Archive Magazine 1997/ARCHIVE_97.iso/text/hints/volume_10

Text File | 1997-08-17 | 138KB | 3,279 lines

Hints and Tips
10.1
Larger Ö I have recently stumbled upon a feature of Larger which I now
use regularly. I cannot find any reference to it in the manual.
10.1
When you double-click on an application on the backdrop, or in a filer
window, it runs as you would expect. However, when you double-click and
Éholdæ the second click down, the application is opened, as if <shift>
were held down.
10.1
I think that Larger causes this, as it seems to work only when Larger is
loaded.
10.1
Alisdair McDiarmid <[e-mail]>
10.1
Ink for Canons Ö I read with interest the letter detailing the
successful use of non-generic inks for Canon printers. I have a BJC 600
and have successfully refilled its cassettes many times using a
hypodermic with a narrow needle. However, recently, the machine simply
stopped printing, and I began to believe the head was damaged. I rang
Canonæs helpline and the first question I was asked was öhave you used a
non-Canon ink?ò Readers should be aware therefore that the use of such
inks probably constitutes a breach of the warranty agreement, and that
should be taken into account.
10.1
P.S. The problem with the printer was solved by simply feeding a great
deal of good paper through it, presumably cleaning the head thoroughly
in the process.
10.1
Kevin Beales, Highley, Shropshire.
10.1
PowerTec SCSI II + PC Card Ö If you use these two, you may have found,
like me, that SCSI discs formatted to DOS do not work with the PC card.
I found that if you format the discs as ÉBlankæ and then use FDisk and
Format from DOS to format them, they work fine.
10.1
Ian Clark <[e-mail]>
10.1
RTF facilities Ö Reference to Kate Crennellæs request for RTF conversion
(Archive 9.12 p13) there are two Rich Text Format (RTF) PD utilities
!RTFwriter and !RTFreader, both v.1.10, by Darryl Sims. These will
convert RTF version 1 text files to Acorn Edit text format and vice
versa.
10.1
Both utilities are available on Risc Disc CD 1 in the Shareware DTP
directory also on Datafile PD CD 1 Issue 2 in the Applications
directory. They may also be downloaded from Arcade BBS.
10.1
They seem to cope very well with most files, and are recommended to
anyone wanting to do occasional conversions.
10.1
Both utilities are on the Archive magazine disc.
10.1
Colin Sutton, Bradford.áuá
10.1
Hints and Tips
9.12
C++ Operator Summary Ö Itæs a bit late to go with my series, but C++
programmers who reHints and Tips
10.1
Larger Ö I have recently stumbled upon a feature of Larger which I now
use regularly. I cannot find any reference to it in the manual.
10.1
When you double-click on an application on the backdrop, or in a filer
window, it runs as you would expect. However, when you double-click and
Éholdæ the second click down, the application is opened, as if <shift>
were held down.
10.1
I think that Larger causes this, as it seems to work only when Larger is
loaded.
10.1
Alisdair McDiarmid <[e-mail]>
10.1
Ink for Canons Ö I read with interest the letter detailing the
successful use of non-generic inks for Canon printers. I have a BJC 600
and have successfully refilled its cassettes many times using a
hypodermic with a narrow needle. However, recently, the machine simply
stopped printing, and I began to believe the head was damaged. I rang
Canonæs helpline and the first question I was asked was öhave you used a
non-Canon ink?ò Readers should be aware therefore that the use of such
inks probably constitutes a breach of the warranty agreement, and that
should be taken into account.
10.1
P.S. The problem with the printer was solved by simply feeding a great
deal of good paper through it, presumably cleaning the head thoroughly
in the process.
10.1
Kevin Beales, Highley, Shropshire.
10.1
PowerTec SCSI II + PC Card Ö If you use these two, you may have found,
like me, that SCSI discs formatted to DOS do not work with the PC card.
I found that if you format the discs as ÉBlankæ and then use FDisk and
Format from DOS to format them, they work fine.
10.1
Ian Clark <[e-mail]>
10.1
RTF facilities Ö Reference to Kate Crennellæs request for RTF conversion
(Archive 9.12 p13) there are two Rich Text Format (RTF) PD utilities
!RTFwriter and !RTFreader, both v.1.10, by Darryl Sims. These will
convert RTF version 1 text files to Acorn Edit text format and vice
versa.
10.1
Both utilities are available on Risc Disc CD 1 in the Shareware DTP
directory also on Datafile PD CD 1 Issue 2 in the Applications
directory. They may also be downloaded from Arcade BBS.
10.1
They seem to cope very well with most files, and are recommended to
anyone wanting to do occasional conversions.
10.1
Both utilities are on the Archive magazine disc.
10.1
Colin Sutton, Bradford.áuá
10.1
Hints and Tips
10.2
Acorn Toolbox from Assembler Ö Using the Acorn Toolbox from Assembler is
easy Ö even easier than from ÉCæ. Writing a WIMP application in
assembler must now be about as easy as it can ever get.
10.2
By way of a demonstration, the !SoundTest application on this monthæs
disc assembles to less than 900 bytes and will run in a 2Kb wimpslot,
even though it supports an iconbar, a menu, info window, and a window
with three sliders, three display fields, a stringset and a button. Oh,
and of course thereæs interactive help everywhere as well!
10.2
The header file defines the data areas required. The toolbox needs two
additional data areas Ö IDBlock which returns information about where
events have occurred, and FileDescriptor which holds information about
the messages file.
10.2
Initialisation is straightforward. The WimpSlot size is checked, data
initialised, and then a call to Toolbox_Initialise:
10.2
Setting r2 to zero ensures that the only Énormalæ wimp message returned
is Message_Quit. All other messages returned will be toolbox events, and
a pointer to a null terminated list of the required events is passed in
r4. Registers r5 and r6 point to FileDescriptor and IDBlock
respectively.
10.2
The program then falls into a standard Wimp_Poll loop. If the message
returned is a toolbox event, the program looks up the event in the list
that was passed to Toolbox_Initialise, and then jumps to the associated
handler.
10.2
Handling the events is very similar to pre-toolbox programs, except that
an abstract handle is returned in the IDBlock rather than the actual
window/icon causing the event.
10.2
The trickiest part is initialising gadgets before theyære displayed for
the first time. This is achieved during the Toolbox_ObjectAutoCreated
event, when we can check the name of the object raising the event Ö
i.e.áöIconbarò, öMenuò, öProgInfoò or öWindowò in this case.
10.2
Dave Appleby, York
10.2
Alternative wastebin Ö I used to use a PD wastebin application, but
always begrudged the space on the iconbar. So, when I found it was
clashing with another application, I binned my bin.
10.2
As a very effective alternative, I now use a directory on my hard disc
that is called up onto my desktop at boot-time, occupies very little
space, and makes a very effective waste bin. I start it up with:
10.2
Filer_OpenDir scsi::SQ270.$.zzz 2348
10.2
 1160 166 186 -sd -si
10.2
This ensures that, whatever I have as the current filer display
settings, this particular directory has small icons (si) and is sorted
by date (sd) That means that the latest file created is at the top of
the directory and hence easily visible, despite the tiny size of the
filer window allocated to it.
10.2
So, to delete a file or directory, I shift-drag it into zzz and then
when, finally, it tells me the directory is full, I open it up and
delete the lower two-thirds of the items (sorted by date, remember).
Itæs simple but effective.
10.2
I use a similar startup for my RAMdisc:
10.2
Filer_OpenDir RAM::RamDisc0.$ 1860
10.2
 1156 134 156 -sd -si
10.2
I actually use this more for my temporary files than the zzz directory Ö
because it empties automatically on switch-off!
10.2
Ed <[e-mail]>
10.2
Compression with the PC card Ö Aálot of people seem to be having trouble
using DoubleSpace and DriveSpace. These compression utilities work by
compressing the data written to your hard disc Éon the flyæ, so it
appears that your data is written normally when in fact it isábeing
stored in a highly compressed format.
10.2
The compressed data is actually being stored in a very large hidden file
(called drvspace.001) which resides in the root directory of your PC
partition.
10.2
The problem with this method of compression is that if this drvspace.001
file is accidentally deleted or corrupted, youæve lost all of your data.
The chances of this happening, however, are about the same odds as your
hard discs crashing which, in the long run, are very slim.
10.2
There is no incompatibility that I know of, but because the program is
not being run on a 100% compatible PC, there could be complications. The
most reliable way of running DriveSpace is under Windows 95. To be even
more secure, there is a version on the MS Plus pack for Windows 95
called DriveSpace 3.
10.2
If you really want to be on the safe side, stick with good old PKZIP.
With this, you can create nicely packed ZIP files with the ability to
access them with SparkFS.
10.2
Anthony Wheeler <[e-mail]>
10.2
DOS files from the PC card Ö I received two responses to my plea for
help (9.12 p27).
10.2
First of all Dennis Aldcroft very kindly explained how I can actually do
this with PCExchange, although it is a bit of a fiddle. Basically,
Windows is loaded and then you go into DOS from there, save your file to
a floppy disc, which is then re-accessed from within Windows and saved
to the ClipBoard by associating the file to the Windows Notepad. PC
Exchange can then be used as before.
10.2
Secondly, Jim Nottingham offered a simpler approach: save any DOS file
to the hard disc, and then Éfreezeæ the PC card. This does not interfere
with the application running in DOS but allows the file to be accessed
from within RISC OS by opening up the PC hard drive directory. Once the
file is found, it will need to have its type set to ÉTextæ, and it can
then be moved or copied to any RISC OS application.
10.2
I am very grateful for these tips, and pass them on in the hope that
they might be useful for others.
10.2
Colin Randall <[e-mail]>
10.2
Double-click-hold Ö Alisdair McDiarmid (10.1 p18) points out a feature
of Larger, whereby if you double click and hold on a file, it is treated
as if shift were held down. Anyway, StrongED also provides this feature,
and jolly useful it is too! The latest version of StrongED (4.14 at the
time of typing) can be downloaded from:
10.2
http://login.eunet.no/~guttorvi/strong.html
10.2
Ian Clark <[e-mail]>
10.2
EasyFont3 Ö When using EasyFont3, if you load an Impression file and get
a Éfont not foundæ message, drag the file onto Easyfont3, and the fonts
will be loaded and drawn, with no need to reload the file.
10.2
Robert Lytton, Leeds
10.2
Large Impression files Ö If you have a large Impression file and a large
amount of memory, Impression will try to load as much as possible into
memory. Most can then be removed by using ÉMinimise memoryæ (if it is a
document and not a file) but this process can take time when using 8Mb
on an older machine! By creating a RAMdisc to use up most of the surplus
memory (click <select> on Acorn, to bottom of Task window, click and
drag out a red bar ÉRAMdiscæ) less of the document will be able to be
loaded and so loading will be quicker! You can then menu ÉQuitæ the
RAMdisc to reclaim the memory.
10.2
Robert Lytton, Leeds
10.2
MoirΘ patterns on scanning Ö In last monthæs Help!!!! feature (10.1
p41), John Molyneux described how he used ImageMaster to minimise MoirΘ
patterns when using his Mustek scanner. There is a more Éscientificæ way
that I used with my Epson that ought to work with his scanner too:
10.2
1) Scan at high resolution, ideally the highest true resolution of the
scanner.
10.2
2) If there is MoirΘ patterning, set ImageMasteræs Alias Filter to
ÉLanczosæ. (Iconbar menu, use Choices.General, then set and OK or Save)
10.2
3) Resample (ImageMasteræs main menu, use Edit.Scale then click the
Resample radio icon, set to 90/90 and Click OK).
10.2
After a few seconds delay, even the worst MoirΘ patterning will entirely
disappear.
10.2
It appears to be necessary to Resample with a fairly wide variance from
the original scanning resolution. The closest numbers I have found
satisfactory have been: original scan at 600 dpi and resample at
200ádpi.
10.2
It is worth experimenting with a variety of numbers. The MoirΘ
patterning isnæt just reduced when this technique is employed Ö it
totally disappears and the improvements can be truly amazing.
10.2
Malcolm Knight <[e-mail]>
10.2
OCR Ö If you wish to use OCR with a Scanlight Professional, I have found
Sleuth2 works very well when using Twain set with maximum brightness.
Before, I used Sleuth1.5 which did a poor job and Iáhad trouble
preparing dark enough scans from the scanner.
10.2
Robert Lytton, Leeds
10.2
PC partitions Ö While I was working at NCS, a number of PC card users
called to ask how they could create more space on their Édrive_cæ
partitions. Attempts to copy DOS/Windows system files to another
partition and recreate drive_c, invariably end in tears and hair loss.
10.2
To make life easier, the !PCConfig application allows you to create a
second partition, called drive_d. You create this in the same way that
you created the first drive_c partition, and DOS and Windows identify it
as drive ÉDæ.
10.2
We recommend that you keep DOS and Windows on drive_c, making sure that
there is a little spare capacity, and create a drive_d on which you then
keep your applications and data. You should allocate around 25-30Mb for
DOS and Windows on drive_c.
10.2
Richard Hesketh <[e-mail]>
10.2
Printer driver problems Ö Some months ago, I read a article about
difficulties using !Printer 1.52 regarding a problem about page-formats
when using a image-setter.
10.2
Iæve installed version 1.53 on a RiscPC connected to an image-setter,
and the problem disappears if you proceed as follows:
10.2
Define a page-format in the printer driver of a size 10╫10 mm Ö
obviously too small for all your documents.
10.2
Configure your PostScript driver to use this page-format. When using
ArtWorks, be sure that ÉSet page formatæ is on. When using Publisher,
the program will complain about the small page size. Click OK and not
Cancel.
10.2
If you use landscape and portrait the correct way, you can save a lot of
bromide/film. Another advantage is that you never have to select a page-
format again in your printer driver.
10.2
I donæt know what happens in other programs like Ovation Pro because I
donæt own this program (yet).
10.2
Martijn Claassen <[e-mail]>
10.2
RiscPC special characters Ö In Archive 6.3, Gabriel Swords produced a
very useful display showing where the special alt-characters are on the
Archimedes keyboards. I have updated this for the RiscPC keyboard.
10.2
Eddie Lord <[e-mail]>
10.2
(Thanks, Eddie! I find it most useful. I keep it above my desk. Iæve put
both that drawfile, and the original Archimedes one, on the monthly
program disc. Ed.)
10.2
Tablemate and OLE Ö When using a Tablemate file and Impressionæs OLE
feature, the tablemate file is exported as a drawfile. If you save the
file and change the filetype to öBCFò or ötblmateò you can then reload
it into Tablemate to edit it before dragging it back into your
Impression document.
10.2
Robert Lytton, Leeds
10.2
TechWriter tips Ö Here are a number of tips from Jim Lesurf. If you have
any more, please send them in to Jim.
10.2
Extending Ésmart quotesæ Ö Versions 2.17 and later of TechWriter Pro
(and recent editions of EasiWriter) offer Ésmart quotesæ and these are
jolly useful. One tap on the ` key gives É, two gives ö, three gives `
itself. Similarly, one tap on É gives æ, two ò, and three gives æ
itself. If you donæt like this feature, you can turn it off. Load the
Messages file into a text editor and find the lines:
10.2
  x35:`Éö`
10.2
  x35:ÉæòÉ
10.2
x35: denotes these triple action commands. The first character after É:æ
is the key it is assigned to, and the following three characters appear
on pressing that key once, twice or three times. Usefully, you can add
extra keys to this list. For example:
10.2
  x35:ÿùÿ
10.2
  x35:..╖î
10.2
Now theá-ákeyágivesá-á,áùáoráÿá, and the . key gives . or ╖ or î
(ellipsis). You can include up to seven x35 commands in the Messages
files, giving you access to up to 14 characters that are otherwise
awkward to get.
10.2
Print button-bar icon Ö The defaults on TechWriter (may work on
EasiWriter too) are, for me, the wrong way around. To swap the defaults
on the print icon, proceed as follows: Load the Resources file into an
editor and change the line
10.2
  w1:icbr Isave!11 10,68,4
10.2
to
10.2
  w1:icbr Isave!11 68,10,4
10.2
This swaps the actions of select and adjust on this icon. If you look at
this file, you can see that the other button-bar icons work in a similar
way and, if you want, you can fiddle around with them, too. However,
proceed with care!
