|||||Zmagazine|| July 19, 1986 Ron Kovacs-Publisher/Editor Walt Drummond-Assistant Editor ----------------------------------- |||||Contents|| <*> Zmag Notes <*> New Format <*> ZPRINT4.OBJ <*> Basic Programming Help <*> Zmag Information Network <*> Editor Column <*> Zmag Chicago <*> CompuServe Watch <*> Antic's Gigi Bisson Report <*> Zmag Contest <*> CToday Report <*> and more........ <*> BBS:Express! <*> Conversation with Mike of SIG* ----------------------------------- |||||Gigi's_Report|| =================================== ANTIC Report By: Gigi Bisson ANTIC PUBLISHING, INC., COPYRIGHT 1986. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION FROM ANTIC ONLINE ON COMPUSERVE. =================================== Xx INDUS IS OUT Prospective Indus disk drive owners be warned; the Chatsworth, CA-based peripherals manufacturer is no longer in business. A company called National Logic took over the new Indus MIDI sequencer product line, and Future Systems, Inc. purchased the rights to the Indus GT Atari and Commodore-compatible floppy disk drive line. Future Systems has notified registered Indus owners that their Indus warranties are no longer valid. A service contract can be purchased from Future Systems for $24.95. According to Future Systems President Gary Grewal, the company intends to release several products Indus had in the works before the reorganization, including a CPM/BIOS RAM charger that plugs into existing disk drives. The new address is: Future Systems 9811 Owensmouth Suite 9, Chatsworth, CA 91311. (818)407-1647. Xx MIRAGE FILES CHAPTER 11: Mirage Concepts, makers of the H & D Base database and other ST products in the Holmes & Duckworth Micronomists software line, have filed for Chapter 11 protection. Due to their inability to fulfill a $175,000 business loan, their bank -physically appropriated the company's assets on May 21-, Mirage Vice President Michael Reinhold said in a prepared statement mailed to creditors. As their Fresno, CA offices have been shut down,company officials were not available for comment. Xx ACTIVISION/INFOCOM MERGE Activision, the Mountain View, CA entertainment software company, has reached an agreement to merge with Infocom, the Cambridge, Mass. interactive fiction game developer. Activision Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James Levy said that Activision will exchange 2.0 million shares of Activision common stock, valued at $7.5 million, for all outstanding shares of Infocom stock. Infocom will maintain separate product development and marketing operations in Cambridge. The merger will not be official until a final agreement is signed on June 30, 1986. Activision has also recently acquired Gamestar, creator of Championship Golf, and GBA Championship Basketball, two ST games slated for Fall release; and Creative Software, a productivity software company. Activision was founded in 1979 when five dissatified employees left Atari Inc. to form their own VCS game cartridge company. Xx ATARI MORALITY A man in Georgia reportedly programmed his Atari 800 and modem to call the Jerry Falwell toll-free fund collection number every 38 seconds. Apparently he was attempting to prevent the Moral Majority from getting tax-free contributions which, the computerist contended in an interview with Cable News Network, is, itself, immoral. Southern Bell/AT&T traced the offending calls and ordered the anti-Fawell Atarian to cease and desist, threatening to discontinue his telephone service. (Credit for this morsel of Atari trivia goes to the Jersey Atari Computer Group newsletter.) Xx REMOTE CONTROL PETSTERS? Nolan Bushnell, Atari Inc. founder, and current President of Axlon Inc. the company responsible for Petsers those adorable fur-covered robots, is rumored to be considering a merger with Steve Wozniak's CL-9 company. Axlon would acquire Woz's remote control interface venture in a stock swap that would involve no cash. Teddy Ruxpin, watch out. Xx MORE PEOPLE USING ATARIS Judith Cohn is conducting Cell Image Analysis research at NASA with the aid of an Atari ST computer and the DEGAS graphics program from Batteries Included. Cohn is currently writing an ST program which will she hopes will help her partition digitial images of human reticulocytes (individual cells which form a network of cellular tissue in the human body) into two groups. Xx FREE PUBLICITY Trying to sell your product to the education market? Put it aboard the Teacher Resource and Computer Training Center, a roving computer -mobile unit- equipped with Atari ST and Apple II computers, textbooks, software, comfortable couches and, of course, hot coffee. The mobile unit cruises the parking lots of 25 school districts in the Wayne-Finger Lakes area of upstate New York, giving 2700 teachers hands-on experience with educational software and computers. To get your Atari ST educational product on the bus, send a complimentary sample of software conspicuously marked with the name and address of your sales representative, to: J.C. Crawford, Wayne-Finger Lakes Area Teacher Resource and Computer Training Center 3501 County Road 20 Stanley, NY 14561 (716)526-6431. Xx MIDI MAGIC Sweet symphonies