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26 KiB
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1008 lines
26 KiB
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Zmagazine February 9, 1987
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Issue 38
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Zmag Staff:
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Publisher/Editor in Chief:Ron Kovacs
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Editor/Coordinator:Alan Kloza
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-----------------------------------
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____________________________________
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This Week in Zmag......
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<*> USER GROUP OF THE MONTH
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MICHIGAN'S C.H.A.O.S.
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<*> PROFILE: THE CHAOS BBS
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<*> SEAGATE INTRODUCES NEW
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3.5- HARD DRIVES
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<*> COMMODORE SHOWING PROFITS--
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COMING OUT OF THE RED
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<*> ACTIVISION POSTS LOSSES
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<*> ATARI WORD PROCESSING PT.I
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BEST OF THE 8-BIT SOFTWARE
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<*> ST FORTH--YOU GOTTA BELIEVE
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All this and more in this weeks
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edition of Zmagazine.....
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____________________________________
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Xx EDITOR'S NOTES
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....New Monthly Feature.............
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____________________________________
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As promised in last week's Zmag, we
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start a new feature this week, the
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User Group of the Month.
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This month we profile the C.H.A.O.S.
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User's Group of Lansing Michigan.
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If you would like to see your user's
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group featured in an upcoming
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edition of Zmag, send us some
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material for publication. We ask
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that all submissions be sent in by
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the 15th of the month for consider-
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ation in the next month's user group
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column.
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Take advantage of this free
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publicity and get your news in for
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an upcoming edition. Zmag is now
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featured on over 50 BBS's across the
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U.S. and Europe and can also
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be found in Compuserve's Atari
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DL library.
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For more information on Zmag's
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User Group of the Month, call:
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The Syndicate BBS
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(Zmag Headquarters)
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201-968-8148
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Surf City East BBS
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201-929-9351
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___________________________________
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Xx ZMAG USER GROUP OF THE MONTH
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....Capitol Hill Atarians..........
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___________________________________
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C.H.A.O.S. USER GROUP
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By Leo Sell, President.
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From out of the void...CHAOS!!
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C.H.A.O.S., like many user groups,
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came into existence to fill a void.
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C.H.A.O.S. is the Capitol Hill Atari
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Owner's Society, located in Lansing,
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Michigan. Supporting all Atari
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computers, 8-bit and 16-bit alike,
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we are the most active and second
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largest Atari user group in Michigan
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(M.A.C.E. of DETROIT is still #1 in
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size). Our still-growing membership
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numbers over 150, and is drawn from
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all over Michigan as well as out of
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state and Canada.
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A few of our continuing projects:
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We are most proud of our Public
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Domain Disk libraries. Recent
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trading and revision have made it
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one of the best sources of quality
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Public Domain programs anywhere,
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with fully categorized and indexed
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disks numbering over 300.
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The Publications Library has books,
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magazines and exchange newsletters
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from nearly 100 other clubs and
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spans the last 5 years.
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Our BBS is nationally known and
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visited for its quality,
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dependability, and ease of use, as
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well as being a great source for
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information (particularly on MEMORY
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UPGRADES).
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The C.H.A.O.S. ST INterest Group
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continues to grow in numbers and
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support.
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Our most recent, largest, and most
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exciting project is publishing and
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participating in the Mid-Michigan
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Atari Magazine in cooperation with
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seven other Atari user groups
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across the state.
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History
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C.H.A.O.S. (under a different name)
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began in 1981 as a small group of
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hackers, hobbyists, and computer
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professionals, with a common
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interest in the Atari 800. As time
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passed, our membership grew, adding
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Atari 400 owners, cassette owners
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and more. With growth came the need
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for structure and organization. The
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name was changed to C.H.A.O.S., a
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constitution was written and we
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incorporated. Our constitution was
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revised in 1985, but the philosophy
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and style obviously the energy of it's
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founders put into place has been
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retained. The result has been a
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consistency and dependability that
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is too seldom found these days.
