Archive Magazine 1995/ARCHIVE95.iso/text/magazine/volume_08/issue_03

Text File | 1995-06-25 | 295KB | 5,934 lines

Acorn World 94
8.3
I hope that those of you who got to Acorn World 94 were encouraged by
the range of new products available Ö the length of the Products
Available Column this month is certainly very encouraging. I have to
confess that I had begun to think that Acorn had shot themselves in the
foot as far as the RiscáPC was concerned. One or two companies were
beginning to say that, since the RiscáPC can run PC software, they might
as well just concentrate on the bigger market and produce PC software
only Ö but thankfully, that doesnæt seem to be happening. Perhaps itæs
because there are things you can do on a RISC machine that no PC can
touch. Or perhaps it just a lot more fun programming Acorn machines!
8.3
Making Archive Better Ö Part III
8.3
I still havenæt managed to read through the rest of the questionnaires Ö
a thing called Acorn World 94 got in the way! However, we are working on
a new öContributorsæ Handbookò to give helpful suggestions as to how to
write even better articles for Archive. Let us know if you would like a
copy.
8.3
Hope you enjoy reading another information-packed issue.
8.3
Best wishes,
8.3
Products Available
8.3
Å  10 out of 10 Driving TestáÖáLearn, revise or test your knowledge of
the essential facts of driving with this program from 4th Dimension.
There are six categories of trivia questions about road signs and
driving knowledge or you can try the thousands of questions in the suite
without using the games. 10 out of 10 Driving Test costs ú25.95
inclusive from 4th Dimension or ú24 through Archive.
8.3
Å  24-Bit Digitiser Ö Irlam instruments have produced a very high
quality multimedia capture tool Ö the 24i16 offers 24-bit image capture
and 16-bit sound sampling. The board is available for ú359 +VAT with a
512Kb framestore or ú399 +VAT with a full 1Mb framestore.
8.3
Å  105Mb SCSI SyQuest removable drivesáÖáOne of our suppliers is
currently over-stocked on these drives and the cartridges and is selling
them off until his stock levels are somewhat reduced. We can sell the
105Mb SCSI internals for ú290 (normally ú370), the external 105Mb drives
for ú350 (normally ú450) and the spare cartridges are currently ú55 each
(normally ú70). This applies while his stocks last, so please ring if
you are interested in one. All prices are inclusive of VAT, carriage and
fitting kit (where necessary) and each drive includes one cartridge.
8.3
Å  270Mb SCSI SyQuest removable drivesáÖáWe have just found a new
supplier of 270Mb SyQuest drives who is giving us better prices. We can
now sell the 270Mb SCSI internals for ú420 (was ú490) including one
cartridge, the external 270Mb drives for ú490 (was ú550) and the spare
cartridges are currently ú70 each (was ú90). All prices are inclusive of
VAT, carriage and fitting kit (where necessary) and each drive includes
one cartridge.
8.3
Å  ABC of Art is a set of clipart drawn using Artworks and available in
Artworks or Draw format. The series has reached H, i.e. there are eight
so far and there will be new discs released roughly every two months.
The price of each disc is ú6 inclusive from ABC Art.
8.3
Å  ACB15/25 second slicesáÖáOwners of single slice RiscáPCs will be
pleased to hear that we have second case slices available from stock at
ú116 each. As well as the actual case slice, you get the extra length
fitting pins, a four-way backplane and a brand new power supply to
increase the loading capacity of your computer. This means that you will
then be able to fit up to four expansion cards, an extra 5╝ö storage
unit Ö such as a CD-ROM drive Ö and an extra 3╜ò storage unit such as a
105 Mb or 270 Mb removable drive unit. (The 105Mb SCSI internals are on
special offer at the moment at ú290 including one cartridge, and the
spare cartridges are currently ú55 each Ö see above.)
8.3
Å  Apple FS from Oregan allows Apple Macintosh floppy discs to be read
from and written to on an Acorn computer. Both high and low density
floppy formats are supported although not the original variable-speed
floppy format and not, as yet, SCSI hard drives. AppleFS costs ú59.95
inc VAT from Oregan Developments.
8.3
Å  Aries ù a new games compendium from Gamesware, including Hamsters
(arcade adventure), Quizmaster (quiz!), Blowpipe (arcade/shoot æem up)
and Square Route (puzzle), giving a range of game types. The price is
ú29.95 from Gamesware or ú28 through Archive.
8.3
Å  Archive mousematáÖáThe new mousemats are here! I hope that some of
you will have been able to pick one up at Acorn World 94 but, if not,
they are available from NCS for ú5 each. They have antistatic plastic
tops with non-slip rubber base. The actual design of the mat is shown
overleaf.
8.3
Reports from the thousands of Archive subscribers who got a new one are
generally good. Some say it makes their mouse go faster although I canæt
quite see how that can be. Some, however, say that their mouse slips on
these mats so, be warned, if your mouse is one of those with a
plasticised (cream-coloured) ball, these mats are not for you!
(Alternatively, you could buy one and use it with one of the new Acorn
mice that we still have in stock at ú18 each!)
8.3
Å  Artworks Clip-Art CD 2 Computer concepts have released the second
clipart collection containing the best entries from their Artworks
competition. In addition to Artworks files, there are some 24-bit
sprites and TIFF images. The Clip-Art CD 2 costs ú19 +VAT from CC.
8.3
Å  Back trouble? Ö Anyone who has back trouble and is doing a reasonable
amount of computer work should consider buying a decent chair. For over
six years now, I have been using a Stokke Wing chair (see below) Ö two,
in fact Ö one in the office and one at home. Iæm always singing their
praises to people who visit me. If I ever have to use a conventional
office chair for any length of time, I get back-ache whereas I can (and
do) sit on my Wings (so to speak!) for hours on end without tiring.
8.3
öIf they are so good, why donæt you sell them?ò someone said to me a
year or so ago. Why indeed?! I have made an arrangement with an importer
(they are Scandinavian chairs as you might guess!) and I can sell them
for ú320 inclusive. They have a five-caster base so you can move around
easily and a gas-lift mechanism so that you can adjust the height for
the best position relative to your monitor and keyboard. The chairs are
extremely robust and the material with which they are covered is very
good quality. The one I use in the office is just beginning to wear a
bit thin on one side of the knee-pad after over four years of constant
use.
8.3
Iæm so confident that you will be pleased with them that I will give you
a full refund if you buy one and find you donæt like it. You may feel
that ú320 is a lot of money for a chair but, as far as I am concerned,
it is a kind of insurance policy Ö keeping my back in good condition Ö
and Iæm prepared to pay for that. From personal experience, I can say
that they are very long-lasting but in any case, they come with a five-
year guarantee (although this does not apply to the covering material).
8.3
The chairs have been improved since the pictures opposite were taken.
They now have an adjustment of the knee-pad to allow for different leg
lengths!
8.3
The Wing chairs come in natural beech, rosewood or black and the covers
are available in black, navy blue, red, beige, wine, brown, charcoal or
dark grey.
8.3
(The money-back guarantee is a genuine offer. In fact, I have one that
has come back! Itæs rosewood with beige covers and, if anyone is
interested, I can offer it at ú290 as I cannot now say that it is brand
new. Ring the NCS office if you are interested.)
8.3
Å  BlindsáÖáQuantum Software have released their pinboard-type
application, Blinds, which allows users to group applications, files,
directories etc in a convenient way on blinds of any size, which can be
brought up at the click of a mouse button. The blinds can also be set to
appear whenever an application is run, and the icons on the blinds can
be given long names rather than just file names. Blinds costs ú19.95 (no
VAT) from Quantum or ú20 inclusive through Archive.
8.3
Å  Bubble HelpáÖáDavid Pilling has an alternative to Acornæs interactive
help application, !Help. Bubble Help 2 provides help actually at the
mouse pointer rather than in a window somewhere on the screen (if you
can remember where you put it!) and uses outline fonts to make it easier
to read. What is more, it only costs ú5 inclusive, direct from David
Pilling.
8.3
Å  Caxton Press from Newman College is a newspaper simulation for
primary children. It is designed to be bright, colourful and enjoyable
to use and yet simple enough for young children to understand quickly.
It allows them to lay out and edit single A4 pages of material in
newspaper format. Caxton Press is a RISCáOS compatible application
costing ú30 +VAT from Newman Software Ltd and this includes full site
and network licence, i.e. it can be used anywhere on a single school
site.
8.3
Å  CD-ROM Drives from Cumana Ö In a single stroke, Cumana have extended,
renamed and simplified the choice of their CD-ROM drive products. The
comprehensive range now consists of the following (all prices are ex
VAT):
8.3
OscaráÖáParallel port driven dual-speed, drawer-loading drive for
computers with a bi-directional parallel port. Cumana supply these for
ú229.
8.3
BravoáÖáDual-speed, drawer-loading available with either parallel port
or SLCD (podule or mini-podule) interface and providing audio mixing
with the computeræs sound. ú299.
8.3
VictoráÖáHigh performance SCSI drives, with a choice of drives from
dual-speed drawer-loading (ú299) through caddie-loading (ú399) up to
magazine-loading, quad-speed autochangers (ú499 to ú1995) and 6 drive
units (ú1499 to ú1999).
8.3
IndigoáÖáThe 300iA drive which is driven by the Risc PCs built-in IDE
interface and offers audio mixing with the Risc PCæs sound. (ú249 or
ú199 without audio mixing)
8.3
NCS stock the Indigo audio drive for ú290 inclusive and a selection of
the other drives. See the price list for details.
8.3
Å  EasyFont 3 is Fabis Computingæs improved font management system. New
features include a new user interface, a font filing system and font
compression (up to 40%). Easy Font 3 costs ú35 inc VAT (ú34 through
Archive) or ú10 inc VAT to owners of Easy Font 2 from Fabis.
8.3
Å  Educational CD-ROM softwareáÖáAcademy Television have produced
öScience II: Materialsò, öEnvironment II: Land & Airò and öWorld War II:
Global Conflictò on CD-ROM. Each is ú130 +VAT from Academy Television.
8.3
Å  Education CD-ROM titlesáÖáNelson Multimedia, a new division of school
book publishers Thomas Nelson, have launched a range of CD-ROM learning
and resource titles covering a wide cross-section of the curriculum. The
Science titles include Elements, Materials, The Environment, Inventors
and British Birds. Humanities CDs include Aspects of Religion, The
Physical World, World War II. French and Spanish language packs are
available and there are primary resources including a reading scheme and
an introduction to history. Packs vary in price from ú99 +VAT to ú150
+VAT with some resource CDs at ú35 +VAT. Full details and prices from
Nelson Multimedia.
8.3
Å  E-Type2 ù For the racers among you, Fourth Dimension have released a
sequel to the original E-Type, which now features better graphics and a
two-player option. You now have to contend with police speed traps and
bad weather to complete your race. For those of you who get bored with
driving all day, you can at least switch to the pursuit track, arming
your car(s) with lasers and oil spills. When you get bored with the six
tracks provided, you can use the included track generator to add your
own courses. The game costs ú34.95 from Fourth Dimension or ú33 through
Archive.
8.3
Å  Formula Two Thousand (FTT) is a high speed 3D futuristic racing game
new from TBA software. The speed is quite terrifying and this is their
first game to show off their TAG 3D game engine. FTT costs ú24.99 inc
VAT from TBA or ú24 through Archive.
8.3
Å  Formulix is Computer Conceptsæ successor to Equasor. It allows simple
construction and editing of complex formulae for use within documents in
Impression or other word processing/DTP programs. Formulix supports OLE,
so an embedded formula can be edited within Style, Publisher or other
OLE compliant software. Formulix costs ú49 +VAT from CC or ú55 through
Archive.
8.3
Å  Grasshopper is a RISCáOS compliant öintroductoryò spreadsheet from
Newman College. Although it is described as introductory, it never-the-
less looks quite sophisticated Ö for instance, it has 20 mathematical
functions and allows multiple selections of areas. Grasshopper costs ú30
+VAT from Newman Software Ltd and this includes full site and network
licence, i.e. it can be used anywhere on a single school site.
8.3
Å  IGLib Fortran graphics libraries for Intelligent Interfacesæ Fortran
77 users. The libraries provide access to the extra graphics
capabilities of the Risc PC. IGLib is available from Intelligent
Interfaces and costs ú30 inc VAT +ú4 p&p.
8.3
Å  Impression Publisher PlusáÖáComputer Concepts have released an
extended version of Publisher providing extra features which may be
needed by people involved in professional use of the Acorn computers for
publishing. These features include support for named colours (which can
be imported from Artworks) and the OPI standard, allowing documents
containing graphics to be kept to more practical sizes whilst retaining
the quality at the image setting stage. Publisher Plus also supports
Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) and Desktop Colour Separation (DCS) file
formats. It costs ú299 +VAT (ú330 through Archive) or ú130 +VAT for
registered Publisher users from CC.
8.3
Å  Language programsáÖáPrimrose Publishing have a clever system for use
with foreign languages. The idea is that you have a database of
sentences provided for you that are written correctly in whatever
language or languages the pack uses (over 30 languages are covered to
varying degrees). You select your sentence, it is typed automatically
into your WP or DTP application and you can then edit it in whatever way
you wish. The Tick-Tack range includes programs for beginners (Junior
Pen-Friend), for general use (Pen-Friend), for business use and for
travel and tourism. There is even one for job-hunting called öTick-Tack
CVò! Prices start at ú75 +VAT for Junior Pen-Friend in a single language
plus English to ú401 +VAT for Travel/Tourism Tick-Tack in a combined
pack with English/French/German/Spanish & Italian. Site licences are
double the single-user prices.
8.3
(I would like to get a couple of reviews done as these sound very
interesting. I therefore need a language teacher to assess them from an
educational standpoint and a ökeen beginnerò who has perhaps done a bit
of language learning and wants to take it further. The review could then
include the views of the two people. Any offers, anyone? Ed.)
8.3
Å  Lemmings/Oh No! More Lemmings ù Not really a new game, but the Risc
PC version is now available for ú29.95 direct from Krisalis, or ú29
through Archive. It contains both games in one pack, and allows you to
play them on the RISC OS desktop, both at the same time if you find them
too easy individually!
8.3
Å  Look! Hear! Talking Topics for Infants,áVolume One is fromáSherston
Software who have built upon their Talking Stories series with this
collection of non-fiction titles. The topics include The Body,
Dinosaurs, Homes, Land Transport, Pets and The Seashore. Each topic has
animated illustrations with sound effects and talking text that responds
to the childrenæs actions. Activity cards are provided for each topic.
The complete Volume One of the Look! Hear! Talking Topics is available
from Sherston for ú59.75 +VAT (ú67 through Archive) or ú11.95 +VAT for
individual topics from Sherston.
8.3
Å  Map Importer ù This allows the conversion of Ordnance Survey Digital
Map Data into Drawfiles ready for use in a large number of RISC OS
applications. During conversion, alterations can be made, to remove
railways, for example. The program is only available to educational
establishments, and is priced at ú29.95 for a single user copy, ú45 for
a primary site licence, or ú120 for a secondary site licence. Prices
exclude VAT and p&p.
8.3
A copyright licence is required for schools who are not covered by the
Local Authority Service Level Agreement. Ordinance Survey Digital Map
Data can be obtained under licence from their Digital Sales Department
(01703-792773).
8.3
Å  Movie MagicáÖáThis MPEG decompression card has been developed by Wild
Vision as part of the Online Media Set-Top Box project. The card gives
the facility for decompression very high quality video images (much
better than VHS cassette technology) from CD-ROM in real time. The
number of film titles currently available on CD-ROM format is currently
small and is limited to the obvious money-makers, but this should
increase. Movie Magic costs ú249 +VAT from Computer Concepts or ú285
through Archive.
8.3
Å  Network Solutions is a new company that has been established to take
over Oak Solutionsæ networking products and services. Network Solutions
will develop Oakæs ClassNet software and provide a support service for
Oakæs existing network customers. Network Solutions are at 2 The
Borough, Aldreth, Haddenham, Ely, Cambs CB6 3PJ. Phone or fax 01954-
212083.
8.3
Å  News Bulletin from Newman College is a RISCáOS compatible application
which allows you to produce electronic Émagazinesæ consisting of sets of
pages of text which can be displayed in sequence or called up as
required. News Bulletin costs ú25 +VAT from Newman Software Ltd and this
includes full site and network licence i.e. it can be used anywhere on a
single school site.
8.3
Å  Oxford Reading TreeáÖáStage 3 Talking StoriesáÖáSherston Software
have extended their Oxford Reading Tree Stories to Stage 3. The pack
contains six new stories using the Talking Stories format successfully
used by Sherston in their Naughty Stories and Stage 2 Oxford Reading
Tree products. Stage 3 Talking Stories costs ú39.95 +VAT for a single
user version or ú45 through Archive.
8.3
Å  PaperSoft is a new software house providing a range of templates for
pre-printed stationary. Each template has a predefined page with frames
set up for common business forms and documents. Templates are also
available for fun/personal documents. Each pack includes a set of pre-
printed papers and the templates in Impression or Artworks format.
Ovation and First Page/Pendown formats will follow. The business papers
pack costs ú29.95 inc VAT. Fun and label packs are available at between
ú5.95 and ú14.95 from PaperSoft.
8.3
Å  Playdays ù Based on the popular BBC TV series, it includes 13
educational games, involving counting, spelling, reading, logic, memory,
coordination, and reasoning. It features the favourite characters from
the series and comes with a teachers/parents pack. The cost is ú25.99
from Skillsware/Gamesware or ú25 through Archive.
8.3
Å  Picture Builder from Newman College is an art package for primary
children Ö from reception upwards. It allows them to create pictures
using shapes that can be coloured, stretched, rotated, reflected, etc.
The program is not RISCáOS compatible, i.e. there is no exit to the
desktop. Picture Builder costs ú20 +VAT from Newman Software Ltd and
this includes full site and network licence i.e. it can be used anywhere
on a single school site.
8.3
Å  PIMS ù Longman Logotronæs popular Primary Information Management
System is now available as a stand-alone package Ö previously it has
only been possible to purchase it with the required hardware. It is an
integrated package, running on a single Acorn Computer, to handle pupil
and staff records, budgeting and accounts, maintenance, insurance and
inventory. An Evaluation Pack is available, directly from Longman
Logotron, for ú20 +VAT, which is redeemable against the full version.
The full version costs ú399 +VAT and, if purchased before BETT æ95, will
include free maintenance until January 1996. Minimum requirements are
RISC OS 3, 4Mb, and a hard drive.
8.3
Å  RiscBasic, the Basic compiler from Silicon Vision has been upgraded
to version 3.15. New features include the FPA instruction set, on-line
hints & tips and better optimisation all round. RiscBasic costs ú79.95
+ú3 p&p +VAT or ú92 through Archive. Upgrades for existing users are
available from Silicon Vision.
8.3
Å  RISCáOS PRM Volume 5áÖáFor RiscáPC owners or others interested in the
inner workings of RISCáOS 3.5, Acorn have now released the extra
information as a fifth volume of the PRMs. Volume 5 costs ú29.95 or ú30
through Archive including p&p.
8.3
Å  SimCity 2000 ù The follow up game to SimCity offers many more
features, and improved graphics. You now get a isometric 3D view rather
than a plan view and there are far more building types. As well as
electricity you have to keep water supplies connected and maintain
underground connections. In stead of just counting your votes, you also
receive reports from your officials and can even read the local papers.
Unlike the earlier game, you can no longer build a nuclear power plant
in 1930, but have to wait until 1957 and its Éinventionæ, adding more to
the game. The Risc PC version is available now at ú39.95 from Krisalis,
or ú38 through Archive. The version for earlier machines costs ú33
through Archive.
8.3
Å  Simon the Sorcerer ù This is a new (8Mb!) graphical adventure game
from Gamesware, (released last year on the PC platform), and it is
something that has been missing from the Acorn games market. Rather than
being an arcade adventure, this game uses a simple point and click
interface to explore rooms, pick up items and so on. There is a distinct
humour throughout the game Ö various nursery rhymes crop up in
unexpected, and subtly different ways, and talking with the other
characters is always entertaining. The price is ú39.95 from Gamesware,
or ú38 through Archive.
8.3
Å  SmartCD+ ù The SmartCD package has now been released by the ARM Club.
It interfaces with CDFS to offer full control over your Audio CDs. It
will remember the title and tracks on each CD, automatically detecting
which one is in the drive, and your preferred playlist. It can also
split tracks across a cassette for use in the car or personal stereo,
and will even generate the cassette inlays. The price is ú10, fully
inclusive, from the ARM Club.
8.3
Å  StarFighter 3000 from FedNet Software is an up-to-date öChocks Awayò
type program providing you with 108 missions to fly, weapons to buy and
credits to win. Starfighter 3000 costs ú29.95 from Fednet Software or
ú29 through Archive. (See the review on page 25.)
8.3
Å  TalkWriteáÖáThis is described by its supplier, Resource, as öthe
friendly wordprocessorò. It has been designed for ease of use and is
usable from reception class up to year 9 as well as for special needs
use. It is fully RISCáOS compliant, has a toolbar, a 50,000 word
dictionary and a wordlist from which users can select words to put into
their text. As the name implies, it also has the ability to speak as you
type or speak letters, words or sentences. TalkWrite costs ú59.95 +VAT
from Resource for a single user (ú67 through Archive), ú149.95 +VAT for
a primary licence and ú240 +VAT for a secondary licence.
8.3
Å  TV Tuner is a podule from Wild Vision/Computer Concepts allowing TV
signals to be received. With the use of a digitiser card, TV pictures
can be received and displayed on the desktop. The TV Tuner is available
with Teletext software which provides the ability to capture and store
the data displayed across several pages. The TV Tuner is ú89 +VAT or
ú159 +VAT with the Teletext software from Computer Concepts.
8.3
Å  TypeTutor ù This is a new typing tutor from the ARM Club, which
includes support for the Risc PC keyboard as well as the standard
Archimedes layout. Windows showing the keyboard, next key to press,
which fingers to use, and a scoreboard can each be optionally displayed
on screen. The manual includes elementary exercises, and exercise files
are also included. The price is ú10, fully inclusive from the ARM Club.
8.3
Å  Utility Discs ù The ARM Clubæs utility discs have been updated to
make them fully compatible with the Risc PC. Each disc costs ú5, or if
you need an upgrade send back your original disc, without packaging or
manual together with 50p for postage. Desktop Utilities 1: Command
control for desktop use of command line utilities, and workspace for
four independent desktop areas, each with its own mode and palette.
Desktop Utilities 2: GraphTask for task windows with graphical support,
FreeMap for analysing the free space on a disc, WindOpen for
demonstrating desktop applications, and PrintCtrl for flexible printer
control. Graphical Utilities: Broadcast display images at Broadcast
resolution for a TV or CGA monitor, and interlaces on multiscan
monitors. CTEnhance provides better dithering and Mirror is an aid for
drawing symmetrical drawing. Finally, Programmersæ Utilities: CPU load
monitor, SWI statistics application, along with a collection of useful
modules and utilities.
8.3
Å  Versatile is a 2D pattern generator allowing the construction of a
wide variety of patterns and tessellations based on mathematical
principles. Versatile costs ú45 +VAT or ú180 +VAT for a site licence
from Oak Solutions.
8.3
Å  Voyage of DiscoveryáÖáSherston Software have produced a science
adventure program for 9 to 13 year-olds. The year is 2055 and the
mission is to deliver a package from earth to the captain of the
Spaceship Discovery within three days somewhere out in deep space. (Next
day delivery is only guaranteed this side of Jupiter apparently, so
three days is quite normal!) Children taking on the challenge will meet
various problems and puzzles in which they will have to deal with many
aspects of electricity and magnetism including magnets, compasses,
simple circuits, fuses, circuit diagrams, electromagnets and motors.
Voyage of Discovery is by Mark Vanstone, of ArcVenture fame and costs
ú31.95 +VAT from Sherston Software or ú36 through Archive.
8.3
Å  VTX2000 Sound CardáÖáVTI (previously known as Vertical Twist) have
launched a high quality sound card containing the Kurtzweil chip set as
used in Kurtzweilæs keyboard instruments. These chips provide 700 voices
providing a versatile sound module inside your Acorn. The card also
provides an Acorn compliant Midi interface and is General Midi
compatible. The Kurzweil chips are 32 voice polyphonic and include DSP
for effects and post-processing. The sound is 16-bit, 44.1kHz, and
output in high quality stereo. The card costs ú399 +VAT from VTI.
8.3
Å  WimpGENáÖáSilicon Visionæs application-authoring package has reached
version 2.06. The new version has a range of new features but the price
remains at ú79.95 + ú3 p&p +VAT from Silicon Vision or ú93 through
Archive.
8.3
Å  Wolfenstein 3D ù This new game from Powerslave Software was the
forerunner of Doom/Doom II which have taken the PC games world by storm.
Fast texture-mapped graphics and lots of atmosphere as you explore a
Nazi castle, collecting enough firepower to start your own GunsáæræáUs
by the end ù be warned it is not a game for the squeamish! The price is
ú29.95 from Powerslave or ú29 through Archive.
8.3
Review software received...
8.3
We have received review copies of the following: Å10 out of 10 Driving
Testá(e), ÅArctic (Interface to Compuserve)á(c), ÅBeethoven Browser
Egmontá(e), ÅBubble Help 2, ÅCaxton Press (e), ÅGameOn! (g/u),
ÅGrasshopper (e), ÅLjDuplex (u), ÅLogix (e), ÅMouse in Holland (e),
ÅMouseTrap (u), ÅNetwork Acorn (u), ÅNews Bulletin (e), ÅPDCD 2 (pd),
ÅPicture Builder (e), ÅPlaydays (e), ÅPlay on Words (e), ÅShareHolder
(b), ÅTickTack (e), ÅVoyage of Discovery (e).
8.3
e=Education, b=Business, bk=Book, c=Comms, g=Game, h=Hardware,
l=Language, u=Utility.
8.3
New phone codes
8.3
In the Factfile last month, and in some of the small ads, we very
helpfully (we thought!) put in the new phone codes by adding a 1 in
front of every leading 0 (in anticipation of Phone Day Ö 15th April
1995). How many of you who do not live in Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham,
Leicester or Bristol know that the öadd a 1ò rule doesnæt apply to all
phone numbers?! The correct new numbers are as follows (the first four
digits form the new exchange number and the extra 2 or 9 goes in front
of the actual number):
8.3
Leeds  0532 becomes 0113 plus 2
8.3
Sheffield  0742 becomes 0114 plus 2
8.3
Nottingham  0602 becomes 0115 plus 9
8.3
Leicester  0533 becomes 0116 plus 2
8.3
Bristol  0272 becomes 0117 plus 9
8.3
If you would like to review any of these products, please contact the
Archive office. Potential reviewers will need to show that they would
use the product in a professional capacity or that they have some
knowledge of the particular field.ááAá
8.3
Government Health Warning Ö Reading this could seriously affect your
spiritual health.
8.3
Have you come across the KISS principle? It can be very useful in all
sorts of situations. KISS? Oh, yes, it stands for öKeep It Simple,
Stupid!ò There is a tendency in Western society to make things more and
more complex when, often, the simple approach is the best. Acorn are a
supreme example... Billions of dollars have been poured into CISC
processors and the attendant complex application programming. If the
rest of the world had realised what Acorn did, ten or more years ago,
when they started developing the first RISC chip, computing would be
light years ahead of where it is today.
8.3
Theory A, that we thought about last month, is a good KISS solution.
There is no God, so we might as well eat, drink and be merry... for
tomorrow we may die. Dead simple! And yet, and yet, maybe, just maybe
there is a God and maybe... NO! Donæt think about it! Itæs not true!!
Just shut up and let me enjoy life! But maybe...
8.3
What about Theory B (the bible) from last month? The trouble is that
there are so many different theories, all based on the biblical
evidence. How do I know which, if any, to believe? Well, why not try the
KISS principle? Why not read a couple of the Gospels and see how they
strike you? Donæt start from the premise, öThis canæt be true because
miracles just donæt happen.ò Read it with an open mind. Remember, there
are millions of intelligent people all over the world who believe that
Jesus was who he said he was (God), that he said he would rise from the
dead... and did, and that we can know God in a personal way today.
8.3
Surely, it canæt be that simple? Dead men donæt come back to life. Do
you have an alternative theory? A lot of very clever people have made
suggestions, from öGod is a spacemanò to some very sane, sensible and
ingenious alternative theories. But I just canæt accept any of them and
Iæll tell you why.
8.3
I believe that God loves everybody Ö educated or uneducated, clever or
not so clever, sophisticated Westerner or primitive tribesmen, wise and
ancient or young and innocent Ö He loves us all. I just cannot accept,
therefore, that God would make himself known to us in such a complicated
way that only clever, educated people could understand it. Jesus said,
öUnless you become like a little child, you will never enter the kingdom
of God.ò You may feel that it is insultingly simple... but it has to be
simple to be fair.
8.3
P.B.
8.3
Fact-File
8.3
(The numbers in italic are fax numbers)
8.3
4th Dimension  1 Percy Street, Sheffield, S3 8AU. (0114-270-0661) (0114-
278-1091)
8.3
4Mation   14 Castle Park Road, Whiddon Valley, Barnstaple, Devon, EX32
8PA. (01271-25353) (01271-22974)
8.3
Abacus Training    29 Okus Grove, Upper Stratton, Swindon, Wilts, SN2
6QA.
8.3
ABC Art   Tideways, South Road, Brean, Somerset, TA8 2SE. (01278-751317)
8.3
Academy Television   104 Kirkstall Road, Leeds, LS3 1JS. (0113-246-1528)
(0113-242-9522)
8.3
Acorn Computers Ltd    Acorn House, Vision Park, Histon, Cambridge, CB4
4AE. (01223-254254)
8.3
  (01223-254262)
8.3
Aleph One Ltd   The Old Courthouse, Bottisham, Cambridge, CB5 9BA.
(01223-811679) (01223-812713)
8.3
APDL    39 Knighton Park Road, Sydenham, London, SE26 5RN.
8.3
Aspex Software   Heather House, Tavistock, Devon, PL19 9AG. (01822-
611060) (01822-611061)
8.3
Atomwide Ltd   7 The Metro Centre, Bridge Road, Orpington, Kent, BR5
2BE. (01689-838852)
8.3
  (01689-896088)
8.3
Avie Electronics (p11)  7 Overbury Road, Norwich. (01603-416863) (01603-
788640)
8.3
Basing Educational Software   6 Long Street, Gerlan, Bethesda, Gwynedd,
LL57 3SY. (01248-602402)
8.3
Colton Software (p24)   2 Signet Court, Swanns Road, Cambridge, CB5 8LA.
(01223-311881) (01223-312010)
8.3
Computer Concepts (pp12/20)   Gaddesden Place, Hemel Hempstead, Herts,
HP2 6EX. (01442-63933) (01442-231632)
8.3
Cumana Ltd   Pines Trading Estate, Broad Street, Guilford, GU3 3BH.
(01483-503121) (01483-503326)
8.3
David Pilling   P.O.Box 22, Thornton Cleveleys, Blackpool, FY5 1LR.
8.3
Digital Services   9 Wayte Street, Cosham, Portsmouth PO6 3BS. (01705-
210600) (01705-210709)
8.3
Fabis Computing   95 Fabis Close, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11 9SL.
8.3
Fednet Software   66 Park Road, Duffield, Belper, Derbyshire, DE56 4GR.
(01332-840487)
8.3
GamesWare   Unit 26, The Bartletts, Hamble, Hants., SO35 5RP.
(01703Ö456523) (or 01243-531194) (01703Ö456523)
8.3
Hazelnut Software   197 Blackshots Lane, Grays, Essex, RM16 2LL. (01375-
375514)
8.3
Hodge Electronic Services    16 Mold Road, Mynydd Isa, Clwyd, CH7 6TD.
(01244-550803)
8.3
Intelligent Interfaces Ltd   P.O.Box 80, Eastleigh, Hants, SO53 2YX.
(01703-261514) (01703-267904)
8.3
Irlam Instruments   133 London Road, Staines, Middlesex TW18 4HN.
(01895-811401)
8.3
Krisalis Software   Teque House, Masonæs Yard, Downs Row, Moorgate,
Rotherham, S60 2HD.
