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Text File | 1995-03-18 | 40KB | 677 lines

FILM AT ELEVEN:  A roundup of the News in May
by James M. Meyer

    The biggest news event of May actually started a few days earlier,
at the third Developer's Conference.  Some of the highlights of that
conference:  Microsoft has been commissioned to do a new version of
Amiga Basic.  This version will reportedly allow Amiga Basic to run on
machines that have microprocessors other than the 68000.  The editor -
which utilizes Microsoft's proprietary mode, StupidRefresh() - will
also be upgraded.  Binary with any device will be possible, and there
should be some bug fixes.  A compiler is also a possibility.
Microsoft, which had walked away from their original implementation of
Basic on the Amiga, was convinced to do another version once they saw
the Amiga sales figures.
    William Hawes, of ConMan and AREXX fame, looks to figure
prominently in the Amiga's future.  AREXX stands an excellent chance of
becoming an integral part of the Amiga environment.  Other prominent
members of the Amiga community will also play a large part in the
Amiga's future, through the concept of the "working group".  Based upon
a paper presented by Perry Kivolowitz, of ASDG, Commodore-Amiga and the
developer community will work together to attack specific areas of
software development, operating system issues, hardware, and standards.
Some of the items already on the agenda include Hard Disk interface
standardization, multiple serial ports, an IFF library, and a renewed
attack on the ANIM "standard" to develop an ANIM form which will be
compatible with the proposed iff.library and ilbm.library.
   The anxiously-awaited release of the 1.3 enhancement to the Amiga
operating system is not yet at hand.  The latest gamma release, thought
to be very close to a final version, was handed out at the Developer's
Conference.  Although Commodore-Amiga plans to go from this version to
the "final" version, there always remains the possibility of
unanticipated gremlins popping up.  Given a reasonable number of
caveats, it is possible that 1.3 will be released within 6 weeks.
    Do you subscribe to Transactor for the Amiga?  Is it available at a
newsstand near you?  Do you hunger for better performance from your
Amiga 1000?  Is your wallet skinnier than you'd like?  If you answered
yes to either of the first two questions and both of the last two, then
(to use a line from Bob Seeger...) grab a hold of something and hold on
tight!  The third issue will contain plans for a 68020/68881 add-on
board.  This board, called "LUCAS", will feature a 68020 and 68881
running asynchronously at 16 MHz, and will consist of the 68020, 68881,
4 PALS, and a few assorted IC's, as well as RAM.  It will connect to
the Amiga via the 68000 socket.  Performance increases with the
68020/68881 pair can be as much as 200-fold, although your own mileage
will vary with the program being run.  You'll need to toss out your
current version of Amiga Basic, too.     Back-issues of Transactor are
available for $4.50 once the issue is out.  The address is:
      Transactor Publishing, Inc.
      85-10 West Wilmot St.
      Richmond Hill, Ontario
      Canada L4B1K7    Phone: [phone]
    ASDG announced recently that they would not be releasing their
Satellite Disk Processor (SDP), citing adverse marketing conditions.  A
combination of the high cost of manufacturing the SDP, coupled with the
vastly improved performance of the Fast Filing System led to this
decision.     Commodore-Amiga has "officially" released a few details
on the enhanced chipset due for release later in the year.  Consisting
of three chips - Denise, Agnus, and Gary - the new chipset will
immediately allow 500 and 2000 owners a full 1 megabyte of video (chip)
memory.  When the 1.4 version of the operating system is released, the
new chips will allow for a non-interlaced display of 640 X 400, with 4
colors available on-screen from a palette of 64.  PAL displays will see
a resolution of 640 X 512.  A monitor capable of a 31 MHz Horizontal
Refresh rate - either Commodore's Bi-Sync, or a Multi-Sync type monitor
- will be required.  These chips are pin-compatible with existing chips
in the 500 and 2000.  Unless some third-party comes out with an adapter
board, A1000 owners will not be able to use these chips.
     Commodore will soon be releasing the 2090A hard-disk controller.
This version features the capability of auto-boot with the 1.3
Kickstart ROM.  Although no final decision has been made, it is
extremely unlikely that there will be any kind of trade-in policy for
2090 owners, and it does not appear to be possible to upgrade the 2090
to support auto-boot.
     The Bay Area Developers GroupE (BADGE) has announced the First
Annual BADGE Killer Demo Contest.  This is the second competition BADGE
has sponsored - programmers like to start counting at zero - to
"provide some impetus to the creative and sometimes demented developers
and users of the Amiga to create some killer demos."  The judging will
take place at the October 20th meeting of BADGE.  Entries are due by
September 29, and letters of intent are due by  September 15.  Further
information may be obtained by writing:
  Randy Spencer
  P.O. Box 4542
  Berkeley CA 94704.
  Please include your name, address, phone number and a Self-Addressed,
Stamped Envelope (SASE) for a complete listing of the rules and
suggestions.  There will be material reward for winners - some of the
prizes from last year were an Amiga 2000, ASDG memory board, and a
Microbotics Starboard II.
     A rumored new virus that supposedly hides itself in the clock RAM
of Amiga 500's and 2000's has been downplayed by Commodore-Amiga
Technical Support.  It seems that there is *no* clock RAM on these
computers!  After some discussion, it was determined that there are 4
bits in the clock that could be set, and remain so after the power had
been turned off.  Carolyn Scheppner, of CATS, indicated that it should
be possible to re-write the SetClock utility to take care of even this
remote possibility.
                     COMPUTER TALKS WITH THE DEAD!
     It was reported recently in the Weekly World News that the Soviets
had developed a special program, running on a "super computer", that
enabled scientists to talk with the dead.  In an accompanying photo,
the "super computer" which made this feat possible was clearly
identifiable as an Amiga 1000.  I wonder what they're up to at IBM and
Apple?
     The "Great Moments In Programming" Department -
    Electronic Arts has released RoadWars for the Amiga.  It doesn't
work on Amigas which have a 68020 installed.  This, despite the fact
that developers have *always* been warned to write code that will work
with any of the 68XXX series of microprocessors.  RoadWars was not
written by Electronic Arts, but by Arcadia.
    Crazy Cars, by Titus, does not run under 1.3.  Despite repeated
warnings from Commodore-Amiga that programmers should NOT make direct
ROM calls, (memory locations change from one release to another) Crazy
Cars does just that.