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Organization
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C.H.A.O.S. is a corporation, and is
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organized in much the same way as a
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business. Our Board of Directors
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consists of five elected officers,
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including the President,
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Vice-President, Secretary-Treasurer,
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and two at-large members - one from
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each of the major group of owners
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(8-bit and 16-bit).
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In addition to the officers, each
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major function of the club is headed
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by an appointed manager or leader.
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The larger jobs, such as the disk
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library, are further divided using
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assistants whose work is overseen by
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the manager.
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Further use of the appointees' ideas
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and abilities is made by a
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management type of commitee, called
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the Activities Board. It consists
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of the Vice-President as Chairman,
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and all appointees of the club.
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Together they oversee their various
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activities and responsibilities, and
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brainstorm for new ideas and
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services.
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The MID-MICHIGAN ATARI MAGAZINE is
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published by C.H.A.O.S. but is
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managed as though it were
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essentially a separate entity in
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order to be fair to all the
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participating groups.
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The ST Crisis
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Another of our recent
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accomplishments that I take pride
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in, is the way we have weathered the
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ST crisis. It seems as if many
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clubs split the ST owners completely
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off, for a variety of reasons. That
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didn't happen here, although for a
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time there was some controversy and
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sentiment for a new and separate ST
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group.
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In the very early days of the ST,
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the C.H.A.O.S. Board of Directors
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deemed that we would support the ST
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as fully as possible. We strongly
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urged ST owners to remain with the
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club and take advantage of the
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structure and resources that already
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existed. We emphasized the common
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ground and needs of both 8-bit and
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16-bit owners. We committed
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strongly to the ST owners and then
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stuck to our resolution. We have
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also made it plain that we believe
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the future lies with the ST. As a
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result, our ST presence continues to
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grow and prosper, as does the club
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itself.
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The Future
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I believe that we will continue to
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grow and prosper and support owners
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of new and old Atari computers
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alike. As a percentage of
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membership, owners of the ST (and of
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the Atari machines yet to come) will
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continue to increase and that of the
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8-bit will decrease. But the
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foundations laid by the 8-bit owners
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will serve the future members well.
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Because we have joined together for
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support now, we can look forward to
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mutual support, cooperation, and
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harmony for a long time to come.
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___________________________________
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Xx ZMAG USER GROUP PROFILE
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....The CHAOS BBS..................
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___________________________________
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The C.H.A.O.S. BBS - (517) 371-1106
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By the System Designer and Operator,
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John Nagy
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The C.H.A.O.S. BBS is now in its
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third location and phone number
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since it began operations in 1982.
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I have been operating it since
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summer 1985.
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The BBS is supported completely by
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the C.H.A.O.S. CLUB, who pay for the
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equipment, line, repairs and
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upgrades. At the present, the
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system runs on a 320K ATARI XE
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computer, Basic XE (O.S.S. Inc.),
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Spartados (ICD, Inc.), a PERCOM
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master disk drive with two double
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sided double density slave drives,
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an ATARI 850 interface with an
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AVATEX 1200 modem, and an ATARI 1020
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printer/plotter for a logger.
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Arriving daily are the parts that
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will soon provide 10 MEG of hard
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disk storage, including the 256K MIO
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board from ICD.
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The software now running on the
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C.H.A.O.S. BBS is called -The M-5
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SYSTEM-, and is structurally based
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on the original public domain
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F.o.R.e.M. program by Matthew
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Singer, but has been totally
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redeveloped to add hundreds of
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improvements, features, and speed.
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Features include: 300 and 1200 baud;
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an automatic voting section;
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multiple message bases with reply
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chains, search by MARKED or NEW
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SINCE LAST CALL, controlled scroll,
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and more; -last words- left for the
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next caller, plus a LAST CALLS LIST
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to see who has been on, when, how
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long, and what their -LAST WORDS-
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were; continuously user-variable
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-expert user- mode; the best and
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newest information and text files
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for online reading; top quality
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recent public domain software for
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downloading; ZMAGAZINE; online
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roleplay/adventure games; and more.
