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ZIP Magazine Volume 3 Issue 2
Ú-----------------------------------------------------------¿
| É------------------» |
| ±±±±±±±±± Editors: | Volume 3 Issue 2 | |
| ±± Ron Alcorn | March 1990 | |
| ±± W.H. Lambdin È------------------¼ |
| ±± |
| ±±± Here's A Peek At What's Inside! |
| ±± ------------------------------- |
| ±± |
| ±± þ News 5 |
| ±±±±±±±±± |
| þ Snap 402D 8 |
| ±±±±±±±±±± |
| ±± þ Home Library System 2.8 13 |
| ±± |
| ±± þ Novas 4000 VGA Card 15 |
| ±± |
| ±± þ USRobotics Dual Standard 22 |
| ±± |
| ±± þ Blockout 25 |
| ±±±±±±±±±± |
| þ Hand Scanners 26 |
| ±±±±±±±±± |
| ±± ±± þ Sailing The C's 29 |
| ±± ±± |
| ±± ±± þ Telemate 2.00 34 |
| ±±±±±±±±± |
| ±± |
| ±± Ú¿ Ú-¿ Ú-¿ Ú-¿ Ú-¿ -Â- ¿  Ú-¿ |
| ±± | | Ã-´ | ¿ Ã-´ / | |À¿| Ã- |
| ±± Á Á Á Á À-Ù Á Á À-Ù -Á- Á ÀÁ À-Ù |
| ----------------------------------- |
| "For Home MS-DOS users" |
| |
| /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ |
| \ "Be sure to read every section in this issue" / |
| / We hope you enjoy this small issue. Thank you! \ |
| \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ |
| ------------------------------------------------------- |
| Up coming reviews... |
| |
| Hayes V-Series 9600 V.42 modem, Thomson Ultra Scan |
| monitor upgrade to support VGA, and nothing else. |
| Just joking! We will come up with some more reading! |
| |
| É-------------------------------------------------------» |
| | ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ A T T E N T I O N ® ® ® ® ® ® ® | |
| Ç-------------------------------------------------------¶ |
| | ZIP BBS supports the HST/V.32 standard at 9600 baud! | |
| | Call (606) 878-9500 from 7 P.M. to 7 A.M. [EST] | |
| | SnapShot Express supports the V.42 standard at 9600 | |
| | baud! Call in at (606) 843-9032 24 hours a day. | |
| È-------------------------------------------------------¼ |
À-----------------------------------------------------------Ù
É-----------------------------------------------------------»
| |
| TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| |
| VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2 |
| |
Ì-----------------------------------------------------------¹
| |
| EDITORS CORNER .................................. page 3 |
| FEEDBACK ........................................ page 4 |
| NEWS ............................................ page 5 |
| A LETTER TO THOM HENDERSON ...................... page 7 |
| SNAP 402D ....................................... page 8 |
| ADVENTURE GAMES ................................. page 10 |
| BBS VALIDATION .................................. page 11 |
| IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY ............................. page 12 |
| HOME LIBRARY SYSTEM 2.8 ......................... page 13 |
| NOVAS 4000 VGA GRAPHICS ADAPTER ................. page 15 |
| ABOVE DISC ...................................... page 18 |
| USROBOTICS 9600 COURIER HST DUAL STANDARD ....... page 22 |
| BLOCKOUT ........................................ page 25 |
| LOGITECH AND GENIUS HAND SCANNERS ............... page 26 |
| SAILING THE C'S ................................. page 29 |
| PROGRAMMERS CHALLENGE (TELEMATE 2.00) ........... page 34 |
| QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ........................... page 38 |
| BBS LISTING ..................................... page 39 |
| USER GROUPS ..................................... page 42 |
| ZIP INFO ........................................ page 43 |
| |
È-----------------------------------------------------------¼
þþ EDITORS CORNER þþ
Whoop's! I am sorry for mistake's in Volume 3 Issue 1.
1. We accidentally put 89 as the year in the date
where it should have been 90.
2. We accidentally erased Associate Editor at the
heading of Mr. Balewski's C column. Ron Balewski is
an Associate Editor of ZIP Magazine
W.H. Lambdin
ZIP Magazine has picked up another associate editor' Roger L.
Waer. Leave feedback to all three associate editors, and let
them know that you appreciate their effort. We would like to
have even more associate editors. Please let us know if you
are interested.
SnapShot Express BBS (606) 843-9032 is now operating at baud
rates of 1200 to 9600. I bought a Hayes V.42 modem from Hayes
via the sysop plan. If you have a V.42 modem, and want .GIF
pictures, call in! Remember V.42 modems are not compatible
with V.32 modems, or USRobotics HST modems at 9600 baud.
The reason I bought a V.42 modem instead of an HST, or V.32
is because the ZIP BBS already supports those two modems.
With my V.42, I am able to support V.42 callers.
Several people tried to tell me there was no V.42 BBS's to
call. Obviously they never saw the Hayes V-series BBS list. I
have an old list dated November 1989. It contains over 430
BBS's that run the new V.42 standard. SnapShot Express BBS
will appear in the V-series list shortly.
þþ FEEDBACK þþ
I was glad to see Ron Balewski's C column in the last issue
of ZIP. I would like to see a tutorial for programming in C.
What is meant by Object Orinted Programming? Tom R. Smith
I found ZIP-2-5 on a BBS with this description.
Good electronic Magazine
Whoever wrote that description, had a gift for
understatement. It should have said.
Best electronic Magazine!!
Anyway, I downloaded Volume 2 Issue 5 of ZIP. and was very
surprised to find that zip had margins, and formatted to be
printed. I really like the idea of reviews without the
Jargon, and hype that goes with most computer magazines.
Thank's goes to the editors of ZIP for a first class
magazine.
Live long and prosper. Henry Adams
þþ NEWS þþ
File Requests
We now have two BBS's that offer file requests for ZIP
Magazine. Those BBS's are the Chicken Coop and The Personal
Resource System. Both are listed in the BBS listing near the
end of this issue. Please call either BBS and I'm sure the
sysop's will inform you on what to do.
HST or V.29?
Is HST the same modem standard as V.29? Well for a while I
thought they both were the same. Back in the fall, I called
a company that advertised a 9600 baud internal modem for
$499. I ended up getting the price down to $399 if I bought
four, which was fine. I had three friends that were
interested. Anyway, I asked if the were compatible with V.29
or HST, he said they were the same. I have believed that
until now, my USRobotics manual never mentioned the V.29
standard, what ever it may be. Maybe USRobotics started to
call their propriety standard V.29 and changed their mine,
who knows? Anyway, for all the back issues of ZIP Magazine
where I mentioned V.29, consider it meaning the HST standard.
V.32 verses V.42 Update
In my previous discussions of these two high speed modem
standards, I swayed to the V.32 side. I thought V.32 would
be more popular since clone makes were making V.32 modems.
Well since my friend got a V.42 modem, and I have found V.42
BBS lists, and even a huge V.42 BBS list come with his modem,
I have decided that V.42 is much more popular than V.32. No
matter what though, the HST standard still dominates the high
speed modem market!
**********************************************************
** Direct from the Hayes BBS & Randy Cooper's permission **
* Hayes V-series Smartmodem V.42 bis Products *
** VERSION 4.01 NEW UPGRADE AVAILABLE **
**********************************************************
Hayes has issued a new version of firmware for V-series V.42
modems. The new version is 4.01 and contains the CCITT
V.42bis and MNP 5 upgrade. Our distributors have been
re-stocked and only have Version 4.01 products.
If you have Version 4.00 of the V-series V.42 products, you
need to upgrade to Version 4.01 because of a firmware bug in
Version 4.00 that may cause errors and an eventual
disconnect. Version 4.00 and Version 4.01 are not
compatible, so it is important to upgrade. Both versions are
compatible with the original V-series products. The upgrade
is free of charge to you. We want to encourage customers to
upgrade -- even though they may not experience a problem.
NOTE: The Version number is found on the bottom of our
external modems and on an IC of our internal modems. The
retail packaging also shows the Version number on the right
flap. Please note: Prior to Version 4.00, the V-series
products only contained a serial number and not a version
number.
We also encourage dealers and customers to upgrade all (not
just the Version 4.00) V-series V.42 modems to Version 4.01.
This version contains CCITT V.42bis as well as MNP 5 support.
You can benefit from this upgrade because of the increased
performance of V.42bis with up to 4:1 data compression --
V-series Smartmodem 2400s will now have a throughput of a
9600 bps modem. The upgrade from an "original" V-series to
the product that supports V.42bis is either free or $50 --
based on the date of purchase of the modem. Users who
purchased V-series products after 01 October 1989 will
receive the upgrade at no charge.
In order to upgrade products call Hayes Customer Service at
404-441-1617.
