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ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE MAGAZINE July 11, 1992 Volume 1, Number 7 Issue #92-07 Published and Copyright (c)1992, Atari Computer Corporation 1972-1992 (20 Years Of Service) ~ Editor In-Chief......................................Ron Kovacs ~ Contributing Editor...................................Ed Krimen ~ Contributing Writer...................................Bob Smith ~ Contributing Writer..............................Ron Berinstein ~ Contributing Writer.................................Stan Lowell ~ AtariUser Magazine Editor.............................John Nagy ~ Atari Corporation....................................Bob Brodie | | | TABLE OF CONTENTS | | | ||| The Editors Desk.........................Ron Kovacs New faces this week! ||| The Z*Net Newswire................................. Atari and Industry News Update ||| Dragonware Conference Highlights..............GEnie GEnie Real-Time CO Transcript ||| MIST Atarifest Update.............................. Latest details on the July User Group Show! ||| AtariUser Reviews.................................. Three great reviews from the June issue! ||| Growing Up With Atari - Part 1............Bob Smith Debut article! ||| Letter To PC Laptop Magazine..........Donald Thomas Reprint of Letter To The Editor! ||| Portfolio Programming....................BJ Gleason Atari Explorer Magazine Reprint ||| The Software Shelf...................Ron Berinstein Latest PD/Shareware Files and Commentary | | | THE EDITORS DESK | | | By Ron Kovacs | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- First let me apologize for a few spelling and grammatical errors in the last issue. No explanation?!?! I want to welcome Stan Lowell to the AEO staff this week. Stan, a long- time friend and writer for Z*Magazine will be assisting here with Atari 8-bit and Portfolio coverage. Bob Smith, another new member of the staff, has completed his first AEO column which appears in this edition. | | | Z*NET NEWSWIRE | | | Atari and Industry News | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- COMPUTER ANIMATIONS FOR THE ST AVAILABLE A series of computer animations in full colour of cellular and molecular processes is available for use on the ST computers. The series consists of 34 animations developed for an introductory cell biology/molecular genetics course at the University of Western Ontario, London, ONT Canada by Drs Alan Day and Robert Dean. Each animation is a complete mini- lesson and provides 15-20 min of study time. A number of animations also present important biotechnological techniques such as PCR, DNA sequencing, and cloning. Response has been good according to press release information. This tutorial series is available at a reasonable cost and further information is available by contacting Dr. Alan Day, Dept. of Plant Sciences, University of Western Ontario, Canada. N6A 5B7. Phone (519) 433-7145 or Fax (519) 661-3292. Please specify the Atari version. GRIBNIF MOVES Gribnif Software has moved to new offices. The following address and telephone numbers are effective immediately: Gribnif Software, P.O. Box 779, Northampton, MA 01061. Main line (including technical support): (413) 247-5620. Fax line (24 hours): (413) 247-5622. GLENDALE UPDATE - PRESS RELEASE Are you ready for the next Southern California Computer Faire? Yes, Version 6.0 will soon be upon us. We anticipate that this year's Glendale Show will be the largest ever. We also expect that there might possibly be a new machine on display. Hint. Hint. There will be over fifty developers, retailers, user groups and ATARI personnel on hand to make this event a must. The show will be held Saturday and Sunday, September 12-13, 1992 at the Glendale Civic Auditorium, 1041 N. Verdugo Road, Glendale, CA. Hours are 10:00 am to 6:00 pm on Saturday and 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Sunday. General Admission is $6.00 per person with a two day pass costing only $10.00. If you plan on attending and you live outside of Southern California you may get FREE admission by sending a self-address-stamped -#10 envelope to H.A.C.K.S., 249 N. Brand Bl. #321, Glendale, CA 91203 and get a one day pass for two. For those of you who will be needing lodging we have made arrangements with the Burbank Hilton. Regular rates are $119.00 per night but if you mention ATARI you will get a room for $65.00 per night, single or double occupancy. Executive suites are also available for a per night charge of $95.00. Reservations may be made by calling the Hilton at 800-643- 7400 (in California), 800-468-3576 (inside the USA) or at 818-843-600 (outside the USA). The guaranteed reservation cut-off date is August 20th. If you are quoted another rate ask for Roy Butler, Sales Manger. This year The Glendale Show will be holding Desk Top Publishing Classes. This has been a very popular addition at other shows. There will be a $25.00(US) fee for these hands-on classes. ISD Marketing will be holding Beginners and Advanced classes for owners and prospective owners of Calamus SL. Classes will be held on Saturday and Sunday. Classroom size is limited. Make your reservations by sending a check for $25.00 (US) payable to H.A.C.K.S., 249 Brand Bl. #321, Glendale, CA 91203. Be sure to state the preference of day and class level. A confirmation will be sent, about two weeks prior to the show, by return mail stating which class you will be enrolled in. Enrollment in the classroom will also entitle you to admission to the rest of the show for the day of your class. Look for our full-page advertisements in upcoming issues of AtariUser and Atari Explorer magazines. If you have any questions send mail to H.A.C.K.S., 249 N. Brand Bl. #321, Glendale, CA 91203 or leave GEmail to John.King.T or call John King Tarpinian at 818-246-7276. FREE COMPUTER CLUB MEMBERSHIP, THE SEQUEL Yes that is correct, if you come to either the July 23rd or August 20th, 1992 meeting of The Hooked on ATARI Computer Keyboard Society (H.A.C.K.S.) you will get a free, one year, membership to one of the most influential club's in the USA. Our membership includes ATARI developers and magazine writers. Learn and share in a pleasant and casual atmosphere. We can offer support for the novice and the advanced user. H.A.C.K.S. is also the sponsoring club for the Southern California ATARI Computer Faire, Version 6.0, AKA The Glendale Show. We meet at 1605 W. Glenoaks Blvd., Glendale, CA at 7:00 p.m. If you have additional questions please give a call to John King Tarpinian at 818-246-7286. BATTERY-POWERED 2.5-INCH HARD DRIVE UniStor has announced the new EasyStor Portable Data Module for IBM PC and compatibles. Battery-powered EasyStor PDMs provide up to three hours of operation on a single charge and range in capacity from 40 megabytes to 180 MB. EasyStor PDMs attach directly to any standard parallel port via a parallel to IDE interface. An optional parallel port multiplexer cable is available to allow connection of a printer or other parallel devices. The unit measures 3.4 inches by 1.3 inches by 6.9 inches and weighs less than one pound. Initial capacities include 40 MB, 60 MB, 80 MB, 120 MB and 180 MB with recommended list prices of $599, $699, $799, $999 and $1,199, respectively and backed by a one-year warranty. WORLD'S THINNEST DISK Citizen Watch announced late last week that it has developed the world's thinnest 3.5 inch floppy disk drive for use in portable computers, palmtop electronic organizers, and other lightweight computer products. The disk drive will be able to handle floppy disks of 1 megabyte, 1.6 megabytes, and 2 megabytes. Citizen will display the new device at an electronics show in Osaka, Japan, in October, and sample shipments will begin in the first half of 1993. APPLE-QUORUM SETTLE SUIT Quorum Software announced it has settled its federal lawsuit against Apple Computer in response to Apple's claims that Quorum was violating its patents. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, beyond Quorum saying it will be allowed to develop and market its products without threat of legal action from Apple. GALOOB WINS $15 MILLION FROM NINTENDO Lewis Galoob Toys announced this week that it has been awarded a $15 million judgment against Nintendo. The award represents compensation to Galoob for profits it lost for the period from June 1990, through July 1991, when Galoob was enjoined from selling its Game Genie Video Game Enhancer for the Nintendo Entertainment System due to an infringement lawsuit brought by Nintendo. The judgment awarded by U.S. Ninth District Court Judge Fern M. Smith follows her July 1991, ruling that Galoob had been wrongfully enjoined from selling Game Genie for the NES, and the U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit Court's unanimous decision in May 1992, affirming Judge Smith's ruling. | | | DRAGONWARE CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS | | | GEnie Real-Time Conferences - July 8, 1992 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- (C) 1992 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables. May be reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari Roundtables on GEnie are *official* information services of Atari Corporation. