registration. It is hard for me to
believe that many more than a handful ever sent one in for their General
Electric toaster oven. When it comes to some areas, those little cards
are tremendous tools for the company receiving them and the customer
sending them. Artisan Software uses warranty registration cards
seriously.
All registered customers receive excellent product support and early
notice on product releases. Most software companies will offer an edge
to registered owners. Unlike some companies who refuse to offer
customer support without the card received and logged, Artisan Software
understands the inconvenience of sending those darn little things in.
When you climb over the high, shaky fence which divides user from
developer/publisher, you begin to understand a little more about the
significance of things like warranty registration cards. A company's
net worth is not only evaluated by past sales. It's worth is also
enhanced by names. It's one thing to say you sold 100,000 copies of a
software title over the last year. Its' another to say I have 100,000
names to sell a new release. A company's net worth is always valued by
it's futures. This is most clear with newspapers and magazines who gain
most by higher readership counts. Analysis of information on the cards
helps guide future direction of the company with needed demographic
profiles. Since most manufacturers/publishers deal through
distributors, there may be no other way to accumulate such data.
The philosophy of the REVOLUTION is to encourage activities which are
low cost, yet productive. As insignificant as it seems, the minute you
take to fill out a warranty card will contribute to the net worth of the
company you bought it from. It offers you advanced notice and,
sometimes, preferred treatment, but it is one small way to show the
company that you like your purchase. Use it also to make a comment or
two.
I sent the warranty registration card from my Universal Item Selector
(stamped with The REVOLUTION) the moment I took the product home. I
encourage you to send in yours.
For information on how you can "JOIN THE REVOLUTION" and actively
support the exposure of Atari computers, send $6.00 to ARTISAN SOFTWARE,
P.O. Box 849, Manteca, California 95336. An ST/MEGA compatible disk-
based HANDBOOK will be rushed to you by return mail. The HANDBOOK is
also available from ST INFORMER, MEGABYTE COMPUTERS (Hurst, Texas) and
as a download from COMPUSERVE, GENIE and DELPHI.
Xx REGENT BASE UPDATE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
by Frank Cohen
Additional Documentation for Regent Base II
The Regent Base II development team has been working for the past three
years fixing and improving any bugs or other problems that were brought
up by Regent Base users. Since more than one version was being mailed
to users, we included a special version date in the Main Menu.
Version: 9/18/89
A bug was found that caused Regent Base to bomb when a series of two
DELETE commands were processed. This bug has been fixed.
Version: 7/30/89
PRESS is a new folder on the Applications Disk. The folder contains
documentation and a FORM that is used in Regent Software's offices to
maintain a list of press information contacts.
Version: 7/12/89
In response to many Regent Base users reqst for file cooommands, two new
functions have been added to the Regent Base language:
- COPY is a new command that copies disk files. The syntax is as
follows: COPY source_file_name, destination_file_name;
- KILL is a new command that deletes a disk file. The syntax is as
follows: KILL file_name;
A bug was found that caused a FORM's icon definitions to be lost while
processing in the FORMS PROCESSOR. This bug has been fixed.
Version: 5/8/89
The FORMS EDITOR grid function has been reworked. Grid now snaps
objects to an invisible 1/4 inch grid.
A bug was found that caused the Object Information Report to start when
the TAB key was pressed while using the FORMS EDITOR. This bug has been
fixed.
A bug was found that incorrectly loaded a procedure into the FORMS
EDITOR and SQL FORMS PROCESSOR. The bug cut off the last few lines of a
procedure. This bug has been fixed.
The OUTPUT TO command now allows hard disk partitions - C, D, E, F - to
be used. Previous versions only allowed output to drives A, B, and C.
Version: 3/23/89
A bug was found that caused the >, <, >= and <= operators to misevaluate
text strings. For example, SELECT * FROM TABLE WHERE name>"M"; finds
all the names in the second half of the alphabet. This problem has been
fixed.
Version: 11/27/88
While a FORM is running, clicking on a BUTTON or ICON object is now more
responsive than previous versions.
Version: 11/21/88
The SAVE PROCEDURE functions of the SEQUEL EDITOR and FORMS EDITOR have
been changed to make the resulting disk file compatible with word
processors that require both a Carriage Return and Line Feed character.