10.2
Stationery and default choices Ö When using TechWriter (may work on
EasiWriter too) I keep myástationery in a directory called Stationery
inside !TechWriter. To tell the program where it is, Iáinclude a line in
the !Run file:
10.2
Set TechWriter$Path <TechWriter$Dir>.Stationery.
10.2
(Note the trailing full stop.) This command sets a path.
10.2
You can then tell TechWriter which piece of stationery to use by default
by adding the É-uæ switch to the run command at the bottom of the run
file, e.g. in my case this reads Run .!RunImage %*0 -d  -ustyle_def -
r1600, so my default stationery is the file Éstyle_defæ inside the
!TechWriter.Stationery directory.
10.2
Other useful switches: the É-r1600æ switch tells TechWriter to keep the
current document wholly in memory unless it gets bigger than 1600Kb.
i.e. it sets the file size below which TechWriter avoids any disc-
swapping and keeps the current file Éclosedæ unless youære loading/
saving. You can use É-ræ to set any size you find convenient.
10.2
The -b switch followed by a font name, causes that font to be displayed
and printed Éback to frontæ. This is useful if you want to write in
languages like Hebrew which read/write from right to left. It means you
can mix a right-to-left language with a left-to-right one in the same
document and each will come out the correct way around.
10.2
The -o switch sets the Éeasy save directoryæ. That means it sets where a
file will be saved if you give a plain name (what Acorn call a
leafname). e.g. if you set this to
10.2
-oADFS::HardDisc4.$
10.2
and then save a file as fred it will be saved to the file
10.2
ADFS::HardDisc4.$.fred .
10.2
Modern Choices! Ö Acorn have decided that instead of putting default
settings in the run command of TechWriteræs (and perhaps EasiWriteræs)
!Run file, they should be saved in a ÉChoicesæ file elsewhere in the
machine. This is to facilitate the Net machines which have the
applications in ROM. Try looking for it inside !TechWriter or the !Boot
application on the main hard disc. Specifically, look for a file
!Boot.Choices.TechWriter.Choices. If it exists, it over-rules anything
you may set on the run line, so you should make any changes in the
!Choices file.
10.2
Jim Lesurf <[e-mail]>
10.2
The characters shown in bold are produced by pressing the relevant key
in conjunction with either the Alt key on its own or both the Shift and
Alt keys:-
10.2
e.g.   to type ó hold down Alt and press the C key
10.2
  to type ⌐ hold down Shift and Alt and press the C key.
10.2
The characters indicated by an arrow are intended to be used in
conjunction with other keys to produce accented letters; in each case
the accent is only produced if the Alt-key combination is followed by an
appropriate letter: e.g. to produce Θ you first type Alt-[ then type e.
If you want the accent on its own, follow the Alt-key combination by
pressing the spacebar.
10.2
Alt-<hyphen> produces a öhard hyphenò (character 173)
10.2
Alt-<spacebar> produces a öhard spaceò (character 160)
10.2
Hints and Tips
10.3
ÉCanæt find file: Logonæ Ö With some software running on RISC OS 3.
6/3.7, you get an error message saying it cannot find file ÉLogonæ.
It is likely be caused by a lazy programmer using a *LO. (*Load)
command. To avoid the problem, you have to make sure that any alias
for ÉLogonæ is unset.
10.3
To find out if you have an Alias called Alias$Logon, either bring up
a task window (ctrl-f12) or press <f12> and, at the star prompt, type
SHOW, and then look through the list of Aliasæs for the above. (Or
use *SHOW A* to avoid looking through the whole list. Ed.)
10.3
If you find it, then it is preventing you using *LO. The simple
answer is to unset this alias, by typing UNSET alias$Logon <return>.
This should not upset any of your programs unless you are using a
network, since this alias is used to allow an abbreviated method of
logging onto a file server!
10.3
Chris Hughes <[e-mail]>
10.3
HP printer problems Ö Concerning the problems with colour printing on
a 550C (Archive 10.2 p52): I used to have the same problem, but I
solved it by creating a drawfile with a dozen thin, not quite
horizontal lines, alternating in colour between yellow, cyan and
magenta. I dropped its icon onto the Pinboard, and every fortnight
!Alarm reminds me to print the file. Apparently, this keeps the
nozzles from clogging, because I have not had any problems since.
10.3
Jochen Konietzko <[e-mail]>
10.3
HTML hint Ö A hint that other folks may have thought of: When
converting database or formatted tables into HTML table format, use a
spreadsheet to insert all the <tr><td> tags into the document.
10.3
I use PipeDream 4 (Iæve not put my StrongARM in yet because PD4 is my
most used piece of software and I havenæt got my copy of 4.5 yet!)
and go through the following steps.
10.3
I load the table into PD4. Insert columns where the <tr> and <td>
tags are to go. Replicate the tags down each column.
10.3
I have a league table which changes every week. The table is
calculated in document(A) by PD4 and the columns of the table have
copies in every alternate column in document(B). If all the required
other tags are already in document(B) then it can be saved as plain
text, the filetype changed to HTML and Robert is your Uncle!
10.3
You may see the crude results by looking at the URL: http://www.nwnet.
co.uk/dean/
10.3
Barry Allen <[e-mail]>
10.3
Installing cast-off 3.6 chips Ö With all these super StrongARMs
appearing, there are lots of sets of redundant RISCáOS 3.6 chips
floating around. So I thought Iæd give it a go. I did have some
difficulties, but have now successfully installed RISC OS 3.6 in my
old RiscPC 600, öwith a little help from my friendsò.
10.3
It might help other people to explain what I did. Any references to
Config assume that you have double-clicked on !Boot to bring up the
Configure application.
10.3
1. I had problems with odd error messages when setting the monitor
config but these were solved by using a completely Évirginæ RISCáOS 3.
6 !Boot application from the CD-ROM disc supplied with the StrongARM
upgrade.
10.3
2. Problems with a Cumana double-speed CD-ROM drive were solved as
follows...
10.3
a. Move !BootIDECD out of the !Boot.Choices.Boot.PreDesk folder. Do
this before you fit the new ROMs, and you can leave the other steps b-
d until afterwards.
10.3
b. Copy the module !BootIDECD.islcd_2 back into the PreDesk folder.
10.3
c. *UNPLUG CDFSSoftATAPI (Do this before step d. or the machine will
Éfreezeæ and will require another power-on ÉRæ reset.)
10.3
d. Reboot the machine and set the number of CD-ROM drives to 1 with
the configure routine. When the CD icon appears on the iconbar, check
the iconbar menu Configure=>Drives is also set to 1.
10.3
(My thanks to Mark Gillman of Cumana for the above advice.)
10.3
3. Problems with the Castle Technology 16-bit SCSI card and 135Mb
Syquest drive were solved with a few bits of advice from Castle on
the use of the new !Setup application Ö there is no documentation
supplied with the application itself. The old SetupSCSI Basic program
can be used instead. Myáthanks to John Ballance of Castle Technology.
10.3
Once the machine is up and running again with the new ROMs and !Boot
application, itæs just a question of copying over any modules,
applications etc, from the old !Boot application as and when you find
the need for them. Any modules that you need from the old !Boot.
Resources.!System.Modules folder should be copied into the new !Boot.
Resources.!System.360.Modules folder.
10.3
Donæt forget that you do not require such applications as Chars,
Draw, Edit, Help, Paint in the $.Apps folder, as they are supplied in
ROM.
10.3
In brief, to upgrade...
10.3
1. Move the old !Boot application into a folder called, say, $.
OldBoot.
10.3
2. Copy the new RISCáOS 3.6 Boot application from the CD-ROM. (If you
donæt have a CD-ROM drive, then youæll have to get hold of a copy on
floppy discs.)
10.3
3. Remove the old Apps such as Edit and Paint into a folder called,
say, $.OldApps.
10.3
4. Power down the machine tidily and change the ROMs. Take care!
10.3
5. Power the machine back on, holding down the ÉRæ key to reset the
CMOS configuration RAM.
10.3
6. Reset the appropriate configuration options, including the CD-ROM
drive as above.
10.3
Happy upgrading for skinflints like me, who are too tight-fisted to
cough up for a StrongARM!
10.3
P.S. One note of caution.
10.3
Having successfully upgraded to RISCáOS 3.6, Iáfound that everything
worked fine. I then decided that it was time to take advantage of the
new filecore, and format my 850Mb Conner HD to the full 812Mb instead
of 511Mb, which was all that the old filecore could handle in one
partition.
10.3
I therefore backed everything up onto a Syquest cartridge,
reformatted the disc, and restored all the data. Then I attempted to
run EasyFont-3, and it tartly informed me that this was not the disc
that it had been installed upon. I should have first un-installed
from the Éoldæ disc, thus gaining one credit on the master floppy
disc. Without the credit, you are snookered.
10.3
(Am I the only person who hates these pedantic O.T.T. copy protection
measures?) (I can assure you that youære not alone! Ed.)
10.3
So, remember to un-install Éfussyæ copy-protected programs such as
EasyFont, before upgrading to RISCáOS 3.6, or changing or
reformatting the hard disc, or anything else likely to make the
machine appear different!
10.3
P.P.S. The good news is that EasyFont-Pro (which is SA compatible)
has a much better form of copy protection. As long as you still have
the original floppy disc, you can re-install as many times as you
like. Phew! Iæve coughed up my ú15 to upgrade.
10.3
Richard Sterry <[e-mail]>
10.3
PC partitions Ö This is the easiest way to get more space on Drive_C.
Create Drive_D of the desired size, using !PCConfig, then run the PC
Card and at the DOS prompt, type:
10.3
format d: /s
10.3
The É/sæ ensures correct copying of the system files. Now quit the PC
card, and ensure that Truncate is off by typing (after <f12> or from
a task window):
10.3
configure truncate off
10.3
Open filer windows on Drive_C and Drive_D, select all on Drive_C and
then deselect the system files (which are already on Drive_D). Drag
the selection to Drive_D.
10.3
When the copying finishes, use !PCConfig to make Drive_D the only
partition seen by the PC Card (confusingly, it will still be called
ÉC:æ by DOS) and run !PC. When you have confirmed that the new
partition works you can quit !PC, rename the old Drive_C, rename
Drive_D as Drive_C and use !PCConfig to make sure that the PC Card
only sees the new Drive_C. In case of disaster, you still have your
original Drive_C so you can start again! Or you can delete it later.
10.3
This method has never failed me. I have used it to make three
Éminimum sizeæ partitions containing only the files found on newly
set up DOS, Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 partitions (without the swap
files). In case of a disaster befalling one of my normal partitions,
I can easily get back to a newly set up partition without the painful
and time-consuming installation process.
10.3
Seßn Kelly <[e-mail]>
10.3
Photograph frames in Draw Ö Iárecently copied some old family
photographs for a friend for an album he was making up. Whilst we
were sweating in my darkroom, we were talking about the fact that the
only person who could recall the names and relationships of the
subjects was an old uncle. I suggested that it might be a good idea
to scan all of the available photographs to disc and add labels in
Draw with all the necessary details. We decided that this was a good
idea and, whilst doing this, I thought that some of the Victorian
photographs would benefit from having an oval frame around them.
10.3
This was the beginning of many enjoyable hours trying to achieve the
required results. After much consultation of the manual, I discovered
the quirky little routine called The Winding Rule and, after a little
bit of experimentation, I found what was and was not possible.
10.3
Once Iæd got my first frame, there was no stopping me Ö I had squares
in circles, circles in squares, triangles, ovals, stars and various
other shapes that have no geometric names, inside one another. I had
hearts with arrows, bottles with see-through labels, as well as
dozens of other indescribable shapes. Once Iæd satisfied my creative
urges I thought to myself ÉSurely I Canæt Be The Only Person In The
Acorn Fraternity Unaware Of Thisæ, so I decided to share it with the
rest of the world.
10.3
Hereæs the method I used and some pretty æorrible examples of my
efforts. (On the Archive monthly disc. Ed.)
10.3
Select Open Line Tool, single click at point A
10.3
Move to point B, single click
10.3
Move to point C, single click
10.3
Move to point D, single click
10.3
Move to point E, single click
10.3
Select Move Tool
10.3
Select Closed Curve Tool
10.3
Single click at point F
10.3
Move to point G, single click
10.3
Move to point H, single click
10.3
Move to point I, double click
10.3
The basic shape is now drawn; clicking with <adjust> over the object
will allow it to be altered to suit.
10.3
Use the select box and style menu to alter line thickness, and line
and fill colours.
10.3
I have found the use of the PD application, Warfarin, invaluable in
the drawing of the frames, especially the keypress replacements for
the mouse buttons.
10.3
Brian Coleman, Yar, Cleveland
10.3
Portuguese keyboard Ö The command *country xxx configures the
keyboard, but the ROM keyboard driver has only the UK layout
definition, and no other. So, you need an international layout
definition module which will be selected by the *country command.
10.3
Since there was no such module for Portugal, I made my own with an
application named !IKHG (Acorn International Keyboard Handler
Generator), which Iágot from APDL. This is a very old program (RISC
OS 2 epoch), but it is very efficient, easy enough to use, and it
works!
10.3
I now have a Portugal module installed in my PreDesk directory. It
runs OK, and it drives my Portuguese keyboard on RISC OS 3.6!!! This
!IKHG should be on every non-UK Acorn computer! (If anyone wants a
copy, just email me.)
10.3
Ricardoæs Portuguese keyboard driver plus a drawfile of the keyboard
layout is on this monthæs disc, and Iæll try to get hold of !IKHG,
too. It should be on the Acorn ftp site if I can find it! Ed.
10.3
Ricardo Martins <[e-mail]>
10.3
StrongARM / ArcFS warning Ö Many PD and magazine discs (including
Archive!) have archived material, and include a copy of !ArcFS so
that files are self-extracting when clicked upon. Unfortunately, this
often turns into a computer crash as their copy of !ArcFS has not
been upgraded for StrongARM. A copy of the upgraded version is on the
StrongARM CD, so delete or rename the old !ArcFS copy on the disc,
because the computer will crash even when using the new copy once it
has Éseenæ the old one. You can then drag the files to your upgraded
copy of !ArcFS with no trouble.
10.3
Lots of folk got caught on this one Ö sorry! Weæve updated all our
discs now (I think!) Ed.
10.3
Eric Ayers <[e-mail]>
Hints and Tips
10.4
Archive CD Ö Weæve found a slight Éfeatureæ in the TextFind program
on the Archive CD. It searches Volume 8 twice and doesnæt search
Volume 9! It isnæt actually the program thatæs at fault, but the Data
file it uses. When it was updated from the æ95 version to the æ96
version, the changes in the Data file were not done properly. Sorry
about that.
10.4
This is how to modify it. Copy the whole of the !TextFind application
to your hard disc. The program searches a path set by an OS variable
and this is set in the !Run file, so this will need to be changed.
Alter the line:
10.4
Set TextFindSearch$ Path<Obey$Dir>.^.TEXT
10.4
to:
10.4
Set TextFindSearch$Path CDFS::ARCHIVE_96.$.TEXT
10.4
That will make it look on the CD even though itæs being run from
somewhere else.
10.4
Now load the file ÉDataæ in the applicationæs directory into a text
editor. This file defines all the files to be searched. If you look
at the list of magazine filenames, you will see that the VOLUME 8
references were duplicated, but we forgot to change the directory
name to ÉVOLUME 9æ.
10.4
So, look for lines like:
10.4
9 MAGAZINE.VOLUME_08.ISSUE_xx
10.4
and change them to:
10.4
9 MAGAZINE.VOLUME_09.ISSUExx
10.4
but only alter the lines beginning with É9æ.
10.4
Thereæs a similar mistake in the products section, so youæll need to
modify the last line of the file in a similar way.
10.4
Sorry for the confusion. Weæll put a modified version on the monthly
program disc if you donæt want to be messing about editing data files.