THE POOR NELLY BLUES
by Mr. X

    Speaking of things that don't work and people who pay no attention
to documentation, it's time to turn the spotlight on our favorite Byte
columnist.  Without further ado, we proudly present - for the first
time in print, anywhere - the following transcript, written by Mr. X
and further annotated by NY*JIM:
    (Editors Note:  This is an actual transcript of Jerry Pournelle at
the Commodore press breakfast at Spring COMDEX 1987.  The stammering is
real, the parenthetical remarks are embellishments.  At this point in
time, the Commodore-Amiga folks were both coping with employee layoffs
and scrambling to finish the 1.2 version of the operating system.  The
early versions of 1.2 - clearly labeled "Alpha" and "Beta" - were
somewhat unstable, as alpha and beta versions are prone to be.  The
purpose of pre-release testing, of course, is to identify and fix bugs.
In their zeal to keep the good Doctor Pournelle happy, the people at
Los Gatos dutifully sent Jerry each new version.  Unfortunately, Jerry
was not very good at determining that, for example, a beta-4 Kickstart
ought to be used with a beta-4 Workbench.  Nor did Jerry understand the
concept of "booting a game disk", as indicated by his comments on Bix.
Given that background, consider the following, graciously contributed
by someone who wishes to remain anonymous:)
   I was handed an unmarked disk from someone on a street corner in
Atlanta...  It was recorded without any permission whatsoever, so this
is eyes only.  This tape certainly caused a stir when it was played in
the press room later in the day...  They had a table of editors from a
half-dozen PC magazines falling out of their chairs, and wiping the
tears from their eyes.  Hearing the voice certainly enhances the
silliness of what he was saying.
    A little background...  Pournelle walked in late with the tall,
red-headed Mrs. P, who carries all his notes and tape recorders and
such, and reportedly does a lot of his thinking for him.  His late
arrival sent the hotel help scrambling for more breakfast plates.  He
quite ungraciously spoke to others while the Commodore honchos gave
their spiel.  This first part took place during the open
question-and-answer session.

