Archive Magazine CD 1995/Archive Magazine CD 1995.iso/text/magazine/volume_06/issue_09

Text File | 1995-06-25 | 273KB | 5,585 lines

So what’s new?
6.9
As you will see from the size of the Products Available column this
month, the breadth and depth of products supporting Acorn’s 32-bit
computers is growing apace. Many readers will be particularly pleased to
see that the RISC OS 3 PRMs are available at long last. We have them in
stock now.
6.9
We haven’t heard any more rumours about a new machine being released but
when one (or more?!) does appear, we’ll try to maintain our reputation
of getting the technical facts out to you before any of the other
magazines.
6.9
Archive Team increases
6.9
This month, we welcome another new member into the Archive team. Dawn
Robinson will be joining us at the beginning of June. Dawn will be
looking after the mail order and will be replacing Vera as the ‘happy
smiling voice’ who answers the phone... in the mornings, anyway. Vera
will then be able to spend more time on things like visiting local
schools and arranging training courses. She will also be trying to find
out more about what you, the Archive readership, actually want from the
magazine and from Norwich Computer Services. Watch this space....
6.9
Bye for now,
6.9
Products Available
6.9
•    A3000 rechargeable batteries − There seems to have been a world
shortage of A3000 rechargeable batteries. They are needed because some
of these batteries do fail in course of time. We have some available now
at £7 each.
6.9
•    A3000 cases − We also have a few complete A3000 plastic cases − upper
and lower parts − but with no sticky labels on them. They are available
from Archive, while stocks last, for £20 per complete case.
6.9
•    A3020 Discovery Pack − Acorn have just launched a new computer package
aimed at Primary schools. The idea is to provide a system that teachers
can plug in, switch on and go! It includes software pre-installed on the
hard drive, instructions for beginners to RISC OS and curriculum
material and guidance on classroom use. The idea is that even teachers
who consider themselves complete beginners or who are currently only
familiar with BBC Bs and Masters can have confidence to get started with
a 32-bit system and the best and most up-to-date software.
6.9
The package consists of an A3020 with hard drive plus Acorn’s Advance
(WP/spreadsheet/database/graphing − see the review on page 33);
Sherston’s Crystal Rainforest which is an adventure simulation and Logo
application (see 6.2 p58); Longman’s Magpie multimedia authoring system
(see 6.5 p71) incorporating Acorn’s Replay full motion video utility;
two primary fonts and an application to re-size the mouse pointer. There
is also a Magpie application installed on the hard drive which
introduces the user to the Discovery system and to Acorn’s education
support network. It includes a couple of Replay video clips.
6.9
The pack also includes teacher support materials which introduce the
software and offer practical advice to teachers on integrating IT into
standard classroom activities. The guide includes project frameworks and
examples of children’s work produced using the software in the Discovery
Pack. It also includes appendices covering the National Curriculum in
England and the Scottish 5−14 Curriculum, mapping the software in the
Pack to curriculum targets.
6.9
You also get a heat-sensitive mouse mat which reveals hidden pictures
(the mind boggles!), an audio training tape introducing the desktop
environment and the use of the operating system, a two-year academic
wall-planner, a copy of the educational software/hardware directory and
vouchers giving discounts on educational software and peripherals from
eight companies who specialise in primary education.
6.9
The price is £1149 +VAT = £1350 including a standard resolution monitor
but as an introductory offer, Archive subscribers can have a multisync
monitor instead for an extra £30.
6.9
•    A5000 fan quietener − If you are fed up with the noise of the A5000
fan, here is the answer. There is now an A5000 version of Ray
Maidstone’s famous fan quietener. They are £21 through Archive.
6.9
•    A540 RAM price down − The bad news is that Atomwide are no longer
supplying 4Mb RAM upgrades for the A540 (they were much cheaper than
Acorn’s version). The good news is that Acorn have dropped the price of
their RAM upgrade. They are now £299 inc VAT or £280 through Archive.
6.9
•    Acorn Education Directory − Acorn and APA Multimedia have combined to
make the Education Directory available as a CD-ROM. The directory gives
a listing of the huge range of software and hardware available for Acorn
32-bit computers. The CD-ROM costs £29 +VAT from APA Multimedia Ltd and
this price includes a site licence.
6.9
•    Acorn Multimedia Units − Just to say that although they were supposed
to be available when we mentioned them last month, they didn’t quite
make it. Anyway, we now have them in stock.
6.9
•    Acorn multisync monitors − To clear stocks, we are selling Acorn AKF18
multisync monitors at £270. (We sold quite a lot of them last month but
still have a few left − give us a ring if you are interested.)
6.9
If you want to buy a multisync at the same time as an A3010, A3020 or
A4000, you can have it for the price of standard resolution monitor
(again, while stocks last).
6.9
To use the AKF18 with pre-A5000 computers, we advise using a VIDC
enhancer (available once again through Archive − see page 10) and the
software on Careware 18.
6.9
 •    Almanac − This is a Desktop Organiser from Stallion Software. It
features dairy events, anniversaries, job scheduler, correspondence
logging, address book, linking between entries and filtering. Almanac
costs £60 (+£2 p&p) +VAT from Stallion Software.
6.9
•    Annual Service Kit − I thought it would be good to remind owners of
A310/410/420/440 machines about changing fan filters and batteries.
There are two reasons for the reminder. The first is that I have just
discovered that if your batteries give up the ghost, when RISC OS 3
tries to start up, it will fail the start-up test and you will think
your computer has suffered some terminal illness. Secondly, Acorn have
just increased the dealer price of the fan filters by 273% (yes, the new
price is 3.73 times the old price)! So when our current stock is
finished, we will have to increase the price of the annual service kits
(fan filter + batteries) from £3 to £6! (I think it would be better to
buy the batteries from your local shop and vacuum your existing fan
filter and wash it in a mild soapy solution. Ed.)
6.9
•    Archive Arcscan files − Readers may not be aware that if you have a
copy of ArcScan III from Beebug (£14 through Archive) you can buy a copy
of our Shareware Disc 7 which has the (virtually) up-to-date files for
the six volumes of Archive magazine. These files have been prepared
faithfully, month by month for many years now by Eric Ayers, one of our
longer-standing Archive readers. Thanks very much, Eric!
6.9
We have been asked why we don’t put the ArcScan files on the monthly
program disc every month. This is partly because Eric needs time to
prepare them. The magazine is finalised and goes to the printers on a
Tuesday, the Price List is finished and goes to the printers on the
Thursday, (I collapse in a heap on Friday) and the magazine goes out to
subscribers on the Tuesday so there isn’t a lot of time to get the
ArcScan files prepared! We do put updates on the monthly disc every now
and then when there is enough space. However, at any time, you can send
in your Shareware 7 disc and have it updated with the latest Arcscan
files − a pound for admin would be appreciated but isn’t obligatory.
6.9
•    ArcScan III − Risc Developments’ database now has datafiles for all
Acorn’s manuals, including the RISC OS 3 PRM and also Acorn’s DDE and
the Fortran compiler documentation. ArcScan III is £12.81 +VAT or £14
through Archive.
6.9
•    Arcventure III − The Vikings − Sherston Software have released their
educational package aimed at 7−11 year olds who are studying the
Vikings. The children join a simulated archaeological dig at Coppergate
in York (Jorvik). The price is £31.95 +VAT from Sherston or £35 through
Archive.
6.9
•    ARM3 price drop − We still have some of the ARM3’s (for the pre-A5000
computers) that do not have a socket for a floating-point accelerator
chip so we are selling them off at £180 each (while stocks last). If you
want one fitted into an A3000, it costs £265 but that includes the cost
of collecting your computer, removing the ARM2, mounting a socket,
putting in the ARM3 and sending it back to you.
6.9
•    AutoCopy − Anyone having to copy large numbers of discs will be
pleased to hear about Look System’s latest product − AutoCopy. This is a
multitasking application for use with our Xpress autoloaders (see
overleaf for special offer) or the new budget autoloaders (also see
overleaf) or with the Ventuno copiers that we used to supply. It will
copy a large range of disc formats, e.g. DFS, ADFS, MS-DOS, etc.
6.9
There are four copy modes which allow AutoCopy to cater for a wide
variety of disc duplicating needs. These are source copying (one master
disc, many copies), backup copying (many master discs, many copies),
image copying (one disc image, many copies) and batch copying (many disc
images, many copies) − a disc image is a copy of a master disc which has
already been read into memory or stored on another medium such as a hard
drive. If required, disc images can be compressed when memory is
limited.
6.9
When discs are copied, they are formatted, copied and verified in a
single pass to improve the speed of throughput. However, if quality
assurance is the most importance factor, discs can also be verified in a
second pass.
6.9
If required, Archimedes disc ID’s can be updated and user functions that
are written in Basic can also be added to extend AutoCopy’s facilities.
The AutoCopy software costs £350 from LOOKsystems.
6.9
(A text file of the complete specification of AutoCopy is included on
the monthly program disc.)
6.9
•    Auto-loading Disc Copier − Any day now (we hope!) we will be getting a
new budget-price auto-loading disc copier. The price is less than half
the price of the Xpress copier that we have been selling for several
years now. Admittedly, it will only handle 3½“ discs but if you don’t
need to copy 5¼” discs, you can save yourself over a thousand pounds!
The price is just £1150 inc VAT through Archive compared with £2750 for
the Xpress copier (but see the special offer below). This price includes
(a) software to enable it to run on a PC compatible computer, (b)
single-tasking software for use with Archimedes computers and (c) a
serial cable to connect it to an Archimedes computer.
6.9
If you want to run it on an A5000, you really need a floppy drive
extension cable (£18) as the cable is a bit too short to plug directly
into the socket on the main p.c.b. If you only want to copy up to 800Kb
Archimedes and 720Kb PC formats, you can run it on one of the old
Archimedes machines (A310/410/420/440/540) but you will need an extra
hardware interface and cable costing £50 through Archive. If you do want
to copy 1.6Mb and 1.44Mb (PC) formats and you don’t want to tie up an
A5000, it will be possible to use an A3010/3020/4000 but it needs some
work doing on the auto-loader software and maybe even a bit of a fiddle
on the hardware but we haven’t finalised this. (If you are interested,
ring us and we’ll let you know how far we have progressed with it.)
6.9
The single-tasking software allows you to do basic copying but if you
want multitasking software with all sorts of batch copying facilities
then Auto-copy from LOOK Systems is £350. (LOOK Systems works in the
same office building as Norwich Computer Services − although there is no
financial link between the two companies (!) − so we can dispatch
AutoCopy at the same time as the autoloader if you send one cheque for
£350 made out to LOOK Systems and another to Norwich Computer Services
for £1150 plus whatever interface/cable you want.)
6.9
•    Autoloader special offer! £1,000 off! − We have an auto-loader in
stock that is six months old although it is virtually unused. It was
returned by a customer because of the length of time we took to develop
the interface that it needs to be able to work with one of the older
Archimedes computers (i.e. pre-A5000). With the coming of the ‘half-
price’ Autoloaders (see above), we suspect that this Xpress copier would
be difficult to sell at or even near full price! We have decided to cut
our losses and sell it at £1750 instead of the full £2750. This is a
complete price including cables, interface and single-tasking software.
This autoloader can also copy 5¼“ discs if a suitable drive is purchased
(costing £320 through Archive).
6.9
•    Axis − This is a shoot’-em-up game set in a maze filled with tanks,
gun emplacements and end-of-level bonuses. In later levels, there are
‘cloaked’ tanks, electric fences and other hazards that make finishing
the game quite a puzzle. It costs £24.99 inclusive from TBA Software.
6.9
•    BASIC VI manual − Acorn have now reprinted the BASIC manual but have
included features relating to BASIC VI. The Archive price is £20
including p&p.
6.9
•    BBC Master128 is no more! − Acorn say they have ceased production of
the Master128 because of rising costs and difficulty of supply of
certain parts. Acorn still have some in stock which should provide
enough to supply orders for a few months to come.
6.9
•    Blood Sport − Matt Black have produced a budget-priced game (£9.99 +£2
p&p, no VAT) which will appeal to “fans of the beat-’em-up genre”. It is
a martial arts simulation for one or two players.
6.9
•    CardMania is a two-disc pack from C.I.S. with four card games − Gin
Rummy, Chinese Patience, Two-pack Clock Patience and Cribbage. It costs
£19.95 from C.I.S. or £18 through Archive.
6.9
•    Careware disc pricing − Because of increase in costs of overheads, we
have reluctantly had to increase the amount that we charge for admin on
Careware discs. This means that of the £5 which you pay, £2 (less the
VAT) goes towards admin leaving £3 to send to charity. Hitherto, we have
effectively been subsidising the charity payments by only taking out £1
of the £5.
6.9
The amounts raised for charity through Careware and charitable sales of
secondhand equipment through Archive have been 1989/90 − £19,625, 1990/
91 − £17,847 and 1991/92 − £13,005. In our 1992/93 year, we have so far
raised £11,781 but the accounting year runs to the end of June.
6.9
Our grateful thanks go to Archive subscribers from the various charities
that have benefitted over the last few years.
6.9
Don’t forget that if you have old Archimedes hardware or software that
we can sell for charity, all you have to do is send it in to the Archive
office. Thanks.
6.9
•    CD-ROM drives − Cumana have launched a new CD-ROM drive which has a
double-speed mode and is able to handle multi-session PhotoCDs. The 600
series drives offer an average access time of 295 ms and a maximum data
transfer rate of 307 Kb/s. Its 256Kb buffer enhances the performance of
the drive. It also comes with software to play audio CDs. The price is
£429 +VAT to education (education price through Archive is £515 inc VAT
& carriage) or £609 +VAT to the end user (£590 inclusive through
Archive).
6.9
(The Chinon standard speed drives we have been selling for a while now
are on offer at the moment at £420 inclusive through Archive.)
6.9
•    Chemistry is a budget package for Chemistry teachers from a new
software house called PTW Software. For £15 inclusive, the package
includes a site licence. The contents of the package are a screen font
which includes subscripted numbers as used in chemical formulae, 150Kb
of drawfile clipart and an application which is based around the
periodic table of the elements.
6.9
•    Christian clipart − We mentioned Ian Gooding’s Christian clipart last
month and it drew quite a lot of interest. Ian has extended the range a
bit further. The titles available at present: (1) Christmas Story; (2)
Christmas Symbols; (3) Easter − story of death & resurrection, symbols
of new life; (4) Harvest; (5) Christian Symbols − the rest of the church
year; (6) Money, Poverty & War; (7) Environment − pollution, factories,
forests; (8) Mission & World Scene − missionary, global and Third World
issues; (9) Baptist History & Membership; (10) Apologetics − questions &
sceptical views, proofs for God; (11) Evangelism; (12) Lifestyle − vices
and virtues, stress and the rat-race; (13) Banners − pictures with blank
areas for text, billboards, animals, people; (14) Borders; (15)
Editorial Flair − pencils, telephones, sissors, arrows, stars; (16)
Illuminated Letters; (17) Adults & Youth; (18) Children & Families; (19)
Celebration − parties of all kinds, food, fun; (20) Music − instruments,
players, singers, musical notes; (21) Leisure − outings, sport,
gardening & flowers; (22) Weddings; (23) OT Stories − from Adam to Amos;
(24) NT Stories − Gospels and Acts; (25) NT Parables & Sayings; (26)
Bible Maps − Holy Land, Temple; (27) History, Prophecy & Bible Study −
charts, outlines, fulfilments, Bible books; (28) OT Background &
Archaeology; (29) NT Background & Archaeology; (30) Sideliners − figures
who shout messages from the sidelines, speech bubbles; (31) Good News
Bible OT stories from the Books of Moses; (32) GNB OT stories from rest
of OT; (33) GNB NT stories up to Holy Week; (34) GNB NT stories from
Holy Week through Acts; (35) GNB texts from the OT, each text with
illustration; (36) GNB texts from NT, each text with illustration. The
clipart is in sprite, drawfile and Artworks formats. The discs are £7.99
each plus £2.50 p&p per order. For a full catalogue, write to Ian
Gooding, 18 Larksfield, Covingham, Swindon, SN3 5AD.
6.9
•    Compose World − This is described by its publisher, Expressive
Software Products, as a musical exploration program. Phrases of music
are represented by pictures or words and these phrases can then be built
up, block by block. It is Midi compatible and can be used by all ages
from 5 upwards. It includes a phrase editor so that you can build up
music from note level − although no musical notation appears anywhere.
Compose World costs £48 +VAT from ESP. This price includes a site
licence.
6.9
•    CSVtoText − This application (which was reviewed last month on page
71) has been updated and improved as a result of user feedback. Also,
the rights to the program have been transferred to Dabhand Computing who
will be selling it at £15 +VAT.
6.9
•    Dragonball − This is an Arkanoid look-alike from TBA Software. It is
said to retain the look-and-feel of the arcade game. It costs £15.99
inclusive from TBA Software.
6.9
•    DTP booklet (free!) − The report that Archive commissioned into the
relative merits of Macs, PCs and Archimedes computers for doing DTP is
still available free of charge to subscribers − or indeed to anyone who
is interested! In the year since it was first published, the prices have
changed quite a bit so we have printed an update to the comparative
prices table and include that as an extra sheet in the booklet. Because
the comparison is of general interest, I have printed a copy of it in
this issue − see page 15.
6.9
•    EMU for Acorn machines − Cumana have launched a new multiple interface
for A3000/3010/3020/4000 computers. The Expandable Multi-Use interface
is designed to allow seven different interfaces to be connected to the
single mini-podule expansion slot. The baseboard, which comes complete
with user port, can be upgraded to accommodate IDE, Midi, analogue, SCSI
and Cumana’s own Companion interfaces. The baseboard and user port costs
£51.02 +VAT (educational price £49 +VAT) from Cumana.
6.9
•    E-Numix is a mathematical strategy game for one or two players,
specially designed to aid and enhance the manipulation and processing of
numerical equations and calculations. It involves a ‘Scrabble©’-like
board. You are given a random set of numbers in each turn and, playing
either against the computer or another player, you have to gain control
of the board and obtain the highest possible score. E-Numix costs £24.95
from C.I.S. or £23 through Archive.
6.9
•    Foundation Calligrapher − This is a writing tutor package from Design
Concept for use in primary schools. The idea is that it illustrates on
the screen the motions required for each letter to be formed. It takes
place slowly enough for the children to copy the motions. It uses a
special font designed for the ‘Foundation of Writing: LetterForms’
Scheme. Foundation Calligrapher costs £15 from Design Concept and
requires at least one member of the Foundation font family to be
available, costing £8. (Carriage on all orders is £2. No VAT is
charged.)
6.9
•    Full Phase is the latest in a series of Phases packages from Northwest
SEMERC’s. It is a talking wordprocessor (the speech can be switched
off!) enabling young pupils to combine text and graphics. Talking WP has
been shown to be a very powerful tool, particularly in helping children
with dyslexia. Full Phases includes a word list facility so that
children can pick up words from a list on screen and place them in their
text. The word lists are editable by the teacher or parent. It can also
be used with an Oldham Overlay Keyboard. Full Phases is available from
Northwest SEMERC for £28 +VAT +p&p.
6.9
•    Genup Lite − This application from APA Multimedia allows you to
compile your Genesis applications to become “fast, small, network
compatible and fully indexed”. It consists of a compiler and run-time
code, a fast indexer allowing users access to the Genup Lite
‘Supersearch’ facility, example applications and !Bookmark − a utility
allowing users to mark resources for later use. Genup costs £79 +VAT
from APA Multimedia Ltd. There is an education price of £49 +VAT and
they also do site licences.
6.9
•    GreyHawk is a grey-scale video digitiser aimed at DTP users. Most
colour digitisers can only provide 16 or 64 grey-levels but this
dedicated grey-scale digitiser produces full 8-bit (256 grey level)
images. It makes use of CC’s ScanLight Plus software with all the image
manipulation that it provides. The real-time screen display is in 16-
grey levels but ColourCard (or G8/16) owners can display the full 256
grey levels and Impression II users can get simulated 256 grey levels by
using enhanced graphics (dithering). The half-width podule has a BNC
input socket and takes signals from any PAL composite source. The
GreyHawk digitiser costs £99 (+ £6 carriage) +VAT from Wild Vision or
£115 through Archive.
6.9
•    Guardian Professional − Digital Phenomena who launched a PD virus
protector called Guardian3 (available on Archive program disc 6.3) have
now produced a commercial version with a range of extra utilities
including a disc sector editor. Even with all the extra utilities, it is
still only £9.95 (inclusive) from Digital Phenomena. They also do an
educational site licence for £24.95.
6.9
•    Humanoids & Robotix − Remember Defender on the BBC Micro? Or Minerva’s
Orion on the Archimedes? Well, C.I.S. have produced a Defender look-
alike called Humanoids.
6.9
Robotix, on the other hand is a shoot-’em-up, with you in the middle of
the screen being attacked from all directions by various robot-like
creatures.
6.9
The two come together on one disc for £19.95 from C.I.S. or £18 through
Archive.
6.9
•    Image Animator − This application from Iota Software allows you to
drop sprites or drawfiles onto a film window, frame by frame, until you
have a complete cartoon. You can edit sections of the cartoon, splice
it, etc. The price is £69 +VAT or £75 through Archive. A site licence
version is available for £199 +VAT or £210 through Archive.
6.9
•    Image Gallery − This is a CD-ROM with over 1,100 high quality colour
images, each stored twice, at full size and at reduced size to allow
quick previewing of the images. The images cover a wide range of subject
including transport, animals, plants, people and buildings. The disc
comes with Archimedes search and retrieval software to aid you in
finding the picture you want. The price is £45 +VAT from Eesox.
6.9
•    KeyCount − Anglia Television have produced a spreadsheet/graphs
package for use in primary schools. It comes complete with a disc of
example sheets to show the possibilities within the classroom of a
spreadsheet application. It is linked with the Key-series and Keynote
datafiles can be loaded straight into KeyCount. It costs £32.50 +VAT
from Anglia Television. They also have a range of site licence prices.
6.9
•    Killerbugs is a space-invaders look-alike from C.I.S. The graphics and
sound effects are very good. The price is £19.95 from C.I.S. or £18
through Archive.
6.9
•    Landmarks Elizabeth I − Longman Logotron have released another of
their Landmarks history series. This time it’s Elizabeth I. The price is
£24 +VAT from Longman Logotron or £26 through Archive.
6.9
•    Mac SCSI drives − The pricing on SCSI drives fluctuates rather a lot
but currently we can do the following drives, listed below. (The prices
in brackets include Morley SCSI podule − uncached for drives up to 200M
and cached for 560Mb and 1Gb. You can compare prices with the Morley
drives below.)
6.9
    80Mb Internal − £260  (£420)
6.9
    120Mb Internal − £340  (£500)
6.9
    200Mb Internal − £460  (£620)
6.9
    560Mb Internal − £840  (£1060)
6.9
    1000Mb Internal − £1040  (£1260)
6.9
    80Mb External − £390  (£550)
6.9
    120Mb External − £470  (£630)
6.9
    200Mb External − £590  (£750)
6.9
    560Mb External − £970  (£1190)
6.9
    1000Mb External − £1170  (£1390)
6.9
These are all fast, good quality drives so they represent very good
value for money.
6.9
We also have one 245Mb external Atomwide drive available for £650.
6.9
•    MineHunt − This is a game for the PocketBook! (The first one?)
Identify the squares that are clear or contain a mine. MineHunt is
available for £5 inclusive from Dawes Computer Consultants Ltd.
6.9
•    Mini Expansion Adaptor − Pineapple Software have produced an interface
that provides a 16-bit external podule slot for A3000/3010/3020/4000. On
the A3000, it gives you a second external connector and on the others it
will allow A3000-type external podules to be fitted. You should note
that it only provides access to the 8-bit bus not the full 16-bit bus.
Pineapple say, “There are a number of products that will only run on the
A3000 by using the external socket, and this new card will enable most,
if not all, of those products to work with the newer range of
computers.”
6.9
•    Monthly Program Disc − Although I try to put a list of the contents of
the monthly program disc on the Price List, I thought it might be useful
to mention each month what was on last month’s disc! So, on the May disc
(6.8) were: (1) PipeLine Column files, (2) ROM speed test programs, (3)
Perform − Rhapsody file player, (4) SmoothM − a utility for mouse
movement averaging for use in art packages and (5) some modified
toolsprites and high resolution icon sprites.
6.9
•    Morley SCSI drives − There has been some re-pricing of the Morley SCSI
drives. These come complete with SCSI interface.
6.9
    40Mb Internal − £340
6.9
    80Mb Internal − £510
6.9
    240Mb Internal − £740
6.9
    40Mb External − £430
6.9
    80Mb External − £590
6.9
    240Mb External − £810
6.9
•    Parallel port SCSI adaptors − Atomwide have produced a second version
of their parallel port SCSI adaptor. Their Mono/SCSI interface (£55
through Archive) simply provides a SCSI interface through a
bidirectional parallel port (i.e. A3010/3020/4000/5000 and A4) but does
not allow for using a printer or a dongle on the same port. The newer
Printer/SCSI interface which is £79 +VAT from Atomwide or £83 inclusive
through Archive, has two connectors, one for SCSI and one giving the
through connections needed for a printer. This also means that you can
connect a dongle in series with the printer connector − which was a
major frustration with the earlier Mono/SCSI interface. Another first
for Atomwide! (See the File Transfer article on page 55 for more
details. Ed.)
6.9
•    Payroll Manager − Silicon Vision have produced a RISC OS application
to handle payroll functions including the latest budget changes.
Features include weekly/monthly wages, book or percentage values, wage
slips, cash breakdown, P14/P60, pension deduction, holiday pay,
selection for tables A, B or C, etc. The price is £99.95 inc VAT from
Silicon Vision.
6.9
•    Photopia is an image processor from C.I.S. It allows you to manipulate
256-colour images (not 16-colour) and offers such features as colour
swap, solarize, negative, convert to 64-colour, convert to B&W, colour
invert, brightness, saturation and contrast control, greyscale, anti-
alias, wash, pixellate, linear fade, radial fade, mirror (X and Y), 180°
rotate, ripple effect and more besides. It costs £14.95 from C.I.S. or
£14 through Archive. At that price, it represents an excellent
introduction to image graphics.
6.9
•    PrimeWord − Minerva have launched a font-based RISC OS wordprocessor
aimed at the primary school market. It is configurable so that it can be
used at a range of different levels and can handle multiple documents
and multiple views per document. Frequently used commands and features
are accessed directly via a button bar. PrimeWord costs £60 +VAT from
Minerva (£65 through Archive) and there is a primary site licence for
£90 +VAT (£100 through Archive) and a secondary site licence for £240
+VAT (£265 through Archive).
6.9
•    Real McCoy 4 − The Fourth Dimension have released the fourth of their
Real McCoy series of games compilations. This one contains Grievous
Bodily ’ARM, Galactic Dan, X-Fire and Cataclysm. It costs £34.95 inc VAT
from the Fourth Dimension or £32 through Archive.
6.9
•    Revelation 2 price drop − The price of Revelation 2 has dropped to £76
+VAT or £82 through Archive. The CD-ROM version is £99 +VAT or £107
through Archive. The price of Revelation ImagePro is £139 + VAT or £150
through Archive. It was the ImagePro version that was reviewed by
Gabriel Swords last month but Revelation 2 includes a very large
proportion of the features of the ImagePro version, so for just over
half the price, it is well worth considering.
6.9
•    RISC OS 3 Programmer’s Reference Manuals are here! − The long-awaited
RISC OS 3 PRM’s are now available from stock at Norwich Computer
Services. The full price is £99 (zero VAT) but they are so heavy that
the Archive discount is more than swallowed up in carriage charge. The
Archive price therefore is £100 inclusive of carriage.
6.9
The manual has been totally restructured to take account of the
differences between programming for RISC OS 2 and RISC OS 3 and is now
over 3,000 pages long − almost double the size of the original PRM.
6.9
The manual is contained in four bound volumes plus an additional index
volume. They are ‘perfect’ bound, not ring bound, sadly! They are held
in a cardboard library case so that they will be self-standing on your
bookcase or shelf − if it’s strong enough to take the weight − 7.2kg! It
will also include a newly revised RISC OS Style Guide, available from
the autumn. (Those who buy the new PRM before this date will be sent a
copy of the Style Guide as soon as it is available.)
6.9
As an added bonus, Acorn we have included many programming examples in
the text, and there are also detailed sections describing ways to
exploit the various aspects of programming for RISC OS.
6.9
•    RISC OS 3 Programmer’s Reference Manual as an upgrade − Upgrades for
existing owners of the RISC OS 2 PRM are available for £59, plus £4
postage and packing, from Vector Services. Cheques should be made
payable to “Acorn Direct” and the index front cover of the old manual
only should be sent as proof of ownership of the RISC OS 2 version.
6.9
•    Sea, Trade & Empire is Anglia Television’s latest set of curriculum
datafiles for use by schools who are using Key, Keynote or KeyPlus. It
is aimed at History Key Stage 3, Britain 1750 to 1900 and costs £22 +VAT
from Anglia Television.
6.9
•    Serpents is an arcade action game with over forty levels of “non-stop
arcade action, some easy, some tricky and some positively mind-bending
with a combination of speed and puzzle elements.” It bears some
resemblance to Pacman but the object you direct around the maze is a
worm-like being of variable length and it has to eat or be eaten by
other similar animals. Serpents costs £19.95 from CIS or £18 through
Archive.
