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Report
Syndicate ZMagazine Issue 008a
|||||Zmagazine||
July 19, 1986
Ron Kovacs-Publisher/Editor
Walt Drummond-Assistant Editor
-----------------------------------
|||||Contents||
<*> Zmag Notes
<*> New Format
<*> ZPRINT4.OBJ
<*> Basic Programming Help
<*> Zmag Information Network
<*> Editor Column
<*> Zmag Chicago
<*> CompuServe Watch
<*> Antic's Gigi Bisson Report
<*> Zmag Contest
<*> CToday Report
<*> and more........
<*> BBS:Express!
<*> Conversation with Mike of SIG*
-----------------------------------
|||||Gigi's_Report||
===================================
ANTIC Report By: Gigi Bisson
ANTIC PUBLISHING, INC., COPYRIGHT
1986. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION FROM
ANTIC ONLINE ON COMPUSERVE.
===================================
Xx INDUS IS OUT
Prospective Indus disk drive owners
be warned; the Chatsworth, CA-based
peripherals manufacturer is no
longer in business. A company
called National Logic took over the
new Indus MIDI sequencer product
line, and Future Systems, Inc.
purchased the rights to the Indus
GT Atari and Commodore-compatible
floppy disk drive line.
Future Systems has notified
registered Indus owners that their
Indus warranties are no longer
valid. A service contract can be
purchased from Future Systems for
$24.95.
According to Future Systems
President Gary Grewal, the company
intends to release several products
Indus had in the works before the
reorganization, including a
CPM/BIOS RAM charger that plugs
into existing disk drives. The new
address is:
Future Systems
9811 Owensmouth
Suite 9,
Chatsworth, CA 91311. (818)407-1647.
Xx MIRAGE FILES CHAPTER 11:
Mirage Concepts, makers of the H &
D Base database and other ST
products in the Holmes & Duckworth
Micronomists software line, have
filed for Chapter 11 protection.
Due to their inability to fulfill a
$175,000 business loan, their bank
-physically appropriated the
company's assets on May 21-, Mirage
Vice President Michael Reinhold
said in a prepared statement mailed
to creditors. As their Fresno, CA
offices have been shut down,company
officials were not available for
comment.
Xx ACTIVISION/INFOCOM MERGE
Activision, the Mountain View, CA
entertainment software company, has
reached an agreement to merge with
Infocom, the Cambridge, Mass.
interactive fiction game developer.
Activision Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer James Levy said
that Activision will exchange 2.0
million shares of Activision common
stock, valued at $7.5 million, for
all outstanding shares of Infocom
stock.
Infocom will maintain separate
product development and marketing
operations in Cambridge. The
merger will not be official until a
final agreement is signed on June
30, 1986.
Activision has also recently
acquired Gamestar, creator of
Championship Golf, and GBA
Championship Basketball, two ST
games slated for Fall release; and
Creative Software, a productivity
software company. Activision was
founded in 1979 when five
dissatified employees left Atari
Inc. to form their own VCS game
cartridge company.
Xx ATARI MORALITY
A man in Georgia reportedly
programmed his Atari 800 and modem
to call the Jerry Falwell toll-free
fund collection number every 38
seconds. Apparently he was
attempting to prevent the Moral
Majority from getting tax-free
contributions which, the
computerist contended in an
interview with Cable News Network,
is, itself, immoral.
Southern Bell/AT&T traced the
offending calls and ordered the
anti-Fawell Atarian to cease and
desist, threatening to discontinue
his telephone service. (Credit for
this morsel of Atari trivia goes to
the Jersey Atari Computer Group
newsletter.)
Xx REMOTE CONTROL PETSTERS?
Nolan Bushnell, Atari Inc. founder,
and current President of Axlon Inc.
the company responsible for Petsers
those adorable fur-covered robots,
is rumored to be considering a
merger with Steve Wozniak's CL-9
company. Axlon would acquire Woz's
remote control interface venture
in a stock swap that would involve
no cash. Teddy Ruxpin, watch out.
Xx MORE PEOPLE USING ATARIS
Judith Cohn is conducting Cell
Image Analysis research at NASA
with the aid of an Atari ST
computer and the DEGAS graphics
program from Batteries Included.
Cohn is currently writing an ST
program which will she hopes will
help her partition digitial images
of human reticulocytes
(individual cells which form a
network of cellular tissue in the
human body) into two groups.
Xx FREE PUBLICITY
Trying to sell your product to the
education market? Put it aboard the
Teacher Resource and Computer
Training Center, a roving computer
-mobile unit- equipped with Atari
ST and Apple II computers,
textbooks, software, comfortable
couches and, of course, hot coffee.
The mobile unit cruises the parking
lots of 25 school districts in the
Wayne-Finger Lakes area of upstate
New York, giving 2700 teachers
hands-on experience with
educational software and computers.
To get your Atari ST educational
product on the bus, send a
complimentary sample of software
conspicuously marked with the name
and address of your sales
representative, to:
J.C. Crawford,
Wayne-Finger Lakes Area
Teacher Resource and Computer
Training Center
3501 County Road 20
Stanley, NY 14561
(716)526-6431.
