This is the monthly newsletter of the Eagle Computer Users Group, P.O. Box 3381, Saratoga CA 95070. Deadline for submission of material for the newsletter is two weeks before the following meeting. The 1989 deadlines areDec. 30 1988 (for the Jan. 1989 newsletter), Jan. 27 1989, Feb. 24, Mar. 24,Apr. 28, May 26, June 23, July 28, Aug. 25, Sep. 29, Oct. 27, Nov. 24, and Dec.29 (for the Jan. 1990 newsletter).
The material in this newsletter is copyright ~=109~C~=083~ 1988 by the authors. Unless otherwise noted, the author is the editor of the newsletter. Permission is hereby given to reproduce material belonging to the editor, aslong as the notice "Copyright ~=109~C~=083~ 1988 David A.J. McGlone" isincluded in the reproduction. For permission to reprint other material,contact its author or authors.
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~=103~|MEETING PLACE|~=083~
Meetings are held at Tandem Computers Incorporated, 10435 North Tantau Avenue,Cupertino. To get there, take 280 to Wolfe Rd. exit, left at Vallco Parkway,left at Tantau, over the bridge and turn in where it says "Tandem Computers" onthe ~=094~left~=083~. This is ~=094~across the street~=083~ from our previousmeeting place. Sign in with the guard at the lobby and ask him the location ofthe Focus Room. If the meeting room has been pre-empted by Tandem bigwigs, theguard will be advised of the substitute room (in the same building).
Meetings are the second Saturday of every month, from 9 A.M. to Noon. Theremaining meeting of 1988 is December 10. Meetings in 1989 will be Jan. 14,Feb. 11, Mar. 11, Apr. 8, May 13, June 10, July 8, Aug. 12, Sep. 9, Oct. 14,Nov. 11, and Dec. 9 (1989).
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~=103~|DECEMBER 10 MEETING|~=083~
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|9:00| Meeting begins. No program has been planned.
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~=103~|NEWS|~=083~
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|Change of meeting place|
Construction at the Tandem facility at 10300 North Tantau Avenue, where we'vemet for almost two years now, has closed the building for the foreseeablefuture. Fortunately, the building right across Tantau also has a guard stationmanned every day. We have the use of the Focus Room in this building forDecember and January, and I hope to be able to announce in the next newsletterthat the arrangement has been made permanent.
Note that there are ~=094~two~=083~ Tandem buildings on the west side of NorthTantau Avenue in that block. We are meeting in what Tandem calls Location 200,the one with the flags out front. If you're in doubt, only the one at whichwe're meeting will have the front door open on a Saturday.
This is the building in which the company president has his office, and it'sfrequently busy around the clock. Normal sensible rules of good behaviorshould be observed, if we want to be able to meet here. I say this not becauseanything else was ever practiced at the other site. There are Tandem PCs inthe Focus Room; do not touch them. If you need to unplug anything to plug inEagles or other equipment you bring, be sure to plug the Tandem equipment backin afterwards. Furniture may be rearranged, as at the other site, but shouldbe restored to its original arrangement afterwards. ~=094~Verbum sapientibussatis~=083~, or, a word to the wise.
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|Membership classes, rates change|
The Board of Directors of the Eagle Computer Users Group, Incorporated, amendedthe by-laws concerning ~=094~membership~=083~ and ~=094~fees~=083~. Effectiveimmediately, our group now has only two kinds of members. A ~=094~Regularmembership~=083~ is open to any individual 10 years of age or older, uponacceptance of $15 per year. Each regular member is entitled to cast one votein any election we hold (for officers, for instance), and receives thenewsletter. All previous Regular and Associate members are now Regularmembers.
The other category is that of ~=094~Newsletter membership~=083~. For a fee of$4, newsletter members receive the newsletter. They are ~=094~not~=083~eligible to cast votes in elections.
Individuals can only join our group as Regular members. The category ofNewsletter members is open only to other ~=094~groups~=083~ that wish theirmembers to receive our newsletter. To put it another way, an individual pays afee of $15 and becomes a Regular member. A group pays $4 times the number ofmembers it has to add its members to our newsletter mailing list.
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|"Gone But Not Forgotten"|
On page 222 of the December, 1988 issue of ~=094~PC Computing~=083~ begins anarticle called "Gone But Not Forgotten". The article discusses PC clones madeby extinct companies, such as Eagle, or no longer manufactured, such as Corona. Morgan Thielmann and Associates (Jerry Davis), Wilkinson Software (whichcontinues development, enhancement, and bug fixes for Eagles 1600 and PCs), andour user group. Jerry was interviewed for the article and reports that he'sgotten a ~=094~lot~=083~ of work from people who've seen it.
