Archive Magazine CD 1995/Archive Magazine CD 1995.iso/text/magazine/volume_06/issue_01

Text File | 1995-06-25 | 284KB | 5,823 lines

Volume 6 • Nº 1 • October 1992
6.1
Another good month for Acorn
6.1
The response to the launch of Acorn’s new machines continues to be
favourable and there is a lot of new software and hardware coming onto
the market. Indeed, the Products Available section is over four pages
long this month, despite the fact that a lot of suppliers will be
waiting for the Acorn User Show to launch their new products.
6.1
RISC-OS 3.1 is (almost) here
6.1
RISC-OS 3 is now (almost) available for all Archimedes users. Acorn are
‘working on it’ but only seem to be able to get a few sets out each
week. We are working through our back-log of orders, so PLEASE be
patient and try to resist the temptation to ring up and find out when
yours is coming − otherwise we’ll be spending all day on the phone,
talking about the availability of RISC-OS 3.1.
6.1
A(nother) new member of the N.C.S. team
6.1
Welcome this time to David Webb who has just joined the merry band at
96a Vauxhall Street. David, like Adrian Look and Simon Moy, is a
graduate of the local University of East Anglia.  (I hope this makes a
pleasant change from all the usual news of job losses!) David and Simon
have just finished computing degrees at U.E.A. and neither of them had
used Archimedes machines until they joined N.C.S... but they are both
learning very rapidly!
6.1
Come and see us at The Acorn User Show
6.1
All of us will be there at the Acorn User Show (for details, see page
7). Come to Stand 24 and bring your old software and hardware throw-outs
for us to sell for charity − in aid of famine relief. Come and meet the
‘new boys’, Simon and David, as well as the ‘old hands’, Ali and Adrian
− and, of course, the oldest hand of all.....
6.1
Yours, as ever,
6.1
Products Available
6.1
•    1.6Mb Drives for pre-A5000 computers − Arxe Systems have produced an
interface called the Alpha Dual Card. This is a 16 bit SCSI controller
plus a PC standard high density controller. This uses its own filing
system called QuadFS, functionally identical to ADFS. The controller
used also supports 4Mb drives and a future upgrade will provide support
for 3.2Mb ADFS and 2.88Mb DOS discs. The card is available in three
versions with optional external cases for A3000: SCSI Only £89, High
Density Only (inc 2Mb drive) £159 (or £109 without the floppy drive),
Both SCSI and High Density (inc 2Mb drive) £209. (All prices are ex
VAT.)
6.1
• A3010/3020/4000 memory upgrades − We can now get hold of memory
upgrades for the new computers at the following prices: 1 − 2 Mb for the
A3010 is £50, 1 − 4 Mb for the A3010 is £175, 2 − 4 Mb for the A3020 and
A4000 is £100.
6.1
•    A4 Trackerballs − Those (relatively few!) people who have got hold of
an A4 Notebook may be looking for a trackerball alternative to the
mouse. Two have come to our notice so far. The first is a serial port
mouse from PEP Associates. This comes with special software because it
uses the serial port instead of the mouse port.
6.1
The other is a hardware modified Genius trackerball from Atomwide. Both
types clip onto the side of the A4 and can, with practice, be operated
single-handedly but the Genius one uses the mouse socket and so does not
need special software. It is available from Archive for £58. See Brian
Cowan’s comments about this on page 65.
6.1
•    Acorn Ethernet Card III is the new version of the Acorn Ethernet card.
This is improved in various ways and is cheaper! The new price is £149
+VAT or £162 through Archive.
6.1
•    Ancient Egypt − Oak Solutions have produced a package to allow
children to investigate life in the time of the Pharaohs. The material
relates to History Key Stage 2 and Technology AT 5. The package costs
£50 +VAT from Oak Solutions or £55 through Archive.
6.1
•    ArcFAX − There is a new generation of modems that can connect to fax
machines as well as sending data as normal. David Pilling has capital
ised on this and produced ArcFAX which enables one of these modems to be
used as a computer-controlled fax. The software costs £23.96 from David
Pilling. (See Price List for Archive price.)
6.1
•    Archive magazine special deal − Most of the back issues of the Archive
magazine are stored on the first floor of 96a Vauxhall Street (i.e.
above my head as I write!) and we are getting concerned about the
structure of the building. As you can see from the picture opposite, we
need to get rid of a few back copies of Archive. Seriously, one or two
cracks are beginning to appear in the walls and it has been suggested
that we should reduce the load on the upper storey. We are therefore
offering special deals on bundles of Archive magazines: Volumes 1 − 5
for £25 and Volumes 1 − 4 for £22. There are one or two issues that we
are getting low on, so we cannot guarantee that you will get every
single issue. None have run out yet but if you want to be sure of a full
set, send your money in straight away. Also, if we do run out of any of
them, we will give a 50p token for each one that is missing.  This is
definitely not ‘vapourware’ − there will be no waiting − I can per
sonally guarantee that they are “in stock now”!
6.1
•    Artworks is here!!!! − It has been a long time coming but it was most
definitely worth the wait. Artworks is in stock now at £169 +VAT (or
£180 through Archive). This would be good value if all you got was the
Artworks program but included in the package are 14 discs full of fonts
and clip-art. This includes a staggering 220 outline fonts. (You can
tell your PC friends that the screen display is five times faster than
CorelDraw on a 486-50 PC!) For a full review, see page 33.
6.1
•    Battle of the Somme is a multimedia presentation focussing on the
events that occurred around 1st July 1916. The main package is £95 +VAT
from Oak Solutions and there is a Laservision video disc with 35 minutes
of video and 60 minutes of audio which, if bought at the same time is
£50 +VAT.
6.1
•    CableNews is Lingenuity’s presentation package. It was used to create
the presentation graphics for the launch of Acorn’s new machines in
August. It costs £149 +VAT for a single user (£160 through Archive),
£420 +VAT for a site licence for up to ten users, £676 +VAT for up to
thirty users and £575 +VAT for a commercial distribution licence.
6.1
•    Canon BJ10ex price drop − The distribution price of the BJ10ex has
just dropped slightly and CC have echoed that in the retail price of
their Turbo-driven BJ10ex’s. The Archive price has dropped from £275 to
£260. (Actually, I have just pensioned off the 23(sic)-pin Panasonic
1124 dot matrix printer I was using at home and swapped it for a BJ10ex.
I am very impressed with both the speed and the quality of the new
printer and the reduced size is very helpful with a restricted desk
space. If I was doing work at home, I always used to save it on disc and
bring it to work to print out − not any more!)
6.1
•    Canon Colour Printers in stock − The Computer Concepts colour printers
are now available from stock. They are Canon BJC800 printers with CC’s
own Turbo-Driver software that makes them work very effectively with the
Acorn RISC-OS computers. Sadly this is a monochrome magazine but I can
assure you that the output is very impressive − see the review on page
45 for more details. The price, including the Turbo Driver software and
lead is £1895 +VAT (£2,100 through Archive). The ink cartridges are also
available: cyan, magenta and yellow are £22 each and black is £17. The
Turbo Driver software plus printer lead is available separately for £99
+VAT (£105 through Archive).
6.1
•    Chaos is a new game from Matt Black. It is a shoot-’em-up game with
the usual enemy ships and mutants but it has a competitive edge. You can
have player versus player or, with the appropriate interface, you can
have up to four players at once. Chaos is £25 (no VAT) from Matt Black.
6.1
•    Chartwell 1.1 − Risc Developments have released an updated version of
their graphs and charts pack offering various new features including
negative values in bar charts, more flexible handling of data limits and
easier labelling and titling. The price is still £29.95 inclusive from
R.D. and the upgrade is free for existing users.
6.1
•    DeskEdit2 was released on 1st October by Risc Developments. This has
various enhancements including Basic renumber, Basic indenter, program
mer’s calculator and throwback. The price is £31.95 inc VAT and there is
an upgrade for £9.95 inc VAT.
6.1
•    DrawPlus version 2·20 is now available. This supports all of the
objects used by RISC-OS 3 Draw (including transformed text and sprites)
as well as some Vector objects. Text-to-path works under both operating
systems (ROM and disc fonts) and interpolation is available for path
objects. Upgrades are available in the usual way.
6.1
•    EasiWriter II − Icon Technology have upgraded their EasiWriter
document processor with extra features such as mailmerge and single key
case conversion. The price is still the same: It costs £150 +VAT or £160
through Archive.
6.1
•    Freddy Teddy strikes again! − In ‘The Puddle and the Wardrobe’, Freddy
gets in a muddle and steps in a puddle. While helping him out, pre-
readers and early readers will be encouraged in visual discrimination,
logical thinking, sequencing, comparison and memory − and they will have
fun too, I trust. The Puddle and the Wardrobe costs £29.95 +VAT from
Topologika or £32 through Archive.
6.1
•    Fun School 4 has now appeared. (What do you mean, you haven’t finished
Fun School 2 yet?!) It comes in the usual three age levels: Under 5’s,
5’s − 7’s and 7’s − 11’s. They are £24.99 each from Database Publi
cations or £23 through Archive.
6.1
•    IEEE488 interface − Anyone wanting to link an Archimedes to existing
IEEE488 instruments will be interested in Intelligent Interfaces’
IEEE488 interface which comes, complete with software, for £299 +VAT or
£325 through Archive.
6.1
•    Imagery − Palette Studio have created a new image-creation tool which
takes over where Paint leaves off. It provides 256 colour painting and
image processing with support for outline fonts. Imagery contains
various tools for creating artwork from scratch or for processing
existing pictures captured by digitisers or scanners. It costs £89.95
inc VAT from Palette Studio.
6.1
•    Language and literacy for Special Needs − The Xavier Educational
Software Ltd at the Department of Psychology, Bangor University now has
four packages for the Archimedes. Soapbox (£35 +VAT) links spelling
patterns and vowel sounds by using sampled speech, Punctuate (£32 +VAT)
helps with punctuation, ThinkLink (£30 +VAT) aims to help with reading,
memory, classification and sequence and ArcSpell 1 and 2 (£29.50 +VAT
each) provide a wide range of programs to help the dyslexic pupil.
6.1
•    Magpie − Longman Logotron’s multimedia package, Magpie, now includes
facilities for Acorn Replay and CD audio. The upgrade is free to
registered users and the price remains unchanged at £59 +VAT from
Longman-Logotron or £64 through Archive.
6.1
•    Mapper Series software − This has nothing to do with geography but is
edIT Software’s name for their new range of topic-based IT software for
primary schools. The packs currently available are Bodymapper, Weather
mapper and Homemapper. These are £44.95 +VAT each with site licences at
£89.90 +VAT (up to 5) and £134.85 +VAT (5+). There are also French
versions of each of these packs, at the same price each, and other
language versions are being developed. (EdIT also sell a range of
measuring equipment to go with the mapper packs.)
6.1
•    MicroSpell 3 − David Pilling has produced a stand-alone desktop
spelling checker with a 200,000 word dictionary for just £5.99 (or £6
through Archive). Owners of MicroSpell 1 or 2 can have a free upgrade by
returning their discs to David.
6.1
•    Network technical support − SJ Research have published a technical
support hotline number which people can use if they have technical
questions about networking matters. This line goes straight to the
engineers without going through the SJ Research switchboard. The number
is: 0223−414532.
6.1
•    Oh no! More Lemmings! − For those insomniacs who are gluttons for more
punishment, there are now over 100 more Lemmings levels available for
you as ‘Oh no, More Lemmings’. The price is £19.95 Krisalis or £18
through Archive. You need the original Lemmings disc to play the new
levels − it is not a stand-alone package.
6.1
•    PaySYS is a payroll system from KAS Software (also available for BBC/
Master) costing £75.
6.1
•    PC Emulator documentation − The manual for the 1.8 version of the PC
Emulator is available separately at £8 through Archive.
6.1
•    Polyominoes are now part of the National Curriculum and so Topologika
have provided three programs which deal with various aspects such as
tessellation, pentominoes and hexominoes.  Polyominoes costs £29.95 +VAT
from Topologika or £32 through Archive.
6.1
•    Portable is the name of a subscription magazine all about the A4
Notebook and associated products. It costs £15 for six issues. Contact
Ned Abell, ‘Weatherpost’, Hollywell Lane, Bayton Common, Kidderminster.
6.1
•    Printer drivers for Canon LBP printers − Ace Computing now have a
printer driver (£16 +VAT or £17 through Archive) for the Canon LBP range
of printers working through the standard ports (serial or parallel).
This is important because it makes the Laser Direct HiRes4 printer
usable on the A3010, A3020 and A4000 computers, albeit without the high
speed of the Laser Direct interface which will not fit in these newer
computers. You could, for example, sit an LBP4-LD between an A5000 and
an A4000, the one being connected via the video link and the other by a
parallel port cable, and switch between the two by using the printer’s
front panel.
6.1
•    ProDrivers are Ace Computing’s enhanced RISC-OS 3 printer drivers.
They provide full 24-bit half-toned and dithered output, an application
to print automatically to file and then from file to printer as a
background task, and a CMYK colour separation package. This can be used,
for example, to provide full colour prints on mono printers (like ICS’s
ColourSep − see the article last month on page 34 and the comments this
month on page 17) or to enhance the black output from a Deskjet 500C.
ProDrivers are £40+VAT from Ace or £44 through Archive. (Upgrades are
available from Ace for £25 +VAT.)
6.1
•    Removable drives prices DOWN again − Once again, the prices of
removable drives have dropped. The 42Mb drives have dropped slightly
from £455 to £445 but the 84Mb drives have dropped more dramatically
from £670 to £590. The 42Mb cartridges have also dropped by £5 to £65.
We are selling more and more of these drives and are finding that the
number of drives returned because of faults is getting less despite the
increased numbers so it looks as if some of the earlier unreliability
problems have been overcome. However, don’t be deceived, these are OPEN
hard drives and so CANNOT be as reliable as the fixed hard disc systems.
If portability is important or if you are just using them for backup
purposes, they are, in my view, the best thing since sliced bread!
6.1
•    RS423 serial interface − Intelligent Interfaces produce a dual RS423
serial interface on a single half-width podule for the Archimedes. It
costs £199 +VAT or £220 through Archive.
6.1
•    Saxon Life − Oak Solutions have produced a package to allow children
to follow the Saxon invasion of Britain. The material relates to History
Key Stage 2. The cost is £50 +VAT from Oak Solutions or £55 through
Archive.
6.1
•    Sound Lab software − Oak Solutions have produced some more advanced
software for use with their Oak Recorder. Sound Lab allows samples to be
turned into relocatable modules and provides a real-time display with a
spectrum analyser and a simple oscilloscope. The price is £14.95 +VAT or
£18 through Archive.
6.1
•    SparkFS − David Pilling has produced a full filing system for
compressed files. It reads and writes files compressed in a wide range
of formats: SEAarc, PKarc, Zip, Tar, Spark, BtoA/AtoB, Boo, FCET and
UNIX Compress. In addition, there are nine more formats that it will
read but not write. SparkFS is £23.96 from David Pilling. (See Price
List for Archive price.) It is also available from David as an upgrade
from Spark and/or ArcFS. You can have £5.99 off the price for each
program. Send him both discs and you need only pay £11.98.
6.1
•    Special Access Pack − When you buy an Acorn computer, you can buy, at
the same time, a Special Needs pack for £99 +VAT (£105 through Archive).
This includes a hardware expansion card to enable you to link to various
interface units, a disc of special software to provide assistance in
various ways and a copy of a resource book for special needs. For
partially-sighted users, there is a coupon to enable you to get a free
audio tape of the manual.
6.1
•    StartWrite − (nothing to do with children’s shoes) Icon Technology
have produced a word processor ‘for the younger generation’ called
StartWrite. The price is £49 +VAT or £53 through Archive.
6.1
•    Text-to-Braille − Royal London Society for the Blind has produced an
Archimedes application that converts ASCII text files to a Grade 2
Braille file that can then be output to a suitable Braille printer. The
application costs £25 from the Dorton IT Centre, Dorton House, Seal,
Sevenoaks  TN15 0ED. (0732−61477) (0732−63363)
6.1
•    Tiles is the first offering from a new educational software company
called Brain Games. It is a crossword game which is aimed to teach a
variety of skills: strategy, vocabulary, foreign languages, spelling and
arithmetic. The English version is £19.75 and extra language discs will
be available in due course, starting with French and German, hopefully
before Christmas.
6.1
•    TV Fun and Games − HS Software have produced a three-game set of
programs aimed at 5−9 year olds covering areas of the National Curricu
lum including Maths, English, Science and Geography. The price is £22.95
from HS or £21 through Archive.
6.1
•    VISYS is a video cataloguing system from KAS Software (also available
for IBM PC) costing £75.
6.1
•    Whale Facts − This is a multimedia database from Topologika about...
whales!  It includes sound samples and pictures for you to print out
yourself. Whale Facts costs £29.95 +VAT from Topologika or £32 through
Archive.
6.1
•    Wortgut is a German/English dictionary from New Era Software costing
£25 (no VAT).
6.1
Review software received...
6.1
We have received review copies of the following: 2067 BC, Aliped,
Archimedes Games Maker’s Manual, Beginner’s Guide to Wimp Programming,
CSVtoText, DeskEdit2, DTP and Programmer’s Utilities Disc, Gods,
LandBuild (fractal landscapes), Landmarks Columbus, Landmarks Aztecs,
Magpie, MicroSpell 3, Nebulus, Polyominoes, Precision, Science and
Medicine clipart, SparkFS, The Puddle and the Wardrobe, Tiles, Touch
Type (Is there really no one out there who feels able to review this and
Turbo-Type and the two PD typing tutors?), Whale Facts, Wortgut, Yes
Chancellor II.  A
6.1
Government Health Warning − Reading this could seriously affect your
spiritual health.
6.1
“How can a God of love condemn anyone to hell?” is a question which
sceptics often ask of Christians. Well, let me ask the sceptic a
question. If you were God, what would you do with Adolf Hitler? Would
you accept him into heaven? Or what about someone who had molested and
killed a child? Would you accept them into heaven? Well, what about
someone who committed some lesser crime?....
6.1
Our natural sense of justice says that there are some people that God
should not accept. The trouble is, where do you draw the line in
deciding who to accept? Listen to what Jesus says about this... “anyone
who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her
in his heart” and “anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject
to judgement”. (Those two quotes are from that nice “Sermon on the
Mount” thing in Matthew chapter 5.) Tough stuff, isn’t it?
6.1
“Well”, you say, “Jesus’ standards are ridiculously high. Why, at that
rate no one would get into heaven!”  That’s it. You’ve got it. You are
absolutely right.
6.1
Where does God draw the line? He says that if you have ever done, said
or thought anything evil, you don’t deserve to be accepted into heaven.
Hmmm? We’ve got a problem here. How can anyone be acceptable to God if
the standards are that high? If you don’t know the answer to that then
ask someone you know who is a Christian − they ought to be able to tell
you what the solution is − I haven’t got space here to explain it!
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6.2
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Norwich Computer Services 96a Vauxhall Street, Norwich, NR2 2SD.
0603−766592 (−764011)
6.1
4th Dimension     P.O. Box 4444, Sheffield. (0742−700661) (0742−781091)
6.1
Abacus Training     29 Okus Grove, Upper Stratton, Swindon, Wilts  SN2
6QA.
6.1
Ace Computing    27 Victoria Road, Cambridge  CB4 3BW. (0223−322559)
(0223−69180)
6.1
Acorn Computers Ltd     Fulbourn
Road, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge  CB1 4JN. (0223−245200) (0223−210685)
6.1
Arxe Systems Ltd    279B Romford Road, Forest Gate, London E7 9HJ.
(081−534−1198)
6.1
Atomwide Ltd    23 The Greenway, Orpington, Kent  BR5 2AY. (0689−838852)
(0689−896088)
6.1
Bits ’n Bytes (p6)    26 Grenville
Road, Saint Judes, Plymouth  PL4 9PY. (0752−667599)
6.1
Brain Games    Swinegate, Hessle, North Humberside  HU13 9LH.
(0482−649288) (0482−641136)
6.1
Cambridge International Software    Unit 2a, 436
Essex Road, London  N1 3QP. (071−226−3340) (071−226−3408)
6.1
Colton Software (p28)    2 Signet
Court, Swanns Road, Cambridge  CB5 8LA. (0223−311881) (0223−312010)
6.1
Computer Concepts (p40/41)    Gaddesden
Place, Hemel Hempstead, Herts  HP2 6EX. (0442−63933) (0442−231632)
6.1
Database Publications    Europa
House, Adlington Park, London Road, Adlington, Macclesfield, Cheshire
SK10 5NP. (0625−859444) (0625−879966)
6.1
David Pilling    P.O.Box 22, Thornton Cleveleys, Blackpool, FY5 1LR.
6.1
EdIT Educational Software    2 The Crest,
London  NW4 2HW. (081−202−0834)
6.1
HS Software    56, Hendrefolian Avenue, Sketty, Swansea  SA2 7NB.
(0792−204519)
6.1
ICS (Ian Copestake Software)    1 Kington
Road, West Kirby, Wirral  L48 5ET. (051−625−1006) (051−625−1007)
6.1
Icon Technology    9 Jarrom Street, Leicester  LE2 7DH. (0533−546225)
6.1
Intelligent Interfaces Ltd    P.O.Box 80,
Eastleigh, Hants  SO5 5YX. (0703−261514) (0703−267904)
6.1
KAS Software    74 Dovers Park, Bathford, Bath  BA1 7UE. (0225−858464)
6.1
Kudlian Soft    39 Dalehouse Lane, Kenilworth, Warwickshire  CV8 2HW.
(0926−55538)
6.1
Lingenuity (Lindis)    Wood Farm,
Linstead Magna, Halesworth, Suffolk  IP19 0DU. (098−685−477)
(098−685−460)
6.1
Longman-Logotron    124 Cambridge Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4
4ZS. (0223−425558) (0223−425349)
6.1
LOOKsystems (p21)    47 Goodhale Road, Bowthorpe, Norwich  NR5 9AY.
(0603−764114) (0603−764011)
6.1
Matt Black    P.O.Box 42, Peterborough  PE1 2TZ. (0733−315439)
6.1
Minerva Systems    Minerva House, Baring Crescent, Exeter  EX1 1TL.
(0392−437756) (0392−421762)
6.1
New Era Software    204 High Street, Woodville, Swadlincote, Derbyshire
DE11 7DT. (0283−812818)
6.1
Oak Solutions (p22)    Suite 25,
Robin Enterprise Centre, Leeds Road, Idle, Yorkshire BD10 9TE.
(0274−620423) (0274−620419)
6.1
Palette Studio     6c/6d Belgic Square, Peterborough  PE1 5XF.
(0733−344245) (0733−315424)
6.1
PEP Associates    34 Tiverton Way, Cambridge  CB1 3TU. (0223−212251)
6.1
Pineapple Software    39 Brownlea
Gardens, Seven Kings, Ilford, Essex IG3 9NL. (081−599−1476)
(081−598−2343)
6.1
P.R.E.S. Ltd     P.O. Box 319, Lightwater, Surrey GU18 5PW. (0276−72046)
(0276−51427)
6.1
Ray Maidstone     421 Sprowston Road, Norwich  NR3 4EH. (0603−400477)
(0603−417447)
6.1
Risc Developments Ltd    117 Hatfield
Road, St Albans, Herts  AL1 4JS. (0727−40303) (0727−860263)
6.1
Safesell Exhibitions (p7)    Market
House, Cross Road, Tadworth, Surrey KT20 5SR.
6.1
Silicon Vision Ltd    Signal
House, Lyon Road, Harrow, Middlesex  HA1 2AG. (081−861−2173)
(081−427−5169)
6.1
SJ Research    J1 The Paddocks, 347 Cherry Hinton Road, Cambridge  CB1
4DH. (0223−416715)
6.1
Soft Rock Software    124 Marissal
Road, Henbury, Bristol  BS10 7NP. (0272−761685)
6.1
Spacetech (p8)    21 West Wools, Portland, Dorset  DT5 2EA.
(0305−822753) (0305−860483)
6.1
System Insight     Unit 2, Hertfordshire Business Centre, Alexander Road,
London Colney, Herts  AL2 1JG. (0727−827200)
6.1
Topologika    P.O. Box 39, Stilton, Peterborough  PE7 3RL. (0733−244682)
6.1
Xavier Educational Software Ltd    Dept of
Psychology, 37 College Road, Bangor, Gwynedd  LL57 2DG. (0248−351151)
(0248−364412)
6.1
6.2
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6.2
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Computer Concepts
6.1
From 5.3 page 32
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Computer Concepts
6.1
From 5.3 page 33
6.1
Paul B
6.1
‘PLEASE buy some Archive backnumbers before I sink without trace!’
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6.2
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(Cartoon by Jonathan Dellar.)
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Cartoon here
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6.1
Mouse Mats
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£1.99* each
6.1
Red, Blue, Royal Blue, Silver, or Green
6.1
8 by 10 inches by 5mm
6.1
neoprene with no silk-screening
6.1
includes P&P and VAT.
6.1
6.2
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Send a cheque to:
6.1
Bits n Bytes
6.1
26 Grenville Road
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Saint Judes
6.1
Plymouth
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PL4 9PY
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0752 667599
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*£1.75  each for 3 or more
6.1
mats in one order.
6.1
Safesell Exhibitions
6.1
New Artwork
6.1
SpaceTech
6.1
From 5.12 page 13
6.1
Hints and Tips
6.1
•    Alt characters − On upgrading from RISC-OS 2 to RISC-OS 3.1, I thought
I had lost my ‘×’ character. I eventually found that it had moved from
<alt-,> to <shift-alt-,>. (Even on RISC-OS 3.0 on the A5000 it is still
<alt-,>.) So I investigated all the possible ALTernatives(!). Here are
all the ALT characters I found. They are laid out in QWERTY order but
where no special character appeared, the key is not included in the
list.
6.1
key    ALT    shift ALT
6.1
`    ¬    °
6.1
1    ¹    ¡
6.1
2    ²
6.1
3    ³
6.1
4    ¼
6.1
5    ½
6.1
6    ¾
6.1
9        ±
6.1
r    ¶    ®
6.1
y        ¥
6.1
o    ø    Ø
6.1
p    þ    Þ
6.1
\        ¦
6.1
a    æ    Æ
6.1
s    ß    §
6.1
d    ð    Ð
6.1
f        ª
6.1
z    «
6.1
x    »
6.1
c    ¢    ©
6.1
m    µ    º
6.1
,        ×
6.1
.        ÷
6.1
/        ¿
6.1
I think that is all there is, but if anyone finds any more, let us know.
Ed.
6.1
•    Annual service kit − In answer to Paul’s comment about hard drives in
Archive 5.12, p.8, I’d like to sing the praises of the Alarm application
(on one of the support disks or in ROM on RISC-OS 3). (You will see the
link if you read on! Ed)
6.1
I, too, would have forgotten completely about the annual replacement of
filter and batteries, but for this application (which, thanks to my Boot
file, always resides on the iconbar): When my machine was a year old,
Alarm reminded me of this fact in no uncertain terms, (‘urgent’ alarm,
repeating every hour), so there was very little chance of overlooking
this necessary bit of maintenance. Jochen Konietzko, Köln, Germany.
6.1
•    Apple Laser Writer II NT − Here is some information for anyone wanting
to make a cable link from an Archimedes to an Apple Laser Writer II NT.
The connections are as follows...
6.1
    Archimedes    LaserWriter II NT
6.1
    Pin            Pin
6.1
    2    (RXD)    −−−−    3    (TXD)
6.1
    3    (TXD)    −−−−    2    (RXD)
6.1
    5    (0V)    −−−−    7    (0V)
6.1
    6    (DSR)    −−−−    20    (DTR)
6.1
The Archimedes pins DCD (1), DTR (4) and CTS (8) are all linked
together.
6.1
When using a RISC-OS printer driver you should choose the Serial
connection with 9600 baud rate, 8 data bits, no parity and 1 stop bit.
XOn/XOff protocol should also be used.
6.1
•    DDE Pascal − Some would-be users of DDE !Pascal (on Careware 17) will
have discovered that it won’t function in Computer Concepts’ Compressed
Filing System (CFS), where it generates the error ‘Special field not
allowed in filesystem prefix to OS_CLI’. This means that the command
line interpreter, which is invoked to run the Pascal tool, objects to
some pathname which begins with the prefix ‘CFS#’. The offending
pathname turns out to be the <Pascal$Dir>.Pascal, as assigned into
Alias$Pascal by the !Run file with the apparent function of enabling the
compiler to be located in the application directory. The remedy is to
comment out the line which assigns Alias$Pascal and move the compiler
(i.e. <Pascal$Dir>.Pascal) to your library. This brings the configura
tion into line with that of the C compiler and other DDE tools and
causes ‘*Pascal’ commands to be serviced by default from the current
library without any explicit reference to a filesystem.  Mike Kinghan,
Oxford
6.1
•    DDE Pascal (Careware 17) − The release of the public-domain Norcroft
Pascal compiler for the Archimedes is potentially extremely useful,
since, although ISO-Pascal is very good, it does not interface well with
the operating system. More seriously, programs compiled with ISO-Pascal
do not interface well either.
6.1
The Norcroft system is easy to use and install and does everything that
is claimed of it. Unfortunately, users should be aware of some problems,
especially since Acorn obviously does not wish to maintain the product.
6.1
I have some extra severe tests for Pascal, which I have used to test the
compiler. This shows that the compiler has some errors in the evaluation
of set expressions: the following program failed (printing True rather
than False):
6.1
{4 5 6 4 0 3     3000 }
6.1
{the parameters from the full test which failed. }
6.1
program test (output);
6.1
const
6.1
    ten = 10;
6.1
var
6.1
    i: 1..ten;
6.1
begin
6.1
i := 11; (compilation error here?)
6.1
i := ten + 1; (compilation error here?)
6.1
writeln(‘Error not detected‘) ;
6.1
end.
6.1
The first error is caught at compile-time by almost all Pascal com
pilers, including ISO-Pascal. The second error is caught by almost all
compilers at run-time, and a few at compile-time.
6.1
When using the quit option in the Pascal menu, the system still allows
command line usage of Norcroft Pascal, although the icon is removed.
6.1
The final significant problem is that programs written in ISO-Pascal do
not necessarily compile without the ISO option being set. This is
annoying, since many programs will wish to use some extensions. I don’t
know of any other Pascal compiler for which the extension option means
less (in some cases).  Brian Wichmann, NPL.
