IF $block%=öyepò THEN newos%= TRUE ELSE newos%=FALSE
6.8
SYSöXOS_CLIò,öUNSET Titler$RiscOs3ò
6.8
Å There are several other configuration options which are not accessible
in !Configure that allow you to setup your system more exactly in the
area of double-click delays, etc.
6.8
One of the more interesting ones which may be useful to those people who
are new to RISCáOS, is WimpMenuDragDelay which sets the time in 1/10
second units for which menu activity is disabled after a menu has been
automatically opened. This enables the pointer to move over other menu
entries without cancelling the submenu. To change it, you need to use
the command line (remember that thing?) Syntax:
6.8
*Configure WimpMenuDragDelay <delay>
6.8
Å There is an in-built rolling credit list of all the people involved in
the creation of the Operating System. It is accessed by bringing up the
Éinfoæ dialog box for the operating system (accessible from the task
manager menu) and clicking with <menu> on the characters Étæ Éeæ ÉAæ and
Émæ in that order in the string É⌐ Acorn Computers Ltd 1992.æ If nothing
happens after a couple of seconds, re-open the menu and try again.
6.8
(Click with <menu>? Ö thatæs against Acornæs guidelines surely?!)
6.8
However, if you just bring up the dialog box and click <menu> off any of
the icons (e.g. on the grey window background) then the Task Manager
aborts and the only way to recover a normal machine is to press <ctrl-
reset>. (Oops!)
6.8
Boot-up options
6.8
An item on Peter Youngæs wish list for RISCáOSá4 is the ability to call
different !Boot sequences by pressing user-defined keys at power-on. I
agree that it would be useful to have this built into the operating
system. However, it is already quite easy to achieve a similar result. I
know that some people find Ian Copestakeæs !TWO very useful for this
purpose. Alternatively, you can ödo it yourselfò without too much
difficulty. Assume, for example, that you have saved two Desktop boot
files called Plain and Fancy in a directory called BootFiles. Then
create a Basic file in the root directory called !Boot reading as
follows:
6.8
CLS
6.8
PRINTÉæöChoose one of the
6.8
following sets of
6.8
Boot-up preferencesöÉæ
6.8
PRINTö 1. Plainò
6.8
PRINTö 2. Fancyò
6.8
PRINTÉæöType 1 or 2ò
6.8
A$=GET$
6.8
CASE A$ OF
6.8
WHEN ö1ò:OSCLI(öDesktop -File $.BootFiles.Plainò)
6.8
WHEN ö2ò:OSCLI(öDesktop -File $.BootFiles.Fancyò)
6.8
OTHERWISE: OSCLI(öDesktopò)
6.8
ENDCASE
6.8
There are numerous variations on this theme. You can use negative INKEY
values to test for a key being held down rather than waiting for a
keypress with GET$. If you like, you can put Plain and Fancy in, say,
the !System directory instead of creating a new directory, or you can
rename the Basic file !Run, create a directory called !Boot and move
!Run into it along with Plain and Fancy.
6.8
Obviously, you can adapt this idea to suit your purposes, but beware of
pressing R or <Delete> when you switch the computer on, since these will
reset your configuration!
6.8
Splitting the boot sequence into two parts like this was recommended
last month for making sure that the SCSIFiler module is properly
installed before the desktop is initialised. It also opens up a number
of other possibilities....
6.8
It has always seemed to me that the usefulness of the facility for
automatic saving of desktop boot files is limited (a) because they tend
to get cluttered up with unnecessarily opened directories and booted
applications, and (b) because they omit necessary things like virus
protection modules, extra screen modes, etc. Problem (a) can be reduced
by making sure that you only open those directories that you want open
and boot those directories that you want booted before you save the
desktop boot file (the equivalent of Plain or Fancy in the above
example); (b) can be solved by following the two-stage approach and
putting the more technical bits in a hand-crafted pre-desktop !Boot
file, which you will probably not want to change very often, while the
desktop boot file is left simply to run applications, open directories
and fire up the pinboard.
6.8
So far as I can see, you will still need to do some hand-editing of the
desktop boot file if you want a nonö-RISCáOSá3 awareò application to be
booted or run automatically. Alternatively, you can get an application
to auto-boot by having the desktop boot file automatically open the
directory that the application is in. Furthermore, you can get the
application to run automatically by editing its own !Boot file to run
the !Run file.
6.8
Tim Nicholson notes that you must also split the boot sequence into two
parts if you want to follow the suggestion in the March Acorn User for
altering the desktop initialisation banner.
6.8
In Archive 6.5 p33, Colin Singleton reported problems with trying to
switch from one öworldò to another by double-clicking on a second boot
file. He has concluded that you must reset the computer first, since
running the second boot file doesnæt clear memory first: it simply tries
to add the applications listed in it to those that are already running.
6.8
Finally, to end this section on boot files, a quote from Colin
Singleton, with whom I have a lot of sympathy: öThe autoboot facility is
not much use if it does only half the job. I need to be able to
understand what it has produced and to patch it up accordingly. I might
as well carry on using my old boot file, which is what I am doing. The
new feature is useless (and very confusing) for those users who do not
know how to build a boot file. Perhaps in time all software will be
Éawareæ of boot files, then the feature will be useful.ò
6.8
ARM3 too fast for Watford scanner (?)
6.8
Mr A. Shell found that, after he upgraded to RISCáOSá3 and installed an
ARM3, his Watford Electronics Hand Scanner 1990, Issue 2 (using a Geni
Scan-4500) stopped working. However, he has found that after entering
the command *Cacheáoff, the scanner works perfectly. When the scanning
is finished, *Cacheáon speeds the processing up.
6.8
Zooming in Draw
6.8
When I acquired Artworks, I thought one of its neatest features was the
ability to use the mouse to mark the area into which you want to zoom.
Now, I have found while reading the manual (Applications Guide p48) that
Draw does just the same ù in fact, it goes one better, because you donæt
need to select a zoom tool first, you just hold down <shift> and drag
with <adjust>. To return to your previous scaling you use <Ctrl-R>; the
manual also describes various other hot-key combinations to adjust the
scaling.
6.8
Turning CapsLock off
6.8
Peter Young has a few old, and some not so old, programs which will only
take upper case input, and putting *FX202,1 into the !Run file meant,
with RISCáOSá2, that he didnæt have to remember to press capslock first.
In RISCáOSá3, this call seems to turn off keyboard input entirely,
though it occasionally produces input different from what is typed for a
couple of presses before it crashes the machine.
6.8
I think, if I have interpreted the Programmersæ Reference Manual
correctly (pages 511-512 in the RISCáOSá2 manual), that the correct code
to turn capslock off while leaving the other keyboard settings unaltered
is *FX 202,16,239; the command *FX 202,16 will turn capslock off but may
alter some of the other settings.
6.8
What *FX 202 does is to alter the ökeyboard status byteò. If the command
is given in the form *FXá202,R1,R2 then R2 controls which bits of the
status byte are changed and R1 supplies the new bits. In technical
terms, the new value of the status byte is made equal to
6.8
(the old value AND R2) EOR R1
6.8
Therefore, to force a particular bit in the status byte to adopt value n
(either 0 or 1) you leave that bit unset in R2 and made equal to n in
R1; to leave a bit unchanged you set it in R2 and unset it in R1.
6.8
Capslock is controlled by bit 4 (the one with value 16), so to set it
(thus turning capslock off) you use the values 239 (= 255 minus 16) and
16 for R2 and R1 respectively.
6.8
The shortened form of the command, *FX 202,R1 has the same effect as *FX
202,R1,0
6.8
(Itæs not clear to me why *FX 202,1 should have worked either in
RISC¡OSá2 or on the BBC.)
6.8
Editing !Run files
6.8
Peter Young asks if one is allowed to amend the !Run files of commercial
programs. My answer is that there is no reason at all why you shouldnæt,
so long as you know what you are doing. You could, for instance, include
a command to turn capslock off (see above) or a command to run a printer
driver automatically. Some programs allow you to change preferences by
setting up system variables in the !Run file. In RISCáOSá2, some people
even amended the !Run file of Acornæs !Edit to make it run on a system
with lots of fonts.
6.8
ROM Speed
6.8
Seßn Kelly writes that the old ROM speed up trick still works on some
computers with RISCáOS 3.1. On an Archimedes, the ROM speed can be read
with the following Basic lines:
6.8
SYS öOS_UpdateMEMCò,0,0 TO R%
6.8
PRINT (R% AND &C0) DIV &40
6.8
The lowest speed is 0, the highest 2 Ö the MEMC data sheet defines a
value of 3 as Énot meaningfulæ although it appears to have the same
effect as 2. The speeds are not absolute, but depend on the computeræs
memory clock speed. On old A440, RISCáOS 3.1 selects a value of 2, so no
speed up is possible, but on an A5000, a value of 1 is set by RISCáOS
3.1 and changing this to 2 increases the machineæs speed by about 5%.
6.8
The ROM speeds can be set by using:
6.8
SYS öOS_UpdateMEMCò,&00,&C0: REM slowest, speed 0
6.8
SYS öOS_UpdateMEMCò,&40,&C0: REM speed 1
6.8
SYS öOS_UpdateMEMCò,&80,&C0: REM fastest, speed 2
6.8
These lines are included as programs on the monthly program disc,
together with the short program called ACK which, on Seßnæs un-sped-up
A5000, executes in about 1 second. Double-clicking on one of the speed
changers followed by ACK will show how the different speeds affect your
computer. An A5000 appears to run at speed 2 with no problems. Program
Speed2 can be automatically run by !Boot, providing a slight performance
boost to A5000s.
6.8
RMFaster-ing
6.8
Seßn Kelly also reports that *RMFaster on certain modules, such as
Basic, can produce a useful increase in speed for applications that read
the ROM a lot. Without an ARM3, the speed increase can be very large Ö
with the cache off, he has found Basic programs that run over 30% faster
with Basic in RAM. With the cache on, the increase tends to be about 5%,
so RMFaster-ing on an ARM3 machine is really a waste of memory unless
time is really important.
6.8
Interestingly, both ROM speed-ups and RMFaster-ing only produce a slight
speed increase, typically 5%, on an ARM3 machine. This appears to show
that the cacheæs hit rate is very high.
6.8
Also on the program disc ...