8.3
  (01709-372290) (01709-368403)
8.3
Kudlian Soft  8 Barrow Road, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8á1EH. (01926-
851147)
8.3
Longman Logotron   124 Cambridge Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge
CB4 4ZS. (01223-425558) (01223-425349)
8.3
LOOKsystems   47 Goodhale Road, Bowthorpe, Norwich, NR5 9AY. (01603-
748253) (01603-740203)
8.3
Mijas Software (p10)  Winchester Road, Micheldever, Winchester, SO21
3DJ. (01962-774352)
8.3
Nelson Multimedia   Nelson House, Mayfield Road, Walton-on-Thames,
Surrey KT12 5PL,  (01932-252211.)
8.3
Network Solutions   2 The Borough, Aldreth, Haddenham, Ely, Cambs CB6
3PJ. (01954-212083)
8.3
  (01954-212083).
8.3
Newman Software   c/o Computer Centre, Newman College, Genners Lane,
Bartley Green, Birmingham,
8.3
  B32 3NT.
8.3
Oak Solutions (p23)   Dial House, 12 Chapel Street, Halton, Leeds, LS15
7RN (0113-232-6992)
8.3
  (0113-232-6993)
8.3
Octopus Systems   9 Randwell Close, Ipswich, IP4 5ES. (01473-728943)
(01473-270643)
8.3
Oregan Developments   36 Grosvenor Avenue, Streetly, Sutton Coldfield,
B74 3PE. (0121-353-6044)
8.3
Papersoft   10 Dunlin Road, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP2 6LU. (01442-
391967)
8.3
Powerslave Software   P.O. Box 175, Enfield, Middlesex, EN2 6RD.
8.3
Primrose Publishing   Vicarage Long Barn, Denham, Bury St Edmunds,
Suffolk, IP29 5EF.
8.3
Quantum Software (p19)  35 Pinewood Park, Deans, Livingston, EH54 8NN.
(01506-411162 after 6)
8.3
Resource   51 High Street, Kegworth, Derbyshire, DE74 2DA. (01509-
672222) (01509-672267)
8.3
Sherston Software   Angel House, Sherston, Malmesbury, Wilts. SN16 0LH.
(01666-840433) (01666-840048)
8.3
Silicon Vision Ltd   Signal House, Lyon Road, Harrow, Middlesex, HA1
2AG. (0181-422-3556) (0181-248-3589)
8.3
Soft Rock Software    FREEPOST (BS7978), Westbury-on-Trim, Bristol, BS10
7BR.
8.3
TBA Software   24 Eastgate, Aberystwyth, Dyfed, SY23 2AR. (01970-626785)
8.3
The ARM Club   Freepost ND6573, London, N12 0BR. (01171-624-9918)
(01181-446-3020)
8.3
Topologika   Islington Wharf, Church Hill, Penryn, Falmouth, Cornwall,
TR10 8AT. (01326-377771) (01326-377771)
8.3
Uniqueway   42 Crwys Road, Cardiff, CF2 4NN.  (01222-644611) (01222-
644622)
8.3
VTI (Vertical Twist)   Unit 1, The Shopwhyke Centre, Shopwhyke Road,
Chichester, PO20 6GD.
8.3
  (01243-531194) (01243-531196)
8.3
Widget Software   121 London Road, Knebworth, Herts, SG3 6EX. (01438-
815444) (01438-815222)
8.3
Archive Monthly Program Disc Contents
8.3
Å  Programs from Cain Huntæs article on programmingáÖápage 45.
8.3
Å  ASCII character table from Jim Nottinghamæs article about text
importáÖápage 63.
8.3
Å  Program from Hints & Tips Column on page 27.
8.3
Å  !SlideshowáÖánew version of the Risc PC demo software from Ian
McFarlane that allows you to select the index sprites and then click to
display a selected sprite Ö impress your friends even more!
8.3
Å  FactfileáÖálatest version of our full list of Acorn-related companies
on the Archive database.
8.3
Paul Beverley
8.3
Acorn Christmas Computer Sale...
8.3
Up to Christmas, A3010s are available at up to 33% off.
8.3
A3010 Action Pack (1Mb)  ú399 Ö Ö> ú299  25% off rrp
8.3
A3010 Action Pack (1Mb) + AKF52  ú599 Ö Ö> ú399  33% off rrp
8.3
A3010 EY or LC (2Mb)  ú499 Ö Ö> ú399 + free AP!  20% off rrp
8.3
A3010 EY or LC (2Mb) + AKF52  ú799 Ö Ö> ú599 + free AP!  25% off rrp
8.3
EY= Early Years Pack = Talking Start-Write, Flossy the Frog, Mouse in
Holland, Doris the Dotty Dog, Gemini, Amazing Maths & Paint Pot.
8.3
LC = Learning Curve Pack = Advance + PC Emulator + various demos
8.3
AP = Action Pack = Zool + StartWrite + various demos
8.3
Acorn Christmas Bits Sale...
8.3
I have managed to get a few bits left over from Acornæs öBargain
Basementò at Acorn World 94 including Desktop C and Desktop Assembler at
over 70% off!!! These are strictly WSL Ö öWhile stocks last!ò,
i.e.áplease ring to book one.
8.3
I/O podule   ú99 Ö Ö> ú55  44% off rrp
8.3
Desktop C  ú269 Ö Ö> ú69  74% off rrp !
8.3
Desktop Assembler  ú175 Ö Ö> ú39  78% off rrp !
8.3
Basic Reference manuals  ú20 Ö Ö> ú15  25% off rrp
8.3
The Desktop C and Desktop Assembler are the current versions and,
obviously, Acorn are working on newer versions. However, at the price, I
think they are worth getting, even if they are superseded. In any case,
there will be some sort of upgrade path to the newer versions you might
even save money if you are really wanting the newer versions. At ú69 for
Desktop C, it even works out slightly cheaper than Beebugæs Easy C!
8.3
9Mb RiscáPCs in stock!!!
8.3
Well, put the flags out! Seven months after the launch of the RiscáPC,
Acorn have (just about!) caught up with the supply of the ACB45, 9Mb
RiscáPC 600s. We have cleared our last back-order and have at least one
left for stock. (Please donæt fight over it Ö form an orderly queue!)
The demand for ACB45s was so much higher than Acorn expected that it has
taken them until now to catch up.
8.3
Christmas Presents
8.3
If you are wanting to buy things through Archive for Christmas presents,
you will need to get orders to us by the following dates. Even then, we
cannot guarantee delivery because we cannot predict whether the
suppliers will be able to deliver things to us in time if we happen to
be out of stock. So please leave as much time as possible and weæll do
all we can to fulfil your orders.
8.3
Send your öI want it by Christmasò orders to arrive at NCS by:
8.3
UK  15th December
8.3
Europe  7th December
8.3
Zone 1  4th December
8.3
Zone 2  1st December
8.3
Gift-wrappingáÖáIf you would like us to gift-wrap presents and send them
direct to the recipient, just send us a suitable gift-tag to put on it
and add ú1 to the price.
8.3
The new Archive mousemat design
8.3
Mijas
8.3
From 8.1 page 8
8.3
CC
8.3
From 8.2 page 22
8.3
Avie Electronics
8.3
New artwork
8.3
Help!!!!
8.3
Å  Background printing Impression filesáÖáIf you <shift-adjust> over
your printer and select ÉPrint in backgroundæ and change the connections
to ÉFileæ (taking the file icon to a directory) you can print Impression
files quickly into a file in your chosen directory. Then alter the
printer connection back (to parallel) and drop the Printout file onto
the printer. (You may need to use ÉSet typeæ to alter the filetype to
öPrintoutò if the file is saved as type öDataò.) The file will now print
in the background. OK, but complicated Ö is there a better way that I
have blindly over-looked? áRobert Lytton, Leeds.
8.3
Å  CD-ROMsáÖáI asked a couple of months ago if anyone could do some work
on this area for us but got no response except offers to review the CDs
themselves. What I was looking for was someone who could pester the
drive manufacturers and suppliers for information and/or to borrow
drives for testing purposes. Itæs quite a big job, I know, but itæs an
area where people are desperate for information. We really need to have
a CD-ROM Column. Is there anyone who would be prepared to get this
started? Could you perhaps offer to be one of a team of people collating
information in this area? If you can help in any way, please ring the
Archive office. Thanks.á Ed.
8.3
Å  File accessáÖáIs there any way that files can be made accessible to
users whilst ensuring that they do not copy (or move) them to different
directories? Iæm thinking in particular of a situation in an infant
department where the children do tend to inadvertently make multiple
copies of programs all over the hard disc.
8.3
Å  FlashbackáÖáCould anyone who plays Flashback please throw some light
on saving your position? E.g. can you save from anywhere or only if you
find one of the elusive save pillars?á John Cxxxx. (Sorry Ö couldnæt
read the signature. Ed.)
8.3
Å  Free Software!áÖáPrimary schools and/or special needs departments
with A3020/4000/5000 are needed to pilot some interactive multimedia
educational software Ö TimesTable and TellTime. Phone Hazelnut Software
on 01375-375514 for a demo disc.á Pat Morris, Hazelnut Software.
8.3
Å  Internet accessáÖáWe are getting a lot of queries along the lines of
öHow can I get onto Internet?ò, öWhat software and hardware do I need?ò
and öHow much will it cost me?ò Can anyone help us with this? Please
send in your ideas, experience, questions etc. Is there someone who
already knows a bit about Internet who would be prepared to compile any
contributions into an article or articles?á Ed.
8.3
Å  KeystrokeáÖáWe have had quite a lot of folk endorsing the idea of a
Keystroke Column. The commonly held view is that Keystroke is an
excellent product and capable of some wonderful things but that the
manual is (sorry, Stuart) not wonderful. To be fair, it isnæt easy to
explain how to do things in Keystroke Ö itæs much easier to demonstrate
it Ö but since we canæt do that through Archive, but only write and show
screenshots.
8.3
Alisdair Jorgensen has offered to take it on. Alisdair is Stuart
Hallidayæs business partner and author of Keystroke! If you have ideas,
suggestions, questions, comments, etc, send them to Alisdair at Easter
Cottage, Canalside, Winchburgh, EH52 6PU.á Ed.
8.3
Å  Maximising memoryáÖáIs there a utility (or Obey file sequence) which
works with RISC OS3 and later which would automate the process of
maximising the amount of memory available for memory intensive
applications such as Genesis Browser (with an application loaded)
without having to resort to the task manager or the command line?
8.3
Å  NetGaináÖáDoes anyone out there use Digital Servicesæ NetGain? If so,
could you either ring or write and tell us your views about it, please?á
Ed.
8.3
Å  Online MediaáÖáIs there anyone who would like to keep their eye on
what Online Media are up to and write about it occasionally in Archive?
I have a couple of press releases you could digest for a start. It needs
to be someone with a reasonable idea about multimedia et al. If you
would interested to have a go, let me know.á Ed.
8.3
Å  Sysgen Reliant tapestreameráÖáIs there any way that a Sysgen Reliant
tapestreamer (formerly used with an IBM PS50z) can be used to back up
files from Acorn series machines? Would it need a SCSI interface to be
fitted. Once fitted what driver software would be required to allow it
to be used.
8.3
Å  Wanted, A-LinksáÖáAcorn are having difficulty producing A-Links Ö
something to do with problems over supply of the cables. They say they
hope to have some by öearly Decemberò. NCS has several frustrated
customers who bought Pocket Books from us and are waiting for their A-
Links. If you have one to sell second hand (preferably with the PocketFS
2 software), let us know and weæll put you in touch with some potential
customers!á Ed.
8.3
Å  Wanted, TrackerballáÖáDoes anyone have a redundant (but good
condition) full-size trackerball they no longer use and would be
prepared to donate to a physically disadvantaged young man?á Ed. (Clive,
Iæm afraid that, in the chaos after the Show, I lost the bit of paper on
which I wrote your name, address and the other query I was going to deal
with for you. Please will you contact me again? Sorry. Ed.)ááAá
8.3
Comment Column
8.3
Å  Acorn friendsáÖáI have always felt that the world of Acorn and its
third party suppliers was, by and large, a very friendly community.
Certainly, when we get together at shows like Acorn World 94, we enjoy
one anotheræs company and there isnæt, generally, the kind of cut-throat
rivalry that you get in other computer communities. This was brought
home to me by a comment made to me in a letter recently from Christopher
Jarman... öThank you for your interest and encouragement since I became
a subscriber/contributor. I have made so many friends through the Acorn,
it is unbelievable.òá Ed.
8.3
Å  Font DirectoryáÖáHere is a very short review of Font Directory from
LOOKsystems: It is very good Ö if you have any extra fonts then you need
it, so go out and buy it at once. I didnæt realise how much I needed it
until Iæd got it. Related message to Acorn: you should buy a licence to
incorporate Font Directory in RISC OS 4.á Seßn Kelly, Leighton Buzzard.
8.3
Å  Module area misuse? When I run Impression Publisher, my module area
gets loaded with many tens of kilobytes of relocatable modules, and when
I quit Publisher, they stay there. Eureka does the same. Isnæt this a
misuse of the module area? After a few hours keyboard bashing, my 4Mb
A5000 is in dire need of a hard reset, just to release memory.á Seßn
Kelly, Leighton Buzzard.
8.3
Matthew Hunter replies... Some applications do load several modules
during start up and then Éfailæ to remove them on termination, often
occupying large amounts of RMA. This may seem like a waste but there are
(usually) good reasons for it.
8.3
The idea of modules is that they are shared resources. This may mean
that several applications may need to use them at once and some of them,
such as filers, always need to be present. One solution to Seßnæs
problem may be to add lines to the end of the applicationæs run file to
RMKill all the modules it loads thus freeing up the memory. However,
with later versions of Impression, this is not possible because many of
CCæs modules such as the ABIModule (which handles their user interfaces)
and the Artworks renderer are shared between several applications.
Simply killing the module is not appropriate since it could easily
corrupt other software that is using it. (For this reason, some modules
are made so that they refuse to die!)
8.3
A better way is for the module itself to keep track of which
applications are using it, and when they have all exited, the module
knows it can now end. This is the way in which the WIMP works Ö as soon
as all the tasks end, the WIMP also terminates, dropping you back to the
supervisor prompt. Unfortunately, this is still not ideal for programs
that operate within the WIMP like Impression and Eureka.
8.3
If their support modules did terminate, all that would be likely to
happen would be that you would get back some RMA. Since free memory is
only returned to the WIMP from the end of the RMA, you would not get
much, if any, memory returned and the freed memory would only be reused
by other users of the RMA.
8.3
This may seem like a good idea, but suppose the modules are killed,
freeing the space. You then load a smaller module which will fit into
the gap left. You then need to reload the program whose modules have
been killed. Unfortunately, there is now no longer enough room for the
previously killed modules so even more memory will need to be added to
the end of the RMA in order to reload them. In this case, killing the
modules has actually wasted space. Whilst this is a worst case, it is
important to recognise that the problem is not entirely due to
individual modules, but due to some of the limitations imposed by the
current RMA system. Leaving modules running is not ideal, but it is
helpful if you need to swap between several applications. (You also do
not waste time reloading the modules Ö try loading, quitting and
reloading Impression and you will see the difference in speed on the
second attempt.) Until the RMA can relocate running modules, this is the
probably the best option.á Matthew Hunter, NCS.
8.3
Å  Pocket Book Classroom Pack
8.3
Eleven Acorn Pocket Books, dispensing with the poem,
8.3
Teacher looked the other way and then there were ten.
8.3
Ten Acorn Pocket Books, things were going fine,
8.3
One fell into a bag and then there were nine.
8.3
Nine Acorn Pocket Books, programs on a plate,
8.3
One of them went up in smoke and then there were eight.
8.3
Eight Acorn Pocket Books, children all in heaven,
8.3
One fell upon the floor and then there were seven.
8.3
Seven Acorn Pocket Books, the class is in a fix,
8.3
One went to the staff-room and then there were six.
8.3
Six Acorn Pocket Books, very much alive,
8.3
H/M requisitioned one and then there were five.
8.3
Five Acorn Pocket Books, they really needed more,
8.3
One went to the Maths Room and then there were four.
8.3
Four Acorn Pocket Books, feeling fancy free,
8.3
One of them got sawn in half and then there were three.
8.3
Three Acorn Pocket Books, teacheræs feeling blue,
8.3
One got metal fatigue and then there were two.
8.3
Two Acorn Pocket Books, oneæs been claimed by Don,
8.3
Now heæs taken it away Ö the totalæs down to one!
8.3
One Acorn Pocket Book, all the rest have gone,
8.3
Teacher took it home with him and now there are none!!
8.3
David Fairhurst, Seaford, Sussex.
8.3
Å  Publisher: Editoræs viewáÖáI may not be a typical Publisher user, but
my experiences may help others to get Publisher to perform more
effectively for them. I have listened to a number of differing views and
it has been quite strange. Some people, typified by myself and Mark Howe
(but there are others), have quite a bit of difficulty, including a
number of crashes whereas others, typified by Keith Parker and Neil
Whiteley-Bolton, who also use Publisher in a professional environment,
say they very rarely have problems.
8.3
I am hoping that as I gradually overcome my problems with Publisher,
others may learn along the way. From CCæs point of view, they say, öshow
us a bug and weæll fix itò which is fair enough but the difficulty (ours
and theirs) is that, with a system as complex as a computer interacting
with a user (or is it vice versa!) there are so many factors involved
that it is, more often than not, impossible to reproduce the error. So,
Publisher users, if you can ever, reproduce a crash on your system,
please report it to CC in as much detail as possible and send them a
file of the offending material if at all possible.
8.3
To continue with my own bug reports, even in Publisher 4.02 (27 Sep
1994), the bug I mentioned last month (p19) involving using <ctrl-shift-
Q> to swap adjacent characters across a line boundary still exists Ö it
is only a problem, by the way, when the text is justified. Also, just as
a warning, there is another reproducable (fatal) bug with justified
text.
8.3
If you are using the expand abbreviations facility and a style change,
you can produce a fatal error. I made Publisher crash when, at the end
of a line I typed, <f10>ar<space>. The <f10> is the key I use for Bold
and the öarò changes to öArchiveò. The öarò appeared in bold down on the
new line but as soon as I pressed <space>, it crashed.
8.3
I do still get other non-reproducable crashes with Publisher but they
seem to happen more often after a session involving loading lots of
files from different contributors and preparing them for editing Ö could
it again be due to master pages carrying over problems from pre-Style/
Publisher days?
8.3
One of the problems I was having with Publisher was that it complained
about problems with fonts and would not re-display the document Ö it was
white text on white paper! CC said that the error was not Publisheræs
fault but something to do with the fonts in my font directory. (öOh yeah
Ö sounds like an excuse to meò, I thought.) But they were right!!!
8.3
Some years ago, I had modified my version of Corpus. I decided I didnæt
really want smart quotes in program listings, so I used the trick of
putting the definitions of the normal quotes into each of the smart
quote slots so that they were displayed and printed as normal quotes
even though they were smart. Cunning, huh?! I decided to go back to the
ROM version of Corpus and, ever since, I have had no problems in that
area. Sorry, CC, you were right!á Ed.
8.3
Å  Publisher crashes? Ö 4.01 doesnæt seem to crash very often on me Ö
well, no more frequently than Impression II, even when editing a 1╜Mb
document with 30 chapters. As with Impression II, most of my crashes
occur during printing on my LBP4 Laser Direct, normally when there isnæt
quite enough memory. Instead of gracefully refusing to do something, a
crash occurs which generates an inescapable sequence of errors: I think
the stack gets corrupted.á Seßn Kelly, Leighton Buzzard.
8.3
Å  Publisher: More viewsáÖáI do not share Paulæs regrets at the loss of
the old <ctrl-A> in Publisher, because I never used it in Impression II.
I was, and am, happy with the adjacent <delete> and <copy> keys for
delete-left and delete-right. My problem with the new <ctrl-A> is that I
fairly frequently hit this combination by mistake, and my next key-
depression deletes the whole text! If I realise what I have done, and do
not panic, <ctrl-V> brings it all back. Needless to say, I lost a
document or two before I realised what was happening.
8.3
I do occasionally get crashes Ö they seem to happen if I get ahead of
the machine when it is re-building a complex window (e.g. after
scrolling, or insertion of text). Most operator actions while this is
happening are held in the keyboard buffer until the re-build is
complete, and cause no problem. There are some things, however, which it
tries to incorporate into its re-building operation as it goes along
(further scrolling, I think, is one). Sometimes it seems to trip over
itself and crashes! I am not very clear about this yet Ö if I can
clarify it further, I will.
8.3
Still on crashes, I generally base a new Impression document (like a
letter) on an old one, rather than starting from scratch, but I have now
made a clean break with Publisher. I was not aware of CCæs advice about
not using old documents, but I soon found that, by modifying old
documents, I was carrying forward all my old user-defined styles, even
if they were not used in the document. This caused problems because I
have now defined a number of new styles and abandoned most of my old
ones. So I frequently found that a key short-cut produced my old style
rather than the expected new one. Also, using an old document as a base
for a new one brings in the old-style numbered master pages, instead of
the new (fewer) named ones. I didnæt associate these problems with
crashes at the time, but I do think I am getting fewer crashes since I
eliminated these hybrids Ö whether for that reason I do not know.
8.3
Paul commented on user-defined styles and the shortage of available f-
key combinations. I now use <shift-f2> to <shift-f10> for different
styles. I donæt often need to change the viewing scale and, when I do,
the double and halve facilities usually suffice. I have also re-defined
<ctrl-shift-f4> to <ctrl-shift-f10> for a range of other styles because
I donæt use the facilities that CC have added to those keys since
Impression II.
8.3
Incidentally, there are two mistakes on CCæs Key Short Cut card. <ctrl-
C> is not Cut selected item to clipboard. Also <ctrl-shift-B> is not
undefined Ö it is used to put the selected frame to the back. (Why canæt
we have a short cut for the converse, bring frame to front,áas in Draw?)
8.3
Someone commented in Risc User(!) that they didnæt like the use of
<shift-cursor-keys> to adjust text selection, losing their old function
of moving the cursor a word at a time. I disagree Ö I find the new
feature occasionally very useful (and never used the old one). With
small text on a large screen, it can be a bit tricky using the mouse to
select the right characters of text. This feature makes it easy. I can
move the cursor a character at a time, if necessary, by using the cursor
keys, I can then highlight the few characters I want by using the cursor
keys with <shift>.á Colin Singleton, Sheffield.
8.3
Å  Single chip solution for multimedia and portable applications Ö A
press release from ARM Ltd states: VLSI Technology are manufacturing a
new ARM7500 for the Online Media set-top box.
8.3
ARM Ltd have presented the ARM7500, a highly integrated single-chip
multimedia and portable system solution. It has a 32-bit RISC processor,
video, sound, I/O and memory control in a single cost-effective, high-
performance, low-power package.
8.3
At the heart of the ARM7500 is a cached 32-bit RISC processor, capable
of up to 30 Dhrystone 2.1 MIPS at 33MHz. Despite the integration of
video, sound and I/O, the ARM7500 still has a 4Kb cache, write buffer
and a memory-management unit for high system throughput.
8.3
The device is being manufactured on VLSI Technologyæs 0.6 micron two-
layer metal process. The high performance, small size, low power and low
cost of the ARM7500 make it an ideal solution for portable and
multimedia applications. Conventional RISC chips are typically too big
and too expensive for portable and consumer applications.
8.3
öThe ARM7500 epitomises the effective use of existing macrocells,ò said
Mike Muller, ARMæs Vice President of Marketing. öIts optimal mix of
full-custom and standard cells offers tremendous flexibility to
designers looking for high-performance, one-chip solutions for portable
and multimedia consumer products.ò
8.3
The first ARM7500 chips will be used in Online Mediaæs intelligent set-
top boxes for video-on-demand and other highly interactive TV services.
ATM Ltd, which already uses other ARM processors in its ATM server and
data-communications hardware, is working closely with Online Media in an
interactive television trial now underway with Anglia TV and Cambridge
Cable.
8.3
Malcolm Bird, Chief Executive of Online Media, commented: öOnline Media
is committed to developing highly cost effective digital set-top
products. The ARM7500 helps move us towards our goal of a set-top on a
chip. In collaboration with ARM and VLSI, we have been able to integrate
many of the necessary functions into a very cost effective package. We
are also especially proud of being involved in the worldæs first digital
interactive TV trial that uses ATM transmission from end to end.ò
8.3
Availability? The ARM7500 is compatible with existing ARM development
tools and is initially available in a 240-pin microprocessor quad flat
package. VLSI Technology has supplied Online Media with prototype parts
and samples will be made more widely available in Q1 1995.
8.3
Å   SquirreláÖáAfter the comments in Tim Nicholsonæs article (8.2 p68)
about Squirrel 2, we were hoping we would get some comments that would
give us more evidence about the validity of the two sets of comments,
for and against. We only got one (see below). Has anyone else got any
experience that they think would be helpful? Are there any satisfied
Squirrel 2 users amongst our subscribers?á Ed.
8.3
Å  Squirrel viewsáÖáI was interested in the item on Squirrel 2 and the
reply from Digital Services. As a fairly contented user of Squirrel 2, I
would not be quite as negative as Tim Nicholson, but...
8.3
My first version of Squirrel 2 had a very serious compression error, and
the bug repair seemed to take twice as long as I had been promised. A
problem with double-clicking on boolean fields was not fixed by 2.07; I
had two letters from Digital Services denying the fault, before they
agreed to check, and I have heard no more. This problem is enough to
make Squirrel 2 unusable by the Écomputer illiterateæ, which is a shame
for Digital Services as I had wanted to buy a copy for general use
operating a database in an office environment. Querying using boolean
fields is also rather useless, as it doesnæt really work.
8.3
Also, I pointed out to Digital Services that it was possible for an
unauthorised user to read password protected data merely by running a
query file, but they did not sort out the problem. This is a seriously
unprofessional implementation of protection, as it makes a secure
database impossible with a mixture of Éauthorised-access-onlyæ and
Égeneral-accessæ data. Further, default field data does not always
appear as it ought in new records Ö another problem in applications
where a database is to be used by the Écomputer illiterateæ.
8.3
My conclusion is that Squirrel is an excellent database for home use, by
a regular user who will put up with the odd peculiarity. However, it is
unsuitable for a more demanding environment, but only because some of
the added features of version 2 are buggy or incomplete Ö and these are
precisely those features most needed to make it useful in that
environment (batch update, password protection and boolean fields).
Squirrel would be a complete winner if only Digital Services would make
all the advertised features of version 2 work properly.á Seßn Kelly,
Leighton Buzzard.ááAá
8.3
Switch Ö The Game
8.3
Mike Tomkinson
8.3
I agreed to review Switch, having been mistakenly told that it was a
utility. I like utility programs and I do not like games Ö I could never
see the point of them. I played Defender and Space Invaders and Frogger
on the old tape-loading BBC B. There was an element of wonder about
computers in those early days. Perhaps I have become too cynical or
pragmatic or have simply lost my sense of wonder?
8.3
Anyway, rather than simply send the game back, I made the mistake of
putting it in the drive to have a go. I say Émistakeæ not because it was
poor but rather the opposite. It was everything a game should be.
8.3
There are few games that I have liked: Tetris owing to its inherent
simplicity, Repton because of its needs for problem-solving and logical
thinking, and  computer chess. In general, however, I do not like
computer games.
8.3
Where I have liked them, they have had a number of things in common Ö
simplicity of concept being one of the most important. I do not mean
ease of play Ö few would call Tetris easy but it is simple.
8.3
Sustainability is another important aspect. I could never become
enthused about Elite because it took so long to get anywhere. I could
not see visible progress.
8.3
Switch is simple and sustainable and I like it enormously. It simply
consists of matching coloured counters rather like the old Connect 4
game. The counters drop off the bottom of the frame when two or more
match horizontally. Of course, this may make more match thereby adding
to your score.
8.3
This sounds so simple you may be thinking that there is no real
challenge involved. You would be very wrong. Firstly, there may be
situations where it may not be possible to match any colour horizontally
without letting a counter drop out of the frame. This counts against you
and you cannot score unless this action subsequently matches more
counters.
8.3
However, you may need to let a number of non-matching counters through
owing to the random nature of their arrangements on the grid. This
builds a number of demerits and it may take some time to clear these
before you can score again. Time? Oh, I forgot to say Ö you are working
against the clock!
8.3
You are also trying to get above the score in the highest score table.
Not merely trying to get on it but you must get above the scores already
in there. This is 900 points for level one. The best I managed in three
days of trying was 315. I know I am no great games player but surely
even I could beat this.
8.3
There are actually nine levels of difficulty set by the opening screen.
Level one is the easiest level (seven colours) and nine is the hardest
(fifteen colours). The time is similarly controlled ranging from 300
seconds (easy) to 30 seconds (hardest). For each level of difficulty
there is a target to beat in the high score table.
8.3
Therein lies this gameæs sustainability Ö you just have to beat the
scores in the high score table. All games should have the ability to
frustrate and infuriate and this one certainly does.
8.3
Finally, the one other thing a game should be is affordable. Some of the
current offerings are vastly overpriced and the only way to force the
prices down is to stop buying them. This little gem costs the princely
sum of ú3.49 including postage (no VAT). The address to order it from is
even a Freepost one. There is no excuse for not buying Switch Ö even if
you do not like games.ááAá
8.3
Quantum
8.3
New Artwork
8.3
CC
8.3
From 8.2 page 22
8.3
The Advance Column
8.3
Robert Chrismas
8.3
The Advance spreadsheet can output tables in Draw format which is an
easy way to produce tables for use in DTP documents.
8.3
This table has not been edited: what you see is what the Advance
spreadsheet produced.
8.3
All the effects you see on the screen will be saved in the drawfile.
Before saving the file, you will probably want to turn off the grid and
the row and column labels (both on the ÉUtilitiesæ menu). Horizontal and
vertical lines in the table can be drawn with the ÉCell borderæ option
on the ÉEffectsæ menu.
8.3
Cell borders take a little practice. If a block of cells is selected,
the border will be applied to that block rather than to each cell within
the block. If you use the ÉSetæ button, any other cell borders within
the marked block will be switched off. The best policy seems to be to
use the ÉAddæ button in almost every case.
8.3
You can alter row and column sizes. The Advance spreadsheet will not
support multiple lines of text in a cell, so to create the illustrated
table, each table row occupies two spreadsheet rows.
8.3
Thanks to Mike Burlingham (Portsmouth College) for this hint.
8.3
Horizontal lines were drawn with the ÉBelowæ tick box. Then the whole
table was marked and ÉBoxæ was set. This rubbed out the horizontal
lines. Use ÉAddæ not ÉSetæ.
8.3
Entering a block of values
8.3
It is easy to enter a block of identical values on the spreadsheet. Mark
the block, then enter the value in the entry area. This value will be
entered in every cell in the marked block. Formulae can be entered in
the same way. Enter the formula in the form required for the top left
cell. Cell references will be treated as relative. To specify absolute
cell positions, put an É@æ  before the row or column reference.
8.3
Must you enter the text first?
8.3
Are all word processors the same? I tell my students that, for simple
jobs like writing letters, one word processor is much like another and
that they should be able to pick up the basics of a new one without much
trouble.
8.3
A letter from Robin Terry of Newcastle upon Tyne reminded me that word
processors do have different ways of doing the same things. Robin is a
regular user of WordPerfect 5.1 who seems to experience the same sort of
disorientation using Advance which I experience when I am obliged to use
WordPerfect. His main concern was that Advance seemed to require him to
apply alignment, formatting and effects like bold after he had written
the text.
8.3
I find it more Énaturalæ to enter text first, but in Advance you can set
a format or an effect before entering the text to which it will apply.
8.3
Bold, italic and different fonts
8.3
Changes to bold, italic and to other fonts all seem to work in the same
way. If, while you are typing, you change the font then, when you go on
typing, the new font will apply at once. In the same way, an effect like
bold will apply from the point where you select it. However, if you
apply bold, then move the cursor (even just a character to the right)
the bold will no longer apply. Despite this, the text will still contain
an embedded bold command. So if you mark the paragraph and look at the
effects menu, bold is still ticked. Selecting bold now, or doing a
<ctrl-B>, will just switch the bold off; which is probably exactly the
reverse of what you want.
8.3
You can get the same situation by moving to the middle of a paragraph
and doing a <ctrl-B> then selecting the whole paragraph and examining
the effects menu. Bold will be ticked even though no text is bold.
Clicking on the bold option switches bold off, still with no visible
effect.
8.3
These sort of Éphantom effectsæ which do not apply to any text seem to
be removed by Advance when you cut a selection from the paragraph (even
if the selection did not included the phantom effect). Presumably,
Advance does some kind of housekeeping when a selection is cut from a
paragraph.