drifted through the Antic offices when Carl Bacani of Computer Support, our friendly, neighborhood Atari dealer, popped in to show off his MIDI musical compositions. It sounded better than live music or any recording--sharp, clear, each note distinct. Yes, you too can create stunning music with Activision's $49 Music Studio program and $5,000 worth of hardware. Bacani's MIDI set-up included an Atari 1040ST computer hooked up to a Roland TR-727 Rhythm Composer, Casio CZ-101 synthesizer, Yamaha RX 15 Digital Rhythm Programmer, Yamaha TX 7 FM expander, Casio TB-1 MIDI Thru Box, and a BOSS BX 600 6-Channel Stereo Mixer. An FM stereo reciever and two speakers amplified the sound. Bacani will help Atari Corp. -unofficially- display the ST's MIDI prowess at The Bay Area Music Fair, sponsored by Electronic Musician Magazine, Windham Hill Productions, and several of big stereo dealerships and synthesizer companies. Xx WHY DVORAK LEFT Don't turn to the last page and expect to find that familiar bold-faced type in InfoWorld. John Dvorak, long-time InfoWorld institution and once editor of the publication no longer graces the pages of the weekly microcomputer industry tabloid. Sources close to InfoWorld say Dvorak was unhappy with the publication's recent emphasis on the dull business market in an attempt to woo the MIS (Manager of Information Services) reader. MISs make major microcomputer purchases within corporations. Dvorak continues his controversial column in Computer Currents, a California weekly tabloid, and writes a non-computer column for the San Francisco Examiner. Xx AND YOU THOUGHT $699 WAS A DEAL. During a 10-day Father's Day promotion, Atari has slashed the price of the monochrome 520ST to $499! Will it ever end? Xx WHICH WILL YOU BUY? This Christmas, Commodore will sell the re-designed Commodore 64 for $200 while Atari Corp. delivers the 65XE for under $100. Xx JACK'S A TOYS R US KID: The Atari invasion in the nationwide Toys R Us retail toy store chain seems to finally have taken effect. Our roving shopper reports seeing an entire shelf in a local Toys R Us store dominated by 8 and 16-bit Atari hardware and software. Xx DID YOU KNOW: * -Hackers- author Steve Levy is rumored to be working on a Broadway musical based on the MIT programmers of the 60's called -Leader of the Hack.- Rather than act, the actors will sit around eating Chinese food and discuss different ways to make the theatre's sound system better. * Chris Crawfords' latest game: -Balance of Checkbook- * The plan to stop software pirates by joining forces with National Child Watch, the folks who print those messages on milk cartons. * Or how about buying software at 7-11? -I can't wait to get technical support from the convenience store staff...Give me four twinkies, two of those Beef & Bran burritos, and tell me, when I'm doing an asynchronous download in XMODEM, do I have to adjust the parity bit to Odd or Even?- writes Frank Simon, in a parody editorial. These and other humorous, high-tech pseudo-news stories can be found in Comedy By Wire: The Computer/Comedy Newsletter. A one year subscription to the monthly, four -page, publication is available for $9 from: Comedy By: Wire 431 West 45th Street New York, NY 10036. Xx KNOW SOMETHING WE DON'T? Publicize your Atari-oriented computer show, seminar, class, swap meet or event (no users group meetings, please) in the new Events section of Antic Online. Just send us a message in the Online Feedback section noting the date, time, location, cost, sponsor and highlights of the event. =================================== |||||Classified|| From: Chuck Steinman To: Atari User's Subj: Atari National Technical News I have been using computers for over a decade now, and the last 7 I have owned Atari's. I feel the Atari computers are the best value, even when I payed over $700 for my first 800 with 16k or RAM. I currently own the following: 2-800 with 288k RAM 5-400 with 64k RAM 1-800xl with 256k RAM 1-600xl with 64k RAM 2-1050 drives with U.S. Doublers 1-1030 modem 1-850 interface module 1-410 program recorder and several hundred programs. I program in BASIC, Forth, -C-, pascal, and several assembly languages, that include the 6502. I used to enjoy the occasional technical utilities and articles that were published in ANALOG, and ANTIC. I probably still would, if there were any, but they have been so sparse in the last year that my apetite for -input- is growing too intolerable. What I would like to do would is form an ATARI newsletter, which would be nationally available for the technical Atari user. I feel there is a demand for this info. from the requests of such at user group meets that I have attended. How I would like to arrange the newsletter, would be to have, on a national basis, all interrested partys to contact me. If you can write programs, or design circuits you have what I need. If you can't but would like to learn, then you have the source now. If you are not personally interrested, but think the idea is in-line, then talk to your fellow Atarians, or have your local user group mention it at their next meeting,or better in their next club newsletter. Anyone interrested