10.4
Ed. <[e-mail]>
10.4
Archive magazine storage (10.3 p64) Ö I have been using cardboard
magazine boxes to store a variety of publications for years. At
different times, I have bought ÉEsselteæ, ÉEastlight Storeallæ
(93051) and Éa.i.m Packagingæ (013171), but I would not know where to
go for these now.
10.4
I do have a mail order catalogue from ÉNeat Ideasæ office supplies
which lists them. They are oná0800-500192, fax:á0800-600192. The A5
boxes are made by ÉR-Kiveæ (sounds appropriate) in woodgrain finish.
The order number is 42856 and packs of 12 cost ú7.29 bought in
quantities of 10+.
10.4
(This sounded like good news, but I ordered a set, just to see how
they compared with the, now discontinued, Fellowes ones that I
mentioned last month Ö they ARE the, önow discontinued, Fellowes
onesò! Bother!! Ed.)
10.4
Steve Drain, Bridport
10.4
Credit card numbers by email Ö Iáhave just read the article in
Archive 10.3 p42 about sending credit card numbers by email. I agree
it is a very convenient way of ordering goods. If the credit card
details were Éencodedæ into a Squash/Spark/Arc file, then sent as a
mail attachment, wouldnæt this be sufficient to prevent card number
detection?
10.4
(An excellent idea, Gary!! OK, it wouldnæt stop someone who was
determined, but using Squash would be pretty effective. For once,
being in the minority would be a singular advantage Ö how many
criminals are öAcorn-awareò?! Feel free to use a Squashed Edit file
to convey your credit card details if you like. Ed.)
10.4
Gary Jones <[e-mail]>
10.4
Email management and address storage Ö As you can imagine, I receive
large numbers of emails (up to 60 a day just after the magazine has
gone out). Since the Marcel instructions say that files over 100
messages or so become unwieldy, backing up the mail could be a bit of
a nightmare, but I have developed a technique which seems to work
well.
10.4
In the main ÉMailæ directory, where the ÉINBOXæ and Ésentæ files are
stored, I have text files called É_Addrsæ, É_Receivedæ and É_Sentæ,
and other Marcel files called Énowæ, Éwaitæ and Ékeepæ. (The É_æ
characters at the beginning of the names, simply makes them appear at
the end of the directory, alphabetically.)
10.4
When some emails come in, I load É_Receivedæ, and drag ÉINBOXæ into
it, and re-save it. This archives the messages in case I decide I
want to refer to them after they have been deleted from the Marcel
file. Iáthen open the Énowæ file and drag all the incoming messages
from ÉINBOXæ into this file. This ensures that I donæt archive the
messages twice.
10.4
(The uses of Éwaitæ and Ékeepæ should, hopefully, be fairly self-
explanatory, and É_addrsæ is the text file of my email addresses Ö
see below.)
10.4
The É_sentæ text file provides a backup to the Marcel Ésentæ file
which fills up rapidly and becomes unusable because of the huge
length of time it takes to open and close it in Marcel Ö even with
StrongARM.
10.4
My emails come from many hundreds of different people, so storing
their email addresses needed some thought too. Rather than trying to
store them all in Marcelæs Address Book, I use !Zap (because I
havenæt found out how to do it in StrongED yet!!) with its öSearch To
Bufferò facility to go through the huge files of archived email
messages, looking for öFrom:ò. The effect of this is to create a file
of all the addresses from each of the emails. With a bit of massaging
in StrongED, and sorting in PipeDream, I have a textfile of email
addresses, and StrongEDæs interactive search facility means I can
quickly locate anyoneæs email address.
10.4
(Help, please?! As the weeks and months go by, this file gets bigger
and bigger, and the addresses of those who email me frequently are
repeated over and over again. Would someone be prepared to write me a
simple application which takes a text file as input, and removes
adjacent lines that are identical? Shouldnæt be too difficult for
someone who knows what they are doing!)
10.4
Ed. <[e-mail]>
10.4
File download with ANT Suite Ö Now, I know you all know this (but I
didnæt)... If you are told thereæs a file you want at, say, ftp://ftp.
acorn.co.uk/pub/riscos/patches/printers153.arc, how would you get it?
Well, I would have loaded the ftp client application, accessed ftp.
acorn.co.uk and then worked my way laboriously through each of the
directories. Try this instead...
10.4
Have a Marcel file containing a dummy email. Load the Marcel file
into your text editor (shift-double-click), add the ftp address on a
blank line anywhere in the email text and save it again. Load it into
Marcel and simply click on the address. It loads Fresco (not the ftp
client), finds the file and presents it (after a certain download
time) as a draggable directory Ö much easier!
10.4
For users of StrongED, itæs even easier still!! You can simply drop a
text file containing the address onto the iconbar, or type in the
address, and then double-click on the address in StrongEDæs editing
window. It will load Fresco for you and hey presto!
10.4
Ed. <[e-mail]>
10.4
Keyboard fault? Ö Today the letter ÉNæ on my A310æs keyboard gave up
the ghost. Not being one to baulk at the idea of DIY repairs (or
attempted repairs!), out came my trusty screwdriver.
10.4
After switching the machine off, I unplugged the keyboard and mouse,
and took the keyboard to a cleared table, complete with tablecloth.
10.4
Turning the keyboard over revealed eight fixing screws, easily
removed. The case splits in two, and a further seven screws remove
the keyboard assembly from the case, and another 21 screws remove the
printed circuit board (PCB) from the keys. If you attempt this, I
suggest that you keep the assembly upside down or the bits may fall
out.
10.4
The bottom of each key switch has a small silver disc which makes
direct contact with two semi-circular contacts on the PCB when
pressed. On my machine, it was these contacts which had accumulated
much Égrelpæ Ö it was a surprise that only the ÉNæ had stopped
working!
10.4
It was tempting to use cotton wool and isopropyl alcohol, but cotton
wool is too hairy, Iæm told, so Iáused a screen cleaning pad Ö You
know, the ones that are similar to KFC finger wipes, though
Iáwouldnæt suggest you used one of those!
10.4
As you can see from this, the letter ÉNæ is working fine now. As they
say, reassembly is the opposite to disassembly.
10.4
Perhaps someone could comment on the equivalent procedure for later
machines.
10.4
Tim Hill <[e-mail]>
10.4
Keyboard cleaning is something that gets covered every so often, but
itæs over three years since the last time it was mentioned. If you
want more details, you can refer to: 3.9 p10,  4.7 p5,  5.1 p37,  5.2
p28 and 7.1 p32. Ed.
10.4
PC partitions (10.3 p 66) Ö If you have version of !PCx86 later than
about 1.89, the !PCConfig application has another application,
!PCFormat, inside its Resources directory. This can be copied from
there and run independently to create as many DOS partitions as you
want, with any names. I use this to provide partitions for my Pocket
Book files to preserve names. It is quicker and simpler than keeping
them in archives, and DOS mapping is in force too.
10.4
As the partitions are RISC OS files, they can be copied and moved and
you can have Drive_Cæs in more than one directory, or rename one as a
backup. Just be sure to have one of them where the PC expects to find
it, and that it has been formatted at some stage with the /s, system,
switch.
10.4
When copying files between partitions only, Étruncateæ has no effect,
at least in RISCáOS 3.6.
10.4
Another useful trick is to specify drive partitions on a path
variable, e.g. <PCDrives$Dir>.C or on a pseudo-filing-system, e.g.
PCDrives:C. Then the location of the drives does not have to be
fixed. Examine the application É!PCDrivesæ to see what Iámean.
10.4
Lastly, as the partitions are files you can change their extent. What
good is that? If you create, say, an initialised 100Mb partition most
of it is empty; only the beginning contains disc data and space for
FAT etc. By removing the blank space you can have that 100Mb disc
occupying only 216Kb in RISCáOS if it is empty of DOS files.
Conveniently, as DOS files are added, RISCáOS extends the partition
to accommodate them, but not from DOS inside !PCx86. I have used this
for a while and had no problems at all (so far) to store and backup
DOS files. Active drive partitions will not work if shortened.
10.4
The partitions created by É!PCFormatæ are not actually the sizes you
would expect, always smaller. How far you can reduce the extent
without overwriting the FAT area can probably be determined, but I
did it by trial. The reduced files are still nearly all empty so they
compress very well. Iáhave made an ArcFS archive of a useful
selection which you can copy out and rename.
10.4
(Available on this monthæs program disc. Ed.)
10.4
Steve Drain, Bridport
10.4
TurboDrivers Ö Having reinstalled TurboDrivers following my upgrade
to StrongARM, I found that I could not remember how to fix the
position of the TurboDrivers status window and it took some time to
find. So I thought this might be of interest to others.
10.4
To locate and fix your TurboDrivers status window, position the
status window where you want it, then press <f12> and type:
10.4
*PQFSSaveWindows
10.4
or
10.4
*PQFS.
10.4
(donæt forget the ö.ò after the öSò). If you donæt want it to appear
at all on start-up, close the window altogether and then use the
*PQFS. command.
10.4
Chris Dawson <[e-mail]>
10.4
Hints and Tips
10.5
Essential Selection demo CD Ö In Archive 10.1 p40, I wrote about YITM
öEssential CDò demo disc and its incompatibility with RiscPC 700
(RISCáOS 3.6) series 16-bit sound card, saying that it necessitated a
patch to be obtained and run first. This now only applies to the
original version 1 CD (December 1994) which was Acorn/PC dual
platform. The current version 2 (December 1995), Acorn platform only,
has the patch included on the CD-ROM and runs at start-up, offering
the choice of 8 or 16-bit sound. This later version also has several
additional demos of 1996 releases. It is a very well produced demo
disc of YITM educational multimedia catalogue and, best of all, it is
free!
10.5
Colin Sutton, Bradford
10.5
Hard disc nightmare Ö The tale of the lost IDE hard disc in last
monthæs Comment Column (10.4 p26) reminded me of a few weeks ago when
Iáaccidentally trashed my main SCSI HD. (Filecore wanted to know if
the disc had been formatted!) Like a fool, Iæd not taken backups
either.
10.5
Anyway, just before I was about to throw myself off the top of a very
tall building, I remembered the fsck suite from Sergio Monesi. Not
only did I manage to make my disc readable again (without
reformatting), but I also managed to recover all my lost files using
fsck and Hardfix.
10.5
I canæt recommend the fsck suite highly enough Ö it was the best ú5 I
ever spent.
10.5
Ian Clark <[e-mail]>
10.5
PC partitions Ö Following on from my hint last month, p30, I have
just realised that I made
10.5
an elementary mistake in the !Boot file:
10.5
If PCDrives$Path=öò Then ...
10.5
should have been:
10.5
If ö<PCDrives$Path>ò=öò Then ...
10.5
Sorry about that!
10.5
Steve Drain <[e-mail]>
10.5
Polling the Wimp Ö One of the problems with version 3.1 of RISCáOS is
the time taken to page applications in and out of memory when
multitasking. (I have heard it said that this problem has been
overcome with later versions.) If the application, at the time of
paging in and out, occupies a large wimp slot, this situation is even
worse.
10.5
I find this problem most acute when using Twain with a scanner, but
other software, which is highly multitasking, can also slow down when
processing. Iáfind it essential to quit any large applications and
associated files, such as Impression, when acquiring an image from
the scanner, otherwise the scanner continually pauses as it waits for
the computer to catch up.
10.5
The solution is for software writers to only have the wimp Épollæ
them when it is necessary, and to keep the slot sizes to a minimum.
Could the latter be achieved by storing large stationary data in the
System sprite pool? Hum! The former should be done by sending the
correct poll word and by setting up a list of messages you wish to
receive.
10.5
The poll word, sent when you call Wimp_Poll, is to state which events
you are interested in receiving, and the list of messages contains
those you wish to receive via a message event. The message list is
important because of the large, and ever expanding, number of
messages that are Ébroadcastæ around the wimp. If you do not state
which messages you are interested in, you will be sent all of the
broadcast messages, such as when a directory is opened!
10.5
The messages you wish to receive should be stated as:
10.5
DEF PROCWimp_Start(taskname$)
10.5
ON ERROR PROCError:END
10.5
DIM wimp% 256
10.5
task%=0
10.5
wimp%!0=1     :REM Message_DataSave
10.5
wimp%!4=2     :REM Message_DataSaveAck
10.5
wimp%!8=3     :REM Message_DataLoad
10.5
wimp%!12=4    :REM Message_DataLoadAck
10.5
wimp%!16=8    :REM Message_PreQuit
10.5
wimp%!20=&502 :REM Message_HelpRequest
10.5
wimp%!24=&400C1 :REM Message_
10.5
ModeChange
10.5
wimp%!28=&808C1 :REM Message_
10.5
TaskWindow_Output
10.5
wimp%!32=0      :REM end of list
10.5
SYSòWimp_Initialiseò,310,&4B534154,
10.5
taskname$,wimp% TO ,task%
10.5
ENDPROC
10.5
Please note that the version number used here is 310 (as in 3.10 Ö
there may be important additions for later versions) and also there
are many other possible messages you may like to receive.
10.5
The wimp poll will only return to your task if an event has occurred
that you have stated you are interested in. If it is of no
consequence that the pointer has entered a window that you own, you
should mask this event out. If you do not, your application will be
paged into memory, an event ÉPointer_Entering_Windowæ will be sent to
you, you will ignore it, request the next wimp poll and be paged out
of memory.
10.5
A far more important event to mask out is the Null_Reason_Code event.
This event will page in your application whenever the user is not
clicking away, to allow background processing. If you donæt need to
do any background processing, mask it out!
10.5
Some code:
10.5
REM Stages of the applicationæs life
10.5
PROCWimp_Start(òMy Applicationò)
10.5
PROCSetInitialData
10.5
PROCWaitForEvent
10.5
PROCWimp_CloseDown
10.5
END
10.5
REM The applications base state,
10.5
 waiting for instruction
10.5
DEF PROCWaitForEvent
10.5
finished%=0   :REM Global variable can
10.5
be set anywhere
10.5
REPEAT
10.5
  PROCCallWimpPoll(%1)
10.5
  REM mask out null event
10.5
UNTIL finished%
10.5
ENDPROC
10.5
DEF PROCWimp_CloseDown
10.5
REM close any files and tidy up and
10.5
 then...
10.5
SYSòWimp_CloseDownò,task%,òTASKò
10.5
ENDPROC
10.5
DEF PROCPolling
10.5
REM call procedure during extensive
10.5
 processing to keep multitasking
10.5
PROCCallWimpPoll(%0)
10.5
WHILE Paused%=1 AND Aborted%=0
10.5
  PROCCallWimpPoll(%1)
10.5
  REM mask out null event whilst
10.5
 processing paused
10.5
ENDWHILE
10.5
ENDPROC
10.5
DEF PROCCallWimpPoll(idle%)
10.5
REM polling the wimp for events and a
10.5
 short break in processing!
10.5
LOCAL event%,mask%
10.5
mask%=%11100100110000+idle%
10.5
REM masked out events 4,5,8,11,12,13
10.5
 as will not respond to them
10.5
SYSòWimp_Pollò,mask%,wimp% TO event%
10.5
  CASE event% OF
10.5
  WHEN0 : REM will give you control
10.5
 back for further processing
10.5
  WHEN2 : PROCEvent_WindowOpen
10.5
  WHEN3 : PROCEvent_CloseWindow
10.5
  WHEN6 : PROCEvent_MouseClick
10.5
  WHEN9 : PROCEvent_MenuChoice
10.5
  WHEN17,18: PROCEvent_Message
10.5
    REM those stated in PROCWimp_Start
10.5
  ENDCASE
10.5
IF finished%=1 THEN Aborted%=1
10.5
REM Aborted% is used here as a means
10.5
REM to drop through processing for
10.5
REM various reasons and not just
10.5
REM when finishing!