6.8
Also on the monthly program disc are a number of utilities from Rob
Davison: SmoothM ù a relocatable module which averages mouse coordinates
and is ideal for use in pixel-based art packages such as Paint or
Artisan. To use it, double click on the module and enable averaging with
the command *SmoothON. To restore normal use, enter the command
*SmoothOFF. This module is public domain and is, in fact, based on an
article which appeared in Archive 1.5 (February 1988) by Malcom
Banthorpe.
6.8
SolDrag and NormDrag are short programs to turn solid sprite dragging on
and off.
6.8
Tools and 22Sprites are modified toolsprites and high resolution icon
sprites.
6.8
Some Bugs
6.8
First, from Rob Davison:
6.8
There are quite a number still in the operating system. Most are very
obscure, but some are quite serious and one may be slightly embarrassing
to Acorn! Hopefully, they will do a ÉRISCáOS 3 Extras discæ to fix the
more important ones.
6.8
Å Impression style icons Ö There is a serious bug in this part of the
window manager. If the application you are writing uses a dialog box
similar to the in-built applications (e.g. Edit) when quitting, but
including the new style icons, the operating system reports an abort on
Data transfer after the application has quit. The solution is to close
and delete all windows yourself and call Wimp_Poll enough times to
ensure that they have all gone before quitting.
6.8
Å Paint Ö Load the application and repeatedly create 256 colour sprites
of 128x64 pixels. Paint bombs (usually) when the sixth sprite is created
with an ÉUnrecoverable internal error SpriteExtend: Bad pixel
translation tableæ.
6.8
The only good point is that your file is preserved in Wimp$ScrapDir
before Paint dies.
6.8
The problem mentioned in Archive, where the name in the save dialog box
is corrupted in some circumstances, still exists.
6.8
Å !Edit Ö This is a fairly worrying one (R.áW.áDarlington has found
similar problems). Edit has had the same bug since its first release in
RISCáOS 2.00. Sometimes, the text window is not redrawn properly and the
caret can appear to be on a different line. Text is deleted or inserted
at the wrong place and it can sometimes be quite a while before you
realise what is going on. I encounter this problem much more now because
of the excellent facilities for editing Basic programs. If Acorn canæt
get windows to redraw correctly in all circumstances, what chance do the
rest of us have? (Quick fix: press <f12>, <return>, <return> before
doing any major editing.)
6.8
Å Operating system bugs Ö I have one (and only one) 800Kb ÉEæ format
disc which works and verifies fine on RISCáOS 2.00 whereas RISCáOS 3.00
and 3.10 absolutely refuse to look at it and tell me ÉDisc not
formattedæ.
6.8
I have managed to get the dreaded ÉAbort on Data transferæ while using
interactive file copying but only under extreme provocation. It was much
more common in 3.00!
6.8
There is another problem where, if you set the MOUSE RECTANGLE to allow
the pointer off the left of the screen and then record button clicks,
the y-coordinate is set to Ö1 with the first returned button click. E.g.
6.8
*POINTER 1
6.8
MOUSE RECTANGLE -1000,-1000,2000 ,2000
6.8
MOUSE TO 100,500
6.8
REPEAT
6.8
MOUSE x%,y%,b%
6.8
PRINTTAB(0,0);öx=ò;x%;ö ò
6.8
PRINTTAB(0,1);öy=ò;y%;ö ò
6.8
PRINTTAB(0,2);öb=ò;b%;ö ò
6.8
UNTIL b%<>0
6.8
END
6.8
Run this and move the pointer off the left of the screen. Click a button
and the displayed y coordinate changes to Ö1 regardless of the last
position. (The solution is to do another mouse read immediately after
the UNTIL and use the values returned from that.)
6.8
Next, from Seßn Kelly:
6.8
!Paint has two bugs related to deleting rows and columns in sprites. The
first is that when columns to delete are selected by dragging right with
the mouse, it is not possible to delete the rightmost column of the
sprite (no matter how far it is zoomed in). The second is that, when
dragging rows to delete downwards, the topmost row (where the operation
was started) is not deleted.
6.8
If there is data in the RAM filing system, RISCáOS 3.1 complains if you
attempt to leave the desktop by selecting EXIT from the task manager
menu, although the RAMFS is not affected.
6.8
Sometimes, a RAMFS filer window stays on screen when the RAMFS has been
killed.
6.8
Finally, from R. W. Darlington:
6.8
When I load so many items on the iconbar that it has to scroll to reach
opposite ends and I then delete an item from the middle of the list, I
sometimes finds that as well as the deleted one disappearing, other
icons disappear leaving only their names. Also, all the directory icons
and application icons disappear from directory viewers leaving only
their names as reminders as to what is there.
6.8
In !Paint, when I try to x-scale or y-scale a sprite, I find that it
takes one column off the right hand edge and puts it at the left hand
edge.
6.8
Has anyone else experienced these or other bugs?
6.8
Matters Arising
6.8
Alarm (switching between GMT and BST)
6.8
(Archive 6.3p15 / 6.5p35) Colin Singleton confirms that the alarm set
for 1áa.m. on 7th Februaryá1994 is to remind you to set the BST on and
off dates in 1994.
6.8
Donæt worry: you donæt have to stay up to catch this alarm: it will come
up when you next switch the computer on.
6.8
Ken Cowap has sent in a description which he hopes will complement the
rather brief instructions in the Applications Guide (p132) on this
rather convoluted facility:
6.8
When this option is selected, Alarm will automatically switch between
GMT and BST times on the dates you specify. Click on the arrows to
change the time, day, month and year.
6.8
Entries must be for one calendar year only even though the öBST starts
on:ò date may already have passed. Any such past date will be ignored
but must be entered nevertheless.
6.8
As the changeover dates are liable to undefined variation from year to
year, Alarm will issue a warning during the month prior to that of the
next yearæs first expected changeover.
6.8
The warning will be recorded in the Alarm Browser Window as öApplication
alarm set by Alarmò, and the dates/times of valid changeover(s) will
still be activated. These alarms appear in dark grey and cannot be
selected. When the warning is activated, a message appears saying: öThe
dates for entering and leaving BST are no longer valid and should be
reset as soon as possible.ò and two options are offered: öReset them
laterò and öReset them now.ò The warning will be repeated automatically
at 24 hour intervals until öReset them nowò is selected and the dates
and times are reset.
6.8
Ken warns that anyone wanting to experiment by setting the system clock
into the future should take care to back up their alarms first, since a
ömove into the futureò will activate and lose all alarms set to go off
before that date. Also note that there is a long delay accompanied by
unexplained hourglass activity before the warning notice appears.
6.8
Impression dongle
6.8
(Archive 6.5 p32) Colin Singleton has been assured by Computer Concepts
that shorting the pins of the Impression dongle can do no harm.
Switching the computer off while Impression is running can cause
problems. Apparently, the reason is that Impression continually checks
that its dongle is present and, if it happens to be checking when power
is lost, the dongle is liable to receive a burst of static which renders
it inoperable. This will drain away if you leave it for a time (perhaps
a few hours) but the quick cure, according to CC, is to short the lines
to each other using a small coin rubbed against the rows of male pins.
Colin recommends removing the dongle from both the machine and the
printer first.
6.8
Getting the hare and tortoise into step
6.8
(Archive 6.6 p59) Jim Nottingham has written in response to my plea...
öthe solution is to fire up the computer in slow mode with a *Configure
Cache off command and run the !Arm3 application in the Boot file. This
brings up the computer with the cache on and the hare on the iconbar. If
you want the computer to boot up with the Arm3 cache off, add *Cache off
to his Boot file after running the Arm3 application.ò
6.8
Well! I must be completely dense. Iæve tried to follow these
instructions to the letter. I have typed *Configure Cache off at the
command line (and *Status confirms that the cache configuration is
öoffò) and I have a !Boot file (file type öDesktopò) the first two lines
of which read:
6.8
Filer_Boot ADFS::Four.$.!System
6.8
RUN system:!Arm3
6.8
When I boot up, the cache is off and the tortoise on the iconbar. When I
click once on the tortoise, the cache is turned on, but the tortoise
stays. When I click a second time, the hare appears but the cache is
turned off. Adding Cache on as the next line of the !Boot file doesnæt
seem to help. What do I do next (apart from swapping the names of the
two icons as Iæve suggested before!)?
6.8
Pinboard backdrop sprites
6.8
In Archive 6.4 p12, R. W. Darlington gave a suggested modification to
the !Boot file which results in a different backdrop being shown each
time the computer is reset. His method causes the available sprites to
be chosen in strict rotation. Geoffrey Rimmer has suggested a variation
of the same idea which would choose one of the sprites at random.
6.8
Assuming, as before, that there are 75 sprites called Sprit00 to Sprit74
in the directory PinSp, his suggested code is:
6.8
Set S$ <Sys$Time>
6.8
SetEval S$ S$ RIGHT5
6.8
SetEval NN STR(VAL(S$ RIGHT2 + S$ LEFT2)MOD 75)
6.8
If LEN(NN)=1 Then SetEval NN ö0ò +NN
6.8
SetEval Tile$Name öSpritò+NN
6.8
Pinboard
6.8
Backdrop -T ADFS::4.$.PinSp. <Tile$Name>
6.8
Finally ...
6.8
Page 140 of the User Guide says that the example commands to set
Alias$@PrintType and Alias$@RunType variables must have trailing spaces.
Does anyone know why?ááA
6.8
Supermarket Ö In Four Languages
6.8
Alex Thomas
6.8
This review is a language teacheræs perspective on the ÉSupermarketæ
language programs produced by New Era Software in four languages
(English, French, German and Spanish).
6.8
Surely, I thought, this must be every modern language teacheræs dream
software for the Archimedes. Just think of the realistic situations set
against the background of shopping in a supermarket which could meet the
demands of the National Curriculum (Modern Languages and IT) and the
GCSE syllabuses. This disc must, I thought, deal with asking for
particular items, quantities, containers, problems at the checkout,
queries about the bill, breakages, complaints, special offers, coupons,
shoplifting, advertising, job vacancies Ö the potential is tremendous.
6.8
With my mind buzzing with such expectations, I was eager to try out this
program with a class, so I sat down after school to run through it and
plan some meaningful tasks. I was hoping to use the German version, so
that was where I started. I needed to enter the shop name and a message
to go on the till receipts Ö everything was in German, so I was feeling
very positive about the program. (The function keys are used for accents
in all the languages.) The next screen asked for information about what
is bought, the price, the amount tendered, method of payment Ö still all
in German, as are the print commands, etc.
