Atari Explorer Online Newsletter Collection/aeo9202.txt

Internet Message Format | 1992-01-01 | 85KB

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From: Greg Lindahl <[e-mail]>
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To: [e-mail]
Subject: Atari Explorer Online # 92-02

[ This copy of AEO is sometimes edited to delete overly-commercial press
  releases. If you would like to unsubscribe, send mail to:

  [e-mail].

  Never, ever send mail to [e-mail] -- if you do so,
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         ** ** **     Atari Explorer Online Magazine     ** ** **
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         ** ** **       ---------------------------      ** ** **
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        **  **  **          -------------------         **  **  **
      ***   **   ***          ---------------         ***   **   ***
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                      May 15, 1992  -  Issue #92-02
                    The Official Atari Online Journal
                        (c)1992, Atari Corporation

                 | | | Atari Explorer Online Staff | | |

          Publisher..................................Bob Brodie
          Editor In Chief............................Ron Kovacs
          Columnist...................................Ed Krimen
          Columnist..............................Ron Berinstein



                          | | |  CONTENTS | | |


       |||> The Editors Desk.........................Ron Kovacs

       |||> The Z*Net Newswire.................................
               Latest Atari News and Community Update

       |||> Atari User Group Show Update.......................
               Connecticut AtariFest 1992

       |||> Perusing GEnie............................Ed Krimen
            Messages updating Gemulator, Atari Laser printers,
            ISAC and AlbertTT and more....

       |||> Migraph OCR......................John L. McLaughlin
            Review of a New Migraph product.

       |||> Consider The Alternatives............Sheldon Winick
            Reprint from GEnie Lamp.  Interesting comments from
            the Atari dealer point of view.

       |||> What's New In PD For The Portfolio.......Ron Kovacs
            New files available from the Official Atari Support
            site for the Portfolio.

       |||> Building A Scan-Board..................Marvin Purdy
            An article for hand-scanner owners!

       |||> ST Format News Pages...............................
            Latest Atari happenings from the UK.

       |||> New ST Online Magazine.............................
            STe News

       |||> 8-Bit Update.......................................
            Z*Magazine Issue #207, Contents.

       |||> AEO Featured File...................John Jainschigg
            View Degas Pictures. (File Attached to Issue)


 | | |  THE PUBLISHERS WORKSTATION
 | | |  By Bob Brodie
 | | |  ---------------------------------------------------------------


 Welcome to the second edition of Atari Explorer Online.  Thanks for
 making the first issue of our new magazine such a roaring success.  The
 inaugural edition of Atari Explorer Online achieved record downloads on
 GEnie.  Last time I checked, it was way past the 1200 download marker!
 Thanks for your backing of our efforts.

 This edition marks a significant change from our initial plans.  Atari
 has long planned to bring Atari Explorer back to Sunnyvale from the
 east coast.  We've always believed that having the staff in house would
 be more cost effective, as well as make access to the latest technology
 easier for our journalists.  The time for this move has come.  With the
 transition to the West Coast comes other changes as well.  Publisher
 John Jainschigg has decided to stay in New York, and will put out one
 more issue of the print version of Atari Explorer.  We had hoped to be
 able to convince John that California is a great place to be, but he
 loves New York.

 John, I know that everyone that has ever read one of "your" issues of
 Atari Explorer will miss you.  You have set new standards of excellence
 in the past few issues of Atari Explorer.  I have admired your work,
 appreciated you as a colleague, and enjoyed our friendship in all of
 the activities that we've shared.  We have to find a new editor, but no
 one will replace you my friend.  Who else would have the audacity to
 start a topic for the magazine on GEnie entitled "Subscribe to Atari
 Explorer - The best magazine in the Universe"!  Or to respond to some
 of the online barbs by saying that you would rather discuss the latest
 PRINCE video?  Your glib sense of humor, and intellectual prowess will
 be a tough void for anyone to fill.  Thanks for everything, you will be
 missed.

 Lest all of our readers worry, my taking over as publisher of Atari
 Explorer Online is only a temporary situation.  We are actively
 recruiting for someone to follow in the substantial footsteps of John
 Jainschigg.  This challenge is sure to attract a lot of interested
 people.  If you're one of them, let me know!  I've merely jumped in
 here as a stop-gap measure until the new leadership is in place here in
 Sunnyvale.  Our goals haven't changed, and they won't.  We still want
 Atari Explorer Online to be the best way to get information off of our
 Atari's, and onto to yours.  Thanks to the considerable talents of Ron
 Kovacs, that will be an easier task than if I was having to do it
 myself.

 Thanks for reading Atari Explorer Online.  Here's how you contact me to
 convey your impressions of our latest offerings:

 GEnie:          BOB-BRODIE
 Delphi:         BOBBRO
 FNET:           Bob Brodie at Node #706
 BBS:            510-373-6792
 CIS:            70007,3240
 Voice:          408-745-2052
 FAX:            408-745-2088



 | | |  THE EDITORS DESK
 | | |  By Ron Kovacs
 | | |  ---------------------------------------------------------------


 Although I have worked with John Jainschigg a short time, I enjoyed it
 and found the news a surprise, but I am sure John made the best
 decision.  His talents will be missed.

 While we continue to construct this magazine, please keep the comments
 coming as we feel they are important and let us know where to tweak
 future releases.

 All Atari Explorer Online issues may be carried in User Group libraries
 and articles reprinted in User Group Newsletters.  The only reprint
 not permitted are in commercial publications or where it is stated at
 the top of articles.

 Again, thanks for the encouraging response to Issue #1.  See you in 2
 weeks!



 | | |  Z*NET NEWSWIRE
 | | |  From the Z*Net News Service
 | | |  ---------------------------------------------------------------


 AUA RETURNS
 Eric Lambeth, former Librarian and columnist for the AUA has taken over
 the Atari Users Association.  In a press release earlier this week,
 Eric detailed the problems that have been occuring within the
 organization.  Quoting the release, Eric stated: "Last summer, the AUA
 undertook a very strong anti-piracy campaign, which included, among
 other things, the forwarding of certain information about certain
 pirate BBS's/individuals to the authorities.  Although it may be a
 coincidence, it appears that someone did not like this campaign very
 much.  The next month, A total phone bill of $1864 was received due to
 phone "phreaking."  Of this amount, we settled for aproximately half of
 it with the PUC and Ma Bell.  The AUA budget, including all membership
 dues, was paid out to cover the phreaked phone charges.  On March 10 of
 this year, I returned from a 9-month stay in Germany.  Shortly
 thereafter, Derek Signorini told me the basics of what had happened.
 I offered to take up the operation of the AUA, as I still have faith in
 the Atari community and would like to try to breathe some life back
 into the organization."


 CODEHEAD ANNOUNCES CALLIGRAPHER
 CodeHead Technologies has announced exclusive representation in the US
 and Canada of Calligrapher, developed in Great Britain by Working
 Title.  Calligrapher runs under all versions of TOS in all resolutions
 except Low.  Standard GEM interface includes a complete desktop, with
 moveable icons for your documents, trashcan, clipboard, etc.  Editable
 dictionary and spell checker, tables and formulae, mail merge with
 personalizing and conditional selectivity, hyphenation with
 configurable rules, headers, footers, and footnotes.  Calligrapher
 supports a number of printers, including 9-pin, 24- pin, NEC P6, HP
 Laserjet+, Laserjet II, Epson GQ3500, and Atari SLM804/605.
 Calligrapher will be available on May 15th.  For more information
 contact CodeHead Technologies, PO Box 74090, Los Angeles, CA 90004,
 [phone].


 NEW SILHOUETTE VERSION RELEASED
 Maxwell C.P.U. has announced Version 1.37 of the bit-image, vector
 graphics drawing program Silhouette.  For registered users of versions
 1.25 or higher, this release is offered as an update - free of charge.
 Enhancements to Version 1.37 include:  Advanced bezier curve handling,
 shipment of Silhouette with FONT-GDOS, direct Silhouette print function
 and convertibility of FSM outline fonts to vector objects.  Silhouette
 will soon offer the option of interfacing with the ScanLite desk
 accessory by the WizWorks.  This will allow owners of handscanners and
 ScanLite to scan images directly into Silhouette.  For more information
 contact Maxwell C.P.U., PO BOX 576, Louisville, CO 80027-9998, (303)
 666-7754.


 GEMULATOR SEPTEMBER RELEASE EXPECTED
 Gemulator, the Atari ST emulator for DOS based PC clones, is expected
 for a release in September at the Glendale Atarifest.  Darek Mihocka
 announced that production of plug-in boards for beta testing has begun
 and may be pre-ordered for $199 (U.S. funds) until August 31, 1992,
 after which time the regular price will be $399. The price includes the
 Gemulator plug-in board and emulation software.  TOS ROMs may also be
 ordered.  For more information, you can contact BAS between 8 pm and
 11 pm Pacific time Monday through Thursday nights.  Branch Always
 Software, 14150 N.E. 20th St., Suite 302, Bellevue, WA 98007, Phone/
 FAX: [phone].


 NEW PROSPECTIVE UPI OWNER
 Pat Robertson, prospective new owner of UPI intends to maintain the
 wire service as an independent operation free from his personal views.
 Robertson entered a high bid of $6 million for UPI at a bankruptcy
 auction this Tuesday and has until June 30 to finalize the purchase of
 the 84-year-old news agency.



 | | |  ATARI USER GROUP SHOW UPDATE
 | | |  Location: Windsor Locks, Connecticut
 | | |  ---------------------------------------------------------------


 Local Atari computer user groups are joining forces to stage a two-day
 computer show later this year in Hartford, Conn.  An umbrella
 organization representing Atari users in Fairfield County and the
 Danbury and New Haven regions has announced dates and site for
 Connecticut AtariFest '92.  The event is scheduled for August 15 and
 16, 1992 at the Sheraton Hotel at Bradley International Airport,
 Windsor Locks, Conn.