6.1
•    Directory size − Regarding the issue on directory sizes, etc in the
hints & tips section, there are a few other points...
6.1
RISC-OS 2 has some problems with certain combinations of disk size and
allocation unit, so beware. The problem usually causes the machine to
hang when entering a directory. I have only experienced this using large
allocation units on small disks.
6.1
The fact that a new dir appears to take 38Kb isn’t the whole story, as I
believe that there is a facility for small files within a directory to
use some of the ‘wasted’ space. However, if you tend to have lots of
directories with few files, space does tend to get wasted.
6.1
The best solution as far as both disk, space and speed is concerned is
to use D format, which uses the ‘correct’ amount of space for direc
tories and hardly anything for the map. (Remember that there are two
copies of the map in E format.) D format disks are also MUCH easier to
recover files from if the root directory or map gets corrupted and files
can never be fragmented (which slows down access). The only disadvantage
is the occasional need to compact but I find this a small price to pay.
I would only recommend E format for non-technical users.
6.1
The same issues will apply to all FireCore based filling systems such as
IDE, etc.  Mike Harrison
6.1
•    Impression/Squirrel − CC’s !Importer (also in their Business Supple
ment) is supplied by Digital Services with Squirrel. Here is some
experience that might help other people.
6.1
Using Squirrel, I created a database with 22 fields. I then tried to
mail merge the resultant report CSV file using !Importer. I got an error
message saying ‘Subscript out of range (Code 6150).’ After some hours of
fiddling, I eventually found that if I reduced the number of fields in
the CSV file to 16, !Importer worked OK. Nick Horn, Thetford.
6.1
•    Second internal hard drive in an A410/1 − I fitted a 40Mb ST506 hard
drive to my A410, thinking it would be more than adequate. However, with
the acquisition of the PC Emulator and the formation of a 10Mb DOS
partition, I was rapidly running out of room. I subsequently purchased a
second hand 20Mb ST506 drive, which I decided to fit internally rather
than buy a p.s.u., case and fan. I thought of making some mounting
brackets but, having seen an advert for a SPACE kit from PRES which
included brackets and all the leads, I changed my mind and went for
that. Price was £38.72 inc VAT. The work involved was to:
6.1
1)    Remove top two podule blanking plates.
6.1
2)    Fit metal brackets to drive using screws supplied.
6.1
3)    Remove the 34 way data cable and replace it with the one supplied,
connecting it to the existing drive and mother board (SK11), leaving
spare connector to connect to the second drive later.
6.1
4)    Connect the supplied 20 way control cable to the spare connector
(SK8) on the mother board, leaving the other end to be connected to the
second drive later.
6.1
5)    Remove the power cable from the psu and existing drive and replace
it with the supplied cable, leaving the spare connector for the second
drive.
6.1
6)    Lead all three cables to the back of the computer and through the
space left by removing the blanking plates and connect them to the
second drive.
6.1
7)    Attach the blanking plates to the metal brackets on the second
drive using nuts & bolts supplied.
6.1
8)    Ensure second drive is set to ‘1’ by changing the appropriate DIP
switch or DS-Jumper.
6.1
9)    Insert the drive through the back of computer until the front of
the brackets rests on backplane connectors (psu side) and the blanking
plates line up with the back of the computer. Screw in blanking plate
screws.
6.1
10)    Once computer is up and running it will have to be configured for
a second hard drive.
6.1
The work was very easy to carry out and the instructions supplied were
very good. The drive then has to be formatted using Acorn’s HFORM
program. The program had to be modified to do the ‘slow’ formatting by
altering the following lines:
6.1
7530 REMmed out
6.1
7540 REMmed out
6.1
7550 REM removed
6.1
7560 REM remove
6.1
Once this was done, the drive formatted with no problems and, using the
PC Emulator’s configure program, I created a 19 Mb DOS partition.
6.1
I would recommend this solution of gaining extra drive capacity if you
have access to a cheap drive and do not mind losing the space of two
half width podules.  Chris Bass, Grimsby
6.1
•    Mah Jong from CIS − If you have recently purchased the Mah Jong game
from Cambridge International Software, you may wish to check for the
presence of a ‘benign’ virus. This can be done by double-clicking on the
!MahJong game while holding the <shift> key down. Choose the ‘Display >
Full Info’ option on the filer window. If the MemAlloc module is larger
that 2608 bytes then your copy is infected and you should contact CIS
directly at Unit 2a, Essex Road, London  N1 3QP or telephone
071−226−3340.
6.1
•    Measuring free space − I would like to say a big thank you to all the
people who wrote in response to my plea for help in finding a way of
checking, from within a program, whether there is enough space for a
file before it is saved.
6.1
The most ingenious suggestion was to use the following commands:
6.1
*FREE {ram:ccc }
6.1
X=OPENUP(“RAM:CCC”)
6.1
REPEAT B=BGET#X: UNTIL B=ASC“=”
6.1
REPEAT B=BGET#X
6.1
 IF B>47 AND B<58 B$=B$+CHR$B
6.1
UNTIL B=ASC“B”
6.1
*SHUT
6.1
to put the free space in the variable B$.
6.1
Some people pointed me to ‘ADFS_FreeSpace’ (also RamFS_FreeSpace,
SCSIFS_FreeSpace, etc.) which can be used with syntax such as:
6.1
SYS “ADFS_FreeSpace”,Drive$ TO Free%,Largest%.
6.1
The same information was given on page 7 of the Archive 5.12.
6.1
Although all these answers have been very helpful, they have also taught
me a salutary lesson, namely that you have to be very precise when
describing your problem: because, although they have answered the
question (and told me things that I did not know) they haven’t actually
told me what I needed to know!
6.1
What I actually want is a filing system independent way of finding out
whether a file with any given path name can be saved. For instance, if
the user of my program indicates (by dragging an icon to a filer window
or typing into a save box) that he wants to save a file with the path
name ‘XXXFS::$....Filename’ and if my program knows how long the file
will be, I want my program to be able to find out whether the file will
fit in the specified place, without knowing in advance whether ‘XXXFS’
stands for ADFS or CFS or SCSIFS or RamFS or whatever. The program also
has to work if a path is not specified and the file is simply to be
saved to the CSD.
6.1
A couple of correspondents have pointed out that there is an SWI called
‘FileCore_FreeSpace’ (on page 1021 of the PRM). However, in order to use
this you have to know the ‘private word’ of the filing system in
question and, so far as I can see, this SWI can only therefore be called
by a filing system module, which is not much use to a mere mortal
programmer!
6.1
I still, therefore, believe that the only generalised way of doing what
I want is to use syntax like the following :
6.1
X%=OPENOUT(Filename$)
6.1
SYS “XOS_Args”,6,X%,Length% TO ,,Allocated%
6.1
IF Allocated% >= Length% THEN ... go ahead and save it.
6.1
This is hardly elegant but it seems to work.
6.1
I understand that RISC-OS 3 will include the generalised SWI that I
want. However, this will not be much use, of course, in a program that
is designed to work in RISC-OS 2 as well!  Hugh Eagle, Horsham
6.1
•    Formatting numbers (continued) − Over the last two months, I have been
following the correspondence on Basic’s number formatting ability (PRINT
and STR$) with some interest. Has the increased size and complexity of
RISC-OS caused the oversight of some of the slightly esoteric but very
powerful features of BBC Basic? One such feature is the @% variable in
Basic. The @% variable controls the format of the PRINT and STR$
functions and much of last month’s discussions could have been settled
by altering the @% variable so that STR$ was formatted in the same way
as PRINT.
6.1
@% is fully discussed in the manuals that accompany the computer under
the PRINT command but I will try to give some useful pointers here. As
with all Basic integers, the @% variable is four bytes long. When Byte 4
(the left-most byte) is zero Basic ignores @% when using the STR$
function (this is the default and the source of last month’s problems)
otherwise STR$ is formatted exactly the same as PRINT. Byte 3 allows the
choice of three different formatting types: 0 − general (the default), 1
− exponent and 2 − fixed. Byte 2 specifies the number of digits printed
and Byte 1 gives the print field width when you use comma separators in
PRINT.
6.1
Our problem arises from two areas: the way computers represent numbers
and the value of @%. At this point, I think it is necessary to take an
aside into the nature of real number representation in computers so, if
you are only interested in how to circumvent Basic’s printing problems,
skip to the end of this article.
6.1
Common advice to novice programmers is not to use real variables unless
you really have to. Speed and storage reasons are normally given for
simplicity but a far more important reason is that real numbers are not
exact in the same way as integers and they must be treated differently.
A classic example is the problem in mathematics of dealing with two
representations of, say, the number one: which could be 1.000... or
0.999.... As far as we are concerned both are the same but if we ask a
computer whether or not they are equal, we find not. This is due to no
fault of the computer or the programmer but the acceptance that
computers cannot store the infinite expressions for real numbers but
must approximate to a number of decimal places and so springs up the
subject of numerical analysis.
6.1
How then do we equate real numbers? Well, we must choose a value for a
zero! That is a number where any number smaller than it we consider to
be ‘as good as zero’. An example for Basic is 10−7, any smaller and the
errors in calculations become significant. So when we want to check
equality of two numbers a and b we use the expression (ABS(a­b) < 1E-7).
If this is true then the two numbers are ‘as good as equal’. (ABS is
used since we are only interested in the magnitude of the difference
between the numbers.)
6.1
The second important point with numbers stored in computers is that they
are stored in binary. Yes, of course, you all knew that but fewer people
are aware how computers store fractions. Much like in decimal when we
have a decimal point, computers use a binary point where the digits to
the right of the point have place values 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, etc. In decimal
there is a problem of representing fractions like 1/3 or 1/6 because the
prime factors of 3 or 6 are not divisible by the factors of 10 (2, 5) so
you get infinite decimal expansions for them. In binary, the problem is
greater because there is only one factor of two (unlike two factors of
ten) so even more numbers have infinite representations (this is why
some people advocate using base 12 instead of base 10 for day to day
life − it makes mental arithmetic so much easier). This means that
simple decimal numbers like 0.6 have an infinite expansion in binary.
6.1
What has all this got to do with printing numbers in Basic? Well, an
appreciation of what is going on when you store numbers will help you
avoid the pitfalls that last month’s contributors highlighted. Now that
we are aware that innocuous looking numbers like 2.1 can have infinite
expansions when stored in binary, it becomes clear that 2.1 × 10 may not
equal 21 but, perhaps, 20.99999999!
6.1
Is there anything that we can do about this? Yes, indeed there is. We
can tell Basic to round off the number to nine decimal places instead of
attempting to print 10 which extends the precision beyond the accuracy
(in general Basic is accurate to nine decimal places unless you are
using the floating point version where I believe 19 is the limit but not
having a RISC-OS 3...).
6.1
Now we come back to @%. At default, @% specifies 9 decimal places but it
only affects PRINT and not STR$ which defaults to ten. To alter this,
all we need to do is set the byte 4 flag in @% to one. Try PRINT
STR$(0.6) and then set @% = &0100090A and try again (by the way, &90A is
the default value for @% whereas STR$ uses &A0A if byte 4 is unset).
6.1
If we want to print money then we can set @% to two decimal places by
&0002020A (remember to set byte 4 to one if you want to use STR$). This
has the added bonus of allowing you to print the number rounded off but
still maintain the extra places for further calculations.
6.1
I hope you can now see the power and simplicity of using @%. My only
warning is that if you wish to use several formats in your program, then
either save the previous @% or declare it as a local variable.  Emmet
Spier, Guildford.
6.1
This subject seems to have opened up quite a debate. Emmet has agreed to
edit any comments regarding rounding errors for us and so if your wish
to add to the debate you should write to him directly. Emmet Spier, 6
Parklands Place, Guildford, Surrey  GU1 2PS.
6.1
•    PC keyboards for A4 − A word of warning − not all PC type keyboards
work on the A4 (or all PCs for that matter!), so take the A4 to the shop
and try before you buy! Reasonable ones can be had for about £40 at some
computer fairs. Note that non PS/2 type keyboards (with the 5 pin DIN
plug) can be used with an adaptor or by changing the plug.  Mike
Harrison
6.1
•    RISC-OS 3 DOS partitions − Because DOS filenames (including exten
sions) are in general longer than the maximum length of a valid ADFS
filename (10), it is not always possible to copy or move DOS files from
hard or floppy discs directly to the ADFS.
6.1
The !MultiFS utility as supplied with the PC Emulator solves this by
allowing you to truncate the DOS filename while the translation process
takes place. Another very useful option (which I often use when copying
files from C programs) is to force !MultiFS to handle DOS extensions as
(hierarchical) directories.
6.1
However, when the filetype of a DOS partition on your ADFS hard disc is
set to ‘DOSdisc’, RISC-OS 3 will display a filer window for the
partition when you try to open the folder, while !MultiFS just ignores
it (i.e. no :C drive on the iconbar.) This is all very nice but RISC-OS
3 doesn’t offer the nice name translation options mentioned above. To
enable !MultiFS to display your DOS partitions, just set their filetype
to ‘data’ before you start !MultiFS. Remember to use the command line
and not the filer menu because the latter doesn’t allow you to change
the the filetype of DOSdiscs. I inserted 3 lines for each DOS partition
in the !MultiFS !Run file to swap between ‘DOSdisc’ and ‘data’ type
partitions when !MultiFS is started:
6.1
    *Filer_CloseDir     <PCe$Drive_X>
6.1
*SetType     <PCe$Drive_X> Data
6.1
directly after setting the system variable <PCe$Drive_X>, and
6.1
    *SetType     <PCe$Drive_X> DOSDisc
6.1
at the end of the !Run file (although the comment tells us not to do
so).
6.1
Unfortunately, there are some bugs in !MultiFS: When you copy to a
MultiFS filer window, you must ensure name translation is not set to
hierarchical or you will end up with wildcards (‘?’) in filenames. When
this happens you must use DOS itself to delete the file because RISC-OS
fails to wipe those objects. Another bug appears if you shut down your
system after using !MultiFS. This results in an error report and a task
manager crash.  Paul Groot, Holland.
6.1
•    Saloon Cars Deluxe − If you are having problems running Saloon Cars
Deluxe, it may be worth knowing that you must have the Font Manager
installed for it to run.
6.1
•    Shareware 44 (Fortran Friends) update − There is a small bug in the
!Fortran77. DesktopF77 program. Line 1400 should read:
6.1
1400 IF INSTR(b$,“rror”) THEN E%+=1
6.1
This allows errors in the code generator part of the compiler to be
detected. Kate Crennell, Oxon.
6.1
•    Zelanites cheat − The following program provides a cheat for
Zelanites. It stops the number of lives decreasing below 9.  Steve
Edwards, Stourbridge.
6.1
 10 REM >:0.$.hints.zelcheat
6.1
 20 REM Archive hints & tips section
6.1
 30 REM (c) S.EDWARDS 1992
6.1
 40 REM infinite lives for Zelanites
6.1
 50 REM ****************************
6.1
 60 REM * When you have run the program the game should *
6.1
 70 REM * then be run as normal. This time when you die  *
6.1
 80 REM * you will have not gone down one life but up   *
6.1
 90 REM * to NINE lives, which stay with you for ever.  *
6.1
100 REM *                          *
6.1
110 REM ****************************
6.1
120 :
6.1
130 DIM store% &400
6.1
140 MODE 0
6.1
150 PROCDisc_op
6.1
160 PRINT‘********FINISHED********’
6.1
170 PRINT
6.1
180 PRINT‘****NOW GET BLASTING****’
6.1
190 END
6.1
200 :
6.1
210 DEF PROCDisc_op
6.1
220 PRINT ‘Put !ZELANITE disc into drive 0’
6.1
230 PRINT ‘   and press a key.’
6.1
240 A=GET
6.1
250 PRINT ‘Loading  sector information’
6.1
260 SYS ‘ADFS_DiscOp’,0,1,&50400, store%,&400
6.1
270 store%?&67=&6A:REM Original code =&2A
6.1
280 INPUT‘Are you are ready to make the change ?’;A$
6.1
290 IF LEFT$(A$,1)=‘N’ OR LEFT$(A$,1)=‘n’ THEN END
6.1
300 IF LEFT$(A$,1)=‘Y’ OR LEFT$(A$,1)=‘y’ THEN
6.1
310   PRINT‘Saving cheat back to disk’
6.1
320   SYS ‘ADFS_DiscOp’,0,2,&50400, store%,&400
6.1
330 ENDIF
6.1
340 ENDPROC  A
6.1
Comment Column
6.1
•    Acorn’s education dealer policy − Acorn have recently changed their
policy as regards selling computers into education. Originally, any
Acorn dealer could sell computers (at the specified education prices) to
educational establishments and Acorn would give the dealer a grant for
each computer sold in order to partially off-set the reduction in profit
margin.
6.1
The Acorn’s policy change recognises that not all dealers are able to
offer the same level of service and that not all dealers have the same
knowledge and experience of Acorn machines. So the aim of the new policy
is to try to ensure that only competent dealers sell into education.
They have therefore laid down some very stringent conditions for
becoming an ‘Education Dealer’. As a reward for satisfying these
conditions, Education Dealers will be able to buy direct from Acorn
instead of having to go through the distributor − Hugh Symons Ltd.
6.1
This will help to keep out the ‘cowboys’ but, sadly, some schools will
find that the dealer who has been supplying them with computers for some
considerable time and doing so to their mutual satisfaction, will no
longer be able to help them. They will be forced to find a new supplier
from Acorn’s list (which I have not yet seen) of Education Dealers.
6.1
What will be the effect on the non-Education Dealers? Well, Acorn have
reduced the dealer discount by 3% of the retail price and (unless they
are already amongst the very few Direct Dealers who have had accounts
with Acorn since the early days) there will be one, and only one, way to
buy Acorn hardware, i.e. through Hugh Symons. If these dealers decide to
continue to supply education (despite having to pay 3% more for the
computers and despite not getting the education grant) there is
virtually no profit in it at all. Indeed, if a school wants a lot of
computer equipment and shops around to find the best deal, non-Education
Dealers would not be able to compete at all.
6.1
At Norwich Computer Services, we have decided that to try to implement
all the education dealer criteria would completely change the nature of
our business. We would have to employ someone specifically to perform
the tasks necessary to meet the criteria.
6.1
Our new policy is that, although we will still sell to schools at the
education price, we will have to charge for carriage and will not be
able to give any discount on quantity. This is sad but it is the only
way we can hope to keep contact with the schools with whom we have an
established link.
6.1
•    Acorn Pocket Books − Acorn say that their Pocket Book computers should
become available in the second week of October. However, they say that,
initially, they will be ‘concentrating on education’ so they will only
be supplying Pocket Book computers through Education Dealers. So, those
Archive subscribers who are in a hurry for a Pocket Book would be well
advised to find out from Acorn who the Education Dealers are, place an
order with one of them and cancel their order with Archive. If and when
Acorn change this policy, we will obviously let you know.
6.1
• Acorn’s new machines − The new range of A30x0 and A4000 computers is
impressive but I’m not sure that Acorn have thought about upgrade routes
for A300/400 owners. It seems impossible to get all but the basic A3010
without a monitor, which means needless expense for those with perfectly
good monitors already. Also, I have an 1987 vintage A310 with 4M, ARM3
and Oak SCSI. The ARM250 may be neat but, being cache-less, it means
that the cheapest Acorn machine which would not be a downgrade from my
current computer is the A5000 2M/HD80 at £1644 plus £100 for the upgrade
to 4M. Surely, Acorn can’t be serious about wanting £1526 for the A5000
ES with 2M and no hard disc? The 40386 price ‘goal posts’ move every
week! We need an A4000 type package with ARM3 power (at no more than
£1000, bearing in mind PC prices) for existing A300/400 owners whose
machines are getting towards the end of their lives. Perhaps the ARM350
(incorporating VIDC2) will be along soon! Stuart Bell, Brighton.
6.1
•    Acorn A4 − I have just read again your various comments about the new
A4 machine. In common with nearly all the Acorn Risc Machines it
certainly sounds like impressive hardware. (I would buy one − if I had
the money!) There are some observations that I would like to make to
challenge Ian Lynch’s article in Archive 5.10 p54.
6.1
1) The old bone of contention about treating educational markets
preferentially. This has always been an unfair practice, given Acorn’s
dependence on enthusiasts and other non-educational computer users.
6.1
2) MS-DOS − It is no good ignoring this operating system. Like it or
not, MS-DOS and its crippled offspring Windows & OS2 are here to stay.
Acorn should have recognised this as a fact and have obtained a licence
to supply MS-DOS in ROM as well as RISC-OS.
6.1
3) Comparisons of the A4 with Macintosh portable is inappropriate − If
we can barely afford to buy Acorn, we would hardly be in the market for
Macs. The real competitors to the A4 are the portable PC Specialists
like Compaq & Toshiba. How about some comparisons in this area?
6.1
4) If the A4 is to be successful, Acorn will have to change their
tactics. I offer the following ideas:
6.1
− Forget about the education market and reduce prices for everybody.
6.1
− Try some head to head marketing against the likes of Dell, Compaq &
Toshiba.
6.1
− Get MS-DOS in ROM and make sure this fact is well featured in the
adverts.
6.1
− Try some value added marketing, including some well known software
bundles e.g. Lotus with the MS-DOS and Pipedream with the RISC-OS. Just
remember the key part this played in the success of the Z88.
6.1
− Consider selling the machine through third parties such as Olivetti
(under the Olivetti name).
6.1
− Try some more modern marketing methods.
6.1
I wish the A4 well − it deserves to be successful. I wish I had one. I
hope that you will publish my comments in order to promote further
discussion. I would be extremely interested in any response from Acorn.
G T Swain, Edgware.
6.1
Ian Lynch replies... G T Swain challenges my article, so I will try to
deal with the points he raises with some reference to what I wrote.
6.1
Giving preference to education − Virtually all computer manufacturers do
this. Rightly or wrongly, Acorn are not particularly different from
Apple, IBM or ICL in this respect.
6.1
I would like to bet that Acorn’s revenue from education sales is
considerably greater than all other areas put together and so, from a
marketing point of view, it would be silly to let this decline. At
present, education probably ensures the existence of Acorn for users
such as Mr Swain not the other way round! I hope that I didn’t give the
impression that Acorn’s marketing effort should stop here, only that it
is important to maintain education sales which are real until volume
industrial sales are more than just wishful thinking. Acorn would like
to achieve volume in all areas but investment reality dictates a more
pragmatic approach. The main market for ARM chips might well be Apple
and its Newton in future. Who knows?
6.1
MS-DOS − MS-DOS has hardly been ignored by Acorn. They have produced
what is probably the best software emulation of a PC on any machine − it
can even access CD-ROM. A 386 card from Aleph One, who cooperated with
Acorn in its development, gives sensible performance. RISC-OS 3 allows
direct read, write and formatting of MS-DOS discs. If the 386 card is
too expensive, ask Aleph One why. Almost certainly it’s due to market
realities. MS-DOS in ROM isn’t a bad idea but it would put up prices
and, in reality, the emulator is too slow for Windows 3 intensive use
even on ARM 3. Personally, I hardly use my PC emulator but I do use file
transfer a lot and my work environment is PC dominated.
6.1
Companies like WordPerfect and Lotus are bigger than Acorn. How do Acorn
get them to port versions of their software to the Archimedes? Pay them?
Then what advantage is there in the Archimedes over a cheap clone? If
you want a cheap PC to almost exclusively run Wordperfect and Lotus, buy
one. Olivetti are in the volume PC market and, like many clone manufac
turers, they are hitting hard times because demand is down in the
recession and there is too much supply.
6.1
The A4 Notebook − I wish portable PCs were the A4’s main competitors. I
am willing to bet that most A4’s are bought by existing Acorn users or
by individual first time users. The Acorn customer is more Mac-like than
PC-like, so a Mac comparison is fair. Most PC portables are bought by
corporates who will not buy anything that is remotely IBM incompatible.
That’s sad but it’s a fact of life. The A4 is expensive but, from a
marketing point of view, fewer high profit margin sales can be more
profitable than high volume low margin sales. Ask Apple. They increased
their market share by lowering prices but reduced their profitability.
High prices are not in the best interest of the user and it is possible
to price oneself out of the market. This is the argument for PCs for
all. Personally, I think the IBM compatibility losses outweigh the
economies of scale advantages or I wouldn’t use Acorn kit. If you do not
think so − buy a PC.
6.1
Marketing − Head to head marketing against Toshiba, Dell et al is, on
the surface, a nice idea if the budget is there. Perhaps £10m to start
with for TV and full pages over a year in all the major newspapers and
the micropress. For a company with a £40m turnover, this is potential
suicide. If it doesn’t work there won’t be an Acorn. Would Mr Swain
stake his house and belongings on such a strategy? I certainly wouldn’t.
It is all very well making statements such as ‘use more modern marketing
methods’ but let’s be specific. What methods and what is the likely
cost-benefit?
6.1
I stick by my views that the following are the way forward:
6.1
−    maintaining high performance at low cost related to identified needs,
through a combination of software and hardware innovation.
6.1
−    identifying markets in which they are realistically competitive.
6.1
−    ensuring better support and training for end-users than their
competitors.
6.1
Education and enthusiasts are well-established niches and Acorn needs to
build on additional niches such as publishing and video editing. In
these latter two, I am far more concerned about relative short-sighted
ness in graphics handling (as per the current debate). Acorn’s meagre
resources must be targeted on focussed areas where there is almost
guaranteed return or they will go under. It is just not realistic to
compete head on with the multi-billion dollar PC world in areas where
PCs are a religion. Ian Lynch
6.1
• Colour printing − In view of ICS’s somewhat belligerent reply to my
article ‘Colour Printing on Monochrome Printers’ in Archive 5.12 p34, I
would like to respond to the points which they raise:
6.1
1. The review was based on a copy supplied directly to me (not to
Archive) by the author. !ColourSep has been advertised by ICS since
early August so, with the lead-times which the ‘glossy’ magazines
require, the ICS version should have been ready well before Archive 5.12
was published − or was it what Byte’s Jerry Pournelle used to call
‘vapourware’ when the adverts were placed. In any case, I kept saying
how good the !ColourSep software is. Why this defensiveness? (I have
asked ICS to say whether !ColourSep is available yet but have had no
response so far, 3rd October. Ed.)
6.1
2. I hope the ICS manual is as good as Michael Simpson’s, with its full
colour screen shots.
6.1
3. ‘Calibration’ is just a pretentious way of saying ‘suck it and see’.
For a new set of inks, with a specific monitor, you will have to make
quite a number of attempts at getting the ink intensities correct before
you can hope that the printed colours will match those on the screen.
Even then, colours are relative, rather than absolute – e.g. based on
British Standard colours or other proprietary colour systems.
6.1
4. Surely it’s self-evident that my ‘absolute quality’ comments relate
to the printing technology used. The whole system is as strong as its
weakest link. Are ICS really claiming that ink-jet printers with
coloured ink and !ColourSep produce better results than any colour
printer, including the £10,000+ devices based on colour copiers which
are now available?
6.1
5. I stand by my comments over the messiness of cleaning old cartridges.
I challenge ICS to perform the following demonstration at the next Acorn
User Show: take three used black cartridges, clean them, fill them with
coloured ink and use them to produce a coloured image, and pay £1 to
charity for every single drop of ink and/or cleaning fluid on the work-
surface or the demonstrator.
6.1
6. When I supplied Mr Simpson with a draft review of version 1.03, many
of my comments were addressed in version 1.05, which he kindly sent to
me, with a detailed two page letter. Surely authors and reviewers can
work together to help refine even the best software in a constructive
manner, without the humour-less defensiveness to be found on page 37 of
Archive 5.12? Stuart Bell, Brighton.
6.1
•    !ColourSep − In response to the article by Stuart Bell in Archive 5.12
p34. I also use the program called !Coloursep which I purchased from
‘System Insight’ along with the coloured ink refills. My setup is for a
‘Canon BJ-10e’. I can confirm most of what Mr Bell has to say about
using this program, but I do think that he labours the point about the
ink cartridges.
6.1
They do need very careful cleaning but as long as you are using the
supplied gloves, this isn’t too messy and the improvement in the final
printout makes it well worthwhile. In fact, I found out by accident that
if you prise open the black cartridge on the side farthest away from the
electrical contact slot, you gain access to the sponge inside and if you
remove it it’s very easy to clean and then dry thoroughly before
replacing it in the cleaned out cartridge and replacing the lid with a
small trace of Bostik glue.
6.1
To be honest, I didn’t do this when I first started and I had endless
trouble with the yellow ink but not with the cyan or magenta inks. This
cleaning process is only necessary when you change colours and should
not therefore be much of a problem.
6.1
It is also very important that you use the correct paper for your
printouts. System Insight sell what they call Colour Enhancement Paper
and I can recommend the use of this paper. However, I have also been
experimenting with other types and one which I like very much is a
glossy white paper obtained from my local ‘Print Shop’ and since the ink
sits on the surface of the paper, the brilliance of the print has to be
seen to be believed.
6.1
All in all, I believe that if small quantities of high quality prints
are what you need, this setup is for you.  Anthony Baker, Warrington
6.1
•    The RISC-OS fiasco! − ‘RISC-OS is available now’, they said. So we at
N.C.S. started an ‘order pile’ for Archive subscribers. On ‘day one’
(27th August) we ordered 200 sets of RISC-OS from Hugh Symons, on ‘day
two’ we ordered another 300 sets and on the next working day (the
Tuesday after Bank Holiday), we ordered a further 500 sets. Today (3rd
October) over 5 weeks later, we have still only received 70 sets out of
the 1,000 sets ordered. Acorn say that very large numbers have been sent
out of their warehouses, so where are they? They are now saying that
‘larger quanities will be shipped from the second week of October
onwards’.
6.1
We have a queue of over 700 Archive subscribers waiting for their copy
of RISC-OS 3.1 plus nearly 200 A5000 owners (we have so far only had 9
sets out of the 250 sets we ordered) so PLEASE don’t phone us to say ‘I
just wondered when I might get my copy of RISC-OS 3.1?’. We will send
them out just as soon as we can but if everyone rings up we will have to
spend all day answering the phone. (Even if everyone rings ‘only’ once a
fortnight, we will be answering 90 calls a day, i.e. one every 5
minutes, just about RISC-OS!)
6.1
Why the delay? Well, there was an error in one of the diagrams in the
fitting instruction booklet which showed the ROMs the wrong way round!