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|What equipment do you have?|
In June or July we normally publish a roster of members. For each member welist name, city and state, phone number(s), and what kind of computer(s),printer(s), and modem(s) the member has. This coming year we're going to havea problem doing so, as we don't have phone numbers or information on whatequipment they have for any of our Newsletter members. Also, this informationis probably out of date for at least some of our Regular members.
The purpose of listing this information is to help our members help each other. If someone is having trouble making a BrandXYZ printer work, he can callsomeone like Dave Banoff who's proficient at figuring out the necessary controlcodes for strange printers. But if another member already has a BrandXYZprinter and has it working, why make Dave sweat? The member with the troublescan call the other directly.
Please, take a moment to send in a postcard or a short note to bring us up todate on what you have, Regular members as well as Newsletter members. Itdoesn't have to be a novel; just list your name, city and state, phonenumber(s), computer(s), printer(s), and modem(s).
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|No suspicious software, please|
The Eagle Computer Users Group has received a 5~=109~$~=083~" floppy disk withno documentation. The diskette sleeve says "A[>Algebrax, Minimum: DOS 2.11256K Graphics, Professor Weissman's Software, Box 140612 Staten Island NY10314".
In this day of computer viruses, sticking such unknown PC software into a PCwould be a lot like risking AIDS by having sex with a total stranger. I havereformatted this disk in my machine, which is proof against PC viruses (notbeing a PC). Any other diskettes received with no cover sheet or manual willbe treated similarly.
If you have software that you want to share with our group, perhaps on a demodisk that doesn't actually do anything but demonstrate the software, be sure toinclude the manual and a cover letter. Otherwise we are forced to assume theworst.
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|CP/M Eagles, speak up|
Z-Systems Associates (Alpha Systems Corporation, Plu*Perfect Systems, ~=094~etal.~=083~) have established the Z-Plan as a mutual benefit for them and foruser groups. Under the terms of the plan, a user group buys one copy of eitherZ3PLUS or NZ-COM, whichever is appropriate, and the associate receiving theorder buys a membership in the user group. Thereafter, the group can ordersoftware at a discount of 25%, which can be passed along to the individualsmaking up the order, or used to generate money for the group. For example,ECUG would buy a copy of NZ-COM ($77.50 total), and Alpha would buy a Regularmembership ($15), for a net cost of $62.50 to the group. As soon as the groupsold that copy, we'd be ahead of the game, and we could order various productsfor the members at a 25% discount. What the Board wants to know before goingahead is whether we could indeed sell that copy. Dave Banoff estimates thatoverall half of our members are using CP/M Eagles. Is there at least onemember who wants to upgrade his or her CP/M Eagle to the Z-System, with all thebenefits thereof? Now is the time to let the Board know! Send a letter to theP.O. box, or phone one of the officers, for instance me.
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|LaserJet fonts for sale|
Another way the user group could make money would be by selling fonts tomembers with LaserJet+, LaserJet 500+, or LaserJet II printers. A companycalled Digi-Fonts, Inc. for $70 sells a basic set of 8 typefaces and a programthat generates fonts from those typefaces. The typefaces are descriptions of asymbol set in outline format; the fonts generated are standard HP SoftFonts,usable in any LaserJet printer from the LaserJet+ up, or any of the many laserprinters with LaserJet emulations. With Digi-Font's Fontmaker program, youselect the size of the font (3.0 to 720.0), proportional or fixed spacing,pitch (if fixed spacing), portrait or landscape orientation, relative width,rotation (0 to 360~=109~o~=083~), slant (-45.0 to +45.0~=109~o~=083~), normalor reversed (white on black), normal or flipped (rotated around a verticalaxis). Once you've chosen the characteristics of the desired font, you justtype |M| to make the font, and then |S| to save it as a file. Presto! A fontfor your printer!