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> On behalf of the Atari ST Roundtable, I welcome all of you to the Dragonware RealTime Conference featuring Chris Roberts and Chris Latham. Chris and Chris -- Thank you for being with us this evening. Before we start shooting questions at you, perhaps you can each tell us a bit about yourselves and about Dragonware and about the Dragonware product line? <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> DragonWare Software Inc. originally was a ShareWare company making Atari 8 BIT software. In September of 1991 DragonWare introduced it's first commercial software release for the Atari TOS based computers: "THE G_MAN 2.0". Nearly a year later, DragonWare has released version 3.0 of the G_MAN, new hardware products like The Dragon Battery for the STacy, and many new software products. The G_MAN 3.0: GDOS/FONTGDOS utility. Creates ASSIGN.SYS files and EXTEND.SYS files. Finds errors in the original GDOS file name layout. The G_MAN 3.0 is the only commercial GDOS ASSIGN.SYS and EXTEND.SYS AUTOMATIC INSTALLER that is program independent. (including FontGDOS and files; 5 disks in total) $44.95 SmokeArt Volumes one and two: $19.95 each: Over 200 IMG drawings in each collection of clip art. The Satellite Locator ST: $19.95. Give this program a longitude and latitude and it will tell you where to aim your home satellite dish to find any geo-syncronus satellite in orbit. Now the NEW STUFF! On June 16th Chris Latham agreed to join DragonWare Software. As an immediate result there will be three new products released in the next 3 months. PowerNet 1.5: Universally compatible Local Area Network (LAN). Share Hard Disks, Printers programs files in 3 ways: MIDI, TT/STE LAN ports, LanTec cartridge ports. Available NOW $99.95 for two nodes. FLEXOR: The FLEXible item selectOR. available in the 4th quarter. AtariTalk2 AppleTalk compatible LAN. Available September 1992 (we hope) FontKit Plus 3.5 $74.95 shipping Aug 15. ********************************************** * SPECIAL ON-LINE COUPON * * $10.00 OFF on any DragonWare * * Product! when ordering direct. * * * * 0419 Expires August 1 1992 * * * * Phone 406-265-9609 * ********************************************** Print out this coupon to save on our products! <B.HARVEY7> What will be the difference between UIS III and FLexor? Better right? [grin] <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> Infinitely scale item selector. It will scale to fit any screen size and expand the file listing as well. It will also be much more friendly with no hidden functions. <B.HARVEY7> Obviously a more mature product? <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> Yes, even the scroll bar arrows are at the top so those with large screen monitors will not have to move their mouse everywhere to scroll files. <[Dave] D.SMITH200> Will Ataritalk support Gadget's Megatalk Board, for those of us without Mega STE/TT's? <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> Presently what we are talking about is a Spectre level INIT to access the TT/Mega STE systems... However, we plan to release a DMA/SCSI device for standard STs, 1040STEs, etc. Oh one more thing. The Gadgets boards possibly in the future. <[Dave] D.SMITH200> Sounds good. Would this INIT allow a real mac to access Atari on a Net? <[CSL] C.LATHAM> I'd like to support megatalk boards, but I'd need one, and a mega to plug it into. <[Dave] D.SMITH200> You can borrow mine. Dave says the'll ship in about two days. I'll be glad to loan it if it helps development. The board, that is. You're on your own for the Mega... <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Nevin Shalit asked me to ask this question.... Will your LAN setup let you hook into an existing Novell system to print only? <[CSL] C.LATHAM> no <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> YES!!!!! <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Hmmmm. <grin> <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> AtariTalk2 will if you are using a Novell Server. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Rebuttal, Chris L.? <[CSL] C.LATHAM> Chris, I think he asked if the current LAN would work with a Novell server. <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> Not the current PowerNet. Sorry. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Current or future, whichever product that it might work on. So the answer is that AtariTalk2 will be able to do this, correct? <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> Chris? <[CSL] C.LATHAM> The future product will be AppleTalk compatible, which means you could get into a Novell server that supports AppleTalk <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> Saved. <[Rob] R.GLOVER3> Hi Chris... my question is twofold, and you partially answered the first part earlier, but here goes anyway: Will your network allow someone to use the LAN port on their MSTE and go to a standard ST, say, through the cart port? <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> No. <[Rob] R.GLOVER3> What I want to do is network my MSTE to my BBS machine, a 520ST. Secondly, what kind of transfer speeds does it support? <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> It will be a DMA device on SCSI 7 for the older machines. The current LAN in your case will require MIDI. <[CSL] C.LATHAM> We are looking into Whatever the underlying hardware supports. <[Rob] R.GLOVER3> DMA would be good, since it would probably be faster. Good idea. ;) <[Sysop] JEFF.W> What about the transfer speeds? <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> Chris? <[CSL] C.LATHAM> It depends on the hardware... For LocalTalk, the transfer speed is around 18-20k per second. For Lantech carts (for those who have them), figure about 22k per second. MIDI ports we won't discuss :^) <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> It is faster than copying a floppy and carrying it to the other machine. <[Dr. Bob] W.PARKS3> This one's for Chris. No, not that one. The _other_ Chris. Yeah, you :-) I was wondering, as I'm sure others are, where on GEnie is your support topic. With all this interest in LAN, I expect you'll have a lively one. And I'd like to know where I can lurk :-) <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> Category 4, Topic 18. <[OakSprings] K.CAVAGHAN2> Just wondering what changes have been made to PowerNet as opposed to Universal Net? Also, if Powernet & Ataritalk could be used on the same system? (ie: from a MSTE->520->a newer machine) <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> CS? <[CSL] C.LATHAM> PowerNet and Universal Net are incompatible. Yes, PowerNet and AtariTalk will work on the same system. <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> We have yet to hear any questions on G_Man. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> I'm a intrigued by the networking possibilities, but slow on all the details... What is Powernet compared to AtariTalk2? How are they similar and how are they different? <[CSL] C.LATHAM> PowerNet is a proprietary network, it's good for connecting ST to ST, but not to other platforms or networks. This is plenty for many people in the Atari community who don't need connectivity with other platforms. AtariTalk 2 is a gateway for ST/TT users to link into other platforms in businesses that already have existing LANs or network capable laser printers <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> PowerNet is great if you want to share printers and disk files between machines and is highly recommended for ST only LANs. <[Rob] R.GLOVER3> What kind of background access will Powernet provide on ST's? Will the user notice much of a slowdown? <[CSL] C.LATHAM> It depends on the hardware. Lantechs are known for taking up lots of CPU time. Local Talk on TTs is great because it is driven by DMA. However with MegaSTEs, you will notice a slow down. <[Rob] R.GLOVER3> What if I used the DMA version on both machines? Would that help? <[CSL] C.LATHAM> Yes. That would remove the burden from the CPU. <[Rob] R.GLOVER3> Also, how will a remote system access another computer's hard drive? Will it be a MiNT-style disk drive (i.e. U:) with folders for each of the remote machines partitions? <[CSL] C.LATHAM> You get a drive letter that represents the network. Within that drive, other nodes appear as folders. Within those folders, are the machine's available resources (disk drives, printers, and other CON type devices). With AtariTalk, you will have a Mac like chooser where you can mount partitions and assign them to drive letters of your choice. Printer access will be as on the Mac, you would use Chooser to pick a printer to print to. <[Rob] R.GLOVER3> How many machines will PowerTalk support? I missed the opening banner...what is the price on the DMA setup? <[CSL] C.LATHAM> Go ahead Roberts <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> We haven't set a price on the DMA device yet. We are hoping to come in under $100.00 <[CSL] C.LATHAM> And we are hoping real fast. <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> PowerNet will support lots of nodes. Chris could tell you the upper limit. <[CSL] C.LATHAM> AppleTalk LANs by their nature are basically unlimited in number of nodes. LocalTalk has a recommended (by Apple) limit of 32 nodes. Anymore than that and you should use a router. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> A quick question...when will the public get to see these LAN products in action? Will you be demonstrating them at an upcoming Atari show? <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> Yes, we will be demonstrating PowerNet at the Glendale and hopefully an AtariTalk2, hooked to a Mac. PowerNet is available now. <J.D.BARNES> Chris`s, how much acceptance has PowerNet had? As a very satisfied Universal Network User I would like to know why I should switch. <[CSL] C.LATHAM> Since it is a new product, we are just getting it out on the market. UniversalNet is an old product, and I don't believe that it is being supported, but I can't be sure. <J.D.BARNES> Do you need Beta Testers for AtariTalk? <g> <[CSL] C.LATHAM> Roberts? <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> Uh...Well, those who have Mac, appleTalk LAN access and IBM (Novell) access, send us GE-mail to DragonWare. We'll see. <J.D.BARNES> From your description it sounds like PowerNet uses much of the same methodology as Universal. <[CSL] C.LATHAM> Since I designed both UNet and PowerNet, of course they are similar, but that's where the similarity ends. :-) <J.D.BARNES> I'm afraid that that doesn't tell me very much. <[CSL] C.LATHAM> Give me a call. And I can answer anyone's specific questions easier than we can on here. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> A G_Man question. Let's say I am awestruck by GDOS and ASSIGN.SYS and EXTEND.SYS files. I've got a couple different GDOS setups spread across my hard disks. Will G_MAN combine all these for me and create a single cohesive 'order' on my system instead of the mess I currently have? It will save a lot of disk space too! <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> The nature of G_Man is to be a universal Font installer. It requires the user to place all his GDOS fonts and drivers in one single folder. Then, the program allows you to create ASSIGN.SYS files based on what you have in this folder. One of the common problems is getting fonts that have the same internal ID number. If installed without correcting this it could make for major trouble with GDOS. The G_Man automatically corrects this as it creates the ASSIGN file. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Cool! So I would take all my fonts and drivers, shove them into the same folder, and let G_Man do the rest? <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> Correct. You would create a separate folder for your GDOS FSM fonts (if you have any). These folders can reside anywhere. I keep mine inside a folder called FONTS inside my auto folder. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Is there any provision for working with G+Plus and creating specific .SYS files for specific applications? <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> Yes. G_Man will let you name your assign file anything you wish and even split them so that one file is used for printer drivers and fonts and the other for screen fonts only to save memory. There are provisions for disabling entire font faces or certain point sizes to help you customize your assign file. <J.D.BARNES> I take it that G-Man supports FONTGDOS. The modern method is with a CPX gadget. Does g-man work this way also? <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> Yes. It will create extend files required by FSM GDOS and FONTGDOS. Not at present. The problem is with the restricted size in the CPX format. G_Man has a lot going on on the screen that helps reduce confusion by the user. We do however provide FONTGDOS with Atari's CPXs and accessories with the 3.0 revision. <J.D.BARNES> Chris, I notice that you are offering a Stacy battery. How do you feel about the STacy? <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> WE think the STacy and the ST Book both have places in the Atari market. <J.D.BARNES> Do you think the new Falcon will be more portable in some ways? <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> In what way portable?? <J.D.BARNES> The Book seems a bit slow in arriving. It doesn't weigh a lot. (the Falcon, that is). <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> Not for us to say. We aren't Atari. <[Chris R] DRAGONWARE> We just want to say thanks to anyone who attended. We're new and this I hope will help us continue to produce products for the TOS platforms. Thanks again. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Thank you, Chris Roberts and Chris Latham, for being with us and answering our questions about Dragonware products. Best of luck to you! And many thanks for all who our friends who attended. | | | MIST ATARIFEST IV UPDATE | | | User Group Show News | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- All systems are go for MIST Atari Fest IV in Indianapolis on July 25th, 1992! Vendor response has been fantastic and more may yet attend. The following list represents ALL CONFIRMED vendors who will be attending MIST Atari Fest IV. Bob Brodie (Atari Corp.) Branch Always Software (GEMulator) Clear Thinking (EdHak) Codehead Technologies D.A. Brumleve (Kid Progs) Electronic Spinster Graphics (clipart) ICD (power peripherals) INAGM (Atari sales and service) Mars Merchandising (Software) Maxwell CPU (Silhouette) Megatype (fonts) Missionware Software (Flash II) MP Graphics Systems (consulting) MS Designs (fonts and clip art) Rising Star (software) User Groups: ASCII BLAST Cintari CUSTUG LCACE STAR MIST Atari Fest IV promises to be another success, with some new, special twists to make your visit to Indianapolis more fun, enjoyable, and profitable. The first 250 individuals through the doors will receive a free 3.5" Maxell SSDD diskette containing text, data, and picture files promoting the Atari community in central Indiana. A special priced "MIST User Group Membership" will be offered to all individuals. Lynx and MIDI Tournaments will be offered with prizes to the top players. Several styles of "unique" limited edition T-shirts will be for sale (there's one we really think you'll like). And as usual, a spectacular assortment of raffle prizes will be given away throughout the day. MIST has also contracted with the Quality Inn Castleton Suites to provide single and double rooms at a reduced rate ($55 a night) for the those attending the show. They can be reached at (317) 841-9700. Make sure to mention MIST Atari Fest IV to get the special rate. Please check other messages for directions to MIST Atari Fest IV and a complete listing of all prizes being given away. You can request that directions be sent to you by leaving a message to Dan Ward on GEnie (D.WARD10) or by calling (317) 254-0031. If you have any other questions or concerns feel free to contact Dan about those as well. MIST looks forward to seeing you!!! MIST Atari Fest IV Saturday, July 25, 1992 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Castleway Conference Center 6385 Castleplace Drive Indianapolis, Indiana The following is a list of door prizes being given away at MIST AtariFest IV in Indianapolis, Indiana on July 25th, 1992. DEVELOPERS: Atari Corp. To Be Announced Branch Always Software To Be Announced Clear Thinking Ed Hak 2.3, Metapsychology Primer CodeHead Technologies Multidesk Deluxe DA Brumleve Multiplay Ditek International DynaCADD 2.0 Electronic Spinster Graphics To Be Announced Fair Dinkum Technologies To Be Announced ICD Personal Pascal, SCSII Plus, PRC, Clean Up ISD Calamus 1.09N, Outline Art, Font Editor It's Not A Game Machine Spectrum 512, Base Two Database, Hard Drive Accelerator, Cardfile 3, Flash 1.6, 4 Maxell 3.5" Disk Packs, Atari Rainbow T-shirt, Harley Davidson: The Road to Sturgis, Hardball, Star Wars Mars Merchandising To Be Announced Maxwell CPU Silhouette, Fractal Fantasy, Expose, Keyboard Extenders MegaType Bit Maker, Mega Kern Missionware Software Flash II MS Designs "Crops" Clipart Collection Rising Star Computers 100 3.5" diskettes Scott Sanders Newdesk Icon CPX Soft Logik PageStream 2.2 ST, Image Clip Newsletter Font Pack, Clipart Volume 1 USER GROUPS: ASCII 5 ASCII Memberships 3 MIST Atari Fest IV T-shirts 2 Complete ASCII PD Libraries CRAG To Be Announced EAUG Atari lapel Pins CUSTUG To Be Announced LCACE To Be Announced Cintari 10 PD Disks STAR To Be Announced MIST Atari Fest IV promises to be a great "little show". Doors open at 10:00 am and will close at 5:00 pm. Admission is just $3.00 for the entire day and entitles you to one chance at a door prize. Look at other messages for directions to MIST Atari Fest IV or drop Dan Ward a message at (317) 254-0031 or on GEnie at D.WARD10. We hope to see you on July 25th! Directions to MIST Atari Fest IV From Chicago, Illinois: I-65 South to I-465 East I-465 East to the Castleton/82nd Street Exit East on 82nd Street to Knue Road South on Knue Road to Castleplace Drive East on Castleplace Drive to the Castleway Conference Center From St. Louis, Missouri: I-70 East to I-465 North I-465 North to I-465 East I-465 East to the Castleton/82nd Street Exit East on 82nd Street to Knue Road South on Knue Road to Castleplace Drive East on Castleplace Drive to the Castleway Conference Center From Louisville, Kentucky: I-65 North to I-465 East I-465 East to I-465 North I-465 North to I-465 West I-465 West to the Castleton/82nd Street Exit East on 82nd Street to Knue Road South on Knue Road to Castleplace Drive East on Castleplace Drive to the Castleway Conference Center From Cincinnati, Ohio: I-74 West to I-465 North I-465 North to I-465 West I-465 West to the Castleton/82nd Street Exit East on 82nd Street to Knue Road South on Knue Road to Castleplace Drive East on Castleplace Drive to the Castleway Conference Center From Dayton, Ohio: I-70 West to I-465 North I-465 North to I-465 West I-465 West to the Castleton/82nd Street Exit East on 82nd Street to Knue Road South on Knue Road to Castleplace Drive East on Castleplace Drive to the Castleway Conference Center From Ft. Wayne, Indiana: I-69 South to the Castleton/82nd Street Exit West on 82nd Street to Knue Road South on