Archive Magazine 1997/ARCHIVE_97.iso/text/magazine/vol_07/issue_04

Text File | 1995-06-25 | 226KB | 4,525 lines

The spirit of Archive
7.4
We have finally had time to analyse all the questionnaires you sent in
October. The reason it has taken so long is that, as I mentioned before,
over one third of all Archive subscribers responded Ö that says
something about the öspirit of Archiveò! We have already implemented
some of the suggestions (such as taking credit cards Ö see page 36) and
we are working on a number of others.
7.4
It has made me realise that to say öArchive is your magazineò is not
just a platitude or an advertising slogan. Over the years, (have I
really edited and DTPæed one magazine a month for over 6 years?!) we
have had terrific support from the contributors to Archive. People have
written about their interests and shared their enthusiasms with the rest
of us. And that, as I see it, is Archiveæs main strength. It does mean
though that we depend on you to tell us what you have discovered and
give us your views on anything and everything to do with Acorn
computers.
7.4
How can you help to improve Archive? Well, I have written about that at
much greater length in an article entitled öArchive Ö Making It Even
Betterò on page 33.
7.4
Rumours
7.4
Isnæt it funny the way rumours spread?! All I did was to make a Special
Christmas Offer Ö I offered a ú100 software voucher with every A5000
sold before Christmas. Very soon, the bulletin boards were buzzing Ö
öHeæs selling off his stocks of A5000s before the new machines come in.ò
7.4
Sorry to disappoint you but there is no sign at all of any new machines.
From what I can gather, it will be months, not weeks, before there is
anything new available Ö maybe not even until Acorn World 94. I hope I
am wrong in that prediction but I think it is probably fairly realistic.
7.4
Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and a good New Year,
7.4
Products Available
7.4
Å    A5000 special offer extended Ö Archiveæs öChristmas Special Offerò on
the new A5000s has been extended. Until January 31st, you can buy one of
the new 30MHz A5000s and get a ú100 software voucher to use against any
purchase of software from NCS either at the same time as the computer or
in the future. The 2Mb/HD80 is ú1499 (carriage free) and the 4Mb/HD160
is ú1699. Add ú75 if you want an AKF50 monitor instead of an AKF18.
7.4
(N.B. We have unlimited stocks of these computers Ö well, Acorn have Ö
this is not a pre-ARM700 stock clearance but a sales incentive scheme to
encourage you to buy A5000s because the launch of the ARM700 is looking,
I think, more like 3rd or 4th quarter 1994.)
7.4
Å    (Another) A5000 special offer Ö We have got hold of some more of the
older 25MHz A5000s and are selling them without monitors at ú950 (inc
carriage, cf the Beebug price of ú1008.15). These are 2Mb computers with
80Mb hard drives. We only have a limited number available so please ring
to check stocks before ordering.
7.4
Å    Aggressor Ö Macho Edition Ö This is an upgraded version of the
original shoot æem up game from Matt Black although it is now released
as a budget game at ú14.99 +p&p from Matt Black or ú15 through Archive.
(See the review on page 43.)
7.4
Å    Archive monthly program disc Ö On the disc this month, we have some
extra, useful utilities: !Convert by John Winters converts DOS->text and
Text->DOS, which DOSFS doesnæt do; !OnTime by Mark Godwin allows you to
keep track of how long you have spent on line to a BBS; !OpenDir by Mark
Godwin opens application directories by dragging rather than shift-
double-clicking; !SeraPara, again by Mark Godwin, sends incoming data
from the serial port direct to the parallel port so that, for example,
you can print from the Pocket Book to a printer without disconnecting
the printer from the Archimedes, i.e. you only need an A-Link and not a
Parallel Link as well.
7.4
Also, on the disc, in the Psion3 directory, is a Psion Series 3
Emulator. This is not a RISC OS application, and requires the PC
Emulator or a PC Card and there are certain conditions for its use. It
is a Series 3 Emulator not a Pocket Book emulator, therefore there will
be some differences. The OPL Compiler is included so you can write
software without needing to spend ú65 on the compiler Ö although it
rather defeats the object of it being a portable computer! For what it
is worth, it is there for your use.
7.4
Chris Johnson has sent us the latest version of his application called
!Text>Draw which solves the problem noted by Richard Hallasæ last month
(Archive 7.3 p68) of getting kerned text into Draw.
7.4
Finally, there is an Elite cheat Ö see Hints & Tips on page 50. The
Archive monthly discs cost ú2 each (or ú20 for twelve Ö a full year).
7.4
Å    Birds of War Ö 4th Dimensionæs latest release is a flight simuator for
2Mb Archimedes computers. It provides 192 missions with over 50 aircraft
types. There are 10 Mb of data including 86,000 words of briefing text
for the missions. These are compressed onto six discs but they say an
ARM3 hard drive computer is the ideal configuration. Birds of War costs
ú34.95 from 4th Dimension or ú32 through Archive.
7.4
Å    Bitfolio Cartoon Graphics Ö LOOKSystems have done another conversion
for the Archimedes. This time it consists of 100 full colour cartoon
characters. The 3.2Mb of images are in drawfile format, not scanned as
sprites. LOOKSystems sells them for ú30 inc VAT and the Archive price is
ú28.
7.4
(The fun part about it is that the same collection is available for PC
and Mac users but they have to pay ú60 for exactly the same graphics!!)
7.4
Here are some sample cartoons Ö none of them bear any resemblance to any
member of the Norwich Computer Services staff, especially not the
editor!
7.4
Å    Braille tuition Ö The Dorton IT Support Centre have produced a program
called DotTest for those undertaking the Birmingham braille course but
it is equally suitable for those wishing to practise or improve their
braille. It can be used with the standard keyboard configured by the
program to use the six home keys and the space bar to mimic a braille
keyboard or an adapted Perkins Brailler plugged into a user port. The
program costs ú25 from Dorton IT Centre.
7.4
Å    Chemical Modeller Ö SSERCæs molecular modelling software (version 3.3)
is now öfully mouse compatibleò. It has been improved in many of the
ways suggested by David Kent in his review in Archive 6.4 p55. It costs
ú52.50 +VAT from SSERC.
7.4
Å    DP Font Library Ö Dalmation Publications are selling a set of fonts
(101 in all) at öa price nearly everyone can affordò. The cost is ú19.95
inclusive of p&p from Dalmation Publications.
7.4
Å    EasyFont Ö Fabis Computing have produced a font management system
which allows you to choose a selection of fonts simply by clicking in a
window. EasyFont costs ú25 (+ú1 p&p) +VAT from Fabis Computing.
7.4
Å    Fonts Discs Ö Three discs of display fonts (seven families of fonts on
each disc) are now available from Fabis Computing, each disc costing ú5
+VAT.
7.4
Å    Grannyæs Garden goes European Ö 4Mation have produced some modern
language versions of their popular Grannyæs Garden program. It is now
available in French, German and Italian. Each costs ú24.50 +VAT from
4Mation or ú27 through Archive.
7.4
Å    ImageMaster from David Pilling is a new image processing program
allowing format conversion and image acquisition from scanners via Twain
(see below). ImageMaster reads and writes TIFF, JPEG, PCX, PBM, Clear,
sprite, BMP, GIF and MTV. It can handle images bigger than memory by
using virtual memory techniques. It works with 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24 and
32-bit per pixel images. ImageMaster has a whole range of facilities for
processing and manipulating images and is supplied with Trace, D2Font
and Snapper (screen capture program). ImageMaster costs ú30 inclusive
from David Pilling or ú28 through Archive.
7.4
Å    Impression II/Publisher special offer Ö Archive are doing a special
offer on Impression II. The normal Archive price is ú180 but öwhile
stocks lastò we are selling them at ú120. If you want to upgrade to
Impression Publisher when it becomes available, the upgrade will cost
just ú29 +ú3 p&p +VAT =ú37.60 from Computer Concepts. The RRP of
Impression Publisher is ú169 +VAT = ú198.58 so by buying a cheap copy of
Impression II you can get a copy of Impression Publisher for ú157.60 Ö
quite a good saving. We only have a limited number of copies at this
price so please do not send a cheque without ringing to reserve a copy
first.
7.4
Å    Lexique / Wortgut Ö These are French to Eng-lish and German to English
dictionaries produced by Fabis Computing. Features include groups and
sub-groups of GCSE topics, search and edit, add your own words, language
lists printed as required. Each dictionary costs ú20 +VAT from Fabis
Computing.
7.4
Å    Night Sky is Clares Microsæ new astronomy program. It allows display
of the night sky at any time from anywhere on earth, gives information
about each star, shows constellation boundaries, sun, moon and planets,
works in real or accelerated time, shows lunar and solar eclipses and
occulations, and deep sky objects can be shown e.g. nebulae, clusters
and galaxies. Night Sky costs ú79.95 inc VAT from Clares or ú74 through
Archive.
7.4
Å    Phaethon Ö A new game from a new software house: System Interrupt.
öDrive your space orb along hazardous terrains at breath-taking
velocity! Take corners and jump gaps at an unwise speed! Employ your
full manual capacity upon the solution of fiendish puzzles! Play the
game!ò, says the System Interrupt press release. Phaethon (apparently
pronounced öfaith-onò) is ú25.95 from System Interrupt or ú24 through
Archive. (Never mind the press release, read the review on page 19 from
which you will gather that Andrew Rawnsley rather likes Phaethon Ö and I
can vouch for the fact that Andrew has no connection, financial or
otherwise, with System Interrupt! Ed.)
7.4
Å    Psion 3A Ö As mentioned last month, we are going to be stocking the
new Psion 3A. The pricing will be ú269 for the 256Kb version and ú329
for the 512Kb. The only problem is that there are only limited supplies.
If you know somewhere that has them in stock then I suggest you buy one
while you have the chance(!) but if not, place an order with us and we
will put you in the queue and hold your cheque until we get supplies.
7.4
Å    Rhapsody 3 is now available. New features include guitar chords, quick
edit panel, hairpins & phrasing, auto bar checking, etc. Stewart Watson
has reported on the extra features in this issue Ö see page 12. Rhapsody
3, which requires 2Mb RAM, costs ú99.95 inc VAT from Clares or ú92
through Archive. There is an upgrade offer from Rhapsody 2 to 3 which
costs ú48 inc VAT from Clares although this offer is limited to 31st
December 1993.
7.4
Å    Scientific Graphics Collection CD-ROM Ö This provides a huge database
of scientific graphics material. It contains all the material from the
15 discs of graphics produced separately by SSERC as well as a Draw
Practical Guide in electronic format. The CD-ROM contains around 9,000
files with a total of 330Mb of data covering chemistry, physics,
biology, technology, IT and computing. It costs ú150 +VAT from SSERC.
7.4
Å    Shareware 21 Ö The Archimedes Image Manager on Shareware 21 has now
been updated to the latest version (AIM3) which includes instant loading
of (grey) sprites, manipulation of selected area, no restriction on
image format, better compliance with RISCáOS, better menu structure,
improved query box and help function, histograms savable as drawfiles.
This is a disc-only version but if you want a version complete with
manual, it is distributed by Lindis International. Shareware 21 is ú2
through Archive.
7.4
Å    Small Ö Another new company on the Archimedes games scene is Virgo
Software. Their first offering is called Small. It is a 3D maze
adventure game in which you have been shrunk to microscopic size and
have to wander the labyrinthine realm of your mind. Small costs ú24.95
from Virgo Software or ú23 through Archive.
7.4
Å    TCP/IP 2 single user Ö Acorn have realised that making TCP/IP 2
available only as a site licence at ú399 was not too user-friendly. They
have therefore decided to make it available with a single-user licence
for ú99 +VAT (ú105 through Archive).
7.4
Å    T-shirts, sweatshirts and mugs Ö If you are interested in putting your
own designs onto T-shirts, sweatshirts and mugs, Tekoa Graphics will
take your designs on Archimedes floppy disc in Artworks, Draw or sprite
format and transfer them to the required medium. Prices depend on
quantity but one-off prices are ú13 for T-shirts, ú16.70 for sweatshirts
and ú6 for mugs dropping to ú6, ú9.70 and ú4 each respectively for 25 or
more. (No VAT as T.G. are not VAT registered.)
7.4
Å    Twain is an image acquisition standard for easy communication between
image capturing devices and software applications. It has been
implemented on Mac and PC and has now been brought to RISCáOS machines
by David Pilling. Basically, Twain does for scanners what RISCáOS
printer drivers do for printers. The only version currently available is
for the HP ScanJet but versions for the Canon scanner (ScanLight
Professional) and the Epson scanners are on their way. The ScanJet
version is ú20 inclusive from David Pilling or ú19 through Archive.
7.4
Review software received...
7.4
We have received review copies of the following: ÅAIM3á(u),
áÅASM_Helpá(u), á ÅEasyFontá(u), á ÅJumble Funá(e), ÅLingomasterá(e), á
ÅMini Expansion Adaptorá(h), á ÅNoddyæs Playtimeá(e), á ÅOpening Doors
on IT Capability Ö four packsá(e), á ÅScribbleá(e), ÅSea, Trade &
Empireá(e), á ÅSmallá(g),  ÅSoapboxá(e), á ÅSounds & Rhymesá(e),
ÅSwitchá(g).
7.4
e=Education, bk=Book, g=Game, h=Hardware, l=Language, m=Music,
u=Utility, a=Art.
7.4
If you would like to review any of these products, please contact the
Archive office.ááA
7.4
Government Health Warning Ö Reading this could seriously affect your
spiritual health.
7.4
öSo, the self-styled expert on Christianity has been suffering from
depression, he has? Paul, I thought you said that you believed in a God
who healed people!?ò
7.4
Well, as I reported in this slot a couple of years ago, God healed my
back miraculously in answer to prayer,  so why didnæt He remove my
depression when I, and a good number of other people, prayed? (I am
feeling a lot better now, by the way. Many thanks to all those of you
who expressed concern!)
7.4
I donæt pretend to have any answer to öthe problem of sufferingò, Iæm
afraid. And I donæt honestly think that the bible does, either. We in
the West are trained to ask öWhy?ò and I donæt think there really is any
answer to that question. Oh, yes, in some cases you can see that
someoneæs suffering is a direct result of their, or someone elseæs,
actions but in the majority of cases, suffering does not happen as a
direct Écause and effectæ.
7.4
Have I learnt anything through the depression I suffered? Yes, I have.
It made me stop and ask, öWhat is really important in life?ò The answer?
People and relationships. I decided, amongst other things, that when I
felt better I was going to find a way of spending fewer hours slaving
over a hot computer and spending more time with my own family and
friends.
7.4
God is in the business of transforming suffering and if we trust Him, He
will bring good out of the worst situation. You only have to look at
Jesusæ death to see that. It looked like pointless suffering, but the
bible teaches something very different Ö if you donæt know what I mean,
ask a Christian to explain it. And if you do know what I mean, thank God
that he allowed His Son to die for us!
7.4
Paul Beverley
7.4
P.B.
7.4
4th Dimension     P.O. Box 4444, Sheffield. (0742-700661) (0742-781091)
7.4
4Mation     11 Castle Park Road, Whiddon Valley, Barnstaple, Devon, EX32
8PA.   (0271-25353) (0271-22974)
7.4
Abacus Training    29 Okus Grove, Upper Stratton, Swindon, Wilts, SN2
6QA.
7.4
Acorn Computers Ltd    Acorn House,
Vision Park, Histon, Cambridge, CB4 4AE. (0223-254254) (0223-254262)
7.4
Angelsoft Educational     35 Heol
Nant, Swiss Valley, Llanelli, Dyfed, SA14 8EN. (0554-776845)
7.4
Cambridgeshire Software House    8 Bramley
Road, St Ives, PE17 4WS. (0480-467945) (0480-496442)
7.4
Clares Micro Supplies     98
Middlewich Road, Rudheath, Northwich, Cheshire, CW9 7DA.         (0606-
48511) (0606-48512)
7.4
Colton Software (p5)    2 Signet
Court, Swanns Road, Cambridge, CB5 8LA. (0223-311881)     (0223-312010)
7.4
Computer Concepts (pp5/15)    Gaddesden
Place, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP2 6EX. (0442-63933)    (0442-231632)
7.4
Dalmation Publications     37 Manor
Road, Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 8AA.
7.4
David Pilling     P.O.Box 22, Thornton Cleveleys, Blackpool, FY5 1LR.
7.4
Davyn Software      The Workshop, off Princess Street, Sandal, Wakefield,
WF1 5NY.          (0924-254800)
7.4
Dorton IT Centre     Dorton House, Seal, Kent, TN15 0ED. (0732-761477
Ext223)
7.4
merald Publishing     P.O.Box 324,
Cambridge, CB1 3HB. (0223-355399)
7.4
EMR Ltd     14 Mount Close, Wickford, Essex, SS11 8HG. (0702-335747)
7.4
Fabis Computing     95 Fabis Close, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11 9SL.
7.4
Krisalis Software     Teque House,
Masonæs Yard, Downs Row, Moorgate, Rotherham, S60 2HD. (0709-372290)
7.4
Kudlian Soft     8 Barrow Road, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8á1EH. (0926-
851147)
7.4
Lindis International (p9)    Wood Farm,
Linstead Magna, Halesworth, Suffolk, IP19 0DU. (098-685-477) (098-685-
460)
7.4
LOOKSystems    47 Goodhale Road, Bowthorpe, Norwich, NR5 9AY. (0603-
764114)       (0603-764011)
7.4
Matt Black     P.O.Box 42, Peterborough, PE1 2TZ. (0733-315439)
7.4
Norfolk IT Team     Norfolk County Inset Centre Witard Road Norwich NR7
9XD.
7.4
Oak Solutions (p10)    Broadway
House, 149-151 St Neots Road, Hardwick, Cambridge, CB3 7QJ. (0954-
211760) (0954-211767)
7.4
Oregan Developments     36 Grosvenor
Avenue, Streetly, Sutton Coldfield, B74 3PE.
7.4
Quantum Software     35 Pinewood Park, Deans, Livingston, EH54 8NN. (0506-
411162 after 6)
7.4
Risc Developments     117 Hatfield
Road, St Albans, Herts, AL1 4JS. (0727-840303) (0727-860263)
7.4
Sherston Software     Swan Barton,
Sherston, Malmesbury, Wilts. SN16 0LH. (0666-840433) (0666-840048)
7.4
Sibelius Software     4 Bailey
Mews, Auckland Road, Cambridge, CB5 8DR. (0223-302765)
7.4
Sigma Press     1 South Oak Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 6AR. (0625-
531035)
7.4
SSERC     24 Bernard Terrace, Edinburgh, EH8 9NX. (031-668-4421)
7.4
System Interrupt     Burcott Manor, Wells, Somerset, BA5 1NH. (0749-670058)
(0749-670809)
7.4
Tekoa Graphics     16 Murray Road, Rugby, CV21 3JN. (0788-571434) (0788-
546376)
7.4
Virgo Software     P.O.Box 44, Cheshire, SK7 4QY. (061-456-0009)
7.4
Colton
7.4
From 7.3 page 7
7.4
CC
7.4
From 7.3 page 13
7.4
The Advance Column
7.4
Robert Chrismas
7.4
This column is for people interested in Acorn Advance. The main topics
this month are the importance of the Learning Curve Offer, and
installation. Next monthæs main topic will depend on what you write to
me about.
7.4
The Learning Curve
7.4
If you are buying an Archimedes now, it is worth finding an extra ú50
for the ÉLearning Curveæ software pack. It is excellent value. Acorn
Advance, just one item in the pack, includes a word processor/DTP
package, a spreadsheet, a database and a graphics program Ö all the
serious software most users need to get started. Advance has a sensible
selection of features which are easy to use.
7.4
I reviewed Advance in Archive 6.9 p33 and said that although it is a
good package, I was not sure how well it would sell. However, if Acorn
planned all along to include Advance with a new Archimedes for a give-
away price, I reckon they got it right this time.
7.4
People buying computers for the first time often find choosing suitable
software intimidating. A new Archimedes owner already gets a desktop
environment, fonts, printer drivers, drawing and painting packages free.
So now, for a small extra cost, they can get their Éofficeæ software Ö
the only tricky decisions left are what games to buy and what computer
magazines to subscribe to.
7.4
One advantage of buying Archive will be ÉThe Advance Columnæ in which
users can seek help and perhaps find useful advice.
7.4
For established Archimedes users, the generous Learning Curve offer is
still important. Acorn made sure that Font, Sprite and Draw format files
became a standard (at least within the Archimedes world) by giving away
the font manager, Paint and Draw with RISC OS. Advance format files will
probably not achieve such universal acceptance but we can expect to see
many Advance format files as well as applications which can interact
with Advance tools.
7.4
Getting started
7.4
The second chapter in the manual explains how to install Advance for
each of the three different packs in which Advance is supplied. Since
most users will have a single user pack, they can skip quite a lot of
this chapter.
7.4
If you are the sort of person who chucks the manuals aside and tries
things out, the advice which follows may forestall some disappointing
mistakes. If you are the sort of person who puts the discs to one side
and reads as much of the manual as you can understand before trying to
install the software, you may be interested to learn that informal
observation of teenage culture dialect words suggest that this behaviour
is typical of a personality type which they refer to as ÉMeccano Manæ.
We are the latest minority group!
7.4
With a single user pack, you cannot back up the discs until disc 1 has
been installed. So insert disc 1 and double click on the !Advance
application. Complete the registration details. This will remove the
copy protection from disc 1. Depending on how careful you  are (how
Meccano oriented) you may now want to back up Disc 1 and Disc 2.
7.4
Advance is supplied on two 800Kb discs. This is not very convenient. All
the new Archimedes computers can use discs formatted to hold twice as
much data Ö 1.6Mb. So you can store the whole application on one disc.
Of course, if you have a hard disc you will probably want to copy
!Advance into a suitable directory on the hard disc.
7.4
First copy the !Advance application from Disc 1 on to a suitable
directory on your hard disc, or into a floppy disc formatted for 1.6Mb.
7.4
Now look inside your new copy of Advance. You do this by pointing to the
new copy of Advance, holding down <shift>, and double clicking <select>.
This opens the Advance directory.
7.4
Now you can copy !AdvanceWP from Disc 2 so that it is in the same
directory as !AdvanceDB, !AdvanceGR and !AdvanceSH. This creates a
complete copy of Advance.
7.4
You should now make a backup of this complete copy of Advance onto
(another) 1.6Mb floppy disc.
7.4
Although it makes installation a bit fiddly, this method of organising
Advance has some advantages. You do not need to keep all the tool
applications inside Advance. You can keep the tool applications anywhere
you want. Provided the computer has Éseenæ them, they will still be
loaded and used.
7.4
Some notes on WP
7.4
Save three seconds: to start a new word processing document, you can
just click <select> on the Advance application. There is no need to go
through the Create menu.
7.4
Paragraph Border: Look out for the Paragraph Border option on the
Effects menu. There are three types of border, thick, thin and shadow.
If you mark any section of text and try to put a border around it, the
border will automatically go from the carriage return before to the
carriage return after.
7.4
The paragraph border menu also has thick and thin Érulesæ which draw
single lines under the Éparagraphæ.
7.4
Some interesting results occur if you put borders around areas which
already include sections with borders, or if you change the ruler within
a section with a border. So far, I have not found a practical use for
this.
7.4
Send your hints, tips, ideas, questions, frustrations, etc to me, Robert
Chrismas, either via the Archive office or direct to 8 Virginia Park
Road, Gosport, Hants, PO12 3DZ. Provided I do not get inundated (fat
chance judging from the response to the July article) I will try to
answer questions immediately through the post. However, in the style of
problem pages everywhere, you will still see your letter in the magazine
(possibly with a completely different answer).ááA
7.4
Lingenuity
7.4
New artwork
7.4
Oak Solutions
7.4
From 7.3 page 14
7.4
Music Column
7.4
Stewart Watson
7.4
TG100?
7.4
Two questions from the postbag. What is a TG100? Is it an expander, is
it a module, is it a tone generator or is it a synthesizer? The answer,
in each case, is Éyesæ. Most synthesizers are now produced in two forms,
with and without a keyboard. The keyboardless versions, which include
the tone-generating part of the original synthesizer, are usually called
expanders, but are sometimes referred to as synthesizers in module form
(modules) or tone generators.
