Archive Magazine CD 1995/Archive Magazine CD 1995.iso/text/magazine/volume_07/issue_01

Text File | 1995-06-25 | 275KB | 5,559 lines

Products Available
7.1
•    105Mb removable drive for A5000 − Just after last month’s magazine
went to the printers, we discovered that there is an IDE version of the
105Mb SyQuest removable drives. This means that you don’t need a SCSI
podule − it can use the built-in IDE interface. Not only that, but the
drives themselves are cheaper than the SCSI equivalent − £455 instead of
£490. Also, they will fit inside the A5000 and are user-fittable − no
soldering needed, just a screwdriver and enough technical common sense
to follow the fitting instructions.
7.1
These drives are not quite as fast as the SCSI version but they are up
to 20% faster than the A5000’s own 80Mb drive and up to 40% faster than
the 40Mb version.
7.1
To show just how much cheaper these drives are than existing SyQuests, I
have worked out the costings of a drive plus 200Mb of data storage and a
drive plus 400Mb of storage. These are Archive VAT-inclusive prices.
7.1
    Drive type    200Mb    400Mb
7.1
    42Mb    £710    £1085
7.1
    84Mb    £750    £950
7.1
    105Mb    £530    £680
7.1
This costing has been done on the assumption that you already have a
SCSI podule. If not, you have to add £160 to the costing for the 42Mb
and 84Mb versions but not the 105Mb as it is an IDE drive. (If you want
the faster SCSI 105Mb drive, just add £35 to the above costings.
7.1
•    Acorn Pocket Book pricing − The lower price of the Acorn Pocket Book
is being maintained for a little longer. They are currently available
through Archive for £200. Similarly, the special price on Schedule (£19
through Archive) is also being maintained and I think that there is
going to be a special offer on the A-Link − see the Price List for
details (if they arrive in time).
7.1
•    Almanac − Stallion Software Ltd have released a new version of
Almanac. Existing users can have a free upgrade by sending their old
disc to Stallion. The new version includes full support for 3D, larger
icons, import/export, extendable notes, multiple telephone/fax numbers
and support for FaxPack.
7.1
•    Alpine Adventure Collection − Alpine Soft-ware have released a games
compilation including two of their original games, Cops and Plague
Planet, plus one new one, Kidnapping − can you rescue your father, the
famous scientist, who has been kidnapped? All three games come as a
single compilation at £15 +VAT from Alpine Software.
7.1
•    Archive BBS on line! − With some invaluable help from Paul Welbank of
StarNet BBS (0603-507216), we have got the Archive Bulletin Board up and
running − well, sort of! It tends to be a bit fragile, so please report
any teething troubles you find and also let us know what features you
would like to see added. Give it a ring on 0603-766585.
7.1
•    Archive Hints & Tips − Matthew Hunter, who has been helping out at
Norwich Computer Services over the summer has converted the whole of the
Archive Hints & Tips data into Knowledge Organiser II format. This means
that you can search through the data much more easily and quickly,
looking for different topics, themes and/or words. This version will
only work on machines with 2Mb RAM or more but you do not need to own KO
II to run this application. It comes with full instructions and costs
£12 inclusive to Archive members. Those who have bought the original
Hints & Tips discs may return them for an upgrade for £2.
7.1
•    Archive words discs on removable − We have now made all the Archive
words discs available on removable hard drives. On either a 42Mb, 84Mb
or a 105Mb, you can have all the words from Archive 4.5 up to the
current issue plus separate files for Hints & Tips and Products
Available. The 42Mb disc version is £85, 84Mb is £110 and 105Mb is £85.
7.1
•    ARM3 + fpa deal − We have managed to get some better pricing on the
ARM3 + fpa combination. We can now offer the two together with the fpa
installed and tested for £235. If you have an old ARM3 for part
exchange, you will only need to send us a cheque for £175.
7.1
•    Assembler Help − Stallion Software Ltd has now produced Assembler Help
(using Strong-HLP). This stand-alone program gives help for assembly
language programmers. It includes help on ARM instructions, FP
instructions, assembler directives, variables, macros, instruction
formats and instruction speeds. Assembler Help costs £15.95 +VAT from
Stallion Software Ltd.
7.1
•    Blood Sport is a martial arts game from Matt Black featuring ten
deadly opponents, each with a unique fighting style. Blood Sport costs
£12 inclusive of VAT and carriage from Matt Black.
7.1
•    CD-ROM drives − Morley Electronics now have two “Revolution” CD-ROM
drives available, an economy version for £299 +VAT and a high
specification one, the Revolution Pro, for £499 +VAT (£350 and £575
through Archive, respectively). Both the drives are fully multi-session
and PhotoCD compatible but the Revolution Pro is capable of data
transfer rates of over 300Kb/s.
7.1
•    Creator II − Alpine Software have produced an updated version of their
game-creating program. The new version is £49 +VAT from Alpine and
registered users of Creator can upgrade for £20 +VAT. New features
include scroll text for demo writing, bar graph facility for displaying
energy, shield levels, etc, tiled backgrounds for memory saving, and it
now handles multi-level games. The new version comes on three discs with
a 100 page manual.
7.1
•    Event is a diary system produced by ExpLAN for the Archimedes. It
takes up very little space on the Archimedes and will talk to Schedule
on the Pocket Book and Agenda on the Psion 3. Event costs £24.95
inclusive from ExpLAN.
7.1
•    Ethernet Card − Digital Services are the latest company to announce an
Ethernet expansion card for Acorn machines. The new card is now shipping
in quantity and has apparently been designed to provide maximum possible
bandwidth on thin Ethernet systems. It incorporates two features which
are claimed to be unique: the computer’s CMOS RAM may be password
protected, thus preventing unauthorised personnel from tampering with
the configuration and, secondly, the NetGain for Ethernet client
software is included in the ROM. The latter enables fast application
loading when used in conjunction with the NetGain server pack. Currently
the card is available to fit A3000, A3020 and A4000 and is priced at
£139 +VAT from Digital Services.
7.1
•    Illusions Disc Magazine − Virtuality disc mag-azine and Illusions disc
magazine have merged to form a single larger magazine. New prices for
the bimonthly magazine are: 1 issue £2.50, 3 issues £7.50, 6 issues
£14.50.
7.1
•    Impression tutorial − Illusions Disc Magazine have published a 10-part
Impression tutorial on disc. The disc also contains some colour and b&w
clipart to be used within the tutorial. This costs £9.95 inclusive from
Illusions Disc Magazine.
7.1
•    JPEG Shareware disc − Stuart Bell has put together a Shareware disc
with the latest versions of various JPEG applications. It contains:
!FYEO, version 1.02; !Jewel, version 0.04; !JFIF, version 26th June
1993; !JPEGinst to install !JPEGit, version 1.11A, i.e. the PD version;
!JView, version 0.07; djpeg (Keith Sloan’s implementation), file dated
18 Nov 1991; !ChangeFSI, version 0.90a; JPEG-FAQ − a text file pulled
off Usenet and headed “JPEG image compression: Frequently Asked
Questions”. This is available as Archive Shareware Disc 51.
7.1
•    Keyboards on special offer − If your keyboard is getting a little
unreliable, (e.g. CapsLock problems) then you can try cleaning it. (See
page 32 for details.) If the problems persist, it might be worth
thinking of replacing it with a brand new keyboard. We have managed to
get hold of about ten brand new Acorn keyboards (as supplied with A5000)
and can sell them at a special price of £95 instead of the normal price
of £123. If you want to buy a new Acorn mouse at the same time you can
buy keyboard plus mouse for £130.
7.1
•    Keystroke is a new desktop utility which allows you to perform a range
of desktop activities, including using existing desktop programs like
Impression by just pressing keys. We mentioned it last month but forgot
to say that it is available for £29.95 inclusive from Quantum Software.
It is now also available through Archive for £28. (See the review on
page 21.)
7.1
•    Kim’s Game − There is now a computer version of the familiar parlour
game which took on a new meaning in The Generation Game! Kim’s Game from
Le Computer offers “hours of fun for all the family” for £25 inclusive
of VAT and p&p.
7.1
•    Lexicon 2 − Stallion Software Ltd have rel-eased a new version of
Lexicon. Existing users can have a free upgrade by sending their old
disc to Stallion. The new version includes cloze testing, vocabulary
testing and 3D-look. Russian, French and German versions are available.
7.1
•    Lingo Master − This is described by its author, Nigel Caplan, as “a
unique shareware program which allows anyone to learn any language at
any level for just £5 registration”. The aim of the pro-gram is to help
you with your vocabulary storage and learning. It allows you to enter
vocabulary (it comes with 2,000 words in three languages) and then tests
you on that vocabulary. You can get an unregistered version for £1 or
register for £5 or get a full site licence for £10 from Nigel Caplan, 33
Alwoodley Lane, Leeds, LS17 7PU.
7.1
•    Memory madness − There is a general rise in the price of memory at the
moment and supply is getting difficult on some items. In particular, the
A3020/A4000 2Mb upgrades will not be available until early October and
we think they will be about £95 instead of the current £70. We do have
two 2Mb upgrades left in stock but will only sell them with A4000
computers. The A3000 1-2Mb upgrade is now £70 and the 1-4Mb is £140.
7.1
•    Morley hard drives − Morley Electronics have extended their range of
hard drives up to 500Mb. New Archive prices are as follows:
7.1
       Size (Mb)    Internal    External
7.1
    40    £320    £400
7.1
    80    £400    £480
7.1
    120    £490    £570
7.1
    240    £700    £780
7.1
    330    £780    £860
7.1
    500    £1100    £1180
7.1
•    Phases à la Français − There is now a French version of the popular
Phases WP/DTP package. Phases à la Français costs £24 (+£3 p&p) +VAT
from NW SEMERC.
7.1
•    Print, design and bureau service for Acorn computer users. Alternative
Publishing in Glasgow are offering various services to Archimedes users
who need to get their DTP output professionally typeset and printed.
Contact Majid Anwar at Alternative Publishing for more details.
7.1
•    Replay DIY − Irlam Instruments can provide you with the means of
creating your own computer movies. Replay DIY consists of a single-width
podule plus software. You need an ARM3, at least 2Mb of RAM (4Mb for
preference) and a fast hard disc to run it. (The new version of the
A5000 would be ideal!) Plug in a video camera and you can start to
record live sequences − or pre-record and digitise from a video
recorder. Remember though that it chews up an awful lot of disc space −
about 20Mb/minute! The software then compresses this down to about
4.5Mb/minute. Replay DIY costs £250 +VAT from Irlam Instruments or £285
through Archive including carriage.
7.1
(Is anyone already using Replay DIY? Would anyone be prepared to give us
their views and/or hints & tips regarding its use?)
7.1
•    Resultz is here! − Colton Software’s new spreadsheet that links in
with their wordprocessor, Wordz is now available. (See PipeLineZ for de-
tails, on page 45.) It costs £119 +VAT or £125 through Archive. (If you
buy it direct from Colton before 15th October, the price is only £119
inc VAT − Archive will match the offer until the same date.)
7.1
•    RISC OS 3 special offer coming to an end − Acorn have said that the
special offer on RISC OS 3 (i.e. £49 instead of £89) has been extended
up to the end of October but that the A5000 version (£29) will be
discontinued forthwith. We still have a few of each in stock.
7.1
•    Scanlight price drop − With the coming of the Scanlight Video 256 (see
Products Available last month) there has been a small drop in price of
the Scanlight 256. This has now dropped to an Archive price of £215. The
A3000/4000 version stays at £225.
7.1
•    Scanlight Plus A4 discontinued (sort of!) − CC are having problems
getting hold of the sheetfeeders for their A4 Scanlight scanners. They
still have the scanners (£325) and these are going to be available,
“while stocks last”. We have some of the A3000 version available,
normally £325, but we will sell them (to clear stocks) £285 − cf the A5
version at £225.
7.1
•    Schedule re-scheduled!!!! − Once again, please accept our apologies
(on behalf of Acorn) to the dozens of you who are sitting waiting for
Schedule for the Acorn Pocket Book. The delivery date has slipped back
and Acorn are now saying that they will be coming to us in the week
commencing 17th September.
7.1
•    Stokke Wing chairs − We have sold quite a few of the chairs we
mentioned last month but are having difficulty importing more. The ones
available from stock at the moment are beech and rosewood (not teak) and
the cover colours available are black, navy blue, light blue, red,
beige, green, plum or dark grey. They cost £320 each.
7.1
•    StrongEd from Stallion Software is “a fast, compact and powerful
editor that supports editing multiple files and throwback”. Strong-Ed is
written in assembler and occupies less than 200Kb of RAM. It costs
£25.70 +VAT from Stallion Software.
7.1
•    Tales of Lore is a dungeon style games program in which you, the
goodie, are fighting against the bad guys and solving various puzzles
along the way. This game runs on all 1Mb RISC OS 3 machines and is
available from UK Software for £29.95 inclusive.
7.1
•    Vigil − If you find debugging your multitasking programs a chore,
Vigil from Rhein-gold Enterprises should be rather helpful to you. It
allows you to see what is going on inside your program while it is
running, i.e. the state of its memory, variable, etc. Vigil costs £24.95
inclusive from Rheingold or £23 through Archive.
7.1
Review software received...
7.1
We have received review copies of the following: 1st Paint (e), Alpha-
Sound (e), Archimedes Game Maker’s Manual (programming book), ArcVenture
III − The Vikings (e), CADMust (computer aided circuit design), Choices
(e), E-Numix (e), Frontier 2000 (e), Gestalt 2 − Money & Shopping (e),
Gestalt 2 − Time & Fractions (e), Kim’s Game (ge), Letters (e), Mini
Expansion Adaptor (h), Pictogram + Word Library (e), Sea, Trade & Empire
(e), Small Steps (e), Soapbox (e), Sounds & Rhymes (e), Splash (ea),
StrongEd (u), Switch (g), Tiles (e), TOM computer simulator (see 6.5 p9)
(e).
7.1
e=Education, g=Game, h=Hardware, l=Language, m=Music, u=Utility,
a=Art.  A
7.1
Government Health Warning − Reading this could seriously affect your
spiritual health.
7.1
First of all, I must apologise to those of you who thought that this
God-slot had finally been pushed out... only to find it had been put,
temporarily, at the back of the magazine!
7.1
Thanks for all the very interesting correspondence it provoked − whether
to support or to object. Surprisingly, there were many who called
themselves atheists or agnostics who were in support of the God-slot and
I am especially grateful for their support. This brings me to my main
point this month which I know is going to alienate quite a few of those
who declared their support for me (sorry!)...
7.1
The biggest danger both inside and outside the church today is the “live
and let live” philosophy −  statements like, “It doesn’t matter what you
believe as long as you are sincere.” or “All religions lead to God.”.
These just do NOT square with the real Christian message. Read for
youself what Jesus said and then try to tell me that he only said “nice”
things like “love your neighbour”, etc.
7.1
Did Jesus say, (John 14v6) “I am one way (to God), an aspect of the
truth and a source of life”? No, he said, “I am THE way, THE truth and
THE life. (my capitals) No-one comes to the Father except through me”.
Or how about that familiar passage, John 3v16: “God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not
miss out on God’s blessing...” No, that is not what he said! He actually
said that “shall not perish”. Perish? Surely Jesus wouldn’t condemn
anyone, would he? Surely, Christianity is about love and acceptance?
Well, try reading on to verse 18... “whoever does not believe stands
condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one
and only Son..” Condemned? Just because he didn’t believe in Jesus?
That’s not very nice!
7.1
Some will say I am quoting Jesus out of context and misrepresenting him.
OK, read it for yourself and prove me wrong. No, if you are a person of
integrity, there are only two reactions to Jesus’ claims. You will
either say, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”
(which is what they said about Jesus in John 10v20) or “This man really
is the Saviour of the world.” (John 4v42)
7.1
I have some free copies of John’s gospel. I will send one to anyone who
is prepared to read it. What is more, I will give a year’s free
subscription to Archive to anyone who can honestly come up with any
conclusion about Jesus other than that he was mad, bad or the Son of
God.
7.1
Norwich Computer Services 96a Vauxhall Street, Norwich, NR2 2SD.
0603−766592 (−764011)
7.1
4th Dimension     P.O. Box 4444, Sheffield. (0742-700661) (0742-781091)
7.1
4Mation     11 Castle Park Road, Whiddon Valley, Barnstaple, Devon, EX32
8PA. (0271-25353) (0271-22974)
7.1
Abacus Training    29 Okus Grove, Upper Stratton, Swindon, Wilts, SN2
6QA.
7.1
Acorn Computers Ltd    Acorn House,
Vision Park, Histon, Cambridge, CB4 4AE. (0223-254254) (0223-254262)
7.1
Alpine Software     P.O.Box 25, Portadown, Craigavon, BT63 5UT. (0762-
342510)
7.1
Alternative Publishing     Suite 91, 9A
Pentagon House, 36 Washington Street, Glasgow, G3 8AZ. (041-248-2322)
(041-248-3638)
7.1
Atomwide Ltd     7 The Metro Centre, Bridge Road, Orpington, Kent, BR5 2BE.
7.1
    (0689-838852) (0689-896088)
7.1
Cambridgeshire Software House       7 Free
Church Passage, St Ives, PE17 4AY. (0480-467945) (0480-496442)
7.1
Chalksoft     P.O. Box 49, Spalding, Lincs, PE11 1NZ. (0775-769518)
7.1
Clares Micro Supplies     98
Middlewich Road, Rudheath, Northwich, Cheshire, CW9 7DA.
7.1
    (0606-48511) (0606-48512)
7.1
Colton Software (p10)    2 Signet
Court, Swanns Road, Cambridge, CB5 8LA. (0223-311881)
7.1
    (0223-312010)
7.1
Computer Concepts (pp19/20)    Gaddesden
Place, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP2 6EX. (0442-63933)
7.1
    (0442-231632)
7.1
Cygnus Software     11 Newmarke Street, Leicester, LE1 5SS.
7.1
Dalriada Data Technology (p5)     145 Albion
Street, Kenilworth, Warkwickshire, CV8 2FY. (0926-53901)
7.1
Digital Services     9 Wayte Street, Cosham, Portsmouth PO6 3BS. (0705-
210600)
7.1
    (0705-210705)
7.1
EESOX     5 Hillfield Road, Comberton, Cambridge, CB3 7DB. (0223-264242)
7.1
ExpLAN     34 Drake Gardens, Tavistock, Devon, PL19 9AT. (0822-613868)
7.1
HCCS Ltd     575-583 Durham Road, Gateshead, NE9 5JJ. (091-487-0760)
7.1
    (091-491-0431)
7.1
Holdfast Computing     Strode
House, Strode Gardens, Alveston, Bristol, BS12 2PL. (0454-411126)
7.1
Human Computer Interface Ltd     25 City
Road, Cambridge CB1 1DP. (0223-314934) (0223-462562)
7.1
Illusions Disc Magazine    42 Wimborne
Gardens, Ealing, London, W13 8BZ.
7.1
Iota Software Ltd     St John’s
Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 4WS.
7.1
    (0223-421542) (0223-421543)
7.1
Krisalis Software     Teque House,
Mason’s Yard, Downs Row, Moorgate, Rotherham, S60 2HD. (0709-372290)
7.1
Lambda Publications (p16)    194 Cheney
Manor Road, Swindon SN2 2NZ. (0793-695296)
7.1
Le Computer     Main Road, Willows Green, Chelmsford, CM3 1QB. (0245-
362225)
7.1
    (0245-362225)
7.1
Leading Edge     376 Meanwood Road, Leeds, LS7 2JH. (0532-621111) (0532-
374163)
7.1
Longman-Logotron     124 Cambridge Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4
4ZS.
7.1
    (0223-425558) (0223-425349)
7.1
Matt Black     P.O.Box 42, Peterborough, PE1 2TZ. (0733-315439)
7.1
Morley Electronics     Morley
House, Norham Road, North Shields, Tyne & Wear, NE29 7TY. (091-257-6355)
(091-257-6373)
7.1
Northwest SEMERC     Fitton Hill CDC, Rosary Road, Oldham, OL8 2QE. (061-
627-4469)
7.1
Oak Solutions (p6)    Broadway
House, 149-151 St Neots Road, Hardwick, Cambridge, CB3 7QJ. (0954-
211760) (0954-211760)
7.1
Oregan Developments     36 Grosvenor
Avenue, Streetly, Sutton Coldfield, B74 3PE.
7.1
Quantum Software     35 Pinewood Park, Deans, Livingston, EH54 8NN. (0506-
411162 after 6)
7.1
Really Small Software Company      Olivers
Hill, Ashburnham, Battle, Sussex, TN33 9PE. (0435-830467 - eve & w/e)
7.1
Rheingold Enterprises     7
Waterbridge Court, Appleton, Warrington, WA4 3BJ. (0925-210657)
7.1
Risc Developments (p23)    117 Hatfield
Road, St Albans, Herts, AL1 4JS. (0727-840303) (0727-860263)
7.1
Software 42     109 Ferry Road, Hullbridge, Essex, SS5 6EL.
7.1
Stallion Software Ltd     Arundel
House, Arundel Road, Camden, Bath, BA1 5JX. (0225-339090)
7.1
Storm Educational Software     Coachman’s
Quarters, Digby Road, Sherbourne, Dorset, DT9 3NN. (0935-817699)
7.1
System Insight     Unit 1-3, East Burrowfield, Welwyn Garden City, Herts,
AL7 4TB. (0707-395500) (0707-395501)
7.1
TBA Software     24 Eastgate, Aberystwyth, Dyfed, SY23 2AR. (0970-626785)
7.1
UK Software     38 Midlands Estate, West End, Southampton, SO3 3AD. (0703-
474681)
7.1
Oak Solutions (p6)    Broadway
House, 149-151 St Neots Road, Hardwick, Cambridge, CB3 7QJ. (0954-
211760) (0954-211760)
7.1
Oregan Developments     36 Grosvenor
Avenue, Streetly, Sutton Coldfield, B74 3PE.
7.1
Quantum Software     35 Pinewood Park, Deans, Livingston, EH54 8NN. (0506-
411162 after 6)
7.1
Really Small Software Company      Olivers
Hill, Ashburnham, Battle, Sussex, TN33 9PE. (0435-830467)
7.1
Rheingold Enterprises     7
Waterbridge Court, Appleton, Warrington, WA4 3BJ. (0925-210657)
7.1
Risc Developments (p23)    117 Hatfield
Road, St Albans, Herts, AL1 4JS. (0727-840303)
7.1
    (0727-860263)
7.1
Software 42     109 Ferry Road, Hullbridge, Essex, SS5 6EL.
7.1
Stallion Software Ltd     Arundel
House, Arundel Road, Camden, Bath, BA1 5JX. (0225-339090)
7.1
Storm Educational Software     Coachman’s
Quarters, Digby Road, Sherbourne, Dorset, DT9 3NN.
7.1
    (0935-817699)
7.1
System Insight     Unit 1-3, East Burrowfield, Welwyn Garden City, Herts,
AL7 4TB.
7.1
    (0707-395500) (0707-395501)
7.1
TBA Software     24 Eastgate, Aberystwyth, Dyfed, SY23 2AR. (0970-626785)
7.1
UK Software     38 Midlands Estate, West End, Southampton, SO3 3AD. (0703-
474681)
7.1
Unveiling the Vision
7.1
The ‘Vision for the Future Mk II’ is gradually being unveiled by Acorn.
It is now clear that their vision is most certainly not limited to an
exciting new ARM700/VIDC20/256Mb RAM machine some time in the new year.
The vision starts NOW.
7.1
Acorn have launched some newly bundled packages for A3010, A4000 and
A5000. They have improved the software content, souped up the
specification for the A5000 and yet reduced all the prices! The idea is
obviously to capitalise on the current weakness of Amiga and Atari and
get into the home market in a very big way this autumn and winter. The
pricing and the marketing are both very aggressive, the latter being
based round a huge press campaign offering a free video which will show
the strengths of the Acorn machines and how it ‘blows the opposition out
of the water’.
7.1
Details are hazy at the moment but as information is released, we will
do our best to keep you up-to-date with all that’s happening. (Check out
the Price List for any last minute details that we discover.) For the
main bulk of the information that we know already, turn to page 7 and
read the section in Acorn World show report.
7.1
Exciting times, aren’t they?!
7.1
Paul Beverley
7.1
P.B.
7.1
Dalriada
7.1
From 6.12 page 18
7.1
Oak
7.1
From 6.12 page 20
7.1
Acorn World Report − 2
7.1
Paul Beverley
7.1
The exciting news this month is the launch of a range of new, bigger and
better and yet cheaper computer bundles, each with an impressive set of
‘free’ software. Most of them are based on the existing, unmodified
computers but one has an upgraded computer.
7.1
New, faster A5000
7.1
At last, Acorn have done something about the major gap at the top end of
their RISC OS computer range (I mean apart from the ARM700/VIDC20/256Mb
RAM mega computer to be launched next year). The A540 has long been out-
moded with its 800Kb floppy drive but the A5000 was always short of
memory at a maximum of 4Mb. There have been third-party memory upgrades
beyond 4Mb but none are what you would call ‘cheap and reliable’.
7.1
The new A5000s have a RAM capacity of up to 8Mb. They have, of course,
got the higher density 1.6Mb floppy drive but it is better than the A540
in one other important way − it is faster. Acorn have commissioned from
VLSI some higher speed ARM3 chips. These run at 33MHz − even faster than
the early A540s that had a 30MHz processor and certainly faster than the
majority of A540s that had the 24MHz ARM3.
7.1
For the technically-minded, these higher speed processors are built with
the new 0.8µ fabrication process which can ensure trouble-free operation
at 33MHz clock rates. The floating point accelerator will also be
available in this new higher speed version before the end of the year.
Until then, only 24MHz machines will be able to have FPAs fitted.
7.1
The 33MHz clock means a raw speed increase of 30%. In real terms, this
means that, depending on the application, you can expect to see about
20% speed improvement. Neil Gardener, Acorn’s Product Manager, says that
the A5000 is now faster, in terms of measured performance, than a
typical 33MHz 486 PC.
7.1
The new A5000 will comes in four models which echo the existing models:
2Mb/80Mb, 4Mb/160Mb and the two network versions, Econet and Ethernet.
7.1
A5000 pricing
7.1
The A5000 computers, although higher specification, are lower in price!
The 2Mb/80Mb model is £1499 incVAT and the 4Mb/160Mb is £1699 incVAT.
(They are currently £1644 and £1879 incVAT, i.e. price drops of £145 and
£180 respectively.)
7.1
The hard-disc-less A5000s are £1382 and £1499 incVAT for the Econet and
Ethernet versions respectively.
7.1
We don’t yet have any pricing information for the 4-8Mb upgrades. (See
Price List for latest news.)
7.1
New Acorn bundles
7.1
The new bundles are, for the A3010, an Action Pack (to replace the
Family Solution) and a re-vamped Learning Curve and, for the A4000 and
A5000, a re-vamped Home Office or the same Learning Curve as for the
A3010.
7.1
The idea is to provide a more versatile set of packages than at present.
Also, as well as providing ready-to-run software, each bundle has some
‘interactive demonstration software’, i.e. the sorts of demos you get on
some of the Acorn User, Acorn Computing and Archimedes World program
discs.
7.1
The A3010 is only available as a 1Mb Action Pack or a 2Mb Learning Curve
but you can buy the A4000 and the two A5000 hard-drive versions with
Home Office, Learning Curve or neither.
7.1
The Action Pack
7.1
This has Zool (see the review on page 39), StartWrite and an audio
training tape plus interactive demonstrations of Lemmings, Chuck Rock,
Fervour and Superpool.
7.1
The Learning Curve Pack
7.1
The Learning Curve includes, as we suspected, Acorn Advance (WP,
spreadsheet, database + graphs) and PC Emulator (the name PCSoft seems
to have been dropped) with DR DOS 6 as well as the audio training tape.
The interactive demonstrations included are: Rhapsody, ScoreDraw,
VoxBox, Fervour, SmArt, Naughty Stories, Topographer, Darryl the Dragon,
Crystal Rain Forest and ArcVenture Vikings.
7.1
The Home Office Pack
7.1
The Home Office includes EasiWriter, DataPower (instead of Desktop
Database as was supplied with the old Home Office), PipeDream 4 and the
PC Emulator with DR DOS 6 as well as the audio training tape. (Even at
Archive prices, that’s almost £600 worth of software!) The interactive
demonstrations are: Prophet and Almanac.
7.1
A3010 pricing
7.1
The A3010 Action Pack costs £399 incVAT (cf £499 for the old Family
Solution). If you want a monitor, that makes it £648 with an AKF30
monitor or £698 with an AKF18. The A3010 Learning Curve is £749 incVAT
with an AKF30 or £799 with an AKF18. That’s a decrease of £50 on the old
A3010 Learning Curve and you get the much-improved range of software.
7.1
A4000/5000 pricing
7.1
The prices (all including VAT) of the A4000 and A5000 computers with
their different packs are:
7.1
    Base    LC    HO
7.1
A4000† 2Mb/80Mb    £999    £1049
£1099
7.1
A5000 2Mb/80Mb    £1499    £1549
£1599
7.1
A5000 4Mb/160Mb    £1699    £1749
£1799
7.1
†A4000 has AKF30 monitor as standard. Add £50 for an AKF18 multisync
monitor.
