80p
Machine
intelligence:
ame
strategies
Pattern
recognition
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The selling
message
W RYEREMAS TES
W5 ork
Proc essins
Syste 1a
Cromemco System One
MicroCentre introduce Cromemco’s new System One computer,
available with an integral 5 megabyte Winchester hard disk, ata
new low price.
The System One supports the full range of Cromemco interface cards,
including high resolution colour graphics, and software packages.
The choice of operating systems includes CDOS, CP/M and
CROMIX—Cromemco’s answer to Unix.
Call MicroCentre for (4 Cromemco
2 |
30 Dundas Street
MicroCentre Ltd Britain’s independent
(Complete Micro Systems) Chowiatheo iinet Edinburgh EH3 6JN
Tel: 031-556 7354
@Circie No. 101
Machine intelligence — page 7 a
Editor
Peter Laurie 01-661 3609
Deputy Editor
Bill Bennett
Reporter _
lan Stobie
Production Editor
John Liebmann
Sub-editor
Sally Nicholls
Editorial Secretary
Julie Milligan
Consultant
Chris Bidmead
Advertisement Manager
lan Carter 01-661 3021
Assistant Advertisement
Manager
Kenneth Walford 01-661 3139
Advertisement Executives
Flona Howell 01-661 3468
Robert Payne 01-661 8425
Advertisement. Secretary
Janet Thorpe
Midlands office:
David Harvett 021-356 4838
Northern office:
Geoff Aikin 061-872 8861
Publishing Director
Chris Hipwell
Published by IPC Electrical Electronic
Press Ltd, Quadrant House, The Quad-
ram, Sutton, Surrey SM2 SAS. Tel:
01-661 3500. Telex/grams 892084 BIP-
RESG.
Typeset and printed by Eden Fisher
(Southend) Ltd, Southend-on-Sea.
Distributed by IPC Business Press
(Sales and Distribution) Ltd, Quadrant
House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey
SM2 SAS.
Subscriptions: U.K. £10 per annum;
Overseas £16 per annum; selling price in
Eire subject to currency exchange fluctu-
ations and VAT; airmail rates available
on application to Subscription Manager,
IPC Business Press (S & D) Ltd, Oakfield
House, Perrymount Road, Haywards
Heath, Sussex RH16 3DH. Tel: 0444
459188.
©IPC Business Press Ltd 1982
ISSN 0141-5433
Would-be authors are welcome to
send articles to the Editor but PC
cannot undertake to return them.
Payment ig at £30 per published page.
Submissions should be typed or
computer-printed. Handwritten mater-
lal is Hable to delay and error.
Every eftort is made to check articles
and listings but PC cannot guarantee
that programs will run and can accept
No responsibility for any errors.
33
37
CONTENTS |
Editorial / A new shape for the micro industry?
Feedback, Readers’ letters — BBC Basic: WordStar
News
40
45
Printout / More from Xerox: 32-bit micros
Printout extra / Peter Laurie visits the Timex plant where Sinclair's products
are assembled
Machine intelligence
ra
85
Basic steps towards intelligent programs / The promised fifth
generation of computers will be intelligent, but Mike Costello shows how you can
jump the gun and use AI techniques now
Morse code / Pattern recognition is one of the most popular AI applications;
Christopher Dracup and Derek Wakelin teach a Pet to tell the dots from the dashes
Reviews
48
94
61
10
163
187
Sharp PC-1500 / Processing power which fits in the pocket, examined by
Bill Bennett
Televideo 802 / Chris Bidmead takes a look at a fast new computer with hard
discs
Graphpac / CCSoft’s package for driving intelligent high-resolution graphics.
reviewed by Nick Laurie
Oasis ; An operating system for the modern microcomputer? David Watt
investigates
Books / Starting Forth: Software protection
The War Machine / More bloodthirsty deeds on the screen
Software
98
116
127
CP/M / Password security system from Adrian Hill
Game / Chris Histead provides a version of the popular arcade game to run on
CP/M micros
Apple Stock / Robin Kanagasabay’s stock-control program runs on the
Apple II micro
Programming
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Languages / Adrian Smith describes his favourite. APL —. not so much a
computer language. more a form of notation
Structured programming / Part 2 of Graham Beech’s series
Open file / 14 pages of software for the more popular micros. including Pet.
Apple. ZX-81 and BBC machines
Searching for truth / Boris Allan philosophises on program correctness
Putting your message across in print / Writing documentation and
brochures is an important part of selling software. and Clive Wilkins points out the
rights and wrongs
Art / More points from the portfolio of Brian Reffin Smith
Puzzle
Software buyers’ guide
The Network has arrived...
—oT
with it, the cost effective
alternative fo dumb terminals
and expensive minimainframes.
The TeleVideo computer family from Encotel puts
total processing power where it’s needed — in the hands
of the user — while allowing expansion without
compromise to individual terminal performance.
MmmOST* and CP/M together protect both
software investment and the route to upwards expansion.
They provide all the house-keeping required to run a
multiple user database and ensure that application
programs will not have to be re-written no matter how
big the system grows. Any of today’s most popular
languages, such as COBOL, BASIC and FORTRAN
can be used.
The TeleVideo family will expand from the stand-
alone System I with its 64Kbytes of user RAM and
1 Mbytes of floppy disk up to the 16-user System III with
its 70Mbytes of hard disk Winchester, without hardware
redundancy.
Furthermore, the RS422 800Kbit/second data links
make each highly intelligent terminal look like a
mainframe.
Only the low price says it isn’t.
For instance the six terminal System 2 with its
7.5 Mbytes of hard disk and 384Kbytes memory starts at
around £10,000+.
As expected from a world class terminal manufacturer
like TeleVideo the TS800 terminals used to expand
Systems 2 and 3 are exceptional. The 64Kbytes of RAM,
serial printer port and separate processors for compute
and display ensure that they will never lack power.
And that the user will never be out of pocket.
*Multiuser multitask multiprocessor Operating Systems
Technology®
tbased on 2$ exchange rate.
Encotel Systems Limited,
7 Imperial Way,
CROYDON, Surrey.
: Tel: 01-686 9687/8 Telex: 265605.
ee gn
A From the people who believe in Quality, Reliability and Support.
Specifications
System I
Single-board processor
containing 1 Z80A 64K of RAM
memory.
4K EPROM for diagnostics
1.0Mbytes of on-line mini-floppy
disk storage 2
TeleVideo Model 910 CRT ter! eCentrones Inierece
terminal
with all Model 910 capabilities
(950 terminal optional).
£2,280.00
System II
i up to six users
ingle board desi
Saco of ana memory
4K EPROM
7.5Mbytes 54” Winchester disk a=
drive } Printer
0.4Mbyte mini-floppy disk back- H
up unit “
Parallel port and two serial ports
for printer attachment and
servicin|
With one TS800 £5,130.00
System M1
Supports up to 16-users
processin epee contains,
Z80A, 64K of RAM memory,
4K EPROM
23.5 Mbyte 8” Winchester disk
drive sea
MmmOST* Service Processing System Ht Standard Configuration
System.2x TS80 £9,995.00
TS 80 Satellite User Station
6502 CPU for video control Z80A for computing
64K of RAMmemory 4K EPROM _ RS 422 Networking Serial Port
Full-screen editing and graphics capabilities £1,026.00
ESL Dealers
Applied Micros Ltd. 14 Clifton Road, Heaton Moor, Stockport, Cheshire.
Tel: 061-431 9390
Atlantic Microsystems Ltd, 72 Honor Oak Park, London SE23,
Tel: 01-699 2202
Bondbest Ltd. 66 Wells Street, London WC1. Tel: 01-580 7249/6701
Boyd Microsystems Ltd. 59 High Road, Bushey Heath, Herts.
Tel: 01-950 0303
D.D.M. Ltd. 10 High Street, Southend-on-Sea, Essex. Tel: 0702 65787
Easi Bee Computing Ltd. 133-135 High Street North, London E6 1HZ.
Tel: 01-471 4884
The Electronic Office 32 West Street, Brighton, Sussex. Tel: 0273 72248/9
ISI Computer Services Ltd. Millwood House, Middle Assendeon,
Henley-on-Thames, Oxon. Tel: 04912 77735
Mercator Computer Systems 3 White Ladies Road, Clifton, Bristol.
Tel: 0272 312079
Micro People Ltd. 1 Union Street, Long Eaton, Nottingham NG10 1HH.
bh eae @ Circle No. 102
ALL DEVICES FULL SPEC. AND FULLY GUARANTEED. TERMS OF BUSINESS:
CASHICHEQUE/P.O.S. (OR ACCESS) WITH ORDER. GOVERNMENT AND EDUCA-
TIONAL INSTITUTIONS OFFICIAL ORDERS ACCEPTED. TRADE AND EXPORT
INQUIRIES WELCOME. (P&P add 50p on all cash orders).
ALL PRICES ARE EXCLUSIVE OF VAT. PLEASE ADD 15% TO THE TOTAL
COST INCLUDING P&P.
SHOP HOURS: 9.00am-6.00pm MONDAY TO SATURDAY.
AMPLE FREE CAR PARKING SPACE AVAILABLE.
WATFORD'S
UNIVERSAL MICRO
EXPANSION SYSTEM
Designed by Walford Electronics, this
extremely versatile and economical Ex-
pansion System as published in E.T.L.,
starting from Dec. 1981 issue, offers a
low cost flexible expansion system for
2X81, UK101, SUPERBOARD, ACORN
ATOM, PET, TANGERINE, etc.
The Motherboard {interfaces with the
computer) has capacity to accept up to
five daughter cards and can be paral-
leled for even more daughter cards.
All PCBoards are of computer grade fin-
ish and are supplied in kit form.
Just look at the Expansion possibilities.
MOTHERBOARD — Accepts up to five
daughter cards. Full kit: £36.50
SOUND CARD — Utilising up to three
WATFORD ELECTRONICS
33/35, CARDIFF ROAD, WATFORD, HERTS, ENGLAND
Tel Watford (0923) 40588. Telex: 8956095
WATFORD’S BOOKSHOP CORNER
6502 Applications Book
6502 Assembly Lang. Programming
6502 Assembly Lang. Subroutine
6502 Software Design
Programming & Interfacing .6502
Programming the 6502
6809 Assembly Lang. Programming
68K Assembly Lang. Programming
68K Microprocessor Handbook
8080/Z80 Assembly Lang. Techniqs
Just phone your Situated behind
Brace through, the Watford Foot-
wedotherest ball Ground.
SPECIAL
OFFER
2114L-200 80p 75p
2732 380p 355p
4116 70p 65p
4816 225p 205p
4816 225p 205p
6116 390p 370p
6520 115p 105p
6820 115p 105p
PES We stock thou-
ad sands more
items. it pays to
Acorn Atom — Getting Acquainted AY-3-8910 sound chips (one supplied
with the kit). Full kit: £24.95
PIO CARD — Using two 6520 PIA chips,
this Board offers Centronics parallel
printer driver, digital to analogue con-
verter and a host of other output facili-
ties. Full Kit: £19.95
PROM PROGRAMMER — This simple
but extremely useful card can blow
2716r single rait EPROMS. (2732) Full
Apple Basic: Data Fite Program
Apple tl User's Guide
Apple Machine Language
Beneath Apple DOS (Version 3.3}
Your Atari Computer 400/800
Illustrating Basic
Basic Computer Games
More Basic Computer Games
Basic Concepts {2nd Ed.)
Basic Programs for ScV/Eng
Basic Programming on BBC Micro
Practical Programms/BBC & Atom
C Programming Language
CBASIC User's Guidte
-CP/M Handbook with MP/M
Osborne CP/M User guidfe
Using CP/M: Self teachin
{nterfacing/S100 (IEEE 631
intro to Pascal 2nd edition
Pascal from Basic
Pet & IEEE — 488 Bus
PevCBM Personal Computer Gulde
Programming the PevCBM
PROM CARD — PCB cards for housing
four 2716 or two 2732 EPROMS.
(4 x 2716) Full Kit: £11.95
(2 x 2732) Full Kit: £11.75
RAMCARD — 8K RAM card. Accepts 16
x 2114 RAMs. Board is supplied fulty
Populated. Full Kit: £28.50
{NB PCBs may be bought separately).
WATFORD’S
Ultimate
MON Monitor IC.
A 4K Monitor Chip specially designed to
produce the best from your Superboard
Series | & Il, Enhanced Superboard & UK
101. As reviewed by Dr. A.A. Berk in
Practical Electronics, June 1981.
Price only £12
Learn Computer-Prog. with VIC
$100 & other Micro Buses — 2e
Programming the Z80-3e
780 Assem. Lang. Programming
280 Assem. Lang. Program./Student 570
280 User's Manual
ZX81 Basic Book
Not only 30 progm. /ZX81 1K
Mastering Machine Code 2X81
Explorer's Guide to 2X81
Byteing Deeper Inte yr ZX81
Peek Poke Byte & RAM (ZX81 1K)
Sinclair 2X81 Prog/Real Applic.
VIDEO MONITORS
9” B&W. 18MHZ Bandwidth
cased. £85 + p&p
NEW
SEIKOSHA
@ TEX EPROM ERASER. Erases up to 32
@ TEX EPROM ERASER with incor-
2X81 16K RAM PACK
Watford’s 16K RAM pack for ZX8}, Fully
built and tested. Plugs straight on to
Only £17.35 (SOp&p}
Unihammer Printer,
gives normal and double
width characters as well as dot
resolution graphics 10°’ Tractor feed.
Parallel interface standard. £185 + p&p
BBC MICRO & UPGRADE
BBC MIICROCOMPUTER Model B
£399 incl. VAT + p&p
Upgrade your BBC Micro with our
upgrade and save yourself fsss . . .
@ 16K MEMORY (8% 4186AP) BBCI
@ Printer User 1/0 Port BBC2
@ SK10 with 36” Cable
@ Complete Printer Cable 36°
@ SK9 with 36” cable
@ Disc Interface Kit BBC3
@ Analogue VO Kit BBC4
@ Serial 1/0 Kit BBC5
@ Expansion Bus Kit BBC6
@ SK1t with Cable 36”
@ SK12 with Cable 36”
@ 5 pin DIN Socket
As reviewed in PE September 1981. The
complete microprocessor development
system for Engineers & Beginners. New
powerful instruction. Accepts any 24 pin
5V single rail EPROM, Supplied fully
built, tested & enclosed in a black ABS
case. Price incl. encapsulated plug-in
power supply.
FLOPPY DISC DRIVES
TEAC Single FD-50A uncased
TEAC Single FD-50A Cased PSU
IDC CONNECTORS
RIBBON CABLE
Grey Colour
TEAC Twin FD-50A cased & PSU
TEAC Single FD-50E 80 track
SIEMENS FDD 100-5 cased, Head,
Motors, track zero micro switch,
motor control
write & control electronics plus
JUMPER LEADS: Ribbon Cable
Assembly Oil Piug (Headers)
Single Ended Lead. 24
| OL SOCKETS Apple Il interface card for above
EURO CONNECTORS
Str. Angle
Pins Pins
AMPHENOL PLUGS
Oouhble tnded Leads
34 way Centronics
ZIF DIL SOCKETS
235p 295p
ID Header Socket Jumper Leads
250p 350p
260p 370p
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
‘MX Series
“PRINTERS
Now available
from stock at very
competitive prices.
@ MX80T 10” Tractor Feed, 9x9
matrix, 80 column Speed 80
CPS bi-directional Centronics
Interface, Baud rate 110-9600,
(RS232) £275 + p&p
MX80FT/3 Has Friction & Trac-
tor feed, Hi-resolution
Graphics, Bit image graphics,
Sub-script & Super-script,
Italics & under-lining facility
plus all the MX80T facility. £335
MX100: 153’ plus all the fea-
tures of MX80FT/3 £489
Attractively case, fully guaranteed.
£69 + p&p
12” Green, ZENITH, Fully cased,
ACCESSORIES
ICs in 15-30 min. £33
porated Safety Switch £39
Electronic Timer Solid state. Con-
nects directly to above Erasers.
Protects your expensive Chips from
overcooking. Our timer pays for itself
in notime. £15
Spare UV lamp bulbs £9
5V/5A PSU Ready built and tested £25
Attractive Beige Brown ABS CASE for
Superboard/UK101 or Home Brew £26
C12 Cassettes in Library Cases 40p
8) Fan fold paper (500 sheets) (no
VAT) £6
3 Fan fold paper (500 sheets) (no
VAT) £5
Teleprinter Roll (no VAT) 250p
UHF Modulator 6MH2 280p
UHF Modulator 8MH2 450p
Stack Pack 5 Drawers (10 sections)
Cassette racking Unit £2
Stack Pack Unit inci. 10 C12 Cassettes
550p
EDGE CONNECTORS |
£135 Zus0way 135p
‘x 15way _ 1460p
£180 | 2x18way 180p 1145p
2x22way 199p 200p
2x23 way 2130p =
2x25way 225p
2xZoway (Spectrum) 24uv
2x30way 245p
2x36way 295p
2x40way 315p
2x43way 395p
2x75way 550p
£335
£238
read,
£215
£29 | D CONNECTORS: Miniature
Male
Sway 15 way 25 way 37 way
Solder 80p 1910p 1160p 250p
Angle 160p 210p 2560p 355p
Pins 1720p 1130p 1195p 295p
Female
Solder 110p 1160p 210p 350p
Angle 165p 215p 290p 440p
Pins 1580p 1180p 240p 420p
Covers
100p «= 9895p )=—-100p_—s«110p
@ Circle No. 103
5
“TO BOLDLY GO
WHERE NO ON
BEEN BEFORE”
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Above left. 3D wire objects in true perspective. Above night. Bar charts, histograms and scatter plots.
Top picture. Display of three-dimensional solid object.
MICRONEX G8 Original Equipment
Graphics packages for microcomputers and intelligent terminals
In. service worldwide in Industry, Science, Education and Commerce
6 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
HIGH RESOLUTION
GRAPHICS PACKAGES
FOR SUPERBRAIN 1+2
The Micronex 1 28S £675.
High resolution display generator 2 pages x 1024 x 512 pixels
Hardcopy printer output facility £55.
IDS PT560 & Prism 132 printer drivers
Digitiser pad input facility £55.
Graphics primitive handlers for
Summagraphics Bit-Pad
and Houston Hi-Pad
PLUS suite of 5 software
packages £395.
For Pascal, FORTRAN, BASIC
under CP/M include —
Graphics Primitives. Graph
Plotter. Surface Plotter in 3D with true-perspective
and hidden-line removal. 3D graphics for
wire-frame objects. Tektronix 4010/4014 graphics
terminal emulator
FAST ACCESS
The exclusive Micronex VU-DISK £115.
Lets you use your Micronex 1285S Pixelplotter just like a
very-fast-access 128K byte disk under CP/M.
Eliminates time consuming disk-drive activity.
Up to three times faster for sorting, merging,
compilation, assembly.
i would like to know more about Micronex
| graphics products, please send technical
information and local dealer address
@ Distributor/dealer C Educational
7"
q
= - Name -
= Title c
Organisation a
| Address if
Telephone p
0
E ie OEM CJ Industrial |
all
Above picture. Close-up detail of high resolution graphics surface plotin3D with true perspective and hidden-line — *"erces qoted are exctusive of VAT
removal, viewed from any angle. Artverising Desaqn by Noturson Limnet Bath & London Ret ME B2 England
MICRONEX Ls Supportware
Micronex Limited. Harford Square Chew Magna, Bristot BS18 8RA England. Telephone (027 589) 3042 Ne ere
USA & Canada: Maxtek Inc. XCEL” Graphics. Telephone Los Angeles (213) 320-6604 Sige trance RersiSled ty Hens a won afegereaty Town
ten
@ Circle No. 104
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
if
NQSCOM om
MEANS SOLWTIONS
nascom
MEANS PERFORMANCE
Nascom have come along way SOFTWARE: BACK-UP:
‘since their acquisition by Lucas. Wehaveateamofprogrammerswho We have a nationwide dealer net-
With the knowledge of over are writing software and courseware work giving full sales back-up and
30,000 units already in the field especially for UK educational busin- after sales service. From our head
you can buy with confidence ess and domestic users. office we have a service line to
from NASCOM. FREE ADVICE: sort out any problems.
PRODUCTS: We have appointed experts to advise SYSTEM EXPANSION:
We have kits, built and tested on the specialist use of micro .NASCOM machines are designed
boards, and our fully assembled and computers in to grow with users. Easily and
tested NASCOM 3 U.K. schools, simply NASCOM systems can be
system with a_ full homes or expanded by adding extra modules
choice of configura- businesses. to the basic system.
tion either cassette or
disc based. Alternative LUCAS LOGIC LIMITED
operating systems NASCOM MICROCOMPUTERS DIVISION,
include NAS DOS and : Welton Road, Wedgnock Industrial Estate,
CP/M. Warwick CV34 5PZ, England
48
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Our
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Learn more about
NASCOM now.
Complete the
coupon for further
information and a
full list of dealers. tm
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Welcome
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
NORTHE mps Oo
Semicomps Northern Ltd
East Bowmont Street.
Kelso. Roxburghshire Tel (0573) 24366
Eley Electronics, 100/104 Beatrice Road,
(off Fosse Road North), Leicester. Tel: 0533 871522
MID-SHIRE'S COMPUTER CENTRE
68 Nantwich Road, Crewe, Cheshire
Tel: (0270) 211086
ELECTRICAL ELECTRONIC & MICROCOMPUTING
RETAIL & REPAIR
18 Station Road Lower Parkstone
Pooie Dorset BH14 8UB
Tel Parkstone 10202) 746555
fa} Gr MS Amateur radio C.B radio
Mi GR Ra DMN EISetrGnies Computers
372-374 George uate Aberdeen
Telephone: 0224 633385
9 East Street, Colne,
Nr. Huntingdon, Cambs.
Tel: Ramsey (0487) 840710
Contact Paul Jephcott
SRS MICROSYSTEMS
161 Bramey Road, Oakwood,
London N
potion a “1 -363 8060
58 Battersea Rise,
Clapham Junction OFF
London SW11 1HH
Tel: 01-674 1208 Records
01-675 4557
SRSTRORICS LID.
2 NORTH ROAD, THE PARK, NOTTINGHAM NG7 1AG
TELEPHONE (0602) 45053
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
authorized stockists
, of the Nascom
». country lies
, go Business & Leisure
We specialise in tailoring
systems to your specific
requirements.
16 The Square, Kenilworth, CV8 1EB.
Tel: Kenilworth (0926) 512127
Stationstraat,
6241CL,
Bunde (L),
; Netherlands.
MAAS COMPUTER CONSULTANTS _ Tel: 043 641147
CQRISALID for —
systems & software
13 High Street REPKMAMSTED
MICRO-PRINT LTD
59 Church Street, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 1DQ.
Tel:(0782)48348
Newburn Electronics
Ballycarry,Co. Antrim.
Whitehead 78330
19 ROSEBURN TERRACE
C.I.E.L.
EDINBURGH EH12 5NG
Computer Interfacing Sant ae
& Equipment Limited Tel: 039-337 5611
OTHER NASCOM PRODUCTS
Kits from £125 + VAT
Built from £285 + VAT
Systems from £399 + VAT
To Lucas Logic Ltd., Nascom Microcomputers Division, Welton Road,
Wedgnock Industrial Estate, Warwick CV34 5PZ, England
Please send:
Literature) Dealer List Prog. Book Form)
Name
Position
Establishment
Address.
a
PC5
@ Circle No. 105
Two for
printer that either gave you impressive DP speed
or high WP quality?
For anything between £1500 - £2200 you can
purchase a printer which will give you superb
DP speeds but no real WP quality.
pl you expect to pay fora
For less than
On the other hand, in a similar price range, you
can achieve immaculate WP quality, but miss
out on the DP speed.
Now, in a special summertime offer,
CPU Peripherals are offering TWO
high performance and quality
printers for the price you would
expect to pay for ONE!
the cost of aquality matrix
or daisy-wheel CPU bring youtwo
outstanding printers for only £1599*
CPU Peripherals, Rodd Industrial Estate, Govett Avenue, Shepperton, Middlesex, TW17 8AQ.
Telephone: (09322) 46433/4/5/6 Telex: 922637
10
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
One
The Prima 165
British built in our Woking factory to a proven
design, this outstanding dot matrix printer offers:
@ 165 cps bi-directional printing
@ 80 cps correspondence quality print
@ 9x 9, 96 character sets with lc descenders
@ Downline loading of special character sets
@ Pin addressable graphics
@ Tractors (1 + 5 copies)
@ Superscript/Subscript
@ 7 channel VFU
@ Serial and parallel interface (switchable)
@ Buffering up to 3K
@ Low noise (58 db)
* Offer open to orders received
by August 31st 1982.
Price exclusive of carriage and VAT.
@ Circle No. 106
.
ce}
e
*
2
12
The new Daisywriter 2000
A most advanced microprocessor controlled
serial impact printer giving quality output
QUIETLY.
@ up to 20cps bi-directional
@ 96 character interchangeable cartridge
wheel element
@ snap on/off tractor and sheet feed options
@ 4 switchable interfaces - EIA RS-232C/CCITT
V.24, ETX/ACK and DC1/DC3 (KON/OFF)
Centronics 8 bit parallel, TTL logic levels
Current loop, 20 ma + VDC
IEEE-488, 8 bit ASCII parailel
@ IBM Selectric type cassette film
@ 1 +5 Copies
@ 16K - 48 Kbyte
@ Character buffer
@ 10, 12, 15 characters per inch
@ Forward/reverse paper movement
@ Automatic proportional spacing 0?
@ Paper-out sensor oo
@ Forms length control 0?
@ Horizontal and vertical tab
MICRO COMPUTER PRODUCTS
INTERNATIONAL LTD.
SOFTWARE FOR CP/M COMPUTERS
Software Manual Software Manual Sottware Manual
& Manual Only & Manual Only & Manual Only
BYROM SOFTWARE MICRO-AP OSBORNE & ASSOCIATES
BSTAM—Ulility to link one micro- SELECTOR V £305.55 £27.77 ACCOUNTS PAYABLE &
computer to another also using BSTAM £105.55 £6.66 ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE £50 £15
BSTMS—Utility to link a micro to a mini GENERAL LEDGER £50 £15
or mainframe £105.55 £12.22
MICROFOCUS
CiS COBOL version 4.5 £425 £25
CP/M USER LIBRARY FORMS (new version) £100 £15 PHOENIX SOFTWARE
ASSOCIATES (For Z80 only)
Retailer 51 Volumes—Price per volume
nets 8” disc (one volume per disc) £5.00 PLINK—Disc to disc link loader £80.00 £16.6
and 5" disc {one volume per 2 discs) £10.00 PASM—Macro Assembler- £80.00 £16.6
lerms Index £2.00 MICROLOGY PEDIT—Line editor with Macros £80.00 £16.6
ilabt FTNUMB (FORTRAN-80 RENUMBER = £5000 BUG—Very powertul debug £80.00 £16.6
SE 2 & REFORMATTER) PDEVELOP Package with all the above £214.44 £36.
PLINK—2 Overlay Link Loader £205.55 £16.6
DIGITAL RESEARCH
CBASIC v 2.08 £7222 s1300 MICROPRO INC.
MPM 1.1 £216.66 £22.22 WORD-MASTER 1.74 £83.33 £24.44
MPM 2.0 £272.22 £33.33 TEX-WRITER 2.6 £41.11 £18.88 STRUCTURED SYSTEMS
WORDSTAR 3.0 £277.77 £42.22
on. Eo722, f2222 MAIL MERGE 30 (requires Wordstar) £43.53" ez; (AN! converted to UK Standard)
CP/NET €119 a4 £15.55 SPELLSTAR 1.2 (requires Wordstar) £138.88 £11.11 SALES LEDGER £388.88 £222
3 B WORDSTAR TRAINING MANUAL £20.00 pyuRCHASE LEDGER £388.88 £22.2
SID £47.22 £15.55 WOROSTAR CUSTOMIZATION NOTES £55.55 OMINAL-LEDGER £388.88 £222
2SID £61.11 £15.55 SUPER-SORT 1.6: Version 1 sablee 1624/44) NOMIRALEERG ; :
MAC £58.33 £15.55 DATASTAR 1.101 £194.44 £27.77 STOCK CONTROL £388.88 £22.2
TEX £61.11 £15.55 DATASTAR CUSTOMIZATION NOTES £55.55 LETTERIGHT £105.55 £12.2
DESPOOL £29.44 £6.66 CALCSTAR £166.66 £27.77 ANALYST
PL/1-80 £297 ; {File management Reporting System) £138.88 £12.2
- 7.22 £30.00 A
BT-80 £155.55 £22.22 NAD (Name and Address selection
syslem) £61.11 £12.
CB-80 £294.44 £19.44 QsoRT £61.11 £12.3
XLT-86 £88.88 £7.22 MICRO PRO INC
APPLE VERSIONS
WORDSTAR 3.0 £208.88 £41.11 SUPERSOFT INC.
FOX & GELLER MAILMERGE 3.0 (requires Wordstar) £70.00 ay acne. | oe
SPELLSTAR 1.2 (requires Wordstar) 4 . 5
QUICKSCREEN £97.22 £13.39 BatasTan 1.101 £164.44 £27.77 TERM £80.00 £7.77
SUPERSORT 1.6 £11.11 £24.44
CALCSTAR £108.88 £27.77 TDL SOFTWARE
INFORMATION UNLIMITED (Technical Design Labs)
WHATSIT (Database Management BUSINESS BASIC £80
System) £80.00 MICROTECH EXPORTS ZTEL (Tex! Editing Lang.) £35
REFORMATTER LINKER £35
CPM <= IBM £108.88 £18.68
CPM « DEC £108.88 £18.88
KLH SYSTEMS
Spooler for CPM systems v3.0 £77.17 £6.66
MICROSOFT INC.
BASIC-80 5.21 £205.55
BASIC Compiler 5,3 £227.77
MAGIC CIRCLE SOFTWARE FORTRAN-80 3.43 £288.88 iy FL
COBOL-80 4.01 £422.22
CPM.SIM £133.33 M/SORT 1.01 £83.33
EDIT-80 2.02 £72.22
MACRO-80 3.43 £116.66
MULISP 2.10 £116.66
MPI LTD. MUMATH 2.10 £144.44
Full oes NY ee ANTHONY ASHPITEL
descriptive TYPING TUTORS
ieee cen ua £3 MT MICROSYSTEMS Basic VERSION ts
Catalogue: 5 BUSINESS VERSION £125
i NOMINAL LEDGER £200 £15 PASCAL MT+ 5.5 £194.44 £27.77
available INCOMPLETE RECORDS £1200 £20 PASCAL MT+ 5.5 with SPP £280.55 £55.55
£1 — WHATSIT £80.00 Library. Sources £122.22
FT NUMB £50.00 Speed Programming Pkge. (Softbus) £138.88 £27.77 DIGITAL RESEARCH
deduclable CB-80 £265
from XLT-86 £80
lirst ORDER INFORMATION
purchase When ordering CP/M sottware please specify the format you requlre. All software items are subject to VAT. Manuats, MICROFOCUS LTD.
ANIMATOR
FILESHARE
TBA
when purchased separately. are not subject to VAT. Please add £4.00 for postage, packing andinsurance on each Item
purchased. For overseas please add £6.50 per item. Most software in this advertisement Is avaliable from stock and a 72
hour return service is thereby offered on most prepaid orders. These detalls and prices are ati current as of June 1982.
Our prices reftect an exchange rate of U.S. $1.80 to £1.00. Should the exchange rate vary by more than 5 cents, a
surcharge may be added or a discount given. Ail payments must be in Sterling and drawn against 4 U.K. bank.
MAIL ORDER - TELEPHONE ORDER - VISIT - Send Cash, Cheque, Postal Order, MO, Access or Barclaycard/Visa
number to Microcomputer Products International Ltd., Room PC, 11 Cambridge House, Cambridge Road, Barking,
Essex 1G11 8NT.
M.P.1. LTD.
MATHS PACK
STATS PACK
\2
MEDIA AND CPT 8000 A1 Industriat Microsystems 8000 Al Nascom/Lucas N1_ SD Systems 5.25in R3
Cromemco System 3 A1_ Intel MDS SD Al NCR 8140/9010 Al SD Systems 8in Al
FORM ATS Cromemeo System 2 SD/SS R6 Intertec Superbrain SSDD RK NNC-80 A1 Shelton Signet RK
Cromemco System 2 DD/SS RX intertec Superbrain QD RS NNC-80Ww Al Spacebyte Al
CSSN Backup T1 ISC intercolor 8063/8360/8963 Ail North Star Advantage P2 Tarbell 8in Ad
Altos A1_ Datapoint 1550/2150 Al ITT 3030 OSDD Ri North Star Hosizon SSSD P1 TEI 8in Al
APPLE CP/M-80 13 Sector RG Dec VT 180 SSDD RV Micromation Al North Star Horizon SSDD P2 Televideo DSDD $5
APPLE CP/M-80 16 Sector RR Delta Systems Al Micropolis Mod II Q2- North Star Horizon QD (MPI CP/M)P3 Toshiba T200 DSDD SF
Blackhawk Micropolis Mod il Q2 Dynabyte 0B8/4 Al Morrow Discus A1_ North Star Horizon QD TRS-80 Modell + Shuftte-
British Micros Mimi RK Exidy Sorcerer + CP/M-80 Q2> Mostek Al (Other CP/M) P2 board 8in Al
California Computer Sys 8 in A1_ Exidy Sorcerer + Exidy CP/M-808" Al Multi-Tech 1 Q2-> Nyiac Micropolis Mod tl Q2 TRS-80 Modell tl Al
CDS Versattle 4 Q2 xO Al Multi-Tech 2 Q2 Osborne-! RP Vector MZ Q2
Columbia Data Products 8 in At Gemini Galaxy | NI Micromation Al Pertee PCC 2000 A1 Vector Systems 2800 Al
Comart Communicator CP50 P2 Heath H8 + H47 Al Micropolis Mod II Q2 Rade 1000 SSDD RL Vector Systems B Q2
Comart Communicator CP 100 P2 Hewlett-Packard 125.8in A1_ Morrow Discus Al Rade 1000 OSDD RM Vector VIP Q2
Comart Communicator CP200 P2 ICOM 3712 Ai Mostek Al Rair Black Box RE Xerox 820 5.25in S6
Comart Communicator CP500 P2 IMSAI VDOP-80 A1 WNascom (Gemini Drives SSDD) A3 Research Machines 5.25in RN Xerox 820 Bin Al
Compat-80 Q2 industrial Microsystems 5000 RA WNascom {Gemini Drives DSSD) R7 Research Machines 8in Al
QUALITY PRODUCTS FROM THE HOME OF MICROCOMPUTER SOFTWARE
MORE GOOD REASONS
TO RING Ol~ 591 65!
Simplicity Plus Speed
CB-80™
Programming Language
CB-80 is a native code compiler of
the CBASIC language. As a direct
enhancement of CBASIC, CB-80
offers all the features of CBASIC
plus the speed and versatility of a compiler. Other enhancements include
support of 32K byte strings, external multiple line functions, run-time error
trapping and extended file handling capabilities. CB-80 also includes the
LK-80Tm linker. LK-80 easily links assembler routines into CB-80 programs
and is used to create overlay modules. CB-80 supports the multi-user '
operating system, MP/M 11
MAIL
ORDER
TELE-
PHONE
CREDIT
CARD
ORDER
* VISIT «
Programming Language
») CBASIC™
CBASIC is the most widely used BASIC dialect in the business community
today. The precision and easy-to-use format of CBASIC gives
programmers one of the most accurate tools for implementing business
applications. CBASIC's portability allows users to upgrade to more
P powerful hardware without losing their software investment }
vas
/ We all speak the
Is
peak same Language
8086 / The Investment Saver
XLT86™
Assembly Language Translator
XLT86 is an aid to software and
hardware manufacturers wanting to
convert their existing 8-bit 8080
programs to the 16-bit 8086
microcomputer, XLT86 allows a user
to translate an 8080 assembly source
code file into an optimized 8086 assembly source code Wade
file, while preserving all existing labels, comments, and ahi
elcome
symbols from the 8080 source program. This feature
reduces the amount of time required to develop and
support 8086 code. XLT86 uses extensive program flow
analysis, to perform the translation. XLT86 is written in
Subset G of PL/I
ROOM PC, 11 CAMBRIDGE HOUSE, CAMBRIDGE ROAD, BARKING, ESSEX IG11 8NT, ENGLAND
Telephone: 01-591 6511 Telex: 892395
@ Circle No. 107
Apple, Atari and NEC
at hard-checked prices
*Hardware or software, you don't have 8
to shop around. We continually check
all our prices and were certain
they are as competitive as you will
find anywhere.
PACKAGE SYSTEMS NET VAT TOTAL PRINTER & ACCESSORIES NET VAT TOTAL
Apple Executive System 1950.00 292.50 2242.50 Silentype Printer 170.00 25.50 195.50
Apple Top Secretary System 2150.00 322.00 2472.50 10 Rolls Thermal Paper 28.00 4.20 32.20
Apple Education System 1425.00 213.75 1638.75 VIDEO MONITORS
APPLE HARDWARE 8MC 12” Green Screen 120.00 18.00 138.00
Apple !! 48K 599.00 89.85 688.85 9’ Black & White Monitor 100.00 15.00 115.00
16K Addon 45.00 6.75 51.75 Cables 5.00 0.75 5.75
Disk Drive with Controller (16 sec} 345.00 51.75 396.75 | ory
Disk Drive without Controller 275.99 41.25 316.25 | 299 hay aii om pa a rer
ACCESSORIES ATARI
Programmers Aid 1 25.00 3.90 29.90 | 400 16K Computer 173.87 26.08 199.95
Auto Start ROM Pack 33.00 4.95 37.95 | 400 16K Computer (with BASIC) 217.30 3260 249.90
Graphics Tablet 399.00 59.85 458.85 800 16K Computer 391.26 58.69 449.95
Appietel System 525.00 78.75 603.75 | 800 16K Computer (with BASIC) 434.70 65.20 499.90
TV MceLrator 14.00 2.10 16.10 | 922 Thermai Printer 200.00 30.00 230,00
INTERFACE CARDS 825 80 Column Printer 400.00 60.00 460.00
Prototype/Hobby Card 12.00 1.80 13.80 850 RS 232 Interface 110.00 16.50 126.50
Paraltel Printer Card 79.00 11.85 90.85 16K Ram Upgrade 52.13 7.82 59.95
Communications Card 100.00 15.00 115.00 Conversational French 28.26 4.24 32.50
High Speed Serial Card 90.00 13.50 103.50 | Conversational German 28.26 4.24 32.50
Centronics Card 100.00 15.00 115.00 Conversational Spanish 28.26 4.24 32.50
Integer Card 90.00 13.50 103.50 | Conversational Italian 28.26 4.24 32.50
Language Card 95.00 14.25 109.25 | AssembierEditor Rom 30.39 4.56 34.95
Controller Card 95.00 14.25 109.25 Visicalc 105.00 15.75 120.75
Eurocolour Card 65.00 9.75 74.75 Word Processor 78.22 11.73 B9.95
"LL. bag AS 200.00 30.00 230.00 | VideoComputer System 69.56 10.43 79.99
16K RAM Card (48K to 64K) 60.00 9.00 69.00 NEW —N.E.C. PC 8000 SERIES
SOFTWARE PC 8001 Keyboard 500.00 75.00 575.00
‘. Disk Utility Pack 12.00 1.80 13.80 PC 8011 Expansion Unit 407.83 61.17 469.00
Apple Post Program 27.00 4.05 31.05 PC 8012 1/0 Unit 346.96 52.04 399.00
4 The Shell Games 15.00 2.25 17.25 | PC 8023 Dot Matrix Printer 326.08 48.9! 375.00
f Elementary My Dear Apple 16.00 2.40 18.40 | PC 8031 Floppy Disc Drive 543.48 81.52 625.00
Apple Bow! Diskette 13.00 1.95 14.95 PC 8041 12’ Greenor Amber Monitor 129.57 19.43 149.00
3.3 Operating System 34.00 5.10 39.10 | PC 8043 12” High Resolution CRT :
DOS 3.3 Tool Kit 41.00 6.15 47.15 Colour Monitor 477.39 71.61 549.00
Appie Writer 1.1 34.00 5.10 39.10
Le Stellar Invader 13.00 1.95 sont |
Apple Piot 34.00 5.10 39.10
Apple Adventure 19.00 2.85 21.85 HARDWARE CONDITIONS OF
APPLE DISTRIBUTED SOFTWARE GUARANTEE BUSINESS.
The Go Between (Centronics) 26.50 3.98 30.48 Ernie : Pht We accept cheques or Access.
Micro Modeller 375.00 5625 431.25 — cine sig en cats Barclaycard, American Express and
Visicalc 3.3 105.00 15.75 120.75 Purchase against defects In materials Diners Club Cards. All prices. _
VisiFile 135.00 20.25 155.25 and workmanship. specifications and terms are subject
VisiPilot 95.00 14:25) | 109/25 During the guarantee period, to change without notice at the
VisiTrend/VisiPilot 135.00 20.25 155.25 Metrotech will repair or replace, at no discretion of the management. All
VisiTerm 80.00 12.00 °92.00 lhe pial ee Las be offers subject to availability.
VisiDex 105.00 15.75 120.75 Becuves providing) SiBLOcues's Prices correct at time of going
Desktop Plan Il 705.00 15.75 128.75 | I Sane wner ood preemies to press. COE .
LANGUAGES proof of purchase. Hardware Post and packaging
Wi Pascal Language System 225.00 33.75 258.75 " ih lopicenete ce S bia if,In | subject to confirmation.
Apple Pilot 75.00 11.25 86.25 ore er reer Garneget by
Apple Fortran 95.00 14.25 109.25 accident, misuse or misapplication. aa
CIS Cobo! with Forms -2 410.00 61.50 471.50 ; ==
eo oi Lr. Fe. a eee |
oO
14 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
a p -
i — = =
| Fetal | = =
DIGITAL RESEARCH
BASIC Il
Commercial Disk Extended Basic £ 75! £3 0
NEW CB 80. Ultra fast Basic compiler.
All the features of C Basic plus the speed
and versatility of a compiler. 32K Byte
strings, external multiple line functions,
run time error trapping
,and extended file A
‘handling capabilities. £275/£30
(NEW PL/!-80. A.standard structured commercial
applications programming language. Saves
design time. Minimises debugging and
maintenance problems. Designs high quality
output with picture specifications.
Includes the compiler, run-time library,
lineage editor and relocatin
macto-assembier. 9 €275/£30
MICROPRO INC.
WORDSTAR 3XX. New features: column
move capabilities, horizontal scrolling up to
240 columns and
even Clearer menus. £195/£30
£55/£10
MAILMERGE 3XX{optiona!)
DATASTAR Powerful data entry,
retrieval and £150/£30
up-date system,
SUPERSORT 1.Combines high performance and
Operational flexibility to perform sorting, merging
and record selection functions. £105/£20
£105/£20
NEW CALCSTAR. This sophisticated but easy to
use calculating and planning tool is Micropro’s
new spread sheet and financial
modelling program. £120/£30
COMPSOFT
WORDMASTER Superior
text editor.
NEW COMPSOFT DMS. deal for office records.
Personnel, stock, client’s and account's records
are more easily stored and updated. Features
include: Comprehensive calculation @ Full
sorting facilites ® Record selecton on updates
and reports ® Wordstar
interface for selective mailing.
£345/£25
POINTS TO REMEMBER
@ All software is Ex-Stock and available
on standard 8" disks or 5" disks for
Vector MZ, Superbrain, Dynabyte and
NEC PC 8000
®@ Prices shown as Software with
manual/ manual only.
@ tml WORD-STAR is a trademark
of Micropro.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
sz | - be ——
_ ‘alll - e . : = F
<email INC.
BASIC 8oint £155/£25
BASIC aoCompiler £195/£25
FORTRAN 80 £215/£25
COBOL 80 £315/£25
MICROPLAN
NEW MICROPLAN. A program designed to
cope easily with advanced financial analysis,
Micropian helps you to perform ali the
calculations you presently solve with pen, paper
and calculator. Microplan will perform most
types of calculations working £245/£20
onrows andcolumns.
SUPERCALC
NEW SUPERCALC. Accountants, Planners.
Engineers. and Business owners have found
Supercaic invaluable for day to day “what if?’ and
“what now?” questions. Answers for the time
when the unexpected occurs. Simple
to use advanced financial planning. £190
BCPL
NEW BCPL. BCPL CINTCODE is a full and
extended implementation of the popular
systems’ programming language. BCPL
CINTCODE gives a dramatic reduction in
programme storage space, requiring about
one third of a fully £250/£35
compiled Z80 code.
DATA MANAGEMENT
SELECTOR IIF--C2. An easy to use information
management system, requires
C Basil £185/£30
SELECTOR IV. An advanced information
management system
eC Basic! £275/£35
requires C Basic If.
S$. BASIC VERSION 5.4.A high level language
that combines the flexibility of Basic with the
power of advanced structured techniques.
A compiling langua
anaaiomaeT £175/£30
METROTECH
METITWAM. An index sequential file access in
C Basic II designed to increase :
the flexibility of C Basic. £55/£20
NEW OPTIMISER.A linear
programming system for finding
the best practical solution to resource
allocation and planning problems. Easy to learn.
Easy to use. Immediately available.
£295
Please ring for more details.
NEW CARDBOx. Described simply, Cardbox is
an electronic card index system. Choose your
own format for cards, and categorise the
information to your own specification. Cardbox
provides an immensely powerful method of
handling large amounts
of information. £155
COMMUNICATIONS
BISYNC-80/3780 and BISYNC-80/3270 are.
full function IBM 2780, 3780 and 3270 emulators
for micro computers. BISYNC-80/3780 gives you a
Remote Job Entry terminal for the price of a micro!
BISYNC-80/3270 combines the local processing
power of a micro with a sophisticated screen
capability. Make your dumb terminal smart!
MET/TTY will connect your micro to a
Timesharing service in simple teletype emulation.
£445/£20
£445/£20
£145/£20
BISYNC-80/3780
BISYNC-80/3270
METITTY
FINANCIAL REPORTING
REPORT WRITER You input the vaiues. Report
Writer will perform your calculations and produce
2 report with your headings, :
£70/£10
totals and summaries.
GLECTOR General Ledger option in Selector Ill,
requires Selector Ii!
and C BASIC Ii £125/£30
NEWLY RELEASED
SOFTWARE
INFO STAR from MICROPRO
TBA
HOW TO ORDER
@ State disk type and size @ Add 15% VAT
@ Include £2 per Software item for Postage and
Packing
® Enclose cheque/PO’s payable to METROTECH
A WENBOME
Mail to METROTECH MAIL ORDER,
WATERLOO ROAD, UXBRIDGE,
MIDDLESEX UB8 2YW
CREDIT CARDS - Telephone orders welcome:
Tel: UXBRIDGE (0895{ 57048/9
TRADE ENQUIRIES WELCOMED
A MEMBER OF THE GRAND METROPOLITAN GROUP
eal i] = r P 7
ik
el
| am &
@ Circle No. 108
15
\p
ISBS-F
A FULLY INTEGRATED
ACCOUNTING
SYSTEM FOR THE
SMALLER BUSINESS
USER. DESIGNED FOR
TWIN FLOPPY DISK
SYSTEMS
A totally Integrated Small Business System
designed for single user floppy disk based
systems. Each package can be used stand
alone or can be built into an integrated system
depending on user requirements. All packages
are fully supported and maintained, and are
supplied with comprehensive reference
manuals. ISBS-F is easy to install and ideal for
the first-time small business user with no
previous computer experience. Some of the
main features of ISBS-F include:
STOCK CONTROL
®@ Optimum stockholding to keep costs toa
minimum.
@ Trends shown by monitoring stock
hi and showing fast and slow moving
ines.
® Accurate stock valuation at any time.
@ Fast interrogation of any stock line for
answering your Customers enquiries.
ORDER ENTRY & INVOICING
@ Accurate tracking of orders to make sure all
your orders are fulfilled.
@ Order acknowledgéments to confirm
customers orders quickly.
@ Automatic reference to the back orders and
drawdown of stock when invoicing, to prevent
double entry.
@ Flexible invoice layout to suit most
companles needs.
@ Sales analysis reports by product code and
your own classification code to provide
comprehensive sales monitoring.
NAME AND ADDRESS
@ All your customers, suppliers and enquiries
stored and maintained by one central system.
STOCK
CONTROL i
NAME &
ADDRESS
COMPANY
PURCHASES
SYSTEM
GENERAL
ACCOUNTING
@ Flexible report generation allowing you to
design your own reports.
@ Selective malling labels to make light work
of mailshots.
PAYROLL
®@ Flexible pay periods and methods to suit
most professions and industries.
@ Comprehensive in year and year end reports
to save endless form filling
® Coin analysis for workers paid by cash
helping to speed up pay packet preparation.
@ Tax or national insurance updates as and
when requlred to make budget Changes easy.
®@ Overtime and special credits and
deductions can be handled with ease.
®@ Security check prevents unauthorised use.
COMPANY PURCHASES
@ Open item or Balance Forward accounts
depending on the nature of the goods being
supplied.
@ Credit control reports to ensure paymenis
are made within your own target dates.
@ Computerised cheque writing to save
manual preparation.
@ V.A.T. returns can be prepared speedily from
V.A.T. analysis reports.
ORDER
ENTRY &
uke us
PAYROLL
COMPANY
SALES
SYSTEM
COMPANY SALES
@ Invoices can be posted directly from the
Order Entry and Invoicing System to save re-
entry.
@ Open item or Balance Forward accounts to
suit different customer types.
® Statements for your customers can be
produced easily and at anytime.
@ Comprehensive reports to assist credit
control and maintain a healthy cash flow.
@ V.A.T. returns Can be prepared speedily from
V.A.T. analysis reports.
GENERAL ACCOUNTING
@ Flexible cost coding system which can be
designed for your own company structure.
@ Automatic generation of the Profit and Loss
Account and Balance Sheet reflecting the
financial position of your Company at anytime.
® Budget controls over flexible periods to
ensure expense accounts are not overrun.
@ Data automatically retrieved from the
Company Sales, Company Purchases and
Payroll Systems which means that data is only
entered once.
2020
WP2020
WORD
PROCESSOR
WP2020 is an advanced word process|ng
system which runs on selected 8080 based
microcomputers. In addition to all the
standard features of a word processing
system such as margins, tabs, pagination,
global search and replace, proportional
spacing etc., the system also Offers the
following:
@ Special set of coloured function keytops
supplied as standard.
@ Menu driven system designed for typists
and secretaries — there are no complicated
control codes to remember.
@ Advanced facilities such asa Slag
checker, merge documents module,
communications, and integration with ISBS-F
supplied as standard.
@ Supports background printing whilst
working on other documents.
CM 2020
CONFIGURABLE
MANAGER
CM2020 is a powerful information retrieval
system which the user can configure to suit
individual needs. It has been designed for the
user without any special computer
background. The user has total control over
the application environments by defining the
basic filing system, input screen formats and
output reports. CM2020 is easy to learn and
use, an application which might normally
require weeks or months without CM2020 can
be set up and running in a matter of hours or
days. For the technically minded there is also
a FORTRAN and RATFOR compiler available
so that other programs can be developed to
interface with a CM2020 data base. Some of
the typical applications for CM2020 would be:
@ PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
@ PARTS FILES
@ MAILING LISTS
@ PROJECT MANAGEMENT
@ QUESTIONNAIRE ANALYSIS
@ SALES ENQUIRIES AND LEADS
FP2020
FINANCIAL
PLANNER
The FP2020 provides a new approach to
management planning, whether it is financial,
budget, job cost, cash flow, product pricing,
engineering etc., FP2020 will accurately
forecast the effect of proposed actions. Data
is entered interactively having defined the size
of the model or ‘spreadsheet’. The user can
then use the standard functions to calculate
cell values or use the special functions
(mathematical or statlstical) to perform more
complex arithmetic.:Models and definitions
are stored on disk and can be retrieved at a
later stage. The user can define his own
output reports as required and graphic output
can also be obtained.
eS BAA Applicationsoftware for
8
SYSTEMS GROUP
and 16 bit micros
GRAFFCOM SYSTEMS LTD. 102 PORTLAND ROAD, HOLLAND PARK, LONDON W111 4LX TEL: 01-727 5561
ISBS-W
AN INTEGRATED
OFFICE
ACCOUNTING AND
ADMINISTRATION
SYSTEM TO MEET
MULTIWORKSTATION
REQUIREMENTS.
DESIGNED FOR
HARD DiSK BASED
SYSTEMS
A professional Integrated Business System
designed for microcomputers which use Hard
disks or Winchester disks. ISBS-W Is ideal for
the smali to medium business where data
storage and processing speed exceeds the
capabilities of floppy disk based systems.
Users of ISBS-F can upgrade to ISBS-W as the
business expands using GRAFFCOM's
System Migration Plan — SMP. The user can
choose from any combination of modules and
add others at a.later stage if required. All
modules are fully maintained and supported
and comprehensive documentation is
supplied for each application. Some of the
main ISBS-W features include:
BUSINESS CONTROLLER
The Business Control Module acts as a task
manager and supervisor for the ISBS-W
system. It takes care of system definition
parameters such as the number of hard disks,
numbers of workstations and printets.
Operators will feel at ease with the Business
Control menu which will prompt for
application tasks such as word processing,
accounting modules or, order processing etc.
The controller will also take care of file
protection and authority of access viaa
password system. It also incorporates a data
archieve and retrieval option allowing the user
to make back-up copies of the data system as
often as required.
BUSINESS
CONTROL
MODULE
ACCOUNTING MODULES
All standard accounting tasks are catered for
and include sales, purchases and nominal
ledgers. The payroll module is fully supported
in terms of legislative changes. Standard
managements reports include budgetry
control, Profit and Loss Statements and
Balance Sheets.
STOCK CONTROL AND ORDER PROCESSING
Orders can be entered as received and the
system provides a comprehensive tracking
mechanism until all goods have been shipped.
Invoice production provides automatic release
of stock and drawdown of order items.
ES ere ee a aati
D
PURCHASE CONTROL
PAYROLL
PROJECT CONTROL
COMPANY SALES
WORD PROCESSING
*Check for release date
WORD PROCESSING
An advanced automated office computer
system would not be complete without an
integrated word processing module. This
module provides all the standard word
processing facilities and has in addition a
merge document feature for personalised
letters and a built-in spelling checker. The
word processing terminal will have custom
keytops which makes light work of all word
processing tasks for the operator.
SPECIAL INTEREST
LEASE, RENTAL & HIRE PURCHASE SYSTEM
The LR & HP System Is designed to control
agreements and contracts that are payable at
regular intervals by fixed amounts. The system,
is designed to interface with the ISBS-F
Company Sales System and the Name &
Address System.
TIME RECORDING SYSTEM 7
The TRS ts designed for those organisations
which offer a ‘service’ rather than a ‘product’.
Typical users would be Accountants,
Solicitors, Management Consuitants,
Architects, Quantity Surveyors etc. The
system controls manhour expenditure and
expenses by job or account numbers.
MIPS — MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
PLOTTING SYSTEM
MIPS is a standard package which interfaces
with |ISBS-F, ISBS-W and the 2020 series to
produce arange of management graphs and
charts. It is designed to support industry
standard plotters from the Hewlett Packard
and Tektronix range. (Check with us direct for
a complete list of supported plotters).
Graphics output includes:
@ (SBS-F — budget comparisons, sales
analysis, cash flow etc.
@ ISBS-W — budgetry control, sales and
product analysis, cash flow etc.
@® FP2020 — various, depending on
characteristics of Model.
Software is suitable for use with the following systems:
At ABC24,26
ARCHIVES
CIFER
COLUMBIA DATA PRODUCTS
CROMEMCO
COMART COMMUNICATOR
DEC VT18X
DURANGO
DYNABYTE
HEATH
HEWLETT PACKARD 125
{BM DISPLAYWRITER
me PERSONAL COMPUTER
1M
MILLBANK
NEC PC8000
NORTHSTAR
PET (with softbox)
For further details on system requirements check with your deater or cal! us direct.
GRAFFCOM products please complete
For more Information on
the form.
LINKS PROCESSOR
This is a interprocessor link program designed
to attach two processors back to back for
CPIM file transfer. One processor is detined as
the master and the second as a slave.
INTEL 8048 ASSEMBLER
The 8048 assembier produces 8048/35 romable
machine code. Source input is created using
the CP/M editor ED. Output is to disk in Hex
format or printed listing.
RAIR
SHARP
SIRIUS 1
SUPERBRAIN
TANDY MODEL tI
TE!
TRANSAM
Tvl
XEROX 820
plus many more
ioe me ees me eee No skecian
IsBS-F []
ISBS-W []
hi a RTOS He AAON Be 00~.0 COCR Oe
SRAFeeen!
102 Portland Road, London W11 4LX
2020 []
SPECIAL []
COMPANY....... 5 Reis PCIE 0.0.4 615
SYSTEMS GROUP
@ Circle No. 109
7
CHEAPSKATE
ROUTE
Utilising the powerful 4MHz Z80A
Microprocessor the GM811 CPU
card canbeusedaseithera
stand alone controller or as the
heart ofa complex
microcomputer system. Four
‘Bytewide’ sockets allow great
tlexibitity In the type and size of
memory devices chosen. Input
and output tacillties include
both programmable serial and
parallel interfaces — RS232, 1200
baud CUTS cassette interface
Z80A PIO, and an eight bit input
port. Inan expanded system
the unique on-board RP/M
monitor allows the creation of
cassette or Eprom based
programs or files which are
upwards compatible witha
disk based CP/M system.
ROUTE
The Gemini MultiBoard conceptis the
logical route to virtually any
microcomputer system you care to
name. Whether you require a business
system, an educational system, a
Process control system or any other
system, there is a combination of
MultiBoards to fuifii that function,
This concept ensures maximum
flexibility and minimal obsolescence.
Maintenance and expansion is greatly
enhanced by the moduiar board
design. MuifiBoard is based on the
80-BUS structure, which is finding
increasing acceptance among other
British manufacturers; thus broadening
the product base.
18
3amp PSU forthe
smaller system
Similar to the popular
GM811 CPU card, the new
GM813 CPUIRAM card has
64K of dynamic RAM
replacing the 'bytewilde'
sockets. Anextended
addressing mode
facilitates future memory
expansion up to2
megabytes! The RPIM 2
monitor retains tull RPIM
- CPIM compatability.
80 BUS STATION
FARES
Hardware (Bullt & tested)
GM602 64KRAMcard £140
GM603 EPROMIROMcard £65
GM807 3APSU £40
GM808K* EPROMprogrammer £29.50
GM809 FOC card £125
GM8410K S5APSU/8
slot motherboard £69.50
GM8414 = Z8OCPUCcard £125
GM812 zé0IVC card £140
(Kit)
Software
GM512_ CPIM 2.2 tor Multiboard £90
GM517 Gem-Zapeditiasmtape £45
GM518 Gem-Zapeditiasm disk £45
GM519 Gem Pen editor!
text formatter tape £45
GM520 Gem Pen editor
textformatter EPROM, ..... £45
GM5241 Gem Pen editor!
textformatter disk
£45
GM
813
CPU/RAM
Samp PSu with an
8-slot Motherboard
nascom
OWNERS
START HERE
GM813 Z80 CPUI64K RAM card .£225
EV614 ‘IEEE 488card £140
GM815-4 Single drive disk unit
with PSU (350K) £325
GM815-2 Double drive disk unit
with PSU (700K) £550
GM816-— -Multil/O board £125
AM819 Speechboard £85
AM820 LightPen £35
GM821 ASC llkeyboard £57.50
GMS24
GM525
GM526
GMS27
GM526
Gem Dis disassembler!
debugger tape £30
Gem Dis disassembler
debugger disk £30
Comal-80 tape £100
Comal-80 disk £400
APL disk £200
STOP &
PICK UP ANY
MULTIBOARDS
ON YOUR WAY
With a 59 key full
QWERTY layout, this
ASCII encoded
keyboard includes
cursor control keys,
caps. lock, wokey
rollover and
auto-repeat.
GM
821
KEYBOARD
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
OUTE
The GM812 Intelligent Video Controller card features an GM 809 FOC
on board Z80A processor to provide independence of GM GM The GM809 floppy disk controller card can
the host processor and the ability to redefine the support up to four disk drives in elther single or
functions and parameters of the display. 809 | 81 5 double density modes. The card uses the Western
Normally used inan 80 x 25 mode the card contains f enive var Digltal 1797 controller and has variable write
a programmable character generator allowing = precompensation and phase locked loop data
three additional modes of operation — inverse = recovery circuitry.
characters, 160 x 75 block graphics, or user =! GM 845 Drive unit
defined characters. -
The GM815 floppy disk housing contains one or
two 5%" double density, double sided Pertec FD
250 drives. This gives a storage capacity of 350K
per drive. Power forthe drivesis provided by an
integral supply unit.
AUTO-EXCHANGE
All your RP/M software automatically
transferred to CP/M
A keyboard socket allows butiered character
input, and a light pen socket is provided for
specialist applications. Being HO mapped the
card does notoccupy any system memory space.
The GM802 RAM board provides a tull
64K of dynamic memory. The 80 BUS
Wa ’ 7 I
| ei
{eS Lo-
RAMODIS signal is fully supported so s 7 .
that any EPROM in the system is given 3
priority over the RAM, preventing any ; we A CPIM 2.2 package
possibllity of bus contention. Page a | FILL-UP WITH SOFTWARE | is available with the
Modeisalsosupportedbythecard [4 FILL UP WITH SOF] ARE GM 809 cardand
which, with the appropriate software - : Pertec drives.
allows up to four memory boards to i On-screen editing
be usedinasystem. b\) Guto single/double
density selectionand
paralletor sertal
Printers are
supported. Running
under CP/M Isa wide
range ofutilities,
application software
and languages.
RPIM software is available on tape and
Includes Editor/Assembler; Text Editor!
Formatter; DisassembleriDebugger;
ONE Pascal and Comal-80. These packages
WAY can also be run under CP/M.
The GM803 Eprom Board will accept up to 16
2708 or 2716 Eprom devices. This allows the
Addition of up to 32K of firmware to the
system. The board supports the Page Mode
system and consequently need not occupy
any memory spoce when notin use.
The Gemini I/O board
provides a unique
solution for interfacing to
“the real world”. The
board contains 3 PIO's,
A number of manutacturers are busy acTiC andareal
working on additional 80-BUS boards
which will progressively increase the Rael S compte Poy ecru
potential of your MultiBoard system. prétotyping boards aie Daughter
available from both Vero boards may also
and Winchester beaddedand
Technology. These allow
the user to easily adda | | (4
these Include A-D,
D-A, opto-coupling
card of their own design < and serial
to the system. interface boards.
EPROM
= - PROGRAMMER
p The GM808 Eprom
= 2 Law| Ti programmer connects to
AM AM ts : “=o pol isi] RoBoonmocru core
: and allows the user to
819 820 This iow cost lightpen hidet ete or 2746
SPEECH RIS HURENS can be used with the i
GM812 IVC for many
applications,
including answer
selection, editing,
menu selection and
The EVCIEEE 488 Controller card has
been designed to fully implement
all EEE 488 interface functions. This
card gives the user a very versatile
method of controlling any
movement of
k equipment fitted with a standard
The Arfon Microelectronics gipeyed data (EEE 488 or GPIB interface at minimal
speech board ulllises the blocks. cost.
National Semiconductor
Digitalker chip set. This gives COMPUTER INTERFACING TARGET ELECTRONICS
a vocabulary of over 140 GEM INI MULTIBOARDS & EQUIPMENT LTD., 16 Cherry Lane, Bristol BS4 3NG.
Gare tifesub eBands: —BUY THEM AT YOUR the MicRo-spares shop, Tel:(0272) 424496.
Output is from an on-board 19 Roseburn Terrace, BITS & PC’S
speaker. LOCAL MICROVALUE Edinburgh EH12 5NG i Wostgate, Wetherby,
’ DE ALER Tel: (034) 337 5614 W.Yorks.
E. V. COMPUTING ;
All the products on these two pages 700 Bumage Lane, Burnage, Mel i 22 63774.
are available while stocks last trom = Manchester M19 4NA. HENRY’S RADIO
the MicroValue dealers listed on right Tel:(061) 4341 4866. 404 Edgware Road, London W2.
(Mail aed enquiries should ELECTROVALUE LTD Tel:(01) 402 6822.
telephone for delivery dates and post D a * uote :
pipe costs sees ond 2 28 St Judes, Engletieid Green, Tix:262284 (q ret:1400).
Barclaycard welcome. Egham, Surrey TW20 OHB. LEEDS COMPUTER CENTRE,
Tel:(0784) 33603. Tix:264475. Re ne ac ial ms
INTERFACE COMPONENTS LTO. SKYTRONICS recess:
Oakfield Comer,Sycamore Road, 2 North Road, The Park, Tel: (0532) 458877
Amersham, Bucks.
Notti am.
Tel:(02403) 22307.Tix:837788.
Tel:
) 45053/45215
@ Circle No. 110
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982 19
Practical Computing
Olivetti DM §100-Price: £900.00
oe a oe
Olivetti DY211 — Price: Only £900.00!
YE R-E
Qume Sprint 5 Range - Prices from:
£1700.00
Olivetti DY311 — Price: £1050.00
Practical Computing is not only the name
of a Magazine. It is also a philosophy about
which we feel strongly at Millbank Computers.
Practical computing solutions which
meet the needs of the user is the basis on
which we have built up our range of hardware,
software and services.
We start with the Millbank System 10 —
the ‘heavy duty’ micro computer available
exclusively from us and our appointed dealers.
With 700K, 1.6 MB and hard disc options, the
Millbank System 10 is arguably the most
reliable micro available in the UK — supported,
Olivetti DY811 — Price: £1995.00
naturally, by twelve months full warranty.
Our range of printers covers dot matrix
and letter quality printing at virtually every
acceptable speed, specification and price point.
The CP/M disc operating system opens
up avast range of readily available software —
including ‘Financial Director’ — a British
Accounting suite of stunning quality and
E.A.M.1.S. anew Management System for Estate
Agents.
Service and support is an integral part of
our practical computing philosophy.
Call us today.