10.5
ENDPROCáuá
10.5
Robert Lytton, Leeds
10.5
Printing from both RISC OS and Windows Ö I have an Aleph One PC
podule card in my A540, and I find printing from Windows, through the
A540 and a Turbo Driver, to be terribly slow. There are various
Éfixesæ for this, but I need things to work for my non-technical wife
(not the other one). So I decided to buy a printer sharer (RS number
215-016) and connect it to both the A540 printer port (using the
Turbo Driver cable) and to the PC card (with a regular cable). I then
configured the PC card to use its own printer port. To work in
Windows it is vital to turn off the Windows Éfast print to portæ
option which is on by default. From the Control panel, you must go
through Printers, to Connect, to find the box to click.
10.5
Brian Cowan <[e-mail]>
10.5
StrongED & Keystroke Ö Has anyone tried the combination of Keystroke
and StrongED? At first when I moved over to StrongED, I had real
difficulties because Keystroke does not seem to be able to
communicate with StrongED when it comes to cursor movements within
öInsert textò commands. (Has anyone else had that problem and/or
solved it?)
10.5
Anyway, I have got round it to some extent by using the \@ within
StrongED to mark a place to which the cursor should go, and using
Keystroke to enter the characters that call up the abbreviation.
10.5
For example, I need keystrokes that simplify some of the editing when
answering emails. So suppose I start with the following text:
10.5
> end of the paragraph.
10.5
>
10.5
> This is the start of the
10.5
I have a Keystroke that is defined as |?|?$; (i.e.ádelete, delete
followed by $;) and then I have a StrongED abbreviation definition
for $; as \n\n\@\n\@ which means type two returns, mark where the
cursor is to go (\@), do another return and then go back to where we
want the cursor. I then put the cursor on the blank line between the
two paragraphs that I want to split, and I end up with:
10.5
> end of the paragraph.
10.5
I type on this line... etc
10.5
> This is the start of the
10.5
StrongED is extremely powerful, and Iæm hoping weæll soon have some
articles on it, hopefully two lots, one for beginners (because I
found it very difficult to get started) and one to encourage people
into using it more deeply.
10.5
One other quick hint (from Guttorm Vik himself) is to use ` for your
abbreviation definitions instead of $. The reason for using it is
that, unlike $, it is an un-shifted character and is therefore
quicker to type. So, I have things like:
10.5
`ri  RISCáOS
10.5
`rp  RiscPC
10.5
`sm  StrongARM
10.5
`sa  Small Ads
10.5
`se  StrongED
10.5
In each case, itæs three simple un-shifted keystrokes to produce
complex combinations of shifted and un-shifted letters.
10.5
Oh, and I use `` for öUKPò which I use in emails instead of the pound
sign which isnæt handled properly by email systems that canæt cope
with MIME encoding.
10.5
Ed. <[e-mail]>
10.5
System font Ö Since starting to use email, Iáhave been using system
font much more frequently, especially because of !PtrCopy which is so
useful for avoiding having to re-type email addresses Ö just öwipeò
them from some text file into the writeable icon of the öMail toò
window Ö see 9.8 p23. (but Iádigress!)
10.5
The thing I hate about the system font is the Éslashedæ zeros which I
find so difficult to read. I used to use a command in my boot file
that reprogrammed the screen definition of the zero, so I set out to
find it again and reinstall it on my StrongARM RiscPC! Iáfound it in
Archive 1.12! It was given in the form of VDU commands:
10.5
VDU23,48,60,102,102,102,102,102,60,0
10.5
VDU23,79,126,102,102,102,102,102,126,0
10.5
These can be put in a Basic program, but if you want to use an Obey
file, and put it in the PreDesk directory, you need the command line
equivalent:
10.5
*echo<23><48><60><102><102><102><102>
10.5
<102><60><0>
10.5
*echo<23><79><126><102><102><102>
10.5
<102><102><126><0>
10.5
This redefines the zero (ASCII 48) into the shape of the capital O,
and then squares up the shape of the capital O (ASCII 79) to
differentiate the two.
10.5
Ed. <[e-mail]>
Hints and Tips
10.6
AMD 5x6 devices Ö Anyone who purchases a 5x6 card, or upgrades their
current card to a 5x6, should be aware that if it is an AMD device,
it will not work if you have the PCSleep directory in your !Boot.
Choices.Boot.Predesk directory. It is not always obvious that you
have this chip, as it is covered with a fan.
10.6
The symptoms are that, on boot up, the PC device will be reported as
a 486SXLC2, and you will receive the message ÉUnable to set
parameters IDE drive 0, error code 0080hæ. Then it will report ÉNo
boot device Ö Retryingæ.
10.6
Removing the PCSleep directory cures this problem. You must, however,
close down and switch off your machine to reboot, before trying to
run the PC Card without PCSleep.
10.6
This is apparently typical of cards supplied by CJE Micros and Q-
Tec/MCS.
10.6
Thanks to Aleph One for sorting this out for me.
10.6
Eddie Lord <[e-mail]>
10.6
Deleting text in writeable icons Ö Do you ever tire of having to
accomplish <ctrl-U> with one hand? (Everybody does know you donæt
have to use delete repeatedly, donæt you?! Ed.)
10.6
Try putting the following in your boot file:
10.6
Key 11 |U
10.6
|F11 = <Ctrl-U> Ö RISC OS delete line
10.6
I chose <f11> as it was available (to me) and near the backspace key.
So, when offered öTextFileò or, worse, something like öSCSI::Hard.$.
Clipboard.ScratchPad.TaxReturnò, simply hit <f11> and the text will
be deleted Ö it seems to work in most writeable icons.
10.6
Unfortunately, applications such as Impression use the function keys
for all manner of purposes, and so <f11> on its own does not work.
What a shame! (Now, whereæs my copy of the Style Guide?)
10.6
[e-mail]
10.6
Duff RiscPC mains switche(r)s? Ö If you have had trouble with the
mains switch on a RiscPC, you may be able to learn from my
experience. The switch on my computer sometimes didnæt work first
time I pressed it Ö what is more, over a period of a week or so, it
seemed to get worse.
10.6
As it got worse, I pressed the button more and more firmly to make it
work, but still it just seemed to get worse and worse. Then the penny
dropped. (Iæm a bit slow you see!)
10.6
I then tried pressing the button slowly and gently... and it now
works perfectly, every single time!!!
10.6
P.S. Well, actually, not every time. Iæve also now discovered that it
tends to catch if you push towards the left, so gentle pressure
towards the right (i.e. the edge of the computer) helps ensure smooth
action.
10.6
Ed. <[e-mail]>
10.6
Interactive help Ö It is always a good idea to add interactive help
to an application, to be used by !Help. Hopefully, the application is
so intuitive that it is superfluous, but it may quickly inform
someone of a function or shortcut that is only obvious by Reading The
Fine Manual! Much of the help text can become repetitive and take up
a surprising amount of memory. However, you can use the following
code to shorten the writing and storage space for these terse phrases:
10.6
\S Ö Click SELECT to
10.6
\R Ö Move the pointer right to
10.6
\A Ö Click ADJUST to
10.6
\T Ö This is the
10.6
\G Ö This option is greyed out because
10.6
\W Ö This window is
10.6
\D Ö Drag SELECT to
10.6
\d Ö Drag ADJUST to
10.6
\w Ö window
10.6
\s Ö SELECT
10.6
\a Ö ADJUST
10.6
All the phrases will have a trailing space except \w, \s and \a.
10.6
The help messages use ÉGSæ strings to receive codes that are not
available from the keyboard. To add any ASCII codes from 1 to 26, you
have to use the codes |A to |Z. So, for a new line (ASCII 13) use |M.
If you wish to use the | character, you must use double ||, similarly
with |ö for ò.
10.6
Robert Lytton, Leeds
10.6
Ovation spelling checker hint Ö In checking the spelling of a
document, I have often come across the problemáof a word, which is
listed as incorrect, but which needs to be left as it is. One example
of this is if you are writing about the misspelling itself, and
another is where such things as file or variable names are very close
to the correct spelling of some word.
10.6
I donæt want to add the word to the dictionary as it is Éwrongæ, and
if I tell the checker to ignore it, any further misspellings in the
same document will also be ignored. At Acorn World, I was talking to
John Wallace of Beebug about this, and asking for a skip button to be
added to the dialogue box. He mentioned some of the difficulties of
changing the program and then, suddenly, said öYou donæt need it!
Just press the replace button and the checker will Éreplaceæ the
incorrect word with the copy of itself which is sitting in the
dialogue box.ò Now that I know, it is obvious, and I have checked
that it works with Ovation, but it does not work with either
Impression or Fireworkz. In these two programs, the main possible
replacement is put into the dialogue box automatically, whereas in
Ovation you have to select it first.
10.6
David Wild, Hemel Hempstead
10.6
PCPro problem Ö I installed !PCPro recently and was happy with its
performance except that, whenever I wanted to close down the PC
window, my RiscPC 700 locked up and needed a full reset. After much
trial and error, I was able to fix the fault when Iáremoved the non-
standard screen mode definitions that I had installed a year earlier,
and reverted to the normal Acorn modes. The definitions that caused
the problem were from Andrew Newton (on the Archive 8.5 program disc)
and were originally designed to avoid letter box presentation when
using the old Archimedes modes 1Ö15. This is not a criticism of
Andrewæs work, just a note on incompatibility!
10.6
Jim Davies, Paignton
10.6
PipeDream function keys Ö Having upgraded to PipeDream 4.5 to work
with StrongARM, I was disappointed that all the useful PD3 function
keys had been lost. They can be reclaimed as follows: Move the
PD3Keys file from the !PipeDream.Resources.CmdFiles directory to
!PipeDream.User and rename it ÉKeyæ.
10.6
(Michael Nurse)
10.6
Michael Nurse, Cambridge
10.6
Polling the wimp Ö In Archive 10.5, p31, Polling the Wimp, Robert
Lytton commented that scanning with Twain is slow due to the presence
of other tasks which slow down polling. This is a common observation
and there is a solution. To quote the ImageMaster !ReadMe file:
10.6
In release 1.05, a new variable has been added to the !ImgMaster.
Resources.Config file Ö ÉPollCountæ controls how often ImageMaster
will give control back to the desktop. The reason for this is that,
on the RiscPC, polling is slow, and scanning can be a lengthy process
if other tasks are running. By increasing PollCount, you can reduce
this effect.
10.6
David Pilling <[e-mail]>
10.6
Random backdrop textures Ö In RISC OS 3.6, if you set random backdrop
textures in Configure and then save a Boot file, you will always get
the same backdrop. What happens, it seems, is that Configure saves
the file ($.!Boot.Choices.Boot.Tasks.Configure) with the line öRun
BootResources:Configure.Textures.RTextureò, which runs a small Basic
program to select a random backdrop. However, the Boot file saves
whichever texture you had when the file was saved, and as this is run
after $.!Boot.Choices.Boot.Tasks.Configure, you are stuck with this
backdrop for ever.
10.6
To get round this, put the line öRun BootResources:Configure.Textures.
RTextureò in your Boot file in the Pinboard section.
10.6
Peter Young <[e-mail]>
10.6
Soft cases for the Psion Siena Ö these cost upwards of ú20, but for
about ú2, I bought a Specsavers soft case for spectacles and it takes
the Siena snugly. The spring-mouthed pouch (in a variety of colours)
excludes dirt, provides some physical protection and disguises the
expensive gadget sitting on the desk! Iæm sure other opticians do
their own equivalent.
10.6
David Andrews <[e-mail]>
10.6
StrongARM öfunnyò Ö I have a number of PC CD-ROMs with clipart, and
so I bought ImageFS2 so that I could get at them without using the PC
card. After my StrongARM was fitted, ImageFS2 wouldnæt work, so I had
to wait for the upgrade from Alternative Publishing.
10.6
However, I was consoled by the fact that the new version would add
WMF files to the list of those types to be converted automatically.
When the new version arrived, it came with new versions of CD_Fix and
CD_Type, as the old versions would not work with the new operating
system.
10.6
Because I am not using the CD system all the time, my practice had
been to click on CD_Fix as I needed it, and this had worked from the
day I received my RiscPC over a year ago. So, I installed the new
versions of the programs, clicked on CD_Fix and, after about ten
minutes, I switched the machine off, as nothing would work at all.
After several retries, all with the same result, I remembered that it
might change things if I turned the cache off before loading CD_Fix.
There was a change Ö <ctrl-break> would now work, but nothing else!
10.6
I telephoned everyone who might be able to help, but no-one seemed to
have met the problem before. Cumana sent me a disc with the latest
version (2.04) of the SCSI II software, but this just made the
machine completely unusable, so I had to go back to the previous
version (2.03). Robin Watts of Warm Silence Software eventually gave
me the vital clue, which caused me to transfer the calling of CD_Fix
from öas requiredò to being included in the boot file ADFS::HardDisc4.
$.!Boot.Choices.Boot.Desktop. Some of my hair has now started to
regrow, and everything seems to work the way that the book says.
10.6
David Wild, Hemel Hempstead
10.6
StrongARM patch Ö I have a StrongARM RiscPC on which I run
PipeDream4, which occasionally crashed mysteriously with the message
öNo stack for trap Handlerò. On the advice of Colton Software, I
obtained a copy of the software patch from Acornæs FTP site,
advertised thus:
10.6
riscos370sa: Patch for RISC OS 3.70 StrongARM users which improves
printing speed and in-use stability. It is very, very strongly
recommended that RISC OS 3.70 users install this!!
10.6
I installed it in PreDesk as per instructions. However, to remind me
of the process, I copied the ReadMe file into PreDesk as well. This
completely disrupted my Boot sequence, which failed to recognise VRAM
or monitor, and refused to accept that I wished a RAMDisc to exist.
It was unreconfigurable, because no pathname had been set for the
data. A 640╫480, 16 colour mode was all that 2Mb VRAM and an AKF85
could manage!
10.6
Removing the ReadMe file (filetype TEXT) eventually resolved the
problem. By experiment, I found that it did no harm in Boot, nor in
ROMPatch, but was fatal in PreDesk.
10.6
Page 5-229 (!Boot Application) of the PRM states, in respect of the
PreDesk directory:
10.6
Action taken on files and subdirectories Ö The files and directories
held within the PreDesk directory are acted on in the following Order:
10.6
Any files of type Module are run using *RMLoad.
10.6
Any files of type Sprite are run using *IconSprites.
10.6
Any files of type Obey are run using *Obey -c.
10.6
Any directories are run using *Run.
10.6
All other files are ignored.
10.6
Donæt you believe it!
10.6
Mick Day <[e-mail]>
10.6
Email editing with StrongED Ö When quoting a long section in
someoneæs email, rather than [SNIP] it completely, I use StrongEDæs
wonderful ability to mark a block of text as shown overleaf. (Drag
with <alt> held down.)
10.6
I then cut that section, thereby reducing the bulk of the message,
but allowing enough for the sender to recognise what the original was
about.
10.6
I also add a ö.......[SNIP]ò message so they know that the email
hasnæt been garbled in transit. Needless to say I only have to type
ö`1ò, and StrongEDæs abbreviation system leaps into action to type
the required snip text!
10.6
Ed. <[e-mail]>
10.6
Windows 95 file transfer Ö There have been a few articles in the past
that explained how to transfer files between two PC partitions. The
methods explained are OK if you are using Windows 3.11 or below, but
not for Windows 95 using long file names (i.e. files that donæt use
the 8.3 format that DOS uses). When you view Windows 95æs LFNs in any
OS other than 95, you can only see its truncated version.
10.6
For example, a file called ÉA very long storyæ viewed in DOS, Windows
3.11 or RISC OS would appear as ÉAVERYL~1.DOCæ. Copying the file in
this form destroys the LFN, and so the file ceases to function
correctly.
10.6
There is, however, a way to copy these truncated files by using a
utility that comes with Windows 95 (CD version only) called LFNBK
(Long File Name Backup). All you have to do is to copy it into your
Windows 95 directory. If you then run it from a DOS session inside
Windows 95, with the parameter /b (b for backup), i.e.
10.6
LFNBK/B
10.6
then all the LFNs are truncated, and the tail-ends are stored in a
ÉLFNBK.DATæ.
