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     ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN MICROPENDIUM
     P.O. Box 1343  Round Rock TX 78680
     Phone [phone]
     Internet [e-mail]

MICRO REVIEWS FOR OCTOBER 1993 MICROPENDIUM
by Charles Good

I have been told by well known personalities in the TI community that the
primary programming language these days is assembly, and that little new GOOD
public domain material is being released for us anymore.  Based on what people
are sending me for review, these statements may not be true.  I am recieving
some very entertaining games and useful applications written in extended basic
such as the XB game and utility reviewed this month.  Some useful software is
currently being created for our public domain including the ALEX/FORMA reviewed
here and Bruce Harrison's extended basic compiler project.  Bruce sends me on
disk demos of his progress, and there is significant progress.

You may notice that I don't give letter grades or 1-4 star ratings in my
reviews.  I don't find such quick distinctions are very meaningful.  Almost
everything reviewed in Micropendium gets an A- to A+ rating.  I have never seen
a D and can't remember the last time I saw a C overall rating.  I feel that a
good description of the product, a comparision to similar products, and
comments on any specific problems I encounter should be sufficient and
meaningful.  If I don't consider a product sent to me worthwhile I won't bother
doing a review.  Send your 99/4A materials for my review and your requests for
the $1 software I offer to distribute to me at P.O. Box 647, Venedocia OH
45894.  Your $1 bill pays for the disk, return postage, and my Florida vacation
fund.  My evening phone is 419-667-3131.

One additional note: I have scheduled the next totally free Lima all TI
conference for Friday/Saturday May 13/14 1994.  Mark your calendars.
-------------------
ALEX/FORMA by Jan Alexandersson

In order to fully utilize its advanced graphic and foreign language features,
users of the newly released Funnelweb v5 editors now have to consider a bunch
of technical questions that did not previously concern most 99/4A users.  What
is the difference between 7 bit and 8 bit ASCII characters, screen displays,
and printer printouts?  Why won't Eurowriter (TI's European version of TI
Writer) DV80 files load into the USA versions of TI Writer?  What is the
difference between the tab lines of the USA and European TI Writers?  How do
you print the accented vouls created with Funnelweb's Eurowriter option?  Which
printers will properly print the neat graphics of Funnelweb's All Chars mode
(some older dot matrix printers won't)?  What are the differences between the
USA TI Writer Formatter and the European TI Writer Formatter?  What does one do
with all the transliteration files that are a part of the European TI Writer
Formatter package?  How do you use your printer's "national character sets"?

These and many other similar questions have been researched by Jan
Alexandersson.  The results of this research have been placed on a DSSD public
domain disk named ALEX/FORMA.  Included is Jan's own review of the v5 Funnelweb
editors and his advice on their configuration.  Also included are text files
that discuss how different printers handle All Chars graphics and descriptions
of the USA and European formatter.  One text file can be printed to provide a
hard copy of how your particular printer prints each of the high ascii graphics
accessable with the Funnelweb v5 editors.  Everyone should have this hard copy
readily available.  The results may differ from the Funnelweb's All Chars help
screens appear on your monitor.

Jan includes a nunber of Formatter transliteration files.  These do such things
as  transliterate Eurowriter to a 7 bit printer or to an 8 bit printer,
transliterate All Chars files created with Funnelweb to 7 bit printers with
European and USA formatters, etc. etc.

ALEX/FORMA will be invaluable to European 99/4A users who have collections of
text files created with TI's European version of TI Writer.  The hard copy
printouts of high ascii graphics will be very useful to all Funnelweb v5 users
including those in the USA.  And for those wishing to know technical details of
how the USA and European formatters work ALEX/FORMA is the best single
reference available.

USA residents can obtain ALEX/FORMA by sending me $1.  Residents of other
countries should send some money for disk and postage directly to the author
Jan Alexandersson, Springarvagen 5 3TR, S-142 61 Trangsund, Sweden.
-------------------------
MAZE MANIA by Vern Jensen

This XB program displays a two dimensional maze on screen.  You use the arrow
keys or joystick to work your man through the maze to its exit.  There are a
number of similar programs in the TI world, but this one has some bells and
whistles that make it unusually interesting.  1- Many of the mazes are longer
than the screen.  You work your man from screen top to bottom and the screen
scrolls to reveal successively lower portions of the maze.  2- There is
excellent use of speech.  If you just sit there studying the maze, the computer
nags at you to to wake up and get your man moving.  It says things like "Go",
"What now", and "Move on" at random if you don't move.  3- You can print any
maze to a PIO printer.  There are 13 predefined mazes, some of them quite long
(several screens).

For lazy people such as myself, one of the most intriguing parts of Maze Mania
is the MazeDemo part.  When you run this, each maze is presented on screen and
the man under computer control works his way through the maze.  The next maze
is then presented for automatic solution, etc.  The neat thing is that these
are not canned solutions.  An XB algorithm has been created which allows the
little man to randomly bump his way through a maze until a dead end is reached,
back up and try another path, etc. until the maze is solved.  The little man
knows where he has been and doesn't make the same mistake twice.  The same XB
algorithm is used to automatically "teach" the man solutions to all 13 mazes.
MazeDemo is really interesting to watch.

I will send you this program for $1 but you still should send the author
the requested fairware donation, a measly $3.  If you send your $3, a disk,
and paid return mailer directly to the author your fairware obligation will be
taken care of and he will send you Maze Mania.  Vern Jensen, 817 Kingsway Drive
West, Gretna LA 70056.
-------------------------------
3.5" DISK LABEL PROGRAM by Larry Tippett

This fairware utility written in XB does something no other 99/4A software
does.  It prints disk directories onto labels designed for 3.5 inch disks.
Several articles have appeared in newsletters recently concerning using 3.5
inch drives with 99/4A and Geneve systems.  Any 99/4A or Geneve user that uses
these drives needs this software.  Tractor feed disk labels designed for 3.5
inch disks are available and this program prints disk directories to such
labels.  You can squeeze the disk name and up to 54 file names on such a label.
You can just load in a directory and print the directory as is, or you can
print the names of only selected files in the disk directory.  Also, you have
the option of individually edited and expanded each file name to up 14
characters before printing.  There is provision for saving a disk directory to
a data file for later loading into the program, or saving the directory to a
DV80 text file.  Hard drive paths up to 28 characters are supported.

This software comes on a SSSD disk together with information about where to
purchase the needed tractor feed 3.5 inch disk labels.  I will mail it to you
for $1, or you can download "31/2LABELS" from GEnie, or you can get the
software for "free" by mail directly from the author by sending him the
requested "up to $10" fairware donation.  Larry Tippett, 5826 Buffalo St.,
Sanborn NY 14132.