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june play-1
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COMAL PlayNOTES - June 1985
===== ========= ==== ====
by: Joel Ellis Rea
When using PLAYNET, users are
identified by their first name plus
their last initial. If two or more
users wind up with the same ID, then
numbers are tacked onto the last
initial (ex. BILL T1 and BILL T2) to
help avoid confusion.
------------- June 6 -----------------
I shared my discovery that COMAL
does not use true integer math, even
with integer (#) variables, except in
a FOR-loop index. For speed, use REAL
variables except for FOR indices.
For more memory, use INTEGERS.
Amiga is to be released shortly!
There is already a magazine in the
works called Amiga World! Each Amiga
will come with a subscription card.
We had a BIG discussion on the need
for an Apple COMAL. Jim V is so
desperate, he wants to form a
company to write it!
-------------- June 13 ---------------
The Captain wowed Playnet users with
a super, short-term bargain for 'COMAL
Today' subscribers. The offer is over
now. Sorry! Part of it, though, was a
new CBM-64 COMAL-80 2.01 Tutorial
Binder and Disk set, written by Frank
Bason and Leo Hojsholt-Poulsen.
William B1 says it is the best
tutorial he has ever seen, for any
language on any computer! The chapter
titles are:
1. Setting Up Your Computer
2. Let's Get Started
3. COMAL Programming
4. COMAL Overview
5. COMAL Packages
6. COMAL File Handling
7. Peripheral Equipment
8. COMAL and Machine Language
Sounds pretty complete to me!
William B1 asked about the use of
WRITE FILE & READ FILE statement with
arrays. He wanted to know if an array
can be written in its entirety to a
RANDOM FILE with a single WRITE FILE
statement, and if individual elements
of the array can then be accessed via
READ FILE statements later. After much
debate and experimentation, the answer
we all came up with was NO, due to the
way the 1541 handles relative (RANDOM)
files.
Proposed: A 'Borge' night on Play-
NET when Borge Christensen comes to
the U. S. of A. for the MARCA
convention.
Larry P2 found an anomaly in the
TURTLE package involving its INQ
function. It seems that INQ(17) which
returns the X-coordinate of the
Turtle, and INQ(18) which returns the
Y-coordinate, return these
coordinates based on actual pixels
with (0,0) in the lower left corner,
without taking any WINDOW or VIEWPORT
settings into account. Indeed, since
TURTLE defaults (0,0) in the CENTER
of the screen, this must be taken
into account even without WINDOW or
VIEWPORT settings when using TURTLE!
Proto-C is NOT a version of the 'C'
programming language. It is an expert
system written entirely in COMAL 2.0!
It supports up to 4000 records per
disk and handles multi-disks. It
solves problems by algebraic set
theory, such as classification
problems. It runs in only 14K.
Michael E wrote it, and Len Lindsay
(Captain COMAL) may publish it.
More later!
We discussed the Oberon Omni-Reader,
a $599 optical character reader. It
can actually read typewritten text
into the C-64 via the user port!
--------------- June 20 --------------
CUGUSA (COMAL User's Group, USA) has
instituted a PRICE PROTECTION PLAN!
If any item purchased from them drops
in price within one month of purchase,
CUGUSA will credit the difference
toward future purchases!
Cap requests that COMALites that
read the Ahoy magazine, particularly
their 'COMMODARES' column, send in
solutions to the COMMODARES written in
COMAL. A great way to spread COMAL
around! There was much talk, all very
speculative, on the Amiga.
Cap informed us that, with the
COMAL 2 cartridge, you can do a
SELECT INPUT "sp:" (Serial Port),
then run COMAL from a remote
terminal! Likewise, LIST "sp:" sends
current program as a LISTing over the
modem!
He also announced that at MARCA,
CUGUSA would officially announce:
'COMAL QUICK', a version of COMAL 0.14
with a 1541 & MSD compatible fast load
routine built-in, which loads in only
20 seconds, and remains active to beef
up loading speed from within COMAL;
plus 'QUICK CHIP', an EPROM that plugs
into the new Commodore-distributed
COMAL 2.01 cartridge that provides a
similar fast-loader for loading COMAL
2.0 programs! Both are by the amazing
Jesse Knight, author of 'COMAL 2.0
Packages' book and disk set!
------ Continued in Next Article -----