Xx MIDI MAGIC
Sweet symphonies drifted through
the Antic offices when Carl Bacani
of Computer Support, our friendly,
neighborhood Atari dealer, popped
in to show off his MIDI musical
compositions.
It sounded better than live music
or any recording--sharp, clear,
each note distinct. Yes, you too
can create stunning music with
Activision's $49 Music Studio
program and $5,000 worth of
hardware.
Bacani's MIDI set-up included an
Atari 1040ST computer hooked up to
a Roland TR-727 Rhythm Composer,
Casio CZ-101 synthesizer, Yamaha RX
15 Digital Rhythm Programmer,
Yamaha TX 7 FM expander, Casio TB-1
MIDI Thru Box, and a BOSS BX 600
6-Channel Stereo Mixer. An FM
stereo reciever and two speakers
amplified the sound.
Bacani will help Atari Corp.
-unofficially- display the ST's
MIDI prowess at The Bay Area Music
Fair, sponsored by Electronic
Musician Magazine, Windham Hill
Productions, and several of big
stereo dealerships and synthesizer
companies.
Xx WHY DVORAK LEFT
Don't turn to the last page and
expect to find that familiar
bold-faced type in InfoWorld. John
Dvorak, long-time InfoWorld
institution and once editor of the
publication no longer graces the
pages of the weekly microcomputer
industry tabloid.
Sources close to InfoWorld say
Dvorak was unhappy with the
publication's recent emphasis on
the dull business market in an
attempt to woo the MIS (Manager of
Information Services) reader. MISs
make major microcomputer purchases
within corporations.
Dvorak continues his controversial
column in Computer Currents, a
California weekly tabloid, and
writes a non-computer column for
the San Francisco Examiner.
Xx AND YOU THOUGHT $699 WAS A DEAL.
During a 10-day Father's Day
promotion, Atari has slashed the
price of the monochrome 520ST to
$499! Will it ever end?
Xx WHICH WILL YOU BUY?
This Christmas, Commodore will sell
the re-designed Commodore 64 for
$200 while Atari Corp. delivers the
65XE for under $100.
Xx JACK'S A TOYS R US KID:
The Atari invasion in the nationwide
Toys R Us retail toy store chain
seems to finally have taken effect.
Our roving shopper reports seeing
an entire shelf in a local Toys R
Us store dominated by 8 and 16-bit
Atari hardware and software.
Xx DID YOU KNOW:
* -Hackers- author Steve Levy is
rumored to be working on a Broadway
musical based on the MIT
programmers of the 60's called
-Leader of the Hack.- Rather than
act, the actors will sit around
eating Chinese food and discuss
different ways to make the
theatre's sound system better.
* Chris Crawfords' latest game:
-Balance of Checkbook-
* The plan to stop software pirates
by joining forces with National
Child Watch, the folks who print
those messages on milk cartons.
* Or how about buying software at
7-11? -I can't wait to get
technical support from the
convenience store staff...Give me
four twinkies, two of those Beef &
Bran burritos, and tell me, when
I'm doing an asynchronous download
in XMODEM, do I have to adjust the
parity bit to Odd or Even?- writes
Frank Simon, in a parody editorial.
These and other humorous, high-tech
pseudo-news stories can be found in
Comedy By Wire: The Computer/Comedy
Newsletter. A one year
subscription to the monthly, four
-page, publication is available for
$9 from: Comedy By:
Wire
431 West 45th Street
New York, NY 10036.
Xx KNOW SOMETHING WE DON'T?
Publicize your Atari-oriented
computer show, seminar, class, swap
meet or event (no users group
meetings, please) in the new Events
section of Antic Online.
Just send us a message in the
Online Feedback section noting the
date, time, location, cost, sponsor
and highlights of the event.
===================================
|||||Classified||
From: Chuck Steinman
To: Atari User's
Subj: Atari National Technical
News
I have been using computers for
over a decade now, and the last 7
I have owned Atari's. I feel the
Atari computers are the best value,
even when I payed over $700 for my
first 800 with 16k or RAM. I
currently own the following:
2-800 with 288k RAM
5-400 with 64k RAM
1-800xl with 256k RAM
1-600xl with 64k RAM
2-1050 drives with U.S. Doublers
1-1030 modem
1-850 interface module
1-410 program recorder
and several hundred programs.
I program in BASIC, Forth, -C-,
pascal, and several assembly
languages, that include the 6502.
I used to enjoy the occasional
technical utilities and articles
that were published in ANALOG, and
ANTIC. I probably still would, if
there were any, but they have been
so sparse in the last year that my
apetite for -input- is growing too
intolerable.
What I would like to do would is
form an ATARI newsletter, which
would be nationally available for
the technical Atari user. I feel
there is a demand for this info.
from the requests of such at user
group meets that I have attended.