 (Jerry Pournelle:)  Are you doing anything with the operating system?
I got that bloody Guru again just the other day with sumptin' from
Electronic Arts.  I am getting very weary of eighteen-digit error
messages.
 (Clive Smith:)  I think you'll find your solution with Kickstart 1.2.
 (Jerry P:)  Which version, sir, because, I've got seven of them, with
a different letter in each one.  Some work with some things, some work
with others. It's beginning to drive me mad.  I love that machine.
 (Frank Leonardi:)  We find that we send out the codes and specs, and
those were to be adhered to doing the development process.  Sometimes,
you know, you put a little English on a program and not quite follow it
to code, and then when the version gets updated, that's an error that's
been now been more complicated and exaggerated.  It's more likely a
software hic-hiccup than anything else.  They'll probably address it
and fix it.  It's that code problem, that they don't follow.  EA is at
the booth, we'll go talk to them, bring that software package.
 (Jerry P:)  I went over there yesterday but I couldn't find anybody
who had ever heard of this, so I said the hell with it.
  Later, after the presentation:
 (Jerry P:)  You should have error messages that make more sense, than
a Guru Mediation 7826159.17300081.  I mean I am...  You can't even read
the <expletive> error message.  I have to get a <expletive>
micr-magni...  Literally, I'd had to take the magnifying glass out of
the transistorized version of the Oxford English Dictionary and go over
and use that to get the error message off the screen, so I can call
Andy Finkel and ask what the hell happened..  Uhm...  This is absurd!
 (Clive:)  Point taken.  We have to get one more release of the
software which will have updated...
 (Voice:)  What was the program that crashed?
 (Jerry P:)  Ah.  I don't.  It doesn't occur to me.  Uh.  It was a game
of some kind.  It said do it with one-two, which I did, and it...
It...  It immediately went...  It...  You know...  It never went
anywhere.  It just...  You put the Kickstart in, you get the Guru.  If
you don't do it that way, if I put the Workbench in first and then try
to open it from within that, then it did something else weird.  But in
either case, it didn't work.  Uh.  I'm sorry, I don't.  (Sound of
waving hands.)  I get like a hundred programs a week, so...  This just
looked like something that was interesting, and I...  Oh, I know what
it was.  It was the Amiga version of Starflight.
 (Editor's Note:  Jerry is talking about a program meant to be booted
from the game disk.  He evidently never figured this out.)
 (Voice:)  Starglider?
 (Jerry P:)  No, it wasn't 'Glider, it was Starflight, the one which
was on the PC, my game of the year last year.  'Cause I really...
kinda enj... you get a lotta...  I discovered the damn thing was
written in Forth, so I'm not enormously surprised to discover that
it...  It...  just can't accommodate anything.  The trouble with Forth
programs is that nobody ever understood what he did after he did it,
it's almost as good as APL as a write-only language.  But...  I'm sure
it was Starflight.  I was looking forward to what would happen with it,
and it just died.  It doesn't go anywhere.  And you can't figure out...
You say it's not your fault...  I heard what he said...  But I keep
hearing that explanation...  If you've got something that 90 percent of
the...
 (Voice:)  You're a programmer, right?
 (Jerry P:)  Well, ah, no, but programmers talk to me.  Half the
programmers I talk to think this thing's wonderful.  I know that the
WordPerfect people say it was easier to put this up on the Amiga than
the Atari. *1  But the other half of 'em I talk to say "That is all
very well, if you are careful with bookkeeping."  But they are tired of
simulating compilers. *2  (Sound of knowing wink.)  Could I have a copy
of your certified, absolute latest operating system.  I must have seven
versions of 1.2 now!  I have late beta, and early beta, and late gamma,
and...
 (Voice:)  Throw them all out.
 (Clive:)  We'll send you the latest one, on one condition: if you
throw out the first seven.
 (Jerry P:)  I have to keep...  Well, I can throw out the first seven
of those, but I have to keep one-one around, 'cause there are
somethings that won't run on anything but it.  Well, if you got
something that you call the absolute latest of one-two, that's fine, I
will copy it onto every other one I have.  I will have one of the kids
sit there and... just completely copy over everything else, so there
aren't any others around.  That's fine by me.  (Hmm.  Now he'll have
seven disks of 1.2, with 1.1, 1.2 beta 4, and 1.2 gamma 1 on the
labels...)
 (Clive:)  We'll give it to you.
 (Jerry P:)  But I ain't got it.  (Pause.  Smith walks away.)  Sheesh.
I've got that beautiful machine sitting there, and I don't suppose we
turn it on but every two weeks now, and it's still sitting in a very
prime place. I've been thinking of pushing it in another room, because
we never get anything to run on it.  I tend to be kind of an
interrupt-driven system...