þþ A LETTER TO THOM HENDERSON þþ
by Ronald T. Kelley
I would like to complain to someone about the sorry state of
affairs in archival software.
For Years, ARC files were the standard archive. Many thank's
goes to S.E.A. for rocking the boat. Before the court suit
between SEA, and PKWare, you could depend on calling a BBS,
and downloading software, and being able to dissolve the
archive. The public had the choice of using a fast archive
program (PKARC), or using a turtle (ARC).
Due to S.E.A.'s greed, they helped to open a Pandora's box
and release a horde of archive programs. The list below is
only partial.
DWC
PKZIP
PAK
LHARC
LARC
ARC
In order for me to download files from BBS's, I have to have
every archive program ever written. That isn't bad enough, I
must also have the latest version of every archive program
produced. These archive software companies are in a battle to
see who can produce the fastest, or the best compression
ratio in archival software.
S.E.A won the battle against PKware, but they lost the war.
I don't see many .ARC files floating around on the BBS's that
I call. There may be a few bastions around that will not
upgrade to another archive program.
Mr. Katz may have been guilty of the charges. But I sure wish
He had won. These archive problems will get worse before they
get better.
Perhaps someday we will have an archive standard, but right
now, I wish BBS's would support archives that dissolve
themselves. Anything would be an improvement to what we have
now.
þþ SNAP 402D þþ
by Roger L. Waer
Associate Editor
First, let me introduce myself and welcome all of you to what
I hope will be an interesting column to all concerned.
My name is Roger Waer and I am a Programmer/Analyst with the
Alaska Energy Authority in Anchorage, Alaska. This job gives
me a chance to try and use many different types of hardware
and software and I will try to cover the most useful of both
in future columns.
And now, on to the subject of this column - SNAP. Snap is an
excellent piece of shareware written by Walter J. Kennamer.
Walter is a member of the Association of Shareware
Professionals - This is usually a good sign that the
shareware you have received is quite good. That is certainly
true in this case!
What is SNAP? Snap is a Dbase code analyzer and documenter.
It is equally at home in any version of Dbase (II, III, III+
and IV) as well as providing support for all flavors of dbase
compilers.
A list of the features provided by Snap is as follows:
Formatted source code listings
System summary showing lines of code, file statistics, etc.
Variable cross-reference report
Tree structure of the system. The tree optionally can also
show databases, index files, etc. used by each program.
List of all files in the system, plus a source reprint file
Data dictionary
Index file summary
Format file summary
Label form summary
Report form summary
Procedure/function file summary
BIN file summary
Memory file summary
Other files summary
Link files for Clipper applications (either PLINK86, TLINK,
MS-LINK)
Make file for Clipper applications
Action diagrams
Batch files to back up programs, databases, etc.
Batch file to move SNAP! output files back to the source
subdirectory
In addition, on each program file, SNAP! can write a heading
showing:
Program name
System name
Author and copyright notice
Which programs, procedures and function call this program
Which programs, procedures and functions this program calls
Databases used
Index files used
Formats used
Report forms used
Procedures
BIN files called or loaded
Memory files used
Date and time last modified
As you can see from the list, Snap is quite comprehensive in
what it can do. The major benefits I gain from the use of
Snap is that I get my code formatted the way I want it so I
can print it out and study it. Snap will analyze my code and
show me bad structures and code that never gets executed as
well as simply indenting my code correctly.
The use of snap is quite configurable and you can choose to
include or not include just about any of the reports listed
above through a very well thought out menu system. Snap is
also equally at home being controlled by the keyboard or a
mouse.
The reports are quite helpful in both writing and debugging
your programs as well as doing the final documentation of
your system. The reports include a data dictionary that
shows all of the databases and their fields and field types
and lengths that are used in your system. It can also
produce the same type of reports for index files (Including
NDX's, NTX's and Dbase IV's new multi-key indices), report
formats, memory variable files and others.
Snap will build a graphical tree of your system that starts
with the top program in your system and shows you all of the
databases and indices that are opened as well as showing the
program and procedure branches that your system takes. This
is very handy when going back and updating a programming
project after not having looked at it for several months. You
can even save a configuration file of your current snap setup
to a disk file that can later be loaded to save time in
configuring your setup for a particular project.
Snap is menu driven and is very easy to get around in. It is
customizable to the 'N'th degree and does an excellent job at
what it was designed to do. I would rate SNAP as a solid 5
stars and recommend its use to any Dbase (Or variant)
programmer.
þþ ADVENTURE GAMES þþ
by Tom Croley
Associate Editor
Tom Tidbits
Box 188
Battle Ground, WA. 98604
--------------------------
ADVENTURE - The very word brings to mind mental pictures of
scruffy looking, brave men, swinging through the jungle, or
traversing the galaxy with beautiful women by their side in
quest of treasures or high exploits. Although all of us have
adventures from time to time, few have an adventure on the
magnitude of "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Such excitement can
be obtained vicariously however, through the use of a
personal computer and an adventure game.
An adventure game is not at all like a video game. Good
video games typically have flashy graphics and fast action
requiring snap judgement and good hand eye coordination. An
adventure game, on the other hand, is a slow interaction
between the user and the computer playing out a scenario that
may involve complex problems over a longer period of time.
You are involved in the action by proxy. An imaginary
computer character is your eyes, ears, arms, and legs. You
supply the brains. You can go anywhere and do anything from
chasing aliens in outer space to searching the steaming
jungles for Dr. Livingston.
Modern adventure games combine graphic pictures with
intriguing text descriptions of the action that goes with the
story. The older type adventures use TEXT only, all the
graphics appear in your imagination. As an adventure
"purist", I prefer the text type of adventure games that have
no graphics. With few exceptions, text only adventures tend
to be more descriptive and more involved that the ones that
incorporate graphics. No graphics, regardless of detail, can
match the mental pictures conjured up by well written text.
Text only adventures tend to operate faster so you can play
more and wait less.
In a typical text adventure, you are presented with a scene
from the story. You then type commands on the keyboard
instructing your imaginary character to go places and do
things. You may have to kill monsters, cross rivers, blow up
enemy supply depots or collect treasures. A good adventure
is a complex story taking place in many locations with many
problems to solve. It may take several months of persistent
work to discover all of the secrets of the game. After you
score 100% in the game, you will know it well and will
probably not play it again for a long time. However you may
spread your excitement to your friends by getting them
involved and watching their frustration as they get hooked on
computer adventuring.
Along with this month's issue of ZIP magazine, I have
included a copy of "MISER'S HOUSE". This little program
reaches way back into the nostalgic past of computer
adventuring. It was originally written for the Commodore Pet
computer in 1981 and required only 16K to operate. Although
it is a small and fairly simple adventure, it may keep you
busy for several weeks. An excellent introduction to
adventuring, Miser's House arrests the attention from the
start and moves you through a series of moderately complex
problems to reach a 100% successful conclusion. Because of
the low memory of the Pet Computer, you will find that the
room descriptions are scanty and input is limited to two word
commands. Miser's House is part of a trilogy of "classic"
adventures originally written for the Commodore and converted
to IBM format by Chipmunk Software. You can obtain the other
two (Forest Adventure, and The Great Pyramid) along with
Miser's House by sending $3.00 to cover the cost of shipping
and handling to the address below. Happy Adventuring!
þþ BBS VALIDATION þþ
by W.H. Lambdin
When calling BBS's for the first time, I have some trouble.
Some BBS SysOp's validate users with a collect call. Where
this may be a bother some people, It takes some persuasion on
my part.
I am 34 years old, but my voice sounds like I am 15 or 16
years old. There is a reason for this. I was almost killed in
a car accident when I was only eight days old.
While a call will validate a user, but when I ask for
permission to adult related files, I have some explaining
about my voice. It wouldn't be so bad, but I am paying for
the phone call, and it takes 15 minutes to explain that I am
who I say I am. I like the aspect of downloading a text file
then fill in the lines.
Some people will say. "How will a form verify the age of a
user?" If won't, but if their parents come down on the sysop
for distributing adult material to a minor. If you have the
users signed form, where he (she) claimed to be an adult,
Then the SysOp is in the clear.
I have enclosed my form below as an example. Check out 21.txt
in this archive. If you want to use my form for your BBS,
feel free. Just change whatever you deem necessary.
þþ IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY þþ
by W.H. Lambdin
Four years ago, I had a Commodore 64 computer with one 1541
disk drive. I was just beginning to experiment with modems.
It was the Commodore 1650 (300 baud).
The Commodore 64 came with 64 K of memory, and ran at the
astounding speed of 1 megahertz
The 1541 drive had the capacity to store 170 K of data per
diskette.
Today, I have a 12 megahertz AT compatible with 1 megabyte of
RAM.