How I would like to arrange the
newsletter, would be to have, on
a national basis, all interrested
partys to contact me. If you can
write programs, or design circuits
you have what I need. If you can't
but would like to learn, then you
have the source now. If you are not
personally interrested, but think
the idea is in-line, then talk to
your fellow Atarians, or have your
local user group mention it at
their next meeting,or better in
their next club newsletter.
Anyone interrested in submitting a
program or other material, can do
so by any one of several ways: by
mail using the standard submission
style of most magazines (programs
on disk or cassette, with
instructions, and if possible a
program listing), also available is
direct tele-communicatons, either
by my own BBS (info later),
Compuserve, or Delphi.Of course the
fastest is by my BBS.
Initially the submissions would be
donations, but if there is enough
support, some advertising, or a
monetary donation, I would begin
paying accepted submitters at fair
rates.
Also,I will need several technical
minded people to support me in the
constructon, and formatting of the
newsletter. If you are interrested
please contact me.
Subscription to the newsletter will
be minimal. It will begin at a rate
of $10.00/year. This is just about
what contruction and postage for
12 issues would cost. This would
be a good bargain at this price, if
there is good technical support.
To inquire for more information you
can write me at:
Chuck Steinman
3308 Park Ave. West
P.O. Box 134
Ontario, Ohio 44862
(419) 529-2478
after August 1, 1986 you will be
able to call my BBS at the same
number at only the times listed
below.
Mon-Fri 9:00pm - 4:00am [EDT]
Sat-Sun 12:00pm -12:00am [EDT]
Compuserve User Id: 77717,3223
Delphi User Name: Master-800
I hope that the many Atari users
will join to construct -their-
magazine in the format that THEY
want.
Chuck
===================================
|||||Zmag_Help||
***********************************
* *
* <>Zmag<> Basic Programming Help *
* *
***********************************
In this column we will explain a
few subjects pertaining to Basic.
Each week we will cover another
subject and hopefully get answers
to your questions.
This week question is:
What is a DIM error??
This is Error 9 in Basic and I am
sure many of you have seen this
come up from time to time.
Error 9:
This error occurs when the program
refrences an array or string which
has not been DIMensioned. This
error also occurs when a DIM state-
ment includes a string or array
that was previously DIMensioned. Or
also, if an attempt was made to DIM
a string of length zero or a length
greater than 32767.
Now we will explain a bit further
what is happening in a DIM.
ARRAY:VARIABLE
ARRAY:
A variable is designed to hold a
single data item, either string or
numeric. However, some pregrams
require that hundreds or even
thousands of variable names be used.
A list is kept of the variable names
used in the program in it's
variable name table. A max of 128
names can be stored in the name
table. An array variable names
counts as only 1 name in the name
table, regardless of the number of
elements with in the array.
Every time a new variable is entered
that name is added to the name table.
In the program mode, variables are
added to the name table as they are
encountered in the program.
These names are stored in the name
table until a NEW command is issued.
When you save a program to disk,
the variable name table is saved
along with the program.
Arrays have up to two dimensions.
Two-dimensional arrays are also
known as tables.
Before an array variable can be
used in a program, an area in
memory must be reserved to store
its elements. This is know as
dimensioning the array and is
accomplished with the DIM statement.
The DIM statement defines the max
subscript value that can be used
for an array. For example:
DIM A(20)
This statement would define a one-
dimensional array consisting of 21
elements ranging from A(0) to A(20)
inclusive. Two-dimensional arrays
are dimensioned as follows:
DIM A(4,7)
This statement would dimension an
array consisting of 5 rows with
eight columns each. General good
programming would group all DIM
statements at the beginning of the
program. This prevents an array
variable from being refrenced
before it has been dimensioned.
Refrencing any array before is has
been dimensioned will result in an
error.
When an array is no longer needed
in a program, the DIM statement can
be reversed with a CLR statement.
Type in the following program to
see this in action:
10 PRINT FRE(0)
20 DIM A(25,25)
30 PRINT FRE(0)
40 CLR
50 PRINT FRE(0)
60 END
In line 10, the number of available
free memory is displayed. FRE is a
function which displays free memory
in your computer, We will discuss
this in the weeks ahead.
In line 20, the DIM statement
reserves an area in memory for a
table consisting of 676 elements.
From line 30, it is evident that
the number of free memory has
decreased. This is due to the fact
that an area of memory has been
reserved for the elements in Table
A. In line 40, the CLR statement
reverses the DIM statement and
frees the memory previously required
for the elements in table A.
***********************************
If you have a question you would
like explained, please let us know
by leaving a message on this BBS
system or writing to us.
Zmagazine NJ
PO BOX 74
Middlesex, NJ 08846-0074
***********************************
|||||Zmag_CompuServe_Watch||
Messages and information from the
CIS SIG*Atari Base
Sb: SYSTEM II BBS
Fm: STUART CHANG 76317,1523
To: ALL
Well folks, there is a BBS in
Florida that is absolutely great.
It is run off an XM301 modem 24
hours a day. at (813)371-2322 and
leave Feedback to the SYSOP telling
him you heard about it off
Compuserve, and he will give you a
special access. Well remember the
number is (813)-371-2322. Call
SYSTEM II
Sb: IT'S WORKING!!