7.1
Hitting the consumer market
7.1
As well as marketing the new computer bundles, Acorn are making major
efforts to get a huge range of games titles available and are hoping
that many of them will be released at the same time as the PC and Amiga
versions. They are making experienced ARM programmers available to help
software houses port leading games titles to run on Acorn systems.
Efforts are being made to involve as many of the mainstream software
publishers as possible. These will include US Gold, Gremlin, Renegade,
Ocean and Electronic Arts.
7.1
The other major move in this area is to involve Centresoft. They are a
leading distributor and wholesaler of home entertainment software, video
games, accessories and low-end business software applications. The
expectation is that their established links with leading high street
multiples will result in the early availability of Acorn titles in key
retail outlets such as Virgin, Boots, John Menzies and W H Smith.
Acorn’s Consumer Sales and Marketing Manager, Richard Percey,  says, “We
are strongly positioning Acorn as the choice for home ‘edutainment’
computing. Acorn already have an impressive range of education software
but we recognise the need to balance this with a strong base of
entertainment titles.”
7.1
Acorn’s ad campaign
7.1
Acorn are using a rather different advertising campaign this autumn/
winter, leading up to Christmas, to try to sell these new computer
packages. Instead of using TV commercials, Acorn are going to get the
commercials actually into people’s homes. The ad campaign, which is
based on trade and national press publications, is offering a free 20
minute information video featuring Blue Peter’s John Leslie.
7.1
The video focuses on both the Acorn range of computers and other
manufacturers’ computers that are aimed at the home computer market
giving “a visual and incisive comparison of the different products
available” − just wait until you see it − you’ll love it! The video also
aims to be informative so that when people go to buy a computer, they
will understand more about what they are buying and what are the issues
on which to base their purchasing decision. (To me, this shows that
Acorn really believe that their computers are the best, if they are
making such an effort to enable people to make an informed decision
about their computer purchase, rather than just trying to sell on some
kind of hype.)
7.1
Nametape promotion
7.1
One strand of Acorn’s campaign is a promotion in partnership with J & J
Cash, the leading supplier of children’s nametapes. Acorn and J & J Cash
will be offering “ten Archimedes 32-bit RISC computers and 50,000
entertainment and educational software vouchers worth £200 each”. Yes,
that’s over £10 million. (I think we need a few more details before we
get too excited! My guess is that it’s something like... if you buy a
set of nametapes, you get a chance to win a computer and also a voucher
that is worth £200 off software when you buy an Acorn computer − so to
get your £10M worth of vouchers, you need to buy £50M worth of computers
− more than Acorn’s 1992 turnover. What a cynic I am!)
7.1
Laser light show
7.1
Acorn have signed up Laser Grafix to add a further touch of excitement
to Acorn World. (For the old fogies like me, Laser Grafix are apparently
well known for providing top flight rock bands − from Deep Purple to
Elton John − with spectacular laser light shows for their tours.)
7.1
Yes, you’ve guessed it... At the heart of the Laser Grafix control
systems are Archimedes computers. Even their Prisma single output system
“is able to display far more effects, including text, than conventional
twin and triple scan laser systems currently on the market.”
7.1
Apparently, Laser Grafix’ systems use two types of laser − Argon which
gives blue and green and Krypton which gives red. With these, they can
produce white light that will provide the full spectrum of colours.
7.1
By synchronisation with standard time code equipment, the Prisma can
also interact with, and give precision timing to, slide and video
presentations, whilst any graphics or text can be converted into a full
colour laser image.
7.1
Education section
7.1
In the education section of Acorn World, Acorn will obviously be
displaying the computers used in education but they will also be
offering an insight into future developments in the educational field −
for example, in response to the demands of the National Curriculum and
for children with special needs.
7.1
Based around the theme of ‘IT in Action’, they will be showing
innovative uses of IT in education. For example, children from local
schools will be abseiling down a specially constructed tower within the
exhibition hall whilst being connected by sensors to an Acorn computer.
This will monitor pulse and respiration rates generated by the human
body under stress.
7.1
There will also be a ‘Secondary School Focus’ where, amongst other
things, they will be displaying Irlam’s new DIY Replay − the low cost
DIY full motion video technology. Pupils from locals schools will be
using it to create Replay movies directly from camcorder or video tape.
7.1
Pupils will also be demonstrating aspects of using Acorn computers
within Design & Technology. In particular, they will be showing a 3D
CAD/CAM package which will allow them to create architectural designs
and do cost analyses.
7.1
PhotoCD demo
7.1
Further to what we said last month, it seems that if you shoot a roll of
Kodak film and take it, undeveloped, to Acorn World, there is a chance
that you will be one of the first people to see your pictures on CD-ROM.
7.1
New Impressions
7.1
Computer Concepts are advertising a new word processor for £99 +VAT,
said to be “available at Acorn World”. There are also reports of “two
new versions of Impression” being released at the show, Impression Style
and Impression Professional, the latter should be a great help to those
who, like myself, produce Archimedes magazines using Impression.
7.1
What else?
7.1
Many third party software and hardware suppliers are saying that they
will be releasing new products at Acorn World. I think we may need a
special Archive supplement just for “Products that became Available” at
Acorn World ’93!  A
7.1
Colton
7.1
From 6.12 page 25
7.1
Stunt Racer 2000
7.1
Matthew Hunter
7.1
This is the latest car driving game from 4th Dimension and costs £34.95
(or £32 through Archive). It was reviewed on several machines
predominantly on an expanded A3000 (ARM3, 4Mb RAM, RISC OS 3.10 and IDE
hard drive), but also on a 2Mb A3010 and two 4Mb A5000s (one was RISC OS
3.0).
7.1
Only forty-four years left...
7.1
The actual setting is the year 2037 and, despite the changes that the
Formula One governing body is introducing, what people really want to
see on TV is action − and that means crashes. This is where the World
Federation Entertainments Network steps in to sponsor (and incidentally
transmit to an audience of over 750 million worldwide − did someone say
“advertising revenue”?) an event called ‘Stunt Racer 2000’. The formula
is simple. Take a track, based loosely on the most sickening ride from
your favourite amusement park, remove vital sections, add a few cars and
find people crazy enough to drive them, transmit it via satellite and
count the money as it comes in. The only problem is, there are still a
couple of free cars... and guess who gets to drive this one! That’s all
there is to the plot. If you finish a race, you might make enough money
to bang out the dents before you move on to the next race but then that
would take some of the fun out of it.
7.1
What you get...
7.1
Stunt Racer 2000 comes as one video style standard 4th Dimension
package, containing two discs and a manual. I was quite impressed by the
manual − it tells you what you need to know without trying to force the
plot (which, let’s face it, most people are not interested in) into your
brain. It does contain a considerable amount of humour as well, making
it an entertaining read in its own right. One of the first things that
it tells you is that you should make a backup of the second disc (or
install the whole lot onto a hard drive). It is tempting to ignore this
and leap straight in but, like many modern games, it saves data back to
the disc, so if you want to ensure that you can get back to the original
state, I would say that a copy should be made. Whether you simply copy
the second disc or install onto a hard drive, you will still need the
first disc handy as this is part of the copy protection and it is not
copyable.
7.1
On your marks...
7.1
Although I would regard myself as being firmly loyal to Acorn, I have
always felt that the games that come across best are those that have
been ported from other machines. (Remember all the hype when we finally
got Lemmings? − and where is Lemmings 2?) One particular example is the
E-Type/Lotus Turbo Challenge comparison. They are both very similar
games and some aspects of E-Type are far superior (especially
considering the relative age) but most would agree that Lotus is much
better presented. To my way of thinking, Stunt Racer 2000 goes some way
to breaking out of this mould.
7.1
The title screen, although simple, is very impressive and whilst the
between-game screen graphics still possess that Archimedes
“cartooniness”, the display is of a much higher quality than usual. The
reason for this becomes obvious if you read the inside cover of the
manual. Instead of the usual ‘Written by’ credit, various people are
accredited for different parts of the production. It is no longer good
enough for one person to create an entire game. Just because you can
program, it does not mean that you have the necessary artistic ability
to produce the right effect − and what about the music? If this is a
sign of things to come in the Acorn market, I’m very pleased, and it’s
about time!
7.1
Get set...
7.1
So you have seen the nice introduction and are now faced with a screen
of icons which is quite daunting at first. The manual should still be at
hand − following the ‘Quick Start’ instructions gets you quickly to the
driving seat. It should be noted, however, that the program will allow
you to configure it to choose whether you want the internal speaker on
or off, which of the three music tracks you want to hear, and whether
you want the music at the menus and during the game? You can have in-
game music and sound effects at the same time which greatly adds to the
feel of the game although for any in-game music, a 2Mb machine is
required. Other options allow you to set the graphical detail for course
and cars − even running at maximum for both is extremely fast on an ARM3
machine, making arcade games seem slow by comparison.
7.1
Go...
7.1
For my first attempt, I used the mouse. The effect was interesting, to
say the least − certainly nothing like Saloon Cars. Rather than the
mouse controlling the steering directly, the amount by which you turn is
defined by how quickly you move the mouse. Using the keys instead, I was
actually able to get the car moving and stay in the vicinity of the
track but, alas, the other cars in practice with me were way ahead.
Where was the speed I needed? Another quick flick through the manual and
I found the nitro button. Climbing from the wreckage of my vehicle, I
reflected that perhaps I should swallow my pride and wait until I knew
what the track was like first before I added any more nitro!
7.1
So far, I have not progressed beyond the first two tracks (and those
only in practice mode) but already the scope of the game is apparent.
Once the game is over, you can have an action replay of the last 20
minutes, viewed from the in-car camera, track-side cameras, or an
external camera which can be rotated around your car and zoomed in or
out to see where the opposition were at the time. These views can also
be selected when you are still driving, but this makes handling extr-
emely difficult, although you do get nice views as the car develops a
four-wheel skid and explodes against a cactus!
7.1
Having left this review for a couple of days to get a view as a
‘Beginner’ and as ‘Slightly less of a Beginner’, one comment that must
be made is that this is not an easy game. Once you start to qualify and
race, you realise that you are going to need a lot of practice to get
anywhere and, for this reason, it is best not to start to race too soon.
You may be able to scrape a third place, giving you advancement to the
next course, but you will find yourself under-powered and your winnings
just will not be enough. It is important to visit the garage as early as
possible to improve your vehicle but be careful when playing around with
gears, especially if you get Bob (the mechanic) to help, because you
cannot change your mind afterwards.
7.1
I also had a chance to try out the two-player options. As with Chocks
Away, this takes two forms, either with a split-screen mode on a single
machine or via a serial link to race between machines. The serial link
is far better because you get more screen to play with. Also, on split-
screen, the image does not scale down as effectively as it does on
Chocks Away. As well as allowing a second player to join in the racing
season, it is possible to play a game of ‘killer’. The aim here is to
cause your opponent to crash a set number of times. The courses for this
section are more complex since they include transporter gates so that
you can jump between sections.
7.1
This game has a vast array of features and I am very impressed with it.
However, there are a few deficiencies. There are only three different
car colours which means that identifying your human opponent is often a
little tricky. More importantly, while it is possible for the computer
players to crash, they will only be destroyed if a human player is also
destroyed. You can slow your opponents down by knocking them off the
course but it appears that you cannot put them out of the race
permanently (unless you pay Bob to sabotage someone before the race).
7.1
Compatibility
7.1
The game is started from the desktop and, when you exit, it returns to
the desktop in the same state you left it − well, almost. Under RISC OS
3.0, the characters that are redefined are not put back (which can
disturb some programs) but you shouldn’t really still be using RISC OS
3.0 anyway − it would be well to change to RISC OS 3.10 while the cheap
upgrades are still available. If you had an empty RAM disc when you
started, you will find that it isn’t empty when you get back to the
desktop − and you will find that the mouse speed has not been reset,
either. Contrary Acorn guidelines, the game sets the current directory
and does not reset it on leaving. Other than that, the program seems to
be very well-behaved.
7.1
Conclusion
7.1
If you are a fan of driving games and are looking for something a little
more exciting than simply driving round Silverstone again and again, I
think you will enjoy this game. I do think the price tag is high but it
would appear that £35 is the current ‘going rate’ and this game is far
superior to some other games you could purchase for the same money.
Also, according to the in-game messages, additional track discs are
already available, although no details are given, which will
substantially increase the life of the game.  A
7.1
Spreadsheet Column
7.1
Chris Johnson
7.1
Version 2 of Eureka
7.1
It is interesting that, as of the last week of August, I have received
only one comment relating specifically to release 2 of Eureka. Indeed,
some correspondents who have bought their copy of Eureka only recently
found they had version 1, and the first thing they had to do was send
for the upgrade. Thus, almost all the comments I am receiving still
relate to version 1, and it seems of little advantage to labour points
that I know have been corrected or addressed in the new version.
7.1
Saving drawfiles
7.1
In the last column, I complained about not being able to remove grid
lines when saving data in drawfile form. I feel rather embarrassed about
this, since I found the solution a few days after sending off the
column, and it is very, very obvious. Raise the worksheet menu and
follow Options > Window > to raise a dialogue box which allows you to
switch off grid lines and column/row headings amongst other things. Once
the drawfile has been saved, the grid lines and headings can be turned
on again using the same dialogue box. Thanks also to Julian Pixton at
Longman Logotron for being very quick to point this out to me when he
saw the article.
7.1
Tools3D
7.1
In Archive 6.10, I passed on some information concerning the use of
alternative tool sprites. This gave some users problems, since there was
some vital information that was not included in the original letter to
me. I must thank Mr Arthur Taylor, who has pursued this subject with
Longman Logotron at some length. To get the sprite file to be recognised
by Eureka, you need to ensure that bit 0 of location 140 in CMOS RAM is
set. The simplest way to do this is to type in the command: *fx162,140,1
at the command line prompt. This bit is now used by RISC OS 3 as a flag
for 2D/3D sprites (see page 1−358 of the new PRM). This is not the whole
story as far as 3D tool sprites are concerned, since the sprites must
not have masks when used with Eureka. Mr Taylor has put in a
considerable amount of effort converting the tool sprites by Rob
Davison, sent out on a recent Archive disc (monthly program disc 6.8.
Ed.), into a form suitable for use by Eureka. He has sent me a copy of
the sprites which Paul is going to put on the monthly program disc.
There are some limitations at present. The file is only a sprites22
file, since Mr Taylor uses a multisync monitor. In addition, the
resulting title bars and scroll bars do not have ‘pushed in’ versions,
since Eureka does not respond to them (there are no sprites
corresponding to the ptbarmidbart22, etc sprites in Eureka’s own
HiWinSpr file). Mr Taylor adds that he is generally very satisfied with
version 2 of Eureka, particularly the extra zooming and printing
features, which brings us once again to...
7.1
Printing
7.1
Mr Taylor finds that getting margins set up correctly is rather fiddly,
although he admits it is much more to do with the Canon BJ300 and the
associated printer driver than it is with Eureka. I have had several
letters (pleas for help) on this area and it appears to relate to the
set up of dot matrix printer drivers, particularly page size. In Eureka,
there is apparently a small range of options for page size in the page
set up dialogue box, the default being A4. However, the manual (page
B−52) states that this is currently ignored and Eureka simply assumes
A4. It is therefore necessary to adjust the margin settings (in the page
set up) to ensure that the Eureka print area is compatible with the
actual printable area on the printer − otherwise extra, almost blank,
pages may be generated. The manual describes problems with, and gives
settings for, the HP deskjet for example. In defence of Eureka, I use it
normally with a PostScript printer accessed over Ethernet, although I
have also tried it with a CC Qume Laser Direct, and printing has always
been faultless, both with version 1 and version 2. I should be
interested to know whether users are getting printing problems with
version 2.
7.1
One problem that still persists in version 2 is that if the column width
is only just wide enough for correct screen display, it sometimes
reverts to a row of hashes when printed. The moral is not to set the
column width too close to the minimum required for screen display,
although it is not easy to judge what is too close!
7.1
Other comments
7.1
Here is a comment that is typical of a number that I have received
relating to various aspects of the “non-standard” behaviour of Eureka,
compared with other RISC OS applications. I reproduce it essentially as
received. My only response is that I have also received a (much smaller)
number of letters in which the close similarity between Eureka and Excel
is seen as a bonus, since Eureka is used at home and Excel at work by
the correspondents.
7.1
•    Eureka’s look and feel − All the reviews of Eureka I have read so far
mention the striking similarity between Eureka and Excel 3. Can it
really be that I am the only Acorn user who wants the applications he
buys for his machine to behave like Acorn software rather than looking
like a PC?!
7.1
The Windows®-style scroll thumbs (so inferior to Acorn’s scroll bars)
make me groan every time I use Eureka, not to mention the lack of RISC
OS 3 <adjust>-dragging the scroll bars or the strange way that dialogue
boxes behave.
7.1
I have no complaints as far as the working of the program is concerned.
However, if I wanted a program that has the typical cumbersome Windows
look and feel, I would not use an Acorn computer, but rather an IBM
clone with Windows!
7.1
Just in case I am not, after all, the only one who feels that way, I
think that it would be a good idea if those who agree with me were to
drop Longman Logotron a line (just one line on a post card to Julian
Pixton would be enough) asking them to stick to the Acorn conventions
where Eureka is concerned!  Jochen Konietzko, Köln, Germany
7.1
•    Charts − Here’s one of those hints that are obvious with hindsight:
Recently, I wanted to create a chart with dates on the horizontal axis;
the result was utter rubbish. It took me some while to realise that the
column with the dates had a heading “Date” in line 1! After deleting
this heading (so that the other headings could still appear in the
legend), everything worked perfectly.  Jochen Konietzko, Köln, Germany
7.1
How to contact me
7.1
My postal address is Chris Johnson, 7, Lovedale Grove, Balerno,
Edinburgh, EH14 7DR; I can also be contacted by e-mail as
[e-mail] .vaxb if you have access. Note that I have changed the
form of the e-mail address, since some users accessing JANET via a
gateway, e.g. from Internet, have had their messages bounced when using
our Computer Centre’s preferred form of the address!
7.1
I am happy to receive anything in connection with spreadsheets, hints or
tips, macros, problems, solutions to problems, or just requests for
help. What would be of interest are examples of unusual uses of
spreadsheets.
7.1
To date, only one person has responded to this last request. Jim Brook
uses Eureka to produce a supermarket shopping list in a form his wife
finds most useful. Part of the spreadsheet contains a “plan” of the
supermarket in terms of items in each aisle. The sheet also contains the
weekly list itself, which is produced by copying the contents of the
cells containing items required into the list. When finished, the list
is printed out. The sheet could be extended when required to include
prices as well, to obtain an estimate of the total cost each week. Jim
says that the main benefits are reduced time in the supermarket (praise
be) and the computer collects brownie points as a ‘useful bit of kit’ in
the eyes of Mrs Brook.  A
7.1
Small Ads
7.1
(Small ads for Archimedes and related products are free for subscribers
but we reserve the right to publish all, part or none of the material
you send, as we think fit. i.e. some people don’t know what ‘small’
means and there are certain things, as you can imagine, that we would
not be prepared to advertise as a matter of principle. Sending small ads
(especially long ones!) on disc is helpful but not essential. Ed)
7.1
•    A310, 4Mb, ARM3, RISC OS 3.10, Oak 45Mb SCSI hard disc, colour
monitor. PipeDream 4.13, Wordz 1.03, PC Emulator and other original
software, £590. Phone [phone].
7.1
•    A4 4Mb HD60 plus PC Emulator. £1300 o.n.o. Excellent condition, 7
months guarantee. Phone [phone].
7.1
•    A410, 2Mb RAM, 20Mb ST506 hard drive, 14“ ITT-Nokia remote control TV/
RGB SCART monitor, Panasonic KXP1124 printer + sheet feeder, CC hand
scanner, Impression II, Hi-Fi sound enhancer plus lots of software and
books. All excellent condition for £1100. Phone R. Bedi on 031-650-5655
or 031-668-3246 (late eve’g).
7.1
•    A420/1, 4Mb RAM, ARM3, RISC OS 3.1, 20Mb ST506 internal hard disc +
40Mb external ST506 disc, (no monitor). £650. Phone Chris Johnson on
031-449-3869.
7.1
•    A440, 4Mb RAM, 20Mb H/D, RISC OS 2 + Taxan 770 M/S Monitor + SparkFS +
RISC-OS 2 PRM, £850 o.n.o. Phone [phone].
7.1
•    Acorn medium resolution colour monitor £60. ARM3 upgrade £75. 5¼“
external drive interface £10, 5¼” external 40/80T drive £30, 20Mb hard
drive £40, ProText £25, EasiWriter £25, TechWriter £25, Acorn ANSI-C
£30. All with manuals. Phone [phone].
7.1
•    Acorn multisync monitor £150. Phone [phone].
7.1
•    Colour monitors. One standard Acorn, £105. One Philips CM8833,
(including audio amp and speakers), £125. both excellent condition.
Buyer collects or pays carriage. Phone Brighton 0273-846214.
7.1
•    Desktop Database (Iota) £40 and EasiWriter £110, both unregistered.
SSERC !Draw Practical Guides £10. Phone [phone].
7.1
•    Panasonic KX-P1081 printer and stand, £60. Mr K J Tompkins, Camberley.
Phone [phone].
7.1
•    RISC-OS 2 PRM, £35. Phone Brighton 0273-777654.
7.1
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.
7.1
A3000 1-2Mb upgrade £20, Acorn Education Directory CD-ROM £15,
Archimedes First Steps book £4, Battle Chess £18, Holdfast Joypad £3,
Interdictor 1.0 £2, Premier 3 text processor £15. RISC OS 3 User and
Applications Guide £10, RISC OS 3 Applications Guide £6, RISC OS 3 User
Guide £5, A3020 Welcome Guide £2, A5000 Welcome Guide £2, Basic V Guide
£8, Landmarks Civil War £12, Landmarks Elizabeth I £12, Yes Chancellor
II £12.
7.1
(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
7.1
Darryl the Dragon
7.1
Richard Rymarz
7.1
It is always a pleasure to review a new piece of software from 4Mation,
and Darryl the Dragon is no exception. Designed for Key Stage 1 and
early Key Stage 2, it marks a return to the land of dragons so well
explored on the BBC micro with ‘Dragon World’. It also has the hallmark
of Mike Matson at his best. I remember a BETT Show two or three years
ago where, featured prominently around the 4Mation stand, were posters
claiming the area to be a ‘National Curriculum Free Zone’. Mike’s views
are well known on this subject and ‘Darryl’ forgets about the National
Curriculum and, like Granny’s Garden, leads the child to a world of
magic and imagination.
7.1
The package comes with two discs, one of which has to be used as a start
up disc if the software is installed on a hard disc. There is a 24 page
man-ual which contains an introductory story, curriculum suggestions and
program instructions. It is priced at £19.50 +VAT or £39 +VAT for a site
licence (£21 and £42 respectively through Arch-ive). There is a set of
32 photocopiable worksheets designed by Mike Matson which are well worth
£10 +VAT (direct from 4Mation only).
7.1
Getting started
7.1
Darryl the Dragon is fully RISC OS compliant and runs in any mode. It
installs on the desktop and clicking <menu> on the Darryl icon offers
the choice of saving, restarting and quitting the adventure. Finally,
there is a ‘choices’ option. Clicking on this allows the teacher/parent
to set one of three levels of difficulty, choose an appropriate font and
its size, conserve memory if a 1Mb machine is being used and the option
to use a full screen. All settings can be saved.
7.1
The program
7.1
Darryl the Dragon is a problem-solving adventure. We soon discover that
Darryl has lost his fire and, after a few introductory screens where we
meet Darryl himself and are introduced to a picture of ourselves, we are
asked to collect some objects to help him regain his ability to breathe
fire. To do so, various puzzles have to be solved, the first of which is
to find some honey to soothe his throat. We are presented with a simple
map which contains only five locations, one of which is a beehive.
Clicking on the hive results in us moving towards our goal. Movement
between them is not very realistic but, in my opinion, this does not
matter. On the way we encounter Tracey the Troll (a lady Troll − how
wonderful!) and have to solve a problem concerning the taking of three
animals across the river. Having arrived at the beehive, we discover and
that the bees sting and we cannot get the honey. So we have to search
for something that will pacify the bees. Eventually, a can of smoke is
found in the forest and this helps to subdue them.
7.1
Other problems include: climbing down a cliff, crossing a chasm,
traversing a tiled floor, solving a crossword and solving a key problem.
7.1
Eventually, we end up discovering that Darryl’s fire was killed by a
cold because his special fire proof handkerchief was stolen by a nasty
wizard. This results in an exploration of the wizard’s castle in an
attempt to find the handkerchief and return it to Darryl.
7.1
Conclusions
7.1
I was not disappointed. Darryl the Dragon must surely be a success with
younger children (and older ones who are young at heart). The animation
may not be brilliant but the story is bound to grab a child’s attention;
the problems are not too taxing so as to discourage progress although
they are tough enough to make a child think; and the addition of the
photocopiable masters helps to provide a wealth of ideas for busy
adults.
7.1
The adventure is well worth the asking price and I am delighted to say
that there is no mention of Attainment Targets anywhere. This should not
deter anyone who is thinking of buying the program. It is an imaginative
journey that will bring magic back to young children’s lives.  A
7.1
Image Gallery
7.1
Dave Wilcox
7.1
Clipart is always a hard subject to review due to different people’s
tastes and opinions − the new disc called ‘Image Gallery’ from Eesox is
no exception to this.
7.1
The package
7.1
The package is a CD-ROM which contains over 1100 images for use by
Archimedes, IBM and Amiga owners. For Archimedes users, these images are
saved twice on the disc, once as a small image for use in the preview
window, and once in full size for downloading.
7.1
Front end
7.1
The disc is easy to use. You double-click on the !Gallery icon, which
loads the preview system onto the iconbar and opens a search window.
Each image has a short text description attached to it and when you want
to search for something, the text you require is searched on a
‘contained within’ basis. From the speed of this search, I would guess
that the data is all kept in RAM.
7.1
From the search window, it is possible to view a listing of all pictures
available. This is achieved by leaving the search field blank and
clicking the ‘OK’ button − a new window then opens with the full
listing. To view a picture from this window, or the shortened searched
list, simply click on the required entry. This picture is then opened
within the viewer mode. The viewer mode shows the small picture you have
chosen along with resolution, save and step options.
7.1
Resolution is selected by radio button for low or high as desired. There
are two save options available, sprite and clear, clicking on either
opens a window with the usual save options, i.e. name to save under and
a dragable sprite/clear icon. The step options allow you to step to the
pictures before and after, one step at a time. One further option which
is available from the iconbar, is to display the pictures in a random
carousel fashion.
7.1
The pictures
7.1
As I said at the start of this review, this is probably the hardest part
to review. The pictures cover a large range of topics: cars, boats,
scenery, flowers, animals, insects, and so on. Some of the images are
scanned, most are photographs. My first impression was that this is how
your Kodak Photo CD might turn out. The quality of the images would, I
imagine, match that of most people’s photographs − some of the images
are dark and some slightly ‘fuzzy’, although most are of a good quality.
It must also be remembered that all can be tweaked as you wish using
ChangeFSI or Revelation, etc. I ought to point out that all the images
and associated files are copyright and are only usable for non-
commercial purposes.
7.1
Printing the pictures
7.1
Using the Acorn printer drivers, I found the best results were obtained
using the ‘grey, small halftone’ setting. A TurboDriver system prints
fine on normal settings. With an HPII laser, again the best setting was
found to be the ‘grey, small half tone’.
7.1
Summary
7.1
All in all, the front end is simple to use and performs well. One
problem I did meet is the random display − once started, it failed to
cancel and needed the machine to be reset, which is not ideal. The
pictures themselves appear as someone else’s photo album, so are they of
use to you? That is your choice. I would recommend a good look through
before you buy it as the disc costs £52.88 inc VAT.  A
7.1
CC
7.1
From 6.12 page 19
7.1
CC
7.1
From 6.12 page 16
7.1
Keystroke
7.1
Richard Skemp
7.1
As you might guess, Keystroke is a utility which enables you to write
your own keystrokes. However, this does not give an idea of the power
and variety which are available, nor of the usefulness of being able to
write key combinations in ways which do exactly what you want and which
fit into your personal working patterns. To illustrate this, here are
some examples which I have recently made for my own use.
7.1
Recently, I acquired a hundred new font families from Skyfall PD. With
the considerable number of fonts I already had, made it essential to
organise them so that I could have available a chosen sub-set at any
given time. (Skyfall include some helpful utilities for this.) It would
often be useful to have a quick check of the fonts currently available,
and I have set up <ctrl-alt-F> to do just that. It does it by opening a
task window and then inserting the text “fontcat |M” at the star prompt.
This provides a list in a scrollable window which can, if desired, be
made into a text file. It was an easy keystroke to set up. Another easy
one was to set <ctrl-alt-S> to activate my chosen screen saver. Now for
something a little harder...
7.1
I bought Keystroke several months ago but was busy with other things at
the time and it remained unused until recently, when I received an
upgrade from Quantum Software. This was unsolicited and was sent without
charge. The new version included keystrokes for a number of applications
including Vector. When writing to thank them, I mentioned that a welcome
addition to these would be one which enabled me, when working in layers,
to change to any layer I wanted, view all layers but have only the
current layer selectable. This would prevent me from accidentally
changing something on a different layer. I said that when I had time, I
was hoping to set this up but that it looked a bit complicated since it
involved opening the layers dialogue box and then clicking on four
successive icons.