6.9
•    Small Steps is a package from Resource aimed at primary and special
needs. It breaks down each National Curriculum attainment target in
Small Steps and helps you with its administration and record-keeping.
The first pack is available now: English, Maths and Social Development
levels 1, 2 and 3. It costs £99 +VAT for a single user and £199 +VAT for
a site licence. A second pack covering History, Geography, Technology,
Music and Art at the same levels is in preparation. It will cost £49
+VAT for a single user or £99 +VAT for a site licence.
6.9
•    SongBook is a set of original and educational songs from EMR based on
their Storybook sets. These are aimed at 3 to 10 year olds and special
needs pupils. Each set of five songs costs £24.95 +VAT from EMR.
6.9
•    SuperSnake is another budget arcade game. It is an up-to-date version
of the ever-popular snake game. It has 20 levels for you to cope with
and even has a two-player option so that you can pit your wits against a
friend instead of the computer. SuperSnake costs £4.99 inclusive from
Digital Phenomena.
6.9
•    Talking PenDown is our second talking wordprocessor this month.
PenDown, which is well known in the education world, is now available
with speech facilities added. The complete package, which needs no extra
hardware, costs £64 +VAT or £69 through Archive. Existing PenDown users
can upgrade for £32 +VAT by contacting Longman Logotron directly (site
licences can be upgraded for £64 +VAT).
6.9
•    Taxan 789 − Thanks to Mike Lane (see Comment Column on page 50) the
Taxan 789 has been brought to our notice as a good monitor to use with a
G8/16 or a ColourCard. It has a dot pitch of 0.28mm (same as 9060 and
Cubscan 1440) but its frequency scanning range is 30 to 60 kHz, which
means that it can cope with some of the higher resolution 256 colour
modes that the other monitors can’t manage. Also, it is cheaper! The
Archive price is £440 (cf £600 and £480 for the 9060 and 1440
respectively).
6.9
•    The Hacker − This is the only currently available competitor to Games
Wizard. This software from Doggysoft allows you to change the number of
lives, find passwords and so on. It sounds as if it needs a bit of
technical know-how to use for creating your own cheats but it comes with
ready-made cheats for well over fifty games. It costs £5 inclusive from
Doggysoft (but cheques should be made payable to “A Clover”).
6.9
•    Time-Traveller are ESM’s educational history packs. The latest one to
be released is aimed at children in Key Stage 3. It is entitled The
Making of the United Kingdom and covers 1500 to 1750. It costs £39.50
+VAT from ESM or £43 through Archive. The price includes a site licence.
6.9
•    Topographer is the latest release from Clares. It is an innovative
piece of software that allows you to draw 2D maps in Ordnance Survey
style and then create a 3D picture of the terrain viewed from any
position − sounds a wonderful aid for geography teaching amongst other
things. The price is £79.95 inc VAT or £75 through Archive.
6.9
•    Training courses − Minerva are now offering a one-day Artworks
training course at their training centre for £110 +VAT.
6.9
(We haven’t had much response to our offer of putting on courses here in
Norwich. Unless we hear from you soon, we’ll have to drop the idea. You
can phone in your requests if you prefer.)
6.9
•    VIDC Enhancers − Put the flag out! We now have stocks of VIDC
enhancers again so that A310/410/420/440 owners can have some improved
video modes and can use monitors that don’t run down to the low
frequencies that mode 12, etc use − e.g. Eizo F340iW, F550iW and T560iT
or Taxan 795, 789, etc. We have been able to keep the price down to £28
but that does not include the software that runs them. That has been put
into the public domain by Atomwide and we have put it on Careware disc
18 which costs £5 (of which £3 goes to charity).
6.9
•    WIMP Programmer’s Toolkit is Risc Developments’ collection of twelve
programs for the development and debugging of Wimp programs. It now
includes Acorn’s FormEd program supplied under licence. It costs £19.95
inc VAT from Risc Developments.
6.9
•    WIMP Programming for All is the title of a relatively new book (but
now revised to relate specifically to RISC OS 3) from Risc Developments
written by Lee Calcraft and Alan Wrigley. It costs £12.95 and there is a
disc at £4.95 which contains all the programs listed in the book.
6.9
•    Woodland is a CD-ROM from APA Multimedia. It has “thousands of pages
of detailed information” including sounds samples, which provides an
exploration of British woodlands and their bird, animal and plant life.
It is optimised for use across networks and comes with a network site
licence. Woodland costs £150 +VAT from APA Multimedia Ltd.
6.9
•    Woodland Junior is a floppy-disc version of Woodland from APA
Multimedia. It is installable onto hard disc and requires 6Mb of free
space. It costs £79 +VAT from APA Multimedia Ltd and is upgradable to
the full version. There is an education price of £49 +VAT and they will
also do site licences.
6.9
•    Words Disc − The Archive Words Disc for issues 6.5 − 6.8 is now
available, price £2.
6.9
•    Zool is a new arcade game from Gremlin Graphics. Zool is, apparently,
a Ninja of the Nth dimension who is “an interstellar cosmos dweller,
quicker than a flash and sharper than the seven samurai”! Whatever he
is, Zool is certainly the “game of the moment” in the Beverley
household. (I used to think we only had two children but the average
number of children in the house at the moment is about four or five and
the power-amplified Zool-assisted output of the Archimedes sound system
has to be heard to be believed!) Zool costs £25.99 from Gremlin Graphics
or £24 through Archive.
6.9
Review software received...
6.9
We have received review copies of the following: Acorn Education
Directory CD-ROM (e), ArcTrack & SatPack 1 for comparison (see comment
on page 51), ArtSchool (ea), Axis (g), BookStore (e), CardMania (g),
Chemistry (e), Choices (e), Christian Clipart discs 5 & 15, Compose
World (em), E-Numix (e), First Logo (e), Full Phase (e), Games Wizard
and The Hacker for comparison (g), Humanoids & Robotix (g), Insight (e),
Ixion (g), Joysticks Interfaces: Leading Edge and Magnetic Image for
comparative review (g), KeyCount (e), Killerbugs (g), Mini Expansion
Adaptor (H), Numerator Workcards (e), Picture It! (e), Punctuate (e),
Real McCoy 4 (g), Screenplay Training Video (g), Sea, Trade & Empire
(e), Serpents (g), Soapbox (e), Splash (ea), SpySnatcher (g), Squish
(u), SUMthing (e), Switch (g), ThinkLink (u), Through the Dragon’s Eye
(e), The Spoken Word (e), Tiles (e), TimeTraveller − 1500−1750 (e),
TimeTraveller − Britain since the 30s (e), Woodland CD (e), Zool (g).
6.9
e=Education, h=Hardware, m=Music, g=Game, u=Utility, a=Art  A
6.9
Norwich Computer Services 96a Vauxhall Street, Norwich, NR2 2SD.
0603−766592 (−764011)
6.9
4th Dimension     P.O. Box 4444, Sheffield. (0742−700661) (0742−781091)
6.9
4Mation     11 Castle Park Road, Whiddon Valley, Barnstaple, Devon, EX32
8PA. (0271−25353) (0271−22974) Mike Matson 0825−732679
6.9
Abacus Training    29 Okus Grove, Upper Stratton, Swindon, Wilts, SN2
6QA.
6.9
Acorn Computers Ltd (p13)    Fulbourn
Road, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge, CB1 4JN. (0223−254254) (0223−254262)
6.9
Aleph One Ltd     The Old Courthouse, Bottisham, Cambridge, CB5 9BA.
(0223−811679) (0223−812713)
6.9
Anglia Television      Education
Department, Anglia House, Norwich, NR1 3JG. (0603−615151) (0603−631032)
6.9
APA Multimedia     Unit 8, Henley Business Park, Trident Close, Medway
City Estate, Strood, Rochester, Kent, ME2 4ER. (0634−295222)
(0634−710193)
6.9
Atomwide Ltd     23 The Greenway, Orpington, Kent, BR5 2AY. (0689−838852)
(0689−896088)
6.9
AU Enterprises Ltd     126 Great
North Road, Hatfield, Herts, AL9 5JZ. (0707−266714) (0707−273684)
6.9
Avie Electronics     7 Overbury Road, Norwich. (0603−416863) (0603−788640)
6.9
CIS     Unit 2a, 436 Essex Road, London, N1 3QP. (071−226−3340)
(071−226−3408)
6.9
Clares Micro Supplies     98
Middlewich Road, Rudheath, Northwich, Cheshire, CW9 7DA. (0606−48511)
(0606−48512)
6.9
Colton Software (p24)    2 Signet
Court, Swanns Road, Cambridge, CB5 8LA. (0223−311881) (0223−312010)
6.9
Computer Concepts (p17/18)    Gaddesden
Place, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP2 6EX. (0442−63933) (0442−231632)
6.9
Cumana Ltd      Pines Trading Estate, Broad Street, Guilford, GU3 3BH.
(0483−503121) (0483−503326)
6.9
Dabhand Computing     5 Victoria
Lane, Whitefield, Manchester, M25 6AL. (061−766−8423) (061−766−8425)
6.9
Dabs Press     22 Warwick Street, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 7HN.
(061−773−8632) (061−773−8290)
6.9
Dawes Computer Consultants    1 Chartist
Piece, Staunton, Gloucester, GL19 3RU. (0452−840053)
6.9
Design Concept     30 South Oswald Road, Edinburgh, EH9 2HG.
(031−668−2000)
6.9
Digital Phenomena     104 Manners
Road, Southsea, Hants, PO4 0BG.
6.9
Doggysoft     7 Blackhorse Crescent, Amersham, Bucks., HP6 6HP.
6.9
EESOX    5 Hillfield Road, Comberton, Cambridge, CB3 7DB. (0223−264242)
6.9
EMR Ltd     14 Mount Close, Wickford, Essex, SS11 8HG. (0702−335747)
6.9
E.S.M.     Duke Street, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, PE13 2AE. (0945−63441)
6.9
Expressive Software Products     Holly Tree
Cottage, Main Street, Strelley Village, Nottingham, NG8 6PD.
(0602−295019)
6.9
Gremlin Graphics Ltd     Carver
House, 2−4 Carver Street, Sheffield, S1 4FS. (0742−753423) (0742−768581)
6.9
ICS     1 Kington Road, West Kirby, Wirral, L48 5ET. (051−625−1006)
(051−625−1007)
6.9
Ian Palmer     40 Birch Crescent, Aylesford, Kent, ME20 7QE.
6.9
IFEL     36 Upland Drive, Plymouth, Devon, PL6 6BD. (0752−847286)
6.9
Iota Software Ltd    St John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge,
CB4 4WS. (0223−421542) (0223−421543)
6.9
Krisalis Software     Teque House,
Mason’s Yard, Downs Row, Moorgate, Rotherham, S60 2HD. (0709−372290)
6.9
Lambda Publications     194 Cheney
Manor Road, The Green, Swindon SN2 2NZ. (0793−695296)
6.9
Longman-Logotron     124 Cambridge Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4
4ZS. (0223−425558) (0223−425349)
6.9
LOOKsystems (p41)    47 Goodhale Road, Bowthorpe, Norwich, NR5 9AY.
(0603−764114) (0603−764011)
6.9
Matt Black     P.O.Box 42, Peterborough, PE1 2TZ. (0733−315439)
6.9
Minerva Systems     Minerva House, Baring Crescent, Exeter, EX1 1TL.
(0392−437756) (0392−421762)
6.9
Morley Electronics     Morley
House, Norham Road, North Shields, Tyne & Wear, NE29 7TY. (091−257−6355)
(091−257−6373)
6.9
Northwest SEMERC     Fitton Hill CDC, Rosary Road, Oldham, OL8 2QE.
(061−627−4469)
6.9
Oak Solutions (p23)    Suite 25,
Robin Enterprise Centre, Leeds Road, Idle, Yorkshire BD10 9TE.
(0274−620423) (0274−620419)
6.9
Pineapple Software    39 Brownlea
Gardens, Seven Kings, Ilford, Essex IG3 9NL. (081−599−1476)
(081−598−2343)
6.9
PTW Software     72 Frosthole Crescent, Fareham, Hampshire, PO15 6BG.
(0329−281930)
6.9
RESOURCE     Exeter Road, Doncaster, DN2 4PY. (0302−340331)
6.9
Risc Developments     117 Hatfield
Road, St Albans, Herts, AL1 4JS. (0727−840303) (0727−860263)
6.9
Sherston Software     Swan Barton,
Sherston, Malmesbury, Wilts. SN16 0LH. (0666−840433) (0666−840048)
6.9
Silicon Vision Ltd (p14)    Signal
House, Lyon Road, Harrow, Middlesex, HA1 2AG. (081−422−3556)
(081−427−5169)
6.9
Stallion Software Ltd     Arundel
House, Arundel Road, Camden, Bath, BA1 5JX. (0225−339090)
6.9
State Machine     75 Upper Wellington Street, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU1
5AA. (0582−483377) (0582−480833)
6.9
Suitable Software (p27)    136 Carter
Street, Fordham, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 5JU. (0638−720171)
6.9
Suitable Software     8 Jane
Court, Lenah Valley, Tasmania, Australia 7008. (+61−02−285−448)
6.9
TBA Software     24 Eastgate, Aberystwyth, Dyfed, SY23 2AR. (0970−626785)
6.9
Topologika     P.O. Box 39, Stilton, Peterborough, PE7 3RL. (0733−244682)
6.9
Watford Electronics     Jessa House,
Finway, Dallow Road, Luton, LU1 1TR. (0582−487777) (0582−488588)
6.9
W. C. Smith & Associates    40 Royal
Oak, Alnwick, Northumberland, NE66 2DA., (0665−510682) (0665−510692)
6.9
Wild Vision     15 Witney Way, Boldon Colliery, Tyne & Wear NE35 9PE.
(091−519−1455) (091−519−1929)
6.9
Paul Beverley
6.9
Hints and Tips
6.9
•    Anti-aliased fonts − I find that anti-aliasing on a standard
resolution monitor gives a far too blurred image. My hint is to use the
outline version of the System font at an unexpanded point size. A bit of
experimentation is needed to get it right if you habitually use the
screen at some scale other than one to one but when you get it right,
the result is a nice fast, clean and clear font on any DTP or
wordprocessing package while you work on the text. Remember to change
the font to your preferred version for the final print. I am afraid I
can’t remember where I obtained the Outline System font.
6.9
On my Pentoms game, I changed the transfer coefficients to sharpen up
the edges of my fancy fonts but that does not work well/at all on
RISC OS 3. Is there a way of getting a program to automatically check
which OS it is running under so that I can disable this facility where
it won’t work? Or is there another way of sharpening RISC OS 3 fonts?
Yes I know about turning off anti-aliasing but that is not quite the
same thing at all − bits of the letters are missed if you do that.
Simon Anthony, Nottingham.
6.9
• Backing up in one pass − The “Next” slot in the Task Manager can be
set from a !Boot file in RISC OS 3 to make backing up and copying of
full 800Kb discs occur in a single pass. Use the command
6.9
WimpSlot -next 864K
6.9
inside your !Boot file.  Barry Thompson,
6.9
Alternatively (for RISC OS 2 owners) you can allocate more memory to the
Next Task slot by issuing the Wimp_SlotSize SWI call from Basic. All
that you need is a Basic program containing the line:
6.9
SYS “Wimp_SlotSize”,-1,<slotsize>
6.9
where <slotsize> is in bytes (e.g. use 65536 for 64Kb.)
6.9
Simon Moy, NCS.
6.9
•    !Boot files are not strictly necessary within applications. They use
up disc space and slow down the opening of windows (especially over a
network). If an application’s !Boot file only contains the IconSprites
command, then this can be moved to the !Run file, and the !Boot file can
be deleted. The only effect is that the application will not show the
correct icon in the filer window until the application is actually run.
Keith Harja, Derby.
6.9
•    Gods passwords − On this month’s program disc is all you need for
getting the passwords for Gods. Andrew Ferguson, London N15.
6.9
•    Mono TIFF files − In reply to help for Ray Dawson in Archive 6.5 p18
for producing mono TIFF files from B&W scanned sprites. I have used
!MakeTiff version 2.00 by John Kortink to do exactly that. I examined
the resulting Tiff file using Graphics Workshop (under the emulator) and
Translator, and they both showed the converted sprite as a B&W image.
Chris Bass, Grimsby.
6.9
•    Symbols for Impression − When using Impression, or even more so
Junior, it can sometimes be tedious to find a desired symbol from a font
such as Dingbats. Therefore, I have created a number of text files which
can be dragged into any Impression document. The format for such files
is “® ”, without the quotes. This returns the type to its default size,
selects the desired font, inserts the character with ASCII code 174 and
resets the font to its default. N.B. The space at the end is essential.
This is so that one can do a <ctrl-right> to end of text. Without this
space, the font is not reset. I have given a number of pre-prepared ones
to Paul for inclusion on this month’s program disc.  Neil Walker,
Norwich.
6.9
You need to be very careful with this one. I tried it on Impression 2.19
and it gave an internal error and Impression bombed out! This was
because I didn’t have the symbol font in my system. I tried it on
version 2.17 and it complained politely that it didn’t have Symbol font
and let me carry on. I presume that the difference is because
Impression, from 2.18 onwards, has no limit to the number of fonts it
can handle so that part of the code must have been changed. Don’t say we
didn’t warn you! Ed.
6.9
•    Testing printers’ on-line status − Here is a way of testing whether
the printer is on- or off-line:
6.9
 10 *FX 3,10
6.9
 20 PRINT CHR$(0);
6.9
 30 a = INKEY(20)
6.9
 40 a = ADVAL(-4)
6.9
 50 *FX 3,0
6.9
 60 *FX 21,3
6.9
 70 IF a <> 1023 THEN
6.9
 80    PRINT “Printer not on line”
6.9
 90 ELSE
6.9
100   PRINT “Printer on line”
6.9
110 ENDIF
6.9
120 END
6.9
Paul Ribworth, Gloucester
6.9
•    Using high density discs − Until the advent of the A5000, all
Archimedes computers had an 800Kb 3½“ disc drive so the problems of
different disc densities didn’t really arise. With the introduction of
the new A3000 and A4000 series, 1.6Mb drives are becoming more common
and some users are trying to save a few pence by formatting normal
density discs to 1.6Mb.
6.9
Users of BBC and Master computers learned that there is no point in
paying extra for 80 track discs as the cheaper 40 track were actually
identical. The same is NOT true of 800Kb and 1.6Mb discs. The magnetic
coating on high density discs uses finer particles than the coating used
on standard (double density) types. This is designed to accept higher
signal levels without distortion. When the higher capacity format is
used, the drive automatically uses a stronger magnetic field to imprint
the data on the discs surface.
6.9
Sometimes, good quality normal density discs can accept this level but
it does represent a severe overload. Even if all appears well at the
time, the larger particles used in the normal density coating are
frequently unable to retain the high level of magnetism required so it
can leak away in time making part of the data unreadable.
6.9
Also, you should not use high density discs in a normal density drive if
they have previously been formatted to 1.44 or 1.6Mb. The lower flux
levels used for the normal format may not be able to completely erase
the earlier data. This can then ‘break through’ and corrupt data saved
later at the lower flux levels used with the smaller format. It may
sometimes take more than a month for this to happen. So don’t be fooled
into thinking that everything is OK just because all seems to be well
when you first format the disc. Many Archimedes users who have
‘borrowed’ preformatted 1.44Mb discs from work to use in their 800Kb
drives have experienced this problem.
6.9
There is no reason why you cannot use a NEW high density disc at 800Kb,
it will just be more expensive.
6.9
Because of this, it is obviously useless to do what used to be common
practice with the old 40/80 track discs, namely try to format them to 80
tracks and if it didn’t work use them for 40 track. Once you have
attempted to format an 800Kb disc to 1.6 or 1.44 Mb there is no going
back. I have had some success using a tape head demagnetiser to
completely wipe out data on 800Kb discs which had been formatted to
1.6Mb so that they could be reformatted to 800Kb, but not everyone has
one of these.
6.9
PC drives all have a sensor which detects the extra hole in a high
density disc and won’t allow you to specify the wrong format. For some
reason, Acorn didn’t implement this feature on the Archimedes although
the detector is present on all high density drives. It is therefore
possible, by accident, to format a normal density disc to 1.6Mb. On a
PC, to do this you need to drill a hole in the case of the disc so it
can’t happen unintentionally.
6.9
The most pernicious thing about this problem is that it can lead you
into a false sense of security. A normal density disc may format
perfectly to 1.6Mb and, for months, everything will appear to be well.
Then suddenly some of the data may become slightly corrupt, although the
disc may not actually appear to have any errors.
6.9
If your data is precious enough to be worth saving, it’s worth the extra
few pence that the proper discs cost. The only time that I have known
people use normal density discs successfully as high density was with
expensive branded discs costing about £1.30 each. As this is
considerably more than the price of unbranded high density discs, it
seems a foolish risk to take.  David Holden, Sydenham.  A
6.9
Acorn
6.9
New Artwork
6.9
Silicon Vision
6.9
New Artwork
6.9
(Allow it to go over the running heads and footer if appropriate.)
6.9
Replace with DTP sheet 1
6.9
Replace with DTP sheet 2
6.9
CC
6.9
From 6.8 page 21
6.9
CC
6.9
From 6.8 page 22
6.9
But the awkward so-and-so’s want it resetting with new words. I think
the words opposite should fit!?!?!
6.9
Beginners’ Column
6.9
Laura Handoca
6.9
Laura has compiled some questions Q and some hints H from readers. They
are supposed to be for beginners, but I learned one or two things as I
was editing this column! If you feel you can answer any of the questions
and/or fancy writing a short article about any subject that beginners
might appreciate, write in to Laura via the Archive office. Thanks, Ed.
6.9
Q. Logical operators − An explanation of the use of logical operators
could be very helpful in relation to spreadsheets (IF, AND, OR). As an
example, I used to have a breakdown of running costs using Intersheet on
the BBC Master; a row could contain a cell which showed the result of
dividing the mileage in another cell on that row by a number of litres
of petrol. If the number of litres were nil, the formula would
ordinarily fail with an error message − ‘division by zero’. This was
easily overcome by the use of ‘IF’. The formula was changed to ‘IF
litres=0, 0, original formula’. This put a zero in the cell if there
were no litres to use as a divisor, otherwise it calculated the miles
per litre. For reasons which are beyond me, the IF construction doesn’t
seem to work this way in Eureka. No matter what I do, I either get
‘Error in formula’ or else ‘Type conflict in reference expression’. If I
understood the use of this function better, as well as AND and OR, I
could make better use of the program. [J. A. Brook]
6.9
H. Eureka − It doesn’t say so in the manual, but Eureka needs a minimum
of 1024Kb free in order to work. So if, like me, you have a Boot file
which starts the machine with a Printer and Alarm on the iconbar, any
attempt to load the program simply comes up after much whirring and
wheezing with the message ‘Fatal error; initialization failed’. At any
rate, that’s the effect on an A4000 with a hard disc. Dropping the
BJ10ex driver, allowed me to start up in Eureka but when I tried to
chart some figures, up came another error − ‘not enough memory’.
Quitting Alarm let me create a chart, but then I promptly ran into an
error in the manual. This states (page A-39) that to resize the Chart
Window, you should put the pointer on the lower left hand corner, press
<select> and hold and the Window Sizer icon will appear. It will do
nothing of the sort. You have to put the pointer on the lower right hand
corner. It’s a small point, but infuriating when you are trying to get
to grips with something new. [J. A. Brook]
6.9
Q. Boot files − I have an A3000 which I usually use with either Ancestry
or PipeDream 4. From time to time, I see references to Boot files of
which my knowledge is negligible and for which I have not seen any use
to date. Recently, I have upgraded to RISC-OS 3.10, added a hard disc
and CD ROM, and I think there may be some benefit from a Boot file. For
example, initiation for the CD ROM requires minimum setting for Screen
Memory, System Heap/Stack, Module One, Font Cache, and System and
Sprites as well as recommended mode. To run, it requires double clicking
on the Fonts, System and Disc icon. I feel sure that all these
requirements could be met by a Boot file and would appreciate guidance
on how to do it and exactly what is required. [Peter Paddison] [I think
you’ve hit on a beginner’s sore point here; the mere mention of ‘Boot
file’ returns my computer confidence to zero. But never fear − coming
up, hopefully in the next issue, will be an article on this very topic.]
6.9
H. Sprite printing − If you have difficulty printing sprites from inside
Paint (I get dozens of line feeds and then the picture is split across
the perforations) export the sprite into Draw and, making sure your
printer driver is loaded, choose ‘show paper limits’. Then, if you
select your sprite, you can move it about the paper and alter its size
and proportions as you wish. Get it just right and then print. [Edward
Naish]
6.9
H. Moving files − I know that this is covered in the manual but it may
be worth a mention to save someone the trouble and the wasted time!
Should you wish to move files from one floppy disc to another, don’t be
tempted to use the move option as this will involve numerous disc swaps
(and, of course run the risk of loss if the power should fail or some
other ‘nasty’ befall you). As the manual suggests, copy the files and
then delete the original ones afterwards; it’s safer and much quicker,
especially when memory is a little scarce! [Graeme Wallace].
6.9
H.  Desktop Boot files, and the simplicity of saving them, make setting
up your machine much easier. However, one hazard of the simplicity is
incorporating unwanted items in the file. The problem is that the
operating system remembers application Boot files from all sorts of
sources, floppies included. As a result, your machine may boot up
demanding to see some obscure floppy (last seen on that pile, or was it
somewhere else??). The best way to avoid this is to do only the minimum
software installation before you save the desktop Boot file. Also, drop
the file into Edit to check it out before committing yourself. [Graeme
Wallace] [If this is still gobbledygook to you, store up this valuable
advice until later, when you will have read the ‘Beginners’ Guide to
Boot’.]
6.9
H. Creating a 32 bit application from a simple Basic program: although a
Basic program can be run from the command line, it is much neater and
relatively simple to create a single tasking application to run the
program by double clicking its icon from the desktop.
6.9
1) Create a new application directory on your disc starting with ! (so
the computer knows that it is as application) e.g. !Program.
6.9
2) Open this directory (<shift> and double click on !Program).
6.9
3) Copy the Basic program into this new directory and rename it
!RunImage (This is the generally accepted name for a Basic program
within an application.)
6.9
4) Create a !Run file − to do this, load Edit and, from the iconbar
menu, choose <create> and <obey>. Then type:
6.9
Dir <Obey$Dir>
6.9
Run <Obey$Dir>.RunImage
6.9
Save this into the new directory as !Run.
6.9
5) Use Paint to give the application its own icon. Use mode 12, select a
sprite size of 34 pixels wide and 17 pixels high. Select <mask> and
<palette>. When you have designed it, give it the same name as the
application but, in lower case, e.g. !program and save it as !Sprites.
6.9
6) Finally, create a !Boot file − as before, use Edit, <create> and
<obey> and type:
6.9
IconSprites <Obey$Dir>.!Sprites
6.9
Save this into the directory as !Boot.
6.9
Thus, when the application is opened, it contains !Boot, !Run, !RunImage
and !Sprites. The application should show your newly designed sprite on
the desktop and double-clicking on this will run the Basic program. This
technique is suitable for running programs self-designed, typed in from
a magazine or indeed a favourite BBC program if it is in Basic and will
run without an emulator. [David Marshall] [I’m reliably informed (I
hope) that on one of the RISC-OS Applications Discs is an example
showing how to set up an application that will run a Basic program which
needs the BBC emulator.]
6.9
Q. Acorn DTP − When using Acorn DTP, I sometimes get:
6.9
No stack for trap handler:
6.9
error 80000003,pc=
6.9
00000028: registers at
6.9
0006DC1C
6.9
What does this mean? It really confused me and everything seizes up. It
usually happens when I’ve got a document of about four pages with lots
of drawfiles in it. The way I found to combat it was to switch off the
machine completely and start again, then to load the printer driver I
needed. Then I went into the Task Manager and pulled Next (under the
Applications) as large as it would go. I then finally loaded my DTP file
as usual. This seems to work, but what happens with bigger documents, I
have no idea. [Sue Hooper] [The only light I can shed on this is that it
has probably tried to access some memory it wasn’t allowed to use. If
it’s a really persistent problem, try asking Acorn about it!]
6.9
Q. Desktop − Though this is a re-statement of the obvious... If you have
a couple of windows on screen at once which overlap each other so that,
say, the vertical sliders of the bottom window aren’t visible, then you
can still scroll the bottom window vertically by clicking <adjust> on
the horizontal slider and moving the mouse up and down. [Steve Monks]
6.9
Q. Professional printing − I do some desktop publishing (with
Impression) and feel that I am not making the best use of my commercial
printer because I don’t really understand what he does with my material.
What is a bromide and what is the difference between this and a
negative? Why does my printer charge me more to print from a disc
(PostScript file on IBM format disc) than from a jaggy 24-pin printout?
I think that an idea-to-paper guide of what goes on would be most
illuminating. [Christine Shield] [Hear hear! Please, does anyone out
there who has a deep and intimate knowledge of professional printing,
feel they could write an article for beginners? We’d love to hear from
you.]
6.9
Q. !System − How do you know which version of !System you are using? I
cannot find a version number anywhere on it. How do you know when Acorn
update these files? In my opinion, they should send an updated disc to
all their customers! [R. J. Carpenter] (See Simon Moy’s answer below.
Ed.)