in submitting a program or other material, can do so by any one of several ways: by mail using the standard submission style of most magazines (programs on disk or cassette, with instructions, and if possible a program listing), also available is direct tele-communicatons, either by my own BBS (info later), Compuserve, or Delphi.Of course the fastest is by my BBS. Initially the submissions would be donations, but if there is enough support, some advertising, or a monetary donation, I would begin paying accepted submitters at fair rates. Also,I will need several technical minded people to support me in the constructon, and formatting of the newsletter. If you are interrested please contact me. Subscription to the newsletter will be minimal. It will begin at a rate of $10.00/year. This is just about what contruction and postage for 12 issues would cost. This would be a good bargain at this price, if there is good technical support. To inquire for more information you can write me at: Chuck Steinman 3308 Park Ave. West P.O. Box 134 Ontario, Ohio 44862 (419) 529-2478 after August 1, 1986 you will be able to call my BBS at the same number at only the times listed below. Mon-Fri 9:00pm - 4:00am [EDT] Sat-Sun 12:00pm -12:00am [EDT] Compuserve User Id: 77717,3223 Delphi User Name: Master-800 I hope that the many Atari users will join to construct -their- magazine in the format that THEY want. Chuck =================================== |||||Zmag_Help|| *********************************** * * * <>Zmag<> Basic Programming Help * * * *********************************** In this column we will explain a few subjects pertaining to Basic. Each week we will cover another subject and hopefully get answers to your questions. This week question is: What is a DIM error?? This is Error 9 in Basic and I am sure many of you have seen this come up from time to time. Error 9: This error occurs when the program refrences an array or string which has not been DIMensioned. This error also occurs when a DIM state- ment includes a string or array that was previously DIMensioned. Or also, if an attempt was made to DIM a string of length zero or a length greater than 32767. Now we will explain a bit further what is happening in a DIM. ARRAY:VARIABLE ARRAY: A variable is designed to hold a single data item, either string or numeric. However, some pregrams require that hundreds or even thousands of variable names be used. A list is kept of the variable names used in the program in it's variable name table. A max of 128 names can be stored in the name table. An array variable names counts as only 1 name in the name table, regardless of the number of elements with in the array. Every time a new variable is entered that name is added to the name table. In the program mode, variables are added to the name table as they are encountered in the program. These names are stored in the name table until a NEW command is issued. When you save a program to disk, the variable name table is saved along with the program. Arrays have up to two dimensions. Two-dimensional arrays are also known as tables. Before an array variable can be used in a program, an area in memory must be reserved to store its elements. This is know as dimensioning the array and is accomplished with the DIM statement. The DIM statement defines the max subscript value that can be used for an array. For example: DIM A(20) This statement would define a one- dimensional array consisting of 21 elements ranging from A(0) to A(20) inclusive. Two-dimensional arrays are dimensioned as follows: DIM A(4,7) This statement would dimension an array consisting of 5 rows with eight columns each. General good programming would group all DIM statements at the beginning of the program. This prevents an array variable from being refrenced before it has been dimensioned. Refrencing any array before is has been dimensioned will result in an error. When an array is no longer needed in a program, the DIM statement can be reversed with a CLR statement. Type in the following program to see this in action: 10 PRINT FRE(0) 20 DIM A(25,25) 30 PRINT FRE(0) 40 CLR 50 PRINT FRE(0) 60 END In line 10, the number of available free memory is displayed. FRE is a function which displays free memory in your computer, We will discuss this in the weeks ahead. In line 20, the DIM statement reserves an area in memory for a table consisting of 676 elements. From line 30, it is evident that the number of free memory has decreased. This is due to the fact that an area of memory has been reserved for the elements in Table A. In line 40, the CLR statement reverses the DIM statement and frees the memory previously required for the elements in table A. *********************************** If you have a question you would like explained, please let us know by leaving a message on this BBS system or writing to us. Zmagazine NJ PO BOX 74 Middlesex, NJ 08846-0074 *********************************** |||||Zmag_CompuServe_Watch|| Messages and information from the CIS SIG*Atari Base Sb: SYSTEM II BBS Fm: STUART CHANG 76317,1523 To: ALL Well folks, there is a BBS in Florida that is absolutely great. It is run off an XM301 