7.1
Almost by return, Stuart Halliday, the project manager, sent me a disc
with a set of keystrokes doing just what I wanted, plus an extra one for
adding a new layer. He also sent a detailed letter of explanation, with
the help of which I was able to replicate these myself, thus providing a
useful learning experience. Taking this a step further, I have now set
up <ctrl-alt-V> to install Vector, load all these new keystrokes and
also show a list of them in a text file in case I need a reminder. Had I
wished, it would have been easy to open a directory of Vector documents
at the same time but, in my case, these are spread around their relevant
subject matter directories.
7.1
Here is just one more example of a keystroke tailored to a personal
need. I recently bought Risc Developments’ excellent Thesaurus. It is
linked with Ovation but since I use Impression and Wordz, I originally
needed to type my chosen word into the Thesaurus dialogue box.
Alternatively, I could (in Wordz) select the word, choose the menu
options File −−> Save other −−> Save selection as text, and then drag
the save icon to the dialogue box. The middle three of these are now set
up as a single key-press, which makes the whole operation quicker and
simpler. The advantage of this method is that an <adjust> click on the
chosen alternative inserts it directly into the text.
7.1
Keystroke allows you to replicate any or all of the following, and to
connect them in a sequence which provides their combined result by a
single keystroke:- Single or double icon click with <select> or
<adjust>; *commands; move window; menu selection; insert text; open
dialogue. For the keystroke itself, you can choose just about any
keyboard character. If a letter is used, it has (for obvious reasons) to
be combined with one, two or all of <ctrl>, <shift>, <alt>. Also, you
need to avoid combinations already used by your current application. The
function keys can be programmed as single kepresses or in combination as
above, giving eight possibilities for each function key! So, the answer
to Gary Jones’ question (6.12 p29) and the editorial note is most
probably ‘Yes’, although I am not in a position to try it out with
Impression Junior.
7.1
In my first note to Paul, I said that I found Keystroke “simple,
powerful and very useful”. After longer experience my views are
unchanged for the second and third, but with a slight modification of
“simple”. Usually, I do find it simple, but sometimes it is only simple
in retrospect − it’s easy when you know how! I don’t think that this is
the fault of either Keystroke or the manual, but rather a result of the
variety on offer.
7.1
The tutorial section of the manual is helpful and should be worked
through. Another useful learning exercise is to take one of the provided
keystrokes and step through its sequence in the keystroke definition box
by clicking in the boxes marked Previous, Next, and those for beginning
and end of the sequence, to see how it was done. This is also useful for
checking a new keystroke of your own, if it doesn’t work first time.
When I have telephoned with a query, Stuart Halliday has always given
clear and helpful answers.
7.1
Keystroke is now in my Deskboot file, as it has joined my short-list of
utilities which I have available every time I switch on my Archimedes.
As mentioned in the Late News with the September issue of Archive,
Keystroke costs £29.95 inclusive from Quantum Software and is now
available for £28 through Archive.  A
7.1
Education Column
7.1
Solly Ezra
7.1
The role of Information Technology in education at all levels and in all
areas seems to be gaining more importance. The National Curriculum,
despite its lack of coherence, has brought to the fore the importance of
IT. This column, I am hoping, will be a source of necessary information,
advice and support for all teachers wherever they may fall along the
continuum of expertise − from the diffident at one end to the
enthusiastic expert at the other end.
7.1
Along with the aims and objectives detailed in the earlier columns, I
would be very happy for this also to be a forum where teachers, pupils
and ‘educationalists’ would freely (but courteously) express their views
and opinions.
7.1
Roger Nelson has sent me his thoughts, for which I am very grateful. I
will convey them to you with just a few comments. Roger feels that the
teacher who subscribes to Archive does not need more of the basic
articles that we suggested should be included in this column. He
suggests that this column should be a source of further information and
greater depth about what is being used, how it is being used and how
educational software is being developed. I agree that those teachers who
subscribe to Archive are not at the basic level and like most, if not
all, are enthusiastic Archimedeans. But I still hold to the view (based
on very wide experience) that there are many teachers who are not aware
of the full potential of their Acorn machines and want programs that
require little or no teacher input or management. Roger, clearly, does
not fall into that category. He uses programs, like Genesis, “to produce
learning materials and encourage pupils to use the more easily
understood Magpie to organise their own information”. He suggests −
“Should this be in the Genesis/Magpie column?”
7.1
In the previous column, one of Mark Sealey’s suggestions was − ‘case
studies of good practice from an educational rather than a technical
standpoint’. Like many of us, Roger thinks that is a very good
suggestion. Roger, please could you tell Archive readers how you use
Genesis and Magpie with your pupils?
7.1
Apologies
7.1
I will be across the waters for a while visiting with my folks on the
West Coast of the USA, so I will not return in time to meet the deadline
for the next issue. But please do keep writing with your thoughts and
suggestions.
7.1
I have a case study in the pipeline along with some reviews.
7.1
My address is: 35 Edgefield Avenue, Barking, Essex, IG11 9JL.  A
7.1
RISC Developments
7.1
New Artwork about Desk Edit  2
7.1
Lambda
7.1
From 6.12 page 12
7.1
F.R.E.D.
7.1
Andrew Rawnsley
7.1
F.R.E.D. (Fred from now on!) is an amusing little game from Software 42.
Well, actually it’s quite a substantial game with 18 levels set in three
graphically different zones. It is a platform game running at 50 frames
a second, so everything is very smooth indeed.
7.1
The box claims that there are lots of ‘complex levels’, and after
playing the first few, I think that this is rather an understatement.
After over a week of regular playing, I have only reached level 7, and
level one took quite a while. The message is that Fred will take some
time to complete, and will have a good lifespan, as completing a level
is very satisfying.
7.1
The idea of each level is to travel around moving mirrors to reflect a
laser beam from its start position to the destination block. You also
need to collect pink stars which give the beam energy, if you are going
to reach the next level. These stars are revealed by standing under the
large, yellow question-mark blocks, and jumping to hit them with your
head − shades of Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog and Gyrinus II,
methinks!
7.1
The presentation of the game is superb, from the title screen to the
screen fades. For example, when hard disc owners are asked to insert
their original disc, the 256 colour loading screen fades into a grey-
shaded version of the same screen with the insert disc request on it.
Very nice! Even when pausing the game during play, the whole screen goes
a little darker to make the Paused message stand out.
7.1
The main menu allows you to set various options, redefine the keys,
enter a password, start the game or quit. The options include
controlling the sound, music and keyboard / joystick control.
7.1
The graphics are high class, with a high level of detail maintained even
with the 50 frames per second animation. They start off with an Arctic
theme, with monsters including Santas and zombie snowmen (well − that’s
what I guess they are!), and various others. You can be sure that they
will raise a smile when you see them. After the ice levels, the game
enters a medieval phase with castle-style wooden graphics and squat
Viking enemies. Slightly different graphics are introduced in each
level, as well as new hazards such as force fields, one-way walls and
doors.
7.1
The gameplay is rather fast, particularly when accuracy is so important,
but the speed does make the whole game very exciting.
7.1
On each level, you have limited amounts of both time and energy. Energy
is lost if you collide with one of the monsters or land on some spikes,
or if the laser is firing. The two statistics are depicted by coloured
bars at the bottom of the screen, and the speed at which the time bar
goes down varies from level to level. This is one reason why the early
levels are so difficult − the time bar goes down very quickly.
7.1
Most of the puzzles involve trying to get at, and then turn, the
mirrors. A great deal of skill is required to turn some of the mirrors,
as they may be suspended from the ceiling above a large gap, and failing
to turn the mirror first time might mean not completing the level.
7.1
There is a high score table but, unfortunately, it is not permanent, so
your achievements cannot be saved and shown to friends. Perhaps there
should be two high score tables − one permanent, one temporary?
7.1
Finally, the game’s biggest fault − the plot. Any game in which the main
character is a Malteser (yes, the chocolate) which has transformed into
a tiny man, must get my vote for the most unbelievable plot of the year.
Quite how the laser beam fits into the plot, even the manual doesn’t
make clear. Never mind, since when did the plot influence whether or not
you buy the game?
7.1
Fred is available from Software 42 for £20 inclusive and, as such,
represents good value for money, as it will certainly last you a long
time and be great fun to play.  A
7.1
Comment Column
7.1
•    Acorn World bloopers − Two months ago, I gave you the wrong dates and
corrected them last month (October 29th − 31st). Last month’s deliberate
Acorn World mistake was the Norwich Computer Services stand number! We
are actually going to be on stand number 48. Ed.
7.1
•    AKF18 problems − Further to the comments we have had about problems
experienced by subscribers with AKF18 monitors, I am pleased to say that
Acorn have responded in a very helpful way. N.B. This applies to the
early AKF18s, not the more recent ones. Despite the fact that the AKF18s
meet the EN60950 (equivalent to BS7002) safety standard, some of the
monitors have failed “in a rather dramatic fashion”, say Acorn. The
components prone to early failure have been identified and these
components have not been used on the later monitors. However, to
reassure customers, Acorn have extended the warranty from one to four
years on the monitors that have problems with these particular (un-
named) components. There is, unfortunately, no simple way of working out
if your monitor is included in this, as the poor quality components were
not confined to any particular run of serial numbers.  Ed.
7.1
•    Australian mail (male?) − Many thanks to the person from Australia
(Eastern mail centre?) who sent us a Tudor 100% recycled paper envelope.
Was there supposed to be anything it it? Ed.
7.1
•    Beginners start here! − One thing which has emerged very strongly from
the questionnaire is the need for more help for beginners. I think I
knew that was the case and we have asked on a number of occasions for
people to write articles for beginners. Laura Handoca’s work in editing
the Beginners’ Column has been much appreciated and has gone some way to
providing the much-needed help. However, we would like to take this
further.
7.1
I am doing my best to get some beginners’ articles written and am hoping
to have a series of them starting in a month or so’s time. Writing
really good articles for beginners is actually very hard work but if
anyone else would like to have a go, I hope you will get in touch with
me telling me what subjects you would be interested to write about.
7.1
Also, I thought it would be good to have a panel of ‘expert’ beginners
to whom we could send the articles to see if they are understandable. If
you would like to offer your services as a member of the ‘Beginners
Panel’, again, do get in touch with me.
7.1
Beginners who don’t want to be involved in vetting articles might want
to make suggestions as to the sorts of things they want explained. You
are the people who know what information is needed. Please let us know
what you think.  Ed.
7.1
•    Budget DTP − I have recently had several “really good ideas” for
budget DTP that have all run into problems and I thought other readers
might find them amusing.
7.1
Colour Printing using a BJ230 + CC TurboDriver − I couldn’t afford a
BJC800 but I really did want A3 output with the option to do a little
colour work from time to time. The BJ230 seemed ideal − especially with
a fast TurboDriver to do the separations. I should have listened to the
CC salesman more closely! When he said I could purchase coloured inks to
do the printing, he meant exactly that − you can’t buy colour
cartridges, you have to use up black ones, wash them and refill them
with coloured inks. Has anyone done this with a BJ200/230 yet? (CC told
me that they hadn’t.) Is it any good? How does the TurboDriver compare
with ColourSep (ICS)?
7.1
AIM-less image processing − I use images from a HiVision digitiser but I
wanted an image enhancer to do some post-processing. AIM seemed ideal −
a macro-based image processor which offers some amazing functions. The
trouble is that it only takes 256×256 images so there is considerable
loss of detail from a 720×508 HiVision sprite. The AIM documentation
suggests that a new RISC OS 3 version will take any size sprite and will
handle Acorn 256 grey scale sprites. However, when I asked Lindis (who
distribute AIM in the UK) I was told that the RISC OS 3 version is not
being developed. There is a more powerful image processor that they
distribute called TCL-Image but this requires a UNIX platform and costs
about £3,500... Does anyone have a simple any-size-sprite PD or
commercial (up to £25) image enhancer?
7.1
Grabbing video stills with HiVision − The HiVision digitiser grabs a
720×508 pixel image by digitising consecutive interlaced TV images. For
moving pictures, this alternation between the two image positions causes
little problem. However, when you grab a still of a moving subject you
get horizontal “jaggies” on any vertical lines. Under these
circumstances it may be desirable to grab a subject with a lower
resolution single frame digitiser (e.g. the Vision digitiser).
7.1
Using monochrome sprites in budget DTP − If, like me, you use a 360 dpi
inkjet printer to produce your final output, you may well not notice
much final image degradation when using 16 grey level images as opposed
to 256 grey level images. This is useful because you can therefore use
ordinary 256 colour sprites rather than the new 256 grey scale ones and
hence edit them in ordinary (non-Colour Card) modes using older painting
packages. However, the problem with this is that your sprites take up
twice as much space (8 bits per pixel) as is actually required (4 bits
per pixel).
7.1
The answer is to convert these images into 16 grey level mode 20
sprites. RISC OS 3 ChangeFSI will do this if you use output as mode 20
with the “special” option “t”. Alternatively: use mode 20; set the
palette to a 16 grey level one (e.g. the one in the Impression
application directory); load the sprite into Revelation; then resave it
over the original. You can do the same thing with Paint by loading the
image and then grabbing part of the screen as a new sprite but this only
works for sprites smaller than the screen mode you are using.
7.1
Converting sprites like this has the advantage of using less disc space
to store images but if you use Compression, the benefit is less as the
redundant data is stripped out automatically. More importantly, if you
use these images in DTP documents, you can almost halve your memory
usage.  Cain Hunt, Cambridge.
7.1
•    Edit scrolling bug − Just to add to the Edit scrolling bug
information. I find that it happens with very long lines − I normally
just type and then dump it into !Draw or use <ctrl-f6> later for
formatting. It seems to occur most frequently when scrolling the screen
by holding <select> or <adjust> down on the scroll bar arrows. Indeed,
this method is almost guaranteed to produce it! The text can be restored
to normal by moving up and down a couple of screenfuls (using <shift>
<up/down arrow) so that the problem area is completely off-screen. It
is, of course, also in !SrcEdit, which I am using at the moment.
7.1
(Acorn! How about a !SrcEdit that can handle Basic, so that I don’t have
to use !Edit as well?)
7.1
Humble apologies to the contributor, but I cannot trace where this
comment came from. Ed.
7.1
•    Equinox PD library − The organisers of Equinox PD library would like
people to know that they are no longer going to be operating. Please do
not send them any more orders.  Geoff Scott, Northampton.
7.1
•    Impression and Ovation compared − I thought Richard Hallas’ extensive
offering (Archive 6.2 pp42-49) was quite the best comparative review
I’ve ever seen in any magazine. The dongle stopped my plan to get
Impression and I’ve never regretted buying the superb Ovation
alternative. Amazing value for money. The review was absolutely correct
in what features Ovation did or did not have at the time but, as with
any good program, when things are missing, it is often very quick and
just as effective to use a workaround. Here’s a couple of examples:
7.1
It’s probably true to say that Ovation’s built-in sprite borders are not
as flexible as Impression’s drawfile solution. However, it’s very easy
to use a drawfile border with Ovation. Simply create a picture frame
inside the main (text) frame, drop the drawfile border into it and, if
necessary, click on Scale to Fit. In some respects, this is even more
convenient than the sprite borders. For a start, the sprite border sits
on the outside of the frame and you can easily get a “Not enough Room”
error with the thicker borders. The drawfile border sits on the inside
of the frame so the thickness or complexity is irrelevant. You could
even introduce a transparent text frame inside the border frame and have
your text superimposed on the border.
7.1
Although Ovation has no built-in method of producing tables, the power
of the line-drawing facility in conjunction with other built-in features
should never be underestimated (I use lines all the time for arrows,
column separations, tables and for general effect.) To make a table, all
you have to do is to create a picture frame with your choice of border
for the table surround, then put a transparent text frame inside and
type in the data where you want it. Finally, use the line-drawing
function to draw lines where you want them, with complete control over
line style, width and colour. If you start the lines inside the table
frame, they will be constrained within the table and you can use shift-
drag to ensure that the lines are perfectly horizontal or vertical.
Similarly, you could use Duplicate Line and/or Snap to Guides to ensure
overall accuracy.
7.1
With a little practice, perfectly good tables can be produced within
minutes and can easily be ‘tweaked’ if and when data changes. If you
need to move the table, to make way for other body text, for instance,
all you have to do is move the table frame − everything else moves with
it.
7.1
While this is very convenient, there comes a point that, if you wanted
to reproduce a more complex table, perhaps with formatting, background
shading or the facility to import data, it might be better to use a
dedicated application such as !TableMate, which works a treat with
Ovation.
7.1
I recently sent a wish list to Risc Developments, basically asking for
improved customisation in Ovation. John Wallace replied to say that all
things were possible and that he was considering my list. He did leak
some rather intriguing information that, although no major changes would
be added to Ovation as it presently stands, they “are working on a very
exciting development of Ovation”.
7.1
In the meantime, if you want to improve Ovation customisation (or any
other application for that matter), can I suggest you consider Keystroke
(Archive 6.12 p4). I’ve had my full copy only a week and, although it
takes a lot of getting used to (purely because its features are so
extensive and powerful), I have already managed to produce a much-needed
Ovation macro which reduces twelve separate keypresses to a single hot
key selection. From initial impressions, this utility will prove
invaluable and I think we’ll be hearing a lot about Keystroke in
future.  Jim Nottingham, York.
7.1
(Keystroke is now available through Archive for £28. See the review on
page 21. Ed.)
7.1
•    Mac transfer − I noticed the request in the Help!! Column last month
for information about Archimedes-Mac transfer and I wonder if people
know about a program called View>>Mac.
7.1
This is produced by Human Computer Interfaces Ltd in Cambridge. It
allows the transfer of WP files via a serial line between an Apple
Macintosh and either a BBC Computer or an Archimedes.
7.1
The program is written for the Apple Mac which acts as host, the other
machine being controlled completely by the Apple. You can read to and
from both machines’ discs, and the program recognises several BBC and
Archimedes WP file formats and converts them accordingly.
7.1
I use the program a lot to transfer old Archimedes files across to the
new Mac system. The Archimedes files are in PipeDream format and the
Apple files end up as Word format. It does work but, of course, you have
to have the two computers side-by-side. The program costs £69+VAT from
Human Computer Interfaces and they sell an Archimedes-Mac serial lead
for £25 +VAT.  Steve Laugher, N. Yorkshire.
7.1
•    Matt Black’s Image Club clipart − Archive previews, reviews and
comments rarely tend to contradict each other, so I was quite bemused by
John Hancock’s glowing remarks about Matt Black’s Image Club clipart
(Archive 6.9 p50), following Hutch Curry’s rather lukewarm reactions in
his necessarily limited review (6.7 p12). However, I sent off my fiver
and, after a 2 month wait for reprinting, received the catalogue. The
price seems to change by the week; currently it is £7, plus £2 for
postage and packing, but Matt Black kindly offered to absorb the
balance.
7.1
The substantial 110-page, A4, spiral-bound catalogue is very good
quality and value. Even if you didn’t buy any of the clipart, it would
be a very useful source of ideas for DIY clipart, rather like the
excellent DTP Seeds book from 4Mation.
7.1
From John Hancock’s comments and the price, I was expecting something
really special in the clipart, perhaps similar to the mind-boggling
stuff bundled with Artworks − I was very disappointed. I’m with Hutch
Curry; many of the offerings are trivial (e.g. arrows and shapes),
repetitive (maps) or of little practical value. For instance, two of the
24 volumes comprise a total of 41 rather unexciting Drawfonts, costing
some £60. Compare that with a current offer of a fiver for over 50
excellent RISC OS 3 PD outline fonts.
7.1
As the source material is Canadian, there’s a distinct transatlantic
flavour to things like signs and maps. With very few exceptions, I don’t
think any of the clipart is of a higher standard than that available
from other commercial sources or PD libraries and, surprisingly, there
are no colour images.
7.1
What caused my jaw to drop was the realisation that I already have a
significant portion of the offerings duplicated in my existing clipart
collection, obtained over the years from the PD libraries and ‘free’
with various vector graphic/DTP programs. I even spotted two piccies
which came with a DTP demo disc! So the clipart isn’t necessarily new or
unique. Has there been wholesale software theft? I suspect not − most of
the duplicated files I have are in full colour.
7.1
Turning to the prices, this is where my jaw really hit the ground. Let’s
try to put this in perspective. John Hancock tells us he’s bought 18 of
the 24 volumes − at current catalogue prices, this would cost well over
£500. For the same brass, you could buy Impression and Artworks (with
hundreds of outline fonts and full-colour clipart which leaves Matt
Black’s offerings standing), a couple of commercial clipart collections
and all the PD clipart discs on offer (giving thousands of images, many
in colour) − and still have change to buy Compression to squeeze them
all in.
7.1
So, in summary... loved the catalogue, shame about the clipart! And as
for the prices... ...sorry Matt Black, no contest!  Jim Nottingham,
York.
7.1
•    Past, Present and Future − The analysis in Paul’s editorial last month
(Archive 6.12 ifc) dealing with Acorn machine sizes since 1980 was
fascinating and the vision of the future was tantalising! In an attempt
to see into the future, I have tried to plot the growth of RAM and disc
sizes. I expected an exponential growth, so I used a logarithmic scale,
which shows an exponential ‘curve’ as a straight line. I have taken the
liberty of adjusting Paul’s figures in certain cases, as explained
below.
7.1
For RAM, Paul quoted the range of sizes available on the appropriate
machines but for discs, he quoted only the ‘standard’ as normally
supplied. Larger disc drives have been available from third-party
suppliers, and should be acknowledged on the chart. Since the current
Archive Price List includes a 1 Gb internal drive, I have included this
as the top of a dotted line for 1993 and I have boldly assumed that this
will be doubled in 1994.
7.1
I blinked a couple of times when I saw the prediction of 256Mb RAM for
the 1994 machine, but I now understand that this is, to some extent at
least, authoritative. This is encouraging, since it fits my straight
line very well. I have shown it as a dotted line below about 50Mb, since
one model is unlikely to offer a RAM range all the way from 1 − 256Mb.
Considering the small physical size of the 4Mb upgrade for my A540 and
the way RAM chips keep shrinking, I can well believe that a 256Mb
machine is now feasible.
7.1
As my chart shows, the progress of RAM size fits very well to a straight
line, or rather, a straight band. The slope of the band corresponds to a
doubling of capacity every year and gives a range of about 4−16Gb in the
year 2000, which supports Paul’s prediction.
7.1
The trend in disc sizes it less well defined. I have plotted the bands
manually, because the figures are too vague to use a precise regression
analysis. My estimate shows a band parallel to the RAM band,
consistently a factor of twelve larger. Because discs did not appear on
Acorn machines until 1986, I have plotted the figures available and
extrapolated backwards as well as forwards. From my recollection, those
PCs which did have discs around 1980 only had floppy drives of less than
100Kb, which fits quite nicely with my projection. Looking forward, I
predict hard discs of around 40−160Gb in the year 2000, a little below
Paul’s figure.
7.1
It is very noticeable that the A3/4/5000 machines lie rather below the
bands. They are, of course, manufactured to reduced specifications for
those users (the majority) who do not need the ‘flagship’ machine. I
have plotted the figures, but then rather ignored them. The projections,
therefore, relate to the ‘top-end’ machines.
7.1
My first attempt to draw this chart did not include my own ‘guestimate’
of 2Gb discs in 1994, nor had I thought about the size of discs before
1986. The band for disc sizes then had a significantly lower gradient
and it crossed the RAM band about the year 2005! I have often thought
that the days of discs might be numbered and that they would eventually
be replaced by RAM cartridges. It would obviously have to be non-
volatile RAM. Even if each cartridge contained a rechargeable battery, I
wouldn’t want to rely on that to maintain my live data files, would you?
Since the chart shows development of volatile RAM, I cannot predict the
demise of hard discs in 2005, even if that interpretation of the trend
in disc sizes were to be correct. On balance, I prefer the parallel band
estimate which gives a better back-projection as well as, I think, a
more credible forward prediction.
7.1
I would like to plot the growth of CPU power but that is not easy. On
Paul’s table, the clock speed is shown as having increased from 1MHz to
50MHz but this does not tell the whole story. The 8-bit processors have
been replaced by 32-bit and although this does not necessarily imply a
speed factor of four, it is probably of that order. The use of cache and
a degree of parallel processing also contribute to the increase in
speed. Paul did not explain his figure of ×300 − I would be interested
to know how he derived it. Over 14 years, this represents a growth
factor of ×1½ per year − significantly less than for RAM and for discs.
7.1
(In my July 1990 editorial, I said that I reckoned the A310 was about 30
times the speed of the Atom. The A540 is 4 or 5 times the speed of the
A310 and the new ARM700 machine looks being at least twice the speed of
the A540. Ed)
7.1
I wonder what the editor of Archive 14.1 will make of these
predictions?  Colin Singleton, Sheffield.
7.1
Volume 14 of Archive? The mind boggles! Mind you, Acorn User and Acorn
Computing (aka Micro User) are in their twelfth years of existence − and
I wrote several articles for Volume 1 of each. Nostalgia, nostalgia! Ed.
7.1
•    Pocket Book praise − I am writing this comment on the five-hour return
journey from Manchester to Norwich (on the train, I hasten to add). I
was hoping to take an A4 Notebook with me but there just aren’t any
available at the moment − we cannot supply existing orders, let alone
have one in stock that I could use. So, it was the office Pocket Book or
nothing. At first, I found it slow going as I kept having to go back and
insert missing letters that didn’t register because of lack of pressure
on the keys. But after several hours of use, I am now becoming much more
fluent and I can get up quite a good speed − obviously not as fast as on
a normal keyboard (even though I don’t touch-type) but quite acceptable.
(I transferred the text to Impression and have just counted − I typed
3,300 words in all − I was not typing for all 10 hours, though!)
7.1
I was warned that batteries would be a problem, so I put new ones in and
took a couple of spare sets. I have just had to change the first set
after what I would guess was about the equivalent of three or four hours
continuous use. I think I would do better next time because I have now
managed to convince myself that switching off really doesn’t lose the
text and, in fact, it brings you back to exactly where you were. It is
the equivalent, on a table-top computer, of just switching off the
monitor and back on again − except that it is instantaneous. I have only
tried to use Write, but I have to say that I am impressed and will be
using a Pocket Book at home in future for writing letters. That way, you
can be sociable with the family whist avoiding the pain of having to
using pen and paper!
7.1
One other thing that occurs to me as I type is that this Pocketbook
would be very useful for writing quick notes about various things.
Several “things to do” have occurred to me as I have been sitting here
on the train and instead of writing them down on bits of paper and then
wondering where I put the bits of paper, they are going into this Pocket
Book. I think I shall have to investigate the Schedule package. I have
to admit that I have resisted it thus far as it just looks SO
pretentious when people get out their electronic dairy in answer to an
“are you free on...” enquiry.
7.1
Finally, a couple of practical points. I found that it was not very good
typing on the table-top as it was too high. For the best typing
position, a book or, in my case, a clip-board on the knee was the best
working position.
7.1
Another small practical hint about the use of Write is that when you
spot a mistake and cursor back to change it, you then want the quickest
way back to the point where you were. Now, presuming you are using it
for entering text (I would never try to use it for editing!), it is best
to be working at the end of the text area. So, after correcting the
mistake, which is probably on the current line, you only need to press
the cursor down button and you will find yourself back where you left
off. There is no need for multiple keypresses unless you are several
lines up. Ed.  A
7.1
Hints and Tips
7.1
•    A300/400 floppy drive problems − On the old A310 and A440 machines,
the disc drive has a cover on the head which has a notorious tendency to
fall off but the drive is not affected by a missing cover. A far more
usual fault on A310 drives is that the eject button falls off. This can
easily be fixed with glue. (Do take the drive out of the machine first
so you don’t glue the button to the front of the computer!)
7.1
On the old machines (with only the disc drive button sticking out
through the front fascia) you have no option but to replace them with an
identical Sony drive mechanism (£102 through Archive − Ouch! Ed.) but on
the newer machines, like the A410/1, you can use most 720Kb drives
available. (Are you sure? Ed.) Knut Folmo, Norway.
7.1
•    Bespoke appointments’ calendar − I have written a program (on the
monthly program disc) to generate an Impression-based appointments
calendar and would like to share it with other people, courtesy of
Archive magazine. Using the program avoids filling in all those
birthdays, etc every year. It’s all done automatically from a text file.
It’s written in Basic and has no glitzy front end but it works OK.  Ian
Summers, Norwich.
7.1
•    Elite − A space station exists in witch space. After killing all the
other ships, switch to one of the status screens (f8?) and the compass
will reappear. By jumping repeatedly in that direction, you can
eventually find it. This station is strange in many ways and, while you
are experimenting, it is worth noting that its existence changes while
you are looking at the status screen. Try docking and shooting while
using <f8>.  Geoff Scott, Northampton.
7.1
•    Form feeds in printer drivers − I would like to respond to Mick Day’s
comments about form feeds (6.12 p57). The terminal form feed is
definitively (now there’s sticking my neck out) configurable. Mick does
not say whether he is using text or graphics output to his printer but
for the dot matrix drivers this is what happens.