6.8
Having entered some information, I printed it out Ö a very basic till
receipt with my list of items and prices, which are totalled with the
amount of change calculated and my message from the first screen (thank
you). It was much the same as all those till receipts I have brought
back from various trips in recent years, except that at least the pupil
has to enter the items bought and understand approximately twenty items
of vocabulary which appear on the screen for each öcustomerò.
6.8
I began to plan tasks for my beginners using the printouts. One pupil
could produce one and the others ask questions to find out the prices.
We could produce them for different shops and compare prices.... but
then, I have a cupboard full of attractive, colourful supermarket
advertising leaflets from Germany, in class sets, surely it would be
better to use them!
6.8
I decided to go back to the program to see what else it has to offer
which the GCSE sets could use. I pressed öclearò to see what happened Ö
the chance to enter another list of items and prices! Since the computer
totals the prices and works out the change, you canæt even work on
complaints at the checkout, except by pretending that the wrong price
was entered.
6.8
There is no list of acceptable items, so there is no spellcheck, it
accepts complete nonsense Ö an item is any set of letters, a price any
number. There are no graphics, no variations on the basic layout and
content, nothing which will interest the pupils or give them a sense of
achievement, unless the teacher spends hours devising speaking tasks
based on till receipts.
6.8
Is it worth taking the whole class to the computer room to produce a
till receipt, or devising a flexible learning lesson with a variety of
small group activities so that this program can be used on the one
computer in my room? No, definitely not. I have some much better ideas
based on my wide selection of realia!
6.8
The programæs handbook suggests many sophisticated possibilities using
product files and bar codes which may be valid for teachers of
Technology, etc to develop. However, as a language teacher, I have not
yet found the time to work on these areas which seem to have little to
do with communication, verbal or written. In case I was too hasty in my
rejection of this program, I decided to use it with a class anyway. The
first pupil (below average year 9) got to the printing stage and said
öNow what?ò Ö öThatæs all it doesò, I replied. He returned to his group
to do the structured oral tasks I had set up, showed them his till
receipt and the rest asked, öWouldnæt it be quicker if we just wrote one
out miss?òááA
6.8
Hints and Tips
6.8
Å A5000 serial port problems Ö Several of you will have experienced
problems with dead or dying serial ports on their A5000s. Acorn are
aware of problems on early A5000 p.c.b.s and have a fix for them.
However, there are still some problems with static. Until Acorn find a
solution, the best we can do is take suitable precautions. (1) Use
braid-screened cable and connect the braid to the connector shells at
both ends. Also, never connect a cable when the machine at either end is
switched on. Always switch on both devices after the cable has been
connected.
6.8
Å Filer_CloseDir Ö On my 4Mb A3000, I like to open Érelatedæ windows to
various programs and then close them again when finished, by using
Filer_OpenDir <pathname> <position> and Filer_ CloseDir <pathname>
respectively. I put these commands in the !Run file of !BJ10e Turbo
Drivers, one before the command to run !Runimage and the other after.
Readers should be warned that the command Filer_CloseDir clashes with
CCæs Turbo Driver (v2.09b) when using their Compression filing system
(CFS) (v1.17). If the Turbo driver is loaded first and then CFS, you
will find that, when trying to quit the Turbo Driver, it goes into an
error loop with SWI &43303 not known and only a <ctrl-break> or <reset>
will release the computer so you lose all unsaved files, etc. No problem
occurs when they are loaded in reverse order or when Filer_ CloseDir is
deleted from the !Run file of !BJ10e.
6.8
Does anyone know whether any other programs clash with Filer_CloseDir?á
Brian Cocksedge, Midhurst.
6.8
Å Filofax printing Ö We had a letter printed on a piece of Filofax paper
which proved that you can do so with a Canon BJ200 with CCæs Turbo
Driver software using a custom page size of 95 ╫ 165 mm. If you use
Impression (II or Junior), it shows the print area so it is easy then to
create a suitable frame and choose a small typeface (say, 8 pt) and view
the page at 200%.á Brian Stewart, Nairn.
6.8
Å Inkjet printing Ö When inkjet/bubblejet printouts need a relatively
large amount of ink, the paper can become a little wrinkled. To remove
the wrinkles, pass the paper through a laser printer by printing a blank
page. This calendars the paper to its original smooth finish.á George
Foot, Oxted.
6.8
Å Laser toner cartridges Ö The first sign you get that a laser toner
cartridge is about to run out is a line down the paper which is
obviously very low on toner. If you örock the cartridge gentlyò, you may
be able to spread the toner out sufficiently to get a few more sheets
out of it. Try rocking first but then eventually, try shaking. Beware,
if you shake too soon, you can end up with toner all over the place!á
Colin Singleton, Sheffield.
6.8
Å ShowPage confusion Ö It has been said within the pages of Archive that
öShowPage does not work with RISCáOS 3ò. This is not entirely correct.
It will not work with RISCáOS 3 fonts, i.e. those which have their own
kerning tables, and it will not work with RISCáOS 3æs ROM fonts.
However, if you want to use ShowPage, all you need to do is to replace
the in-built fonts (Corpus, Homerton and Trinity) with ones within your
own font folder and included a FontRemove command to remove the ROM
fonts.ááA
6.8
Hints and Tips
6.9
Å Anti-aliased fonts Ö I find that anti-aliasing on a standard
resolution monitor gives a far too blurred image. My hint is to use the
outline version of the System font at an unexpanded point size. A bit of
experimentation is needed to get it right if you habitually use the
screen at some scale other than one to one but when you get it right,
the result is a nice fast, clean and clear font on any DTP or
wordprocessing package while you work on the text. Remember to change
the font to your preferred version for the final print. I am afraid I
canæt remember where I obtained the Outline System font.
6.9
On my Pentoms game, I changed the transfer coefficients to sharpen up
the edges of my fancy fonts but that does not work well/at all on
RISCáOS 3. Is there a way of getting a program to automatically check
which OS it is running under so that I can disable this facility where
it wonæt work? Or is there another way of sharpening RISCáOS 3 fonts?
Yes I know about turning off anti-aliasing but that is not quite the
same thing at all Ö bits of the letters are missed if you do that.á
Simon Anthony, Nottingham.
6.9
Å Backing up in one pass Ö The öNextò slot in the Task Manager can be
set from a !Boot file in RISC OS 3 to make backing up and copying of
full 800Kb discs occur in a single pass. Use the command
6.9
WimpSlot -next 864K
6.9
inside your !Boot file.á Barry Thompson,
6.9
Alternatively (for RISC OS 2 owners) you can allocate more memory to the
Next Task slot by issuing the Wimp_SlotSize SWI call from Basic. All
that you need is a Basic program containing the line:
6.9
SYS öWimp_SlotSizeò,-1,<slotsize>
6.9
where <slotsize> is in bytes (e.g. use 65536 for 64Kb.)
6.9
Simon Moy, NCS.
6.9
Å !Boot files are not strictly necessary within applications. They use
up disc space and slow down the opening of windows (especially over a
network). If an applicationæs !Boot file only contains the IconSprites
command, then this can be moved to the !Run file, and the !Boot file can
be deleted. The only effect is that the application will not show the
correct icon in the filer window until the application is actually run.á
Keith Harja, Derby.
6.9
Å Gods passwords Ö On this monthæs program disc is all you need for
getting the passwords for Gods. Andrew Ferguson, London N15.
6.9
Å Mono TIFF files Ö In reply to help for Ray Dawson in Archive 6.5 p18
for producing mono TIFF files from B&W scanned sprites. I have used
!MakeTiff version 2.00 by John Kortink to do exactly that. I examined
the resulting Tiff file using Graphics Workshop (under the emulator) and
Translator, and they both showed the converted sprite as a B&W image.á
Chris Bass, Grimsby.
6.9
Å Symbols for Impression Ö When using Impression, or even more so
Junior, it can sometimes be tedious to find a desired symbol from a font
such as Dingbats. Therefore, I have created a number of text files which
can be dragged into any Impression document. The format for such files
is ö« ò, without the quotes. This returns the type to its default size,
selects the desired font, inserts the character with ASCII code 174 and
resets the font to its default. N.B. The space at the end is essential.
This is so that one can do a <ctrl-right> to end of text. Without this
space, the font is not reset. I have given a number of pre-prepared ones
to Paul for inclusion on this monthæs program disc.á Neil Walker,
Norwich.
6.9
You need to be very careful with this one. I tried it on Impression 2.19
and it gave an internal error and Impression bombed out! This was
because I didnæt have the symbol font in my system. I tried it on
version 2.17 and it complained politely that it didnæt have Symbol font
and let me carry on. I presume that the difference is because
Impression, from 2.18 onwards, has no limit to the number of fonts it
can handle so that part of the code must have been changed. Donæt say we
didnæt warn you! Ed.
6.9
Å Testing printersæ on-line status Ö Here is a way of testing whether
the printer is on- or off-line:
6.9
10 *FX 3,10
6.9
20 PRINT CHR$(0);
6.9
30 a = INKEY(20)
6.9
40 a = ADVAL(-4)
6.9
50 *FX 3,0
6.9
60 *FX 21,3
6.9
70 IF a <> 1023 THEN
6.9
80 PRINT öPrinter not on lineò
6.9
90 ELSE
6.9
100 PRINT öPrinter on lineò
6.9
110 ENDIF
6.9
120 END
6.9
Paul Ribworth, Gloucester
6.9
Å Using high density discs Ö Until the advent of the A5000, all
Archimedes computers had an 800Kb 3╜ö disc drive so the problems of
different disc densities didnæt really arise. With the introduction of
the new A3000 and A4000 series, 1.6Mb drives are becoming more common
and some users are trying to save a few pence by formatting normal
density discs to 1.6Mb.
6.9
Users of BBC and Master computers learned that there is no point in
paying extra for 80 track discs as the cheaper 40 track were actually
identical. The same is NOT true of 800Kb and 1.6Mb discs. The magnetic
coating on high density discs uses finer particles than the coating used
on standard (double density) types. This is designed to accept higher
signal levels without distortion. When the higher capacity format is
used, the drive automatically uses a stronger magnetic field to imprint
the data on the discs surface.
6.9
Sometimes, good quality normal density discs can accept this level but
it does represent a severe overload. Even if all appears well at the
time, the larger particles used in the normal density coating are
frequently unable to retain the high level of magnetism required so it
can leak away in time making part of the data unreadable.