Knue Road to Castleplace Drive East on Castleplace Drive to the Castleway Conference Center From Champaign, Illinois I-74 East to I-465 North I-465 North to I-465 East I-465 East to the Castleton/82nd Street Exit East on 82nd Street to Knue Road South on Knue Road to Castleplace Drive East on Castleplace Drive to the Castleway Conference Center | | | ATARIUSER REVIEWS | | | From the June 1992 Edition | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following article is reprinted in Atari Explorer Online by permission of AtariUser magazine. It MAY NOT be further reprinted without specific permission of AtariUser. AtariUser is a monthly Atari magazine, available by subscription by calling (818) 332-0372. Knights Of The Sky (ST, STe, TT) Up until last month, there wasn't any really good WWI air combat game for the ST. Now, KNIGHTS OF THE SKY has changed that. An intro that looks like an old silent movie leads to identifying the squadron insignia (copy protection) and the main menu. You can practice flying, get into a dog fight, or play the WWI Campaign game. The manual mentions a fourth choice, the head-to-head mode (modem or cable), but only the Amiga and MS-DOS versions have it. (Why? It's not like it's particularly difficult to code.) Flight Training lets you fly both Allied and German planes, but since you can only fly Allied planes in the main game, don't waste much time on the German ones. You can also do some sightseeing and learn to recognize buildings. This will come in very handy for future bombing missions. The theatre of war is a region known as Flanders, the North of France and most of Belgium, and you can choose to be British or French. It was a special thrill for me to see my hometown of Lille (France) on the map included in the game. Too bad it's in German territory. You will fly all your missions in that area, and you will be kept up to date via newspapers and intelligence reports. Dog fight Encounters lets you choose a plane and a German Ace to go against. The WWI campaign is the main game with 5 levels of difficulty. You start out in May 1916 and you must survive the next 30 months of the war, which is no easy task. New planes become available as the War grinds on, German Aces start noticing you (if you've managed to survive long enough) and try to take you out. But the enemy planes appear literally out of nowhere, and usually behind you too! It would have been nice to see them take off from their aerodromes, but they just "beam up" instead. If you make it to Captain, you can move your squadron to a different aerodrome. The graphics are nicely done in 3D polygons with plenty of ground details (buildings, trees, roads, trenches, trucks, and more). All the usual viewpoints are there: slot, chase, tactical, reverse tactical, even an instant replay mode. Frame update is very decent, even with all details on. The sound is really well done! In addition to the changing engine noise, you hear enemy fire, flak, explosions, and even bullets whizzing by your head! Your engine even sputters and smokes when you near stalling speed. Knights of the Sky is a high-quality piece of software, and my pick for the HotteST Game of the Month. One meg RAM required, comes on 2 unprotected double-sided disks, will run from a hard drive, but a copy of Disk 2 must stay in the floppy drive record game progress. $69.95 from Microprose UK. -- Eric Bitton Megapaint II Professional (ST, STe, TT) - CodeHead Technologies, $199.99 Reviewed by Steve Blackburn Megapaint is a monochrome graphics program that creates, edits, scans and imports graphics files for use in Desktop Publishing projects on your ST/TT. It requires at least 900kb of free memory. If you want to use it with an Atari laser printer, you need a minimum of two megabytes of RAM. A double sided floppy disk drive is mandatory and a hard disk is recommended. Both bitmap and vector files can be created and edited. Bitmapped images can be copied to the vector part to be traced, and vector images can be copied to the bitmapped area for conversion to bit images. In the bitmap area, pictures can be imported, created, and scanned into the work area. The vector part offers a wide range of potential uses both for art design and technical drawings. Megapaint is imported by CODEHEAD TECHNOLOGIES from Germany's Tommy Software. The manual is complete (and adequately translated by someone who uses English as a second language), but I wish it went into the 'whys' of things. The three-ring binder-in-box is a classy presentation befitting Megapaint's premium price. The first thing I noticed about this program is its speed. Block manipulations of images happen in real time, and scrolling around a graphic happens NOW. I'm using Megapaint on a stock Mega 4, hard drive, and SLM605. Calamus, Pagestream and other graphics orientated programs can sometimes frustrate me with the delays in calculations, disk access and especially screen re-draws. If a select few other programs could perform like Megapaint, I could probably put off that TT for awhile. The speed pays dividends once you understand how to effectively use the many functions. You can do things quickly, before the energy of the moment eludes you. And everything works like it's supposed to and the program doesn't crash. Megapaint is at version 4.0--it'd been around the block a few times before it came stateside. Megapaint creates and imports both bit-mapped and vector graphics, some with the aid of external modules. In the raster part of the program you can load Megapaint's default .BLD files, .IMG, .PCX, Degas (PI3 and PC3), .TNY and STAD (PAC) formats while saving in .BLD, .IMG, .PCX, PI3 and .PAC. In Vector mode, formats for importing are the default .VEK plus .CVG and saved Calamus pages using an external module. Those external modules make a big impact on the versatility of Megapaint. They are external programs that expand the program and provide avenues for a variety of different graphic formats in the future. Seven modules have been released so far (with more to come), all at no charge to registered users. Most are import modules, but other modules available at this time include Scanlite (allows direct scanning into Megapaint using Doctor Bob's Wizworks Scan-Lite program) and Menu-Mania (allows you access to desk accessories). Through the external module for importing Calamus fonts (.CFN) you can also import Calamus fonts which can be resized and altered for use in the vector section and/or transferred to the raster section for use in your bit- mapped pictures. EPS and GEM3 graphics modules should be available in the near future. Entering text in this program is not a simple process. Options for using fonts, symbols, and objects seem designed for those who have the need for only limited text in technical illustrations. Customized Signum fonts are used in the program (available through Codehead). A font converter is included that will allow you to convert regular Signum fonts for use with the program. A variety of options are available for printing your masterpiece, and there is an ability to edit the printer drivers to suit your needs. The screen is divided into three different sections. At the top is the menu bar with it's vast array of tools, in the middle is the work area, and at the bottom are boxes that contain fill patterns, tools, and a box that shows you the area directly beneath the mouse pointer. Menus can also be changed and a variety of different screens can be customized to your needs. Pictures loaded into the raster portion of Megapaint can be merged into the vector part, where you can use the many tools to create some really outstanding graphics. You could scan logos, merge them into the vector area and use the outline function to hand trace the image, where it then can be altered with the other functions in the vector area. Megapaint has a picture buffer for its bitmap section that lets you clip portions of the image into it or load files from disk. From there you can manipulate the pictures and merge them into your main screen. Vector images can be imported into the raster part via the object menu to convert the vector graphic into a raster object. It can then be manipulated and saved as a raster graphic in any of the formats available. There are enough tools in both parts of Megapaint to do just about anything you could want to do, but it takes getting used to. It's a program for people that are serious and demanding when manipulating the images they want to use in their technical and publishing projects, and it requires work. I had trouble allocating the proper amount of memory in the programs buffers (via the CHANGE SETTINGS menu) in order to properly use fonts, object and picture files. Separate buffers in the raster and vector parts can be altered to meet the needs for different types of graphics. It can be confusing, as the buffer in the Vector section is initially pre-set too low for some of the sample files provided, giving me error messages. It was just a matter of increasing the size of the buffer (in the Vector-Change Settings menu), saving the settings, and exiting. From then on, there will be enough of a buffer to load and use whatever vector graphic file I need. Megapaint, because of its cost and complexity, is not for everyone--it's a very serious graphics program. But if you're serious about creating precision graphics for your page layout programs, you should give it try. There is a demo available on most telecommunication services, and if you're serious about Megapaint, you might check it out before