modem 24 hours a day. at (813)371-2322 and leave Feedback to the SYSOP telling him you heard about it off Compuserve, and he will give you a special access. Well remember the number is (813)-371-2322. Call SYSTEM II Sb: IT'S WORKING!! Fm: BOB WOOLLEY 75126,3446 To: ALL After many months of nothing but timeouts, I actually copied a file from my 1050 to my screen without using SIO.... I want to yell and scream, but my family has been too patient already. All those little bits marching along side by side, eight at a time...... WEEEEEEE!!! All you hardware types out there, look in DL3 in a week or two for P1050.XMO and P1050.DOC. Bob Woolley Sb: #162828-MONITOR HOOKUP??? Fm: BOB WOOLLEY 75126,3446 To: - JAMES D.BAKER 72337,2270 You must solder more parts inside the computer - not worth the effort. Use a TV or buy an 800XL for $60 or so. Not to be so negative on 400, but it really does not lend itself to that option. Bob Woolley Sb: #162827-800XL+ Fm: BOB WOOLLEY 75126,3446 To: Andrew Karl Heller 72327,3160 Karl: I ordered mine over two months ago... I'm still waiting. Their reply to my letter last month (postmarked 6/16) said they would ship on 6/13..... Still waiting........ You save maybe five bucks for all that hassle?? I can't even get them on their non-800 number. The 256K chips are less than $3 almost everywhere out here. Black Patch is a bad deal! Bob Woolley Sb: #162988-modem? Fm: BOB WOOLLEY 75126,3446 To: Peter Seiler 72267,2224 Peter: Forget the 835.... Electronic One has the 1030 for about $45. It has built in software (no disk or tape required) and will run EXPRESS when you do get a 1050. If you take a look through ANTIC or ANALOG magazine, you may find a 1030 for less than that -- BUT -- forget Black Patch. They are bad news...... for now, anyway. A thermistor is a temperature sensitive resistor - it's resistance changes with temperature. You want a value of 100K or so, at room temp. The POT function in the 400 will produce a number that is proportional to the temperature of the thermistor. Works great!! Find an AtariLab kit - it has one in it. Bob Woolley Sb: #162679-PSF Fm: SAM NEAL 72337,361 To: PAUL R. WIENCKOWSKI 72747,625 Yes, there is a conversion program also in the dl4 library named SHOPTOOL. It will convert DOS files into Printshop files and back. One o --Marvin the Paranoid Android Sb: #162843-400 question Fm: BOB WOOLLEY 75126,3446 To: Peter Seiler 72267,2224 Peter: Try Computer Mail Order for a deal on an old 400. They had some for $20, or so and have always been easy to deal with. A 1050 will be over $100 right now - that is a lot of money compared to the 400, but you just can't do much without one. The price may go down if the 3.5 inch drive comes out and then it may not. Probably the best deal in town for a modem is the 1030. Check with your local user groups. I have seen some good buys from people switching to ST. Even better buys are around swap meets where not much Atari activity goes on - some of those sellers think Atari stuff is dead, like the TI and ADAM. All the better for you!! Bob Woolley Sb: #162738-LAZY LOAER Fm: PETER NICHOLLS 71777,3640 To: FREDERIC LEWIS 71445,564 Fred - the reason the screen freaks is fairly straight forward! The problem is that KYAN PASCAL uses a custom O/S for its compiler. In other words, what's happening is that, when the KYAN compiler loads it is placed in part of the RAM underneath the XE's O/S. Therefore, when the compiler loads for the first time, the character set has to be copied down into the RAM area from $C000 to $FFFF (somewhere!). Deoending on the copydown code you use, this will occsionally cause a temporary screen blitz. However, the problem should _not_ be permanent! If it is, you either have a problem with the compiler, or the loader. The first is very unlikely (you paid for it!) but the second is highly possible with a bad DL from CompUServe - check it out and let me know! By the way, sorry for the long reply time, but I just got an ST and Personal Pascal -- AMAZING! [pn] Sb: #162953-ACTION Fm: SYSOP*Keith Ledbetter To: JOHN LECHMANIK 73217,422 John, I'm not real sure what you mean exactly, but here goes. If you want a string to be 20 bytes long max, just do the following: Byte Array Your_String (21) (mustn't forget the length byte!). With that statement, Your_String will ALWAYS have 21 bytes allocated, whether you are using them all or not. About the concatenation, you have to use the SAssign proc. Let's say that you have the following two strings, one containing a file name, and the other an extender: Byte Array Filename (12), Extender (4) and a long string to concat into Byte Array LongName (20) Now, here is the code to concat the filename: SCopy (LongName,Filename) SAssign (LongName,-.