6.9
Also, you should not use high density discs in a normal density drive if
they have previously been formatted to 1.44 or 1.6Mb. The lower flux
levels used for the normal format may not be able to completely erase
the earlier data. This can then Ébreak throughæ and corrupt data saved
later at the lower flux levels used with the smaller format. It may
sometimes take more than a month for this to happen. So donæt be fooled
into thinking that everything is OK just because all seems to be well
when you first format the disc. Many Archimedes users who have
Éborrowedæ preformatted 1.44Mb discs from work to use in their 800Kb
drives have experienced this problem.
6.9
There is no reason why you cannot use a NEW high density disc at 800Kb,
it will just be more expensive.
6.9
Because of this, it is obviously useless to do what used to be common
practice with the old 40/80 track discs, namely try to format them to 80
tracks and if it didnæt work use them for 40 track. Once you have
attempted to format an 800Kb disc to 1.6 or 1.44 Mb there is no going
back. I have had some success using a tape head demagnetiser to
completely wipe out data on 800Kb discs which had been formatted to
1.6Mb so that they could be reformatted to 800Kb, but not everyone has
one of these.
6.9
PC drives all have a sensor which detects the extra hole in a high
density disc and wonæt allow you to specify the wrong format. For some
reason, Acorn didnæt implement this feature on the Archimedes although
the detector is present on all high density drives. It is therefore
possible, by accident, to format a normal density disc to 1.6Mb. On a
PC, to do this you need to drill a hole in the case of the disc so it
canæt happen unintentionally.
6.9
The most pernicious thing about this problem is that it can lead you
into a false sense of security. A normal density disc may format
perfectly to 1.6Mb and, for months, everything will appear to be well.
Then suddenly some of the data may become slightly corrupt, although the
disc may not actually appear to have any errors.
6.9
If your data is precious enough to be worth saving, itæs worth the extra
few pence that the proper discs cost. The only time that I have known
people use normal density discs successfully as high density was with
expensive branded discs costing about ú1.30 each. As this is
considerably more than the price of unbranded high density discs, it
seems a foolish risk to take.á David Holden, Sydenham.ááA
6.9
Hints and Tips
6.9
Å Anti-aliased fonts Ö I find that anti-aliasing on a standard resolution monitor gives a far too blurred image. My hint is to use the outline version of the System font at an unexpanded point size. A bit of experimentation is needed to get it right if you habitually use the screen at some scale other than one to one but when you get it right, the result is a nice fast, clean and clear font on any DTP or wordprocessing package while you work on the text. Remember to change the font to your preferred version for the final print. I am afraid I canæt remember where I obtained the Outline System font.
6.9
On my Pentoms game, I changed the transfer coefficients to sharpen up the edges of my fancy fonts but that does not work well/at all on RISCáOS 3. Is there a way of getting a program to automatically check which OS it is running under so that I can disable this facility where it wonæt work? Or is there another way of sharpening RISCáOS 3 fonts? Yes I know about turning off anti-aliasing but that is not quite the same thing at all Ö bits of the letters are missed if you do that.á Simon Anthony, Nottingham.
6.9
Å Backing up in one pass Ö The öNextò slot in the Task Manager can be set from a !Boot file in RISC OS 3 to make backing up and copying of full 800Kb discs occur in a single pass. Use the command
6.9
WimpSlot -next 864K
6.9
inside your !Boot file.á Barry Thompson,
6.9
Alternatively (for RISC OS 2 owners) you can allocate more memory to the Next Task slot by issuing the Wimp_SlotSize SWI call from Basic. All that you need is a Basic program containing the line:
6.9
SYS öWimp_SlotSizeò,-1,<slotsize>
6.9
where <slotsize> is in bytes (e.g. use 65536 for 64Kb.)
6.9
Simon Moy, NCS.
6.9
Å !Boot files are not strictly necessary within applications. They use up disc space and slow down the opening of windows (especially over a network). If an applicationæs !Boot file only contains the IconSprites command, then this can be moved to the !Run file, and the !Boot file can be deleted. The only effect is that the application will not show the correct icon in the filer window until the application is actually run.á Keith Harja, Derby.
6.9
Å Gods passwords Ö On this monthæs program disc is all you need for getting the passwords for Gods. Andrew Ferguson, London N15.
6.9
Å Mono TIFF files Ö In reply to help for Ray Dawson in Archive 6.5 p18 for producing mono TIFF files from B&W scanned sprites. I have used !MakeTiff version 2.00 by John Kortink to do exactly that. I examined the resulting Tiff file using Graphics Workshop (under the emulator) and Translator, and they both showed the converted sprite as a B&W image.á Chris Bass, Grimsby.
6.9
Å Symbols for Impression Ö When using Impression, or even more so Junior, it can sometimes be tedious to find a desired symbol from a font such as Dingbats. Therefore, I have created a number of text files which can be dragged into any Impression document. The format for such files is ö« ò, without the quotes. This returns the type to its default size, selects the desired font, inserts the character with ASCII code 174 and resets the font to its default. N.B. The space at the end is essential. This is so that one can do a <ctrl-right> to end of text. Without this space, the font is not reset. I have given a number of pre-prepared ones to Paul for inclusion on this monthæs program disc.á Neil Walker, Norwich.
6.9
You need to be very careful with this one. I tried it on Impression 2.19 and it gave an internal error and Impression bombed out! This was because I didnæt have the symbol font in my system. I tried it on version 2.17 and it complained politely that it didnæt have Symbol font and let me carry on. I presume that the difference is because Impression, from 2.18 onwards, has no limit to the number of fonts it can handle so that part of the code must have been changed. Donæt say we didnæt warn you! Ed.
6.9
Å Testing printersæ on-line status Ö Here is a way of testing whether the printer is on- or off-line:
6.9
10 *FX 3,10
6.9
20 PRINT CHR$(0);
6.9
30 a = INKEY(20)
6.9
40 a = ADVAL(-4)
6.9
50 *FX 3,0
6.9
60 *FX 21,3
6.9
70 IF a <> 1023 THEN
6.9
80 PRINT öPrinter not on lineò
6.9
90 ELSE
6.9
100 PRINT öPrinter on lineò
6.9
110 ENDIF
6.9
120 END
6.9
Paul Ribworth, Gloucester
6.9
Å Using high density discs Ö Until the advent of the A5000, all Archimedes computers had an 800Kb 3╜ö disc drive so the problems of different disc densities didnæt really arise. With the introduction of the new A3000 and A4000 series, 1.6Mb drives are becoming more common and some users are trying to save a few pence by formatting normal density discs to 1.6Mb.
6.9
Users of BBC and Master computers learned that there is no point in paying extra for 80 track discs as the cheaper 40 track were actually identical. The same is NOT true of 800Kb and 1.6Mb discs. The magnetic coating on high density discs uses finer particles than the coating used on standard (double density) types. This is designed to accept higher signal levels without distortion. When the higher capacity format is used, the drive automatically uses a stronger magnetic field to imprint the data on the discs surface.
6.9
Sometimes, good quality normal density discs can accept this level but it does represent a severe overload. Even if all appears well at the time, the larger particles used in the normal density coating are frequently unable to retain the high level of magnetism required so it can leak away in time making part of the data unreadable.
6.9
Also, you should not use high density discs in a normal density drive if they have previously been formatted to 1.44 or 1.6Mb. The lower flux levels used for the normal format may not be able to completely erase the earlier data. This can then Ébreak throughæ and corrupt data saved later at the lower flux levels used with the smaller format. It may sometimes take more than a month for this to happen. So donæt be fooled into thinking that everything is OK just because all seems to be well when you first format the disc. Many Archimedes users who have Éborrowedæ preformatted 1.44Mb discs from work to use in their 800Kb drives have experienced this problem.
6.9
There is no reason why you cannot use a NEW high density disc at 800Kb, it will just be more expensive.
6.9
Because of this, it is obviously useless to do what used to be common practice with the old 40/80 track discs, namely try to format them to 80 tracks and if it didnæt work use them for 40 track. Once you have attempted to format an 800Kb disc to 1.6 or 1.44 Mb there is no going back. I have had some success using a tape head demagnetiser to completely wipe out data on 800Kb discs which had been formatted to 1.6Mb so that they could be reformatted to 800Kb, but not everyone has one of these.
6.9
PC drives all have a sensor which detects the extra hole in a high density disc and wonæt allow you to specify the wrong format. For some reason, Acorn didnæt implement this feature on the Archimedes although the detector is present on all high density drives. It is therefore possible, by accident, to format a normal density disc to 1.6Mb. On a PC, to do this you need to drill a hole in the case of the disc so it canæt happen unintentionally.
6.9
The most pernicious thing about this problem is that it can lead you into a false sense of security. A normal density disc may format perfectly to 1.6Mb and, for months, everything will appear to be well. Then suddenly some of the data may become slightly corrupt, although the disc may not actually appear to have any errors.
6.9
If your data is precious enough to be worth saving, itæs worth the extra few pence that the proper discs cost. The only time that I have known people use normal density discs successfully as high density was with expensive branded discs costing about ú1.30 each. As this is considerably more than the price of unbranded high density discs, it seems a foolish risk to take.á David Holden, Sydenham.ááA
6.9
Using RISCáOSá3.10
6.9
Hugh Eagle
6.9
More encouragement for the faint-hearted!
6.9
Stuart Bell says: öHaving read the RISCáOS Column for the past few months, I approached the upgrade with caution, afraid of all sorts of installation and compatibility problems. I guess that by the nature of the things, itæs those people who encounter problems who write in, thereby giving a false impression of the true situation. So, if youære still with RISCáOS 2 and thinking about upgrading, be encouraged. Installing RISCáOS 3 on my A310, including removing the main board and installing the IFEL ROM carrier board took about an hour from start to finish, and I experienced no unforeseen problems.
6.9
öHaving been warned of problems with Compression 1.1, I de-compressed all files first. I await the free upgrade from CC. There is the reported problem with early versions of Font-FX and thatæs in hand.
6.9
öA couple of warnings, though: As well as powering up with <Delete> depressed, also make sure that youæve re-connected the keyboard first. (Donæt laugh ù it could have been you! That cost me several minutes of panic.) Secondly, alter the Font Size figure before loading your first Impression document, which otherwise can take several minutes to load with a 32Kb buffer.ò
6.9
Å Avie Electronics 4Mb A310 upgrade Ö The following information has come from Avie: LK12 should be altered to 1-3 and 2-4. Issue 1 PCBs do not have LK12 and require modification as follows:
6.9
Option 1: pins 2 and 24 on all of the ROMs are to be swapped. Remove pins 2 and 24 from each ROM socket by bending them up. Join pin 24 on all ROMs to GND. Join pin 2 on all ROMs to LA18 on IC28, pin 18.