Today, I have a 65 meg hard drive that is capable of reading
800K per second. This is a far cry from a 1541 that held 170
K, and read 1/2 K per second.
Today, I have a 2400 baud modem, that is capable of
transferring 14 K per minute with the Zmodem or Ymodem
protocols. In the near future, I expect to step up to a Hayes
9600 baud V.42 modem. With this modem, I can transfer over
60K per minute. With the old 300 modem. we had the choice of
two protocol's, Punter, and Xmodem (checksum). With these
protocols we could transfer 1.5 K per minute.
Four years ago, the 1541 disk drive weighed in at a hefty 11
pounds. Today, I have a Tandy 1400 LT laptop computer that
only weighs 2.5 pounds more than the 1541, but it is a fully
functional computer with 640K for dos, 128 K for a Ram disk,
two 3.5 inch floppy drives, that hold 720K each. The 1400lt
also has a built in monitor, and can display twice as much
data on the screen as the 64 Did. I also put a 1200 baud
internal modem in the 1400 LT.
When I bought this IBM compatible, I had full intentions of
using the C-64 for games, and running a BBS. I bought the IBM
compatible for word processing, and data base management. It
did not work out that way. After I got used to the speed of
the hard drive, I didn't even want to think about waiting 5
minutes for the 1541 to load a game, that would play on a 64K
computer, where my hard drive would load a 150K word
processor in less than 5 seconds.
I know several people that have said they will keep the
Commodore 64 to play games on. This has never worked out.
Everyone that wanted to play games on the C-64 after they
bought an IBM or compatible, have bought games to run under
DOS, or have bought Nintendo machines. All of the C-64's that
were supposed to be of usefulness after the IBM came, have
found new homes. Mine did in about two weeks!
As you can easily see, Technology had made a tremendous leap
forward in four years.
When I upgraded to this computer, I thought about upgrading
to an Amiga. I decided on an IBM compatible because there is
a wide base of PC users. Public domain, and ShareWare
programs are available.
þþ HOME LIBRARY SYSTEM 2.8 þþ
by W.H. Lambdin
The home Library system (called HLS from this point on) is
written by Roger L. Waer, and Chris Herberger. HLS is being
released as Share Ware. The required fee is $20 if you
continue to use HLS after 30 days. Version 3.0 of HLS should
be available by the time you read this. The Authors of HLS
may be reached at the address below.
Roger L. Waer
P.O. Box 22305
Juneau, AK. 99802
HLS requires at least 512K Ram, Hard drive, and Version 3.0
of DOS or higher.
When you run HLS, it shows two options. Search, and Utility.
If you wish to pull one of the windows down, press either the
S, or U keys. You may also use the cursor keys, and press
ENTER. HLS is very simple, and straight forward to use, but
don't let the simplicity of operation fool you into thinking
the program is weak in important area's. If I were to improve
this program, I only have three ideas, but more on that
later.
When you pull the Search window down, you have 6 options.
PROPER TITLE: using this command will allow you to search the
records for an exact title.
AUTHOR: This will let you search by the author's name. You do
not need to type the complete name. For my test's the last
name of the author worked well. When you use this search
mode, it displays all books you have written by that author.
WORD/TITLE: This will let you search the records by one
word. It doesn't matter if it is part of the title, series
name etc.
SERIES: This lets you search the records by the name of the
series. When you type a series name, HLS will list the
books in the series you choose.
NOTES: HLS allows you to write a brief description of the
book, and search by those.
TEMPLATE: this will allow you to search the records by one or
more fields.
When you pull the Utility window down, you have 5 options.
ADD VOLUMES: this is where you will enter your data.
BROWSE: This option allows you to view or edit data that you
have already stored in HLS.
DELETE VOLUMES: this allows you to delete old data you do
not need.
OWNER SUMMARY: This option reports the total number of
volumes, total worth of the books, and total number of pages.
I was impressed with the speed, and usefulness of this
option.
REINDEX: Some times the index may get corrupted. With this
option, you have the ability to rebuild them.
HLS is the most comprehensive library management program I
have seen. If libraries used this program, or one similar,
there would be no need for those 3 by 5 inch cards they use
now. HLS has the following fields for data entry.
ISBN: International Standard Book number
Title:
Author:
Editor(s)
Subject:
Cover art:
Artwork:
Binding:
Publisher:
Copyright:
Price:
Pages:
Copies:
Loaned:
Date:
Owner:
Location:
On top of the things I have told you about HLS, there is one
more option that makes this program useful. HLS supports
anthologies. Anthologies are books that have more than one
story in them.
I have seen library programs similar to this one, but HLS is
the first one I have found that supports series, and
anthologies. More important, HLS is very easy to use.
Now, I have three ideas to improve HLS. These are nothing
major, just simple things I feel that it needs.
1: Add mouse support. This isn't demanded, It
would add a professional look to this program.
2: Add printer support. There is no way to print data
now except for print screen. Version 3.0 is supposed to add
this feature, but I haven't seen it yet.
3: Add one line to the anthology window for series
information. I have volumes with three sometimes four books
in one volume. When I enter series in later volumes to the
series, this throws the series number off.
If anyone is needing a program like this, I can highly
recommend HLS.
Rating ****+
þþ Novas 4000 VGA Graphics Adapter þþ
by
Ron Alcorn
This is the ultimate VGA card. It is faster than any VGA
card I have seen.
FACT: The Novas 4000 VGA card is "over" 2 times faster than
my Paradise VGA Professional.
I could give you the actual results, but the results would be
different for each type of computer. Just take my word for
it, I am telling the honest truth. I had a hard time
believing it myself. The bench mark program I used was PC
Magazine's Bench Mark version 5.1.
Compatibility is no problem either. The card is fully
compatible at the BIOS, hardware, gate, and register levels.
Not only that, the card is fully compatible with CGA, EGA,
MDA, and Hercules. How about the different resolution modes,
well here is a "incomplete list". Why incomplete, because
the card has even higher resolutions and more colorful modes,
but are not implemented in to the VGA card's BIOS as of yet.
Current EGA, VGA, and Super VGA modes available:
H x V x C H = Horizontal resolution
---------------- V = Vertical resolution
320 x 200 x 4 \ C = Amount of colors
320 x 200 x 16 \
320 x 200 x 256 \
640 x 200 x 2 \
640 x 200 x 16 \
640 x 200 x 256 \
640 x 400 x 256 \
640 x 350 x 2 \
640 x 350 x 16 >-- As I said, these are the
640 x 400 x 256 / available modes currently.
640 x 480 x 2 /
640 x 480 x 16 /
640 x 480 x 256 /
768 x 576 x 256 /
800 x 600 x 16 /
960 x 720 x 16 /
1024 x 768 x 16 /
800 x 600 x 256 \
1024 x 768 x 256 >-- The modes are coming soon!
1280 x 960 x 4 /
Yes, there are modes that I'm leaving out, but this is more
than enough to wet your whistle.
And yet another subject, how about software drivers. Well I
couldn't care to much about them. I'm a home computer user,
which means I don't use Autocad, Lotus and other such type
programs. Anyway, here is a list of drivers for popular
software packages.
Microsoft Windows (808x, 286, and 386 versions)
OS/2 Presentation Manager
Autocad (Versions 2.62, 9.0, and 10.0)
GEM (Versions 2.2 and 3.0)
Ventura Publisher (Versions 1.0, 1.1., and 2.0)
Framework II
Lotus 1-2-3 (Version 2.0)
Symphony (Versions 1.0 and 1.1)
WordStar (Versions 3.3, 4.0, and 5.0)
WordPerfect (Versions 4.0, 4.1, and 5.0)
There are probably more drivers and more up to date versions
by now. The company seems to have pretty good support.
There are two utilities the come with the package also, which
are SETMODE and SETVGA.
SETMODE allows you to set up the amount of columns and rows
of text for the DOS display. Sizes range from 80 x 25 to 132
x 50. Don't get me wrong, the card itself does support other
modes such as the old 40 x 25 mode. Most programs usually
reset the standard 80 x 25 text mode, but good programs like
QEdit will use the current video mode. This SETMODE program
has a bug. Once you run it, the other utility, SETVGA,
doesn't allow the CGA mode to work properly.
SETVGA allows you to select a video mode. The modes to
choose from are CGA, EGA, EGA mono, MDA, Hercules, and VGA.
I have notified Computrade about the few problems I have
encountered. Don't consider this a factor about not
purchasing this VGA card, I'm sure they'll be resolved
shortly. The card has at least six major factors to sway you
towards purchasing the Novas 4000.
1 - BLAZING SPEED!
