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Z*NET Online Magazine Issue 91-12
==(((((((((( == Z*NET INTERNATIONAL ATARI ONLINE MAGAZINE
=========(( === -----------------------------------------
=======(( ===== March 29, 1991 Issue #91-12
=====(( ======= -----------------------------------------
==(((((((((( == (c)1989,1990,1991, Rovac Industries, Inc.
CONTENTS
EDITORS DESK..........................................John Nagy
CEBIT REPORT #1 - Tim Reyes
PRESS KIT PHOTOS - Atari
CEBIT REPORT #2 - Christian Strasheim
Z*NET NEWSWIRE.................................................
Z*NET SOFTWARE SHELF.............................Ron Berinstein
HAGTERM ELITE REVIEW.................................Jeff Payne
CALAMUS TUTORIAL PART VI..........................Geoff LaCasse
PHANTOM OF THE LASER..............................Press Release
ROCKFORD ATARI EXPOSITION.........................Press Release
TOWNS' LITTLE GUIDE TO REVISIONS..................John Townsend
PUBLIC DOMAIN UPDATE..............................Keith Macnutt
=======================================================================
EDITORS DESK
------------
by John Nagy
=======================================================================
The staff extends Happy Easter greetings to everyone.
Regular features planned for this week have been suspended for the
extensive CeBit Coverage included in this edition.
=======================================================================
CeBIT PERSONAL REPORT #1
------------------------
from Tim Reyes, Maxwell CPU
as told to John Nagy
=======================================================================
Tim Reyes, owner of MAXWELL CPU of Colorado, just returned from
Hannover where he attended the CeBIT Computer and Electronics Show.
Tim will be writing first-person reviews of the show in upcoming issues
of ST INFORMER and ST WORLD magazines, and has many photos which will
be featured in those and perhaps other magazines as well. Tim gave us
his impressions for Z*Net.
"The CeBit shows are the biggest thing that happen in Hannover,
Germany. They expected 300,000 people this year, and it looks like
about 500,000 attended. This is not just a computer show, it also
features electronics, especially telecommunications. The facilities
for the show are huge, and there are many separate halls. One was
dedicated to CAD-CAM systems, another to Networking. There were FOUR
halls for personal and mid-size computers, and Atari shared theirs with
the likes of Microsoft and Compaq.
"Atari's area was as big as anyone's, and was crowded, everyone
shoulder-to-shoulder all the time. I think it was definitely busier
than most other areas. The color scheme was lots of white and blue,
with a white scaffolding overhead that had illuminated Fuji and Atari
signs throughout it. The floor space was about three times that of the
recent COMDEX shows. In all, there were about 30 vendors inside the
Atari area, all showing their own hardware and software for the Atari.
The only U.S. developer I saw was Dave Small of Gadgets by Small, maker
of SPECTRE Macintosh emulators and CPU accelerators. The others were
all European, showing a wide range of products. One of the ones that I
particularly noticed was MULTIGEM, a multi-tasking GEM interface by
MAXXON, running on the TT and ST.
"Atari itself showed the ST NOTEBOOK, which I think looked just about
finished and very good, as good as anything like it I've seen. The
velvety jet-black case looks great, and it really looked like it could
be a production unit. Only 2" thick and 8 1/2" x 11" when open (half
that when folded shut). The STPad is not nearly as finished looking.
UNIX was shown for the TT, but is not ready yet for sale. It can't run
ST or GEM programs yet in windows, and so is not available. The UNIX
and XWindows appeared to be completed and running fine. Very
impressive. Of the many machines at the show, about half were TT's and
half were MEGA/STe's. A few "old" Mega machines were there too. A
long table of PORTFOLIOS drew a lot of attention, as people could play
with them as they wished."
---------------------------------------
Other notes from CeBit, gathered from all over:
The MEGAFILE name will be dropped, eventually. A German company was
using it before Atari. Shown but not bally-hooed was an "AtariFile
200", a new hard drive in the old Mega standard case. The new
technology BIG hard drives will replace the smaller ones quite quickly.
It was mentioned that the TT will likely be available with up to a 1.2
GIGABYTE internal drive, ideal for UNIX users that really eat storage
space. A TT/030 with 28 MEG RAM, 1.2 Gig HD... that is Serious Stuff.
-------------------------------
Z*NET GERMANY correspondent Mike Schuetz was also at CeBIT, and sent us
the Atari Press Kit. John Nagy did VIDI-ST pictures from the press
photographs and placed them on GEnie, CompuServe, and the FNET BBS
network. Here are the captions as supplied by Atari from the kit.
Items in brackets are added by Z*NET for clarity, ALL other text is
VERBATIM from the kit as translated. We encourage readers to get the
pictures, which are very clear, in order to fully appreciate the
descriptions here.
ST-Notebook for the Briefcase.
The new ST-Notebook from Atari fits in any briefcase, and with a weight
of only around 1 kg is highly portable. It offers all what you when
working and travelling at the same time: 1 MB main memory, 20 MB hard
disk, joypad instead of mouse and an LCD screen with a resolution of
640 x 400 pixels.
[Photo shows the jet black computer, folded open showing a compact but
complete keyboard, a little other detail.]
Computer without mouse or keyboard
Atari is showing for the first time at the CeBit fair 1991 a prototype
computer where the data entry no longer takes place with a keyboard or
mouse, but with a pen which is used to write directly onto the screen.
The STPad thus offers computers beginners, too, a simple way of using
modern technology.
[Photo shows a black half-notebook sized unit which is 80% screen. A
GEM desktop with the new icons is shown on the screen. Two RAMCARDS
are show protruding to the right, and a pen on a wire is clipped to the
top.]
Atari's TT/030 workstation with UNIX.
Atari is now offering a Unix development environment for it's flagship,
the 32 Mhz 32-bit model TT/030. The Developers Package V includes in
addition to Unix V Rel. 4.0 a graphical interface based on X/Window and
OSF/Motif and the software tools GNU C, C++ and XFacemaker 2. They
offer powerful possibilities for developing graphical applications.
The figure shows the graphical user environment and the new 19" monitor
TTM 194 - a high resolution graphic monitor with a resolution of 1280 x
960 pixels and a frame repeat frequency of 70 Hz, which is
characterized by a particularly low electro-magnetic radiation.
[A TT/030 is shown with the large monitor, which has a variety of
application and accessory windows open.]
More memory for the ST and TT.
As a bonus for the large number of ST users, Atari is now showing on
the CeBit fair 1991 several new had disks. Different models offer a
range of capacities from 83 to 676 megabytes. At the same time, the
average access time is only 12 - 15 ms.
For the flagship of the ST fans, the TT, new memory expansion modules
are also being shown: they extend the main memory to a total of 26 MB.
Enough to be able to keep today's memory-hungry applications programs -
such as those in the fields of CAD and DTP - largely in main memory.
The photo shows the Mega STE from Atari.
[A standard Mega/STe is shown with a mono monitor and the Atari NewDesk
on the screen.]