6.9
Option 2: remove pin 2 from each stamped socket on PCB and strap a wire between the pins and LA18. Likewise, pin 24 can be strapped to GND after removing the pins in the stamped sockets.
6.9
Hardware problems
6.9
Watford Electronics ARM3 Ö When Colin Wood fitted a Watford Electronics ARM3 upgrade to his A410 it didnæt work. öThe screen flashed red/blue, but no beep. Just dead.ò As he had recently fitted RISCáOSá3, he decided to replace the RISCáOSá2 chips and everything seemed OK, but when he put the RISCáOSá3 chips back, again it didnæt work. Watfordæs help line couldnæt help, so he returned the ARM3 and since they were (again) out of stock he cancelled his order and got most (but not all, apparently) of his money back. Another ARM3, from CJE Microæs, worked first time.
6.9
Watford A310 RAM upgrades Ö Watford Electronics say that they are aware that their early A305/310 RAM upgrades do not work with RISCáOS 3 but they do not have any solution. They simply recommend that you buy one of their newer RAM upgrades instead because they do work with RISCáOS 3. Fortunately, IFEL have stepped into the breach. They can offer new PAL chips to plug into the Watford boards that will solve the problem. These PAL chips are ú3 +VAT each from IFEL and you need to state whether you have the 2Mb or the 4Mb version. (This refers to the upgrades that consisted of two PCBs with a ribbon cable along the RHS of the machine.)
6.9
Program problems
6.9
QuicKey clash Ö J. Nichols reports that, if QuicKey is loaded from within a !Boot file, it can remove the *Opt 4,2 status from the booted disc resulting in a disc which no longer runs a !Boot file.
6.9
!Edit ù Following last monthæs reports of a öbugò in Edit we now have the following from Tom Rank: öThere seemed to be a rare problem with Edit the other day; my text (exported from Ovation) was displayed in a most corrupted way, with a large amount of blank screen to start with and then disintegrating words. I thought it was a problem with Ovation. However, when I tried to show it to John Wallace of Risc Developments at BETT, the file displayed without problems, as it did back on my own machine the next day. Any idea why?ò
6.9
Fun School 4 (for the under 5s) ù Tom Rank found that this ran under RISCáOSá3.00 but not 3.10, but Europress Software supplied an updated disc very promptly which now works.
6.9
Freddy Teddy ù Topologika supplied a new version to Tom Rank on the spot at BETT!
6.9
Ovation ù Tom Rank says you are urged to obtain 1.37S (dated 17 January 1993). This overcomes the saving with <F3> problem ù which really was a problem, so do upgrade. They have also restored the Éselect allæ shortcut Ö but only if you use the right-hand <Ctrl> key along with A (to avoid the problem of catching <Ctrl-A> instead of <Ctrl-S> or just <A>).
6.9
This version also contains three new printing options, not documented: Fit, Centre and Registration marks. These should be self explanatory, but Tom is not quite sure about them!
6.9
Break147 and SuperPool ù D. S. Allen got these to work using the information provided by David Holden in the April column. He writes: öIn Break147 there is one Basic program called !Snook which contains the line
6.9
90SYSá26,64,64.
6.9
A REM statement in front of the SYS will cure the problem and the program will then run under RISCáOSá3.1.
6.9
öSimilarly, in SuperPool there is a Basic program !Pool in the Data directory in which line 60 has the same SYSá26,64,64 statement.
6.9
öNote that to make these changes, people will require the read/write version of Mark Smithæs excellent ArcFS program.ò (Or, presumably, an equivalent utility such as SparkFS.)
6.9
Superior Golf / Construction Set ù We reported in Archive 6.7 p43 that Dave Wilcox had found that these did not work in RISCáOSá3.10. Rob Brown, however, says he has had no problems with them.
6.9
Corruption ù Rob Brown says that this can be made to work by modifying its !Run file to kill the RISCáOSá3 Shared C Library module and load the very old version of the module supplied with the game. To do this, include at the beginning of the !Run file the line:
6.9
RMKill SharedCLibrary
6.9
and then add at the end of the file the following two lines:
6.9
RMKill SharedCLibrary
6.9
RMLoad SharedCLibrary
6.9
to remove the old version and reload the RISCáOSá3 version of the module. He points out that it may well be advisable to Quit any other applications that may be using the RISCáOSá3 Shared C Library module before running the game.
6.9
Freddyæs Folly ù Rob Brown advises that this game contains a !Run file (in Basic) which includes an automatic Éauto-configurationæ of the computeræs memory as well as setting up a number of initial program parameters. The various auto-configuration elements should be deleted from this file. A further complication is that the disc is copy protected, but it should be possible to rename the original !Run file (to say !RunOLD) and re-save a new !Run file containing only the initial program parameters. He also advises that the game assumes that the default disc drive is 0. For users with a hard disc this can easily be set by typing:
6.9
Drive 0
6.9
at the command line (accessed by pressing function key <F12>) before starting the game. Alternatively, the gameæs !Run file can be appropriately amended by including the ö<Obey$Dir>ò command.
6.9
NOTE: the advice on Corruption and Freddyæs Folly is included in the program compatibility chart which Rob Brown has compiled and which has been included on the Archive monthly program disc. He will welcome any information which will help him to make the chart as comprehensive and up-to-date as possible. His address is öValtaneeò, Brighton Road, Lower Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 6UP.
6.9
Aldebaran ù (see Archive 6.8 p23) Atle Mjelde Bσrdholt has contacted the author and has learned that, on his A310 with IFELæs 2Mb upgrade, he has to add 8Kb to the WimpSlot values in the !Aldebaran.!Run file (from 624Kb to 632Kb). Then everything works fine. He says this might be due to the RAM upgrade: Aldebaran seems to work fine on any other Archimedes with RISCáOSá3.1. He adds a final bit of advice: öGet a copy!ò
6.9
Printing
6.9
Printing to file
6.9
Tom Rank has found that the hint from Simon Moy in Archive 6.2.7 about editing the number of text lines seems redundant under RISCáOSá3.10, and that printing to a file (at least with the Epson LQ-860 driver) resulted in a printout which aborted with an öaddress exception at &038B5BE0ò, a frozen printer and an incomplete document (the last few millimetres were lost). This is particularly irritating as printing to a file is the only way, apart from buying a direct laser printer or a CC Turbo Driver, to avoid the long wait for print out. (How about using the PROdriver shell for use with Acorn drivers? See the review on page 43. Ed.)
6.9
Using fanfold paper
6.9
Tom Rank comments: öFeeding single sheets into a printer soon becomes a pain, but sheetfeeders come expensive, so A4 fanfold paper seemed a good idea (even though itæs about four or five times more expensive than better quality photocopy paper at a discount stationer!). However, with RISCáOS 3.00, I could never get the settings right, so the print always crept up or down the page until it crossed the fold. With RISCáOS 3.10, Iæve finally got it to work, whether by fluke Iæm not sure. Using the LQ-860 printer driver with my Epson LQ-550 printer, the correct settings from the paper sizes menu are: top margin 8mm and bottom margin 15mm; save these with a name like ÉA4 Fanfoldæ and the margins can be automatically set each time. These settings seem to work OK with single sheets too.ò
6.9
Filing Systems
6.9
Beebug 5╝ö disc interface
6.9
Stuart Bell writes: öI got my Beebug 5╝ö disc interface (date 1989) to work by setting the step rate for an 80 track double-sided drive to 12ms (lower values may well work; Iæm just cautious), and whereas RISCáOSá2 worked with öReadyò (switch 6 on the interface) supplied by the on-board PAL, RISCáOSá3 works more reliably with it passed through from the drive.ò
6.9
Dismounting between filing systems
6.9
According to Mike Sawle, applications which frequently switch between filing systems seem to require the *DISMOUNT command before selecting an alternative filing system in order to ensure correct execution. Common error messages are Ambiguous Disc Name and Bad Error Block.
6.9
Miscellaneous Hints & Tips
6.9
Å Faster copying, etc. ù Rob Davison recommends that if there is nothing else you want to do when copying files, then click <Menu> over the filer action window and choose ÉFasteræ.
6.9
Å In the midnight hour ù Atle Mjelde Bσrdholt found that, whenever he switched his computer on between midnight and 1áa.m., a day was added to the internal clock. He then found that this seemed to be caused by the presence in his !Boot file of the command *SetáSys$Yeará1993 (which he had included because he has some programs that set the year back to 1988). When this command is removed, the midnight hour problem goes away. Does anyone know the reason?
6.9
Å Fan filters and the A5000 ù Tom Rank found that, although magazines mention the need to change the filter from time to time, there was no mention of how to do this and on fitting the RISCáOS 3.10 upgrade he could see no filter anyway. Is there one, he asks? The Acorn representative at BETT told him that the design of the machine made it superfluous; he couldnæt quite follow why, but it was something to do with the direction of airflow.
6.9
Å Flippinæ objects in Draw ù Having travelled all the way from Derbyshire to the Acorn User Show, Tom Rank öasked the man on one of the other magazinesæ stall if there was an equivalent in Draw to the Éflipæ option in Paint, as itæs sometimes useful to turn a picture round to face the other way. The expert, although helpful about other items, couldnæt tell me, but my son revealed the following tip, which he said he thought was obvious. Must talk to him more often....
6.9
öTo flip an object in Draw, select it and, from the Étransformæ menu (RISCáOS 3), set x scale (or y scale or both) to Ö1 (minus 1). This also works in the RISCáOS 2 version of Draw but there the Étransformæ option is chosen from the Select menu.ò
6.9
Å Lost lines in Edit Ö Eric Ayers has found that double-clicking on large text files to load them into Edit has caused several lines to be missing from the middle of the text. Apparently, this does not happen if he drags the files to the Edit icon on the icon bar. Any ideas?
6.9
Å More fonts in RISC-OS 3 Ö Gary Atkinson of KudlianSoft recommends the following additions to the !Fonts.!Boot and !Fonts.!Run files to enable one or more separate font directories to be added to and removed from the font path simply by double-clicking on the fonts application directory.
6.9
The !Fonts.!Boot file should be amended as follows:
6.9
| Boot file for !Fonts.