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Perhaps the most outstanding feature
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of the M-5 System is the prompts.
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They automatically respond and offer
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help when you need it, judging your
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experience (as shown in the user
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log), your errors while using the
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system today, and your own requests
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for help. This part of the system
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has been and continues to be one of
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my main areas of development. It is
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perhaps the most user friendly
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system available for ANY computer.
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Our callers number as many as 50 a
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day from all over the USA and
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several other countries. We have
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over 400 regular users. For more
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than a year, C.H.A.O.S. has offered
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all the MEMORY UPGRADE information
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and software possible, and many
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calls each day are drawn by this
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selection. (Claus Buchholz,
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originator of the 256K upgrade for
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the 800XL, is one of C.H.A.O.S.'s
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original members.)
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A recent user poll showed an average
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user age of 28 years, with 20% of
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the traffic from out of the state.
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Although NOT in one of the area
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codes reachable through PC PURSUIT,
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C.H.A.O.S. still deserves a visit on
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your next trip through the electric highway!
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____________________________________
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Xx ZMAG NEWSWIRE
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....General Computer News...........
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____________________________________
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SEAGATE ANNOUNCES 3.5-INCH HARD DISK
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DRIVES
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(Feb. 5)
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Seagate Technology has announced its
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first 3.5-inch hard disk units, with
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a maximum capacity of 45MB. The
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half-height drives have an average
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access time of less than 30ms and are
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available with SCSI or Seagate's own
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ST412 interfaces.
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The SCSI and ST412/RLL models offer
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30MB and 45MB respectively, while the
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lower density ST125 and ST138 models
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give 20MB and 30MB formatted
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capacity.
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Prices start at $595 for original
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equipment manufacturers and volume
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production starts in the third
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quarter in Seagate's Far East
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plants.
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TANDY TOPS APPLE, IBM IN CHRISTMAS
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QUARTER SALES
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(Feb. 5)
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Tandy Corp. had itself a merry, BIG
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Christmas -- the latest word from
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Infocorp researchers is that the Fort
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Worth, Texas, computer maker claimed
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a 37 percent share of the nation's
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fourth-quarter retails sales of
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personal computers.
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That's more than the Apple Computer
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and IBM's portions combined.
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According to the report, Apple got a
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24-percent share; IBM got only 12
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percent. The fourth quarter is the
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most important, because
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traditionally it accounts for a
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third or more of the annual sales.
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Meanwhile, Apple's not really
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hurting, either. Looking at the year
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as a whole, both Apple and Tandy
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passed IBM, each getting about 25
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percent of the total 2.7 million
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units sold through retail stores in
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Christmas compared with IBM's 17
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percent.
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Note, though, that this report from
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the Cupertino, Calif., - based
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Infocorp focuses only on sales
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through retail stores like
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ComputerLand and Radio Shack
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outlets, and does not reflect direct
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sales to large companies, one of
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IBM's big distribution channels.
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--Charles Bowen
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COMMODORE POSTS PROFITS AGAIN,
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REVENUES DOWN SOME 20 PERCENT
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(Feb. 5)
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As predicted last month, Commodore
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International today reported its
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third straight profitable period,
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although revenues declined.
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According to a statement from its
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West Chester, Pa., headquarters, the
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computer maker made a profit of
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$21.8 million in the quarter ending
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Dec. 31. The Associated Press notes
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that included in the profit is a
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one-time tax-related gain of $5.8
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million, compared with a loss a year
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earlier of $53.2 million. The profit
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amounted to 68 cents per share.