    *1 Word Perfect, of course, was written entirely in assembler as an
original program - not a port - which duplicated the way Word Perfect
worked on other machines.  It's funny that the people who wrote one of
the largest and most complex Amiga programs disagree with Dr. Pournelle
about the ease of Amiga programming.
    *2 Jerry does not program the Amiga.  The comment about "simulating
a compiler" is probably something he picked up from a knowledgeable
developer.  Jerry is known to use catch-phrases like this to make him
sound like he knows what he is talking about.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT -

The Night Sky of Spring
by Marilyn Bonachea


    Yes, there is life beyond computers.  The following is an article
which I hope to turn into a monthly column, readership willing.  If you
have Galileo (a night-sky software package written by Mike Smithwick,
or perhaps AmiGazer or StarChart, two shareware programs) you should be
able to follow along with me.  If you don't have any of the above
programs, and have no intention of getting them, go outside at night
and follow along.  There is no more beautiful sight than the heavens in
all their glory.

    The evening sky of Spring forms a sort of dark intercession
between the theatrical displays of winter past and summer yet to come.
To see the stars in their glory, without fighting obscuring moonlight
or urban haze, one must get out of the city and venture into the
countryside sometime around the middle of the month, in the "dark of
the Moon."
    Find a seldom-traveled rural road, pull over, and give your eyes
about half an hour to adapt to the darkness.  (This time lends itself
well to general star-gazing with binoculars.)  When the sky seems
bright enough to silhouette any tree branch, turn north and look up.
    The familiar Big Dipper (Ursa Major, the Great Bear) is upside
down, as if to dowse Polaris, the North Star.  But the Bear is more
than the Dipper; Its feet extend to the upper left of the Dipper's
bowl, and a nose pointing down to Capella, a bright yellowish star low
in the northwest.  The Little Dipper forms most of Ursa Minor, the
Lesser Bear, but only rural skies will show the stars between Polaris
and Kochab.
    The star Capella belongs to Auriga, the Charioteer, and is too low
to be seen well.  To its left stand Castor and Pollux, (the twins of
Gemini) with their namesake stars shining at their heads.  On the other
side of Gemini is Procyon, luminary of Canis Minor, the Smaller Dog
(Procyon is about as easy to see as Capella).
    Back to Polaris.  To its right you will see the dim, starry
trapezoid that forms the head of Draco, the Dragon.  Its body is formed
from a line of 3rd- and 4th-magnitude stars that snake their way
through the two Bears.  Cepheus, the mythical King of Ethiopia, lies
below Draco.  Cepheus is a house-shaped figure which is partly obscured
by horizon haze and trees.
    If you continue the curve of the Big Dipper's handle, you will
"arc to Arcturus," a bright, warm-colored star in Bootes, the Herdsman
(which resembles a kite).  Bootes is sometimes called the "Bear Driver"
because he endlessly chases the two celestial bears around the pole.
    Face east and you will see Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, as
a semicircle of stars just below Bootes (this is not to be confused
with the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights...completely different
phenomenon!).  Hercules is to Corona's left, a keystone-shaped
rectangle with arms and legs extending outward.  (M13 is in Hercules
and is a beautiful globular cluster of stars easily visible in
binoculars.)  Left of Hercules, blazing white Vega marks the tiny Lyra,
the Lyre.
    From Arcturus we "speed on to Spica," an icy-white 1st-magnitude
star almost due south.  Spica represents a stalk of wheat in the hand
of Ceres, the Roman goddess of the harvest.  The constellation is more
commonly known as Virgo, the Maiden; it is depicted by about a dozen
3rd-magnitude stars.
    If the imagination is in high gear, it might seem that one arm of
Virgo is reaching west to wrest the tail of Leo the Lion at the star
Denebola.  Leo is in a crouch, with its forelegs at Regulus, and its
head and mane in a reversed "?" called the Sickle.  Between Regulus and
Procyon, the head of Hydra, the Water Snake, is a small oblong of
stars.  Hydra's body makes a zig-zag chain of stars running east under
Leo and Virgo.  Crater, the Cup, and Corvus, the Crow, ride upon the
Snake's back.
    The zodiac (or ecliptic) is the apparent path the sun follows over
the period of the year.  It cuts across this evening's sky from
northwest to southeast, passing Gemini, faint Cancer, the Crab, Leo,
the Lion, and Virgo, the Maiden to reach another dim figure: diamond-
shaped Libra, the Balance.  Between Libra and the south-eastern
horizon, the first figure in the summer zodiac climbs into view.  This
is Scorpius, the Scorpion, which will be in full view by midnight
tonight, or in the evening hours two months from now.  Look for it as
you relax on the front porch during the cool evening after a hot summer
day.