2 - HIGH RESOLUTION
3 - LOTS OF COLORS IN THE HIGH RESOLUTION MODES
4 - PRICE (I HAVEN'T MENTIONED IS YET <GRIN>)
5 - COMPATIBILITY
6 - ONE MEG OF HIGH SPEED 80 NANO SECOND ON BOARD RAM
In case you are wondering what kind monitor you need, the
card supports ANALOG, MULTI SYNC/SCAN, DIGITAL, AND PS/2
MONITORS (models 8503, 8512, 8513, and 8514). As for
computers, the card will work in a IBM PC/XT/AT or compatible
in either a 8 or 16 bit slot. Although the card is a 16 bit
card, it will automatically detect if it is in a 8 bit slot.
Lastly, but most important, is the price. The card costs me
$295 plus shipping. If that isn't cheap enough I don't know
what is. Anyway, as usual, I got burned. The card now sales
for $255. Now will you buy it??? Sure you will!!! Just
look up Computrade in the latest Computer Shopper.
The heart and soul of this board comes from using the Chips &
Technologies' 452 VGA chip. So don't think it's another
Paradise of TSeng based board. It's original and it's better
and faster than the rest!
Rating: *****
þþ ABOVE DISC þþ
An Expanded Memory Simulator
A Program Review by
Tom Croley
Associate Editor
Last issue, I reviewed a product called Software Carousel
that grabs all of the available RAM that you have and makes
usable memory compartments (called memory partitions) out of
it. Each partition can hold one or more active programs that
can be switched on and off instantly at the touch of a key.
Although the Carousel will let you use disk space to simulate
RAM memory, that extra RAM is still limited in it's
compartment size, the maximum size being 544K. You can not
use Carousel to create space to hold a very large Lotus 123
file which would require expanded memory.
Enter ABOVE DISC. Above Disc is a software product that
grabs all of the available RAM that you possess and uses it
to simulate EXPANDED memory. It will even create RAM (using
hard disk space) and use that for expanded memory, up to 32
megabytes. If you are using a program that needs more memory
to operate the way you want it too, and if you can not afford
to purchase that extra memory, then ABOVE DISC may be just
what you are looking for. But, there are some trade offs as
we will see.
WHAT IS EXPANDED MEMORY ANYWAY
There are three common types of memory in today's PC type
computer systems.
1. BASE memory, or CONVENTIONAL memory is the RAM memory
that is 640K and below. This is the memory that most
people are used to and that they refer to when they talk
about RAM memory. This is the memory that DOS operates
in under normal circumstances.
2. EXTENDED MEMORY - This is the extra RAM memory that a lot
of people are buying these days and few people are using.
Most folks that purchase a 286 or 386 based computer
purchase it with at least 1 megabyte of RAM. It is the
current fad. You can usually tell it is there by watching
the RAM countdown when you turn on your computer. It
usually lives on your motherboard, but sometimes exists
on a special card or in a "single inline memory module
(SIMM). The trouble is, Dos 3.3 and below, cannot use
extended RAM under normal circumstances and very few
programs make use of it either. So it just sits there. I
know people that have possessed their 1 meg. computers
for over two years and have not used that extra RAM even
once. Modern programs are beginning to use this wealth
of memory. LUCID 3D spread sheet for example, grabs all
memory available no matter what type it is and uses it as
working space.
3. EXPANDED MEMORY - This type of memory rarely ever comes
with your computer but is added as an extra. It always
resides on a special "expanded memory board" such as the
Intel "Aboveboard" series or the "RamPage" board. It is
sometimes called EMS memory. It is always VERY
expensive. You could easily spend over $1000 to gain 2
megabytes of expanded memory. EMS memory is not normally
used or seen by DOS but it can be used by popular
programs like Lotus 123, Ventura Publishers, etc. Older
versions of LOTUS 123 (2.2 and below) don't even see
EXTENDED MEMORY but require this EXPANDED MEMORY if you
need extra working space for large spread sheets.
ABOVE DISC is a software attempt to solve the memory dilemma.
Suppose you occasionally need to use a LOTUS 123 spreadsheet
and it will not fit into your standard 640K Dos limits. You
need EXPANDED MEMORY. Lets say that you are using a 286
machine with 1 Meg of RAM but the RAM is EXTENDED not
EXPANDED and your version of Lotus won't even look at it. You
could go out an spend $1000 for an EXPANDED memory board. You
could trash your Lotus 123 and buy a more recent version. Or
you could buy "Above Disc" for about $99.00. Using very
little of your BASE memory, "Above Disc" will convert your
EXTENDED memory so that looks and smells like EXPANDED
memory. WALLAAA! You can now load your gigantic spread
sheet into your new, cheap, synthetic EXPANDED RAM. As an
added little extra, video RAM can also be converted to act
like EXPANDED RAM.
Now suppose you have the same spreadsheet problem but this
time your are using an older XT computer with 640K and a 20
meg hard disk. Since you have no extended memory to convert,
it may seem that you are stuck with buying a memory card. Not
at all. "Above Disc" will borrow unused space from your Hard
Disk and convert it to the necessary EXPANDED RAM fully
visible and usable by any program that requires it. Your
large spreadsheet problem is solved once again.
THE TRADE OFF
You may have guessed by now that there is a trade off.
Remember, "Above Disc" is meant to be "POOR MAN'S RAM". It
is a cheap alternative to purchasing expensive RAM memory
chips populated on expensive expanded memory boards. No one
every said it would work better that the real thing and it
does not.
1. For starters "Above Disc" requires a small amount of
your BASE memory in order to operate at all. They are
very reluctant to tell you in the manual exactly how
much will be taken. Apparently the amount varies
depending on how the program is configured. The minimum
amount being 10K and the maximum being about 98K. This
is usually a small price to pay for what you gain in RAM
space.
2. "Above Disc" eats up disk space if you are using the
disk based memory option. Any space you allocate as
synthetic RAM memory will not be available for program
storage. This is still a small price to pay for what you
get.
3. Converting EXTENDED RAM to EXPANDED RAM and using it as
such is a little slower than using the real thing. This
is not a serious problem unless you are a power user and
need extra work space all the time. This could be a
little annoying but still better than buying a RAM card.
At least you will be using that precious extended ram
that you purchased when you bought your computer.
4. The serious problems come when you try to use the "hard
disk" option to gain expanded ram. This is really slow
due to the fact that disk drives operate much, much
slower than RAM memory chips. If your disk based
expanded ram is small the slowness is very noticeable but
not bothersome. If you are working with a very large
spread sheet, the slowness becomes VERY ANNOYING. I set
up a 2.6 megabyte spread sheet file using my 28ms hard
disk as synthetic expanded ram. The spread sheet file
took a long time to load. It worked well and reasonably
fast until you get down to the point where more
information needs to be drawn off of the disk then there
was a slow down. To push it to the limits, I tried
jumping from the top left cell directly to the bottom
left cell....about a 3 minute wait!! The more I used it,
the more I had to wait. If you put a formula at the
bottom of the spread sheet that draws information from
the top of the sheet, you have real problems. Using
automatic recalc, each entry would take 3 minutes. I
finally got so frustrated that I gave up the test
altogether. The program manual boasts that up to 32
megabytes of disk space can be used as expanded ram but
that would be exceeding impractical. The manual
recommends that you keep your disk based expanded RAM as
small as possible.
RECOMMENDATION
Due to the above mentioned trade-offs I recommend the
following:
1. If you want to use your extended RAM that is just
sitting there and you need extra working space for high
powered programs that require EXPANDED ram. I highly
recommend this program. It is a cheap and effective
solution to an annoying problem.
2. If you REGULARLY need expanded memory and do NOT have any
extended memory to work with, forget it. This program
is too slow to work with. Using the hard disk as
expanded ram is too slow to work with on a regular basis.
Buy a memory card or a better computer or better programs
that do not require lots of memory. If you only need a
"little" amount of extra RAM space you could get by with
"Above Disc" but you will experience a slow down in
direct proportion to the amount of the space that you are
using.
3. If you OCCASIONALLY need extra work space and have NO
extended or expanded ram, using the hard disk as
expanded ram is a workable solution.....but only
OCCASIONALLY. Keep your extra work space as small as
possible. Don't think that you are going to buy this
program and use your hard disk to solve all your RAM
problems...its too slow.
Above Disc is available for $75.00 from Chipmunk Software,
Box 188, Battle Ground Wa., 98604 (Cash, Check or COD only.)
þþ USRobotics 9600 Courier HST Dual Standard Modem þþ
by
Ron Alcorn
Simply the best! I really don't know where to begin, so to
start with, I'll talk about speed. A true 9600 baud modem is
by no means slow, but what would you say if you could get
speeds well over 960 CPS (characters per second)? Well with
this modem you can very easily! Let me take a short moment
here to explain a huge misconception.
