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An Exciting Future? − Part 2
6.11
I promise that I didn’t know anything about Acorn’s new ARM700 machines
(see the Hardware Column on page 19) when I prophesied last month that
Acorn would not be releasing any new machines at the Acorn World Show.
It looks now as if the new range of machines won’t be available until at
least Spring next year.
6.11
When these new machines are released, Acorn will have an extremely
powerful platform but the real question in my mind is how much will they
be able to draw alongside the PC world. As anyone will know who is
trying to sell Acorn computers into the big wide world, “Is it PC
compatible?” is the death knell of many a sales conversation. So, will
these new machines be able to run WindowsNT as well as RISC OS 4? At the
very least, they must have a 486 card as an internal option as they do
at the moment on the A4000. Will there be tie-ups with some of the big
PC hardware and software companies? I hope so.
6.11
Vision for the Future − Part 2
6.11
In fact, when Acorn announced that the theme for the Acorn World Show
(October 26-28) would be ‘Vision for the Future’, I immediately thought
I had got my prophecy wrong. If you remember, the last ‘Vision for the
Future’ was when Acorn launched the A3010/3020/4000 and the Pocket Book
− I was drooling at the thought of another whole new range of Acorn
machines when the news of the ARM700 machines broke. Drat! Never mind,
1994 will be an exciting year, anyway!
6.11
Last week, I received a visit from Kevin Coleman who is managing the
Acorn World Show. It was obvious from our conversation that Acorn are
certainly intending to make this show ‘different’. They are trying to
attract all sorts of different target audiences, spreading over
education (obviously), home and business users. However, I think the
most significant thing that emerged was that Acorn are working on ‘tie-
ups’ with various big companies − I cannot give any details yet but, as
they say, “Watch this space...” (I can say that among the names being
bandied around include Kodak and Psion − I wish I could say more but
I’ll have to wait until next month.)
6.11
Pocket Book Push
6.11
Acorn are making a big push this summer on the Pocket Book. They have
just launched Schedule, the diary/calendar/appointment book (see the
review on page 15). The lack of a diary was one major factor that caused
people to decide in favour of a Psion 3 − or not to buy one at all.
Although the price of Schedule is £50, and the Pocket Book £250, Acorn
are doing a special summer offer so that you can buy a Pocket Book plus
Schedule for £220. (This offer is available through Archive.)
6.11
Yes, I am excited about the future with Acorn!
6.11
Products Available
6.11
• 10 Out of 10 Maths (Algebra) is the second maths pack from Triple R,
the educational arm of Fourth Dimension. This package covers patterns,
sequences, formulae, graphs, equations, inequalities and symbols. It
covers Curriculum Attainment Target 3 (Algebra) and has material and
levels suitable for children aged 6 to 16 on Key Stages 1 to 4. The
price is £25.95 from Fourth Dimension or £24 through Archive.
6.11
• £50 off the Pocket Book price − During the summer, Acorn are offering
£50 off the price of the Pocket Book. So you can buy a Pocket Book from
Archive for just £200. The educational package consisting of eleven
Pocket Books plus an A-Link is £1699.50 +VAT. (£1990 inc VAT through
Archive.) Both these offers last until 30th September. What is more,
Acorn have created the ‘missing link’! The almost universal comment
about the Pocket Book is “Why no diary?!” and so...
6.11
• Acorn Schedule is a new application on SSD ROM for the Pocket Book. It
includes a diary, personal organiser, calendar and timetable. The normal
price will be £49.95 inc VAT but there is a special introductory price
of £19.95 (£19 through Archive) until 30th September.
6.11
• !AppFS is a network application which speeds up the delivery of
applications to the users. A site licence costs £100 +VAT from Angelsoft
Educational although it is going up to £130 +VAT on 1st September.
6.11
• Astro upgrade − Topologika have released version 2 of Astro. This is a
set of interactive programs for exploring Earth in Space, i.e. it deals
with the solar system, seasons, the moon, comets, spacecraft, etc. Astro
2 costs £37.50 +VAT including p&p or £41 through Archive. The upgrade
from 1 to 2 costs £8.50 +VAT including p&p from Topologika.
6.11
• CD special prices − Cumana are offering CDs at special prices up to
the end of December 1993. Their World of Number discs aimed at Key
Stages 3 & 4 are all £59 +VAT + carriage each (£66 through Archive):
Number Games & Short Tasks, Perspectives, Picture Gallery and Who Stole
the Decimal Point? The four-disc set of Creepy Crawlies, Dictionary of
the Living World, Grooves and Image Warehouse is £149 +VAT + carriage
(£164 through Archive) and the Space Encyclopedia is £39 +VAT + carriage
(£44 through Archive).
6.11
• Champions is a games compilation package from Krisalis. It consists of
World Class Leader Board (golf), Manchester United, World Championship
Squash and World Championship Boxing Manager. This compilation costs
£29.99 from Krisalis or £28 through Archive.
6.11
• ColourBurst from State Machine is a full CCIR PAL, television and
video recorder compatible graphics card. A new facility of the
ColourBurst is the ability to display a full interlaced overscan TV
mode. This is double the vertical TV resolution currently attainable
with the Archimedes. ColourBurst could therefore be very useful where
access to a large TV type monitor is available.
6.11
ColourBurst provides all of the facilities of the G16 while adding:
larger desktop modes, larger ArtWorks and TrueView preview modes (with
1Mb of on-board memory the desktop can be previewed in up to 1152×848 in
256 colours and ArtWorks can use the 800×600 16 bit per pixel modes);
direct recording to video; on-line broadcasting in 256 colours at
768×576 and other resolutions (the optional PAL genlock expansion allows
the ColourBurst to be synchronised to any external RGB, PAL or S-Video
source); an on-board expansion system to allow various options to be
added without taking up any more expansion slots. The options to be
available during July include: A simple sync genlock, an RGB bandwidth
limiter, a composite PAL and S-Video encoder, a full PAL genlock
expansion and an internal RGB video switch for the A540 and A5000.
6.11
ColourBurst costs £475 including VAT & carriage or £440 through Archive.
6.11
• Demon’s Lair − This is Fourth Dimension’s new isometric arcade
adventure. A friendly dragon has been chained up by an evil demon and
you and your people are being terrorised by all sorts of nasties. Your
job is to destroy the demon and free the people before their supply of
food runs out. Demon’s Lair is £25.95 from Fourth Dimension or £24
through Archive.
6.11
• DrawAid − This application, which allows you to create drawfiles from
within Basic programs (reviewed in Archive 5.1 p57) has now been
upgraded to version 2. The new version has been speeded up and now
allows the use of outline fonts. It is fully multitasking on RISC OS 3.1
and can produce multiple drawfiles from a single Basic program. Further
enhancements include additional drawing procedures, procedures to handle
sprites and to input data from CSV files. Extended colour facilities
have also been added allowing definition of any of 16 million colours in
the drawfile. The application comes with fifty varied examples ranging
over topics such as barcode production, gear wheel drawing and the
plotting of mathematical functions.
6.11
Carvic Manufacturing have increased the price from £10 to £12(!) (no
VAT) It seems to be excellent value at that price. DrawAid 1 users can
receive a complete new package of DrawAid 2 by returning their master
disc plus £6 to Carvic.
6.11
• Eizo monitor prices rising again − We have just been told by Eizo UK
that the prices of their monitors are going up again on 1st August
although they don’t say by how much. So if you are thinking of buying an
Eizo monitor, I suggest you get on the phone to Norwich Computer
Services a.s.a.p.
6.11
• Electronics magazine database − M. Kay has produced a set of ArcScan
data files covering four electronics magazines for the three years Jan
1990 to Dec 1992. This covers Practical Electronics, Everyday
Electronics, Maplin Electronics and Everyday with Practical Electronics.
Send a cheque for £5 to Mike Kay, 69 Cobnar Road, Woodseats, Sheffield,
S8 8QD.
6.11
• Ethernet interfaces − Risc Developments’ Ethernet cards are all now
available. They are doing an A3000 mini-podule version for 10base2 (£139
+VAT) and an A5000 half-width podule (£139 +VAT) which also has a
connector for 10base5. There are also internal Ethernet interfaces
(10base2) for the A3020/4000 so that the minipodule slot is still free
for other purposes (£159 +VAT). If you are looking at using 10baseT,
twisted pair Ethernet, Risc Developments have a standard podule version
(A5000 etc) which is also £139 +VAT.
6.11
• Eureka 2 is now available. It is said to have “over 100 enhancements
and exciting improvements over the first release”. All registered users
will receive a free upgrade and the price remains at £119 + VAT or £130
through Archive. When Chris Johnson gets his upgrade copy, I expect he
will be able to fill us in with a few details.
6.11
• Floating point accelerator − At long last, the FPA is available and in
stock at Norwich Computer Services. The price is £99 +VAT or £107
through Archive. It can be fitted as standard into A5000s but the only
other users who can take advantage of it at the moment are owners of
ARM3 upgrades that have an FPA socket on them and owners of the later
issue A540s which have an FPA socket on the processor card. Owners of
older A540s (like me) can get a a free upgrade done by “your local Acorn
dealer” (good news!) but the upgrade board won’t be available until the
autumn (bad news!). Brian Cowan has done some initial tests on the FPA
in his Hardware Column on page 18 and made some technical comments about
it. Also, if you want more technical information, you can get a 62-page
data booklet through Vector Services (Acorn Direct) in Wellingborough
for £10 inclusive.
6.11
• Gothic and Medieval Fonts and Decoration − The Datafile have released
a three-disc set of fonts and artwork. It consists of five outline fonts
plus some Draw fonts plus some Draw clipart for decoration purposes. The
pack costs £31.50 inclusive from Datafile.
6.11
• HP Deskjet 1200C − (I’ll try to get it right this month...) Hewlett
Packard have just released an A4 (NOT A3!) colour inkjet printer. The
Archive price is £1390 inclusive. The advantage over the 550C is that it
runs at roughly twice the speed and offers a 600×300 dpi enhanced mode.
It has 2M RAM as standard, upgradable to 26Mb! It is also fully Laserjet
AND PostScript (Apple) compatible − the parallel Centronics interface is
standard but others are available as options. For Archimedes use, you
would be well advised to run it on RISC OS 3.1 and buy an Ace PROdriver
(£44) or the new TurboDriver (£53 including a printer cable) when it is
available.
6.11
• Imagine upgrade − Topologika have released version 2 of their art and
maths pack, Imagine. Imagine 2 has three gallery discs and includes a
free site licence. It costs £47.50 +VAT including p&p or £51 through
Archive. The upgrade from 1 to 2 costs £11 + VAT including p&p from
Topologika.
6.11
• Krisalis Collection is an arcade games compilation package from
Krisalis. It consists of Mad Professor Mariarti, Revelation, Terramex
and PipeMania. This compilation costs £29.99 from Krisalis or £28
through Archive.
6.11
• Letters is an educational package from Oak Solutions aimed at Key
Stage 1 English. It provides a fun way for children to learn their
alphabet. It costs £45 + p&p +VAT from Oak Solutions.
6.11
• Midi / User / Analogue interfaces − Morley Electronics have introduced
some new cards which provide a Midi interface as well as the user and
analogue ports. They are still selling their user/analogue card
(minipodule) for A3000 series computers (£49 +VAT or £53 through
Archive) but now they have a minipodule that has Midi (in, out and
through) as well as user and analogue (£57 +VAT or £62 through Archive).
If you want a standard podule version, the analogue/user port is one
half-width podule (£49 +VAT or £53 through Archive) and the Midi add-on
for it (£35 +VAT or £38 through Archive) is a separate half-width podule
linked by a cable. It can be placed above or by the side of the other
podule for flexibility.
6.11
• Oak Logic is Oak Solutions’ new package designed to allow logic
circuits to be designed and tested on screen before being made. When you
have created your circuits with logic gates, inputs and outputs plus
astables and indicator lamps, you can watch the logic states change and
generate a truth table. Oak Logic is £99.95 + carriage + VAT from Oak
Solutions or £110 through Archive.
6.11
• OakPCB − The latest version of Oak Solutions’ PCB and schematic design
software supports up to four-layer boards plus solder mask and drilling
layers, it allows tracks to intelligently attach themselves to pads, it
uses outline fonts and allows import and export of drawfiles. The new
version of WorraCAD is £99.95 + carriage + VAT from Oak Solutions or
£110 through Archive.
6.11
• Oak Recorder 2 − Oak Solutions have upgraded their Oak Recorder. The
new version includes the SoundLab software sold separately for users of
the old Oak Recorder for £19.95 +p&p +VAT (£22 through Archive). The
other two improvements are a better microphone and the fact that the
microphone is plugged into a socket so that other sound sources can plug
into the interface ready for sampling. The price of Oak Recorder II is
£39.95 + carriage +VAT or £48 through Archive.
6.11
• PhotoLib − Matt Black are now selling the PhotoLib CD which contains
over 4,000 colour photographs in compressed J-PEG format. The CD
contains pictures with a whole range of different themes and there are
also CDs of pictures on individual themes. PhotoLib CD costs £299 from
Matt Black (no VAT).
6.11
• Pocket Book/Series 3 goodies − There is now a wealth of programs and
add-ons available for the Pocket Book and Psion 3 computers. Some of
these applications have been around for some months (bear in mind that
the Series 3 has been around for some two or three years now). Useful
books include First Steps in Programming the Psion Series 3, Serious
Programming on the Psion Series 3, Introduction to Using the Psion
Series 3 and Graphics Programming on the Psion Series 3. Software
includes a Spell Checker & Thesaurus (OK, so the Spell Checker isn’t
much use, but this includes a 100,000 word dictionary and 660,000
synonym thesaurus!), the Berlitz Interpreter which translates over
28,000 words between English, French, Spanish, German and Italian,
Personal Accounts & Expenses, Professional Finance (interest rates, IRR,
depreciation) and Finance Pack 3, Psion Chess, Games Pack 1 (seven
arcade games), Games Pack 2 (six strategy games), Games Pack 3 (five
assorted games), Series 3 Tools (an excellent suite of utilities to help
manage your computer) and Time Base Solo which helps to schedule your
time. Finally, there is an excellent black aluminium desk stand which
tilts the Pocket Book/Series 3 forward making the screen easier to read
and the keyboard more accessible. Please contact us for prices and
further details. Also note that, as yet, it is not guaranteed that all
of these programs will work on the Pocket Book.
6.11
• Pocket Book Assistants − A company called Portable Software have
produced a range of software ‘assistants’ to the Series 3 range: Timing
Assistant helps you plan, time, record and enjoy how your time is spent
(their sales pitch, not mine!); Banking Assistant puts you in control of
your business, private or international cash flows; Text Assistant lets
you assemble documents without lots of typing (basically, it consists of
a suite of libraries of predefined styles and sentences to allow you to
build up letters and documents easily); Sales Assistant is a small
business or mobile trader’s dream − order processing and customer care
on a Pocket Book! Finally, there is Data Assistant which is provided
with all of the previous assistants, except Banking Assistant. This is a
suite of utilities to extend the built-in data filing system. Again,
contact us for further details and prices.
6.11
• Primary Nature is an educational package from Oak Solutions aimed at
Key Stage 2 Science covering hedgerows, pond life and food chains. It
costs £45 + p&p +VAT from Oak Solutions.
6.11
• ProSheet − Silicon Vision have produced an affordable spreadsheet
aimed at education. ProSheet has all the standard spreadsheet functions
plus statistics, trig and Boolean functions. It has a hot-linked
graphing facility with 3D graphs with rotate and tilt options. Other
features include fixed and FP numerics, calculator pad and outline font
support even on an individual cell basis. It works on a 1Mb machine.
ProSheet costs £39.95 +VAT or £44 through Archive. At last, it looks as
if we have an economically priced, full-function spreadsheet.
6.11
• S-Base Developer Plus is now available, as is S-Net Server. S-Base
Developer Plus (£299 +VAT or £325 through Archive) allows the user to
develop and compile applications into stand-alone programs which then do
not require S-Base. They can run as single user applications or, when
loaded into S-Net, can be served to multiple users over a network. S-Net
licences are available for business (£600 +VAT or £650 through Archive)
and education (£299 +VAT or £325 through Archive).
6.11
• Sleuth, 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 of July. The cost is
£49 +VAT + £2 carriage from Risc Developments. (Sleuth was previewed in
May Acorn 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.)
6.11
• Special needs keyboard − Special Access Systems have produced an
expanded keyboard for computer users with poor motor control. The
keyboard has a nylon-coated steel case which acts as a keyguard. It has
a built-in LCD display which enables the user to program the keyboard’s
special functions including key delays, sound effects and ‘sticky keys’
for producing those awkward key combinations which we so easily take for
granted, e.g. <shift-alt-,> for a ‘×’ character. The keyboard costs £475
+ p&p + VAT from Special Access Systems.
6.11
• Turbo Drivers (RISC OS 3.1) − CC have just sent us the first fully
RISC OS 3.1 compatible Turbo Driver. This is the Canon driver which will
cope with BJ10, BJ20, BJ200, BJ230, BJ300, BJ330 and BJC800. (At the
time of writing, the HP drivers are still not ready − I said they were
last month − sorry to mislead you. I will let you know when they are
ready. There seem to be one or two technical problems.)
6.11
• User / Analogue / Econet interface − Risc Developments have produced a
card that provides a user port and an analogue port on A3000/4000
machines. The cost is £44.95 +VAT. It has an optional Econet interface
which brings the price to £79.95 +VAT. This means that, in an A3020 or
an A4000, a standard Ethernet interface could be added to the machine
thus making it into a gateway between the two network standards. There
is an A5000 version of this board but, because of lack of space on the
backplate, the Econet is provided as a cable to connect to the existing
Econet connector. The prices are the same as for the A3000 versions.
Both interfaces include a boot ROM for AUN so that there is no need to
run AUN up from disc at switch-on.
6.11
• Video Splitter − If anyone wants to have more than one monitor running
on an Archimedes computer then a company called Scene Double have just
the thing for you. These splitters, which are UK manufactured, have a
very wide bandwidth and will easily cope with the output even from a
colour card. It is an external box with its own power supply and has a
cable to link into the back of the computer. It has outputs which can
then feed into four different monitors or other video devices. We have
had one in the office to try and it works fine. The Scene Double
splitter costs £299 +VAT or £325 through Archive.
6.11
• Visual Backup is Dabhand Computing’s hard disc backup program. It aims
to make the backup process as interactive as possible, most operations
being based around a directory tree viewer. Visual Backup costs £49.95
inclusive from Dabhand Computing or £46 through Archive.
6.11
• WordBank − Topologika have released an application which lets you
‘collect’ words, and their meanings, in English, Welsh, French or
German. You can display your word sets alongside your story in your own
WP or DTP application, click on a word and it is inserted into your
story. Wordbank costs £25 +VAT + p&p from Topologika or £30 through
Archive.
6.11
• WorraCAD upgrade − Oak Solutions have updated WorraCAD in various ways
including giving it a new icon-based user interface and also support for
ellipses. It maintains it high accuracy, its ability to produce drawings
larger than A0 and can export in Draw format. The new version of
WorraCAD is £99.95 + carriage + VAT from Oak Solutions or £110 through
Archive.
6.11
Review software received...
6.11
We have received review copies of the following: 1st Paint (e), An Eye
for Spelling (e), AppFS (u), ArcVenture III − The Vikings (e), ArtSchool
(ea), BookStore (e), CardMania (g), Choices (e), EdScheme LISP (el), E-
Numix (e), Frontier 2000 (e), Games Wizard and The Hacker for comparison
(g), Gestalt 2 − Money & Shopping (e), Gestalt 2 − Time & Fractions (e),
Humanoids & Robotix (g), Killerbugs (g), Letters (e), Mini Expansion
Adaptor (h), Primary Nature (e), Programming books: Wimp Programming for
All, Beginner’s Guide to Wimp Programming & Archimedes Game Maker’s
Manual, Screenplay Training Video (g), Sea, Trade & Empire (e), Serpents
(g), Soapbox (e), Splash (ea), SpySnatcher (g), Squish (u), Switch (g),
Tiles (e), TOM computer simulator (e) (6.5 p9), Visual Backup (u).
6.11
e=Education, g=Game, u=Utility, a=Art, h=Hardware, m=Music,
l=Language. A
6.11
Government Health Warning − Reading this probably won’t have any effect
on your spiritual health.
6.11
Well, perhaps people who complain about my ‘God-slot’ are right. Perhaps
it is inappropriate in a technical magazine. Perhaps it’s only
Christians who read it anyway − mind you, judging by the number of
complaints about it on Arcade Bulletin Board at the moment, someone must
be reading it!
6.11
One reader wrote me a lovely letter saying how much he appreciated my
editorial comments each month... and couldn’t they be extended right
down to the bottom of the page. Is that subtle or what?!!!
6.11
P.B.
6.11
Norwich Computer Services 96a Vauxhall Street, Norwich, NR2 2SD.
0603−766592 (−764011)
6.11
4th Dimension P.O. Box 4444, Sheffield. (0742−700661) (0742−781091)
6.11
4Mation 11 Castle Park Road, Whiddon Valley, Barnstaple, Devon, EX32
8PA. (0271−25353) (0271−22974) Mike Matson 0825−732679
6.11
Abacus Training 29 Okus Grove, Upper Stratton, Swindon, Wilts, SN2
6QA.
6.11
Acorn Direct 13 Dennington Road, Wellingborough, Northants, NN8 2RL.
6.11
Acorn Computers Ltd Fulbourn
Road, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge, CB1 4JN. (0223−254254) (0223−254262)
6.11
Angelsoft Educational 35 Heol
Nant, Swiss Valley, Llanelli, Dyfed, SA14 8EN. (0554−776845)
6.11
Carvic Manufacturing Moray Park,
Findhorn Road, Forres, Moray, Scotland, IV36 0TP. (0309−72793)
6.11
Chalksoft P.O. Box 49, Spalding, Lincs, PE11 1NZ. (0775−769518)
6.11
Clares Micro Supplies 98
Middlewich Road, Rudheath, Northwich, Cheshire, CW9 7DA. (0606−48511)
(0606−48512)
6.11
Colton Software (p14) 2 Signet
Court, Swanns Road, Cambridge, CB5 8LA. (0223−311881) (0223−312010)
6.11
Computer Concepts (p20/26) Gaddesden
Place, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP2 6EX. (0442−63933) (0442−231632)
6.11
Cumana Ltd Pines Trading Estate, Broad Street, Guilford, GU3 3BH.
(0483−503121) (0483−503326)
6.11
Dabhand Computing 5 Victoria
Lane, Whitefield, Manchester, M25 6AL. (061−766−8423) (061−766−8425)
6.11
Dabs Press 22 Warwick Street, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 7HN.
(061−773−8632) (061−773−8290)
6.11
Database Publications Europa
House, Adlington Park, London Road, Adlington, Macclesfield, Cheshire,
SK10 5NP. (0625−859444) (0625−879966)
6.11
Datafile 71 Anson Road, Locking, Weston-super-Mare, Avon, BS24 7DQ.
(0934−823005)
6.11
Data Store 6 Chatterton Road, Bromley, Kent. (081−460−8991)
(081−313−0400)
6.11
David Pilling P.O.Box 22, Thornton Cleveleys, Blackpool, FY5 1LR.
6.11
Eizo UK Ltd Unit 7, Genesis Business Park, Albert Drive, Sheerwater,
Woking, GU21 5RW. (0483−757118) (0483−757121)
6.11
EMR Ltd 14 Mount Close, Wickford, Essex, SS11 8HG. (0702−335747)
6.11
E.S.M. Duke Street, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, PE13 2AE. (0945−63441)
6.11
ICS Ltd 1 Kington Road, West Kirby, Wirral, L48 5ET. (051−625−1006)
(051−625−1007)
6.11
Krisalis Software Teque House,
Mason’s Yard, Downs Row, Moorgate, Rotherham, S60 2HD. (0709−372290)
6.11
Longman-Logotron 124 Cambridge Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4
4ZS. (0223−425558) (0223−425349)
6.11
Matt Black P.O.Box 42, Peterborough, PE1 2TZ. (0733−315439)
6.11
Morley Electronics Morley
House, Norham Road, North Shields, Tyne & Wear, NE29 7TY. (091−257−6355)
(091−257−6373)
6.11
Oak Solutions (p13) Broadway
House, 149−151 St Neots Road, Hardwick, Cambridge, CB3 7QJ.
(0954−211760) (0954−211760)
6.11
Portable Software P.O.Box 244,
York, YO2 2YU. (0904−633918)
6.11
Ray Maidstone (p25) 421
Sprowston Road, Norwich, NR3 4EH. (0603−400477) (0603−417447)
6.11
Risc Developments 117 Hatfield
Road, St Albans, Herts, AL1 4JS. (0727−840303) (0727−860263)
6.11
Scene Double 2 Glendale Avenue, Edgeware, Middlesex, HA8 8HG.
(081−958−3639) (081−958−3639)
6.11
Silicon Vision Ltd Signal
House, Lyon Road, Harrow, Middlesex, HA1 2AG. (081−422−3556)
(081−427−5169)
6.11
Software 42 109 Ferry Road, Hullbridge, Essex, SS5 6EL.
6.11
Special Access Systems 4 Benson
Place, Oxford, OX2 6QH. (0865−56154)
6.11
State Machine Unit 4, Stopsley Business Centre, Stopsley,
Bedfordshire, LU2 7UX. (0582−483377) (0582−480833)
6.11
Topologika P.O. Box 39, Stilton, Peterborough, PE7 3RL. (0733−244682)
6.11
Watford Electronics Jessa House,
Finway, Dallow Road, Luton, LU1 1TR. (0582−487777) (0582−488588)
6.11
Paul Beverley
6.11
Help!!!!
6.11
• CAAD − Is there anyone who would have a contribution to make to my
research work on CAAD? (Computer aided art and design.) Has anyone got
any CAAD up and running? Contact me, Steve Bruntlett, at De Montfort
University, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH. (0553− 551551)
(0553−577199)
6.11
• Comparative articles − Now that the range of Archimedes software is
getting quite comprehensive, it would be really helpful to have some
survey-type articles comparing, say, the range of available WP and DTP
packages. Any offers? Ed.
6.11
• Complete Wordwise Plus Handbook by Paul Beverley (who?) − Has anyone
out there got a copy of this ancient and much-loved tome? It has been
out of print for some time now but there are still people asking for it.
Rather than disappoint them, could we use it as an opportunity to raise
some more money for charity? If you have a copy and would be prepared to
donate it to our Charity Appeal, please send it in to the Archive
office. Thank you.
6.11
Help Offered
6.11
• BJ10ex control codes − In Archive 6.8 p16, Paul Pibworth asked for
information. I agree that the User’s Manual is a bit thin, so what you
need is the “Programmer’s Manual”. This is obtainable from Canon for
about £10.00 + VAT. The phone number is 081−647−4044. Tell them that you
wish to order the “Programmer’s Manual” for the BJ10ex (not the BJ10e −
there is a difference). Chris Bass, Grimsby.
6.11
• Help for beginners − If there are people in the Nottingham/Grantham
area who need a bit of help getting to grips with their new Archimedes
or new disc drive, or whatever, we have had an offer of help from Alan
Highet, one of our contributors. He is prepared to visit people, free of
charge(!), to give help (but I suspect that an offer of petrol money
wouldn’t go amiss). If you are interested, give Alan a ring on 0949−
50380. A
6.11
Hints and Tips
6.11
• Amstrad CPC monitor link − Let me describe how to use the old monitor
left over from your Amstrad CPC for emergency use with your Archimedes.
6.11
You need a six-pin, 270-degree DIN female plug, like the one in your
CPC, a normal D-sub nine-pin male, to plug into your RGB socket on the
computer and some soldering skill. (If you use an A5000 or later, you
need a 15-pin VGA-compatible plug, instead.)
6.11
To make the setup even more user-friendly, you should invest in a two-
way, double switch, to cater for both mono and colour monitors.
6.11
The DIN plug has six pins, with the centre pin being mono-in. When seen
from the rear with the soldering lugs towards you, (as in the diagram
opposite) the pin for the red is top left (1), then comes green (2),
blue (3), sync (4) and signal earth (5).
6.11
On the 9-pin D-sub, pin number 1 is red, 2 is green and 3 is blue. Pin
number 4 is sync and 7 signal earth. The rest are unused. The
arrangement on the new machines is slightly different, as there are more
pins, but it is essentially the same!
6.11
Basically you connect 1 to 1, 2 to 2 and 3 to 3, but the addition of a
switch makes it much more useful. Before starting, switch on the
computer while pressing <0>, to change to monitortype 0 for 50Hz
monitors and TVs.
6.11
The switch on the cable is essential under two circumstances: You might
also want to use your TV as a colour monitor. Then you have to use the
Amstrad TV MP-2 modulator (still available). That does not use the
central monochrome pin, but the normal three RGB pins. You could make
two converters of course, but you might forget which is which. Instead,
you just flip the switch if the picture looks odd! Those with TVs that
accept RGB through the SCART connector should use those, of course!
A3010 owners should first try connecting to a TV, but the green CPC
monitor should be much sharper, if not having a higher resolution!
6.11
Sometimes, when running some games like MiG-29M, you might want to
switch back and forth as the headup display is almost invisible against
the sky if you have all colours connected to the middle pin. By
momentarily switching to the colour setting, everything yellow will
become easily visible, as it becomes black (or more correctly, a black-
ish green, if you use the green monochrome monitor)!
6.11
Turbo Challenge II becomes a real challenge in green. Chopper Force,
Bughunter II and Taipei work fine in green. Impression, Vector and
ArtWorks are essentially monochrome, if you don’t add colour yourself,
so they are not affected! Tord Eriksson
6.11
• BASIC64 application − I have, for a long time, toyed with the idea of
testing BASIC64, by running the PCW Benchmarks with it. The normal way
would be to RMLoad the BASIC64 module and then type *BASIC64 − not very
user-friendly, as you have to type in the paths each time.