you buy. [Next month, Steve Blackburn looks at ARABESQUE from Gribnif Software.] UTIL - A FORTH Programming System (Portfolio) FORTH, a computer language created by Charles Moore in the 1970's, is a high level, stack oriented programming language. Since it's stack oriented, it takes a bit of getting used to, kind of like a Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) calculator. The FORTH system actually includes the editor, the language, an operating system and a debugger. UTIL from Essex Marketing is a faithful implementation of the FORTH system on the Portfolio. It's tiny (the kernel is only 8K), and follows most of the FORTH 83 standard. The major difference is that UTIL works with files instead of memory buffers and blocks. This is one nifty little package. It can be used interactively or to create programs in the Portfolio's Editor to load and execute. It is well suited to the Portfolio environment, being both small in size, and being an interpreter. This last feature makes it perfect for programming on the go. One of the nicest features of this package is that it is available for the Portfolio, the PC, and the HP95LX, offering compatibility across platforms. The PC version can be used for program development and debugging, and then the program can be transferred to the smaller machine. UTIL is a complete professional package for FORTH development on the Portfolio. The manual is extensive, but it's not a tutorial on the FORTH language. While there are some versions of FORTH available in the public domain, none are as easy to install or as usable on the Portfolio. UTIL is available for $95.00 on disk from Essex Marketing Services Inc, 272 Old Farms Road, Simsbury, CT 06070. Contact Essex for prices on other versions or other media. -BJ Gleason | | | GROWING UP WITH ATARI - PART 1 | | | By Bob Smith | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- I have read many articles and magazines on computers, everything from building a mainframe to programing your cat's feeding time. Seldom have I read how someone has progressed through the ranks from pure novice to actual productive use. Hopefully, I'll convey some of that here. About six or seven years ago, we were having Thanksgiving dinner with my wife's family. The usual topics were discussed and as the dinner wound down, my brother-in-law, who is heavily involved with computers as his vocation, started to discuss a home computer that he had just bought for about $800. My father-in-law was captivated by this conversation and I just sat there, drinking my coffee, wondering how I was going to gracefully leave the table so I could get back to the major professional football game on TV. The two of them were throwing around terms such as ROM, RAM, disk drive, etc., etc., and I was at a complete loss. Well, my wife, not to be outdone purchased the same type of computer that my brother-in-law had purchased previously. That was my Christmas present that year, the very first time that I had an up close and personal visit with a home computer. Oh, I didn't mention that these fine pieces of equipment, which could not do much in my eyes at that time were Atari 800's. On Christmas morning, I looked at this monster and wondered what in the blazes I was going to use it for. Little did I know, years later that I would be so addicted to these wonderful machines that I would not only have a house full of them, but that I would use these Atari computers in one form or another in my business. As my father-in-law started to learn to use his, I couldn't help but be a little curious about what he was doing and I started to read. I learned what those silly terms of ROM and RAM meant, learned how to change the cartridge in my trusty 800 and what basic and machine language meant. Now please don't misunderstand me, I am in no way any type of genius but the ways of computing were starting to make some sense to me. To this I give full credit to that wonderful gentleman, my dad-in-law. Why? Well, he just kept having me do all of the grunt work, like turning on the computer, looking stuff up in the various owner's manuals and programming books that we had. I want to jump ahead a few years now to when I starting to do basic programing and word processing. My professional business is consulting and employee benefits, which entails a lot of proposals and presentations. At the time, all of this was being done on the old typewriter and very slowly at that. I started to wonder, why not try the old 800 in a business setting. I took stock of the available programs available and settled on AtariWriter and several public domain database programs. This was going to be a one machine experiment in the office for one week. We had a particularly difficult proposal to do and what better way than to try the computer in this situation. I spent approximately 4 hours doing various formats for this proposal and then discarding them. The major drawback was the 40 column screen, but with a little practice, that drawback was overcome. Finally after several attempts a proposal format was designed and used with great success. The young lady that was working with me at the time bluntly said that using the computer was the only way to go and she would never again use the old typewriter. To this day, that poor typewriter sits in a closet covered and holding up a pile of old forms. From that one week experiment, which has never ended, we have progressed to using multiple 8 Bit computers in our office. We now use 130XE's with a variety of disk drives and printers. One question I'm frequently asked is why not upgrade.......the answer that is given, is that a business must watch its expenses and if the current equipment is doing the job, why change. We have offices in other states and the same philosophy is true there as well. We do almost all of our operations from accounting to proposal preparation on these wonderful 8 bit machines. Oh yes, we did get the client that we did that very first proposal for. As I started to use the computers in business, several events occurred almost simultaneously. I became involved with the Mid-Florida Atari Computer Club and was given a 520 ST. More next week..... | | | LETTER TO PC-LAPTOP MAGAZINE | | | Written by Donald Thomas | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- July 8, 1992 Mr. Michael Goldstein Editor-In-Chief PC LAPTOP Computers Magazine 9171 Wilshire Boulevard, #300 Beverly Hills, CA 90210 Dear Mr. Goldstein, A copy of your July issue was delivered to me this afternoon. In it was an article written by Mr. Arthur Leyenberger. I am in a position to believe that the article may have contained some errors. The information may not have been up-to-date concerning the Atari Portfolio computer. Please allow me to cover some of the ones I noticed. Ref: "The DOS-compatible Atari Portfolio is a Personal Information Manager..." Ans: The Portfolio is a DOS-compatible programmable COMPUTER with built- in software including PIM applications. Ref: "Although most DOS software won't run on the Portfolio..." Ans: Most software is written to accommodate color monitors. The author makes it sound as if a MDA compatible screen is a defect. Ref: "...write short memos" Ans: A 50 page memo is not short. A 200 page memo is not short. A 10,000 page memo is not short. Although multiple files may be needed for a memo larger than 50 pages, the maximum storage capacity is limited only by how many diskettes (Memory Cards) the user carries with him/her. Ref: "memory can be increased to 640K by adding modules... doing so doubles the size and weight..." Ans: The internal memory can be expanded INTERNALLY to 512K adding no additional bulk or weight (or decreased battery life). The article also indicates that a serial or parallel port doubles weight or volume of the Portfolio. The interface for the serial or parallel weigh less than 4.5 ounces each. Each interface occupies hardly any more space than a pack of cigarettes. Neither interface comes close to doubling the weight or volume of the "hefty" one pound Portfolio. Ref: "Although Atari promised third-party software for their Portfolio, few..." Ans: According to the second volume number one issue of A.P.B.; Atari's official catalog of Atari software and peripherals there are well over 80 applications and peripherals are available specifically for or to be used with the Portfolio. Over 60 are listed as available in the United States. Many more have been designed for specific industry applications. For instance, there is a Portfolio in every paint department of every Home Depot store to assist sales people in selecting paint formulas for their customers. For the end user, the Portfolio has alpha-numeric paging, radiation monitor, business contact software, file transfers, check writing, chess, adventures, medical applications, finance, FORTH, PowerBasic, flight planning, hard drives, databases, spell checkers, industrial machine controllers, investment tracking, data acquisition, fuel industry management, communications, time-billing software and much more. The Portfolio is used in the industries of security, financial, medical, aviation, trucking, education, journalism, military, navigation (plane and boat), cinema, logging and many more. The Portfolio is supported by two upscale newsletters and by a dedicated forum on CompuServe that boasts of over 800 downloads for the Portfolio. I hope you can see why I may differ with calling the Portfolio nothing more than a PIM. In addition to the errors I discovered within just three paragraphs of text, there is no description of the strongest features of the Portfolio while the competitors are described. The Portfolio offers a favored QWERTY keyboard. Many users brag of how they can touch type using it. The screen is easy to read for most users since the characters are large and well defined. The case is durable and we receive many letters of how the machine survived drops off cars, balconies and even logs (by loggers). For novice users, every Portfolio sold in the U.S. includes a File Manager application which permits users to access DOS commands with easy-to-use menus. There may be advantages and disadvantages to all the palmtop choices consumers may select. The Portfolio may be the lowest priced, but it is also often the most desirable. In the arena of Palmtops, I may be one of the most seasoned. The Portfolio was the first of its kind introduced in September 1989 and I was with it almost all that time. I am keenly aware of the marketplace, the trends and the most popular applications. I wish someone from your magazine contacted me to obtain information before going to press. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I may be of assistance in the future. Sincerely, Donald A. Thomas, Jr. Portfolio Marketing Manager CompuServe: 75300,1267 cc: Mr. Arthur Leyenberger Members of APORTFOLIO forum of CompuServe | | | PORTFOLIO PROGRAMMING | | | By BJ Gleason | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- Batch-File Menus and File Selectors So you want to create custom applications for the Portfolio but don't know how to program? Well, if you know how to write a simple batch file, these tricks will let you produce applications that look so good, users will think they came built right into the machine! Batch files are text files that contain a sequence of MS/DOS commands. When you run a batch file, DOS executes these commands one after another, just as if you typed them in at the keyboard. Taken at face value, the Portfolio's batch-file capability is a handy tool for automating backup, file transfer, and other simple "housekeeping" operations. But there's hidden power in the Portfolio's batch-file command language: power that can make your batch files look and work very much like application programs. And with the right set of utilities, you can extend this power even further. In this article, I'll present two new programs for the Portfolio that will allow you to embed menus and file selectors into your batch files -- giving your home brew efforts a real Portfolio look and feel. Menu Menu invokes the Portfolio's built-in menuing capability to put custom multiple-choice menus in your batch files. The program listing itself, written in Turbo Pascal 6.0, can be downloaded in executable form from CompuServe's Portfolio Forum (see note at end of article). MENU is a very simple program. It reads the menu choices as parameters from the command line into a zero-terminated string with an ASCII zero between each menu choice. While this is being done, the program also calculates what the longest string is so that it can determine where to place the menu on the screen. The string is then scanned to convert any underscore characters to spaces. The parameters are then placed into registers and the Portfolio's built-in menu command is called. Finally, the menu choice is returned to DOS. Turbo Pascal programmers might wish to enhance MENU by removing the code used to center the menu, and adding additional parameters that would allow placing the menu anywhere on the screen. If you are interested in even more advanced programming in Pascal for the Portfolio, see the file TPU6.ZIP, also available on CompuServe. TPU6 is a Turbo Pascal 6.0 unit that will let you add menus, boxes, and more to your Portfolio programs. Additional reference material on Portfolio ROM routines and other technical details can be found in the Technical Reference Guide, available from Atari. Using Menu To use MENU, place the file MENU.PRG in your SYSTEM directory, and add the following line to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file: PATH=\SYSTEM The PATH expression defines a "search path" -- a list of directories that DOS will search if commanded to execute a program not found in the current directory. By storing MENU.PRG "on the search path," therefore, you insure that your batch files can access the program from anywhere on the system. To access the program, put the following command line in your batch: MENU title choice1 choice2 choice3 ... ... where "title" is the title you wish to appear on your menu, and choice1, 2, 3, etc., are the choices you wish to offer your user. Titles and choices may be more than one word long, but because the space character is reserved to separate arguments, words in a multi-word argument should be separated using the underscore ('_') character. The program will automatically replace these underscores with spaces, so the appearance of your menu will not suffer. Your menu can contain an unlimited number of choices. Though only six can be displayed at once, the arrow keys can be used to scroll the menu and reveal additional items. To select, just scroll the cursor to an item and press Return, or press a corresponding letter key. (If more than one menu item begins with the same letter, the cursor will jump from one to the next each time the appropriate key is pressed -- you'll have to press Return to select the one you want.) Pressing Esc will exit the menu without making a selection. MENU returns the number of the selected item (or 0 if the Esc key was pressed) by setting the value of the ERRORLEVEL system variable. This value can then be accessed by your batch file to determine what kind of subsequent action must be taken. Note the order in which the ERRORLEVEL values are evaluated, following menu presentation: from greatest (last menu item) to least (the 0 value, returned when the user presses Esc). This order is necessitated because the batch-file conditional expression "IF variable=value ..." is considered true if 'variable' is greater than or equal to 'value.' Thus were we to consider possible return values in ascending order, the first action (in this case, terminating execution as if Esc had been pressed) would always be performed by the batch file. Menu will not automatically clear the screen, so you might want to insert a CLS statement before or after the MENU statement to keep the screen neat. On the other hand, if you leave the CLS statement out, you can have overlapping windows, which look very professional. Getfile While I was working on the MENU program, I called Don Messerli, author of the PGX Animation package, and asked him to contribute a program to this column. He wrote a special version of MENU that lets you present your user with a menu of filenames for selection. Like MENU, GETFILE can be downloaded from CompuServe's Portfolio Forum. The executable program should be placed in your \SYSTEM directory, and your PATH specification amended. GETFILE only needs one parameter: a pathname that identifies the directory whose contents you wish GEFILE to display. The pathname can be terminated with '*.*', causing all files in the target directory to be displayed, or with another file mask expression. For example, to tell GETFILE to display a menu of all .BAS files in the directory C:\PROGRAMS, you would call getfile as follows: GETFILE C:\PROGRAMS\*.BAS GETFILE's file-selection menu works just like MENU's, allowing the user to review filenames by scrolling, prior to selecting with Return, or to select a file in one pass by pressing an appropriate letter key. When the user has made his selection, GETFILE creates and sets the environment variable %FILENAME% to reflect his choice. GETFILE also sets the ERRORLEVEL variable to one of four values, depending on conditions. Internal Apps A batch file can invoke any or all of the Portfolio's built-in applications. The command APP, used by itself, invokes the internal application menu. Individual applications can be accessed by appending a slash to the command APP, followed by an appropriate letter: 'W' for the Worksheet, 'E' for the Editor, 'A' for the Address Book, 'S' for Setup, 'D' for Diary, or 'C' for the Calculator. Thus, to call up the Worksheet, you would use the command: APP/W This is a powerful feature, giving you the ability to write batch files that transparently exploit the power inherent in the Portfolio's system software. With just a little work, and learning a few new DOS commands, you can create batch files that look and feel as if they were built into the Portfolio's ROM! And using the Turbo Pascal Unit, you can add these features to your own Pascal programs. Contest Time! Now that you have had some experience creating snappy batch files for the Portfolio, why not share them with me and the rest of the world? The Atari Portfolio Forum on Compuserve is running a "Portfolio Internal Application Contest" in August. You are invited to enter a batch file, worksheet, address file, or text file that you created that makes the Portfolio more productive for you. Stop by the Forum for complete details and list of prizes. I hope to see some really impressive batch files! (Thanks to Don Messerli of the Software Vinyard for writing the GETFILE program used in this article.) About the Author BJ Gleason is an Instructor of Computer Science at The American University in Washington DC. He is the author of PBASIC 4.9. He can be reached on Compuserve [75300,2517] or on the Internet at bjgleas@auvm.american.edu. Note: Programs presented in this series are