Archive Magazine 1996/ARCHIVE_96.iso/text/magazine/volume_09/issue_05

Text File | 1996-01-12 | 306KB | 6,472 lines

Products Available
9.5
In preparing this magazine, I held back these first eight pages and sent
the rest to the printers. I knew Acorn were making certain
Éannouncementsæ at BETT and I wanted Archive readers to be the first to
know about them. Here are the three main announcements:
9.5
(1) Acorn have signed an agreement with Oracle (see page 7 for details).
9.5
(2) They have launched Acorn MediaRange Ö a whole new conceptual
approach to education, and not just a new range of products (details on
page 7).
9.5
(3)áThere are A7000áprice cuts, and two new computer variants Ö see
Products Available below.
9.5
The first of these three is easy enough to comprehend, although the
implications, in terms of technological development, will emerge with
time, and the last is also very straight forward. Acorn MediaRange,
however, is much more difficult to digest, involving new concepts and
new jargon. After spending a day walking round the BETT Show collecting
product information, arriving back in Norwich at 8.30 p.m. and having to
finish the magazine before I can go to bed, I canæt do much more than
give a brief overview of Acornæs strategy (page 7).
9.5
What I really need is an Archive contributor who can digest the Acorn
literature, and interpret it for the rest of us (in time for the next
issue?!). This needs to be someone with an appreciation of educational
theory because Acorn are not just generating a set of new products to
meet existing needs Ö they are actively involved in the development of
education as it tries to respond within our increasingly information-
rich society. Any offers of help will be gratefully received. Ed.
9.5
17ö monitor for RiscPC Ö The AKF85 is now no more. It has been replaced
by the AKF90 which is ú382 extra to the cost of the Acorn 14ò (instead
of ú326 extra for the AKF85). The AKF90 has on-screen setup including
rotation and colour temperature. However, the resolution (0.28mm dot
pitch) is not quite as good as the AKF85 (0.27mm). This makes the Iiyama
alternatives much more attractive by comparison. The 8617 flat-screen
17ö is ú400 extra and the 9017 Diatron 17ò (0.26mm slot width) is ú480
extra. (If you want to buy either of these better monitors with a
RiscPC, you need to fill in a ÉSpecialist Purchase Formæ Ö give us a
ring and we will send you one.) (Let me declare an interest here... the
dealer margin is better on the Iiyama monitors, so we make more profit
if you buy them rather than the Acorn one! We havenæt seen an AKF90 yet,
but I have no hesitation in saying that both of the Iiyama monitors are
definitely better than the AKF85. Ed.)
9.5
20/20 extended Ö Acornæs 20 month interest free loan scheme has been so
successful that it has been extended until further notice. (Details were
given in 9.1 p2 but ring the NCS office if you arenæt sure how it all
works.)
9.5
A3020/A4000 discontinued Ö Because of new regulations coming into force
on 1/1/96, the A3020 and A4000 can no longer be sold into schools. (They
are, however, still available through the Tesco scheme Ö they bought
them from Acorn in 1995.)
9.5
A7000 price drop Ö All A7000 computers have been reduced in price by
ú100 +VAT so that the entry level 2Mb network-only version (AMC01) is
ú675 +VAT including a 14ö monitor. The 2Mb/425Mb model (AMC02) is ú699
+VAT and the 4Mb/425Mb (AMC03) is ú775 +VAT. One new variant now
available is a 4Mb network-only A7000 (AMC04) at ú749 +VAT.
9.5
Acorn RiscPC 700X Ö Almost available is a RiscPC Unix box, which uses a
17ö Iiyama monitor to give a high enough resolution. The ACB96 with
AKF96 monitor has software which allows you to swap X resolutions and
colour depths at the click of a mouse button to suit different tasks
(1280╫1024      8-bit, 1024╫786 16-bit or 800╫600 24-bit). Up to eight
independent X screens can be supported simultaneously and you can hot-
key between Xáterminal and desktop applications. The ACB96 costs ú2,199
+VAT.
9.5
Acorn RiscPC PC card upgrade Ö Acorn are very keen to encourage RiscPC
owners to move up from the original SX33 PC cards to the faster cards.
To do so, they are offering very generous rebates on old cards: ú117 if
you buy a DX2-66 or a DX4-100 and ú235 if you go for the new 5x86-100
(which are expected to arrive by the end of January).
9.5
This discounted upgrade is available from Acorn-by-Post (Vector
Marketing), or through Acorn Centres of Technology. It is not available
through the normal dealer channel.
9.5
You can send your old card back to us with the order, and just pay the
upgrade price. If you donæt want to be without your old card, send a
cheque for the value of the discount (ú117 or ú235). We will hold this
cheque and reserve the right to bank it if the old card is not returned
to us within 14 days. Then when you return the old card, we will destroy
the cheque.
9.5
So, the VAT inclusive prices are as follows:
9.5
Code  Spec  RRP  Upgrade  Discount
9.5
ACA53  DX2-66  ú293  ú175  ú117
9.5
ACA56  DX4-100  ú351  ú234  ú117
9.5
ACA57  5x86-100  ú586  ú351  ú235
9.5
So, to reiterate, if you want a DX2-66, then send either your old card
and a cheque for ú175 or a cheque for ú175 and a cheque for ú117. If you
want a DX4-100, send either your old card and a cheque for ú234 or a
cheque for ú234 and a cheque for ú117. If you want a 5x86, send either
your old card and a cheque for ú351 or a cheque for ú351 and a cheque
for ú235.
9.5
Acorn RiscPC with PC card Ö Acorn are now offering all the PC cards at a
discount price when purchased at the same time as a RiscPC.
9.5
Code  Spec  RRP  Special price
9.5
ACA52  SXL-33  ú234     ú116
9.5
ACA53  DX2-66  ú291     ú175
9.5
ACA56  DX4-100  ú351     ú234
9.5
ACA57  5x86-100  ú586     ú469
9.5
Archive Internet Glossary Ö The glossary is growing rapidly and is now
over 9,500 words (plus the 11,500 words of the main Archive glossary).
These glossaries are available on a single disc for ú5.
9.5
CD drives Ö The range of Eesox CD drives continues to expand. There is
now a Platinum 6.7 speed SCSI drive which costs ú390 inclusive through
Archive for RiscPC or ú465 as an external version. For the RiscPC
(only), there is a six speed ATAPI drive for only ú240. The price of the
Eesox quad speed ATAPI drive is now ú140.
9.5
ARM Club Ö At the Acorn World Show, the ARM Club launched its new ARM
Club CD-ROM, containing the best of their PD and Shareware collection.
Also available from the club is the new GameOn! release 2. The CD-ROM
costs ú19.50. GameOn! 2 costs ú15 or ú5 for the upgrade from release 1.
9.5
Clearview 2, from DEC_dATA, is a hypertext/multimedia application that
allows you to view information and topics via an indexing and cross-
referencing system. Cross references to other places in a document, or
other ClearView documents, are shown with an underlined word Ö the user
simply clicks to go straight to the reference. External files and
applications can be run from the ClearView page, allowing drawfiles to
be loaded into Draw, or Replay files to be shown etc. There are full
search facilities, including the ability to search for two words/phrases
that are near each other. Clearview 2 Advanced allows a fully working
ClearView file to be quickly compiled using just Edit. ClearView looks
after the text formatting, with no problems of text flowing out of a
frame.
9.5
ClearView Standard and ClearView 2 Advanced cost ú10 and ú33.19 +VAT +
p&p respectively from DEC_dATA.
9.5
Clipart Ö New from DEC_dATA is a collection of clipart covering the
Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, and Greek and Romans. Aimed at Key Stage 2,
each collection consists of full colour drawfiles accessed via a
ClearView file. The file shows each graphic as a small thumbnail, and
has a hot link to load the picture into Draw. In addition, a few lines
of information are given on each picture to help the pupil and teacher
put the image into context. The discs include maps, people of the time,
transport, artifacts, tools, art and music. Each collection costs ú10
+VAT +p&p from DEC_dATA.
9.5
Cumana products ARE available Ö Following a month of trading under
administrative receivership, Cumana Ltd, the Guildford-based
manufacturer of educational IT products, has been purchased by
Sheffield-based Economatics (Education) Ltd.
9.5
Economatics Education has formed a Cumana Products Division to
complement its existing educational technology products business. The
new division plans to offer the full range of Cumana own brand and
related products, including a wide range of CD-ROM drives, the proTeus
optical drive and the SCSI II interface.
9.5
ÉCumanaæ will continue to focus its attention on high quality products
and services aimed specifically at the home and education markets, with
particular emphasis, as always, on the Acorn platform.
9.5
While administrative, distribution and accounts services will be handled
by the Sheffield office, we hope our customers will be pleased to hear
that the core of the sales, support and development team are all
employees of the original Cumana.
9.5
The team, under new management, would like to thank all those who
offered their support through a difficult time, and look forward to
doing business with you again soon.
9.5
Paul McKinnon <[e-mail]>
9.5
Easy Clip from Fabis Computing, does for clipart what Easy Font and Font
Directory do for fonts. It has the capacity to store over half a million
images in most common filetypes, and even compresses them to between 35
and 60%. Features include: large thumbnails of graphics for easy access,
virtual memory manager for thumbnail display; drag and drop between
groups and applications; preview of images in a scalable window. Easy
Clip costs ú35 (no VAT).
9.5
ESP Software Midi synthesizer Ö This software-only Midi synthesizer
developed by ESP, as we said last month, öis designed to work on any
RISC OS machine although best results will be achieved if you have 16-
bit sound capabilityò. However, ESP have not yet got it working properly
on RISCáOS 3.1, so please check before ordering it. It costs ú39.95 +VAT
from ESP or ú45 through Archive.
9.5
EZ135 drives Ö (pronounced öEasy135ò Ö a case of bad cross-Atlantic
translation!) We now have the IDE internal version in stock. These are
3╜ö devices but they come ready-mounted in a 5╝ò frame, so you can fit
them into either size bay on a RiscPC at no extra cost. I tested them
for speed by comparing them with a 270Mb removable drive. I copied a
single 4.6Mb file and then a directory with 182 files in it, totalling
4.6Mb. The resultant (effective) speeds were as follows.
9.5
  270Mb  EZ135
9.5
Single file  1350Kb/s  950Kb/s  (70%)
9.5
182 files  104Kb/s  80Kb/s  (77%)
9.5
So, from these brief tests, the drives seem to be about ╛ the speed of
the larger drives Ö not bad when you consider the price differences.
Complete with one cartridge, they cost ú240 inclusive (cf ú370) and the
extra cartridges are ú20 each (cf ú55). Remember though that the
disadvantage of using IDE removables is that IDE was never intended for
use with removables and you need special software (which we supply with
it) to allow the cartridges to be dismounted without switching the
computer off.
9.5
There is an external SCSI version (no dismounting problems!) due öby the
end of the weekò (but I have been told that several times!) which will
also be excellent value at ú290 including one cartridge.
9.5
GT5000 A4 flatbed scanner Ö Epson have released a new A4 flatbed scanner
with a low price tag Ö ú490 including PC software (we canæt buy it
without!) and Acorn software. The optics are 300 dpi. This compares with
the GT8500 (400dpi) and GT9000 (600dpi) at ú710 and ú830 respectively.
The GT5000 comes with a parallel interface and so can only be used with
A5000 or later computers that have a bi-directional parallel interface.
9.5
HP Laserjet 5L Ö An exciting new 600 dpi, 4 ppm laser printer from HP
which has received a very good (unsolicited) review from Keith Parker
(see page 45). It has a small Éfootprintæ and a low price of ú480
inclusive of VAT and carriage through Archive.
9.5
iTV Ö Irlam Instrumentsæ integrated television support for their 24i16
digitiser provides high quality television reception, including teletext
and NICAM stereo audio decoder. Cacheing software provides instant
access to teletext pages, plus network capability. SWI interface with
documentation allows users to write their own specialised applications.
iTV costs ú169 +VAT + p&p from Irlam or ú193 through Archive.
9.5
MenuBar, from Beebug, is a different way of accessing often-used
directories, applications and files, from the usual RISC OS way. In
operation, it is similar to the filer and the pinboard, but it is
presented as a slim bar of pull-down menus at the top of the screen,
complementing the iconbar at the bottom. Menus may be dragged or clicked
open and shut. The menubar may contain up to ten menus, each with up to
30 objects (i.e. directories, applications or files). It is very simple
to add, reposition and remove objects or Menus. MenuBar allows you to
organise files to suit the way you work Ö regardless of the way they are
stored on disc. Each Menu may be given a name so that, for example, you
could arrange for ÉDTPæ to hold !Printers, !Style, !MultiChrs and a data
directory. Or you might have ÉToolsæ containing !Measure, !CloseFile,
!WimpAid, !Pointer, !Flags, !Magnifier, etc. The important point is that
all these objects can be run from within MenuBar by double-clicking or
dragging. Moreover, the Menus are instantly available: no frustrating
delays while you dig deep into the filer hierarchy waiting for all the
icons to be read. By including MenuBar in your Boot sequence, your most
important files are available from the MenuBar on start-up, and no need
for any more messy backdrops! MenuBar requires RISC OS 3.1 or greater.
It works with hard or floppy discs, and costs ú11.95 +VAT +p&p from
Beebug or ú15 through Archive.
9.5
Meta Converter, from Keysoft, is a small utility for converting Windows
metafiles into drawfiles. Metafiles are widely used throughout the PC
world as they can be manipulated more easily than bitmaps and they can
be scaled and rotated without introducing jagged edges. Many PC
magazines give these files away each month on their cover discs
(sometimes in their thousands), and they are also available very cheaply
through the public domain and from several software companies. Meta
Converter costs ú15.99 inclusive from Gordon Key.
9.5
Mice Ö Having sold off my huge stock of (about 150) genuine Acorn mice
at Acorn World 95, I find that I cannot get any more from that supplier
and have to go direct to the Acorn Spares Department. This means that
the price for Acorn mice will have to go up to ú25. However, thanks to
one of the subscribers, we have located a supply of öAcorn compatibleò
mice which we can sell at ú15. (I am tempted to talk about öthe best
laid plans...ò but Iáwonæt!)
9.5
Pages, from SEMERC, is an easy-to-use word processing package. It has
been designed to be as close as possible to paper and a pencil case and
is especially useful for young learners and those with special needs.
The user is given a page onto which they can click their chosen
position, and start typing. Once on the page, the text, words or
pictures can be moved around the screen, borders can be added or the
freehand tool used to doodle. Letters, words or sentences can be read
aloud to the learner and, with its built-in spell checker, errors can be
located as they are typed. Pages can be quickly tailored by the teacher
to suit the individual requirements of the child and it can even be used
as an early desktop publishing package. Pages costs ú49 +VAT from
SEMERC.
9.5
PAPERsoft Ltd have been building up a large collection of templates of
labels and pre-printed stationery from companies such as Avery and Paper
Direct. Each disc in the collection contains templates for a range of
papers and label sheets, enabling the user to apply text and graphics
within the limits of the paper design. So far, there are six discs in
the collection covering templates for Paper Direct (Business papers;
Fun/Theme and Christmas), Avery (Laser labels; Inkjet labels and Avery
Indexing System) and Fisher Clark (Laser and Inkjet labels). Template
sets are available for Impression, Artworks, Ovation, 1st Page, Textease
and Draw. Prices range from ú5.95 to ú17.95 from PAPERsoft.
9.5
Picture Book 2, from The Really Good Software Company, is made up of
five programs to help children with reading, spelling and counting.
AlphaBook is the program which lets you see and hear the words you are
using; Flashcard helps children recognise words with pictures or spoken
words; Countæem is a counting program with single or mixed pictures;
Spell It provides spelling from pictures at three grades of difficulty.
Finally, Snap is a game for up to three players matching pictures,
sounds or words.
9.5
Each program uses Picture Book 2æs unique Alphabet files with
professionally-drawn graphics by prize-winning illustrator Walter
Briggs, plus special sound effects and spoken words. Every program is
fully configurable; individually saved Choice files can be arranged to
automatically load a specific alphabet file and run the program with a
double-click of the mouse. To go with it, RGSC have designed AlphaEdit,
an easy-to-use application for creating Alphabet files for use with
Picture Book 2. You can combine Draw or Artwork files with sound and
spoken words to build up your own files tailored to your own purposes.
Picture Book 2 costs ú35 inclusive (if you return the original Picture
Book disc, you get a ú5 discount), and AlphaEdit costs ú15 inclusive
from RGSC.
9.5
Picture Puzzler, from Cambridgeshire Software House, is a program which
has been especially designed with the young in mind. It uses no language
whatsoever and is totally under the useræs control. It will accept any
sprite and divide it into a number of tiles. You simply put the tiles
back in the correct places. You can create 4 tiles with 1 missing, or up
to 36 tiles with 35 missing. Picture Puzzler comes with a range of
ready-made pictures.
9.5
Also from CSH comes What do you Know?, a quiz type program of over 2000
questions and answers, covering TV Soaps, History, Geography, General
Knowledge, Sport, The Arts and Science. It is aimed at age 4 to adult.
Picture Puzzler and What do you Know? each cost ú19.95 +VAT +p&p from
CSH.
9.5
Pioneer 6CD Jukebox Ö We are experiencing difficulty in getting hold of
enough of the Nakamichi quad speed 7-disc CD jukeboxes, but we have now
found a Pioneer jukebox that takes 6 CDs and is slightly faster, 4.4
speed. The Pioneer is ú590 through Archive.
9.5
Sherston Software have launched a number of new products. Arcventure IV
is the latest title in Sherstonæs Arcventure series and covers the Anglo
Saxon period. The package, for junior school pupils, is designed along
similar lines to the others in the series and is centred around an
archaeological dig in West Stow, Suffolk. Budding archaeologists using
the program are able to go back in time and unearth the facts about the
mystery objects they have found.
9.5
Cambridge University Press are in the process of launching a new reading
scheme called Cambridge Reading. To accompany the scheme, Sherston have
launched six new talking stories. The new Cambridge Reading Talking
Books feature Sherstonæs lively animations and amusing sound effects and
are narrated by Barry and Jill Wilsher, known to primary schools as the
ÉWords Aliveæ team.
9.5
Finally, Elf Tales is a new adventure series aimed at young children;
the first two titles are Elf King and Elf Magic. The programs
incorporate maths and language activities in the story lines, and
contain graphics and animations, as well as human speech, to introduce
children to sorting, sequencing and the basics of time, at two levels of
difficulty.
9.5
Arcventure IV Ö Anglo Saxons, is ú34.95 +VAT or ú39 through Archive; a
Primary site licence costs ú52.42 +VAT; Secondary licence is ú69.90
+VAT.
9.5
The Cambridge Reading Talking Books are available on Acorn, Windows and
Mac platforms and cost ú40 +VAT or ú45 through Archive.
9.5
Elf Tales, which includes both adventures, costs ú32.95 +VAT, or ú37
through Archive; a Primary site licence is ú49.43 +VAT from Sherston.
9.5
SimpleTouch is a new touch screen from MicroTouch and is being
distributed by Lindis International. SimpleTouch is a resistive screen
which can be attached to almost any normal computer screen, turning it
into a fully functional touch screen. The SimpleTouch software drivers
enable it to be used to control the computer instead of using a mouse,
thereby enabling the user to use virtually any software written for the
appropriate operating system. It plugs into the computeræs serial port,
and can be attached to the top of the computeræs screen by using a
velcro-type pad.
9.5
Continued from page 6...
9.5
The complete SimpleTouch kit for 14ö & 15ò monitors Ö including software
drivers, fitting-kit and cables Ö costs ú225 +VAT +p&p from Lindis.
9.5
Sound Byte Recorder, from VTi, consists of a microphone, interface and
software, allowing users to capture sound using the Recorderæs
microphone or any other source, such as hi-fi or tape recorder. Sounds
from these sources can be captured separately or recorded from both
simultaneously. Sound Byte Recorder can be used to record voice
commentary, sound effects or music to add to multimedia creations in
Genesis, Magpie, Ultima, Animator or other similar packages. At the
moment, VTi have a special offer of a free copy of Talking Canvas
Junior, making it possible to add sound to anything from simple talking
books to more sophisticated multimedia presentations. Sound Byte
Recorder costs ú39 +VAT +p&p from VTi.
9.5
The Patience Addict Ö Creative Curriculum Software seem to have realised
that The Patience Addict was somewhat under-priced, for what it offered,
at their introductory price. The price is now ú16.98 +VAT or ú19 through
Archive Ö but it is still very good value at that. (See review on p.27.)
9.5
The UK Internet Book Ö This 360 page book by Sue Schofield has chapters
on TCP/IP software, email, Usenet, ftp, Telnet, Archie, Gopher, Veronica
and the Worldwide Web. The UK Internet Book has been updated with a new
section on Internet issues and a PC format disc containing 3Mb of text
files on newsgroups, Listservs, FAQs etc. The price including the disc
is ú19.95 from Addison Wesley (ISBN 0-201-87731-7), or ú20 through
Archive including p&p.
9.5
TinyArt is a simple art package aimed at children aged 4/5 and is
designed to encourage the childæs individual creativity. Tools include:
pencil, circle, triangle, rectangle, spray, fill and eraser. An undo
feature reverses the last action performed by the user. Choices can be
set and then locked to prevent children changing the configuration; and
a Prevent Deletion option prevents the accidental deletion of pictures.
Tiny Art is ú14.95 inc. p&p from Rooksoft.
9.5
Touch Typing Tutor has been designed to meet the needs of visually
impaired people wanting to learn to touch type. It provides the means to
set up different colours, dimensions and styles of font for the exercise
text displayed. It also incorporates speech capability, to enable the
program to be used by totally blind people as well as partially sighted
people. The program can be used by older children and adults alone or,
for younger children, with help from a teacher. A full set of exercises
is provided, and it is easy for teachers to add their own. Touch Typing
Tutor costs ú24, fully inclusive, from the Research Centre for the
Education of the Visually Handicapped, at the University of Birmingham.
9.5
ViVID20 Ö RiscPC size desktops for older machines Ö ViVID20 requires a
VIDC enhancer and a true multisync monitor. It offers work areas up to
2048╫1232 including 1600╫1200 in 16 colours at 62Hz and up to 1472╫1070
in 256 colours via a mode selection utility similar to a RiscPC. All
resolutions also support 16 level greyscale and extended 4ácolour
dithering. The price is ú11.50 inclusive.
9.5
Review software received...
9.5
We have received review copies of the following: ÅCalabash Pirates (e),
ÅCine Clips (m), ÅFreddy Teddy Directions (e), ÅGeordian Lock (u),
ÅGraphic Text Adventure Creator (gu) ÅMenuBar (u) ÅMeta Converter (u),
ÅTechWriter/Pro (+EasiWriter2/Pro), ÅTinyArt (a), ÅViVID20 (u),
ÅXenakis16 (m).
9.5
a=Art, e=Education, g=Games, m=Multimedia, u=Utility, w=wordprocessing/
DTP.
9.5
If you would like to review any of these products, please contact the
Archive office. Potential reviewers will need to show that they would
use the product in a professional capacity or that they have some
knowledge of the particular field.áuá
9.5
Abacus Training  (Gerald Fitton) 29 Okus Grove, Upper Stratton, Swindon,
Wilts, SN2 6QA. (01793¡723347) [01793¡723347]
9.5
Acorn Computers Ltd  Acorn House, Vision Park, Histon, Cambridge, CB4
4AE. (01223¡254254) [01223¡254262]
9.5
Acorn¡by¡Post  13 Dennington Road, Wellingborough, Northants, NN8 2BR.
(01933¡279300)
9.5
Anglia Multimedia  Anglia House, Norwich, NR1 3JG. (01603¡615151)
[01603¡631032]
9.5
ANT Ltd  P.O.Box 300, Cambridge, CB1 2EG. (01223¡567808) [01223¡567801]
<[e-mail]>
9.5
APDL  39 Knighton Park Road, Sydenham, London, SE26 5RN.
9.5
Apricote Studios  2 Purls Bridge Farm, Manea, Cambridgeshire, PE15 0ND.
(01354¡680432)
9.5
Argonet (a.k.a. VTi)  Unit 1, The Shopwhyke Centre, Shopwhyke Road,
Chichester, PO20 6GD. (01243¡531194) [01243¡531196]
<[e-mail]>
9.5
ARM Club  Freepost ND6573, London, N12 0BR. (0171¡624¡9918)
[0181¡446¡3020]
9.5
Audio Dynamics  10 Durnford Close, Norden, Rochdale OL12 7RX.
(01706¡868803) [01706¡868803]
9.5
Beebug Ltd  117 Hatfield Road, St Albans, Herts, AL1 4JS. (01727¡840303)
[01727¡860263]
9.5
Cambridgeshire Software House  8 Bramley Road, St Ives, PE17 4WS.
(01480¡467945) [01480¡496442]
9.5
Clares Micro Supplies  98 Middlewich Road, Rudheath, Northwich,
Cheshire, CW9 7DA. (01606¡48511) [01606¡48512]
<[e-mail]>
9.5
Clips Round the Year  (C. Jarman) Wyke Hill House, Cheriton Close,
Winchester,  SO22  5HN.  (01962¡862227) [01962¡862227]
<[e-mail]>
9.5
Computer Concepts  Gaddesden Place, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP2 6EX.
(01442¡63933) [01442¡231632]
9.5
Concept Keyboard Co.  Moorside Road, Winnall Industrial Estate,
Winchester, SO23á7RX. (01962¡843322) [01962Ö841657]
9.5
Creative Curriculum Software  5 Clover Hill Road, Savile Park, Halifax,
HX1 2YG. (01422¡340524) [01422¡346388]
9.5
Cumana Ltd  Boundary House, The Pines, Broad Street, Guildford, GU3 3BH.
(01483¡570295) [01483¡451371] <[e-mail]>
9.5
Dalriada Data Technology  145 Albion Street, Kenilworth, Warkwickshire,
CV8 2FY. (01926¡53901)
9.5
DEC_dATA  P.O.Box 97, Exeter, EX4 4YA. (01392¡221702)
<[e-mail]>
9.5
Doggysoft  Furzefield House, Furzefield Road, Beaconsfield, Bucks, HP9
1PQ. (01494¡673222) [01494¡675878] <[e-mail]>
9.5
Eesox  Suite 8C, Newton House, 147 St Neots Road, Hardwick, Cambridge,
CB3á7QJ. (01954¡212263) [01954¡212263]
9.5
ESP  21 Beech Lane, West Hallam, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, DE7 6GP.
(0115¡929¡5019) [0115¡929¡5019]
9.5
Fabis Computing  Sarford House, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11 9SL.
(01283¡552761)
9.5
Irlam Instruments  133 London Road, Staines, Middlesex TW18 4HN.
(01895¡811401) <[e-mail]>
9.5
Keysoft (Gordon Key)  Ferndorf, Tarporley Road, Norcott Brook,
Warrington, Cheshire, WA4á4DY.
9.5
Lindis International  Wood Farm, Linstead Magna, Halesworth, Suffolk,
IP19 0DU. (01986¡785477) [01986¡785460]
9.5
Longman Logotron  124 Cambridge Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4
4ZS. (01223¡425558) [01223¡425349]
9.5
Magnetic Image  3 Larkspur Close, Witham, Essex, CM8 2YQ. (01376¡500590)
[01376¡340567]
9.5
Matt Black  6 Henry Court, Henry Street, Peterborough, PE1 2QG.
(01733¡315439)
9.5
Papersoft Ltd  10 Dunlin Road, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP2 6LU.
(01442¡391967) <[e-mail]>
9.5
Repair Zone  421 Sprowston Road, Norwich, NR3 4EH. (01603¡400477)
9.5
Research Centre for the Education of the Visually Handicapped,
University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT.
(0121¡414¡6733) [0121¡414¡4865]
9.5
Rooksoft  8 Park Avenue, Wokingham, Berks, RG40 2AJ. (01734¡781150)
9.5
SEMERC  1 Broadbent Road, Watersheddings, Oldham, OL1 4LB.
(0161¡627¡4469)
9.5
Sherston Software  Angel House, Sherston, Malmesbury, Wilts. SN16 0LH.
(01666¡840433) [01666¡840048] <[e-mail]>
9.5
The Really Good Software Company    39 Carisbrooke Road, Harpenden,
Herts., AL5 5QS.
9.5
Topologika  Islington Wharf, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 8AT. (01326¡377771)
[01326¡377771] <[e-mail]>
9.5
VTi  Unit 1, The Shopwhyke Centre, Shopwhyke Road, Chichester, PO20 6GD.
(01243¡531194) [01243¡531196] <[e-mail]>
9.5
WECC  Manor Hall, Sandy Lane, Leamington Spa, CV32 6RD. (01926¡413741)
[01926¡413748]
9.5
Archive Monthly Disc
9.5
u Arcscan data files Ö Updates for volume 8 and part of 9.
9.5
u Files from Gerald Fittonæs ColumnáÖápage 15.
9.5
u Starting Basic programs from Ray Favre Ö page 59.
9.5
u Pocket Book Column: Password protection program by Andrew Baldwin Ö
page 73.
9.5
u Three utilities from Robert Lytton: !LooknFind (multi-file searching),
!CASE2case (changes case or length of filenames in bulk) and !Calendars
(data files for calendars). See page 35.
9.5
u Demonstration of a manual signal box by Chris Hall.
9.5
P.B.
9.5
Paul Beverley
9.5
Acornæs future
9.5
In my comments last month, I said öWatch this spaceò because I had a gut
feeling that some exciting things were brewing at Acorn. I promise you,
that was genuine Ö I hadnæt been given any direct indication from Acorn
about any of the things which have since been announced. The Stop Press
sheet that we added into the magazine, just before it was mailed, was
written as the news began to break and Acornæs share price began to
soar. There isnæt space here to cover all that is happening for Acorn,
so look at the Products Available section and the articles on pages 11
and 12.
9.5
Archiveæs 100
9.5
We had a great celebration at N║ 96a in December as we sent out Archive
Number 100 Ö thanks for all the positive comments, by the way. As we
celebrated, many people said, öHereæs to the next 100 Archives!ò Hmmm!
Iæm not quite sure about that... but who knows?! Anyway, thanks for your
support for the first 100!
9.5
Enjoy N║ 101!
9.5
Norwich Computer Services    96a Vauxhall Street, Norwich, NR2 2SD.
(01603-766592) [01603-764011]
9.5
<[e-mail]>  OR  <[e-mail]>  OR
<[e-mail]>
9.5
Fact-File
9.5
Key: (phone)áá[fax]áá<email>
9.5
Government Health Warning Ö Reading this could seriously affect your
spiritual health
9.5
öItæs all very well saying that Christianity is radical and growing, and
that we ought to go on an Alpha course to find out about it, but why
Christianity? Why not Islam or Hinduism or Buddhism? Arenæt they all
equally valid?ò
9.5
Well, Éall roads lead to Godæ is certainly a very attractive idea. Itæs
tolerant, itæs inclusive, it avoids conflict and itæs very convenient in
our multi-cultural society. (Be careful though Ö it may just be an
excuse for not taking any one of them seriously!) I do have a major
problem with this view. I donæt want to know whether such-and-such a
religion is Éhelpfulæ or Éattractiveæ, or even Épopularæ Ö I want to
know whether it is true.
9.5
Iæm not trying to be awkward or to pick a fight, but I cannot see how
the different religions can all be equally true. The Christian says that
Jesus was God in human form (Jesus is ÉEmmanuelæ, God with us) Ö but
thatæs blasphemy to the Muslim who says that he was simply a prophet.
The Christian says Jesus was the Messiah who fulfilled all the
prophecies in the Old Testament Ö the Jew says that the Messiah hasnæt
come yet and Jesus most certainly was not God. The Christian says that
God has spoken in the past, supremely Éspokeæ by coming to earth in
person Ö but, to Buddhists, there isnæt such a thing as ÉGodæ, certainly
not a personal God who knows us and loves us and who can be known,
worshipped and loved, as the Christian maintains.
9.5
What about the Hindus? Well, they seem very tolerant of different ideas.
Indeed, one Indian story purports to show how all these apparently
contradictory views can be unified. A ruler once brought three men,
blind from birth, into his palace and allowed them to come into contact
with one of his elephants. öDescribe to me what an elephant is likeò, he
said. In response, he got three totally different descriptions. Why? One
had hold of the elephantæs tail, one had a leg and the other held the
trunk.
9.5
In other words, God is so big, so Éotheræ, that we canæt possibly know
the whole. Each of us encounters Épartæ of God, and therefore
experiences him in a different, apparently contradictory, way. Well, it
seems a nice idea, but I still have this urge to know what the real
truth is. Will someone please tell me which is the true truth? But maybe
it doesnæt matter, maybe I can just select any Étruthæ that suits me...
Let me extend the story...
9.5
There was a fourth blind man Ö he got hold of a drain pipe instead of
the elephant! Who is going to tell him that he has not got hold of the
real thing? Who has a big enough view of God to tell me whether my
chosen road is valid? For all I know, it may be leading me in the
opposite direction! How do I know whether, say, Mormonism is one of the
roads that leads to God? Or what about Spiritualism? Or even Satanism?
9.5
Jesus tells us that God wants us to know what he is like Ö that was why
he came to earth. He wants us to relate to God as children to a loving
Father. Another way the bible talks about our relationship with God is
likening it to a marriage where we are the bride and He is the groom Ö a
relationship of tenderness and intimacy.