6.9
Q. Hard disc management − My hard disc is now full. I have been saving
some space by rigorous culling and by moving some older archive material
to floppies, but could really do with a longer-term solution. What are
my options, with the advantages and disadvantages of each? [Christine
Shield] [An article from someone on the best ways to do mundane things
such as hard disc organization, backing up, and compression of files
would be nice. Any volunteers?...]  A
6.9
!SysMerge and updating !System
6.9
Simon Moy (N.C.S.)
6.9
Let me try to answer R J Carpenter’s question about !System. In fact, it
doesn’t matter which version of !System you have. It’s the contents of
the !System directory that count. !System itself only acts as a way of
telling the computer where to find the really important files which are
stored in the Modules directory inside the !System application
directory.
6.9
The concept behind these modules was described by Richard Hallas in
Archive 6.6 p23. They are essentially there to provide extensions and
updates to the operating system modules (the computer’s ‘house-keeping’
programs) already stored in your computer. (Press <f12> and type Modules
to see a list of these.) As with any computer system, software for the
Archimedes is constantly being updated and improved. Because of this,
Acorn and third-party vendors periodically introduce updated or
completely new modules.
6.9
These new modules are normally supplied in a !System directory when you
buy a new application. Most applications also include a program called
!SysMerge. This program aids the updating process by looking in your
existing !System directory, comparing them with those on the new disc
and adding or updating any modules as required.
6.9
If you buy a new application that comes complete with a new !System
directory and a copy of !SysMerge, double-click on !SysMerge to start
the process. Drag your existing !System directory into the window that
appears. Finally, drag the new !System into this same window and
!SysMerge will update any modules that require updating and add any
modules that are missing from your current !System directory.
6.9
As well as third-party vendors supplying new modules, Acorn periodically
update their own modules. These are normally only distributed to Acorn
dealers and with new software products. As a result of this Norwich
Computer Services created Shareware 17 some time ago. This contains
several commonly-updated and required modules and the !SysMerge
application. It is updated periodically and for those people who already
own a copy, discs can be sent back to us for updating, although we do
request a small charity donation for this.  A
6.9
Language Column
6.9
David Wild
6.9
EdScheme
6.9
One of the things which was put on one side because of my disc problem
was a letter from Lambda Publications, telling me that there is now a
fully RISC OS compliant version of EdScheme. The program is fully multi-
tasking with full use of the mouse within the editor. Edit files can be
dropped into the window and graphics output can be saved as a sprite
file.
6.9
This new version costs £50, including postage or £60 including the book
“The Schemers Guide”. An (English) “Teachers Guide” is available for £5
while an (American) “Teachers Resource Pack” with several hundred pages
of exercises, examples and quizzes costs £25.
6.9
Ray Burcham of Lambda Publications tells me that most interest has so
far come from Germany but I feel that, at the price, it is well worth
trying for anyone with an interest in functional programming, especially
now that the Acorn LISP has now been discontinued and is not being
replaced.
6.9
Add-on programming
6.9
A feature which seems to be becoming more popular is the idea of being
able to write separate procedures for use with specialist software.
Artworks, from Computer Concepts, talks of additional tools being
supplied by other programmers and the Squirrel database offers the
possibility of interaction with modules written in ‘C’ or, presumably,
in the latest version of Pascal.
6.9
I haven’t seen any specifications for the Artworks tool interface but
the notion certainly seems to have useful implications. Writing a whole
program from scratch can be a rather daunting affair but supplying a
single tool module might be well within the capabilities of many more
programmers. It also raises the prospect of potential users advertising
for modules which they need rather than needing to wait until Computer
Concepts can fit it into their schedule.
6.9
I did get a copy of the leaflet from Squirrel about their extension
facilities and I must say that I was rather disappointed, as it didn’t
really seem to tell me anything. My view is that a leaflet like that
should make you feel that the thing advertised will give you
opportunities that you don’t have now, even if it doesn’t tell you how
it all works. I would certainly like to be able to add validation
routines to a database in ways that cannot be pre-programmed by the
software house. It is obviously easy to provide “list” validation, as
almost every database package does that. It ought not to be too
difficult to provide “file” validation, where the acceptable values are
those in another file, but I think it would be very difficult to provide
a pre-written method of validation where the acceptable values vary
according to the values in another field in the same record.
6.9
I have just bought S-Base, from Longman Logotron, and am still
struggling with my first attempts at creating a database. If the program
sells successfully, there could be many opportunities for programmers to
write sub-programs in the ‘S’ language, which seems to be a mixture of
constructs from Basic, Pascal and ‘C’. Anything that promotes
programming on the Archimedes must be a good thing for all readers of
Archive.
6.9
Bits and pieces
6.9
Has anyone found out how to initialise a static variable in the new
version of Pascal? You can do it in ‘C’, and this Pascal compiler uses
the ‘C’ compiler, so there ought to be a way.
6.9
I was very interested in the program which came with the April issue of
Risc User for adding applications to the Resources filing system so that
they appear in the Apps icon on the iconbar. My ideal system would allow
you to “register” applications in this way and further encourage a move
to “Job-based” directories rather than those associated with specific
software. (Re-designing the operating system is easy when someone else
has already done the hard work!)  A
6.9
Oak Solutions
6.9
From 6.8 page 16
6.9
Colton Software
6.9
From 6.8 page 11
6.9
NetManage
6.9
Dave Emsley
6.9
This is effectively the first of Dave’s Networking Column. It takes the
form of review articles of two network supervising packages, NetManage
from Suitable Software and Network Supervisor from AU Enterprises Ltd.
Dave starts with NetManage.
6.9
The task of Network Managing is quite a long and drawn out process. Each
student will require access to the public areas of the network and to an
appropriate area of the network for saving data of their own, the
contents of which need to be structured in a way that is user-friendly
and provides access to !Scrap and other essential files. Any utility
which helps reduce the stressful task of managing a network has to be
worth considering.
6.9
I first saw NetManage demonstrated at BETT 93 on the Acorn stand and it
drew an instant crowd of desperate Network Manager’s all seeking to know
if it would do what they needed. Some of the questions asked prompted
the thought in my head “Why would you want it to do that?”. Because each
Network Manager has different requirements of their management software,
all I can really do is to say whether the software does what I need in
my situation. As I only have access to a Level 3 fileserver, I cannot
comment on how it might work with a Level 4 arrangement.
6.9
First impressions
6.9
The package contains a very plain and unpretentious looking 60 page,
stapled, manual. It was covered in a loose book plastic cover with a
single 800Kb disc inserted into the back of it. As I don’t have a
network at home, I opened the unassuming document and actually started
to read it (something I must admit I don’t normally do, other than to
check on how to back it up!).
6.9
Documentation
6.9
Having used this piece of software, I would say that the documentation
is required reading. There are several very important things to note
before you start to use the programs.
6.9
The first section, entitled “Before you start”, has in it “....network
managers should have a sound knowledge of the processes involved in
managing user accounts on AUN servers and have thoroughly read and
understood the user manuals supplied with their file server.” I don’t
think even the people who wrote the file server manuals understand them!
6.9
The guide gives an example of how a user might set about creating a
working disc, having told you not to use your original. The suggested
working disc has !Printers and !Edit on it. At the end of the setting up
section is a small warning to read the section on user configuration
before proceeding. This is one of the most important parts, particularly
if you intend doing your management from a 1Mb machine.
6.9
The application allows you to set maximum numbers of users in a group,
maximum number of primary users and maximum number of open fileservers.
If these are set ridiculously high, it could cause problems and hang the
machine. Once the system has been configured, it is necessary to quit
the application before using the network. This is documented − but well
hidden.
6.9
There is no index but this really is not a problem as the contents pages
at the front enable the user to find the appropriate sections quickly
and easily.
6.9
Using NetManage
6.9
Once I had created a working disc, configured the system and reloaded
NetManage, I made a copy of the password file, (you can’t be too
careful!) then proceeded to use NetManage. Before using it, the Password
file has to be opened.
6.9
Once opened, the password file has to be searched for a group of users.
The name can include wildcards and all users can be collected by using
the standard wildcard ‘*’.
6.9
One minor niggle here is that once the search has been completed, the
search window should disappear − but it doesn’t!
6.9
The search is quite quick and once it has been performed, the password
file is displayed in a window with icons for the groups and users. These
icons are different depending on privilege.
6.9
This is part of our password file. I have blacked out the system users,
in case any of our students read this. The users Fax and Boot are
locked, users Nine and Gallery are normal and there is a group called
NINE.
6.9
Creating users
6.9
The creation of users is extremely easy, a menu option brings up a
window and single users can be created.
6.9
Using the same window, a text file of users, for example: Six.User1,
Six.User2, Six.User3, etc can be created, simply by dragging a text file
to this window.
6.9
The application also allows the network manager to create the necessary
file structure at the same time as creating the user. This is done by
dragging the necessary contents for the URD to the window. I did this
and clicked create.
6.9
This then created the users but didn’t copy the URD! I removed the users
and their directories, which it had created and then, as a last resort,
read the manual. It requires Reset to be clicked on with <adjust> to
make defaults “sticky”. I did this, recreated the users and it worked
perfectly − a new group of user identities, directories and associated
directory structure created in a relatively short time, certainly
quicker than if I had manually created them all.
6.9
Management of users
6.9
The most obvious management tasks occur at the academic year end, namely
the transfer of tutor group 7ZSa to 8ZSa etc. The easiest way of doing
this so far has been to rename year group Seven as Eight, remove the
year 7 users, i.e. Seven.ZSa, etc and create users Eight.ZSa, etc.
NetManage can allow the manager to copy and move users from one group to
another, in exactly the same way as with files − simply click and drag,
or hold down <shift> to move.
6.9
I tried this and it worked although it did not delete the previous URD,
only copied it and unfortunately it generated an error. I phoned
Suitable Software and reported this to an answering machine. That
evening, on arriving home, a message from Suitable Software was waiting
on my answering machine and, later in the evening, they called back and
we spent some time discussing the application. The response was very
encouraging and they pointed out one or two of the features of the
software that I hadn’t previously encountered. Three days later, I
received another call from Suitable Software saying that they had
rectified the bug and asking if I would be willing to test the new
version thoroughly. That is what I call a rapid response!
6.9
Additional features
6.9
The application has far more features than I have gone into in this
review. The password file or sections of it can be saved as text or CSV
files. CSV files can be used to update the password file, individual
users can be examined and allocated space, etc.
6.9
One of the most useful of the facilities is the ‘tickle’ feature. A
collection of users can have their URDs worked on by simply creating an
obey file of instructions. These are then carried out as if issued from
the URD − a very powerful utility.
6.9
Problems
6.9
Other than the niggles I mentioned earlier, there are a few more things
I would like this application to do. I have detailed them to Suitable
Software who were very keen to hear any constructive ideas. My main
suggestion was that the System user names should not appear unless
specifically configured to do so.
6.9
Summing up
6.9
The documentation for this application is well-written but cheaply
produced. I don’t intend this to be a criticism − far from it − there is
no need for a tool like this to have an expensive, glossy, spiral bound
tome with it. All a Network Manager needs is a simple booklet as
supplied.
6.9
This is an indispensable piece of software for any network manager. It
saves time and solves many of the problems associated with managing a
network of user accounts. As the use of the network grows and more users
demand more space, the opportunity to ‘tickle’ a group of users is going
to be vital.
6.9
NetManage is available for £50 (no VAT) from Suitable Software (UK).  A
6.9

6.9
Network Supervisor
6.9
Dave Emsley
6.9
Having reviewed NetManage I felt that the Network Supervisor collection
of utilities had a lot to live up to. The Network Supervisor is a suite
of utilities each doing a specific task.
6.9
As I said with respect to NetManage, whilst I realise that each Network
Manager has different requirements of their management software, all I
can easily do is to see if the software does what I need in my situation
with Level 3.
6.9
First impressions
6.9
The package consists of an A5 folder with a very thin, glossy sixteen
page manual and a single 800Kb disc inserted into the pocket inside the
front cover. I checked to see if it was copy-protected in any way,
backed it up, write protected the original and stored it safely. The
suite consists of six applications, some of which are not specifically
for the network manager. This information is adequately demonstrated by
the table at the front of booklet:
6.9
Application    Privileged    Logged On
6.9
!NetManage    Yes    Yes
6.9
!NetPass    No    Yes
6.9
!NetProt    No    No
6.9
!NetUser    No    Yes
6.9
!NetUserEd    Yes    Yes
6.9
!Protect    Yes    No
6.9
The booklet gives a clear warning not to let people without System
Privilege have access to some of these applications.
6.9
!NetManage
6.9
According to the blurb in the booklet “...it performs various
housekeeping operations, such as setting station numbers, setting the
server clock, setting the user free space, listing current users and
listing machines on the network. It can send messages to, or log off,
single users or all the users.”
6.9
It sounds useful. After loading it up, the icon appears on the iconbar,
as you would expect. Although there is no action if the icon is clicked
with <select>, clicking with <menu> gives the possible options.
6.9
All of these are very easy to use and virtually self explanatory. Just
one little thing I don’t like was that, to use this application, you
must be logged on as a privileged user. The Set Free Space option then
comes up showing, as a default value, which user you are logged on as. I
would prefer that this came up blank.
6.9
The ‘Current Users’ option is very useful, it provides a list of users
who are logged on and the machines they are logged on to :
6.9
Again that same niggle, the name of the privileged user is displayed.
Why? From the above screen, clicking <menu> makes it possible to Notify
a user, or All users, Log off a user or group of users (Level 4 only,
greyed out on Level 3), and save the data as a text file. The Notify All
and Notify functions arrive at the appropriate station preceded by “From
manager (nnn.sss) :” and “From manager :” respectively − a really nice
touch.
6.9
!NetPass
6.9
This application allows users to change their current password. It
installs itself on the iconbar and a click with <select> opens the
window to allow the password to be changed. It is a simple and user-
friendly application but why install it on the iconbar? Surely all the
application needs to do is open the window, allow the password to be
changed and quit on completion. Also, the application doesn’t allow for
double-entry validation − a major omission, I feel.
6.9
!NetProt
6.9
“...prevents the user receiving unwanted messages.” Yes, it does. This
application installs on the iconbar and if clicked toggles from
unprotected to protected. Personally, I would have liked an icon change
rather than just the word change. This is an ideal application for use
on the fileserver (Level 4) to prevent notify messages hanging it up.
The suggestion in the booklet is that this application could be
available to all, but doing that prevents the use of the Notify and
Notify All functions from !NetManage.
6.9
!NetUser
6.9
“... gives details of the current user’s view of the network.” This
piece of software provides a good deal of information, none of which is
necessary! The information available is only about the current user,
i.e. the one you are logged on as.
6.9
If it were able to step through the users and provided this information
about each, that would be great, or if it allowed me to enter a user
name and then provide the information, that would be good too. As it
stands, it is a piece of software I could do without.
6.9
!Protect
6.9
“...prevents users interfering with the file server whilst it is
running.” Actually, this is a very useful piece of software. It prevents
any student trying to use the fileserver as a computer. At the start, a
logo appears for about 10 seconds, then disappears and the screen
display blanks. If the logo appeared every 20-30 seconds then this would
discourage any possible use of the file server computer as people would
be able to see that the machine was, in fact, switched on and not
waiting to be used. When combined with !NetProt this will ensure
relatively safe operation of a Level 4 fileserver (I believe).
6.9
!NetUserEd
6.9
Just under half of the booklet is devoted to NetUserEd. It installs on
the iconbar and clicking with <select> opens the default file server’s
password file. This is wholly text-based and provides the information in
a straight list, as below:
6.9
From this position, the information can be saved as a text file, users
can be deleted, edited and created.
6.9
Creating or deleting a group of users can be done by creating a text
file and dragging this to the Create User window. This is very
straightforward and easy to do. The same applies to deleting user
groups. The option exists to save passwords and, on Level 3, this is
essential to make any changes permanent. One facility that is missing,
and which I would consider to be very important, is the ability to
create users with a predetermined URD and for this URD to be copied into
all newly created users’ URDs. It does, however, offer the option to
wipe the URD on deletion.
6.9
There is one problem which I keep encountering although this is not a
criticism aimed solely at this particular suite of applications. If one
application is already running and you double-click to load it again, a
second copy of the same application is loaded. This could easily be
prevented and, in my view, any application which does not need multiple
copies of itself should ensure that this does not occur − this should
form part of Acorn’s style guide.
6.9
Summing up
6.9
This is a useful suite of applications, although the application NetUser
seems to me to be fairly useless. Comparing Network Supervisor with
NetManage, from Suitable Software, I feel that NetManage is better
overall as it provides the facility to create URD structures at the same
time as creating the users and has the facility to ‘tickle’ users’
directories. I would like access to both ideally but given a choice, it
would have to be NetManage.
6.9
Network Supervisor is available for £50 (+ £2 p&p) plus VAT from AU
Enterprises Ltd.  A
6.9
Small Ads
6.9
(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)
6.9
•    A310 4Mb RAM, ARM3, RISC-OS 3.1, 40Mb ST506 Hard disc, Brainsoft I/O
podule, Joystick, software, Taxan 770 monitor, £700 o.n.o. Euclid +
Mogul £20. Acorn ANSI C v3 £20. Karma Flight Trainer £10. Acorn PRM v2
£20. Archive issue 1 to current £20. Phone 0272−498531 after 6p.m.
6.9
•    A4 model II (4Mb, 60Mb HD) mains adaptor, manuals, software, soft
case, mouse £1780. 5¼“ disc interface, manual and software £15. 5¼” disc
drive to suit BBC micro or Archimedes with interface £20. PC Emulator
(1.82) £60. Euclid £30. Superior Golf, Trivial Pursuit, Interdictor
(unopened), TurboType, £8 each. Basingstoke 0256−467574.
6.9
•    A410/1, 4Mb RAM, 20Mb hard disc, colour monitor, ARM3, RISC-OS 3, Ext.
floppy interface, 9 pin dot matrix printer, £1000 (o.n.o.). Phone
051−734−5989 after 4p.m.
6.9
•  Acorn DTP with clipart £40. Beebug Star/Epson colour printer driver
£8, GammaPlot £20, System Delta+ £30, Mailshot (for SD+) £15. DR DOS 5.0
(for PC Emulator) £20. Grievous Bodily ’ARM £8, Nevryon £8, Powerband
£8, Computer Concepts ROMs (for CC ROM podule) InterChart £10,
InterSheet £15, SpellMaster £20. Phone 0737−832159 (eves).
6.9
•    Aleph1 PC386 4Mb podule with Cyrix co-processor and Windows software
(v1.0), £325. Oak 150Mb tape drive with 8×150Mb tape cartridges, offers.
Phone Chris after 7pm on 0276−20575.
6.9
•    Computer Concepts Colour Card, £200. Revelation Image Pro £100. Eureka
£85. PinPoint £65. Squirrel £95. All latest software. Phone 0923−820651
after 8p.m.
6.9
•    CVision (TV) digitiser £50, A310 Beebug 5¼“ drive adaptor £20. Phone
0553−675676 after 8p.m.
6.9
•    Hearsay II, never used, £40. Investigator v2.0, never used, £14.
Snippet v1.0, £15. Poster v1.04, £25. Also RISC-OS 3.0 PRM, £25 +
postage. Phone Chris after 7pm on 0276−20575.
6.9
•    Helix Basic. Offers or swap for Beebug ‘C’. Phone 0366−501001.
6.9
•    Pace Dual 40/80 track 5¼“ disc drive, no p.s.u. £30. Phone Laura on
0865−271289.
6.9
•    Panasonic KX-P1124 dot matrix printer, cable, vgc, £150. Herewith the
Clues £10. Corruption £5. Phone Gary on 061−724−4129 after 8p.m.
6.9
•    PC Emulator 1.8, unopened, £70. BBC B Acorn teletext adaptor £50.
Phone 0684−73173.
6.9
•    PRES disc expansion card (A3000) with DFS ROM & 40/80 drive & p.s.u.
£65, Gods, Chocks Away, Saloon Cars, Interdictor 1 & 2 £10 each, FWPlus
£30, Acorn DTP £30. Phone 0745−583930.
6.9
Charity Sales − The following items are available for sale in aid of
charity. PLEASE do not just send money − ring us on 0603−766592 to check
if the items are still available. Thank you.
6.9
Colony Rescue £3, Mad Professor Mariarti £2, Revelation (the game) £2,
Terramex £2, Arcade Soccer £2, White Magic £2, Drop Ship £2, PowerBand
£3.
6.9
(If you have unwanted software or hardware for Archimedes computers you
could donate for charity, please send it to the Archive office. If you
have larger items where post would be expensive, just send us details of
the item(s) and how the purchaser can get hold of them.)  A
6.9
Help!!!!
6.9
•    Archimedes to Mac transfer − It should, in theory, be possible to read
and write a Mac-formatted 42M (or 88M) removable disc on an Acorn
machine. Has anyone done it? Would anyone be prepared to have a go?
Mike Maguire, Aukland, New Zealand.
6.9
•    BBC educational software − This is a plea from a Christian educational
organisation. Has anyone got any BBC (not Archimedes) educational
software that they don’t need any more? If so, could you send it to Dave
Roberts, 24 Pauli Lane, Baildon, Bradford, BD17 7LQ, please? Thank you,
Ed.
6.9
•    C-programming − We have had some requests for articles about using C
to program the Wimp environment. Any offers?
6.9
•    Crystallographic colouring books − Now is the time to raid your
children’s (or grand-children’s) toy cupboard in a good cause. The
British Crystallographic Association (BCA) wants to encourage children
to appreciate the principles of symmetry using ‘Colouring Books’ of
patterns built up on the principles of plane groups, or to use 2 or 3D
‘Construction Kits’ which demonstrate ways to tile the plane or build
space-filling models. There may also be some simple micro-computer
programs which encourage exploration of pattern design.
6.9
The BCA Council has asked me to report to them in November 1993, listing
available materials, and how they might be used.
6.9
I am asking Archive readers for help in this project. Please send me
your suggestions for suppliers and what projects the BCA might support.
Since I work in a research laboratory, I would be particularly pleased
to hear from teachers who may already be using such materials in their
courses. If any of you have contacts in other countries, I would be
interested to learn how they teach their children to enjoy
crystallography.
6.9
Please send suggestions and information to: Kate Crennell, Rutherford
Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 0SE. Tel: 0235− 446397.
Fax: 0235−445720. Email: KMC@ UK.AC.RL.ISISEŷ.
6.9
•    Draw/text utilities − There is an increasing range of utilities around
for creating and modifying Draw objects. However, to the best of my
knowledge, there is nothing available for easily producing, in Draw
format, complex text objects which might incorporate subscripts,
superscripts and different fonts, etc. Any ideas or any offers? Brian
Cowan.
6.9
•    Hard disc problems − I recently had a catastrophic failure of the SCSI
hard disc system on my 30-month old A540 (one of the originals).
6.9
One day I turned it off in working order, after my usual *SHUTDOWN
command, and next day, when I came to turn it on, I got the dreaded ‘Bad
Free Space Map’ message. So when I had clicked ‘Cancel’ and got a
desktop without a hard disc icon, I tried *SCSI and *CheckMap from the
command line. This immediately gave ‘Bad Free Space Map’ without even
accessing the disc.
6.9
I then found my original copy of SCSIDM and tried to verify the disc.
Then it read just once from the disc and the computer hung. I had never
tried using SCSIDM before but this did not seem right. I then tried to
format the disc (confident that my backups were in order), but with the
same result as verifying.
6.9
It seemed most likely that the disc had died completely, so I took it to
my local Acorn repairers who quickly confirmed my diagnosis − they could
get no life out of it either, though they did find that the disc was
spinning OK. We agreed that they should replace the disc.
6.9
The system then all worked and there would be no interesting story if
they had not then tried my old dead disc on an external SCSI system. It
also worked fine!
6.9
So what was the problem? Have you ever heard of a similar happening? My
local firm said that they were continually replacing dead hard discs but
had never found a problem with a SCSI interface, and of course they (and
I) had tried wiggling the connections before starting an expensive
replacement exercise.
6.9
Is there any way such symptoms could be caused by software? The evening
before the failure I had spent the time looking through Archimedes World
monthly discs from the last 6 months of last year; this often gives me
(apparently) minor problems because the discs contain archived data and
seem to need ArcFS even when I think I have unpacked them onto my hard
disc.
6.9
Some of the games and demos seem to cause havoc on an A540 but never
before one as bad as this. Usually, pressing <ctrl-break> fixes it. I am
not the first to have such problems, Mr M. Chandler of Surbiton, Surrey,
writes (Archimedes World, Feb 92, p. 58) “... Shortly afterwards,
however, the computer’s 40Mb hard disc refused to work and had to be
sent off for repair...” Sounds familiar?
6.9
Have any Archive readers met such a problem? If so, what should I have
done to rescue my hard disc? I’ve now got a fine new hard disc, which
has been working beautifully for the last two weeks, but the last week
in March was both traumatic and expensive.  Kate Crennell, Didcot.
6.9
•    Impression and graphics − Some time ago I asked if anyone knew of a
way of “pointing” to a graphic in Impression rather than storing it in
the document’s application directory as a drawfile. The problem was that
multiple copies of my College crest were eating up valuable disc space.
One suggestion was to leave blank frames and just drop the graphics in
before printing.
6.9
The perfect solution occurred to me recently. (In true Archimedes
fashion, the flash of inspiration happened while I was in the bath!)
What I needed to do was to turn the crest into a character of a new
font. I did this with David Pilling’s Draw to Font utility. However, an
error occurred when I tried to use the character in a document. It seems
that complex characters can contain too much information to be rendered
by the font manager. Any ideas how I might get round this?  Brian Cowan.
6.9
•    Qume Express − Does anyone out there own a Qume Express laser printer?
If so, I have three spare A4 paper trays that you can have for next to
nothing. In July last year, I ordered a Qume Express dual bin laser
printer from Calligraph.
6.9
I also ordered three spare paper trays from another company which came
within a few weeks. The laser printer, however, is “not quite ready...
there are a few problems with the software”.
6.9
Now I gather that these Qume Express laser printers are never going to
be available in direct drive form! I’m stuck with these paper trays so
if anyone wants them, let me know. Ed.  A
6.9
Advance
6.9
Robert Chrismas
6.9
Acorn’s Advance consists of four programs:
6.9
     • a word processor
6.9
     • a spreadsheet
6.9
     • a database
6.9
     • a graphs package
6.9
The manual calls these programs ‘tools’. Although the tools were written
by different developers they have been designed to work together, to
share data and to look and feel similar to one another.
6.9
Each team of programmers has been able to concentrate on just one or two
tools. The word processor is by Computer Concepts, the database and
graphs by Iota and the spreadsheet by Clares/CRM.
6.9
Designed by a committee?
6.9
It could have been a disaster but it seems to have worked.
6.9
Of course, one of the benefits of RISC OS is that all legal RISC OS
applications have a great deal in common, and the use of standard
filetypes, text, sprites and drawfiles, makes it easy to transfer data
between programs. Advance, however, does offer a little more
integration.
6.9
All the Advance tools share the same clipboard. To transfer data between
two packages, you would normally have to save from one application into
the other. In Advance, you can copy or cut a selection and immediately
paste it into one of the other packages.
6.9
All the tools use the usual keyboard short-cuts for cut, copy and paste.
The use of other keys has been standardised wherever possible. For
example, both the spreadsheet and the database use <f7> for ‘sort ’ and
<f8> sends the selected data to the graphs package. No doubt a good deal
of thought has gone into choosing sensible short-cuts. If other software
developers take this ‘standard’ into account when they assign keys,
users will benefit. On the other hand, this is just the sort of subject
which attracts partisan argument: ‘No, no, swap case must be <ctrl­J>
because ...’
6.9
An attempt has been made to give all the dialogue boxes a similar
appearance. All the tools use the same dialogue boxes for tasks like
scaling the window or selecting colours. However each tool has its own
print dialogue box − this exception is curious but not troublesome.
6.9
One application
6.9
The contents of the Advance directory include, if there is space on the
disc, ‘application’ directories for all the tools. The tool directories
look like applications but they will not work on their own. When Advance
is started, a small, 64Kb program puts the Advance icon on the iconbar.
This program controls the tool programs.
6.9
To start a new piece of work, you use the iconbar menu to create a
document of the right type. The appropriate tool program will be loaded
if it is not already running.
6.9
Each tool requires between 400Kb and 450Kb just to start, with about
another 150Kb for the spelling checker. The ‘minimise memory’ option on
the iconbar menu will remove from memory any tool which does not have a
window open.
6.9
Computer requirements
6.9
On a 1Mb machine, only one tool can be used at a time. You will need at
least 2Mb for comfort. Advance requires over 1Mb of disc space. You can
run it from two 800Kb discs, but a hard disc or at least a 1.6Mb floppy
is more convenient.
6.9
Advance will only run with RISC OS 3.1 (or later). When it is installed,
Advance reads the unique machine serial number built into RISC OS 3.1
and writes this into its software.
6.9
I was concerned that this method of protection would prevent owners from
using the program on a laptop as well as on their main machine. I also
thought it would present problems when users upgraded their machines. In
fact, Advance will run on another machine but with a permanent warning
window. However the licence for a single user clearly says ‘... one
stand-alone Acorn computer system ...’.
6.9
The installation process involved first running Advance so it could read
my machine number, copying it to my hard disc and then copying the word
processor tool into it. I thought this was a bit laborious but when I
complained about it to a friend I was told that a) this was trivial
compared to the sort of thing you had to do on his PC, and b) a program
which would fit on just two discs could not be any good.