7.1
Text output:-
7.1
send
7.1
StartTextJob code
7.1
SetLines code plus byte to set the page depth in text lines
7.1
[your text formatted as per option set, eg none or draft highlights etc
using specified line feed/ linefeed cr codes]
7.1
{gets to the end of a page
7.1
[more text as above]}
7.1
       .
7.1
       .  repeat above for number         of pages
7.1
       .
7.1
EndTextJob code (this usually includes a Form Feed in the codes sent)
7.1
For graphics you have:-
7.1
SetLines code plus byte as above
7.1
PageStart code
7.1
[Graphics data using specified control strings]
7.1
@{of a page
7.1
PageEnd code
7.1
SetLines code as above
7.1
PageStart code
7.1
[Graphics data as above]}
7.1
      .
7.1
      . repeat for number of            pages
7.1
      .
7.1
GraphicsFormFeed code PageEnd code
7.1
thus, by defining your form feed character in the driver definition file
to be nothing, form feeds can be suppressed. Remember though that it
needs to be done for each graphics resolution and each text definition.
7.1
I have a dummy printer def file which replaces the genuine control codes
with strings to illustrate what is going on. If it is merged into
!Printers’ Printer control window and set to print to file, output from
it can be viewed in !Edit to see what is going on. If a multipage text
file is dragged to it, the effect of text control codes can be viewed,
and similarly with graphics. The ideal is a two-page document using
outline fonts with, say, just one character at the bottom of each page
so that there is not too much graphics garbage to wade through but
mostly LineSkip codes. The printer def file and a suitable text test
file are on the Archive monthly disc. It includes a ‘Graptest’ file
which is a two-page Wordz “document”.  Tim Nicholson, Cranleigh.
7.1
•    Keyboard cleaning − We regularly get asked about keyboard problems,
many of which could be solved by cleaning. That, I think, is the answer
to Brian Cowan’s question in his Hardware Column last month. There have
been three main references to this in Archive (3.9 p10 + 5.1 p25 + 5.2
p28). I think these should cover most eventualities.  Ed.
7.1
In response to Brian’s question, several subscribers sent in
descriptions of how to clean a keyboard. I think that much of it is
covered by the references above but I think Knut Folmo’s comments which
follow may also be helpful.  Ed.
7.1
•    Keyboard cleaning (2) − There are three different keyboards on
Archimedes computers.
7.1
(1) KPL keyboard − This was used only on VERY old A310 machines. It can
be identified by looking at the CapsLock LED, which is mounted on the
right hand side of the key-top, as opposed to the left on the more usual
types. This is horrible to type on! If you still have such a keyboard,
throw it in the wastebin and buy a new! (Funnily enough, Acorn keyboards
are on special offer at the moment for £95 instead of £123 − strictly
while stocks last − I have about 10 of them. Ed)
7.1
(2) Keytronics keyboard − This is the normal keyboard on most of the
A310s and nearly all the A400/1 range. If you take off one of the keys,
you will see a rubber cap that is mounted between the key and the
keyswitch.
7.1
These keyboards do not like hair, biscuits and other kinds of dust. If
any keys fail, it most likely to be the CapsLock key because the hole
around the LED makes it possible for dust to get into the keyswitch. If
you have access to pressurised air, you can fix the key for a limited
period of time by taking off the keytop and blowing some air around the
LED. The best cure is to open the whole keyboard and clean it. This is a
lot of work and involves unscrewing approximately 40 screws. (See the
references mentioned above. Ed.)
7.1
(3) Cherry keyboards − All A5000/A540 machines have this type of
keyboard, which use the same mechanics as the A3000. This is a very good
membrane keyboard which seems to be very long-lasting. The use of
membrane technology makes it impossible for dust to enter the electrical
contacts. This type of keyboard is also the best to type on. It can
easily be identified by taking off one of the keytops, which should have
a little spring mounted on the underside. (Cherry keyboards are the ones
we have on special offer at the moment. Ed.)  Knut Folmo, Norway.
7.1
There is a fourth type: the A4000 type keyboard. We haven’t had any of
these go wrong yet, but we’ll report on them as and when they do. Ed.
7.1
•    Street maps using Draw − At the risk of being boring, since there have
been lots of articles about using Artworks or Vector to produce street
maps, I offer this solution using plain simple RISC OS 3 Draw. Firstly,
draw your map using ordinary thin lines for the roads. Then group all
the roads together and make their thicknesses (say) 4pt. Switch the grid
lock on and copy the roads. With the grid lock on, a copy is made
exactly one grid distance down and to the right. Therefore you can move
the copy exactly over the original. Now change all the lines in the copy
to colour white and thickness (say) 2pt and, hey presto, there’s your
street map.
7.1
If you want different thickness roads, keep the grid lock on and move
the copy to a different bit of the paper. Then make the copy’s line
colour red (so you can see it) and ungroup both maps. Carefully change
the corresponding road lines to the required thicknesses − e.g. 8pt on
the original and 5pt on the copy for the main roads. Then re-group the
roads and move the copy over the original. Finally, change the copy to
white lines. There may be more elegant ways of generating road maps but
this one is “free” with the Archimedes! Notice also that there are no
problems with joining different sized roads (i.e. the outlines of the
small roads do not project into the big roads.  Cain Hunt, Cambridge.  A
7.1
Virtual Golf
7.1
Andrew Rawnsley
7.1
Golf simulations have always been popular, both on Acorn and other
platforms. There are more golf simulators for Acorn machines than any
other sports games. Perhaps the success of computer golf may be
attributed to the cost of the computer game when compared to the costs
of golf clubs and membership of the local club!
7.1
Be that as it may, Virtual Golf is 4th Dimension’s new golf game, which
tries to break new ground in computer golf simulation. It is from the
same stable as, and indeed shares the same author as, the original
Archimedes golf game, Holed Out. To this extent, you might be forgiven
for thinking that Virtual Golf is just an upgrade from this fun, if
rather dated, simulator. I prefer to think of it as a sequel rather than
as an upgrade, and not just because 4th Dimension will not be offering
an upgrade to Holed Out owners!
7.1
The major new feature of Virtual Golf is that when you come to play the
stroke, the power-meters and button clicks for power, hook and slice
have totally disappeared and are replaced by the player swinging the
mouse to simulate the club. Obviously you can’t swing the mouse in the
vertical plane, but this certainly beats clicking to stop a power-meter.
7.1
The swinging of the mouse certainly takes some practice, as you can only
achieve a clean impact with the ball if the swing is virtually perfect.
To help in this, the author, Gordon Key, has thoughtfully provided a
driving range, with the typical distance markers (cunningly disguised
paths!), bunkers and greens to pitch onto. Time spent here mastering the
swing, will certainly pay dividends in the main game.
7.1
Once you have conquered (?!?) the basic swing, you may practise any hole
on the course, from any position on the hole. This is, apparently, the
only way to practise putting, and it would be nice to see a practice
putting green implemented. Perhaps a small nine-hole putting course like
you find at most golf clubs and on the seafront at some seaside resorts
could be included?
7.1
One of the advertising slogans on the Virtual Golf box claims that it is
‘almost worth selling your clubs for’. Presumably it is referring to the
swinging of the mouse to represent the club, suggesting that it is
really lifelike. However, I found the game had a tendency to hook the
ball, with around two thirds of my full power stokes being hooked to the
left. In reality, I tend to slice the ball to the right, not hook it,
when playing a bad shot out on the course. This was a little
disappointing and is my only major criticism of the game. There are,
apparently, six types of shot which can be played: (note that the
definitions refer to windless conditions)
7.1
Hook − The ball falls away (heavily) to the left when in flight.
7.1
Draw − The ball drifts slightly to the left when in flight.
7.1
Clean − The balls flies straight and true − often the ideal shot.
7.1
Fade − The ball drifts slightly to the right when in flight.
7.1
Slice − The ball falls away (heavily) to the right when in flight.
7.1
Low Power − The ball only travels a short distance.
7.1
Hooks and slices vary in intensity depending both on the wind and on how
you strike the ball.
7.1
The main game requires at least 2 Mb of memory to run, and may be
installed onto a hard disc, but you will need the main program disc as a
key because of the protection. When loaded, it installs on the iconbar,
and all the game options are available via menus and windows. However,
the gameplay takes place outside desktop, but entering and leaving
desktop is very smooth.
7.1
The aim of the game is rather more interesting than most golf
simulators. Just as in real golf, you must practise playing the course
and then play handicap assessment rounds to try and improve your
handicap. Improving your handicap allows you to enter six increasingly
difficult competitions ranging from the Beginners’ Knockabout open to
everyone, through to the prestigious British Open, which is only
available to players with handicaps of 2 or less. The British Open is
the only tournament in which the names of real golfers are used. The
rest of the opponents are either puns or humorous ideas of Mr Key. The
default holder of the Acorn Masters trophy is Mr Archi Medes (groan!).
7.1
The variety of options is huge:
7.1
It is possible to select Winter, Spring, Summer or Autumn conditions
affecting both the gameplay and the graphics.
7.1
You can select match play (complete with gimmies and retiring),
strokeplay, handicap assessment, or tournament rounds.
7.1
Between one and four players may be present in any game, all of which
can be saved as player files, and each can be right or left-handed.
7.1
You can save the game and scorecard at any point.
7.1
There is a special high resolution display mode for owners of VGA
monitors (but which seems very small on an Acorn Multisync). The normal
graphics run in an overscan screen mode to increase the available screen
area.
7.1
There is an option to turn off the map and stroke information whilst the
ball is in flight, allowing you to see the shot more clearly.
7.1
It is possible to obtain information about the tournaments, such as who
the last winner was and when, and see a picture of the trophy awarded to
the winner.
7.1
You can set the sound level between 0 and 15.
7.1
The above is not even a complete list of the many features packed into
the game, but suffice it to say that I don’t think that any other golf
game on Acorn machines offers so many facilities. The only missing
option would be the skill option available in Holed Out, to set whether
or not wind affects the ball, and what sort of lie balls landing in
bunkers and the rough will be given.
7.1
At present, the game is only supplied with a course based on that at
Wentworth which is a shame. Two courses, as in Holed Out, would have
added more variety, although the manual states that more courses will be
available sometime in the future. Each course contains over 1Mb of data
so, we are told, these extra courses may take some time to complete.
7.1
The in-game graphics are particularly good with detailed slopes of
hills, rises and slopes. It makes a nice change to see a 4th Dimension
game with polished graphics to match the quality of the gameplay. Acorn-
only games seem usually to have superb gameplay, let down by their
graphics, whereas on consoles and other games machines, the reverse is
true.
7.1
Scenery is provided in the form of digitised trees and bushes, with
houses and even smoking industrial chimneys in the background! The
leaves of the plants vary according to the season selected.
7.1
Overall, Virtual Golf appears to be the best golf simulator available on
Acorn machines, but Cambridge International Software’s Microdrive 2 has
the advantage of being well established with quite a few of Virtual
Golf’s features, and extra courses and a course designer are currently
available. (Note that MD2 and MD Designer are both currently available
at the special price of £16 each. Ed.)
7.1
Virtual Golf costs £34.95 from 4th Dimension, or £33 through Archive.
Whether it is really ‘worth selling your clubs for’, I leave you to
decide, but I should hope that most golfers would receive more than £35
for their clubs!  A
7.1
Colour Printing
7.1
Jim Nottingham
7.1
Colour printing is now available at a sensible price on the Archimedes.
I have had some experience of this and would like to offer a few
thoughts that will, hopefully, help others moving into this fascinating
area.
7.1
Paper & transparencies for inkjets
7.1
In the last year or so, there have been a number of valuable suggestions
in Archive about the best papers to use with inkjets/bubblejets. Having
been fortunate enough to be able to justify buying the superb Canon
BJC800, I’ve had varying results both with the recommended brands and
around 30 other types, so here are my own findings:
7.1
‘Cheapo’ duplicating papers − pretty useless on the BJC800, with lots of
colour runs and jagged edges with all printer settings.
7.1
Canon brand − one-sided, very white, very good but very expensive
(around 12p per A4 sheet, 25p for A3).
7.1
‘Colour Enhancement Paper’ from System Insight − mentioned in earlier
Archives, one-sided, not perfect white and rather thin (70gsm?) but, for
my money, the best printed results by a very long chalk. Mid-price at
£35 per A4 ream (= 7p/sheet), unfortunately not available in A3.
7.1
‘Final Quality Smooth Paper’ from System Insight − a lovely paper but,
despite what the catalogue says, useless on the BJC800! When I queried
this, SI said it’s good on the BJ10 and BJ200 but they don’t recommend
it for colour. Price £25 per A4 ream.
7.1
Posh ‘letterhead’ papers − Conqueror etc. Two-sided, quite white,
usually around 100gsm, readily available around £15 per A4 ream.
Reasonably good results, so best value for money unless you really need
the higher quality of Canon or System Insight papers.
7.1
Transparencies − very few brands recommended for the BJC800. Best value
from System Insight (£24 for 40 sheets = 60p/sheet) or, for a slightly
better result, Folextran from Canon suppliers at £60 for 100 sheets =
60p/sheet). Both brands are heavily coated and so they pick up gunge and
finger marks very quickly. Probably best to store/use them in clear
pockets. The suppliers say Folextran are also good on lasers but I’ve
found the results rather iffy. (Can anyone recommend a brand for use on
laser printers?) (I use Datamark which I buy from a local stationery
supplier and that seems fine. Ed.)
7.1
System Insight are a very helpful firm with lots of inkjet consumables
in their free catalogue.
7.1
Ironically, I’ve had problems getting Canon products; their recommended
suppliers don’t seem to want to be bothered with cottage industries.
However, I’ve found Copymore Office Automation to be very helpful and
with prompt delivery. You can contact Simon at Freepost BM130,
Birmingham, B12 8BR. Tel [phone]. Fax [phone].
7.1
Colour printing in practice
7.1
The BJC800 review and Charles Moir’s valuable comments in Archive 6.1
pp45-49 introduced us to the problems of colour variations between what
you see on screen and what you get on paper. These are quite significant
and, presumably, affect all colour printers, but you can also get quite
marked differences between different brands of paper or transparencies.
7.1
Since getting the BJC800, I’ve been trying out all sorts of ideas to
combat the general darkening of colours and, more problematical, the
changes in some colour hues. Results have been very variable but I’ve
had some successes, so here are a few ideas:
7.1
Adjusting the screen palette or using new screen palettes (such as that
supplied with Artworks) produces only marginal improvements and, in
practice, is really only good for 16-colour modes.
7.1
For sprites, there are two usable options. Firstly, a number of programs
(e.g. scanners or digitisers) allow you to apply gamma correction in
software. This lightens darker colours but leaves lighter colours alone
− clever stuff. It can combat the general darkening quite well but is
not so effective on hue changes. You will probably need lots of trial
and error, depending on the hardware, the program and even the original
image but a gamma correction of around 2.20 seems to be a good starting
point.
7.1
Alternatively, if you have 4Mation’s excellent Chameleon application, I
recommend dropping the sprite into !Draw and then into Chameleon. It is
then possible to tweak the sprite by using Chameleon’s global change
facilities. (You can’t change individual colours of sprites in
Chameleon.) I find weakening or brightening the image by a couple of
mouse clicks can often give the desired effect − the Chameleon manual
says this is equivalent to increasing white or reducing black − I don’t
understand it but it seems to work.
7.1
I haven’t found any method of combatting the hue changes with sprites −
does anyone have any ideas please?
7.1
Drawfiles are easier to deal with in more detail. Simply select each
line or filled area in turn and tweak the colour to give the desired
result when printed. This does need a little experience but that comes
very quickly. On the BJC800, I find using lighter shades of the primary
colours (yellow, cyan and magenta) works a treat, while combinations of
any two (to give lighter shades of red, green and blue) works quite
well. It’s only when you use darker shades, or start mixing all three
colours, that problems set in. With a modicum of trial and error, it
should be very easy to deduce a range of usable colours that will work
well with your printer.
7.1
If you really need to reproduce a specific colour, bearing in mind that
you can get quite different results on different materials, the only way
round it seems to be to use a colour cube. Segments of a cube are quite
easy to produce on paper, using the super interpolation functions of
Artworks, Vector or Draw. You can then choose the specific colours you
want and set the RGB values in either 0-100% or 0-255 units, depending
on your program. With this method, the colours on screen will probably
look all wrong but you really can achieve WYWIWYG (what you want is what
you get... ).
7.1
On the monthly program disc are a number of drawfiles which will enable
you to print them out on your own printer.  A
7.1
Gemini
7.1
Hutch Curry
7.1
Gemini is a computerised version of the parlour game ‘Pelmanism’ which
is supplied on two discs for £29.95 +VAT by Cambridge Software House.
The first disc contains the Gemini application, a RISC OS 2 !Fonts
directory containing the Tabloid font, a !System and a directory of some
supplied sprites for the game. The application is started in the usual
manner by double-clicking on the Gemini icon. The program then installs
itself on the iconbar. To progress any further, you must drag one of the
directories from within the Games1 directory onto the iconbar.
7.1
The game is played with different numbers of ‘card pairs’ (3, 10 or 20).
When you begin, these are placed face down on the board. You turn over a
card by clicking on it. You then must try to locate a match for the
first card from the remaining face down cards. Depending on the game,
the match can either be literal (picture to picture) or symbolic
(picture to word).  If you have been successful and found a match, the
cards are turned over again but the cards now have a different colour
backing to indicate that they are no longer in play. There are icons on
top of the board to indicate how many pairs have been found and a
counter to display the number of moves taken. The gameplay is reasonably
smooth but there seems to be an absence of any sound effects. This is
unfortunate as the use of sound might have increased the user’s interest
level.
7.1
From the iconbar menu, you can choose a number of options. You can
choose which of the available outline fonts to use for displaying the
names when the pairs are matched. You can also choose to have the cards
graphically ‘flip’ end over end when they are chosen as opposed to just
appearing in place of the background. Also, you can select the length of
display time before the cards are turned face down again after failing
to make a match. Gemini also includes a facility to store a complete
record of game play that can be saved to disc and replayed at any time.
Finally, there is an option to reshuffle the cards for another game.
7.1
Gemini is supplied with a second disc of games which includes such
themes as cats, dogs, dinosaurs, colours and number. In addition, Gemini
is supplied with a blank set of sprites and a sample script file so that
users can generate their own games. This is a nice idea that should
substantially extend the program’s lifespan for the purchaser.
7.1
Conclusion
7.1
Gemini is a competent program with a number of nice features. However, I
think that the price tag of £29.95 is a bit high when one considers the
availability of a number of quite good PD versions of Pelmanism.  A
7.1
Genesis Magpie Column
7.1
Paul Hooper
7.1
Skeletons in the cupboard
7.1
This month we are going to have a look at ‘skeleton’ pages within both
of the programs and the way you can utilise them to save not only work
but also disc space. As usual, the two programs deal with this problem
in different ways sometimes with unpredictable results! To illustrate
the differences, I will take an example from the Swap Shop catalogue and
describe how an identical application can be tackled in both Genesis and
Magpie.
7.1
The problem was this, I wished to set up an alphabet which would be
printed out along the bottom of every page and each letter was to be
linked to a separate page. The page format was also to be the same with
a large upper case letter and a lower case letter of the same size, both
of which were to be linked to a sound sample. I also required a next
page button. The picture below should explain the problem.
7.1
Magpie solution
7.1
In Magpie, there is a skeleton icon which can be used to set up a
skeleton page. First of all, we create a text frame and type in our
alphabet, then using the button tool you need to create 26 individual
transparent buttons covering each of the letters in turn. These buttons
need to be linked to the corresponding pages but one of the problems
with Magpie now rears its head − you can’t link to a page that doesn’t,
as yet, exist.
7.1
Yet with a little lateral thinking, you can overcome the problem. A
skeleton page in Magpie is a blueprint for all the others. You can edit
the skeleton page and it will affect all the pages that use that
blueprint. So, create your pages with pictures, sound samples, etc on
them using the skeleton page and then go back to your skeleton page and
edit it so that the buttons now point to the pages that you have
created. Save your new skeleton page and now every page in your alphabet
will be altered. The frame for the large letters can be formed in the
normal way but left blank so that you can type in the correct letter.
The skeleton page also has the next page button on it although my last
page would not require this but would require a button to return to the
beginning. Now if you try to modify a button that is part of a skeleton
page, you will get an error message. The way round this is to use the
rubber and remove the button on the last page, then replace it with a
new button connected to the first page. Magpie will not allow you to
edit anything that appears on a copy of a skeleton page but it will
allow you to rub it out.
7.1
Genesis solution
7.1
To solve the problem in Genesis is a little more complex. Over the past
few months, much has been said in this column about the use of the
shared resources area. Not only can you use this area for graphics but
you can also use it to save script language.
7.1
So if you wish to include a ‘skeleton’ page, create a page in the normal
way and using the ‘Info’ option at the top of the page menu, slide off
and, using the ‘Page’ option, open up the ‘Page Information’ − this has
a save script option. Save the script for your skeleton page into a
directory and then open up your shared resources area by using <menu>
over the Genesis icon, rename the script to something more meaningful
and drop the icon into the resources area. Now each time you wish to use
this skeleton page, you create a page as normal and then open up the
page script by holding down <Shift> and clicking <select> over the page
icon from the ‘Show’ sub menu. Drag the script file for this page into
Edit and type in:
7.1
INCLUDE “Your name”
7.1
Using the name that you used for your script in the resources area. Now
save the new page script by dragging it into the page resources area and
when you open up the page you will have your skeleton page. Now if you
change anything on your skeleton page, it will effect all the others.
Beware of altering your skeleton on a copy page, as this will mean that
the whole of the skeleton page is saved within your new page definition.
7.1
As an example on the month’s disc, I have included a Genesis demo which
is also a tutorial on the use of skeleton pages. Feel free to modify and
experiment with this and if you have any queries about the use of
skeleton pages, please let me know.
7.1
The Swap Shop
7.1
It has been very quiet for the last month on the Swap Shop front and I
have spent the time converting applications between the two formats. Let
me just remind readers how the Swap Shop works. If you have created a
Magpie or Genesis application, just send it to me and, in return, I will
send you a copy of the Catalogue. You can then select three applications
from the catalogue and send me the formatted discs and you will receive
them by return of post. If you are writing on behalf of an educational
establishment, put your request on headed note paper and you can choose
as many applications as you like so long as you provide the discs and
return postage.
7.1
National Education Multimedia Awards
7.1
These awards have been set up by NCET to encourage the creation of
multimedia compositions in the classroom. The awards are split into four
categories: 11 years and under, 12-16 years, 17-19 years, Students in
Initial Teacher Education.
7.1
Entry forms are available from: The NEMA Office, NCET, Sir William Lyons
Road, Science Park, Coventry, CV4 7EZ. The closing date is 31st March
1994.
7.1
This is an opportunity for schools to write and design their own Magpie
or Genesis applications and receive a real reward. Yet one thing has
struck me, many of the primary schools around this area are still
struggling on with the BBC Master and even the good old ‘B’. This would
be an ideal time to offer assistance to your local primary school by
offering your services and machine to help them out.
7.1
Next month
7.1
Next month’s column will take a close look at some of the applications
that we have in the Swap Shop, and will also examine what makes a good
application and other areas where Genesis and Magpie would be useful.
7.1
The end bit
7.1
If you have any suggestions or queries concerning either program, or if
you have an application/binder that you want to swap then drop me a line
to Paul Hooper, 11 Rochford Road, Martham, Gt. Yarmouth, NR29 4RL.
Phone: [phone].  A
7.1
Zool
7.1
Jean-Paul Hamerton
7.1
Zool was converted by James Byrne at Cygnus Software for Gremlin
Graphics and costs £25.99 or £24 through Archive. It was reviewed on a
1Mb A310 with a 20Mb hard drive. I have have been using this game for
about a month so that I could test its lasting appeal!
7.1
The plot
7.1
You are Zool, the interstellar cosmos dweller from the Nth dimension,
and you are on your way home when you notice a strange wobbling
phenomena. As a member of the Intergalactic Ninjas, you are compelled to
investigate. You move closer to the phenomenon to get a better look, but
some strange power takes over your ship. You are pulled deep into the
strange vortex, the ship starts to spin out of control, you are thrown
from side to side and you black out. You wake to see that your ship has
crashed landed on a planet made from sweets. There is a message on the
computer − you have been brought to the planet to see if your are worthy
of being a Intergalactic Ninja. It will be the first of six worlds for
you to conquer. You will be set a time limit to overcome the many
hazards and collect enough inanimate objects before you will be allowed
to move on to the next world.
7.1
The package
7.1
The game comes on two discs, both of which are unprotected and can be
copied onto a single high density disc or to a hard drive. If you have
enough memory, you could copy one or both of the discs to the ramdisc
and run it from there.
7.1
There is some protection in the form of a cardboard discs. These discs
have pictures of Zool in different poses. At the beginning of the game,
you are shown a picture and asked for the code in a box. You move the
disc to match up with the picture and type in the code. There is one
thing I do hate and I don’t understand why they did it. The codes are
written in black ink on the black card so it can’t be photocopied. It’s
just that I find it hard to read − you have to get the light just right.
7.1
There is an 52 page A5 instruction manual which is divided into four
different languages. The first four pages are taken up by a nice comic
strip which has Zool as an old man, telling his grandson all about how
he got into the predicament he was in. The next eight pages tell you all
about the different worlds and about the different enemies you will meet
on your way. The instructions are very good and tell you all you need to
know. Maybe there is too much information as it might be quite fun to
find out the hard way. There is also a single piece of paper explaining
how you can copy both discs onto a high density disc or a hard drive.
7.1
To load the program, you need to check that you have 640Kb free memory
and then double-click on the Zool icon. Ten seconds or so later, you
come to the protection sequence. You have three tries at typing in the
correct code, after which you get thrown out. When you get the right
code, after another ten seconds, the music starts and a large sprite of
Zool runs to the middle of the screen and jumps up and hangs from the
word Zool. If you press <space>, you will get a menu of different
playing options. Here you will be able to select how hard the game will
be or what type of music you would like. The choice is rave, funk, rock
or green − I don’t know what green is but that’s the one I usually
listen to. Press <fire> on a joystick or the keyboard and the game while
begin.
7.1
The game
7.1
Well, if you don’t already know, Zool is a four-way scrolling platforms
game. There are six different worlds, each with its own theme to
complete. Each world has three sections to it and at the end of every
third section, there will be a big beastie to kill before moving on to
the next world.
7.1
Zool is a funny looking alien with pointed green ears. He is dressed in
black with a nice red sash and has a wide selection of moves, not just
running about and jumping everywhere. You can make him slide, kick and
crouch, and he has even got a nice right hook, good enough to break down
walls − well, some walls. There is one more move that I have kept for
last. All ninjas are renowned for their sword skills and this little
ninja is no exception. Make him jump then press the <fire> button and
see him spin with his sword slicing up all that is in his path. He
starts the game with five lives, each life can take three hits (hearts)
before he will lose it. It is possible to collect more of these hearts
because sometimes, when you kill an enemy, a heart will start to float
to the top of the screen − you must jump and catch it before it goes
away.
7.1
First comes the Sweet World where the majority of the platforms are made
from a sort of cake with smarties in it. Lollipops and candy canes are
trees and the enemies are orange and green jellies with a liquorice
allsorts thrown in for good measure. There are various bumble bees
flying around that are made from sweets − I would have thought that they
could have come up with something more original.
7.1
Music World is the second world and the one I liked most. This has
walking drums and cymbals, and violins that fire their bows at you. I
particularly liked this level because of the massive piano that you can
play by jumping on the keys. At certain places on some of the background
there are music books which have some musical notes on the open pages
and when you play these on the piano strange things happen.
7.1
The next world is Fruit World with pomegranate volcanoes, spitting
carrots, flying pea pods (very wierd-looking), kamikaze tomatoes that
fall from the sky and grapes that hang around in bunches and when you go
near them they attack you by bouncing on top of your head.
7.1
Tool World is very hard. It took me ages to get started as you need to
find a hidden door. The enemies are very strange, woodworms with very
big teeth, drill bits that emerge out of nowhere, never mind the saws,
the chain-saws, the flies that are made from nuts and bolts buzzing all
about and some sort of red bouncy thing that when you shoot it, it
splits into two.
7.1
Toy World’s platforms are made from my favourite toy when I was kid,
Meccano. It looks as if someone has broken some of it, as it has some
very sharp edges. This level has Toy Tanks firing enormous missiles, a
bouncing ball trying to bounce on top of your head, and the Paper
Aeroplanes dropping bombs on you. On one of the later parts, there is a
bouncy castle that you have fun jumping on.
7.1
Last is Fairground World where you can take a ride on a plastic duck or
get killed by some very nasty-looking candy floss or maybe a toffee
apple might give you some G.B.H. There are some hammers that go around
hitting everything in sight but that can be very useful. There is one
thing you must remember − don’t eat the popcorn as it does more than
pop.
7.1
Conclusion
7.1
Having had Zool for over a month now, I still enjoy playing it as there
is no way of jumping worlds (unless you have a cheat). Having to
complete each level every time, I would have thought would get a bit
frustrating at times, but Gremlin Graphics have done a good job with the
levels so that there are lots of bits that you might have missed before,
like hidden rooms or bonuses. There are also some hidden games as in
Nevryon.