9.5
I have met this God. I love Him. He is fantastic. You can know Him too.
Please check it out. Talk to a Christian friend or ring the Alpha
Coordinator on 0171-581-8255.
9.5
ViVID20 & VideoTrak Reviews
9.5
ViVID20 Ö This product was reviewed last month. However, the review had
been Éon the stocksæ for quite some time and the reviewer was one of
only two customers (iSV have sold 438 copies at the latest count) who
have reported problems. The other person was also trying to use an early
version of ViVID20 with a Watford VIDC enhancer! Both customers returned
the ViVID20 to iSV and received a full refund.
9.5
iSV have long since upgraded ViVID20 and, quite rightly, feel that they
would like to see their product re-reviewed.
9.5
We apologise for any wrong impressions created by the review. The
reviewer commented on his experience in good faith, although he did not
attempt to obtain a fix from iSV for the problems he was experiencing.
(iSV provide technical support by phone or post and operate a free
upgrade scheme if the master disc is returned with SAE.) We accepted the
review in good faith, although, in view of the long delay before
publishing, we should have checked with iSV that this was sufficiently
up-to-date to reflect the current situation, but it is not our general
policy to allow companies to vet reviews of their own products. (I may
be asking reviewers of other products to do a bit of checking where I
have had the review for some time.)
9.5
So, to set the record straight, would someone be willing to review
ViVID20, please? Also, would existing users like to send in their
comments? Thanks, and again, sorry for the unnecessary grief we have
caused to iSV.
9.5
VideoTrak Ö Steve Turnbull writes, öI have just read the review of
VideoTrak that you printed in the Jan æ96 issue of Archive. It would
have been a fair review except for the fact Andy Watson must have been
using quite an old version of VideoTrak:
9.5
1. The current version certainly has much better output facilities, the
CSV saving is fully configurable and does not have the strange numbers
he found. The reason for not providing Éflexibleæ report output is that,
as individual needs vary, it is more useful to provide the powerful CSV
output option for transfer to any WP/DTP package. (Personally, I found
the standard report form fine Ö but then I wrote it!)
9.5
2. S-Base applications do use a lot of memory, but the memory limit has
nothing to do with the number of records entered (which was implied) as
all data is stored on disc. Since he is using an early version, he may
have had a problem with a memory leak.
9.5
3. The manual is a problem which is being addressed. A new version will
be shipped by the end of January. However, as he pointed out, the
program is quite intuitive.
9.5
Another feature which didnæt exist on the version Andy tested was the
ability to edit multiple records simultaneously with changing record
links being kept up-to-date even in records being edited.áuá
9.5
Archive Announces...
9.5
Special offer Ö Ex-demo...
9.5
Pocket Book A-Link Ö Full price ú50, yours for only ú35 (12-monthsæ
warranty!). Please ring or email Ö first come, first served.áuá
9.5
Special offer Ö 270Mb SyQuest SCSI drives for RiscPC or A5000. We have
over-stocked, so until stock levels diminish, they are ú320 (normally
ú370). This price includes fixings and cable and one cartridge. (Extra
cartridges ordered with drive, ú50.)áuá
9.5
Competition winner...
9.5
The winner of the crossword competition set by Mijas Software was R G
Shrubsall of Newcastle-on-Tyne who will be receiving a copy of ArcSimp
III, the electronic simulation package. In case you want to see where
you went wrong, here are the answers are shown above.áuá
9.5
Two yearsæ free Archive!
9.5
I just thought I would make another mention of our scheme to encourage
Archive subscribers to convert people to using Acorn computers.
9.5
Conversion bonus scheme Ö One of the best ways of convincing people that
it is worth being different is to show them what the Acorn computers can
actually do. No-one believes adverts but, time and again, people have
been Éconvertedæ by seeing the systems in action. (Sibelius users are at
an advantage here! I reckon that more systems have been bought just to
use Sibelius than any other single package.)
9.5
This is where you can help, especially if you have a RiscPC. Show them
your computer, give them a brochure (copies available from NCS) and see
if you can convince them to buy Acorn.
9.5
As an incentive, if you can convince someone who has never owned a
RISCáOS computer to purchase an A7000 or a RiscPC (from NCS, of
course!), we will extend your subscription by a further twelve months,
free of charge, and weæll also give your friend a free subscription to
Volume 9, i.e. ending September 1996. What is more, if the system they
buy includes a CD drive, weæll give them a free copy of the Archive
CD.áuá
9.5
Acorn and CHRP
9.5
Nick Chalk
9.5
(Nick very kindly agreed to write the following two articles picking up
on some of the news and rumours which abound at the moment. The
footnotes for the first article appear at the end of the second article!
Ed.)
9.5
The Common Hardware Reference Platform (CHRP Ö pronounced öchirpò!) is a
standard developed by Motorola, IBM and Apple, the PowerPC consortium.
It defines a PowerPC-based computer with a common set of features. The
aim is to create a Éclone-PowerPCæ market, similar to that which
currently exists for the PC. The idea is that software companies can
produce applications for the ÉReferenceæ machine, which may then be used
on a CHRP machine from any manufacturer. What IBM achieved by market
dominance, the PowerPC consortium are aiming to do by committee.
9.5
The platform
9.5
The Reference Platform is roughly as follows. It must use a PowerPC
processor, but must also support a second processor, an x86 for example.
It must provide for an OS in ROM, primarily for Appleæs Toolbox. Other
internal requirements are support for dual-port VRAM, 16 bit sound and
Éhigh-performance scalable memory systemsæ Ö more on that when I manage
to find out what it is! The expansion bus must be PCI, with optional
bridges to ISA or EISA busses. Expansion cards should configure
themselves automatically (I wonder who they borrowed that idea from?),
and it is recommended that the graphics and hard drive controllers are
connected to the PCI bus.
9.5
The PowerPC consortiumæs aim is that this system should be able to run
several operating systems, namely Windows NT, OS/2, AIX1 and the Mac OS.
Currently, Windows NT 3.51 and AIX 4.1 will run on CHRP, with OS/2 and
Solaris2 following later in æ96. Apple already have their System 7.5
running on PowerPC PowerMacs, but are planning an entirely new OS for
CHRP.
9.5
How does Acorn fit in?
9.5
What has this to do with Acorn? At Acorn World, Peter Bondar, Director
of ART, revealed that his division is working on the RiscPC mark 3; he
also announced that it would be a CHRP design.
9.5
From the description of the standard above, it can be seen that this is
a logical step forward for Acorn. They already have experience of
designing multi-processor machines, especially Éheterogeneousæ ones, and
running multiple OSæs simultaneously. Few other groups outside of
University research departments have such experience. Modifying the
RiscPC to the CHRP standard will not be an easy task Ö an almost
complete re-design Ö but it will radically improve the architecture. A
higher performance memory system is promised, important for both the
PowerPC and StrongARM. A PCI expansion bus, 32 bits wide and running at
33MHz, will be a great improvement over the current system, and will
allow a very wide range of devices to be connected to the RiscPC.
9.5
The other players
9.5
Perhaps the most significant result of adopting CHRP will be to finally
kill off the ÉItæs not Industry Standardæ complaints. By the time the
RiscPC mark 3 emerges, it will hopefully be one of a number of CHRP
machines, able to run five or six operating systems and all the
applications that go with them. IBM, Apple and Motorola are already
committed to CHRP, providing OS/2, AIX and Mac OS. Even Microsoft is
hedging its bets, releasing Windows NT ÉWorkstationæ and, soon, MS
Office. WordPerfect for PowerPC is also on the way. Also, there is
support from one of the most popular Unix workstation manufacturers, Sun
Microsystems, who are releasing their ÉSolarisæ OS. Novell are also in
on the act, porting ÉUnixwareæ3 to the PowerPC.
9.5
The processor
9.5
So what is the PowerPC processor, and how powerful is it? First of all,
there are three versions the 601, 603 and 604. Another three are
planned, the 602, 615 and 620. Taking them in chronological order, the
601 was the first model, a 32-bit RISC processor for desktop machines.
This was followed by the 603, for portables, and then the latest
version, the 604. Of the future devices, the 602 is aimed at Éconsumer
applicationsæ, the 615 is (allegedly) a PowerPC / x86 hybrid4, and the
620 is a 64-bit workhorse!
9.5
The most interesting at the moment is the 604 which has just supplanted
the 601 as the desktop PowerPC chip. I could say that it is a 32-bit
superscalar RISC design with dynamic branch prediction and a four-way
set associative cache, but that doesnæt mean a great deal to me either!
Instead, Iæll draw upon a couple of reviews of desktop machines using
the 604.
9.5
For those familiar with the SPEC benchmarks, a review of the Motorola
PowerPC DT604-100 (100MHz clocked 604, price ú2,550) awarded a SPECint92
of 123, and a SPECfp92 of 119. For everyone else, hereæs a comparative
benchmark from Byte of an IBM PowerSeries 850 (133MHz clocked 604, price
$7,017 5). Relative to the performance of a 90MHz Pentium (rated É1æ),
the IBM PowerPC achieved an Integer benchmark of 2.90, and a Floating
Point benchmark of 2.92.
9.5
In summary, here is a quotation from the Byte article: The 604 is
Éfaster than P6 and Mips, slower than Alpha, the PowerPC 604 makes a
mean NT Workstationæ.
9.5
So what will the new RiscPC look like? Several parts of the design are
constrained by the requirements of CHRP; the PowerPC, PCI bus, and fast
memory will definitely be part of the system, but beyond that is
speculation. ART could stay with the open processor bus concept,
providing slots for ARM, x86 and PowerPC processors. The new RiscPC
could then be marketed as an ARM machine, with an optional PowerPC card
to bring it to CHRP standard, or as a dual-processor system, with both
processors fitted. A machine running a StrongARM, a PowerPC, and an x86
is certainly a very interesting prospect.
9.5
On the operating system side, will RISC OS survive? By early æ97, when
the mark 3 is promised, we could be into Taos territory Ö with a
computer capable of multiprocessing with any card you give it.
9.5
Yes, the futureæs bright. Indeed, I would say the futureæs green Ö Acorn
green!áuá
9.5
Network Computing Devices
9.5
Nick Chalk
9.5
The Stop Press sheet with last monthæs Archive was probably the first
that most people had heard about this new market for Acorn. The Network
Computing Device (NCD) is a new concept aimed at widening both access to
the Internet, and computer use at home. Some of its proponents hope that
it will also wrest market share from the Intel-Microsoft duopoly.
9.5
These new developments have been brought about by the rapid rise of the
Internet as entertainment. The NCD is targeted at those people who are
not prepared to spend thousands of pounds on a general-purpose desktop
machine, when their sole interest is the Web. Current indications are
that the devices will be marketed in much the same way as Cable or
Satellite TV.
9.5
The basic concept is of a cheap and easy-to-use computer which will
bring the Worldwide Web to a mass market. The proposed system would
probably look somewhat like a Set-Top Box, using either a monitor or an
ordinary television. To meet the required price of $300 to $500, the NCD
would be without floppy or hard drive, but would rely on the Internet
connection to download software. The core operating system would be ROM-
based, allowing applications to be loaded from sites on the net as
required. Connection to the Internet could be by several means: Modem,
Cable TV, Ethernet or Online Media-like ATM network. One concession to
the current style of computer use might be a CD-ROM drive, to provide
access to multimedia CDs.
9.5
In place of a conventional desktop windowing system, the user would be
presented with a Web Browser. This would provide all the usual user-
interface functions, most of which would access the service provideræs
Internet site.
9.5
There are some big names involved. Leading the drive for NCDs are Sun
Microsystems, the workstation manufacturer, Netscape, of the Navigator
browser fame, and Oracle, the relational database software house. Sun
has developed a new programming language for the Web, known as Java.
This platform-independent system would allow a range of new media to be
added to a web browseræs repertoire, such as music, animation and real-
time interaction. Java is being adopted very quickly, with IBM and
Microsoft having already licensed the language, and Netscape and Sun
developing the HotJava browser to make use of it. Silicon Graphics (of
3D animation fame) is also eager to get into the market, and is pushing
its Virtual Reality Modelling Language.
9.5
Acornæs position in this market is similar to that of CHRP. They already
have a powerful, low-cost computer on the market Ö the A7000 Ö and an
even lower-cost set-top box. Somewhere between the two lies an ideal
Network Computing Device. Acorn already have experience of producing a
ROM operating system, discless workstations, child-proof devices; and
now ART and Online Media have the commercial freedom to license their
designs to others. There will be Éothersæ who have more international
marketing muscle, but none of the technical expertise, and Éothersæ such
as Sun, and IBM. Isnæt it wonderful to see the rest of the computing
world beginning to recognise Acornæs good ideas?! (Acornæs share price
is still continuing to rise steadily week by week! Ed.)
9.5
At the beginning of December, several newspapers ran articles on Acorn
and its supposed new Netsurfer product. Described as a stripped-down
A7000, Acorn was said to be in discussion with Éseveral US and Asian
companiesæ, with a view to licensing it. Oracle, in particular, was
mentioned as considering the Netsurfer as the basis of an Internet
package.6 ART admitted that they were talking to many Internet Épeopleæ,
and announced that they would be participating in the market in æ96,
with Éyet to be announced partnersæ.áuá
9.5
1 IBMæs flavour of Unix.
9.5
2 Sun Microsystemsæ flavour of Unix.
9.5
3 Yet another flavour of Unix.
9.5
4 IBM are currently denying that there is any such project, so itæs áááa
virtual certainty that it exists.
9.5
5 This price is for a machine with 64Mb RAM, 1 Gb SCSI hard ááádrive,
and PCI-based accelerated graphics.
9.5
6 The Times, Friday, 8th December, 1995.
9.5
Acornæs official line on all of this is that they have never announced
that they will be producing a netsurfer computer although they accept
that they clearly have the technology that would allow them to do so.
However, some other companies have made announcements: Apple, IBM and
Oracle have all said that they will be producing netsurfer type devices.
Ed.áuá
9.5
Alsystems
9.5
Powertec
9.5
New
9.5
Geraldæs Column
9.5
Gerald Fitton
9.5
I had expected that there would be some interest in my comments last
month about portable spreadsheets replacing calculators, particularly
since, in his 100th issue memoirs, Paul highlighted my column with such
a flattering editorial note. I was totally unprepared for the volume of
correspondence I received!
9.5
As a consequence of the correspondence, Iæve decided to feature the
Acorn Pocket Book II this month. In doing so, I must make it clear that
I have no intention of usurping Audrey Laskiæs excellent Pocket Book
Column which has been running in Archive for a couple of years now. It
seems to me that Audreyæs column is aimed more at existing users Ö my
comments are more in the nature of a review for those who havenæt got
one yet (though Iárefer to correspondence Iæve received from many who
have). In addition, my review will be more than a little biased towards
the use of the spreadsheet, Abacus, rather than the more balanced nature
of the Pocket Book Column. However, even if youære not a user of
spreadsheets, donæt be put off. Thereæs plenty here for all of you.
9.5
Acorn Pocket Book II
9.5
As a result of last monthæs column, Iæve had questions ranging from an
interest in whether Father Christmas did drop an Acorn Pocket Book into
my stocking to asking me for a more detailed description and an opinion
about whether to buy one! To those of you who asked, Father Christmas
has been kind to me and, to summarise my view of it, I am greatly
impressed and I am going to find it most useful. However, to say I am
greatly impressed does not mean that I think it cannot be improved Ö and
to say that I shall find it most useful is not meant to imply that it
will be useful to everybody.
9.5
Let me expand on my views first about all those things I shall find most
useful, before moving on to limitations, and my thoughts about the
future of the palm top and possible or likely improvements.
9.5
The portable spreadsheet
9.5
My earlier comments centred on the use of the palm top computer as a
portable spreadsheet, so I suppose thatæs where I ought to begin. In
doing so, my comparison has to be with a calculator, rather than with a
personal computer. As Iásaid last month, a spreadsheet has many
advantages over an electronic calculator, not the least of which are (a)
its ability to show all the stages and Épart sumsæ of a calculation on
screen simultaneously and (b) the use of the öWhat if?ò facility. In
this regard, the Acorn Pocket Book II performs excellently for the
calculations Iáneed both at College and at home.
9.5
Using a reasonable size of font, the screen contains 47ácharacters
across the screen width. The default screen is 6 columns, each of 8
characters, but you can use narrower, wider or more columns within this
limit of 47 characters. There are two screen modes which show more
characters across the width but Iáfind them too hard on my eyes. In my
favourite mode, 10árows are displayed. Have a look at the screenshot
below. Of course, as with all spreadsheets, you can move across and
down, creating as many new columns and rows as required within the
memory limits of the machine (and Iáthink thereæs a limit of about 225
columns and about 8000 rows Ö but Iæm not sure).
9.5
What Iáhad forgotten to mention in my comments last month is that you
can use a spreadsheet as a simple database in which each row is a record
and each column a field. Iáfind that, for names, addresses and phone
numbers, Abacus is easier to use than Cards, the database supplied with
the Pocket Book. An advantage of using a spreadsheet as a simple
database is that you can Sort records (change the order of the rows) so
that any particular column is in order (what mathematicians call
Érankedæ).
9.5
Let me give you an example, even though it is one you might never use!
Iáentered the names of my students (Iæm a lecturer) into column A and
their date of birth into column B. Sorting on B placed all the students
in order of age.
9.5
One of my correspondents uses this facility for a different application.
He enters the price of his purchases at the time he takes them off the
supermarket shelf and, having done so, he sorts his list of purchases
made over a period of time by product, by price and by the name of the
store. He claims that this helps him to know which store to shop at and
whether a Ébargainæ is a real bargain! In a similar way, another of my
correspondents checks prices against previous prices as she does her
weekly shopping. She has built in a öPrice per Kg to Price per lbò
converter which she says came in very handy when we changed over to
metric weights recently.
9.5
Another correspondent says ödonæt forget to mention the graphs!ò He taps
in a few of his favourite share prices each evening from the Teletext
results and looks for trends graphically. He says he can do this without
seeming unsociable and without the risk of making a mistake by writing
to paper and then keying into the computer (in another room).
9.5
As a final example of the use of a pocket spreadsheet (I have many more
from other correspondents Ö thanks to all of you), one correspondent
uses his Pocket Book on the train each day and then transfers what he
has done to his Archimedes when he gets home.
9.5
In use, Abacus is almost totally key compatible with Lotus 1-2-3. Files
can be saved in Lotus WK1 format or converted to Lotus format during
transfer to an Archimedes via the A-Link accessory. Fireworkz has a
built-in Lotus to Fireworkz converter; in the jargon, Fireworkz has a
Lotus loader. You can save Fireworkz files in Lotus format and convert
them to Abacus .SPR (for SPReadsheet?) format during transfer. A Lotus
converter is supplied with PipeDream as a separate utility. Iáhave tried
both conversions, and, with the usual limitations (mainly the style of
the display), they work well.
9.5
In summary, Iáand many of my correspondents find that, as a portable
spreadsheet, the Pocket Book II is even better than anticipated; easy to
use, highly useful and compatible with both Fireworkz and PipeDream.
9.5
Portable word processor
9.5
The word processor, Write, is not WYSIWYG. This came as a bit of a shock
to me after years of using Impression, Fireworkz and PipeDream. Have a
look at the next screenshot.
9.5
To see what the final layout will look like when printed, you have to
use something called a Print preview. If you have ever used Wordwise,
youæll know what Iámean. (Ed drifts off into a fit of nostalgia at this
point!) You can swap between the Print preview screen (the text is too
small for me to read but it does show the page layout) and the text
editing screen quite quickly Ö but is something Iáhave had to get used
to again. A screenshot of the Print preview is shown below; the preview
is the view of an A4 page shown in the centre. As Iásaid, the text is
too small for me to read but it does show two lines of text, each having
about 80 characters.
9.5
At work, we used to teach students word processing using something
similar to Write, the MS-DOS, non-Windows version of Word Ö we donæt use
it any more.
9.5
Donæt let me be too disparaging about Write. It has a good spell
checker, dictionary and thesaurus, all of which are completely
interactive. Let me explain what Iámean by interactive. If you are
unhappy with a word youæve used and want to find a better one, you place
the cursor in that word, call up the Thesaurus with a keyboard shortcut,
look at the dictionary definition of each of the alternatives given in
the Thesaurus (viewed on a split screen Ö see the screenshot below) and,
when you tap the <Enter> key, the word in Write changes to the word
highlighted in the Thesaurus! Magic!
9.5
I donæt think Iáwould want to rely on the Style features of Write for my
masterpiece, in fact, Iádonæt think Iæll ever print out in earnest from
Write. The benefit of Write to me, and to many of my correspondents,
lies elsewhere. Iáshall use Write purely as a non-WYSIWYG word processor
and apply Styles after porting the plain text to the Archimedes.
9.5
As Iácompose this article, Iáam on holiday in a hotel room tapping away
in Write. There is no way that Iácould have brought the A540 with me, so
the Pocket Book is a boon Ö Iádonæt think Iæd have met Paulæs deadline
without it. However, what Iáshall do is to convert the file to plain
ASCII as Iátransfer it from the Pocket Book to the Archimedes through
the A-Link; then Iæll load the ASCII file into Impression. In
Impression, Iáshall add my preferred Styles Ö which Paul will carefully
remove before applying his own!
9.5
I will add a few screenshots when Iáget home Ö a picture paints a
thousand words and space in Archive is at a premium these days!
9.5
Other correspondents tell me they find Write most useful for making
notes. Iáshall probably do that also.
9.5
Other built-in packages
9.5
Cards is a simple database. Iádonæt think Iáshall use it much, since
Iáprefer the spreadsheet format as Iæve said before. However, there is
one feature Iádo like and that is that you can generate dialling tones
from phone numbers entered into the cards. You hold the Pocket Book to
the phone and the tones are transferred down the line from the speaker
of the Pocket Book to the mouthpiece of the phone.
9.5
Schedule is a first class diary and planner; you can view a day, a week,
a month or a year. The slots into which you type text expand as you
enter more and more into the same slot. Iáshall certainly be able to
find a use for that.
9.5
Time includes alarms. The battery on the clock we brought with us has
died, so Iæve set up the Pocket Book to wake us up in time for breakfast
tomorrow Ö Iádonæt have to leave the Pocket Book switched on, because
itæll do that for itself when the alarm goes off. You have a choice of
alarm noises including the possibility of recording your own wake up
message.
9.5
The World application is quite fascinating. You can put in the latitude
and longitude of any place on Earth and it will tell you how far away it
is (using spherical trigonometry), the local time and the time of
sunrise and sunset! World includes many UK and International STD codes
and you can add your own for any place on Earth. Iáhave already added a
few, including Swindon!
9.5
There is also a Calculator which retains the last few calculations on
screen and a Plotter which will display a wide range of functions,
including the derivatives and integrals of the chosen functions. A
screenshot of a couple of graphs drawn in Plotter are shown below.
9.5
Other packages, including games, can be added as plug-in solid state
memory modules. It is well reported that any which are sold for the
Psion series 3a will work on the Acorn Pocket Book II.
9.5
Overall
9.5
It would be unfair to compare Acornæs Pocket Book II with an Archimedes.
The Archimedes is far superior but bulkier, heavier and not portable. If
Iámake any software comparisons, they would have to be with software
used on an IBM compatible. Iáthink that the Pocket Book software,
particularly the spreadsheet and word processor, remind me more of non-
Windows MS-DOS software than Archimedes software. However, unlike MS-DOS
packages, the Pocket Book is multitasking and it is possible to transfer
data and formulae between documents. In my view, it is only the small
screen size which prevents multiple windows being displayed as they are
on the Archimedes.
9.5
I have already compared the Pocket Book with a calculator Ö that
comparison doesnæt do the Pocket Book justice because it is much more
than a super calculator, it is a palm top computer. So, for those of you
who know it, let me try another comparison. Iáhave a Z88; to be more
accurate Iáhave two. It is a portable computer which runs off four AA
batteries. Iáthink itæs no longer available but the software on it has
many features which the next version of the Pocket Book would do well to
emulate. Because of this, Iáshall spend a little time describing the Z88
and those features from it Iæd like to see on the next Pocket Book.
9.5
In comparing the Z88 with the Pocket Book, let me start with the weight
and size. The Z88 weighs about 1kg against 300g for the Pocket Book
(both with batteries). The Z88 is the size of an A4 sheet of paper
compared with the Pocket Book which is just larger than A6. The Z88 has
a full size QWERTY keyboard (without function keys or numeric pad). The
keyboard of the Pocket Book is about half size (in any linear
dimension). Concentrating now on the Z88; the screen display is across
the top of the keyboard and, in PipeDream, it displays 72 characters
across the screen plus a couple of useful areas to the left and right of
the part you can type into; however it displays only 7 lines (and not 10
as the Pocket Book). In my view, the wider Z88 display is better than
that of the Pocket Book and Iálike the full size keyboard better than
the half size one of the Pocket Book.
9.5
Now to power. The Z88 uses four AA batteries and uses them up in a few
hours Ö a real embarrassment. You canæt change batteries without using
the mains eliminator or losing data. The Pocket Book will run for many
weeks on its two batteries and has a lithium back-up battery so that you
can change batteries anywhere.
9.5
The software built into the Z88 includes a version of PipeDream
(approximately equivalent to PipeDreamá2), BBC Basic, a Calendar,
Terminal software and quite a few other interesting packages. The Z88
shows its age because it does not contain any means of generating
graphs, and it has no dictionary, spell checker or thesaurus. The Z88
version of PipeDream is used as a spreadsheet, word processor, and
simple database; it is a complete integrated package. You canæt use
fancy fonts for display on the Z88 but only aámonospaced system font. If
you print out a PipeDream file using a monospaced font stored within the
printer then, within the limitations of mono spaced fonts, the display
is completely WYSIWYG.
9.5
So, compared with the Pocket Book, the Z88 is bigger, less portable and
runs out of batteries after a few hours of use. There are omissions in
the software, notably a spell checker, dictionary, thesaurus and graphs,
but Iáprefer the Z88æs integrated PipeDream to the Pocket Book
combination of Write and Abacus.
9.5
The future?
9.5
Now to the future of the palm top computer. Although Iáwould like to see
some way of having a larger screen and keyboard, Iáthink Iámight be in
the minority and Iádonæt expect it to happen. Where Iáwould expect many
to agree with me is that concepts in software should have moved on since
the Z88 was first produced (1988) and Iáwould expect an improvement
whereas, at least in part, some of the software on the Pocket Book is
not as good as on the Z88. Iæd like to see something with at least the
power of PipeDreamá4 (complete with PipeDreamá4-type graphs, custom
functions and command files and including the dictionary and thesaurus
of Write). This could replace the combination of Cards, Write and Abacus
Ö and Iádo expect it will happen on the next model. To Acorn and to
Colton Software, Iæll say öWhat are you doing about it?ò For the rest of
the specification, memory will get cheaper and so weæll be able to have
more of it built in to the next palm top series and weæll find it
operating more quickly, perhaps with RISC chips and perhaps with more
than one window on screen at the same time.
9.5
Should you buy one now?
9.5
Of course, you can always wait for the next model Ö and the next one Ö
and the one after that. And theyæll always get bigger (memories) and
better and cheaper! So Iásuggest that you look at this question from a
different angle. Do you have a use for a portable spreadsheet,
electronic note taker, planner, etc, now? If the answer to that question
is öYes!ò then youæll be able to get your moneyæs worth before the new
model comes along and, when it does, undoubtedly youæll want to update
your system. What people generally leave out of their considerations is
the time they invest and the value of the knowledge and expertise they
build up by using a system. Iádonæt think it will be more than a couple
of years before the Pocket Book II looks outmoded, but Iæll bet that the
expertise that you will gain and the benefits which will accrue from
using the current model of palm top for two years will far outweigh the
written-off cost of what Iáshall call the core hardware (the Pocket Book
itself with no accessories).
9.5
Another consideration with any system is the portability of data. When
Iáhave been hired as a consultant to advise on a new computer system,
Iáhave always stressed that, when you buy a system you must look at it
to see what the cost (in time, money and inconvenience) will be when you
want to get your data out of it and into your next system. Perhaps the
most expensive part of any well-used computer system is the (unique to
you) data which you will have spent hundreds of hours entering into it.
Acorn have an excellent record for compatibility between their new
systems and their old ones. Iáwould expect the next series of the Acorn
Pocket Book to accept all your plug-in memory modules (called Solid
State Discs and abbreviated to SSD for short); Iáwould expect that any
Acorn packages you bought for the Pocket Book will still work on the new
model; Iáwould expect that the old A-Link will still work but perhaps a
little more slowly than a newer model. The only bit youæll find useless
is the ú200 to ú400 worth of core hardware (the Pocket Book itself)
which youæll be able to replace either more cheaply or with something
much better Ö or, more likely, both cheaper and better. My guess is
that, in addition to the core hardware, youæll have spent as much again
on things like the A-Link, SSD memory and other software packages.
9.5
So, to summarise, donæt be put off by the thought that a new model of
Pocket Book will appear in the next couple of years and youæll feel hard
done by when it does. Of course you will and so will I! Iæve been
through that analysis myself and Iáconcluded that Iáwould get solid
valuable use out of one now (even if Iácanæt quantify that value in
terms of money) and that when a new model comes out in a couple of years
Iáwill probably discard the current one in its favour (or keep it as a
back up). Iáfeel confident that Iæll be able to use all the knowledge
and expertise Iágain with the current model on the new one and that all
my hard won data files will be instantly transferrable. Inámy view, the
palm top computer is here to stay and everyone who does sums or makes
notes will soon have one.
9.5
By contrast, Iáhave a distinct feeling that Iáwonæt be able to justify
(in terms of use to me) any personal computer more powerful than the
current RiscPC, and there may be many of you wondering the same thing
(see öPlanned Obsolescenceò below). If so, perhaps the way for you to
acquire something more useful than a new, not yet announced, super-
RiscPC is to transfer your time and attention to a palm top computer.
9.5
Finally, and not as a commercial but to emphasise availability from a
reliable source, Norwich Computer Services do sell all current models of
the Acorn Pocket Book II. Undoubtedly, through the Archive magazine,
youæll hear about any developments as soon as the information becomes
available. Think about it and let me know your views; would you buy a
super-RiscPC or a super-palm top? Write to me at Abacus Training Ö
Iáassure you Iæll be interested in whether you think a palm top with the
sort of highly integrated software Iæve mentioned above is more relevant
to your future use of computer technology than a more powerful personal
computer (such as a super RiscPC) with many facilities which you may
never use.
9.5
Shares
9.5
This column is not a share tipping service but Iáwould like to report
that not only have Acorn shares more than doubled during the last year
(Based on latest news, itæs 104 to 244 in three months! Ed.) but that
shares in Psion now stand at about four times the value they had a year
ago. This augurs well for the continued supply of Acorn Pocket Books and
their future development.
9.5
Planned obsolescence
9.5
I had intended to include my considered thoughts on this topic in this
monthæs article but, partly because of constraints on my time and the
space in Archive, Iæll just make a few quick remarks, ask you for
comments and leave it until next month.
9.5
What is called Éindustry standardæ hardware (IBM type) and software (MS-
DOS, Windows etc) doesnæt last as long as hardware and software does for
the Archimedes. A couple of years ago (before the launch of the RiscPC)
this longevity presented real problems for Acorn (who make hardware) and
for hardware suppliers such as NCS. We are now arriving at the time when
the longevity of Archimedes packages is presenting similar problems for
many Archimedes software suppliers as well. Users of the Archimedes and
Archimedes packages donæt need to spend as much money in the medium and
longer term as do those locked into an Éindustry standardæ system.
Iábelieve that this Éproblemæ should be seen as an opportunity. Watch
this space and see what comes next Ö or let me know your views.
9.5
In conclusion
9.5
I canæt read HD discs on my Archimedes A540, so please format to 800Kb
and not HD. If you write to me, the address is that of Abacus Training
(see the back cover of Archive). If your problem is more than a quick
couple of lines then please send me an example file on disc so that
Iácan better see exactly what it is that youære trying to do.
9.5
Finally, Iæm willing to help with spreadsheet problems for the Pocket
Book. It may be that my expertise with spreadsheets will be more
relevant to finding a solution than the undoubted expertise in more
general matters of Audrey Laski. But please send me a disc with an
example file in .SPR format rather than trying to describe your problem
in words.áuá
9.5
Comment Column
9.5
Acorn portable? Ö There have been interesting noises emanating from the
ÉHead Honchoæ of Acorn in recent months but, as I see it, at least some
of the problem of making the non-Acorn public more aware of our system
lies in the way we lump hardware and firmware together when we argue our
side.
9.5
Way back in the distant past, when the Archimedes was born, it was a VFM
(Very Fast Machine). It also boasted a very user-friendly graphical user
interface. However, as time went on, the rest of the world more than
caught up on the speed front, and there are very many VVFMs out there
now, at reasonable cost. Where the RISC OS machines have not been beaten
is in the elegance of the GUI.
9.5
Letæs face it, if we are demonstrating the machine, most of the time the
number of damppebbles/sec (or whatever it is that they use to measure
the speed) is not apparent from the screen. What is apparent is the ease
and versatility of use, and that is what we should be trying to get
over.