10.6
Remember though, that for every directory you wish to copy across,
you must copy the LFNBK utility into the respective directory and run
it.
10.6
Now copy across all you wish to transfer to your new partition, in
the usual RISC OS fashion, by opening up the two partition windows
and dragging the files across.
10.6
When all the files are in the new partition, run the LFNBK utility
again but this time with the /r (r for restore) option. All the LFNs
are now restored.
10.6
The last thing to do is to setup up the new partition with !PCconfig.
10.6
Jochen Konietzko <[e-mail]>
10.6
Zap Basic editing Ö I recently needed a small Basic program to do a
calculation for me, and created it using Zap. When I ran the program,
I had a ömissing TOò error, because I had forgotten to put the word
in capitals. I went back into Zap to correct the error, and used
<ctrl-S> to change the case.
10.6
The Basic system still refused to accept my program until I deleted
the word completely, and retyped it in upper case. It would seem that
once it has registered the presence of a variable, which ötoò would
be, it will not recognise the alteration.
10.6
David Wild, Hemel Hempsteadáuá
Hints and Tips
10.7
Abbreviations in PipeDream Ö I run a sales system in PipeDream. One
of the features is that we can type a short name into the first
column of the sales sheet. If it finds the short name in the first
column of the address list, it replaces it by the expanded full name.
So, if I typed in ÉNCSæ, PipeDream would recognise this and replace
it with Norwich Computer Services. The formula is:
10.7
if(type(lookup(B195,[Addresses]C$1C$1000,
[Addresses]C$1C$1000))=öerrorò,set_value(B195,lookup(B195,
[Addresses]A$1A$1000,[Addresses]C$1C$1000)),öOKò)
10.7
Once the full name has been inserted, the formula returns OK. If the
short name doesnæt exist, then an Éerroræ is given. This is very
useful Ö it also shows that the customer exists in the database and
has been accepted.
10.7
Richard Torrens <[e-mail]>
10.7
Command line made easy Ö In Archive 10.6, öMultitasking Made Easyò,
David Wild referred to the difficulty of invoking applications from
the CLI.
10.7
There are two ways to make life easy for CLI users:
10.7
Å put frequently used commands in the Library (this is usually $.
!Boot.Library for a RiscPC)
10.7
Å use aliases (set Alias$...)
10.7
The latter is used by WIMP apps to record how to do certain actions.
It can also be used in RISC OS without any additional software to
make shortcuts for CLI users.
10.7
As I use several systems at work, I often type the Éwrongæ command
when I change systems. Under RISC OS this is no problem, I simply
Alias$ the foreign string to the local one. For example:
10.7
set Alias$ls : cat
10.7
so if I have been overdoing the UNIX during the day, it still works.
Simple!
10.7
Peter Chambers <[e-mail]>
10.7
Creating a font table Ö I have created a file using TableMate
Designer (v4.01a) showing a table of the keyboard ASCII numbers and
the characters they produce for a given font. The file is included on
this monthæs disc.
10.7
The default is Trinity.Medium, but by the use of the TableMate style
options, you can change the font to any other font, and the character
set will be changed and displayed in the appropriate column.
10.7
To alter the style, first you have to enter the Edit Style option.
You can do this either through the standard RISC OS menu options, or
by <ctrl-f6>. From this window, you click on the Name pop-up button,
and from the options that appear, select FontDemo. Then you repeat
the process for the Font Name. The list of fonts that appears from
this menu will depend on the fonts currently installed into your font
manager. The only part that you have to change manually is the Font
Name in the Header line.
10.7
At any time, the table can be printed, saved or exported to Draw, CSV
or even HTML File formats. If you save the table out as a drawfile,
you can then load it into CCæs ArtWorks where you can create some
unusual graduated cell backgrounds within the table. However, before
you do this, make sure you are 100% happy with the rest of the table,
and save it as a TableMate file because Draw/Artworks files cannot be
reloaded into Tablemate.
10.7
(If you donæt have Tablemate, you can load the drawfile version Ö
also on the monthly disc Ö and Select All, StyleÖFont name and select
the font you want. Thatæs OK unless you want to display something
like Dingbats Ö the ASCII numbers all turn into Dingbats, so you
canæt see whatæs what! Ed.)
10.7
Jonathan Frankl, Bradford
10.7
Creating neat screenshots Ö If you are using the screen-grab facility
in Paint, to capture part of the screen Ö one or more windows Ö then
you get a much neater result if you open a blank (white) Edit window
or Impression window, and then arrange the windows to be grabbed in
front of that. It means that you get a nice clean white border around
the windows Ö much neater for an illustration in Archive!
10.7
Ed. <[e-mail]>
10.7
Deleting text from writable icons (10.6 p.23) I have been using the
IClear module until recently but found that it interfered with some
applications such as Impact and a simple banking program (Illegal
window handle type errors). So now Iæve used Keystroke to give a
<ctrl-U> when I hold <alt> and click <select> in the icon. I find
this even easier than IClear.
10.7
(Keystroke is GREAT, but itæs a pig to know how to set things up. I
tried to set up <alt>-<select> but failed, so I asked Alan to
explain. Ed.)
10.7
I achieved it with just one operation. I opened a Keystroke window as
usual and ensured it had the focus. I held down <alt>, and clicked in
the top RH box with <select>. ÉAltæ blacked out at the top of the
Keystroke window, and ÉSelectæ showed in the top RH box. I then chose
ÉInsert textæ and simply put |U in the writable icon labelled Étext:æ
and pressed <return>... ...and thatæs it Ö just a one-page Keystroke
macro! Now I simply place the pointer in a writable icon, hold down
an <alt> key and click <select>. Any text in the icon is immediately
cleared.
10.7
Alan Gentle <[e-mail]>
10.7
File download with ANT Suite Ö In the January Hints and Tips (10.4
p29), Paul suggested creating a dummy email in ANTæs Marcel in order
to fetch deeply-buried files from an FTP site.
10.7
An alternative method is to add the FTP URL to the Hotlist. If the
FTP client is not loaded, the Hotlist will call upon Fresco in
preference.
10.7
In addition, any FTP URLs in the Hotlist are also available from the
list in the FTP client öConnect...ò window. Any extra path
information supplied in the URL appears in the öDirectoryò field.
10.7
Nick Chalk <[e-mail]>
10.7
Fractions Ö I read Gerald Chandleræs column on fractions (10.6 page
75) with great interest, but from a different perspective. I enjoy
fractions Ö they remind me of a time of quality in engineering, of
leather aprons and craft workshops. Brilliant! So when I read of the
problem, I thought that there had to be a better way (or rather
another way). I thought that most people would not want to be limited
to a few specialised fonts, so this is my suggestion.
10.7
I think that the way forward is to use one of Geraldæs early
suggestions, namely that of adjusting the super- and sub-script
options and to adjust the kerning to give you the characters you
require.
10.7
The problem, as was quite rightly pointed out, was the vast number of
keystrokes required to get to the finished result. A lot of
keystrokes?... ...call for Keystroke!
10.7
I suppose most of you know of Keystroke from Quantum Software. This
brilliant utility allows you to automate your keyboard so that with a
touch of a key, dozens of things can happen, menus open, text gets
typed in, windows moved, almost anything and setting it up is so
easy. In fact, I have to say that there has not been a repetitive job
I ever come across that !Keystroke couldnæt handle Ö it has saved me
hours and hours of work. Enough of the advert, if you donæt have
Keystroke then get it Ö you wonæt be sorry. Still, if you remain
unconvinced you can have a bit of it for free! Read on...
10.7
The requirement is to type in a long series of commands to your
wordprocessor to get your text displayed correctly. In Impression,
the commands needed to type in one eighth would be something like:
10.7
{Ö50 }1/8
10.7
A space after the final  is important. It produces: 1/8
10.7
Fortunately, Stuart at Quantum (home of !Keystroke) has written a
little basic program that will effectively Étype inæ any text you
like. The program (called Sendtext) is distributed with !Keystroke
(in the !KeyLib) and (with any luck) will be distributed on this
monthæs magazine disc.
10.7
You could use the program from an obeyfile using something like :
10.7
<Obey$Dir>.Sendtext {Ö50 }1/8
10.7
You could then have obey files for each fraction. Every time you
wanted a fraction then all youæd need to do would be to double-click
the obey file.
10.7
Even neater would be to use Dave Thomasæs excellent !Makro. The copy
Iæve sent to Paul is all set up and ready to go. If you use it, drop
a line to Dave and tell him how good it is, heæs a good chap and we
all do better with a bit of encouragement.
10.7
So there you go Ö easy fractions in any font at the click of a
button. By the way, when I asked Stuart if I could use his software
like this, he had no hesitation in agreeing. Thanks, Stuart, on
behalf of all Archive readers!
10.7
Bob Harding, 40 Bremhill, Calne, Wilts. SN11 9LD. <rharding@argonet.
co.uk>
10.7
Impression background printing Ö To print from Impression in the
background, save the document, quit it from memory, then drag it onto
the printer icon on the iconbar.
10.7
Frank Jukes <[e-mail]>
10.7
Impression centring graphics Ö Now I know this may seem obvious to
some of you, but youæd be amazed at the number of articles I get with
graphics centred by eye, with spaces. The first essential is to know
about embedding a graphic in the text. This can be done by dropping
it in, or by copying it with <ctrl-C> and pasting it with <ctrl-shift-
F>. So, to centre a graphic, press <return> at the end of the
paragraph below which the graphic is to go so that the cursor is on a
blank line between the two paragraphs. Now press <f6>, and the cursor
will move to the centre of the page or column. Now drop the graphic
in there, or paste with <ctrl-shift-F>.
10.7
Ed. <[e-mail]>
10.7
Midi voice tables Ö In my beginnersæ article öMidi For The Massesò
(10.3 p28), I referred to tables detailing the 128 voices of the
General Midi set. These should relate easily to the software patches,
as used with ReMIDI, where the patch filename is abbreviated and its
meaning probably not obvious to the beginner. The tables were not
actually printed with the article Ö no doubt due to limited space Ö
although the TableMate-3 and Drawfile versions were included on the
subscription disc. Non-disc subscribers, however, would have been at
a disadvantage. Also included is a table of the General MIDI
Percussion Drum Set along with their pitch identification.
10.7
I hope readers will find these of interest.
10.7
Colin Sutton, Bradford
10.7
Multitasking made easy Ö Like David Wild (10.6 p57), I often want to
run a program in background in its own task window which I can
subsequently scroll. Here is another, quick way of doing it.
10.7
1. Use your text editor (Edit etc) to create an obey file, and enter
the one-liner:
10.7
*TaskWindow Ödisplay Öquit
10.7
2. While holding down <shift>, drag the file you want to run so that
the complete path name follows after the Öquit parameter.
10.7
3. Save this obey file with a name such as öDOITò.
10.7
4. Double-click öDOITò, and your program will run in the background
in its own task window.
10.7
The parameters are optional:
10.7
-display opens the task window, which will open anyway if the program
puts anything out to the screen
10.7
-quit finishes the task without the option of running another task in
that same window.
10.7
Sherwin Hall <[e-mail]>
10.7
Printers on the iconbar Ö I stopped using TurboDrivers when I fitted
the StrongARM, primarily because Computer Concepts were so slow in
sending out upgrades, and have only just installed it. Eventually,
one tires of waiting for !Publisher to complete printing under the
Acorn printer driver Ö even with version 1.54 and Ébackgroundæ
printing enabled.
10.7
When I had finished using the !Install program, I double-clicked on
!Printers in Resources:$.Apps. I then dragged two copies of the
DeskJet printer driver to the Printer control panel (IconBar
Menu/Printer control... ) and configured them, one for high
resolution (300╫300) and the other for draft (150╫150) printing. At
this stage, I found that I had six printer icons on the iconbar. From
left to right, there were the original pair of DeskJet icons (same
functions as the new Turbo Icons), one for the dot-matrix printer,
one for printing to send by ArcFax, and the two new Turbo icons. It
was easy to switch off the two old DeskJet icons (iconbar
Menu/Printer control... /Menu/Inactive), but this left four icons in
an unfamiliar order.
10.7
(At this point you may be wondering why I was not simply upgrading
the old, already installed version of TurboDriver I had used with the
ARM 610.) Well, it may have been that it was version 4.04. At a more
practical level, the earlier installation was lost in a hard disc
crash.
10.7
To achieve the desired arrangement, the obvious course appeared to be
to öRemoveò those icons at the left which I wanted to be at the
right, then re-install them by dragging the printer definition files
back into the Printer control panel, and go through the process of
configuration again. Was that tedious process necessary? I chose to
do it another way.
10.7
The file ÉSettingsæ (<HardDisc>.$.!Boot.Choices .Printers.Settings )
contains the information relating to the printer icons on the
iconbar. A little study shows the structure of this file. If you load
it into Zap (or Edit, if you must), you will see a long series of
identifiers down the left hand edge of the window; each consists of
two lower case letters followed by a colon followed by a space. In
many cases, these identifiers are followed by a string of characters,
some of which are intelligible words.
10.7
The start of the file is identified by Éfv: æ. Each section relating
to an individual printer icon is not indicated by any clearly evident
delimiters. It is necessary to find Écl: æ and Éic: æ which are the
start and finish lines for each printer.
10.7
Make a copy of the file ÉSettingsæ (as ÉSettingsOæ, or some such)
before starting to reorganise the listing in ÉSettingsæ. Select all
of the lines of the section (æcl: æ to Éic: æ) representing the
printer icon that you want at the left hand end of the group on the
iconbar and move these to immediately below Éfv: æ by pressing <ctrl-
V>. In the same way, you can rearrange the section of lines relating
to each of the other settings. Beware of leaving totally blank lines
in the file, and ensure that one line-feed follows the last line
starting Éic: æ. Save the reorganised ÉSettingsæ, quit !Printers and
re-run it. Hey, presto!
10.7
It is easier to do it once you see the file and its identifiers, than
it is to describe it . With the exception of the time it took me to
understand the structure of the file, it took less time to rearrange
the icons this way than using the ÉRemove/Drag in/Configureæ method
described earlier.
10.7
Of course, someone will now tell me of an easier, quicker way!?
10.7
Frank Watkinson <[e-mail]>
10.7
Zap and Basic Ö Here are some hints to remedy some of the obscure
bugs in the latest version of !Zap editor (version 1.35).
10.7
Failing Basic programs Ö One of the obscure bugs that !Zap has is
that any trailing spaces on a Basic line are not removed. This can
cause your program to behave very strangely, and output unexpected
results. Under many circumstances, the Basic interpreter will ignore
trailing spaces on a Basic line, except in the following case:
10.7
1. After the keyword OF in a öCASE .... OFò structure. The OF keyword
must be the last keyword on the line. The interpreter will give the
error: öCASE..OF statement must be the last thing on a lineò.
10.7
2. After the keyword THEN in a multi-line öIF..THEN..ELSE..ENDIFò.
The Basic interpreter will not be able to detect the trailing space
and will convert the multi-line IF...ENDIF into a single line IF
THEN. The Basic interpreter will not trap this error. Your program
will behave differently from what you had expected. It could take you
ages to discover what is happening because you canæt see the space
after the THEN keyword!!!
10.7
One solution I found is to save the file, open it in Edit, then save
it back again. Edit and other Basic editors will remove trailing
spaces on a Basic line.
10.7
Basic mode, Copy and Move bugs Ö This bug is easily encountered. You
can lose your program if you donæt read on.... !Zap allows you to
position the cursor (using the mouse) on a line that is below the
last line of the Basic program. This is normally an empty line
without a line number. If you press <enter> or just type in
something, !Zap will automatically put in a new incremented line
number on the left hand, and your typed text appears on the line. So
far, all is fine. However, if while the cursor is on the blank line,
you highlight something from somewhere else in the program and copy
it or move it to the blank line, !Zap goes crazy. It will first show
a wrong line number, and only part of the copied text will appear on
the line. This new line is now a garbage line. You cannot move the
cursor beyond it. You will not be able to delete this line. Most
importantly, if you want to save your file, Zap will report an error
öNot a Basic file or corrupt at offset &xxxxxxxò, and you will not be
able to save your file.
