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easy.seq
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1992-01-06
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7KB
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140 lines
137
eca00000ff23000080333001609
^4%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
^1E A S Y A M O S .
^2Europress announce their latest product.
^7A Preview by SPARX.
^4%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
^7 Europress took the covers off their new package at The World of
^7Commodore Show held in November. Those of you who managed to get
^7there might well have had a look at it - although not many will have
^7been as lucky as Mike Tilley who was talked through the program by
^7Francois Lionet himself! (see Mike's interview with Francois in this
^7section of T.A.)
^6 Europress have let us see a pre-release version of Easy Amos so that
^6we can tell you a bit about it. Please bear in mind that the version
^6we have seen is not complete, so this is just a quick look at the
^6product as it is being developed.
^7 It has been introduced as a stepping stone to programming in Amos
^7itself and has extra features to make learning easier. Some of these
^7features will be included in Amos 2 which will be released early this
^7year.
^6 Europress say that this program is aimed at the beginner, I would go
^6a bit further and say that it would be particularly suitable for
^6children who want to start programming.
^7 The command list has been reduced from 500 to around 300 as the more
^7complex ones have been stripped out making the language easier to
^7understand. The package should give a gentle introduction into
^7programming with Amos itself.
^4 Visually, Easy Amos is worlds away from Amos, it is far more
^4friendly looking with a better coordinated colour scheme (designer
^4Amos?) This should be less intimidating for those who are unused to
^4using such programs.
^1 Great news for us hardened Amos addicts - There is a new file
^1requester!!! This is one feature which will feature in Amos 2, so
^1we're told. The best way to describe the differences between the two
^1requesters is to say that what we're all used to is a Skoda, whereas
^1the Easy Amos requester is a Rolls Royce! It looks better and runs
^1better, the only thing (still) missing is an easy way of displaying
^1the logical devices, having to press right mouse to get them causes
^1great confusion! Note to Eurress, there is enough room for another
^1button to select devices! The usual features from the original are
^1here, OK, Quit, etc and in addition to the up/down arrows we have
^1left/right arrows. This clever requester remembers paths, so now
^1there is no need to Set Dir.
^4 The layout of the editor screen remains the same, with the addition
^4of embossed buttons insted of the flat boxes we're used to. All the
^4functions remain from Amos, but there is a new button, this is the
^4real goody in the package, it says TUTOR.
^1 Clicking here changes the screen display. You will now see a mini
^1version of your screen at the top left, complete with the number of
^1the screen you are viewing. On the right there are buttons and
^1arrows used for moving through the tutor. Your Amos listing is at
^1the bottom of the screen, you can now move through your program in
^1steps - one line at a time, or a few at a time, so you will be able
^1to see how your program works, (or where it doesn't!)
^5 The graphical changes are displayed before your very eyes in the
^5quarter size screen. This feature is exceptionally well thought out
^5and will be invaluable to ALL programmers. Let's hope that it gets
^5into Amos2! This fantastic addition to an already superb programming
^5system not only lets you step through your program as you can with
^5the follow command, but actualy lets you see what you are doing. You
^5can go to the full size version of the program at the touch of a key.
^5 That's about all we can say about the editor itself as our version
^5is still under development and therefore is incomplete.
^2 There are also some very useful programs on the disk.
^2 We have Amos Disk, this is a Diskmaster type of disk management
^2program which gives you several disk handling functions.
^6 The screen display has two large text boxes with a central control
^6strip. The functions this program can perform include Copy, Rename,
^6Delete, Make Dir, Examine, Format and Disk Copy.
^2 These last three functions are very important, at last we will be
^2 able to format and copy disks from inside Amos. The examine feature
^2is really great. You can take ANY Amos file and have a look at it,
^2whether it contains text, pictures, or bobs. Nearly everyone who has
^2worked with Amos has probably needed one of these functions while
^2inside Amos, and has had to leave Amos to find another program that
^2will serve the purpose.
^4 Another file on the disk is called Challenge, this turns out to be an
^4(as yet) incomplete quiz type of tutorial. This should help to
^4reinforce the basics of programming in the minds of learners. It
^4looks promising.
^6 Now we come to the Bob Editor. This must be the BEST bob editor to
^6be written for Amos so far. It seems to everything you'll ever need!
^6It can animate, change resolutions, make the coffee, and has lots of
^6buttons that no doubt will control many more functions when the
^6program is released.
^4 This program is set out very impressively and would, I'm sure have
^4made a commercial release in its own right. I look forward to seeing
^4the full version and doing a full review for you.
^6 Next on the disk we find BLOCKBUSTER, and without Bob Holdness!
^6This isn't a clone of the TV show, but a breakout game written by
^6Ronnie `Arcadia' Simpson to show that although this is a cutdown
^6version of Amos, the programs it can produce are just as good as when
^6Amos itself is used. Nice one Ronnie!
^4 Another example is titled Easy Database, this again looks promising
^4and shows that even business applications can still be produced with
^4Easy Amos.
^6 There are other files on disk showing further examples, but I don't
^6know if all these will appear on release, although I should imagine
^6that most of them will.
^2 I must admit that when I first heard of Easy Amos, I thought that if
^2all the high powered commands were taken out we'd be left with Amiga
^2Basic! Not so, I apologise for even thinking it!
^2 This package is a great introduction to the fantastic world of Amos
^2that has been created for us by Francois. Even if just the bits I've
^2seen are perfected, we'll have a great package!
^7 Do not fret if you think that Amos is being outdone by it's
^7offspring, Francois says in his interview, that Amos 2 will include
^7all the best new features from Easy Amos.
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