9.5
We are never going to convince a PC user that RISC OS is any better than
his own system unless he can see it working; that is obvious. Yet how
can he see it demonstrated? Very few will be in a position to come and
see a desktop machine in our homes.
9.5
I believe that Acorn have done themselves a fundamental disservice by
not promoting state-of-the-art, affordable, laptops. They are the way
the big wide world gets to see what they are missing! Iæve been using my
A4 all over the world for several years now and have, vicariously,
accepted many compliments on RISC OS along the way. However, the
impression that is often given is of a small, monochrome screen from the
dark ages!
9.5
So, ÉHead Honchoæ, please give us a fast, affordable, ARM-powered RISC
OS laptop with a decent 10╜ö TFT screen (and a battery that doesnæt
collapse after five minutes!) and enable the user to demonstrate RISC OS
to its full potential.
9.5
I for one would far prefer to use a portable for all my computing, if it
were capable of being connected to a decent screen and peripherals when
using it at home. And I would not feel a poor relation when showing it
off to the peasants!
9.5
Roger Williams <[e-mail]>
9.5
Archive mouse mats Ö When I first got my free Archive mouse mat, I was
most unimpressed with the surface. My old Éclothæ style mat worked much
better with my A3000 mouse. The glossy ones got used as plant pot mats.
I think this was commented on in Archive.
9.5
However, the RiscPC mouse seemed to Éstickæ on the cloth mat, as had the
very similar one that came with my A3010 Éstandbyæ machine. So I tried
the Archive one Ö magic, it works much better. I have just received my
order of two more Archive mats, so these have now replaced the cloth
ones. I have still kept the free one as a plant mat, the colour scheme
matches perfectly!
9.5
Clive Bell <[e-mail]>
9.5
Email, the new communication medium Ö Having now really got going with
email, I find it extremely helpful as a means of communication, although
there are drawbacks. Soáhere are a few random thoughts...
9.5
Speed of communication Ö The speed is helpful if, say, someone orders
something and there is a question about it, such as öWhich computer is
it for?ò (The paper order form has a box to fill in for this!) The
answer can come back quite quickly and may not even hold up the supply
of the goods even for a day, let alone the several days involved in a
two-way letter correspondence.
9.5
The disadvantage of the speed of communication is that I tend to respond
quickly Ö sometimes too quickly Ö and canæt then go down to the mailroom
and retrieve the letter and change it. So I ask myself, öMight I regret
saying this 10 minutes after I have written it and uploaded it to
Paston?ò
9.5
I had an apology from one emailer saying that he had sent two emails in
quick succession and if he had used a letter, the two would have arrived
as one. My reply to him was that I didnæt mind. My reasoning was that if
they were two separate comments and one was easily answerable and the
other not, itæs much easier to bang off an answer to the one email and
keep the other email on file until I do have an answer.
9.5
Mind you, that is the other good thing about email Ö you have a quick
and easy way of finding out what you said to whom and when. (Iæm
probably negating my argument above, but never mind!) The only problem
is, the volume of email is such that archiving is going to get a problem
Ö I have sent 68 in the last seven days!
9.5
Overseas email Ö Since it costs no more to send an email to Australia
(and doesnæt seem to take any longer!) then somewhere else in Norwich,
the potential is obvious. I have friends in Cameroon, Papua New Guinea,
China and Tasmania that I can now communicate with so easily! The
potential for individuals and schools running pen-pal schemes is
tremendous. Have a lesson one day when the class sends emails to, say, a
school in France and you may well have emails back that you can reply to
in the next lesson! This speed of two-way communication brings much more
life to a correspondence.
9.5
Email art Ö I like all the clever pictures that people make by combining
dashes, slashes and hyphens etc, but I havenæt the patience to try to
design anything myself. Maybe we ought to have a competition for the
best one Ö why not send me yours (or one you have received, giving the
email address of the sender) and Iæll see if itæs worth raising the
stakes on this?
9.5
Line length Ö Being a bit of a layout perfectionist, I find it really
annoying when someone sends a message formatted to, say, 78 character so
that when the email software adds the ö>ááò quote marks at the beginning
of each line, all the lines wrap around. Actually, my editoræs eye is
often caught by spelling errors, so I may correct the spelling in a
message that I am quoting back to the sender before adding my reply!
9.5
File transfer Ö Remember that it will cost less phone-time for you and
the recipient if files are compressed before being sent but be sure that
the recipient has a means of uncompressing it! There are lots of
different compression algorithms and not every compression system can
cope with them all. (Has anyone got any views on what is the most common
or Ébestæ one to use?) Also, remember that the filetype, being Acorn
specific, is lost in the transfer, so itæs a good idea to state what
filetype it is. There is nothing more frustrating then spending time
trying to find which type of compression has been used, only to find
that itæs an uncompressed drawfile or Impression document!
9.5
Anonymity Ö It is all too easy to send an email that is far too
anonymous. Knowing that it comes from [e-mail] doesnæt help a
lot, especially if they ask you to supply some goods on a Switch card
number! Even if you give your name, there may be confusion because we
have a database of 22,000+ customers Ö including 42 J Smiths Ö and the
email address doesnæt even give a clue as to the town where you live.
(There is no equivalent of postcodes or phonecodes which often allow us
to track down the identity of a customer!)
9.5
Email snobbery Ö Email is extremely helpful, and the growth of Internet
access is increasing at a rate of 112% p.a. (i.e. more than doubling
every year). We will be using it more and more within Archive, but
please beware of treating those who do not have email access as lesser
mortals!
9.5
Ed. <[e-mail]>
9.5
Inkjets v. Laser Ö A few issues ago (8.12 p62) Dave Floyd advised us
against buying an inkjet printer, but I feel that his statement canæt be
allowed to stand. I suppose that he is someone who prints a lot, in
which case, a laser printer is certainly more economical, but a totally
different picture emerges when you print very little!
9.5
I bought my DeskJet 500C two years ago and, since then, I have used it
basically for printing letters and one copy of each test paper for my
pupils (this is then run through my schoolæs offset printer). Even
though I use expensive paper (about ú10 for 500 sheets), the total cost
for paper and (refill) ink so far amounts only to about ú90, which means
that the overall sum I have spent on my printer is still way below the
purchasing price Ö two years ago Ö for a cheap laser printer!
9.5
Occasionally, I even make use of the option to print in colour (mainly
for the projection of graphs printed on special write-on film), but this
was no major deciding point for me Ö I am still on my first colour
cartridge.
9.5
Jochen Konietzko, K÷ln, Germany.
9.5
Personal Accounts v. Finance Manager Ö I have just read the review of
Finance Manager in Archive 9.4 p59 and must point out some inaccuracies
which it levelled at Personal Accounts.
9.5
The Éitemised look aheadæ was actually added 18ámonths ago and is
probably the simplest implementation yet Ö no need for a menu option,
let alone Éimporting a backupæ Ö all you do is enter a Ésearch toæ date
in a report. If it is set ahead of the computeræs clock, the report will
include future standing orders, etc.
9.5
FMæs way of entering data is typical of most accounting software; the
user fills in a Écardæ, clicks on ÉOKæ (or whatever) and the entry is
Épostedæ off somewhere. Despite the excellent reviews that PA has
received, most reviewers have never spelt out why they find it easy to
use. Instead of filling out dialogue boxes, you actually enter your data
directly into a complete scrolling list. You can see everything you have
entered as you do it, and you can scroll around and edit all your data
immediately. There is no need for separate dialogue boxes, after all,
you wouldnæt buy a spreadsheet if it meant opening a dialogue box each
time you wanted to enter or edit a cell. Furthermore reports can be
defined in many ways including the ability to see Éall your car
expensesæ as well as just the Épetrolæ entries.
9.5
In 1991, I made another design decision based on the frequency of calls
to our helpline from people with corrupted discs. It was simply to load
all the data into memory, save it back at the end of a session and have
user-definable timed auto-saves in between. The reason is simple and
very important. On page 61, the reviewer makes the assumption that
continuously saving to disc is more secure against Ébrown-outæsæ. Discs,
especially floppy discs, do go wrong. If this happens while Éwritingæ,
you will corrupt the disc. Aápower cut whilst writing will do the same.
The chances of this happening are greatly increased when continuous
saving is employed (ask any long-time user of such software). As to
memory requirements, running PA loaded with 3000 entries (this is
typically 5 years of accounts) uses a total wimp slot of 680Kb, saves
and loads in around 3 seconds and uses just 160Kb of disc space for the
whole file.
9.5
This comment is not intended to denigrate FM, but more of a request to
reviewers to get their facts right before committing them to print.
9.5
Quentin Pain, Apricote Studios.
9.5
Apologies to Quentin for anything that might have misled readers. All
our reviewers supply information to me in good faith and it is difficult
to check the accuracy of every article. Would any existing users of
Personal Accounts like to add their views? Ed.
9.5
Quinkey/Microwriter help Ö A very big THANK YOU, to the very many people
who offered and gave help with the Quinkey project Ö trying to get hold
of, and get working, a Quinkey for a friend with MS. Several offered
free Quinkey/Microwriters, we accepted a couple of offers and have got
one working. Unfortunately, the project has been put on ice because the
man who holds the bureaucratic key to the money for the computer to go
with the (free!) Quinkey, fell while sledging with his grand-children
and broke three ribs! When he gets back to work, weæll be able to
progress further.
9.5
Once again, thanks for your help. The Archive spirit comes to the fore
once again!
9.5
By the way, are there other people in need of a Quinkey/Microwriter?
Several people have offered them free of charge, so we could put people
in touch with one another.
9.5
(The project to get a computer for Alyn Haskey is moving forward and,
once again, many thanks for peopleæs generosity.)
9.5
Ed.
9.5
Stability of RiscPC lid Ö If you buy a 17ö monitor for your RiscPC,
beware! My monitor is a little more than half a kilogram below the
weight limit set by Acorn for putting things on top of the computer, yet
I recently had a very disturbing hardware failure which turned out to be
caused by the monitoræs weight.
9.5
My third internal hard disc rests in the 3.5ö bay right below the lid,
and the 50-way cable runs across the top of the backplane. With the old
15ò monitor, this worked perfectly, but the new bigger model presses so
hard on the lid that, in one spot (about a centimetre wide), the cable
was severed after five weeks! It must be said that my PC table is
mounted on wheels, and is regularly rolled into a classroom. Luckily,
none of the leads touched, so a new cable returned everything to normal.
Still Ö you have been warned!
9.5
Jochen Konietzko, K÷ln, Germany.
9.5
DTP for Acorns
9.5
Keith Parker
9.5
This is a follow-up to my article entitled öImpression versus Quark
XPressò, together with some other information about DTP for Acorn users.
9.5
Feedback Ö General
9.5
Many thanks to all those who let me know your thoughts on the article.
What was so gratifying was the quality of the feedback I received. In
general (about 96%) readers agreed with my observations. Everyone agreed
that QuarkXPress was indeed feature-packed and had some advantages over
Impression, but that it was easier to get going in Impression, as well
as it being less strain to use and easier on the pocket.
9.5
I received a letter from Bristol from a reader who was going to produce
a magazine and asked should he use a PowerMac and QuarkXPress or a
RiscPCá700 and Publisher Plus. We talked and I believe he has decided on
the Acorn route. Another reader (a commercial printer) left a message on
my mobile phone agreeing totally with the article. (I lost the message,
so if you are reading this could you contact me again, please?) Finally,
Richard Lambley, Editor of Land Mobile magazine (the first full-colour
commercial magazine to be produced on Acorn equipment) emailed me
agreeing with my comments. All these people use Acorn computers and
Impression DTP software professionally (and commercially) and although
they can do what they want, they are looking for more!
9.5
Feedback Ö Specific
9.5
Someone wrote to Paul disagreeing with my statement that öQuarkXPress
was the first DTP package designed to be used on PCsò. The confusion
arose because I use the term ÉPCæ to mean Épersonal computeræ not ÉIBM
compatibleæ, so Acorns, IBMs, Apples, Dells, etc, are all PCs to me.
Most DTP programs on other (non-Acorn) platforms originate from the
mainframe marketplace whereas XPress was designed for the Apple
Macintosh (PC) and only later was it converted to run on an IBM
compatible.
9.5
One of our readers in Oslo (I think) wrote to give Paul the answers to
some questions he raised with CC some years ago. With his permission, I
will list them here.
9.5
Pantone Colours Ö CC stated it would be very expensive. I would ask
whether CC approached Acorn and the other DTP/graphics software houses
about sharing the cost and getting these colours integrated into RISC
OS.
9.5
Undo/Redo Ö CC say that it would need a complete rewrite and I cannot
disagree, but Ovation Pro is not a Ébolt-onæ to Ovation as Style/
Publisher and Publisher Plus were to Impression 2.5.
9.5
OvationáPro
9.5
By the time you read this, Beebug should be shipping this potential
XPress-beater. The program will be released in three stages. The first
release will require RISC OS 3.10 (or later) and 4Mb of RAM. A hard disc
is recommended, but Ovation Pro can be run (with Interactive Help) from
a floppy disc. A version that runs in only 2Mb of RAM will be released
early in 1996.
9.5
Stage one (due just before or after Christmas) will include the
following features:
9.5
Multi-level undo/redo  OLE
9.5
Single keystroke font changes  Spelling checker
9.5
Integrated character selector  Drag/drop for text
9.5
Variable width pasteboard  Mailmerge
9.5
Advanced page handling  Pamphlet printing
9.5
Colour naming system  Tints
9.5
User definable colour chart  Show invisibles
9.5
Integrated script language  Interactive help
9.5
Full customisability  Frame borders
9.5
Headers and footers  Thumbnail printing
9.5
Active master pages
9.5
Stage Two (due April/May 1996) will include:
9.5
Virtual memory system  Image processing
9.5
Full + spot colour separations  Thesaurus
9.5
Horizontal/vertical para rules  Contents and index
9.5
TIFF/PCD/JPEG filters  ááágeneration
9.5
Stage Three (no date fixed):
9.5
This release may well include some or all of the following: widow/orphan
control, imposition, trapping and creeping.
9.5
If Beebug can produce 95% of this in a reasonable timescale, they will
have the Acorn XPress-beater and we can all help by upgrading Ovation
(and others) to OvationáPro. Upgrades are only available from Beebug.
Prices are as follows:
9.5
Full package (releases one and two)  ú165
9.5
                                          (Risc User Member  ú139)
9.5
30 user site licence  ú600
9.5
15 user primary school licence  ú300
9.5
Upgrade from Ovation or other packages*   ú99
9.5
Upgrade from Ovation
9.5
   (if it was purchased before 27/10/95)  ú79
9.5
Ovation site licence upgrade  ú315
9.5
Ovation primary school licence upgrade  ú155
9.5
(*includes Impression, EasiWriter and PenDown+. Upgrades from other
packages and word processors are available upon request from Beebug.)
9.5
Whilst I am not advocating that we stop supporting the other DTP
packages (and I for one will upgrade my copy of Publisher as often as
upgrades are announced), I do believe that Beebug have indicated that
they are prepared to give us the professional DTP package that I and
many others crave.
9.5
I have arranged to upgrade my copy of Publisher to OvationáPro and I
will do a full review of Release One (first stage) as soon as possible.
Once the second stage is available, I will repeat the comparison against
QuarkXPress.
9.5
(Beebug say Ovation Pro is not available yet. They hope to be able to
release it as soon as possible but it is difficult to predict when it
will be. All the features for the first release are implemented but they
have to go through a process of testing and bug-fixing before release.
Ed.)
9.5
Prices and upgrades
9.5
One subject that is close to my heart is software prices and upgrade
charges. Many professional users of the Acorn range and its software say
that our chosen vehicle is 95% of the way there but is hampered by the
Éeducationalæ tag. As education accounts for a large proportion of
Acornæs market, I can appreciate this problem Ö do schools need full
colour separations etc? Probably not, but if they were available, would
they use them? Possibly, yes.
9.5
Professional users need these features, and if software houses were to
provide an Éeducationalæ version and a Éprofessionalæ version (at a
premium price) with an upgrade facility, I believe we would all benefit.
Ovation and Style are two excellent examples of what could be classed as
Éeducationalæ DTP and are priced accordingly.
9.5
Another sensibly priced package is PhotoDesk (from Spacetech), which
comes as versions one and two. One is fine for the school and the home
user, whereas two is designed for the professional, and is priced
accordingly. If we professional Acorn users are to get the software we
need, we must be prepared to pay for it and if we are prepared to pay
(and many are, I know), software houses must look to their laurels. ART
have already announced their commitment to building a CHRP platform for
Éthe techie, anorak and professionalæ markets (schools in the main donæt
need this) so we have to hope that our software houses match ARTæs
confidence.
9.5
Having indicated that I have no problem(?) in asking software houses to
move their products into Mac/IBM compatible price areas, there is one
area I hope they will not emulate Ö upgrades. We all like upgrades IF
they give us more/extra facilities but not upgrades that are merely bug-
fixes. If an upgrade, say Ovation Pro, gives us an extra feature like
trapping, we need to pay for the time and money invested, but if it only
puts something right that was provided initially, it should be a free
upgrade!
9.5
We can see that there are good things happening in the Acorn arena as a
whole, and DTP specifically, and 1996 could become the Year of the
Acorn. I am excited and I know Paul is!
9.5
If you want to contact me: 33 Fieldend, Twickenham, Middlesex TW1 4TG.
(0860-919216) <[e-mail]>áuá
9.5
The Big Picture
9.5
Malcolm Banthorpe
9.5
The Big Picture is a general purpose desktop graphics application
published by Longman Logotron. The software is supplied on three discs,
containing the main application, additional resources and sample
pictures. It provides a set of tools for creating, manipulating and
processing bitmap images. Any combination of screen resolution and
colour depth Ö up to 16.7 million colours Ö can be used. It is able to
cope with large images, even at maximum colour depth, on machines with
modest amounts of memory by using a virtual memory system, i.e. it uses
hard disc space to supplement RAM memory. The Big Picture includes a
version of the ImageFS module, called ImageFSLite, which allows it to
accept and save in a wide variety of graphics formats as well as the
standard Sprite and JPEG files: PCX, BMP, Clear, PBMPlus, Sun Raster,
Targa, TIFF, Amiga IFF and PICT2. PhotoCD, Draw and ArtWorks files can
also be loaded, the latter two being translated into bitmap images. The
use of a pressure sensitive graphics tablet, as an alternative to a
mouse, is supported. In addition to a well structured user guide, a
second booklet describing a number of creative ideas and techniques is
supplied.
9.5
I shall now give a description of some of the more notable features.
9.5
Screen modes
9.5
Although The Big Picture is capable of editing 24-bit (i.e. 16.7 million
colour) images on a RiscPC, it does not Ö unlike some other recently
released graphics programs Ö always process the image internally as 24
bits, regardless of the current screen mode. The image is always
displayed and edited in the current display mode and so what you see on
the screen is exactly what you will get when the image is saved. For
this reason, it is important to select a screen mode appropriate to the
colour depth that you require before loading an image or creating a new
one. If you change the screen mode while working on an image, it may be
degraded if the colour depth changes. Aáwarning message is displayed to
help prevent this happening accidentally.
9.5
A RiscPC is not essential to run The Big Picture Ö Iáfound that it also
worked quite happily on my old A440/1 Ö but an 8Mb RiscPC with 2Mb video
RAM is recommended for large high resolution images in 16.7 million
colours. A pre-RiscPC machine would be limited to working in 256
colours. If you need to work in a screen mode with a smaller colour
depth than the loaded image then, as long as Étranslate spritesæ is
selected on the set-up menu, the image will be dithered to look its best
in the lower mode. The facilities offered by The Big Picture vary
according to the screen mode. For instance, painting in transparent
colours is not available at the lower colour depths.
9.5
Making marks
9.5
One of the areas in which The Big Picture excels is the very wide range
of marks that it is capable of making. The default tool is the Crayon
which applies the current Épaintæ as a continuous line of variable
thickness and density. Variable density can be set as either regular or
random, the latter giving a charcoal or chalk-like effect. In addition,
if a 16 or 24-bit screen mode is being used, the transparency of the
Épaintæ can be set so that its final density can be built up in layers,
giving an effect closer to that of a wax crayon. Transparency also works
with 256 greys. There are eight pre-set crayon sizes (four round and
four square) and two user-defined sizes (one oval and one rectangular)
9.5
The term Épaintæ here refers to either a colour or a motif. A motif Ö
which will be familiar to users of Revelation Ö is a regular or
irregular bitmap, usually cut from an existing image. Motifs can be of
any size, can be saved and can be freely painted into any picture. Small
motifs are often usefully applied either singly or as a tiled repeat
using drawing and painting tools. A number of sample motifs are supplied
with The Big Picture.
9.5
The Brush tool applies paint as a series of individual blocks which can,
like the crayon, be round, square, oval, rectangular or a user-defined
shape, and can be applied with varying softness. Brushes can be set to
have a bristle and stipple effects and can be directional. When the
latter option is set, the orientation of the mark can be selected to
align with the initial direction of movement of the brush Ö giving
italic effects Ö or to change continually according to the direction of
movement.
9.5
The Spray tool has a similar wide range of size and shape options and
can apply the paint either uniformly, as a series of dots or as a
progressive radial wash. Like brushes, the spray tool can be set to
behave in a directional manner.
9.5
Both sprays and brushes can take their shape from a user-defined mark. A
mark is defined by painting a small shape and then selecting ÉGrab as a
markæ from the menu. Using all these facilities it is possible to
achieve an enormous range of painting effects. To get you started, a
number of predefined tools are supplied. These tools are special
configurations of crayon, brush and spray, and have names such as
DryBrush, Grit, Splatter, Comb Ö twenty in all. If thatæs still not
enough, you can define and save your own tools.
9.5
Any of the above painting tools can be further exploited by using a
pressure sensitive graphics tablet in conjunction with the Eesox !Penpad
driver. I found that a Wacom Artpad and Computer Concepts CCTablet
driver with Eesox driver simulation selected worked perfectly. A major
advantage of using a graphics tablet instead of the mouse is that any
combination of transparency, mark size and dither density can be chosen
to be dependent on the pen pressure. If the ALT key is held down while
painting, pressure information is locked and held constant until the end
of the current stroke.
9.5
Drawing
9.5
The DrawPen tool is used for drawing geometrical figures. These include
lines Ö either curved or straight Ö and two-dimensional figures such as
rectangle, ellipse and polygon Ö either solid or filled. Line thickness
and fill density are variable. Line style is also variable in terms of
either mitred, bevelled or round joins.
9.5
Fills
9.5
The fill tool works normally to fill any area of uniform colour and with
a continuous boundary. The uniform colour is replaced with the current
Épaintæ. It is also possible to fill a whole page either with a solid
colour or, if transparency is set, the fill will result in a colour wash
over anything already on the page. Auto Fill will replace a range of
colours related to the point at which the fill was applied. The range
that will be filled can be adjusted and can be related to either RGB
values, hue, grey level or hue plus grey level. Graded fills and fit to
fill are two further options. In the latter case, a motif can be
stretched to fit an irregular shape.
9.5
Effects
9.5
The FX tool provides six main options, any of which can be applied to a
rectangular area of the image or a freely defined irregular shape. The
options are trace, outline, blur, sharpen, dither and mosaic. These are
largely self-explanatory but perhaps it is worth mentioning that, as
well as rectangular blocks, the mosaic option allows for hexagonal,
diamond and chevron shapes, all of variable size. The dither option
renders the selected area of the image as a pattern of dots arranged to
represent as closely as possible the colours of the image. When the
current Épaintæ is a colour, the dots will be of that colour and either
black or white, depending on which gives the greater contrast. If the
current Épaintæ is a motif, the dots can be any of the colours contained
in the motif.
9.5
Conclusions
9.5
This is quite a comprehensive package and contains many more features
than those which I have mentioned, such as text and masking. At about
half the price of many of the other recently released graphics packages
for the RiscPC (although it also seems to work OK on older machines), it
represents excellent value for money. Compared with some other packages,
it is lacking in effects filters but this is unlikely to be of concern
unless you intend to use it mainly for the processing of captured video
images. As mentioned earlier its great strength is in its variety of
painting options which can be enhanced by the use of a suitable graphics
tablet. Well worth a look if youære seeking a versatile graphics
application.
9.5
The Big Picture costs  ú69 +VAT from Longman Logotron or ú77 through
Archive.áuá
9.5
The Patience Addict
9.5
(The authoræs name got separated from the disc that contained the
review. Sorry! I asked in the last two issues who the author was, but
got no response. Moral: Always put your name on any disc you send to
NCS. Ed.)
9.5
I would like to introduce you to a little item that I discovered at
Acorn World 95 Ö öThe Patience Addictò from Creative Curriculum
Software, a program written by Neil Coffey.
9.5
It comes in what looks like a CD box, but which, in the event, turns out
to contain a folded instruction sheet and a single 800Kb floppy disc.
The disc contains just three items: a copy of !Addict to run from the
floppy disc, a separate !Adinstall application to enable the !Addict
software to be copied to a hard disc and a copy of !System. Clicking on
!Adinstall only requires the user to stipulate into which directory the
software is to be installed, and then it sets up !Addict ready for use.
9.5
Clicking on the !Addict item brings up the Game Selection menu which has
a ÉPlayæ button, next to which is a text field which initially is empty.
At the right hand end of this text box is a menu icon Ö click on it to
reveal a list of twenty patience games. Some are well known like
Canfield, Forty Thieves and Scorpion, and some are, for me, more
obscure. Selecting one of these, returns the user to the Game Selection
menu, where the program has appended the details of the selected game Ö
average playing time, degree of difficulty etc. There are two additional
buttons, labelled ÉIndexæ and ÉCancelæ. The Index button reveals a
somewhat enlarged list including what look like variations on some of
the titles, as well as a key to alternative names for some of the games.
It is here that I discovered, for instance, that the game, Canfield, is
alternatively known as both Klondike and Demon Patience.
9.5
In the interests of exploration, I selected the first game listed which
I am advised should take about ten minutes to solve. Somebody is an
optimist. It may be the program or it may just be me but my ten minutes
slowly became an hour. Perhaps this is the point where I should
recommend to CCS that they affix a label along the lines of, öLoading
and playing this game can seriously deplete your free timeò.
9.5
In addition to the cards appearing ready dealt for play, there is a menu
from which various options can be selected to customise the appearance
of the games. The colour of the backcloth can be varied (sixteen
available shades) but there are only two alternative patterns for the
backs of the cards. There is an information option which fills in some
of the details for the currently selected game, and the playing area can
be scaled up or down Ö indeed, there are four presets already available
to click on. There is a ÉRedealsæ option, which either does not work or
perhaps only applies to some of the games, and lastly there is a new
game option. Four of the menu options are also available as buttons
within a timer/toolbox type display at the top left of the playing area.
(If you want to relocate this, you will be disappointed!)
9.5
I cannot praise highly enough the game concept or its playability. There
is, however, one tiny niggle. The card graphics are awful. It is
difficult to focus on the symbols, which seem to my eyes to be
permanently blurred. When the scaling option is attempted, these
graphics look even worse, if anything. However, this is a small matter
compared to all the softwareæs good points. Hopefully CCS will be able
to improve on the graphics if and when making any later revisions to the
software.
9.5
The Patience Addict costs ú16.98 +VAT from Creative Curriculum Software
or ú19 inclusive through Archive.áuá
9.5
Hints and Tips
9.5
Archiving to floppy Ö If you want to archive a large directory from a
hard disc onto floppies, (a) give all the floppies the same name,
(b)ácopy onto floppy 1 until Édisc fullæ message, (c)ádismount the
floppy, (d) mount the second one, (e) click on ÉRetryæ and away you go,
(f) donæt forget to give the floppies a meaningful name once you have
finished.
9.5
Wouter Kolkman, <[e-mail]>
9.5
CC Turbodrivers Ö You may find that you get different paper margins when
using the standard !Printers application compared with CC settings. CC
helpline was right: the Acorn driver does not check for the printer DIP
switch settings! The printer I tried was an HP Deskjet.
9.5
Wouter Kolkman, <[e-mail]>
9.5
Display of large row numbers in PipeDream 4 Ö I have read several times
in your magazine about how PipeDream 4 will not display large row
numbers correctly. During an idle moment recently, I experimented with
this anomaly and found that the effect is dependent on the Desktop
display font used (obviously only applicable to RISC OS 3.5 or later).
9.5
A monospaced font (System, Courier etc) give the worst results, chopping
off all but the last two figures in the row number. Proportionally
spaced fonts are much better, displaying at least the last three
numerals.
9.5
However, for some unknown reason, the outline font öSystem.Mediumò
supplied with RISC OS 3.5 allows at least four numerals to be displayed
in the row border. System.Medium is not a particularly attractive choice
for the desktop font but as it is so easy to change it, very long
PipeDream files can be quite simply viewed in System.Medium, before
reverting to oneæs favourite font. Changing the desktop font does not
alter the font in which the PipeDream file itself is displayed.
9.5
Robin Hampshire, Devon.
9.5
Network cards on RISC OS 3.6 Ö Please check the file
!Boot.Choices.Boot.PreDesk.SetUpNet, otherwise you may find that quite a
few modules are Éunpluggedæ.
9.5
Wouter Kolkman, <[e-mail]>
9.5
Night Sky and the system date Ö Some time ago, my version of Night Sky
suddenly refused to load, and nothing I tried (from starting the program
directly from floppy to a complete reset of my computer) helped.
9.5
Since yesterday (New Year) it works again; the trouble lies in the
(German RISC OS only?) system date; Night Sky checks the date while
loading and, for some reason, canæt handle December! Clares have
promised to look for a solution. So if, in December, Night Sky gave you
trouble, try it again in January!
9.5
Jochen Konietzko, K÷ln, Germany.
9.5
Networking on a Shoestring
9.5
Richard Bradbury
9.5
In an earlier article (Archive 9.2 p31) I described the freeware
Internet Protocol Stack, FreeNet. In this article, I will attempt to
describe how it can be set up to suit a variety of networking
requirements.
9.5
The most obvious application of FreeNet is in connecting your Acorn
machine at home to the Internet at large via a modem and telephone line.
Most of the Internet Service Providers operating in the UK offer a
ÉSLIPæ service to customers. As described in my earlier article, this
allows your computer to send IP packets over its RS-232 serial
interface.
9.5
Two typical scenarios
9.5
If you think about it, your computeræs serial port doesnæt have to be
connected to a modem. Indeed, it could just as easily be attached
directly to another computer via a serial cable. Figures 1 and 2
illustrate the two different scenarios.
9.5
Figure 1: Connection to an Internet Service Provider
9.5
Figure 2: Direct SLIP connection between two machines
9.5
In the figure 1, your Acorn (A) is connected via a serial link (SLIP) to
a modem (M), which modulates the digital signal so that it can be sent
down a telephone line. At the other end, a second modem, located in the
premises of your Internet Service Provider, demodulates the signal and
regenerates the original bit patterns. These are then sent to the
provideræs computer (ISP) over another SLIP link. ISP behaves as a
gateway onto the Internet at large, and sends your IP packets on their
way to the correct destination.
9.5
In the opposite direction, packets follow the obvious reverse path from
ISP to A. Both machines implement the Internet protocol stack and
communicate using IP (the Internet Protocol). Therefore, for the
duration of the telephone call, your machine is effectively part of the
Internet Ö it is a first class Internet Host.
9.5
In figure 2, a simpler setup is shown. Here, your Acorn (A) is directly
connected to another machine (B). B could be any computer which
understands SLIP Ö another Acorn running FreeNet, or perhaps a PC
running Windows or Linux. Because there is no telephone connection
involved, the two modems can be dispensed with altogether. Instead, a
special serial cable (often referred to as a Énull modemæ) joins the two
machines directly.
9.5
Since both machines are running the Internet Protocol Stack, it can be
argued that they form their own private network. In fact, the Internet
we all hear so much about these days is comprised of many such private
networks, each belonging to a particular university or corporation, but
linked together to form a network of networks Ö an internetwork.
9.5
This is just one example of a low-cost network which you can build in
your own home. If you have three machines, they could all be connected
together via serial links if one machine has two spare serial ports. The
more adventurous may wish to connect several machines together using
Ethernet. FreeNet can deal with all these situations and more.
9.5
Setting up FreeNet
9.5
FreeNet is supplied in two parts: a pseudo-application called !FreeNet
and another called !FreeUser. The idea behind this is that !FreeNet
contains the essential elements of the protocol stack, whereas !FreeUser
contains the various user configuration files. When a new version of the
stack is released, only the !FreeNet application needs to be updated Ö
the user configuration should remain the same. It is also worth pointing
out that the document !FreeNet.Docs.Setup contains a lot of useful
information on setting up the system.
9.5
The present FreeNet distribution also contains a further application,
!SerialDev, which contains two serial port block drivers. If you plan to
use SLIP with FreeNet, then these bug-fixed drivers will be essential.
However, the files supplied only represent an upgrade to the current
full version of !SerialDev, which is available as package B078 on HENSA,
and from various other sources. Dragging the new version onto the old
should update the relevant files automatically.