7.4
General MIDI
7.4
There is now a wide range of expanders on the market, many of which are
General MIDI compatible. This means that they will be at least 28 note
polyphonic and 16 part multi-timbral. They will all have a set of voices
at least from 1 Ö 128 that are of the same basic type, i.e. voice 1 will
be a piano sound, voice 57 will be a trumpet sound etc. The drum sounds
will be assigned to MIDI channel 10, and the note assignment of the
different drum sounds will be the same. The difference between different
General MIDI tone generators is in the sound (and price) of different
manufacturersæ products. Some manufacturers are particularly strong in
brass sounds, while others have excellent strings, and it is up to the
purchaser to decide which modelæs sounds (and price) best suit their
requirements. A General MIDI device is well worth having because of the
vast range of music available in Standard MIDI file format, which will
run immediately via General MIDI.
7.4
PSR6700?
7.4
What is a PSR6700? Yamaha, who now almost totally dominate the keyboard
market, produce a wide range of keyboards with either small keys or
standard size keys. The third letter of the name indicates the size of
the keys; S for small, R for regular. The number is simply the model
number, and the higher the number of the current range, the higher the
specification. Therefore, a PSR6700 is a Yamaha regular sized keyboard
with a fairly high specification. Unfortunately, Yamaha also seem to
have a policy of regularly changing the model numbers of their
keyboards, without necessarily changing very much else. But it does mean
that bargains can be found by buying a replaced model which is perhaps
only cosmetically different.
7.4
Standard MIDI files
7.4
Each month there are more and more adverts in music magazines for
Standard MIDI file libraries. Not all of these are in Archimedes format
but that doesnæt mean that the Archimedes cannot access these files. DOS
and Atari files can be transferred to ADFS very easily. First back up
the original disc. Load the copy, select all the files and change the
filetype to &FD4, the Serenade filetype, and these can then be loaded
and run perfectly. Alternatively, use the EMR Studio24+ file converter
to convert the MIDI files into Studio 24+ files. Some of these files are
extremely professionally produced Ö but not all. I suggest that, if you
wish to build a library of Standard MIDI files, you sample a few
libraries before deciding where to spend the bulk of your hard-earned
money. Pro Music of Dettington Way, Bury St. Edmonds, Suffolk IP33 3BR
have an extensive catalogue of Standard MIDI Files priced ú5.95 per file
(minimum order 4 files).
7.4
Sound Advice
7.4
Sound Advice file converter has been upgraded to import and export
Standard MIDI Files. Files can be exported in either Format 0 or Format
1. This gives Sound Advice users access to the vast Standard MIDI file
libraries.
7.4
Music Scorewriting
7.4
There are major advances in music writing packages for the Archimedes at
the moment. Rhapsody 3 from Clares (see separate review) is now
available and ScoreDraw 3 will be available around Christmas. Sibelius
Software who produced the very professional, and very expensive Sibelius
7, should have Sibelius 6 on sale by the time you read this. Sibelius 6
is a cut down version of Sibelius 7 and will cost ú160 including VAT.
EMR claim to have Desktop Scorewriter available, but Iæve still not seen
it. áA
7.4
Rhapsody 3
7.4
Stewart Watson
7.4
Rhapsody 3 is the latest music package from Clares. It is obviously an
upgrade of Rhapsody 2 but there are so many new and improved features
that it perhaps should really be thought of as a new and separate
program. In fact, Rhapsody 2 will continue to be available in the
immediate future. Rhapsody 3 requires a minimum of 2Mb of RAM to run, as
it requires over 800Kb itself. If you intend to multi-task Rhapsody 3
and Serenade, for instance, 4Mb  is essential.
7.4
User-friendliness
7.4
Despite the vast number of features available, Rhapsody 3 is extremely
user-friendly, and a novice to scoring should have no problem at all in
getting to grips with the basics of the program. Extensive help is
available via Acornæs help application, and the numerous keyboard short-
cuts are very useful. The more familiar you become with the short-cuts,
the faster you will be able to input complicated scores. I tried the
program out on a couple of pupils who were not particularly au-fait with
music technology and they took to it like ducks to water, without access
to the manual, and with only a minimum of help from me.
7.4
The package
7.4
The package includes 4 discs and a very thorough 110 page manual.
Unfortunately, there is no keystrip or separate quick key guide. There
are so many quick keys that I think a separate quick key guide is almost
essential, if you do not wish to have the manual by your side when
working on more complicated scores. Iæve included a text file for
printing your own quick key guide on the Archive monthly disc. The
program has Clares usual installation procedure which is a sensible
protection system protecting the supplier without inconveniencing the
user.
7.4
Discs
7.4
Of the four discs supplied with the package, the first contains the main
Rhapsody 3 application, together with !Scrap, !SysMerge, !System and a
ReadMe file containing the most up-to-date information on the program.
There is also a Utilities directory containing two applications
!3Dwindows and !DragaSpri, which are not referred to in the manual.
There are three resources discs. Disc one contains the !Config, !Perform
and !VoiceApp applications, together with the Pembroke music font,
Tonecharts for a wide variety of keyboards and a Demo which will run for
over three hours. Resources disc two contains the !Voices application
which includes a large number of voices which will be very useful if
using the internal voices rather than the MIDI facilities. Resource disc
three contains a large collection of music files.
7.4
The manual
7.4
The manual is well laid out with plenty of illustrations but,
surprisingly, the quality of the screen dumps is not consistent with the
high quality of the rest of the package.
7.4
New features
7.4
There are a huge number of new features including guitar chords, a quick
edit panel, full dragging of notes and other symbols, hairpins and
phrasing, different note styles, automatic bar checking, user
preferences, different individual stave sizes and styles, auto save
option, a whole range of new symbols, etc, etc.
7.4
Start up
7.4
When the program is loaded and run, you are presented with two windows,
a single stave with a treble clef and the main editing panel. Users can
customise the start up configuration to their individual preferences.
This allows the development of individual house styles.
7.4
Getting started
7.4
There are a variety of ways of entering notes and symbols, the most
immediate being to simply drag them from the main panel into the score
window. The note length at the cursor can be altered by pressing one of
the function keys, and accidentals can be added from the control panel
or by using <ctrl> and a function key.
7.4
Staves
7.4
To insert a new stave, you bring up the Add item in the stave submenu.
This window allows you amongst other things, to name the stave and
assign it to a MIDI channel and a programme change. A maximum of 24
staves are allowed per score and the information for each can be
displayed down the left side of the screen. Staves can be in one of four
formats, normal, small, percussion, sol-fa or blank. The blank scores
are particularly useful when entering lyrics or guitar chords.
7.4
Notes
7.4
Every note fits into a slot, which varies in width according to the
length of the current note and other information that is present. Slots
can be globally widened or narrowed to the useræs preferences, and
individual slot widths can also be altered.
7.4
The main panel
7.4
The main panel is where most of Rhapsodyæs features are controlled. It
is divided into three sections, Action, Selection and Submenus. The
action icons control the movement of the cursor and insertion and
deletion of notes, etc. The selection icons duplicate the symbols
available from the function keys, and when one is selected from the main
panel, a submenu choice appears at the bottom of the main panel.
7.4
Block functions
7.4
Blocks of notes can be cut, copied and pasted, as in a word processor
but, additionally, blocks of notes can be shifted, transposed or have
attributes like accents added. This is a much more powerful function
than in Rhapsody 2.
7.4
Capture
7.4
Scores can be played in from a MIDI keyboard in real time, step time or,
interestingly, semi-real time. Once the notes have been recorded, they
are transcribed with a variety of interesting options. Quantize is
available as fixed length or variable length, which is extremely useful
if there is a wide range of note values in the piece being played. It
can interpret or ignore triplets and the keyboard can be split at any
point and any notes below that point will be input to a stave below the
current one, so that piano music can be input in real time.
7.4
Guitar chords
7.4
In a review, it is only possible to touch on some of the features
available and there are so many wonderful features that it is hard to
decide what to include and what to miss omit. Having said that, the
guitar chord function is really excellent. Up to 48 chords can be
defined, named and stored. The program comes with 36 chords already
defined which saves a lot of initial effort. The chords are best placed
on a separate blank stave because, by default, they are input to the
centre of the stave.
7.4
Printing
7.4
At the end of the day, any scoring package is going to be judged on the
printout, which was Rhapsody 2És weakness. Rhapsody 3 is a considerable
improvement in this respect, and the format options are extensive and
first-class. Files cannot presently by exported to ScoreDraw, but a new
version of ScoreDraw to take Rhapsody 3 files should be available soon.
However, the print quality from Rhapsody 3 is perfectly acceptable for
everyday use.
7.4
Wish list
7.4
Although when recording in real time, it is possible to leave a blank
bar and then delete the extra barline, I find that inelegant and would
prefer a count-in bar. Inputting text is a bit unwieldy, although using
a blank stave does make this much more comfortable than previously. An
easier way to input text would be advantageous. The list of Italian,
German and English terms could have been made user-editable. There are
one or two little idiosyncrasies, for instance, there are two inverted
mordants but no mordant symbol, and the range of dynamics doesnæt
include Sforzando. Having the facility to input guitar chords is a real
boon, but it would have been delightful if the facility to output a part
in guitar tablature were available. These are obviously very minor
quibbles, for such an excellent program.
7.4
Conclusion
7.4
Sequencing and scorewriting are fundamentally different activities in
that, when you use a sequencer, you are primarily concerned with how
your music sounds, but when you score a piece of music, you are
principally interested in how the music looks. I think Rhapsody 3
compromises its principal aim slightly to provide some extra sequencing
functions. Having said that, it is an extremely effective program,
wonderfully easy to use, and would fulfil all but the most demanding of
anyoneæs scorewriting needs.
7.4
Price and availability
7.4
Rhapsody 3 is available from Clares Micros price ú99.95 inclusive or ú92
through Archive. An upgrade from Rhapsody or Rhapsody 2 is available
from Clares until the 31st December price ú48.00. A site licence costs
ú352.50 from Clares and an existing site licence upgrade costs ú146.87.
áA
7.4
CC
7.4
From 7.3 page 8
7.4
Comment Column
7.4
Å    Acorn World 93 Ö Your description of Acorn World 93 is mild indeed. I
thought it was pretty disappointing: no new hardware to speak of (apart
from the 105Mb removables, of course), nothing new on sale at CC,
NewLook which slows the machine down unacceptably, Oak going out of
hardware and Rob McMillan out of a job. (Someone tells me he is now
working for Acorn! Ed.)
7.4
One thing on the credit side for music buffs was Sibelius, the music
writeræs equivalent of Impression, which really looks very impressive.
7.4
On the subject of removables, there is apparently a 270Mb, 3╜ö drive in
the offing. It is only in IDE format and there is no sign of a SCSI
version.á Mike Hobart, Cambridge.
7.4
We too heard the rumours about the 270Mb removables. We have been told
told öhopefully sometime in 1st quarter 1994ò for the IDE version and
öMarch at the earliestò for the SCSI version. There is no word on
pricing yet. Also, I must confess to a sense of un-ease at the thought
of  trusting 270Mb of data to a 3╜ö removable disc! Ed.
7.4
Å    Auto-kerning fonts in Impression Ö At the time the ÉNew Outline Fontsæ
article was written (Archive 7.3 p34), Impression Style was expected to
have been released by the publication date, so the comment that current
versions of Impression support these fonts would have been true. In
fact, it was true, but only if you live in Germany! The Germans have
Impressioná2.5 which contains several features not in 2.19, including
support for auto-kerning fonts. However, this release is not generally
available in this country, and is being superseded by Impression
Publisher (and, in some ways, by Style).á Richard Hallas, Huddersfield.
7.4
Å    Colour Card with Taxan 770 Plus Ö Much has been made of graphics cards
recently but potential purchasers should be aware of the impossibility
of getting a quart out of a pint pot (see Colin Singletonæs comments
Archive 7.3 p27). My Épint potæ is a Taxan 770+ and having bought a CC
Colour Card recently, I have discovered that the monitor will not
support many of the new modes theoretically offered by the card. In
particular, it will not synchronise with any of the 1024╫768 modes, the
960╫720 modes or the synthetic SVGA 800╫600 modes. Obviously, the
1280╫1024, 1440╫1080 and 1152╫848 modes are also not available, although
1600╫600 does work. This mode is very dim on the screen and requires
resizing via the monitor controls. I have wound up using mode 110 most
often, with the CC 640╫512 mode 98 being very clear and having an almost
liquid clarity, but with correspondingly big text and icons.
7.4
I was after a larger effective desktop size and have achieved this, but
I wouldnæt say Iæm totally happy. Mode 110 is a trifle too small/unclear
and I wish I could use the 16 colour 960╫720 mode. So be warned that the
pursuit of a better display may well take you on the path towards a 17ö
monitor. Prices for these are dropping, however, as they become
increasingly the norm for PC Windows users.á Richard Fallas, Grendon
Underwood, Bucks.
7.4
Å    Flopticals for ADFS, part three Ö Since I told you (in Archive 6.11)
about the intention of the Berlin-based firm, Tools, to develop the
software for an ADFS floptical drive, things have taken a turn for the
worse.
7.4
Tools have just told me that, after several months filled with fruitless
attempts to obtain up-to-date developersæ information from Insite
Peripherals, they have dropped the project completely.á Jochen
Konietzko, K÷ln, Germany.
7.4
Å    Kerned text within Drawfiles in Impression Ö When incorporating
drawfiles which contain kerned text into Impression, the text reverts to
being unkerned. The only solution at present is to convert the text into
paths before saving the file into Impression: the letters then remain in
their kerned positions.á Nick Edgar, Doncaster.
7.4
At the time of writing, this does still apply to the pre-release of
Impression Style, although Computer Concepts are aware of the situation.
7.4
Richard Hallas, Huddersfield.
7.4
Å    Keystroke Update Ö Quantum Softwareæs Keystroke utility has attracted
some very complimentary and well-deserved remarks in recent issues of
Archive and elsewhere. I donæt know of any other program which enhances
the Archimedesæ productivity so well and the after-sales service is
quite the best Iæve come across.
7.4
Version 2.30 was released in mid-November and represents a significant
update with a fully-revised manual. V2.31 (25-Nov-93) clears a minor bug
in the Executor playback module for the key definitions.
7.4
There are two main areas of change in V2.30. Firstly, in previous
versions, the Insert Text option was basically limited to letters,
numbers, other characters and control codes in the ASCII range 32-255.
The update allows virtually all the remaining control keys to be used
(escape, tab, page up, Print, and so on), by entering them between
backslash (\) characters as part of the text string. In the case of Ctrl
and/or Shift, only the letters C-, S- or CS- need be entered as the
Étextæ equivalent.
7.4
To give an example, if you wanted to change the page indents manually in
Ovation, you would first call up the Tabs/Indents dialogue box by
pressing the Shift, Ctrl and Tab keys together (<shift-ctrl-tab>),
before amending the dialogue box numbers. Keystrokeæs Insert Text
equivalent is entered simply as É\CS-TAB\æ. Very straightforward but
very powerful.
7.4
The other new facility is the ÉEVALæ function, used in conjunction with
dialogue boxes. This function evaluates any numerical element of the
text present in a box, applies a desired, preset arithmetic change and
inserts the new value into the box. The arithmetic operations can be
add, subtract, multiply or divide.
7.4
Confused? Letæs look at an example following on from the one above. Let
us say you wish to apply an indent of 10mm at the right-hand side of an
Ovation document. To do that manually, you would need to press <shift-
ctrl-tab> to open the Tabs/Indents dialogue box, click on the Right
Indent radio button, note the existing value (which will depend on the
page width), mentally subtract 10mm, clear the existing value (<ctrl-
U>), type in the new value, press <return> and click on OK; a total of
some 15 keypresses. Keystroke will do all this for you with a simple
two-key combination.
7.4
The benefit of using ÉEVALæ and ÉÖ10æ in the text string is that, rather
than entering an absolute value, Keystroke will enter a value of Ö10mm
relative to the existing value, giving a 10mm indent regardless of the
document page width.
7.4
The sheer power and value of Keystroke can best be illustrated by taking
the example still further. In the technical reports I publish, I like to
clarify presentation by liberal use of sub-paragraphs, with left and
right indents, plus hanging indent Ébulletsæ from the Dingbats font.
Without wishing to denigrate Ovation, to do that manually would require
around 45 separate keypresses. Keystroke has changed all that; simply by
pressing a two-key combination, an indented sub-paragraph with bullet is
displayed in moments. Thatæs what I call an aid to productivity. Ovation
= super; Ovation + Keystroke = SUPERB.
7.4
One slight limitation, explained in the manual, is that the codes
produced when pressing the desired key combination have also to be
passed to, and may interact with, the application in use. For instance,
if you set up <alt-A> in Keystroke to perform a Select All function in a
word-processor, that will work. However, <alt-A> will also generate an
international character (ɵæ) which will appear in the word-processor at
the text caret position. The manual suggests that, where this happens,
the superfluous character can be suppressed by adding a Édeleteæ
character via an Insert Text command (É\DEL\æ). But there are other key
combinations which produce control codes whose effects can be relatively
painful, e.g. <ctrl-U> will delete text in a dialogue box!
7.4
Having been caught out unexpectedly by this a couple times, I decided
that I would work my way through all the key combinations to determine
their effects Ö then Keystroke V2.31 arrived. This includes an Edit file
called Spare Keys (in the example Keystrokes directory), listing all the
key combinations which do not produce a character under RISC OS 3.11.
Sticking to combinations in this list should ensure you will not be
similarly embarrassed.á Jim Nottingham, York.
7.4
Å    Pocket Book comments Ö I purchased a Pocket Book at Acorn World 93 and
I am delighted with it. Here are my observations so far:
7.4
Typing is surprisingly easy for such a small keyboard provided that you
press each key in a positive manner.
7.4
Moan #1: I wish the Caps Lock had an indicator light.
7.4
The spelling checker is excellent, the Ébringæ facility is useful and
the editing options are exceptional for such a small machine.
7.4
Moan #2: It is a pity there is no alphabetic sort on Cards but the
search option is very good.
7.4
The calculator is superb. I personally have little use for the
spreadsheet and have only just started to use Schedule.
7.4
I find it difficult to understand why Acorn are advertising the Pocket
Book as an educational tool and are not mentioning business and personal
use. They seem to be missing a large sector of the potential market.
7.4
Is there any possibility of having a Pocket Book Column in Archive?á
Roger Jackman, Farnham.
7.4
Yes, we can have a Pocket Book Column if someone will offer to edit it
and if there is enough input from people. If you have hints & tips,
ideas, questions, etc, send them in to the Archive office and if someone
would like to offer to edit the column, let me know. Ed.
7.4
Å    Risc User Kerner and EFF DrawKern Ö The Risc User magazine disc for
Volume 7 issue 1 (ú4.75 to members) and the Fonts Discs 2 and 3 (ú11.95,
including other font utilities and 10 outline font families) all contain
a small program caller Kerner, which appears to duplicate the functions
of EFFæs DrawKern and which works in a similar way.á Nick Edgar,
Doncaster.
7.4
Also, George Buchanan has written a Charityware application which allows
you to convert a drawfile into one with kerned text, similar to EFFæs
DrawKern. If you would like a copy, please send a blank formatted disc
(DD, not HD) with an SAE to George at 145 Albion Street, Kenilworth, CV8
2FY. The whole ú1 will go to charity.ááA
7.4
Help!!!!
7.4
Å    Downloading to a portable PC Ö Has anyone got Interlink, Laplink or
other PC file transfer software working between an Archimedes (with or
without the PC Emulator) and a portable or desktop PC? Or how else have
you transferred files, including PC binary files, other than using
discs? (My portable has no floppy drive.) Details of successes and
failures to Stuart Bell, 23 Ryecroft Drive, Horsham, RH12 2AW.
7.4
Å    LinTrack to DrawPlus/Vector Ö Jonathan Marten is writing a conversion
program for LinTrack to DrawPlus. This will make LinTrack a sensible
choice for general use with output via RISCáOS printer drivers. Please
contact me if you are interested as the program could be released
commercially if demand were sufficient.á Richard Torrens, 30 Reach Road,
Burwell, Cambridge, CB5á0AH.
7.4
Å    Printing the system font Ö I am having problems printing out the
system font and pictures from Draw using Computer Conceptsæ Turbo
Drivers. After resizing numbers in the system font, they disappear when
printed out but they are there on screen!  Resized pictures also lose
part of their colouring.
7.4
Does anybody know why I am getting this problem as Computer Concepts
have not replied to my plea for help, but I presume they are busy with
Style, etc.
7.4
My computer is an A3000 upgraded to RISC OS3 with 4Mb of memory printing
to Canon BJ330. Brian Cocksedge, öFerndellò, Kings Drive, Midhurst, W
Sussex, GU29 0BJ.
7.4
Å    Rhapsody swaps Ö Would anyone be interested in contacting other
Rhapsody users? If you would like to share tunes entered and/or
alternative instruments, please contact Mr E Crennell, 67 Queens Road,
Formby, Merseyside, L37 2HG.
7.4
Å    Spurious line feeds Ö I have an A5000, with RISC OS 3.1, and v1.8 of
the PC Emulator. I have a JP150, but I sometimes want to print to an
FX80. Despite changing all the program configurations from DeskJet to
Epson FX, printing of both text and graphics includes spurious line
feeds. This results in the text being double-spaced, while graphics can
have several spurious line feeds in (what should be) each line. The CR/
LF switch in the FX80 is switched off. Can anybody help? John Woodgate,
3 Bramfield Road East, Rayleigh, Essex SS6 8RG.ááA
7.4
Help Offered
7.4
Å    Kerned text in Draw Ö In response to Richard Hallasæ comment last
month (Archive 7.3 p68) on the problem of getting kerned text into Draw,
Chris Johnson has sent us an application called !Text>Draw to solve the
problem. We have put it on the monthly program disc. (ú2 through
Archive) Chris writes...
7.4
You may recall that a few months back Brian Cowan requested a facility
to import text into Draw. I responded with an application (!Text>Draw)
which was put onto the 6.12 monthly disc. The latest version of this
application not only displays correctly kerned text but also allows the
text to be loaded into Draw. It allows the use of up to six font styles
and does multi-level super- and sub-scripts. A WYSIWYG display is shown
as the text is entered and the result can be saved as a drawfile. Note
that this program will only function correctly on RISC OS 3. The
application contains extensive on-line help.á Chris Johnson,
Edinburgh.ááA
7.4
Phaethon
7.4
Andrew Rawnsley
7.4
Every once in a while, there appears a game that is really addictive,
immensely playable, and even rather fun! Sometimes it will have good
graphics and sound, or maybe hundreds of levels to increase the
lifespan. Phaethon is one such game.
7.4
Addictive
7.4
Ever since I first loaded this new product from System Interrupt, I have
been hooked on it. The gameplay is so simple, but each time you make one
bad move, you simply have to have another go!
7.4
Initially, Phaethon bears a strong resemblance to Fervour from Clares.
However, as soon as you begin to play, you realise that this product is
of a much higher class.
7.4
The plot
7.4
Phaethonæs plot is rather dire, but donæt let that detract from the
game. Apparently, Phaethon is the name given to the most exhilarating,
frustrating, elating and even more frustrating form of relaxation in the
galaxy. It is also the ultimate challenge, the definitive confrontation
and the supreme contest... well thatæs what it says here.
7.4
Why canæt it just be put simply Ö Phaethon is Sinusoidal Tendenciesæ
name for a game in which you race your sphere around long, winding and
fiendishly designed courses? It is, perhaps by chance, also the most
addictive game released this year.
7.4
Loading
7.4
Phaethon comes on two discs Ö a game disc and a zones disc. The discs
are unprotected, so the game can easily be installed on, and run from, a
hard disc. The way the zones appear in a special zones directory, and
the presence of a built-in level designer, indicate that we may well see
more zones discs appearing if the game proves to be popular.
7.4
Double clicking the !Phaethon icon leads to an attractive credits screen
with a multi-directional scrolling starfield effect. The game is
announced as Éa Sinusoidal Tendencies game for System Interruptæ Ö
sounds like the credits for a movie!
7.4
Once the game has loaded, you can select which of the supplied zone sets
you wish to play. Currently these are: learning, scenic, normal, mazes
and puzzles. You can create new zone sets with the editor if you so
wish.
7.4
The options
7.4
Having set which zone you wish to play (it can be changed later if
required) you can change the controls, control method (mouse, keyboard
or Acorn compatible joystick) and sound, enter a password for a level in
the current zone, edit a level or start the game.
7.4
You will probably be choosing the last option, and clicking on this
button starts one of the many pieces of music and you enter the shop.