6.11
Remembering David Pilling’s advice on the uses of the OSCLI command
(very odd to me, brought up on Spectrums and mainframes!) I wrote the
following Basic lines:
6.11
*DIR SCSI::Conner170M
6.11
*DIR OldRubbish.BASIC.BenchMARK
6.11
*CAT
6.11
INPUT “Which file? ”;a$
6.11
OSCLI “*BASIC64 -quit ” + a$
6.11
The *CAT shows me which files are available and OSCLI “*BASIC64 -quit”
loads BASIC64 runs the program a$ and then quits. Your version will have
to include your drives and directories, of course! This programming
fragment, I called !RunImage.
6.11
Put this in the directory you have made called !Run64.
6.11
To make this an application, steal some !Sprites from a program you
like, rename the individual icon sprites to !Run64 and sm!Run64.
6.11
The next step is to make a copy of BASIC64 and drop that into the
directory. Now for the !Run file:
6.11
Iconsprites <Obey$Dir>.!Sprites
6.11
RUN <Obey$Dir>.BASIC64 -QUIT <Obey$Dir>.!RunImage
6.11
Alternatively, you could run the copy of BASIC64 that you might have in
your system’s modules directory.
6.11
It seems idiotic to run BASIC64, in order to run BASIC64, to run the
program you have selected, but it works perfectly.
6.11
I tried using the more logical *RMLoad BASIC64, but then you fall into
the editor and we do not want that!
6.11
Finally, you need a !Boot file:
6.11
Iconsprites <obey$Dir>.!Sprites
6.11
(A sample Basic64 application is on this month’s program disc.) Tord
Eriksson
6.11
• ColourCard and VIDC software − After I had installed my ColourCard and
(thanks to a hint in Archive) realised that I still would have to use a
VIDC module (Careware 18) to make my monitor display modes 12 and 15, a
problem arose. I had configured my machine to one of those wonderfully
large screen modes (1152×848 logical pixels), and then when I found the
time to play a mode 15 game, (Tower of Babel, which is completely mouse-
controlled), there was no pointer!
6.11
This is what Nigel Star of Wild Vision told me: In a ColourCard mode,
the VIDC pointer is disabled and some games don’t re-enable it so all
you have to do is switch to mode 15 first, and only then start the
game. Jochen Konietzko, Köln.
6.11
• Combatting fiddlers − A solution for teachers who suffer from children
‘fiddling’ with the palette, task windows, applications accessing the
hard disc and destroying files might be to use the RMKill command in the
!Boot file. Any or all of the following lines can be added to the !Boot
file.
6.11
RMKill ResourseFiler
6.11
RMKill ADFSFiler
6.11
RMKill PaletteUtil
6.11
RMKill Taskmanager
6.11
This will leave the iconbar empty. Pressing <reset> will give error
messages. If you want a particular program to run, this could be done
from the !Boot file or from an application launcher such as !Menon or
!Two. Directories can be opened in the same way. Switching on whilst
holding down <shift> avoids running the !Boot file and returns icons to
the iconbar. Paul Harrigan, Hong Kong.
6.11
• DragASprite module − After seeing the tip on the dragging of solid
sprites from a previous Archive, I decided to explore the DragASprite
module for myself. I have not worked on it exhaustively but I have come
across the following which users could put in their Basic programs.
6.11
The DragASprite module supports two SWIs but the more useful of these
two is the SWI DragASprite_Start. It requires the following parameters:
6.11
R0 control value
6.11
R1 1 (this seems to be the only value that works)
6.11
R2 pointer to sprite name
6.11
R3 points to start coordinates of the drag box
6.11
The control value consists of bits which affect the drag. The only ones
I have worked out are:
6.11
bit 6 allow dragging outside graphics window
6.11
bit 7 shadow the sprite
6.11
Bits 0 and 4 seem to allow only the value 5, as far as I can work out.
6.11
I have found that the two most useful values for the control value in R0
are:
6.11
&85 non-shadowed drag outside the graphics window
6.11
&C5 shadowed drag outside the graphics window
6.11
R2 points to the first character of a string which is the name of the
sprite to be used for the drag, for example “file_fec”.
6.11
R3 points to four 32-bit coordinates which describe the start and size
of the drag box (which is the same size as the sprite).
6.11
This is about all I have been able to work out in the time I have spent
on it, but it is possible to modify Basic programs using the Save As
window to use DragASprite_Start instead of Wimp_ DragBox.
6.11
For example, in FormEd 1.24, modify line 4810, which normally reads:
6.11
4810 SYS “Wimp_DragBox”,,q%
6.11
to
6.11
4810 SYS “DragASprite_Start”,&C5 ,1,“File_fec”,q%+8
6.11
I’m sure a similar fix could be used for other programs to give solid
sprite dragging. Robin Terry, Newcastle upon Tyne.
6.11
(Those who can afford £100 for a RISC OS 3 PRM will find more details on
page 3-299. Ed.)
6.11
• Free space on hard discs − In Hints and Tips, Archive 5.12, Steve
Drain asked if the same problem of allocating 28Kb to each new directory
applies to IDE drives. I checked this for my A5000 40Mb drive and found
that 7Kb is allocated per directory which seems a reasonable compromise.
This is lucky as there seems to be no way to alter the default format
using HForm.
6.11
N.B. Count only reports the size of the data, not the actual space used
on the disc. This can only be found by using *FREE from the command line
before and after creating a directory/file and subtracting the values.
6.11
The structure of !Fonts is where most directories occur. In my case,
there are 111 directories requiring 777Kb of space initially, but since
each contains over 7Kb of data for IntMetrics and Outlines, the space is
not wasted. However, if 28Kb were allocated, as with Steve’s make of
SCSI drive, then 111 × 28 = 3108Kb would be allocated. In my case, only
2625Kb would be used as font data, losing 483Kb on fonts alone! When
Computer Concepts released Compression, I thought that this would solve
space problems, but I was told by CC that it retains the directory
structure (I assume with the same overheads per directory) and is not
very effective at reducing the disc space taken up by !Fonts.
6.11
I have now installed SparkFS from David Pilling. Although each compacted
Spark file can contain lots of directories when opened, to the IDE
filing system it is only one file and only allocates one lot of 7Kb (or
28Kb for Steve). So it is not sensible to have a Spark file containing
less than 7Kb. (The Count facility is misleading as it only gives the
size of compressed data not the space allocated by the IDE drive.) There
is a speed penalty for using a Spark file but there is also a Spark
directory option which is a lot faster according to the booklet although
it seems to have a much larger disc space requirement of about 14Kb
which does not all seem to be recovered.
6.11
So the conclusions seem to be:
6.11
1) If possible, reformat with the smallest file allocation.
6.11
2) Only create a new directory if you are going to store an amount of
data comparable with the directory space (7Kb for my IDE drive, 28Kb for
Steve’s original SCSI).
6.11
3) Be aware of the overheads due to any compression system you use,
checking by using *FREE at the command line (particularly if it retains
directories.)
6.11
4) If using SparkFS on an A5000, ensure any Spark file will contain
at least 7Kb of data.
6.11
5) If space is tight, remember that a Spark directory will have space
overheads although it is faster.
6.11
It would be interesting to hear the findings from other people using
other compression systems, types of drive and any information on
reformatting A5000 IDE drives with different file allocation sizes.
Alan Dawes, Ilford
6.11
• Help_ with menus in C − In Archive 6.10 p8, Richard Simpson asks about
using help_ with menus. I enclose a program (on the monthly program
disc) to demonstrate a solution.
6.11
The program offers help via !Help in the following situations:
6.11
• The main iconbar icon.
6.11
• Menu (with sub-menu) from from the iconbar.
6.11
• Dialogue box from iconbar, including special processing for
version details.
6.11
• A simple window.
6.11
• Menu from the simple window.
6.11
The program doesn’t actually do anything and is quite long, so I won’t
attempt to explain its operation here. There are a number of comments in
the code which should, hopefully, be sufficient for a C programmer using
help_.
6.11
The short-hand strings supported by !Help are (this is from !Help’s
message file), note the spaces:-
6.11
\S ’Click SELECT to ’
6.11
\A ’Click ADJUST to ’
6.11
\G ’This option is greyed out because ’
6.11
\D ’Drag SELECT to ’
6.11
\w ’window’
6.11
\a ’ADJUST’
6.11
\R ’Move the pointer right to ’
6.11
\T ’This is the ’
6.11
\W ’This window is ’
6.11
\d ’Drag ADJUST to ’
6.11
\s ’SELECT’
6.11
Please bear in mind that the documentation in Release 4 is sketchy and
this may not be Acorn’s preferred solution, but it works. Hope this is
of some use. Joe Wood, Goring-by-Sea.
6.11
• Impression master pages − To create a document with the same master
page as an earlier document in Impression, load the first document, save
a new copy with a new name, create a new chapter with the following
choices: Insert after current chapter / Restart page at 1 / Copy master
page and delete all of the chapters except the new one. George Foot,
Oxted.
6.11
• Numeric resets − I have a 420/1 and, because of lack of space on the
table where the computer lives, the keyboard has to be kept upright
behind the computer when it is not in use. One day, I turned the
computer on and was greeted by a display moving rapidly upwards and
slowly sideways. Adjusting the monitor had no effect. It turned out that
one of the numeric keys was being held down by the corner of the monitor
and the monitor type had been reconfigured as I switched on. So, if you
keep your keyboard upright (yes, I know it’s bad practice, but where
else can I keep it?) and your display goes crazy, try a <numeric> reset
before panicking! P Young, Cheltenham
6.11
• Pocket Book and BJ10ex problems − It appears that the Pocket Book’s
built in Canon BJ10e driver does not work correctly with the Canon
BJ10ex. We have a printer driver (supplied to us from Psion via Richard
Collinson) which works. If you have this printer, send us a formatted
SSD or a disc and your problems will be over. Psion can also supply
other drivers on SSD if necessary. Simon Moy, Archive.
6.11
• SigmaSheet revisited − John Waddell’s SigmaSheet fix in last month’s
Hints & Tips requires one more line within DEFPROCexit: *Country UK.
6.11
• Solid icons − If the ‘drag solid file icons’ option is set in RISC OS
3, it causes applications like DrawPlus to reject the file as being of
an incompatible file format. This prevents files being dragged between
applications in the normal way. Mike McNamara, Dunstable. A
6.11
Help.h in Desktop C
6.11
Gwyn Williams (Wyddfa Software)
6.11
In response to a request in the July edition for help with the C
“help.h” functions, here is a brief explanation of how to do it.
6.11
Use of the help.h functions
6.11
The help.h functions with Acorn’s Desktop C are quite sparsely
documented. Their main aim is to provide the RISC OS 3 feature of menu
help messages.
6.11
The first problem is that the RISC_OSLib library file provided with
Desktop C does not allow you to pass, in R3 of the Wimp_Initialise SWI
call which the function wimpt_init() calls, a list of messages in which
the task is interested. To remedy this, ask Acorn for a RISC_OSLib which
does support this. This new RISC_OSLib comes with a wimpt module with a
new function, wimpt_messages(), with which you can add the list of
messages. We will therefore need a new function to set a list of
messages and pass them on. We use wimpt_wimpversion() to tell the system
that we know about RISC OS 3. (Er, oops, the version of RISC_OSLib that
Gwyn is referring to isn’t actually available except to registered
developers until it is has been fully checked by Acorn. Ed.)
6.11
The menu help message is regarded by the system as an unknown event, so
we will either have to write an unknown event processor, or pass unknown
events to an existing window. In the example below, ukev_proc() is the
unknown event handler. The function help_process() returns TRUE if the
help request was a menu request which has now been processed. In that
case, no further processing is needed.
6.11
As an example, we’ll alter the c.DrawEx file in the !DrawEx example
application provided with Desktop C. Please copy the original to a safe
place first.
6.11
(1) After #include “saveas.h” add two additional header files:
6.11
#include “help.h”
6.11
#include “msgs.h”
6.11
(2) Put these new functions in the “miscellanea” section − they are the
functions referred to above:
6.11
void setmess( void )
6.11
{messages[] ={wimp_mdatasave ,
6.11
wimp_MDATASAVEOK,
6.11
wimp_MDATALOAD,
6.11
wimp_MDATALOADOK,
6.11
wimp_MDATAOPEN,
6.11
wimp_MRAMFETCH,
6.11
wimp_MRAMTRANSMIT,
6.11
wimp_MPREQUIT,
6.11
wimp_SAVEDESK,
6.11
wimp_MDATASAVED,
6.11
wimp_MMENUWARN,
6.11
wimp_MMODECHANGE,
6.11
wimp_MHELPREQUEST,
6.11
(wimp_msgaction)0
6.11
};
6.11
wimpt_messages( messages );
6.11
}
6.11
BOOL ukev_proc( wimp_eventstr *e, void *handle )
6.11
{ret ;
6.11
handle = handle;
6.11
switch( e->e ) {case wimp_ESENDWANTACK:
6.11
switch ( e->data.msg.hdr. action ) {{ Style “ParaIndent” Off}
6.11
case wimp_MHELPREQUEST:
6.11
if ( !help_process(e) )
6.11
msgs_lookup( “BORDER” );
6.11
ret = TRUE;
6.11
break;
6.11
default:
6.11
ret = FALSE;
6.11
break;
6.11
}
6.11
default:
6.11
ret = FALSE;
6.11
break;
6.11
}
6.11
return( ret );
6.11
}
6.11
(3) Before the call wimpt_init(“DrawEx”) in drawex_initialise(), add the
following statements (their function is as described in the
introduction):
6.11
setmess();
6.11
wimpt_wimpversion(310);
6.11
(4) Add this statement after the line “Drawex_
data *d = (Drawex_data *)handle” in drawex_ menumaker(). This calls
help_simplehandler to handle menu help messages. The messages are in the
messages file with a number after the tag “WINMENU”, indicating which
menu item was “hit”, with 0 at the top:
6.11
help_register_handler( help_simplehandler, (void *)“WINMENU” );
6.11
(5) Add this statement after dbox_setfield() in
drawex_info_about_program(). This tells help_dboxrawevents() to look up
the help message with the tag “INFO” in the messages file:
6.11
dbox_raw_eventhandler( d, help_ dboxrawevents, “INFO” );
6.11
(6) The request for help to the window will come as a wimp_ESENDWANTACK
with action wimp_MHELPREQUEST. To deal with this, add a new case after:
6.11
case wimp_MDATALOAD:
6.11
case wimp_MDATAOPEN:
6.11
drawex_load_file(d);
6.11
break;
6.11
case wimp_MHELPREQUEST:
6.11
if ( !help_process(e) )
6.11
help_reply( msgs_lookup( “WIN” ));
6.11
break;
6.11
(7) To initialise the msgs system, after visdelay_init(), add:
6.11
msgs_init();
6.11
(8) After the draw_registerMemoryFunctions() call in
drawex_initialise(), add:
6.11
win_add_unknown_event_processor( ukev_proc, (void *)0 );
6.11
This tells the system about the unknown event processor.
6.11
(9) Now make the new !RunImage.
6.11
(10) Now add a new file “messages” in the !DrawEx application directory:
this is a text file containing the following text:
6.11
INFO:This box displays information about the program.
6.11
SAVEAS:Drag this file icon to a directory viewer to save it.|MDrag it to
a printer to print the file.
6.11
IMENU0:\Rdisplay information about the program.
6.11
IMENU1:\Squit the program.
6.11
WINMENU0:\Rdisplay information about the program.
6.11
WINMENU1:\Rsave the file.
6.11
WINMENU2:\Squit the program.
6.11
WIN:This is the example window.
6.11
BORDER:This window belongs to the DrawEx application.
6.11
These are the actual messages that will be displayed. Always use the
msgs system rather than put the messages in the code because it makes
“internationalisation” much easier. A
6.11
Oak Solutions
6.11
From 6.10 page 12
6.11
Colton Software
6.11
From 6.10 page 11
6.11
Schedule − Agenda for the Pocket Book?
6.11
Simon Moy
6.11
As promised in the original Pocket Book News Release, Acorn have
produced a version of Psion’s Agenda for their own hand-held computer.
“Schedule” is the program that many people have been waiting for. At
last we have a proper diary/calendar/appointment book application which
turns the Pocket Book into an immensely useful pocket tool.
6.11
Some people have used Write as a simple appointment book but, until now,
the gap between the education-orientated Pocket Book and the business-
orientated Psion Series 3 has been a painfully obvious one.
6.11
Schedule is described as a timetable and personal organiser. There are
five separate displays which make up the calendar, diary and time
organisation facilities:
6.11
− monthly/weekly calendar
6.11
− weekly timetable
6.11
− daily appointments
6.11
− day notes
6.11
− “to do” list
6.11
Pressing the assigned Schedule button, or the Esc key, cycles between
these screens.
6.11
Check the date...
6.11
Schedule’s opening screen (below) consists of a calendar displaying the
current month and a weekly summary which is used to show your week’s
appointments at a glance. Simple use of the cursor keys allows you to
look at different months and weeks, and pressing <Acorn-J> allows you to
jump to any date. This always defaults to the current date and is a
useful way of returning to today’s date. The weekly summary is used to
show appointment times (and durations) and the existence of a “day note”
for each day of the week. Appointments are shown as arrows pointing
downwards, the length of the arrow corresponding to the duration of the
appointment. Day notes are shown as an underscore under the relevant
day(s).
6.11
...and plan your day
6.11
Pressing <Enter> from the calendar will display the appointment diary
for the highlighted day.
6.11
This allows you to enter or view your appointments for the selected day.
I did not find Schedule as user-friendly as Agenda in this area. Agenda
displays its diary as a two-page open book allowing you to view almost a
whole day on a single screen (fourteen appointments per day.) Schedule
displays appointments in a list down the screen which means that you can
only display a maximum of six appointments at any one time. This problem
can be alleviated slightly by hiding vacant time slots from view
(normally, Schedule defaults to displaying all empty slots with an hour
between each one).
6.11
Entering a new appointment is simply a matter of telling Schedule when
the it starts, when it ends (or how long it is) and typing the message.
As soon as you enter an appointment, it appears on the weekly summary
and on the timetable. The length of the arrow (in the weekly summary) or
the text slot (in the timetable) is proportional to the length of the
corresponding appointment.
6.11
Appointments can be repeated with an enormous array of repeat options:
daily, weekly, monthly, annually, workdays only and the same day each
month. Repeat dates can be set to any period between the currently
selected date and 1st January 2070! Finally, the repeat frequency can be
set to every other, every third and so on.
6.11
Schedule’s alarm provides a further useful feature. The Time application
can already set alarms to repeat daily, weekly and on workdays but there
is no facility for setting an alarm on a specific date more than a week
away. The alarm feature within Schedule can be used to remind you of
appointments at any time up to the year 2070. Any appointment can have
an associated alarm and each one can be set to sound at a predefined
time before the relevant appointment. (Acorn’s example is to remind you
fifteen minutes before you’re due to go to a meeting.)
6.11
Day notes
6.11
Alongside the appointment book is the capability to record notes for
each day without specifying a time. Pressing the Schedule key from the
appointment screen will display this screen and allow you to enter notes
which relate to the current day. As with the other screens, the cursor
keys allow you to change the current date and <Acorn-J> will allow a
specific date to be entered.
6.11
Up to six day notes can be entered for each day and each one can be
repeated using the same options as for the appointment book.
6.11
Alarms can also be set for day notes. These allow you to set an alarm up
to twenty-eight days in advance for the relevant note. An option in the
Special/Options menu sets the time at which note alarms will sound on
the specified day. A final option allows a particular note to appear as
a heading for the appointment book on that day.
6.11
Setting a day note displays a small note symbol on the corresponding
appointment book screen and produces an underscore under the relevant
day on the weekly summary to remind you that a day note exists. This
screen can be disabled if it is not being used.
6.11
What a to do!
6.11
This screen is the odd one out in Schedule. The other four screens all
interact in some way but the To do list is a separate entity. It offers
a way to remind the user of tasks which need to be completed by some
given date.
6.11
Each item in the To do list has an associated priority (urgent, high,
medium or low), a subject and a due date. You can group items under
subject headings and cycle through them using the left and right cursor
keys, or you can display all of the items at once. Items are displayed
in order of priority (or by date for items of equal priority.) As a
safety feature, items do not expire from the list when the due date has
passed − they have to be manually deleted.
6.11
The timetable
6.11
I have left this until last because it is not an active screen. It gives
a graphical display of a week’s appointments. The length of each item
corresponds to the duration of the appointment. An option to change the
displayed start and end times is available and Schedule adjusts the size
of each slot accordingly
6.11
As with the other screens, the cursor keys can be used to modify the day
or week, and pressing <Enter> will display the appointment book for the
selected day. This screen can also be disabled like the day notes
screen.
6.11
Conclusion
6.11
Schedule is an application that has been eagerly awaited by Pocket Book
fans and you will not be disappointed. There are a couple of minor
niggles: the lack of a ‘day-to-a-page’ feel about the appointment book
is the most notable. Also, the To do list does not display the current
date. Thankfully you can display both the time and date in any
application using <Acorn-Menu>, although I would have liked to have seen
the date permanently displayed in the To do screen. But please note that
these really are pedantic niggles!
6.11
So how useful is Schedule? In brief, it is essential for anyone who
carries (or wants to carry) their Pocket Book around as a ‘feature-
filled filofax’. For those who have hesitated in buying the Pocket Book
(perhaps debating between this and the Series 3), Schedule makes the
machine far more attractive. There are trade-offs with both machines:
the Series 3 comes without a spell-checker or a spreadsheet, both of
which the Pocket Book has; but the Pocket Book comes without a diary
planner and the OPL editor, both of which the Series 3 has. Now that
both of these packages are available to Acorn users, the Pocket Book is
just about on a par with the Series 3. I know that it is meant as an
education tool, but there are many users out there who would like to buy
Acorn products and these applications are essential if the Pocket Book
is to sell in large numbers.
6.11
Basically, Schedule is an excellent application − everyone who wants to
use a Pocket Book as a pocket notebook should get themselves a copy!
6.11
Acorn Schedule is £49.95 inc VAT (or £46 through Archive) but as an
introductory offer, until 30th September 1993, Acorn are offering it at
£19.95 inc VAT (£19 through Archive). Also until 30th September, the
Pocket Book itself is on special offer so you can buy a Pocket Book plus
Schedule for just £219 inclusive through Archive. A
6.11
Hardware Column
6.11
Brian Cowan
6.11
Things seem relatively quiet on the hardware front at the moment. There
are rumours, but then of course there always are. The bulletin boards
have a few mentions of Windows NT in connection with the ARM. We will
have to wait and see.
6.11
Colour card
6.11
I have been using my Computer Concepts / Wild Vision colour card for
some time now. It is installed in an A540 machine with an Eizo 9070
monitor. The system works well but I was waiting for the mode designer
from CC so that I could produce screen modes to my own specifications.
The mode designer has finally appeared but beware on a number of counts.
6.11
Beware
6.11
Before CC would send me the software, I had to write them a letter
accepting full responsibility if I damaged my monitor as a result of
producing ‘unsuitable’ modes. There is also a warning in the mode
designer documentation to this effect. It would appear that this piece
of software is not for general release − and I suppose this is sensible
if it could cause one’s monitor to self-destruct!
6.11
To start with, I could not use the designer software at all; an error
message said that I needed a later version of ColourCard. When I ’phoned
CC I received a surprise. Apparently there are two versions of the
colour card, each with different hardware. I was told that I probably
had a version one card and that the software would also work with
version two cards. Could I upgrade? Answer: no. This was all rather
disappointing. However, on closer inspection (doing a *podules), I
discovered that my card was a version two model but my software was
rather old. A second disc was dispatched from CC and everything was fine
− or at least reasonably so. The screen display is different with the
new software, and the mode designer is actually quite complicated to
use. This is really not designed for amateurs; it is a serious software
tool for people who really know what they are doing. As yet, clearly I
don’t, but I am learning. I hope to report on my progress soon.
6.11
SyQuest drives
6.11
Some of my SyQuest removable drives are a few years old now. Without
wishing to tempt fate, I can report that they seem remarkably reliable.
Of course, there would not be a lot of point in using them if they were
not! Much of the credit for the success of these drives must go to
Atomwide who were the first people to realise that good ventilation was
vital for reliable performance.
6.11
Reliability survey
6.11
I bring up the topic of SyQuests because, as they have now been used by
many Archimedes users for a reasonable length of time, perhaps we should
do a realistic survey of how good they are in practice. There was
mention, some time ago, of the fact that the spinning discs would act as
a pump and suck air (and dust) into the plastic cases. After all, the
technology is essentially that of an open hard disc, and think of the
warnings against opening a real hard disc drive! In order to provide a
realistic assessment of the technology, I invite readers to let me know
of experiences − good or bad − with these drives. You can write directly
to the Archive offices or, for those of you with access to email, I can
be contacted as B.COWAN@UK.AC.RHBNC.VAX.
6.11
The FPA arrives
6.11
The long-awaited floating point accelerator, the FPA10, has finally
appeared (£99 plus VAT or £107 through Archive. The FPA chip can be
plugged into A5000 machines and also the later A540 models which have an
FPA socket on the CPU board. The instruction booklet tells you how to
perform the installation in those machines. Some ARM3 upgrade boards
also have a socket for the FPA; I bought a Simtec board for precisely
this reason. I plugged the new chip into the Simtec board on my upgraded
A410/1 with trepidation as I had no instructions. However the FPA
booklet indicated where pin 1 was with an arrow. On the Simtec socket
there was also an arrow, and when I found that the flat on the chip
package matched a recess on the socket, I thought that things should be
OK. I was able to install the FPA, with care, without removing any
podules. Having plugged in the FPU chip, I switched on and the computer
booted up as normal. The physical installation should be equally easy
with the A5000 and A540 machines.
6.11
Running the FPA
6.11
As expected, the FPA does not perform all of the floating point
operations on the chip; some are still done with the aid of software.
For this reason, a new version of the floating point emulator is needed
and this is supplied on a floppy disc which comes with the FPA upgrade.
The instructions suggest that installation of this support module is
done within a boot sequence. Once this is done, you should be able to
forget the FPA is installed − except that floating point operations
should run much faster. Acorn publicity suggests that speed improvements
of as much as 50 times should be possible for floating point intensive
tasks such as CAD, spreadsheets and various graphics operations. The
FPA10 is claimed to have a peak throughput of up to 5 megaflops at 26MHz
with an average of 3 megaflops ‘over a range of operations’.
6.11
On test
6.11
I ran a few benchmark tests of my own to see how well the chip matched
up to this. The RealMath benchmark test gave a 12 times speed
improvement. This test performs just addition, subtraction, division and
multiplication operations on floating point numbers, so a substantial
improvement is to be expected. The Savage benchmark, which comprises
many transcendental functions, gave an improvement of about 6.5 times.
These sort of operations do use some software support and, as can be
seen, the speed improvement is not so dramatic. Finally, I used an old
favourite of mine, a fast Fourier transform. Here the speed improvement
was about five times. This is relatively slow, mainly because much of
the speed-critical operations like the creation of the sine tables is
already done faster in assembler. Nevertheless, the speed improvement is
pleasing. It remains to be seen how well the FPA performs in practice.
Will I realise that it is installed when I am running spreadsheets and
CAD programs? I will let you know.
6.11
Older A540 machines
6.11
If you have an early A540 (as I do) then a free modification must be
made to the CPU card. Actually things won’t be as simple as that for me
as I have one of the original 30MHz ARM3 chips in my A540. The FPA
instructions state clearly that it is not designed to run faster than
26MHz. So, if you have a fast CPU, you must slow it down with another
crystal before you can use an FPA. Maybe some faster chips will appear
in the future, as happened with the ARM3 chips.
6.11
(The bad news for Brian and me, as I also have an old A540, is that the
boards needed for the FPA upgrade won’t be available until the autumn!
Ed.)
6.11
New machines?
6.11
An interview with Robin Saxby, the managing director of ARM Ltd, in the
August issue of BBC Acorn User sheds some interesting light on the shape
of the new machines which Acorn have under wraps. Mr Saxby says that the
new generation of Acorn machines will be based on the ARM700 chip rather
than the ARM600 as used in the Apple Newton notebook. He is quoted as
saying, “Acorn will definitely be using the ARM700 family in its new
range of machines, as well as the VIDC20 video controller”. So, with
ARM700 (which is said to be “at least twice as fast as the ARM3”) plus
VIDC20 providing 24-bit graphics plus an FPA10, Acorn will have an
extremely powerful machine to sell.
6.11
Top of the range
6.11
The general feeling is that we are talking about a top of the range
machine to replace the A540. (Acorn say that the A540 is now no longer
in production and that they don’t have any in stock. Ed.) Some time ago
there was a suggestion that new ARM-based machines might have two CPUs
with one of them dedicated to looking after the video. It would make
sense to free the main CPU from this responsibility but if they are
using the VIDC20, presumably, it would be ARM-driven. The VIDC20 would
probably be using at least 2 Mb of dual-ported RAM which must be fed
from a CPU somewhere but as the ARM700 can address a staggering 64 Mb of
RAM, there is plenty of address space to go round.
6.11
Podule support
6.11
What other developments might one expect? Many people are discovering
that four podule slots is really not enough for many applications. If
you have a PC card, a LaserDirect, a Scanner and a SCSI interface then
that’s your lot. There is then no space for a FaxPack or an IEEE
interface, for example. Hopefully, Acorn will address this problem and
provide the possibility of having eight or more expansion slots, maybe
as an add-on unit.
6.11
The other way in which the expansion capability ought to be enhanced is
by supporting the full 32-bit data transfer between expansion cards and
the Archimedes. At present, only 16-bit communication is allowed,
although the podule documentation hints at a possible relaxation of this
restriction. 32-bit expansion cards with a generous memory address range
would allow some really sophisticated hardware expansion products. Of
course, the old 16 bit cards would be compatible with such new machines
but not the other way around.
6.11
PC compatible
6.11
Talking to those who actually sell Acorn computers, the biggest
conversation-stopper is, “Is it PC-compatible?” If the new machine is to
take advantage of the huge potential market, it needs to have some sort
of PC-compatibility. Of course, you could have an Atomwide PC486 card as
standard but you would need to find a way round the problem that you
cannot access the PC partition from RISC OS when it is in use by the PC
card.