Hewlett Packard DeskJet Printer
by Dan Bonachea

    Hewlett Packard is a name very well known in electronic
instrumentation and test equipment, but not as recognizable in the
personal computer market.  They have made numerous attempts to enter
this market with their own PC line, but, to be frank, they haven't been
exceedingly successful.  Their current Vectra is arguably one of their
more successful products, but still is not an overwhelming hit.
Fortunately for us, HP has an extremely successful peripheral line,
their flagship being their LaserJet II printer.  Unfortunately, for the
common consumer, the LaserJet II is not what most of us consider
affordable.  At a mail-order price of right around $1,695, the LaserJet
is still out of the reach of the general computing public.  Again,
fortunately, HP has come to the rescue of the small business/home
computerist with the introduction of the HP DeskJet.
    The DeskJet, simply stated, is a drop-on-demand thermal inkjet
printer; it forms its characters and graphic output by squirting tiny
drops of ink onto paper.  In times past, and even to this day, inkjet
printers have been most successful with a special clay-coated paper,
which is far from cheap.  Not any more.  The DeskJet uses a version of
Canon's bubble-jet technology (which, I'm sorry to say, I know very
little about), and is able to print on just about any type of paper.
The DeskJet has a resolution of 75 X 75 dots per inch (dpi) in low-
density, and 300 X 300 dpi in high-density.  Yes, that is
correct--300 X 300 dpi!  This is equivalent to just about every laser
printer on the market today, and is the DeskJet's claim to fame:  laser
quality output at 1/3 the price!
    The output of the DeskJet must be seen to be believed.  One can
write and talk about it, but until seen, most reactions resemble
"Sure...near laser quality..." or "If you say so...".  With the
printouts that I have been making, I find it indistinguishable from
laser output.
    The unit itself is not a streamlined design...it reminds me of a
small diesel engine with its boxy shape, but one mustn't judge a book
by its cover.  It contains a paper input and output tray, and
automatically feeds from the small input tray located on the bottom
front of the machine.  A stack of approximately 100 sheets of paper can
be put in the tray, so you won't be changing paper overly often.  The
output tray is unique.  Output is carried along two side-rails until
the printout is finished, then the side-rails rotate up out of the way,
allowing the page to drop into the output tray.  Obviously, this is so
that the ink on the sheet underneath the current sheet can dry before
the next sheet falls; if it weren't designed that way, you might have
numerous sheets with smeared print on the bottom.  There is also a
manual envelope feeder located in the output tray which supersedes the
taking of a sheet of paper from the input tray.
    The DeskJet has two speeds, 240 characters per inch (cpi) in draft
mode, and 120 cpi in letter-quality mode.  Graphics resolutions
supported are full-page 75, 100, 150, and 300 dpi.  The standard print
characteristics are 5, 10, 16.67, or 20 pitch, depending on printer
mode and font selection, 6 or 12 point size, depending on font
selection and Courier typeface.  The DeskJet speaks the HP PCL
language, the same language that the LaserJet II speaks.  There are
numerous font cartridges available, along with a 256K RAM expansion for
downloading of HP softfonts (the DeskJet currently has a 16K buffer
built in).  You can also purchase an Epson FX-80 printer emulation
cartridge so that you can use the DeskJet on computers which don't have
any direct support for the DeskJet.  Two interfaces are included, both
Centronics parallel, and RS-232C serial.  The DeskJet's physical size
is 17.3"W X 8"H X 14.8"D (there are also metric measurements quoted in
the manual, but hey...I've got the english measurement much too
ingrained in me to simply abandon it!)  HP quotes a reliability for the
DeskJet of a 60,000 page lifetime, a Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF)
of 20,000 hours power-on, and 12,000 printed pages per year (50 pages
per day average use.)
    Things I dislike - believe it or not, there are a few.  There is
no built-in capability to do italics; this must be purchased separately
through the use of font cartridges or softfonts.  Also, I can find no
mention in the manual of how many pages one can expect from a single
ink cartridge.  In the business I run, this is essential, as I charge a
price "per page" of printed output.  I have tested the DeskJet using
ProWrite 2.01, and I must say that output (at high density) is
painfully slow, on a par with the original release of ProWrite.  I
don't believe this to be a fault of ProWrite, as my Apple ImageWriter
II was a lot faster, and it had 4 colors to print.
    Things I like - Price.  For a mail-order price of $675, you can
have laser-quality output, something which many small businesses could
not afford before.  The output is clean and crisp, depending on the
type of paper chosen.  Poor quality paper returns poor quality
printouts, while the investment in high-quality paper returns a
decidedly better product.  Graphic output is incomparable to anything
in its price-class.  Normal text-speed is very good, and even letter-
quality is fast.  And I finally have a printer which produces very
readable output from PageSetter!
    All in all, I think HP has a very real winner here.  From start to
finish, the DeskJet is perhaps the best printer investment anyone could
make.  I am a little reticent to let my customers know about it
though...at this price, they can do their own laser-quality output!