 The show is being sponsored by the ACT Atari Group [Affiliated
 Connecticut (CT) Groups], an umbrella organization comprised of these
 Atari user groups:

 F.A.C.E. (Fairfield County)
 S.T.A.R.R. (New Haven area)
 D-BUG (Danbury area)
 A.U.G.O.G.H (Greater Hartford)

 To date, the following exhibitors have agreed to participate in
 Connecticut AtariFest '92: Atari Computer Corporation, Atari Explorer
 magazine, the Boston Computer Society, The Computer Zone, GEnie,
 Gribnif Software, GFA Basic, Joppa Software Development, Sam Ash Music
 Inc., Step Ahead Software, Soft-Logik Publishing, Tidbit Software, Toad
 Computers, and ICD Inc.

 The show will showcase the latest Atari products and services, and will
 include seminars on desktop publishing and video production, hands-on
 instruction from manufacturers and software developers, MIDI
 demonstrations, giveaways, 8 bit support, a petting zoo, a swap room
 and much more.

 The ACT Group has just announced that there will be an exciting dinner
 dance Saturday evening featuring luminaries from the Atari market.  The
 core band will be composed of Atari Explorer's John Jainschigg and
 Peter Donoso, as well as Sam Ash's Fadi Hayek.  Interested musicians
 are invited to sit in.  At the cocktail hour, during the buffet, and
 between the live sets, pre-recorded Atari produced synthesized music
 will be played for your listening pleasure.  With a spacious dance
 floor, cash bar and plenty of room for schmoozing, this should be a
 wonderful and fun evening.

 With some of the best names, latest products, and top vendors in the
 Atari market, we think you'll find the CT Fest to be both thrilling and
 educational.  With a major emphasis on the musical side of the ST/TT
 (via major vendors like Sam Ash and Manny's Music).  We'll have non-
 stop performances by live and studio musicians both days.  Of course,
 other aspects like DTP, graphics, video, telecomm, etc  will be equally
 represented.  Raffles, door prizes, swap rooms, hands on DTP classes,
 desktop video classes and more!  Smack dab between New York and Boston,
 this may be the highlight of the summer!

 The following are some of the special interest areas we will be
 highlighting:

 MIDI - In addition to the Sat. night entertainment, we will have
        continuous musical activities, involving both performance and
        classes.  Representatives from Sam Ash Music Stores and Manny's
        Music will be on hand, as will several important software
        vendors.  We will have a synthesizer set up for all who wish to
        bring in any pre-recorded samples on floppy disk or casssette
        tape.

 DTP -  Representatives will be on hand to demonstrate Pagestream,
        Calamus and Publisher 2 in both a booth setting as well as in a
        classroom environment.  Come see some of these exciting new
        products!

 Port - The Atari Portfolio will be spotlighted as an exciting link to
        the desktop environment.  Its size, portability, convienience
        and extensive capabilities will be demonstrated throughout the
        show.  Telecommunications, word processing, P(ersonal)
        I(nformation M(anagement), file transfer and many other features
        will be shown.

 Atari Petting Zoo - Representatives from dozens of User's groups will
 be showing a wide variety of their created applications, ranging from
 business to entertainment.  Several workstations will be in continuous
 operation, allowing attendees to work with the systems directly.  Come
 see what your fellow Atarians have created!

 8-Bit- We have a strong 8-Bit presence here in New England, and we will
        be making every effort to support our friends.  With the noted
        8-bit hardware vendor ICD Inc. present, we expect there will be
        some wheeling and dealing going on.

 Finally, we will be having tons of prize giveaways, and a very exciting
 raffle for the grand prize!

 For more information about attending or exhibiting at Connecticut
 AtariFest '92, contact Brian Gockley, chairman, 18 Elmwood Avenue,
 Bridgeport, CT 06605 [Phone [phone]], or Doug Finch @ (203)
 637-1034.




 | | |  PERUSING GENIE
 | | |  Compiled by Ed Krimen
 | | |  ---------------------------------------------------------------


 The following messages have not been edited and were captured from the
 GEnie Telecommunications Service.  Each topic contains the category
 where the message was taken and the topic.


 ALBERTTT & ISAC UPDATE

 -=> In the "Hardware" category (4)
 -=> from the "Dover Research Corp. (AlberTT & ISAC)" topic (28)

 Message 125       Sun May 10, 1992
 J.CRASWELL                   at 14:57 EDT

 Great news for those who want the STANDARD in high res for the MegaST.
 Thru a new series of wheeling and dealing we are offering the ISAC card
 for the new price of $299.95!!  Yeow!  Yippie, watch out asimo!!  This
 is the right one baby!  Compatability like nothing else.  Not to
 mention that optional FPU socket for DynaCad.  Non-interlaced output
 for those who don't like to "twitch" while they type!  Requires a 48Khz
 Monitor to run.  Works with MegaST 2 or 4.  Full 90 warranty (of
 course) Act (or Ack if your Bill the cat) now as this is a limited
 offer.  When  these are gone its a new story baby!  Operators are
 standing by .... Well at least one is <grin>

 =======================================

 ATARI LASER PRINTERS - UPDATE

 -=> In the "Atari Corporation Online" category (14)
 -=> from the "Atari Laser Printers (SLM804 & SLM605)" topic (11)

 Message 123       Mon May 11, 1992
 S.SANDERS2 [SDS]             at 05:05 EDT

 V.CROSS1:  The SLM605/804 is a 'dumb' printer.  That means that it uses
 no onboard memory.  It requires a controller to work and it utililizes
 the ram onboard the computer meaning you need an extra meg reserved in
 RAM to print.  The controller itself is not 'dumb' but can't handle
 font requests, etc...  Essentially, all page construction is handled in
 the computers' memory before anything is printed and then it's dumped
 as one big page image at one time.  It has a standard 300x300 DPI and
 is comparable in print quality to a standard Laserjet.

 -Scott @ SDS   Member IAAD
 ----------

 Message 124       Mon May 11, 1992
 ISD [Nathan]                 at 15:57 EDT

 Further, programs such as Calamus have beautiful printer drivers that
 when combined with the DMA port on the SLM605, result in the fastest
 output ever seen, far and away faster than a laserjet for example.

 If you do require PostScript, there are a few software-based PS
 emulators currently available such as Ultrascript.

 6 pages per minute but I repeat, that first page gets their real fast.
 :-)  The DMA port has a transfer rate of something slightly under 10
 MIPs.

 I hope this helps.  Nathan @ ISD (Also proud member of the IAAD) :-)
 ----------

 Message 125       Mon May 11, 1992
 D.FLORY [ALERTsys*Cop]       at 21:06 EDT

 Nathan is right, the main reason I bought an Atari laser, besides the
 price is that I was spoiled by using an SLM804 with Calamus 1.09 for a
 long time.  Then I had to sit their listening to my whiskers grow for
 about a year waiting for my Mac/HP laser to print straight text, you
 definitely age waiting for a complex grapics page.  Instantly is when
 straight text comes out of the SLM and seldom _ever_ more than 45secs
 for graphics.  Its really a spoiler.
 =======================================

 GEMULATOR UPDATE

 -=> In the "Emulation for the ST" category (19)
 -=> from the "GEMULATOR (Atari ST emulator)" topic (15)

 Message 105       Tue Apr 28, 1992
 CHERRY.FONTS [Todd]          at 01:42 EDT

 Darek brought his 486 laptop and Gemulator over to my house a couple
 nights back and let me try anything I wanted with it.  I ran (and
 actually really utilized) the following software with NO crashes or
 bugginess noticed at all:

 Avant Vector (Codehead's Autotracing program)
 Warp-9
 Genus (The Calamus font editor I use to creat Cherry Fonts)
 Calamus 1.09N
 Cardfile (Gribnif's desk-acc phone/address database)
 Proflight (HiSoft's flight Simulator) * It ran fine in both low and
       high resolutions!
 STeno (Gribnif's desk-acc text editor)
 Searcher (my own Aladdin datafile string-search desk-acc/prg written
           in GFA Basic.)

 Then I ran out of time.  Bummer, I had lots more to try.

 The only 'problem' I found was when I ran a demo version of MegaType's
 Font Designer.  Darek quickly found Gemulator's problem (with his
 debugger) and fixed it on the spot.  The Font Designer demo now runs
 like a charm.

 The speed wasn't overly amazing; it ran slower than a stock 8 mhz ST on
 his 486 for calculation intensive software (Avant Vector), and video/
 mouse interaction was a bit sluggish which Darek explained as an
 artifact of using a cheap 8-bit VGA card (which he had installed in his
 laptop.)  He assured me that speeding these items up to their maximum
 before the product is released was priority-one for him now.

 Thanks for the boo, Darek!

 ..Todd
 =======================================

 MULTITOS

 -=> In the "Atari Corporation Online" category (14)
 -=> from the "MultiTOS" topic (34)

 Message 199       Sat May 09, 1992
 G.T.GRAY [Gary Gray]         at 14:49 EDT

 It has been reported several times in the European press and elsewhere
 that Sack the German developers of AT-Speed were working with Atari to
 develop DOS emulations as original equipment.  PC emulation on the ST
 family machines is quite well understood.  Unfortunately there have
 been 3 main problems.

 (1) No proper installation.  A processor direct slot on new machines,
     would allow a reliable end user installation.

 (2) Limited video capability.  Rumours of Falcon's 16 bit color with a
     pallette of 262,000 colors is the same as many modern SVGA cards.
     This would allow SuperVga DOS emulation.   I also read reports of a
     blitter on these machines, a good fast blitter aid screen speed
     could also help an emulator run VGA well.