That has been cleared by a single sheet erratum slip, so why is Norwich
Computer Services getting so few sets? I don’t know. I have spoken to
various people at Acorn and at Hugh Symons (the distributor) and I
cannot get any definite delivery dates out of anyone (despite offering
cash with order!).
6.1
•    Secondary cache − I have been taken to task by one or two people for
stating in Archive 5.10 p21 (Comment Column) that Acorn computers use
secondary cache. Of course they don’t. The offending sentence which
appeared as ‘No, Acorn machines feature secondary cache but so do most
high end PCs’ inexplicably reverses the sense of what I actually wrote,
which was ‘No Acorn machines feature secondary cache but most high end
PCs do’. (Oops, sorry about that! Ed.)
6.1
The ARM3 has a 4Kb primary data and instruction cache but off-chip
memory fetches at 12 or 8Mhz while the processor operates at 24Mhz are a
key performance bottleneck of the architecture (along with bus conten
tion between the CPU and video system) which high end PCs routinely
overcome by having 32-256Kb fast cache RAM between the CPU and main
memory, in addition to any primary caches.
6.1
The ARM3 primary cache is said to have a 90% hit rate but that is not
very impressive: if the 10% cache misses take 5 times as long to turn
around then the processor is on slow feed about 38% of the time. To
gauge the impact, consider that boosting the bus speed just from 8 to
12MHz improves the Dhrystone rating of a 24Mhz ARM3 system by around 18%
in mode 12. Neither Acorn nor any add-on vendor offers a secondary cache
upgrade. Perhaps one of the hardware boffins out there would like to
write explaining why not. To my untutored outlook, it has to be easier
than developing a PC emulator card.  Mike Kinghan, Oxford
6.1
•    Spacetech service − I recently purchased one of Spacetech’s FaxScan
kits from N.C.S. It consists of one piece of hardware and two software
applications. One of these allows the Amstrad FX9600AT to be used as a
scanner and the second is called !Directory.
6.1
!Directory allows you to create a directory of memorised telephone
numbers on the Archimedes and to download such a directory to the
Amstrad fax machine. Like all well-written applications, the software
validates the user’s input. In particular, it checks that the telephone
number entered uses only numbers and no letters. I received my Mercury
access code a few days ago and keyed that into the Amstrad; now, in the
Spacetech directory, I had to prefix my long distance telephone numbers
with an ‘M’. Unfortunately the validation routine (because it was
designed to accept only digits) prevented me from entering the capital
‘M’.
6.1
I rang Spacetech and, as they didn’t have Mercury, it hadn’t occurred to
them that ‘M’ was a valid input. They ‘corrected’ the !Directory
application and sent me free upgrade within a couple of days.
6.1
Why should this be worth a ‘Credit where it’s due’ award? The answer is
because Amstrad has withdrawn the FX9600AT − you can’t buy them any more
− so there is no big expanding market for an upgraded version of
Spacetech’s !Directory software. Hence there is no way that the cost
which they incurred in developing the upgrade (albeit a relatively minor
upgrade) can be recovered by new sales. They upgraded the !Directory
software as a pure service to me, maybe their only customer for that
upgrade!
6.1
However, if you have an FX9600AT and the ‘old’ software and you have
added (or may add) Mercury to your BT line, Spacetech will willingly
upgrade your disc. Please send them a label and stamp with your ‘old’
disc. By the way, if you have an FX9600AT or FX9600T but no FaxScan
upgrade then you can buy one direct from Spacetech. They have FaxScan
versions for both the FX1 and FX2.
6.1
I would like to contrast Spacetech’s response with that of Amstrad.
Amstrad gave me a ‘Customer Service telephone number’ which starts with
0898 and is one of those nasty 48p/minute lines. The ‘helper’ on the
customer service line said that he had no more information than was in
the handbook which came with the machine!
6.1
Spacetech are working on other projects for the Archimedes. From my
experience with them I am sure that, if you buy one of their new
products, they will provide you with good after sales service. I
recommend them to you wholeheartedly. Gerald Fitton
6.1
•    Whither Acorn? (again) − So now we know about this year’s new
machines, thanks to the slick work of Paul and co. Very interesting and
quite promising. I think it is very good news that the ARM250 has all
the Acorn special chip functions built in. It should offer considerable
savings in cost (not all being passed on, which is quite sensible for a
while) and even higher reliability rates. Of course, it does not do very
much for the functional power of the machines, but it shows the progress
that has been made in engineering. It is a bit strange to have the A4
launched with old, bulky, discrete chip technology and top performance
rates, when it might have sold better if it were an affordable portable
A3020! I guess it all has to do with timing of decisions, and it shows
how much faster it seems to be to specify silicon and design a board
around it while the silicon is being cut than to shoehorn in the present
chips.
6.1
So, what might we expect of the unannounced power machine to come? Not,
I suspect, the ARM3 built into the same chip as the VIDC2 and everything
else. Lots of 24 bit pixels need a large bandwidth to get the data into
the VIDC. Suppose (to simplify the arithmetic) that the display offers
up to 1024 × 1024 pixels, then the memory requirement is 3 Mb, at 50
read cycles per second. Pretend that the VIDC will only read 24 data
lines out of the 32 available, it has to read 50 × 106 cycles per
second. That is four times faster than the clock speed of the bus of any
present Acorn machine, so it is a tough target. No doubt there could be
fewer pixels, fuller use of the data lines, to say nothing of compres
sion methods, but I conclude that the days of RAM being fully shared
between screen and program/data are now numbered for Acorn power
machines.
6.1
It follows that the more logical integration units will be VIDC,
possibly with extra ‘intelligence’ to handle decompression on the one
hand and ARM/FPU/cache/write store/MEMC on the other. The latter could
be a building block for a parallel processor machine. The IOC-type
functions would be separate. It could be a fast machine, even with all
the extra video information to create and shift about.
6.1
Suppose that we get a ten-fold increase in performance for a tolerable
price, what will it mean for us? There would be less hanging about for
graphics programs to redraw and so-on, for a start. But will we be
getting close to the point where hardware solutions make hand-coded
assembler an unnecessary brain-pain to get instant results? I keep
thinking that it will come and that the clever types at Computer
Concepts will be an endangered species, doomed to ply their trade in the
anonymity of the RISC-OS 4 backroom. Probably it will not happen for a
few years yet, but one day... The solution to the horrible fate will, of
course, be to think up an application which everyone will want to buy
and which demands all the power of the new machines. Multimedia? I doubt
it. Virtual reality? Speech recognition? Possibly. If only I knew, I
could become rich, just selling the idea to the clever people!  Mike
Hobart, Cambridge.
6.1
•    Why didn’t I wait? − I bought my 40M A5000 Learning Curve with RISC-OS
3.0 not long ago at £1799 and now I find that for £1699, I can buy an
80M A5000 Learning Curve with RISC-OS 3.1. Ho hum! I suppose that is how
things go in the computer industry but it’s jolly frustrating. What
makes it worse is that I now have to pay a further £30 to get a debugged
version of the operating system. Why should Acorn make even more money
out of me in this way?  Stephen Proudlove, Bedford.
6.1
(I think that Acorn have done their best to be fair to earlier A5000
owners. I reckon that £30 less the postage, less the dealer margin, less
the distributor margin, less the packaging cost, less the printing cost,
less the cost of the chips doesn’t exactly leave Acorn a vast profit!
Ed.)  A
6.1
Oak Solutions
6.1
From 5.12 page 21
6.1
Techsoft
6.1
From 5.12 page 15
6.1
Archimedes Disc Rescue
6.1
Mike Allum
6.1
(For those of you with less technical knowledge, Mike has also written a
‘primer’ which may be worth reading before looking at the review itself.
The primer appears at the end of this review. Ed)
6.1
Archimedes Disc Rescue is distributed on a single 800Kb “D” format
floppy disc accompanied by a comprehensive 94 page manual. It is a suite
of utilities designed to aid the recovery of lost or damaged files and
directories from hard and floppy discs, and to enable you to repair
common disc defects. Four applications make up the suite:
6.1
• !FixMap − repairs media which report “Bad free space map”.
6.1
• !RepairDir − repairs media which report “Broken directory”.
6.1
• !DiscEd − aids the user in recovering deleted files and repairs media
which report “Bad free space map” and “Broken directory”
6.1
• !Recover − recovers files and directories from media which report
“Broken directory” or “Disc error”.
6.1
!DiscEd and !Recover are the main applications and, in themselves, are
all that you require to repair discs and recover files. !FixMap and
!RepairDir are stand-alone versions of utilities contained within
!DiscEd. They have been split out and simplified to allow the less
experienced user to repair media without having to work through the
relatively complex front-end of !DiscEd. Since they are cut-down
versions they are easier to use but less versatile.
6.1
Compatibility
6.1
All applications are RISC-OS compliant and install on the iconbar when
their file icons are double-clicked. All will run on a standard 1Mb
machine and may be installed onto a hard drive or run straight from the
distribution disc. Support is provided for the !Help application as
supplied on the Apps 1 disc.
6.1
!DiscEd
6.1
!DiscEd contains the functions required to recover deleted files and
repair discs. Essentially the package is a disc editor which allows the
user to browse a disc’s contents sector by sector, and to perform basic
editing functions such as altering individual bytes and exporting or
importing blocks of data. A certain degree of automation is also
included to enable the user to repair the most common disc faults such
as broken directories and bad free-space maps.
6.1
All ADFS formats are supported as standard − this includes other filing
systems such as RAM, SCSI and IDE. Discs from non-Acorn machines may
also be edited but, for these, access to the repair functions is not
allowed.
6.1
Display and basic controls
6.1
Select-clicking or adjust-clicking the application’s icon will open the
sector viewer window and its control panel.
6.1
The sector viewer displays a sector’s contents in hexadecimal and ASCII
− almost the same format as a “*dump” of a file would − excepting that
the display is in a scrollable and re-sizeable window. The control panel
allows the user to navigate the disc by specifying either the track,
side and sector or the absolute disc address. More complex movement
about the disc is controlled by the “goto” menu which allows such things
as locating files by name and finding free space maps.
6.1
Editing
6.1
Individual bytes within a sector can be edited − entry of new values for
bytes may be in binary, decimal, hexadecimal or ASCII. Much as a word
processor can operate on marked blocks of text, this package can operate
on marked blocks of bytes. The user is able to mark a block and export
it, or to import some data to the caret position.
6.1
Export may be either as raw data (pure hex) or as an image of the viewer
window (with addresses and the bytes as hexadecimal and ASCII). Import
is limited to hexadecimal files only.
6.1
Being RISC-OS compliant, Disc Rescue supports in-memory transfer, so
import and export can be made to other applications such as !SrcEdit.
6.1
Searching
6.1
A search facility is included which allows the disc to be scanned for
occurrences of groups of bytes. The search pattern may be expressed in
hexadecimal or as ASCII with magic characters. It may also be limited
between two absolute addresses − defaulting to between the current caret
position and the end of the disc.
6.1
Searches are multi-tasking, so the user may use another application
while the search continues.
6.1
The search pauses whenever a match is found and displays the sector in
which the match was found. While paused, any of the package’s other
operations may be carried out and the search resumed as if nothing had
happened.
6.1
Deleted file recovery
6.1
Due to the way ADFS maintains its directories, recovery is an essen
tially manual task. Recovery is achieved by locating the start and end
of a deleted file, marking these points, and exporting the marked block
to another disc or drive. In the case of files which have been frag
mented, each fragment of the file has to be found and saved in this way
before the whole can be re-assembled.
6.1
As mentioned in editing, above, this may be achieved in-memory using an
application such as !SrcEdit.
6.1
Disc repair
6.1
To check or repair a directory, free-space map or boot sector, the
viewer must be displaying the sector which contains the relevant disc
structure.
6.1
When repairing a directory, each entry in the directory is presented −
in turn − allowing the entry name, length, access, type and date/time
stamp to be corrected as required. When all modifications are finished,
the new directory can be saved to disc.
6.1
Bad map repair is quite different. For the newer ADFS formats, all that
can be done is to swap map duplicates over whereas, for the older
formats, a free space map can be re-generated by scanning the disc.
6.1
Broken boot sector repair operates on hard drives and “F” format discs
only. For this to operate correctly on a hard drive, the drive must have
been “described” to the package beforehand. A description file, known as
a “record”, is loaded into the package by dragging its file icon to one
of !DiscEd’s windows. On a healthy hard drive a description file is
automatically generated each time the package accesses the drive and it
is recommended that at least one copy of this file be saved on floppy
against the day that the drive becomes faulty.
6.1
Discs from other machines
6.1
As long as another machine’s disc format is within the physical limits
of both the disc controller I.C. and the disc drive itself, !DiscEd will
be able to read it. For such a disc to be read, it must be described to
!DiscEd in the same way that hard drives are.
6.1
In this way, DOS, Atari and BBC discs can be edited − but access to the
repair facilities is not allowed since the directory structures of these
filing systems are so different. Record files for popular sizes of these
formats are supplied on the distribution disc.
6.1
In use − bad points
6.1
!DiscEd was used over a period of about 2 weeks with a variety of
simulated floppy disc faults and erased files. All disc faults were able
to be overcome quite simply but deleted file recovery was really only
successful for text files which were not too badly fragmented. Execut
able files were only recoverable if they were stored contiguously.
6.1
However, before judging the package by the last two sentences, the
potential buyer should be aware of the facts. Deleted file recovery on
an ADFS disc is notoriously difficult since, when a file is deleted, the
actual data is left intact but all the housekeeping information (such as
where it starts and how it is fragmented) is totally and irrevocably
erased.
6.1
For this reason, file recovery is a very intensive and manual task but
the package could be more helpful. For example, the Norton Utilities for
the IBM PC offer the ability to undelete files which are fragmented.
Like !DiscEd, NU allows the user to select likely sectors but warns if a
particular sector is already in use by another file.
6.1
It would require no small amount of initial processing time to implement
this sort of feature but I feel that it would vastly increase the user’s
chances of undeleting a file.
6.1
Something else to be aware of (but which is not a fault of !DiscEd’s) is
that MultiFS 1.21, when installed, will be listed as an available filing
system by !DiscEd. The fact is that it will not enable !DiscEd to access
PC discs.
6.1
In use − good points
6.1
Overall, the user interface is well-laid out and uncluttered. Controls
operate intuitively and the ones used most often have been assigned
keyboard short-cuts which speeds up operation considerably for the
experienced user.
6.1
One particularly pleasing feature is the ability to close the view
window, run up other applications (which may even utilise other floppy
discs), and re-open the window as if nothing had happened.
6.1
Another good feature is the multi-tasking search facility which allows
other operations to be performed while it is paused.
6.1
!Recover
6.1
!Recover contains the functions required to recover files from discs
which have media faults. The package is highly automated and supports
hierarchical (recursive) recovery.
6.1
All ADFS formats are supported as standard. Other filing systems such as
RAM, SCSI and IDE may also be accessed. Note! Non-ADFS format floppy
discs are not supported.
6.1
Display and controls
6.1
There is no real display for this package. Save and status message
windows appear as required.
6.1
For recovering files, there are two ways of invoking the application.
The simplest is to drag the affected file’s icon to !Recover on the
iconbar. This pops up a file save icon which, when dragged to a
directory viewer, start off the recovery process. When the object is a
directory, the directory plus all the files in it are recovered − if
possible.
6.1
Alternatively the !Recover icon can be clicked. This produces a recovery
window which contains editable boxes for the filing system, drive, file
start and end address/length, type and title. Filling in these boxes and
dragging the file icon to a directory viewer starts the recovery. (Start
and end address/length will have to be obtained from !DiscEd.) This
method is by far the most controllable but is more complex to drive.
6.1
For whole discs (where the root directory is faulty) menu-clicking over
!Recover on the iconbar pops up a menu which prompts for the filing
system type and drive number. Entering these produces a file save window
which, when dragged to a directory viewer, starts the recovery.
6.1
Automation
6.1
Once recovery has been started, the whole process is automatic. A list
of the files that have been processed is generated, alongside a report
of how many errors were encountered during recovery. Safeguards are
built in to prevent the sickly files from being overwritten by the
recovered versions.
6.1
In use − good points
6.1
!Recover is a real joy to use. It is simple to control, works well and
is truthful about its failures when it has them. The only irritating
feature is that aborting a recovery can take quite a while.
6.1
The manual
6.1
The manual contains less about operation of the packages and more about
how ADFS works. This is quite reasonable since, as has been explained
above, the ADFS format does not lend itself to easy file recovery or
disc repairs.
6.1
The operations part of the manual is as good as any of the manuals
encountered for the Archimedes. Well designed applications require
little documentation, well designed applications in a WIMP environment
require even less.
6.1
The ADFS reference section is ideally pitched for someone like myself
(who has spent many an hour recovering friends’ dissertations from
erased discs!) but would require a little effort for the beginner to
master.
6.1
The index is very comprehensive and all references to other publi
cations, such as Acorn’s User Guides, include page numbers.
6.1
Conclusion
6.1
If you are primarily looking for a package to save data lost on discs
due to media faults then buy Archimedes Disc Rescue now! It is reliable,
easy to operate and is currently the only real choice. If you are
looking for an undeleter − if it’s for anything other than text files −
it may pay you to wait and see if somebody produces such a thing.
6.1
The software was reviewed on an A310 expanded to 4M, running RISC-OS 2.
6.1
Versions !DiscEd (v1.07) !Recover (v1.06) !FixMap (v1.04) !RepairDir
(v1.03)  A
6.1
Archimedes Disc Rescue − Primer
6.1
Before launching into the review, readers with less technical knowledge
may find the following explanation of terminology useful.
6.1
Logical and physical abstraction
6.1
Any storage system, be it disc, tape or RAM, may be viewed logically and
physically. The physical is just that − the parts that you can pick up
and wave about! The logical is how the computer system “sees” the
storage − how it is arranged.
6.1
For example, an Archimedes “D” format floppy is a rotating disc of
magnetically-sensitive plastic which has two surfaces − side 0 and side
1. Invisible − but still physical − are the 80 tracks which are
magnetically “laid” onto each side of the disc, the 5 sectors that each
track is divided into, and the 1024 bytes making up each sector.
6.1
To use an analogy, the disc is two books with 80 chapters, each chapter
containing 5 pages, each page capable of having 1024 characters written
upon it.
6.1
To the computer it seems as if there is a big chunk of storage which is
819,200 bytes (2 × 80 × 5 × 1024) long. Even though there are two
separate disc surfaces (which are, in effect, different devices), the
filing system allows them to be viewed as a contiguous set of
“pigeonholes” addressed from 0 to 819199.
6.1
To take the analogy further, the two books are seen merely as a large
blank area upon which a total of 819,200 characters may be written. The
first place that a character may be written is given the address “0” and
all subsequent spaces are numbered from there. To find a specific place,
only the address need be known − things such as volume, chapter and page
numbers being someone else’s problem. In this case that “someone else”
is the filing system which selects the correct volume, chapter and page
for the computer.
6.1
Directories
6.1
To find a specific piece of data in a book, humans developed the idea of
an index. This efficient and compact method of random access is also
used by disc filing systems. So that the computer may quickly locate
files, an area of the disc is put aside for a directory − which is
merely an index containing a list of filenames and the pigeonhole
address at which their first bytes may be found.
6.1
The filing system translates this address (sometimes known as an
ABSOLUTE address) into track, sector, byte, and side of disc − and
performs all the hard work of driving the head over the disc so as to
read the bytes in the correct order and put them all together into one
file.
6.1
Note that in a heirarchical filing system, such as DOS or ADFS, it is
permissible for a directory entry to be another directory. Any direc
tories thus included are known as “sub-directories” and these may, in
turn, have their own sub-directories.
6.1
File fragmentation
6.1
In older filing systems, files were always stored contiguously − that is
to say that the file would be saved in one piece. Where that file ended,
another would start, and so on.
6.1
This simple method is perfectly adequate until a disc has been used a
bit. When files are deleted the space that they used to occupy is now
available for use by new files. The more a disc is used, the more it
becomes full of holes where old files have been. New files are saved to
the disc in the first available hole that is big enough to take them in
their entirety. However, eventually, the holes will become smaller in
size and greater in number. So there might, say, still be 20 Kb of
storage free, but it could be scattered across 50 or more holes. Then,
since the filing system’s golden rule is to save files in one chunk, it
might not be possible to save a 2 Kb file because no one hole was big
enough to take it even though the total free space was 20 Kb.
6.1
One solution is to compact the disc regularly − causing all the holes to
merge into one big hole by shuffling all the files about. Another
solution is to re-define the way in which the filing system works. In
the E and F formats, the ADFS filing system attempts to save a file as
one contiguous chunk but, if it cannot, it will cut the file up and
place the segments anywhere there is free space.
6.1
Although this system is efficient from the point of view of storage, the
filing system is slowed down by the need to find where all the parts of
a fragmented file are, and then stitch them together in the right order.
The other penalty is that files are no longer guaranteed to be con
tiguous − which can make recovery difficult.
6.1
Free space and file maps
6.1
Older ADFS disc formats maintain a map (or list) of the areas in a disc
where new files can be stored. The newer ADFS formats keep a map of
where files, or bits of them, are stored − along with a list of all
areas of the disc which have defects and, as a result, cannot be used.
6.1
Checksums
6.1
Checksums are used to check that blocks of data have not been corrupted.
A calculation is done on a block of data and the resulting number tacked
onto the end. At any future time, the calculation on the block of data
can be done again and the new number compared with the old. If the two
do not match then the block has been corrupted so the block is suspect
and should be ignored.
6.1
This process is used by ADFS to make sure that certain parts of the
disc, notably the defect map, the free space map and the directories
have not been corrupted since the last time any data was written to the
disc.  A
6.1
Techsoft
6.1
(Second ad)
6.1
From 5.12 page 19
6.1
Colton
6.1
From 5.12 page 14
6.1
Virtual Store Handling in C
6.1
David McQuillan
6.1
Virtual Store Handling (VSH) is a method for fitting larger programs
into store than the space available. For instance, I recently wanted to
run a program from another machine that was almost 4 Mb long. There are
a number of methods for fitting in such large programs but providing VSH
is the one that requires least work by the user. This experience
convinced me of the very real requirement for such a facility on RISC-
OS. This is how the package described by this article started life.
6.1
VSH relies on making it look to the program as if more space can be
addressed than is physically available. At any one time, part of the
program will be in store and the rest will be saved away on disk. If a
part that is not in store is accessed, a part in store needs to be saved
away and the bit needed loaded. For proper VSH a memory controller and
processor design is required that allows this action to happen at
practically any point within a user program. The ARM processor and MEMC
memory controller in the Archimedes machines have a few problems but are
adequate for the task. (The new ARM processors used by Apple are much
better at the job.) RISC-OS however is not designed with VSH in mind so
it is not possible to completely hide VSH from C programs.
6.1
On the Archive monthly disk, you will find a directory VSI_C that
implements VSH for C programs. (VSI stands for Virtual Store Interrupt
and VSI handling is what happens when space that isn’t in store is
referenced.) It is about half way to my target and should be treated
with some caution. I see it as a feasibility proof and way of getting
constructive criticism.
6.1
As it stands, it will allow programs of up to 8Mb to be run using a hard
disk as swapfile. It is straightforward to use for most single tasking
programs and, with a little care, can be used to produce multitasking
applications under the Wimp. It cannot, however, work under the Task
Manager in !Edit. The code is unlimited public domain − if you want to
try producing your own version then good luck! The directory needs to be
copied to a hard disk with 3Mb available before use. See the ReadMe file
for detailed instructions.
6.1
So how does it all work?
6.1
The method is fairly natural and it is easier and gives better store
usage under the Wimp than trying to make everything pageable. A special
linker !vsilink is provided which produces two files !RunImage and
!RunHigh in an application directory. !RunImage runs at 0x8000 like a
normal application and !RunHigh is pageable in an area of up to 8Mb at
0x800000. Each input module is put into one or other of these areas.
Those that need to call RISC-OS directly or have data that is passed to
the system, must go in !RunImage and the ones only using the C library
can go into !RunHigh.
6.1
The main entry must be in !RunImage and one of its first actions is to
call the VSH library to set up a swap file and load !RunHigh.
6.1
The VSH only works for programs and data in user mode. Store is swapped
in and out in page size units − either 8Kb, 16Kb or 32Kb depending on
the amount of memory in the machine.
6.1
Normally, calls between procedures in !RunImage and !RunHigh are fixed
up directly but it is possible to alias calls from !RunHigh. What this
means is that, for instance, a malloc call in !RunHigh can automatically
get pageable space whereas a malloc call in !RunImage gets non-pageable
space.
6.1
For Wimp programs, all the data and sprites that are passed over in Wimp
calls must be in !RunImage. Before Wimp_Poll is called, a special call
must be made to save away the page mapping state and when Wimp_Poll
returns, the memory mapping must be reinstated by another call.
6.1
The future
6.1
I hope to develop this package further so that there will be a module
which handles VSI’s for all applications requiring the service. Using a
module would also, I believe, give better control over the various
places where the page mapping is changed. Also, there should be some
support or a replacement for the Task Manager. After that, it would just
be a question of testing and standardising the interfaces so that they
could be made more dependable.
6.1
VSI handling will, I believe, be an important feature of future
applications on the Archimedes now that more and more people have hard
disks. Besides allowing large programs to be run, it also allows the
pageable space to disappear from store for applications that are just
sitting around waiting for the user to click on them.  A
6.1
Shareware 47
6.1
Edward Hollox
6.1
The latest Shareware disc contains a range of programs supplied as an
archive with Sparkplug provided to decompress them. As usual, full
instructions are on the disc. Decompressing programs from PD discs may
seem a little fiddly, especially if your machine is 1Mb with no hard
disc, but it provides you with better value for money since, naturally,
more can be fitted on to the disc.
6.1
When decompressed, the disc comprises three directories − games, utils
and others.
6.1
Games
6.1
!Bang is a RISC-OS compliant game which, when loaded, installs itself on
the iconbar with a nice smiley face icon. Clicking this icon makes a
window appear in 3D Impression style asking your name and the skill
level required − Easy, Hard or Evil.
6.1
When completed, another window appears with a grid of grey squares, the
number of which depends on the difficulty − the harder the skill level,
the more squares.
6.1
The idea of the game is to find the positions of a number of bombs under
these squares by marking them using <adjust>. If you click <select>
where there is a bomb, the game ends.
6.1
The first click is guesswork but if it is not a bomb, one or more
squares will be uncovered showing a number on each. This number
corresponds to the number of bombs present in the eight surrounding
squares and so, after a few clicks, some suspected positions of bombs
can be marked. When all the bomb positions on the grid have been marked
by deduction from the number squares, providing they are on the right
positions, you have won the game.
6.1
This game is difficult to explain and difficult to get hold of when you
first encounter it but I’m sure that once understood, it is very
addictive. Not the sort of game to while away a few minutes, this needs
serious concentration but, even so, it is an excellent game with good
graphics and desktop implementation. Definitely a game to test a logical
mind.
6.1
!InertEdit is a screen editor for the popular 4th Dimension game
Inertia. I will presume that anyone who reads this part understands the
game, but anybody who doesn’t can read the review in Archive 3.12 p43.
You are instructed by the help file provided to copy the Inertia screens
from the Inertia disc to the !InertEdit file. A menu then takes over the
whole screen and asks you whether you wish to edit any existing screen
or start from scratch. Editing an existing screen is an excellent cheat
but if you want to start from scratch, a lot of planning on a piece of
graph paper beforehand is needed. Designing a new world takes a long
time and you soon get bored with scrawling graffiti on the map − you
have been warned!
6.1
The actual map, unlike the game, is 2D. This makes it far easier to
place the various blocks, selected from the bottom of the screen, where
you want them and, as the author points out, it’s a lot simpler to
program! The height of the brick can be adjusted using the cursor keys
and the current height is shown on the bottom left hand corner together
with the mouse coordinates.
6.1
The designer provides a zoom option (limited to ×2) to save strain on
your eyes, and a save and a quit option which returns you to the desktop
exactly where you left it. If you are very patient, I’m sure a lot of
challenging screens could be designed but the two supplied with the
commercial game contain enough challenges for me!
6.1
!Zoo is an expert system desktop simulation and, as you may expect, it’s
an ‘expert’ on animals. The first thing I noticed was the !Help file
which was only the title of the program and the author’s address.
Although not a complex program, a simple word of explanation would have
been helpful and, anyway, what is an expert system?
6.1
An expert system is a program using techniques of artificial intelli
gence to be used for problem solving and, in some cases, examples of
these systems are used for medical diagnosis. Sounds impressive, doesn’t
it? All this program does really is ask you a series of questions and
tries to determine the animal you are thinking about. If it gives you
the wrong answer, you can tell it a question it can ask to distinguish
between the animal you were thinking of and the animal that the computer
deduced. This question is then written into the data files so that it is
‘remembered’ for future use.
6.1
The data file on animals for this program is small, but could be
expanded using the method above. The presentation is neat, with
Impression-style boxes, but the English used is pretty poor due to the
fact that the author is Italian.
6.1
!Zoo is really only meant to be a demonstrator and needs more work,
perhaps on a different subject, before it could be useful.
6.1
Utilities
6.1
!KeyWindow is a superb program by Richard Hallas. It installs itself on
the iconbar and displays a scrollable keystrip on the screen in a normal
window. The keystrip can be for any of 12 applications including
Impression 2, Rhapsody and Vector but a new keystrip can be created and
saved very easily on screen (maximum is 32 keystrips). The keystrip also
updates itself to whichever piece of software the caret is in, so if you
are running, say, Impression and DrawPlus, you can swap between the two
and the keystrip changes automatically.
6.1
Clicking on the appropriate area on the keystrip will perform that
function in the piece of software that the keystrip relates to − an
excellent idea for people who struggle with menus and always lose the
keystrip.
6.1
A compress option is provided so that all the keys can be viewed on the
screen without scrolling, and it has other useful ideas such as <Ctrl-
Shift-Tab> to toggle the window between the back and the front of other
windows on the screen. This is a really useful piece of software and
worth £3 in its own right.
6.1
!ObjBackup is a program which allows you to specify various directories
and files, store these pathnames in a data file and backup those files/
directories from hard disc to floppies. This would be useful for people
wordprocessing or using DTP since after a day’s work, the same files
could be backed up day after day.
6.1
As it stands (version 0.03) this program is rather simple, with non-
standard desktop colours adding to its garishness (but I’m sure the
template file inside the application directory could be altered using
!FormEd to use more suitable colours). The list of objects can easily be
amended by dragging them to the main window and objects can be removed
from the list. Once the OK button is clicked, the backup starts.