Millbank Computers Limited, Millbank House, Amyand Park Road, Twickenham TW1 3HN. Tel: 01-891 4691.
20
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
‘and where to find it.
BIRMINGHAM
Based in the heart of the professional area
of Birmingham, Midland Micro Ltd
provides a comprehensive computer service
to users in the Midlands.
We supply everything from a single
diskette to an advanced network or
Mini-computer system using standard
software and tailor-made packages.
Services provided by our experienced
staff include consultancy, training,
maintenance, and full after-sales service.
iContact: Ernest Willcox or lan Willcox
{Midland Micro Ltd
‘George House, George Road
EDGBASTON, Birmingham B15 1PG
Telephone: (021) 455 7431
CALNE, Wiltshire
Suppliers of accounting and related
lbusiness software in particular, the Financial
Director package incorporating bought and
Sales ledgers, cash book, nominal ledger,
|budgets and monthly management
saccounts.
Other software, eg. order entry, invoicing
and stock control, tailored to individual user
requirements.
Microshade provides a total sales and
support service for the System 10.
Contact: Bryon Horton
Microshade (Business Computers) Ltd
Westhill House, 4 Market Hill
CALNE, Wiltshire
Telephone: (0249) 814879
CAMBRIDGE
The Avery Computer Company
showroom caters specifically for the needs
of local small businesses. A wide range of
systems cover applications from financial
modelling, forecasting, payroll etc. to large
multi-user systems which can carry out all
the functions of the electronic office.
We supply standard and customised
software, special computer-aided learning
courses and, above all, maintain close client
liaison before and after installation.
Contact: Michael Avery or David Spry
The Avery Computer Company
43 The Mail, Bar Hill
CAMBRIDGE CB3 8DZ
Telephone: (0954) 80991
CHELTENHAM
‘we won't blind you with science’ is
the basis of this locally owned company’s
services to businesses, institutions and
individuals.
Partners have wide-ranging business and
computer experience and have built up an
impressive range of books, manuals,
personal computers, business computers,
standard software and consumables.
Contact: David Lewis,
Robin Pheips or Don Price
The Computer Shack
14 Pittville Street
CHELTENHAM, Gloucestershire
Telephone: (0242) 584343
EXETER
Teffont Business Systems have
specialised in ‘word communication’
equipment throughout south-west England
for the past three years.
The computer division markets Micro and
Mini computers. We put strong emphasis on
well-proven business software,
word-processing, telecomunication, and
professional service/training by experienced
engineering and training staff.
We also supply ‘Europe's No.1' range of
facsimile machines and are Prestel dealers.
Contact: Stephen Taylor
Teffont Business Systems Ltd
48-49 High Street, EXETER EX4 3DJ
Telephone: (0392) 30438/9
EPSOM, Surrey
The primary business of Bryan Wright
Ltd is the production of programmes to
meet specialised and individual needs,
exclusively for the Millbank System 10
Micro-computer range.
Consultancy and advice to potential
Micro-computer users. | k
Specifications, analysis and programming.
A personal after-sales service for users’
operational problems, for changing
requirements in programming, and system
upgrading. ; : ,
Address labels and mailing-list service,
with statistical analysis by areas or other
criteria including delivery withina
reasonable distance from Epsom.
Contact: Bryan Wright or Denis Wright
Bryan Wright Ltd
4st Floor, 57 South Street
EPSOM, Surrey KT18 7PX
Telephone: (78) 22653
MANCHESTER
Calderbrook Technical Services (CTS)
moved successfully into the Micro
computer business in the mid 1970s and
now offer a wide range of products from
personal to business systems, plus a vast
software library.
CTS apply a very high level of technical
and engineering skills to system design,
installation, training and after sales service &
maintenance.
Contact: Peter Fawthrop
Calderbrook Technical Services
31-33 Church Street
LITTLEBOROUGH, Lancs OL15 8DA
Telephone: 0706 74342/79332
SWANSEA
Croeso Computer Services is a well
established Micro computer systems house
specialising in turnkey systems for financial
companies, bakeries, licenced trade
stock-taking and petrol stations.
We design specialist software systems for
individual requirements in business,
industry and the professions. A wide range
of computer equipmentis available.
Contact: Simon Shellard or
Michael Breach
Croeso Computer Services
516 Mumbles Road, MUMBLES
Swansea, West Glamorgan
Telephone: (0792) 61555/6
LONDON (C)
Forte Data Systems offer a complete
business computer service from feasibllity
study to implementation. We provide a wide
range of evaluated business packages based
on cost-effective solutions to user
requirements, using customised software if
necessary.
First-time users find our free consultation
service an ideal starting point, existing users
may be more interested in our main-frame
and distributed data processing software
development service.
Contact: mr Vv. Sippy
Forte Data Systems
27 Rathbone Street, LONDON W1
Telephone: (01) 637-0164
LONDON (N)
BD Computer Systems brings
‘mainframe’ levels of skills and
professionalism to the Micro market. Our
experience in selling and installing large
computers now provides full operational
systems solutions in the Micro market.
Our customers range from a small
professional user to a large Government
department.
We are ideally placed to serve all London
and Home Counties organisations north of
the Thames.
Contact: Hugh Benham,
Susan Weitzkorn or Peter Hines
BD Computer Systems
2 Old Brewery Mews
Hampstead High Street
LONDON NW3 41PZ
Telephone: (01) 435-4442
LONDON (S)
Micro Automation Computing Ltd was
formed in 1979 with over fifty man years of
computer experience to provide and
support systems and software based on
Micro and Mini technology.
Special emphasis is placed on real time
systems for commercial, industrial and
engineering applications. Services available
include the supply of complete computer
systems, tailored turnkey systems and _
packages, data base applications, specialised
drivers for word-processing and colour
graphics, and systems software for Micros.
Contact: David Shorter
Micro Automation Computing Ltd
207 Putney Bridge Road
LONDON SW15 2NY
Telephone: (01) 874 2535
This is nota comprehensive list of
Millbank dealers So if your area is
not covered by any of the dealers
listed here call us direct.
Millbank Computers Limited
Millbank House Amyand Park Road
TWICKENHAM TW1 3HN
Telephone: 01-891 4691
@ Circle No. 111
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
21
TELEVIDEO SYSTEMS
TeleVideo’s TS 802 and TS 802H microcomputers are low-cost,
Powertul single-user integrated computer systems. TaleVideo has
combined its top of the line CRT display with an advanced design
single board computer (Z80, 64K RAM) with §}" floppy disks and
Winchester hard disk all in one attractive table top enclosure. A
detached typewriter-style keyboard js also included. Tne TS 802
computer features two 5}-inch floppy disks for 1 Mbyte of on-line
storage, and the TS 802H includes one §j-Inch Winchester disk drive
for 10 Mbytes of data storage. and @ single 500 Kbyte minitloppy disk
unit.
Both the TS 802 and 802H use the industry standard CPM 2,2
operating system. This lets the user fulfill a wide variety of informa-
tion and word processing needs using a multitude of commonly
available application programs.
TS 802 & 802H Features:
Z80A 4 MHz processor with direct memory access
64 Kbytes of RAM main memory
4 Kbytes of EPROM for system diagnostics and boot loading
Dual floppy disk controtler (TS 802), and hard disk controller plus floppy disk
controller (TS 802H}
Dual minifloppy disks: 1 Mbyte capacity (TS 802)
Single minifloppy disk (.5 Mbyte capacity}, plus 10 Mbyte Winchester 5j-inch
hard disk (TS 802H)
Green phosphor CRT (25 rows by 80 columns)
Typewriter-style detached keyboard
Full-screen attributes, editing, smooth scroll, 25th status line, 11 function
keys, numeric key pad
2 RS-232C serial ports. These are jumper selectable for any combination of
modems or printers
CP/M 2.2 operating system
Attractive tabletop enctosure, fully integrated with CRT, CPU, RAM and disk
drives
1 RS-422 high-speed port
set up to perform tasks normally associated with the following Ilst.
Accounting Budgeting
Stock control Address mailing
Simulations Time recording
Calc-type predictions
Bureaux services
Answer what-if's Employees records
Print reports Sort files
Within hours perform all the above In French or German.
The list is as endless as that which meets the requirements of your own
imagination.
Within the appropriate frames of reference you could ask questions like the
following:
Hospital indexing
General analysis
Find someone whose name contains a W or X or Y or Z, who is either in London
or Birmingham, and available for work at a salary of less than 10,000; and is
under 40 years of age, not married, of credit worthiness grade 1, with a car,
Prepared to travel, and who likes horses, does not mind the hours he works, is
congenial and has good references. When you find such persons produce a
printed list of them showing their names, telephone numbers, and what their
salaries are as well as thelr salary if increased by 10% and show their availability
for work. At the end of the list enumerate the total of such persons.
Find all stock items that are codes micro-computers that are either in warehouse
1 or warehouse 2, where the quantity on hand is more than 50 units, the cost is
less than 1,000, the selling price higher than 2000.00; that are not in cartons,
bought from supplier 52, allocated more than 20, rated for tax at 15% and weigh
less than 50 Ibs. When you find such categories then print a report showing the
G. W. COMPUTERS LTD.
G. W. COMPUTERS LTD. 01-636 8210, 01-631 4818, TELEX 892031 TWCG
*** THE NEW DBMS (DATABASE) ***
DBMS2 is arecord relational as well as a file relational database management tool that Is capable of being at different times, many different things. The one core program can be
24 HOUR ANSWERPHONE/LEAVE ADDRESS FOR STANDARD INFORMATION DATA PACK
MULTI-USER HARD DISKS
SS SS
a
oe = —— ———— —
Functional characteristics
The CompuStar 10 megabyte Disk Storage System {DSS) consists of read/write
and control electronics, read/write heads, a track positioning mechanism, a
spindle drive mechanism, dual disks, an air filtration system, and our exclusive
255 user controlter — all packaged in a compact desktop enclosure, Although
designed primarily to accommodate multiple CompuStar Video Processing Units
(described at left), the unit can easily be connected to a single SuperBrain Video
Computer System to facilitate additional disk storage. When used with Compu-
Star VDUs, however, the integral Z80 based controls will permit up to 255 users to
‘share’ the resources of the disk with minimat CPU response degradation.
Read/Write Heads and Disks
The recording media consists of a lubricated thin magnetic oxide coating on a
200mm diameter aluminium substrate. This coating for mulation, together with
the low load force/low mass Winchester type flying heads, permits reliable
contact start/stop operation. Data on each disk surface is read by one read/write
head, each of which accesses 256 tracks.
Cashflow
Letter writing
Filing
Profit analysis
Mathematics
Tabulate values
Edit records
description, cost price, quantity on hand, lead time for retills, what the selling
price should be if raised by 12.3% as well as the profit in either per-cent or round
figures of that projected selling price.
Find all patients who suffered from cold, that are either girls or women younger
than 23 years old, and who live in London at a socio-economic grade higher than
3; do not smoke; have more than 3 children, are currently at work and where
treatment failed to effect a cure in under 6 days. When you find such persons then
print a list showing their age, marital status, income, and frequency of illness in
the past 2 years.
Currently you can ask 7 types of questions 20 times for a single selection
criterion, and then you can compute 10 mathematical relationships between the
questions for the individual as well as for the total number of matches. In all some
60 bits of information relating to one record or a group or records on simply one
permutation of the selection criterion, with a cross referencing facility as well.
Every word in the system, as well as the file architectures, print masks, and field
attributes, is capable of alteration by you without programming expertise (but
with some thought).
ALL IN ONE PROGRAM FROM G. W. COMPUTERS. THE D8MS2 !!
*** ALL YOU NEED FROM A COMPUTER SYSTEM ***
DATABASE MANAGEMENT + WORD-PROCESSING + MODELLING + DIY INTERPRETER + SERVICE
DEAL TWO **** 2995.00 steerer
DFat ENR *** 6995.00
eeerseeveeesne
OEAL SEVEN *** 8995.00
01-SUPERBRAIN 64K RAM/320 K 1695.00 01-SUPERBRAIN 64K RAM 320/K 1695.00 01-TELEVIOEO 64K RAM/700 K 2395.00
02-OKI 80 + INTFCE 425.00 02-NEC OAISY 3510 PRINTER 1395.00 02-NEC OR QUME DAISY PRINTER 1695.00
03-CABLE 25.00 03-CABLES 25.00 03-CABLES 25.00
04-BOX PAPER (2000 SHEETS) 20.00 04-12 MONTH WARRANTY 310.00 04-S/SHEET FEEOER 750.00
05-MAGIC WANO {WORO PROCESSOR) 190.00 05-DELIVERY IN UK 60.00 05-TRACTER FEEOER 170.00
06-OBMS2 {DATABASE} 575.00 06-MEMOREX OISKS {3.00°50} 150,00 06-12 MONTH WARRANTY 500.00
07-MAGIC CALC (MOOELLING) 150.00 07-CPM HANDBOOK 10.00 07-OELIVERY IN UK 80,00
08-50 BASIC EXERCISES (BOOK) 10.00 08-OYSAN OISKS (6.00°35) 210.00
(NOT INC VAT) 3080,00 03-2000 SHEETS PAPER (BOX) 20.00 09-CPM HANOBOOK 10.00
” 10-MAGIC CALC (MOOELLER) 175.00 10-50 BASIC EXERCISES (BOOK) 10.00
DEAL ONE **** 2495.00 see 11-MAGIC WANO (W/PROCESSOR) 130,00 11-2000 SHEETS PAPER (BOX) 20.00
12-OBMS2 (INC MBASIC (150.00) } 575.00 12-MAGIC CALC (MOOELLER) 175.00
01-SUPERBRAIN 64K RAM/320 K 1695.00 13-ENHANCEO OOS & OIAGNOSTICS 125.00 11-17 ITEMS ON OEAL TWO +4444 1205.00
02-EPSON MX80F/T2 &INTFCE 475.00 14-RECOVER & AUTOLOAD 35.00 -
03-CABLES 25.00 15-TRAINING SESSION 3-4 HOURS 80.00 (NOT INC VAT) 7245.00
04-12 MONTH WARRANTY 220.00 16-DISK FULL OF GAMES 50.00 DEAL FIVE *** 5995.00 *##* eres eeeeee
05-DELIVERY IN UK 60.00 — :
06-MEMOREX DISKS (3.00°50) 150.00 Cox: wae 01-TELEVIDEO 64K RAM 7.3 MEG 4595.00
07-CPM HANDBOOK 10.00 DEARLOREE aoe 02-17 ITEMS ON OEAL FOUR 3830.00
08-50 BASIC EXERCISES (BOOK) 10.00 01-SUPERBRAIN 64K RAM/700 K 2195.00 ‘i
09-2000 SHEETS PAPER (BOX) 20.00 02-NEC OR QUME DAISY PRINTER 1695.00 (NOT INC VAT) 8425.00
10-MAGIC CALC (MODELLER) 175.00 03-CABLES 25.00
11-MAGIC WANO (W/PROCESSOR) 190.00 04-12 MONTH WARRANTY 410.00 DEALSIX*** 6995.00 Heecerececenes
12-DBMSz2 (INC MBASIC (150.00) ) 575.00 OS-DELIVERY INUK 70.00
13-ENHANCEO OOS & DIAGNOSTICS 125.00 06-DYSAN DISKS (6.00°35) 210.00 01-SUPERBRAIN 64K RAM/700K 2195.00
14-RECOVER & AUTOLOAO 35.00 07-CPM HANOBOOK 10.00 02-SUPERBRAIN 64K RAM/700K 2195.00
15-TRAINING SESSION 3-4 HOURS 80.00 98-50 BASIC EXERCISES (BOOK) 10.00 03-CORVUS 5.6 MEG & MUX/USER 2745.00
16-O1SK FULL OF GAMES 50.00 09-2000 SHEETS PAPER (BOX) 20.00 02-17 ITEMS ON OEAL FOUR 3830.00
17-CPM AOOITIONAL UTILITIES 150.00 10-MAGIC CALC (MODELLER) 175.00 pessoa
11-17 ITEMS ON OEAL TWO +4+4++++4 1205.00 (NOT INC VAT) Aigaars
(NOT INC VAT) 4045.00 6025.00
seeereessenees
{NOTE: The principte of this deal is that you pay (approximately) for hardware, warranty, consumables and 1 program. The rest is ***FREE***. You could make up your
own package from our price list similarly.)
CALL ONLY BY PRIOR APPOINTMENT AT 55 BEDFORD COURT MANSIONS, BEDFORD AVENUE
22
LONDON W.C.1
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
G. W. COMPUTERS LTD.
DS a wc ;
alata Tht hrs wert
oe
SuperBrain users get exceptional performance for just a fraction of what they‘d
expect to pay. Standard SuperBrain features include: two double density mini-
floppies with 350kbytes of disk storage, 32k of RAM memory (expandable to 64k)
to handle even the most sophisticated programs, a CP/M@®) Disk Operating
System with a high powered text editor, assembler, debugger and a disk
formator. And, with SuperBrain’s S-100 bus adaptor, you can add all the
programming power you will ever need ... almost any type of S-100 compatible
bus accessory.
SuperBrain’s CP/M operating system boasts an overwhelming amount of avail-
able software in BASIC, FORTRAN, COBOL, and APL. Whatever your application
. General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Payroll, Inventory of Word Processing,
SuperBrain is tops in its class. And the SuperBrain QO boasts the same powerful
performance but also features a double-sided drive system to render more than
700k bytes of disk storage and a full 64k of RAM. All standard!
Whatever model you choose, you'll appreciate the careful attention given to
every engineering detail. A full ASCII keyboard with numeric pad and user-
Programmable function keys A non-glare, specially focused 12-inch CRT for
sharp images everywhere on the screen. Twin Z-80 microprocessors to ensure
efficient data transfer to auxiliary peripheral devices. Dual universal RS-232
communications ports for serial data transmission. And, a single board design to
Integrated Desk Top Computer with 12 inch Bh-Mapped Graphics or Character
Display. 64Kb RAM, 4 MHz Z80A, ® Two Quad Capacity Floppy Disk Drives,
Selectric Style 87 Key Keyboard, Business Graphics Software.
The North Star ADVANTAGE™ is an interactive integrated graphics computer
supplying the single user witha balanced set of Business-Data, Word, or Scien-
tific-Data processing capabilities along with both character and graphics output.
ADVANTAGE is fully supported by North Star's wide range of System and
Application Software.
The ADVANTAGE contains a 4MHz Z80A® CPU with 64Kb of 200 nsec Dynamic
RAM (with parity) for program storage, a separate 20Kb 200 nsec RAM to drive
the bit-mapped display, a 2Kb bootstrap PROM and an auxiliary intel 8035
microprocessor to contro! the keyboard and floppy disks. The display can be
operated as a 1920 (24 lines by 80 characters) character display or as a
bit-mapped display (240x640 pixels), where each pixel is controlled by one bit In
the 20Kb display RAM. The two integrated 54-inch floppy disks are double-sided,
double-density providing storage oi 3600Kb per drive for a total of 720Kb. The
n-key rollover Selectric style keyboard contains 49 standard typewriter keys, 9
symbol or control keys, a 14 key numeric/curser control pad and 15 user
programmable function keys.
make servicing a snap!
G. W. COMPUTERS LTD. 01-636 8210, 01-631 4818, TELEX 892031 TWCG
*&*&* THE NEW DBMS Ill (DATABASE) ***
The DBMS lI is an enhanced version of DBMS Il with additional facilities that make it (we believe) unsurpassed in overall capability world-wide.
For the first time, it is possible to pre-determine the entire route of this program from its own built in self-drivers. The notion of getting
information ‘at the touch of a button’ is rarely even achieved by other programs whereas in DBMS Ill it is surpassed.
It will take you time to master the technique of setting up files that are particular to your activities, but when this is accomplished you will be
able to ‘clone-copy’ the program DBMS Ill in such a manner that each copy may become dedicated functionaries to specific tasks for as long as
you wish.
The end result will be a number of disks whose sole purpose in life will be to perform specific tasks WITHOUT ever touching a single key. Say
your company is a garage; you want stock-level re-order reports; your stock file contains 20,000 records of parts where among other
information you have ‘MINIMUMS’, ‘MAXIMUMS‘, ‘PRESENT STOCKS’ and ‘COST’. You design a report so that all records where stock is
below minimum, the stock is subtracted from the maximum to produce a re-order report and the cost of such an order. Having set up the files
and print report forms, you now enable the DMBS ill SELF-DRIVERS, to pre-ignition.
Every time you want a stock-re-order-cost-report you simply follow this procedure, with the computer and printer switched on:
insert the ‘STOCK-FILE DISK’ and the ‘DBMS Ill FUNCTIONARY DISK’, close the drive doors, and walk away. On your return you will find your
report ready for action.
Imagine being able to do that for most of the tasks you have about you? Hospital serum analysis reports, Production control process reports,
Ledger analysis reports, Client address reports, Housing management reports. In fact most anything whose nature concerns information.
Additional features include field protection, classified fields, passwords to files, increased number of fields, screen form designing, automatic
10 second screen refresh for network systems, additonal search/maths functions.
A leader in database and information processing at this time. The DBMS III (£575.00 exc vat and exc mbasic 80). Only from G. W. Computers Ltd.
NOTE: the above menu options are subject to change without notice or obligation, the bus program 8.00 includes DBMS I! if purchased at 675.00 and thus a number of
program menus are available.
24 HOUR ANSWERPHONE-LEAVE ADDRESS FOR STANDARD INFORMATION DATA PACK
IMPORTANT!!! No hardware is any value without the software, and our software is unequalled. Buy a complete system and get
most of the software free.
NORTH STAR ~- TELEVIDEO
NORTH STAR 700K 2495.00
NORTH STAR 5.3M 3495.00
TELEVIOEO 7.6M 4595.00
SUPERBRAIN * CORVUS DSK
SUPERBRAIN 320K 1695.00
SUPERBRAIN 700K 2195.00
SUPERBRAIN 1500K 2595.00
COMPUSTAR 10 0K 1695.00
COMPUSTAR 20 320K 2495.00
COMPUSTAR 30 700K 2695.00
NEC/UKI * PRINTER
OKI MICRO-82A §75.00
OKI MICRO-83 795.00
OKI MICRO-834 850.00
TELEVIOEO T’MNL 1195.00 EPSON MX80FT 475.00
TELEVIDEO 700K 2395.00 EPSON MX100 675.00
VTR MIRROR DUMP 695.00 TEXAS 810 1395.00
COMPUSTAR 40 1.5M 2995.00 7 STATION M‘PLEX 695.00 SCRIPTA KSR 975.00
COMPUSTAR 10M OSk 2950.00 8US ACCOUNTS 8.0 575.00 NEC 3350 1395.00
CORVUS 5.6M H‘OSK 1950.00 OBMS II §75.00 NEC 5510 1795.00
CORVUS 10M H'DSK 2950.00 NEC 8001/12/31 1850.00 NEC 5§25 2095.00
CORVUS 20M H'DSK 3950.00 QUME S/S FEEDER 750.00 QUME 9/45 1695.00
MBASIC 80 150.00 FORTRAN-80 200.00 COBOL-80 320.00
CIS COBOL 420.00 PASCAL (VARIOUS) 175.00 WORD-STAR 250.00
MAIL MERGE §5.00 SUPER SORT 120.00 C8ASIC 75.00
DATASTAR 190.00 BASCOMPILER 190.00 MAGIC WAND 190.00
OBMS & BUS 8.00 675.00 MAGIC CALC (CPM) 175.00 T/MAKER 150.00
DBMS {EXTENOED) $75.00 BUS VER 8.00 575.00 OBMS & BUS 675.00
MSORT & DSORT 75.00 LETTERIGHT 100.00 UTILITIES 150.00
Formats: (for Basic, DBMS Il, N'STAR & SUPERBRAIN 5”.) .. (for super-calc 8”; Zenith: Xerox; Apple; Vector. (for Magic Wand/Calc = N‘Star & Superbrain)
Any of our computer terminals automatically:include "**** FREE *****
*e*e* MAGIC WAND WORD PROCESSING SOFTWARE ****
**eee TESTING AND DELIVERY *****
*9ee* 90 DAY WARRANTY **9**
For 1 year’s warranty add 10% hardware cost, maintenance prices please call
Mail address G. W. Computers Ltd. 55 Bedford Court Mans. Bedford Avenue, W.C.1
Loridon Telex 892031 TWC G Boston Office Telex 94-0890
Contact 01-636. 8210 or 01.631. 4818 and if unavailable then leave a call-back message {clearly stating your telephone number and name) on ihe 24 hour answer-phone or
simply leave your address and we'll mail you a standard information pack. We regret we do not operate a reader's reply card service. Terms: C.W.O. or C.0.D. (prices
exclude VAT) Software sales are ‘mail order only’. No dealers.
CALL ONLY BY PRIOR APPOINTMENT AT 55 BEDFORD COURT MANSIONS, BEDFORD AVENUE,
LONDON W.C.1
@ Circle No. 112
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
23
24
VUitraBrain
Introducing
Intertec’s NEW
SuperBrain ||
from
Helistar Systems
,
Intertec’s New Features on
SuperBrain Il
* Real Time Clock and Calendar with battery back-up.
* Second user-defined character set — useful for
foreign languages, block graphics and more.
* Character display attributes — inverse video, half-
intensity, underline and blink.
* 7x10character matrix gives true lower-case
descenders.
*: Faster disk-drive stepping speed.
* Microsoft BASIC included with every SuperBrain II.
Full Range of CP/M Software Available
* Word Processing using memory-mapped WordStar.
* Financial Planning with FASTPLAN.
* Numeric manipulation using SuperCalc.
%* Accounting, Stock Control and more with the TABS
business system.
* Rapid applications development with dBASE || data
base.
* Program development with BASIC, COBOL,
FORTRAN, PASCAL.
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Special UltraBrain Options from
Helistar Systems
x Automatic motor-off for longer diskette and drive life.
% Green screen.
* Five day burn-in for greater reliability.
* CDBIOS Extended Operating System with eight
improved features for the operator and programmer.
% FASTCOPY formats and copies a disk in one
operation — will back-up a QD disk in less than two
minutes.
%* Teletype emulation.
Software programmable keys
Example keys for WORDSTAR
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
... MORE SUPE?BRAIN FOR LESS MONEY
High-Resolution Graphics Options
* Micronex PIXELPLOTTER Graphics Hardware. 1024 x 1024
High Resolution 1024 x 1024 pixels from £675. PIXELS
Medium Resolution 512 x 256 pixels from £435.
Also available as a retro-fit for SuperBrain |.
x Micronex Graphics Software.
Graph Plotter, Surface Plotter, 3-D Drawing,
Tektronix Emulation, Graphics Primitives.
* Fluid Dynamic Engineering Software.
Flexure of Beams, Selection of Roller Bearings,
Design of Centrifugal Pumps, Critical Shaft Speed,
Dimensioning of Springs, 3-D Drawing.
x% Micronex VU-DISK Software.
Turns the memory on the graphics board into a
pseudo disk — appears to the user as a very fast .
disk drive ideal for holding random access files. Technical Support
* Advice and assistance available from our
programmers and engineers.
512x256
PIXELS
7: . * On-site and worksh int on ntract o
Helistar’s Special dees ——— “ie
SuperBrain Il Prices
SuperBrain II DD 350K £1695
SuperBrain II QD 750K £1980
SuperBrain II SD 1.5Mb: 22330
including CP/M and Microsoft BASIC
Winchester Hard Disk Options from £1490 Uy
Leasing and rental terms available ran ral
The above are Full Service prices for the standard SuperBrain I| — G
Cash and Carry discounts quoted on request. Please ask for price M ore Su pe r B rain from
lists on UltraBrain options, Graphics, Software, Printers and 6
Maintenance. VAT to be added to all prices. H e | ista r Syste Mm S
Fill in the coupon for more information and send to:
HELISTAR SYSTEMS lease send me more information on SuperBrain “|
| hardware and software. |
150 Weston Road | Name - : |
Aston Clinton Pasion _
Aylesbury |
Bucks HP22 5EP paw |
Telephone: 0296 630364 Address 5 = _
Telex: 837520 ADTRAV G [
ATTN HELISTAR ] + a ‘|
Telno
@ Circle No. 113
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
25
YOUR DATA
CIFELINE
The DATALIFE Series of magnetic media from Verbatim,
incorporates many advanced data shielding benefits.
These ensure a longer, more trouble-free recording, storage and
retrieval life — quite simply Datalife is the best range of media
available today.
And now BFI, the UK's major distributor of Verbatim products,
has introduced a new service — called the Datalife Line.
Call us on the Datalife Line and we can offer you fast deliveries,
competitive prices on Verbatim products, excellent back-up
and technical advice on flexible disks, mini diskettes, data
Cartridges, digital cassettes, alignment disks, XE disks and
Datalife head cleaning kits.
CALL THE Datalife
LINE NOW:
01-941-4066
| A
BFt Electronics Ltd.,
516 Walton Road,
West Molesey,
Surrey. KT8 OQF
Tel: 01-941 4066
Telex: 261395
Scottish Distributor:
Computer Suppties Co.,
8/18 Union Street, Bo'ness,
West Lothian, Scotland.
Tel; 050-682-3393
@ Circle No. 114
26
Buy our
£49.
Daisy Wheel Printer
for your computer
and you have an
Electronic Typewriter
absolutely FREE
The T/Printer 35 is the lightest weight and
lowest cost daisy wheel printer you can buy for your
computer. So it will fit within your budget and you can
carry it wherever you take your micro. Yet it is tough
enough to give years of reliable service. Interchange-
able typefaces (standard Olivetti 100 character daisy
wheels), variable pitch, multiple copies —all the features
you would expect of more expensive word processing
printers.
Yet the T/Printer 35 costs only £475 with
parallel interface. Operating speed under computer
control is approximately 120 words per minute of letter
perfect output. What typist can equal that?
Then when you're finished using it as a
computer printer, the T/Printer 35 is ready to go right
on working as an electronic typewriter.
That’s the dual-purpose T/Printer 35—the
versatile computer printer that fits your budget.
Orders are shipped within the UK carnage-free.
To order or for more information about the T/Printer 35:
*The T/Printer 35 costs £475 with Centronics compatible parallel interface.
With RS-232C interface it costs £535. Prices listed are exclusive of VAT.
Datarite Terminals Ltd
Caldare House
144-146 High Road
Chadwell Heath, Essex RM6 6NT
Tel: 01-590 1155
@ Circle No. 115
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Home computeg
Smal business systems
MANCHESTER,
NOV 25-27
Bringing it all back home...
.., to Manchester, birthplace of computing in
Britain. To Belle Vue from November 25th to
27th— the obvious place for the Northern
Computer Fair.
Following the incredible success of our London
show ‘the biggest-ever personal computer
exhibition’ where over 38,000 people visited us in
3 days, we're going to repeat the performance in
Manchester.
Whatever your specialised line of business—
personal computers; home computing; small
business systems; associated software—this is the
exhibition designed for you.
It's the ideal showcase for companies who need
to demonstrate to a fast expanding and
increasingly well informed audience all aspects of
personal computing.
...you cannot afford to ignore it.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
[Po Se es ee SE eae
{For further details about exhibiting at the Northern Computer Fair, contact the |
{Advertisement Manager, Practical Computing, Room 1310, Quadrant House, 1
J The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 SAS. Telephone: 01-661 3500 Ext 3021 t
l 1
i Name: |
1 Position in Company:
Company:
i !
Address: ;
i 1
i '
Telephone:
a ee ee eee
27
C/WP’s GREAT
SUMMER
C/WP not only sell APPLE computers
at prices so low they turn others green.
We sell printers at ridiculous prices, too.
If your printer is off-colour buy a
new one from C/WP, the micro-
computer experts. Whatever make
your computer you can benefit from
our summer madness.
Or why not a little madness of your
own and treat yourself to a brand new
APPLE computer to run your printer.
APPLE prices have never been lower.
And ours are the lowest anywhere.
Whether you want a printer, an
APPLE, or any of the hundreds of add-
ons and peripherals we stock, you’ll
find it hard to find a keener price or
more Knowledgeable support.
Write or phone or just pop in for our
fullhardware and software list.
If youre hungry for a printer at
these incredible prices, contact C/WP
Computers on 01-630 7444.
c/WP
C/WP Computers
108 Rochester Row, London SW1P 1JP
Telephone: 01-630 7444
28
PRINT-OUT
C/WP PRINTER OF FER
EX-VAT PRICES
MATRIX PRINTERS TYPICAL PRICE & C/WP PRICE &
Seikosha GP1OOA
3Ocps, tractor eld 149
Microline 80, 80cps
friction and tractor 265 199
Microline 82A, 120cps
friction and tractor 350 299
Microline 83A, 120cps
friction and tractor,
15.5 inch paper 575 479
Centronics 739, lOOcps
friction and tractor 529 349
Epson Type 3 (80 and 100) PLEASE CALL US
DAISY WHEELS
Olivetti Praxis,
lleps, KSR 480 399
TEC 40, 40cps 1285 995
TEC 55, 55cps 1675 1290
Qume 5/45, 45cps 1720 1449
Qume 9/35, 35cps, KSR 1483 1383
Diablo 630, 40cps
plastic/metal wheel 1680 1550
Fujitsu SP830, 80cps
plastic/metal wheel 1992 1775
Prices do not include cables or interfaces to computers.
Apple computers parallel graphics or serial 870. Osborne £30.
Limited offer to 30 September.
=
@ Circle No. 117
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
The original ‘personal computer’
Now with
Very high speed processor (70% faster)
16 Megabyte disk drive
10/20 Megabyte tape streamer
Mainframe communications software
01-836 6921
6-9 Upper St Martins Lane London WC2H 9EQ
Available from
Acorn Microcomputers Wokingham Tel 0734 /:2220 ADP Innsite Ltd Hounslow Tel 01-897 3071
Bestmoor Ltd Nottingham Tel 0602 415315 British Micro Dursley Gloucs Tel 0453 3154
Claremont Memories Edinburgh Tel 031 228 6583 Data Exchange Ltd Birkenhead Tel 051 647 9185
Dataller Computer Services Ltd Wigan Tel 0942 33493/4 Derwent Data Systems Sunderland Tel 0783 652026
FBA Computer Services Ltd Guildford Tel 0483505799 Gate Microsystems Ltd Dundee Tel 0382 28194
Gate Microsystems Ltd Glasgow Tel 041 221 9372 Gibson Computer Services Dudley West Midlands Tel 0384 236934
GMS Computing Sheffield Tel 0742 730191 Johnson Microcomputers Camberley Surrey Tel0276 20446
KPG Computer Systems Ltd London W4 Tel 01-995 3573 Lennon Computer Systems Ltd St Albans Herts Tel 56 68201
Lion Microcomputers Ltd London W1 Tel 01-580 4581 Metcalf Microsystems Ltd London E11 Tel 01-9890430
Omega Electric Ltd Mitcheldean Gloucs Tel 0452 76532 RHM Computing High Harlow Essex Tel 0279 26831
Rockmain Ltd London WC1 Tel 01-404 5958 Software Ireland Ltd Beltast Tel 0232 47433
Weir Group Management Systems Glasgow Tel 041 633 2112 Ext 3933 : P
UK Distributor— Thame Systems Ltd Thame Oxon Tel 084421 5471 @ Circle No. 118
**The Apple IL is limited to64K RAM...”
(...EXPERT c1981)
*“‘Rubbish, the fact is...
...my Apple I[ has ... my Apple J[ has ...my Apple J{ has
128K ° 192K° 320K °
and | run and | run and | manipulate
80K Visicalc Models” 128K Basic Programs” | arrays of up to 250 x
(P.A. TO M.D.) (PROGRAMMER) 250 elements in RAM”
~ Ao (BOFFIN)
(™ JP
ae
rr“
wig Y te
PRICE LIST
Yes the Apple JL once again shows its versatility | Boards
U-RAM 16- 16K RAM board...
— just add U-RAM 16, 32 or 128K RAM boards to your | Y:BAM 32 22k Ras board.
Apple with appropriate software and you can have tae ee" bal
the capabilities the other manufacturers only dream of. Memon Manager 16 (WMS 1) -
relocator tor U- nog
@ Basic Apple with one U-RAM 32. @ Basic Apple with one Versa MMS (VMMS)
U-RAM 16 and one U-RAM 128. Chained program. @ Basic } 20S elocator for other boards
Apple with one U-RAM 16 and two.U-RAM 128. . J Versa Visi expand (Vv VE)
Versatile Visicalc expansion’ . .
Versa RAM disc (VRD)
Versatile disc emulation
s UE software DOS 3.3" ........... £50.00
*Work with U-RAM16, 32, 64 and 128,
a range of quality peripheral cards to enhance your Apple and multiple and mixed boards.
Prices exclude VAT. #,
We now make more Apple cards than Apple! [gggasais
ld V/A Pls aS a OS OO
U-Microcomputers Ltd., Winstanley Industrial Estate, Long Lane, Warrington, Cheshire WA2 8PR, England. Tel: 0925 54117/8 Telex: 668920 U-ONE
@ Circle No. 119
30 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
WORDSTAR MICROPRO’s comprehensive word processing system. 250.00
MAILMERGE Added power to WORDSTAR for mailing lists, standard letters etc 60.00
SPELLSTAR Dictionary on a disk for WORDSTAR spelling checking. 120.00
DATASTAR MICROPRO'’s data entry, validation and retrieval system. 170.00
INFOSTAR Report Generator for DATASTAR. N.Y.A
SUPERSORT I Sorting, extracting and merging at high speed from MicroPro.
Includes Relocatable version for inclusion in your own software 120.00
CALCSTAR MICROPRO'’s spread sheet and financial modelling system. Combine
with WORDSTAR to get impressive end results. 150.00
WORDMASTER Video text editor for programmers and simple Word Processing. 60.00
MICROSOFT £
BASIC-80 MICROSOFT’s popular and powerful BASIC Interpreter (MBASIC). 150.00
BASIC Compiler Compile your BASIC-80 programs for speed and protection. 190.00
FORTRAN-80 Fortran compiler to ANSI X3.9 1966 except COMPLEX data. 210.00
COBOL-80 The COBOL compiler for microcomputers. 310.00
(BASIC, FORTRAN and COBOL compilers include MACRO-80, LINK loader,
LIBrary manager and CREF utilities).
MISC £
CBASIC-2 COMPILER SYSTEMS widely used compiler/interpreter for BASIC. 65.00
CB-80 CBASIC compatible compiler. 280.00
PASCAL/M SORCIM's PASCAL. 120.00
SUPERCALC SORCIM’s spread sheet and modelling system. 170.00
MILESTONE Project Management and Scheduling from Organic Software. 160.00
GBASE II Relational Database Management from Ashton Tate. 380.00
MICROSTAT Statistical program library from ECOSOFT for (and needs) BASIC-80 150.00
(New PRO PASCAL PROSPERO's 280 Pascal true Compiler 190.00
207 OFF
Please send large s.a.e. for full details. TRADE ENQUIRIES WELCOME
any one product ordered at same
time aS PRO PASCAL tie: enis31st august 1982)
Ordering Instructions: Cash with order. Specify disk format. Add £3.00 per item P&P. Add 15% VAT
soft C (UK)LTD
PO BOX 11 CRANBROOK KENT TN17 2DF \Tel:(058 080) 310
@ Circle No. 120
31
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
INOW you Can add
K CP/M’
to your Pet Commodore
for only £497,
With the CP/Maker
It takes only five minutes and £ 497,- to raise your The CP/Maker gives you a massive 96K RAM at
standard Commodore operating level by CP/M your disposal.
and add a hefty 64K RAM. The Z80 microprocessor, incorporated in the
Not another tag-on box, this module actually CP/Maker will also enable you to use your 6502
plugs inside your present console. No new power as an intelligent 1/0 processor.
supply, no soldering, no fiddling. Look at all these other CP/Maker advantages:
Whether you own the 3000, 4000 or 8000 series - Compatible with all CP/M software such as
model you can still add CP/M versatility. wordstar.
- Compatible with all normal CBM software, in- :
cluding 69K Visicalc.
The Z80 and 6502 work simultaneously.
Languages include CB 80 (the fastest Basic
compiler for micros), C-Basic, M-Basic, MT-
Pascal, PL1, CISCobol, Fortran...
Comes complete with CP/M 2.2 diskette and
operating manual.
Enquire at:
Tamsys Ltd.
4 Park Str., Windsor, Barkshire SL41BG
Tel. Winsor 56747, telex 849462 telfac
Micro Technology Ltd.
51/53 The Pentiles, Tunbridge Wells
Kent, Tel. (0892) 32116, Telex 9541
for your local dealer
@ Circle No. 121
CP/Maker,
a product
from the exclusive
European
supplier of CP/M:
AA international
ete nee. , Aa Research Park B-3030 Leuven, Belgium
CP/M is a registered trade mark licensed fe
32 from Digital Research Inc. U.S.A. > Tel. 016/20.24.96 Telex: 26202 vector
Editorial
New shape for
the micro industry?
LAST MONTH'S issue bristled with new “home” computers. We
had word of Sinclair’s Spectrum, the NewBrain, the Vic-1U
and the Vic-30. Epson was showing a neat little machine at
Hanover and at the same time rumblings came from the
heavy end of the market, with a new 820 rumoured from
Xerox with add-on 8086 processor, Sirius-style graphics and
improved disc drives. DEC recently announced its range of
similar-sounding micros, while IBM potters on with its
machine — finding out in the process, it seems, that the
micro market is not as simple as it appears from the outside.
For the moment it seems that the wings of the micromarket are
pulling ahead of the central body in their advance. Both
elements have something to contribute. The question is, will
‘anyone need the central market once they are through?
Central market means the moderate-sized businesses which
sell moderate-sized machines at moderate prices — the
staples of the micro industry as we know tt,
The low end is showing that low prices produce staggering
volumes. The ordinary rule of thumb is that halving the price
quadruples sales — Sinclair’s claimed sales figures amply
justify that. The theoretical equation — now proved by
experiment — would not be very interesting if low price
meant low performance.
tlowever, large volumes applied to technology that is expen-
sive in the smal! quantitites of present sales can also produce
low prices: for example, the rumoured Rodime hard disc that
Sinclair is said to be about to offer for £100. Practical
Computing’s readers are already asking why they should buy
Apples at £1,500 when the Spectrum with Microdrives gives
the same performance for £300.
What can the big companies contribute to this? Far from selling
tens of thousands of units a month, they are happy to sell one
or two. In software they look for a profit per package of
thousands of pounds as against the £2 or £5 which pub-
lishers will earn from the low market. Superficially they look
set to go out of business — as our May cover suggested.
What they have to offer is a strong tradition of customer
hand-holding and the staff to support it. People have long
bought from IBM because, at the end of the day, it guaran-
tees that your system will work. It might not work as well or
as cheaply as you hoped, but you will not be left stranded.
IBM’s success shows that people who buy computers care
deeply about this safety net. Human nature being what it is,
a similar approach will no doubt work as well in the
micromarket as it did with mainframes. Both DEC and
Xerox are offering this sort of service.
What about software? In an ideal world there would be a huge
base of knowledgeable users who could choose between
software products as deftly as they choose between the books
and magazines they buy. Unhappily it just is not so. The
.software market is, and will remain for a long time. very
unsteady On its pins. Here again the big companies have a
role to play.
So far one has been cynical about their involvement in soft-
ware. IBM’s attitude to outside software authors until the
last year or so was somewhat cavalier. They had to assign all
their rights to IBM; in return they received a royalty of up to
$10,000, and after that nothing. The implication clearly was
that any software worth writing would be written by IBM
staff. Well that is quite wrong for the mass market.
Just as the Soviet Union and the United States ought to’
produce better athletes simply because they have a larger
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
population in which to look for freaks, so the talent in
software ought to be found among computer users rather
than inside computer firms. What the big computer com-
panies can usefully do is play the role of the publisher. Just as
a good publisher’s imprint on a book gives some assurance
that the contents are accurate and responsible, so a software
publisher ought to assure potential customers that the pro-
grams it sells — even if they were not written by the
publisher’s staff — are still reasonably bug-free, useful and
not noticeably illegal.
It seems there is no reason why small companies should not set
up in this business and, since much of publishing depends on
a single person’s intelligence and empathy with the reader,
why they should not do the job better than big companies.
Yet, they cannot do the hand-holding part effectively. A
one or two-or three-man-and-a-dog operation may pro-
duce spectacular software, but it cannot field 43 training reps -
in smart red blazers to show the punters how to make it
work.
Perhaps we shall see a three-tier publishing system, in which
individuals write programs for smal! publishing houses who
then hope to sell them to the big computer companies which
will in turn pass them on to their customers.
At the end of all this, there does not seem to be much of a
future for the smal! computer manufaucturers. They lack the
volume to compete with the low end and lack the staff and
capital to compete with the customer services the big com-
panies can offer. Eventually, one can see the low and high
ends coming together, as machines become cheaper for the
same power and the customer services learn to do more with
less, as knowledge spreads. Then there really will not be any
room for anything but the most specialised small manufac-
turers. It will'be like the car industry: at the turn of the
century there were dozens of builders, now there are two and
a half. So it will be with us.
Finally, a sour-word about the reality of our thrusting Govern-
ment’s support for small enterprises. Readers with long
memories may recall a bitter editorial about experiences with
the Department of Industry’s Software Support Scheme.
This, for new readers, is an apparently magical arrangement
which will either give you a 25 percent grant or a 50 percent
loan, recoverable out of revenue, to write new software.
It sounds like the answer to a software publisher’s prayer. Yet
as so often with these things, it does everything short of
helping. To be given help you have to have some 20
employees, have been trading for five years and have a
turnover of half a million pounds. In short, you have to be a
member of the Computer Services Association, which is a
club of systems houses like Hoskyns, Logica and CAP.
Our editorial seemed to stir up some interest at the DOI and
the NCC, which administers the scheme, in broadening it to
give help to the small software producer with no one to back
him up. But after a year of nothing happening Kenneth
Baker, our own minister, has announced more of the same.
The not spectacularly successful Software Support Scheme
will receive an extra £10 million, and a guidance committee
will help to spend it. Who is on the committee? Good old
CSA stalwarts. We would be surprised — and very gratified
— if they gave any small company the money to write a
program that might sell by the tens of thousands to Sinclair
users in America and Japan.
The model of good business.
TUSCAN S00 wre
COMPUTER
Tuscan — the all-British microcomputer
With a proven record of steady development behind FURTHER INFORMATION. Two new cata-
it, the Tuscan S100 now goes a step forward,solving —_logues covering “systems and peripherals” and
the problem of effective backup storage. _ “CP/M Software” are available, giving details of our
The Tuscan $100, Britain’s first S100 computer on _SyStems and services. Call or write for yours.
a single board, is now available with designed-in mini-
Winchester drive for better performance, shorter
access time and higher transfer rate. All this from
Bnitain’s own home-grown micro manufacturer.
Systems with printer, screen and CP/M start at +
£2125 with twin floppies, and at £3625 with one ’
floppy and one 5-meg. mini-Winchester. iy | —_
SOFTWARE. Business accounts packages start at i] |
£800 when purchased with the Tuscan system. Word ee,
processing packages start at £315; Database packages
start at £100. ig
HARDWARE. Flexibility is the key feature of all
Tuscan systems. A choice of storagecapacity, video
format and graphics is available. The Tuscan S100
can read and write in sixteen different disk formats,
with a choice of 514"or 8” drives.
SUPPORT. The Tuscan S100, designed and built
in Britain, is backed by Transam’s substantial expen-
ence in electronics plus a dedicated hardware and
software team. National third party maintenance is
available at ten per cent of hardware costs.
BUSINESS SYSTEM DEALERS. Business
Equipment Centre, 10 Edge Lane, Liverpool.
TRANSAM|
Tel: 263 5783. Contact: Rod Crofts. TRANSAM COMPONENTS LIMITED
Purley Computers, 21 Bartholomew Street, Newbury, 59/61 THEOBALD’S ROAD, LONDON WC1
Berkshire. Tel: 41784. Contact: Ron Smith. Tel: 01-405 5240/2113. Telex: 24224 (Ref. 1422)
@ Circle No. 122
34 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
microware
The North London Computer Store
Microware (London) Ltd.,
637 Holloway Road, London N19.
Tel: 01-272 6237 01-272 6398 YOUR
» iii
TT |
HW | ' Does it make sense to pay more when Superbrain
il gives exceptional performance for just a fraction
MULELEULL of what you would expect to pay.
| SD. INTERTEC SYSTEMS : i
Standard Superbrain has from 350K bytes of
disk storage and 64K of ram memory.
Its CP/M operating system gives you an
overwhelming amount of readily available
software in BASIC, FORTRAN,
COBOL & APL.
Microware prices are from:
* £1495
*Includes basic and CP/M.
SOFTWARE
Why throw money away when you can buy Also available
Microware supply a complete range of popular QD
software at prices that are hard to beat including E .
DATASTAR, D BASE II, MAIL MERGE, — THE NEW SUPERBRAIN Il
MAGIC WAND and FULL ACCOUNTING 1-6M bytes
PACKAGES!
any popular software supplied. i olson ge £ 3 0 si bh
(6Mbytes) HD
ie al
Quantity Discounts
EPSON ASK FOR LATEST PRICES Plus Limited Supplies at:
MX 80 ON IBM PC AND
MX 100 OSBOURNE | NOW
from a And you should see the prices we.can
f 27 5 - offer on Daisy Wheel Printers. Including
QUME, TEC Starwriter, NEC and RICHO.
@ Circle No. 123
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982 35
THE MORE YOU TAK
THE MORE YOU GAIN FROM COMPUTING
MILESTONE: £190
Manual alone: £20.-
“Critical path” network analysis program for scheduling
manpower, dollars and time to maximise productivity
NEW IMPROVED. Interactive project management pro-
gram that runs under CP/M. MILESTONE can be used to
track paper flow, build a computer, check a department's
Performance. or build a bridge. MILESTONE can be used
by executives. engineers, managers, and small
businessmen,
Produce PERT chart in minutes.
- Find critical tasks that can’t be delayed.
- investigate tradeofts between manpower. dollars
and time.
Give plans to others using a printed project
schedule.
Change details and immediately see the results
on screen.
Balance time, manpower and costs.
Requires 56K RAM and CP/M. Specity 280 or 8080. Aliso
available for Apple Pascal, UCSD Pascal or CP/M-86
operating systems. (Milestone-86 version 290 1) For-
mats: 8, NS. MP, SB, TRS2, OB-1. XX. IPC. IDW
ACCESS/80
A report generator and cross-tabuiator. Virtually any
report that can be described on paper can be generated
by using your existing ASCII data files. Produces reports
in minutes that would take hours to program in BASIC.
~ Level |— Report Generator and Cross-Tabulator —
£210-. Manual alone £40
Read ASCtI files and create sorted reports with subtotal-
ling capability. Provides multi/dimensional cross tabula-
tion and computation. includes operating system
commands.
— Level Il — Output and Logic Processor — £354.
Manual alone £45
Everything in Level | plus. write out new files in any sorted
order (including subtotalling). Load arrays trom files. Per-
forms binary search on sorted arrays in memory. Includes
control language extensions for complex applications.
Requires CP/M and 48K RAM. Formats: 8, NS. MP,
CDOS. SB, TRS2, APPL.
DATEBOOK II: £190
Manual alone £18.-
- Schedules: appointments for up to 27 different
doctors, lawyers, rooms, etc.
File structure allows for appointments up to one
year in advance.
Searches for openings that fit me of day, day of
week and/or day of year constraints.
Appointments made, modtlied or
easily,
Copies of day's appointments can be printed
quickly
Requires 56K RAM and CP/M. Specity 280 or 8080. Also
available tor Apple Pascal. UCSD Pascal or CP/M-86
operating systems.
Formats: 8, NS. MP. SB, APPL. TRS2. OB-1. XX, 1-5,
tPc, IDW
QUEST Il: L685
Manual-alone £350
QUEST !! is & database management system for cus-
tomer lists, inventory lists, employee lists or any kind of
internal reporting. it may perform several operations on
many datafiles simultaneously.
— Up to 5§ dataiieids within a record.
Inserting new datafields in an existing file.
— Definition of datastructures in the way of Pascal.
— 9 datafieid types including: Date, Longmath
(double precision integer and reals}, Tabie (one
or two dimensional)
Definition of screen and printing masks.
cancelled
Advanced ‘report generator: writing on screen,
printer or disk of all or a subject of records, of a
user defined subset of datatields.
Error, messages tor fast eliminating of bad
entries.
Two spacial utilities for error check.
Menu selection with one-key-commands. Full data inde-
pendence from QUEST-using programs. Full data share
ability for minimum accesstime. Highest access flexibility.
Possibility to use QUEST together with your LOGICALC
of other programs by loading the also available interface
program LOGIQUEST (for complex financial modelling
applications like statistics or “what-if?” questions).
Format: APPL
PLAN 80: £190 -—- Manual alone £20
A financial modelling system that’s easy to use and
powerful enough to replace your timesharing applica-
tions. Lets you catculate IRR and depreciation as well as
trig functions eftortlessly. You write a PLAN 80 model just
the way you would write a letter using any editor or word
processing program.
Plan 80 results can be incorporated into any report that
requires a financial model. It also tackies any numeric
Problem that can be detined on a worksheet. You'll
remember how you created the model because Calcula-
tions are defined using real English — not matrix coordi-
nates. What if function.
Requires 56k RAM and CP/M. Also available for
CP/M-86. Specify Z 80, 8080, or 8086. Formats: 8, NS,
MP, SB, OB-1, XX,_1-5.
PERSONAL DATEBOOK — 110. Manual alone
20
Time management and appuintment scheduling calendar
for an individual or small office with up to nine staff
members. Displays one appointment schedule on screen
at a time. Cancellations can be put into hold file for easy
fescheduling al your convenience. Menu dnven com-
mands do not require referral to manual
Requires CP/M 2.x and 56k RAM. Specify Z80 or 8080.
Also available for Apple Pascal, UCSD Pascal or CP/M-
86 operating systems. Formats: 8. NS, MP. SB, APPL
TRS2. XX, IPC, IDW
WHATSIT?
A data base/querry/retneval system that communicates
controversationally, accepting questions and updates in
simple sentences. Store, index and retrieve information
about one or more aspects of related or unrelated sub-
jects. Information is stored under your designated “sub-
ject’ and “tag” headings, which can be added to, changed
or deleted at any time. 116 page manual assumes no
programming knowledge. Requires CP/M. CBASIC2
AND 24k RAM. Formats: 8, NS, MP, SB, APPL, OB-1,
XX
THE FIELD COMPANION £210.-
Manual alone £20.-
Created for the needs of the travelling Salesman or
Protessional. Allows you to track the time spent with your
clents, each ckent having up to four user-detined sub-
fields. Expense accounting 1s provided and is itemised in
@ detailed journal for budgeting and tax reporting pur-
poses. Maintains appointments and current customer list
including shipping and biting addresses, year-to-date
sales and person to contact for follow-up. Invoicing fea-
lures retheves required data from both customer and
product lists. Special instructons and discounts are sup-
ported. Invoice copies may be output to a printer or sent to
the home office via modem, permitting electronic transfer
of the content of any report. Requires 56k RAM and CP/M
or CP/M-86 and 128k RAM. Formats: 8, NS, MP, APPL,
SB, XX, IPC. IDW
COPYRIGHT:
FOOTNOTE £125.-
Automatically numbers and formats footnote calls, foot-
notes and text, placing footnotes on the bottom of the
correct page. At the user's option. the footnotes can also
be removed from the text file to a separate note file.
Footnotes can be entered singly or in groups. in the
middle or at the end of paragraphs. After running FOOT-
NOTE the user can re-edit the text, add or delete notes.
and run FOOTNOTE again to re-number and re-format
Price includes PAIR, a companion program that checks
that underline and BOLDFACE commands are properly
terminated. Requires CP/M, WordStar, 48k RAM. For-
mats: 8, NS, MP, SB, APPL, OB-1, XX.
SPELLBINDER: £260 Manual alone £35.
Full feature word processing system with Ottice
Management capabilities. Its special features include
ease-of-use by office personnel. flexible print formatting &
output, and powerful macro capability which aliows tea-
tures to be added for the unique requirements of each
“user. Mail list macro is included tor mail merge with form
letters.
Requires CP/M & 32K RAM. Formats: 8, NS, MP. CDOS,
SB, APPL. XX
PASCAL/M: £280.- Manual alone £15.-
CP/M compatible language for 8080/Z80 CPUs. sup-
orts full Jensen & Wirth pius 45 extensions to Standard
ascal including Random access files,, 40 segment pro-
cedures & 16 bit BCD reai type. Also includes symbolic
debugger which features trapping on stores, examining
and changing vanables and tracing of program execution.
Requires CP/M 2.2 & 56K RAM. Formats: 8, NS, APPL,
TRS2.
PASCAL/M for 8086/88: £350.-
Manual alone £15.-
All the features of PASCAL/M for the 8086 and 8088
processors running under CP/M-86
Requires CP/M-86 and K RAM. Formats: 8, 1-5.
PASCAL: Sort - £140.-
Manual alone £14.- :
Fully commented source code into which the user simply
places the particular file description and sequence
requirements to obtain the desired sort. Can run stand-
alone or as a overlayed segment of larger program. Uses
indirect Shell-Metzner in RAM. interleaved polyphase
(Fibonacci) merge on disk, full sector buffering and shor-
test seek logic. Can match machine fanniane sorts even
under Pcode interpretation. Requires CP/M 2.x and 565k
RAM and CP/M-86 and 128k RAM. Pascal?M.UCSO
Pascal or Pascal /MT. Formats: 8. NS, APPL, XX, MP.
TRS2, IPC IDW
SUPERCALC: £190
Allows a layman to manipulate business data in a variety
of forecasting and accounting applications. Combines the
interactive nature of an electronic spreadsheet with the
power and convenience of a simple simulation language.
Video display can be scrolled over entire worksheet using
cursor controls. Symbolic vector reverrences eliminate
Tepetitive low level data mampuiation commands. Easy to
use menu driven “Help” commands. Requires CP/M and
48K RAM. Formats: 8. NS, MP, SB, APPL. TRS2.
Cail for terminal tormats.
SUPERDOS: £100.-
Upgrade of CP/M2.2 for Superbrain. Includes ADM/31
Hazeltine, or Superbrain Terminal emulation mode. Other
new features include 132 character keyboard buffer,
tepeat on all keys, key click, user programmable numeric
keypad. 30% disk read/write improvement, real time
clock, baud rates to 19.2K on RS232 ports, printer hand-
shake modes. 4 new ullities, ard 4 fixes Requires
Superbrain 3.0. Format SB.
Access/80 Friends Software; Peari Relational Systems; Pascal/M, ACT. Trans 86, Supercaic Sorcim, CBASIC 2,
CBASIC/86 Compiler Systems; Datebook II, Milestone. Textwriter Ili Organic Sottware; Speliguard ISA; CP/M, CP/M-
86 Digital Research; Superbrain Intertec Data Systems; S-Basic Topaz Programming; Spelibinder Lexisoft; Selector IV;
Selector/86. Glector Micro Ap.
Prices quoted do not include dealer installation arid training. Prices and availability subject to change without notice.
Access on any desired keyfield using up to 15
criterias.
Sorting in ascending or descending order on up
to 15 keyfields.
Default or user defined printing mask.
Austria
Zoliergasse 15
A-1070 Vienna
Tel 01043-222-934331
ORDERS must specify disk type and format. Add 15% VAT to orders. Add
£1 per item for postage and packing. All orders must be prepaid by cheque or
money orders to HITEC company, Acct. Nr. 12172508 at Barclays Bank Interna-
tional, 16/18 Brompton Road, London SW1X 7QN. COD will also be accepted.
Manual costs are deductible from subsequent software purchase. Prices do not
include installation and training. Dealers enquiries welcome.
Osterverarberungs
Und Betriebiberstungs GmbH
@ Circle No. 124
36 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Source list bug
ON ENTERING the Source List pro-
gram from ‘Open File: Apple Pie” in
June’s Practical Computing my Silentype
printer reeled out great lengths of paper.
This unfortunate phenomenon can be
avoided by adding a semicolon to line
140, so that it reads:
140 GET Z$:PRINT D$;
A J Macefield,
Darlaston,
West Midlands.
BBC Basic
| WAS INTERESTED to read the article by
John Gordon and Tony Shaw about BBC
Basic. They say that there is no command
for adding procedures to a program from
cassette, and give a method involving
playing around with Lomem. Obviously
they had not at that stage discovered the
commands *Spool and *Exec.
*Exec “prog” presents the contents of
a cassette or disc file called-“prog”’, as if it
came from the keyboard, and *Spool
creates a file of anything which is sent to
the screen. So if you have a procedure at
line numbers 10,000 to 10,200 which you
want to use in another program all you do
is:
*SPOOL “procedure” start the spooling
action
output procedure to
file
stop the spooling
program to which
procedure is to be
added
overlay the
procedure; note that
common line
numbers will be
overwritten
List 10000, 10200
* SPOOL
LOAD “program”
* EXEC “procedure”
This is much easier and safer than
messing around with Lomem, though
with the 0:1 version of the machine oper-
ating system *Exec does produce spu-
rious error messages, which should simp-
ly be ignored. Acorn says that in the 1-0
version of the operating system this com-
mand will have been tidied up a bit.
Paul Beverley,
Norwich.
Tachistoscope tapes
MY COMPUTER TACIIISTOSCOPE article
published in April’s Practical Computing
provoked surprisingly strong interest. At
the end of the article | offered to supply a
machine-readable copy of the program to
any educational establishment sending a
cassette or disc and return postage. Un-
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Our Feedback columns offer readers the opportunity of bringing their computing
experience and problems to the attention of others, as well as to seek our advice or
to make suggestions, which we are always happy to receive. Make sure you use
Feedback— it is your chance to keep in touch.
fortunately several people who replied
were under the impression that a
machine-readable copy meant that any
machine could read the program.
It is a sad fact of life that the many
computers now available all use different
systems for program storage and that a
tape produced by one make of computer
is not readable by any other. It ts a
veritable tower of Babel. Even if the
Basic commands are similar the program
as published will only run on the TRS-80
Model I.
However, in response to various re-
quests | now have available the Tachisto-
scope program for the following TRS-80
models I and [I11, BBC Micro models A
and B, and Pet machines. May I now
extend my offer to any educational estab-
lishment to supply the program for any of
these computers? Please write on headed
note paper enclosing cassette and return
postage.
Unfortunately I cannot extend this
offer to the general public, but would
nevertheless be very grateful for any
comments as to how the program has
been received by the teacher and pupils.
Adverse and negative comments are as
useful as praise, as only through such
feedback is it possible to design programs
that have a useful function and that are
usable by non-computer personnel.
M K Cook,
Manchester.
WordStar trick
READERS MAY be interested in how I have
overcome, fortuitously, what I regard as
one of the principal deficiencies of Word-
Star, otherwise an excellent piece of soft-
ware. As written, the program does not
underline spaces and this gives text a very
peculiar look indeed — see the Instruc-
tion Manual for an example of how un-
tidy it looks.
Quite by accident, I entered a Control-
PF instead of a Control-PS to terminate
an underlining and printed. The space
where I had typed Control-PF was under-
lined! I consulted the manual. and the
excellent Introduction to WordStar by
Arthur Naiman, and found that I had
typed in a phantom space the exact
graphic result of which, in the words of
the manual, “depends on the print wheel
in use”. | am printing on an NEC 3500 so
I am perhaps just lucky.
| had, incidentally, written to MicroPro
about the underlining deficiency and the
company was simply not interested. I was
teferred to the dealer from whom I had
bought my program. I would have
thought that this defect should be re-
medied, if at all, at source. But other
WordStar users might like to try this trick
with their daisywheel printers and they
might be as pleasurably surprised as |
was.
Dafydd Evans,
Hong Kong.
First sighting
| SAW my first Spectrum of summer on
Friday 2nd July 1982.
Is this a record?
I Higton,
London E17.
That man again
| WAS INTRIGUED to see the correspond-
ence in the May 1982 issue of Practical
Computing on the merits or otherwise of
languages and the example called Drunk-
en Duncan. Here is the near equivalent
code in APL which runs on a 64K micro.
Clear and Cursor are functions sup-
plied by Micro APL, and their use is
self-evident. No APL random number
code is needed; the symbot ? does -that.
No decision is involved in moving the
cursor, the current position P is updated
on each entry to.the line labelled Step
and on being updated is tested to see if it
is outside the range specified.
Line 20 sets the start position — 10, 15
in this case — the non-zero limit D, and
initialises the counter N to 0 in a fairly
compact way. The only other point to
note is that this formulation causes the
cursor to move in one of eight random
directions: NE, NW, SE, SW are in-
cluded.
Doubtless APL fans will have fun
squeezing it on to only one tine and will
regard Forth, Comal, Fortran, Pascal,
Basic, Coral, Cobot and all the others as
tedious and cumbersome to write. But |
agree with Frank Dale, it is a question of
horses for courses.
John Steel,
Leatherhead,
Surrey. [)
Duncan in APL.
DUNCANI GIv
SDUNC AND
(107 CLEAK
[20] NeL*0=De2xPe10 15
130] STEPI4¢1=+/ (PON) vOOReP+ “143 TT7LOO*NEN+1)/0
[401 CURSOR P
C50] ‘a'
(60) +STEP
v
37
38
COLUMBIA
Acomplete range of
microcomputers from
320K-80M
Single and multi-user upgradeable/expandable
microcomputer systems from Columbia Data
Systems offer the disk storage capacity that’s
exactly right for you. Single user machines to
take 5%” or 8” floppy disks giving 320K-
2.4M capacity and multi-user machines
with up to 80M on hard disk.
Up to 5 users can work
Simultaneously while sharing a single
processing system. Ideal for word
processing, general accounting or
other special purpose business
applications.
Icarus handle the whole range of microcomputer systems produced by Columbia
Data Systems of the U.S.A. This includes CP/M and MP/M single and multi-terminal
units with hard and floppy disk storage capacities. It is adaptable to suit each and every micro-based
application there is. So whenever you need a microcomputer, for whatever purpose, Columbia and Icarus have the answer.
The Icarus dealernetwork
A.P. LTD, Maple House, Mortlake
Crescent, CHESTER CH3 SUR,
Tel: 0244 46024
BASIC BUSINESS SYSTEMS,
61 Loughborough Road, WEST
BRIDGEFORD, Nottingham.