 (3) Price performance.  DOS emulators on the ST have always suffered
     from being to slow at to high a price.  Atari's quantities make the
     board inexpensive to manufacture.  Recent drastic price drops on
     SX386 parts also help.  Finally, new processors like the Cyrix
     486SLC offer 486 performance in a 386SX package, at prices close to
     a hundred dollars a chip.  These parts will be fifty bucks each in
     6 months.  Atari could therefore offer 486 level emulation cards
     for $299 retail.

 There are other reported features of the new machines that also make
 emulation easier and more attractive.  The new machines have IDE hard
 disks internal.  Reports of a more standard printer port design, could
 help with compatability issues.  But the most interesting would be
 MultiTos.  DOS emulation in a Window under MultiTos would be big plus.

 Why would Atari bother with PC emulation in the first place?  Because
 properly done it would sell a lot of machines.  The Amiga offers
 factory PC emulation, and it sells machines for them.  I suppose also
 that Atari would like a box that they can sell of the shelf at Computer
 City or CompUSA type of stores.  Excellent PC emulation would make the
 product much more saleable in those stores.
 =======================================

 FSM-GDOS

 -=> In the "Atari Corporation Online" category (14)
 -=> from the "Font Scaling Module -- The New GDOS" topic (18)

 Message 165       Wed Apr 15, 1992
 M.ABDULKAREE [ASX]           at 21:45 EDT

 Yes FSMGDOS output is astonishing..  I was seriously amazed at the
 quality on my NEC P2200 even at small font sizes!  Compared to Calamus
 1.09N it was VERY clean!

 And nope, FSM does work on the Multitasking AES.. come on it is not
 like Atari works on one project at a time!  Most likely the
 multitasking OS was simultaneously developed.  Besides, I was shown a
 demo of FSM's full capabilities down there thanks to Mike Fulton.
 ----------

 Message 166       Wed Apr 15, 1992
 S.SANDERS2 [SDS]             at 23:10 EDT

 SDS has some very exciting new projects coming that will take advantage
 of any GDOS system.  We will be making specific product announcements
 when they become available.

 -Scott @ SDS  Member IAAD
 ----------

 Message 167       Thu Apr 16, 1992
 TOWNS [John@Atari]           at 14:03 EDT

 There are a number of issues that have to be settled before we can
 release a version of FSMGDOS to the retail channel.  There is no truth
 to the comments made here.  Atari is not "bored" with the product, we
 aren't waiting for applications to appear that use it, nor is FSMGDOS
 broken under MultiTOS.  All of these comments are completely false.

 I am not at liberty to discuss the issues at hand.  But, please allow
 me to say that we are working on solving those issues and our first
 concern is with regard to our customers.  We want to make sure that
 everything is complete and in order before shipping the product.

 I am sorry that I can not provide you with more information.  I will do
 my best to keep you updated.

 -- John Townsend, Atari Corp.
 ----------

 Message 168       Thu Apr 16, 1992
 R.MONFORT1 [LEXICOR]         at 15:29 EDT

 Towns.  Lexicor is or will be developing applications that will use
 FSMGDOS.  We cannot talk about them but you will be seeing them in the
 future.

 Ringo.
 ----------

 Message 170       Thu Apr 16, 1992
 G.T.GRAY [Gary Gray]         at 19:28 EDT

 John,

 All my comments maybe incorrect speculation.  They are totally logical
 suppositions based on the comments made upto this point.  For all I
 know Atari is holding FSM back to support type 1 fonts.  They could be
 planning to use some hardware maybe even a DSP available on future
 machines to do high speed font rendering in a high color enviroment.
 That would be very nice, antialiased real time fully scaled fonts.  Not
 only that imagine a fast SCSI port hooked to a 600x600 or better
 controller for SLMs.  All these things are very possible and realistic
 things to do with a system wide font imaging system.  But I will bet
 the issue are legal, economic or just bugs.  Anyway the longer FSM is
 in getting to market, the less likely developers are to get behind this
 scheme.  It is proprietary and it very late.

 Unfortunately Metados an operating system extension that ought to come
 in the box of every ST family machine shipped in recent years is still
 not available.  No expalnations.

 I have figured it out.  The reason FSM has not shipped is the packaging
 Atari was waiting to ship it in can't be designed because layout and
 design software they want to use for the packaging requires FSM which
 is not yet available.
 =======================================

 LEXICOR UPDATE

 -=> In the "Lexicor Product Support" category (25)
 -=> from the "Lexicor-Newsletter" topic (10)

 Message 112       Sat May 09, 1992
 J.COLE18 [John Cole]         at 22:09 EDT

 I would like to welcome N.STEEL to Lexicor's Silicon Graphics
 development team.  Lexicor Software has recently become official
 Silicon Graphics developers and has a separate development team from
 the Atari software division.  We hope to have our prouducts available
 on more than one platform soon, starting with SG and N.STEEL will be a
 key figure in making that possible.  Welcome!

 John Cole Lexicor Software
 ----------

 Message 114       Sat May 09, 1992
 LEXICOR [Lexicor]            at 23:01 EDT

 JC-18

 Just an additional comment or two. For those who are  interested, we
 are in effect cross developing on both platforms.  Many of the advanced
 rendering tools used on the SG platform will also be found in our Atari
 applications.  As the new machines that will inevitably become
 available on the Atari platform, they will be able to handel more
 complex software.

 In fact atari users may be surprised to learn that many of the features
 of Chronos are very simular to SG applications.

 If you are doing well with chronos then you would do well running SG
 software given the chance.

 I would like to add my personal welcome To Bob Steel as the newest
 member of our Silicon graphics Indigo development team!

 In closing just a bit of a tease.....The next upgrades to Phase-4 will
 take the Atari user in to both high quality and full true 15/24 Bit
 color worlds.  There will also be some very interesting Spectrum like
 applications for the traditional ST user as well.

 Lee Seiler
 ----------

 Message 115       Sun May 10, 1992
 N.STEEL                      at 02:41 EDT

 In addition to my previous post, I would just like to add the following
 comments and observations.

 I seriously considered selling my Atari equipment and buying an Amiga
 setup.  You can do some nice work on an Amiga, but the truth is that
 most people using them for MTV etc, are using banks of accelerated
 machines, usually 10-15.  That doesn't seem very cost effective to an
 individual like myself.  A single, low-end, SG machine runs twice as
 fast as a top of the line Mac Quadra, and almost 85% of current
 professional graphics work is done on SG equipment.

 That last fact alone, makes learning with Lexicors software a perfect
 stepping stone.

 N.Steel
 =======================================

 CODEHEADS WARP 9

 -=> In the "CodeHead Software" category (32)
 -=> from the "Warp 9, the Accelerator" topic (31)

 Message 192       Thu Apr 23, 1992
 R.MORROW10 [Bob M.]          at 22:01 EDT

 Is there any particular place in AUTO that W9 needs to be?  With the
 old Quick ST, it had to be at the back of the AUTO folder.  Is this
 still true?
 ----------

 Message 193       Thu Apr 23, 1992
 C.F.JOHNSON [CodeHead]       at 22:49 EDT

 Bob,

 If you use the Warp 9 Control Panel desk accessory, it doesn't matter
 where the Warp 9 program runs in the AUTO folder.  In fact, it's best
 to have it run as early as possible; I have it running right after
 PinHead on my system.  When Warp 9 runs early in the AUTO folder, it
 can actually accelerate the bootup process significantly.

 The Control Panel desk accessory sends a special message to the
 resident program after everything else has loaded, telling it to
 reinstall itself in the exception vectors.  (Sorry if I'm getting too
 technical -- but to boil it down, the whole point of this
 "reinstallation" business is to let Warp 9 operate at its optimum peak
 efficiency.)

 If you don't use the Warp 9 Control Panel, the Warp 9 program should
 run as close to the end of the AUTO folder as possible, so that it
 installs its exception vectors after everything else, and can run as
 fast as it can (without the extra boost provided by the Control Panel).

 Note that Warp 9 itself _does_not_care_ about its AUTO folder position;
 it can run before or after GDOS, before or after big screen drivers,
 etc.  One of the primary goals in creating Warp 9 was to free the
 program from dependency on AUTO folder order, and to achieve the
 ultimate acceleration no matter what its AUTO position.  However, some
 other programs may be sensitive to their position in the AUTO folder,
 and may need to run before or after Warp 9, for reasons of their own.

 The only examples I know about right now: Hisoft's AMON debugger needs
 to run BEFORE the Warp 9 AUTO program, and some versions of UIS 3 also
 need to run before Warp 9.  The current version of UIS 3 (v3.3) doesn't
 care about its AUTO folder position; if you don't have this version,
 you should upgrade for full compatibility with Warp 9.
 =======================================

 WORDUP

 -=> In the "Word Processing" category (13)
 -=> from the "Word Up" topic (6)

 Message 91        Mon May 11, 1992
 JEFF.W [ST Sysop]            at 11:46 EDT

 David,

 Charles beat me to the punch about Calligrapher.

 But on the subject of WordUp, you said you're getting tired of waiting
 for Atari to update WordUp.  You sound like you had expected them to
 update it.

 While it is common knowledge that Atari bought the source code of
 WordUp from Neocept, there has been no announcement from Atari that
 ever indicated they planned to do an update of WordUp.  Waiting for an
 unannounced, and possibly unplanned, update of WordUp from Atari will
 likely be very tiring for anyone engaging in such an expectation.

 I'm sure Atari has intentions for the source code they purchased from
 Neocept, but they have never shared that by way of public announcement
 with us outsiders.