[CD-ROM]
Large amounts of data can today be easily stored on CD-ROM. Atari is
exhibiting a new CD-ROM devices at the CeBit Fair 1991 which can be
connected to the STE and TT computer series and has a storage capacity
of 500 MB. The Cobra retrieval software for the ST is available to
efficiently manage the data on the CD-ROM. The CD drive can also be
used as an audio CD player and costs significantly less that 1000 DM.
[A totally new device is pictured, no wider than the CD slot itself.
It has only an eject button and what appears to be a headphone jack and
volume control on the front panel. It looks much more like a Syquest
removable hard drive in a tiny case than anything else. "1000 DM" is
perhaps $600 US, but hardware prices usually are cheaper in the US than
the exchange rate translation. Sources at the show indicated that they
expected the US price to be closer to $400. The CD device was the ONLY
new announced product with a price. This reinforces speculation that
the CD may be ready for distribution almost immediately.]
-----------------------------------------------
CEBIT EYEWITNESS REPORTS #2
Courtesy of PD JOURNAL, Christian Strasheim, Micheal Schuetz
Translation from German by Kevin Festner and John Nagy
[PD JOURNAL is a popular German Atari magazine, and their staff
attended the CeBIT computer show in Hannover. Here are some highlights
of the extended coverage of CeBIT that PD JOURNAL prepared for their
own magazine, and shared with Z*NET and ATARIUSER magazines in the USA.
Most of the background material and technical specifications for the
new ST BOOK and STPad are not included here; see last week's Z*NET for
the complete descriptions and specifications. Some of the language
presented here may seem a bit odd; we are trying to preserve the
original intent and construction of the German wording rather than to
add our own interpretation. This will allow the reader to draw their
own conclusions about what may really be coming from Atari. Our
proposed interpretations are enclosed in BRACKETS.]]
"Stacy-Light" - the ST Notebook - To Be Ready Summer 1991!:
...In the USA and Europe from about 1992 an internal modem will be
available for the ST Notebook. It will be capable of conventional
telecommunication as well as able to send and receive FAX messages.
The most surprising is the fact that the ST-Notebook will be available
in the summer of 1991! Alwin Stumpf, CEO of Atari-Germany and now
being billed as the "President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing" for
Atari, says that the ST Book could be out this summer and will cost
around $2,000.00 in the USA. Due to the fluctuations in the exchange
rate it is hard to predict what it will cost in Marks (German
currency).
STPad to ALSO be a 1991 Product!
The keyboardless STPad computer is also being discussed as a product to
be in general production "Late in 1991". Projected price for the base
machine (1 Meg RAM) is about $1,500.00 US.
New CD-ROM
The new CD-ROM CDAR505 was introduced. It has both a SCSI and ASCI
Interface. The included software allows it to be used with all of the
ST line as well as the SCSI interface on the TT. The cost is about
$400 US!
Unix & RAM for the TT
After some delay, Atari will be distributing (from about the middle of
April), Unix system V Release 4.0, which will be laid over the X-Window
release 11.4. The user interface is OSF Motif. The developer package
include a C and C++ compiler and debugger allowing the developer to
create object - oriented applications. It is recommended that more RAM
is placed on a machine running UNIX as well as a large Hard Drive of
about 200 MBytes. The additional 4 MBite SIMMS is very expensive at
this time. 8 MBytes of additional RAM for the ST costs about $1400 and
16 MBytes will put you back $2800 (US).
FSM-GDOS
The form of the distribution of the new outline font oriented GDOS
which can hopefully be answered in the month of April.
OTHER EXHIBITORS AT CeBIT:
Application Systems
Phoenix, the Heidelberg computer firm, introduced a new database.
Phoenix also displayed its Version 2.1 of Script II which now comes
with quick and efficient syllabification [hyphenation??].
Data Becker
With the title 'The Quick Door' (Quick start), Data Becker publishes an
array of books covering well-known Programs for the Atari ST. In about
150 pages, the reader can ascertain how to quickly and easily use the
most important features. The 'Quick Start' guide for Script II is
available for about $12.50. Available in the coming months are 'Quick
Start' guides for Calamus and Becker Design.
Begemann & Niemeyer
Riemann II is the next generation of the well liked mathematic program,
Riemann. Thanks to its continuing use of the GEM, Riemann II operates
in all resolutions and also can be used on the TT. 2 and 3-D graphics
can be represented regardless of the resolution. The Price is $175 and
there is a rebate for students.
Compo Software
CoCom is the name of a new desktop making the ST and TT easier to use.
That's Write 2.0 is a fully WYSIWYG editor [DTP?] with an ability for
previewing documents. Organizational functions ranks among its new
features. [Document Processor?] Compo has also introduced a new
graphical work tool which will be reviewed next month in PD JOURNAL.
3K Computerbild
The CD (Color Design) version of Retouche Professional expands the
world of word processing by giving one the choice of 16.7 million
colors and in addition four-color separation. With the aid of a
Camera-Scanner from the Opotech company with 5000 d.p.i. resolution, it
can give your work that professional look.
Didot Professional offers a new assortment of functions. It tries to
give the work surface that feeling of a light table. This means that
there is a turning away from the common practice of working with
windows and objects. Should you want to import a text, this can be
imported and stands ready as a Sentence Banner to further text
processing. Included are useful functions such as a vertical wedge, a
chart-Modus and the ability to place pictures in the text. A
development copy was shown in Hannover which is builds upon the
previous version of Didot's Line Art Program. Among other things,
Post-Script Type-1 Writing can be read and stored in character fixation
norm. The CFN format is compatible with Calamus CFN-Data. Didot
professional now comes in color and will be available in July for about
$700.
GfA
GfA basic for the TT is a reworked and expanded version of GfA Basic
3.5, which can now correctly operate in all resolutions. The 32 KByte
ceiling for screen storage has been circumvented. The update from 3.5
to 3.6 costs about $35.
Logilex
Janus, an object oriented graphical program, which is the foundation
for TT-Works [similar to Apple's WORKS series?], showed an integrated
package for the Atari TT.
Omikron
Omikron has tackled the project to provide a BASIC for the TT which is
compatible with the new resolution on the TT and uses the math
coprocessor. Omikron also debut Mortimer Plus, which should shortly be
available.
Overscan
Overscan, the Berlin based computer firm, showed a professional and
expensive Genlock for the ST. The price is about $550. It works in
connection with overscan and offers a resolution of 625 lines and
supports the PAL standard. Also new is the Reflex 1024, a VME graphics
card for the Mega-ST, which is capable of producing 1024 X 1024 pixel
resolution. The card itself costs about $650, and the card and the A4
Monitor Qume Crystal Screen 885 can be purchased together for $1350.
The company also produces software which can automatically switch to a
connected SM124 monitor for those programs which cannot run with the
graphics card.