6.9
Altering the page layout
6.9
The Word Processor
6.9
The Word Processor is based on Impression Junior. The most significant
difference is in the way frames are handled. There is an ‘Alter Pages’
dialogue box which creates fixed frames. It is similar to the ‘New
Master Page’ dialogue box in Impression. There is no ‘new frame’ menu
option but dragging a graphic onto a document creates an embedded frame.
As in Impression, the size of an embedded frame is limited by the size
of the text frame which contains it.
6.9
The content of the header and footer frames will normally repeat on
every page but they can be changed.
6.9
To start a mail merge, a CSV file is dragged onto the ‘mailmerge’
dialogue box. Then the ‘headings’ from the CSV file can be embedded in
the document. When the mail merge is carried out, the resulting
documents can be viewed on screen and individual documents can be edited
before printing.
6.9
The most disconcerting feature of the word processor (to an Impression
user, at least) is that it does not look like a Computer Concepts
program. There are no 3D dialogue boxes and when a window is closed the
document is removed.
6.9
The Spreadsheet
6.9
Some users may find the absence of a script language, matrix functions
and imported graphics a limitation. However, the spreadsheet offers all
you need for most tasks and it is easy to use. The cut and paste
options, which work very much like those on a word processor, are very
convenient. The size of columns and rows can be adjusted by dragging the
borders and a double click in a row or a column border alters its size
to accommodate the largest entry.
6.9
Graphics cannot be imported but spreadsheets can be made visually
attractive in other ways. Each cell can have its own font and font size,
colour, background and cell borders. Print boundaries are shown in the
cell borders and these boundaries are adjusted if you alter the print
scale.
6.9
The Database
6.9
The database has a simple ‘flat file, card index’ structure. As is usual
with this sort of database, the user defines the fields while creating
the card layout. A user definable grid can be switched on to create a
tidy card layout.
6.9
Fields can be text, integer, real, date, boolean or graphic. Graphics
can also appear on the card layout.
6.9
The package looks very much like Iota’s Datapower.
6.9
Report generation is a pleasure. You start with the card layout and, by
deleting and dragging fields, create the new layout you require. Page
and document headers and footers can be defined. When the report layout
is completed, the report window shows each page just as it will be
printed.
6.9
The Graphs Package
6.9
Tables from the database and spreadsheet can be sent to the graphs
package by pressing <f7>. Data can also be loaded into the graphs
package in CSV format. The graphs are not hot-linked. Like the database,
this package is from Iota.
6.9
Documentation
6.9
The packages comes in a standard 3 litre box. There is a manual, a
project guide and four discs. Advance occupies two of the discs and the
other two discs have example files.
6.9
The manual is comprehensive and well written. It is organised as a
tutorial. The index is a help but I felt that an additional summary
booklet would have been useful. Even if you are familiar with a package,
you can find yourself wondering if it has a particular feature, and how
to use it.
6.9
For example, I wanted to export a graphic from the database. The only
reference I could find in the tutorial was to saving a whole card as a
drawfile. In fact, the database will export a graphic, using Wimp$Scrap
to transfer it to another application. I found out how to do it by trial
and error.
6.9
Four pages near the end of the manual form a table, showing the keyboard
short-cuts for all of the tools.
6.9
The graphs package
6.9
One of the data discs contains the files described in the tutorial in
various stages of completion, so you do not need to work through the
whole thing to try out something near the end. The other disc has data
files you can used in the projects.
6.9
The projects are well thought out. They are suitable for a variety of
ages and cover a range of topics. Acorn has shrewdly avoided any mention
of the National Curriculum.
6.9
At the back of the manual are 30% discount vouchers for Schema 2,
Impression and DataPower.
6.9
Help for learners
6.9
All the programs use Acorn’s interactive help. This is an excellent way
to support new users but the messages must occupy a lot of memory. It
would be good if more experienced users could switch off the help
message and reclaim the memory.
6.9
Advance’s menus can be edited. The manual explains how to remove items
using !Edit. It suggests that you might wish to do this to make it
easier for learners or ‘to impose a house style on Advance documents’.
6.9
Problems
6.9
Have you noticed how reviews in magazines which carry lots of
advertising never mention any bugs? Sometimes, I wonder whether the
writers have tested the programs or just read the advertisements.
Archive reviews are generally more honest (although I would have liked
to have been told about the bugs that there were in the early versions
of Wordz!).
6.9
Advance 1.00 comes with a release note which includes warnings about a
few problems − it calls them ‘points to watch out for’. None of them is
serious enough to deter a sensible user and it is much better if
developers tell us about potential problems, rather than trying to keep
quiet about them. Most problems with programs can be avoided by
following the rule: ‘save before doing anything silly’.
6.9
In a month’s use, I have managed to crash Advance just once, trying to
create an odd record layout on a computer with very little free memory.
My first attempt to do a mail merge failed − the program claimed I had
not used any of the fields from the CSV file. I tried it again and I
think I used the same steps as before but this time it worked perfectly.
6.9
Summary and conclusion
6.9
Advance is a collection of software tools: word processor, database,
spreadsheet and graphs package.
6.9
There is a little more integration than you would get from different
packages. The tools have a sensible combination of features. None of the
tools is quite as powerful as you would expect a stand-alone package to
be but they include all features which a non-specialist would expect.
They are intuitive and easy to use.
6.9
Advance requires RISC OS 3.10 and at least 2Mb for comfort.
6.9
I suspect that most potential education customers are already committed
to a word processor, a database and perhaps a spreadsheet. They will
have already invested heavily in site licences, staff training and the
development of teaching materials. Presumably, Acorn reckons there is
still some growth in that market.
6.9
If you do not have a word processor, a database or a spreadsheet,
Advance is an excellent way to get all three for about the price of
one.  A
6.9
Advance Pricing − The single user version is £99 +VAT (£105 through
Archive), the site licence for primary schools is £199 +VAT (£215
through Archive) and the secondary school site licence is £499 +VAT
(£520 through Archive). By Acorn’s definition, primary includes special
needs schools but all other schools, including middle schools, will have
to pay the secondary school price.
6.9
Acorn also do an Off-site Disc Pack for £99 +VAT (£105 through Archive).
This is a set of ten key discs, allowing pupils and staff to use Advance
on their computers at home. However, it may only be purchased by schools
with a licence.
6.9
Advance Column − Robert has kindly agreed to act as editor for an
Advance Column to share hints and tips, ideas, questions, frustrations,
etc, etc. Write to Robert through the Archive office or directly to him
at 8 Virginia Park Road, Gosport, Hants, PO12 3DZ.
6.9
Creating a card layout
6.9
Editing a card
6.9
Designing a report
6.9
Graphics on the ARM Machines
6.9
Hutch Curry
6.9
I must admit to having been taken aback by this book by Roger Amos when
it arrived for review. From the title, ‘Graphics on the ARM Machines’, I
was expecting a book about the nitty-gritty of graphics programming with
lots of techniques, example code, hints and tips and so on. A quick
inspection of the table of contents showed me the errors of my
expectation. I had to then set aside my self-inflicted disappointment to
be able to evaluate fairly what the book is actually about and not what
I expected it to be.
6.9
According to the author, Roger Amos, this book is designed to provide
both an overview of the graphics capability of the Acorn ARM machines
and an introduction to the fundamental principles of computer graphics.
I would add that the overview of the graphics capability of the Acorn
machines is primarily an examination of much of the available software
which allows the user to create and manipulate graphical images. The
intended audience is therefore the much more numerous computer and
software users rather than the programmers and developers.
6.9
The first chapter provides a very good and enjoyable introduction to
computer graphics explaining with clarity the differences between the
two basic graphic types − pixel and vector. This is then followed by an
excellent chapter explaining the principles of vector graphics using
many worked illustrations from Draw. The author claims that this chapter
is not meant to be a user guide to Draw as it does not cover all aspects
of Draw. However, I think that most users would benefit by using this
chapter as a tutorial for Draw. I thought this was far and away the best
part of the book.
6.9
Fonts and their manipulation
6.9
The next two chapters provide extensive and detailed information about
the Acorn outline fonts, the font editor, FontEd, and programs for font
manipulation. Much of the first of these two chapters is spent
illustrating the use of FontEd to create and/or modify outline fonts.
This is information that is generally not available and, as such, would
be of great value to those users wishing to apply their creative
energies to font design. (FontEd was on the Archive disc 6.2. Ed.)
6.9
The second of the two chapters concerned with fonts examines the use of
commercially available programs to add to the features of Draw. Many of
these programs are concerned specifically with various types of font
manipulation such as stretching, rotation and shadowing. The chapter
describes in some detail the font manipulation packages FontFX from the
Data Store; Fontasy from Ian Copestake Software and Type Studio from
Risc Developments. The chapter also covers three other general drawfile
manipulation programs − DrawBender from Ian Copestake Software,
Chameleon 2 from 4Mation and Placard also from Ian Copestake Software. I
found this chapter useful as an indication of the potential of vector
graphics to produce a myriad of interesting, bizarre and beautiful
effects.
6.9
Vector graphics
6.9
The next chapter considers advanced vector graphic packages which
provide features in excess of those provided by Draw − yet retaining
some compatibility with Draw by retaining the ability to read and write
drawfiles. The packages examined are DrawPlus (a PD program by Jonathan
Marten − on Careware 13), Vector from 4Mation and ArtWorks from Computer
Concepts. The chapter briefly describes each of these packages,
highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. From the point of view of a
prospective purchaser, the chapter may provide information to assist in
deciding which package to purchase.
6.9
The book’s consideration of vector graphics is completed with two short
chapters − one on rendering objects in three dimensions (describing
Euclid from Ace Computing) and the other on constructing drawfile
objects from Basic (using DrawAid from Carvic Manufacturing).
6.9
Pixel graphics
6.9
The bulk of the remainder of the book is concerned with pixel graphics.
The first of these chapters describes the essential features of pixel
graphics and examines Paint as an example of a pixel-based graphic
program. This is another excellent chapter, using many worked
illustrations from Paint that would serve as an excellent tutorial for
many users.
6.9
The next chapter examines three commercially available art packages each
offering facilities in excess of those offered by Paint. However, each
of these packages retains compatibility with Paint by using standard
sprite files. The three programs examined are ARCtist from the 4th
Dimension, Art20 from Tekoa Graphics and Revelation 2 from Longman
Logotron. The chapter describes each of these packages in some detail,
highlighting their various strengths and weaknesses. The author has
carefully catalogued the many special features and effects found in each
of these apparently competent packages. As in the case of the chapter
comparing vector graphic software, this information should assist a
prospective purchaser in deciding which package to obtain.
6.9
The last two chapters on pixel graphics are respectively concerned with
obtaining sprites from various sources and basic image processing. The
sources considered for sprites are by use of scanners, video digitisers
and clip art libraries. The sections on scanners and digitisers provide
a good introduction to these technologies for the novice. Similarly, the
section on image processing describes the basic rationale and methods of
image conversion, manipulation and processing using Roger Wilson’s
ChangeFSI for illustration.
6.9
To complete the book, there are short and succinct chapters on
converting pixel graphics to vector graphics, ray tracing (with a
comparison of four ray tracers), simple animation, mathematical graphics
(such as the Mandelbrot set) and an epilogue for the future and a number
of appendices containing some useful technical information.
6.9
Conclusion
6.9
I found the book enjoyable, easy to read, informative and useful in
places. I was particularly impressed with the tutorial chapters on Draw
and Paint. I think that the book would almost certainly be a worthwhile
read for most Archimedes users as the range of topics covered is so
vast. The price of the book is £14.95 from Dabs Press (or £15 inc p&p
through Archive) which seems about the going price for the few
Archimedes books that there are.  A
6.9
S-Base and Relational Databases
6.9
Tim Powys-Lybbe
6.9
S-Base is advertised as being fully relational and it even says in large
characters on the side of its box that is “The Integrated Relational
Database Solution for RISC OS”. Now, I am not a relational database
scholar but I have been working with such for a number of years and hope
by now that the basic concepts have sunk in! My concern then is to open
a discussion about what a Relational Database should be able to handle
and whether S-Base can do so.
6.9
In principle, a relational database consists of a set of flat files that
are usually called tables (not to be confused with S-Base’s “tables”
which serve a totally different function). Each table contains data
about one aspect (entity) of the application and the tables have been
designed so that they can relate this data together, hence the use of
the word ‘relational’.
6.9
A very simple example of this can be constructed for a warehouse. It
stocks goods, has a known set of customers, receives orders for delivery
and delivers them. As part of handling all the transactions it will have
records of:
6.9
1.    The products it stocks (and their prices and the numbers in stock
and the stocks on the way to the warehouse, etc).
6.9
2.    The customers it delivers to (and their addresses, financial
status, invoice address, discount, etc).
6.9
3.    The orders on hand for delivery of products to customers.
6.9
This is readily translated into file structures; and again, in order to
simplify the S-Base tasks even further, the following are the most
elemental contents of those files:
6.9
    Table    Field
6.9
    Product    ID
6.9
        Description
6.9
    Customer    ID
6.9
        Name
6.9
    Order    Order No (ID)
6.9
        Customer ID
6.9
        Delivery date
6.9
        Product ID
6.9
        Quantity ordered
6.9
In relational terms, the fields are called columns and each entry in the
table is called a row (‘tuple’ to the real programmers). So the table
can be printed out to look like a table of data on the printed page.
6.9
The above tables are readily constructed in S-Base.
6.9
Then some tasks that the warehouse administrator would expect to perform
are:
6.9
1.    Update the product catalogue.
6.9
2.    Update the customer list.
6.9
3.    Enter orders.
6.9
4.    Print off the orders due for delivery today, or tomorrow.
6.9
5.    Report the quantities ordered over a period of time by customer.
6.9
Note that I have not included any mention of deliveries, pricing,
invoices, stocks, replenishment; these are merely practical additions to
make a core usable and they would make the principles of this relational
database more difficult to understand. (People pay millions of pounds
for a fully functional warehousing and delivery system, and that means
man-centuries of work.)
6.9
In fulfilling these tasks, the following functionality is required of S-
Base:
6.9
1.    Ability to maintain a simple, stand-alone table, such as the
product and customer tables.
6.9
2.    Ability to enter the customers and products into orders by
browsing only on the tables of customers and products.
6.9
3.    Ability to convert the entered details to the format required of
the orders table. (They browse for the customer name but the orders
table, for economy of space, contains only an internal ID, to which the
name must be converted.)
6.9
4.    Ability to write a report that relates two tables together,
combining information from both and selecting data from one table
according to a criterion in another (“How many orders did Sainsbury’s
place last month?”, etc).
6.9
I have established that S-Base can do all of these − but how well?
6.9
It is very obvious that S-Base is designed primarily for single table
applications. The data-entry cards and the report formatting are
particularly easy for single tables and, in my experience, particularly
hard for multiple, related tables. So the first functionality,
maintenance of simple tables, is easy and seems quite fast. The second
functional area, of browsing only for legitimate values, was
surprisingly good as this snapshot should show, after I had just clicked
on the Customer Browse icon:
6.9
The third functional area, writing to the orders table, from a
combination of an entry and the browse from second and third tables,
again was not over-difficult, though much poring over the manuals was
required.
6.9
It is the last functional area that I found most difficult. The “select”
command is limited in the extreme. There is none of the elegance of SQL,
as in the following code which might be used to get a report of all
orders for delivery to Boots:
6.9
select a.order_no, b.customer, a.del_date, -
6.9
c.product, a.quantity -
6.9
from orders a, customers b, products c -
6.9
where a.cust_id = b.id -
6.9
and a.prod_id = c.id -
6.9
and b.description = “Boots”
6.9
This SQL code only produces those records and data that it has been
asked for and can be quite fast from this economy of effort. The only
way I could get S-Base to produce the same result was to bring in every
record of the orders file, check it had not been deleted and that it was
for Boots and finally, repeating for each selected record, get hold of
the customer and product names from the relevant files. I cannot believe
that this will be anything other than slow when I have files loaded up
with a reasonable amount of data.
6.9
However, this sort of relational operation can certainly be done,
opening up a whole host of flexible applications previously denied to
the Archimedes user. (I have not mentioned the strong graphics
facilities that S-Base has, which should enable some very pretty
applications to be made, if the illustrations in the manual are any
thing to go by. However, this was not my immediate objective.)
6.9
In the course of this fairly intensive use of S-Base and of its manuals,
I found one mistake and almost certainly one bug. The mistake is on page
125 of the Tutorials manual where you should attach a “find record
press” handler set instead of a “find record” one. The bug is the
occasional report that an “else” had been found with no preceding “if”;
this was not true! I suspect that the problem was caused by the fact
that the programs had a succession of “if-then-else” clauses which
confused the interpreter. Further, I found date comparisons extremely
difficult − it would not recognise a statement of the form “if date1 >
date2 ...” . However, as a first publication of a major new product,
this is a commendable achievement to give me so little trouble.
6.9
Two hints
6.9
Always put the field length on cards, with this suffix to the
“expression” of :−12 where the minus means left justified and 12 means
12 characters. Failure to do this means you may only be able to enter
one character into the field.
6.9
Get your sprites into the screen mode you are using before putting them
in the sprite container. S-Base does not seem to handle the colours
correctly in moving from a 16 to a 256 colour mode.
6.9
And finally...
6.9
In forthcoming months, I will keep you informed on how I have got on
with converting my much larger applications to S-Base. More to the
point, I will pass on how I overcame the difficulties I had even with
this trial application. If Paul can give it the space, my demonstration
application will be on the monthly disc. (I can, and it is! Ed.)
6.9
I would welcome contributions to this Relational Database debate as it
is a major aspect of computing that seems ill-understood in the Acorn
community. And will those who really know what I am talking about please
forgive me both for my simplifications and for any ignorance of core
principles?
6.9
In the meantime, send in your problems and hints for inclusion in this
column, either to NCS or to me at Rosewood, Church Road, Winkfield,
Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 4SF.  A
6.9
Education Column
6.9
Solly Ezra
6.9
Now that Acorn has granted NCS the sobriquet “educational”, it is
fitting that Archive should have a relevant column. I am happy to be the
coordinator of this column.
6.9
Aims
6.9
There are three obvious aims of such a column:
6.9
1.    To inform its readers about the availability of relevant software
− and required peripherals as necessary.
6.9
2.    To make critical assessments of educational software.
6.9
3.    To discuss topical issues relating to the use of Archimedes
computers at various levels in education.
6.9
If you have any further suggestions of what our aims should be, do let
me know.
6.9
Good educational software?
6.9
Perhaps we should begin by listing the attributes of good educational
software. I will make a few suggestions to get us started. These I have
posed as questions.
6.9
 a.    Is it immediately attractive?
6.9
 b.    Is it user-friendly?
6.9
 c.    Is it sparing in its use of RAM?
6.9
 d.    Has it a clearly stated aim or purpose?
6.9
 e.    Has it got quick start-up routines with unambiguous menus?
6.9
 f.    Is it entertaining? (!)
6.9
 g.    Has it got easily accessible set-up menus for teachers and
parents?
6.9
 h.    Has it got instructions that are set out as precisely as cooking
recipes?
6.9
How do these match up with your experience, ideas or sentiments? There
are many more that you would like to add to the above. If so, please
write to me.
6.9
I have been working in the field of education all of my professional
life, latterly in SEN (special educational needs). I have seldom been
satisfied with the quality of the software available. Some of it
consists of a few pretty screens put together, a few words here and
there and a bit of jargon.
6.9
Software of real quality which sets out to improve the child’s
understanding, to improve basic skills, improve the ability to analyse,
improve the ability to make deductions, etc, without being
condescending, are few and far between. A great deal of effort seems to
have been spent on presentation − yes, this is very necessary − perhaps
more should be spent on content.
6.9
A program that is simply a substitute for a text book seems to me to be
a waste of time!
6.9
While I have not been using words of praise, nothing said so far
gainsays the fact that there are some really excellent programs
available these days. (Which programs do you think are most worthwhile
and why?)
6.9
I maintain that programs that simply present the user with facts should
never be classified as educational. They have a relevance in other areas
but are only peripheral to our concerns here.
6.9
Archimedes computers are, arguably, the best computers. Unfortunately,
many teachers haven’t got the foggiest idea of the real potential of
these machines and do not use them to their best advantage − thus many
children lose out. What advice would you give to teachers for getting
the best out of their Archimedes computers?
6.9
What is education anyway?
6.9
I will end this introductory column by asking us to look at the meaning
of the word ‘education’ and then to examine programs in the light of
that definition and personal experience. Perhaps you will see that a
great deal of the software currently available leaves a great deal to be
desired − or am I being too severely critical?
6.9
Whether you agree or not with any of the sentiments expressed, please
put pen to paper, or finger to WP, and send me your thoughts.
6.9
Archive has carried many reviews of programs that are classified as
educational. The conclusions have varied from complimentary to the
mildly critical. I look forward to the time when a statement like,
“Archive Educational Supplement says...” will carry with it the same
weight as the saying, “the Oxford dictionary says...” (Solly is giving
away our secrets here! We are thinking about doing a separate
publication − a bit like the T.E.S. − well, not very like the T.E.S.,
just distinct from the main magazine. What do you think? Write to me or
Solly. Ed.)
6.9
If you have experience of a program that you would like to share with
us, please do write to me with your views and experience of the program.
6.9
Write to me, Solly Ezra, at:  35 Edgefield Avenue, Barking, Essex IG11
9JL.  A
6.9
Ace Computing’s PROdrivers
6.9
Ian Williamson
6.9
This review is about the PROdriver system of printer driver applications
by Ace Computing. The PROdriver system comprises three main items:
!Printers, !AutoSpool, !PrintSeps.
6.9
The PROdriver system is designed for RISC OS 3 and supports a wide range
of printers: HP PaintJet/XL, DeskJet 500C/550C, Canon LBP4/8 and Epson
ESC-P2 (£44 each through Archive). It can also be bought in the form of
a printer driver “shell” into which you can load the standard RISC OS 3
printer driver definition files, so any printer you are using with the
standard RISC OS 3 printer drivers can be used with the PROdriver shell
(£27 through Archive). Features of the suite of applications include 8/
24 bit colour, CMYK and spot colour separation, and automatic background
printing.
6.9
!Printers Version 0.33 (10 Apr 1992)
6.9
!Printers is an updated version of Acorn’s !Printers. It has been
modified so that the Printer Options Quality Selection window of the Bit
Image Printer Configuration will show 24-bit options: small halftone,
large halftone and dithered. This is only useful if your printer is
capable of colour printing. Mine is not, so this review is, in that
sense, regrettably incomplete.
6.9
The brief notes point out that the 24-bit output will only work
correctly if the application you are using directs all its colour
generation calls via a module called ColourTrans. Furthermore, that the
application must not cache the results from these calls during the
printing process. Apparently, !Paint breaks both these rules, so its
output will be incorrect, but you can get round this problem by loading
the sprite file you wish to print in 24-bit colour into Draw. The output
will then be correct and you also have better control over positioning
on the page.
6.9
As you may have noticed, I had previously contributed to Gerald Fitton’s
PipeLine and wrote about my problems with Acorn’s !Printers and
Panasonic KX-P1124 printer. I eventually solved my problems but, in the
process, I consulted with Tony Cheale of Ace Computing, who confirmed my
suspicions about the shortcomings of Acorn’s RISC OS 3.1 printer driver,
!Printers, and explained that he was attempting to overcome them. So far
as I can tell, he has succeeded − the updated version seems an
improvement.
6.9
!AutoSpool Version 1.01 (4 Oct 1992)
6.9
!AutoSpool is a program which will trigger automatic spooling via the
Printer queue and which can turn background printing on and off.
6.9
As I cannot yet afford to upgrade from my clockwork dot matrix printer,
I have, for some time now, been looking for any software that would
enable printing to take place in the background. My attention was
finally caught by Ace Computing’s advertisements for PROdriver − this
appeared to be what I was looking for. In fact, !AutoSpool does exactly
what I wanted.
6.9
When loaded, the !AutoSpool icon looks like a printer printing to disc
instead of paper, with the word ‘Spool’ below it. This is good
representation of what happens: the application you are using prints to
disc, then control is handed back to the computer and this enables you
to do other things while it continues to print from disc in the
background. All this happens automatically.
6.9
If you click <menu> on the AutoSpool icon, you will see three options,
the usual Info and Quit, plus Spool marked with a tick to indicate that
background printing is turned on. AutoSpooling is turned off by clicking
against the Spool option. When you do that, the iconbar icon is greyed
out, and has the word ‘Off’ below it.
6.9
The !ReadMe message on the PROdriver disc points out that the facility
to do automatic spooling via a file is only really viable with a hard
disc, and should only be used on short documents. Since an A4 page of
text in monochrome requires about 200 Kb of disc storage, you can see
the reason for that advice − you could very rapidly run out of disc
space.
6.9
In operation, !AutoSpool writes into a sub-directory called
ScrapDir.Printers of the !Scrap application. For example, whilst
printing a single page Wordz document, there are two files in Printers
which amount to 180 Kb, but at the end of printing that directory is
empty. For a typical single page document, control is passed back after
approximately 15 seconds, but !AutoSpool does not, of course, speed up
the printing process − that is limited by the printer itself.
6.9
If your Archimedes has enough RAM, it is worth setting up a RAM disc
with at least 200Kb per page of text, copying !Scrap to RamDisc and then
double clicking on !Scrap so that !AutoSpool uses the RamDisc rather
than the hard disc. I evaluated !AutoSpool on an A410 upgraded with ARM3
and RAM increased to 4 Mb, and I set up 600Kb of RAM disc. In this case,
spooling is very much faster − control is passed back after 5 seconds
for a typical single page document but, as before, printing is not
speeded up.
6.9
!PrintSeps Version 1.0 (04 Oct 1992)
6.9
!PrintSeps is a program which can change which colours are actually
printed. The icon on the iconbar consists of the letters CMYK. If you
click on the icon, the letters C M Y K are highlighted in turn,
underlined with a bar of the appropriate colour and accompanied with the
words Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key respectively. The sequence of
options is completed with No Key and Mixed. These options can also be
selected via the menu.
6.9
The menu also allows the following additional options: User, Spot, No
Spot and Special. For each of these options, there is a further sub-
menu. For instance, User allows any combination of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
and Key and the selection is indicated by the appropriate letters below
the icon. Spot, No Spot and Special require the R, G and B levels to be
specified.
6.9
Like !AutoSpool, !PrintSeps also works transparently. As before, I
compared its operation with !AutoSpool using !Scrap directory on both
the hard disc and the RAM disc. You may be wondering why I would be
interested in evaluating !PrintSeps without a colour printer, and you
have a point, but I could at least assess how easy it was to use, and
what impact it had on the print time. I wanted to subject it to a fairly
tough test, so I used a display from a Mandelbrot set, which I loaded
into Draw and magnified until it completely filled the paper limits,
281×203 mm.
6.9
Using !Scrap on the hard disc and selecting Key for !PrintSeps and Grey,
Small halftone Quality for the Printer Options, I found that control was
passed back to the computer after 37 seconds, and printing carried on in
the background for 8 minutes: the two files in the !Scrap.ScrapDir
.Printers directory amounted to 344.5 Kb. Using !Scrap on RamDisc for
the same conditions passed control back within 15 seconds. Whilst the
printing seemed to take forever, I cannot complain about the time taken
to pass control back to the computer − so far as I can tell, the action
of !PrintSeps does not add noticeably to this time.
6.9
Conclusion and suggestion
6.9
I was very pleased with !AutoSpool and Ace Computing’s improved version
of !Printers. I was also very impressed at how easy !PrintSeps was to
use, and consider that the cost of PROdriver is reasonable.
6.9
However, I have a suggestion to make. I am sure there are still many
people who are frustrated by the length of time their fast Archimedes is
tied by up by a slow dot matrix printer and may not need colour
separation. Thus I would suggest that Ace Computing consider supplying
!AutoSpool and updated !Printer without !PrintSeps, as a lower cost
package. Either way, I think PROdriver is worth buying: Ace Computing
have produced a very PROfessional product.
6.9
RISC OS 3 PROdriver is available from Oak Solutions, (with whom Ace
Computing have merged), price £54 (Archive price £44). It may also be
worth considering the RISC OS 3 PROdriver Upgrade, which allows a
standard driver to have extra functionality (other printers) added at a
later date, price £36.37 (Archive price £27).  A
6.9
First Steps with JPEG
6.9
Stuart Bell
6.9
Various references have already been made in the Using RISC OS 3 column
to the “JPEG” compression routines supplied on the new Support Disc.
This article is an attempt to introduce the concept of JPEG to Archive
readers who may have found the on-disc documentation for !ChangeFSI and
the cjpeg and djpeg routines a little daunting. If there is sufficient
interest, and Paul likes the idea, then “Second steps with JPEG”, etc
might follow! But first a warning: I’m no JPEG expert. I can read
documentation and can experiment but the inner workings of the JPEG
routines are beyond me. This article is for would-be JPEG users, by a
JPEG user.
6.9
Larger, ever larger
6.9
In the bad old days of computing, we used 160Kb floppy discs, (100Kb on
the old BBC drives! Ed) and having used cassette tape prior to that,
thought they were wonderful. Now, our multi-megabyte hard discs fill up
with alarming speed! Enter disc-compression techniques. In general, most
information can be compressed on disc because common and repeating
patterns of data can be stored in a more efficient manner. Computer
Concepts’ excellent Compression package uses this principle, and I have
found it invaluable in the past 18 months. Compression works with any
file and because that might include programs, it must decompress data
exactly back to the original form. This limits the compression ratios
that can be achieved to about 2:1, or perhaps 3:1, with sprites.