Fm: BOB WOOLLEY 75126,3446
To: ALL
After many months of nothing but
timeouts, I actually copied a file
from my 1050 to my screen without
using SIO.... I want to yell and
scream, but my family has been too
patient already. All those little
bits marching along side by side,
eight at a time...... WEEEEEEE!!!
All you hardware types out there,
look in DL3 in a week or two for
P1050.XMO and P1050.DOC.
Bob Woolley
Sb: #162828-MONITOR HOOKUP???
Fm: BOB WOOLLEY 75126,3446
To: - JAMES D.BAKER 72337,2270
You must solder more parts inside
the computer - not worth the
effort. Use a TV or buy an 800XL
for $60 or so. Not to be so
negative on 400, but it really
does not lend itself to that
option.
Bob Woolley
Sb: #162827-800XL+
Fm: BOB WOOLLEY 75126,3446
To: Andrew Karl Heller 72327,3160
Karl: I ordered mine over two
months ago... I'm still waiting.
Their reply to my letter last month
(postmarked 6/16) said they would
ship on 6/13..... Still
waiting........ You save maybe
five bucks for all that hassle?? I
can't even get them on their
non-800 number. The 256K chips are
less than $3 almost everywhere out
here. Black Patch is a bad deal!
Bob Woolley
Sb: #162988-modem?
Fm: BOB WOOLLEY 75126,3446
To: Peter Seiler 72267,2224
Peter: Forget the 835....
Electronic One has the 1030 for
about $45. It has built in software
(no disk or tape required) and will
run EXPRESS when you do get a 1050.
If you take a look through ANTIC or
ANALOG magazine, you may find a
1030 for less than that -- BUT --
forget Black Patch. They are bad
news...... for now, anyway. A
thermistor is a temperature
sensitive resistor - it's
resistance changes with
temperature. You want a value of
100K or so, at room temp. The POT
function in the 400 will produce a
number that is proportional to the
temperature of the thermistor.
Works great!! Find an AtariLab kit
- it has one in it.
Bob Woolley
Sb: #162679-PSF
Fm: SAM NEAL 72337,361
To: PAUL R. WIENCKOWSKI 72747,625
Yes, there is a conversion program
also in the dl4 library named
SHOPTOOL. It will convert DOS
files into Printshop files and
back. One o --Marvin the Paranoid
Android
Sb: #162843-400 question
Fm: BOB WOOLLEY 75126,3446
To: Peter Seiler 72267,2224
Peter: Try Computer Mail Order for
a deal on an old 400. They had some
for $20, or so and have always been
easy to deal with. A 1050 will be
over $100 right now - that is a lot
of money compared to the 400, but
you just can't do much without one.
The price may go down if the 3.5
inch drive comes out and then it
may not. Probably the best deal in
town for a modem is the 1030. Check
with your local user groups. I have
seen some good buys from people
switching to ST. Even better buys
are around swap meets where not
much Atari activity goes on - some
of those sellers think Atari stuff
is dead, like the TI and ADAM. All
the better for you!!
Bob Woolley
Sb: #162738-LAZY LOAER
Fm: PETER NICHOLLS 71777,3640
To: FREDERIC LEWIS 71445,564
Fred - the reason the screen freaks
is fairly straight forward! The
problem is that KYAN PASCAL uses a
custom O/S for its compiler. In
other words, what's happening is
that, when the KYAN compiler loads
it is placed in part of the RAM
underneath the XE's O/S. Therefore,
when the compiler loads for the
first time, the character set has
to be copied down into the RAM area
from $C000 to $FFFF (somewhere!).
Deoending on the copydown code you
use, this will occsionally cause a
temporary screen blitz. However,
the problem should _not_ be
permanent! If it is, you either
have a problem with the compiler,
or the loader. The first is very
unlikely (you paid for it!) but
the second is highly possible with
a bad DL from CompUServe - check it
out and let me know! By the way,
sorry for the long reply time, but
I just got an ST and Personal
Pascal -- AMAZING! [pn]
Sb: #162953-ACTION
Fm: SYSOP*Keith Ledbetter
To: JOHN LECHMANIK 73217,422
John,
I'm not real sure what you mean
exactly, but here goes. If you
want a string to be 20 bytes long
max, just do the following: Byte
Array Your_String (21) (mustn't
forget the length byte!). With that
statement, Your_String will ALWAYS
have 21 bytes allocated, whether
you are using them all or not.
About the concatenation, you have
to use the SAssign proc. Let's say
that you have the following two
strings, one containing a file
name, and the other an extender:
Byte Array Filename (12), Extender
(4) and a long string to concat
into Byte Array LongName (20) Now,
here is the code to concat the
filename:
SCopy (LongName,Filename)
SAssign (LongName,-.-,
LongName(0)+1,
LongName(0)+1))
SAssign (LongName,Extender,
LongName(0)+1,
LongName(0)+Extender(0))
Whew!! As you notice above, you
must use the length byte to control
your concat positions.