8.3
Be careful with <ctrl-B>, because it toggles bold on or off, so with a
little keyboard stutter, two <ctrl-B>æs will cancel out.
8.3
Alignment
8.3
If you change the alignment when the cursor is in the middle of a
paragraph, Advance will assume you want to change the alignment of the
whole paragraph. The whole paragraph will be marked and the alignment
altered.
8.3
The current paragraph can be just a carriage return. This will be the
case if, for example, you type two carriage returns then one cursor up.
8.3
If the cursor is at the very end of the document and at the start of a
new line, then changes to the alignment or the ruler are ignored.
Presumably, this is a result of the way the ruler is stored by the
program. The ruler must apply to a paragraph.
8.3
This means that if you want to set the alignment before you type the
text to which it applies, you must make sure that you are never at the
very end of the document. Start your document with a few carriage
returns then move the cursor back to the start. (You can alter the
default WP document to include a few carriage returns, but this seems a
bit extreme.) So long as you are not at the very end of the document you
will be able to adjust the current ruler and the alignment.
8.3
However, here you hit another potential hazard. Adjustments to the
ruler, or the alignment, affect the current paragraph. The current
paragraph (which may be just a carriage return) is marked by the
operation. As soon as you type something, you hit the surprising
Computer Concepts editing feature (copied, I think, from Mac software):
if a block is marked then any typing will replace the marked block. So
the marked block is deleted, along with any rulers or alignments which
apply to it!
8.3
Therefore, after adjusting the ruler or the alignment, deselect the
block by moving the cursor before you start to type. A cursor left
leaves you with the new ruler or alignment, all ready to type.
Unfortunately, a cursor right moves you off the ruler or the alignment
you have just carefully set.
8.3
Summary
8.3
Å Start new documents by typing a few carriage returns then moving the
cursor back to the top of the document.
8.3
Å If you alter the ruler or the alignment at the start of a new
paragraph, an empty marked block will appear Ö do a cursor left to
cancel the marked block before you start typing.
8.3
If you have any hints or comments about Advance write to me: Robert
Chrismas, 8 Virginia Park Road, Gosport, Hants, PO12 3DZ.ááAá
8.3
Oak
8.3
From 8.2 page 26
8.3
Colton
8.3
From 8.2 page 24
8.3
StarFighter 3000
8.3
Anthony Brion
8.3
Do you remember Fourth Dimensionæs Chocks Away, where you are in control
of a small bi-plane and have to completed a multitude of varied
missions? Well, Starfighter 3000 is ChocksáAway bought up-to-date and
then some.
8.3
You have been chosen from thousands of people to take part in a
futuristic game show, the aim of which is to complete missions that are
set for you (108 missions in total) and to collect prize money that you
obtain from the bonuses that are spread throughout the levels.
8.3
There are three levels of missions: Easy, Medium, and Hard with 36
missions in each level.
8.3
On starting, you are issued with your fighter, with minimum weapons and
defences, and ú1200 of credits to equip your ship. The equipment on
offer include Air-to-ground missiles, Air-to-air missiles, deflector
shields, lasers, thrusters, etc. Before equipping your fighter, you
should read the mission text, so that you purchase the most appropriate
weapons for the particular mission.
8.3
Once your ship is equipped and you understand what the mission involves,
you may begin. The first thing that struck me was the stunning 3D
realistic graphics which are as fluid as a bucket of mercury Ö no detail
has been left out. The graphics are 3D solid polygon shapes, and even
details such as trees are shown. When an enemy target is successfully
destroyed the screen lit up like November the Fifth with pieces of the
target breaking up and bouncing all over the screen leaving behind a
random selection of tokens. These can be picked up bringing rewards
including extra credits and extra lives, but beware because the enemy
sometimes leaves mine tokens which zap the shields and cripple your
ship.
8.3
The missions range from docking with the mother ship to heading a
squadron of fighters into battle with a whole enemy fleet.
8.3
As soon as I put down my mouse after playing the demo, I picked up my
cheque book and ordered my copy of the game. This game is a must for any
Archimedes/RiscáPC games player.
8.3
It requires a minimum of 2Mb of RAM, is hard disc installable (key disc
protected) and will work on RISC OS 2 or later.
8.3
Anyone that has an early copy of Starfighter (version 1.00), can get the
latest version (1.01) that has several bugs fixed. To obtain this copy
just return your discs back to Fednet.
8.3
The full version of StarFighter 3000 costs ú29.95 from Fednet Software
or ú29 through Archive.ááAá
8.3
Club News
8.3
The Wales branch of the ARM Club formed an active section in Cardiff
earlier this year. Fortnightly meetings are held on Wednesday evenings
between 7 and 9 p.m. throughout the year at the Roath Community Hall.
8.3
The branch is holding its first public Open Day at the Llanishen Leisure
Centre, Cardiff on Saturday 3rd December from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Acorn
Computers Limited will be present, as well as leading names from the
software and hardware fields. These will include Computer Concepts, and
local Acorn specialist, Uniqueway of Replay and Empire fame. HS Software
of Swansea will be demonstrating their range of educational software.
Eesox, who recently released their CDFast software and PD specialists,
and The Datafile, will be also present. Other leading software houses
are also showing interest and it is hoped that some of these names will
be added to the list.
8.3
Club members with a wide range of expertise will also be on hand with
their various 32-bit machines to help visitors with their queries.
8.3
Further information can be obtained by telephoning organisers John Pugh
(01222-751160) or Derek Rowlands (01222-868635).ááAá
8.3
Sea Rescue
8.3
Richard Rymarz
8.3
Sherston Software has rightly gained the reputation for being one of the
most prolific and well respected educational software houses. They are
releasing a series of adventure games based around mathematical themes.
The first two Ö Space City and Sea Rescue are now available. This review
concentrates on Sea Rescue.
8.3
Sea Rescue comes in a plastic wallet that contains two discs, a user
guide and eight double-sided work-cards. The program can be loaded onto
hard disc but disc 1 acts as a key disc every time the program is used.
Sea Rescue costs ú26.95 +VAT each from Sherston or ú29 through Archive.
8.3
Setting up
8.3
Double-clicking on !Sea Rescue installs the program on the iconbar.
Clicking <menu> on the icon allows a number of options, the most
important being the setup window. From here, the teacher/parent can
customise the difficulty of the program (it can be used between the ages
of 6 and 9), the number of tasks to reinforce the skills taught, the
sound volume and whether the program runs in CGA or VGA mode. Finally,
there is a list of start and finish locations allowing the teacher full
control over the sections that a child actually does. All this is very
comprehensive and easy to use. In my opinion, similar systems should be
adopted by all adventures of this kind.
8.3
The program
8.3
Clicking <select> on !Sea Rescue results in an attractive animated
opening screen and the sound of a blaring emergency horn. Immediately,
the children are whisked away to a lifeboat station where they meet the
crew and Rita the Robot who generally helps but occasionally gets into
trouble. The children are asked to help mend and look after the
lifeboats and this is where the mathematics starts. All actions are
controlled by the mouse and the instructions are at a reasonable level
bearing in mind the age of the target audience, although younger
children will probably need some help. As each of the three crew members
is introduced (one is Mrs Singh a lady lifeboat person) tasks involving
fractions are presented. Initially, they are fairly straightforward
referring to halves, thirds and quarters. Jobs include fixing the
lifeboat rails, repairing the masts, replacing the portholes and
checking the equipment. However, the tasks become more difficult as the
adventure continues. Visits to the weather centre involve the use of
equivalent fractions up to eighths at the simplest level and to
sixteenths at the most difficult. Finally, there is the rescue itself
when at the most difficult level fractions between nine and eighteen are
used. The children take part in the rescue since two of the crew catch
chicken pox and cannot sail. The children, of course, succeed and finish
up heroes with their names in the local paper.
8.3
Plusses
8.3
I have tested this program with groups of eight, nine and ten year olds.
They all managed to complete the tasks within a reasonable amount of
time and appeared to be enjoying the experience. The graphics are fairly
good, the animation adequate and the antics of Rita the Robot amusing
enough to keep the interest alive. The children follow a clear line of
problem-solving and cannot fail. The worksheets are an added bonus,
providing activities and games that reinforce the ideas on screen.
8.3
Minuses
8.3
Sea Rescue is too safe. The tasks offer options which the children can
guess at without really understanding what is needed. Some of the
explanations are not clear enough and caused confusion and the jumps
between the levels of knowledge and understanding are sometimes too
great. Finally, the character of Rita the Robot has no reference to the
real world of lifeboats and, while her antics jolly along the storyline,
they distract from any reality that the program may be trying to
construct. Having said that, I fully appreciate that reality was not the
intention of the authors and the program is not meant to be used in a
topics such as rescue at sea.
8.3
Conclusions
8.3
Sea Rescue is designed to öintroduce, practice and consolidate fraction
work in the primary schoolò. To be fair, children find fractions very
difficult to comprehend fully and they easily forget what they learn
unless there is lots of reinforcement. I would suggest that, to get the
best out of the program, a fair amount of preparatory work needs to be
done especially with younger children. Furthermore, the childrensæ
understanding needs careful assessment as they progress from task to
task. Certainly, I have found Sea Rescue useful to consolidate the work
children have already completed but the program is not a panacea for
teaching fractions.
8.3
Adam and Sandra Hosler who wrote ÉAztecsæ which I reviewed some time ago
and found extremely useful, have produced a competent, interesting and
amusing program that could be used to consolidate work around fractions.
The backup materials are helpful and, if the teacher can provide the
necessary support, Sea Rescue is worth consideration.ááAá
8.3
Hints and Tips
8.3
Å  A3000 bulging case (Archive 8.2 p62)áÖáIn the hint last month, I
suggested replacing the plastic cases of A3000 computers. In the text I
sent to Paul, I made some mention of safety aspects but Paul edited them
out. (Oops, sorry!) Please note that, for a variety of reasons,áyou
should not attempt to change the bottom case if your power supply is the
cardboard-covered type. If you are unsure, I would be happy for you to
write to me or ring me on 01564-776745.á Keith Coton, 118 Purnells Way,
Knowle, Solihull, B93 9ED.
8.3
Å  Binder problemsáÖáA number of people have said that, when they
reached the end of Volume 7, the last magazine wouldnæt fit into the
binder. Let me assure you that they do fit in the binder (well, just).
If you canæt get them in, it could be because you have been putting the
rods into the holes instead of into the slots. The holes are there only
for use when the volume is incomplete, i.e. with a half-full binder, the
magazines tend to flop about and the rods easily come out unless you put
the rod for the top issue into an appropriate pair of holes. I suppose
we ought to send out instructions with the binders, but having used the
same binders for 8 years, I forget that they are new to some of you.
Sorry! Ed.
8.3
Å  Day of the week functionáÖáI agree entirely with the basic message of
Cain Huntæs article, öWhy bother programming?ò (8.1 p29). When I write
number-crunching programs in Basic, I Éprintæ the results to a spool
file, which I drag into Impression and format into a suitable
presentation document.
8.3
One helpful comment, if I may, is that the calendar shouldnæt need to be
told the day of the week of January 1. The function to use (which
returns a value in the range 0=Sunday to 6=Saturday) is:
8.3
DEFFNNewYear(Y%)=(1+1461*(Y%Ö1)DIV4Ö(1+ (Y%Ö1)DIV100)*3DIV4)MOD7
8.3
Colin Singleton, Sheffield.
8.3
Å  Impressionæs single-file document iconáÖáIn Archive 8.2 p.19, Paul
complained about the very dowdy grey icons that Impression Publisher and
Style use for their documents.
8.3
Fortunately, this is easily changed: All you have to do is look for the
sprite called file_bc5 in the three directories !Sprites, !Sprites22 and
!Sprites23 inside Impressionæs application directory, and the sprite
called docsprites inside Resources.Sprites; you can replace them with
whatever icons you prefer Ö I took the Impression II document sprite and
changed its background from white to pale yellow to be able to tell the
two types of documents apart.á Jochen Konietzko, K÷ln, Germany
8.3
This was one of many similar suggestions. Thanks to all who attempted to
put me out of my misery. My desktop is now resplendent with white Iæs
and yellow Iæs, so now I can see which I is which. Ed.
8.3
Å  Inkjet paper quality (8.2 p63)áÖáReyjet paper can be obtained from
ÉStaples (Office Superstores)æ. The price, a few months ago, was ú2.39
(+VAT) per ream. I have found these stores to be well worth a visit, in
terms of both choice and price. Their catalogue contains a paper/printer
type compatibility chart and lists five types suitable for b/w inkjets
(from 80gsm to 100gsm, one in A3 size) and three for colour inkjets. The
Superstores tend to be Home Counties-based (Croydon, High Wycombe, and
Staples Corner in London) but they have other stores through the country
(e.g. Leeds, Cambridge, Swansea, etc.) though I do not know if they
carry full stocks.á Bob Bourne, Ware.
8.3
If anyone canæt get Versoix paper locally, it is readily available from
Viking Direct at ú5.49 per ream or ú19.95 per 5 reams, both excluding
VAT and delivery. Eight reams or more are delivered free, usually
overnight. Viking Direct are on Freephone 0800-424444 and have a very
wide range of general computer and office supplies.á Jim Nottingham,
York.
8.3
Å  Impressionæs öSome fonts not foundò ÖáSince the arrival of Impression
Style and Publisher, I have read repeated complaints about the fact that
both versions still replace fonts that have been used in a document but
are currently not available, with the default font. Coupled with this
complaint, usually, is a wish that there should be an option to abort
and install the missing fonts (most recently in Archiveá8.1, p.31).
8.3
I canæt quite see the point of these complaints. I work with just three
or four fonts most of the time, so that one of the all-singing, all-
dancing font handlers like FontDirectory would be a waste of money for
me. Therefore, I have simply distributed my fonts over four directories
Ö a small one with those few fonts that I use most often and, one step
down in the directory structure, the rest, grouped according to their
general look.
8.3
When Impression Style now gives out its önot foundò message, all I have
to do is let RISC OS 3.10 öseeò the relevant font directory, then press
<f12><return>, and the missing font will be loaded into Style.
8.3
Problems really only occur when you load someone elseæs document with
fonts which you donæt have. In this case, it would be nice if Impression
gave the option to choose the replacement font. You could then use
something really noticeable like Dingbats, so that it would be easy to
locate the style or effect that needed changing. áJochen Konietzko,
K÷ln, Germany.
8.3
Å  NoCaps IIáÖáAfter the hint in Archive 8.1 regarding disabling the
capslock key I had a request for a version that would respond normally
to capslock, but turn it off when shift was pressed. This could be
useful for things like postcodes, where it is easier to turn capslock on
than to get confused about when you need to press <shift>. Rather than
adding this functionality to the original module, I generated a new
version, which is more economical on space than having both in one, and
you are only likely to use one or the other. The two modules are on this
monthæs disc as NoCaps (disable capslock as before) and SNoCaps (shift
disable capslock).á Matthew Hunter, NCS.
8.3
Å  Powersave & librariesáÖáSeveral people have expressed interest in the
powersave program from issue 8.1 of Archive, but have had difficulty
incorporating it into their !Boot sequence. I will therefore describe
how to install it. (The methods apply equally to other command line
programs you may wish to run Ö just replace powersave in the description
below with the program you wish to install.)
8.3
There are three basic ways around this problem. The first thing to do
(whichever method you use) is to find your boot file. If your machine
has RISC OS 3.11 or earlier, the boot file will be in the root directory
of your hard disc (unless you have moved it). On the Risc PC you will
have to hold down shift (to open application directories) and double-
click on !Boot, Choices, Boot, Tasks, in that order, as you go down the
directory structure (clicking with <adjust> each time will close the
previous filer window Ö useful in this situation). Once you have located
your boot file (called É!Bootæ) hold shift and double-click on it to
load it into !Edit. Find where in the boot sequence you wish to run the
program and insert a blank line. Make sure the cursor is at the start of
the blank line, ready for the command that will execute the desired
program.
8.3
Probably the easiest method is to use an absolute reference. Copy
powersave somewhere Ésafeæ and preferably out of the way so that it does
not clutter the hard disc. Type öRUN ò and then hold down <shift> and
drag the Épowersaveæ icon, from where you put it, into the text window
containing the boot file set up above. When you release <select>, you
should see the full pathname appear in the text file following the run
command. You can then set up the parameters as described below.
8.3
The second possibility is to set aside a special directory where you
keep all your command line programs. Fortunately, Acorn provide such a
system, the Library directory, which on pre-Risc PC machines is, by
default, a directory called ÉLibraryæ in the root of your hard disc. On
the Risc PC, there is a directory inside the !Boot application, also
called ÉLibraryæ. Open the appropriate Library directory and copy
powersave into it. You can then type Épowersaveæ into the blank line in
the boot file ready for the parameters to follow.
8.3
This is fine except that it relies on default settings, and puts
programs into Library that you only use very rarely. The method I use
therefore is to put the programs, and utility applications that I load
only during the boot sequence (backdrop picker, configuration tester,
for example), into a directory, say ÉBootLibæ. I then have a line in my
Boot file Éset BootLib$Path full::pathname.$.for.BootLib.æ as
appropriate for the location of the BootLib directory. Again, this can
be found by Shift-dragging BootLib into the text editor, but note that,
to be successful, the path must end with a full stop. I can then run any
program in Bootlib with the command ÉBootLib:prognameæ. This is longer
for a single program, but I only have to set bootlib once, and then
reference it several times. I have an absolute reference, so the default
settings do not affect it, and the library directory is kept for
frequently used programs. It is also far simpler to move the directory Ö
if you use the first method, you have to re-enter the full pathname for
every program that has moved. If I move BootLib, however, I only have to
change the line where BootLib is set, and all the programs will work as
before.
8.3
Once you have got the program ready to run by one of the three methods
above, all you need to do is to add any parameters to the end of the
line as appropriate for the program. In the case of powersave, an
example would be Édelay 4 120æ for a two minute inactivity delay before
spinning down the drive. Do not use Éspindownæ in your boot sequence.
Doing so will force the drive to spindown part way through the boot, and
immediately spin back up again, causing unnecessary strain.á Matthew
Hunter.
8.3
Å  Publisher: editing effectsáÖáIt is possible to edit effects as if
they were styles and even then to turn them from effects into styles. If
you look inside !Publisher, in the Resources directory is a file called
UK. In it is a line: öCnf1:ò and if you change this to read öCnf1:Eò and
re-save it, then from the next time you load Publisher, you will find
that effects become editable just as if they were styles.
8.3
This partially solved a problem caused by the change to Publisher.
8.3
With Impression II, when articles came in that had bits in bold, I would
just put them into the magazine and the öboldò bits would come out as
Plantin.Semibold. (I prefer to use Plantin.Bold because the body text is
Plantin.Light and the full bold face, although OK for headings, looks
too dark within the body of the text.) This worked because, prior to
Style and Publisher, anything using the bold effect was given the name
öboldò and, in the magazine, the öboldò style was defined as using
Plantin.Semibold.
8.3
However, if contributors us <ctrl-B> for bold, when I load it into the
magazine, it forces the text into Plantin.Bold. At first, I had to edit
öby handò every single occurrence of the bold effect, changing it into
my bold style! The way I now get round it is to go to the incoming file,
click on a piece of öboldò text and press <ctrl-f6> to edit the style.
The effect then appears in the style editing window as something like
öEffect17ò, or whatever. All I have to do then is to change this name to
öBoldò and this then becomes a style rather than an effect and, when
loaded into the magazine, it automatically assumes my Plantin.Semibold
style.á Ed.
8.3
Å  Publisher: finding styles and effectsáÖáIf you are given a document
that contains a huge range of effects and styles, as I often am, it is
good to simplify it before pasting it into another document. (You would
be amazed at the complex combinations of styles and effects people use
in their documents!!) You have the choice of a quick <ctrl-A><ctrl-N> to
remove all styles and effects and then re-insert the styles you really
want or of leaving in some styles and removing others. But how do you
know which style/effect does what? Well, styles are easy because you can
use search and replace to find them. The menu button next to the öFind
what:ò box allows you to enter the name of a style. Then add an ö@ò and
it will find the first occurrence of anything in that style.
8.3
Finding effects is more tortuous and can only be achieved if you have
used the Cnf1:E trick mentioned above. So, if you press <ctrl-A> and
look across on the Style menu, you will see a list of ticked styles and
effects. Suppose you decide you want to find what and where öEffect 598ò
is. The trick is that you double-click on a word and use the Style menu
option to apply Effect 598 to it. Pressing <ctrl-f6> will then bring up
Effect 598 on the Edit style window. Click on öShow on style menuò and
OK it. Now you can go to the top of the document and use <f4> to find
that effect as it will now appear on the find style menu. The only bit
of really bad planning here is that, if you want to look at each of the
occurrences of this effect and get rid of some of them, you cannot use
<ctrl-N> to remove the effect because <ctrl-N> is taken to mean önext
matchò when you are searching! Drat! Keystroke to the rescue again. I
have programmed <alt-N> to give me the menu selection, Style Ö Clear all
styles. Ed.
8.3
Å  Screenload on the Risc PCáÖáIt has been pointed out that the
*screenload command appears to work differently on the Risc PC from
previous machines, in that it no longer loads into the current graphics
window but loads at the bottom left corner of the screen instead. In
fact the operation has not changed, but is modified by the new mode
system. A screenload will load the sprite to the screen, changing mode
if necessary, and it is the mode change that causes the problems. For
example, if, while in mode 31, you screenload a sprite, defined in mode
27, the computer will change to mode 27 first. Changing mode redefines
the graphics window, so you will find that (on any machine) the result
of the following program will be to place the sprite in the bottom left
hand corner of the screen (assuming there is a sprite called Étestæ,
defined in mode 27 in the currently selected directory).
8.3
MODE 31
8.3
VDU 24;100;100;600;600;
8.3
*SCREENLOAD test
8.3
This is because the graphics window set by the VDU 24 is reset by the
mode change implied in the *screenload. Adding the lines.
8.3
VDU 24;200;200;600;600;
8.3
*SCREENLOAD test
8.3
to the end of the program will successfully move the sprite to 200,200
before plotting... except on the Risc PC. This occurs because the mode
is already set to 27, so the mode is not changed, and the graphics
window remains intact. The problem with the Risc PC is that when the
machine tries to change into mode 27 (after the first screenload) it
ends up as a 640 by 480, 16 colours, 60Hz mode. Therefore, although the
sprite is loaded, the machine is not actually in mode 27, so the next
screenload also tries to change to mode 27, resetting the graphics
window again. Unfortunately changing the mode in which a sprite is
defined is does not cure the problem. If you need to move the sprite
away from the bottom left corner, you will need to use sprite calls to
load and plot the sprite yourself.á Matthew Hunter, NCS.
8.3
Å  Style file sizeáÖáThe Impression Style manual says that: öDeleting
unused master pages does not make the document significantly smallerò
(page 180) and öSingle file format has the advantage that files are
smaller. This is useful for short documents such as lettersò (page 17).
However, there is no comment on the merits of deleting unused styles, so
I thought I would check it out.
8.3
Taking a two page letter built on a letter master page and with a sprite
picture (25,240 bytes), I have tested these statements out. The Info Box
gave:
8.3
Document  Pages: 2  Size: 171Kb
8.3
Text  Stories: 19  Memory: 6Kb
8.3
  Chapters: 1  Words: 452
8.3
Graphics  Pictures: 5  Memory: 147Kb
8.3
When saved, the document took up 175,912 bytes (single file) or 176,543
bytes (directory)
8.3
The reason for the massive size is that I had four master pages for
different letter-type documents, each with the logo graphic. So, after
removing three unused master pages, the document took up: 42,792 (single
file) or 44,367 (directory).
8.3
The document had fifteen other unused master pages which took up between
188 and 1,216 bytes each Ö when all were removed, the document shrank
to: 35,316 (single file) or 36,851 (directory).
8.3
If I saved the text only, with no style information, it only occupied
2,332 bytes.
8.3
As I already have the picture stored elsewhere, I only need to keep the
text and that does not need any style or frame information and so my
final storage needs will not be 176Kb but about 2Kb which can then be
very effectively archived.
8.3
What I have learnt from this: (1) save all writing as text files if
possible, (2) redundant styles do not take up a large amount of space
and there is no benefit in removing them for storage reasons and (3) be
careful how many times you save graphics, especially in dormant master
pages!
8.3
I will now remove many of the master pages from my default document and
save them in separate documents (or in useful groups as I donæt think
you can merge master pages into one document!) for when I need them.
This will also have the knock-on effect of having smaller initial
documents in memory which will load more quickly! áRobert Lytton,
Leeds.ááAá
8.3
JPEG Column
8.3
Stuart Bell
8.3
First of all, if you didnæt get the program disc for the September
Archive (7.12), and if youære at all interested in JPEG files, Iæd
recommend that you get a copy from the Archive office now.
8.3
The reason for this is that Quantum Software have, with their Keystroke
utility, automated the production of thumbnail images of JPEG files to
reduce the whole task to one keystroke (<alt-Q>). On the program disc is
an execute-only version of Keystroke which will produce a !Paint file
containing thumbnails of all the JPEG files in a directory. It requires
!ChangeFSI version 0.95 (or 0.90 at a pinch) and uses exactly the same
technique which I described a few columns ago to produce a visual index
of JPEG images. And itæs free ù brilliant!
8.3
Shoemaker-Levy MPEGs and JPEGs
8.3
Response to the last columnæs offer of sequences and images pulled off
Internet brought the highest ever response, with the result that, for a
fortnight, I spent the first few minutes of each day opening envelopes
and copying discs. In all, the total ran into three figures.
8.3
MPEG under !Replay
8.3
A few months ago, I wondered aloud if Acornæs commitment to !Replay
would mean that it might get by-passed by the industry-wide acceptance
of the MPEG video-compression standard. At the time, a correspondent
pointed out that !Replay is a protocol, which can use any compression
technique for moving video images. Hints were made that Acorn might be
moving in the direction of MPEG. Sure enough, the October Acorn User ù
presumably quoting an Acorn Press Release ù announced, öA core technique
of the Online Media interactive multimedia set top box is MPEG digital
movie playback capability. This was co-developed by Computer Concepts/
Wild Vision, Anglia Television and Acorn and has now been officially
added to the Codec (coder-decoder) of the Acorn Replay digital movie
system.ò
8.3
Of course, faced with the clear dominance of the MPEG standard for
digital movie origination, Acorn had no alternative but to take this
move. MPEG movies are available now, and a Risc PC with a suitable MPEG
board should be an excellent platform for the playing of these movies.
Announced before Acorn World was just such a ösuitable MPEG boardò, and
I looked forward to its demonstration on the Computer Concepts stand:
8.3
Movie Magic
8.3
This is the MPEG player board for the Risc PC. Available initially at
ú249 + VAT in a form which will give full-screen video on any suitable
monitor (50Hz PAL) or TV with a SCART socket, a later version will give
övideo in a windowò in a normal RISCáOS desktop, at about ú150 more.
Prices include a CDFS upgrade and a voucher for a VideoCD movie öof your
choiceò ù the current list includes Star Trek 6, A Fish Called Wanda and
Fatal Attraction.
8.3
It was a prototype of the more advanced board (öcompleted at three
oæclock this morningò) that was being demonstrated by Computer Concepts.
The chap from CC used a large screen display to guide us through the
directories on one of the six CDs loaded onto the Pioneer drive(!),
double-clicked on various MPEG sequences and, sure enough, here was full
screen (or part screen) full motion video at a quality greater than that
of domestic VHS video recorders ù and certainly far better than the
software-only !Replay video play-back system.
8.3
Computer Concepts see two main applications for Movie Magic. First there
is its use in multi-media, allowing MPEG sequences to be used under the
!Replay protocol, but with far greater quality than previously possible.
The second is the use of a suitably-equipped RiscáPC as a player for
VideoCD titles. Full length movies need a double CD, and these are now
appearing in the shops. Like audio CDs, they Éneveræ wear out, and each
CD offers about 76 minutes of video and CD-quality stereo audio. They
might become the new video format. After about five minutes of seeing
Kate Bush sing and prance around the screen, the demo came to an end.
öThatæs about itò, said the man from CC. He was right of course; however
technologically clever an MPEG board might be, you can only do one thing
with it, and thatæs play MPEG sequences!
8.3
So, without wishing to diminish the technology behind Movie Magic, I was
left with three questions to mull over. Firstly, will VideoCD really
take off? After all, itæs a play-only medium, so youæll still need a VCR
to record EastEnders. Secondly, even if it does flourish, are most
peoplesæ RiscáPCs close enough to their main (SCART-equipped) TV to make
its use as a player convenient? (And what happens when you want to use
your Risc PC for another processor-intensive task?) Thirdly, for
creative use of any full motion video system, you need to create as well
as to play sequences. Such hardware compression boards are now available
for the proprietary !Replay system. Widespread use of MPEG for
multimedia application authoring on Acorn platforms will surely require
a reasonably cost-effective MPEG compression board.
8.3
JPEG at AW 94 and CD ROM speeds
8.3
Generally, the æ94 show was much more interesting than last year. CD ROM
drives were everywhere (and prices falling), which meant, of course,
that JPEG images were everywhere, too. Photo CD was also present in the
person of the Kodak stand, and it looks like becoming a truly cross-
platform standard, certainly for the öprofessionalò market. Many of the
CD ROMs on sale, and especially the various public-domain offerings,
listed JPEG images as part of their contents for even with the huge
capacity of CD ROMs, the benefits of JPEG are worth having. It was
noticeable that 16bpp or 24bpp images decompressed from JPEG files are
in a quite different league from the relatively Éblotchyæ 256 colour
images which most of us have had to accept to date. And, of course, the
benefits of JPEG are even greater with 32,000 and 16.7M colour images.
8.3
However, the issue of access time on CD ROMs is a very real problem. As
I had noticed when installing a CD ROM player for a local school, those
of us used to pulling JPEG images off a fast hard disc and then using
!ChangeFSI or !FYEO2 to display them get quite a shock when accessing
PhotoCD on CD ROMs for the first time. My new 270Mb Quantum SCSI drive ù
one of the many öshow offersò available at Acorn World! ù is certainly
not state-of-the-art, but transfers data at 1.8Mb/s in mode 0. Since a
Risc PC with VRAM should allow transfer rates independent of screen
modes, and should certainly out-run my ARM3, that kind of performance
makes the 300Kb/s (and the access times) of double-speed CD ROM drives
look pretty pathetic.
8.3
So, if youære into JPEG, and thinking about CD ROM, then my very strong
suggestion would be to get a quad-speed (or at least triple-speed) drive
in the first place. In the long run, the extra cost will be worth it. My
guess is that as double-speed drives are now the de-facto standard, so
in a few monthsæ time, the same will be true of quad-speed drives. Even
then, their 600Kb/s. isnæt over-kill when an uncompressed 1024╫768 pixel
image in Étrue colouræ runs to 2.25Mb!
8.3
Retrospective
8.3
Itæs now about 18 months since my first JPEG article appeared in
Archive. In that short time, JPEG has moved from being a Éfringeæ
interest accessible only to those willing to experiment with command-
line access to !ChangeFSI to become a standard supported by a wide range
of commercial applications. This monthæs news confirms the significance
of MPEG for the Acorn platform. Where will we be in another 18 monthsæ
time? Iæve no real idea, but my conclusion from Acorn World is that the
Risc PC will be as well-equipped as any platform to take users into the
brave new world of 24-bit colour, full motion video, and the information
super-highway (or should that be Ésuper-hypewayæ?) of 1995 and beyond.
8.3
With the maturing of JPEG and MPEG into an increasingly supported
technique for the storage and retrieval of images and motion sequences,
it seems to me that the need for a JPEG Column as a focus for the
exchange of experiences between intrepid explorers into the unknown has
come to its natural end. When companies of the calibre of Acorn and
Computer Concepts have adopted JPEG and MPEG, then itæs clear that we
have moved into a new era for image compression. There will still be a
need for reviews of commercial JPEG and MPEG products, but as far as a
regular JPEG Column is concerned ù certainly from my Épenæ ù the end has
come. So, au revoir, and thanks to all who have supported the column
since the start.ááAá
8.3
Adventure Games Ö Part 1
8.3
Dave Floyd
8.3
You are standing under a dull copper sun in a wide open clearing where
your ship crashed. To the northeast, north and northwest lies an evil-
looking (and smelling!) swamp, while further round, a track climbs
steeply up the lower tongue of a glacier. Westwards there seems to be
jungle, while south an opening in the mountains reveals a valley.