The Phaethon music is one of lifeæs little mysteries Ö how on earth did
Sinusoidal Tendencies fit it all on one zones disc, as well as the level
data?
7.4
The shop
7.4
When you arrive at the shop, you are given a choice of three options.
You can buy a pre-defined setup for your sphere, design a setup which
will be saved so that you can access it in the future, or just design a
one-off setup.
7.4
You have an allotted amount of cash, shown at the bottom of the screen
on the status bar. From this you buy what you require. When designing a
setup, you can choose from four different engines, four different break
sets, two sets of lateral thrusters, two different vertical jets, as
well as many others, including new paint jobs or stereo systems! Engines
may be tweaked for optimum performance.
7.4
Once you are ready to go, you simply click on ÉQuit Shopæ.
7.4
The game itself
7.4
Each level consists of a long tiled track with curves, hills, slopes and
dips. The width of the track varies and sometimes there are even gaps in
the track which must be jumped over.
7.4
However, these are just the mundane things. There may be magnets which
attract your sphere, disintegrating, textured floor, glue on the track,
or ice, sand or slime. There may be reverse control tiles, cash tiles,
score tiles, death tiles or teleporter tiles. Some levels include gates,
doors and locks which must be opened by driving over, and collecting,
certain tiles. There are even gun emplacements and aliens which kill you
on impact on some levels! The list simply goes on and on. Phaethon has
so many features!
7.4
Then there are between eight and ten different pieces of music per zone,
totalling over forty pieces of in-game music. Wow!
7.4
Graphics
7.4
The quality of the graphics also deserves praise. Although not quite the
best Iæve seen, they are certainly good and enhance the gameplay.
Particularly worthy of note are the many different background planets
and nebulae and, err... potatoes?
7.4
Quitting the game
7.4
This should be mentioned in passing. When you click on the Éreturn to
Desktopæ icon from the main menu, you find yourself back in the desktop
with a Phaethon icon on the iconbar, allowing you to re-enter the game
just by clicking on the icon.
7.4
Conclusions
7.4
What can I say? My only criticism of this game is that it is slightly
difficult to get the inner carton containing the discs out of the box!
7.4
If you buy one game this Christmas, make a wise choice and buy Phaethon.
It certainly beats all the Amiga conversions weære so inundated with
(not that Iæve anything against conversions). Just one last thought,
donæt play it last thing at night, otherwise youæll wonder where the
night went!
7.4
Phaethon costs ú25.95 from System Interrupt or ú24 through Archive.
(Now, leave me alone and let me get back to level 17!)ááA
7.4
Iæm sure youære dying to know why the name Phaethon was chosen as the
name of this exciting new game... well, apparently, (definition A) it is
a small asteroid that has an orbit approaching close to the sun that
releases fragments of dust that enter the earthæs atmosphere as meteors.
Actually, it should be Phaδthon (definition B) the son of Zeus, the sun
god, who borrowed his dadæs chariot and nearly set the earth on fire by
getting too close Ö but dad saved us by striking him down with a
thunderbolt. Phew! No, no, it should have been phaeton, without the
extra Éhæ (definition C) which is a light four-wheeled horse-drawn
carriage with or without a top, usually having two seats!
7.4
Thereæs a free Archive mug for each of the first ten subscribers to tell
me which of the above is or are true definitions Ö call my bluff?!
Ed.ááA
7.4
Electronic CAD
7.4
Richard Torrens
7.4
Welcome to this, the first of a series on Electronic CAD. But before you
turn over to the next article, please give me a chance: although you may
not wish to design electronic circuits, much that I have to say (at
least in this first article) will be quite general and applies to any
choice of software. Also, some of the software I use and will write
about is general purpose, like Draw or PipeDream.
7.4
I have been using an Archimedes for CAD for many a year and I now want
to upgrade my software. But which route do I go? Are there standard,
general Archimedes programs I can use or do I have to go for a dedicated
package? Do I have to change my methods to suit the dictates of the
package I choose or is there a dedicated package which will do what I
want? Will any available Acorn package be good enough or do I have to
desert Acorn and go to DOS?
7.4
Come to that Ö exactly what do I want? So I started writing to clarify
my own requirements and found that I had a lot to say. At that point it
started to develop into a series of articles which Paul agreed to
publish.
7.4
I am using an Archimedes to run an electronics company. Software that I
use includes DrawPlus, PipeDream, ArcFax, Prophet as well as specialised
CAD so the column may well become ÉThe Archimedes Used To Run An
Electronics Businessæ. Its direction will depend on the feedback and
interest that I get from you.
7.4
Introduction Ö the author
7.4
I have been Édoingæ electronics for about 28 years now. I started work
with Clive Sinclair when he was selling audio kits. Since then, I have
been working in electronics, running service departments, writing
instruction manuals and answering technical enquiries. I have done quite
a lot of design work and, at one stage, I wrote a regular article for a
DIY magazine. Now I run my own company making controllers for battery
motors such as golf buggies, miniature locomotives, etc.
7.4
I am not a computer engineer but a general purpose electronics engineer
with a background of technical writing and communication. This
background gives me a different viewpoint on computing from the average
computer engineer or software writer.
7.4
My first computer was an Acorn Atom and then followed a BBC B+, a BBC
Master and an Archimedes. I first started using the BBC for word
processing, then we got PCB (printed circuit board) design software to
run on the B+ so I have thus been using CAD software for many years.
7.4
Although I enjoy computing, my main interest is in the use of the
Archimedes to help me run my business. I use an Archimedes to do
everything, from office work through to writing, publishing technical
manuals, sending out mail shots, answering letters, sending and
receiving faxes. At the other end of the business, I do the design work
all the way from designing and drawing the circuits and preparing the
PCB artwork through to parts listing, stock control, purchasing and
invoicing. We are a decentralised company using homeworkers and, as we
expand, we shall use teleworking techniques as far as possible. A lot of
what we do in the company would not be possible without computer
technology.
7.4
What is Égoodæ computer software?
7.4
The answer to this question will depend on your viewpoint. A
programmeræs answer could well be to say that the best software is that
which sells best. After all, the programmer is there to make a living
for himself and, by definition, a program which does not sell well is no
good.
7.4
A useræs answer might be: good software does the job I want to do and
only the job I want to do. It has no unnecessary features and facilities
that I do not require and which only make it confusing to use. If it is
a sophisticated package, it must have an easy entry point so I can start
to use it at a simple level, learning about the sophistications as I go.
As I learn about it, I expect to enjoy using it. Any program which I
have to fight with is a non-starter. The more I use the program, the
more friendly it should become. Some programs do not do this. They have
Ésharp edgesæ and Érough patchesæ (or should I say Ébugsæ and
Éfeaturesæ) which make them nasty to pick up and re-use after a few
weeks of non-use.
7.4
We have here a dilemma: many of the jobs which people want to do can be
quite simple. If you write a simple program to do these simple jobs,
then where is the profit for the programmer? If the job is being done
well by a simple program, who will need to upgrade?
7.4
It is a truism that a simple, well designed, single purpose piece of
computer software should be able to do the job for which is was designed
far better and faster than a general purpose package. The dedicated
software (if properly written) will always be much easier for the
unskilled user and it will also have a short learning curve. However,
computer programmers are there to sell software. A package with more
bells and whistles will look more attractive to a new purchaser and will
do more jobs and it should therefore sell better Ö so this is what tends
to get written.
7.4
The problem with any powerful software is the learning curve involved:
the more versatile the program, the steeper the learning curve. But
then, the steeper the learning curve, the harder it is to change to a
new package. One therefore tends to learn and get used to a particular
way of doing something, dictated by the software you are learning. After
this, any new software feels wrong simply because it is different. It is
very difficult to set aside learned Ébadæ habits and judge the new
software fairly. Users tend therefore to stick to one package and
advocate this.
7.4
A comparison between packages is very difficult to make. Have you ever
seen an in-depth comparative review of even two desktop publishing
packages? (Er, yes, in Archive Ö but we take your point! Ed.) How much
more difficult it is to adequately compare three or four PCB design
packages.
7.4
I once tried to learn SuperCalc 4 but I couldnæt get into it. Then I
changed job and was given an old computer as a stop-gap. This had an
earlier version of SuperCalc with far fewer bells and whistles. I learnt
this quite quickly. Having learnt that, SuperCalc4 was far easier. I was
soon using SuperCalc 4 quite simply. In fact, I started using SuperCalc4
at home on the Master512 in preference to PipeDream on the BBC. However,
when I eventually got an Archimedes for home use, with PipeDream 3, I
swapped over from SuperCalc back to PD3 Ö it felt like coming home again
Ö far easier than SuperCalc.
7.4
It is also true that very few users know exactly the job they want done.
In any case, the job may well change. Certainly the average user buys a
package for one not-too-well-understood purpose, then finds other uses
for the package as his learning progresses.
7.4
Manuals
7.4
Perhaps the point about software and learning curves here is that a new
user almost always has Étechnophobiaæ about a new, sophisticated
package. The more powerful and professional-looking the package (and
these may be the reasons why it was purchased) the more frightening it
will be. I know that when I read a review of a particular package, I am
not interested, initially, in how well it performs. The first thing I
want to know is what it does.
7.4
When I purchase a new package, I am trying to learn what it does, why it
does it and how to do it. All manuals should start by assuming that the
user does not know why the program was written. Instead of telling us
how to use the package, the manual should start by explaining how the
package arose, what problems it is there to solve, why the author wrote
it and even what experience the author has. By the time we have read
this long, chatty, non-technical introduction, we have begun to
understand what the program is all about, how the authors perceive the
problems and how they have tried to solve them and we are beginning to
lose our phobia of the new product. When we actually start to use the
software, we are already a little familiar with its aims and what it can
do.
7.4
I write instruction manuals for our own products. I know that these are
often not read Ö so whatæs new? If I write a manual which is unreadable,
then that is my fault. If, on the other hand, I write a good, bed-time-
readable instruction manual and it does not get read then that is not my
fault.
7.4
You will, by now, realise that this is exactly the style that I have
tried to use to start off this column.
7.4
Electronic CAD Ö background
7.4
Electronic circuitry is normally designed initially on paper (or the
computer equivalent). The designer will have a problem and will think of
a circuit to solve the problem. He will use a circuit diagram as a
thinking tool to imagine how the various bits will interact. Sometimes
his idea wonæt be what he thought it was when it actually becomes a
circuit diagram. Sometimes he will need to build the circuit to try it
out. Nowadays there are computer software packages which will calculate
the response of a circuit. These actually simulate the effect of putting
the circuit together and show how it should work.
7.4
When I design a product, I can usually build up the final circuit out of
Écircuit blocksæ Ö small sub-circuits which each do a particular job. If
all the blocks are ones I have used before and know to work, I can
simply draw them on paper (via the computer) and then make a circuit
board. If one or more of the blocks are new, I may have to test out the
block on its own to see if I am on the right track.
7.4
I put the designs down on paper as a circuit diagram partly for the
record and partly to fix in my own mind what I am doing and partly as a
thinking tool to help me visualise the result. An experienced designer
thinks in circuit diagrams as a navigator might think in charts and
maps. However, the circuit diagram is not the final product so I then
have to make a printed circuit board to house the components.
7.4
At this stage, I have to think of the shape of my finished product Ö
What box am I going to use? What connectors will I use? What is the
actual shape of the components I intend to use? Sometimes, at this
stage, I need to modify my original circuit, if I find that it wonæt
easily fit the components that I have to use. Sometimes I have to look
for new components to fit the circuit. In commercial product design, the
shape of the printed circuit board is usually modified by the way I have
to house it and the shapes of some of the components I have to use.
7.4
This is an area where some PCB design packages fall down badly. They are
intended only for fitting components (integrated circuits, resistors,
capacitors, etc) together onto a board and getting this to work. They
sometimes donæt think of the need to fit that board itself into some
mechanical housing.
7.4
Having made the circuit board, I need to make a prototype partly to
check whether my original circuit was right. This is partly to check
whether I have laid the components out without error, partly to check
whether everything fits mechanically but also to check that there are no
unexpected interactions between components. How well this all happens is
down to my skill and experience.
7.4
The use of a computer hasnæt had much effect on this type of design.
Most of the skill is in the designeræs ability to solve new problems in
a new way and this doesnæt change much whether the designer uses paper
or a computer. Where the computer does help me is that it enables me to
produce a prototype circuit board myself, in-house, without having to
send artwork away for processing.
7.4
Early days
7.4
On the BBC, I started off using LinTrack for PCB design. Lintrack was
widely acclaimed as being one of the best packages then available.
Although we bought Pineapple Softwareæs PCB design package, this never
got used because LinTrack did all I required of it and the learning
curve was too steep on the new package. Also, we had a pen plotter and
LinTrack was designed to output to this. However, we were using
Pineappleæs Diagram software for circuit diagrams. This was a very good
package and was the reason why we bought their PCB designer to try.
7.4
Eventually, the BBC began to get too long in the tooth so we bought a
DOS card for the BBC Master and I started looking at DOS packages to do
the job. We got demo versions of ProCAD, Orcad, Isis and others. I
joined the PD Software Library and we purchased Shareware and PD
programs. I was not impressed. We were doing nearly as well with
existing BBC software and it was going to cost a lot for little benefit.
7.4
LinTrack and Diagram on the Archimedes
7.4
Then the Archimedes came out and Linear Graphics released an upgraded
LinTrack for the Archimedes. We went via that route. Pineapple also
released a modified package that allowed Diagram to run on the
Archimedes.
7.4
My job at the time involved using a sort of ÉLegoæ system of modular
printed circuit boards that we could quite quickly assemble to any
required configuration. New applications sometimes arose for which we
either designed a new board, or a new way of interconnecting existing
modules or we modified an existing board.
7.4
This involved a lot of PCB design work, small quantity runs and even
one-off specials. It also involved a lot of documentation and circuit
drawing. LinTrack was pretty good: we could knock out a new board
easily, pen-plot it onto polyester film, do a contact exposure onto
photo-sensitive board and etch a board.
7.4
Our problem was not in the modules but in drawing the diagrams of how
the boards all interconnected. This ended up as a large diagram which
took many screens of Diagram, and had long straight wires right across
the drawing. Diagram is poor at this sort of work as it has no variable
zoom and, whilst panning across several screens is quite easy, you need
a very good idea of where the wire is going to before you can draw it.
This made tidy layout a tedious process involving a lot of trial and
error, draw and redraw. I wanted a better package.
7.4
Enter (and exit!) Autosketch
7.4
So we bought Autosketch. The least said about that the better. Although
you could pan out and back, the redraw time was so long that the package
was unuseable. It also had several very unfriendly features. Diagram was
quicker to use and a lot more friendly, so Autosketch got binned.
7.4
DrawPlus
7.4
Eventually, RISC OS 2 was released and, with it, Draw. I tried out Draw,
but it did not appeal. It lacked several features necessary for
technical drawing and I did not like the user interface. To me, it did
not feel correct. It was also very difficult to do any scaled drawings
so I did not use Draw.
7.4
Then we got a copy of DrawPlus which was much better. It felt right and
it had most of the features that were missing on Draw. I started using
it seriously, for more and more drawings.
7.4
By this time, I had branched out on my own, running a company which
designs and manufactures controllers for Golf buggies and other battery-
operated motor applications so some of the original targets had moved.
However, in electronics as in most things, one acquires a particular
style of operating and my style canæt have changed much even if the
applications have.
7.4
DrawPlus is a much improved version of Draw. It has many more features
and it is very useable for technical drawing purposes. We use it for
circuit diagrams, for technical illustrations and for any other drawings
we need. However, although an improvement on Draw, it is still
definitely Draw-based so it suffers from Drawæs inherent advantages and
disadvantages. Draw is a general purpose drawing tool and is not
designed for a particular application. A well-designed specific tool
should, in theory, always be better for its designed purpose than a
general purpose tool. Draw-type tools are not specific to electronics
and are not ideal.
7.4
The main problem with Draw-type programs is in the ÉBounding boxæ. Each
object in Draw has, as part of its description, a bounding box. This is
the rectangle which totally encloses the object. Consider the following
Current Mirror circuit:
7.4
This is quite simple Ö the largest Ébounding boxæ is the dotted box
shown. On simple diagrams, bounding boxes are small and cause no
problem. In educational applications and in simple electronics, most
circuits considered will be quite simple. Draw is excellent for these.
7.4
In the real world, however, we are trying to produce a useable piece of
electronic equipment which will normally have a lot of simple circuit
elements. The more complicated the circuit, the longer the
interconnections and the larger the bounding boxes. On a commercial
circuit, the likelihood is that many bounding boxes will overlap. The
more boxes that overlap, the more the difficulty of selecting any one.
7.4
Consider the second circuit (above), still quite simple but here the
bounding box (shown dotted) of the bold line actually encloses almost
the whole of the diagram. Any attempt to select an object within this
bounding box is likely to select the bold line. This situation rapidly
becomes worse as the diagram increases in complexity until the drawing
becomes almost impossible to edit.
7.4
Fortunately, there is a way around this problem which is not to use
lines with nodes. If the bold line was actually formed from 4 straight
sections, without any nodes, the bounding box problem would not occur.
This is the technique I use, and it works fine.
7.4
The only problem left is that Draw doesnæt enable separate objects to be
joined. The only way of joining two straight bits of line is by making
them one, with a node. This lack of joining can cause a problem because,
when designing any complicated circuit, the diagram has to grow. Even if
I have the whole circuit in my head, I cannot lay it out on paper
exactly as I want it first time. I have to move bits around, get some
space here to add more bits, move that section over there, etc. Without
the joins, I run the risk of undoing my work and rejoining it
incorrectly. The way around this one is to draw in all the lines first
as a sort of grid, then put the components on top.
7.4
In the diagram at the bottom of the page, I have separated the circuit
above so you can see the wires on the left and, separated, all the
components. This is the Éobviousæ way to draw the circuit.
7.4
On the right is a different set or wires but, in this case, a line
Éthroughæ a component is drawn as one with the component drawn over the
top. Naturally, the component must be filled and the wire must be behind
the component. This method of drawing is against the way we are taught
to think of connections Étoæ components. The wires here go through the
component but, if I want to shift the component I can either select just
it and move it along the wire, or I can select it and the wire and move
both parallel to the wire.
7.4
Also in the drawing below, there are no nodes in the wires. All are
simple straight lines, so selecting a particular component or a group of
components is simple. There is no confusion because of overlapping
bounding boxes. The method works well for simple circuits and even for
complicated ones. DrawPlus used like this is so good that I have not yet
found a better package and we use it for all our circuit diagrams. Below
is an example of one of our circuits which, as you can see, is quite
complicated.
7.4
Of course this method of using DrawPlus only works if there are no long
diagonals Ö but this is the normal situation in circuit diagrams. The
above diagram has a file length of 140Kb, so it is not small. Despite
DrawPlusæ lack of targeting this market, it does the job extremely well.
If anyone wants a copy of my library files, please send me a blank disc.
7.4
Electronic CAD Ö Part 2
7.4
Next month, I will explain the different types of PCB that are used so
that we can see what different tasks a PCB layout program might need to
perform. In the third part of the series, I will start to look at how
the different PCB packages measure up to the requirements.
7.4
If you have ideas, suggestions, questions, etc on this subject, write to
me, Richard Torrens, 30 Reach Road, Burwell, Cambridge, CB5 0AH.ááA
7.4
Small Ads
7.4
(Small ads for Archimedes and related products are free for subscribers
but we reserve the right to publish all, part or none of the material
you send, as we think fit. i.e. some people donæt know what Ésmallæ
means and there are certain things, as you can imagine, that we would
not be prepared to advertise as a matter of principle. Sending small ads
(especially long ones!) on disc is helpful but not essential. Ed)
7.4
Å    A310, 1Mb RAM, 4 slot IFEL backplane, internal ST506  42Mb hard disc
and controller, Philips CM8533 colour monitor, RISC OS 2, over 12Mb of
PD, manuals and dust covers. Excellent condition, original boxes. ú700
plus carriage. RISC OS 2 PRMs ú30 (minus index cover). Phone Steve Hurst
on 081-715-1555 or 0344-771558 (eves and w/e).
7.4
Å    A3000, monitor, 2 disc drives, 2Mb RAM, PC Emulator, FWPlus, Genesis,
Draw, fonts, clipart and PD, ú600. Phone [phone].
7.4
Å    A4 Model II (4Mb/60Mb HD), 1 year old, incl. shoulder bag. Excellent
condition, ú1300 o.n.o. Phone [phone] or, during school holidays,
try 081-777-6334.
7.4
Å    A4 portable, 4Mb RAM, 60Mb HD. Good working order, ú1150 o.n.o. Phone
0533-718437.
7.4
Å    A5000 4Mb RAM, 120Mb hard disc, Acorn monitor, Artworks, Impression,
C, etc, ú1400. CC Laser Direct card ú240. Phone [phone].
7.4
Å    Acorn DTP ú40, FWP2 ú20, PRM2 ú25, PipeDream 4 ú90, System Delta+ ú35,
Interdictor ú8.  Tel. [phone].
7.4
Å    CC/Canon LBP4 600DPI laser printer ú575 o.n.o. Pocket Book with OPL,
Personal Accounts and SpellCheck ROMs, Parallel link, A-Link, power
supply and manuals, ú240 o.n.o. Phone [phone].
7.4
Å    Impression II v2.19, ú100, or swap for Artworks. Phone Brian on 0730-
812341 ext 5059 (eves).
7.4
Å    Oak Solutions high speed 52Mb SCSI external hard drive, plus Oak 16-
bit SCSI podule. ú160 o.n.o. Phone [phone].
7.4
Å    PC emulator v1.81 and MS-DOS ú40. Atomwide VIDC enhancer, ú15. DT
Talk, speech software by DT software ú8. RISC OS 2 PRM (no cover on
index) ú25. All include post. Phone Mark after 7pm on 0905-754277.
7.4
Å    Psion 3, 256Kb inc. manuals ú100, Star LC200 colour printer inc.
unused colour ribbon ú100. Phone [phone] (eves).
7.4
Å    Wanted Unregistered Impression Junior and unused Acorn Advanced.
Contact Colin on 0786-461-501.
7.4
Charity Sales Ö The following items are available for sale in aid of
charity. PLEASE do not just send money Ö ring us on 0603-766592 to check
if the items are still available. Thank you.
7.4
All-in Boxing ú4, E-Type ú7, A3000 1-2Mb upgrade ú20, Battle Chess ú18,
60Mb Tapestreamer tape (DC600A) ú5, BBC Basic Guide ú6, Acorn DTP ú8, PC
Emulator with DR DOS 5.0 ú20, First Word Plus 2 ú10, Premier 3 text
processor ú10, RISCáOS 3 User and Applications Guide ú10, A3020 Welcome
Guide ú2, A5000 Welcome Guide ú2, Acorn Education Directory CD-ROM ú15,
RISCáOS 3 Applications Guide ú6, RISCáOS 3 User Guide ú5, Sigma Sheet
ú4.
7.4
(If you have unwanted software or hardware for Archimedes computers
thatyou could donate in aid of charity, please send it to the Archive
office. If you have larger items where post would be expensive, just
send us details of the item(s) and how the purchaser can get hold of
them.)
7.4
Language Column
7.4
David Wild
7.4
I am sorry that there has been such a long time since the last language
column but I have had problems with health and even bigger problems with
my hard disc! These ended with the electronics on my disc drive dying
and I had to buy a replacement disc.
7.4
Some time ago I had a query from a reader about the random function in
the desktop Pascal. He couldnæt make it return anything other than zero,
in spite of trying many different öseedsò. I had a look at the problem
and there appears to be a bug in the system; I think that the routine is
looking in the wrong memory location for the seed and so never finds
anything but zero. Fortunately, there is a much better random number
routine (rand and srand) in the ANSI library and so the built-in
function isnæt really needed anyway.
7.4
Working with this Pascal compiler made me understand why so many people
dislike being on the receiving end of charity! It is, I suppose, very
good of Acorn to let us have this compiler free, but there is no-one to
whom you can turn for help or to whom you can send a complaint. I would
much rather have paid some more money and had a proper manual and
supplier-customer relationship.
7.4
I was in Blackwellæs bookshop recently and found a new edition of öOh!