9.5
It is essential that the filer Éseesæ the three applications !FreeNet,
!FreeUser and !SerialDev before you attempt to run FreeNet. If you have
a hard disc, Iáwould suggest placing them in a convenient directory;
floppy users could create a FreeNet disc for the three applications. On
my RiscPC, I find it convenient to place system resources like these in
the directory !Boot.Resources. This ensures that the three application
directories are correctly FilerBooted when the machine is rebooted.
9.5
Having copied the FreeNet software to its new home, the first thing to
do is to edit the configuration file !FreeUser.Startup. This is an obey
file which loads a number of modules and configures your system to send
and receive data. The remainder of the article describes how machine A
could be set up, as shown in figure 2.
9.5
The FreeNet startup file
9.5
The first section of the Startup script loads the FreeNet module and a
dummy Internet module. You should not need to change this. The second
section loads the network drivers you intend to use. As a SLIP user, you
should find the line:
9.5
| Load any drivers that we need
9.5
RMRun FreeNet:Drivers.SLIPdriver 576
9.5
If you are not using SLIP, you should comment out this line (by adding a
vertical bar in front), and load a driver appropriate to your own
hardware. Setting up FreeNet for use with Ethernet would require a whole
article to itself, and I donæt propose to go into details here. As a
general point, however, user-specific files such as drivers should be
added to !FreeUser in preference to !FreeNet. New drivers should go in
!FreeUser.Drivers; executable programs belong in !FreeUser.Bin.
9.5
The third section of the Startup script (which loads the DNS resolver,
InetDB) can be left alone.
9.5
The next section sets the name of your computer. If you are going to be
using your computer in isolation from other networks, you are free to
choose any textual name as long as it contains no spaces or dots. If you
are planning to connect the computer to somebody elseæs network, you
should contact your local system administrator who will ensure that the
name does not clash with that of any other machine on the network.
9.5
| Set the host name
9.5
Set Inet$HostName wibble
9.5
The last two sections of the Startup script are the interface
configuration and the routing table setup. These are the most fiddly
parts of the script, and tend to cause the most trouble for new users.
9.5
Interface configuration for SLIP
9.5
Configuring your serial port for SLIP use is a two-stage process.
Firstly, you need to set up the hardware and the serial block driver
using the slattach (SLIP attach) command. This is the easy part.
Secondly, you need to configure FreeNet to use this as a valid
interface, using the ifconfig (interface configure) command. This is the
tricky part.
9.5
As you may already have guessed, a lot of the FreeNet terminology has
been borrowed from the world of Unix, where Internet software was
originally developed. The peculiar naming conventions for commands are
no exception to this, and anyone familiar with network programming under
Unix will immediately feel at home. Unfortunately, this rather leaves
the novice out in the cold. Contrary to what the popular press would
have us believe, the Internet is not a user-friendly environment at all.
It was designed by computer scientists for computer scientists! However,
the following explanation will hopefully demystify the black art
somewhat.
9.5
A typical setup may be:
9.5
| Attach and configure the interfaces
9.5
slattach internal 0 19200
9.5
ifconfig sl0 inet 128.1.44.22 128.1.33
9.5
.5 up
9.5
The slattach command specifies which of the serial block drivers you
wish to use. The Éinternalæ driver is suitable for driving the standard
Acorn serial port; if you have a dual serial port expansion card, the
ÉSP_Dualæ or ÉII_Dualæ drivers may be more suitable. In this latter
case, the number following the driver name (0 in the example above) is
used to specify which of the two ports you are talking about (numbered 0
and 1). For the internal port, this number should always be 0. As a
final point, you can opt to use the ÉinternalPCæ driver if you intend to
use a standard PC serial cable instead of the peculiar Acorn wiring
convention.
9.5
The final parameter of the slattach command is the speed (in bits per
second) at which you wish to drive the serial port. On some older
machines, 19200 is a sensible maximum, but more recent models such as
the A5000 and RiscPC are capable of transmitting reliably at higher
speeds. Of course, if you have a separate serial expansion card, your
extra port(s) will probably be capable of even higher performance Ö
check the supplieræs documentation.
9.5
Indeed, you can have as many slattach commands in your startup script as
you have serial ports. For example:
9.5
slattach internalpc 0 19200
9.5
slattach sp_dual 0 38400
9.5
slattach sp_dual 1 57600
9.5
Now that the physical interfaces are set up, we need to inform FreeNet
about them. Each interface must be uniquely identifiable, and the scheme
used in FreeNet is to give each a unique name. The first slattach
command creates a logical interface called Ésl0æ, the second interface
will be called Ésl1æ and so on. The names used with other types of
interface (such as Ethernet cards) follow similar conventions (e.g.
Éea0æ or Éeb0æ, depending on the model). These names are then used in
the ifconfig command, e.g.:
9.5
ifconfig sl0 inet 128.1.44.22 128.1.33
9.5
.5 up
9.5
The chief purpose of the ifconfig command is to associate logical
addresses (in this case, IP numbers) with physical interfaces. Assuming
that we are setting up machine A in figure 2, the parameters of the
command, from left to right, are:
9.5
sl0 Ö the name of the logical interface to be configured
9.5
inet Ö tells FreeNet that the following parameters are Internet
addresses
9.5
128.1.44.22 Ö the IP address of this machine
9.5
128.1.33.5 Ö the IP address of the machine at the other end of the SLIP
link
9.5
up Ö a switch to turn the interface on.
9.5
The three parameters you will need to change are 1, 3, and 4. You will
need an ifconfig command for each of the interfaces configured using
slattach. The equivalent command for an Ethernet card is somewhat
different because Ethernet is a broadcast medium while SLIP uses a
point-to-point link communications model.
9.5
If you are building an isolated network, you can pick any IP addresses
for your machines, within reason. Avoid numbers such as 0, 127 and 255,
which have special meanings. If you are connecting to a larger network,
your system administrator will assign an IP number to your machine
(parameter 3), and will be able to tell you the IP address of the
computer at the other end of your SLIP link (parameter 4).
9.5
As a final note on the ifconfig command, make sure you donæt delete the
final parameter, Éupæ. This is important and tells FreeNet that the
interface can now be put into service.
9.5
Routing table configuration
9.5
The purpose of a routing table is to tell FreeNet how to reach a
particular host. With SLIP, this is particularly simple because all
hosts other than your own machine can be reached via the SLIP link. With
Ethernet, things are slightly more tricky because there may be more than
one gateway on your Ethernet segment.
9.5
For a simple SLIP setup, we can route all IP packets to the machine at
the other end of the SLIP link with the following line:
9.5
route add default 128.1.33.5 1
9.5
You should replace É128.1.33.5æ with the IP address of the machine at
the far end of your SLIP connection. Donæt forget the final parameter,
É1æ, which tells FreeNet that the specified machine is a gateway.
9.5
Host names
9.5
So far, the setup procedure has dealt only with numeric IP addresses.
Whilst it is possible to make do with these when using application
programs such as Telnet and FTP, it would be much easier to remember
names of particular machines. The way this is achieved is with a name
resolver, called INetDB in FreeNet.
9.5
In practice, the name resolution system actually works as a distributed
database. As the Internet took off in the nineteen eighties, it was soon
realised that a single centralised database of mappings would be too
unreliable. Duplicating the entire database at each site would be too
inefficient and would lead to inconsistencies as machines were moved
around.
9.5
The solution is that each site on the Internet runs a Domain Name Server
on two of its machines (called the Primary and Secondary). These
maintain a cache of <host name, IP address> mappings on behalf of the
other hosts on the site. They can also talk to the DNS at other sites if
necessary. Therefore, each site has a limited view of the world, but is
still capable of resolving the names of frequently accessed hosts very
quickly. Mappings all have an associated timeout, so that if a host is
moved, interested DNSs will find out about its new location before too
long.
9.5
In addition, each Internet host maintains a small cache of recently
accessed addresses for extra performance gain. This can be initialised
with a few frequently-used address mappings (such as the IP address of
the host itself).
9.5
The resolver running on a particular host seeks a mapping from the
following sources in turn:
9.5
Å  A local file of static mappings called the hosts file.
9.5
Å  The local cache which is dynamic.
9.5
Å  The primary local name server.
9.5
Å  The secondary local name server (if the primary áááfails to respond).
9.5
Å  A third name server at another site (as a last ditch ááámeasure).
9.5
Hence, for the system to work properly, we need to specify three
separate name servers. In practice, it is possible to get away with
fewer, but the system will be much more prone to failure.
9.5
The per-host components of the Internet database are stored in the
directory !FreeUser.Files. The two of most interest to us are ÉHostsæ,
the static hosts file, and ÉResConfæ, the configuration file for the
resolver. The resolver will also create a file ÉResCacheæ when it runs;
you should not need to touch this.
9.5
The format of the hosts file is that of a flat file database. Each
record is on a new line, and the fields are separated by white space
(e.g. tab characters). The three fields are:
9.5
Å  IP address
9.5
Å  Full Internet name
9.5
Å  Zero or more name aliases
9.5
For example,
9.5
128.1.44.22  wibble.cam.ac.uk  wibble
9.5
 riscpc700
9.5
128.1.33.5   slip23.cam.ac.uk  slip23
9.5
The first record actually contains four fields because Iáhave given my
own machine two name aliases: Éwibbleæ, the official name assigned to
it, and Ériscpc700æ, the name I prefer to use. The hosts file should
only need to contain a small number of mappings, probably no more than
ten. It should only contain well-known addresses which are never likely
to change. For example, you may wish to include the mapping for the
gateway of your Internet Service Provider, plus some of the other
frequently-used machines such as the mail and news servers.
9.5
Finally, you should modify the ÉResConfæ file. This simply sets up some
parameters for the INetDB module to read in when it is initialised. The
first line, labelled Ésearchæ, tells the host name resolver which
Internet domains the lookup procedure should use. For example, if I have
the entry:
9.5
search   cam.ac.uk
9.5
and when I access the host Ébananaæ, the resolver will try to resolve
the names Ébanana.cam.ac.ukæ, Ébanana.ac.ukæ and Ébanana.ukæ in turn.
9.5
The values of the other entries specify various parameters, such as the
size of the local cache and the number of retries to be used when
talking to name servers before giving up. The values provided by default
should be adequate for most uses; interested readers should refer to the
file !FreeNet.Docs.Resolver for a full description of all possible
parameters.
9.5
The last change you will need to make to ÉResConfæ is to change the
Énameserveræ entries to suit your setup. Your system administrator
should be able to provide you with the three necessary IP addresses.
9.5
A system with no name servers
9.5
If you are running a very simple network comprising only a handful of
hosts, using a name server is something of a sledgehammer approach. You
can probably get away with entering all the host name mappings into the
ÉHostsæ file; for example:
9.5
128.1.44.22  wibble.home  wibble riscpc700
9.5
128.1.33.5   slip23.home  slip23
9.5
In this case, you still need to use the INetDB module, but the
resolveræs cache can be disabled by modifying the Élookupæ entry in the
ÉResConfæ file. You should remove the reference to BIND, leaving the
entry as:
9.5
  lookup     file
9.5
You can also remove the three Énameserveræ entries. Note that, in this
example, the search domain would now be set to Éhomeæ rather than
Écam.ac.ukæ.
9.5
The shutdown script
9.5
The file !FreeUser.ShutDown is the obey file you should run when you
have finished using FreeNet. Itáis not strictly necessary, but its
purpose is to shut down all your active connections. The way this is
achieved is by RMKilling the various modules associated with FreeNet.
For the example given here, this means InetDB, SLIPdriver and FreeNet
itself. The dummy Internet module should also be killed.
9.5
Firing up
9.5
Now that everything is set up, it is time to kick the system into
action. This involves simply double clicking on the !FreeUser.Startup
script. FreeNet is configured to maintain a log file of messages
(!FreeUser.Log), and you should now take a look at it to make sure
everything has started up correctly. Here is an extract from my log
file:
9.5
291195 100216 FreeNet started
9.5
291195 100217 Hardware driver detected for interfaces Ésl0æ to Ésl3æ
9.5
This tells me that the FreeNet stack has started correctly and has
detected the SLIPdriver module. The FreeNet module also provides a
command line interface for debugging purposes, in the form of the
NetStat command. To check the interfaces:
9.5
*NetStat -i
9.5
Name Mtu Network Address    Ipkts Opkts
9.5
sl0  576 128.1   128.1.44.22  0    0
9.5
NetStat can also be used to inspect the routing table:
9.5
*NetStat -r
9.5
Routing tables
9.5
Destination Gateway    Flags Refs Use Inter-
9.5
face
9.5
default     128.1.33.5  UG    0    0  sl0
9.5
All being well, the next thing to test is whether you can actually send
packets to the other end of the SLIP link. The ping program is used to
send test packets to another machine. It also provides statistics on the
round-trip time for the packets, which gives a pretty good performance
indication for the link.
9.5
*Ping slip23.cam.ac.uk
9.5
PING slip23 (128.1.33.5): 56 data bytes
9.5
64 bytes from 128.1.44.22: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=2.236 ms
9.5
64 bytes from 128.1.44.22: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=2.171 ms
9.5
64 bytes from 128.1.44.22: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=2.132 ms
9.5
ÿ- slip23 ping statistics ÿ-
9.5
3 packets transmitted, 3 packets received,
9.5
 0% packet loss
9.5
round-trip min/avg/max = 2.132/2.180/2.236
9.5
 ms
9.5
Press <escape> to stop the ping program. This being the case, everything
is working fine. You can now move on to the next problem: setting up
some real applications like ArcWeb and FreeTerm!
9.5
Unfortunately, you may just be staring at a blank screen. One possible
reason is that your serial hardware is asleep. The recommended method
for waking it up is to enter the following line in Basic:
9.5
  SYS öOS_SerialOpò,2,50
9.5
If this doesnæt help, youære in real trouble, and itæs probably time to
resort to outside help. You can get help by posting on the Usenet news
group Écomp.sys.acorn.networkingæ. Another good place to try is the
FreeNet discussion list, where direct support from the author and users
is available. Send an email message to É[e-mail]æ
with the body Ésubscribe freenetæ. You will receive a message in return
which explains how to send messages to the list.
9.5
I hope that these articles have proved useful and informative. As usual,
your comments are welcome. My e-mail address is [e-mail].
9.5
News about FreeNet
9.5
The FreeNet stack itself has finally reached version 1.00. This
effectively moves it out of beta test phase and gives it Éfull working
versionæ status. In fact, at the time of writing (end of November),
there has already been a minor bug-fix, and the stack stands at version
1.01.
9.5
There is now a PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) device driver for Acorn
machines. Written by Sergio Monesi, it is a DCI-2 driver suitable for
use with current versions of FreeNet, and also older versions of the
Acorn TCP/IP stack. It is not suitable, however, for DCI-4 stacks. The
driver is available at the FreeNet FTP site:
9.5
ftp://cslib.ecs.soton.ac.uk/pub/Acorn/
9.5
freenet/s.monesi/ppp002.arc.
9.5
Version 0.05 of the FreeNet starter pack, which I mentioned last month,
was delayed slightly by issues relating to the new stack. It has now
been released and can be found in the directory:
9.5
ftp://cslib.ecs.soton.ac.uk/pub/Acorn/
9.5
freenet/p.temple/.
9.5
A new version of the freeware terminal emulator, FreeTerm, is also on
its way. This emulates a scrolling VT series terminal for use during
Telnet log-in sessions to remotely located hosts. FreeTerm will also
work with Internet stacks other than FreeNet, and can be found inside
the directory:
9.5
ftp://cslib.ecs.soton.ac.uk/pub/Acorn/
9.5
freenet/t.howat/.
9.5
Finally, Tom Hughes, the creator of FreeNet has recently released a
beta-test SLIP driver which complies with the DCI-4 interface
specification. This makes it the only freeware SLIP driver suitable for
use with recent Internet stacks, such as Acornæs version 4.xx Internet
module. The driver can be downloaded as:
9.5
ftp://cslib.soton.ac.uk/pub/Acorn/
9.5
freenet/t.hughes/slipdriver200.arc.
9.5
Acornæs DCI-4 stack is also available free as:
9.5
ftp://ftp.acorn.co.uk/pub/riscos/
9.5
releases/networking/DCI4/
9.5
internet.arc.
9.5
Coupled with freeware applications such as FreeTerm and ArcWeb, this
makes for a very cost-effective alternative to the pricey offerings from
companies like Acorn and ANT. Admittedly, the software is not as
polished as its commercial equivalents, and there is no hand-holding for
novices. However, with a little effort, near equal functionality can be
achieved for next to nothing. This surely is networking on a shoestring!
9.5
Richard Bradbury  <[e-mail]>
9.5
Help!!!!
9.5
Archive articles wanted Ö Some suggestions that have come through for
articles that people would like to see in Archive:
9.5
1) A Étechnicalæ series detailing the expansion card system, and showing
how a podule might be designed and constructed. The example of designing
and constructing a fast serial interface podule for A30x0 and A4000
machines has been mooted.
9.5
2) A project to design an adapter so that full-size podules can be
fitted to the A30x0 or A4000.
9.5
3) More technical details, such as pin-outs of ports, and their
operation.
9.5
4) A brief article on consumer law as regards buying hardware and
software, claiming refunds, licence conditions, etc. (e.g. Who is
responsible when hardware and software donæt work together?!)
9.5
Any offers?
9.5
Ed., <[e-mail]>
9.5
Disc backup Ö As hard discs are now much larger than they used to be,
could anyone tell me which backup package is suitable for multi-hundred
Mb discs, please?
9.5
Peter Chambers <[e-mail]>
9.5
FPA11 Ö Acorn say they no longer supply the FPA11 but I am very keen to
get floating point facility on my 33MHz A5000. Can anyone help, please?
9.5
Eric Willemen,áAntwerpen, Belgium.
9.5
Multi-file searching (1) Ö Re: Kjetil Thomassenæs comment in Archive 9.4
p11. If you are searching for any type of string in any file, you would
find an application on the Risc User disc (Vol.8 No7), called Match,
very useful. It searches any file, directory or sub-directories for your
specified string and even opens the directory for you, if asked.
9.5
Chris Dawson <[e-mail]>
9.5
Multi-file searching (2) Ö In 9.3 p55, you suggested using !Find to
browse the Archive CD. Iáhave !Find, and have tried to use it as you
suggest. However, without useful instructions, (the help file isnæt!) I
have not been able to use it. Could someone explain how to do it,
please?
9.5
Andrew Campbell,  <[e-mail]>
9.5
Multi-file searching (3) Ö In answer to the original query, I have
written !LooknFind which searches the contents of multiple files. This
is on the monthly program disc (ú2) or you can get it direct from me by
sending an E-format disc and return postage. Also available and on the
monthly disc are: !CASE2case which changes the case and/or the length of
filenames in bulk, and !Calendars which provides data files for
calendars.
9.5
Robert Lytton, 7 Helmsley Drive, West Park, Leeds, LS16 5HY.
9.5
SCSI compatibility Ö A number of readers have been seeking my advice on
compatibility of the Alsystemsæ SCSI 2 interface with their devices.
Although I have some limited information from the manufacturers, to date
I havenæt had any reports from users. Please could any reader who has
installed the Alsystems Power-tec card let me have a run-down on your
experiences. The range of data ideally required is listed in Archive 9.2
pp24/25. I would also appreciate reports from any readers who have
recently updated their Cumana SCSI 2 card firmware. Iæm especially
interested in the version number of the firmware upgrade fitted (v2.05
is the latest reported to me) and whether this is an improvement on the
earlier versions, particularly in the area of copying large files/
directories to and from SyQuest drives.
9.5
Jim Nottingham, 16áWestfield Close, Pocklington, York, YO4á2EY.
9.5
Winchester Acorn Club? Ö Is there anything happening in the Winchester
area? I would like to meet up with other people interested in things
Acorn.
9.5
Martin Osborne, 2 Cherry Close, South Wonston, SO21 3HU.
9.5
C++ Column
9.5
Tony Houghton
9.5
In C, standard I/O (input/output) operations are provided by the
<stdio.h> library. In C++, this has been superseded by the streams
library. Although the numerous complex classes and their interrelations
make learning them daunting, their use can make program source easier to
understand.
9.5
As with the functions in <stdio.h>, there are streams specialised for
the console (display and keyboard), files and strings.
9.5
The use of streams is centred around the operators << and >>, which are
overloaded (see Archive 9.2) for streams to mean output and input
respectively. In this context, the operators are known as inserters
(output) and extractors (input), or more simply put to and get from. The
result of each of these operators is the stream to which they were
applied. So, as the operators have low precedence, and associate from
left to right they can be chained. For example:
9.5
cout << öHello ò << öworld\nò;
9.5
is equivalent to
9.5
cout << öHello ò;
9.5
cout << öworld\nò;
9.5
An important feature of streams is that they are buffered, so writing to
an output stream will not necessarily cause anything to appear at the
output (such as on screen) straight away. This makes use with files more
efficient, but it can be a nuisance. Fortunately, it is possible to
program streams to read and write straight through the buffer.
9.5
The full details of the streams libraries are too long for this article,
which is intended as a thorough introduction to using the existing
facilities provided by the libraries. The Acorn C/C++ manual contains a
very good reference chapter for the streams library, and you should read
it after this if you have that package and are interested in extending
streams (e.g. writing one to use Wimp_ReportError).
9.5
When including C++ header files, note that you may get compiler warnings
saying öNon-ANSI #includeò, because the latest version of Acorn C++
preprocesses in an ANSI-compatible mode. This is nothing to worry about.
9.5
Simple output
9.5
The main class for output functions is ostream, defined in <iostream.h>.
It has a number of overloaded versions of << already defined for built-
in types such as int, float and char* (strings), and other types can be
added. Pointers other than chará* are treated as unsigned integers.
ostream can be used as the base class for classes that write to files,
strings and the screen (or anywhere more advanced users care). By adding
operations to ostream, you allow them to be used for all these outputs.
9.5
<iostream.h> provides a standard object derived from ostream for writing
to the screen, called cout. Examples of its usage are:
9.5
cout << öHello world\nò;
9.5
cout<<öHere is a number: ò<<4<<É\næ;
9.5
Try them in a short program. The second example highlights that there
are separate operators for outputting int and char, the former converts
the number to a string (like %d in Cæs printf()) and the latter displays
the char as a character.
9.5
Adding operators for user-defined types
9.5
Output operators for the built-in types are provided as members of
ostream. A subset of ostream is:
9.5
class ostream //...
9.5
{ostream &operator<<(int);
9.5
    // Returns reference to itself
9.5
};
9.5
We should not consider adding operations for our own types to ostream
this way, because we would have to alter the library, nor can we add
them to a user-defined derived class because it wonæt be usable in other
library classes derived directly from ostream. This leaves us with
globally overloading operator<<. The class complex is a good example,
its output operator might be:
9.5
ostream &operator<<(ostream &s,
9.5
                    complex z)
9.5
{<< É(æ << real(z) << É,æ
9.5
        << imag(z) << É)æ;
9.5
}
9.5
which outputs a complex number as a comma-separated pair of numbers in
brackets.
9.5
Simple input
9.5
The class istream is a close parallel of ostream used for input.
Inputting values introduces the problem of what should be considered as
the terminator or separator of values. For all types, a whitespace
(defined as a space, tab or newline etc) is considered the terminator,
for numbers anything that is not considered a numerical character is a
terminator. Whitespace at the beginning of any value is skipped.
9.5
Therefore, although we have written öHello world\nò as one string, if
this was read back it would be as two strings, öHelloò and öworldò.
9.5
Stream states Ö ios
9.5
During input, it is possible that we will encounter errors, e.g. a
string of letters being present when we were expecting a number.
Therefore, before discussing input further, we need to look at aspects
of the state of a stream. The state of a stream is handled by the base
class ios. The simplest way to read the state of a class is with its
member operators ! and void *. These are defined as (members of ios):
9.5
int operator!();
9.5
operator void *();
9.5
! returns non-zero if the stream is in a state of error and void *
returns non-zero if there is no error (the pointer value should not
actually be used). This allows you to write something like:
9.5
if (cin)
9.5
  // No error
9.5
if (!cin)
9.5
  // There has been an error
9.5
cin is the standard input stream (from the keyboard), the complement of
cout.
9.5
The state is represented internally by a set of flags manipulated by the
following (public) members of ios:
9.5
enum io_state {goodbit ,    // These represent bits
9.5
  eofbit,     // Actual values depend
9.5
  failbit,    // on implementation
9.5
  badbit
9.5
};
9.5
int rdstate();
9.5
void clear(int state=0);
9.5
The bits represented by io_state represent, in the order shown: no
errors; no errors but end of file has been reached; failure, but stream
is still usable; stream has become unusable.
9.5
rdstate returns a value made up from the io_state bits. To test for a
particular condition, you should mask the value with bitwise and (&):
9.5
if (cin.rdstate() & ios::goodbit)
9.5
  // OK to continue
9.5
clear() is rather confusingly named Ö it actually sets the error state
to its argument. It is called clear because the default with no argument
is to set the state to good (clear all errors).
9.5
Members are provided to test for specific error states in a more elegant
way (NZ means returns non-zero):
9.5
int good();  // NZ if no errors
9.5
int eof();   // NZ if eofbit set
9.5
int fail();  // NZ if failbit or
9.5
             // badbit set
9.5
int bad();   // NZ if badbit set
9.5
Input of user defined types
9.5
This is similar to adding output operators, but we should be careful to
deal with errors. To complement the output of complex weæll look at an
input operator that can deal with the brackets and comma. Note that the
second argument of an input operator must be a reference, or nothing
will appear to happen:
9.5
istream &operator>>(istream &s,
9.5
                    complex &z)
9.5
{input operations must leave
9.5
  their target variable unaltered
9.5
  so we read values into temporaries,
9.5
  and c must be initialised to
9.5
  anything other than É(æ
9.5
*/
9.5
  double re, im;
9.5
  char c=0;
9.5
  s >> c;
9.5
  if (c==É(æ)
9.5
  {re >> c;
9.5
    if (c==É,æ)
9.5
    {im >> c;
9.5
      if (c==É)æ)
9.5
      {complex(re , im);
9.5
        // In practice, this operator
9.5
        // would be a friend of
9.5
        // complex to allow it to set
9.5
        // zæs members directly for
9.5
        // efficiency
9.5
        return s;
9.5
      }
9.5
    }
9.5
  }
9.5
  if (!s.fail())
9.5
    s.clear(ios::failbit);
9.5
  return s;
9.5
}
9.5
Formatting
9.5
The states of a stream handled by ios do not only concern errors, the
other main set of states is concerned with formatting. Just as
characters in the format string of a printf or scanf call can be used to
change attributes of the output (or expected input), such as base and
number of decimal places, flags in ios are used for streams.
Unfortunately, there is insufficient space to cover the flags here;
where possible, it is better to use manipulators (see below) anyway. The
Acorn C++ manual has a very good reference chapter for streams; if you
have Easy C++ or GCC with no other documentation, you may be lucky and
find that the header file <iostream.h> is sufficiently commented. The
enum group of flags for formatting usually begins with skipws.
9.5
The members of ios for accessing format flags are:
9.5
long flags();  // Returns value
9.5
long flags(long b);
9.5
  // Sets value of flags to b and
9.5
  // returns old value of all flags
9.5
long setf(long b);
9.5
  // Sets just the flag b and
9.5
  // returns old value of that flag
9.5
long unsetf(long b);
9.5
  // As setf(long b) but clears b
9.5
long setf(long b, long f);
9.5
  // Sets group of flags represented
9.5
  // by f to b, returns old value of
9.5
  // group
9.5
The flags fall into three main groups, so the last of the above members
is used to set a group of flags at a time. The groups are:
9.5
f=basefield Ö base of numerical values (decimal, hex or octal)
9.5
f=adjustfield Ö alignment of numerical values
9.5
f=floatfield Ö floating point notation.
9.5
Two other important flags in the same enum, but not strictly concerned
with formatting, are unitbuf and stdio. When unitbuf is set, the stream
is flushed after every operation (but not necessarily for every
character), this makes sure output appears on the screen etc straight
away. If stdio is set, the standard streams are flushed after every
operation.
9.5
Other members of ios
9.5
There are three more members of ios for controlling format by setting
and returning various values. In each case, the argument is optional;
where present, it sets the value as well as returning the old value:
9.5
int precision(int);
9.5
the number of significant digits to use for floating point types (the
default is 6).
9.5
int width(int);
9.5
the minimum number of characters used to output a value; if a value
needs more than the setting, it will overflow the width, and if it needs
less, it will be padded with the fill character.
9.5
char fill(char);
9.5
the fill character used for padding out to width (default is a space).
9.5
As well as formatting, you can control the behaviour of a stream.
9.5
ostream *tie(ostream *);
9.5
  // Argument optional,
9.5
  // zero to untie
9.5
allows a stream to be Étiedæ to an ostream, meaning that when an
operation is performed on one of the streams, the other is flushed. By
default, cin is tied to cerr to ensure that all the text written to the
screen actually appears in sequence with text read from the keyboard.
9.5
static void sync_with_stdio();
9.5
causes all the standard streams (including cin and cerr) to be attached
to their stdio counterparts and unit-buffered. This allows code using
streams to be freely mixed with code using stdio with no problems of
characters appearing or being consumed out of sequence.
9.5
Manipulators
9.5
Manipulators allow the state of a stream to be changed more conveniently
by outputting or inputting predefined objects (actually, they are
functions, but the implementation is beyond the scope of this article)
to or from a stream.
9.5
The simpler manipulators are dec, hex, oct, endlá(o), endsá(o), flush
(o), ws (i); where (o) means it applies only to ostream, and (i) means
it applies only to istream. dec, hex and oct set the base of the next
value; endl and ends set the end of a line or string with a É\næ or zero
respectively, and flush the stream; flush flushes the stream; ws strips
any further whitespace characters before the next value.
9.5
You can write:
9.5
cout << hex << 33 << endl;
9.5
to cause:
9.5
21
9.5
to be written on the screen (including a newline).
9.5
To read the same string back as a hex value into a variable number_in,
you would write:
9.5
cin >> hex >> number_in;
9.5
More complicated manipulators taking arguments, implemented by function
templates, are defined in <iomanip.h>. The predefined ones duplicate the
members of ios previously described:
9.5
setprecision(int) Ö floating point precision
9.5
setfill(int) Ö fill character
9.5
setw(int) Ö width
9.5
setiosflags(long) Ö set format flags
9.5
resetiosflags(long) Ö clear format flags
9.5
So an alternative to writing:
9.5
cout.width(10);
9.5
cout << PI;
9.5
is:
9.5
cout << setw(10) << PI;
9.5
Note that PI is not defined by default in C or C++.
9.5
Members of istream and ostream
9.5
So far, we have only looked at members of istream and ostream provided
by their base classes and the inserters and extractors. The stream
classes themselves provide a few members to make i/o easier.
9.5
iostream has some members to give more control over input:
9.5
istream &get(char &c);
9.5
extracts a single character and stores it in c.
9.5
istream &get(char *s, int n,
9.5
             char d=É\næ);
9.5
extracts up to n characters into the string s, stopping if it reaches
the delimiter character d, which is left in the stream. n is also
optional, allowing the length of the string to be ignored (considered to
be an unsafe thing to do). The string is terminated.
9.5
istream &getline(char *s, int n,
9.5
                 char d=É\næ);
9.5
As above, but the delimiter is also extracted and added to s, and there
is no version without n.
9.5
istream &read(char *s, int n);
9.5
as get(char *, int, char); but with no delimiter.
9.5
istream &ignore(int n, int d=EOF);
9.5
as get(char *, int, char); but characters are ignored.
9.5
int peek();
9.5
returns the next character (or EOF, defined as Ö1) in the stream without
extracting it.
9.5
istream &putback(char);
9.5
attempts to put back the last character read from the stream and change
the internal pointer, so it is as if the character was never read. Do
not attempt to use it for any other purpose.
9.5
Such fine control is not needed for output, so the only members of
ostream complementing the above members of istream are:
9.5
ostream &put(char c);
9.5
puts a single character, provided only for symmetry.
9.5
ostream &write(char *s, int n);
9.5
writes n characters from s which can contain zeros.
9.5
Both istream and ostream provide members for reading and writing the
position of the internal pointer. This is most meaningful when applied
to file streams and is analogous to the fseek() and ftell() functions in
<stdio.h>, but it can also be applied to other streams, strings in
particular.
9.5
For ostream, the members are (with the p suffix standing for put):
9.5
ostream &seekp(streampos);
9.5
sets the position to the streampos argument; streampos is an integral
type (Acorn C++ defines it as typedef long).
9.5
ostream &seekp(streamoff, seek_dir);
9.5
sets the position relative to a position defined by the seek_dir which
is defined as a type member of ios:
9.5
enum seek_dir {beg ,          // beginning of file
9.5
  cur,          // current position
9.5
  end           // end of file
9.5
};
9.5
streampos tellp();
9.5
returns the current position.
9.5
istream contains identical members, but the p suffix is replaced by g
(for get), e.g. tellg() and ostream & results are replaced by istream &.
The reason for distinguishing between input and output with p and g is
because there is a class iostream derived from istream and ostream.
9.5
Stream buffers
9.5
The actual buffer to which a stream is attached depends on what sort of
stream it is (e.g. file, string). Buffers are derived from the class
streambuf. A streambuf must be attached to a stream when it is
initialised by passing a streambuf * to its constructor. All the
practical streams derived from the basic stream classes (such as those
used by cin and cout) do this for you, and we need not concern ourselves
with implementation details of streambuf here.
