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Text File | 1992-10-07 | 31.0 KB | 699 lines

"Paradise Calling" The "Land of M&M's..... Modems & Mice" By Rob Brown "The Speed Merchant" (Notes from the Author - Mike Caughran) As a longtime computer enthusiast, so much so that I am now working in the field that once was my hobby, I particularly enjoy finding a piece of software that is functional, easy to install, and performs without a massive effort in candle- light futility..... lets face it, hours of DOC printing, eye-squinted perusing, and frustrated key banging shouldn't be anyone's idea of a "Good Time". Installations should be straight forward, with user input required only for the basics and automated to a fault... Afterwards, the weaving through seemingly ever increasingly complex "Help Screens" can also be cause for the usual plethora of teeth grinding, hair pulling, and animal molestation threats. During execution, any additionally required "Setup" should be simple to perform and hard to screw up. Communications programs have long been on my list of notoriously and needlessly dificult to install, setup, and use programs. It seems authors have gotten their jollys by contemplating the users forced to learn .BAT language to run the program, the AT command set to properly setup their modem, and lets not even mention the "FUN" envolved in "External" protocols, script writing, archive maintenance, DOS command utilities, or adding ANY external editor.... (Fire Up, Dial Out, and Download..errrrrah, UPLOAD too !) For the most part, Comm Programs seem dedicated to a sameness of design possibly superceded only by Political Candidates. Well finally comes a truely refeshing player in the world of electronic on-line communications that is deserving of special mention........... The name is : Cedar Island Link - Cedar Island Software by Mike Caughran. Last edition CILNK252.ZIP (Verified on 10-02-92 with Juneau RBBS.) The archive includes a file_id.diz of : * Elegantly simple to use Mouse-Based COMM * * program. Supports Zmodem,Zmodem-resume, * * Auto-Zmodem d/l,Ymodem,YmodemG,Xmodem1K, * * Xmodem1KG,Xmodem,Kermit,ASCII,CompuServ * * B+ and 4 external protocols!! ANSI/VT100 * * & ANSI music. Host/Chat/DOORWAY modes. * * XTREE-like utility. Editor. DeskView * * aware. Windows PIF/ICON. Internal UNZIP.* * "Mouse Pass-through" SuperVGA GIF viewer * * 16550/fast modem support. Shareware:$25 * If you are like me, you noticed the ".....Mouse-Based COMM program" and later the "Mouse Pass-through", not that the rest of the description is not without interest... Well I had to grab this one for a test drive... and this is what I found.... First, I unZip'd the archive into a directory named test, having long since learned that many programs will only install themselves properly if started from a directory named other than the program name. Upon a directory listing I saw an install.exe, so throwing caution to the wind, away I went into that Never-Never Land of Auto-Install/Destruct. Up popped a screen : (shortened for this review) ╒═══════════════════════ Cedar Island Link Installation ═══════════════════════╕ │░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│ │░░░╒════════════════════════════ Instructions ════════════════════════════╕░░░│ │░░░│ Fill in the following information. │░░░│ │░░░│ │░░░│ │░░░╘══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛░░░│ │░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│ │░░░░░ Directory to install from: A: ░░░░░│ │░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│ │░░░░░ Directory to install into: C:\CILINK ░░░░░│ │░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│ │░░░░░ Directory for downloads : C:\CILINK\FILES ░░░░░│ │░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│ │░░░░░ Com port (1,2,3,or 4) : 1 ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│ │░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│ ╘══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Actually only one question popped up, then the second followed, and so on... Being on my LAN, I changed the A: to Q:\TEST, the C:'s to P: , and the default download dir to P:\DN. The install was over before I could blink, creating the directories as needed and ending in the P:\CILINK directory. Quick as a flash, I looked for *.bat, then *.com, and then found a cilink.exe, which I ran, no DOC's for this misguided reviewer.... A pretty screen about CIS (Cedar Island Software) displayed