10.7
For example:
10.7
10 DIM memory% memory_size%
10.7
20 memory_pointer% memory%*4
10.7
30 byte% !memory%
10.7
The above is only a 3 line program, but you can place the cursor
using the mouse on the fourth line (i.e. the blank line). Now
highlight line 20 until the number 4 (do not highlight the complete
line only the text) and copy it using <ctrl-C> to the blank line.
Surprise!! The line number will be shown as 110053. The first two
chars of the variable memory_pointer% disappear. You are stuck.
10.7
10 DIM memory% memory_size%
10.7
20 memory_pointer% memory%*4
10.7
30 byte% !memory%
10.7
110053 ory_pointer% memory%*4
10.7
What happens, is that there is a bug with the copy and move commands.
When !Zap copies or moves a line in Basic mode, it assumes that you
are copying or moving to an already existing line. In the above
example, what we are doing is trying to append something to the end
of the program, using the copy command, which unfortunately does not
work.
10.7
The strange line number and the missing three characters from the
variable are due to the fact that !Zap places the first three
characters of the variable name as a three-byte tokenised line
number. Worse still, this new line does not have an &0D terminating
byte! Thatæs why you cannot move beyond it.
10.7
To remedy the situation and regain control of your valuable program:
10.7
1. Place the cursor after the last character on the last line (the
problematic line). In our example, after the digit 4.
10.7
2. Switch into Byte mode using <ctrl+shift+f2>.
10.7
3. Type ö0ò followed by öDò. (i.e. insert a terminating byte).
10.7
4. Switch back to Basic mode using <ctrl+shift+f6>.
10.7
Now you find yourself after the problematic line. Now just press
<Enter>, and Zap will automatically re-number the program for you and
you are back in control. Donæt forget to type the missing characters
on the line.
10.7
Basic tokenising bug Ö When copying or moving in Basic mode, Zap does
not automatically tokenise the new copied text.
10.7
Example:
10.7
10 mem% 2 :REM PRINT mem%
10.7
20
10.7
30 pointer% 1<<10
10.7
If you copy or move the öPRINT mem%ò after the REM in line 10 to line
20, the öPRINTò keyword will not be tokenised. This will cause the
program to produce errors when executed. To remedy this, after
copying, place the cursor on the line (line 20 in our example) and
insert a space, or whatever.
10.7
Applications not accepting Zap Basic files directly Ö You can save
(drop) a Basic file directly into another Basic editor like DeskEdit,
StrongED or Edit, but they will not accept Basic programs directly
from !Zap. You have to save them first to disc then load them into
the other application or Editor.
10.7
The reason for this is that most applications identify a Basic
program by checking for the byte &0D to be the first byte of the
Basic program. If it does not exist, they will report a öBad Basic
programò.
10.7
While in Zap Basic mode, your program is stored using a special Zap
format, not the standard Basic tokenised file. The format Zap uses is
as follows:
10.7
1. 3-byte line number (similar to the 3-byte-encoding used by GOTO).
10.7
2. The Basic line content in a Basic tokenised form.
10.7
3. One byte terminator (&D).
10.7
You are warned Ö if you drop your Basic file directly into Edit
(version 1.44), Edit will crash with a Data Abort error!! So, save
your program to disc first, before loading it into other applications.
10.7
Mohsen Alshayef <[e-mail]>
Hints and Tips
10.8
ANT/StrongED Éfeatureæ Ö If you view an email in Marcel by using the
Éload into editoræ icon, and then try to drag and drop some (or all)
of the text from StrongED to another application, it works fine Ö but
only once! If you try it a second time, it fails with öThis item is
locked to stop changes being made to itò from StrongED. Thereafter,
all subsequent attempts drag and drop from StrongED to any other
application will fail with the same error, irrespective of whether
Marcel is involved.
10.8
I finally discovered the reason for this. When you do a Éload into
editoræ, Marcel creates a Élockedæ file Ö so if you try to edit it,
StrongED tells you öText is write protectedò. (Edit, by the way,
ignores the fact that the file is Élockedæ and lets you edit it
anyway!)
10.8
Now, if you try to do a drag and drop from a write-protected file,
StrongED lets you do it but it creates a temporary ÉScrapFileæ in the
scrap directory. Then, when it has finished dragging and dropping, it
cannot delete this ScrapFile because it is locked, so it is a
permanent resident in your scrap directory!
10.8
The only answer seems to be öDonæt use StrongED to drag and drop from
Marcelæs email viewerò. Instead, use the ösave emailò icon, drag the
file to the iconbar, and then drag and drop the bit of text you want
over to the target application. Guttorm Vik has kindly agreed to
change the way StrongED operates in order to avoid this problem.
10.8
Ed. <[e-mail]>
10.8
(Have you sent Guttorm your ú10 registration yet?!?!?! Thereæs no
excuse Ö here are the details.)
10.8
ARM multiply Ö In Archive 10.5 p40, Mark Slatter was asking about
information on the multiply instruction on the StrongARM. I have
written an ARM mnemonic database for the Psion/Pocket Book,áwhich may
be of use to him. It can be found onáHensa under the RISCáOS section,
in directory e/e159, or on my home page at www.bleep.demon. co.uk. If
there is interest, I could probably convert it to a common database
format, i.e. CSV or TSV. Iáhope this is useful.
10.8
Kevin Moore <[e-mail]>
10.8
Artworks files in Impression Ö There is a problem with embedding
Artworks files in Impression documents. If the Artworks file contains
rotated Artworks text, Impression doesnæt always display it. After
much head scratching, I tracked this down to a bug in the Impression
Run file: rotated text in Artworks needs the CC FontDraw module which
is supplied with Impression but not loaded until Artworks is loaded.
10.8
To fix Impression Publisher Plus, load its !Run file into Edit, and
add the line:
10.8
RMensure FontDraw 1.07 RMLoad <Impress
10.8
 ionPublisherPlus$Resources>.RMStore .FontDraw
10.8
(note that this should all be on one line). If you have Publisher or
Style, you will need to change the directory name as appropriate (i.
e. use ImpressionStyle$Resources instead).
10.8
Paul Skirrow, Octopus Systems <[e-mail]>
10.8
Buffer overflow Ö Iæve got an answer to Alex Cessfordæs Ovation
problem in the Help Column (10.7 p54). The error isnæt caused by
Ovation itself, but by the bit of RISC OS that generates commands
from the !Run Obey file. It happens if it tries to generate a command
line longer than 256 characters.
10.8
The problem line will contain something like:
10.8
Run <Obey$Dir>.!RunImage %0
10.8
where %0 gets expanded into the name of the file to be loaded. If
Ovation Pro has something considerably more complicated than this,
and the file has a long path name (I expect Alexæs file is buried in
a very deep directory structure) this can happen, especially if
Ovation does something like my program, WinEd. It runs one of two
programs depending on whether itæs registered:
10.8
IfThere <WinEd$Dir>.User Then /<WinEd
10.8
$Dir>.!RunImage 4096 %0 Else
10.8
/<WinEd $Dir>.Register.!Run 4096 %0
10.8
which generates two copies of the file name within the command line.
Incidentally, the / is short for *Run and I provide my own version of
IfThere with WinEd for pre-Risc PCs.
10.8
If he runs the file from floppy, it has a much shorter path name, and
if Ovation is already loaded, a Wimp message is sent to it, bypassing
the above process. The message still places a limit on the path name
length, because a Wimp message can be no bigger than 256 bytes in
total. Thatæs never been a problem so far, but I wonder if this has
any connection with Acornæs reluctance to remove the 10 character
filename limit?
10.8
The DDEUtils module provided with Acorn C (and installing a StrongARM
should also automatically put a copy in System) will probably fix the
!Run problem because it contains a patch to allow longer command
lines Ö the C linker often needs very long commands to pass it a list
of files to link.
10.8
Tony Houghton <[e-mail]>
10.8
Creating neat screenshots Ö Your hint on this topic in Archive 10.7
p20 made me wonder if youæve come across !WindowRd. You load it,
position the pointer over the window to be screenshot and press both
shift keys. The result is confined to the window, lifted clear of the
background. It works too with those windows that disappear when the
mouse is moved and clicked away from them.
10.8
Itæs PD, so itæs freely distributable.
10.8
Jack Evans <[e-mail]>
10.8
Excellent, Jack, thanks for pointing that out. Iæll put a copy on the
monthly program disc. It was actually on the 9.11 program disc, but I
didnæt realise the significance of it then. Thanks too to Jason
Tribbeck for writing it in the first place! If any contributor to
Archive would like a copy, do let me know and Iæll happily send it to
you.
10.8
Ed. <[e-mail]>
10.8
Credit card numbers Ö If you really want to confuse the öinternet
credit card thiefò, simply place the credit card number in a
drawfile. If you just typed in the number, these figures would be
readable within the ASCII of the resulting file, but if you convert
the text to path (SelectÖ>Convert to path), it is totally unreadable
unless they have an Acorn machine! The resulting file is only about 6
or 8Kb, which is not an unreasonable overhead, and it can be halved
by !Squashæing it.
10.8
Martijn Claassen, Argos Computers <[e-mail]>
10.8
Hires monitor modefile Ö At a big computer fair, I found an offer I
couldnæt refuse: a three year old Sony VRT16-HA 17 inch monitor,
labelled Digital GDM 1661, guaranteed in working order but without
any documentation. I brought the wonderful beast home but had a hard
time taming it.
10.8
First problem: this monitor is fed by three coaxial red, green and
blue cables, but where do the sync signals enter? The official
solution is to impose both sync signals on the green video, but this
involves polarity inversion, and similar hanky-panky, that tends to
impair the video quality. However, at the back of the monitor (hidden
behind the hood) I discovered fully prepared entry points for the
separate H-sync and V¡sync signals. No mixing needed Ö just two extra
leads to the RiscPC video connector did the job.
10.8
Now the second problem arose: what line frequencies did this monitor
expect from my Acorn? Itæs definitely not a standard VGA signal Ö
nothing like it. It took a lot of experimentation to find out that
this beauty takes no less than 67,000 lines per second Ö and thatæs
an awful lot more than regular multisyncs need. However, MakeModes
helped me out and, in due course, I had constructed a complete range
of modes, from 160╫256 right up to 1600╫1200. The lower resolutions
could be accomplished by Éoverscanningæ: each picture line is
followed by one or two empty lines, effectively lowering the scan
frequency from 68 to 34 or 23 kHz. The result is visible of course,
but quite acceptable since the picture is steady, not interleaved.
10.8
A more serious drawback comes from the continued high scanning speed.
A low resolution picture needs less memory, but this memory is
nevertheless scanned (in bursts) at top speed. With fast video RAM,
the maximum pixel rate for a RiscPC is 115 million per second, and
even StrongARM cannot improve on that. This means that hires 32-bit
colours can only be executed at low resolution modes: 400╫300 or less.
10.8
Above all, this just shows that the Acorn RiscPC is one of those very
rare machines that can cope with non-standard monitors like this
super-hi-res Sony/Digital beauty.
10.8
Anybody interested can give it a try Ö I have sent Paul the Modefile
to put on the monthly disc.
10.8
Paul Porcelijn <[e-mail]>
10.8
Magazine storage Ö Several readers have written in to say that Neat
Ideas Office Supplies (0800-500192, faxá0800-600192) do still have
some A5 magazine boxes. This is true as I bought some myself to try
them. If you want to buy some yourself, do, but I donæt think they
are suitable for selling through Archive. First of all, they are
frustratingly too wide to hold twelve magazines without them flopping
about, and too narrow to take twenty-four. Also, Neat Ideas only have
limited stocks left, and the manufacturer is not producing any more
unless he gets a large enough order to make it worthwhile.
10.8
Another possibility has been suggested by Mr R Drayton of
Loughborough Ö holders öideal for 12 magazinesò from Office World
(code 034-736). However, they cost ú2.99 +VAT each and he also warns
that you should check the quality of them. One had a faulty spring
clip and had to be returned. Office World are on 0800-500024 and
offer free next day nationwide delivery for orders over ú50 +VAT, but
they also have 50 stores around the country.
10.8
Ed.
10.8
StrongARM cache Ö The *Cache command has some undocumented options in
StrongARM RISCáOS 3.7 machines. The usual syntax is:
10.8
*Cache On | Off
10.8
As StrongARM users will be aware, turning off the cache to load
applications, can be a rather slow affair Ö but there is a compromise
solution! You can use any combination of the following switches after
the *Cache command to enable certain StrongARM features, and disable
all the others:
10.8
I Ö Enable instruction cache
10.8
D Ö Enable data cache
10.8
W Ö Enable write cache
10.8
For example, *Cache IWD would be identical to *Cache On, and *Cache
IW gives roughly ARM610 performance and allows most applications that
donæt like the StrongARM cache to load successfully.
10.8
Chris Coe <[e-mail]>
10.8
Zap colour Ö The colouring facility in Zap is one of its most
attractive features, although some people struggle to set the options
for the different modes. To set the options for a particular mode,
you first need to select the mode in the Options->Mode menu, and then
set the options you want to use for that mode, again using the
Options menu.
10.8
The most useful options are in the Options->Display menu which allows
you to set the colours and width for each mode.
10.8
When you have finished entering the options, put the mode back to
Text (to make it the default) and use the Options->Save Options menu
to save the new options for future use.
10.8
I have my Text mode set to give light blue text and my task window
set to give orange text, so I can immediately tell what kind of
window I am looking at. This can be very useful when there are lots
of open windows. You can also enable 74 character word-wrap for
email, and long lines for C code.
10.8
Paul Skirrow, Octopus Systems <[e-mail]>
10.8
Zip drives and PC cards Ö I have a little warning about Zip drives
and PC cards. Basically, do not attempt to access any Zip disc from
the PC card, then switch back to RISC OS and attempt to access it
from there, as it can cause all sorts of disc errors and data loss. I
had my first 100Mb loss a few weeks ago and it was extremely
frustrating. For absolute safety nowadays, I always obey the
following rules:
10.8
1. Dismount any Zip disc before running the !PC application. (This
ensures that any disc write caches are emptied and the data is
committed to the disc.)
10.8
2. Do not access the Zip drive from RISC OS while the PC card is
running. (You can still have the software loaded if you wish, but
even just reading from the Zip drive can cause big problems.)
10.8
3. Use the manual eject button immediately after exiting from the PC
card to dismount the Zip disc, then reinsert it so that RISC OS
recognizes any new data that you have stored onto it.
10.8
You could probably get away with less, given some experimentation,
but I will leave that to others, as my data is really too important
to risk on these things.
10.8
If your Zip disc does go wrong (and we are, of course, talking about
DOS formatted discs here), it is much better, in my experience, to
use Scandisc for DOS to recover the data rather than any other tool
(including Scandisc for Win 95).
10.8
Chris Coe <[e-mail]>
10.8
Hints and Tips
10.9
Address list editing Ö I love playing with text, trying to manipulate
it using a combination of packages Ö usually Edit, StrongED and
PipeDream Ö to achieve certain ends. If I had time, Iæd write an
article about it, but as an illustration of the sort of thing I mean,
hereæs an example of what can be achieved.
10.9
The problem: I had 8,000 addresses of various lengths Ö up to nine or
ten lines which had to be printed onto continuous label stationery, i.
e. with each label starting at exactly nine-line intervals, so no
label had to be longer than eight lines of text.
10.9
The solution: This consisted of a number of separate tasks:
10.9
1) make each address a single line of text
10.9
2) sort out the over-long addresses and shorten them
10.9
3) make every address exactly eight lines
10.9
4) put each address back into multiple lines of text
10.9
1, 2 and 4 are easy enough, but I first thought that the only way to
cope with different lengths of label was to write a Basic program,
but then I suddenly realised how to do it. Anyway, hereæs the full
recipe:
10.9
1) In Edit (because I find StrongED a little slow when doing S&R on
very large files Ö sorry Guttorm!), S&R all double returns (\n\n)
into xzxz, change all returns into tabs (\x09), and change all xzxz
into single returns.
