Review - The Atari Compendium , By Jonathan White.
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    So, after scrabbling around for books  on  the Atari for ages, with the
    best ones going out of print,  there  is  a  real need for a GOOD Atari
    programmers reference. And, coming over the  horizon on a 747 comes the
    Atari Compendium from SDS publishing in the US.

    So what is it? Well, you  hold  it  in  your  hand  and it feels like a
    housebrick. It's about 2 inches thick  and  it looks serious. The cover
    proudly proclaims it  covers  TOS  1.0  to  5.0  (more  on  that later)
    including GEM, TOS, MiNT, GDOS and 680x0.  So,  when you pick it up, it
    screams 'professional' rather than 'dabbler'.

    This opinion is reinforced on a quick flick through. This book will NOT
    teach you GEM programming. There are  no tutorial sections and precious
    few examples. So, if you don't know GEM, this won't teach it to you.

    However, if you  have  a  vague  idea  about  GEM,  this  will tell you
    everything you  need  to  know.  I  have  yet  to  find  any  piece  of
    programming info left out. It's  certainly  the most complete reference
    I've seen. Some of the topics it covers are..

     AES,VDI,TOS (inc. Speedo GDOS)
     A-Line, BIOS, XBIOS, GEMDOS
     MiNT
     Falcon Hardware (yep - DSP,sound etc are all there, although again
                         it won't teach you to program the DSP, once you
                         know, it'll certainly help you get the best out
                         of it)

     Atari Interface guidelines (it'd be nice if they stuck to 'em)
     COMPLETE Memory map of all machines, along with a list of ALL
               system variables
     The new (TOS 2+) drag & drop protocol
     GEM, IMG, RSC, FNT file formats
     Xcontrol CPX's

    The only thing the  author  admits  to  leaving  out  are MiNT loadable
    device drivers, so I think 99% of us will be OK..

    So, taking a more detailed look, we can check how well it is organised.
    Is there an index (yes), are  the  functions  referenced by name or Op-
    Code (both) and is it easy to get at the info you want..

    Well the chapters are clearly  separated,  there's  a detailed table of
    contents at the beginning and a  12  page  index  at the end. These are
    both OK, but as  usual  the  choice  of  where  things  are is slightly
    subjective in the index - for  example,  some  menu topics go under AES
    menus, rather than Menus. But I've never  had  to look in more than two
    places to find what I want.

    The explanatory texts (e.g the sections on the DSP hardware, the nature
    of message handling etc..) are neat,  well  laid  out and easy to read,
    not too dense but still sticking to the point.

    Individual function references are  organised  in  a standard way, very
    reminiscent of the way Borland lay  out their PC compiler manuals. Each
    function has several sections..

     Name (in big bold letters so it's easy to spot)
     Syntax    (in standard C :- returntype Name (parameters) )
     OpCode
     Availability (do you need a particular version of GEM /MiNT etc..)
     Parameters   (what each parameter does)
     Binding   (for you assembly language programmers out there)
     Return Value   (what it means, not just what range it can take)
     Caveats  (unforseen effects, bugs etc..)
     Comments  (anything else you need to know)
     See Also  ( a list of related functions)

    These sections themselves are somewhat  variable  in  size. The list of
    return values for evnt_mesag goes  on for several pages.. Nevertheless,
    having this standard layout means  it's  quite  easy  to get to exactly
    what you want pretty quickly, and the detail is such that I have yet to
    have to do a lot  of  flicking  back  and  forth looking for particular
    things. Its usually all there with the function definition.

    So there we have it. A  very  detailed  reference to the Atari hardware
    and Operating system  range,  even  beyond  what  is  currently in use.
    That's right - It even has info on  the stuff Atari has in it's next OS
    release (when they get around  to  it)  including - minimise buttons on
    windows, hierarchical menus, drop down list boxes, pop up menus, window
    toolbars etc, etc, etc.  After  you  see  this  lot,  you  will WANT to
    upgrade when it comes out.  Although  incidentally, I've heard all this
    stuff is available  to  registered  developers  already.  If that's the
    case, how do I get to be one??

    Conclusion? Well, I've had it for six months or so, and I still haven't
    found anything  missing.  There  are  a  few  errors  (it's  800 pages,
    whadayou expect??) but there is  already  an errata sheet available and
    the info is also  in  the  second  issue  of  the Atari Explorer OnLine
    Programming journal. I'll try and fish the relevant bit out and send it
    in if it's needed. You also get  to register it for updates, although I
    didn't get the info that way, and  I  don't hold out any hope that I'll
    ever see much in the  way  of  support. Unfortunately, Atari developers
    are just too few and skint to provide much of that, I'm afraid.

    The most telling point is that I  haven't touched any of my other Atari
    refence books since I got it and I have quite a few. I guess that makes
    it a recommended buy. At  œ40  it's  the  most expensive reference book
    I've seen for the Atari, but it's  also  the best. If you want to write
    good Atari software, this book WILL make your life easier. If you don't
    know how to program the Atari,  get  Tim Oren's GEM programming lessons
    (or read ours) and THEN buy this book.  It may be the only one you ever
    need...