6.11
When?
6.11
The editorial in last month’s Archive suggested that a release at the
Acorn World Show in October was unlikely. To make a good impact, it is
necessary that software and hardware developers have a sufficient time
to use versions of the new machines before they are released. For
instance Computer Concepts would be expected to have versions of
ArtWorks and Impression available at launch, which would demonstrate the
real potential of any new machines.
6.11
Robin Saxby also said that the ARM700 isn’t available “in silicon” at
the moment but would be launched in the fourth quarter so it seems very
unlikely that these new machines will be available until at least Spring
next year − still 9 months away yet.
6.11
But remember − this is all speculation. All I can do is read the
published information and draw my own conclusions!
6.11
(I asked Acorn about these machines and they said they had no
information to publish at this stage. Ed.) A
6.11
Econet Column
6.11
Dave Emsley
6.11
Different establishments will have different network systems and will
set them up to meet their own requirements but within the Econet Column,
I hope to raise issues which are relevant to network users and managers,
regardless of the system they use. In this first article I am going to
look at a typical network from a user’s point of view − what do they see
and how do they access the software that they need?
6.11
The network
6.11
The network at our school consists of a single, mixed economy, Level 3
Econet network with BBC B, Master, A3000, A310, A440 and A5000 systems
with a 40Mb FileStore E01S.
6.11
What do we require from our network?
6.11
This has to be the first, and main question that anyone with, or about
to install, a network should ask. I would suggest that there are a
number of reasons for installing networks:
6.11
1) Share expensive resources, e.g. laser printers, scanners, CD-ROMs,
etc.
6.11
2) Provide a facility where students and staff can save work.
6.11
3) Provide a facility from which students and staff can load
applications.
6.11
4) Provide a standard ‘front end’ so that each user needs only to be
taught once and they are then able to load all the network applications
in a similar way.
6.11
I intend to look at these ‘in reverse order’.
6.11
The front end
6.11
Students and staff are used to the network system booting up with an in-
house front end. This is an information screen giving daily notices
(though in practice this changes every 2−3 days), station number, date
and time. Through this front end, they enter their name, tutor group and
whether they are a boy or girl. This information is then stored and
weekly statistical analysis carried out, for example number of boys/
girls using the network, breakdown by tutor group and subject area, etc.
This enables us to target and support groups of students who are not
using the system often enough. As a bonus, it allows us to check on
abuses of the system, e.g. excessive numbers of ‘sign-ins’ or Paul
signing in as a girl, etc.
6.11
The front end also serves another more vital purpose. It is the vehicle
through which new modules are loaded into each machine, in particular;
VProtect 1.33 and NetPrint 5.3 both of which are vital to ensure that
the network runs smoothly.
6.11
In this way, our network system remains (so far) virus free, although
just to be on the safe side, it is regularly scanned using Pineapple’
!Killer.
6.11
The BBC and Master systems on the network also boot up a similar front
end but it is not quite as pretty.
6.11
The URD
6.11
When a user logs onto the system they are put into their user root
directory (&).
6.11
At Glossopdale this looks like:
6.11
These files are: !Scrap − Standard Acorn Scrap directory for scrap
files. ConfigPD − A file supplied with the BBC version of PenDown.
A!Pendown and A!FPSE − These directories are created and moved into by
the Menu System for the BBC and Master system. This menu system is
called Epsilon and is subject to copyright. More information is
available from DESCIT.
6.11
!Apps − This is probably the most important of the applications as far
as using the network is concerned. It runs the network !System folder.
This is important as some students might not open the directory
containing the !System application.
6.11
Double-clicking on the !Apps application opens a directory on the hard
disc in which all the application for which we have a licence are
stored. !Apps was written by myself and Martin Williams and is the
copyright of Derbyshire County Council, further information from DESCIT.
6.11
The applications
6.11
The directory opened by !Apps looks something like this :
6.11
!EpsMenu is the application which runs the Epsilon menu system which is
used for loading the applications which are available to us under County
licence and which run only under BBC emulation.
6.11
!Fonts is the font folder as supplied with PinPoint Junior, but with
only one font in it.
6.11
It is not practical, nor desirable, to have the amount of traffic that
fonts would generate travelling over Econet. This will be reviewed when
(if) we go over to Ethernet or Nexus. If students require more than one
font, they can simply use a floppy disc with more fonts on it prior to
loading applications.
6.11
!Shutdown is a Public Domain application written by Stuart Hickenbottom.
It logs the user off after interrogating any currently active
applications to see if they need to save data. This has been made
largely redundant under RISC OS 3.1 as a shutdown is provided. We
encourage students to use this rather than simply using BYE from the
Econet menu because it will also park any hard discs and close any open
files.
6.11
!System is the main system folder as supplied with most applications. It
has all the latest modules in it supplied with any of the applications.
6.11
All other directories hold sub-directories or applications, a maximum of
eight in each directory. This is so that students do not have to scroll
through each directory’s contents.
6.11
Other front ends
6.11
When !Menon, a Public Domain applications launcher by Joris Röling,
appeared on a rival magazine disc, we looked at the possibility of using
it on the network. It worked very well. The application itself resides
in the $.Apps.!System directory and is run from an application in the
URD.
6.11
The !Run file within this dummy application is:
6.11
Run Net#0.254:$.Apps.!System .!Menon
6.11
This loads the full application which installs on the iconbar. Clicking
with <menu> on this icon produces a menu (no surprise there!) of the
software available from the network.
6.11
Some of the applications have keyboard shortcuts to start them, e.g.
!!Shutdown uses <ctrl-Q>, Ovation uses <ctrl-O>, the printer driver uses
<ctrl-P>, etc. These are all easily configured using Menon. The reason
for deciding against this as our method of accessing applications was
that it is non-standard and students going elsewhere might find
difficulties with other, standardised systems.
6.11
If your front end or application organisation is fundamentally
different, please write and let me know. I intend to write about the
software which works on the network and any problems encountered. If you
have any horror stories or any applications which worked first time
please let me know.
6.11
My address is 746 Manchester Road, Stocksbridge, Sheffield, S30 5EA.
6.11
DESCIT can be contacted at Chatsworth Hall, Chesterfield Road, Matlock.
(0629−580000). A
6.11
Computer Concepts
6.11
From 6.10 page 24
6.11
Ovation Column
6.11
Maurice Edmundson
6.11
Tabulation within Ovation
6.11
There is no specific automated feature within Ovation for preparing and
including tables within a text document but on the occasions I have had
to do this, I have found that the standard tools can be used to very
good effect. My attention has been drawn to this topic through
correspondence with Brian Bailey, a reader from Gloucestershire. I have
also incorporated Aneurin Griffiths’ frame stacking principle which I
outlined in the last column and which I think makes construction of a
table even easier.
6.11
The technique makes use of the following standard Ovation features:
nesting frames, sliding frames around easily with <adjust>, guidelines
and the way frames snap on to them, and stacking frames. Spend a few
moments planning the form of the table so that you will know the number
of columns and rows, and have a rough idea of the width and depth of
each. This will give a guide to the overall dimensions of the finished
table and where it might appear on the page.
6.11
I have prepared an example (see below) on which to base the description
of how it is done. The table can be constructed in the document, or
perhaps more easily on a new empty page, and later transferred to its
final site. Draw a text frame onto a blank page making it about 8mm
wider and about 30% longer than the finished table is likely to be. The
extra length is to provide a work area at the bottom for stacking
frames.
6.11
At the bottom left of this frame, and within it, draw a text frame about
25mm wide by 10mm deep. This is not critical and, in some circumstances,
could be drawn to the finished size straight away. If you want the table
‘grid’ to be visible then add a thin single border to the frame,
otherwise leave it unframed. Now duplicate it (say) 12 times
horizontally to get the stack. When frames are generated within an
existing frame, they become ‘nested’ and will move around with the
parent frame. (If you slide a frame into another one from outside, it
remains independent. It does not become nested and it will not maintain
its position relative to the parent if the latter is moved.)
6.11
Show the rulers and add vertical guidelines to the page at those
positions where the grid lines are required. The first grid line, i.e.
the left hand side of the table, should be a few millimetres inside the
parent frame and, for convenience, it is helpful to choose a nice round
number on the top ruler, e.g. 20mm. Now add the guidelines for the
remaining columns until you reach the one for the right hand edge of the
table. These can be placed at measured positions, e.g. every 30mm, or
they can be judged by eye. Remember that a guide line, if wrongly
placed, can be moved using <adjust> (in this case the mouse pointer must
touch the line off the ruler) or it can be removed altogether by
dragging it to the side of the page.
6.11
The columns can be of varying widths. Try to ensure that these widths
are finalised at this stage where they are easily modified. They could
be changed later but it would be more complicated since each column
would have to be adjusted to allow for the change in one of them. If in
doubt about the width of a column, type a trial frame to test how big it
has to be to hold the required data. Add one horizontal guideline to
mark the top edge of the table, a few mm inside the top of the parent
frame. Guidelines do not show through the parent frame but can be seen
around the sides. This doesn’t matter much, since objects still snap to
guidelines even though they are hidden from view.
6.11
Activate the top frame in the stack and, using <adjust>, slide it off
the stack and up to the top left corner of the guidelines. If you
haven’t done this before, you will be surprised how obviously the frame
snaps onto the guides − you can almost hear it click! Take care when
releasing <adjust> not to move the mouse. Once the top and left edges of
the frame are snapped into position, the right hand edge of the frame
must be dragged onto its guideline using <select> with the pointer on
the small red ‘handle’ in the middle. In the same way, adjust the frame
depth to suit (no guideline here but a glance at the red marker on the
left ruler will show its position).
6.11
Now slide frames from the stack into position next to those already
there. The snapping is easily observed and very accurate. Adjust the
length and the depth as before. If necessary, minor adjustments of
alignment can always be made at the end and if viewed at about 300% they
can be achieved perfectly. Of course, if you are not showing the grid in
the printed table, these fine adjustments are probably not necessary.
You can type in the data as each frame is positioned, (useful if you
want to size the frame to hold a lot of data) or fill in the whole table
when construction is finished. It will be obvious that the depth of the
rows can vary from row to row or even from column to column.
6.11
The paragraph styles should be prepared in advance. Modifying your
bodytext for the type which will be used most, simplifies entry. I find
centred format is often the best for all fonts throughout the table.
6.11
Sometimes a thick line is preferred under the table headings. This can
be added using the draw tool (holding down <shift>). As with frames,
provided lines are drawn (created) within a parent frame they will
become nested and linked to it. Using the palette in the Modify Frame
option, selected slots, rows or columns can be shaded. If a logo or even
a graph or diagram is required in the table, use a picture frame at that
position.
6.11
When the table is completed, the parent frame can be closed up to the
table, leaving just enough space at the bottom − about 5mm − to select
it and activate it easily. If you have been working on the required
document page, slide the parent into position and the whole table will
be positioned with it. If you have been working on a spare page, the
frame can be copied and pasted in its true place in the document. If you
are printing grid lines, no overall border is required otherwise use the
parent frame, closed up to the table on all four sides to add the chosen
border.
6.11
You can use the RISC OS snapshot facility to make a sprite or a
drawfile, which will allow sizing within a picture frame, but there will
be some loss of definition.
6.11
Version numbers
6.11
You may be interested to know the latest version numbers for Ovation:
Ovation 1.38 − this is tuned to load faster across networks; Ovation
1.39 − this provides ArtWorks file rendering. A
6.11
Ray Maidstone
6.11
New artwork
6.11
Computer Concepts
6.11
From 6.10 page 23
6.11
Education Column
6.11
Solly Ezra
6.11
Many thanks to all who welcomed this column and contributed to it. In
the process of including the salient points from the correspondent’s
letters, I hope that I will not exclude any that you may have considered
important. The emphasis this time is on teachers.
6.11
Dr Fagandini has asked us to consider, first, whether a piece of
software is “educationally significant” as the term “educational
software” hardly defines itself. He further says that we need to know
what information − in the broadest sense − is imparted and how effective
the transfer is. He is also concerned that teachers themselves should be
supported by the technology. I have no doubt that this will strike a
chord with most teachers. Dr Fagandini suggests that the Archive column
(or supplement) should move from teachers towards the children. I am
quite certain that our column will achieve more than that.
6.11
I have with me a copy of the report by a working group of the Education
Committee of The Royal Society on ‘Interactive video and the teaching of
science’ from Dr Fagandini and will refer to this at another time.
6.11
Mark Sealey suggests that if the target audience of the education column
is teachers then we should include topics such as:
6.11
• The Acorn Education Centres, their purpose, role and how they
function.
6.11
• The work and role of NCET (National Council for Educational
Technology).
6.11
• A directory of help and advice on IT (Information Technology).
6.11
• A basic software library for each phase.
6.11
• Guidance on basic disc management and housekeeping.
6.11
• A regular update on publications and research findings.
6.11
• A simple questionnaire/hotline for teachers to express what are
their most pressing worries and areas where support is needed.
6.11
• The role of CD ROM, now and in the future.
6.11
• Case studies of good practice from an educational rather than a
technical standpoint.
6.11
John Thompson has sent me a description of software and hardware
(in)compatibility from a tutor’s view. The point he makes underscores
references above to teachers’ support. The burden of John’s report is
the prevalence of incomplete facilities and incompatibility arising
(perhaps) from incompetent management. He has access to a plethora of
Archimedes computers which are used during the day by the school and at
night by the Adult Education Service.
6.11
John was responsible for presenting the RSA (Royal Society of Arts)
Information Technology Stage II course to adult students. The software
was made available by the school’s IT coordinator. The software seemed
to have been pulled off the coordinator’s hard disc onto floppies. These
were incomplete and lacked system folders.
6.11
There were problems with:
6.11
(a) saving data on the !EBase database.
6.11
(b) printing from the spreadsheet. DIP switches had to be set at the
start of each session and then reset for school use.
6.11
(c) the size of the charts in the graphics module.
6.11
(d) collating information.
6.11
(e) communications between Archimedes and the Z88. There was no
available communications facilities or network in the computer
laboratory.
6.11
Despite these and other problems the modules were completed
successfully. From the description of the work done it is obvious that
the teacher (John in this case) had to put in a great deal of effort to
make up for the shortcomings.
6.11
Reviews
6.11
Paul has sent me three pieces of software − Amazing Maths, Picture It
and Sumthing. These are being tested out on groups of children at Ayloff
School in Havering. I am very grateful to Ken Nicholls for his trouble.
I will then use them with another group from an inner city school and
give you my findings in the next column.
6.11
Please do write to me with your thoughts, comments and experiences. This
column, as all the others, depend largely on your contributions.
6.11
My address is 35 Edgefield Avenue, Barking, Essex, IG11 9JL. A
6.11
Small Ads
6.11
(Small ads for Archimedes and related products are free for subscribers
but we reserve the right to publish all, part or none of the material
you send, as we think fit. i.e. some people don’t know what ‘small’
means and there are certain things, as you can imagine, that we would
not be prepared to advertise as a matter of principle. Sending small ads
(especially long ones!) on disc is helpful but not essential. Ed)
6.11
• A310, 4Mb RAM and software, £300. 40Mb hard disc drive + controller
£140. ARM3 upgrade £80. Acorn multisync £180. Phone 0744−58404.
6.11
• A310 with IFEL backplane and fan; Panasonic KP1081 9pin Printer £450.
Contact Thilmcraft 0362−691690
6.11
• A410/1, 4M, 40M IDE drive, Acorn m/s monitor, manuals + lots of
software, £900 o.v.n.o. Phone 071−703−5675.
6.11
• A440/1, HD40, Impression II, Pipedream 3, Render Bender, Taxan 775,
£850. Call Barry on Derby 0332−701969.
6.11
• A5000 40Mb/2Mb RAM + Acorn m/s monitor + RISC OS 3.1, brand new, inc
software £1469. Phone Roger on 061−799−9845 (eves or w/e).
6.11
• Acorn DTP £40, Star/Epson colour printer driver (Beebug) £8, GammaPlot
£20, System Delta+ £30, DR DOS 5.0 £20, MSDOS 5.0 £30, Nevryon £8,
Powerband £8. CC ROMs: Interchart £10, Intersheet £15, SpellMaster £20.
All original programs with documentation etc. Phone 0737−832159
(evenings).
6.11
• Acorn DTP £40, 1st Word Plus £35, Genesis+ £60, all v.g.c., original
discs with manuals. All three for £115. Phone 0746−765812.
6.11
• Acorn I/O podule £50. Armadillo Sound/Midi podule £70, Hawk V9
Digitiser podule £120, ICS IDE interface £50, CC BJ10ex turbo driver
£40. Phone Dave on 021−745−2423.
6.11
• Austrian exchange student looking for Archimedes-users in and around
Strasbourg next year (Sep. ’93 − June ’94). Write to Roland Nitsch,
Mariensteig 17, A−1130 Wien, Austria, or phone +431−874−6644.
6.11
• Lingenuity 44Mb SCSI external drive + A3000 interface, £250 o.n.o.
Phone David on 0223− 842505 after 6.30.
6.11
• Midnight Tracer £25, Genesis Plus £14, Acorn DTP £19, 1st Word Plus 2
£5, Drawbender £5, FontFX (RISC OS 3) £4, ShapeFX £5, Euclid £25,
Investigator 2 £15, E-Type £5, Pacmania £5, Interdictor £4, Apocalypse
£9, Air Supremacy £11, Lemmings £9, Superior Golf £5, Trivial Pursuit
£5, Acorn JP150 Printer boxed as new £149. Wanted − Image Outliner,
Helix Basic, DeskEdit2. Phone 0626−853774
6.11
• Miracle Modem WS3000 £40, Miracle modem WS2000 £20, Archimedes Morley
Teletext £30, CC BJ10, BJ300/330 Turbo Printer Driver, new, boxed £25.
Phone 036284−633.
6.11
• Panasonic KX-P1081 printer and stand £60. Phone Mr K J Tompkins on
0276−28932.
6.11
• Panasonic KX-P1124 good cond, £110. Also Beebug 5¼ disc interface, 40
track drive, DFS reader software and 50 5¼ discs, the lot for only £40
o.n.o. + p&p. Phone Derby 0332− 557751.
6.11
• SJ MDFS Fileserver + 20Mb hard disc. SJ Tape Streamer + 35Mb tapes.
Will sell separately. Continued manufacturer’s support. Phone Paul Story
or Marcus Foreman on 0225−464313.
6.11
• Wanted − ST506 podule for an A310. Phone Chris on 0742−823782 after 6.
6.11
• Wanted − Scrap print head for KX-P1124. Phone Ken on 0462−682167.
6.11
• Watford Hand held scanner, 400dpi and up to 16 grey scales, boxed. £99
or offers. Phone 0223−63545.
6.11
Charity Sales − The following items are available for sale in aid of
charity. PLEASE do not just send money − ring us on 0603−766592 to check
if the items are still available. Thank you.
6.11
Apocalypse £5, Archimedes First Steps book £4, Archway 2 £8, Chocks Away
2 £5, Colony Rescue £2, Design Concept fonts £4, Drop Ship £2, Holdfast
Joypad £5, Interdictor 1.0 £3, Kitchen Plan £2, PC Emulator (1.34) + DR-
DOS 3.41 £20, Presenter (Hot-links) £5, Tactic £2, Terramex £2, The Wimp
Game £5, Trackman portable (brand new, for PC) £25, Twin World £4, UIM
£2, White Magic £2.
6.11
(If you have unwanted software or hardware for Archimedes computers you
could donate for charity, please send it to the Archive office. If you
have larger items where post would be expensive, just send us details of
the item(s) and how the purchaser can get hold of them.) A
6.11
Professional Printing
6.11
John Thorn
6.11
The challenge in June’s Archive was for someone with a deep and
professional knowledge of printing to write an article for beginners.
Let me start by denying a ‘deep and professional’ knowledge − my only
qualification is that in my job I manage an annual budget of £3million+
which includes a printing bill in six figures.
6.11
Let me try, however, to describe the process that is necessary to
convert a document in electronic form (Impression, Pagemaker, etc) into
that pile of neatly wrapped parcels that is delivered a few days or
weeks later.
6.11
The electronic document consists of a specification of a number of pages
− text or graphics or both − that need to converted into sheets of paper
and, possibly, bound into books or pamphlets.
6.11
As an Archimedes owner, you will probably have spent one or two thousand
pounds on a system which (when you are not zapping aliens) makes you
more productive. The professional printer has probably spent hundreds of
thousands of pounds on a high-speed printing press and he wants to make
that investment as productive as possible, in order to pay off the
overdraft he needed to buy it in the first place. He buys paper in huge
rolls, about 1 metre wide and weighing a ton or so.
6.11
His printing-press, most probably, uses an offset lithography process.
An aluminium plate is specially treated so that some areas will attract
ink and others repel it. These areas are created by a photographic
process and contain the text or graphics to be printed. The plate is
wound around a drum and transfers the ink which sticks to it onto a
roller which, in turn, transfers it to the paper (at a few hundred feet
per minute!).
6.11
The plate is big (up to a metre square, or so) and changing plates and
re-setting the press is a slow and expensive operation (because of the
lost time) which he aims to do as rarely as possible. Accordingly, the
plate will contain several pages of your work (or several copies of one
page) fitted together by the printer to make the best use of his
equipment.
6.11
The photographic process that creates the plate uses negative film
(negative because the letters are white and the space black). This can
be created directly from a computer typesetter but is, more usually,
created by photographing a master copy of the plate made by pasting
several pages of the document together to fit the size and shape of the
plate. Even at six hundred dots per inch, a laser printer on normal
paper does not produce sufficiently high quality for this ‘camera-ready
copy’.
6.11
The camera-ready copy is produced by what is, in effect, a very high
quality laser printer, working at between 1200 and 2500 dots per inch,
known as an electronic typesetter. It can create positive or negative
images on film or photographic paper (‘bromide’) which have to be
developed just like a photograph. The input to the typesetter is a
computer file which contains the description of the page in a special
computer language called PostScript (which was designed by a company
called Adobe just for this purpose).
6.11
The bromide stage can be omitted by providing laser printed pages as
‘camera-ready’ but the resultant quality is lower − especially with
half-tones (i.e. = grey shades as in photographs).
6.11
The beauty of PostScript is that it defines a printed page in a way that
is independent of the actual printer used to create the page. It may be
a typesetter, a laser printer or even a humble dot-matrix printer.
PostScript is a complex language which needs a fairly powerful processor
to interpret it at any speed. The product ShowPage from Computer
Concepts was an example of using the Acorn processor to good effect but
is, sadly, no longer available. [Rumours that CC lost the source code
are, surely, totally unfounded.] The real expert (I am married to one)
can write PostScript directly but it is usually created by a PostScript
printer driver (as supplied by Acorn) which takes the page description
from Impression etc and turns it into PostScript.
6.11
Most typesetting machines prefer discs from Apple Macs but can read PC
(DOS) format discs (720Kb or 1.4Mb). Those that can read Acorn discs are
rare (some have advertised in Archive) so, for safety, put your
PostScript file onto a DOS disc (with MultiFS, if you still have RISC OS
2). The printer will create bromides from them and paste them together
to create his master plate. He will be able to paste them more
accurately if you create the PostScript file containing crop (cutting)
marks. Many packages offer this as an option.
6.11
The process for printing a document in colour is more complex as it
requires four plates to be made and the press has four ‘stands’ (sets of
rollers) under which the paper passes in turn. Three plates are, in
theory, sufficient but it is difficult to avoid blacks appearing as
muddy browns unless a Key (=black) plate is used as well as the three
colours. The three colours are, surprisingly, not red, green and blue
but cyan (=turquoise), magenta (=purple) and yellow, hence the
abbreviations CMY and CMYK.
6.11
The typesetter is a monochrome (black and white only) device, so for
colour printing, you must create four PostScript files containing the
colour separations. There are packages that will do this automatically −
ExpressionPS (part of the Impression Business Supplement) is one.
6.11
The above applies when printing in a range of colours such as a colour
photograph. If there are only two colours (e.g. the cover of Archive)
then the printer will re-mix the shade required and the green (or
whatever) is output as a single extra colour separation in addition to
the black. Printers use the ‘Pantone’ system for describing ink colours
and will often show you colour cards from which to choose. Tables are
also available relating the Pantone colours to percentages of cyan,
magenta and yellow.
6.11
Your printer will help you decide the type of paper that you want your
work printed on − weight and texture − and how it is to be bound. Some
of the terms are confusing: paper weights are in gsm (grams per square
metre) − 80 gsm is normal, 200gsm is about the thickness of a postcard,
50gsm is typists’ copy paper. Bindings may be referred to as ‘saddle-
stitching’, stapled (like Archive) or ‘perfect’ (glued).
6.11
Before the advent of desktop publishing, many printers were, of course,
pleased to typeset documents for you from your typed or handwritten copy
− most are still pleased to do this and will do a very professional job
− at a price, of course! DTP comes into its own when you wish to have
total control over the finished document and/or want to reduce the time
between idea and final production. I hope that this article will have
helped you to understand more of the process. Good luck! A
6.11
His printing-press, most probably, uses an offset lithography process.
An aluminium plate is specially treated so that some areas will attract
ink and others repel it. These areas are created by a photographic
process and contain the text or graphics to be printed. The plate is
wound around a drum and transfers the ink which sticks to it onto a
roller which, in turn, transfers it to the paper (at a few hundred feet
per minute!). (see figure 1).
6.11
The plate is big (up to a metre square, or so) and changing plates and
re-setting the press is a slow and expensive (because of the lost time)
operation which he aims to do are rarely as possible. Accordingly, the
plate will contain several pages of your work (or several copies of one
page) fitted together by the printer to make the best use of his
equipment.
6.11
Comment Column
6.11
• Acorn Pocket Book − Having had it with me everywhere for six months, I
thought some comments from a user might be helpful...
6.11
Can you really use a keyboard that small? How much memory has it got?
How long do the batteries last? People are amazed that I use my Pocket
Book so much. At last, I have a computer that I can take anywhere and
everywhere. I’m not worried by the batteries running down (as with my
Z88), or about its size or weight. My only worry is that it is such a
desirable little thing!
6.11
It really is a most useful accessory for an Acorn desktop computer, for
those who are on the move. I run Bible Clubs, Beach Missions and Camps
in my job with Scripture Union, and I am often away from my desk. I take
minutes of meetings as we talk, and it only takes a few minutes to tidy
them up and print them out. I write down notes for the little books I
publish, which then get expanded to whole chapters. I type letters and
papers wherever I am. The Spell-checker is remarkable for the type of
machine. I keep accounts for Camp on Abacus (the spreadsheet). I keep a
Holiday Club Team list on Cards (the database), and a campers’ list on
Abacus (because I need more options than Cards offers).
6.11
It’s an almost perfect machine for people on the move, especially as you
can turn it off and on and find that it is still where you left it. All
portables should do that. It is great for working on the train, in
meetings, in the car, even in the lounge at home, so as to be with my
family, instead of in the study.
6.11
In case it helps, here are a few hints that I have discovered in the
time I have been using my Pocket Book. The weak link is undoubtedly A-
Link. It is slow − slower than the Z88 link from David Holden, as far as
I can remember although, to be fair, it is doing a conversion job as
well. It is a great pity that it doesn’t multitask. It has crashed a few
times. I have learnt to close the conversion window as soon as I have
finished with it, to avoid delays as it updates. A-Link can get upset if
the Pocket Book turns itself off, as mine does after two minutes.
6.11
Write files drop into Impression with no problems, though I haven’t
tried the Rich Text Format, as I haven’t got the Impression Business
Supplement. I tend not to use styles much on the Pocket Book, preferring
to add them later in Impression. Impression files transfer well into
Write, using the ‘Save Text Story’ function, but remember to set the
‘With Styles’ button off.
6.11
I use Pipedream for all my accounts and database work. I convert these
to Lotus123 files (using !PD123 supplied with Pipedream) and then use A-
Link to load into Abacus on the Pocket Book. (123 files are the same as
WK1 format, which the A-Link software can convert.) Most functions that
I use come across well. It doesn’t like dates from Pipedream so I just
put dates in text format. It fails to convert the correct number of
decimal places which is annoying for accounts.
6.11
Converting back to Pipedream using the reverse porcess has sometimes
left me with a spreadsheet with all columns set to zero width. This is
worrying first time, as it appears to be an empty sheet! Setting the
column widths to sensible values solves it, but it doesn’t always
happen. I’m not sure whether the A-Link software or !PD123 causes these
problems. Steve Hutchinson, Gloucester.
6.11
• Basic Compactors (See Archive 6.9 p65) Perhaps I was too hasty in
condemning program compactors outright. It seems that the programs will
still run perfectly after compaction by a Basic program compactor.
However, as soon as any compacted program is edited by either !Edit or
ARMBE, then it will indeed no longer run without errors because of lack
of spaces after pseudo-variables or floating point variables. This is my
main criticism of program compactors, and what I should have said in my
original article.
6.11
However, I see no reason why the authors should not program their
compactors such that spaces are inserted (or not omitted) after pseudo-
variables and floating point variables. This is not an impossible
requirement: once compacted, a program should still run even after being
edited again. Indeed, this is such a very sensible argument that I begin
to wonder why they haven’t thought of it themselves! This would
certainly make modifying compacted programs a lot easier. OK, so the
program compactor will not compact it as much as is possible, but what a
price for a few saved bytes. Memory isn’t that tight! Take Acorn’s
!SciCalc, for instance. I had to re-insert some missing spaces before I
could modify it to work in double precision, displaying 18 digits. The
Basic Runfile is only about 22Kb. Roger Darlington, Manchester.
6.11
• Archimedes versus Windows Machines − I am an unashamed Archimedes
enthusiast, but I have been a bit concerned by the complacency of Acorn
computer users about developments in the PC world. This head-in-the-sand
attitude does serious harm to our credibility. What is so good about
Acorn machines? The answers that spring to mind are that they are fast,
the operating system is great and they are innovative because Acorn
develops its own chips, etc. However, the world has moved on since I
turned down a 286-16 in favour of a Archimedes 410.