Small Hard Drive from Quantum (size 2.5")
The new Quantum Hard drive is smaller than a pack of cigarettes and is
best used in the Notebook. The drive is available in a 40 and 80 MByte
size with an access time of 19 milliseconds and weighs 150 to 230
grams.
Richter
Richter provides a software package which can convert GfA Basic code to
ANSI standard C. The special GfA Basic functions can be converted into
C libraries. The basic version, which contains an extensive manual,
costs $135, and the professional pack costs around $300.
Rossipaul
Rossipaul publishes new guide to software for the ST and TT and is a
350 page tome which costs $20.00. It provides the reader with a
summary of all the important software for the ST and TT.
SciLab
SciLab showed its Version 2.1, the most recent version of its
Calligrapher software. It will be released in the summer and offers
many functions allowing easy production of Tables and is supported by
GDOS and Line Art fonts.
Shift
Interface is a new resource editor from the Shift firm out of
Flensburg. The program uses a desktop which allows seven windows to be
opened at the same time. It supports mouse as well as keyboard use.
Integrated into the environment is an icon editor. Interface will
become a new standard in Resource Data processing. It will be
available in the summer at a cost of $50. Cypress, the new word
processing program from Shift, will be released in May at a cost of
$180. It is equipped with many new and interesting functions such a
spell checking and syllabification. It includes printer fonts and
styles, and Signum fonts can also be used.
Sybex
It was announced at CeBit that Sybex will release a 1300 page
programmer's book which covers the STE and TT models exclusively.
Programmers can find all the information they need concerning the
Atari, and it is to be available in a few weeks.
TKR
TKR, introduced at CeBit, is a solution for sending and receiving FAX
messages on the ST. Working in combination with a Modem, FAX's can be
sent and received. The cost for the Modem and Software is $450.
Trade-It has introduced a new Handscanner from Logitech. It can scan
up to 256 shades of grey. Still better, improved, and quicker is the
Avant Vector, especially the semi-automatic real-time vectorizing
capabilities. With manual post-processing, it can compare closely with
the subtle shadings of the original. The Program Repro-Studio allows
further processing of the scanned pictures with the option of
colorization.
Next Week: Exclusive interviews with Atari Germany's leadership,
including Alwin Stumph!
=======================================================================
Z*NET NEWSWIRE
--------------
Compiled by the Z*Net News Service
=======================================================================
ACCOLADE UPDATE
Accolade has announced its official entrance into the 16-bit video game
arena with the launch of Ballistic(TM), a completely new brand of
entertainment software which company officials expect to dominate the
high-end of 16-bit video game selections. Ballistic video games will
initially be sold for the Sega Genesis and the NEC TurboGrafx-16 and
eventually for Nintendo's Super NES. The first two products scheduled
for release under the Ballistic brand name are HardBall! in May for $59.
95 and Star Control in June for $69.95.
NINTENDO VS. ATARI AND TENGEN UPDATE
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has
granted Nintendo a preliminary injunction against Atari Games Corp. and
Tengen Inc.. The ruling will prohibit Atari from continuing to market
cartridges for the Nintendo Entertainment System, which infringe the
copyrighted computer program -- 10NES -- belonging to Nintendo. The
Court's order prohibits Atari from copying, selling, or using in any
way, Nintendo's copyrighted computer program, which Atari has
incorporated into its unauthorized NES-compatible cartridges. This
injuction is the latest round in over two years of litigation between
Nintendo and Atari. Nintendo has charged in this litigation, among
other things, that Atari fraudulently obtained a copy of Nintendo's
computer program through deliberate lies to the U.S. Copyright Office.
The Court agreed, stating in the decision that: "Atari lied to the
Copyright Office in order to obtain the copyrighted 10NES program." As
a result of Atari's infringing actions, the Court has ordered that Atari
immediately halt any further marketing, distribution or sale of its NES-
compatible game cartridges which use Nintendo's computer program. The
Court has also required that Atari give written notice of the order
within 10 business days to all entities to which the company has sold
infringing game cartridges, recalling all product.
Statement from Dennis Wood, senior vice president, Atari Games,
regarding Nintendo vs. Tengen: "While this ruling will affect Tengen's
NES-compatible business, it does not apply to Tengen's other product
lines. It also has no effect on Atari Games' coin-operated business.
"We believe that the Court's opinion makes it impractical, if not
impossible, to independently produce cartridges compatible with the NES.
Given the proliferation of compatible computer products throughout the
electronics industry, we find that the Court's opinion runs counter to
established practices in the computer industry and is an incorrect
interpretation of copyright law. We will take steps to begin an appeal
next week."
Tengen cartridges affected by the ruling, including Pac Man and RBI
Baseball, create about $40 million a year in business, Atari Games
spoksman David Ellis said.
The ruling arose from a lawsuit Atari filed in late 1988 alleging that
Nintendo was improperly controlling the supply of cartridges. Nintendo
sued Atari Games in early 1989 alleging patent infringement, breach of
contract and violation of trademark laws. Nintendo has alleged Atari
Games fraudulently obtained a copy of Nintendo's computer program
through deliberate lies to the U.S. Copyright Office.
In other Nintendo news, Lewis Galoob Toys announced this week that the
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has ordered
Nintendo to post a $15 million bond to cover lost profits or damages
Galoob Toys may have incurred if it is found that the company was
wrongfully enjoined from selling its new Game Genie video-game enhancer.
The Game Genie is the world's first and only video-game enhancer. It
offers a new dimension to video-game play by allowing players to modify
game play to explore all levels of an individual game by giving players
infinite lives, enhanced fire power or increased jumping abilities.
SIERRA ON-LINE AND BRODERBUND END MERGER TALKS
Sierra On-Line and Broderbund Software said this week that they have
ended talks for an $80 million stock-swap merger deal. No details were
disclose why the deal, first announced March 8, had collapsed. The
letter of intent called for shareholders of privately held Broderbund,
to receive 0.807 shares of Sierra stock for each share of Broderbund.
=======================================================================
Z*NET SOFTWARE SHELF
--------------------
by Ron Berinstein, Contributing Editor
=======================================================================
CodeHead Quarters BBS
1610 Vine Street
Hollywood, CA 90028
Pictures? Sure, I've got pictures! I've got one of the ST NOTEBOOK and
I've got one of the STPAD! Both were revealed at Germany's CeBit '91
and CEBIT1.ARC has 'em! Hey, but that's not all.. How about this?
What will you give me for a rare shot of the Atari CDAR505 CD-ROM
player? And, if I throw in a pic of the TT030 showing UNIX V. and
X/Windows? How about if I even give you a text file with lots of
information and complete descriptions in it? Well, it's all yours in
CEBIT2.LZH. And for a chaser, how about a nude woman chained and tied
to a hammock? Download the COLRIMGx.LZH series and she as well as
others will be waiting for you. It's a hard life reviewing all of the
PD files on my beat, but it's my job, so I sit back, grin and try to
bear it!