All high speed modems that I have seen advertised claim
speeds at 19,200 and 38,400 baud. With MNP (Microcom
Networking Protocol), level 5, it is claimed one will get a
through put of 2 to 1 (hence, 9600 * 2 = 19,200). And with
the Hayes LAP protocols, it is claimed that you will get a
though put of 4 to 1 (hence, 9600 * 4 = 38,400). These speed
through puts are only true if you are sending plain ASCII
text. As you all know, us folks out here in BBS land ZIP up
our text files and programs. Below is a chart of average
speeds when downloading a ZIP file using various modems.
Modem Average CPS for LOW & HIGH
-------------------------------------------------------------
DigiComm Systems Inc. V.32 external 950 1150
Hayes V-Series V.42 internal 900 1000
USRobotics Courier HST Dual Standard (HST mode) 960 1650
USRobotics Courier HST Dual Standard (V.32 mode) N/A N/A
NOTE: Not available because I haven't had a need to call a
V.32 only BBS yet. In case you are wondering, the
USRobotics modem is external. What do I mean by
"Average CPS for LOW & HIGH"? Well when I call a BBS
that is slow, I average up the CPS for it, and when I
call a BBS that is fast, I average up a CPS for it.
Hope you are not confused to much.
As far as the best CPS's ever, refer to the next chart. These
CPS's reflect results that W.H. Lambdin and I have observed
and performed.
Modem BEST CPS
-------------------------------------------------------------
DigiComm Systems Inc. V.32 external 1250
Hayes V-Series V.42 internal 1050
USRobotics Courier HST Dual Standard (HST mode) 1740
USRobotics Courier HST Dual Standard (V.32 mode) N/A N/A
In case you are wondering which BBS's are fast and which ones
are slow, well there is no sure way to find out until you
actually call that certain BBS. From my experience, TPBoard
has the fastest protocols period! TPBoard is where I
achieved the 1740 CPS, and on average I get over 1600 CPS.
DSZ seems to be the second best thing around. DSZ is not a
BBS package, but a file transfer engine that several BBS's
use, such as PCBoard and RBBS. After that I don't know,
except that nearly all the BBS's that I have called that use
TBBS, are extremely slow. As for the terminal software, we
used Telix and Telemate.
I've swayed off course a little bid, so let me jump back on
the run way. The 19,200 and 38,400 baud rates are also
claimed because the modem supports a locked baud rate at
19,200 or 38,400 baud. Refer to my "High Speed Modems"
article in Volume 3, Issue 1 of ZIP Magazine. No matter what
they say, 960 baud means that 960 characters are transferred
per second, except for the Dual Standard modem. It actually
has a true 14,400 baud rate.
Enough of general discussion. If the speed of this modem
hasn't impressed you yet, let me know what will. For
beginners, there is no software included with the modem. To
me, this is neither a plus or minus. Out of the six modems I
have owned, none has had software worth using.
The manual isn't bad, is better than average, but not great.
As always it could stand a few improvements in my book
<GRIN>. Anyway, setup of the modem is simple, it's always
the darn software that gives you fits. Well I didn't have any
problem with my software, HA! I guess I got kind'a lucky for
one time.
The AT commands are plentiful. Anything can be configured
and saved in the modems NRAM (Nonvolatile memory). Oh yes,
there are dip switches. Some people don't like them, but I
do like to know that I can have some power on defaults.
I would like to explain each and every modem command, but for
now, I'll put it like this. This modem has a command for
your desire. If it's available in any modem, it more than
likely is available on this modem. I'll just give you a very
short paragraph on the make it easy commands.
There are built in AT command help. For instance, ATD$ will
give you help for dialing out, AT$ gives normal AT command
help, AT&$ gives extended AT commands help, and ATS$ gives
help for the S registers, and believe me, that are plenty of
S registers available. If you don't know what S registers
are, refer to your modem manual. One of these days I may
write a general article about Hayes compatible modems. Moving
on, have you even seen the phone numbers that use letters,
like 1-800-CALLJIM. Well this USRobotics modem can decipher
it for you. If you wanted to call that number, you would
type ATDT1800"CALLJIM. The quotation mark tells the modem to
convert the letters to numbers. How about that for us lazy
people?
The modem itself is very wide and deep, but ultra thin
compared to most other external modems of any type. There is
an external volume control (thank goodness), under the front
lip on the right hand side of the modem. On the bottom of
the modem, is a help chart for most of the modem AT commands.
Also on the front are 12 lights, which are:
HS - High speed
AA - Auto answer mode (flashes when phone rings)
CD - Carrier detect
OH - Off hook
RD - Receive data
SD - Send data
TR - Terminal ready
MR - Modem ready
RS - Request to send
CS - Clear to send
ARQ - Automatic repeat request (MNP / Error control)
SYN - Synchronous
Both the power supply and transformer are in an external
block at the end of the power cord. This lets the modem stay
very cool. Also the modem has a two year warranty. So, I'd
say this would be a trouble free modem, in which it certainly
has been so far.
This modem just has everything for us lazy people, and the
people who demand great performance too.
What about the cost, approximately $900 to $1100 by mail
order. If you are a sysop, you can purchase the modem
directly from the USRobotics BBS for $699.
I really can't say to much more about this modem. It's just
a great modem. You can't go wrong with it. If you don't
need V.32 capabilites, just get the USRobotics 14,400 HST,
it's just as fast and is suppose to have the option to add a
V.32 piggy back card of some type. It cost's either $495 or
$505 I think. Your best bet, if you don't mind having two
modems, it to buy the 14,400 HST and the new upcoming Hayes
Ultra 9600, which supports V.42 and V.32 together or buy the
Dual Standard and a Hayes V-Series 9600 V.42 modem. With two
of those modems, you can support all high speed communication
standards. The Hayes V-Series 9600 V.42 internal costs $399,
and the new Ultra 9600 external will cost $599. Those two
prices are sysop prices, I do not have the mail order prices
available.
Rating: *****
þþ BLOCKOUT þþ
by W.H. Lambdin
For the last month, there has been a TETRIS commercial on TV
every 15 minutes. Personally I don't care for Tetris. While
Tetris has good background graphic's. I don't care for the
two dimensional puzzle.
Blockout is similar to Tetris in two aspect's.
1. It is a puzzle type game
2. It is very addicting!!
Here the similarities end. Instead of being two dimensional,
Blockout adds the wildcard of Depth that makes it
interesting.
In blockout, you look down a tunnel. The pieces appear at the
bottom left position. The pieces can be moved around with the
cursor key's. To drop a piece into position, press the space
bar, or return. The letters Q and A rotates the piece on the
X axis. The letters W and S rotate the piece on the Y axis.
The letters E and D rotate the piece on the Z axis. The
object of Blockout is to complete the wall at the end of the
tunnel. When the wall is complete, it disappears.
This may sound like an easy game to play. It can be very
challenging at times. The heighth, width, and depth of the
tunnel can all be adjusted to your preferences. There is 10
levels of difficulty. The longer you play the faster it
get's.
If this isn't challenging enough, there are three different
block set's to pick from. The three are as follows.
1. Flat fun. This is the easiest set.
2. Basic. This is intermediate.
3. Out of control. This level is for experts only.
With this level, It is possible to be working on
three or four walls at the same time.
I hope I have not scared you away from Blockout because it is
really a fine game. I can highly recommend it.
There is one aspect of the game that makes it hard to play,
that I haven't mentioned. I want you to have something to
discover on your own. I never like to tell everything about
program's I review. You may not agree with my opinion, but I
get a kick from finding some hidden option a review didn't
cover.
Rating ****
þþ Logitech ScanMan Plus & Genius GS-4500 Hand Scanners þþ
by
Ron Alcorn
Hand scanners are a very handy computer tool. You can create
clip art for various graphic programs. You can even use it
as a quick Xerox copying machine. For instance, you could
copy a news paper article, print it out, and mail in to a
relative. My favorite use for the scanner is OCR (optical
character recognition). OCR software allows you to use a
hand scanner to scan text and convert it to an ASCII file on
your computer. Although the OCR use of a scanner is what I
like best about my scanner, I have not had the opportunity to
use this feature yet. The reason is because ShareWare OCR
software isn't up to par yet, and commercial OCR software is
very expensive. Maybe one of these days I can fill you in on
OCR software itself.
I'd like to compare these two scanners, but as far as
hardware and quality features, the two hand scanners are
identical from my experience. You can scan images 4.1" wide
and 14" long. There are four modes of resolution, 100, 200,
300, and 400 DPI (dots per inch). You can control the
contrast of the scanner. You have four scanning modes:
Line art - For 2 color pictures
Dithering - The dithering mode offers three forms of
quality, which are fine, medium, and coarse
detail. How do you know which mode to
choose, well trial and error is the only
method. Logic would have it that the more
colors there are, the heavier detail you
would need, and the less the colors, the
lighter detail you would need. What does
dithering mean? It's a form of graphics that
are created by using dots to form various
shades of gray. Have you ever noticed the
following IBM ASCII graphics block
characters?