6.9
| Nothing happens if you put this in | a RISCáOS 2 machine except that
6.9
| the !Fonts sprite is set up Ö this | means that, when a RISCáOS2 !Fonts
6.9
| directory is seen the !Boot file
6.9
| will not be run; double clicking
6.9
| on the appropriate !Fonts will
6.9
| force installation.
6.9
|
6.9
| Take care when merging RISCáOS 2
6.9
| fonts with these (RISCáOS 3) fonts
6.9
| - many fonts are contained in the
6.9
| RISCáOS 3 ROM and thus do not
6.9
| appear in !Fonts; normally you
6.9
| should not copy the corresponding
6.9
| RISCáOS 2 fonts!
6.9
Iconsprites <Obey$Dir>.!Sprites
6.9
RMEnsure FontManager 2.89 Obey
6.9
| The next command boots up your
6.9
| normal font directory
6.9
FontInstall <Obey$Dir>.
6.9
SetEval MoreFonts 0
6.9
The !Fonts.!Run file should be amended as follows:
6.9
| !Run file for !Fonts,
6.9
| version 1.05 (20-Aug-91)
6.9
RMEnsure FontManager 2.89 Error These fonts are for use with
6.9
RISCáOS 2.12 or later
6.9
|Obey <Obey$Dir>.!Boot
6.9
| The extra *FontInstall means that,
6.9
| if you double-click the Fonts
6.9
| directory, all such directories
6.9
| will be re-searched for any new
6.9
| fonts.
6.9
SetEval MoreFonts MoreFonts EOR 1
6.9
IF MoreFonts=1 THEN FontInstall <Obey$Dir>. ELSE FontRemove <Obey$Dir>.
6.9
|FontInstall
6.9
The !Boot file is only run on the first time that the filer sees the !Fonts application, hence the initialisation of MoreFonts to zero. Every time the directory is double-clicked, the !Run file will toggle the value of this variable between 0 and 1. This is done in the line:
6.9
SetEval MoreFonts MoreFonts EOR 1
6.9
If the value is 1, the FontInstall command adds the new directory to the font path and initialises all of the fonts. If the value is 0, the FontRemove command removes the temporary font directory from the font path.
6.9
If you require more than one spare directory, you will need to use different variables, such as MoreFonts2 or FancyFonts.
6.9
In practice, it is better to have a directory called fonts inside your !Fonts application which contains your preferred normal fonts at switch-on, and a directory called spare (for example) which contains the set of fonts that you wish to switch in and out. Then in your !Boot file, the FontInstall command becomes
6.9
FontInstall <Obey$Dir>.fonts.
6.9
and the IF...THEN statement in the !Run file has <Obey$Dir>.spare. in place of the two occurrences of <Obey$Dir>. .
6.9
Miscellaneous Comments
6.9
FontEd
6.9
When Tom Rank spoke to an Acorn representative he was told that they were not contemplating the release of FontEd and that it is NOT public domain. An early version got there by mistake via SID and it really ought not, he said, to be distributed by PD libraries.
6.9
The Acorn representative acknowledged that Acorn were unlikely to do anything about this situation, as it was öonly an early version and wonæt work on RISCáOS 3ò. According to Tom this is partially true; a friend of his has had problems with version 0.28, but at least some of the time it runs on an A5000. However, he observes that it is a pity that Acorn actually seem to be discouraging anyone else from working on fonts. (There is a version of FontEd on Careware 7, released in May 1990, but it has been updated since then. Acorn havenæt objected, presumably because of the charitable aspect. Ed.)
6.9
Screen blanking during floppy disc access
6.9
Stuart Bell writes: öMany things are very much more elegant in RISCáOS 3 but with one notable exception. I couldnæt believe my eyes when I saw what happens to the screen during floppy disc accessing. Whether my ARM3 cache is dis- or enabled, in mode 24 the screen either flashes or is blanked when loading, saving or formatting. If RISCáOS 2 didnæt need to do this, why is it allowed now? (It did, in fact, happen in mode 21 under RISCáOSá2 ù HE.) Some re-coding is needed, even if the resultant code is a little slower. More significantly, who was the Acorn person in authority who thought that it is acceptable in 1993 to produce a computer which professes to be a Éworld-beateræ which, when using floppy discs, looks like the Sinclair Spectrum (or was it the ZX81?) reading from cassette tape circa 1983? This just looks so tacky. I know that serious use demands a hard disc, but first impressions count for a lot, and a lot of demonstrations will be on floppy-based A3010æs. This is not good enough, Acorn.ò
6.9
Basic program compaction errors
6.9
R. W. Darlington writes: öI am writing on a matter of utmost urgency.
6.9
öThere seems to be a growing urge amongst programmers to use a program compactor on Basic RunImage files. Unfortunately, I know of no Basic compactor program that does not exhibit a certain disastrous fault.
6.9
öIf, for instance, a Basic program contains any floating point or pseudo variables followed by a Basic keyword or statement, then when it is compacted and the space between the variable and the keyword is removed, that line will generate an error.
6.9
öFor instance, if the program contained the line
6.9
10 IF TRUE THEN VDU7
6.9
which when compacted becomes
6.9
10IFTRUETHENVDU7
6.9
the lack of space between TRUE and THEN will generate an error.
6.9
öThe same is true for any line containing a floating point variable:
6.9
10 ha=TRUE
6.9
20 IF ha THEN VDU7
6.9
will crash when compacted because of a lack of space between ha and THEN.
6.9
öI have come across numerous examples of RunImage files which have these errors in them. One of them is Acornæs new RISCáOS 3 !SciCalc. Others are new versions of Translator and Creator.
6.9
öPlease can you draw Archive readersæ attention to these problems as soon as possible? Or, if any reader knows of a Basic compactor that does not produce these errors, please can they let us know where it may be obtained?ò
6.9
Matters Arising
6.9
Setting Caps Lock (*FX 202)
6.9
Unfortunately, the advice I gave last month about using *FX 202 may have been a bit confusing because, after explaining that Peter Young wanted a command to turn Caps Lock on, I then described how to turn it off! The command to turn Caps Lock on, leaving the other settings unchanged, is *FXá202,0,239.
6.9
The shortened form *FXá202,32 should turn Caps Lock on, but may have side effects.
6.9
Note also that, to make sure that the LED indicators are correctly updated after a *FXá202 command, it is a good idea to follow it with the simple command *FXá118.
6.9
The bits of the keyboard status byte have the following meanings:
6.9
bit value meaning
6.9
0 (1) 0 Alt off
6.9
1 Alt on
6.9
1 (2) 0 Scroll Lock off
6.9
1 Scroll Lock on
6.9
2 (4) 0 Num Lock on
6.9
1 Num Lock off
6.9
3 (8) 0 Shift off
6.9
1 Shift on
6.9
4 (16) 0 Caps Lock on
6.9
1 Caps Lock off
6.9
5 (32) (öNormally setò)
6.9
6 (64) 0 Ctrl off
6.9
1 Ctrl on
6.9
7 (128) 0 Shift enable off
6.9
1 Shift enable on
6.9
(This information is taken from the RISC¡OSá2 Programmersæ Reference Manual.)
6.9
Boot-up options (Archive 6.8 p26)
6.9
Peter Young has suggested that it might be better to use INKEY$ with a delay of, say, 5 to 10 seconds instead of GET$ so that, if nobody presses a key, the computer will continue with the boot file after a short delay.
6.9
Unexpected messages from IDE filing system (Archive 6.8 p24)
6.9
Peter Young (who has a Beebug IDE interface) has confirmed that, even after creating space for a directory cache, he still gets unexpected messages unless he uses full pathnames. For instance, if he starts with the commands
6.9
*DIR IDEFS::IDEDisc4.$.BASIC.B
6.9
*CAT
6.9
he gets a catalogue of the subdirectory ÉBæ as expected. However, if he uses the abbreviated pathname instead:
6.9
*DIR $.BASIC.B
6.9
*CAT
6.9
he gets a catalogue of the directory ÉBASICæ even though the heading of the directory listing correctly says that the CSD is IDEFS::IDEDisc4.$. BASIC.B. The computeræs confusion is further demonstrated by the fact that if he then enters:
6.9
*DIR ^
6.9
*CAT
6.9
it replies Directory É@æ not found.
6.9
ÉInterruptæ module (Archive 6.6 p55)
6.9
In March, we reported M. P. Sawleæs request for help in getting the Interrupt module (Archive Shareware disc 6) working under RISCáOSá3, but since then neither he nor we have heard anything. Does no-one else use this module? Can its author help?
6.9
Using RISCáOSá3.10
6.9
Hugh Eagle
6.9
More encouragement for the faint-hearted!
6.9
Stuart Bell says: öHaving read the RISCáOS Column for the past few
months, I approached the upgrade with caution, afraid of all sorts of
installation and compatibility problems. I guess that by the nature of
the things, itæs those people who encounter problems who write in,
thereby giving a false impression of the true situation. So, if youære
still with RISCáOS 2 and thinking about upgrading, be encouraged.
Installing RISCáOS 3 on my A310, including removing the main board and
installing the IFEL ROM carrier board took about an hour from start to
finish, and I experienced no unforeseen problems.
6.9
öHaving been warned of problems with Compression 1.1, I de-compressed
all files first. I await the free upgrade from CC. There is the reported
problem with early versions of Font-FX and thatæs in hand.
6.9
öA couple of warnings, though: As well as powering up with <Delete>
depressed, also make sure that youæve re-connected the keyboard first.
(Donæt laugh ù it could have been you! That cost me several minutes of
panic.) Secondly, alter the Font Size figure before loading your first
Impression document, which otherwise can take several minutes to load
with a 32Kb buffer.ò
6.9
Å Avie Electronics 4Mb A310 upgrade Ö The following information has come
from Avie: LK12 should be altered to 1-3 and 2-4. Issue 1 PCBs do not
have LK12 and require modification as follows:
6.9
Option 1: pins 2 and 24 on all of the ROMs are to be swapped. Remove
pins 2 and 24 from each ROM socket by bending them up. Join pin 24 on
all ROMs to GND. Join pin 2 on all ROMs to LA18 on IC28, pin 18.
6.9
Option 2: remove pin 2 from each stamped socket on PCB and strap a wire
between the pins and LA18. Likewise, pin 24 can be strapped to GND after
removing the pins in the stamped sockets.