The FORMS EDITOR now shows the capacity of an EDIT FIELD object in the
OBJECT NAME dialog. The capacity is the number of characters that will
fit within the object's defined size.
Version: 10/14/88
The number of GEM objects has been expanded to new limits:
Maximum number of GEM objects: 200
Maximum number of EDIT FIELD objects: 125
Maximum number of ICON objects: 20
Maximum size in bytes of each ICON object: 8000
Maximum number of lines in a procedural program: 800
Version: 9/26/88
All reports now print the date, time, and FORM name.
When using the PRINT PROCEDURE option of the FORMS EDITOR, a status
message might appear indicating that the printer status is wrong. A
special printer timeout timer has been added to the program to avoid
this problem.
ONERR OFF; is a new command syntax that disables the ONERR command.
Version: 9/13/88
When using an EDIT FIELD SEQUENCE to page between multi-paged FORMS,
pressing the down arrow or RETURN key would not properly display the
next page. This problem has been corrected.
Many users expressed a desire to be able to immediately edit certain
features of a FORM while the FORM is being processed. When running a
FORM in the SQL FORMS PROCESSOR, choosing the FORMS EDITOR choice from
the TRANSFER drop-down menu will cause the FORM to cease processing.
The FORMS EDITOR will be launched, and the previously running FORM will
appear ready to edit.
A bug was found that allowed invalid dates to be INSERTed into a table.
A new system checks the validity of a date before entering a new record
into a table. Error 322 will occurr if a date is invalid.
Version: 8/24/88
A bug in the Regent Word II Mail Merge drive caused the mail merge
output device not to work. The problem has been corrected.
When using the FORM (f) output device, Regent Base often got lost when
counting the number of lines on a printing page. This confusion caused
printed forms to not allign vertically.
The current time and date is now printed on the OBJECT INFORMATION
REPORT generated by the FORMS EDITOR.
The REORGANIZE command changes the internal structure of tables created
with Regent Base 1.0 and 1.1. It is highly advised that all tables
created with earlier versions of Regent Base be reorganized.
If the DELETE key was pressed while the cursor was at the last character
in an EDIT FIELD object, the last character would be erased and the
cursor advanced one character to the right. Eventually, the cursor
would disappear from the screen, and the system would bomb. This has
been fixed and is no longer a problem.
Version: 8/19/88
The alert warning messages telling the user that the maximum number of
EDIT FIELD or ICON objects has been reached would cause the system to
bomb back to the desktop.
The ESC key could be used in Regent Base 1.0 & 1.1 to clear the contents
of an EDIT FIELD object. The new system uses the CLR/HOME key. The new
version allows either ESC or CLR/HOME.
The maximum number of ICON objects has been increased from 10 to 20.
Pressing CLR/HOME or ESC while in the PROCEDURE EDITOR would cause the
procedural program to be erased. This FEATURE has been removed.
Using 20 or 28 point fonts sizes in the FORMS EDITOR would leave traces
of random dots on the screen when moving TEXT fields. The new version
eliminates this annoying problem.
Version: 07/21/88
A bug in the procedural editor was found that cause the program to crash
if the THUMB was dragged to the bottom of the VERTICLE SLIDE BAR. This
problem has been solved.
All of the programs have been changed to move any text messages into the
.RSC resource files. This was done so facilitate international language
translations of Regent Base 2.
Version: 06/30/88 First release of Regent Base II.
Hard Disk Installation
The new release include the new Hard Disk Instllation program. Previous
versions of Regent Base used a form titled HDINSTAL.FRM. The user would
run the form once, all files on the system disk would be updated to work
on the new hard disk system. Unfortunately, this system was too complex
for many users. So, an easier, more flexible separate program was
developed.
To install Regent Base 2 onto a hard disk drive, copy all of the files
on the System diskette onto your hard disk. You may place Regent Base 2
into a folder, if desired. One of the files you will be copying is
titled INSTALL.PRG. This program will modify Regent Base 2's Data
Dictionary to work with your hard disk.
To use the INSTALL.PRG program, click the INSTALL.PRG icon from the GEM
Desktop. Then select the OPEN option from the FILE drop-down menu. You
may also double-click the INSTALL.PRG icon. The program is all GEM
based, and self-prompting.
Xx SHAREWARE SURVEY
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Alice Amore's CARE enough to . . .