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²
²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±
²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±
±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
In the above picture, it appears you see 3
different colors. Well actually only 2
colors are being using, your background color
and the color of your foreground. By spacing
the dots apart at certain distances, you
create the dithering effect.
Although the scanners perform the same, they are not
compatible with each other. The Logitech ScanMan will not
work with the Dr. Genius or ScanEdit programs that come with
the Genius GS-4500 scanner, and the Genius GS-4500 scanner
will now work with PaintShow Plus or the ScanMate program
that came with the Logitech ScanMan scanner.
The card that you install in the computer for the scanners is
rather simple to do. You can configure the card by using
jumper blocks to set the correct address, interrupts, and the
DMA channel. Again, the two scanners are incompatible with
each other, so don't try and use a different controller card
for your scanner.
Now it's time to draw the line. The software comparison
between the two scanners is a big story. Both software
packages scan the same quality, but the GS-4500 scanner
software is a pain in the rear to learn how to use. On the
other hand, it may have a tiny bit more power than the
Logitech ScanMan software. The Logitech software is much
more easier to use, and is still very powerful. What
features do these scanners have anyway? Well they are really
about like any good paint program. You have your basic
commands, cut and paste, zoom in and out, paint, patterns,
merge, fonts, and printing capabilities. Of course there is
more, but if you've used one good paint program, you've used
them all.
Another gripe about the GS-4500 software is that it requires
lots of RAM. My friend has to make a separate boot disk with
nothing but a basic CONFIG.SYS file and have AUTOEXEC.BAT
load his mouse driver just to get ScanEdit to load. The
Logitech software will load with ease, and I have my
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files crammed full of all kinds
of stuff.
Another software advantage Logitech has, it that they include
a generic scanner driver so other programs like PC Paint
Brush IV Plus will recognize the scanner and put it to use.
The Genius scanner doesn't come with such a driver. My
friend tried to get a driver for his Genius scanner several
months ago, and still hasn't gotten it.
What about manuals, same comparison. The Logitech manuals
are easy and clear to understand, why the Genius manuals are
very complex.
I'd have to give the edge to the Logitech scanner simply
because it is much more simpler to use, and is almost as
powerful as the Genius software, if not the same. The
advantage the Genius does have, is that it is cheaper than
the Logitech via mail order. I got theLogitech cheaper than
one could get a Genius because previous Logitech purchasers
were offered a special deal.
One last thing, I almost forgot the comparison of graphic
file formats. The Logitech supports PCX, TIFF, IMG, MSP, and
MAC. The Genius supports PCX, TIFF, IMG, CUT, and MSP. Which
do you buy? It's your choice!
Logitech ScanMan Plus - Rating: ****
Genius GS-4500 - Rating: ****
þþ Sailing The C's þþ
by
Ron Balewski
"Of Mice and Mice"
This time, I thought I'd talk about something useful -- like
mouse programming. As you may know, I'm absolutely
pro-mouse. When I started programming the PC, I had a devil
of a time finding out how to talk to the little rodent. Once
I learned its language, though, I've found mouse
communications to be quite simple. This month (and maybe
continuing next month), I'd like to give you an overview of
how to talk to a mouse. Although the examples are in C,
these principles will work in virtually ANY language.
Probably the safest way to communicate with the mouse is
through the "mouse driver" software that's installed in the
computer. Virtually all mice follow the "Microsoft" standard
for the driver, so using it will let your software work with
almost any mouse automatically. Of course you can talk to
the mouse hardware directly, but the driver is so convenient
and universal that it's definitely the way to go. The mouse
driver is accessed through interrupt 0x33 (I'll use standard
C convention for hex numbers -- this one being 33 hex) using
the int86() or geninterrupt() functions of Turbo C. Because
int86() is the safer of the two, it's the function that I'll
use in my example. The reason for its safety will be left
for a future column.
There are some 35 different functions available from the
mouse driver. The exact number depends on the brand of mouse.
Some manufacturers add functions to give their mice special
features. For compatibility's sake, I stay away from those
non-standard functions. Of course, some of the functions are
more useful than others.
All the functions are accessed by placing the function
number in the AX register prior to calling the driver. The
other registers may or may not be needed, depending on the
function. Likewise, the mouse driver returns information
about the mouse in the registers.
For convenience sake, I'll describe the mouse driver
functions -- at least the more important ones -- one by one.
Mouse function 0 (0x00): Reset mouse
Input:
AX = 0
Output:
AX = mouse status
BX = number of buttons
This function checks that a mouse is correctly connected,
then resets and initializes the mouse. The mouse cursor
counter is set to 0 (see next function), the mouse limits are
set to the screen size, and the mouse cursor location is set
to the center of the screen. Upon return, the AX register
will contain a -1 if the mouse is ready for action. I often
use this function to test for the presence of a mouse driver,
too, but that's risky and not recommended.
Mouse function 1 (0x01): Show cursor
Input:
AX = 1
Output: None
Mouse function 2 (0x02): Hide cursor
Input:
AX = 2
Output: None
These two functions are related, so I'll discuss them
together. The mouse driver contains a counter. Whenever the
counter is greater than zero, the mouse cursor will be
visible. Whenever the counter is zero or negative, the mouse
cursor will be hidden. The show cursor function (0x01) adds
one to this counter. Hide cursor (0x02) subtracts one. In
other words, if you call hide cursor twice to hide the
cursor, you'll have to call Show Cursor twice to restore it.
This may seem like a silly method (it did to me at first),
but you'll appreciate it when you start nesting functions
within functions, all of which must have control of the mouse
pointer.
Mouse function 3 (0x03): Get mouse position & button status
Input:
AX = 3
Output:
BX = Button status
CX = Horizontal position
DX = Vertical position
This function's quite simple. It tells you where the mouse
is and which buttons are pressed. The Button status register
should be interpreted as follows: Bit 0 is the left button,
Bit 1 is the right button, and (if applicable) bit 2 is the
center button. For example, BX will return 1 if the left
button is pressed or 3 if both the left and right buttons are
pressed.
Mouse function 4 (0x04): Set mouse cursor position
Input:
AX = 4
CX = New horizontal position
DX = New vertical position
Output: None
This function simply moves the mouse cursor to a new
position. It's not an important function, but you can add
"elegance" to your program with it by adding "cool" features
like automatically moving the mouse pointer to where it'll be
needed next.
Mouse function 5 (0x05): Get button press information
Input:
AX = 5
BX = Button of interest
0 = Left, 1 = right, 2 = center
Output:
AX = Button status
BX = Number of presses on specified button
CX = Horizontal position at last press
DX = Vertical position at last press
This function reports the number of times a specified button
has been pressed since the last time it (the function) was
called. It also returns the position of the mouse the last
time the specified button was pressed. I find this to be
very useful. If I set up a program with several on-screen
"buttons", I just place a call to this function in the main
program loop. Whenever a mouse click occurs, it will tell me
where. I can then determine if the click occurred inside one
of my buttons and, if so, which one.
Mouse function 6 (0x06): Get button release information
Input:
AX = 6
BX = Button of interest (see above)
Output:
AX = Button status
BX = Number of releases on specified button
CX = Horizontal position at last release
DX = Vertical position at last release
This function is identical to the previous one, except it
works on button releases instead of presses. These two
functions can team up to provide all the information you need
on a "mouse drag" (press button, move mouse, release button)
event -- where a given button was pressed and where it was it
was released.
Mouse function 7 (0x07): Set min & max horizontal position
Input:
AX = 7
CX = New minimum position
DX = New maximum position
Output: None
Mouse function 8 (0x08): Set min & max vertical position
Input:
AX = 8
CX = new minimum position
DX = new maximum position
Output: None
These two functions also work together. They'll restrict
the mouse cursor to some small area of the screen. I think
it's "cool" to pop up a menu or set of buttons, then limit
the mouse cursor to within that menu box. This leaves no
doubt in the user's mind as to what he has to select from.
Then, after the user makes a selection, you can again open up
the entire screen for the mouse -- and maybe even restore the
mouse pointer to where it was before the user selected the
menu.
That about covers the more important (to me, anyway) mouse
functions. With these, you can write quite a nice
mouse-driven interface.
The simple demo MOUSDEMO.C will show you many of these
functions in action. It doesn't really do much. It just
turns on the mouse cursor, then watches the mouse and reports
what it's doing. It also handles one on-screen button -- the
exit button.
Next time, unless something better comes up, I'll continue
with this mouse discussion. There's still a lot to cover.
I'll talk about the differences between using text and
graphics mode. I'll also discuss a general-purpose
screen-button-selector routine that I've found useful when
working with on-screen buttons. Finally (probably not next
time, though), we'll look at how to customize the graphic
mouse pointer & maybe write a quick mouse cursor design
program -- using a mouse interface, of course.