Arazok's Tomb
Review by Christopher S. Hawkinson

    Ok, this is an old game which I bought on the spur of the moment;
it had a good name (Aegis Development produced it) and an interesting
cover.  Unfortunately, that was all I liked about it.  The story around
the game is interesting, it's just the execution that needs lots of
work.  Here is a quote from the back cover:
 "You are an ace reporter with the Herald Tribune and investigator into
the  bizarre.  You've just stumbled onto a story about an underground
connection that links magic of the past with the mystery of the future.
An  ancient city rebuilt into a futuristic and sinister land of the
supernatural,  diabolical, and deadly!"  ...   "Classic horror - not
for kids."
    Sounds great, right?  Oh well, it would if you're into this sort of
game.  Now the first item that should have tipped me off is that the
"head" on the front and the "head" on the back are missing different
eyes.  Next problem, the game is written in AmigaBASIC.  This is not a
problem in itself.  In fact, BASIC is such an good language for color
and graphics it can be a benefit.  Unfortunately, this means it is also
slow.  The graphics are "ok" by Amiga standards.
    The game itself is a Text based graphic Adventure.  This means that
its commands are entered by typing commands (or using the mouse to
point in a direction), but there are graphics involved.  Classic
Adventure is a text based adventure, Defender of the Crown is a Graphic
Adventure.  The important part of any text based adventure is the
command parser.  This is the part of the software that takes your
command (like GO NORTH) and has the game do the command.  At best,the
command parser on Azazok's Tomb is minimal.  It understands around 40
actions.  More time is spent on trying to figure out how to say
something then trying to figure out the puzzles. The puzzles themselves
can be difficult.  Mostly this is due to problems with descriptions,
but there are some inventive traps and tricks that must be learned.
Overall,  I found the game to be a waste of time and money.  I became
so enraged at the game that I found a utility to remove the protection
of AmigaBasic and read the source.  If anyone wishes to play the game,
tell me, I'm sure a deal can be made for my copy.

AMIGAN TRAVELS
by Christopher S. Hawkinson

    It's amazing.  I have spent many hours working on my Amiga 2000 and
still have little to show for it.  Not that I don't have lots of
programs  written.  A list of my inventions have included:  a CD
replacement that places  you in a randomly selected Directory, programs
that GURU on command (lots of  these) and a HP LaserJet+ driver that
actually doubles the time it takes to  print.  Amazing stuff, really.
   After some effort (and lots of testing) I did succeed in a CD
replacement  that would write the current directory name in the Prompt.
Of course,  Workbench 1.3 will make my program obsolete, but I did
learn from all of my  work.
   LESSON ONE:   No matter how simple a program should be, watch out.
I have written many utilities on the IBM and the Amiga for my own
personal use.  On the Amiga, the programs have mostly served to convert
CLI into a more familiar system.  I have rewritten DELETE, FORMAT,
PROMPT and COPY with little or no trouble, but when I tried to do CD
the troubles started.  What I wanted the program to do was very simple.
I wanted a CD replacement that would change the prompt to the new
directory name.  The simple solution of calling the PROMPT command from
Lattice failed. This was  because when the Amiga shelled out to CLI, it
would create a new CLI, execute PROMPT (which changes the directory of
the new CLI) and exit back to the program, leaving the PROMPT of the
old CLI unchanged. When I used the AmigaDos Library calls, I got this
sweet message from the Amiga requesting I place my (Fixed) Hard Disk in
any Drive (Heart Attack City).
    LESSON TWO:   Like any software, CLI has some silliness that the
programmer cannot overcome.  After days of looking at the problem, I
solved it by using a Lattice Function Call.  Now this would have been
my first method, but I was trying to do it myself.  I had the new
prompt string and could change the directory, but I didn't know where
to put the new Prompt.   This was found in the ROM KERNAL MANUAL (and
not easily).  This is when I got introduced to that evil of evils, BCPL
and BCPL strings.  Now you would think that the internals of such a
Flexible machine would be flexible as well.  My friends, this is not
the case. Not only is the string size of the prompt fixed (at 64
characters), it can't be moved.  Since I wanted the prompt to be any
size, I was going to free the memory, recreate the BCPL string, and
reassign the address in the CLI info block.  But when I tested the
program, I found that CLI was still looking at the old address.  My
first inclination was to assume a program bug,  but when I looked,
everything was correct, CLI obviously had the address loaded in another
internal table.
    LESSON THREE: Sometimes the effort's worth it.  My answer to the
last problem was to keep the prompt in the old location. This was
stupid,  but I could not see anything else that be done.  I finished
the program, tested it and finally had a working version.  I spent more
time than I wanted on such a simple program, but I did learn from it.
Now all I need to do is write a program that will convert POSTSCRIPT to
HP's PCL.