Southeast there is a path into the mountains and a narrow path wanders
east through cliffs to skirt around the swamp. To the southwest lies
your ship.
8.3
Such is the forbidding landscape that you encounter on leaving your
spaceship and setting foot upon the wastelands of the planet
Doomawangara. The images created in the mind by the description are far
more vivid than could be created by a picture on the screen, and far
more personal, just as watching films is almost always a poor substitute
for reading books. (Or listening to radio plays? Ed.) Puzzles and
problems in adventure games are also different from those you may face
in other genres. Rather than competing with your own manual dexterity
(or lack thereof), as is often the case in arcade style games,
adventures encourage you to flex your mental powers to solve them.
Logic, methodical mapping and even trips to your local library could be
required to complete an adventure game.
8.3
This may appear to be hard work, and anything other than enjoyable to
those who have not yet set forth into the world of adventures, but let
me assure you that this is not the case. Difficult and frustrating in
places, perhaps, but I have received more letters about adventure games
than any other since writing the Games Column for Archive, which says
much for the addictive qualities that these games hold.
8.3
On beginning an adventure game, you are no longer in the real world but
have been spirited away to a nether land of the programmeræs
imagination. It is left to you to explore and find solutions to the
problems that will face you en route to your goal. The problems set may
be devious but, in a good game, they will always be fair and usually
leave you wondering why they were problems in the first place, once
solved. Not only are you in a world not of your choosing, but you are
also facing problems not of your choosing. You are in a direct, one-on-
one challenge. You versus the programmer. Not many like to admit defeat
in this kind of scenario and to avoid it, tap unknown depths of tenacity
and inventiveness in order to progress. The feeling on completing the
game after weeks, or sometimes months, of effort is so rewarding that
you inevitably walk around for the next few days displaying a beaming
smile and being more pleasant than normal to everybody you know. That
this feeling is not just reserved for the completion of the game, but is
also available in a slightly lesser fashion every time you solve a
particularly sticky problem, should convince even the most cynical
amongst you that adventures are, indeed, a most superior kind of
computer entertainment.
8.3
(Might the converse not be true, Dave? Ö frustrated adventure games
players wandering around kicking cats because they just canæt find a way
to solve the current problem?! Ed.)
8.3
Topologika Software
8.3
Brian Kerslakeæs early involvement with computers was as a computer
programmer with Lyonsæ Bakery, and then with the Royal College of Art,
London. He then trained as a teacher and spent fifteen years doing that
before micros in the classroom began to pull him back the other way.
Increasingly fed up with being asked to give away copies of software
which he wrote for his own classroom use, he set up, with a colleague, a
small mail order software house called Chalksoft. This experienced
steady growth but the partnership eventually split and Brian set up
Topologika, taking with him titles which heæd been responsibile for
developing at the time he left.
8.3
One of these was a maths adventure game called GiantKiller, written by
Peter Killworth. When Peter heard that GiantKiller would be published by
Topologika he realised that this new publishing house would have a need
for some new titles, and suggested that much expanded and reworked
versions of adventure games (originally been published by Acornsoft)
might be of interest. Brian met Peter (Countdown to Doom, Philosopheræs
Quest, etc), Jon Thackray (Acheton), Jonathan Partington (Kingdom of
Hamil) and Richard Clayton (Locomotive Software, working on PC versions)
to agree a publication schedule. All parties went into it with their
eyes open, realising that the heyday of classic adventures was possibly
over.
8.3
Brian is the first to acknowledge that whilst sales have not been as
strong as they would have liked, they have at least managed to keep the
games alive, released some new titles (Return to Doom, Last Days of
Doom, Hezarin, Avon, Murdac) and to moved them onto non-Acorn formats
(Atari ST, IBM PC, Amstrad CPC and PCW).
8.3
GiantKiller
8.3
Although released as an educational game, GiantKiller is certainly not
as easy as that description may lead you to believe. The plot is loosely
based upon the story of Jack and the Beanstalk and you play the part of
Jack (or Jackie). Sent off to market by your mother to buy a pig, you
encounter a few gentle problems before ending up with a magic bean. Once
you have entered the world of the Giant, these problems get steadily
more difficult as you progress towards the end. As a novel way of
encouraging mathematical reasoning and logic solving, the game works
very well. The packaging includes a playeræs guide as well as a program
guide which provides a complete solution, detailed description of the
puzzles along with their rationale and the optimal order in which to
attempt the puzzles. Aimed at 10-14 year olds, GiantKiller could provide
an answer for parents who wish to buy their children something with
educational value whilst the kids just want games. It may also be ideal
for anyone who needs an easier introduction into adventuring than most
Archimedes adventures provide. However, those who begin GiantKiller
thinking that it will be easy, could be in for a few surprises.
8.3
Countdown to Doom / Return to Doom / Philosopheræs Quest
8.3
Your first view of the wasteland where you have been forced to crash-
land your spaceship is contained in the first paragraph of this article.
Desolate and unwelcoming are two adjectives that do not really do
justice to Doomawangara. Not content with just setting his usual style
of problems, Peter Killworth also gives you a time limit to get your
ship working and leave the planetæs surface. Those of you who played the
game on the BBC will find everything that made the game so addictive in
the first place, including the jelly-like blob that confused many.
However, as with most of these re-released titles, you will have to
think again if you expect to sail through them by using your old
solutions. The game is larger and more complex than the original, and
none the worse for that. Had it been released on its own, Countdown to
Doom would have made a good purchase. That it has been packaged with two
other titles makes it nothing other than essential.
8.3
Return to Doom is part two of the Doom trilogy. Your task is to rescue
the Ambassador of Regina who has been kidnapped by renegade robots. As
the game progresses, you even acquire a talkative robot dog to keep you
company. Return is larger and more difficult than Countdown (which
should be played first) but still has the playability and addictiveness
of its predecessor. That CPC Computing named Return to Doom as the text
adventure of the year in 1988 is of no surprise and I had to tear myself
away from it in order to write this article. I have not (yet!) solved
this game but as soon as I have finished writing, I will be attempting
to advance further without resorting to the on-line help, a feature of
the Topologika adventures which can prove just that little bit too
tempting at times.
8.3
Philosopheræs Quest will be remembered by many who owned BBC Micros but,
once again, you will have to ditch your old solutions. This is obvious
even from the first location where those expecting to find a rod amongst
the artefacts will be disappointed. The game itself, however, provides
no such feelings, and along with the opportunity to reminisce, there is
plenty here to keep you busy, whether or not you solved the original.
8.3
Acheton / Kingdom of Hamil
8.3
Acheton, by Jon Thackray, is one of the largest text adventure games
ever released and so Topologika have not added to it, feeling that it
was big enough already. It was first released in the early 1980s by
Acornsoft as a disc-only release, and many could have missed it first
time round due to the price of disc drives back in those cassette-
orientated days. If you missed Acheton, you should waste no time in
adding it to your collection. Written in the magical style of the
original Crowther & Woods Adventure, Acheton is huge. Topologika suggest
that you use a very large sheet of paper for the map. Painting over a
wall in your computer room and using that may be more suitable for the
task. The help sheet runs to a massive 233 questions, and if you want to
buy a game this Christmas which might last you through to next, few come
better equipped for the task.
8.3
Given the difficulty of completely solving Acheton, one would think that
the ideal game to accompany it would have been Quondam but, fortunately,
Archimedes owners have been spared what was the Éultimate in sadismæ
from the pen of Peter Killworth. For those not acquainted with it,
suffice it to say that Quondam was one of the few BBC adventures that I
failed to solve ù even with use of the help sheet!
8.3
Kingdom of Hamil by Jonathan Partington was chosen as the stablemate for
Acheton and is an ideal starting point for those who are new to the
genre. The scenario is that you are the true but dispossessed king of
the land of Hamil. Once kidnapped in infancy, you set out to reclaim
your throne. The game starts gently, but gradually gets more difficult
as you progress, and provides an enjoyable challenge. Once again, the
game has been updated from its original BBC incarnation so can be played
by those who solved it first time round.
8.3
SpySnatcher
8.3
Inspired by the book that the Tories made popular in the late 80s,
merely by banning it, SpySnatcher combines the talents of Jon Thackray,
Jonathan Partington and Peter Killworth. Given their previous output,
there really should be no further need to encourage you to buy this. You
have been summoned to MI7 to unmask a mole, as some plans appear to have
been leaked.
8.3
While investigating, you also have to keep out of sight as you are only
on the premises unofficially. The addition of other characters such as
the security guard, allows for time-based puzzles as well as more
standard adventure fare. SpySnatcher is similar in style to Rainbirdæs
Corruption, but the text has more humour to it and you do not have to
keep waiting for the drive to load all those annoyingly irrelevant
pictures. In all, itæs an adventure just that little bit different from
the rest, and well worth ú15 of anybodyæs money.
8.3
Avon / Murdac
8.3
Avon has a Shakespearian theme, but those who do not have an exhaustive
knowledge of the great bardæs works should not be put off by this.
Believe me, you are not alone, and if I can play this game in relative
ignoranceÇ, so can you. Perhaps more of the humour will be apparent if
you are conversant with Shakespeare but I found plenty to amuse me as I
wandered around exploring and head-scratching. Your aim in this game is
to return to the present day, though given the skill with which Jon
Thackray and Jonathan Partington have constructed this light-hearted
romp around sixteenth century Stratford, who would want to?
8.3
The other half of this two game pack is Murdac by the same authors. I
feel that Topologika give a misleading impression of this game by
describing it as Éfree with Avonæ. Do not let this make you think that
you will be getting a sub-standard game; Murdac could very easily stand
on its own as a release in its own right. The scenario is, once again,
from the mould of the original Adventure, in that you have to explore
underground tunnels and dungeons while finding ways of dealing with
trolls, ogres and no end of strange creatures with a little bit of magic
thrown in for good measure.
8.3
Last Days of Doom/Hezarin
8.3
The final part of Peter Killworthæs Doom trilogy, has you travelling
back to the planet in order to save it from destruction. Arguably the
most difficult of the three, Last Days of Doom starts with a limited-
move puzzle which works very well in giving you a sense of action and
urgency. Your trusty robot dog also makes a comeback and, within the
packaging, is a robot dog construction kit, a nice touch which takes
oneæs mind back to the halcyon days of Infocom.
8.3
Hezarin is another Éfreeæ game which would easily stand on its own as
regards quality. In this adventure by Steve Tinney, Alex Ship and Jon
Thackray, your task is to overcome the tyrant, Arijith, and free the
peasants from his oppressive regime. Hezarin has a nice sense of humour,
is large and will provide a worthy challenge for most adventurers.
8.3
Conclusion
8.3
Although I have tried to write about these games in a vague way so as
not to divulge too much of the plot and the puzzles contained within
them, I hope I have managed to put across some of my enthusiasm for the
genre. If you have never played an adventure game, I hope you will be
encouraged to find out for yourself how enjoyable they are. Topologika,
in my opinion, have not released a poor game, a feat not matched by many
games companies. Unfortunately though, they have no current plans for
any future releases in the adventure games field. The reason for this is
that sales have not been as good as hoped for, especially on the newer
games. To quote Brian, öalthough Peter and the rest of the crowd have
plenty of games in various stages of completion, there is absolutely no
point in releasing games that no one wants to buy.ò The future then, is
purely and simply in your hands. I for one, would find it incredibly sad
if the genius of Peter Killworth were never seen again in the Acorn
adventure games world.
8.3
Availability
8.3
All these Topologika games are available through Archive for the
following prices, including VAT:
8.3
GiantKiller (inc. GK Support Disc)  ú33
8.3
Countdown to Doom / Return to Doom / Philosopheræs Quest  ú28
8.3
Acheton / Kingdom of Hamil  ú19
8.3
SpySnatcher  ú14
8.3
Avon / Murdac  ú19
8.3
Last Days of Doom / Hezarin  ú19
8.3
Any comments relating to this column, or any other games related
subject, should please be sent to Dave Floyd, c/o PO Box 2795, London,
NW10 9AY.ááAá
8.3
Topologika have sponsored a competition with a couple of their adventure
games as a prize. In the following wordsquare, find which of the words
in the word-list is not in the square anywhere. Send your entry ON A
POSTCARD only, please to the Archive office by Friday 9th December.
8.3
Gestalt 2
8.3
Andy Watson
8.3
This review covers two pairs of programs in the Gestalt 2 series from
Basing Educational Software: Time & Fractions and Money & Shopping. All
four programs are aimed at children of primary age and those with
special educational needs.
8.3
The programs come in a ring binder with very brief instructions which
cover the common features of all Gestalt 2 programs. Further
instructions are contained within the programs.
8.3
Each program is protected by a security feature which allows a certain
amount of use for evaluation purposes before a security code, obtainable
only on payment for the programs, is required. This is a good idea which
might be usefully copied by other educational publishers. However, the
protection method will need to be made more sophisticated as it is
fairly easy to get round at the moment.
8.3
Common features
8.3
The programs all have features in common. Each program opens with a menu
window which allows the teacher to set various program options. Clicking
<menu> in this window brings up a glossary which explains what the
various options do. You can choose to have reports of pupil performance
printed out without a printer driver being loaded.
8.3
On the main program screen, an Explain icon will detail what the user
must do. This has clearly been designed with the teacher, not the pupil,
in mind so the programs require teacher support until the child becomes
familiar with their operation. It would have been easy enough to phrase
the instructions so that children could use them unaided.
8.3
There is a Zoom option which focuses on the current question and offers
an explanation of what to do. There is also a Help icon which points the
child to the correct answer and thus ensures that the child is never
completely stuck.
8.3
The teacher can choose the Interactive function which adjusts the
difficulty of the examples to suit the childæs performance. So if the
options chosen prove too difficult, the questions are simplified.
8.3
Time
8.3
Time provides various activities to help children make sense of the
different ways in which time can be represented. There is a useful
teaching clock which can illustrate time in a variety of ways Ö digital
(12 or 24 hour), analogue, colloquial (quarter to 12) or numeral (11
forty-five). The clock itself can be shown with normal or Roman numerals
or even without any numerals and can be set to display only a.m., only
p.m. or both. The hands can be moved in any unit from one minute to one
hour. There are pictures and text to illustrate different times which
are particularly useful when introducing the concepts of a.m. and p.m.
8.3
There are three other activities Ö matching analogue and digital times,
setting the clock to a particular time and placing some times in
sequence. Each of these allows a wide choice of how the time is
displayed.
8.3
There were a few minor problems with the program. Sometimes the display
is overcrowded and the writing too small Ö in particular, the small red
on black LED letters in the analogue/digital match were not very clear
on a standard monitor. The user interface could be improved, especially
in the sequencing activity, where dragging would have been much more
intuitive than the clicking required. One feature which children found
disconcerting was that the icon used to tally the number of questions
completed is a cross. Many children thought that this meant that their
answer was incorrect.
8.3
Despite these reservations, this program is useful in the classroom both
as a teacheræs aid to demonstrate the different methods of displaying
time and as a way of providing practice at simple time problems for
younger children.
8.3
Fractions
8.3
Fractions works by splitting up five pictures into segments (usually
quarters) and asking the pupil to reassemble them. For example, pictures
might be split into four parts and the pupil asked to reassemble a half,
50% or 0.5 of each picture, depending on which mode was chosen.
8.3
Like all Gestalt 2 programs, Fractions has a variety of features which
can be configured to suit different children. The pupil can be shown an
indication of the portion he has selected so far and can use the Zoom
facility for some extra help. The pupil can be asked to reassemble the
whole object or just a portion of it. There is also an option called
ÉShow Finishæ which prevents the pupil from making a larger portion than
is requested.
8.3
From the menu screen, you can choose to work with fractions (halves,
quarters, thirds), decimals (0.25 and 0.5) or percentages (25% and 50%).
I would have preferred a wider range of values.
8.3
The user interface is not as friendly as it might be. Children are
required to click on a segment and then click on the position where they
want to place it instead of the more obvious method of dragging.
8.3
While this program will help children to understand the relationship of
simple fractions to a whole, its value is limited. Fractions does not
help the child to understand the relationship between fractions,
decimals and percentages and, by avoiding using numbers, it provides
only a very limited insight into the world of fractions. There is
nothing about equivalence of fractions which is a concept which is very
important and which can be very well illustrated on a computer screen.
8.3
All in all, I did not find this program very useful.
8.3
Money
8.3
An item with its cost is shown along with pictures of various coins. You
have to click on the appropriate coins to pay for the item. If you get
it wrong, you will be told that it is too much or too little and can see
the answer if you want. The HELP option places a barely discernible thin
white line round the box containing the coin(s) which should be chosen.
There is no indication when you are correct, you are just presented with
the next problem.
8.3
You can choose the number of coins to be used, whether cumulative totals
are shown as coins are chosen and whether exact values or Érounding upæ
can be used.
8.3
Like the other programs under review, the illustrations are often rather
small and some of the text can be difficult to read on a standard
monitor.
8.3
While this program does what it sets out to do, there is no facility to
adapt the items for sale or the prices and so its usefulness is limited.
8.3
Shopping
8.3
Shopping requires the child to pay for larger amounts and from a wider
choice of coins. You can choose to pay the exact amount or allow
rounding up. The rounding up option can be further refined so that only
the lowest possible Éround upæ will be accepted. So that if an item
costs 45p, ú1 will not be accepted as payment if a 50p coin is
available.
8.3
The first window allows the child to choose what items he wants to buy
from a choice of shops. Then a second window displays the coins from
which payment must be made.
8.3
Although you can choose to work with particular coins and choose
different levels, it is difficult to set up levels appropriate for
different age groups Ö e.g. it is not possible to set up the program so
that only values under a pound will be used and only coins under 50p.
Whatever you choose, you canæt prevent items costing more than ú1 from
appearing and although you can control the coins which can be chosen,
this doesnæt prevent ú5 notes being offered.
8.3
As with Money, there is no option for the teacher to amend the items for
sale or the prices.
8.3
Conclusion
8.3
Drill and practice programs often get a bad press but they are still
very popular with teachers. Sales of programs such as those in the 10/10
series show that there is a good market for programs which deal with the
nuts and bolts of the curriculum. To be successful, this kind of program
needs to be easy to use, adaptable to a range of abilities and
motivating for the children using it.
8.3
While these Gestalt 2 programs do meet some educational needs, there are
other programs which do the job in a more interesting way. The children
I invited to try these programs found them difficult to understand and
use at first and did not ask to use them again.
8.3
Despite the authoræs claims, I do not feel that these programs are
suitable for children with learning difficulties. The display was often
too cluttered, no use was made of sound and it was not always obvious
when you had given the correct answer. There is also no option for
alternative input devices such as switches, concept keyboard,
touchscreen, etc.
8.3
Drill and practice programs of this kind need to be very configurable so
that the teacher can ensure that each individual child is working at a
level which best meets his particular needs. While these programs had
plenty of options, it wasnæt always possible to alter the aspects of the
program that I wanted to change. They also need to be more exciting than
these programs if children are going to want to use them.
8.3
At about ú30 +VAT for each pair of programs, I donæt consider these
Gestalt 2 to be particularly good value for money.ááAá
8.3
PD Column
8.3
David Holden
8.3
Competition
8.3
Entries have been a bit thin up until now, so Iæm rather disappointed.
Whatæs happened to all you programmers? Thereæs ú200 in prizes, so you
stand a chance of getting more than just fame. Please write to me at the
APDL address inside the back cover and enclose a blank disc and a stamp
and Iæll return it with a copy of the rules and an entry form. Donæt
think that you arenæt Égood enoughæ to win a prize. There will be
several prizes and the only way you can be certain of not winning is if
you donæt bother to enter.
8.3
Risc PC problems
8.3
The new Acorn computer and RISCáOS 3.5 has brought the usual flood of
Éoldæ programs that donæt work. One of the most common problems is the
Wimpslot allocation. It isnæt strictly a PD problem of course, but it is
very common in PD programs.
8.3
Memory on Archimedes computers is arranged in Épagesæ. On the Risc PC
each page is 4Kb. The smallest amount of RAM that the memory controller
can allocate to any task is 4Kb and any increment must be in 4Kb steps.
Now the difficulty is that on all earlier models the page size was
variable and depended upon the total amount of RAM the machine had. A
1Mb machine would have a page size of 8Kb, a 2Mb machine 16Kb and a 4Mb
machine 32Kb. So if a program asked for 20Kb of RAM to be allocated by
the Wimp it would actually get a minimum of 24Kb (3╫8Kb on a 1Mb
machine), or more likely 32Kb (2╫16Kb or 1╫32Kb). On the Risc PC, it
will actually get the 20Kb it requested (5╫4Kb).
8.3
Now if the programmer has done his job properly, thereæs no problem.
However, if the programmer had a 2 or 4 Mb machine then he would be
testing his program in an environment which actually allocated 32Kb to
it, even though he only asked for 20Kb. With the Risc PC, it would now
be trying to run in only 20Kb and that can lead to lots of Éno room for
this DIMæ or ÉAddress exceptionæ errors.
8.3
If you get these problems look in the !Run file for a line which, in the
previous example, would be:
8.3
Wimpslot -min 20K -max 20K
8.3
In this instance, increase both to 32Kb. In other cases, increase the
numbers to the next higher figure exactly divisible by 32. This wonæt
always effect a cure, but it does ensure that the program has as much
memory in which to run as previously.
8.3
There is another problem which arises as a consequence of the new page
size. Because the page size varied with the amount of memory available,
bad programmers often used it as a way of determining how much RAM a
machine had. When such programs are run on a Risc PC, they find a page
size of 4Kb, and so they immediately report that you donæt have enough
memory Ö even if youæve got 16Mb!
8.3
My experience is that all properly written programs work, and this
doesnæt only apply to PD. If it has been written Éby the bookæ (although
this isnæt always possible) it should work on a Risc PC. I confess that
I did have a problem with one of my own programs but when I
investigated, it turned out to be a typing error. This caused a fault in
the Module header which, for some reason, worked OK previously, but the
Risc PC wasnæt so tolerant. I can hardly blame the machine for
discovering my mistake.
8.3
Most of the problems arise because many PD programmers donæt have a copy
of the PRMæs. Instead of finding out how to do things properly, they
look at other peopleæs programs. In this way bad programming techniques
get perpetuated and can easily become the norm as they are copied by one
person after another. This is particularly common with demos, which are
the type of program least likely to work on a Risc PC.
8.3
I would strongly advise anyone running a demo for the first time to make
sure that they have no unsaved data. Be prepared to switch off the
computer afterwards, as sometimes itæs the only way to get it to work
properly again. I would suggest you also take a copy of your machineæs
configuration Ö not just the main items but the whole of CMOS RAM. On
more than one occasion, mine has been so scrambled by a demo that if I
hadnæt kept a copy, I would have needed to reconfigure everything
manually.
8.3
Some badly written games also do this, but it isnæt so common.
8.3
Christmas clipart
8.3
Last year at this time I offered a disc of seasonal clipart. This proved
very popular and so I have decided to do so again, in plenty of time for
you to use it to prepare your Christmas invitations and greetings. As
last time, it will be a mix of religious and secular material. I may
include a few of the best items from before but most of it will not be
the same, so if you obtained last yearæs disc, it will not just be a
repeat. As usual, for a copy of this send ú1 or four first class stamps
to me at the APDL address inside the back cover.ááAá
8.3
Puzzle Corner
8.3
Colin Singleton
8.3
Paul kindly referred last month to my Éhuge repertoireæ of puzzles. It
is true that I have a modest collection of puzzle books from which to
glean ideas, but I hope that the puzzles I present in this column will
all be original. This, of course, means that you cannot look up the
answers! You will not always need your computer to solve these puzzles,
but it will often help.
8.3
Here are this monthæs two puzzles...
8.3
(3) Tithes
8.3
The Rippuov Casino has devised a new way of fleecing its clients. This
is a game based on the toss of a coin. The punter stakes 10% of his
current cash-holding (rounded to the nearest penny) on each toss. If he
loses, he forfeits his stake to the bank Ö if he wins, he retains his
stake and also collects an equivalent amount from the bank. This is
settled before the punter calculates his stake for the next toss.
8.3
Cheerful Charlie played the game, starting with ú100.00. He had some ups
and downs, but after 40 tosses he found that, once again, he had exactly
ú100.00. He decided this was a good time to pack up and go home.
8.3
How many tosses did Charlie win?
8.3
(4) Prime Post
8.3
In the remote Principality of Primephilia, postage stamps are printed in
a selection of values, most of which appear to be totally unrelated to
the postage rates (rather like the UK!). Specifically, stamps are
available for all prime numbers of cents.
8.3
Prince Fred has bought his Mother-in-lawæs birthday present Ö a book on
Numerical Partitions, which he doesnæt understand, and he hopes will
bore her to tears. His immediate problem, however, is the postage, which
is exactly one dollar (yes, that is 100 cents, even here!). Fred only
has one stamp of each value under a dollar.
8.3
In how many different ways can he make up the required one dollar
exactly?
8.3
... and last monthæs two answers ...
8.3
(1) This is 1994
8.3
1994 = ((Å1)ù┌9 ù ┌9) ╫ ┌4
8.3
You might come up with some horrendously involved expression, but I
donæt think anyone will find one simpler than this. The only Étrickæ
consists of raising a fractional number to a negative power to obtain a
large number. Once you have thought of that, it is almost trivial! All
mathematically correct answers will go in the hat for the prize. Acorn
Basic will evaluate the expression PRINT (.1^ÖSQR9Ö SQR9)*SQR4.
Additional brackets could be used for clarity but, in this version of
Basic, are not essential.
8.3
(2) Conversations
8.3
There are 203 different groupings.
8.3
For two friends, there are just two possibilities (AB) and (A,B), where
commas separates different groups. For three friends there are five
possibilities (ABC) (A,BC) (AC,B) (AB,C) and (A,B,C). For four friends
there are fifteen possibilities (ABCD) (A,BCD) (ACD,B) (ABD,C) (ABC,D)
(AB,CD) (AC,BD) (AD,BC) (A,B,CD) (A,C,BD) (A,D,BC) (B,C,AD) (B,D,AC)
(C,D,AB) (A,B,C,D). You can continue with pencil-and-paper to find 52
arrangements of five friends, and 203 of six.
8.3
For those who want the mathematical analysis, denote the number of
arrangements of n friends into g groups by nAg. The total number of
possible arrangements of n friends is ▀ nAg for all g, 1┼g┼n. If, after
n friends have formed g groups, a further friends arrives, he may join
one of the g groups, or remain alone, forming an extra Égroupæ of one.
Hence, from each arrangement of n friends into g groups, we can derive g
different arrangements of n+1 friends into g groups, plus one
arrangement into g+1 groups. Turning this round, we can deduce that
nAgá=ág╖nù1Agá+ánù1Agù1.
8.3
From this we can construct a Pascal-type triangle of numbers:
8.3
    g=1  2  3  4  5  6  Total
8.3
  n=1  1            1
8.3
  2  1  1          2
8.3
  3  1  3  1        5
8.3
  4  1  7  6  1      15
8.3
  5  1  15  25  10  1    52
8.3
  6  1  31  90  65  15  1  203
8.3
  7  1  63  301  350  140  21  876
8.3
Feedback
8.3
Yes please! Comments, favourable or otherwise, will be gratefully
received, as will contributions for future Puzzle Corners. Please write
to me at 41 St Quentin Drive, Sheffield, S17 4PN, and send me your
Puzzle Answers by Friday 9th December. Good luck!ááAá
8.3
Pocket Book Column
8.3
Audrey Laski
8.3
The old, old story
8.3
One of the riders to Murphyæs Law (öIf anything can go wrong, it willò)
is the following: öWhenever you buy your gizmo, itæs almost upgrade
time.ò Iæve only had my Pocket Book since July æ93, and here comes the
shiny new version, first cousin to Psion 3A, and full of features to
make me green. Iæm not bothered about built-in Schedule, since I got
that in a bundle when I bought the Pocket Book, but I do covet the
enlarged screen and the sound recorder. There was a marvellous
conversation going on behind me in the bus the other day, a novelistæs
dream; if Iæd had the new Pocket Book I could have caught it all
unobtrusively and meditated on it at my leisure. On second thoughts,
perhaps thatæs an unethical use to make of it, so I should be glad to be
free of temptation.
8.3
Clearly, anyone about to embark on the Pocket Book for the first time
should go for the new improved version unless really strapped for cash;
meanwhile, those of us making the best of our dear old model can
certainly add to its usefulness with extra software. öWidget Newsò, from
Widget Software Ltd., lists much software which, like the shareware I
wrote about earlier in the year, though designed for the Psion, will run
perfectly well on the Pocket Book. These include, amongst other useful
things, Hugh Johnsonæs Wine Guide, which is costly but would be the
ultimate in winesmanship, an interactive set of European airline
timetables (3 Flight Manager) and a personal finance program (Finance
Pack 3). Any dedicated Pocket Book user would probably do well to get on
the Widget mailing list.
8.3
Hardware matters
8.3
Robert Newmark, of Cleadon, Sunderland, writes to express irritation
with the flimsy case of the Psion, remarking that öthe cover for the two
AA batteries comes off at the slightest provocationò; Iæve only
experienced this with the Pocket Book when actually dropping it on the
floor, when it seems a not unreasonable piece of behaviour. This started
me thinking, however, about the ruggedness of a piece of equipment
expressly designed for school use. Any object which goes into classrooms
and playgrounds needs to be able to withstand not only dropping but
throwing, dribbling and kicking into touch, and I wonder how the Pocket
Books which are going back and forth in schoolbags are faring. The
columnæs school student correspondent, Ian Horsey, took his to New
Mexico this summer and remarks that it didnæt melt in the desert heat; I
wonder if he or any other school users would care to comment on how well
their Pocket Books stand up to the rough and tumble of life.
8.3
He also mentions, in relation to my mains adaptor problem, that Maplin
Electronics sell a multi-purpose mains adaptor, with the facility to
change voltage, for around ú10. Iæm glad to know about this, as it
sounds a useful object, but it now looks as if my actual problem is a
loose connection in the Pocket Book itself, which will need expert
attention. I suppose this may be a result of my having dropped it Ö if
so, it does raise worries about toughness, since the fall wasnæt far.
8.3
PKUnzipping to the Psion
8.3
Further to his earlier input, John of the other side of the bed writes:
8.3
ÉMatthew Hunter of NCS tried out the RFM software onto an Aleph One PC
card with its own serial port, öwith some success,ò he reports. He used
the command öRFM port=COM1 baud=9600 use h: m:ò, whereupon you can
access the  Pocket Book drives as though they were PC drives.
8.3
ÉIn effect, this will allow you to install files from an MSDOS archive
direct to the Pocket Book without the mutually inconsistent way that
Spark (_) and the DOS-filer (/) transliterate the É.æ character.
8.3
ÉI agree with Matthew that using PocketFS2 straight to the DOS partition
is easier for backup and that it would be even more useful to be able to
address Acorn storage from the Pocket Book than vice-versa.
8.3
ÉThe remaining problem is to discover whether or not one can use the A-
link (with a suitable plug conversion) directly to link to an MS-DOS
machine. Anyone tried it yet?æ
8.3
Dunceæs Corner
8.3
Dr. Peter Young, of Cheltenham, accuses himself of quadruple dunceship
in falling foul of the Spell dictionary. Having inserted a mis-spelt
word in Sys$dict.d$c, he tried to correct it by editing the file in
Write and saving it, after which, attempting to add words or to delete
the dictionary got that most maddening message: ödevice or file in useò.
He realised, after much misery, that Write had saved Sys$dict as a .wrd
file but left the .d$c version open. He then understood that the answer
would be to save from Write with the .d$c name; unfortunately, after
editing, he had forgotten the hideous first part of the name, and going
back to the directory display to find it lost him access to the file in
Write, and prompted another ödevice or file in useò. I wonder if the new
improved Spell in Pocket Book 2 will be a little more user-friendly?
8.3
A set of queries
8.3
Peter also sends a useful set of queries for which readers may have
answers:
8.3
1) Write. Is there any way of adding hot-key short-cuts to those which
exist already? My favourite typing error is transposition of letters. In
my DTP application, there is a hot-key for correcting this, and one in
Write would be welcome. Is it possible?
8.3
2) Abacus. The ökeep backup filesò option seems only to work during the
current session. Is this intended, or am I doing something wrong? It
would save much bad language if I could guarantee always to have a
backup of a spreadsheet before I foul it up!