Pascal!ò by Doug Cooper. I thought that the previous edition was very
good, but this one is even better. The book includes a (high-density)
disc with listings of all the programs on it and a Pascal interpreter to
run on a PC. At ú17.95 it is certainly very good value for money for
anyone wanting to learn Pascal and a useful reference book for those who
use it regularly. Cooper is aware of most of the extensions to standard
Pascal and offers examples of their use, while pointing out the
advantages for portability of using the standard when there is no big
benefit in the extension.ááA
7.4
Education Column
7.4
Solly Ezra
7.4
The world of education seems bedeviled with contentious issues and the
issues get more contentious when commercial interests come into play.
7.4
My column this month is a response to an item that appeared in ECT
(Educational Computing and Technology). The heading below is as it
appears in ECT although the quotation marks are mine.
7.4
öPlatform Change?ò
7.4
A survey was carried out on behalf of Research Machines by Nielsen
Consumer Research. The findings apparently suggest that, öon leaving
school, the majority of pupils are poorly equipped to face the world of
work Ö in their experience of IT at leastò. The respondents were from
further and higher education as well as industry.
7.4
The item claims that the purpose in commissioning the report was to
start a debate Ö so here goes!
7.4
The general conclusion is that the öplatformsò and software used in most
schools leave the children ill-prepared for the outside world. These
platforms, it seems, do not provide pupils with necessary (and
relevant?) experience for the öwork placeò.  Further, most of the
respondents seem to feel that the Apple and Acorn platforms are not very
relevant to the world at work.
7.4
What do you mean by östandardò?
7.4
I feel that it is necessary for someone to shout loudly that really
there is no agreed industry standard. We are in the situation now that
we have been in for a long time with the following systems: Unix, MS-
DOS, Acorn, Sun and a few others. While there are a lot of MS-DOS
systems extant, it is hardly correct to describe it as THE standard. The
Unix operating system seems to be used quite widely in universities and
there are also a lot of Sun systems. In a recent television documentary,
which dealt with research in pathology, the shot of the laboratory
showed quite a few BBC Masters in use! So much for industry Ö or any Ö
so called standard!
7.4
öA further claim made in the report is that funds are being spent on IT
equipment that have little relevance to life after school.ò I get the
feeling that there is an underlying sales pitch here Ö go on, correct me
if I am wrong!
7.4
Is learning and experience transferable? Undoubtedly Ö YES.
7.4
My experience with children of all range of abilities is that lessons
learnt on one system give the child a basis of expertise which is
transferable to almost any other system. In the unit for children with
special educational needs which I used to run, I had the good fortune of
having had a BBC Master, an Archimedes 440, an A3000, a Link 480Z, a
Nimbus, an Amiga 500 and, occasionally, a Commodore 64. I soon realised
that the children moved easily from one öplatformò to another. With just
a few of the lower ability children, reminders were required as they
moved from one machine to another.
7.4
When some of my past pupils/students returned to visit, they reported to
me that while the PCs at their work place were new to them, they had
very few problems in adapting. However, the consistent comments were
about the user-unfriendliness of the PCs. Perhaps the Windows
environment has made the PCs more user friendly.
7.4
öWhat is more,ò the article goes on to say, öthe survey claims that the
expectations of employers are often very different from those of
teachers at schoolò Ö did we expect them to be the same!
7.4
What are teachers supposed to be doing at school? Giving children an
education or simply providing grist to the commercial mill?
7.4
As you will probably have gathered, the ECT article made me rather
angry. It did say that its purpose was to start a debate, so I hope that
I have started one here. I realise that, amongst the Archive readership,
there are many teachers and other people in associated fields in
education. Are you one? If so, please write to me at 35 Edgefield Avenue
Barking, Essex IG11 9JL. I look forward to hearing your views.ááA
7.4
Upgrading Standard Resolution Monitors
7.4
Stuart Bell
7.4
Last month, in öModes, MegaHertz and Monitorsò, I attempted to describe
the development of video displays on Acorn computers, and explained some
of the terminology used to describe the capabilities of different types
of monitor. I now move to the practicalities of how individuals can
determine the best upgrade path for their machine.
7.4
I start with two assumptions: First, that you are using a standard Acorn
monitor, or its equivalent; i.e. a display which is limited to modes
0ù17 or their derivatives, 24 and 33ù36. If you already have, for
example, a multisync monitor, then only the more adventurous upgrade
paths will be of interest. Second, I assume the use of RISCáOS 3.1 or
later Ö display mode support is so much better than with earlier
versions.
7.4
A basic starting point
7.4
If you have what, in the rest of this article, I shall call an Éoldæ
machine (A3000 or earlier), then unless you are immediately going to
purchase a separate display card (e.g. those produced by Wild Vision /
Computer Concepts and State Machine) you should first purchase a VIDC
enhancer. This will give you the equivalent of the VIDC circuitry to be
found in the Énewæ machines. However, which enhancer to buy must be
determined after you have decided on the monitor to be purchased.
7.4
Similarly, if you have a Énewæ machine, then you could buy either a
separate display card or one of the very few multisync monitors that are
Éplug in and goæ with Acorn computers for all modes. If you are not
doing either of these, you should purchase Archiveæs Careware Disc 18,
with the ex-Atomwide special mode software. The reason for this will
become clearer later.
7.4
Setting out the options
7.4
Clearly, there is a virtually unlimited number of possible upgrade
paths, as almost any monitor will work in at least a handful of display
modes. Our aim is to maximise that number, and also the quality of the
display, within a particular budget. To simplify things a little, I will
describe the five most obvious upgrade strategies and attempt to discuss
the proæs and conæs of each solution.
7.4
The Acorn multisync monitor
7.4
This display has received much criticism in the pages of Archive. Some
of it (e.g. that it has only a 0.39mm dot-pitch) is justifiable, but
other comments seem to misunderstand the purpose of the monitor. I do
not believe that it was ever intended to be a very high quality display.
Rather, it was designed to allow, at relatively low cost, the display of
both standard modes and Ésquare-pixelæ modes 18ù21 without any problems
or requiring special software, something that very few monitors can
achieve. However, since the maximum horizontal resolution is 250mmá/
á0.39mm = 640 pixels, only the vertical resolution will be improved. I
understand that Acorn may be offering alternative monitors in the not-
too-distant future.
7.4
An SVGA monitor
7.4
Such an upgrade path was described in öThe Taxan 787 Monitorò, Archive
7.2 p77. Without either the software that comes with the Watford VGA
VIDC enhancer or the Careware 18 disc, the range of modes that can be
displayed is a rather limited. The Watford software significantly adds
modes 20 and 21 to the range. The largest displays possible are 16
colour Ésquare pixelæ 800╫600 or Érectangular pixelæ 960╫384 modes.
Modes 0ù15 are displayed in Életterboxæ mode, and some modes (e.g. 16
and 24) are not possible at all. Owners of Éoldæ machines need the VGA
enhancer as standard enhancers will not produce VGA displays except with
a 24MHz (rather than 25.175MHz) pixel clock, which some VGA monitors may
not accept.
7.4
This is a very low-cost solution, but one that is rather a dead-end, in
that any further improvement (other than getting 800╫600 with 256
colours with a display card) would require you to change the monitor yet
again.
7.4
14ö multisync monitor
7.4
Without a separate display card, but with an enhancer on Éoldæ machines,
or extra software on new machines, the largest possible mode obtainable
with multisync monitors is 102 ù 1152╫448. This is a Érectangular pixelæ
mode, and so should be compared with the SVGAæs maximum of 960╫384. The
increase in display size does not, in my opinion, justify the 50%+ cost
increase, unless you see the monitor change as only the first step in
your upgrade path, and plan to buy a separate display card in the
future. If that is the case, then read on, but you must be aware that
matching multisync monitors to Ébareæ machines is harder than finding
suitable matches for those with separate display cards.
7.4
The fundamental problem is the question of line rate. Standard monitors,
as we saw last month, have a 15kHz line rate, whereas the VGA standard
is 31.5kHz. Hence, most manufacturers produce multisync monitors whose
range of line rates start at about 30kHz. Indeed, in a review of 20+
monitors in the Byte magazine of May 1992, not one could go below 20kHz,
and only two went below 30kHz. The problem is simple; you cannot display
modes that require a 15kHz line rate on such monitors, without extra
software. Of those available through Archive, only the Cubscan 1440 and
Eizo 9060 can reach 15kHz, and thus form plug-in-and-go solutions. The
Watford VIDC manual suggests that the older Taxan 770 and 775+ could
also do this but, for example, the Taxan 795, NEC 4D and Eizo 9070S
cannot. The use of extra software to generate the standard modes using a
higher line rate (provided with an enhancer, or on Careware 18) is not a
problem; it just makes things a little more complicated.
7.4
Before moving on, I must raise an important question for those who
expect to add a colour card to their 14ö multisync:  Will the screen be
large enough to display the modes that you hope to use? There is first
the question of the dot-pitch of the monitor. As we have seen, a 14ò
0.28mm pitch screen will not happily go beyond 900 pixels Ö perhaps 1024
at a pinch. Using a 1600 pixel wide display on a 14ö screen may be
possible, but is it practicable? Secondly, a common rule of thumb is
that most peopleæs eyes can cope with up to about 80 pixels to the inch.
This gives 800 pixels across the 10ò width of a 14ò screen. (14ö is the
diagonal measurement, remember!) To go much beyond this may not be a
realistic expectation. If you are certain that you will want a colour
card in the future, would it be better to buy a larger monitor in the
first place?
7.4
A colour card and 14ö multisync
7.4
This is an attractive all-in-one solution to the upgrade problem. The
colour cards produce superb results, with support for more than 256
colours on an increasing range of software and, perhaps, under RISC OS
4(?). However, they can ù at the moment ù only be fitted to machines
that take full size podules; the A310, A400, A540 and A5000. A suitable
combination with the Taxan 789LR monitor was discussed in Archive 6.10
p6, and you have the advantage that by buying them together, the
supplier of one item canæt blame somebody else for any compatibility
problems!
7.4
Three brief warnings: First, older A300 and A400/1 machines will require
a header soldering to the main circuit board; second, the G8Plus card
synthesises the standard Acorn modes, which produces a nice display but
could cause a problem with software that tries to drive the VIDC
directly; thirdly, the CC ColourCard uses the standard video signal for
ordinary Acorn modes, so that the Careware disc software may still be
required to produce standard modes on some multisync monitors (those
that cannot handle 15kHz line rates). Finally, I raise again the
question of whether a 14ö screen can do justice to the output from the
separate colour cards.
7.4
A colour card and 17ö multisync
7.4
For owners of compatible computers, this is the ultimate upgrade
solution. The problem is that 17ö multisync monitors are very expensive
(but getting less so). Here too is the answer to the problem of what
happens when you upgrade your whole machine to one running a VIDC20 and
providing incredibly high resolution displays. A 17ò 0.28mm pitch
screen, 330mm wide, could display 1200 pixels across the screen quite
happily, and 1600 without too much loss of quality, assuming that the
electronics of the monitor will go so far. Such monitors are typically
specified as providing 1024╫768 or 1280╫1024 displays. 17ö multisyncs
still have the same problem with line rates for standard Acorn modes. If
youære really serious, 20òádisplays are very nice!
7.4
Conclusions
7.4
Iæve tried to offer reasonably impartial advice on the options available
to those wishing to improve the quality of the video display on their
Acorn computer. Let me now give a few personal conclusions that you may
feel free to ignore or even totally to disagree with!
7.4
Firstly, the Acorn multisync does not offer a sensible upgrade path.
7.4
Secondly, I do not believe that when used without a separate colour
card, 14ö multisyncs provide a cost-effective benefit over SVGA
monitors. The extra ú150+ (for a recognised make of multisync) gives
1152╫448 instead of the SVGAæs 960╫384, but 1152 pixels across the 250mm
width of a 14ò screen may not be highly legible. Particularly for owners
of A3000, A30x0 and A4000 machines, who will not be able to add a colour
card later, SVGA monitors are a very economical solution. But, with
SVGAæs, you must accept Életterboxæ standard modes.
7.4
Thirdly, I do have reservations about the use of 14ö monitors with the
colour cards as a final solution, although if you already have a 14ò
multisync, it could make sense to get a colour card now, with the
intention of upgrading the monitor later.
7.4
Fourthly, if you can afford it, the 17ö multisync plus colour card is
the upgrade path and I would strongly commend it, even if you have to
take it in two stages, buying the monitor (and Careware 18) first and
the colour card later. The increase in physical area of the screen is
almost 50% and, from my experience with big screens on Apple Macs, you
wonæt believe the difference they make until you try one! But, they are
expensive; Watfordæs Aries 7000 (1280╫1024) is one of the cheapest at
ú735! (But you can, of course, pay ú600+ for a high quality 14ò
multisync.)
7.4
In short, the Écheap and cheerfulæ SVGA monitor (with a VGA enhancer on
Éoldæ machines) solution at ú270 ù ú310, and the Égo for the bestæ
colour card + 17ö multisync solution at about ú1000 both seem to me to
be more sensible than the more obvious compromise upgrade path of a 14ò
multisync monitor with, or without, a colour card.ááA
7.4
(This is an important area. Many thanks to Stuart for offering this
advice and risking being shot down in flames by readers with other
views. If you have anything to add to the subject, either questions or
comments, send them in to the Archive office. Ed.)
7.4
The CIAæs Map of the World
7.4
Jochen Konietzko
7.4
Some time ago, the CIA released into the public domain a massive amount
of geographical data (5.7 million line segments, packed into 130Mb of
COBOL program) for the creation of a computer-based world map.
7.4
This data has since been converted into 13Mb of data suitable for Acorn
computers, and John Kortink has produced a desktop front end.
7.4
This program is freeware although teachers are asked to register with
John.
7.4
How you get it
7.4
John Kortinkæs application Ö called !EarthMap Ö is available through a
number of PD libraries. It comes without the data, which has to be
acquired separately, either through some computer nets (details in
!Earthmapæs documentation) or through a PD library.
7.4
Installation
7.4
I received my data through the DataFile in Weston-Super-Mare, packed
onto six HD discs (also available on twelve DD discs), together with a
single tasking installation program.
7.4
During installation, an intermediate file of about 30Mb is created, so
make sure you have lots of space available on your hard disc! The result
is a 9Mb PackDir file which, in turn, unpacks into the 13Mb application.
7.4
I had a bit of a problem with my installation, because the instructions
failed to mention that you have to set the type of the 9Mb file to
PackDir and decompress it, and even after I had found this out, at first
nothing happened, because there was a nasty typing error in the Run file
of my version of !PackDir, defining the file type as PackDdir!
7.4
Other than that, installation just takes a lot of time.
7.4
Running the program
7.4
After the usual double click, you get an icon on the iconbar with a
typical Kortink menu (those who know his !Translatr will feel at home).
7.4
The picture below shows just a few of the things you can put onto the
map or leave out.
7.4
An <adjust> click onto the icon opens the map window, centered on the
Gulf of Guinea (0░N/0░E), unless you specified some other coordinates.
7.4
The picture is black with white coast lines, yellow borders and blue
rivers (in a 256 colour mode there are many shades of blue); there are
(as yet?) no cities.
7.4
The borders in my version (0.58,11-Jun-93) are still pre-1990, showing
Germany divided, Yugoslavia and the USSR whole.
7.4
John Kortinkæs program deals quite ingeniously with the fact that the
maps may well contain more data than any Archimedes can keep in RAM.
Every coordinate is computed and then forgotten Ö it simply becomes a
pixel on the screen.
7.4
The advantage is that the program always uses only 64Kb of RAM but the
disadvantage, of course, is that every change you make to the window,
including the tiniest scroll,  forces a complete redraw.
7.4
On my A410/1 with a 24MHz ARM 3, a map of Central Europe took about 15
seconds to compute, the British Isles above with all rivers took about 7
seconds, and the whole world with all details shown needed roughly 2.5
minutes.
7.4
You can zoom in and out at will. Zooming in can be done very simply by
dragging a box around the area of interest. The quality of the
information given is quite amazing Ö I zoomed in on the river Rhine in
Cologne and the line I got shows each and every bend exactly as it
appears on a 1:50000 Ordnance Survey map Ö except for the distortion
unavoidable far away from the centre of any world map.
7.4
Zooming out Ö with a key combination Ö can take quite a number of steps,
so that in such a case, it might be wise to switch off all details
before you zoom out to a map showing a very large area.
7.4
Hard copy
7.4
You can save the map you see on the screen as a drawfile, memory
permitting! The map on the last picture contains only the rivers, just
to show how detailed the information in this database is. Still I could
not convert it into Draw format, because I öonlyò had 11Mb of free disc
space!
7.4
An additional advantage of a simple screen shot (with the colours
changed for easier printing) is that it is quick. The build up of a
drawfile is much slower than that of the original EarthMap picture!
7.4
Only relatively small areas can be converted into Draw format, and then
loaded into RAM: Even the map of the British Isles takes up nearly
800Kb!
7.4
Problems
7.4
There are a few minor bugs. Occasionally, a redraw of a screen will stop
halfway, leaving you with a fragmented map. A map of the whole world,
with all the details, has twice (out of six attempts) crashed my machine
completely.
7.4
Conclusion
7.4
Considering its price (basically just the cost of copying), this is a
very impressive package indeed.
7.4
Anyone who has a lot of free hard disc space, wants to work Ö or play
around Ö with maps of the world, and has no need of country or river
names, nor of cities or roads, will have a lot of fun with it!ááA
7.4
Archive Ö Making it Even Better
7.4
Paul Beverley
7.4
öItæs more than a magazine Ö itæs an interactive user group.ò That is
how we have taken to describing Archive in our publicity nowadays. Now
that weæve had a chance to digest your questionnaire feedback, we want
to involve you in helping to take Archive into the next stage in its
development. Archive is, after all, a magazine written öby the users,
for the usersò... And what an interesting and varied profile our
readership has! From your responses, I gather that our readers range
from the öenthusiastic computer illiterateò to the ödied-in-the-wool
techieò (your descriptions, not ours!)... and although we didnæt ask you
to divulge your exact age, we gather that we have readers from age 12
years old to 85╜ years old. Any advance on 85╜?!
7.4
What you said about improving the content
7.4
You had plenty to say about what youæd like to read within the pages of
Archive and here are just some of your requests.
7.4
More technical articles Ö One thing you (and we) have noticed is the
reduction in the number of technical articles Ö and this seems to apply
to all the Archimedes publications. This may reflect the fact that the
Archimedes now attracts more öusersò and fewer ötechiesò but Archive has
always been a fairly ötechieò magazine and I believe that has been
appreciated. I guess it is a question of balance but I am always on the
lookout for good technical articles, so if you think you may have
something to contribute, do let me know.
7.4
Beginners articles Ö As you will have seen, we have commissioned a
series of articles for beginners written by the Norfolk IT Team, in
response to your requests for help. I hope you will let me know what you
think of them, how they could be improved and what else you would like
to read about. Some people would like to see some östarting from
scratchò articles, e.g. starting from scratch with DrawPlus, Fonts,
FormEd, Translator, etc.
7.4
Programming Ö Several people have asked for more articles on programming
Ö for beginners and for improvers and also clever tricks for the real
experts. In last monthæs column, Laura Handoca offered help to beginners
who are having problems with Basic programming Ö which is great Ö but I
really need to know if there is anyone who would be prepared to write
something a bit more substantial about programming. Any offers?
7.4
Personal interests column Ö A number of readers would like to hear how
Acorn RISC computers are being put to use for Archive membersæ hobbies
and non-education uses. For example, one reader tells us his hobby is
genealogy and he uses Archimedes products for data and printouts.
Another asks if anyone can write about editing for home videos.
7.4
What do you use your Archimedes for? Here are just a few of the specific
uses that you told us about in the questionnaire... weather satellites
and satellite tracking, amateur radio, aviation, archaeology, chess,
astronomy, Star Trek Fan Club (two members of the NCSæ staff are
inveterate Trekkies and would like to know more, please!), electronic
equipment testing, writing training packages, music composition,
university medical research.
7.4
Why not write just a paragraph about your use for Acorn computers? (Text
on a disc would be preferable as no-one here is a fast typist! Thanks.)
7.4
Any offers for contributions on other topics? Ö Specific requests for
articles were: Acorn computers in business, Experience of Acorn users
living outside the UK, Young Usersæ interests, InterNet, Interfacing. If
youæd like to write to us about any of these topics mentioned here, I
would be pleased to hear from you and remember, an article or
contribution doesnæt have to be several pages long to be of interest and
value to other readers Ö a paragraph or two can be equally effective!
7.4
Reviews
7.4
Iæm keen to get more Archive readers involved in reviewing products,
using their knowledge and day-to-day experience of computers and
software. Each month we are sent various bits of software (and sometimes
hardware) for us to review. The way this works is that at the end of the
Products Available column, I publish a list of what is available for
review. If there is something you would like to review, just ring the
Archive office and ask if the item is still available for review. If it
is and you have never done any reviews for us before, we may ask what
qualifies you to do the review. For example, we like the education
software to be reviewed by practising teachers. If you do the review,
the reward is that most software companies do not want the software
package returned, so the reviewer can keep it!
7.4
It may be that you are using some software that has not been offered for
review but which you think is worthy of attention. In which case, drop
us a line or ring the office and tell us what you would like to review.
It is important that you donæt just send in the review unsolicited
because someone else may be working on the same thing. It has happened
more than once that someone has sent in an unsolicited review which I
have published only to receive a second review of the same item written
by the öofficialò reviewer!
7.4
There is one other important type of review article that would be good
to include but which requires a lot of knowledge or a lot of work to
produce. It would be good to have more ösurveyò type articles. For
example, someone could look at a whole range of WP and DTP packages and
try to suggest what strengths and weaknesses they have and how they
compare with one another. These would be a great help to other readers
saving them from buying the öwrongò package for a particular job.
7.4
Writing reviews
7.4
When you are writing reviews, it is important to put yourself in the
place of the person reading the review to ask yourself whether you have
given the right sort of information. Your article should try to answer
questions such as: What is the purpose of the program and how well does
it fulfil that purpose? Who is it aimed at and is it at an appropriate
level for them? How easy was it to use ? Is it well presented? Has it a
manual? And is it readable? Does it have all the necessary information?
Are there any changes that would improve the package as a whole? Then
there are the purely factual points which can easily get left out: How
much does it cost? Inclusive or exclusive of VAT? (There may be no VAT
if itæs a small company that is not VAT registered.) Is there a site
licence version? Is a site licence included in the cost? Who produces
the program? (The address should appear in the Factfile if Iæm doing my
job properly but if itæs an obscure company, please put the address at
the bottom of the review just in case I donæt have it.) Which version
are you reviewing?
7.4
Your favourite columns
7.4
The Archive questionnaire showed that the five most popular columns in
Archive are Hints & Tips, Products Available, Comments Column, DTP and
Hardware Columns. If these are the most popular, we want to make sure
you continue to get as much information, help and news from these as
possible Ö again, you can help us here.
7.4
Hints & Tips is mainly up to you, the reader, to tell us what you have
discovered. Remember that although you may think öIæm sure everybody
must know this Ö but I have only just realisedò, send it in anyway. We
are also going to make more effort to pass on hints & tips ourselves in
the Archive office. We are going to record the questions asked and
answered on our telephone Technical Help Service and from the letters
you write, and reproduce those that are generally applicable in the H&T
Column.
7.4
Comment Column Ö Well, again, these are your comments, so it is your
forum for airing your views and questions about almost anything to do
with Archimedes computers. (Although I say it is your forum, I have to
act as editor and so I do reserve the right to publish your comments, or
not, or edit them, as I think fit!)
7.4
DTP Column Ö This disappeared from view in the middle of volume 6 Ö
almost a year ago Ö although the Ovation Column continued until the last
issue of volume 6. We had several contributors taking it in turns to
produce the DTP Column and we fed any input from readers to whichever
contributor was next in line to write his piece. The system worked well
and we are grateful to those involved but without readersæ input, it is
difficult to sustain. Neil Whiteley-Bolton, has agreed to get the column
going again by writing a öWhere is Archimedes DTP now and where is it
going?ò type article. Richard Hallas has agreed to help, as and when he
can, but to make it work we need more contributors to write the actual
columns and more input from readers to provide material for the
columnists. If we had, say, four contributors it would mean only
producing a column once every four months (I did that without a
calculator!) so if you feel you might be able to help, drop me a line,
preferably with some indication of your writing skills and experience.
For the rest of us, if you have ideas, questions, comments, hints & tips
etc about any aspect of DTP, please send it in straight away so that we
can get this valuable column going again.