-, LongName(0)+1, LongName(0)+1)) SAssign (LongName,Extender, LongName(0)+1, LongName(0)+Extender(0)) Whew!! As you notice above, you must use the length byte to control your concat positions. Keith Sb: DIGSND.XMO Fm: ELIOT STEIN 76703,305 To: 74766,2154 Dominick, I loaded up DIGSND.XMO and have downloaded it to verify that it works. I noticed that you were having some problems with it and wish I could help you. There is not a .DOC file with it, but by the large number of downloads it and the accompanying .DIG files have had, I assume that it is working for most people. After you download it, rename it as AUTORUN.SYS on any disk containing a standard Atari Dos. Then place up to two .DIG files on the same disk. (place other .DIG files on separate disks) It should auto-boot and a menu of any .DIG files on the disk will be displayed. Press your choice, that file will load, then enter a speed (54 is normal) and hit start. I really don't know what else to tell you. I hope that it works this time around for you. Many people are having much fun with it. If you really have problems, maybe I'll have to send you a disk containing the public domain player and a few sample files. I know what it's like to not be able to get something to run on here that looks exciting. Please let me know if you finally get it to work or what. Eliot Stein Sb: #162560-XMODEM ON MPP Fm: KEN WHITE 76157,21 To: RON CHUSID 74756,3150 Ron.... Fortunately I never had the problem of incompatibility with the DOS - otherwise, I probably would have just cried.....but you mean to say you've never had any real problems with X-modem downloads? Lucky guy....after half a dozen that didn't produce anything but frustration, I gave up on Smarterm for downloading (still love the huge buffer for general use) and switched to Amodem 7.1 and later 7.2 (and now MPP Express) when I planned to do some downloading..... Ken Sb: #modem? Fm: Peter Seiler 72267,2224 To: 75126,3446 (X) Bob, I like to ask again for your opinion. Now that I got the At-400 on order, I need a modem. the 835 can be gotten for $ 30.-, but no software. They recommand Telelink 2. Is there anything (simple) on file, comuserve or magazine, to replace telelink 2 or otherwise work together with At-835 ? On my last note to you I goofed on the hardware description. 600 XE I meant to say. You mentioned 'thermistor' in your message. Any specifics in mind? I keep you posted on my solar-computer interfacing. Right now I am still getting the hardware up on the roof (Oh my back!!) Peter Seiler Sb: #162985-MPPFOREM Fm: SYSOP*Dave Groves 76703,4223 To: JACKIE HEATH JR. 72637,264 Sure, I don't have an alpha list of everybody's id# (ppn) so I could not give you John's. When you read the description file for the program it had the ppn up in the top section, if you go back and get that number (like yours is 72637,264) and make sure to include it in the To: line, then when John signs on, the message will be flagged to him like this one was flagged to you. Sb: #162926-#MPPFOREM Fm: JACKIE HEATH JR. 72637,264 To: SYSOP*Dave Groves 76703,4223 THANKS ALOT,I'LL TRY THAT AS SOON AS I CAN. I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEANT ABOUT THE PPN WITH THE FILE(?)CAN YOU HELP ME OUT? THANKS **JACKIE HEATH ----------------------------------- |||||Conversation|| Here is a short transcript of my conversation with Mike Shoenback, the new sysop on SIG* Atari. (30,Ron Kovacs) Hi. (30,SYSOP*Mike) Hi Ron. I've been meaning to send you a message about Zmag. And I have a suggestion if you dont mind? (30,Ron Kovacs) Sure, Go Ahead (30,SYSOP*Mike) We'd appreciate it if you upload it in ASCII instead of BINARY. This way members can ead it on-line without XMODEM downloading it. (30,Ron Kovacs) NO PROBLEM. I WAS WONDERING IF I WAS UPLOADING IT RIGHT.....GLAD YOU GUYS LIKE IT! (30,SYSOP*Mike) It will reach more people in ASCII mode. Actually, I speak from personal experience. I usually like eading text files on-line without XMODEM downloading it, and I've discovered many other people do the same. (30,Ron Kovacs) THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW. DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS FOR ZMAG. HMMM PERHAPS I COULD INTERVIEW YOU SOME TIME FOR ZMAG.. WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED? (30,SYSOP*Mike) Yes. Leave me a message one day and we'll try to get something together in the future; at least after I get -settled- in my new home. (my new home being SIG*Atari) (30,Ron Kovacs) SURE.!! I WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR TIME. (30,SYSOP*Mike) Everything is going well with me. I'm learning the ropes around here these days. (30,Ron Kovacs) Well again Good Luck, By the way....We have a few Star Trek groupies here and they are looking for more of your pics?? Any new ones?? (30,SYSOP*Mike) Yes, I still have a whole bunch more but I am putting uploading them off until I learn how to merge my own files. (30,Ron Kovacs) We will be waiting. Well, Take care, Hope to chat with you again soon! (30,SYSOP*Mike) Take care, Ron. Looking forward to the next ZMAG! (30,Ron Kovacs) Thanks. BYE (30,SYSOP*Mike) Bye. ----------------------------------- |||||Zmag_Notes|| Subject :ZMAG To :RON KOVACS (REC) Sent by :CLINTON SMITH Zmag Editor Chicago RON,CONGRATS ON THE SOON TO BE BLESSED EVENT.I UNDERSTAND AND I WILL WAIT PATIENTLY FOR THE SB TEXT.I HOPE IT DOES WELL IN THE U.K.