NOTE: MOUSDEMO.C is included in the ZIP file.
þþ PROGRAMMER'S CHALLENGE DEPARTMENT þþ
As an editor of this magazine, I will be challenging you,
programmer or user, to make or find a program that is better
than one(s) I will be discussing. Usually I will only be
discussing one or two programs per issue. Reason being is
that I'll only be picking what I consider to be top quality
programs that are the best in their category.
Also you, as a programmer, are welcome to send in a challenge
yourself. If you write a program that you think is better
than anyone else's, send it to us along with an article, not
a document, about your program showing off its features so
that we can place it here in this department for others to
know about. This may help you make some money if your
program is Shareware, news can travel around pretty fast on
BBS's. Along with reception of your program and article, you
will get a reply from me in this department, whether it be
compliments, comments, suggestions, or criticism. So don't
complain about what I might say, because you can clearly see
what all possible statements can be made toward your program.
Remember, if you send in a program and article, it would seem
that you are confident in what you do. Also all statements
are toward your program, not you. I would not want to offend
any person and start a argument. Don't let these statements
scare you off, I'm not a bad guy, I just try to give public a
general view. Everything I will be saying will be my
opinions only, unless I actually run tests to get true
statistics about your program.
Reader's please send in your responses to me. Let me know if
you think my choices are good or bad. It doesn't matter to me
if you agree or dis-agree with me because everyone has their
own opinion.
TeleMate 2.00
by
Ron Alcorn
Yet another new comer in the terminal software market is
Telemate by Tsung Hu. This author took a new feel and look
for a terminal program. Telemate is mouse based, although
you can use a keyboard. Of course you have to use the
keyboard every now and then. Another new look is
multitasking.
Let's start off talking about the multitasking capabilites.
How often would like to edit or view a file while remaining
online? With Telemate this comes to reality. Suppose you
had captured a list of files from a BBS about a week ago. Now
you call the BBS back and remember you need to look at the
list. You issue the view command in Telemate, find what you
are looking for and start to download it. Well you can do
this with any terminal. Most terminals allow you to specify
your own viewing program. Well here is where Telemate offers
a change of pace. While you are downloading that file, you
can issue the view command again and search through the list
and download at the same time without aborting the transfer.
The built in editor and back scroll window work the same way
too.
The editor, view, and back scroll functions work basically
the same. You can cut and paste from window to window, or to
disk. You can search for text, reformat text, filter text,
quote text, or jump to a certain line number. Telemate keeps
it's context relatively the same through out the program.
Telemate also offers a clip board for cut and paste, and
printing functions. Since Telemate remains the same through
out, most windows can be resized and moved.
The download and upload commands, other than being able to
multitask, are basically the same as Telix, Qmodem, or any
other good terminal program. You have a selection of the
following built in protocols.
Zmodem
Sealink
Telink
Ymodem (1K Xmodem)
Ymodem G (Batch)
Ymodem Batch (True Ymodem)
Xmodem
Modem7
Relaxed Xmodem
ASCII
The Ymodem G is very buggy. It works with some BBS's, others
it doesn't, and yet others it will work for a while, and then
abort right in the middle of the transfer for no reason.
Of course you can add external protocols, but then you lose
your multitasking capabilites. Same goes for a shell to DOS.
Telemate only multitasks within itself.
Telemate offers yet another huge script language. I wish all
terminal program author's would get together and create a
standard of some kind. Since Telix jumped from it's BASIC
script language to it's high level script language, I have
just about quit learning new script languages. It they are
not changing them, they are making a new one. Telemate does
offer the learn script mode, which allows you to call a BBS
and have Telemate make the script for you. This works
sometimes and then sometimes it doesn't, usually one has to
fine tune it.
The dialing directory is about like the rest to, but with the
mouse support, it makes using a dialing directory more fun.
You have your basic dialing functions, such as save or load
phone directory, find BBS, edit BBS, goto certain BBS number,
and manual dial.
Telemate also has all the miscellaneous terminal program
functions.
Shell to DOS
DOS command line
Print file
Directory
Capture/Log file
Chat mode (spilt screen for chatting)
Originate and answer mode
Host mode (via script language)
Doorway mode (This is buggy currently. By the way it acts,
it appears there are a couple of extended ANSI
codes that Telemate does not recognize.)
Clear screen
Hang up
Break signal
Printer log
Macros (define keys to send text strings, load scripts, run
programs, re-map keyboard, etc.)
The Telemate configuration is about the same as it's
competitors. There are a few differences. For instance, to
configure the video mode to use, you have to use the separate
installation program. The configuration inside Telemate
offers several options, but not all options. The same for
the external configuration program, you can configure some
stuff, but not everything. Between the two though, you can
get it down pat.
Above I mentioned selecting a video mode, this is one of the
unique features Telemate offers. You can have various
amounts of text rows on the screen. The valid selections are
25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 43, and 50. All modes
are not available on all computers, it depends on whether you
have a CGA, EGA, or VGA card.
The options for Telemate include a wide range of selections.
Below is a list.
Swap Telemate to EMS and/or disk
Mouse port, speed, and brand
Scroll back buffer
Editor margin
Scroll bar toggle
Status line toggle
Pause time duration for messages and errors
Log filter toggle
Usage log toggle
Music and bell toggle
Alarm time duration
Dialing prefixes and suffixes
Connect, busy, and cancel strings
Auto baud detection
Dial time, redial pause time, and redial attempt settings
Paths for Telemate sys, transfers, scripts, edit, log, & mem
TTY, ANSI, VT52, and VT102 emulations
Modem or computer type connections
Screen echoing, line feeds, auto wrap, etc.
XON/OFF and RTS/CTS flow control
ASCII transfer timing functions
Serial port, speed, parity, data and stop bits (Telemate
offers 8 serial ports, and baud rates up to 115,200)
Modem init, hangup, auto answer, and answer back strings
File name guessing for downloading
Zmodem crash recovery and auto downloads
Free disk space
Colors
20 musical tune selections for alarm sounds
Set maximum amount of EMS memory to use (Telemate EMS usage
is only permitted if you are a registered user)
Well surely that's almost everything that can be configured.
I hope I didn't miss anything major.
I have only a few more things to say. Telemate is simple to
use, especially with a mouse. Things like auto log and auto
log file naming is what make Telemate nice, and of course the
multitasking makes it great. Telemate for some odd reason
doesn't seem as good as Telix for speed and reliability.
Don't get me wrong, Telix doesn't crash every time you use
it, nor is it slow at 2400 baud or less. But at 9600 baud, I
think it could stand a few improvements compared to Telix.
In coming data at 9600 or better with Telix is much faster,
and downloading at 9600 is somewhat faster than Telemate.
Keep in mind Telix has been around for a long time, and
Telemate is bound to catch up within this year!
One last note, Telemate does offer built in help. The help
is very poor and could stand an entire re-write, not only in
context, but the method that is used. One hardly ever gets
the help they are looking for.
Rating: ****
þþ QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS þþ
Q: How do you create a bootable disk? Henry York
A: There is two ways to make a bootable disk.
1. If you have a blank formatted disk, use this
command.
SYS A:
If you use this technique, you will have to
manually copy COMMAND.COM over to the new bootable
disk.
2. If you do not have a formatted disk, you can add a
parameter to the format command.
FORMAT A: /S
This procedure is the one I use. because it makes
sure the disk doesn't have a hidden file, and
COMMAND.COM is copied over to the new disk
automatically.
Q: I am using a 2400 baud modem with Procomm. I want to buy a
9600 modem, and I need suggestions. Also will Procomm be fast
enough to work at 9600? Bryan Holt
A: About a 9600 modem, I can recommend four.
Hayes V42. (works only with V.42 modems) at 9600
Hayes Ultra ( works with V.32 and V.42 Modems) at 9600
U.S.Robotics HST (Works only with other HST's) at 9600
U.S.R. Dual standard (works with V.32 and HST) at 9600
I would recommend that you find out what the BBS's you wish
to call are using. before you make your final decision.
About the Procomm, I don't see any need to worry about the
speed of the terminal program. Go ahead and use Procomm if
you are comfortable with it. I use TeleMate 2.0. With my
Hayes V.42. It works fine. Personally, I would recommend that
you use a terminal program with the new high speed protocols.
þþ BBS LISTING þþ
201 471-6391 PASSAIC BBS. Baud 300 - 19,200 using Hayes
V-series. Storage unknown. Sysop James Roy.
207 374-2303 CELEBRATION SHOP. Baud 1200, soon to be 2400.
Storage unknown. Operates 24 hours a day, Sysop Paul
Stookey. #3 Neworld Square, Blue Hill Falls Maine, 04615.