And just where oh where can you find PD files to download? You say your
folks are starting to complain about the phone bill? You say YOU are
starting to complain about the phone bill! Well PC PURSUIT has been an
answer for many. Same will allow you to call a variety of BBS's for
what their customers feel is a very reasonable fee that saves them money
as long as they don't exceed their hourly use limit. EXCHANGE.ARC
contains a list of area codes and exchanges that are PC PURSUITable as
of 03/21/91. PC_PUSUT.ARC contains a series of BBS messages describing
the services of PC PURSUIT and how to join.
Under the Heading of: "DEMO"lition
Thanks goes out to John Mosher who was nice enough to upload DYNACDD.ARC
a tidy file of about 661K. Much discussion has been heard lately about
whether the ST is up to the CAD challenge. Most of the negative
comments have come from those who have not really tried it, or have not
tried it with either an accelerated ST or a TT. One person noted that
ISD wouldn't market what is the single most expensive software program
($1000.00) for the ST in the United States if the program wasn't top
notch. You now have a chance to try a demo of it and see what you
think.
BJP3DEMO.ARC claims that the program will teach you how to win at
BlackJack.. Sure it will.. Want to bet on it? <smile> It will give
you a pretty realistic chance at exploring the game.
OMEGA_E.LZH is an STE Demo for the game Chronicles of Omega.
GRAMSLAM.ARC GramSlam Grammar and Style checker is a full functioned
demo. It does include a delay after each function though. I found it
to be not worth the trouble on the text sample I tried it with. But,
you may have different results.
Formatting is always a constant subject. Some wonder if their
formatting program will yield disks that a PC can read, others want to
know how fast can it be done, while others, demand extras that can be
accomplished in addition to the formatting, while it is being done!
ABFORMAT.ARC (Shareware $5) is an 18k file that is in itself a
multitasking program. A & B drives can be formatted independently of
each other and with different set ups. Non-critical bad sectors are
mapped out of the File Allocation Table.
FLRMT3_5.ARC (Shareware $variable) is not a minor upgrade but a
completely new program. (180k) It has been completely rewritten and
sports new utility features, an embedded custom formatting module, and
an embedded virus utility program, and more. This file includes a long
and detailed explanation of the program which seems to be much better
than the last version. Also, this version runs in medium resolution
something the last one did not do. One critical flaw might be that high
resolution isn't supported. Many ST users have only SM124s and to
overlook same is not best answer.
While we are on the subject of programs being completely revised you may
well want to look at FORMDOIT.ARC version 1.2. While a previous version
said it was compatible with Maxifile and Hotwire, this one seems to make
the best effort yet! Many may like the custom dialog boxes and the even
the ability to alter an application's choice of default button
selections, as well as the many other "goodies" included.
Under The Heading: "Sure Sounds Good to Me!"
DIGIUBIK.ARC (Shareware $5) is a digital sound file editing tool.
Digitalized sound samples may be merged, appended, packed or played.
STNOISE.LZH ST-NoiseTracker V1.5 (+) is based on the original Amiga
SoundTracker,NoiseTracker & StarTracker. Disconnect any 'joysticks' to
use. Similar to Amiga's 'Sonix' which uses samples as instruments.
Instead of synthesized instruments you get the real thing! The computer
calculates the different notes at which a sampled instruments would
sound like.
TALKER.ARC (Shareware $5) Talker 1.1 is a TEXT file reading program that
uses an external speech synthesizer (SPEECH.TOS). SPEECH.TOS must be in
the same folder as TALKER.PRG. Same is included.
If you are at all like me you might suffer from a common disease called
"clutterdriveeyetis effect syndrome." Nah, you couldn't have a case of
it as badly as I have been known to have, but, this friendly ST doctor
recommends that you study the following two prescriptions!
AUTOARC.ARC (Shareware $20) a program for the automatic archiving of
files. AutoArc uses your archive program to create daily, weekly,
monthly, or custom archive files of selected file types. You can
configure it to archive files after they reach any age. Also, it will
delete arced files after they reach a specified age to keep your disk
clean.
MKRMDIR.ARC is an .ACC that will let you make or remove folders (dirs)
within other programs that allow you to access the DESK menu. Good for
those programs that do not have this option built in. You must like
command lines though, in order to like this program.
Just when you've had enough, along comes yet another and guess what,
this time it's REALLY GOOD!
LZH11316.LZH might well be the fastest .LZH compressor/extractor alive
today! The only trouble is that it really isn't compatible with Charles
F. Johnson's ARCSHELL. Using same will not allow the file path
instructions to get passed along. The warning that comes on the package
reads: "This is a beta version - use at your own risk." But, I have it
on good authority that some knowledgeable folks are real impressed with
it.
MINI_6.ARC will allow Calamus users to get a Really Good font that reads
well at 6 points! That is the intended purpose though, so, use at the
larger sizes isn't really recommended. (A small point, but, an
important one!) This is a complete font set.
Under the Heading: "Draw Your Attention This Way Please"
STUSPR.LZH (Shareware $30) Sprite Studio is a low-res painting program
written in GFA Basic that incorporates several non-standard features
useful in creating sprites for animations as well as games. Sprite
Studio also has the ability to load any file as graphics (not just DEGAS
or Neochrome pictures). Version 2.0
And for you folks that like to play games:
SUPRMIND.LZH Low res. color game of strategy. You must deduce the
color code used by the computer that places five colors in a row. Your
job should you choose to accept it: Find the colors, identify them, and
win! As usual if you, or any of your team get caught, we at Z*Net will
disavow any knowledge of you. Good luck.
WESP.ARC is a copy of the strategy maze game from the IBM world. Hence
this is the ST version created by an enthusiastic player of the game.
Color only. Low Res.
And Now for My Favorite Program of the Week! *Drum Roll Please*
X_MON.ARC is the long awaited for replacement driver for the driver
supplied by Moniterm for use with the Moniterm Viking monitor. Version
1.1 of Atari's most recent driver for Moniterm users caused LGS, LDW
POWER, ARCSHELL and other programs that take the mouse vector to "lock
up." Many thanks go out to Doug Wheeler for releasing this very small
2.5k file that will solve the aggravation that has become commonplace
for so many large screen users. X-MON has several advantages over the
Moniterm supplied driver. It automatically detects whether the Moniterm
display board is installed, it can be overridden during startup, it
works with no monitor, and more....
And now for the programmers amongst you who want to keep up with the
latest PD files:
FILE2DAT.ARC was just uploaded this week by Lonny Purcell as Freeware.
This little program can read and convert any file into DATA statements.
Options provided for Hex, Oct, or Dec output when converting non-text
files into DATA statements.
CODEMAKER.ARC a no-frills program that allows anything to be imbedded
into a Modula 2 source program.
UNPSAVE.ARC This STrange little utility removes 'List protection' from
GFA-Basic v3.5x programs that were PSAVEd. PSAVEd programs run
instantly when loaded and contain no variable name tables so you can't
list or edit them correctly. This utility simply restores the variable
name tables and updates other parts of the file so you end up with a
normal SAVEd file. [FreeWare v1.00]
GCC124IN.LZH is a description of GCC 1.24 and files associated with it.