available for download from CompuServe's Atari Portfolio Forum (GO APORTFOLIO at any CompuServe system prompt) -- an official Portfolio support site. For more information about joining CompuServe, call (800) 848-8199 and ask for Operator 198. Correction: Our last column identified Don Thomas, of Artisan Software, as sole author of the shareware program PGF_MAKR.PRG, which manipulates and displays Portfolio .PGF files on the Atari ST, and allows sections of ST monochrome images to be translated to .PGF format. This is incorrect. Though Thomas wrote sections of PGF_MAKR in its current revision, the body of the code was composed by Bruce Coleman. Listing 1. Turbo Pascal 6.0 source code for MENU.PRG, a program that lets batch files access the Portfolio's sophisticated, built-in menuing functions. program menu; { this program is invoked from the command line: menu title item1 item2 .... itemN You can then choose one of the items. The program will set the DOS variable ERRORLEVEL, so that you can then perform an action in a BATCH file with the statement: IF ERRORLEVEL=2 GOTO :PROG2 returns 0 if escape is pressed, otherwise the item number the menu will be automatically centered on the screen. Written by BJ Gleason Copyright 1992, BJ Gleason } uses dos; var menus : string; l,x,y : integer; regs : registers; begin { read the parameters from the command line } { add them to the menu string } menus := ''; l := 0; for x:=1 to paramcount do begin menus := menus + paramstr(x) + chr(0); if length(paramstr(x))>l then l:=length(paramstr(x)); end; menus := menus + chr(0); { convert the _ to spaces } for x:=1 to length(menus) do if menus[x]='_' then menus[x] := ' '; { now call the internal ROM BIOS Menu functions } regs.ah := $0f; regs.al := 65; regs.bh := 0; regs.cx := 0; { center the menu on the screen, based on the longest menu item, and the number of choices. } if l<36 then x:=(40-(l+4)) div 2 else x:=0; if paramcount<6 then y:=(8-(paramcount+1)) div 2 else y:=0; regs.dh := y; regs.dl := x; regs.ds := seg(menus); regs.si := ofs(menus)+1; regs.di := $0ffff; { call the Portfolio's Internal ROM } intr($60, regs); inc(regs.ax); halt(regs.ax and $0ff); end. Listing 2. Segment of a batch-file, demonstrating how to use MENU. Note that an underscore ('_') character is used to separate words in the argument defining the menu title. MENU Program_Choice PBASIC Dir Applications if errorlevel=3 goto :cApp if errorlevel=2 goto :cDir if errorlevel=1 goto :cPBASIC if errorlevel=0 goto :finished Table 4. ERRORLEVEL values set by GETFILE, on exit. ERRORLEVEL = 3 Error Setting Environment Variable 2 Esc Pressed 1 No Matching File Found 0 Okay: %FILENAME% contains filename Listing 5. Segment of batch file that uses GETFILE to display a menu of available .BAS files, then passes a selected file to the PBASIC interpreter for execution. :cPBASIC GETFILE *.BAS if errorlevel=1 goto :fileerr cls pbasic %FILENAME% goto :done Listing 7. A batch file that creates a customized front end for Portfolio applications. This example uses MENU, GETFILE, and the internal application "hooks," as well as the public-domain program, VOICE, which gives the Portfolio speech capability. VOICE is available on CompuServe's Portfolio Forum. @echo off cls :again REM the main menu menu Program_Choice PBASIC Dir Chkdsk Apps Voice_Demo Off if errorlevel=6 goto :choice6 if errorlevel=5 goto :choice5 if errorlevel=4 goto :choice4 if errorlevel=3 goto :choice3 if errorlevel=2 goto :choice2 if errorlevel=1 goto :choice1 if errorlevel=0 goto :finished goto :done :choice1 REM PBASIC - use GETFILE to select the program getfile *.BAS if errorlevel=1 goto :done cls pbasic %FILENAME% REM goto :done at the end of each choice goto :done :choice2 REM display the Directory listing cls dir /p pause goto :done :choice3 REM display the results of CHKDSK cls echo on chkdsk pause @echo off goto :done :choice4 REM call the internal applications menu app goto :done :choice5 REM the portfolio speaks to you! Voice goto :done :choice6 REM turn the Portfolio off until a key press off goto :done :done REM jump back up to the beginning again goto :again :finished REM use the menu to see if the user really REM meant to press the <ESC> key. menu Exit? Yes No if errorlevel=2 goto :again if errorlevel=1 goto :bye goto :again :bye REM I guess they meant it.... cls | | | THE SOFTWARE SHELF | | | By Ron Berinstein | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- Should the lifeguard have to choose which person to save? Faced with three people in need to the north, two to the east, and one to the west. Is it alright to pursue the northerly three and let the others drown? I suggest that life is too important and that society must make plans so that a crisis can be avoided, and challenges handled effectively. In this simple example the answer might be more staff, or perhaps better signage to warn of the pending natural disasters, etc. When the possibility is present that those who are in need of help are all related to you, let us say for arquments sake, your sons and daughters, the above situation might take on greater significance. Letting some of your children die in favor of others is not a pretty prospect. In the Atari software world we don't have a huge family, but we have a significant one. Public efforts recently expressed, though they may be well motivated, are not acceptable if they result in our family being divided, our children forced to fight for the attention of their parents, and our offspring suffering because options to further their Atari oriented goals have become more limited. Though the current proposal expressed may seem at first economical, my position is that the government involved must find a better answer to serve it's constituency. I question what good comes from streamlining the process, producing the arrow faster and for less money, if it results in an arrow that when shot by a skilled bowman, misses the target. I clearly can remember my instructor saying it now... he spoke softly with a low tone and the wisdom of a sage... "When faced by many opponents choose the one you wish to overcome, and position yourself with him in front of the rest." This rule is continually reinforced each time a fighter spars multiple partners. If one wishes to conquer, there is no better rule to remember, and if you don't remember, a black eye is more likely to be your result. Let us not choose to overcome our sparring partners who on a 24 hour daily basis, are there to assist us in our software guest. Rather let's garner support for the services that are our life lines, the online services that continually provide a forum of support, each in their own individual and important way, for a computer platform that is best served by the merit and mutual success of all it's family members. The following is just some of the recently released great available software force that can be with you, by turning your attention to your favorite BBS or Online Service. LZH201L.LZH Compression formulas seem to always top most download lists. And this version will be no different. The changes are minor fixes, and of course, further speed optimization. This latest version of LZH compression is about 5 times as fast as the original Quester LZH version written for the Atari platform. This new 2.01L compression is about 30% faster than the original LHARC. With this 2.01L version of LZH201 all LZH formats are fully supported EASILY when used with Charles F. Johnson's ARCSHELL v 3.01. ZAP21L.ARC This ARC contains a Superzap ZAP file to translate an unpacked copy of the latest Questor 2.01L LHarc program to English (mostly :-). Also contains a ZAP file to restore the original file. The other category of top download interest is? ..........(The envelope please...) Yes, that's right, Virus Killers! UVKILL.LZH Here is a DEMO of the Ultimate Virus Killer NOW marketed and supported by STeve's Software. Download this DEMO for the Press Release and DEMO for your enjoyment. Just one of many new programs that they will be supporting. NOTE: Remove any installed ramdisk before running this demo! So GNU, what else is good? <--- a little Yiddish Humor (smile) GCHESS31.LZH This is v3.1 of a graphical version of GNU Chess for the Atari. Unlike the original ASCII text version of GNU Chess, this has a pretty slick graphical interface. Looks very good, although I haven't really tested how well it plays (as if I'm qualified to judge that anyway! <grin>). You can play the computer or watch the computer compete against itself. Also allows saving and loading games any many other features the commercial chess games have. Future versions may support over-the-modem and 2-human-player features (there are buttons for it here, but they are disabled). Source code available separately. COLOR ONLY. *.CA1 files must be folder named PIC to run! So, you're not going to write home about my jokes, but, you do want to use your word processor, DTP program &/or printer... PAGESTREAM 2.2B UPGRADE This archive contains the patch utility and file necessary to create PageStream 2.2b Atari from PageStream 2.1 Atari. Archive also includes FONTSS.v2 and FONTEQIV.v2. Full readme files for 2.2 included. You should also download MODULES.ARC (import/export modules) and PRINTERS.ARC (printer drivers) to get full use of 2.2. PSCRIPT.ARC contains the 2.2.11 Atari PostScript driver which is also in the PRINTERS.ARC file. This archive will not patch 2.1 UK to 2.2b. Copyright 1992 Soft-Logik Publishing BORDER BUNDLES 2 Version 2 of Border Bundles. The decorative border maker that now has the capability of generating crop and register marks built in. 50 border designs are defined in the included library of which the first 6 are fully useable. The other 44 designs are available now. CALPATCH.ARC This program patches your copy of Calligrapher 2.27 to fix a small bug that prevented importing text files from drive P:. Another free update from CodeHead Technologies! IMAGE PRINTER 5.03 This is Image Printer Program Version 5.03 for HP Deskjet and LaserJet owners. It can import Tiny, Degas or .IMG files (normal or compressed) and can display, print, scale, dither (for color Degas or Tiny file) and support two paper sizes (Letter or Legal). DEMO program, but can be upgraded to full version by entering paid-fee password. 