9.5
cin and cout are of little use to Wimp programmers, so we shall now look
at some streams that are.
9.5
File streams
9.5
These are probably the type of stream you will use most in applications.
The classes provided for file streams in <fstream.h> are ofstream
(output), ifstream (input) and fstream (input and output). Much of the
way they deal with files is common, so each member will only be
described once for an imaginary class xstream where x can mean if, of or
f.
9.5
The constructors of an xstream are:
9.5
xstream();
9.5
constructs a file stream without opening a file.
9.5
xstream(const char *name,
9.5
        int mode, int prot);
9.5
constructs the stream, attaching it to a file called name, using mode.
prot is ignored by RISC OS. mode takes values from flags in
enumáopen_mode, a member of ios. Possible values are:
9.5
in Ö input; default value for ifstream.
9.5
out Ö output; default value for ofstream. Implies trunc.
9.5
ate Ö (at end) once file is opened, its pointer is set to the end.
9.5
app Ö (append) as ate, but also implies out.
9.5
trunc Ö (truncate) causes any existing data to be discarded.
9.5
nocreate Ö open will fail (setting failbit) if file doesnæt already
exist.
9.5
noreplace Ö open will fail if file does already exist (only usable in
conjunction with out).
9.5
There are other constructors, but they will not be covered here.
9.5
If you create an xstream without opening a file, it must subsequently be
opened by the member:
9.5
void open(const char *, int, int);
9.5
// Arguments as for constructor
9.5
The member:
9.5
void close();
9.5
closes any file attached to the stream. This is also done by the
destructor, so you donæt usually have to explicitly close files.
9.5
A minimal example program to copy one file to another with no error
checking would be:
9.5
#include <fstream.h>
9.5
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
9.5
{file named by first argument
9.5
   to one named by second argument */
9.5
  ifstream from(argv[1]);
9.5
    // Default open_mode is OK
9.5
  ofstream to(argv[2]);
9.5
  char ch;
9.5
  while (from.get(ch)) to.put(ch);
9.5
    // get will fail after eof
9.5
}
9.5
String streams
9.5
Streams using strings (cf printf() and sscanf()) can be found in
<strstream.h>. The classes are istrstream for input, ostrstream for
output and strstream for both. The constructors are:
9.5
istrstream(char *s);
9.5
Characters will be extracted from the string s which is assumed to be
zero-terminated; the eof condition is set when the terminator, which is
not considered part of the sequence, is reached.
9.5
istrstream(char *s, int len);
9.5
As above, but the string has a predefined length of len.
9.5
ostrstream(char *s,int len,int mode);
9.5
strstream(char *s,int len,int mode);
9.5
Characters will be inserted into the array of len bytes. The mode is as
for file streams; if ios::app or ios::ate are set, the string should be
null-terminated within len and inserting begins at that point.
9.5
ostrstream();
9.5
strstream();
9.5
The string is created by ostrstream or strstream and dynamically
reallocated as necessary.
9.5
Where the string is dynamically allocated, we need access to it once
operations are complete. ostrstream and strstream each have a member:
9.5
char *str();
9.5
which returns the string created. Once this is called, the string is no
longer attached to the stream, so the stream is no longer usable. Also,
it is the calleræs responsibility to delete[] the string when finished
with; before the call to str(), the streamæs destructor does this.
9.5
If you need to know the length of a non-terminated string written to by
an ostream, you can call:
9.5
int pcount();
9.5
to find the number of bytes written.
9.5
Stdio streams
9.5
A stdiostream, defined in <stdiostream.h> (truncated by RISCáOS to
<stdiostrea.h>), can be created for use on files controlled by
<stdio.h>, but it should only be used to allow mixing of C and C++ code.
A stdiostream is unit-buffered and has the constructor:
9.5
stdiostream(FILE *fp);
9.5
where fp is opened and closed by C code using <stdio.h>.
9.5
Exercise (advanced)
9.5
If you have adequate documentation, try finding out how to derive a
buffer from streambuf and use it to make a stream that outputs via
Wimp_ReportError at every flush. Provide manipulators (be careful when
choosing global names) for setting the error number, error flags and the
error box title. Also provide an inserter for _kernel_oserror * (and/or
os_error *, depending on the libraries you use); itácan bypass the
actual insertion process, and just use the streamæs flags and title
values, and do nothing for null errors (make the operator, or at least
an initial part that checks for zero, inline for efficiency). u
9.5
Beginnersæ Corner
9.5
John Temple
9.5
John has been unable to do a contribution in time this month due to
family illness but he wanted you to have the promised menu-tree for
Draw, so here it is.
9.5
Also, please could we have some feedback for John? It represents a lot
of work writing a column like this and so it is very helpful to know if
it is hitting the mark. It is even helpful to know if it is NOT hitting
the mark, so donæt think that John is only looking for pats on the back.
He wants to know what it is that YOU want to know! Thanks. Ed.
9.5
John Temple, The Mews, Rawlinson Road, Oxford, OX2á6UE.
<[e-mail]>
9.5
Small Ads
9.5
(Small ads for Acorn 32-bit computers (i.e. not BBCs) and related
products are free for subscribers but we reserve the right to publish
all, part or none of the material you send, as we think fit. i.e. some
people donæt know what Ésmallæ means and there are certain things, as
you can imagine, that we would not be prepared to advertise as a matter
of principle. Sending small ads (especially long ones) on disc is
helpful but not essential.)
9.5
A3000 OS3 2Mb ú195, Risc Dev. 60Mb HD ú90, Monitor ú90, Colour printer
ú70, all for ú395 with s/w (including Impression). User Analog port
A3000/A4000 ú30, PRM OS2 ú25, Pendown ú25, PCEmulator 1.82 ú25, StrongEd
ú9, Leeds 0113-275-5276.
9.5
A310, 4Mb RAM, ARM3, RISC OS 3.1, SVGA video enhancer (800╫600), almost
new mouse, Acorn four-slot backplane ú195 ovno, same with Oak SCSI
interface and 45Mb HD ú265 ovno, same with Oak HD and Taxan 787 SVGA
monitor, 2╝ yrs old, ú375 ovno. Will deliver and setup within 100 mile
radius for petrol cost. Pineapple PAL encoder ú25, Beebug 5╝ö disc
interface (not RiscPC) ú10. Phone Stuart Bell on 01403-253915.
9.5
A440, ARM3, 20Mb, RISC OS 3.1, Beebug VME and 5╝ö floppy disc interface,
Taxan 770+LR 15ò monitor, Panasonic KX-P1124 printer, Fireworkz, Twin,
miscellaneous software, ú350. Phone [phone] eves.
9.5
A440/1, ARM3, 4Mb RAM, RISCOS 3.1, VIDC, Eizo 9060S, 47Mb HardDisc,
PCáEmulator 1.83, PipeDream 4, CC Compression, Games,  ú550 o.n.o. Phone
Gordon on 01257-424113.
9.5
A3000, 4Mb RAM, ARM3, RISC OS 3.1, Eizo 9060S 14ö colour monitor, Lindis
SCSI card, 240Mb HD, Pres monitor plinth, external CD-ROM drive, Midi
interface and sound sampler, VIDC enhancer, double podule expansion, PC
Emulator, lots of software ú750 ono. Phone [phone].
9.5
A5000, 4Mb RAM, 60Mb HD, Taxan 770+ monitor, Learning Curve and other
software, manuals etc. ú550, Morley 16-bit SCSI card with latest ROM
ú75, Cumana external single-speed SCSI CD-ROM drive with cable and 3 CDs
ú70. Phone [phone].
9.5
A5000, 4Mb RAM, 120Mb HD, RISC OS 3.1, AKF18 monitor ú600, Aleph One
25MHz 486PC podule with 4Mb RAM ú250, Beebug disc buffer and DFS Reader
ú15. Phone [phone].
9.5
AKF60 14ö monitor, ú225. ScanLight Video 256 v2.06, RiscPC compatible
ú140, both in excellent condition. Phone G. Rhodes on 01302-338312 after
6.
9.5
Canon LBP4 Laser Direct HiRes printer with CC podule and current
software in good working order ú430 +carriage or collect/deliver
reasonable radius of Bristol. Phone [phone].
9.5
Cumana SCSI 2 32-bit interface ú155, Pace Microlin fx32+ external fax/
data modem 14,400bps boxed with warranty, manuals and cables ú140,
Clares Video Titler unused ú80, Eidoscope video editing for the RiscPC
unused ú100, Encarta 95 CD ú20, Dangerous Creatures CD ú15, MS-Golf CD
ú15. Phone Barry on 01332-701969.
9.5
Cycloids, vgc ú10, A3000 user port ú10, Archive magazine volumes 4-7
worth over ú50 (At least! Ed.), vgc ú20. Phone Benjamin on 01449-673443.
9.5
Junior Pinpoint version 2, boxed and unused ú15. Phone D. Marshall on
0161-941-1683.
9.5
ProArtisan 2 CD with ProArt24 upgrade voucher and a PhotoCD ú35,
Revelation 2 CD with CDFS 2.21Y upgrade ú35, Eureka 3.01 ú50, PinPoint
2.01d ú40, Revelation imagePro ú40, offers welcome. Phone David on
01752-840027 after 5.
9.5
ProLink fax/data modem, 9600 fax, 2400bps data with V42, V42bis and MNP5
ú45, Rhapsody 3 ú49, Rhythm Bed ú24, Serenade ú49, Chocks Away and Extra
Missions ú18, Snippet ú15. Phone Devon on 01626-853774.
9.5
RiscPC 600, 13Mb, ARM710, PC486 card, SCSI 2 interface, 240Mb IDE HD,
540Mb SCSI HD, six-speed SCSI CD-ROM drive with CD Fast, 16-bit sound
card with 25W speakers, Scanlight 256, Canon BJ10ex, computer desk if
required, lots of software inc. Windows 3.1, Style etc. and manuals,
reference books and discs. Cost over ú3,000, sell for ú1,500. Can
deliver within 30 miles of Wellingborough. Phone Eric Critchley on
01933-678093.
9.5
SyQuest 105Mb removable hard drive, internal IDE with RiscPC mounting
and one cartridge, hardly used ú150. HP 500C colour printer ú170. Phone
John Savage on 01525-237625.
9.5
Internet Column
9.5
Dave Pantling
9.5
This month, I shall be looking at Termite Internet from DoggySoft and
Argonetæs Voyager software. Iáwas hoping to review ANTæs Internet Suite,
but it didnæt arrive in time for me to get truly familiar with it, so I
will cover it in detail next month. Before proceeding with the review, I
need to point out that Iáam an Argonet customer and use Voyager daily.
Iáused Termite on a test account provided by a local company for a
period of a month before writing their review.
9.5
Argonetæs Voyager
9.5
This package is distinctly separate from Termite and ANTæs Internet
Suite because it can only be used with Argonetæs Internet service. As
they are the Service Provider, they know what your email address,
password and local number will be, so they can configure the software
before despatch. If you buy this software, youæll also be buying
Argonetæs access.
9.5
Voyager places itself on the iconbar as an old-style telephone. The
little phone is green when offline, red when accessing the Internet and
a murky yellow when in Autofetch mode! On clicking, a control panel
opens, showing six icons: log on/off, access the WWW, mail, Usenet news,
Telnet and FTP. Below this are a status line and call timer, plus four
indicators (in the style of LEDæs) showing the progress of fetching and
sending news and mail.
9.5
All configuration options are accessed via a menu from the iconbar. The
software is set up with sensible defaults, but you might want to disable
WWW or Telnet access, or password protect the configuration if you wish
to prevent your children running up the phone bill while youære out
shopping!
9.5
A few days into using the program, Argonet emailed instructions to öftp
an upgradeò. Ftp (file transfer protocol) is a simple way to download
files from the Internet. Using it, I copied a small program from
Argonetæs ftp site to my hard disc Ö itæs as simple as finding the file
and dragging it into a directory, then running it. Iæve received two ftp
upgrades since then.
9.5
Voyageræs features all worked well, though the program does have a few
rough edges. It regularly complained of files being left open, sometimes
resulting in a lock up, though this has improved a little since the last
upgrade.
9.5
Voyager is being continuously updated, with new features being added if
enough users request them, so we can look forward to bugs being ironed
out, too. Recently added features include a facility to automatically
log on at a predetermined time and collect news and mail. You can set
marks on a chart allowing the software to Éautofetchæ at times on a half
hourly grid, with difference patterns for each day. (However, the
release note said this feature was not to be used unattended!)
9.5
The Étemporaryæ manual is a little disappointing, not covering many of
the essential features, but these are usually easy enough to work out
once you have a little experience. The full manual will be sent to all
existing users when it is ready.
9.5
The mail and news sections are functional, though laboriously slow. The
software automatically adds your Ésignatureæ at the end of each item you
post, even providing the correct separator; something many PC packages
donæt manage to do.
9.5
I would like to see the offline mail and news facilities optimised for
speed, but I have been assured that this is in the pipeline. The web
browser is also quite slow at displaying graphics but you can select the
Édelay image loading optionæ if this becomes intolerable. This package
is reasonably complete and offers most of the facilities you will need.
See http://www.argonet.co.uk/ to find out more. (Err, Dave, isnæt there
an element of Catch 22 here?! Ed.)
9.5
DoggySoftæs Termite
9.5
Termite is more flexible than Voyager, allowing you to connect to
virtually any Service Provider. If youære issued with your own Internet
Protocol (IP) address, which is a number uniquely identifying your
machine on the Internet, this package allows you to have as many email
addresses as you like. You choose a node name, and all email bearing
that name will be forwarded to your machine, where Termite will sort the
mail for the various addresses.
9.5
Configuration is simple, using the !TermiteIP application supplied. Mail
is best dealt with offline (no call charges) and !Offlite does the job
sufficiently well. You will need to use your own text editor, Iæm
afraid, but everyone has Edit, and !Offlite will use that in the absence
of anything better. When you have finished writing your email, it will
even provide a critique, offering suggestions that protect you from
breaking netiquette, like not using continuous CAPITALS as people will
think youære SHOUTING!
9.5
There are three levels of menus Ö expert, standard and beginner. The
control panel, for example, can show just the icons, icons with titles
or icons, titles and descriptions...
9.5
Alongside the WWW, Telnet and FTP provisions that youæd expect from an
ÉInternetÉ package, thereæs also support for VT100 and ANSI terminal
emulations, giving access to bulletin boards. If you use Termite, you
can combine all your communications needs into one package. The terminal
emulation is fast and very effective, and thereæs a useful ÉIEMSIæ
facility, allowing you to log on automatically, saving time entering
your name and password. The call costing facilities are extensive, with
a continuous cost and time report attached to the bottom of the terminal
window. File transfer is supported in both directions with many
standards supported upto, and including, Z-modem.
9.5
The manual is 328 pages in length. The ring binding is handy as youæll
be spending a lot of time in the manual Ö a reflection on the Internet,
not these programs!
9.5
Everything is provided that you would expect and there are no glaring
omissions. It crashed twice in the reviewing process, and I had a few
reliability problems with !Offlite, but these were minor grumbles, and
other mail readers are available.
9.5
This package is ideally suited to situations where a family or business
will be sharing an account for email, and is particularly flexible in
this respect. Aside from a few minor glitches, it came across as a well
thought out and well prepared package. DoggySoftæs web site, http://
www.doggysoft.co.uk/ has more information.
9.5
Acorn Web Sites
9.5
Here are the URLs of some interesting Acorn-oriented web sites:
9.5
http://www.acorn.co.uk/ Ö Acornæs home page
9.5
http://www.cybervillage.co.uk/acorn/ Ö a developing site Ö keep
watching!
9.5
http://www.idg.co.uk/acornuser/ Ö lots of references to other Acorn
sites
9.5
If you are an Acorn dealer or organisation and you have a web site,
please email the URL to me as Iæm producing a web site guide for next
monthæs issue and can list your site...
9.5
Time travel troubles!
9.5
Iæm going to tell you about a mistake I made, which cost me a few pounds
in wasted phone calls. When logging on one day, I waited two hours while
the software downloaded thousands of news items. Normally Iæd get 50 or
100 items, but thousands? Iácame to realise that Iæd done a delete-power
on reset before I logged on, which had reset the clock to 1991... The
news fetcher was fetching all the news backdated as far as records went,
which was fortunately only a month or so! Resetting the clock didnæt
improve things much Ö the software was now convinced that Iæd last
logged on in 1991, and again tried to fetch all the news. I took the
easy way out Ö Iáput the clock right, deleted the software and
re¡installed it! So be warned!
9.5
Internet Survival guide...
9.5
Beebugæs latest offering, The Internet Survival Guide, is unique amongst
internet books because it is exclusively Acorn-based. It begins by
asking what it is you actually want from the Internet, then explains how
you might best get started. You are introduced to the concepts of email,
Usenet, FTP, Telnet and the worldwide web in a readable, friendly style.
There are lots of Acorn screenshots so you can see exactly what the
author, Ian MacDougall, means.
9.5
The second half of the book is devoted to setting up and using all the
major commercial and public domain packages. The Internet Starter Pack,
Freenet, Termite, ANTæs Internet Suite, Voyager and Intertalk, (Acornæs
Internet package), are described in detail, with more screen shots.
Finally, a list of Service Providers with prices, local numbers (PoPs),
contact details and an ÉAcorn Friendlinessæ rating makes this book
indispensable for anyone who hasnæt yet taken the plunge. Buying this
book will probably save you more money than it costs.
9.5
Beebug are generously offering a ú21.15 discount off a six month
subscription to Zynet, so the first savings come with the book!
9.5
The Internet Survival Guide from Beebug (ISBN 1¡85142-091-6) costs ú6.95
+ ú1.70 p&p or ú8áthrough Archive.
9.5
Archive web site?
9.5
Archive, in embracing the Internet, is considering setting up and
running a web site. We have some ideas about what would be on the site
but, as Archive is an Enthusiastæs magazine, weæd like to ask what you
would like to see. We obviously canæt put the complete contents of
Archive on-line, or subscriptions would collapse, but there are lots of
other things we could do; a small ads page, a Q & A page and features on
new products. If you have any other ideas...
9.5
Get in touch!
9.5
You can email me, [e-mail], or write to 31 Cornwall Grove,
Bletchley, Milton Keynes, MK3á7HX. Please send discs in a padded bag and
enclose a stamp if you write Ö I cannot promise to return discs if you
havenæt included an address, or if the disc is crushed! If you have any
questions, please share them with me. If I can find the answer, you have
been helped and I can also put the Q & A in this column, saving others
the trouble you have had.áuá
9.5
Hewlett Packard LJ5L
9.5
Keith Parker
9.5
I have just taken delivery of the new Hewlett Packard LJ5L (for personal
printing requirements). This is a new printer from the worldæs best
known printer manufacturer and I thought it might be useful for Acorn
users to see what this printer has to offer, how it performs and whether
it is good value for money.
9.5
Style and size
9.5
The first thing you notice is that it is not the usual boxy unit. It
takes up substantially less desk space (measuring only 320mm ╫ 250mm)
than my old LJ3 compatible. It looks more like an inkjet or dot matrix
printer than a laser printer, and the colour tones in nicely with my
RiscPC. Finally, it weighs much less than any laser printer Iæve ever
experienced.
9.5
Features
9.5
600 ╫ 600 dpi Ö superb quality.
9.5
PCL5e (the latest version of HPæs printer control language).
9.5
Memory enhancement technology Ö although supplied with only 1Mb of RAM
(expandable to 9Mb) this allows large files to be printed using
compression systems.
9.5
Prints on paper, card, acetates, envelopes.
9.5
26 scalable fonts built-in.
9.5
100 sheet paper feeder.
9.5
Sleep-mode Ö the printer Éswitches offæ if no printing is done for
fifteen minutes. It automatically switches back on when it senses data
arriving.
9.5
Individual feeder tray.
9.5
4 pages per minute.
9.5
DOS, Windows3 and 95 drivers.
9.5
Economy mode Ö Windows only
9.5
Bi-Tronic centronics-type port (bi-directional parallel port on Acorn
needed, i.e. A5000 or later).
9.5
Setting up
9.5
The printer arrives superbly packed with a comprehensive manual, four
DOS/Windows discs and power cable. Unpacking takes about 2 minutes. The
first thing to do is to look closely at the paper in¡feeds and paper
out-feeds. They are both on the top but once identified (by use of the
manual), simply put in up to 100 sheets of paper. Secondly, open the
front Ö no catches Ö simply pull forward and install the toner
cartridge. Thirdly, connect the standard parallel (centronics) printer
lead to the printer and your Acorn. Finally, plug in the power cable.
9.5
For the Acorn drivers, I am using the latest version of !Printers
(v1.52) which I downloaded from Acorns ftp site (also available from NCS
as Utilities Disc N║7 at ú2). This includes a driver called LasJet-5
which allows me to select 150dpi, 300dpi or 600dpi. (I am not sure if
the earlier LasJet-4 supplied with v1.28c works, but I see no reason why
it shouldnæt.) The 300dpi option is the equivalent of Windows economy
mode. (The Windows setup allows it to be set more easily but 150dpi is
not available to Windows users.)
9.5
In use
9.5
HP claim that the first page should come out in 20 seconds, but as
Impression Publisher is slow in non¡turbo mode, I couldnæt test that
out, but from a non-Publisher document, it was indeed 20 seconds. There
is no fan, so the printer is silent. The quality is brilliant Ö I have
sent Paul copies of some printouts (mixed text and graphics) at both
300dpi and 600dpi and the difference is quite marked. You can read 6pt
Trinity at 300dpi, but at 600dpi it is very clear.
9.5
Conclusion
9.5
Can I thoroughly recommend this printer? Unreservedly YES! It is
brilliant. The small footprint, the quiet operation and the lack of
buttons means that it is suitable for all environments Ö home, office
and, yes, even school. The quality of the printout means that it is
suitable for producing camera-ready artwork. Finally, the best news of
all, the price: the lowest price Iæve seen from an Acorn stocking
establishment (Watford Electronics) is ú347 + VAT + ú8 carriage (=ú417).
Toner cartridges are about ú57 + VAT + ú6 carriage (=ú74).áuá
9.5
Programming Workshop
9.5
Colin Singleton
9.5
A few follow-up items this month.
9.5
Wimp programming Ö Help!
9.5
Andrew Campbell asked if it is possible to speed up the redrawing of
icons in his program on Archive Disc 9.3. Alisdair McDiarmid suggests
the sluggishness may result from the use of filled display icons within
a filled frame. He recommends using only one layer of filled icon (if
any at all), which he says also looks better against the textured
background on a RiscPC, and he reports an improvement in the speed of
Andrewæs program. Thanks Alisdair!
9.5
League table
9.5
This was introduced a few issues back to illustrate a programming
technique, with added interest for Puzzle Corner addicts. Here is the
up-to-date leader-board, which shows how quickly a newcomer can get
close to the top, and how the twelve-month average can differ
substantially from the exponentially smoothed. The calculations were
explained in issues 9.2 and 9.3, but I have now shown the last three
monthsæ scores individually, rather than just one month. There are now
40 names on the full list.
9.5
File searching Ö and square roots!
9.5
It was pure coincidence last month (honest!) that my column and Geraldæs
used essentially the same Binary Chop technique for two very different
purposes. This, perhaps, shows the value of the technique. What Gerald
did not explain Ö unless I have missed something Ö was how you stop the
process! Using a spreadsheet on the screen, you can, no doubt, try the
progressive approximation a line at a time until it looks good.
9.5
We can use Geraldæs technique to find the root of an equation using a
program in Basic (for example), but to make it stop automatically, we
need to be more precise Ö what do we mean by Élooks goodæ? We might be
tempted to make it continue with low and high coming ever closer until
they have the same value. Donæt do it! It might work but, depending how
the machine rounds the calculations, it may stick on an unchanging pair
of very similar, but unequal, values. The program will then loop. You
should write your program to continue until the difference between low
and high is less than some arbitrary small value, say 10ù8, or until the
values of low and high are the same as they were on the previous cycle.
The latter will give the most accurate approximation possible within the
limits of the machine.
9.5
Geraldæs example used the Binary Chop to approximate to the square root
of two, i.e. to solve the equation x▓ù2=0. The technique can be used for
any such Éincreasing functionæ, ie one which (like x▓ù2) always
increases as x increases. If the function goes Éup and downæ as x
increases, the equation may have more than one solution, or perhaps
none! The result of using this technique is then somewhat unpredictable.
9.5
Baked bean cans.
9.5
I imagine Gerald will return to this problem, so I will keep this
comment short. For a program to Éhome inæ on the answer to this type of
problem, it is necessary to reduce, and sometimes reverse, the increment
at each stage, and this needs careful program design to avoid the
pitfalls. The solution to Geraldæs problem for the conventional (double-
ended) can is interesting Ö I wish I had thought of it for Puzzle
Corner! A quick look at the shelves of any supermarket suggests there
are commercial factors other than minimising the quantity of metal.
9.5
Please send any further comments or suggestions to me at 41 St Quentin
Drive, Sheffield, S17 4PN.áuá
9.5
Seashore Life & Vikings CDs
9.5
Dave Wilcox
9.5
I was going to review these as separate items but, on looking at them,
they are so similar in layout that it seemed pointless. These two discs
are amongst the latest offerings from the Anglia Multimedia stable, and
they are designed to run on Acorn, Multimedia PC and Apple Macintosh
machines. Seashore Life is aimed at the age group 6-12 years and
Vikings, 7-11 years Ö both are subjects covered by National Curriculum
Keystage Two.
9.5
The package
9.5
The discs come in the normal crystal pack with a little booklet
explaining the running procedure for the various machines. Forgetting
the other machines, you will require an Archimedes ÉAæ series or RiscPC
to run the discs, and it must have RISC OS 3.1 or later, 4Mb of RAM, at
least a single speed 150kbps CD¡ROM drive and a monitor which supports
640╫480 pixels.
9.5
The software
9.5
There are really only two directories which will concern the average
user, ÉAcornæ and ÉActShtsæ. Taking the simplest first, ActShts contains
activity sheets for students to use in conjunction with the disc and for
further study. There are six of these in draw format on the Vikings disc
and sixteen on the Seashore disc. All are well laid out and are very
eye-catching.
9.5
ÉAcornæ is the business end of the disc. Opening this, you will find a
cut-down version of !CDFast, !Setup, !SysAuthor and !Vikings or
!Seashore. !CDFast is a utility by Eesox to speed up CD access, !Setup
contains the likes of !System, !ARMovie, !ARPlayer etc.... !SysAuthor is
the engine for Angliaæs Multimedia display system and !Vikings or
!Seashore are the data files. Before starting, you should select a
640╫480 screen mode in order to use the full screen for display. This
done, click on !CDFast, followed by the appropriate !Application file
and youære off.
9.5
I have to say that, as with most of Angliaæs Multimedia software, the
presentation is excellent, and the content precise. For the Viking disc,
the help of the world-renowned Jorvik Centre in York was sought, and for
the Seashore Life disc clips were obtained from the Survival TV series.
Full use is made of the machineæs capability to display and use
drawings, high resolution pictures, video files, animated files, real
life sound clips and voice samples, and most pages have the option to
play the text content as digitised speech.
9.5
The layout of each screen is ideal for children. With these discs, they
can be as inquisitive as they like, the more so the better, and each
screen has lots of items to click on for further details. Some of these
are not as obvious as others, so those who like to explore will soon
find more information, fuelling the interest of other members of a class
or family. This worked extremely well in my test group, and with a lot
of the information being graphically presented, a lot more detail
appears to have been retained by the group. If ongoing report work is
required, the text and graphics can be saved from the application for
use by the student in other applications.
9.5
Conclusion
9.5
I am always impressed by Angliaæs presentation Ö graphically, it is
excellent, and the layout is eye-catching and clean. However, because my
review of Angliaæs Weather disc found some areas slightly lacking, it
was with some scepticism that I started to review these discs; all fears
were soon laid to rest Ö these products are truly excellent and I would
highly recommend them for school or home use. Well done Anglia Ö two
more very good products!
9.5
Should you require either of these discs for your collection, they will
cost you ú39 +VAT each from Anglia or ú45 each through Archive.áuá
9.5
Puzzle Corner
9.5
Colin Singleton
9.5
After a couple of months with very few entries, interest seems to be
picking up again. I hope I can learn something from this!
9.5
The latest winners ...
9.5
(42) !Draw a Rectangle
9.5
I received several correct entries to this ingenious puzzle. The prize
goes to Terry Bennett of Weymouth, Dorset.
9.5
(43Ö45) Cubes Ö Plus or Minus Ö Triple Duel
9.5
Several partially-correct entries, but only two all-correct. Pleasingly,
several readers did realise that the worst shot should fire into the air
to improve his chance of survival! Mike Williams of Stoke Newington wins
the prize.
9.5
... last monthæs answers ...
9.5
(46) Prime Square
9.5
The primes must, of course, total a multiple of four. The simplest
solution uses the first 11 primes, and the partitioning (2, 7, 31) (17,
23) (11, 29) (3, 5, 13, 19) is unique. There are seven solutions using
the first 15 primes.
9.5
There are many 3╫3 magic squares using prime numbers, the smallest
possible total being 177. No solution is known using consecutive primes,
but this puzzle has not been proved impossible. Martin Gardner has
offered $100 for a solution.
9.5
It is possible to construct a 4╫4 magic square using consecutive prime
numbers, the smallest possible total being 258. The prime number 2
cannot be included in such a square. The simplest magic square using the
first N▓ odd primes is of order 35, which Iáthink is beyond the realms
of ÉMathematical Recreationsæ! If you consider the number 1 to be prime,
as mathematicians did until some time this century, W W Rouse Ball
assures us that we can build a 12╫12 magic square using the first 144
odd primes, 1, 3, 5, 7, 11 ... 827, but he doesnæt tell us what it looks
like Ö any offers?
9.5
(47) First
9.5
G H Hardy visited Srinivasa Ramanujan who was lying ill in Putney, and
commented on the uninteresting number of his taxi Ö 1729. ÉNo,æ replied
Ramanujan, Éit is a very interesting number Ö it is the smallest number
expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways.æ 1729 =
1│+12│ = 9│+10│. It was, I think, J E Littlewood who proved that there
are no uninteresting numbers.
9.5
(48) Second
9.5
They are the second letters of the months of the year. The next, and
last, three are therefore C, O, E.
9.5
(49) Third
9.5
I didnæt tell you how many solutions there are. Maximum Brownie points
will go to those who find all six. 16794╫3=50382, 17694╫3=53082,
20583╫3=61749, 23058╫3=69174, 30582╫3=91746 and 32058╫3=96174. Note that
the first two solutions are Éanagramsæ of each other, as are the other
four.
9.5
... this monthæs prize puzzle ...
9.5
(50) Infinite Roots
9.5
Ramanujan again. Can you, by hook or by crook, find the value of this
expression, where the square root signs and the increasing numbers
continue to infinity?
9.5
... and this monthæs prize quickies ...
9.5
(51) Interesting!
9.5
Can you prove that there are no uninteresting numbers? (See above.)
9.5
(52) The Vicaræs age
9.5
(My thanks to George Foot for this one Ö there are many others like it,
but I will quote Georgeæs version.)
9.5
The verger, who knew all about the villagers, fancied himself as a
mathematician. One Sunday, after Evensong, he took the vicar to one side
and said öVicar, did you notice an interesting fact concerning this
eveningæs congregation? There were only three present Ö five including
you and me. The product of the ages of the other three was 2450, and the
sum of their ages was twice my age, which you know.ò
9.5
öGood heavens,ò said the vicar, no mean mathematician himself, öbut you
havenæt given me enough information to work out their ages.ò
9.5
öOh, no. So I havenæt. I should tell you, Vicar, that you are older than
any of us!ò
9.5
The vicar then deduced the ages of the trio. Can you?
9.5
(53) More Pandigitals
9.5
Last month, I set the puzzle Ö X is one third of Y. The numbers X and Y
between them contain all ten digits, once each. Find X and Y. Can you
now find a single-digit ratio, instead of three, which gives a unique
solution?
9.5
And finally ...
9.5
Name-dropping again... This month, I have managed to include four
Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, where I was a humble student.
Since they are all dead, their potential contributions to this column
are clearly limited. I look to you for inspiration for future puzzles,
and offer my thanks to those who have already responded. Please send
comments, contributions and solutions to me at 41áStáQuentin Drive,
Sheffield, S17 4PN. Solutions by Friday 9th February, please.áuá
9.5
Castles CD-ROM
9.5
Peter Jennings
9.5
Castles are among the most evocative survivals of a countryæs past. With
them, we can enter the medieval world of banquets and battles, knights
at round tables or fair maidens in towers, depending on which Hollywood
films most influenced our childhood imagination. The Castles CD-ROM
(version 2.0) from Anglia Multimedia enables us to explore this world in
more authentic surroundings and to learn something of the lives of the
people who built, lived in and fought to take or defend these
strongholds. The CD costs ú40 +VAT (or ú45 from Archive) and can be used
on Acorn machines with RISC OS 3.1 or above, running either full screen
or in a desktop window, and also on PCs or Apple computers.