6.9
In contrast, the JPEG technique is optimised for ‘photographic’ images,
i.e. sprites. Furthermore, the compression–decompression sequence is
‘lossy’, which means that some picture detail is lost in the process.
The degree of loss can be controlled by the user; the greater the
acceptable loss, the smaller the resultant compressed files will be.
JPEG, incidentally, stands for “Joint Photographic Experts Group”, a
body set up in the USA to produce an industry standard for still picture
compression and storage. The theory is that, with an agreed file format,
one company’s decompression program can read the file produced by
someone else’s compression program.  An independent JPEG group has
produced PD versions of the software, and this is the source of the
files on the support disc.
6.9
JPEG under RISC OS 3
6.9
Whilst there is, I understand, a commercial JPEG product for Acorn
machines, I intend to focus on what is freely available, or at least
shareware. Before going any further, let me demonstrate the benefits of
JPEG for anyone who wants to store large sprites, and has a finite
amount of disc space at their disposal.
6.9
Rule number one for all sprite manipulation is to start with the best
possible original image. Few processes can add quality to a picture and
most, like JPEG, reduce it, however slightly. I started with one of the
demonstration images supplied by HCCS to show the benefits of the hi-
resolution version of their Vision digitiser. It is a 720 × 508 pixel
sprite, in 256 colours. I then compressed it using the JPEG programs,
using a variety of ‘quality’ settings, producing files that were between
40% and 10% of the size of the original. They were then decompressed,
and the images compared. I was, quite frankly, amazed. With the best
output medium available to me – a 300 dpi HP LaserJet IIP+ printer – the
images of the whole sprite were indistinguishable. In A5 landscape
format, I would defy anyone to identify which had taken 357Kb of disc
space, and which less than a tenth of that!
6.9
I therefore took a small part of the images, cropped them with !Paint,
enlarged them under Impression to 300% of ‘normal’ size, and compared
again. The results are shown to the right. The original 720 × 508 pixel
sprite is shown first, so that you can see the area from which the
samples are taken. It would be futile to print the different versions
full size, as they would appear the same when printed.
6.9
Conclusions
6.9
Initial results suggest, first of all, that at low levels of
magnification, JPEGed files are almost indistinguishable from the
original versions. Secondly, when magnified, even the higher quality
files are slightly inferior. Thirdly, even the file 10% the size of the
original will produce images that are acceptable for many applications.
(Of course, this will depend on the particular sprites concerned. It’s
quite conceivable that the ‘10%’ version of some sprites will be
unacceptable. That’s why the ‘quality’ parameter is user-definable.) In
principle, instead of an 800Kb disc storing two large sprites, or even
four or five with Compression, use of JPEG allows perhaps 20 or 25 on
one disc. The gains for hard disc users (who might otherwise be limited
to 100 sprites in 40Mb of disc) are similarly impressive. The “Experts”
have done an expert job!
6.9
JPEG in use
6.9
First, the bad news: Not only are the JPEG routines that are supplied on
the Support Disc only directly usable from the command line, but they
require the original sprite in a non-RISC OS format, and de-compress
JPEG files to a non-RISC OS format! The next bad news is that you need a
file in an intermediate ‘P6’ format before the JPEG compression program
cjpeg can be used. Finally, although the !ChangeFSI documents say that
it can produce ‘P6’ format files, I couldn’t work out how! So, I used
the shareware program !Creator (Careware 19) to produce the ‘P6’ format
file first (select ‘PBM’ and ‘PACKED’ from the CREATE sub-menus.) This
creates a huge file (1Mb for my 357Kb sprite). Likewise, I couldn’t work
out how to force !ChangeFSI to produce the JPEG file from the ‘P6’ file,
and so, from the command line (press the F12  key from the desktop) I
typed:
6.9
cjpeg -Q 25 infile outfile
6.9
when infile is the “P6” format file produced by !Creator, and outfile is
the JPEG format file. Details of the cjpeg and djpeg commands are in the
document file, JPEGinfo, contained in the !ChangeFSI application on the
support disc. The ‘Q’ parameter (make sure it’s upper case) and the
following ‘25’ define the quality of the saved file.
6.9
The good news of this process is that !ChangeFSI will take JPEG files
and convert them back to RISC OS sprite files automatically. (Make sure
that you’ve selected the required output mode first.) You finish with a
file the same size as that with which you started, but with the quality
rather reduced.
6.9
However, the whole point of JPEG is not image processing, but image
storage. At the mid-point of the process described above, we managed to
store a 357Kb sprite, in JPEG format with a ‘Q’ of 25, in 32Kb of disc
space!
6.9
If someone can tell me how to do all the above just using !ChangeFSI –
and preferably all from the Desktop – then I’d be most grateful. In the
meantime, if you’d like to share experiences of using JPEG under RISC OS
3, with the software described above or otherwise, then I’d be glad to
hear from you, via the Archive office. Who knows, we might end up with a
JPEG column!  A
6.9
Above are (top) the original sprite, then the sprites compressed with
JPEG, with ‘Q’  = 85, 65, 45 & 25.
6.9
The sizes of the JPEG files – holding the whole picture, not just the
area shown above – are 357Kb, 137Kb, 74Kb, 50Kb and 32Kb respectively.
6.9
Comment Column
6.9
•    A5000 advantages? − While using an A5000 recently, borrowed from our
local school to evaluate the merit of upgrading my A340 (five years’
service and the only problem has been the mouse to keyboard connector!),
I was struck by two ‘features’.
6.9
Firstly the screen, which was an Acorn multisync. Acorn must be joking!
This screen is hopeless! It is fuzzy and cannot be adjusted (as far as I
could see) to occupy anything like the available tube space. I use a
Taxan 770 and found myself preferring to use the old slow machine,
simply because the A5000 display was so poor. Acorn are doing themselves
a serious disservice by bundling such an inferior monitor with their top
machine. Does it even comply with current Health & Safety regulations?
6.9
Secondly the noise! I have made do without hard disc for five years
quite happily and have never added many podules, hence have no fan. Does
the inclusion of one hard disc warrant the wind tunnel that is provided
in the A5000? Subjective comment from my wife was that “the IBM at work
is nothing like as noisy”, and she’s right! A fan quietener would be a
must for me. (£21 through Archive.)
6.9
So was I persuaded to get a new machine? ’Fraid not! I rang IFEL instead
and obtained an ARM3 (with FPA connector) by return, which was a doddle
to fit, and I have now rejuvenated my old machine’s performance to
(nearly) match the new. That says a lot for the quality of the original
A310. Imagine a five year old PC compared to this year’s offerings!
6.9
I will wait for the ‘next’ machine before replacement.  Richard Fallas,
Buckinghamshire.
6.9
You can buy A5000s with better monitors but at a cost. The AKF18s are
cheap multisync monitors − you get what you pay for. We still have at
least one ex-demo A5000 available at £1290 − without monitor!!! We might
even throw in a free fan quietener if that is a problem. Give me a ring
if you are interested. Ed.
6.9
•    Broadcast Loader − As mentioned two months ago, the Broadcast Loader
is no longer available as an Acorn product. This is because the
facilities it provided, for speeding up the delivery of files over
Econet, are available within RISC OS 3.1. But what do RISC OS 2 users
do? Well, the official answer is that they will have to get either
RISC OS 3.1 in all their machines or upgrade the fileserver to AUN for
which Broadcast Loader is unnecessary. Ed.
6.9
•    CASA update − The frame and grid analysis application CASA has
recently been tweaked to ensure compatibility with RISC OS 3.10. While
doing this, Neale Smith the author, took the opportunity to enhance the
front end to provide more data entry features to assist with structure
creation and loading definition, plus enhancing and polishing existing
features.
6.9
I have seen v1.50 which is not fully ready for release, but can report
that the range of new features is extensive (three pages worth of brief
descriptions!). The package really is now a structure editor of some
distinction. Many items that were at the top of my wish list are
included and there are many more that I will find useful, as well as
some that I can’t imagine using at all!
6.9
CASA is a program that I use with confidence and is now an essential
part of my Archimedes armoury. Contact W.C.Smith and Associates for a
release date on the new version.  Richard Fallas, Buckinghamshire.
6.9
•    Mac versus Acorn − Why are Archimedes users, in general, so reticent
about broadcasting the superiority of their machine, when Mac users are
so insistent on proselytising for their system? I think it’s just that
Archimedes users just don’t know how much better than the opposition
their machines actually are. They find their computers easy to use and,
as they get to know them better, they find short-cuts which make their
use of the computer more and more efficient. They get a feel for the
design of the user interface and, in particular, the use of the adjust
button. They can often guess a short-cut without ever having been shown
it or having read about it. However, they have read that WIMP systems
are what make computers easy to use so, unless they have experience of
other WIMP computers, they assume that they are all as easy to use as
the Archimedes.
6.9
Certainly, I was guilty of this mistake until recently when, sadly, I
was forced by ‘the powers that be’ to install and (try to) use a network
of Macs for teaching courses in computer literacy, spreadsheets,
wordprocessing, databases, DTP, etc. They had first tried to force PCs
on me but I resisted and tried to educate them about Archimedes machines
− to no avail. In the end, I had to succumb to Macs. (The deciding
factors seemed to be that the decision-makers had never heard of
Archimedes before moving into education and that the Mac dealer lied and
said delivery would be two days when it actually took two-and-a-half
weeks. The Acorn dealer, being an Acorn-sort-of-person, actually
admitted that delivery would be a couple of weeks.)
6.9
“Oh well”, I thought, “the Mac is just like an Archimedes with an
American accent, isn’t it?”
6.9
How wrong can you be! I now think that PCs would have been better. OK,
MS-Windows isn’t up to the standard of MultiFinder System 7 but at least
I wouldn’t have to put up with the disgusting smugness of Apple
afficianados who are convinced that everything Mac is best and that it
would be good for British education if the Americans drove the remaining
British computer suppliers to the wall.
6.9
It wouldn’t be so bad if they were just being unpatriotic, but were
right. What makes it so awful is that they are unpatriotic and dead
wrong. The Mac, even under the much-vaunted System 7, is at best a cruel
parody of the elegance and ease-of-use of even RISC OS 2, let alone
RISC OS 3. The system is totally crippled by its one-button mouse. (Read
the file on the monthly program disc for details of an exciting new Mac
product!! Ed)
6.9
I could go on for many pages about the way that basic mistakes in the
Mac’s design mean that the user has much more work to do on a Mac than
when performing the same operation on the Archimedes. Just a few general
points will have to suffice.
6.9
The Mac’s user-interface is not nearly as thorough-going and consistent
as the Archimedes’ in using the desktop analogy, so you are far less
likely to guess what to do and find that you were right. A system of
DOS-SHELL-like file-pickers is maintained alongside the Archimedes-like
directory viewers, to no good purpose. It just means more to learn,
constant uncertainty among learners about which approach is needed to
perform which task and inconvenience for the expert in swapping between
them when required.
6.9
(This is a very important point. On the Macs, you drag files from
directory to directory and you can start up a file from a directory
viewer but then when it comes to saving, you have to pick them off a
menu structure. In some applications, the menu doesn’t even show you all
the files in a particular folder but only the ones it thinks you might
need!
6.9
I started with Macs and moved to Archimedes and then have had to try, on
occasions, to go back to Macs. I can assure you that this consistency of
approach − drag-it-to-where-you-want-to-put-it − is much easier for
beginners than file-picking off menus. You no longer have to try to
visualise the file hierarchy − you can see it on the desktop. OK, menu-
operated file-saving might have been helpful with the original tiny Mac
screens but now that you can have decent amounts of information lying
about on your desktop, dragging is by far the best way. Ed)
6.9
The lack of an adjust button means that short-cuts which, on the
Archimedes, can be done one-handed, on the Mac either don’t exist or
require one hand on the mouse and one on the keyboard. Also, those that
exist don’t have the logical pattern that lets Archimedes users learn
them quickly and even guess new ones.
6.9
Finally and most importantly, the lack of a menu-button means that there
is always a menu on screen, and that means that the Mac has to keep
guessing which program you want to talk to, and about which window,
about which object in the window and, in the case of programs with
multiple main menus, what you might want to do to it. So, the Mac has to
have concepts such as current program, active window, etc. It has to
keep guessing which program you want to be the current program, etc and
it often seems to get it wrong!
6.9
If you want to talk to a different window, you have to do something to
make it the current window; you can’t just start working in it, as on an
Archimedes. So the first click in a window is always ignored and you
have to click again to do what you thought the first click should have
done! (Not even MS-Windows is so stupid!) The overall effect is that,
whatever the technical definitions, the Mac just doesn’t feel like a
multitasking computer to anyone who has experienced an Archimedes. Its
OS is more like a task-switching system.
6.9
What is more, the windows belonging to the current program automatically
come to the front whether you want them to or not − you aren’t allowed
to position anything in front of the current window. So when these
windows come to the front, they obscure other windows you wanted to look
at while working on the first window − then you have to move them all
round again! (Compare that with the elegance of moving windows around by
using <adjust> so that they stay at the same level on the desktop! Ed.)
6.9
On the Archimedes, within a day of setting up the machine, I knew what
the effect of each mouse-click I made would be. Despite using a Mac
continuously for seven months now, and even after conducting controlled
experiments in the hope of finding a simple underlying pattern that I
could explain to my students, I am still frequently surprised and
annoyed almost to the point of violence by the shuffling of windows that
ensues when I click somewhere on the Mac screen.
6.9
Against all this, a more musical ‘boing’ on start-up and Impression-
style editing of writable icons are but a small compensation.
6.9
In my case, it is all too late; I will just have to resign to get away
from these infernal machines. But I do think that any Archimedes users
who find themselves in the situation I did should be warned that it is
worth fighting tooth and nail to avoid having Macs foisted on them − as
I am sure they would if threatened with PCs.  Dr Ken Butcher, Croydon.
6.9
•    Matt Black’s Image Club Clipart − Hutch Curry’s review of Image Club
Volume 24 (Archive 6.7 p12) would have discouraged me from buying any of
Matt Black’s clipart had I not already bought three-quarters of the
volumes already! Mr Curry certainly qualified his observations by making
it clear that he had only seen a small selection of the total library
and advised readers to obtain a full listing before purchasing.
6.9
Having purchased 18 of the 24 volumes and used them extensively, I would
encourage you to forget the world of PD clipart with its ad hoc quality
and usefulness and write directly for a copy of Matt Black’s catalogue.
This costs £5, refundable against the purchase of your first volume. You
will discover a real wealth of high quality images in the catalogue and
you can see what you are buying − which is exactly what Mr Curry
recommends.
6.9
Image Club is a Canadian firm, and their 24 volume library is well
established in the PC world. I operate in the PC environment as well as
the Archimedes world and I work with other PC clipart − I would say that
the Image Club Library is streets ahead of the PC rivals.
6.9
We are fortunate that Matt Black has spent much valuable time and effort
in making this clipart available to Archimedes users at an affordable
price. Matt Black will provide you with a very friendly and helpful
telephone and postal service − they despatch orders by return of post.
John Hancock, Berlin.
6.9
•    Monitors for use with the G8/G16/ColourCard − With apologies to Mike
Lane whose comments I incorrectly edited last month (page 14), I want to
repeat part of what he said − the corrected section is shown in bold.
Ed.
6.9
The Sampo 14“ monitor referred to above, although very good value, has a
few snags. The main one is that, in some modes, the display cannot be
expanded to cover the whole screen, so you are left with a narrow black
border. Also, the controls, although front-mounted are a little small
and fiddly to use. I don’t personally find this much of a problem as I
rarely have any need to change modes. The Taxan 789 costs about £100
more but is better in both the above respects.  Mike Lane, Stockbridge.
6.9
Thanks Mike for pointing out about the 789 − I didn’t know it existed.
It is indeed a very economical monitor for use with a G8/16/ColourCard.
We have now corrected this omission and added the 789 to the Archive
Price List at £440. Compared to the 9060 at £600 and the Microvitec
Cubscan 1440 at £480, it represents very good value for money. Ed
6.9
•    OCR revolution? − I agree entirely with your comments about OCR
(Archive 6.8 p15). To make OCR workable, you need good recognition
software coupled with a spelling checker of high sophistication − even
then, there will be frequent whimperings for intervention.
6.9
If OCR on other platforms is so efficient − now that it has been around
for a while − why don’t commercial typesetters use it instead of
laboriously re-keying manuscripts?
6.9
(By the way, I was amused by the cover of Acorn User which illustrated
The Book of Micah being magically OCR’ed into an A410/1 with no keyboard
and being turned into a Thesaurus!)  Bruce Goatly, London SW19.
6.9
•    Omar Sharif’s Bridge Program − I have just received a letter from a
reader, Cain Hunt, who claimed that setting the ‘SPEED’ function to a
value of 1% improved the game’s play. I am sorry to admit that I had not
thought of testing this ‘speed’ function! I immediately re-read the
booklet which says:- ‘This option allows you to speed up or slow down
the computer’s thinking time.’ Unfortunately, it does not seem to
improve either the bidding or the card play. Even if the hand has no
points, or only one card in the suit lead, it has exactly the same
delay! I assume that it is there to allow more time for the player to
assimilate the bidding and play and not to control the skill level, what
a shame!
6.9
I have only tested the hands I described in last month’s comment column.
On this month’s disc is a directory ‘hands’ which has all the hands from
last month’s disc but stripped of the bidding and play so you can
experiment for yourselves. Each hand is preceded by a ‘H_’ to show this
(e.g. H_Acol_27). I also include an elementary Basic program
‘Strip_Hand’ (plus a ‘ReadMe’ file) which overcomes the problem that the
card layout cannot be saved separately unless South is dealer!  John
Wallace, Crawley.
6.9
•    “RISC OS”? − I am pleased to see that Archive has at last come into
line with Acorn’s official spelling of “RISC OS” − I have always felt
that using “RISC-OS” was bad practice. However, Archive was not alone...
“Risc OS” is the standard form in Acorn User, Acorn Computing AND was
used in a letter I received recently from a senior manager at Acorn(!).
Most software houses are now talking about “RISC OS” but I have noticed
“RISC-OS” from Circle Software (following Archive’s lead!), “RiscOs”
from Expressive Software and even “RISCos” from Stallion Software.
6.9
These comments were from an Acorn dealer, wishing to remain anonymous!
Ed.
6.9
•    Satellite programs − When I ordered some bits from Archive last month,
I expressed some curiosity about !SatPack1. I was hoping it might be
helpful in finding out where to point satellite dishes for optimal
reception of satellite TV. My reception of satellite TV and of BBC radio
services via Astra over here in Holland is sometimes below standard and
I thought this may have been due to my DIY installation of the dish.
Paul sent me the SatPack1 package and the related package ArcTrack and
asked me to review them both.
6.9
Unfortunately, I realise that I am not qualified to judge the merits or
otherwise of these packages as they are intended for science departments
of schools or professional satellite trackers.
6.9
I can tell anyone interested that SatPack1 is a rather straightforward
‘port’ of a BBC B package with the same purpose, i.e. to find and to
trace moving satellites such as weather satellites and the Hubble space
telescope. It gives information on how to deal with the Doppler effect
on radio signals from such satellites as they pass. No mention is made
of geostationary satellites (all TV satellites are in a geostationary
orbit). Of course, the mathematics involved is not too esoteric for the
BBC B but the display is not up to the standards we now expect on the
Archimedes.
6.9
ArcTrack also plots and displays the passage of various satellites but
is a fully RISC OS compliant package and benefits considerably from
being displayed on a multi-sync monitor.
6.9
Both programs allow new and/or updated satellite orbit information (such
as interested parties can obtain from specialist press and bulletin
board systems) to be input.
6.9
I have returned the packages to Norwich so if anyone feels up to doing a
review of them, please contact Paul.
6.9
•    Service with a smile − I bought a scanner from Risc Developments but
when I plugged it into the IFEL 4-slot backplane on my A310, the icon
for my Morley 100Mb SCSI drive disappeared from the iconbar. I wrote to
all three companies for assistance. IFEL replied immediately with the
offer of a new backplane to try to eliminate the problem. I took up the
offer but to no avail. But that’s a 10 out of 10 for IFEL’s service.
6.9
Risc Developments just replied to say that they were not aware of the
problem but that they had only checked the scanner with the Acorn and
Oak SCSI podules.
6.9
Morley had not encountered the problem but promised to look into it if I
sent them the scanner. This I did and was delighted when they sent it
back with some new software for the SCSI controller card. 10 out of 10
for Morley’s service.  J.J.Woolsey, Market Drayton.
6.9
It is useful to hear about the level of service that different companies
give. We do get several letters commenting on the high quality of IFEL’s
service and Morley also get the occasional plaudit.
6.9
There is, however, one large company that comes in for more criticism,
in terms of service, than any other. Some people say they have had
excellent mail-order service but so many people have had bad service
that if customers specifically ask about ordering things from them, we
always advise against it. I have a typical letter in front of me from
Colin Wood dated 3rd May which I could publish but won’t, for fear of
getting into legal wrangles − I don’t have the time or the energy! Ed.
6.9
•    Th_inking about printers − I use Canon BJ 300/330 ink refills from
Graphic Utilities which are sold in twin packs in this country by H.C.S.
Global Computer Supplies (Freephone 0800−252 −252). The packs are also
available for HP printers and work out at approximately 50% or less than
new cartridge prices. The containers are concertina-type collapsible
bottles with a syringe-type spout for easy filling. If the hint about
replacing the soak-up pads (Archive 6.4 p5) is adopted, then a much
‘greener’ black print should result. I have not tried the Quink
Permanent Black but this would appear to be even more economic as long
as the ink doesn’t cause problems. I assume that if the ink is
permanent, it may not be water soluble and therefore may cake up on the
printer head.  Mike McNamara, Reading.
6.9
•    Word Hound − Ian Palmer (of Word Hound fame) has written to tell us
that there is a slight problem with version 1.20 of his excellent
program. Apparently, all the obey files are missing an important part.
For example, ‘!Builder’ has a line ‘Run Builder’ which should read ‘Run
<Obey$Dir>.Builder’ − the other five are similarly afflicted. If you
can’t fix the problem yourself, you can send a disc plus 50p to Ian and
he will send you version 1.21.
6.9
At the same time you might like to consider two new data suites that Ian
has available to registered users. There’s ‘The Computer Hacker’s
Dictionary’ and ‘The CIA World Factbook’. The former is a kind of
dictionary of computer hacker terminology − 1,800 entries in all! Did
you know, for example, that ‘mess-doss’ is a derisory term for MS-DOS,
as is ‘mess-dross’, ‘mush-dos’, and ‘domestos’? You didn’t? Well there’s
more where that came from. The CIA World Factbook was compiled by the
CIA and contains information about most countries of the world − all you
do is type in a country and up comes a scrolling window with almost
everything you needed to know about it. Although some of the information
is out of date − M Thatcher is no longer PM, for example − it’s still a
useful source of reference if you want some background statistics on the
population, economy, land use, etc of particular countries.
6.9
Both are available by sending the relevant number of discs to Ian and
50p for p&p (£1 for outside U.K.). The CHD requires one 800Kb disc while
the CIA suite needs two (or one 1.6Mb disc) − all discs should be
formatted, but otherwise blank.  Gabriel Swords, Norwich.
6.9
•    “You read it first in Archive!” − We have had some criticism of the
advertising campaign we used recently in some of the Archimedes
magazines. The adverts pointed out (correctly) that Archive was the
first magazine to publish full technical details of the A5000, the A4
Notebook, the A3010, A3020, A4000 and the Acorn Pocketbook. The
criticism was that we may claim to be first at telling people about the
computers but we are rarely the first to tell people about other new
products. In our defence, I would like to explain Archive’s policy on
new products.
6.9
As you will know, the column that deals with new products is called
“Products Available” − this is our deliberate policy. We try to make
sure that we only give details about products that are actually
available − or that will be available by the time the magazine gets into
the hands of the readers.
6.9
To illustrate what happens, one company sent us a press release, which
we received on 12th March, saying that their A3000 User/Analogue/Econet
card would be available at the end of March so we could have got it into
the April Archive magazine and been first to tell the world. The colour
photograph they sent us was published in the May edition of various
other Archimedes magazines (i.e. published early/mid April). However,
when we rang the company in mid April (i.e. two weeks after they said it
would be available), they said that the interface would be available in
‘about three weeks’. Three and a half weeks later, I checked and was
told they would be available in ‘about two weeks’. As I write (two weeks
later still) they say it is available... but not with the Econet option.
The full version will be ‘about  two weeks’!
6.9
Another company’s press release dated 29th March announced a MIDI/User/
Analogue Port card and implied that it was available. Enquiries in early
April were given ‘end of April’ as an availability date and enquiries on
6th May were greeted with ‘about four weeks’. (I’ll let you know when
both these products are actually available!)
6.9
These aren’t isolated examples and I am not singling out these companies
as being any worse than any other. I am simply saying that we are going
to stick to our policy of only publishing details of products as and
when they are actually available. (However, the saga of the release of
Eureka illustrates one flaw in operating this policy − just because
someone says over the telephone that something is available NOW, it may
not be true!)  Ed.
6.9
(See also the saga of the dual bin laser printer mentioned in the Help
Column on page 31. We put it in Products Available in June 1992 and it
has been “nearly ready” ever since!!)  A
6.9
Hardware Column
6.9
Brian Cowan
6.9
PC card speed
6.9
I mentioned in a previous article that Aleph One would soon be providing
a speed-up modification for their PC cards. At that stage, I thought it
would just comprise a chip change. However, I now understand that some
track alterations are required. Thus it appears that the boards will
have to be returned for the upgrade to be installed. There is still no
indication of the likely cost but I am informed it will be ‘nominal’.
6.9
The main speed penalty I find is in communication between the PC card
and the Archimedes; that is, data transfer across the podule bus. It is
precisely this which should be improved, perhaps by a factor of two or
more, by the new modification. I eagerly await an upgraded card so that
I can report on this. It is possible that another speed increase will
come from an unlikely source....
6.9
MS-DOS 6
6.9
The latest version of MS-DOS from Microsoft is finally here. MS-DOS 6 is
a most impressive product, containing many additions which previously
were provided by third-party companies. It is difficult to believe that
previous versions of DOS did not have a disc defragmentation utility −
what we would call *Compress. This is vital when running Windows as the
virtual memory swap area fits in the largest contiguous area of disc
space.
6.9
DOS 6 also provides a facility called Double Space which is essentially
a disc compression filing system. It looks rather like the third-party
product called Stacker. I am not sure how the compression actually works
but it appears that an entire ‘virtual’ drive is stored in a single
file. This is accessed as drive C, for example, while the real drive C
is re-labelled H (for host). The compressed drive C then appears as a
file called DBLSPACE.000 on the real drive. Things are not quite that
simple, however, as there are two other small files called DBLSPACE.BIN
and DBLSPACE.INI as well.
6.9
This could have speed consequences for PC card users. Since the speed
bottleneck in disc access is in getting the data across the podule bus,
when Double Space is used, only approximately half the amount of data
traverses the bus for a given transaction. This means that the effective
speed could be doubled, if there is negligible speed overhead in
performing the compression and decompression. Surely a 386 or 486 should
be able to cope with that. However, at this stage I have not made any
serious measurements.
6.9
I have not been able to read the compressed DOS file from within
RISC OS. I thought that maybe SparkFS could cope with it but I was
wrong. It thinks the file is a TAR archive but it appears to contain
nothing! Hopefully SparkFS simply needs a new compression module to
accommodate this.
6.9
As yet, I have only installed DOS 6 on my A4 so I have not been able to
try it out with a PC card. The problem is that the software comes on
high density discs, so it can’t be installed immediately on the 300/400/
500 series machines. Fortunately, there is an arrangement whereby
Microsoft will supply other disc capacities (at no extra cost) and I am
waiting for my 720Kb discs to arrive.
6.9
DOS surface discs
6.9
There is another development in PC card software with implications for
disc storage. It is possible, with the later versions of software, to
configure a SCSI drive to be an entire DOS surface. In that case, it is
as if the disc were a real DOS disc (like a floppy) rather than a single
contained file. The real advantage of this is to allow users of
removable discs (such as SyQuests) on PCs to be able to use them on an
Archimedes with a PC card as well. However, since this means bypassing
the Archimedes filer side of things, there could be a modest speed
improvement as well.
6.9
New generation software
6.9
There is a new version of the PC card software under development at the
moment. This will make operation (particularly configuring the system)
much simpler. The software will recognise whether the CPU is a 386 or a
486, which is convenient if you carry a PC SyQuest from machine to
machine. The new software also includes a utility which I have been
wanting for ages. Since there is no longer the requirement to own the
Acorn PC emulator, a means must be provided for creating DOS partitions
on hard discs. The utility provided to do this also allows the
initialisation of these partitions. In other words, it will, if you
wish, perform Fdisk and Format as well. The version I saw would not
create bootable partitions; you could not simulate Fdisk /s. Hopefully,
this facility might be included.
6.9
Parallel to SCSI converter
6.9
In the last Hardware Column, I reported my initial impressions of the
Atomwide Parallel to SCSI converter. At that stage, I had a ‘wish list’
of features I wanted to see incorporated. Most important was support for
removable discs. I am happy to report that there is a new version of the
software which provides this and renames the drive icon each time a disc
is changed. This makes operation much simpler although it still does not
spin down the disc on dismount; that would be really neat. So far as I
am aware, only the Oak SCSI interface provides this.
6.9
I understand that the new software will be shipped with the converter.