 Sadly, too many people tend to take a little information and fill in
 the blanks and then hold Atari responsible for not accommodating their
 fantasies.  This can happen both inside and outside of a company like
 Atari.  After a while, fancy seems to become fact when people don't
 know the whole story, accepting whatever is fed to them at face value.
 =======================================



 | | |  MIGRAPH OCR
 | | |  By John L. McLaughlin
 | | |  ---------------------------------------------------------------


 Requirements: Any ST/STe/TT computer with 2 MB or more RAM and hard
               disk.  Hand- or full-page scanner optional.

 Summary: Sophisticated, trainable optical character-recognition (OCR)
          package, capable of making short work of data-input.

 Manufacturer:  MiGraph, Inc., 32799 Pacific Highway S., Federal Way, WA
                98003 [phone]

 Price: $299.00


 Though paper provides a convenient and tangible medium for human
 communication, it's not great for talking to machines.  Scanning has
 solved the problem of how to get images from paper into computer
 memory.  But because computers store images and text in completely
 different ways, images of text, such as a scan of this magazine page,
 require further processing before the information they contain can be
 used by word processors, spreadsheets, and other "text-handling"
 applications.

 MiGraph OCR (short for "Optical Character Recognition") provides the
 missing link -- converting scanned text to ASCII files that can be used
 directly by a wide variety of applications.  The program can accept
 previously-scanned monochrome .IMG or TIFF files; or process input
 directly from a MiGraph or compatible hand-scanner.

 The OCR Process

 MiGraph OCR begins its job by methodically chopping up a scanned image:
 first into discrete lines of text, then into masses identified as words
 and subdivided into characters.  This, alone, is a fairly complicated
 process, involving raster image-processing (to remove spurious
 background shading and stray pixels, improve contrast and separate
 characters, etc.) and geometric analysis (to correct for text
 misalignment).  Next, using a font-recognition engine licensed from
 Omnifont (world leaders in OCR software design), MiGraph OCR turns the
 bitmapped image of each character into a vector expression describing
 its shape in terms unrelated to size or resolution.

 Characters are recognized by comparing their vector descriptions
 against a dictionary of character forms in different fonts and point
 sizes -- a process that yields a far higher percentage of "hits" than
 prior OCR techniques involving bitmap comparisons.  Additional
 refinement is obtained by referencing against a user dictionary,
 created by "training" the device on text with particular
 characteristics.

 As a last step, MiGraph OCR performs a complex lexical and syntactic
 analysis, using one of four supplemental dictionaries based on the
 Proximity/Merriam-Webster Linguibase.  This further assists the program
 in making intelligent "guesses" about characters whose forms remain
 ambiguous.

 Using OCR

 Installing MiGraph OCR is simple.  An INSTALL program is included on
 the main disk that lets you specify the folder into which you want
 program files stored.  The utility also lets you identify which of the
 four supplemental dictionaries you wish installed: versions for
 English, German, French, and Dutch are included on two support disks.
 A minimum of 2 MB free space must exist on the target partition, prior
 to installation.

 OCR's main control screen is simple and well-designed, and a little
 random button-clicking quickly reveals how most of the program works.
 Nevertheless, to help get you started, the manual includes several
 step-by-step, hands-on tutorials.  The general control panel, accessed
 by clicking on the "hammer" icon, lets you specify input source
 (scanner or file), output format, and set refining parameters for the
 OCR process.  Selecting "scanner" as the input device causes the
 appearance of a secondary scanner configuration dialog which lets you
 define resolution, area, and direction of input scans.

 Select "Get Image," and you're flying.  If you've elected to scan, the
 hand scanner is activated and managed automatically -- all you have to
 do is move it down (or across) the page.  OCR performs best when
 presented with a straight scan, so a scanning tray is recommended.  The
 only glitch I noticed was caused, as it turned out, by the fact that I
 was running MiGraph OCR on a Mega STe at 16 MHz, with blitter and
 caches enabled.  Apparently, some combination of these features throws
 off the sample timing, so that illegible scans are produced.  The fix,
 at least until MiGraph issues an upgrade, is to use the Control Panel
 to turn off all enhancements while scanning is in progress.  They can
 (and should) be turned on again, afterwards, since OCR processing
 benefits from the increased system throughput.

 Once scanning is complete, the scanned image appears in OCR's work
 window.  Your first job is to assess the quality of the scan, to
 determine if it is appropriate for OCR processing.  Because low-quality
 scans take unnecessarily long to process, and produce a large number of
 errors, it's best to repeat doubtful scans at this point.

 The next step is to select regions of the scanned image for input to
 OCR.  This is done in very straightforward fashion, by dragging
 rectangles or drawing polyline boxes around desired portions of the
 image.  Multiple regions can be sorted so that they are processed in
 any desired order.  An added plus: to avoid having to make duplicate
 scans of the same material, MiGraph OCR also lets you define the
 graphic regions of any scan, saving them as .IMG or TIFF files.

 When OCR is initiated, the program performs several unattended passes:
 rectifying the image, segmenting it, and generating a first
 interpretation of its content.  Because the process can take a while,
 you are kept appraised of progress by a succession of dialog boxes.  If
 automatic processing has been selected, output text is then saved
 transparently to the designated file.  Otherwise, the interactive
 learning phase begins.

 During interactive learning, the system presents you with problem areas
 of your scan, in greatly enlarged form, and asks you to correct or
 approve of its interpretations.  The process is easily managed, though
 it can be time-consuming if many problems exist (the process can be
 aborted at any point, however, and the resulting text file saved to
 disk with markers inserted to indicate ambiguous characters).  When
 correcting a problem, it's important to determine whether it's a result
 of poor scan quality or from an unfamiliar font or point size.  When
 scan-quality is at fault, you should correct the problem in text,
 without updating the current user dictionary.

 Entering a correction is usually a matter of typing a single letter,
 though occasionally, the program will present you with groups of
 several adjacent letters for identification.  Very rarely, the program
 will assume that two adjacent characters are one, and will not accept
 multiple characters for insertion.

 Alternatively, when you've identified a legitimate "training" situation
 (i.e., the program has failed to recognize text because it contains
 some regular feature (e.g., font, point size, or special letterform)
 which is unfamiliar) you can "train" OCR to recognize the character in
 the future.  A vectorized image of the new letterform is added to the
 current user dictionary, which can be saved back to disk at the end of
 the session.  Over time, dictionaries can be developed and refined for
 each type of text you regularly use as input, and these can add
 remarkably to the accuracy of OCR's interpretation.

 When you tell OCR to "learn" a new character, you must take care to
 input the correction properly.  OCR immediately applies any corrected
 interpretation to similar ambiguities throughout the text -- a process
 designed to prevent your having to correct the same mistake more than
 once.  Unfortunately, however, this also means that an erroneous
 correction can easily be propagated through your output, and -- if
 unrecognized at the end of the session -- perhaps even entered
 accidentally in the current dictionary when it is saved back to disk.
 Unfortunately, there's no way to "edit" the updated dictionary after a
 training pass, nor to return to a problem area during the pass, to re-
 enter a correction.  So a fair amount of dictionary-refinement can be
 lost, if you're not careful.

 While I've described using OCR to process only a single scanned unit of
 text, it's also very easy to append the results of several OCR sessions
 to the same output file, creating a single result document that can be
 imported to a word processor.  Alternatively, however, I've had good
 luck employing utilities such as WizWorks!' Scan-Lite to conjoin
 several scans into one uniform image before importing into OCR.
 Unfortunately, I have no means of testing how well MiGraph OCR would
 perform on input from a full-page flatbed scanner; but I suspect that
 for serious applications, this option should be thoroughly explored.

 Performance

 Once a sufficiently-refined user dictionary has been created for text
 from a particular source, MiGraph OCR is very accurate.  It's also
 fairly quick, at least when processing in automatic mode: a page of
 Courier 10-pitch type, scanned at 300 dpi, can be output as ASCII in
 something like three minutes, which is marginally faster than an
 average-to-good touch typist could enter the same material.  Naturally,
 text output by OCR must be further processed before it can be
 considered correct.  At least part of this process (i.e., spell-
 checking) can be automated, however.

 Because performance accuracy is so dependent on user dictionaries,
 MiGraph OCR is most useful when input is derived from only a limited
 range of text-types.  Even with this constraint, however, it's easy to
 imagine a broad range of applications.  Particularly intriguing is the
 idea of using MiGraph OCR to convert faxes, received via faxmodem, to
 ASCII files -- providing a wholly "paperless" solution to fax
 correspondence in the computer context.

 Only one significant feature is lacking: the ability to queue multiple
 files for input and unattended processing.  Hopefully, this feature
 will be added in a future upgrade, since it would make the program
 highly competitive with Kurzweil and other dedicated OCR systems,
 particularly in the small office environment.



 | | |  CONSIDER THE ALTERNATIVES
 | | |  By Sheldon Winick
 | | |  ---------------------------------------------------------------

 Reprinted from The GEnie Lamp Online Magazine
 (c) Copyright 1992 T/TalkNET OnLine Publishing, GEnie, and the GEnie
 Computing RoundTables.


 Many Atari owners seem to find it difficult to maintain an upbeat
 attitude towards the Atari platform, especially when one of those
 periodic complaining discussions erupts.  There never seems to be a
 shortage of someone or other urging an abandonment of the Atari
 platform because of a shortage of dealerships, Atari's periodic
 shortages of equipment, Atari's lack of advertising, or some developer
 not supporting the Atari platform.  What they seem to lose sight of is
 why we chose the Atari platform in the first place.

 Perhaps we should periodically go back and re-evaluate our computer
 needs and desires, take a clear look at what we use our systems for,
 how we use it, and what we really need it for.  And, of course, it
 would always be a good idea to take a closer look at the alternative
 platforms.