6.11
Speed: Everyone quotes the “Artworks on the 540 is as fast as Corel Draw
on the Pentium” story, but this is not really fair to the PC. Artworks
is written in hand crafted ARMcode by CC whereas Corel Draw is
acknowledged in the PC world to be a bit slow even if you have a 486-33.
(But, I gather from a PC friend that Corel Draw is also mainly coded in
assembler. Ed.) Unfortunately, most software for the Archimedes is not
written in optimised machine code. A better comparison of speed would be
MS Word vs Wordz − where a 486-50 feels much faster than my A410+ARM3.
The colour cards from CC and State Machine help but it does make the
Acorn world seem “tacky” that you have to buy 3rd party solutions to
speed up your machine. Pentiums will run at 50 MIPs, DEC alpha RISC
chips already run at almost 60 MIPs (and faster ones are planned) − with
the best will in the world the ARM700 running at 26 MIPs is going to
look slow. Where is the parallel processing 60 MHz ARM chip?
6.11
Operating system: Windows 3.1 is unfriendly, cumbersome and still is
based on the legacy of DOS. However, it already has dynamic data
exchange (hotlinks) and background printing built in (unlike RISC OS 3).
OK, it uses loads of memory and hard disc space, but memory is down to
£25 per Mb and hard drives seem to almost double in capacity (for the
same money) every year. If you bolt Dashboard and Icon Manager on top
then you get drag-and-drop and an iconbar (vertical). Excel already has
pop-up menus using the right mouse button and it is rumoured that
Windows 4 will implement this for all programs as well as offering all
the above. Object-oriented programming and a global script language are
also on the way. If this speed of development continues, RISC OS will
soon look dated.
6.11
Innovation: Acorn video hardware was great in its day but it hasn’t
changed much in 3 years − compare that with 24 bit colour Windows
machines with graphics accelerators. You can now get active matrix
colour 486 notebooks with built in CD-ROM and space for a fax-modem
card. It makes the A4 seem a bit tame. (By the way, I heard a rumour
that Triumph-Adler have stopped making the cases for the A4 so now might
be a good time to get one.) IDE drives, CD ROMs, direct drive laser
printers, OCR − usually we follow the PC world rather than leading it.
6.11
Some suggestions: 1) There are 90 million PCs in the world and about 26
million copies of Windows 3.1 have been sold. I guess there are up to
200,000 RISC OS machines (please correct me if you know better). Let’s
accept that Windows is the de facto world standard and work at
communicating with it. RISC OS should contain utilities to convert
Sprites and Drawfiles to and from Windows bitmap and metafiles.
Likewise, conversion between Video-for-Windows and Replay files
(technically more difficult I think) would give us access to a huge
number of digital video clips as well as being able to export native
movies. (I like the way CC have given Artworks access to Corel Draw! and
Illustrator files.)
6.11
2) We badly need a new machine with better speed, graphics, FPU etc.
Perhaps something with a second ARM3 as a graphics co-processor...
(hopefully there will be good news in September!) (See the Hardware
Column on page 19 for more on this! Ed)
6.11
3) How about an A4 derivative which is cheap enough for every child in a
class to have one (say £400)? It doesn’t have to have colour or a huge
hard disc, but it must run RISC OS programs − i.e. not a Psion 3.
6.11
4) An object-oriented version of RISC OS would be nice − especially if
an object-oriented application development system was bundled with it
(like NextStep). Failing this, a version of Basic with “handles” to make
Wimp programming easier (cf. MS Visual Basic) would be much appreciated.
6.11
Acorn machines have always been tremendously upgradable and are
supported by software houses (e.g. CC) which squeeze every last bit of
performance from them. I believe that they are still value for money
compared to the opposition. Let’s not throw this away by failing to
notice what the rest of the computer world is doing. Cain Hunt,
Cambridge.
6.11
• Basic program compression − Mike Smith’s comments on Basic program
compression illustrates one of the pitfalls of benchmarking − how easy
it is to reach an unsafe conclusion unless you’re very thorough with
your testing. His first example seems to show that variable name length
has no effect on program speed, but this is not always the case. I
modified his program slightly to make the effect more obvious:
6.11
PRINT“The program starts now...”
6.11
T%=TIME
6.11
FORi%=1TO100000
6.11
a=2
6.11
b=4
6.11
c=0
6.11
c=b+a
6.11
NEXT
6.11
PRINT(TIME-T%)/100;“ seconds.”
6.11
i.e. I’ve changed to floating-point variables and reduced the size of
the loop counter to speed things up a bit. Obviously, the run times of
this program will not be directly comparable with Mike’s any more, but I
went on to run several versions: version 1 uses variables a, b and c;
version 2 uses aa, bb and cc, and so on. Tabulating the results (on an
A5000) gives:
6.11
Version no. Timing (sec)
6.11
1 4.32
6.11
2 4.34
6.11
3 4.06
6.11
4 4.00
6.11
5 4.32
6.11
6 4.34
6.11
7 4.06
6.11
8 4.00
6.11
... ...
6.11
The first thing to notice is that the times are not constant, but vary
by about 8%. Secondly they don’t increase with variable name length, as
one might expect, but follow a cyclic pattern which repeats every four
versions. I can only guess why this should be, but it may be due to the
way the MEMC fetches quadwords of memory, making quadword alignment of
the variable storage important. Obviously, the Basic programmer doesn’t
have direct control over the exact placement of variables, but this
example shows how comparing only two programs can be misleading −
comparing version 1 with, say, 21 or 41 might lead you to the conclusion
that variable length has no effect, when this is clearly not the case.
6.11
Just in case this description seems to be falling into place all too
easily, consider the following timings from further down the table:
6.11
Version no. Timing (sec)
6.11
... ...
6.11
45 4.32
6.11
46 12.28
6.11
47 4.07
6.11
... ...
6.11
I leave it to the real Archimedes gurus to explain this one! Lorcan
Mongey, Belfast.
6.11
• C (Acorn-style) − The C programming language is one of the most
popular languages today, if not the most popular, so it is not
surprising that Acorn promote it as the language of choice for wimp
programming on the Archimedes. However, there are a number of features
which, for me, make it less pleasant to use than might otherwise be the
case.
6.11
From the language point of view, C’s oddest feature is its handling of
arrays. For example, “all function arguments are passed by value, except
arrays, which are passed by reference”. The close link with pointers is
fine for vectors (1D arrays), but confusion is not far off when you move
into higher dimensions − compare the syntax for accessing an element of
a 2D array, and accessing a data item via a vector of pointers! C is
sometimes called a medium level language because of its similarity with
assembly language in this area.
6.11
The reason for this is that C was designed to handle the same sort of
objects that computers do, i.e. characters, numbers and addresses.
Composite types, including arrays and structures, were provided for, but
not comprehensively. For example, in the first edition of the language,
structures could not be assigned as a whole, or passed to or returned
from a function. The treatment of structures has been sorted out in ANSI
C, and this could be done because the syntax did not need changing.
However, to make C’s arrays sensible would leave you with a different
language.
6.11
I am sure that C’s facilities for modular software could be improved,
but I don’t know how it could be done! Object orientation would be nice,
but C++ suffers from being an evolutionary language, and so it is not as
neat as it could be. The array anomaly seems even stranger in this
setting!
6.11
What I dislike the most, however, is the libraries that Acorn supply. A
lot of C’s popularity is supposed to be due to the ease with which the
programmer can get close to the operating system and the hardware, but
this aspect of the language is cleverly masked by Acorn’s libraries. To
be fair, RISC OS is an assembly language operating system, and many of
the calls have multiple return values, whereas C functions can only
return one value. Also, the standard library is based on UNIX, and has
been closely defined by the X3J11 committee, but I see no reason why
this should make it obtrusive. At the risk of being boring, I would like
to list a few specific things that annoy me the particularly:
6.11
The i/o functions in stdio.h convert vdu commands sent to the screen
into escape sequences. I can see no good reason for this, except that
perhaps it is to encourage the use of other libraries, but why? Other
libraries would not be part of the shared C library, so there would be
more duplicated code in the system plus the unused part of CLib, so the
supposed space-saving advantages of the shared C library are cancelled!
Also, the only other libraries that can be used are bbc.h which is
discouraged, or kernel.h which is ugly.
6.11
It would be nice to be able to do unbuffered keyboard input using
stdio.h, but I suppose ANSI require it to be the way it is... Also, does
the library have to buffer every stream itself? Doesn’t RISC OS buffer
byte i/o already?
6.11
When a C program crashes (e.g. by attempting to access non-existent
memory), rather than getting a normal RISC OS error (e.g. Abort on data
transfer), the library gives a customised error message. This is
obviously the signal handling system at work. Why can’t it just leave
the RISC OS actions in place and provide the necessary hooks, if they
are needed, rather than installing them regardless? And what is wrong
with “Escape” that makes the more cumbersome, verbose and alien
“Interrupt received from user − program terminated” better?
6.11
Why does the library have to provide i/o redirection facilities when
RISC OS has its own? The library does provide a bit more functionality
in its distinction between stdout and stderr, so maybe RISC OS should
have included similar facilities.
6.11
The kernel seems to have a lot of paraphernalia associated with
debugging and multiple language program support. This seems ridiculously
over-specified, especially since most programs are C only or
C+assembler. Can’t the level of support be specified at compile time,
and only as much as is needed be linked in? Production programs do not
need to display stack backtraces, or to know which function or language
section is currently executing, since these are only used when the
program is being debugged.
6.11
There seems to be a common aspect to most of these problems: the
libraries are duplicating functions already provided by RISC OS, and
doing so in a different (usually UNIX-styled) way. Little can be done
about the appearance of the ANSI library but its working can be made
more RISC OS-like rather than UNIX-like, which would seem sensible
considering the operating system that we are running under. Anthony
Finch, Beaconsfield.
6.11
• DOS 6 − an advance? − Brian Cowan wrote very favourably (in Archive
6.9 p53ff) about this new version of MS-DOS. However, those who have DOS
5.0 should think twice about upgrading. Since version 6 appeared, just
about every German PC magazine has torn it to shreds as a half-hearted
attempt to get even with DR-DOS 6. Even one magazine which has a
reputation of being “Microsoft-friendly” has just published (I think) 14
pages with reports about bugs, glitches and unpleasant quirks; in
particular, Double Space seems to create a lot of problems. (By the way:
Has anyone got any DOS disc doubler to work on ADFS discs?)
6.11
Those colleagues of mine who always have to have the latest version of
every piece of software they use, all report trouble, not least with
mysterious crashes of Windows 3.1 which did not happen before. You have
been warned! Jochen Konietzko, Köln, Germany
6.11
• Electromagnetic Compatibility − John Woodgate, who made the original
helpful suggestions about screening some of the RFI generated by
Archimedes computers (Archive 6.2 p10) wrote in to say that he felt that
Barry Haines’ screening techniques (Archive 6.10 p55) were potentially
dangerous − certainly in the hands of someone of limited technical
ability. Obviously, you should take extreme care when implementing
Barry’s suggestions and you should certainly NEVER put metal foil INSIDE
the computer. Also, as Barry pointed out, you should never block the
ventilation slots. Also, you should make very sure that any conductive
paint or metal foil is firmly and securely earthed.
6.11
• Flopticals for ADFS − An Obituary? − There is sad news for those who
have been waiting for the new improved software for Morley’s floptical
drive (Archive 6.7 p66).
6.11
Insite Peripherals have changed the boards of their drives; until
recently the EPROM which holds the device driver was socketed, and could
easily be exchanged. However, the current batch of drives (and probably
all future ones) boasts a surface-mounted firmware EPROM! Apparently,
there is no hope that Insite will change their design again to the
previous more customer-friendly one.
6.11
Therefore, as Morley just told me in writing, they “are ceasing the ADFS
floppy option on the flopticals”. (I understand that flopticals as such
will still be sold; they just won’t be able to handle ADFS floppies any
more.)
6.11
However, there is one ray of hope. For some months now, a Berlin-based
Acorn dealer (Tools Akademische Agentur GmbH, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße
5, D-10117 Berlin, Germany, Phone 0049−30−2081329) has been working on a
software adaptation of the Insite flopticals for the Acorn world.
6.11
So far, they have run into a lot of problems, as Insite seem incapable
of issuing developers’ information which actually fits the drives.
However, I have just been assured that work on the project is
continuing.
6.11
So, maybe there will be a fully functioning floptical drive for Acorn
yet! Stay tuned for more on this subject! Jochen Konietzko, Köln,
Germany.
6.11
• Ink cartridge refills − The cost of manufacturers’ original cartridges
for inkjet printers is considerable and this is particularly the case
for tri-colour cartridges for colour inkjet printers. For this reason,
several companies are offering refill kits for giving new life to spent
cartridges, but some of these products are better than others.
6.11
I have a Hewlett Packard colour ink jet printer which uses tri-colour
cartridges. My experience is that the refill kit sold by System Insight
of Welyn Garden City, Hertfordshire is very satisfactory. One refill kit
can fill a cartridge nine times and print quality is indistinguishable
from printing with a new cartridge. Moreover this company is very
helpful. George Foot, Surrey.
6.11
• Refilling ink cartridges − Regarding Mike McNamara’s question about
Quink Permanent Black ink, R E Parsons uses it all the time to fill an
HP cartridge and finds that it is water soluble and does not block the
jets.
6.11
Having said this, Arthur Taylor writes that Quink is NOT suitable for
the Canon BJ3xx range and suggests that it may not be suitable for other
inkjet printers. Apparently, everything works well while the printer is
being used but problems arise after the printer has been switched off
long enough for the ink to dry out. If this has already happened to you,
some gentle rubbing with a cotton bud wetted with water and a little
washing up detergent will shift the dried ink.
6.11
With the current interest in refilling cartridges, it is important to
note that refilling is only recommended on replaceable cartridges.
Printer manufacturers do not recommend the refilling of cartridges but
this is partly due to their interest in the printer consumables market.
However, it should be made clear that refilling with certain inks or
refilling too many times may damage the head. Therefore refilling is
definitely not recommended on permanent-head inkjet printers such as the
Epson Stylus 800.
6.11
• Utilities I find useful − In the first year or two as an Archimedes
owner, I bought literally hundreds of discs with PD and Shareware, and
tried out just about everything. Bit by bit, most of the discs were
classified (for my working environment) as quite useless, and nowadays
there are just a handful of applications that I always use. Some of
these might be useful for some of you, too.
6.11
(a) Always loaded (i.e. as part of a Boot file):
6.11
FreeMem, by Ian Ashley (DataFile PD), resides on the iconbar and gives
the amount of free RAM in kilobytes.
6.11
2ndHand, a.k.a. The Missing Hand, author unknown, replaces the two-
handed Shift-double click for opening application directories and
loading all sorts of files into Edit with a one-handed double click
(short click, long click).
6.11
HangFire, Shareware by Edouard Poor (DataFile PD), is a rather nice
little multitasking, modular screen saver, for which it is quite simple
to write new modules.
6.11
Alert(er), by Ian Rawlings (DataFile PD), gives a beep if any single-
tasking operation takes longer than a certain time.
6.11
MegaMouse, copyright Risc Developments, is a module which makes the
mouse pointer “dynamic”, i.e. the faster you move the mouse over the
same stretch of your desk, the further the pointer will move.
6.11
Quitter, by Gnari(?) (DataFile PD), is a module which provides an
“emergency exit” when you come across a game which normally can only be
stopped with a reset.
6.11
Warfarin, by R.K. Lloyd (Shareware 20), is a module which lets you move
the mouse pointer via the keyboard (just in case the mouse should
suddenly “die”).
6.11
Monitor, by G.T.Allen (DataFile PD), is a luxurious version of Acorn’s
!(CPU)Usage.
6.11
(b) On the Pinboard, I have:
6.11
RMCompare, by David Wilkins (DataFile PD), puts an icon onto the
iconbar. Dragging any module there will give details about name, version
and so on, and also which version, if any, is present in !System and in
RAM.
6.11
RMA_MAN(ager), by Keith Sloan (Careware 8) gives you easy access to the
Relocatable Module Area (including the Wimp sprite pool).
6.11
WasteBin, by Adrian Look (Archive monthly disc 5.4), is quite a
luxurious bin which can be extensively configured.
6.11
Provided that enough RAM is available, then these, together with some
commercial products, are very helpful. (All the stuff I cram into my
machine during the boot sequence takes up nearly 2 Mb.)
6.11
I would love to know about the favourite PD or shareware programs of
other Archive readers. Jochen Konietzko, Köln, Germany
6.11
• Wizzo speed tests − I was interested in the adverts for Wizzo, the IDE
filing system from ICS Ltd and ordered one at the Harrogate Acorn User
Show on the basis of those adverts. I realise that there are other
benefits, but it was the speed aspect that I was particularly interested
in.
6.11
(To set this comment in context, I suggest you look at ICS’s full-page
advert which appeared in Archive 6.8 p12 and also in Acorn User and
Acorn Computing for four months, from April to July. It says “2 Mb/sec
speed barrier broken by ICS IDE filing system! So fast, they’re calling
it Wizzo. (It’s magic) Wizzo5 for the A5000, only £29.” However, ICS
have withdrawn this advert and in the alternative advert in the August
Acorn User they explain that “a Wizzo ROM by itself will only produce
slight speed improvement. If you need speed in an A5000, fit an IDEARCIN
interface instead. Up to 60% improvement can then be achieved but this
does depend which hard disc you use, so do check with us first.”
Apparently the drive which gives this “60% speed improvement” was a
Seagate 500Mb drive. Ian Copestake himself has made some comments about
this situation − see below. Ed)
6.11
Having bought Wizzo, I decided to carry out the some tests on the two
hard drives in my A5000. This involved backing up the data, a total of
about 140Mb, because part of the testing procedure would be to
initialise the discs to have a large file allocation unit (LFAU) of
either 256 bytes or 512 bytes. One of the previous contributors, Steve
Drain (Archive 5.12 p7), indicated that, with his SCSI drives, this LFAU
made some difference to the data transfer speeds and size of
directories.
6.11
Another variant that came into the tests was the speed increase routine
from Archive 6.8 p28. In the tables I have used speed setting 1 for the
default processor speed of the A5000 and speed setting 2 when using the
speed increase routine. After backing up all of the data, I initialised
the discs − when using Acorn’s !HForm, the final question asked is
“Large File Allocation Unit? 512”. If you expect to use a very large
number (several thousand) of small files, type 256 in response to the
prompt. As can be seen from the table, the size of LFAU affects the size
of each directory created on the disc. As an example, if there were 500
directories with an LFAU of 512 bytes, these directories would occupy
500 × 7680 = 3 840 000 bytes of disc space. With a LFAU of 256 bytes
then the occupied space would be 500 × 4096 = 2 048 000 bytes.
6.11
After initialising the discs, I did a *FREE :4 and *FREE :5 to find the
exact USED space on the discs − again this was related to the LFAU
chosen and is shown in the table.
6.11
The files used for checking the speeds were the contents of RISC OS 2’s
Application Disc 2, transferred from one directory to another − the test
which has been used in Archive for some years now. The drives were
configured by default to the ADFS filing system and the speed transfer
tests carried out.
6.11
To carry out the comparison, the Wizzo ROM had to be inserted into the
fifth ROM socket adjacent to the RISC OS ROMs. A diagram would have
helped to locate the Wizzo ROM into its correct position, i.e. the lower
28 holes of the 32 pin socket.
6.11
The computer then had to be configured for the new filing system by
typing in a series of commands that took away the ADFS and substituted
the IDEFS for controlling the hard discs. With that done, the speed
tests were once again carried out using IDEFS.
6.11
The A5000 was equipped with two IDE drives: an 85 Mb Conner and a 122 Mb
Quantum Pro. I have used a combination of variables to obtain a fairly
comprehensive view of how these affect the speed of transfer of files.
In the tests modes 0, 12, 27 and 106 (1088×448) were used.
6.11
Conner 85 Mb
6.11
LFAU (bytes) 512 256
6.11
Directory size (bytes) 7680
4096
6.11
Used disc space (bytes) 52736
90112
6.11
Data transfer speeds Kb/s (Wizzo percentage speed gain)
6.11
Filesystem Mode Speed setting 1
Speed setting 2
6.11
(512) (256)
(512) (256)
6.11
ADFS 0 507 428
520 435
6.11
ADFS 12 500 427
512 433
6.11
ADFS 27 467 398
492 416
6.11
ADFS 106 484 416
499 427
6.11
IDEFS 0 441 (−15.0) 459
(+6.8) 457 (−13.8) 455
(+4.4)
6.11
IDEFS 12 435 (−14.9) 446
(+4.3) 445 (−15.1) 452
(+4.2)
6.11
IDEFS 27 418 (−11.7) 428
(+7.0) 430 (−14.4) 440
(+5.5)
6.11
IDEFS 106 428 (−13.1) 439
(+5.2) 436 (−14.4) 450
(+5.1)
6.11
Quantum Pro 122 Mb
6.11
LFAU (bytes) 512 256
6.11
Directory size (bytes) 7680
4096
6.11
Used disc space (bytes) 70144
126976
6.11
Data transfer speeds Kb/s (Wizzo percentage speed gain)
6.11
Filesystem Mode Speed setting 1
Speed setting 2
6.11
(512) (256)
(512) (256)
6.11
ADFS 0 847 780
706 790
6.11
ADFS 12 835 744
698 784
6.11
ADFS 27 741 673
657 715
6.11
ADFS 106 780 696
679 731
6.11
IDEFS 0 699 (−21.2) 699
(−11.6) 704 (−0.3) 701
(−12.7)
6.11
IDEFS 12 691 (−20.8) 682
(−9.1) 696 (−0.3) 696
(−12.6)
6.11
IDEFS 27 605 (−22.5) 610
(−10.3) 661 (+0.6) 659
(−8.5)
6.11
IDEFS 106 657 (−18.7) 654
(−6.4) 670 (−1.3) 673
(−8.6)
6.11
The large file allocation unit has some effect on data transfer speeds
as does the speed increase routine published in Archive, but my
conclusions about Wizzo are that it does nothing for data transfer
speeds except on the smaller drive with LFAU 256 bytes. As the test
results indicate, IDEFS slows down the rate of data transfer in many
cases. Obviously, it depends what kind of test you do. In tests
involving loading large files, things may be different. Barry Thompson,
Derby.
6.11
• Wizzo speed tests − A Wizzo ROM on its own will make little difference
to speed (we have found small improvements in our tests using software
supplied by Paul Beverley). The speeds emphasised in our recent
advertisements are possible when you use one of our interface cards
(which contain the same software as a Wizzo5). Transfer rates better
than 2.3 Mb/s can be achieved but this depends which hard disc you use.
We will be happy to advise.
6.11
We accept that the old advert could lead people to the wrong conclusion
about speed with Wizzo5, and we have revised it to make the Wizzo5
advantages clearer. No-one has complained to us so far, but we will
happily make a refund to any customer who feels they have not benefitted
from buying Wizzo5.
6.11
The main advantage of fitting a Wizzo ROM in an A5000 are: password
protection and partitioning, the ability to use more than 512Mb and
compatibility with many models of hard disc which would not work with
Acorn’s own filing system. Ian Copestake, ICS Ltd.
6.11
My personal view of this is that Barry Thompson has done a more
realistic test of Wizzo than the ones upon which the advertising claims
were based. The speed tests used for the claims of “up to 60%
improvement” are using ICS’ own £60 hardware add-on and are based on
loading large files, and the actual 60% figure was obtained with a 500Mb
drive! ICS have admitted that, with the built-in drives − 40, 80 and
120Mb − the speed increases on file-loading are only a few percent.
6.11
What is more, all ICS’ claims are based on the old speed tests we used
to use in Archive. More recently, Archive has gone over to quoting the
“copying a load of files” test which Barry used because we feel this
gives more of an indication of the practical speed difference. You
should ask yourself how often you have to wait for a large file to load
and how often you have to wait for a group of files to be copied.
6.11
The real issue with Wizzo is not one of speed but whether the extra
facilities that Ian mentions are worth the extra cost. Ed. A
6.11
Masterfile 3 Database
6.11
Peter Jennings
6.11
Masterfile has been a familiar database name since the days of cassette-
based programs on the BBC. It developed into Masterfile II on DFS and
ADFS and when the Archimedes came along a suitable conversion appeared.
The Archimedes version of Masterfile II was, however, very much a BBC-
style program and users who remained loyal to it have had a long wait
for Risc Developments to issue their brand new multi-tasking Masterfile
3. In the meantime, a number of other database programs have appeared.
So has it been worth the wait?
6.11
Masterfile 3 (version 1.15) comes on two unprotected discs, one for the
program and the other containing ten sample files. They are accompanied
by a spiral-bound 100-page manual, a reference card and some release
notes, all packed in a smartly designed box. It costs £49 +VAT (or £54
from Archive) and a site licence for 30 users is available from Risc
Developments for £245 +VAT.
6.11
The well-illustrated manual is clearly set out and easy to follow,
although marred in its present edition by a few omissions and some
inadequate indexing. It is divided into three sections, a basic
introduction, a tutorial guide and a more detailed reference section.
Its friendly tone is set by a chatty introduction from Sheridan
Williams, who wrote the original Masterfile, telling some of the uses he
has found for Masterfile 3 in business and for his hobbies. Experienced
database users will find much of the text confirms what they would do
intuitively.
6.11
The program is loaded in the normal way to put an icon on the iconbar.
New users can open one of the sample files and learn how to use it with
step-by-step guidance from the manual and, if needed, Acorn’s Help
application, which is supported.
6.11
Descriptor files
6.11
A new database is created by clicking on the iconbar icon to open a
window where details have to be entered into a table to define the
required fields for a “descriptor” file − an idea which will be familiar
to users of Masterfiles I and II. There can be up to 255 fields, each up
to 255 characters long, and they can be set for text, integers, decimal
numbers, dates, date stamps, time stamps, calculations or pictures in
either sprite or Draw format. Date stamp and time stamp fields are given
the current date and time automatically when a record is created.
Calculation fields produce the result of a mathematical calculation
which can use data from other fields. Field names are limited to ten
characters or spaces, which has the drawback of needing abbreviations
for any longer titles, including some commonly used labels such as
“Classification”, “Description” and “Miscellaneous”.
6.11
After the descriptor file has been completed and saved, there is a
further stage if you wish to arrange the fields to suit your own needs
and taste. A card designer opens a window displaying the field names and
blank fields neatly lined up, one below the other, in the order they
were created. These can be dragged into new positions with two or more
on the same line, spaces between them and with multi-line fields, as
required. There is an optional, invisible, grid to help the alignment.
Additional fields, which can have graphics or up to 4Kb of text dragged
into them, can be added by creating “object” windows. Fields can be
hidden and unhidden and two different passwords can be set to allow
access with or without the ability to alter the database structure. Data
can be imported and exported in CSV, TSV or ASCII formats.
6.11
Customised colours
6.11
I dislike working on a dreary grey background and one of the first
things I like to do with suitable applications is to customise the
colours. With Masterfile 3, text and field colours can both be set from
a menu but there is no entry on it to change the grey background of the
card itself. Here, the manual let me down as I could find nothing to
tell me how I could do this and there is not even an entry for “colour”
in the index.
6.11
The clue came from the example files. All but one of them have grey
index cards. The exception has a colourful map of the world for
background. With a bit of trial, error and manual searching, I
eventually created an “object” window, dragged it to size to fill the
card completely and then set it to the colour I wanted for the
background. The object was then put to the back so that the fields and
field names were visible in front of it. These all had to be separately
moved down the card as I had not been able to extend the object window
far enough above the top field to give the card a balanced look. This
finally had the desired effect but was rather a cumbersome way of doing
what most other applications provide as a menu option.
6.11
Cards can be browsed through and new records added by using an attached
toolbox with tape recorder style symbols and there are a number of
useful “find” options allowing searches, with optional wildcards, on all
or selected fields.
6.11
The order that the cards are displayed can be changed by creating
indices. You can have up to 76 and the first nine are automatically
assigned F-keys for quick selection.
6.11
The database can also be divided up into subsets so that you can view a
selection of cards on a particular subject or which fulfil a particular
condition. Subsets are very simply created by entering the subject or
condition to be matched into the appropriate field or fields in a
“dialogue box” window. Another omission from the manual came to light
when my first attempts to make a subset were rejected with an “Unknown
field name” message. Once again, reference to the sample files solved
the problem by showing that the subject had to be entered in quote
marks, a detail not given in the manual.
6.11
Indices and subsets are both updated automatically when records are
changed, added or deleted.
6.11
Report styles
6.11
One of the useful ways that data can be presented is in the form of
reports which can be generated from the complete file or a subset and in
“table” or “label” style. You can choose which fields to include and can
rearrange their order. Table reports can display and/or print the data
either vertically, with each field on a different line, or horizontally
with fields side by side across the page. The label option sets out the
information in a suitable form for printing onto sheets of labels in any
size or layout.
6.11
Masterfile 3 faces stronger competition than its earlier versions did,
so how does it compare with other new databases? I would like to have
been able to use macros or some other quick-entry facility and it is
without a few of the more exotic features or gimmicks, according to
viewpoint, such as the ability to store sounds. The manual needs a few
additions but no doubt this is already in hand.
6.11
Masterfile 3 emerges as a good middle-range program, in both features
and price, which has all the essentials which most database users
need. A
6.11
Yes Chancellor 2
6.11
Rob Wilcox
6.11
Like most taxpayers, I’ve often listened to budget speeches and
wondered, ‘Why doesn’t he... ?’.
6.11
Well, for anyone who fancies their chances at being Chancellor of the
Exchequer, ‘Yes Chancellor 2’, published by Chalksoft, will at least
prove that it’s not as easy as you might think.
6.11
At first I wasn’t too sure if ‘Yes Chancellor 2’ was meant to be a
serious economic model of the nation, or just a light-hearted game. In
fact, it ends up being somewhere between the two!
6.11
It’s written by Tom Tuite, an economics graduate and a former senior
official of the Inland Revenue, who’s been involved in the design and
management of major computer projects.
6.11
The first thing I did was write-protect the supplied disc, to play
around just to get a rough feel for the program before reading the
manual and seriously getting down to being Chancellor.