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Revenue, down 20 percent to $270.8
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million from $339.2 million a year
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earlier, was at planned levels, said
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Thomas Rattigan, president and chief
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executive officer, in the statement,
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-as the company managed for
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profitability and cash flow- rather
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than growth.
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Interviewed by AP, Commodore
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financial officer Michael Evans
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elaborated that -trying to build for
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a large Christmas season, given the
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financial position of the company,
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would not have been the right thing
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to do.-
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Evans added, incidentally, that the
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company hopes to complete within a
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week a new agreement with its
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bankers on a $140 million revolving
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line of credit.
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Commodore was in default on
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stipulations of its earlier
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agreement.
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Commodore reports for the first half
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of its fiscal year, the period ended
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Dec. 31, it had a profit of $25.5
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million or 80 cents a share,
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including the $5.8 million
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tax-related benefit, compared with a
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$92.4 million loss a year earlier.
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Revenue for the same period fell 10
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percent to $446.8 million from
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$498.4 million.
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--Charles Bowen
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ACTIVISION POSTS LOSS
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(Feb. 6)
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Activision Inc., a publisher of game
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and education software, has posted a
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third quarter net loss of $3.9
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|
million or 11 cents a share.
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In the year earlier quarter,
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Activision had a net loss of
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$900,000 or three cents a share. Net
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sales for the latest quarter were
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$9.6 million from $5.8 million a
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year ago.
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For the first nine months of the
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fiscal year, Activision had a net
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loss of $6.7 million or 20 cents a
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share.
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This compares with a net loss of
|
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$3.8 million or 12 cents a share a
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year earlier. Net sales for the
|
|
period rose to $22 million from
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$12.5 million.
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Bruce L. Davis, Activision's
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president and chief operating
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officer, said that the 66 percent
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increase in sales for the quarter
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was due to the acquisitions of
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Infocom and Gamestar and strong
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sales of certain entertainment
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software and video games.
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He went on to note that operating
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results for the quarter were
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negatively affected by delayed
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product introductions, high
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marketing expenditures for new
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product introductions and heavy
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|
investment in new product
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development.
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-- John Edwards
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___________________________________
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Xx ZMAG PANORAMA
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....Atari Word Processing Part I
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___________________________________
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***********************************
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Editor's Note:
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The following article comes to us
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from Antic Online and presents a
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good overview on a few of the many
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word processing programs available
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for the Atari 8-bit computers.
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Because of its length, Zmag is
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publishing this review in 2 parts,
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the second of which can be found
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in next week's issue of Zmag.
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***********************************
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ANTIC PUBLISHING INC., COPYRIGHT
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1987. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION.
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By GREGG PEARLMAN, ANTIC JUNIOR
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EDITOR
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Atari 8-bit computers are fine word
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processing tools. For $500 or less--
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the price of a computer, printer,
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disk drive, software and some
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paper--you can have clean,
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correction-free documents that make
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ordinary typewritten material look
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as if the cat did it. In terms of
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versatility, speed, ease of use
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and readability, word processing is
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as far above typewriting as
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typewriting is above penmanship.
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An individual word processor is an
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acquired taste. Features that please
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some might annoy others. Even the
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five Antic editors are split on
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their favorites. For personal use.
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two prefer PaperClip, two use
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AtariWriter or AtariWriter Plus, and
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the fifth uses Letter Perfect.
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What follows is a detailed
|
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comparison of seven word processors
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currently available for Atari 8-bit
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computers.
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These word processors are
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AtariWriter Plus, First XLEnt Word
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Processor, PaperClip, Letter
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Perfect, Superscript, Word Magic and
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HomeText.
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80 COLUMNS
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The biggest lack in 8-bit Atari
|
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word processing to date has been the
|
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unavailability of an 8O-column screen
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display that shows your page exactly
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as it will print out. However,
|
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Atari now says that its long-awaited
|
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XEP80 80-column adapter box will be
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shipping in January, 1987.