6.1
This could be useful but is definitely not anything special.
6.1
!Typewrite is a simple non-multitasking typing tutor reminiscent of the
Pitman programs on the old BBC ‘B’ which may have been good, but bored
me to tears. It consists of varying exercises of repetitive key
pressing, and has the usual features of time-keeping, mixed exercises
and using special characters. Not very impressive at all − it seems like
a Beeb program transferred to the Archimedes, even if it isn’t.
6.1
!Plinth is a sprite manipulation program which, when given a
‘background’ and a ‘picture’ sprite, places the latter on top of the
former using a plinth. One sprite is dragged to a small window whilst
the other is dragged to the icon on the iconbar. The resultant sprite is
a satisfactory plinth. The height and form of this plinth can be
controlled using the excellent desktop interface and, for people who
need to manipulate sprites a lot, this is a handy program. For the
general user, though, it will one of those programs too good to get rid
of, but which ends up cluttering your discs and never being used.
6.1
Others
6.1
This rather vaguely titled directory is comprised of the programs which
aren’t games or utilities.
6.1
!Tesseract is a display simulation of a four dimensional cube. It needs
the latest version of Clib (0.75) available on Shareware 17.
6.1
Someone significant, whose name I have forgotten, said that our universe
is 3D because three is the minimum number of dimensions needed for life
to survive. 1D is simply a dot, whilst a 2D dog would have its gut
divide its lower body from its upper body. Mathematicians and philoso
phers no doubt have speculated on a 4D world and this program shows us a
4D cube (hypercube or tesseract) through the eye of a 4D being.
6.1
How can 4D be shown on a 2D monitor which can only give the illusion of
3D? To explain this, you must remember that the image on the back of our
eyes is a 2D image, which, when combined with another 2D image from a
slightly different angle, is perceived as a 3D image by the brain. If
you don’t believe me try catching a ball or judging distance with one
eye closed − its more difficult because, since you are seeing a 2D
image, you lose the perception of depth.
6.1
The program shows you the 3D image of the hypercube which would appear
on one of the 4D being’s eyes. Presumably with his other 3D image he
could construct a 4D image, though to produce the two 3D images, he
would perhaps need four eyes, and the interpretation of different
signals from four eyes to produce a 4D image would take a lot of brain
power!
6.1
Rotating the hypercube by mouse, shows the spheres on each corner
rotating and going behind and in front of each other whilst retaining a
solid structure − this becomes confusing after a while.
6.1
This program is smooth and fast and even if, like me, you can’t cope
with the maths, thinking about a 4D world will certainly give you a
headache.
6.1
!Eyes heralds a return to a more down-to-earth topic namely silly little
things that you can put on your RISC-OS desktop. This is another one of
those pair of eyes which follow your mouse around the desktop. If you
have an obsession for novelties, it may be of value but there is a far
better one called !BabyBlues on Shareware 23 whose eyes are much nicer
and follow you around more smoothly.
6.1
!Orbits is a program which traces orbits of various objects though space
obeying the law of gravity and hence mutual gravitational attraction.
The program takes over the whole computer but provides a multi-tasking
front end.
6.1
To the icon on the iconbar can be dragged text data files of various
systems such as a binary star system or object capture. Seven examples
are provided and more can be created by specifying in a text file the
masses, positions and velocities of each object you wish to include.
6.1
The display takes these values and displays the orbits of them − the
graphics are quite smooth but very simple − each mass is just a dot. A
trail option is included so each mass can leave a red trail and
sometimes this produces a pretty pattern.
6.1
One of the most useful pieces, however, has nothing to do with the
actual program. It is a fairly large text file distributed freely by the
Free Software Foundation in the USA and is a licence agreement for the
distribution of PD. This describes, in minute detail, the legal aspects
of PD distribution.
6.1
The actual orbits program is quite fun and could perhaps be used as a
serious simulator but, apart from the RISC-OS interface, has a slight
amateurish feel about it.
6.1
Conclusion
6.1
Another fine disc of PD software from NCS. This has a couple of program
gems on it which are worth the £3 alone. Most of the other programs are
good enough, but not special unless you really need them. This disc may
be more expensive than other PD library’s discs but the quality and
number of programs is much higher.  A
6.1
Artworks − The Review
6.1
Neil Whiteley-Bolton
6.1
(Two months ago, Tord Eriksson did a preview of Artworks. Now that
Artworks is available, we have an actual review. Ed)
6.1
This month’s DTP Column is dedicated to a review of Computer Concept’s
new drawing program Artworks. The review is based upon the final pre-
release version (0.904), though version 1.00 should be available by the
time you read this review. (Available from Archive at £180. Ed.)
6.1
Artworks − The main features:
6.1
Modular, object-oriented design − One of the main (claimed) benefits of
the object-oriented approach is improved reusability/maintainability of
code. The benefit to users in this case would be in terms of how easily
extra functionality could be added to the program.
6.1
Anti-aliased display − Artworks uses on-screen anti-aliasing (as with
the Acorn outline fonts) to provide what is, in effect, a much higher
screen resolution. CC claim a four fold increase in apparent screen
resolution. In use, I found this feature useful for ALL drawings, and
absolutely vital for detailed work.
6.1
24 bit colour with on-screen dithering − The colour information for all
objects is held in full 24-bit representation and displayed on screen
using proprietary dithering techniques to display a full spectrum of
colours.
6.1
The program
6.1
Artworks is supplied on 15 discs and comprises:
6.1
•    Artworks, the program
6.1
•    Utilities including NewModes (as supplied with Impression) and
FlipTop, which replaces the palette icon and provides an easy way of
changing screen modes without having to know the mode numbers
6.1
•    220 (yes, 220) fonts, in RISC-OS 2 format
6.1
•    200 page manual
6.1
•    40 page guide to printing, with colour charts
6.1
•    Quick reference guide, with font listing.
6.1
In use
6.1
New documents are opened in the usual manner, by clicking on the program
icon. Clicking within the window brings up the Toolbox and Infobar. The
Toolbox is a rearrangeable collection of icons representing the
available tools, which are selected by clicking. The Infobar has two
sections. The area on the left provides extra facilities and/or edit
options for the currently selected tool and the right hand section
provides, irrespective of the tool selected, access to the following:
6.1
Undo/Redo facility − Artworks has an almost limitless undo-redo
facility. It is limited only by the size of the redo buffer, which can
be set to any value up to the maximum of 1 Mb. This redo buffer is saved
with the document, allowing anyone with a copy of the file to return to
any point during the creation of the image.
6.1
WYSIWYG variable display quality control − this control varies the
quality of the screen display: 0, the minimum, displays simple wire-
frame outline drawings; 11, the maximum, displays fully anti-aliased
drawings, in full colour.
6.1
Grid locking − clicking <select> on the grid icon locks to the grid,
clicking <adjust>, locks to the grid and shows the grid.
6.1
Layer selection − Artworks supports multiple layered drawings which can
be viewed and edited in isolation, or in conjunction with one or more of
the other levels.
6.1
Artworks, like Impression, allows you to have multiple views of the same
document, these views each having their own scale and WYSIWYG settings.
6.1
Preferences can be set for Artworks, exported drawfiles and PostScript
output from an option on the program menu. Paper options and document-
related Artworks options can be set via a main menu option. These afford
comprehensive control over paper size and colour, measurement units
used, output/export requirements, etc.
6.1
Objects
6.1
Artworks understands three types of objects − lines, shapes and text
(though text could be considered as a special kind of shape) and
provides a number of tools for creating these objects:
6.1
Lines can be created using with the straight ‘line’ tool, the ‘curve’
tool and the ‘freehand’ tool. The first two have their equivalents in
Draw, though the freehand tool is more unusual, in that it records mouse
movements and produces a line which corresponds with those movements
more or less accurately − as determined by a ‘percentage accuracy’
slider control on the Infobar (higher percentage values generate a
smoother line). It is possible to switch immediately from one to another
whilst drawing a line.
6.1
If the ends of one or more lines are positioned sufficiently close, then
Artworks realises that you probably want to join them together and
performs this action for you. Joining the ends of a line makes a shape
and Artworks indicates that this has happened by filling the shape with
the currently selected colour.
6.1
There are three tools for creating shapes: the ‘rectangle’, ‘rounded
rectangle’ and ‘ellipse’, which function in a similar fashion to those
in Draw. Holding down <ctrl> constricts the tools, creating squares,
rounded squares and circles.
6.1
The ‘text’ tool allows, naturally enough, text entry. When the ‘text’
tool is selected the infobar indicates, and allows the user to edit, the
typeface and size of the text. The values can be edited at any time
during and after creation of the text object.
6.1
The ‘colour’ tool allows the line and fill colours for objects to be set
and modified, colours being either selected from an existing range or
‘picked’ using either the HSV (Hue, Saturation, Value), RGB or CMYK
colour pickers. A ‘picked’ colour can be assigned a name and added to
the existing list of colours, allowing the user to select or edit it at
a later stage.
6.1
Manipulation
6.1
Objects are selected by clicking on the object itself, rather than just
anywhere within the bounding box, and whilst this might sound more
restricting, in fact it is a great advantage, especially when a number
of objects overlay each other. Objects can be moved by simply clicking
<select> and then dragging.
6.1
The editing of lines is extremely simple. Segments can be added,
deleted, broken or a point changed from a curve to a corner by clicking
on the line having first selected the appropriate type from the Infobar.
Line thickness, winding rules, end types can all be set effortlessly.
Control points can be dragged around, individually or with multiple
points selected (using <adjust>). On a curved section, the bezier
control points can be dragged around. Multiple selections can be aligned
with respect to each other in various ways, ‘joined’ or grouped
together.
6.1
Objects may be rotated by simply selecting the rotate tool and then
dragging anywhere on the screen. The centre of rotation can be posi
tioned anywhere, although nine useful presets − corners, centres of
edges and the centre can quickly be selected from the Infobar. One of
the beauties of the object oriented design is that effects such as
rotation can be applied to any kind of object. For instance, you can
rotate a line of text, select the ‘text’ tool and click between two of
the letters − and still type and delete text as if it were a line of
text in an Impression document − amazing!
6.1
Objects can be scaled, as with rotate, by selecting the ‘scale tool’ and
dragging. Again, as with the rotate tool, the point about which the
object is scaled can be anywhere (click <adjust>) or one of nine useful
presets. Further, the aspect ratio can be locked, lines scaled with the
object and objects flipped around either axis.
6.1
There are tools for ‘graduated’ and ‘radial’ fill and these are
delightfully simple to use − select the start colour, the finish colour
and then drag an arrow from a point of 100% start colour to a point of
100% finish colour. The arrow does not have to be within the object.
Fills are calculated ‘on the fly’ and the whole process is lightning
fast.
6.1
The ‘envelope’ tool allows objects to be distorted in a controlled
manner − you define the shape of the envelope and the object is
distorted to fit. The effect is almost instantaneous and, as a conse
quence, it is a genuine pleasure experimenting with new effects.
6.1
The ‘perspective’ tool allows for the creation of true 3D projections.
As with all the other tools in Artworks, it is simplicity itself to use
− select the object, then select the ‘perspective’ tool and drag the
corner points. Once a perspective has been applied, its vanishing
point(s) are shown and these can then be dragged around. As you might
expect by now, the changes are reflected virtually instantaneously on
the screen!
6.1
I have left my favourite tool, the ‘blend’, until last. Lines and
objects, irrespective of the number of sections, or the colour, or the
line thickness can be ‘morphed’ or ‘blended’ into each other or into
another blend. The number of intermediate steps can be selected or
modified at any time via the controls on the Infobar. Further, the
original objects remain editable even after morphing − absolutely
amazing!! Morphs, or blends as CC call them, are calculated ‘on the fly’
and thus occupy very little memory. The picture illustrates some of the
effects which are possible with these tools.
6.1
Import/Export
6.1
A great deal of effort has obviously gone into making Artworks compat
ible with programs on other platforms. Artworks can import EPS files and
files from CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator and Freehand but, what is more,
it can create them as well!! I tried this myself using CorelDraw and
experienced no difficulty either reading the file created in CorelDraw
or producing a file which CorelDraw was happy to accept.
6.1
Sprites and drawfiles can be included in Artworks documents and all
Artworks documents can be output as drawfiles.
6.1
Printing
6.1
RISC-OS printer drivers, including CC’s new colour drivers are naturally
supported and there is full support for PostScript. Spot colours,
individual separations and full separations can be output to any printer
from a dot matrix through to an image setter and also to the screen. For
professional use, there is control over screen angles and density,
bleed, colour fill and over print. Artworks also supports tiling, so
large images can be generated using virtually any printer.
6.1
EPS Dialogue Box
6.1
Overall impressions
6.1
Anybody having read this far will realise that I am extremely impressed
with Artworks. I would heartily encourage everyone to try it for
themselves. It is extremely fast and most actions or updates appear to
be instantaneous. This is extremely important if you are using the
program as a productive tool, as there is nothing more frustrating than
sitting drumming your fingers whilst the program catches up with you.
6.1
The tools are versatile, powerful, well integrated and very easy to use
(I was doing productive work within half an hour of receiving my copy).
Further, the luxury of having the undo/redo facility encourages
experimentation, because the user can be confident of being able to
return to previous state. In addition, we now have full colour output
capability on the Acorn machines and this can only aid the machine’s
acceptance in the professional publishing world.
6.1
In summary, I think Artworks is a wonderful program and I am astonished
that the asking price is below £200 inc. VAT. It is worthwhile consider
ing that a program like this for IBM compatible PC’s would cost close to
three times the price. Also, because of the much larger market, the
software house might expect sales volumes many times greater than CC
will be likely to achieve with Artworks.
6.1
P.S. Artworks, like Impression, is protected by a dongle. I have no
objection to dongles, have never had any problems with any of mine and
would remind those who object so strongly to them, that the alternative
adopted by a number of software houses is to design programs which are
so unfriendly that you need to have the manual to figure out how they
work!  A
6.1
Align objects dialogue box
6.1
6.2
6.1
Drawing illustrating blending techniques
6.1
6.2
6.1
Help!!!!
6.1
•    Artworks Editor − Is there anyone out there who could edit an Artworks
Column for us? It is such an important new piece of software for the
Archimedes that I want to give it as much support as possible.
6.1
•    C Programming − Does a C programmers’ club exist for the Archimedes?
If not, would anyone like one set up? I would be happy to set this up if
there is a big enough response. Please write to me, Shanawaz Basith at
196 Burgess Road, Bassett, Southampton SO2 3AY with any ideas, etc. (No
phone calls please.)
6.1
•    Doctor’s DTP − Is there anyone out there using a medical dictionary
for Impression? If so, could that dictionary be made available to
others? M Strutt, Broad Oak Computers.
6.1
•    DTP editor − Is there anyone who would be interested in the possibil
ity of joining the team of DTP editors? There are three people doing it
at the moment, so they do one article every three months. We would like
one more if we can find someone else suitable. Any offers?
6.1
•    HP Laser Jet IIIP − Does anyone know how to get an HP Laser Jet IIIP
to print to the printer margins, i.e. about 5mm within the edge of an A4
sheet using RISC-OS printer drivers? Nick Horn, Thetford.
6.1
•    RISC-OS editor − Is there anyone who would be prepared to be a ‘RISC-
OS 3 Editor’ for us? In other words, we need someone to whom we (and
Archive readers) could send comments about changes between RISC-OS 2 and
RISC-OS 3 who could then write a (monthly?) column about it. We already
have some information but it really needs someone to read it all through
and interpret it in practical terms to other Archive readers. Any
offers?
6.1
•    TV interference − Does any 300 or 400 series owner have trouble with
their machine interfering with their neighbour’s television? Can it be
prevented? Chris Bass, Grimsby.  A
6.1
Help offered
6.1
•    PickAPic update − The !PickAPic application on Shareware Disc 45 has
now been updated to version 1.05. This has a few bug fixes which makes
the program much more reliable. If you want an upgrade, the author would
be happy to send you one if you send him a blank formatted disc and an
SAE. Contact Hugh Eagle, 48 Smithbarn, Horsham, Sussex  RH13 6DX.
6.1
•    PipeDream and RISC-OS 3 − Recently I have been asked many times
whether PipeDream ‘works’ with RISC-OS 3. The answer is a slightly
qualified ‘Yes’. If you have an early version of PipeDream 3 then you
may have a problem or two with RISC-OS 3. The solution is to upgrade
your copy of PipeDream 3 to version 3.14. The upgrade is free.
6.1
There are no problems with any version of PipeDream 4 but, just for the
record, the latest version is 4.13 and (since 4.10) the charts have been
improved. If you need a free upgrade to 4.13, send both your program and
examples discs to Colton Software. Gerald Fitton.  A
6.1
!Killer and Vprotect
6.1
Rob Wears
6.1
The virus protection program, !Killer (version 1.370) and the Vprotect
virus protection module from Pineapple Software were reviewed on an A310
with RISC-OS 2, 4Mb RAM, ARM3 and an Oak SCSI drive.
6.1
In an ideal world, there would be no need for a package like this.
However, one look at the news should convince you that there are some
really nasty people out there and more than a handful of rather stupid
ones. Somewhere in amongst those groups are the clowns who write
computer viruses. The Acorn range of computers has not been as vulner
able to viruses as certain PCs because the Acorn operating systems have
always resided in ROM. However, we shouldn’t be too smug. There are
several unpleasant viruses out there that will wreck your disc-based
applications and crash your machine if you give them the chance. Various
“disinfecting” programs have appeared over the past couple of years but
most seem to have fallen out of use due to lack of support. In this
area, support is absolutely vital − it is hard to think of anything that
could do more harm than an out-of-date “disinfectant” telling you that
all is well, when it is allowing a brand new virus to infect your
system. I am pleased to say that !Killer comes with a guarantee of
support, at a price.
6.1
The program will be superficially familiar to most Archive readers as a
it is descendent of the original Acorn virus killer, and a recent
version of it was distributed on the cover disc of another Archimedes
magazine a few months ago. The latest version installs itself on the
iconbar in the usual way, but unlike previous versions, it is now
possible to use the software from a write-protected floppy disc. This
will prevent the !Killer application itself being infected. This was
previously not possible because !Killer automatically kept a record of
the discs it had scanned. You can now direct this recording of its
findings to another disc of your choice; this is a good example of
improved security through good software support. !Killer checks to see
if it has become infected and will not load if it finds evidence of
tampering. !Killer then checks whether any viruses are already loaded
and will either remove them or render them impotent in the case of ones
which cannot easily be removed from memory. Error boxes are used to
report any viruses discovered. You will also get a warning from !Killer
if it finds that VProtect is not loaded (or if it was loaded, and has
been removed).
6.1
You can then scan any disc you like, looking for viruses. The only
problem I found with the software was that it couldn’t initiate scans of
!CFS drives directly from the iconbar menu, although it is possible to
do so by pressing <Shift-ctrl-tab> with the mouse pointer in a !CFS
filer window, or by dragging a directory/application to the !Killer
icon. It copes with !Spark and !ArcFS archives without any problems at
all.
6.1
If you decide to scan your latest 512 Mb hard drive packed with PD
software, be prepared to go and make a cup of tea while it scans and
then be prepared to spend a couple of hours reading the report of the
scan − !Killer is a very suspicious chap, and reports just about every
application it comes to! However, there is a (hopefully very short)
section on the infections it actually found and dealt with. You can also
configure !Killer to capture any virus found, presumably so that you can
send it off for further study.
6.1
So do you actually need !Killer? I suppose that really depends on your
level of paranoia, but if you use bulletin boards and large numbers of
PD libraries, I think it would only be a matter of time before you
picked up a virus from somewhere. Similarly, I think networks and
schools should seriously consider keeping !Killer around on a permanent
basis. It should be stressed that discs from any supplier are potential
sources of infection. There is no such thing as absolute security.
6.1
(For example, we have just discovered that the Mah Jong the Game discs
we had in stock had a so-called benign virus which was timed so that it
first appeared on 6th September 1992. If you have bought Mah Jong
recently from anywhere, either check it or get your supplier to check
it! Ed.)
6.1
For a single user, the registration fee is £24 per annum. Pineapple
offer a sliding scale of site licence fees, up to £100 per annum for 10+
machines. In an effort to keep costs down, Pineapple supply only a
single disc with a site licence version. The licensee can then copy the
software onto the appropriate number of machines. Pineapple are
obviously relying on our honesty here, and I think it would be stupid to
disappoint them.
6.1
Pineapple are charging the fees to cover costs, but some people will be
worried that Pineapple are “making money out of software viruses”. Jim
Daniels from Pineapple has given a written guarantee that if the scheme
shows a profit then the prices will be reduced for the second year.
However, if the scheme shows a loss, prices will inevitably have to be
increased − if you don’t pay your fees, it will cost us ALL more next
time.
6.1
I feel that Pineapple have taken a lot on their shoulders acting as a
central focus in the fight against the virus authors; Pineapple are
projecting approximately four disc updates per year, together with all
the work involved in investigating new outbreaks and developing cures.
They are providing a unique and, unfortunately, indispensable service to
the Acorn community.  A
6.1
Banner − Sign Printer
6.1
Peter Jennings
6.1
The first thing you probably ask yourself when loading a newly acquired
program for the first time is, “How easy will this be to use?” (I am
assuming that you will have asked, “Will this program do what I want?”
before you actually bought it!)
6.1
The question about the ease of using Kudlian Soft’s Banner was answered
for me very quickly. It is the easiest and most user-friendly commercial
program I have ever used on the Archimedes. I had got to grips with it
completely within five minutes of loading, with little more than a
cursory glance through the seven-page manual. The second paragraph of
the manual accurately says: “Those familiar with the RISC-OS desktop
will not need to read most of this manual as the operation of Banner is
self-explanatory.”
6.1
Banner (version 1.01) comes on a single, unprotected disc with the
manual inside a plastic folder. It is designed, as its name suggests, to
make long, printed signs. It works by printing the required text
sideways along a continuous strip of fanfold paper or on separate sheets
which can be joined together.
6.1
Type in and print
6.1
At its simplest, the instructions would be: load, click on the Banner
icon to open a window, type in the text and click on a “Print” icon.
6.1
The loading part does include the outline font manager and a printer
driver, if they are not already resident, and of course there is a range
of options which can be set but all the facilities are just as easy to
use.
6.1
A sign can have up to four lines of text with a maximum of 36 characters
on each line. The number of lines is selected by choosing a text size of
“Large” for one line, “Medium” for two lines or “Small” for four lines.
It is not necessary to have text on every line and, in fact, one has to
be left blank if you want only three lines. The text can be centred
horizontally or justified left or right. In the current version it
cannot be adjusted vertically if only three lines are used.
6.1
A single sans-serif font, Jotter, is supplied with the package and this
is the default font used. Other fonts can be added and will be offered
in a sub-menu but only one can be used for each poster. The font can be
changed at any stage in the design process but the change will apply to
the whole text.
6.1
There is an optional preview window which is worth opening at the start
− the text appears in it as you type, with only a short delay, to giving
you an updated, WYSIWYG display of the banner. The window is edged with
a pattern representing fanfold paper sprocket holes but there is no
indication of where the folds come and how many sheet will be needed.
This is a feature which may be added in a future version.
6.1
Shadows and borders
6.1
Shadows can be added, if you wish, with a choice of four directions.
Borders are also available as an option and can be thin, medium or
thick, single, double or treble rectangles, or in four wavy designs.
Borders enclose the whole text area, including any blank lines, so they
are not always suitable for three lines of text because of the addi
tional blank line. Separate colour menus are offered for text,
background and borders but the manual suggests sticking to shades of
grey unless a colour printer is to be used. Colours can be seen in the
preview window but there is no indication on the menus as to which
colours or grey shades are set.
6.1
When printing in black and white do not have the printer driver set to
“monochrome graphics” or contrast between the different shades of grey
will be lost and shadows will print either completely black or not at
all.
6.1
Banners can be saved as text files, complete with all settings except
fonts. They can then be examined in Edit, which is the only way to see
which grey shades are set. A Banner or any other suitable text file can
be loaded by dragging onto the Banner icon or into the text window. If
you want to print a second, different sign without reloading, this is
the only quick way to clear all the previous settings because closing
and reopening the window leaves them unchanged.
6.1
Printing in colour
6.1
Banner can be used to good effect with a colour printer but, although
the manual does not say so, multi-coloured signs can be made with a
monochrome printer if you have some different coloured printer ribbons.
6.1
It is quite simple to line up the same sheets of paper for multiple
printings in different colours. The problems come with centred lines and
a border because the centre and width of the sign will be set by the
longest line being printed. The way to solve this is to set up the
complete sign in the preview window first. If the border is not to be
printed in the same colour as the longest line, count the width of the
border in “sprocket holes” along the edge of the preview window. Delete
the border and print the text then delete the text and reset the border.
Without any text, this will appear as a narrow box but it can be padded
out to the correct size with spaces on one of the blank text lines. A
line which is to be printed separately can be correctly centred by
noting the position of the first letter against the “sprocket holes” in
the preview window for the complete sign. The required number of spaces
can be added at the start of the line when it is retyped for printing.
6.1
Banner is not a program which everyone will need but for schools,
businesses and anyone wanting to make wide printed signs (even for
parties) it is a very good buy at £15 plus VAT (or £17 from Archive).
Primary and secondary site licences cost £20 and £40 respectively from
Kudlian Soft and there are discounts available for bulk purchases.  A
6.1
Language Column
6.1
David Wild
6.1
Since I wrote my last article for Archive, I have bought myself a ‘C’
compiler. This may surprise regular readers who are aware of my opinions
about ‘C’, but I haven’t suddenly gone into the other camp. I bought the
desktop ‘C’ package so that I could get DDE and so be able to use the
new Pascal compiler mentioned in the September issue. (On Careware 17,
not Shareware 48 as I said. Sorry! Ed.)
6.1
I do have one grumble about the ‘C’ package. However, it has nothing to
do with opinions about the language but is to do with the installation
procedures. For some reason, it insists on being loaded to the root
directory and so clutters up my desktop with a number of directories
which are not particularly helpful in normal use. One, for instance, is
the ‘Clib’ directory, to which I am hardly ever going to need direct
access − possibly for library updating. I know that it is a vital part
of the system but it could be hidden away somewhere − rather like the
‘modules’ directory in !System − with the correct paths maintained in
something like the DDE !boot application.
6.1
DDE Pascal
6.1
Now that I have got that off my chest, what about the Pascal compiler?
It seems to be a powerful Level 1 ISO compiler with a number of
extensions. These do not quite correspond with those in the previous
version but it should not be too difficult to convert programs written
earlier. The compiler has “throwback” written in to it so that clicking
on the error report takes you straight to the text editor with the
cursor poised ready for the correction.
6.1
There is no facility for compiling in-line assembly language statements
− I presume that Acorn’s assumption is that you will write such code
using ‘Objasm’ and bring it in at link time. In fact, the loss isn’t all
that great as most of the bits that had to be done by using assembly
language, such as access to the operating system, are provided using new
procedures and functions which are available directly from Pascal or
from RISC_OSLib.
6.1
The only loss for which I have not yet found a replacement is the
provision of ‘static’ variables which could be used for such things as
keeping track of whether a procedure had been called before and so call
an initialisation routine if necessary. It can be done with global
variables but the beauty of the static variable is that it is private to
the procedure or function − and won’t get missed by accident.
6.1
It was in trying to compile an earlier program that I came across one of
the peculiarities of the new. If there is something that it really
doesn’t recognise it stops at that point and then says “garbage after
end of program ignored”. When that happens on the fifth line of your
program it does seem a little abrupt.
6.1
Using the compiler is very simple − as long as you have made the
necessary provision beforehand. Source files must be in a directory
called ‘p’ and there must be a directory, which must be in the same
directory as the ‘p’ directory, called ‘o’ for the object code. The
expectation is that you will be creating applications where the source,
the object and the !runimage will all be stored in the same application
directory. After clicking on !Pascal in the DDE directory, you just drag
the source file from the ‘p’ directory, click on a button to show
whether RISC_OSLib is to be used and click on the ‘RUN’ button. Then, if
compilation is successful, the object code will be put in the ‘o’
directory and a ‘save’ window will appear, allowing you to put the
compiled and linked code wherever you want. For ordinary programs, you
will probably never need the object code again as the only reason for
re-linking will be because of changes to the program and in that case
you will generate new object code anyway.
6.1
The compiler and the libraries provide full support for WIMP programming
but it will take some time to get to grips with the new way of thinking
using events.
6.1
One helpful feature of the compiler is the much improved access to the
command line. This will be very useful in conjunction with the !frontend
module in DDE. I am not happy about using command lines, where the user
has to type everything, because there is no way for the program to check
the validity of commands in time to get changes made. However, this
objection disappears if the command line is being generated by another
program. The DDE programs are good examples of this method and I hope
that we will see many more examples in future.
6.1
Provided with the compiler is an example application !balls64 which
gives an impressive demonstration of what can be done with the compiler.
However, I would have liked to see a couple of simpler examples using
text and simple drawings in windows so that it would be easier to see
how the program statements corresponded with the results on the screen.
6.1
For a program which is virtually given away, it is a remarkable package.
There is, as mentioned last month, a ReadMe file (which is all the
documentation there is) with some useful information. It amused me to
see that several parts of the document assumed that you were already
familiar with ‘C’ and seems to presume that readers will be moving up to
Pascal.
6.1
There is a fierce disclaimer which almost says that no one at Acorn, or
any of their dealers, knows anything about the program and that you are
on your own. I hope that the response will be such that Acorn can be
persuaded to adopt the program officially and issue some fuller
documentation at a reasonable price. Any comments from any other user
will be very welcome and will be included in future issues of this
column.
6.1
“Computer Languages” magazine
6.1
You may remember that I mentioned the Pascal User Group and pointed out
that membership of this group was a good way to subscribe to the
“Computer Languages” magazine. Unfortunately, the supply was very
irregular with three copies arriving at one time. The most recent letter
from the Group said that “Computer Languages” was becoming too expensive
and they were changing to “Program Now”. While there is nothing wrong
with this magazine, it is available from newsagents and it is probably
not worth joining the user group to get it.  A
6.1
Small Ads
6.1
(Small ads for Archimedes and related products are free for subscribers
but we reserve the right to publish all, part or none of the material
you send, as we think fit. i.e. some people don’t know what ‘small’
means and there are certain things, as you can imagine, that we would
not be prepared to advertise as a matter of principle. Sending small ads
(especially long ones!) on disc is helpful but not essential. Ed)
6.1
Charity Sales − If you have unwanted software or hardware for Archimedes
computers you could donate for charity, please send it in to the Archive
office. We will sell them at the Acorn User Show which is a more
effective way of raising money than doing it by post. Better still,
bring it to the Show (16th − 18th).  A
6.1
•    5¼“ twin 80/40 drives, mono monitor, Epson LX86 printer £520 o.n.o.