The above files were compiled by Ron Berinstein co-sysop CodeHead
Quarters BBS (213) 461-2095 from files that were either directly
uploaded to CodeHead Quarters BBS, or downloaded from GEnie, Compuserve,
and Delphi online services.
=======================================================================
HAGTERM ELITE REVIEW
Modem Terminal Program for the ST/STE/TT
----------------------------------------
by Jeff Reyes Payne
=======================================================================
When I first got my 1040 STE, my search for a decent term program had
begun. I looked at VanTerm, Rufus, Gime, ST Talk, Flash, and various
others. My decision was to go with Flash. I was amazed with the power
and potential of Flash 1.6. Every other day I learned something new
about the term. A little later on I was at a friend's house and he
showed me a new term I hadn't heard of called HagTerm Elite. He showed
me a few of the features that this term has that make Flash 1.6 look
old! Within five minutes, I was sold and decided to send off for it.
Upon the receiving of my disk in the mail, I found that the initial
setup was rather simple. The disk includes several external programs,
including DCOPY (for ARC files), UNLZH (for LZH files), and ST Whiz (a
program menu written by the same author.) The documentation on setting
up are adequte and simple. You can set up modules to be in any path or
folder. I'll explain about modules later on.
I'm not able to say what I think is the most impressive thing about
HagTerm because there are so many things that are incredible about it.
HagTerm is the most powerful term program I've seen on any computer.
(Mind you I've seen term programs for Macs, IBM clones, and of course
Ataris. I haven't seen what's for the Amiga for the simple fact that
there are no Amiga owners in my town.)
The main menu screen of HagTerm sports a very user friendly as well as
powerful environment. Most options utilize the GEM system and are
accessible via mouse. Most options are also accessable via keyboard
selection (pressing ALT + a key).
A nice feature is that most screens in the term have a little box on
your lower left hand corner with a ? in it. When you click on this box,
a text file is brought to the screen with instructions on what this menu
or function does or is for. These help files are there if you don't
feel like opening up your manual. Again, you can place these help files
on any folder on your floppy or any partition and folder path on your
hard drive.
HagTerm has a built-in text editor like Flash does. This is part of the
main program and does not need to be loaded from disk as a module. If
you prefer, however, and you have enough RAM left, you can load in any
word processor you may have as an external program. It will function
perfectly as long as you have enough memory left. HagTerm requires at
least a meg of RAM.
File transfer protocols supported are Xmodem, Xmodem 1k, Ymodem, Ymodem
G, and Zmodem. All but Zmodem are built into the program. When you do
a file transfer, the status window shows file length, sectors, and time
to transfer. It also shows how many bytes and sectors have been
transfered. At the bottom it shows a bar with red filling the bar from
left to right as the file transfer is taking place. This bar also
displays the percentage of the file with has reached its destination.
Zmodem uses the XYZ.TTP shareware program. It can be set on any drive/
path. Parameters for XYZ.TTP are set up for use the same way the other
protocols are set up. Shadow is also supported so that you can do a
file transfer, and then run another program at the same time.
Character set emulations supported are regular plain ole ASCII, VT-52,
VT-52 Hag (special HagTerm emulation), VT-100, UBBS, Instant Graphics
(soon), and ANSI (color and graphics.) Now since the ST can only put
out 4 colors at once in medium rez, it will only display 4 colors
dispite the 16 colors possible with ANSI. However, HagTerm will make
some characters bolder than others making it more possible to tell the
user to tell the different colors apart. The ANSI emulation on HagTerm
also displays all IBM/ANSI characters which are not a part of the ST
character set. This is quite impressive for an ST to do!
The ability to unLZH and unARC files while on-line is available from
the main menu. These two options, as well as others I have previously
mentioned like the XYZ.TTP for Zmodem, are external modules which can be
placed on any accessible partition and folder you wish. These modules
are loaded as needed, thereby not taking up memory when not in use.
With your HagTerm Elite disk you get two 8.5" x 11" manuals. The 47
page HagTerm owner's manual, and the 60 page HagScript manual. All this
for the amazing low price of only $30. Updates are $5 as they come out.
HagScripts is a method which allow users to write their own external
modules for HagTerm if the user wishes to do so. The author has
included three sample HagScripts to give you an example of what
HagScripts can do.
The HagTerm dialer is quite impressive. You can store information about
the B.B.S., and also easily automate the process of logging onto the
system. The dialer supports up to 80 B.B.S. numbers at a time, and
alternate numbers can be stored and loaded from disk. When you click
the B.B.S. you want to call, a dialog box pops up with the name of the
B.B.S. you are calling, the number, time waiting to connect, how many
times retried, and info on multi-dialing of you are chain dialing
numbers. There is an option which plays a song when you connect. You
can select among 16 different tunes, such as London Bridge, For He's A
Jolly Good Fellow, and many others.
Setting up Auto-Logon is simple and self-explanitory. Simply enter what
string to wait for, then tell what string to send (such as your user
name, password, etc.) You can set the amount for charges if it's a toll
call. The status line on the terminal screen with display how much the
call is costing you, and of course updates every minute.
From the main menu, you can select to go to the term screen, the editor,
the dialing menu, the disk copy routine, the unLZH routine, or the
HagScript selection menu. You can set baud rate (from 50 to 19200
baud), duplex, data bits, stop bits, parity, flow control, character set
emulation, and time display (system clock, time on-line, or charges for
the call). Toggle capture to buffer, capture to disk, auto-record, key
click, auto-pause, line-feed, timer display, status line (for term
screen), bell, type-ahead, 24/48 lines (length), and printer. Most of
these options also selectable from the term screen with a combination of
key presses. Key presses are listed in the on-disk help file and in the
hard-copy manual.
Well, fellow Atarians, I could go on and on about HagTerm Elite's
features, but I don't think there's enough room here. I liked it the
first time I saw it, and still do. I've shown it to four friends of
mine so far, and they have sent off for it. You should give it a try as
well.
The author is Hagop Janoyan
Atari Corner Publishing
515 Wing Street
Glendale, California 91205
His voice phone is 818/242-5692
=======================================================================
CALAMUS TUTORIAL - PART VI
--------------------------
GRAPHICS I
Copyright(C)1991, by Geoff LaCasse, GXR Systems, Vancouver, B.C.
=======================================================================
This session was supposed to provide space for any questions on material
from the previous sessions. As we received none, I would like to move
on to the next topic. Please feel free, however, to send in questions
about the material. I learned as much from my peers as from any manual
or guide book.
I consider graphics a contentious topic in desktop publishing teaching.