 I can't help but be somewhat amused when I hear complaints about
 various software and hardware incompatibilities on the Atari platform.
 Think we have it tough?  Try talking to someone who owns a MeSsyDOS
 machine.  Try adding Windows to attempt to get a more user friendly
 interface and see what happens to your software compatibility and
 system speed.  Try installing virtually anything and see what a chore
 it can be to resolve all the conflicts and get the system to perform
 properly.  Anyone who complains about having to reorder the programs in
 an Atari 'AUTO' folder, obviously has never been exposed to the 'fun'
 of having to revise a 'AUTOEXEC.BAT' and 'CONFIG.SYS' file whenever
 adding a new piece of hardware or software to a system.

 It's really easy to let those little irritations get out of hand and
 turn into serious complaints.  I guess it's human nature to take the
 familiar for granted, and lose our perspective when something irritates
 us.  I suspect those feelings can be compounded by the media hype we're
 continually exposed to advertising the alternative platforms, as well
 as finding ourselves surrounded by a plethora of IBM clones and clone
 owners constantly bragging about their machines.

 Perhaps, as a dealer, my perspective is a little different as I hear
 the complaints from computer owners on both sides of the fence.
 Perhaps I benefit from the opportunity to listen to the owners of IBM
 clone machines complain about how difficult everything is on their
 machines compared to what they see us doing on our Atari systems at
 Computer STudio.  Perhaps I'm also in the unique position of being in
 a small town where software isn't as  easy to find as in a major city,
 so our local Atari owners find themselves with as good or better
 selection as anyone else.  I also find myself selling a lot of software
 to clone owners who enjoy browsing through our software racks to get
 ideas of what is available for all personal computers.  And I also get
 the opportunity to listen to 'them' complain about the complexity of
 their software and hardware, and the lack of those great productivity
 titles we take for granted.

 I also get a great joy out of watching the expressions change on the
 faces of the 'walk-ins' who just happen to be walking through the mall
 and wander into the store along with their 'attitude' --- you know what
 I'm talking about --- they have a such-and-such with 4 bookoodles of
 RAM, SVGA, 6 gazillion titles of pirated software, and walk in the door
 feeling they can sneer at the 'inferior' platform.  I usually just let
 them talk, don't argue with anything they say, but while listening,
 crank up something like Calamus or DynaCADD and whiz through something
 creative while they continue to ramble.  It doesn't take long before
 that rambling turns into a 'Wow' or 'How did you do that?'.   Within
 minutes they're usually sitting down watching in total amazement.  Then
 there's the 'I didn't know Atari still made computers' and finally the
 'So how come more people don't own an Atari'.  You'd be surprised how
 many of those visitors wind up coming back with computer shopping
 friends to show them 'our' alternative platform.  Yes, Virginia, MS-DOS
 "IS" a curable disease!

 I also hear the horror stories from the other side when it comes to
 support, service and repair for 'their' systems, the prices they had to
 pay, and how long it took.

 Then there's the novice clone owner who benefited from a 'friend' who
 advised them what to buy and found them a 'great' deal on a mail order
 clone system.  They reel off a list of features their system has ----
 you know, 89 megabytes of RAM (you'd be surprised how many folks STILL
 don't know the difference between RAM and hard drive size), 5-1/4"
 floppy drive, 3-1/2" hard drive (they usually are referring to the
 3-1/2" floppy drive), super VGA monitor, etc.  And.... they love the
 system!!  They've only had it for about 6 months and they already know
 how to use the word processing software a little and play some games.
 Wow!!  And whenever they buy a new game, they get their friend to come
 over to install it on their hard drive 'cause they haven't learned how
 to do that yet.

 Then we see the those IBM PS-1 owners wandering in looking for anything
 for their systems, and listen to their complaints about the cost of
 upgrade boards, and lack of support for their micro-channel
 architecture.  Think they are a very happy camper after the reality of
 the situation sets in?

 How 'bout all those parents who, even recently, ran out to get Johnny
 an Apple 2 or Apple 2 clone 'cause that's what he was using at school,
 and now finds his system totally unsupported by anyone, including our
 only local Apple dealer.  Or the young fellow whose friends talked him
 into an Amiga, and now finds the only place he can get software is mail
 order or by special order from his local Atari dealer <big grin>.

 It's easy to go through life with blinders on, but it can sometimes be
 a good idea to step back and look at the world from someone else's
 viewpoint.  It's also easy to take the familiar for granted.  Things
 like our Atari's dependability and durability, its' fantastic GEM-based
 user interface, and the excellent software that is so easy to learn and
 use.  You really can't appreciate how easy memory upgrading is on an
 STe, Mega STe or TT030 until you've experienced the hassle of doing
 that on one of those 'other' systems.

 And no matter how much Microsoft advertises Windows and Window
 applications, they are still much more complex and difficult to learn
 and use than our trusty 'ol Ataris.  But Microsoft does know one thing
 --- with enough money and enough media hype, you can sell anything!

 Happy (Atari) Computing,

 Sheldon Winick (GEnie address:  S.WINICK)
 Computer STudio - Asheville, NC

 Sheldon owns and operates Computer STudio, a full-service Atari
 dealership in Asheville, North Carolina.  Sheldon is also a registered
 architect (licensed in Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, and
 Colorado, as well as holding a National NCARB certificate).  His
 current architectural drawings are, of course, being prepared on his
 Atari-based CADD system, using DynaCADD software.




 | | |  WHAT'S NEW FOR THE PORTFOLIO
 | | |  Compiled by Ron Kovacs
 | | |  ---------------------------------------------------------------


 New Uploads to the Atari Portfolio Forum on CompuServe (Go APORTFOLIO)


 MAKSND.ZIP   MakeSound: Create standalone, compressable sound
 This is the sound equivalent of PREAD and MAKERT.  Use this to create
 a sound file.  Faster than VOICE.COM!  Includes a sample file.

 PSND1.ZIP    PSOUND: Portfolio digital sound player
 Here's another version of PSOUND, now *faster* than VOICE.COM.
 Includes two samples, including: "Help, I'm trapped!" and "Don't
 panic!" from Hithhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

 PGCPZL.ZIP   PGC Puzzle 1.0 - PGC Graphics Tile Puzzle
 PGC Puzzle is similar to TILES, except it lets you play a sliding tiles
 game with any PGC graphic image.  Features include SAVE/LOAD game in
 progress, set number of tiles, and much more.  Documentation is in
 PREAD format.  FREEWARE by Don Messerli

 DU1.ZIP      Diary Utility 1.0
 This is a sharware utility that allows TODO Notes to be included within
 your Port diaries.  TODO Notes can be viewed for a specific date.  This
 version has been re-zipped with version 1.1.

 VOICE.COM    Speech Output on the Portfolio, Demo.
 Found in England:  Hey, there is someone trapped in my computer!
 Speech output on the Portfolio!

 LISTER.ZIP
 This is a program to work with lists.  You can create, save, view lists
 and import text files into the program.  This is freeware by Tom
 Showers.

 FNDADR.EXE   Search the Address files for a Name
 As requested, here is a program that will search all your address files
 for a particular phrase.  Written and Uploaded by BJ Gleason.

 VIEW.ZIP
 Greatly enhanced.  This is a must for Portfolio graphics admirers.
 Requires desktop PC clone with 640K RAM minimum and VGA capabilities.
 Written and uploaded by Don Thomas; Artisan Software. (c)1992

 REPORT.EXE   Re:Port animation
 This is an animation of the Re:Port logo, pretty neat.  Created with
 Windows 3.1 PaintBrush, my new WinPGC converter, and Don Messerli's
 PGFLIX.  Hit ESC to stop it.

 GOLF10.ARC   BGCC Golf Simulation Game v1.0
 The Brooklyn Golf & Country Club is a nine hole golf simulation game.
 It uses PGC graphics to show overhead views of the course and each
 shot.  The golfer must choose the right club and power setting.  There
 are water hazards and sand traps to deal with.  This is a single player
 version.  The back nine are  currently under construction.  Requires
 PBasic 4.91 to run.

 BDAY.EXE     Birthday Animation
 Run this graphics file when you have a birthday -- or for someone else
 who is having one!  Written by David E. Stewart

 RECIPE.ZIP   Recipe Mate
 Recipe Mate is a PBasic program which scales recipes.  If you have a
 recipe to feed six but need to make a meal for three, Recipe Mate will
 make the conversion for you.

 ROMAN.ZIP
 This is a little novelty pbasic program for the programming competition
 which deciphers roman numerals.

 PRTBIB.ZIP   Medline and Psychlit adr files
 If you have to constantly collect references which later have to be
 entered into a bibliographic database, you may find these address file
 templates useful.  Following the example at the start of each file you
 can enter in your references which will then be in a format for bulk
 input into your database.  Most bibliographic databases will import in
 medline or psychlit formats and the process can save a lot of time.

 WSH10.BAS    W Shape Calculator v1.0
 A database of Steel shapes useful for dimensioning and detailing for
 Architects and Builders.  Includes 187 entries ranging from W4x13 to
 W36x300.  Provides information on depth, width, flange thickness and
 web thickness of each W Section.  Requires PBasic 4.91. (This file is
 compressed)  Please send any comments or bugs to Hugh J. Campbell
 (70611,3212)

 STAIR.BAS    Stair Calculator v1.1
 A PBasic program to calculate the design requirements for stair
 construction.  Useful for Architects and Builders to establish number
 of riser & treads to rise to an entered floor to floor height.  Also
 calculates the size of the enclosure required.  Can help design 1,2,3
 or 4 run stairs as well as doughnut stairs and enclosures.  Requires
 PBasic 4.91 (Compressed file).

 SCARD.BAS    Golf Scorcard v1.1
 Electronic golf scorecard program for the Port.  Will keep scores for
 a foursome and will display statistics (birdies,pars).  Can continue a
 saved game at any point.  Requires PBasic 4.91 to run.