7.1
I would have like to have seen a little more effort put into making the
player think, instead of just running about and killing anything that
moves. Some of the end-of-level beasties are poor as well. A banana and
alarm clock don’t exactly sound very exciting, and although Jimmy’s
killer guitar sounds a little better, it looks pretty naff. I must say
that the giant bumble bee and Maxie the robot do look very good.
7.1
The graphics and sounds are excellent and put a lot of Archimedes games
to shame. Zool has to be one of the most professionally written games on
the Archimedes. I have even heard that the game could be converted to an
arcade machine − that is how big this game has become. If you have ever
played any type of platform game and enjoyed it, then I really do think
you will enjoy this.  A
7.1
Time Traveller − Victorians
7.1
Richard Rymarz
7.1
Time Traveller is a dedicated database that handles information with the
aid of a time line. It is produced by ESM and costs £37.50 +VAT from ESM
or £41 through Archive. It is specifically designed for primary school
children at Key Stage 2 (8 − 11 years old) and is closely linked with
Yorkshire Televisions ‘How We Used to Live’ series of historical
recreations.
7.1
Time Lines contains two discs − a program and a data disc. It easily
installs itself on a hard disc.
7.1
Aims
7.1
Time Traveller has two specific aims. Firstly, to show the relative
position of events so that children can explore the relationship between
one event and the next. Events can be added, for example, to show the
relationship between medical knowledge and social conditions during the
Victorian period. Secondly, there is the opportunity to compare two sets
of time lines alongside each other so that children can test hypothesis
and relationships between sets of data. This, it is hoped, will lead to
children exploring and investigating their own historical topics.
7.1
The Victorians − early and late
7.1
There are a number of ready-made time line files supplied by ESM. Here I
review the Victorians but other files include The Making of the United
Kingdom which covers 1500 to 1750, Britain since the 30s and Trade &
Industry in Medieval Realms.
7.1
An application, !Time, installs itself on the iconbar and the Victorians
Data file is dropped onto it. Immediately, a window opens revealing the
five main themes. Each theme has a number of related subjects. Thus
‘Working Life’ will contain data on Engineering, Factory Work, Farming
and Mining. Four buttons along the top of the data screen allow the user
to switch between the chooser button, simple time line, comparison time
lines and finally a record button. The latter offers information about
the chosen data. Subjects within a theme can be selected using two arrow
buttons. This is all easy to use and should pose no problems for
children.
7.1
Simple time line
7.1
Selecting ‘Working Life’ from the People theme presented me with two
time lines: the inner one was a fairly detailed yearly list of events;
the outer one placed the period shown on screen within the whole
Victorian period. As I scrolled down checking through the data, so the
outer one scrolled in unison. Clicking on any of the items and choosing
the record button gave me information on that event. More than one event
or subject can be chosen and will appear at the top of the data screen.
Double clicking on any of them highlights the events belonging to them.
Thus children can see which events correspond to more than one theme or
subject. New themes, subjects and events can be added to the time line.
They can be deleted but not until countless warnings have been issued.
7.1
The compare time line
7.1
Clicking on the Compare button allows the user to look at two sets of
data with a time line between them. Thus, for instance, the facts
concerning housing and education could be compared to see whether any
links could be determined between them. In this way, it is hoped that
children can formulate their own theories and connections between the
sets of data. Data can be switched from one side of the time line to the
other in order to make comparisons easier.
7.1
Other features
7.1
The Help button gives access to information on any set of data. This can
be changed within the Time Traveller program where full cut and paste,
move, copy, clear, etc functions are available, or data can be exported
as a text file, edited using !Edit and then imported back into Time
traveller. Sprites can be added but not drawfiles.
7.1
Completely new time lines can be created using !Time. Any period in
history can be defined spanning from 9999 BC to 9999 AD (‘future’ time
lines − some creative writing and thinking possible here). It is all
quite easy to do but would take a fair amount of time.
7.1
The program can be configured to suit individual requirements. Typeface,
access, deleting and printing options can all be changed.
7.1
Finally, the documentation is superb. The 25 page manual is beautifully
presented in a hardback file. The instructions are laid out clearly and
are easy to follow. Other documentation includes an A4 hardback file
that accompanies Yorkshire Television’s ‘How We Used to Live’. This is a
wonderful resource in itself containing 48 workcard and 17 photographs
about the Victorians. There is even an audio tape of songs of the
period.
7.1
Conclusions
7.1
Time traveller is easy to use, flexible in that new sets of data can be
created and the documentation is excellent. It manages to provide these
features in a straight forward way and fulfils the first of its aims
well in that it is easy to see sets of data in relation to each other. I
am less convinced that the second aim, comparing time lines, is always
achievable. Leaving aside the problems of using two sets of data that
are somehow linked, random searching, whilst educationally laudable,
could lead to much wasted time. It also requires a fairly sophisticated
level of thinking to hypothesise in the stated way. I wonder whether
children at the age level the program is aimed at (Key Stage 2) could
cope. I admit that I have not tried Time Traveller with any children
since the Victorians are not due for an airing in my school until 1995.
Perhaps now that there is to be an ‘education’ section in Archive, there
will be a forum allowing teachers who use the programs to offer their
experiences. (Also, there are more T-T packages for review so it would
be good to have them looked at by teachers who are currently dealing
with the topics in question. Ed.)
7.1
Much effort has gone into updating these sets of programs (I believe
they began life on the old BBC’s), making them easy to use and providing
usable documentation. I would recommend that any interested buyer
thoroughly trial the program before they part with their money to make
sure it does what they want.
7.1
Time-Traveller Victorians costs £39.50 +VAT from ESM or £43 through
Archive. The price includes a site licence.  A
7.1
Time Traveller − Making of U.K. 1500-1750
7.1
Paul Hooper
7.1
I was intrigued by this title. Could two hundred and fifty years of
British history be summed up in a single 800Kb disc? Well, the short
answer is no. The program is designed as an outline which will enable
you to create your own time lines and create a computer database which
can be used to investigate links between data. The title is a direct
quote from the National Curriculum Key Stage 3, Core study unit 3 but
don’t let that put you off! Now I am not going to go into the detail of
the way this program works, as this has been covered in the review by
Richard Rymarz, but how can this program be integrated into a classroom?
7.1
But first the program...
7.1
I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised with the ease of use of the
program. It has a natural feel to it − you intuitively know what to do.
It is very easy to set up and compare time lines, and information cards
can be called up, edited and resaved with the author’s name. The cards
can also be exported in Edit format allowing you to import them into
other applications. I was a bit disappointed that the same sort of
export capability was not provided for the time line itself. If you
could export the time line as a sprite or drawfile, it could be used in
Genesis or other packages. The manual and the binder that go with the
program are excellent with first class photocopy masters, which are
almost worth the price on their own.
7.1
Classroom use
7.1
This program certainly has the capability of being used as a
collaborative venture by different groups of pupils. With the ability to
import Edit files as the information cards, those schools who are lucky
enough to have access to more than one Archimedes or even a few a Pocket
Books, can set groups of pupils working on different subjects and then
collect all the information into Time Traveller. This will involve the
pupils in looking up the information in books, doing word processing and
using English skills. When each of the cards is entered into the
database, a date is required and also the author’s name. This is a real
stroke of genius − there is nothing more encouraging to a child than to
see his name on the screen and to feel that he/she has written part of a
‘computer program’.
7.1
Pictures
7.1
Many of the PD libraries have clipart of kings, queens, explorers,
musicians, etc that can be added to information cards and you could even
scan in pictures. Draw can also be used to add pictures, so you could
create the pictures yourself. One slight quibble here though, is that
you can only add one picture to an information card. So, for instance,
you can only have a single picture of Inigo Jones or the Whitehall
Banqueting hall on the first page of the same card even though the text
may stretch over two or three pages.
7.1
Conclusions
7.1
What may seem at first as a weakness is in fact a strength. The fact
that the time line seems empty encourages you to put more and more
information into it. As any good teacher knows, if you have written the
information down, it is going to be learnt − it is much better than
being the passive recipient of information from the screen. ESM may very
well do themselves out of sales because once you have one copy of Time
Traveller, there is no real need to buy another one. You can create your
own time lines from the program. The only reason to buy another period
is for the photocopy masters. If these were available separately, that
would be very helpful.
7.1
Time Traveller − The Making of the United Kingdom is available from
Archive at £43.  A
7.1
Smudge the Spaniel
7.1
Bob & Lisa Ames
7.1
The program comes with seven pages of manual, one of educational notes,
two and a half of “counting songs”, and a full page picture of Smudge
himself. The manual covers the IBM and RISC OS types of computer; the
compressed files may be installed on a hard disc without any problems.
However my AOC multisync doesn’t give a picture − unless I reconfigure
my computer to Monitortype 1 (not 3) and then it all seems to work.
7.1
There are three sections within the program:
7.1
1) Number shapes − The first part involves the student using the mouse
to draw around the shape of an enlarged number. The number is shown
about 8 or 9 cm high on a 14“ screen. To help with number recognition,
there is a similar number of objects for the pupil to count and, with
the sound option ON, the computer speaks the number.
7.1
2) Dot-to-dot − Either move the mouse and connect the spots or type in
the next number and the computer draws the line for you; then colour in
the completed picture.
7.1
3) Count and colour − A picture is coloured in by choosing the correct
answer for a sum in a particular part of a picture and then clicking on
the area which contains the question. (Rather an odd order to do
things!)
7.1
It is important to leave the write protect tab closed so that the disc
may be written to during the program. The CC !Compression utility is
used to de-compress sprite files as the program progresses and if the
program is the first thing run after switch on, this will load
automatically. However, as I use a complicated !Boot sequence, the
utility doesn’t load and it is necessary to load it manually first. Then
all the sprite files can be accessed. If the disc is write-protected, or
the decompression utility has not loaded, the dots have no numbers,
there are no letters to draw round and there is no picture to (count
and) colour!
7.1
The non-protected master disc may be backed-up at will. Hard disc
installation presented a few problems; the !CFS parameters had to be
changed manually (the full hard disc file path had to be typed into the
!config file), otherwise the CFS system didn’t look at the !Scrap file
on the hard disc and there weren’t any sprite files with the tasks (see
above). I think the procedure for hard disc installation should be spelt
out in the manual − I suspect that it would be beyond the scope of the
average user!
7.1
Specific problems encountered
7.1
You can’t properly reach the Info icon with the mouse on Count & Colour.
When you do, it doesn’t tell you that you are actually in the “assist
mode” until the next operation, so you don’t know that your attempt at
selection of Info was successful. The Info feature should be useful
because it gives a standard “ 5+4=?? ” format sum with the relevant
numbers of dots beneath each figure, so the child can count up the dots
for the answer. However, despite the warning in the manual, the random
nature of the sums still should give realistic colours (e.g. the sky
shouldn’t be green!) The completed Count and Colour picture may be given
a title, by colouring in and then pressing <escape> (Why escape?) and
typing in the title. This can be printed but the program doesn’t save
the picture.
7.1
When Number Drawing with the mouse, a line is drawn when the button is
released but it doesn’t draw a line when the button is pressed; (exactly
the opposite to !Draw!). I found this rather strange and Lisa couldn’t
understand this for a long while. The lines can be drawn in any (or
all!) of eight colours.
7.1
In Dot to Dot, in colour-in mode, you can’t go back to use the pen, so
you can draw extra lines. You can’t redo colour fills and the brush
bristles ought to change colour to indicate the colour to be painted
when a colour is selected. The selection process is unreliable and you
cannot change the colour when an area is painted wrongly!
7.1
Dot to Dot is very slow to respond to keyboard input. There seems to be
long gaps while Smudge walks to the next number in the sequence − this
causes frustration to more able children.
7.1
Sometimes even the computer leaves gaps in the lines and colour floods
out to colour large areas of the picture and this cannot be rectified
after the event. The “hollow” numbers (e.g. 6, 8, 9, 0) which mark the
dots cannot be filled with colour.
7.1
It is a great pity that the standard RISC OS printer drivers were not
used − I could not print out anything with my HP Desk Jet − I had to
resort to a noisy old Epson dot matrix! Any Epson which looks like an
FX80 will work, sideways printing the screens in true mono (i.e. black
and white only, no shading).
7.1
I’m glad to see there is a version of the program on the disc which can
be run on a simple unexpanded 1Mb machine. This does without some of the
frills − e.g. there is no sound apart from the introduction music.
7.1
Somehow during our investigations, the mouse was reconfigured to fast
resolution horizontally, but slow vertically! Surely, this isn’t
possible, is it?! It cleared to fast (my default) both ways, on
resetting the computer.
7.1
Telephone support was good and I suppose that the price of £24 through
Archive (£25.99 inclusive from Storm Educational Software) is just about
‘value-for-money’.
7.1
By the way, I must say that Smudge’s barks are very life-like − our dogs
took an instant dislike to them!  A
7.1
PipeLineZ
7.1
Gerald Fitton
7.1
This month, I have two topics on which to express my views. The first is
‘porting’ data to other platforms. The second is a ‘not quite’
comparison of PipeDream 4 and Resultz!
7.1
PipeDream 2
7.1
I’m not sure why, but recent correspondence has included more than a few
reminiscences about the ‘good old days’ when PipeDream 2 existed on the
Archimedes under the Arthur (RISC OS 1) operating system, also on the A4
size, battery operated Z88, and on the PC running under MS DOS 2! In
particular, Elwyn Morris praises highly this concept of ‘portability’ of
PipeDream from one platform to another at great length. Those who ask
questions rather than make comment want to know if PipeDream 4 will be
‘ported’ to the PC − and, if not, then what is involved in transferring
data between PipeDream 4 (or PipeDream 3) on the Archimedes and
PipeDream 2 (or any other suitable package) on the PC.
7.1
The quick answer to the second part of the question is that there is a
utility which will allow you to transfer PipeDream files to run under
Lotus 1-2-3 on a PC. The longer answer is that PipeDream files can be
‘converted’ to WK1 format and there are many PC spreadsheet packages
which will read in and save worksheets in WK1 format.
7.1
The user interface
7.1
An even longer answer, which avoids a direct response to the first part
of the question, is that, for most users, it doesn’t matter whether they
are using an Archimedes, a Macintosh, an Amiga, an Atari or a PC with
MS DOS 2 or Windows. What does matter is that the user interface is
familiar. By a familiar user interface, I mean that, whatever the
combination of hardware and operating system being used, the user can
employ the same keystrokes, the same mouse operations, the same
formulae, indeed, the same everything and produce the same effect. One
of the most valuable features of PipeDream 2 was that it had (almost)
the same user interface (including pull-down menus and even colour
scheme) on the Z88, the PC and the Archimedes.
7.1
It would seem that many of you hanker after a spreadsheet package which
has the same user interface on the Archimedes and under Windows on a PC.
Well, I suppose one answer is for Acorn to ‘port’ Microsoft Windows onto
the Archimedes. I wonder how hard that would be? Then you would be able
to run a Windows spreadsheet like Excel on the Archimedes. Another
alternative is for Acorn to to provide a desktop environment which runs
on a PC − I wonder how likely that is? A third alternative is a PC
Windows version of PipeDream 4 − but I think that is unlikely. (If your
are interested in this argument, see also the discussion in the
Spreadsheets Column, on page 13, about Eureka 2 − which is facing
criticism for being too like PC Excel! Ed.)
7.1
The drift to PCs
7.1
There is no doubt that PCs look cheap compared with the Archimedes and
the Windows environment is similar in many ways to the Desktop. Over the
last five years, I have seen quite a few of my correspondents gradually
shift their position from “The Archimedes is far superior to a PC
running MS DOS” through “PCs are improving and their prices are falling”
and “I’m going to get a PC with Windows as my second machine” to “I’m
now using the PC more than my Archimedes” and finally “The packages
available for Windows are superior to anything available for the
Archimedes”.
7.1
Now let me make it quite clear that what I have quoted above is not
typical but it does represent a growing proportion of erstwhile
Archimedes (and hence PipeDream) users. When I am invited to respond to
their rhetorical questions, my response is that really the hardware, the
operating system and even whether it is Windows or Desktop doesn’t
matter to users. What does count is whether the package (be it a word
processor, spreadsheet or CAD) has all the features needed (power) and
has a user interface which is intuitive and ‘easy to use’.
7.1
For my own part, like so many of my correspondents, I would like to see
PipeDream 4 ‘ported’ to run under Windows but I am fairly sure that it
won’t happen.
7.1
(My dream, as mentioned in my editorial in Archive 6.11, was that
WindowsNT − which is, after all, supposed to be platform-independent −
would be ported onto the new ARM700 machine. That way, we could give the
“you’ve got to be standard” lobby something to work on. They would then
have the RISC OS facility in their hands so that they could see how much
better it was and thereby have their sights lifted. Ed.)
7.1
PipeDream 4 or Resultz
7.1
Now to something completely different...
7.1
The question of whether to buy (or stick with) PipeDream 4 rather than
Resultz is one which has been put to me many times in the last couple of
months, particularly by users of PipeDream 3. I’ve decided that this
isn’t a fair question, so I’m going to give an answer which many of you
will regard as more than a little unsatisfactory. My defence is that, at
the end of my exposition, you will want to ask a different question −
even if I can’t answer that one either!
7.1
The price of PipeDream 4 has fallen. Those of you who have bought it at
the lower price (£140 through NCS) reaffirm what I have always believed:
it was the price rather than the specification which deterred you from
purchasing PipeDream 4 in the past. The price of upgrading from
PipeDream 3 to PipeDream 4 (direct from Colton Software) is attractive.
7.1
Sticking with the commercial features (rather than the technical
description), the drawback of buying PipeDream 4 is that it is most
unlikely that it will be upgraded any further so that, over a period of
time, you may become dissatisfied with features that it doesn’t have.
7.1
Now to some technical points. My opinion is that PipeDream 4 is far from
the end of its life because it has features that many people want that
Resultz doesn’t have. In particular, PipeDream offers fast printing
(using PipeDream printer drivers) using the fonts resident within your
printer − I call this ‘character printing’. If you use the system font
for your screen display, that will ‘match’ character printing and gives
a much faster screen response than outline fonts − also many find the
system font easier to read than outline fonts.
7.1
PipeDream 4 also supports command files (called macros in PipeDream 3).
With a command file, you can change the shape of your document. For
example, you can add, delete and move columns, rows and blocks. You can
automate a complex search and replace sequence (such as converting to
smart quotes and ligatures). You can even save and load files, or parts
of files, from and to documents. Resultz does not support command files.
7.1
I believe that the charts facilities of PipeDream 4 are ‘better’ than
those provided by the rather basic charts module of Resultz. Judge for
yourself. I created the chart below completely in PipeDream (with no
help from !Draw) and the chart opposite is the nearest I can get to the
same style in Resultz. The Resultz charts module does not allow the
addition of a heading nor could I find a way of adding Yesterday, Today
or Minutes. Of course, it might be me − I’ll let you know.
7.1
Another good point is that there is a long history of PipeDream usage.
What follows from this is that if you have a problem that you can’t
solve, the chances are that someone else has a solution. You will almost
certainly get useful advice from either the NCS technical help line or
the PipeLine user group (which is run by me).
7.1
Finally, we come to the reason why I think the question of comparing
PipeDream 4 with Resultz is unfair. PipeDream 4 is an integrated package
which is primarily a spreadsheet, indeed, until Resultz was released,
there is no doubt that PipeDream 4 was the best spreadsheet available
for the Archimedes. However, PipeDream has other features. For example,
it is also an excellent word processor with a deep paste list so you can
cut as many words or blocks as you like and then paste them back in
‘last cut first pasted’ order − Resultz, like Impression, has a paste
depth of only one object. PipeDream is also a highly useable ‘flat form’
database which can be searched and sorted. I could go on listing other
features of PipeDream 4’s integrated nature − but I expect that you can
list them yourselves.
7.1
Resultz
7.1
Resultz is now a ‘product available’ in the Archive sense of the word.
If you have registered either PipeDream 3, PipeDream 4 or Wordz with
Colton Software then, by the time you read this, you should have
received publicity material about their limited period discount offer to
registered users (offer ends on 15th October 1993 so don’t wait for
Acorn World). After the initial offer, the recommended price will be
about £120 +VAT so it is likely that NCS will be offering Resultz at
about the same price as PipeDream 4. (Yes, it’s £125, cf £140 for PD4.
Ed.) If you have one of Colton Software’s products and haven’t heard
from them by the time you read this, I suggest that you give them a ring
on 0223-311881 and ask for the Resultz leaflets.
7.1
Let me return to your unfair question asking me to recommend to you
Resultz or PipeDream. What has Resultz got that PipeDream 4 hasn’t? I
shall have to answer that in two stages. Let me start by describing some
of the facilities of Resultz before I move on to Fireworkz.
7.1
Resultz is much more WYSIWYG than PipeDream ever was or ever could be.
By this, I mean that you can see where the edges of the page are. You
can create a Resultz document which consists of many pages down but,
unlike PipeDream, a Resultz document can consist of many pages across as
well as down so that, however wide your spreadsheet, you can always
print every column (albeit on separate sheets of paper).
7.1
In Resultz, you can have a deep row containing a headline at 36 point
followed by many narrow rows of mixed numerical data and text at
12 point, say. In PipeDream, this would be difficult if not impossible
and certainly wouldn’t look on the screen as it would print. Resultz
supports vertical alignment − this means that you can place text or
numbers at the top, bottom or centre of a slot (as well as left, right
or centre).
7.1
In Resultz, there is what I call a ‘Line break’ facility. If you tap
<return> on its own then, as in PipeDream, you will move down into the
next slot but, if you use <ctrl-return>, you will find yourself on a new
line but still within the same slot. To cater for slots consisting of
many rows of text, the size of a Resultz slot grows downwards
automatically to match the number of lines of text it contains. You can
change the line spacing in Resultz, line by line, if you wish.
7.1
Resultz allows you to draw boxes around slots. This is useful if you
have a mixture of tables and text on the same page. In PipeDream, the
grid is either on the whole sheet or not at all.
7.1
Resultz formatting relies on Styles and Effects. Whether it is the
number of digits to be displayed after the decimal point or whether you
wish to protect a cell, the ‘best’ way of producing the desired result
is by defining and then applying a style. For example, you could define
a set of styles called Precision_0, Precision_1, etc as having 0 decimal
points, 1 decimal point, etc and, if you decided that you wanted to
change a block to a precision of 1 dp then all you need to do is mark
the block and apply the 1 dp style. Box_On and Box_Off could be two
styles for drawing boxes around slots and removing the box respectively
− I’m sure you can see how to protect and remove protection from a
marked block of slots.
7.1
Now here’s something interesting about the way Resultz ‘works’ which, in
the future, we may find in other packages. Resultz consists of many
‘small’ modules, one of which is a charts module and I’m going to use
that as my example. When you load Resultz onto the iconbar, you do not
load all the package into the memory of the Archimedes. In particular,
you do not load the charts module − it remains on your disc. When you
decide that you want to create a chart by ‘pressing’ the Create chart
button, the charts module is loaded from disc to the memory of the
machine. If you no longer need a charts module (because none of the
documents you have loaded uses a chart) then the charts module is
removed from memory.
7.1
Following on from this is something that you may find interesting (or it
may cause you some concern if you don’t know what’s going on). Because
the charts module isn’t loaded until you ‘press’ the Create chart
button, the Choices menu doesn’t show an option for ‘Chart − Automatic
update’. The option just isn’t there in the Choices window. This in turn
means that you can’t Save a set of choices (your default) which include
the automatic updating of charts (or not if that is your preference)
until you have loaded the charts module. You must load the module before
you save your defaults.
7.1
The same philosophy applies to all the Resultz modules, as well as to
the modules which make up Wordz (after version 1.04) and I’m sure it
will apply to all Fireworkz modules.
7.1
If you are not sure whether you want to buy Resultz, I recommend that
you try the Resultz demo disc. The demo disc version does (nearly)
everything that the full version will do except that you will not be
able to save or print your work. With the demo disc, you can load and
run Resultz applications created by other people, you can change the
data, add new rows, columns and functions, you can reformat them (on
screen only), drag in style templates or create your own styles. You
will also be able to drag your PipeDream spreadsheets into the demo
version of Resultz and see how much faster they recalculate (I make it
about three times faster for most of my big sheets!)
7.1
Fireworkz
7.1
FireWorkz is still not a ‘product available’ in the Archive sense of the
word but, in order for you to make up your mind about whether to buy
Resultz, you need to know more about Fireworkz. Fireworkz is due for
release in October 1993 − I suspect at Acorn World, if not before.
7.1
If you buy Resultz, but not Wordz, you will be able to use all the
spreadsheet facilities of Resultz and you will be able to type text into
text slots and align the text to left, right or centre but there will be
facilities peculiar to Wordz that you will not have. For example, you
will not be able to create styles with tab stops since that is a Wordz
facility.
7.1
If you buy Wordz, but not Resultz, you will be able to type in text,
create styles having tab stops, you’ll have a dictionary, spell checker
and many other facilities not available in Resultz.
7.1
If you have both Wordz and Resultz, you will be able to save a document
from one package and load it into the other. For example, you can create
a document in Wordz using a style containing tab stops and then drag
that document into a Resultz window. The style (including the tabs) will
be accepted by Resultz and you will be able to apply that style anywhere
in the document as if it were a Resultz style. What you will not be able
to do in Resultz is change the position of the tab stop.
7.1
Of course, I could have chosen many other examples of what can be done
in one package but not in the other but the tab stop example illustrates
the principle. To appreciate exactly what you can do in one package and
not the other, you really need to try it.
7.1
If I create a style, or set of styles, using Wordz and send you a disc
with such a Wordz document, you will be able to load it into Resultz and
it will look just like it does to me in Wordz. What you will not be able
to do in Resultz is modify the styles I have created. If I send you a
set of styles (in the form of a blank template) which I have created
using Wordz, you will be able to load that set of styles into Resultz
and create documents similar to those I have done in Wordz.
7.1
Where does Fireworkz come into the equation?
7.1
FireWorkz will allow you to integrate both Wordz and Resultz into one
package with one icon on the iconbar. If you do that, your Fireworkz
package will have the ‘functionality’ of all the things I have called
‘modules’ from Wordz and from Resultz. You will find that your one
Fireworkz package will have spreadsheet functions and charts available
from the Resultz modules and, from the Wordz modules, tab stops,
dictionaries and the spell checker. The modular nature of Fireworkz will
ensure that the only modules loaded into the memory of your machine will
be those needed for the documents you have loaded.
7.1
I hope that you are now beginning to see why it is difficult to compare
Resultz with PipeDream. The modules which comprise Resultz are only one
part of the broader concept of Fireworkz. Indeed, some of the Fireworkz
modules, such as those which will run the database or improve the charts
(to match the facilities available in PipeDream 4), have not been
written yet. As I said last month, you will be able to ‘mix and match’
those parts of Fireworkz that you want.
7.1
What I would dearly like to know is what the full extent of Fireworks
will be. Of course, that is impossible to know − I believe nobody knows
yet! If you have an idea for a particular facility you would like made
available for addition to Fireworkz (e.g. a draw module), then I’d like
to hear from you.
7.1
Let me return to the commercial side of Fireworkz. In an earlier
PipeLine article, I highlighted the software suppliers’ problem that
their positive cash flow exists only when they sell a package. When they
supply you with free upgrades, this represents negative cash flow for
them. It is difficult (particularly in the Acorn world) to persuade
existing users to part with more cash for the upgrade. Asking dealers
and distributors to pay for upgrades which they provide free to users
won’t work because they are certainly not into negative cash flow
transactions. To a large extent, Fireworkz overcomes that commercial
problem but, I believe, it will do so at the expense of making problem-
solving for the NCS help line and the Fireworkz user group much more
difficult.
7.1
You could think of Fireworkz rather like a Lego kit. First you buy a
starter set containing a few blocks and, with it, you can do quite a few
interesting things. You find that you want to do more − so you buy
another box containing parts not in the starter kit. I believe that
Colton Software will continue to enhance Fireworkz by marketing
‘upgrades’ as modules which you can buy and then integrate with your
personal Fireworkz package. As you add more modules (such as a database
module, an intermediate or advanced charts package or a draw or paint
package) the ‘functionality’ of your ‘custom built’ Fireworkz package
will increase.
7.1
From the commercial angle, as you buy the extra modules, you provide
Colton Software with positive cash flow. If you keep asking for
additional facilities and are prepared to pay for them, Colton Software
will keep designing and selling them. Fireworkz is a ‘pay as you go’
package rather than a ‘free upgrades’ package!
7.1
From my point of view as the organiser of a Fireworkz user group, I can
see that I shall have to cater for a wide range of Fireworkz
configurations. That will make life ‘interesting’ (in the Chinese sense
of the word). I can see that I will have to say to some of my enquirers
not “You need to upgrade to version 4.13 of PipeDream − the upgrade is
free” but “I suggest that you buy the ‘Advanced charts module’ if you
really need to produce such a chart”.
7.1
Think about the implications of what I’ve said and let me know your
views. I’ll print a representative selection of them.