Phone John Savage on 0525−23625.
6.1
•    4Mb memory board for A310 Risc Developments, unused, will take RISC-OS
3 chips, costs £320, accept £240. Phone [phone] (day).
6.1
•    A3000 2Mb LC, serial interface, serial link cable & software, Atomwide
VIDC enhancer and AKF18 colour monitor. £599. Phone 0242− 234342 (after
6).
6.1
•    A3000 2Mb, standard monitor, JP150 inkjet printer, external disc drive
interface, serial chip upgrade, First Word Plus, Acorn DTP, other
software also available £750 o.n.o. Phone Steve on 0803−873073.
6.1
•    A3000, 2Mb RAM, Acorn multi-sync monitor, VIDC enhancer, Serial port
upgrade, Learning Curve software, Hot links Presenter, games worth £120.
Offers. Phone 081−898−0447.
6.1
•    A310 +4Mb RAM, manuals & software, £500 o.n.o. NEC multisync + leads,
£400 o.n.o. both for £800. Contact Steve on 071−706−5998 work hours,
otherwise 0734−351654.
6.1
•    A410/1, 4Mb RAM, RISC-OS 3.1, 20Mb drive, Acorn monitor. Original
boxes & manuals. 5¼“ disc interface. Lots of software. Perfect. £745 or
offers. Phone 0582−833937.
6.1
•    A410/1, 4Mb, 40Mb Hard Disc, ARM3, VIDC Enhancer, HiFi Sound Upgrade,
Taxan 770+ LR multisync monitor, Pace Linnet modem (V21/23), DeltaCat
joystick, mouse socket splitter, ArcComm 1+2, First Word Plus 2, 4
games, spare fan filters, all leads, monitor mounted copy holder and
RISC-OS 3. £1200 o.n.o. Phone 0705− 751884.
6.1
•    A410 4Mb RAM, 20Mb hard disc, Acorn multisync monitor £1000. Contact
D. C. Quinn, Norfolk. Phone 0953−83−583.
6.1
•    A440 with 47Mb HD, 30MHz ARM 3, Atomwide VIDC Enhancer £600. Taxan
Multisync 770+ Monitor £150. 200Mb Internal Conner IDE HD £200. Twincom
V32b/V42b Modem £190. Scanlight 256 Scanner £100. Oak SCSI Podule £50.
Phone 0382−738156.
6.1
•    A5000 New Unused − 2Mb RAM, 40Mb HD, with RISC-OS 3.10 and multisync
monitor £1495. Roger 061−799−9845 (eves or w/e).
6.1
•    Acorn (Philips) colour monitor £100, 40MB ST506 NEC 3.5“ 28ms drive
£200, 20MB ST506 Miniscribe 3.5” 28ms drive £100, Atomwide (Avie) ST506
hard drive controller card £100, GEC Datachat V2123 modem,boxed £30,
Prism 1000 V2123 modem £20, Acorn PC Emulator V1.33 £55, Tactic £8,
Stranded! (Adventure) £12, Twinworld £10, U.I.M. £8, Zarch £8, MiG 29
£25. All prices o.n.o. Arthur PRMs offers? Contact Gareth on 0247 457655
6.1
•    Acorn standard monitor £95. Unused Acorn mouse £25. Phone
081−751−2120.
6.1
•    AKF 11 colour monitor: £100; Acorn I/O podule + Midi add on: £75; Opus
Amber IBM monitor, Tilt/Swivel, lead, £45. Phone 0295−711644. Could
deliver.
6.1
•    Atomwide 8Mb memory upgrade for A410/1 or A440. Unused, still sealed.
£250 o.n.o. Phone 0895−630344.
6.1
•    Easiwriter £80, Illusionist £60. Phone 069−77−46786.
6.1
•    Eizo 9060S monitor, £230. Also Quickshot 3 joystick and serial port
joystick interface, £20. Schema spreadsheet, £25. Beebug serial link,
£3. Phone [phone] evenings.
6.1
•    E-Type, Inertia, Arcade Soccer all £5 each. Manchester United,
Apocalypse, Rotor £10 each. Also Manchester United Europe and Interdic
tor II £15 each. Phone Ali on 0382−816555.
6.1
•    Floppy disc interface by Risc Developments for the Archimedes £20.
Phone 03727−40678.
6.1
•    Games: Cataclysm, Enter The Realm, Grievous Bodily ’Arm, Pandora’s
Box, Lemmings; £10 each. Twinworld, Mad Professor Mariarti, Iron Lord;
£6 each. Karma, Worra Battle, Arcade Soccer, PacMania, UIM, Star Trader,
Terramex, Thundermonk, Conqueror, Zarch, Rotor, Ibix The Viking, Repton
3, Dread Dragon Droom; £3 each. Buy the lot for £90!! Phone 0276−20575
evenings.
6.1
•    HP DeskJet Plus ink-jet printer. 2 years old, v. good condition.
Boxed, Manual. £175 o.n.o. Phone Stuart Bell on 0403−253915.
6.1
•    Impression DTP V2.17 with original discs and manual £75. Impression
Business Supplement with original disc and manual £25. Phone
0536−724981.
6.1
•    JP150 printer for your A5000! Usually £276 with a computer. Mine has
never been out of its box, £225. Phone Paul on 0379−852979 (eves).
6.1
•    PC Emulator 1.7 £60, CC Compression £35, Lemmings £10, Pacmania £5,
WS3000 Modem V21/22/23, Hayes £60. Phone 081−698−3772.
6.1
•    Minerva Software: GammaPlot £20, Systems Delta+ £30, Mailshot £15,
Reporter £15, System Delta+ Ref. Guide £15, SigmaSheet £20. Computer
Concept ROMs: InterChart £10, InterSheet £15, InterWord £15, SpellMaster
£20. Phone Rob Brown on 0737−832159 (eves).
6.1
•    Ovation just upgraded to 1.3, boxed, brand new. £60 or 120 000 Italian
lire (inc. shipping). Maurizio Ferrari, Via Pareto 12, 42020 Albinea
(RE), Italy. Fax Italy−522−75904.
6.1
•    Ovation (latest version 1.35S) original discs and manual £85. Phone
0732−454707.
6.1
•    Panasonic KXP1124 24-pin printer, leads, boxed, excellent condition,
£140. Phone 081−886−4040.
6.1
•    Pascal (Acorn ISO release 2) £65, Wiggins & Smith extensions & Risc
User Pascal front-end £25 or will exchange for Illusionist. Phone
0202−884883.
6.1
•    PC Emulator 1.8 £55. Beebug ‘C’ 1990 £30. Hearsay II £25. Acorn 1Mb
RAM for A3000 £20. Phone John Crabtree on 0803 832505.
6.1
•    Prism 1000 V2123 modem £20 o.n.o. 40MB ST506 NEC 3.5“ 28ms Hard Drive
with brackets & cables £200 o.n.o. 20MB ST506 Rhodine 3.5” 28ms Hard
Drive with brackets & cables £120 o.n.o. Atomwide (Avie) ST506 Hard
drive podule new boxed & unused £100 o.n.o. PC Emulator v1.80 £65.
Arthur P.R.M.s Offers? Arcterm 7 £65, Mig 29 £30, Tactic £7, UIM £12,
5.25“ 40/80 Switchable drive plus Archimedes interface £50 o.n.o. Phone
0247−457655.
6.1
•    Scanlight Junior A3000 (internal fitting), immaculate & boxed, £100 or
reasonable offer. Phone John on 0472−600647.
6.1
•    Southampton Archimedes User Group meets on the 2nd Monday of each
month, 7−9pm (term time), at Itchen College, Middle Road, Bitterne,
Southampton. A very informal meeting and new members are welcome.
Contact Ted Lacey on 0703−552475 after 5th Sept. or just come along.
6.1
•    Wanted − 4 slot backplane. Phone Richard on 0264−361475.
6.1
•    Wanted − Acorn analogue/user port expansion podule for A5000. Phone
John on 0472−600647.
6.1
•    Wanted − LaserDirect interface for Canon LBP4 printer. Ruislip, Phone
0895−630344.
6.1
•    Wanted − Wordwise Plus A (80-column). Phone Colin on 0786−61501 (eves,
w/e).  A
6.1
Computer Concepts’ A3 Colour Printer
6.1
John Brocks, Lantern Radio
6.1
For me, the Archimedes started as a hobby some five years ago. Since
that time, I have become completely hooked on the machine and its
various developments. Indeed, the hobby now takes up a good amount of my
professional work. Without the Archimedes, I could never have found the
manpower I needed to produce the volumes of literature needed to win the
8 year contract I am currently working on.
6.1
My company will eventually operate twelve Archimedes in various shapes
and sizes. What’s more, the old problem of lack of software is beginning
to subside. At last, there are competent programs for most purposes and
I find myself using the PC Emulator less and less. If only Acorn would
realise the business potential of their product instead of going down
the education line. (They realise it OK − it’s doing something about it
that’s difficult!)
6.1
Even so, the PC market has tended to remain ahead of the rest in terms
of add-on peripherals. I already have a great deal of admiration for
Computer Concepts for redressing much of this situation with excellent
products such as Laser Direct which, in many ways, is ahead of the PC
competition. In this review I can reveal news of yet another Computer
Concepts product which will help make the Archimedes be taken more
seriously in the business market.
6.1
The Turbo-driven BJC 800 colour printer
6.1
Like many of you, I have seen Computer Concepts’ “The Driving Force”
advertising campaign for many months and have eagerly awaited the
product for a specific application. However, like so many Computer
Concepts’ products, the advertising campaign seemed to be way ahead of
availability.
6.1
Pestering Paul Beverley frequently on the availability of the product I
was disappointed to learn, last month, that there were “software”
problems with the Turbo Driver and the release had been delayed yet
again.
6.1
Taking pity on me, Paul took my case to Charles Moir at Computer
Concepts and requested some help. I am indebted to both for providing me
with a prototype version which I have now been using for several weeks.
My initial concern at receiving a pre-launch version, which may have
some serious bugs rendering the machine unuseable, were soon allayed.
The package is not perfect − but considerably better than expected. In
fact, some other products I have used as a finished article have been
infinitely inferior in development. So far, all of the problems I have
experienced have been surmountable − but more of these later.
6.1
The package
6.1
The parcel that arrived on my doorstep contained a Canon BJC-800 colour
printer complete with four colour ink cartridges, Canon Programmer’s
Manual, Canon Guide to Colour Bubble Jet Printing, Canon User’s Manual,
Computer Concepts’ Turbo BJ-10 printer driver manual, Computer Concepts’
Turbo BJ-10 software disc and printer lead. The latter is important as a
normal printer lead will not work.
6.1
The first thing I did was to find out whether I could get any result
from the machine at all − being a cynic! Much to my relief, I discovered
the machine would work − although early tests were disappointing.
Consequently, I thought that I had better order some spare ink cartri
dges before I got any further. This reaction was based on the view that
they must, surely, be difficult to obtain. The good news is that the
supply of cartridges arrived within two days. The bad news is that Cyan,
Magenta and Yellow cost £20 +VAT (full retail) per cartridge and Black
costs £16.50 +VAT (full retail). (Archive prices are £22 and £17
respectively inc VAT.)
6.1
The Computer Concepts’ manual
6.1
This 14 page document certainly doesn’t look very pre-release at all. It
is a very smart looking colour-bound booklet presented in the same
professional and attractive manner as Impression II. The introduction
explains how the Turbo Driver works, even going into print compression
and print queue techniques − not totally dissimilar to Laser Direct. The
notable difference is that there is no Laser Direct podule needed.
6.1
The booklet then runs through the various dialogue boxes that the BJ-10
printer driver icon produces. Again, these are all very similar to those
used on a Laser Direct. After listing all the options and window
descriptions, the booklet closes with a chapter called “Using Turbo
Driver”. This runs through how to print from First Word Plus and
mentions types of paper that should be used.
6.1
One thing that should be pointed out here is that a lot of the printer’s
other operating instructions cannot be found in this booklet and the
other manuals MUST be read for this. This is particularly the case with
regard to routine maintenance, which is not covered in the Computer
Concepts’ manual, at all. Unlike Laser Direct, the printer’s own
controls are operative on the BJC-800 and numerous functions are
available from them.
6.1
Speed tests
6.1
My overall impression of the machine is that it is very much faster than
expected − but there are reservations. A4 prints out at a staggering
speed − in about 3 minutes for a complex page of colour and text −
freeing the screen in under 2‘30“. If you simply want to print out
letter heads (as I do, to reduce printing costs) the print time is
reduced to 1‘30“. However, A3 is a different story! This is relatively
slow − but anyone who has tried to print out anything sideways from
Impression II will know that it is a much slower process than a portrait
print. Even so, 26 minutes to print out two pages of A4 complex colour
graphics in an A3 format, sideways, requires patience!
6.1
However, this must be looked at in context. The screen is cleared some 5
minutes earlier meaning that you can continue using the machine.
Multiple prints of the same page don’t take much longer before the
screen is freed. The quality of print also needs to be taken into
consideration. The colour result is every bit as good, if not better,
than the equivalent 600 dpi Laser Direct Black and White − with results
excellent right down to sprites reduced to a tiny size.
6.1
It does have to be said, though, that the background printing of a
multiple page print can cause problems. On occasion, whilst transferring
information from disc to disc (particularly compressed CFS files) during
a multiple print, the dreaded “File Core In Use” error message can
appear and the whole system can lock up. Nonetheless, this is an
exception to the rule rather than the norm.
6.1
Print resolution
6.1
As mentioned above, print quality is absolutely excellent. I enclosed a
copy of my company’s sales pack produced with the BJC-800 with this
review when it was sent to Paul Beverley and doubtless he will comment.
(I sure will! John is right, the quality is quite staggering − the
colour is very good and the black text is virtually equivalent to a 600
d.p.i. Laser Direct. Ed.)
6.1
However, to obtain such results requires more than a little trial and
error. My main gripe is that not all colours produce a pure result in
mode 12 or equivalent 12-colour palette. The particular yellow used in
mode 12 produces a very dirty result and I think this should be
corrected on the basis that mode 12 is easier and quicker to use than
other modes − and, in most cases, is quite adequate. This fact has
irritated me enormously as my Eizo monitor and A540 is set up for mode
106 and my VIDC complains in mode 107! Even so, the 256-colour palette
is really the only usable way of utilising this colour printer.
6.1
The difficulties are not as great as I first feared. I have read that
other colour printers and printer drivers produce anything but the
colour you want. This is not true of the BJC-800. Colours produced are
generally much darker − but always of the right spectrum. One can guess
what a lighter colour may eventually look like or use a slightly more
scientific method. My answer to the problem was to print out a screen
shot of the 256 palette and examine the difference. I would recommend
this idea to any serious user − perhaps as the first exercise. You
simply choose to use those colours that reproduce well on the printer.
If there were an easy way of editing the colours used in 16-colour
modes, that we help greatly. Until then, I will have to use 256-colour
modes. (I think Artworks, which is now available, may offer some help
with this problem. Ed.)
6.1
The other advantage of the BJC-800, over some other printers, is that it
does utilise black ink. This means that no approximations (which often
produce dark brown − rather than black) are needed. In some ways, the
black text effect is more pleasing than that produced on a Laser Direct.
I have to say I often have to resist the temptation of using the bubble
jet in preference to the Laser Direct on the grounds of cost!
6.1
Both the Computer Concepts and Canon manuals try and persuade you that
you really should use special artwork paper. My answer to that is
“poppycock”! I can’t imagine that any special paper is really needed
unless you are printing heavy colour overlays or scans/photographs. I
remain sceptical that thick coated art paper would actually improve
results, in any case.
6.1
Like a boy with a new train set, I tried printing a variety of difficult
sprites as soon as I had worked out the palette differences. On balance,
I would say that ordinary photocopy paper was actually better than the
good stuff! Colour overlays generally don’t cause problems, in any case.
Red text on yellow being an exception − which produces nasty runs.
However, my ordinary paper was far less susceptible to the problems than
the art paper provided − in all three of the head “pressure” settings!
6.1
Colours on art paper look much brighter and richer − but somehow rather
unrealistic. Ordinary photocopy paper results look faded by comparison −
but somehow more realistic. I can imagine a casual onlooker commenting
on the brightness of art paper − yet passing by photocopy paper results
because they look natural. You pays your money and takes your choice −
just don’t feel obliged to pay for the expensive stuff. (I personally
feel that the “brighter” colours you get on the special paper are worth
the extra money but obviously, it’s a matter of taste. Ed.)
6.1
Maintenance
6.1
As mentioned at the beginning of this review, the Canon BJC-800 has a
number of options available completely separate from those mentioned in
Computer Concepts’ manual. This came to light when, after some 300
copies, I discovered that some thin white lines were appearing on my
prints. Panic set in and I re-read the Computer Concepts’ manual − but
without any joy. I then referred to the Canon manuals and discovered the
various cleaning options available on the print menu of the printer
itself. At first, I have to say I was hoodwinked into the manual’s
answer that the most serious cleaning method “flushing” was necessary.
It sure did the trick and fixed the white lines. However, I was
perturbed that the Canon manual told me “flushing” should be used
sparingly as it uses copious quantities of that all-expensive ink! They
are absolutely correct, flushing required me to change all four of my
ink cartridges!
6.1
There are two other less stringent methods of cleaning called “Cleaning
One” and “Cleaning Two”. One mode is invoked every time a new ink
cartridge is inserted, in any case. When white lines have appeared
subsequently, I have used “Cleaning One” which has been quite sufficient
and uses less ink. Other panel controls on the printer allow various
other options such as test prints which provide grid prints and colour
tests. The grid tests demonstrate just how clogged your jets are prior
to deciding to do a cleaning program. The colour tests demonstrate just
how much colours can run into each other on the paper you are using! The
latter would be useful for the serious user wanting to decide on a type
of paper.
6.1
The only other frequent maintenance required is to change the ink
cartridges. This is so easy you can almost look forward to it (if your
bank balance allows). You simply have to open a flap, pull out the empty
cartridge and insert a new one. I am not the most dexterous of people
and yet I have found it impossible to deposit any ink on myself. Indeed,
as the expression goes, a child of five could do it! The ease of
changing cartridges must be one of the most endearing features of this
printer and must have been designed by Canon’s bank manager! It seems
that at least one cartridge needs to be replaced after several hundred
copies of A3 printing.
6.1
Conclusion
6.1
If you are looking for a serious colour printer for your Archimedes, I
would suggest that there is no real alternative to the BJC-800. Sadly,
Computer Concepts are not paying me to say that as I have had to shell
out the full retail price. Despite that fact, there is no doubt that I
am impressed.
6.1
As I mentioned earlier, I find it annoying to have to use a 256-colour
mode in order to get the best colours for the printer − but perhaps
someone can offer a solution to this?
6.1
Despite this, experimenting pays dividends and the results are satisfy
ing, to say the least. I cannot understand why this software is not on
the market yet. (It is! We have them in stock now!!! Ed.) I have not
encountered any major bugs − unless Computer Concepts are trying to
overcome the palette problems. Even if they are, I would have thought
most users would be prepared to wait for the upgrade.
6.1
A4 is surprisingly fast. A3, sideways, is disappointingly slow. Yet the
best things in life come to those who wait. The manual recommends that a
minimum of 4Mb RAM is needed for the Turbo Driver. I feel that anything
less than an A5000 with 4Mb RAM would provide disappointingly slow
results. Even my A540 with 16Mb RAM doesn’t make this product especially
quick. Furthermore, colour translations of existing black and white
material can treble the space taken up by old files. This must have some
bearing on the practicality of going colour!
6.1
My final word is that I can’t imagine anybody saying that the full A3
print isn’t breathtaking − speed is unlikely to make up for near artwork
quality. Please Computer Concepts hurry up and release this product on
the general market with Artworks − so that the Archimedes can move into
the next generation. After all, the BJC-800 must have been produced for
Artworks, in the first place?  A
6.1
Charles Moir of Computer Concepts adds... The point John makes about
colour palettes is a good one. This whole area of colour calibration is
very complex and something that currently no computers have sorted out
properly. However there are some basic points that might be worth
noting.
6.1
a) No colour printer can reproduce anything like the primary colours
possible on a monitor screen. This is basically because screens are
florescent and light transmitting whereas printers are reflective. Some
of the worst examples are red, green and blue. The latter always prints
very purplish.
6.1
b) Since full four colour process printing has the same problems, it is
correct that the BJC800 accurately reflects this. Indeed, we see one of
the main uses of this printer as a proofing device for full colour work
− so it is more important to reflect accurately the four colour process
work than the screen colours.
6.1
c) By adjusting the screen palette, it is possible to alter the screen
colours to match those on the printer. Indeed ArtWorks is supplied with
a new screen palette for this very reason. This therefore enables you to
have screen colours matching printed colours.  A
6.1
Basic Compilers − The Next Generation
6.1
Emmet Spier
6.1
For quite some time now there have been two Basic compilers on the
market for the Archimedes. With the advent of a version three of both
ABC from Oak Solutions and RiscBasic from Silicon Vision it is time to
look at them afresh.
6.1
Basic is a notoriously difficult language to compile and this is not
helped by the design and evolution of BBC Basic. With any normal
compiled language, you must follow a very strict syntax, declaring
everything before you use it. Those unfamiliar with compiled languages
may be surprised to find out that this is actually of great benefit
because the compiler can then pick up on all sorts of silly mistakes
made by the programmer. Basic, being interpreted, is forgiving and will
happily execute error-ridden programs so long as the current line makes
sense − missing ENDIFs, variables spelt incorrectly and contorted
structures rarely generate errors.
6.1
Why compile?
6.1
So why do you want to compile Basic programs? Well, other than compre
hensive syntax checking, in general, compilers provide faster and
smaller programs than an interpreted language. This is because the
source code is converted into machine code only at compile time rather
than every time the line is executed.
6.1
With the Archimedes, however, a few extra considerations must be taken
into account. Firstly, Basic is in ROM, so tokenised Basic programs are
normally much smaller than their compiled counterparts and, secondly,
Basic has an optimised set of floating point operations whereas the
compiled code depends on the slower floating point emulator until the
long awaited co-processor arrives (and at what cost?).
6.1
If you are expecting the new releases to provide you with a compiled
Basic that permits EVAL then I am afraid you will be disappointed. Even
Silicon Vision that once said it would allow EVAL has dropped the claim
which, I have to admit, is of no surprise and of no discredit to
RiscBasic.
6.1
When deciding to write a compiler for Basic on the Archimedes, the
designer has two options, either define a Basic type language or try to
implement BBC Basic as we know it. The ABC (Archimedes Basic Compiler)
insists on a stricter form of Basic whereas the RiscBasic compiler
attempts the harder path of compiling (almost) anything written in Basic
V 1.04.
6.1
Archimedes Basic Compiler
6.1
ABC is supplied on one disc with a clear and comprehensive 80 page
spiral-bound manual. The compiler is accompanied by two utility
programs, one to send Basic programs to the Basic editor and one to send
Basic programs to !Edit. To install ABC onto a hard disc, you drag the
ABC application into your programming directory along with the examples
directory and the utilities, if you wish. You also need to update your
system directory with ABClib, the shared Basic library! If you are using
floppies, all that is required is a backup of the distribution disc
where there is ample room for development.
6.1
In use
6.1
Double clicking on the ABC icon puts ABC on the iconbar with a tidy and
simple user interface. To compile a Basic program you drag the file from
a filer window onto the ABC icon and then drag the object file from the
save dialogue back to a filer window. A small window will pop up
indicating how far the compiler has got while the computer happily
multi-tasks − albeit with a significant performance degradation.
6.1
If no errors are encountered, ABC pops up a summary window containing a
few interesting facts. Once this window is closed, the compiler returns
all the memory it took, back to the WIMP pool. If the ‘X-Ref’ flag was
set before compilation started, the compiler opens a window with a
multitude of options which allow you to create a profile of the program.
The complete set is comprehensive although somewhat hard to understand
but the window’s switches allow tailoring of the information provided
when the save dialogue is dragged to !Edit − all very smooth!
6.1
If there are errors in the file then ABC pops up a largish window which
contains the line number and type of error but no indication of exactly
where on the line the error occurred. The compiler will try to guess
what was intended and, if it can, the error is called a warning and
clicking on OK will continue compilation; if the error was unrecover
able, compilation terminates. With any warning or error, the window
provides an option to enter the Basic editor at the erroneous line but
there is no neat method of return. The programmer must save the file
(typing the appropriate path if the CSD is not set) and then quit Basic
− not so smooth!
6.1
There is no method of compiling the program and just logging all the
errors to a file which can then be ploughed through in your own time.
This is a shame since I prefer to use !Edit which is ideally suited to
such an approach (unlike the ARM BE).
6.1
With reference to !Edit, it must be said that the Basic to Text
converter provided, although proficient, is a bit slow and the Basic to
ARM BE works well but I have seen PD versions that make return to the
desktop easier.
6.1
Compatibility
6.1
All in all, the compiler’s user interface is very neat − but what of the
actual compiler? As I said before, ABC defines a Basic type language.
This is not as bad as it sounds; most of Basic V is provided for but
there are a few major differences.
6.1
ABC insists on well structured code. You cannot jump out of loops;
procedures must be terminated and for each loop initiator there must be
only one terminator. These are all very sensible things that you should
be doing already! The most serious difference between ABC and Basic V is
how they handle variable scope.
6.1
In small programs, this causes no problem but in larger programs with
lots of variables to be passed between procedures, this can cause hours
of trouble if the program has not been designed for ABC.
6.1
When you locally define a variable in Basic, any subsequent procedure or
function calls will use this new variable, instead of the global one,
until the defining procedure has terminated. ABC uses a different rule;
a local variable is only valid in the defining procedure − any subse
quent calls use the global variable whether or not they have been called
from the defining procedure. In any normal compiled language, these
subtleties cause no problem because declarations make variable use very
clear but Basic does not. Fortunately ABC’s cross referencer points out
any problems of this type which, more often than not, are solved by
extending the parameter lists of the procedures.
6.1
Missing from ABC are all the extra array operations added since Basic
IV. I find these entertaining to use (especially recursive functions
using local arrays as parameters) but local array operations are, by
their very nature, inefficient on memory and program speed.
6.1
The last major omission is that ABC does not permit either indirected
parameter passing or some of the more sophisticated indirected variable
accesses. In particular, this makes WIMP programming slightly trickier
although it is not an insurmountable problem.
6.1
Variable types
6.1
ABC’s divergence from strict Basic V allows it to excel in the control
of variable types. In Basic, you can have either real, integer (%) or
string ($) variables but ABC goes one stage further and permits three
types of real variable matching the types provided by the floating point
emulator. Single-precision, double and extended can be used by the
appropriate choice of the last character of the variable name. With a
compiler directive, you can choose any final character to set the type
of a variable or set all real variables to integer! This flexibility
allows intermediate results to be calculated in a high precision
variable, with the final result stored in a lower precision saving
memory without the cost on accuracy.
6.1
Another compiler directive allows the programmer to check to see if the
floating point emulator is used in the program. This is of great
importance to users with commercial plans since the floating point
emulator must be licensed from Acorn.
6.1
Assembler
6.1
ABC includes a full ARM code assembler which assembles at run time. This
seems odd because the whole idea of a compiler is to avoid such jobs at
run time and indeed the manual advises that code is assembled separa
tely, then loaded into a memory block reserved by the compiled program.
One ought to add that there are advantages of the run time approach
(e.g. conditional assembly).
6.1
Modules and libraries
6.1
ABC permits the creation of the full set of module types along with an
interesting form of extension library module. The manual is well written
on this tricky subject and provides good examples. I will discuss the
new type first.
6.1
Under ABC, you can create a module that allows any program compiled
under ABC to call procedures and functions in the module just as they
were, with a few exceptions, in the program itself. This allows the
splitting up of a large program so that it take less time to compile as
well as providing a method of creating your own shared Basic library!
6.1
Anything that compiles under ABC can be put into module form as an
application, utility or service module. The service module is the most
interesting type because not only can you implement *-commands but you
can also write SWI handlers. Yes, I agree (along with the manual!) that
this sounds rather silly − SWI handlers must respond very quickly or the
computer will seize up. However, they can be fun and they add an extra
level of prototyping to Basic − which is my language of choice when I
design ARM code programs.
6.1
Optimisations
6.1
ABC has several compiler directives to speed up its object code. Some
are sensible ones like not bothering to pre-initialise local variables
or forbidding GOTOs but there is one contentious one. The NoEscapeCheck
directive provides a significant performance benefit by not checking the
escape condition unless the program is receiving input from the keyboard
(INPUT, GET, etc). This means that programs will not stop when <escape>
is pressed unless the Basic program checks the escape condition (not
hard using an OS_Byte command). This directive will be discussed later.
6.1
The RiscBasic Compiler
6.1
RiscBasic is also supplied on one disc but with a considerably thinner
manual (the pre-release manual had 40 pages and needed some reorganis
ation) justified by the fact that RiscBasic is (almost) fully Basic V
compatible. Installation on a hard drive is easy − just drag all the
files from the RiscBasic disc into your programming directory. With
floppies, you just backup the disc. My only reservation is that, as
currently written, the !Run files assume the location of the ‘Library’
directory. This is something that is easily fixed and may well be just a
pre-release problem.
6.1
RiscBasic requires over half a dozen working directories to store
intermediate or information files creating a rather messy working
directory and really needing to be placed in a directory of its own.
6.1
In use
6.1
There are three ways to use RiscBasic: from the command line, from an
iconbar menu based system and from what they call a DDE (Desktop
Developers’ Environment). This bears no relation to Acorn’s DDE! Having
left the command line with Arthur, I initially picked the DDE because it
provided the greatest position-independence of the three systems.
6.1
The DDE system has a complete set of switches in a neat dialogue box
which control all the options of the compiler. Dragging a Basic (or
text) file to the iconbar will bring up a save dialogue after which
compilation will commence. The computer does not multitask but opens up
a command window into which various pieces of information, about how
compilation is progressing, are printed. If compilation is successful,
clicking on any mouse button returns you to the desktop with your new
object file. All this is fairly smooth unless there is not enough memory
in the task slot, in which case the RiscBasic compiler abruptly
terminates.
