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COMAL PlayNotes #1
===== ========= ==
written by: Joel Ellis Rea
of LoadStar
======================================
This is a new sub-column in the
regular COMAL Corner section of
LOADSTAR. It's purpose is to present
summaries of the "Let's Talk COMAL"
conferences that occur every Thursday
night starting at 10 PM Eastern Time
on the PlayNet Information Service.
These sessions are moderated by
Captain COMAL.
============ 18 APRIL 85 =============
Captain COMAL (alias Len Lindsay,
promoter of COMAL in the United
States) told us the new PlayNet
software would soon be available.
Cap reported that the new COMAL 2.01
ROM cartridge from Commmodore will be
black and have the extra PROM socket.
We talked about 2 bugs that will be
fixed in the new version: WRITEing an
entire array at once ('WRITE FILE 5:
array()'), and INPUT AT with a field
length between 81 and 120 characters
inclusive. Neither of these is sup-
posed to work correctly on the COMAL
2.0 EPROM cartridge (tan) from the CO-
MAL User's Group. However, Cap tried
the WRITE an array statement on his
other C64 with the tan cartridge, and
it seemed to work. Hmmmm . . .
We discussed IBM's forthcoming PC
COMAL 2.0, and that led to . . .
. . . The COMMODORE PC-10 computer!
A(nother) PC-Clone! (Remember the CBM
BX-256?) Anyway, you heard it here
first!
Cap mentioned the COMPIS Computer,
a European MS-DOS (IBM-compatible)
machine with COMAL 2.0 included!
Note: Before COMAL 2.0 came out,
COMPIS wrote a small and fast MS-DOS/
CPM version of Pascal that they were
going to include with the COMPIS, but
after they saw COMAL 2.0, they adopted
COMAL and dropped Pascal. What ever
happened to COMPIS Pascal? Well,
having no further use for it, they
sold it to a small American company
called Borland International, who
called it Turbo Pascal! Now you know
. . . the REST of the story!
Also mentioned was MARCA, the lar-
gest Commodore show yet! It will be
the last week in July in Valley Forge,
PA. Borge Christensen (inventor of
COMAL), Len Lindsay (the Cap), and
others will speak. COMAL User's Group
will have a double booth! Call (412)
371-2882. This will be Borge
Christensen's first appearance in Am-
erica!
A viewer reported that "The Guide,"
a C-64 paper magazine, carries regular
COMAL coverage:
The GUIDE
3808 S.E. Licyntra Court
Portland, OR 97222
(503) 654-5603
$15.95 per year (12 issues).
============ 25 April 85 =============
During the last conference Len
Lindsay reported that he was retiring
as Captain COMAL and someone else
would be taking his place. So when I
joined this conference, I asked who
the new Captain COMAL is. Well, like
Jerry Mathers will always be the
Beaver, Len Lindsay is still the
Captain!
More on the MARCA convention: The
name apparently means 'Mid-Atlantic
Regional Commodore Association'.
Many people asked how to download
COMAL programs via PlayNet.
Unfortunately, the current PlayNet
File Exchange is intended only for
PRIVATE person-to-person exchanges,
not public uploads and downloads. The
new PlayNet software (due out Real
Soon Now) will have public uploads
and downloads -- including COMAL!
Other features of the new software
are support for Mitey Mo, the VIC-1560
(modem/300), the Westridge modem, and
RS-232 adapters with Hayes-compatible
modems. Also, non-players in a room
can "observe" a game in progress, and
the PlayNet Store is active. A nice
touch: the "PLAYNET" startup program
on the disk is now the FIRST program
in the directory, so LOAD":*",8,1 can
be used to load it. That means you
can use the Commodore/RUN STOP combi-
nation from under Epyx's "Fast Load"!
We also got into a discussion of
ShareWare, wherein a software author
uploads his product to several BBS's
and information services, and distri-
butes several unlocked copies on disk
to friends, with instructions to all
to "spread it around". People can try
out the software for awhile, and if
they like it, they send a fee (usually
about 1/5th of what a similar program
marketed through 'normal' channels
would cost) to the author, who then
registers them, sends them the latest
version, full printed documentation,
and a phone number for support! This
means quality software with MUCH lower
prices, no copy-protection, no
middlemen, etc.
=========== End of Article ===========