 CSH10.BAS    Channel Calculator v1.0
 Database of American Standard Steel Channel sections.  Useful for
 Architects, Engineers and Builders in dimensioning and detailing steel
 drawings.  Includes 30 different channels ranging from C 3x4.1 to C
 15x50.  Requires PBasic 4.91 to run (This is a compressed file).

 STOCK.ARC    Stock Watch
 A spreadsheet for tracking and evaluating a portfolio of securities.
 This archive contains 3 files: the documentation and two spreadsheets,
 one a bit shorter than the other.  This "system" allows you to price
 your securities, compute capital gain, annual yield and total return.

 STHNGE.ZIP   The Stonehenge Collection
 This is a collection of pgc graphic files featuring Stonehenge and a
 moody animation.  Created using Graphics Workshop, Windows Paintbrush
 and Don Messerli's graphics tools.

 FONTS.ZIP
 Sample of what you can do with Win 3.1's new PaintBrush program and
 the Portfolio, with a little help from my WINPGC program.  Contains 5
 .PGC files

 DSPPGC.ARC
 A bare bones PGC viewer for the Atari ST computer.  Will display
 Portfolio graphic compressed files in any of three ST resolutions.
 DOES NOT RUN ON PORTFOLIO.  A bare bones PGC viewer for the Atari ST
 computer.  Will display Portfolio graphic compressed files in any of
 the three ST resolutions.

 LOCK.ZIP
 These programs are from the PCMag utils disk and enable file encryption
 and decryption.  As each program is only 620 bytes in length, they are
 ideally suited to the Portfolio.

 TMW11.ZIP    Port diary utility
 Portfolio diary utility.  TMW version 1.1 provides easy and quick
 access to todays, tomorrows and any dates appointments.  The zip file
 contains the Pklited executable and a document file describing TMW's
 capabilities.



 | | |  BUILDING A SCANBOARD
 | | |  By Marvin Purdy
 | | |  ---------------------------------------------------------------


 Hand scanners are becoming a beneficial peripheral for computer users.
 Applications include scanning images for use as clip-art, scanning
 pictures for a base of family photographs, scanning text for Optical
 Character Recognition (OCR), or many other uses.  But no matter what
 idea comes to mind the hardest part of using hand scanners is pulling
 the scanner in a straight line.

 Scanboard to the rescue

 With enough practice most hand scanner users can pull a fairly straight
 line, but help yourself by constructing a simple guide.  The parts list
 is only five tems: a long, wide clipboard for enough working surface;
 a flat edge ruler at least 1/4 inch thick for guiding the scanner; a
 couple of pop rivets for attaching the ruler to the clipboard; several
 thin washers for spacing and support; and several small, hard plastic,
 adhesive backed, 1/4 inch thick stand-offs.

 NOTE: If using a steel or aluminum ruler ensure the edges are smooth
 and slightly rounded to prevent an abrasive effect on the scanner's
 plastic housing while being pulled.

 Construction

 Place the ruler along the left edge of the clipboard (or right edge for
 left handed users) and use a couple of small C-clamps to hold the ruler
 in place.   Be sure the ruler is at a right angle with the paper
 holding clip on the top of the clipboard.  Drill a hole the size of the
 rivet one-half inch from the top and bottom of the ruler's centerline.
 Insert the pop-rivets and secure them into place.

 Since the pop-rivets will cause the clipboard to sit at an angle on the
 desktop it is beneficial for the user to attach small, hard plastic
 stand-offs to back of the clipboard.  These stand-offs will keep the
 rivets from gouging the desktop and the clipboard from sliding around
 while pulling the scanner.

 Also, it is beneficial to place very thin washers as spacers between
 the ruler and clipboard.  These spacers will allow sliding of oversize
 papers or photographs under the ruler's edge for a better scanning
 alignment.  Additional washers are beneficial between the pop-rivet to
 ruler and pop-rivet to clipboard, since these washers add strength to
 these joints.

 The cost of all the necessary parts will be less than twenty dollars.
 The only problem some users will encounter is the availability of a
 pop-rivet gun, a friend can usually help those users.

 Benefits

 The hand scanner user now has a large, flat surface to work on with a
 straight, thick edge for guiding and pulling against.  With the large
 surface to work the user can place the ScanBoard anywhere and obtain
 good results.  With the thick edge of the ruler to pull along straight
 scans are obtainable and measurements are easily made for correct
 scanning program setups.

 Users with good construction skills can produce a few for their friends
 as wonderful gifts.  Some users can construct a few to sell to other
 computer club members (at cost of course, since clubs are for computer
 friends to get together).  No matter how the ScanBoard is obtained,
 hand scanning can now be enjoyable and rewarding.



 | | |  ST FORMAT NEWS PAGES
 | | |  Extracts from June 1992 Issue
 | | |  ---------------------------------------------------------------


 Extracts taken from the June issue of the UK s best-selling ST
 magazine.  For full details, catch next month s issue of ST FORMAT - on
 sale 14th May.  Alternatively, call 0458 74011 and speak to Trevor Witt
 about how to subscribe.  Failing that, write to Trevor Witt, ST FORMAT,
 The Old Barn, FREEPOST, Somerton, Somerset, TA11 7BR. ENGLAND.


 ATARI TAKES THE LEAD WITH STE-ONLY GAMES
 Since the release of the STE over three years ago we've been waiting to
 see new games which take advantage of all the enhanced features of this
 incredible machine.  Atari is finally taking the lead and writing a
 series of games which fully exploit the potential of this new machine.

 According to Product Manager, Bob Katz, the decision to produce STE-
 only games came from the top.  Sam Tramiel, boss of Atari US, wanted
 to produce STE-only games in a move to increase programmers awareness
 of the hardware potential of the machine.

 Atari has acquired the rights to several major coin-op games for
 conversion for use on the STE only, taking full advantage of the
 machines custom hardware.  The first two games to be converted are Road
 Riot Four Wheel Drive, an off-road driving game, and Steel Talons, a 3D
 polygon based helicopter simulator.  The arcade coin-ops use 256 color
 hardware graphics boards.  Though the STE comes with a palette of 512
 colors, only 16 can be displayed on screen at once but Atari are using
 a palette switching technique to overcome this hurdle and give 48
 colours per line, achieving an accurate representation of the arcade
 graphics.

 The games will take full advantage of the blitter chip to shift
 graphics around the screen at high speed and they will come with full
 8 channel DMA stereo sound.

 More importantly, the STE's built in hardware scrolling abilities will
 be supported so these games are certain to be some of the fastest
 you've ever seen on the ST.  Each game will be fully compatible with
 the Mega STE and TT range, automatically detecting which type of
 machine it is running on and adjusting itself to take advantage of
 increased clock speeds and the 68030 processor.  Bob Katz of Atari said
 these games will be the first that really thrash the STE s hardware.

 The games are being developed under the Atari Games umbrella and they
 will only be produced for Atari machines, with no other formats planned
 for release.  Each game has a dedicated development team working on it.

 More STE-only games are planned for the future, both coin-op
 conversions and original designs.  If Atari can prove that there is an
 eager market for STE only games, other software publishers are likely
 to follow suit.


 FSM GDOS READY FOR RELEASE
 A cut-down version of FSM GDOS is available for release here with the
 full version expected in about a month.  Atari is poised to release the
 full version of their revolutionary new GDOS replacement first in
 America and then in the UK.  The official price for the US version has
 been set at $49.  A cut-down version of FSM GDOS is already available
 here.

 According to Atari US Director of Communications, Bob Brodie, the US
 version of FSM GDOS will be available for sale as a separate package
 as soon as possible.  Atari UK's Bob Katz told ST FORMAT that Atari is
 looking for ways to distribute the package in the UK with a minimum
 amount of fuss.

 FSM is a direct replacement for GDOS which has been marketed for the ST
 since it's conception.  GDOS offers a range of fonts for any ST but has
 been heavily criticised for being too slow.  As a result very few fonts
 have been created and only a handful of programs make use of GDOS. That
 is set to change once FSM GDOS is officially released.  This re-written
 version is faster and much easier to use and according to Bob Brodie,
 the output speed of FSM GDOS on an Atari Laser printer is very fast, as
 fast as Calamus.

 Any program which already uses GDOS will work perfectly with the new
 FSM GDOS.  Word processing and Desktop Publishing packages are certain
 to be the main beneficiaries, though programs like Degas Elite are
 already geared up to make use of the new technology.

 The full version requires at least 1MByte of memory to run but Atari
 has produced a cut down version for 512K machines.  The cut down
 version, called Font GDOS, will run on all 512K machines.  This program
 is a direct replacement for the old version of GDOS and is
 substantially faster in operation and much easier to set up.  All the
 currently available GDOS fonts will work with Font GDOS.  New printer
 drivers have been written finally enabling owners of the Deskjet 500,
 Canon BJ-10e and other high resolution output devices to use the
 program.  Font GDOS and the full range of printer drivers is
 immediately available from the ST Club on GDOS Disk E for 2.95.  The ST
 Club has a GDOS distribution licence from Atari and can be contacted at
 0602 410241 for more information.

 In the US, the full FSM GDOS is supplied with Wordflair 2 a word-
 processor which makes extensive use of the features of this font
 scaling module.  An earlier version of Wordflair is distributed by
 Hisoft (0525 718181) in the UK.  Hisoft's David Link confirmed to ST
 FORMAT that they intend to release Wordflair 2 in the UK very shortly
 for 99.95 though Atari UK may insist that FSM GDOS is removed from the
 package.

 WHAT CAN FSM GDOS REALLY DO?
 FSM GDOS is a program which brings high resolution scaleable outline
 font technology to ST owners.  Outline fonts enable characters to be
 enlarged to any size with no loss of resolution because each letter is
 stored as a set of data.  If a letter is required at a larger point
 size it is simply redrawn at the larger size from the basic data.  Only
 one set of files is required for all sizes of a font instead of a
 different file for each point size.  Another point to note is that
 because the screen and printer fonts use the same information, the
 resultant printout is exactly the same as the screen display.