6.9
Hardware problems
6.9
Watford Electronics ARM3 Ö When Colin Wood fitted a Watford Electronics
ARM3 upgrade to his A410 it didnæt work. öThe screen flashed red/blue,
but no beep. Just dead.ò As he had recently fitted RISCáOSá3, he decided
to replace the RISCáOSá2 chips and everything seemed OK, but when he put
the RISCáOSá3 chips back, again it didnæt work. Watfordæs help line
couldnæt help, so he returned the ARM3 and since they were (again) out
of stock he cancelled his order and got most (but not all, apparently)
of his money back. Another ARM3, from CJE Microæs, worked first time.
6.9
Watford A310 RAM upgrades Ö Watford Electronics say that they are aware
that their early A305/310 RAM upgrades do not work with RISCáOS 3 but
they do not have any solution. They simply recommend that you buy one of
their newer RAM upgrades instead because they do work with RISCáOS 3.
Fortunately, IFEL have stepped into the breach. They can offer new PAL
chips to plug into the Watford boards that will solve the problem. These
PAL chips are ú3 +VAT each from IFEL and you need to state whether you
have the 2Mb or the 4Mb version. (This refers to the upgrades that
consisted of two PCBs with a ribbon cable along the RHS of the machine.)
6.9
Program problems
6.9
QuicKey clash Ö J. Nichols reports that, if QuicKey is loaded from
within a !Boot file, it can remove the *Opt 4,2 status from the booted
disc resulting in a disc which no longer runs a !Boot file.
6.9
!Edit ù Following last monthæs reports of a öbugò in Edit we now have
the following from Tom Rank: öThere seemed to be a rare problem with
Edit the other day; my text (exported from Ovation) was displayed in a
most corrupted way, with a large amount of blank screen to start with
and then disintegrating words. I thought it was a problem with Ovation.
However, when I tried to show it to John Wallace of Risc Developments at
BETT, the file displayed without problems, as it did back on my own
machine the next day. Any idea why?ò
6.9
Fun School 4 (for the under 5s) ù Tom Rank found that this ran under
RISCáOSá3.00 but not 3.10, but Europress Software supplied an updated
disc very promptly which now works.
6.9
Freddy Teddy ù Topologika supplied a new version to Tom Rank on the spot
at BETT!
6.9
Ovation ù Tom Rank says you are urged to obtain 1.37S (dated 17 January
1993). This overcomes the saving with <F3> problem ù which really was a
problem, so do upgrade. They have also restored the Éselect allæ
shortcut Ö but only if you use the right-hand <Ctrl> key along with A
(to avoid the problem of catching <Ctrl-A> instead of <Ctrl-S> or just
<A>).
6.9
This version also contains three new printing options, not documented:
Fit, Centre and Registration marks. These should be self explanatory,
but Tom is not quite sure about them!
6.9
Break147 and SuperPool ù D. S. Allen got these to work using the
information provided by David Holden in the April column. He writes: öIn
Break147 there is one Basic program called !Snook which contains the
line
6.9
90SYSá26,64,64.
6.9
A REM statement in front of the SYS will cure the problem and the
program will then run under RISCáOSá3.1.
6.9
öSimilarly, in SuperPool there is a Basic program !Pool in the Data
directory in which line 60 has the same SYSá26,64,64 statement.
6.9
öNote that to make these changes, people will require the read/write
version of Mark Smithæs excellent ArcFS program.ò (Or, presumably, an
equivalent utility such as SparkFS.)
6.9
Superior Golf / Construction Set ù We reported in Archive 6.7 p43 that
Dave Wilcox had found that these did not work in RISCáOSá3.10. Rob
Brown, however, says he has had no problems with them.
6.9
Corruption ù Rob Brown says that this can be made to work by modifying
its !Run file to kill the RISCáOSá3 Shared C Library module and load the
very old version of the module supplied with the game. To do this,
include at the beginning of the !Run file the line:
6.9
RMKill SharedCLibrary
6.9
and then add at the end of the file the following two lines:
6.9
RMKill SharedCLibrary
6.9
RMLoad SharedCLibrary
6.9
to remove the old version and reload the RISCáOSá3 version of the
module. He points out that it may well be advisable to Quit any other
applications that may be using the RISCáOSá3 Shared C Library module
before running the game.
6.9
Freddyæs Folly ù Rob Brown advises that this game contains a !Run file
(in Basic) which includes an automatic Éauto-configurationæ of the
computeræs memory as well as setting up a number of initial program
parameters. The various auto-configuration elements should be deleted
from this file. A further complication is that the disc is copy
protected, but it should be possible to rename the original !Run file
(to say !RunOLD) and re-save a new !Run file containing only the initial
program parameters. He also advises that the game assumes that the
default disc drive is 0. For users with a hard disc this can easily be
set by typing:
6.9
Drive 0
6.9
at the command line (accessed by pressing function key <F12>) before
starting the game. Alternatively, the gameæs !Run file can be
appropriately amended by including the ö<Obey$Dir>ò command.
6.9
NOTE: the advice on Corruption and Freddyæs Folly is included in the
program compatibility chart which Rob Brown has compiled and which has
been included on the Archive monthly program disc. He will welcome any
information which will help him to make the chart as comprehensive and
up-to-date as possible. His address is öValtaneeò, Brighton Road, Lower
Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 6UP.
6.9
Aldebaran ù (see Archive 6.8 p23) Atle Mjelde Bσrdholt has contacted the
author and has learned that, on his A310 with IFELæs 2Mb upgrade, he has
to add 8Kb to the WimpSlot values in the !Aldebaran.!Run file (from
624Kb to 632Kb). Then everything works fine. He says this might be due
to the RAM upgrade: Aldebaran seems to work fine on any other Archimedes
with RISCáOSá3.1. He adds a final bit of advice: öGet a copy!ò
6.9
Printing
6.9
Printing to file
6.9
Tom Rank has found that the hint from Simon Moy in Archive 6.2.7 about
editing the number of text lines seems redundant under RISCáOSá3.10, and
that printing to a file (at least with the Epson LQ-860 driver) resulted
in a printout which aborted with an öaddress exception at &038B5BE0ò, a
frozen printer and an incomplete document (the last few millimetres were
lost). This is particularly irritating as printing to a file is the only
way, apart from buying a direct laser printer or a CC Turbo Driver, to
avoid the long wait for print out. (How about using the PROdriver shell
for use with Acorn drivers? See the review on page 43. Ed.)
6.9
Using fanfold paper
6.9
Tom Rank comments: öFeeding single sheets into a printer soon becomes a
pain, but sheetfeeders come expensive, so A4 fanfold paper seemed a good
idea (even though itæs about four or five times more expensive than
better quality photocopy paper at a discount stationer!). However, with
RISCáOS 3.00, I could never get the settings right, so the print always
crept up or down the page until it crossed the fold. With RISCáOS 3.10,
Iæve finally got it to work, whether by fluke Iæm not sure. Using the
LQ-860 printer driver with my Epson LQ-550 printer, the correct settings
from the paper sizes menu are: top margin 8mm and bottom margin 15mm;
save these with a name like ÉA4 Fanfoldæ and the margins can be
automatically set each time. These settings seem to work OK with single
sheets too.ò
6.9
Filing Systems
6.9
Beebug 5╝ö disc interface
6.9
Stuart Bell writes: öI got my Beebug 5╝ö disc interface (date 1989) to
work by setting the step rate for an 80 track double-sided drive to 12ms
(lower values may well work; Iæm just cautious), and whereas RISCáOSá2
worked with öReadyò (switch 6 on the interface) supplied by the on-board
PAL, RISCáOSá3 works more reliably with it passed through from the
drive.ò
6.9
Dismounting between filing systems
6.9
According to Mike Sawle, applications which frequently switch between
filing systems seem to require the *DISMOUNT command before selecting an
alternative filing system in order to ensure correct execution. Common
error messages are Ambiguous Disc Name and Bad Error Block.
6.9
Miscellaneous Hints & Tips
6.9
Å Faster copying, etc. ù Rob Davison recommends that if there is nothing
else you want to do when copying files, then click <Menu> over the filer
action window and choose ÉFasteræ.
6.9
Å In the midnight hour ù Atle Mjelde Bσrdholt found that, whenever he
switched his computer on between midnight and 1áa.m., a day was added to
the internal clock. He then found that this seemed to be caused by the
presence in his !Boot file of the command *SetáSys$Yeará1993 (which he
had included because he has some programs that set the year back to
1988). When this command is removed, the midnight hour problem goes
away. Does anyone know the reason?
6.9
Å Fan filters and the A5000 ù Tom Rank found that, although magazines
mention the need to change the filter from time to time, there was no
mention of how to do this and on fitting the RISCáOS 3.10 upgrade he
could see no filter anyway. Is there one, he asks? The Acorn
representative at BETT told him that the design of the machine made it
superfluous; he couldnæt quite follow why, but it was something to do
with the direction of airflow.
6.9
Å Flippinæ objects in Draw ù Having travelled all the way from
Derbyshire to the Acorn User Show, Tom Rank öasked the man on one of the
other magazinesæ stall if there was an equivalent in Draw to the Éflipæ
option in Paint, as itæs sometimes useful to turn a picture round to
face the other way. The expert, although helpful about other items,
couldnæt tell me, but my son revealed the following tip, which he said
he thought was obvious. Must talk to him more often....
6.9
öTo flip an object in Draw, select it and, from the Étransformæ menu
(RISCáOS 3), set x scale (or y scale or both) to Ö1 (minus 1). This also
works in the RISCáOS 2 version of Draw but there the Étransformæ option
is chosen from the Select menu.ò
6.9
Å Lost lines in Edit Ö Eric Ayers has found that double-clicking on
large text files to load them into Edit has caused several lines to be
missing from the middle of the text. Apparently, this does not happen if
he drags the files to the Edit icon on the icon bar. Any ideas?
6.9
Å More fonts in RISC-OS 3 Ö Gary Atkinson of KudlianSoft recommends the
following additions to the !Fonts.!Boot and !Fonts.!Run files to enable
one or more separate font directories to be added to and removed from
the font path simply by double-clicking on the fonts application
directory.
6.9
The !Fonts.!Boot file should be amended as follows:
6.9
| Boot file for !Fonts.
6.9
| Nothing happens if you put this in | a RISCáOS 2 machine except that
6.9
| the !Fonts sprite is set up Ö this | means that, when a RISCáOS2
!Fonts
6.9
| directory is seen the !Boot file
6.9
| will not be run; double clicking
6.9
| on the appropriate !Fonts will
6.9
| force installation.
