Loadstar 128 #22/q22.d81/t.library

Text File | 1991-01-01 | 7.3 KB | 182 lines

                L O A D S T A R    L I B R A R Y    1 9 9 4

                    by Barbara Schulak and Fender Tucker


     On LOADSTAR 128 #12 we published LOADSTAR LIBRARY, a database of all
of the LOADSTAR 128 programs.  The idea was to make it easier to find a
particular program from our illustrious past.  It showed you a program's
issue number, category, title, author and a short description.  It also
allowed you to search for keywords in any of the fields and print out the
results of the search.  On every issue the file of information could be
updated to include the current issue's programs.

     Then on LOADSTAR 128 #17 we published MASTER BASE, a generic database
program with all sorts of features.  I made up a file of all of the same
information that LOADSTAR LIBRARY had, and grandly announced that it would
supersede LIBRARY.  Subscribers would update the MASTER BASE file each
three months themselves.

     Although MASTER BASE was well received, there were still some
subscribers who liked LIBRARY better and asked me to continue supporting it
with the update every issue.  So I decided to bring back LOADSTAR LIBRARY,
but with a few improvements.


 THE NEW LIBRARY
 ---------------

     The main thing I wanted to change was LIBRARY's speed.  The old
version used INPUT# to read each of the six lines of information per
program.  At Issue #12 it didn't take too long to do this, but by Issue #20
it was taking way too long.  So I used QUICKTEXT, Scott Resh's fast method
of getting strings from a file on disk.  It BLOADs the file, which is much
faster, especially if you have a fastloader.

     The old version allowed/forced you to enter a filename for the list.
This meant you could have several different lists.  I couldn't see any
reason for having different lists so the new version automatically loads
the file, which is called "128 ls".

     The old version allowed you to edit any of the fields, but in my
opinion, the only field that needs editing is the DESCRIPTION field
(formerly the COMMENT field).  I've entered short descriptions for all of
the programs but feel free to change them.  If you make any changes and
want those changes saved, be sure to SAVE FILE before quitting the
program.


 VIEW FILE
 ---------

     Choose this to see the database.  One record (program) at a time is
shown.  You can edit the DESCRIPTION line, flag the record, search through
all the records, or immediately jump (Goto) a particular record.  The
Function keys move through the database 1, 10 or 100 records at a time.  If
you flag a record a checkmark will appear by the record number.  The flags
are used to mark a record (or records) so you can print flagged records
only, or search just for flagged records, or whatever.

     If you choose SEARCH, you will be asked for which field.  The SEARCH
routine uses INSTR, so you can enter any string to be searched for, not
just the beginning of the string.  The search is case sensitive so you must
use upper-case and lower-case accordingly.  For instance, I've listed all
of the various database-type programs with the abbreviation "dB" in the
DESCRIPTION field.  To search for all of them, you must enter "dB", not
"db" or "DB".  The secret to searching is to use the smallest string
necessary to find exactly what you want to find without finding too much.

     Feel free to change the DESCRIPTION field for any record.  You may
want to devise a special code of your own, perhaps indicating which issues
you have, which programs won't work with WarpSpeed, which are compiled,
etc.  I've tried to put the characters "40" in the DESCRIPTION field for
all 40-column programs.


 PRINT FILE
 ----------

     Here you can send to the printer all of the records, or certain
subsets of the whole list.  It prints a nicely formatted list like this:

 Issue #    Category    Program    Author    Description
 -------    --------    -------    ------    -----------

I've found this handy for printing out Zero Page articles/programs because
generally the Zero Page items aren't listed on the label.


 SAVE FILE
 ---------

    This automatically scratches then saves the file "128 ls".  If you've
made any changes to the DESCRIPTION field and want it saved, be sure to
choose this before you quit the program.


 DISK UTILITIES
 --------------

     This useful section allows you to see a directory, initialize a drive,
rename a file, scratch a file, format a disk (be careful!!!), change the
drive number, validate (collect) a disk, read the error channel, or switch
to 1571 mode.   LIBRARY will work on any drive numbered 8 to 30.  If you
boot up on drive 9 and later switch to drive 10, then when you quit, the
program will try to return to LOADSTAR 128 on drive 10.


 FILE FORMAT
 -----------

     If you are interested, here is the format for the file "128 ls".  It
was created with EDSTAR II, our favorite line editor.  Any word processor
that can save a PETASCII file in PRG format can be used.

Each program has four lines dedicated to it in this order:

  87     (code number between 8 and 512)
  Title
  Author
  Description

The first line is a 9-bit number that has three pieces of information
imbedded in it.  I've never used 9-bit numbers before and it was a lot of
fun.

 (1) Bits 0, 1 and 2 represent the Category according to the following
scheme:

     0     Geos
     1     Zero Page
     2     Review
     3     Helpware
     4     Grafixware
     5     Brainware
     6     Funware
     7     Utilityware

Therefore to find the Category the program takes the number (87 in the
example above) and ANDs it with 7.

 (2) Bits 3 through 8 represent the issue number divided by 8.  The way to
strip off bits 0, 1, 2 and 9 is to AND the number with 248.  So, to find
the Issue number do this:

     Issue # = (87and248)/8   which equals 10

 (3) The 9th bit is for flags.  If the record is flagged, 256 is added to
the number.  To check if a flag is set, all the program has to do is check
to see if the number is larger than or less than 255.  Larger than 255
means the record is flagged.

     The old LIBRARY required six lines for each record.  I figured that
using only four lines per record would speed up loading and cut down on the
size of the file.  It does.  Astute readers may notice that since 5 bits
are devoted to the Issue #, the maximum number of issues the program will
support is 32.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:  This means that LOADSTAR 128 plans to stick around
at least until Issue #32.  I think this is a realistic number of issues to
aim for.  I've come to love the 80-column 128 mode and look forward to
writing at least one program every three months, but many of the best 128
programmers have moved on.  It's getting harder to find LOADSTAR-quality
programs for LS 128.  Eventually something has got to give -- or does it?
As Grand Exalted Mojo (and more importantly, hubby of one of the owners of
Softdisk) I can guarantee you that if you take us up on the 2-year
subscription offer to LS 128 for $55 (!), you WILL get your eight issues.


 BOTTOM LINE
 -----------

     I hope you find this new LIBRARY useful.  When there were only eight
or nine issues I had no problem finding a particular program, but now that
we're up to #22...

FT

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