 The basic package contains the installation program, standard bitmapped
 Dutch and Swiss fonts, the 13 font Lucida family, FSM accessory and
 CPX, FSMPrint printer selector accessory and CPX, FontGDOS accessory
 and CPX and 12 printer drivers.  Printers covered include Atari Lasers,
 Canon and HP inkjets, Epson FX, HP Laserjet, the NEC P-series, HP
 Paintjet, Okimate 20 and Star printers.

 MULTITOS UPDATE
 In a fresh mood of openness, Atari UK demonstrated their new MultiTOS
 to ST FORMAT, confirming many of the details we revealed exclusively
 last month.

 MultiTOS enables you to run several applications at once in separate
 windows on an ST or TT. Several programs were demonstrated running
 simultaneously in five separate windows on a TT.  Well behaved ST
 programs will run under MultiTOS but most applications will have to be
 tweaked slightly to respond to MultiTOS commands.  Most major UK
 software developers have already started to upgrade their major
 applications to run under MultiTOS.  Compo Software, creators of That's
 Write are known to be updating their forthcoming update.

 On 68030 machines (the TT and the Falcon) MultiTOS takes advantage of
 built-in memory protection commands.  This means a program will not try
 to use an area of memory being used by another application or process,
 thereby preventing any loss of data.  However, on the 68000 based ST
 machines memory protection is not available so software needs to be
 converted to recognise these commands.

 The MultiTOS program itself is still under development and is not
 likely to be available until late in 1992.  It will be available to all
 existing Atari owners as a disk based upgrade.

 Atari US is still insisting that the Falcon 030 is due for release in
 late autumn in which case Multi TOS is unlikely to be included on ROM
 as part of the operating system.



 | | |  NEW ONLINE MAGAZINE
 | | |  STe News
 | | |  ---------------------------------------------------------------


              P  R  E  M  I  E  R  E       I  S  S  U  E  !

  /|\   /|\   /|\   /|\   /|\   /|\   /|\   /|\   /|\   /|\   /|\   /|\
     ...............................................................
    .................................................................
    .......             ....                                     ....
    .....    *********\   ..  *********************\  ********\  ....
    ...    *************\  .  *********************\  ********\  ....
    ..   ******\\\\\******\   \\\\\\\\******\\\\\\\\  ****\\\\\  ....
    ..  ******\     \\******\         ******\         ****\     .....
    ..  ******\   .   \******\  ....  ******\  .....  *******\  .....
    ..  \\******\   .  ******\  ....  ******\  .....  *******\  .....
    ....  \\******\   .\\\\\\\  ....  ******\  .....  ****\\\\  .....
    ......  \\******\   .       ....  ******\  .....  ****\     .....
    ........  \\******\   ..........  ******\  .....  ********\  ....
    ..........  \\******\    .......  ******\  .....  ********\  ....
    ..         .  \\******\    .....  ******\  .....  \\\\\\\\\  ....
    ..  ******\  .  \\******\   ....  ******\  .....             ....
    ..  ******\    .  ******\   ....  ******\  ......................
    ..  \\******\    ******\\   ....  ******\  ......................
    ...   \\*************\\\   .....  ******\  .........# ## # ......
    .....   \\*********\\\   .......  ******\  .........# ## # ......
    .......   \\\\\\\\\\   .........   \\\\\\  .........# ## # ......
    .........            ...........           ........## ## ## .....
    .................................................###  ##  ### ...
     ...............................................................

               The STE*Net (Intergalactic) On-Line Newsletter
             Bringing You The Latest News And Information About
                   Atari STE-68000 and TT-68030 Computers
                           Issue #1 Spring 1992
                   "Because ST Is Just Not Good Enough!"
                           (and Neither Is IBM!)

 "From The Publisher's Desk"

 Hello everyone.  Welcome to the first issue of "STE*Net", in electronic
 on-line form.  The ST is a nice computer, but if you want some serious
 computing power, and a reasonable price, the STE is the way to go.  Or,
 if you got bucks to spend, and want a truly amazing system, the TT is
 your answer!  This seasonal publication is designed to help you set up
 your computer system for the most efficiency and power, while paying a
 price that's fair.  You'll learn how to take full advantage of your
 1040 STE, Mega STE, and/or TT030 system.  Like, how easy and
 inexpensive it is to upgrade RAM on an STE (compared to a regular ST).
 What are those funny looking new controller ports on the left hand side
 of my STE, and what can I plug in there to make use of them?  How do I
 take advantage of the extended color pallette in my STE?  What TOS
 version should I be using?  What STE-specific software is out there for
 me to run?  These are some of the questions this newsletter will try to
 answer for you about your STE, as well as other logical solutions that
 are expected to arise in the future.  STE*Net will also try to cover
 information on the new TT030 system, and the new Atari Falcon computer
 when it's released in Germany this spring.  If you own an STE (or TT),
 and would like to write articles for STE*Net, see the end of this text
 file for details on how you can participate!  I need all the help I can
 get from my fellow Atarians!  Thank you all, and let's get this thing
 going!

 (Editor Note:  You can find future releases of STE on:  209-636-2RAD
 The -=Rad=- BBS, 408-745-2191 AtariBase BBS, 213-461-2196 CodeHead
 Quarters BBS, plus CompuServe, GEnie, DelPhi, and many many other
 networks.



 | | |  8-BIT UPDATE
 | | |  Z*Magazine Issue #207 Contents
 | | |  ---------------------------------------------------------------


 The lastest Issue of Z*Magazine, the original Atari online magazine
 continues production with Issue #207.  In this edition...

 * ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE MAGAZINE DEBUTS
 Press Release announcing the merger of Z*Net Online and Atari Explorer
 tp produce Atari Explorer Online Magazine.  Also, a full transcript of
 the recent Atari Explorer Conference on GEnie.

 * STAR*LINX BBS - GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM
 APB is reviewed by a number of user of the Star*Linx BBS.  Comments
 and ratings by all who commented are included.

 * BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE
 A complete solution to the game.

 * PERUSING THE INTERNET
 An overview of various topics including...
 o Recent postings on the net indicate that an alpha copy of Bob Puff's
   LZH extractor (v0.1) is in circulation.
 o COLRDUMP.BXE that prints the Colrview RGB pictures to a 24 pin Epson
   compatible color printer.
 o Digi-Studio
 o Mail Order Companies
 o CSS Wants a 6502 Programmer
 o Cold Only Power Supply
 o Cheap 360K DS/DD Floppies
 o Percom Drives



 | | |  AEO FEATURED FILE
 | | |  By John Jainschigg
 | | |  ---------------------------------------------------------------


 A DA for Viewing Degas Pictures

 Articles for Atari Explorer are edited on word processors.  The only
 thing lacking with this setup is that it requires us to keep installed
 one of the popular DA "file viewers," in order to examine illustrations
 -- frequently saved as Degas .PI? or .PC? files -- while writing
 captions, etc.  What these "file viewers" do: loading an image into a
 window, covers most of the essential themes of GEM programming.

 That said, this issue's add-in program restates those themes in simpler
 fashion.  It's a Desk Accessory that loads Degas .PI? and .PC? files
 into a resizeable viewing window.  Scroll bars let you "pan" the window
 over the face of the illustration, and a new illustration can be loaded
 by clicking the "fuller" button in the window's upper-right-hand
 corner.

 Most of the essential techniques of GEM programming are used, and very
 little else.  Covered are a list of topics including: application
 launching, the ST boot process, desk accessories, evnt_multi
 programming techniques, window creation and management, the VDI
 interface, bit-blitting, the File Selector ... and (as they say) more!

 C-language source code (PVIEW.C) and an executable version of the
 accessory (PVIEW.ACC) are compressed with this issue of Atari Explorer
 Online.  The source code can be reviewed with any text editor.  To use
 the accessory, just place the file PVIEW.ACC in the root directory of
 your boot drive, and reboot to install.


 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 To  sign up for GEnie service call (with modem)  [phone].   Upon
 connection type HHH and hit <return>.  Wait for the U#= prompt and type
 XTX99436,GEnie and hit <return>.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 To sign up for CompuServe service call (with phone) [phone]. Ask
 for operator #198.  You will be promptly sent a $15.00 free  membership
 kit.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Atari Explorer Online Magazine is a bi-weekly  publication covering the
 Atari computer  community.  Material published in  this edition may  be
 reprinted in non-commercial publications unless otherwise noted  at the
 top of  the  article.  Opinions  presented  herein  are  those  of  the
 individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those  of  the staff.
 Atari Explorer Online Magazine  is  Copyright (c)1992,  Atari  Computer
 Corporation.   Z*Net and the Z*Net Newswire are copyright(c)1992, Z*Net
 News Service/Ron Kovacs.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                      Atari Explorer Online Magazine
                   "The Official Atari Online Journal"
               Copyright (c)1992, Atari Computer Corporation
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


/************************************************
          PANEL MANAGER
*************************************************/

#include <osbind.h>
#include <obdefs.h>
#include <aesbind.h>
#include <gemdefs.h>
#include <vdibind.h>

#define NOWINDOW    0        /* There be no window */
#define WPARMS        NAME | CLOSER | MOVER |\
            FULLER | SIZER | VSLIDE | HSLIDE

#define WAW        200
#define WAH        200

/* Buffers */

char buffer[32*1024L];        /* Screen buffer */
char *sc;            /* Screen base pointer */
int header[17];            /* Header buffer */
int xs = 0,ys = 0;        /* Pointers into screen buffer */
int handle;            /* TOS file handle */