Tel: 0602 819713
BUSINESS INFORMATION
SYSTEMS, 602 Triumph House,
189 Regent Street, LONDON.
Tel: OL 437 1069
BORDER COMPUTING LTD,
Dog Kennel Lance, BUCKNELL,
Shropshire. Tel: 054 74 368
CAMBRIDGE MICRO
COMPUTERS, Cambridge Science
Park, Milton Road, CAMBRIDGE.
Tel: 0223 314666
COMMONSENSE COMPUTING
LTD, P.O. Box 7, BIDEFORD
Devon. Tel: 02372 4795
COMPUTECH SYSTEMS,
168 Finchicy Road, LONDON,
NW36HF. Tel: 01 794.0202
CONQUEST COMPUTER SALES
LTD, 92 London Road, BENFLEET,
Essex. Tel: 03745 $9861
CULLOVILLE LTD, Thorofield,
Woodhill Road, SANDON,
Chelmsford, Essex. Tel: 024 541 3919
DATA PROFILE, Lawrence Road,
Green Lane, HOUNSLOW,
Middlesex. Tel: 01 446 1917
DATA WARE, 48 Eaton Drive,
KINGSTON, Surrey KT2 7QX.
Tel: 01 $46 2984
icarus Computer System
DAYTA, 20b West Street, Wilton,
SALISBURY, Wuls. Tel: 0722 74 3898
DRAGON SYSTEMS LTD.
37 Walter Road, SWANSEA
W. Glam. Tel; 0792 474498
DUPLEX COMMUNICATIONS,
2 Leire Lane, Dunton Bassett,
Lutterworth, LEICESTERSHIRE.
Tel: 0455 209131
ELSTREE COMPUTING LTD,
12 Elstree Way, BOREHAMWOOD,
Herts. Tel: 01 207 2000
ESCO COMPUTING LTD,
1$4 Cannongate, EDINBURGH.
Tel: O31 557 3937
ESCO COMPUTING LTD,
40a Gower Street, GLASGOW
G51 1PH. Tel: 041 427 5497
EFFICIENT BUSINESS SYSTEMS.
9 Clarence Strect, BELFAST |,
N. Ireland. Tel: 0232 647 538
EMTEK COMPUTERS LTD,
40 South Furzcham Road, BRIXHAM,
Devon, Tel: 08045 3566
FAST COMPUTING, 52 High Street,
HENLEY-IN-ARDEN, West
Midlands. Tel: 01 438 2813
B. FITTON, 97 Melbourne Road,
ROYSTON, Herts. Tel: 0763 41989
FOREST ROW COMPUTERS,
$3 Freshfield Bank, FOREST ROW,
East Sussex. Tel: 034282 4397
J & F GROVER LTD, 10 Baricy Mow
Passage, LONDON W4 4PH.
Tel: Ol 944 6477
G.L.C.C., P.O. Box $19, Manama,
Bahrain.
JAEMMA LTD, Unit 24, Lee Bank
House, Holloway Head, Lee Bank,
BIRMINGHAM. Tel: 021 643 1609
JENNINGS COMPUTER
SERVICES, 55/57 Fagley Road,
BRADFORD,
W. Yorks. Tel: 0274 637867
KENT BUSINESS SYSTEMS LTD,
85 High Street, Ramsgate, Kent.
Tel: 0843 687816.
LAWMAR BUSINESS SYSTEMS,
1 Paterson Drive, Woodhouse Eaves,
LOUGHBOROUGH, Leics.
Tel: 0509 890900
LONDON COMPUTER CENTRE,
43 Grafton Way, LONDON W|I.
Tel: 01 388 572)
M.G. ENTERPRISES, 32 Rue Victor
Hugo, 92800 Puteaux, France.
Tel: 0103315060655
MASS MICROS, Wellson House,
Brownfields, WELWYN GARDEN
CITY, Herts. Tel: 96 31736
MICROAGE LTD, 53 Acton Road,
LONG EATON, Nottinghamshire.
Tel: 06076 64264
COLUMBIA
Sees
€S
MICROSERVE LTD, 811 Kennedy
Way, Pelham Road, IMMINGH AM.
Tel: 0469 72346
MICROCARE COMPUTING LTD,
18 Hawarden Road, NEWPORT,
Gwent. Tel: 0633 278040
MICROCOMPUTER
CONSULTANCY, Lyngen, Oldhill
Wood, Studham, DUNSTABLE,
Beds. Tel: O1 351 2488
NASTAR COMPUTER SERVICES
LTD, Ashton Lodge, Abercrombie St.,
CHESTERFIELD. Tel: 0266 207048
NICOMTECH LTD, The Old Mill,
Anthony Passage, SALTASH,
Cornwall. Tel: 07555 2719
OMEGA ELECTRIC LTD,
Flaxiey Mill, Flaxley Road,
MITCHELDEAN. Glos.
Tel: 045 276 532
PROTOCOL COMPUTER
PRODUCTS, 49 Beckenham Lane,
Shortlands, BROMLEY, Kent.
RAN MOR COMPUTING LTD,
Nelson House, 2 Neison Mews,
SOUTHEND-ON-SEA
Tel; 0702 339262
ROGIS SYSTEMS LTD,
Keepers Lodge, Frittenden,
NR. CRANBROOK, Kent.
Tel: 058 080 310
For further details, or tf you want
to become a dealer yourself, contact:
ers
ms Ltd.
S.D.M. COMPUTER SERVICES,
Broadway, BEBINGTON, Merscyside
L63 SND. Tcl: 051 608 9365
SAPPHIRE SYSTEMS, 19-27 Kents
Hill Road, BENFLEET, Essex.
Tel: 03745 59756
SHEFFIELD COMPUTER
CENTRE, 227 London Road,
SHEFFIELD S82 4NF. Tel: 0742 53519
SISCO LTD, 4 Moorfields, LONDON,
EC2Y 9AA. Tel: 01 9200315
SORTFIELD LTD, E. Floor
Milburn House, Dean Street,
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.
Tel: 0632 329593
SPOT COMPUTER SYSTEMS
LTD, New Street, Kelham Street
Indus. Estate, DONCASTER,
S. Yorks, Tel: 0302 25159
STAG TERMINALS LTD,
30 Church Road, Teddington,
Middlesex. Tel: 01 943 0777
STUKELEY COMPUTER
SERVICES, Barnhill, STAMFORD,
Lines. Tel: 0780 4947
TERMACRE LTD, 126 Woudwarde
Rd.. LONDON SE22 8TU.
Tel: 01 693 3037
THAMES VALLEY COMPUTERS,
10 Maple Clhisc, MAIDENHEAD,
Berks. Tel: 0628 23532
TURNKEY COMPUTER
TECHNOLOGY, 23 Calderglen Road,
St, Leonards, EAST KILBRIDE.
Tel: 03552 39466
WORD PERFECT, Old Town Hall,
Box 148. READING, Berkshire.
Tel: 0734 589068
Ltd. Deane House 27 Greenwood Place London NW51NN Tel: 01-485 5574 Telex: 264209
@ Circle No. 125
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
S-100 MULTI-USER MULTI-PROCESSOR HARDWARE
Superstar
available for:
— North Star Horizon
—Comart
Communicator
—Vector Graphics
and other S-100 systems
The revolutionary Super Star Is the only system that allows
the total integration of powerful 16 bit 8086 processors with
PROCESSING POWER the more standard Z-80 user processors. The system may be
Up to 16 users each with its own private configured in any 8 bit/16 bit combination, or as a totally
card which contains Z80A, 64 KBytes, VDU exclusive 16 bit system only to provide the ultimate in
i/o and printer i/o, ie total of 16 Z80s and performance and flexibility in advanced micro systems.
Each user running standard
CP/M2:2 or CP/M86 with
zero CPU degradation.
DESKTOP COMPUTER
PACKED WITH:
SYSTEM SOFTWARE
Each user processor runs its own
dedicated copy of the industry standard
CP/M 2.2 or CP/M 86. Shared
resources (Disks and Systems Printers)
1024 KBytes of RAM. (Optional 16 bit 8086
processors with 128 KBytes).
STORAGE
Integral 5.25” Winchester Disc with up to
15 M Byte capacity and integral 5.25”
Floppy Disk with up to 800 KByte capacity.
Optional — 14 MByte cartridge tape back-
Up unit, up to 80 MByte Winchester Disk
nit.
HIGH PERFORMANCE
Unlike single — CPU multi-user systems
are controlled by DPC/OS which
supports file/record locking, print
spooling, multiple printers and
interprocessor communications.
Language available: BASIC, COBOL,
PASCAL, FORTRAN, PL/1, AP1.
APPLICATIONS SOFTWARE
Word Processing, Sales, Purchase, Nominal
Ledger, Payroll, Order Processing/Invoicing,
Stock Management, Job Costing, Mailing
(eg.. MP/M, MVT-FAMOS, OASIS, etc.) =a
where system throughput degrades as
additional users are added, Superstar has
no CPU degradation at all. Each user has
its own private processor and memory and
VDU i/O running at 4MHz. NEW
PRINTER INTERFACE
System, Insurance Brokers System etc.
LOW COST (FROM £1750) AND
EXPANDABLE (AS YOUR NEEDS GROW)
Superstar starts at £1750 for single user system
Quad density floppies and it is field upgradable to hard-
é : disk system of up to 80 MB: i imp}
1 serial and 1 Perel! Ea ports shared by all users plus a FEATIBES adding a erate piogasser ea ton Gack ger nce
[PHOS Aas [Sale CUP EST Ee YET can be configured into multiple users as and when
16 BIT 8086 PROCESSOR LOWER required. The 16 bit processor is fully compatible within
More power and faster processing time is offered the standard Superstar multiprocessor system permitting
through 16 bit private processor card based on 8086 PRICES efficient upgrading as future needs develop, without
sacrificing any of your extensive hardware and software
CPU and 128 KByte RAM expandable to 1 MByte. The r
investment.
system automatically loads CP/M 86 to the 16 bit private processors.
CP/M MULTI-USER MULTI-PROCESSOR SOFTWARE
WILL RUN UNDER CP/M 80, CP/M 86, Each package is
DPC/OS or MmmmOST
(ie any CP/M machine) al
SuperStar* :
available:
PROGRAMS
“ — Stand alone
or Integrated
— Single-user
or Multi-user
— Floppy or
Hard Disk based
Standard Packages: Specialised Packages:
@ Stock Control @ Wholesale/Retailing
@ Order Processing @ Insurance Brokers
@ Sales Ledger Bookmakers
@ Purchase Ledger Industrial/Office Cleaners
@ Nominal Ledger Property Management
@ Payroll Importing Agency
@ Job Costing Manufacturing Control System
@ Mailing System Underwriting Agents
@ Word Processing @ Variable Rental System
General Features
Menu driven
Interactive
Password protected
Modular structure
Full Screen Control
Easy to use
Professionally designed
Field proven over the years
Expandable
Bromley Computer Consultancy specialises in the cost effective application of micro technology. Our services include
feasibility study/system analysis, systems development, installation, training, consultancy and maintenance.
Systems supplied range from 8 or 16 bit processor based floppy system to 80 MByte multi-processor systems.
Bromley Computer Consultancy
PROFESSIONAL APPROACH TO MICROS
244A High Street, Bromley, Kent BR1 1PQ.
Telephone: 01-464 8080 Telex 896691 TLXIRG _ (Attn. “BROMCOMP”)
OEM, DEALERS AND OVERSEAS ENQUIRIES WELCOME
Superstar is a trademark of Bromley Computer Consultancy. CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research.
@ Circle No. 126
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982 39
Marine
Caps a
success
CAP’S SEAVIEW work stations
have successfully communi-
cated with each other via satel-
lite. Sea View is the worlds first
viewdata-based electronic
office for use at sea, and has
been developed by CAP in
conjunction with the Depart-
ment of Industry, British Tele-
com and Siemens. The addi-
tion of satellite capability now
offers some interesting new
possibilities.
CAP’s manager of maritime
systems said of the trials that
CAP is “delighted” at the abil-
ity to offer data-communica-
tion facilities, not just .over
short distances but worldwide.
One work station is currently
.installed on the British Tele-
com marine cable ship A/ert,
Operating out of Southhamp-
ton. Two other work stations
are located at CAP’s Reading
offices.
Two-way data transfer using
satellites was achieved be-
tween the Alert work station
and a work station in Reading.
Viewdata-type pages were ex-
changed using the Inmarsat
geostationary satellite.
As well as accessing U.K.
Prestel, both the Finnish and
Hong Kong viewdata systems
were accessed, the shipborne
system being operated by non-
expert ship personnel. Q
Coming events
Computer Laboratory Annual
Microprocessor Workshop:
£72.00 per delegate; Septem-
ber 6/7 at the University of
Liverpool. Telephone: 051-
709 6022.
Can Micros Work For Me? £91
+ VAT: October 14-15 and
December 9-10 at Hull Col-
lege of Higher Education.
Telephone: 0482 41451 x 358.
The Northern Computer Fair:
Personal Computers, Home
Computing, Small Business
Systems, Belle Vue, Manches-
ter, November 25-27.
Programming my Micro: £65+
VAT; Eight evenings from
October at Hull College of
- Higher Education. Telephone:
0482 41451 x 358.
40
Xerox pushes on
RANK XEROX is persevering in
its efforts to break into the
business micro market with
the Mark II version of Xerox
820, which was launched last
winter. The new machine is
basically a Z-80, CP/M ‘“‘cook-
ing” machine, but with a well-
graduated range of disc and
other options.
The cheapest version, with
5-25in. drives, starts at £2,150.
There are also 8in. drives, and
double-density options are
available on both sizes. Also
on offer is a 5-2-in, Rodime
hard dise offering 6Mbyte, and
an 8in. Shugart with up to
34Mbyte.
Xerox has solved the tricky
16-bit question by offering an
8088 board for £500 — a more
sensible solution than building
a 16-bit machine and then
offering a Z-80 board to let it
do useful work. Users can now
move up as and when they
need to. There will be a high-
resolution, 1,024-by-512
graphics board, and an extra
Stay-home poll
WILL THE I1OME COMPUTER
bring new opportunities to
those whose responsibilities
keep them housebound? Or
will it simply perpetuate the
low wages and isolation which
is commonly the lot of women
working at home? These are
just two of the questions which
have prompted a research pro-
ject, funded by the Equal
Opportunities Commission,
which will examine the posi-
tion of the new homeworkers.
Ursula Huws, author of
Your Job in the Eighties: A
Woman's Guide to New Tech-
nology, published recently by
Pluto Press, is conducting the
research and plans to contact
as many homeworkers as
possible during the year. If
you work at home as a pro-
grammer or a systems analyst,
or if you operate a word pro-
cessor or perform any other
function connected with new
technology — or if you work
for a company that operates in
this area — please contact
Ursula Huws. All replies will
be dealt with in strict confi-
dence, and there is no expense
involved.
Write to her at Freepost,
London NI 2BR (no stamp
required) and she will send
you a questionnaire to com-
plete. No further contact will
be made unless you wish.
32K for the Z-80 machine.
The system includes a com-
prehensive configuration util-
ity which allows, for instance,
the specification of a CP/M
command line to be executed
when the machine starts up.
There are terminal emulation
routines in firmware, so the
machine can pretend to be a
terminal without any extra
program ming.
A range of printers, from
the Epson dot matrix up to the
Diablo daisywheel can be sup-
plied. Simple networking will
be offered on the 16-bit ver-
sion, and there will also be an
interface to Ethernet.
The 820-II seems a reason-
ably mature machine in the
mainstream of current busi-
ness micro ideas. More in-
teresting perhaps than the
hardware is the support that
Xerox claims to give it: build-
ing on its large organisation.
Xerox intends to have nation-
wide service and support.
Even if there were nothing
else to make the machine
attractive, the name on the
box must give the customer
some confidence that it will be
mended if it goes wrong. As
well as hardware support there
is a ‘“‘Helpline” telephone,
manned by engineers and soft-
ware people, which any user
can ring for advice.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
This is a high-quality, high-speed analogue-to-digital
converter which plugs into the user port at the rear of
the Commodore Pet computer. The device comes with
four multiplexed input channels, with a conversion time
of around 50us. There is a provision for trigger inputs
which allow control of the A-D conversion. A versatile
operating system is provided in EPROM, which allows
discrete conversions from Basic. Up to 15,000 readings
may be entered. The converter costs £195 from CIL
Microsystems Ltd, Decoy Road, Worthing, Sussex.
20K ROM
module
1UST NINE months after it was
originally promised the 20K
BBC ROM conversion for the
Acorn Atom is available. It
supports the full set of BBC
Basic commands, and is syn-
tactically identical so that any
program that does not rely on
the BBC Micro’s hardware can
be run on an otherwise un-
modified Atom.
The module works in paral-
lel with Atom Basic and can be
selected either by a switch or
from the keyboard. It contains
a 16K Basic ROM, a 4K oper-
ating system ROM and an
additional 2K RAM. It also
comes with a manual.
The module alters the Atom
memory map so that RAM is
available from 0000 upwards.
The module costs £49.95 in-
cluding VAT and is available
from Acornsoft, 4a Market
Hitl, Cambridge. Telephone:
0223 316039. 4)
Reader
survey
THE RESPONSE to Practical
Computing’s reader survey ran
into several thousands, and
more replies are still turning
up every day. Many were
accompanied by letters, most
of them kind, but one reader
was concerned about the
security of our survey. There ts
no need to worry: the list of
names and addresses will not
be supplied for outside use.
The winners of the prizes
are: Colin Hogben of Folke-
stone, in Kent, who received
£50, and N § Hutchison of
Bicester, Oxfordshire and T
Wright of Bromsgrove, Wor-
cestershire who each received
| £25.
Many thanks to everyone
who took the trouble to com-
plete the questionnaire.
Telephone: (0903) 210474. J
32-bit micros set to
invade industry
‘THE 16-BIT micro has been with
us for some time now, and a
number of 16-bit systems have
found their way into various
microcomputer installations.
Now it looks as though these
machines are to be upstaged
by a new generation of 32-bit
micros. Industry rumours say
that Hewlett-Packard has a 32-
bit machine on the way, to be
joined by a 32-bit micro de-
veloped by Acorn in conjunc-
tion with National Semicon-
ductor.
The chip comes from
National Semiconductor and is
claimed to be the only true
32-bit microcomputer. It ts
capable of supplying the user
with the power of a mini-
computer at about 10 percent
of the cost.
This chip, and the others in
the series, are to be incorpor-
ated by Acorn into two new
products. As a second proces-
sor for the BBC Micro, it will |
come on a board with 256K of
RAM and an operating system
in ROM. The interface to this
processor will be handled by
the “tube”.
The second product com-
prises the processor, up to
IMbyte of RAM and one or
two SMbyte Winchester discs.
together with a specialised
operating system which allows
the user to connect it to an
Technology films
| JOUN CLEESE stars in Video |
Arts’ latest training film. What
is a Word Processor? Scripted
by David Nobbs, writer of the
Reginald Perrin series, the
film is a comedy about two
boss-secretary teams, one with
a word processor, one with-
out.
The film is a joint produc-
tion between IBM and Video
Arts, which has John Cleese as
one of its directors. It is aimed
at both managers and secre-
tarial staff in companies think-
ing about introducing word
processors, and in general em-
phasises the benefits techno-
logy brings.
By contrast, Education
Media’s new film New Tech-
nology — Whose Progress >|
looks at the drawbacks. It ex- |
amines job loss and job
changes following the intro-
duction of new equipment into
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
offices and factories, and is
concerned not just with com-
puters but with developments
in robotics and communica-
tions. Tony Benn, trade un-
ionist Mike Cooley, and
Richard Sharpe, the editor of
Computing, appear in the film.
What is a Ward Processor? |
runs for 28 minutes and costs
£56 to hire or £359 to buy. It is
available as a !6mm. film or |
on VHS or Sony Umatic video
cassette. from Video Arts,
Dumbarton House, 68 Oxford
Street, London WIN 9LA.
Telephone: 01-637 7288.
New Technology Whose
Progress? runs for 35 minutes
and costs £13 to hire on VHS,
Sony Betamax or Sony Umatic
cassette, or £18 0n 16mm. film.
from Concord Film Council,
201 Felixstowe Road, Ipswich,
Suffolk IP3 9BJ. Telephone:
(0473) 76012.
existing microcomputer, such
as a Pet, Tandy or Apple.
which can be used as a ter-
minal. Communication is
through a simple RS-232 link.
There is already an exten-
| sive selection of software sup-
port. Users will have the
choice of Acorn, Unix or Idris ©
Operating systems together
with a wide range of program-
ming languages. Digital Re-
search is currently developing
a multi-tasking version of the
CP/M operating system for the
new chip.
Acorn expects to market
this product worldwide to the
existing user base of over
2.000.000 Apple, Pet and
Tandy machines. The pro-
posed name of the device is
the Glueon — particle physi-
cists, please note.
Briefcase
viewdata
BRIEFCASE VIEWDATA is the
latest product from Tandata
Marketing. It gives the user
access to Prestel or private
viewdata systems from any
telephone in the U.K. The sys-
tem consists of a Alpha Tantel
adaptor and an acoustic coup-
ler, which means that a user
does not need a jack point.
Preste! or viewdata users are
therefore now able to make
use of the facility wherever
they have access to a tele-
phone and a television.
The complete Briefcase
Viewdata weighs only 5lb. and
costs £449. Contact Tandata
Marketing, Clyde House, Re-
form Road, Maidenhead SL6
8BU. Telephone (0628) 74661,
1)
Prestel 799.
4
Print ee
|
INNOVATIVE
TRS 80:GENIE SOFTWARE
from the projessionals
cocccee & NEW, Simple to use,
moderately priced word processor..
AJEDIT was introduced as a new word processor some months ago, having been written with ease of use as a
prime design requirement. Since then it has achieved market success, so much so that it has gone through two
additions, together with the introduction of a Manual specifically aimed at the first user. The documentation now
totals about 60 A4 pages. ;
Arrangements have now been made with Logical Systems, Inc. of the United States, the authors of the LDOS
disk operating system, for the Inclusion in AJEDIT of a stripped-down version of this disk operating system, called
smal-LDOS. This gives to AJEDIT a number of major benefits. For instance it now incorporates ‘‘type ahead'’.
This means that if you are typing into the word processor whilst the machine is looking at something else, input is
stored and then accepted by the program at its own convenience. One of the major advantages of this, of course, is
that it is now pretty well impossible to outstrip AJEDIT in speed, particularly at the most critical end of line time,
when the program is very busy tidying up. A further improvement, given by the marriage between AJEDIT and
smal-LDOS is the key repeat function. If the user’s finger is kept on a key for longer than a certain time, then that
key will repeat on the screen or, if itis a control key, its function will repeat. Both the delay time before the repeat
Starts, and the rate of repetition is adjustable. Yet another improvement is the addition of a screen print facility so
that-at any time the operator may (for instance) print out his source file from the screen; complete with all control
characters.
To some users these additional functions and others, such as double density support, will not be of the
greatest importance and as the smal-LDOS version of AJEDIT is higher in cost, we will be continuing the previous
version.
Both versions of AJEDIT contain close to 100 commands, covering most word processor requirements,
including two sets of dedicated printer commands for the Epson MX series and Centronics 737 machines. Three
principle advantages of AJEDIT over some other word processors are the ability to access DOS commands from
within AJEDIT, the facility to mail merge (whereby a names, addresses and salutations file can be married up to a
standard letter), and most important of all, the fact that AJEDIT commands are so constructed that they are easily
remembered by intermittent users.
AJEDIT needs 48K and one disk minimum, and is presently suitable for the TRS-80 Models | and II! together
with the Video Genie Models | and II.
Standard AJEDIT ... ... «ee. = 849.95
smal-LDOS AJEDIT ... ... wee ee =6££79.95
Both prices Inclusive of V.A.T. and P. & P.
MOLIMERX LTD
A J HARDING (MOLIMERX)
1 BUCKHURST ROAD, TOWN HALL SQUARE, BEXHILL-ON-SEA, EAST SUSSEX.
TEL: [0424] 220391 / 223636 TELEX 86736 SOTEX G
TRS-80 & VIDEO GENIE SOFTWARE CATALOGUE £1.00 [refundable] plus £1 postage.
@Circle No. 127
42 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Zap into music
ZAPPLE is a board which will
turn an Apple II micro-
computer into a musical
instrument. The Zapple,
which comes complete with its
driving software, works by us-
ing sound tables, created in a
similar way to the shape
tables.
A wide range of sound and
musical effects is possible. The
Zapple is equipped with a
number of programs which
make table creation easy,
sounds being produced with
one simple command.
The board is self-contained
and includes the well-known
AY-3-8910 programmable
sound-generator chip, soft-
ware in an on-board EPROM
and a volume-controlled audio
amplifier which can connect to |
‘the Apple speaker. Other fea-
Sinclair
languages
ONE OF the problems of using
the ZX-81 is that Sinclair
Basic, whatever its other
Merits, is slow. Writing in
machine code is one answer
for programmers, but this only
produces fast code at the cost
of much greater programming
effort. Furthermore, the ZX-
81 provides no machine-lan-
guage monitor so the whole
procedure is unnecessarily
tedious. ;
What is needed is a fast,
high-level language for the
ZX-81, and to this end Artic
Computing of Hull has come
up with ZXForth, a version of
the Forth language originally
developed for controlling the |
tracking mechanism of tele-
scopes. It is ideal for micro-
computer applications as it
produces code which executes
rapidly but which is also very
compact.
Artic’s offering implements
the Fig-Forth subset. Unlike
Basic, Forth is relatively trans-
portable between different
machines because most ver-
sions of Forth conform to this
standard.
ZXForth costs £135 on cas-
sette and £70 on EPROM.
Contact Artic Computing,
396 James Reckett Avenue,
Hull, North Humberside
HU8 OJA.
tures of the unit include
sockets to plug in other
sound-generator chips. This
facility enables the number of
voices to be increased from
three to nine. There are ter-
minals for connection to an
external amplifier or speaker.
The Zapple will run with
any size Appie II with disc or
tape, and sells for £65. Further
details are available from
Meekrose Ltd. Telephone:
0525 370621.
The Econotech 16K
RAMpack is the cheapest
memory expansion for the
ZX-81. Measuring about 2 in.
by 33 in. the Econotech
RAMpack is the ultimate no-
frills expansion for the
hobbyist. The pack uses
NMOS dynamic RAMs,
which are economical on
both power and space.
it is compatible with the
Sinclair ZX printer and
is supplied together with a
six-month guarantee.
Econotech, 30 Brokenhurst
Way, London SW16 4UD. J |
Computing holidays
THIS YEAR Sees a record num-
ber of residential and non-
residential courses aimed at
teaching children about com-
puters. Among them are those
run by Beaumont Summer
Camps, 100 New Kings Road.
London SW6 6LX, telephone
01-736 3272, an established
operator of the traditional rid-
ing, fishing and canoeing sort
of camp. This year it is adding
computers in the form of
three-hours-a-day instruction,
taking in Basic programming,
computer games, and word
processing using Commodore
Pets. A week for a 10-to-17-
year-old costs around £170 at
Beaumont’s Carlisle camp,
and bookings run up to the
end of August.
Beaumont is also running
weekly Monday to Friday non-
residential camps at Windsor,
Sevenoaks and Mill Hill. Chil-
dren will be bussed in daily.
Interface for Vic-20
AN INTERFACE has been de-
veloped to connect the Com-
modore Vic-20 microcomputer
to a radio transmitter or re-
ceiver. The interface simply
plugs in to the rear of the Vic,
or if the computer has an ex-
pansion system, it fits into
that.
The 4K of machine-code
program needed to drive the
interface is contained in
EPROM. The card also con-
tains a Morse and RTTY con-
verter and decoder making it
possible for the Vic to transmit
or receive RTTY or Morse
signals. On RTTY there is a
choice of baud rate varying
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
The daily camps cost around
£100 per week and cater for
5-to-15-year olds.
Dolphin Camps, 8-10 Park-
way, London NW1, telephone |
01-267 6926, is running courses
in association with Beaumont,
at Carlisle, Sevenoaks and
Mill Hill. Dolphin is oriented
more towards the older 10-to-
18 age group — parents can be
smuggled in and has
obtained a £15-a-week subsidy
from the Department of In-
dustry for the non-residential
courses, so their prices are |
slightly lower. A range of
other technology activities, in-
cluding film, animation, video,
robotics and psychobionics is
also on offer. The computers
used are Apples at Mill ‘Hill
and Acorn/BBC machines at
Sevenoaks.
Aldenham School, Elstree,
Hertfordshire, telephone 01-
779 7553, is organising non-
from a lethargic 45 baud to a
sprightly 300 baud.
Three programmable buf-
fers are each capable of hold-
ing 150 characters, and
another five are pre-program-
med with the station descrip-
tion, CQ call, CW ID, and the
autostart message.
The Morse coder reads
every Morse code message be-
tween the speeds of six and 60
words per minute,
The. Converter/Decoder
costs £89 excluding VAT. and
is available from Computer
World, Hilverstsweg 99, 1214
JB, Hilversum, Holland. Tele-
Phone: 31-35-12633.
| dlesex
residential weeks, running
from the end of July to the end
| of August. For £94 for 9-to-13-
year olds, and slightly less for
younger ones, the children get
two hours a day of computer
instruction from the school’s
term-time staff on TI 99/4s.
| The rest of the time is spent on
sports, Sailing, drama, etc.
London Computer Summer
School, Mortimer House, 37-
41 Mortimer Street, London
WIN 7RJ, telephone 01-886
4292, is running courses for
13-year olds upwards at Mid-
Polytechnic’s Trent
Park campus in Enfield. The
cost for a week of five days is
£150 non-residential and £195
residential; seven-day courses
cost £195 and £265 respective-
ly. The courses are intensively
focused on computing, though
sporting and recreational faci-
lities are available. The
machine used is the Vic-20,
and bookings run up till mid
September.
A much more laissez-faire
apporach is favoured by Con-
corde Holidays, 25 Fore
Street, Praze-an-Beeble, Cam-
borne, Cornwall TR14 OJX,
telephone (0209) 831274. Con-
corde has designated Septem-
ber 25 to October 1 as Compu-
ter Holiday Week at Bude
Holiday Park — golf, sailing
and surfing available — where
£60 secures a caravan for six
people. The idea seems to be
that you descend en masse,
taking your computer along
with you. “No doubt many
friendships will be struck up
and a great deal learnt from
each other” the brochure
hopefully puts it.
43
At KGB, we believe in
butting pen to paper.
MICROPLOT is a CP/M Graph Drawing Package
interfacing with A4 size flat bed plotters
Ideal for business and engineering applications
Example of a Numerical Axes Graph.
A comprehensive GRAPH configuration
* axes may be user defined or automatically fixed
* data points may be defined or suppressed
* straight joining lines or curves, the latter from complex
calculations automatically executed
* up to eight colours available
* up to seven broken line patterns
Specific Gravity
" ~ y % NY ! Residence Time (Sec}
S INI NS 7 . : :
SS iN i A correctly proportioned HISTOGRAM configuration
S oN y * operates like GRAPH but structures in block format
-S N ae As * various shading pattems available
=~
FH Site Supervinion ZZ Gen Erectors SS Wmaloers Electrietans
A quickly drawn PIE configuration
* created from very simple input
* legends located in or outside boundary
* segments can be shown withdrawn
* various shading patterns offered
* up to eight colours available
No screen necessary MICROPLOT draws on paper for reports or
on film for overhead projection. Will also interface with Supercalc
and Micro Modeller. Single or multi coloured plotters supplied.
Call us for literature. Ask for a demonstration.
* All three diagrams reproduced directly from Microplot.
MICROPLOT — A NEW DIMENSION IN VISUAL PRESENTATION — AT ONLY £395 + VAT
ee ee en ee ee ee
To KGB Micros Ltd — Please send me full details of Microplot.
i a m
a a
ee ee ee ee ee es ee
MICROS LIMITED «14 windsor Road, Siough, SL1 2EJ. Tel: Slough (0753) 38581/38319. Telex: 847777.
@ Circle No. 128
a4 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Sinclair goes flat
CLIVE SINCLAIR recently took a small
party round the Timex factory in Dundee
where Spectrums and ZX-81s are made
under contract. We saw, as you might
expect, a large number of industrious
Scottish ladies making computers against
time.
Having originally been in.the business
of making artillery fuses for the US
forces, Timex went over to watchmaking
after the Second World War and is
now boldly migrating into electronics as
the mechanical watch business fades
away. On a part of the production line
that makes a tiny electronics board for
the three-dimensional camera, a couple
of ZX-81s are used to drive an automatic
circuit tester. If the board fails the test
the ZX-81 prints out a diagnosis.
Spectrum tests
Further along the line there is a station
where Spectrums are connected to a tape
recorder, loaded with a test program and
run through a complete set of hardware
tests under software control.
A computer is a computer, but a tiny
flat TV screen is an interesting gadget.
The better half of the day was a tour of
the brand-new, highly automated line
that will produce Sinclair’s long-awaited
flat-screen TV tube. This device is about
3in. long, lin. wide and jin. deep. It
produces a rather squashed picture on its
inside that is viewed through the optically
flat glass lid.
~ PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Printout extra===
Peter Laurie takes a look at
Sinclair’s production line
inside the Timex factory.
At first sight you would think that an
electron beam fired parallel to the phos-
phor would produce a hopelessly dis-
torted picture, but it turns out that with
correct proportions all the errors cancel
out. The most impressive part of the line
is a chain of miniature robots which make
the gun assembly, some of whose parts
are so small you can only watch the
operations under a microscope.
Cheapest alternative
Sinclair says that when the line is run-
ning properly it will produce 1,000,000
tubes a year per shift. The price will be
“considerably lower” than the equivalent
conventional tube and still a lot cheaper
than any possible LCD or LED display of
the same size. Some members of the
party doubted this, but Sinclair said that
although a high-resolution, pixel-address-
able screen might sound more advanced,
it needed a vast amount of control logic,
and for the forseeable future the ana-
logue addressed TV tube would be
cheaper.
Projected picture
Sinclair Research plans to absorb the
whole production of the line in its own
products, the first of which would be a
pocket TV for less than £50. Later on, the
tube will start to appear in computers.
Although there is only one size, a
larger picture can be produced, Clive
Sinclair said, by projection. Sinclair has
had a revolutionary fl lens designed to
enlarge the image. Although a lens of this
performance for your camera would cost
£100 or more, the lens for the tube can be
much cheaper because the phosphor can
be curved to cancel out aberrations in the
image. Brightness of the projected image
is assured by running the tube at higher
voltages: since the picture is seen through
the inside of the tube, a heat sink can be
applied to the back of the phosphor to
Stop it melting itself.
The scale of the production line is most
impressive, although Timex, a privately |
owned American company, is a partner
in the venture technological initiative on
this scale is most unusual in Britain. One
can only wish it well.
PHOSPHOR
SCREEN —
COLLMATOR —
ELECTRON
cu —_
PHOSPHOR,
SCAEEN
-¥ TRANSPARENT THN OXIDE
ELECTAUOE
45
46
Genie I & II Approved Dealers Gy
f td
AVON Microstyle, Bath, 0225 334659/319705. BEDFORD @
Comserve, Bedford, 0234 216749. BERKSHIRE P.C.P.,
Reading, 0743 589249. Castle Computers (Windsor),
07535 58115. BIRMINGHAM Ward Electronics,
Birmingham, 021 554 0708. Consultant Electronics,
Birmingham, 021 382 7247. A. E. Chapmanand Co.,
Cradeley Heath, 0384 66497/8. BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Photo Acoustics, Newport Pagnell, 0908 610625. e e
CAMBRIDGESHIRE Cambndge Micro Computers,
Cambridge, 0223 314666. CHESHIRE Hewart
Electronics, Macclesfield, 0625 22030. Mid Shires
Computer Centre, Crew, 0270 211086. CUMBRIA
Kendal Computer Centre, Kendal, 0539 22559. DORSET 5 e &
Blandford Computers, Blandford Forum, 0258 53737.
Parkstone Electrics, Poole, 0202 746555. ESSEX Emprise, e ee
Colchester, 0206 865926. GLOUCESTERSHIRE ‘
HAMPSHIRE Fareham Computer Centre, Fareham, e
Hampshire, Fareham, 231423, HERTFORDSHIRE Photo ~ }
Acoustics, Watford, 0923 40698. Q Tek Systems, Stevenage,
0438 65385. Chrisalid Systems and Software, Berkhamsted, e
044 27 74569. KENT Swanley Electronics, Swanley, 0322 64851. ® ®e 4
LANCASHIRE Harden Microsystems, Blackpool, 0253 27590. Sound ob
Service, Burnley, 0282 38481. Computercat, Leigh, 0942 605730. BEC e
Computerworld (Liverpool) 051-708 7100. LEICESTERSHIRE Kram e
Electronics, Leicester, 0533 27556. LONDON City Microsystems, EC2, e an
01 588 7272/4. Wason Microchip, N18, 01 807 1757/2230. Premier e U
Publications, Anerley SE20, 01 6597131. NORTH EAST Briers Computer al hd
Services, Middiesborough, 0642 242017. General Northern Microcomputers, é $ ®
Hartlepool, 0783 863871. HCCS Associates, Gateshead, 0632 821924. poet sd °
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE Midiand Microcomputers, Nottingham, 0602 298281.
Mansfield Computers, Mansfield, 0623 31202. East Midland Computer
Services, Amold, 0602 267079. Electronic Servicing Co., Lentorg
0602 783938. NORFOLK Anglia Computer Centre, Norwich, 0603 29652.
Bennetts, Dereham, 0362 2488/9. OXFORDSHIRE Micro Business Systems,
Whitney, 0993 73145. Pebbleglow Ltd. (Thame) 084421 5368. SCOTLAND
Esco Computing, Glasgow 041 427 5497. Edinburgh: 031 557 3937.
Computer and Chips, St. Andrews, 0334 76206. Scotbyte Computers,
Edinburgh, 031 343 1055. Victor Morris and Co., Glasgow, 041 221 8958.
SHROPSHIRE Tarrant Electronics, Newport 0952 814275. SOUTH WEST
Diskwise, Plymouth (0752) 267000. West Devon Electronics, Yelverton,
082 285 3434. Bits and Bytes, Barnstaple, 0271 72789. SUFFOLK Elgelec Ltd.,
Ipswich, 0473 711164. SURREY Catronics, Wallington, Surrey, 01 669 6700/1.
Croydon Computer Centre, Thornton Heath, 01 689 1280. WALES Tryfan
Computers, Bangor, 0248 52042. WEST MIDLANDS Allen TV Services,
Stoke on Trent, 0782 616929. WILTSHIRE Everyman Computers, Westbury,
Sole Importers:
0373 823764. B&D Computing (Swindon), 0793 762449. YORKSHIRE
Media 5 Ltd; Sowerby Bridge 0422 33580. Advance TV Services, Bradford,
0274 585333. Huddersfield Computer Centre, Huddersfield, 0484 20774.
Comprite, Bradford, 0274 668890. Superior Systems Ltd., Sheffield,
0742 755005. Photo Electrics, Sheffield, 0742 53865. Ebor Computer
Services (York) 0904 791595. NORTHERN IRELAND Business
Electronic Equipment, Belfast, 0232 46161. Brittain Laboratories,
at ale Chesterfield Road, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 5LE.
Telephone: 0629 4995. Telex: 377482 Lowlec G.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
This Xt Board
nr a
The RADER single board computer has been developed in the
U.K. and tailormade to offer the user the most up-to-date techniques of
microprocessor technology coupled with the builf in facilities of ultimate
expandability and flexibility.
Based on the popular Z80A Microprocessor running at 4 MHZ, up
to 16K of interna! ROM may be addressed, 2K of video RAM and 2K of
character generator RAM is included (both memory mapped). Decoded bank
switching permits the addition of as many boards as may be required,
each board containing 3 pages of 64K RAM, giving unlimited capacity. A
highly flexible memory capability is achievable by the addition of external
pages of ROM.
Floppy Disc interface utilises Western Digital’s 1797 Disc
Controller allowing interfacing to 54” or 8” floppy disc drives, side
selection for double sided drives and single or double density recording.
All data transfers are accomplished by the on-board DMA controller. Other
standard features include: On board keyboard port, composite video
output and “disc mains” on/off signals; light pen input; inverse video
switch to select normal video display background (white on black/black on
white); video enhancements switch; plus choice of invert character or dual
intensity enhancements.
Monitor with full screen editing facilities plus a full 8 point cursor
Control. @ Autoboot for business systems @ Autoselect for varying disc
densities @ Ability to auto-load extra ROM @ Commands: Dump, boot,
edit, input port/output port, break point, go to, copy.
The board is configured to run the latest CPM version 2.2 and
ideally suited as the basis for small to medium business machines, games
machines, industrial control machines, research and development
equipment @ Board Price £350 plus £4.00 P+P excluding VAT.
(Please state whether 8” or 5%” board is required.)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Standard features Add on option boards
@ 64K RAM @ Dual Parallel Ports £35
@ 4 MHZ Z80A CPU © Dual Serial Ports £50
@ 5%" or 8” Disc Interface, @ Cassette Interface £50
single/double/sided density @ RAM Expansion Board, Capacity
@ 780A CTC (clock/timer/counter) 192K, in 64K Increments £250
@ DMA Controller @ User Prototyping Board £16.75
@ Memory Mapped Video Display © Real time clock with battery
© Memory Mapped RAM Character back-up £45
Generator All option boards; add £2.00 P+P
© Programmable Video Controller Prices exclude VAT.
@ 8 Expansion Connectors
Configuted to run CPM 2.2
@ CP/M DOS also includes a utility programme that allows you to format
your discs and dynamically configure the systems for a variety of disc
and printer types. A set of manuals are also included.
Price £100 plus £3.00 P+P. Send for complete technical specification.
All prices excluding VAT.
@ Full Custom software development support available
London N3 1XP
wa RADE
Telephone 01-349 4711/5 i \
53-55 Ballards Lane,
Telex 46523 Simsys G. Flexibility at the heart of your system
@ Circle No. 129
47
| Bill Bennet looks at the latest hand-held micro from Sharp.
SHARP PC-1500
SHARP is the only Japanese name to have
captured the imagination of microcom-
puter buyers in the U.K. The range of
machines runs from large business micros
supporting CP/M which cost thousands of
pounds, through the MZ-80A, B and K,
down to a coupe of hand-held micro-
computers which look more like calcula-
tors.
Yet the PC-1500 is emphatically not a
calculator. It is a real microcomputer
which happens to be small enough for
you to carry in your pocket. True, it does
look like a calculator; it has calculator-
style keys and an LCD display, albeit
turned around along a side of the
machine. The right-hand section of the
keyboard is just like a conventional calcu-
lator keypad, but there is also a
QWERTY-type set of keys, a space bar,
and an Enter key.
There is also a Shift key, and a set of
six keys across the top of the keyboard in
the same position as other micros func- -
tion keys; Sharp calls them “reservable”
keys.
To the right of the machine is a power
socket which takes the supply from a
mains transformer when the machine is
being used in an office. The PC-1500 also
runs off four 1.5V batteries, which fit ina
compartment under the machine, and
continual use does not seem to wear them
down too fast. The machine is conse-
quently ideal for site work or working at a
remote location, and should become a
popular tool among engineers and
builders.
The review machine came with a
CE-151 memory module, a tiny plug-in
4K of RAM which fits into a slot under a
cover on the base of the machine.
Together with the 2.6K of RAM already
available to the user, it provides a useful
amount of memory.
The Basic implementation included in
the Sharp is fairly standard, though using
it is not. Before beginning to program,
the machine must be put into the Pro-
gram mode, and to run any entered pro-
gram the machine must be put into the
Run mode. After using the machine for a
short while you become used to this
procedure; working in the wrong mode
causes an error to be shown, and it can be
cleared by hitting the On key, which
doubles as Break.
String functions are all supported, as 1s
Print Using, with a number of editing
characters. A Beep command enables the
tiny speaker in the machine. It has the
format:
BEEP a,b,c
where a is the number of times the beep-
48
ing tone is repeated, b is its frequency
and c its duration.
A number of special commands are
included to handle the LCD display. For
example, Cursor positions the cursor
across the display, while GCursor posi-
tions the cursor at any one of the 156 dots
across the width of the display. GPrint
prints a pattern of dots on the display,
and Point returns the number which rep-
resents the pattern of dots in a column.
The six reservable keys allow the user
to recall a frequently typed phrase or
keyword. Each one can recall any one of
three reserved words, which can be
selected by the Reserve Select key.
Powerful printer
The CE-150 printer and cassette inter-
face turn this powerful and portable
pocket computer into a useful desk-top
tool. At around £150 the extra hardware
may seem expensive until you examine
the capabilities of the amazing little prin-
ter more closely. In reality more like a
plotter than a printer it provides a choice
of four colours, printed on to tally-roll
paper about 1.75 inches wide. The roll
sits in a cradle behind the printing iron-
mongery, while the colours are provided
by four different ball-point pens. Nomi-
nally black, blue, green and red, they
may be exchanged or substituted by other
colours as the computer does not know
which is which.
The four pens sit in a carousel which
rotates on power-up to put the colour 0
— normally black — in position. Other
colours can be invoked by the Colour
command. The functioning of the printer,
in particular the changing of pen colours,
can be tested by using the Test command,
which draws four boxes, each of a differ-
ent colour across the width of the paper.
It really is quite fascinating to watch this
happening when the lid is taken off the
printer: before the carousel is rotated it is
returned to the extreme left position, as it
does every time the pen colour is
changed.
The PC-1500 incorporates a sophisti-
cated error-detection facility which ex-
tends to the printer. Sometimes, on
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
power-up the message ‘Check 6”
appears, indicating a fault in the printer.
If the pens are not in the correct rotation-
al position the paper and carousel move
about but no actual printing takes place.
The printer has a button for winding on
the paper, which can also be done under
software control. Vertical or diagonal
lines are drawn by moving the paper
itself. They can be up to about four
inches in both the positive (up the paper)
and negative (down the paper) direc-
tions. If there is not enough paper then
what there is will rewind completely,
though sometimes this means you have to
re-feed the paper into the slot at the rear
of the printer.
As an alternative to the low-resolution
character-printing mode a_ high-resolu-
tion mode can be invoked by the Graphic
command. In the character-printing
mode there is a choice of print size — see
table 2. The very large sizes are awkward
to use but may be needed for printing
tickets, labels and so on. The printing can
be turned around on its side using the
Rotate command. The argument of the
Rotate expression is a number in the
range 0 to 3 to choose any of the four
possible orientations — see figure 1.
In the normal or character mode the
paper.can be wound back and forth with
the line-feed command LF. As with the
line command, the maximum distance of
travel is about four inches. LPrint works
just as LPrint on other micros the world
over. An error message is given when
CSize is too large for the whole of a.
number to be printed on a line.
Figure 1.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
LCursor positions the pen on the paper
in a similar way to a command Cursor,
which positions the cursor across the
LCD display. Tab works from within a
LPrint statement to do the same thing.
In the graphic mode the pen may be
moved around the paper without printing
anything. The GLCursor statement
moves the pen to the x,y coordinate
specified in brackets after the command.
As with all other commands in the high-
resolution mode the limits of x and y are~
—2047 to 2047.
Line commands
To establish the origin the command
SOrgn is used. This sets the point at
which the pen is currently located as the
origin of the x,y coordinate system. The
Line command is very flexible and may
be used to draw 10 different types of line
as shown in table 1. Line 9, that is
pen-up, is an alternative to GLCursor.
The Line command has the format:
LINE(X1,Y1)—(X2,Y2), line-type, colour, B
The bracketed coordinates after the com-
mand are the coordinates which have a
line drawn between them. Normally
there will be two of them, though more
may be required in some cases. It is
possible to have a list of up to six such
pairs, making it possible for the user to
define a personalised character set. For
example, the listing:.
10: GRAPH
20: LINE (0,0) - (0,10) - (5,15) - (10,10) -
(10,0): LINE (0,5) - (5,5) - (5,6) - (10,6)
produces an “A” with a staggered cross-
bar. Programmers do not normally have
to go to these extremes, as there is a full
character set complete with lower-case
letters and a range of symbols.
The capital B at the end of the line
command indicates that a box is to be
drawn. The computer assumes that the
first coordinate pair is one corner of the
box and that the second coordinate pair
gives the diagonally opposite corner.
RLine is similar in concept to Line except
that it draws a line relative to the current
pen position.
Line-type
Value
Resulting
Line Size
0 Solid Line
0.4 mm dash
7] 0.6 mm dash
3 0.8 mm dash
4 1.0 mm dash
5 1.2 mm dash
6 1.4. mm dash
7 1.6 mm dash
8 1.8 mm dash
9 Pen Up (no tine)
1
Specifications
Operating system and monitor: in 16K
ROM
Languages: Basic
Memory: 3.5K RAM, user area 2.6K;
_ piug-in 4K available
Keyboard: 65 keys including user-
definable function keys
Power: 6V dc power supply, or will run for
50 hours on dry batteries
Dimensions: 195 x 86 x 25.5mm
Weight: 375g
Display: 26-character liquid-crystal display,
7 * 156 dot graphics
It is possible to print out the results of
any calculation performed by the compu-
ter in the immediate mode by moving the
print switch, located on the interface
beneath the computer, to the P position.
All-in-all the capabilities of the CE-150
printer are very good. It is a shame that
the printer cannot be connected easily to
other computers as many would be great-
ly enhanced by it.
Loading and Saving cassettes on the
Sharp is not the hit-and-miss business it
can be on other machines. The CE-150
interface unit provides a solid base on
which the cassette operating system
works.
Apart from the standard cassette facili-
ties, the PC-1500 will verify a program,
merge programs and Chain them. Data
can be Saved and recalled to and from
(continued on next page)
49
AARC EN SAG
, Review
The pocket computer slots easily into the printer and cassette interface.
(continued from previous page)
tape as well. The applications tape pro-
vided by Sharp contains 14 programs for
the computer which all loaded easily and
appeared to work, though there were no
instructions with the programs. The prog-
rams in the applications manual did in-
clude instructions, and the file names of
the programs on the tape coincided exact-
ly ‘with those omitted from the applica-
tions manual.
‘Software supplied
The applications manual itself includes
a wealth of material. The listings are
presented in a clear and useful way, and
the fundamental theory behind the prog-
rams is also shown, together with instruc-
tions on using them. Among the supplied
programs are several devoted to the
numerical chores that scientists and en-
gineers could spend hours working out
with slide rules and reams of paper. They
include root-finding, matrix-processing
and Fourier series. There are also cor-
relation, linear regression and similar sta-
tistical routines, as well as programs to
calculate loans and interest payments,
graph-plotting routines, inventory con-
trol, purchase ledger, biorhythms and
‘| many others including some games.
Conclusions
@ The Sharp PC-1500 encapsulates an
incredible amount of computing power in
the smallest possible package.
@ It is an ideal tool for people in the
building, engineering or scientific profes-
sions to use ‘‘on-site’’. Business users may
like find the Sharp useful as a super
pocket calculator.
@ Battery power means true hand-held
| computing.
@ The CE-150 printer and cassette inter-
face turn the super pocket calculator into
a really useful and relatively sophisticated
computer.
@ The CE-150’s printing capability is
excellent, real high-resolution graphics in
four colours.
50
Table 2.
Characters per printed
line.
Height of each
character (mm)
Width of each character
(mm)
Table 3. ASCII character code chart for the PC-1500.
Upper Bit Positions >
b7, b6, b5
Low Bit Hexa }
Positions decimal |
b4, b3, b2, b1
+
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
One Expander Card
for appic leads
To anotnher....
:
|
In fact it leads to many others! Joining the amazing success
of our PAL Encoder Card, these four new expander cards
all featuring the unique ‘Digitek Safety Tab’ are ready to
plug straight into your Apple Computer.
Pal Colour Encoder Card £105 This amazing card with it's on-boar
modulator, displays exceptional colour graphics to your TV.
16k Ramcard £91 Insert the card straight into slot ©, and increase
the memory capability of your Apple without having to remove
any memory chips.
Z80 Expansion Card £110 Installing the Z80 into your
Apple gives you two systems in one, which enables you to
run the popular C P/M operating system.
RS232 High Speed Serial Interface £72 The RS232
Interface Card incorporates 13 selectable Baud rates
from 75 to 19,200.
Print-master Interface £79 The ultimate parallel
interface for Apple to all popular dot matrix
printers.
The PRINT-MASTER accepts Apple
protocols, 15+ software commands and
has on-board graphics dump capability
to all popular graphics printers. No
need to load clumsy software
routines - it’s all at your fingertips
on the PRINT-MASTER - choice of
inverse printing, double size
picture, 9O° picture rotation,
many word processor type
text commands, plus
many more.
Apple ls the trademark
of Apple Computers Inc, a
Digitek and Print-master & ,
—
ea
oy
are the trademarks of
Digitek (International) Ltd.
Please send me | enclose my cheque fos. _|
Colour Encoder £105 payable to Digitek Internationa! Ltd.
Rameard £91 Z80 S1NlO Add 15% VAT to all prices quoted.
RS232 $72 Printmaster £79 Post and packaging FREE.
Further Information Telephone orders 040366550
au” ©
Name....... My card: . =
a | AIS... 5S) @ EN
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@ Circle No. 130 EXPANDER CARD SERI DIGITEK (INTERNATIONAL) LTD. 37C WEST STREET, HORSHAM, WEST SUSSEX RH12 IPP.
Great minds think alike.
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List of Dealers contributing to this advertisement.
ENGLAND Avon Beam Business Centre 0272 712294 Currys Micro-C [at Bridges) 0272 650501 T&V Johnson 0272 422061 Bedfordshire Currys Micro-C 0582 425079 Berkshire Lynx Computers
Ltd 07535 54322 a eens Sydney Both 0223 207239 Cheshire Fairhurst Instruments 0625 525494 Co. Durham Knowled: lid. 0385 684782 Cumbria Lakeland
Compuler Setvices 09667 210 Devon Diskwise Ltd 0752 267000 Essex Godtrey Computer Centre 0268 20650 Hunt, Smee & Co 0268 24245 Ranmor Compuling Ltd. 0702 339262
Gioucesiersnire Beam Business Centre 0242 582368 Gt. Manchester Beam Business Centre 661 831 7066 Currys MicroC 064 834 0144 Hampshire Currys Micro-C 0703 29676
Hertfordshire Local Business Technology Ltd. 099 24 66157 Humberside Access Computer Services 070 685 2326 Kent Prince Mine 0732 845440 Lancashire OMS Lid 0254 26449
L&P Business Systems 0282 50252 Professional Data Systems 0204 493816 Leicestershire Currys Micro-C 0533 544224 Lincolnshire Estate Computer Systems 0529 305637 London
Beom Business Centre 04-380 0388 CwIP Computers 04-828 3427 Currys Micto-C 01-387 9275 Electronic Ottice Services 01-236 9065 Eurocourse 01-739 8692 Group 18 Lid 01-802
7186 Guestel 04-583 2255 Planning Consultancy Services 01-839 3443 Middlesex Granala Computer Systems 04-843 1974 Norfolk Anglia Computer Centre 0603 20652
Northamptonshite Neath Hill Professional Workshop 0908 6603464 Nottinghamshire Currys Micro-C 0602 412455 Oxfordshite Johnson Microcomputers 0865 721464
Micromark 04912 77926 Rocon Lid, 0235 24206 Somerse! Taunton Electronics 0532 458815 Suffolk Systematics International 0440 61124 Surrey Ferguson Computer
Services 09323 46330 Johnson ae 0276 20446 Microlines Computers Ltd. 01-546 9944 Kothwell Computer Services 0252 519441 Vega Samper Ltd
01-680 4484 Sussex Datatech 0323 346268 Southern Microcomputers Ltd 07042 3443 Tyne & Wear Micro Computing Lid. 0632 476018 Warwickshire impulse Micro.
Systems 0789 275619/297263 Wes! Midlands Beam Busiriess Centre 024 429 4634 Currys Micro-C 024 233 1105 Worcestershire Cettip Star Microcomputers tel. 0562
66201 Yorkshire Currys Micro-C 0532 446401 Wharnclitte Business Systems 0226 758021 SCOTLAND Beam Business Centre (Edinburgh) 034 225 3752 Beom
Business Centre (Aberdeen) 0224 56161 WALES David Potter Otfice Equipment Lid 0222 496785 Spartomay Lid 06333 72360 IRISH REPUBLIC Softech Ltd. 0004
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SI software Is aiso available from over 100 additional microcomputer centres in the U.K.
‘and Internationally in Chicago, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, Melbourne, San Francisco, Singapore, Stockholm, Tokyo
@ Circle No. 131
52 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
EMITH data
systems
~ —
WHETHER YOU'RE A DEALER OR OEM-
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e Systems that start from £1795*
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e 12''green screen Monitor—in Apple colours. (Dealer/OEM's only)
Equally important Zenith is a company that:
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e Offers Country-wide service support
© Offers Dealer support including National Advertising Campaign
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*Prices correct at time of going to press.
| NEW DEALER ENQUIRIES WELCOME |
Xl could be interested ina Dealership 1)! would like to receive details of your OEM terms |
Name Position
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Or call Dave Taylor or Jim Detheridge at:-
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@ Circle No. 132
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982 53
TELEVIDEO 802
Chris Bidmead tries out a newcomer to the band of microcomputers
offering a built-in hard disc.
THE NAME Televideo has been associated |
with clever video terminals capable of |
such party tricks as local text editing and
field protection. Most spectacular of all is
the facility for smooth scrolling, where
the text moves up in front of your eyes
like paper being rolled out of a type-
writer.
A Televideo 950 terminal has already
passed through this office in conjunction
with the MicroPro PBM-1000 CP/M com-
puter, reviewed in Practical Computing,
May 1982. A thickish manual was sup-
plied to explain its intriguing display faci- |
lities, but our exploration of the PBM’s
extended memory management left us
little time for the terminal.
Now, with some physical horizontal
stretching to make way for disc drives,
64K of internal RAM and a processor
board, the Televideo has reappeared on
our desk as a stand-alone CP/M-based
micro. Options are available for dual
floppies, hard discs or a multi-user quasi-
network linked together through the new
RS-422 standard serial asynchronous pro-
tocol.
54
The review machine was the 802H,
equipped with a single Tandon mini-flop-
py drive, and a Seagate hard disc. The
Stat DSK: listing in figure 1 shows the
unusual backing store configuration: it is
not uncommon for the physical hard disc
| to be divided up into two notional drives,
but the Televideo Seagate is configured
to provide a third drive, drive C, of 342K
capacity that emulates the floppy.
Precisely why this should be, the manu-
al does not say, but then there is quite a
lot about this sophisticated hardware that
the documentation passes over in silence.
The intention may be that back-up files
should be assembled on drive C with Pip,
the normal CP/M Peripheral Interchange
Program, in preparation for bulk transfer
to the floppy with a sector-to-sector
transfer program, but no such software is
provided among the utilities.
In fact the Televideo 802H is the first
hard-disc machine we have reviewed
which offers no software provision for
; hard-disc back-up beyond Pip. With no
means of splitting files retrievably be- |
tween floppies, Pip cannot cope with the
sort of large database files that a hard-
disc machine uses. A serious omission.
this, in a computer that must be at least
partially destined for business use,
though Chan Idnani of the London Com-
puter Centre — who kindly supplied us
with the machine — said he thought there
was a Backup program on the way.
What unquestionably makes the Tele-
| video 802H worthwhile is the hardware.
The cabinet, without keyboard, but
allowing for protruding plugs at the rear,
takes up a desk space of about 40cm.
deep by 57cm. wide, and stands under
30cm. high. The well-contoured edges of
case and keyboard suggest that thought-
ful design effort has been brought to bear
on the product’s cosmetics, without the
flaunted shape-making of some recent
micros.
The green, glare-resistant screen pre-
sents the most stable image we have yet
seen on a serial terminal designed for
U.S. voltages, and shows no sign of
“transatlantic swim”. The character set
might usefully be larger, but the ascen-
ders and descenders are well pro-
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
portioned. Descending characters like
lower-case “‘p” and “‘g” have their upper
portion very slightly lifted from the base-
line, but the effect is legible and pleasing.
adding an almost hand-written quality.
Pascal and C programmers will be glad to
know that curly, square and round brack-
ets are well differentiated.
The excellence of the screen was in-
itially spoiled by the fact that at normal
desk height it tends, rather unhelpfully,
to face the user square in the chest. We
remembered from the PBM review that
the terminal version has an extendable
foot centrally placed under the screen to
tilt it upwards. After some experiment to
compensate: for its absence on the 802H
we found a judiciously placed paperback
greatly improved the system’s ergono-
mics. It was not until much later, when
we entered the dismantling phase of our
investigation, that we discovered a pair of
discreetly hidden broad-headed screw
shanks left and right of the undercar-
riage, clearly intended to serve just this
purpose. A minor criticism of the
arrangement — apart from the fact that it
was well concealed and quite un-
documented — was that without a stop at
the end of the thread these came adrift
from the case when screwed past their
maximum adjustment.
As with the Televideo 9xx series of
terminals, the bottom row of the screen
displays an inverted video status line
Figure 1.
: drive characteristics
: 128byte record capacity
: kilobyte drive capacity
: 32byte directory entries _
: checked directory entries
: records/extent
: records/block
: sectors/track
: reserved tracks
: drive characteristics
: 128byte record capacity
: kilobyte drive capacity
: 32byte directory entries
: checked directory entries
: records/extent
: records/block
: sectors/track
: reserved tracks
: drive characteristics
: 128byte record capacity
: kilobyte drive capacity
: 32byte directory entries
: checked directory enties
: records/extent
: records/block
: sectors/track
: reserved tracks
: drive characteristics
: 128byte record capacity
: kilobyte drive capacity
: 32byte directory entries
: checked directory entries
: records/extent
: records/block
: sectors/track
: reserved tracks
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
which on the left-hand side shows the
cursor co-ordinates. The data that follows
further along the status line is more use-
ful, and is worth noting in the early stages
of coming to grips with the hardware.
Four sections display the current terminal
modes that define the complex rela-
tionships the terminal is able to enter into
| with the internal serial line to computer.
This can be confusing to both the user
and the computer unless the point is well
understood that the computer and the
terminal, though cased together, are en-
tirely separate logical entities.
The manual devotes about 40 of its
100-odd pages to describing the refine-
ments of the terminal, and the section
seems to be a lightly edited version of the
standard Televideo terminal-only manu- |
al. The depth of detail in which it de-
scribes the display possibilities contrasts
with the elementary approach adopted
elsewhere in the manual: “The lighted
rectangular block which appears on the
screen indicates the entry spot for the
following character to be typed. It is
called a cursor...”
Default to Local
The manual seems uncertain about its
level of explanation, but does include
some clear drawings of plugging in cables
and handling diskettes. Sometimes the
clarity of the simpler sections ignores the
complexity of the hardware: “If you
make an error while typing, simply press
the Backspace key and the’ cursor will
move to the left...”
Well, yes, on any ordinary computer it
might. But one essential point buried
rather too deeply in the manual is the
terminal’s distinction between Duplex
and Local, displayed on the status line as
Dupe and Loce. Unless expressly switch-
ed into Duplex mode — oddly, the de-
fault on power-up is Local — keys like
Tab and Backspace will not pass their
code down the line to the computer. One
disconcerting result of this is that in
WordStar the cursor keys can appear to.
move the cursor across the text, but the
new location will be unknown to the |
program. This apart, WordStar works
extremely well on the 802H, with the
speed of the hard disc, the Direct Mem-
ory Access chip and the processor going a
long way to disguise the overlays and
heavy computational overhead of a word-
processing package that often seems slug-
gish on floppy-based machines.
The confusion the cursor keys create is
not destructive, and WordStar wall pick |
up and carry on where it left off when it
next receives a cursor instruction it
understands. The seasoned programmer,
used to the idiosyncrasies of keyboards,
might well find the nuisance trivial. The
fix, if anyone bothers to make it, is a
breeze: patching WordStar to send ESC
‘1 as part of the initialisation string will
turn on Duplex mode automatically.
The keyboard arrives set up to give an
insistent ‘‘beep” with every keystroke,
but there is a very welcome DIL switch to
the rear of the machine to disable it. The
keyboard connects to the mainframe by
way of a coiled cable, and plugs in with an
American miniature telephone jack. Fol-
lowing the puzzling convention adopted
by other manufacturers, the keyboard
cable enters the terminal at the rear, as if
designed to be used by a typist working
blind behind the computer while a col-
league watches the screen from the front.
The central QWERTY cluster of the
key layout is IBM-like, with one or two
| disconcerting differences. For example, a
typist would expect the shift lock to un-
latch when the shift is pressed, but the
ordinary shift lock is missing from the
keyboard. The key in its place, above the
shift, is the alpha lock, which works as a
straight toggle and gives access only to
| the upper-case letters, leaving the punc-
tuation keys in their lower-case mode.
There is no LED on the alpha lock to
show when it is engaged.
The main character keys and the
numeral pad keys on the right of the
keyboard are in dark grey, a lighter grey
being used to differentiate the line of 11
function keys that runs along the top.
Both the upper and lower case of these
| keys are available for programming with
preset code, either from the keyboard or
from the computer. Instant keyboard
programming turned out to be useful for
frequently repeated commands: a kind of
Submit facility built into the keyboard.
Because the function keys are programm-
able from the computer, the more often
used WordStar commands can be down-
loaded at the beginning of a session.
Working blind
There are 19 bolts on the underside of
the case, some of which hold down the
cover, the rest being structural. We pro-
ceeded cautiously, remembering the ex-
plorations of our youth into costly devices
whose cases stayed clam-tight, rattling
the while with more and more loose
components as each wrong bolt is un-
screwed. We found a sketch in the appen-
dix to the user’s manual that showed the
four bolts to be removed, but from that
point on our invasive surgery had to be
made without further documentation: the
hardware manual promised by Midlec-
tron failed to arrive in time.
In fact you have to remove five bolts to
free the top of the case. Inside is a rigid
frame consisting of two sub-assemblies
bolted together. On the left — viewed
from behind — is the terminal chassis
with the main computer electronics
mounted horizontally beneath the neck
of the CRT. Below that, well-shielded
behind a metal plate and a heavy cage, is
the power unit.