and in a few seconds a menu appeared. Main menu : ╒══════════════════════════ Cedar Island Link ═══════════════════════════╕ │ DialList FileTransfer HangUp Capture Setup Utilities Help Exit ▒│ ╘══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ ^ Notice this (more later) ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ The D, F, H, C, S, U, E, and that funny bar were highlighted and presumed to be hotkeys. Well hey, I have a USR Dual Standard, and things can't be that easy ??? So "S" and up came a Sub-Menu, however I am not that easily fooled, so i hit ESC and clicked on Setup, and up came the same Sub-menu : ╒═══════════════╕ │ Directory │ The D, M, C, a (Baud), P, o (Stop), r (Protocol), │ Modem Init │ E, T, S, L, and D's were all highlighted and │ Com Port │ a mouse click produced the expected results. │ Baud rate │ │ Data Bits │ A "D" brought a chance to change the default │ Parity │ UpLoad/DownLoad Directory. │ Stop Bits │ │ Protocol │ A "M" brought a default modem init string of │ Emulation │ ATZ and no ^M, |, or other funny character ╞ Toggles ╡ needed if a change was required. Since I have │ Save setup │ my default NRAM setup this was GREAT... Can't │ Load setup │ tell you how many times I have had to redo │ Display setup │ my settings after trying XYZzzz Comm Programs. ╘═══════════════╛ (Each entry as highlighted provided a one line explanation at the bottom of the screen, which I liked.) Since the install took care of Dir and Com Port, plus the Init was ok, I checked "B" and was given a choice of 300, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, and even 115200 (I wish), so I lept at 57600. Checking D, P, and S, they were set at the expected 8-N-1 and I particularly like the ease of changing only one of them if needed. After a deep breath, I tackled "r" (Protocols) and was greated with : ╒══════════════╕ │ XMODEM │ Which is certainly a reasonable number │ XMODEM 1K │ of built-ins with my "Basic" favorites │ XMODEM 1KG │ being X-1KG, Y-G, and Z/R (resume). │ YMODEM │ Since there were 4 External options, │ YMODEMG │ I decide I could easily whip up a │ ZMODEM │ menuing .BAT to run the other 40 or │ ZMODEM/R │ so I use for, if nothing else, the │ KERMIT │ hell of it. A modem program without │ ASCII │ K9X, CModem, TModem, JModem, HS/Link, │ External1 │ SuperK, SuperK-G, and so on, of course │ External2 │ all in batch mode or single, seems naked │ External3 │ to me. This is certainly a list for ANY │ External4 │ novice or serious BBS'er..... How good ╘══════════════╛ was the internal ZModem, sigh... Next was "E" and was given a choice of ANSI, TTY, and VT100. Not lengthy, yet they are the functionals for BBS'ing. The next unknown was "T" and up came : ╒══════════╕ │ Echo │ E allowed Echo On or Echo Off. │ CR/LF │ C was CR only or CR and LF. │ RTS/CTS │ R was Use or Don't Use RTS/CTS. │ XON/XOFF │ X was Use or Don't Use XON/XOFF │ Dial │ D was Tone, Pulse, or Default │ MouseCR │ M was Mouse CR On or CR Off. ╘══════════╛ (Again, as each entry choice was highlighted, a little explanation line appeared at the bottom). (XON/XOFF should be OFF, and RTS/CTS should be ON for error corecting modems.) Back to the Main Menu, "S" and "L" were obvious, as now expected, and a "D" brought : ╒══════════════════════════ Current Configuration ══════════════════════════╕ │ Emulation ANSI │ │ Echo Off (The display was not this │ │ Convert CR to CR/LF Off crowded, I deleted some │ │ Hardware flow control On blank lines for brevity.) │ │ Software flow control Off │ │ Modem dialing Tone │ │ Baud rate 57600 │ │ Parity None │ │ Data bits 8 │ │ Stop bits 1 │ │ COM port COM1 │ │ Default protocol ZMODEM/R │ │ Default download dir D:\DN │ │ Modem init string ATZ │ ╘════════════════════════════════ Press ESC ════════════════════════════════╛ So I pressed ESC and moused over to "Utilities", now with some guarded expectations of more qualtity options. A "U" begat : ╒══════════════════╕ │ DOS Shell │ "D" took me straight to a DOS prompt with │ Quick DOS Shell │ less than 5K of CILINK left in memory. │ Editor │ CILINK uses EMS, XMS, or DISK for swapping │ Directory │ during a SHELL. I felt the left side of my ╘══════════════════╛ mouth start a grin.. (Right Brained I guess) The "Q" also went to DOS, yet no swapping took place so there was 384K of CILINK in memory. Cute feature for systems using floppies or HD swaps, I suppose........ An "E" brought up CIEDIT, very similiar to DOS 5.0's Editor, and very simple to use. This editor is parti- cularly nice if using an older DOS......... and of course it had full mouse support. Clicking on "r' (Directory), there appeared a prompt that already had the default Up/Down Path that could be edited. ENTER brought a SORTED dir listing with the options of F1 = View ; F2 = Del, F3 = UnZip; and ESC to quit. The Viewer viewed, the Del deleted, and the UnZip did its thing without a hitch. Again at the Main Menu, "C" prompted for a Capture Filename with CAPTURE.FIL as the default. The "H" asked if I wanted to hangup with a "Y" or ENTER doing so, a "N" went back to the Main Menu. The "F" from the Main Menu brought a choice of UpLoad or DownLoad and selecting either produced a list of the protocols. The same as from the Setup Sub-Menu. After selecting a protocol, a prompt for filename box appeared. A second deep breath and a click on the Main Menu's "D" for DialList produced : (This has been altered) F1=Help Cedar Island Link F10=Menu ╒══════════════════════════ Phone Number Selection ══════════════════════════╕ │ CompuServ 2400 1-800-848-4480 2400 8I1 │ CompuServ 9600 1-800-331-7166 9600 8I1 ▓ │ Juneau RBBS 1 1-907-789-1694 2400 8N1 ░ │ Juneau RBBS 2 1-907-789-7499 57600 8N1 ░ │ AlaskaNet 1-907-789-1976 2400 8I1 ░ │ Juneau City Library (PC Sig) 1-907-586-6278 2400 8N1 ░ │ Bloom Unit BBS 1-407-687-8712 2400 8N1 ░ │ Pyramid BBS 1-901-372-7912 57600 8N1 pyramid.scr ░ │ Public Brand Software 1-317-856-2087 2400 8N1 ░ │ Stillwater 1-901-363-7301 57600 8N1 stillh20.scr ░ │ UnderDog's MiniNet 1-206-723-6728 57600 8N1 dog.scr ░ │ Keystone BBS (Fla.) 1-904-473-9790 57600 8N1 keystone.scr ░ │ MPCUG (Public Line) 1-901-368-1764 57600 8N1 mpcug.scr ░ ╘══════════════ Esc=Exit F7=Edit Script F8=Delete F9=Modify ══════════════╛ Any entry could be selected by using the arrow keys, clicking on selection with mouse, and quick scrolling by using mouse on the right side control edge. F9 displayed : ┌───────── Fill in the following information ──────────┐ │ │ │ BBS Name: Juneau RBBS 2 │ │ Phone #: 1-907-789-7499 │ │ Baud: 57600 │ │ Data Bits: 8 [8,7] │ │ Parity: N [N,E,O,M,S,I] │ │ Stop Bits: 1 [1,2] │ │ Autologon Script: │ │ Special Modem command: ATB1 │ │ │ └────────── Press CTRL-Enter to save changes ──────────┘ I liked to have jumped out of my drawers. Only three days ago I critiqued a Comm Program and requested the Author to add an easy way to send modem commands from the Dial Dir, without having to use PreFixes. With the USR D/S, I am constantly switching between ATB0 (V.32bis Mode) and ATB1 (USR's HST Mode). Notice again, no control characters required to send the "Special Modem command". The middle of my mouth began to move up to the level of my left lip.... The Dial Dir supports 200 entries and to add one just cursor to a blank and hit F9. Those with a little experience, and with a need, can easily overcome the 200 limit by several means. F7 produced an editor, for producing scripts, that used Windows 3.x compatible functions, explained in the CIEDIT.DOC. This was a natural for a Comm Program that used a Mouse... The learning curve of this editor, which is minimal, could be totally eliminated. Just use any editor you like from the Utilities Menu. Save any script in ASCII format with a .SCR extension. For some reason, the built-in script editor is not the same as the one called by Utilities from the Main Menu ? Author's note : --------------------------------------------------------- I thought an internal editor would be simplest in that case. Maybe I was wrong. I will have to think about it. --------------------------------------------------------- At the Main Menu : F1 for Help produces : ╒═════════ For more info see CILINK.DOC ═════════╕ │ │ │ F1 Display this help screen │ │ F2 Show current configuration │ │ PgUp Upload a file using default protocol │ │ PgDn Download a file using default protocol │ │ Alt-D Select a number to dial │ │ Alt-H Hang up │ │ Alt-C Chat mode │ │ Alt-G Grab the screen to disk │ │ Alt-X Quit Cedar Island Link │ │ Alt-L Host Mode │ │ Alt-= DoorWay Mode │ │ Home Clear the screen │ │ │ │ F10 Select the menu bar │ │ │ ╘════════════════════ Press ESC ═════════════════════╛ Which certainly is as easy as it gets. Heck, I almost forgot ! Remember that little area that I pointed out on the Main Menu (Right Side), well here is what is displayed with a simple click of the mouse. ╒══════════╕ │ Upload │ As expected, U, D, C, H, and G are all hot keys. │ Download │ Mouseable of course. │ Chatmode │ │ Hostmode │ │ Grab │ "G" is a screen capture with filename prompt. ╘══════════╛ CIL has built in split-screen chat mode, host mode, and even a Doorway mode for using those nifty BBS doors that some are enticed to. As for a SCRIPT lanquage with simplicty, try this one on ! Only 5 commands... The valid script commands are: Delay - Do nothing for a given number of seconds. WaitFor - Wait for a string of text. DoShell - If the previous WaitFor was successful then Shell to DOS. SendTxt - Send a string of text. A carriage return is also sent after the string is sent. SendKey - Send a character. The character must be entered in either decimal or hex format. For example, to send an ESC character you would enter either SendKey 27 or SendKey $1B. Several example scripts are included, the one for CompuServe : COMPUSER.SCR Delay 2 SendKey 13 WaitFor Host Name: SendTxt CIS WaitFor User ID: SendTxt ######,#### WaitFor Password: SendTxt AAAAAAAAAAA Notice again, no control or quoting characters needed.... My right lip was creeping up..... Relizing that one of the BBS's I wanted to call, StillWater, was a PCBoard that would ask me 1) Language, 2) Color, 3) My Name, 4) Password, and 5) Check New Mail, I cheated a little and produced : (StillH20.scr) Delay 2 [1) I have enough problems with English and SendTxt 1 saw no reason to look for a "String"] Delay 2 [2) Again, I wanted color, didn't bother SendTxt Y to look for string] Waitfor What is [3) Decide to try part of a "String"] Delay 1 SendTxt Rob Brown Delay 1 [4) No string, getting redundant aren't I] SendTxt Password Waitfor Scan [5) Second partial look for a "String"] Delay 1 (No cat calls, I use the Mail Door and SendTxt N participate in a lot of echos/nets.) This worked right out of the box, so to speak, as did similiar for several BBS's requiring dual escapes and that have those hard to SCRIPT for ANSI prompts... This is a SCRIPT lanquage meant to warm a BBS'er cold heart, and I found myself consciously smiling. Producing Scripts for auto-mail runs proved easier than I had ever imagined. (Hint, if you do not know the process, logon with the CAPTURE active, proceed as you desire the script to duplicate, edit that and save it to the appropriate filename.scr.) Okay, Okay, I was as anxious to logon to a few favorites as you probably are now..... WHAT A JOY ! Click on "N" for New and there was a "N" entered at the prompt and it was faster than keying it in. Display a list of files, start with cursor on the left side of the file name, drag it to the right side, drop to the prompt, release mouse and lo and behold, there came the name as smooth as could be half expected.(g) Even managed to edit a few messages on-line with the Mouse trick. The right mouse button popped up the main menu, as did an F10. With the "Mouse Pass Through", I found DOOR games to be more enjoyable and simpler to use, I mean ONE handed.... I called several BBS's with different software operating Wildcat, PCBoard, RBBS, TBBS, Maximus, SeachLight, and even OPUS. The mouse worked like a champ on them all ! BTW, Cedar Island Link works on AT's and PS2's. Next, I tried DesqView. CIL came with a .DVP file (as well as a Windows .pif and a .ico), so I used it and the mouse quit working ??? Feverishly I changed the .DVP to "Writes Directly to Screen" from "N" to "Y" and back came the mouse, WHEW ! Grinning from ear to ear now.....I run most every- thing under DesqView, even Windows, so DV operation was VERY important. Don't worry, CILink works fully in DOS ! Later, the swap was going to DISK, so I changed the default EMS setting from 256K to 384K so that an EMS swap would occur. (Uses Disk if EMS or XMS is not available.) In anticipation of later .GIF viewing, the "Virtual Text/Graphics" was changed to Text, "Displays Graphics Information" to Yes, the Text Pages were set to 2, Graphics Pages to 4, the Max. Program Memory to 700 (ensures max. DOS memory allocations under the various setups I boot to), "Starting Height & Width" 25 x 80, and "Can be swapped out" to No. This program is definitely DV aware ! Windows users can edit the .PIF file in the same manner. CIL performed seamlessly under Windows 3.1. (Windows users might want to locate a nifty utility named DV2WIN.ZIP, which helps DV aware programs work smoother in Windows 3.1.) Author's note : -------------------------------------------------------- Nifty Windows 3.1 tricks : Obtain the MicroSoft mouse driver V8.2 from disk 4 of the Window 3.1 