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The XEP80's razor-sharp text
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display was demonstrated at last
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year's trade shows and Atari Fairs.
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The $79.95 adapter plugs into either
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joystick port and includes its own
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parallel printer interface. It
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works with either monochrome or
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color monitors.
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Prompt release of new versions
|
|
supporting 80 columns on the XEP80
|
|
are expected from AtariWriter Plus,
|
|
PaperClip and First XLEnt Word
|
|
Processor.
|
|
|
|
ACE80 ($49.95. Reviewed in Antic,
|
|
July 1986) and Write80 ($59.95.
|
|
Reviewed in October 1986) each offer
|
|
80-column displays without the XEP80
|
|
hardware. But neither of these
|
|
products can be considered
|
|
full-featured word processors like
|
|
the other software in this report.
|
|
|
|
ATARIWRITER PLUS
|
|
|
|
AtariWriter Plus does many things
|
|
well. Its Proofreader and Mail
|
|
Merge functions make it one of the
|
|
most complete word processing
|
|
packages available for Atari 8-bit
|
|
computers. AtariWriter Plus is
|
|
powerful and versatile, it does
|
|
not drop characters or lock up as you
|
|
type, and it has a 36,000-word
|
|
spell-checking dictionary.
|
|
|
|
The main limitation we found is a
|
|
maximum file size of only 12.3K on
|
|
the 800XL, slightly less than half
|
|
of the file sizes we obtained from
|
|
four other word processors. However,
|
|
on the 130XE (and compatible memory
|
|
upgrades) there are 15,872 bytes
|
|
free -- in each of three -banks.-
|
|
Files longer than 15.5K -spill
|
|
over- into the next available bank.
|
|
[START] [B] switches from one bank to
|
|
another, and [OPTION] [F] evenly
|
|
distributes the file among all three
|
|
banks.
|
|
|
|
AtariWriter Plus can be configured
|
|
to almost any printer. You need to
|
|
load the printer driver every time
|
|
time you boot up. The print preview
|
|
feature gives you horizontal
|
|
scrolling in more than 200 columns,
|
|
and underlined characters appear in
|
|
inverse video.
|
|
|
|
However, boldface, italics and other
|
|
special fonts are not indicated
|
|
onscreen. The AtariWriter Plus Mail
|
|
Merge lets you create an electronic
|
|
mailing list with up to 255 records
|
|
per file.
|
|
|
|
AtariWriter Plus's powerful
|
|
search-and-replace lets you use
|
|
question marks as -wild card-
|
|
characters. And global substitution
|
|
is almost instantaneous -- you don't
|
|
have to watch the cursor scroll
|
|
through the entire file.
|
|
|
|
The Proofreader program takes a
|
|
little while to load, but it quickly
|
|
scans your file for anything
|
|
unusual, at which time an obnoxious
|
|
beep alerts you.
|
|
|
|
While the Antic editorial staff has
|
|
had no problems with AtariWriter
|
|
Plus, this isn't entirely true of
|
|
our readers.
|
|
|
|
We have received a trickle of
|
|
letters listing minor complaints.
|
|
For example, apparently headers and
|
|
footers are sometimes printed
|
|
somewhere other than where you want
|
|
them.
|
|
|
|
$49.95. Atari Corp., 1196 Borregas
|
|
Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. (408)
|
|
745-2000. (Reviewed in Antic, April
|
|
1986, page 81.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FIRST XLENT
|
|
|
|
First XLEnt Word Processor is the
|
|
newest 8-bit product in this
|
|
category and it is packed with
|
|
unique and impressive features.
|
|
First XLEnt lets you add pictures to
|
|
the text, use the joystick for
|
|
cursor movement, edit two documents
|
|
at once, load in any Atari 8 X 8
|
|
font (such as international
|
|
character sets). Help screens are
|
|
easily available and
|
|
search-and-replace is almost
|
|
immediate.