6.11
The program is not multi-tasking but takes over the whole computer and I
very quickly discovered that the program needs to write to the disc. As
I had write-protected my copy, this led to a non-recoverable fatal error
requiring a <reset>.
6.11
Equally, there is no means of safely abandoning after a few minutes
familiarising. There is no early ‘quit’ menu option, and <escape> has
been disabled. The only way out is to hit <reset>.
6.11
Having got those minor niggles out of the way, I was delighted to find
that I could make a working backup and was able to install it onto the
hard disc.
6.11
At this point, I decided to read the excellent 16-page manual, which is
informative and educative (well, I learnt a few things) and has
obviously been produced with the student in mind.
6.11
Even more informatively, the disc contains text files explaining exactly
how the PROCs within the program deal with variations in exchange rates,
inflation and GDP, and how these factors affect your all important votes
if you’re to win the next election and eventually even gain a peerage.
So this was to be my chance to be Chancellor.
6.11
The nice thing about a program such as this is that you can alternately
play at being Mr Nice Guy (and have give-away budgets) and Mr Tough Guy
(and hit ’em firmly in the wallets) which, at the very least, ensures a
very bewildered electorate.
6.11
I soon learnt that whichever rôle you decide to play, it’s all too easy
to wreck the economy, and whilst you can get away with so much in the
early years of a parliament, you have to be much more cunning in the
run-up to the election, if you’re to get re-elected. Doesn’t this sound
very familiar?
6.11
Operation
6.11
As Chancellor you’re responsible for tax raising, public sector pay
settlements, industrial policy, interest-rates, foreign reserves, public
borrowing and deciding on levels of all national expenditure including
defence matters, law and order, education and social services; not to
mention the occasional grandiose major construction project. Get any one
of these wrong and you just have to dig yourself out of the mess you’ve
created.
6.11
A feature I particularly liked, was the way in which the program
lets you know exactly how much you need to raise, in order to fund
public expenditure plans, and allows you to scroll up/down all the
various permutations available for adjusting taxes, borrowing or
repaying the national debt, or drawing from or adding to the reserves.
This helps to find an equitable balance between all the variables.
6.11
One area where you really have to balance out the Nice Guy/Tough Guy
dilemma is in the annual public sector pay round. Offer too little and
you end up with a series of strikes and bad industrial relations (which
affect your popular vote). Offer too much, and inflation rises,
exchange-rates fall …and the rest is history.
6.11
If, due to total incompetence, you screw things up badly enough too
quickly, you’ll soon find yourself out on your ear, as the business
community loses confidence in your ability to govern.
6.11
After I had got the economy into a bit of a mess with interest rates at
about 17%, I thought I’d try to reduce interest rates at a stroke.
Unfortunately, the program assumes we are still in the ERM, and doesn’t
allow you to lower interest rates below the permitted floor. Real
Chancellors, it seems, can move the goal posts; sadly I had to struggle
on with mega interest rates − and no, I didn’t get re-elected. (Are we
to have a Yes Chancellor 3 with membership of the ERM removed? Ed.)
6.11
Overall
6.11
The on-screen presentation is excellent and illustrated with lots of
visually pleasing graphics, including amusing animated sequences of
telexes with the PM at No 10. At the end of each year in office, you are
given treasury feedback of the state of the nation, and presented with
full graphical analyses of your progress and a histogram showing your
popularity. Interestingly, you’re then presented with a ‘dream’ option,
which lets you go back to see where you went wrong, and which then lets
you try again with all the benefits of hindsight to see what might have
happened. The ‘dream’ option though, is just that − it does not actually
undo your mistakes.
6.11
Shortcomings
6.11
My main disappointment is that the program deals in the grand total of
all taxes − i.e. income tax, national insurance, VAT, excise duties and
even local taxes are all lumped together as one. This is a pity because,
from an educational standpoint, it would have been highly instructive to
compare the separate effects of direct and indirect taxation. It would
also be fascinating to see the effect of adding a penny on here, or
taking tuppence off there, or even to explore the effects of old
multiple ‘soak the rich’ tax bands. Indeed, such a facility to
separately adjust income tax and VAT rates was included in a similar
program ‘Great Britain Limited’, produced for the old BBC computer by
Simon Hessel back in 1982. It would be nice to see such features
included in any future enhanced release of the program.
6.11
From an entertainment point of view, I feel that ‘Yes Chancellor 2’
could have been considerably spiced-up by the inclusion of a more
profligate random seeding of crises, disasters, scandals and
banana skins of the kind so hated by politicians but upon which
newspaper editors positively thrive. I have to say that after three or
four sessions in office, I was beginning to find frequent threats of
‘Sabre rattling in the East’, rather tedious.
6.11
Conclusion
6.11
‘Yes Chancellor 2’ is a good all-round practical introduction to the
world of government finance and economics − and it’s fun to use.
However, I suspect it is probably not sufficiently detailed to benefit
students of A-Level economics, who should know much of this already.
Apart from that, I quite like this program, though at £23 +VAT from
Chalksoft (or £25 through Archive) I feel it is somewhat overpriced. A
6.11
LandBuild
6.11
Meg Else
6.11
This program creates three dimensional landscapes which can be viewed on
the screen in colour, saved for future reference or printed out. There
are two versions of LandBuild − a 1Mb and a 2Mb. The 2Mb version
requires more memory but enables you to draw high resolution 256×256
landscapes.
6.11
Having loaded the correct version for your machine, LandBuild installs
itself on the iconbar ready for use. First click on the icon and the
statistics window appears. From this, you can make various choices. You
can decide upon the height of the water, rock level and snow level. The
total height reached on your map is the sum of the water level and the
rock level. You may choose to include beaches to separate the land from
the water and you can define the length and direction of shadows cast
over the landscape by using the light source height and the light
direction options. Finally, you can choose the height from which you
want to view your landscape. You are totally in command of all these
elements and although a lot of experimenting may be necessary, it should
be possible to generate the image you want.
6.11
There are two elements which are random or pseudo-random. The fractal
dimensions enables you to alter the texture of the landscape. The lower
the value chosen, the rougher and more ragged the landscape appears, and
raising the value gives a smoother, more circular landscape. The main
random element, however, is the seed value and it is this which defines
the general shape of the landscape. This is initially set up at 9999,
but there are no hints given in the manual about appropriate numbers to
try.
6.11
Getting a picture of your landscape is complicated. Firstly, you select
generate all but, in order to see your landscape, you have to return to
the main menu from the iconbar. Show map gives a sprite-sized version of
your landscape. On this, you can change the angle from which the map is
viewed. Show view initially informs you that there is no landscape
printed. However, clicking on the menu button over this message allows
you the options of seeing a full-scale preview, printing your landscape
or taking a plan (overhead view) of the current landscape. The preview
option is the one to use first. This gives you a real idea of your
creation and you can then print it, make alterations from the statistics
menu or return to the main menu on the iconbar and save your landscape.
6.11
I have not listed all the options available on this program, for they
are an impressive array; plenty to stimulate the imagination. There are
also a wide and effective selection of colours and excellent printout
facilities, especially if you have a colour printer. It is extremely
quick to create the landscapes − just a matter of seconds, and a far cry
from the various free software we have used during which several meals
could be eaten and the car serviced. It is great fun to use once you
have got over the initial difficulty of a slightly confusing manual.
6.11
My main difficulty with fractal landscapes is the random element. I have
spoken to several mathematicians and geographers about this and they
have confirmed my view that you cannot reproduce a preconceived model on
LandBuild or any other fractal program. The results produced by
LandBuild are excellent, but I am ultimately left with the question of
who will use the programme and for what purpose?
6.11
You can obtain LandBuild from Software 42, for £15 (no VAT) or £30 for a
site licence. A
6.11
PipeLineZ
6.11
Gerald Fitton
6.11
Once again, thanks for all your many letters, problems, discs, words of
praise, criticisms, etc. I often find those which are not published of
greater interest to me personally than those which I can use in Archive.
Sorry, but I (and the Archive editor) have to try to strike a balance
between an article which will interest a few intensely and an article
which appeals to a wider readership.
6.11
On this subject of broad and narrow interests, I’m no longer surprised
to receive correspondence from readers of this column who don’t have
PipeDream or Wordz, but, for the first time, I’ve noticed that quite a
few of you say you’re regular readers of Archive who are reading my
column for the first time. Of course, reading a specialist column about
a package that you might buy is an excellent way of helping you to make
up your mind about it. You tell me that Archive, with its half a dozen
such specialist columns, has been (and still is) most useful in this
respect. The comment you make is “Why doesn’t Archive advertise this
fact instead of advertising that it is first with the news of new
products?”.
6.11
I am beginning to receive letters from you about covering one or two
items dealt with in depth or covering more topics more thinly in the
magazine leaving details of the applications on the Archive monthly
disc. It is too soon to come to a conclusion yet but, for this article
at least, I shall not be following the strategy of the last two months.
Indeed, in response to the increasing number of my ‘fans’ who don’t have
any of Colton Software products, I shall try to make this month’s column
of broader interest whilst not straying too far from helping you with
applications of PipeDream and ‘The Z Set’.
6.11
Unlucky Friday 13th?
6.11
The fact that more 13ths fall on a Friday than any other day of the week
was first drawn to my attention by Robert Macmillan of Colton Software.
I asked for a proof in PipeLineZ and the torrent of correspondence still
hasn’t abated! Really, I didn’t expect the volume of mail I’ve received
about this. I wonder what’s so universally intriguing about this pagan
superstition of 13ths being unlucky?
6.11
What I’m sure will surprise our editor is that I’ve received programs
written not only in Basic but also in C; I have received spreadsheet
applications which use not only PipeDream but also Schema, Eureka and
even Viewsheet. The only failure I have had in running these is with the
programs written in C − the correspondents didn’t send me a compiled
version, only the source code on paper. I still have ViewSheet and, with
the help of a subscriber from a school (who wishes to remain anonymous)
who has access to the other three spreadsheet packages (Schema, Eureka
and PipeDream) and who has the knowledge and ability to ‘port’ from one
to the other, I have been able to try out PipeDream versions of all the
spreadsheet applications. By the time you read this, I should have
replied to all correspondence received on this topic before the end of
June 1993.
6.11
My more mature readers will be unaware that some of my younger
correspondents don’t know why we have leap years let alone the full rule
for their determination. When questioned, I replied that leap years
exist so that the Seasons stay ‘in place’ in the Calendar − and this
lead me to discover that the reason we have Seasons isn’t taught in some
schools now! Let me add very quickly that I do not say this as a
criticism of teachers − I know only too well why there has been no time
to teach topics which “Every schoolboy knows” or at least parents (and
lecturers in Further Education − like me) think they should know!
6.11
Anyway, as an experiment, and at the request of some of my ‘fans’ who
are in the business of teaching, in this month’s column I am going to
run through a series of lightly connected topics finding applications
for spreadsheets as I go along. Much of what I shall say can be applied
in most spreadsheet packages even though I shall stick to examples using
PipeDream and Resultz.
6.11
Projects, themes and topics
6.11
For many years now the Business & Technical Education Council (BTEC)
have encouraged something called ‘Integrated Assignments’. Such an
assignment may be thought of as a ‘project’ requiring the student to
demonstrate a range of ‘competences’ including social as well as
literacy and numeracy skills. There is no doubt that when students apply
skills (such as the ability to add up) to something other than abstract
numbers (e.g. money) their learning is reinforced. Some educationalists
would argue that the only value in acquiring number skills is in their
application − personally, I don’t agree but I can see their point! In
GCSE courses, and now the courses for General National Vocational
Qualification (GNVQ), being able to apply number (and other) skills and
interpret the answers to ‘sums’ is certainly taking on a greater
significance than when I was at school.
6.11
What has this to do with this month’s article? Teachers and lecturers
are looking for ideas for projects which require (in GNVQ jargon) the
Application of Number Skills. What I hope to do this month is to give
teachers a few ideas, as well as passing on to you some of the questions
they have put to me. So even if you are not in the teaching profession,
if you can answer the unanswered questions or expand on any of the ideas
herein, I am sure your contributions will be received with much
gratitude by the overworked members of that much maligned profession.
If, by choice, you configure your application to run in Schema or
Eureka, it might be better if you send it to ‘The SpreadSheet Column’ of
Archive rather than to this PipeLineZ column.
6.11
Polar graphs
6.11
First the Seasons: Our Earth moves around our Sun in an orbit which is
nearly, but not quite, a circle of about 92 million miles radius. The
light from the Sun (and, incidentally, the gravitational field) takes
about 8 minutes to reach us. In truth, the orbit is much closer to an
ellipse, with the Sun at one of the two focii.
6.11
Most of you will know how to draw a circle with a piece of string; stick
a pin in the board, attach the string to the pin and to a pencil at the
other end. Run the pencil around with the string taut and you’ll draw a
circle. With a slight variation on this scheme of pins, string and a
pencil you can draw an ellipse. Stick two pins in the board. Select a
length of string which is more than twice the distance between the pins.
Make a loop out of the string and place it over the pins. Place the
pencil in the slack and run it around the pins to make an ellipse as
indicated below.
6.11
PipeDream is not able to plot polar graphs directly but, if you start
with the angle theta in column A and the radius in column B, you can
calculate the corresponding x and y using x = r*cos(theta) and
y = r*sin(theta). That is what I have done in the spreadsheet below
which is the file [Ellipse] on the Archive monthly disc.
6.11
The formula for calculating the value of the ‘radius’ of an ellipse when
given the angle theta is as shown in the sheet above. I have calculated
the values of x and y at 5 degree intervals from 0 to 360 degrees in the
range C10D82. To produce the polar graph as a chart in PipeDream, you
must mark the block C10D82 and execute <ctrl-CHN> to create a new chart.
By default, this will be a bar chart! To change it to a ‘graph’, place
the pointer in the chart, and through click <menu> and run the pointer
through Gallery and select Scatter (not Line as you might suspect).
Select the scatter graph as the top left option. You will produce a
polar chart as follows.
6.11
I have been asked if I have a spreadsheet for ascribing days of the year
(or Seasons) to different parts of such an elliptical chart. The quick
answer is “No!” so, if anyone can help, I have some people who would
like the answers. Before you amateur astronomers rush away, here’s a few
points to note. The Sun is at one focus and so the distance between the
Sun and the Earth is not constant. Summer is not when the Earth is
nearest to the Sun! The Earth does not move around the Sun at a constant
velocity (nor at a constant angular velocity) so marking the Seasons or
dates on such a chart is not a trivial task. Finally, I think that an
application of one of Kepler’s Laws is probably the easiest method of
calculating the position of the Earth in its orbit.
6.11
Another chart I have been asked for is a ‘plan view’ of the (near)
epicyclic orbit of the Moon around the Sun. Any takers?
6.11
Back to the Seasons. A line drawn perpendicular to the elliptical orbit
of the Earth around the Sun is not parallel to the North South axis
around which the Earth spins once each day. The Earth’s axis ‘points’ to
a position in the sky which is close to a star called the North Star.
The North Star is not on the axis of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
In fact, the angle between the Earth’s axis and the line perpendicular
to its orbit is about a quarter of a right angle. So you will see that,
as the Earth goes around the Sun, the angle between the North Star and
the Sun varies between ¾ and 1¼ right angles. We are in the Northern
hemisphere of the Earth and, when the Earth’s (North pointing) axis is
pointing towards the Sun (the angle between the North Star and the Sun
is ¾ of a right angle), we get our Summer. Six months later the axis is
pointing away from the Sun and we get our Winter.
6.11
Leap years
6.11
The reason why the concept of a leap year was invented by Julius Caesar
over 2000 years ago was so that the same day of the year would keep
corresponding to the same season of the year. We want to keep mid summer
day in the middle of June and the spring equinox in the middle of March.
The Earth takes about 365¼ days to get back to the same place in its
orbit so that, if the calendar is not to ‘slip’ a quarter of a day each
year relative to the seasons, we need to add a day roughly every four
years.
6.11
Julius Caesar got it slightly wrong. Well, give him credit, it was
probably his astronomers who got it wrong. The ‘slippage’ is not exactly
6 hours per year but a bit less so we don’t need 25 leap days per
century but nearer 24. In October 1582, Pope Gregory, who, I suspect,
was more concerned about getting Easter in the ‘right’ place in the
year, modified Julius’ calendar by removing 3 leap years every 4
centuries. The extra rule, which many of the Friday 13th (wrong)
solutions omitted, is that century years, such as the years 1900 and
2100 are not leap years. However, if the century year is divisible by
400, as is the year 2000, then it is a leap year.
6.11
The number of leap days in 400 years of Pope Gregory’s calendar is
(4 × 25) − 3 = 97 and not 100 as some of you assumed. Thus the number of
days in 400 years is (400 × 365) + 97 = 146097. This number is exactly
divisible by 7 to give 20871 weeks in 4 centuries.
6.11
Pope Gregory was a Roman Catholic Pope and, in 1582, because Henry VIII
had ‘broken off relations’ with the Catholics, we decided to stick with
our good old Julian calendar. We stuck to it until the
2th September 1752 − the day following the 2nd was the
14th September 1752! The people who paid bills monthly (e.g. rents) paid
a month’s rent for September and found that that September contained
only 30 − 11 = 19 days! The more recent Poll Tax rebellion was a trivial
event compared with the riots that month.
6.11
The calendar
6.11
On the Archive monthly disc are some Basic programs iby Sytze Stel
(Netherlands). They will produce a calendar ready for printing and
calculate the dates of the movable feasts (e.g. Easter). One programs
contains the following REMarks.
6.11
“It is assumed that the change from Julian to Gregorian Calendar took
place at the officially intended date, October 4th (Julian) was followed
by October 15th 1582, skipping ten days. In a number of countries the
Gregorian Calendar came in force (much) later. Even in parts of one
country, e.g. The Netherlands, it happened that the date in the
southwest (Zeeland) of the Republic was 10 days ahead of the date in the
Northeast (Drente) until the beginning of the 18th century. So if you
were in possession of a quick means of transportation (a horse, I
guess), you could celebrate Easter and Christmas twice!”
6.11
One of my ‘famous’ spreadsheets is an everlasting calendar. It’s on one
of our PipeLine User Group discs. If you have it, you will find the
following rather long formula in one of the slots:
6.11
int(mod(if(year<1753,year*365
6.11
+int((year-1)/4)+5,0)
6.11
+if(year>1752,(year-1752)*365
6.11
+int((year-1-1752)/4)
6.11
-int((year-1-1700)/100)
6.11
+int((year-1-1600)/400),0),7) +0.5)
6.11
The word ‘year’ in this formula is a PipeDream name; as you will have
guessed it is the year for which the calendar is calculated. The formula
in the slot calculates the number of days between the 1st January of the
year in question and the year zero (Yes! I know there wasn’t a year
zero), divides this number by 7 and returns the remainder. It’s a short
step to finding the day of the week on which the current 1st January
falls and pure routine to generate the remainder of the calendar from
there.
6.11
Easter
6.11
The Christian festival of Easter is moveable. It is celebrated on the
first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring equinox (which
occurs in March). One of the Basic programs on the Archive monthly disc
by Sytze Stel calculates the date of Easter (plus Whitsun and Ascension
day) for any year. The algorithm is similar to that sent me some time
ago by Brian Edwards and about which I corresponded with Nigel Kinsella.
The directory Easter on the monthly disc contains my version of that
algorithm as a PipeDream custom function. It ‘works’ for both the Julian
and the Gregorian calendars.
6.11
Friday 13th
6.11
Yes! Back to whether the 13th is more likely to be a Friday than any
other day of the week. One of the PipeDream spreadsheet solutions which
I must quote is the one below:
6.11
“Here is my solution to the Friday 13th problem. I can’t remember all
the ones that have gone before but haven’t they all taken rather a long
time to recalculate. Mine takes 3½ minutes on the A5000 with the clock
ticking away merrily. This seems a bearable length of time. Also, I
suspect mine is the shortest solution, so do I get a free mug?”
6.11
The solution consists of a calling document containing the following
formula: set_value(E1E7 ,[Fri13_cust]days_count()). The custom function,
[Fri13_cust]days_count(), consists of the following ten lines:
6.11
function(“days_count”)
6.11
set_name(“tempdate”,B2)
6.11
set_value(tempdate,date(1993,5,13))
6.11
set_name(“day_of_week”,B3B9)
6.11
set_value(day_of_week,0)
6.11
for(“i”,1,4800)
6.11
set_value(tempdate,tempdate+month-days(tempdate))
6.11
set_value(index(day_of_week,1,week-day(tempdate)),index(day_of_week
,1,weekday(tempdate))+1)
6.11
next
6.11
result(day_of_week)
6.11
Well, I suppose, if it were up to me I’d feel obliged to award a free
mug to the writer of this rather elegant solution if it weren’t for one
small problem. The way it ‘works’ is this. Starting on 13th May 1993
(line 3), the number of days in May 1993 are added to this date (line 7)
to return the 13th of the next month (June 1993). This is repeated 4800
times to cover all the 4800 months in 400 years. For each 13th, the day
of the week on which it falls is noted and counted into the day_of_week
array (line 8). All that remains is to transfer the totals of the
day_of_week array back to the calling document.
6.11
I don’t know if it’s a ‘bug’ but something interesting happens when I
run this custom function. You will note that at line 5, the seven values
in the range day_of_week are initialised to zero. If I create a new
document, put the ‘input focus’ (caret) in that new document and press
<return> then the custom function re-starts! Line 5 initialises the
array and the sums start again. This ‘problem’ of self-destruction of
the ‘multi-tasking’ feature of PipeDream is the reason why I think we
shouldn’t award the writer a mug. I’d like your opinion − should we
blame the author or the writers of the package for this ‘glitch’?
6.11
You will find a copy on the Archive monthly disc in the directory
bearing the name of its author − Macmillan! Yes! Him! Comments about the
self destruction and the giving of mugs will be much appreciated.
6.11
Sytze Stel has a solution in Basic which you will also find on the
monthly disc. Sytze’s technique is to use Julian Day numbers. I have had
other solutions which use Julian Day numbers (both in PipeDream, Basic,
C and other spreadsheets) but Sytze uses the ‘full’ Julian Day and not
one of many reduced forms offered by other writers. His version of the
program takes about 12 minutes to run with an ARM 2. It scans and lists
the frequencies each day of the week for the full 146097 days in the 400
years.
6.11
The Julian Day must not be confused with days of the Julian calendar. As
Sytze writes: “The counting of Julian Day numbers starts on the 1st
January 4713 BC at 1200 (noon) Universal Time.” Some of my
correspondents have used (incorrectly) an arbitrary day to ‘zero’ their
version of the Julian Day algorithms. I believe that the BBC and ITV
transmitters encrypt the full Julian Day and transmit it along with
their Teletext signals. I have a clock which contains a radio receiver
tuned to the Rugby transmitter which receives its time signals from the
National Physical Laboratory. My clock receives the exact time by radio
and resets itself. It is interesting to see it automatically change an
hour forwards or back in spring and autumn respectively. That clock
receives Julian Day signals!
6.11
Sytze refers us to “Astronomical formulae for Calculators” by Jean Meeus
and “Astronomy with your PC” by Peter Duffett-Smith. Anything which can
be done by way of calculations in Basic or on a calculator can be done
in a spreadsheet. He also refers us to Shareware 10 available from NCS
at £2! If you have in mind some spreadsheet project then Shareware 10 is
recommended as a starting point for the algorithms.
6.11
Navigation
6.11
I think that I’m already ‘over the top’ for my share of space this month
so let me add this brief request. Has anyone got a ‘database’ in
PipeDream format of the Equation of Time and Declination of the Sun? If
you can let me have it in time the next month, I’ll show you how to do a
little spherical trigonometry in a spreadsheet to ‘fix’ your position on
the globe (i.e. find your latitude and longitude)! By the way, for those
of you into ‘projects’, making a reasonably accurate ‘sextant’ and
taking ‘sightings’ on the Sun is fairly straightforward and interesting.
6.11
Cities of the world
6.11
I’ve also been asked for a database of latitude and longitude together
with time zones. Help please.
6.11
Resultz
6.11
Well, it should be out by the time you read this and, if you have
registered with Colton Software as a PipeDream or Wordz user, you will
already have been offered a substantial discount on the list price for a
limited period of time (a couple of months). If you haven’t, then
register now! My latest information is that, if you buy Resultz, then
you will need an upgraded version of Wordz (I think V 1.04) to harmonise
the two packages. Send your master copy of Wordz (both the Program and
the Examples discs) along to Colton Software at the same time as you
order Resultz from them.
6.11
We can supply you with a Resultz Demo disc. With it you can load
documents or create new documents; you will not be able to print nor to
save your work. Nearly two hundred subscribers have registered with us
(Abacus Training) to receive the Resultz Demo disc as soon as it is
available; trying out Resultz this way is a good idea if you are unsure
whether you want to buy it or not. We can’t afford to give it you for
free. Send us £2 EC (£2.50 non EC) to cover our costs.
6.11
Wish list
6.11
I recently asked you for contributions to a wish list for Wordz. Here
are some of the most general ones: The date formats are extensive but
please add one such as 1st August 1993. The delete key currently cuts
text to scrap so that it cannot be recovered with Paste − please cut to
the clipboard. Please can we have an easier method of forcing a page
break and an easier way of removing and deleting Styles?
6.11
Finally
6.11
If you need advice on a problem, please create an example on a disc and
send it in. Sending a disc helps me in at least three ways.
6.11
Firstly, by trying to run your file, I can see immediately whether I get
the same effect or whether your problem is related to your ‘set up’.
6.11
Secondly, if it is something about the way you are using a package then
I can modify your file and show you, using your example, how it can be
done. I find that, in nearly all cases, the easiest way to demonstrate
to you the solution to your problem is to send you a disc containing a
worked example. If I have to create the example from a blank sheet then
it does take me a lot longer.
6.11
Thirdly, if the problem is a feature or bug in the package, I can send a
copy of your file with my comments to Colton Software; they too much
prefer a disc file example of a problem. A
6.11
Using RISC OS 3.10
6.11
Hugh Eagle
6.11
Neil Dickson asks a jolly good question: have I or Archive ever had any
response from Acorn indicating that they are paying attention to this
column? Well, I haven’t (yet) and I think Paul would have told me if he
had. Surely, it’s inconceivable that Acorn are not interested in the
experiences that have been recounted, the suggestions offered and the
views expressed here. Isn’t it? Perhaps we’ll have some comment for next
month. Let’s wait and see ...
6.11
RISC OS 4 Wish List (continued)
6.11
• Alarm – (a) An option to display the digital clock not on the iconbar
but at the top right corner of the screen in front of all other windows.
(b) An option to set an alarm that goes off after every n (settable)
minutes − to remind you just how much time you are spending on the
machine!!?? (Rex Palmer)
6.11
• Shutdown – The <shift-ctrl-F12> routine should dismount any floppy
discs that may be present, then remind the user that they are still
there. (Peter Young)
6.11
All the following are from Neil Dickson:
6.11
• Paint – (a) Allow local fills with the “mask” colour. (b) Use outline
fonts.
6.11
• Edit – (a) Use multiple fonts (and maybe accept graphic files: i.e.
have a simple wordprocessing option). (b) Update the font list each time
a new font directory is loaded (like Draw and Impression do.)
6.11
• Printers – (a) Put as much as possible of the code into ROM, to save
loading time. (b) A quicker method of “toggling” within !Printers when
deciding which are active and which are inactive.
6.11
• Calc – Make it better, but less complicated than SciCalc. (E.g.
include memory buttons and a percentage button, and allow
multiplication, division, etc, by a constant.)
6.11
• Draw – (a) Optional detachable toolbox. (b) An option for redefining
the toolbox (e.g. to include zoom and edit tools.) (c) Patterned fills
(hatching, stripes, etc.)
6.11
• Tidy windows – Include a “Tidy windows” option on the desktop.
6.11
• Filer multitasking – An option to make all filer actions (load and
save, disc mounting, etc) multitask.
6.11
• Replacement of system font – Optional replacement of the system font
by an outline font on the desktop (like the Germans seem to have already
in RISC OS 3.12)!
6.11
• RMFaster – An option to RMFaster various modules, such as
SharedCLibrary, from the Task Manager (rather than having to type in the
command at the command line).
6.11
• Virtual memory – For hard disc users.
6.11
• Built in sounds – A greater variety.
6.11
• Simpler mode changing – A less fiddly method.
6.11
• Keyboard emulation of the mouse – e.g. using <Alt> and the arrow keys.
6.11
• Auto-scrolling of font menus – Make the list of fonts scroll
automatically when the pointer reaches the bottom.
6.11
• Compression of sprite files – Either in addition to, or instead of,
compression of entire discs, arrange for sprite files to be compressed
always.
6.11
• Font management – Put a Font Manager on the icon bar showing a list of
available directories which you can select and deselect by clicking.
(Sounds like !FMaster from Risc User.)
6.11
Miscellaneous
6.11
Superfluous icons in template definitions
6.11
Mick Day has found numerous examples of template definitions in standard
RISC OS 3 applications which contain extra unused icons. The “save”
window in Alarm is just one example: this has four superfluous icons.
(To see for yourself: find the template file inside Resources:$.
Resources, load it into FormEd, use the menu to assign vertical and
horizontal scroll bars and a size icon, then scroll around the window.)
He has also noted inconsistent naming of templates and numbering of
icons. If you use existing windows borrowed from existing applications,
beware that the templates may require more memory than you might expect
because of the space taken by the extra icon definitions and pay close
attention to the icon numbering. As Tim Nicholson comments: it is a
great pity that Acorn did not supply a suitable “clean” set of templates
to work from.
6.11
“OS_Find” and image filing systems
6.11
In one of my programs, I need to be able to check that a specified
filing system object (which might be either a file or directory) is
actually present and, in particular, is not on a floppy disc that has
been removed. In RISC OS 2, I found that the following code seemed
fairly foolproof:
6.11
ON ERROR LOCAL:PROCReport(“Can’t find ”+Object$):ENDPROC
6.11
SYS “OS_Find”,&40,Object$ TO FileHandle%
6.11
IF FileHandle%<>0 THEN SYS “XOS_Find”,0,FileHandle%
6.11
RESTORE ERROR
6.11
This relied on the fact that the SWI call “OS_Find”,&40 (which is the
general routine for opening a file) should “open” Object$ whether it is
a directory or a file. However, with the arrival of “image” filing
systems such as DOSFS and SparkFS, I found that this wouldn’t work,
because an attempt to “open” a directory inside an image filing system
(e.g. a directory inside a SparkFS archive) resulted in an error
(contrary to the rules set out in the Programmer’s Reference Manual).