7.1
To summarise
7.1
I hope that, in refusing to compare Resultz with PipeDream 4, I have
shown you that a direct comparison is less meaningful than, at first,
you might have thought. What you need to compare is PipeDream 4 with the
‘ultimate’ Fireworkz package that you want to build up from a kit of
modules − and that is difficult. Consider the following: (a) I don’t
know what you want; (b) I don’t think anyone knows what modules will
become available; and (c) Fireworkz is open-ended. I can’t answer the
question yet!
7.1
Finally
7.1
If you wish to write to me, if you want a Resultz or Wordz demo disc
(£2.00 EC − £2.50 Non-EC), my address is that of Abacus Training given
on the back inside cover of Archive.  A
7.1
Music Column
7.1
Stewart Watson
7.1
The main subject this month is a review of Sound Advice but first a
couple of small points.
7.1
Help!
7.1
I promised to send someone system-exclusive data to initialise their
Korg M1 but, unfortunately, I’ve lost the letter with your name and
address. If you phone me again, I promise I’ll send you the discs, etc,
straight away.
7.1
Inspiration
7.1
A member of Archive, Graham Greenhorn from Glasgow, has managed to get
Inspiration to run on his A5000 under RISC OS 3.10 and is willing to
help other Inspiration users if they contact him on 041-334-1951.
7.1
Sound Advice
7.1
Sound Advice is a multitasking 24 track music sequencer, with a host of
features, from The Really Small Software Company. In fact, it is more
than just a sequencer as it also includes a sound editor and a file
conversion program. The package, which comes in an A5 ring binder,
consists of a manual, a program disc and a data disc.
7.1
Program disc
7.1
The program disc contains the three applications: MusicEd, SampleEd and
Converter. The discs are not protected which shows a trust which I hope
will be respected. Also on the program disc are !Scrap, !System and
!SysMerge.
7.1
Data disc
7.1
The data disc contains four directories: !Voices, ProgLists, Songs and
Sounds. The Voices application needs to be in the root directory of a
hard disc or floppy disc as Voices must have been seen by the filer
before any of the other applications will run. ProgLists is a directory
of voice lists for various Midi keyboards, Songs is a directory of
demonstration songs and Sounds is a directory of internal sounds.
7.1
Set-up
7.1
MusicEd is fully multitasking, so you can drop in and out of your
sequencing to write letters or whatever, while you wait for a visit from
the Muses. On the data disc is a directory of patches for setting up
MusicEd to run with a variety of different Casio keyboards, but the Midi
list can easily be altered to suit any Midi equipment. Included on the
Archive monthly disc is a MidiList for MusicEd for the TG100 which
should be compatible with any other piece of equipment that adheres to
the General Midi specification.
7.1
Internal voices
7.1
Unlike Serenade, MusicEd does use internal voices, so to hear your work,
you do not necessarily need a Midi keyboard or expander. Up to 32
internal sounds can be used in a song but, of course, no more than eight
at any one time. It is possible to work without a Midi input device,
(Midi keyboard, guitar, etc) but to input whole scores in step time
using the mouse would be rather tedious.
7.1
Recording
7.1
There are three record modes: Midi real time, Midi step time and via the
mouse.
7.1
MusicEd is grid-based and, on loading the program, you are presented
with the main screen which consists of a large grid. All the functions
are available via <menu> via keyboard shortcuts.
7.1
Display
7.1
Notes are displayed on a grid which is subdivided into bars and beats.
As in all grid-based sequencers, lines of varying length are used to
represent note values in relation to a piano keyboard which is displayed
down the left side of the screen. Notes can be drawn directly and edited
in the grid but it is obviously quicker to enter notes from a Midi
keyboard or other controller.
7.1
Record
7.1
To enter real time record mode, select Midi from the main menu followed
by Real time. A new window opens, displaying the tempo and the number of
beats per bar. One thing to watch for is that, once you have recorded
something, you have to assign it by selecting Pattern to insert your
recorded music into the current pattern according to the insert and
overlay settings in the block menu.
7.1
Cut/Paste
7.1
All the usual cut and paste options are available. One novel feature,
however, is the ability to reverse a pattern − useful for anyone into
atonal composition.
7.1
Track list
7.1
In this window, you can select the voices and Midi channels for the
various tracks.
7.1
Event list
7.1
The event list window offers an alternative method of editing individual
notes program changes, etc. The information in the edit window can be
searched, specific values transformed and new events added.
7.1
Notation
7.1
Although MusicEd is a grid-based editor, it is possible to display
patterns and tracks in standard musical notation. This is a useful
feature because users fluent with musical notation will probably find it
easier to spot a mistake on a stave than in a list of events or on a
grid.
7.1
Files
7.1
Files can be imported from Tracker and Rhapsody − which gives users of
Sound Advice access to the vast amount of music in the public domain in
Tracker format.
7.1
Hot keys
7.1
When I opened the package, I was surprised at the lack of a function key
strip but although function keys are not used, (other than <f3> for
save) there are key shortcuts for some operations, especially in cut and
paste mode. I understand that later versions will make substantially
more use of keyboard shortcuts.
7.1
!SampleEd
7.1
SampleEd allows the creation of new sounds and voices for use in MusicEd
or in other programs. Sounds can be drawn with the mouse, from harmonics
or by using equations. Sounds can have effects such as echo, reverse,
fade, etc added to them. Sounds can be merged or bits of a sound can be
cut and pasted as in a word processor.
7.1
!Converter
7.1
Converter is an application which converts files in other formats into
MusicEd format. The formats currently supported are Maestro, Rhapsody,
Soundtracker and Desktop Tracker.
7.1
Manual
7.1
The 194 page manual is clearly laid out with copious illustrations. All
the windows and icons found on the screen are displayed and clearly
explained in the manual.
7.1
Verdict
7.1
Sound Advice is an interesting suite of programs. My opinion of the
review copy (version 1.02) is that it is aimed at those who are
interested in moving on from programs which use only the internal sounds
and adding some use of external Midi keyboards − those with an interest
in music-making but perhaps with only a limited keyboard ability. Sound
Advice is modestly priced and, with a free upgrade policy, it is
exceptional value for money. I wrote to the author of Sound Advice with
one or two suggestions and within a fortnight had version 1.03 with most
of my suggestions implemented. How’s that for software support? The
addition of Midi file compatibility will mean that files can readily be
transferred to and from other programs, such as Rhapsody or Serenade.
7.1
Conclusion
7.1
MusicEd fills a gap in software provision on the Archimedes, between
Sound Tracker type programs and more expensive sequencers like Serenade
and Studio 24. Sound Advice is available at £39.95 from The Really Small
Software Company. There is a 20% discount for education users and a site
licence is available.  A
7.1
Sleuth Optical Character Recognition
7.1
Peter Jennings
7.1
When scanners first became available for computer users, many people
thought they would remove the burden of laboriously typing program
listings or pages of text which needed to be put on computer for
editing. Unfortunately, scanners do not work that way. The images they
produce are just pictures, seen by the computer as a pattern of pixels
rather than individual, meaningful, characters. What is needed is an
optical character recognition (OCR) program to convert the graphic image
into the ASCII characters of a text file.
7.1
At least four OCR programs have been developed for Acorn computers but
none of them claim to be able to do the job completely. The problem is
that no-one has yet perfected affordable software that can unerringly
recognise and reproduce letters and figures in all the shapes and styles
used in printing and typing, let alone the infinite range of
handwriting.
7.1
Some of the better PC software is priced at well over £500. Risc
Developments’ new optical character recognition package, Sleuth, is
described as a low-cost entry point into OCR and costs £49 +VAT (or £54
from Archive). It is supplied on a single, unprotected, disc with a
slim, but adequate, 16-page User Guide. Early supplies have been offered
without the usual glossy packaging but this should be available by the
time you read this.
7.1
Risc Developments say that Sleuth is the first in a family of products
intended to reach full professional level and users will be able to
upgrade at minimum cost. Version 1.01 has been trained to recognise
“most popular fonts”, which actually means Avant Garde, Bookman,
Courier, Garamond, Helvetica, New Century Schoolbook, Palatino and Times
and similar typefaces such as the many clones which, for copyright
reasons, have a variety of different names. As the list is so small at
present, it would be useful to have some of the alternative names for
these fonts included in the manual and also illustrations of the basic
designs to help identify them. Sleuth is not yet user-trainable to
recognise other fonts but Risc Developments offer a service to do this.
7.1
Limitations
7.1
There are also other limitations. Sleuth can recognise only the regular
type styles and not, for example, italic or bold, and can convert only
sizes between nine and 24 points. It will not recognise stretched,
tracked or accented characters or lines of text which are too close
together. All results are dependent on the quality of the original
document and the scanned image.
7.1
The image has to be a mode 18 monochrome sprite, which most currently
available scanners will provide. The minimum resolution required is 200
dpi but 300 or 400 dpi is recommended for the best results. A 1Mb
computer can be used but will have little free memory if working with
400 dpi sprites.
7.1
Sleuth is fully multitasking and very simple to use. The scanned image
to be converted is just dragged onto the icon or into an input window.
The ASCII version then begins to build up in an output window from where
the final results can be saved. The rate is said to be between 80 and
250 words a minute, depending on the computer’s speed and the resolution
of the sprite being converted. Sleuth marks anything it does not
recognise with a user-definable character although it does not do so
with characters which it thinks it recognises but misreads.
7.1
The text file can be loaded into an editor or word processor for
editing, or limited corrections can be made in the output window as the
conversion takes place. To help this, a click with <adjust> on any word
in the output window positions the caret there and brings the same area
of the scanned image into view in the input window for comparison − a
nice touch. Four sample sprites of scanned documents are included in the
package and, when most new software comes with no warning that it is
anything but perfect, it is refreshing to see examples which are
designed to show the program’s shortcomings. They include scans of badly
printed passages, such as one where the word “truncated” has the letters
“run” so squashed together that you find them interpreted by Sleuth as
“nm”.
7.1
An A4 flatbed scanner obviously provides a steadier image than a hand-
held one and can cover a much bigger document but it is easy to use the
smaller scanner to feed in sections of longer pages. They can be scanned
either horizontally or vertically as the image can be rotated by 90, 180
or 270 degrees in Sleuth. The “zone” to be converted can be defined, if
necessary, by dragging a rectangular box around it. Text must be black
on a white background but white on black can be inverted. There is also
the option to have newline and/or carriage return characters inserted by
Sleuth at the end of lines and paragraphs and this can be done before or
after the image is converted to text.
7.1
Tests
7.1
I made my own tests using a Computer Concepts Scanlight 256 hand scanner
at 400 dpi. I began with a draft quality printout from a dot matrix
printer and I was pleased to find that, despite the less than perfect
original, a very readable version appeared. The main faults were that
some characters were consistently rendered incorrectly, with “1”
appearing as “I” for example, and there was a sprinkling of commas and
occasional full stops in the middle of words with no apparent cause. A
few words had spaces inserted. I found the quickest way to deal with the
consistent misreadings and the errant commas and full stops was to load
the text into Edit and use the search and replace facility.
7.1
A second dot matrix printout produced similar results until the very end
when an error message appeared and the program exited. The cause was
tracked down to some minute marks, the biggest being just four pixels
long, at the bottom of the sprite. I created a zone to cut out the
spotted area beneath the text and the problem was solved. An
alternative, when it is not possible to exclude the spots in this way,
would be to enlarge the sprite in Paint and use the spray can or pencil
to clean it up. In fact, this should no longer be necessary as Risc
Developments are now supplying a version 1.02 upgrade designed to solve
this problem.
7.1
The results seemed quite reasonable from rather poor originals. For a
fairer test, using better quality printing, I scanned part of an Archive
page.
7.1
This is how Sleuth rendered it.
7.1
. S’e“tl‘, Risc Developments’ economy OCR program should be available by
the time you read this. The program is ready but the packaging isn’t
quite finished ☓ it should be finished by the end ofJuly. fhe cost is £49
+VAT + £2 carriage from Risc Developments. (Sleuth was previewed in May
Acom User and commented on in Archive 6.8 p15 and 6.9 p50. We hope to
have a full review as soon as it is available.)
7.1
This paragraph was chosen not because it was likely to give a good or a
bad result and not completely at random. I picked it because it was
relevant to this article, which is the arbitrary way a piece of text
would be chosen in practice. The paragraph contains 330 characters. Nine
were rendered incorrectly, including one omitted space; an accuracy of
97.27%. (Pau’s comments on accuracy rates can be read in the May issue
of Archive, as referred to in the test paragraph.)
7.1
Some of these errors were to be expected. The first word of the
paragraph was printed in a bold style, which Sleuth has not yet been
trained to recognise. The initial “bullet”, which has been interpreted
as a full stop, is an unrecognised character, as is the dash in the
fourth line which has been replaced by a cross (ASCII 132) − the default
“unrecognised character” sign.
7.1
At present, Sleuth recognises only the following characters: !?£$&‘“%+=/
()[]<>,-.:;0123456789 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdef
ghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
7.1
Notable omissions include the underline, star and hash (_ * #), which
will disappoint anyone interested in program listings. In fact, the bad
news for anyone hoping to convert programs scanned from BBC Acorn User,
the only Acorn magazine which still prints all its program listings, is
that I could not get any readable results from the yellow pages. The
programs are printed in Corpus, which is similar to Courier, but usually
in 6pt, which is too small, and bold face, which is not recognised.
7.1
There are not many people outside the printing industry who can identify
a typeface (I checked the yellow pages font with the magazine) and one
problem with any OCR program is to know if a document you wish to
convert is printed in an acceptable font. Although Risc Developments
will train the software to recognise other required fonts, at a price,
it would be a clear advantage for users to be able to do this for
themselves and this facility may be available in the next version.
7.1
Conclusions
7.1
The example reproduced above compares well with other published tests
and should give a reasonable idea of the degree of accuracy that this
early version of Sleuth can attain from a hand-scanned image. A more
expensive flatbed scanner should make it easier to get consistently good
scans but it cannot improve the quality of the original printing and
this will set the maximum standard that the OCR software can achieve.
7.1
Sleuth works well within its admitted restrictions. These mean that the
best results come from a well scanned document which has been well
printed using recognised characters in a recognised font. Perfection
does not come easy, if at all, but some of these restrictions should be
eased as successive upgrades appear.
7.1
The price of Sleuth is not high for an OCR program but its value to you
is probably best judged on the quantity of text, in acceptable fonts,
that you need to convert, balanced against how fast and accurate your
typing is.
7.1
It may come down to which is the lesser chore: typing and correcting or
making corrections after scanning and converting.  A
7.1
Two Joystick Interfaces
7.1
Anthony James
7.1
With the appearance of the A3010, people are looking to use joysticks
with computer games on the Archimedes. However, there have been ways of
using joysticks with your “normal” Archimedes for quite some time now.
If you wish to use the standard Atari switched type joysticks, here are
two alternatives: the Leading Edge joystick interface and the Magnetic
Image “Four” interface.
7.1
Both use a ‘dongle’ in the printer port and software to allow the use of
joysticks on your computer. They both use the now industry standard(?)
switched type joysticks which can be picked up for anything from £10
upwards. Both interfaces have a switch on their dongles to allow you to
use either the printer or the joysticks at any one time. However, this
is where the similarities end.
7.1
The Leading Edge Interface
7.1
The approach of Leading Edge is to allow the joystick to emulate
keypresses and mouse movements. This means that you have to write
programs specific to each game. This is not much of a problem because
there are pre-written programs for about fifty games. An application is
supplied to help you to write simple programs and the language is fairly
easy to use if you wish to write more complicated programs. This
approach means that joystick movements can simulate what you want and
not what the author of the game decided. It also means that mouse
emulation is possible on the desktop.
7.1
The programming language allows you to make a movement of the joystick
act as more than one key. Therefore, moving the joystick right could
produce the effect of <shift>, <control> and <B> all being pressed at
the same time and a “stirring” action of the joystick can also be used
to represent a keypress. It allows “flags” to be set up, so that a stir
can switch between flags A and B, each state (flag) giving a different
set of keys for the movements of the joystick. The flags can also act as
a software replacement for auto-fire as the package is not guaranteed to
recognise your joystick’s auto-fire.
7.1
The manual is impressive and very comprehensive − it seems to cover all
the possible questions. However, it gets the joystick pin connections
wrong, which is a surprising mistake.
7.1
The hardware consists of a dongle, which fits in your printer port, and
a printer/joystick switch. The joysticks’ plugs fit into the top of this
dongle which restricts the access to any ports above the printer port.
It only gives you about an inch of space to work with.
7.1
The software supplied is of excellent quality and includes programs for
writing, debugging installing modules into games and for updating
modules from previous versions of the software.
7.1
The ease of use depends on the game. If the game is ‘well-behaved’, you
can install the module onto a backup copy of the game with an
application provided. If you cannot do this, however, you first have to
load up the general VTJoystick module then your game-specific module and
then the game. The fun really starts when the game is one which reboots
during loading. The manual does, however, explain a way around that. It
is not guaranteed to work on all games, but it will work on most. When
using it with the Chocks Away Extra Missions, the memory was tight on a
1Mb machine. I managed to get around this by killing non-essential
modules such as BBCEconet, NetFiler, NetStatus and the podule modules.
7.1
Magnetic Image’s Four Interface
7.1
As the name suggests, this interface allows you to use four joysticks
instead of the normal two. The usefulness of this is questionable as
very few games allow for four players and you are unable to write your
own modules as with the Leading Edge package.
7.1
Magnetic Image’s approach is to provide a module which allows the
interface to work with any game that recognises the standard Acorn
joystick calls. Therefore, if the game does not take these into account,
it will not work. These calls appeared about the time of the A3010, so
your old games will probably not work. Magnetic Image says that you can
use the A3010 Joymaster software (£28 through Archive) to write modules
as with the Leading Edge interface but this involves spending more
money. Some software houses might offer upgrades which provide the Acorn
calls but some companies will charge for the upgrade.
7.1
The strength of this package is in the hardware which allows four
joysticks. It has a dongle which fits onto the printer port but you plug
the joysticks into a separate box connected to the dongle by a thick
cable. This means that you are not blocking the socket above the printer
port. It also means that you have access to the joystick plugs at the
side of the computer. It has a second fire button on this box which is a
substitute for the ‘stir’ on the other interface. The use of the second
button is questionable as most games will only allow for one fire
button. It also recognised auto-fire which the other interface did not,
though I cannot be sure that it will do so with all joysticks.
7.1
The package’s software consists of an application that tells you the
state of the joysticks as does the other package, a joysticks module and
a demo game which shows how all four joysticks can be used. The module
does not provide mouse emulation.
7.1
Conclusion
7.1
There was no noticeable speed reduction with either package, so they
cannot be a hindrance. However, neither are they guaranteed to improve
your game-playing skills. The package from Leading Edge is good all
round but its strength is in the excellent software. Magnetic Image only
allows for recent games that recognise the standard joystick calls and
this is its weakness. Its hardware is its strength. They are very
different packages and it is important to work out your priorities
before buying either.  A
7.1
Holdfast Joypad
7.1
Anthony James
7.1
The Joypad has been designed as a substitute for a mouse or joystick for
very young children and in special needs applications. It fits into your
joystick port or interface and is wired as a switched type joystick. To
use it, you will need the A3010 Joymaster software or the Leading Edge
joystick interface.
7.1
The box is a simple design being smaller than the average paperback and
about an inch and a quarter thick. It has sloped top with four large red
direction buttons and one fire button, all clearly picked out against a
yellow background. Its construction and design cannot be faulted and it
certainly looks as if it would take a lot of punishment. It can be used
for mouse emulation but as it only has one fire button, it makes it hard
to emulate a three button mouse. It is possible to use two buttons
together to emulate different buttons, but that defeats the object of it
being easy to use.
7.1
Conclusion
7.1
For an adult or for older children, a mouse or joystick would be easier
to use, but it is not aimed at this market. There are many possible uses
for the Holdfast Joypad, including mouse emulation on the desktop. It is
certainly a valuable contribution to the Archimedes special needs
market. It costs £24.99 inc. VAT from Holdfast Computing.  A
7.1
Digitising Printed Text and Pictures
7.1
Francis Aries
7.1
Francis borrowed a Scanlight 256, a Wild Vision Greyhawk digitiser and
an HCCS HiVision digitiser and gives his views on all three.
7.1
One disadvantage of the built-in fax machine such as David Pilling’s
ArcFax or Computer Concepts’ FaxPack is that there is no facility to
send the printed page or pictures unless they exist as software within
an application in the computer. Also, for including sketches or hard-
printed text into computer applications of word processing or DTP, some
means must be found to translate the hard-printed information into a
Draw or Paint file. The standard answer to this problem is to use a
scanner to scan the area to be digitised.
7.1
As an alternative, if you are lucky enough to have a video camera or
camcorder, it is possible to use this in conjunction with a grey scale
or colour digitiser. Having a camcorder and needing to buy some
equipment to do the digitising, I wanted to decide what was best for my
purpose. Paul was kind enough to loan me a Computer Concepts’ Scanlight
256 hand held scanner, a Wild Vision Greyhawk mono digitiser and an HCCS
HiVision colour digitiser in order to make some comparisons. All three
podule boards fitted the A5000 perfectly and the unprotected software
was easily transferred to hard disc.
7.1
The theory
7.1
Firstly, here are a few facts which will become clearer later. The
resolution of images captured by various devices and the file size
resulting from the picture of an A4 page (96.67 sq.ins.) are as follows:
7.1
Device    DPI    Size of file
7.1
A video camcorder    55+
7.1
HCCS colour digitiser    61
357Kb
7.1
Greyhawk Video digitiser    72×36
130Kb
7.1
(Later module promised    72×72
260Kb)
7.1
Scanlight 256 100dpi    100
min 109Kb
7.1
Theoretical 100dpi    100
967Kb
7.1
Theoretical 200dpi    200
3.9Mb
7.1
Theoretical 300dpi    300
8.7Mb
7.1
Theoretical 400dpi    400
15.5Mb
7.1
Scanlight 256 400dpi    400
max 14.7Mb
7.1
It soon becomes very obvious that the files collected from these devices
are horrendously long and a sizeable hard disc and 4Mb of RAM are almost
obligatory. It is easy to exceed the capacity of a floppy disc with one
scan, so it is necessary to open a directory on the hard disc to receive
the files being digitised. Compression can be used for archiving the
files when they have served their purpose but that is another story.
7.1
The Hardware
7.1
Video camcorders
7.1
The typical camcorder contains a Charge Coupled Device to receive the
image from the lens and a fairly standard specification for this is
400,000 pixels. If this is used in the most efficient way and is shaped
to suit the 3:4 proportions of the picture, the picture resolution will
be 547×730 pixels. This resolution works out at about 65×62 dots per
inch. As this does not exactly match the A4 proportions, losses and
margins could bring this resolution down towards 60 or 55 dpi. It is
fairly clear from the outset that this image capturing technique is
fairly coarse.
7.1
HiVision colour digitiser
7.1
This was supplied with a lead ending in an audio plug to suit the
majority of camcorders. (This could have been longer for greater
convenience but an extension was quickly added.) There was no user
guide, instead this was in a form unique to HCCS for screen-viewing and
I found it annoying, being able to print this only in the form of eight
69Kb sprites. (Please, HCCS, provide this as a Text file.) However, the
software is very simple to use and the processes soon become routine.
The image is quoted to be 508 lines high by 720 pixels wide, (508×720 =
365,760). If the 720 is related to the height of an A4 page, this would
result in a resolution of 61 dpi.
7.1
Clicking on the HiVision iconbar icon reveals a black window. The window
menu provides six main choices. ‘Save’ saves as a sprite file. ‘Adjust’
allows brightness, contrast and colour saturation to be pre-set for
adjustment. ‘Grab frame’ allows the instant grabbing of a source frame
into memory but only if the picture can be monitored on a TV or
camcorder viewfinder. ‘Continuous’ samples the input and displays it on
the screen at about one image per second, clicking again on ‘Continuous’
retains that sampled frame in memory. The retained image is of low
quality mono. ‘Process’ transforms the memory image into one of high
quality mono in accordance with the settings made in ‘Adjust’. ‘Colour’
does the same for an image input in colour and converts the low quality
mono image to one of high quality colour. Each of these adjusting
processes takes about a minute. At all times, only the one ‘adjusted’
image remains in memory and may be adjusted as many times as necessary
to obtain tones of your choice. When you are satisfied, the final
processed or colour image may be saved as a 357Kb sprite.
7.1
In addition, HiFinder software (with similar user guide) is provided
which samples colour or monochrome images in monochrome at about three a
second. Here, the software allows saving as a sprite or processing to
suit a mode 15 or 21 screen and the adjustment for brightness and
contrast are almost instantaneous.
7.1
The captured images are excellent and the resolution is well matched to
that of expected picture input in colour or monochrome. To do justice to
the HCCS HiVision digitiser, a high resolution 256 colour mode such as
21 must be used to view the picture. Higher resolution modes give no
noticeable improvement and there is obvious picture loss at lower
resolution modes. Adjusting as above can correct the image almost
infinitely to suit the purpose required. However, when related to an A4
sheet of text on paper, the resolution of 508 lines by 760 pixels is not
fine enough for viewing or printing standard text. To get the equivalent
of a 200 dpi scan (which is necessary for print, see later), the size of
input should be about a third the dimensions of an A4 sheet. The
stitching together of nine separate pictures is not a good idea.
7.1
It does not seem to be possible to use the software to adjust sprites
once they have been saved but there are other image-handling packages
available to do this.
7.1
When I require a digitiser for inclusion of pictures in an application,
I shall have no hesitation in going for the HCCS HiVision.
7.1
Greyhawk digitiser
7.1
This does the same job of monitoring a colour or mono vision input to
give a monochrome image. The podule connection was a BNC socket and no
cable was supplied. Here two items of software are provided and both
have to show on the iconbar together for use. !TakeOne allows a moving
source image to be viewed on the computer screen in real time with only
a trace of jerkiness but it does no more. The basic ScanImage dialogue
box from the !Scanner software (of which more later) must be on the
screen and, when the right frame is displayed by !TakeOne, OK in this
dialogue box is clicked. The input is then in memory occupying 130Kb.
The format is square but the scanner software may be used to select a
suitable rectangle from the original display although this leads to less
efficient use of the image. The software may be used to adjust
brightness, contrast, clarity, grey map, etc until the half tone grey
image is as near perfect as possible. You can then save the result as a
sprite or a drawfile containing the sprite. If the 130Kb file size is
related to the 11.7“ height of an A4 page, the resolution is not
suitable for standard text although very satisfactory for pictures.
7.1
As a bonus, the scanner software can be used to modify any monochrome
Acorn sprite file already saved. There is a new module promised to
improve the quoted resolution of 72×36 to 72×72 but this is still
unlikely to be satisfactory for an A4 sheet of text.
7.1
Scanlight 256 hand held scanner
7.1
This scans an area between 99mm and 105mm wide and of any length within
limits of memory available. It is provided with !Scanner software and a
ruler guide which engages in a slot in the scanner to assist in
producing straight scans. The scan may be done at 100, 200, 300 or 400
dots per inch. The choice of scanning in B&W or 16 or 256 grey levels is
given. Dithering is offered but advised against in favour of
manipulation by the software. The variations possible in the initial
scan and by software manipulation are so extensive that it will not be
possible to go through them all. Basically, the scanned Original image
remains unaltered in memory until replaced by new input. The software
allows an Altered image also on the screen and each time its toolbox is
used to make a change, the Altered window only is changed. Facilities
are available to alter grey scales, contrast, sampling (a form of
averaging groups of pixels to give a coarser, less memory-hungry result)
and many other effects, to an almost unlimited extent.
7.1
To test for file sizes, I scanned carefully an exact 4“ length of graph
paper. The input actually scanned was always slightly less than the 4”
length and the scanned width seemed to depend on the selected
parameters. The width, length and image bytes quoted below are as given
by the software. I assumed 16 sq.ins. as the scan area to extrapolate to
A4 size.
7.1
    Dialogue     dpi    width    length
size    A4 size
7.1
    box         (in)    (in)    (Kb)
(Kb)
7.1
    Mono    100    3.83    3.91    18
109
7.1
        200    3.84    3.93    74
447
7.1
        300    3.84    3.93    166
1002
7.1
        400    3.84    3.98    299
1806
7.1
    Grey 16    100    4.16    3.96    81
489
7.1
        200    4.16    3.88    315
1903
7.1
         300    4.16    3.94    720
4350
7.1
        400    4.00    3.98    1244
7516
7.1
    Grey 256    100    4.08    3.94    159
960
7.1
         200    4.08    3.93    628
3794
7.1
         300    4.05    3.94    1406
8495
7.1
        400    4.00    3.90    2436
14710
7.1
Is it more than coincidence that the Grey, 256 tone A4 bytes are
comparable with the theoretical A4 dots above? Note how the width of
scan varies according to the selected type of scan.
7.1
For mono tests, I used an A4 sheet of 91 lines of 6 point text. After
many trials using the software to increase the image size until
individual pixels were visible, I found that 100 dpi did not give the
resolution necessary to acquire sufficient character detail for future
processing but it may be sufficient for much larger text or line
diagrams. 200 dpi was adequate for the 6 point text and would be very
satisfactory for larger point sizes. It was possible to scan half the
length of the sheet and select the wanted rectangle from each half and
stitch these together in DrawPlus or a suitable DTP package but the
linearity of the hand held scan is not perfect and the join is almost
impossible to hide. It is better to make three scans across the page and
join scans at spaces between lines of text.