7.4
Hardware Column Ö Brian Cowanæs column has been consistently one of the
most popular columns in Archive and we are all grateful to Brian for his
input over the years. However, Brianæs (paid) job is getting ever more
demanding so he is not able to write as much as he would like. If anyone
has any suggestions as to how to help, please write to Brian via the
Archive office or at Royal Holloway & Bedford New College, Egham Hill,
Egham, TW20 0EX.
7.4
Products Available information comes to us mostly from the individual
suppliers but I mentioned last month that readers are a very valuable
resource to Archive for finding new products that other Archimedes users
would find of benefit. If you see something like that in your reading of
other (non-Acorn) journals and papers, do let us know.
7.4
Duff products
7.4
While we are on the subject of products, you may feel that you have
bought something from a company and it is not up to standard. Your first
move, of course, is to talk to the company in question. If you then feel
that they are not giving the level of service you expect or that the
product really is very poor, let us know because we donæt want other
people buying the same product and having the same unrealistic
expectations.
7.4
Having said that, anyone involved in dealing with the general public
knows that the truth of the adage, öThe customer is always rightò is
sometimes stretched to the limit. There are people (and I trust that
you, dear reader, arenæt one) who have quite unreasonable expectations
of companies and products. What I have to do is to talk to the
suppliers, arbitrate and make judgements about which comments I publish
and which I donæt. So if I donæt publish your complaint, I hope you
wonæt take it too personally and if I do publish the complaint, I hope
the company involved wonæt take it too personally! (Itæs called playing
öpiggie in the middleò.)
7.4
Archive monthly program disc
7.4
Weære going to develop this further, e.g. we could use it more as a
vehicle for good PD software that comes our way or to provide an Archive
glossary. We intend to stick to our policy that the monthly program disc
and the magazine are priced separately, i.e. we wonæt increase the price
of Archive to incorporate the disc öfreeò as we feel this itæs your
choice whether you take the disc or not.
7.4
Once again, this is an area where you can help. You can give use more
ideas how we could use the disc and you can contribute to it. If you
have some particularly good piece of PD software that you think other
subscribers could benefit from, send it in to us. Then for the glossary,
perhaps you could let us know of words you come across that you would
like to see defined.
7.4
Help!!! column
7.4
We get quite a few people asking for help through the Help column which
forms a useful interactive part of Archive. However, from our survey, it
seems that a lot of people would like to see more of the answers
published. So, if you have at some time put in a request for help and
someone has written to you and solved your problem, could you then write
in to Archive and tell us what the solution was, please? That way others
who come up against the same problem will benefit from your experience.
Thanks.
7.4
Quick technical response
7.4
One facility that Archive can provide because of its huge number of
technically competent readers is what I have called öquick technical
responseò. This is typified by Chris Johnsonæs response (see page 19) to
the problem that Richard Hallasæ noted in his review on page 68 last
month. None of the other magazines seem to be able to have questions and
answers running from one month to the next like that. Again, this is
very much dependent on readers öowningò Archive and being prepared to
respond to things they read in the magazine and offering help.
7.4
Credit cards at last
7.4
As promised, we have started to take credit card payments: Mastercard,
Visa and Eurocard. Because we are a mail order computer company,
Barclayæs Merchant Services make very heavy charges for the service and
say that the rate is önon-negotiableò. They say they have to make high
charges because mail order computer companies are very vulnerable to
fraud.
7.4
What I had not appreciated is that the credit card companies do no offer
any protection to us, the supplier. If a fraudulent purchase is made by
credit card, we stand the whole of the loss. We are then cut both ways
because if we are more likely to suffer from credit card fraud, they
charge us more commission because of the extra work it gives them! öYou
can take out insuranceò they say Ö but then that adds even more to the
cost of providing the credit card service which some people seem to see
as their right. Perhaps those of you who have been indignant about us
not taking credit cards will appreciate that we have not taken this on
lightly.
7.4
You will not be surprised to hear that we feel we cannot absorb all of
the credit card charges ourselves and will have to pass part of that
charge on to the customer. So, there will be a fixed charge of ú3 on all
credit card orders below ú100 and 3% on orders above ú100. Some
companies do this be saying öfree carriage for cash customersò but we
feel this way of doing it is more honest and open.
7.4
Also, to help protect ourselves from fraud, we will not allow anyone to
make their first ever purchase from Norwich Computer Services by credit
card. The reason for this is that, once a customer has made a purchase
by cheque, time has elapsed, the address has been verified and the
chances of a fraudulent purchase are somewhat reduced.
7.4
I hope that, for the times when you are in a particular hurry, the
credit card charges will seem worthwhile. I know that many overseas
customers will be extremely grateful that we have provided this extra
facility Ö it makes things much easier when you donæt have to go through
all the complications of exchange rates, etc and in many cases, it will
work out somewhat cheaper than trying to get a Sterling cheque from a
bank.
7.4
So, to summarise on credit card facilities:
7.4
Charges: ú3 per order or 3% above ú100.
7.4
Restrictions: First order must be by cheque, subsequent orders can be by
card. (We may be prepared to vary this for overseas customers Ö
especially those who are long-established subscribers.)
7.4
Charity donations
7.4
Over the last five years, Archive subscribers have raised over ú60,000
for charity. This has mainly been through the Careware scheme of selling
PD discs on behalf of charity but also by members donating software and
hardware for sale in aid of charity.
7.4
Sadly, the rate of donations has decreased: ú19,625, ú17,847, ú13,005,
ú9,150 and, so far this year only ú1,020. The reason for this is that
the Careware scheme is dwindling. Very few people are sending PD
software in for the scheme and there are now so many other PD libraries
that the Archive library is being eclipsed. Any suggestions? Any offers
of help?
7.4
The God Slot
7.4
There has been quite a bit of correspondence over the years about my God
Slot on the inside front cover. From the results of the questionnaire,
the votes are more than 4:1 that the God Slot stays!!
7.4
I was amazed that quite a few people asked if they could use some of the
ideas or the actual text of what I write there. öWhat is the copyright
situation?ò asked two people. Apparently, one or two of you even use
some of the ideas your sermons or in church magazines! I certainly donæt
claim any divine authority for what I say (I donæt believe in editorial
infallibility!) but I do pray each month that God will give me something
that at least someone will find helpful. So, please, if anything from
the God Slot is useful, do feel free to reproduce it in whatever way you
like Ö provided it is for a purpose that you think I would support!
7.4
And finally...
7.4
To sum up on the Archive questionnaire, we greatly appreciated your
input, which has contributed to the shaping of our plans for Archive and
NCS for 1994 and beyond.
7.4
May I take this opportunity to thank you for your support and your
involvement in Archive in 1993, and to bring best wishes for 1994 to all
our readers, from myself and all the NCS staff.ááA
7.4
Frontier 2000
7.4
Ian OæHara
7.4
Frontier 2000 is an educational pack based on The Borders around
Carlisle, an area with a very rich and fascinating history. The complete
pack comes in a large yellow folder and is the result of collaboration
between Cambridge Software House and various organisations based in
Carlisle such as the Tullie House Museum. I did not receive the complete
pack with its piece of Roman wood (!) for review but what follows is
based on the program discs and CD ROM.
7.4
The discs
7.4
The software provides two ways of investigating the data contained on
the discs. There is a timeline containing 25,000 words and covering the
period from 43AD up to May 1991. You can either look at every entry or
get the computer to search for specific items. Searching is done by
selecting a theme (e.g. Food & farming, Buildings, etc), a time interval
(e.g. 1900 Ö 1991) and then typing in a search term (e.g. cow). The
computer will then search the data for all items which match these
criteria. The data in the timeline also contains references to events
that occurred outside the border areas but which are relevant to them,
e.g. the crowning of various monarchs.
7.4
The other way of accessing the data is to explore the map. This
stretches from the Solway Firth in the west to Haydon Bridge in the east
and from Hermitage Castle in the north to Harraby in the south. At each
of the many places marked on the map, you can consult experts who will
tell you about the place. For instance at Tarraby there exists a small
stone altar dedicated to the god. Consult the historian and you get one
piece of information, Consult the Archivist and you get another. In this
way you can build up a whole picture of the location or artifact found
there. Some of the entries have pictures as well as text. All of this
information can be saved to disc or printed.
7.4
Theme trails
7.4
As a more useful alternative to exploring the map, you can follow theme-
based trails such as one on those star players of history, The Reivers.
You can choose either of these routes at the start-up screen. You can
also enter your name at this point and it is used to print out a
certificate to prove you have completed a trail.
7.4
When you start a trail, a character known as öThe Professorò pops up to
give you a quick bit of background and a clue to a place. To solve the
clue requires you to search the map to find a location. öUp the A7 north
of Canonbie to a tower by the Esk.ò The place is a peel tower once
frequented by the infamous Johnnie Armstrong. Having found the right
place, you have to drive there. Clamber into your nice white Porsche,
click on the car key, click on the place and away you go. A window opens
showing you driving along. Time passes and you arrive. The time is
important and is shown on the icon on the iconbar.
7.4
If you get to the correct place, you will be asked a question, e.g. Who
destroyed Johnnie Armstrongæs tower? So it is time to consult the
Professoræs experts. The archaeologist tells us that most stairs in peel
towers went up clockwise so as to disadvantage a right-handed attacker
(try using a heavy sword using your left hand). The Kerr family were
left handed and so had anticlockwise stairs. Eventually, you will find
an expert who gives you the answer.
7.4
Grabbing your portable phone, you call the Professor and give him the
answer. Another clue, another drive and another question. Each trail
consists of between five and eight clues. This is done to let children
complete a trail during the course of a lesson. Wrong answers lead to
time penalties, whereas consulting the experts takes no time. This
provides a strong incentive for pupils not just to get to one location
and try all the answers in turn. The children did compete against each
other to see who used the least game time to complete a trail.
7.4
On its own, the information given on a trail is very fragmentary.
Following the Reivers trail does not give one a complete picture of
these people, it just gives little snippets which donæt always seem to
fit together to make a complete whole. This is always going to be a
problem when a large topic is covered in a short time. It took me many
hours to read öThe Steel Bonnetsò (a history of the Reivers) but under
an hour to do the trail. Itæs the difference between reading a book such
as Catch 22 and seeing the film. The producer has to decide which bits
are put in and which left out. For this reason, I would see the trails
as being a stimulus for further work rather than an end in themselves.
7.4
Documentation
7.4
The manual gives suggestions as to how the pack may be used in the
classroom. For instance, the authors suggest groups of four children
tend to gain more than individuals when working with the software.
Support materials including worksheets and four role play exercises are
provided on the resources disc. Included in the full pack is a sound
tape of an interview with a local called Louie Hartley. Supporting
material for this is supplied on the disc and includes copies of family
trees, scans of photographs and a birth certificate.
7.4
The CD-ROM
7.4
The CD-ROM contains all the data on the discs and more. One of the first
things you notice when running Frontier from the CD is the improved
graphics. Most of the information given by the experts is accompanied by
a scanned colour photograph in mode 15 or 28. For some locations, there
are replay files to watch. Seeing and hearing a steam train chugging out
of Carlisle Station certainly brings the railways trail to life.
Unfortunately, history does not lend itself to movies. How do you get
film of a Roman legion marching to war without making the product so
expensive that nobody could afford to buy it. (Try licensing a film clip
from, say, 20th Century Fox.) Sound is available, so one can hear the
professoræs questions as well as read them. The telephone rings though
only for the first question. Five new trails are available and the time
line expanded to 35,000 words.
7.4
Frontier in use
7.4
The manual suggests that the material is usable for children aged
between 8 and 16. I have used it with children between year 7 (11) and
year 10 (14). Brighter pupils had no problem with coming to grips with
the trails and solving the clues but some of those lower down the
ability range did have trouble. The trails do require map reading skills
and some of the bottom set year nine who tried the Reivers trail lacked
these skills. On the other hand, I lent the discs to a year 8 pupil
whose 9 year old sister apparently followed the trails without any
problem.
7.4
Some of the language used could cause problems. Even some bright year 10
pupils had problems with the instruction öfollow the B6357 up
Liddesdaleò. They could follow the road but ödaleò is not a widely used
word around St Albans. All that is marked on the map is Liddle Water.
That said, it is extremely difficult to provide tasks which can be done
by an 8 year old and still be enjoyed by a pupil twice as old. Every
pupil who tried the software enjoyed using it and the CD-ROM is very
popular in the library at lunch times.
7.4
Niggles
7.4
I have found one or two problems with the program. The index option
appears rather fragile. Several times, I have clicked on this menu item
only to have the program crash with a fatal error Ö most frustrating
when you are at the final place on a trail. So far, I have had no luck
running the program from a hard disc on a machine with RISC OS 3 Ö as
soon as a trail is chosen, the program crashes. If I use floppy discs,
there is no problem. The CD-ROM version appears to be rock solid. I
couldnæt make it crash and, as yet, I am unaware of children doing so.
The program also does not like Acornæs New Look Ö the title bar of the
windows get a little muddled.
7.4
Conclusion
7.4
Frontier is a beautifully produced piece of software which will keep
children (and adults) absorbed for a very long time. In school, I would
see it being used as another resource when particular topics are covered
rather than a way of teaching that topic. If you were planning a trip to
the region, it would be a superb guide to the area.
7.4
The disc version costs ú95 +VAT and the CD-ROM version is ú175 +VAT. The
CD-ROM plus the disc version are available as one pack for ú195 +VAT
from Cambridge Software House.ááA
7.4
The map and expertsæ icons when at a location
7.4
The professor asking a question
7.4
An expertæs contribution
7.4
Aztecs
7.4
Richard Rymarz
7.4
ÉAztecsæ is another in the series of wonderful historical adventures
and/or simulations published by Sherston Software. It costs ú39.95 +VAT
from Sherston or ú37 through Archive. You can also buy site licence
versions from Sherston (primary ú79.90 +VAT and secondary ú119.85 +VAT)
which gives the institution an unprotected key disc. It can easily be
installed on a hard disc.
7.4
The pricing may seem a little excessive but the plastic wallet contains
three discs, Teachers book, Aztec calendar symbols, an A3 poster of
Aztec counting symbols and glyphs (pictures used for writing), an A3
colour poster of an Aztec warrior, an A4 colour and A4 black and white
map, nine challenge cards and an Aztec word glossary.
7.4
The teacheræs book is superb. It virtually produces a blueprint for
handling a topic on the Aztecs providing information and areas to
develop away from the computer in a variety of curriculum areas:
history, maths, language, science, art and craft and geography. A cross-
curricular approach is made relatively easy and will encourage teachers
to spend an adequate amount of time on one of the required elements of
the National Curriculum.
7.4
Starting up
7.4
Double clicking on !Aztec loads the program onto the iconbar. Clicking
<menu> accesses the Setup menu. From here, the volume can be adjusted,
the difficulty of the language altered, the screen display chosen Ö CGA
or VGA Ö alternative starting positions picked (there are up to 26
different possible starting positions) and there is the method for
saving a position. Return to the desktop can be achieved by pressing
<ctrl-Q>, screens can be saved as sprites by pressing <ctrl-S> or
printed by pressing <ctrl-P>.
7.4
This is very long winded introduction to this review but the options are
so comprehensive and so useful that they need to be mentioned.
7.4
The adventure
7.4
Clicking with <select> starts the adventure from the beginning. After a
momentæs delay, we are greeted with a title and credit screen and an
excellent drawing of an Aztec warrior. Seconds later we find ourselves
visiting our Aunt Maud and Uncle Angus who live in Bermuda. Uncle Angus
is a Énutty professoræ and has invented a computerised jet pack and we
are invited to go to America to sell two of them. We set off in Uncle
Angusæ helicopter and fly through the ÉBermuda Triangleæ. The date is
set from the Archimedes and as we are inevitably sucked into a time
warp, the date clicks back to 1519. A quick check of the map shows we
are heading towards Mexico City or Tenochtitlan as it was called then.
Slowly the shape of the city unfolds as we fly through the mountains and
we eventually land on a chimampa (an island reclaimed from a lake) in
order to make repairs to the helicopter. The jetpacæs computer provides
us with all sorts of useful information as it scans the surrounding area
providing us with Éexplore boxes.æ One, for example, shows us how a
chimampa is made and the kinds of food the Aztecs ate. (Yuuuugh!)
7.4
Eventually, we are surrounded by Aztec warriors and taken to the court
of the Emperor Montezuma II. We find favour with him by offering simple
gifts. We are given a slave which quite rightly Uncle Angus disagrees
with (a touch of ethnocentricism?). The adventure continues to unfold as
we help a slave women prove her husbandæs innocence. This involves
finding one of Montezumaæs precious masks that have been stolen. The
husband, who was a nobleman, has been made into a slave and will be
sacrificed when the ninth conch blows (the end of the Aztec day). As we
gallantly strive to demonstrate his innocence, we learn about other
areas of Aztec life. These include: Aztec time periods and calendar,
travelling merchants, the tasks of Aztec priests, shopping, schooling,
an Aztec game, writing and so on. The children have to solve some
puzzles and have to learn to barter. Finally, just in time, we find the
real thief and return the mask to Montezuma. The slave womenæs husband
is released and they decide to leave Tenochtitlan. In the meantime,
Uncle Angus has finished repairing the helicopter and, as we fly away,
the children learn about the Spanish explorer Hernan Cortez and the
destruction of the Aztec empire.
7.4
Conclusion
7.4
Children, parents and teachers familiar with the ÉArcventureæ series
will enjoy ÉAztecsæ although the format is different and the adventure
element is emphasised rather than the simulation. Sherston have a fine
reputation for producing high quality programs that provide real
opportunities for children to explore history in an exciting and novel
way. Sound and animation are used to good effect bringing to life
aspects which would be impossible to show otherwise. Skilful use of
animation, appropriate text at realistic reading levels and an element
of humour, all serve to make this piece of software a lifeline to hard
pressed teachers. Add to this the excellent support materials and you
have a program that all primary schools should have. I only hope there
are more to supplement other areas of the National Curriculum.ááA
7.4
PD Column
7.4
David Holden
7.4
Competition results
7.4
Some of you may be wondering what happened to the competition for the
best PD or Shareware that I announced several months ago.
7.4
I wrote to all the main magazines and most of them quickly published
details. In fact, one was so precipitate it appeared before the
Éofficialæ announcement in Archive! However, another was not so quick
and nothing was printed until some months later, just as I had decided
to close the entries. This brought more enquiries and I felt that I
ought to extend the time to accommodate these new entries.
7.4
All is now finalised and I therefore take pleasure in announcing the
winners.
7.4
First prize
7.4
The first prize of ú100 in cash from A.P.D.L. goes to Event Shell by
Paul Hobbs. This is a complex programmersæ utility which aids the
writing of Wimp programs. At its heart is the !ShellSys directory
containing a series of Library programs. This acts in a similar manner
to the normal !System directory in that programs can access and make use
of these common resources. Some of these were not written by Paul but
contributed by others. For example, it uses Simon Huntingtonæs
ÉInterfaceæ module which provides fancy borders amongst other things.
7.4
The core of the system is provided by a large Basic library containing a
wealth of functions for the Wimp programmer. Many of these duplicate
existing SWIæs but for someone who does not possess a copy of the
P.R.M.æs (and at around ú100 a copy many donæt) they are absolutely
invaluable. The user manual has improved greatly so that, by using Event
Shell, any competent Basic programmer can write high quality Desktop
applications.
7.4
Paul has been criticised for writing the main library routines in Basic
rather than machine code but I agree with his choice. In absolute terms,
machine code would be better but the whole concept of Event Shell is
that it is aimed at the less experienced programmer. By looking at the
code, the user can find out exactly how it works and so the system is
not only a very useful library of routines, it is also a valuable
tutorial.
7.4
Event Shell is Shareware with a registration fee of ú5. In view of the
fact that Paul lives in Germany and is always happy to offer help to
users even before they register, this is very reasonable as most of this
money goes towards user support.
7.4
Second prize
7.4
Originally there was no second prize but owing to the high quality of
this program Paul decided to award it a ú50 N.C.S. voucher.
7.4
The program is Powerbase written by Derek and Steven Haslam. This is a
general purpose desktop database. Iæm not even going to attempt to
describe all its features except to say that unless you have very
serious requirements, and a depth of pocket to match, Powerbase will
probably fulfil all your database needs.
7.4
Once again itæs Shareware with a registration fee of ú10, which is very
modest in view of the quality of the program.
7.4
This brings me to the remaining four programs each of which will receive
a ú20 N.C.S. voucher.
7.4
Skyview
7.4
This displays a view of the major astronomical bodies in a scrolling
desktop window. It was written by Nigel Hawkes and although itæs not
actually Shareware or Careware, users are requested to make a donation
to a charity if they use the program. There are several programs of this
type for the PC but this is the first of any quality I have seen for the
Archimedes. I confess that I donæt have the expertise to judge how
accurate it is but I have made some comparisons with a professional PC
program and couldnæt find any important differences.
7.4
HD Lock
7.4
This was written by John Lageu and is designed to prevent or restrict
access to a hard disc. It is primarily intended for use in schools but
would also be useful for preventing younger brothers and sisters (or
sons and daughters) from getting at the more sensitive parts of your
data.
7.4
It is not a particularly secure system, but it is not intended to be. It
will certainly prevent most Énon expertæ users from wandering in
restricted areas. It is also easy to set up and flexible.
7.4
Lingo Master
7.4
Written by Nigel Caplan, this is a program to assist in learning foreign
languages. It is a non-desktop program but operation is from simple
menus and is very straightforward. Limited vocabularies are provided in
four languages, each divided into various categories. Once again, itæs a
Shareware program with a registration fee of ú5. Registration brings
much larger and more varied vocabulary files which are mainly aimed at
the GCSE syllabus. This program is not Éstate of the artæ but it
performs the required function and is a good low cost learning aid for
students.
7.4
Movie
7.4
Another non-desktop program written by Richard Burnell. This is actually
a large database of films with information such as the stars, director,
etc. As the data files are plain text, you can easily add new entries or
amend or add notes to existing ones. In fact, the program itself is
fairly simple but it does what is required of it. The main work of
producing this program must have gone into collecting and compiling
nearly three quarters of a megabyte of data files. Again this is a
Shareware program with a registration fee of ú5.
7.4
Why Shareware?
7.4
It will probably not have gone unnoticed that of these six prize
winners, four are Shareware. Regular readers of this column, knowing my
bias in this direction, may feel that I have given preferential
treatment to Shareware at the expense of Public Domain entries. I assure
you that this is not the case. Although I noticed the fact that Movie
and Lingomaster were Shareware when I first saw them, I had completely
forgotten this by the time I came to the final judging.
7.4
In retrospect, I think that it did influence matters indirectly. Many of
the programs submitted had minor bugs and one factor which I did allow
to influence me was how the authors reacted to my criticisms and
suggestions for improvements. A couple of programs had no proper
instructions and when I commented upon this fact, the authors couldnæt
be bothered to provide any. Others had bugs which could easily have been
fixed but again they wouldnæt take the trouble to do so. I make no
apologies for reacting unfavourably to this. Someone who writes programs
for public consumption, even if they are PD, should respond properly to
usersæ queries and problems. If these entrants felt unable to do
anything about the points I raised, even after having entered their
programs for the competition, then it seemed they would be unlikely to
react sympathetically to a user who got into difficulties.
7.4
I had always made it clear that I would be influenced by good
documentation. This is something that Shareware authors who want
registrations very soon discover to be important. It is no coincidence
that the first two prize-winners have extensive user manuals. In my
experience, people who can write good bug-free programs can also write
good manuals. Poor documentation in a program may be due to lack of time
or inclination on the part of the author and this is acceptable if the
program is PD, but when judged against others of similar quality, the
one with clear instructions will possess a great advantage.
7.4
Special offer
7.4
This monthæs offer is that I will send you a copy of all of these
programs on either two 800Kb or a single 1.6Mb disc (please specify or
Iæll send you a hi-density disc by default). The price for either
version is ú2 or the equivalent in stamps. When de-archived, they take
up about 3╜ Mb of disc space so I hope youæll agree that this is a
bargain. Also any Éprofitæ from the sale of these special discs will be
passed on to some of the worthy entries who did not win a prize or be
put towards the next competition.
7.4
Contact me at 39 Knighton Park Road, Sydenham, London SE26 5RN.ááA
7.4
Budget Games
7.4
Andrew Rawnsley
7.4
In the run up to Christmas, quite a number of budget games have been
released into the Acorn market. These fall into two categories, re-
releases of old games, and cheap, new games. Either way, the customer
benefits, and that Christmas cheque goes a little further. This leads to
a problem for the reviewer Ö most of the games offer great value
compared to their ú25 rivals.