Most introductory course spend too much time and effort explaining the
intimate details of importing, exporting, cropping (cutting off unwanted
sections), and printing. Yes, graphics are important, but at this level
the time could be better spent understanding leading, word/letter
spacing, point sizes, text style, fonts, justification, text flow
(piping), tracking, text rotation, text raster, etc. Most dtp output is
text and its use (especially in Calamus) is complex. More advanced
training (which this series is certainly not) can (and should)
concentrate on graphics. This session looks at Calamus's graphic tools.
A further session will discuss imported graphics types.
Load your example document from the last session. Click on HELP LINES,
and make sure HELP LINES VISIBLE is on. Select the ruler. Click on the
icon (HORIZONTAL AUXILIARY LINES) at the top of the icon pad to the left
of the Trash Can (DELETE AUXILIARY LINES). Move the cursor onto your
document (note the cross shape) down to the vertical 7.5 inch mark.
Hold down the ALT key and press the right mouse button (this selects
USER DEFINED page view--default 200%). Now click the left mouse with
the cursor on the document page at the 7.5 inch mark. A horizontal
dotted line will appear across the page. Exact placement can be
confirmed by watching the upper right box (Y xx.xx) before positioning.
This box tracks the position of your cursor. Placement accuracy depends
on the view size icon selected (USER DEFINED is best). To delete
auxiliary lines, highlight DELETE AUXILIARY LINES, place the cursor on
top of the auxiliary line and click the left mouse button. Auxiliary
lines are used to position page elements. Frames will snap-to these
lines if snap-to is in force.
De-highlight HORIZONTAL AUXILIARY LINE, click on ACTUAL VIEW, and move
page view to middle bottom of the document. Select the right frame,
click on the mid handle at the bottom of the frame, and move cursor (now
hollow cross) up to our horizontal auxiliary line. Notice that you
don't need to hold down the left mouse button to move the element.
Click the left mouse button again when the bottom of the frame matches
the horizontal auxiliary line. Text which does not fit in the re-sized
(smaller) frame will be held in memory (and saved with the document
file) until such time as we place it elsewhere.
We will place a graphic element in the space we created. In Calamus,
each graphic format--raster area, line, raster graphic (paint), and
vector graphic (drawing)--has its own frame type. These can be seen
(and selected) on the 3rd icon pad in FRAMES. Raster Area and Lines are
Calamus's simple graphic tools, vector and raster graphic must be
imported from other programs.
Press f5 (or select RASTER AREA FRAMES). Before creating a Raster Area
frame on our document page, we need to define some of its parameters.
RASTER AREA has 4 icons pads--(from left to right) AREA TYPES, SHADOW,
RASTER, FRAME. Click on AREA TYPES and select a shape. Go to SHADOW.
This menu--with some changes--is similar to those in the other Raster
Area menus, and in Line Frames. Once mastered, the commands provide
versatile tools for creating basic graphic shapes.
SHADOW has 2 parts. At the top are a number of default raster types (in
this case for the shadow portion of a Raster Area frame) including Black
and Transparent. Black is the default, Transparent makes the frame
shadow transparent when placed on top of another frame. Three default
fill patterns sit immediately below; click on any to select that fill.
Alternately, click on the arrow keys on the line below to bring up other
fills. The selected fill will appear between the arrow keys, replacing
the default black colour. Click on this black area (CHOSEN RASTER/GO TO
RASTER MENU) to bring up the RASTER MENU dialogue box. On its left is a
table of raster fill patterns (which we could have selected through the
arrow keys). On its right are a number of tools which work in
conjunction with these raster fills. Raster Percentage are default fill
percentages for each fill. 0% would be white (i.e. non-transparent),
100% the fill itself. INVISIBLE (below) is the same as transparent.
You can also create your own percentage fills for any pattern. Select a
fill, then in the box labelled GREY SCALE, delete the default value
(100%), type in a new value (for example 43%), and press RETURN. You
will be returned to the Shadow icon pad.
The bottom half of the icon pad controls where the shadow falls and how
far from the Raster Area itself. Click on one of the 9 icons and either
use the default value (14.2 points) or erase and put in another.
Now go to RASTER (2nd icon pad). This menu is similar to Shadow except
that here you choose the fill type and percentage of raster for the
Raster Area itself. Repeat our steps for Shadow and then go to FRAMES.
Here, as for Shadow and Raster Area, we can choose fill and percentages
for the frame border. The icons at the bottom of the menu control line
thickness and type. Select a default line thickness value (or erase the
value and type in another) and line type from those shown.
When you have finished these steps, go back to FRAMES, make sure the
correct frame icon is chosen (should be Raster Area) and create a Raster
Area frame in the open space below the right text frame. It will have
the default values we selected above. If you have SNAP TO HORIZONTAL/
VERTICAL AUXILIARY LINES on, the frame will border the space created.
To change any frame values, select the frame, go to one of the menus
under RASTER AREA, and change a value. Changes happen immediately.
LINE FRAMES uses the same basic tools. Press f4. Line Frames has 3
menus--LINE TYPES, LINE SHADOW, and LINE RASTER & STYLE. Go to LINE
TYPES and select one of the line styles. The different vertical and
horizontal lines place the line in the frame either at the top, middle,
or bottom of the frame. Top and bottom are useful when attempting
absolute placement on your document page. Line Shadow works similar to
Raster Shadow. Choose a shadow fill pattern, Raster Percentage, and
where the shadow should fall. LINE RASTER & STYLE controls fill pattern
again, Raster Percentage, width of line, and type of line end. Choose
both line ends or use the default values. Calamus gives us 2 rows of
line ends. The top line corresponds to the left end of a line, the
bottom line to the right end. Delete the Raster Area frame and create a
line frame (or create one on top of the other). Save. It is a good
idea to save often when working with frames.
Next session will finish our overview on graphics with a discussion on
Raster/Line frame use, and importing and working with Raster and Vector
graphic frames. Please remember that this tutorial should not be used
to supplement pirated Calamus copies. Please support our dealers and
developers by purchasing the program, or use the demo program.
=======================================================================
PHANTOM OF THE LASER
--------------------
Press Release
=======================================================================
ATARI SLM804¿ OWNERS!
ANNOUNCING:
"PHANTOM OF THE LASER¿" KIT
* Frustrated by the requirement that the laser printer MUST be on to use
your computer?!
* Tired of the fan noise, heat, & power consumption?
* Worried about the internal heat buildup when you use the "backdoor"
shutoff "FIX"?!
THE PHANTOM OF THE LASER¿ KIT SOLVES ALL THESE PROBLEMS!!
The SLM804 remains off till you really need it to print! The "PHANTOM"
is installed inside the SLMC804¿ interface box permanently. A 12 volt
power cube supplies the "Phantom's" requirements. Built with computer
grade components.
"BULLETPROOF" Design! Currently used by major Atari developers.
("Dongle" version)
Total system compatibility!
No more unplugging the interface cable just to play games!
The kit SHOULD be installed by qualified electronic techs or experienced
hackers ONLY!
$25.00 US Ground shipping prepaid (Continental North America) Air
shipping extra.
$40.00 US Installed at our shop. Shipping is the same as above.