Paul Stookey was Paul in the singing group {Peter, Paul,
and Mary.}
216 264-5116 <TRI>-<WAY> BBS. Baud 300 - 2400 24 hrs.
Running Wildcat 2.0 multinode. Storage 130 meg. Carrying
ZIP Magazine. Over 500 files. Located in Wooster, Oh.
Sysop Dann Way
314 774-2736 The Waynesville BBS. Baud 300 - 2400. Running
Wildcat 1.13. with 104 meg. Sysop Raynond Andrell.
Specializes in FUN!!!
318 352-8311 Genesis BBS. Baud 300 - 2400. operating 24
hours a day. 65 meg storage. Sysop James Pottorff.
Genesis BBS is located in Natchitoches, LA.
318 457-1538 Toepfer's Electronics BBS. Baud 300-2400 Running
* M&M BBS on a C-64. 24 hours of operation. Free
Registration. Storage 2 meg. Files for C-64, and MS-DOS
computers. Member of KSAT QDP. Home BBS of Citizens
Aligned for Better Television. SYSOP Darrel Toepfer.
Located in Eunice, La.
416 751-6337 (Data on 20 Node RBBS Customized System) Operate
BBS under the name of THE TORUS SUPPORT NETWORK,
Division of PCanada Systems Inc. 3 Giabytes on-line
including 4 CD-ROM's and operate primary server under
Microsoft OS/2 base LAN Manager (330 megabyte Priam Main
Server on a 386 20 Mhz Acer platform). System Sysop is
Bob Eyer, and we are currently in our seventh year of
operation.
501 273-9257 THE CHICKEN COOP. Baud 300 - 2400.
501 273-0152 THE CHICKEN COOP. Baud 9600. FOR HST, and V.32
* modems. Running TBBS 2.1m. 130 meg og storage. Has many
online features including ZIP Magazine, InfoMat, and USA
Today. A member of the Software Distribution Network
which supplies virus and trojan free software direct from
the author's. SysOp Don Chick.
501 422-8777 The Personal Resource System. Baud 300 - 9600
with USR HST. 24 hours of operataion. Sysop Gary Funk.
No further information on this BBS is available at
present.
606 432-0879 STRAWBERRY PATCH. Baud 300 - 9600. Running PC
* Board on a 286 machine. storage 1000+ meg (with PC Sig
library on CD-ROM. Files for MS-DOS. No download ratio,
but uses a point system. 45 mins access on first call.
Sysop Terry West. Located in Pikeville, Ky.
606 789-3423 The AdventureComm BBS. Running RBBS 17. Baud
300 - 2400. Storage 20 meg soon to be 70 meg. Sysop
Charles Baldridge. Located in Paintsville, Ky. Has
Dungeons and Dragons, and TradeWars online games for
verified users.
606 843-9032 SnapShot Express. Baud 1200 - 9600 V.42.
* Running TPBoard 6.1 on a 12 mhz AT clone. Storage 54
meg. This BBS operates 24 hours a day. Files for IBM-DOS
and MS-DOS. Ratio 20 to 1. 90 minute access, and full
priveliges on first call. Sysop W.H. Lambdin. Ron
Alcorn, John Baker, and Robert Bullock co sysop's. I am
specializing in Graphics. So far, I have over 300 gif
pictures, and a few mac pictures. Adult related files
available. This BBS only supports the ZIP archives. We
are located in East Bernstadt, Ky.
606 878-9500 ZIP BBS. Baud 1200 - 9600 using USRobotics
* Dual Standard (HST/V.32). Running TPBoard 6.0 on 12 Mhz
AT machine. Storage 60 MEG. Files for MS-DOS. Download
ratio 15 to 1. Full access on first call, no
registration hassles. Operates from 7 P.M. to 7 A.M.
(EST) 7 days a week. Sysop's Ron Alcorn & W.H. Lambdin.
Located in London, Ky.
609 327-5553 UNION LAKE BBS. Baud 300 - 2400. Running PC
* Board on an 8088 machine. Free Registration. Storage 94
meg. Sysop George Cuccia. Carries 29 mail conferences.
612 654-8372 G C B BBS. Baud 1200 - 9600 Using U.S. Robotics
HST. Storage 200 meg. Online 24 hours a day. SysOp
Christine Blount. 30 minutes access on first call. This
BBS is located in St. Cloud, Mn.
616 382-3555 BIOS. Baud 300 - 9600 HST. Running WWIV v4.10
* on a 8 MHz 8088 Turbo XT Machine. Storage 100 Meg. WWIV
national network node 6650 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Large
MS-DOS file selection, interesting message base and many
on-line games. SysOp Scott Randall.
703 742-6279 CORVETTE DRIVERS. Baud 1200 - 19,200. Running PC
/ Board on a 386 machine. Storage unknown. Files for
MS-DOS Download ratio 25 to 1. 45 mins access on first
call. Sysop David Arline.
714 785-9176 THE SOLID ROCK (CACOL) BBS. Baud 1200 -2400
Running WildCat 1.13. 80 meg storage. Sysop Ron Hossack.
Christian oriented system and doors available.
802 748-8449 HILLTOPPER. Baud 300 - 2400. Running TPBoard
* 6.0 on a 16 mhz 80286 machine. Storage 146 meg.
FidoNet # 1:132/401.0 in Saint Johnsbury, Vermont. Sysop
Brian McQuade
802 888-7218 BEEHIVE. Baud 300 - 9600 with US Robotics HST
* Running PC-Board 12.1 on an 80286 machine. Storage 160
meg. Has quite a few forum's for writers, and items for
sale, etc. Has relay mail with Terry West's BBS
(Strawberry Patch). Files for MS-DOS. No download
ratio, but uses point system. 30 minutes access on first
Call. Sysop Helenmarie B. Robitille.
818 961-7903 CALIFORNIA BUILDERS BOARD - (A MicroLink PCUG
SubBoard). Baud 300 - 2400. Running PCBoard 14.1/E3
919 383-8707 Bull City BBS. Baud 300 - 2400. Running Wildcat
* 1.13 on an 8088 machine. Storage unknown. 24 hrs
operation. Sysop Roy & Shirley Gurley. This BBS has over
55 doors.
If you would like to post a BBS in ZIP, just write a message
to Ron Alcorn, or W.H. Lambdin on any of the BBS's with a *
or / under the area code.
þþ USERS GROUPS þþ
É-----------------------------------------------------------»
| |
| B.G.A.M.U.G. |
| The Bowling Green Area MS-Dos Users Group |
| |
| BGAMUG meets the 4th Tuesday of the month in the library |
| of Bowling Green High School at 7:00pm. Beginning Dos |
| classes are being planned and will be held in the |
| Computer Science classroom of Bowling Green High School |
| on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. |
| |
| For more information contact: |
| |
| BGAMUG |
| P.O.Box 20384 |
| Bowling Green, KY |
| 42102 |
| |
È-----------------------------------------------------------¼
þþ ZIP INFO þþ
by W.H. Lambdin & Ron Alcorn
This is ZIP, a paperless magazine. All submissions will be
printed, unless you ask us not to. We will not modify any
text you submit except for spell checking. So views
expressed here do not necessarily reflect views of editors.
If you want to send us a submission, upload it to one of
BBS's with a * beside it. You can also send them to ZIP BBS
at (606) 878-9500, or SnapShot Express at (606) 843-9032.
When you upload a submission, use MAG as the extension. We
would appreciate it if all submissions were just ascii, and
margins set at 10 on left, and 10 on right. This isn't
demanded, it would just be easier on us. If you want to
submit programs you have written, send them along in an
archive with your text. We will check all programs and if
they prove to be unsuitable, we will reject them. (You know,
trojans, viruses, and other harmful programs).
If you submit a review, follow examples here. If you think
it is a very good program, rate it at 5 stars. If you think
it is of poor quality, then give it one star. If you think
it falls between grades, use a plus as this. ***+ This means
a rating of 3 1/2 stars, or a little better than average.
We will not make you run from place to place in order to read
one article. When we start an article, it will be printed in
it's entirety before another article will be started. All
advertisements will be found in back. I like to read articles
with as little trouble as necessary, and the same goes for
ad's. We will have advertisements, but the editors take no
responsibility in what you may see advertised, so buy at your
own risk.
ZIP is being written on an AT compatible, and a Tandy 1400LT
laptop using Galaxy 2.4. Galaxy is written by Omniverse
Incorporation. If you want to find a great Shareware word
processor, give Galaxy 2.4 a try. I liked it so much, I
registered my copy.
In order for this magazine to survive, it will need help from
it's readers. If you wish to correct us on something, or
write an article or review for ZIP, please send us your
responses. Any help would be greatly appreciated. If you
wish to reprint an article or review from ZIP, feel free to
use it any way you wish, we only request that you give author
credit, and report that the article appeared in ZIP.