6.11
David Pilling says “there are two entry points to SparkFS, one via the
OS image filing system, the other via a traditional FS entry. The code
in these after the entry point is the same. So it looks like it is the
OS that is faulting your operation and not SparkFS.”
6.11
I have now rewritten my code so that it checks to see whether Object$ is
a directory and, if it is, it looks inside it for a file and tries to
open that. This seems to work with image filing systems as well as
others, but is a bit cumbersome to say the least (and as David Pilling
observes is still open to being fooled by cacheing). Does anyone know of
a simple and genuinely foolproof way of ensuring that a filing system
object is present?
6.11
Applications that refuse to Shutdown
6.11
Keith Gardner has experienced problems with applications that interfere
with the Shutdown process and cause the computer to hang. He refers to
advice in the June issue of Risc User, according to which the Shutdown
routine in RISC OS 3 (which can be selected from the Acorn icon or by
pressing <ctrl-shift-F12>) cannot cope if more than one Run file is open
at the time of Shutdown. Run files are left open while applications are
running if there are any lines after the line that calls RunImage. One
way to avoid the problem is to remove surplus blank lines or lines
containing remarks (prefaced with a | ). However, applications sometimes
contain tidying up commands such as RMKill commands to get rid of
modules: in these cases, it may be necessary to Quit one or more
applications before selecting Shutdown.
6.11
Matters arising
6.11
Testing a printer’s on-line status
6.11
(Archive 6.9 p12) Mick Day found that the printer test routine published
in the June edition of Archive lied! It told him that the printer was
not on line whether it was or not, and the printer beeped if it was on
line. Tim Nicholson says that the routine (as previously published) can
fail for two reasons: Firstly, it assumes a printer buffer of 1024
bytes, but the actual size depends upon the setting of *Configure
PrinterBufferSize, which may be different from the default of 1Kb.
Secondly, the first line of the program redirects the whole output
stream to the printer, thus if the program is run from the desktop, the
output which normally goes to the Task window that the desktop
generates, goes to the printer instead as well as the test byte of
CHR$(0). Typically this stream will contain several control codes to
open the task window display and the Task window title, e.g. RUN
ADFS::DiscName.$.PrintTest. Although this stream is sent before running
the program, the FX 3 call at the top of the program is executed in time
to redirect this part way through and upset the printer.
6.11
Tim suggests the following variant of the routine:
6.11
*FX21,3
6.11
empty%=ADVAL(-4)
6.11
PRINT “Printer is ”;
6.11
*FX3,10
6.11
PRINTCHR$(0);
6.11
a%=INKEY(20)
6.11
a%=ADVAL(-4)
6.11
*FX3,0
6.11
*FX21,3
6.11
IF a%<>empty% THEN
6.11
PRINT “not on line”
6.11
ELSE PRINT “on line”
6.11
ENDIF
6.11
END
6.11
This deals with the first problem by comparing the buffer length
immediately after flushing with the length after inserting the test byte
and pausing to allow throughput, and with the second by including a
PRINT statement before redirecting the output stream.
6.11
Tim notes that the original program would run correctly (subject to the
buffer size being correct) from the command line, i.e. after pressing
<f12>, and CHAINing or LOADing and RUNning.
6.11
Tim does not understand the supposed warning from Acorn about the use of
ADVAL(−4) (see Archive 6.7 p41) since it is a use specified in the Basic
manual. He can only assume it is a confusion with the use of positive
ADVAL parameters, which are only meaningful if a podule with an analogue
input which mimics that of the original BBC Micro is fitted. He has
experienced no difficulties using negative ADVAL parameters to inspect
the condition of buffers and is not aware of any differing action under
RISC OS 3.1x as opposed to 2.0 with this facility.
6.11
Basic program compaction
6.11
(Archive 6.9 p65) Rex Palmer says that in his experience compacted
programs only cause problems when you try to alter them. The problem
seems to occur with both Edit and BasicEdit. If a compacted program is
loaded into either of these and any alterations made, then when the
program is re-saved, the line that has been altered will generate the
error even if the resulting error is not part of the line that was
altered!
6.11
Altering the keyboard status
6.11
(Archive 6.8 p27 and 6.9 p65) Rex Palmer has written to explain the
purpose of bit 7 (the “Shift enable” bit) of the keyboard status byte.
When this bit is set, the <Shift> key reverses the action of the
<CapsLock> key. Thus, if you hold down <Shift> while pressing <CapsLock>
then release both keys, you put the computer in a state where pressing
the <Shift> key with a letter key gives you lower case letters. The
computer can be configured to start up in this state. Alternatively, the
command *FX202,128,111 will achieve the same effect ... since 111 = 255
− 128 − 16 the command sets bit 7 (Shift Enable on) and unsets bit 4
(Caps Lock on).
6.11
To recap, the most useful commands are likely to be:
6.11
*FX202,0,239 to set Caps Lock on
6.11
*FX202,16,239 to set Caps Lock off
6.11
*FX202,128,111 to select ShiftCaps
6.11
Programmer’s Reference Manual
6.11
The increase in the number of pages is not “nearly 50%”, as I said last
month, but is in fact over 70% (excluding the indexes, there were 1,882
pages in the RISC OS 2 manual and there are over 3,200 in the new
edition.) Sorry about the mistake!
6.11
Arm3 hare and tortoise (again)
6.11
(Archive 6.6 p59, 6.8 p30 and 6.10 p63) With the help of Jim Nottingham,
I have found out the source of my problem. The Run file of the Aleph One
!Arm3 application should read:
6.11
IconSprites <Obey$Dir>.!Sprites
6.11
|Use only one of the lines
6.11
|below, comment out the other.
6.11
|Load <Obey$Dir>.CMdlUnix
6.11
Load <Obey$Dir>.CacheMdl
6.11
Load <Obey$Dir>.IconMdl
6.11
<Obey$Dir>.Kick CacheIcon
6.11
In my file, the CacheMdl line had somehow got REM’d out. I vaguely
remember that when I first tried to install !Arm3 with RISC OS 3, I read
the instruction about “using only one of the lines below” as meaning
that only one of the following three lines should be used and, since I
assumed that I no longer needed “CacheMdl” because RISC OS 3 now had a
module to deal with this, I removed it as well as the CMdlUnix line. On
looking at the file again, I now presume that you are only supposed to
remove one of these two lines, so I have reinstated the CacheMdl line
and everything seems fine. A case of trying to be too clever, it seems.
6.11
Redraw problems (and an alternative)
6.11
(Archive 6.8 p29 and 6.10 p63) Richard Hallas confirms that the problem
of incorrect screen redrawing in Edit and DeskEdit is indeed due to a
bug in the Shared C Library and that the problem seems to occur with
particularly long lines. He says that any program which uses the C
library’s text object feature will suffer from the bug until Acorn
corrects it in a future version of CLib. He adds that Acorn has been
aware of the problem for some time, so hopefully a fix should not be too
far off.
6.11
Richard used to use DeskEdit to produce files for input to PMS which
frequently involved very long input lines indeed (up to several hundred
characters). He would occasionally reposition the caret and start
typing, only to find that his input had gone into a separate part of the
file which was not on the screen! Partly because of this bug, he has now
moved over to using the public domain text editor, Zap, which he
thoroughly recommends: “It has its own redraw routines, which are
unbelievably fast and totally accurate: plus you can get twice as much
text on the screen in multisync modes.” A
6.11
Chatter from 4Mation
6.11
Peter Smith
6.11
Chatter (Version 1.02) is advertised by 4Mation as a ‘simple, low cost
communications program which can be used to introduce RISC OS users to
the world of communications’. As a complete beginner to the world of
‘comms’, I thought I would be a good guinea pig for such a claim. As
such, I make no claim to have tested this program to destruction or to
have tested the extent to which the various emulations offered match up
to their specifications. If you want the opinion of a comms ‘power’
user, you will have to look elsewhere. Instead, I will attempt to give
an idea of the range of facilities of the program and an indication of
the extent to which 4Mation’s claims for the program are justified.
6.11
I received the package within a few days of taking delivery of my Pace
Microlin FX pocket modem, which I used with Chatter to carry out this
review. I had never used a modem before, and the limit of my experience
was confined to watching over an experienced colleague’s shoulder for 30
minutes, whilst he whizzed through various facilities which were
available to the modem owner. I was left feeling excited but daunted by
the apparent complexities and variations possible. With different
bulletin boards offering different emulations, with a variety of data
formats and an assortment of data transfer speeds, the possibilities of
hitting the right permutation seemed remote!
6.11
First steps
6.11
Chatter is supplied on a single disc which has to be initialised in the
usual 4Mation way. For those of you who have not previously purchased a
4Mation product, when you first try to run the !Chatter application, you
are told to enter a name. This name is embedded into the software and
will be displayed in a window whenever the software is run. Once
initialised, the software can be backed up to another floppy, or copied
to your hard disc drive. I think 4Mation have found a good balance
between protecting their legitimate interests in the copyright of their
product, and the needs of the user.
6.11
Chatter is a fully RISC OS compliant application which installs itself
on the iconbar in the standard manner.
6.11
Using Chatter
6.11
When you load Chatter, a default ‘phone book’ is loaded too. A few
sample bulletin boards are included in this default telephone directory.
Unfortunately, I tried the Archive number first, without success, only
to discover in the January editorial of the Archive magazine that the
number had been changed. I have yet to get an answer from the new
number. (We’ll get it going again one day! Ed.) I was more successful
with ‘World of Criton’, and with ‘Arcade’ which I have used more than
any other so far (Arcade’s number is 081−654−2212). In fact, I managed
to connect to World of Criton without recourse to the Chatter manual and
just followed the on-screen instructions. The text appeared rather more
slowly than I had expected until I realised that the data rate was set
to 1200 baud. To change it, I had to bring up the phone book, choose the
option to ‘Edit selected entry’, then click on the ‘Communications
setup’ box.
6.11
It is all there, but I did need the Chatter manual to find this
particular option, which I think is fair enough! Actually, this is a
result of careful design − you only ‘see’ the features you really need.
Most of the time, all you will want to do with the phone book is to
dial, so opening the phone book just shows this essential information
(figure 1) and only expands (figure 2) when you want to change
something. Since setting the data baud rates is something you would
normally only need to do once, this option is further hidden.
6.11
In fact, after several months of use, I have rarely had to pick up the
manual. Indeed, the manual was only really meaningful to me after I had
begun to assimilate some of the jargon and I found that the best way to
do this was just to ‘get logged on’ to a bulletin board and experiment.
6.11
Facilities
6.11
With Chatter, depending on the bulletin board you are logged onto, you
may be able to receive (download) and send (upload) public domain files,
communicate with other people with similar interests to you, read news
items such as reviews of recent software, get answers to your technical
problems, and communicate to others all over the world through
electronic mail (EMail). The ways in which you do this with Chatter seem
to follow well-established RISC OS guidelines and I found the program
well-planned and reasonably intuitive.
6.11
Chatter has four modem drivers available by default, these being Hayes,
HayesV42, Manual and Tandata512. You can add other drivers if necessary.
Communication with a host system is via an Edit-type text editing
window. The display from the host appears here, and you enter commands
in this window too, so that a dialogue continues between you and your
host. All (or some) of this ‘conversation’ is logged in a buffer which
can be configured to anything from 25 to 10000 lines of text, depending
on the amount of memory you have available. Alternatively, if you have
little memory to spare and still want a record of your communication,
you can set an option to ‘log displayed text’.
6.11
When I first explored a few bulletin boards, I was a bit nervous about
running up huge phone bills whilst trying to read and understand all the
facilities which seemed to be on offer. I found a good strategy was to
set a large buffer, and then flash around the various facilities fairly
quickly, avoiding time consuming possibilities such as down-loading
software. I would then log off, print out the contents of the Chatter
text buffer and read it at my leisure.
6.11
Chatter makes use of a number of keyboard short-cuts. I was sorry to see
no function key strip included. Is it my imagination or is this becoming
a more common omission? I was recently astonished that a pack like
Artworks omitted such an essential item!
6.11
Technical
6.11
Different bulletin boards obey different display protocols and different
protocols for the transfer of files. Chatter supports ANSI, Viewdata and
Teletext displays as well as Campus 2000. When transferring files, you
can select X,Y or Z modem standards. Data speeds can be selected from 75
baud to 19.2 Kbaud, but 14.4 Kbaud seems to be missing. I think it would
be possible to cheat by setting up a modem driver to assign this speed
to one of the other existing selectable speeds, but the Communications
Setup window would continue to display the default range of speeds.
6.11
Chatter allows you set up a simple (up to five-step) automatic logon
script which is entered through the phone book window. One feature I
would have liked is a facility to precede all phone numbers with my
Mercury code as is available in David Pilling’s Arcfax. (It is also
available in ArcComm2 which I use. Ed.)
6.11
Reliability and robustness
6.11
I had few problems here. A couple of times, when there was insufficient
memory to load the program, I was left with the hourglass rather than
the arrow pointer, but I could not reliably reproduce the error, so it
is possible that it was caused by some other program. Chatter never
crashed or hung and downloading files has always worked without fault.
The documentation seemed adequate for my needs and included a useful
appendix of technical terms. I had read of a number of inaccuracies in
some of the terminal emulations in a review in another journal. I
contacted the author Dave Caughley who confirmed that the emulations
were not full but contained the most commonly used subset of features
for each emulation. Some of the criticisms, however, have already been
addressed and corrected in the latest version (1.02) and he is
continuing to develop the product. It is good to see publishers taking
software development seriously.
6.11
Summary
6.11
All in all, I have been very satisfied with Chatter. The inclusion of a
free site licence for schools must make this an attractive option for
the educational market.
6.11
Chatter retails at £37.50 +VAT (£35 through Archive). A school site
licence for is included! A
6.11
Figure 1
6.11
Figure 2
6.11
Figure 3
6.11
Creating Impression Borders
6.11
Barry Thompson
6.11
If you have ever thought you would like to create borders for Impression
but could never work out how to do it from the manual, I will try to
make it a bit clearer.
6.11
First of all, a short explanation about the objects that you can find on
Impression Disc 5, in the borders directory. If you load one of these
borders into, say, DrawPlus, you will find that it contains two objects.
One is used by Impression as the corner of the frame, the other is
stretched to fit the length of the side of the frame. Impression is
clever, it fits the corner piece exactly on the corner of the frame and
the side exactly along the side of the frame.
6.11
If you are using DrawPlus, when you select the side piece, you will
discover that it comprises at least two objects. One is the visible
object that is seen as the border, the other is an invisible line used
by Impression to position the side of the border exactly on the side of
the frame that the border is being placed around.
6.11
Creating the objects
6.11
A simple design has been chosen to illustrate the process − we will
create a black border 6mm wide around an Impression frame. Create the
shapes to the dimensions shown − it is easier if grid lock is set to on.
Move the objects together so that there is no gap between them. The
corner object is selected, press <ctrl-F> to bring the corner object to
the front. The side is then selected and press <ctrl-B> to send the
object to the back. Save the file to disc.
6.11
In Impression, bring up the Borders Setup option in the Frame menu. In
this can be seen the borders that Impression has built into it. Pick up
the drawfile icon of the border objects that have been created and drop
it onto the target arrow at the top right of the border setup. Click OK
after the message “Drawfile loaded as frame border”. Scroll down the
Borders Setup to see that the border has been added as border number
eleven (or higher if your default document has extra borders added).
6.11
Create a blank frame in Impression, select it by clicking inside it,
then bring up the Alter frame dialogue, <ctrl-f10>. Click on the View
button at the bottom, then click an the All button at the top. Click on
the top right pointing arrow next to where the word Off appears.
Continue clicking until 11 appears and click on OK. If all is well, the
new border will appear around the selected frame.
6.11
Now for something completely different... If a border is to be created
that has a side which is less in width than the corner, then an
additional invisible line has to be added to the side to keep the side
away from the side of the frame. If this invisible line is omitted, the
result will be as shown below, for the corner and side shown opposite.
6.11
All lines have a finite thickness and this has to be taken into account
when creating both the corner and side. Line thickness and colour should
be the same for both.
6.11
The invisible line that has to be created must also have the same
thickness as that used formerly for the corner and side. The position of
the invisible line in relation to the corner piece is important. Any
slight discrepancy will show up as the side being out of alignment with
the corner when Impression creates the border. If the line has been
drawn with grid lock on, then the centre line of the line will lay on
the grid position, as will the outline of the corner. In the diagram
below, the sizes have been exaggerated for clarity and the single line
has been drawn in black.
6.11
Select the corner and side and give them a fill colour to match the line
colour. It can be any colour from the palette. Select the single line,
change the colour from black to none, create a group of the side and the
now invisible line. Then close the gap between the group created and the
corner. Select the corner object, press <ctrl-F> to bring the corner
object to the front. Select the side group and then press <ctrl-B> to
send the object to the back. Save the file to disc, load the new border
into Impression and try it out. Examine the created border at each
corner at high magnification to check that the alignment of the corner
and the side is correct. If there are any misalignments, it is usually
because the edge of the ‘invisible’ line is not in perfect alignment
with the outside edge of the corner piece.
6.11
The sides that can be created do not have to be straight, but if curves
are used these can look a little strange if the frame is other than
square. If Paul can find space on the magazine disc there are several
ready-made frames to use. (Yes, we can fit it on.) A disc can be
obtained from me which contains over 120 different frames and borders
compressed onto one disc for £10 inclusive of p&p, cheques payable to
me. These were formally sold as Capsoft Discs 1 & 2. My address is:
Barry Thompson, Lantern Pike, 8 Old Gate Avenue, Weston On Trent,
Derbyshire, DE7 2BZ. A
6.11
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6.11
With
6.11
invisible
6.11
line
6.11
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6.11
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6.11
Without
6.11
invisible
6.11
line
6.11
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6.11
Aldebaran
6.11
Rob Wears
6.11
(This game from Arc Angels was reviewed on an A310 with RISC OS 2, 4Mb
RAM, ARM3 and an Oak SCSI drive.)
6.11
I bet you thought that solar power was ecologically friendly. Well, have
I got news for you. In the twenty seventh century, the human colony on
Aldebaran is having problems with an alien satellite known as Algol
which is using their sun as a power supply. The one slight drawback from
this scheme is that Algol extracts the power forcibly, producing a
supernova and destroying all of humanity. Your mission is to destroy the
satellite and save the entire civilisation, and you’ve only got 24 hours
to do so.
6.11
The game itself comes on a single disc, and is easy to install on the
hard drive. It is possible to run Aldebaran on a 1 Mb system but the
manual recommends that at least a MEMC1a upgrade is fitted (to A310’s
and old A440’s) to improve game speed. The copy protection system
employed involves typing in a word from the manual before you start a
new session of the game. Actually, this itself is quite challenging, as
the manual is small and printed in something like 6pt text!
6.11
The game will multitask in the style of Elite, taking over the whole of
the computer during gameplay but sitting innocently on the iconbar while
you try to convince your nearest and dearest that you really are working
hard on that latest batch of letters. This is not as easy to do as it is
with Elite, because you actually have to have landed safely before you
can return to the desktop, making rapid changeover virtually impossible.
It is possible to save your position in the game, but double-clicking on
one of these “pilot” files will load another copy of the game, even if
one version is already running. Instead, the file has to be dragged to
the iconbar. Aldebaran will not complain if loading a new file
overwrites another unsaved file, so be careful! To be fair, the manual
warns you about this.
6.11
The game itself involves you collecting the brains of humanity (twelve
professors) and giving them the resources they need to build weapons and
defence systems to destroy the Algol satellite. You are given a
spaceship called the Flashlight, which looks suspiciously like an
updated Zarch hovership, and an enormous interplanetary transporter
called the Taurus. The professors are scattered across the solar system,
so collecting them together into teams is essential. The only problem is
that this takes time, which you don’t have in great abundance.
6.11
You are hindered in your mission by the presence of large numbers of
homicidal aliens who are apparently free to roam unhindered across the
face of every human colonised planet. The rest of mankind is apparently
so impressed with your abilities that they plan on leaving everything to
you. Fortunately, the Flashlight is hard to destroy, and even when it
is, it is possible to have the pieces reassembled. This may sound
boring, but it most certainly is not.
6.11
The gameplay is delightful, the graphics are smooth and colourful and
the sound effects are more than adequate. However, what makes the game
really tick is the time limit. If you manage to damage Algol you can
delay the supernova, but the professors seem to work at an agonisingly
slow pace, they periodically get kidnapped and require rescue and they
are generally irritating. To make matters worse, it takes valuable time
to repair the Flashlight, and to travel between planets. The travel time
varies as the planets move in their respective orbits, making advanced
planning essential if you are to avoid being fried. And if you fail, a
rather evil looking chap appears on screen to crush your sun out of
existence.
6.11
The final confrontation on the surface of Algol is straight out of Star
Wars. Disappointingly, this last section is in wire frame graphics, but
is still tricky enough to keep you interested. After all the effort
involved, I had rather hoped for some sort of extravagant victory parade
when I completed the game, but I had to make do with a nice picture of a
sunset and a terse “Thank you, commander”. Ah, the ingratitude!
6.11
I have no reservations in recommending this game. There are similarities
to the venerable Zarch, but there is also more than enough new material
to keep many a budding Luke Skywalker happy for hours. And it is
possible to win without ever visiting Algol.... A
6.11
Watford Electronics’ VGA VIDC Enhancer
6.11
Stuart Bell
6.11
In his review of the Princeton Colour Monitor (Archive 6.3 p68), Andrew
Ferguson wrote very positively about the Watford VGA VIDC Enhancer and
the software that accompanies it. Encouraged by that, I decided to
purchase the enhancer, as a prelude to upgrading my ancient standard
resolution monochrome monitor (now in its twelfth year, and on its
second tube).
6.11
Archive members will have read the reviews of the super new colour cards
now available for the A300/400/4000/5000 machines. I’d love one, but
know that I could not afford both a new card and a monitor that would
take full advantage of the new modes which they make possible. VIDC
enhancers can be thought of as a ‘half-way-house’ in display
improvement. By making the video controller in the computer (the VIDC)
run faster than normal, larger modes can be displayed − up to 16 colours
at 1152 × 448 or 800 × 600. (The new cards go up to 1120 × 840.)
6.11
Atomwide were the first in the market with a VIDC enhancer (Archive 3.10
p21) but have recently discontinued the product. Watford Electronics
followed and added the extra facility in their VGA model of making it
possible for Acorn machines to drive VGA and SVGA monitors in most
screen modes up to 800 × 600 pixels (100 text columns by 75 lines)
without buying a multi-sync monitor. (Basic VGA monitors will only
achieve 640 × 480.) Also, the Watford enhancer requires no external
switching, using the I²C data bus to drive the board entirely by
software. Wishing to keep my options open, I purchased the VGA version.
6.11
Having read Andrew’s comments, I expected a trouble-free installation
process. Unfortunately, this was not the case, primarily because of
machine and monitor differences. Three problems arose on my A310 with a
TV broadcast standard (i.e. standard resolution) monitor. First of all,
despite following the instructions to the letter (including keeping the
numeric keypad’s “0” depressed on power-up), whenever I started up the
supplied applications, the screen went totally out of synchronisation.
Whilst waiting for the Watford telephone number to become free, I found
that the applications always left the OS variable Monitor Type as 4,
meaning SVGA – hence the screen problems. The solution is to alter the
default module type held in the !Edit-able Defaults file of each
application from Alphascan to BaseTV (or whatever is applicable for your
monitor).
6.11
Secondly, whilst A3000 and later A400 machines do have headers for all
the connections which the enhancer requires, this is not the case with
A300 and early A400 computers. One three-pin header and one two-pin
header must be fitted by an Acorn dealer, or other competent person,
before the board can be fully installed so as to produce separate
horizontal sync and vertical sync signals – which most VGA monitors
require, I understand. So, approach the VGA VIDC enhancer with a little
caution if you have an A300 or older A400.
6.11
Thirdly, connections to the I²C bus are made by probes which are simple
imitations of those used on oscilloscopes. In my A310, one chip had been
soldered so close to the main PCB, and with so much solder around one
pin, that it was very difficult to get the probe firmly attached. I
would not like to guarantee the connection at all.
6.11
Having said all that, the software that comes with the enhancer is very
neat indeed, although I agree totally with Andrew that it would be even
better if all the functions were integrated into one application. Modes
can be designed, edited and fine-tuned at will. Although standard
monitors cannot use the higher clock rate of the VIDC enhancer hardware,
their modes can be handled by the applications; my personal 1136 × 280
(142 columns by 35 rows) doesn’t look bad at all! I’m now looking out
for a new monitor for my A310 – and with SVGA monitors being so cheap
and 800 × 600 being really the largest mode that it’s sensible to use on
14“ screens, little is sacrificed in comparison with the cost savings
over a proper 14” multi-sync monitor. For those who can’t afford a new
colour card and a nice 17“ (or 21”!) multisync, it’s not a bad ‘half-
way-house’. A
6.11
Psion MC 400 − Middleweight Champion?
6.11
Tord Eriksson
6.11
When the Psion Mobile Computer was presented in Personal Computer World
in November 1989, it was love at first sight.
6.11
It seemed to combine all the features I wanted from a portable computer,
including good looks! Or as Guy Swarbrick, the PCW editor, wrote in the
July ’92 issue’s editorial: “No, the real issue here is the notebooks. I
hate the things. Not just the Tandon − all new notebooks. They’re far
too heavy, the battery life is far too short and almost without
exception, the screens are awful. There is a solution to this problem
and, as it happens, that comes from Psion too. I’d been happily using
the MC 400 ....”.
6.11
At that time the MC 400 cost £845, without any expansion nor any word
processor. Today, it is sold for £325 by Dabs, and that includes a
Microsoft Word-compatible word processor! It weighs 2.5 kilos, batteries
included.
6.11
Unpacking
6.11
When opening the box, you find that the only thing you have to do to get
the handsome, grey Psion MC 400 running is to insert the lithium
battery. That keeps the configuration memory refreshed during main
battery changes. Also included is a ready-installed flash PCMCIA card
with Word and other utilities, and three manuals (User manual, OPL
manual and Word processor manual).
6.11
There are lots of optional add-ons: several expensive mini-modems that
fit inside, four slots for PCMCIA cards like Solid State Discs (a.k.a.
flash cards), ram cards or modem cards, modem cables, several serial
cables, AD/DA signal processors, microphones and chargers.
6.11
Printing is straight forward − just choose a suitable printer driver,
connect your standard Centronics cable and off you go! (I have to
confess that my BJ-330 refuses to do linefeeds after having printed the
first page of a document correctly, so everything becomes a wet mess.
Probably easy to fix?)
6.11
The battery is said to last 60 hours on an unexpanded MC 400 − quite a
lot more than on the A4! If you use a rechargeable battery, the little
charger will charge while you type. If you put rechargeable AA cells in
the battery compartment, these will not be charged properly, so you have
to charge the eight cells in a separate battery charger.
6.11
The keyboard is not configurable, just like the Archimedes is under
RISC OS 3.00 (unless you use the little !IntKey patch). My Psion MC 400
is UK to the hilt, so no “foreign” characters are available! But there
are ways to circumvent that.
6.11
A family of Psions
6.11
There are two other Mobile Computers, the 200 and the 600. All three
models are equipped with an Intel CMOS static 80C86 PC-compatible
processor but only the 600 is an MS-DOS machine. The other two use a
Psion-developed WIMP environment called MUI, which is quite like the
Archimedes. It multitasks, you can push windows off the screen and the
MUI rivals the best GUI! (MUI equals Multitasking User Interface and GUI
is Graphical User Interface.) The 200 has a small LCD display, the other
two a 640×400 pixel high-tech LCD from Hitachi, the size of a copy of
Risc User (i.e. 50% bigger than Archive!). (No comment! Ed.)
6.11
The displays are monochrome, character-based and none includes any back-
lighting. Under most lighting conditions, it’s easy to use but the
softer the lighting, the better.
6.11
The hardware, excluding the display, is the same as in the Acorn Pocket
Book/Psion Series 3. Just as in those, the main way to save your files
is to use flash cards, with options of external drives or ram cards.
6.11
The 61-key keyboard on the MC 400 feels quite like the A3000‘s, but
somewhat stiffer and with only eight tiny functions keys on top. There
is also a digitizer tablet above the keys that works just like a mouse
with a single button. When you press harder with your finger the entire
tablet moves and gives an audible click. It works very well after some
minutes of trial and error.
6.11
The flashware
6.11
There are many utilities supplied: calendar, editor, database, alarm,
filer, MC Link, comms and the WORD word processor. In addition to these,
there is the Basic-like OPL programming language, so popular with Psion
Organiser owners.
6.11
Being a man of words and graphics, I will concentrate on the word
processor and the comms software, as the MCs are limited in their
graphics capability, except for the graphics included in the graphical
user interface. (The Psion Series 3/Acorn Pocket Book use a bit-mapped
LCD, so graphics is easy to do!)
6.11
Firstly, let me say a word about the MC Link. This enables your PC-
compatible and your MC to become one single filing system, so the MC
becomes REM: to the PC and vice versa. I have not managed to get this to
work on my A3000, running the PC Emulator and DR-DOS first, of course,
probably due to limitations in the serial chip on the A3000.
6.11
Word
6.11
The word processor is Microsoft Word-compatible, so it is easy to
transfer texts to and from a PC or Mac using Word − an increasingly
popular package on both machines. Both Word and Microsoft Word
understand RTF files and so does Impression if you have the Business
Supplement. Sadly, however, Impression does not export RTF files.
6.11
If you haven’t bought the Impression Business Supplement, the easiest
way to transfer files is by editing them first in your MC editor,
stripping away surplus style information and converting the file to a
pure ASCII file. This is done most easily by selecting the part you want
and saving it onto a new file.