|
|
|
|
You can load files from any DOS
|
|
(including specialized operating
|
|
systems such as SpartaDOS). And
|
|
there's no problem loading First
|
|
XLEnt files to other word processors
|
|
that use an Atari-compatible DOS.
|
|
First XLEnt is not copy-protected
|
|
and comes with Atari DOS 2.5, but
|
|
you can substitute your own
|
|
DOS -- meaning that you can set up a
|
|
large RAMdisk, for example. In fact,
|
|
First XLEnt uses the 130XE RAMdisk,
|
|
so you can load files lightning-fast
|
|
--tantamount to using an extra edit
|
|
window.
|
|
|
|
The program wordwraps on spaces and
|
|
hyphens, making word-breaks cleaner.
|
|
-Soft- hyphens are ignored unless
|
|
needed for a line break, and -hard-
|
|
spaces prevent a line break at that
|
|
space.
|
|
|
|
However, if you use two hyphens for
|
|
dashes (--), they will be split up at
|
|
the end of a line when printed.
|
|
|
|
First XLEnt has a visible, editable
|
|
cut-and-paste buffer. You can
|
|
insert a disk file anywhere in your
|
|
text without losing the end of your
|
|
document. You can save to disk any
|
|
part of the document in memory.
|
|
|
|
Also, when working with two
|
|
documents in memory, First XLEnt
|
|
flips between them instead of
|
|
splitting the screen into small
|
|
windows. (Those who prefer two
|
|
windows might like PaperClip
|
|
better.)
|
|
|
|
The biggest limitation we found in
|
|
First XLEnt is that the
|
|
cut-and-paste buffer holds you to
|
|
one screen -- 800 characters. Also,
|
|
the printing section in the manual
|
|
could be more informative.
|
|
|
|
When you go to the icon menu you're
|
|
not always returned to your original
|
|
spot in the text, or even to the same
|
|
typing mode. If you were in Insert
|
|
mode, you might find that you've
|
|
overwritten some of your document
|
|
before you realize you're no longer
|
|
in that mode. And finally, the
|
|
[CONTROL] key combinations on the
|
|
800 become [OPTION] key on the
|
|
XL/XE.
|
|
|
|
But despite any minor quibbles, the
|
|
First XLEnt Word Processor is a most
|
|
welcome entry in the 8-bit market.
|
|
It's powerful, easy to use and
|
|
highly original.
|
|
|
|
$29.95. XLEnt Software, P.O. Box
|
|
5228, Springfield, VA 22150. (703)
|
|
644-8881. (Reviewed in Antic,
|
|
January1987, page 53.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PAPERCLIP
|
|
|
|
As we've said on various occasions,
|
|
Batteries Included's PaperClip is
|
|
the 8-bit word processor we use at
|
|
Antic.
|
|
|
|
Several features weight the dice
|
|
heavily in PaperClip's favor. It
|
|
has -macro- capability for writing
|
|
out lengthy strings of stored text
|
|
with just two keystrokes. It has a
|
|
generally fast and efficient command
|
|
structure. It lets you work on two
|
|
windows at once, and can use the
|
|
paste buffer as a third window.
|
|
|
|
It reads standard Atari DOS files, so
|
|
you can easily work with files from
|
|
most other 8-bit word processors.
|
|
|
|
PaperClip's best and most original
|
|
editing features include commands to
|
|
transpose two adjacent characters or
|
|
words in a line, and to delete one
|
|
word.
|
|
|
|
When you press [CONTROL] [SHIFT]
|
|
[CAPS], the cursor scoots along,
|
|
changing capital letters to
|
|
lowercase or vice versa.
|
|
|
|
The search-and-replace feature is
|
|
good, but it slows down as file size
|
|
increases. However, you can search
|
|
and replace as many as six strings
|
|
during a single global substitute.
|
|
You can easily merge files, rename
|
|
or erase them, and format disks.