Keith
Sb: DIGSND.XMO
Fm: ELIOT STEIN 76703,305
To: 74766,2154
Dominick, I loaded up DIGSND.XMO
and have downloaded it to verify
that it works. I noticed that you
were having some problems with it
and wish I could help you. There is
not a .DOC file with it, but by the
large number of downloads it and
the accompanying .DIG files have
had, I assume that it is working
for most people. After you download
it, rename it as AUTORUN.SYS on any
disk containing a standard Atari
Dos. Then place up to two .DIG
files on the same disk. (place
other .DIG files on separate disks)
It should auto-boot and a menu of
any .DIG files on the disk will be
displayed. Press your choice, that
file will load, then enter a speed
(54 is normal) and hit start. I
really don't know what else to tell
you. I hope that it works this time
around for you. Many people are
having much fun with it. If you
really have problems, maybe I'll
have to send you a disk containing
the public domain player and a few
sample files. I know what it's like
to not be able to get something to
run on here that looks exciting.
Please let me know if you finally
get it to work or what. Eliot Stein
Sb: #162560-XMODEM ON MPP
Fm: KEN WHITE 76157,21
To: RON CHUSID 74756,3150
Ron....
Fortunately I never had the
problem of incompatibility with the
DOS - otherwise, I probably would
have just cried.....but you mean to
say you've never had any real
problems with X-modem downloads?
Lucky guy....after half a dozen
that didn't produce anything but
frustration, I gave up on Smarterm
for downloading (still love the
huge buffer for general use) and
switched to Amodem 7.1 and later
7.2 (and now MPP Express) when I
planned to do some downloading.....
Ken
Sb: #modem?
Fm: Peter Seiler 72267,2224
To: 75126,3446 (X)
Bob, I like to ask again for your
opinion. Now that I got the At-400
on order, I need a modem. the 835
can be gotten for $ 30.-, but no
software. They recommand Telelink
2. Is there anything (simple) on
file, comuserve or magazine, to
replace telelink 2 or otherwise
work together with At-835 ? On my
last note to you I goofed on the
hardware description. 600 XE I
meant to say. You mentioned
'thermistor' in your message. Any
specifics in mind? I keep you
posted on my solar-computer
interfacing. Right now I am still
getting the hardware up on the roof
(Oh my back!!)
Peter Seiler
Sb: #162985-MPPFOREM
Fm: SYSOP*Dave Groves 76703,4223
To: JACKIE HEATH JR. 72637,264
Sure, I don't have an alpha list of
everybody's id# (ppn) so I could
not give you John's. When you read
the description file for the
program it had the ppn up in the
top section, if you go back and get
that number (like yours is
72637,264) and make sure to include
it in the To: line, then when John
signs on, the message will be
flagged to him like this one was
flagged to you.
Sb: #162926-#MPPFOREM
Fm: JACKIE HEATH JR. 72637,264
To: SYSOP*Dave Groves 76703,4223
THANKS ALOT,I'LL TRY THAT AS SOON
AS I CAN. I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT
YOU MEANT ABOUT THE PPN WITH THE
FILE(?)CAN YOU HELP ME OUT? THANKS **JACKIE HEATH
-----------------------------------
|||||Conversation||
Here is a short transcript of
my conversation with Mike
Shoenback, the new sysop on SIG*
Atari.
(30,Ron Kovacs) Hi.
(30,SYSOP*Mike) Hi Ron. I've been
meaning to send you a message about
Zmag. And I have a suggestion if
you dont mind?
(30,Ron Kovacs) Sure, Go Ahead
(30,SYSOP*Mike) We'd appreciate it
if you upload it in ASCII instead
of BINARY. This way members can
<R>ead it on-line without XMODEM
downloading it.
(30,Ron Kovacs) NO PROBLEM. I WAS
WONDERING IF I WAS UPLOADING IT
RIGHT.....GLAD YOU GUYS LIKE IT!
(30,SYSOP*Mike) It will reach more
people in ASCII mode. Actually, I
speak from personal experience. I
usually like <R>eading text files
on-line without XMODEM downloading
it, and I've discovered many other
people do the same.
(30,Ron Kovacs) THANKS FOR LETTING
ME KNOW. DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER
SUGGESTIONS FOR ZMAG. HMMM PERHAPS
I COULD INTERVIEW YOU SOME TIME FOR
ZMAG.. WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED?
(30,SYSOP*Mike) Yes. Leave me a
message one day and we'll try to
get something together in the
future; at least after I get
-settled- in my new home.
(my new home being SIG*Atari)
(30,Ron Kovacs) SURE.!! I WOULD
APPRECIATE YOUR TIME.
(30,SYSOP*Mike) Everything is going
well with me. I'm learning the
ropes around here these days.
(30,Ron Kovacs) Well again Good
Luck, By the way....We have a few
Star Trek groupies here and they
are looking for more of your pics??
Any new ones??