Here are 7 of the 8 typefaces in the basic set:
..~=001+ a:p1001100.unp~
Font 1001: Like Palatino
~=001~ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789 !@#$%^&*() ~=083~
..Y1B "*c2"
..~=002+ a:p1002100.unp~
Font 1002: Bold version of 1001
~=002~ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789 !@#$%^&*() ~=083~
..Y1B "*c2"
..~=003+ a:p1003100.unp~
Font 1003: Italic version of 1001
~=003~ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789 !@#$%^&*() ~=083~
..Y1B "*c2"
..~=004+ a:p1004100.unp~
Font 1004: Bold italic version of 1001
~=004~ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789 !@#$%^&*() ~=083~
Font 1005 is a commercial symbols set, but I forgot to make a font in thistypeface. Sorry ...
..Y1B "*c2"
..~=006+ a:p1006100.unp~
Font 1006: Like Geo, Bauhaus
~=006~ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789 !@#$%^&*() ~=083~
..Y1B "*c2"
..~=007+ a:p1007100.unp~
Font 1007: Like Park Avenue Script
~=007~ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRS
TUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789 !@#$%^&*() ~=083~
..Y1B "*c2"
..~=008+ a:p1008100.unp~
Font 1008: Like Hobo
~=008~ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789 !@#$%^&*() ~=083~
..Y1B "*c2"
Now I have the basic set, and if any member wants to buy a font from one ofthese typefaces, I can sell them. Digi-Fonts' warranty states that an owner oftheir program may do so, provided Digi-Fonts get a dollar for each typeface, upto 6 fonts per typeface, within 30 days. So if someone wanted typeface 1008 in6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16 point, that would be OK with Digi-Fonts, as long asthey got their $1. If the member wanted these in both portrait and landscape,Digi-Fonts would get $2.
The opportunity for the club comes from the fact that most people have a fairlysmall collection of fonts they customarily use. It would not be worth whilefor these people to pay $70 for the basic set, if they could get the 6 fontsthey wanted at, say, $5 apiece. Digi-Fonts also has a library of an additional264 typefaces (!) for $350. I have proposed that the Board buy this, both forme to use in the newsletter, and to sell fonts to members. If you have a laserand would buy fonts at $5 each, please let the Board know, either by a note tothe P.O. box, or by phoning or writing to one of the Board members.
If you want to get the typefaces and program yourself, write to Digi-Fonts,3000 Youngfield Street, Suite 285, Lakewood CO 80215, or call (800) 242-5665.
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|More than two fonts per page|
You may have noticed changes this issue, with the sudden appearance of~=094~italics~=083~ and characters like ~=109~C~=083~ and ~=109~$~=083~. Ihave been puzzled by my inability to get more than two fonts per page in thepast, and this month I figured out what was wrong. Nothing in either the HP~=094~Technical Reference Manual~=083~ or the ~=094~Operator's ReferenceManual~=083~ explained it. But I found a sentence in Chapter 5, "ProgrammingHints", of the ~=094~Technical Reference Manual~=083~. Near the bottom of page5-14, in parentheses yet, it says:
(It is recommended that new applications not use secondary character fontssince users often need more than two fonts per page.)
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In other words, this sentence implies that if you use a primary and a secondaryfont (instead of downloading ~=094~X~=083~ many primary fonts and switchingbetween them at will), you won't be able to get more than two fonts per page. Wouldn't you expect to find a statement to that effect in the chapter onprimary and secondary fonts? Instead, it's implied (not stated) only in thissentence in an out-of-the-way chapter addressed to programmers! Laser users,be warned; designating a primary and a secondary font is faster, but limits youto two fonts per page!
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|Adieu ~=094~Profiles~=083~|
Ted Silveira, formerly CP/M columnist for ~=094~Profiles~=083~ magazine, hassent out a message to the bulletin boards that ~=094~Profiles~=083~ is no more. It remains to be seen whether some other magazine, such as Alpha SystemCorporation's ~=094~The Z-Letter~=083~, can fill the gap left behind.
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~=103~|NEW MEMBERS|~=083~
Please join me in welcoming Janet Fairchild to our membership. Janet is anattorney at law in Berkeley, California. I have no information on what kind ofEagles she has, except that she's selling an Eagle II, so there's no point inlisting her phone number for mutual help with others having the same equipment. Perhaps she'll remedy this hole in our information.
Our other new member this month is Edward J. Uber of Sunnyvale, California,phone (415) 961-1102. Ed has an Eagle PC-2, also an Actrix computer and anAtari 1200XL. He uses a Citizen 120D printer and has a Hayes 1200 modem. Iforgot to ask him what line of work he's in. ~=094~Mea culpa.~=083~
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~=103~|ECUG LIBRARY|~=083~
The contents of the ECUG Library reside at the editor's house. Regular membersmay borrow them between one meeting and the next. Either call me evenings at(408) 293-5176 and ask me to bring them to a meeting, or phone to arrange atime to come over and borrow them.