The mounting for the two disc drives is
(continued on next page)
55
Rv ===
(continued from previous page)
on the right-hand side: a sort of apart-
ment-house shell with the floppy in the
penthouse and the Seagate relegated to
the basement, and ample room between
them for one more mini-drive unit. Tele-
video’s own hard-disc controller board is
mounted vertically outside this chassis.
An unlabelled PCB, presumably the
floppy-disc controller, is piggy-backed on
to the main computer board, a “big-
board” unit mounted horizontally some
way beneath the neck of the CRT. Witha
little judicious wiggling to free descend-
ing protrusions that snag against the bot-
tom of the case, this can be slid out like a
drawer once four jumper blocks have
been unhitched.
The operation flexed the board, some-
thing best avoided under normal cir-
cumstances but quite a good test of the
soundness of the internal connections.
No dry joints showed up in the process,
confirming our visual impression that the
construction was generally sound. The
main big board may well be Japanese: the
name Seiko appears on the underside.
Auxiliary chips
With this kind of accessibility a service
engineer could swap the board over in
about a quarter of an hour. We did not
time the exercise, pausing instead to cast
an eye over the selection of chips. It was
gratifying to find a pair of Zilog SIOs
taking care of the serial interfaces, a
Zilog clock timer counter and a direct
memory-access chip second-sourced from
Sharp. These are high-priced components
as eight-bit chips go, but can take much
of the load off the Z-80 to speed up serial
data transfer and disc accesses.
We found further evidence of state-of-
the-art eight-bit electronics. The familiar
four-by-eight array of 16K memory chips
is replaced on the 802H main board by a
thin gold line of eight Fujitsu MB8264-20
64K chips, nestling under the piggy-back-
ed floppy-disc controller board. The
‘ video drive unit is positioned vertically on
the left-hand side — again, looking from
the rear. The preset focus, linearity,
| height and brightness controls are easily
accessible, although only the contrast
- knob can be adjusted once the case has
been replaced.
Visible from the rear with the cover off
are four diagnostic LEDs on the big
board which light up in sequence during
power-up and are all steadily illuminated
once the system has been correctly
booted. Without a hardware manual it
was impossible to know what precisely
they were trying to tell us.
The standard OEM Seagate drive unit
is designed so that its front panel can be
mounted flush with the exterior of what-
ever casing it finds itself in, exposing to
the outside world a reassuring little LED
that a well-tuned Bios can flash to indi-
cate the drive is being accessed. A similar
56
arrangement is standard with floppies..
but with hard discs it is even more useful.
Unless you have a sharp ear it is impossi-
ble to tell whether the drive heads are
responding. By burying the Seagate inter-
nally, the Televideo 802H loses this occa-
sionally useful feature.
The memory appears: to be used con- |
ventionally, except that it gives the sys-
‘tem designer and the manual writer
another opportunity to squabble.
According to the manual, the power-up
message is supposed to read
59K CP/M vers 2.2
In reality it says :
64K CP/M vers 2.2
Review
the hard disc as necessary and tidies them
away in a file called File.Bad.
A system should offer more than this.
Televideo goes part of the way by includ-
ing a complete listing of its Bios, that
| section of the operating system that has
which seems to indicate that an arrange- |
ment has been made for the ROM boot-
strap software, and something called “4K
of diagnosic ROM” to be phantomed out
once it has done its work. That is to say
the address lines are switched automati-
cally and the ROM is effectively replaced
by a similar-sized block of RAM. Hard-
ware documentation would have been
very helpful in verifying this.
One of the set-up DIL switches on the
rear enables the machine to boot either
from the floppy or from the hard disc.
This option is usually offered on a hard
disc computer as a way of installing the
operating system. Normally when boot-
ing from the floppy, which would then be
seen as drive A, the hard disc is available
as a secondary drive, or as a pair of
secondary drives.
Idiosyncrasies
The Televideo implementation is
eccentric, to say the least. Booting up on
the floppy offers only two drives, A and
B. Neither of these drives is the hard disc,
which appears to be completely inaccessi-
ble to ordinary file operations, and both
drives represent the same double surface
of the floppy.
On setting the DIL switch to the Hard
Disc Boot position the disc assignments
revert to the configuration in figure 1.
Curiously the bootstrap software still in-
sists on going to the floppy drive first and
giving it a whirl even if there is no disc in
it. This behaviour added to our feeling
that the software has too many rough
edges and lags behind the sophisticated
hardware, though it probably only needs
a simple software fix.
Like the rest of the software tailoring,
it should really be stitched in before
terminal and internal computer are pull-
ing together as a coherent CP/M
machine; without it, the user is in danger
of perceiving the kit as complicated and
idiosyncratic. Together with a decent
suite of utilities and fuller documenta- |
tion, this is what is missing before the
equipment begins to do justice to its
capability as a system.
Only three utilities are provided: one
each to format the hard and floppy disc,
and a third that mops up bad sectors on
to be tailored by the manufacturer to link
CP/M’s standard package to the hard-
ware. Though it may not mean much to
many users, we found it an essential
antidote to the manual, which flatly con-
tradicts it in many places.
The output section of Bios has been
written to provide two distinct ways to
prevent buffer overflow at the printer
attached to the serial port. Software
hand-shaking — the exchange of control
codes along the ordinary transmit/receive
lines between computer and terminal —
can be selected to match the protocol
preferred by any particular printer. Mod-
em flow control, which calls for addition-
al lines that are toggled high and low to
start and stop the movement of data, can
be selected similarly.
So far so good. This sort of flexibility is
what microcomputers are all about. But
instead of a simple routine called, say,
Set.Com to establish which kind of hand-
ling comes into use On power-up, the
manual invites the user to participate in
an unwelcome mystery tour of program-
mer’s delights like Sysgen, Save and
DDT, bearding the IObyte in its lair at
address 0003. Putting aside the fact that
this section of the documentation mis-
takenly transposes the printer module
names in the opening paragraph, and
contains two numerical errors in the
quoted examples, the point is that a
properly constituted system should not ,
expose the user to this kind of excitement
when all he or she wants to do is drive a
Ricoh from CalcStar.
Certainly a lot of other so-called “sys-
tems” are still being launched upon the
world in similar nakedness, swelling the
murmur of discontent against CP/M. This
is really rather unfair: CP/M’s facilities
are more or less limitlessly extendable
through the addition of purpose-written
.Com files. Yet for the most part dealers,
importers and manufacturers have failed
to settle among themselves whose res-
ponsibility the software effort should be.
Conclusions
* @ The Televideo 802H is a good-looking,
fast, hard-disc, stand-alone computer,
with plenty of hardware talent.
@ The machine runs under CP/M, and is
well behaved once you set the right para-
meters.
@The documentation is excellent in parts,
but its level fluctuates between the obvious
and the obscure. Important points are
buried or omitted, and there are seriously
misleading errors.
@The price of £4,400 makes it good value
for money, but the raw state of the soft-
ware will certainly mean you will have to
pay more to do anything useful.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
7fast CP/M
Business Application Software
from Padmede
SALES/DEBTORS
LEDGER SYSTEM
STOR RE ee neg
CON
be dtc alas
Padmede —tencen sis |
COMPUTER SERVICES _
Padmede
COMPUTER SERVICES
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COMPUTER SERVICES
Py
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Padmede |
COMPUTER SERVICES
Padme
COMPUTER anes
rf
NOMINAL/GENERAL © “ =} ee “eas i=:
SALES INVOICING
LEOGER SYSTEM : - : a SYSTEM
© Nominal/Genera! Ledger System
at £249 per module
The Padmede Business Control System is available now
on the following machines:-
Sharp PC-3201, MZ-80B @ Apple II © NEC PC-8000 @ DEK VT180 ® Sirius I © Osborne I
ICL Personal Computer ® Rair Black Box ® Wangwriter
Hewlett-Packard 125 @ OKI if-800 @ Toshiba T200 @ IBM Displaywniter
Send for details of the Dealer Demonstration Pack
Padmede
COMPUTER SERVICES
351, Fleet Road, Fleet, Hants. Telephone: Fleet (02514) 21892/3: Telex: 858575.
@ Circle No. 133
58
DESK TOP
GENIUS.
Now from Sharp, the Sharp MZ 80A.
A personal computer that is ready to run
the moment you own it. Because the CRT
display, the typewriter-style keyboard and
the cassette-based data storage are all
integrated into one complete system that
leads the operator, either amateur or
professional, into an incredible new
computer world.
For this computer has the power to
do virtually anything within the range of
’ Personal Computers. In It,
Sharp has combined
MZ 80FB
Twin Mini Floppy Dise Unit.
MZ 8O0P6
Character Graphic Printer.
Also available MZ 8OP4 and MZ 8OP5
all its fine electronic technology in the field
of information engineering to create a
marvel of precision. Plus, when you pur-
chase you get a valuable software package
absolutely free.
The superb Sharp MZ 80A. Among
its competitors, it is rated as a genius. To
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you will treasure, an invaluable part of
your daily life.
Bringing to your school, office or
home, the high-speed skills and advanced
technology of the world of Sharp. Where
great ideas come to life.
Specifications MZ 80A
CPU
Memory
Display
Cassette
Keyboard
Other features
Z 80
Ak-byte ROM; 48K-byte RAM; + 2K-byte
Video RAM.
9 inch (23 cm); 40 characters x 25 lines
Green screen
Manual control; standard audio cassette
tape. Data transfer (Sharp PVW/M system).
1,200 bits/sec.
ASC11 keyboard; upper-/lower-case
alphabet; graphic symbols; numeric
keypad
Built-in clock and music function
Auto repeat on all keys.
2-page video RAM (allows the screen to
be scrolled up and down).
*CP/M available.
SHARP
Qn ITD IGS Ia ISe IGT eR I Spt oe
r ~ as U = > t on
OO ¢O@ PS 1 ae Bea yet ant
L#en 100 16) 8 eee) ott aot
x F ~ NA 2 2 M4
Ye 95m eo ter iaee)ewe i
sere Tt
& at
ee
Optional Printers
MZ80P4 MZ 80P5 MZ 80P6
Serial impact dot matrix
Variable Variable
sprocket sprocket;
Friction
Printer
specifications
Printing method
Feed method
Variable
sprocket;
Friction
Kinds of characters — £280
Character make-up ——_9{W) x 8(H) dot matrix (normai-size characters)
136/68
per line
160/80
per line _
150 cps
Number of digits
80/40 per line
136/68 per line
Printing speed
80c PS {normal-size characters)
Bi-directional
Head sweep direction
¢ Software-controlled full graphic function
« Programmable number of lines per page
¢ Battery-operated memory of HOME
position (MZ 80P4 only)
Design and specifications subject.to change without notice.
Other functions
Floppy Disc Unit (MZ 80FB)
Two drives per unit; 5.25" dual-sided, double density; 70 tracks;
soft-sectored; 16 sectors per track.
Memory capacity 280K bytes per diskette.
| i. Sharp Electronics (UK) Ltd, Computer Division,
| Sharp House, Thorp Road, Newton Heath, Manchester |
M10 9BE. Tel: 061-205 2333.
Please send me details of the Sharp MZ 80A
Type of application: __
Name:__
Address:
The world of
SHARP,
where great ideas come to life.
|
|
|
|
eS
|
|
|
|
|
|
*CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research Ltd. @Circle No. 134
@ Circle No. 135
>THE ULTIMATE IN
DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
NOW AVAILABLE FOR THE
Compsoft's DMS is everything you ever dreamed possible in computer software. Fast, efficient
and reliable, DMS is the only complete integrated system for information management.
No matter how unusual your record-keeping problem, DMS will help you to solve it.
DMS needs no programming. Working in conversational English, it creates files,
stores records, searches and sorts on multiple criteria, calculates, writes letters,
and prints lists, reports, and self-adhesive labels.
Full guides are available for DMS in the Medical World, Personnel, Client Records,
Subscription Records and Mailing, Stock, Job costings, Library Records, etc. etc.
Running on the Commodore Pet and virtually any micro running CP/M and MP/M I, all
systems cost £400 or less. Every version now includes the DMS letter writer option as standard.
THE COMPSOFT HEADQUARTERS AND TRAINING CENTRE, HALLAMS COURT
O
fi — ails
MIL AA,
CW 4.5 TU LI eee Li
—
1 WES fis wii 1
<a E Pea TL
tf
Brochures, guides and technical iskentation are Sra on request from:
DATA
MANAGEMENT
? SYSTEM
Compsoft Limited
Hallams Court
Shamley Green _
Nr Guildford, Surrey
England GU4 802
Telephone: Guildford (0483) 898545
Telex: 859210 CMPSFT
GRAPHPAC
CCSoft’s latest product provides some impressive
graphics for Gemini and British Micro machines, ex-
ecuting even complex curves with ease. Nick Laurie
analyses the effectiveness of this economic package.
MANY OF the current desk-top micros
have integral graphics capabilities, but no
way of accessing them easily. This pack-
age from CCSoft overcomes many of the
problems.
The Gemini G-812 Intelligent Video
Card, IVC, and both the Mimi’s medium-
and high-resolution graphics all suffer
from the disadvantage of lack of suitable
driving software, at least they did until
CCSoft produced no less than three
different versions of its Graphpac pack-
age. Although the implementation is
slightly different on different machines,
the essential commands are much the
same for the Gemini Galaxy, the Gemini
Multiboard system — provided that it
uses an IVC — and the British Micro
Mimi 801. Table 1 lists all these com-
mands and describes briefly what they
can do. The implementation supplied for
this review was used on a Gemini Multi-
board system and, for the first time, gave
us a chance to put the G-812 IVC through
most of its paces in comfort.
A short CP/M program called MBas-
link is used to add the commands directly
into your MBasic 5 vocabulary and to call |
Table 1. Graphpac commands.
No one version includes all these
commands but all versions include most of
them. Check with your supplier for further
details.
CLS — clear screen
GS and NS — toggle graphic/normal
modes
CLEOL — clear to end of line
SCROLL N — limit screen scrolling to the
bottom N lines of the display
SREEN CC,RR — move cursor to column
CC of Row RR
VBAR CC,RR,N — draw a vertical bar of
height N at co-ordinates CC,RR
VBARH — a half-tone version of VBAR
DOWN CC,RR — print a vertical string of
characters
FCON and FCOFF — enable/disable
toggle for trapping entry or use of illegal
co-ordinates
G256 (Mimi) — use the low-resolution
graphics mode
G§12 (Mimi) — use the high-resolution
graphics mode
PSET — set a specified pixel Bright
PRESET — set a specified pixel Dark
PTEST (+PEEK) — test the condition of a
pixel
STARTAT — set a start position for the
(invisible) cursor
PENUP, or PU — move the invisible cursor
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
up MBasic itself. Once loaded into a
system configured for a minimum 48K
CP/M, MBasic is used as normai but with
the added ability to access this package
without any help from the user.
One of the most impressive features of
this package must surely be the execution
speed; Circle was a particularly fine
demonstration of this, especially when
compared with many of the more com-
monly used Basic circle-drawing routines.
The fact that a Ratio command is avail-
able to correct the height/width factor for
different VDUs is an added bonus, as is
the fact that you can at last specify an
angle directly in degrees instead of having
to mess about with radians.
Speedy execution
Plot, with its ability to use polar co-
ordinates, came as something of a
novelty. Curve drawing has always been
something of a bugbear, but the ease and
speed with which even quite complex
curves can be plotted using this software
is enough to endear it for a long time to
come.
Graph plotting in MBasic is now by the
without affecting the pixels it passes
through
PENDOWN (PD) — set any pixels touched
by the invisible cursor
PENFLIP (PF) — invert them this time
PENERA (PE) — now erase them
PENRET (PR) — put the invisible cursor
back to the last Startat location
DRAWTO X, Y — move the invisible
cursor to a specified location
DRAW X,Y — move the invisible cursor to
a relative X,Y point, not to an absolute
address
PLOT A,D — move it using angle and
distance information
DOCAP — flip the pixel at the current,
invisible, cursor position
CIRCLE R,A1,A2 — draw an are or evena
complete circle
RATIO N — adjust the width/height ratio of
a circle to allow for differently shaped
VDU screens
PSI “Dr:Name” — save a screen image to
disc
GSI "Dr:Name” — get a screen image
from disc
CAP — print the invisible cursor, called the
Current Active Point in the manual
CAP@ CC,RR — print it at a particular
point
LCAP — print it on a printer
SPOKE — Poke a screen location
Software revieW ee
command Down, which permits vertical
labelling of axes. The only problem is
that it is pure Down; leading “‘—”’ signs or
horizontal groups of characters cannot
easily be mixed directly into the Down
command.
Now for a disappointment: PTest,
which is used to check any pixel on the
screen and return its condition — on, off
or illegal co-ordinates — cannot return its
result directly to a Basic variable. You
will have to follow the PTest command
with a Peek of a specified address to see
what value has been returned. This is an
unmitigated pain when compared to the
ease of use of the other functions. A word
with Bob Cullen of CCSoft confirmed
that he was not happy with this solution,
but that it was the only way it could be
implemented at this stage. Since the light-
pen supplied for the Gemini IVC card
would also return its co-ordinates in the
same clumsy way, Cullen felt that this
was not the time to implement commands
for handling PTest.
.
Thoughtful documentation
Most of the remaining commands are
self-explanatory if you study the table
carefully, although it is important to note
that some of them may not be available
on the particular version you might want.
A full set of sales literature documenting
these differences is available from
CCSoft. Included on the disc is a demon-
stration program which provides some
very impressive graphics — all the more
impressive when you List and see how
easily they have been created.
The documentation is divided into two
parts, a command manual describing all
the commands available under various
versions of Graphpac, and a systems
manual which tells the user how to imple-
ment Graphpac on a particular machine.
Properly printed and well thought out,
these manuals do credit to a product
which, at £35, might expect to be far less
well served.
Economy Basic
Apart from the Gemini Galaxy and
Multiboard Microsoft Basic 5 CP/M ver-
sions, which are very similar, CCSoft
supplies an 8K floating-point Basic
known as Economy Basic, for use with
cassette-based Gemini systems. Economy
Basic lacks trigonometric and _string-
handling functions, but includes the
Graphpac commands and brings this im-
pressive controller within reach of the
non-disc user.
The British Micro Mimi, a 64K CP/M
machine, has its own internal graphics
capability with both 256 by 256 low-
resolution and 512 by 256 high-resolution
modes. The Mimi package from CCSoft
is known, once again, as Graphpac. It is
booted into a 47K maximum CP/M where
it behaves as an extended Bios, but still
allows all normal CP/M software to run
(continued on page 64)
61
THINKING ABOUT BUYING
A COMPUTER SYSTEM?
TALK TO DATALECT FIRST!
COMMODORE because who else provides all
is—at a price you can afford
No. I best seller in the U.K. Tackles La age a Pp i y
your bookeeping, stock control and = We offer you a choice of these budget priced,
word processing. This system is ! ee easy to operate microcomputers. Starting in
reliable and superb value. — —-
price from an amazing £200 for a computer,
£1,500 for a complete system. All come with
One of the most versatile on the market.
a versatile range of programs to meet todays
modern business needs.
Expandability up to 48 kbytes of user
memory, supported by a large range
of programs and peripherals.
Try one out for yourself
If you’re not sure how a microcomputer can
help, call in at our WOKING or CROYDON
SHOWROOMS.
HEWLETT _— Fe oid based in
ee = London and the South.
PACKARD — Buying your system
Attractive terms, leasing and the best deals
available in London and the South.
eere|
Meme (|
Remember, when you buy from Datalect
you're getting 10 yrs EXPERTISE, SERVICE,
ADVICE and TRAINING and the best
after-sales care.
A portable (only 20 Ibs) specialist
computer with a fully integrated
‘key board, display and printer.
ACT SIRIUS1
A revolutionary personal computer
developed from the outset for
business and professional use.
SHOWROOMS:
CROYDON. 7, St.Georges Walk, Croydon, Surrey.
Tel: 01-680 3581
WOKING. 32, Chertsey Road, Woking, Surrey.
Tel: 04862 63901
® Registered trademarks of Commodore,
Apple Inc., Hewlett Packard, ACT.
Bl connput,
DATALECT |<
Address = st Se “SE
COM PUTERS ee POSE COE eee
Your computer company for London and the South Dee sae oruelia. wee irey GUal IT
@ Circle No. 136
62 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
| 74LS86
74590
74LS92
74L$93
74L$95
74896
74L$107
74L§ 109
74LS112
7418113
748114
7418122
74LS123
74L$124
74L$125
74LS126
74$132
74L$133
74.136
74.138
74LS$139
74L$145
74.8 147
748148
748151
7418153
74L$154
74.8155
74LS156
74LS157
74L$158
74L$160
74LS164
74L§162
74L$163
74L$164
74LS165
74LS166
7418170
7418173
74L8174
74L$175
74L$181
74LS183
741190
74LS191
74L§192
7418193
74LS194
741$195
74/196
74LS$197
74L$221
74L$240
74L$241
74LS242
74LS243
74LS244
74LS245
74L$251
74LS253
74LS257
74LS258
74LS259
74LS260
74LS266
74L$273
74LS279
74LS280
74LS283
74LS293
74LS295
74L$298
74L$299
74LS323
74LS324
74LS348
74L$352
74LS353
74LS356
74LS363
74LS364
74LS365
74LS367
74LS368
74L$373
74LS374
74LS375
74LS377
74LS378
74LS390
74LS393
74LS395
74LS399
74LS445
74L$540
74LS541
74LS640
74LS641
74LS642
74LS643
74LS644
74LS645
74LS668
74LS669
74LS670
74LS682 400p
74LS684 400p
74S SERIES
74S00
74802
74804
74805
74S08
74810
74811
74$20
74$30
74S32
14837
74874
74885
74886
748112
748113
748114
749124
74S 132
748133
748138
748139
745157
74163
748174
748175
745188
745183
74$194
74$200
748201
748225
748241
74S$260
748261
74$262
748287
748288
748373
748374
748471
748474
748571
748573
VOLTAGE REGULATORS
FIXED PLASTIC ~ OTHER REGULATORS
4A + ve LM309K 135p' 78HOSKC 550p
5V 7805 LM317K 325p 78MGT2C 140p
12V 7812 LM312T 200p 78GUIC 200p
15V 7815 LM337T 225p 79GUIC' 225p
18V 7818 55p 7918 LM323K 500p 79HGKC 7090p
24V 7824 55p 7924 LM723 37p ICL 7660 200p
§V 100mA 78L0530p79L0565p TL494 400p TL497 300p
12V 100mA 78L12 30p 79L12 70p 78S40 300p LM305AH . 250p
15V 100mMA 78L15 30p 79L15 70p 78HGKC 600p
160p
120p
120p
140p
74 SERIES
7406 20p
7407 20p
7416 20p
7417 20p
7425 24p
74121 25p
74128 35p
74180 40p
741824 60p
741844 30p
74185 30p
74LS SERIES
74LS00
74LS01
74LS02
74LS03
74LS04
74LS05
74LS08
74LS09
74LS10
74L$11
74L$12
74L$13
74LS14
74LS15
74LS20
741821
74LS22
74LS26
74LS27
74LS28
74LS30
74LS32
74LS33
74LS37
74L$38
74LS42
74LS47
74LS48
741851
74LS55
74lS73
74LS74
74LS75
74LS76
74LS83
74LS85
-VO
S50p 7905
50p 7912
55p 7915
% ACORN ATOM *
Basic built 8k + 2k £135 Expanded 12k + 12k £180
5k + 8k + Colour Card £175
(p&p £3/unit)
Atom psu £7 + £1.20 p&p. 3A 5V regulated supply £22 + £2 p&p.
F.P. ROM £20, 1k RAM {2 + 2114L) £2, Tool box ROM £25.
6522 VIA £5. DP8304 £4.50. 81LS95 £0.90. PL6S7 £3.50 ea.
SK6/7 £4 ea. PLS SK5 £2 ea.
Atom disc drive £299+£6 p&p
Colour card £32
New monitor ROM 2K allows direct entry of machine code £16.00
FULL RANGE OF SOFTWARE AVAILABLE
ASK FOR ATOM LIST
5)” FLOPPY DISC DRIVES
TEAC FDSO0A Singie sided drive mechanism £140,
Olivetti F501 Single sided drive mechanism £140.
Single TEAC FD50A in cabinet with PSU £190.
Two TEAC FDSO0A in cabinet with PSU £360.
APPLE II Disc Drive: Siemens FDD 100-5 chassis, head, motors, track
zero micro switch, & motor control PCB with read, write & control
electronics plus case & cable £275.00.
Carriage £4 per drive.
DISKETTES: 10 $.S.D.D. case £18 + £1.50 p&p.
10 D.S.D.D. + case £24 + £1.50 p&p.
EPROM PROGRAMMER
An ideal software development
tool. A program can be developed,
debugged, verified and then can
either be committed to an EPROM
or the program can be used in any
host computer by plugging the
SOFTY into its EPROM socket.
Most +5v EPROMS can be programmed on SOFTY. See
the review in Sept. 81 PE for the various facilities provided
on the SOFTY.
SOFTY || complete with PSU ROMULATOR and TV LEADS
£169 + £2 p&p.
MENTA
Z80 DEVELOPMENT TOOL for engineers and hobbyists.
Full details on request £115.
COMPUTER COMPONENTS
CPUs
1602E
2650A
6502
6502A
6800
6802
68809
6809
6809E
68B09
8035
8039
8080A
8085A
INS8060
TMS39980
Z80ADART 800p
ZBOADMA £122
Z80S10/1/2 £9
MEMORIES
2101A
2101 2L
21078
325p
300p
z5p
325p
650p
850p
650p
BAUD RATE
GENERATORS
cOmM8116 £8
74MC14411— £7
4702B 750p
UARTs
AY31015P 300p
AY31013P 350p
IM6402
TR1602
COM8017 300p
MODULATORS
6MHzUHF 375p
8MHzUHF 450p
LOW PROFILE DIL SOCKETS BY
TEXAS
MX80F/T3 £360 _
INTERFACE ICs
ADS558Cl 775p
AD561CJ £14
AM25S10 __350p
AM25L$2521 £2
AM26LS32 190p
DAC8O £20
DM8131 —-375p
DPs304 = 450p
DS8831 = 375p
DS8832 -250p
DS8833 © 225p
DS8835 © -225p
DS8836 = 150p
LFI3201 —-450p
MC1488
MC3489
MC3486
MC3418
MC3446
MC3480
MC3486
MC3487
McC4024
MC4044
MM58174
UNL2003A
UNL2004A
75107
75110/12
75144/15
75150P
75182
75324
75361/63
75365
75451/2
764534
75491/2
8726/28
8195/96
9602
9637AP
ZN425E
ZN426E 8
ZN427E 8
ZN428E 8
CRT
CONTROLLER
COM5027 £18
COM5037 £18
SFF93634
™59927
116000MHz 350p
KEYBOARD
ENCODER
700p
81LS97/98 9390p
CHARACTER
GENERATOR
RO-3-2513U 750p
RO-3-2513L £7
£10
32768kHz 100p
100kHz 250p
200kHz 280p
1 OMHz 290p
1008MHz 275p
18432MHz 220p
8 pin 25p 18 pin 50p 24 pin 70p
14 pin 35p 20 pin 60p 28 pin 80p
16 pin 40p 22 pin 65p 40 pin.100p
TEXTOOL
ZIF SOCKETS
PRINTERS
EPSON MX 80 F/T Ill
@ Bi directional printing @ Logic seeking @ 80 CPS 80 cols @ True
descenders @ Variety of character sizes @ Full high res. graphics
auto.
SEIKOSHA GP100 £189
SEIKOSHA GP 100A
@ 80 cols 30 CPS @ 116 ASCII std characters @ Full graphics @ 10"
wide paper multiple copies
oe
NEC PC8023BE-C
100CPS 80 col. Logic seeking, bi-direc-
tional programmable uni-directional dot
matrix printer.
Hi Res and Block
graphics, international and Greek
charac Auto underline £375.
CARRIAGE/PRINTER £8.00
BBC MICRO
Complete upgrade from Model A to B £60.
Full range of connectors stocked
SEND FOR DETAILS ON SOFTWARE.
CONNECTOR SYSTEMS
JUMPER LEADS
24” cable with DIP header
14pin 16pin 24pin 40pin
Single 145p 165p 240p 380p
Double 210p 230p 345p 540p
24” cable with sockets
20pin 26pin 3 pin 40pin
Single 160p 210p 270p 340p
Double 290p 385p 490p 540p
24” cable with 25 way D. Conn.
Male 500p Female 540p
ID CONNECTORS
{SPEED BLOC TYPE)
No. of ways
10 20 36 34 40
Header
90p £1.75 £2.00 £2.44 £2.70
Socket
90p £1.7 £2.00 £2.40 £2.70
Edge Conn.
£2.00 £2.50 £3.20 £3.80 £5.60
EURO CONNECTORS
Plug Socket
OIN41612 2x32way £3.00 £3.50
angled 2x32way £3.50 £4.00
angled 3x32way £4.00 =_
(for 2x32way specify a+b or
atc)
DIN41617 31 way £2.00 £2.00
No. of ways S15," 25F -37
MALE
95p 135p
160p 230p
FEMALE
125p 190p
175p 240p
100p 100p
{Top or Side Entry)
37 way Centronix Type connector
£6.50
200p 280p
265p 425p
245p 375p
310p 500p
100p 125p
EDGE CONNECTORS
0.1" 0.156"
2x18 way 150p
2x22 way 310p 170p
2x23 way 335p
2x25 way 350p 200p
1x43 way 260p
2x43 way 450p
1x77 way 700p
$100 connector 600p
ZiF
SKTS
24pin £6
28pin £8.50
40pin £10
Solder type 40p 50p
IDC type 120p140p £2 £2.2
RIBBON CABLE (Grey)
per metre
10 way 60p 20 way 105p 40w 265p
14 way 80p 26 way 140p 50w 330p
16 way 90p 34 way 220p 64w 370p
4 way 110p 8 way 140p
6 way 125p 10 way 160p
UV ERASERS
UVIB £47.50 + £1.50 p&p
UVIT with Timer £60 + £1.50 p&p’
(Erases up to 6 EPROMS at a time)
UV140
UV141 with Timer
(Erases up to 14 EPROMS at a time)
(As UV 140%and with built in elec-
tronic timer}
Direct Mains operated tube
£10.50 + £1.50 p&p
MONITORS
BMC 12” Green Screen moni-
tor £100
BMC 14” Colour monitor
£240+£8 carr/monitor
% SPECIAL OFFER *
1-24 25-99
100p 95p
90p 85p
250p 225p
375p 350p
2114L-200nS
4116-200
2716
2532
ALSO AVAILABLE FROM STOCK FULL RANGE OF TTLs, CMOS & LINEAR ICs.
DETAILED PRICE LIST WILL BE SENT ON REQUEST
PLEASE ADD 40p P&P & 15% VAT (Export no VAT)
"TECHNOMATIC Lp.
MAIL GRADERS TO: 17 BURNLEY ROAD, LONDON NW10 1ED
SHOPS AT: 17 BURNLEY ROAD, LONDON NW10
(Tel: 01-452 1500, 01-450 6597. Telex: 922800)
305, EDGWARE ROAD, LONDON W2 Tel: 01-723 0233
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Government, Colleges, etc. ORDERS WELCOME
BARCLAY & ACCESS CARDS ACCEPTED
STOCK ITEMS ARE NORMALLY BY RETURN OF POST
@ Circle No. 137
63
64
Software review =
| (continued from page 61)
| correctly. An MBaslink, as described for
the Gemini, is used to link the new
commands into your own MBasic 5S.
CCSoft does not include a copy of Basic
with the CP/M versions of Graphpac, so
make sure you have a version 5 release of
MBasic before you order.
Conclusions
| @ At £35 — or £25 for the Economy Basic |
— Graphpac is very good value for
| money. By incorporating these sophisti-
cated and fast routines into your ordinary
| MBasic, you can be sure that your existing
| software is not going to become suddenly |
| redundant — a regular problem with |
many software additions.
@ The lack of tight-pen commands might
be considered a handicap for some users,
but until low-cost light-pens reach a
higher level of sophistication I, for one,
will not really miss them.
@ CCSoft’s customer service has always
been impressive —- even on a Sunday
afternoon, when the package was being
tested, they still came up smiling!
@ Any system using a Gemini IVC really
ought to include Graphpac as a simple,
yet thorough, way of accessing its complex
functions.
| @ For the Mimi 801 user Graphpac is an
undoubted must if you want to get the best |
out of Mimi’s almost inaccessible — but
| very good — graphics capabilities. }
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
The new PULSAR business software is 16-bit software
pecially developed for new generation 16-bit personal
‘omputers.
It's innerently faster and more powerful than
raditional 8-bit software.
The result: More and more business users are
thoosing PULSAR, making it one of the industry standards
nN 16-bit personal computers.
Only PULSAR meets the five key requirements for
16-bit business software:
*ORTABILITY
PULSAR is primarily written in the PASCAL portable
anguage. So your investment in software is protected,
‘egardless of how often you change your system.
»>EDIGREE
PULSAR has been developed by ACT’s own software
ae as a true 16-bit system. And ACT has more than
5 years experience in business software — computer
Jureaux using ACT programs produce more than 3 million
statements every year and handle business applications
THE PULSAR
RANGE...
PULSAR
ACCOUNTING
Pulsar Sales Ledger
Pulsar Purchase Ledger
Pulsar Nominal Ledger
Pulsar Payroll
PULSAR
ORDER PROCESSING
Pulsar Stock Control
Pulsar Invoicing
Pulsar Order Handling
for more than 2000 companies. PULSAR incorporates
many facilities that were previously available only on
large mainframe computers.
INTEGRATION | ; —
ACT supplies integrated business software, linking
every aspect of business accounting. Now with PULSAR,
this integration is taken a stage further with word
processing and business management tools able to share
information and files with accounting applications.
USER - FRIENDLY
PULSAR is really easy to use. Documentation is to the
highest standards in the industry, taking the operator
step by step through the system. A simple question and
answer routine onthe computer screen prompts the user
at every turn.
TOTAL SUPPORT Me ; ;
ACT is used to providing on-going support for its
users. Not only is there a “hot-line” to resolve queries, but
also a fully equipped training school open to all PULSAR
users.
PULSAR FINANCIAL
MANAGEMENT
Pulsar Data Analysis
Pulsar MicroModeller
Pulsar SuperCalc
Pulsar MultiPlan
PULSAR
OFFICE SYSTEMS
Pulsar WordStar
(word processing)
Pulsar Mailmerge
(mailing)
Pulsar Select
(word processing)
@ Circle No. 138
I'm buying
a 16-bit personal
computer. Tell me more about
the new 16-bit PULSAR software.
Name:
’ Position:
Ze = 16 BIT- SOFTWARE
. FOR 16 BIT Company:
PERSONAL COMPUTERS
Address:
\ = The ACT octagon encapsulates our
Pokesealy of providing Fvaet sdk asingle FOrmore
source for their computing solutions. - ;
ACT products include personal computers — information on
network micro-computer systems—turnkey 16-bit Pulsar
ake inior eae tara ti, Sorvarecompicte Siam
includi : owe
engineering, computer supplies, and a complete the coupon andpost *.. Application PCB
range of Bureau services.
The eight specialist ACT companies are each leaders in their field and are
wholly owned by Applied Computer Techniques (Holdings) p.l.c., one of
Britain's largest and most successful computer companies.
to ACT (Microsoft) Ltd.,
FREEPOST, Birmingham
B16 8BR or phone 021-454 8585
6s
PVT Ime ho OILY TU ye
If anything NewBrain is like the
Tardis.
It may look small on the outside, but
inside there's an awful lot going on.
It's got the kind of features you'd
expect from one of the really big business
micros, but at a price of under £200
excluding VAT it won't give you any
sleepless nights.
However, let the facts speak for
themselves.
ae eta YR vt ay ve.
NewBrain comes with 24K ROM
and 32K RAM, most competitors expect
you to make do with 16K RAM.
What's more you can expand allthe |
way up to 2 Mbytes, a figure that wouldn't
look out of place ona machine costing ten
times as much.
We've also given you the choice of
256, 320, 512 and 640 x 250 screen
resolution, whereas most only offer a
maximum of 256 x 192.
By SVS NT YUU MUON Te oo.
Although NewBrain is as easy as
ABC touse (and child's-playtolearn to use)
this doesn't mean it's a toy.
Far fromit.
Itcomes with ENHANCED ANSI
| BASIC, which should give you plenty to get
| your teeth into.
Andit'll also take CP/M® so it speaks
| the same language as all the big business
micros, and feels perfectly at home with
their software.
NO OTHER MICRO
HAS THIS MUCH
POWER
IN THIS MUCH
SIZE
FOR THIS MU
So as abusiness machine it really
comes into its own.
The video allows 40 or 80 characters
per line with 25 or 30 lines per page,
giving a very professional 2000 or 2400
characters display in all on TV and/or
monitor. And the keyboard is full-sized so
even if you're all fingers and thumbs you'll
still be able to get to grips with NewBrain's
excellent editing capabilities.
When it comes to business graphics,
things couldn't be easier. With software
capabilities that can handle graphs, charts
and computer drawings you'll soon be
up to things that used to be strictly for the |
big league.
Answers a growing need.
Although NewBrain, with its optional
onboard display, is a truly portable micro,
that doesn't stop it becoming the basis of a
very powerful system.
The Store Expansion Modules come
in packages containing 64K, 128K, 256K
or 512K of RAM. So, hook up four of
the 512K modules to your machine and
you've got 2 Mbytes to play with. Another
feature that'll come as a surprise are the
two onboard V24 interfaces.
With the aid of the multiple
V24 module this allows you.torun.up to 32
machines atonceé, all on the same
peripherals, saving you a fortune on extras.
- The range of peripherals on offer
include dot matrix and daisy wheel printers,
9! 12” and 24” monitors plus 5%" floppy
disk drives (100 Kbytes and 1 Mbyte) and
5%" Winchester drive (6-18 Mbytes).
As we said, this isn't a toy.
It doesn't stop here.
Here are a couple of extras that
deserve a special mention.
The first, the Battery Module, means
you won't be tied to a 138 amp socket. And,
even more importantly, it means you don't
have to worry about mains fluctuations
wreaking havoc with your programs.
The ROM buffer module gives you a
freedom of another sort.
Freedom to expand in a big way. It
gives you additional ROM slots, for system
software upgrades such as the Z80
Assembler and COMAL, 2 additional V24
ports, analogue ports and parallel ports.
Fromnow onthe sky's the limit.
Software that's hard to beat.
A lot of features you'd expect to find
on software are actually built into
NewBrainso youdon'tneedto worry about
screen editing, maths, BASIC and graphics.
However, if you're feeling practical
you can always tackle household manage-
ment, statistics and educational packages.
And because NewBrain isn't all work and
no play, there's the usual range of mind-
bending games to while away spare time.
Waste no more time.
To get hold of NewBrain you need go
nofurther than the coupon atthe bottom of
the page.
With your order we'll include a hefty
instruction manual so you'll know where
to start, and a list of peripherals, expansion.
modules, and software so you'll know
where to go next. @ Circle No. 139
® CP/Mis the registered trade mark of Digital Research Inc
2* start of year
| and peripherals, and a detailed list of available software.
Please send me the following:-
Price per item
Quantity (Inc. VAT & p&p)
| NewBrain A £233.00
NewBrain AD with onboard single line display £26750
| Printer £466.00
| Monitor 12” £142.50
Total £
enclose a cheque/Postal Order for £ ___ payable to Grundy Bussiness Syste ms Reader Account.
| NewBrain, Grundy Business Systems Ltd., Grundy House, Somerset Road, Teddington TW11 8TD.
| Please debit my Access Card No: —________ my Barclaycard No:
| Signature
Name
Address
GT
Postcode=__|___ eines
| Registered Number 1522978
et NEWBRAIN
' Please allow up to 28 days for delivery.
THE LOW COST
HIGH PERFORMANCE
MICRO FOR THE
BUSINESS PROFESSIONAL
UP TO 10M BYTES OF INTEGRAL DISK CAPACITY!
HARDWARE FEATURES
® Powerful Z80 processor. © 64K memory.
@ CP/M’ operating system.
@ Detachable QWERTY keyboard, numeric and
cursor control pads, and 24 programmable
function keys.
@ Floppy and Winchester disk options -
350 K bytes to 10 Mbytes.
® Instrumentation interface.
® Attractive desk-top styling.
® Robust, reliable and easy to maintain.
SOFTWARE
When it comes to software, the M-Three
maintains the highest standards throughout.
First of ali, itis equipped with a CP/M’ operating
system and therefore the user has every
opportunity to select programs from the vast
UI
iNMOMM BUSINESS SYSTEMS
Ukom Systems Ltd.,
44 Connaught Place, London W2 2ET
Tel: 01-258 0077 Telex: 299067 Slave G
range of CP/M* based applications software
generally available in the micro- computer market.
Acomprehensive range of ready-to-run business
applications packages is available from us for
immediate use with your Ukom M-Three.
MAP (Modular Accounting Package) is a fully
integrated accounting system featuring
INVOICING SALES LEDGER, PURCHASE LEDGER,
NOMINAL LEDGER. Other Applications include
STOCK CONTROL. WORD PROCESSING,
PROSPECT MAILING, AND PAYROLL.
OASIS is also availabie.
In addition, if you've something special you want
the M-Three to do, then take your choice of a range
of high-level languages. Programming is no
problem, using, for instance, BASIC or COBOL.
“CP Mis a registered trade max of Digitol Research
@Circle No. 140
“The best value for money onthe
small business systems market”
. — Which Computer? Magazine
SUPERBRAIN a
Asmart, fully self-contained
desk-top unit— that’s the
SUPERBRAIN microcomputer.
It will operate asacomplete
business system, as aword
processor (allied toa high
quality printer)andasan
intelligent terminal.
@ 320K,680K and1.5 MBdisc drives
@ Widerange of standard packages
@ Fullgraphics facility
@ Nationwide dealer network
@ Hard Discs available
too — integral or separate
SUPERBRAI N isideal for both first time buyers needing a general purpose machine, and for
users wishing toupgrade froma personal microcomputer system. Its CP/M operating system will handle the most sophisticated
programs. Twin Z80 microprocessorsand an RS$232 communications port make it easy to extend the system in the future.
The Icarus dealer network
A.P. LED, Maple House, Mortlake
Cresvent. CHESTER CH3 SUR.
Tel: 0244 46024
BASIC BUSINESS SYSTEMS,
61 Loughborough Road, WEST
BRIDGEFORD, Nottingham.
Tel: 0602 819713
BUSINESS INFORMATION
SYSTEMS, 602 Triumph House,
189 Regent Street, LONDON.
Tel: 01 437 1069
BORDER COMPUTING LTD,
Dog Kennel Lane, BUCKNELL,
Shropshire. Tel: 054 74 368
CAMBRIDGE MICRO
COMPUTERS, Cambridge Science
Park. Milton Road, CAMBRIDGE.
Tel: 0223 314666
COMMONSENSE COMPUTING
LTD, P.O. Box 7, BIDEFORD,
Devon. Tel: 02372 4795
COMPUTECH SYSTEMS,
168 Finchley Road, LONDON,
NW36HF. Tel: 01 794 0202
CONQUEST COMPUTER SALES
LTD, 92 London Road, BENFLEET,
Essex. Tel: 03745 59861
CULLOVILLE LTD, Thornfield,
Woodhill Road, SANDON,
Chelmsford, Essex. Tel: 024 541 3919
DATA PROFILE, Lawrence Road,
Green Lane, HOUNSLOW,
Middlesex. Tel: 01 446 1917
DATA WARE, 48 Eaton Drive,
KINGSTON, Surrey KT2 7QX.
Tel: 01 546 2984
Icarus Computer Systems Ltd. Deane House 27 Greenwood Place London NW51NN Tel
DAYTA, 20h West Street, Wilton,
SALISBURY, Wilts, Tel: 0722 74 389»
DRAGON SYSTEMS LTD,
37 Walter Ruad, SWANSEA,
W. Glam. Tel: 0792 474498
DUPLEX COMMUNICATIONS,
2 Leire Lane. Dunton Bassett,
Lutterworth, LEICESTERSHIRE.
Tel: 0455 209131
ELSTREE COMPUTING LTD,
12 Elstree Way, BOREHAMWOOD,
Herts. Tel: 01 207 2000
ESCO COMPUTING LTD,
154 Cannongate, EDINBURGH.
Tel: 031 557 3937
ESCO COMPUTING LTD,
40a Gower Street, GLASGOW
G51 IPH. Tel: 041 427 5497
EFFICIENT BUSINESS SYSTEMS,
9 Clarence Street, BELFAST 1,
N, Ireland. Tel: 0232 647 538
EMTEK COMPUTERS LTD,
40 South Furzcham Road, BRIXHAM,
Devon. Tel: 08045 3566
FAST COMPUTING, 82 High Street,
HENLEY-IN-ARDEN, West
Midlands, Tel: 01 438 2813
B. FITTON, 97 Melbourne Road,
ROYSTON, Herts. Tel: 0763 41949
FOREST ROW COMPUTERS,
53 Freshficld Bank, FOREST ROW,
East Sussex. Te}: 034282 4397
J & F GROVER LTD, 10 Barley Mow
Passage. LONDON W'4 4PH.
fa. G1 44 647
G.LC.C., P.O. Box 519, Manama,
Bahrain,
JAEMMALTD, Unit 24. Lee Bank
House, Holloway Head, Lee Bank,
BIRMINGHAM. Tel: 021 643 1609
JENNINGS COMPUTER
SERVICES, 55/57 Fagley Road,
BRADFORD,
W. Yorks. Tel: 0274 637867
KENT BUSINESS SYSTEMS LTD,
85 High Street, Ramsgate, Kent.
Tel: 0843 687816.
LAWMAR BUSINESS SYSTEMS,
1 Paterson Drive, Woodhouse Eaves,
LOUGHBOROUGH, Leies.
Tul: 0509 890900
LONDON COMPUTER CENTRE,
43 Grafton Way, LONDON W1.
Tel: O1 388 5721
M.G. ENTERPRISES, 32 Ruc Victor
Hugo, 92800 Pureaux, France.
Tel; 0103315060655
MASS MICROS, Wellson House,
Brownfields, WELWYN GARDEN
CITY, Herts. Tel: 96 31736
MICROAGE LTD, 53 Acton Road,
LONG EATON, Nottinghamshire.
Tel: 06076 64264
MICROSERVE LTD, 811 Kennedy
Way, Pelham Road. IMMINGHAM.
fel: W409 72346
MICROCARE COMPUTING LTD,
18 Hawarden Road, NEWPORT,
Gwent. Tel: 0633 278040
MICROCOMPUTER
CONSULTANCY, Lyngen, Oldhill
Wood, Studham, DUNSTABLE,
Beds. Tel: 01 351 2488
NASTAR COMPUTER SERVICES
LTD, Ashton Lodge, Abercrombie St.,
CHESTERFIELD. Tel; 0266 207048
NICOMTECH LTD, The Oid Mill,
Anthony Passage, SALTASH,
Cornwall, Tel: 07555 2719
OMEGA ELECTRIC LTD,
Flaxlcy Mill, Flaxley Road,
MITCHELDEAN, Glos.
Tel: 045 276 532
PROTOCOL COMPUTER
PRODUCTS, 49 Beckenham Lunc,
Shortlands, BROMLEY, Kent.
RANMOR COMPUTING LTD,
* Nelson House, 2 Nelson Mews,
SOUTHEND-ON-SEA.
Tel: 0702 339262
ROGIS SYSTEMS LTD,
Keepers Lodge, Frittenden,
NR. CRANBROOK, Kent.
Tel: 058 080 310
For further details, or if youwant
Computer Systems Ltd.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
to become a dealer yourself, contact:
S.D.M. COMPUTER SERVICES,
Broadway, BEBINGTON, Merscyside
L63 SND. Tel: 05! 608 9365
SAPPHIRE SYSTEMS, 19-27 Kents
Hill Road, BENFLEET, Essex.
Tel: 03745 59756
SHEFFIELD COMPUTER
CENTRE, 227 London Road,
SHEFFIELD S2 4NF. Tel: 0742 53519
SISCO LTD, 4 Moorfields, LONDON,
EC2Y 9AA, Tel: 01 9200315
SORTFIELD LTD, E. Flour.
Milburn House, Dean Street,
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE
Tel: 0632 329593
SPOT COMPUTER SYSTEMS
LTD, New Street, Kelham Street
Indus. Estate, DONCASTER,
S. Yorks. Tel: 0302 25159
STAG TERMINALS LTD,
30 Church Road, Teddington,
“Middlesex. Tel: 01 943 0777
STUKELEY COMPUTER
SERVICES, Barnhil!. STAMVORD.
Lines. Tel: 0780 4947
TERMACRE LTD, 126 Worndiwurde
Rd., LONDON SE22 8TU.
Tel: 01 693 3037
THAMES VALLEY COMPUTERS,
10 Mapie Close, MAIDENHEAD,
Berks. Tel: 0628 23532
TURNKEY COMPUTER
TECHNOLOGY, 23 Calderglen Road,
St. Leonards, EAST KILBRIDE.
Tel: 03552 39466
WORD PERFECT, Old Town Hall,
Box 148, READING. Berkshire.
Tel: 0734 589068
: 01-485 5574 Telex: 264209
@Circle No. 141
69
Despite frequent complaints,
CP/M has so far remained the
premier Z-80 operating system.
David Watt assesses the virtues
of another contender.
FOR MICRO SYSTEMS Digital Research’s
CP/M is much the most popular single-
user operating system. It achieved this
enviable position by being the first oper-
ating system which was easily transport-
able to different hardware, having a re-
latively small portion called Bios which
needs to be rewritten for different sys-
tems.
Yet there are complaints about CP/M’s
difficulty of use, poor error reporting
and poor documentation. In the past 18
months, there has been considerable in-
terest in multi-user systems though MP
M, Digital Research’s answer to this de-
mand, has been fraught with difficulties.
As a result, some other operating systems
have begun to make their name in the
market, one of the most promising of
which is Oasis.
Oasis was developed as an operating
system for Z-80 systems by Phase One
Systems of Oakland, California. Phase
One, who was founded in 1977, now has
about 25 staff and sales of about $2.5
million a year.
The operating systems may be supplied
as a single-user or multi-user version.
both being completely compatible. In-
cluded with the operating system are the
following system development and sup-
port tools:
Exec — an interactive command language
interpreter
Table 1. Oasis commands.
Disc-maintenance system diagnostics
Archive Recover Memtest
Backup Repair Seek
Initdisc Restor Verify
Inittape
File maintenance
Assign Erase Peek
Attach FileList ‘ Rename
CopyFile GetFile Sectore
Create Kill Sort
DumpDisk List State
Edit Mount TextEdit
Program development and execution
Basic Filt8080 Macro
Debug Force Patch
Edit IntelHex Relocate
Exec Link Run
Communications Oasis parameter
maintenance
Bisync Account Show
Maslbox Change Spooler
Msg Load Start
Receive OwnerChange Stop
Send Set Sysgen
Terminal Share Unload
70
f
}e fp
wv
ey y
Basic — interpreter/compiler
Edit — a line-oriented editor
Script — a text-formatting utility
Comm — a suite of programs for communica-
tions between terminals or other systems
Macro and Link for assembler-language
programming
On initialising or booting the system,
from disc, the Nucleus, Command String
Interpreter device drivers and termina!
class files are loaded from disc. The Nuc-
léus is the core of Oasis, and handles the
basic tasks of job scheduling, interprocess |
communication, memory management
and file management.
The Command String Interpreter, CSI,
checks the syntax of commands and loads
and executes them. Table 1 lists the com-
mands available. In most cases only one
or two characters have to be typed, and
there is an integer calculator. It uses
reverse Polish notation, which means if
you want to perform an operation on two
numbers you have to type the two num-
bers first followed by the operand, thus
typing
123 456 +
gives the result 579. This may seem a bit
strange to use at first, but it is very simple
to implement and efficient in operation.
The device drivers contain the routines
to control input and output to the various
peripherals used by the system: discs, |
printers, tapes, terminals. With a very
diverse range of VDUs now available for
using with computer systems, problems |
| can arise if different types of VDU are
used on the same system. In many operii-
ting systems different drivers have to he
written for each VDU.
In Oasis a standard set of terminal
functions is defined and a set of para-
meterised terminal class files is provided
to set out the control character sequences |
used by different types of terminals.
When configuring the system you can use
|
&BegStack &lindex
&BegType &Len
&Cat &Line
&Control &Lit
&CRT &Null
&Page
&Quit
&Read
&Repeat
&Retcode
&Skip
&Space
&Stack
&Sub
&Typ
&Until
&Wait
&While
&End
&Error
&Esc
&Foto
&lf
Table 2. Exec keywords.
the Attach command to assign a class file
to a particular VDU. The Oasis manual
has a list of about 30 different class files.
although not all of them were supplied
with our evaluation system. The manual
describes how to set up new terminal
class files if there is more for your par-
ticular VDU.
When operating as a multi-user system,
different accounts may be set up for each
user of the system. Various levels of
security are provided. Files created by a
particular user belong to his account and
may not be accessed by other users unless
a file is designated as shareable, using the
command Share.
All files in the System account are
shareable but an account may be assigned
a privilege level in the range 0 to 5. Only
commands with a privilege level less than
or equal to the account privilege may be
used when in that account.
In order to use the system when in
multi-user mode, the user has to LogOn
to an account. An optional password may
be required when logging on. An asterisk
is displayed for each character of the
password as it is typed in. The LogOn
and LogOff commands may automati-
cally update a history file providing a
record of who is using the system.
The Z-80 processor can address 64K of
memory at one time. Multi-user systems
require more memory than this.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Auto
Bottom
Break
Change
Continue
Save
Step
Top
Trace
Trace Vars
Unbreak
Untrace
Vars
XRef
Load
Locate
LPList
LPXRef
Modify
Name
New
Quit
Renumber
Run
Delete
Help
indent
Length
List
Table 3. Oasis Basic commands.
Oasis is a bank-switching system. If
more than 64K of memory is available to
the system the first 16K is designated as
shareable, non-switching memory. This
contains the Nucleus plus certain re-
entrant programs which may be used by
all users.
Remaining memory is then split into |
separate banks; the total size of each |
bank plus shareable memory must not
exceed 64K. Individual banks may be
further split into smaller user partitions if
required. When a program is loaded it
remains permanently in memory, and
there is no need for programs to be
swapped out to disc.
Table 5. Oasis Basic functions.
Abs(N)
EXT$(A$,N1,N2)
Fix(N)
Float(N)
Format$(N,A$)
Hex(A$)
HexOf$(N)
INP
INS$(A$,N1,N2,B$)
Int(N)
Left$(A$,N)
Len(A$)
Line(N)
Log(N)
LPADS$(A$,N)
LRL(N1,N2)
LSL(N1,N2)
LTrim$(9$)
Asca$
AT$(N1,N2)
ATN(N)
Bin(A$)
BinOf$(N)
CHRS§(N)
COS(N)
CRTS(A$)
Date$(N)
Day(A$)
Del$(A$,N1,N2,B$)
DTES(A$)
EOF(N)
ERL
ERR
Exp(N)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
The system turns on each bank in turn
and executes a portion of code until
either a predetermined time has passed |
or an input or output task is initiated. |
Because the processor would normally be
idle during input or output it can be used
more efficiently, but it appears to end-
| user as though the system is working
exclusively on his task.
Four types of files are implemented by |
Oasis: sequential, direct, indexed and
keyed. The routines for handling these
files are contained within the Nucleus,
and are thus available to all programs
running under Oasis. Thus, indexed files
may be accessed by assembler or Basic
programs and are maintained in exactly
the same format. Oasis also features
automatic record locking and optional
file locking; again the Nucleus manages
these functions.
Indexed and keyed files are very simi-
lar in format. When adding a record, a
hashing algorithm is used on the key to
find the position in the file to write the
| record. If that position is already in use
the key is rehashed to find a new loca-
tion. A similar process is used when |
locating a record. Only one key is
allowed for a file, and that key may be up
to 128 characters long.
Indexed files differ from keyed files in
that each record has associated with it a
pointer to the next record in sequence.
This means records can be read in sequ-
ence, but makes the process of adding a
record slightly longer. Sequential access
can start from any point in the file even if
the first key specified is not found. The
hashing technique for indexed and keyed
files is reasonably efficient until the file
becomes 70 to 80 percent full, so it is best
to allocate extra space when creating the
files.
Indexed and keyed files may have a
key of up to 128 characters. The hashing
technique does not permit duplicate keys
— that is, two or more records in the
same file with identical keys — though
this can be simulated by adding a unique
code to the end of a key.
A comprehensive job-contro] lan-
guage, Exec, is provided with Oasis, It
aliows complex processes involving the
Match (A$,B$)
Max(N1,N2)
Mid$(A$,N1,N2)
Min(N1,N2)
Mod(N1,N2)
NBRA(AS)
Oct(A$)
OctOf$(N)
OVRS$(A$,N1,N2,B$)
Page(N)
Pi
RPad$(A$,N)
PRT$(N1,N$)
RTrim$(A$)
SCH(N1,A$,B$)
Sel(A$)
SGN(N)
Sin(N)
Space$(N)
SQR(N)
STRS(N)
Tan(N)
Time$(N)
Trim$(A$)
USR(N1,N2)
USRS$(N,A$)
Val(A$)
Pos(N)
Rep$(A$,N1,N2,B$)
Right(A$,N)
Rnd
Round(N1,N2)
Software review ===
lf-Then
Input
Let
Link
LInput
Mat
Mat Input
Mat Print
Mat Read
Mat Write
Mount
Next
On Error Goto
On Goto
On Gosub
Get Open
Device Option
Get Memory Otherwise Print
Get Port Print Using
Gosub Put Device
Goto Put Memory
Put Port
Quit
Randomize
Read
Read Next
Rem
Restore
Resume
Return
Run
Select
Sleep
Stop
Then
Wait
Wait Device
Wait Port
Wait Memory
Wend
While
Write
Case
Cend
Chain
Clear
Close
Common
CsI
Data
Def FN
Delete
DFM
Else
End
FNEnd
For
| Table 4. Oasis Basic statements.
use of several commands to be set up.
Exec features conditional execution,
branching, loops and the &CRT com-
mand to enable direct control of VDUs.
There are several Help facilities within
Oasis. When using the system com-
mands, Help may be used to list all the
commands available, or information may
be displayed on how to use a specific
command. Help is also available when
using the Basic interpreter to list the
Basic commands, statements and func-
tions. A useful feature when displaying
long lists is the VDU screen wait, which
occurs when a screenful of data has been
displayed: the system waits for the space
bar or Return key to be pressed before
displaying the next screen. This feature
can be switched on and off.
Basic is supplied as the standard high-
level language for use with Oasis. RMCo-
bol, Fortran 77 and Pascal compilers are
also available.
Oasis Basic is both an interpreter and
compiler, which means programs may be |
developed using the interpreter to give
flexibility of modification and ease of.
debugging. When programs are debug-
ged they may be compiled, making
them faster to run and more economical
with space on disc and in memory. Soft-
ware suppliers need not supply the source
code. One problem with this approach is
that it is possible to write larger programs
when they are compiled than when using
the interpreter, but in this case the inter-
preter may still be used to test portions of
the program.
Oasis Basic is a flexible implementa-
tion, whose features include multiple-line
user functions using the Def FN, FNEnd
combination; structured programming
constructs, including Case and While-
Wend; matrix input, output and assign-
ment; interfaces to assembler routines,
USR, and system commands, CSI; and
13-digit BCD arithmetic or floating-point
values in the range 10*!”¢ to 107'*°. The
commands, statements and functions pro-
(continued on next page)
71
rp
BM2
Interpreter using
floating-point variables
integer variables
Compiler using
floating-point variables
integer variables
9.3
6.2
6.8
4.2
BM3 BM4
26.0
14.1
29.1
14.1
21.8
Che}
24.8
9.6
Table 6. Kilobaud benchmarks for Oasis Basic on CIS 300.
(continued from previous page)
vided are listed in tables 3, 4 and 5.
The compiler seems to be reasonably
efficient, with 30 percent improvement in
timings obtainable when using integer
variables. Floating-point _ arithmetic
offers less of an improvement, averaging
around 15 percent. Results using the
Kilobaud benchmarks on a CCS 300
micro are shown in table 6.
Among the other useful facilities pro-
vided with Oasis is Edit, a flexible line-
oriented editor whose commands include
Modify, which allows a line to be edited |
_ are provided it is quite easy to find what
on a character-by-character basis. You
can move the cursor along the line, insert-
ing or deleting characters as you go.
Many of Edit’s commands are also avail-
able when using the Basic interpreter to
type in programs. ]
Script is the text-formatting processor
which is provided for word-processing
applications. Combined with a screen-
oriented editor like Magic Wand this
would make a very useful system for
word processing.
Communications are provided in the
shape of Bisync, an IBM 2780/3780 emu-
lator, MSG and Mailbox for sending mes-
sages to other users, and Receive, Send
and Terminal for emulating a terminal to
another system.
The documentation for Oasis is sup-
plied in a single manual split into sections
covering an introduction to the system
and the system commanus Exec, Basic,
Edit, Script, the communications prog-
rams, Macro, and the link editor Link. It
is well laid out, and though no indexes
| you want. The manual always explains
computer terms when they need to be
used but avoids the tiresome jokey style
of some micro documentation.
Phase One has recently announced
Oasis 16 for the new 16-bit systems; C is |
also available, as Oasis 16 is being written
in this language. There are one or two
8086-based systems with Oasis 16 already |
implemented, and there are expected to
be more by the end of the year. A version
for 68000-based systems is expected early
in 1983. Oasis 16 will complement the
existing operating system offering up-
wards compatibility from Z-80 systems.
Conclusions
@ Oasis is a very flexible system. There
are a considerable number of options in
the way the system may be set up. The
terminal class files are a very good idea, as
they enforce consistent approach to hand-
ling terminal functions and make it easier
to attach different terminals to the system.
@ The routines to control disc-file hand-
ling are all part of the Nucleus, not the
various languages available. So a file writ-
ten by an assembler program could be
read by a Basic program. Index sequential
and keyed files are implemented, and file
and automatic record locking are avail-
able. The index sequential access method
used is based on using hash tables rather
than the now more popular balanced tree
Structures, and does not permit multi-key
files, or records with duplicated keys.
Oasis 16, when it is implemented, will
feature balanced-tree indices with these
options.
@ Oasis is certainly transportable, and is
available on at least 20 Z-80-based sys-
tems including Altos, California Compu-
ter Systems, Cromemco, Godbout.
Morrow Thinker Toys, North Star,
Onyx, TRS 80 mode! II, and Vector
Graphics. |
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To support the product ACT has atruly professional network of
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@ Circle No. 146
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@ Circle No. 147
76 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Machine intelligence"
Undue awe characterises attitudes towards programming for artificial |
intelligence, argues Mike Costello. Using the game of ‘‘eights”’ as an example
he sets up a truly interactive game from a series of simple subroutines.
Basic steps
towards
intelligent
programming
MANY MICRO OWNERS who are still feel-
ing their way around Basic may think that
the subject of artificial intelligence pro-
gramming is altogether too esoteric for
them. The logic of such programs must
surely be very complex; they are usually
written is assembly language and in any
case they demand massive amounts of |
memory.
Although some AI programs conform
to this description, the reality is that
Basic is a suitable language for most Al
applications. Memory capacity is not
likely to be a handicap, and the logic of
the programs is straightforward once the
underlying principles are grasped. Every- |
thing depends on how you define artifi-
cial intelligence, of course, but a good
working definition is a program which
can carry out a “conversation” with a
human player through the medium of a
keyboard, giving intelligent responses to
cues albeit within a strictly defined area
of competence.
Chess problems
Much of the responsibility for the un-
necessary awe in which AI programming
is held can be attributed to the game of
chess, or rather those who for many years
now have been attempting to write chess- |
playing programs. The consensus is that
chess is the most advanced of all games
and that a program which simulates a
human chess player will be the most
convincing example of machine intelli-
gence.
There is no agreed definition of intelli-
gence, but it would generally be accepted
that the complexity of chess lies in the
need to look many moves ahead. Since
there is only a negligible chance element
in the game, and all the relevant cir- |
cumstances which will affect both players
ure known to them in advance, the best |
chess program would have to look an
infinite number of moves ahead. Clearly |
| working out general rules of strategy that
the computer can apply in order to
shorten its search through the enormous
number of possible, moves.
It is questionable whether this activity
| can teach anything about the nature of |
| games in general. The number of games
in which there is no chance element is
| actually quite small — you would have to
exclude all card games, for example. |
Equally, there are very few games in
which it is possible to look more than a
few moves ahead. Many games involve
an element of bluff, which means that the
opponeént’s state of mind must be con-
sidered; and there will be: occasions —
during a Poker game, for example —
optimal way in order to deceive your
opponent, for the sake of a gain to be
made later.
Eights is an excellent little two-player
card game played with a standard 52-card
deck. The dealer gives seven cards to
each player. The non-dealer can discard
any card, and the dealer then has to play
a card which is either of the same suit or
the same denomination. The non-dealer
| denomination as dealer’s card, and so on.
Rules of the game
If a player does not have a playable
card, he must draw from the pack until he
finds a card he can play. He is not
the player who gets rid of all his cards
first. The winner scores for the cards in
his opponent’s hand, scoring most for
cards of a high denomination. The only
complication is that al] 8s are wild: an 8
Listing 1.
15 CLEAR 300: DEFSTR A-L: DEFINT M-Z
this is an impossibility, and more recent
work in this area has concentrated on |
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
OM: VS=1:
340
S$8=210:
$7=274: RN=100: RM=51i
when you may decide to play in a non- |
then plays a card of the same suit or |
| compelled to stop drawing as soon as he |
finds such a card, but the game is won by |
can always be played, and the player
stipulates the suit of the card that must be
played on to it.
Although the rules are so simple, there |
| 1s aconsiderable amount of skill in eights.
Making the machine play intelligently |
turned out to be rather more difficult
than expected. In particular, it was hard
to give the program enough flexibility in
| its strategy to cope with different human
opponents using different kinds of
strategy. The solution was to incorporate
| an element of ‘bluff’: the machine had
to confuse and, if possible, mislead the
player as to the kind of cards it was
currently holding in its hand.