6.11
After you have tidied your file, you can use a simple serial lead,
connecting the Archimedes serial port with the normal serial port on the
MC, to transfer the file.
6.11
The easiest way to do this is by buying a Psion serial lead for
connecting to an IBM AT and then making a so-called breakout box,
conversion cable or null modem, that fixes the oddities with the Acorn
connector as compared with an IBM AT connector (see the article about
the Psion Series 3, in Archive 6.1, p57).
6.11
Load your favourite communication program in your Archimedes (I use
TASKansi+, £5.99 from David Pilling) and activate the terminal program
in your MC, select the same protocol and transfer speed (9600 Baud, 8N1,
Xon/Xoff is fast enough for me!). If you have set up things correctly
and soldered your null modem properly, you will have no communication
problems!
6.11
The Psion MC 400 is, as I’ve stated, language-specific. You buy it with
a Swedish keyboard or a UK keyboard and that’s it! (I do not know if
this is true of the MC 600 as it is a true PC.) All is not lost if you,
like me, end up with the “wrong” keyboard.
6.11
To get my å, ä and ö, I simply ignore the fact that the character on
screen is not the one I wanted. On a Swedish keyboard, the key right of
the L is the Ö-key, so I press it each time I want an Ö.
6.11
To transform the character ‘:’ to an ‘Ö’, I use David Pilling’s !Xlate
(with a suitable transformation file, of course) or replace with the
right characters manually. So when I write my address on my MC 400 I
write :vralidsgatan 25>5 and that will be transformed into Övralidsgatan
25:5. This method can be used for any language as long as you don’t mind
what you type on your MC’s screen!
6.11
Conclusion
6.11
Compared with the portable offerings from Acorn, you get a screen the
size of the A4’s and a full-sized portable just a bit more expensive
than the Pocket Book! With communication software in your Archimedes, a
serial cable (and a serial chip in your A3000) you can transfer anything
you want quickly and easy, with no errors.
6.11
I know of no other portable that runs for 60 hours on one set of
batteries, nor one with such a big screen and nice keyboard that costs
so little. Even the cheap Amstrad NC200 and the failure-prone Z88 are
not cheap in comparison.
6.11
The best alternative is a Sharp 6220 with a similar screen, keyboard and
a 40Mb hard drive. Original price was over £2000 but it costs around
£600 today, if you can find one! That is almost price-worthy but it
certainly won’t run for 60 hours on one set of batteries.
6.11
Of course, it would be nice to have further add-ons: there are 1.8“ hard
cards that fit the PCMCIA slot − hopefully these could be used on a
Psion MC 400!? And an MC Link for Archimedes users would be nice.
6.11
The only disadvantage, compared to modern notebooks, is that there are
no Lemmings available!
6.11
To end with, here is a warning. When Guy Swarbrick wrote his editorial
“Inside Out” (PCW, July, ’92) mentioning the Psion MC 400, he thought it
was near perfect. That is, until German Customs X-rayed the machine,
despite his protests. It never worked properly again! Surprise,
surprise?!
6.11
This text was prepared with the help of illustrations from the User
Manual, scanned with Scan-Light Junior 256 and pasted into Impression.
Invaluable help has been given by David Pilling. Thanks! A
6.11
The Psion MC 400 has room for four PCMCIA cards, two each side.
6.11
Also visible is the digitisation tablet above the keyboard.
6.11
Spectra
6.11
David Wild
6.11
One of the non-computer things I do with my Archimedes is to produce the
newsletter for the British Railwaymen’s Esperanto Association. There can
be no doubt that the use of DTP methods has made a big improvement in
the appearance of the newsletter but it still lacked good illustrations.
Although there are many art and drawing packages available, I do not
really have the skills necessary to produce what I need, but I am a
reasonably competent photographer.
6.11
When I saw Risc Developments advertisement for the Spectra colour
scanner, I was interested to see what it might do for me and, after a
demonstration at St Albans, I decided to buy one. When you open the box,
there is the Spectra device itself, a power supply, a podule to fit in
the back of the computer, a disc with the software and a couple of
manuals − one written for Risc Developments and one provided by the
manufacturers of the scanner. It didn’t take very long to put the podule
in, connect everything together and get ready to try the system.
6.11
The scan area is just a little bit bigger than a standard 6×4 inch print
and is clearly outlined on the bottom one of the two clear plates which
make up the top and base of the scanner. This allows you to position
your photograph ready for scanning, but I did find it difficult to stop
an individual print moving as I adjusted the position of the scanner.
For my first attempt, I asked the program to scan at full resolution
without setting any limits and then waited for the job to complete. You
do need to be patient, or have something else to do, as a full scan
takes about six minutes.
6.11
When the scan is complete, the program spends some time processing the
image before displaying it on the screen. This processing time is not,
unlike the scan time, multi-tasking, but the percentages displayed under
the hourglass appear to be correct. When the processing is finished, you
are then given a number of options, one of which is to save the scanned
data for further use. This is when you realise why the scanner doesn’t
cover a bigger area − the saved file is well over 3Mb and will not
reduce significantly by squashing. (At the Harrogate show, I saw a
scanner which would cover an A4 sheet but the file in which the scan was
saved took up 25 Mb!) You can also save the picture as a sprite which
takes up rather less space and which will squash but you can’t then do
any further processing on it. There is no doubt that this system is only
for use on a hard disc, and a fairly large one at that. On the 20Mb disc
in my original 440, I would only be able to store about five pictures.
6.11
The news isn’t all bad, though. If you want to be able to print pictures
for use on a copier, you can scan in grey or in monochrome with a
significant reduction in the amount of space used. I found that, for
ordinary photographs, a grey scan gave a better result than monochrome
but you can always scan at one level and process to lower levels if that
makes sense. Obviously, you can’t process to colour if you scanned in
grey as the information isn’t there.
6.11
The results of scanning and then printing on a Deskjet 550C are very
impressive and, although the results couldn’t be mistaken for a
photograph, a monochrome sprite brought into Wordz and then copied on an
ordinary office copier produced an effect as good as most newspaper
photographs. Some time, I hope to see the results of printing one of my
scanned photographs on a really good colour printer and would expect the
quality to be even better. As it is, I am well satisfied with the
results I can achieve and I will certainly get plenty of use out of the
equipment.
6.11
The only real snag that I have found is that there isn’t a power switch
on the equipment itself and it can only be switched off by pulling the
plug out of the socket. In view of the position of my power socket, this
is not the best way to do it. A useful accessory would be a tray in
which you could position a standard print accurately and know that it
would be in exactly the right place when the scan was done. I have
sometimes found that I have needed to trim the final sprite and the rows
and columns of the sprite were not quite parallel to the edges of the
print.
6.11
On the whole, Spectra is a very useful accessory. Justification of the
cost is a bit more difficult as it will depend on what you are trying to
do. There is absolutely no doubt that it beats any of the hand-held
scanners needing to be moved at exactly the right speed on exactly the
right line. If you have a lot of work to do, the time-saving in this
respect could well outweigh the additional cost. It will be interesting
to see what happens to the market for scanners when the new OCR software
comes out. An interesting point is that the stitching together of text
is much easier than for pictures so if the scanner will cover the full
width of your document, it doesn’t matter if you need two or three scans
for a page.
6.11
I did have one disappointment; I scanned a railway map from a booklet
published just after the war and the sprite was excellent. This seemed
to me to be ideal, with clear black lines and lettering, to trace into a
drawfile, so I set the program to work. Unfortunately, the result was
unuseable as there were just too many errors. This is no fault of the
scanner but it does suggest that we need a different method of solving
the problem. The current issue of the Archimedean offers a method of
tracing using different levels in Artworks and this might be the answer.
6.11
Spectra costs £549+VAT from Risc Developments. A
6.11
PipeDream 4 for Teachers
6.11
Malcolm Fraser
6.11
The full title of the book under review is “A Teacher’s Introduction to
Spreadsheets using PipeDream 4”, hence the shortened heading! The
package consists of a 32 page booklet accompanied by a disc of the
PipeDream 4 files and charts discussed. You must have either PipeDream 4
or the demonstration disc in order to use the files.
6.11
The book is written specifically to show teachers a variety of ways in
which spreadsheets might be used in lessons. The examples are mainly at
secondary level, although some could be adapted for younger classes.
6.11
The booklet is not a substitute for the PipeDream 4 manuals. Some
familiarity with PipeDream 4 is needed to follow the examples, and the
booklet suggests working through the Tutorial in preparation. With this
background, most of the examples will be fairly easy to follow. In a few
cases though, it would be advisable to have the reference manual handy
as you work through the examples, unless you are familiar with functions
such as vlookup.
6.11
The subjects covered
6.11
There are eighteen example spreadsheets, although some of these are
closely related, showing how an idea can be developed from an initial
sheet. The booklet divides these into files dealing with personal and
business use, and those relevant to particular subjects.
6.11
The first set of sheets shows how to set up a record of your bank
account and how the account can then be developed to present summaries
from the daily transactions. The next set covers business accounting and
the use of spreadsheets to predict cash flow. In the cash flow sheet, an
example is given of how to set up a sheet so that possible future events
such as pay increases can be handled easily.
6.11
The spreadsheets which deal with topics in particular subjects cover
modelling and the investigation of number patterns in Mathematics,
preparing costings for Technology projects, the analysis of data in
Geography and Science, and using simulations in Physics and in History.
6.11
The booklet
6.11
The aim is to describe a wide range of possible uses of spreadsheets in
education. Care is taken to explain why each spreadsheet has been set
up, rather than just describing the formulae used. Often, suggestions
are given for ways of developing the spreadsheet further, and related
problems which might be tackled by spreadsheet are mentioned. Obviously
though, in 32 pages, the space which can be given to any one example is
limited.
6.11
The discussion of the purpose of a spreadsheet is in welcome contrast to
books which concentrate on the mechanics of setting up a spreadsheet and
stop there. The danger in the second approach is that students (and
teachers?) can become skilful in setting up spreadsheets without really
knowing why they should want to do so. The author adopts a common sense
approach, suggesting for example that if a calculation is to be done
only once, it may be just as effective to use a calculator.
6.11
The examples vary in complexity and, as you might expect, some are more
interesting and convincing than others. The line graphs produced when
modelling projectiles and waves in Physics show just how powerful the
graphing facilities are. One spreadsheet is used to set up a simulation
of the costs and profits from a slave ship voyage. I am not sure that
this is a good approach, as it concentrates on the financial aspects and
presents a distorted picture of a complex subject. This is also the one
example where the spreadsheet does not seem to be correctly formulated.
6.11
The spreadsheets give examples of some useful techniques, for example
using if and other functions, linking files together and using different
graphing facilities.
6.11
Some screen shots of spreadsheets lack clarity. The system font is used
extensively, but bold and italic versions can be difficult to read.
Greys and colours have been reproduced as dot patterns (at about 300
dpi) and can be quite faint. This could have been avoided − the graphs
are much clearer, partly because of the use of outline fonts. In
attempting to put in as much material as possible, rather cluttered
pages have sometimes resulted, and this also detracts from the
readability of the booklet at times.
6.11
The disc
6.11
I have found only a few mistakes in the disc files and none of these
caused any problems in using the sheet, with the exception on the
‘Slaves’ sheet mentioned above.
6.11
Overall impression
6.11
The examples provide a good ‘next step’, once the basics of PipeDream 4
have been mastered. Colleagues have been impressed by the range of
suggestions in the booklet, and have seen ways in which the material
could be adapted for use in lessons. The spread of subjects is likely to
be particularly useful to Information Technology coordinators working to
ensure that computers are used in all subjects. The examples should also
help introduce spreadsheet functions beyond the obvious sum, ave and so
on, as the sheets include quite complex uses of if and vlookup
functions.
6.11
It is also an advantage that the number of examples for individual
subjects is quite small. Newcomers to spreadsheets will not be
overwhelmed by the amount of material, and can concentrate on
understanding and then expanding and altering one or two sheets. Most
people find it better to build up slowly, working on a small amount of
new material at a time, rather than going straight to problems which
require a wide range of functions for their solution.
6.11
There are some problems with the booklet, though most are minor. The
major one arises from the need to pack a lot of material into 32 pages.
Although a description is given of each different function used, this is
quite brief and does not give enough detail for many new users. In one
case, a complex if expression is used on disc with no explanation in the
booklet. It would be better to extend the book by a few pages and give
more explanation of the formulae most likely to be new to readers, so
that they are not frustrated in their attempts to understand how the
sheets work.
6.11
Some suggestions of further reading or sources of sample spreadsheets
would be useful. Only one is mentioned in the booklet, and this is for a
specific topic. A very good way to learn about spreadsheets is to see
what other people have already done. In the case of PipeDream, both
PipeLine and Archive have published sheets for a wide range of
applications, and many of these are relevant to school work. As more
teachers use spreadsheets, occasional collections of spreadsheets for
specific subjects might usefully be published in one or other of these.
There would be a need to clarify the position over copyright, which
brings me to my last point.
6.11
The booklet and disc are not expensive if only one copy is bought.
However, there is a standard copyright statement at the front, which
restricts copying to the owner of the book. There are two main ways in
which this material might be used in schools. Sections of the book could
be used with departments or members of staff during a training session,
or particular sheets could be modified for use with a class. Providing a
copy for every member of staff would be prohibitive for most schools and
it is not remotely likely that a copy would be bought for every student.
I imagine that Colton Software would be prepared to set up a licence or
bulk purchase arrangement but I have not seen this publicised.
6.11
Conclusion
6.11
As a source of ideas, the package is a success. It would provide a very
useful resource for Information Technology Coordinators who are trying
to help colleagues to introduce the use of spreadsheets in the different
areas of the curriculum.
6.11
I would not recommend giving the booklet on its own to staff who are
still learning about spreadsheets, because explanations given are not
always enough for independent use and some sheets are quite complex.
This would depend on the confidence of the individual concerned. The
material could form the basis of a training course, with additional help
and explanation being given by an IT teacher or through additional notes
as required.
6.11
The package costs £4.95 from Colton Software. A
6.11
The Real McCoy 4
6.11
Andrew Rawnsley
6.11
The Real McCoy 4 is the 4th Dimension’s latest games compilation,
following the success of the previous three. The games included are:
Cataclysm, Galactic Dan, Grievous Bodily ’ARM and X-Fire.
6.11
All the games are supplied in their original form, with seven discs and
four manuals squeezed inside a standard, smart 4th Dimension plastic
box. A note on the back of the box informs us that each game has, at one
time or another, retailed at £25.95, making the total cost of buying
each game separately a staggering £103.80!
6.11
Each game will work with RISC OS 2 or 3, and all except X-Fire can be
easily installed onto a hard disc. They will, however, require the
presence of the original disc 1 as part of the copy protection system.
6.11
For those readers familiar with the games, there is nothing new − no new
features or changes − but for those who aren’t, here follows a short
review of each.
6.11
Grievous Bodily ’ARM
6.11
In any compilation, there is usually a space filler which is not up to
the standard of the rest. In this compilation Grievous Bodily ’ARM (GBA)
is certainly it.
6.11
Not surprisingly, GBA is a pure, unadulterated beat ’em up. It professes
to be nothing else. Having played such games as Double Dragon on the
Amiga, I was hoping that GBA would bring this style and calibre of game
to the Acorn world. I was to be rather disappointed.
6.11
The plot involves a mad scientist who has discovered a new way of
manufacturing cheap, illegal narcotics. Apparently, you have decided to
put him and his addicts out of business − permanently.
6.11
Running the !GBA application to play the game, you are greeted with two
poor title screens accompanied by a rather uninspired tune. The main
choices screen allows you to play with keyboard or joystick, start the
game or exit to desktop (which caused my 2Mb A5000 to hang!).
6.11
Starting the game presents you with some rather drab background graphics
and a large character in a white vest who flying-kicks his way onto the
screen. The first level involves walking down a street, thumping and
kicking cats, men and leather clad women, whilst jumping over man-hole
covers.
6.11
Each type of villain can be despatched with kicks and punches, but is
poorly animated. Punching them causes them to fly backwards a short
distance. Thus you can punch them to the side of the screen (which
doesn’t scroll until you’ve killed the addicts) and bash away at the
punch key (Return) until the enemy is dead. Each move and hit is
accompanied by some inappropriate grunt. (I’ve never heard a cat sound
like this before!) You can survive four hits before you lose one of your
four lives.
6.11
Movement is very limited − you can move forwards and backwards and jump
only. Apparently, you can find weapons to fight with, but I suppose I
just didn’t get that far! On the plus side, the game does have a curious
addictive quality which might make it popular with those desperate for a
beat ’em up on an Acorn machine. GBA is one of a very small number of
this type of game for Acorn owners.
6.11
X-Fire
6.11
This game is quite a different kettle of fish. Despite the fact that it
can’t be installed on a hard disc, I find myself playing it regularly.
The presentation it excellent − except for the graffiti spray-can effect
on the title screen.
6.11
X-Fire is an arcade style shoot ‘em up, with the graphics and speed to
match. The action takes place on a grid with blocks in alternate squares
to restrict directions you move go in. The blocks are always in the same
place on every level, and the combat arena is rather like a collection
of crossroads stuck together. You can shoot enemies in any of the four
directions surrounding you, provided that you press the direction key
when you are firing.
6.11
When destroyed, the aliens may leave power-ups such as X-fire (which is
where the game got its name from), rapid fire, bullets that split up
into four directions at every junction or zaps which destroy every alien
on the screen. You must destroy a certain number of aliens on each
screen to go on to the next level, which is similar but with different
graphics.
6.11
You have a wide range of control over the sound and music, but I found
it more pleasant to turn the speakers off and play in silence. The lack
of variety in the levels is made up for by the many different aliens,
the power-ups and the slick presentation. Great fun!
6.11
Galactic Dan
6.11
This is one of the 4th Dimension’s more recent game and occupies only
one disc, hence the lack of music in the game. It can be installed onto
a hard disc by dragging in standard RISC OS fashion.
6.11
The plot revolves around hostages and enemy robots in a variety of maze-
like strongholds. You must rush around the maze, collect a certain
number of hostages and find the exit in a specified time limit. However,
the aliens aren’t too keen on this, so you are armed with some form of
laser weapon.
6.11
Control is via the mouse with a few keyboard controls for advanced
things such as firing sideways and changing the vertical aiming of your
weapon. You can find different types of weaponry and the function keys
allow you to swap between these.
6.11
The game has some puzzle elements which involve finding control buttons
to open doors, controlling lifts and making jumps to rescue hostages
standing (or rather bouncing!) on blocks.
6.11
The alien droids and hostages have been produced using raytracing
software and look rather good, but why do the hostages look like
snowmen?
6.11
The fast vector graphics used for the maze, and the smoothness with
which the whole game runs set it in a class of its own. Even an Amiga
owner I showed it to was impressed!
6.11
The levels have passwords, so there is no need to repeat the simpler
levels every time you die.
6.11
Galactic Dan was certainly a highly enjoyable game, but jumping requires
a great deal of practice!
6.11
Cataclysm
6.11
This game is of the puzzle genre, in which you must guide incoming water
from the top of the level down into a plug hole at the bottom,
transporting enough water out of the system before the time limit runs
out. Water reaching the bottom, but missing the plug hole causes you to
lose your precious time.
6.11
The gameplay is similar to that of Lemmings, but you control a little
man who can place blocks for the water to flow along (but there is a
strict limit on these), open valves and operate door switches.
6.11
The task is made harder by different sorts of aliens and gun
emplacements, many of which seek to destroy our little hero. The water
may become acidified, causing death on touch, or may be of different
colours and need mixing before it can be poured down the plug hole. To
make life easier guns can be picked up on some levels.
6.11
Again, this game has a high level of presentation and I was particularly
impressed by the cross-hairs on the main menu screen, which can be
controlled by mouse or keys and remains in the same place during a game
so that to repeat a level when you die, you simply have to press
<return>.
6.11
This game will prove popular with all the family.
6.11
Overall
6.11
The Real McCoy 4 is a good compilation, with the exception of Grievous
Bodily ’ARM. It is biased more toward the destructive side of computer
games (i.e. those involving much blasting and aggression), but even so
it has puzzle elements in Galactic Dan and Cataclysm. Is it worth the
RRP of £34.95 inc. VAT? Probably, but at street prices (£32 through
Archive) it is definitely a good buy for those who don’t already possess
more than one of the games. A
6.11
Chopper Force Tutorial
6.11
Cain Hunt
6.11
I read with interest the review by Robert Fuller of Chopper Force in the
Archive 6.8 p56. I agree with Brian Barr that it is a great program
which is let down somewhat by its lack of documentation. Being new to
helicopter simulations, I was disappointed that there was no “flying
tutorial” and I offer the following account for the aid of any new
Chopper Force pilots.
6.11
About your chopper
6.11
Your chopper has two means of propulsion − its main rotor blade and a
forward propelling jet engine. You therefore have two quite different
types of flight − jet mode when the jets are on and hover mode when they
are off. Jet mode is faster, but hover mode is more manoeuvrable. Both
jets and main rotor engine run from the same fuel tank (but jets use
fuel faster). The rotor blades are used all the time, otherwise you
would fall out of the sky. You cannot glide (no wings!) so running out
of fuel is a fatal event.
6.11
Jet mode
6.11
This is not unlike flying an ordinary jet flight simulator. You control
roll and pitch with the mouse and can change the amount of thrust to
alter speed. There are major differences: if you roll sideways, the
downwards thrust of the main rotors will also point sideways, so you
will turn in the direction you roll towards. You are not an aerodynamic
shape that requires forward movement to maintain lift, so if you cut
your thrust you cannot stall. Your rotor blade holds you up, so you
cannot fly upside down or loop the loop (well, not in this simulator).
6.11
Hover mode
6.11
This is conventional helicopter flying and is totally different from
flying a fixed wing aircraft. Hover mode takes over as soon as your
forward thrust drops to zero. When you tilt your chopper in any
direction, some of your main rotor’s thrust will push you in that
direction (as in Lander or Zarch). In a real-life helicopter, you would
also have to increase rotor speed proportionately so that the remaining
vertical part of your thrust was enough to keep you airborne. Chopper
Force makes it easier for you by always automatically maintaining your
height when in hover mode. The further you tilt your craft, the faster
you accelerate. You need to tilt in the opposite direction to bring
yourself to a stop. Tilting sideways also tends to rotate you.
6.11
In hover mode, you have two other sets of controls not available in jet
mode: up/down and rotation. Up and down actually change the main rotor
thrust, so you accelerate up or down. Since your top forward speed
depends on main rotor thrust, you can go faster when rising. (In real-
life, I think, top speed is in level flight.) Rotation spins you round
but, unlike a plane, your momentum carries you in the direction you were
travelling.
6.11
Combat tactics
6.11
1. Chopper Dog Fights. The manual rightly says that you should use hover
mode to engage other choppers and spin round to keep them in your
sights. However, it’s not as simple as that. When you are in hover mode
you are relatively still and it is easy for an enemy to spray you with
fire as they swoop in in jet mode. To prevent this, approach them in jet
mode, swerving from side to side and then, when you are at close
quarters, switch to hover. Never stay still in hover mode (sitting
duck). To fly after a fleeing chopper you must drop your nose and tilt
towards it − quite unlike a plane simulator where you always try to keep
the enemy in your sights. The optimum “kill” position seems to be above
and behind them shooting down through their rotor blades, so it is
useful to rise (cursor up) and tilt towards them. This also gives you
top speed for pursuit (see above). You can spin round faster in a dog
fight by rolling sideways in the direction of spin as well as using the
rotation keys. In dire emergency, when you need to knock a chopper down
fast, you can try an air-to-ground rocket at close quarters − if you hit
him, he’s dead.
6.11
2. Ground Attack. Don’t hover near things that can shoot back. In jet
mode, you fly level with your nose slightly down so it is good for
strafing.
6.11
3. Strategic Hints. Always try to take on one chopper at a time − this
is because two or more can catch you in a cross-fire. You can sometimes
escape from a tight situation by jetting forward, then hovering and
spinning round. Mid-air collisions between choppers seem to spin you up
in the air but don’t do any damage (not at all like real-life!). Kill
jet planes on the ground − I haven’t yet found a reliable way of getting
them in the air! Choppers on the ground seem invulnerable and you seem
to be safe from their fire when you are on the ground. The dreaded radar
guided missile seems not to be able to lock onto you if there are enemy
aircraft near you (even if you are above 100ft). However, once launched,
a missile can find you even if you land and switch off your engine so
make sure there is a building between you and it.
6.11
Navigation
6.11
You can set the “target finder” on your head-up-display by pressing <D>
and entering the co-ordinates. However, this is usually unnecessary as
the default target finder points to anything useful. Note that the
compass reads anticlockwise bearings (unlike the more usual clockwise
ones). There seems to be no repair or refuel facility except when the
mission is completed, so the only thing to do is to head for the bad
guys. A
6.11
(We now have some technical information sent in by Tord Eriksson. He
sent it in as part of a review but as we already had Cain’s comments and
the original review by Robert Fuller, I felt we could only spare the
space for these extra technical comments. Moral: Before taking the
trouble to write a review, check with me whether someone else is already
doing one! Ed.)
6.11
Helicopter or autogyro or both?!
6.11
For the technically inclined, here is an explanation of the aircraft you
are piloting. It is a helicopter at low speed and an autogyro at high
speed. The difference is quite drastic, both in this simulator and in
flying the real things!
6.11
A helicopter produces the lift and forward propulsion by forcing air
down through the rotor with the help of the engine. This is easily seen
by the characteristic leaning forward of the rotor and aircraft when
flying at speed. In hover, the aircraft is more or less horizontal.
6.11
The autogyro, on the other hand, is propelled forward by a jet engine or
vertical propeller. It develops lift from a windmilling rotor (i.e.
leaning backward) and it is really an aeroplane with a rotating wing.
6.11
If you could see the blades of the rotor while they were rotating, you
would find the helicopter’s rotors behaving like a normal propeller,
with a positive angle of attack and the autogyro’s having a negative
angle of attack, just like any other windmill.
6.11
Helicopter above and autogyro below. Arrows indicate the airflow through
the rotor discs.
6.11
So the power produced by the engine in an autogyro is only used to push
it forward and the rotor is tilted backward to catch some of the wind
and thus produce lift. If the engine should stop, the aircraft would
lose height and speed as there is too little energy available to keep up
the rotor speed.
6.11
If the engine stops in a helicopter, and the pilot does not react
correctly, things get bad very quickly. If he doesn’t change the blades’
angle of attack to negative, that is, to transform the aircraft into an
autogyro, the rotor will stop and the aircraft will fall like a ton of
bricks. Not nice!
6.11
Helicopter pilots used to train in the technique of making an “auto-
rotating” landing. Extreme care was needed to brake the speed of descent
at exactly the right altitude by reverting to a positive angle of attack
with the overspeeding rotor. If applied too early, the helicopter would
stop in midair and then fall like a ton of bricks. If applied too late,
there would be a severely mangled helicopter and possibly fatal
injuries! So, nowadays, it is usually simulated with the engine on! A
6.11
Music Column
6.11
Stewart Watson
6.11
Serenade is now available in version 1.05, release date, 30.4.93. There
are several major enhancements since version 1.00 and as Clares offer a
free upgrade, it is well worth returning your original disc for
upgrading. (Send them an SAE to show you care! Ed.)
6.11
Rhythm-Bed
6.11
As explained in the manual, to use Serenade and Rhythm-Bed together, you
need Rhythm-Bed version 1.27, so if you don’t have that version, it is
as well to return both discs together. Version 1.27 also loads and saves
MIDI files, which is a major advantage.
6.11
Serenade voices
6.11
When selecting instrument voices from the track window, a new folder is
available which, when clicked on opens a new window with all the voices
in the current patch file. Clicking on a voice enters the voice name and
number in the parameters list.
6.11
Extra bars
6.11
A useful new feature is that, when you record a piece longer than the
current number of bars, extra bars are created automatically. This can
be very handy, because sometimes you may set out to play only a fairly
short phrase, but inspiration strikes and you need to play on and record
the results of your inspiration, before it evaporates.
6.11
Metronome
6.11
The added option of internal instead of external metronome has been
added, so that users, especially those with a keyboard without a
percussion channel, can use an internal voice as a metronome. If we can
now use one internal voice, maybe soon we’ll be given the facility to
use the other seven for normal track output.
6.11
External sync
6.11
This allows Serenade’s clock to be controlled from an external device,
like another sequencer, allowing sequences from other sources to be
loaded in, in real time.
6.11
One button record
6.11
An additional option to record by simply pressing record, rather than
record then play has been added. This is set to off by default, but can
be switched on in the set-up window.
6.11
Smooth tempo changes
6.11
As well as stepped tempo changes, there are smooth tempo changes
available which will make the inclusion of smooth accelerandos or
rallentandos much easier to control.
6.11
Text info file
6.11
A new text input window has been included with information about the
current piece of music and the composer. This is saved with the file.
6.11
Patch names
6.11
Spaces are now permitted in patch names. A simple example is E Piano,
instead of EPiano. A small change, but it does tend to make names much
more easily identifiable.
6.11
Keyboard short-cuts
6.11
Keyboard short-cuts for play and record now work in any mode.
6.11
A major annoyance in early versions was that you had to move from edit
mode to record mode before you could hear the results of your edit, or
record any new information. Now play, stop and record keyboard short-
cuts work in any mode, so one keypress lets you hear the result of your
endeavours. I still feel that more use could be made of keyboard short-
cuts to bring up the Track window, Edit window, etc.
6.11
Locked tracks
6.11
In the early versions of Serenade, all tracks, including empty tracks,
were saved, but to cut down on file size, locked tracks are no longer
saved in MIDI files. This gives a shorter file length and avoids extra
blank tracks when the file is loaded into Rhapsody. The option remains
to save all sixteen tracks, if you so wish − simply leave them all
unlocked.
6.11
If you want to use the shorter file length feature, all you need to
remember is to go down the track list and lock all the tracks not used
before you save your work. Another option, if you seldom use many
tracks, is to save a template with all the tracks locked and just unlock
the ones you need as necessary.