Anyone wanting an upgrade should send their old disc back to Atomwide
with a stamped and addressed envelope.
6.9
Other limitations of the present version of the converter are that you
can’t use a parallel printer or dongle with it. There is a new version
of the hardware under development which provides three “output” sockets:
one for the SCSI bus, one for a dongle and one for a printer.
Understandably, the complete assembly will be somewhat larger.
6.9
In my previous discussion of the Parallel to SCSI converter, I promised
to discuss comparative speed tests. In reality, such things depend
strongly on the actual drives used and people having different hardware
setups may not achieve (or exceed) the speed results I might report. I
have been using the converter for some time now and the important
conclusion I have reached is that using my A4 there is negligible
difference between the speed of access of the internal IDE drive and a
SyQuest removable SCSI drive through the converter.
6.9
Whither SCSI?
6.9
The significance of IDE is indicated by its other name, AT-Bus. The idea
is that an IDE device can be connected (almost) directly to the bus of a
PC clone machine. For that reason, IDE is the interface of choice for PC
owners and bulk sales mean lower prices. I am sure that Acorn made the
right choice in adopting IDE as standard rather than SCSI on the A5000
and now the A4000 range of machines. It should, however, be remembered
that an IDE interface will only support two daisy-chained devices and
the setting of the option links can be a nightmare! (Too right! Ed.)
6.9
“Serious” users will probably continue to use SCSI as the interface of
choice. But with the divergence of the bulk market and the serious
market, I am worried that the small price differential between IDE and
SCSI drives might increase. Some hardware suppliers have stopped selling
SCSI drives. I think we should watch this carefully.
6.9
Incidentally, not a lot of people seem to know this, but I believe there
is a 3½“ SyQuest drive on the market and this comes with an IDE
interface. (I have enquired a bit about this new drive and have found
one or two interesting facts. First of all, it is 105Mb, probably
formatting down to about 100Mb. Secondly, although the medium is 3½”,
the case is somewhat larger and, yes, you’ve guessed it, it needs a 5¼“
slot. To be fair, these are only rumours at this stage as they aren’t
actually available yet. I’ll keep you informed. Ed.)
6.9
In SCSI’s favour, I should point out that there is a new PC printer port
specification which includes SCSI as well.
6.9
RemoteFS and Ethernet
6.9
I have now used the Ethernet transport module with RemoteFS. There is
really nothing to say about it apart from the fact that you can have a
number of machines interconnected, and it works superbly. All in all
RemoteFS is a great product. It is a really neat idea and I don’t know
how I could do without it.
6.9
And finally. . . . . .
6.9
At the risk of being (even more of) a bore, there is no news of the
floating point chip. (The latest I heard was “probably end of June”.
Ed.) I can’t believe how this seems to have dragged on. Perhaps Acorn
(or is it ARM Ltd?) have forgotten the project. Or perhaps it is because
everyone is busy with a new machine. We will have to wait and see!  A
6.9
File Transfer Solutions
6.9
David Webb (N.C.S.)
6.9
Those very clever people at Atomwide have come up with a number of new
products recently that come under the heading of ‘file transfer’. In
this article, I will be concentrating mainly on RemoteFS but also
ranging more broadly in the file transfer area.
6.9
If you want to move/copy a file or single small(ish) directory from one
Acorn 32-bit computer to another, it is very easy to use a floppy disc.
However, once the data size outgrows 800Kb (or 1.6Mb) you will soon
become tired of swapping discs and getting the Please insert disc
“MyFloppy” message. The frustration is even worse when the files have to
be taken to the second computer, modified and then copied back to the
first computer. You will then have copies of the file(s) on both systems
and the chance of making mistakes over which is the latest version
increases considerably. Do you know the feeling? You spend half an hour
editing a file and then you realise that this is last week’s version and
that the version you edited last week is on the other computer?
Arrrgghh!!!
6.9
In an office or school environment where you are using a network, the
problem would seem to be non-existent. In fact, the problem only changes
form. If the data to be transferred is a large directory, partition or
the entire contents of a hard disc, Econet is going to be impracticably
slow even if the transfer has exclusive use of the network. Ethernet
would be more practicable but other users are going to suffer a
considerable drop in performance during the transfer. If these overheads
are acceptable, the network is convenient since the transfer medium is
already in place.
6.9
Enter the removable hard drive...
6.9
A very useful device for large file transfer is the SyQuest removable
hard drive. The cartridges can hold quite large chunks (42 or 84Mb) of
data and can act as a working buffer while data is modified before
copying changes back to the host. As with the floppy solution, this gets
somewhat tiresome if cartridges have to be moved frequently between
machines. A single SyQuest drive can be moved from machine to machine as
long as they both have SCSI controllers, but this can be an expensive
option if no other SCSI device is used on either machine.
6.9
...and the parallel port SCSI interface
6.9
A recent development from Atomwide, the parallel port SCSI adaptor, has
made this solution a far more reasonable choice. The device can be
fitted to any computer with a bi-directional parallel port (i.e. A5000,
A3010, A3020, A4000 or A4) and can easily be carried around between
machines, eliminating the need for each to have its own SCSI controller.
It comes in two forms, one called a Mono/SCSI adaptor which just
provides the SCSI interface and the other called a Printer/SCSI adaptor
which provides both a through-connector to a printer (and/or a dongle)
and also the SCSI interface.
6.9
This, coupled with a SyQuest removable drive, represents a very
effective solution for large file transfer and for backing up hard
drives. However, it still remains a cumbersome one in instances where
small files are to be transferred frequently or where modifications are
to be echoed on both computers.
6.9
A new concept: RemoteFS
6.9
The problems we have talked about are reduced to a minimum if you can
provide a way whereby one computer can have read/write access to the
storage system in another computer. RemoteFS makes this possible. It
effectively allows one computer to act as a file-server to a
neighbouring computer − acting like a local fileserver.
6.9
To describe the operation of RemoteFS, we need some new concepts: server
(or host), client, transports, exports and imports. The server (or host)
is the computer whose storage media are to be accessed by a remote
computer. The computer doing the accessing is referred to as the client.
The transports are the media by which transfer takes place − the current
possibilities with RemoteFS are: parallel link, serial link (both of
these are supplied with the cabled version of RemoteFS), Ethernet (TCP/
IP or AUN) or Econet (available in the Network version). The exports are
the portions of filing system on the host computer which are made
available to the client. The imports are, similarly, a selection of the
available exports that the client chooses to access.
6.9
RemoteFS in use
6.9
The application must be installed on both the client and the server
machine and the two roles must be nominated explicitly in the setting up
of RemoteFS. The application is first installed on the server machine
where it appears on the iconbar as a rather cute truck.
6.9
You then decide which parts of which of the host’s filing systems are to
be exported. An export can be anything from a single file to a whole
disc or partition. A number of exports can be created, shown and
modified in a viewer akin to the printer control viewer of the RISC OS 3
printer drivers.
6.9
Once the exports are specified, you can decide which transport to use,
depending upon the machines to be connected. The parallel transport will
only be available on those machines fitted with the bi-directional
parallel port (although it cannot be used while a Computer Concepts’
dongle is installed). All the Archimedes computers will allow the use of
the serial link although this will not work on RISC OS 3.00 (RISC OS 2
or 3.10 and later are needed), and the old A3000s need the serial
interface fitting. The serial transport option offers a choice of baud
rates (which must, of course, be configured the same at both ends of the
link).
6.9
Once the physical link appropriate to the transport has been completed,
the client must then also run the RemoteFS application and select the
appropriate transport. Clicking on a transport from the Imports menu
option presents a directory viewer on the contents of the exported
directory. The import is represented on the iconbar as a filing system
with a truck icon − but this time the truck is carrying a hard disc!
Further trucks appear for other imports. The client can use the import
as they would any other filing system.
6.9
Security
6.9
For many uses of RemoteFS there isn’t a security problem, in that the
user sets the exports to contain exactly what he wants the client to
access. However, with certain files and directories, it makes sense to
give the client more restricted access than is available to the user on
the host machine. If the export gives its client the same access as the
owner, it is possible for the client to modify and/or delete any (or
all!) of the files in the export. Fortunately, access by the non-owner
can be restricted in various ways − in particular, the export can be set
to be read-only or read-write. The host machine can also set an alias
name for each export and it is this name which then appears under the
loaded truck icon rather than the true filename or pathname.
6.9
Networked RemoteFS
6.9
You may be wondering why there needs to be a network version of RemoteFS
when networked computers may happily share and exchange data anyway.
However, it is in the nature of networks that common data is centralised
and under central control and security, while stations have full control
only over their private space on the server (and their own local
storage). The management, security and server space overheads can make
large file transfer quite impracticable if all traffic must go through
the server. The network RemoteFS gives server status to a non-server
station which can then selectively export files from its own filing
system or from its private area of the network fileserver.
6.9
RemoteFS in action
6.9
The first copies of RemoteFS arrived at NCS on the morning that it
became necessary to swap the roles (and therefore the hard disc
contents) of two A4000s. Physically swapping the drives was the sledge-
hammer solution, otherwise I had two options: use the parallel SCSI plus
SyQuest combination or use RemoteFS. I decided that I would try using
both, because it would provide an interesting comparison.
6.9
RemoteFS proved to be pretty intuitive to set up and I used the parallel
transport since both machines had bi-directional ports. The transfer
involved the entire contents of a hard disc at around 890 items, 9Mb
total. The transfer took just less than 20 minutes. The same operation
was carried out using the SyQuest and parallel SCSI. This took 8 minutes
to copy the contents to a removable disc and about another 8 minutes to
copy back onto the other machine. However, there was some time taken to
move the drive over to the second computer and configure it. So,
allowing for the inconvenience of the latter, they were quite close,
even though actual data transfer speed was higher on the SCSI. Bear in
mind though that two-way transfer would require either two drives or the
drive being moved at least twice between the computers.
6.9
The RemoteFS package
6.9
Anyone who has seen the LapLink package for the PC will know what to
expect from RemoteFS. The package includes both the parallel and serial
cables, the application on a floppy and a thin, stapled A4 user guide.
The guide does its job but one gets the feeling of a beta test document.
The quality of the instructions is fine − it is the presentation that is
lacking. Having said that, the manual is only really needed on the first
couple of runs through the set up procedure. Beyond this, it provides a
reference for the command line support and a description of how the
program works at module level. A very sensible discussion of compressed
files concludes the guide.
6.9
Conclusion
6.9
Anyone with an A4 and a desktop machine at home or at work (or both)
will find RemoteFS invaluable − possibly essential − for transferring
data and for backing up. For the service engineer or systems manager at
a site with multiple Archimedes computers, RemoteFS will soon find its
way into the toolkit that is taken everywhere, in a way that a removable
hard drive or tape-streamer never could.  A
6.9
Genesis / Magpie Column
6.9
Paul Hooper
6.9
The NON-Learning Curve?
6.9
Talking to an old friend the other night, I discovered that he was an
A3000 owner and had bought ‘The Learning Curve’ pack, which includes
Genesis Plus. I asked what use he made of Genesis and he informed me
that he had ‘never got to grips’ with it. I sent him some applications
by post and he rang me the other night to say that he was going to have
a fresh look at Genesis as he didn’t realise the power of the program.
6.9
So where is this leading? There must be many people out there with
Genesis Plus who have not really examined the program. If you are one,
why not get out your copy and have a fresh look? You don’t need to be an
expert programmer to make use of Genesis and although the manual is
heavy going, it does have a reasonable index.
6.9
Magpie/Genesis adventures
6.9
One of the ideas that has been around in my mind for a long time is that
either of the programs would be an ideal way to write an adventure
program. You can present the player with a series of options rather than
trying to work out what they are going to type in on the keyboard. Each
option could lead to a different page and the page could include
graphics and sound effects. Before I try my hand at this, has anyone
tried it or has anyone any ideas for adventures? If you have, give me a
ring or drop me a line with an outline.
6.9
Magpie hints
6.9
When making a carousel, be careful of the time you put into the
preferences box. If you make it too low, it becomes difficult to stop
the carousel using the menu button. A way to overcome this, to enable
you to edit the page, is to select any tool apart from browse − this
will stop the carousel.
6.9
Genesis hints
6.9
In Genesis II, one of the most useful buttons is Dlink (see page 147 of
the manual). It provides not just one button but two − the first is a
‘Previous’ button which has normal effects and the second is a ‘Next’
button which connects you with the next page. If you wish to customise
the buttons, just drop a new sprite onto the buttons and you have a
double link connected to the two pages next to it.
6.9
Before starting to create a new Genesis or Magpie application, sit down
with pen and paper and plan ahead. Work out a story board and the way
each of the pages is connected and try and get linking pages next to
each other thus making use of Dlink or Previous/Next page. Work out a
sketched story board with ideas noted on it and try to make use of
‘skeleton’ or ‘Another’ pages as much as possible. Then assemble all the
graphics and text that you need into one directory, start Magpie or
Genesis, create your skeleton pages and the job is done.
6.9
Optima − A New Entry
6.9
This program describes itself as ‘An introduction to multimedia’ and is
produced by Northwest SEMERC. It comes in a plastic bag with a single
disc and a 25-page A5 ring binder manual and includes an adventure, a
blank book and a guide to the Optima menu system as sample programs. A
function key strip and a couple of fonts are also included. Also in the
pack that I received for review were a couple of demo programs on a
separate disc.
6.9
Using Optima
6.9
Optima loads onto the iconbar and has a default of No_Name. Clicking on
this icon opens your first page. To place a picture, just drag it onto
the page. Then comes the first surprise − when you try and drop the
picture, it remains attached to the pointer and moves around the page as
you move the pointer. While the picture is still attached, it can be
altered, using <f1> to <f6> to make the picture bigger, smaller, taller,
shorter wider or thinner. Once you are satisfied with the size and
position of the picture, a single click releases the picture and places
it on the page. To alter the picture, you need to ‘pick it up’ by
clicking on it and then you can re-size it or even delete it.
6.9
To place text on to a page, just press <f11> and a caret appears,
attached to the pointer. Type in your text and again you can alter the
size using the function keys. A single click will again position your
text on the page and a click will allow you to alter and re-size your
text.
6.9
Sound samples can be fixed to either text or pictures. This allows you
to have some text written on screen and also spoken via a sound sample.
6.9
The order of text or pictures can be changed using <f7> to <f11> which
allow you to position pictures at the back or front or nearer or further
away.
6.9
Main menu
6.9
Using <menu> over the open page, reveals a menu which has five options −
Show Page, Print, Save File, Edit page or Clicks. Show Page allows you
to move directly to any page via a sub-menu. Print and Save do just
that.
6.9
Using the final two options, you can toggle between ‘Clicks’ which
allows you to set up links between the pages and ‘Edit’ which allows you
to create new a page, copy it, rename, clear or delete it. The most
useful option is ‘See Pictures’. This takes you to the picture bank. All
the pictures used by the program are stored here and can be extracted by
selecting them and dragging them to a directory.
6.9
All the normal options are there. Background colours can be changed and
this includes transparent. You can link pages via buttons or text or
pictures. Links can be highlighted as the mouse pointer passes over
them. Star commands can also be used within pages. The menus can be
disabled thus preventing any alteration of pages. Pictures can be
mirrored, turned upside down, made to fill the screen and copied.
6.9
The manual
6.9
This is well written with good screen shots. It is printed sideways
which allows you to have it open, propped up while you work on the
program. It has no index but, with only 25 pages, it doesn’t take a
moment to find out what you want. With such a short manual, it will be
easy for the busy teacher to come to grips with it.
6.9
Conclusion
6.9
The measure of any program is how easy is it to use and whether it does
what you want. Bearing in mind that this program is aimed at primary
schools, it is certainly easy to use. The concepts of bigger, smaller,
taller and shorter are easier to grasp than talking about text height or
re-sizing pictures. Using the function keys for the commands saves going
through two or three submenus − which can be confusing for children.
6.9
Optima can certainly produce good results. The inevitable ‘Solar System’
example on the disc is better than the equivalent Magpie or Genesis one,
with some good clipart in it. Optima is less flexible than Magpie or
Genesis but the power of those two programs is not really required in
the primary school. As an ‘introduction to multimedia’ for the younger
child, it is excellent.
6.9
One omission, which would have made the program even better, is the
ability to import text files. For me, one of the advantages with Magpie
or Genesis is that I can make a series of notes at my local library or
on site on my Pocket Book and then import them directly into an
application. With Optima, all text must be entered directly into the
page. This prevents children working in their favourite word processor
and then importing the results.
6.9
The clincher for most schools will be the price. Optima costs £18 plus
VAT and postage and packing. At that price, it almost counts as
Shareware! Northwest SEMERC is also promising a series of resources
discs which, if they are priced like Optima, will certainly make this
popular with schools.
6.9
The Multi-Media Swap Shop
6.9
Included on this month’s disc is the updated catalogue of applications/
binders. I have included !MagpiRead which will allow everyone to examine
the sample pages even if they have no access to either of the programs.
My thanks go to John Pugh who has sent me three excellent binders
covering insects, the solar system and the weather. Is there anyone else
who has some binders to swop?
6.9
And finally...
6.9
Send your applications/binders, hints or questions on Genesis or Magpie
to Paul Hooper, 11 Rochford Road, Martham, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. NR29
4RL. Telephone 0493−748474.  A
6.9
Polyominoes
6.9
Brian Wichmann
6.9
This is a program marketed by Topologika for use by school children from
the age of 9 up to GCSE examination age. It is sold as a site licence
for schools, rather than being aimed at individual sales. The name
polyominoes is a mathematical term for a polygon made by joining a
number of squares together. Although the underlying mathematics can be
quite advanced, the program and the features of polyominoes used really
just constitute a computer-based jigsaw system. Hence it is certainly
suitable for the target age range. The main programs are based upon
polyominoes with five or six squares − in fact, there are 12 polyominoes
made of five squares and 35 made of six squares.
6.9
The disc contains three programs as follows:
6.9
Puzzler: Here a set of polyominoes is provided, together with an area
containing the same number of squares. The puzzle is to position the
shapes into the area provided. The snag is that there is no guarantee
that a solution exists! This seems quite different from the conventional
school approach in which questions have solutions (like jigsaws). Also,
even when there is a solution, it can be quite challenging to find,
requiring several attempts, best undertaken by backtracking.
6.9
Tessellator: Here, an unlimited set of polyominoes is provided and the
task is again to fill an area. This is much easier than Puzzler, but can
still take some time to complete.
6.9
Hexmaker: This is virtually a single puzzle which, in principle, could
be remembered from previous attempts. The problem is to construct all
the 35 polyominoes made from six squares. It uses a different screen and
input mechanism from the last two games.
6.9
All three components are fun and educational. The user is taught to
handle shapes, including left-to-right reflection and rotation by means
of the mouse. In principle, the puzzles could be undertaken by means of
pieces of cardboard but the use of the computer is both quicker and more
fun. Obviously, some mistakes which could be made by students using
cardboard are corrected instantaneously on the computer.
6.9
One potential problem is that of access to enough computers to make it a
feasible class tool. Copyright free worksheets are provided to aid
manual work but this would seem to lose a key advantage of using the
computer. The ability to print current positions for the first two games
means that a mixture of computer and manual use is possible.
6.9
The program is interesting and challenging. However, one must wonder
whether this use of an Archimedes is cost-effective, bearing in mind the
fact that some of the puzzles could be undertaken with just paper and
cardboard.
6.9
Polyominoes costs £29.95 +VAT from Topologika or £32 through Archive.  A
6.9
Using RISC OS 3.10
6.9
Hugh Eagle
6.9
More encouragement for the faint-hearted!
6.9
Stuart Bell says: “Having read the RISC OS Column for the past few
months, I approached the upgrade with caution, afraid of all sorts of
installation and compatibility problems. I guess that by the nature of
the things, it’s those people who encounter problems who write in,
thereby giving a false impression of the true situation. So, if you’re
still with RISC OS 2 and thinking about upgrading, be encouraged.
Installing RISC OS 3 on my A310, including removing the main board and
installing the IFEL ROM carrier board took about an hour from start to
finish, and I experienced no unforeseen problems.
6.9
“Having been warned of problems with Compression 1.1, I de-compressed
all files first. I await the free upgrade from CC. There is the reported
problem with early versions of Font-FX and that’s in hand.
6.9
“A couple of warnings, though: As well as powering up with <Delete>
depressed, also make sure that you’ve re-connected the keyboard first.
(Don’t laugh – it could have been you! That cost me several minutes of
panic.) Secondly, alter the Font Size figure before loading your first
Impression document, which otherwise can take several minutes to load
with a 32Kb buffer.”
6.9
• Avie Electronics 4Mb A310 upgrade − The following information has come
from Avie: LK12 should be altered to 1-3 and 2-4. Issue 1 PCBs do not
have LK12 and require modification as follows:
6.9
Option 1: pins 2 and 24 on all of the ROMs are to be swapped. Remove
pins 2 and 24 from each ROM socket by bending them up. Join pin 24 on
all ROMs to GND. Join pin 2 on all ROMs to LA18 on IC28, pin 18.
6.9
Option 2: remove pin 2 from each stamped socket on PCB and strap a wire
between the pins and LA18. Likewise, pin 24 can be strapped to GND after
removing the pins in the stamped sockets.
6.9
Hardware problems
6.9
Watford Electronics ARM3 − When Colin Wood fitted a Watford Electronics
ARM3 upgrade to his A410 it didn’t work. “The screen flashed red/blue,
but no beep. Just dead.” As he had recently fitted RISC OS 3, he decided
to replace the RISC OS 2 chips and everything seemed OK, but when he put
the RISC OS 3 chips back, again it didn’t work. Watford’s help line
couldn’t help, so he returned the ARM3 and since they were (again) out
of stock he cancelled his order and got most (but not all, apparently)
of his money back. Another ARM3, from CJE Micro’s, worked first time.
6.9
Watford A310 RAM upgrades − Watford Electronics say that they are aware
that their early A305/310 RAM upgrades do not work with RISC OS 3 but
they do not have any solution. They simply recommend that you buy one of
their newer RAM upgrades instead because they do work with RISC OS 3.
Fortunately, IFEL have stepped into the breach. They can offer new PAL
chips to plug into the Watford boards that will solve the problem. These
PAL chips are £3 +VAT each from IFEL and you need to state whether you
have the 2Mb or the 4Mb version. (This refers to the upgrades that
consisted of two PCBs with a ribbon cable along the RHS of the machine.)
6.9
Program problems
6.9
QuicKey clash − J. Nichols reports that, if QuicKey is loaded from
within a !Boot file, it can remove the *Opt 4,2 status from the booted
disc resulting in a disc which no longer runs a !Boot file.
6.9
!Edit – Following last month’s reports of a “bug” in Edit we now have
the following from Tom Rank: “There seemed to be a rare problem with
Edit the other day; my text (exported from Ovation) was displayed in a
most corrupted way, with a large amount of blank screen to start with
and then disintegrating words. I thought it was a problem with Ovation.
However, when I tried to show it to John Wallace of Risc Developments at
BETT, the file displayed without problems, as it did back on my own
machine the next day. Any idea why?”
6.9
Fun School 4 (for the under 5s) – Tom Rank found that this ran under
RISC OS 3.00 but not 3.10, but Europress Software supplied an updated
disc very promptly which now works.
6.9
Freddy Teddy – Topologika supplied a new version to Tom Rank on the spot
at BETT!
6.9
Ovation – Tom Rank says you are urged to obtain 1.37S (dated 17 January
1993). This overcomes the saving with <F3> problem – which really was a
problem, so do upgrade. They have also restored the ‘select all’
shortcut − but only if you use the right-hand <Ctrl> key along with A
(to avoid the problem of catching <Ctrl-A> instead of <Ctrl-S> or just
<A>).
6.9
This version also contains three new printing options, not documented:
Fit, Centre and Registration marks. These should be self explanatory,
but Tom is not quite sure about them!
6.9
Break147 and SuperPool – D. S. Allen got these to work using the
information provided by David Holden in the April column. He writes: “In
Break147 there is one Basic program called !Snook which contains the
line
6.9
 90SYS 26,64,64.
6.9
A REM statement in front of the SYS will cure the problem and the
program will then run under RISC OS 3.1.
6.9
“Similarly, in SuperPool there is a Basic program !Pool in the Data
directory in which line 60 has the same SYS 26,64,64 statement.
6.9
“Note that to make these changes, people will require the read/write
version of Mark Smith’s excellent ArcFS program.” (Or, presumably, an
equivalent utility such as SparkFS.)
6.9
Superior Golf / Construction Set – We reported in Archive 6.7 p43 that
Dave Wilcox had found that these did not work in RISC OS 3.10. Rob
Brown, however, says he has had no problems with them.
6.9
Corruption – Rob Brown says that this can be made to work by modifying
its !Run file to kill the RISC OS 3 Shared C Library module and load the
very old version of the module supplied with the game. To do this,
include at the beginning of the !Run file the line:
6.9
RMKill SharedCLibrary
6.9
and then add at the end of the file the following two lines:
6.9
RMKill SharedCLibrary
6.9
RMLoad SharedCLibrary
6.9
to remove the old version and reload the RISC OS 3 version of the
module. He points out that it may well be advisable to Quit any other
applications that may be using the RISC OS 3 Shared C Library module
before running the game.
6.9
Freddy’s Folly – Rob Brown advises that this game contains a !Run file
(in Basic) which includes an automatic ‘auto-configuration’ of the
computer’s memory as well as setting up a number of initial program
parameters. The various auto-configuration elements should be deleted
from this file. A further complication is that the disc is copy
protected, but it should be possible to rename the original !Run file
(to say !RunOLD) and re-save a new !Run file containing only the initial
program parameters. He also advises that the game assumes that the
default disc drive is 0. For users with a hard disc this can easily be
set by typing:
6.9
    Drive 0
6.9
at the command line (accessed by pressing function key <F12>) before
starting the game. Alternatively, the game’s !Run file can be
appropriately amended by including the “<Obey$Dir>” command.
6.9
NOTE: the advice on Corruption and Freddy’s Folly is included in the
program compatibility chart which Rob Brown has compiled and which has
been included on the Archive monthly program disc. He will welcome any
information which will help him to make the chart as comprehensive and
up-to-date as possible. His address is “Valtanee”, Brighton Road, Lower
Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 6UP.
6.9
Aldebaran – (see Archive 6.8 p23) Atle Mjelde Bårdholt has contacted the
author and has learned that, on his A310 with IFEL’s 2Mb upgrade, he has
to add 8Kb to the WimpSlot values in the !Aldebaran.!Run file (from
624Kb to 632Kb). Then everything works fine. He says this might be due
to the RAM upgrade: Aldebaran seems to work fine on any other Archimedes
with RISC OS 3.1. He adds a final bit of advice: “Get a copy!”
6.9
Printing
6.9
Printing to file
6.9
Tom Rank has found that the hint from Simon Moy in Archive 6.2.7 about
editing the number of text lines seems redundant under RISC OS 3.10, and
that printing to a file (at least with the Epson LQ-860 driver) resulted
in a printout which aborted with an “address exception at &038B5BE0”, a
frozen printer and an incomplete document (the last few millimetres were
lost). This is particularly irritating as printing to a file is the only
way, apart from buying a direct laser printer or a CC Turbo Driver, to
avoid the long wait for print out. (How about using the PROdriver shell
for use with Acorn drivers? See the review on page 43. Ed.)
6.9
Using fanfold paper
6.9
Tom Rank comments: “Feeding single sheets into a printer soon becomes a
pain, but sheetfeeders come expensive, so A4 fanfold paper seemed a good
idea (even though it’s about four or five times more expensive than
better quality photocopy paper at a discount stationer!). However, with
RISC OS 3.00, I could never get the settings right, so the print always
crept up or down the page until it crossed the fold. With RISC OS 3.10,
I’ve finally got it to work, whether by fluke I’m not sure. Using the
LQ-860 printer driver with my Epson LQ-550 printer, the correct settings
from the paper sizes menu are: top margin 8mm and bottom margin 15mm;
save these with a name like ‘A4 Fanfold’ and the margins can be
automatically set each time. These settings seem to work OK with single
sheets too.”
6.9
Filing Systems
6.9
Beebug 5¼“ disc interface
6.9
Stuart Bell writes: “I got my Beebug 5¼“ disc interface (date 1989) to
work by setting the step rate for an 80 track double-sided drive to 12ms
(lower values may well work; I’m just cautious), and whereas RISC OS 2
worked with “Ready” (switch 6 on the interface) supplied by the on-board
PAL, RISC OS 3 works more reliably with it passed through from the
drive.”
6.9
Dismounting between filing systems
6.9
According to Mike Sawle, applications which frequently switch between
filing systems seem to require the *DISMOUNT command before selecting an
alternative filing system in order to ensure correct execution. Common
error messages are Ambiguous Disc Name and Bad Error Block.
6.9
Miscellaneous Hints & Tips
6.9
•    Faster copying, etc. – Rob Davison recommends that if there is nothing
else you want to do when copying files, then click <Menu> over the filer
action window and choose ‘Faster’.
6.9
•    In the midnight hour – Atle Mjelde Bårdholt found that, whenever he
switched his computer on between midnight and 1 a.m., a day was added to
the internal clock. He then found that this seemed to be caused by the
presence in his !Boot file of the command *Set Sys$Year 1993 (which he
had included because he has some programs that set the year back to
1988). When this command is removed, the midnight hour problem goes
away. Does anyone know the reason?