String variables
The listings, which are in TRS-80
Basic, show the part of the program
which enables the machine to play intel-
ligently against ahuman. Listing | sets up
the initial values and storage areas for
data within the program. There are 300
bytes set aside for string storage, after
which all variables beginning with letters
from M to Z will be regarded as integers,
and all the others are defined as string |
variables.
A large number of arrays are defined, |
since using arrays freely is one of the
secrets of writing this sort of program —
though it does presuppose that you have |
no problems with shortage of memory.
The first three arrays are used only to
shuffle the cards at the start of each
game. Array P should be thought of as a
| sheet of paper, ruled with horizontal and
vertical lines. This ‘sheet’? contains 13
rows and four columns. It is used to hold
the cards currently in the player’s hand
during the game, a number which can
never exceed 52, the maximum capacity
of the array.
‘The advantage of using a two-dimen-
sional array with 52 elements is that the
machine can figure out what kind of card |
is stored in a particular location in this
array just by being told where it is. The
columns correspond to suits, and the
rows to denominations. Rows 0, 1, 2 and
3 hold clubs, diamonds, hearts and
spades, respectively.
If the player decides to play the king ot
diamonds, for example, the machine
should go to row 13, column 1 of the
array. If a positive value is stored there,
the machine knows that the player is
(continued on page 79)
pYeh oe
20 DIM M(S1)+ MTCSL)+ MM(100)+ PC 1213) T(12;3)+ Q(3), QS(3), QT(3)» QD(3): RAND
77
—— Test- drive your software
)
cso
THE PORTPVARE
WUSINUAL WAIN
Youcan buy software without trying it fist...
The trouble is — sometimes it doesn't meet your particular needs.
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When it comes to purchasing software, the list of pitfalls is endless. GRACO CLIC IR hak hd Oday: 9 SOOO CORE OOR GY 2]
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VAT
78 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
(Perhaps
rapes Put
ihe ie einese
pe
All the above prices exclude VAT.
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~ tally of the number of hands played so far
(continued from page 77)
actually holding that card, and the card
can be played. The positive value is re-
placed with a zero, signifying that the
player will be unable to play that card
again.
Array T represents cards in the
machine’s hand. The Q series of arrays
are used by the machine to work out the
best card to play next, and can be a little
confusing if the distinctions between
them are not kept clear. Each array can
hold values corresponding to the four
suits, as follows:
Q holds the current total number of cards in the
discard pile for each suit.
QS holds the current total number of cards in the
machine's hand for each suit.
QTisusedfortemporarystorageofthevaluesfrom
QS during computation.
QDlocations willeach always hold one orzero. For
example, a one in location 0 means that the
machine has a club of the same denomination
as the card just played by the player; a zero
would mean no such match. The machine uses
thisinformation when deciding whether itis best
to playacard of the same suitas the card led, or
whether it is better to swltch suits.
Improving procedure
The Random statement in line 20 tells
the machine to improve its procedure for
choosing random numbers. Random
numbers have to be picked out when
shuffling the cards; a version of Basic
with such a statement will, ail things
being equal, be better at picking genu-
inely random numbers than one without.
The other variable values set in line 20
refer to screen locations for the Print@
statement, the shuffling routine and the
in the game, VS.
In the full listing for the game of eights,
a few lines print an introductory title on
the screen. They are followed by a
routine to shuffle the deck before dealing
the first hand, that is by loading array M
with 52 specific values in a genuinely
random order — listing 2.
Line 100 uses four-digit numbers
to store both the suit and the de-
nomination of cards in each location of
the array; the ASCII values for S, H, D
and C are 83, 72, 68 and 67, respectively.
The idea is to get the first two digits of the
four-digit number, and print the CHR$
representation of them on the screen to
show the suit. The final two digits, in the
range 1 to D give the denomination.
Temporary array
Although this method works, it is not
essential to store the information this
way. Line 100 and the subroutine at 150)
store the 52 values in a temporary arrav
MT and then go into a loop which will
“throw” the values into a larger, inter-
mediate array MM at randomly chosen
locations. Line 120 then picks the values
out of MM one by one, and transfers
them to the final array M from where |
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Listing 2.
60 CLS: PRINT@254)
80 °
100 X=O: ¥2=6701: COSUB 150+ Y2=6801:
GSUB 150: FGR X=O TO Si: YSeMT(X)
105 ‘
£110 Y6=RND(100):
115 °
120 NEXT: "Y6=0: FOR X=1 TO 100:
Machine intelligence
GOSUB 150: Y2=7201:
IF MM(X)=0 THEN NEXT ELSE
“A MOMENT WHILE I SHUFFLE ...»
GOSUB150; Y2=8301; G
IF MM(Y6))O0 THEN 110 ELSE MM(Y6)=YS
MCYG)=MM(X): YO=
130 GOTO 200: REMARK: CONTROL PASSES TO RULES-DISPLAY ROUTINE
140 ’
150 FOR Y=¥2 TO Y2+12: MT(X)=¥:
X=Xe1:
they can be picked out as the machine
“deals” cards.
Three arrays are used for shuffling.
The problem in writing this routine is that
it is really an inverse sort. There are
plenty of routines to sort numbers in
arrays, but routines to start with sorted
numbers and mix them up are a rarity.
You could dispense with the MM array
altogether and transfer numbers from
MT to M, but before putting a number in
a randomly chosen location in M, the
program must make a check that it has
not already put one there. It tests for the
presence of a value greater than zero ina
location, and if it finds one, goes away
and picks another at random.
Towards the end of the process,
however, most of the array locations have
been filled and the machine can spend an
excessive time looking for a location that
is still empty. The solution used was to
transfer the numbers to MM, which has
201 locations, so that the machine would
not waste much of its time addressing
locations already filled — only about half
the locations are filled at the end of the
routine. The values are then moved from
MM to the more compact M array one by
one, ignoring the many zero locations in
Dealing the cards
Once the 52 cards are sitting in M the
first seven can be picked out and dealt to
the player; the next seven are then picked
out and given to the machine. On the
TRS-80 display the machine’s cards are
shown as seven graphics blocks along the
top of the screen, with more room for
drawn cards later if necessary.
The player’s cards are sorted into suits
and then displayed in ascending numeri-
cal order, using an A to represent an ace,
and so on. A little picture of the rest of
the pack is drawn, showing an empty
frame where the discards are going to
appear.
It is worth noting that these routines
took at least as long to write as the Al
section of the coding. The program aims
for maximum “‘user-friendliness”, which
is always desirable, but is also very time-
consuming.
The method chosen for storjng in-
formation makes it easy to write coding
that will allow the machine to make in-
telligent decisions. Thus one major prob-
lem of AI programming has already been
overcome, namely, how to translate the
| corresponds
|
NEXT: RETURN
information that the machine needs in
order to make its decisions into numeric
values which the machine can easily
access.
The machine’s decisions must now be
broken down into a series of steps, each
one of which can then be translated into
One or two program lines. This part of the
program can be drafted in advance using |
pseudo-code, which is an intermediate
step between ordinary English and the
Basic program listing itself, and the
pseudo-code for the AI ingredient of
the eights program is shown in figure 1.
This is not necessarily the best way of
preparing to write a program. Much de-
pends on the working habits of the indi-
vidual programmer, but it is worth con-
sidering as a way of preparing for the job
of writing the coding itself.
Play routine
The pseudo-code assumes that when
the routine is used by the machine, the
human opponent has just played a card
and the machine must decide what re-
sponse to give. The first step is to check
whether the machine has some card in
another suit of the same denomination as
the card just played. The denomination
_ of that card is stored as the variable WD,
varying from 1 to D. The machine also
knows the array address of the player’s
card: WC corresponds to the column in
the P array for cards of that suit, and PD
to the row for that
denomination.
The machine will make a special check
to see if the card is an 8; if it is, there is no
point in wasting time looking for cards in
other suits since the player can dictate the
suit that must be played on to an 8.
Otherwise, look for matching denomina-
tions in other suits in order to establish
the full range of cards held by the
machine which could legally be played.
If the routine finds that the machine
has a choice of suits, the next thing to do
is to establish the longest such suit. The
machine will always choose to play from
its longest suit if possible since its oppo-
nent will probably have to respond with
another card of the same suit.
It may be that the machine’s preferred
suit is the suit of the led card anyway,
either because it is also the machine’s
longest suit or because it does not have
any matching denominations. In that case
all that remains is to pick the highest
(continued on next page)
79
(continued from previous page)
denomination in that suit, since the
machine wants to get rid of high-value
cards which would count in favour of a
winning opponent. The machine always
saves up 8s for emergencies.
The routine for finding the highest card |
in a given suit works by a For-Next loop
| which counts down through the array
| column backwards, jumping back to the
main routine when it finds a positive
value. The same routine can be used even
if the machine turns out to have no cards
in that suit; in that case, control returns
from the routine with the counter vari-
able set at —1.
If this has happened and the machine
cannot switch to another suit it has to
consider whether it has any 8s.
Otherwise it will have to draw a card,
and control passes to the appropriate
routine. If it does, it has to weigh up the
advantages of playing the 8 on the one
hand — getting rid of another card and
being able to force the suit to be played
on to it — and choosing to draw on the
other hand, keeping the wild card for a
rainy day.
This decision needs a separate routine,
which checks things like how many cards
the human player still holds and how
many cards are left in the pack. If the
machine decides to draw, it will be sent to
the card-drawing routine with instruc-
tions to draw up to a specified number of
cards. If it has not found a playable card
by then it gives up and plays with its 8
anyway.
If the machine plays an 8, it still has to
decide what suit to force to follow it, and
the routine for this uses the “weighing
factors” that are a feature of AI theory.
Listing 3.
6000 FD=WD-2:
3: Y=TC(PD,+TC): IF Y)O THEN QD(TC)=1:
NG DENOMINATIONS IN OTHER SUITS (UNLESS FOLLOWING 6,
THE FORCED SUIT)
6010 It X= THEN 6400: REMARK: WE JUMP TO 6400 IF THE MACHINE CANNOT MATCH THE D
ENOMINATION OFTHE CARD LED
6015 *
6020 GOSUB 7010+ REMARK+ ON RETURN FROM THIS SUBROUTINE WE HAVE STORED THE LENG
TH OF EACH SUIT HELD BY THE MACHINE IN THE ARRAY QS
6025 °
6030 FuR X=0 TO 3: IF GD(X)=0 AND X()WC THEN QS(X)=G: NEXT ELSE NEXT: REMARK: TH
IS TELLS THE MACHINE TO IGNORE SUITS WITHOUT MATCHING DENOMINATIONS BY NULLING
THE VALUE IN QS
6035 ¢
6040 GOSUBR 86001 REMARK: ON RETURN: X3 HAS A VALUE EQUAL TO THE COLUMN IN THE T
ARRAY FROM WHICH THE MACHINE WILL PLAY ITS CARD
6045 ¢
6050 IF X3=WC THEN 4100: REMARK: TESTING TO SEE IF THE MACHINE‘’S PREFERRED SUIT
IS THE SAME AS THE PLAYER’S LED SUIT
6055 ‘
6060 TC=X3: TR=PDs GOTO 8000; REMARK: MACHINE‘’S CHOSEN SUIT IS IN X3 AND THE DEN
OMINATION IS THE SAME AS THAT OF THE PLAYER‘S CARD
6065 *
6100 GOSUB 7030 :TC=X3: TRaX: GOTO 8000: REMARK:
ND THE HIGHEST CARD (OTHER THAN AN 8) IN THE CORRECT SUIT.
THE DENOMINATION
6995 ¢
6400 X3=WC: REMARK: WE DON’T HAVE THE SAME DENOMINATION IN ANOTHER SUIT» OR WE
ARE FOLLOWING AN 8 WHICH FORCES A PARTICULAR SUIT. LOOK FOR A CARD IN THAT SUIT
IF WD=8 THEN 6400 ELSE FOR X=O TO 3: QD(X)=0:NEXT:X#0O: FOR TC=0 TO
X=X+1:NEXTELSE NEXT:REMARKs NOTE ANY MATCHI
THEN ONLY WANT TO LOOK AT
ON RETURN FROM 7030 WE HAVE FOU
X3=THE SUIT AND X=
6405 ’
6410 COSUE 7030: REMARK:
6415 ‘
6420 If X=-1 THEN 6440: REMARK:
PT PERHAPS AN &
6425 ‘
6430 TR=X3 TC=WC: GOTO 8000: REMARK: PLAY THE CHOSEN CARD WHICH IS IN THE LED S
UIT
6435 ‘
6440 FOR X8=O0 TO 3: IF T(7+X8))0 THEN 6460 ELSE NEXT: REMARK:
EATER THAN ZERO WE HAVE AN 8 AND JUMP TO 6460
6445’
6450 GOTO 7600: REMARK:
6455 *
6460 U6=0:
1 IF US=0 GOSUB 7400:
ON RETURN, X= THE HIGHEST CARD) WHICH IS NOT AN 8
WE HAVE NO CARDS IN THE LED OR FORCED SUIT EXCE
IF THE VALUE IS GR
WE CAN‘T PLAY A CARD SO WILL HAVE TO DRAW ONE
IF U=1 THEN TC=X8: TR=7: GOTO 8000 ELSE GOSUB 7300: XF#Xx3: GOSUB 6490
TC=X8: TR=7; GOTO 8000 ELSE US=x8: GOTO 74600
Machine intelligenc’====
4465 ’
6490 IF PU(4 RETURN ELSE IF Z)45RETURN ELSE U8=INT(52-Z)/4:U7=0: U6=1:
The machine is looking for suits in which
cards are scarce from the player’s point of
view but are plentiful in the machine’s |
hand.
It therefore scores, say, 20 for a card of
a particular suit in its hand, and also
scores, say, 4 for a card of that suit in the
discards, since that indicates that there
Figure 1. Intelligent elements of program for eights.
Denomination in WD. Address is P(PD,WC)
if the card is an 8, player has forced us to play a given suit (WC) so go straight to routine
A
— else go through machine’s cards noting any matching denoms
if none, go to routine A
— else find out how many cards in each eligible suit
— then select the longest suit
if longest eligible suit or only eligible suit is led suit we can play any denom, so pick
highest non-8 and go to card-play routine
— else we can only play the one card, the matching denom, so go straight to card-play
routine
ROUTINE A
looking for cards in a particular suit
if any, choose highest and go to card-play routine
— else have we got any 8s?
— if not go to card-draw routine
— else decide whether playing or drawing up to specified number of cards first
if playing, go to card-play routine
— else go to card-draw routine with specified number
CARD/PLAY ROUTINE
play the card: if it is an 8, note the suit we are forcing rather than the suit we are playing;
print a special message if we are playing our last card and it is an 8; else note that it
is the player's turn next, and return from the Al section of coding
80
| from the machine. A human player has —
RETURN
are fewer cards of that suit available to
the player. After totting up the.score for
each suit, one suit emerges with the high-
est score, and that is the one to force.
The two weighting factors are different
because holding a card of a suit is more
important than knowing that the human |
opponent is unlikely to hold one; in prac-
tice, both values are likely to be altered |
during testing, to produce optimum play
much more trouble remembering the dis-
cards, of course, so the machine can be
expected to be rather good at selecting
just the right suit to force.
With this explanation in mind, the
reader should be able to follow the actual
program listing — listing 3. Lines 6020
and 6030 carry out the job of finding suits
which have playable cards, either because
they have matching denominations or
correspond to the led suit. The specified
number of cards the machine is prepared
_ to draw before falling back on its 8 is
calculated in line 6490, and so on. The
plethora of Gosub calls tidies away all the
procedures the machine has to go
through to achieve its results into sepa-
| rate chunks of coding, leaving the main
routine from 6000 to 6490 showing the
flow of logic summarised in the p-code.
The subroutines themselves are shown
in listing 4. The card-draw routine loops
around indefinitely looking for a playable
card, but always checking that it has not
reached the end of the deck, Z = 52, and
that the number of cards it is allowed to
(continued on page 83)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
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82
@ Circle No. 151
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
(continued from page 80)
draw, U7, has not reached the maximum.
U8.
The program makes its decisions so fast
that delay loops must be inserted into the
program. Otherwise the player becomes
bewildered by the screen display, which
shows drawn cards appearing in the
machine’s hand, the machine’s comments
as it is playing, and so on.
When testing the program I generally
played the machine to a draw, yet
another player managed to beat it every
time. At this stage the program did not
include the routines which allow the
machine to hold on to an 8 and draw from
the pack instead of using the 8 up. I
generally played an 8 rather than draw-
ing, and I had unwittingly designed this
thing in my own image, giving it my own
strategy which turned out not to be the
best.
The missing routines were therefore
added. and the program is now much
Listing 4.
better able to cope with different play
strategies from different human oppo-
nents, although of course it does not
actually learn from experience. The
effect of these routines is to make it much
more difficult for the human player to
guess what the machine holds in its hand,
as the signals given by the machine con-
cerning cards played and number of cards
drawn are now often misleading.
There should be little difficulty in
adapting the listings here for other
dialects of Basic, such as the 8K ZX-81.
One obvious point is that arrays start
from 1 not 0 on the ZX-81, so you will
need to store denominations in rows 1 to
D rather than 0 to C. This actually makes
the coding much easier because, for
example, the denomination, WD, can
also be used for the array address, PD,
rather than always having to subtract 1.
Local variable types may have to be used
if there is no type declaration facility but
as a bonus full-length variable names can
6499 KEMARK: ROUTINE TO BUILD UP VALUES IN Q@S
7000 GOSUB 7010: GOSUB 8600: GOSUB 7030: GOSUB 7050: TR=X:
7905 “
7010 FOR X=0 TO 3: QS(X)=0:;:
O ELSF IF T(TR+TC))O GOSUB 7025
7020 NEXT: NEXT: RETURN
7025 QS(TC)=QS(TC)+1: RETURN
7029 REMARK:
7030 FUR X=12 TO O STEP-1:
7040 NEXT: RETURN
7049
7050
NT@SA,
7299
7300
NEXT:
20):
7305
7306
7307
Q(X3)=G(X3)4+1:
CHARS (WS);
XL=T(X,X3):
FOR 2Z=0 TO 3: @S(22)=O: NEXT:
VC= (443) #5)4+(QS (3)*20)
IF @S(0)=0 THEN VS=0
IF Q@8(1)=0 THEN VH=0
IF Q@S(2)=90 THEN VD=0
7308 IF @S(3)=0 THEN VC=0
7309 REMARK:
S SAY
7310
7320
7330
7350
7399 REMARK: ROUTINE TO PLAY AN 8
7400 IF U=1 THEN FRINT@384, "I’M AFRAID MY
THEN J=CS ELSE IF X3=1 THEN J=C6é ELSE IF
7410 FPRINT@384, “I'M GOING TO FLAY AN & -
CHR#(30)+; PRINT@896, "NOTE THIS SUIT,
: GOSUB 16000: FRINT@384, CHRS$(216)3:
GOSUB 8600:
RETURN
REMARK:
NEXT: VS=(Q(0) *5)+(QS(0) #20): VH=(Q(1)#5)+(QS(1)#20):
DON’T FORCE A SUIT MACHINE IS VOIN IN+
Ik ZY¥=7 OR T(Z¥+ZZ)=0 RETURN ELSE @S(ZZ)=QS(ZZ)+1:
THEN PRESS ANY KEY";:
PRINTES896, CHRS (30) 5 s PRINT@9607 C978:
TC=X3; RETURN
NEXT: FOR TC=0 TO 3: FOR TR=O TO 12:1F TR=7 THEN 702
ROUTINE TO FIND HIGHEST CARD -
IF X=7 THEN 7040 ELSE IF T(X»+X3))0 THEN RETURN
REMARK: ROUTINE TO DISPLAY PLAYED CARD (CALLED BY LINE 8000)
T(X+X3)20;
Y5=WD: GOSUBE 2300:FRINT@S7,;" “i:
Y=XL: GOSUB 2550: PRINT@S8&;" “i:
PRINT#S7+Fi: RETURN
PRI
REMARK: ROUTINE TO WEIGHT SUIT VALUES
FOR 2Z=0 TO 3: FOR ZY=0 TO 12: GOSUB 7350:
VB=(Q(2)#*5)+(QS(2)#
WHATEVER THEWEIGHTING FACTOR
Q@S(O)=VSs G@S(1)=VH: Q@S(2)=VD: Q@S(3)=VC
COME BACK WITH THE CORRECT SUIT TO FORCE = x3
RETURN
LAST CARD‘’S AN 8";:RETURN ELSE IF X3=0
X3=2 THEN J=C7 ELSE J=C8
YOU WILL HAVE TO PLAY “Ji:
PRINT@960>
PRINT#832,
CHR$ (30);
RETURN
7599 REMARK: ROUTINE TO DRAW CARDS UNTIL PLAYABLE CARD FOUND OR OTHER CONDITIONS
MET
7600 IF Z=52 GOTO 8500 ELSE PRINTI9384,“"
1: U7=U7 +1:
UB 10500: REMARK: AT THIS POINT WD=DENOM.
761060 GOSUB 2600: REMARK: TC NOW HAS VALUE
7620 T(WD-1,TO)=¥: U=U+l:
INE’S HAND
7630 IF WD=8 OR WD-1=PD OR TC=WC THEN 7650: REMARK:
ISCARE
+a GOSUB 7700: GOSUB16100: Y=M(Z):
GOSUB 2550; PRINT@384,CHRS(30);:IF Z=47 GOSUB 246000 ELSE IF Z=52G60S
Z=Z+
AND WS=SUIT
FROM @ TO 3
GOSUB 2100s REMARK: DRAWN CARD HAS BEEN STORED IN MACH
7650 IF IT CAN BE USED AS D
7640 IF U6=0 THEN 74600 ELSE IF U7(=U8 THEN 7600 ELSE X3=XF: GOSUB 7400: TC=US: T
R=7: GOTO 8000
7650 IF WD=8 THEN XT=X:
7400: TR=7: GOTO 8000 ELSE TR=WD-1:
E IS FORCING IF PLAYING AN 6,
FIFO REM# «6H ETE EEE EE
7995
8000
GOTO
PRINT@384,
4=0: R6=0
8010 U6=0: X=TR:
PRINT8384, “I WIN WITH AN 8! “Tae
F: RETURN ELSE RETURN
BOLL REM 4 96 163058 9 $6 9696 96 0 9 EE EEE EE
8499 REMARK:
8500 R&6=R6+41:
8599 REMARK:
IN X3
8600 IF @S(0)>=QS(1) THEN X1=O ELSE X1=1
8610 IF GS(X1))=GS(2) THEN X2=XLELSE X2=2
8620 IF QS(X2))=@QS(3) THEN X3=X2ELSE X3=3
8630 RETURN
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
TT=TC: GOSUB 7010:
X3=TC: GOSUB 7050: U=U-1:
X=XT: TC=TT: GOSUB 7300: XF=X3: GOSUB
8000: REMARK: NOTE THE SUIT THE MACHIN
FLSE JUST PLAY IT
REMARK: ROUTINES IN LISTING 3 JUMP HERE
“HERE‘S MY DISCARD ,..."F:
GOSUB 16100; PRINT@384, CHR$(216)8: S
GOSUB 2100: R=O: IF TR=7 AND U=O0 THEN
GOSUB 16200: RETURN ELSE IF TR=7 THEN TC=X
ROUTINE CALLED WHEN MACHINE CAN’T PLAY ONE AND PACK IS EMPTY
IF R6=2 THEN 19900 ELSE PRINT#@384,"I CAN’ T GO;
"3: GOSUB 16100: GOSUB 16100; FRINT@384,CHRS(30);:
YOU TRY TO PLAY ONE
R=0: TR=PD: TC=WC: RETURN
ROUTINE TO FIND SUIT WITH MOST CARDS IN AND STORE ITS ARRAY COLUMN
Machine intelligence=== _
Arrays, string storage, variable storage,
1,600 bytes
4,300 bytes
1,300 bytes
run-time allocation
Titles and rules text
Screen formatting
Handling user-input
and user-proofing
All.
End-of-hand and
end-of-game routines
Subroutines common to
several areas ofthe coding 1,100 bytes
Total about 13,300 bytes
1,600 bytes
2,300 bytes
1,100 bytes
Memory requirements of eights program.
be employed, making it much easier to
trace the flow of the program from the
- actual listing.
Multi-statement lines will, of course,
have to be broken up into separate lines,
although you may be able to acquire a
machine-code utility that allows multi-
statement lines, which certainly speeds
things up. You do have to be careful
when dealing with long lines involving the
Else statement, not available in all
Basics.
Line 6460 sends control in one of a
number of different directions, depend-
ing on what conditions are fulfilled. It can be
rewritten as single-statement lines, each of
which repeats the same test. It cannot be
assumed, however, that all possible con-
ditions are covered in a line of this struc-
ture. There may be a default condition
dealt with in the next line. and control
| drops through to it if none of the Else-If
conditions are met.
Apart from this, the statements used in
the program should correspond to state-
ments available in the Basics of most
popular models of microcomputer. The
Radio Shack Basic which Microsoft wrote
for the TRS-80 four years or so ago was
one of its earliest and most thorough
attempts, and most of the Basics that
have become available since then are
subset of this original version. It is a
different story with hardware-dependent
features like screen formatting state-
ments which vary from one model to
another.
Finally, some Basics are more lax
about details than others. For example,
the ZX-81 insists on the use of Let in
assignment statements, and lines like
2 IF X=1 THEN 3000
should be rewritten
IF X=1 THEN GOTO 3000
Users of non-Microsoft Basics like the
Atom are probably already used to trans-
lating program listings into their own
dialect. Whatever hardware you are using
it would be wise to make a preliminary
estimate of the memory consumption of
the whole program, which is considerably
more than that required for the AI
routines themselves.
A tape of the complete program is
available from Entersoft, PO Box 22,
Droitwich, Worcestershire, WR9 9H/J. It
is currently available in a TRS-80 version.
and is being rewritten for the ZX-81. [J -
83
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84 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
—
Machine intelligence ==="
Morse code translated
pattern recognition
THE RADIO AMATEUR, unlike computer
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gage in this pursuit. Although anyone
may receive broadcasts on the amateur
bands, an amateur licence must be
obtained in order to transmit. There are
two classes of amateur licence. The class
B licence is available only to those who
have learned sufficient about the hobby
to pass a multiple-choice examination
helé@ by the City and Guilds of Lon-
don Institute. With such a licence the
amateur may transmit speech on the
144MHz amateur band or higher-fre-
quency amateur bands.
Restriction to these bands effectively
rules out long-range intercontinental con-
tacts, commonly known as DXing. To
operate on the lower-frequency amateur
bands where DX contacts are more com-
mon a class A licence must be obtained
and in order to do so the amateur must
have passed the Home Office test in
morse.
Send and receive
In the test, 36 words averaging five
letters per word must be sent, and 36
words received in two periods of three
minutes each. Up to four errors are per-
mitted in the copy received and up to four
corrections may be made while sending;
there must be no uncorrected errors in
sending. In addition, 10 groups of five
figures must be sent and 10 groups copied
in two periods of 1.5 minutes each. A
maximum of two receiving errors is per-
mitted in this section, and up to two
corrections made while sending.
Many amateurs refuse or fall at this
hurdle who are determined to gain access
to the more interesting amateur bands.
Others are prepared to expend vast
amounts of time and money attempting
to learn the code to the required level of
proficiency.
Morse tutors have been available com-
mercially for many years, and include
simple records of morse code which the
learner plays first at, say, 33rpm, and
later at say 45rpm. Besides having to
cope with the resulting change in pitch,
the learner may be learning the particular
messages on the record rather than the
code itself.
Recently, dedicated electronic devices
have been built to generate bursts of
random morse for the learner to decode.
Since the characters generated are not
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Christopher Dracup and
Derek Wakelin show how
a microcomputer program
can encode and decode
morse, and act as a morse
code tutor. The basic rule
is that a Dah or dash
should be three times the
length of a Dit or dot.
displayed, it is not possible to check the
accuracy of the learner’s performance.
Microcomputer programs have been writ-
ten to replace these tutors but are little
more than replicas of the commercial
morse tutors.
All these have certain limitations:
@ They are generated without any knowledge
of human learning and hence cannot claim
to be designed to maximise learning. In
particular they disregard the importance of
feedback.
@ They do. not give the learners an opportun-
ity to create their own morse and have it
decoded in order to check that recognisable
morse is being produced.
This ‘program attempts to overcome
these limitations. In it the learner has a
choice of four options, to be selected
depending on skill and whether morse is
to be encoded or decoded.
Learning mode
Option 1 is used for learning the code.
The learner.presses the key of any letter
or number, and the machine produces the
appropriate morse. The program uses the
Get command of the Pet, allowing the
learner to enter characters into the input
buffer ahead of the morse produced.
Words are separated by using the space
bar.
A friend with no knowledge of morse
could help the learner by typing in a
message on the keyboard. The Pet con-
verts it into morse and the learner can try
to decode it. All letters are displayed on
the screen so that the subject can check
performace later. This part of the pro-
gram could be made to operate a relay
actually keying a transmitter, thus allow-
ing even a relatively inexperienced class
A licence holder to be certain of sending
good morse.
In option 2, which is designed to im-
prove speed, the machine produces
| morse code corresponding to a randomly
| selected letter and waits for the learner to
press the appropriate key on the Pet.
After a key is pressed, the correct letter is
displayed on the screen. If the correct key
is pressed within a preselected time the
-machine confirms the choice and the
probability of the machine presenting this
character in future is decreased.
If the correct key is pressed, but after
the time limit has elapsed, the machine
informs the learner that the response was
too slow and makes no change to the
probability of the character appearing
again. If the learner does not correctly
identify the morse and a wrong key is
pressed then the morse code is presented
again and the learner is required to enter
the correct letter, which is displayed on
the screen. The probability that the
machine will present a wrongly identified
character in the future is incréased.
Problems identified
The time allowed to respond is deter-
mined by the learner at the beginning of
each run and may be reduced as pro-
ficiency increases.
Pressing the # key at any point displays
the probability associated with each let-
ter. Higher values indicate those letters
with which the learner has had problems,
whereas lower values indicate those let-
ters which the learner identified more
readily. This option allows the presenta-
. tion of numbers rather than letters.
Option 3 is a morse test simulator
which allows the learner to decode ran-
dom morse at speeds specified in the Home
Office test, or at other speeds determined
by the user. One difference between the
program and the Home Office test is that
random letters are produced rather than
plain language. Plain language contains a
certain amount of redundancy, so missed
letters can often be guessed correctly by
the context. This is not so with groups of
random letters, and anyone capable of
decoding random letters at 12 words per
minute can be quite confident of being
able to decode plain language at the same
rate.
The characters are printed on the
screen while the morse is presented, giv-
ing a major advantage over conventional
tandom morse generators. The display
allows the learner to check the accuracy
of decoding. The program also allows the
learner to have longer spaces between
(continued on next page)
85
If Dit
If Dah
First symbol 1x27T0 =
2x2To =
plus
Second symbol If Dit
If Dah
1x2ft =
2x21 =
plus
Third symbol If Dit.
If Dah
1x2f2=
2x22 =
pius
Fourth symbol! _ If Dit
If Dah
S276)
2x23 = 16
total glves characteristic value of charac-
ter C,
This can be expressed by the equation:
C= do, x at»
:¢; = 1, if the symbol is Dit
:¢; = 2, if the symbol is Dah
where
For example, the value for F --—- is
1x2TO+1x2714+2x2724+1x273=
19
Figure 1.
(continued from previous* page)
characters without slowing down ‘the
characters themselves. A learner wishing
to test his ability at decoding plain
language can use option 1.
Option 4 decodes correctly sent morse,
and will test the learner’s ability to pro-
duce morse. The letters or numbers that
the Pet identifies are displayed on the
screen, allowing feedback on the accu-
racy of timing when sending morse.
A Dah or dash should be three times
the length of a Dit or dot, and the time
interval between Dits and Dahs in a
character should be of one Dit duration.
The time between two characters in the
same word should be-three Dits long, and
the interval between words five Dits.
The program works, on the basis of
these rules, which represents ideal morse,
but does allow a degree of error during
input. The program can estimate the
speed of a learner’s morse by averaging
the result of three Vs. Alternatively the
speed can be entered directly if it is
known.
While devising the program, all the
problems encountered by researchers in
artificial intelligence were encountered,
including representation, constraints,
searches, etc. The precise method of
overcoming them varied, but usually
included a large dose of serendipity.
This fairly
should demonstrate to amateurs and hob-
byists that they are dealing with exactly
the same difficulties that beseige -re-
searchers on sophisticated programs that °
understand language, or read handwrit-
ing.
It was intended to make the program
easy to transfer from one machine to
another, so Basic was used rather than
machine code. One problem was whether
an interactive non-compiled language
like Basic would be able to work fast
86
straightforward program.
enough. Although the program is written
for an 8K Pet, parts of it have run suc-
cessfully on an Exidy Sorcerer and on a
1K ZX-81.
One of the obstacles encountered in
work in artificial intelligence is the way
knowledge should be represented, but
representing morse code turned out to be
fairly straightforward. Characters are
conveyed in morse as a series of short and
long pulses — Dits and Dahs — separ-
ated by pauses. In the program Dits are
represented by the letter S, and Dahs by
the letter L.
Array storage
The morse corresponding to each
character is stored as an element in an
array M$. The morse code for the
letter A is -—, and is stored in M3$(1) as
SL. Morse for a character is generated by
the subroutine located at lines 300 to 380
and 400 to 440. S and L determine the
duration of tones by controlling the num-
ber of iterations of a For loop. The
duration for L is three times that for
S — see lines 320 and 330.
The number of Dits and Dahs in the
‘character is calculated in line 310. The
tone is turned on at line 410, is presented
by line 420 for the appropriate duration,
and switched off at line 430. Line 350
presents the appropriate pause between
successive Dits or Dahs within a charac-
ter; line 370 presents the appropriate
pause between characters in the same
word; and lines 3200 and 1050 give the
appropriate pause between words.
Anyone who has heard morse transmit-
ted on the amateur bands will realise the
tremendous range of speeds at which
code is sent and must be received. It is,
therefore, important for learners to be
able to listen to morse at different speeds,
and in particular to be able to operate
comfortably at the speed specified by the
Home Office test.
Adequate fit
An empirical approach to this problem
resulted in the following:
OL=INT(EXP(5.28 — .21* NL)))*(3.0148—
LOG(S)))
where
DL represents the number of iterations re-
quired to produce a Dit,
NL represents the number of letters per word,
S represents the.required speed in words per
minute.
This gives an acceptable fit, especially for
speeds around 12 five-letter words per
minute on the 8K Pet.
It is unlikely that this formula will work
on other machines, highlighting the dis-
advantage of using an empirical method.
However the calculation of a general
solution based on the time for the
machine to carry out particular instruc-
tions in Basic would have hardly justified
the effort expended in calculating it. The
formula is implemented at lines 1020 to
1024, 2020 to 2024 and 3030 to 3034.
Once the learner has become familiar
with the code by using option 1, the next
goal will be to speed up the process of
recognition. Typically a learner recog-
nises some characters almost immediately
but will take quite a while to recognise
others. A competent morse operator
needs to recognise all the characters in
the code immediately and automatically,
and those characters with which the
novice is experiencing difficulty must be
identified in order to provide extensive
practice on them. To provide this facility,
option 2 alters the probability that a
character will be presented in the future
on the basis of the accuracy and speed of
the learner’s response.
The program starts by creating an array
D, each element of which corresponds to
a particular letter or number. In line. 40
initially all the elements are set equal to
one. Each character has the same prob-
ability of selection. Adjustments to the
values associated with the characters are
made in lines 2320 to 2400.
Line 2320 reduces the value of a char-
acter by a quarter when a correct identi-
fication within the time limit is made.
Line 2340 increases such a value by a half
when an incorrect identification is made.
In order to prevent values becoming un-
workably large or small, line 2270 is
provided to rescale all values after each
alteration. Lines 2312 to 2318 display the
Symbols used in the program.
B$— characters in correct position for
computer analysed morse
C — position of character in M$
CS — character space
D(43) — values associated with probabillty
of presenting morse
DIT — Dit length when computer analysing
morse
DL— Dit length for generated morse
DT — scaling factor used in option 3
DU — counter to measure speed of
response
GR — parameter in determining speed of
output, gradient
\C — parameter in determining speed of
output, intercept
L5— length of vocab: 10 for numbers, 26 for
letters
M$(43) — morse codes for generating
morse
MAX — delay factor
NL — number of letters per word
NS — timer for pause length when analysing
morse %
S — number of five-letter words per minute
S| — timer for tone length when analysing
morse
SL— slowing factor, between characters
SY — type of vocab, numbers or letters
V(15) — used to calculate Dit length when
analysing morse
W(15) — used to calculate pause length
when analysing morse
2Z$(64) — list of characters in correct position
when analysing morse
Tt, 12, i, A$, K, J and T are ali working
. variables
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
probabilities associated with each charac-
ter whenever the # key is pressed.
In order to analyse morse that an oper-
ator is sending, it is necessary to be able
to recognise the difference between a Dit
and Dah. In addition, it is necessary to
distinguish between the pauses signifying
the end of a character, those signifying
the end of a word and those pauses that
occur within a character. A machine
which is to decode morse must, there-
fore, measure the duration of Dits, Dahs
and pauses.
Real-time decisions
After determining that a character has
been sent, the Pet must decide on the
nature of the character. The program
measures durations in, real time in Basic,
without the use of hardware clocks, and
makes use of constraints within morse
code to identify characters.
Measurement of the duration of
pauses, Dits and Dahs is achieved by the
use of If statements. The state of the
input ports is examined, and while a
particular state remains a count is im-
plemented. For example, in line 4130,
Peek (59471) checks the input port.
While the morse key remains pressed to
produce a tone, the counter, SI, is in-
cremented. Line 4320 does an equivalent
operation except, in this case, NS is in-
cremented during a pause, that is while
the morse key does not make contact.
Checks can then be made to ascertain
whether the counters exceed a critical
length. For example, in lines 4410 and
4420 a decision is made as to whether a
Dit has been broadcast or a Dah by
comparing the size of SI with “Dit’’. In|
line 4450 a decision is taken as to whether
the pause is long enough to indicate the
end of a character. Line 4330 calculates
whether the end of a word has been
reached.
Counting loops
All of these decisions make use of the
fact that the number of iterations of an If}
statement that equate with a duration of
one Dit is known. The program then
becomes straightforward, line 4050 allow-
ing the operator to specify a Dit length.
More usually, the speed at which an
operator produces morse is not known.
An option is available, however, which
will calculate an operator’s Dit length.
This is done at line 4060, which asks the
operator to enter a sample of his morse,
and then applies the procedure using If|
Statements, saving the duration of key
contacts and releases in the arrays V and
W. The result of several key presses are
averaged to provide a cut-off.
Although it might appear that the
Operator has to enter extremely accu-
rately times morse for it to be recognised
by the machine, this is not the case. Any
key press that is longer than the critical
length is assumed to be a Dit, and any
(continued on page 89)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
4 REM MORSE PROGRAM
5 REM PROGRAMME REVISED THROUGH THE
6 PEM COLLABRATIVE EFFORTS OF
ie REM CHRIS DRACUIF & DEREK WAKELIN
DIM M#C43), 00643)
2 DIM #649, NC15), NCIS)
Pee" ET] NAMEDRULICMOMBL 2FCP2VK207V 125627772622222279429927778277271 979"
FOPI=1TO64 :Z#(T)=MIDS CBS, 1,1) )NEXT
ECKE 258.4: POKE2S1,54:SySse45
POKE 950, 7 POKESS1 56 :S¥S845
FOPT=1T043:READMS(1> : NEXT
FORT=17043-D¢T)=1:HEXTI
MORSE TUTOR"
: "= PRINT
PRINT" THE FOLLOWING OPTICHS RARE AYATLABLE”
FRINT
2 fs oll a al 8 GENERATED MORSE"
‘RINT
PRINT"1, LEARNING THE CODE - INGLE LETTERS"
PRINT'S. IMPROVING SFEED"
2 FRINT"2. MORSE TEST SIMULATOR — Benen WORDS"
PRINT :PRINT" COMFUTER ANALYSED | MOFSE"
PRINT"
& PRINT'4, LEARNING TQ TRANSMIT"
PRINT: PRINT’ PRINT"ENTER NUMBER OF SELECTED OPTION”
GET At: IF AS=""THEN 220
ON CASC(AS)-48> GOSUB1AAG, 2508, 3000, 4080
GOTO 186
REM SUBROUTINE TO GENERATE MORSE
FORJ=1 TOLENCM#(C>>
IF MIDS(M$¢09,.3,19="S" THEN T=DL
IF MIDS(ME(C).J,12="L" THEM T= 3#DL
8 GOSUB 416
aie 1TODL NEXTK
HEXT.
FORK= ne MEXTK
RETUR
FEM TONE GENERATION
POKE 958,8:POMESS! .12 Sy'S845
FORK=1 TOT NEXTK
POKE 95@,2:POKESS1 8: SYSS45
RETURN
REM SINGLE LETTERS
Ss PRINT "2"
PRINT"ENTER REQUIRED SFEED"
INPUT" (NUMBER OF S LETTER WORDS/MINUTE)" j
FRINT"PRESS AN'' LETTER OR NUMBER.”
BR=INTCEXPCS, 28-. 21455)
IC=3, 1847058846R
DL=INT¢IC-GRALOG(S) >
CS=24DL
GETA# : IFAS=""THENIG3G
Thies wake OE ETURH,
PRINTAS:
IF Ag=" " “ THENFORK= 1TODL #4: NEXT :GOTE1a2a
C=ASC(AF)-47
78 BOSUE 316
8 COTO 1436
REM IMPROWING SFEED
PRINT!"
SY¥=1
INPUT "RANDOM WORDS OR WUMBERS. WN" GAL
IF LEFTS(A$. 19="N"THEN S¥=@
L5=10+S'4#16 DT=LE
PRINT"ENTER SEQUIRET SPEED"
2 INPUT “(NUMBER OF 5 LETTER WORDS/MINUTE >" S
PRINT"HOH MUCH TIME DO YOU WANT TO PEFLY? "
INPUT"G GIVES LEAST TIME, HIGHER NUMBERS MORE TIME” | MAX: MAX=MAXeSA
PRINT" PRESS KEY TO START PROGRAMME. "
@ GR=INTCEXPCS.28-.2145))
. 104 7GEB846R
NT<IC- GR#LOG6S))
fETAS TFAs= ""THENSB26,
FORK=1TOCS : NEYTK
DT=LS/DT FORK=SY¥1 741 TOLS+SV# 17: DEK) =D¢K>4DT NEXTK: DT=LS
K=RND¢194L5:C1=0 : C-O467417
C=C+!
CL=C1+D¢C>
IF Ci=<K THEN2282
DU=8 : GOSUB31@
GG GETAs : IFAe=""THENDU=DUs 1 GOTI2300
IF Sf="¢"THENPE TURN
2 IF ASCO"#" THEN2328
FORI=SY417+1TOLE+SV¥17_STEFZ
B PRINTCHRS (4741) D¢T)/L5; TABCIS) | CHRSC47#I+1) 5 D¢T#1 9/15
NEX
GOTO 2360
TEDUC=NAXTHENDT=DT-D¢C> 74: BKC? =DKC 26074 GOTO2359
TE DUSMAXTHENFRINT"TOO SLOW";
& FRINTCHRS(C+47) i: TFAS=CHRS<C+4?7>THENPRINT" CORRECT" :GOTO227
DT=DT+D¢C)¥2 /NCC=D<CY+D(C 42 PRINT GOTO 2290
GOSUE 210
GETAS IF At=""THEN 2420
AIF AE=CHRS(C+47)THEN GOTO 2200
GOTO 2410
REM PANDOM WORDS
PRINT" ZI"
BYs1
G7 INFUT “FANDOM WORDS OF se WAN" FAP
S IF LEFTESCAS, 19="N"THEN Si'=
INPUT" NUMEER OF LETTERS P= WORD" ; NI
INPUT"ENTEP SPEED TO hited vou ASPIRE” :S
GR=INTCEXPCS, 28-. 214NL)>
IC=3, G14709559¥6R
DL=INTCIC-GR#LOG(S) >
PRINT" HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO SLOW PON"
FRINT"THE INTER LETTER INTERVAL ?"
PRINT"ENTER @ IF ‘OU PON’T WANT A CHENGE"
PRINT'ENTER A NUMBER GREATSR THAN & TO SLC IT DOWN PROPORTIOMATELY”
INPUTSL
CS=2*DL+1004SL
G@ FORI=1TCHL
A C=INTCRHDC1 OC 1043741 E41) +o Ht?
& FRINTCHRS<(C+47);
GOSUE 315
S@ HEMT
FORK= 1 T024C2 : NEXTK
mt PRINT
324A GETAS: [FAS="*" THENRETURN (listing continued on page 89)
87
owwoulda
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MATRIX PRINTER
it
w)
2)
O
=
mo)
Cc
—
mM
~
@
Q
=
o
o
=a
o
_
a
[%)
(continued from page 87)
that is longer is assumed to be a Dah. The
same applies to recognition of pauses
within a character, between characters,
and between words.
Once the machine is identifying when a
character is being sent, the next task is to
| recognise the particular character that is
present. As each Dit or Dah of a charac-
ter is received it computes a running
total, the final value of which uniquely
identifies the character. The principle is
shown in figure 1. This operation is per-
formed in lines 4300 to 4480. 12 controls
the raising of the power as each Dit or
Dah in the character being received is
identified.
T1 stores the running total for the
character, and is then used as a pointer in
| the alphanumeric array Z$, so that the
(listing continued from page 87)
3258 GOTO 3166
4668 REM DECODE MORSE
4405 PRIWT"CI"
4419 PORKESS459. 8
4848
4456
4060
4078
4058
4650
4128 I
4141
4156
FORI=1TO12: S1=6
POKESS8, &: POF
IFFEEK<:
POKESS@. &
Te 1 ae b
H5=8
@ IFI=12THEH42i8
INPUT" WOULD ‘OL LIKE THE MACHIHE TO ESTIMATE
IF AS="H"THENIMPUT"LENGTH OF DIT" J DIT: GoTo425a
FRINT" TAF IH WAT LEAST THREE TIMES"
IF PEER (S947 1 0=2S55THEM4H7 a
character is directly accessed and im-
mediately printed on the screen by line
4450. This routine has successfully de-
coded ideal morse produced by running
option 3 on an Exidy Sorcerer, and
broadcast at speeds even exceeding those
required for the Home Office test. It has
also successfully decoded less than ideal,
morse code, inexpertly produced by the
authors.
Random errors
Analysis of morse by the expert human
operator is immediate and automatic and
involves little if any conscious decision
making. It is almost asif there is a direct
link between the code and the character.
The computer analysis of morse also pos-
sesses this quality of direct access. The
running total produced by the real-time
951.15: S9S845
S347 152525 5THEHST=S1+1 > GOTO41 58
SPOKESS1. @:
SYSe45
IFPEER (59471 2 =255THENHS=NS+1 : GOTO41S8
S@ Wels=HS
SHB HET
DITSV C4 4ycooeyetey
A DIT=IHTS cUIT/S)
e234+1
PRIHT'0UR DIT LEHGTH". DIT
250 TL=4a
= GOSLIESIG
IF PEEK C5S9471)=2S5THEMNS=HS+ 1: GOTOSs20
IFNS>S#DITTHENERINT™
40 Ti=6:1Z=
FORT=1T05
lz=le#2
7 POKES5@. 8: POKESS1,12:S¥S845
SI=a
MH IF PEEK CSS471>“225
STHENSI=SI+1 :GOTO4298
BG POKESSO, &:POKES51, a:SySe45
IF SID>DITTHENTL=T1+12: G0TO4¢434
A T1=Ti+T2-2
ia NS=8
HIF PEEKCS9471><2255THEN4S4 7@
SH HS=HS+1:TFNSSDITTHEHPRINTES*T1) :
SA GOTO4¢448
ra HEXTI
f@ GOTO 4388
DATA LLLLL.
SUL SS
ale LSsss, ‘3
a
mel t
re ihe fx] Go im Co fica
KEN
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
GOTO4¢388
Machine intelligence™=""
analysis of the Dits and Dahs points
unequivocably to the correct character.
One difference between the program
and the human operator is that humans
make errors, and these errors are not of a
random nature. Characters may be con-
fused with their mirror images for exam-
ple, -— A, with —- N. The program does
not make this kind of error, though errors
do arise when it can no longer cope with
the speed of input.
Another way in which the program
differs from humans is that it can only
identify individual characters, whereas
humans soon learn to recognise familiar
letter patterns. It is possible to envisage
modifications to the program that would
lead to a closer match between its per-
formance and that of a human being if
this were desired.
OUR DIT LENGTH vo" i Ast
89
i
f
a
f
J
J
oa
90
Could you run
Tomorrow's Office-
Today?
You must have considered microcomputers as a
solution to some of your business problems.
Why not run the office on one?
Stage One Software has developed a program
which will do just that: allowing you to carry out all
your filing, correspondence, report writing, diary
updating and basic financial work in the same way as
you have always run your office routines.
But using the Administrator on the Commodore
microcomputer your filing is automatic. Retrieval,
even of vaguely remembered records, is fast and
accurate.
Andunlike some other office database management
programs, Administrator allows you to control itin
English via the screen. You do not need specialist
programming knowledge to tailor Administrator to
your precise requirements.
Use the Administrator to run your mailing lists in
conjunction with a word-processing link; for
invoicing; personnel records; stock control;
valuations; analyses; control reports on projects;
and even for narrative files where each record
needs to hold a large amount of written information.
Administrator really scores here.
It is able to accept any length of narrative text
on any of its records. You have no space limits
other than the capacity of your disk storage
equipment.
Try that on a comparable system and see how far
you get.
We know your business is unique. You or your
predecessors set up the systems in one particular
way. Administrator will accept that way. You tell it
what you want. You set up the system.
Cl lt Col Sa Sl Gl Sel Gal Cal Sl ll Sol
Send to Stage One Computers, 300 Ashley Road,
Parkstone, Poole, Dorset.
Yes, please send me details of Administrator.
Name
Company Name
Address
Tel. No. Ext
fae fea fem four [os [es fs fa foe fer
When you have astonished yourself by finding out
how clever the Administrator is you will probably
think of improvements in your own system. So
Administrator allows you to amend the system which
you originally set up, so that, for example, you can
add one item of information to all previously stored
records which in turn will allow you to extract more
informative management reports.
Administrator is flexible.
Itis also mathematically inclined and can total your |
analytical columns, provide grand totals and make
comparisons of targets and performance to provide
you with the selective information you specify.
Dates can also be compared. Your aged debtors
will be printed out, plus the reminders you
require each day to keep your projects on target.
System cost, including a Commodore 8000-series
computer, twin floppy disk drives and one of a
selection of printers depending on your needs, is
between £3300 and £4000. The latter figure would
include a letter-quality daisywheel printer. Both
prices include the cost of Administrator and word-
processing program, but do not include VAT.
We can’t tell you all about the system in one
advertisement. Fill in the coupon below and we will
arrange a demonstration for you by one of the
dealers in our nationwide network.
It will take about an hour. That hour will
revolutionise the concepts you have on running your
business. Whatever that business is.
Clip the coupon. Now.
Administrator — Tomorrow’s Office Today.
' STAGE ONE COMPUTERS
Ld
300 ASHLEY ROAD, PARKSTONE, POOLE, DORSET.
TEL: 0202 735656
= commodore
COMPUTER
m
@ Circle No. 154
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
APL — a high-level
whose time has come
To those used to the look of a Basic listing it may seem
little more than a funny Greek language that executes
backwards. Yet with a flexible and concise structure
APL is set to come into its own, especially on the new
generation of 16-bit machines. Adrian Smith explains
why he has become an APL fan.
PEOPLE EITHER LOVE APL or hate it —
there are few neutrals. Although the vast
majority of: APL systems at the moment
are on mainframes, the new generation of
16-bit micros will be close to ideal as an
environment for this language.
My own experience of computing has
been of interactive Basic, and several
years of batch PL/1, but two years of
APL have convinced me that this
language is usually a ‘‘better way’’.
Figure 1 based on ‘‘Obsolete Lan-
guages” from the house magazine of
MicroAPL Ltd illustrates how concise
APL can be. This example is rigged, but
not as much as you might think. Software
bureaux quote APL development costs at
around one-fifth of the cost of the same
system in, for instance, Cobol. Much of
‘this saving simply reflects the vastly re-
duced keying time for the APL code.
APL uses some funny symbols: + you
may recognise, but there is also that
Greek letter p to reckon with. As a result
it needs specially adapted keyboards and
printers, a considerable overhead when
you first decidé to try out APL. Fortu-
nately most of the new generation of
printers will take an APL daisywheel,
and APL keyboards are an option on
many standard ASCII screens. However,
the character set remains a significant
barrier to the wider acceptance of APL,
and it needs simplifying.
APL-written systems can be run from
normal keyboards, and you can cover for
most of the common symbols with func-
tions like:
MULT(aXw LN: *w ANY: v/a
To an APL devotee such a course would
be insufferably frustrating, but it may be
the best way of introducing APL ideas to
the micro world.
APL functions execute independently
of the shape and size of the data they are
fed. Mean would happily average two
numbers or 20,000, and with a minor
modification it would give you the row
averages of a 50-by-100 table. An APL
function represents a mathematical con-
cept — a mean is not dependent on the
number of numbers input.
APL conspicuously lacks control struc-
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
tures. You will search in vain for
IF - THEN - ELSE,
DO WHIE Ems: 4
FOR| = 17010... NEXTI
This is a dramatic divergence from main-
stream computer languages.
The fundamental concept in commer-
cial computing is the file. A commercial
system consists of files which are up-
dated, matched, merged and printed by a
suite of programs. Each file consists of a
number of identically structured records,,
each divided into fields.
In conventional data processing, the
task of mapping a user's needs into files
and programs, and deciding on the layout
of the records within each file, falls to a
systems analyst. The task of the program-
mer is to take the structures of the input
and output files as given, and to devise
the processing needed to map the one
“on to the other. The great triumph of the
structured language is that it provides the
ideal series of constructs through which
the required mapping can take place.
Remember that APL is a mathematical
notation, not a computer language. In a
conventional employee-records file sys-
tem each record contains the details of
one employee, and the record layout
might look something like figure 2.. To
BLOGGS F.
HARRIS J.
DECLARE file structure;
clear accumulator;
UNTIL end of Pile DO
BEAD a record;
add salary to accumulator;
END
print accusulator;
Figure 2. Typical employee-records file
and a conventional approach to extracting
information from It.
answer a question such as “What is the
total salary bill?”, use the kind of struc-
ture illustrated in the figure.
' Inan APL system, the files are treated
simply as pigeon-holes for individual
APL variables, rather than collections of
identically structured records. The con-
tents of each file component represent
the values of one data item for all em-
ployees. For example if the company
employed 1,200 people we might have:
AGE. . . anumeric list (vector) of 1,200 ages
NAME . . . a'1,200 by 20 character table of
names etc.
To answer the question “‘. . . what is the
average age in the company?”, we need
only type:
MEAN AGE
‘and
+/SALARY
will tell us the total salary bill.
(continued on page 93)
Figure 1. Routines for calculating arithematic means in Pascal, Basic and APL.
PASCAL
PROGRAM mean (input,output) 5
VAR
value, sum ,mn: real;
count: integer;
BEGIN
sum:=03
count: =0;
read (value);
WHILE not eof DO
BEGIN
Sum: =sum+value;
counts =countt+l1;
read (value);
END;
mn: =sum/count 3
writeln ("Mean is
ENDe ‘
*,an)
PRINT S/N
APL
MEAN? (+/w) tow
91
LangsuasesS
KAGA MONITORS
ODMAZMAND VW <r wot
Ideal for use with all popular
makes of micro-computer,
Kaga Monitors are available
nationwide from Data Efficiency
dealers.
Combining quality with reliability
they offer high resolution and
flicker-free non glare display
suitable for both text and graphics.
Also available from Kaga is the
14” PAL Colour Monitor, which
gives exceptionally clear definition
and true colour. In addition there is
a special colour monitor package
incorporating a card for the Apple II.
All Kaga Video Monitors have
the in-built reliability you'd expect
92
HOURS OF THE DAY
@ HaGe DENSHI
from solid state circuitry and
come complete with video cable.
Handsome economy? Its name
is Kaga.
SPECIFICATIONS
|
| KAGA 12" MONITOR: Green or B/W display
ATTRACTIVE PRICES.
| KAGA 12” GREEN DISPLAY
MONITOR: £99.50*
=
£99.50
£122.00"
£249.00"
vonronewuscaro = £296.50"
KAGA 12" B/W DISPLAY
MONITOR: £122*
KAGA 14" PAL COLOUR
MONITOR: £249°
KAGA 14” PAL COLOUR
VIDEOINPUT SIGNAL: Composite video, negative sync
ACTIVE DISPLAY AREA: 235(W) x 185(H)m
VIDEO BAND WIDTH More than 18MHz (—-3dB)
DISPLAY CHARACTERS: 80 characters with 25 lines
POWER SUPPLY: 230V AC + 10%
POWER CONSUMPTION: 26W
DIMENSIONS: 310(W) x 285(H) x 321(D)mm
WEIGHT (NET): 7kg
RING 0442 40571/2 FOR DETAILS
OF YOUR NEAREST STOCKIST.
Sole UK Distributors,
Data Efficiency Ltd., Computer Division,
Finway Road, Hemel Hempstead, Herts.. HP2 7PS
Trade and OEM enquiries welcome.
*Pnices correct at fime of going to press.
DE
—— Data €éfficiency Lid ==
@ Circle No. 156
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
(continued from page 91)
The prime purpose of programming
structures is to handle repetitive proces-
sing through files. When you can see all
the data all the time, your life becomes a
great deal more straightforward, and in
practice the structures are rarely missed.
APL is a consistent, concise mathe-
matical notation. It handles lists and
tables of data very naturally and is highly
interactive. APL is also interpretive, and
its workspace concept makes very con-
siderable demands on a computer’s work-
ing ‘storage.
In APL, all data management is
handled by the interpreter statement-by-
statement. There are no Declare or
Dimension statements at all. Consider
the following three valid APL com-
mands:
A CAT"... cfeate a variable “A” with the
value of a character vector
"CA 1P
A100 50p10 ... make “A” a numeric table
(100'rows by 50 cois)
with the vaiue 10.
Ac,A...“A” ig now a numeric vector of
length 5,000, still containing the
value 10 throughout.
This gives-the programmer an enor-
mous amount of freedom in manipulating
data. To aggregate 12 months’ sales
figures into four quarterly totals, one
simply reshapes the figures as a four-by-
three table:
FIGS—4 3pFIGS
and sums-across the rows
QUART<—+/FIGS
APL subroutine structures are flexible.
Here is an alternative definition of the
function Mean:
MEAN: (TOTAL a + pw
where the function Total looks like:
TOTAL: +A»
Any APL function can call any other
APL function including itself without
making special arrangements. Just as you
can string together the familiar functions
of mathematics such as In cos w, where
each may have been previously defined at
a lower level, so you can string together
the functions of APL.
Functions old and new
To revert once more to the staff-file
example — what would it cost the com-
pany to pay all its 21-year-old staff a 6
percent rise?
0.06 x TOTAL SALARY WHERE AGE = 21
1925.82
Here two primitive functions from
mathematics, multiply and the test for
equality, have been-strung together with
two of our own invention. Total has
already been illustrated; the deceptively
straightforward looking “Where” shows
another facet of APL’s data management
at work:
WHERE: w/a
This phenomenon is called ‘“‘compres-
sion” and is probably best illustrated by
another example:..
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
‘ABCDE’ WHERE 01101
BCE
Here a vector of length 5 has been
passed through a logical sieve also of five
elements; only where the corresponding
element in the sieve is “on’’ do we pass
the value in the original vector. The
length of the result is clearly three — the
same as the number of ones in the sieve.
If our company employs four 21-year-
old staff, we might find:
SALARY WHERE AGE = 21
8760 5678 10001 7658
Finally, a passing swipe at all the compu-
ter languages which use = to double for
assign. In APL the result of:
l=I1+1
is zero, meaning “this expression is
false’.
APL interpreters are hard to write and
tend to be memory intensive. The tough-
est. problem the interpreter has to handle
is the organisation of the APL work-
space. The microcomputer — with its
serried ranks of directly addressable
RAM — was always a tempting proposi-
tion. The solution was to compromise;
implement a reasonable subset of APL
und leave about half the magic 64K avail-
able as workspace. A smaller interpreter
costs-2 3 2 4
SALES*S 6 6 5
PROFIT+-SALES-COSTS
INFLATION-1008 1.12 U-25 1.12
DISCOUNTE DAPROF 1T-PROF I T= x\@EINFLATION
*ZZ8.9" PEICFMT DEISCOUNTEDSPROFIT
2.78
2248
2-88
0.64
Figure 3. Specifying rows as APL vari-
ables.
would have strayed too far from the
mainframe standard; any larger and the
lack of workspace would start to bite.
The result has been a string of very
similar micros, running virtually the same
APL at the same speed. The Superbrain
and the Shelton Sig/Net are typical exam-
ples. The systems differ among them-{
selves and from mainframe APL in their
file handling. This has turned out to be
something of a paradox: the restriction
on workspace has forced the micro-APLs
into tile-access mechanisms which are
often far superior to the IBM offering.
Typically a hybrid system will use
APL’s component files to store personnel
details and conventional CP/M files to
hold WordStar documents. WordStar can
do what it is. best at — document com-
position — to generate a set of ‘Dear
Blank,” letters. APL can select and mas-
sage data to fill in the appropriate blanks
on.-the correct letters and print them out
in a sensible sequence.
CIRCULATE ‘BONUS.TEXT’ TO STAFF
.WiITH ABSENCE < 5 .
Micros are also closer to the real world
than mainframes, and APL systems have
been coupled up to all sorts of data-
loggers and process-control systems. API.
was never designed for this, but if you
have to deal with an arbitrary splurge of
binary data then it is handy to have a
series of.logical functions which will,oper-
ate on practically anything as long as it
has noughts and ones in it.
The major barrier to a full-scale micro-
APL has always been the 64K addressing
limit of the eight-bit systems. A typical
APL application sits in about 250K of
workspace, and a full APL interpreter
probably needs about 100K on top of
that. The answer of course, is already
with us — with 16-bit addressing, the only
remaining limit is the number of memory
chips we can cram into the cabinet!
Future applications
The next generation of micros will be
tar better suited to the needs of APL than
are many of today’s big mainframes. APL
does not run happily in virtual storage
systems, particularly if it has to compete
with batch jobs and conventional transac-
tion processing. If you try and add up the
last column of a 100K four-dimensional
array you may get some dramatically
variable response times as the system
pages desperately through it.
In the megabyte micro the philosophy
is totally different ~— storage is real.
cheap, easily addressed and extremely
tast. On a Motorola 68000 the response
time to such a request would be well
under a second, and it would be absolute-
ly consistent. Add to this the fact that the
new APLs are inheriting all the enhanced
file access that the old eight-bit systems
needed and the combination will prove
hard for many of us mainframers to re-
sist.
An early use of APL was as an ad-
vanced pocket calculator. Engineers fre-
quently find themselves faced with sys-
tems of linear equations, and the APL
“matrix divide was implemented specifi-
cally to solve these. They also tend to
need large tabulations of data, and APL
will often do the job in a fraction of the
. time that a hand calculation would. take.
Data manipulation
APL scored a more dramatic early
success in the field of financial modelling.
Even rather sophisticated economic mod-
els are simply built round tables of data.
Some rows are entered by the user, some
are calculated from. combinations of
these.
The early approach as shown in figure
3 was simply to specify the user’s
rows as APL variables, and to use primi-
tive APL to evaluate the relationships.
These days it is all wrapped up in user-
friendly dialogues and menus.
APL has come into use as a tool for
storing, manipulating and displaying sim-
ple tabular data. The staff file is typical,
and other examples might include histor-
ical sales data, or a parts.inventory for a
warehouse. There is no doubt that the
efficient manipulation of either text or
(continued on page 96)
93
94
New ZX8I Software
from Sinclair.
A whole new range of software for
the Sinclair ZX81 Personal Computer
is now available — direct from Sinclair.
Produced by ICL and Psion, these
really excellent cassettes cover
games, education, and business/
household management.
Some of the more elaborate pro-
grams can only be run on a ZX81
augmented by the ZX 16K RAM pack.
(The description of each cassette
makes it clear what hardware is
required.) The RAM pack provides 16-
times more memory in one complete
module, and simply plugs into the rear
of a ZX81. And the price has just been
dramatically reduced to only £29.95.
The Sinclair ZX Printer offer fult
alphanumerics andhighly-sophisticated
graphics. A special feature is COPY
which prints out exactly what is on the
whole TV screen without the need for
further instructions. So now you can
print out your results for a permanent
record. The ZX Printer plugs into the
rear of your ZX81, and you can
connect a RAM pack as well.
Games
Cassette G1: Super Programs 1 (ICL)
Hardware required - ZX81.
Price - £4.95.
Programs — Invasion from Jupiter.
Skittles. Magic Square. Doodle. Kim.
Liquid Capacity.
Description - Five games programs
plus easy conversion between pints/
gallons and litres.
Cassette G2: Super Programs 2 (ICL)
Hardware required — ZX81.
Price - £4.95.
Programs — Rings around Saturn.
Secret Code. Mindboggling. Silhouette.
Memory Test. Metric conversion.
Description — Five games plus easy
conversion between inches/feet/yards
and centimetres/metres.
Cassette G3: Super Programs 3 (ICL)
Hardware required — ZX81.
Price - £4.95.
Programs — Train Race. Challenge.
Secret Message. Mind that Meteor.
Character Doodle. Currency Conversion.
Description — Fives games plus currency
conversion at will — for example,
dollars to pounds.
Cassette G4: Super Programs 4 (ICL)
Hardware required — ZX81.
Price —- £4.95.
Programs — Down Under. Submarines.
Doodling with Graphics. The Invisible
Invader. Reaction. Petrol.
Description — Five games plus easy
conversion between miles per gallon
and European fuel consumption figures.
Cassette G5: Super Programs 5 (ICL)
Hardware required - ZX81 + 16K RAM.
Price —- £4.95.
Programs — Martian Knock Out.
Graffiti. Find the Mate.
Labyrinth. Drop a Brick.
