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1989-09-30
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4KB
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79 lines
SHAREWARE REVIEW
PROGRAM: LIST64A -- A TYPE command replacement
AUTHOR: Vernon D. Buerg
REGISTRATION: $15.00 or anything
WHERE FOUND: Everywhere
RESTRICTIONS: 16 million lines of text
RATING: 9.9
VALUE: S (P)oor - (A)verage - (S)uper
You know a program is great when other programs use it as a default in
their configurations. The names PKXARC, ARC, LHARC, and PKZIP come to mind
for compression programs, while QEDIT and SLED come to mind for text
editors. Funny thing, when it comes to a type command replacement there is
only one choice offered by almost all programs: LIST64A.
Doing my duty as an investigator of decent ShareWare, I proceeded to
download LIST64A. My first tip that this was no ordinary piece of software
occurred when I noticed the program had been downloaded 87 times. This on a
BBS where file transfers are taboo.
The second and most glaring evidence revealed itself when I actually ran
the program. {Eddie Murphy imitation} Can you say NECESSARY. Can you say
ESSENTIAL. {Eddie Murphy imitation off} Otay! {Whoops, I said OFF!} Ok.
Yes, LIST64A is a replacement for the awful type command DOS gives you to
view text files. But don't stop there! LIST64A, in its itsy bitsy 9K home,
offers you features that can't be found in any other text view utility.
USE: LIST64A is started by simply typing LIST. The author makes it very
easy for beginners to use by allowing a person to just type LIST, and
then follow that up with a SEPARATE prompt for the filename. (You may
also specify filenames on the command line.)
The easiest way to show you how list becomes a vital part of your
everyday computing, is to perform brief skits about top features:
Bill was down in the dumps. He just couldn't figure this problem out.
Surely the routine he coded in the beginning of the program was the
same as the latest version. With his printer broken he couldn't dump
the listing, so he was stuck. {Symphony music for a bright idea here
please} He decided to use the LIST64A feature that allows him to
"freeze" a portion of his file to the top of the screen, and then
continue scrolling through the rest on the bottom. Hmmm. Bill thought
it looked good but he just couldn't fit the whole routine on his
screen. Whamo. {Batman Music Here Please} Bow. {More BM Please} Zap.
{An even more BM please} He hit the handy ALT-E Key for the 43 line
EGA mode, and presto he saw his error. (Bill could have avoided this
typo by using the handy ALT-D command which would have allowed him to
copy that routine to a disk, then pull it up when he needed it.)
Shirley was a pretty happy camper. She had been working late one night
on a report for school about Panama . While watching the news that
evening she noticed that she had spelled COCAINE wrong. She spelled it
COKANE. Quickly, she dashed to her word processor only to find that it
did not have a search/replace command! She then remembered reading a
review a long time ago that touted LIST64A. Frantically, she pulled
the program off her floppy disk and ran the program. She was easily
guided through the program's operation by the prompts and the easy to
standard commands. (? for help, and ESC to exit) She located all her
COKANEs and changed them to COCAINEs. She got an A.
SUMMARY: GOOD POINTS BAD POINTS
----------- ----------
√ Size/Performance Ratio ≈ VGA Mode?
√ Easily Configurable
√ Documentation
√ Standard Commands
1----------5---------10:
██████████████████████
9.9
LIST64A is so perfect that the only problem with it is expectations. The
program has so much to offer that there should be support for 50 line VGA
mode. Other than this lacking feature, LIST64A is a program that belongs on
everyone's software shelf!
(C) 1989 Patrick Grote