10.9
2) Drop the resulting file into PipeDream. The number of columns is
then the number of lines of the longest address. So if the last
column is j, sort the whole text on column j, with a secondary sort
on column i. This will bring all the too-long lines to the top of the
file. Now drop the file back out into Edit or StrongED and
concatenate (good word, that!) parts of the over-long addresses so
that they each only have eight lines max.
10.9
3) Drag the file back now into PipeDream and check that no lines
spill over into column i. Check also that the addresses that fit all
eight columns are at the top of the file. Go to the first address
that does not extend into column h and enter öxzxzò into the box in
column h. Copy this box down to the end of the file. Drop it back
into Edit and use S&R to remove all occurrences of xzxz, and all
addresses now have exactly eight lines!
10.9
4) Continuing in Edit, use S&R to change all returns (\n) into xzxz,
then all tabs (\x09) into returns (\n) and finally all xzxz into
double returns (\n\n).
10.9
If you want to do a final check to see that all the addresses start
at exactly 9-line intervals, drop the text into StrongED (youæll see
why in a minute!) and open up the height of the window to exactly a
whole number multiple of nine lines of text. A few clicks inside the
scroll bar, to move down a screen at a time, will show if it is
creeping up or creeping down each click. If it is exactly right (and
this is easier to achieve in a lower resolution screen mode), you can
click and hold inside the scroll bar and it will auto-repeat a
screenful at a time, right to the end of the file. (Edit doesnæt auto-
repeat mouse clicks, so 8,000 addresses at eight addresses per click
= 1,000 clicks = RSI in my mouse-finger!)
10.9
(Oh, Iæve just thought Ö you could use Edit because the <page-down>
key has the same effect, and that does auto-repeat!)
10.9
The challenge: If you have a text editing job to do and would like me
to have a go at it, do get in touch. (a) I enjoy this kind of
challenge and (b) the solution, like the one above, might help others
in doing their text-editing jobs.
10.9
(If you want more help on this sort of thing, Jim Notttingham did an
excellent series on text editing in issues 8.3p63, 8.4p43, 8.5p15, 8.
8p64 and 9.1p57. Gosh, was it that long ago?!)
10.9
Ed. <[e-mail]>
10.9
Background printing Ö I have had, for some time, two Printer icons on
the iconbar. One is set up to print to a file Ö the one that is
always selected Ö and the other is set up to print to the printer.
10.9
I used to print to a file by default, but then I had to look around
for the printfile, to drag it to the other printer icon, in order to
print in the background.
10.9
Now I have the printfile stuck to the backdrop near the Éprint to
printeræ icon, so dragging the printfile to the printer icon is now
the work of a moment! Obvious really Ö but only if the idea happens
to occur to you. (Or if you read it in Archive! Thanks for that,
Barry Ö so come on, folk, send in the Éobviousæ tricks that save you
time. Ed.)
10.9
Barry Allen <[e-mail]>
10.9
Exiting from CASE...ENDCASE Ö The CASE...OF..WHEN..OTHERWISE...
ENDCASE construct, introduced in version 1.04 of Basic, provides a
very powerful means of writing structured programs. The CASE
construct consists of a number of WHEN statements followed by one or
more values or expressions to be matched. Whenever the result of the
CASE expression matches one of the values listed after the WHEN, all
statements following this WHEN are executed, down to the next WHEN,
OTHERWISE or ENDCASE. The Basic interpreter then skips to the
statement following the ENDCASE, and continues with the rest of the
program. For this reason, the WHEN, OTHERWISE and ENDCASE keywords
must each start at the beginning of a line.
10.9
So far, I have described the normal use of the CASE...ENDCASE
construct. However, there are situations where the WHEN part consists
of many statements, mostly occupying separate lines. In such cases,
it is possible that other constructs such as IF...ENDIF or REPEAT...
UNTIL are used inside a WHEN part, and a means to exit from the WHEN
construct is required, so that the program continues after the
ENDCASE statement.
10.9
Basic provides a means to exit from a CASE...ENDCASE construct using
the keyword WHEN.
10.9
Here is an example:
10.9
10 check%=7
10.9
20 test% =0
10.9
30
10.9
40 CASE test% OF
10.9
50 WHEN 0:
10.9
60 IF check%=7 THEN PRINT ö1st checkò
10.9
70 IF check%=7 THEN PRINT ö2nd checkò
10.9
80 IF check%=7 THEN PRINT ö3rd checkò
10.9
90 ENDCASE
10.9
Running the above program will produce the following on the screen:
10.9
1st check
10.9
2nd check
10.9
3rd check
10.9
All three lines are, of course, printed. If you want to terminate the
WHEN part after the first check (at line 60) and skip lines 70 and
80, then you replace line 60 with the following:
10.9
60 IF check%=7 THEN PRINT ö1st checkò:WHEN
10.9
70 IF check%=7 THEN PRINT ö2nd checkò
10.9
80 IF check%=7 THEN PRINT ö3rd checkò
10.9
90 ENDCASE
10.9
By adding a WHEN keyword, the Basic interpreter will terminate the
WHEN part and close the ENDCASE construct after line 60 (i.e. the IF
matching part). So, running the program with line 60 changed will
produce the following result:
10.9
1st check
10.9
Lines 70 and 80 will be skipped.
10.9
The above use of WHEN to close an ENDCASE construct is, to my
knowledge, undocumented although the Basic Reference Manual does
describe or hint at its use. Using the keyword OTHERWISE in place of
WHEN for early exits also seems to give the same results!
10.9
Mohsen Alshayef <[e-mail]>
10.9
Magazine storage Ö I see that Archive storage is still a topic of
concern (10.8 p27). How about cutting down A4 racks? The magazines
fit long-side in (because A5 = half-A4), but you can put them on the
shelf either way. This is particularly useful for wire-bound manuals
that just will not fit a normal A5 box, and a suitable cut provides a
housing for Acorn manuals that otherwise fit too tightly in the
supplied box. You may think cutting down is wasteful, so buy the
cheapest, which I believe are IKEAæs PENG at ú3 for eight. These are
the plainest brown card with no printing, and can also make useful
trays for other odds and ends.
10.9
Steve Drain <[e-mail]>
10.9
Neat screenshots (again) Ö Hereæs another offering spurred by the
comment in Archive 10.7 p20. It is !GrabMenu by Cy Booker and it
allows you to grab menus that are transient. Hereæs an example of
what it can do.
10.9
Itæs worth reading the !Help file that comes with it as itæs a bit
quirky and not all that intuitive to use.
10.9
Jim Nottingham <email via NCS>
10.9
StrongARM speed-up Ö I was particularly interested in the StrongARM
upclocking article (10.8 p19) as I tried this out some months ago and
Iæve sent Paul the various programs, tests and charts that Iæve
compiled which may be of interest to readers. (On the monthly program
disc.) This is also available from the Acorn Cybervillage FTP site
at:
10.9
ftp://ftp.cybervillage.co.uk/pub/acorn/info/
10.9
My StrongARM also runs cool at 287MHz, but it was very slightly flaky
at this speed. However, I think it is more to do with the PC card and
StrongARM not wanting to work together at that speed. (I wasnæt
actually running the PC card, you understand, but it does continue to
operate in an idle mode even when not being used.)
10.9
Iæd also recommend that people with a PC card and a upclocked
StrongARM use the PCsleep application as this powers down the PC card
and thus reduces the internal temperature of the RiscPC.
10.9
Stuart Halliday <[e-mail]>
10.9
On the program disc, Iæve put Stuartæs tests for speed and memory
integrity, plus some things sent in by Tony Hopstaken, who was the
person quoted last month at the end of Robertæs article. Ed.
10.9
StrongARM speed-up (2) Ö Various people have mentioned the fact that
Robert suggests using a piece of anti-static bag as an insulator, but
the idea of these bags is that the inside surface is slightly
conductive. It would be much better to use simple dry cardboard.
10.9
A number of other people, like Tony and Stuart, are running
StrongARMs at higher speeds without any extra cooling at all and
donæt seem to be having any problems. However, we cannot, by
definition, know what the long-term effect is, i.e. whether the life
of the chip will be reduced. Still, as Tony says, öAs long as it
lasts until my RiscPC II arrives, I donæt mind!ò
10.9
Ed. <[e-mail]>
Hints and Tips
10.10
ANT Suite Fresco tip Ö If you put a text file called Runables inside
!Fresco, containing a list of filetypes as hexadecimal digits (upper
or lower case), then when a link to a file having one of these types
is clicked on, the file will be fetched and filer_run. Here is my
Runables file:
10.10
# See (a homebaked hypertext system)
10.10
 0a4
10.10
# MS Word 6 or 7
10.10
 ae6
10.10
# drawfile
10.10
 aff
10.10
# DVI file
10.10
 ce4
10.10
# Techwriter
10.10
 d01
10.10
Fresco appears not to mind initial spaces or comment lines. In this
way, Fresco could be used for hypertext Ö say within teaching (öif
you want to see the proof click hereò). Also, we can use web pages
with links to DVI files. This provides a mechanism which is platform
independent as far as the student or the person creating the material
is concerned.
10.10
Gavin Wraith, [e-mail]
10.10
Magazine storage öGreen Styleò Ö Two similarly praiseworthy tips this
month in the magazine storage saga...
10.10
(1) Steve Drain (Archive 10.9) recommends IKEAæs PENG A4 racks cut
down @ ú3 for 8. Thanks for the suggestion, but I think these, and
all previous suggestions, are money down the Drain (oops!). In
classic Blue Peter style, here are some Iámade earlier...
10.10
For breakfast we eat Kelloggæs Bran Flakes, 750 gram size packet.
Once all the flakes are eaten, we recycle the empty boxes for
magazine storage, by cutting them down to about 20cm and then making
a neat V¡cut in one of the short sides for ease of access. These
recycled boxes will easily hold a yearæs supply of Archive at no cost
whatever. You can either leave them plain or, as an added luxury,
paint them with poster paints or cover them with old wallpaper
samples.
10.10
Derek Banks, [e-mail]
10.10
(2) Further to the saga of A5 magazine storage Ö try Tesco! Go to the
check out counters near the wine department. There you will find
small empty boxes which once contained six bottles of wine. There are
many different sizes, and with careful measurement itáis possible to
find an exact fit for A5 magazines. Thenáuse a sharp knife to trim
the top. At the moment, I am using Tesco Bordeaux Blanc Semillon.
Risc User is somewhat harder to accommodate. Tesco Napoleon Brandy is
just too large for a snug fit, so I must take a copy with me on my
next visit to town. Hope this may be of interest to readers.
10.10
Philip Prior <[e-mail]>
10.10
RND, ÖTIME and TIME$ Ö The usual way to make Basic produce a
reasonably random number is to seed the random number generator with
the value of TIME using lines like:
10.10
R%=RND(ÖTIME)
10.10
var%=RND(whatever%)
10.10
This assumes that TIME has been ticking for a reasonably random
number of centiseconds since you switched on. However, I am not sure
if it works in a program called from the boot sequence, as the number
of centiseconds from start-up at that point could always be the same.
This may seem unlikely, but it might explain something that produced
a certain amount of head-scratching for me. I wanted to choose at
random between two screen savers at start-up, and wrote a small Basic
program using lines like those above, but this always seemed to get
the same saver, so perhaps I was always getting the same seed for the
random number generator.
10.10
Another way of doing it more randomly is to extract one of the
components of TIME$. This reads the real-time clock, and returns a
string along the lines of öSat,17 May 1997.15:05:14ò. You can then
extract, say, the seconds component of this using M%=VAL(MID$(T$,23,
2)), and then go on to R%=RND(ÖM%). This does give me a randomly
chosen screen saver!
10.10
Peter Young <[e-mail]>
10.10
StrongED abbreviations Ö Iæve been getting frustrated because of the
difference between the abbreviation systems of StrongED and
Impression. On the latter, for example, I type ösw ò and up pops the
word ösoftware ò. On StrongED, Iáhave to type ö`swò Ö well, I used
to, but Iæve discovered a better way.
10.10
The trouble was, Iæd be using StrongED and type öswáò, realise that
Iæd got the wrong abbreviation system and have to delete it all and
start again. Not any more! I suddenly realised that StrongED can cope
with any key combination for an abbreviation. All youæve got to do is
make sure you donæt use a combination that might appear in the middle
of a word somewhere else. So all my abbreviations now take the form
of ösw#ò and so, if I mistakenly type ösw ò, all I do is delete the
space and type a ö#ò, which is much less frustrating.
10.10
Ed. <[e-mail]>
10.10
Zap and Basic Ö With reference to the comments in Archive 10.7 p23,
there is an easy way to avoid the space and token troubles: use the
colours!
10.10
Set Background1 on Display> Colours> to colour 4 (default 7) and you
can see every space. Typing a space elsewhere on a line with trailing
spaces removes them all.
10.10
Secondly, set Tokenised on Display> Colours> to colour 2 (default 0)
and you can see if a keyword is tokenised or plain ASCII. This is
especially important when a trailing space is needed, as for RETURN.
Omitting a space converts the token immediately back to text Ö very
WYSIWYG!
10.10
Donæt forget to untick the All Modes in the Colours submenu before
any change is made, and also when saving these options. You only have
to count the number yourself in the 0-15 colour-palette. The Colour
Picker also allows you to use a colour ╜ (3átimes 93.7%), a warm
white or soft grey, which Iáuse as background in text windows,
together with foreground 8. It also exists in a 16 colour screen mode.
10.10
Another easy way to convert Basic to plain text is <shift-copy> (now
<shift-end>) or from the menu ÉFile> Print> Dumpæ. Next, you only
need to select the whole text and Indent Ö11 to remove the line
numbers. It is also useful to make a separate and independent copy of
a text window without saving.
10.10
To avoid problems in copying or moving blocks, click <select> after
the text on the preceding line and click <adjust> after the text on
the last line. You can now place the cursor elsewhere, after some
text on a line, even on the last numbered line, and execute the
operation. Renumber to avoid backwards-errors. It is now ready to
save without any complaints.
10.10
Ed van der Meulen, Nuenen, Netherlands.
10.10
Ed has also sent us some other useful bits and pieces which are on
the monthly program disc.
10.10
!Scrn is perhaps a somewhat unusual way of programming, but it is an
easy way for all sorts of toggles.
10.10
!caSA (Cache on/off) has a slightly modified construction to avoid a
little odd behaviour.
10.10
!Tumble (on SA CD-ROM) has the same bugs relating to its use on
machines with 1 Mb VRAM. Itáis cured by a preceding ÉXæ in all the
SYS commands. All the changes are given in the !Changes-file inside
for DIY. It now tumbles on a clear screen with 1 Mb VRAM and 1500Kb
slotsize.
10.10
Iiyama17T is a MDF-file for the 8617T-monitor, suitable for 1 Mb
VRAM. I have cured nearly all modes, so all old modes, except 16, 17,
23 and 24, can now be called by number. And the circles are once
again, as in the early days, round!
10.10
Thanks, Ed. Ed(!)
Hints and Tips
10.11
Control in the classroom - One of the areas most frequently lacking
in schoolsæ IT curriculums is that of Control. A major factor in this
is the cost of buying buffer boxes and the various items of inputs
and outputs that would be connected to them. A high quality buffer
box such as the Commotion Serial Control Box costs around ú240, so if
you wanted, say, ten of them for use with a class in a high school,
you are looking at around ú2,500 cost straightaway. This may well be
worthwhile if the school can afford it, but what are the other lower
cost options?
10.11
You could go for on-screen simulation using software such as Focus
ITæs excellent Visual Control Learning package - a good example of
recent innovation for Acorn computers only.
10.11
However, many schools already have the old green Deltronics buffer
boxes dating back to use with the BBC Micro. Indeed, one of the last
uses that Beebs are being put to locally is their use with these
boxes. You can, of course, use these boxes with later Acorn A series
machines but that involves buying a user port for each machine they
are to be used on. At around ú40 a time, thatæs up to ú400 for ten
machines, and you still need to buy software to run them.