|
|
|
|
PaperClip's commands are generally
|
|
easy to remember. [CONTROL] [SHIFT]
|
|
[R] Reads a file from disk, and
|
|
[CONTROL] [SHIFT] [W] Writes it to
|
|
the disk.
|
|
|
|
[CONTROL] [SHIFT] [M] Moves a block,
|
|
[CONTROL] [B] turns on Boldface, etc.
|
|
But then [CONTROL] [A] sets print
|
|
tabs and [CONTROL] [T] forces a new
|
|
page, so the memory associations are
|
|
not always that clear.
|
|
|
|
Among the word processors in this
|
|
report, only Superscript and
|
|
PaperClip have math functions.
|
|
PaperClip can add, subtract,
|
|
multiply and divide, and print
|
|
totals and subtotals. But you need
|
|
to use the print preview window to
|
|
see the results, which for unknown
|
|
reasons often renders useless the
|
|
block move command, [CONTROL]
|
|
[SHIFT] [M].
|
|
|
|
Other functions include batch file
|
|
processing and Mail Merge. The
|
|
utility files also include machine
|
|
language printer driver maker, a
|
|
graphics dump and an AtariWriter to
|
|
PaperClip conversion program.
|
|
[CONTROL] [SHIFT] [1] gives a word
|
|
count, but it's not terribly
|
|
accurate. It counts spaces, not
|
|
words, and consequently misses by as
|
|
much as 20 percent. The print
|
|
preview feature uses PaperClip's
|
|
wide horizontal scrolling to display
|
|
the page as it will look on paper.
|
|
|
|
Despite all these flashy and
|
|
valuable features, Antic editors have
|
|
learned from nearly two years of
|
|
heavy PaperClip use that the
|
|
software sometimes mysteriously
|
|
locks up or drops characters. Also,
|
|
the type-ahead buffer is often too
|
|
slow to keep up with reasonably
|
|
speedy typing, especially at
|
|
line-breaks.
|
|
|
|
The program doesn't tell you when
|
|
your data disk is full. And in a
|
|
rare copy-protection scheme, you can
|
|
back up the disk but you must plug
|
|
the enclosed -hardware key- into
|
|
joystick port 2 to run PaperClip.
|
|
That key costs $20 to replace, but a
|
|
keyless 48K-only version is
|
|
available for $39.95.
|
|
|
|
Our copy of SpellPack, the
|
|
spell-checker in PaperClip's 130XE
|
|
version, didn't show words like
|
|
-without,- -us- and -too.- But it
|
|
had no problem with -mnemonic- or
|
|
-dubious- -- and it also provided a
|
|
large selection of non-words such as
|
|
-usabg- and -thesficking.-
|
|
|
|
However, Batteries Included has
|
|
assured Antic that these bugs are
|
|
fixed in PaperClip version 2.0 which
|
|
is presently shipping. Upgrades are
|
|
free with a dated receipt within 90
|
|
days of purchase. After that, the
|
|
fee is $10 for an updated 130XE
|
|
version and $15 for an upgrade from
|
|
XL to XE.
|
|
|
|
$59.95. Batteries Included, 30
|
|
Mural Street, Richmond Hill, Ontario,
|
|
L4B 1B5, Canada. (416) 881-9941.
|
|
(Reviewed in Antic, May 1985, page
|
|
24.)
|
|
|
|
************************************
|
|
ED.NOTE: Check out next week's Zmag
|
|
for the conclusion of this report.
|
|
************************************
|
|
|
|
___________________________________
|
|
Xx ZMAG EXTRA
|
|
....Miscellaneous Tidbits..........
|
|
___________________________________
|
|
|
|
ZMAG TYPE-IN PROGRAM
|
|
|
|
The following was sent in by a Zmag
|
|
reader in Indiana.
|
|
By: Dave Marzigliano
|
|
|
|
DEC>HEX Conversion Prgm.