distribution disks and install it. COPY A:\MOUSE_CO_ C:\WINDOWS CD C:\WINDOWS EXPAND A:MOUSE.CO_ C:\MOUSE.COM Now when you run CILINK in a Windows 3.1 window (rather than fullscreen) the mouse cursor will be able to step on CILINK's hot buttons as though CILINK were a real Windows application. Second Windows trick. Use hardware handshaking rather than Xon/Xoff handshaking ----------------------------------------------------------- (Reviewer's note : This works with MS Mouse 8.21a also !) Here is the ZModem DL Screen : (Typical of the Protocols) ╒════════════════════ Protocol Download ═════════════════════╕ │ Protocol: Zmodem Bytes received: 0 │ │ Block check: Crc32 Bytes remaining: │ │ File name: Blocks received: 0 │ │ File size: Blocks remaining: │ │ Block size: 1024 Block errors: 0 │ │ Total blocks: Total errors: 0 │ │ │ │ Est. time: 0:00 Throughput: 0 CPS │ │ Elapsed time: 0:00 Efficiency: 0% │ │ Remaining time: 0:00 │ │ │ │ Progress: ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ │ │ Status: Ok │ │────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│ │ Baud: 57600 StopBits: 1 │ │ DataBits: 8 Parity: None │ │ Sfw Flow: Off Hdw Flow: On │ │ │ │ $25 to: Cedar Island Software 9018 Division St, Juneau AK │ ╘════════════════════ Press ESC to abort ════════════════════╛ As you can see, it certainly is informative yet clean. All protocols functioned flawlessly up to 57600. ZModem and Y-G were as fast as any external implementation I ever used. Only small glitch was the "Est. Time" was calculated at the locked port rate, and did not change to the actual time as the DL/UL proceeded. No big deal in my mind. Error correction and ZResume worked flawlessly, as now expected. Nice to see what can only be described as 100% FIFO support for my 16550AFN UART. Authors note : ---------------------------------------------------------- As of CILINK 2.52 the speeds are calculated based upon the connect speed rather than the locked port speed. That way, if you are running V.42 and your locked speed is higher than the connect speed the throughput will display as 115% or better depending on your data. Even Qmodem can't do this! ---------------------------------------------------------- (Reviewer's added note : Hmmm, Ya'know he's right !) When I finally quit playing and read the DOC's, they proved to be clear and consise. An A+ there too ! CIL offers no method of changing the color palette and I think that is wise in a lean & mean program. The default colors are blue for background with yellow foreground and provide a very readable presentation. CIL will support Mono Graphics, CGA, EGA, VGA, and SVGA. It was no problem to setup CIL for use on my 386-20SX notebook by running CILINK /MONO, which forces black & white attributes. DesqView users can change the Color Scheme by setting "Uses its own colors" = No, and setting window colors in DVSETUP and/or with DV Palette. I use the Enhanced Palette. Changes and additions that I have the audacity to suggest. Add a simple "File Placement" menu, to stick file names as they are "grabbed" from a BBS list, that will auto enter them on a key or mouse click when downloading. Similiar mouse support for group tagging for uploads.... (Any K9X or OnLine Express users out there ?) (These may not be simple to add.) A little more help when in the script editor for keys and ASCII/HEX codes... and why not use the CIEDIT for this function also.... The Setup choices should display the current selection when highlighted, and a little more help for the un-initiated as to what the various choices do. i.e. what XON/XOFF and RTS/CTS support means, or when to use. (Do not go crazy with Help Screen additions !) Since some BBS's offer Hotkeys and some do not, the ability to add or prevent the CR after mouse click from within the Dial Dir entries, similiar to sending modem commands (very impressed with that function !). Set the defaults in the CI-PIF.DVP for DV and the CILINK.PIF for Windows to maximize performance. Include instructions on what and when to cut back if needed due to hardware constraints or personal preference. i.e. See suggested changes in the default .DVP file. Author's notes : ------------------------------------------------------ Plans for enhancement: Add Automatic File Taggers for Downloads. Use CIEDIT as Script Editor. Add DOS hook for any Offline Mail Reader. Sliding Windows Kermit. Expanded functionality in host mode. Picklist for batch uploading. Allow CITree to View a GIF image. Mouse