(30,SYSOP*Mike) Yes, I still have a
whole bunch more but I am putting
uploading them off until I learn
how to merge my own files.
(30,Ron Kovacs) We will be waiting.
Well, Take care, Hope to chat with
you again soon!
(30,SYSOP*Mike) Take care, Ron. Looking forward to the next ZMAG!
(30,Ron Kovacs) Thanks. BYE
(30,SYSOP*Mike) Bye.
-----------------------------------
|||||Zmag_Notes||
Subject :ZMAG
To :RON KOVACS (REC)
Sent by :CLINTON SMITH
Zmag Editor Chicago
RON,CONGRATS ON THE SOON TO BE
BLESSED EVENT.I UNDERSTAND AND
I WILL WAIT PATIENTLY FOR THE
SB TEXT.I HOPE IT DOES WELL IN
THE U.K.(IT'S KIND OF OUR WEDDING
PRESENT FOR THE ROYAL KIDS.HA.HA.)
50+ DOWNLOADS!SOMEBODY IS VERY
DEFINATELY INTERESTED IN ZMAG
SOMEWHERE.GOOD WORK ON PASSING
ZMAG TO THE SOURCE AND NEXT DELPHI
.I'LL GET SOMEBODY ON THE
CLEVELAND LEADS.NEWS ON ZMAG HERE:
ZMAG IS GOING TO BE PASSED ALONG
TO THE GENIE SERVICE BOB
RETELLE(THE ATARI SYSOP THERE)
WAS INTERESTED IN IT WHEN I TALKED
TO HIM AT THE CLAUG MEETING JUNE
3RD.A BOARD IN GEORGIA IS GOING
TO START CARRYING ZMAG.I JUST
FINISHED WRITING ZREAD16,THE
LATEST ZREAD PROGRAM.IT'S GOT SOME
NIFTY FEATURES.THANKS FOR THE NEWS
AND CONGRATS AGAIN ON THE UPCOMING
BUNDLE.
CLINTON SMITH
ZMAG EDITOR
-----------------------------------
|||||Zmag_Update||
Please call the Hospital BBS
(201)721-1901
This BBS will now include Zmag
in their download section.
Here is their Main Menu
S=SKIP, Ctrl. <X or C>=ABORT
The Hospital BBS Functions
<A>-Atascii/Ascii <B>-Bulletin
<D>-Download <E>-Enter Msg
<F>-File Directory <G>-Goodbye
<H>-Docs Database <I>-Input Style
<K>-Kill Msg <L>-Msg toSysop
<M>-E-Mail <O>-BBS List
<P>-Your Profile <R>-Read Msgs
<S>-Summary of Msgs <T>-BBS Rules
<U>-Upload <W>-Caller No.
<Y>-Yell for Sysop <?>-This List
<*>-Read msgs from Newest-Oldest
<Z>-Message Bases (A-F for Base)
(Type 'Z'-'?' for Base Listing)
===================================
|||||C-Today||
The Following file is a series of
excerpts of information contained
in Computing Today, the online
magazine on Genie. It is reproduced
here with the permission of Hartley
and Pattie Lesser.
Apple Computer continues to carry
most of the rumormonger attention.
Now, beta test sight users have
leaked word of the Apple Johnathan,
the alleged high-end Mac, that
sports a 68020 CPU AND a 68881 math
coprocessor, a large (possibly 14-
inch) black and white screen, and
two 800 K internal drives. This
certainly has all the appearances
of an extremely powerful machine
and paves the way for the 32-bit
machine to be for Apple what the
IBM RT COULD be for IBM. More in
the Apple rumor department finds
that the new Japanese Macintosh
Plus could have not only MacWrite,
MacDraw and MacProject
compatibility, but also the likes
of Excel, all functioning with the
unit's Kanji/Talk system.
Watch for an OEM deal between Atari
Corp. and Microsoft.
Immediate thoughts of the ST
running DOS come to mind...and
possibly GW BASIC as well. From
reliable sources, this is
apparently the usual MS contract,
and is either currently en-route
to, or has arrived at, Atari for
final signatures. PCDOS 2.25 and
GW BASIC will run on the ST's yet-
to-be-released 8088 PC emulator
that Atari is planning to release
for their ST family late in the
third quarter of this year. The
release could certainly spark
additional interest in the ST, as
IBM compatibility becomes the
overall standard for both
cooperative and included processing
features for most systems.
Naturally, when there's an Apple
rumor, one of the companies most
likely to leak something to counter
that publicity is Commodore, who,
most of the time, has problems with
their right hand knowing what the
left hand is up to. Now, the
company is expected to debut an
enhanced C64 machine, called the
C-64C (a sparkler of a name), that
will initially sell for under $300
and will be bundled with
productivity software (unnamed).
Two main features are said to be an
enhanced memory board and an
upgraded power supply. This new
machine was officially intro'd at
the Consumer Electronics Show.