7.1
Having made a scan and selected the area to process, the Altered image
window is displayed. The Toolbox allows the original image to be
processed to the optimum for printing. A certain amount of trial and
error is necessary until the process can be standardised to suit your
hardware. Below I detail my method of scanning an A4 sheet of annotated
text.
7.1
I made no tests to determine the capability of the Scanlight 256 in
digitising colour or mono half tone pictures. I saw this demonstrated at
Computer Concepts and feel that I could not fault the application for
scanning pictures up to about 4“ wide and manipulating them into a
satisfactory form for use. I believe the necessity to scan at a greater
density than 200 dpi will be rare.
7.1
The !Scanner software can also be used to make modifications to the
quality, grey level, contrast, etc of any standard Acorn monochrome
sprite by dragging the file to the scanner iconbar icon. This then
becomes an Original as described above.
7.1
This is not a complete review. The Scanner software has very extensive
capabilities which I have only been able to touch on or have been unable
to mention.
7.1
Conclusion
7.1
Digitising an A4 sheet of text for use in another application is best
done using a scanner. For a hand held 105mm scanner, do three passes
across the A4 sheet. Vision digitisers in conjunction with a video
camera are excellent for their stated purpose but do not give sufficient
resolution to make them suitable for digitising an A4 page of text. The
scanner is also excellent for monochrome results from colour or half
tone picture inputs up to four inches wide. For pictures larger than
this, both vision digitisers with their software performed well.
7.1
Do not spend too little on a scanner. I first tried a well advertised
hand held scanner at about half the price of that from CC. However, the
grey scaling was inadequate and the software for image manipulation was
poor.
7.1
For my purpose I shall buy the CC scanner and leave the purchase of the
HCCS digitiser until the need for digitising pictures arises. I believe
the extra cost of the HCCS, because it can also give you colour, is
worthwhile over the Greyhawk. However there is now a new package from CC
called Scanlight Video 256 (see Archive 6.12 p6) which combines the
capabilities of Greyhawk with those of Scanlight 256. If you have a
camera and can manage without digitising in colour, the small extra for
this over the Scanlight 256 would be well worthwhile.
7.1
Scanning an A4 sheet
7.1
Here is my method for scanning an A4 sheet using the Scanlight 256 hand
held scanner. I choose to scan at 16 grey level, 200dpi as this scan is
over 100mm wide. I find that if I use very slightly darker than centre
on the brightness thumb wheel, it will pick up scribbled pencil as well
as print. I mark the length of the 297mm sheet at about 99mm and 198mm
with small marker lines a couple of mm long at each edge of the sheet. I
don’t choose these dimensions exactly but place the markers such that
they correspond with a space between text or some other part of the
sheet which will be easy to match up later. I then scan the top third of
the sheet with the scanner ruler in the next third of the paper, about
3mm clear of my markers.
7.1
After scaling the original image, to see it all, I use ‘select area’ on
its menu then ‘crop to selected area’ to choose the correct part of the
image to keep. I then raise the altered image and view the toolbox. I
select ‘2×2 sampling’ and ‘16 grey output’. I also rotate the altered
image by 90° anti-clockwise. I click on ‘Enhance’ followed by ‘darken
edge, low’ as this improves the clarity of the poorer parts of the image
(the scribbled pencil). The altered image is then saved to Draw. After
this first save, I also save the toolbox settings as a ‘settings’ file
which can be instantly recovered when I next have a session scanning
similar material.
7.1
The same process is followed for the centre third of the A4 sheet but
here the altered image is immediately transformed according to the last
setting of the toolbox and needs no work on it except saving. For the
final third, the A4 sheet must be rotated 180° so that the scanner ruler
may be placed in the middle third of the sheet to hold it during scan.
The processing is the same except that the altered image must be rotated
in the opposite direction before saving.
7.1
Three thirds of the sheet are now saved, all oriented to suit an A4
sheet. These files may each be dragged to a blank DrawPlus window (or
other suitable application) and adjusted into place so that the join is
imperceptible. This final image may be saved as a whole and used in
another application or printed or faxed to suit the original purpose of
the scan.  A
7.1
Archivist Professional Database
7.1
Peter Jennings
7.1
When Oregan’s data management system, Archivist, was reviewed in August
last year (Archive 5.11 p61), I recommended it as a versatile, easy-to-
use, application which handled only text and figures. Since then it has
gone through a succession of upgrades, adding more and more features, to
emerge finally as the new Archivist Pro (version 5.03). This now offers
a card index for text, figures, graphics and sound. The cards will also
accommodate complete text files, limited only by computer or disc memory
and these, like the graphics and sound, are stored in the file as
“resources” which can be exported into other applications. Selections of
cards with a common theme can be compiled into subsets.
7.1
Archivist Pro costs £44.95, with a multi-user site licence available for
£50, but registered users of previous versions can upgrade from
Archivist 4.00 for £10 or from Archivist 2.40 for £15. Further updates
are to be provided free of charge.
7.1
Three discs are supplied, accompanied by a 25-page ring-bound
illustrated manual, a function key strip and a registration form, all
packed in a laminated card folder.
7.1
The discs contain the database manager and a number of other
applications including a card designer, an importer for data from other
systems, a program to append or merge separate database files, a utility
to catalogue discs and a comprehensive label designer and printing
program, along with sample files, a tutorial and six exclusive outline
fonts.
7.1
Simple card design
7.1
The card designer is very simple to use. It produces a blank master card
and opens a window where each field is created by typing a title and
setting the type, maximum size, colour and other details by clicking on
radio buttons. The fields appear on the master card as titled boxes
which can be dragged to the required place and visual size, using an
optional grid to help position them. Pairs of rulers, in centimetres or
inches, are available and these are particularly useful to help field
alignment if the data is eventually to be printed onto pre-designed
forms. The fields can be Text; Integer (whole numbers); Real (decimal
numbers); Formula, to carry out calculations; Date, for automatic
insertion of date and time in a chosen format; or Boolean and Multiple-
choice, containing a list of options which can be toggled through or
selected from a window.
7.1
The first noticeable differences from the original version of Archivist
are the addition of colour for the cards, which greatly improves their
appearance, and optional backdrops. There is a choice of 16 colours or
grey shades for the background and for each field independently.
7.1
As before, card layouts can be changed at any time without any loss of
data, by reloading the file into the designer. This is a really valuable
facility when, as so often happens, the original field lengths are found
to be inadequate or extra fields are needed.
7.1
The “resource” files are added by dragging onto the individual cards.
They can include Text, Draw, Sprites, Maestro, Tracker, Symphony and
sampled files. The graphics are displayed on the card and the text and
sound files appear as standard icons. They can all be accessed from the
card or copied into other applications.
7.1
Practical demonstration
7.1
The manual refers to the sample files and the tutorial on disc to help
explain resource files, and the practical demonstration offered is the
best way to understand them. It is not necessary to create separate
fields because a resource can “share” an existing one and the graphic or
icon will normally appear immediately above it. The width will match the
physical length of the field, with the height in proportion. The
tutorial shows how a resource can be made to appear at the side of the
field and how a graphic can be suitably scaled and proportioned.
Accessing the resource is done by holding down <Shift> and clicking on
the field (not the icon). This last point can easily be missed as it is
more natural to click on the icon when you see it displayed on the card.
7.1
Another useful new feature is the ability to add up to 128 lines of
“freetext” anywhere on the master card. This is done by writing the text
in a window and then dragging it into position. The usual range of
colours are all available.
7.1
I am always slightly disappointed when a database limits the length of
field names to a maximum of ten characters and makes it sometimes
necessary to use abbreviations. Also, I like to be able to set the title
of a field and its data to different colours, which the present version
of Archivist does not allow.
7.1
However, with freetext, I have found a simple, although undocumented,
way round both these restrictions. If you want to use a field name
longer than ten characters, leave the title box in the designer window
blank when creating the field. Then just write the desired name in the
freetext window and drag it into position on the card. The name can also
be set to a different colour from the field, if you wish. If you use the
label printing facility, you will find a blank in place of titles set in
this way as Archivist does not, of course, recognise them as field
names. Nevertheless, clicking on the blank still adds the field to the
label so there is no real problem.
7.1
Label design program
7.1
The label printer is, in fact, a comprehensive design program which
enables you to choose the fields to be included and the size and layout
of the labels, including the number of labels across the sheet and the
vertical and horizontal gaps between them. Separate print styles can be
applied to each individual field or piece of text.
7.1
Among other features added during earlier upgrades of Archivist is a
replace facility allowing the use of a formula to make a global
adjustment of figures. This, for example, would mean that all the prices
in a field could be changed on every card to match an increase or
(hypothetically, of course) a reduction in VAT with one simple entry.
7.1
One valuable feature that has also been available in earlier versions,
but is worth highlighting, is a quick entry facility for up to 16
separate lines of text or figures. These are first entered into a
window, either by typing or by dragging in a previously compiled text
file. Any line can then be copied onto a card with a single click,
greatly speeding up repetitive entries. An even quicker way, at the
designer stage, is to set a default entry, which can be overwritten on
any card.
7.1
Other features continued from earlier versions of Archivist, and
described in more detail in last year’s review, include a toolbox
browser; the ability to manipulate figures and make calculations as in a
spreadsheet; a clipboard; a range of searches from quick and simple to
very sophisticated (the fastest “Easy Search” is claimed to check
through 150,000 cards in five seconds and the more complex searches are
now nearly as fast); primary and secondary sort routines; a choice of
printing formats including WYSIWYG, columns or report (tabular,
spreadsheet style) and labels, using RISC OS outline fonts; statistics
windows; a password facility and the ability to export files in CSV,
optionally with Minerva Graphbox headers, TSV and plain text formats,
and direct to Impression by way of an Impulse link.
7.1
No nonsense
7.1
Archivist is described as a “no nonsense database” and its ease of use
has taken its earlier versions into more than 350 schools. Archivist Pro
still keeps this simplicity and intuitive feel but is now a more
versatile and powerful application with some sophisticated features
which should meet the needs of most database users.
7.1
Anyone thinking of buying a database program in a higher price range
should look carefully to see if it has anything more than they would use
to make it worth the extra cost.  A
7.1
Battle Chess
7.1
Myles and Rick Thorne
7.1
Battle Chess from Krisalis Software Ltd. (£24 from Archive) comes in a
colourful chequered box, on two discs. An extremely comprehensive and
well-written manual gives the basic rules of chess, including movement
of pieces, chess notation, some sample games and various tactics to win
the game.
7.1
Starting up
7.1
Disc one is loaded and three options are given: play the game, install
the program on a hard disc or play the speeded-up version by using the
RAM disc. After a few moments, you are invited to load disc two.
7.1
The game is copy-protected − a marble chessboard appears on the screen
and you are asked to type in a specific move, from the manual, using one
of twenty games played between past masters. If you accurately type the
correct code, the board receives its chess pieces. If you install it on
your hard drive you first have to insert disc number 1, then copy a move
from the manual before you can start playing, so it has a kind of double
copy-protection.
7.1
The game
7.1
The game can be played as you against the computer, you against a friend
or the computer against itself.
7.1
Battle Chess menus can be obtained by pressing and holding <select>.
Pull down menus, carried by two cute flying cherubs, give further
options for disc, moves, settings and levels. These options, when
highlighted, are available even halfway through a game.
7.1
There have been many versions of computer chess but Battle Chess is
different. Whilst still providing a challenge to players of all
abilities, it is fun to play, mainly because of the superb graphics.
7.1
The playing pieces actually fight to the death before your very eyes.
The animation is extremely clever because each time a piece is taken, a
different combat takes place. The Queen seductively wiggles her way
across the board; the King has a few surprises up his sleeves; the Rook
changes into a lumbering rock monster; the Pawns are stocky men-at-arms
carrying deadly spears; the Knights are bullying and brash; the Bishop
gracefully glides across the board. Of course, each move takes a
considerable time in this mode, so once you have got the “silliness” out
of your system, you can switch to the 2D mode.
7.1
The advantage of the 2D option is that it is a more conventional chess
simulation and runs much more quickly than the 3D option.
7.1
Chess Tutor?
7.1
The program could also be used as a chess tutor. The ‘Suggest move’
option gives hints for possible moves, the Take Back option allows you
to take back the last move made by either side. Not enough time to
finish the game? Save it and pick up where you left off when time
allows. Growing impatient? Then the Force move option speeds up your
opponent’s thinking. Had enough? Choose Quit and exit to the desktop −
something that would be usefully copied by other games programmers.
7.1
Conclusion
7.1
Ten skill levels, with optional time limits for each move, offer a
challenge to just about everyone who plays chess. We found the program
extremely entertaining. Serious-minded players will find the program
appealing, fun-minded players will get many laughs and hours of
enjoyment from it.
7.1
Postscript
7.1
An interesting way of playing Battle Chess, in order to see the many
forms of combat, is to play as follows:- instead of trying to keep your
pieces out of harm’s way, you try to force your opponent to take them.
The winner is the player to get rid of all his pieces, including the
King, first.  A
7.1
Here are some extracts from an unsolicited review sent in by Tord
Eriksson. I have chosen those bits which add to what Myles and Rick have
said...
7.1
... Being a devious type I tried fooling it into making a pawn into a
queen, when it really needed a knight, to avoid complete disaster. I am
happy to report that it did exactly what it should and check-mated me in
one move. The chess term is that the game supports under-promotion. All
competent games do this, but many don’t. Well done! ...
7.1
... On an ARM3 machine, using a RAM disc, it is slow, even when run at
novice level. If you make the mistake of running the program from a
compressed disc directory, Battle Chess will be painfully slow. Cyrus 4,
a widely available chess program, on a Amstrad 4MHz CP/M machine, runs
at about the same speed as Battle Chess on an ARM3, using the RAM disc.
...
7.1
Conclusion
7.1
When viewed in 3D it has, compared to Chess3D, much better graphics, if
not speed. It is also much easier to understand and to set up. Full
marks.
7.1
When viewed in 2D and compared to David Pilling’s multitasking Chess, it
has less to offer. The 2D view is quite plain, with very ordinary-
looking pieces that crawl over the chess board and not much more. Sadly,
the game seems to play as slowly in that mode as in the 3D view.
7.1
I think Krisalis would be wise to buy David’s chess algorithms and
include them in Battle Chess II. With that it would be a winner and a
delight in every way.
7.1
If you want to buy a chess game to interest someone who does not play
chess or to get a small child interested, this is a good choice − better
than Chess3D. For speed, !Chess wins hands down.
7.1
Compared to David Pilling’s !Chess, at £6 from Archive or David, there
is no contest, even with those glorious graphics and including the
little cherubs!  A
7.1
JPEG Column
7.1
Stuart Bell
7.1
Last time, I reported on tests of the JPEG applications, !JPEGit, !JFIF
and !JView. I concluded that all work well and that the last one is very
fast indeed. However, it only reads JPEG files – it can’t create them,
and also, on my non-multisync screen, sprites were displayed without
omitting alternate lines, with the effect that the images were stretched
by a factor of two vertically. Held over to this month are tests of John
Kortink’s latest !Creator and !Translatr shareware applications, and
“For Your Eyes Only” from the same French programmer as !JView.
7.1
djpeg mark 2
7.1
In Archive 6.12, Mike Williams suggested a couple of possible reasons
for the dreadful image quality in a JPEGed ray-trace image file which I
had reported in July. One was a bug in the version of the djpeg utility
supplied by Acorn with RISC OS 3. He sent a version ported by Keith
Sloan which doesn’t have that bug. But, I didn’t keep Cain’s original
files, and on my original disc copy of my article, Impression stores
them as Drawfiles, not Spritefiles, and so I couldn’t JPEG them again.
Argh!
7.1
Part of the sprite deJPEGed by !ChangeFSI, using Keith Sloan’s version
of the djpeg utility.
7.1
Instead, I replaced djpeg in !ChangeFSI with Keith’s version, to see if
it made any difference with the familiar Hi People sprite from HCCS. To
my surprise, it appeared to make quite a significant difference, the
screen image being noticeably sharper. So, it may well pay to replace
the standard djpeg file in your copy of !ChangeFSI – not forgetting to
keep the original just in case of some obscure compatibility problem in
the future!
7.1
For Yours Eyes Only
7.1
Since last time, I’ve been playing around with !FYEO a little more. It
is very much like !JView, and as fast, but displays the de-JPEGed image
as the conversion proceeds. It, too, assumes the use of a multisync
monitor. Neil Hoggarth, who sent it to me, suspected that the output is
more grainy than that of !ChangeFSI, so I tried to test this aspect of
its performance. Using in turn !ChangeFSI and !FYEO to deJPEG a 30Kb
version of HCCS’s HiPeople sprite to give a mode 21 sprite, it seems
from the screen images that !FYEO certainly does produce a more grainy
image, although I’m not sure how evident that will be when they’re
printed in Archive. This, of course, raises the question of whether
!JView also produces images which are less good than those of
!ChangeFSI. Since all these applications will be on the Archive JPEG
Shareware disc, I’ll leave that as an exercise for the reader!
7.1
Part of the sprite deJPEGed by !ChangeFSI (standard Acorn version of
djpeg)
7.1
Part of the same sprite deJPEGed by !FYEO
7.1
These last three tests illustrate a very important point about the JPEG
process, and one which I had not fully appreciated before. It is that
whilst the algorithms involved are well defined, the implementation of
those procedures will differ, will involve different arithmetic and
rounding errors, and hence will produce results of varying quality. For
example, Keith Sloan’s version of djpeg, which runs to 41Kb, must be
quite different from Acorn’s 26Kb djpeg, and produces significantly
better results. Whether or not the differences are obvious in print, the
three sprites produced in the above tests are quite different, even on
my standard resolution (albeit 17“) monochrome(!) screen. So, in future,
we must consider the quality of results produced by JPEG applications as
well as the time they take.
7.1
!Creator and !Translatr
7.1
These shareware applications from John Kortink have become the de-facto
standard programs for the creation and conversion of image files in
(almost?) any possible format produced on any possible personal computer
system. I certainly don’t comprehend the massive range of formats
available but what is significant for this column is that the list now
includes JPEG files. Please note first that JPEG support appeared in
!Creator version 1.36 and !Translatr version 7.11 and hence that some PD
libraries may still be distributing earlier versions. Second, they are
shareware, not public domain, and so a registration fee is payable if
you use them.
7.1
The first thing that I noted was that they use version 4 of the
Independent JPEG Group’s JPEG software for the cjpeg and djpeg routines.
They are larger, require full word parameters (e.g. for quality) rather
than single letters and, one presumes, add yet another variable to the
question of which JPEG applications are the best. Of course, for ‘front
ends’ like !JPEGit of !JFIF to use these new routines, they would have
to be amended to supply the new-style whole word parameters. The
potential for improvement seems endless!
7.1
!Creator
7.1
As the documentation explains, !Creator can create several foreign
graphics formats, using either Archimedes sprite files (filetype &FF9)
or !Translator’s Clear files (filetype &690) as input. It can create the
following graphics formats: GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) files;
TIFF (Tag Image File Format) files; AIM (Archimedes/Amiga/Atari Image
Manager) files; PBMPlus (Portable Bit Map toolkit) files, and now JPEG
(Joint Photographic Experts Group) ‘JFIF’ files.
7.1
My first experience with !Creator (version 1.38) was not too
encouraging. Loading it and converting the Hi People sprite to a JPEG
file worked faultlessly but trying to load !Creator again after having
saved the ‘Status’ file with ‘JPEG’ as the selected output format
produced a ‘nothing works but total re-boot’ machine crash. There is a
bug in the way !Creator writes out new ‘Status’ files.
7.1
Apart from that, the creation works well, taking about 50 seconds (with
‘Q’ set to 25). The user interface is well laid out and quite intuitive.
Of particular note is !Creator’s use of memory. It will use what is
available for its input and output buffers but only takes 64Kb as a
minimum and will certainly convert sprites which are far larger than the
available memory. This sets it apart from all other JPEG applications
discussed to date.
7.1
Part of the same sprite from !Creator – !Translatr
7.1
!Translatr
7.1
This application will convert from a huge range of native and foreign
graphics file formats to Acorn sprite or ‘Clear’ files. Whilst the list
of supported formats is massive, our interest is in its JPEG file
reading facility. I tested version 7.14. Producing a mode 21 sprite from
the JPEG file produced by !Creator took about 50 seconds but it was
displayed with the familiar vertical stretch and with the palette of the
whole screen display modified. Again, memory usage was commendably low
(160Kb with no sprite being displayed.)
7.1
The result of the !Creator – !Translatr combination seem, on screen, to
be a little less clear than those produced using Keith Sloan’s djpeg
routine within !ChangeFSI.
7.1
I conclude that if you are used to using !Translatr or !Creator for
other graphics formats, you would be well advised to make sure that you
have late versions which handle JPEG files. Likewise, if your interests
extend to other formats, they make excellent multi-purpose tools, and
the registration fee is a bargain. But if you are only interested in
JPEG, they offer only the advantage of reduced memory requirements over
the JPEG-specific applications which we have already examined.
7.1
One further issue is the quality of image produced by the different
djpeg routines and, in particular, by the latest release from the
Independent JPEG Group, which !Creator and !Translatr use. Is version 4
much better? How does it compare with Keith Sloan’s implementation? I
hope to have some results for the next column.
7.1
Archive JPEG shareware disc
7.1
As promised last time, I’ve put together a shareware disc with the
latest versions of various JPEG applications. Its full contents are:
!ChangeFSI, version 0.90a; !FYEO, version 1.02; !Jewel, version 0.04;
!JFIF, version 26th June 1993; !JPEGinst to install !JPEGit, version
1.11A, i.e. the PD version; !JView − version 0.07; djpeg − Keith Sloan’s
implementation, file dated 18 Nov 1991; JPEG-FAQ − a text file pulled
off Usenet and headed “JPEG image compression: Frequently Asked
Questions”. Uncompressed, the disc runs to 900Kb, and is available as
Archive Shareware disc 51.
7.1
And finally
7.1
If anyone has access to Internet and could try to contact the author of
!JView, Frank Lyonnet, about the ‘stretched y-axis with non-multisync
screen modes’ problem I described last month, I’d be very grateful.
According to the documentation, his address is “[e-mail].”
The JPEG correspondence dried up somewhat over the summer. Please let me
have news of your findings with the various JPEG applications, and how
about some more “<32Kb JPEG images”? The next JPEG Column should appear
in two months’ time, to give me a chance to include your responses to
this month’s offering.  A
7.1
Vector Upgrade (1.1)
7.1
Tord Eriksson
7.1
Over a year ago (Archive 5.10 p35), I looked at Vector, an enhanced
version of Jonathan Marten’s DrawPlus. Now version 1.1 of Vector is
available as an upgrade for £10. The new package consists of a small
wallet containing a manual (the same as the old version), two discs and
some leaflets for existing users and some addendums.
7.1
There are tutorials, example drawings, a good selection of libraries and
some utilities on the discs. This is in addition to Vector 1.1, some
fonts and some further addendums, with errata and latest additions to
the program.
7.1
Flatten and more
7.1
This updated version corrects most of the drawbacks with Vector, and
improves on some already excellent features. The main difficulty I, and
many other users, have had with Vector, is its inability to export files
in draw format, with all the special effects included.
7.1
Now there is a little utility called Flatten that turns any Vector file
into a normal drawfile. This naturally makes the files much bigger,
typically 400%, but you can now use them directly in Impression or
Ovation documents, and still keep the interpolation, replication and
radiation effects. To export to other formats, like those used in the PC
and Mac sphere I still recommend using ArtWorks as a go-between, as it
can export in a number of different formats.
7.1
Vector fell on its face, so to speak, when Artworks arrived, especially
in terms of drawing speed. The latter cut corners in screen resolution
to be able to render very complex objects fairly quickly, but Vector did
not.
7.1
Now you can control the resolution of Vector in a similar way to
Artworks, with a useful speed increase. At maximum resolution, setting
“11” for Artworks and “5” for Vector, they both render a complex draw
object, like the Pharaoh below, at roughly the same speed, ArtWorks
being the winner (tested by switching from mode 12 to 15 and back).
7.1
However, as seen on the screen-shot there is a great difference in
screen resolution, due to ArtWorks CorelDraw-like rendering (ArtWorks
left, Vector to the right). Vector can now display objects only as wire
frame drawings, leaving all fills transparent. This is often a great
help when creating new objects, as you can then study all layers, with
all the details at once, unhindered.
7.1
Master editor
7.1
As I have said before, the editing facilities of Vector outclass
ArtWorks, just as ArtWorks outclasses Vector in the import/export
business. Sadly, neither package supports the format of the other.
7.1
With Vector, you can very easily split a path into sub-paths, reverse
paths, make masks, merge paths to create complex objects or make
numerous copies of an object in a number of ways. ArtWorks has some of
these features, but far from all.
7.1
One useful addition to Vector is “overlay lines” where you add a line on
top of another to create cables on technical illustration, or streets on
a map. In ArtWorks you make a copy on top the original lines instead.
7.1
As with Impression, you can now set the autosave to prompt you to save
after a set time − it even gives you a beep!
7.1
An addition I personally like is the fact that “text to path” can now
convert multiple lines of text or many objects at once. If only it had
been supported before...
7.1
An aid in moving control points is the “All control points” option. If
you set this to off, only the active control point will show its control
points. This means that the display will be far less cluttered.
7.1
Libraries
7.1
Vector’s strong point has always been the editing and its libraries. The
libraries are just that: files you have made of draw objects, or grouped
objects, which you often use. It might be complex symbols, sprites,
logos, or whatever. These are compressed and you can leaf through the
current library in pretty much the same way as you leaf through the list
of installed fonts. Click on a name and you get a pre-view of the object
(just as you do with the fonts). This selected object can then be pasted
into your drawing.
7.1
A library can now also contain ready-made “skeletons”, that are used by
the replication function, to make multiple copies of an object, in any
size or position. This is an excellent feature and quite unique!
7.1
Layers
7.1
With Vector 1.1, a feature has arrived that makes animation a
possibility: layers. Just as in animated film, you can split up the
display into different layers: the distant clouds can go on one, the
mountains on another, the trees on a third, your character on a fourth,
the cat in the front on a fifth and so on. You can set the computer to
show just one layer, or all, stepping up and down the layers with a
click on the toolbox icon: “arrow up” for up and “arrow down” for down!
7.1
Old features
7.1
There are many more features in Vector that I have forgotten to mention,
such as masks, interpolate, 4-point curves, circular arcs, polygons,
ellipses, zoom, grid lock and text mode, but these are pretty much the
same as before.
7.1
For the ArtWorks user, it might be interesting to note that most of the
features are more powerful than ArtWorks’ equivalents. On the other
hand, there is no perspective tool in Vector, sadly missed − an
excellent feature of ArtWorks!
7.1
The mask utility is now more powerful, as you now can create a mask
substitute that looks like the mask plus the masked object together,
just as if you had actually cut the thing out of a piece of paper. This
can then by replicated, inverted, enlarged and so on.
7.1
Omissions
7.1
The only serious omission in Vector is the fact that you cannot work
outside the paper. This is sometimes necessary, as the control points
might be far away from its object. The only solution is to opt for a
bigger paper size and then, having finished the manipulation, revert to
your favourite paper size. ArtWorks have vast plains of background to
use, just like Aldus PageMaker or Quark Xpress.
7.1
Also, both Computer Concepts and 4Mation should include so called
‘filters’ that accepts each other’s formats! Going via Draw (and
Flatten) is perfectly possible, but not very user-friendly! Or at least,
Impression should accept Vector files!
7.1
Conclusion
7.1
Owners of a legitimate copy of Vector would be fools if they did not pay
£10 for the update.
7.1
For those that does not have Vector yet, I can only say that it now
gives even more power for your money! A major omission, compared to
ArtWorks, is that it does not export to other systems as easily.
7.1
But, as always, I do recommend those who can afford it, to buy both
Vector and Artworks, as they both have their definite uses: ArtWorks is
easier to use for free-hand artwork and Vector is the master of
technical illustration, architectural and decorative drawing and
editing! If you do both free-hand and technical illustrations, you will
profit by having both!
7.1
A splendid complement is, as always, DrawBender and FontFx or a similar
package, say ArcSign, Poster, Fontasy or TypeStudio. Colouring is best
done with ArtWorks or Chameleon!  A
7.1
Latest versions of Vector and ArtWorks, side by side, with the same
illustration, at the same size. The screen resolution of ArtWorks (left)
is far less than Vector’s. The time to redraw the picture (from mode 12
to 15 and back) was almost the same, ArtWorks having just a slight edge.
The earlier version of Vector (v. 1.03) took ages!
7.1
A library can contain just about anything, as this one: Bubbles for your
cartoons! A very useful feature, unique to Vector.
7.1
Using a circular skeleton from one library and the bubble from another
library you can get very odd borders indeed! The text is drawn, not
“pathed” with “text to path”, as it looked a bit odd on screen
otherwise!
7.1
Help!!!!
7.1
•    Ancestry − Is there anyone in the London area who could demonstrate
Ancestry, to me, please? Charles Barraball, 287 West Barnes Lane, New
Malden, Surrey, KT3 6JE.