(IT'S KIND OF OUR WEDDING PRESENT FOR THE ROYAL KIDS.HA.HA.) 50+ DOWNLOADS!SOMEBODY IS VERY DEFINATELY INTERESTED IN ZMAG SOMEWHERE.GOOD WORK ON PASSING ZMAG TO THE SOURCE AND NEXT DELPHI .I'LL GET SOMEBODY ON THE CLEVELAND LEADS.NEWS ON ZMAG HERE: ZMAG IS GOING TO BE PASSED ALONG TO THE GENIE SERVICE BOB RETELLE(THE ATARI SYSOP THERE) WAS INTERESTED IN IT WHEN I TALKED TO HIM AT THE CLAUG MEETING JUNE 3RD.A BOARD IN GEORGIA IS GOING TO START CARRYING ZMAG.I JUST FINISHED WRITING ZREAD16,THE LATEST ZREAD PROGRAM.IT'S GOT SOME NIFTY FEATURES.THANKS FOR THE NEWS AND CONGRATS AGAIN ON THE UPCOMING BUNDLE. CLINTON SMITH ZMAG EDITOR ----------------------------------- |||||Zmag_Update|| Please call the Hospital BBS (201)721-1901 This BBS will now include Zmag in their download section. Here is their Main Menu S=SKIP, Ctrl. =ABORT The Hospital BBS Functions -Atascii/Ascii -Bulletin -Download -Enter Msg -File Directory -Goodbye -Docs Database -Input Style -Kill Msg -Msg toSysop -E-Mail -BBS List

-Your Profile -Read Msgs -Summary of Msgs -BBS Rules -Upload -Caller No. -Yell for Sysop -This List <*>-Read msgs from Newest-Oldest -Message Bases (A-F for Base) (Type 'Z'-'?' for Base Listing) =================================== |||||C-Today|| The Following file is a series of excerpts of information contained in Computing Today, the online magazine on Genie. It is reproduced here with the permission of Hartley and Pattie Lesser. Apple Computer continues to carry most of the rumormonger attention. Now, beta test sight users have leaked word of the Apple Johnathan, the alleged high-end Mac, that sports a 68020 CPU AND a 68881 math coprocessor, a large (possibly 14- inch) black and white screen, and two 800 K internal drives. This certainly has all the appearances of an extremely powerful machine and paves the way for the 32-bit machine to be for Apple what the IBM RT COULD be for IBM. More in the Apple rumor department finds that the new Japanese Macintosh Plus could have not only MacWrite, MacDraw and MacProject compatibility, but also the likes of Excel, all functioning with the unit's Kanji/Talk system. Watch for an OEM deal between Atari Corp. and Microsoft. Immediate thoughts of the ST running DOS come to mind...and possibly GW BASIC as well. From reliable sources, this is apparently the usual MS contract, and is either currently en-route to, or has arrived at, Atari for final signatures. PCDOS 2.25 and GW BASIC will run on the ST's yet- to-be-released 8088 PC emulator that Atari is planning to release for their ST family late in the third quarter of this year. The release could certainly spark additional interest in the ST, as IBM compatibility becomes the overall standard for both cooperative and included processing features for most systems. Naturally, when there's an Apple rumor, one of the companies most likely to leak something to counter that publicity is Commodore, who, most of the time, has problems with their right hand knowing what the left hand is up to. Now, the company is expected to debut an enhanced C64 machine, called the C-64C (a sparkler of a name), that will initially sell for under $300 and will be bundled with productivity software (unnamed). Two main features are said to be an enhanced memory board and an upgraded power supply. This new machine was officially intro'd at the Consumer Electronics Show. Soon, users of Commodore 128, Macintosh, IBM PC and PCjr, Amiga and Atari ST systems will have access to Alternate Reality - The City for those machines. Alternate Reality is a fantasy/role-playing game that is the first of several scenarios, all using the characters created with The City. The next episode, The Dungeon, is also currently being worked on. The Dungeon will take the player to a world beneath The City, one shrouded in mystery, where rounding a corner could result in a confrontation with the things of which nightmares are made. The Dungeon, played either as a stand- alone game or in conjunction with The City, allows the player to create and develop his or her character in The Dungeon and take the character back to The City, or vice-versa. The Dungeon will be ready for a Christmas 1986 release. Five additional scenarios are planned: The Arena, The Palace, The Wilderness, Revelation and Destiny. Datasoft, the producing company purchased by IntelliCreations, is going to be extremely busy with these projects. They are located in Chatsworth, California. VERSION 2.1 OF DBMAN HAS LOWER PRICE (note: there is a version for the STwhich sells for $99, hehehe, just another reason to buy an ST 'stead of a big blue machine, Dave Flory) VersaSoft (408/268-6033) has released an enhanced version of dBMAN that affords uses greater performance and a retail price reduction of nearly 50 percent. dBMAN, a dBASE III PLUS compatible database manager, is available for IBM micros and compatibles, Novell NetWare and the IBM PC-NET. The program's low price includes run- time with no license fees. dBMAN is $695 for the network version and $295 for the single user version. Both offerings include the dBMAN run-time package at no additional charge and there are no per user fees or other additional charges. dBMAN Version 2.1 adds records up to 40 times faster than dBASE III PLUS, according to the company, and offers an -assist- style front end, pulldown menus, use of up to 640 