Continental.
Description — Five
games plus easy
conversion
between English and
continental dress sizes.
Cassette G6:
Super Programs 6 (ICL)
Hardware required - ZX81+ 16K RAM.
Price - £4.95.
Programs — Galactic Invasion, Journey
into Danger. Create. Nine Hole Golf.
Solitaire. Daylight Robbery.
Description - Six games making full use
of the ZX81’s moving graphics capability.
Cassette G7: Super Programs 7 (ICL)
Hardware required — ZX81.
Price: - £4.95.
Programs — Racetrack. Chase. NIM.
Tower of Hanoi. Docking the Spaceship.
Golf.
Description — Six games including the
fascinating Tower of Hanoi problem.
Cassette G8: Super Programs 8 (ICL)
Hardware required — ZX81 + 16K RAM.
Price - £4.95.
Programs — Star Trail (plus blank tape on
side 2).
Description - Can you, as Captain
Church of the UK spaceship Endeavour,
rid the galaxy of the Klingon menace?
Cassette G9: Biorhythms (ICL)
Hardware required - ZX81+16K RAM.
Price - £6.95.
Programs - What are Biorhythms?
Your Biohythms.
Description - When will you be at your
peak (and trough) physically,
emotionally, and intellectually?
Cassette G10: Backgammon (Psion)
Hardware required - ZX81 + 16K RAM.
Price - £5.95.
Programs - Backgammon. Dice.
Description — A great program, using
fast and efficient machine code, with
graphics board, rolling dice, and doub-
ling dice. The dice program can be
used for any dice game.
Cassette G11: Chess (Psion)
Hardware required - ZX81 + 16K RAM.
Price — £6.95.
Programs — Chess, Chess Clock.
Description — Fast, efficient machine
code, a graphic display of the board and
pieces, plus six levels of ability, combine
to make this one of the best chess pro-
grams available. The Chess Clock
program can be used at any time.
Cassette G12:
Fantasy Games (Psion)
Hardware required — ZX81 (or 2x80
with 8K BASIC ROM) + 16K RAM.
Price - £4.75.
Programs — Perilous Swamp. Sorcerer's
Island.
Description - Perilous Swamp: rescue
a beautiful princess from the evil wizard.
Sorcerer's Island: you’re marooned. To
escape, you'll probably need the help
of the Grand Sorcerer.
Cassette G13:
Space Raiders and Bomber (Psion)
Hardware required — ZX81 + 16K RAM.
Price - £3.95.
Programs — Space Raiders. Bomber.
Description — Space Raiders is the ZX81
Version of the popular pub game.
Bomber: destroy a city before you hita
sky-scraper.
Cassette G14: Flight Simulation (Psion)
Hardware required — ZX81 + 16K RAM.
Price - £5.95.
Program — Flight Simulation (plus biank
tape on side 2).
Description - Simulates a highly
manoeuvrable light aircraft with full
controls, instrumentation, a view through
the cockpit window, and navigational
aids. Happy landings!
Education
Cassette E1: Fun to Learn series —
English Literature 1 (ICL)
Hardware required - ZX81 + 16K RAM.
Price - £6.95.
Programs — Novelists. Authors.
Description - Who wrote ‘Robinson
Crusoe’? Which novelist do you
associate with Father Brown?
Cassette E2: Fun to Learn series -
English Literature 2 (ICL)
Hardware required — ZX81 + 16K RAM.
Price - £6.95.
Programs — Poets, Playwrights. Modern
Authors.
Description - Who wrote ‘Song of the
Shirt’? Which playwright also played
cricket for England?
Cassette E3: Fun to Learn
series - Geography 1 (ICL)
Hardware required — ZX81+
16K RAM.
Price - £6.95.
Programs — Towns in England and
ales. Countries and Capitals of Europe.
escription — The computer shows you
map and alist of towns. You locate
ye towns correctly. Or the computer
hallenges you to name a pinpointed
cation.
-assette E4: Fun to Learn series -
distory 1 (ICL)
iardware required — ZX81 + 16K RAM.
rice - £6.95.
rograms — Events in British History.
ritish Monarchs.
Jescription — From 1066 to 1981, find
ut when important events occurred.
‘ecognise monarchs in an identity
arade.
~assette E5: Fun to Learn series -
athematics 1 (ICL)
ardware required — ZX81 + 16K RAM.
rice - £6.95.
ograms — Addition/Subtraction.
Aultiplication/Division.
Jescription — Questions and answers
in basic mathematics at different
avels of difficulty.
Cassette E6: Fun to Learn series -
Music 1 (ICL)
ardware required — ZX81 + 16K RAM.
rice oOo
rograms — Composers. Musicians.
Description — Which instrument does
James Galway play? Who composed
Peter Grimes’?
Cassette E7: Fun to Learn series -
Inventions 1 (ICL)
4ardware required — ZX81 + 16K RAM.
"rice — £6.95.
-rograms — Inventions before 1850.
nventions since 1850.
Jescription - Who invented television?
Vhat was the ‘dangerous Lucifer’?
Cassette E8: Fun to Learn series -
Spelling 1 (ICL)
tardware required — ZX81 + 16K RAM.
"rice - £6.95.
>rograms — Series A1-A15. Series B1-B15.
Description — Listen to the word spoken
yn your tape recorder, then spell it out
2n your ZX81. 300 words in total
suitable for 6-11 year olds.
Business/household
Cassette B1: The Collector’s Pack (ICL)
Hardware required ~ ZX81 + 16K RAM.
Price"29'95,
Program - Collector's Pack, plus blank
tape orside 2forprogram/data storage.
Description - This comprehensive pro-
gram should allow collectors (of stamps,
coins etc.) to hold up to 400 records of
up to 6 different items on one cassette.
Keep your records up to date and
sorted into order.
Cassette B2: The Club Record
Controller (ICL)
Hardware required — ZX81+ 16K RAM.
Price - £9.95.
Program — Club Record Controller plus
blank tape on side 2 for program/data
storage.
Description ~ Enables clubs to hold
records of up to 100 members on one
cassette. Allows for names, addresses,
*phone numbers plus five lots of
additional information — eg type of
membership.
Cassette B3: VU-CALC (Psion)
Hardware required — ZX81 + 16K RAM.
Price ~ £7.95.
Program — VU-CALC.
Description — Turns your ZX81 into an
immensely powerful analysis chart.
VU-CALC constructs, generates and
calculates large tables for applications
such as financial analysis, budget
sheets, and projections. Complete with
full instructions.
Cassette B4: VU-FILE (Psion)
Hardware required — ZX81 + 16K RAM.
Price - £7.95.
Programs — VU-FILE. Examples.
Description — A general-purpose infor-
mation storage and retrieval program
with emphasis on user-friendliness and
visual display. Use it to catalogue your
collection, maintain records or club
memberships, keep track of your
accounts, oras a telephone directory.
How to order
Simply use the FREEPOST order
form below and either enclose a
cheque or give us your credit card
number. Credit card holders can order
by phone —~ simply call Camberley
(0276) 66104 or 21282 during office
hours. Either way, please allow up to
28 days for delivery, and there’s a
14-day money-back option, of course.
— | | ml ||
ZX8l
SOFT WARE
Sinclair Research Ltd,
Stanhope Road, Camberley, Surrey,
GU15 3PS.
Tel: Camberley (0276) 66104 & 21282.
| To: Sinclair Research, FREEPOST, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 3BR.
Please send me the items | have indicated below.
T
Qty | Cassette Code Qty | Cassette
i G1: Super Programs 1 30 | Tea: English Literature 2
G2:SuperPrograms2_— | 31 E3: Geography 1
G3: Super Programs 3 | 32 E4: History 1
G4: Super Programs 4 Haters } E5: Mathematics 1
G5: Super Programs 5 | E6: Music 1
G6: Super Programs 6 1 35 E7: Inventions 1
G7: Super Programs 7 36
E8: Spelling 1
G8: Super Programs 8 arr
| G9: Biorhythms 38 |
B1: Collector's Pack
B2: Club Record Controller
B3: VU-CALC
_| G11: Chess 40 84: VU-FILE
| G12: Fantasy Games em fc 2X 16K RAM pack
| G10: Backgammon 39
| G13: Space Raiders & Bomber | 42 ZX Printer
G14: Flight Simulation 43 Post & packing -
{| Et: English Literature 1 44 TAURI al is) REELS
TOTAL £&
! enclose a cheque/postal order to Sinclair Research Ltd for £
Please charge my *Access/Barclaycard/Trustcard no.
*Please delete as applicable. BBP nas eee eae
oS oh a ee ee ae)
ee lh. ee he ale tt td
ae Ne A a oe el Pe elles) Ee IE
Pep A nents! |
@ Circle No. 155
sO
“A
(continued from: page 93)
tabular data requires a VDU. Packages
like VisiCalc have shown the way, and
the provision of good screen-based edi-
tors has been an enormous step forward
for APL systems.
Consider the following dialogue to im-
pose ad-hoc restrictions in a production-
planning system:
Unavailable .. . the name of the function
Which machine ? :— Punch
Which dayShift :— Mon PM, Wed AM
Which machine ? :— Lath
<<Lath>> is not a known abbreviation .. .
please retry
Which machine ? :— Lathe
and so on
On.a VDU the whole rigmarole goes out
of the window. You simply slap on the
screen a table such as shown in figure 4,
and type all over it. The VDU is a
two-dimensional input device ideally
suited to APL’s table-handling capabili-
ties.
Human replacement
Histofically the aim of computer sys-
tems has been Yo replacehumans as deci-
sion takers. When it has been a matter of
rather simple decisions, the replacement
has been extremely effective. Short-term
planning has usually proved impossible to
achieve. The failure of optimising algor-
ithms when faced with multiple objec-
tives, and the impossibility of including
any political feel are major problems.
WON [TUE] WED
Ponce] x [| [x _|
ee |
Figure 4. VDU table display under APL.
Computers have been more successful
taking care of the routine tasks, and
helping the planner with carefully struc-
tured displays of the data.
It has often proved possible for a rather
Simple-minded. algorithm to do 90 per-
cent of a complex plan such as a school
timetable very easily. The great strength
of decision-support systems is knowing
where to stop — that last 10 percent is far
better left to the planner’s intuition, ex-
perience, and political judgement.
Defining decision-support systems is
important.
@ They are highly interactive, with a genuine
partnership between human and machine.
@ They tend to be one-offs. Unless the pro-
gram’s internal model reflects accurately all
the quirks and inconsistencies of the real
world it is worse than useless. Of course
there are common factors, but there is also
a large amount of code which is highly
specific.
@ They must be extremely adaptable — as
the world changes the system must follow it,
and fast.
@ The user: interface must be responsive,
sophisticated and robust — probably a
VDU, possibly with colour and graphics.
First contact with a user to working
Languages ===
prototype should take one week. From
then on the pace at which the system
evolves is governed largely by the raté at
which the user adapts to it. APL’s incred-
ibly flexible subroutine structure makes it
possible to -pull a system apart and re-
assemble it in.a different order. It also
allows you to mess around with the dia-
logue without ever touching the algorith-
mic core of the program. As for the core
itself, APL is first and foremost a means
of expressing technical algorithms clearly
and concisely and it is still supremely
good at its job.
Versatility
People have used APL for the most
unlikely things from computer-aided de-
sign, through word processing and docu-
ment composition, to simulation and
real-time process control. Graphics is the
single future development that fascinates
me most, particularly having realized that
most of the things you do to graphic
objects — translation, rotation and the
like — can be expressed very simply in
matrix algebra.
Because APL is so much higher level
than, say, Basic or PL/] it makes corre-
spondingly heavier demands on the CPU.
Computers however are getting cheaper
— people are not — and in the end a
move to higher-level languages is inevit-
able. For the next few years at least. APL
looks to have the field pretty well to
itself.
SOFTWARE FOR CP/M
HIGH QUALITY SOFTWARE -— WITH HIGH QUALITY SERVICE
NEW THE FORMULA £300. Application Builder and Reporter. SPELL STAR £125. Option for
Wordstar. SUPER CALC £165. Spread Sheet financial planning.
96
WOROSTAR - Professional word processing software. On-screen formatting, £250 MICROSOFT FORTRAN COMPILER £205
wordwrap, pagination, line and character count on view. Micro-justification on
daisy-wheel printer. Search and replace. Block/paragraph manipulation. External MICROSOFT COBOL £370
file read/write. Background printing during editing etc. MAGSAN - Versatile easy tp use Keyed File Management’System for £130
MAIL—MERGE - Powerful Wordstar enhancement for file merging and £55 Microsoft Basic or CBASIC.
document personalisation. CIS - COBOL - ANSI’ 74 implementation to full level 1 standard. Supports £425
DATASTAR Screen orientated system for Data Entry, Retrieval and Updating, £175 random, indexed and sequential files, features for conversational working,
Re screen control, interactive debugging, program segmentation etc.
SUPERSORT - Sort. merge and selection program, £125 agate
CONFIGURABLE BUSINESS SYSTEM (CBS) - Unique information FORMS-2 - Automatic COBOL code generator for screen formats. £100
Management system with user definable files, powerful report generator, menu- £225 PASCAL-Z £255
driven for ease of use. No programming experience necessary! A
L : STRUCTURED BASIC - Relocatable compiler £160
ACCOUNTING PACKAGES by Median - Tec: PAYROLL, SALES, PURCHASE, £300 . : = aod
NOMINAL Specially developed by UK software house to exacting specifications. each CBASIC-2 - Extended Disk Basic pseudo compiler and run-time interpreter. £75
Written in) Microsoft Basic eachipackageimay be customised by end user, all are SELECTOR 111 - C2- Information management system written in CBASIC-2 £185
widely used. Ledgers are open item. Payroll caters for weekly and monthly pay. Selec ORie 5 A Ate cee :
PROJECT COST CONTROL/JOB ACCOUNTING - A comprehensive set of 5 a Caxera compatibte vernon of Migiuvenhenced eeor
programs to monitor budgets, account for expenditure and project completion £150 BSTAM - Telecomms facility for exchanging files between CP/M computers. £100
ete tcteal Wesunre a {Cjeoutectocs aCtcen tty CBASIC-2. . ASCOM - Facility for communicating with other computers. £35
ISTI PACK. - 5 i including R ion & ANOVA £100
ore gene ogo rcue> Counc incluciog | Wegression TRANSFER - CP/M to CP/M file exchange - telecomms source code £95
MATHS PACKAGE - Over 40 easily used routines. £100
18M - CP/M COMPATIBILITY - Powerful utility to transfer data to/from ITEC DLE Gd sol £99
18M machines in standard disk format. £110 CP/M 2.2 - Standard Version 8" Single Density. £99
Please contact us for availability of other products
MICRi
i OSOFT BASIC INTERPRETER eed All orders must be PREPAID. Add £1 per item P & P (Minimum £2.00) and VAT
MICROSOFT BASIC COMPILER £205 CP/M is trade mark of Digital Research
TELESYSTEMS LTD
PO. Box 12, GREAT MISSENDEN, BUCKS, HP16 9DD
Telephone (02406) 5314
@ Circle No. 157
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
(ys a See
Quality Disk Drives, the 8035,
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Please add VAT to all prices. Delivery at cost will be advised at time of order.
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PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982 97
MACHINE-CODE routines within CP/M can
be used as the basis of an effective “‘pass-
word” system. This program allows disc
access to only those users able to input a
specific password.
The system consists of two separate
routines. CLOSE.COM changes the
names of all files on a- disc from the
normal upper-case characters, to lower-
case characters, rendering these files in-
termination, CLOSE.COM searches the
START
Set up New stack
reset disk system
Figure 1.
print intro. message
& prompt user to
enter PASSWORD.
accessible in the normal manner. Before.
print message:
‘opening directory’
Adrian Hill.
directory for a file named ‘‘open.com”
and renames it ““OPEN.COM”. Thus this
file:will be the only one executable by the
user.
The second routine, OPEN.COM,
asks the user to input the password,
checks its validity against the real pass-
word, and if itis valid reverses the action
of CLOSE.COM to convert ail files from
lower- to upper-case character names,
restoring the disc directory to its original
state. It thus allows normal disc access
read users response
’ to input buffer
compare’ with
real password.
true
print message:
‘invalid password’
get FCB for first
find location of
FCB in disk buffer.
move whole FCB to
next free section
of FCB BUFFER.
increase FILE COUNT
get FCB for next
file from directory.
RENAME file from buffer
update FCB BUFFER
pointer.
98
convert 2nd 16 bytes
of FCB to upper case
version of 1st 16 bytes
file from directory
into disk buffer.
restore stack to
original state.
jump to 9699 H
update FCB BUFFER
pointer
print final message
FDos routines inside CP/M can be put to practical use as a
security system in machine-code programs of your own, explains
Secrets of the
password
‘until CLOSE.COM is executed again.
To operate the system, the user simply
executes CLOSE.COM at the termina-
tion of a CP/M session, and then executes |
OPEN.COM when starting the next ses-
sion. Remember that Open and Close |
work on individual discs, and not the disc
system itself. Each disc used must be
individually Opened and Closed, which
has the side-effect of allowing individual
discs their own password, if required.
Each disc used under CP/M has an area
known as the directory which contains a
file-control block, FCB, for each file on
| the disc. The FCB contains the file name
and file type together with various other
information. CP/M contains no routines
to allow direct access to the whole of the
directory, so it is not possible to load it all
into RAM as a single entity.
However, it is possible to load specific
parts of the directory into the disc input/ |
output buffer at default location 0080 to
00FFhex. This is accomplished using the
primitive numbers 17 and 18 which search
the directory for the first, 17, and subse-
quent, 18, files which match the file name
and type in a key FCB at the location
pointed to by register D/E.
When using these primitives, the disc
buffer is filled with that part of the direc- |
tory containing the FCB of the matching
file. In the 80hex bytes, there is room for
four FCBs of 20hex, or 32 decimal, bytes
each. One of this four will be the required
FCB; which one, is indicated by the value
of the lowest two bits, that is 0, 1, 2, 3, in
register A.
Further, there is no routine in the
| FDos which allows the contents of the
directory to be loaded into RAM, in
parts, from the beginning to the end. You
can only search the directory for a file to
match the name and type given in the
FCB set up at the location pointed to by
register D/E.
You can, however, achieve the same
result by an indirect approach. CP/M has
the facility to allow a “wild” character in
a file name, which will be matched in the
match FCB primitives by any character.
The “wild” character is “?”, so if the
FCB which is set up contains the file
name and type
this will be matched by any possible file
(continued on page 101)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Listing 1. CLOSE.COM routine.
0100
0100
0005
0080
0002
0009
OOO0A
ooit
0012
0017
oooD
0103
0104
0124
0130
0146
0147
0149
014A
O14B
O14D
016D
016D
0188
O1AB
o1cs3
01Cé
01CcB8
O1CA
oicD
O1CF
o1Dp1
01D4
01D7
o01D8
O1DB
01DC
O1DF
O1E2
O1E4
O1E7
O1EA
O1ED
O1FO
O1F2
O1F5
O1F8
O1FB
O1FE
0200
0203
0206
0209
020C
O20F
0211
0214
0217
0219
o21C
O2%E
021F
0222
0223
0224
0227
0228
0229
022C
022F
0230
0231
0234
0237
023A
023B
O23E
O23F
0242
0243
0244
0245
0248
024A
024B
024C
OZ4F
0251
0254
0257
o25A
o025D
0260
e
ORG 100H
JMP BEGIN
FDOS
DIRECTORY
PRINT CHAR
PRINTSCONS
READSCONS
MATCHS1ST
MATCHSNE XT
RENAMEF
DISKSRESET
0
w
®
=}
=
cnovh booed
;
20 INPUTSBUFFER
DS 32
0000000000 DW 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
3
5
00 FCBSCOUNT DB O
FCBSLOCATION DW FCBSBUFFER
ole) FILESCOUNT DB O
FILESTOTAL DB O
OLDSSP DW O
STACK DS 32
STACKSTOP EQU $
‘
2020202041Mi1BUFFER DB ”
2020434C4FM2BUFFER DB ”
2020444952M4BUFFER DB ’”
APH SECURITY SYSTEMS’
DIRECTORY NOW CLOSED. $”
3
CRLF PUSH B! PUSH D! PUSH H
MVI C, PRINTSCHAR
MVI E, ODH
CALL FDOS
MVI C, PRINTSCHAR
MVI E, OAH
CDoS0o CALL FDOS
E1D1C1 POP H! POP D!
co RET
CSDSES
OEO2
1E0D
Cbdos00
OEO2
1E0A
PoP
‘
,
210000 BEGIN LXI H, 0
39 DAD SP
224B01 SHLD OLDSSP
316D01 LXI SP, STACKSTOP
OEOD MVI C, DISKSRESET
cDos00 CALL FDOS
cpc301 CALL CRLF
CDC301 CALL CRLF
cpc301 CALL CRLF
OEO9 MVI C, PRINTSCONS
116D01 LXI D, M1iBUFFER
cpoS500 CALL FDOS
cpc301 CALL CRLF
cpc301 CALL CRLF
OE09 MVI C, PRINTSCONS
118801 LXI D, M2BUFFER
cDos500 CALL FDOS
CDC301 CALL CRLF
CDC301 CALL CRLF
cpe3s01 CALL CRLF
OE 11 DONEIT MVI C, MATCHSIST
112401 DITLP1 LXI D, FCB
cDO500 CALL FDOS
FEFF CPI -255
cAs402 JZ ALLS$MATCH
0601 MVI B, 1
OF RRC
D22302 JNC NO$LSB
INR B
NO$LSB RRC
JNC NO$NSB
INR B
INR B
NOSNSB LXI H, DIRECTORY - 20H
LXI D, 20K
FCBLP1 DAD D
DCR B
JZ FCBSET
C32FO2 ame FCBLP1
3A4601 FCBSET LDA FCBSCOUNT
Ss INR A
324601 STA FCBSCOUNT
ES PUSH H
2A4701 LHLD FCBSLOCAT ION
PUSH H
POP D
POP H
LxI B, 32
DB OEDH, OBOH
PUSH D
POP H
SHLD FCBSLOCATION
MVI_C, MATCHSNEXT
JMP DITLP1I
ALLSMATCH LDA FCBSCOUNT
STA FILESTOTAL
LXI H, FCBSBUFFER
LXI D, FCBSBUFFER + 16
SUBLPO MVI C, 11
CA3702
C31102
3A4601
324A01
210703
111703
OEOB
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
CLOSING DIRECTORY — PLEASE WAIT.’
0262
0264
0265
0266
0267
0268
026A
026D
O26F
0270
o271
0272
0273
0276
0278
027A
027B
027C
027D
O27E
0281
0284
0285
0288
028B
O28E
O28F
0290
0291
0292
0293
0294
0295
0296
0299
029C
O29F
O2A0
O2A3
O2A5
O2A6
O02A8
O2AA
O2AB
02AC
O2AD
O2BO
O2B1
O2B4
O2B5
O2B6
O2B8
O2BB
O2BC
O2BF
02C0
o2C3
02C4
02C7
O2CA
0o2CC
O2CF
O2D2
O02D5
O2DE
O2F2
O2F5
O2F8
O2FA
O2FD
0300
O303
0304
0307
0307
3E00 MVI A, O
12 sTax D
23 INX H
13 INX D
7E SUBLP1 MOV A, M
FE20 cpr: °
CASFO2 JZ NOSUB
C620 ADI 20H
12 NOSUB STAX D
23 INX H
13 INX D
oD DCR C
©26702 JNZ SUBLP1
3E00 MVI A, O
0E04 MVI C, 4
12 NSLP STAX D
13 INX D
23 INX H
oD DCR C
C27A02 JNZ NSLP
3A4601 LDA FCBSCOUNT
3D DCR A
CAI902 JZ RENAME
324601 STA FCBSCOUNT
011000 LXI B, 16
09 DAD B
ES PUSH H
DS PUSH D
E1 POP H
oF DAD B
ES PUSH H
Di POP D
E1 POP H
C36002 JMP SUBLPO
3A4AOL RENAME LDA FILESTOTAL
210703 LXI H, FCBSBUFFER
ES RENLP1 PUSH H
010C00 LXI B, 12
1E02 MVI E, 2
oF STLP DAD B
1604 MVI D, 4
3E00 MVI A, O
77 LP MOV Mm, A
23 H
15 D
C2AA02 LP
iD E
C2A502 STLP
D1 D
DS PUSH D
0E17 MVI C, RENAMEF
cDposoo CALL FDOS
E1 POP H
112000 LXI D, 32
19 DAD D
3A4A01 LDA FILESTOTAL
3D DCR A
324A01 STA FILESTOTAL
C29F02 JNZ RENLPI
0E17 MVI_ C, RENAMEF
11D502 LXI D, SPFCB
cDpos0o CALL FDOS
C3F202 JMP DONREN
O04F70656ESPFCB DB 0, 6FH, 70H, 45H, SEH, 20H, 20H, 20H, 20H
636F6D0000 DB 63H, 6FH, 6DH, 0,0,0, 0,0, OPEN con’ ,o
CDC301 DONREN CALL CRLF
CDc301 CALL CRLF
E09 MVI C, PRINT$CONS
11AB01 LXxI D, M4BUFFER
cposoo CALL FDOS
2A4B01 FEND LHLD OLDSSP
F9 SPHL
cC30000 JMP 0000H
= FCBSBUFFER EQU $
END 100H
Listing 2. OPEN.COM routine.
0100
0100
ORG 100H
C35002 JMP BEGIN
declare all constants,
and buffers to be used.
variables
3
Fpos
DIRECTORY
PRINTSCHAR
PRINTSCONS
READSCONS
MATCHS1ST
MATCHSNE XT
RENAMEF
DISKSRESET
EQu
EQu
EQu
EQu
EQu
EQu
EQuU
Eau 23
EQU 13
oi ke ehh tt
’
20 INPUTSBUFFER
DS 32
OB PASSWORD
435241434BPWSTART DB ”*CRACKERJACK’”
DB 32
DB PWEND — PWSTART
= PWEND EQU
(listing continued on page 101)
99
VISICALC 80 COLUMN DISPLAY on an APPLE IT!
Yes, now its possible for all VISICALC users to obtain Screen Display in 80 COLUMNS, and to have
additional memory available for VISICALC applications !!
Install one Saturn 128K Board and get 145K for Viscalc
Install one Saturn 32K Board and get 49K for Visicalc
Install one Saturn 128K Board plus one 32K Board = 177K for Visicalc
VC EXPAND 80 TO GIVE ADDITIONAL MEMORY AND 80 CULUMN DISPLAY — £69.00
VC EXPAND WITHOUT 80 COLUMN DISPLAY — £55.00
VIDEX VISICALC 80 COLUMN SOFTWARE (No Memory Expansion) — £29.95
SATURN 128K BOARD — £359 SATURN 32K BOARD — £149
VIDEX VIDEO TERM — £195 VIDEX 40/80 Cot Software Controlled Switch — £19.95
NEW PACKAGING From VISICORP UTILITIES
VISICALC £105.00 MACHINE COVERS — only the best BACK IT UP BIT COPIER £39.95
VISIFILE £139.00 “ee ame see SUPER DISK COPY II £17.95
eon .
VISITERM £79.00 |I! Simole Disk DISK RECOVERY £17.95
£2.95
DESKTOP/PLAN £105.00 2stacked disks £4.45 DISK ORGANISER II £17.95
VISIDEX £105.00 Apple, 2 disks and 9° monitor or Apple {|| MULTI DISK CATALOG III £15.95
Meaeegie Sean and 12” monitor £8.95 ||| APPLESOFT & STRUCTURED BASIC £15.95
P Apple and 2 disk £7.95 ||| DOS PLUS £15.95
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project planner that gives you both the Apple ///cover inc monitor /// £12.95 :
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projects, meet deadlines, level resources, and cover £12.95 ACE (Applesoft Command Editor) £21.95
beat cost targets ae 189. 00 Epson MX 100 £7.45 LIST MASTER £22.95
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HIGHER TEXT II £21.95
; . HIGHER GRAPHICS II £18.95
SYNERGIZER with FREE SUPERCALC = HIGHER FONTS I £8.95
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DIRECTORY MANAGER £18.95.
Z-Card Z-80 Processor Card
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Rodney Zaks C/PM manual from Pete & Pam MICROSOFT A.L.DS. £79.00
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Smarterm 80 col card with enhanced Computers MICROSOFT APPLE ce Compiler £209.95
CHR set and integral softswith
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SUMMER SPECIAL! £449.00 el ae Deere ee nb ‘BAG OF TRICKS
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Phone: (0706) 227011 mm. es : ;
Z- C ARD with Telex: 635740 Petpam G Includes many “hand holding’’ tutorials that assist
London Retail: you in repairing damaged diskettes and allow you
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mF ee and ELECTRONIC DIARY software
Executes all standard DOS commands
Comparative timings: DOS FDOS
Bloading integer basic 13 sec 3 sec MATHEMAGIC
Cataloging a 12 file disk 2 sec 1 sec
Saving a 10 sector program 6 sec 2 sec OSBORNE C/PM USER GUIDE ...
Saving a 100 sector program 34 sec 7 sec (Book — No VAT)
i 7
Loading a 100 sector nae 24 sec sec CALCSTAR For APPLE
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DO Prices do not include VAT please add 15% to your remittance Postage and Packing FREE @ Circle No. 158
(continued from page 98)
name. The match FCB primitives then
have the effect of becoming “find first
file” or “find next file” in the directory.
rather than finding the first and next
matching file.
Using this method it becomes possible
to scan the directory effectively. The
FDos also indicates when there are no
further files in the directory by returning
the value FFhex in register A on return
from the match FCB primitives. This
return value actually indicates that there
is no file in the directory to match the
selected FCB. As this would be matched
by any file, it effectively indicates “‘no
more files’’.
There is one major problem to be
overcome when using this method. The
disc buffer will only be large enough to
hold four FCBs from the directory, so
when it is full you must either rename
these four files before proceeding, or
move them to another, larger buffer.
This decision is dictated by the fact that
no intervening FDos calls can be made
between use of the match FCB primi-
tives, as the system would “lose its place
in the directory” during other calls.
(listing continued from page 99)
0130 OO3FSF3F3FFCB DB 0,’ 277222272?"
O13C DOOCOCCOCOO Dw O,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
3
3
0152 FCBSCOUNT DB O
0153
‘0155
0156
0157
0159
0179
FILESCOUNT DB O
FILESTOTAL DB O
OLDssP Dw O
STACK DS 32
STACKSTOP EQU
3
0179 2020202041M1BUFFER DB
0194 2020202045M2BUFFER DB
FCBSLOCATION DW FCBSBUFFER
APH SECURITY SYSTEMS’
ENTER YOUR PASSWORD. >$”
Thus a large buffer must be set up to
hold an FCB for each file on the disc.
You then have to move all the FCBs to
this area when the FDos finds them, keep
a count of the number of FCBs found,
and'then rename them all, once the last
FCB has been moved.
The logic for this program is given in a
procedural flowchart in figure 1, the
program itself is in the assembler listing
produced by ASM.COM. Both the flow-
chart and the listing refer to OPEN
.COM, as this is the most complex of the
pair of programs. CLOSE.COM is
almost identical, except for variations:
None of the program lines referring to the
password are required in CLOSE.COM. So
delete the source lines in the listing, which
are assembled at the locations 0124 to
0125 and 0276 to 02BEhex.
M2Buffer, M4Buffer and MiBuffer are not re-
quired in CLOSE.COM. M3Buffer should be
relabelled M4Buffer.
MXBuffer in CLOSE.COM should read:
MXBUFFER DB ‘ CLOSING DIRECTORY
— PLEASE WAIT.S’
The conversion of the file names in
CLOSE.COM requires the value 20hex to
be added to each character, not subtracted
as in OPEN.COM. So delete the source
CD3BO2
OE09 MVI
119401 LxI
Cpo0500
OEOA
110301
CboS00
lines at locations 0337 and 0339. In the line
at location 033C, change SUI to ADI.
One extra piece of code must be added: the
routine that will convert back to upper case
the file now named “open.com”, so that it
will be executable by the user when he
wishes to run it. Insert the following lines
before
FEND LHLD OLD$SP
which is five lines from the, end:
MVI C, RENAMEF
LX! D, SPFCB
CALL FDOS
JMP FEND
SPFCB DB 0,6FH, 70H, 65H, 6EH, 20H,
20H, 20H, 20H, 63H, 6FH, 6DH
DB 0,0,0,0, ‘OPEN COM’, 0,0,0,0
These changes should be made to the
source code for OPEN.COM and then
assembled using ASM. The resulting hex
file should be saved as a command file
using DDT to load it into RAM.
The only other change concerns sys-
tems with an 8080 or 8085 processor,
rather than a Z-80. These users must
change the line assembled at 0312hex
from the block move, EDBO, to a small
routine which will move each of the 32
bytes individually.
CALL CRLF
C, PRINTSCONS
D, M2BUFFER
CALL FDOS
users response is read into
INPUTSBUFFER using READSCONS
primitive.
3
C, READSCONS
D, INPUTSBUFFER
CALL FDOS
Actual password at PASSWORD is
compared with that input by the
user. If correct move to DONEIT,
O1AF
O1CF
O1EC
O20E
0218
2020444952M3BUFFER DB ”
2020444952M4BUFFER DB ”
20204F5045MXBUFFER DB
DIRECTORY CLOSED — NO ACCESS. $’
DIRECTORY OPEN — CONTINUE.$’
2020202020 CONT DB ’ $s”
2020534F52MIBUFFER DB
CSDS5SE5
OEO2
1E0D
CcDos500
OQEO2
1E0A
cbDOoSo0o
€1pDic1i
c9
210000
CDSBO2
CDSBO2
CDSBO2
0£09
117901
CDOSe0
CD3B02
CD3B02
SORRY -— NOT A VALID PASSWORD. $”
3
3
3
3 subroutine CRLF sends a CR/LF
3 to the console.
s
CRLF PUSH B! PUSH D! PUSH H
MMVI C, PRINTSCHAR
MVI-€, ODH
CALL FDOS
MVI C, PRINTSCHAR
MVI €, OAH
CALL FDOS
POP H‘ POP D! POP B
RET
*
3 BEGIN is the start of the main
3 program. The stack is set up
3 and disk system reset.
3
BEGIN LXI H, 0
DAD SP
SHLD OLDSSP
LXI SP, STACKSTOP
MVI C, DISKSRESET
CALL FDOS
5
introduction message and
instruction to type password is
printed at the console using
PRINT$CONS primitive and CRLF.
CALL CRLF
CALL CRLF
CALL CRLF
MVI C, PRINTSCONS
LXI D, MIBUFFER
CALL FDOS
CALL CRLF
CALL CRLF
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
OPENING DIRECTORY — PLEASE WAIT.’
210501
112401
CAC102
C39202
CD3BO2
CD3B02
OEO9
111B02
CDOS500
CD3BO0O2
CD3BO2
OE09
L1AFO1L
cpDo500
C3A703
otherwise to WRONG.
H, INPUT$BUFFER + 2
LXI D, PASSWORD
LDAX D
MOV C,A
INX D
r
«
i
PWLP1 LDAX D
MOV B.A
MOV A, M
CMP B
INZ
INX
INX
DER
3Z DONEIT
IMP PWLP1
Password is not valid. Directory
will remain clased. Message is
printed at console using
PRINTSCONS primitive, and control
jumps to terminating section FEND.
wor ee ee ot et es oe
WRONG CALL CRLF
CALL CRLF
MVI C, PRINTSCONS
LXI D, MIBUFFER
CALL FDOS
CALL CRLF
CALL CRLF
MVI C, PRINTSCONS
LXI D, M3BUFFER
CALL FDOS
JMP FEND
3 Password is valid. Directory will
3; be restored. Message is printed
3 to console overwriting password.
3
DONEIT MVI C,PRINTSCHAR
MVI €, ODH
CALL FDOS
MVI_ C,PRINTSCONS
{continued on page 103)
101
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@ Circle No. 159
(continued from page 101)
O2CA 11ECO1
Oo2CD cDOS500
O2DO0 CD3BO2
O2D3 CDIBO2
02D6 CDIBO2
OE11
113001
CDOS00
FEFF
CA1eos
2146000
112000
19
oS
CA0103
C3F902
3AS201
3c
325201
ES
2AS301
(=)
D1
El
012000
EDBO
DS
El
225301
0E12
C3DBO2
3A5201
325601
21AEOS
JIBEOS
OEOB
SECO
12
23
LXI D, MXBUFFER
CALL FDOS
CALL CRLF
CALL CRLF
CALL CRLF
FDOS primitives MATCHS1ST and
MATCHSNEXT are used to bring
the FCB for each file on disk
into the disk buffer at OO80H.
,
MVI C, MATCHS1ST
DITLP1 LXI D, FCB
CALL FDOS
e€PI 255
JZ ALLSMATCH
If 255 is returned from FDOS
in reg. A, then no files are
left on disk which match the
filename in our FCB. This
must mean no files remain as
MVI B, 1
RRC
JNC NOSLSB
INR B
NOSLSB RRC
JNC NOSNSB
INR B
INR B
NOSNSB LXI H, DIRECTORY — 20H
LxXI D, 20H
FCBLP1 DAD D
When here, reg H contains the
RAM location of the start of
the FCB for the next file in
the directory.
wet we we we ee
5
FCBSET LDA FCBSCOUNT
INR A
STA FCBSCOUNT
PUSH H
LHLD FCBSLOCATION
PUSH H
PoP D
POP H
Now move the 32 bytes starting
at the location in H, to the
buffer area starting at the
location in D. Thus the whole
FCB for the next file is moved
to the buffer FCBSBUFFER, the
current start location of which
is held in FCBSLOCATION.
This section cheats, using the
Z80 block transfer code ED BO
to move the FCB. This must be
modified if 8080 CPU is used.
Te ee ee
i
LxXI B, 32
DB OEDH, OBOH
PUSH D
POP H
SHLD FCBSLOCATION
MVE C, MATCHSNEXT
One FEB has now been moved to
the buffer. Update the buffer
and file pointers and jump
back to the start of this loop
at DITLP1, to move next FCBs.
owe er ae ee ee oe
*
JMP DITLP1
ALLSMATCH LDA FCBSCOUNT
when here, FCBSBUFFER contains
a valid FCB for each file on
the disk. Each FCB is 32 bytes
not the full 33 as the current
record field is not required.
Now insert nulls into all
unused FCB fields. Then move
the upper case equivalent of
the lower case filename in the
first 16 bytes into the second
16 bytes. This simply involves
subtracting 20H from the ASCII
values.
TT ee Te Ce Ce Tr eT
,
STA FILESTOTAL
LXI H, FCBSBUFFER
LXI D, FCBSBUFFER + 14
SUBLPO MVI Cc, 11
MVI A, 0
stax D
INX H
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
our FCB will match any filename.
13
7E
FE20
CASEOS
FESA
FASEOS
Dé20
12
23
13
oD
€23103
3EOO
OEO04
12
13
23
oD
C24903
3AS201
3D
CAé8035
325201
011000
o9
L=te)
EC32A03
SAS601
21AEOS
ES
010C00
1E02
o?
1604
3E0O
77
23
15
C27903
1D
€27403
D1
DS
OE17
€DOSOO
3AS601
3D
325601
C26E03
CD3BO2
CD3BO2
oE09
11CFO1
CboSs00
INx D
SUBLP1 MOV A, M
CPI’ °
JZ NOSUB
CPI SAH |
JM NOSUB
SUI 20H
NOSUB STAX D
INX H
INX D
DCR C
JNZ SUBLP1
MVI A, O
mMVI Cc, 4
NSLP STAX D
INX D
INX H
DCR C
JNZ NSLP
One FCB is now in the right
format for use with RENAME
Primitive. If all FCBs have
been processed proceed to
renaming section, else jump
back to start of loop after
updating pointers etc.
FCBSCOUNT
DCR A
JZ RENAME
Pointers will point to next FCB.
Then jump back to SUBLPO
STA FCBSCOUNT
LxI B, 16
DAD B
PUSH H
PUSH D
POP H
DAD B
PUSH H
Por D
POP H
JMP SUBLPO
Now use RENAME primitive with
each FCB in the buffer to
rename each file with its old
upper case name. More nulls
are added as required first.
RENAME LDA FILESTOTAL
LXI H, FCBSBUFFER
RENLP1 PUSH H
LxI B, 12
MVI E, 2
STLP DAD B
MVI D, 4
MVI A, 0
LP MOV Mm, A
INX H
DCR D
JNZ LP
DER E
JNZ STLP
POP D
PUSH D
MVI C, RENAMEF
CALL FDOS
A file has been renamed. Update
pointer to next FCB, and the
#ile counter. Jump back to start
of loop at RENLP1 if more files
have yet to be renamed.
v
Se ey assert osiookies we
H
D, 32
D
FILESTOTAL
()
FILESTOTAL
RENUP1
All files are now renamed. Print
a final message to console.
DONREN CALL CRLF
CALL CRLF
MVI C, PRINTSCONS
LxI D, M4BUFFER
CALL FDOS
Terminate program by restoring
stack to original state and
jumping’ to CP/M boot location.
LHLD OLDSSP
O000H
FCBSBUFFER starts here as its
length is dependant upon the
number of files on the disk,
and so will vary.
FCBSBUFFER EQU $ Oo
END 100H
103
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@ Circle No. 160
104 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Program prof ===
| It is a waste of time to try and prove that programs are correct by using mathematical
or logical proofs, argues Boris Allan. What matters is whether they work, and you
can only discover that by running them.
Searching for truth
IT 1S NOW realised that a scientific theory
can never be given more than a provision-
al acceptance, one can only say that it has
been ‘“‘found to be true so far”. Such
provisional acceptance must be based on |
attempts to falsify the theory. It is only
too easy to find confirmations of a
theory; efforts should be directed to-
wards trying to prove the theory wrong
rather than making a vain attempt to
prove it right.
This attitude to testing is generally
associated with the name of Karl Popper.
Though some of Popper’s other ideas are
the subject of a debate, the notion of
falsification is relatively non-controver-
sial. An implication of this approach is
that you can never show a theory or
hypothesis to be true, while a single
disconfirming instance — an error in a
prediction — shows that the theory or
hypothesis is untrue.
In recent years theoretical computer
scientists have expended much time,
work and energy, on “proving programs
correct”, using purely mathematical and
logical methods. Yet it is impossible to
prove that a program is correct merely by
testing it, as a famous quote from
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
‘a1
Dijkstra clearly states: “Program testing
can be used to show the presence of bugs,
but never to show their absence’’.
It is hoped that if a program is proved
to be “correct” by mathematical means
you can be assured of no errors or, in the
jargon, no bugs. The use of these
methods has a powerful appeal. The re-
cent text by Linger and others declares:
“The new reality [of programming] is that
you can learn to consistently design and
write programs that are correct from the
beginning and that prove to be error-free
in their testing and subsequent use”’.
Known by the soubriquet “‘structured”
programming, there now exists a well-
established approach to programming in
which proofs of correctness play an im-
portant role in teaching the student pro-
grammer. To program in a structured
manner does not require a knowledge of
correctness proofs. Outside the confines
of computer studies, most so-called struc-
tured programming is nothing but sys-
tematic or modular programming under
another name.
It is worth being explicit about what is
promised:
a. it is impossible to prove that a program is
correct merely by testing the program,
though testing may reveal that the program
is incorrect.
b. it is possible to prove that a program is
correct by mathematical means.
A program is an answer to a question
and, in science, answers to qustions set by
nature are called “theories”. A computer
program is a theory or hypothesis of how
a computation should be; the execution
of a program is the test of the theory —
analogous to an experiment.
If the promises about correctness
proofs for programs are written with the
term ‘“‘theory”’ in the place of “‘program”’
then you find:
a.it is impossible to prove a theory correct by
testing the theory, though a theory can be
shown to be incorrect;
b.it is possible to prove that a theory is
correct by purely mathematical means.
Consideration ‘“‘a” is the “‘Popperian fal-
sificationist” position, but “b” is patently
untrue — you can establish internal con-
sistency by mathematical means, but
never external truth. That a program or
theory is internally consistent may mean
that the program or theory is less likely to
be false; reality is the ultimate arbiter,
(continued on page 107)
105
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106
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@ Circle No. 161
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
The neglect of the consequences of
induction is a key flaw in structured
programming, particularly in the pro-
ving of program correctness. Tech-
niques for proving program correctness
have been held out as a means by which
totally correct programs can be written,
before the programs are even run on a
computer.
The argument may be summarised as
follows:
@ It is impossible to prove a program
is totally correct, by any means.
@ Proponents of structured
programming have confused
verification, proving correct, with
falsification or trying to prove
incorrect.
(continued from page 105)
however, as the program, or theory, must
at some point match reality.
It is not possible to prove programs
correct by testing, only correct so far,
though this is all that can be said of any
scientific theory — only correct so far. If
the necessity for any reference to reality
is eliminated for programming, then
science would have difficulty in following
this pattern. In the case of a computer
program, “‘reality”’ is the computer.
There are those who extoll the virtues
of correctness proofs even to the extent
of designing computer languages to facili-
tate such proofs. They have missed the
point. No theory can ever be proven to be
N 1
, es
correct, though it is possible that a theory
may be proven to be consistent. Even
then it is usually only trivial theories that
afford such a proof, classical mechanics,
for example. Proofs of consistency have
been confused with proofs for ‘‘correct-
ness”. Anderson provides a simple intro-
duction to correctness proofs.
The question of the proof of theories is
tied up with the general question of in-
duction. A theory can never be proved
correct purely on the basis of past experi-
ence, however formal the past experi-
ence. Will the sun rise tomorrow?
How do the supporters of correctness
proofs think they have circumvented. the
problem of induction? First, consider
what is a “proof”. If
F(N) = (N+1)2
then simple algebra suggests that also
F(N) = N2+2N+1
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
@ Methods of proving program
correctness are merely methods of |
establishing program consistency
— in itself no bad thing.
Methods of proving program
correctness are based on a
method, induction, whose own
correctness cannot be proven.
Conventional mathematical
methods do not work when you
consider computations for floating-
point numbers’ on a real computer.
There can be no escape from the
actual execution of a program on a
computer — in fact the same
program might be correct on one
computer but not work at all on
another.
turning this argument into a proposition
P1(N),
P41(N): F(N) = (N+1)? = F(N) = N?+2N+1
The question arises, how would the pro-
cess of proof for P1(N) progress?
Those who have a strong visual
imagery might think of a square with side
N+1. Within it shape A has an area N?,B
and C both have area N, and D has an
area of 1 unit. The area of the square of
side N+1 is (N+1)’. It is equal to the sum
of the -areas A+B+C+D, which is
N?+2N+1. P1(N) is thus proven correct.
A critic of this process of proof might
then ask to be shown that the shape A, an
N-by-N square, really has an area of N’.
The process of clarification and proof
could be pushed further and further —
like that annoying child’s question
‘*“Why?’? — and the critic still need not be
satisfied. Only if the critic is “sensible”
and displays some goodwill is the first
diagram likely to suffice. Mathematical
proof is based on goodwill.
Suppose the correctness of P1(N) is
demonstrated by
(N+1)? = (N+1) (N+1)
N(N+14) + 1(N+1)
N24+N+N41
N? + 2N + 1
and this is the “proof”. The critic says,
“Fine, you have played with letters and
numbers according to your rules, but
prove it”. A number is substituted for N
— say, 0 — so that
(N+1)? =
Hun
(0+1)? = 1
and
N?+2N+t = 04041 = 1
References
R B Anderson, Proving Programs Correct;
John Wiley, New York (1979)
E W Dijkstra, “Notes on Structured Program-
ming” in Structured Programming by O-J
Dah!, E W Dijkstra and C A R Hoare;
Academic Press, London (1972)
RC Linger, H D Mills and B | Witt, Structured
Programming: Theory and Practice; Addi-
son-Wesley, Reading Massachusetts
(1979)
B Magee, Popper, Fontana, London (1973)
J Passmore, Philosophical Reasoning;
Duckworth, London (1970)
Program proofs ==
thus the proposition P1(0) is correct.
The critic now says “‘It is true for N=0,
but what about other numbers”? Even
when every substitution for N shows
P1(N) to be correct the critic may remain
unconvinced. An appeal has to be made
to the critic’s goodwill, to “see”, by in-
duction, that P1(N) is true. Yet P1(N)
need not necessarily be true for trans-
finite numbers.
The goodwill is codified as a standard
method of proof called mathematical in-
duction, which in its simplest form is as
follows:
a. prove P1{0) is true;
b. prove that if P1(N) is true then P1 (N+1) is
necessarily true.
It is intuitively clear that, by induction,
“a” and “‘b’’ together provide a proof of
P1(N) for all positive values of N, and
with goodwill this can be accepted as
proof. From the earlier discussion it can
be seen that ‘‘b” is as open to query as
any other proof. For example, it can be
said “So it is true for N and N+1, but
what about N+2”.
‘In advanced work you have to assume
the process of proof with equivalents to
“a” and “b” as axioms. That mathemati-
ba induction is true cannot be proven, so
methods of induction whose correctness
cannot be proven are used to prove the
correctness of programs. See Passmore’s
book which includes a general discussion
of induction.
Mathematical reasoning can be per-
fectly valid as mathematical reasoning
but need not be valid as practical reason-
ing. Examine proposition P2(*)
P2(*): *y = #2 =y =z
which reveals an old chestnut. If * = 1
and y = 2 then
1x2=1xz
so that z = 2 and thus y = z. However, if
* = 0, and y = 2, then0 x 2=0 x zso
that z may be any finite value: we have
ourselves resorted to the critic’s stance.
Mathematically, we could say P2(*) is
true for all values of * other than zero,
but on a computer P2(*) is not true for
all values of * other than zero. If * lies
between +1E—38, on most computers
then * is taken to be zero; the computer
is a finite machine.
On a computer, if */2 = 0 then either
* is-zero or * is equal to the smallest
value which that computer regards as
being distinct from zero. These kinds of
arguments may explain why discussions
of correctness proofs for floating-point as
against integer numbers do not exist.
Perhaps this may also explain why
scientific users have been slow to move to
“‘structured’’ languages and have
remained with a very old janguage,
Fortran. Scientific users are mainly
interested in computations on floating-
point numbers, whereas with some
“structured” languages, especially
variants of Pascal, the use of floating-
point numbers seems to be an after-
thought. Q
107
Putting
across
your
message
in print
In order to achieve
success, it is worth
spending some time and
effort to make sure that
the words and pictures
used in promoting your
product are right for the
job, writes Clive Wilkins.
STEVEN JOBS started Apple on the basis of
having a good technical idea and has
made himself a multi-millionaire by the
age of 25. It is not surprising therefore
that many others should want to follow
suit. Technical expertise is to be found in
abundance in the UK to produce a good
crop of micro-products. But will they
continue to sell? This depends partly on
the quality of the products but crucially
on whether or not there is sufficient
marketing expertise to give them the start
they need to build success. In many cases
it is this element that is sadly lacking.
Microcomputer products are low
priced and in general are not sold in bulk
to end users. This means that employing
salesmen is just not on for much of the
market and the products have to be sold
through response advertising or direct
mail. In these cases, all the burden of
putting across the sales message and get-
ting the customer to sign is placed on the
written word. In view of the importance
to the future success of the product, it is
worth spending some time and effort
making sure that the words and pictures
used are right for the job they have to do.
In function a piece of promotional
literature is identical to a salesperson — it
exists to achieve sales. This means it must
@ grab prospective customers’ attention
@ stimulate their interest
@ create a desire for the product
@ initiate their action to buy
Before any of this can be done, there
must be a very clear idea of who the
108
Figure 1. Meeting the prospect’s needs.
prospective customers are, where’ they
are, and what sort of needs they have. If
writing the promotional materials causes
these questions to be asked for the first
time then there is something seriously
wrong. They should have been asked
before the product was developed in the
first place.
Step one in producing publicity litera-
ture is to get out of the habit of thinking
about the product and to think instead
about the customers or prospects. It is all
too easy to fill an advert with features of
the hardware or software instead of
thinking about how it answers ‘the pros-
pects’ needs. People do not buy features
— they buy answers to their needs.
A list of needs
Fundamentally, it boils down to needs
like being content and secure. having
status and being respected. No one is
going te be content if it turns out that
they have bought a piece of your hard-
ware or’software that does not work. The
publicity must assure them that the pro-
duct will not cause problems. This does
not necessarily emerge from a list of
features. Similarly, anyone buying hard-
ware or software that can be proved to
have saved money, or improve efficiency,
will enhance their own status and the
degree of respect they receive. The pub-
licity must ‘show how this can happen.
So before rushing into print, step aside
and: produce a list of needs which the
prospects have and which the product can
meet. Try to think about these from the
customers’ -point of view.
It is‘no use, for example, saying that a
payroll package meets the need to do
payrolls. Ifthe customers were honest their
real need is not to do payrolls at all —
they cost-money and do not contribute to
profit. As they cannot have this: wish
fulfilled, the next best is to get the payroll
done with minimum fuss and this means
quickly, easily, cheaply, accurately, reli-
ably and regularly. These are the needs
that a payroll package must meet:
Just by thinking about customer needs.
some words such as quick, accurate, reli-
able, are emerging which provide the
essential pegs for the publicity text. The
idea of user-needs also provides the basis
for deciding what form of publicity to
produce. The same rules apply to public-
ity literature and adverts.
Beware of people who begin “We need
a brochure for this product. They have
probably decided what form the publicity
will take without having any idea how it is
to be used. Producing publicity literature
should be just part of a marketing plan.
‘It is impossible to design a brochure
and then decide what to do with it though
it is surprising how many companies
achieve the impossible. The function of a
brochure should be one -of its major
design criteria.
If someone asked you to write a pro-
gram for this computer you would first
ask what the program was to be used for.
The same applies to sales literature. You
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
LETTER
Figure 2. Forms of publicity material.
cannot design it without knowing what it
is for, and how it is to be used.
Publicity literature can take many
forms, some of them surprising to people
with brochures on their minds.
If you are selling a wide range of cheap
software then a typewritten stocklist with
well thought-out copy describing each
item is quite appropriate for the personal
buyer to whom low cost is important.
Similarly a folder containing fact sheets
| or case-history applications may be the
right way to sell hardware to the naive
user who is more interested in what the
machine can do for him than technical
details which he hardly understands any-
way.
Importance of form
The form ts of fundamental importance
in determining how successfully the mes-
sage is put across. A well thought-out
low-cost solution may achieve infinitely
more sales than a badly conceived expen-
sive.“*brochure”’. Decide the function and
the form before considering the contents.
Unless you are a design expert, you
will probably get a qualified designer to
produce the final version of your publicity
material. Advertising agencies or
graphic designers are often more con-
cerned with appearances than function.
So decide the balance of the contents
yourself first, and then let the graphic
designer advise you about the finer points
of finished design and presentation.
Make a dummy of the finished article
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
out of plain paper and sketch the main
elements of contents on each page. This
gives a clear idea of the balance of the
contents and determines the amount of
copy needed. The designer can adjust the
number of words on a page and the
layout to best effect, but can only work
within the limits of the specification
given.
It is no use handing over 16 pages of
hardware jargon and saying, “put this on
half a page and give it plenty of impact”’.
The designer can do his best but it is an
impossible task. Make your choice at the
design stage. Either allow enough space
to put over the message — or if you only
allow half a page then limit the number of
words.
“Do not code until the design is right”,
is the golden rule of programming. “‘Do
not write publicity copy until the design is
right”’ is a golden rule of marketing.
Putting pen to paper is much easier when
you know the specification for the piece
you are writing and how it fits into the
overall pattern of things.
At this preliminary design stage
graphics have to be considered — the
photographs, diagrams, graphs and draw-
ings that are to accompany the text.
Graphics have a strong impact on the
reader and have a large influence on the
tone of the piece — technical, amusing,
informative, startling, friendly — what-
ever. Just as the words have to reflect
answers to user-needs so too do the pic-
tures.
Sales promotion ==
WALLCHART
(ORDER FOR
|
oO
o
——a
———4
Ask not whether a graphic has impact
value or relevance to the product — but
does it put the message across? A busty
female may have plenty of impact but
unless her picture contributes to the mes-
sage being put across it has no value.
Worse, it may actually conflict with the
message the customer wants to receive.
Umpteen pictures of the same piece of
hardware do not necessarily increase the
customer’s understanding or desire.
Keep diagrams simple
Diagrams can be a very useful short-
hand for putting across a technical mes-
sage, but if you want the customer to read
them they have to be simple. A natural
reaction from people who understand the
product in detail is to think that every
plus point must be included and that
every single correct linkage must be
shown. But we are trying to think of the
customer — and there is a limit to how
much information can be absorbed from
one diagram. Above this limit. adding
more detail reduces the amount of in-
formation that the reader receives.
At the extreme, an exceedingly compli-
cated diagram receives only the briefest
glance and the only message received by
the reader is one of complication.
Designers’ graphic ideas often mesmer-
ise technical people. There is a danger of
accepting the first idea that comes along
because it looks original.
The trick is to keep asking “‘ Would that
(continued on page 111)
109
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110 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
5%
) ACTIVE...
POSITIVE...
PRECISE...
FAMILIAR...
SHORT...
FRESH...
STANDARD...
PERSONAL...
.. WORDS
Figure 3. Good copy vs. bad copy characteristics.
(continued from page 109)
appeal to my needs if I were a custo-
mer”? Make the designer justify the de-
sign on this basis.
Copywriting is easy, but writing good
copy is not. Even after a lot of practice, it
always takes time and effort. You may
feel disappointed that all you have to
show for three or four hours of hard
creative work is a paragraph of good
copy, but when you see what one para-
graph of good copy can achieve in sales,
you will understand just how productive
and valuable those hours of painful con-
centration were.
Copywriter’s job
Armed with information on who the
customers are, what their needs are, and
how the product satisfies these needs, the
copywriter’s job is to:
@Remind or convince the prospects that they
have needs
@Explain how the product satisfies a need —
explicitly by describing what the need is and
implicitly in the way that the product is
described
@Convince the prospect that the product is
the best way of satisfying the need
@Persuade the prospect to place the order
Any word of copy that does not contri-
bute to one or more of these objectives
must be ruthlessly expunged.
There is no easy way to turn average
writers into brilliant copywriters but
there are some simple tricks of the trade
to help. First, words can be classified
according to their characteristics as well
as their meaning.
Sometimes words fall into contradic-
tory categories. precise but long, person-
al but slang, and the copywriter has to
decide whether the advantages outweigh
the disadvantages. When in doubt the
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
rule is — always prefer the word that is
alive and interesting over the word that is
dull but safe.
I find it helpful to jot down useful
words on a list and refer to them from
time to time to help out when stuck or
just to ensure that the copy has the right
sprinkling of active words. In general the
adjectives should come from the user-
need statements derived in the design
step. ;
Choose the first word of a paragraph
with care. It is a prime position and
worthy of a good, interesting word. Here
is an example:
The right small-business computer could
make you money.
This isn’t bad copy but it would be livelier
if it started with a more powerful word,
for example:
You can make money from the right small
business computer.
Good words to start the first sentence
include:
You
if
(any number)
Now
But
And
Go (or any verb)
How/What/Where/Why . . .?
Words that you should not use to start an
initial sentence include:
The
It
A
Starting in this way makes the copy more
lively and interesting to the reader —
more likely to get your message across.
Avoid burying the best words in the
middle of a sentence or paragraph — give
them a chance to shine. Do not be coy —
Sales promotion
PASSIVE...
NEGATIVE.
GENERAL...
OBSCURE...
LONG...
STALE...
SLANG...
IMPERSONAL..
spit it out. In particular, try to avoid
those yawn-producing openings:
It is becoming increasingly important . . .
In recent years there has been a growing
tendency . .
Copy should always follow the rules ot
English — spelling, grammar, punctua
tion etc. with allowable exceptions such
as short sentences with no verbs. Follow-
ing the rules is particularly important
when selling to people with programming
experience who are so used to the dis-
astrous effects of mis-spelling or faulty
punctuation in programs that errors leap
out of the page at them even in ordinary
English.
This article will not teach you grammar
but there are one or two points that may
help you get one up on your competitors.
(continued on next page)
Identifying the market.
What needs does the product meet?
| More efficient stock control
Quicker order taking
More reliable payroll
Who has these needs?
Industry sectors: eg manufacturing/finance/
construction/local government
Particular types: eg estate agents/oil
companies/small batch manufacturers
Prospect’s job title: eg personnel manager/
senior partner/management services
manager
How many prospects are there in total?
Total prospects of the type specified
— minus those you do not know how to find
— minus those you cannot afford to
contact H
— minus those who are already happy with
what they have
111
Sales promotion
balanced Mayr} better Wvh
Avy complete “WH effective Am
OV eel’. essential yi
practical M/blwh productive
Ae relevant (muir: signif-
icant Aw specific Amin
straightforward nw suitable
WARN
Figure 4. Some user-friendly adjectives.
(continued from previous page)
First, use the present tense whenever
possible. Use “Our software gives you
these benefits” rather than ‘Our soft-
ware will give you these benefits’’ or
“This personal computer produces 20 in-
voices a minute” rather than ‘“‘will pro-
duce”’.
Second, be active rather than passive
— “Take this opportunity. . .” not “This
opportunity should be taken...”
Third, avoid negative constructs: “Get
this package now’’, not “No one should.
avoid this opportunity of getting . . .”
Fourth, be consistent with names and
technical terms. If you have described
Checking the proofs.
Read all the headlines, flashes, and vital
details
Concentrate on addresses, telephone
numbers, prices, dates, order reference
numbers.
These are crucial parts in which errors
have disastrous results — even maybe
the time and expense of reprinting.
Scan the text without absorbing the
meaning
Look at each word as a separate entity —
this should uncover most of the keying
errors in typesetting.
Read the text concentrating on the
meaning
This will uncover the type of error where
one word has been converted to another
word. “Now” converted to “Not” is an
example and one which plays havoc with
the meaning of the text.
Make sure the corrections are checked
Errors have a habit of slipping through at
this stage because of the overwhelming
desire to get the artwork to the printers
as soon as possible.
112
your product as stock-control software in
one place do not call it the stock-control
program or stock-control package else-
where.
Finally, be kind to the readers and
coax them through the copy gently, giv-
ing them suitable headings to help them
on their way. For example, make sure
that in any continuous block of copy the
level of copy is consistent.
Keep copy flow
Do not say “This computer system is
the most sophisticated small computer for
its price available today. The printer cas-
ing is painted an attractive green.” This
sort of jump in level is not uncommon
and it is a ghastly experience for the
reader. It is like flying into an air pocket.
The difference in level hits you with a
bang and stops your reading dead. Using
conjunctions to start sentences can avoid
discontinuities. And, but, so, — these are
all words that link one sentence or
thought with the next and, provided that
the argument is a logical one, help the
reader absorb your message.
Copy and the rough design are the raw
materials of the designer who is respon-
sible for producing the finished artwork for
the printer. The interplay between the
designer who knows about graphics and
typography, and the people who know
about the product is a subject in itself.
But the fundamentals of the relationship
have already been spelled out — make
sure that the designer understands who
the publicity is designed for, and how it is
to be used.
Good designers should be able to ex-
plain how their designs meet the needs of
the market you have specified. They
should also be able to suggest minor
changes to the copy that will improve the
effectiveness of the finished article.
Having spent time and effort on getting
the words and design right it is a tragedy
to spoil the whole thing by letting mis-
takes through when the typesetting is
done. It is very important to thoroughly
check all the copy. Ignorance — real or
simulated — is the best qualification for
proof-reading. The human eye has a mar-
vellous propensity for seeing what it ex-
pects to see even when this is different
from what has been written.
This is accentuated when the proof-
reader is also the original author, so if
possible someone else should do the
checking. Avoid that awful feeling of
spotting a glaring error when the boxes of
printed literature are delivered from the
printer.
You have identified the market, and
how you are going to get at it. You have
produced a stunning selling document —
now make sure the plans get carried
through. Publicity material is expensive
to produce but resist the temptation to
over-order because the print costs for the
extra copies are comparatively small. If
you have no immediate plan for using
them, they will probably never be used. If
you have worked out a proper campaign
with a specific rate of return, you will
easily be able to afford a reprint when
necessary incorporating the latest
changes. It is amazing how many com-
panies throw their hands up in horror at
the cost of printing while throwing away
unused publicity material which has out-
lived its usefulness. Oo
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PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
113
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@ Circle No. 163
Ti4 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
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@ Our versatile Z80 Microcomputers are available as standard units or custom
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@ Circle No. 164
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982 115
Chris Histed presents a portable invaders game in Basic
Alien blaster
YOU ARE STRANDED at the bottom of a
large lunar crater, in charge of the only
remaining laser blaster ship on the moon.
A fleet of alien spacecraft has decided to
invade the moon, and their objective is to
land at the bottom of your crater, captur-
ing the moon and enslaving mankind.
Your blaster ship is equipped with an |
array of laser-blast cannon, with which
you must try to destroy the alien in-
vaders. Every time you fire off a laser
missile at the invading battle fleet, your
phaser energy drops from a starting value
of 1,000 at the beginning of the game, in
| steps of between 10 and 20 to a final value
of zero. At that point your expertise is
116
assessed, and the game comes to an end. |
UFO Master Blaster is a fast, real-time
space invaders program with good
graphics. It is written for the North Star
Horizon, and is suitable for any fast
micro with some form of direct cursor
| addressing. It runs in about 8K of mem-
ory, using normal North Star Basic which |
has no specialised commands. The only
shortening is the use of the exclamation
mark to replace the print statement.
At any time there are a maximum of |
| four invaders on the screen above your
crater. As you shoot one out, a new alien
is generated and displayed at a very fast
rate. You will. have your work cut out |
aioe
trying to keep them from descending too |
far down the screen.
Also on the screen from time to time |
will be either a bomb or a flying saucer,
which score higher points than mere in-
vader ships. There are two types of bomb
and one type of flying saucer. The ‘‘o”
bomb is a nasty weapon used by the
invaders as it will aim for your laser
blaster and unless you shoot it out it will
home in on your blaster and destroy it.
The other sort of bomb, the ‘‘y” bomb,
does not aim for you but can be equally
deadly as it descends in a random manner |
from one of the alien battle fleet.
Occasionally a flying saucer will fly |
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
across the top of the screen; hitting it —
which is quite difficult — will earn you
100 to add to your score. The’ current
score, and the number of units of photon
energy remaining in your laser missile
banks are constantly updated on the
screen to give you an idea of the state of
the game.