CR in Dial Dir. entry. ----------------------------------------------------- Conclusion : As a summary, I refer all back to the quoted FILE_ID.DIZ, which Cedar Island Link more than lives up to. From every standpoint, this is a "Quality" offering that everyone from Novice to BBS pro's could enjoy. In DOS, DV, or Windows, the mouse support is AWESOME ! From installation to setup, and believe it or not, even script writing, CIL was a real treat.... My sincere congratulations to author Mike Caughran for delivering a product that is well thought- out and implemented to a "T" ! For $25.00, this shareware jewel has a big "Bang for Buck" ratio. "No man is an Island", yet Cedar Island Link is a BBS'ers Transport to Paradise.............. or there abouts.................. Though a mouse is not required for CIL, it is NICE! About the Reviewer : Rob Brown (a.k.a. "The Speed Merchant") is reasonably infamous amongst many of the long time Hackers, Sysops, and others unlucky enough to cross his BBS plane. Working as an Independent Network Consultant, listed specialties include DesqView, Windows, LANtastic, MS LAN Manager/SQL Server, Novell, and particularly BBS's and Modems, with their associated software and hardware platforms. Responses to this review are welcome. Contact can be made on FidoNet, RIME, and ILink conferences dealing with, but not excluded to, the fields mentioned above. Probably On-Topic in COMM..........(or see Pyramid BBS or last 4 numbers in the example dial directory above.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is a partial list of other ShareWare products offered by Cedar Island Software followed by a brief description: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Cedar Island Edit $10 per copy. A windowed ASCII editor. You will never use Edlin again. Multi-Window support. CUA interface. We use it as the support editor in a number of our other products. Cedar Island GIF viewer $10 per copy. An excellent viewer for .GIF images. Supports superVGA cards as well as lower resolution video cards. Has a "Pick List" for easy selection of images to view. (.GIF is the compressed video image format which was developed by CompuServe. Many BBS'es have libraries of these images.) Cedar Island Rolodex $10 per copy. A rolodex-style database for storing recipes, phone book entries, addresses, QSL cards or whatever. Small. Easy to use. Cedar Island Loan $10 per copy. Amortization calculator. Use this to perform What-If? calculations like: What if I doubled my house payment? How long would it take to pay off my house? How much money would I save in interest? Easy to use. CUA user interface. Cedar Island Boot $10 per copy. Have you ever wanted to choose between different AUTOEXEC.BAT's and CONFIG.SYS's without having to manually edit each time? Then Cedar Island Boot is the tool for you. Easy to use picklist selection of the boot up environment. Easy modification of that boot up environment. Cedar Island Calc $15 per copy. SpreadSheet. Lotus syntax. 65535 by 65535 cells. Multi-windowed. Small, fast, easy to use. Cedar Island Menu $10 per copy. PickList style menu shell for DOS. This will simplify your life. Just move the cursor to the program you want to start and Viola! Mouse support. Cedar Island INSTALL $20 per copy. This is the perfect installation program for your product. Can be configured to use languages other than english. Beautiful interface which uses a built-in scrolling DOS window in which to show the installation progress. CI LOGO source code in Pascal $25 per copy. This is a LOGO interpreter written in Pascal. Running verison as well as sample LOGO programs are included with the source code. (LOGO is a programming language developed by MIT which teaches children (7-18) how to program. Its distinguishing feature is its support of a graphic "Turtle" which you control by programming its movements, color etc.) For more information contact: Mike Caughran Cedar Island Software 9018 Division St Juneau Ak. 99801 (907) 789-9030 before 9PM pacific. CompuServe id: [71034,2371] Fido : 1:355/815 Support BBS : (907) 789-7499 9600 8 N 1 BBS'sing forever, TTYL ! Rob a.k.a. "The Speed Merchant" (Long live the "Byte Brothers") Some of this review was stripped right from the CIS DOC files......... Review was written under DesqView with TED 1.0. Why didn't I use CIEdit ??????? Didn't think of it til now........................ The End. P.S. Final copy of this review was performed using CIEDIT......