7.4
The companies
7.4
There are two main companies selling budget priced games this Christmas,
Buzz (a branch of Krisalis) and Matt Black.
7.4
Buzz are selling five of Krisalisæ older titles, re-packaged in small
cardboard boxes, at ú9.99 each.
7.4
Matt black are selling two new games (one is just a re-vamp) at ú14.99
each.
7.4
The products
7.4
The following games are available:
7.4
SWIV Ö Buzz
7.4
Revelation Ö Buzz
7.4
Mad Professor Mariarti Ö Buzz
7.4
Jahangir Khan World Championship Squash Ö Buzz
7.4
Manchester United Ö Buzz
7.4
Blood Sport Ö Matt Black
7.4
Aggressor, Macho Edition Ö Matt Black
7.4
SWIV
7.4
SWIV is a vertically scrolling shoot-æem-up, with good graphics, sound,
power-ups and plenty of variety. It would be good value for money at its
RRP of ú25.99, but at ú9.99, itæs a real bargain.
7.4
SWIV has the added advantage that it has a rather good two-player mode.
Play is simultaneous, the players either helping each other out, or
trying to amass a higher score than their opponent. One player controls
a helicopter, whilst the other controls a jeep (which is harder!). In
one player mode, you can control either vehicle, so it provides two
difficulty levels.
7.4
If you enjoy this type of game (and donæt own it already), this should
be top of your post-Christmas shopping list.
7.4
Revelation
7.4
This is an interesting little game which has never been released as a
full priced product on Acorn machines, although it has for the PC, Amiga
and ST. It did, however, form a worthy part of the Krisalis Collection
on the Acorn platform.
7.4
The idea behind the game is to turn various dials on each level, to
complete the colour combinations required to open a safe. Once inside,
you can use your remaining time (usually not a lot!) to grab bonuses out
of the deposit boxes inside the safe.
7.4
The difficulty is that if the colours in adjacent dial slots are the
same, the dial not being turned rotates and may set off a chain
reaction, messing up all your hard work!
7.4
The game resembles the classic non-computer game, Downfall, the dials
and knobs being very similar. There are various power-ups which give
extra time, pause the timer, reset the level etc.
7.4
If you like puzzle games, this is definitely worth the cash.
7.4
Mad Professor Mariarti
7.4
This is quite an old game but it that still retains some of its
attraction, even in the face of modern releases. It is an arcade
adventure in which you guide your professor around the levels, trying to
shut down his laboratories. There are five levels, the last being a
rather good mystery level.
7.4
The game has a cute, cartoony feel, with much humour in both the
graphics and the text message at the bottom of the screen. The puzzles
are not too taxing, and once you have solved one level of the game, the
style of puzzles stays the same, so the rest become a little easier.
7.4
One nice touch is that you can collect tokens which can be used to buy
Étoolsæ (weapons to the rest of us) with which to defend yourself from
the mutant equipment.
7.4
Again, this is a game worthy of most peopleæs collections and the style
of gameplay has a particular appeal to younger players.
7.4
Manchester United
7.4
Fans of the famous football team will be disappointed with this
Éofficialæ game. It is a shame that Krisalis chose to release this game
on budget, rather than its far superior brother, Man. United Europe.
7.4
The graphics and sound are adequate, but the game lacks playability and
interest, probably because there isnæt a two player option and because
control is difficult and unresponsive.
7.4
The management section isnæt bad and may give the game a longer lifespan
but you canæt choose to play the management section on its own.
7.4
This is definitely not a premiership product and most football fans
should watch out for Gameswareæs forthcoming ÉStrikeræ, whilst avid
Manchester United supporters should save up the extra ú15 for Manchester
United Europe.
7.4
(I wonder if NCS will be releasing The Canaries Ö the Official Computer
Game?)
7.4
Jahangir Khan World championship squash
7.4
This squash simulator really only has one plus point Ö itæs the only
one. The game is typical of many sports simulators Ö it has a fistful of
options but when it comes to the main game, itæs nothing like the real
thing, and the fixed speed and key responses leave you thinking that
youæd have won in real life.
7.4
The graphics are not particularly stunning and donæt help the isometric
3D view of the squash court which makes the controls seem a little
strange.
7.4
Squash fans may find something in it to appeal but most people should
give this one a miss.
7.4
Blood Sport
7.4
This was Matt Blackæs first budget release and itæs a shame that the
price has just gone up by ú5. Anyway, this game still represents good
value for money and is by far the best fighting game currently available
on Acorn machines (i.e. itæs better than the other one!).
7.4
You can choose to be one of four characters, and then take on the other
eleven in mortal combat. The graphics are detailed but itæs a shame that
they only take up just over a third of the screen, vertically. Taller
characters would make the moves clearer and give space for character
detail. After all, itæs the characters weære interested in.
7.4
There are lots of different playing modes, including simultaneous two
player games for playing with or against a friend.
7.4
Donæt expect Mortal Kombat or Streetfighter 2 Ö but then it only costs
ú15. This is the next best thing for Acorn owners. If you like this
genre of game, you canæt go far wrong with Blood Sport!
7.4
Aggressor Ö Macho Edition
7.4
Some readers may remember the original version of Aggressor, marketed by
Atomic Software. The game was a flop but the authors took the criticism
to heart and re-wrote it to produce a game that, if it does as well as
it deserves, should prove very popular.
7.4
The game can be played by one or two players simultaneously and is a
horizontally scrolling shoot-Éem-up, with the addition of platforms to
provide you with access to more of the screen. However, along your way
through each level, there are usually computer terminals to fix or
prisoners to rescue which adds more interest to the missions.
7.4
The bad guys come thick and fast and, if youære lucky, so do the droids,
carrying health and weapon power-ups.
7.4
There are eight new missions, each with excellent, detailed graphics, so
it should keep you occupied, particularly as the game has been made
tougher since the original release.
7.4
My only criticism is the title. How on earth can playing shoot-æem-ups
all day long make you more macho?!?
7.4
This is a quality product which is definitely worth the cash.ááA
7.4
The Archive prices of these games are ú10 (Buzz) and ú15 (Matt Black).
We cannot give any discount on the budget games except that postage and
packing are, effectively only charged at 1p!
7.4
Introducing Your Computer Ö 2
7.4
Norfolk IT Team
7.4
Last month, in the first of our series of articles for the absolute
beginner, we covered the mouse, examined windows and got as far as
loading one application, quitting from it and shutting down the computer
after use. Now we shall begin using the keyboard and introduce the use
of floppy discs for the storage of information.
7.4
The keyboard
7.4
Like the mouse, the keyboard is used for getting information into the
computer. It will look fairly familiar to anyone who has used a
typewriter before. There are four main groups of keys Ö the main QWERTY
keyboard (so called because of the arrangement of the letter keys), the
numeric keypad on the right of the keyboard, the function keys at the
top and two small clusters of special keys between the QWERTY keyboard
and the numeric keypad.
7.4
QWERTY
7.4
This is the area of the keyboard most likely to seem familiar. It works
in pretty much the same way as a typewriter keyboard. To examine its
functions letæs load an application. Move the mouse pointer until its
tip is within the ÉAppsæ icon at the bottom left of your screen and
click <select> once. This will open the Apps directory. Move the pointer
over the É!Editæ icon and double-click <select>. The Edit icon will
appear on the iconbar. Clicking <select> on this icon will open a window
with the title ÉUntitledæ. Click <select> on the Étoggle sizeæ icon of
this window to open it to full screen size. Now you can type into this
window. The red, vertical line is known as a Écaretæ and indicates the
point where the characters you type will be inserted into your text.
7.4
The letter keys will behave as you might expect. To obtain the top
character on a key marked with two characters, hold down one of the two
<shift> keys as you type. This will also give you upper case letters. If
you want to type in upper case for a while, press <capslock> to switch
its green light on. Note that this does not have quite the same effect
as holding down <shift>. You will still get É4æ rather than É$æ for
instance.
7.4
The <ctrl> key is used in conjunction with other keys to perform actions
which may depend upon the application you are using. Using <ctrl-X> will
often delete a selected area of text or a part of a drawing for
instance. In general, different applications use <ctrl> in similar ways,
cutting down considerably the time you will need to spend learning them.
The <alt> key can be used to obtain characters not shown on the keyboard
at all Ö try holding down the <alt> key and typing <4> (use the key on
the QWERTY keypad, not the numeric keypad).
7.4
Chars
7.4
There is another way of getting characters other than those shown on the
keyboard into text. Load Chars from the Apps directory by double-
clicking with <select>. (If you have been following these instructions,
you will probably have to use the Ésend to backæ icon on the Edit window
to bring the Apps directory into view.) Chars does not install an icon
on the iconbar but directly opens up a window. Clicking on the
characters in this window will insert them at the caret. In this way you
can get characters such as É⌐æ into your documents. Clicking on the
Éclose the windowæ icon will actually quit from the Chars application.
7.4
Numeric keypad
7.4
To the right of the keyboard is the aptly named numeric keypad. This
enables more rapid entry of numbers for those familiar with using to a
calculator. One might expect that there would be one common standard in
these things but life just isnæt that simple Ö take a look at a
telephone keypad! In addition to the numbers, there are keys here for a
decimal point, plus, minus, division (/), multiplication (*), # and
<enter> (which is an alternative to <return>). Pressing <numlock> will
turn off its light and alter the way these keys work. Again, this is a
facility which may be used in a particular way by certain applications.
7.4
 Function keys
7.4
At the top of the keyboard are the function keys, labelled F1 to F12.
These have specific uses which depend on the application you are using
but, like the <ctrl> combinations, these tend to be similar from one
application to another. Pressing <f12> will nudge the whole screen up a
bit and insert a line at the bottom of the screen beginning with a É*æ.
This is known as the command line. In general, you will not need to use
the command line but if you are keen to try, type the word Étimeæ and
press <return>. You should see the current date and time at the bottom
of the screen. Press <return> again to remove the command line and
return to the Édesktopïèèèèèèèæ as the normal screen is called.
7.4
Special keys
7.4
The four Éarrowæ keys usually allow you to move the caret around the
screen Ö try it in Edit. <Delete> deletes the character to the left of
the caret and <copy> deletes the character to the right. <Pageup> and
<pagedown> usually move through text one Éwindowfulæ at a time in word-
processors and <insert> is generally used in word-processing
applications to insert a section of text at the caret position. <Home>
usually takes the caret to the beginning of text that you are working
on. <Print> is used by many applications to do just as you might expect
(but more on printing later in this series). <Scroll lock> is not used
in normal applications working on the desktop.
7.4
<Break> is used (particularly in conjunction with <ctrl>) to Éresetæ the
computer. This is rather like switching the computer off and then on
again except that you do not actually turn the power off. Donæt do this
unless you really mean to because it will cause the computer to forget
what it was working on and any text, for instance, that you were
composing will be lost if you have not saved it onto a disc. There is
also a key marked ÉEscæ in the top left hand corner of the keyboard.
Pressing this key will usually stop the computer from doing what it is
currently engaged upon. An example of its use would be to stop the
printing of a document when you have just realised that you need to make
an important alteration but the printer has already started working.
Somewhere on your computer there will be a ÉResetæ button though this
may not be on the main keyboard. Your manual will show you its location.
Pressing this will reset your machine as described above, rather like
pressing <ctrl-break>.
7.4
Floppy discs
7.4
Your Acorn A series computer may well have a hard disc drive fitted
inside it. We shall come to the use of hard drives later on. For the
moment we shall be concerned only with the use of floppy discs as all
machines are able to use these and indeed, software you buy is most
likely to be supplied on floppy discs.
7.4
A floppy disc is shown here.
7.4
The disc itself (the Éfloppyæ part) is enclosed inside a fairly rigid
plastic case. When the disc is put into the disc drive, the computer
pulls back the metal shutter on the disc case to reveal the actual disc
inside. You can slide back the plate yourself but do not touch the
surface of the disc Ö it is very vulnerable to fingerprints and
contamination by any kind of dust or liquid.
7.4
The way in which information is written onto this disc is similar to the
way in which information is written onto a VHS video tape or an audio
cassette Ö it is a process involving magnetism and therefore the disc is
also affected by magnets Ö so keep magnets away from your discs!
7.4
The surface of the disc shown in the illustration above is the side
which should be uppermost when you insert the disc into the disc drive.
The arrow indicates the direction in which the disc should be inserted Ö
hold the label and put the metal end in first.
7.4
The small hole in the bottom left hand corner of the disc is very
important. If you turn the disc over you will see that a small plastic
piece can be firmly pulled back and forth with a finger nail or suitable
object and clicked into place so as to either cover or expose the
rectangular hole. When this hole is exposed, the contents of the disc
are protected and cannot be altered in any way or deleted. You may be
familiar with a similar protection system employed on audio cassette
tapes.
7.4
Formatting
7.4
Before a newly purchased disc can be used it must be Éformattedæ for use
on the particular computer with which it will be used. What is meant by
formatting?
7.4
Imagine that, without a map, you drop a valuable load out of a
helicopter onto the surface of a vast desert. Months later, you return
to retrieve your possession. You have little chance of finding it by
just flying around the desert. If there were grid lines marked on the
surface of the desert and you knew that you had dropped your load at a
particular grid reference, you would stand a much better chance of
retrieving it. Indeed, if the grid system was sufficiently detailed
then, as long as the load had not been moved, you could be certain of
locating it.
7.4
An unformatted disc is like the uncharted desert Ö a featureless waste.
The formatting process is analogous to the marking of the desert surface
with grid lines. Unfortunately, different computer systems use different
formatting methods and so discs are supplied unformatted and the
purchaser must format the disc for their computer. In fact, the Acorn A
series computers can use a number of different formats and this can be
very useful if you use more than one kind of computer. For the moment we
are going to consider just two ways of formatting discs for use only
with Acorn machines.
7.4
The discs you buy may be of two kinds. One type can store more
information than the other. This larger capacity, so-called Éhigh
densityæ disc will always have the initials ÉHDæ written on it on the
opposite side of the metal plate to the insertion arrow. High density
discs can be used with Acorn A3010, A3020, A4000, A5000 and A4
computers. Earlier RISC OS computers such as A3000s, A310s and A420s etc
can usually only use the standard density discs. If your computer can
use the high density discs Ö get them Ö it is easier and cheaper to keep
twice as much information on each disc.
7.4
To format a disc, insert it into the disc drive. A fairly substantial
clunk will tell you that it is in place. Move the mouse pointer over the
floppy disc drive icon in the bottom left of the screen (if a window is
obscuring the iconbar press <shift-f12> and the iconbar will come to the
front of the screen, pressing <shift-f12> again will return it to the
back) and click <menu>. Move the pointer onto the menu which appears and
when the ÉFormatæ option is Éhighlightedæ, slide the pointer over the
arrow to the right. If you have a high density disc then click <select>
over the ADFSá1.6M option, otherwise click <select> over the ADFSá800K
(E) option.
7.4
A window will open like this...
7.4
... click on ÉFormatæ and your disc drive will spring into action. A
horizontal bar will show you the machineæs progress as it first formats
and then verifies your disc. The verify process ensures that the
computer is able to read what it has just written!
7.4
Once your disc has been formatted, click on the ÉOKæ in the window. Now
is the time to give your disc a name. To do this click <menu> over the
disc drive icon again, move the pointer up to the ÉName Discæ option,
slide over the arrow and a small window will open. If you move the
pointer into the white space below the title bar of this window, a caret
will appear and you can type in a name for the disc. You cannot use
spaces, punctuation or characters such as $ in the disc name.
7.4
When you have typed in the name, press <return>. At this point, it is a
good idea to take out your disc (press the button beside the disc drive
slot), apply a label and write the name of the disc on it. If the
computer ever asks you to insert a particular disc (and it might) it is
a lot easier if it has a recognisable name and it is clearly written on
the label.
7.4
Saving
7.4
Now we will save some information on this newly formatted disc. If it is
not already in the drive, insert it now. Click <select> on the floppy
disc drive icon and a directory window will open for your disc. Use the
adjust size icon to ensure that you can see both your Edit window with
its text and your directory window. Click in your Edit window to ensure
that you can see the caret and then press <f3>. This will open a window
into which you can type a suitable name for your work. Do not press
<return> when you have done this, but drag the icon that is above the
name you have just entered, to the directory window and then release
<select>. Your work will be saved and its icon will appear in the
directory window for your disc.
7.4
Loading
7.4
Now to load your work. Letæs get bold Ö shut down the computer and then
restart it. Now load Edit so that its icon appears on the iconbar.
Insert your floppy disc into the drive, click on the floppy disc drive
icon and then double-click on the icon for your work which appears in
the directory window for the disc. Your work should now load into Edit
ready to be altered, continued or whatever.ááA
7.4
Explore with Flossy the Frog
7.4
Richard Rymarz
7.4
I thoroughly enjoy reviewing software, especially if it is of the
quality that houses such as 4Mation produce. One of their most recent
offerings is ÉExplore with Flossy the Frogæ and it lives up to my
highest expectations.
7.4
ÉFlossyæ is housed in a plastic wallet, contains three discs, operating
instructions and teachers notes. It can be installed on a hard disc but
a key disc has to be used each time the program is run. It costs ú28.79
for a single user version (ú27 through Archive) and ú57.58 for a site
licence from 4Mation. A demo version of the program can be obtained from
4Mation on receipt of a blank disc and schools can evaluate the program
on 28 days free approval. It will run on any Archimedes but 2Mb or more
are needed.
7.4
Aims
7.4
The broad, general aims are Éto provide reading opportunities, simple
problem solving activities and a stimulus for creating activities away
from the computer.æ Apparently, any fears that non-readers would be
deterred by the written content of the program were soon dispelled when
it was trialed with very young children Ö non-readers were just as
enthralled by it. Consequently, it is aimed from pre-reading children up
to the age of 8, either at school or in the home.
7.4
The program
7.4
Clicking on !Flossy (the whole program is mouse driven) results in the
application installing itself on the iconbar. Clicking <menu> on Flossy
opens up a number of options including the ability to save a position,
restart, quit and a choices option that allows the user to choose the
screen font and its size, a choice to conserve memory if things are
tight and whether the default is full screen or in a window.
7.4
The program multitasks and, in fact, I am writing this review using
!Edit and there is a loud plopping noise in the background. Water is
dripping from a tap into a dog bowl which just happens to be on a bank
next to a lake and mountains (no reason for this is offered).
7.4
From this first scene, the children are encouraged to explore the
variety of objects in view. Some provide information, most jump into
life with some engaging animation and others result in a change of
scene. For example, clicking on the dog bowl results in the appearance
of a large, barking dog. Flossy is not impressed and jumps into the lake
where a whole new variety of creatures and objects come to life. My
favourite is the water snake who make a series of amusing appearances
which reminded me of a very funny scene from the film ÉAirplaneæ. But
really it would be churlish to either criticise or acclaim any
particular drawing or piece of animation. All are amusing, delightful
and/or surprising. Many animations can happen at the same time (memory
permitting), the sounds are realistic and music is used effectively.
7.4
There is a simple element of problem solving Ö nothing which will be too
taxing or unachievable given a fair amount of trial and error. The
childrenæs imagination is to be exercised Ö can Flossy really jump so
high that she can reach the moon? Answer Ö of course she can Ö just
watch her! Finally, there is no real plot. Flossyæs adventures unfold in
a gentle and imaginative way taking her (is Flossy a she?) to a planet
in a space rocket, to the beach, under a lake, and into her bedroom and
kitchen.
7.4
Conclusion
7.4
ÉExplore with Flossy the Frogæ has all the hallmarks of an experienced
educational software house developing its expertise to provide
exceptionally high quality material. The drawings by Dutch artist Hans
Rijnen are superb and the authoring system developed by Dave Caughly has
been enhanced even since the publication of ÉGrannyæs Gardenæ and
ÉDarryl the Dragon.æ Each scene is a joy to explore and was greeted with
delight when I tested the program with a group of 6 year olds battle
hardened on a diet of shoot-em-up games. Certainly, if their reaction is
anything to go by then Flossy is a sure-fire winner.
7.4
Does it live up to its stated aims? The answer is a definite yes.
However, like many such programs, much as a child will profit from using
the program alone, more will be gained if Flossy is explored in small
groups or with the help of a sympathetic adult. If Flossy is to be used
at home, parents should be prepared to join in with their children and
enjoy with them the enchantment that this program offers.
7.4
The documentation is excellent with simple suggestions for work away
from the computer. There is no reference to the National Curriculum Ö
thank goodness. Programs such as this should be left to the imagination
of the children, parents and teachers.
7.4
Finally
7.4
4Mation are very pleased with this program. They hope to have it
published in America and are porting it to Windows and the Apple Mac.
They plan several different language versions and, most interestingly, a
sign language version for the deaf. This could be on several CD ROM
discs and include a sign language video clip for each of the 300 pieces
of text.ááA
7.4
Hints & Tips
7.4
Å    Backing up PC partitions. When backing up a PC partition (with
filetype DosDisc) from a HardDrive with RISC OS 3 the ADFS sees the
files in the partition as individual files so backs them up as such. So
when you come to reinstate the partition afterwards the PC partition
will no longer work, i.e. it will be a normal directory with files in.
The way to overcome this is to reset the file type to Text before
backing up and change it back afterwards.á Brian Cocksedge, W Sussex.
7.4
Å    Elite Cheat. On this monthæs program disc (ú2 through Archive) is a
cheat for Elite v1.02 made with The Hacker program from DoggySoft. The
cheat allows you to do more than the normal game will allow. The
functions are made by using the right Ctrl key and some other keys not
used in the game. Load the cheat module after you have the Elite
commander on the iconbar and read the instructions carefully. It enables
you to stop dead in space, go like a bat out of hell, have loads of
energy bombs (useful for blasting those rock grabbers), have an
indestructible energy unit, unlimited rockets and, as a small bonus,
kills the asking of the word from the book when saving a commander file
after you have run the game, back to the Desktop (saving time).
SáEdwards, W Midlands.
7.4
Å    Epson Stylus 800 cartridge life Ö When the cartridge I had in my new
Epson Stylus 800 ran out after it had printed only about 300 to 400
sheets (instead of the quoted 700), I contacted Epson to discuss the
matter! They asked whether I pressed Pause before switching off the
printer. I said I did not and asked why it was important. They told me
that it was because the printer goes through the print head cleaning
process on every start-up unless Pause is pressed before switch-off. It
is only necessary to clean the print head öabout once a monthò. They
admitted that this is not mentioned in the manual(!), so I thought I
would pass this gem of information on to other Archive subscribers!á
Stan Haselton, Abbots Langley.
7.4
Å    JP150 sheet feeder Ö Owners of JP150 printers may be interested to
know that the sheet feeder for the Integrex Betajet seems to be exactly
the same as the one for the JP150. The good news is that the Integrex
one costs approximately ú40 +VAT (ú47) as against ú77 inc VAT. I wonder
why the Acorn product is so much more expensive?á Alan Shelton, Sutton-
in-Ashfield.
7.4
Å    Magazine storage Ö An alternative to the Archive magazine binders is
to use what are called K-Bins which are basically topless cardboard
boxes. They are designed for storing components but work quite nicely
for Archive magazines and cost about ú1.15 each. I am happy to supply
them to people at cost plus postage Ö let me know if you are interested.
Bob Ames, Dept of Music, City University, Northampton Square, London
EC1V 0HB.
7.4
Å    Mouse mat grooming Ö Next time you groom your mouse, take a look at
your mat. If it has a layer of stubborn fibres, cat hairs etc, try using
one of those rolling, tacky lint removers that you use on suits and
jackets.á Nik Kelly, Liverpool.
7.4
Å    PC card and screen blanking Ö After installing a new hard drive, I had
to re-install everything and set the computer up as though it were new.
While I was restoring some of the PC programs, my screen went blank and
no keypresses would bring it  back. What seemed odd was that the
computer was still working, reading the disc.
7.4
Each time this happened, I reset the computer and then, when I was at
Acorn World 93, I had a word with Aleph One. They explained that, when
the PC card had öinput focusò all keystrokes were passed through to the
card and so RISC OS was unaware that keys had been pressed Ö so the
screen blanker was coming into operation and was locking in the blank
state. Because of this, I would need to disable the screen blanker in
order to use the PC card.
