() () () () () () () () () () () () ()¢ ¢ Newsletter Software Mods, by¢ Thomas J. Andrews, member of the¢ OL' HACKERS. (Ed. Tom, some time¢ ago, was the original modifier of¢ this newsletter-and he has further¢ improved it. Thanks Tom, you did a¢ great job as usual! A.P.)¢ ****¢ ¢ My Nov/Dec '95 Ol' Hackers¢ Newsletter arrived yesterday, and I¢ read how Joe Hicswa had some trouble¢ printing the last newsletter due to¢ inattention to the printer, and he¢ wanted to be able to print just a¢ couple of the pages to fix it. I also¢ read that other members comiserated,¢ having had similar problems from time¢ to time themselves.¢ ¢ Well, allow me to add my name to¢ the list of victims. I haven't had¢ the problem with the newsletter, since¢ I usually read it from the screen, but¢ I have had it with Print Star, and an¢ early version of Print Star is where¢ the NEWSLTR.BAS print routines came¢ from.¢ ¢ I fixed the problem in Print Star¢ with version 1.5, but never got around¢ to making similar additions to¢ NEWSLTR.BAS. I apologize for that¢ oversight, and wish to try to make up¢ for it now. Therefore, I've made some¢ modifications to NEWSLTR.BAS, actually¢ the most extensive modifications since¢ I worked on Kris Holtegaard's original¢ program.¢ ¢ NEWSLTR.BAS will now print any¢ partial block of pages you specify.¢ Just before printing, you will be¢ asked if you want to print Every page,¢ or a Partial block. Press "E" to¢ print every page, or "P" for a partial¢ block. If you press "P", you will be¢ asked for the first and last page¢ numbers of the proposed block. The¢ first page must be 1 or greater, and¢ the last must be greater than or equal¢ to the first. If you specify a first¢ or last page greater than the number¢ of pages required to print the files,¢ NEWSLTR.BAS will stop when it runs out¢ of files to print, even if nothing has¢ been printed.¢ ¢ While I was at it, I made the¢ procedure for printing on both sides¢ of the paper easier, too. Now, when¢ you are asked if you want to print¢ All, Odd, or Even pages, you will also¢ be asked if you want to print First¢ the Odd, then the Even pages. If you¢ choose this new option by pressing¢ "F", all the odd pages (of the block¢ you specify) will be printed first,¢ after which the program will pause for¢ you to flip the paper over. Once the¢ paper is flipped, and your printer is¢ ready, press a key and the¢ even-numbered pages will be printed.¢ ¢ Another thing NEWSLTR.BAS now¢ does is let you know which page is¢ currently being loaded into the¢ buffer. This is to let you know that¢ everything is proceeding as it should,¢ and things haven't gone off into¢ NeverLand. Don't be alarmed when¢ pages are loaded that aren't to be¢ printed. It's necessary for proper¢ formatting.¢ ¢ A few last modifications restore¢ the left margin and cursor visibility¢ when exiting to BASIC, correct a¢ couple of minor bugs, and improve part¢ of the error trapping. Finally, I¢ used Turbo BASIC XL to renumber the¢ program to make future mods a bit¢ easier to fit in.¢ ¢ Now, if the phone company will¢ just get the line fixed so there isn't¢ so much static in it, like there has¢ been ever since that first nor'easter¢ hit early this week, I'll ship this to¢ Alan Sharkis via GEnie so he can relay¢ it to Alex.¢ ¢ I hope everyone approves of the¢ mods I've made here. If anyone has¢ any comments, suggestions, or problems¢ with the newsletter program, be sure¢ to let me know. I might be able to¢ help! My postal address is on the¢ list that is sent to all members. My¢ Internet address is¢ T.ANDREWS16@GENIE.GEIS.COM and I have¢ been known to check my email more¢ regularly than my postal mail.¢ ¢ () () () () () Enjoy. () () () () ()¢
