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Loadstar 237
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2022-08-26
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ADD MINI-PRESENTER
TO YOUR DISKS
by Dave Moorman
Those of you who receive LOADSTAR
on 1541 disks or D64 files know that
sometimes, like this issue, we use a
smaller Presenter Menu program on some
of the sides. Our regular presenter
was written by Jeff Jones long ago,
and is one of the things that makes
LOADSTAR so elegant.
Ever since I first put LOADSTAR in
my 1581 drive, I have been impressed
by the continuity of each issue. Text
files are read-able and printable.
Program files not only run from the
main menu, they "Return to LOADSTAR".
While not an operating system,
LOADSTAR is an environment for
software and text.
But sometimes, we have too much to
share with you, and it is a shame to
waste precious disk blocks with a
program you have on another side
already. For a while, we put a NO
PRESENTER message on the side, but
that seemed terribly unkind. So I
started working on the Mini-Presenter.
Then last week, I needed to send
several programs to Jeff Ledger, along
with documentation. What better way to
do this than with this program? And
why not tell you about it and show how
it can be done? In fact, getting Mini-
Presenter ready pushed me to polish it
up a little.
WHY USE MINI-PRESENTER?
-----------------------
I have used a "Utility" disk or
disk image ever since I got a C-128D.
There are programs I need all the
time, so I leave the disk in the drive
(or the equivalent for VICE) so
everything is ready.
At the top of my Utilty disk, I
now have Mini-Presenter. (I used Star
Loader for years -- at the top of
EVERY organized disk. I'm not an
organized person. That is my
computer's job!)
Perhaps your club has a collection
of software to share with everyone.
How does the user know what is a text
file and what is a boot file? How does
the user read the text file? With a
program like Mini-Presenter,
everything is there with a LOAD":*",8
and RUN.
HOW TO USE MINI-PRESENTER
-------------------------
For a complete installation of
Mini-Presenter, copy these files from
side 3 or 4 on this issue to the top
of the directory in this order:
!
STAR
PRES.PKD
BACKGROUND.FTS
NAME
(Those who receive LOADSTAR on
1581/D81 format can copy
!.EXT
STAR.EXT
and remove the .EXT from each
filename. Our regular Presenter uses
files with these names that are
different, so we had to make a
"dodge" for 1581 people. Otherwise,
everything else is the same.)
Then copy the program files and
text files (38-column EDSTAR or
MR.EDSTAR files). Change the name of
read-able text files by adding a "T."
prefix. Change the name of boot files
(the one the user would LOAD and RUN)
by adding a "B." prefix.
[NOTE:] Every B.* file [must] have a
T.* file with exactly the same name.
For example:
B.MYPROG
T.MYPROG
However, you can have "stand-alone"
text files:
T.MYPROG TIPS
That's the basic of it. When the
user does a
LOAD":*",8,1
Mini-Presenter will come up and offer
a menu of everything on the disk.
PAZZAZZ
-------
Now, if you do everything as
listed above, a "flash screen" will
say "Kicking Off LOADSTAR 237", and
the background of Mini-Presenter will
proclaim that this is LOADSTAR 237.
There are two ways to change it.
THE EASY WAY
------------
If you want just a blank
background, and no name for your disk,
simply scratch BACKGROUND.FTS and NAME
from the disk (or don't copy them in
the first place). Mini-Presenter is
now designed to give you a blank
background if BACKGROUND.FTS is
missing on the disk.
THE CLASSY WAY
--------------
Boot up Mr.MICK, our screen design
program, load BACKGROUND.FTS and make
it your own! You can do most anything
with it! All "reverse" characters are
available for your editing pleasure.
You can even use SHP2FNT (from issue
236) to convert a high-res SHP bitmap
graphic to an FTS file, and save it as
BACKGROUND.FTS. The possibilities are
infinite!
Then, use EDSTAR or Mr.EDSTAR to
edit the NAME file. The "name" can be
up to 12 characters in length. NAME is
used by Mini-Presenter, STAR
(MP-version) and HELLO CONNECT to
identify the disk.
CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT
---------------------
I really like having control
return to the menu when a program is
terminated. This often cannot be done
with software that was not designed to
LOADSTAR protocol. But BASIC programs
can easily be edited to include this
feature.
First, include on your disk HELLO
CONNECT from side 3 or 4 (or HELLO
CONNECT.EX on the 1581/D81 version --
then remove the .EX). This is the
"Return to LOADSTAR" program.
Then, append LSCONNECTOR to any
BASIC program you want to make
return-able. And here is how to do
that:
LOAD"LSCONNECTOR",8
LIST
(but do not RUN it!)
LOAD"MYPROG",8
being careful not to disturb the
listing on the screen. Cursor up and
press <RETURN> on each line.
LSCONNECTOR uses lines 40000-40090, so
you will have to make sure your
program does not, or change the line
numbers listed from LSCONNECTOR.
Then, wherever the program ends,
add a GOTO40000. Scratch and Save the
edited program.
The edited program should call up
Mini-Presenter when the user exits.
SOME STRANGE FEATURES
---------------------
Mini-Presenter has a Disk command
which lets the user choose one of the
active disk drives. If that drive has
HELLO CONNECT on its disk, control
will go to that drive. That means that
if the disk in drive 9 has Mini-
Presenter (which you are currently
using) and the disk in drive 8 is a
LOADSTAR issue, pressing <D> and
clicking on [8] will take you to the
LOADSTAR issue.
Otherwise, Mini-Presenter will
create a menu of all B.* and T.* files
on the new disk. If that disk has no
T.* files, your computer won't go
there.
BY THE WAY...
-------------
The "!" file at the top of all
LOADSTAR disks does the ,8,1 magic and
calls a basic program named STAR. You
can write STAR to do anything you
want!
FINAL WORDS
-----------
We hope you find Mini-Presenter
easy to use on our 1541/D64 LOADSTAR
issues. And give it a try on your own
disks. It will make you look like a
truly elegant programmer!
While LOADSTAR does identify
everything as copyrighted, we are not
greedy! I believe the current
"Intellectual Properties" laws are
designed to make lawyers rich and
huge corporations immortal and divine!
Our only motivation here at the Mighty
LOADSTAR Tower is to add more floors
to the Tower!
And to do that, we freely offer
our utility programs (such as Mini-
Presenter, PrintShopping Bag, and
other display or organization software
to anyone who needs it -- even if that
person makes a buck or two. Ditto ALL
of our ML modules such as MR.MOUSE,
RASTER BLASTER, RACKET MEISTER,
GRAFSTAR, HI-RES SCRIPTOR, and
DotBASIC!
These programs and modules were
designed to be used by programmers and
C-64 users, and to improve the
software created for the C-64. So feel
free to use this stuff in your own
creative work. Credit is all we crave!
DMM