9.5
The program, which deals with castles in the British Isles, is
attractively presented with short pages of text, illustrated with
photographs, drawings, animations and videos. Words which may be
unfamiliar are highlighted in red and clicking on them leads to the
appropriate page in a dictionary. Most of the videos have sound and
often music, and a brief commentary by a named historian. The
commentaries are interesting and well delivered but sometimes begin or
end abruptly, suggesting that they are extracts from longer lectures.
There is a toolbox which provides a word search window and a notepad
which can be saved at the end of the session. The notepad is not very
satisfactory. The notes can be saved only when the program has been
closed and only by dragging the text file icon into a directory.
Attempting to load it into another program, such as Edit, or onto a word
processor or DTP page, loses the text completely.
9.5
Subjects
9.5
The program offers five subjects from its main menu screen: About
Castles, Building a Castle, Living in a Castle, Castle Guides and Castle
Data. Each is chosen by clicking on an icon and three of these lead to
other screens offering sub-menus.
9.5
About Castles is a guide to the various types of castles, their features
and the techniques of attacking and defending them. Building a Castle
has topics on the work of the various craftsmen involved, their tools
and materials and the building techniques used. Living in a Castle looks
at the conditions enjoyed or endured by those who lived and worked in
Orford Castle, in Suffolk, in the Middle Ages. It begins with a cut-out
plan and a list of locations, from roof to basement, which can be
explored.
9.5
For me, the most fascinating part of the CD is Castle Guides. This takes
the user back to Chirk Castle, in the troubled March of Wales, just
before Christmas in 1322 when frantic preparations were under way for a
visit by the castleæs newly-appointed lord, Edmund Fitzalan, Earl of
Arundel. Apart from a modern historian who sets the scene, the guides
are some of the ordinary people who lived there at the time, from the
Constable of the castle to a newly-arrived serving girl, who tell of the
extra work and worry that the visit involved. Their stories have been
constructed from the actual account rolls of the year, detailing the
expenses incurred and the stores that were used during the Earlæs brief
stay.
9.5
Resources
9.5
The final section, Castle Data, contains information and pictures of 159
castles in the British Isles, the dictionary of terms relating to
castles, graphics (of varying quality) which can be exported for use by
students, plus teachersæ resources which include worksheets, ideas for
classroom work developing the castles theme and a database of other
resources and useful addresses. Users of Key Plus (not provided on the
CD) can access the Castles database, making use of some additional
facilities.
9.5
This is an interesting subject, well presented, and the CD-ROM can be
recommended for educational use or just sheer enjoyment.áuá
9.5
Two CD-ROMs from Anglia
9.5
John Woodthorpe
9.5
Understanding Energy and Industrial Revolution are CD-ROMs published by
Anglia Multimedia, with the former incorporating help and photographs
from the National Energy Foundation.
9.5
This review was done on a RiscPC600 with 10Mb RAM and a quad-speed CD
drive, although both CDs require a minimum of RISC OS 3.1, single speed
CD drive, 4Mb RAM and a monitor capable of supporting mode 28 (640 ╫ 480
pixels and 256 colours). The instructions donæt mention the age range
the authors had in mind when producing them, but magazine advertisements
suggest 11-14 years old is the intended audience. As a Chartered
Engineer researching and teaching in technology and materials science, I
was very much interested in the cover notes which claim that the
Understanding Energy CD:
9.5
* Contains material intended to develop an understanding of energy
transfers and the units used for energy and power.
9.5
* Provides information about, and examples of, our main energy
resources, including renewable and non-renewable options.
9.5
* Considers patterns of energy usage and strategies for reducing the
demand for energy.
9.5
* Indicates some of the environmental considerations and possible future
sources for our energy supplies.
9.5
Having worked through the bulk of the CD (you canæt always be certain
that youæve seen everything in something as large and detailed as this
is!), I would agree with all of those statements, and add that it does
it all very well.
9.5
Starting up
9.5
The CDs come with a twelve page insert in the jewel case which provides
basic instructions for starting up, after which the on-screen
instructions take over. Interestingly, the CDs contain versions of the
software for Acorn, PC (Windows only), and Mac machines (a trend that it
seems Dorling Kindersley are starting to copy), and I tried both of the
first two setups (the second via the Acorn 486 card). The main
difference is that the PC version needs to copy some files over onto
your hard drive before it will work, whilst the Acorn application runs
directly from the CD. It includes its own setup and cache programs which
you are recommended to run before launching the main application.
Inevitably, this multi-format approach means that some of the 300Mb
(460Mb for Industrial Revolution) used on the CD is given over to
duplication of data in different formats, but it still works out at some
180Mb (230Mb) of accessible data for Acorn users, including 50Mb (88Mb)
of video clips.
9.5
The comment in the documentation recommending mode 28 be used is to be
taken seriously for Industrial Revolution, as the screen redraws are
very odd in other modes. It fills the screen properly in larger modes
when the PC version is run, so the peculiar behaviour of the Acorn one
is a little irritating, especially when Understanding Energy behaves so
much better. Both can run in the desktop to allow screens to be saved
for printing out or including in project work. The instructions (both
written and on¡screen) are better in Understanding Energy, which has
more guidance for those new to multimedia.
9.5
In addition, the user interface on Understanding Energy is clearer and
more intuitive. For instance, in Industrial Revolution, itæs not always
easy to spot which parts of the screen lead on to others: sometimes itæs
red text, a labelled box, or just some of the pictures. Understanding
Energy does all of this much better and more clearly with its standard
yellow text or frames. There is a variety of tools to do things such as
go on to the next page or go to a more detailed explanation, but these
tend to be different as well. Iæd have thought it would be better if
Anglia settled on one approach and stuck to it for all their CDs,
especially for school use, where busy teachers may not want to have to
cope with variations. Itæs a minor quibble, but I did find it annoying
from time to time.
9.5
Many of the diversionary links signalled on the screen work extremely
well, expanding on the particular topic and then returning you to the
main discussion. Other tools are provided to help in the exploration and
learning: an on-screen calculator, notepad, and stopwatch, although
there is no real guidance as to how and why they should be used. Also,
there is a problem with the video clips in both CDs that causes them to
trip out with a ömask or palette operations not supported in this
display depthò error in 32,000 colour modes (but you are told that mode
28 is preferred).
9.5
Understanding Energy
9.5
The main screen presents you with several options entitled What is
energy?, How do we get our energy supplies? Who uses what?, Future
energy decisions, and Resources. Iæll look at each one briefly:
9.5
What is energy?
9.5
This subdivides into sections on units, energy and humans, conversion,
forms of energy, and power. Thereæs information on food and energy,
metering and billing, and some calculations. Itæs here that Iácome to my
main criticism, in that the CD doesnæt quite seem to know whether it is
a general resource and reference work on energy, or a specialized
teaching package. In fact, it falls between the two, actually tending to
concentrate on the reference aspect with just a nod towards being a CAL
(Computer Assisted Learning) package. Itæs this section that could
usefully be built up into a more formal CAL package where you are taken
through a series of calculations on Joules, Watts and so on. As the
program points out, there are a lot of common misconceptions and
misunderstandings about the units used in this area, and some computer-
led exercises would help to dispel these.
9.5
The energy conversion section is rather more exciting, with replay films
including a shuttle launch and many other animations. In fact,
concentrating them here emphasises the relative lack of animation and
sound in the rest of the package. They do turn up elsewhere, but most of
them seem to deal with energy conversion in one way or another.
9.5
How do we get our energy supplies?
9.5
Topics such as Where does energy come from?, How do we extract it?, How
is energy stored? and Supplying energy where it is needed, are dealt
with. The roles of the sun and moon as being the ultimate indirect
sources of our energy are discussed, and extended to deal with topics
such as hot rocks, and the atom Ö even fireworks get a mention! Combined
Heat and Power (CHP) is discussed favourably, but no reasons are given
for why it is not widely used outside of Scandinavia Ö nor indeed is
there any recognition of that fact. Both aspects seem to me to be
important omissions in the context of energy sources in general, and CHP
in particular.
9.5
Who uses what?
9.5
This deals with such topics as reducing demand by building low energy
homes, and using insulation. There are also graphs showing demand and
population trends with time, both region by region and globally, and
these definitely fall into the category of a resource. It is easy to
save them for inclusion in a project report, and indeed they cry out for
some interpretation and comment to be made.
9.5
Future energy decisions
9.5
Having set the scene by describing the historical background, this
section turns to the future, looking at some of the options available to
us. Electric vehicles cause bursts of interest from time to time, and
are presented in terms of the US emission laws and the need they create
for alternative fuels for road vehicles.
9.5
The section on future energy sources looks at conservation, pointing out
that recycling some items can use more energy than their initial
manufacture. It also deals with fusion, microbe energy (microbe
batteries, something Iæd not heard of before), and some other new ideas.
No mention is made of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, which have been attracting
considerable research interest for the last few years, and really ought
to be included.
9.5
Energy and the environment is a large and potentially emotive subject,
and is introduced next. We need to ensure that we can provide energy for
the future, whilst taking account of the many problems such as air
quality, nuclear waste, acid rain, global warming and population growth.
There are no quick and simple answers to these questions, and there is
enough material here to fuel (sorry!) discussions on the possibilities.
9.5
Resources
9.5
This means resources for teachers and students, not for energy
conversion! It allows access to 180 photos (ranging from a fallen pylon
to a wind turbine, via Concorde) 60 diagrams (as drawfiles), and 13
worksheets to view and save directly Ö with instructions as to how to do
that for all three platforms. That gets a little confusing at times Ö
surely it knows which machine itæs running on, and the program could
give the right instructions? Anyone using this should also read the
copyright conditions Ö they make it clear that you cannot pass these
illustrations or text onto any other school or individual without
infringing copyright. They can only be used in a school project, but not
released to a wider audience (those used in this review are reproduced
by permission).
9.5
Industrial Revolution
9.5
The Industrial Revolution is a term used to describe the changes that
happened in technology, farming, transportation and living conditions
between the years 1750 and 1900. The CD tries to describe the many
events of that period and link them together to provide a comprehensive
account of this period in history. On starting up, the main screen
presents you with several options entitled People, Agriculture, Industry
and Transport.
9.5
These are four separate applications run from the main menu, and each
one divides into a lesson and a series of graphs giving facts and
figures. This has an unfortunate effect, in that the otherwise excellent
text search facility will only work for the section you are looking at.
If you want to search the whole application, you have to do it four
separate times.
9.5
Case studies (in the form of 13Mb of Key datafiles and maps) are related
to each section, covering canals, railways, market towns in Norfolk and
Staffordshire, census data for Coalbrookdale, and a doctoræs records of
the Manchester Cholera Epidemic of 1832. These are separate from the
main presentation and run within Angliaæs own Key Plus database. Minimal
documentation is included for this, but it is fairly easy to find your
way into it, and a free set of instructions can be obtained from an
address given. Finally, there are several illustrations provided as Draw
and/or Artworks files, covering some of the topics mentioned in the main
presentations, such as amputations, sewers, farms and various domestic
scenes of the period.
9.5
People
9.5
Living conditions changed dramatically between 1750 and 1900, and this
section tries to convey the changes in housing, clothing and employment
in pictures, text and spoken accounts based on the words of the people
involved (although some of the accents chosen are very unconvincing!).
Some of these are imaginary comments, but they do produce a good picture
of some of the living and working conditions of the time. Unfortunately,
the audio cannot be stopped, only interrupted once started, so it must
play to the end before you can do anything else. This is especially
annoying with those samples that play automatically, as you have to sit
and wait for them to finish each time you reach that page, and as some
of them include several seconds of silence at the end, it is sometimes
hard to know when theyæve finished. This results in some frustrated
clicking of the mouse, which freezes the program until you click again.
9.5
Agriculture
9.5
Farming methods became increasing mechanized and less labour-intensive.
Most of the video clips are located here, demonstrating the more
efficient methods, such as horse-drawn, and then steam-powered, farm
equipment that were developed. Some of these are archive film and some
modern reconstructions from various Anglia TV programmes. The systems
used before 1750 are described, along with the improvements and some of
the problems experienced.
9.5
Industry
9.5
The driving force for the social changes was the technological advances
being made by people such as Stephenson, Watt and Arkwright, and these
are described in pictures, text and some sounds. The woollen and cotton
industries, the factory system, steam power, coal mining and iron
extraction are all dealt with. Some of the eyewitness accounts here are
particularly effective in conveying the hardships undergone by workers
aged as young as eight.
9.5
Transport
9.5
All the technological developments are demonstrated by the dramatic
advances in transport, including canals, roads, railways and ships. Both
the infrastructure and vehicles are covered, along with the consequences
for trade on the general population.
9.5
Case studies
9.5
As already mentioned, these are in the form of Key Plus data files and
maps. The railways datafiles contain information about all railway
stations which have been opened between 1820 and 1990. This appears as
station name, OS reference, the latitude and longitude (for plotting
onto Key Plus maps), the county, company which built the station and any
company which took over the running of the line. The opening and closing
dates for both freight and passenger services are listed. For canals,
the datafile gives information about all canals, navigations and
navigable rivers which have been used for transport in the British Isles
since Roman times. This includes canal name and route, whether built or
not, and the classification into wide, narrow or ship canal. The chief
engineer is named and there are details of costs, where known, and a
whole range of features, such as locks and tunnels. Staple traffic, the
reason for closure and the use today are also added. The others are
equally detailed, and constitute a significant resource when combined
with the activity sheets. Taken together, these can provide the basis of
extended teaching sessions, with pupils left to work through these
sheets finding answers from the datafiles and the main presentation.
Most of these files can also be plotted onto a map of all or part of the
British Isles to inspect the geographical distribution of the data.
9.5
Conclusions
9.5
With the reservations I mentioned earlier about some deficiencies in
presentation and content, I think Understanding Energy is a commendable
attempt to deal with a complicated subject in a thoughtful and
interesting way. Itæs easy to dip into, very comprehensive, and all ages
could get something from it. For me, the key thing is that it emphasises
that there are no easy answers to the very real problems of providing
the energy we will need in the future, and leaves you to draw your own
conclusions. Used well, it could be a valuable teaching aid in schools,
but it would be a shame if it goes no further than that. If you are
interested in learning more about this topic, Iæd recommend buying
Understanding Energy for home use Ö especially if you have children of
around the right age to benefit from it.
9.5
At first I was disappointed with Industrial Revolution, but I gradually
realized that the main reason was the implementation, rather than the
content. There is even more information available there, and it is
accessible for many purposes, ranging from individual student work to
providing worksheets and illustrations for teachers to use in more
formal lessons. I find it difficult to recommend Industrial Revolution
for home use, mainly because of its high purchase price, but for schools
it could be a great asset in teaching about one of the most significant
periods in the history of the British Isles, when it was at the centre
of world events.
9.5
Understanding Energy costs ú50 +VAT (ú56 through Archive) and the
Industrial Revolution costs ú110 +VAT (ú122 through Archive). Schools
that already have licences for the Key Plus database system can purchase
this CD for ú90 +VAT direct from Anglia Multimedia.áuá
9.5
ArtWorks on CD
9.5
Alan Wilburn
9.5
At the present time there are three CD ROMs connected with ArtWorks, two
containing clip art and the other a program disc.
9.5
ArtWorks CD
9.5
The CD contains 474Mb of data which you will appreciate is a lot more
than the contents of the fourteen disc version, so what do you get?
9.5
Firstly, you get the ArtWorks (AW) application to load onto your hard
disc, as well as the normal applications, such as Fliptop, New Modes,
Convert Print and Font View and the set of fonts. The fonts are in four
sections: RISC OS 2 & 3 in compressed format with their loader and then
again in uncompressed format so that they can be loaded straight away.
RISCáOSá3 fonts are of a higher quality, and include full foreign
character sets. Many include kerning information which means that, when
used in an application supporting automatic kerning, the letters will be
spaced more correctly. The AWáapplication will be out of date as soon as
new versions appear, so it will need upgrading at regular intervals as
with the disc-based version.
9.5
Secondly, you get the complete contents of the CD 1 clipart disc as well
as the normal clipart examples. There are also pictures in both TIFF and
sprite format as per clip CD 1. There are also 60 samples of Matt Black
clipart in a rather jumbled, untidy directory that contains images from
Image Art and Vanguard Graphics.
9.5
Thirdly, you get three demos of AW, Colour Card and AudioWorks. The
AWádemo cycles through a simple presentation of some of the features of
ArtWorks, and the Colour Card demo only works (not surprisingly!) if you
have a card in your machine, so that demo is of little use. The
AudioWorks demo, however, is very interesting. You get a crippled
version that can play the many megabytes of sounds, instruments, voices
and effects supplied.
9.5
ArtWorks Clipart CDs
9.5
In 1993 and æ94, Computer Concepts ran vector graphics artwork
competitions and the best work was released on CDs. These form the main
basis for the two CDs, with other additions of vector graphics and
bitmap graphics in 24-bit sprite and TIFF format.
9.5
The graphics on each CD are not sorted into any thematic order, but are
listed in alphabetic directories. There is a utility called Portfolio
which can be used to display thumbnail pictures of TIFF, sprite and
vector files. In the window, there are buttons to step backwards and
forwards through the pictures and there is a database search facility.
If you want a given picture, there is a drag icon so it can easily be
loaded, rather going through the directory structure. The search
facility is on a keyword which can be redefined to the required target
group. For example, ötransportò gives 81 files and öcarò gives 23
pictures. Some of the keywords seem a little obscure to me, but if you
open !CCSTORE in the main directory, you can get at the CSV file that
the search facility uses and, when it is dropped into Publisher or
TableMate, you can get a hard copy or you can browse through the
formatted listing.
9.5
It is very difficult to go into details as to the actual contents
without listing everything, so I chose keywords and performed identical
searches on each CD to give an idea of contents. In some cases, the same
picture will be included in different categories and others will not be
covered by the table.
9.5
The overall standard is very good, with just a few poor files. In some
cases, you would need a colour printer to get the best results, and some
are fairly large files that may not load or print on smaller machines.
One excellent picture of a mermaid is nearly 3Mb, so you need 6Mb of
memory to load and print it. A few files are demonstrations of colour
blending using different techniques and so are of no real use to a
clipart user, but are of use to an AWáuseráas study examples.
9.5
Copyright
9.5
The files are all royalty free which means that they can be used by any
purchaser for their own use and may be reproduced in any printed
document free of charge. The files may not be used in electronic form in
any other commercial or public domain product without prior written
permission, so cannot be used in multimedia. However, in my experience,
Computer Concepts seem to be quite reasonable in granting permission, so
this may not be a severe limitation.
9.5
Conclusions
9.5
I consider the CDs to be a worthwhile investment. Some of the files will
be of immediate use and others will have their place at a later time.
You also have the opportunity to look at some excellent artwork and are
able to dissect them to learn new techniques. It means a large selection
of pictures are available, some of which would not fit on a normal disc,
so this is the only sensible way to distribute them. The CD version of
AWáis the same price as the disc version, so is definitely the best way
to buy it. If you already have AW,áyou can upgrade to the CD for ú10,
which makes it really cheap and a worthwhile buy.
9.5
ArtWorks CD is ú180 through Archive, and Clipart CD-2 is ú21. Contact
Computer Concepts if you are interested in an upgrade.áuá
9.5
Looking At Animals CD-ROM
9.5
Peter Jennings
9.5
Animal lovers interested in art can now get a new CD-ROM which combines
both subjects. Art Store Ö Looking At Animals, one of an educational
series from Anglia Multimedia, includes works of art featuring animals
from 48 British and Irish galleries and museums. The disc is aimed at
providing schools with öa practical guide which links classroom projects
to works of art which can be seen in local museumsò but it is attractive
enough to appeal to anyone who enjoys looking at pictures and likes to
know something about them. The price is ú50 +VAT, or ú55 from Archive,
and like others in the series, it runs on machines with RISC OS 3.1 or
later and 4Mb of RAM and can also be used on PCs and Apple Macintoshes.
9.5
The disc is a mixture of picture book, art appreciation tutorial and
reference work, with its main menu screen as the gateway to an Artistsæ
Index, a Picture Database, Activity Sheets for schools, a choice of
Themes to explore and a Museum Database. There is an Info button, for a
screenful of general information, and a Help button which gives
explanations of what each of the main options offers.
9.5
The principal one of these, the Themes Menu, provides a choice of
pictures and information on Domestic Animals, Trained Animals, Wild
Animals and Working Animals, each of which is further subdivided. The
Artistsæ Index contains biographies, the Picture Database allows all the
paintings to be viewed full screen, the Museum Database gives details of
where the pictures can be seen and has öthumbnailsò of all the works
grouped by galleries. The 135 activity sheets, in Draw format, provide
lesson plans and ideas for projects suitable for school work in Key
Stages one, two and three.
9.5
Themes
9.5
Clicking on the Themes icon brings up a screen offering a choice of
going directly to any of the four subjects or browsing through a series
of other menu screens offering the sections available under each
heading. For example, the first theme, Trained Animals, has sections on
Horse Racing, Dressage/Riding Style, Animal Portraits, Animal Cruelty
and Welfare, Hunting, Still Life, Animals in Entertainment, Animals and
War, and Sculpture, all instantly accessible with the click of a button.
9.5
Each section has a brief page of introduction leading on to a series of
screens with up to four captioned pictures on each. Icons at the bottom
of the screen allow a return to menus or introductory pages or the help
facility. Clicking on a picture enlarges it and offers more icons to
provide information on the picture, the artist and the gallery where it
can be seen. Some of the information screens have an extra icon of a man
with an ear trumpet, which is not explained anywhere. A click on this
produces a sound effect to go with the picture, such as the call of the
animal depicted. This is not always very appropriate. Dogs of vastly
different size and breeds all have the same bark, for example, but it
does introduce a touch of fun which children will enjoy.
9.5
Feed the lions
9.5
The information is presented in short, easily read, sections and
includes some fascinating facts of the Trivial Pursuits variety among
the more cultural learning. A note on the picture of the Royal Menagerie
in the Tower of London offers the information that the price of
admission in the reign of Henry III was three halfpence or the donation
of a cat or dog to feed the lions! Not many animal lovers know that.
9.5
Some words are highlighted in red and clicking on them brings up more
information, which can be anything from a brief definition to a full-
screen essay. These include explanations of artistic terms, further
background information on the artist or the people who inƒuenced them
and details of the roles played by the animals in the setting in which
they are shown.
9.5
Text and pictures can both be saved out for use in the studentsæ own
work and there is also a toolbox with a text finder and a notepad which
can have its contents saved at the end of the session. Saving
information from the Museum database has its problems as the details are
given in separate panels for Address, Hours, Disabled facilities and
Admission fee and only the text in the panel clicked over is saved, not
the whole screen. In fact, clicking over the title of a panel will save
just the title name!
9.5
The disc could have benefited from some closer checking before issue as
there are a few minor blemishes. One picture, Hydrangeas, appears on
both pages three and seven in the Domestic Animals section. Clicking on
the highlighted name öTowneleyò produces a note on Miracle Plays rather
than Charles Towneley, the collector. The noun ölicenceò is given the
American spelling of ölicenseò, which is normally used in English for
the verb, and this could prove irritating in schools. However, these are
very minor faults in a large and generally impressive work.
9.5
Explore and learn
9.5
Most children like animals and are attracted by pictures of them and
this is a very well planned disc which will catch the interest and allow
a child to explore and learn about the artists and their work in the way
he or she finds most interesting. For adults, it is a fascinating
equivalent of a coffee table book, ideal for casual browsing but with
information quickly to hand whenever a picture seizes the attention and
arouses the desire to know more.áuá
9.5
Communications Column
9.5
Chris Claydon
9.5
Sorry, only a short column this month because things are rather busy at
the moment at ARMed Forces Software, but youæll have to wait a month or
so to find out why!
9.5
Net-Speak
9.5
The language used on the computer networks is often confusing to new
users. It is based on English, but it isnæt the same. There are three
reasons for this: firstly, the Internet, Fidonet and RiscNet are all
international networks, and so the language has to be simple enough for
foreigners to write and understand easily. It also has to use the
minimum amount of space because, although the cost of one or two
characters here and there may seem like nothing to transfer, when you
think that perhaps 3000 people may well have to transfer it, everyone
loses except the phone company Ö they make several pounds out of every
single message posted in Internet conferences. The third and final
reason is that it is meant to be less like letter writing and more like
conversation - you donæt spend much time thinking about how to put
things, and how to express emotions, sarcasm etc.
9.5
In order to cut down the size of the messages, many abbreviations are
used for common phrases, such as: BTW = By the way, AFAIK = As far as I
know, IMHO = In my humble/honest opinion, ROTFL = Rolling on the floor
laughing! (These and more are included on the updated Internet Glossary
Ö ú5 through Archive Ö now over 9,500 words in total! Ed.)
9.5
To express the tone of voice and expression you would use if you were
talking, smilies (sideways faces made of text characters) are used:
9.5
:-)  = Happy   ;-)  = Sarcastic (i.e. winking)    :¡(á = Sad      :-p =
Sticking tongue out!
9.5
When replying to other peopleæs messages, you first quote the relevant
part of their message, for example:
9.5
From: Chris Claydon   To:   John Smith
9.5
Subject: Quoting    Date: 3rd Jan 1996
9.5
On 2nd Jan 1996 John Smith wrote:
9.5
JS> On 1st Jan 1996 Chris Claydon wrote:
9.5
JS>CC> You really should use quoting
9.5
JS> What, like that?
9.5
Yes, thatæs right!
9.5
Over-quoting, for example quoting twenty lines of text then replying
with ÉYesæ, is frowned upon. But so is replying to a message without
quoting, because nobody will know what youære talking about unless they
saw the first message.
9.5
You may have heard this referred to as ÉNetiquetteæ, or smilies referred
to as ÉEmoticonsæ. Not many people actually use those terms, except
American Internet magazines!
9.5
News
9.5
A brand new Acorn bulletin board called ÉBrain Storm BBSæ has recently
started up near Sevenoaks. Run by sisters Helen and Angela Rayner on
Keith Hallæs popular ArmBBS software, itæs a small board but growing
fast. The menus are colourful and the atmosphere friendly. Within a
regional phone call of London, ÉBrain Stormæ is a pleasant alternative
to the bigger, less personal boards. They hope to have both Internet and
Fidonet access for the users soon, and the filebase is growing all the
time. The board provides support areas for ÉGilbert the Hamster
Softwareæ and ÉWerewolf Softwareæ. You can call Brain Storm BBS between
6pm and 9.30pm on 01732-886638.
9.5
My own board has now been upgraded with a RiscPC 700 and Nakamichi 7
disc CD-ROM jukebox drive (itæs very good, especially at the price!),
making this the biggest Acorn filebase available!
9.5
If you have any feedback on how you would like me to develop this
column, or suggestions for topics to cover, you can contact me in the
following ways (sorry, another temporary change of email address!):
9.5
Voice phone: [phone], ARMed Forces Multimedia BBS: 01962-880003,
Email: chris@ arcade.demon.co.uk, FidoNet Netmail: 2:252/501, RiscNet
Netmail: 7:44/212, Post: 38 Main Road, Littleton, Winchester, Hampshire,
SO22 6QQ.áuá
9.5
Starting Basic 6 Ö Making an Input
9.5
Ray Favre
9.5
We left our ÉLoanæ project last time with the means of selecting one
unknown from the four key parameters. This time, we will present the
remaining three (known) parameters to the user and ask him/her to enter
values for them.
9.5
In a Wimp program, making user input would almost certainly be done
using Éwritable iconsæ, but in our non-Wimp exercise, we will use the
keyword INPUT. In our particular example, weæll also make use of the IF
... THEN ... ELSE ... ENDIF construction.
9.5
Keyword INPUT
9.5
This keyword allows keyboard entry of text or numbers within a running
program. When the Basic interpreter encounters the word INPUT, it pauses
and waits for the user to enter something. The user duly enters a
number/text and signifies that the item of input is complete by pressing
<return>. The syntax of INPUT is very similar to that of PRINT (see Part
3) and it is most easily explored in Basic Command Mode. So, enter Basic
from a Task Window (see Part 1) and type:
9.5
INPUT RealNumber
9.5
This will cause a ö?ò character to appear on the next line, with the
caret immediately after it. The ö?ò is the default INPUT prompt telling
you that your typed input is awaited. So, respond by typing, say:
9.5
67.9<return>
9.5
The Basic prompt (ö>ò) will return again and nothing else appears to
have happened. But now type:
9.5
PRINT RealNumber
9.5
and 67.9 will be printed Ö proving that the INPUT statement plus your
typed response, did two things: firstly, the variable RealNumber was
declared and, secondly, the value you typed in was assigned to it.
9.5
The remaining aspects of INPUT concern the use of Émodifiersæ (remember
them in Part 3, when we discussed PRINT?) which make things more user-
friendly by allowing us to specify and format more meaningful prompts
for the user. This time, still in the Task Window, type:
9.5
INPUT öInteger = ò Integer%
9.5
and, instead of a ö?ò you will see:
9.5
Integer =
9.5
with the caret after the equals sign Ö and no ö?ò. In effect, INPUT
allows you to customize the prompt, by putting text in quotes
immediately after the keyword. If you choose to do this, a further
option is available. Make some keyboard input to get back to the Basic
prompt, then type:
9.5
INPUT öInteger = ò, Integer%
9.5
Note the comma. This time the result is:
9.5
Integer = ?
9.5
with the caret waiting after the ö?ò. (A semi-colon could have been used
instead of the comma.) So, the comma (or semi-colon) Éswitches onæ the
ö?ò Ö provided that text in quotes is present after INPUT.
9.5
If you have more than one item to be input, they can be included in one
INPUT statement, thus:
9.5
INPUT One, Two, Three
9.5
will provide a ö?ò prompt at the start, and also after you have made the
first Éinput-plus-<return>æ, and again after the second input. Different
customised prompts can be given to each one, thus:
9.5
INPUT öOne = ò, One öTwo = ò, Two öThree = ò, Three
9.5
As before, leave out the commas if you donæt want the ö?ò to appear.
9.5
TAB, SPC and É (single quote) can also be used, exactly as with PRINT.
Iæll leave them for homework. The only thing you cannot do with INPUT is
to use a string variable instead of (or in addition to) the text-in-
quotes Ö because it could not be distinguished from the multiple input
example above.
9.5
Another short piece of useful homework would be to explore what happens
if the keyboard input doesnæt match the variable type, e.g. input text
when a number is needed and check what is assigned. Youæll find that
INPUT is not very good in providing error messages.
9.5
Finally, just hitting <return> when input is awaited is a valid
response. It is interpreted as zero or a null string, depending on the
input variable type. The program needs to guard against this input Ö and
we will be looking at this in our ÉLoanæ project.
9.5
Keywords IF ... THEN ... ELSE ... ENDIF
9.5
This is one of two main Éconditionalæ constructions Ö the other being
CASE ... OF ... WHEN ... OTHERWISE ... ENDCASE which we will come to
next time.
9.5
IF ... THEN ... ELSE ... ENDIF can be used in distinctly separate ways:
firstly by just using the keyword combination IF ... THEN (with or
without ELSE) within a one-line statement. For example:
9.5
IF Tuesday% THEN Itinerary$=öIt must be Romeò
9.5
or:
9.5
IF Weekday% THEN Diary$=öGot upò ELSE Diary$=öStayed in bedò
9.5
(By the way, in this one-line form, the THEN does not actually need to
be typed in, but at this stage you are strongly advised to include it.)
9.5
The expression between IF and THEN is called the Éconditionæ, for
obvious reasons, and needs to be able to be evaluated to TRUE or FALSE:
9.5
  If found FALSE, the statements after THEN up to an ELSE (if there is
one) are ignored. If there is an ELSE present, the statements after it
are actioned and the program then continues at the next line.
9.5
  If found TRUE, the statements after THEN up to an ELSE (if there is
one) are actioned. If there is an ELSE present, the instructions after
it are ignored and the program steps to the next line.
9.5
As this usage must be on one program line, it is not uncommon for it to
be multi-statement and quite long. Nonetheless, it is straightforward to
use in this simple form and, for many years prior to Basic V, it was the
only option available. Things can get a little hairy if you attempt to
Énestæ further IF ... THENs within the one line. It is Élegalæ but
sorting out what should happen is not always easy Ö and it is no longer
necessary, because Basic V adds ENDIF to the story.
9.5
ENDIF allows us to put our IF ... THEN constructions on more than one
line. The general form is:
9.5
IF <condition> THEN
9.5
ááDo something
9.5
ááELSE
9.5
ááDo something else
9.5
ENDIF
9.5
Again, the ELSE is optional. As before, <condition> is evaluated to
TRUE/FALSE and the sequences are as before. The vital thing in this
variation is that the THEN on the first line must be present and must be
the last item on the line (even a space after it can mess things up).
9.5
By using the ENDIF form, particularly with indented listings, all the
mind-twisting problems of Énestingæ in the one-line form disappear and
quite complex Énestsæ, become easy to sort out Ö one giant step for
mankind!
9.5
Back to the ÉLoanæ project
9.5
ÉLoan_6Aæ on the disc has been upgraded from ÉLoan_5Aæ by the filling
out of PROCinputKnowns, which has also needed a third formatting offset
variable to be added to PROCinit.