K of memory for caching of data and program files, 128 fields and 4000 bytes per record, more global memory variables, and support for up to 2 billion records per database. Free network evaluation disks are available at no charge through authorized resellers. Silver Reed America, Inc. (213/516-7008) has introduced a low-end daisy wheel printer, the EXP420, and an automatic dual bin cut sheet feeder with envelope capability. The EXP420 is targeted primarily at home markets and is offered at the suggested retail price of $299.95. The unit prints at 12 cps and offers super and subscripts, bold and shadow print, auto-underline, 10 and 12 pitch selection. The CF231 sheet feeder, designed for use with Silver Reed's EXP600 and EXP800 daisy wheel printers, automatically collates, and has a manual feed slot to insert single sheets by hand without removing the unit from the printer. The CF231 also accepts a variety of paper widths, and has built-in eject rollers to avoid paper jams. The CF231 can hold up to 200 sheets of paper in each of its two bins. This allows the operator to use letter- head and second sheet stationary for collated output. Up to 150 printed sheets can be accommodated by an attached paper stacker. The suggested retail price is under $400. =================================== |||||Zprint_IV|| As a new edition to the Zprint Series, I came up with Zprint IV! LOADed from DOS, WITHOUT Basic, it works just like Zprint III. It still uses the original Zprint format: ZMAGxxx.TXT. Enjoy!!! Walt ----------------------------------- |||||Editor's_Column|| A few weeks ago I sent some disks to England and hopefully soon, we will get some feedback. We are hoping to get Zmag on their systems there. Two more systems have joined Zmag. Mega Systems in Cleveland and, The Hospital BBS in Fort Lee, NJ. See Zmag list for their numbers. Walt has taken the job as Zmag Associate Editor. ----------------------------------- |||||Zmag_Contest|| Details on this contest will appear in the August 2nd Issue of Zmag. ----------------------------------- |||||BBS:Express!|| BBS:Express! is ready to ship. At this time, all pre-orders will be shipped out with the highest priority. If you would like to pre-order the 850 version of the software, you can send $39.95 + $4 shipping/handling to Orion Micro Systems Attn: 850 BBS 2919 Ennismore Court Richmond, VA 23224 (Virginia residents add 4% tax) PLEASE! include a note indicating that this is a pre-order for the 850 version of the software! The XM301/1030/835 version is available NOW At the same address. ----------------------------------- |||||Documentation|| MASTER RENUMBER by Gary Heitz, and his CIS PPN is: 75676,556 One of the nicer features of Atari BASIC is that it allows variables to be used in place of line numbers. It is easier to type GOTO MENU rather than searching through a program for the line on which the menu begins. Debugging of a program is made easier, too, when you can see where a subroutine is going because a real word, with special meaning, was used instead of a number. Also, replacing a line number with a variable usually saves memory if the same line is referenced more than a few times. A real problem, though, with using variables in this manner occurs when you need to renumber a program. Most renumber utilities cannot handle variables and others will only work on a variable the first time it appears in a program. Therefore, if you use variables to replace line numbers, you either lose the ability to renumber or you have to make sure that you never change their values. Because of this, I created Master Renumber. Master Renumber recalculates both line numbers and those variables that reference line numbers. For example, if you program that the variable LINE equals a certain line number and later change it to equal a different line number, even if you do this a hundred times, each and every one will be renumbered. To get Master Renumber working, load the BASIC program and RUN it. You will be asked whether you want the program stored on cassette or disk. Make sure that your cassette or disk is ready and press -C- for cassette or -D- for disk. The BASIC program will produce a boot load file for cassette users or an AUTORUN.SYS file for those with disk drives. Power down and reboot your computer. You will see the title screen for Master Renumber. Load in any BASIC program and use the following command to renumber it. Simply replace the S and I values with numbers. 1. REN This will assign the first line number of your BASIC program the value of ten. Each successive line number will be incremented by ten. 2. REN S You choose the starting line number and the default increment of ten is used thereafter. 