|
|
|
|
10 DIM A$(9),AD$(1)
|
|
20 GR.0:? :? HEX NUMBER
|
|
CONVERSIONS-:?
|
|
30 ? :? -Enter 'D' for DEC to HEX.-
|
|
32 ? :? -Enter 'H' for HEX to DEC.-
|
|
36 INPUT A$
|
|
40 IF LEN(A$)=0 THEN 30
|
|
50 IF A$=-H- THEN 300
|
|
60 IF A$<>-D- THEN 30
|
|
90 TRAP 90
|
|
100 ?:? -Enter a decimal number from-
|
|
105 ? -0 through 999999999.-
|
|
110 ? -DEC:-;:INPUT N
|
|
120 IF N<0 OR N>=1E+10 THEN GOTO 100
|
|
130 I=9
|
|
140 TEMP=N:N=INT(N/16)
|
|
150 TEMP=TEMP-N*16
|
|
160 IF TEMP<10 THEN A$(I,I)=STR$(TEMP)
|
|
165 GOTO 180
|
|
170 A$(I,I)=CHR$(TEMP-10+ASC(A))
|
|
180 IF N<>0 THEN I=I-1:GOTO 140
|
|
190 ? -HEX: -;A$(I,9):?
|
|
200 GOTO 110
|
|
300 TRAP 300
|
|
310 ? :? -Enter a HEX number from-
|
|
315 ? -0 through FFFFFFFF -
|
|
320 ? -HEX:-;:INPUT A$
|
|
330 N=0
|
|
340 FOR I=1 TO LEN(A$)
|
|
345 AD$=A$(I,I):IF AD$<-0- THEN 300
|
|
350 IF A$(I,I)<-9- THEN N=N*16+VAL(AD$)
|
|
352 GOTO 370
|
|
355 IF AD$<-A- THEN 300
|
|
357 IF AD$>-F- THEN 300
|
|
360 N=N*16+ASC(AD$)-ASC(-A-)+10
|
|
370 NEXT I
|
|
380 ? -DEC: -;N:?
|
|
390 GOTO 320
|
|
400 END
|
|
|
|
This program can be typed in or
|
|
extracted from this issue with your
|
|
word processor and entered into
|
|
basic.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ATARI TABLE OF GRAPHIC MODES
|
|
----------------------------
|
|
MODE TYPE H V/S V/F COLORS RAM
|
|
----------------------------------
|
|
0 Text 40 - 24 2 993
|
|
1 Text 20 20 24 5 513
|
|
2 Text 20 10 12 5 261
|
|
3 GR 40 20 24 4 273
|
|
4 GR 80 40 48 2 537
|
|
5 GR 80 40 48 4 1017
|
|
6 GR 160 80 96 2 2025
|
|
7 GR 160 80 96 4 3945
|
|
8 GR 320 160 192 1/2 7900
|
|
----------------------------------
|
|
H=Horizontal Columns
|
|
V/S=Verticle Rows Split Screen
|
|
V/F=Verticle Rows Full Screen
|
|
RAM=Ram required
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ZMAG TYPE IN PROGRAM
|
|
|
|
Atari Light Show
|
|
|
|
10 FOR ST=1 TO 8:GR.7
|
|
15 POKE 752,1
|
|
20 ?: ? - Atari's Special Light
|
|
Show-
|
|
25 SETCOLOR 2,0,0
|
|
30 SETCOLOR 1,2*ST,8:COLOR 2
|
|
40 FOR DR=0 TO 80 STEP ST
|
|
50 PLOT 0,0:DRAWTO 100,DR
|
|
60 NEXT DR:FOR N=1 TO 800:NEXT N
|
|
65 NEXT ST
|
|
70 FOR N=1 TO 2000:NEXT N:GOTO 10
|
|
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------
|
|
Zmagazine #38 February 9, 1987
|
|
Please Contribute!!!
|
|
------------------------------------
|