6.1
If errors are found, either a list of errors is printed out (and sent to
a spool file if you wish) or the compiler offers you the option of
entering either !Edit or the Basic Editor at the first erroneous line.
There is no way of stepping through the error list, so although this
method shows potential, it was discarded quickly. To RiscBasic’s credit,
the spooled error list speeds up bug hunting considerably when working
in the desktop.
6.1
The compiler can also generate a cross reference list which is much
easier to understand than ABC’s but not nearly as comprehensive.
6.1
All of this sounds very easy but, with the DDE, you have to keep going
back into the RiscBasic directory structure to get at these files.
6.1
Alternatively, the command line interface provides flexibility with the
placement of files but then the short cuts of the large directory
structure are required. The menu interface is a halfway house and,
although cumbersome to use (all those paths to type in), it provides the
easiest way to set up a tailored environment so long as you keep all
your Basic files in the same place. It must be said that the interface
of RiscBasic still has the feel of a command line program.
6.1
Compatibility
6.1
Silicon Vision claim that, apart from the EVAL command, all Basic
program keywords and usage should work − if not, there is a bug in the
compiler and it should be reported for correction − some claim!
Essentially this is correct. More often than not, RiscBasic would
happily compile whatever I gave it with almost no alterations. The only
problem was that the ! indirection operator must be word aligned causing
the necessity to rewrite code sections with the ? operator.
6.1
RiscBasic has an extended form of the VAL keyword that permits number
entry in hexadecimal (or any other base for that matter) reducing the
requirement for EVAL even more.
6.1
Of great use is the ‘debug’ switch which includes line number informa
tion in the program. This makes debugging much easier and is something
missing from ABC (which probably needs it more than RiscBasic).
6.1
Variable types
6.1
RiscBasic only allows one type of real variable in an entire program.
This is selected at compile time by a switch and is either single or
double precision. This is a bit of a shame because the use of extended
precision in compiled programs goes some way to sweeten the loss of
speed when using the floating point emulator.
6.1
RiscBasic allows all the Basic V array operations and pleasantly
surprised me when I compiled a favourite little program of mine. This is
the calculation of the inverse of a matrix using the co-factor method −
a hopelessly inefficient algorithm but a marvellous demonstration of the
flexibility of Basic V using a recursive function call with local arrays
decreasing by one order each time − it compiled and worked first time.
6.1
Assembler
6.1
The RiscBasic assembler operates at compile time and adds some very
useful extensions. The assembler has two major benefits over Basic V.
Firstly you can load the address of a variable into a register by simply
using the following notation :-
6.1
ADR R1,*basic_variable
6.1
with which you can then load the contents into a register. This ability
becomes even more exciting when used with the floating point extensions
allowing ARM code programming of the floating point instruction set.
Unfortunately, the pre-release manual did not contain details on the
floating point instruction set.
6.1
Modules
6.1
The pre-release manual was not very well written on the subject of
modules (it really warranted a separate section) but with the examples
all became clear. Only one class of module can be created providing star
commands but I must say that for all of ABC’s choice, this is the only
genuinely useful type.
6.1
Optimisations
6.1
RiscBasic recognises that when permitting almost any form of Basic
construction, there must be a speed penalty. To overcome this problem,
the ‘Turbo’ directive, once selected, makes RiscBasic insist on fully
structured code (the kind ABC requires anyway) with one significant
additional constraint on nested FOR loop constructions. Although ‘Turbo’
mode can be turned on and off during compilation, the compiler does not
do this for you nor does it explicitly tell you that there is a problem.
6.1
The RiscBasic compiler provides an interesting optimisation called
constant folding. Basically this takes any variable that is solely used
as a constant and hardwires the value into the code allowing neat code
writing without loss of performance. Since both compilers permit the
definition of constants, I feel that this optimisation is one of these
tricks that is designed to run benchmarks fast but provides little
benefit in real code.
6.1
Speed comparisons
6.1
Below is a set of standard benchmarks which I include for completeness.
Personally I do not give them much credence but they do make for
interesting reading.
6.1
All values are speed factors compared to RMFaster Basic (i.e. the higher
the better).
6.1
    Basic    RiscBasic    ABC
    ABC NoEsc
6.1
IntMath    1.0    6.3(33.3)    4.6
    7.4
6.1
RealMath    1.0    0.4    0.6    0.6
6.1
    Basic    RiscBasic    ABC
    ABC NoEsc
6.1
TrigLog    1.0    0.3    0.3    0.3
6.1
GrafScrn    1.0    1.7    1.6    1.8
6.1
TextScrn    1.0    1.1    1.1    1.1
6.1
Store    1.0    1.0    1.4    1.4
6.1
Sieve    1.0    31.9    6.3    18.8
6.1
Tak    1.0    14.8    12.0    23.7
6.1
6.2
6.1
The only benchmark that RiscBasic’s constant folding effected was
IntMath (number in brackets) but this should be discounted since one of
the variables in the tiny loop is kept at a constant value. Sieve and
Tak indicate that the compilers can speed up Basic, and ABC receives a
significant performance boost with NoEscapeCheck on (Sieve is array
intensive and Tak is function call intensive).
6.1
A few timings of what I would describe as ‘real’ tasks will probably
make the performance benefits clearer. I have used double precision and
RiscBasic’s fold command (which, in my experience, is of marginal
benefit) as well as any appropriate directives that speed up each
compiler.
6.1
The first program I looked at was my multitasking WordWrap application.
This word wraps an entire file in the same manner as !Edit. All
processing is carried out in memory blocks while the computer multi
tasks. In this test, I word-wrapped a 19k text file on an unencumbered
mode 12 desktop, the timings are approximate.
6.1
    Time (s)    File Size (Kb)
6.1
Basic    38.1        16
6.1
RiscBasic    6.0        47
6.1
ABC    5.5    (+8%)    25    (53%)
6.1
ABC NoEsc    4.7    (+22%)    23
    (49%)
6.1
As you can see, there is a significant performance boost with the
compiled programs and this would be passed on to the user in the form of
a smoother desktop. In this test I could have reasonably used NoEscape
Check because the desktop disables escape anyway.
6.1
The next test program is a Basic version of my CoreWar game. This
single-tasking program uses memory accesses as well as being fairly
procedure intensive. Begin a simulation game, speed is of the essence
and again the compilers come out glowing (the higher the better).
6.1
    Cycles per second    File Size
(Kb)
6.1
Basic    45        4
6.1
RiscBasic    283        32
6.1
ABC    324    (+14%)    11    (34%)
6.1
ABC NoEsc    340    (+20%)    11
    (34%)
6.1
As a matter of interest, the C version of CoreWar runs at about 550cps
and a hand-written ARM code version at 650cps.
6.1
Although both of these programs are computationally intensive, neither
are of the mathematical sort. To add a bit of balance, I thought I would
try two of Brian Cowan’s favourite programs:- the PI calculator (integer
arithmetic) and the fast fourier transform (real arithmetic). All times
are in seconds.
6.1
    Pi (1000 places)    FFT (1024 point)
6.1
Basic    147.8        3.67
6.1
RMfaster Basic    116.2
    2.90
6.1
RiscBasic    17.2        3.21
6.1
RiscBasic Turbo    −
    3.20
6.1
ABC    15.7    (+9%)    2.44
    (+31%)
6.1
ABC NoEsc    11.7    (+47%)    2.39
    (+34%)
6.1
ABC NoEsc + chk    11.6    (+47%)
    2.41    (+33%)
6.1
Using ABC’s NoFloat directive, I managed to remove three mistaken uses
of floating point numbers (division using / instead of DIV) in the PI
program. In the ABC ‘NoEsc + chk’ tests, I added a call to OS_Byte 126
in the central loop to test the escape condition. Not only did this give
me a fully responsive escape key but actually increased the PI programs
speed. (The only reason I can think of for this is an accidental
improvement of code’s word alignment.) In my experience, adding an
escape check hardly alters the speed of the code. ‘Turbo’ mode could not
be used in the PI program because of the nature of the FOR loops.
6.1
What can be seen by all these test programs is that for computationally
intensive tasks of any sort either of the compilers provide significant
gains.
6.1
Summary
6.1
To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised by both of these compilers. Not
only did they work but to my surprise, they actually made my Basic
programs go faster − much faster. Neither is it obvious which one is
better. (I have added some percentages into the tables above which
compare ABC and RiscBasic. They seem to give ABC the edge on speed and
compactness of code. Ed.)
6.1
In general, I found that ABC generated files to about half the size of
RiscBasic. (Even when the ABClib module was added, the total size was
still always smaller.) However, RiscBasic compiled a program in roughly
half the time of ABC but then ABC has the advantage that it is multi-
tasking. ABC generated marginally faster code (even without disabling
escape) but RiscBasic was far more compatible with Basic V.
6.1
All timings were carried out on an A410 and, from information supplied
by Silicon Vision, when the compiled code is run on an ARM 3, the
performance boost is smaller (about 3/4 of the ARM 2’s).
6.1
I think that what will tip the balance one way or another is how happy
you are with the differences from Basic V. You will not be able simply
to compile any old Basic file with ABC − more often than not, signifi
cant alterations will be required to fix scope usage. However, if you
write a Basic program with ABC in mind, this should be no problem.
RiscBasic provides a method of speeding up all your old and new programs
without having to change your programming style.
6.1
It might be of interest that both companies use their Basic compilers
for commercial applications. For instance, ABC compiled Genesis and
RiscBasic compiled SolidTOOLS.
6.1
In line with the release of the new Acorn computers, both compilers have
come down to very fair prices. At one time, I would advise Acorn C
instead of a Basic compiler but with C now over £240 even its speed,
library(?!) and portability advantages do not justify its cost to the
home user.
6.1
ABC is available from Oak Solutions at £99.95 +VAT (= £117.44) and
RiscBasic is available from Silicon Vision at £99.95 inc VAT. (Archive
prices are £105 and £93 respectively.)  A
6.1
Psion Series 3 Link
6.1
Richard Oldman
6.1
With all this talk of Acorn Pocket Books (which are still not available
at the time of writing!), Psion 3 owners may be feeling a bit left out,
so here is an article about cable conversions to connect the Psion 3
Link to the Archimedes running the PC Emulator.
6.1
There are many Archimedes owners who are also fans of the excellent
Psion hand-held computers. DataPaks for these machines are quite
expensive, so a useful and cheap way to back up your essential data is
to store it on floppy discs via your Archimedes. To do this it is
necessary to buy a serial link from Psion to connect the two machines
together and this comes with software for either a PC or an Apple
Macintosh. Unfortunately for the Organiser II, the PC software does not
work on the Archimedes using the PC Emulator. There have been various
programs written for the Archimedes and the Organiser II which enable
you to store that data but most of them do not provide the same
facilities as the PC link program produced by Psion.
6.1
Psion have now released the new Series 3 pocket-size computer which has
a 3 Link, Psion’s own serial link, enabling very comprehensive communi
cation with, once again, a PC or a Mac. The PC program that comes with
the 3 Link runs on the Archimedes using the PC Emulator but is not
actually able to establish the vital communications link for two way
working. Acorn, Psion and anyone else you ask will tell you that this
communication is not possible. This is a great shame because you are
missing out on some very good, custom written software for the Series 3.
However, all is not lost because the PC software will run and communi
cate fully with the Archimedes if the problem of the non standard serial
port on the Archimedes is addressed. The 9 pin ‘D’ plug (female) on the
end of the 3 Link is obviously wired for a PC, so all you need to do is
to change the connections in the plug to the required pin configuration
for the Archimedes. Unfortunately these plugs are sealed so you will
have to make up a short extension lead to carry out this conversion.
6.1
The lead
6.1
To make the conversion lead, you will need to purchase two 9 pin ‘D’
plugs, one male and one female, two metalised ‘D’ hoods (9 way) and a
length of 9 way screened cable for RS232 use. The diagrams at the top of
page 57 show how to make the connections between the two plugs. The IBM
to Archimedes conversion diagram being the one to follow for making your
connections. The other information in the table is just for general
information.
6.1
The diagram at the bottom of page 57 simply reflects the wiring
instructions above but with wire colours allocated (the colours in your
lead may be different) and the line usage indicated for those who are
particularly interested.
6.1
Software considerations
6.1
It is not necessary to change the baud or data settings on the Archi
medes for the MCLINK program to work. However, since I only use the
serial port to communicate with my Series 3, I have changed these to
reflect the default settings on the Series 3. If you want to, it is
quite simple to do using the *Configure command as follows:-
6.1
*CONFIGURE BAUD 7
6.1
*CONFIGURE DATA 5
6.1
followed by <ctrl-break>. You can check the settings by typing *STATUS
which should now reflect the new settings.
6.1
‘BAUD 7’ sets the rate to 9600 and ‘DATA 5’ sets the data to word length
8 bits, odd parity and 1 stop bit.
6.1
If you get the PC Emulator up and running and then, at the ‘A>’ prompt
put your Psion PC link software disc in drive A (drive 0) and type
MCLINK<return>, you will find you have all the facilities of the MCLINK
program. At the top left of the screen it should say ‘Status : Link
Established’. If it doesn’t, you probably have not turned on the link on
the Series 3. (See the Psion information that comes with the Link on how
to do this.) You should also make sure the Series 3 has not turned
itself off whilst you weren’t looking! Using the link puts an additional
load on the batteries in your Series 3 so use a power supply if you have
one.
6.1
I have tested the lead by transferring my Agenda file from the Series 3
to my Archimedes and then sending it back again but with a different
name. Using the Archimedes to copy the file ‘Agenda’ from the Series 3
to the root directory on the disc type
6.1
COPY  REM::M:\AGN\AGENDA.AGN  LOC::A:\
6.1
To transfer it back but with a different name, say ‘TEST’, type
6.1
COPY LOC::A:\AGENDA.AGN  REM::M: \AGN\TEST.AGN
6.1
which puts it back in the Series 3’s internal memory in the AGN
directory. If you try this it should appear on the Series 3’s system
screen underneath the original Agenda.
6.1
Now let’s try the other way around. Put a blank PC formatted disc in
drive ‘A’ on the Archimedes. Everything else is now done on the Series
3. Press the SYSTEM button and close down all open files and appli
cations (they are shown in bold). You will not be able to close the TIME
application. Now press the CALC option on the function key strip. It
should select it but not go into it as the application is closed. Press
the PSION key together with <C> to bring up the copy file window or use
MENU and select the Copy File option. Wait a few seconds for the copying
window to appear. Using the cursor keys, move down to the third line ‘To
file : Name’. Type:-
6.1
REM::A:\
6.1
Move down to the fifth line ‘Sub-directories’ and change it to ‘Yes’.
Now press <Enter>. The whole of the Series 3’s internal memory will now
be backed up on the floppy disc in drive ‘A’. It is not really a good
idea to back the internal memory up in the root directory of the disc.
For example, when you do it in a real situation, create a new directory
called ‘internal’ for the internal memory or SSD1 for a flash pack. The
command for backing up the internal memory would then be
6.1
REM::A:\INTERNAL\
6.1
Remember that it is running under the emulator, so all the operations
will be slow. The Psion software disc also contains a file called
MCLINK.DOC (a README file). This file is important because it contains
lots of information as to the different commands available and their
syntax. You can transfer the MCLINK.DOC to an Archimedes disc using
!MultiFS and then dump it to your printer or load it into a word
processor for reformatting and printing. If you cannot transfer it to an
Archimedes disc go back to being a PC and at the ‘A>’ prompt type
6.1
COPY MCLINK.DOC prn
6.1
which copies the file to your printer, assuming you’ve turn it on.
6.1
All the tests I have done show the MCLINK program works fully with PC
Emulator versions 1.34 and 1.70 on my A410. A3000 users would have to
make sure they have the serial chips fitted. I do not have access to an
A5000, so I cannot confirm whether the link will work on that.
6.1
A program called MCPRINT which is also supplied by Psion with the Link,
is intended to route your printing through your Archimedes to your
printer. However, this does not seem to work correctly under the
Emulator. I have tried it from the word processor but I get some strange
results. I have not, as yet, worked out why. In any case, it is very
easy to write a short program on the Archimedes to carry out this rather
simple function so I shall not waste any more time on it.
6.1
I have supplied a list of the parts required. For those not able to get
the parts easily, I have included the parts reference numbers for Maplin
Electronics who operate a postal service. If anyone is not happy to make
the lead up themselves, I would be prepared to do it for a price of £10
including postage. However, I am not a commercial organisation so please
allow 28 days for delivery.  A
6.1
Parts list
6.1
1 × D_Range 9 way plug (Maplin No. RK60Q)
6.1
1 × D-Range 9 way Socket (Maplin No. RK61R)
6.1
2 × Metalised D Hood 9 way (Maplin No. JB68Y)
6.1
Multi-core screened cable 9 way (1 metre length) (Maplin No. XR27E)
6.1
You will also need a small soldering iron and some solder.
6.1
Maplin Electronics can be contacted on 0702−554161 (24 hour service).
6.1
Pin 1    Not used
6.1
Pin 2    −     Pin 2
6.1
Pin 3    −    Pin 3
6.1
Pin 4    −    Pin 4
6.1
Pin 5    −    Pin 5
6.1
Pin 6    −    Pin 8
6.1
Pin 7    −    Pin 7
6.1
Pin 8    −     Pin 6
6.1
Pin 9    Not used
6.1
6.2
6.1
IBM PC
6.1
Archimedes
6.1
Wiring instructions
6.1
PipeLine
6.1
Gerald Fitton
6.1
Possibly because last month’s Archive came out earlier than usual I
missed the deadline! (Yep, sorry about that, Gerald. You’ll have to
blame Acorn for springing the news on us of the new machines. Ed.) This
is not the article which I had intended for last month but a new one
about creating Charts in PD 4; I wanted to wait until RISC-OS 3 was
released before starting on Charts so this is my earliest opportunity.
6.1
However, first of all, a couple of items from contributors. You may find
the first, about Owner Read only Access, useful even if you don’t have
PipeDream.
6.1
Owner read only access files in RISC-OS 2
6.1
Albert Kitchenside sent me the following two items which I have only
marginally edited:
6.1
I came across the following problem by accident, fortunately without the
loss of any data, when using PD 4.12. I am now reporting on PD 4.13 and
have also looked at the problem in PD 3. To see what happens in another
application, I have also looked at the effect in Ovation. The problem
has more serious potential repercussions in PD 4. I commented to Robert
Macmillan who said that it appears to happen only under RISC-OS 2 and
not under RISC-OS 3.
6.1
The problem in PD 4
6.1
If a saved file is given Owner Read only access, i.e. R/ in the
directory window with full information, and a re-save is attempted, the
file is reduced to zero content before the PD error message “Cannot
write to file” appears. Closing the error message window and the File
save dialogue box, it is then possible to close the file window without
a further error message warning, providing the file has not been edited.
So there is a risk, albeit very small, of loss of data, if you do not
have a back up.
6.1
With Public Read only access, /r, the problem does not arise because the
error message “Access violation” appears and the file is not reduced to
zero content.
6.1
The problem in PD 3
6.1
There is a minor problem only here because the access to the file is
changed to Owner Read-Write, WR/, in both cases quoted above and the
file is then updated. This is not consistent because the file should not
be available for updating.
6.1
Comments
6.1
I wrote to Robert Macmillan about this problem and his comments on PD
4.13 were:-
6.1
“On RISC-OS 2, I get ‘Cannot write to file’ and the file that exists
gets changed to 0 bytes, thus losing what was there before. However, my
document in memory stays as modified, so it still warns me to save
before quitting.
6.1
“On RISC-OS 3, I get ‘Cannot write to file’; the file on disc stays
unmodified and the file in memory stays modified.
6.1
“From this I conclude that, using RISC-OS 3, everything is fine. On
RISC-OS 2, I can only blame the filing-operating system, I think,
because if the file is not allowed to be opened it shouldn’t be throwing
data away.”
6.1
He did not comment on PD 3 but I cannot understand why the effects in
versions 3 and 4 would be different if this arose solely due to RISC-OS
2 and I think it must also be due to the PD interface with the operating
system.
6.1
As a point of interest, I decided to look at what happened in another
application and chose Ovation. In this application, if you try to re-
save a file which is Owner Read only, there is an Ovation error message
“Cannot open file <file name>. Not open for update”, the saved file is
not apparently affected. However, the file has been opened, in spite of
the error message, and is left opened so that you then get further error
messages that the file is open. Hence, if you then change the access to
Write and Read and repeat the save command, the error message from
Ovation is “Cannot write to file <file name>. File open”!
6.1
Conclusions
6.1
There is a small risk of loss of data if you are not careful in PD 4
with trying to save to files having Owner Read only access. In PD 3, the
file security is lost since the access is changed to Read-Write.
According to Robert Macmillan, this does not happen under RISC-OS 3.
There may be other effects in different applications. You have been
warned.
6.1
Booting the A4
6.1
On the Archive disc this month, you will find a directory called
PipeDream.A4Booting. It contains the ‘Booting’ sequence used by Jonathan
Brown with his newly acquired A4 (RISC-OS 3.10). The directory contains
a file, [ReadMe], which explains the how and why so that you can make
your own ‘improvements’.
6.1
Another contribution to the disc by Jonathan is the directory PipeD
ream.Sprite22 which contains high resolution versions of the PD 4
sprites and Jonathan’s hints about installing them. A set of Acorn high
resolution sprites is provided by Acorn with RISC-OS 3 but Acorn’s files
do not contain sprites for PD.
6.1
Both Jonathan and I would welcome contributions to this discussion.
6.1
PipeDream 4 bug?
6.1
Jonathan also reports a bug but I can’t reproduce the effect he has. Can
you? Jonathan says:
6.1
I have also, I regret to say, detected a bug (Aargh!!) in PD 4 − but
only a small one. When a PD 3 file is double-clicked without PD 4 having
been previously loaded, PD 4 loads in but the window for that file does
not appear. The file does, however, appear in the Documents sub-menu on
the Icon bar. This only happens with files that have not been saved
under PD 4. This happens on both the A440/1 and the A4 (RISC-OS 2.00 &
3.10 respectively), so it probably isn’t a clash with the operating
system. I suspect it is a problem within PD itself as the line
6.1
SetMacro Alias$@RunType_DDE Run <PipeDream$Dir>.!Run %%*0
6.1
in the !Boot file presents no problems.
6.1
If you have any theories please let me know.
6.1
RISC-OS 3 and PipeDream
6.1
Recently, I have been asked many times whether PD ‘works’ with RISC-
OS 3. The answer is a slightly qualified “Yes”. If you have an early
version of PD 3, you may have a problem or two with RISC-OS 3. The
solution is to upgrade your copy of PD 3 to version 3.14. The upgrade is
free.
6.1
There are no problems with any version of PD 4 but, just for the record,
the latest version is 4.13 and, in the last few versions, the charts
feature has been improved. If you need an upgrade then send both your
program and examples disc to Colton Software,
6.1
‘Charts from the beginning’
6.1
Warning! − Apart from the [ReadMe] file, do not attempt to load and run
any of the other files in the Charts directory of the Archive monthly
disc from your master copy of that disc!
6.1
Why is this? Colton Software’s hot linked graphics package operates by
saving copies of chart files back to disc. The original file we have
supplied will be over-written. For that reason, I strongly suggest that
you work with back up copies of the files in this directory rather than
the originals.
6.1
I suggest that, if NCS haven’t done so, you should write protect your
Archive disc by opening the write protect tab. If the hole is open then
you will be unable to write to the disc. An error message from your
operating system may suggest to you that having your disc write
protected is a mistake. I suggest that you do not open the write protect
tab but that you copy the files either to your hard disc or, if you have
sufficient memory, then use a RAM disc. Because the files are saved
every time the data is modified, you need to load and save at speed. A
RAM disc is faster than a hard disc which in turn is faster than a
floppy.
6.1
Creating a RAM disc
6.1
Place the pointer over the icon which is at the right hand end of the
iconbar (on earlier machines this icon was a ‘fancy’, slanting upper
case A but, on the latest machines, it is an acorn) and tap the mouse
Menu (middle) button. Select ‘Task display’. Near the bottom of the task
display window you will find ‘RAM disc  0K’ (meaning zero Kilobytes −
not ‘correct’). Place the pointer just to the right of ‘0K’ and (using
<select>) drag this out to some suitable value such as ‘64K’. A RAM icon
will appear on the left of the icon bar; it can be treated exactly as a
disc icon − indeed, you have created a RAM disc. The information stored
in a RAM disc is lost when you switch off the computer so, before
closing down, make sure that you have copied the files you want to keep
from the RAM disc to a ‘proper’ disc.
6.1
RISC-OS printing
6.1
Although charts make pleasant pictures on a monitor, the result wanted
by most users of charts will be ‘hard copy’ − printed output!
6.1
You cannot print charts with PipeDream printer drivers but only with
RISC-OS printer drivers. Before you continue, make sure that you know
the difference. Because you can print charts only with a RISC-OS printer
driver, the example files in the Charts directory (but not the [ReadMe]
file) have been saved with the ‘Printer configuration − Printer type’
set to RISC-OS rather than the more usual Parallel.
6.1
RISC-OS printing takes longer than PD printer driver printing (typically
RISC-OS printing takes 5 to 10 minutes per A4 page) but, without RISC-OS
printing, you will not be able to print charts.
6.1
I find the RISC-OS output from the so called ‘9-pin’ printers disap
pointing because of the large dot diameter. Dot matrix printers with 24
pins are substantially better and bubble and ink jet printers are better
still, only marginally poorer than laser printers.
6.1
If you have RISC-OS 3, you will have been provided with a suitable
printer driver as part of that operating system. If you have RISC-OS 2
but you do not have any printer drivers then I suggest that you upgrade
to RISC-OS 3.
6.1
Outline fonts
6.1
The charts generated by PD 4 include text. The numbers which appear
along the axes of graphs are text as are the named ‘categories’ (more of
which later) which appear along the ‘x-axis’ of bar charts. Although you
can select any of your typefaces, the default used by Colton Software is
Acorn’s proprietary Homerton font.
6.1
You will not get very far with the PD 4 charts package if you do not
have Acorn’s outline font manager and, at least, the Homerton font. So
where do you get these from?
6.1
If you have bought a RISC-OS 3 machine or upgraded from RISC-OS 2 to
RISC-OS 3 then your purchase will include both the outline font manager
and some outline fonts (including Homerton). If you intend to upgrade
from RISC-OS 2 to RISC-OS 3 then, when you buy RISC-OS 3, you will find
that a (new) font manager and the Homerton (and other) fonts are built
into the RISC-OS 3 ‘chips’.
6.1
RISC-OS 3.10 is available now (Well, sort of! Ed.) at about £50 so I
suggest that, rather than spend money on an outline font starter kit and
printer drivers for use with RISC-OS 2 at a cost of about £50, you may
prefer to spend the money on RISC-OS 3. I strongly recommend buying
RISC-OS 3 rather than ‘upgrading’ your RISC-OS 2 system.
6.1
Even if you have RISC-OS 2, printer drivers and some outline fonts, I
still recommend that, if you are ‘serious’ about using PD 4 Charts, you
upgrade to RISC-OS 3. Colton Software have told me that PD 4 has been
‘optimised’ for RISC-OS 3. My experience is that using PD 4 with RISC-
OS 3 is noticeably ‘smoother’ and quicker.
6.1
Finally, on outline fonts, on the more recent issues of Colton Soft
ware’s PD 4 Examples disc you will find a version of Acorn’s outline
font manager which is suitable for use with RISC-OS 2 (but not with 3).
However, you will not find any outline fonts RISC-OS 2 printer drivers
to go with that font manager. If you are in the position of not having
Acorn’s Homerton font and if you do not intend to upgrade to RISC-OS 3
then write to me and I will advise you how best to overcome your
shortage so that you can use PD 4’s charts.
6.1
PipeDream 4 − Version 4.13
6.1
Today is the 28th August 1992 and, as I write, the latest version of
PD 4 is 4.13. This version is not ‘bug free’ but the bugs remaining are
not serious. Colton Software do intend to release another version − but
not yet. Upgrades to version 4.13 are available free of charge but only
from Colton Software. If you do not have version 4.13 then send both
your Program disc and (this is important, especially if you intend to
stick with RISC-OS 2) your Examples disc to Colton Software asking for
the latest version.
6.1
Many of the improvements to PD 4 between version 4.10 and 4.13 have been
to the way in which PD 4‘s charts operate. If you do not have version
4.13, some of the facilities which I refer to later in this article
either do not exist or do not work. Please upgrade your version to 4.13
before writing to me and complaining! It is partly because I was waiting
for the charts to ‘stabilise’ and partly because I wanted to assess
whether to advise you to upgrade to RISC-OS 3 (with fonts and printer
drivers) that I have delayed the launch of this ‘Charts from the
Beginning’ series.
6.1
Recent issues of the Examples disc contain the latest RISC-OS 2 versions
of the CLib (C library), FPE (Floating point emulator), Colour and
Outline font manager modules. Unless you have RISC-OS 3, you should copy
these onto your system disc. Don’t copy them if you have RISC-OS 3!
6.1
Homerton font
6.1
On this month’s Archive disc and, on other discs, the files in direc
tories containing charts will be in Homerton font (later charts
directories will include files in Trinity font).
6.1
If you send me contributions to PipeLine which include charts, I shall
be most grateful if you will keep the [ReadMe] file in system font and,
for now, the application files in Homerton. Later, I will probably
extend the range of typefaces used in charts applications to include
Trinity but I am reluctant at the moment to include Selwyn or NewHall
since many subscribers to PipeLine will be using Dingbats (instead of
Selwyn) and NewSchbook (instead of NewHall). Error messages will be
generated and the text in the chart will appear on screen in system
font, probably at the wrong scale, and a printed version will look a
real mess.
6.1
Charts
6.1
The time has come to try out a chart. The figure opposite is a mode 12
screen shot which I shall use by way of example. The files are on the
Archive monthly disc.
6.1
The PD 4 package will produce the traditional “x-y” graphs but, for this
simple exercise, I shall use a bar chart mainly because the bar chart is
the default option built into PD 4 by Colton Software.