8.3
3) A bug in Abacus?  If you try to use the AVG function on a group of
cells which you are going to put numbers into later but havenæt done
yet, the sheet crashes, you can only carry on with anything by pressing
the Desktop button, and you canæt get back into Abacus (you get my
favourite öfile or device in useò message).  I am not going to try this
again, as I had to do four resets running the other day when trying to
set up a sheet for future use! Is it me or Abacus which is wrong?
8.3
Endnote
8.3
It has been suggested to me that the drought of correspondence during
the summer, might have occurred because readers havenæt got my address.
I think we gave this in an earlier issue, but here it is again: 18 Ebury
Street, London, SW1W OLU. I look forward to the flood.ááAá
8.3
Small Ads
8.3
(Small ads for Acorn computers 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 donæt know what
Ésmallæ 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)
8.3
Å  A3000, RISC OS 3, 20Mb HD, ARM3, 2Mb RAM, and serial upgrade, Cub3000
monitor, manuals ú400. CC Compression, serial link software and lead.
Games: Apocalypse, E-type, Nevryon. These bits free with computer or ú5
each. Phone Simon on 0151-228-3884 eves or e-mail [e-mail]
8.3
Å  A310, 4Mb, ARM3, RISC OS 3.1, 42Mb SCSI hard disc, 4 slot backplane,
ú550. Also Scanlight Junior with Mitsubishi A5 400dpi scanner, ú120.
Sensible offers considered. Phone Christine on 01661-843259.
8.3
Å  A310, 4Mb RAM, RISC OS 3.1, 40Mb HD, 4-slot backplane, Philips CM8533
monitor, Star NL-10 Printer, ú450 o.n.o. Phone [phone].
8.3
Å  A4 model II, 4Mb RAM, 60Mb HD, PC Emulator, RemoteFS, Carry Case,
Trackerball, boxed, 10 months old and hardly used ú780. Phone or fax
01395-232969.
8.3
Å  A4 with 4Mb + 60Mb drive plus Taxan 787LR multiscan monitor and
external keyboard, ú1200. Two CC Qume Laser Direct printers with
interfaces ú300 each +carriage. 300Mb SCSI drive ú200. Morley cached
SCSI i/f upgraded for Risc PC ú175. Acorn Ethernet card ú50. Prophet
accounts package ú75, PipeDream 3 ú30. Phone [phone].
8.3
Å  A410/1, 4Mb RAM, 33MHz ARM3, 50Mb HD, Newlook, I/O podule, MIDI,
Sound sampler, Black Angel, Chopper Force, Gods, Lemmings, Chocks Away
compendium, keyboard extension cable, and postage ú620. Also new and
unused RISC OS Style Guide with disc ú10. and Pineapple PAL encoder
(allows your computer to connect to video equipment and SCART, BNC) ú50.
Series 3 OPL manual (not software), same OPL as Pocket Book, ú4. Phone
Mark after 6pm on 01905-754277.
8.3
Å  A410/1, RISC OS 3.1, 4Mb, 35MHz ARM3, 228Mb SCSI HD, State Machine
G16 graphics card, HCCS 16-bit SCSI card, HiFi Audio. Multipod
Professional audio/video digitiser, EMR Midi 4 interface, music
sequencer, PC Emulator, multisync colour monitor, loads of Arc and PC
software ú675 o.n.o. Phone [phone].
8.3
Å  A440 ARM3, 20Mb HD, RISC OS 3.1, Beebug VME & 5╝ö FD interface, Taxan
770+LR monitor, Panasonic KX-P1124 printer ú650. Phone [phone]
eves.
8.3
Å  A440/1, ARM3, 8Mb, RISC OS 3.1, Newlook, Colour Card Gold, Oak SCSI
with CDFS upgrade, 100Mb internal drive, Taxan 770 monitor, all boxed,
manuals, software, ú700 + carriage. Paul Lewis 0181-993-2361.
8.3
Å  A5000, 4Mb, 120Mb hard disc, without monitor, ú700 o.n.o. Also Master
128 and Pace Linnet V21/23 modem, sensible offers considered. Phone
Dominic on 0117-942-2663 anytime.
8.3
Å  A5000, 4Mb, 40Mb, ARM3, AKF18 multisync, RISC OS 3.11, ú675. A420,
2Mb, 20Mb, AKF17 colour monitor, RISC OS 3.1, ú325. A310, 1Mb, twin
floppy drives, mono monitor, ú150. All at ú20: Pace linnet modem (v21/
v23), ROM/RAM podule (64K + battery), Schema 1, Acorn 2-slot backplane/
fan, Electron Plus One. Excluding delivery. Phone [phone] eves/
weekends.
8.3
Å  A5000, 4Mb RAM, 124Mb IDE HD, RISC OS 3.11, Acorn AKF18 multiscan
monitor, manuals and software, ú900 o.n.o. HP550C Colour inkjet printer
ú300 o.n.o. Phone [phone].
8.3
Å  A5000, 4Mb RAM, 80Mb HD, ARM3 33MHz, Acorn Multiscan, RISC OS 3.11,
some software. Ex cond, only 12 months old. Phone Mark after 6pm on
01978-861170.
8.3
Å  A5000, 4Mb RAM 80Mb HD, AKF50 monitor, ú750 o.n.o. A-link for Psion
or Acorn Pocketbook ú35 o.n.o. Phone [phone].
8.3
Å  A5000 Floppy Disc Interface (Beebug), plus Opus 5╝ö External Disc
Drive (with integral power supply): ú45 + p&p. Canon PW1080A 9 pin DM
Printer (boxed, cw handbook and dust cover): ú45 + p&p. Ovation DTP
(v1.37S): ú40 + p&p. Phone [phone] after 7.
8.3
Å  A5000 RISC OS 3.11, 4Mb RAM, 40Mb HD. manuals + PRM, HCCS SCSI card,
N.East buyer preferred. ú750. Phone Garry on 0191-377-1489.
8.3
Å  A5000 with 40Mb hard disc, 4Mb memory, ú785 o.n.o. Phone [phone]-
9576.
8.3
Å  A540 with 8Mb RAM and 120Mb SCSI hard drive, RISC OS 3.11, some
software ú900. Phone Ray on 0181-864-7208.
8.3
Å  A540 (120Mb SCSI disc with 12Mb RAM), Taxan 795 and sundry software
for ú1275 o.n.o. Phone [phone] and leave a message for Paul.
8.3
Å  Aleph One 486/4Mb, fast PAL card ú290. Colour Card Gold ú145. Phone
01480-381996 (Cambs).
8.3
Å  Canon BJ10 inkjet printer with sheet feeder ú100 + carriage. Phone
01204-841459.
8.3
Å  Canon BJ230 printer with Turbo Driver (unregistered) ú250. Colour
Card ú120. Scanlight 256 ú90. Impression Borders ú5, Business Supplement
ú20. PinPoint ú50. RemoteFS (Serial) ú30. Phone Mike on 0114-261-9444.
8.3
Å  Colour Card Gold ú175, Pineapple video digitiser ú100, Bank Manager
ú5, EasiWriter ú35, Games Ö Alice in Wonderland, Mig29, Chocks Away,
Wimp Game, Manchester United, Powerband, Populous, Virtual Golf, Saloon
Cars Deluxe Ö all ú10 each. Other games from ú2. Phone [phone],
eves.
8.3
Å  Colour Card Gold. Phone Clive Bailey on 0908-661980.
8.3
Å  Cumana 3╜ö floppy drive with PSU, hardly used ú75. PRES A3K6 disc
buffer board for A3000, ú25. Or ú90 for both. Phone Ian on 0151-678-
9879.
8.3
Å  DeskEdit 3, ú12. Acorn Desktop C, version 4, ú35. ÉC: A Dabhand
Guideæ by Mark Burgess, 2nd ed., ú7.50. Phone Ernie Cobbold on 01493-
740557.
8.3
Å  Eizo F550i-W 17ö monitor ú550 + carriage. Phone Paul Lewis 0181-993-
2361.
8.3
Å  Eureka 2, ProArtisan 2, and Revelation Imagepro, each ú55. Phone Iain
on 01463-751251.
8.3
Å  Minerva Multistore, complete, boxed, manuals. WS4000 modem and Beebug
Hearsay. RISC OS 2 PRM. Offers. Phone Paul Lewis 0181-993-2361.
8.3
Å  Pace MicroLin fx Pocket Fax/Data Modem, 9600bps fax, 2400bps data,
ú55. Phone [phone].
8.3
Å  Pineapple digitiser in external box ú50. Morley EPROM programmer ú15,
EPROM eraser ú15, Both ú25. Zool ú10. Phone [phone].
8.3
Å  Quantum 105Mb and 520Mb 3╜ö SCSI drives, ú80 and ú180 respectively or
would consider exchange of the 520Mb drive for a Colour Card Gold. Phone
John on 01373-813336 (Frome).
8.3
Å  Scanlight Junior 256 ú135. Impression Publisher (with Dongle) ú115,
CC Turbo Driver ú35. Acorn compatible stereo speakers ú15. Phone 0131-
339-6979.
8.3
Å  WantedáÖáA-Link Ö contact via NCS office.
8.3
Å  Wanted, Composite RGB colour monitor (type used on old BBC Model A/
B). Phone Clive Bailey on 01908-661980.
8.3
Å  Wanted, Longman Logotron Logo for about ú25. Phone Tim on 01362-
691690.
8.3
Å  Wanted, Multisync monitor in good working order. Ring Devon 01626-
853774.
8.3
Å  WordWorks ú20, HP Printer Drivers ú10, AlphaBase ú10, Blowpipe ú10,
Corruption ú10, Rotor ú10, Desktop Games ú10, Orion ú10, Terramex ú5,
Quazer ú5, Conqueror ú5, Startrader ú5, Artisan 2 ú10, Artisan support
disc ú5, Sporting Triangles ú5, EMR Soundsynth ú15, Nevryon ú10,
Herewith the Clues ú10, Hoverbod ú5, Repton3 ú5, Inertia ú5, Alerion ú5,
Zarch ú5, Thundermonk ú5. Phone [phone]pm weekdays.
8.3
Å  Z88, 256Kb memory, SpellMaster, Mains Power, carry case, manuals.
Offers. Phone Paul Lewis 0181-993-2361.
8.3
Å  Z88, with 128Kb RAM, PC Link II with cable for Archimedes, printer
cable, mains adaptor, carrying case & topper, two books Ö ÉZ88
Computingæ and ÉUsing your Z88æ and some copies of Z88 Eprom magazine.
All for ú95. Phone Alan on 01277-622153.
8.3
Charity Sales
8.3
The following are available for sale in aid of charity. Please donæt
just send money Ö ring 01603-766592 to check if the items are still
available. Thank you.
8.3
Software: First Word Plus ú5, Leading Edge Midi Tracker ú9, Bubble Fair
ú2, Blaston ú2, Pysanki ú2, Rotor ú2, Datavision database ú10, Autograph
(Maths teaching) ú20, Boogie Buggie ú5, Colour Fun ú5, Impression
Business Supplement ú10, James Pond ú8, Chuck Rock ú5, Sim City ú12,
Populous ú10, MultiStore ú20.
8.3
Hardware: Floppy discs as new ú15 per 50, Acorn Ethernet interface
(A5000) ú60, external 5╝ö floppy drive ú30, A3000 1Mb card ú15, Joystick
Interface (Serial Port) ú12.
8.3
(If you have unwanted software or hardware for Archimedes computers that
you could donate in aid of 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.)ááAá
8.3
Programming for the Non-Programmer Ö 2
8.3
Cain Hunt
8.3
I wanted to create an A5 printed diary. This article explains a simple
program which achieves this.
8.3
Writing the program
8.3
The most important part of any program is thinking out what exactly you
want it to do. In this case, I wanted a week-to-a-page diary in an A5
page format. Impression will do all the complicated pamphlet printing so
all I needed was a text file with each week consisting of a month & year
heading, followed by the days of the week and the correct dates. The
easiest method I could think of was to get the user to type in the start
date of the first Sunday and the number of weeks. The program then
counts through the days and changes month and year when appropriate.
8.3
The initial structure of the program was:
8.3
Set up the arrays of day and month names
8.3
Input the start date and length of diary
8.3
Open the DiaryText file
8.3
For each week:
8.3
   Calculate the dates and the month & year
8.3
 heading
8.3
   If the date reaches the end of the month
8.3
 then change to next month
8.3
   If the month reaches the end of the year
8.3
 then change to next year
8.3
   Print the week
8.3
Next week
8.3
Close the DiaryText file
8.3
I also wanted to be able to print a diary in organiser (Filofax) format
three pages per A4 sheet. To do this I needed to compile six weeks of
diary and then print them out in a different order so that they would
read correctly when the organiser pages were cut out. Therefore, for
each page, six weeks of dates and month headings were compiled into
arrays:
8.3
date$(6,wpp%), month_heading$(wpp%), year_heading$(wpp%)
8.3
This gave the final structure of the program:
8.3
Set up the arrays of day and month names
8.3
Input the start date and length of diary
8.3
Open the DiaryText file
8.3
For each page:
8.3
   For each week on the page:
8.3
      Calculate and store the dates and the
8.3
 month & year heading
8.3
      If the date reaches the end of the
8.3
month then change to next month
8.3
      If the month reaches the end of the
8.3
 year then change to next year
8.3
   Next week
8.3
   For each frame on the page
8.3
      Print the correct week for that frame
8.3
   Next frame
8.3
Next page
8.3
Close the DiaryText file
8.3
For further details of how the program works read the REM comments in
the program listing.
8.3
How to use the program
8.3
Double click on the Obey file ÉCSD=Hereæ so that the output file is
generated in the correct place. Double click on the Basic program
DiaryMaker. Type in the date of the first Sunday in the diary separated
by commas (e.g. 1,1,1995 = 1st January 1995). The program confirms the
start date and then you can type in the number of pages of six weeks. A
text file is generated called ÉDiaryTextæ. Open the Impression file
ÉTemplateæ and drop the file ÉDiaryTextæ into it to generate the diary.
8.3
To print an organiser style diary change the line DATA 0,1,2,3,4,5  to
DATA 0,2,4,5,3,1. You can do this if you have RISC OS 3 by holding down
<shift> and double-clicking on the Basic program DiaryMaker. Change the
line and then save the new version over the original. Now follow the
instructions above but this time drop the file DiaryText into the
Impression file Templfilo.
8.3
Details of Template files
8.3
(For those who donæt get the monthly disc.)
8.3
To save space, these descriptions assume a good working knowledge of
Impression. If you donæt understand them drop the text file into your
favourite Impression template and play around with it until it looks
right. Alternatively, get a copy of the monthly disc!
8.3
Template
8.3
A5 portrait, facing pages, single column (width 100 mm, height 203 mm).
On left page X position is 42 mm on right it is 6ámm. Y position is 6 mm
in both. Start chapter on Right page.
8.3
Styles:
8.3
Normal   Trinity.Medium 16pt. Line space 100%. Space above para 0pt.
Space below para 8pt.áMargins 2mm in from frame edges. Right justified
tab 1mm in from right margin. Left justified text
8.3
Date  Homerton.Medium
8.3
Day  Italic ON
8.3
Month  Italic ON, Bold ON. 18pt text. Line space 120%. Space below para
12pt. Centre justified text.
8.3
New Month  Trinity.Bold.Italic
8.3
Rule Off  Rule-off: Thickness 1pt, Above text 0pt, Below text 22pt
8.3
Print settings (onto A4 paper):
8.3
Fit lots, sideways, ignore page border, centre pages, pamphlet two.
8.3
TemplFilo
8.3
A4 landscape facing pages 3 columns (width 81mm, height 167mm).
8.3
To get the correct alignment of the frames you must first make a
drawfile containing the outlines of the three organiser pages (each
width 3╛ö, height 6╛ò). You can easily do this by setting the grid lock
in Draw to 1ö ╫ 4ò. I have added markings for the holes to be punched
but this is not essential as you could use a pre-punched page as a
template once the pages are cut out.
8.3
Create a blank frame which is not linked to the others on the right hand
master page. Put it to the back and make it almost as big as the A4
sheet. Drop your template drawfile into this frame and set its scale in
the Alter Graphic dialogue to 100%. Now align the three frames on this
page so they are centred vertically on each page but are offset to the
right, away from the area where the holes will be punched.
8.3
Move the frames on the left hand page to roughly similar positions to
those on the right page. Make all the frame outlines visible by changing
their borders to 1. Now print off both sides of a test sheet and see if
the frames are aligned. By trial and error you should be able to get
them to roughly match. Finally, make all the frame borders invisible
again.
8.3
I know this is tedious but once you have done it you can use the same
template for printing anything in Filofax format. You need to keep the
template DrawFile visible on the final print out because it shows you
where to cut the pages.
8.3
Styles:
8.3
Normal   Trinity.Medium 12pt. Line space 100%. Space above para 0pt.
Space below para 8pt Margins 2mm in from frame edges. Right justified
tab 1mm in from right margin. Left justified text
8.3
Date  Homerton.Medium
8.3
Day  Italic ON
8.3
Month  Italic ON, Bold ON. 16pt text. Line space 120%. Space below para
12pt. Centre justified text.
8.3
New Month  Trinity.Bold.Italic
8.3
Rule Off  Rule-off: Thickness 1pt, above text 0pt, below text 22pt
8.3
Print settings (onto A4 paper):
8.3
Sideways, Ignore page border, Centre pages.
8.3
Print on both sides of paper by using Right pages then Left pages.ááAá
8.3
NC100 to Acorn Interconnection
8.3
Les May
8.3
When you buy an Amstrad NC100, you are not getting an Acorn Pocketbook
or a Psion 300 at less than half the price. What you do get is a simple
computer with about 49Kb of RAM and the potential to accept PCMCIA cards
giving up to 1Mb of additional storage.
8.3
The built-in programs are a rather old-fashioned, but remarkably
sophisticated, word processor called ProText, plus an address book,
diary with realtime clock and large digit calculator. The LCD screen
gives 80╫8 lines of text and is best described as Éadequateæ. Printing
can be either direct to a serial printer or, with some additional
software, to a parallel printer.
8.3
What I was looking for when I decided to buy an NC100 was the
convenience of being able to type in notes whilst working in libraries,
and to transfer them later to my A5000 using the serial port. The full
size keyboard, low cost and low power consumption were essentials. The
fact that it also had BBC Basic built in, complete with Z80 assembler,
was something of a bonus.
8.3
Because the Acorn and Amstrad Basics use different tokens, programs have
to be passed between the machines as text files. As far as the NC100 is
concerned, the method of passing text files is well described in the
manual. To do this, you have to list the stored files already present in
the portable. Of course this is not possible if you donæt have any files
present in the NC100 in which case a dummy file with a single character
can be created and named.
8.3
Text files can be converted to executable programs by entering Basic on
the Amstrad using <Function> B and typing *EXEC filename at the prompt.
The program then scrolls up the screen and can be executed by typing
RUN. Text files are saved automatically when the machine is switched off
but programs are not.
8.3
It is nice to be able to write and test programs on the A5000, taking
into account the less sophisticated nature of Amstrad Basic, then
transfer them for use to the portable. The filetype must be set to Text,
line numbers must be used and the CR<->LF in the Edit menu must be
toggled. The program then appears in Edit as one long string with [0d]
characters at the end of each line of program.
8.3
If the program running on the NC100 generates data which it is intended
to transfer back to the Acorn machine for analysis, the most convenient
way is to use the code fragments shown below.
8.3
REM In NC100 program
8.3
N$=STR$(N%): REM Convert number of
8.3
observations, N%, to a string
8.3
F%=OPENOUT(F$): REM F$=Filename
8.3
PRINT#F%,N$,CHR$(10)
8.3
FOR Q%=1 TO N%: REM Q%=Loop counter
8.3
 PRINT#F%,W$(Q%),CHR$(10): REM String array W$ holds observations
8.3
NEXT Q%
8.3
CLOSE#F%
8.3
REM In RISC OS program
8.3
F%=OPENIN(F$)
8.3
PROCread
8.3
N%=VAL(I$)
8.3
DIM W%(N%)
8.3
PROCsetup_arrays
8.3
CLOSE#F%
8.3
DEF PROCread
8.3
I$=öò: REM I$ is a global variable
8.3
REPEAT
8.3
 X%=BGET#F%
8.3
 IF X%<>10 THEN I$=I$+CHR$(X%): REM If end of string not found
concatonate
8.3
UNTIL X%=10
8.3
ENDPROC
8.3
DEF PROCsetup_arrays
8.3
FOR Q%=1 TO N%
8.3
 PROCread
8.3
 W%(Q%)=VAL(I$)
8.3
NEXT Q%
8.3
ENDPROC
8.3
Numeric data is converted to strings using STR$ and stored as string
variables or in string arrays. After each string a CHR$(10) is also
stored. Following transfer as text files to the Acorn machine these data
files are read into the analysis programs, a byte at a time, testing for
the byte being equal to CHR$(10).
8.3
When this is detected, it acts as an end of string indicator and the
complete string can then be converted to numeric form using VAL, stored
directly in a string array or processed as a string variable. The
disadvantage is that it wastes storage space in the NC100.
8.3
The advantage of this approach is that we do not have to know anything
about how the NC100 stores strings or numbers. Also, the datafile can be
treated as just another ProText file without having to remember to set
the machine to send ASCII files.
8.3
How useful is the NC100?
8.3
Just how useful is the NC100 when used in conjunction with a RISC OS
machine? The keyboard is fine and I can touch type on it without any
problems. Thatæs lucky because, as I commented earlier, the display is
only Éadequateæ. Partly that is my tired old eyes and Iæm not sure how
well Iæd cope with a Pocket Book. Iæve not used the diary or the
calendar so far, so I can say nothing about them.
8.3
The facility to write programs in a language I already know, I find very
useful. So far, Iæve written a Checksheet emulator and analyser for use
in animal behaviour studies. Only for final testing of the emulator was
it necessary to download it to the Amstrad; a real timesaver. The
analyser runs in the A5000.
8.3
Iæm sure it has a lot of potential for field work in subjects like
biology, history, archaeology and geography. At present, it would be
necessary to write the Amstrad data collection and the Acorn data
conversion programs for oneself, but it should be possible to read data
into a spreadsheet or database without too much difficulty.
8.3
Though data collection by computer in the field can be a little slower
than pen and paper methods, it saves a lot of time in transcribing data
and checking for errors.
8.3
Teachers who Éneed to take a computer homeæ often require only simple
wordprocessing facilities and the NC100 certainly deserves a second look
for this purpose alone. One or two NC100 in each classroom for entry of
text, along with a RISC OS machine for formatting and printing could
also be put to good use.
8.3
The collaboration between Acorn and Psion led to a product which has
been well received. Acorn might do worse than talk to Mr Sugar because
the unit price of the NC100 is now only about ú71, which, with VAT and
retail margin, translates to just under ú120. Many parents would be
willing and able to spend that sort of money on a computer for their
offspring, and it is within the budget of College and University
students. Personally Iæd find a card type database more use than an
address book or a diary.
8.3
Next time, Iæll discuss a couple of programs which can be used to
transfer files between the NC100 and RISC OS machines.ááAá
8.3
Risc PCæs Astronomical Aspirations
8.3
A computer hardware project
8.3
by Ronald Alpiar
8.3
Donæt be mislead Ö this article is NOT just about the RiscáPC and it is
NOT just about astronomy. From Archive questionnaires, I know that a
lots of you want articles about using RISCáOS computers for interfacing
projects Ö for control or using the computer to sense and measure
automatically. Those of us who were weaned on the BBC Micro will have
been disappointed at how difficult it was to do anything similar on the
first Archimedes when it arrived Ö we had been spoilt!
8.3
In this article, Ronald opens the way for projects using the
bidirectional parallel port on A3010, 3020, 4000, 5000 and RiscáPC
computers. Did you know that the parallel port actually has 17 lines
that can be used, variously, for input and output?
8.3
It is still not easy to do I/O on a RISCáOS computer but, hopefully,
where Ronald leads, others will follow. If you do develop an interfacing
project using the parallel port, please tell us about it. Perhaps one of
our software expert readers will help us by providing a series of
functions and procedures that will help those of us not too familiar
with the ARM code programming that is needed if speed is of the essence.
8.3
I look forward very much to hearing how you all get on with your
interfacing projects, but remember, if you are connecting electrically
to your computer, even through the parallel port, you must take great
care. Iæm afraid that we at Archive cannot accept any responsibility for
damage to your computer caused by following the advice in this or any
succeeding articles Ö but have fun anyway and we have access to some
very able computer-repair experts if you do have problems! Ed.
8.3
It was love at first sight! Delivered on the same day, RiscáPC and
Starlight Expressæ SX Astronomical camera lay side-by-side on my
workbench, exchanging meaningful glances. After a short engagement, Iæm
glad to announce that nuptial vows have been duly exchanged. Lest
readers conclude that Iæve finally taken leave of my senses, Iæd best
explain.
8.3
The RiscáPC requires no introduction Ö though (be warned!) we shall be
taking an unusually intimate look at its Printer Port. CCD astronomical
cameras, on the other hand, are not exactly mass consumer items.
Starlight Express, the sole UK entry in a fiercely competitive
manufacturing market for these devices, consists of two pieces of
hardware together with software and documentation.
8.3
The camera head encapsulates the CCD sensor and supporting electronics,
and incorporates a thermo-electric cooling (TEC) device Ö to minimise
the build up of thermal electrons during long exposures. In use, the
camera head is attached to some optical imaging device, be it a
sophisticated telescope, or merely a humble camera lens.
8.3
The camera head is connected to an interface unit which Édrivesæ the CCD
sensor and digitises the returning signals and displays the sensoræs
temperature.
8.3
The interface unit in turn is connected to the printer port of any PC.
Software is used to make the interface send correct driving signals to
the camera head, and to store and display the returning digital
information. The fact that is is controlled in software, unlike the
commercial TV imaging modules that I reported on in Archive 4.9 p32
unlocks a magic door to experimentation.
8.3
How it works
8.3
To appreciate the hardware and software demands on the RiscáPC, we must
first roughly understand how an imaging sensor works. The general
principles were explained in the earlier article. Briefly summarising,
sensors contain arrays, typically consisting of several hundred rows and
columns, of photo sites. Figure 2 is a highly simplified diagram of a 4-
by-4 array. Incoming photons of light impinging onto the photo sensors,
release electrons according to Einsteinæs photo-electric effect. During
exposure, biasing electrodes ensure that these photo-electrons
accumulate independently in each photo-sensor site.
8.3
(I never fail to be thrilled by the thought of those microscopic
photons, commencing their epic odyssey whilst dinosaurs still roamed our
earth, faithfully tracing their geodesic trajectories through the vast
emptiness of the curved space-time continuum, until finally splashing
down onto the surface of my CCD sensor. It is hard to resist the
anthropomorphic urge to cheer and greet each such new quantum arrival!)
8.3
After exposure, other electrodes guide each packet of photo-electrons in
turn to output circuitry. All designs have in common the sensor array, a
horizontal shift register, and output processing circuits. Designs
differ in the geometric arrangements for the orderly shepherding of
photo electrons from the sensor sites into the horizontal register.
8.3
The crudest approach is simply to move the electrons down into the
horizontal register row-by-row. But since whilst occupying photo-
sensitive sites, further photo electrons will be generated, this
approach causes Éstreakingæ of bright sources. A similar technique
rapidly transfers the electrons, row-by-row, into an identical shielded
array where they can await further processing quarantined from invasive
light. This is the Éframe transferæ technique. The disadvantage is that
one is effectively using only half the array for actual imaging.
8.3
The SX camera employs a more sophisticated Éinterline transferæ
technique. During exposure (which may range from milliseconds to an
hour) photo electrons accumulate in the photo sensitive sites. Exposure
completed, a pulse signal dumps the electrons into adjacent cells in the
vertical registers, where they are safe from incoming photons.
8.3
Thence they are transferred row-by-row to the horizontal register.
8.3
Once a row of bundles of photo electrons are settled into the horizontal
register, they are shifted, one at a time, into the output circuitry,
there to be converted from a charge into a voltage, and amplified.
8.3
At this stage, off-chip circuitry digitises the analogue pixel signal
voltages, enabling them to form computer input. Again, there are several
methods of digitising ranging from simple Ésample-and-holdæ circuits to
elaborate Édual slope integrationæ designs which gain high marks in the
signal-to-noise stakes. The digitisation is normally to 12 or even 16
bits Ö too wide for a standard 8-bit wide I/O channel. So the computer
usually reads the output in two or more chunks.
8.3
Shift registers also vary in design: 2, 3 or 4 phase arrangements exist
Ö in all cases ensuring that adjacent bundles are not allowed to mingle
and thus smear the image. Figure 3 illustrates a typical 3-phase shift
register.
8.3
To summarise, some 16Ö24 input/output lines are needed to drive the
equipment, namely
8.3
output:
8.3
  6 lines to clock the vertical and horizontal registers
8.3
  1 to switch the on-chip output amplifier on/off
8.3
  1 to swill away electrons before exposure
8.3
  1Ö2 to dump sensor electrons into vertical registers
8.3
  1Ö2 operate the analogue/digital converter
8.3
  1Ö2 to select a chunk of digitised output
8.3
input:
8.3
  0Ö1 line to sense completion of analogue/digital conversion
8.3
  4Ö8 lines to accept digitised output
8.3
Although the SX interface unit accepts TTL logic signals (i.e. voltages
compatible with normal computer I/O), we require unhindered control of
each individual line Ö altering any one must never affect any other
line. Speed is also essential. Array readout should be as fast as
possible, as every secondæs delay adds noise to the signal in the form
of thermal electrons. Since a sensor may typically contain ╜ million
pixels, this calls for clocking speeds between 1Ö10╡s. How does RiscáPC
match up to these demands? At first glance, it has nothing to offer,
unless one resorts to the crutch of I/O expansion cards.
8.3
Digital input/output
8.3
Enter, deus ex machina, the RiscáPCæs 25-pin D-type socket, which we
always thought of as a mere printer port! Not so Ö as is clear from a
glance at Appendix C of the Welcome Guide, where it is correctly
described as a Parallel Port. Moreover, the accompanying pinout table
reveals the presence of some 17 I/O data lines. Although standard
manuals provide no clue as to how to how to program them, all is
revealed in the PRMs (Volume 2, pp477ff).
8.3
Communication to and from the port is serviced via three memory-mapped
hardware registers, namely the Édataæ, Éstatusæ and Écontrolæ registers.
A special SWI öParallel_Opò enables the useræs program to talk to these
registers. The functions of the three registers are:
8.3
data register
8.3
  an 8 bit wide parallel I/O channel. When printing, it is used in
output mode, and contains the ASCII code of a character
8.3
status register
8.3
  only 5 bits of the byte are actually wired up, all inputs. During
printing, these inform the printer driver of the current printer status
(e.g. busy, error, paperout, etc)
8.3
control register
8.3
  again only 4 of the possible 8 bits are wired to the socket, all are
outputs, normally used to send special signals to printers
8.3
On entry to öParallel_Opò, R0 dictates which register is addressed and
the direction of data. For example, to write to the data register, set
R0=2 and R1=data to be written: e.g. to set data lines 1 & 2 high, and
the rest (i.e. lines 0 and 3Ö7) low from Basic, enter the instruction:
8.3
  SYS öParallel_Opò, 2, 6 : REM 22 + 21 = 6
8.3
or in Assembly code:
8.3
  MOV R0,#2  ; set R0=2 Ö write to the data register
8.3
  MOV R1,#6  ; set R1=6 Ö data to be written 6
8.3
  SWI öParallel_Opòá; software interrupt to
8.3
perform this action
8.3
Hereæs a more advanced example. Suppose that data lines D0, D1, D2
control voltages v1,v2,v3 of the vertical shift registers. Then the
following loop of instructions would move the entire array down one row
vertically each time round (the bottom-most row enters the horizontal
register):
8.3
REPEAT
8.3
SYS öParallel_Opò, 2, 1 : REM v1=High
8.3
SYS öParallel_Opò, 2, 3 : REM v1,v2=High
8.3
SYS öParallel_Opò, 2, 2 : REM v2=High
8.3
SYS öParallel_Opò, 2, 6 : REM v2,v3=High
8.3
SYS öParallel_Opò, 2, 4 : REM v3=High
8.3
SYS öParallel_Opò, 2, 5 : REM v3,v1=High
8.3
UNTIL 0
8.3
To get the output lines toggling...
8.3
Figure 4 presents a working program which demonstrates these principles.