Who's What on Workbench, and Why, Where and How...
By James M. Meyer

    One of the more frequent questions I encounter is "What can I
delete from my Workbench disk to get more room?  What are all those
files, anyway?"  Since some people like to boot right into a program,
or perhaps just want to add more of their favorite tools to Workbench,
deleting files from Workbench seems like an appetizing idea.  It is and
it isn't.  Before I explain that last comment, however, I'll take you
on a guided tour of the Workbench disk.

 (NOTE:  YOU SHOULD BE WORKING WITH A COPY OF WORKBENCH.  THE ORIGINAL
DISK SHOULD BE SAFELY LOCKED AWAY IN A BANK VAULT, OR OTHER SUITABLY
SAFE PLACE!!!)

   A complete directory of Workbench (DIR OPT A) reveals the following
directories:  Trashcan, c, Demos, System, l, devs, s, t, fonts, libs,
Empty, Utilities, and Expansion.  Some of these directories have sub-
directories, which we will explore later.  Of these directories, Demos
is the least necessary.  Once you have viewed the demos, you may safely
delete them.  You may do likewise with the Empty directory, which is -
as the name suggests - empty.  Further deletions require more
consideration.
    The c directory contains all the AmigaDOS commands.  Most of these
are needed, but the two largest - Ed and Edit - are the most likely
candidates for deletion.  I only know of two or three people who use
Edit, and one of them is Tim King, who wrote AmigaDOS.  The others will
not allow me to reveal their identities.  Ed, the clunky old standard
Amiga editor, can be useful.  Delete it only if you're sure you won't
be using it.  I also delete Diskdoctor, preferring to use DiskSalv
instead, but this is a judgement call.  Most of the rest of the
commands are fairly small, and come in handy from time to time.
    The System directory contains various utilities, such as DiskCopy,
Format, GraphicDump, IconEd, Say, SetMap, and CLI.  Aside from CLI,
DiskCopy and Format, most of these utilities are seldom-used, and could
well reside on another disk.
    The l directory contains the Disk-Validator, Port-Handler, and Ram-
Handler.  Don't touch it; you need these!
    The devs directory contains more likely candidates for deletion.
The first sub-directory in devs, keymaps, contains various keymaps.
(Surprise!)  You will most likely be using only one of these, so the
others can be safely deleted.  The printers sub-directory contains
drivers for various printers.  You need only keep the driver for the
printer you use.  Everything else in devs - the clipboard directory,
the Mountlist, system-configuration, and the various devices - is
necessary.  Programs which utilize the clipboard will keep their
"clips" in the clipboard directory.  The Mountlist is required for any
device - Hard Drive, recoverable ram disk, 5-1/4" drive - that must be
mounted.  The file titled "system-configuration" contains the
information for your particular setup, such as screen colors, printer,
serial port settings.  Without this file, you get the default settings.
    The s directory contains your startup-sequence (a script that the
system executes when you boot it up), and is the place where script
files normally reside.  Keep it.
    The t directory is the place where the system keeps various
"temporary" files.  Keep it.  If you don't have a "t" directory, and
you use the EXECUTE command, the system will create a t directory for
you.
    The fonts directory contains the various fonts the system may use.
None of these are required, although they are nice to have around.
Deletion of any of these files is entirely discretionary; I kept all of
mine, and more.  You can get around this directory, however, by
creating a font disk and naming it "fonts".  If the system sees a disk
named "fonts", it will automatically assign fonts to that disk.
    Libs contains various libraries used by the system.  If you are
sure you will never be using the built-in voice of the Amiga, you can
delete the translator library (as well as the narrator.device in devs),
but this will cause certain programs - which aren't very careful - to
crash.  The IEEE library - mathieeedoubtrans.library - is used
infrequently, but is fairly small.  I don't recommend deleting any of
these files.
    Utilities contains the Notepad and Calculator, which you may safely
delete.  You may also delete the Clock, found in the root directory.
    If you delete Notepad, Calculator, GraphicDump, Say, IconEd, all of
Demos, Edit, and all the printer drivers you don't need,  you will have
freed up a minimum of 242,091 bytes.  That's the good news.  The bad
news is that 1.3 is coming, with a Workbench disk so packed that some
things had to be moved over to the Extras disk.  Nevertheless, there
are always files that can be deleted.  Once you become comfortable with
your system, you'll have a better feel for which files you can live
without.