6.9
•    Fan filters and the A5000 – Tom Rank found that, although magazines
mention the need to change the filter from time to time, there was no
mention of how to do this and on fitting the RISC OS 3.10 upgrade he
could see no filter anyway. Is there one, he asks? The Acorn
representative at BETT told him that the design of the machine made it
superfluous; he couldn’t quite follow why, but it was something to do
with the direction of airflow.
6.9
•    Flippin’ objects in Draw – Having travelled all the way from
Derbyshire to the Acorn User Show, Tom Rank “asked the man on one of the
other magazines’ stall if there was an equivalent in Draw to the ‘flip’
option in Paint, as it’s sometimes useful to turn a picture round to
face the other way. The expert, although helpful about other items,
couldn’t tell me, but my son revealed the following tip, which he said
he thought was obvious. Must talk to him more often....
6.9
“To flip an object in Draw, select it and, from the ‘transform’ menu
(RISC OS 3), set x scale (or y scale or both) to −1 (minus 1). This also
works in the RISC OS 2 version of Draw but there the ‘transform’ option
is chosen from the Select menu.”
6.9
•    Lost lines in Edit − Eric Ayers has found that double-clicking on
large text files to load them into Edit has caused several lines to be
missing from the middle of the text. Apparently, this does not happen if
he drags the files to the Edit icon on the icon bar. Any ideas?
6.9
•    More fonts in RISC-OS 3 − Gary Atkinson of KudlianSoft recommends the
following additions to the !Fonts.!Boot and !Fonts.!Run files to enable
one or more separate font directories to be added to and removed from
the font path simply by double-clicking on the fonts application
directory.
6.9
The !Fonts.!Boot file should be amended as follows:
6.9
| Boot file for !Fonts.
6.9
| Nothing happens if you put this in | a RISC OS 2 machine except that
6.9
| the !Fonts sprite is set up − this | means that, when a RISC OS2
!Fonts
6.9
| directory is seen the !Boot file
6.9
| will not be run; double clicking
6.9
| on the appropriate !Fonts will
6.9
| force installation.
6.9
|
6.9
| Take care when merging RISC OS 2
6.9
| fonts with these (RISC OS 3) fonts
6.9
| - many fonts are contained in the
6.9
| RISC OS 3 ROM and thus do not
6.9
| appear in !Fonts; normally you
6.9
| should not copy the corresponding
6.9
| RISC OS 2 fonts!
6.9
Iconsprites <Obey$Dir>.!Sprites
6.9
RMEnsure FontManager 2.89 Obey
6.9
| The next command boots up your
6.9
| normal font directory
6.9
FontInstall <Obey$Dir>.
6.9
SetEval MoreFonts 0
6.9
The !Fonts.!Run file should be amended as follows:
6.9
| !Run file for !Fonts,
6.9
| version 1.05 (20-Aug-91)
6.9
RMEnsure FontManager 2.89 Error These fonts are for use with
6.9
 RISC OS 2.12 or later
6.9
|Obey <Obey$Dir>.!Boot
6.9
| The extra *FontInstall means that,
6.9
| if you double-click the Fonts
6.9
| directory, all such directories
6.9
| will be re-searched for any new
6.9
| fonts.
6.9
SetEval MoreFonts MoreFonts EOR 1
6.9
IF MoreFonts=1 THEN FontInstall <Obey$Dir>. ELSE FontRemove <Obey$Dir>.
6.9
|FontInstall
6.9
The !Boot file is only run on the first time that the filer sees the
!Fonts application, hence the initialisation of MoreFonts to zero. Every
time the directory is double-clicked, the !Run file will toggle the
value of this variable between 0 and 1. This is done in the line:
6.9
SetEval MoreFonts MoreFonts EOR 1
6.9
If the value is 1, the FontInstall command adds the new directory to the
font path and initialises all of the fonts. If the value is 0, the
FontRemove command removes the temporary font directory from the font
path.
6.9
If you require more than one spare directory, you will need to use
different variables, such as MoreFonts2 or FancyFonts.
6.9
In practice, it is better to have a directory called fonts inside your
!Fonts application which contains your preferred normal fonts at switch-
on, and a directory called spare (for example) which contains the set of
fonts that you wish to switch in and out. Then in your !Boot file, the
FontInstall command becomes
6.9
FontInstall <Obey$Dir>.fonts.
6.9
and the IF...THEN statement in the !Run file has <Obey$Dir>.spare. in
place of the two occurrences of <Obey$Dir>. .
6.9
Miscellaneous Comments
6.9
FontEd
6.9
When Tom Rank spoke to an Acorn representative he was told that they
were not contemplating the release of FontEd and that it is NOT public
domain. An early version got there by mistake via SID and it really
ought not, he said, to be distributed by PD libraries.
6.9
The Acorn representative acknowledged that Acorn were unlikely to do
anything about this situation, as it was “only an early version and
won’t work on RISC OS 3”. According to Tom this is partially true; a
friend of his has had problems with version 0.28, but at least some of
the time it runs on an A5000. However, he observes that it is a pity
that Acorn actually seem to be discouraging anyone else from working on
fonts. (There is a version of FontEd on Careware 7, released in May
1990, but it has been updated since then. Acorn haven’t objected,
presumably because of the charitable aspect. Ed.)
6.9
Screen blanking during floppy disc access
6.9
Stuart Bell writes: “Many things are very much more elegant in RISC OS 3
but with one notable exception. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw
what happens to the screen during floppy disc accessing. Whether my ARM3
cache is dis- or enabled, in mode 24 the screen either flashes or is
blanked when loading, saving or formatting. If RISC OS 2 didn’t need to
do this, why is it allowed now? (It did, in fact, happen in mode 21
under RISC OS 2 – HE.) Some re-coding is needed, even if the resultant
code is a little slower. More significantly, who was the Acorn person in
authority who thought that it is acceptable in 1993 to produce a
computer which professes to be a ‘world-beater’ which, when using floppy
discs, looks like the Sinclair Spectrum (or was it the ZX81?) reading
from cassette tape circa 1983? This just looks so tacky. I know that
serious use demands a hard disc, but first impressions count for a lot,
and a lot of demonstrations will be on floppy-based A3010’s. This is not
good enough, Acorn.”
6.9
Basic program compaction errors
6.9
R. W. Darlington writes: “I am writing on a matter of utmost urgency.
6.9
“There seems to be a growing urge amongst programmers to use a program
compactor on Basic RunImage files. Unfortunately, I know of no Basic
compactor program that does not exhibit a certain disastrous fault.
6.9
“If, for instance, a Basic program contains any floating point or pseudo
variables followed by a Basic keyword or statement, then when it is
compacted and the space between the variable and the keyword is removed,
that line will generate an error.
6.9
“For instance, if the program contained the line
6.9
10 IF TRUE THEN VDU7
6.9
which when compacted becomes
6.9
10IFTRUETHENVDU7
6.9
the lack of space between TRUE and THEN will generate an error.
6.9
“The same is true for any line containing a floating point variable:
6.9
10 ha=TRUE
6.9
20 IF    ha    THEN    VDU7
6.9
will crash when compacted because of a lack of space between ha and
THEN.
6.9
“I have come across numerous examples of RunImage files which have these
errors in them. One of them is Acorn’s new RISC OS 3 !SciCalc. Others
are new versions of Translator and Creator.
6.9
“Please can you draw Archive readers’ attention to these problems as
soon as possible? Or, if any reader knows of a Basic compactor that does
not produce these errors, please can they let us know where it may be
obtained?”
6.9
Matters Arising
6.9
Setting Caps Lock (*FX 202)
6.9
Unfortunately, the advice I gave last month about using *FX 202 may have
been a bit confusing because, after explaining that Peter Young wanted a
command to turn Caps Lock on, I then described how to turn it off! The
command to turn Caps Lock on, leaving the other settings unchanged, is
*FX 202,0,239.
6.9
The shortened form *FX 202,32 should turn Caps Lock on, but may have
side effects.
6.9
Note also that, to make sure that the LED indicators are correctly
updated after a *FX 202 command, it is a good idea to follow it with the
simple command *FX 118.
6.9
The bits of the keyboard status byte have the following meanings:
6.9
    bit    value    meaning
6.9
    0 (1)    0    Alt off
6.9
        1    Alt on
6.9
    1 (2)    0    Scroll Lock off
6.9
        1    Scroll Lock on
6.9
    2 (4)    0    Num Lock on
6.9
        1    Num Lock off
6.9
    3 (8)    0    Shift off
6.9
        1    Shift on
6.9
    4 (16)    0    Caps Lock on
6.9
        1    Caps Lock off
6.9
    5 (32)        (“Normally set”)
6.9
    6 (64)    0    Ctrl off
6.9
        1    Ctrl on
6.9
    7 (128)    0    Shift enable off
6.9
        1    Shift enable on
6.9
(This information is taken from the RISC­OS 2 Programmers’ Reference
Manual.)
6.9
Boot-up options (Archive 6.8 p26)
6.9
Peter Young has suggested that it might be better to use INKEY$ with a
delay of, say, 5 to 10 seconds instead of GET$ so that, if nobody
presses a key, the computer will continue with the boot file after a
short delay.
6.9
Unexpected messages from IDE filing system (Archive 6.8 p24)
6.9
Peter Young (who has a Beebug IDE interface) has confirmed that, even
after creating space for a directory cache, he still gets unexpected
messages unless he uses full pathnames. For instance, if he starts with
the commands
6.9
*DIR IDEFS::IDEDisc4.$.BASIC.B
6.9
*CAT
6.9
he gets a catalogue of the subdirectory ‘B’ as expected. However, if he
uses the abbreviated pathname instead:
6.9
*DIR $.BASIC.B
6.9
*CAT
6.9
he gets a catalogue of the directory ‘BASIC’ even though the heading of
the directory listing correctly says that the CSD is IDEFS::IDEDisc4.$.
BASIC.B. The computer’s confusion is further demonstrated by the fact
that if he then enters:
6.9
*DIR ^
6.9
*CAT
6.9
it replies Directory ‘@’ not found.
6.9
‘Interrupt’ module (Archive 6.6 p55)
6.9
In March, we reported M. P. Sawle’s request for help in getting the
Interrupt module (Archive Shareware disc 6) working under RISC OS 3, but
since then neither he nor we have heard anything. Does no-one else use
this module? Can its author help?
6.9
Wish List for RISC­OS 4
6.9
Now that the flood of comments, tips, etc about RISC OS 3 is beginning
to abate, I thought this might be the time to debate what changes or
improvements we would like to see in the next version of the operating
system. So, here are some suggestions to set the ball rolling. Please
let us know what you think: Do you agree or disagree with what is said
here? What would you like to add? Would you perhaps prefer to leave well
alone!? Send your comments either to me, Hugh Eagle at 48 Smithbarn,
Horsham, Sussex, RH13 6DX.
6.9
Götz Kohlberg has contributed a number of interesting suggestions
(Comments in italics are mine – Hugh Eagle) (But I’ve added some! Ed):
6.9
First of all the backdrop must be improved and some nice backdrop
sprites should be included on a disc. (Windows is vastly superior in
attention to this sort of detail − not only backdrops but also
screensaver graphics and a host of other things right down to basic
features like the appearance of the desktop itself. Some may argue that
this kind of thing is superficial gloss but I think it is important to
make the computer as fun and appealing as possible.)
6.9
The Ramdisc also needs major enhancements like automatically adjusting
its size to the amount actually needed. Also, the files on the Ramdisc
should be compressed, so that even less space is needed. (Why limit
compression to the RAM disc? Why not have an option to allow full
automatic compression of any disc, including the hard disc?)
6.9
What I also miss is a filer function like on the Atari. There, after
changing a disc, you only have to press <Esc> to get the new directory
shown. Also all the icons for each disc drive (both floppies and hard
discs) should show the current disc name.
6.9
The Printer queue should allow the printing of a variable number of
copies of each file. Now only  one copy per file is possible so that I
have to include more copies of a file if I want more copies printed. A
counter within the queue would be better, especially for laser printers.
6.9
A Quickformat option should also be included. (Reformatting is often
more convenient than deleting a lot of directories and files but would
be much quicker if the formatting process only involved rewriting the
maps and the directory entries. This would only take a matter of seconds
instead of nearly 90sec. for a full format. (Another point about
formatting: the operating system should check first to see if the disc
is already formatted and if so prompt for confirmation.)
6.9
(Somebody doesn’t read their Archive thoroughly enough and hasn’t
learned the easy way of erasing a full disc − take a blank disc and use
Backup from the menu on the filer − the full disc is blanked in a couple
of seconds! Ed.)
6.9
The error messages of the filer should be in a clear speech − not ‘Disc
error :0 at 00000000’. Also some Basic errors should be given their
textual meanings.
6.9
The Pinboard should be improved. Acorn have had plenty of time to
develop a better one and there are a number of good examples to follow.
(The Pinboard menu might include a “Quick save” option which would
overwrite the last Pinboard file that was loaded with a file containing
the new settings. If you were happy to use this option, you wouldn’t
have to open a directory viewer or type in a path name.)
6.9
Other suggestions (contributors’ names in brackets)
6.9
•    MS-DOS filenames – PC-DOS / MS-DOS filenames should be shown in full,
not with their heads and tails chopped off in the “large icons” Filer
display. (Paul Skirrow)
6.9
•    Long filenames – On the subject of filenames, how about long,
meaningful filenames? (Does there need to be any limit to the length?)
(Hugh Eagle)
6.9
•    Intelligent use of filetypes – I’ve long wondered whether it might be
possible to allow different files with the same name but with different
filetypes (in other words, the filetype would effectively be treated as
an extension to the name, rather like in MS-DOS). I wonder what the pros
and cons would be? If the idea is a non-starter, perhaps at the very
least the Filer could be programmed to refuse to overwrite a file with
another with the same name but a different type without prompting for
confirmation first! (I speak as one who has inadvertently overwritten a
program, the result of many hours’ labour, with a hastily produced
sprite file!) (Hugh Eagle)
6.9
•    Backup – This should be more intelligent and only copy those parts of
the disc that are occupied, as it did in RISC OS 2.00. (Presumably this
is to cut down on viruses and ‘interesting’ things being left on discs
which could be found by sector editors). (Rob Davison) (’Scuse me but it
IS intelligent − that’s why my disc-blanking hint, mentioned opposite
works so well. Ed.)
6.9
•    Pre-emptive multitasking – the operating system should make it
possible to interrupt applications that hog the machine. (Philip
Lardner)
6.9
•    Background printing – If it’s not possible to make all applications
run in the background then at the very least make this work for
printing! (Nearly everyone!)
6.9
•    Draw − (1) The toolbox should include icons for Gridlock on/off, Grid
on/off ... (R. D. Attwood)  (2)  ... and an option to turn Autoscroll on
or off (R. D. Attwood)  (3) I suggest that the preferences should allow
a font other than the System font to be chosen as the default (HE)
6.9
•    Documentation – Acorn should make documentation for the new operating
system available on disc as they did with the RISC OS 2 ISV doc but as
they failed to do with RISC OS 3. They could make a modest charge for
the disc and still make a small profit. The documentation could be
fairly sparse so no-one would be put off buying the manuals when they
eventually appeared and programmers could make use of all the new
features much sooner. I imagine that it would only take someone a couple
of hours with Edit to make Acorn’s internal change documentation ready
for this (by cutting out all the interesting bits no doubt!) and they
would do a great service to all the enthusiasts who enjoy programming
their computers. (Rob Davison)
6.9
•    Manuals – The order of the manuals should be reversed so that the more
technical parts of the manual come at the end. (It seems absurd that the
Applications Guide which is likely to be of more general interest is
printed after the technical User Guide, and the Welcome Guide is surely
not the place for off-putting details of monitor connections!) (HE)
6.9
•    On-line Help – The quality, quantity and consistency of on-line help
need a lot of improvement. Windows-style on-line manuals, with hypertext
features, should be included as a matter of course. (Of course, these
will need large amounts of disc space, but they could be made optional.)
Also, the Apple idea of “balloon help”, where a small amount of help is
popped up where the pointer is, seems a big improvement on Acorn’s
window at the bottom of the screen which can easily get hidden behind
several others. Furthermore, all applications should provide both kinds
of help as a matter of course. Currently, some of the best Archimedes
applications are help-less: Impression has none, Artworks has a function
key for it but still has none, and even the applications supplied in
Acorn’s Home Office pack fail to use the Help facilities! (HE)
6.9
•    Basic – This should support the floating point assembler op-codes. If
Acorn’s FPA is so wonderful (and it should be, considering the time it’s
been in appearing) (latest news is “probably end of June” − Ed) why
don’t they give it some support in Basic ? (Rob Davison)
6.9
•    Saving the Desktop state – Somehow the process of saving the desktop
state needs to be made more user friendly. For instance, it would be
useful to be able to ask for the applications and windows which are
currently in use or open to be run or opened along with the current
Pinboard state when the machine is next turned on, and to do this by a
quick and easy process (a single hot-key combination or menu selection,
without having to open any directories). This should be separate from
the existing boot-up process (and not overwrite the !Boot file) and
should avoid booting every application that has been “seen”. Also, when
saving a Deskboot file, you should be given the option of deciding
whether the directory window that you have just opened to save it in
will be opened again when the machine is rebooted! (HE)
6.9
•    Alarm – This should include an option to set off an alarm periodically
before the effective date: e.g. if my anniversary is on 30th June I
should be able to set it to warn me each time I switch the computer on
in the preceding fortnight! (HE)
6.9
•    Streamlining the upgrade – There should be an installation program
which would intelligently preserve the relevant parts of the old
configuration so that we don’t have to rebuild the whole thing from
scratch. For example, this could make a note of things like monitor
type, memory allocations, fontmax settings, mouse speed and so on and
store these in the new configuration. Also, it could examine your old
!System and !Fonts for modules and fonts that you are likely to want to
keep and put them into the appropriate new directories. It might also be
possible to have a stab at predicting the contents of your !Boot file by
looking at your old one, e.g. the modules it loads and the applications
it runs (although I realise that this would be more difficult).
Furthermore, before the installation is started, the program could
usefully save the old configuration, in case you change your mind and
want to revert to good old RISC OS 3! (HE)  A
6.9
PipeLineZ
6.9
Gerald Fitton
6.9
I do enjoy reading and learning from the correspondence you send me. I
don’t know if it’s the Spring, the advent of Wordz or the Spring Show in
Harrogate, but I’ve received considerably more correspondence for
publication than usual so I’m trying a new strategy. If I don’t, the
Archive Editor will probably mark some blocks in my text and follow that
with <ctrl-x>!
6.9
The monthly Archive disc
6.9
I’ve said before that I receive a fair amount of correspondence from
readers of PipeLineZ who don’t use PipeDream. Much of that
correspondence arises from my controversial remarks and questions – so
here’s a subject which interests me and on which I’m sure you’ll have
ideas. What proportion of Archive readers take advantage of the Archive
monthly disc? How do you feel about magazine discs in general? Should
the magazine be priced so that every subscriber receives a disc or
should the disc be supplied as an optional extra at an additional cost?
6.9
As an experiment this month, I am moving more material than usual from
the PipeLineZ column to the Archive disc. Let me know whether you want
me to move further in that direction. (Before Gerald sent in this
Column, I had already decided to change the price of a one-year
subscription to the monthly program discs from £24 to £20. Ed.)
6.9
The Harrogate Spring Show
6.9
I don’t know if it’s just Jill and me, but we found the Spring Show had
a quite different feel about it from the Show at Wembley last October.
It’s difficult to find a single cause but we found it even more
enjoyable than previous Shows. One of the things which pleased us is
that people we saw early in the day had time to return. I’m sure we
found them more relaxed and they were delighted to have a general chat
rather than a brief Hello, Goodbye and off to the next stand!
6.9
Colton Software (and hence Norwich Computer Services) have reduced the
price of PD 4 and, as a special Spring Show offer, they reduced it even
further. As a result of the ‘bargain offer’, I found myself
demonstrating the features of PD, to a far greater extent than I had
anticipated, to people who didn’t have it but knew about it. It would
seem that PD has the reputation of being the definitive spreadsheet (and
hence highly desired) but, when the recommended retail price was around
£200, it wasn’t the sort of package you would call an ‘impulse
purchase’! The price reduction has brought PD 4 within the budget of
many who previously regarded it as too expensive. I believe that what I
saw at Harrogate heralds a new lease of life for PD 4 (in spite of the
impending launch of Resultz − see below). If this is so, maybe we can
get Colton Software to clear up a few of those remaining ‘obscure
features’ which I think of as bugs and add a few more desirable features
from our Wish Lists!
6.9
Under the guise of being a Colton Software ‘demonstrator’, I had a
chance to ‘play’ with a pre-release version of Resultz. Although I tried
to explain to those who enquired that I hadn’t used Resultz before the
Show, I think that those to whom I spoke didn’t believe me. Resultz
looks like and behaves like a mixture of Wordz and PD, so I was at home
with it immediately, clicking on the italic f to find all the functions.
6.9
One noticeable difference between PD and Resultz is that in the latter,
slots, like paragraphs in Wordz, can be any (rectangular) shape. For
example, rows do not have to be on a fixed vertical spacing; every row
can have a different height! To understand one of the ‘new’ features of
Resultz, it is necessary to distinguish between rows (which have row
numbers as in PD) and ‘lines’ within a slot. Text wraps around to a new
line (but stays in the same slot) when you reach the right hand end of a
slot; the slot (and the whole row containing that slot) grows downwards
by a line. If you change the width of a slot containing wrapped around
text, the text automatically reformats to match the slot width. If you
press <Return> then, as happens in Wordz, you start a new paragraph in a
new slot on the next row. You can think of the paragraphs as being
numbered slots of many lines.
6.9
A more interesting feature is that slots can be of any width. The width
of say, slot B3, can be different from the width of slot B2. In fact, B3
can be as wide as B2, C2 and D2 put together! C3 does not have to be
below C2, it can be under D2.
6.9
The latest information I have on a release date for Resultz is June 1993
with a Resultz demo disc a week or so behind the full version. Resultz
demo discs are not free but, if you want to try one out as soon as
they’re available then let me (or Colton Software) know.
6.9
French dictionary
6.9
Jack Wright has produced another foreign language dictionary. His
earlier one was a German to English dictionary (on Archive 6.7 monthly
disc). This time it’s a French to English dictionary which you’ll find
on the Archive monthly disc in the directory French2Eng. It contains
over 11,000 French words in a 218Kb PD two column file. I had thought
that it might be possible to invert the dictionary so that it could
become an English to French dictionary just by doing a sort on column B.
I then discovered that the word “to” was used too often at the start of
all the English version of the verbs. There must be a way of automating
the removal of the word “to” so, if you’ve any ideas then I’d like to
hear from you (and I guess Jack would as well).
6.9
One of our contributors is working on an idea for using a Thesaurus
package (but without the original words) as a means of finding
translations for foreign words. If you have any ideas or files you wish
to contribute then I will pass them on.
6.9
Friday 13th
6.9
First a quick summary of the problem: Every 400 years (since 1752) our
calendar repeats itself. As an example of what I mean, in 1992,
Christmas day is on a Friday – 400 years into the future, 2392, it will
be on Friday again. In fact, the calendar for 2392 will be an exact
replica of the 1992 calendar. In the same way, 2393 will be a replica of
1993. During these 400 years, there will be 4800 months
(400 × 12 = 4800) and every one of them will have a 13th. More of these
13ths fall on a Friday than any other day of the week. The conclusion is
that a 13th is more likely to be a Friday than any other day of the
week.
6.9
Colton Software are offering a small prize (a PD, Wordz or Resultz mug –
but not the Penguin mug) and I am offering fame (if not fortune) if you
can produce a proof that 13ths are more likely to be a Friday. Can you
find the frequencies for all the days of the week (Sunday to Saturday
inclusive)? (We’ll throw in a couple of Archive mugs, too. Ed.)
6.9
Brian McDevitt’s solution is on the Archive disc. He describes his
method as a ‘brute force’ demonstration of using a custom function. He
says:
6.9
“It is based on the custom function “day_of_ week” in the sheet
[_friday] which finds the position in the week (starting with Sunday as
1) for any date supplied to it in PD format. If result() returns “wday”
instead of “pos”, the function will name the day but this option should
not be used in the present exercise, as “fridays” expects “day_of_week”
to return a number.
6.9
“Function “fridays” uses “day_of_week” in a double loop to cycle through
the thirteenth day of each month for each of 400 years, keeping a
running total for each day of the week. The distribution of frequencies
is the same whichever year is used as the start:
6.9
   Sunday = 687
6.9
   Monday = 685
6.9
   Tuesday = 685
6.9
   Wednesday = 687
6.9
   Thursday = 684
6.9
   Friday = 688
6.9
   Saturday = 684
6.9
   Total = 4800
6.9
“Assuming 400 year cycles repeat themselves, as Gerald suggests, Friday
will always be ahead of the game, having one more 13th than Sunday and
Wednesday. Thursday and Saturday have fewer 13ths than any other day.
6.9
“Running the 400 year cycle on my A440 ARM 3 takes just over an hour.
Before (or instead of!) tying up your machine for that long, have a look
at one of the “snap...” sheets which give snapshot end results for
different start years. You might then like to try editing slot A19 in
“_friday” making the figure 399 something more reasonable (like 5).
Running the sheet “frid” will then show the thirteenth of each month and
score for each day clocking up for (in this case) six years. The sheets
are linked to each other both ways, so clicking on the function sheet
“_friday” will also start things going.”
6.9
Gamble02
6.9
Open the Box! The ‘problem’ was stated in the April 1993 Archive as
follows:
6.9
You are a game show contestant and, through sheer brilliance, you have
won the right to open one of three boxes. One of the three contains the
Star Prize, the other two contain Booby Prizes. The game show host knows
which box contains the Star Prize but, of course, you don’t.
6.9
You choose a box and tell the game show host and the worldwide audience
of your choice. In accordance with the rules of the box-opening
procedure, the host opens one of the other two boxes which he knows to
contain a Booby Prize! At this stage, the rules allow you to stick with
your original choice or change to the other unopened box.
6.9
The question you have to answer is “Would changing to the other unopened
box improve your chances of winning?”
6.9
I have received a good spreadsheet solution from Bruce D Brown which you
will find in the directory called Gamble02.Brown on the monthly disc.
6.9
There are many mathematical problems for which it can be proved that an
analytical solution is impossible. Perhaps the classic is finding the
five solutions of a quintic (fifth power) equation. In previous
centuries mathematicians have always used ‘numerical methods’ to solve
these ‘difficult’ problems. Such numerical methods have become popular
since the advent of the computer. Mathematicians now devise and run
computer programs, much in the same way as Bruce has done with this
problem. Of course, there is an ‘Analytical’ solution to the problem of
opening the box but many people, some of whom are mathematicians, have
difficulty in believing the answer.
6.9
I did receive a well-reasoned argument (but not a spreadsheet) from
Jonathan Ormond. His solution used the usual ‘conditional probability’
method but without the usual (difficult to understand) formula. It was a
very good piece of reasoning without any mathematical jargon and comes
up with the correct answer which is “Swop boxes to double your chance of
winning the star prize.”
6.9
Now, you might not believe Jonathan. If you don’t then try Bruce’s
spreadsheet method or even try the experiment ‘manually’ about ten or
twenty times. Even with such a small sample (10 or 20) you’ll soon find
that your chances of winning the star prize improve from 1 in 3 to
2 in 3 if you swop from your first choice to the unopened box (the one
not selected by the host).
6.9
Hidden columns
6.9
By reducing the width of a PD column to zero it ‘disappears’. Elwyn
Morris points out the benefits of using hidden columns in PD. He says:
6.9
“Many of my documents are ever growing and constantly revised in the
light of new information gleaned. By having one, or more, columns (which
can later be made invisible by making them of zero width) with coded
references therein, subject matter can be sorted into groups or into
logical sequence, even when each entry is simply written in haphazardly
below the one previously entered. At the touch of a button, my often
inconsequential jottings turn themselves into fully-fledged lecture
notes! I believe there was a program published some time ago which
actually made a great feature of sorting random ideas into some sort of
pattern, yet this facility is free within PD. Further, a SUM or DCOUTNTA
of various aspects can be appended which updates as new information is
included. None of this is either a database or spreadsheet in the true
sense, but it is invaluable to me.”
6.9
Elwyn asks, “Does anyone else use PipeDream in this way?”
6.9
Pamphlets
6.9
Francis W Aries explains how he prints pamphlets using Wordz. He says:
6.9
The first essential is to ensure that the printer you have will fill the
maximum area on paper with a drawfile which fills the maximum area
between paper lines on the screen. This is another story but I use a
drawfile such as [Rect4] (on the Archive disc) which just fills the A4
frame on the screen and is not too hard on the printer for tests. The
4cm corner squares allow the use of a ruler to check the printed result
whether it appears on paper or not. My printer is an Integrex CJ Series
2 which emulates the HP Deskjet 500C.
6.9
Loading the file
6.9
A most useful file to turn into a pamphlet form is the Wordz Release
note which is issued with your copy of Wordz. Mine is 1.02 and the file
is about 10Kb in length. [The current version of Wordz is version 1.03 −
GLF]. Double-clicking loads the file and you will notice it is three
pages in length.
6.9
Customising the display
6.9
When an A4 page is reduced to A5, everything is reduced to about 70% of
its original size, so the first thing you need to do is to increase all
Styles by this amount. Select BaseLetter, click on ‘S’ on the button
bar, highlight ‘heading’ on the list of styles, click on ‘change’, click
on ‘height’ of text and then use the change arrows to increase the
height from 14 point to 17 point. By trial and error, I found that 17
point was the largest that would limit the document to four pages.