3. REN S,I You define the starting line number and the increment. The starting line number and the increment may be any number from zero through 32767. The only exception is that if you select an increment of zero, all of your program's line numbers would be the same. Therefore, an increment of zero is not permitted. If you typed the command correctly, the screen will clear and the title screen will again be displayed along with the command you typed. Master Renumber will signal that it is working and the cursor will blink. If your program contains no line referencing errors , the word -Done- will soon appear and you will be back in BASIC. Your program will have been completely renumbered. The following are some of the checks that Master Renumber makes while working. First, it checks to see if you typed REN. If not, it assumes that you are typing something for BASIC and turns the line over to BASIC for processing. If you did type REN, then a check is made to verify that you typed the rest of the command properly. The words -Syntax error- will be displayed if you did not. The next test that must be made is to ensure that BASIC will not erase any of your program. Atari BASIC will only accept line numbers through 32767. A line number higher than that will be erased. To make sure that this does not happen, Master Renumber takes the starting line number and the increment from your command and calculates what the last line number will be. If the number is 32768 or greater, you will see the phrase -Exceeds maximum allowed- and no renumbering will take place. While renumbering, if a bug in the BASIC program's line referencing statements exists, Master Renumber will display -Check line(s):- and show the offending line number(s). The line number shown is the line to examine after renumbering is complete. It is the new number - not the original. One type of BASIC statement that you are warned to check is a GOTO (or any other line referencing statement) that points to a line that does not exist. For a reason only you would be aware of, you may have intentionally programmed the statement knowing full well that the referenced line was nonexistant. That is why Master Renumber merely suggests that you check the line. Any statement like GOTO 200*K, or any line referencing statement that contains a mathematical operation, will be renumber if the first numeral is that of an existing line. But, that is all that would be done. To do more would have required much more memory. If you have a statement similar to GOTO LINE and somewhere in your program you equate the variable LINE to another variable (LINE= DATA), Master Renumber will advise you to check the line with the variable. These may not actually be errors. It depends on your intentions when you created the program. Therefore, simply check the line and decide. Another fact that you should know about Master Renumber is that page six is not used. Leaving this highly used area of memory alone will allow you to use many more of your programs while Master Renumber is also in memory. Master Renumber does load into memory just above DOS. This means that it is overwritten if DUP.SYS is loaded. You should use a MEM.SAV file if you wish to go to DOS. Then, when you return to BASIC, press the SYSTEM RESET button and Master Renumber will be reactivated. Lastly, although this article only mentions the GOTO statement, Master Renumber will renumber all of the following: GOTO, GOSUB, LIST, TRAP, ON GOTO, ON GOSUB and RESTORE. With these statements, you may use numbers, variables, or any combination of numbers and variables. That's about it. I hope Master Renumber allows you to more fully take advantage of the way Atari BASIC permits variables to be used in place of line numbers. After all, the more features you can use, the more time you should save and the better your programs should be. Gary Heitz 75676,556 ----------------------------------- Zmag BBS Systems ---------------- /Zmag Information Network\ New Jersey/New York California E.C.Syndicate-201-968-8148 down>New York City-718-604-3323 Backstage BBS-201-944-1196 W.C.Syndicate-415-825-2952 Elec.Shop BBS-212-547-4871 M.J.A.C. BBS-201-469-4474 Valhalla BBS -212-598-0243 E.B.B.B.S. -201-254-6449 Hospital BBS -201-721-1901 Mega Vision -216-228-7335 Funhouse BBS -212-828-7658 CompuServe -DL 7 Chicago Systems Windy City Atari-(312)775-2970 Runequest-(312)430-4234 Enchanted Castle-(312)525-0688 Centari-(312)668-0984 Blue Moon-(312)457-2219 C.L.A.U.G.-(312)889-1240 Skid Row-(312)439-5873 M-Club1-(312)730-1846 M-Club2-(312)349-8686 M-Club4-(312)458-8260 Generic-(312)275-2894 Software Plus-(312)520-1780 If you have a question about Zmag Windy City-Clinton Smith Runequest-Jim Dobleski,Rune Master Enchanted Castle-Clinton Smith, Wizard Centari-Jim Dobleski Blue Moon-Clinton Smith,Gerry Feid Claug-Clinton Smith M-Club 1,2,or 4-Jim Dobleski Enchanted Castle-Clinton Smith, Wizard Centari-Jim Dobleski Blue Moon-Clinton Smith,Gerry Feid Claug-Clinton Smith M-Club 1,2,or 4-Jim Dobleski Skid Row-Jim Dobleski Generic-Wizard Software Plus-Jeff Williams East Coast Syndicate-Ron Kovacs, Walt Drummond Compuserve-Ron Kovacs,Tim Orosz Walt Drummond New York City-Ron Kovacs,The Mayor Electronic Shop-Jim MJAC BBS-Steve Godun,Walt Drummond EBBBS-Ron Kovacs West Coast Syndicate-The Magician, Ron Kovacs Backstage BBS-The Director,Walt Drummond Valhalla BBS-Woden Funhouse BBS-Ron Kovacs Mega Vision-Ron Kovacs Hospital BBS-Ron Kovacs =================================== Zmagazine July 19, 1986 #8 Please contribute!!!! =================================== (c)1986 Ron Kovacs (c)1988 SPC/Ron Kovacs