Soon, users of Commodore 128,
Macintosh, IBM PC and PCjr, Amiga
and Atari ST systems will have
access to Alternate Reality - The
City for those machines. Alternate
Reality is a fantasy/role-playing
game that is the first of several
scenarios, all using the characters
created with The City. The next
episode, The Dungeon, is also
currently being worked on. The
Dungeon will take the player to a
world beneath The City, one
shrouded in mystery, where rounding
a corner could result in a
confrontation with the things of
which nightmares are made. The
Dungeon, played either as a stand-
alone game or in conjunction with
The City, allows the player to
create and develop his or her
character in The Dungeon and take
the character back to The City, or
vice-versa. The Dungeon will be
ready for a Christmas 1986 release.
Five additional scenarios are
planned: The Arena, The Palace,
The Wilderness, Revelation and
Destiny. Datasoft, the producing
company purchased by
IntelliCreations, is going to be
extremely busy with these projects.
They are located in Chatsworth,
California.
VERSION 2.1 OF DBMAN HAS LOWER
PRICE (note: there is a version for
the STwhich sells for $99, hehehe,
just another reason to buy an ST
'stead of a big blue machine, Dave
Flory)
VersaSoft (408/268-6033) has
released an enhanced version of
dBMAN that affords uses greater
performance and a retail price
reduction of nearly 50 percent.
dBMAN, a dBASE III PLUS compatible
database manager, is available for
IBM micros and compatibles, Novell
NetWare and the IBM PC-NET. The
program's low price includes run-
time with no license fees. dBMAN is
$695 for the network version and
$295 for the single user version.
Both offerings include the dBMAN
run-time package at no additional
charge and there are no per user
fees or other additional charges.
dBMAN Version 2.1 adds records up
to 40 times faster than dBASE III
PLUS, according to the company, and
offers an -assist- style front end,
pulldown menus, use of up to 640 K
of memory for caching of data and
program files, 128 fields and 4000
bytes per record, more global
memory variables, and support for
up to 2 billion records per
database. Free network evaluation
disks are available at no charge
through authorized resellers.
Silver Reed America, Inc.
(213/516-7008) has introduced a
low-end daisy wheel printer, the
EXP420, and an automatic dual bin
cut sheet feeder with envelope
capability. The EXP420 is targeted
primarily at home markets and is
offered at the suggested retail
price of $299.95. The unit prints
at 12 cps and offers super and
subscripts, bold and shadow print,
auto-underline, 10 and 12 pitch
selection.
The CF231 sheet feeder, designed
for use with Silver Reed's EXP600
and EXP800 daisy wheel printers,
automatically collates, and has a
manual feed slot to insert single
sheets by hand without removing the
unit from the printer. The CF231
also accepts a variety of paper
widths, and has built-in eject
rollers to avoid paper jams. The
CF231 can hold up to 200 sheets of
paper in each of its two bins. This
allows the operator to use letter-
head and second sheet stationary
for collated output. Up to 150
printed sheets can be accommodated
by an attached paper stacker. The
suggested retail price is under
$400.
===================================
|||||Zprint_IV||
As a new edition to the Zprint
Series, I came up with Zprint IV!
LOADed from DOS, WITHOUT Basic, it
works just like Zprint III. It
still uses the original Zprint
format: ZMAGxxx.TXT.
Enjoy!!!
Walt
-----------------------------------
|||||Editor's_Column||
A few weeks ago I sent some disks
to England and hopefully soon,
we will get some feedback. We are
hoping to get Zmag on their systems
there.
Two more systems have joined Zmag.
Mega Systems in Cleveland and,
The Hospital BBS in Fort Lee, NJ.
See Zmag list for their numbers.
Walt has taken the job as Zmag
Associate Editor.
-----------------------------------
|||||Zmag_Contest||
Details on this contest will appear
in the August 2nd Issue of Zmag.
-----------------------------------
|||||BBS:Express!||
BBS:Express! is ready to ship. At
this time, all pre-orders will be
shipped out with the highest
priority.
If you would like to pre-order
the 850 version of the software,
you can send $39.95 + $4
shipping/handling to
Orion Micro Systems
Attn: 850 BBS
2919 Ennismore Court
Richmond, VA 23224
(Virginia residents add 4% tax)
PLEASE! include a note indicating
that this is a pre-order for the
850 version of the software!
The XM301/1030/835 version is
available NOW At the same address.
-----------------------------------
|||||Documentation||
MASTER RENUMBER by Gary Heitz,
and his CIS PPN is: 75676,556
One of the nicer features of Atari
BASIC is that it allows variables
to be used in place of line
numbers. It is easier to type GOTO
MENU rather than searching through
a program for the line on which the
menu begins. Debugging of a
program is made easier, too, when
you can see where a subroutine is
going because a real word, with
special meaning, was used instead
of a number. Also, replacing a
line number with a variable usually
saves memory if the same line is
referenced more than a few times.
A real problem, though, with using
variables in this manner occurs
when you need to renumber a
program. Most renumber utilities
cannot handle variables and others
will only work on a variable the
first time it appears in a program.
Therefore, if you use variables to
replace line numbers, you either
lose the ability to renumber or you
have to make sure that you never
change their values.