7.1
•    Image Outliner (Iota) sprite to drawfile converter − I would
appreciate any comments from anybody that has used this application with
regard to value and quality of conversion. I am interested in an
application that will convert to lines and not the filled silhouette and
‘splodge’ system used in Trace and Tracer. Please feel free to mention
any others that would be useful.  Alan Wilburn, Hartlepool.
7.1
•    Knitting machine wanted − Has anyone got a Brother KH910 knitting
machine for sale? Has anyone interfaced one to an Archimedes? I have
interfaced one to the user port of a Beeb but it would be great to link
one to an Archimedes.  F.Montague, Chatham.
7.1
•    Second floppy on A3010/20/A4000 − Has anyone succeeded in getting a
second floppy going on any of these computers? Acorn say they cannot
have a second floppy because “the extra signals required to operate the
second drive are not present on the main p.c.b.” If anyone thinks they
can solve it, we’ll lend them a Tech. Ref. Manual!  Harry Bradley,
Ruislip + Ed.  A
7.1
A Typical School Network Setup
7.1
Malcolm Fraser
7.1
The network I manage consists currently of a single Econet system which
runs through 13 classrooms, including a computer room. All of the
machines are A series, mainly A3000s and A5000s. An A540 with an
additional SCSI hard disc is used as file server. The network runs using
Level 4 fileserver software (Version 2). Because of the number and size
of data files, both hard discs are used on the network.
7.1
Objectives
7.1
In order to keep the system simple for new users, I have set the
following objectives when organising the network.
7.1
1    Users should see a consistent view of the software and directory
structure, regardless of the machine used.
7.1
2    The machine configuration should minimise delays, in particular when
many users log on together, subject to 1.
7.1
3    Shared identities should be avoided where possible.
7.1
The reasons for the first two are obvious. In the third case, having
more than one person using the same identity causes problems in keeping
files secure, and if two people try to work on one file simultaneously
the results are predictable!
7.1
Organisation of user identities
7.1
Each student is given a unique identity. Identities are grouped by the
nominal year of entry. For example, everyone in the new Year 11 has an
identity which begins I90 (I for intake). This group identifier does not
have to be changed at the end of each year. An example is I90.AA, where
the second part comes from the student’s initials.
7.1
The identities can be generated using a simple PipeDream 4 sheet to
extract the first letter of each name to make up the identity. Clashes
are then adjusted manually. This uses the administration database lists
and reduces the work needed at the start of the year.
7.1
A directory is created for each student and free space allocated using
the !Manager application. This is a tedious process and will be done by
a short program in future. This gives a large number of directories on
each hard disc, but avoids the problems of shared identities.
7.1
Sometimes we have had to set up special ‘users’ to deal with software
(mainly for mathematics) which creates temporary files while running.
7.1
Machine configuration
7.1
Some machines have hard discs and some hard disc machines have RISC OS
3. The machines are configured to ensure that necessary modules are
loaded and system variables set up correctly at the start of the day.
7.1
Floppy disc RISC OS 2 machines have the default file system set to NET
and are configured to auto-boot. There is a user named BOOT, set up to
load network modules to replace those in ROM. It then locates the
!System, !Scrap and !Fonts directories in the $ directory on the main
fileserver disc. The application which does this is called !ArmBoot. It
is part of the fileserver software, tailored to our network.
7.1
There is one point which we discovered the hard way. Each floppy disc
station needs a directory with public read and write access inside
!Scrap. To do this, you log on as a system user at the station and
double click on !Scrap. This is documented inside !Scrap, but is not
obvious. Otherwise mysterious “Insufficient Access” messages appear at
some machines when ‘non-system’ users log on. The alternative is to
ensure each user has a copy of !Scrap in their personal directory but
this is not an efficient use of space as this is not needed when using a
hard disc machine.
7.1
On hard disc RISC OS 2 machines, a similar boot application is used but
all of the files are on the local disc and the application is called
!Boot. This speeds up many operations, e.g. transfer of data between
packages.
7.1
RISC OS 3 machines have more recent versions of the network modules, so
a !Boot file (not an application) is used just to locate !System, !Scrap
and !Fonts.
7.1
Students are taught to use hard discs for loading software where
possible. This has two effects. It cuts the time taken to load
applications on the student’s machine and it reduces traffic on the
network. The Broadcast Loader software cuts down delays in favourable
cases but if an application uses a lot of files or fonts, delays can
still be considerable.
7.1
File server organisation
7.1
The two hard discs on the file server have been named Upper_Sch and
Users_Disc. Both are exported across the network, so anyone can log on
to either. The software is identical but the former has the Sixth Form
directories, while everyone else stores data on the second.
7.1
It is important that users log on to the correct disc, otherwise they
will not be able to save work (their root directory windows do not
appear on the screen).
7.1
Everyone is shown how to call up the FS List window from the network
icon on the iconbar, and after a small amount of practice, we have had
very few problems. The following window shows the FS List window.
7.1
Directory structure
7.1
The root ($) directory on each hard disc is the one seen by users if
they use the “Open ‘$’ ” option in the network menu. Level 4 software
allows files and directories to be hidden from non-System users by
setting the “Locked” attribute. This is used to hide the file server
software and other items from view.
7.1
It is possible to change the directory which holds software and data so
that it is no longer the root directory. I intend to try this in the
future as an additional level of security.
7.1
When students log on, they see their personal directories − a typical
directory is as follows:
7.1
In order to load software, students must first open the ‘$’ directory.
The structure of the $ directory on the fileserver is:
7.1
The I90 directory has its access set to ‘Locked’ and is not visible,
even to members of Year 11. Again, this is important in keeping users
away from areas which they do not need to see. (We have almost no
deliberate ‘hacking’, although accidents have happened on occasion. It
has not been necessary to introduce the use of passwords so far.) The
view which students see when they open the network ‘$’ directory is as
shown at the top of the next column.
7.1
When an ordinary user opens the root directory, they see some
applications and a large number of folders. Each folder contains one
package or group of applications. For example, the folder ‘DTP’ contains
!Ovation, some stylesheets and !Accents. (This is a version of !Chars
which can be configured to show only the extra characters for a
particular language such as French. It is published by the Hampshire
Microtechnology Unit.)
7.1
As the $ directory must be opened in order to load software, this
ensures that the paths to modules and fonts are established for floppy
disc machines from the start.
7.1
Separate directories are used instead of grouping similar software, e.g.
graphics packages, in one directory because of the memory claimed by
each application ‘seen’. The computers are used for many different
purposes during the day, and we have had 2Mb machines running out of
free memory. In several cases, machines have ‘locked up’ through running
out of free memory. (The problem is rare on 4Mb machines, which helps
confirm this diagnosis.)
7.1
The file organisation on hard disc machines is almost identical to the
visible part of the $ directory on the network. The major exception is
the Design Processor package. This is a Genesis application which links
a number of packages such as WorraCAD and Euclid. The current version
loads large data files and runs slowly over Econet, so it is restricted
to local hard discs. (We are waiting for a new version to arrive and
there are suggested packages such as !AppFS which will help overcome
this difficulty but we have not yet tried these.)
7.1
The lack of a menu system puts the onus onto students to learn how to
navigate around the directory structure. Most manage this after a brief
introduction and soon start to explore the available software
independently.
7.1
Software
7.1
Most RISC OS applications which we have put on to the network have
worked satisfactorily. In some cases, companies have produced specific
network versions but often the same programs are used on the file server
and stand-alone.
7.1
The following packages have been used on the network without major
problems: Ovation, Key Plus, PipeDream 4, Numerator, Pinpoint,
Revelation ImagePro, WorraCAD, Perspective, Thinksheet, Poster and
Vector.
7.1
Problems which do arise are commonly of two kinds. Some packages are
unhelpful if the user does not have enough free space to save a file.
The warning messages are not always clear and, in some cases, they are
actually misleading (one reports “Station not listening” when it cannot
save a file, for example). Work has been lost because students did not
appreciate the significance of this message. Sometimes partial files are
saved, but when an attempt is made to load these later, the loss of data
is discovered as the computer hangs up totally. It is dangerous to
assume that because the file shows the correct icon that it has been
saved successfully.
7.1
The second problem is that some packages take a long time to load or
save files. Even allowing for the slow speed of Econet, the low rate of
data transfer suggests that saving routines could be improved. Although
I have not investigated this in detail, I suspect that complex files
(particularly Draw type files) are saved an object at a time. As each
transmission has included data to identify the transmitting station and
the destination, so a large number of small objects take longer to save
than one large one.
7.1
Future developments
7.1
Apart from the main building, there is a Library block, a Science
building and a number of temporary huts. None of these is networked at
present but we are about to set up a second computer room and, at the
same time, extend the network to all of the permanent buildings.
7.1
Once we started to plan this extension, we decided that there were only
two ways to go. Either students held their files on individual floppy
discs, or data stored on any file server had to be accessible from every
terminal on each network. The thought of over 850 floppy discs being
carried around school and, from current experience, at least a 1%
failure rate each year, made the second option seem more appealing, even
if technically more complex.
7.1
The Acorn Universal Networking (AUN) system for Ethernet and Econet was
announced while planning was still at an early stage. This seemed a way
of overcoming the problems with Econet. It should also allow us to link
in the existing network, rather than have to install a new system
everywhere. This last option would have been too expensive when the
Science Department, among others, had only just received their first
Archimedes, and were keen to get as many more as they could.
7.1
Once we decided where we wanted machines and how many we planned to have
in the long run, we sought professional help to decide whether our plans
were practical and whether there might be other solutions to our
particular problems. This is essential as it is more difficult to make
changes to a network when it is installed. The very helpful people at
Atomwide (thanks to Martin, Dave and everyone else!) spent a lot of time
making sure they understood our requirements and checking over the site,
before giving advice on the way to organise the network and the types of
machine which suited the different requirements best. (This was
essential because we now have minimal I.T. support within the county,
and that mainly directed at Research Machines products.)
7.1
The new system will come into operation early in September and I hope to
give a fuller description and evaluation of the success (or otherwise)
of the AUN system later in the term.  A
7.1
Ancient Greece
7.1
Carol Haynes
7.1
Ancient Greece, from Chalksoft, is aimed at teachers and pupils in
primary schools and provides material to help cover the National
Curriculum Key Stage 2 History Core Study Unit 5. The version received
for review was 1.01, dated 22nd September 1992.
7.1
The program is supplied on a single disc with a four-page A5 leaflet and
a !Help application on disc. The information supplied does not discuss
the need to backup and store the original disc, or how to install the
software onto a hard disc if one is available. The disc is not protected
in any way and installs and functions on a hard disc without problems.
7.1
!Help
7.1
This application explains the keys used to control the movements of text
windows and the escape key. It is also explained that Format has been
disabled and to type ‘Unset Alias$Format’ to reinstate it. This seems to
me to be unnecessary and confusing. Furthermore, under RISC-OS 3.11, it
doesn’t disable formatting from the iconbar, but only when *Format is
used. The options available from the iconbar menu are explained. These
include saving text and pictures to disc, printing and a glossary as
well as control of the use of sound through the program. A very brief
overview of the seven sections of the main program is given along with
clues to solve two of the puzzles.
7.1
!Greeks
7.1
Double clicking on !Greeks loads the application onto the iconbar and
changes the screen mode to 12. The program will only run in mode 12.
Clicking on the iconbar icon starts the application running. At first
the whole screen appears to be used, and indeed some parts of the
program are not multitasking, but a close icon is provided and <shift-
f12> does bring the iconbar into view (in RISC-OS 3). With the opening
screen, a menu of two items is presented offering the options Go and
Help.
7.1
Help displays a window showing the icons around a standard desktop
window (in rather garish colours) and scrolling the window summarises
the keypresses available. Each menu in the package includes a help
option but the help available is the same each time.
7.1
Go opens a text window which explains that you have been given the use
of a time machine to allow you to travel to the land of Ancient Greece.
Clicking <menu> over this window produces a three item menu OK, Facts
and Help. Facts gives exactly the same information already displayed on
screen and OK takes you to Athens Airport, the starting point of all
journeys back in time. Clicking menu now displays a choice of seven
destinations:
7.1
    2000BC    Knossos
7.1
    1200BC    Siege of Troy
7.1
    1000BC    Mount Olympus
7.1
    776BC    Olympia
7.1
    490BC    Marathon
7.1
    399BC    Athens
7.1
    Delphi-Oracle Quiz
7.1
Clicking on any of these destinations takes you, via a graphical and
noisy time-line, to the period and destination of your choice.
7.1
Each destination has the same structure available by clicking <menu>:
7.1
    • Return    back to Athens via the time-line,
7.1
    • Go        a game or activity to engage in,
7.1
    • Facts    to read, which includes limited use
7.1
            of graphics, usually a map and one
7.1
            further graphic
7.1
    • Help    the usual help option
7.1
The facts to read are quite lengthy in each case with some keywords
highlighted in different colours. The text is also split into short
sections with headings.
7.1
The activities are different for each section.
7.1
Knossos
7.1
Knossos is where the famous Labyrinth was built by Minos to hide the
minotaur from public view. The activity provided is a 3D representation
of a maze with three levels of complexity. The easiest level (Servant)
is to get out of the maze. The next level (Master) is to get out of the
maze twice! The third level (Theseus) is to find and kill the minotaur
and then escape from the maze.
7.1
Siege of Troy
7.1
This, in my opinion, is the best presented of the activities and
involves putting together a jigsaw of the wooden horse. The pieces are
all correctly orientated and lock together when they a placed in correct
relative positions. Once the horse is completed, the story of the Wooden
Horse is told by a simple animation with textual subtitles.
7.1
Mount Olympus
7.1
A logic puzzle is the activity this time. You have to make sacrifices to
the Gods in their temples. You can only sacrifice to a particular God if
they are outside their own temple. The puzzle is to move the Gods one by
one to their own temple. Some help is provided in the form of clues by
use of a Help button on screen. You can attempt this puzzle with two,
three and four Gods. Two Gods are quite straightforward to manipulate
but the problem is much more difficult with four Gods. The puzzle is
reminiscent of the classic Towers of Hanoi problem.
7.1
Olympia
7.1
This is your chance to take part in the Olympic games. Three simple
arcade style games: race, javelin and long jump. The keyboard controls
are similar for each game. The aim is to use the < and > keys as the
athlete’s feet fall to help him to accelerate, the space bar is used to
make the athlete jump or throw. It is a pity that the long jumper is not
carrying lead weights as was the practice of the Greeks.
7.1
Marathon
7.1
You have to help Pheidippides to find the quickest route from Marathon
to Athens, to take home the news that the Athenians have won a great
battle against the Persians at Marathon. A simple map is presented and
you have to choose where Pheidippides runs next on his journey until he
eventually reaches Athens. As he runs, you can see a representation of
the countryside he is running through, as well as a textual description.
7.1
Athens
7.1
Answer yes/no questions to guide Socrates to the temple through the
streets of Athens. Unfortunately Socrates always seems to get killed at
the end of the quiz, even if you answer all of the questions correctly −
that’s democracy for you!
7.1
Delphi-Oracle Quiz
7.1
A multiple choice quiz with questions covering material covered in the
other six visits. This also has the option of printing or saving a
personalised certificate after completion of the quiz. The display is
very static and uninteresting. If you get a question wrong you are not
told the correct answer!
7.1
Conclusions
7.1
A number of things bothered me about using this package with my class of
7/8 year olds; the package is aimed at 7-11. (Interestingly, Key Stage 2
is 8-12 years.)
7.1
The core of the package are the seven sets of facts presented in the
seven locations. These do contain a lot of useful information (along
with a few spelling mistakes: seige, Knossus) but the graphics are of a
fairly poor quality and used very sparingly. A much better way of
presenting the information is a colourful and readable book! This seems
like a poor way of using a computer − I, as a motivated and interested
adult, found it a boring slog to read though the large amounts of plain
text often with long Greek names, e.g. Pheidippides. Many of my eight
year olds would not be able to read it and would certainly not have the
concentration to finish. I am sure that most eleven year olds would find
the sheer quantity of reading quite daunting.
7.1
Each time you visited a location, you had to travel back to 20th century
Athens before your next visit. This was a nice representation of the
time-line but seeing it at least 14 times was a little tedious. The
sound used to represent travelling through time is a wailing sound. I
thought this was either unnecessary (especially in a classroom context)
or a poor use of Archimedes sound. Generally, the use of sound was poor.
In my opinion, sound should only be used in educational programs when it
adds something useful (e.g. the spoken word, Ancient Greek music... ).
7.1
The activities themselves were a mixed bag. My favourite was the wooden
horse which is fun, well designed and tells the story in a reasonable
way. On the other hand guiding Socrates to an Athenian temple is
bizarre. The temple is always in view and yet Socrates seems to wander
around aimlessly. No attempt has been made to give a reasonable
representation of a Greek city, even though the program notes say
“includes a journey through the town at the centre of Greek life and
commerce”.
7.1
All of the questions and quizzes are text based in the form of yes/no or
multiple choice. This seems a real shame. The use of graphics, sounds or
animation would make these far more enjoyable.
7.1
The printing and saving options are available through the iconbar menu
but this is usually hidden behind a full screen picture. When I did
manage to print Facts or the Certificate, I got a sheet of black paper
with indistinct white writing and outline drawings. The saved files are
sprites and text separately with the text formatted for the screen
window rather than for easy use in a DTP program.
7.1
The documentation is really inadequate, especially for inexperienced
teachers and children. There has been some attempt to give teachers
further ideas for classroom activities but these are mostly one-liners
and are not very original. Background information is also given on
agriculture and trade, sea transport, Greek scientists, Greece and Rome
and the Legacy of Greece, most of which is available in any standard
text from the library (even in children’s books).
7.1
Should you buy it? Some of the activities are fun and the children will
certainly learn about some of the myths and legends and the names of
famous Greeks and the Gods. The question is whether it is worth paying
£25 +VAT. Personally, I would say that the money would be better spent
on good quality books.  A
7.1
NetGain for Econet and Ethernet
7.1
Tony Colombat
7.1
I have always been impressed with the way Econet performed with BBC Bs
and couldn’t believe it when it worked with an A310 over 100 yards of
dubious, cheap telephone cable. Having expanded to twenty A3000s, proper
wiring was essential, along with the maximum clock speed. Over the last
few years, however, as the numbers of fonts and program sizes increased,
Econet has struggled and sometimes floundered. Broadcast Loader eased
the strain, changing the 15 minutes to load Impression, down to 5
minutes but careful pre-planning of lessons was still required. Recent
programs requiring 2Mb memories have again caused problems. In one
attempt to load Wordz into twenty A3000s, after 15 minutes, only one
station successfully received the application. So, when Digital Services
produced NetGain as a ‘High Speed Application Loader’, I decided to
invest in it.
7.1
The package
7.1
NetGain is supplied for either Econet or Ethernet. The basic package is
similar for both, with the difference being in the software and the
method used to transfer applications. This leads to different memory
requirements in the workstations.
7.1
NetGain consists of a server expansion card and user pack for the first
ten stations − additional ten user packs can be purchased. There is also
a floppy disc with the software and a thin A5 manual. The package
arrives in a well-padded cardboard box.
7.1
The half-width podule needs to be fitted into a 4Mb computer with a hard
disc, as the NetGain server, and the same machine can also be the
network fileserver and printer server, if required.
7.1
Before fitting the podule, it is necessary to fit a ‘key’ onto the
podule. Each key gives NetGain access to ten stations and the extra keys
have to be purchased for extra stations. Keys must be pushed firmly
home, as otherwise they are not seen and the message ‘No keys fitted’ is
given.
7.1
Having fitted the podule, the NetGain server software should be
transferred onto the hard disc and loaded.
7.1
NetGain manager/server
7.1
NetGain works in two modes: as a manager and as a server.
7.1
As manager, the NetGain icon is installed on the left of the iconbar and
the first task is to allocate the station numbers to which NetGain will
respond.
7.1
Clicking <menu> on the NetGain icon will provide a menu and clicking on
Stations provides a chart of all 254 possible stations. The server
Station number is greyed out but any of the remaining may be chosen with
a click and is then shown in reverse video. A running total of stations
(both chosen and remaining) is provided. If a wrong station number is
chosen, or numbers have to be changed, this can be achieved at any time
by clicking on the station to be deselected.
7.1
The next stage is to select which software you wish to transfer via
NetGain. This is achieved by clicking <select> on NetGain, which opens a
NetGain filer window. Applications are then dragged into the windows.
Later, if you wish to add or delete applications, this can be achieved
in exactly the same way as adding or deleting from any filer window,
providing you are in manager status.
7.1
NetGain becomes a server by clicking <menu> on the NetGain icon,
following the Status arrow and clicking on server. There is a delay
whilst the files are compressed and saved to disc and then the NetGain
icon appears on the right, or application side, of the iconbar, now
running as a server.
7.1
Workstation setup
7.1
The stations selected have to be reconfigured to start with NetGain and
this is achieved slightly differently according to whether it is the
Econet or Ethernet NetGain being installed. (Both versions can be set up
with software supplied on the NetGain disc.) However, NetGain must be
running at the server, before switching on the workstation.
7.1
In the Econet version, a slightly slower boot up will occur before the
NetGain icon appears on the workstation. It is not necessary to Logon
the Econet network, as a click on NetGain opens a window and the
applications are available. NetGain is a read-only filing system and so
files need to be loaded through Econet and with less application
traffic, data files are usually loaded quickly. In NetGain, any
application is simply loaded by the usual double-clicking. The
difference is the speed at which the application is loaded; e.g. 10
seconds for Impression, no matter how many machines, and Wordz loads in
about 20 seconds, with Artworks in a similar amount of time.
7.1
So how is this achieved? There is the big difference between Econet
NetGain and Ethernet NetGain.
7.1
Econet/Ethernet NetGain
7.1
The Econet NetGain server software transfers the compressed applications
to the RMA memory as soon each workstation is booted up. Starting all
twenty A3000s appeared to make little difference to the bootup time,
compared to one A3000. The time taken to load applications is actually
the time required to decompress the application from the workstation’s
own memory, as no traffic takes place on the network when the
application is actually requested. Econet NetGain workstations are
recommended to have 4Mb memory. This is because every application
provided on the NetGain server is loaded, in compressed form, into every
computer’s memory. The idea of having 4Mb is so that as many
applications as possible can be transferred and still leave room to run
them.
7.1
The Ethernet NetGain server software works much more quickly and in a
different way, in that the workstations lose only 64Kb of memory. The
applications are only transferred when required from the server. They
are transferred at the top Ethernet speed of up to 1Mb/s rather than the
200Kb/s used by the Acorn Ethernet, i.e. 2 seconds for Impression −
faster than some hard discs. There is a slight slowing of speed
according to the number of machines requesting the application but,
compared to the normal Ethernet speed, NetGain is still very fast. This
system of transfer does mean that 2Mb workstations can work with the
Ethernet NetGain.
7.1
Boot files
7.1
Having reconfigured the Econet workstations for NetGain, boot files on
disc are ignored. To help overcome any problems, NetGain will run any
!Boot saved with the applications in NetGain. This is useful for
pointing to the Network !System folder and the workstation !Scrap folder
on disc.
7.1
Problems
7.1
I have not experienced any serious problems using Econet NetGain but
there is the minor niggle that some commands available to control the
NetGain icon at the workstation are apparently not working. The most
serious problem is the recommended 4Mb memory, as our A3000s have only
2Mb and so I have to have a number of different NetGain servers for
various applications and have to remember to have the correct one
installed before lessons start. Memory is now very tight on the
workstations. I tried to overcome this by quitting NetGain at the
workstation after loading the software. The freed RMA memory does not
become available to the workstation because of a limitation in RISC OS.
The Ethernet version of NetGain will work very happily with 2Mb memory
in the workstation.
7.1
The problem over the question of memory is a real teaser. To purchase
4Mb for our A3000s is approximately the same cost as the awaited HCCS
Ethernet Mini Podule. Certainly, Acorn would recommend moving to
Ethernet and this seems the most sensible way forward, as it is much
faster with file transfer as well as applications. In either case, the
cost is over £2,000 for twenty machines.
7.1
Summary
7.1
I would recommend the purchase of NetGain for either Econet or Ethernet,
as it has been one of the easiest installations to make and the speed
increase has to be seen to be believed.
7.1
Those with Econet need a 4Mb server (2Mb is possible) and must have a
minimum 2Mb memory, (preferably 4Mb) at workstations. You will be
delighted with the speed increase, especially with applications such as
Impression, Poster or Wordz.
7.1
Those with Ethernet need only a 4Mb server (2Mb is possible) to benefit
fully from NetGain, with recommended 2Mb workstations. They will also be
delighted at the increased speed transfer rate.
7.1
NetGain is available from Digital Services at £200 +VAT for a 10 user
pack and £100 +VAT each additional 10 stations.  A
7.1
Axis
7.1
Andrew Rawnsley
7.1
With a variety of ‘shoot ’em ups’ now available on Acorn machines, it
takes a rather special one to capture public interest and convince
people to part with their money. This is even more true on other
platforms, for example on the Amiga, where there must be more shoot ‘em
ups than any other type of game.
7.1
However, at the Acorn User Show in Harrogate, Dominik Diamond, presenter
of Channel 4’s ‘Games Master’ show, and Amiga user, was detained for a
considerable time, hooked on this new release from TBA Software under
their Powerstation label.
7.1
The real beauty of Axis lies in its rotation. Well, 360° rotation to be
precise. “So what’s new?”, you ask. In Axis, it is not the player’s
character that rotates, but the whole screen. The whole play area
rotates effortlessly and flawlessly around the tank that you control.
The rotation is smooth enough on an ARM 2 machine, but super-smooth
would be the only way to describe it, on an ARM 3 machine.
7.1
I won’t dwell on the programming required for such a feat, or the
maths... !
7.1
Be that as it may, 360° degree rotation may well not send you running
off down to your local Acorn dealership. It must have gameplay, and
graphics.
7.1
The plot is, as ever, rather poor, but it doesn’t matter. Who cares why
you’re blasting little yellow tanks, just don’t get hit! Apparently, one
group of planets − the Axis planets − has decided to conquer the
universe, and you, as the poor soul sent by the Alliance, must
infiltrate their defences and blast the bad guys to kingdom come.
7.1
The game comes on two floppy discs, and make sure you keep them write
protected, as you might be tempted to try and write your own data to
them − there is apparently over 750Kb free on each disc. This is because
the game data is not stored in files recorded on the file allocation
table (this is to copy-protect the game). As a result, hard disc
installation is not possible but, fortunately, loading is very quick
anyway.
7.1
Once the game is loaded, you are presented with a reasonable title
screen, and an accompanying, rather monotonous tune. Pressing <space>
cuts out the music and takes you to the options screen where you can
select one of seven (!) control options. In simple terms, there are two
different sets of controls for each of keyboard, joystick and mouse, and
one for a Nintendo-style joypad with eight fire buttons.
7.1
As the player assumes the role of a tank, I preferred the ‘Conqueror’-
style controls, so you move around by controlling each side of your
craft independently. However, others preferred the more familiar Z, X, ‘
and / keys. All the keys can be redefined.
7.1
Each level has a password, which is most convenient when you finish a
level. When you start on the higher levels, you are helpfully provided
with some power-ups automatically, so that you don’t die within 5
seconds of starting the level.
7.1
The levels are large maps, in the form of huge mazes to explore − much
more fun than normal arcade shoot ‘em ups. You have a time limit to
destroy the enemy tanks and find the large gun emplacements which must
be destroyed before you can progress to the next part of the level. Once
you’ve destroyed the last emplacement on the level, an exit hatch
appears from which you enter the next level.
7.1
The graphics are acceptable, if not stunning, but when the whole
screen’s spinning around anyway, you hardly have time to notice!
7.1
The power-ups give you more energy or increase the amount of orbitals or
mines you can release. Orbitals can be launched out from your craft and
destroy everything in their path. You start with two orbitals − power-
ups just give you more − and one mine that can be released from the back
of your tank. However, your ability to launch orbitals and drop mines is
reduced if your tank becomes seriously damaged.
7.1
My only real criticism of this game is that even if you get hit by only
one (or perhaps two) of the shots from the large gun emplacements, a
tank with full energy can be reduced to a burnt out shell. The strategy
is to hide behind some building or piping so that you don’t get hit, and
fire your orbitals at the emplacement from there. Otherwise, you must
get just out of range of the gun emplacement before starting to fire.
When you hit the emplacement, you hear a distinctive ring − a good use
of the sound system!
7.1
Axis gets my vote as the best and most interesting shoot ’em up on Acorn
machines to date. Well done TBA!
7.1
Axis is (only) available from TBA Software − it costs £24.99 inclusive.
7.1
Haxis
7.1
Users of Doggysoft’s ‘The Hacker’ or Serial Port’s ‘Games Wizard’
(although owners of the latter be warned, Doggysoft do not like the
program and are quite rude about it in the documentation) may be
interested to know that although Axis attempts to disable The Hacker and
Games Wizard, Doggysoft produce a utility to get round this. Known as
Haxis, it lets you run a slightly modified version of Axis which enables
you to use the two hacking utilities, or save the modified version
directly to disc, so that you don’t need to keep loading Haxis every
time you play. It also contains a complete list of passwords for those
who can’t get beyond level one!  A
7.1
Acorn World Logo
7.1
here!!!!!
7.1