Youæll need some hardware to use it. First remove any Édonglesæ from
your parallel socket (they are likely to upset the data flow, and may
even be damaged) and/or any printer. Wire up a connector consisting of a
25-way IDC D-type plug, with 25 way ribbon cable, and pin out lines 2Ö9
(data lines D0 to D7) and any of lines 18Ö25 (all earth). Plug it into
the parallel socket. Beg, borrow or buy an oscilloscope. Set the
timebase to 10╡s/division and the vertical amplitude to 5 volts/
division. Connect the oscilloscopeæs probe clips (the right way round!)
to any earth and any one data line.
8.3
The program consists of two parts, square1 & square2. Both parts set up
a square wave on all 8 lines D0ÖD7, the number of complete cycles is set
by E% (transmitted to R4). Square1 illustrates the recommended and
Ésafeæ method: access to the hardware is gained only via official
channels of a SWI call. Your oscilloscope should show a square wave with
a pulse width of 8.5╡s (or 17╡s/cycle). Alas, this is not quite as fast
as one might wish.
8.3
To achieve greater speeds, square2 daringly risks direct hardware
access. Under normal Éuser modeæ, hardware accesses are blocked with the
message öinternal error : abort on data transferò; so we first have to
enter Ésupervisor modeæ. We need to find out the address in RAM where
the parallel data register is mapped. The (off limits) SWI
öParallel_HardwareAddressò obligingly places the address in R0
(incidentally the status and control registers are in R0+1 and R0+2).
From then on, all is similar to the code in square1, but remembering to
return from supervisor to user mode before returning to Basic! Note the
dramatic increase in speed using direct access, from 8.5╡s to about 1╡s!
8.3
I shanæt bore you with precise details of which bits of the three
parallel registers are wired to the various SX camera interface control
lines. Suffice it to say that all the cameraæs control requirements were
adequately catered for using only the parallel port connector.
8.3
The driving software follows the path already blazed by the developers
of the PC-hosted SX camera, Terry Platt and Ed Rees, to whom I am
immensely grateful for help and advice generously accorded. The original
software was written in Power Basic (a compiled dialect of Basic running
under DOS on PCs). My task was to write a similar program for RiscáPC.
The program is mainly in assembly language, supplemented by Basic for
operations where time is not at a premium.
8.3
The PC program, running on an Amstrad 2086 with maths co-processor, took
55 seconds to readout, store and display the contents of the sensor
after exposure. On the RiscáPC the same operation completed in 3.8
seconds (normal mode) and under 1 second in fast mode Ö ænuff said?
8.3
The Starlight Express SX Astronomical camera is available from FDE Ltd,
Bodalair House, Sandford Lane, Hurst, Berks, RG10 0SU. (01734-
342600).ááAá
8.3
Figure 1. The ÉWedding Photoæ Ö SX with the RiscáPC!!
8.3
The SX camera interface unit sits on the lap of RiscáPCæs casing. Note
the temperature display and ribbon cable, normally plugged into the
parallel port socket. The camera head crowns the pose. On its right is
an attached SLR camera lens: on its left, cooling fins to dissipate heat
generated by the TEC heat pump.
8.3
Figure 3.    Typical 3-phase shift register
8.3
Biasing electrodes in cells marked v1 are all wired together in
parallel. Likewise those marked v2 and v3. During phase 1 bundles of
photo-electrons (A, B, C, D, E) are confined to cells v1, attracted by
the high levels of biasing electrodes v1=High. In phase 2, both v1 and
v2 biasing electrodes are High: bundles of electrons are free to share
adjacent cells, v1 and v2. In phase 3, v1 electrodes are lowered, so
that all electrons in v1 cells migrate to v2. By this time the five
bundles of electrons have been shifted one cell to the right.
8.3
Phaseá1
8.3
v1=High
8.3
v2=Low
8.3
v3=Low
8.3
Phaseá2
8.3
v1=High
8.3
v2=High
8.3
v3=Low
8.3
Phaseá3
8.3
v1=Low
8.3
v2=High
8.3
v3=Low
8.3
Figure 2. Schematic diagram of one type of CCD image sensor
8.3
This shows a 4 row ╫ 4 column pixel array, and illustrates one of many
different methods of shepherding bundles of photo-electrons successively
into the output circuit. Incoming photons impinging on the array of
photo-sensitive sites (ÉSæ), create photo-electrons which accumulate
during exposure. After exposure the system, enters a readout state.
First electrons are simultaneously shifted from photo sites into
adjoining vertical registers. Next they are moved, one row at a time,
down into the horizontal register.Thence they are shifted one cell at a
time into the output processing circuit.
8.3
REM Program to set up square wave on parallel portæs data lines
8.3
DIM ccdops% 1000        :REM reserve space for code
8.3
FOR pass%=0 TO 3 STEP 3 :REM 2-pass assembly
8.3
P%=ccdops%              :REM address of start of assembled code
8.3
[
8.3
OPT pass%
8.3
.square1
8.3
         MOV   R0,   #1     ; R0=1 - write to parallel data register
8.3
.loop1   MOV   R1,   #0     ; data to be written is 0 (8 lines low)
8.3
         SWI   öParallel_Opò; the SWI writes R1 data to the data
register
8.3
         MOV   R1,   #&FF   ; data to be written is 255 (8 lines high)
8.3
         SWI   öParallel_Opò; the SWI writes R1 data to the data
register
8.3
         SUBS  R4,R4,#1     ; decrement loop counter
8.3
         BGE   loop1        ; loop till finished
8.3
         MOV   PC,   R14    ; and then return to Basic
8.3
;
8.3
.square2 SWI   öOS_EnterOSò ; entering supervisor mode allows access...
8.3
                            ; to normally protected hardware addresses..
8.3
                            ; mind your step!
8.3
         SWI   öParallel_HardwareAddressò
8.3
                            ; and the above naughtily places the base...
8.3
                            ; address of the parallel port into R0
8.3
.loop2   MOV   R1,   #0     ; data to be written is 0 (8 lines low)
8.3
         STRB  R1,   [R0]   ; poke data directly into data register -
ouch!
8.3
         MOV   R1,   #&FF   ; data to be written is 255 (8 lines high)
8.3
         STRB  R1,   [R0]   ; poke data directly into data register
8.3
         SUBS  R4,R4,#1     ; decrement loop counter
8.3
         BGE   loop2        ; loop till finished
8.3
;
8.3
         TEQP  PC,#0        ; return from supervisor to user mode
8.3
         MOVNV R0,R0        ; NOP to realign data banks...
8.3
         MOVNV R0,R0        ; ...and once more for luck
8.3
         MOV   PC,   R14    ; and only then return to Basic
8.3
]
8.3
NEXT pass%
8.3
E%=1E6 : t=TIME             : REM depth of loop passed to R4
8.3
CALL square1                : REM loop lasts about 17.8 seconds
8.3
PRINT (TIME-t)/100;ö secondsò
8.3
E%=1E7 : t=TIME             : REM depth of loop passed to R4
8.3
CALL square2                : REM loop lasts about 20.3 seconds
8.3
PRINT (TIME-t)/100;ö secondsò
8.3
END
8.3
DTP Column
8.3
Mark Howe
8.3
I gather that there are 30,000+ Impression users, so presumably some of
them must have made some interesting discoveries that they could share
with the rest of us. I suspect that, like myself, most of them would
rather read columns than write them, but if we all keep thinking this
way, none of us will ever have a DTP Column to read! Anyway, before
inflicting too many of my opinions on an unsuspecting readership, I
suppose it is only fair to reveal some of my own background and
prejudices.
8.3
I live in the South of France with my wife and two 8Mb A5000æs.
Together, we produce most of the printed materials for an international
missionary society. In the last year I have worked on projects ranging
from full-colour A3 publicity brochures to black and white lecture notes
in six different languages. In the next year, I hope to produce five
illustrated books in English and French. I am also a director of a small
company which has installed Acorn DTP systems in England and France,
with customers ranging from a print shop, through several computerphobic
evangelists to a doctor in Marseille. In short, I am your typical
Archive reader!
8.3
What should a DTP column include?
8.3
Editing this column is going to be an interesting task, due to the great
variety of users involved in DTP:
8.3
1:áDTP can range from glorified wordprocessing on an inkjet printer to
the production of the National Geographic. Computer Conceptsæ excellent
idea of a document processor has blurred the distinction between DTP and
WP more than on other platforms, while the fairly widespread use of
direct drive laser printers has taken many users in a different
direction to the rest of the world. I imageset most of my work, which
makes reliable PostScript generation something of a priority (some would
say an obsession). Paul produces Archive on a Laser Direct, and so
PostScript is presumably somewhat irrelevant for him.
8.3
2:áThere is now a clear and growing distinction between those who have a
RiscáPC Ö either because they have upgraded or because they are new to
the wonderful world of Acorn Ö and those who are still using older
machines. The latter group are increasingly going to find their
processors too slow, their RAM too limited, their screen modes too
restrictive and, eventually, their operating system too outdated to
follow the Éhavesæ. I for one am glad that Acorn have moved on, and I do
not, for example, believe that it is fair to expect to run Artworks
successfully without a hard disc (as the author of one letter to an
Acorn magazine recently complained). Equally, many Archive users will
have to continue using their ageing machines for some time to come, so
some of the latest developments in Acorn DTP are irrelevant to these
people.
8.3
3:áProfessional users expect state of the art applications, and are (or
should be) willing to pay for them. Others, including some schools,
churches and hobbyists, are trying to do DTP on a shoestring. There is
no doubt in my mind that the upgrade from Impression II to Publisher was
excellent value for money, but I am sure that many readers of this
column agonised over spending ú30 in order to get it. Endless lists of
new products are not what such people need most.
8.3
The above points were brought home to me recently when I called a friend
who had bought an A3000 for DTP some time ago. He told me that he was
still very happy with his purchase, and with Ovation. He had just
upgraded to RISC OS 3.1 and had bought some more PD fonts, etc. It was
only twenty minutes into the conversation that I realised he was working
from a double density floppy! It is a credit to Acorn and their
developers that this is possible at all Ö no Mac or PC column would have
to deal with floppy-only DTP users!
8.3
Enough excuses! I would like to see this column covering the following
areas:
8.3
Å Tutorials on new or under-used features and techniques;
8.3
Å New products, preferably from the angle of öwhat they do for usò
rather than ögee, wow, what a slick piece of code!ò;
8.3
Å How to get more out of existing products;
8.3
Å Problems with existing products, and how to get round them;
8.3
Å Tips for creating different effects, saving time or making DTP
documents look better.
8.3
I have some ideas for the first couple of months, but after that I am
going to need your help! If you have something useful to share with
other DTP users, or if you have expertise in my particular area, please
contact me (via the Archive office).
8.3
A closer look at Publisher
8.3
Impression Publisher is, in my view, the single most important DTP
product to be launched in the Acorn market this year. Impression II was
already the most powerful DTP program on an Acorn platform, and in most
ways was competitive with Mac and PC applications. Some users had
already upgraded to Style. Much was therefore expected of Publisher.
8.3
New programs, new features
8.3
Computer Concepts have actually produced three new versions of
Impression. The following list is an attempt to summarise what new
features Style, Publisher and Publisher Plus offer to existing
Impression II users. I have taken the information mainly from the
Computer Concepts Product Guide and the Publisher Plus manual. The
numbers after each feature denote whether it is available in Style,
Publisher and Publisher Plus (╣), Publisher and Publisher Plus (▓) or
Publisher Plus only (│).
8.3
Improved User Interface, including tool bars╣, drag and drop editing╣,
OLE╣, graphics tool╣.
8.3
Improved graphics handling, including provision for 24 bit graphics╣;
TIFF╣, CMYK▓, EPS│, DCS│ and (optionally) JPEG╣ and PhotoCD files╣;
control over brightness, contrast and colour balance (including duotone
photos)▓; irregular graphics frames▓.
8.3
Typographic features, including control over underline, superscript and
subscript sizes and offsets▓; manual and auto kerning and tracking▓;
page grid▓; a more powerful version of Swap Case│.
8.3
On-line help╣
8.3
Bundled programs, including TableMate╣, Equasor╣ and WordWorks╣.
8.3
Enhanced printing control, including PostScript settings at a document
and graphics level▓; control over the page origin on imagesetters│;
advanced four-colour separation facility, customisable for different
output devices, and with an overprint option▓ (more flexible in
Publisher Plus); on-screen preview of separations▓; spot colour
support│; OPI│.
8.3
Miscellaneous changes, including named master pages╣; control of marked
sections of text with the cursor╣; Artworks-style zooming╣; the option
to toggle page borders from the keyboard╣; improved word counts│.
8.3
The user interface
8.3
User interfaces are always an emotive subject, but as Computer Conceptæs
promotion of Style and Publisher has placed heavy emphasis on the
improved look and feel of these programs, I think it is reasonable to
ask how significant the changes really are.
8.3
I like drag and drop editing. It makes all those öhave I copied the
carriage return?ò dilemmas a thing of the past. OLE works, but I am not
sure it was as exciting as we had been led to believe. It has always
been possible to switch between applications by saving to the iconbar,
which is one advantage of a true multitasking system such as RISC OS.
The graphic tool at least means that illustrations are harder to move by
accident, but I still tend to use the dialogue box to position them
exactly.
8.3
I am not at all convinced that the tool bar is a particularly useful
feature for the experienced user, and have switched it off on my copy of
Publisher. One of the advantages of RISC OS is its use of pop-up menus,
which obviate the need to move the mouse pointer constantly to the top
of the screen. Even some of my novice users have decided that keyboard
shortcuts or menus are less hassle than all the mouse activity that
comes with the tool bar. And then there is the small problem that if you
happen to like working in mode 27 or mode 12, you lose 20% of your
screen area and cannot access three of the icons because the button bar
is too long!
8.3
Many of the keyboard shortcuts have been changed, in order to make CCæs
products more compatible with other RISC OS and Éindustry standardæ
applications. On the whole, this is initially annoying but not
disastrous. However, one change which I am unhappy with is the use of
<ctrl-B> and <ctrl-I> to produce bold and italic text. Publisher copes
with most fonts better than any other Acorn program, but it still fails
to find bold or italic versions of some of my favourite EFF fonts. Using
<f3> and <f4> was not elegant, but at least it was consistent.
8.3
(I think there are two issues here: which keystrokes are used Ö and
thatæs a matter of personal taste Ö and the way that bold and italic are
implemented Ö as effects on top of the basic font style (the new way of
doing it) or as style definitions in themselves (the old way). I have
discussed the latter issue in more detail in the Comment Column on page
15. Ed.)
8.3
If I could change one thing in Publisher, it would be the new Éedit
styleæ dialogue boxes. In Impression 2.19 the font name, size, line
spacing and paragraph spacing were at the top of the list, and could be
changed quickly using the keyboard. In Impression 2.5, the order
changed, so that more scrolling or cursor keypresses were needed, but at
least they were in the same list. In Publisher, the four most useful
attributes (to me at least) are spread over three dialogue boxes. Even
worse, there are no keyboard shortcuts to access these boxes, and it is
impossible to have more than one open at once. This means more clicking,
more time, and the necessity to memorise the information in each box.
Computer Concepts say that this change was introduced at customersæ
request, but I cannot see how it is better than the old system except in
appearance. (Iæm not sure I agree. What do others think? Ed.)
8.3
Overall, I think that Publisher does have a better interface than
Impression II, but that the improvement is not staggering. To be fair to
Computer Concepts, their user interface was already pretty good, so it
was always going to be difficult to make major improvements. My main
point here is that, in terms of priorities for existing users, I do not
think that OLE and tool bars were at the top of many lists. (Please let
me know if you have any strong views on this Ö or indeed any other
subject covered in this article.)
8.3
Graphics handling
8.3
If, like me, you do not have a colour scanner, being able to load 24-bit
graphics from other machines is extremely useful. It is also worth
pointing out that desktop colour scanners will not give the same results
as a professional drum scanner, although having colour photos scanned
and gamma corrected by a bureau is not cheap.
8.3
My last attempts to import 24-bit graphics were while using Impression
2.5. On this occasion, I failed to load JPEG files but had no trouble
with TIFF files. When the document was finally imageset (via Publisher),
the photos were apparently reduced to 8-bit colour. I do not know
whether this was due to Publisher, the Acorn printer drivers or
something else, but I hope it will not happen again. I would like to
hear how other people are getting on using 24-bit images in Publisher.
8.3
The ability to import EPS files is something I have been awaiting for
some time. Unfortunately, I gather that Publisher Plus cannot display
EPS graphics on the screen. True, other DTP programs have this problem,
but in the Mac or PC world, any serious DTP user has a PostScript
printer on his desk. If Laser Direct will not print EPS files either,
imagesetting is going to be something of a hit and miss affair.
8.3
I consider providing EPS export to be a priority. Firstly, it would then
be possible to embed one Publisher page in another (handy for
catalogues, but more generally for planning several pages onto one sheet
of film). Secondly, this would provide a way of getting formatted text
into Artworks. Thirdly, a Mac bureau could load the EPS output into
XPress, which could be handy when PostScript generation fails (or for
mixing output from Acorns and Macs in the same document).
8.3
The new colour mapping control is excellent. I cannot see many people
without a RiscáPC trying to touch up full colour images, but I use this
feature of Publisher a lot to generate duotone photos (i.e. monochrome
photos that go from one colour to another instead of from black to
white).
8.3
Irregular graphics frames is another new feature which has produced much
excitement. It is useful in certain circumstances, but most users are
not going to use it very often (or, if they do, they are going to
produce some hideous documents!). Screen redrawing is particularly shaky
around irregular graphics frames.
8.3
Overall, I think that the graphics features of Publisher are of great
interest to Époweræ users, but not necessarily to those producing their
output on laser printers or monochrome inkjets.
8.3
Typographic features
8.3
Auto-kerning and tracking are great but auto-kerning can cause some
interesting problems when working with Acorn bureaus. It is important
for the bureau to have the same version of each font (i.e. RISC OS 2 or
3) as the machine on which the file was produced.
8.3
I have used the modify underlining facility to quite a lot, as I always
found the default settings in ImpressionáII too thin and too high for my
tastes. I have not used the subscript control or the page grid at all.
The new control over the action of Swap Case looks very useful, but I
hope that CC will include this feature in Publisher and Style too.
8.3
Overall, tracking and auto-kerning alone make Publisher significantly
better than Impression II in this area.
8.3
Bundled programs
8.3
I have never used Equasor, although a friend who is studying mathematics
says it is wonderful. WordWorks seems to do what is claimed for it,
although I personally prefer flicking real pages with my fingers. If
anyone wants to write a tutorial on TableMate I would read it avidly!
8.3
On-line help
8.3
This feature is obviously going to be of interest mainly to new users. I
would have preferred a printed summary of new features to the on-line
approach. (In fact, I cannot find auto numbering, which is the only new
feature I didnæt know about already, in any of the on-line browsers.)
8.3
Enhanced printing control
8.3
No-one who has tried to use the Business Supplement to produce
separations would doubt that Publisher is a vast improvement. The most
welcome feature from my point of view is the option to overprint black
text. The on-screen preview appears to be a pretty good guide to the way
separations will appear, as far as the limits of my 8-bit display allow.
The control over PostScript screens etc is also very useful. My
reservations are as follows:
8.3
Å The last newsletter that I had imageset using Publisher Plus failed to
pick up some of the PostScript settings in my file, leading to some
bizarre effects on the finished document.
8.3
Å It would be extremely useful to be able to see what screens etc had
been selected, both on the screen and on non-PostScript output. As with
EPS, this requirement is more important on an Acorn than a Mac, given
the comparative rarity of PostScript desktop printers. Couldnæt some of
that ShowPage code be dusted down and pressed into service here?
8.3
Å Trapping, even of a primitive kind, would make my printers very happy
indeed!
8.3
Å I am told that the customisable separation profiles do not work. Can
anyone confirm or deny this?
8.3
I had great hopes for OPI, but having discovered that it does not work
with PhotoCD images, I am not now likely to use it in the immediate
future. (This is a limitation with OPI in general, not with CCæs
implementation.) I would like to hear from anyone using OPI. Overall, a
vast improvement.
8.3
Miscellaneous changes
8.3
To be honest, little things like Artworks-style zooming with the mouse
have probably made more difference to my day-to-day use of Impression
than some of the headline-grabbing innovations. I do hope that those
students wanting to count words in their essays will not have to upgrade
to Publisher Plus! Some day soon, I would like true slaving to disc, as
otherwise those of us with old 4 and 8Mb machines will have trouble
using some of the new features with complex documents.
8.3
Is it stable?
8.3
Opinions seem to vary, but the consensus among people I have spoken to
is önot as stable as it might beò. I crash it every couple of hours or
so, one Acorn dealer I spoke to crashes it every thirty minutes, while
one of my colleagues claims to be able to crash it simply by not
touching his machine for an hour! (You cannot be serious! Is anyone else
suffering this badly? Ed.)
8.3
CC point out that any program the size of Publisher will have bugs. I
accept this point, but the fact remains that the consequences of bugs
can be quite serious. One of my newsletters was delayed by several
weeks, due to the failure of a RiscáPC/Publisher system to produce
reliable PostScript. It is unrealistic to expect all bugs to be removed
at once, but I think it is entirely reasonable to expect help from the
authors of a DTP program to find solutions in the meantime, bugs
notwithstanding.
8.3
(From discussions with people at Acorn World 94, I gather that
PostScript is a pain even outside the Acorn world Ö itæs just that so
many people need to get PostScript output from PCs and Macs typeset that
bureaux have learned how to get round the problems. Ed.)
8.3
I have observed a change in CCæs approach to customer support over the
last couple of years. At one point, new versions of Impression appeared
every couple of months and, usually, whichever bug bothered me was fixed
in the next version. The technical support staff provided technical
support, which in my case usually meant answering questions that were
beyond my Acorn dealer.
8.3
Impression 2.19 was far from bug free, particularly when it came to
producing PostScript output, and yet no upgrade or bug fix was made
available prior to the launch of Style and Publisher several months
later. Furthermore, a much improved version (2.5) existed and was being
sold as part of the Acorn Publishing System. T-J Reproductions
recommended that I upgrade to 2.5 in order to make their lives easier,
let alone mine, but Computer Concepts informed me that I was not a
Éprofessionalæ user and would therefore have to wait for Publisher. (CC
did subsequently decide to let ordinary users buy 2.5 if they were
persistent enough.) Eventually, my company bought an Acorn Publishing
system just to get 2.5. If we had not done this, some of my typesetting
projects would have sat on my hard disc for almost a year Ö 2.19 simply
would not print them properly.
8.3
I know that some readers will think that criticising CCæs upgrade policy
is a bit rich, bearing in mind that their products are relatively cheap,
their upgrades are often free and most other companies do not offer free
technical support at all. However, I think it comes back to my point
about different users with different needs and budgets.
8.3
A hobby user of Style or Publisher probably does not need most of the
advanced features, and would rather wait for a major upgrade than spend
money on lots of bug fixes. For that matter, he may not want to spend
his money calling Computer Concepts to moan about any problems he
encounters. I do not doubt that there are many users like this in the
Acorn world.
8.3
On the other hand, I use my computer to produce professional artwork.
The cost of Publisher, let alone the upgrades, is not that significant
compared to the cost of a failed imagesetting run: one set of films for
a multi-page document can cost hundreds of pounds. If there is a new
version of Publisher that will help me to avoid expensive mistakes or
missed deadlines, I am willing to pay for it. I would also be willing to
pay for real technical support. If there are bugs which cannot be fixed,
I would like to know about them and how they can be avoided.
8.3
And if my problem is due to something not directly the fault of CC, I
would still appreciate constructive suggestions to make my overall
system work, rather than a disclaimer along the lines of öitæs all
Acornæs fault, go talk to them.ò I do not doubt, for example, that some
of my problems with PostScript files are due to the Acorn printer
driver, but it is quite ridiculous to market a program on an Acorn
platform and then to say that it doesnæt work because it is on an Acorn
platform.
8.3
My suggestions to improve what I perceive to be an unsatisfactory
situation would be as follows:
8.3
1:áProvide minor or urgent bug fixes which do not add functionality to
the program free of charge or at the cost of the media and handling, as
in the past.
8.3
2:áSell major upgrades, as in the case of Publisher Plus.
8.3
3:áMake interim versions of programs available to all users, at a price
sufficiently high to discourage people from buying them unless they
actually needed them.
8.3
4:áOffer a premium technical support service, at a premium price, which
would include a monthly bug report with workarounds where possible,
automatic mailing of bug fixes and improved access to CC staff.
8.3
Copy protection
8.3
Computer Concepts say that the debate over dongles is over, and that
dongles are in everyoneæs best interests. My dongles prevent me from
using RemoteFS to link my machines, and one of my early dongles did not
work with the dongled Turbo Driver lead. Even with a dongle dangle, I
find it difficult to fit all the dongles on the back of my desk, and due
to the dongle dangle, I cannot screw all the cables together, which I
consider to be somewhat risky.
8.3
Computer Concepts say that dongles are only inconvenient on Évery rare
occasionsæ. If I am the only person who finds dongles a positive
nuisance, I promise not to mention them ever again, but if you feel
differently (or if you find them of positive benefit!) I would like to
hear from you.
8.3
Conclusion
8.3
Publisher is a superb program, and a great improvement on Impression II.
I would recommend all Époweræ users to upgrade at once, and to take a
close look at Publisher Plus. There is probably less in either of these
programs for casual users, but then Style was designed for them anyway.
8.3
There are a few features I would like to see added, but overall it is
difficult to fault the range of facilities offered. The program is
certainly not bug free but, hopefully, CC will fix the serious bugs and
release a more stable version quickly. I do think that more support is
needed for professional users.
8.3
Next month...
8.3
I hope to take an in-depth look at imagesetting and other means of
preparing artwork for printing. I will also produce some hints and tips
on page layouts Ö unless, that is, I hear from you in the meantime!
8.3
Mark Howe, 2 Montee des Carrelets, 84360 Lauris, France.ááAá
8.3
Impression Publisher
8.3
Neil Whiteley-Bolton
8.3
Another look at Publisher by someone else using it in a professional
situation...
8.3
Impression Publisher is the evolutionary offspring of Impression, the
software product which, arguably, has had more impact on Acornæs
presence in the Pre-Press World than any other. Impression Publisher has
been available for a number of months now, and reviews have appeared in
most of the Acorn magazines, but I wanted to wait until Publisher Plus
was released before writing this article.
8.3
Impression Publisher/Publisher Plus
8.3
Whilst Impression Publisher is an evolutionary development of the
Impression and Impression II packages, Publisher Plus has a number of
additional features intended to appeal to specialised professional
users. In conjunction with Style, they form a suite of programs
providing comprehensive ÉDocument Processingæ facilities, ranging from
simple word processing to professional full colour page make-up. Each of
the applications is fully capable of meeting the vast majority of word
processing and page make-up requirements although, clearly, an
organisation needing to produce full colour layouts would choose
Publisher or Publisher Plus whereas somebody with simple word processing
requirements would probably settle for Style.
8.3
CC offer an upgrade path from Style to Publisher and to Publisher Plus,
so it is possible for a customer to purchase Style, and to upgrade if
and when they need the extra functionality. As I said in my review of
Style, I am fairly certain that most Archive readers will have at least
a passing familiarity with Impression I or II, and so I will proceed as
for my review of Style, by describing the differences between the
product and its predecessors. Style, Publisher and Publisher Plus
inherit, and build upon, the interface which has been tried and tested
in Impression, and enhanced with subsequent releases of the product.
8.3
The three products share a common set of features which are further
enhanced in Publisher and Publisher Plus. For those people who missed,
or cannot recall, my review of Style, the features common to the new
applications, but which were not present in Impression are:
8.3
Å  interactive toolbar
8.3
Å  improved text handling with selection and dragging of blocks of text
8.3
Å  an extended Effects menu with ÉKerningæ & ÉTrackingæ, ÉKeep Togetheræ
and ÉRuleræ as well as ÉBoldæ and ÉItalicæ
8.3
Å  an enhanced Style dialogue
8.3
Å  enhanced file handling with support for deep sprites
8.3
Å  new graphic tool and numerous other features (refer to my Style
review for a more comprehensive description)
8.3
Å  Object Linking and Embedding.
8.3
New features for Publisher are:
8.3
Å  improved typographic controls Ö underline offset and size can now be
specified in the Text dialogue of the Style Dialogue
8.3
Å  improved graphics control Ö Publisher supports irregular frames, and
there is a Émake frame irregularæ on the Frame menu
8.3
Å  graphics tool now has enhanced functionality (in fact, I suspect this
functionality was originally designed into the graphics tool, and
removed from Style for commercial reasons) Ö the pan, scale and rotate
handles in Style allow the graphic to be moved, resized and rotated
respectively
8.3
In Publisher and Publisher Plus, using <adjust> on these controls
affects the frame as well Ö i.e. the frame plus graphical object are
moved, resized and rotated. When a frame is rotated, Publisher
automatically makes it irregular. Irregular frames, when selected, have
a pale blue outline and the frame handles appear in dark blue, providing
a clear indication that the frame is irregular. Subsequently, the mouse
pointer changes to a dark blue frame handle when it passes over the
frame edge. New frame handles can be added by clicking <select> at the
desired point on the frame outline. The shape of the frame can be
altered by dragging any of the frame handles. All frame edges are
straight lines rather than curves, so the frame outline is always
described by straight lines drawn between adjacent control points. A
graphical object of virtually any complexity can thus be easily
enveloped by a frame, providing it has sufficient control points.
8.3
Publisher Plus
8.3
Publisher Plus has a number of extra features over and above those found
in Publisher. Principle amongst these is support for OPI (Open Pre-Press
Interface), a system aimed at minimising the problems associated with
working with high quality photographic images. These problems occur
principally because of the size of the files created when photographic
images are scanned at a sufficiently high resolution for them to be
placed in high quality printed documents. These files can be many tens
of megabytes in size Ö exceeding the amount of main memory available in
most computers, which makes the use of some sort of Virtual Memory
System essential. Additionally, the files take a long time to load to
and from disc, and the file size makes delivery of PostScript files to
an imagesetter very much more difficult.
8.3
Essentially, when using an OPI system, lower resolution images are used
in your Impression documents, to be replaced automatically by high
resolution images before the PostScript file is öRIPpedò. Typically, you
would supply the bureau with the photographic prints or transparencies
which were to be included in the document, the bureau would scan these
and generate two image files for each photograph, the low resolution one
would be returned to you in one of a number of proprietary formats Ö EPS
(encapsulated PostScript), DCS (a variant of EPS holding pre-separated
data), Mac/PICT or PC/TIFF. Publisher can load EPS, DCS and TIFF files
and all bureaux are able to provide image files in at least one of these
formats. The OPI PostScript file generated from your document is
processed by an OPI interpreter, where the low resolution copy in your
document is replaced by the high resolution version which had been
retained by the bureau, before being fed to the imagesetter.
8.3
The idea is that the low resolution version of the image is of
sufficiently high quality for use in visualisations, and the system is
Ésmartæ enough to retain information about positioning, scaling and, in
most cases, rotation of this low resolution image and apply the
appropriate corrections during interpretation. The system will not
retain information about modifications made to the image, so any image
processing needs to have been done at an earlier stage by the bureau.
8.3
Publisher Plus, which was originally going to be sold as an OPI
Supplement, has a number of other additional features:
8.3
Å  Support for named colours, manifesting itself as an extra öColourò
button on the Toolbar, and two new options on the Edit menu i.e. New
colour... and Edit colour....
8.3
Å  Words count Ö Count words on the Utilities menu brings up a dialogue
which displays Words in document, Words in chapter, Words in story,
Truncated words and Words in selection
8.3
Å  Swap case Ö (Ctrl-S) brings up a dialogue which provides the
following actions either at the cursor or to a selected region of text Ö
Capitalise start of sentences, Capitalise initial letters, All upper
case, All lower case or Swap case of all letters
8.3
Å  Alter the page origin when printing Ö Two writable icons in the Print
setup dialogue allow X and Y displacements (negative values allowed) to
be applied to pages
8.3
All I have done in this review, as in my review of Style, earlier this
year is describe the features of the program. This is because CCæs
programs tend to work smoothly, consistently and reliably Ö I feel sure
that most Impression users could make productive use of the new Style/
Publisher features within half an hour of receiving the program!
8.3
There have been one or two criticisms made of CC recently, both on the
Internet (comp.sys.acorn) and via personal correspondence, and so I feel
it necessary to make my opinion clear on one or two issues.