Below is our annual listing of the complete contents of the library. Thesymbol ~=109~!~=083~ marks material which is dated and (in my opinion) notworth keeping further. If any member wants this material, he or she may haveit by writing or phoning me and arranging to pick it up. Otherwise, it will bediscarded next month.
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|Books|
Bailey, Andrew D. Jr., James H. Gerlach, Andrew B. Whinston, ~=094~OfficeSystems: Technology and Organizations~=083~, Reston Publishing Co., Inc.,Reston VA, 1985.
Booch, Grady, ~=094~Software Engineering with Ada~=083~, The Benjamin/CummingsPublishing Co., Inc., Menlo Park CA, 1983.
Christ, Carl F., ~=094~Econometric Models and Methods~=083~, John Wiley & Sons,Inc., New York, 1966. ~=109~!~=083~
Dorn, William S., Daniel D. McCracken, ~=094~Numerical Methods with FORTRAN IVCase Studies~=083~, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1972. ~=109~!~=083~
Forsythe, George E., Cleve B. Moler, ~=094~Computer Solution of LinearAlgebraic Systems~=083~, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs NJ, 1967. ~=109~!~=083~
Holoien, Martin O., ~=094~Computers and Their Societal Impact~=083~, John Wiley& Sons, Inc., New York, 1977. ~=109~!~=083~
Murtha, Stephen M., Mitchell Waite, ~=094~CP/M Primer~=083~, Howard W. Sams &Co., Inc., Indianapolis IN, 1980.
Ralston, Anthony, Herbert S. Wilf, ~=094~Mathematical Methods for DigitalComputers~=083~, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1960. Two volumes. ~=109~!~=083~
Sharpe, William F., ~=094~The Economics of Computers~=083~, Columbia UniversityPress, New York, 1969. ~=109~!~=083~
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|Magazines|
~=094~Computer~=083~, June 1981 (Ada issue).
~=094~The Convocation~=083~, magazine of the Screaming Eagle Users Group,issues 2/4 and 4/1.
~=094~Catalog~=083~ of The International Software Library, IBM/Compatibleedition, Christmas 1987.
~=094~Dealer Notes~=083~, a newsletter for Lexisoft/Spellbinder dealers, issues11 (Jan./Feb. 1986) through 18 (Mar./Apr. 1987), 21 (Sep./Oct. 1987) through 23(Jan./Feb. 1988).
Cauzin Systems, Inc., ~=094~Technical Specification for the Softstrip ReaderInterface~=083~, July 1986.
CompuView, ~=094~VEDIT CP/M~=083~.
Digital Research, ~=094~GEM Desktop~=083~, Sixth edition, June 1986, and~=094~GEM Draw Plus~=083~, Second edition, September 1986. Photocopies boundinto a single volume.
Digital Research, ~=094~GEM Collection~=083~. Boxed set of ~=094~GEMPaint~=083~, First edition, June 1985; ~=094~GEM Write~=083~, First edition,July 1985; and ~=094~GEM Desktop~=083~, Third edition, July 1985.
Hitachi America Ltd., ~=094~HD64180 8-Bit High Integration CMOS MicroprocessorUser's Manual~=083~, October 1985.
LEMIS, ~=094~LeBug Reference Manual~=083~, Version 5.1, 2 July 1983.
Paradigm Consultants, ~=094~Mini-Ledger~=083~, Fremont CA, 1983.
Woolf Software Systems, ~=094~Move-It Intercomputer Communication System User'sManual~=083~, version 3.0, November 1982.
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|Other|
MicroPro International, "WordStar Celebrates", September 15, 1987. VCR tape.
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~=103~|CONSULTANTS|~=083~
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|Jerry Davis| Eagle software, hardware & service; modem software and hardwareservice. Call (408) 972-1965 for rates.
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|David McGlone| SELECTOR V, Nevada COBOL, Turbo Pascal, Turbo Modula-2, CBasic,Spellbinder macros, disk copying and translation. Rates vary with services. Call (408) 293-5176.
~=094~(These ads are posted for the second time)~=083~
Eagle PC-2, September 1983, serial no. 502L0283, model 16EM12-P39-4, very goodcondition, will include 50 diskettes with sale of computer. IncludesEaglewriter (Spellbinder) software. Asking $295 or best offer. Call GlenPutnam to inspect it, or arrange to pick it up, at (415) 948-6641 evenings, or(415) 949-5737 during the day.