6.9
|
6.9
| Take care when merging RISCáOS 2
6.9
| fonts with these (RISCáOS 3) fonts
6.9
| - many fonts are contained in the
6.9
| RISCáOS 3 ROM and thus do not
6.9
| appear in !Fonts; normally you
6.9
| should not copy the corresponding
6.9
| RISCáOS 2 fonts!
6.9
Iconsprites <Obey$Dir>.!Sprites
6.9
RMEnsure FontManager 2.89 Obey
6.9
| The next command boots up your
6.9
| normal font directory
6.9
FontInstall <Obey$Dir>.
6.9
SetEval MoreFonts 0
6.9
The !Fonts.!Run file should be amended as follows:
6.9
| !Run file for !Fonts,
6.9
| version 1.05 (20-Aug-91)
6.9
RMEnsure FontManager 2.89 Error These fonts are for use with
6.9
RISCáOS 2.12 or later
6.9
|Obey <Obey$Dir>.!Boot
6.9
| The extra *FontInstall means that,
6.9
| if you double-click the Fonts
6.9
| directory, all such directories
6.9
| will be re-searched for any new
6.9
| fonts.
6.9
SetEval MoreFonts MoreFonts EOR 1
6.9
IF MoreFonts=1 THEN FontInstall <Obey$Dir>. ELSE FontRemove <Obey$Dir>.
6.9
|FontInstall
6.9
The !Boot file is only run on the first time that the filer sees the
!Fonts application, hence the initialisation of MoreFonts to zero. Every
time the directory is double-clicked, the !Run file will toggle the
value of this variable between 0 and 1. This is done in the line:
6.9
SetEval MoreFonts MoreFonts EOR 1
6.9
If the value is 1, the FontInstall command adds the new directory to the
font path and initialises all of the fonts. If the value is 0, the
FontRemove command removes the temporary font directory from the font
path.
6.9
If you require more than one spare directory, you will need to use
different variables, such as MoreFonts2 or FancyFonts.
6.9
In practice, it is better to have a directory called fonts inside your
!Fonts application which contains your preferred normal fonts at switch-
on, and a directory called spare (for example) which contains the set of
fonts that you wish to switch in and out. Then in your !Boot file, the
FontInstall command becomes
6.9
FontInstall <Obey$Dir>.fonts.
6.9
and the IF...THEN statement in the !Run file has <Obey$Dir>.spare. in
place of the two occurrences of <Obey$Dir>. .
6.9
Miscellaneous Comments
6.9
FontEd
6.9
When Tom Rank spoke to an Acorn representative he was told that they
were not contemplating the release of FontEd and that it is NOT public
domain. An early version got there by mistake via SID and it really
ought not, he said, to be distributed by PD libraries.
6.9
The Acorn representative acknowledged that Acorn were unlikely to do
anything about this situation, as it was öonly an early version and
wonæt work on RISCáOS 3ò. According to Tom this is partially true; a
friend of his has had problems with version 0.28, but at least some of
the time it runs on an A5000. However, he observes that it is a pity
that Acorn actually seem to be discouraging anyone else from working on
fonts. (There is a version of FontEd on Careware 7, released in May
1990, but it has been updated since then. Acorn havenæt objected,
presumably because of the charitable aspect. Ed.)
6.9
Screen blanking during floppy disc access
6.9
Stuart Bell writes: öMany things are very much more elegant in RISCáOS 3
but with one notable exception. I couldnæt believe my eyes when I saw
what happens to the screen during floppy disc accessing. Whether my ARM3
cache is dis- or enabled, in mode 24 the screen either flashes or is
blanked when loading, saving or formatting. If RISCáOS 2 didnæt need to
do this, why is it allowed now? (It did, in fact, happen in mode 21
under RISCáOSá2 ù HE.) Some re-coding is needed, even if the resultant
code is a little slower. More significantly, who was the Acorn person in
authority who thought that it is acceptable in 1993 to produce a
computer which professes to be a Éworld-beateræ which, when using floppy
discs, looks like the Sinclair Spectrum (or was it the ZX81?) reading
from cassette tape circa 1983? This just looks so tacky. I know that
serious use demands a hard disc, but first impressions count for a lot,
and a lot of demonstrations will be on floppy-based A3010æs. This is not
good enough, Acorn.ò
6.9
Basic program compaction errors
6.9
R. W. Darlington writes: öI am writing on a matter of utmost urgency.
6.9
öThere seems to be a growing urge amongst programmers to use a program
compactor on Basic RunImage files. Unfortunately, I know of no Basic
compactor program that does not exhibit a certain disastrous fault.
6.9
öIf, for instance, a Basic program contains any floating point or pseudo
variables followed by a Basic keyword or statement, then when it is
compacted and the space between the variable and the keyword is removed,
that line will generate an error.
6.9
öFor instance, if the program contained the line
6.9
10 IF TRUE THEN VDU7
6.9
which when compacted becomes
6.9
10IFTRUETHENVDU7
6.9
the lack of space between TRUE and THEN will generate an error.
6.9
öThe same is true for any line containing a floating point variable:
6.9
10 ha=TRUE
6.9
20 IF ha THEN VDU7
6.9
will crash when compacted because of a lack of space between ha and
THEN.
6.9
öI have come across numerous examples of RunImage files which have these
errors in them. One of them is Acornæs new RISCáOS 3 !SciCalc. Others
are new versions of Translator and Creator.
6.9
öPlease can you draw Archive readersæ attention to these problems as
soon as possible? Or, if any reader knows of a Basic compactor that does
not produce these errors, please can they let us know where it may be
obtained?ò
6.9
Matters Arising
6.9
Setting Caps Lock (*FX 202)
6.9
Unfortunately, the advice I gave last month about using *FX 202 may have
been a bit confusing because, after explaining that Peter Young wanted a
command to turn Caps Lock on, I then described how to turn it off! The
command to turn Caps Lock on, leaving the other settings unchanged, is
*FXá202,0,239.
6.9
The shortened form *FXá202,32 should turn Caps Lock on, but may have
side effects.
6.9
Note also that, to make sure that the LED indicators are correctly
updated after a *FXá202 command, it is a good idea to follow it with the
simple command *FXá118.
6.9
The bits of the keyboard status byte have the following meanings:
6.9
bit value meaning
6.9
0 (1) 0 Alt off
6.9
1 Alt on
6.9
1 (2) 0 Scroll Lock off
6.9
1 Scroll Lock on
6.9
2 (4) 0 Num Lock on
6.9
1 Num Lock off
6.9
3 (8) 0 Shift off
6.9
1 Shift on
6.9
4 (16) 0 Caps Lock on
6.9
1 Caps Lock off
6.9
5 (32) (öNormally setò)
6.9
6 (64) 0 Ctrl off
6.9
1 Ctrl on
6.9
7 (128) 0 Shift enable off
6.9
1 Shift enable on
6.9
(This information is taken from the RISC¡OSá2 Programmersæ Reference
Manual.)
6.9
Boot-up options (Archive 6.8 p26)
6.9
Peter Young has suggested that it might be better to use INKEY$ with a
delay of, say, 5 to 10 seconds instead of GET$ so that, if nobody
presses a key, the computer will continue with the boot file after a
short delay.
6.9
Unexpected messages from IDE filing system (Archive 6.8 p24)
6.9
Peter Young (who has a Beebug IDE interface) has confirmed that, even
after creating space for a directory cache, he still gets unexpected
messages unless he uses full pathnames. For instance, if he starts with
the commands
6.9
*DIR IDEFS::IDEDisc4.$.BASIC.B
6.9
*CAT
6.9
he gets a catalogue of the subdirectory ÉBæ as expected. However, if he
uses the abbreviated pathname instead:
6.9
*DIR $.BASIC.B
6.9
*CAT
6.9
he gets a catalogue of the directory ÉBASICæ even though the heading of
the directory listing correctly says that the CSD is IDEFS::IDEDisc4.$.
BASIC.B. The computeræs confusion is further demonstrated by the fact
that if he then enters:
6.9
*DIR ^
6.9
*CAT
6.9
it replies Directory É@æ not found.
6.9
ÉInterruptæ module (Archive 6.6 p55)
6.9
In March, we reported M. P. Sawleæs request for help in getting the
Interrupt module (Archive Shareware disc 6) working under RISCáOSá3, but
since then neither he nor we have heard anything. Does no-one else use
this module? Can its author help?
6.9
Using RISC OS 3
6.10
Program points
6.10
Å QuicKey ù Last month (Archive 6.9 p 61), we reported a problem with
this program. Ian Copestake has written to say that this problem was
cured by an update released in April 1992 ù over a year ago! ù and was
caused by a bug in RISCáOSá3. He says that customers can always obtain
minor updates like this by returning their original disc plus ú1 worth
of postage stamps (or a reasonable overseas equivalent). He also asks if
contributors can check that they have up-to-date versions before
reporting problems.
6.10
Å Fourth Dimension games ù A. H. Hunt had a problem with Black Angel
(öone of the casket segments was missing at the Planet Valve (23%)ò) but
this was rectified by 4D immediately. He also says that Break147 and
Saloon Cars run (for him) without any problems.
6.10
However, Arthur Taylor found that the hint by D. S. Allen in Archive 6.9
p62 on Break147 and SuperPool didnæt work for him. Perhaps
significantly, the relevant line of the Basic program was line 100 not
line 90 in his copy, and also his program wasnæt compressed but was
heavily protected. (I wonder whether the version of Break147 which A. H.
Hunt has would work on his machine, and whether Fourth Dimension can
supply it?)
6.10
Å Rotor Ö This game from Arcana does not work on RISCáOS 3 and Arcana
have, apparently, gone bust. Fortunately, Superior Software have bought
out the rights to the program and sell it as part of their öPlay it
Again, Sam 1ò compilation. Apparently, if you send your Arcana version
of Rotor to Superior with a cheque for ú10, they will send you a copy of
Play it Again, Sam 1.á John Waddell, Renfrewshire.
6.10
Å Recommended programs (which do work) ù Arthur Taylor strongly
recommends Simon Burrowsæ FontsPlus: he has created four fonts
directories and with FontsPlus on the iconbar he can choose to have all
or none of them active (if none, the ROM fonts are still available); if
he doesnæt load FontsPlus, then they are all available ö... simple as
that!ò
6.10
He says that other PD or shareware programs that seem to work fine with