WIDGETS BY DECKER*
2399 SW Palisades Crest Drive
Lake Oswego, OR. 97034 USA
Telephone 503-638-3940
*(Innovation through frustration!)
To all SLM804 owners:
IF you really want this kit to see the light of day, I need 500 PREPAID
orders to get the ball rolling! The current recession makes it very
difficult to start up a small business and I've already under estimated
the start up costs for the original "dongle" version. (e.g. large fiscal
outlay!)
Please use a cashiers check with the order! This will expedite the
processing of your order. I need the equivalent of cash to purchase the
necessary parts from component vendors. (Vendor's usual response:
Credit! You must be joking!)
All checks will be held in trust (not cashed) till the 500th order is
received. If there is LESS then 500 orders I will return the uncashed
check to you and give up the "Phantom" as a lost cause! I'm sorry it
has to be done this way but I can't incur any more debut on the
"Phantom".
WIDGETS must be a viable venture from the starting gate! 'Nuff said!
Steve Decker: Ye Olde Widget Maker.
=======================================================================
ROCKFORD ATARI EXPOSITION
-------------------------
Press Release
=======================================================================
ANNOUNCING * ROCKFORD ATARI-EXPO * in conjunction with the Rockford
Hamfest and Computer Fair
WHERE: Forest Hills Lodge Rte 173 & Forest Hills Road, Next To Rockford
Speedway
WHEN: Sunday - April 14th 1991 8am-4pm
WHO: This is NOT an all ATARI show, but there will be a loyal force of
ATARI vendors, and DEVELOPERS, selling their wares.
LCACE - Lake County Area Computer Enthusists
MAAUG - Madison Area Atari Users Group
RACC - Rockford Atari Computer Club
VENDORS:
RANDEE'S MUSIC - Atari Dealer & MIDI MUSIC Specialists
XANTH SOFTWARE - CSA SOFTWARE - KOLPUTER SOFTWARE
ICD Inc - ATARI, AMIGA, Peripheals and Software
Apple Annie - ATARI - AMIGA - PRINTER - Dealer
DEVELOPERS:
H.JAKE OLBRICH - 8-BIT Educational Programmer
D.A. BRUMLEVE - ST Childrens Programs
DOUG WHEELER - TRANSVERTER Programmmer (GCR MAC Emulator Specialist)
JEFF WILLIAMS - GENIE SYSOP
TICKETS are available through RACC by mail for $3.00 in advance
SWAP Tables are $10.00 advance / $15.00 at the door (Limited
availability)
c/o RACC
3902 15th Avenue 1
Rockford, IL 61108
Phone: 815-397-5316 voice
815-397-5327 BBS
There will be Door Prizes: of all ELECTRONIC sorts from floppy disks to
complete SOFTWARE programs. Computer Hardware & Radio Electronics.
Special Drawings: for Portable Computers! GAME and COMPUTER SYSTEMS!
Call for Info or to make your table reservations today!!!
=======================================================================
TOWNS' LITTLE GUIDE TO REVISIONS - VERSION 1.0
----------------------------------------------
Written by John Townsend, Atari Corporation
=======================================================================
This is a small document that explains in very terse terms the
differences between the TOS revisions available for ST/MEGA/STE/Mega
STE/TT machines, what patches are needed for what revisions, the formats
they are available in, and any notes I can think of.
I hope this will clear up some of the confusion with the different TOS
versions. If you have any questions on this document, please let me
know here on GEnie. My GEnie Address is: TOWNS.
Special thanks to Leonard Tramiel, Allan Pratt, and Doug Wheeler for
their involement with this little Document. Thanks again!
Comments are welcome..
-- John Townsend
Atari Corp.
ROM TOS (TOS 1.0)
-------
The original ROM TOS, this version shipped in 520ST and 1040ST machines.
It is no longer shipping in any machines.
Formats: 2 chip ROMs, 6 chip ROMs
Machines: 520ST, 1040ST
Utilities: FOLDRXXX.PRG
FOLDRXXX.PRG will add more entries into your OS Pool. In TOS 1.0 and
TOS 1.02, the limit for the number of directories that you can enter is
around 40. With this program you can extend that limit much higher. If
you are using a hard drive, this program is recommended highly. It will
work with all TOS versions and will improve the performance of your
system.
Notes: GET TOS 1.04 TODAY! TOS 1.04 is the latest version of TOS for
520/1040/MEGA owners. It is MUCH faster, has faster, better
disk I/O, many other improvements.
MEGA TOS (TOS 1.02)
--------
This is commonly referred to as MEGA TOS. This version of TOS fixes some
minor problems in TOS 1.0 and has support for the BLiTTER chip and Real-
Time Clock chip.
Formats: 2 chip ROMs, 6 chip ROMs
Machines: 520ST, 1040ST, Mega 2, Mega 4
Utilities: FOLDRXXX.PRG
FOLDRXXX.PRG is explained above.
Notes: See notes for TOS 1.0.. GET TOS 1.04 TODAY!
Rainbow TOS (TOS 1.04)
-----------
TOS 1.04 or Rainbow TOS, as it is commonly known is the latest version
of TOS available for 520/1040/MEGA owners. It has been available as a
dealer upgrade for awhile now. It has much more robust Disk I/O,
Autorunning of GEM programs at boot up, a fix for the 40 folder limit,
and much more. Most of all is it much faster than previous versions of
the Operating System.
Formats: 2 chip ROMs, 6 chip ROMs (available as Upgrade!)
Machines: Stacy
Utilities: TOS14FIX.PRG, POOLFIX3.PRG, CACHEXXX.PRG, FOLDRXXX.PRG
TOS14FIX.PRG solves some small problems in the AES (for additional
information, please see the documentation that accompanies the
TOS14FIX.PRG program).
POOLFIX3.PRG fixes a bug in GEMDOS. Documentation that accompanies the
POOLFIX3.PRG program explains (in detail) the problem that it fixes.
CACHEXXX.PRG is a new program that adds GEMDOS buffers to your system.
The caching of data and disk directories by GEMDOS (when this program is
used) will result in your system running much faster! This program is
highly recommended and requires TOS 1.04 or higher for full benefits!
FOLDRXXX.PRG is explained above.
Notes: Please use the utilities available and if you haven't upgraded
to this version of TOS yet.. please consider doing so. It's a
very worthwhile upgrade.
There are some disk-based versions of _early_ developer only
releases of TOS 1.04 floating around on BBS systems here in the
United States and abroad. Please don't use them! They are bad
news! They have some very nasty bugs and have been known to
corrupt data!
STE TOS, Rev 1 (TOS 1.06)
--------------
TOS 1.06 is the TOS version that is shipped with the 1040STE and 520STE
machines. It is essentially TOS 1.04 with support for the new hardware
that the STE has.