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~=109~t u t u t u t~=083~
Eagle II, CP/M, CBasic, dBase II, Spellbinder, UltraCalc, manuals, Radio ShackDMP-120 printer, cable, and sound-insulated printer enclosure. Low hours ofuse. Complete system $440, or computer and software and manuals (withoutprinter) for $225. I desperately need to sell this equipment, so if the aboveprices are not in the ball park, call and make an offer. Jim McKinley, (415)427-7725.
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~=094~(These ads are posted for the first time)~=083~
Eagle I for sale with Eagle manual, Spellbinder, CP/M and CBasic, UltraCalc,Alphacomm printer. $100. Pat Raskowsky, (408) 336-8430.
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~=109~v w v w v w v~=083~
For sale, 20MB hard disk drive and controller board (for external box, not on aPC card). $125 or best offer. R. Dethlefsen, (408) 246-5378.
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~=109~A B A B A B A~=083~
Eagle II for sale, in fully working order, with original documentation, forsale for best offer. I hate to give it up, but in any event I'd like it to goto a good home. Janet Fairchild, (415) 843-6330.
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~=103~|REMINDER|~=083~
If you have something for sale, or wish to be listed as a consultant, contactDavid McGlone. For membership matters, contact Shirley Welch.
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~=103~|LETTERS|~=083~
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26 October 1988
Dear Mr. McGlone:
I was delighted to get the _Eagle Computer_ newsletter actually addressed to myhusband Sol Tanne. Both Sol and I initially used my Eagle IIe computer, but hehas now moved on to a more sophisticated IBM clone. We were part of theScreaming Eagles Users Group, but we seldom received their newsletter and hadno real contact with the group. I do hope to get more benefit from the EagleComputer Users Group.
I am a freelance medical writer who writes both for doctors and for the publicin major national magazines. As a former officer of the American Society ofJournalists and Authors, the nationwide organization of freelance nonfictionwriters, I helped put together an informal group of members who used Eagles andSpellbinder, many of us on the East Coast. I've had my Eagle IIe for aboutfive years. Although I think of it as the Volkswagen Beetle of computers, ithas been more than adequate for my word-processing needs. Spellbinder is awonderful, friendly, easy to use word-processing program. The whole Eaglesystem has never received the praise it deserves, in my opinion.
If any other Eagle Computer Users Group members can help me with a modemcommunications problem, I would like advice. Besides my Eagle, I have aportable NEC Model PC 8401A-LS ~=109~-~=083~ a CP/M system with a built-in300/1200 baud modem, WordStar, and MODEM7 telecommunications program. I wantto be able to transfer files to and from my Eagle and my NEC. For this purposeI bought a Volksmodem Anchormodem Model VM1 from the Screaming Eagles group. It came with a sort of memo of instructions that neither I nor computer-hackerfriends can understand, about how to use its MODEM7 software to put the twomachines in touch. More by accident than design, I managed to get them tospeak keyboard to keyboard (this is called terminal mode in MODEM7); I can typea message on one, have it appear on the other, and vice versa. But I havenever been able to transfer files. I know I need just a few simpleinstructions. Can somebody out there help?
I'm also curious about repair services for Eagles. I have a fairly expensiveservice contract (about $350 a year) with Alcatel Information Systems (formerlypart of ITT), but I suspect, from what I've seen over service people'sshoulders, that I could do many of the things they do. Replacing a disk drive,for example, seems so simple ~=109~-~=083~ just hooking up a few connections~=109~-~=083~ because Eagles are built from standard components hookedtogether. Do you Eagle users out there have advice on repairs or a favoriteservice contractor?
Anyway, it's terrific to be in touch with a larger Eagle group. I am going tolet our Eagle users here know about you and hope they'll get in touch.
Regards,
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Janice Hopkins Tanne
251 Central Park West
New York NY 10024
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~=109~I K I K I K I~=094~
High praise indeed, Janice, comparing the CP/M Eagles to VW Beetles! And I'msure that L/Tek, who currently sell Spellbinder and who get our newsletter,will be equally pleased with the kind words about Spellbinder.