8.3
Firstly, Publisher and Style had, when launched, more bugs than we are
used to finding with CCæs programs. Those I was aware of have now been
fixed, and I feel it is important that this should be put in
perspective. These are very sophisticated programs, and far more than
simply new releases of Impression Ö much of the code has been rewritten.
Even at their worst, CC are still better, in my opinion, than most
software houses when it comes to QA. I feel that much of the criticism
was in any case unjustified.
8.3
Secondly, CC have changed some of their keyboard short-cuts in line with
those in use on other systems. I say öbig deal!ò Many people, myself
included, have to work cross platform, and there is justification in
consistency Ö I would like to hear someone argue that one set of
keyboard short-cuts was intrinsically better than another.
8.3
Finally, people have complained that CC are no longer consistent with
regard to names of Dialogue buttons (the Close buttons on the Style
dialogue received considerable attention at one point). This is simply
not true, look more carefully, I would say!
8.3
I have produced work using all three of the new programs, and I find
them a pleasure to use, although I have not yet used the OPI facility in
Publisher Plus but will report as soon as possible. I feel that from the
usersæ perspective, these are CCæs best programs to date.ááAá
8.3
Acorns in Business Ö Part 2
8.3
Richard Torrens
8.3
Inventory control
8.3
The basic way that we run our electronics manufacturing business is to
buy in standard parts, kit them out into batches for assembly, get them
assembled and test them. The task of stock inventory control lends
itself to computing. I have a database of stock parts: each single line
entry has the part number, the description of the part, the purchase
quantity, supplier, supplieræs reference, last price paid and last order
number. Parts are sorted in part number order.
8.3
The parts lists have a header block giving the part number of the
assembly, quantity to issue, dates of alterations and other relevant
information. The two left hand columns below the header contain only the
part number and the quantity per board. PipeDream looks up descriptions
and prices and calculates total piece part count for a kit of 50 (or
whatever quantity I enter). It also works out the current cost of the
assembly, looking up the parts from the main database.
8.3
PD4 also has a very useful ÉSet-valueæ function which I have
incorporated in a custom function to write back the cost of the assembly
to the main database. This way, the assembly cost in the main database
is as current as the last time I accessed the parts list and I can also
use this assembly as a piece part of another with the costing
automatically being carried right through.
8.3
This system discourages me from specifying a new component since it
means adding data to the main database and it encourages good working
habits.
8.3
Purchasing
8.3
99% of the parts we purchase are for assembling into PCBs. I therefore
have a file ÉTo_Orderæ which looks up all the data from the parts
database. This file also looks up the next blank number in the Order
Numbers file! The first two Éliveæ lines of the ÉTo_Orderæ file are
ÉDummy lineæ and 00-00.
8.3
To reorder a part, I simply click on the file icon on the backdrop. (I
use !PlaceIt Ö a PD version of !Pinboard, which has several
enhancements.) The parts database and a couple of other files are loaded
automatically. Then I mark one of these two first lines and copy it into
the body of the list. Thus, if I run short of our part number, say 31-
70, I mark the line É00-00æ and copy it. I then change the reference 00-
00 to 31-70.
8.3
PD4 looks up the Description, Supplier, Supplieræs reference, date of
last order, last order number and price paid last time. I normally wait
until I have several components that I need to reorder from the same
supplier before I make out a new order.
8.3
On the backdrop, I have a PD4 command file, ÉNew_Orderæ. I click on this
and it loads all the necessary files, deletes the two dummy lines and
snapshots the relevant columns in the ÉTo_Orderæ file (i.e. the last
order number, date of last order and last price paid). I then enter the
supplieræs name in the appropriate square at the top. PD4 does a
calculation filling in the expected price for the quantity to be ordered
from this supplier: items from a different supplier it leaves blank so I
can see at a glance where I am. I then delete lines which are not
relevant to this order. Hey Presto Ö a completed order sheet and it even
displays the supplieræs phone number, contact name at the supplier and,
if it has the information, their standard carriage charge and, of
course, the VAT. I save this in the form É456_Fredæ where 456 is the
order number and Fred is the supplier. This makes sure that RISCáOS
files the orders sequentially in number order.
8.3
If I am sending a written order, I click on a blank ÉOrderæ form which
looks up the ÉTo_Orderæ list and fills itself in automatically. I simply
snapshot it, delete excess lines, print it and post it.
8.3
If I wish to fax the order, I save it as ÉNewæ Ö which is its default
name. I then click on a file called ÉFax_ itæ. This loads a blank fax
order form which fills itself in from the file ÉNewæ. The ÉFax_itæ
command file goes through the fax order form snapshotting it.
8.3
I use ArcFax from David Pilling which has a cunning feature that if the
document being printed contains the text {xyz } ArcFax will
automatically fax it to Éxyzæ. This can either be a telephone number or
a name from the ArcFax directory. You can also fill in a name for ArcFax
to save to, and a time/date. If this is present, ArcFax will delay the
fax until the appropriate time/date then automatically fax it. The blank
fax order form has already looked up supplieræs fax number and
automatically filled in the ÉFaxto:æ and ÉFaxnameæ information and so,
literally, all I have to do is remove the unused lines, check that it
looks OK and send it to the fax driver. ArcFax does the rest. The whole
system is seamless and effortless.
8.3
In due course, when the goods arrive and I have the invoice, I reopen
the saved order file, and check that prices agree. If they donæt, I
either argue with the supplier or fill in the new price in a spare
column (so I can see from this order both the old and the new price).
PD4 recalculates the invoice amount from the new price. When the order
sheet agrees with the invoice and I am happy, I write ÉFixæ in one
special slot. PD4 now writes back to the parts database the new order
number, date of order and new price. I then pull in another Command file
ÉFix_Orderæ which snapshots the document and removes a few redundant
slots (such as the column which does the write-back). I save the
document and refile it in the Finished directory.
8.3
The whole process is pleasant to use, minimises errors and takes the
minimum time. If only I could get PD4 to transfer money into my bank
account to pay the bills!
8.3
I hope these first two articles have given you a few ideas of the sorts
of things you can do with PD4. Its main strength is that it is very
versatile but this is also, in some respects, its undoing. In common
with most computer software, the more versatile it is, the harder it can
be to use, However, without a doubt, the most difficult thing in
programming PD4 is the human element of defining the task in such a way
that it can be delegated to PD4. This often seems, at least initially,
to be more difficult than simply doing the task by hand. However, the
more I automate office work into PD4, the easier the task becomes. I
certainly am more productive now than before I started to use PD4 and,
as the business grows, I find more and more tasks which I can do in a
consistent method, so PD4 can take over.
8.3
Feedback
8.3
These two articles have deliberately not said much about the exact
methods I use as I have tried not to get too technical. If you want
further information on any of the details, I can supply this
individually.
8.3
If you have any comments/suggestions/criticisms/requests, you can
contact me at: 30 Reach Road, Burwell, Cambridgeshire, CB5 0AH. Phone or
fax on 01638-741930 at any reasonable time (Iáwork from home).ááAá
8.3
Text Import Ö Part 1
8.3
Jim Nottingham
8.3
Originally, this article was planned to cover how to get your Acorn
machine to make sense of text once it had been imported from, for
example, a laptop such as the Samsung ÉMagic Noteæ (Archive 8.1 p31).
However, it seems text manipulation is one of the things readers have
been asking about in the recent Archive questionnaires, so I
provisionally agreed with Paul to extend the article to cover a wider
range of Éforeignæ text imports from Macs, IBM-compatibles and the like.
8.3
The idea seems to have caught on even before I put digits to keyboard
and it has become clear that we should perhaps make the article as
suitable for the beginner as for the relatively experienced reader. It
has therefore grown from the original single page to the point where we
ought to split it into two sessions. This first part will consider the
overall problem of text import with some of the terminology and basic
ground rules, and the second will build on this knowledge to introduce
specific methods of converting imported text to Acorn-speak. Much of
what will be discussed has already appeared piecemeal in the Hints and
Tips columns of earlier issues of Archive but, for the benefit of recent
subscribers, this is an opportunity to revisit the subject, pull it all
together and add some more hints.
8.3
The problem
8.3
Part of my day job for ÉUK plcæ is to collate, edit and publish
technical reports, incorporating material from the boffins worldwide.
The graphics and text come in a myriad of formats ranging from something
called ASCII to what looks like Zarathustrian. I can be sure of three
things: Firstly, foreign graphics import will not normally present a
problem (thanks to an ever-widening range of transfer utilities such as
ChangeFSI, ImageFS and Translator); secondly, the text will invariably
come up as Éscribbleæ on the Acorn; thirdly, the material will always be
late. This last factor means there simply isnæt time to go back to the
originator for a reformat of the text Ö or even to find out what the
format is Ö and I have to make the best of what I get. So, of necessity,
over a period and by dint of empirical sampling (posh phrase for suck it
and see...), Iæve managed to deduce a number of ways of making some
sense of what Iæm given. These methods will be discussed in Part 2.
8.3
Commercial solutions
8.3
On the face of it, effective text import utilities seem to be in the
minority. My own view is that this is probably to be expected as there
are so many possible variations in format that, to be all-embracing, a
program would have to be extremely clever. Presently, some applications
such as Impression Publisher do incorporate modules which purport to
allow foreign text formats to be loaded directly. However, the range is
by no means exhaustive and, in practice, individual modules do not
appear to work very well. I think this is probably because there are
significant formatting differences between the diverse versions of any
one application (e.g. Wordperfect variants such as WP from my Magic
Note, WP v5.1 for DOS, WP v5.2 for Windows, and so on). Clearly this
problem is by no means limited to Acorn machines and there is no such
thing as an industry standard. (Thereæs an excellent review of the
current state of affairs on p21 of the October æ94 issue of Acorn User.)
8.3
All this may seem odd as, surely, text is text? This is primarily true,
but it is not unusual for a single page of text to be interspersed and
surrounded by literally pages of what appears to be scribble. These are
the formatting commands used by the foreign application. It is our job
to recognise the original text and devise ways of filtering out the
Énoiseæ. As the proud owner of (any) Acorn machine Ö and unlike Macs and
PCs Ö it wonæt cost you anything apart from your time because, in Edit,
you already have an excellent piece of software to do the job.
8.3
ASCII codes
8.3
On to the terminology we will need to use, starting with the Ésignalæ,
i.e. the actual alpha-numeric characters that we will wish to finish up
with on screen and, eventually, in print. Fortunately for us, Gerald
Fitton wrote a very clear and informative section on this in a recent
issue of Archive (7.11 p23), so from now on I will assume you will have
re-read that and understand the relevance of ASCII (pronounced öAskeyò)
which is the acronym for the American Standard Code for Information
Interchange.
8.3
To reiterate briefly, the 256 ASCII codes to which Gerald refers are
basically sub-divided into three; the printer instruction codes (ASCII
codes 0-31), the alphanumeric characters you see on your keyboard
(covered by codes 32-127) and all the Éfunnyæ characters you may wish to
add in by some means (codes 128-255). The ASCII codes and the characters
to which they relate are not presented very clearly in the various Acorn
user-guides, if at all, so Iæve listed the so-called Éstandardæ set on
the table. (In fact itæs by no means standard but Iæll discuss that
later.)
8.3
Binary code
8.3
Gerald described the binary code system used by the computer which
always confuses me but, fortunately, we wonæt need to use that in this
exercise. The only significance here is that, as was mentioned, the
Éfunnyæ characters always start with a binary number 1 instead of 0 and
so are often called the Étop-bit setæ characters.
8.3
Hexadecimal code
8.3
Just when we thought weæd avoided clever counting systems, in comes
another Ö the hexadecimal system Ö often abbreviated to hex and, in
print, usually preceded by the ampersand character (&). We good
Europeans are quite used to working in decimal notation (0-9); hex is
just another system, this time counting in sixteens (0-15). British
readers of a certain age, like me, will find this relatively easy
because we used to have to count in sixteens! (Hands up the wrinklies
who remember the good old days when we had 16 ounces to the pound.)
8.3
The problem with representing hex numbers on screen or paper, using just
the conventional decimal numbers 0-9, is that we run out of characters.
So the hex system uses the lower-case letters a-f to represent the six
decimal numbers 10-15. Confused? So am I. Not to worry, Iæve listed the
ASCII characters on the table in both decimal and hexadecimal formats so
that we can work out the relationship and use whichever system is
appropriate.
8.3
Why do we need hexadecimal? Well, have a look at the following which is
a typical result of text imported direct from a Éforeignæ word-processor
into Edit:
8.3
  [1d]
8.3
  [00][09]╨[02]@[02] [05]
8.3
  [00][1d]Now is the winter of our discontent [0d]
8.3
  Made glorious summer by this sun of York [0d]
8.3
  And all the clouds that louræd upon our house [0d]
8.3
  In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.[1a]
8.3
In this short sample, the required text is easily recognised but there
are a couple of Éfunnyæ characters and some strange-looking numbers in
square brackets, e.g. [1d]. In Edit and some other text-processors, a
number in square brackets is used, conventionally, to represent an ASCII
character whose number is given in hexadecimal format. For example, if
you look up &0d and &1a in the table, you will see they are the same as
the decimal numbers 13 and 26. We will need to devise a method to strip
out all these funny hex numbers and this will be discussed in Part 2.
8.3
Printer codes
8.3
The ASCII codes in the range 0-31 will not actually reproduce characters
on screen but are used as coded commands, often embedded in the text, to
tell the computer and/or printer to carry out a particular operations.
Numerically, they are the exact equivalent of the Basic VDU commands so,
for example, ASCII code 13, Hex code &0d and VDU 13 all mean the same
thing; Carriage Return. Iæve put a selection of the meanings of these
codes on the table (from Beeb days, you may recognise VDU2/3 as Printer
on/off).
8.3
Further considerations
8.3
That really concludes coverage of the terminology and ground rules we
will need to be familiar with to progress to Part 2 of this article.
However, having introduced the Éstandardæ ASCII character set and
presented the table, we can usefully go on to consider allied topics
which, although nothing to do with foreign text import, you may
nevertheless find a worthwhile refresher.
8.3
Standardisation
8.3
Although the ASCII codes are supposedly a standard way of representing
characters, they are by no means universal as, strictly speaking, they
apply only to the ISO 8859/1 ÉLatin1 Alphabetæ font. Your computer
should be set to this default on delivery. If appropriate to your needs,
you can configure the computer to use a different alphabet such as Latin
2-4, Cyrillic or Greek. The range of available alphabets and how to get
the computer to use them will vary with the version of RISC OS you have,
so see your User Guide for details. I believe that, apart from Hebrew,
characters in the ASCII range 32-127 are standard. However, the ones in
the range 128-255 may well vary with the alphabet you are using.
8.3
There will be other reasons why a supposedlyê standard Latin1 alphabet
font, on paper and/or screen, will not give the characters listed on the
table and you need to watch out for this. Some of the reasons are:
8.3
Å  Printers will not necessarily replicate the characters you see on
screen. With PostScript printers for example, the font resident in the
printer must be an exact replica of the outline font you are using for
screen display. Elsewhere, the printer-driver may not be perfect and Ö a
common example Ö give you a hash (#) when you wanted a ú.
8.3
Å  Many fonts, particularly those from PD sources or Éfancyæ fonts, will
not reproduce all the characters in the top-bit set. Some do not include
any characters in the ASCII range above 127. If you try to enter a
character which has not been added to the set, not surprisingly, it will
not be displayed on screen. In some applications, you might get the
equivalent hex number displayed, in square brackets. In others, you will
apparently get nothing at all. I say öapparentlyò because, in fact, you
are actually getting a blank character with zero width.
8.3
Å  Some font suppliers have their own minor variations, usually in the
ASCII range 128-143. The Electronic Font Foundry, for instance, have
what they call the ÉEFF Extensionsæ and even Acornæs fonts are not fully
100% standard to ISO 8859.
8.3
Å  Acornæs bit-map System font is an odd-ball and produces some
different characters in the ASCII range 128-159.
8.3
Å  Some fonts are designed and produced for a specific purpose and the
character set is almost wholly different from the standard with which we
are familiar. Examples are foreign fonts such as Bengali, or symbol
fonts such as Dingbats or MathGreek.
8.3
Entering top-bit set characters
8.3
The top-bit set characters, i.e. those in the ASCII range 128-255, do
not appear on the keyboard, so how do we get them onto the screen and
printed? Let us take a fairly common one as a working example; the ⌐
copyright character. In practice, we have a number of solutions
available to us:
8.3
Å  Text utilitiesáÖáRISC OS 3.1 machines come with the Acorn program
!Chars in the Apps directory and there are others. Again, Gerald Fitton
has covered this well in his article (Archive 7.11 p24). The only point
I would add is that, when using the utility, it often helps to select
the required outline font in the !Chars window as this displays the
particular range of characters included in that font. This also works
for the foreign and symbol fonts. If we donæt do this, the Acorn System
font will be displayed by default and, as discussed above, we may well
get something completely different. To enter the ⌐ character into a
text-processor, all we need to do is position the caret where we want
the character to appear, and click <select> on ⌐ in the !Chars window.
This method is probably the most user-friendly and is universal, i.e. it
always works for any available character and for any outline font.
Usually, this is used for entering top-bit set characters, although I
know somebody who has a dicky key on his keyboard which wonæt produce a
5 or % so, rather than go to the expense of a repair or replacement, he
uses !Chars instead!
8.3
(Health Warning: using !Chars can seriously damage your documentæs
health. Let me explain. An alternative way of entering characters with
!Chars is to place the pointer over the desired character and press
<shift>. So, if you accidentally leave the pointer over the !Chars
window while you carry on typing, every time you press <shift>, you will
add whatever character happens to be under the pointer at the time Ö
this can be very disconcerting if you donæt know what is happening. Ed.)
8.3
Å  Alt key + numeric keypadáÖáWe can input any ASCII character into a
text-processor by positioning the caret where we want the character
entered, pressing and holding down <Alt>, typing the 2- or 3-digit ASCII
code (using decimal as listed on the table) on the numeric keypad and
then releasing <Alt>. Nothing will appear to happen until we release
<Alt>, at which point the character will appear. For example, for the ⌐
character, we would need Alt + 169. This method is also universal but
assumes the character is included in the font used.
8.3
Å  Alt key + character Ö In a similar way to the previous case, you can
sometimes use the Alt key in conjunction with a designated character on
the main keyboard. However, this method is not available for all the
top-bit set characters and varies between different versions of RISC OS
Ö the ones that are available on the Risc PC (i.e. v3.50) are listed on
the table. So, to enter the ⌐ character, we can press <Alt> and type in
<C>, and the character will immediately appear. Note that in this case,
because the Écontrolæ letter is an upper-case character, we also have to
press the Shift key, so we actually need to type <shift-alt-c>. As
another example, typing <alt-4> is a quick way of getting a ╝ character.
The codes for RISC OS 3.1 characters are listed in Archive 6.1 p9. The
codes for RISC OS 2 and OS 3.0 characters are listed in Archive 5.1 p10.
8.3
Å  Accents Ö All the accented characters in the top-bit set can be
entered by pressing <alt> and a designated key, releasing them and then
typing the unaccented character, at which point the accented version
will appear. These combinations are shown on the table, in italics to
distinguish them from the previous option. So, for example, if we press
and release the Alt and ] keys, and then type A, we will get └ (ASCII
code 192). A few more details are given in Archive 6.2 pp8/9.
8.3
Å  ÉHardæ characters Ö There are two characters in the top-bit set
which, on the face of it, are identical to their keyboard counterparts
but which can be usefully used in particular circumstances. These are
the Éhard spaceæ (ASCII code 160) and the Éhard hyphenæ (ASCII code
153). The hard space can be used when we might prefer to keep together
two elements normally separated by a space and which otherwise may be
split onto two lines by the text processor. My postcode YO4 2EY is a
typical example. We can enter a hard space by using !Chars (click on the
Éspaceæ just before the í character), typing <alt¡160> or typing <alt-
space>. The hard space is also useful for putting spaces into disc
filenames (I always think ÉRead Meæ looks more elegant than ÉReadMeæ or
ÉRead_Meæ but thatæs a personal thing). Similarly, many text processors
can split hyphenated words or phrases onto two lines and this may reduce
clarity (e.g. you wouldnæt want ö<shift-ctrl-f4>ò to be split). In this
event, entering hard hyphens by using !Chars, typing <alt-173> or typing
<alt-hyphen> will prevent this happening. The three longer hyphens or
Édashesæ (ASCII codes 151, 152 and 153 are also Éhardæ characters).
8.3
Whichever system or systems you use will depend on your personal taste
but the options give a powerful set of choices. My own preference is to
use <Alt> in conjunction with the numeric keypad as it is a convenient,
universal method without need to call up another utility. However, as
none of the user-guides include a convenient listing of the ASCII code
characters, I always have a handy reference chart available. This is
simply a cut-down version of the table so Iæm including a drawfile
version for the monthly disc (ASCIIChars). If you want an A4 printout,
please send me a stamped, SAE.
8.3
Thatæs it for this part. Part 2 is planned for inclusion next month, Ed
permitting, and weæll get down to the nitty-gritty of foreign text
import, perhaps with examples on the monthly disc for you to try
massaging. Jim Nottingham, 16 Westfield Close, Pocklington, York, YO4
2EY.ááAá
8.3
An Introduction to SCSI
8.3
David Webb, NCS
8.3
Following Jim Nottinghamæs useful discussion of compatibility between
SCSI cards and drives last month (8.2 p57), I have adapted one of NCSæ
user guides to help explain the SCSI system to new (and potential)
users. I also hope to shed some light on the more murky issues such as
termination, SCSI IDs and formatting.
8.3
When working for a dealership like NCS, it is easy to get used to how
arcane and jargon-infested the computer industry is. We try to help
people make the right decision on what they need and what to buy. But in
an area like hard disc drives, and especially SCSI, it is hard to make
an good decision unless you understand the dealeræs advice. Even when
the goods arrive, it is easy for a user to follow the installation
instructions but still not understand the product they have bought or
how they can get the best from it. The description that follows is to
help people thinking of buying a SCSI system, and those who already have
one, to understand what the system consists of and what needs to be done
to get it all working.
8.3
The SCSI system
8.3
The Small Computer Systems Interface, or SCSI (pronounced scuzzy) was
developed to allow computers to communicate with various peripheral
devices. It has been used extensively in Apple Macintoshæs, PCs and
work-station computers to provide a standard and versatile platform for
connecting different types of device to different computers, made by
different manufacturers. The ANSI specification for SCSI describes the
full details of how it all works, but the following summary should cover
all you need to know in order to get a SCSI system working.
8.3
A SCSI system consists of one or more initiator devices (e.g. the SCSI
controller card in the computer) and one or more target devices (e.g. a
hard disc drive). The number of initiators and targets does not matter
as long as there are no more than eight devices altogether. Most SCSI
systems on Acorn computers have the controller card in the the computer
as the only initiator and one or more target devices such as hard
drives, scanners, or printers.
8.3
The SCSI chain and termination
8.3
All the devices in a SCSI system are arranged in a single chain, i.e.
several devices connected by a chain of cables. There cannot be any
loops or branches. It doesnæt matter which order devices go in the chain
(although the connectors and cables on some devices may make a certain
arrangement the easiest). With any SCSI chain, there are two and only
two ends. Both ends must be terminated, which means that a set of
resistors is fitted to ensure the quality of the signals.
8.3
In the simplest system with a controller fitted to the computer and one
hard disc drive inside it, both must be terminated. When you purchase a
drive or a controller card, it will have terminators fitted. On an
internal hard drive, the terminator will be two, three or four thin
strips (resistor packs) inserted just behind the SCSI cable connector as
shown below. On a SCSI controller card, the terminator is usually three
resistor packs near the cable connector. Consult your SCSI card user
guide to check.
8.3
An external SCSI device, such as an external hard drive (with its own
case and power supply) or a scanner, also needs to be terminated if it
is at one end of the chain. External hard drives are sometimes
terminated on the drive mechanisms themselves, in the same way as
internal drives. If so, you will need to open the case to change the
termination. Most external devices, however, have two SCSI cable
connectors which makes everything much simpler. These connectors are
usually the Centronics (or Amphenol) type but sometimes they are IDC.
The two types are shown below. Some SCSI cards and devices are supplied
with D-type connectors. These look the same as a printer port connector
on the back of your computer. They behave like the other two kinds of
connector Ö you just need to have a cable with an appropriate plug on
it.
8.3
With these external devices, the two connectors are identical. One is
used to bring the signals from the rest of the chain, while the other is
used either to terminate or to pass the signal to the next device in the
chain. (It doesnæt matter which is used for which.) External terminators
looks like Centronics connectors with no cable coming out of them.
8.3
When there are more than two devices, only the two devices at the ends
of the chain must be terminated. If terminators are fitted to any of the
devices in between, the signals may be corrupted. This can cause damage,
and it will create an unreliable system. Termination applies to the SCSI
controller card as well so it must not be terminated if it is in the
middle of a chain.
8.3
The diagram opposite shows three correctly terminated chains.
8.3
SCSI devices and ID numbers
8.3
The SCSI system needs a way of identifying the devices attached to it,
so each has a unique ID number between 0 and 7. Most SCSI controller
cards come preset to device number 7, leaving 0 to 6 for peripheral
devices.
8.3
Some SCSI cards require that devices be added in sequential order. This
means that if only one device is attached, it must be device 0, or in
the case of two devices, they must use ID numbers 0 and 1. Check your
SCSI controlleræs user guide to see if it has requirements like these.
8.3
Many external SCSI devices have switches at the back which display the
current device number and allow it to be changed easily. Otherwise, you
may have to open up the case and alter the position of three links on
the underside of the drive itself. The three links are usually labelled
A0, A1 and A2 or something similar. The device ID is a binary number,
made up from the presence or absence of these three links. A fitted link
is a binary 1 and no link is a binary 0. The SCSI ID number is made up
as follows:
8.3
Connecting up the SCSI chain
8.3
Bearing in mind the termination, you should be able to connect
everything up in a single chain. Because there are so many different
SCSI controllers and because devices have different types of connector,
you may find that the cables you have available will dictate the order
of the devices in the chain. You may even find that you donæt have all
the necessary cables to connect things together at all. For instance,
some devices (such as some flatbed scanners) have only a single
Centronics connector and a special lead must be used (and should be
provided) which allows the chain to be passed on or terminated. Most
dealers can supply cables to suit most situations.
8.3
It is advisable to switch on the external devices before switching on
the computer. It is not necessary to have all the devices in a chain
switched on for the chain to operate, but the two terminated devices
need to be left on to ensure that the terminators are powered correctly.
No device should ever be disconnected from the chain while any of the
devices is switched on.
8.3
SCSI software Ö Configuring the system
8.3
The devices in the SCSI system need to be identified to the computer
before they can be used. Some devices are only used by specific pieces
of software and the computer does not need to be told about them. For
instance, a scanner is only of use to scanning software, so it does not
need to be seen as a device on the iconbar. Similarly, a SCSI printer
will have its own software (i.e. a printer driver) to make it available
to the user. In fact, the only devices you do need to tell the computer
about are storage devices. These include hard disc drives, flopticals,
CD-ROM drives£, magneto-optical drives, removable hard drives and tape
streamers¥.
8.3
(£ You will only be able to add CD-ROM drives to SCSI controllers that
have CDFS. If yours does not, contact the manufacturer of the card and
ask about an upgrade. Photo CD may require a further update for CDFS.)
8.3
(¥ In most cases, tape streamers will be accessed through special
software and can be ignored by configuration software.)
8.3
Even if some of the devices in your system do not need to be seen by the
filing system they must all have unique SCSI ID numbers.
8.3
SCSI controller cards from different manufacturers each have a slightly
different way of identifying devices to the computer. Consult the user
guide for your card for details of how to configure the system. You
should end up with hard disc icon for each drive in the chain. CD-ROM
drives will appear as a compact disc icon.
8.3
Drive numbers vs Device numbers
8.3
If your system is configured correctly, you will have a separate drive
icon for each drive (or, where applicable, each RISCáOS partition Ö see
below for explanation of Épartitionsæ) in your SCSI system. Each icon
will have a separate number (e.g. SCSIDrive4, SCSIDrive5) but these
numbers will not conform to the ID numbers set on each device. Hard
drives will be numbered between 4 and 7 on most SCSI cards. CD-ROM
drives will usually start from 0. Like many aspects of configuration,
this convention varies between SCSI cards so you must check with the
user guide if you are unsure.
8.3
Formatting and initialising
8.3
The procedure will vary between different SCSI cards so, again, you must
consult the user guide for your card before formatting or partitioning.
8.3
Most SCSI storage devices or cartridges will be supplied formatted, but
some may not yet be ready to accept data. There are two levels of format
that a magnetic drive has. A low-level format is the preparation of the
disc surface for data storage. Drives are always supplied formatted in
this way. The higher level format simply writes to that part of the disc
that contains the map of where any data and free space are to be found
on the disc surface. Because this map varies between computers, you will
often find that a new drive is supplied either with no map, or with a
map for a different kind of computer. If you receive a cartridge or disc
that claims to be formatted for Archimedes then this high-level format
will have been carried out. A drive that is not ready for use will
return an error message telling you that it cannot be understood, when
you click on its icon.
8.3
If you have a new, unformatted drive, or you wish to format a drive to
wipe it clean, you need only carry out the high-level format. You should
not carry out a low-level format. It is unnecessary and can be harmful.
Some high-specification models of drive now strongly advise against
carrying out a low-level format. The only useful outcome of a low-level
format is that it makes any unreliable patches on the surface
unavailable for storage. This can also be achieved by carrying out a
verify operation so you should have no need to format a drive.
8.3
Most formatting software offers both levels of formatting. The first is
often specifically called Format. The high-level format is mostly
referred to as initialise or section.
8.3
N.B. The terms format, initialise, section and partition can have
different meanings depending of the literature you read. Use the guide
book for your SCSI controller card for definitions as they apply to your
system. Literature supplied with the drives themselves sometimes refers
to PCs or Macs and may be misleading.
8.3
This discussion applies to magnetic discs such as fixed and removable
hard drives. Magneto-optical and floptical drives have specific
formatting needs and you should consult the literature provided with
these devices for advice.
8.3
Partitions
8.3
There are two reasons for partitioning a drive. Firstly, the RISCáOS
operating system can only address a single device up to 512Mb in size. A
1Gb drive would therefore need to be partitioned into two logical
devices of 512Mb each (but sharing the same SCSI ID number.)
Alternatively, you can set aside part of the disc for use by another
operating system. For instance, on Acorn RISCiX systems, a separate
partition is required for the Unix operating system. The formatting
software provided with your SCSI card will explain how partitioning is
carried out. For most SCSI users, the whole disc surface will be used as
a single drive.
8.3
N.B. PC partitions are different in that they take the form of a special
directory under RISCáOS. They do not require the disc to be partitioned
at a low level.
8.3
SCSI 2
8.3
SCSI 2 controller cards have begun to appear in the Acorn market. This
is a faster system based largely on the SCSI standard. The significant
speed improvement comes from the increase in the size of the data bus to
32 bits, allowing data to be transferred in bigger chunks. Most SCSI
devices will work happily connected to either a SCSI or a SCSI 2
controller, but new devices are likely to make better use of the
improvements. The most significant difference to the user, apart from
the speed, is that the connectors are slightly different. The Cumana
SCSI 2 interface has a half pitch 68 way Centronics connector. Cables to
connect this to a regular SCSI Centronics connector are available.ááAá
8.3
Document Production Column
8.3
Gerald Fitton
8.3
Although the November 1994 issue of Archive has been out for only a few
days as I write, I have had a lot of positive reaction to the changes in
the nature of this column. The general reaction to the content of last
monthæs article is that youæd like to hear more of my ideas and that you
do want to develop a strategy for upgrading your hardware and software
system. Whilst I shall concentrate on those components of a system which
are related to document production, Iæm sure that what I say this month
will also be of relevance to those wishing to use their computer systems
for multimedia and those applications which use large sprite files.
8.3
In this article, I shall consider backup storage (such as hard and
floppy discs) and help you to develop a strategy which I hope will be
suitable for your present and future requirements.
8.3
What should be on a hard disc?
8.3
Much has been written about the Érightæ and Éwrongæ way of using a hard
disc. My view is that it is important to have all the applications which
you use frequently in the root directory of your internal hard disc.
8.3
Iæve checked my hard disc space and found that less than 15Mb (including
about 5Mb of fonts) is taken up by these applications. So youæll see
that, even if you have a lot more applications than I have, and store
all your applications on your hard disc, you might at most use 20Mb.