9.5
Firstly, PROCinputKnowns has been changed to pass a string as a
parameter. It is now defined as DEF PROCinputKnowns(NotThisLetter$) and
it is called at line 160 by PROCinputKnowns(Unknown$). Thus, the upper
case letter label of the unknown item previously chosen by the user is
now passed to this PROC.
9.5
After some lines displaying an overall prompt heading to the user, there
are four similar IF ... THEN ... ENDIF blocks, each with a condition
statement for a different one of the letters we are concerned with.
Therefore, one of the four condition statements will evaluate to FALSE Ö
because its letter will match Unknown$ passed to this procedure by line
160, plus the fact that we have used ö<>ò (önot equal toò) as the
condition. The remaining three blocks will evaluate to TRUE and be
actioned.
9.5
Within each IF ... THEN ... ENDIF block, there is a need to handle the
input of the items almost identically, and therefore it makes sense to
use a PROC/FN within it to do this. We have used FNinputLoop(), passing
the individual text string (different for each item) as the single
parameter, and returning the value input.
9.5
The listing should be straightforward to follow. The net effect is that
the user will always be presented with, in a uniform format, three items
for input Ö but which three depends on which item was previously chosen
by the user as the Éunknownæ.
9.5
Input validation
9.5
As it stands in ÉLoan_6Aæ, this input section leaves a lot to be desired
because it does nothing to protect the program against invalid or
inappropriate input entries. We need to do something about this before
going on Ö and it will also warrant a later re-visit.
9.5
At this stage, letæs set some overall input limits for each of the four
items, and show the user what they are. For example:
9.5
(L) Loan Amount Ö Not less than ú500 and not more than ú15000
9.5
(N) Number of Equal Monthly Payments Ö Not less than 12 and not more
than 180
9.5
(P) Amount of Monthly Payment Ö Not less than ú20 and not more than
ú1000
9.5
(N) Monthly Interest Rate Ö Not less than 0.5% and not more than 3.0%
9.5
In ÉLoan_6Bæ on the disc, PROCsetLimits has been added to declare and
assign values to the necessary variables. (Real numeric variables have
been used throughout in this case; partly for uniformity and partly to
enable you to use your own values without restriction.)
9.5
To incorporate these limits into the input process, we need to modify
FNinputLoop(); firstly by adding the right set of limits to each input
message and, secondly, by putting the INPUT statement inside a REPEAT
... UNTIL loop, with exit conditions corresponding to the limits Ö
similar to our approach in FNmenuChoice (see Part 5). An easy way to
achieve both needs is to add the limits as parameters to the FN
definition and modify the calling statements in DEF PROCinputKnowns()
correspondingly.
9.5
However, it is not quite straightforward because we need to do a little
extra work to overcome the screen formatting problems that occur. The
gist of the end result in ÉLoan_6Bæ looks like this:
9.5
1810 DEF FNinputLoop( Input$ ,
9.5
 LowerLimit , UpperLimit )
9.5
1850 Limit$ = ö(ò + STR$(LowerLimit) +
9.5
 ö Ö ò + STR$(UpperLimit) + ö)ò
9.5
1870 Loop% = 0
9.5
1880 REPEAT
9.5
1890áááLoop% = Loop% + 1
9.5
1900áááIF Loop% > 1 THEN VDU11
9.5
1920áááPRINT TAB(Offset3% Ö
9.5
LEN(Input$)) Input$ ; SPC(15) ; Limit$;
9.5
1930áááVDU31 , Offset3% , VPOS
9.5
1950áááINPUT ö ò Item
9.5
1960 UNTIL Item >= LowerLimit AND Item
9.5
 <= UpperLimit
9.5
1990 = Item
9.5
Iæm glossing over line 1850 for now; because it uses string handling
methods which we havenæt yet covered, although you can probably follow
this example easily enough. The REPEAT ... UNTIL loop holds the user
until a valid input is made. Line 1920 writes the input message and
chosen limits on the same line but separated by 15 spaces. Line 1930
then moves the text cursor into that gap, just after the input message.
Keyboard input appears there. If an invalid input is made, the loop
counter Loop% becomes greater than 1 and line 1900 shifts the cursor up
one line before the printing starts again. As the <return> after the
keyboard input (at line 1950) has moved the cursor down one line the net
effect is that line 1920 reprints the message on the same line as
before. The added bonus is that reprinting the gap erases the invalid
entry Ö so the result is neat and tidy and reasonably user-friendly. If
you are not sure what is happening, try putting a new line containing
G=GET between each line. You can then step through.
9.5
The keyword VPOS acts as a function returning the current vertical
position of the cursor, measured in lines from the top of the screen
(with the top line being 0).
9.5
The use of VDU is somewhat vast (and still increasing) but the low,
single number commands, such as VDU11 above, are well-established and
provide useful facilities. We will cover them sometime soon.
9.5
A few other minor changes have been made between ÉLoan_6Aæ and
ÉLoan_6Bæ, to tidy presentation.
9.5
Next time
9.5
As indicated earlier, weæll take a look at the CASE ... OF ... WHEN ...
OTHERWISE ... ENDCASE construction next time, and use it to cause our
program to branch to the right type of calculation to find the Éunknownæ
one of our four items.
9.5
You can contact me at: 26 West Drayton Park Avenue, West Drayton,
Middlesex, UB7 7QA.áuá
9.5
Using a Concept Keyboard
9.5
Dave Walsh
9.5
Many readers will have heard of this Éinput deviceæ, as it is widely
used in schools throughout the country but, rather than repeat its
virtues once more (or indeed run through all the features that current
software has added to its use!), I thought Iæd put pen to paper to share
some hints and tips on its use. If itæs all second nature to you, I
apologise, but speaking to parents and teachers, it seems that even
simple things can make all the difference between getting good use out
of it and not!
9.5
What is it?
9.5
If youæve not come across one, a concept keyboard is a flat A3 or A4
sized, pressure sensitive pad. Depending on the model, it can have
either 256 or 4096 little areas that can all be made to respond
differently to presses. For those of you wondering what it might be
useful for, there are three major areas:
9.5
Å As a visual aid to add words to word processing
9.5
Å Instead of using the QWERTY keyboard to control a program
9.5
Å As an exploratory medium, where the computer gives information in
response to childrenæs presses
9.5
Although these are all major areas, I know that enterprising folk across
the country have found many more!
9.5
The CK in use
9.5
To use the board, it is usual to put a paper Éoverlayæ on its surface to
guide children as to which part of the board to press. Overlays are
quite common around schools and, if you are a parent, it could be that
your childæs school will share their copies of overlays with you. Three
obvious things to consider when photocopying concept keyboard overlays
are:
9.5
Å Some photocopiers tend to Épush overæ copies by a few mm. If you are
copying a friend of a friendæs, friendæs copy, it could be quite a long
way out and the areas wonæt line up anymore! Try and get access to an
original.
9.5
Å Enlargement of A4 overlays to A3 (and vice versa) doesnæt work either,
as the areas are not squares
9.5
Å Coloured paper (such as pink) might look very pretty but it doesnæt
photocopy at all well!
9.5
Now a couple of more general hints:
9.5
Å Make sure itæs on a flat solid surface, otherwise key presses are much
harder to get
9.5
Å Try to have enough room so that children can use the board and do
other activities around it (e.g. writing or using the main keyboard).
9.5
DIY overlays
9.5
Making your own overlay is a worthwhile pursuit because, although the
commercial efforts represent brilliant art and cunning illustrations,
they are often not what you, or your children actually need. The first
thing I would recommend you to do is roughly sketch out what words,
keypresses or stimulus art youæd like on the overlay. Of course, if you
have a scanner, you can use illustrations from workbooks to liven up
your overlays, or use anyone with artistic talents to help.
9.5
Unfortunately, from a copyright point of view, you are entering a
minefield. For instance, all characters (e.g. Chip, Floppy, etc, from
the Oxford Reading books) are not only banned from being copied but also
(I believe) from being represented in a recognisable form on paper. If
youære making a school or home resource, itæs likely that the copyright
holder wonæt mind (assuming youæve already bought into their scheme
through other resources), but watch out if you want to distribute the
materials outside your own four walls!
9.5
Plan your overlay
9.5
If youære going to run a program from the board, itæs a very good idea
to go through it deciding exactly what keys you do use! Itæs amazing how
many overlays Iæve made, only to find that Iæve forgotten to add a
ÉReturnæ key!
9.5
If you are now in the position of wanting to create your masterpiece,
complete with all the keys and artwork, do think about the following:
9.5
Å Are the areas far enough apart from each other? Childrenæs little
fingers do tend to stray.
9.5
Å Are you sure that youæve got all the key presses youæll need on it? (I
sometimes put a Ésecretæ square for Éprintingæ.)
9.5
Å Is the overlay consistent with others that are in use? It is very
frustrating to have ÉReturnæ marked as ÉReturnæ on one overlay at the
top right hand corner, and as an arrow symbol at the bottom left on the
next one!
9.5
Å Is it clear and readable?
9.5
Å Is it better by being on a concept keyboard? There are many products
that just put words on the screen; some read them; some combine them
with pictures. If your overlay is simply a list of words with no visual
clues, wouldnæt it be easier using one of these other software titles?!
The concept keyboard triumphs by being highly visual and tactile. Donæt
be afraid to use real objects, like coins or things to count if the
overlay is for maths, or textures if it is for science. You can put
three-dimensional models on it for History and Geography. but remember
to make sure that presses can get to the board. You can even make it
play sound samples with the right software so that it can become a
composition tool.
9.5
If you are using a 256 square board, and want to have the squares lining
up, without having the grid left on the paper, you can always turn the
Éready griddedæ paper over. The lines are often bold enough to show
through without back-lighting them Ö if necessary, you can hold the
paper up to a window.
9.5
Draw on the overlay paper, colour it, test it and then cover it. You
will find that children can add their own thumb and finger prints to
your overlay within an hour or so, especially in Épopularæ areas such as
the full stop or the word Étheæ.
9.5
An alternative to covering every single overlay is to have a clear
plastic top over the paper overlay. This has some disadvantages with
children as it can slide around the place but is far quicker than the
alternative. ÉBlu Tacæ is a great help in holding overlays and their
covers in place. If you have a heat sealing machine in your
establishment, you could use this. To conserve resources, why not put
two overlays back to back during sealing Ö but donæt be tempted to cut
the edges off, split them in half and use them separately, as the
sealing causes them to roll up horribly.
9.5
One last piece of essential information for the paper overlay is the
program it has been designed for and the filename to use it on the disc.
Donæt be afraid to use the same overlay in several programs if it fits.
9.5
The actual making of the electronic overlay will differ, depending on
which software and board you are using, but it is usually achieved by
either pressing the areas on your board or pointing at the corresponding
squares on the screen with a mouse. If anyone wants a comparative review
of the different products, please ask.
9.5
Finally, overlays are often quite time-consuming to make and design. As
a partial solution (and to get the best from your work), a concept
keyboard exchange scheme has been set up by Chris Abbotts at Kings
College in London. If youæd like to have your work distributed to a
wider audience or even try out some of the materials that others have
made, do get in contact with him directly.
9.5
If you can think of other things to do with concept keyboards that you
öwish somebody had told youò, why not drop me a line c/o the Archive
office?áuá
9.5
Spelling Book
9.5
Paul Savage
9.5
Spelling Book, from Creative Curriculum Software, is one of those little
programs which shows a list of words on screen. Then one of those words
can be inserted into a piece of text you are working on by simply
clicking on the word with the mouse. It does the job nicely, very nicely
indeed, its main advantage being its ability to handle a number of
separate dictionaries. The interface is simple yet effective, and it is
very easy to set up or amend the dictionaries to match individual pupils
or different classroom topics. Along with its main function, the program
also comes with three word games based around some or all of the words
currently in use.
9.5
The program installs onto the iconbar. From <menu> on this icon, the one
or more dictionaries which the pupils are to use are chosen, and, if
necessary, the selection is saved. The word processor or DTP program is
run, and a single click brings up a small Spelling Book window
containing the letters of the alphabet. These letters call up words from
the dictionaries. With the focus inside the document, you can easily
click first to select a letter, then a word which appears in your work.
9.5
There are options available to use capital letters at the start of
words, to follow words with a space and to use a range of punctuation
marks with the mouse as well as the keyboard. The Spelling Book window
can be closed and reopened easily, as required.
9.5
I see the program being used in a number of different ways in school,
and each of these different uses would require a different range of
dictionaries. It is very easy to set up these dictionaries using Edit or
another simple text editor Ö you donæt even need to enter them in order!
9.5
With key stage 1 pupils, it will, at first, be used with basic words,
(some suitable dictionaries are provided), and it could then be used in
the same way as concept keyboards, enabling complete simple sentences to
be built up. Its use could then be extended to include words as they are
met in the reading scheme.
9.5
With pupils from all key stages, Spelling Book will also provide
valuable support for topic work. Words from appropriate dictionaries
could prompt pupils as they write on different subjects, give them leads
when engaging in their own research, or give gentle hints in finding
answers to questions.
9.5
There is an important role for Spelling Book with Special Needs pupils
or simply those pupils who have a particular problem with spelling.
Having words so readily to hand gives confidence to those unsure of
their ability in writing and, in searching for the correct word, a lot
of experience is gained in reading, at a level appropriate for each
pupil. Spelling Book has the facility for personal dictionaries, another
feature which is of great benefit to some pupils. These dictionaries are
loaded onto the iconbar icon, and can be added to while the work is in
progress. If a new word is needed, the pupil finds it in the usual way
(word box, dictionary or teacher) and then adds it into their dictionary
Ö your own vocabulary book is now electronic!
9.5
Iæve tested the program out with Impression (Style and Publisher),
Pendown, Stylus and Edit, and it works well with all of them. (When used
with programs with speech it can be especially useful.) Itácan also be
used with multimedia programs like Genesis, and Iæve even used it with
some spreadsheet programs, too Ö though Iæm not sure why you might want
to!
9.5
The three games which come with the program will all give extra practice
in using the words in the dictionaries. There is a wordsearch and two
variations on the Éhangmanæ activity without the actual violence of that
old favourite. There are a number of options which can be set within
each game to make it suitable to any pupil or age range.
9.5
Spelling Book is intended for use in keystages 1 and 2, but the
interface is by no means inappropriate for older students. I would
heartily recommend its use in primary schools, especially for work with
Special Needs pupils. The only improvement I could think of would be to
have the ability to show all the words in a dictionary at once, so that
pupils using it at the very first stages would not have to use
alphabetical searching.
9.5
Spelling Book is available for ú39 +VAT (stand alone) or ú89 +VAT for a
site licence from Creative Curriculum Software.áuá
9.5
PowerWave 30
9.5
Andrew Rawnsley
9.5
The A3000 is an unusual beast Ö with two expansion ports, Econet and
serial (optional), and parallel ports, it offered quite significant
potential for expansion, in its day. Although Acorn has replaced it with
more up-to-date architecture, there are many satisfied A3000 owners for
whom the only criticism is the lack of suitable upgrades. Sure, they
could fit a standard podule into the external connector, but there are
few products which have been designed for the smaller internal expansion
port.
9.5
Despite having this internal expansion port in common with A3020 and
A4000 machines (and A3010s, although the PowerWave draws too much power
for those computers), there have been few dedicated cards Ö really only
SCSI, micropodules, and simple Midi ports.
9.5
Audio Dynamics will delight A3000 owners as they have developed a full
Midi Synthesizer, two Midi ports and a User interface port, all on one
small card.
9.5
Whatæs so special?
9.5
By offering all the different ports, the card is ideal for the
educational or home user. In the past, one of the few upgrades that an
educational A3000 would see was an internal User port card. The
PowerWave 30 card gives all the functionality of the User port, and adds
in the Midi support, which is what really makes it so attractive.
9.5
To many people, the term Midi is an immediate turn-off. Well, it was for
me until I had my eyes opened. In the early days, Midi had meant merely
a way of communicating between an external electronic keyboard and a
computer. To a classical pianist, this was off-putting, as a keyboard
could never compare with a proper piano.
9.5
Enter General Midi
9.5
Recent innovations have resulted in the General Midi (GM) standard, with
wide-ranging effects on musical playback. GM defined a fixed set of 128
voices (instruments) which should always be available for music, and 16
channels, with a total of 32 notes playable at a given time. Each voice
would be stored in ROM, sampled at 16-bit (44kHz) quality, on the
particular piece of equipment (keyboard or synthesizer card), so that
music created on one system could be played back on any other.
9.5
The result is music quality that stands out above the Acornæs internal
8-bit sound system in the way that it, in turn, stands out above the old
BBCæs audio.
9.5
On the PC, GM has become the standard way of creating music for every
purpose, from multimedia presentations to games. Indeed, VTI have
recently released Dune 2 on CD for Acorn owners, with a complete Midi
score. GM is filtering its way into our world too!
9.5
The PowerWave 30
9.5
The Audio Dynamics card offers full GM compatibility, using the popular
Ensoniq voice set. Whilst not perfect, this is far superior to many of
the voice sets found in electronic keyboards. Of course, if you buy a
professional keyboard (costing well into four figures), you would expect
it to sound better, but then the full PowerWave 30 only sets you back
ú200!
9.5
If you just want to listen to high quality music, you can obtain Midi
files from many sources, ranging from the alt.binaries.sounds.midi
newsgroup (highly recommended) on the Internet, to PC CD-ROMs.
9.5
However, to make the most of the card, you should really use one of the
Acorn music creation packages Ö Serenade or Rhapsody 3 from Clares, or
Sibelius 6 or 7 (but not Digital Symphony and the like, as they will
still use your 8-bit internal sound system!).
9.5
You can enter music into one of these three packages either via an
external keyboard, using the Midi interface on the card, or by hand.
Either way, once youæve begun to create your masterpiece, you can play
it back through your Ensoniq voice set. Of course, getting top quality
reproduction from your hardware, makes creating scores much more
pleasurable, and you will get a much clearer picture of how the finished
product will sound.
9.5
The Ensoniq voice set
9.5
Playback of standard Midi files using the Ensoniq voice set is via the
!Conductor software supplied with the package. Whilst the review version
was still a little rough around the edges, the level of control was very
impressive. The software allows you to adjust channel volumes, the
instruments, and the stereo positions at any time during playback. You
can mute channels, or select one for solo playback.
9.5
The software also provides a 10 track jukebox, for setting up playback
lists, and an on-screen keyboard for trying out the individual
instruments. This allows you to listen carefully to the voices provided.
Whilst they often sound good together, perhaps in a modern dance track,
the reproduction of most voices is very synthetic and a far cry from the
tonal quality of the real instruments/voices they claimed to be. As a
result, the card is less suitable for composers of classical orchestral
music, as this often relies on the tone of the individual instruments.
9.5
However, I was comparing the card to the VTI VTX2000, costing at least
ú100 more, which uses some very high performance instruments for which
you would expect to pay more. (Stop Press: the VTX2000 has just been
discontinued as they cannot get one of the vital chips it contains. Ed.)
9.5
Future expansion
9.5
You can buy the Audio Dynamics card with or without the Ensoniq voice
set. Without, you have to have an external keyboard (or voice module),
which will probably be less suited to music playback. This will,
however, work with an A3010.
9.5
The card does have the daughter-board connector needed for the Ensoniq
voices, and this is industry standard. As a result, you can purchase a
daughter-board from well known companies such as Roland, Yamaha or
Turtle Beach, and they should work straight away. Indeed, Audio Dynamics
plan to produce a version of the PowerWave using the latest Yamaha
extended Midi sound set later this year, but this will cost at least ú50
more.
9.5
Conclusions
9.5
The PowerWave 30 (or DMI 30 without the voice set) is a superb addition
to any A3000 owneræs armoury. Not only does it bring great sound quality
to the home user, but it should be viewed as an essential purchase for
school Music departments with A3000, A3020 or A4000 machines.
9.5
Whilst the card isnæt up to the quality of the VTX2000, it is
considerably less expensive, and the VTI card will only work in machines
capable of taking normal sized podules. This rules out the A3020 and
A4000 straight away!
9.5
The PowerWave 30 costs ú215 from Audio Dynamics or through Archive.áuá
9.5
Tablemate III
9.5
Dave Wilcox
9.5
I have been an admirer of this software since I first purchased
Impression Publisher, and I agree with some of the comments by Dave
Floyd in his review of Tablemate 2 (8.8 p73). There have been a few
teething problems, but anything that saves all the ruler settings with
Impression styles has to be good and worth a little perseverance. Iæm
happy to say that the author, George Buchanan of Dalriada Data
Technology, has not sat back on his laurels after the release of Version
2, as Version 3.11a clearly shows.
9.5
On running the new version, it is immediately apparent that this program
has undergone a major overhaul, and several items in Daveæs wish list
have been implemented. You still cannot have fully justified text, but
you can now use the table as a simple spreadsheet. An Index has been
added to the back of the addendum instruction booklet which comes with
version 3. This is a supplement to the main manual and only explains new
or updated features.
9.5
The package
9.5
The program comes on one disc, containing the program itself, System,
SysMerge, Keystrip and Examples directory, totalling approximately
498Kb. Installation is simply a matter of updating your system by using
Sysmerge, or the Boot of a RiscPC, and dragging TableMate3 to the
desired location on your hard disc. You can, if you wish, run the
program perfectly happily from the floppy disc.
9.5
The first thing that version 2 users will notice is the new toolbar Ö
you now have lots of buttons to play with, just as with Impression!
9.5
These buttons enable you to join cells, break open joined cells in rows
and in columns, add new rows and columns, cut or copy an area to the
clipboard, paste from the clipboard, set the font style and size,
foreground colour, background colour, enter a formula, alter the line
thickness and colour, select double lines, justify any text left, right
or centre, or have a decimal point tab, all at the click of a button.
9.5
Tablemate will still only import drawfile format, so it is necessary to
drop sprites into Draw first, and then to save the drawfile into the
Tablemate frame. This is not a problem and does not hinder production in
the slightest. Tablemate 3 now has the full OLE feature implemented. In
previous releases, Tablemate was the editor for Impression under
Impressionæs OLE, but now you can use the OLE feature of Tablemate to
edit your graphics or formulae etc, in a similar manner. With a graphic,
for example, Tablemate is the client and Draw the editor. So, if you are
editing a DTP document and wish to modify your table, this table could
be OLEæd to Tablemate. From there, you could then OLE a picture into
Draw. If the picture is a sprite, save it from Draw into Paint and carry
out the desired modification, then load the sprite back into Draw, save
the modified drawfile which is passed back into Tablemate, save the
resultant Tablemate table which is passed back to the DTP package and...
OLE!
9.5
As mentioned above, it is now possible to join rows vertically as well
as horizontally. Once they are joined vertically, you have the
equivalent tab alignments as for horizontal joins, obviously renamed to
suit, as top, middle and bottom.
9.5
You can also now use your table as a simple spreadsheet, allowing
summation, and the use of basic maths operations, i.e. +, Ö, ╫, ≈. You
can use cell referencing, including absolute cell referencing, and you
can define your own currency character, e.g. ú, $, DM etc.
9.5
Also added in the latest version is the ability to use double rule-offs.
The save dialogue has been increased so that you can now save your sheet
in CSV format. With later versions of RISC OS, you can also select
colours, using the new colour picker routines.
9.5
Conclusion
9.5
As I said at the start of this review, this is a nice piece of software
designed to take the strain out of producing tables, and it does its
designed job admirably. As with most software, different people will use
different aspects of the package. For me, the spreadsheet is of little
use, but Dave Floyd obviously has a situation where its use would be an
advantage. In terms of time saved, the cost of the package will soon be
recouped by anyone who has a need to produce tables in reports on a
regular basis. I would recommend this package to anyone.
9.5
The basic cost of the package for a single user is ú34.50 from Dalriada,
or ú35 from Archive. If the program is purchased with the Impression
Style/Publisher discount, it is ú19.50 from Dalriada. A Primary site
licence is ú65 (ú35 with Impression discount), a Secondary site licence
is ú100 (ú55 with Impression discount). Users with Tablemate 2 can
upgrade to version 3 for ú5 by returning their original disc and
remittance to Dalriada Data Technology (no VAT as DDT are not VAT-
registered).áuá
9.5
Click Art Animals & Nature
9.5
Christopher Jarman
9.5
It is difficult to know how much people actually use full colour
clipart. I believe more folk are budding artists and designers these
days than is realised. We like to have a go ourselves with the various
art packages that abound. What is apparent, however, is that plenty of
people buy clips. Perhaps we hope to learn from them or to get new
ideas, and, of course, if you are only printing in black and white,
nothing is simpler than to convert colour clips to your requirements.
9.5
The latest offering in Matt Blackæs ClickArt series is so professional
and so excellent that it is hard to find any fault with it. Originally
produced in America for the Apple Mac, this package has been converted
to drawfiles in beautiful colour and detail. The accompanying brochure
is the original American glossy A5 size with full colour thumbnail
pictures of each clip. It states that the graphics were created by a
team of professional graphic artists. Any aspiring computer artist would
do well to study some of these pictures to learn how to do it.
9.5
Matt Black, as the British distributors, have enclosed an A4 B/W leaflet
which tells you all you need to know about using the clips with Acorn
machines. It is also worth noting that the international licence
agreement does allow you to use these illustrations for limited
commercial purposes, e.g. in a newsletter, providing that what you are
selling does not depend substantially upon the ClickArt clips for its
value.
9.5
There are four floppy discs containing the 150 nature pictures and
another with 120 silhouettes. Also included is the Freeware application
!PickAPick for displaying the clips as thumbnails on your screen if you
wish. On the other hand, the brochure is so helpful I could see no
reason to burden my disc with !PickAPick. If you need a lion picture,
you just look on page 17 and it shows you a super little picture and
tells you which disc it is on.
9.5
I show it here for you to get an idea of the quality.
9.5
If, like me, you are concerned with the memory use of your images, say
for dropping into other applications or for making animations, then you
may also be reassured. The biggest image I could find was Globe 1 which
was 43676 bytes in ClickArt Draw format. When dropped into Artworks and
then re-exported as a drawfile, it reduced to 42892 bytes, just under 2%
less! All the clips could be reduced slightly in this way, which is
curious.
9.5
Most clips are between 20Kb and 27Kb in size. The Dingbats, which are
also in colour, are very good on low memory. The cherries dingbat shown
here takes only 1456 bytes. (There should be a joke about Ébytes of a
cherryæ here somewhere but I canæt think how to put it!)
9.5
The drawings are so good and strong that they will stand being
miniaturised to quite a reasonable degree without the lines
disappearing. This makes them suitable for logos and other small images.
The borders, silhouettes and dingbats are, of course, particularly
suited for this kind of use. Neither are any of the files compressed,
which makes them very quick to access and to use. I personally like the
fact that none of the illustrations is either whimsical or cartoonish.
We have quite enough of that type of clipart already. Hey ho, I suppose
it is my age showing!
9.5
My only minor criticism is that a few of the colours in one or two
pictures seem a little odd. These are almost certainly explained by the
problems of porting to different computer systems. As it is easy to
alter colours, it makes it more fun anyway to try and improve on the
Dove, the Coast and the Trout, clips which I found slightly eccentric.
9.5
I suppose the main problem with using this set is that no-one will be
able to kid anyone else that they produced them themselves, they are
just too good!
9.5
This is excellent value at ú35 (no VAT) plus ú2 p&p from Matt
Black.áThis includes a free educational site licence. uá
9.5
ProTeus CD-ROM Drive
9.5
Chris Hall
9.5
This article was written before the demise (and subsequent re-birth!) of
Cumana. However, the information is still relevant as Cumana will, in
due course, be able to supply the product again and, in the meantime, we
have found an alternative supply of these drives. Ed.
9.5
The ProTeus CD-ROM drive has been featured in some magazines recently
although I have not seen an Éin-depthæ review. It is a combination
drive, combining quad-speed CD-ROM technology (read only) with the
capability of reading and writing 650Mb rewriteable optical cartridges.
These cartridges use Éphase changeæ technology and cannot be used in
other CD-ROM or magneto-optical drives: cartridges are not supplied with
the drive. There have been features in Archive before about CD-ROM
drives (notably 7.2 p27 and 7.9 p65) but a combination drive is slightly
more complicated to set up. In this description, I will focus on the
usability of the drive but include a brief explanation of the set-up
process. The drive itself costs ú635 (8.12 p9) as an internal 5╝ö drive
for the RiscPC. My drive was supplied with a Cumana SCSI II interface
but this is not included in the price.
9.5
Installation
9.5
Firstly, a SCSI interface is required. This is an interface card which
plugs into the DEBI connector on the Archimedes and provides a 50-way
connection onto which several ÉSCSIæ devices may be attached in
parallel, arranged in Édaisy-chainæ fashion.
9.5
The software side of the interface can be more intimidating. I have an
Oak Solutions SCSI interface and it is fairly friendly. Basically, the
CDFS software supplied with the SCSI interface (a standard CDFS at
version 2.20 or higher, supporting Ésoft loadingæ drivers) looks after
the drive as a CD-ROM, and shows a CD-ROM icon on the iconbar. The
utility software supplied with the SCSI card configures the drive as a
writeable unit in a similar way to connection of a hard disc drive Ö the
user has to specify the SCSIFS drive number allocated to the unitæs
physical SCSI ID, and a SCSI icon then appears on the iconbar.
9.5
Once the unit is installed and cabled up, the *DEVICES command will show
whether the hardware connection is correct:
9.5
This shows that the ProTeus drive is present as device 1 (although it
cannot be recognised, as no blank disc is present). A similar display is
obtained using the Cumana SCSI II interface:
9.5
Some CD-ROMs are supplied with soft-loadable drivers, without which they
will not be properly recognised. The ProTeus drive is one of these.
Soft-loadable drivers are modules that need to be loaded during the
!Boot process when the computer is turned on or reset. On the RiscPC,
this may be done by copying the driver module supplied into the
directory !Boot.Choices.Boot.PreDesk. Having done this, the module
listing will show the new module:
9.5
CDFSSoft Panasonic 1.07 (15 Jun 1995) (Cumana Proteus)
9.5
Using the ProTeus drive
9.5
Once cabled up and with the soft-driver loaded, the ProTeus drive should
be functional as a CD-ROM drive. Clicking on the CD-ROM icon on the
iconbar will open a directory display, if a CD-ROM is in the drive.
9.5
Using the CD-ROM drive on a PC requires changes to the CONFIG.SYS and
the AUTOEXEC.BAT files. The CD-ROM will then also appear as a DOS drive
with the next available drive letter.
9.5
The application !CDFast (by Eesox) may be used to maximise the access
speed of the CD-ROM drive Ö the improvement is useful but marginal (see
8.9 p76). The Acorn PhotoCD sample application !PhotoView allows the
images on a Photo CD disc to be accessed.
9.5
The ProTeus drive functions as a CD-ROM drive quickly and competently.
However, it has difficulty in accessing my ArtWorks CD (AWCD-2). Most of
the time it acted exactly as if the CD drawer were empty. When it did
recognise the ArtWorks CD, it would work correctly for a time and then
would produce öMessage from CDFS filer Ö Target error Ö Hardware errorò.
All other CDs that I have, including a PhotoCD, work correctly. The
Artworks CD also works perfectly on my Toshiba CD-ROM drive. Following
this up with Cumana, it appears that the CD¡ROM part of the drive is
more sensitive than standard CD¡ROM drives and such problems are not
unknown.
9.5
It loaded the ÉBulletæ file (test A on 7.9 p68) in 8.3 seconds and had
no difficulty displaying Acorn Replay files. The CD¡ROM may be ejected
from the desktop using the command *-CDFS-EJECT but selecting the menu
option ÉDismountæ does not work. However, this menu option did not work
with other interfaces or other CD¡ROM drives so Iácanæt really complain!
9.5
Overall the drive operates reliably and quickly, although not quite at
double the speed of a Édouble-speedæ drive.
9.5
Using the drive as a writeable optical drive
9.5
The drive is not supplied with optical media. Before the unit can be
configured and formatted (using the ÉFormatæ option in the SCSI card
utility software) blank media is essential. In the desktop, a new drive
icon, corresponding to the new SCSIFS drive number, has appeared. The
formatting process takes some time the first time a cartridge is used Ö
over 30 minutes. However, once this has been done, all works normally as
if the unit were a hard disc drive. With RISCáOSá3.50, the largest
partition that can be used is 512Mb (wasting the remaining 138Mb!).
Speed is perfectly acceptable Ö it operates at a nominal transfer speed
of 1006Kb/s: more quickly than a 128Mb optical drive (550Kb/s) but not
quite as fast as a 270Mb Syquest drive (1794Kb/s).
9.5
The transfer speed measures the speed at which a large file would be
transferred, and therefore ignores the track-to-track access speed which
becomes significant when the files being transferred are small, as a
large number of writes to the catalogue area are then required. The
nominal speed is also a theoretical figure. As a better guide to speed,
I have measured the time taken (using my Oak Solutions SCSI card) to
copy an application containing a 12Mb and a 6Mb data file, totalling
19Mbs (13 files) and the time taken to copy a number of word-processor
files (681 files totalling 2.9Mbs) for each of these drives:
9.5
  Syquest   ProTeus   Pæsonic optical
9.5
Application (19M)  63sec  122sec  238sec
9.5
WP files (2.9Mb)  140sec*  325sec*  ...
9.5
Large files  302Kb/s  156Kb/s  80Kb/s
9.5
Small files  21Kb/s  9Kb/s   ...