As for "more sophisticated", while the PCs have some features not found onplain CP/M 2.2 computers, they are |not| more sophisticated, or as easy to use,as the current state of the art in 8-bit operating systems, the Z-System. Forthat matter, even plain CP/M systems consistently out-perform PCs in mostapplications. Benchmarks of CP/M systems versus PCs usually surprise thetesters by showing "obsolete" systems as being up to |three times| as fast asthe PCs.
We do indeed have a favorite service contractor out here. Jerry Davis, one ofour members, runs Morgan Thielmann and Associates and does most of the repairs,troubleshooting, and upgrades around here. He gets a lot of systems shipped tohim from out of state, too. I would suggest you call him or write to him forrecommendations about service contracts. $350 a year sounds a bit steep for amachine that (in my experience with several CP/M Eagles) needs to be looked atperhaps every other year. If you do look into your Eagle yourself, remembertwo important things: (1) Don't try to open the case until you've unscrewed allthe screws. There are three on the front underside, and two long ones in back. (2) Turn off the machine and unplug it before opening it. If you plan totouch anything, it's always best with anything electrical to have someone elsestanding by, in case you get a bad shock. If you unhook any cables, be sure tonote (write down, that is) what you unhooked them from and exactly how theywere attached, so that you can re-attach them correctly. Failure to do so canshort out your machine, in the worst case.
Your MODEM7 problem sounds like one of the things that sent me looking for auser's group 5 years ago. Like you, I was using MODEM7 to talk to anothermachine (a Tandem mainframe in my case), but was unable to download files. Itturned out that the version of MODEM7 I had verified sectors copied using CRC,while the XMODEM at Tandem used checksums. Each was willing to wait foreverfor the other to send the information it needed, so they both just sat thereuntil I gave up and disconnected. I solved the problem by getting a laterversion of MODEM7. That version, if it didn't get a CRC after severalattempts, automatically switched to checksums and tried that.
If you can type stuff in terminal mode and it shows up on the other machine,but not vice versa, or if you can copy files one way and not the other, thatmay be your problem. If you can type stuff on either keyboard and it shows upon the other screen, but you can't send files either way, it's probablysomething else. Again, talk to Jerry, who's pretty proficient in MODEM7, andsells and services modems; he may be able to help you.
Anyone else using a Volksmodem with MODEM7 who can help Janice, please write toher at the address above.~=083~
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~=103~|PROGRAMMING IN SPELLBINDER|~=083~
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TCPRNT.WPM and dot-matrix printers
Jerry Davis asked for my help this month with the two-column print macro,TCPRNT.WPM. He and one of his customers have been sweating blood trying to getthis macro to work with a dot-matrix printer. I was able to help himimmediately, because I had gone through the same thing several years back, whenI upgraded to version 5.3, and still had my Epson Mx-80. This is a perfectexample of members of a user group helping each other. Users of systemprinters, such as laser printers, will run into the same problems.
Users of earlier versions will not encounter the problem. While thedocumentation for the macro (called 2CPRNT.WPM in earlier releases ofSpellbinder) always said that the macro only worked with precision printers,this was not actually true before release 5.3. To use TCPRNT.WPM with otherthan a precision printer, you need to change the macro as described in theletter I received from Venita Kent-Basham of Lexisoft Technical Support:
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TWO COLUMN PRINT MACRO PATCH #1
VERSION 5.30
February 21, 1985
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|PROBLEM:| The two-column print macro will not print properly with dot-matrixor system printers. The left column is printed correctly, but the rightcolumn's left margin wanders. This is due to the macro's use of print routine11 to form the columns.
|SOLUTION:| Change the macro so that the print routine 11 is removed and printroutine 1 is substituted.
|PATCH:| Read the file TCPRNT.WPM into a clear work space and make thefollowing changes:
1. Issue the command "T/SA/11~=109~L~=083~/1~=109~L~=083~/" to change printroutine 11 to print routine 1. NOTE: ~=109~L~=083~ indicates a spacecharacter; press the space bar.
2. On screen line number 34, change "1=Santec 0=all other printers" to"1=Santec, dot-matrix printers".
3. On screen line number 81, change "YS" to:
>0:ON -1 316
4. Add the following lines to the end of the macro:
..i5
:ON $S / /+2 /
E/S//#13\/[</
B1/P1/B1/D1
YS
:ON -1 47
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5. Save the macro back to disk. You're done! This version will work with adot-matrix or system printer.
When you're actually using the macro, and configuring it for the columns youwant, remember to set the last configuration option to "1" for a dot-matrixprinter.