8.3
Now letæs reverse the argument. If you have an Éoldæ machine, the
chances are that your hard disc is only 20Mb or 40Mb.  When I bought the
A440 (an Éoldæ A440 Ö not to be confused with the much later A440/1), a
20Mb hard disc was Élargeæ. One day it failed suddenly and
catastrophically ù so I replaced it with a 40Mb hard disc. If your hard
disc is 40Mb or less, I recommend to you that you use it almost
exclusively for applications and not for what I shall call ÉDataæ (see
below).
8.3
I shall return to the subject of applications, where to put them and how
to select Éuseful applicationsæ when I discuss software in another
article.
8.3
Wasted RAM
8.3
I have read that it is a Ébad thingæ to let RISCáOS see all your
applications by having them in the root directory of the hard disc.
Usually, the writer goes on to point out the fact that as applications
are seen, their !Boot files are run. This leads to memory being used up
by sprites and system variables related to applications which you know
you wonæt use during that session.
8.3
This is true Ö the !Boot file (usually) puts all the sprites relating to
that application into the sprite pool. The !Boot files also create
system variables which help applications to identify which files belong
to them.
8.3
Although I shall discuss the factors which determine the Éoptimumæ size
of RAM in another article I want to convince you that the amount of
memory used for this is minimal and that you ought to afford it. (If you
think you canæt afford it because you have a 1Mb or 2Mb machine, you
need think about upgrading to 4Mb or 8Mb Ö believe me, itæs worth it if
you are thinking in terms of document preparation.)
8.3
Have a look at the sprite Étasksæ above and you will see that I have
used less than 128Kb of system workspace on sprites and system
variables. (By the way, the entry öSystem sprites 0Kò does not mean that
there are no sprites used by the system. Sprites belonging to
applications are no longer stored in this area of RAM.)
8.3
By running all the !Boot files, I have set up my Ésystemæ so that if I
open a directory containing a file which can be run with one of my
applications (for example, an Impression file which runs in Style), that
file will display the correct icon. Furthermore, if I double-click on
that file icon, the appropriate application (such as Style) will load
onto the iconbar and the file will load into the application. What I
donæt have to do is open a directory (on my hard disc Ö or worse, on a
floppy) containing that application. I personally think that 128Kb is a
small price to pay for the convenience of the visibility of the file
icons and the Édouble-clickæ to start.
8.3
Yet another reason for this strategy exists Ö Object Linking and
Embedding (OLE) has arrived. You will find it as a feature of Style and
Publisher, for example. Using Style (or Publisher), if you hold down
<ctrl> and double-click on an embedded drawfile, Draw will be loaded to
the iconbar and the drawfile loaded into it ready for editing. When you
have finished editing the drawfile, you can save it directly back to
Style. If Style canæt find Draw, when you <ctrl> double-click on the
picture, youæll get an error message. As OLE becomes more common, it
will be increasingly important that the embedded object can find its
application when you <ctrl> double-click on it. This in itself is a good
reason for installing all your commonly used applications in the root
directory of your hard disc.
8.3
(I use Pinboard for my applications which means that the boot files are
run but the root directory of my hard drive is not clogged up with
applications. It would be interesting to hear what other people do. Ed.)
8.3
Back up your hard drive!
8.3
If your hard disc fails, you have a problem. Often you can reformat it
and it will work again Ö at least for a while. If all you have on your
hard disc is applications then, in theory at least, you can go back to
the master discs which came with your applications and install them
again. What you might lose is your personalised configuration settings,
and, for packages such as PipeDream, Fireworkz and Publisher, you will
lose your user dictionaries. Even if you have only applications on your
hard disc, it is well worth making a back up Ö not necessarily every
time you add a few words to your user dictionary, but at least every
couple of months!
8.3
Using the hard disc for data
8.3
As a general rule, I think that it is a Ébad thingæ to use your main
hard disc for data. By data I mean data which is unique to you. If you
create a document such as a spreadsheet in PipeDream or a leaflet in
Style then this data is unique to you. Itæs no good writing to either
Colton Software or Computer Concepts and asking for a new copy of your
latest masterpiece!
8.3
If your data consists of many relatively small files (such as letters)
then I recommend that you use a series of floppy discs, each one named
in a meaningful way such as BusLetters, VAT_93, TaxReturn, Club_01,
Invoice_01, etc. When I expressed this opinion previously, I received a
most interesting letter from one of our members. He said öBy all means
use the floppies as working discs but use the hard disc as your back
upò. Itæs an interesting idea which has a lot of merit.
8.3
The Ébig jobæ
8.3
In spite of what I have said, I have to tell you that I do use my hard
disc for data. I have separate master floppy discs for every PipeLine
(and ZLine) disc. When someone wants a back number I can simply make a
copy of the floppy using Backup. Nevertheless, I also have a copy of
every one of those masters in a 4PL (or ZL) directory on my hard disc.
Currently, the total contents of 4PL runs to about 15Mb and grows each
time I produce another PipeLine disc. The advantage to me is that (when
I am creating a new disc for PipeLine) I can find any previous article
much more quickly than if I had to keep loading floppies. The hard disc
has faster access than floppies.
8.3
Generally speaking, if you have a task which requires fast access to
selections from a lot of your data, it might be a good idea to load all
the data you might want onto your hard disc before you start. Whether
itæs worth taking it off the hard disc at the end of the job depends on
two things. The first is that you might want to use it again fairly
soon. The second is that you might not have enough space on your hard
disc for the next Ébig jobæ. I suspect that publishers of magazines such
as Archive might find themselves in that position. The temptation is to
buy a bigger hard disc rather than remove the Éunwantedæ files. I
believe that this is the wrong strategy.
8.3
You might need your hard disc for such a Ébig jobæ even if your interest
involves the use of many medium size files of say 100Kb each. For
example, you might have many digitised pictures as sprites which you
wish to merge or include within a DTP report. In such a case, it is far
more efficient to load all the pictures onto the hard disc before you
start rather than inserting many floppies full of pictures.
8.3
The Ébig fileæ
8.3
Another form of Ébig jobæ is a database which is too large to keep on
one floppy. The membership list for a large Club (or User Group) might
be in this category. At the moment, I can get all the membership details
of the User Groups which I run, into one file which will fit onto one
floppy ù but the time is coming soon when that wonæt be possible. What
can be done about the data file except keep it on the hard disc?
8.3
Let me do a little gazing into the near future. It is my opinion that
many people who have an interest in document production or databases
will find themselves using larger and larger files. If you have an
interest in multimedia then soon you too will have Ébig filesæ.
8.3
I donæt think it will be long before a significant proportion of Archive
readers will be unable to store their Émasterpieceæ or database on a
single floppy disc. Yes! I know that floppy discs are getting larger and
that 800Kb discs are being replaced by 1.6Mb discs ù but 1.6Mb might
still not be enough. One of the Érulesæ beloved by futurists (but I
think that this one is OK) is that when you Édoubleæ something, more
often than not, there is no noticeable change in Éusabilityæ. Iæm a
great believer in the Étenfold ruleæ which, in one form, states that if
youære going to make a major change, you should go for a tenfold
increase. I think that doubling the size of floppy discs will give you
only temporary relief ù and the timescale for doubling floppy disc
capacity from 1.6Mb to 3.2Mb is further away than you think!
8.3
Hard discs Ö Tape streamers Ö etc
8.3
So, what can you do about permanent storage for such large documents? In
the following discussion, I am going to assume that you are going to
generate many such Ébig filesæ.
8.3
I guess that your first thought will be, öIæll buy a larger hard discò.
I know many who have taken that route Ö and later bought an even larger
one Ö and then a larger one still! Then you wonder what you can discard
from the biggest hard disc you can afford. Let me return to bigger and
bigger and then bigger again hard discs in another article ù accept that
I donæt think itæs the Ébestæ solution for the Ébig fileæ problem.
8.3
Another answer, but not a very satisfactory one in my view, is to back
up the large document onto a set of many floppy discs. There are ways of
Ébreaking upæ a large document into many small ones and there are ways
of backing up a large file without fragmenting it but spreading it over
several floppy discs. From my correspondence, it would seem that this
Ésolutionæ has a certain attraction and a significant number of
followers.
8.3
Another way of storing Ébig filesæ is to buy a tape streamer. A tape
streamer is rather like a Ésouped upæ cassette tape recorder which will
store a copy of your hard disc, or parts of it, on special cassette
tape. Tape streamers have been the conventional commercial solution. For
the home user, I donæt like the idea because it tends to be slow and,
even more important in my view, generally it isnæt flexible enough to
allow you to back up your Ébig fileæ easily in such a way that you can
replace it with another Ébig fileæ on your hard disc without shutting
down the machine between Ébig fileæ loadings.
8.3
Interchangeable hard discs
8.3
This is the Ésolutionæ which I recommend to those of you who have a Ébig
fileæ problem whether the Ébig fileæ is a huge database, large document
or the result of an interest in multimedia. It is also the solution I
recommend for the Ébig jobæ. I shall adopt it for my Abacus Training
applications as soon as finances allow. My immediate problem is: do I
get a new monitor or a RiscáPC before I get the removable drive? Iæve
got a vested interest in finding a Égoodæ solution Ö so Iæd like to know
what youæd do!
8.3
A couple of Archives ago, there was a superb article about SyQuest
drives (Archive 8.1 p63). What follows is meant to complement rather
than repeat the information contained in that article.
8.3
My confidence in a Étechnologyæ always increases when I see it in a non-
specialist shop such as my local general office equipment supplier. Our
local shop has started selling removable cartridges for SyQuest drives,
albeit at a price rather higher than most Archimedes specialists. That
is comforting.
8.3
The earliest SyQuest drives were 5╝ö 44Mb. Later versions have higher
capacity. There are two series: one series uses 5╝ò discs and the other
series uses 3╜ö discs. Although the 5╝ò 88Mb drive will read 5╝ö 44Mb
discs, naturally it will not read 3╜ò discs of any capacity. Because I
believe that the Éfutureæ of the SyQuest drives will be 3╜ö rather than
5╝ò I am inclined towards the smaller disc format. The largest capacity
drive available at the moment is the 3╜ö 270Mb drive. It costs about
ú550 for the drive; spare 270Mb discs cost about ú80 each. Although I
have no Ébig jobæ or Élarge fileæ application at the moment which use
anything near 270Mb, I have always found that a modified version of
Parkinsonæs Law applies to disc capacity (and to RAM ù and to monitor
size ù and, well anything). Iæm sure that if I get a drive of smaller
capacity (saving, say, ú100 now) then Iæll live to regret it because,
eventually, I will want to use my computer for an application which
needs much more disc capacity than I have! (On the other hand, to tempt
you, I have a Éonce-in-a-lifetime offeræ(!) on 105Mb 3╜ò drives at the
moment! See page 2 for details. Ed.)
8.3
An alternative to the SyQuest system is the magneto-optical (floptical)
system. This system is highly popular in the PC world. Suitable magneto-
optical drives are made by Fujitsu, Sony, Hewlett Packard, Panasonic and
even IBM. These are all well-known names so I feel good about the
reliability of the technology. The drive prices are a little higher than
the corresponding SyQuest drives. Suitable discs are manufactured by 3M,
Sony and Verbatim, again all well known names, so I feel confident that
supplies will be available into the future. Disc prices vary from ú40 to
ú150 and they have storage capacities of 128Mb to 1.3áGb (1300Mb).
Discounts for quantity vary but I have seen the 128Mb discs on offer
from a supplier I trust at less than ú300 for 10 discs. Drives are more
expensive than SyQuests but the discs are cheaper.
8.3
SyQuest or Magneto-Optical?
8.3
I have secondhand reports which suggest that the SyQuest removable discs
are about three times faster than magneto-opticals. However, there is a
more serious Ésnagæ. So far as the Archimedes is concerned, the SyQuest
system is much more Éavailableæ than the magneto-optical system. This
means more technical support and dependable sources for spares, repairs
and replacements.
8.3
For these two reasons, I am strongly inclined towards the SyQuest system
and, on evidence Iæve had from many other users, I recommend it to you.
Nevertheless, Iæd like to hear what you suggest ù so if youæve any
ideas, please write to me!
8.3
When compared with 800Kb or 1.6Mb floppy discs, both the SyQuest and the
magneto-optical technology gives much more than the Étenfoldæ increase
needed to make a noticeable difference which I mentioned earlier.
8.3
SCSI or IDE
8.3
Of course, you could buy two removable drives Ö but how rich are you?
Nevertheless, maybe you ought to consider leaving your options open
about having two drives one day. If that is the strategy you adopt, you
may find that the SCSI choice is Ébetteræ than the IDE because it is
more expandable. Even though the SCSI-1 system is a little more
expensive than the IDE system, I would go for the SCSI anyway because I
want to be able to take advantage of the higher speed SCSI-2 when it
becomes available. Those whoæve been following me will realise by now
that, as a general rule, Iæm not looking for the Écheapest nowæ system
but one which will give me cheaper, better (and a wider choice of)
upgrades in the future.
8.3
Finally, I prefer the feel of SCSIæs Éfuture proofingæ to that of IDE.
Since I canæt rationalise what is no more than a feeling, perhaps Iæm
just prejudiced towards SCSI Ö but then, I trust my instinct in matters
of this kind because it rarely lets me down!
8.3
If, one day, you decide to dispense with your Archimedes and buy, say, a
PC (or clone), or if Acorn replace the RiscáPC with something even more
wonderful, then I believe it most likely that a SCSI-2 interface will be
available for your new Écomputer boxæ and that youæll be able to plug
your expensive removable drive into it. Furthermore, if youære careful
with your choice of applications, youæll be able to use the data from
your removable discs through the SCSI-2 interface of your new Éboxæ.
8.3
An alternative scenario is that you buy a second removable drive for
your second Écomputer boxæ (keeping the old machine); no trailing leads
or network interfaces Ö just take the removable disc from one machine to
the other.
8.3
A word of warning about SCSI. Even before I read last monthæs excellent
article in Archive about SCSI interfaces by Jim Nottingham I knew that
if I were to add a SCSI SyQuest external 270Mb, 3╜ö removable drive to
my A540 system, I would have to buy it from a supplier who understands
exactly what needs to be done to configure it to my A540 machine and who
makes sure that I get all the necessary software to support it. Jimæs
article confirmed my previous thoughts.
8.3
Last month, I told you that you had one guess as to why you shouldnæt
buy insurance from a company that doesnæt make a fair profit Ö Iæve
already had a large number of correct guesses, but also a couple of
wrong ones! The answer is that you want them to make enough profit to be
able to afford to pay you (without too much quibbling) when you make
your claim. In the same way, although NCS is not the cheapest (nor
anything like the most expensive) I would regard paying the extra asked
by NCS as a sort of insurance. I want them to be there when I ask for
help and for them not to be fretting about my using up their time and
öseriously eroding their profit marginsò. (No! I wonæt say which company
Iæm quoting Ö but it happened.)
8.3
Using removable hard discs
8.3
I suggest to you that you do not use removable hard discs as an
alternative to a conventional hard disc for applications but use it as a
Élargeæ floppy for data storage. You can use it as data storage for the
Ébig jobæ and for data storage of Ébig filesæ (as defined above). Of
course, you can also use one removable disc as a back up for many, maybe
all, of the floppies youæve created up to now. You can also use a
removable disc to back up your conventional hard disc Ö I recommend this
to you.
8.3
There is no doubt that SyQuest removable hard discs are fast. As near as
makes no difference, theyære as fast as a conventional hard disc and,
from what Iæve been told by those who have them, they are noticeably
(but not ten times) faster than floppies. The SCSI-2 interface will be
even faster.
8.3
A Éhiddenæ advantage of the removable hard disc is that if it develops
too many faults to continue using it, youæll only lose only the Écheapæ
ú80 disc and not the expensive, ú550 drive. Compare this with losing a
conventional hard drive. By the way, you can map out the odd fault that
might occur; Iæm referring to the day when the disc seems to be
developing too many faults far too often.
8.3
If you have a removable drive, I suggest that only applications are
stored on the conventional hard disc and that the removable discs are
used for data. Why? There are many reasons but Iæll give you just one.
You will want to copy from one removable disc to another. You can do
this via your RAM if youæve got enough. The method which you are more
likely to use is to copy a directory or two at a time from the source
removable disc to the conventional hard disc and then from the hard disc
to the destination removable disc. Probably you will then delete the
directory containing the transferred data from your hard disc to make
room for the next transfer operation.
8.3
Summary
8.3
If you have a small (less than 40Mb) hard disc, use it only for
applications together with a set of floppies for your data. Your system
is unsuitable for the Ébig jobæ or the Ébig fileæ.
8.3
If you have a larger hard disc (say 100Mb or more) then you can use it
as a backup for some of your (held on floppy) data files. You can also
use it for the Ébig jobæ. However, your system is unsuitable for use
with Ébig filesæ (files too large to fit on one floppy). If you run into
the Ébig fileæ problem, donæt bother buying a larger conventional hard
disc (200Mb or even 500Mb); that will be a temporary solution which
youæll live to regret. Go for a SyQuest removable drive instead.
8.3
Removable hard drives are more expensive than conventional hard drives
but, once youæve paid for the drive, they have advantages over
conventional hard drives. The main advantage is that the removable discs
can be treated as large floppies. In turn, this means that you can
probably get away with a smaller conventional hard drive than you would
otherwise think you need. You might consider a system having a 200Mb
conventional hard disc (instead of a 400Mb hard disc) together with a
270Mb removable drive.
8.3
If youære about to buy a RiscáPC, donæt wait for the biggest machine to
arrive (whatæs the delivery like now? Almost a stock situation! Ed.);
think positively about buying one of the smaller models with a 200Mb
hard disc and putting the money youæll save towards a SyQuest removable
drive. Iæm sure if you ask NCS nicely, theyæll fit one for you and make
sure that all the supporting software works like a well-oiled clock!
(Weæll try! Ed.)
8.3
If you use your 200Mb conventional hard drive in the way I have
suggested (i.e. for applications only) then you should have plenty of
room on it for copying from one removable disc to another.
8.3
In conclusion
8.3
Please drop me a line and let me know those views and let me (and
others) have the advantage of your knowledge and experience even
(especially?) if itæs a negative experience.ááAá
8.3
Risc DOS Column
8.3
Simon Coulthurst
8.3
I have seen the light! I now understand why I need a 486 coprocessor.
Itæs not to allow me to connect my Risc PC to our Novell server and
access the accounts system in a window on my Risc-OS desktop. Itæs not
to allow me to use Windows software Ö I spit on the suggestion. Itæs not
because I enjoy the challenging pastime of configuring DOS drivers. No,
none of the above. I want to play Doom II! This game is brilliant! It is
a 3D maze game with tremendously fast and smooth scrolling and an all-
enveloping atmosphere which gets you truly involved. That is why I am
going to get a coprocessor.
8.3
PC file formats
8.3
Paul Hooper asked in Archive 8.2 (p56) for a list of DOS file extensions
and what they represent. I have compiled the list shown opposite from a
fairly quick trawl through the hard disc of one of our Windows PCs. It
is by no means an exhaustive listing of DOS filetypes and I gather there
are other Archive contributors working on a more comprehensive list but
this should be helpful as a starter.
8.3
First sighting
8.3
I was at Acorn World 94 Ö wasnæt it good? There was so much to see and
so little time in which to see it, but I did make a point of visiting
all those stands that I thought had something to offer the prospective
coprocessor user. I will report in more detail on these in future
articles. This month, though, I can tell you what I saw of the actual
486 coprocessor card itself. Nothing!
8.3
However, I did get to talk to Peter Bondar of Acorn and
LaurieávanáSomeren from Aleph One. They both told me that the 486
coprocessor cards will not be available for general release until
January 1995 at the earliest. There will be review versions available
earlier, possibly within a month. They expect the ASICs within two weeks
of the Show. After final checks, these should be available for the press
to review before the end of November.
8.3
I do have some more details on the actual cards themselves. Acornæs own
card will use a Texas Instruments 40MHz 486SX soldered onto the card.
This will run at 33MHz due to the ASIC, and be assembled by IBM. Aleph
Oneæs first cards will all be socketed and contain either a 33MHz 486DX
or a 66MHz 486DX2, sourced from wherever they can obtain reliable
supplies at the best price. They will also supply the card without a
processor chip for those with their own (they can provide a list of
those chips which are known to work).
8.3
  Aleph One Prices (inc VAT)
8.3
  486DX Ö 33MHz  ú519
8.3
  486DX2 Ö 66MHz  ú599
8.3
  Socket only version  ú315
8.3
The ASIC is manufactured by Gemini to a design by Aleph One and Future
Technology. It runs at 33MHz and so all processor chips themselves must
run at a multiple of this speed Ö hence Acornæs 40MHz chips running at
33MHz. This could mean the availability of 100MHz DX4 chips eventually.
These would actually run at 99MHz (or near enough), three times the
speed of the ASIC. Intel decided to call them DX4æs in order to
differentiate them from other chip makersæ clock-tripled chips! In order
to use these chips, Aleph One will need to incorporate a step down, as
the chip in the DX4 runs at 3.3v as opposed to the 5v of the slower
chips. This means that simply plugging a DX4 chip into the existing
socketed card would not be possible.
8.3
Buying your PC card from Aleph One is obviously going to be more
expensive than buying Acornæs card, for ú99, at the time you purchase
your RiscáPC. So is it worth paying the extra? The Aleph One cards are
faster, particularly the 66MHz one, and because they are full DX chips,
they have the maths coprocessor built in. (It is not possible to add a
maths chip to Acornæs card as their is no socket provided.) Aleph Oneæs
cards are socketed and so have the potential for expansion. You should
also consider the level of support you will receive. Aleph One have a
lot of experience with combining PC and Acorn environments and should be
able to provide a greater level of technical support than many of the
Acorn dealers who would supply the Acorn card.
8.3
Aleph One are also working closely with Ant, who are developing the
OmniClient software that will allow access to Acorn, IBM PC compatible,
Macintosh and Unix network file servers, and  Atomwide who are producing
an ISA adaptor that will allow the use of a vast range of PC compatible
cards on the Acorn computers.
8.3
Postscript
8.3
I purchased Wolfenstein 3D at the Acorn World Show as this seems a
similar type of game to Doom. Could this save me from the need for a PC
coprocessor card? Unfortunately not, as I still need to use our
companyæs accounts package which is resolutely DOS-based. Thatæs the
trouble with having to work for a living Ö it interferes with the better
things in life, like playing with computers!
8.3
I hope to be on the Internet soon Ö time to see if all the hype is true
Ö but meanwhile, please send any correspondence via Paul at NCS.ááAá
8.3
If anyone with an outstanding order for an Acorn PC card feels that they
would rather have one of the Aleph One alternatives, just send us a
cheque for the difference and we will hold the cheque until the
appropriate card becomes available. Ed.
8.3
Risc PC Column
8.3
Keith Hodge
8.3
Monitors
8.3
Bernard Veasey reports that he has an Eizo F340iW monitor attached to
his RiscáPC, and that it is working well in resolutions up to 1024╫768,
with 1600╫600 working, but not as clear as it should be. Also mentioned
is a possible problem which I am experiencing. If the monitor and the
RiscáPC are powered from a single socket, and both the computer and
monitor are left switched on, when you turn on the switch at the mains
socket, the monitor degausses itself very loudly. Has anybody else
noticed this and, if so, is it OK to operate in this way? (my monitor is
a AKF85).
8.3
Malcolm Knight states that it should be compulsory to have an AKF85!
And, having used a 14ö monitor for a short while, I feel that 17ò is the
minimum size necessary if you do work involving any real detail.
8.3
Steve Ellacott has written to me about his Ésecond useræ Philips 4CM2799
20ö monitor from Commonside plc. At just a few months old, and with a 90
day warranty, these seem very good value at ú595 +VAT! Steve reports
that, although they do not have DPMS or microprocessor control, they
work well with his modified AKF85 monitor script.
8.3
Software information
8.3
I have now had an opportunity to look at the boot sequence on the new
machine, and the first thing I have found is that the !Boot file is
completely unnecessary! This, in my opinion, simply duplicates a large
percentage of previous operations.
8.3
If you look inside the directory É$.!Boot.Choices. Bootæ, you will find
that it contains the following.
8.3
The hub of the new desktop is in here. The file ÉDesktopæ contains the
code to make known to the desktop the location of applications within
specified directories. In the default file, these are the contents of
ÉBoot:^.Utilitiesæ and ÉBoot:^.Printingæ, which translates to
É$.Utilitiesæ and É$.Printingæ, and it is this action which, if you have
tried moving these directories to another location on the hard disc,
causes the error message from RISCáOS when it fails locate them when
booting.
8.3
The directory ÉPreDeskæ contains, by default, obey files called
ÉARPlayeræ, ÉConfigureæ and two directories ÉDPMSUtilsæ and ÉWimpUtilsæ.
If you read the contents of these files, you will soon see what they are
doing. I have added Obey files called ÉEditOptsæ, ÉPaintOptsæ,
ÉAlarmOptsæ, ÉBackupæ and ÉMachineOptæ and each of these sets up the
option strings for each application.
8.3
Now, I know that you can set the options with the desktop !Boot file,
but which is the easier to find and alter, when you want to change the
options for a particular application? I know which method I prefer!
8.3
The file ÉPreDesktopæ is very useful as it allows, amongst other things,
for applications which are not in $.Apps to be attached to the resource
filing system, and hence to appear in the window which is opened by
clicking on the iconbar ÉAppsæ icon. The simple line
ÉAddAppáadfs::<PathName>.<AppName>æ, is all that is required. Read the
existing file and note the Acorn recommendations Ö these give real food
for thought.
8.3
Place in the directory ÉTasksæ, all applications which you require on
the iconbar when the machine is first switched on, or re-booted. The
contents of my directory are shown above, and the use of the obey file
ÉStartAcntsæ may be of interest.
8.3
The business accounts package ÉProphetæ from Apricote Studios, whilst a
fully multitasking application, is not normally loaded by double-
clicking the application, but by double-clicking the relevant accounts
file. Hence ÉProphetæ is located in É$.Appsæ so that RISCáOS knows its
location, but is placed upon the iconbar when ÉStartAcntsæ is obeyed.
This action can be of considerable use if you always want the machine to
boot up with a particular document, picture, etc, open and on screen.
Please note that if I had placed the actual accounts file in here, it
would have achieved the same effect. However, I prefer to have all my
business files located in a directory ÉBusinessæ in the root directory,
because the obey file ÉBackupæ in directory ÉTasksæ backs up all my
business files to the second hard disc each time the machine is switched
on.
8.3
There is a lot more of interest in the new desktop, and I will try to
describe each new feature as and when I discover it.
8.3
Software compatibility
8.3
One thing which has tripped me up recently has been the use of the
serial port with a native application, but with the PCEmulator in use at
the same time. The same comments will apply, I assume, with the 486 PC
second processor.
8.3
If you are using the serial port from a RISCáOS application at say, 4800
Baud 8N1, and wish to use the Emulator at the same time, the emulator
must be running before you start using the serial port from the native
application and you must have the following line in your ÉAUTOEXEC.BATæ
file. ÉMODE COM1:BAUD=4800 PARITY=N DATA=8 STOP=1æ(DOS6 format).
8.3
The reason for this is that Messy Dos initialises the serial port on
start up, with a default value if none is specified in the autoexec
file, thus corrupting the serial port settings if the Emulator is run
during or after native mode serial operations have started. (Do any of
our DOS experts know of a way to stop the default action?)
8.3
Martin Angove has mentioned problems he has experienced with PC Emulator
v1.82 when memory is short. I can confirm that it does have problems
and, most importantly, when reporting the error it states that ö1064Kb
is required for operationò, when in fact 1240Kb seem to be required, to
avoid all problems in multitasking mode.
8.3
An updated version of Memphis (v2.08 08-Sep-93, the automatically
expanding/contracting RAM disc Ö see Archive 8.1 p39) is on the monthly
disc, and having now used it, I can see why people rave about it. Simply
Brilliant! And the authors tell me there are, hopefully, further
improvements to come.
8.3
Hardware and software news
8.3
I have just purchased David Pillingæs ArcFax (1.12 12-May-94) and a US
Robotics 14,400 Sportster fax modem thereby cutting my spare parts
ordering costs in half, as it only takes about 45 seconds to send a one
page fax order. After 6 p.m., the cost is far less than
stamp+paper+envelope+printing. With ArcFax came an application called
ÉBubbleHlpæ and I find this to be a quite amazing improvement on Acornæs
ÉHelpæ application. When you park the pointer over any icon, up pops a
help bubble, and as soon as you move the mouse, away it goes. A first
class accessory, I think, which all application writers should support.
(ComputeráConcepts please note! This makes Style even easier to use, and
really would shorten the learning curve for beginners if provided with
the package.) (BubbleHelp2 is available separately from David Pilling
for ú5 inclusive. Ed.)
8.3
As Jim Nottingham is compiling a SCSI compatibility index, I will
forward all mail on this subject to him, taking note of any problems
which exist only on the RiscáPC.
8.3
Bernard Veasey reports that he has successfully fitted his Vertical
Twist 16 bit SCSI interface to his RiscáPC and it works without any
problems. (What are the Module version numbers, Bernard?)
8.3
Readersæ comments
8.3
Simon Burrows has written in reply to my gripe of the month for
September, stating that if Acorn released circuit diagrams and PCB
layouts, this would encourage people to void the warranty. My feelings
are that the decision is the choice of the equipment owner, and their
provision would help produce more innovation from the amateur side. Paul
is a classic case here, but I will let him tell you about the Acorn
Atom/ BBC Micro articles! (Iæm not sure I like the idea of being a
öclassic caseò! As much as I enjoyed tinkering with the innards of my
Atom and my BBC Micro, I canæt say that the 32-bit machines have ever
had the same appeal Ö too much like untouchable black boxes! Ed.)
8.3
Requests for help
8.3
During my exploration of the Boot system, I have moved the Alarm and
Edit applications from the É$.Appsæ directory, to the
É$.!Boot.Choices.Tasksæ directory. However, this has caused a big
problem for me, which I have had to fudge for the time being.
8.3
Something is looking for these applications during boot up sequence and
is complaining loudly when they are not found! I have worked around it
for now, by placing dummy applications in É$.Appsæ, but this is only a
temporary solution. Has anybody come across the solution to this
problem?
8.3
Wish list for the next RiscáPC
8.3
Even a small business like my own, needs more than one serial port. Can
we have two on the next machine, plus the ability to add an extra I/C
when required so that the 3rd and 4th serial sockets are then enabled. I
have run into big problems since purchasing Arcfax and have had to
purchase a dual RS232 card from The (aptly named) Serial Port, so that I
can have plotter, modem, and packet radio terminal all connected and
online at the same time, if required. (It is only after you have
struggled to reach the serial port to change leads for the umpteenth
time, that you can understand this, and serial switches are no use,
because of different baud rates for each device!)
8.3
Question of the month
8.3
(1) Are there any hardware developers out there preparing a PCMCIA type
II and type III interface? There are increasing numbers of high speed
modems, etc, appearing in this convenient credit card size hardware
format. I find it is so useful on my Toshiba portable to be able to log
on to the telemetry system without having to carry an external modem.
The ability to have large numbers of interfaces in a small area of
backplane will, I think, become more and more important as the computer
takes over from external hardware in small businesses. At the moment, my
RiscáPC does the job of fax, packet radio terminal, scanner, teletext
receiver, telemetry network terminal, and telephone comms terminal, with
more interfaces certain to be needed! This does mean that even on my
ACB45 with four expansion slots Ö one for SCSI interface, one for dual
RS232 interface and one for the Teletext card, I only have one to spare!
8.3
Tailpiece
8.3
A big thank you to the ever increasing number of subscribers who are
sending their letters to me on disc. It costs only 19p second class, for
one disc in a Jiffy bag, and you can almost guarantee some of your
points will go in the column if I do not have to type it in!
8.3
On occasions, I receive bits and bobs of test software along with
readersæ disc letters, and I will put these on my disc to Paul, so that
he can include them on the monthly disc Ö details will be in the normal
monthly disc information on page 2.
8.3
As usual, I can be contacted by letter at the HES address on the back
page, by telephone after 7p.m. or by Packet Radio from anywhere in the
World, as GW4NEI@GB7OAR.#16.GBR.EU.ááAá
8.3
(A bit small, sorry Ö Iæll put it on the monthly disc too so you can
print it out a little bigger! Ed.)
8.3