6.1
In the directory, Charts, on the Archive monthly disc, you will find the
files [Timing_1], [Timing_2], [Timing_1C] and [Timing_1D]. PD chart
files behave differently from ordinary PD files but they do not have a
different Acorn filetype number and so they appear in a directory viewer
having the same icon as other PD 4 files. In order to distinguish a
chart file from an ordinary PD 4 file, the convention I am using is that
a file with _C as a suffix is a chart file. This convention of an
underline followed by an upper case C is also used by Colton Software
and I recommend it to you.
6.1
The file [Timing_2] is a close copy of the file [Timing_1] but it is not
hot linked to a chart and you can experiment with it. The file
[Timing_1D] is a file in !Draw format to which I shall refer later.
6.1
If you have the monthly disc, double click on the [Timing_1] file to
load it. The chart [Timing_1C] will be loaded into slot [Timing_1]A14. I
have scaled the chart to 130% of its full size so that it fits across a
72 column screen.
6.1
The only font used in [Timing_1] is Homerton. For rows 2 to 11 the font
is 10 point with a 12 point line spacing. The chart which is loaded into
[Timing_1]A14 also uses the Homerton font. If you do not have Homerton
then the system font will be used and the document will probably look a
mess!
6.1
This chart does not have a title or units and I realise that this is bad
practice but I shall explain how to add these later.
6.1
The data consists of the Names of five people in column A, the time in
minutes which they took to get to work Yesterday and Today in columns B
and C respectively. The bar chart shows the time taken yesterday in red
and today’s time in yellow.
6.1
Place the pointer in slot C10 (Sheila’s time for today ) and change the
value from 23 to 80. You will find that the (modified) file [Timing_1C]
will be saved (overwriting the original file) and the yellow bar
corresponding to Sheila will grow. Restore the value in [Timing_1]C23 to
23 and the file will be saved again and the chart will be drawn again.
6.1
The file, [Timing_1], has been sorted on column A (in alphabetical
order). Mark the block A6C11. Execute the command <Ctrl-BSO> (Block
SOrt) on column B first in Ascending order. You will find that the hot
linked chart will be redrawn with the largest bar at the right when the
data is sorted in Ascending order on column B.
6.1
It is more usual to display bar charts in descending order from left to
right. Execute <Ctrl-BSO> again but this time remove the blue star from
the Ascending order box so that the data is sorted in descending order.
Now sort it again into alphabetical order on column A. Notice that the
chart is not only drawn on the screen but is saved to your disc or RAM
disc each time the data is changed.
6.1
Change Bill to William. The chart is saved and then drawn only when you
move the cursor from slot [Timing_1]A6 and not before.
6.1
Creating the charts
6.1
You can now repeat the way in which I made this chart. Make sure you
work with a backup copy of the files. Load [Timing_2]. Look at the
expression in slot [Timing_2]A14 and you will see that the name of the
chart you have to create is [Timing_2C]. I have left out the @ in this
line so that PD will not give you an error message that the chart cannot
be found. Place the cursor at the start of row 14 and then tap <F8> to
delete the name of the chart.
6.1
Drag the pointer from A6 to C11 to mark the data. Then execute the
command <Ctrl-CHN> (CHart New) or alternatively click <menu> and run the
pointer through Chart and click on New Chart. You will create a bar
chart which PD will provisionally called [Chart1]. Place the pointer in
the [Chart1] window, press <menu>, run the pointer through Save, change
the name to [Timing_2C] and drag the icon into the directory window
containing the backup copy of [Timing_2].
6.1
Place the pointer in slot [Timing_2]A14 and click <select>. Drag the
file [Timing_2C] into the [Timing_2] window. The bar chart will be drawn
at 100% with its top left corner in slot A14. Place the pointer in
[Timing_2]A14, click <select> and edit the line @G:Timing_2C,100@ to
read @G:Timing_2C,130@ so that the bar chart is enlarged to 130% size.
6.1
If you wish, you can close the window containing what was [Chart1] and
is now called [Timing_2C] by clicking on the close window icon.
6.1
Finally, save the modified [Timing_2]. To prove that all is well, close
the [Timing_2] window and load it again. If you have succeeded, you will
find that the chart loads and is hot-linked.
6.1
I’m not sure if it’s a ‘bug’ or not but sometimes I find that, on
reloading, the chart is not hot-linked. If this happens, save every
thing, quit PD from the icon bar and double click on [Timing_2C]. This
second time, from a ‘cold start’ the hot link will be active (well it is
for me).
6.1
Over to you
6.1
If you have succeeded in creating this ‘default options’ chart, you may
like to experiment and see if you can ‘improve’ the chart. As I implied
earlier, I am not particularly proud of the file [Timing_1C] as it
stands. Apart from missing text (such as title and units) which requires
larger margins (from the Options menu), I would like to see the bars
narrower so that there is a gap between bars. I would prefer the ‘3D’
turned off and would like settings (from the Gallery − Bar sub menu)
such as Bar size 60% width and 60% overlap. All these are achievable
from within PD but will have to await another tutorial. The file
[Timing_1D] has been Saved from PD in !Draw format and, as an illustra
tive chart, I think it is approaching a “Merit” standard. You’ll have to
wait for another tutorial to ‘discover’ the way to achieve a
“Distinction” standard using PD’s hot-linked charts.
6.1
Please let me know how you get on and, if you have real trouble
producing the type of chart you want, write to me enclosing a disc file
of your data and I will try to help you.
6.1
Finally
6.1
We now have a fax attached to our telephone answering machine. You can
try sending us a fax on 0 793 723 347 but you might have problems if
we’re switched to the answerphone and not able to switch it over to fax
in time. We can’t afford a separate dedicated line for the fax at the
moment!  A
6.1
Hardware Column
6.1
Brian Cowan
6.1
I mentioned in the last issue that I was going to be working in an
overseas university for the month of August. At that stage I didn’t have
my A4 and I decided that carrying a full-sized Archimedes machine was
out of the question. So I was suffering from severe ARM deprivation.
Imagine my surprise then, on returning, to discover that Acorn had
announced not one but four new machines in umpteen different configura
tions! I knew that something was in the pipeline but this has really
astounded me. I am not going to repeat the information given in the
recent Archive supplement on the new machines but a few points are worth
examining in considering what all these developments imply for the
future.
6.1
The ARM250
6.1
The idea of integrating the functions of the various members of the ARM
family chip set into a single package is excellent. This fits in very
well with the general philosophy that Acorn have adopted in developing
the ARM products. While enhanced performance comes from the improved
technology allowing a clock speed of 12MHz (a 50% increase) remember
that the CPU does not have a RAM cache. In other words, this is an ARM2
system rather than ARM3. In considering what might happen in the future,
the ARM250 could be enhanced in a number of different ways: RAM cache,
floating point hardware, etc, etc. My real surprise is that the A4, with
its severe space (and power) constraints was developed without using the
ARM250. However, I am glad they did because the ARM3 systems still have
the edge where performance is concerned. The new machines are aimed at
the bottom end of the market, although here I suspect that the prices
still don’t make them competitive enough.
6.1
Prospects for older machines
6.1
I must confess to being apprehensive whenever I hear of new Acorn
machines being released. I have a considerable investment in the older
models and I don’t want them to become outdated. The main concern is
that software houses may not continue to support old hardware when newer
features become available. Along these lines, I had a sneaking fear that
RISC-OS 3 might never appear for the older models. I know that it has
been coded to exploit the RAM cache of the ARM3 to the full and I have
heard rumours that it runs rather slower than RISC-OS 2 on ARM2
machines. We shall soon know, but the appearance of the ARM250 means
that the cache is not to be regarded as an essential requirement for
software producers.
6.1
A recent letter to me from a reader pointed out that an A540 running
RISC-OS 3 was a pretty impressive machine; I quite agree although,
currently, I await the arrival of the release ROMs. (So do several
hundred other Archive readers! Ed.) The two areas where the machine is
lacking (as are the older machines as well) are the high capacity floppy
disc drives and the bi-directional printer port.
6.1
The letter goes on to point out that there is a floppy drive upgrade
produced by Arxe Systems (although I have yet to see this), but it
requires the use of one of the precious expansion slots. The problem is
that the old 1772 disc controller chip cannot be used and somehow access
must be gained to the required signal lines. This is most conveniently
done through a podule socket; it certainly can’t be done from the
existing 1772 output. However, since the required circuitry is not all
that much I am sure that “fudge” solutions are possible, by connecting
to existing chips, etc. This sort of product might well appear in the
future, particularly when you consider that the new high density filing
system software is contained in the RISC-OS 3.1 ROMs.
6.1
The lack of bi-directional printer port in the older machines does not
seem to excite so much interest but I think people should give it
serious consideration. The newer machines all lack in the interfacing/
expansion area when compared with the older models so I am sure that the
printer port is going to become very important for hardware expansion in
the future. Just look around at what exists in the PC world. Adaptors
from “Centronics” to SCSI, IEEE488, etc, etc. abound. In fact, you can
find adaptors from the bi-directional printer port to almost any
communication standard. The A4 has very limited expansion capability,
although the new machines are a little better. So, with the new style
printer port, there is a ready-made range of hardware at competitive
prices and ready for use. All we need is the software. I feel that a
good high density disc drive interface should also include a bi-
directional printer port as well. If it did not use a podule slot, it
would be very attractive indeed. What a pity the 1772 disc controller
chip is soldered in!
6.1
The real answer to all this is an add-on board which contains the same
(industry standard) interface chip, providing high density floppy disc
interface, IDE interface, bidirectional printer port, etc. If this were
designed to use all the new code in the RISC-OS 3 ROMs, this could
provide full compatibility for owners of the older machines.
6.1
Floating points
6.1
This topic seems to be a regular feature of this column, with the same
moans being aired ad nauseam. I have no news about either of the two
third-party floating point units. However, it appears that the Acorn FPA
chip is well on the way and should be selling for a reasonably attrac
tive price. The A5000 has a socket just waiting for this chip but it
seems that 540 owners will have to trade in their CPU card for one
containing the FPU. I had hoped that it could be fitted to existing
cards but that looks unlikely. For owners of ARM2 machines, there will
be combined ARM3+FPU upgrades. Let’s see who is the first to produce
one! Hopefully, there will be an option to upgrade the old ARM3-only
add-ons.
6.1
PC matters
6.1
I have been using my Aleph One PC card for some time now. The software
support has now reached a reasonable state, permitting either operation
in a RISC-OS window or single-tasking. The mouse driver problems have
been sorted out and, all in all, I am quite pleased with the product. A
little-known interesting feature of the PC card is its sound capability.
We all know that the sound support of the PC Emulator is pretty
pathetic. Well, the PC card has all the correct hardware and there is an
audio output which simply needs to be connected to the Archimedes
internal audio input.
6.1
I am just in the process of installing a ’387 coprocessor − remember
that the Config’ file must be altered to tell the machine about its
presence. I hope to be testing some fairly serious software soon and I
will let you know how I get on. Unfortunately, most software I am
interested in seems to come on high density discs. This is a pain (see
my comments above) but perhaps using my A4 with the imminent RemoteFS
will be the answer.
6.1
The other day, I was running some DOS software and I was thinking how
well it was going, when I realised that my 386 card was in another
machine! The fact is that the software emulator is still improving in
leaps and bounds. Admittedly, the software I was running was pretty
elementary, but I am impressed! The latest version (1.81) has EGA
graphics and I understand that some of the display code has been
substantially speeded up.
6.1
What is going to happen with the Emulator in the future? I pose this
question for a number of reasons. Firstly let’s consider the CPU
emulation. Without going into technicalities, essentially the software
is pretending to be a “sort of” 8086 microprocessor. Admittedly, later
versions of the software also include emulation of an 8087 floating
point coprocessor, but we are still talking about bottom-of-the-range
hardware. It has always been the rule that DOS software is downward-
compatible; that is why it is mostly so useless. Well I have news for
you. Windows 3.1 (which is far superior to version 3.0) needs at least a
’286 CPU, so it won’t run on the Emulator − you will have to use a
hardware card. My guess, however, is that if the Emulator is still being
developed, then emulation of a more up-market CPU will have to be in the
pipeline.
6.1
The other thing to consider is WindowsNT. This is Microsoft’s direction
for the future and it is essentially their attempt at portable software
(rather like UNIX is supposed to be). As I understand it, this looks
very much like Windows, so those users will be happy about using it. I
don’t understand fully how the software portability is supposed to work;
presumably it is all written in a sort of C and each CPU/machine has its
own approved compiler. If Acorn are going to go down this road, they may
call a halt to further PC Emulator work.
6.1
The A4
6.1
Yes, I do now have my A4! And I am delighted with it. My immediate
reaction to the machine includes two complaints. Firstly the mouse. This
is simply incredible − do the Acorn bods really expect people to be
happy carrying around and using a mouse almost as big as the rest of the
computer. (Come on, Brian, that is a slight over-statement! Ed.) There
were garbled comments about the difficulty of using a trackerball with
three buttons, and the A4‘s manual explains how you can run the mouse
over your leg in a confined space. I know you can do this; I did it for
a few years before discovering the trackerball. I am really sold on
trackerballs. One reason is obvious: there is no room on my cluttered
desk for a mouse; that is why I became expert at running it on my leg!
So when I thought I would like an A4 I started investigating the Minnie
Mouse situation.
6.1
Pure Genius
6.1
As usual, those boffins at Atomwide were two steps ahead of me. There is
a small trackerball which is absolutely ideal for the A4: the Genius
HiPoint, so-called “smart mouse”. It clips to the side of the A4 (above
the keyboard next to the hinge so as not to obstruct the disc drive) and
Atomwide have rewired the connector so that it plugs directly into the
mouse socket underneath.
6.1
The Genius is a strange looking object, looking rather like a quarter of
a circle. The ball is at the centre and a shaped bar around the curved
surface provides “select” and “adjust” functions. A separate button at
the other side of the ball is the “menu” key. Your hand (well, my one
actually) fits beautifully around the assembly. With the middle finger
along the select/adjust bar, your thumb can roll the ball or click the
button for a menu. The whole thing is a triumph of ergonomics. If you
are left-handed, it could be fixed on the other side of the keyboard
(with a longer lead) and also rotated through ninety degrees if
required.
6.1
Finally, I should comment on the manner of fixing. The clip holding the
trackerball to the computer case is not all that sturdy − but that is
deliberate − a knock will dislodge the thing rather than breaking it, or
the computer case. At first, I was sceptical of the strange-looking
object but, within half an hour, I had become a firm convert − I really
recommend this one. (Available at £58 through Archive.)
6.1
SCSI interface (the lack of)
6.1
This is my other complaint. Most of my work is stored on SyQuest
removables. This has proved the most convenient method for carrying
material between home and work, as well as transporting data between
machines in the lab. So, at the moment, I am back to using floppies with
the A4. Clearly one could obtain access to the IDE bus which should
support a further hard disc − but this is not SCSI − or we shall have to
wait for something using the printer port. At the moment, most of the
usual companies seem reluctant to consider add-on expansions other than
by the “legal” hardware connections. Hopefully, as time goes on, we will
see a change of heart. As well as a full speed SCSI interface, I would
like to have an 8Mb memory expansion. The lack of facility for an FPA is
unfortunate but I can live without it.
6.1
Strange features
6.1
The keyboard layout takes a bit of getting used to. I really miss the
F11 and F12 keys. F12 is often used in conjunction with other keys − for
example, you now have to press <F2> with three other keys at the same
time to shut down the computer. One very strange feature is the “\”
character in DOS when using the PC Emulator. DOS users will know that
this slash is very important as it is used as the directory delimiter −
as “.” is used in RISC-OS. I was most distressed to discover that in DOS
the \ did not work but, purely by chance, I found that the hash key #
gave the required character. I tracked the problem down to the need for
the UK keyboard driver (as the Release Note actually tells you!).
However, if you are going to install the driver from your AUTOEXEC.BAT
file, you must note that the command is different for different versions
of DOS. Also, make sure the relevant command is issued after the path to
DOS has been specified.
6.1
One other puzzling feature is that my machine seems to hang-up from time
to time. This can be very distressing, particularly if there is unsaved
data. It might well be that the machine is just doing some
“housekeeping” because, after a minute or so, one regains control of the
pointer. I don’t know what is happening − maybe I am doing something
stupid. Has anyone else had similar problems?
6.1
An important feature of a portable is the battery life. The A4 has
clever battery management support but I would like some more informa
tion. As yet, I don’t know how long a fully charged battery will last.
Also, is it better to use a floppy or the hard disc if power consumption
is critical? It does seem that the most power-hungry part of the machine
is the screen illumination − you are advised to turn this as low as
possible.  A
6.1
PD Column
6.1
David Holden
6.1
Firstly, here are two items that may be of interest. I have heard of
another disk magazine with a major difference from the others. The
magazine is called ‘Lunchtime’ and I gather that the contents will cover
every topic except computers(!). I shall try to get hold of a copy and
pass on some more information. Meanwhile if you are interested it costs
£2 per issue and is available from 203 London Road, Chesterton,
Newcastle ST5 7HT.
6.1
The second is a new library called ‘Res Publica’. It’s Italian but I am
sure that there are many Archimedes owners who either speak Italian or
would be happy to grapple with the language barrier for a new source of
PD material. A demo disk costs 5,000 lira and is available from
Christian Ghezzi, via B. da Urbino 2, 20035 Lissone (MI), Italy. Since
the letter was written in very good English, I don’t think you will have
any trouble being understood if you write for a demo and catalogue.
6.1
New music
6.1
Vince Hudd of Soft Rock Software has released a ‘computer album’ of
music titled Winds of Change. The ‘single’ which consists of three
‘tracks’ is available from PD libraries. The full package costs £1.99
from Soft Rock Software. I’m always willing to encourage people like
Soft Rock who release cut down versions of their games to libraries so,
for the next few weeks, if you send me (not Archive!) two first class
stamps and a blank formatted disk I’ll return it with a copy of the PD
version which is called White Lies.
6.1
PD ray tracing
6.1
There is now a variety of ray tracing programs available from PD
libraries. The first was QRT (Quick Ray Trace) and more recently the
Persistence of Vision package has been widely acclaimed. I’ve just
received a new program called RayTrace which looks very powerful. It’s
command line driven so probably most useful to those who want to produce
artwork for games, etc. My artistic prowess (or lack of it) is well
known so I’m not really qualified to pronounce on the merits of these
packages but if there is anyone who has tried them, or has the expertise
to do so, and would be prepared to give a more informed opinion, I would
like to hear from you.
6.1
The best language for PD programs?
6.1
(It’s at times like this that I feel it appropriate to remind readers
that the views stated within the pages of Archive do not necessarily
represent those of the editorial staff. If you want to disagree with
David, I suggest you write direct to him, not to the Archive office.
Thanks. Ed.)
6.1
I have had several letters recently from people who want to write PD
programs for the Archimedes and one question that keeps cropping up is
what language to use. There is always controversy over which is the
‘best’ language. There is, of course, no such thing. Every programming
language has advantages and disadvantages, and these also vary according
to the type of computer and the strength of the individual version of
the language. Many people seem to feel that they will not be taken
seriously if they write in Basic.
6.1
The Archimedes possesses a powerful and fast version of interpreted
Basic. Because of its superb OS interface via ‘SYS’ and ‘FX’ calls there
is very little that can’t be done with Archimedes Basic and because it
is so simple to use, you are much less likely to have obscure bugs in
your code. There is often no advantage in using compiled languages for
simple programs unless speed is essential. Basic programs are easy to
write, easy to maintain and easy to debug. Sensible programmers never
make things more complicated than necessary.
6.1
Possibly one reason that people don’t like writing in Basic is that it
is so easy for others to look at their program code. There is a PD
application called ‘Basic-M/C’ which takes a Basic program and puts a
header on it to call Basic and Run the actual program. The whole thing
is then disguised as absolute code. This seems to have become quite
popular recently.
6.1
Compiled languages
6.1
Personally, I don’t like compiled Basic very much. On a PC, it is
different because there is no common Basic interpreter (except perhaps
GWBasic which is almost useless) so some sort of compiler is essential
if you want to write portable programs. The disadvantage of compiled
Basic is that the programs tend to become extremely large. This isn’t
really a fault of compiled Basic but of Basic compilers. A true compiled
Basic is a subset of the Basic language which can be compiled into tight
code. The best only include the code for the ‘keywords’ which are
actually used so the code can be fairly short. It’s amazing how few
keywords are necessary to write quite extensive programs. There are,
however, no compiled Basics for the Archimedes. The Basic compilers
available, although excellent, accept (almost) the entire range of
keywords and syntax with the aim of being able to compile almost any
program. The inevitable consequence is that they produce bulky code.
Another disadvantage is that most of the compiled Basic programs I have
seen don’t seem to do any ‘garbage collection’ so that, as they operate,
they seem to grab more and more memory and never return it to the Wimp
Pool.
6.1
‘C’ is the language that Acorn suggest for Archimedes applications. For
utilities, I think this is a mistake. C is very powerful but has some of
the disadvantages of compiled Basic. On a multitasking computer,
programs should ideally be as frugal with memory usage as possible. Even
a 4 Mb machine will run out of memory if they are not. C programs have a
habit of becoming rather large. This is OK for main applications which
will probably be run alone or with only one other but not so good for
small utilities.
6.1
As an example, the text editor Twin was written in Assembler before any
compiled languages existed for the Archimedes, (in fact, even before the
Archimedes itself existed). It is about 28Kb long. Edit is written in C
and is considerably less powerful but needs 160Kb. I have a PD utility
program written in ‘C’ which is 87Kb long. An equivalent, almost
identical, written in Basic takes just 12Kb and, in use, appears just as
fast.
6.1
One advantage of C is that there is a vast library of PD source code
available for PC programs. This can often be converted to the Archimedes
much more quickly than writing the program from scratch. First Word Plus
originated on the Atari ST, was re-compiled for the PC and then for the
Archimedes. This advantage has greatly diminished with the introduction
of RISC-OS and the use of more powerful versions of C such as C++ on
other computers but quite a large portion of a program can often be used
with little modification.
6.1
The same comments could be applied to Pascal which is widely used on
PC’s although not so popular on the Archimedes. True Pascal isn’t
actually a normal compiled language. It’s a sort of halfway house where
the compiler produces a ‘pseudo code’ which can be interpreted and run
very quickly from library routines. This makes it very much faster than
Basic because the pseudo code is written to suit the way that computers
want to do things and not the way that humans want to write programs. It
normally produces ‘tighter’ code than C although is not as fast. Once
again, portability is now being diminished by the use of Turbo Pascal
which is nearly as fast and powerful as C but as easy to use as Basic.
6.1
The main reason that professional programmers write in languages like C
is not because they are necessarily better but because it makes it
quicker for them to re-compile for other computers if required. They
also build up a large library of routines and it makes sense to write in
the language for which these routines are intended.
6.1
I would suggest that if you are looking for something quicker than Basic
but not as expensive as C then you should investigate the language
‘Charm’ available from David Pilling for £5.99 (or £6 from Archive). I
purchased a copy recently and although I’ve not had time to give it more
than a brief examination, I would suggest that it would be a good (and
cheap) alternative to C. Since much of the syntax appears similar, it
would probably be easy to move up to C later if you needed something
more powerful.
6.1
I think the best answer to the question of which language to use is to
find the one that suits your style of thinking. I started programming on
a KIM II computer (and if you can remember the KIM you must be as
ancient as me) (Guilty! Ed.) which meant hand coding by punching in 6502
code on a numeric keyboard, not even an assembler. If anyone had told me
that within a few years I would own computers that counted RAM in
megabytes and were probably more powerful than the mainframes of that
time, I would have found it difficult to believe. I am always amazed at
how easy it is, using any of the modern languages, to write programs
that can do almost anything. So don’t worry about what language to use,
pick the one that you like and learn to use it well. I’ve been writing
in BBC Basic for years and I often find people who can make it perform
tricks in ways that would never have occurred to me.
6.1
The greatest enjoyment in writing programs is when you discover an
elegant method of making the computer perform a task. That’s one of the
reasons there are so many PD programs that really don’t do anything
particularly useful, such as the ‘demos’ that all libraries have in
profusion. The fun was not actually performing the task but in finding a
way to do it. Sometimes, when I first see a program, I wonder why anyone
bothered to write it. Then I look at the code and see some wonderfully
compact or elegant algorithm and realise that’s what it’s all about.
Programs can sometimes be solutions for which the author couldn’t think
up a suitable problem. While people derive enjoyment in this way from
actually writing programs, there will always be PD, because programs
have to do something, so although the fun might be in the writing, there
is no reason why the product can’t also be useful to someone.
6.1
Please keep writing to me at the usual address − 39 Knighton Park Road,
Sydenham, London  SE26 5RN.  A
6.1
Multimedia Column
6.1
Ian Lynch
6.1
“IL ’92” has more significance than this year’s version of my initials.
It stands for Interactive Learning ’92 and is an annual conference
organised by the ubiquitous John Barker, editor of InsideIT. In the
context of Acorn’s recent marketing initiatives and new product
releases, the reaction to their presence at IL ’92 was perhaps the most
significant feature of the conference and so it is the dominant subject
of this month’s column.
6.1
Big names
6.1
IL’92 is supported by most of the big names in the multimedia computer
industry − Philips, IBM, Apple, Commodore and, of course, Acorn. The
format of the conference was a series of seminars in a large lecture
room with video projector, quality audio systems and technicians in
attendance. Various stands were also available to enable the customers
to “have a go” with a variety of the latest toys.
6.1
Conference or trade show?
6.1
I must admit that although this conference has been an annual event for
eight years, this is the first that I have attended. Part of the reason
for this is that it is in Edinburgh, it is expensive and, until
recently, I was more interested in technical developments than in
marketing issues and presentations.
6.1
Considering that the conference was focussed on interactive learning,
there were very few practising teachers present (probably reflecting the
cost) and, in my view, this was a major weakness. There were many
influential people including Margaret Bell, the new Chief Executive of
the National Council for Educational Technology but a very dominant part
of the population were representatives of hardware and software
companies. This leads one to speculate about the purpose of such a
meeting. I suspect that the manufacturers were there as much because
they have a history of attendance and want to see what the opposition
has to offer as to get any real interaction with potential customers.
Most of the company representatives I talked to could not discuss the
learning implications of the technologies they were pedalling in any
sensible way and this is why I question the title.
6.1
Double standards
6.1
One of the strangest things about a conference entitled Interactive
Learning was the complete inability of the majority of the speakers to
use interactive techniques successfully in their own deliveries.
6.1
Not so rosy Apples
6.1
Apple’s presentations were bad − which is unusual for them and one
wonders whether they would have been so complacent with an industrial
audience. One speaker extolled the virtues of QuickTime and how there
was a huge library of video clips just waiting for teachers and
developers. He then went on to show some clips which were completely
irrelevant to his talk and the majority of his presentation was talking
to text on a large screen. If this tool is so easy to use and there is
such an abundance of material why couldn’t he put together a decent
presentation?
6.1
There are two issues here. Firstly, there is more to designing interac
tive applications than the raw technology − specific skills are needed.
Secondly, despite the fact that it is becoming easier, putting together
a half hour quality presentation takes several hours of planning. I
would say it is better not to present at all than to make a pig’s ear of
it.
6.1
Big Blue
6.1
IBM took a different approach with “Ultimedia”. (John Patten would
deduct 2% for spelling before they started!) They gave an industry
standard presentation using digital video sequences of Hush Puppies and
Ski-Sunday on a £3000 workstation − very professionally presented.
Unfortunately, they were not addressing shoe salesman or Jean-Claude
Killy. Sorry, boys, education and training are not the same industry as
selling shoes and, by the way, you were in Scotland not America so all
those American accents are culturally completely out of place. To add
insult to injury, the presenter said that he was hoping that attending
these events would bring enlightenment to his superiors so that they
would take education more seriously. Incredible! If we customers make
enough fuss the manufacturer might condescend to give us some thought.
And we think Acorn have got marketing problems!
6.1
Philips
6.1
We witnessed the first ever public showing of full motion video for CD-I
before it was flown out to Europe. James Bond in action on a video
projector was looking good but we will have to wait for interactive
applications. Steve White gave his usual presentation with the little
risqué asides. David Anderson’s after dinner speech did not quite work.
Another one who misjudged his audience. Sexist comments are not suitable
in mixed company!
6.1
ICL
6.1
I did not attend the ICL presentation but ICL are worth a mention
because they have a marketing push into education. Am I the only one for
whom their education name, CLASSICL, conjures up an image of the dated
and obsolete technologies associated with the Greeks? A nice pun but an
indication that whoever thought it up was not aware of the images that
it might project to aware IT users, familiar with multitasking operating
systems and RISC technology.
6.1
Acorn
6.1
So what about Acorn? Well, they weren’t perfect − Peter Talbot was
replaced as a speaker at short notice by Roger Brodie who had a frog in
his throat. Most of his presentation was text based on Cable News − but
at least he was professional, generally relevant to learning and he used
a multimedia application in his delivery rather than the OHP used by
some.
6.1
Malcolm Bird backed by Roger Wilson provided a winning combination for
two reasons. Firstly, the delivery was to a very high standard using a
variety of graphics audio and moving pictures. Malcolm took value for
money as his theme and the appropriateness of state of the art technol
ogy given this constraint. This was then related to applications of
direct relevance to teaching and learning. Secondly, Acorn showed that
they were committed by sending several of their most senior staff to a
conference on August Bank Holiday. John Barker, the event organiser,
proclaimed it the best presentation of the conference on more than one
occasion.
6.1
Eidos
6.1
Dr Stephen Streater gave a presentation of the Eidos video editing
system with a very thorough explanation of the issues associated with
digital off-line editing. He also fell into the trap of far too much
text-based material and he talks rather too quickly and quietly at
times. However, I felt he was more sympathetically received because he
was obviously a very clever “techie” rather than someone in marketing
and the product did something which was obviously useful rather than a
technical gimmick. In fact, it’s fair to say that the audience were
“gob-smacked”. Here was a simple-to-use system based on a standard
desktop computer which would not only digitise video in real time but
pack it into half the space of !Replay without much loss in quality.
This means that almost three hours of video could be packed onto one CD.
Eidos will produce !Replay compatible films so it will soon be possible
to reduce the cost of digitising films for use in !Replay by a factor of
100.
6.1
A watershed
6.1
To me this conference could well represent a watershed for Acorn, not
because of its World significance but because it is the first time I
have experienced such a level of pro-Acorn feeling in a multi-company
arena. It is as if we have reached a critical mass where people are
ready to accept that the ARM technology is here to stay.