9.5
*plus 80sec time for reading from the RiscPC 410Mb IDE drive.
9.5
Conclusions
9.5
The ProTeus drive is a capable CD-ROM drive offering a modest speed
improvement over double-speed drives (but not double the speed), but you
may have some difficulty reading one or two CD¡ROMs. Iáwas able to
overcome this by cleaning the CD¡ROM, but the tolerance of the drive to
dirty or scratched CD-ROMs is noticeably lower than CD¡only drives.
9.5
As a writeable drive, it operates with no problems and the cartridge is
not susceptible to magnetic fields and should be a much more reliable
backup medium than a Syquest cartridge or a floppy disc. Time will tell!
9.5
In short, donæt buy this drive if your prime need is a quad-speed CD-ROM
drive Ö its performance is slightly less than quad speed CD-only drives.
However, its performance as a CD-ROM is perfectly acceptable and if your
prime need is to make backup copies of important data then this drive is
very good value and you will save the additional cost of a separate CD-
ROM drive.áuá
9.5
*DEVICES
9.5
Device Type           Size     Vendor   Product          Rev
9.5
001    Optical memory Unknown  MATSHITA PD-1 LF-1000     A105
9.5
101    Read-only      Unknown  MATSHITA PD-1 LF-1000     A105
9.5
007    Host                    CUMANA   SCSI Interface   1.96
9.5
*DEVICES
9.5
Device Type      Capacity Vendor   Product       Revision
9.5
0      ...
9.5
1      Unknown   Unknown  MATSHITA PD-1 LF-1000  A105
9.5
2      ...
9.5
7      Host               Oak      16 Bit SCSI  1.36
9.5
Report
9.5
Ed Archer
9.5
I am usually sceptical when it comes to claims that a reporting process
can be speeded up 10 times, but I must confess that, on this occasion,
there is some substance to the claims being made for the package being
reviewed.
9.5
These days, teachers in Britain are bombarded with demands for reports,
varying from the 5-14 curricular assessments to assessable elements at
A-Level or Scottish Higher. The distressing factor is that reporting is
going to get worse and the only solution is to have a user-friendly
piece of idiot-proof software which has an easily understood manual.
9.5
I think that I am by no means alone in thinking this, as many of my
colleagues have little time to devote to reading any long-winded manual,
and I am glad to say Report comes with a modest six page effort. This
was a plus point, though I must say that I thought the manual could have
been more user-friendly, e.g there is too much technospeak in it, such
as Étype ahead buffer.æ This does pose immediate problems for many
would-be users, even for those involved in teaching computing! On the
other hand, I greatly appreciated the use of graphics to go along with
the text, principally as I find instructions very much easier to follow
from an illustration Ö the old Chinese proverb, öa picture is worth a
thousand wordsò, should be considered by all manual writers.
9.5
The manual contents could also have been better organized. For example,
the sections on Phrases and Phrase Selection would have been better
grouped together, both for the sake of continuity and also to assist
understanding. On the question of being able to understand the manual,
it would also have been very useful to have the section mentioning ÉAuto
Stepæ before it is mentioned in the text, as this is rather confusing
for a novice user.
9.5
Getting going
9.5
I found the package quite easy to use but I would strongly suggest that
every user both reads the Help file in !Report and looks at the manual.
This is essential, as it is not possible to understand the true
potential of this package without going through these steps first. The
main benefit is the ability to run !Report alongside any word processing
package. Iáhave tried two packages, Style and Advance, and Iáhave not
encountered any problems as yet.
9.5
Entering names and appropriate phrases was straightforward and it was
gratifying to see everything appear on the screen where it was supposed
to go. Obviously, 250 characters is a limitation, but it does offer the
opportunity to put in a sentence about four lines long and, given the
space allowed on most report cards, that is adequate enough. Also, the
creation of new phrases is easy, provided you stick to the instructions.
9.5
Another useful feature is the gender changer which enables the user to
define either male or female. This certainly helps to speed up report
writing and avoids potentially embarrassing mistakes! Other useful
features on the click panel include a facility for changing case and
automatic returns. That is not all Ö the click panel also contains the
words Ö and, but, also, or, can and not; all of these features are
valuable to a regular user.
9.5
Alongside the words, there is a good selection of the more commonly used
punctuations; again this is a feature that I would not be without.
Obviously, there are other features that one might like to have, but I
think the right balance has been struck in terms of what the average
user might require. Also, it is useful to have a relatively uncluttered
control panel, especially as it is necessary to have both a word
processor and Report on the screen simultaneously. Apart from which, the
average user would tend to become a bit confused with the presence of an
all-dancing, all-singing panel for Report. Simplicity needs to be the
order of the day.
9.5
Examples
9.5
The examples on the disc are somewhat of a mixed bag, varying from the
very useful to the inexplicable. The Database, Maths Report and Year 3
examples are good, especially the Maths one, which is excellent. The
poem and story are useful examples, but really merit further development
to endorse the points they are trying to make. The Readme file is also
worthwhile, but it could have incorporated some explanation for the
technically disadvantaged who would not pick up the significance of the
spaces and the Wrong! file. Indeed, a trouble-shooting section would
have been very useful in the manual or, failing that, in the Readme file
itself.
9.5
Forms
9.5
The idea of having the forms is basically sound, but some explanation is
necessary for those that would not know that you cannot use the
drawfiles in direct conjunction with Report. Instead, elements have to
be carefully loaded into a DTP package and then used. However, I do
think that it is essential to have these exemplars available as they
give the average teacher some useful tips about Report construction.
Having constructed school reports myself, I am familiar with the
problems, the main one being trying to have a very comprehensive report
in the smallest possible space with the maximum amount of information Ö
a tall order! I think the exemplar material is very good and, even if
you donæt use it, it does give some excellent ideas.
9.5
Other possible applications
9.5
I can see that Report would also be useful for teachers for the creation
of standard letters, e.g. informing parents about discipline, or for
individual letters concerning the childæs welfare.
9.5
From the pupilæs point of view, it would be useful, especially the
phrases to help them with the production of their Record of Achievement.
This would help those pupils who have difficulty in expressing
themselves, as well as those who have spelling difficulties. Obviously,
the teacher would have to help, but the end result would be infinitely
better than some of the products I have seen. Reportæs facilities could
be of use to people outside Education in the Business World for creating
Standard letters, not to mention similar uses for people writing ÉThank
Youæ letters! The potential for saving time is tremendous.
9.5
Overall assessment
9.5
Report is a really useful package despite the minor reservations
concerning the manual, and I am going to twist a couple of arms to get a
copy for my school. For the potential time saved, the price is a steal
and, most important of all, it is easy to use. To get your copy of
Report, you will have to send a cheque for either ú14.95 (single user
licence) or ú29.95 (site licence) to Robert Lytton, 7 Helmsley Drive,
West Park, Leeds LS 16 5HY.áuá
9.5
Pocket Book Column
9.5
Audrey Laski
9.5
The ÉOwneræ query
9.5
Both Ian Clark of Haxby, York, and John Woodthorpe of Rugby have written
in response to the query, in the December issue, about the Info Option
ÉSet Owneræ. They both associate it with the password facility in the
Psion, since, on these machines, the owner information is displayed as
part of the password procedure. They both comment on the probability
that this facility was removed when Acorn commissioned the Pocket Book
in order to prevent what Ian calls ösome little $#@!%ò from setting
password protection on all the class machines as an experiment in
teacher modification!
9.5
PocketFS blues revisited
9.5
In response to James Ducatæs ÉRemote Link not plugged inæ problem,
(November), John Woodthorpe of Rugby suggests opening and closing one of
the drive bay doors, which ömakes the machine check all the drives,
including the ROM in the Link)ò. If this fails, ögo to the system
screen, press the TAB key and then the right (or left) arrow key twice
to get to the directory display for drive C (the ROM in the Link). If it
says the disc is absent, try pulling the link plug in and out slightly
to see if the disc is recognized.ò More depressingly, he adds that this
problem seems to get worse with time, and that Jamesæ machine may need a
service.
9.5
Michael Turner of Diss has a different problem. He created a ÉNew Listæ
for the data application on his Psion 3A, which on that machine carried
a heading icon of the Édataæ type. However, when he configured !PocketFS
on his A5000 to display it, he found he could not assign an icon to the
new column. He says, öWhen looking at the file called ConFigFile that
has been created inside !PocketFS.Resources, within which the icons for
the individual columns appear to be assigned, it seems that the icon for
my newly created column is called ÉUnknownæ.ò Attempts to change this,
generate the error öUnable to access configuration fileò. Can anyone
explain how he can assign the data icon to his new column?
9.5
Recommendations
9.5
John Woodthorpe recommends a magazine for and by Psion enthusiasts,
which has many reviews and articles useful to Pocket Book users. It is
sold by subscription only (ú24 for six issues), but the editor, Steve
Clack, 25 Avocet Way, Bicester Oxon OX6 OYN, will let Archive readers
have a single copy to try in return for ú4. From the current issue, John
found out about a Shareware project planner for the 3a/PBII, öcapable of
dealing with complex projectsò, about which he is extremely
enthusiastic; called Plan, by Andy Clarkson, it certainly looks a
remarkably powerful resource for anyone with any kind of development
project in view.
9.5
Dealing with $
9.5
He also raises a problem to which he hopes someone has the answer. öSome
DOS and Psion files can have the É$æ sign in the filename (e.g.
Sys$samp.lld, Sys$prgm.img), but RISC OS wonæt recognize these. If they
are on DOS media (such as a floppy or Pocket Book drive) thereæs no
problem, as the É<æ character is substituted, but the file canæt be
moved or renamed if itæs on an Acorn floppy or in a compressed file.ò He
deals with it by using DOS on his 486 card (or on the PCEmulator) öto
open the ZIPped archive containing the file, transfer it to a DOS format
disc, and then use RISC OS to copy it to the Psion.ò If anyone has a
better method, he would love to know.
9.5
Powerpack blues
9.5
Steve Hutchinson, of Hucclecote, Gloucester, part of whose letter I used
last time, has, like me, had difficulties with the power light going on
and off. He has solved it to his satisfaction by using a 9v Maplin
regulated power supply (Order code BZ84F), which comes with six plugs;
öhaving found the right one, you then have to work out which way round
to connect it to get the polarity right... the plug has an extra groove
near the tip which seems to keep it fixed in better...ò Heæs a little
concerned that using this non-standard plug might invalidate the
guarantee, but very pleased with the effect.
9.5
Assorted problems
9.5
Steve uses his Psion to take notes at meetings and transfers them to his
A440 but cannot retain bold headings and styles; he suspects that he
needs RTF transfers and the new Impression RTF Loaders, and would be
glad to know if readers using these are finding them worth the expense.
He also has a problem with the year view on Agenda; entering an item
into the week view doesnæt automatically add it to the year view, so
that it has to be done manually. Has anyone with a Psion found a trick
for this? (Schedule doesnæt have a year view, so I canæt help.)
9.5
Endnote
9.5
Perhaps it should be Clumsy Dunceæs Corner. If you are using your
palmtop connected to the wall via the powerpack, itæs as well to make
sure the lead doesnæt cross a public passage through the room; I forgot
this simple rule, and my cousin tripped over the lead and brought the
open Pocket Book hurtling to the ground. The fall broke one of the
plastic hinges of the cover so badly that the whole case had to be
replaced; be warned by me!áuá
9.5
Falcon Analogue Joystick Interface
9.5
Andrew Rawnsley
9.5
For many years, since the introduction of the Archimedes series of
computers, the words ÉAcornæ and Éjoystickæ have rarely been used in the
same sentence.
9.5
There have, on occasion, been attempts by companies to introduce
joysticks or, more recently, joypads (made popular by Sega and Nintendo
consoles), but these have usually met with failure. Most Acorn games-
players seem to find the keyboard and mouse a much more viable
alternative.
9.5
Previous products have usually been flawed in a number of ways:
9.5
1) The joystick or joypad is of poor quality, invariably making life
harder for the user!
9.5
2) You are restricted to using the joystick supplied by the particular
company, as the interface is built into the joystick itself.
9.5
3) The software support is poor, and the joystick fails to work with
many games.
9.5
However, the single biggest flaw has been the digital nature of the
joysticks Ö each button or direction being either on or off. You canæt
move the joystick just a small distance to get a small movement on
screen.
9.5
You may not consider this much of a problem, but take the example where
you want to move your character fractionally to the left, perhaps to
position a jump. On the keyboard, you would simply tap the appropriate
key very quickly. However, with the joystick you can only move a fixed
distance, sometimes making the move almost impossible.
9.5
The problem is accentuated in flight simulators, where the degree of
movement is critical to avoid collisions and allow accurate aiming.
9.5
Introducing the Analogue Joystick
9.5
This problem has been solved for a long time for PC owners Ö the
analogue approach allows the joystick to return the amount of movement
that has been applied. The more movement, the greater the effect in the
game.
9.5
As far as I know, the Falcon interface from Magnetic Image is the first
Acorn product to allow the use of such PC joysticks!
9.5
Not only does the interface solve the problem, but it does so in style,
avoiding most of the problems found with competing products.
9.5
For example, there is no joystick supplied with the product, allowing
the user freedom of choice as to what quality of device to use. You can
pick up a suitable joystick from a PC dealer for less than ú10, but for
ú5 or ú10 more, youæll get a high quality joystick which is bang up-to-
date.
9.5
Software support
9.5
The Falcon is supplied with various modules to allow the product to be
used with any Acorn machine. Iæve tested it on a RiscPC and A5000 with
no problems.
9.5
The modules are supported by a configuration and calibration
application. This may sound complex, and indeed the software took a
little effort to master, but this is time well spent. You set the extent
of movement given by your particular joystick, and the software will
then calculate the degree of movement proportionally.
9.5
You are given a choice whether or not the extra analogue information
should be used or not Ö some arcade games are better played with a
digital-type joystick, so the software allows the analogue device to be
treated as digital for such games.
9.5
I encountered no incompatibilities Ö testing the joystick with titles
such as Star Fighter 3000 and Chocks Away. It brought new life into
these games, as I suddenly became able to swoop and dive just as if
Iáwere controlling a real flight stick.
9.5
Arcade games, such as Burn æOut and Hamsters, also worked without any
difficulties.
9.5
The hardware interface
9.5
The Falcon interface itself is well produced and provides a neat and
compact solution. However, it has one major disadvantage Ö it connects
to the printer port of your machine. This is a popular interface for
such devices, with developers seeming to forget that users might
actually have a printer connected to the printer port.
9.5
The solution is a printer port splitting device which is best bought
from a local PC dealer. At the flick of a switch, you can swap between
your printer and your joystick Ö I canæt see you using both at once!
9.5
Fortunately, the interface worked on the end of both Artworks and
Impression dongles, which will please anyone who doesnæt just use their
Acorn as an expensive alternative to a console!
9.5
Conclusions
9.5
Costing around ú25 from Magnetic Image, the Falcon interface isnæt cheap
when you consider that youæll have to buy a joystick and printer port
splitter on top of that (budget for around ú55 in total). However, it is
a classy product and provides a complete solution to all your game
control needs.
9.5
Bear in mind that, on a PC, youæd have to pay around ú80, as the
interface tends to be only available as part of a sound system
(apparently the sound card is the single multimedia / leisure solution).
9.5
The Falcon interface outclasses any of the other joystick and joypad
solutions available for Acorn users (although which companies will sell
you such a product varies by the month!) and if you like the idea of a
joystick, itæs your best bet for connecting one to your Acorn.
9.5
Me? Iæm going back to practise stunt flying in Star Fighter 3000, now
that I can fly the thing with my spanking new analogue joystick (and
interface!).áuá
9.5
MathMania
9.5
Dave Walsh
9.5
I really liked this program, and so did the children who tried it with
me. As an educational IT trainer, Iáhave to come straight out and say
that it does little with regards to the IT requirements, but it does
achieve its aims to practice maths skills with children in a fun,
interesting and inspiring way.
9.5
MathMania comes on a single disc and installs to a hard disc as soon as
it becomes a registered copy. The manual is clear and the program is
easy enough to use, being mouse driven (or via cursor keys if you wish).
The gameplay is that one of four players is within a maze and must
collect enough gold and a key before finding an exit. Unfortunately (or
fortunately if you are a teacher or parent!), a lot of the passages are
blocked with sliding doors that only open (with a great Éwhooshæ sound)
when a correct answer to a question is given.
9.5
Questions, as you have probably surmised, are based on mathematical
areas including number (the four rules), shape and space, time, angles
and measurement. The Élevelæ of questions can be controlled from a
configuration panel or, indeed, by the children using the program, by
pressing <Alt> and a number between 1 and 4. The manual explains that
difficulty levels 3 and 4 are aimed at Key Stages 3 and 4 whilst levels
1 and 2 are for Key Stage 2.
9.5
There is a choice of six mazes, and although it might have been an
improvement with random mazes created each time, it didnæt seem to
concern the children that much. Maps of mazes can be provided on screen,
or from photocopy masters which are provided in the pack. As the gold
bars and key are placed randomly, pupils will still need to answer a
good number of questions, even if they know the maze outline. Answers
are given by clicking on a small on-screen keypad or by moving across a
series of multiple-choice answers. Points are allotted for each correct
question as well as for each gold bar collected. Be warned that it is
possible to have a negative score, and when you do make an error, the
correct response is not shown, so the program is definitely a revision
tool rather than a learning one.
9.5
Once you have successfully collected gold and keys, you leave the maze
to be given a challenge puzzle. These are more like a mathematical
investigation and are presented in four forms Ö Sliding Block Puzzles,
Tower of Hanoi, Fill it (a puzzle to make the same volume in two bottles
from several different containers) and coins (a strategy game where you
have to try and be the last one to pick up a coin). These can be played
against the clock if you wish.
9.5
I thought some of the topic-based questions were sometimes a little
difficult, as they expected knowledge that might not be present in all
users (e.g.áWhat length is a cricket pitch?, What is the standard unit
to measure discs in?) but I could understand why they had been chosen.
What I would have liked to see, which wasnæt provided, is a way of
editing or adding your own questions to the data file. One of the
difficulties of the program was a lack of clarity in the display of
fractions, and even in the textual description of the puzzles, as they
were red text superimposed on a black background.
9.5
The program keeps a careful record of the performance of the last
player, giving statistics on each area attempted. It even has a high
score table filled with some of the great mathematical minds of the
ancient world, which is a nice touch. Both individual performance and
high score can be saved, which would be the only way of comparing
individual performances accurately.
9.5
The program runs as a single-tasking application but gives clear routes
back to the desktop. I tried it on both A5000 and RiscPC machines and it
behaved perfectly on both. The publicity says it Éis a great way to
practise basic maths and problem-solving and knocks the spots off other
maze games!æ, and I would tend to agree.
9.5
MathMania is available from Topologika priced ú25á+VAT (or ú28 through
Archive). The primary site licence costs ú50 +VAT and the secondary one
is ú65á+VAT from Topologika.áuá
9.5
Cross Stitch Designer
9.5
Dave Wilcox
9.5
Letæs have the attention of all you men out there whose wives always
want to know what the dreaded computer can do for them! Here is one
answer: Cross-Stitch Designer, produced by iSV Products, which converts
sprites into cross-stitch patterns.
9.5
The first version received for review, 1.7, had a few niggling little
faults which detracted from the overall impression of the package, but a
quick telephone call to iSV had version 1.8b winging its way through the
postal system. With this new version, it would seem that all the faults
I moaned about had been put to rights Ö plus a few unknown ones too! By
the time you read this, version 1.8 will be the current version.
9.5
What do you get?
9.5
You get one floppy disc presented in a plastic box. The current version
has a manual on the disc as a hypertext file, but if, like me, you
prefer to read paper print, you can by-pass this and make yourself a
hard copy (approx. four A4 sheets) via Edit or your chosen text editor.
The rest of the disc contains the program (approx. 104Kb), a special
font for use within the program, a reference card showing the colour
symbols, and a folder containing some examples.
9.5
The program
9.5
There is no disc protection on this package, so back it up first or
install it onto hard disc in any location of your choice. Before running
the program, the special font must be installed. This font is a
combination of text and Dingbats, with full skeleton lines, and it has
obviously had a lot of time and effort spent on it, to get the right
combination of characters which will be easily distinguished from each
other.
9.5
Double-clicking on the application icon installs the program onto the
right hand side of the iconbar. The iconbar menu will only give you two
options, info and quit, both of which are self-explanatory.
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Input
9.5
The best way to start the program is to select the sprite you wish
converted and drag it to the iconbar icon. There are a few points to
bear in mind before selecting your sprite file; one pixel translates to
one stitch, and a limit has been set by the author of approximately
250,000 stitches, which is more than adequate, I would suggest!
9.5
The maximum number of colours in a picture is 64, so any pictures with
more than this will need modifying using ChangeFSI or a similar program.
Ifáyou try to load too large a file, or an incorrect file, the program
objects and then lets you try again.
9.5
Dropping your selected sprite onto the icon opens two windows; the
sprite window, which shows the loaded sprite, and the main information
window, which shows details of sprite name, sprite size, resultant
cross-stitch size and the number of stitches in the resultant design,
along with an approximation of the time required to stitch the pattern.
9.5
This is an educated guestimate, presumably based on the stitching times
of the authoræs wife, but would no doubt be a useful guide for school
use. At the bottom of this window are two buttons which work on the
loaded sprite Ö ÉShow Coloursæ and ÉMake XStitchæ.
9.5
Conversion configuration
9.5
Before making your cross-stitch design, select the configuration menu.
From here, you can make selections for your conversion. You can set the
colour of the material used, the number of holes per inch for your
chosen material, the type and style of grid display, the way the text of
the colour listing is saved: standard text, Draw text object or
Impression script file. You can also select whether to keep the picture
as a coloured print or symbols or a combination of both. Once decided,
click on the ÉMake XStitchæ button and wait.
9.5
Output
9.5
Once the design has been calculated, two new windows open, one with the
final design and one with a listing of the colours. From the design
window, you can zoom, save out as a drawfile, or print out to hard copy.
9.5
A quick word of warning here Ö these printouts can be very large,
although they are tiled with an adjustable overlap. The default output
is at 200% for ease of reading. To give an example of size, a sprite of
290╫195 pixels will translate to a cross-stitch of 20.7╫13.9 inches, and
the printout of this pattern will need eighteen A4 pages at 200% scale
(too much smaller and you are entering the realms of eye strain).
9.5
For those with printers that donæt have a sheet feeder, an option exists
for pausing between pages. The colours window can be saved or printed to
accompany your design. If you do not print your design from cross-
stitch, it can be saved as a draw file for later use. I would suggest
the colours are incorporated alongside the final design, and printed out
as one piece of work.
9.5
A quick note about the colours. At present, the colours are matched to
the ÉAnchoræ colour list, as supplied by ÉAnchoræ. I believe they have a
range of approximately 512 colours and shades. According to the author,
ÉAnchoræ have been so impressed by this software that they readily
agreed to supply all their colour information and were more than happy
to have their logo and name associated with the product on release.
Enquiries were also made with ÉDMCæ along the same lines, (ÉDMCæ are
another thread manufacturer), but they do not seem so enthusiastic to
supply their information. Work is still, apparently, continuing along
this line, and will hopefully be included in a later version.
9.5
Conclusion
9.5
As I said at the beginning of this article, I was a little sceptical,
having seen the first version I received for review (1.7), but after the
corrections were sent out, virtually by return of post, as version 1.8,
what a different package! On a scale of one to ten, this package scores
ten from myself and my daughter and is thoroughly recommended for home
and school use. Well done iSV! Excellent value for money.
9.5
Talking of money, Cross-Stitch costs ú21.50 inclusive from iSV Products
or ú21 though Archive.
9.5
Anyone who purchased this software prior to this latest version can
upgrade free of charge by returning their original disc with a stamped
addressed envelope to iSV. No stamp Ö no upgrade.áuá
9.5
Portfolio
9.5
Dave Wilcox
9.5
Portfolio is a very simple media display tool produced by WECC,
(Warwickshire Educational Computing Centre). The program lets you
display a sequence of graphic images and, if appropriate, associated
sound samples. It is a nice presentation package, suitable for home,
school or business use.
9.5
What do you get?
9.5
The software comes in a plastic fold-over wallet containing four discs
and an A5 manual. The manual consists of 36 pages, is well written and
well presented, and explains the software in a concise manner which will
have anybody making presentations in no time at all.
9.5
Disc one contains the program, !System and !Scrap, taking up a massive
160Kb. The rest of the disc and the other three discs are filled with
example presentations, used to good effect to show how simple the
software is to use.
9.5
Requirements
9.5
The minimum requirements for this package are RISC OS 3.1 or higher,
preferably a hard drive, (it will run from floppy, only slower) and 2Mb
of memory. Obviously, if you start using high resolution graphics and
large JPEG files or the like, a larger memory machine will be needed.
When using these files, it must also be noted that the timing will be
inconsistent with the configuration setting, due to the time these files
take to load Ö you rich people out there with RiscPCs will have little
or no trouble. (Iæve just gone green!)
9.5
The program
9.5
There is no copy protection on the disc, so backup first or install to
hard disc. The program can be installed anywhere on the disc you wish.
The configuration window is the main item, which allows several settings
to control the manner the frames load and wipe. You can run your
presentation in a carousel fashion, i.e. when the end is reached, it
restarts and goes on ad infinitum, or you can set it for a single pass.
There are 16 fade options, such as diamonds Ö when the current screen is
due to be changed, it fades and the new screen is introduced with an
overlay diamond effect.
9.5
These effects can be selected as a single fade throughout or Éallæ,
where a different fade is used for each update. You can, of course,
switch off the fade option if desired. The time between fades can be
altered; some screens obviously take longer for the spectator to digest
than others, especially if text is used. The display can be set to
change automatically or manually. This will be a great help if your
presentation is keyed to your speech and gives time for side tracking or
dealing with questions. Using this feature, it is possible to step
forwards and backwards using the mouse or icons on screen.
9.5
A presentation
9.5
A presentation is so easy to construct Ö I did not initially believe
this was all I had to do. To construct a basic presentation, you drag
your pictures into a directory, (files do not need to be squashed but
they can be if you prefer), name your directory to fit your presentation
for future reference, and then drag it onto the iconbar icon. The frames
step through in alphanumeric order using the configurations set up as
above Ö thatæs it!!
9.5
To top this, within the presentation directory make another directory
called sounds. Put sound samples, again squashed, into this directory
and name them the same as the associated picture. When the picture
loads, so long as you have a sample player, like ÉSoundConæ by Rick
Hudson, (FreeWare), you will hear the sound as well Ö impressive or
what?
9.5
For the more adventurous, control can be via script files, which are
also saved into your root presentation directory. These files are made
up of some very simple commands and are very easy to construct using a
text editor. This enables more precise control over the presentation.
9.5
At present, Portfolio can cater for the following filetypes: Sprites,
drawfiles, JPEG files, squashed sprites, squashed drawfiles, GIF files,
PCX files, BMP files, RLE files, PhotoCD files and Armadeus sound files.
(For PhotoCD, you will need to have Photoview loaded first. This should
have been provided with your CD-ROM.)
9.5
Conclusion
9.5
Excellent, no hang ups, no crashes, easy to use, versatile and
reasonably priced. Portfolio costs ú25 single user, ú25 primary school
site licence, and ú29 secondary school site licence from WECC, but you
have to add ú1 p&p and VAT to these prices.áuá
9.5
The Oxford Infant Talking Atlas
9.5
Joe Gallagher
9.5
The Oxford Infant Talking Atlas is the latest fruit of the collaboration
between Sherston Software and OUP which began with the Oxford Reading
Tree series of talking books several years ago. Sherston had been
involved with talking books, prior to this, in the form of its own
Naughty Stories series and had already begun to explore using sound for
information books in its Look Hear topic books. If you are familiar with
these, the format of the latest offering will come as no surprise.
9.5
As well as the discs the package includes a paperback version of the
atlas. The single user version employs Sherstonæs familiar key disc
approach, and although there has been much debate about it in the pages
of this magazine, I must add my two pennyæs worth.
9.5
Obviously, software producers want to prevent unauthorised copying of
programs, but I feel that, now that hard disc systems are becoming the
norm, having to use a floppy disc to start up a program is a bit
primitive. I donæt believe that programs such as this will be pirated to
the same extent as happens with games software. Sherston has started to
appreciate this with its reduced and very reasonable site licence
prices. If you have more than one computer, it is definitely worth
buying the site licence version.
9.5
As with all Sherstonæs products, navigating through the program is
simplicity itself, and it certainly does seem to achieve coverage of the
Key Stage 1 requirements for map reading under the National Curriculum.
Unfortunately, thatæs about it really, as the program doesnæt actually
do much else.
9.5
To be fair this isnæt so much the fault of Sherston as the material with
which they were working (the National Curriculum) and the limitations
imposed by the floppy disc medium. I think, however, that slightly more
use could have been made of hyper-links for exploring some features of
the countries. As it is, it comes across as a fairly run-of-the-mill
presentation which could have been knocked up in a few hours with the
likes of Genesis.
9.5
This is potentially such an exciting topic that it deserves more
attention than merely reading out the names of towns, maps and rivers.
9.5
The Oxford Talking Atlas is available from Sherston software and costs
ú20 +VAT for a single user licence (ú22 through Archive) and ú30 for a
site licence version.áuá
9.5
Oracle Agreement Signed
9.5
öAcorn has entered into an agreement with Oracle Corporation for the
development of reference designs for a range of Network Computing
products.
9.5
öThese Network Computers will be based on open internet standards such
as HTML and Sunæs Java, and at a level that is independent of any
specific machine architecture. They will be intelligent devices which
are connected to networks and are low cost as they do not need local
mass storage and have minimal RAM requirements.ò
9.5
OK, so what does it mean? Nick Chalk has written an excellent article
(page 12) based on prior speculation. Oracle (the worldæs second biggest
software producer) want to attack Microsoftæs monopoly and they see the
netsurfer (sorry, ÉMediaSurferæ), as one way to try. Acorn Éhave the
technologyæ that Oracle want, and now that the link with Oracle is
official, Acorn have the money to get the development moving apace. The
up-front payment from Oracle is rumoured to be a seven-figure sum which
will presumably be spent mainly on development.
9.5
The money being thrown at MediaSurfer will generate technological spin-
off at other levels, most directly for ÉMediaSelectoræ (STB) but also at
other levels. If you combine this with the likely future input at
ÉMediaMakeræ level with multi-platform computers (RiscPC 800, StrongARM
and CHRP Ö see page 11), Acornæs future looks set very fair.áuá
9.5
Acorn MediaRange Ö No Limits to Learning
9.5
Acorn is involved, as ever, in discussions on the future of education.
The massive explosion of multimedia information is a fact of life, and
education needs to move very rapidly if it is to enable our young people
not just to cope with this revolution but to exploit it (in the best
possible sense of the word). Acorn are aware that education is no longer
just a school or college activity but, with improved communications,
also a home or community activity Ö hence the phrase ÉNo limits to
learningæ.
9.5
To provide the tools for this, Acorn is developing a new range of
Étechnologiesæ (they are trying to get away from it being about
Écomputersæ) which includes hardware, software, communications and
networking. The Acorn MediaRange is providing a Éframework for
technologyæ with Éappropriateæ technology for the different stages of
learning.
9.5
But are there any actual new products? MediaSurfer is Acornæs netsurfer
offering which will allow pupils to browse the Web. MediaStore and
MediaService are going to offer ÉEducation Onlineæ via cable or
SchoolServer Ö in due course, homework may well involve accessing the
school Élibraryæ from home via cable! All of these, including
MediaSurfer, are due to be available in the third quarter of 1996.
9.5
Conspicuous by its absence at BETT was the threatened Acorn PC-clone. It
would not surprise me if Acorn had decided that they can now afford to
concentrate on leading into the future with MediaRange rather than
following the crowd into PCs. Certainly, at BETT, the contrast was very
marked: Apple, IBM, Elonex, RM, etc were all concentrating on the
latest, fastest computer, offering multimedia facilities and Internet
access and selling educational software Ö a reactive exercise to provide
Éwhat education wantsæ. Acorn, on the other hand, is working with
educationalists to see where this information-rich society is going, how
education needs to respond, and how Acorn can provide appropriate
technologies for the future.
9.5
The only thing missing in the range (see the comment on page 20) is a
decent portable. Mind you, it will be interesting to see what comes from
Psion in the months ahead. If, as is rumoured, their next offering is
going to be ARM-based, this helps Acorn to produce a continuum of
appropriate technology for education, home (and business?) at every
level.
9.5
On a personal note, like Gerald Fitton (see page 15), I have recently
started using a Pocket Book and am realising what an incredibly powerful
little beast it is. Those who use it will know that its size belies its
potential. Once you start to use it, you see more and more applications
for it and become hooked! As I said last month, I think Geraldæs
comments have a prophetic edge and it will be interesting to see where
things go in the future.
9.5
The importance of all this is that Acorn is the only company, certainly
in the UK and probably in the world, that has the range of technologies
to cover the whole spectrum of educational requirements. That is a very
bold statement and, without some interpretation of what Acorn are up to,
it is difficult to justify, but watch this space...áuá
9.5
...continued on page 8
9.5