At the start of the game the instruc-
tions are printed on to the screen. Once
you have read them you press any key to
start the game proper. First the lunar
crater is drawn on the screen, your laser
base is displayed and the first aliens are
plotted at the top of the screen.
Now it is your turn to play the game.
As this is a real-time game you must have
your wits about you in order to keep
alive, while dodging the aliens and their
bombs.
To move your laser base left you press
4; to move right press 6; to remain sta-
tionary press 5 or any other key. Press 0
to fire your laser guns.
The program is divided into several
subroutines:
8-33 Sets up all the variables and
asks for skill rating.
Draws the lunar crater and sets
up the screen,
The input routine in real time,
and a very useful routine for
those computers with an Inp
statement but no Get function.
Many POP computers have this
function, so you can easily
modify their program to run on
minicomputers of that ilk.
Fires your laser blast guns,
draws the missile’s path on the
screen, and checks for any hits
that you make on bombs,
aliens or saucers.
Prints out the aliens.
Moves the invaders down the
screen and checks to see if
they land.
Sets up a bomb or flying
saucer to drop from the aliens.
Draws the bomb or saucer on
to the screen and checks for
any hits on you.
5000-6000 End subroutine.
30000-30030 Aims the bomb if it is an “o”
bomb for your laser base.
40000-40230 Instructions.
40-103
120-175
1000-2000
3000-3020
4000-4050
4600-4620
4700-4770
The main aid used in this program is
that of direct cursor addressing, a feature
which many terminals and computer sys-
tems have in some form or another. The
system used in this example is that used
by most PDP Basics and business basics
in general.
To place the cursor at any point on the
80-by-24 screen the statement used is:
Print CHR$(27); “Y”; CHR$ (32+Y); CHR$
(32+X);“what you want to print”.
which prints from the Yth row down the
screen and the Xth column across the
screen.
The command
print CHR$(27); “Y”
sets up the direct cursor addressing. The
(continued on next page)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
IREM CaRReeseeesasasesataseaseseeellTe
2REM 8 UFO MASTER-BLASTER GAME ct
SREM 89 BY CHRIS HISTED 1981 it
MAREN CUSILIGERAAAASSaseagagess see eet
SREM
OREM $982 Set up the variables. 90st
7REM
BA=RND(-1) \DINA(4, 2) \FORK=2TOS\A(X, 12=BNACK, 2)=INTARND (0) B40) #20\NEXTS
1O!CHRS (12
2008=CHR6(27) + "00" \O18=CHRS(27)+"0"*CHR 9664) \DINAS(20)
JOSH= "7" FONE] AO1S4"\"\H=SONAS="-E"e0Ge £eOh be 1-"\P=L000
3 GOTO 40000
S2!CHRSCLZI\IENINPUT® Skill rating (0 is easy ,20 very hard) 2",S4
SSIFSSCOTHENSZ\ IF S420 THENSZ\ IFSC SINT (S4) THENSZ\S4=S4410
S7REN
JOREM 8888 Set up the screen { draw lunar crater ) $888
SOREK
40'CHRS412)
50 !CHRSE27),°1"\FOR T=9 TO 20\!CHRO(27), “¥*, CHRS (3247), CHRS(S1), "2"
60!CHRO (27), °¥", CHRS(32#T) ,CHRS(95), °e" :
TONEXTTN!CHRS(27), "¥",CHRS (53) ,CHRS(S1), "1", \FORT=1T043\!*a°, \NEXTTAS “HN?
80!CHRS(27), "2" :
90 FOR T=1 TO QATL=T1#2\!CHR9(27), "Y*, CHRO(S2¢T) ,CHRS(SS#T 1), *\“\NEXTATI=33
100 FOR T=1 TO Q\Ti=T1-2\!CHRS(27),°Y",CHRS (3241), CHRS(BO+TED, */*\NERT
101'CHRS(27), *Y", CHRO (46) ,CHRO(33),08, “Score :*, 019, °0"
£02!CHRO(27), *Y", CHREC4B) ,CHRS(33), 08, “Phasors :*,016,P
1O3E0SUB3000
LLORER
AISREN. 8888 Input routine froe keyboard ( aove your ship and fire ) sett
JLOREM
120N=INP(2)-176\H1=H
125 IF PCO THEN SQ00\G=6+1
ASOIFN=4 THEN H=H-2\IFN=6THENH=H#2
L401 FRCQOTHENH=20\IFHOOOTHEN H=6O\IF N=0 THEN JOOO\IFH=HITHENI7O
150!CHR$(27), "Y*, CHRO{52) ,CHRE(S2+Ht)," = *
160!CHR$(27), °Y", CHRS(52) ,CHRS(32+H) ,S8
165 IF BO THEN IF INT(RND(0)8100)+S4>80 THEN 4600
A 7OTFINTERND (0) $100) #54 (B0- (6/10) } THENS000
175 IFB<>0 THEN 4700\6070120
999REN
1OQOOREM $998 Fire your laser blaster guns 6898
1OOLREN
1005E=0
1007IF B=O THEN LOL0\IF B2>H-1ANDB<>2ANDB2¢ (H#3) THEN1008\ IFB=2ANOH< (B2#5) AND H>{B2-2) THENICOB\GOTOLO1O
$008EFB<>2THEN1009\ !CHRS(271, "Y", CHRS (33) , CHRE (32+B2) , 08, ° * 019, \FORW=1TO20\NEXT\ #CHRS (27), “Y",CHRO(33) ,CHRS (32482), °
1009!CHRS (27), *Y" , CHRS(32#B1) ,CHRS{324B2)," "\S=S+77\B=O\T=(B1-1) \G0T01120
1010! CHRS{7), \P=P-10-1NT(RND(O}05)\!CHR9(27),°Y",CHRS(4B),CHRS(42},P," *
1020 FOR T=4 TO 4\IF HCCACK, 2044) THEN IF H>CACX,2)-2) THEN EXIT LOSO\NERT
1030 T=2\G0T01120
10505=S+#10\E=1
1060!CHRE(27) ,*¥" CHRO (46), CHRO(39),S
1100 T=A(x, 1)
L120FOR O=18 TO T STEP-1\!CHRS(27),"Y*,CHRE(S2+O), CHRS(S3+H), *!*
1130!CHRS(27), "¥*, CHRO(32#0),CHRS(I3#H},* "\WEXT
1160'CHRS(7),
1170 IF E=0 THEN 2000
1200!CHRS(27),"¥" ,CHRS(3Z#A (1,19) ,CHRS(32#A(2,2)) .08, ° “018
1201 FORW=1T020\NEXTW
1205!CHRS(27), *¥" ,CHRO(S2+A (1, 1)) CHRS(32#A(K, 20), °
1210A (2, 2)=1N7 (PND (0) 8300425
20006070120
2999REM
SOOOREM 689% Print out the aliens stat
SOOIREM
3010 FOR X= TO 4\!CHRS(27},*Y* ,CHRS(SZ+A(K, 19) ,CHRE(S2#A (X, 23), AS\NEIT
SO20RE TURN
SPORE
SQQOREM $88% Move the Aliens test
4O01RER
4005 FOR X=1 TO A\!CHRO(27),°Y*,CHRS(SZ#A(E, 19) ,CHRECSZ¢A(K,20),° © “\NEIT
4010 FOR X=2TO4VACH, 1)=ACK, 141
4O20MO=INT(RND(ODSS)\IFMOD2 THEN MO=(MOS-1)\A(K,2)=ACK, 2) #N0
HOSOIFA(K, 21425 THENA(X,2}=25\IFACK, 2) XSSTHENA(X,2)=55
4035 IF ACK, 11919 THEN S000
AQAONEXT
405060SUB3010\S0T0175
ASIFREN
AS0OREM 888% Set up a boab to drop from the Aliens t88t_
4601REM
4605 B=1\G8=0\G9= INT (RND(O) 86} 412
4610 L=INTIRND(O)SA}41\BI=A(K, 1)#1\B2=A(K, 2) 43
AG15K= INT CRND(O) 810) 42\ TF ED4THENASL7ABS="¥"\77=20
461660704620
4617B$="0"\Z7=30
4620 GOTO 4700
4699REN
ATOOREM 898% Print out the boab ted
A7OIRER
47 101F B=2THEN4BOO\B3=B1\B4=B2\!CHRS(27), *Y" ,CHRS(32¢B3) ,CHRS(32+B4)," *
4715 IF BO="o"THEN IF GBC>-1 THEN 30010
4720%= INTCRND {0} 05) \IFAD2THENL= (20-1) \B1=B1 +2 \B2=B24%
ATSOIF B2¢23THENB2=23\1FB29S7THENB2=57\IF B1<20 THEN 4760
ATAOIF B2)(H-1) THENIFB2¢ (H#3) THEN SOOQ\ 1FB4 > (H- 3) THENTPBAC (H#3) THENSO00\8=0\60T0120
4750 FOR X=1 TO 1000\NEXT\GOTOSO00
4760!CHRS(27), "Y" ,CHRS(32+B1), CHRS(32+B2), BS
477060T0 120
4797REM
ATIGREM BEES Print out and wove the flying saucer $88
ATFIRER
4B00B4=B2\B2=B2+3+1NT CRND (0) 83) \JFB2¢70THEN4SO9\B=0 \G0T04815
*\A(K, 1222
(listing continued on next page)
117
| (continued from previous page)
value of Y sends the cursor to the Yth
row down and the value of X sends it to
the Xth column across. This function
allows. you to print the invaders at any
points on the screen, and its speed allows
a very fast and flowing game with no
pauses. to draw on the screen.
Printing O$ will put the terminal into
inverse video — whatever it prints follow-
ing this command will appear black on |
white. Printing of O15 will bring the
terminal back to normal white on black,
which is used when printing words on the
screen, and in setting up the shapes of
your space ship, S$, and the aliens, A$.
When setting up the screen in lines 50 to
80 a function of the terminal which is a
limited form of line graphics was used.
Printing
CHR§$(27); “1”
puts the terminal into graphics mode, and
CHR3(27); “2”
takes it out. These commands may be
omitted on your machine but in the next
three lines you should change lower-case
“e” to vertical lines, and I, M and lower- |
case “a” to horizontal lines.
Once you start playing this game, it can
become quite addictive. A good score for
the first game is about 2,000 points, but
once. you.are expert at the game an
average score should be over 6,500. The
record to beat is 8,014.
(listing continued from previous page)
4809!CHRS(27), "Y", CHRS(33) ,CHRS(32#84), *
4810!'CHRS(27), "Y" ,CHRS(33) , CHRS(324B2), °<", O$, "£££", 088, °>"\60T0120
4815 !CHRS (27), °¥*, CHRS (33), CHRS(S2¢B4), * *\60T0120
4998REN
4999REN 884% An Alien lands on your base 288%
SOOOREN
5002!CHRS (27), *Y*,CHRS (52), CHRS(32+H), 09,"
5005 !CHRS{7),
SO10FORX=1TOSCOOWNEXT
SOZOICHRSCIZIA!N!N!° You have finished the gawe , with a final Grand Score of *,
5030! (S84) + (P8-0.5)+6+(548103
6O0OEND
29999REN
SOOOOREM t40t If it [s an ’p’ bomb ,ade-it for laser base $800
SOOO1REM
30010 IF B2>H THEN M=-1\IF B2¢H THEN N={\IFB2=H THEN N=0
30020 GB=GB+1\IF GBCGITHEN 30030\G8=~1\G0T04700
30030 82=B2+M\B1=81+1\G0T04730
SPPFOREN
4QOOOREM 882% Instructions tee
40001REN
40010! CHRS (12) \FORK=1TOLOO\NEXTX\!TAB(25),08,° Alien Invaders ",O18\!
40020!" In this game . you control a laser arsed Fighter Ship which is *
40030!" stranded at the bottoe of a Lunar Crater. You start with 1000 *
40040!" points of phasor energy , and each-tiae you fire your weapons ©
40050!" this decreases by between 10 and 20 points °
40060!" You control the spvement of your ship by the keys 4,5, and 6°
40070!* To move left press 4 ,right 6, and to reaain in position press 5°
40080!" To fire your phasor gun , press 0 °
40090!" You will see a number of aliens drop from the sky towards you ,*
40100!" and it is your task to destroy these ,by positioning your ship *
40310!" under then , and #Iring your Weapon
40120!" The aliens will drop two types of Boebs , an ‘0’ sort , which will®
40130!* aia for you , and probabely hit ,unless you destroy it ; and a 'Y'"
40140!" sort , which do mot aia for you ;and a flying saucer worth 100 *
40141!" points may fly overhead ,every so often"
40150!* You get points for shooting down Aliens , and apre for shooting *
40160!" down Boabs { "o’ bombs score highest }*
40170!" The gaze will end when your energy goes below zero , or a bosb hits"
40180!" you , or the Aliens get down to the Botton of the Crater °
40190!" This game was written Sth Feb. 1981 by Christopher Histec ''! *
40200!" Press any key to start *
4021 ON=INP(2)
402201FN =INP {2)THENS0220
40230 GOTO 32
*,088
La&J
192 HONEYPOT LANE, QUEENSBURY, STANMORE, MIDDX HA7 1EE. 01-204 7525
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For those with 3032's who want 4032's and those with 4032's who sigh for
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118
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@ Circle No. 165
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
rm
Via
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS
You can’t get a Home Computer
from Texas Instruments under 16 K RAM.
Make the right move into computing
with the Home Computer from Texas
Instruments. It gives you a large combined
RAM/ROM capacity up to 110 K Byte and
the ability to expand with a full range of
peripherals and software. So as your know-
ledge of computers increases the TI Home
Computer will grow with you.
Just compare the versatility of the TI
Home Computer with its price -you'll find
it real value for money that will prove to be
a good long term investment.
The TI-99/4A is a sophisticated com-
puter designed not only for the beginner
with its ease of operation, but also for the
professional with its vast computing power
through a 16 bit microprocessor. And it
simply plugs into an ordinary household
TV set.
With its high resolution graphics with
32 characters over 24 lines in 16 colours
(256 x 192 dots), 3 tones in five octaves plus
noise, and BASIC as standard equipment
and options such as other programming
languages- UCSD-PASCAL, TI-LOGO
and ASSEMBLER ~and speech synthesis,
you'll find that the TI 99/4A more than
compares with the competition. Especially
when the starting price is around £200.
When you want to solve problems there are
over 600 software programs available
worldwide - including more than 40 on
easy-to-use Solid State Software® Modules.
After all, from the inventors of the
microprocessor, integrated
circuit and microcomputer, °
it’s only natural to expect
high technology at a realistic
price.
We'll help you do better.
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS
LIMITED
@ Circle No. 166
119
»)'Registered Trade Mark
Texas Instruments
Fill-in-the-blanks
used in structured
programming
Using a few standard
sentences, Program
Description Language can
be applied to any
program and translated
into the relevant
language. Graham Beech
continues his discussion
on structured
programming with a look
at PDL.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION LANGUAGE PDL
is a simple language used in the design of
structured programs as an alternative to
flowcharts. Program design using PDL
proceeds in three stages:
@ Design the solution to a problem as a series
of connected blocks.
@ Design the content of the blocks with PDL.
@ Translate the PDL sequences into a pro-
gramming language such as Basic.
PDL consists of a few standard sentences
or “constructs’’ which are used as if they
were fill-in-the-blanks templates. In
other words, you start with one of the
standard sentences and insert the context
appropriate to your particular program.
PDL is not completely standardised
but, for present purposes, there are just
five constructs to learn. The three origin-
al ones were:
@ simple sequence,
@ alternative clause,
@ repetition.
Two others are added for convenience:
@ iteration,
@ case statement.
The PDL constructs can be translated
| almost automatically into the program-
ming language of your choice. A design is
written in PDL. By obeying a set of rules
defined for your chosen language, known
as the target language, you produce the
target program. This process is illus-
trated in figure 1.
In the example used here, the target
language is Basic. The final Basic pro-
gram will, of course, not look like PDL,
but will contain a mixture of Basic state-
ments, including Gotos. The main advan-
tages are that the Basic coding will be
written more quickly and it will stand
more chance of working first time.
The simple sequence is a series of
simple statements that are to be executed
120
Problem
PDL
rules
Target
Program
Design
Rules
- Figure 1.
TARGET
~___* Language ——* pROGRAM
simple
Figure 2.
Figure 3.
in their order of presentation. For exam-
ple,
1. Get out of bed
2. Get dressed
3. Have breakfast
and so on. One statement simply follows
another.
The alternative clause has the form:
if a.is true then perform x else perform y
It can be depicted in terms of a flow
chart — see figure 3. There may not be an
else sub-clause, in which case it is simply
omitted.
sequence
To indicate the range of the if clause an
indicator is used — as end is used as a
terminator to begin, The convention
end if allows the whole construct to be
briefly stated as:
if a is true then perform x else perform y end
if
where x and y are constructs which may,
for example, be simple sequences. Notice
that the PDL words such as if, then are
underlined. An example is:
if age less than 5 then travel free else fare
= miles x 10 end if
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Some people use fi instead of end if, but
this seems a little inelegant. :
The Choice clause can be regarded as a
convenient extension of the alternative
clause. It permits the selection of one
action from several in a similar fashion to
multiple-choice test questions:
case of
case 1: action 1
case 2: action 2
case n: action n
end case
This avoids the multiple usage of the
alternative clause and is clearly equiva-
lent to the flow chart structure shown in
figure 4. Only one of the n possible cases
will be executed. For example, an elec-
tricity tariff could be arranged:
case of
no consumption: fixed charge only
up to 100 units: fixed charge + units x 3
over 100 units: fixed charge + 300 + (units
~ 100) x 2
end case
The notation esac is sometimes used
instead of end case.
The repetition clause repeats some ac-
tion until some condition is true; there-
fore, the action will be executed at least
once:
do action b until a is true end do
where b is a construct. The flow chart for
this is shown in figure 5. For example,
do
type a line on page
until the page is full
end do
Iteration is similar to repetition, having
the form:
while a is true do action b end do
The difference is that the logical test is
performed before performing the actions
in b. Consequently, b will not be encoun-
tered if condition as is initially false. For
example,
while the page is not full
do type a line end do
Iteration or repetition are familiar con-
cepts since one of them is directly avail-
able in most programming languages as a
loop statement. The construct
for index initial by step until final do (b) end do
in which index is increased from “‘initial”
to ‘‘final’’ in increments of “step”’ is
recognisable as a special case of the more
general while construct. It is represented
by the flow chart in figure 7.
Notice the use of the back arrow < as
an assignment operator. The sequence b
will never be executed if “index” is grea-
ter than “‘final’’, even at the beginning of
the step. Omission of the ‘“‘by step” im-
plies a step size of 1.
For example:
for
contents of tank <— one gallon by half-gallon
until full do add fuel end do ;
but if the “by step” is omitted, a step size
1 is implied:
for count — 1 until total do sum — sum + 1
end do
The final value of sum, assuming it to
be zero initially, would be equal to sum +
total.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Programming ===
Figure 4.
No
Yes—»
Figure 5.
No
Figure 6.
No
index «
initial.
index
< final
9
sequence
b
Figure 7.
121
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TELEPHONE: 0532 446946 TELEX: 335909 “&
@ Circle No. 168
Computing....
without programming ?
The problem is how to computerise the present
job, and to do it fast, but programming still
presents an enormous obstacle.
PIPS is one giant step towards solving this problem,
as it makes it possible to use personal computers
without programming.
PIPS gives you access to the power of the
computer without having to learn BASIC, or any
other computer language.
Moreover, programming in BASIC is a costly and
lengthy task — with PIPS it’s only a matter of
pressing a few keys.
PIPS Easy for beginners ... Powerful for experts.
PIPS is available on the ‘EXPERT’ and ‘EXECUTIVE’
range of microcomputers.
WY WM AVM
xleigh
Wid WON
For further detalis and address of your local
ia dealer, write or telephone
mor e asic EXLEIGH BUSINESS MACHINES
11 Market Place, Penzance, Cornwall TR18 2JB
t h a n ‘B a S | C 7 Telephone: (0736) 66577/8
@ Circle No. 167
122 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
/ jit
aii apenas 7
OD ‘diay
/
Mey
i LL
APPLE I1(48K) APPLE II! (128K)
SYSTEM A: £939 SYSTEM B: £3152
SYSTEM B: £1843 SYSTEM C: £3900
SYSTEM C: £2580 SYSTEM D: £5335
TELEVIDEO 800 Series
SYSTEM B: £2817 SYSTEM E: £8176
MC: (Three Users)
SYSTEM D: £4832 SYSTEME: £11995
(Six Users— 10MB)
SYSTEM E: £26662
{Sixteen Users —23MB)
of Computers
plusaservice facility
that’s secondto
none.
SYSTEM A: Basic Computer including display screen and keyboard
SYSTEM B: Computer including display screen, keyboard, dual disk
drive(s) and matrix printer for Business Users
(e.g. Accounts, Database, etc)
SYSTEM C: Computer including display, keyboard, dual disk
drive(s) and daisy-wheel correspondence quality
printer for Word Processing.
SYSTEM D: Computer including display, keyboard, floppy disk
drive, plus hard disk drive for 5 Mbyte+ on-line and
matrix printer. (SOME Systems expandable to 120 Mb).
SYSTEM E: Multi-User Computer — AS SYSTEM D — plus
Additional VDU Terminals for up to 5 Users.
Prices exclude VAT.
Johnson
microcomputers
Johnson House - 75-79 Park Street - Camberley - Surrey - Telephone 0276 20446
Robophone Answering 24 hrs. Prestel page No. * 200632 Mailbox No.027620448
48 Gloucester Road - Bristol - Telephone 0272 422061
148 Cowley Road - Oxford - Telephone 0865 721461
st software
is really hard.
hy is it that most software is
ALTOS (192K) Series 5
SYSTEM B: £3309 SYSTEM D: £5549
SYSTEM C: £3755 SYSTEM E: £6174
(Two Users)
SYSTEM E: £6799
(Three Users)
ICL (64K to 256K)
SYSTEM B: £3355 SYSTEM E: £7210
Y M : ree Users)
Syste G ets System ee7710
7 our Users)
SYSTEM E: £5755 sySTEM E: £8210
(Five Users)
NEW RAIR 3/50 (256K) RAM)
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SYSTEM E: £8164 SYSTEM E: £9094
(Two Users) (Four Users)
SYSTEM E: £8629 SYSTEM E: £9559
(Three Users) (Five Users)
{Expandable to 16 Users, Rental available)
@ Circle No. 171
Is it because it's so hard and slow
harder to handle than you are
led to believe?
Is it because it’s American, and
gets tied in knots by British Red Tape,
such as V.A.T., while the only chap
who can untangle it is in the States?
Is it because it doesn't want to
work with your hardware?
Is it because it doesn’t understand
English, so you have to learn and
continually translate into some form of
“computer speak’?
Is it because your different
software modules don’t integrate as
easily as claimed, because not only do
they speak a different language from
you, but from each other as well?
to move from one field of information
to another?
Is it because you talked to the
wrong people in the first place?
e design and produce software
systems for British business people,
systems that understand plain English,
that really do integrate because they
have one common language which
also happens to be yours, and systems
that you can work with really fast and
effectively. The only hard thing about
our software is the thought we put into
it - that is what we mean when we
call it “hard headed” We do, however,
also sell the very best hardware, and
have designed our software to match
so that you can buy from us a
complete computer package that will
work as well in your office as on
pet Our software is flexible enough,
owever, to work with most
computers running CP/M.
Choosing the t system is not
easy. It's hard to find people who'll
respond to a straight question and give
you a straight answer. You'll probably
have the same problem with their
products. If, however, you would find
it a refreshing change to hear someone
k some common sense about how
computers can work for your business
give us a ring. We should be’able to
come to an understanding, which will
be good for both of us.
Derwent Data Systems
18 Norfolk Street, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear,
SR1 1EA, England. Tel. (0783) 652026
Hard headed software from |%;
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
@ Circle No. 170
123
Adler
Alphatronic
Microprograms-
Superbly
Simple
Software.
= ——
LEXICOME
BENCHMARK
MICROSPELL
FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING
When you see the Alphatronic you will agree that ne —
it is a superb machine. However, it’s the software that WORDSTAR
‘ensures it will do what you want done. The large
software library is designed to work perfectly with the =
Alphatronic and is backed by the company with an SUPERCALC
unrivalled reputation in office equipment and
business systems.
Adler dedicate a lot of time and effort to
providing what is probably the widest range of
programs for any microcomputer.
We've listed a few below:
Word Processing = Financial Forecasting
Ledgers Telecommunications
Invoicing Data Retrieval
Payroll Statistical Analysis
Cash Flow Stock Control
Plus the fine range of CP/M packages that extend.
the Alphatronic’s performance to virtually any
business problem.
So if you want a system to provide a better answer
to a specific problem or even reorganise your office,
you'll find we've thought it through to the solution.
The Alphatronic Business Computer starts
at £1895.
Clip the coupon and find out why so many
businesses trust Adler.
Price exclusive of VAT.
Pl i inf i h
y, Tn TRIUMPH ADLER ile AlphatronieMiceocomputes and Nfary |
Triumph Adler (U.K,) Ltd., El ae |
27 Goswell Road, London ECIM 7A].
Telephone: 01-250 1717.
Name = E
Company. — |
Address = =
ee ea ae Telephone. —— —
DP2
— ee ee eee eee
ANOTHER TRIUMPH FROM ADLER
@ Circle No. 172
124 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
In these pages Brian Reffin Smith keeps you up to date with computer-
based art and design and lays the foundations for graphics routines to
use On your own micro.
Art==
Graphic-design bible
FOLEY AND VAN DAM: the names sound as
though they belong to a pop group or a
film title but, in fact, are responsible for
the best book on computer graphics ever
produced. Fundamentals of Interactive
Computer Graphics is published by Addi-
son Wesley as part of its Systems Pro-
gramming series. It costs £15.95 in hard-
back, and has 664 pages, with many
illustrations, 50 or.so in colour.
You remember the Horizon pro-
gramme on BBC TV around Christmas?
The book reminds me visually of that, not
least because it has some of the same
pictures, but it goes beyond the TV pro-
gramme in power and detail.
Much of the book is advanced, some is
quite difficult, and a little is right at the
cutting edge of what is becoming possible
with the most complex graphics systems.
But it is a book whose usefulness would
grow with your knowledge of the area.
Every art student should have access to a
computer — and this book. Everyone -
who pretends to an interest in computer
graphics for any reason at all, should
understand sufficient of the contents to
make them think, and do it better.
The book asks questions such as ‘“‘What
is interactive graphics?”’, answers them
and then goes on to cover hardware and
software, all the usual geometric trans-
formations, three-dimensional model-
ling, graphic conversations, shading,
colour and visual realism. Of the 17 chap-
ters, 16 end with exercises, many of
which could be done without resort to the
most expensive graphics systems.
BBC noises
MICHAEL BATES writes from London N21:
“After reading your article on the BBC
sound system I thought you might like a
routine I have found which makes strange
sounds. The key ‘is
* KEY1 “SOUND 2, — 15,100,1; SOUND
3,103,100,1; M”
_Try pressing Key 1 a few times, and after
about the sixth a strange sound effect
occurs. It can be changed by the tone of
BEGINNING GRAPHICS
Relatively speaking
IN THE EARLY seventies, from a room
above a head-shop — if you want to know
what a head-shop is, ask any aging hippy
- off London's Portobello Road there
was published a fine book called An
Index of: Possibilities. 1 contributed one
or two things to it, and as I look down the
list of credits at the back, which include
the local supermarket, for orange juice, I
see that one Peter Laurie was also in-
volved, only later rising to the dizzy
heights of editor of this magazine.
This is not mere reminiscence. Relativ-
ity is well treated in the book, and I was
struck by the idea of representing a single
| line on the computer screen, able to
Figure 1.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
rotate about a point along its length, near
one end. It should be clear that if you
move the short end from B to B’ the long
end will move from A to A’, like one half
of a pair of scissors. Because the line
Pivots about the point P, a small move-
ment at one end taking, say, 1 second
gives a larger movement at the other end,
also occurring in 1 second. So A moves
faster than B, as long as P lies closer to B
than to A.
Imagine that you move the point B
very.fast, and that the distance AP is a
million times as great as PB. Then, it
might occur that the speed of the end A
approaches the speed of light. Now, as
something approaches light’s speed, time
slows down, mass increases, while length
decreases — this is what relativity is all
about. So what happens to the point A
and, more difficult to work out, to the
line as a whole?
Equations approximating to the altera-
tions in mass, length and time are given in
figure 2. Of course gravity comes into it
as well, especially as the mass of the line,
if it were a solid rod, would become
almost infinitely large as it approaches
light speed.
the Sound 2 command, and once a sound
occurs it may be recreated by just using
the Sound 3 command. I think that this
has something to do with the envelope
commands, but I would like to have your
views on this”.
Well, I tried it, and I suggest you do
too. Remember that the weird sign be-
fore the M means “control”, and puts
Ctrl-M, Return, on to the key along with
the sounds. The routine appears not to
need the first part — Sound 2, etc — but
perhaps it did actually set something up,
as suggested. I cannot see why it does
what it does, which is to alternate an
ordinary tone with the best imitation of
running water I have yet heard from a
‘| synthesiser, let alone a computer.
co *
The three-dimensional modelling sys-
tem described in July’s Arts pages is the
| work of John Frazer of Ulster
| Polytechnic. Apologies to John Frazer
and his colleagues for not mentioning this
| in the article.
speed of body
speed of light
Figure 2.
Plot your line on the screen, using the
two end positions. Move A to A’ and B to -
B’ in a number of steps. At each move,
calculate the new length of the line —
hence a new A’ — its mass, and so on.
Plug these into the next step. Assume
that the speed is constant and that the
effects occur down the line, gradually
being diminished as you reach the pivot,
which does not itself move.
Does the line curve? Does it ever reach
a final position? Can you show what
happens graphically, and provide a read-
out of parameters and values at the bot-
tom of the screen?:
125
The case
for
consulting professionals
THERVTESHOP
MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEMS
Comart Communicator
Cromemco
North Star Advantage
Osborne
Personal Computers
VDU’s & Printers
APPLICATIONS
Scientific
Research
Educational
Commercial
Business
Administrative
Communications
XITAN systevs
Birmingham
The Byteshop,
94-96 Hurst Street. Tel: 021-622 7149.
Glasgow
The Byteshop, Magnet House
61 Waterloo Street. Tel: 041-221 7409.
London
The Byteshop,
324 Euston Road NW1.
Tel: 01-387 0505.
Manchester
The Byteshop,
11 Gateway House, Piccadilly
Station Approach. Tel: 061-236 4737
SERVICES
24 hour Maintenance & Service
Workshop Repair
Training & Consulting
Diskettes & Consumables
Books
SOFTWARE
Laboratory Data Processing
hicd & Teaching his
Word Processing, Mail Managemen
Accounting, Production & Stock
Control, Accounts & Payroll
Business Systems & Viewdata
Financial Planning, Data Base
IBM/RBTE
Nottingham
The Byteshop,
92A Upper Parliament Street
Tel: 0602 40576.
Southampton
Xitan Systems
23 Cumberland Place
Tel: 0703 38740.
Members of the ay Comart group of companies
126
@ Circle No. 173
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Hello —
help for stock control!
ONERR GOTO 1598
HOME : INPUT "DEMO PRINTOUT?7";A
> "¥" THEN CH$ ="
$: IF AS. <
NO”
REH HELLO PROGRAH
PRINT O$;"BLOAD STOCK LOGO.AS48
ae”
POKE - 16299,0: POKE - 16362,
@: POKE - 16297.0: POKE ~- 16
"NO" THEN GET CHS: IF
”" THEN CH$ = "NO"s GOTO
IF CH$ = "NO" THEN GOTO 97
PRINT O$;"PR#1"
PRINT
POKE - 1252440: PQKE
220; POKE - 12529,255
POKE - 12525.64
PRINT CHRS (17)
PRINT 0$;"PROO”
POKE - 12527,18
PRINT : PRINT O$s"RUNAPPLE STO
cos flan fat
APPLE STOCK is a complete stock-control
program for small businesses. It enables
itemisation of the entire stock on discs in
various groups or classes together with
cost and stock volume. Up to 450 items
may be. stored on each disc, and as many
discs as necessary may be used.
Once the initial inventory is completed
any item may be recalled with a few
keystrokes, the total value of stock or of
groups or classes may be checked against
cost and sale prices, and items which
need restocking may be listed. To facili-
tate rapid and easy retrieval the program
is designed to hold the entire inventory in
memory. Though this limits the volume
to about 450 items per disc, it provides |
almost instant access to any product in
the total inventory.
Apple quirk
In keeping with the spirit of business
software, considerable effort has been
made to ensure that the program is easy
to use, and to make the operating en-
vironment “friendly”. To this end two
commands peculiar to the Apple are
used. The first, Poke 214, 128 causes the
program to be run whenever a valid
Applesoft command is typed. In some
instances the command may be ignored in
THE HAIN PRI3GRAM
LENGTH IS 11138 (#2882) BYTES
PASS$ = "ABRACADABRA”
POKE 214,128
ONERR GOTO 210
PRINT
Os = CHRE (4)
PRINT 0$; "OPEN STOCK FILE,L6O":
PRINT D#)“READ STOCK FILE,RO"
: INPUT A$,BS: IF VAL (BS) =
O THEN GOTO 110
B= VAL (BS) + 1: DIM GNCB).PNC
8),0ES(B),CPCB>,SPCB),1S$(B D4
L$€B>,008(B>:B = B - 1
FOR I = 1 TO B: PRINT O$,"READ
STOCK FILE.R"sI: INPUT GNC I).P
NCT),DESC 1>,CPCI>,SPCI),1S#C I)
»HL3C 1,008 1)
9@ NEXT :HAX = B
16@ PRINT O%;"CLOSE"
116 B = @: FOR I = 1 TO MAX:
I>) > = 8B THEN B = GHI>
120 NEXT
13@ DIM 6CCB>,GS¢B)
148 GP = 8B.
IF GNC
‘PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Robin Kanagasabay’s Apple
Stock keeps a check on your
inventory, holds the total
value of stock, lists items
which need restocking, and
prints out a customised logo.
which case Run or PR#6 should be typed
to continue. ;
The second, Onerr Goto x, where x is a
valid line number not another Onerr
command, causes a branch to line x
whenever an error is encountered. This
may be due to an error in entering the
program, a Dos error, or more impor-
tantly a Ctrl-C. The code for the error is
stored in location 222 decimal, and the
error corresponding to this code is listed
in the Dos 3.3 manual or the Applesoft
manual.
Program segments
This is used in the program both to trap
any I/O errors, and to provide a quick
and convenient way of returning to the
menu, by typing Ctrl-C. It would, of
course, be possible to protect the Reset
key by putting the address of a machine-
code routine in the decimal address 1010
and 1011 and-calling —1169 to set up the
power byte. The Apple would then per-
form an unconditional jump to this
address when the Reset key was pressed.
The program is in three parts. Part 1 is |
the Hello program which loads the
second part, a customised logo, and asks
whether you want a printout of this logo.
This section is written for the Silentype
printer though it could, no doubt, be
- modified to work on other graphics prin-
ters. It then runs the third part, the main
Apple Stock program, while leaving the
Apple displaying high-resolution page 1.
If you do not want to use the logo facility
you can dispense with the Hello program.
Simply delete line 160 from the main
program, and it may be run directly,
Garbage clearance
A hello program is used, instead of
simply loading the logo from the main
program, because of the sheer length of
Apple Stock, about 11.2K, which means
it over writes high-resolution Page 1. As
the Apple Stock program is loaded, the
high-resolution page will fill up with
junk. If you object to this insert the
following in line 145 in the Hello
program:
145 TEXT:HOME:VTAB(10):?TAB(14)
Apple Stock":?:?TAB(14)"BY":?:?TAB(14)
“ROBIN
KANAGASABAY”:?:?TAB(14)"(C)1981”
(continued on page 129)
GOSUB 2850
160 GET AS: IF AS < "" THEN GOTO
160
17@ TEXT : HOHE : PRINT “ENTER PAS
SWORO "5 LEN CPASS$)," LETTERS
"¢ FOR I = 1 TO LEN ¢PASS$):
GET
> MIDS CPASS$,1,1> THEN
PRINT D$:"CLOSE": TEXT: HOME:
PRINT TAB(198) "MENU"
PRINT "44 X€HEEHEREEH RHR EER REEL
SRERKE LEER HSER NEE"
aaneees BUY OR SELL STO
iL
INT "2..cevre CREATE OR ALTER
PRODUCTS": PRINT
250 PRINT "3,...... REPORT ON STOCK
ANG PRICES": PRINT
"Beesanae REPORT ON GROUP
T
Lif SSS Gp os REPORT ON STOCK
BELOW HINIMUH": PRINT
aeneeee SET NO. OF INVO
UTAB (24>: PRINT "WHICH ONE ">
POKE — 16303.8
GET AS
IF ASC CAS) = 13 OR ASC CAS)
= 3 THEN GOTO 330
PRINT ASs
GET Bs: IF ASC CBS) < > 13 THEN
AS = BS: UTAB (24): HTAB C11)+
GOTO 358
CHOICE = VAL (A$): IF CHOICE <
1 OR CHOICE > 9 THEN VTAB (24
>: HTAB (11): GOTO 33@
ON CHOICE GOTO 449.1068,1940.2
334 -2528,2818.2868.2988
398 At = "8B": GOTO 378
488 TEXT : HOME :
41@ ONERR GOTO 216
PRINT TABC 11>"BUY OR SELL ST
OCK": PRINT "eee eE EERE EEREEE
SAE I SEE HE"
428
430 POKE 34.2
448 PRINT : PRINT "ASEARCH BY NAH
E": PRINT
450 PRINT "B>SEARCH BY PRODUCT NUH
BER": PRINT
468 PRINT “CSEARCH BY RECORD NUHB
ER": PRINT
47@ PRINT "HHICH OPTION CO YOU HAN
Tig wes
488 GET AS: IF AS < > "A" AND AS <
> "B" AND AS < > "C" AND AS <
> CHRS €3> THEN GOTO 488
IF A$ = CHRS$ (3) THEN GOTO 2
"a" THEN GOTO 538
510 IF AS = “BY THEN GOTO 590
528 IF AS = "C" THEN GOTO 630
53@ HOME : PRINT : INPUT "ENTER TH
E DESCRIPTION OF THE PRODUCT Y¥
OQUHISH TO FINOCFULL DESCRIPTIO
N PLEASE> “;DES: PRINT
546 IF LEFTS <DE$.1> = " " THEN D
E$ = RIGHTS (DE$.¢ LEN (DES) -
1>): GOTO 548
55@ IF RIGHTS (DE$,1) =" " THEN
DEs = LEFTS (DES,¢ LEN (DES) -
1)): GOTO 55¢ 7
568 FOR I = 1 TO MAX: IF DESI) <
> DES THEN NEXT : GOTO 58a
57@ GOTO 66a
58@ GOTO 1018
59@ HOHE : PRINT : INPUT “ENTER PR
ODUCT NUHBER "ZA: IF A < 1 THEN
GOTO 1018
69a FOR I = 1 TO MAX: IF CPNCI)D <
> A> THEN NEXT : GOTO 620
GOTO 66a
GOTO 1014
HOHE : PRINT :
CORD NUMBER ";A
IF A < 1 OR A > MAX THEN GOTO
1018
I = A: GOTO 668
REH
INPUT "ENTER RE
PRINT : HOME
GN = GNCI>:PN = PNCI):DE$ = DES
C1):CP = CPCI>:SP = SPCI>: 1S$ =
ISSCI):HLS = ML#CI):008 = 008¢
>
TEXT : POKE 34,2: HOME
700 PRINT "GROUP NO....... 3GN
718 PRINT "PRODUCT NO..... "3PN
726 PRINT “DESCRIPTION...."s0ES
738 VTAB (6)
74@ PRINT "COST PRICE..... ";CP
75@ PRINT "SELLING PRICE.."sSP
766 PRINT "IN STOCK....... "Z1S$
77@ PRINT "MINIMUM LEVEL. ."sHL$
788 PRINT "ON ORDER....... "30
POKE 34,13
(listing continued on page 129)
127
Softwa?te@=====
@ Well designed and ruggedly constructed
@ Wide choice of models :
@ Single or multi pen
Sintrom
Electronics
YOUR GRAPHICS PERIPHERAL SPECIALIST
9
Theres some great
new productsinthe
oype
new Willis Catalogue.
@ New Mini Disk File } “3 ak: ..
@ New Credit Card Cleaning SE ‘
System
@ New Printer Silencers
@ New VDU Desks
@ New Spinwriter Thimbles and
Ribbons
@ New Olivetti Disks and Ribbons
@ New Mariner Diskette Magazine
PLUS the full range of supplies
from Verbatim, Diabolo and
Send for your copy now ae
Post to: Willis Computer Supplies Limited, FREEPOST, PO Box 10, Southmill Road,
Bishops Stortford, Herts. CM23 1BR. Or tel: Bishops Stortford (0279) 506491.
Telex: 817425.
ae
Name = —s
Company
Address. ———
= _ = ie = as : :
1 Computer Supplies PC 8/82
kS3 for people who know better
@ Circle No. 174
128
MAXIMUM VALUE... MINIMAL COST
The popular Houston Instrument HI-PLOT range of digital plotters:
@ Easy to use — free software listings available
@ Highly reliable — good quality output
@ 0. lmmstep size
@ Easy to interface via RS232C, IEEE or Centronics compatible parallel interfaces
Sintrom Electronics Ltd
Arkwright Road, Reading, Berks RG2 OLS
Tel: Reading (0734) 875464
Telex: 847395
A4 SIZE HI-PLOTS — From £690
Available in standard or intelligent versions with
manual or remote controls
Add £3
A3 SIZE HI-PLOTS — From £1085
Available in standard or intelligent versions with
manual or remote controls
Add £395 for 8-pen operation
NEW — frame advance versions from £1655
Circle No. 175
OPEN FRAME MONITORS AVAILABLE FOR OEM’‘S
The PRINCE’of Monitors
offers better Monitoring.
24MHz Bandwidth~ ensures a clear crisp display.
Available with P4 White P31 Green AND L1 ORANGE
Scan: 625 IInes/50 Hz. Deflection: 110°. Active raster: 240x 172mm.
Bandwidth (3d8): 10 Hz-24 MHz (at 3d8 points), Character display
80 characters x 24 lines, Horizontal frequency: 15625 Hz + 0,5 KHz.
Vertical frequency: 50 Hz. Horizontal linearity: + 3%. Vertical
linearity: + 2%. Geometric distortion: + 1.5%. EHT (at zero beam
current): 13kV * 0.5kV. Power drain: 30 Watt approx. Voltage
supply: 110V A.C. 50 H2z/220V A.C. — 50 H2z/240V A.C. 50H2z/
+ 10% upon request. Video Input: 2 x BNC — or CINCH — or
PL 259, (composite video) negative sync, input 0.5—4V p.p. across
75 Ohms. X-Ray radiation: conforms to 1,E.C. Spec. No. 65. Overail
dimensions: 320 x 270 x 265 mm. Weight: 7 Kg. approx. Ambient
temperature: 0--45°C.
OTHER CROFTON PRODUCTS INCLUDE: Computer peripheral
equipment, Frame grabber, Floppy disk drives, Floppy disks,
Computer power suppiles, C.C.T.V. monitors, Uncased monitors,
Monitor P.C.8's., Cathode ray tubes, VHF/UHF modulators, Video
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CROFTON ELECTRONICS LTD
35, Grosvenor Road, Twickenham, Middx, TW1 4AD.
Telephone: 01-891 1923/1513 Telex: 295093 CROFTN G
@ Circle No. 176
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
(listing continued from page 127)
380
330
1008
1016
1028
“IF MODES = “@" THEN
HOHE : PRINT "ABUY": PRINT “B
>SELL": PRINT “C ALTER AMOUNT
ON ORDER": PRINT “DD>EXIT": GET
MODES: IF MODES < >-"A" ANO-H
ODES < > "BY AND HODES < > *
C" AND MODES < > "D" AND MODE
#< > CHRS (3) THEN GOTO 8@
8
IF HODES = “CHR$ €3) THEN GOTO
210
IF HODES = "D*' THEN GOTO 960
HOHE
HOHE : IF MODES = “B"-AND VAL
CIS$) = @ THEN PRINT "YOU HAV
— NONE TO SELL": PRINT : PRINT
"TYPE <SPACEBAR> "s: GET AS: HOME
: GOTO 80a
FLAG = 1 .
IF HODES = "A" THEN HOHE : INPUT
“NUMBER TO BE BOUGHT "sA:ISS =
STRE ¢€¢ VAL CIS#)) + AD: POKE
34,2: HOME ¢
IF HODES = "A" THEN IF INU ¢
> @ THEN PRINT D$s"PR¥1": FOR
J = 1 TO INU: PRINT : PRINT "D
ATE: "sDTE$s" BOUGHT: "sAs* “50E
#: PRINT = PRINT ; PRINT : NEXT
: PRINT D$s"PR#Q": GOTO 699
IF HODES = "A" THEN GOTO 698
IF MODE$ = "B" THEN HOME : INPUT
“NUMBER TO BE SOLD “iA: IF A >
VAL CIS$> THEN HOME : PRINT
“YOU DON’T HAVE THAT MANY TO S
ELL": PRINT : PRINT "TYPE <SPA
CEBAR> "+: GET AS: GOTO 8ae
IF MODES = “B" THEN IS$ = STRS
oc VAL CIS$>).- AD: POKE 34.2:
HOME
IF [NU <
> @ THEN PRINT D$s"PR#1”; FOR
J = 1 TO INU: PRINT : -PRINT "D
ATE: "sDTE$s" BOUGHT: "As" “sOE.
$: PRINT : PRINT : PRINT :
: PRINT D$;"PRH¥Q": GOTO 698
IF HODE$ = “B" THEN GOTO 698
IF MODES = "C" THEN HOME : INPUT
"AMOUNT ON ORDER "7A: 00$ = STRS
CAD: HONE
IF HODES = "C" THEN IF INU <¢
> @ THEN PRINT O$s"PR¥1": FOR
J = 1 TO INU: PRINT : PRINT "D
ATE: ";OTE$s" ORDERED: "5A" "sD
Es: PRINT : PRINT : PRINT : NEXT
: PRINT O$;"PR#8":. GOTO -698
IF HODES = "C" THEN GOTO 690
IF GNCI> = GN AND PNCI> = PN AND
-OES(I) = DES AND CPCI) = e Be
SPCI) = SP AND IS$CI) = IS
HL$ AND ONSC I) =
NEXT
008 THEN
PRINT -D$s"0PEN STOCK F
ILE.L66": PRINT D$s*HRITE STOC
K FILE.R"1
PRINT GN: PRINT PN: PRINT DES:
PRINT CP: PRINT SP: PRINT IS$
: PRINT HL$: PRINT OOS: PRINT
O$5"CLOSE"
ISscI) = IS¢
GOTO 210
HOME : PRINT : PRINT “I’H TER
RIBLY SORRY BUT I CAN’T SEEM T
0 FIND THAT PRODUCT"
PRINT : PRINT "PERHAPS YOU GA
VE AN INCOMPLETE OR FAULTYDESC
RIPTION.OR A NON EXISTANT PROD
UCT OR RECORD NUMBER®
PRINT 3 PRINT "PLEASE TYPE <S
“'" THEN GOTO
PRINT TABC 8>"CREATE OR ALTE
R PROOUCTS": PRINT "aHeeeaere
SH HHHE 3 HHMI
POKE 34.2: PRINT
NUMBER = MAX + 1
IF NUH8ER > = 1508 THEN HOME
: PRINT "DISK FULL": PRINT "TY
PE <SPACEBAR>: GETA$: GOTOSE
HOME : PRINT ° ~
IF NUMBER = 45@ THEN NUMBER =
NUNBER - 1: PRINT "DISK FULL”:
PRINT :FLAG = 9999: GOTO 1158
PRINT “THE NEXT FREE PRODUCT
NO. IS "NUMBER: PRINT
PRINT "ENTER "sNUMBERS"
NEH PRODUCT": PRINT
PRINT "ENTER A NUMBER LESS TH
AN “;NUMBER: PRINT "TO ALTER A
N OLD PRODUCT": PRINT
PRINT “ENTER <A> TO SEARCH FO
R AN OLD PRODUCT BY NAHE": PRINT
FOR A
INPUT “HHAT NUMBER DO YOU HAH
T" 5AS
"A" THEN GOTO 1849
IF U@l CAS) < 1 OR VAL CAS)
> NUMBER THEN UTAB (14)s GOTO
.-NUHBER: NUMBER = UAL CAS
1188
OLD =
>
HODES = "CREATE"
IF FLAG = 9999 THEN HOME =: GOTO
158¢
HODES = "ALTER"
I = NUMBER:GN = GNCI>:PN = PHC
1): DES = OESC1>:CP = CPCI):SP =
SPCI):IS$ = ISSCIDsHLS = MLECT
>:00$ = 0081)
PRINT O0$;"CLOSE®
HOHE
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
(continued from page 127)
CHR$(17), Ctrl-Q is the code on the
Silentype to print the high-resolution
page, and the Pokes on line 110 of the
Hello program set, the Silentype to uni-
directional mode, page 1, and the left
margin at 20. The original logo was cre-
ated by loading the ‘‘colossal” from the
Dos Toolkit, typing directly on the high-
resolution page, being careful to erase
the prompts with spaces, pressing Reset,
and then typing
Bsave Stock Logo, A$2000, L8192
The program uses arrays to store the
product inventory, and whenever a new
product is added to the inventory the
program must be rerun as in line 1830.
Applesoft does not allow you to re-Dim
arrays. The following variables form the
inventory: .
MAX — current limit to the inventory, 1 to 450
GN(1) to GN(MAX) — group number
PN(1) to PN(MAX) — product number
DES$(1) to DES(MAX) — description
CP(1) to CP(MAX) — cost price
SP(1) to SP(MAX) — selling price
IS$(1) to IS$(MAX) — stock level
ML$(1) to: ML$(MAX) — minimum allowed
stock level
O0$(1) to OO$(MAX) — number on order
The index of the arrays refers to the
record number of the disc file where the
product is stored, in this case 1.
GP — number of groups
GC(1) — used to add up cost
GS(1) — sale values of groups
Record O of the disc file is used to store
two pieces of housekeeping information
in the following format:
No. of groups: field
Number of products field 2
Set-up routine
Before running the program, this re-
cord will have to be set up. A suggested
routine is:
10 D$=CHAR$(13)+CHRS$(14): REM(CR)
+Ctri-D
20 ?D$;“Open Stock File, L50"
30 7D$; “Write Stock File, RO”
40 2400-700"
50 bye “Close”
60 END
‘Table 1.
Language card
Silentype printer
slot O (irrelevant)
slot 1
Mountain hardware
. CPS card
Disc
slot 4
slot 6
The program was developed ona micro
configured as in table 1. The CPS card
has a real-time. clock, with batteries. to
keep it going when the Apple is turned
off. If you do not possess one of these
cards, or something similar such as the
MH-365 Day Clock Card, then replace
the subroutine. of lines 2950 to 2990 with
something like
2950 Text: Home
2960 Input “Please enter today’s date (eg,
11/11/81)";
2970 If Len(DTE$) (6 Then goto 2950
2980 Return
2990
(continued on next page)
1968
Software
IF LEN (OE$) > 23 THEN DES =
LEFT (DE$.23)
PRINT "@)GROUP NO....... "5GN
PRINT
PRINT "B)PRODUCT NO..... "5PN
PRINT
PRINT "C)DESCRIPTION...."sDE$
PRINT : UTAB (9)
PRINT "D)COST PRICE..... "3CP
PRINT
PRINT "E)SELLING PRICE.."sSP
PRINT
PRINT "F)IN STOCK......."s1S$
PRINT
PRINT "G)MINIHUM LEVEL..” sHL$
PRINT
PRINT “HNO. ON ORDER..."s00$
YTAB €20): PRINT : VTAB (20>
PRINT "CHANGE WHICH ONE €Z TO
: GET AS
CHR ¢3) THEN GOTO
210
UTAB (20): PRINT "
"; UTAB ¢20)
IF As = "AY
)
THEN INPUT "GROU
(]
IF AS = “D" THEN INPUT "COST
PRICE....."sCP: GOTO 1276
IF AS = "E" THEN INPUT “SELL
ING PRICE.."sSP: GOTO.1270
IF As = “F" THEN INPUT “IN S
TOCKsG rvs Sins oO lOurace.
IF AS = "G" THEN INPUT “HINI
MUM LEVEL."sHL$: GOTO 1278
THEN INPUT "ON O
300%: GOTO 1278
Z" THEN HOHE : GOTO
FLAG .= @: GOTO 1458
"GROUP NO......."%6N
INPUT “OESCRIPTION.... 5DES
UTAB ¢6)
INPUT “COST PRICE...
INPUT "SELLING PRICE
INPUT "IN STOCK.....
INPUT “HINIMUH LEVEL.
INPUT “ON ORDER....... 3
FLAG = 1
UTAB €20): PRINT “IS THIS ALR
IGHT?7"5: GET AS: IF AS = “N" THEN
IF LEN (DES) > 23 THEN DES =
LEFT$ (OE$.23)
PRINT
IF RIGHTS (DE$.1) = " " THEN
DES = LEFTS CDES.¢ LEN (DES) -
NUMBER: IF GNC I) = GN AND
PNCI> = PN AND DESCI) = DES AND
CPCI) = CP AND SPCI> = SP AND
18$¢ I> = IS$ AND MLSCI) = HL$ AND
00$¢I1) = O00$ THEN GOTD 210
PRINT : PRINT D$s"OPEN STOCK
FILE,L60": PRINT D&s"WRITE STO
CK FILE.R” sNUHBER
PRINT GNs PRINT PN: PRINT DES
: PRINT CP: PRINT SP: PRINT IS
$: PRINT ML$: PRINT OOS
PRINT O$-"CLOSE”
PRINT D$s"OPEN STOCK FILE.L60
PRINT D$s"READ STOCK FILE.R@
": INPUT AS.8$: PRINT D$s"CLOS
Ee"
IF GN > VAL <AS> THEN AS = STRS
(GN
IF NUMBER >. VAL (BS) THEN BS
= STR$ CNUMBER>
PRINT
PRINT D$s"OPEN STOCK FILE.L60
": PRINT O$s"HRITE STOCK FILE»
RO": PRINT AS: PRINT BS: PRINT
O¢;"CLOSE”
RUN
HOME : PRINT : INPUT “ENTER T
HE OESCRIPTION OF THE PRODUCT
YOUHISH TO FINDCFULL DESCRIPTI
ON PLEASED "sDES$: PRINT
“IF LEFT$ (OES,1> = " " THEN
DE$ = RIGHTS (DES.¢ LEN <DES>
— 1)): GOTO 1856
IF RIGHTS CDE$,1> = " " THEN
LEFTS (DE$.€ LEN (DES) -
1>>: GOTO 1868
FOR I = 1 TO HAXa IF DESI) <
> DE$ THEN NEXT : GOTO 1890
NUMBER = I: GOTD 1250
HOME : PRINT : PRINT "I’H TER
RIBLY SORRY BUT I CAN’T SEEM T
QO FIND THAT PRODUCT*
PRINT : PRINT “PERHAPS YOU GA
YE @N INCOMPLETE ORFAULTY DESC
RIPTION.OR A NON EXISTANT PROD
UCT OR RECORD NUMBER”
PRINT : PRINT "PLEASE TYPE <S
PACEBAR >" +
GET AS: IF AS < >"
(3)
HOHE : GOTO 1660
TEXT : HOME
PRINT TABC 14>"STOCK REPORT"
2 PRINT "x#e+te ee ee RHEE EERES
HELHHEHELEEEREHELEE" 2 POKE 34,
2
HOME : PRINT : INPUT “GROUP N
O ¢=FOR ALL) “sAS:A = VAL CAE
>: IF A < @ OR A > GP THEN GOTO
1968
" THEN 60TO
(listing continued on next page)
129
(listing continued from previous page)
130
1976
1988
1398
2608
2018
2 = AS: IF 28 = “=" THEN A =
9939
HOME : PRINT : INPUT “PRINTER
"AS: IF AS = "Y" THEN PRINT
D$s"PR#i"; HOME s GOTO 2160
TEXT : HOHE : IF A = 9999 THEN
GOTO 2619
PRINT "GROUP NUMBER "3A: PRINT
PRINT “DESCRIPTION NO
a cost SALE#+#eeeeeeeee
PFOEEE ESET EE EE EREEE EE EEE EREE" 5
FOR I = { TO HAX
IF (GHCI) < > AD AND AC >
$999 THEN NEXT : GOTO 2300
fF LEN COES(I>> > 19 THEN DE
$ = LEFTS (OES(1),19): GOTO 2
e608
OES = OES I>
PRINT .OE$s: HTAB (24 - LEN ¢
I1S$€1))): PRINT IS$C 13
IF LEN € STRS (CPCI)? < 3 THEN
STR$ CCPCIL)):CPS = CPS +
: GOTO 2090
STRS CCPCI)>: IF HIDS
CCP$.¢ LEN (CPS) - 2)01) ¢ >
“," ANO HIO$ CCPS$.C LEN (CPS)
- 151) ¢ >." THEN CPS = C
Ps + *, 00"
HTAB €33 - LEN CCP$)): PRINT
$3
IF LEN € STR$ €SPC1>)) € 3 THEN
SP$ = STRS (SPCI)):SP# = SPS +
: GOTO 2120
STRS (SPCI)): IF MIOS
cree (41 - LEN (SP$)): PRINT
FLAG = FLAG + i IF FLAG = 22 THEN
GET AS:FLAG =
+ NEXT
GOTO 2308
IF A = 3989 THEN GOTO 2180
PRINT “THE OATE IS "ZOTE$: PRINT
PRINT “DESCRIPTION
NO
SALE":
"Se ete EE ee ESHE Ete ee E
PEEEEEEEEEEEEREEEEEE REE EEE EEE
EFREEREE SEER EE EEE REE EE EE EEE HE"
FOR I # 1 TO HAX
POKE - 12528-5
IF (GNCID < > AD ANDAC >
9999 THEN NEXT : GOTO 2300
PRINT DESCI>s:C = LEN (OESCT
>>. + LEN € STR$ CGNCI))): PRINT
SPCC 34 - C)s: PRINT GNCT)s
C = LEN CIS$CI>>: PRINT SPCC
89 - C>s: PRINT IS$CI)s
IF LEN ¢ STR$ (CPCI>)) < 3 THEN
CPs = STRS.(CPCIT)) + *.G6": GOTO
2268
CPs = STRS (CPCI)): IF MIDS
cops .¢ LEN (CP$) - 2),12 ¢ >
-AND HIDS <epeee LEN (CPS)
~1)512< > "." THEN CPS = C
Ps + “,00"
PRINT SPCC 18 - LEN (CP$))z
: PRINT CP$3
IF LEN € STR (SPCI)>) ¢ 3 THEN
cps = STR¢ (SPCI)> + ".00": GOTO
2296
SP$ = STR$ (SPCI)): IF MIOs
CSP$.C LEN (SPS) - 2)21>¢ >
"." AND HIDS (SP$,.C LEN (SPS)
- 119 < > "." THEN SPS = S
P$o+ "780%
PRINT SPCC 19 - LEN (SP$))5
: PRINT SP$a: NEXT : GOTO 2300
PRINT : PRINT O$;"PR#O": PRINT
“TYPE <SPACEBAR> “5
GET AS: IF AS < >" “ THEN GOTO
2
E
PRINT TABC 14)"GROUP VALUES"
2 PRINT "“#tteeeeteeeeeeeeee RE
eeeeeereeeeeeeeteee”: POKE 34,
2: PRINT
HDHE :, PRINT
INPUT "PRINTER "sHC$: IF HC# =
"y" THEN PRINT Dss"PReI"
0 Gi
cos = STRS eect): IF MIDS
¢(COs$.¢€ LEN (COS) - 20.12 < >
“." BND HIDS (COS.¢ LEN (COS)
-1).12¢ > "." THEN COf = C
+ “,@8"
ole HIDS ccose LEN (COS) - 2
ms >.” THEN COs = COS +
chs = STRS (KID): IF HIS
(SAS .¢ LEN CSAS) - 29,12 < >
"." AND HIDS (SAS.C LEN (SAS)
= 1901) ¢ > "." THEN SAS = S
as + ".00"
IF HI0$ (SAS.¢ LEN (SAS) - 2
yo1) ¢ > "."“THEN SAS = SAS +
ion
PRINT "SROUP "sls: HTAB C1
9): PRINT “COST “3: HTAB C24 +
(15 - © LEN (CO$)>>): PRINT CO
$: HTAB (19): PRINT "SALE "3: HTAB
(24 + C15 = ¢ LEN CSAS$)>)>; PRINT
eg
PRINT O$s"PR8O": PRINT “TYPE
<SPACEBAR>*
GET ASs IF AS << >” * THEN GOTO
2508
(continued from previous page)
Line 2940 is a remnant from an old
routine, and can be omitted. Apart from
in the Hello program, no special Silen-
type features are used.
The following observation about the
Apple may be useful if you want to
modify the program for other systems:
@ Itis an Apple DOS requirement that a DOS
command is not preceded bya Get command;
hence the surfeit of ?s.
@Home clears the text screen and puts the
‘cursor. at the top-ieft position.
@ Poke 34, n sets the top limit of the text page
at n lines down from the top.
@? SPC(n) prints n spaces.
@ x=PRE(0) performs “house-cleaning” on
the Applesoft, plus string storage thus increas-
ing the effective memory.
@ CHRS(4), assigned to D$ is necessary
before a deferred execution
.@ DOS command.
@ OnnGOTO a,b, ¢, d ete, it goes to the nth
line number in the list. If n is greater than the
number of entries in the list, then the com-
mand is ignored.
@ CHRS$(13)=Return, Ctri-M
CHR§(3)=Ctrl-C
CHR$(4)=Ctrl-D
Do not simply type the program in and
run it. The Poke 214, 128 will prevent you
from Saving it. To aid the detection of
typing errors you should omit the Poke
214,128 and the Onerr Goto commands
at first, only adding them once you are
quite sure that the program works.
List before running
Once you have added these com-
mands, save the program before running
it. From then on the only way to list the
program will be to load the program and
list it, not to run it first. A password
facility.has been added to ensure greater
protection. The password is assigned, in
line 10, to Pass
Output to screen and printer may be
tidied up up the following decimal-point
line-up routine:
10 REM NUMBER IN NUS
20 IF M10$ (NU$, (LEN(NUS$)—2),1)< )‘.”
end MID$ (NU$, (LEN(NU$)—1), apt
n NU$= NUS ALE “00”: GOTO
30 ms “MIDS (NU$,(LEN(NU$)-1), ye "then
NU$=NU$+"0"
In addition, names are rounded up to fit
the screen or pointer as appropriate, and
leading or trailing spaces are removed.
Any screen information is displayed page
by page.
The wildcard character = is supported
in options 3 and 4 to specify all groups or
products. Note that to prevent unneces-
sary disc wear, if you alter a product and
then alter it back again, the program will
not bother to update the disc, thus saving
time and reducing disc wear.
‘The Help option runs a file on disc
called “thelp” which may be in the form of
an aide-memoire and could be written by
the user according to needs. At any
point typing Ctrl-C aborts the current
operation and sends you back to the
menu.
Software==
2518 GOTO-210
2526 TEXT : HOME
2538 PRINT TAB 1@)"STOCK BELOW H
INIMUM": PRINT “##i#eereeeeeee
FREER SSEE SEE EEE EEE EE EEE! POKE
34,2: PRINT
HOME : PRINT
INPUT "PRINTER “sHC$: IF HC$ =
"¥" THEN PRINT O$s"PR#i
we edt Se
PRINT "THE DATE IS “sOTE$: PRINT
: IF LEFTS CHC$,1) = "N" THEN
HOME:
IF HCS = *Y" THEN GOTO eeee
PRINT "“QESCRIPTION NS
TOCK MIN LEVEL"s: IF wee =
"y" THEN PRINT : FOR I = 1 TO
“eta: NEXT
= 1 TO HAX
IF VAL CIS$(I>) > = UAL (MH
rela THEN GOTD 2650
F HC$ = "Y" THEN PRINT : GOTO
£50
IF LEN CDESCI>) > 16 THEN PRINT
LEFTS C@ESCI,16)3: HTAB C27 -
LEN CIS$C1I)>): PRINT IS8C Is:
HTAB (41 - LEN CHL8(I1>>): PRINT
HLS€1T)s: GOTO 2648
PRINT DESC 1>3: HTAB (27 -
CIS$€I)))2 PRINT IS$CI)s: HTAB
(41 - LEN CHL$(1>)>: PRINT HL
$103
FLAG = FLAG + 1: IF FLAG = 19 ANO
HCS = “N* THEN FLAG = @: PRINT
"PRESS <SPACEBAR> TO CONTINUE”
a: GET AS:
NEXT : PRINT : PRINT D$s"PRAO
“t: PRINT "PRESS <SPACEBAR> TO
CONTINUE" 3: GET AS: GOTO 216
PRINT “OESCRIPTION
uP NO HIN
cost SALE":
PRINT “#eteeeeeeeseeeereeenee
SHEESH SRE EEELEE SEEDER EE EET
See re es a
FOR { = 1 TO HAX
IF, VAL CIS$CID> > UAL CHLSC
1)) THEN NEXT 8 GOTO 2780
PRINT DESC 193:C = LEN COES(I
2) + LEN € STRS (GNCI>)): PRINT
SPCC 34 - Cs: PRINT GHC IDs
LEN CIS$(I>): PRINT SPCC
: PRINT IS%( 13
CHMLSCI)): PRINT SPCC
s: PRINT HLSCI 3
© STRS CCPCID)) < 3 THEN
(7) :
CPs = STR (CPCE)): IF MIOs
(CPS. LEN (CP$) - 20,1) << >
"," AND MIOS CCP$.¢ LEN (CPS>
- 13,1) < > "." THEN CPS = C
Ps + ".80"
PRINT SPCC 15 - LEN (CP#))z
1 PRINT CPS;
IF LEN C STRS (SPCI))) < 3 THEN
os = STRS (SPC1)> + “.00": GOTO
3)
2
SPS = STR$ CSPCI)): IF HIOF
CSPS.¢ LEN CSP$>)- 2).1>¢ >
"." BND HIDS CSP$.C LEN (SP#>
- 13.1) < > *," THEN SPS =S
s+ ".@8"
PRINT SPCC 14 - LEN (SP$))3
: PRINT SP$s: NEXT : GOTO 2786
PRINT : PRINT O$;°PR#G": PRINT
“TYPE CSPACEBAR> "3
GET AS: IF AS ¢ >” “ THEN GOTO
2318
GOTO 210
HOHE : PRINT "AUTOMATIC INUOI
CINGCNO-NUMBER OF COPIES “sa GET
as
PRINT AS: GET X#
IF AS = "N" THEN INU = @: GOTO
210
INU = UAL (AS): GOTO 210
PRINT “NOT RURTLABLE “2 GET
A$: GOTO 70
HOME # PRINT “PLEASE TYPE <SP
ACEBAR
GET Ag: IF A$ < >“ * THEN GOTO
2870
PRINT F
PRINT 0$5"RUN HELP“
TEXT : HOME
PRINT "DO YOU WANT TO LEQUE A
PPLE STOCK?” i GET AS: IF AS ¢
> *Y" THEN RUN
: UTAB (12): PRINT TAB
18)°BYE!"