7.4
As I donæt use the blanker very much, it was only a slight nuisance, but
I carried out an experiment and found out that mouse movement was still
done via the main operating system. Because of this, all that is needed
to get the screen back is a very slight movement of the mouse.
7.4
I suppose that if you were wanting to work with text in a word processor
it would be a good idea to disable the screen blanker, but most of the
time it is unnecessary.á David Wild, Hemel Hempstead.
7.4
Å     Scanners and Turbo Drivers Ö A slight problem for users of Turbo
Drivers is that, sometimes, the printout from ArcFax with CCæs scanner
becomes garbled for no sensible reason. The solution is to turn your
printer on. It does not have to be online but just switched on. It works
every time.á Tord Eriksson, Sweden.
7.4
Å    Time errors Ö Recently, I found that whilst !Alarm, and indeed most
other applications, could work out the correct time, those I had written
in C were wildly inaccurate (over a year and a half out!).  The same
program would work fine on the office A5000 but on my RISC OS 3 A3000,
it refused to give me anything but 1995.  Finally, I tracked the problem
down to the Territory Manager (literally just by chance, I was actually
looking up Étimeæ in the PRMæs and spotted it.  Somehow the configured
timezone was Ö23:45, well outside the allowed limits of +/Ö13 hrs.
!Alarm took off the correct value but when I reset it to zero, the
machine jumped ahead by a day. Why CLib gave such a large error, I donæt
know.á Matthew Hunter, NCS.ááA
7.4
RiscCAD Ö A First Look
7.4
Richard Fallas
7.4
RiscCAD was unknown to me until Acorn World 93, although Iæve since seen
it advertised in the other magazines. Davyn Software kindly allowed me
to try out the package so that I could review it for Archive. A full
review, with relevant comparisons with the opposition will take me a bit
longer than Paulæs deadlines permit so this is an initial summary.
7.4
The screen shots on the manual cover show a circuit diagram but this is
a full CAD application of more general use. It costs ú199 inc VAT and
this places it neatly between WorraCAD at around ú112 and ProCAD at
ú460. What level of facilities does RiscCAD offer? A substantial manual,
albeit with rather brief index, quick reference guide, function key
strip and latest version release note are provided along with the
program disc and examples disc. Start-up from hard disc requires
insertion of the original disc BUT this may be backed up. RISC OS 3.10
is an essential requirement for use of the program.
7.4
Initial impressions are that RiscCAD has a very professional appearance.
Icons are clear, larger and less numerous initially than ProCAD, and
attractive on-screen. Tool icons are ranged in 9 pairs down the left
side, and open on selection to sub-menus positioned horizontally (but
this may be altered) very much in the style of Drafix (on the PC). HiRes
and LoRes sprites are provided and both are very good, but Iæm still
looking for the HiRes switch! A help message window is also available.
Many control key combinations are standard Acorn options, e.g. <ctrl-A>
for öselect allò.
7.4
The program uses integer maths at a low level, as does ProCAD, and
redraws are correspondingly rapid Ö comparisons with other packages will
follow, when Iæve taken delivery of my flak jacket! Unlike ProCAD, it
offers associative dimensioning. The tool selection is very extensive
but does not match ProCAD, with no provision for non-circular curves.
Object snap options are also less numerous than ProCAD but cover the
most commonly required choices. In use the snaps felt ödeadò as no
audible or visual confirmation is offered that a snap is available
before selection. The icon selection is better than WorraCAD, however,
again in line with the program cost.
7.4
I liked the way that sub-toolboxes could be rearranged around the screen
to make best use of available space. Many options could be saved as a
start-up setting. Less impressive was the Zoom facility. This is
apparently achieved solely through use of the F10 key, and I couldnæt
find a mouse controlled Zoom option although a scale to current window
option is provided. The !Draw (and ProCAD) method of using Shift+Mouse
to give a zoom window would be an important (essential?) improvement. I
still like the old PDT method of + and Ö keys, perhaps with <ctrl>, to
zoom in and out and this could also be implemented.
7.4
Limited hatching facilities are offered, as are symbols and many text
options, although outline fonts are not supported which is a strong
ProCAD feature. Step and repeat copying is available, and also arrays.
Parallel lines/arcs, fillets and chamfers are also included and up to 16
layers may be used. Objects may be öbrokenò and lines trimmed/extended.
Hiding of objects is also possible, both individually and by type.
Access to plotters is extensive and controllable, if required, via
script files.
7.4
The program had a predictable and ösolidò feel in use, and so far has
been robust, i.e. no crashes as yet! To do it justice, I need to spend
rather longer trying all the features I can find Ö and working out which
are missing! This is a time-consuming business and has to be fitted into
my workload.
7.4
In summary, RiscCAD offers good functionality and speed at a realistic
price for many users. Future extensions may add facilities Ö I get the
feeling that Davyn Software will listen carefully to suggestions from
users. It goes beyond WorraCAD in most respects, yet is not so
ambitious, or costly, as ProCAD. A useful addition to RISC-Ware and I
hope it sells well and develops further.ááA
7.4
Econet Column
7.4
Dave Emsley
7.4
I have two main items this month. The first is a look at Robert
Chrismasæ !RAMScrap application and the second is a look at the problems
of serving Archimedes applications on a Level 3 Econet network leading
into a review of !AppFS which will be a great help for those of us still
having to survive on Econet.
7.4
!RAMScrap
7.4
Archimedes systems all require writable scrap space for some of their
operations. This was originally provided within the !System folder.
However, recently, the method has changed to a separate !Scrap
application. So what happens if none is available Ö for example, when
using a network as a guest user?
7.4
Enter a new utility called !RAMScrap written by Robert Chrismas. This is
an application which, when clicked on creates a 64Kb RAM disc (if one
does not exist) and uses it for scrap files. If an empty RAM disc
already exists, but is not 64Kb or greater, it is extended. If one
exists but is not empty it is used at its current size.
7.4
As Robert says in the !Help file, ö!RAMScrap tries to cope with most of
these problems but is not afraid to give up.ò
7.4
The only time I could manage to get it to fail to work was when there
was less than 64Kb of memory available to it.
7.4
Is 64Kb of Scrap space enough?
7.4
I didnæt think it was, but I canæt get !RAMScrap to fail. I loaded up
both Revelation ImagePro and Ovation and created an 800Kb sprite.
Dragging this sprite from Revelation to an Ovation picture frame worked
correctly. I tried the same using Paint and Draw and a 500Kb sprite Ö no
problem. Either 64Kb is enough or the Scrap area isnæt used in the way I
thought it was.
7.4
Conclusion
7.4
This is an excellent utility. I havenæt exhaustively tried it in a
classroom situation but I intend to try replace the current !Scrap
application in a few usersæ directories and test it out thoroughly.
7.4
!RAMScrap is available on this monthæs Archive  Program Disc, price ú2.
7.4
Application Serving on Econet
7.4
Serving Archimedes applications on a Level 3 Econet network is far from
ideal due to the time it takes to load. This is obviously not a
criticism of the applications which are very good, once loaded, but
Econet was designed in the good old days of BBC Bs and Masters and the
largest applications on these were 64Kb long. Having said that, the
network does offer two very important things: security and a common user
interface.
7.4
Security is important in an open access area because if the software
were stored on floppy disc, anyone could simply take the discs away with
them. This was the system that we used previously, until discs started
going missing, but now the majority of software for which we have a
licence is available to students via the network.
7.4
It is important to have a common user interface so that students know,
for example, that if they need to use a spreadsheet, they double
clicking on !Apps and then double clicking on SSheets. This will present
them with a choice of spreadsheets to use Ö and all this should be
independent of their physical location in the college or school.
7.4
When you consider that the loading times may be doubled, and in some
cases trebled, compared with loading from floppy discs, is it too high a
price to pay for the added security and the common user interface? Well,
I would have said that it was but a new product has appeared that has
given Econet a new lease of life.
7.4
AppFS
7.4
AppFS from AngelSoft is an application which allows a hard disc from any
station on a network to be distributed across the network to allow
faster loading of applications.
7.4
First impressions
7.4
AppFS arrived in a cardboard folder with a plastic pocket holding the
single disc and a booklet of instructions. The A5 sized booklet consists
of 19 pages on A4 paper folded, no fancy cover, no colours, no staples
just clearly printed and easy-to-follow instructions. As I said in my
review of NetManage (Archive 6.9 p25) this is all a network manager
needs Ö leave the fancy boxes for the software that has to sell by its
looks or for impressing the Governors. As long as I can follow the
instructions thatæs all that matters to me. If it saves costs, I
personally would even accept documentation for this kind of application
on the disc.
7.4
The application suite comprises of two applications: !AppFS and
!AppServer. The introductory section of the manual goes into detail
about how these applications work and the expected speed increases (2-4
times). It also explains that there is a down side to the application in
that the disc being served MUST be write protected.
7.4
Setting up the software
7.4
The manual goes into very specific detail on how to set up the software
for any eventuality, be it a Level 3 or Level 4 network, EtherNet, mixed
economy or just plain old Econet.
7.4
AppServer
7.4
Part of this section explains how to adapt the software to make it
autoboot. I tried this on our A440/1 with RISC OS 3.1 and it worked
perfectly first time. When the machine is reset or switched on, the
application AppFS Filer now appears in the modules list and an icon
appears on the iconbar.
7.4
On the server machine, clicking on this icon will produce the same
result as clicking on the HardDisc icon except that the title at the top
begins öAppFS::$..ò not öADFS::$..ò Software from this can be loaded as
if from the normal HardDisc4 icon although loading times are slightly
slower than when loading direct from the applications on hard disc.
7.4

7.4
    Hard Disc    AppFSFiler
7.4
Junior PinPoint    6    10
7.4
Ovation    9    14
7.4
Eureka    9    19
7.4
Revelation ImagePro    5    8
7.4
PenDown    5    6
7.4
RISC OS 3 Printers    16    20
7.4
AppServer Control
7.4
One of the configurable options in the !Run file is to have the
AppFSServer icon on the iconbar. The reason for this is so that the
manager can update the server station by adding files and/or
applications while the server is running.
7.4
Whilst off line, the icon on all clients changes to a öcrossed outò
version. Clicking on this produces either the error öApplication Server
is offlineò or the error öPlease insert HardDisc4ò. I think that this
second one is an unsatisfactory and misleading message. It occurs when
AppFS has been used and then the server has been put off line. If AppFS
hasnæt been used then the first error message results.
7.4
!AppFS
7.4
This is the application which needs to be run on the client stations. In
the manual, the information for making it boot automatically is given
but I didnæt want it to boot automatically on all stations so I
temporarily put it into a useræs directory to test it out. A suggested
version of the application !Armboot is provided with AppFS and I tried
this in a useræs directory with the result that AppFS loaded and then
logged me off. Although AppFS does work without being logged on, I felt
that this was not a good idea because if a user logs on they want to
stay logged on. A phone call to AngelSoft solved this. The !ArmBoot, as
supplied, is for the user ÉBootæ to ensure that if it is automatically
loaded into every machine from the start, it loads, then logs off so
that no-one remains logged on as the user ÉBootæ. The correct way of
running this from a useræs directory is to run !AppFS by double clicking
this (or incorporating it into a boot sequence).
7.4
Loading software
7.4
Once AppFS is loaded on the client and AppServer is loaded on the server
(not our fileserver incidentally) clicking on the AppFS icon produced an
unexpected error. The hard disc on the A440 is set to boot with a
desktop boot file and this caused the error ÉPlease insert disc
HardDisc4æ to occur due to several lines beginning Filer_Boot
ADFS::$.... Eventually, after clicking innumerable Cancels for the above
message, the expected directory viewer of the A440æs hard disc appeared
and I was able to attempt loading applications. The quoted speed
increases (i.e. 2-4 times) were achieved on all but the RISC OS 3.1
printer driver. In actual fact, the speed using AppFS is only marginally
faster than from floppy disc. (I believe that this is more a function of
what the printer driver does when it is being installed rather than the
speed of the medium. Even on my 670Mb drive, !Printers takes well over
10s to load. Ed.)
7.4
    AppFS    Network    Floppy
7.4
Junior PinPoint    13    25    15
7.4
Ovation    20    40    32
7.4
Eureka    30    59    32
7.4
Revelation ImagePro    9    18
11
7.4
PenDown    6    13    9
7.4
RISC OS 3 Printers    20    23
20
7.4
Problems
7.4
The only problem encountered was with the !Boot file on the hard disc
that is being served causing problems. Because there is a !Scrap
application on the A440 hard disc, this causes an error message öAppFS
Discs are write protectedò on the client machine. The best way I can
envisage AppFS being used is for the disc that is being served to be a
small separate disc or a partition of the main disc and for it not to
have either a Boot or Scrap application on it. This might mean
purchasing say a hard card or cheap IDE disc and fitting it inside any
large (i.e. 4Mb) machine. The best way, however, must be for it to be
fitted into a machine which is also acting as the Level 4 fileserver
using the smaller disc for applications with AppFS and the larger for
files under Level 4. We donæt yet have Level 4 but I tried this idea out
using !AWServer (a public domain file server utility from Alan Williams)
and it works fine.
7.4
Conclusion
7.4
To evaluate this application thoroughly, you would ideally need access
to an extensive or multiple net network. What I can say though is that,
for our establishment with its single cable Econet, this application
does exactly what is is intended to do and does it well. It was easy to
set up and the telephone support provided by AngelSoft was first rate.
This application is a must for schools who are serving applications
across a network.
7.4
!AppFS costs ú130 +VAT from AngelSoft.ááA
7.4
JPEG Column
7.4
Stuart Bell
7.4
Impression and JPEG
7.4
Perhaps the most important news for JPEGers since this column started
was buried away in one magazineæs references to the latest incarnations
of the Impression DTP application. It was the news that Impression
Publisher would support the JPEG file format. Let me explain the
potential significance of this news.
7.4
Until now, if you wanted to include a JPEG file in any Impression
document, it first had to be de-JPEGed back to Acorn sprite format. A
document with a number of such files could become very large indeed and
I often had trouble squeezing the Impression files of articles for this
column to the point at which they would fit on a 800Kb floppy disc for
sending to Paul and had to resort to cropping them with !Paint. The
silly thing was that almost all of them had started out as JPEG files,
but they had to be decompressed to be part of an Impression document.
Because any quality-loss occurs when a sprite file is compressed to a
JPEG file, and not on decompression, a 357Kb sprite file was of no
higher quality than the 30Kb JPEG file that produced it!
7.4
I contacted Computer Concepts to find our how the system will work. The
crucial question was whether the latest versions of Impression will
store the files in a Éforeignæ format or convert them to sprite format
within a stored Impression document. If they are converted before
storing, the space-saving gains offered by JPEG will be lost.
7.4
Apparently, the system works like this: when an image file is loaded
into Impression in a format which it does not recognise, it Éasks
aroundæ any applications which the system has seen to see if they
Éunderstandæ the format. If any do ù and there will be a variety of
conversion applications for a wide range of formats ù then, totally
transparently to the user, the application will be used to convert the
file format for Impression (or Artworks for that matter) to display.
7.4
At the moment, the image in the original format will be deleted from
memory because, as in the case of something like TIFF files, the
conversion overhead for the variety of possible variant formats makes it
a laborious process to convert the file each time it is displayed.
7.4
Furthermore, the ability of Impression Style and Impression Publisher to
read JPEG files is only theoretical, for it has not yet been
implemented. All that is needed is the writing of an application to
perform the conversion under the öObject Linking and Embeddingò protocol
which Impression uses. CC hopes to collaborate with Acorn on this point.
7.4
Computer Concepts recognise that, with JPEG, deleting the JPEG file from
memory and storing the image within the document as a sprite file would
lose all the space-saving benefits which JPEG offers. However, within
memory it would need to keep both the JPEG file and the sprite file, as
it would be too time-consuming to convert the JPEG image each time it is
to be displayed. I was told that it would be possible simply to keep the
sprite file in memory and keep the disc file in JPEG format,
reconverting the file each time the document is loaded. The disadvantage
of this approach is that a recipient of the Impression document would
have to have the JPEG-decoding application, otherwise they would not be
able to read any document that included images stored in JPEG format.
7.4
Clearly, unless images can be kept in JPEG format, the space-saving
benefits are lost and the only real advantage to the user is the
transparency of the conversion process. I do hope that Computer Concepts
will produce a JPEG-reader application under the OLE protocol, and
implement a Ékeep in JPEG formatæ facility in future releases of
Impression.
7.4
MPEG improved Ö has it an Acorn future?
7.4
Andrew Ling kindly sent me some JPEG files and also a later version of
the !MPEG application which I described last time. Clearly, that was a
very early release and the one that Andrew has sent (version 2.06) is
smaller and has sprites for higher resolution screens, but most
importantly clears the MPEG image from the screen when the movie has
run. The new MPEG filetype is now &BF8. Even though itæs not a true WIMP
application, the eradication of earlier öwrinklesò plus its display size
makes !MPEG by Paul LeBeau the MPEG application for Acorn machines ù at
least for the moment. Apparently, this version also supports the PCATS
16 bit-per-pixel graphics card. Now, what about the 24bpp cards now
being announced?
7.4
Currently, MPEG runs no faster than about one frame per second. Thatæs
on my relatively slow ARM3-powered A310, but even with the latest
A5000s, I wouldnæt expect anything over three frames a second. Itæs
crystal-clear now why Acorn went for their proprietary Replay
compression system. It is asymmetric, in that compression takes an awful
long time and requires special hardware, but decompression can be done
in real time without any additional hardware. The Replay DIY board now
allows reasonably cost-effective compression, and anyone can play Replay
movies. I saw some running at Acorn World 93 in October, and very
impressive they were! Certainly, no-one would mistake them for a
Éproperæ video, but the quality would be very acceptable for many
applications.
7.4
Is there, then, any future for MPEG under RISC OS when Replay is the
official full-motion-video format? I read, in a recent Byte magazine, of
the availability of MPEG player hardware for PC machines Ö confirming
the need for hardware support for MPEG decompression. I also noticed in
Decemberæs Computer Shopper that the latest release of Microsoftæs Video
for Windows (1.5) supports the JPEG file format, and also that ödial-a-
videoò cable systems commonly use hardware-supported MPEG compression
and decompression to maximise the cable bandwidth.
7.4
The point that Iæm trying to make is that of industry standards. JPEG
and MPEG are such standards. However, for all its technical excellence,
Replay is not. When MPEG decompression boards cost, say, ú50 each, will
Replayæs non-standard file format be a millstone around our necks? Only
time will tell ù your comments will be appreciated.
7.4
Also, in connection with Replay, a self-explanatory quotation from
Roland Perryæs report on Comdex in Januaryæs Computer Shopper: öTo
display full-motion video effectively on most microcomputers in
circulation today requires dedicated hardware (the 32-bit Acorn
Archimedes is an exception). . .ò Howæs that for a tribute to Replay
from the PC-orientated world?
7.4
A free MPEG disc
7.4
Until someone produces an MPEG movie recorder application (as opposed to
the existing players like !MPEG), none of us can produce MPEG movies,
and so I thought that there might be some interest in a disc containing
!MPEG and a few movie files. Since !MPEG is really little more than an
interesting ù rather than useful ù application at the moment, I donæt
think that it merits a proper Archive shareware disc. So, if you would
like an MPEG disc with a öplayerò and some movies, please send a pre-
formatted 800Kb disc in a jiffy-bag ù not an ordinary envelope ù with a
label with your name and address and a postage stamp so that I can
simply re-label and re-stamp the jiffy-bag and send it back to you, to
me at 23 Ryecroft Drive, Horsham, RH12 2AW. No label or stamp ù no disc!
7.4
!CFSIscale
7.4
M R Davies has written a useful application to calculate the scaling
factors to be entered into !ChangeFSI when changing sprite sizes.
Particularly when working with colour printers, all sorts of
interference patterns can be introduced if the printer drivers do the
scaling of the sprite being printed. Itæs far better to do it properly
with !ChangeFSI, so that each pixel of the sprite corresponds to one
pixel produced by the printer. For example, if you want to print a
picture four inches wide on a 300dpi printer, then itæs best to use
!ChangeFSI to scale the sprite to be exactly 1200 pixels wide first, as
its error correction techniques are far better than those of the
!Printers applications. !CFSI scale calculates the scaling factors for
you. Although itæs not strictly a JPEG application, it could be useful,
and will be on this monthæs Archive program disc.
7.4
Cross-platform portability with JPEG
7.4
Bernard Maugoust has written pointing out the benefits of the JPEG
format for passing data between different computers. I quote him at some
length because his findings will be of interest to other öcross-
readersò: öShortly after the announcement of the shareware disc youæve
put together, I received a DOS formatted disc (720Kb) mostly filled with
deep-sky pictures taken with various CCD cameras and amateur telescopes.
As I am the only Archimedes user to receive it (it comes as a side-dish
subscription to an astronomy magazine, ÉPulsaræ), I had to request the
compression to JPEG to pack as many of them onto the 720Kb discs. After
I received my copy of Shareware 51, I tried viewing those pictures on
the following programs: FYEO, JView and Jewel.
7.4
The findings are: (a)áall could be viewed through FYEO, (b) some
couldnæt be displayed correctly using JView, at least on my normal
resolution monitor, (c) áall were be decompressed correctly by Jewel,
(d) FYEO accepted the files and displayed them even when still filetyped
as DOS ones (just by dropping the file onto iconbar icon), which Jview
and Jewel would not do Ö just change their filetype to Éjpegæ (C85) if
they can be written to freely.ò
7.4
Such Édeep-spaceæ pictures are about the hardest to re-print from laser
originals, but to give Archive readers a flavour of how JPEG is being
used for cross-platform portability, below is one of the files which
Bernard sent.
7.4
Irlam Instrumentæs ImageBank
7.4
Tom Kirby-Green kindly sent me a copy of a demonstration disc which he
picked up at Acorn World 93. It was Irlamæs ImageBank application which,
to quote its read-me file, öcontains images compressed using Éstate-of-
the-artæ JPEG (Joint Photographics Experts Group) techniques. This
allows 10 Mb of colour scans to be squeezed onto an 800Kb floppy. All
the images in the ImageBank archive are stored in 24 bit format Ö they
are not simply sprites.ò
7.4
The chopped down version presents the user with a neat scrollable
window, displaying thumb-nail impressions of each image in the archive.
Selecting any one of them initiates the de-compression process, and the
de-JPEGed image can be loaded into Paint for viewing, or saved to disc.
The full version of ImageBank allows compression to JPEG format, and the
saving of 24-bit Clear files.
7.4
The twelve images supplied are very attractive, the front-end is very
nice and the thumbnails are very useful, but on the evidence of the free
version, I canæt recommend ImageBank to readers of this column. Why?
Firstly, because ImageBank consistently decompressed one demo file
(öMexò) to give a unuseably skewed image when the öoptimisedò option was
set. Secondly, and more importantly, itæs about 10ù20% slower at de-
compression than the Public Domain !FYEO application and requires Paint
to view the decompressed image. If you need to do a lot of compression,
the full version of ImageBank may be quicker than !JPEGit, but this
commercial product serves to show yet again how good the PD !FYEO
application really is.
7.4
JPEG and the ColourCard
7.4
Tom also responded to my request in December for some tests of JPEG
conversion speeds with a separate Colour Card (the latest öGoldò
version) ù so that the memory bandwidth problem of 256-colour modes on
normal displays is eliminated. Because his A5000 runs its main memory
50% faster than does my A310 and probably gets data off its hard disc
faster, I append my own results alongside his. For the decompression
using !FYEO of the same 608╫460 image, our timings were:
7.4
    Mode:    A310    A5000    C.Card
7.4
    12    12 sec    9 sec    9 sec
7.4
    15    18 sec    9 sec    9 sec
7.4
    20    13 sec    9 sec    9 sec
7.4
    21    39 sec    10 sec    9 sec
7.4
    28    35 sec    10 sec    9 sec
7.4
    31    13 sec    10 sec    9 sec
7.4
Tom notes that in mode 103 (256 colours at 800 ╫600), the Colour Card
also took 9 seconds. For compression using !Creator 1.41 as a Éfront
endæ, he reports that the use of the Colour Card reduces times by about
15%. He comments that a true colour sprite looks lovely with 65536
colours. I only need one colour Ö green for envy!