SHAREWARE
SURVEY S U P P O R T S H A R E W A R E
Also see Mark Quinn's "PD PUB" below
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Filename: DRVSWP04.ARC Program Name: DRIVE SWEEP
Program Type: Disk Utility Version: 04
Programmer: Steve L. Crunk Registration Fee: $5.00
"Help! I recently added extra drives (and mega bucks) to my ST system,
and I *still* don't have enough storage room. What am I to do?"
Have the above words ever come out of you? If so, it's time to take a
good look at your disk files (hard and floppy), and throw out what you
really don't use/need/want. Don't be afraid of taking such drastic
measures. ARC up as much as you can, copy to floppies, pile the disks
in a shoe box, and put everything in dead storage.
But... before you close the lid, take a look once again at your files,
especially the ones on your hard drive. Did you ever suspect that your
DUPLICATE FILES were such storage hogs?
DRIVE SWEEP to the rescue. Used properly, DRIVE SWEEP will root out all
your duplicate files and let you delete them easily and safely.
Each drive (A-F are supported) has its own button to click on. Once a
drive is selected, DRIVE SWEEP compares each file's name and length to
all other files on the drive. When a duplicate (a perfect match in
name AND size) is found, it appears on the screen preceded by a number.
Hitting the number will delete the file permanently, hitting any other
key will cycle on to the next duplicate file.
Be forewarned that once a file is deleted, it's gone for good. However,
this program does everything it possibly can to help you avoid unwanted
deletes. Color is important here. When the screen turns red, a delete
is possible. A dialog box will also confirm any deletes before they
happen.
So don't be afraid to use DRIVE SWEEP. You'll be surprised at how many
copies of ARC.TTP you have.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Filename: TANGRAM.ARC Program Name: TANGRAM
Program Type: Puzzle Game Version: Not Specified
Programmer: Patrick Hegland Registration Fee: $15.00
TANGRAM might remind you of one of those intelligence tests in which you
are presented with a selection of geometric shapes and asked to
rearrange them to form a given pattern.
Choose a shape (there are 11 of them), then try to duplicate it using 7
geometric shapes (5 isosceles triangles, 1 rhomboid, 1 square). Shapes
are picked up with the mouse and placed on the pattern. There are also
two options which let you flip a shape (mirror image) or turn it slowly.
This STuff is HARD. You will undoubtedly become exasperated very
quickly (I did). But don't give up.
The full version of TANGRAM has 1,000 TANGRAMs for you to solve. It is
available from the programmer who also offers the Laser C source code
for an additional $25.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Filename: IG212.ARC Program Name: INSTANT GRAPHICS
Program Type: Application Version: 2.12
Programmer: Larry Mears Registration Fee: Not Specified
INSTANT GRAPHICS & SOUND ACCESSORY uses its own "language" to add
graphics power to any BBS. You can now include lines, circles, ovals,
rectangles, fill patterns, system fonts, big and small colored text,
charts, and what-not. To see INSTANT GRAPHICS, you must call a BBS
which uses it, and you must enable it at log-on.
IG was written in C, and can be run as a desk accessory, or through
Interlink using the included .EMU file.
A few INSTANT GRAPHICS "scripts" are included in this ARChive and they
will run from the desktop via the IG desk accessory. It's a whole new
ball game (as far as online graphics are concerned). Here, at last, is
a genuine new tool for SysOps and modem potatoes. It will be
interesting to see what the ST community does with the power of INSTANT
GRAPHICS in the coming months.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Extra STuff
"For a special treat, download CMDEXPIX.ARC. Included are 4 picture
files which were captured by Z*MAGAZINE's John Nagy (using a video
camera and the VIDI-ST digitizer) at the FALL COMDEX, 11/89. One
picture shows about 1/4 of the Atari booth. We've all heard so much
about the Atari display; it's nice to actually see some of it. Another
pic is of Atari's new TOS-pusher, Charles Cherry. The remaining two
pictures are the very best picture files of the TT we've seen so far.
One is full frontal, the other full back(al). A Portfolio is included
in the frontal picture. This "two-shot" makes clear just how small the
Portfolio really is.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
PD PUB by Mark Quinn
File name: TCOS.ARC
Program name: TCOS, version 1.2
Program type: Application
Programmed by: Matthew P. Aubury
When I first booted TCOS, I imagined it to be a laid back Hypercard
clone (without the 'Hyper'). That assumption was proven wrong by the
documentation. TCOS allows the user to store text or graphical data in
"cards" in a tree structure.