10.11
Fortunately, Design IT have come up with a more affordable solution.
They have a modification available to run these boxes from the
parallel port. You are limited to five inputs from a machine with a
bi-directional parallel port, i.e. A30x0 or later, or two inputs from
an older machine with a uni-directional parallel port, but five
inputs should be enough for many useful applications. The
modification involves:
10.11
a) buying a special parallel port lead with a modification kit, at
around ú12 per machine. Not all of these boxes use the same type of
lead; there are two variations, but both are catered for, though this
should be specified on your order. The two types are (i) those that
connect to a D connector on the back of the box and (ii) those with
an extension type of lead that connects to an existing ribbon cable
coming out from inside the box.
10.11
b) buying a site licence to drive it, at ú40 for a primary school and
ú80 for a secondary school.
10.11
The modification is a bit fiddly to fit but anyone who is able to
solder three connections, cut a track and change two small chips
(only necessary for some of the boxes) should be able to do it. If
you get stuck, there is friendly help at the end of the phone line.
It is the sort of job that may take a non-technician an hour or so
the first time, while you work out exactly what has to be done, but
after that it should only be a few minutes per box if you are
reasonably skilled at soldering. Thus you can have ten machines up
and running for around ú200 or twenty for ú320 - a considerable
saving, particularly considering that this includes the software to
run it on a site licence basis. Incidentally, the modification does
not stop the buffer box still being used on a BBC as and when
required.
10.11
The software, called DelTron, portrays the buffer box in a window
(see above) with indication as to which inputs and/or outputs are
switched on. It allows you to control it via a Logo type language of
procedures in a manner akin to others of the same kind. I have found
that it is vital to turn the softwareæs Éauto senseæ (of the box)
feature off in order to get it to work, but that is easily done.
10.11
A well thought out and economical idea to Érecycleæ these boxes and
make them Égreenæ in more ways than one.
10.11
Mike Battersby, Kingston Schoolsæ IT Unit
10.11
Outline fonts in windows - Getting outline fonts in RISC OS windows
is a rarely covered topic in even the best programming courses and
books and, without the PRMs or a lot of time to experiment in, it is
nearly impossible to utilise this feature. Most books just ignore it
or include an obscure little note about it.
10.11
Since the arrival of RISC OS 3.6, outline fonts can be put all around
the desktop simply by changing the configuration. So why do you need
them any more?
10.11
I find that putting outline fonts into windows improves the
appearance (and sometimes usability) of a program substantially. In
days gone by, they were not included in commercial programs because
of the time it took to display them. However, in the era of the Risc
PC (and the A7000+), fonts can be displayed very easily and quickly.
10.11
To make things a lot simpler (for you and me), I shall assume that a
template editor is being used and windows are being loaded from
templates. I will also put the code in Basic, although the principles
can be ported to C or machine code without too much hassle.
10.11
Firstly, a simple template needs to be created. Any editor can be
used, but do not use very old versions of these programs as they will
probably be geared to RISC OS 2. I recommend TemplEd above all others.
10.11
Design a simple window like the one in the diagram. To be safe, only
use fonts that are built into the computeræs ROM (Trinity, Corpus and
Homerton). Make a note of all the font names (in full) and sizes that
appear in all of your icons that are outline. Please note that to
have an outline font in an icon, the icon must be indirected. Then,
save your template as usual in your program directory.
10.11
(This is a ludicrous example of a template which does not conform at
all to the RISC OS Style Guide but it illustrates the principle quite
well.)
10.11
To load a template which has outline fonts in it, you use the same
SWI call but you need a 256 byte memory block containing all the
necessary font handles for your windows. This is done by the
following routine. It should be called before the template loading
routine.
10.11
DEFPROCget_fonts
10.11
DIM font% 256 : REM Space for the font
10.11
 handles
10.11
READ loops%
10.11
FOR pass%=1 TO loops%
10.11
offset%=(pass%-1)*4
10.11
READ name$
10.11
READ x%
10.11
READ y%
10.11
SYS öFont_FindFontò,,name$,x%*16,y%*16
10.11
 TO font%!offset%
10.11
NEXT pass%
10.11
DATA 3 :REM Number of fonts to reserve
10.11
DATA öHomerton.Medium.Italicò,12,12 :
10.11
 REM Font name,x size,y size
10.11
DATA öTrinity.Mediumò,16,16
10.11
DATA öCorpus.Boldò,42,42
10.11
ENDPROC
10.11
The above routine is very self-explanatory. You can change the font
handles which are obtained by altering the DATA statements at the end
of the routine.
10.11
Once the above routine has been executed, call this loading routine
instead of your standard one:
10.11
DEFFNload_template_window(temp_path$
10.11
,w_name$,font%)
10.11
SYS öWimp_OpenTemplateò,,temp_path$
10.11
SYS öWimp_LoadTemplateò,,m_space%,
10.11
space%,spaceend%,font%,w_name$
10.11
,0 TO ,,space%,,,,there%
10.11
SYS öWimp_CloseTemplateò
10.11
IF there% THEN
10.11
SYS öWimp_CreateWindowò,,m_space% TO
10.11
 handle%
10.11
ELSE
10.11
ERROR 0,öWindow template not found!ò
10.11
ENDIF
10.11
=handle%
10.11
Repeated calls should load all the necessary windows from the
template file. The windows will behave as normal when created.
10.11
The Éload_templateæ routine takes a number of parameters. These are:
10.11
temp_path$ = String pathname of template
10.11
w_name$ = Name of window to be loaded from template
10.11
font% = Pointer to font table (defined in previous routine)
10.11
Beware! There are also other variables that need to be defined
earlier in the program! Firstly, you must have a general usage memory
area called m_space%. Secondly, you need a space for indirected icons
called space%. The end byte of this memory block must be in a
variable called spaceend%. This can be done by a few lines of code:
10.11
DIM m_space% 1024 (whatever size is necessary)
10.11
blksize%=800 (Again, the size of the block has to
10.11
 fit the template)
10.11
DIM space% blksize%
10.11
spaceend%=space%+blksize%
10.11
I hope this has helped some programmers to understand how to get
outline fonts in windows. If anyone has done the Alan Senior WIMP
course, or an equivalent, and wants to go further into WIMP
programming, it would be advisable to buy the PRMs. These are very
expensive (I bought mine from NCS for ú105) but have got everything
in them. They are very obscure, though, and you need a lot of time
free to read through and understand them.
10.11
Artemis Entreri, Waterlooville
10.11
Using Termite Internet with Cable Internet - Recently, the cable
companies have introduced an offer to schools for Internet access via
the Cable Internet service. The annual price includes access,
software and unlimited calls to the point of presence phone number,
thus allowing schools to budget their yearly internet cost without
having to worry about unknown size of telephone bills. It should also
allow schools to provide access without the worry of trying to
administer a system which controls phone usage. The cost is very
reasonable, being ú100 for schools with less than 250 pupils, ú250
for those with 250 to 500 pupils and ú500 for those with 500 pupils
or more.
10.11
Of course, Cable Internet only provide software for Windows or
Macs(!). I have been evaluating the service and, as part of that, I
wanted to check whether it would work OK with Acorn software for
schools who wish to run it on Acorns. The good news is that it
appears to work fine. In fact, would you believe that, excluding the
time it took to get the relevant pieces of information from the Cable
Internet help line, it took me only about half an hour to have it up
and running using Termite Internet from Doggysoft, whereas it took me
over two hours to get the supplied Windows 95 software running!!
10.11
This was made possible courtesy of Termiteæs clever öCreate Script
Fileò option on its main startup panel which asks for the basic data
needed (easily available from the Cable Internet help line - just ask
them for each bit as Termite prompts) and then creates an appropriate
script file and adds Cable Internet, or whichever provider you are
creating a file for, to the list of providers in the configuration
options. After a month of testing, it has logged on successfully
first time every time bar none!
10.11
On request, Cable Internet also allows 5Mb of web space. Once asked
for, a user name (probably the email alias) and password allow you to
ftp (file transfer protocol) web pages and graphics etc, into your
personal web space. The Windows 95 software provided only allows you
to transfer into the root directory, so you have to download an
additional ftp utility to do more than that. However, Termite has ftp
built in and you can upload using all the drag and drop facilities of
RISC OS, so an entire web site of multiple pages and directories can
be selected and dragged into the web space directory with a single
öSelect Allò and drag and drop. This all works fine, as do deleting,
renaming etc of the files uploaded. A directory can only be deleted
on the Cable web space if it is empty, though, so its contents need
to be deleted first.
10.11
Itæs true that Termiteæs web browser needs updating, though I am told
that that is in progress and will happen ösoonò, but the fact that it
is easier to set up and use than Cable Internetæs own PC software
says something! For schools wanting to take advantage of the Cable
Internet offer, and use it on Acorns, this is a way I would
definitely recommend. I have provided NCS with the files needed for
use with Termite so that others neednæt create a script file, just
replace two default files with the ones provided - a half a minute
task. Then all you need do is choose Cable Internet as the service
provider, choose the appropriate local phone number, enter user name
and password, and you are off!
10.11
Mike Battersby, Kingston Schoolsæ IT Unit
10.11
Hints and Tips
10.12
2-D scrolling - (This is a hint that keeps resurfacing. If you know
about it, fine, but lots of people seem to miss out on it. Ed.) The
quickest means of scrolling a window is to use the scroll bars
(although, of course, you need to have the öInstant draggingò
selected in the Window Manager configuration), but what many people
donæt realise is that you can use <adjust> to scroll up/down and
left/right at the same time. So, just click and hold the adjust
button on either the vertical or the horizontal scroll bar and move
the mouse, and this will scroll the whole window in any direction you
like.
10.12
Mohsen Alshayef, [e-mail]
10.12
Archive CD-ROM - The Archive CD, contains the files of all the
Archive magazines, right back to Volume 4 Issue 5 - thatæs the good
news. The bad news (for some people) is that they are in Impression
format, but Ovation owners, donæt despair! First of all, the actual
words are there on the CD in text format, and you can search through
these using the text-search application provided on the CD.
10.12
Also, and this is my main point, the Impression files are in
Édirectory formatæ. In other words, each magazine is not a single
file but a directory. So, shift-double-click on one and youæll see
something like:
10.12
Then, in the CHAPTER2 directory you will find all the pictures that
go with the text. They are in Draw or Artworks format, the sprites
being embedded in drawfiles for some reason best known to the authors
of Impression. If you want to view the Artworks files, thereæs a
freeware Artworks file reader around.
10.12
(Iæve put a copy of the Artworks reader on the 1997 Archive CD which
should be available shortly. Ed.)
10.12
Elaine Kemp, Kings Norton
10.12
Artworks speedy rotated text - Rotated text in Artworks files often
takes a long while to draw, whereas rotated text in Draw is often
much faster. The reason Draw whizzes along while Artworks ponders is
because Draw uses the standard font system and font cache while
Artworks uses its own FontDraw module. By default, the FontDraw cache
is quite small, so it must laboriously draw every character as though
it were drawing it for the first time. You can make it much faster by
using these two simple commands:
10.12
*configure FDCharCache 96K
10.12
*configure FDMetricCache 32K
10.12
Of course, you can use larger values if you have a lot of memory, and
you should now find Artworks and Impression display rotated text much
faster.
10.12
Paul Skirrow, Octopus Systems
10.12
ÉFile openæ errors - The other day I was reluctantly forced to flick
through the RISC OS 3 manual and came across the *SHUT command. This
is nice and simple; it closes all those files which are Éopenæ on all
filing systems. Therefore, it solves the yucky ÉFile still open from
a previous operationæ error.
10.12
Itæs a lot better than *BYE, or DISMOUNT from the iconbar filer menu,
since these shut down the directory window, meaning that you lose
sight of your file. *SHUT simply closes open files and lets you
access the file in question.
10.12
Stewart Brookes, [e-mail]
10.12
Thanks for that, Stewart. I used to use *SCSI then *CLOSE, not
realising that *SHUT works across all filing systems, instead of just
the current one. This is another of those Éobviousæ hints that are
only obvious if you are in the know. For people like me, they are
very helpful. Please keep them coming, folks! Ed.
10.12
Fresco file downloading - When downloading a large file using Fresco,
it is easy to forget to have a directory ready to save it into.
Fresco pops up a save box but it disappears when you open a
directory, and some people resort to downloading the whole file again.
10.12
If this save box disappears, just click in the URL line and press
<return> and it will re-appear without fetching the file again. Donæt
click on the reload button because that will re-fetch the file all
over again, making you wait.
10.12
An even better way to download files is to shift-click on the link to
the file. This opens a save box immediately so you can tell it
wherever you want to put the file before it starts downloading.
10.12
Paul Skirrow, Octopus Systems
10.12
Impression funny - (Well, not very funny!) I had real problems
editing the Puzzle Corner this month because each time I tried to
copy and paste it into a standard Archive file, it bombed Impression
totally and repeatably.
10.12
Anyway, after some messing around I finally managed to track down the
problem. There were two MathGreek styles on the style list, and I
could see that the pasting of the text stopped (and Impression
bombed) at the first occurrence of MathGreek. So I saved the text
with styles (ctrl-f3), and you can see from the excerpt below where
the problem lies. (Iæve changed curly brackets to square.)
10.12
This factorises as [öItalicò on](r [\178][\153]2[font
MathGreek]f[font] r+1) (r[\178]+ 2r[öMathGreekò on]
[\140][öMathGreekò off][öMathGreekò on][öSubscriptò on]f[öSubscriptò
off][öMathGreekò off]+1)[\160]=[\160]0 [öItalicò off], where etc...
10.12
As you can see, the first time Colin used MathGreek, he used an
effect and thereafter he decided that he was going to use it a lot,
so he created a style, named öMathGreekò. What he was doing wasnæt
illegal, but Impression just couldnæt cope!
10.12
I tried it myself on a new document and found that I could get a
similar effect. Impression didnæt bomb out but it certainly failed to
display the line containing the first occurrence of the effect.
10.12
Moral: When creating a style, never use the name of a font. If Colin
had called the style öMaths bitsò or some such (spaces are allowed),
all would have been OK.
10.12
(Donæt you just love Impression sometimes?!)
10.12
P.S. I donæt believe it! Iæve just tried to paste Colinæs article
into the magazine itself and it has bombed again!!! This time, I
traced it to the dingbat I use at the end of each article. I have a
text file on my pinboard that I drop in which just says [font
Dingbats]u[font] - but with curly brackets, of course - where the öuò
turns into u. I have now created a style called End Dot which just
changes the font to dingbat, so my text file now says [öEnd Dotò
on]u[öEnd Dotò off] and Colinæs article pastes in perfectly. Hmmm!
10.12
Ed., [e-mail]
10.12
Lost Impression files - I recently deleted rather a lot of Impression
files (Arghhhh!!!!!). However, using Look Systemsæ Disc Rescue, I
managed to get most of them back. Here are some points to remember
which might save others some hair pulling.
10.12
1. Speak to Adrian Look (he is very helpful).
10.12
2. Single format files are fairly easy to recover. My version of
!Publisher saves the files starting with the sequence (at the sector
start) of öxV4ò. If you search for this, you also see the filename
nearby.
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3. Failing that, all my impression files contain the string öMain
Heading...ò
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4. All files seem to end öyV4ò (although this can also be found in
the middle of some files as well, presumably with embedded objects).
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(I can confirm that öxV4 and öyV4ò are generally applicable pointers
to look for in Impression files. Ed.)
10.12
Mark Stephens, [e-mail]
10.12
Sunlight and mice - donæt mix! This is a recurring problem that
catches people out in the summer time. It was last explained in
Archive 7.8 p21, but basically, if direct sunlight falls on your
mouse, it can confuse the optical sensors inside it, resulting in
erratic mouse pointer movement which disappears when you close the
curtains! The solution is to cover the inside top cover of the mouse
with foil, being careful to make sure that it is well stuck and canæt
short out any of the mouseæs delicate parts!
10.12
Ed., [e-mail]