6.11
If you sometimes have more than one attempt at a melody, on different
tracks, but are unsure which to keep, you can always mute and lock the
less favoured parts before copying into Rhapsody, assuming you are using
both programs concurrently. This allows you to have a look at one
version of a file in Rhapsody while having the original still available
in Serenade.
6.11
Files into Rhapsody
6.11
The only problems I have found moving carefully quantized files into
Rhapsody, is that when you load a file from Rhapsody in 9/8, Serenade
reads it in 10/8 or 5/4, adding an extra blank quaver at the end of each
bar. I am waiting for a reply from Clares as to how to cure this problem
other than recording in 9/4 instead of 9/8.
6.11
Hanging offences
6.11
I have managed to make the program hang up by loading any one of the
demo drum patterns, lets say eight bars long, copying it to bars 9-16,
then copying 1-16 into 17-32, (so far so good) but then copying 1-32
into 33-64 causes a fatal error. I must add that this does not happen if
you do what you are supposed to do and create the necessary bars first,
using the toolbox.
6.11
Conclusions
6.11
I must confess to enjoying using Serenade more and more as I get to know
it better. When Rhapsody 3 becomes available, in just a few weeks time
(I gather), the improved notation output available from Serenade via
Rhapsody 3 will make the combination of Serenade (sequencer) and
Rhapsody 3 (notation), even better.
6.11
Oops!
6.11
In my review of Serenade (6.10 p33), I mixed up Rhythm Box and Rhythm-
Bed. Serenade can sync to Rhythm-Bed (£49.95 from Clares), but not to
Rhythm Box from EMR. My apologies for any confusion caused − please put
it down to end of term blues! Rhythm-Bed has just been enhanced and is
currently into version 1.28 (free upgrades through Clares to existing
users). Among the new features are: a toolbox for easy editing, the
ability to load all types of MIDI files and the ability to load SQUASH’d
files. A
6.11
Fun School 4 (Under 5’s)
6.11
Nick Perrott
6.11
My first encounter with Database Publications’ Fun School series of
software was when I purchased Fun School 3 (FS3) for the under 5’s about
eighteen months ago. This suite proved an instant success with my, then
two year old son Alistair, who up till that point had either totally
ignored the computer or had tried to switch it off using a pocket
calculator as a remote control!
6.11
Bob and Lisa Ames did a very good review of FS3 (under 5’s) in Archive
(5.8.66). The only point I feel they missed was that once the program
suite had been loaded, it was impossible to return to the desktop
without performing a <reset>. You therefore lose anything else that you
had been working on prior to the arrival of “junior”. This is an
important consideration as the patience of a youngster is soon exhausted
whilst you desperately try to save the WP file you have been working on
for the last two hours. This problem has been overcome in Fun School 4
(FS4) although another problem has emerged in that the program will not
load properly if you have been using “Impression” and yes, you have
guessed right, you have to perform a <reset> before it runs. This and a
few other minor reservations aside, this is another excellent suite of
programs.
6.11
The programs
6.11
The introduction to the six separate programs that make up the package
is quite exciting, with a very catchy tune being played followed by
Teddy walking across the screen and then being lifted into the air by a
balloon he is holding, returning a few seconds later with the main menu
screen. From here it is possible to select which of the six programs you
wish to run by either pointing and clicking with the mouse or by
pressing <space> to highlight the individual program and then pressing
<return>. Also, from this main menu, <escape> will return you to the
desktop. I thought that the tune played as Teddy brings the menu would
drive me mad after a while but after six months, I retain my sanity.
6.11
The six programs are supposed to represent a busy day in Teddy’s life
starting with nursery school (Addition and Teddy Paint), a trip to the
park (Fun Train), the return to home (Teddy’s House), a birthday party
(Teddy’s Karaoke) and finally bedtime (Teddy’s Books). With the
exception of Teddy Paint, all the programs have either three or four
levels of difficulty which can be changed by pressing <F10>.
6.11
Addition − This starts with counting a number of different objects on
the screen and then entering the number either by pressing <space> or
using the cursor keys until the required number is highlighted and then
pressing <return> or by pressing the number on the keyboard. As the more
difficult levels are tried, objects and numbers are shown which have to
be added together and at level three only the numbers are displayed. As
each correct answer is entered, one teddy gets to go out to play. An
incorrect answer will have the teacher shake his head.
6.11
This is a very useful program and the only problem is that one of the
objects displayed is a tank (of the military variety). Quite why
Europress feel it is necessary to introduce under five year old children
to weapons of war when any number of alternatives could have been used,
remains a mystery to me. Europress have so far failed to reply, despite
the matter being raised on two separate occasions.
6.11
Teddy Paint − Three alternative backgrounds (beach, country or play
ground) can be selected onto which a number of different objects can be
entered. With some objects (e.g. triangle) it is possible to vary the
size and/or colour whilst others (e.g. sun) remain fixed. The locations
of any object can be chosen by moving the mouse or cursor keys and then
set by clicking on <select> or pressing <return>. The available objects
vary with the background and so the cow is only available in the country
and not on the beach. It is possible to save a picture, load it back
into Teddy Paint and as the saved file is a Paint file, it can be loaded
into other applications and printed out as the example below shows:
6.11
Fun Train − This allows the matching of a picture (with a description of
the object) shown in the middle of the fun train ride to one that
arrives in the carriage of the train. If the pictures don’t match then
the <space bar> is pressed to bring another. If they do match, <return>
is pressed. At the higher levels, the picture is sometimes omitted,
leaving only the description to encourage the recognition of the word.
When words are correctly matched, teddy is rewarded with the usual
“happy” sound and a wrong answer gives an “unhappy” sound. However, if
the pictures/descriptions are the same but the child does not try to
match them, the train just continues even though an essentially
incorrect answer has been given. After five objects have been correctly
matched, another tune is played and the train arrives with a “Well Done”
message and teddy jumps down from the train waving.
6.11
Teddy’s House − Here the painters are at the house and require
instruction on what colour to paint each part. There is a row of eight
paint pots, each of a different colour with the name of the colour
written on them (very useful for colour blind dads). The object to be
painted (e.g. window, garage door, etc) is displayed in a small box with
a written request asking what colour it should be painted. The paint
brush is moved between pots using <space> or cursor keys and is selected
with <return> or by using the mouse keys. The same colour cannot be used
for more than three different parts of the house and each time the game
is played, the parts of the house come in a different order. At the
second level, the house is already painted and, in this case, teddy has
to identify what colour has been used. Again the object is displayed in
a little box. At the third level, a written request is made to find a
colour and then move to a specific part of the house. This can be done
either by <space bar> and <return> or by using the mouse. In the latter
case, some of the parts of the house (window frames) are a bit on the
small side for little hands (paws!) to accurately position before
pressing <select>. At all levels, when the house is completely painted,
the decorator’s van drives away.
6.11
Teddy’s Karaoke − This offers a selection of eight well known nursery
rhymes with a bouncing ball appearing over each word as it should be
sung. At level two, the tune only plays as the <space bar> is pressed
allowing teddy to tap out the beat. On the third level, the tune plays
and then stops until a specifically requested letter is pressed on the
keyboard.
6.11
Teddy’s Books − There are six little bears in bed waiting to be read a
story from one of six books on the shelf − but which of the numbered
books is Daddy Ted reading? At level one, the books are in order and it
is easy to see which one is missing and then to press the appropriate
number. At this point, one of the bears falls asleep. At level two, the
books are out of order. By level three, the number of books has
increased to eight of which five are on the shelf, two on the bed or
floor and one held by Daddy Ted, and it is therefore necessary that some
deduction be used to work out which one he is holding. If a wrong answer
is given, a prompt of “BIGGER” or “smaller” is given. At level four,
there are only three books on the shelf and four on the bed or floor.
For the highest two levels, if more than three incorrect answers are
given, the bears start to wake up again! At all levels, once all six
bears are asleep, Daddy Ted walks out of the room, switching out the
light as he goes.
6.11
Problem areas
6.11
Apart from the choice of a tank in Addition and the incompatibility with
Impression, there aren’t that many problems and most are quite trivial.
As in FS3, the instruction manual leaves a bit to be desired as it has
been written to cover eight different computers and then comes with an
addendum. I repeat the comment from the FS3 review that a separate
instruction book for the Archimedes would be preferable.
6.11
On Fun Train and Teddy’s House, the moving graphics (Train and Paint Van
respectively) are very jerky, making it almost impossible to read what
is written on them. In FS3, the <F9> key was used to change levels but
in FS4 it is <F10> − why the change? When loading each separate program
from the main menu, the screen display fades out beautifully, followed a
few seconds later by the sound being cut-off abruptly in mid-note. If
you use !Configure to reduce the volume, you lose all the sounds that
are heard during the individual programs. However, it has no impact on
the volume of the tune played as the main menu is displayed, either at
the start of the program or when moving between programs. Each program
change is accompanied by the tune, Teddy walking across the screen,
rising up on the balloons and pulling down the menu. So an incorrect
program selection costs a lot of noise and about thirty seconds to
rectify. There were a number of other problems on an earlier version but
these have been rectified when the programs were modified to work on
RISC OS 3.1.
6.11
Conclusion
6.11
Overall, this is another very good suite of programs from Europress and
with some nice touches (e.g. in Teddy’s Books, the stars in the night
sky twinkle). With a few changes, it would be even better but at £23
from Archive it represents very good value. At the end of the day, if I
had to make a choice between Fun School 3 and Fun School 4 at the under
5’s level, I would pick Fun School 3 but there is not a lot in it. This
choice has been confirmed by Alistair’s playing habits. A
6.11
PCB Design with DrawPlus
6.11
Ian Nichols
6.11
As many Archimedes users have discovered, Draw is a very useful program
for producing all kinds of diagrams and drawings. DrawPlus is an
enhanced version of Draw written by Jonathan Marten and which is
available as shareware (e.g. Careware 13). It has a number of features
which make it easier to use than Acorn’s original Draw and two very
useful features which even the version of Draw supplied with RISC OS 3.1
does not have – layers and libraries. Layers allow you to separate a
drawing into distinct sections which can overlap each other. A layer can
be made ‘selectable’ or not and visible or not, which can make life much
easier if you have a lot of objects which overlap or which are drawn
completely within one or more other objects.
6.11
A PCB layout is just such a complex drawing. There are the component
outlines, their identification labels (e.g. R1, C5, TR3 etc), the copper
tracks, marks for the component lead holes and any other labelling. If
all of these different elements of the drawing are grouped together into
layers, it is much easier to construct the drawing and almost trivial
print out the copper tracks and hole marks onto transparent acetate to
make a real PCB.
6.11
A library is a store of often-used objects (e.g. component outlines,
circuit symbols). These are usually used for getting multiple copies of
the same object into a drawing without having to copy and move an
existing object – you can simply pick the object out of the library and
insert it at the mouse pointer.
6.11
Earlier this year, I embarked on a project to build a hi-fi power
amplifier, based on a kit which is available from Maplin Electronics but
with some modifications. I don’t do a lot of PCB design work – in fact,
this is the only PCB I have ever produced – and so it seemed extravagant
to spend money on a program specifically to do this, therefore I decided
to see what I could do with DrawPlus.
6.11
(Slightly) Technical note
6.11
The amplifier is based on the MOSFET power amplifier module described in
Maplin Electronic Supplies’ catalogue and which is available from them
as a kit. I had already built an amplifier using two of these modules
and, encouraged by its success, decided to build an improved version.
The documentation supplied with the kit says that the output transistors
can be ‘doubled up’ to give a lower output impedance and hence better
damping and higher output power. This is the essence of the
modification, although a few other components were also changed to
extend the frequency response downwards. Obviously, with twice as many
output transistors, the PCB had to be made larger and extra tracks had
to be put in to connect up the extra components. The stereo amplifier
was built as two separate modules: one for each of the left and right
channels.
6.11
The components
6.11
The first thing to do was to construct shapes which would mark the
position and size of each component, e.g. the transistor shown here. The
sizes and shapes of the components were determined by either accurately
measuring the component with calipers, measuring the area allocated to
the component in the original circuit or looking up the dimensions and
lead spacing in a catalogue.
6.11
Using the gridlock feature, these were then drawn to actual size and put
into a layer called ‘components’. I tried to keep the component
positions as close as possible to the original circuit design, since
this worked very well and moving things around unnecessarily could upset
this. As the row of four output transistors was the dominant influence
on the width of the new board, these were put into the layer first. With
all the components in place, the ‘components’ layer was made non-
selectable, so that it would be impossible to accidentally ‘pick-up’ any
of them and move them around.
6.11
The tracks
6.11
The next stage was to draw in the copper tracks which would connect up
the components and put these in another layer called ‘tracks’. (Well,
why make life difficult by calling it anything else?) As you can see
from the picture, I did all the tracks as filled curved outlines.
Straight edged outlines would have worked and might have been easier,
but I like using bezier curves and I think they look better. It is true
that electrical charge tends to concentrate in sharp points rather than
curves, but I am not enough of an electronics expert to say whether or
not this really has any bearing on the quality of the finished circuit!
6.11
The finished layout
6.11
Hole marks
6.11
The final stage in preparing the drawing was to put in the hole marks.
These had to be printed as white dots in the solid black of the copper
tracks so that they appeared as holes in the copper when the board was
etched, hence they were added in a layer of their own exactly over the
positions marked for them in the component outlines.
6.11
Printing the drawing
6.11
To prepare the PCB, all layers except ‘tracks’, ‘hole marks’ and
‘border’ (which contains marks for the corners of the circuit board and
a label saying what it is) were made invisible; the line and fill
colours of all the objects in the ‘tracks’ layer were changed to black,
and the hole marks were all brought to the ‘front’ of the drawing. The
drawing was then printed onto acetate (overhead transparency film) in a
laser printer. This gave a printed result which was suitable for use as
a photoresist mask.
6.11
The copper tracks and hole marks
6.11
Making the PCB
6.11
To produce a PCB, first the drawing printed on acetate was placed in
contact with a piece of copper-clad board coated with photoresist
(printed side next to the photoresist). This was then exposed to u.v.
light and developed in caustic soda. The photoresist which was exposed
to the u.v. light (i.e. under those areas not printed in black) was made
soluble in caustic soda and so the result is that the areas of the board
which were to have the copper etched away were exposed and the areas
where copper was to remain were still covered with photoresist. The
copper was then etched away in ferric chloride solution and the
remaining photoresist dissolved in acetone to leave an almost perfect
image in copper of the drawing. The only thing left to do then was build
the amplifier onto it – but that’s another story.
6.11
Conclusion
6.11
I was very pleased with the outcome of this project. Whilst !DrawPlus
may not be specifically intended for this kind of work, for someone like
me who cannot justify buying a ‘proper’ PCB design program, it is ideal
for producing the occasional board. The result was even accurate enough
for drilling the transistor mounting holes! A
6.11
Key Plus Datafiles − The North Sea
6.11
Paul Hooper
6.11
The one advantage of using Key and Key Plus, rather than more
sophisticated databases, is the sheer number of top quality ready-made
datafiles that are available for it. Living, as I do, a mere five
minutes drive from the North Sea, I was particularly interested in this
series of databases. The review was carried out on an A5000 running Key
Plus 2.50.
6.11
The package
6.11
The disc comes in the back of a glossy A4 manual, which contains not
only teachers’ notes but also a series of study sheets and a couple of
work sheets along with maps and diagrams. The study sheets make
depressing reading, although this is not the fault of the manual, but of
what we are doing to the North Sea.
6.11
The disc
6.11
The disc is unprotected and easy to install onto a hard disc. It
contains nine separate datafiles, three maps and a directory containing
ten drawfiles. The datafiles cover North Sea birds, countries, fishes,
rivers, seals, seaweeds, towns, whales and oceans and seas. Each
datafile has many fields covering all aspects of the subject. So for
instance, the rivers datafile covers the countries which the river runs
through, its source, mouth, length, flow rate, how polluted it is, the
main pollutants, catchment area, main tributaries and the large towns or
cities on the river. Of the five rivers which are labelled as badly
polluted at the mouth, three are English.
6.11
This brings me to the strange geography employed in the program. For
some reason, Anglia TV has decided that it will list the United Kingdom
in the countries file and the towns file but in rivers this is split
into England and Scotland. This means that to search for all the rivers
in the UK you need to do a complex search rather than a simple one.
6.11
All of the 23 species of whales listed have decreasing populations
despite there having been no commercial whaling for the past few years.
Exploring the datafiles can surprise you and they are certainly worth a
good exploration.
6.11
The maps are: North Sea during the ice age, North Sea now (which can be
used for plotting the towns file) and a map of the Europort in
Rotterdam. The pictures directory contains a series of drawfiles which
are those shown in the manual.
6.11
Conclusion
6.11
The manual is excellent although I feel it could do with a few more
worksheets. The datafiles are good and if you have version 2.50 of Key
Plus, it is worth converting them into applications rather than leaving
them as directories. They would make an excellent basis for a more
detailed study of the North Sea, and the addition of a bibliography
would enable hard-pressed teachers to order books without too much
trouble. The drawfiles are good but too few in number, there was still
247Kb left on the disc and a number of the drawings in the manual were
not included as drawfiles. Despite these criticisms, it is still an
excellent little datafile.
6.11
Cost and availability
6.11
The datafile pack North Sea is available from SCA (Anglia Television),
PO Box 18, Benfleet, Essex SS7 1AZ, at £18 for BBC and Nimbus 186
versions and £22 for Archimedes and IBM versions. All prices exclude
VAT. A
6.11
Topographer
6.11
Alan Highet
6.11
Topographer is a program for constructing 3D maps. It is aimed primarily
at the education market to help children visualise how contour lines are
used to portray height changes on maps. The package consists of two
discs and a 54 page ring-bound manual supplied in a rather flimsy
cardboard library case. Topographer will run under either RISC OS 2 or 3
from a floppy or hard disc on a 1Mb machine but with a constraint placed
on the map size, so 2Mb or more is recommended. A !Max application is
supplied for 1Mb users.
6.11
On disc one is the 2D application, a font directory containing Homerton
and Trinity fonts and the obligatory !Scrap, !System and !SysMerge
applications. There is also a tutorial directory containing three maps
and a release note text file with up-to-date information not covered in
the manual. The second disc contains the 3D application and a selection
of demo maps.
6.11
Map-making
6.11
In this review, I will take you through the creation of a small map
detailing the village in which I live. I could have chosen somewhere
with a more varied landscape but I decided on somewhere I knew so that I
could check whether the 3D views were recognisable.
6.11
Setting up the map
6.11
Creating a map entails installing the 2D application and clicking
<select> on the iconbar. This opens a window prompting you for a scale
for your map. There are the normal preset scales ranging from 1:1250 up
to 1:625000 and a writable icon for the more unusual sizes. I decided to
use 1:25000 (2½in to 1 mile) which is the scale used by the Ordnance
Survey in their Pathfinder series and allows details of individual
houses to be seen. Once the scale has been selected, clicking on OK
opens the map window with default settings. The first thing to do then
is to set the origin and size of your map.
6.11
Opening the grid dialogue box lets you set the origin by specifying the
Easting and Northing for the bottom left hand corner along with the size
of the map in metres and the number of digits used in grid references (2
to 5). Here I came upon a minor inconsistency as the map grid lines are
set in units of 1000 metres (Easting 74 means 74000 metres from the
origin) but the default measurement is centimetres, although an ‘m’ is
shown following the default sizes, so care needs to be taken. Next comes
the physical size of the map and for this I chose 3 grid squares or 3000
metres in each direction. It is nice to see that all these details can
be altered at a later date if you find you have taken on rather too
large a task.
6.11
Adding features
6.11
Features may now be selected by choosing them from a conventional menu
or by opening a feature window displaying the items graphically and
selecting them with the mouse. Features are grouped into four main
types. Symbols are features like buildings or man-made additions like
telephone boxes. Lines are features such as roads and railways as well
as rivers and canals. Areas are spaces such as woodland, parks and
quarries. The final group are contours which are self explanatory.
6.11
Most features have parameters attached to them such as the width of
roads or the heights of buildings and these can be altered in a dialogue
box at the bottom of the features window. The features may be placed on
the map in any order but the first thing I chose to enter were the main
roads as these helped in the placement of other items.
6.11
Once the appropriate road has been selected it may be entered in the
conventional Draw manner of clicking select at each change in direction
followed by a double click to finish. Alternatively, you may hold down
<select> and draw freehand. Upon double clicking, the freehand line is
converted to a series of straight lines with varying degrees of accuracy
which may be selected from a preference menu. Two roads may be joined
neatly by holding down <ctrl> when you click <select> and line sections
may be erased by successive clicks of <adjust> to backtrack prior to
double-clicking which will place the selected feature. Road numbers can
be attached to roads although they do not run parallel to them.
6.11
Once I was happy with the major roads, I placed the minor roads in the
same manner followed by the footpaths. To aid in the accurate placement
of lines and objects, the grid reference of the pointer may be displayed
on screen and a conventional zoom facility is also provided. Next came
the streams, irrigation ditches and electricity lines and then I added
the contours which completed all the line features.
6.11
Contours come in two different versions. One allows you complete lines
and the other is open to show lines that disappear off the edge of your
map. Spot heights may also be entered but these do not appear to affect
the 3D view and are for information only.
6.11
Next came the woodland areas and finally the individual items such as
pubs, telephone boxes and houses. Although the map scale prevented me
from adding every single house, a fair representation of the village was
achieved.
6.11
All the features may be selected and then cut, copied, moved or deleted
with the exception of open contours which may only be edited or deleted.
Contours may also be replicated to allow rapid entry of parallel lines
at a user-selected height interval. Editing of all feature parameters is
possible and line features may be altered by selecting edit whereupon
the control points appear. Unlike Draw, however, the control points
cannot be dragged but instead new lines may be inserted between control
points replacing whatever existed before or, alternatively, lines may be
extended. Text may be added in two styles in a font similar to the one
used by Ordnance Survey. The range of symbols and features is vast and
covers nearly all the OS symbols.
6.11
Although the main use for the 2D part of this package is to input the
information for use in generating the 3D image, it is also a good 2D
map-maker in its own right. What makes this all the more viable is the
ability to export in Draw format, enabling the tidying up of any small
details and the addition of any text you require.
6.11
And so to 3D...
6.11
After designing your map, you can export it into the 3D part of the
software. This can done in memory assuming enough is available (each
application takes 768Kb without any map information) or the map can be
saved to disc and imported from there. In the 3D application, the map is
displayed with a black cone superimposed. This is the viewing cone
showing the range of map that will be displayed in 3D.
6.11
On the cone is a white arrow which indicates the view you will see with
you being at the base of the arrow looking towards the head of the
arrow. The height above ground of your eyes and your end view may both
be altered and multiple views may be set up, named and stored with the
map. Once you are happy with the view, you can start the 3D generation.
This may take some time and a progress window will show what is
happening. On completion, the 3D view may be saved to disc as a sprite
for later printing, editing or inclusion in a DTP document.
6.11
A few niggles?
6.11
Overall I was very pleased with Topographer although there were a few
niggles and a few things I would like to see in future versions. Because
of its similarity to Draw, I think that line editing should follow other
vector graphics program styles and allow dragging of control points with
the mouse or the nudging of selected control points with the cursor
keys. It would be very nice to be able to place symbols and lines by
entering their grid references rather than the map construction being
purely by eye as I think this would give a child a greater understanding
of grid references.
6.11
It’s 3D that counts
6.11
The 3D part of the program is what makes this application different from
a simple drawing package and it is on this that the package should be
judged. Resolution preferences may be set and different screen modes may
be used to generate more detailed pictures but the trade off is the time
taken to generate the picture. I would suggest you use the lower
resolutions to start with to check positioning as the highest resolution
take some time even on an ARM 3 machine. The picture appears as a
standard sprite and so may be saved and imported to other painting
packages.
6.11
When the picture is complete, do not expect a photograph of your local
beauty spot as it would take a lot more processing power than even Acorn
can supply to generate lifelike images. What you will see is exactly
what was promised, a three dimensional landscape with all the features
in their right places and a fair representation of a light source
although the sky is a little menacing as it is dark blue. Given a lot of
patience, a selection of sprites may be taken and a fly through could be
generated although a more accurate way of specifying the view would be
needed.
6.11
The future?
6.11
As far as the future is concerned I, personally, would like to see the
ability to export the 3D map in other forms such as Draw format or maybe
even Illusionist, enabling ray tracing to take place. Clares tell me
that they will be endeavouring to improve the software but have nothing
specific as yet. Minor upgrades will be supplied for a small handling
fee and major upgrades will be available at a special upgrade price to
existing users.
6.11
Overall, I was very pleased with the software and felt it achieved
everything it set out to do for a reasonable price. To my knowledge, it
has no competition in the Acorn field so if you want a 3D map creation
program then this is it!
6.11
Topographer costs £79.95 inc VAT from Clare’s Micro Supplies or £75
through Archive. The educational site licence price is 5 × £79.95 for a
secondary school and 3 × £79.95 for a Primary/Middle school. A
6.11
KidPix
6.11
Richard Rymarz
6.11
KidPix is yet another painting program for primary school age children.
Two discs − a program and extras disc − are supplied in an A4 hardback
file. The program is distributed by ESM and costs £37.50 +VAT from ESM
or £41 through Archive.
6.11
Installation
6.11
KidPix can easily be run from floppy disc. The program disc contains an
installation application which merges the contents of the two discs and
allows them to be copied to hard disc. No master disc is then required
on start up.
6.11
Clicking on the KidPix icon results in a full screen 16 colour mode
which contains two drop-down menus. The look and feel of the screen
betrays its origins − I believe it began on an Apple Mac. However, these
can be replaced by RISC OS menus from the configuration option found by
clicking <menu> on the KidPix icon. The program does not run in a window
but a return to the desktop is only a mouse click away.
6.11
In use
6.11
The full screen has a large drawing area and a tool box on the left
which contains twelve tools. These are common to most art programs −
line, fill, etc. − but what is different is that each tool has a huge
variety of options which are displayed along the bottom of the drawing
area. The number of options is astounding and it takes some time to
experiment with them all. For instance, the pen tool has six different
widths each of which can have six different effects. The pen itself can
be square or round. Selection is shown by highlighting the tool and a
black line underlines the effect.
6.11
Another “different” feature is the use of sound effects. All mouse
clicks are accompanied by a loud clunk and most of the tools have their
own special sounds. Thus the cut and paste tool − a van − is accompanied
by an engine and the screech of brakes. There is even an option to add
your own sound effects if you have a suitable sound sampler.
6.11
Colour selection is from a fair-sized colour palette under the tool box
with the current selected colour shown in a double-sized box. Only
sixteen colours are available and there appears to be no option the
change the palette.
6.11
It would fill Archive if I were to explain all the possible effects that
the tools provide. Some of them are straight forward − others are quite
weird. They include: a dripping paintbrush, the ability to paints in
segments, circles, letters, random symmetrical lines, playing card
suits, geometric shapes, stars and so on. The list seems endless (there
are 28 possible brushes to choose from). Another example is the electric
mixer. This allows the screen to be mixed up in a variety of ways
ranging from tiling to the addition of randomly placed colour circles.
6.11
There is ‘stamp’ tool that gives access to 117 small ready-drawn
pictures that can be used to stamp onto the drawing. Placing text is
accompanied by its own voice, or voices, some of which sing, whine or
harmonise. There is an ‘undo guy’ that allows the last operation to be
undone; a circle and rectangle tool that includes a variety of patterned
fills; a line drawing tool; and a colour fill tool. Finally, a word
about the eraser. There are no less than ten different ways of clearing
the drawing area as well as four different sized tools for rubbing out
parts of a picture.
6.11
Conclusions
6.11
The program is described by its authors as ‘an entertaining, easy-to-use
program that lets children create art...’ Entertaining it certainly is.
I enjoyed randomly exploring all the features just as a child would and
I produced some extraordinary effects. It is indeed easy-to-use and I am
sure even the youngest child would produce some interesting paintings.
The manual is very good, offering ready-made projects for the child to
explore. The program is unconventional and is bound to attract the
interest of the targeted audience. There is an option to simplify some
of the features for the youngest children.
6.11
However, I do have reservations. Some features are missing (they always
are) or at least I haven’t come across them. There is no pixel editor;
no blend or sharpening tool; no variable polygon tool; there is a limit
of sixteen colours; and the number of ways to clear a screen smacks of
overkill.
6.11
All the above may not matter because the program contains so much else.
However, I do wonder whether too much is already done for the children,
allowing little opportunity for them to draw for themselves. Many of the
effects are difficult to control and often the screen is filled with a
mass of colour which has little thought, planning or shape to it. Having
said that, if a teacher or parent wants something different from the
more conventional art packages, they should look carefully at KidPix.
Without doubt, their children will produce strange and wonderful
paintings.
6.11
KidPix costs £37.50 +VAT from ESM or £41 through Archive. A
6.11
Portable Software P.O.Box 244,
York, YO2 2YU. (0904−633918)
6.11
Ray Maidstone (p25) 421
Sprowston Road, Norwich, NR3 4EH. (0603−400477) (0603−417447)
6.11
Risc Developments 117 Hatfield
Road, St Albans, Herts, AL1 4JS. (0727−840303) (0727−860263)
6.11
Scene Double 2 Glendale Avenue, Edgeware, Middlesex, HA8 8HG.
(081−958−3639) (081−958−3639)
6.11
Silicon Vision Ltd Signal
House, Lyon Road, Harrow, Middlesex, HA1 2AG. (081−422−3556)
(081−427−5169)
6.11
Software 42 109 Ferry Road, Hullbridge, Essex, SS5 6EL.
6.11
Special Access Systems 4 Benson
Place, Oxford, OX2 6QH. (0865−56154)
6.11
State Machine Unit 4, Stopsley Business Centre, Stopsley,
Bedfordshire, LU2 7UX. (0582−483377) (0582−480833)
6.11
Topologika P.O. Box 39, Stilton, Peterborough, PE7 3RL. (0733−244682)
6.11
Watford Electronics Jessa House,
Finway, Dallow Road, Luton, LU1 1TR. (0582−487777) (0582−488588)
6.11