Any high resolution D.E.G.A.S. picture file (in PI3 format) can be
imported.
While using it, I envisioned students making a series of choices, and
either ending up at a "dead end" or the desired card, depending on how
well they studied the day's material.
I was happy enough filling up all sorts of cards with my vain attempts
at (t)wit and decided to save my work (if I didn't, no one would), and
after I attempted to do so, the program locked up. I fiddled with "The
Little Green Selector" (an alternative to the built-in file selector box
---shareware by Charles Johnson) until my disposition matched its color,
then decided it would be best to remove TLGS from my AUTO folder.
Everything worked fine. TCOS and TLGS didn't mesh---at least, they
didn't on my system.
Since I have recently installed TLGS on my hard drive, and since it is
now such an integral part of my ST environment (we plan on purchasing
some Codehead utilities in the near future) and seems to work well with
all of my other files, I won't be using TCOS until the two programs
'learn' to cooperate. If you are not a TLGS devotee (if you're
wondering if you are, you're probably not) then cheerfully disregard the
last two paragraphs.
File name: ENCODE.ARC
Program name: Encode
Program type: Utility
Programmed by: R. Pritchard
Most of us know the scenario, and for those of us who don't, it goes a
little like this:
It's big, it's bad, it is (appears to be) well documented, it's the
Super Vaptain Crunch (c) program. And the really neat thing about the
Super Vaptain Crunch (c) program is that it has decided to make your CPU
its new home. And so you get out the docs, boot it and smile, then
begin the long, joyful task of configuring SVC. You reboot.
It crashes.
You reread the documentation. You reconfigure. "Nothing can defeat the
SVC," you assure yourself. "No-thing. Yessiree." You reboot.
It crashes.
After about three hours of the above, you sigh. You force yourself away
from your computer. You try to remember your mantra, but can't. After
you pick up your coffee cup, you notice that it's empty (for the
umpteenth time) and you chant:
"There's no refuting it sometimes computing's *hit a byte's not worth a
bit of effort so we fail
"Forget how oddly strange the author of this thing was in his tiny brain
I shall attempt to sing,
"Every program's worth the effort Every program's worth the strife
"You see, for every hour we cajole and cower some poor programmer gave
a thousand man-hours of his life"
You reboot again, then remove all traces of the SVC from your system.
Then you make sure you have a backup of the offending program intact so
that you may continue the Fight again...someday.
After you are a few hours older and some millennia wiser, having given
Real Life a chance again, you reboot your system and try something that
promises to be simpler, a nice little "encoding utility" that will, the
programmer assures, "encrypt files using a simple bit reversal
technique".
You get out the docs, boot it and smile, because it works.
Something very much like this happened to me with DECODE. The idea is
straightforward enough. It's a TTP program. You type in the path and
filename of both the input and output files, and it encodes the input
file. To decode the encrypted file, simply run it through the encoding
process once more.
And no matter how many times we learn the lesson that for every utility
or application that smothers us with its complexity, there may be three
or more that will rescue us by the doing the same job in a different
way.
It seems I must relearn this lesson all too often...
"Quinn's Quickies":
TANNENBM.ARC
Take the "ho hum" out of "ho, ho, ho": decorate a Christmas tree.
By D.A. Brumleve.
SWEEP.ARC
"Survey Sweepstakes". Family Feud comes to the ST. "The survey
says..."
GDOS24P1.ARC
Fourteen GDOS fonts for 24-pin printers. I couldn't test these
because I lacked a well-written ASSIGN.SYS. Enjoy.
GDOS09P1.ARC
Fourteen GDOS fonts for 9-pin printers. Ditto.
Xx ANIMATE4.PRG UPDATE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ctsy CompuServe AtariArts Forum
#: 15436 S4/Advanced Graphics 22-Nov-89 12:10:13
Sb: #ANIMATE4.PRG / 0
Fm: SYSOP*Bill Aycock 76703,4061
To: SYSOP*David Ramsden 76703,4224
David,
Any idea why ANIMATE4 does a divide-by-zero? I tried running an
animation for the first time since I set up Templemon in my auto folder,
and every time I clicked the ok button on the intro box, Templemon would
show me an err