7.4
I find these results fascinating Ö not just the Colour Card results, but
also the differences bet-ween the A310 (with ARM3) and A5000
performances. Two months ago, I went on at length about the overhead of
256-colour modes on processing speed. Now, itæs clear from these results
that the 12MHz speed of A5000 memory overcomes most of the bandwidth
problems experienced by me on my A310 with its 8MHz main memory. In mode
21, the A5000 was almost four times as fast, or so it would appear.
7.4
VIDC Enhancer performance degradation
7.4
But then I wondered if there could be any other cause for these
differences. I had already eliminated the overhead of using Compression
to store the files being converted (typically five or six seconds a file
in this case.) I am using the Watford Electronics VGA VIDC Enhancer to
drive an SVGA monitor ù could this be degrading performance? My A310
wonæt drive such a monitor in modes 20, 21 or 31, without the enhancer
and its software but I tried the VGA modes 27 and 28 straight from RISC
OS. Without the enhancer, some VGA monitors may not synchronise with the
24MHz pixel clock (rather than the proper VGA 25.5MHz) that older Acorn
computers produce, but mine did, and the results were: Mode 28 (256
colour 640╫480) display: With the Watford VIDC enhancer and software: 35
seconds. Without the enhancer, using the RISC OS 3 screen driver: 25
seconds (cf. the A5000æs 10 seconds).
7.4
One may assume that A300s or A400s driving a multi-sync monitor in mode
21 would take a similar time. One must put this ten second difference
down to the relative inefficiency of the software provided with the
enhancer Ö an overhead of 28% in mode 28. (There is no significant
degradation with the 16-colour mode 27.)
7.4
This does illustrate the difficulty of obtaining a Élevel playing fieldæ
when trying to run comparative benchmarks. The safe conclusion must be
that machines with 8MHz main memory offer only 40% of the processing
power of an A5000 when in a 256 colour mode. Now, wasnæt some company
talking about a 12MHz memory speed-up board when the A310 4Mb memory
upgrade business was at its peak?
7.4
If anyone with an A30x0 or A4000 has !FYEO and the öDonkeysò JPEG file
from the ImageBank application, it would be very interesting to hear of
your results. In the mean time, thanks to Tom for two pieces of
interesting JPEG material.
7.4
Version 4 of the IJG routines
7.4
When comparing the results produced by different versions of the
International JPEG Groupæs routines, I commented that because version 4
expects full word parameters (e.g -Quality instead of -Q) JPEG
applications which use cjpeg and djpeg routines which implement the IJG
software would need recompiling to pass on the full word parameters.
Neil Hoggarth, author of the excellent !JFIF application, has written to
point out that the switches can be abbreviated with version 4 routines,
and so no recompilation is necessary. Just replacing the old version 3
cjpeg and djpeg routines in a working copy of !ChangeFSI with the new
ones is all that is needed. Thanks to Neil for pointing that out. You
might like to try it ù version 4 does produce different ù and I think
better ù results than version 3. Of course, the fastest de-JPEGer,
!FYEO, uses its own decompression routines and so they canæt be changed.
7.4
He also tells me that he has started work on a new full blown JPEG
application. It may be a while in coming to completion, only because the
IJG is working on version 5 of its routines, and Neil wants his
application to use them. Secondly, heæs got a Colour Card on order
(lucky chap!) and wants to include a öTrue Colourò capability in the
application. We wait with interest, Neil!
7.4
And finally
7.4
If youæve written to me since the first week in December and are
wondering why your letter hasnæt been mentioned, itæs because Iæm
sending this column to Paul rather earlier than usual ù before the
Christmas rush, and my holiday after Christmas. So, those contributions
and any responses to this monthæs JPEG material should appear in two
monthæs time ù unless some earth-shattering JPEG news appears in the
meantime!ááA
7.4
I have confused things further Ö Stuartæs article arrived so early that
it got into this, the January magazine, instead of the February one he
was expecting Ö so donæt look for a JPEG column in either February or
March Ö let the poor man have a well-earned rest! Ed.
7.4
PipeLineZ
7.4
Gerald Fitton
7.4
Yet again, this month the mail bag has been full and I regret that the
quantity of mail has meant that some of your letters remain unanswered.
Requests for assistance receive the highest priority with
Écontributionsæ acknowledged and discs returned a little more slowly.
Bear with me and your discs will be returned.
7.4
My mistake!
7.4
Jochen Konietzko has pointed out a couple of mistakes I made in an
earlier PipeLineZ article.
7.4
Macros in Resultz
7.4
After completing my article I received version 1.07 of Fireworkz and,
as, Jochen says, in that (and later versions) it is true that Fireworkz
(and hence both Resultz and Wordz) does have built into it the potential
for a command language. However, it is also true that only a limited
range of commands are available at present. Iæve been told by Mark
Colton that the range will be increased.
7.4
In my defence, I must say that, for practically all users of Fireworkz,
the command language is, at present, unuseable. Colton Software say,
öPlease do not hope for lengthy technical support on the command
languageò. The undocumented function, Écommandæ can be used from within
a custom function as one way of executing a Fireworkz command. I have
not been able to put together a Fireworkz command file or macro which
will turn sexless quotes into smart quotes. If anyone can do this, Iæd
be most grateful if they would send it to me.
7.4
Character printing in Resultz
7.4
With regard to character printing, I said that öPipeDream offers fast
printing (using PipeDream printer drivers)... If you use the system font
for your screen display... (it) gives a much faster screen responseò. I
implied that Fireworkz did not have the facility for fast printing.
Jochen is right and I am guilty of an oversimplification; Wordz, Resultz
and Fireworkz are capable of character printing. My defence is that most
people who have tried it (including me!) find it too difficult to use.
Let me quote a remark by Richard J Baldey which is typical. öThe ability
to use my printeræs text mode with PipeDream is a real plus. I havenæt
figured how to do this with... Wordz yet!ò. If you have, please let us
all know how to do it (with examples).
7.4
PipeDreamá4
7.4
Yet another mistake on my part! I am on record as saying that I didnæt
believe that there would be any further upgrades to PipeDreamá4. When I
wrote that I did so because I was assured by Robert Macmillan that that
was the case! Recently, there have been many changes in the way Colton
Software are marketing their products and one of the more pleasant
consequences is that we now know for sure that the current version of
PipeDream (Vá4.13 issued in Aprilá1992) will not be the last! The
upgrade may not be free but the fact that an upgrade is being worked on
shows the extent to which Colton Software intend to continue supporting
PipeDream. Personally Iæm really pleased by that assurance. How about
you? If you have any ideas for improvements to PipeDreamá4 (or will it
be PipeDreamá5?) then please write to Mark Colton at Colton Software.
7.4
Fireworkz for PC Windows
7.4
Yes! This is a definitely going to happen. My latest information is that
a pre-release version of Fireworkz for PC Windows will be on display on
the Colton Software stand at the BETT show (Olympia) in Januaryá1993.
The release version (i.e. the one which you can buy) will not be
available until the Spring. Please write to Colton Software if you want
to be put on the list of those interested.
7.4
Unplugged modules
7.4
One of the problems which beset all Archimedes users, and not only those
who use PipeDream or Fireworkz is that some packages unplug modules and
donæt plug them back in unless you quit the package in an orderly
manner. The latest problem is that many of those who have written to me
have found that something is unplugging the System Devices Module used
by both PipeDream and Fireworkz. Bruce D Brown has written to say that
*Unplug (the star appears when you press <F12>) is the easiest way of
finding out which, if any, modules are unplugged. If you are having
strange problems then try *Unplug. You can plug your modules back in
with *RMReInit. Unplugged modules are not reinstated by switching off
and on again. If anyone does discover the package (or packages)
responsible for unplugging modules then please let me know.
7.4
Another Énuisanceæ for many of my correspondents are those utilities
which change the sprites held in the sprite pool. If you send me an
application on disc which does this then please Éburyæ it in a directory
and include a [ReadMe] file of warning.
7.4
The width of linked columns in Fireworkz
7.4
Column widths are applied in regions like any other styles. Normally, a
separate region is applied for each column width, so that the widths
operate independently. However, itæs quite feasible, and sometimes
sensible, to apply a column width region which spans more than one
column. In which case, when you drag the width for any of those columns
affected, all the widths change together. You can use the region editor
to investigate where the column width regions are applied.
7.4
Inserting a row copies styles
7.4
In Fireworkz, <return> operates like Insert row and copies all styles
including column widths.
7.4
Fireworkz TaskX module
7.4
On the Fireworkz program disc, within the !Fireworkz.Resources
directory, you will find two versions of the module TaskX. One is
version 8 with filename [TaskX008]; the other is version 9 with filename
[TaskX009]. Version 8 is loaded by default and it will operate correctly
with Computer Conceptsæ Turbo Drivers but, with it, you will have
problems printing sprites in some modes. If you donæt use Turbo Drivers,
you can overcome the sprite printing problem by deleting [TaskZ008] so
that [TaskX009] is loaded by default instead of [TaskX008]. If you have
Turbo Drivers and still have problems printing sprites then you must use
[TaskX008] and you must choose a mode which prints correctly (such as
mode 27).
7.4
Region counter
7.4
In later versions of all the Fireworkz packages, there is a region
counter. Mark the block over which you wish to count the regions and use
the pop-up menus to execute the sequence StyleáùáRegionsáùáCount. The
Éansweræ will appear in the status line (just under the button which
looks like a pair of glasses in the button bar).
7.4
Leaf names
7.4
A problem I used to have was that sometimes I had two [ReadMe] files
from different directories which I wanted to load at the same time.
Earlier versions of Fireworkz wouldnæt let me do it. With version 1.07
of Fireworkz I can! Iæm pleased about that.
7.4
Addressing envelopes
7.4
Richard Turnbull says, öAs I still find it difficult to set up labels
accurately, I now print addresses directly onto envelopes. A common
envelope size is 220╫110mm which takes an A4 sheet folded in three.
7.4
For my printer (a Cannon BJ-200) the following margins prove
satisfactory when set up from a standard A4 page setting: Top 45mm
Bottom 200mm Left 70mm Right 50mm. These margin settings can also be
used as at template in the Mailshot facility so that a name and address
can be set up using Data fields and printed from the same table as has
been used for a personalised letter.ò
7.4
Refilling Canon Bubblejet ink cartridges
7.4
A warning from Richard Gardner. He says öI recently bought ink refills
for my Canon BJ300 from a major supplier despite the warning in the
Canon manual not to refill the cartridges. It seemed wasteful and
Éungreenæ to throw away a cartridge after using it only once. Also, new
cartridges are substantially more expensive than a refill and ink is a
significant expense using a bubble jet. As a reputable supplier was
involved, and I suspected Canon of maximising their profits by locking
customers into their cartridges, I decided to go ahead. Refilling the
cartridge was easy and printing was at first excellent but about ten
thousand words later the print faded and became patchy and very soon
printing stopped altogether. I live in the middle of nowhere and am
fifty miles from the nearest service centre. The service engineer got to
me the next day (one hundred miles travelling expenses) examined the
printer and declared the printhead mechanism blocked and burned out.
This is the most expensive part of the printer. He demonstrated very
well the difference between the refill and Canon inks by suspending the
inks in isopropyl alcohol and letting the two solutions run down
absorbent paper, a sort of paper chromatography. The Canon ink was
consistently black and coherent throughout the run down the paper but
the refill rapidly separated out into a black major strip and a yellow
component, demonstrating significant differences in composition. The
engineer said that a large part of his work was dealing with printer
problems caused by using these refills and he couldnæt understand why
they were sold for use in Canon machines and why Canon couldnæt stop
them. He was too polite to say he didnæt understand why people didnæt
take heed of warnings in the manuals. A new print head was installed in
a few minutes and with a new (Canon) cartridge we have been in business
ever since. The cost? Nothing! By great good fortune the machine is less
than a year old and was bought with a yearæs free service. So my advice
if you have a Canon printer and are tempted to be green or economical
and use refills is........ donæt!ò
7.4
(There are ink refills that do work. I suggest you ask the supplier for
a written assurance that the cartridge is OK for your particular
printer! Ed.)
7.4
FontMax
7.4
A subject Iæve been asked to deal with is slow screen refresh rates in
Fireworkz (and other packages). Do not confuse screen refresh rate with
the Fireworkz Éproblemæ of slow reformatting time on large documents
(i.e. 20 or more pages). That is something which I dealt with last month
and which might have happened when you loaded a large PipeDream format
document into Fireworkz. If you have a document which is not much larger
than the screen and you still have a slow screen refresh rate then the
chances are that your FontMax is too small. Another effect of making
FontMax too small is that printing will also slow down. I suggest a
value of at least 128Kb; I use 512Kb but Iæve got 8Mb to play with.
Printing will slow down if you make FontMax so large that thereæs not
enough room left in memory for use by the printer module, so you must
compromise.
7.4
Get FontMax Érightæ before you have a go at Étweeking upæ FontMax3.
Changing FontMax2 might improve the Élookæ of the screen display.
FontMax4 and FontMax5 will further improve the appearance of the screen
but, unless you are taking screen shots for manuals (or to send to
someone on a disc as I do) then it probably wonæt be of much interest to
you. Finally, FontMax1 is useful only if someone sends you a document
which uses an old (Arthur OS type) bit mapped font. I hope that you
never need it.
7.4
Radio buttons in Fireworkz
7.4
Yesterday I received a letter from Denis Murray-Smith in which he
expresses a great deal of concern over greyed out radio buttons. Iæve
had a few other similar letters but I must admit to never fully
understanding what was going on until I investigated Denisæ claim.
7.4
Type a few characters in the base style and click on the S (Style)
button. Youæll see that all the green squares are On but all the radio
buttons which are used to change the style are depressed and greyed out.
Here is the anomaly brought to my attention by Denis. Although the
buttons are all greyed out and canæt be switched, you must treat them as
if they are all depressed (On)! They canæt be switched to Off! This
anomaly is not a mistake! Every radio button in the base style is greyed
out and switched to On! Now, because they are all switched On, you can
change the Column Width or Heading etc. If you wish you can change the
typeface from Trinity to Homerton and you can depress the Bold and
Italic buttons to the right of the selection of typefaces. These will
change your base style for that document and these changes will be saved
with the file.
7.4
Finally
7.4
Thanks again for all your letters. Have a joyful Christmas and a good
New Year!ááA
7.4
First Steps in RISC OS Programming
7.4
Les May
7.4
The preface of Martyn Foxæs book First Steps in Programming Acorn RISC
OS Computers, notes that writing multitasking programs is Éa trifle more
complicatedæ. At the end of the main text he concludes, Éyouæve taken
your first steps in programming... æ. Donæt be so modest Martyn. Anyone
who sticks the course will have learned how to write useful programs.
7.4
There is a lot of information in this book, and that is the problem.
From all the possible starting points, how do you go about selecting,
ordering and presenting material to take someone from knowing nothing
about programming to feeling confident enough to tackle anything?
7.4
Quite a good starting point might be to decide what is meant by
programming. Is it constructing the algorithm to instruct the computer
to do what you want it to? Is it learning the syntax of the language
being used to code that algorithm? Or is it perhaps, ÉHere are some
handy hints and tips to include in your programæ. Unfortunately the book
tries to teach all three indiscriminately. Inevitably one of them,
planning the logical steps of a program, is given less weight than the
other two.
7.4
One result is that there is no attempt to give an explanation of what
types of structures are needed to construct a program. Statements e.g.
INPUT, selectors e.g. IF.. THEN or CASE, and loops e.g. FOR.. NEXT or
REPEAT.. UNTIL are introduced, an example is discussed and perhaps what
amounts to a Éhandy hintæ given, but no overview. Structured programming
is introduced in a chapter heading and gets a page and a half of
explanation, but there is almost no attempt to explain how to set about
planning a large program.
7.4
Some of the short example programs include sloppy, and in the long run
counter-productive, examples of using FOR.. NEXT loops without bothering
to include the loop variable after NEXT. If you think that is just
academic pedantry, try running your next substantial program through a
Basic compiler, then watch it throw out the redundant bits of code you
didnæt know you had left in and which the interpreter was happy to
ignore.
7.4
The only other thing I had any reservations about was the pair of
sections that dealt with ERROR handling. The first of these is quite
straightforward. The second longer section I found confusing, largely
because the example program is ill-chosen.
7.4
By contrast, the use of procedures and functions, passing values to a
procedure or to RETURN them, and the use of LOCAL variables are well
explained, as is manipulation of string variables. Array variables are
introduced by recoding an earlier program which calculates the day of
the week for any date this century. This is nicely integrated with how
to fill arrays by READing DATA statements.
7.4
Equally good is the brief section on using Edit as a programming editor.
I found it a bit disconcerting in the early chapters to be asked to quit
the desktop so as to get the machine to do something, but when Edit is
introduced there is enough detail to make sure the reader is not left
floundering. RISC OS 2 is mentioned but you donæt get much help if you
have not upgraded yet.
7.4
The twenty odd pages of ÉBits, Bytes and Binary Numbersæ are dense, very
dense. It is a something of a ragbag of a chapter with sections on
binary and hexadecimal arithmetic, bit shifting, logical operations and
the use of indirection operators, but everything is explained in
sufficient detail. One curious omission was the absence of any material
on trigonometrical functions.
7.4
The last half of the book has chapters on graphics, files and databases,
and assembly language programming. Graphics are introduced early in the
book but a later chapter builds on this by listing a ÉMunchieæ game then
carefully deconstructing it over the next few pages with plenty of
explanation of what the various statements and procedures actually do.
Using sound to accompany a game gets a chapter to itself.
7.4
There seemed to be a bit missing in the chapter on files. Having
explained how to save and load a block of memory to and from a file, a
jump is made to explaining random access files. Sequential files are not
covered. This is a pity because they are easier to understand and often
used by programmers to take the output of one program so that it can be
operated upon by another. After random access files have been
introduced, the various problems encountered in writing a database are
tackled step by step, culminating in the skeleton of a program and
advice on how to build upon it.
7.4
The final chapter introduces using assembly language from Basic. Again
material from earlier in the book, the ÉMunchieæ program, is used as a
basis and improved as new techniques are introduced. Much of the
material in this chapter could be used to supplement a book dealing
specifically with assembly language. The author suggests Archimedes
Assembly Language Programming by Mike Ginns.
7.4
After the main tutorial text are several appendices. One long one lists
and explains the Basic keywords. Two shorter ones deal with VDU and PLOT
codes. These appendices are not just padding. They are more convenient
to have beside the computer than Acornæs offering. If the book ever
reaches a second edition, a glossary would be a worthwhile addition.
7.4
By now you will have realised that, in spite of its title, the book is
really about Basic programming. If your interests run to something more
exotic or if you can program already and want to tackle multitasking
programs, look elsewhere. If you want to learn how to write Basic
programs it is a good place to start.
7.4
The price of First Steps in RISCáOS Programming is ú14.95 + p&p from
Sigma Press or ú15 inc p&p through Archive.ááA
7.4
Software Upgrades
7.4
Peter Jennings
7.4
Professionally produced software usually goes through a number of
versions during its life, sometimes bringing major improvements which
may be made available to existing users at a modest price or just for
the cost of postage. The upgrades often begin within a few weeks of the
first issue, although these are usually to exterminate minor bugs which
have just shown themselves. Later upgrades will usually add new
features, many of them suggested by early users and reviewers, and it is
worth watching out for these. When I was asked to join the contributors
making themselves available to chat to readers on Archiveæs Acorn World
stand, I brought myself up to date on the latest versions of the
software I had reviewed during the previous year or so. Here is what I
found out.
7.4
Archivist Pro
7.4
Oregan Software Developments have decided that Archivist Pro, the recent
upgrade of their database system (reviewed Archive 5.11 p61 and 7.1 p61)
is likely to be the final version of Archivist apart from any bug fixes
and small improvements. Oregan feel that all worthwhile features have
now been incorporated and that any other additions would just make the
program complicated and gimmicky.
7.4
Banner
7.4
The very user-friendly sign printer, Banner, from Kudlian Soft (Archive
6.1 p38) has gained a whole host of improvements, while still keeping
its ease of use. Owners of earlier versions can get the upgrade, to
version 1.64, free of charge by returning their original disc with a
stamped addressed envelope. A four-page leaflet detailing the new
facilities will also be supplied.
7.4
The mostly noticeable changes are the abilities to add imported graphics
and to mix text sizes. There are also many more border types. Twenty-
five are supplied and users can, with a bit of care, now design their
own. Additional documentation about this is available on request. Longer
banners can be made, up to a new maximum of 100 characters to a line,
and the length is now shown, either in metres or as the number of
printer pages required. Printing can be scaled from 10% to 100%, with
buttons for quick setting to half or full size.
7.4
Another new button sets a ömirroredò print out which can be used for
making transfers, to iron onto cloth, when using the appropriate ink.
Kudlian are considering adding some further improvements during 1994 but
these will depend on whether schools, their main market, are interested
enough to pay the higher cost.
7.4
DBEdit and DeskEdit 2
7.4
DBEdit, the Desktop Basic Editor from 4Mation (Archive 6.5 p58), has
been upgraded to version 3.83. The new features include the addition of
öelastic spacesò to keep spaced text in fixed columns, new colour
controls and new keyboard shortcuts, the ability to create Basic lines
longer than 250 characters and improvements to its compaction function,
copy mode and macro editor.
7.4
Registered users can get a free upgrade by returning their original disc
to 4Mation.
7.4
Risc Developments have just issued a major upgrade to version 3 from
DeskEdit 2 which I looked at in the comparative review. Upgrades to
DeskEdit3 are available from DeskEdit 1 (ú8.47 +p&p +VAT) and DeskEdit 2
(ú5 +p&p +VAT) from Risc Developments.
7.4
DrawBook
7.4
Emerald Publishingæs winter catalogue 1993-4 is advertising an enhanced
version of DrawBook, their budget DTP utility. In fact this is version
1.06 which was issued just in time for the Archive review to be updated
before publication (Archive 6.8 p70). Its main change was the addition
of a preview facility and anyone with an earlier version can get it
upgraded by returning the disc with a payment of ú2.50 (no VAT) to cover
the cost of a new manual.
7.4
!Help 3
7.4
There have not been any changes to Sherston Softwareæs guide book to
RISC OS3, !Help 3, (Archive 6.8 p74) and the only upgrade to the support
disc has been the substitution of printer definition files for the old
printer data text files. As everyone received printer drivers with RISC
OS3, there is no need to send for a new disc, although if anyone thinks
they may need one they should ring Sherston.
7.4
Masterfile 3
7.4
Risc Developments have made a number of changes to their Masterfile 3
database (Archive 6.11 p39), which has now reached version 1.29. The
main improvements provide additional features for printing. It is now
possible to use a card design to format the text for report printing.
7.4
The card can be edited and the contents of two or more fields can be
combined so that, for example, first names and surnames from separate
fields are printed together. Also, conditional expressions can be
included. This makes it possible, for instance, for a mail shot using
card printing to begin a letter with either öDear Sirò or öDear Madamò
according to whether a field titled öSexò contains öMò or öFò.
7.4
Protext 6
7.4
The long awaited multi-tasking RISC OS compliant version of Arnoræs
Protext 5 (Archive 4.10 p59) has now been overtaken by a major upgrading
of the original software to Protext 6. This is already available for PC
and Atari computers and the Acorn RISC OS version is due for release in
öearly 1994ò. It will need a machine with at least 2Mb of RAM.
7.4
Among the new features in Protext 6 are: simple font changes within a
document, graphics import, glossary facilities with abbreviations for
commonly used phrases, interactive help, a macro editor, a dictionary
editor and enhanced printer support including colour printing, scalable
fonts, automatic line spacing and PostScript driver. The documentation
includes a 180-page user manual and a 160-page reference manual.
7.4
Sleuth
7.4
The OCR program Sleuth (Archive 7.1 p53), from Risc Developments, is
being developed with the aim of bringing it up to the standards of some
of the advanced packages on the PC market. The target date for version 2
is some time next Autumn. The details of what this is likely to include
are not being disclosed at present but it could well have a user ability
to train the software to recognise new fonts.ááA
7.4
Fact-File
7.4
(The numbers in italic are fax numbers)
7.4
    Network    Floppy Disc    Hard Disc
AppFSFiler    AppFS
7.4
Junior PinPoint    25    15    6
10    13
7.4
Ovation    40    32    9    14    20
7.4
Eureka    59    32    9    19    30
7.4
Revelation ImagePro    18    11
5    8    9
7.4
PenDown    13    9    5    6    6
7.4
RISC OS 3 Printers    23    20
16    20    20
7.4