2COLUMNS.LZH Latest version (V5b) of 2Column program. If you liked earlier versions you will love this. LABEL2.LZH A label maker for 3.5" disks. Requires an Epson 9 or 24 pin compatible printer. On screen, what you see is a what you get type of display. Tested on a TT in all ST resolutions. Step right up, read all about it (with these!) DIARYB.ARC DIARY 2.4Beta This is the all assembly language version of the Diary text editor ACC/PRG. It is only about 12K and with its 4K edit buffer it takes a total of about 18K of RAM. Fully resize/moveable window, any resolution, built-in menu and Help. It lacks any find or block (and many other) functions, but it may fill your needs when low on free RAM. It does save, append, print, open files. EMPUS1.LZH This is a patch that will modify Tempus II to use normal file selector calls. It also creates a new file so won't hurt your original. But as always run it on a backup anyway! F10_ADBK.LZH The F10 address book was written as part of the TIME SHEET point of Sales program and because the author couldn't find one that worked the way he wanted. Features include: categorize entries, phone dial, print envelopes, multiple directories and search. TT Compatible, but best in ST High Resolution BOOK DATABASE ONE, VERSION 3 Book DataBase One version 3. Keep track of up to 2000 titles with this all-Gem, easy-to-use freeware program. Changes from version 2: second comment field added, nasty bug in sort routine fixed, and data structure expanded for future changes. Desktop icon included. TT OK. DATALOPE.LZH Data-Lope [v1.1] combines an addressing database with a VERY flexible envelope printing program. Data-Lope uses the internal fonts and font characteristics of the DeskJet to define EACH and EVERY line of your return and mailing address individually. Data-Lope can import your existing CardFile .DAT files so you won't have to retype all your existing addresses if you have this program. Data-Lope has been tested using ST Med, ST High, TT Med and TT High, untested with large screen monitors and overscan but should work on these as well. Extensive online help screens plus docs. If you don't have a DeskJet printer you don't need this program. For those with WARP DRIVE MONOCHROME FONT FOR WARP 9 This is Todd Johnson's monochrome screen replacement font for use with Warp 9, the Software Accelerator from CodeHead Technologies. This font has been altered to include Bob, the famous pipe-smoking Atarian. MOVPIC11.LZH Moving Pictures allows you to have WARP 9 random background pictures for all three ST resolutions and all three TT resolutions! In addition, Moving Pictures will give Desk Manager users a random startup picture for both color and monochrome systems! V1.1 drops support of Degas Elite (.PC?) pics in favor of the smaller Tiny (.TN?) format. If you're currently using v1.0 and have no wish to use Tiny pics, there's no reason for you to download this version. And continuing on in the picture motif... GIF_LIB.LZH This is a library of functions for manipulating GIF images, it is written in C. All functions are entirely in C, with NO assembly (inline or otherwise) and should be useable with most compilers with little or no work. There are sparse comments in the source code itself but all routines are fully documented in separate .doc files. Also included are PC executables. IFFLOADR.LZH This program will allow TT owners to view IFF and ham pictures in there 256 colour mode! Will view 16 colour iffs on an ST. Will also view 256 color LBM files (DPaint IBM) SUPSEP21.LZH Super Separator 2.1 separates all the colors in a DEGAS or NEOpic. The colors are separated instantly for printing with a dot-matrix printer. A bug has been fixed in S.T.O.S. to allow use with the new TOS & STE. The docs have been edited to be readable, & the palette routines re-written. Will not run in monochrome. SPX18.LZH Updated SPX (Spectrum Extended) viewer. Use this to view the latest .SPX files that have been recently uploaded. Color only. Will not run on a TT. But no matter, if the pictures I tried (the ones described as "Kinky," are any indication, you ain't missin' much!) ARABIAN.SPX An SPX drawing of a couple of "fantasy-worthy Arabian women ready for battle." I just had to mention this picture though, because of that description.. :) Rated PG-13. This is six screens long. Use SPX Viewer 1.8 or later to view. File is not archived due to built-in compression of SPX pictures. Hmm.. "fantasy-worthy Arabian women ready for battle." I wonder if I should check that file out with WHATIS? Perhaps it could tell me exactly what kind of women the uploader is talking about here? <smile> WHATIS.ARC Another version! WHATIS 6.2 identifies over 125 file types - ARCs, LHarcs, PRGs, pics, ACCs, animations, etc... no more "what kind of file is this?" problems! Runs as a PRG or ACC or a TTP-like program on any ST/TT in any rez. Short docs included. All the features of previous versions, plus adds STDCAT, Pack-Ice, some Calligrapher, and more .FNT files to the list, allows a default TTP pause mode, and displays current path, default path and pause mode, and server msgs. I think I'd rather make music rather than war (even if fantasy-women were involved!) ROBO_BOP.LZH ROBO BOP is a graphic MIDI rhythm editor that works with any drum machine or synth. Features includ: Randomize, 250 step sequencer, user assignment of MIDI notes and channels, MIDIfile save, tap write, cut/copy/paste, variable pattern length, MIDI sync and lots more! New for V 1.9: Grids reflect their volume with different fill patterns. Loop play and program 2 patterns. Load and save single patterns. Icons in Mono. MIDITHRS.ZOO This archive contains source code for: THRU.ACC: An accessory that gives you a MIDI-thru when active. MTHRU.PRG: An /auto/folder version (tsr) that is always active. By Hendrik Jan Veenstra, Department of Philosophy, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands <hjv@phil.ruu.nl> Executable versions available separately (MIDITHRB.ZOO). MIDITHRB.ZOO THRU.ACC: An accessory that gives you a MIDI-thru when active. MTHRU.PRG: An /auto/ folder version (tsr) that is always active. By Hendrik Jan Veenstra, Department of Philosophy, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands <hjv@phil.ruu.nl> Source code available separately (MIDITHRS.ZOO). For those of you that have used Forem BBS systems you know that networking is an important feature/option. Michtron v. 3 has been without this possibility until now! MNET13.ARC MichTron BBS now has networking capabilities. Included in this archive are all of the files needed to configure your MBBS board to use the MNET. Just edit and compile the 2 CONFER.M files and add the other files appropriately as defined in the docs; and you're all set!! Odds and Ends... BPB37B.ZOO BPB-37.TOS by Domenico De Vitto <ddv@unix.bton.ac.uk> BPB tells you the MS-DOS boot sector details of a drive and gets the similar information from TOS, in case you need to compare. Source code is available separately (BPB37S.ZOO). LTMF_117.LZH Shortcuts for Alertboxes, etc., Flying Alertboxes and Dialogs, LH5, Shareware from Germany The above files have been compiled from those offered on GEnie, Delphi, &/or Compuserve Online Services and/or CodeHead Quarters BBS. Comments and or programs that you desire to have reviewed may be sent to Ron Berinstein [s] at CodeHead Quarters BBS (213)461-2095, or R.BERINSTEIN on GEnie, CLUBOWNER on Delphi, &/or 76645,1766 on Compuserve. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To sign up for GEnie service call (with modem) (800) 638-8369. Upon connection type HHH and hit <return>. Wait for the U#= prompt and type XTX99436,GEnie and hit <return>. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To sign up for CompuServe service call (with phone) (800) 848-8199. Ask for operator #198. You will be promptly sent a $15.00 free membership kit. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A special limited time offer is available for subscribers to AtariUser Magazine. The regular $19.95 subscription price is now just $15.00 for a full year or $25.00 a year for first class mailing. For more information contact AtariUser at (818) 332-0372. 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Material published in this edition may be reprinted in non-commercial publications unless otherwise noted at the top of the article. Opinions presented herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the staff. Atari Explorer Online Magazine is Copyright (c)1992, Atari Computer Corporation. Z*Net and the Z*Net Newswire are copyright(c)1992, Z*Net News Service/Ron Kovacs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Atari Explorer Online Magazine "The Official Atari Online Journal" Copyright (c)1992, Atari Computer Corporation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~