Formats: 2 chip ROMs
Machines: 520STE, 1040STE
Utilities: STE_FIX.PRG, POOLFIX3.PRG, CACHEXXX.PRG, FOLDRXXX.PRG
STE_FIX fixes the infamous Desktop Medium/Low resolution bug. The
problem is that there is a bug in the desktop code in this version of
TOS that prevents the user from booting into Medium Resolution. The
patch program STE_FIX will solve the problem. Once it is executed in
the AUTO folder, the problem no longer exists.
FOLDRXXX.PRG, CACHEXXX.PRG, and POOLFIX3.PRG are explained above.
Notes: This version is only available in 1040STE and 520STE machines.
It isn't available for upgrading. It won't work in older
machines.
STE TOS, Rev 2 (TOS 1.62)
--------------
This is a slightly revised revision of TOS 1.6. It fixes the POOLFIX
problem in GEMDOS and the problem in the Desktop that was present in
TOS 1.06.
Formats: 2 chip ROMs
Machines: 520STE, 1040STE
Utilities: CACHEXXX.PRG, FOLDRXXX.PRG
CACHEXXX.PRG and FOLDRXXX.PRG are explained above.
Notes: This version is only available in 1040ST and 520STE machines.
It isn't available for upgrading.
Mega STE TOS (TOS 2.05)
------------
TOS 2.05 is the version of TOS currently shipping in the Mega STE.
Formats: 2 chip ROMs
Machines: Mega STE
Utilities: CACHEXXX.PRG, FOLDRXXX.PRG
CACHEXXX.PRG and FOLDRXXX.PRG are explained above.
Notes: This version is only available in the Mega STE. It isn't
available for upgrading.
TT TOS (TOS 3.01)
------
TOS 3.01 is the version of TOS that originally shipped in the TT030.
Formats: 4 chip ROMs
Machines: TT030
Utilities: CACHEXXX.PRG, FOLDRXXX.PRG
CACHEXXX.PRG and FOLDRXXX.PRG are explained above.
Notes: This version is only avaible in the TT030. It isn't available
for upgrading.
TT TOS (TOS 3.05)
------
TOS 3.05 is the latest version of TOS currently shipping in the TT030.
Formats: 4 chip ROMs
Machines: TT030
Utilities: CACHEXXX.PRG, FOLDRXXX.PRG, SERPTCH1.PRG
CACHEXXX.PRG and FOLDRXXX.PRG are explained above.
Notes: This version is only avaible in the TT030. It isn't available
for upgrading.
=======================================================================
PUBLIC DOMAIN UPDATE
--------------------
by Keith MacNutt
=======================================================================
FormDoit v1.2
Dan Wilga
Gribnif Software
P.O. Box 350
Hadley, MA 01035
FormDoIt is a program that replaces parts of the ATARI GEM standard
dialog and alert boxes. Some of the features it offers are:
1. Keyboard equivalents for dialog and alert box buttons
2. You can use the [Undo] key to exit dialog and alert boxes
3. Enhance editable text fields
4. Ability to insert extended characters into editable text fields
5. Editable alert box icons
6. Control over the default exit button in alert and dialog boxes
INSTALLATION
------------
To install as an auto program simple place in the auto folder of the
boot drive or you may also simply run the program and install it by
double clicking on install instead of run.
DEFAULT BUTTON
--------------
While in most dialog boxes, pressing [Return] will select the
highlighted option, in FormDoIt you may choose the default or
highlighted option simple by pressing [Alternate] and the [Tab] key to
select the one you want. In most cases this change is not permanent,
and many program will revert to the original default after exiting the
dialog box.
EXIT BUTTON
-----------
In FormDoIt, pressing the [Undo] key will invoke a search of the buttons
for key words like Cancel, Quit, Exit, Abort or No, and will select the
first button that contains one of these key words. FormDoIt also uses a
file called FORMDOIT.UND which contains all the strings the program
needs to run. To change the strings and the way the program reacts,
just change this file using an ASCII text editor or Word-processor, and
include the new strings insuring that the carriage returns proceed the
last character in each string.
BUTTONS
-------
FormDoIt tries to assign keyboard equivalents to all buttons in a alert
or dialog box. This is accomplished by first scanning all the buttons
and looking for unique characters, and then FormDoIt will assign a
[Alternate] key stroke for that button. If no unique character is found
or that character has been used by another button, then that button will
not have a unique character assigned to it and will only be selected by
using the mouse.
ALERT BOXES
-----------
Along with the program you will find three *.BL3 files. These files are
in DEGAS ELITE block format and can be loaded into DEGAS ELITE to be
edited. In the files you will find replacement icons for the STOP SIGN,
QUESTION MARK and EXCLAMATION MARK.
EDITABLE TEXT FIELDS
--------------------
An editable text field is one in which a text response in a dialog box
is need to instruct a program on where to find an executable file, where
to place completed files or to locate instruction files telling the
program how to proceed in curtain circumstances. Common use for these
type of files is in the installation of programs on a hard drive, where
the program needs to know where and in which folder it can find support
files. FormDoIt supports all the normal GEM dialog text field
instructions which include:
+ [TAB] and arrow key move to next editable field
+ Up arrow key moves to the previous field
+ Left and Right arrow keys move within field
+ [ESC] clears contents of field
+ [BACKSPACE] and [DELETE] delete characters before and after cursor
+ the mouse can also be use to access these fields
Add features from within FormDoIt include:
+ [TAB] and down arrow key will move to the first editable field if the
cursor is at the last one
+ Up arrow will wrap the
cursor from the first field to the last
+ [SHIFT] left arrow will move to the left most character and [SHIFT]
right arrow will move to the right most character
+ If the dialog box has no Default button then return moves the cursor
to the next editable field
+ The mouse will position the cursor to the nearest character after the
mouse is clicked
+ Non-keyboard characters may be inserted into the editable fields but
only if they are an allowable character for that field
+ If you are using TOS 1.0 then you can use the underscore key (_)
without making the system crash
CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
---------------------
FormDoIt can also be temporarily disable by holding down both [SHIFT]
keys while pressing [DELETE] and will stay dormant until you either
reactivate it or reboot the computer. To permanently configure the
program you simple run the FormDoIt program and you will be give the
chance to select on or off for several selections in the dialog box. If
you have previously run FormDoIt from the AUTO folder then any changes
made to the program will be saved to the version located there, and if
it has not then changes are saved to the version it was run from.
COMPATIBILITY
-------------
Since some programs use their own custom dialog and alert boxes, they
will not benefit from FormDoIt. An example of this is TEMPUS II, K-
RESOURCE, WORDPERFECT and SUPERBASE. UIS III will also prevent the
[UNDO] key from working.
CONCLUSIONS
-----------
In reading the documentation I thought that this would be a nice
addition to my AUTO folder programs, and give me a little more
flexibility in text input of editable fields, but for some reason, it
won't seem to run on my 1040 STE. This was surprising since only a very
few programs to date will not run that ran on my older system with TOS
1.4. Just maybe the author of this program will read this article and
find out what needs to be changed since I would hate to have all future
machines denied use of this wonderful program.
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