Clicking on ‘OK’ will change the BaseLetter style to the larger type.
6.9
Select Heading and SubHeading and (because the height is highlighted)
increase the point size by about 20%. There is no need to change the
height of the text for those styles which are not highlighted.
6.9
Printing as a Pamphlet with the printer on the iconbar and ready for
use, click on the printer icon on the Wordz button-bar. On the dialogue
box revealed, click on the ‘extra’ button and a new dialogue box is
shown. Click on the ‘Pamphlet’ button and the display in the pages box
will change from 1 − 4 to 4,1 and below that, 2,3. Delete 2,3. The
remaining buttons to be ‘lit’ are ‘both’ and ‘two-up’. Click on OK, and
pages 4 and 1 will be printed on one side of the paper. Repeat the above
two paragraphs of instructions this time deleting 4,1. The same sheet of
paper is inserted and pages 2 and 3 will be printed. Folding along the
centre line produces an A5 pair of sheets to keep with the ‘Wordz’
manual.
6.9
PeakMath
6.9
Standard National Curriculum Attainment Targets in Maths have a somewhat
political flavour at the moment. A contributor who wishes to remain
anonymous has sent in a set of files which will be of interest and value
to anyone using the Peak Maths set of ‘books and worksheets’. These too
are on the Archive monthly disc.
6.9
Usage3
6.9
John Marsh has sent me some spreadsheets which gives an ongoing account
of usage and cost of Electricity and Gas used from day to day by just
entering the present meter readings. The spreadsheet will fit neatly
onto A4 size paper using condensed 17 cpi pitch. This too you will find
on the Archive monthly disc.
6.9
Wordz wish list
6.9
Cain Hunt, amongst many others, has asked me if I’d be willing to
coordinate a ‘Wish List’ for upgrades to Wordz. The quick answer has to
be “Yes!”.
6.9
On the Archive monthly disc, you will find a directory called WishList
which contains some of the correspondence between myself and Cain. I
have removed Cain’s address from the files but otherwise they are
intact.
6.9
Cain has written to Colton Software with his Wish List and later he
comments that quite a few of the points he raised have been ‘corrected’
or embodied in version 1.03 of Wordz. Colton Software do listen to what
you say to them about their packages, so keep writing.
6.9
Finally
6.9
Thanks again for all your letters and discs. Please let me know whether
this month’s experiment of moving material from words in this column to
files on the Archive monthly disc meets with your approval or not.
Remember, space in the magazine is limited.  A
6.9
Master of Sim City, USA
6.9
Tord Eriksson
6.9
I have always thought it would be good to become mayor of my own city,
but nobody else seems to think I should. The second best option is being
supreme ruler of Sim City, a simulation from Krisalis under licence from
the creator, Will Wright, and Maxis. The program comes complete with a
teacher’s guide and an instruction manual. It works from the hard disc
but it needs to see the original disc each time it starts.
6.9
Old favourite
6.9
For the users of US-originated computers, this is a game/simulation that
has been around for some time but for us Acorn users, it’s brand new.
The box, probably US-made as well, is therefore illustrated with
screenshots from every conceivable computer, except Archimedes.
6.9
Basically, you build an American town and try to balance taxes,
investments and services as effectively as you can. As it is very
American, hospital services are private but transport, including trams
and roads, are public. Also, without a police station in each little
corner of the town, you are soon swamped by crime. You plan where the
power station should be situated, where polluting industries and
commercial areas are to end up, and where roads, fire department and, of
course, the police should be sited.
6.9
As your town grows, you can add more power stations, a harbour or an
airport, or plan new housing estates or commercial blocks. Plans cost
£100 per block, a harbour £5000 and a coal-fired power station £3000. I
think this “£” business is rather silly, as a pound sterling in 1900
(the year in which the game world starts) is not the same as today’s
little coin...
6.9
There are a number of ready-made scenarios, including Tokyo with
Godzilla (I wonder what teachers think of that?!), Hamburg during
Bomber-Harris’ excesses or Rio de Janiero during a flood caused by
global warming.
6.9
To be able to get to grips with the simulation, it is recommended that
you start from scratch with a simple town (default name is Heresville)
and the setting at ‘easy’. And remember to turn the disasters off, as it
is rather dicey, even without them!
6.9
Multitasking, almost perfect...
6.9
It multitasks with Impression, which I am using as I write this,
together with various other applications with no problem whatsoever.
(Mind you, the first time I tried to quit Impression, with Sim City
running, the entire computer froze and my almost bicentennial town
disappeared into oblivion! You have been warned!) Otherwise, it’s quite
happy with 640Kb of RAM, not counting the screen, so it ought to run on
an unexpanded machine.
6.9
Grumbles
6.9
The game takes a long time to get going, even on an ARM3-equipped
machine like mine. The most serious flaw, to my mind, is with the
scroll-bars/toolboxes. The toolboxes are inside the scroll-bars along
the lefthand side. That might seem a good arrangement, but if your town
is on the map’s righthand edge, you cannot make the window smaller than
full size or you lose the icons! To make matters worse, there are no
keyboard short-cuts. You have to move the sprite sideways to see the
toolbox to activate the buttons. Using mode 74 makes anything except
full-size unnecessary (and the scroll-bars are then superfluous) but
what about the poor mode 12 users?
6.9
The Sim City iconbar icon can also lead you into trouble. If you
accidentally close all windows, it asks you, “Do you really want to
start a new city?” but if you say “No”, it just exits and your current
game is lost! I think this needs a thorough rethink by the programmers
at Krisalis...
6.9
Windows
6.9
There are four windows that you can open and interact with: Map, which
you use to move the Edit window to where you want, Budget where you
decide on the town’s finances, and Evaluation, where the Gallup boys
decide if you are doing a good job, if the population is growing, etc.
In addition to these there is a very neat Graph window. This shows you
the statistics from a period of between 10 and 120 years showing
population, crime, pollution, finance, industries and commercial
enterprises. This is excellent, but I would really have liked a zoom
facility on maps, the edit window and especially the graph.
6.9
I would have liked the Edit window to be movable with the scroll-bars.
If it is at its maximum, the size of a mode 12 page, you have to use the
Map to drag the Edit window around, because your city will surely become
bigger with time. This makes mode 12 extremely frustrating to use (CC’s
mode 74 is so much better − you can have both windows open, side by
side, with the Graph below, all at once).
6.9
Playing the game
6.9
Depending on your stamina and interest, you can start from scratch or
load a ready-made town, with built-in catastrophes, such as floods,
Godzillas, earthquakes, tornadoes, fires and air crashes, either
selectively or all at once! If you forget to insert the original disc
when you start from hard disc (or if you don’t have an original disc for
any reason!) it starts with all these perils at once − a novel form of
copy protection − you can play, but you won’t survive for long!
6.9
To run the game from scratch (in either slow, normal or fast mode), in a
16 colour mode, you have to have no other pressing business! To develop
a fair-sized city at any level of simulation (easy, medium or hard) it
takes a simulated 120 years at least, or more than a real day, even in
fast mode on an ARM3 machine!
6.9
There is an options menu and if you then set the game to auto-budget, it
will look after itself as well as it can, unattended. It’s great fun to
build your dream city and see it crumble due to your ineptitude or the
disasters you have added!
6.9
It’s not very realistic, with skyscrapers and manufacturing industries
being built instantly, to be torn down the next month and replaced a
month later with its twin! However, if you think of the houses as
companies growing, faltering or going bust, it becomes more plausible.
6.9
Police stations and fire stations are always the same, even if you have
no money to spend on their maintenance or their crews! The power
stations (nuclear or coal-fired) do not need any roads to transport
their fuel! Very odd! And where are the cooling towers? Probably the
coal is piped into the plant from off the gaming area, after having been
converted to methane gas and used in gas turbines?!
6.9
Sewage
6.9
Why are there no sewerage systems to take care of fluid pollution? And
why no sewage treatment plants? A game that has detailed maps of
pollution levels ought to include a sewerage system and a way to fine
offending industries and house owners.
6.9
Why are there no schools, courts or other public service buildings, or
are they commercial too? And why is it that you can live quite happily
without a fire brigade?
6.9
To nit-pick further, the traffic seems to be responsible for just too
little of the pollution, which I presume is aerosols and gases mainly,
as the industry and power stations are blamed for it all! Instead, heavy
traffic leads to highway shootings being reported, including screams.
How many citizens in the real world get shot anywhere due to traffic
jams each year? (Tord, you obviously don’t read about life in USA in
1993. Such shootings are not uncommon. Ed.)
6.9
Is this a simulation of a plausible town, or just a very, very slow
arcade game?
6.9
Conclusion
6.9
From what I have said so far, you might think I don’t like Sim City but
you would be wrong, utterly wrong! It’s one of the most compelling
simulations I have ever seen and as the tiny graph shows so clearly,
this is ruled by mathematical chaos and nothing else.
6.9
At no time is the development of the town a foregone conclusion. You are
bound to have to keep adjusting the tax rate every so often, even if you
set the game to auto-budget, because the economy is always getting out
of hand, just as in the real world. 7% tax seems to be the level to aim
for, but at times you have to jump to 10% − or 4% to keep your citizens
happy.
6.9
The main difference between Sim City and the real world is that our
taxes pay for schools, health services, social services, libraries,
water works and the waste disposal systems, government, defence and
pensions, in addition to the services included in this game.
6.9
So go forth and enjoy Sim City! Bulldoze the town’s hospital and build a
nuclear power plant in its place, build the world’s most awkward tram
system or build your ideal town, with cars, power stations and other
smelly things miles away. Or build a tiny town with just an airport?!
Try it and be amazed!
6.9
The manuals are clearly written and well laid out, even if they are
without colour and not really durable enough for prolonged school use.
Whether Sim City could fill a purpose in social sciences teaching, I am
not in a position to judge but as a demonstration of chaos, it’s
excellent − even without Godzilla and similar disasters!  A
6.9
Longman-Logotron     124 Cambridge Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4
4ZS. (0223−425558) (0223−425349)
6.9
LOOKsystems (p41)    47 Goodhale Road, Bowthorpe, Norwich, NR5 9AY.
(0603−764114) (0603−764011)
6.9
Matt Black     P.O.Box 42, Peterborough, PE1 2TZ. (0733−315439)
6.9
Minerva Systems     Minerva House, Baring Crescent, Exeter, EX1 1TL.
(0392−437756) (0392−421762)
6.9
Morley Electronics     Morley
House, Norham Road, North Shields, Tyne & Wear, NE29 7TY. (091−257−6355)
(091−257−6373)
6.9
Minerva Systems     Minerva House, Baring Crescent, Exeter, EX1 1TL.
(0392−437756) (0392−421762)
6.9
Morley Electronics     Morley
House, Norham Road, North Shields, Tyne & Wear, NE29 7TY. (091−257−6355)
(091−257−6373)
6.9
Northwest SEMERC     Fitton Hill CDC, Rosary Road, Oldham, OL8 2QE.
(061−627−4469)
6.9
Oak Solutions (p23)    Suite 25,
Robin Enterprise Centre, Leeds Road, Idle, Yorkshire BD10 9TE.
(0274−620423) (0274−620419)
6.9
Pineapple Software    39 Brownlea
Gardens, Seven Kings, Ilford, Essex IG3 9NL. (081−599−1476)
(081−598−2343)
6.9
PTW Software     72 Frosthole Crescent, Fareham, Hampshire, PO15 6BG.
(0329−281930)
6.9
RESOURCE     Exeter Road, Doncaster, DN2 4PY. (0302−340331)
6.9
Risc Developments     117 Hatfield
Road, St Albans, Herts, AL1 4JS. (0727−840303) (0727−860263)
6.9
Sherston Software     Swan Barton,
Sherston, Malmesbury, Wilts. SN16 0LH. (0666−840433) (0666−840048)
6.9
Silicon Vision Ltd (p14)    Signal
House, Lyon Road, Harrow, Middlesex, HA1 2AG. (081−422−3556)
(081−427−5169)
6.9
Stallion Software Ltd     Arundel
House, Arundel Road, Camden, Bath, BA1 5JX. (0225−339090)
6.9
State Machine     75 Upper Wellington Street, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU1
5AA. (0582−483377) (0582−480833)
6.9
Suitable Software (p27)    136 Carter
Street, Fordham, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 5JU. (0638−720171)
6.9
Suitable Software     8 Jane
Court, Lenah Valley, Tasmania, Australia 7008. (+61−02−285−448)
6.9
TBA Software     24 Eastgate, Aberystwyth, Dyfed, SY23 2AR. (0970−626785)
6.9
Topologika     P.O. Box 39, Stilton, Peterborough, PE7 3RL. (0733−244682)
6.9
Watford Electronics     Jessa House,
Finway, Dallow Road, Luton, LU1 1TR. (0582−487777) (0582−488588)
6.9
W. C. Smith & Associates    40 Royal
Oak, Alnwick, Northumberland, NE66 2DA., (0665−510682) (0665−510692)
6.9
Wild Vision     15 Witney Way, Boldon Colliery, Tyne & Wear NE35 9PE.
(091−519−1455) (091−519−1929)
6.9
PD Column
6.9
David Holden
6.9
I recently offered the latest versions of Translator, Creator and
Greyedit and, as you will probably be aware, all of these programs are
shareware in the strictest sense of the word. A lot of people sent
copies to me for a free upgrade but I wonder how many of these people
had actually sent their registration fee to John Kortink? I know that a
few have done so but I suspect that it’s not a very high proportion.
6.9
The most common excuses for not sending the registration fee for a
shareware program are that either it doesn’t quite do what you want (and
you’ll register when it does) or else that you never really use it. If
you fall into this latter category then why did you want the latest
version? If you don’t use it, why can’t the older version be the one you
‘don’t use’?! If you are part of the former group, remember that no
program ever does exactly what you want. If you wait until it’s 100%
perfect before you register, you’ll wait forever.
6.9
Utilities like these, and other very good shareware programs such as
WordHound, will disappear if enough people don’t register. I know from
my own experience how disappointing it can be for a shareware author not
to receive registrations. It’s not just the money − it’s the recognition
of your work. When no-one seems to appreciate your program, it doesn’t
take much persuasion to sell your application to a commercial
distributor for a paltry sum. Then, a few months later, it appears in
the shops in a pretty shrink-wrapped package priced at about ten times
the registration fee!
6.9
If you took advantage of my offer or have any other shareware programs
which you haven’t yet registered, ask yourself this question. If
something happened to the only copy which you possessed, would you
bother to replace it? If you can truthfully answer ‘no’ then you really
don’t need to register. If you would immediately try to get a
replacement, I suggest that you are basically using pirated software −
that’s what an unregistered shareware program in regular use actually
is.
6.9
I don’t want to see shareware authors crippling their programs in a
futile effort to force users to register. I hope this exercise will make
you think about the advantages of a healthy shareware market and your
responsibilities if you use the programs. Now, stop waiting for the
program to be perfect and send the money!
6.9
Disc not returned?
6.9
I still have a few discs which were sent to me for updating. These are
from people who didn’t enclose a stamp for return postage or who didn’t
include either a return label or their name and address. One or two just
wrote their address on the disc label, stuck it in an envelope and sent
it to me without either a stamp or a brief note! If you are one of
these, then write to me again including a stamp and a self-addressed
label and I’ll return your disc.
6.9
Posting discs
6.9
One thing demonstrated by this affair is how careless some people are
when sending discs through the post. The modern 3½“ disc is a lot
tougher than the old 5¼” variety but it still needs a certain amount of
protection. Just putting it into a normal envelope is asking for
trouble.
6.9
The easiest packaging to obtain and to use is the ubiquitous jiffy bag.
These are expensive to buy singly so the most sensible thing to do is to
keep one or two of the ones sent to you. Almost everyone receives
something in these at one time or another. Provided you open them
carefully, they can be reused many times. Not only will this save you
money but it also means that somewhere in the world another tree isn’t
being chopped down just so that you can post a disc! (If you bought the
monthly program disc from Archive, you’d have a regular supply − Paul
buys them by the thousand. I gather it is now only £20 a year, instead
of £24, for 12 discs.)
6.9
The main problem isn’t that the disc is likely to suffer damage from
external action but that by moving about inside the envelope it either
wears a hole in the packaging (aided and abetted by the Post Office
sorting machinery) or, more often, the metal slide catches on a part of
the envelope and is damaged.
6.9
(I would say that one in four discs arriving at NCS in ordinary
envelopes is damaged. If the metal slide is at all damaged, I remove it
to avoid damaging my floppy drive. A few pence paid on a jiffy can save
a few more pence for a floppy disc... and pounds for repairing a floppy
disc drive! Ed.)
6.9
If you don’t have a suitable-sized jiffy bag, there are two other
alternatives. The one used by many people is to sandwich the disc
between two pieces of thin card. These should be cut so that they just
fit inside the envelope and serve to protect the disc from outside
damage with the additional advantage that the pressure exerted upon the
disc stops it from sliding about.
6.9
Another method that I have found perfectly satisfactory, and a lot less
bother, is to use an A4-folded-in-three size envelope. The type which
opens at the end is best. Just drop the disc into the envelope and push
it down to the bottom. You will find that it’s a snug fit. Now, before
you seal it, fold the envelope in half. You will discover that the flap
can be folded over and stuck to the ‘bottom end’ of the envelope,
leaving you with a neat package almost exactly the size of a 3½“ disc.
If you are sending a letter with the disc then fold it around the disc
for added protection.
6.9
It’s not quite so easy if you only have the type of envelope that opens
along the top because you will need to fold it in half and stick it with
tape but it still works.
6.9
I have used this method many times and have never, to my knowledge, had
a disc damaged. Even if you need to buy the envelopes especially for
this purpose, they are a lot cheaper than jiffy bags. (At my local post
office, a size 00 jiffy bag costs 10p, so it’s not really a lot to pay,
is it, when you think that the stamp costs 18p or 24p? Ed.)
6.9
Competition
6.9
Things have been a bit slow so far and although I have received a few
entries and enquiries, I feel sure that there must be a lot more good
programs out there. Don’t be put off by thinking that you don’t have a
hope of winning. You certainly don’t stand any chance at all if you
don’t enter. Please write, enclosing a blank disc, and ask for the entry
conditions. I am extremely anxious to find a good home for both the cash
and the £20 vouchers, so even if you don’t think your program is a great
masterpiece, it may impress me and win you something worthwhile.
6.9
Special offers
6.9
The discs which I have been offering each month have proved very popular
and I hope that they have served to convince waverers that there are
some very high quality programs available as shareware and public domain
(as well as some rubbish, as even I am forced to admit). However, some
people have been treating these as a ‘back catalogue’ which was not my
intention. I hope to continue with this practice and so before things
get out of hand, I shall make it a rule that each offer extends only
until the next issue of Archive is published. I know that time can
sometimes pass very quickly and that readers in Australia and other far-
away places obviously get their copy a lot later so I’m not going to be
absolutely rigid on this but if you want a disc that I am offering,
remember it’s meant to be on offer for that issue of Archive only.
6.9
Persistence of Vision
6.9
I have mentioned this superb ray-tracing program before but, although
it’s not new, if you are interested in this subject and haven’t tried
it, you should certainly do so. It would seem to be the equal of many
commercial programs and, in some respects, superior. This month’s offer
is therefore a copy of PoV with the latest version of the !Model scene-
designer and a few example files for the usual price of £1 or four first
class stamps. If you can accept high density discs then for £1.50, I
will supply the program on a 1.6Mb disc with nearly 90 example files for
you to try.
6.9
Contact me at 39 Knighton Park Road, Sydenham, London, SE26 5RN.  A
6.9
Spreadsheet Column
6.9
Chris Johnson
6.9
I am now beginning to receive letters about spreadsheets, as yet only a
trickle, but they all contain something of interest. Thanks to all who
have taken the trouble to write. All the items I have been sent so far
have referred to Eureka. It may well be that this column becomes simply
the Eureka column.
6.9
Some general points on Eureka first. Almost everyone who has written to
me has been pleased with the overall performance and general results
obtained from the application, albeit usually with some reservations or
qualifications. It is a little early to decide what patterns are
emerging, especially in view of the fact that a significant fraction of
these qualifications result from comparisons with other spreadsheet
packages (e.g. PC or Mac) and may be very subjective.
6.9
Some writers have sent me copies of correspondence they have had with
Longman Logotron (LL). While I cannot comment directly on these, it is
clear that LL are keen to receive feedback from users in order to
enhance their software. In this connection, for users who do not wish to
write directly to LL with their suggestions, I am willing to act as a
clearing house.
6.9
As mentioned in Brian Cowan’s review (Archive 6.7 p75), a new version is
due to be released in the not too distant future. It will not only have
a number of significant enhancements, especially in the area of
printing, but will also have additions to the current manual and include
the long-awaited index. I can only add my personal comment that,
although I have been rather lukewarm in the past about the usefulness of
spreadsheets for my own purposes, the more I use Eureka, the more I like
it.
6.9
Printing
6.9
Back yet again to this topic which I raised last month. I must thank
Derrick Baker for a long letter which included some very well presented
printouts of a sample spreadsheet, demonstrating how easy it is to
produce very professional hard copy of DTP quality directly from Eureka.
Among other things, Derrick explained how to print selected parts of a
sheet without any gaps appearing between the selections and it is
obvious when you know how!
6.9
All you need to do is to mask out the inner sections of the sheet which
you do not wish to print by using the Hide Column and Hide Row
facilities (pp A-31 and A-32 of the Eureka manual) and then set the
overall boundaries for printing using the Print_Area definition facility
as described in last month’s column. I have been unable to find a
reference to this anywhere in the manual.
6.9
Let me expand a little on this. A range of columns (or rows) can be
selected in the usual way, by dragging with <select>. The Hide option is
then accessed from the Worksheet main menu by following Format -> Column
Width or Format -> Row Height (or <ctrl-shift-f3> or <ctrl-shift-f4>) to
open the appropriate dialogue box. One simply clicks on the icon
labelled Hide and, after a short pause, the selected columns (or rows)
disappear from the display and the gap is closed up. Once all the
unwanted areas have been hidden, the overall print area can be selected.
6.9
After the hard copy has been produced, it remains only to remember to
Unhide the hidden columns or rows. This is accomplished simply by
selecting a range of cells within which the hidden area is and then
going through the process outlined above, but in this case choosing
Unhide which is now, of course, selectable. The hidden area is
redisplayed.
6.9
Sorting
6.9
This is a topic which has apparently caused some confusion with several
users. The sort facility is a good one, with up to three levels of sort.
When performing a sort, if only one column is selected (e.g. in order to
sort by rows), then that column ONLY is sorted. The other columns remain
unaffected. This is clearly correct but can cause confusion. Only cells
within the selected area will be rearranged by the sort. To sort whole
rows (or columns) the whole row must be selected.  The sort itself is
always determined by the contents of the specified columns (or rows), up
to three.
6.9
Naming areas
6.9
If you intend regularly to sort the same area, it makes sense to make
use of the facility to Name and then Goto specified areas. Page B-8 of
the manual describes how you can name formula and cell references. One
thing you must remember is to precede the formula, or cell references,
with the equals sign, otherwise an error will be generated. In my
version (1.00), there appears to be a small bug in the editing the
writable icon of the define name dialogue box. While the copy key will
delete forwards, the delete key raises the delete rows and columns
dialogue box each time it is pressed, although the character to the left
of the caret is actually deleted as well.
6.9
Entering lists of data
6.9
This can be accomplished in more than one way. If you select the range
of cells first, then each time you press <return>, the next cell (either
to the right or down) will be activated ready for data entry. Note that
this process wraps around, i.e. if <return> is pressed when in the last
of the selected cells, the active cell will become the first one
selected. If a block is selected, rather than a single column or row,
then the active cell moves down the first column, and then the second
column, and so on. See pp A-12 and A-13 in the manual.
6.9
An alternative method is to use the arrow keys rather than <return> to
enter the data into the cell. In this case you do not need to select a
range of cells. The value is entered when the arrow key is pressed. The
next cell in the direction corresponding to the arrow key used is then
activated. This means that you can enter data to the left or upwards if
the need arises. One thing to remember − if you have entered edit mode
(by clicking to place the caret in the writable icon in the cell edit
window or by pressing <f2>) rather than entry mode, the second method
will not work, since the arrow keys move the caret in the string of
characters being edited instead. It is necessary to use <return> in this
case. The legend “entry” or “edit” is shown in the cell editing window
to remind you which mode you are using.
6.9
Charts
6.9
We have not had much about the graphs and charts side of Eureka so far.
Those of you who have tried to chart more than one set of figures will
have found that it is only possible if the sets of data are in adjacent
rows or columns. This appears to be a shortcoming of the current version
but the ability to chart non-contiguous sets of figures will be included
in the update mentioned above. However, until it arrives, you need to
think about the layout of your spreadsheet if you wish to use the
charting facility, or you will have to copy, or cut and paste the data
to get it adjacent. (J. A. Brook)
6.9
How to contact me
6.9
My postal address is: Chris Johnson, 7, Lovedale Grove, Balerno,
Edinburgh, EH14 7DR.
6.9
If you have a complicated problem for which you are requesting help, or
providing the solution, and it concerns Eureka, it would be useful to
send a copy of the sheet on disc (assuming the contents are not too
confidential!). The disc would be returned later (if you enclosed return
address and stamp).
6.9
Start those reports flooding in!  A
6.9
Sim City from Krisalis is here seen displaying four different windows on
a mode 74 screen: In the foreground is the budget window, immediately
behind it the graph, showing the crime rate in black, then the edit
window to the left and the map window, in City Form mode, to the right.
6.9
The 1945 Sim City evaluation says it all:
6.9
I am not, sad to say, the most successful mayor ever. Even if there has
been a slight population increase in the last year, business is slow and
the town hall is short of funds to pay the hard-working police.
6.9
To run a budget is always difficult, and not least while playing Sim
City. Higher taxes lead to less commerce but better services. Which
should you choose? Note that transport needs 100% or your roads start to
crumble very quickly indeed!
6.9
The Options menu. The game will run more or less automatically, but not
very successfully, if you select auto-budget. Sounds consists mainly of
women screaming and roars from Godzilla!
6.9
Factfile − Archive prices
6.9
SyQuest removable drive (42Mb)    −
£485
6.9
                            42Mb cartridges    −
£75
6.9
SyQuest removable drive (84Mb)    −
£670
6.9
                            84Mb cartridges    −
£120
6.9
Parallel Port Mono/SCSI adaptor    −
£55
6.9
Parallel Port Printer/SCSI adaptor    −
£83
6.9
RemoteFS (serial & parallel cable)    −
£53
6.9
Network RemoteFS    −    t.b.a.
6.9
Sorting a spreadsheet
6.9
The BJ200 is a brand new black and white desktop printer from Canon, the
market leaders in inkjet printing. This is a high speed, high resolution
printer ideally suited to the Archimedes range of computers.
6.9
Computer Concepts supply the BJ200 with a special version of their
TurboDrivers − the fastest printer drivers available for the Archimedes.
The printer includes a built-in 80 page sheet feeder. The price for the
printer with TurboDrivers is just £275 + vat (+p&p) − a full £100 less
than the recommended retail price.
6.9
At 360 dpi, the BJ200 offers significantly higher resolution than other
300 dpi inkjet printers and at faster than 1 page per minute for a full
page of graphics (or 3 pages per minute for plain text). It is also
faster than other printers in its price range. And being an inkjet
printer, it is quiet when printing.
6.9
The BJ200 with TurboDriver is the perfect answer to those users seeking
the best quality prints in the least possible time, without going to the
expense of a laser printer. In fact, we guarantee this is the fastest
high quality printer available for less than a laser printer, or your
money back.
6.9
NEW LOWER PRICE.....                     £275 + £10 p&p + vat (£334.87)
6.9
Government Health Warning − Reading this could seriously affect your
spiritual health.
6.9
There have been some interesting responses to the comments I made last
month, but to prove that Christians aren’t “always going on about sex”,
I’m going to talk about something different − love.
6.9
The trouble is that in the mind of twentieth century man (and woman,
too, I suppose), love is almost always associated with romance and/or
sex − and we are the poorer for that narrow view.
6.9
If you want to know what real love is then the bible has the answer. It
talks about many different aspects of love but all of them have the same
strand running through them − that of commitment within a relationship.
Again, this is something we have lost out on these days. The bible tries
to show that true love (including the feelings that are part of love)
can only really flourish if it is protected by the armour of commitment.
6.9
This is true in married love, of course, but it can be equally true of
friendship-love. By this, I mean that two people, whether of the same or
opposite sex, can have a deep friendship and be committed to helping,
supporting, understanding and, yes, loving one another. The trouble is
that people assume, almost automatically, that such a relationship must
have a sexual level to it. Rubbish! If anyone thinks that then they
don’t know what love really is!
6.9
So what is real love? Well, look at the way God loves us and is
committed to us, and you’ll find out. He loved us so much that he was
prepared to come into this messy world and live as one of us. What is
more, he (that is Jesus − God in a human frame) loved us so much that
even though he was totally innocent, he was prepared to die a horrific
death for us − now that is REAL love!
6.9
(How could Jesus’ death be, in any sense, for our benefit? Wasn’t it
just pointless, innocent, unjust suffering? No, not at all! It was a
very significant death. Why? No space left − you’ll just have to ask
someone you know to be a committed Christian − they should be prepared
to tell you.)
6.9