6.1
Roger Wilson was awarded the ‘man of the year’ prize by Chris Roper,
managing director of Longman Logotron. Chris pointed out Roger’s many
achievements and how, from a technical perspective and in relation to
British education, they were more startling than those of billionaire
Bill Gates of Microsoft. Several people said that Acorn provided the
most cost-effective multimedia solutions and there was a lot of interest
in the new machines.
6.1
Digital video has arrived. Admittedly, a little flaky in quality but it
will improve, and it looks as if many IV laser disc applications will be
moved to CD-ROM. I have every confidence in the technical abilities of
Roger Wilson and Stephen Streater to surpass current achievements and so
if there is a choice between CD-ROM and Laservision, now is the time to
back CDs.  A
6.1
Econet Column
6.1
Neil Berry
6.1
I would like to begin with a warning for anyone who is currently
installing Econet hardware, specifically cabling. A few months ago, an
article by was published in Archive, where Richard Gates (Archive 5.8
p61) complained about the flimsy nature of the plastic IDC insertion
tool, and that it easily fractured after a small number of uses, and
that a screwdriver might be a better solution. However, after receiving
a letter from Malcolm Fraser, I am reminded that this is a rather
dangerous thing to do.
6.1
When the cable is inserted into the junction box, the cable’s insulation
is parted by two carefully aligned blades, which make the electrical
contact. If the incorrect device is used to insert the cable, there is a
considerable danger that these blades will become damaged and no longer
provide a good contact with the cable. Econet is a very tolerant system
and can take quite harsh installation and use, but in these days of
large data files and widespread use of Archimedes, small faults tend to
show up much more quickly and faults concerned with intermittently
faulty cable can be a network manager’s worst nightmare.
6.1
High quality professional tools to do this job are available from R.S.
Components, from simple £15 tools, all the way up to £300 production
devices. This range of expense may seem excessive but the extra money
spent initially, more than makes up for the otherwise lost time (and
hair replacement treatment) when you come to try and trace an intermit
tent fault on your network! Richard’s article is definitely worth a
second read, as I think anyone involved with Econet could relate to the
problems mentioned.
6.1
(Actually, the article was by-lined as “Geoff Gates” instead of Richard
Gates − I think I had Geoff Capes in my mind. Sorry about that, Richard!
Ed.)
6.1
ClassNet
6.1
The main bulk of the column this month is devoted to looking at the new
release from Oak Solutions. On the 3/4 July, at the AccessIT conference
in Nottingham, Oak Solutions launched their new high performance
Archimedes networking system − ClassNet. The main difference between
Econet and ClassNet, is its use of thick or thin Ethernet, or fiberoptic
cable systems, thus providing it with a good deal of compatibility with
pre-existing industry standard cabling systems. The firmware provided
with the system presents the user with a standard Econet type interface
and is compatible with existing Level IV file servers and printer
spoolers, so that it builds on existing technology found in schools and
other establishments. Perhaps the biggest attraction of the new system
is that it has REAL data transfer rates of around 600Kb per second,
which is 40 times faster than Econet and nearly twice the speed of ST506
hard discs.
6.1
Network configuration
6.1
The cabling for the new system consists of a backbone and spur con
figuration, with the main cable runs (the backbones) consisting normally
of Thick Ethernet cable and the spurs being Thin Ethernet cable. In
order to link separate networks together, perhaps in different depart
ments or buildings where cable runs are very long, fibre optic cable may
be used to optimise the system. As this type of network is very similar
to the multi-drop system used by Econet, it should be a simple matter to
wire the ClassNet system alongside the existing Econet system, even
using the same trunking! One of the reasons for the speed of the network
is that the backbone and spur network configuration optimises network
performance by separating local network traffic, preventing unnecessary
information from saturating the whole network, preventing thrashing.
6.1
Existing Econet networks with BBC computers may be connected to the new
system via a gateway package which simply converts between Econet and
Ethernet protocols, allowing BBC computers to transparently access any
fileserver or other service, located anywhere within the network. Even
though ClassNet uses an Ethernet cabling system, it is not possible to
‘plug into’ another PC based Ethernet system, without the use of another
gateway, such as Acorn’s TCP/IP, allowing access to PC and or UNIX
machines.
6.1
ClassShare
6.1
Launched in conjunction with ClassNet, is the new ClassShare system,
allowing a number of machines to share the ClassRom hard disc system,
thus reducing the load on the fileservers. The ClassRom units are
usually discrete hard disc units, or suitably altered A5000 internal
drives, with each drive being partitioned into an applications area and
a general access read/write ‘scratchpad’ area. ClassRoms may be used as
stand alone discs, allowing a high degree of security from hacking and
viruses, by virtue of its password protected read only area.
6.1
ClassRom units may also be used as a shared system, allowing a small
number of users without the use of a fileserver, to access the ClassRom
unit remotely from a cluster of machines. Users are presented with two
disc icons on the desktop and simply access either their own area, or
applications, by clicking on these icons, just as if using a local disc.
Network managers are able to do management work remotely, on any
fileserver or ClassRom connected to the network, and are also able to
back up any hard disc anywhere on the network, onto a tape streamer. CD-
ROMs may also be used across the network, utilising special memory
cacheing techniques to maximise performance and minimise delays in
access and read/write operations, traditionally associated with CD-ROM
units.
6.1
Is it worth it?
6.1
Obviously the main attraction to any institution looking into buying
this system, is the sheer speed of operation, which is hardly surpris
ing, with quoted speeds in excess of some local hard disc units. The
other major advantage of the system over Econet is the improved security
offered, by having certain disc sections as read only to every user,
apart from the network manager. Unfortunately, I think that the
attraction of Ethernet, whilst also allowing downward compatibility with
Econet, and being a very good concept does not work economically. To
obtain the quoted data transfer rates over a multiple Archimedes
network, you first have to install new Ethernet cable to serve all of
the computers and have a ration of four computers to every ClassRom
unit, which means that, in a room of only twelve A3000 machines, you
will need to spend just short of £3,000 to maintain the advised ratio of
ClassRoms to computers. Admittedly, this will give you greatly improved
performance and the promise of greater reliability but what about the
question of internetwork compatibility between ClassShare clusters and
industry standard UNIX, XENIX and Novell type networks? If you intend to
link your group of twelve Archimedes computers via their new Ethernet
network to a PC system, you still have to purchase a package such as
TCP/IP to enable you to have a gateway into the UNIX world, for example.
At just over £1,000 for a site licence version of TCP/IP, you are now
talking in the region of £4000 to connect up your twelve A3000s, and
that doesn’t include the cost of the cabling. Also, you need to remember
that you cannot plug an Ethernet cable straight into the back of your
Archimedes and you need a ClassNet interface for each machine, at an
educational price of £150 (£200 non educational). This now means that,
assuming you already have your Level 4 fileserver and twelve A3000
machines, and excluding the cost of cabling and installation, the whole
set up would cost you in the region of £6,000. It is obvious even from
the simple calculations above that you will have to think very carefully
indeed before trying to swap over your existing networks.
6.1
I do like the new package from Oak Solutions but, as I have outlined
above, I am not entirely sure whether this is a step in the right
direction. I think you also have to weigh up very carefully how much you
need the increased speed of the Ethernet system and look at the cost and
decide if you need the supposed ‘outside world’ compatibility which
could be just as easily achieved on one machine over TCP/IP (installa
tion review coming soon).
6.1
More information and a free wall chart about the whole package can be
obtained from Oak Solutions.
6.1
Line jammed error?
6.1
If your network is continually crashing with the ‘Line jammed’ error, it
could be a rather nasty bit of non-standard memory manipulation,
distributed on an Amiga disc. The problem may be particularly prevalent
on a network that has BBC machines on it. Because of the rather
sensitive nature of the issue and the potential havoc that could be
caused by certain less-than-helpful school members, I will only tell
people what is happening, and how to fix it, if they send me a stamped
addressed envelope, with an accompanying letter − on official headed
note paper!
6.1
Next month.....
6.1
Next month I am going to discuss what I feel is the future for Archi
medes networking, with the release of all of the new hardware products
from Acorn − particularly the AUN Level IV fileserver. I also hope to be
printing a short series of articles about the installation and use of
Acorn’s TCP/IP suite and perhaps giving out some more software. I would
be very interested to receive any correspondence about the software from
Alan Williams, particularly !awServer.
6.1
As usual, I can be contacted at: 21 Pargeter Street, Stourbridge, West
Midlands, DY8 1AU (no phone calls please). If you have any comments
about this column or would like to offer some ideas or tell the world
about a new simple method for doing a tedious networking job, write in
and tell me about, so that I can make you famous. I can’t promise to
answer all letters individually but I will try to give any subjects
raised an airing on these pages.  A
6.1
Keynote
6.1
John Oversby
6.1
There is now a plethora of databases for computers, most providing a
wide range of searches and sorts, graphing routines, statistical
analysis and field calculations. Anglia TV produced Key for BBC systems
and then KeyPlus for the Archimedes range. Keynote has been produced for
primary schools, to provide a simple introduction to databases.
Datafiles produced using Keynote can be used on the full KeyPlus system
and some of the simple KeyPlus files can be analysed using Keynote.
6.1
Modes of operation
6.1
Keynote uses the same application to view a datafile, or to create or
amend a datafile. Change from one mode to another is made by a menu
selection from the icon bar after installation but before a file is
loaded or created. A configure option offers choices such as locking the
mode of operation (so that it could be locked to the view mode to
prevent users changing a datafile during searching) and the use of a
password. It is also possible to restrict other choices so that pupils
would only see one type of graph available, to remove the danger of
choosing an inappropriate graph. This could be useful for younger
children starting to use a database but as they progress further options
can be added.
6.1
Data entry
6.1
Five methods of data entry are available, Count, Record Card, Choices,
Standard and Time Log.
6.1
Count datafiles have two fields, automatically labelled “Type” and
“Total”. Data is entered in a tally chart form. There are 32 categories
available with display in the form of a bar chart or a pie chart, chosen
as the datafile is constructed. The configure option for saves defaults
to the $ directory on a floppy disc in drive 0, but can be changed to,
for example, a sub-directory called “$.keynote.files” on a hard disc.
This was not made particularly clear in the manual. As files are
changed, in the amend mode, they are continually updated without warning
so it is vitally important to use copies of files from the very
beginning.
6.1
Record Card datafiles also contain two fields, a words field and a
picture field. Pictures can be in Sprite or Draw format.
6.1
Choices datafiles take the form of a words field with up to 63 choice
fields, each of which can take up to 16 categories. Choices are made
from a selection constructed at the time of datafile creation. During
data entry, all that is required is a mouse click in a box, followed by
a confirmation. It is possible to set the package so that the next entry
is either the next field or the next record. This offers the opportunity
for a child to enter multiple records referring to himself at one
sitting or for the members a whole class to enter data, such as shoe
size, one after another.
6.1
Standard datafiles are more comprehensive, combining Count, Record Card
and Choices with the addition of a variety of choice formats such as
words, numbers, multiple choice and date. An option to record a position
on a diagram or map is also available in the Standard format. Diagrams
and maps can be Sprites or Draw pictures and, as the data is entered,
its position can be plotted instantly on a map, emphasising the
relationship between data entry and display. The pictures are displayed
by dragging onto the Keynote icon.
6.1
Time Logs are used to enter data at fixed time intervals, decided at
time of entry, and a secondary (hidden) field of time values is made so
that a line chart can be plotted subsequently.
6.1
Data analysis
6.1
In the view mode, there are options to find, display and sort records or
produce graphs. The operation of the find section depends on whether
data has been entered as free text or in a choices mode, but if a map
has been used, drawing a box around the section of interest will select
just those points in that box. This makes it easier to make searches for
those who find text difficult such as very young children or those who
speak English as a second language.
6.1
Pie chart, bar chart, line graph, Venn diagram and Carroll diagram
displays are provided. The latter was new to me and is used to display
relationships in a datafile, such as whether there is a correlation
between blue eyes and blond hair. Searches must be carried out first to
determine numbers and these can be entered in boxes as in the diagram.
Finally, the user can select whether all the records or selected records
are in use as graphs or further searches are used. Graphs can be
outputted as Drawfiles. Why is there no alternative output for the
datafile, in text format, for example, so that pupils could use DTP
packages such as Phases or Impression Junior to print out their work?
6.1
Data capture sheets
6.1
To assist children in recording data, an extra application is provided
to print data capture sheets, using outline fonts if required, with the
teacher proving heading and footing text. One deficiency of the program
is that the sheet can only be seen if imported into Draw, or printed
out. However, the standard of presentation of the sheets, with boxes for
ticking and sections for writing in text, was very high. I would use
these extensively. Since they can be saved in Draw format, they can
easily be edited to exclude data not needed at that time or to add
pictures and other information.
6.1
The manual
6.1
This was the least satisfactory part of the package. I am used to the
operation of KeyPlus but even though I used the example datafiles on the
Keynote disc and re-read the manual several times, it still took me a
long time to get used to the way Keynote operated. I feel that the
manual should be re-written in a tutorial form, with plenty of pictures
showing what should be on the screen at each point. Details of the
operation of each section should be in a reference section at the back.
The sample worksheets would be difficult for teachers to use with
classes as they are cluttered with notes to the teacher. It needs a
pupil introductory booklet, liberally illustrated in view of the target
age range of primary school pupils. Finally, Anglia TV should consider
the production of a training video as a more effective tool for
developing its use in the classroom. In an age where we use the best
technology for database work, why are we still stuck with boring text-
based manuals?
6.1
Summary
6.1
Keynote competes with other packages such as the excellent Pinpoint. It
has potential and it also has the secure base of existing KeyPlus
datafiles as a start. The ability to use maps for presentation and data
searches is a great advantage and should be exploited even further. The
manual should have been aimed more at those who have limited knowledge
of IT and serious consideration should have been given to alternative
methods of training users in the operation of the package.
6.1
Keynote is available from: ITVA, 6 Paul Street, London EC2A 4JH. The
cost is £27.50 + VAT for a single copy and £40 +VAT for a primary school
site licence.  A
6.1
Fonts Workshop − Part 2
6.1
Roger Spooner
6.1
All Archimedes fonts are stored on the computer itself, rather than in
the printer or elsewhere. Inside your !Fonts application directory are a
number of files describing the shapes of the letters in detail. FontEd
is Acorn’s program for editing these shapes, allowing you to design new
fonts or change existing ones.
6.1
Font Files
6.1
The !Fonts application contains lots of sub-directories, each containing
files describing the fonts.
6.1
6.2
6.1
Part of the directory structure of !Fonts
6.1
In the first diagram, you can see that the directory structure is
identical to the Font names: Wherever the operating system finds an
IntMetrics file, it counts that as a font.
6.1
The IntMetrics file describes the sizes of each of the letters − the
bounding box which is a rectangle giving the limits within which the
specified letter will appear (definitely not outside it) and the caret
offset, defining how wide the letter is. When the computer is working
out the length of a sentence, or how many pages a document occupies, it
can get all the information it needs from the IntMetrics file.
6.1
The Outlines file contains the shapes of the letters. For each character
there are a number of hinting lines (scaffold and skeleton lines) and
the shape of the character’s outline. It is this that you spend most of
the time editing in FontEd.
6.1
Loading a Font
6.1
First, you need FontEd itself. I recommend version 0.27, available from
many sources including PD libraries. (It’s available on Careware 7. Ed.)
6.1
Hold <Shift>, then double click on the !Fonts icon. Enter any of the
directories you want and find an Outlines file. If using a version
before 0.27, you should check that this is in the current and only font
directory (in Font$Path). Double click on the Outlines file, then wait
as FontEd displays all the characters. You can work immediately but it’s
fun to watch them appear.
6.1
6.2
6.1
Before going any further, it’s important to realise that FontEd is an
experienced user’s program. Don’t expect it to help you too much. In
particular, be careful which mouse button you press, (<adjust> or
<select>) because they do not have the same effect.
6.1
Now, double click <select> on the character of your choice. A window
will appear showing the shape in outline, with small green blobs where
each corner or end point is. In a professionally made font, there will
also be horizontal and vertical scaffold lines going right across the
window. Despite what I said in my previous article, scaffold lines are
much the lesser of the hinting features, even though they are more
difficult to implement both for the designer and the programmer. Thus
some fonts do not have scaffold lines.
6.1
6.2
6.1
Adding Lines
6.1
To change the location of an existing point, move to its green dot, then
drag it with <adjust>. This will make the point move and the two lines
connecting to it will move to follow.
6.1
To insert a new line section in the existing character, drag from one of
the existing green points with <select>. This creates a new line: one
end is at the original green point, the other with the mouse, and it is
inserted in the outline. This is important because any font character
must contain a closed loop of lines; every line must be joined to
something at both ends. To create a completely new line connected to
nothing, drag from anywhere else. This will be a skeleton line, because
they do not have to be in a loop − they normally form a chain with open
ends. In fact, skeleton lines must not be in a closed loop, otherwise
the section becomes part of the outline of the character, probably
causing strange results.
6.1
Whenever a previously unclosed line is connected to another, FontEd
bleeps to tell you. To do this, drag it very close to the other.
Unfortunately, in the design of fonts, you do sometimes end up with two
points which are in the same place but are accidentally unconnected.
This can be resolved, albeit inefficiently, by dragging with <adjust> on
each point without moving it. If there are two unconnected points there,
they become linked.
6.1
Precision
6.1
If you were designing a new font, it would be useful to have some way of
aligning points with each other and even across fonts. This is not
directly possible but a number of underhand techniques are available.
6.1
Firstly, you can select ‘Display-Coords’ from the Skeleton window’s
menu. This gives you the coordinates of the pointer, when dragging, in
font Design Units. If you are going to use these, it would be as well to
use round numbers like 400 for the height. It makes the on-the-spot
arithmetic easier!
6.1
To gain consistency across characters is more difficult and involves
creating scaffolds.
6.1
Scaffold Lines
6.1
First of all, place skeleton lines at the appropriate height or width
(using the coordinate display). Using these, create scaffold lines (from
the menu, choose Scaffold−New Global−H-Scaffold or V-Scaffold for
horizontal or vertical). Drag the scaffold out to the right width using
the blobs on the end, then press <Escape> to get out of Scaffold mode.
6.1
Once you have all your scaffolds in one character (maybe SPACE if
designing a new font), go to the main FontEd window and drag with
<adjust> to any character box you want to inherit your new scaffolds.
For characters which have not been created yet, double click on their
little box first. The characters will then all have scaffolds in exactly
the same place, ready for alignment of the actual outline.
6.1
You can delete the skeleton lines used originally if you don’t want
them.
6.1
Deleting lines
6.1
Point somewhere along the length of the line to be deleted, click
<select> briefly, then select Delete from the menu. Similarly, deleting
Scaffold lines is done by clicking on its blob and selecting Delete.
6.1
How do I do a curve?
6.1
When you create a new line, you will notice that it is always straight.
Also, all lines, whether straight or curved, have control points about ¼
of the way along. These are dummy control points for straight lines but
you can make the line a curve simply by dragging these (with <adjust>).
Great care is required in the use of bezier curves to make them look
good in fonts. The previous article described how to keep curves clean:
Imagine the crossing point of the lines from the end points to the
control points of the curve, as shown by the dotted line below.
6.1
6.2
6.1
If this crossing point is between one of the end points and its control
point (as in the diagram), the curve won’t look nice. The crossing point
should be beyond both control points.
6.1
To turn a curve back to a straight section, choose ‘straighten’ from the
menu when that line is selected.
6.1
Hinting
6.1
It is also important to hint a new font. This means adding skeleton
lines and then scaffold lines. Ideally, this should be done after
completing each letter and not left until the very end.
6.1
Skeleton lines run through the middle of the black section of a
character, especially where it is thin. This line will always be
plotted, regardless of the outline thickness. As in the diagram, it
should be placed within the outline and going to the tips of any points
or corners.
6.1
6.2
6.1
The skeleton line does not need to be precisely placed except at the
tips and it must never go outside the main outline.
6.1
The skeleton line is just a normal line, or sequence of lines, except
that they are not closed into a loop as the outline is.
6.1
Scaffold lines ensure that the maximum line thickness is used and that
it is regular and symmetrical. First of all, place scaffold lines on the
vertical and horizontal line sections by moving to the point you want to
be optimised, then choose Scaffold. New Global−V­scaffold or H­scaffold
from the main menu. V­scaffolds are two lines which should be placed on
the left and right edges of the vertical part of a line and similarly
H­scaffolds go on a horizontal part, as shown in the diagram below.
6.1
6.2
6.1
The light lines are the two edges of the scaffold lines: one pair at the
top, one pair down each side and one pair at the bottom. Each reinforces
a vertical or horizontal section.
6.1
Next, curve scaffold lines can be used: Where a bezier curve bulges out,
it can be badly plotted. Use a Left, Right, Up, or Down scaffold line to
protect curves which bulge in the named direction, as below.
6.1
6.2
6.1
Scaffold lines can be selected (and moved) by clicking (or dragging) the
green blob at the edge of the window. This turns the line red and shows
any outline points which are linked to it in red also. To add or remove
points, click on them at this stage or drag a rubber-band box round a
set of points. To disconnect many points, choose Scaffold−Disconnect
from the menu. The end points at both ends of a curve of interest should
be linked to a scaffold line for it to work.
6.1
To unselect the scaffold line, press <Escape>.
6.1
To pair two scaffold lines together, for example the two sides of an
‘H’, select one by clicking on its blob, then hold <Shift> or <Control>
and click on the blob of the other scaffold line. There is a hierarchy
which you can use, of parent and child lines, to link them together. The
colours of the blobs change to indicate the state of a line.
6.1
Live links
6.1
A great way to save time when creating some characters is to copy parts
of old ones. This can be done either by dragging an existing letter’s
little box in the font window to another box, or by Live Links. While
the former copies the shape for you to edit, the latter stores only the
number of the character being copied. If ever it wants to know the
shape, it looks at that source at the time that it wants to plot it.
Thus copying an ‘e’ into an accented é means that any alterations to the
normal e will be reflected immediately (in the é).
6.1
To make a live link, drag a character box to another while holding down
<Shift>. To delete one such link, do it again but holding down <Ctrl>.
You can then link in the accent, and the new letter is finished in
seconds.
6.1
To move linked sections, open the skeleton window for the new character
and click once at any unimportant place. Then, using the cursor keys
will move the linked section around without affecting any real outline
sections. If there is more than one link, only one will move. Click
again in the window’s background to cycle through them.
6.1
Character widths
6.1
It is important to set the width of each character, of course. Only
experience can tell you exactly how wide to make it, but it must be done
by following Width from the skeleton window’s menu. Enter a number in
design units, probably around 400. Clicking with <adjust> means that the
menu remains visible and you can alter it easily.
6.1
There will be more about good design in the fourth article of this
series.  A
6.1
Minerva Business Accounts Package
6.1
Dave Wilcox
6.1
There is nothing like jumping in with both feet is there? I use an A410
for graphic design work at a small printing company and, in my wisdom, I
suggested that the accounts could also be put onto this machine − “No
problem!”, I hear you cry.
6.1
The package
6.1
The package that was chosen was the Minerva suite − as the title of this
article suggests. This package, like all Minerva packs, is nicely
presented; it comes in a loose-leaf binder enclosed within a box. The
package is made up of five parts:
6.1
− Order Processing/Invoicing
6.1
− Sales Ledger
6.1
− Purchase Ledger
6.1
− Stock Management
6.1
− Nominal Ledger
6.1
Each part will cost around £85 each plus VAT or you can obtain the full
package for a discounted price dependent on the dealer. You are free to
choose which of these five parts you will use. Once chosen, these parts
can be used independently or combined into one package. However, the
true versatility of the package is only realised when the individual
modules are linked.
6.1
The instructions for the software average approximately fifty pages per
pack − not too heavy for most users and they appear to cover all the
salient features. The main point stressed within the first few pages is
to work through the tutorial sections. I agree with this completely −
you cannot jump straight in and use this package.
6.1
Installation
6.1
First, take a backup of all of your master discs and put them away
safely. The software will backup via the Risc commands or the desktop.
To combine the programs, you require considerable disc space − a small
set-up like mine currently occupies 1.5M. All the discs will run
independently as there is an accounts system on each disc. Create a
directory called accounts on your hard disc and copy across, from the
first floppy disc, the !Accounts directory. Once this is installed, open
this directory on the hard disc. In turn, open !Accounts on each of the
other floppies and copy across the blue directory folder for each part
i.e. Nominal, Stock, Purchase, Sales and Invoicing. Use the Sysmerge
application to update your current system, if necessary. Finally, create
a directory within your accounts folder called !AccData. The program is
now installed on your hard drive. I have successfully installed this
package on both ADFS and SCSI discs and have encountered no problems
running the software to date. I have not tried it under the IDE system.
6.1
To start the system, you double click on the !Accounts icon which loads
it onto the icon bar. To initialise the system, you now drag the
!AccData file onto the Accounts icon on the iconbar. You will then be
prompted to create data files for the packages you have installed.
6.1
Setup
6.1
To start the program simply click on the iconbar icon. Accounts will
take then over the machine. Although it is run from the desktop, it is
not, at present, multi-tasking − perhaps this will happen in the future
versions as !Accounts uses only 224k of memory on loading.
6.1
Invoicing module
6.1
You now have to set up the programs as you wish them to run. The first
part that I attempted to configure was Invoicing. I was happy that this
was the first because the manual says that if you meet problems, you
should dump the setup and start again. I did this numerous times, as I
recall, though I did the same the first time I tried to set up System
Delta cards.
6.1
The only problem I came across on this setup was the delete field
option. This did not seem to work and I know not why. I therefore
suggest careful planning of the fields you require prior to their
installation on the card. This system is very versatile in this respect,
I have managed to set up the invoicing to match our existing invoice
forms. However, I have had to change the printed forms to a blank grid
in which the system can print its own field headers. This is not a
problem, however, as anyone interested can order their next batch of
invoice forms minus the text headings. The invoice section will produce
hard copies of orders/invoices to various destinations, i.e. Despatch
Note, Customer Copy, Office Copy, Invoice and Copy and you can change
these titles if you wish. Each copy is printed as a separate sheet, so
if you use NCR sets, you will have to change.
6.1
One nice aspect of this invoicing system is that you can store a
database of your suppliers and customers and you can assign customer
discounts, stock item discounts or combinations of both. These can be
entered as a cash discount, percentage discount or conditional discount.
The conditional discount uses the standard basic structure for defini
tion − e.g. if 1000 items supplied x% else y%, etc. These, when entered,
are subsequently put onto the invoices by the program, totally transpar
ent to the user unless you wish to overide the specified discounts
manually. There are also six configurable VAT rates in order to allow
for changes of mind by the tax-man, zero rate or export or any other
titles you may wish to enter.
6.1
Stock module
6.1
The stock management section of the software is easily set up with your
initial stock items and, as you progress, the program keeps this
updated. Facilities are available for items to be returned to stock, if
incorrectly supplied or left out if defective. Credit notes can also be
generated for returned goods. The Stock Management system can also be
used to advise on the ordering of items to replenish the stock. In
calculating this, the lead time for an item is taken into account along
with the turnover of the item. There is also the facility to enter onto
each stock card the details of any suppliers of the item, their current
charges and the date of the last quoted item price.
6.1
Ledger modules
6.1
The next part to tackle is the ledger systems, i.e. Nominal, Purchase
and Sales. As with the other modules if you work through the set up
routines as prompted by the machine and follow what you are doing in the
manual, you should have little trouble. Once the ledgers have been set
up, you can use the parameter options to go back and link all the
modules together, thereby interlinking all the data. Once the programs
are linked and running, you can enter your data daily in numerous ways
as business progresses. The nice part of this system is the reporting
facilities, including individuals’ account reports, VAT reports, bad
debtor reports, stock reports, to mention but a few.
6.1
Conclusion
6.1
Once you get to grips with this software, it would seem to make an
admirable job of a complex task. The screen is well laid out and not
unpleasant to work with. I would like to see it multi-task though so the
machine could be used to greater potential. There is, however, work
still going on at Minerva on this package. To emphasise this, the title
bar is marked next to the version number, ‘Unfinished’. I would
certainly recommend anyone thinking of computerising their office to
have a good look at this package.
6.1
Business Accounts modules cost £99.95 (inc VAT) each. All five modules
can be bought for £399.95 (inc VAT). They are available through Archive
for £90 and £350 respectively.  A
6.1
New Era Software    204 High Street, Woodville, Swadlincote, Derbyshire
DE11 7DT. (0283−812818)
6.1
Oak Solutions (p22)    Suite 25,
Robin Enterprise Centre, Leeds Road, Idle, Yorkshire BD10 9TE.
(0274−620423) (0274−620419)
6.1
Palette Studio     6c/6d Belgic Square, Peterborough  PE1 5XF.
(0733−344245) (0733−315424)
6.1
PEP Associates    34 Tiverton Way, Cambridge  CB1 3TU. (0223−212251)
6.1
Pineapple Software    39 Brownlea
Gardens, Seven Kings, Ilford, Essex IG3 9NL. (081−599−1476)
(081−598−2343)
6.1
P.R.E.S. Ltd     P.O. Box 319, Lightwater, Surrey GU18 5PW. (0276−72046)
(0276−51427)
6.1
Ray Maidstone     421 Sprowston Road, Norwich  NR3 4EH. (0603−400477)
(0603−417447)
6.1
Risc Developments Ltd    117 Hatfield
Road, St Albans, Herts  AL1 4JS. (0727−40303) (0727−860263)
6.1
Safesell Exhibitions (p7)    Market
House, Cross Road, Tadworth, Surrey KT20 5SR.
6.1
Silicon Vision Ltd    Signal
House, Lyon Road, Harrow, Middlesex  HA1 2AG. (081−861−2173)
(081−427−5169)
6.1
SJ Research    J1 The Paddocks, 347 Cherry Hinton Road, Cambridge  CB1
4DH. (0223−416715)
6.1
Soft Rock Software    124 Marissal
Road, Henbury, Bristol  BS10 7NP. (0272−761685)
6.1
Spacetech (p8)    21 West Wools, Portland, Dorset  DT5 2EA.
(0305−822753) (0305−860483)
6.1
System Insight     Unit 2, Hertfordshire Business Centre, Alexander Road,
London Colney, Herts  AL2 1JG. (0727−827200)
6.1
Topologika    P.O. Box 39, Stilton, Peterborough  PE7 3RL. (0733−244682)
6.1
Xavier Educational Software Ltd    Dept of
Psychology, 37 College Road, Bangor, Gwynedd  LL57 2DG. (0248−351151)
(0248−364412)