Because of this, I created Master
Renumber. Master Renumber
recalculates both line numbers and
those variables that reference line
numbers. For example, if you
program that the variable LINE
equals a certain line number and
later change it to equal a
different line number, even if you
do this a hundred times, each and
every one will be renumbered.
To get Master Renumber working,
load the BASIC program and RUN it.
You will be asked whether you want
the program stored on cassette or
disk. Make sure that your cassette
or disk is ready and press -C- for
cassette or -D- for disk.
The BASIC program will produce a
boot load file for cassette users
or an AUTORUN.SYS file for those
with disk drives.
Power down and reboot your
computer. You will see the title
screen for Master Renumber. Load
in any BASIC program and use the
following command to renumber it.
Simply replace the S and I values
with numbers.
1. REN
This will assign the first line
number of your BASIC program the
value of ten. Each successive line
number will be incremented by ten.
2. REN S
You choose the starting line number
and the default increment of ten is
used thereafter.
3. REN S,I
You define the starting line number
and the increment. The starting
line number and the increment may
be any number from zero through
32767. The only exception is that
if you select an increment of zero,
all of your program's line numbers
would be the same. Therefore, an
increment of zero is not permitted.
If you typed the command correctly,
the screen will clear and the title
screen will again be displayed
along with the command you typed.
Master Renumber will signal that it
is working and the cursor will
blink. If your program contains no
line referencing errors , the word
-Done- will soon appear and you
will be back in BASIC. Your
program will have been completely
renumbered.
The following are some of the
checks that Master Renumber makes
while working. First, it checks to
see if you typed REN. If not, it
assumes that you are typing
something for BASIC and turns the
line over to BASIC for processing.
If you did type REN, then a check
is made to verify that you typed
the rest of the command properly.
The words -Syntax error- will be
displayed if you did not.
The next test that must be made is
to ensure that BASIC will not erase
any of your program. Atari BASIC
will only accept line numbers
through 32767. A line number
higher than that will be erased.
To make sure that this does not
happen, Master Renumber takes the
starting line number and the
increment from your command and
calculates what the last line
number will be. If the number is
32768 or greater, you will see the
phrase -Exceeds maximum allowed-
and no renumbering will take place.
While renumbering, if a bug in the
BASIC program's line referencing
statements exists, Master Renumber
will display -Check line(s):- and
show the offending line number(s).
The line number shown is the line
to examine after renumbering is
complete. It is the new number -
not the original.
One type of BASIC statement that
you are warned to check is a GOTO
(or any other line referencing
statement) that points to a line
that does not exist.
For a reason only you would be
aware of, you may have
intentionally programmed the
statement knowing full well that
the referenced line was
nonexistant. That is why Master
Renumber merely suggests that you
check the line. Any statement like
GOTO 200*K, or any line referencing
statement that contains a
mathematical operation, will be
renumber if the first numeral is
that of an existing line. But,
that is all that would be done. To
do more would have required much
more memory.
If you have a statement similar to
GOTO LINE and somewhere in your
program you equate the variable
LINE to another variable (LINE=
DATA), Master Renumber will advise
you to check the line with the
variable.
These may not actually be errors.
It depends on your intentions when
you created the program. Therefore,
simply check the line and decide.
Another fact that you should know
about Master Renumber is that page
six is not used. Leaving this
highly used area of memory alone
will allow you to use many more of
your programs while Master Renumber
is also in memory.
Master Renumber does load into
memory just above DOS. This means
that it is overwritten if DUP.SYS
is loaded. You should use a
MEM.SAV file if you wish to go to
DOS. Then, when you return to
BASIC, press the SYSTEM RESET
button and Master Renumber will be
reactivated.
Lastly, although this article only
mentions the GOTO statement, Master
Renumber will renumber all of the
following: GOTO, GOSUB, LIST, TRAP,
ON GOTO, ON GOSUB and RESTORE.
With these statements, you may use
numbers, variables, or any
combination of numbers and
variables.
That's about it. I hope Master
Renumber allows you to more fully
take advantage of the way Atari
BASIC permits variables to be used
in place of line numbers. After
all, the more features you can use,
the more time you should save and
the better your programs should be.
Gary Heitz 75676,556
-----------------------------------
Zmag BBS Systems
----------------
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If you have a question about Zmag
Windy City-Clinton Smith
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Blue Moon-Clinton Smith,Gerry Feid
Claug-Clinton Smith
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Walt Drummond
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Walt Drummond
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Electronic Shop-Jim
MJAC BBS-Steve Godun,Walt Drummond
EBBBS-Ron Kovacs
West Coast Syndicate-The Magician,
Ron Kovacs
Backstage BBS-The Director,Walt
Drummond
Valhalla BBS-Woden
Funhouse BBS-Ron Kovacs
Mega Vision-Ron Kovacs
Hospital BBS-Ron Kovacs
===================================
Zmagazine July 19, 1986 #8
Please contribute!!!!
===================================
(c)1986 Ron Kovacs
(c)1988 SPC/Ron Kovacs