/* Evnt_multi() idiocy */

int w_handle = NOWINDOW;    /* Accessory window handle */
int xd,yd;            /* X and Y offsets to window work area */
int mx,my,mb,mk;        /* Dummy variables for mouse event */
Mouse mouse = {&mx,&my,&mb,&mk};/* Dummy pointers to said variables */
int key,dum;            /* More dummy variables */
int msgbuf[8];            /* AES message buffer */
int event;            /* AES event holding variable */

/* VDI binding control arrays and similar stuff */

int contrl[12],intin[128],intout[128],ptsin[128],ptsout[128],wks_handle;
int work_in[] = {1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2};
int work_out[57];
int xrast,yrast;
int rez;
int menu_id;                    /* Acc's menu-item ID */

int wx,wy,ww,wh;                /* Window rect */
int bx,by,bw,bh;                /* Work-area rect */
int xd,yd,wd,hd;                /* Offset */

int tx,ty,tw,th;                /* Temporary coords */

/* Memory form definition blocks */

FDB source = {0L,640,400,40,0,1,0,0,0};
FDB dest   = {0L,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0};

char file[80];

/************************************************
        File Selector
*************************************************/

filename()
{
int drv,button;
static char path[160];
char *p = path;

if (path[0] == '\0'){
    *p++ = (drv = Dgetdrv()) + 'A';
    *p++ = ':';
    Dgetpath(p,drv + 1);
    }
else{
    p = path + strlen(path) - 1;
    while(*p != '\\' && *p != ':')
        *p-- = '\0';
    }

strcat(path,"*.P?3");
*file = '\0';

do{
    while(!fsel_input(path,file,&button));
    if (!button)
        return(-1);
    p = path + strlen(path) - 1;
    while(*p != '\\') *p-- = '\0';
    strcat(path,file);
    } while ((handle = Fopen(path,0)) < 0);
return(handle);
}

/************************************************
        Get PC3 File
*************************************************/

read_pc3()
{
char *d = sc,*base = sc + 32000L,*buf,*s;
int count;

s = buf = (char *) Malloc(32000L);

if (Fread(handle,32000L,buf) < 0)
    return(-1);

while(1) {
    if ((count = *s++) == -128)
        continue;

    if (count < 0){
        count = -count + 1;
        while(count--){
            *d++ = *s;
            if (d == base)
                goto ripcord;
            }
        s++;
        }
    else {
        count++;
        while(count--){
            *d++ = *s++;
            if (d == base)
                goto ripcord;
            }
        }
    }
ripcord:
Mfree(buf);
return(1);
}

/************************************************
        Get PI3 File
*************************************************/

getpic()
{
if (filename() < 0)
    return(-1);
if (Fread(handle,34L,header) < 0)
    return(-1);
if (header[0] & 0x0003 != rez){
    Fclose(handle);
    return(-1);
    }
if (!(header[0] & 0x8000)){
    if (Fread(handle,32000L,sc) < 0)
        return(-1);
    }
else
    if (read_pc3() < 0)
        return(-1);
return(Fclose(handle));
}

/************************************************
        Set Slider Size
*************************************************/

set_slider_size()
{
int hsl,vsl;

hsl = (long) bw * 1000L / (long) xrast;
vsl = (long) bh * 1000L / (long) yrast;
wind_set(w_handle,WF_HSLSIZE,hsl,0,0,0);
wind_set(w_handle,WF_VSLSIZE,vsl,0,0,0);
}

/************************************************
        Set Slider Pos
*************************************************/

set_slider_pos()
{
int hsl,vsl;

hsl = (long) xs * 1000L / (long) xrast;
vsl = (long) ys * 1000L / (long) yrast;
wind_set(w_handle,WF_HSLIDE,hsl,0,0,0);
wind_set(w_handle,WF_VSLIDE,vsl,0,0,0);
}

/************************************************
           MAKE WINDOW
*************************************************/

wind_make()
{
bx = (xrast - WAW) >> 1; by = (yrast - WAH) >> 1;
bw = WAW; bh = WAH;
wind_calc(0,WPARMS,bx,by,bw,bh,&wx,&wy,&ww,&wh);
xd = bx - wx; yd = by - wy; wd = ww - bw; hd = wh - bh;
w_handle = wind_create(WPARMS,wx,wy,ww,wh);
wind_set(w_handle,WF_NAME,file,0,0);
wind_set(w_handle,WF_HSLIDE,1,0,0,0);
wind_set(w_handle,WF_VSLIDE,1,0,0,0);
set_slider_size();
set_slider_pos();
wind_open(w_handle,wx,wy,ww,wh);
}

/************************************************
      Blit from buffer to window
*************************************************/

blit(x,y,w,h)
int x,y,w,h;
{
int xyc[4] = {x,y,x + w - 1,y + h - 1};
int xy[8];

if (xyc[3] > xrast - 1)
    xyc[3] = xrast - 1;
if (xyc[4] > yrast - 1)
    xyc[4] = yrast - 1;

vs_clip(wks_handle,1,xyc);
xy[0] = xs; xy[1] = ys; xy[2] = xs + bw - 1; xy[3] = ys + bh - 1;
xy[4] = bx; xy[5] = by; xy[6] = bx + bw - 1; xy[7] = by + bh - 1;
vro_cpyfm(wks_handle,3,xy,&source,&dest);
}

/************************************************
    Open VDI Virtual Workstation
*************************************************/

void open_wk()
{
wks_handle = graf_handle(&dum,&dum,&dum,&dum);
v_opnvwk(work_in,&wks_handle,work_out);
xrast = work_out[0]; yrast = work_out[1];
rez = Getrez();
}

/************************************************
        Mainline Routine
*************************************************/

main()
{
extern int gl_apid;
int loaded = -1;                /* Pic loaded? */

appl_init();                    /* Register APP */
menu_id = menu_register(gl_apid,"  PIView  ");    /* Register ACC */
open_wk();                    /* Open workstation */

/* Set buffer pointer to even page of memory */

sc = (char *) (((long) buffer + 0xFFL) & ~(0xffL));

source.fd_addr = (long) sc;

for(;;){

    event = evnt_multi(MU_MESAG,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,
                msgbuf,1000,0,mouse,&key,&dum);

    if (event & MU_MESAG){
          switch(msgbuf[0]){
               case(AC_OPEN):
                    if (msgbuf[4] == menu_id){
                         if (w_handle == NOWINDOW){
                              if (loaded < 0){
                            loaded = getpic();
                            if (loaded >= 0)
                                wind_make();
                            }
                              else
                            wind_make();

                              }
                         else
                              wind_set(w_handle,WF_TOP,0,0,0,0);
                          }
                break;

            case(AC_CLOSE):
                if (msgbuf[3] == menu_id)
                    w_handle = NOWINDOW;
                break;

            case(WM_CLOSED):
                if (msgbuf[3] == w_handle){
                    wind_close(w_handle);
                    wind_delete(w_handle);
                    w_handle = NOWINDOW;
                    }
                break;

            case(WM_MOVED):
                if (msgbuf[3] == w_handle){
                    bx = (wx = msgbuf[4]) + xd;
                    by = (wy = msgbuf[5]) + yd;
                    wind_set(w_handle,WF_CURRXYWH,wx,wy,ww,wh);
                    }
                break;

            case(WM_TOPPED):
            case(WM_NEWTOP):
                if (msgbuf[3] == w_handle)
                    wind_set(w_handle,WF_TOP,0,0,0,0);
                break;

            case(WM_REDRAW):
                if (msgbuf[3] == w_handle){
                wind_update(BEG_UPDATE);
                graf_mouse(M_OFF,0L);
                wind_get(w_handle,WF_FIRSTXYWH,&tx,&ty,&tw,&th);
                while(tw && th){
                    blit(tx,ty,tw,th);
                    wind_get(w_handle,WF_NEXTXYWH,
                        &tx,&ty,&tw,&th);
                    }
                graf_mouse(M_ON,0L);
                wind_update(END_UPDATE);
                }
                break;

            case(WM_SIZED):
                if (msgbuf[3] == w_handle){
                wx = msgbuf[4];
                wy = msgbuf[5];
                ww = msgbuf[6];
                wh = msgbuf[7];
                wind_set(w_handle,WF_CURRXYWH,wx,wy,ww,wh);
                wind_get(w_handle,WF_WORKXYWH,&bx,&by,&bw,&bh);
                if (xs + bw > xrast - 1)
                    xs = xrast - bw - 1;
                if (ys + bh > yrast - 1)
                    ys = yrast - bh - 1;
                set_slider_size();
                set_slider_pos();
                }
                break;

            case(WM_FULLED):
                if (msgbuf[3] == w_handle){
                if (getpic() >= 0){
                wind_update(BEG_UPDATE);
                graf_mouse(M_OFF,0L);
                blit(bx,by,bw,bh);
                graf_mouse(M_ON,0L);
                wind_update(END_UPDATE);
                }
                }
                break;

            case(WM_HSLID):
                if (msgbuf[3] == w_handle){
                xs = (long) msgbuf[4] * (long) (xrast - bw - 1) / 1000L;
                wind_set(w_handle,WF_HSLIDE,msgbuf[4],0,0,0);
                wind_update(BEG_UPDATE);
                graf_mouse(M_OFF,0L);
                blit(bx,by,bw,bh);
                graf_mouse(M_ON,0L);
                wind_update(END_UPDATE);
                }
                break;

            case(WM_VSLID):
                if (msgbuf[3] == w_handle){
                ys = (long) msgbuf[4] * (long) (yrast - bh - 1) / 1000L;
                wind_set(w_handle,WF_VSLIDE,msgbuf[4],0,0,0);
                wind_update(BEG_UPDATE);
                graf_mouse(M_OFF,0L);
                blit(bx,by,bw,bh);
                graf_mouse(M_ON,0L);
                wind_update(END_UPDATE);
                }
                break;

            }
        }
    }
}