YOUR CHART FOR JUNE
by Madam Jim

ARIES:  Always the pioneering and impulsive type, you will send a check
off to Borland for a copy of Turbo Pascal for the Amiga.  Your friends
will laugh at you.  After the second week of June, the right word
whispered in the wrong ear will most likely earn you a slap in the
face.

TAURUS:  Ever the obstinate bull, you will continue to use the 1.1
version of the operating system long after everyone else has switched
to 1.3.  Early in the month, you will be approached by an attractive
Amiga 500 owner, but you will soon bore that person to death.

GEMINI:  Because Geminis tend to be ambidextrous, you will attempt to
install a mouse port in the left side of your Amiga.  This will cause
your hair to curl excessively when you accidentally drill into the
power supply.  Avoid Atari owners this month, as their penchant for
only doing one thing at a time will drive you crazy.

CANCER:  Your insecurities will cause you to start taking your Guru
messages personally.  As if this weren't enough, you will spill that
can of soda that you keep on your disk drive not once, but three times.
Your keyboard will begin to short out as the pizza drippings
accumulate.

LEO:  In a fit of generosity, you will give away your computer.
Because of that, you won't be needing an Amiga horoscope this month.

VIRGO:  Ever the nit-picking, analyzing critic, you will get in serious
trouble by pointing out the flaws in the office's IBM computer.  This
would normally be grounds for dismissal, but you won't be fired.  They
need someone who picks the lint out of the office rug.

LIBRA:  You will spend the entire month of June playing mindless games
on your Amiga.  This will cause you to not notice the earthquake until
the power goes out.  Nevertheless, you will still rack up a Personal
Best for at least two games.

SCORPIO:  You will be much too busy engaging in sexual activity with
anything that moves to even turn your Amiga on.  So what else is new?

SAGITTARIUS:  You have a tendency to be outspoken and blunt.  This will
result in an unpleasant altercation with an enraged Macintosh owner,
whose system you will disparage.

CAPRICORN:  Able to find the cloud in every silver lining, you will
achieve fame in June by discovering the exact sequence of keystrokes
and mouse movements which cause the Boxes demo to crash.  Dale Luck
will pay you a personal visit and smash your Amiga.

AQUARIUS:  You will paint your Amiga in psychedelic colors, feeling
that this will allow you to "get in tough" with the machine's
spirituality.  Avoid hamburgers on the 20th of the month.

PISCES:  Your lack of self-confidence and natural timidity will cause
you to stay drunk for most of June when you discover that your first
Modula-2 program crashes.  After that, the news that your friend's
first C program crashed will cause you to stay drunk for the remainder
of June.





TUNA_MAY:  The Culprits

    The Unofficial Newsletter - for the Amigazone - (TUNA) is copyright
1988 by DAMAJ Productions.  Non-commercial reproduction of the material
contained herein is not only permitted, but encouraged, so long as
proper attribution is given.  All other rights are reserved.  TUNA has
no official connection with either the American People Link Network, or
the Amiga Zone section of Plink, although we are satisfied customers.
   TUNA is published from time to time - almost monthly, in fact - as a
public service to the Amigan population in general, and to Amiga user
groups and Amiga Zone members in particular.  We hope to see this
publication grow into a regular source of news, reviews, rumors, and
madness, and we would LOVE to have you contribute.  For information,
contact NY*JIM or CRYSTAL T, or just mail an ARC of your article to
NY*JIM.  Newsletter editors are encouraged both to use these articles
and to contribute.  Under penalty of death, we might add....
    The people responsible for this issue were, in order of appearance:

  NY*JIM    (Jim Meyer)
  Mr. X     (Mr. X)
  CRYSTAL T (Dan and Marilyn Bonachea)
  CHRIS-AHV (Chris Hawkinson)

TUNA_MAY.  Accept no substitutes!