END
PRINT “OPEN STOCK FILE» L60":
PRINT “WRITE STOCK FILE.RO": PRINT
"92": PRINT "04%: PRINT "CLOSE
PRINT O$;"PR84":; PRINT D$s"IN
#4": PRINT “C": [INPUT CD$: PRINT
O$;"PRHG”: PRINT O$s"INKO*
THSC@> = "SUNDAY": THSC 1) = "MO
NDAY": THSC2) = “TUESDAY”: THSCS
> = "HEDENSDAY": TH#(4) = “THUR
SDAY": THSC5) = “FRIDAY: THSKG>
= “SATURDAY”
OIM DHS 12): DHS 1) = “JANUARY
":DH$C2) = "FEBRUARY": DH$(3) =
"MARCH": DH$( 4) = "APRIL": DHSCS
> = "HAY": DHSC6) = "JUNE": DHSC
7) = "JULY": 0H$(8) = “AUGUST”:
ODH$C9> = “SEPTEMBER”: 0HSC 10> =
"OCTOBER": DH$C 11) = “NOVEHBER™
:DHSC12> = “DECEMBER”
= THSC UAL ¢ LEFT$ (COS.2
" " + MIDS CCD$.6.2) +
" " + DHSC VAL ( MIDS (CO$,3.2
> +" " + "19" + MIDS CCDS,
LEN CAS) TO 1 STEP -
: INVERSE : PRINT MIDS (AS.
21)s"5: NORMAL : PRINT MIOS ¢
AS,I,193%: NEXT 2 RETURN
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
# Limited Dealerships Available
es |
EF PRESS wok PROCESSING SYSTEM
with tree business computer
* Separate keyboard with 24 special function keys for fast processing *
%* Green screen — less eyestrain *
%& VVORDSTAR - the most popular, proven ‘word processing software available *
% Daisy wheel printer — high quality letter printing *
% Customised work station #
% British made micro computer *
EYPiRE
— Be | NS
Computer Systems Ltd
40 Triton Square
London NW1 3HG
01-387 4599
@ Circle No. 177
1A(
132
$100 SYSTEMS
All systems based on the North Star
Horizon.
MULTI-USER
Up to 7 users can be accommodated.
5% WINCHESTER DRIVES
21 Mb is now available on high speed
drive S100 systems.
Drives also available for the Altos and
N.E.C.
NEW MULTIPROCESSOR SYSTEMS
A new price breakthrough at £395.00 per
board (Z80 64K R.T.C. 2 serial one parallel
port).
APPLICATIONS SOFTWARE
We guarantee all our software and
provide full support.
LOW COST S100 BOARDS
For graphics, memory and serial I/O.
WHY NOT TAKE THE ADVANTAGE...
The new exciting microcomputer in the
North Star range. We have a good stock
of C.PU.s plus hardware and software.
PERIPHERALS
A comprehensive range of printers and
V.D.U.s to cater for most needs including
Epson, Tfelevideo and N.E.C.
MAINTENANCE
A cost effective reliable service for the
i Microsystem—we make them
work.
Head for the North Star, head for...
69 Loudoun Road - London NW8 0DQ
Telephone 01-328 8737/8 Me
Telex 266828 HMS.-G. NorthStar
@ Circle No. 178
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
File
This regular section of
| Practical Computing
appears in the magazine
each month, incorporating
Tandy Forum, Apple Pie,
ZX-80/81 Line-up and the
other software interchange
| pages.
Open File is the part of
the magazine written by
you, the readers. All aspects
of microcomputing are
_ covered, from games to
serious business and
technical software, and we
welcome contributions on
CP/M, BBC Basic,
Microsoft Basic, Apple
Pascal and so on, as well as
the established categories.
Each month the best
| contribution will be
awarded £20; others
receive £6. Send
contributions to: Open
File, Practical Computing,
Quadrant House, The
Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey
SM2 SAS.
MICROCOMPUTERS HAVE adopted
ways on moving the cursor within a Basic
program. notes M Phillips of Knutsford.
two
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
|
|
| characters
Open file: Apple
Apple Pie: Petcout for cursor control; Graphics print routine; Disc
patcher and contents
133
ZX-80/81 Line-up: Command-exchange routine; Physics
calculations; Income-tax assessment; Hexad editor/assembler
6502 Special: Plakoto game: Print At facility
141
143
BBC Bytes: Multicoloured text; Music function; Hyperbolic
calculations; Fighter game
149
Tandy Forum: Animation; Space orbit; Telephone-bill calculator
151
Disc Dialogue: Recovering from BDOS error, Paging text files;
MBasic renumber routine
157
Pet Corner: Quick formatter; Dodgeball game; Exchanging ROMs
without damage
159
Guidelines for contributors
Programs should be accompanied by
documentation which explains to other
readers what your program does and, if
possible, how it does it. It helps if
documentation is typed or printed with
doubie-line spacing — cramped or
handwritten material is liable to delay and
error.
Program listings should, if at all possible, be
printed out. Use a new ribbon in your
| Cheshire. It may be absolute like Apple-
| soft’s VTab and HTab, or relative like
Pet’s cursor-control characters. Each
method has its advantages, and the owner
| of one can always program the other, but
it seems silly not to have the control
in Applesoft when the
| appropriate routines already exist within
the monitor ROM to perform on-screen
editing.
Petcout, a short 6502 subroutine, can
be used to provide this feature. Once
initialised by Brun or Bload followed by
Call 768, it compares all output charac-
ters with a list given in the table at the
base of the program. If it finds a match, it
jumps to the given address for that char-
acter. If not, it jumps to the normal
character output routine at $FDFO.
The table listed provides up, left, right,
| inverse, normal and home; cursor-down
is already provided with Ctrl-J. You can
printer, please, so that we can print directly
from a photograph of the listing and avoid
typesetting errors. lfall youcan provideis a
typed or handwritten listing, please make it
clear and unambiguous, graphics
characters, in particular, should be
explained.
We can accept material for the Pet, Vic and
Sharp MZ-80K on cassette, and material
for the larger machines can be sent on
IBM-format 8in. floppy discs.
use any codes and monitor, or your own |
routines as lorig as the table ends with
FO, FD, 00 and contains no more than 85
definitions.
Petcout.
* *PETCOUT’
APPLE II UTILITY
x
% TRAPS CONTROL CHARS GIVEN IN
* *TABLE’ BELOW AND JUMPS TO
* CORRESPONDING ADDRESS TO PROVIDE
# CURSOR CONTROL THRU? CHR& IN
# A SIMILAR MANNER TO THE PET
+
WONOUSUNE
* MAX PHILLIPS DEC 81
z
11 # EQUATES ...
*
acc
14 1OSAVE
IOREST
EQU 445
EQU SFF4A
EQU +*FFIF
.
bie &% THIS VERSION AT #300
# PROGRAM CAN BE RELOCATED
19 * IF REFERENCES TO ENTER & VECTL/H CHANGED
*
rat ORG $300
OBJ $300
A
24 # INITIALISE
*
# BRUN THE PROGRAM OR CALL 768 TO
# SEND ALL OUTPUT THRU? THES ROUTINE
(continued on page 135)
133
THE SHARP MZ80B SYSTEM
MZ80B
@ 4Mhz Z-80A CPU @ 64K RAM @ 2K ROM @ BASIC
is provided @ High Resolution Graphics @ 9” High Focus
Green Display @ Upper and Lower Case @ 80/40
Characters x 25 line display @ Electro Magnetic Cassette
Deck included @ ASC11 Keyboard @ Numeric Keypad @
Sound Output @ Built-in Clock and Music
@ Editing — Cursor
Control, Up, Down, Left,
Right, Clear and Home.
Insertion and deletion
Ideal for small businesses, schools, colleges, homes, etc.
Suitable for the experienced,
teacher, etc.
a
inexperienced, hobbyist,
GENIE t
PRINTER MZ80P6 £449 + vat
@ Serial Dot Matrix © Tractor and Friction Feed
© 80 Characters per Second @ Pnnt Capacity 80 col
(Normal) 40 col (Double Size) 136 col (Reduced Size)
@ Upper and Lower case e Graphics
FLOPPY DISK
DRIVE MZ80FB
£699 + vat
inc. DOS, Interface Card & Cable
@ Dual Drive Unit 5.25"
@ Dual Sided Double Density
® 70 Track, Soft Sectored;
@ 16 Sectos per Track
@ 280K Bytes per Diskette
@ 40/80/132 Column
® Centronics Parallel
@ Bi-directional
®@ Upper & lower case
@ True Descenders
@ 9x9 Dot Matrix
® Condensed and
Enlarged Characters
@ Interfaces and
Beginners Programming and BASIC Reference Mannual.
BASIC Program Tape Supplied. Pixel Graphics.
COMMODORE
Vic-20
£299 . vat
The NEW GENIE II an ideal Business Machine. 13K
Microsoft BASIC in ROM. 71 Keyboard. Numeric Keypad.
Upper & Lower Case. Standard Flashing Cursor. Cassette
Interface 16K RAM Expanded externally to 48K.
GENIE | & Il EXPANSION UNIT
WITH 32K RAM ~— £199 +vart
PARALLEL PRINTER INTERFACE CARD £35.00 + VAT
THE NEW oes ee aetetntLrek oat
SHARP , £449 vir
MZ-80A
© 280 CPU
Character
x 25 line
Display
@ Built /
in 9" High /
Focus Green Display J
®@ Built in Audio Cassette .
Deck : Data Transfer 1200 bits/sec
@ ASCII Keyboard, Upper & Lower Case, Graphic
Symbols, Numeric Keypad @ Editing, Cursor
Control (Up, Down, Left, Right, Home, Clear,
Deletion Keys) @ Built in Clock & Music
We give a full one year’s guarantee
On all our products, which
normally only carry 3 months
guarantee.
IF IT WASN’T FOR THE LOWEST PRICES, THE BIGGEST CHOICE. AND THE BEST AFTER SALES SERVICE WE JUST WOULDN'T BE COMP SHOP.
134
@ 16 foreground colours
@ 8 background colours
® Real typewriter keyboard with full graphics
® Music in three voices and three octaves
@ Language and sound effects
ALSO AVAILABLE
GAMES CARTRIDGES £17.35 + vaT
16K RAM CARTRIDGE £65.17 + VAT
JOYSTICKS £6.52 + VAT
“Europes Largest Discount
Personal Computer Stores”
TELEPHONE SALES
OPEN 24 hrs. 7 days a week
01-449 6596
@ TEAC FD-50A has 40 tracks giving 125K Bytes Ribbons available
unformatted single density capacity.
@ The FD-50A can be used in double density recording
pore MX80F/T2 £419 + vaT MX80T £329 + vat
@ The FD-50A is Shugart SA400 interface compatible MX80F/T £379 + vat
® Directly compatible with Tandy TRS80 expansion
interface.
@ Also interfaces with Video Genie, SWTP, TRS80
ATOM, and. BBC. Superbrain, Nascom, etc, etc.
@ Address selection for Daisy chaining up to 4 Disks A CENTRONICS
@ Disks plus power supply housed in an attractive grey
oa er oPRINTERS.
NOW INCLUDED: Sound, Upper and lower case, Extended = i aca my 4 =
BASIC and Machine Code enabling the Writing and ingle VAT jouble VAT -
Execution of Machine Codes Programming direct from Disk Drive £199 4 Disk Drive £379 ae 737 red
Keyboard. VAT
16K RAM. 12K Microsoft BASIC ZAMEEN IC 739 £469
é Single Double
Extensive Software Range. Disk Drive £279 «VAT isk Drive £499 + vat
Self-Contained PSU UHF Modulator Cassette. External : Standard Features
Cassette Interface. Simply plugs into TV or Monitor. “| ° u ® Proportional Spacing
Complete and Ready to Go.:Display is 16 lines by 32 or 64 2 Drive Cable £15.00 ings @ Right Margin Justification @ 3
Characters Switchable. 3 Mannuals included, Users Guide, 4 Drive Cable = £25.00 + VAT way paper handling @ Upper and lower case @ True
Descenders @ Bi-directional Paper Mode @ Underlining
Capability @ Condensed/Expanded Print ® Sub-Scripts and
Super Scripts @ Pin and Friction Feed @ 80/132 Column
PLUS FREE
739 as above with special feature of
Dot Resolution Graphics.
£173
+ VAT
HITACHI
PROFESSIONAL
MONITORS
o}— £129 £39.95
12” — £499 £149 vat
@ Reliability Solid state circuitry using an IC and silicon
transistors ensures high reliability. @ 500 lines horizontal
resolution Horizontal resolution in excess of 500 lines Is
achieved in picture center. @ Stable picture Even played
back pictures of VTR can be displayed without jittering.
@ Looping video input Video input can be looped through
with built-in termination switch. @ External sync opera-
tion (available as. option for U and C types) @® Compact
construction Two monitors are mountable side by side ina
standard 19-inch rack
All prices quoted are exclusive of VAT. Delivery is
added at cost. Please make cheques and postal
erders payable to COMP SHOP LTD., or phone your
order quoting BARCLAYCARD, ACCESS, DINERS
CLUB or AMERICAN EXPRESS number.
BARCLATCARD =
— fe ate s
a amas. ae
CREDIT FACILITIES AVAILABLE - send S.A.E. for
application form.
MAIL ORDER SHOP
14 Station Road, New Barmet,
Hertfordshire, ENS 1QW
(Close to New Barnet BR Station - Moorgate Line)
Telephone: 01-441 2922 (Sales) 01-449 6596
Telex: 298755 TELCOM G
OPEN (BARNET) - 10am - 7pm - Monday to Saturday
311 Edgware Road, London W2
Telephone: 01-262 0387
OPEN (LONDON) - 10am - 6pm - Monday to Saturday
@ Circle No. 179
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
(continued from page 133)
fa tf
Graphics print — listing 1.
DY C=O Als 4B
28 ME = 7936: REM MACHINE CODE R.
OUTINE
38 TABLE = 8176
40 PD = - 16249: REM PRINTER BU
- 15873: REM PRINTER RE
ADY BYTE
60 DE = CHRS (4):FB = 3192
74 GOSUB 59280
8@ TEXT
98 HOME : PRINT "NORMAL (ND) = WH
ITE GOES TO BLACK.
19@ PRINT "INVERSE ¢1> :
OES TO WHITE."
110 PRINT + PRINT "WHICH MODE ¢N
71) 2": GET AS: PRINT AS
MHITE G
120 TT = @: IF AS = “I" THEN TT =
255
130 POKE 7968,TT: REM SET ON/OF
F FLAG
14@ HGR2 « HGR « HOME « VTAS 22
13@ INPUT "WHAT PICTURE NAME"; NS
168 PRINT D#i"BLOAD" NS; ",AS2890
17@ HOME + YTAB 22
188 PRINT "FRAME (Y/N) ?";: GET
Ag: PRINT AS: IF AS < > "Y"
THEN 290
198 HCOLOR= 3: HPLOT 9,9 TO 279,
@ TO 279,191 TO @,191 TO 3.8
220 PRINT DS; "PR#i": POKE - 143
82,0
210 POKE PD.@: REM SET GRAPHIC
S MODE ON PRINTER
FOR Y1 = @ TO 192 STEP 7
FOR Y = Y1 TO Yt + 6: GOSUB
1600:BCY - Y1> = BY: NEXT
240 FOR XL = @ TO 33 STEP 18
IF PEEK CPR) < > 132 THEN
258
268 POKE PD,27: POKE PD,16: POKE
PDC? & Xt > 255): POKE PD,?7
* XL - 256 * (7 & X1 > 285)
Grapics print — listing 2.
ORG S1F20
SEIKOSHA
HI-RES GRAPHICS
BY G.WATSON
WOnNHA an ewe
3 EE HO
11 BYTES EQU
12 PREADY E&OU
13 POATA EQU
14 ONOFF Eau
SiFFQ
SCLFF
$0290
SIF20
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
pe cc er Cees eset i sel es S289 225 33]
x
x
x
x
&
*
x
10 XSARKAMRERERE REESE ERR RE ES,
aed 8 ROUTINE TURNED OFF BY RESET OR PREO
8
3
3
5
5
TABLE,Y ; SET UP NEXT VECTOR
30
31 BRUN LDA £<ENTER
32 STA $36
33 LDA £>ENTER
34 STA $37
35 IMP $3EA
we 8
37. «8 ENTER
sek
39 & ALL OUTPUT PASSED TO
40 8
41. ENTER JSR IOSAVE
42 LDA ACC
43 AND £€87F
44 STA TEMP
45 8
46 LDY €sFF
47 &
48 LOOP INY
49 LDA
ere) STA VECTL
s1 INY
52 LDA TABLE,Y
53 STA VECTH
HERE IN ACC
0326: BY 39 OS
0329: FO OS
O32E: DO E7
0330: 20 3F FF
0333; 6C 37 03
EXIT THRU’ DOS
03341 00
O337: OO
0338: 00
SAVE THE REGS
RECOVER ACC’S VALUE
CLEAR MSB OF ACC
3; READY FOR COMPARISION
INIT TABLE INDEX
032B: CD 36 03
Open file: Apple
LDA TABLE,Y ; GET NEXT CHAR
BEQ DONE : IF 0 THEN END OF TABLE
CMP TEMP 3 IS CHAR TO PRINT ?
BNE tooP 3 IF NO, TRY NEXT ENTRY
DONE JSR IOREST ; RESTORE REGS
JmMP (VECTL)? =; EXIT THRU’ VECTOR
8
& DATA STORAGE LOCS
2
TEMP HEX OO
VECTL HEX OO
VECTH HEX OO
s
& TABLE
8
8 LIST OF DESTL,DESTH,ASCII OF CHAR TO TRAP
8
8 MUST END WITH FO,FD,00 SO OTHERS GO TO NORMAL
8 PRINTING ROUTINE AT SFDFO
8
TABLE HEX 1A,FC,17 ; UP CRTL-W SsFC1A
HEX 10,FC,19 ; <~ CRTIL-Y S8FCIO
HEX F4,FB,1A ; -> CRTYL-Z SFBF4
HEX SS8,FC,0C ; CLS CRTL-L sFCS8
HEX 80,FE,09 ; RVS CRIL-I *sFESO
HEX 684,FE,O€ 3 NeL CRIL-N SFES4
i
HEX FO,FD,00 ; OTHERS TO SFDFO
278 REM 27,16,HP.LP POSITIONS P
RINTHEAD AT HPx256 + LP
280 FOR X = X1 TO X1 +9
299 FOR ¥ = 9 70 6: POKE TABLE +
Y, PEEK CBCY) + %): NEXT
380 CALL MC
318 NEXT + POKE PD,20: REM PRIN
T CHARACTERS IN BUFFER
320 NEXT 41
IF PEEK (PR) < > 132 THEN
338
POKE PD, 10
350 NEXT Y1
PRINT D#; "PR#O"
TEXT
380 -HOME : VTAB 22: PRINT "ANOTH
ER PICTURE 7"3: GET AS: PRINT
AS
390 IF AB < > "N" THEN TEXT +» GOTO
98
400 END
1088 REM FIND BYTE CONTAINING X
iv >
1@10-LH = XLV = ¥
1022 BV = (LV - INT (LY 789% 8
> * 1824
1838 BA = INT CLV 7 8):BY = BV +
(BA - INT (BAR 7 8) %* 8) * 4
28 + INT (LY 7 64) * 40+ F
8
1840 RETURN
56@@ REM CREATE MACHINE CODE RO
UTINE
5Q@19 DATA 168,7,162,6,94,249, 31,
42,202, 16,249,77,32,21,9
5028 DATA 128,141,144, 192,173.25
2,193,281, 192,298,249, 136,22
8,229,96
5030 FOR T = 7936 TO 7965: READ
%: POKE 7,X: NEXT
5040 RETURN
69535 REM HI-RES GRAPHICS DIMP
65535 REM TO SEIKOSHA GP-699
65595 REM BY G.WATSON
3$CNFF N=SLOT
sSCONO N=$9 + SLOT
sBIT MASK
Graphics print
THIS ROUTINE from Greg Watson of
Manchester dumps the Apple’s high-re-
solution page 1 to the Seikosha GP-809
printer. The program assumes that the
interface card used is the Apple interface
and that the interface is in slot 1.
Type in the Basic program in listing 1.
Save it and Run the program. You will be
asked if you want Normal or Inverse
mode: Normal mode means that if a
point is set on the screen it will also be set
on the printer.
You are then asked for the name of the
picture you want printed. It must be the
name of a binary file on the disc. To save
a high-resolution screen to disc type
BSAVE name, A$2000, L$2000
Once the picture has been loaded you
have the option of having it “framed”.
and the program then dumps the screen
on to the printer. Finally you have the
option of another print.
The routine at 1000 returns the address
of the byte which contains the point X, Y
on the screen. The machine-code routine
in listing 2 speeds up the bit manipulation
required. since Basic is very slow in that
task. Since the character buffer can only
hold 90 characters at a time, each line has
to be broken up into four segments.
which is done by the repositioning
sequence in line 260.
Dise patcher
THIS PROGRAM by P McPoland of Bristol
has proved useful in debugging programs
which manipulate disc files, since it
allows you to easily display, print and
(continued on next page)
37 BITS AT A TIME
sGET NEXT BIT FROM BYTE
iSHIFT BIT INTO ACCUMULATOR
:HAYE WE DONE LOOP 7 TIMES?
iNO SO REPEAT LOOP
jSET BITS ON OR OFF FOR NORMAL INVERSE
sSET M.S.BIT TO MAKE IT GRAPHICS DATA
sSEND TO PRINTER BUFFER
sCHECK PRINTER 2S READY FOR NEXT BYTE
#NCT READY THEN CHECK AGAIN
sHAVE WE DONE MAIN LOOP 7 TIMES?
iNO SO GO BACK TO LOOP
sYES SO RETURN TQ PROGRAM.
135
es pen file: Aple====
Disc patcher.
10 REM
411 REM DKPATEH -—- DISK PATCH UTILITY
12 REM COPYRIGHT P MC POLAND 1982 24001 REM
13 REM 24002 REM
20 GuBUB 62000 24010 VTAB 19: HTAB 1: INPUT "DRIVE(1 OR 2)?
a0. Gost elec > "2" THEN PRINT B%;: GOTO 24010
40 ON F GDSUB 20000, 21000, 22000, 23000, 24000, 25000, 26000, 27000 aie VTAB 19: HIAB t; CALL - 9560D =
50 GOTO 30
10000 REM 25000
10001 REM DISPLAY BUFFER 25001
10002 REM 25002
10010 IF F < > 3 THEN HOME aeere
10015 OF e SP - 384001 FOR I = 1 TO INT (LN / 8)% GOSUB 10100: PRINT 29;" “5 26000
10020 FOR J = 0 TO 3: FORK = 070 1:2 = PEEK (SP + 2% J + K):Z23 = MIDS (HX Se
ol + INT (Z / 16),1) * MIDS (HxXS,1 + Z - 16 8 INT (Z / 16),1): PRINT Zp: NEX 26002
TK: PRINT * "3: NEXT J 26010
10030 PRINT " #";: FORJ =O T07:Z2@ 27000
GOTO 10050 27901
10040 7+ = MIDS (TRS,Z,1) 27002
PRINT Z$3: NEXT J: PRINT "@ “5: 27010
60000
60001
40002
60010
+ 28%: GOTO 10110 .
60020 FOR I #1 TO LEN (TIS): IF
“ THEN PRINT B31 GOTO 60010
60030 T= VAL (TI¢)s IF T > 34 THEN PRINT BSys GOTO 460010
40040 POKE 793,T
40050 VTAB 20: HTAB 1: INPUT "SECTOR(O TO 15)? "sSI®s IF LEN (S18) = 0 THEN P
RINT B8;: GOTO 60050
60060 FOR f = t JO LEN (SIs}:
“ THEN PRINT BS;: GOTO 60050
60070 S = VAL (S18): IF 5 > 15 THEN PRINT B®ss GOTO 40050
60080 POKE 794,8: RETURN
61000
61003
41002
41010 NORMAL : VTAB 19: HTAB ts CALL - 95¢
41020 HTAB 7: PRINT "ENTER FUNCTION ==>"
61030 INVERSE : HTAB 7s PRINT "R": NORMAL :
D";: NORMAL : PRINT “RIVE”
61040 HTAB 7: INVERSE : PRINT "W''g3 NORMAL =:
F";,: NORMAL + PRINT "“ORWARD"
41050 HTAB 7: INVERSE 1 PRINT
B'y: NORMAL » PRINT “ACK"
61060 HTAB 7: INVERSE :
41070 HTAB 7; INVERSE :
41080 VTAB 19: HTAB 26:
T 0 41080
61090 FOR F = 1 TO LEN
1: GOTO 41080
41100 IF F<
41110 RETURN
42000 REM
62001
62002
62003
23130 SP © 384001 IF J > 127 THEN SP = sun28
23140 LN = 126: GOSUB 10000: RETURN
74000 REM
RESET DEFAULT DRIVE
"{DI8:
IF DI < » "2" AND DI6 <
VAL (DI¢)}s POKE 791,D: POKE 805,D: RETU
REM
REn
REN
: HOME :
€ND PROGRAM
NEW
SHOW SECOND SEGMENT
38528:LN = 128: GOSUB 100001 RETURN
PEEK (SP + Jds IF Z @ O THEN Z% = ",":
SHOW FIRST SEGMENT
GOSUB 10100: PRINT 26s: IF F = 3 THEN PR SES00;LN'@ 1261 GOSUB 100008 RETURN
SP = SP + 81 NEXT I RESET TRACK/SECTOR
PRINT "TRACK "373" SECTOR “gS: RETURN
7 = STRS (41 - 1) & 8 + OF)
IF LEN (2%) < 3 THEN Z6 = "0"
RETURN
REM
REM READ A SECTOR
REM
GOSUB 40000: POKE 801,1: CALL 749s IF PEEK (748) <
HTAB 14) FLASH : PRINT "1/0 ERROR”: RETURN
SP = 38400:LN = 126: GOSUB 10000: RETURN
REM
REM
REM
GOSUB 460000: POKE B801,2: CALL 749s IF PEEK (768) <
HTAB 14: FLASH 4 PRINT "1/0 ERROR"s RETURN
RETURN
REM
REM PRINT A SECTOR
REM
PRINT D6; "PRO1") CHRS (13)3 CHR® (0): POKE 1457,80
SP = 38400:LN = 256: GOSUB 10000
PRINT DS; "PR#O"s RETURN
VTAB 19: HTAB le INPUT "TRACK (O=34)? "TIO: IF LEN (TES) © 0 THEN RETUR
MIDS (TI#,1,1) < "O" OR MIDS (TI6,I1,1) > “9
> O THEN HOME 1 VTA
IF MIDS (SI8,1,1) < “O" OR MIDS (SI$,1,1) > "9
WRITE & SECTOR
> O THEN HOME : VTA
INPUT FUNCTION
REM
PRINT “EAD "yg: INVERSE +: PRINT "
PRINT “RITE “3: INVERSE : PRINT “
REM
REM CHANGE DATA
REM
VTAB 191 HTAB 1s INPUT “OFFSET (0-255)?
GOTO 23010
FOR 1 = 1 TO LEN (2%): IF MIDS (28,1,1) < "oO"
HEN PRINT B$;: GOTO 23010
23025 NEXT I
23030 J = VAL (28>) IF J.> 255 THEN PRINT Bs):
23040 K = 255 - J: IF K > 14 THEN K = 14
23050 76 @ "": FOR T= J TOJ + K:2 © PEEK (38400 + 1575 © 2s + MIDS (HXS,1 +
INT (Z / 169,1) # MIDS (HXS,1 + Z - 16 8 INT (2 / 16),1)
23060 NEXT Ii VTAB 20: HTAB 19 PRINI “OLD DATA "4205
23070 VTAB 211 HTAB 1: INPUT “NEW DAIA? ")2761 IF LEN (Z#) = 0 OR LEN (Z8) > 3
O OR LEN (28) - 2.8 INT ( LEN (24) 4 2) ° > 0 OR LEN (28) > 2 4 (K + 1) THEN
PRINT B$;1 GOTO 23070
23080 FOR I = 170 LEN (Z#)» FOR K © 1 TO LEN (HX6)s IF MID® (28,1,1) <
MIDS (HX8,K, 21? THEN NEXT #2 PRINT B83 GOTO 23070
23090 NEXT I
23100 FOR I © 1 TO LEN (28): FUR K = 1 TO LEN (HX8)s IF MIDs (28,I,1) < >
MIDS (HXS,K,1) THEN NEXT K
23110 Z = 16 8 (K = 1211 © 1 + 1s FOR K = 1 TO LEN (HXS)s IF MIDS (78,1,1) <
> MIDS (HX8,K,1) THEN NEXT K
23120 Z = 2 + K - 1s POKE 38900 + J + I / 2 - AyZa NEXT I
"PY gy NORMAL ; PRINT#RINT tz: INVERSE + PRINT ”
PRINT
PRINT
INPUT
"C™,: NORMAL ;
“E"y: NORMAL =:
"*sFI8s IF LEN
PRINT "HANGE”
PRINT “XIT™;
(FI$) <¢ > I THEN PRINT B4;:
"gis: IF LEN (26) = O THEN PRINT
Got
OR MIDS (276,1,1) > "9"
(Fe): IF MIDS (FS,F,1) < > FIS THEN NEXT F: PRINT BO
GOTO 23010 > 3 THEN VTAB 19: HTAB 1: CALL ~ 958
INITIALISATION
Rett
HOME + VTAB 8: HTAB 11: INVERSE : PRINT
INT 1 HTAB 151 PRINT "WRITTEN BY": PRINT +
62005 F% # "RWPCDEFB":BS = CHRt (7):D8 =
62010 TRE = " rr CHRS (162) + "#S4R" ()84+,~./0
1234567891 5$=>29ABCDEF GHIJKLMNOPORSTUVWXYZ" + CHRS (219) + CHRS (220) + CHRS
(221) + CHRS (222) + CHRS (223) + ". ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPORSTUVWKYZ
62015 TRt = RIGHTS (TRE,127) + TR¢sHX*® = “0123456789ABCDEF"
62020 FOR I = 768 TO 809: READ J: POKE I,J: NEXT J
42030 RETURN
62040 DATA 0, 169,0.141, 0,3, 169.3, 160,21, 32,217) 3514455, 16951, 14150, 3,76
62050 DATA 1,96,1,0,0,0,38,3,0,150,0,0,0,0,0,96,1,0, 1,239,216
“DISK PATCH UTILITY": NORMAL 3 PR
HT@B 12s PRINT "P MC POLAND 1982"
CHRS (4)
(continued from previous page)
change the contents of any Disc II sector
directly. Other uses to which it might be
put include rescuing deleted files, or
patching machine code or data files on
disc.
Disc sectors are read into part of the
standard DOS buffer area, edited there,
and rewritten on demand. Options are
selected from a menu by entering the first
character of the keywords displayed.
They are:
Read — You will be prompted for the track, 0
to 34, and sector, 0 to 15. The sector is then
read in and displayed. Note that by pressing
Return on the track prompt, you can cause
the program to use whatever values are
currently in track/sector. At start-up, both
values will be zero.
Write — You are prompted for track/sector as
for the Read option. Usually you would wish
to rewrite the current sector, so you would
press Return at the track prompt. The pro-
gram writes the buffer to the track/sector
location specified.
Print — If you have a printer, the program can
produce a listing of the sector buffer. Line
22010 sets up for a printer in slot 1, and the
Poke is used to suppress screen display
during printing, which would otherwise cor-
rupt the display format. It applies to the
MX-80 printer interface, so for other printers
you would have to replace it with something
equivalent.
Drive — This option allows you to set the
current disc drive to 1 or 2, whatever you
reply.
Forward/Back — The screen display is similar
136
ri
4809
SE18
8DFE
> BDAD
ADFE
AéZE
Saas
FERO
9800
OLCE
OF OG
o0AB
CSBS
FOOS
BCUS
46AS
2OEA
Bi42
F7AQ
Caco
AZFF
aooo
0000
O000
0000
C220
FDAS
20DA
OOOO
aca
nos
O16
wW24
Q32
Oa
4g
O56
964
Q72
O80
O88
O96
LO4
Pie
120
128
136
144
1s2
iéo0
168
176
164
igs
200
208
214
224
435
Ages
264A
SFA SC8s
O86D
FFOR 30
SDCE
A Ais
QOEE
S9FE 29S
A62ZE
O9O7 3
0806 ©0402
A7RO O8AD
BS91 40AD
AGAD SDBS6
'SDo OSEE
YDSD B64C
BS20 ABAS
JDAZ AQIS
CBCOo 17DO
4299 A4BS
F64C BCAG
B6DO F600
0000 00600
oood OOOO
2000 9000
2058 FCA
AGO! 2ODA
EDFD A9Q0
0000 GOdg
240 9000 0000 9000
248 90000 G000 2000
TRACK O SECTOR ©
to the print layout shown, but only half as
deep, so it is divided into two screens, offset
0 to 127 and offset 128 to 255. You can flip
from one to the other using these options.
Change — This option allows you to change
an area within the sector buffer to a hex
string which you are asked to key in. You
must enter the start offset where the oveylay
is to begin, and the program will display up
to 15 bytes in hex currently at that location.
You are then prompted to enter the overlay
Sample disc-sector contents output by Disc Patcher routine.
hee
*. i
Coss Rr GIGG. v
ADFE a?)
IBAE Mets aciwe
OBES ke. en aw
NSE 4=N, y wdy
CSE a7 ML etl oe OI
O820 FoN.N.. # USSG
2F FE Ware ak O64
ODOB WHtL ow
ACOA Re ope pays 4
2064 Benccee DF
8DSD ¥°O.7.. dh
4CD2 46.9 -ESLRY
EERD #2- ISP. N= #
ARON ASF.) Le
8DEC 4%. 1GLF%. <4
A24T 45 (& OLS
Daa 4. . LBP. &
toms vit. Pel 2 Lk
1DDO AB, &SHa. F *
8ESD BVLS R22
OOD WESTEN 5 = 0 98 +
a000 Le ate = tule
0000
0000
EDFD
AD20
FD60
OO00
0000
Boo?
value as a hex string. The value you enter
must have an even number of valid hex
characters, and you cannot key any more
characters than the number displayed. The
main display is refreshed, showing the sec-
tor as it looks with your changes applied.
The process can be repeated until you are
happy with the result, when you can request
that the sector be written back via the main
menu.
Exit — Ends the program. 9
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
AalNh Weaicis
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yteshop Computerland
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ublin
endac Data Systems
Dawson Street
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anchester Unity House
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ondon
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/14 Bedford Street
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7/213 Lyham Road
rixton SW2
2101-6716321
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yteshop Computerland
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iccadilly Station Approach
21 061-236 4737
ottingham
yteshop Computeriand
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tan Systems
3 Cumberland Place
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ei 0625 529486
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fel 0603 29652
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fel0742663125
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TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, OR TO MAKE
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138 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
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Any four colours can Automatic character
be selected at a time magnification.
from the palette of 255
available.
Fast block fill facilities
provided.
iy
User-defined shading
patterns.
ris
:
oe |
veeritinteriacsvem ar ag
Text in 40 character Characters can be ‘Windows’ can be
mode with 80 character oriented in any of four defined and scrolled
mode overlaid. direction. independently.
A picture may be worth a thousand words but it still tells ability to produce ‘instant’ graphics by drawing them with the
only half the story about graphics on the 380Z. colour ‘switched’ off and then ‘switching’ on.
For a start, our standard graphics functions include Next, not only can 380Z graphics pictures be saved
on and retrieved from
disc, they can also be
output to one of a
range of popular dot
matnix printers.
Remember, too
that HRG is not a third-
party add-on but designed,
developed, and supported
by Research Machines itself
as an integral part of the
380Z.
And finally, we’ve now
implemented GINO. So for the
first time this well-established,
professional suite of flexible
device-independent graphics
software from the CAD Centre is
available on a micro.
point plotting, line
drawing, instant block
fill, block copying,
offsetting, and
Exclusive Or Plotting.
Then there is the
important fact that our
Level 2 High Resolution
Graphics is supported by
Basic, Algol, and Fortran.
And since it is contained in
an additional 16K of RAM
every byte of user memory
remains available for
applications programs.
It is also worth noting
that 380Z graphics are equally
effective in monochrome — for
‘colour just read ‘shades of grey’
Again there are 255 shades
available, and there’s also a very
useful facility for fading up and down throughout
the grey scale.
There are also the special effects
— such as moving between graphics engineering, or control, then you
‘pages’ for pseudo-animation, or the RESEARCH MACHINES will be interested in the 380Z.
If you are interested in graphics —
for scientific, technical, and industrial
research; or in secondary or higher
education; or for design,
MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEMS
RESEARCH MACHINES LTD Mill Street, Oxford OX2 OBW. Tel:(0865) 49866
@ Circle No. 184
140 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
ZX-80/81
LINE-UP
Command exchange
THIS MACHINE-CODE routine for the ZX-
81 by Michael Wood of Exmouth, Devon
goes through any program contained
within the RAM byte by byte and
changes one command for another. In
this example it changes all Print state-
ments to LPrint statements. A feature of
this routine is the ability for it to stop part
way through a program. To achieve this
you simply place a Stop statement in the
program where you want it to stop.
To place the routine above RAMtop
on the 1K machine:
@ Poke 16388, 236.
@ Poke 16389, 67.
@ Execute New.
@ Using program 1, enter each hexadecimal
number separately.
@ Execute New once again.
If you have a 16K RAM, change the first
two steps to
@ Poke 16388, 237.
@ Poke 16389, 127.
You are now ready to test the routine.
Enter:
10 PRINT
followed: by
RAND USR 17388
The routine is at 32749 if you have a 16K
Physics routines.
REM PHYSICS CALCULATIONS
REM BY IAN MOORE
cLs
PRINT
PRINT
PRINT
FRINT
FRINT
PRINT
PRINT
PRINT
FRINT
PRINT
PRINT
PRINT
PRINT
PRINT
PRINT
PRINT
PRINT
PRINT
PRINT
PRINT
INPUT D
PRINT D
GOTO D*30
r
OWOwn Pa Sune
KINETIC ENERGY"
POTENTIAL ENERGY"
WORK DONE"
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
CENTRIPETAL FORCE"
FORCE ON A MOVING OBJECT"
6; "OPTIONS AVAILABLE"
VOLTAGE IN A CIRCUIT"
CURRENT IN A CIRCUIT"
CHARGE IN A CIRCUIT"
RESISTANCE IN A CIRCUIT"
FOWER IN A CIRCUIT"
PRESURE ON AN AREA"
DENSITY OF A SUBSTANCE"
SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY"
VELOCITY OF WAVES"
IMPULSE DURING A COLLISION"
MOMENTUM OF AN OBJECT"
“PLEASE INPUT YOUR OFTION ";
Command exchange — program 1.
1K version.
10
20
ei @)
40
FOR 1=17388 TO 17406
INPUT A
FOKE 1,A
NEXT I
Machine code.
Decimal
33 128 64
35
126
254 227
200
126
254 245
194 239% 67%
54 225
195 *239% *67%
*--% if you have the 16k
239 becomes 240
67 becomes 127
RAM. After Newline you should im-
mediately see 0/0. List the program, and
you should see:
10 LPRINT
If you want to change some other
characters, just Poke the code of the
character you wish to change to 17398 —
or to 32759 if you have 16K RAM. Then
Poke the code of the character you want
to change to 17403 — 32764 if you have
16K RAM.
Physics routines
THIS PROGRAM by I J Moore of Notting-
ham provides a choice of standard physics
calculations.
When you input variables, time should
be in seconds, mass should be in kilo-
grams, height, radius and distance moved
should be in metres, and the force and
heat supplied should be in joules.
The following variables are used:
LET AS="CURRENT"
LET BS="RESISTANCE"
LET Z%="VOLTAGE"
LET ys="Vv"
GOTO 1000
LET A%S="VOLTAGE"
LET B¢="RESISTANCE"
LET Z%="CURRENT "
LET Y$="A"
GOTO 1000
LET AS="CURRENT"”
LET BS="TIME"
LET 2%="CHARGE"
LET Y$="C"
GOTO 1000
LET A%="VOLTAGE"
LET BS="CURRENT"
LET Z$%="RESISTANCE"
LET Ys="-O- (OHMS)"
GOTO 1000
LET A%="VOLTAGE"
LET BS="CURRENT"
LET Z%="PQWER"
LET Y$="W"
GOTO 1000
LET AS="MASS"
Open file: ZX-80/81
16K version.
10
2a
30
40
FOR 1=32749 TO
INPUT A
FOKE 1,0
NEXT I
S2767
ZBO Assembler
: 1d hl, 16513
inc hl
: ld a, ¢hl)
? Tepre2? CUSToOrR)
ret z
: Id a, (hl)
t cp 245 ("PRINT")
jp nz 17391
ld (h1l),225 ("LPRINT")
jp 17391
rampack change these to :
A, B, C - the figures which are to be used in
the following calculations; they match with
A$, B$ and C$ respectively.
D - the option which is chosen.
Z + the answer which is obtained from the
calculation.
A$, B$, - the names of the items which are to
be input.
Y$ - the unit of the item being calculated.
Z§ - the item being calculated.
The program is divided into the following
. sections:
1-22 print out the options which are available.
23-25 input the option required by the user.
30-495 set up the variables in accordance to
the option chosen.
1000-1170 input the figures which are to be
used in the calculations.
1180-1280 execute the appropriate calcula-
tions.
1290-1300 print out the answer with its unit.
1310-1360 input the user's decision as to, the
continuation of the program.
1370-1390 go to the relevant part of the
program.
LET BS="VELOCITY"
LET Z$="KINETIC ENERGY"
LET ys="J"
GOTO 1000
LET AS="MASS"
LET BS="HEIGHT"
LET 2$="POTENTIAL ENERGY”
LET Ys="J9"
GOTO 1000
LET AS="MASS"
LET BS="VELOCITY"
LET C#="RADIUS"
LET 2$="CENTRIPETAL FORCE"
LET Y$="N"
GOTO 1000
LET As="MASS"
LET BS="ACCELERATION"
LET Z$="FORCE"
LET YS="N"
GOTO 1000
LET A%="FORCE"
LET BS="DISTANCE MOVED"
LET Z$="WORK DONE"
ee an
GOTO 1000
(continued on next page)
141
Income tax
THIS TAX-ASSESSMENT PROGRAM by D A
Pryce of Nottingham runs on 1K ZX-81s
and is based on tax rates set by the March
1982 Budget. It can cope with:
@ Standard or higher rate taxpayers.
@ Married or single tax status.
®@ Joint assessments.
@ Mortgage interest relief.
It should prove useful to taxpayers,
accountants and even tax collectors.
When you run the program it will ask
you if you are married, single or require a
joint assessment, type M, S or J and press
Newline. Enter your annual mortgage
interest payment if you are entitled to this
relief, otherwise type O and Newline.
The program then prints out your
annual salary, national insurance, tax and
net pay for the year. The following vari-
ables are used:
M§ - marital status
S - salary for tax purposes
| - annual mortgage interest payments
A - personal allowance
N - national insurance
T - taxable income
X - tax payable
G - net pay receivable
Hexad
HEXAD by Paul Morriss of Alford, Lin-
colnshire enables you to assemble and
disassemble hex from and to Rem state-
ments and will also allow full editing
facilities. Either of the two sections can
be entered when needed or both at once.
The program as it stands will assemble
and disassemble into a Rem statement
which is the first line of the program. If
you want to do this then type 10 Rem and
enough characters to hold the machine
code. If you want to place it above RAM-
top then replace lines 1000 and 2000 with
LET Y=16514
and lines 1010 and 2010 with
For X=address of first byte for machine code
to address of last byte. Make sure these
figures are accurate or you will overwrite
the Basic.
To assemble the hex, place it in Rem
statements like
20 REM 2A OC 40.
The hex digits may be placed together or
with any number of spaces in between.
Remarks can be put in provided they
start and finish with a ». Any number of
Rem statements may hold the hex.
After typing in the hex it can be fully
checked. To assemble the hex type Run.
The program is best run in Fast mode as
there is no display. At this speed it will
assemble 30 bytes per second. The lines
of hex may now be deleted.
Try the example program after enter-
ing the assembly program. After assem-
bling it type
RAND USR 16514
To disassemble the machine code place
some Rem statements at the beginning of
the program, except for the first line if
you are using it to hold the machine code.
These Rem statements should contain
three times as many characters as the
142
(continued from previous page)
330 «LET A%="FORCE"
335 LET BS="AREA"
3490 «LET Z%="PRESSURE”"
345 LET Ys="N/Mee2"
350 GOTO 1000
360 LET As="MASS"
365 LET Bs="VOLUME"
370 LET Z*="DENSITY"
375. LET Ye="kG/Mexs"
380 GOTO 1000
390 LET AS="Mass"
395 LET BS="TEMPERATURE CHANGE”
400 LET C$="HEAT SUPPLIED"
405 LET 2="SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY"
410 LET Y$="J/KG kK"
415 G0TO 1000
420 LET A%="FREQUENCY"
425 LET BS="WAVELENGTH"
430. LET Z$="VELOCITY"
435 LET ys="M/s"
440 GOTO 1000
450 LET At="FORCE"
455 LET Bs="TIME™
460 LET Z$="IMPULSE”
465
470
480
485
490
495
1900
1010 PRINT
1020 PRINT
1030 PRINT
1040 PRINT
Income tax.
S PRINT
10 INPUT MS
15 PRINT "SALARY?"
20 INPUT S$
25 PRINT "MORTGAGE INTEREST?"
30 INPUT I
35 CLS
40, LET
Ms="J")
So Sap
(S>11440))
60 LET T=S-A-I
7O LET xX=(TK.S AND T>0) +
15100) *.05 AND T>15100)
N=(.08754#S AND
LET G=S-X-N
PRINT TAB 10; "#"
PRINT "SALARY ",
PRINT S
PRINT "NI
PRINT N
PRINT "TAX
PRINT X
PRINT "NET PAY ",
PRINT G
number of bytes of machine code. If the
machine code is 10 bytes long then type
When you run the disassembly pro-
gram with Run 2000 it will place the hex
of the machine code into these statements
with a space between each pair of digits.
Now the Rems can be brought down with
Edit, and more hex can be added or any
deleted. Reassemable the hex by typing
Run.
This offers comprehensive editing as
with Basic statements. If you want no
spaces to be put in between the hex digits
then omit line 2050 and change line 2060
to
LET Y=Y+3.
When using the disassembly program
make sure there is no line numbered 118,
or this will cause a crash.
The program fits in 1K, but it is best
suited to 16K users.
"MARITAL STATUS M,S,0,R,J ?"
A=(1565 AND M$="S") + (2445 AND M$="M") +
(S>1534)) -
((T-12800)
+ ((7T-19100)
25300) * .0O5 AND T?253500) + ((T-31500)
INPUT
PRINT
PRINT
PRINT Bs;"
INPUT B
PRINT B
PRINT
IF D<>8 AND D<>13 THEN GOTO 1170
PRINT C#," :- "3
INPUT C
PRINT C
PRINT
PRINT
IF D=2 OR D=4 OR D=11 OR D=12
THEN GOTO 1240
IF D=6 OR D=S THEN GOTO 1260
LET Z=A*B
IF D=13 THEN LET Z=C/2Z
IF D=7 THEN LET 2=Z4*9.81
6e0TO 1290
LET Z=A/B
GOTO 1299
LET Z=A#(Bee2>
IF D=4 THEN LET Z=Z/2
IF D=8 THEN LET Z=Z/C
ERIN) (255°"82)—" yizer “3 Ye
PRINT
PRINT
PRINT
PRINT "1. THE SAME OPTION”
PRINT "2. A DIFFERENT OPTION"
PRINT "3. THE END”
INPUT L
IF L=1 THEN GOTO 1000
IF L=2 THEN GOTO 3
STOP
"pO YOU WANT :- "
(4010 AND
¢.0875* (S-11440) AND
Ci
OCT
*.1 AND T>12800) +
*.05 AND T>19100) +
*.O05 AND T>31500)
Hexad.
Example program.
20 REM 2134 40 CB44 2805
30 REM *BLACK# 3E80 D7 18F4 *RESTART*
40 REM *WHITE* AF D7 18FO #END*
Assembly program.
1000 LET Y=16519+PEEK 16511+256#PEEK
1010 FOR X=16514 TO Y-7 16512
1020 IF PEEK Y=118 THEN LET Y=Y+6
1930 IF PEEK Y=23 THEN GOTO 1090
1040 IF PEEK Y=0 THEN GOTO 1110
1050 POKE X,16#PEEK Y+PEEK (Y+1)-47&
1060 LET Y=¥+2
1070 NEXT x
1080 STOP
1090 LET Y=Y¥+1
1100 IF PEEK Y<>23 THEN GOTO 1090
1110 LET Y=Y+1
1120 GOTO 1020
Disassembly program.
2000 LET Y=16518+PEEK 16511+256sPEEK
16512
2010 FOR X=16514 TO Y-7
2020 LET Y=Y+t6*"(PEEK Y=118)+7%* (PEEK
(¥+1)=118) +8R (PEEK (¥+2)=119)
2030 POKE Y,INT(PEEK X/16)
2040 POKE Y+1,PEEK X-INT(PEEK X/16)*16
2050 POKE Y+2,0
2060 LET Y#Yt3
2070 NEXT X
2080 STOP
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
6502
SPECIAL
Plakoto
| THIS PROGRAM written by Peter Lawson
tor the Acorn Atom, is a follow-up to the
article on Backgammon in the May 1981
issue of Practical Computing. Plakoto is a
somewhat simpler version of the game
played in Greece. The main difference is
Plakoto.
10Q REM Plakoto
13@D IMAA25. B28. HH2S. TT25, Y11,¥¥11,24
1495=86090s V=821C03 G=24;H=15C=QsW=25K=0
150F. J=@T025)88J=0; TTJ=OiN.
159 REM Start men
| 160881=-15)8824=15
169 REM Dishlay board
17@P. $12; 7HE1=05 @=25F, J21T0125P.13-J
1801=0)D0P. $95 1=1*15U. 1=28iP. 124J)h.
189 REM First roll
190G0S.a
21Q1FZ71>272P." :
220P.":YOU BEGIN"? sA=-1; 60S. i
299 REM Human’s move
| 316L=0
320L=L+1;5G0S.y
330G0S. +
35QP. "MOVE"Z7L" FROM"; IN, #¥
3691F 7V¥=80G0S. xiLI. #FB70sG.U
| 37Q0=VALYs IFO88G. 338
38D=0+27L 3 IFO>250=25
398608. 1
410G. 788
499 REM Atom’s move
S@QP."MY GO WITH"271","272’
518L=8
S2OL=L+1sPsL%42
530G0S.k s GOS. ns IFO<QD=2
S4GI1FB<OP." I PASS”sLI. #FB7D G.600
350G. 78@
$99 REM Pass checking
6B2K=K+L
61B1FM=46, 800
G62G1FK=16.¢ 42041 904A)
6306, 890
700G0S.r3 GOS. a; GOS. Js IFiW< >8G0S. +56. 9808
7O1IFA=-16, 718
7027 *DE="AQ; 7#DF=8#81; 7HE8=25
7O31N, "VIEW" SY
7QS1F 7V=g9G0S. v
?Q7F. 1244110447) S7T=325N.
71IGIFK=36, 88a
72BIFK+Ls3 K=35G.¢4194+100%A)
7301FL=" CG. 8a
7406 .€ 42643 00%A >
739 REM Move over
89@C0S.h; GOS. 45A=-AsK=0;6.¢ 40041004R)
899 REM Game over
IBBIFN>BG. 930
910P.’"YOU WIN "-W" UNIT"; G.950
930P./"1 WIN "WY UNIT"
SSQIFA.W=2 P."S CGAMMON >"
96Q1FA.W=3 P."S CBACKGAMMON >”
970IN.’ "ANOTHER GAME" S'/
SBQIF7V=B89G. 148
9S0E.
999 REM DisPlay men
108aF. J=2T0378S. 4) IF J4Z2=30N.
1205S ! J=#29282020:5N.
1Q1BF. J21T024; ARJ=0) HHJ=6
19281F TTJ<>8G0S.u:G, 1896
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
296D0G0S.hiU.M=2;P."1 THREW"271", YOU THREW"Z72
1 BEGIN" sA=13L1, #FB70sG. 500
30QP. "YOUR GO WITH"Z71", "272 sF=O5 [FWe2Ll. #FB7D
34QIFUDGP. "NO LEGAL MOVE WITH"Z7L"-HiT KEY" SLI. #FFES;C. 600
4BQIFUDOP." ILLEGAL MOVE TYPE"U"-HIT KEY"sLI.#FFE3;U=Q3G. 330
that in Plakoto all the pieces start trom
the farthest points. If a blot is hit, the
opponent's piece is not sent to the bar but
merely trapped until the trapping piece is
moved away. Until this happens the point
belongs to the trapper.
These slight differences simplify both
illegal-move checking and the move-
evaluation algorithm and make the game |
suitable for practising evaluation tech- |
niques. The evaluation routines are laid
out here in decipherable torm in sub-
routines m, o and p to give you the
opportunity of rewriting this section of
the program to make the computer
harder to beat. Lines 701 to 707 and
subroutine v are included for use in the
design stage only. A printer is also |
needed.
Having established a _ preliminary
algorithm, you play a game against the
computer. After each of the computer’s
moves you are invited to view the move
which has just been made. If you are
dissatistied with the computer’s move.
1Q3Q1FBBI<@HHJ=-BBL!
1840 1FBBJ>QARJ=8BJ
1BS@LFARJ>SIFARI< 15G0S. ds G. 1090
IBGESIFHHJ>@ IFHHJ<1S GOS. €)G. 1090
1078IFARJ=15605, 5G. 1990
102301FHHJ=15605. 2
1O9ON, iR.
L1BObIF JC 13S7¢ 3A6-32%) )=#4gjR.
1119S7¢32%J-397 =#48;R.
115@c IF J<13S7¢ 386-32%5=804 52.
1160S7¢ 32% J-387 =#C8iR,
12@6d1=0;D01=1+1
123QU. 1=AA JR.
1230e120;001=1+1
Open file: 6502
| R. Return or random
121 O1F JC1 3576 335-TTJ-32% J+] 280456, 1230
1229$7¢ 32x J-1-386+TTJ)=#C8
this option is exercised by entering Y.
whereupon the available moves and the
values placed on them are printed out.
followed by a record of the board posi-
tion after the move was made. At the end
of the game you can study all the offend-
ing moves and adjust the algorithm
accordingly.
After removing all the Rem state-
ments, the program will run in the lower
text space of an expanded Atom 4.75K. |
To save space extensive use has been
made of abbreviations:
For
Next
. Goto
End
Step
. Print
GOS. Gosub
A. Absolute
vamMg2znN
U. Until
LI. Link
? =Peek or Poke
(continued on next page)
~~ |
126G1FJ<13 S$7¢3BE+TTJ-32%J5+1 e444 56, 1280
127@57¢ 2% J-1-386-TTJ =848
1280. T=HHJ:R.
1399 REM Dice toss
14BO0hF , J=1TOZ)Z7J=A.R. 46415N, 5 IFZ71=Z72M=4 5) 273=271 | Z74=Z72iR,
1410M=2; IFW=2R,
142B1F271<Z272 GOS. 1
143R,
1499 REM Analyse Game
1500 jG=O5F, J=87024; IFAAJ>86=J
1502IFBBJ<@ N=J
15@5N.
1319H=0;F.J=25T01S.-1;
15121 FBBI< 9x25
13515N,
1526C=0; IFG<H C=2
1525IFX>G C=1
1530W=8B25/15; IFBB@=15 W=1
1540R.
1599 REM Array of legal moves
1302fF , T=375T0381sS7T=
13589F. T=354T0360;57T=<#51 iN. 157361=844)R.
14594Z73£2711271=2Z72;272=Z73)R,
#E25N. 3S7374=48CS;R.
IFHHJ>QH=!
160BKF. J=OTO115 7 J=05 YYJ=OIN, 1R=-1
1610F. J*24701S, -15025iD=J-27L 3 IFD<OD=0
1620605. 1s IFUD8G. 1673
163OR=R+1 ; IFM=4605.P
164Q1FM=2E=188; COS. m
1658Y7R=E; YYR=25x0+D
16601FR=11.J=1
1670N.3R.
1679 REM Find beet move
1680n1=@sB=-15F. JeQTOLLIIFY7 IOI B=Js1=¥7E
1696N. 3 IFBCOR.
16950°YYB/25) D=VYB%25iR,
1699 REM Illegal moves
.17881U=8; [FBBOXAC1 U=1iR.
171Q1FBBO#RC-1 UR2yR.
172@1F TTO=A Us3;R.
1?7251F TTD=A U=4iR.
173@IFA®~1G.1770
174QIFDSQLFG>6 U=7)R.
17S5QIFOCZ7L IFG>O Waar,
1760R.
177G1FD=251F R19 U=SsR.
17BQIFC235-O<Z7L LFHKO U=6
1790R.
1799 REM Move evaluations
(isting continued on next page)
143
(listing continued from previous page)
{BDGmIFG<7IFO=Z7L E=19+84TTO;R.
1B1G1FG<7E=0+2+6xTT05R.
18201FC=2E=0;R.
{S301FC=1E225+0+25RTT OR.
1840 1F BRD>1E=E+D/4-S#88D
LSSOIFBBD=1IFTTD=QIFDH E=E+5S+2%0
1B6SIFBBD=QIFDH E=E-75-D
187Q1FBBD=-1E=E+95-2%D
18301FD<x E=E+20
190Q1FO>18E=E+0s IFNC11E=E40
IDIQIFEBO=1IFTTO=OIFODH IF BBD >ME=E+25-0: iFO>iSIFND9E=E +108
19ISIFBBO=1 IF TTO=G170 181° 0-NC LOE =E+25
19201FBBO=; 1F*T0=-1E=E-128+0
19251 FEBO=3 IFTTO=C1FBRDa! IFTTDs05=£+30; 1FP=GE=24+20
193QIFBBO>1IFTTO=-1E=E+074
194QIFBBOD2EsE+07¢
1950] FBBO=2IFTTO=O1FO>K E=E-€0-0; IFO>IBIFNSSE=E-90
I9SSIFOX7EsE-108
19601FP=1 IFQLX GOS.0
1965IF EC 1E=1
197H1FE>25SE=255
1975R,
1979 REM Consider following rol!
198G0F =D+272; IFF>24R,
{98S1FBBF=-1E=£+30
L9S0IFBBF=\1F TTF=Of-E+40
2000 1F BBF >1E=E+20
2A1OF=0-Z2725 1FF<AR.
2O15IFRBF=11F TYF=QE=E+6e
2O201FBRF>1IF TIF=-1E=F+20
223B1FBBF >2ZE=E+20
204B1F BBO< >2R.
2058F =0+272; IFF>24R.
2055 1FRBF=-1E=E+50
2O6OIFREFaLIF TTF=@E=E+40
ZO7O IF BBF>1E=E+20
2ASOF <0-272; IFF<1R.
208SIFRBEDIIF TTF=-1€-£+20
2098 1FRBF >2E=E+28
21 O8IFBRT=12° TTF=Gr=£+69
2110R.
2129 REM Double rolls
(continued from previous page)
if more memory is required tor the
evaluation it could be obtained by using
the free space pointer to put the arrays
into the upper text space. To do this
insert:
110 735 = 0; 736 = #82
The following variables are used:
1 if Atom's move, —1 if human's move.
Best move.
. Contact flag.
. Destination.
Evaluation of move.
Future move and free pass flag.
. Atom’s back man’s position.
Human’s back man's position.
Pass counter.
Dice counter.
. Number of moves.
Human’s front man’s position.
Origin.
. Odd move flag.
. Illegal move flag and type. :
. 2 at start of game, later win type.
. Human's back free man.
xSCRVOZErFALTONMIOD>Y
The arravs are as follows:
AA Atom’s men.
Atom Print At.
10 @=Q
20 DIM C45,F. 612: 0h. “FRINT
20 FF, B15 PHBOOD=
40 IF A>31 IF Bs
oO A= S1i-A:B=S31+e
60
70
80
9O
joo
1iv
120
$C+BR="": $C=$C+A
FOR 2&0 TO LENC~1
FP. (CP2Z—-64)
NEXT Z
PRINT
END
BREE OIS
144
213BPE=100; IFP=OG0S.m;R.
2135S IFBBO=2E=150+2k0:6.2170
21401 FBBO>21F TTO=-1E=6 +75-056.2150
Z14SIFBBOD2IFOOH E=E+75-05G. 2170
Z1SQIFBRO>3IFOOM E=E+99-0.6.2170
2168605. mR.
217O1FBBD=@I1FDH E=E+e5
217SIFBED=-1E=E+75
218@IFBBD=11F TTD=OI1FD>H E=E+sa
21B51FD<H E=E+20
2130R.
2199 REM Move men
2286r IFBBD=-A; TTD=-A;BED=2
221@BBD=BBD+A; BBO=BB0-A
22201F TtO=-Ay IFBBO=0 : TTO=0:5B0=-A
2230R.
2299 REM Clear Part of screen
2200sF,Re416T0511)S7R=32,N. s THOE=#AQI THOR =HE1 ) THER=0R.
23504F .R=394T0S11;S7R=32iN, ; PHDE=480; 7HDF S041 ; THEGHG SR.
2399 REM Win mareain
24B0tIFW=-1IFBBO=0 W=-2, IFG>18W=-3
241G1FW=1 IFBB25=GW=25 IFHS Tue 3
2420R.
2439 PEM Traps
2500uIF TT.KOHHJ=1 ARJ=BBI;G0S.b:605.d)R.
2510ARJ©1)4HJ=-B8J;G0S.c;GOS.e,R.
2599 REM Has human legal move?
2600uF . J=170245; 025; D=J+Z7Ls IFD>25D=25
2620608. 1) IFU=OJ=24iN. sR.
2642N, iP,
265OxIFL=1IFFSOF=1;5P. "FREE PASS") ''=699;R.
26701j=33C5P. "ILLEGAL PASS" SR.
2999 REM Record move
3A20uP. $2182
SQ1BF. J9OTO1 1s IFY7ID@P. YYI725"~"YYIZ25" =" V7", "
3020N.
3050P.
360° .
3070N.
3e85P.
3090P. $286
3190R.
BB Both men.
HH Human’s men.
TT Traps.
Y Legal-move byte vector.
YY legal moves encoded.
Z Dice toss byte vector.
The byte vectors can only hold a value |
between 0 and 255, so the value of E is
limited in lines 1965 and 1970.
In line 140, S is set to the start of
screen memory, V to an unused area in
page 2. In line 170, P$12 clears the
screen and homes the cursor. ?4+El = 0)
turns off cursor. and @ = 2 sets numeric
field width. Line 180 moves the cursor
across the screen, and line 200 rejects
doubles for the first roll.
In line 210, Link #FB7D gives a two-
second delay. and in line 340, Link
#FE3 waits for a key to be pressed. In
line 360 G.U goes to line 2500. In line
§20. P is the remainder from L/2. Line
702 moves the cursor.
Lines 1000 to 1005 clear the centre of
screen. but not the margins. In line | 100.
#44 and #48 are single. white pixels: in
AT -"A,B
C="LIITTIILILITLIIILIL TILT LILiililioddddJJJdddad"
- "BEST MOVE "YYB/25"-"YYB%25’
J21T024)P. J"="BBL", "1s IFT TIC OP. TTS" TRAP, ”
Mpanpe WeML™, 271="274", 272s" 2 ¢e7?
line 1150, #C4 and #Cé are single, grey
pixels; in lines 1300 to 1350. #E2 isa
double grey pixel and #51 is double,
white pixel. Line 3000 turns the screen
off and turns the printer on, while line
3090 does the reverse.
Atom Print At
| HAVE ALWAYS been envious of the ZX-
81 in that it has a Print At facility. writes
John Ferguson of Chelmsford. Essex.
My Atom does not have this function but
I have found it possible to use a string of
characters to move the cursor in the same
way that cursor controls can be included
in a string on a Pet.
The routine starts by setting the field
width to zero, line 10, otherwise numbers
in a Print statement would not be posi-
tioned at the cursor position. Line 20
| dimensions the string. clears the screen
and inputs the screen co-ordinates.
In line 30 a space is Poked into the top
lett corner of the screen to get rid of a
block that would be lett there and
2#E1=0
turns the cursor off. Then the two lines
following check for quantities out of
range and calculate the co-ordinates.
Line 60 is the string of control characters:
lis cursor forward. and J is cursor down.
String C in line 70 is shorterned by the
Atom equivalent of Mid$. allowing for
the co-ordinates.
The loop that follows prints each char-
acter as a cursor-contro! code by subtract-
ing 64 so that the cursor is positioned
correctly for printing “Hello”: I is con- |
verted to 9, the code for horizontal Tab.
arid J is converted to 10 the code for
Linefeed.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
FREE
MICRO COMPUTER SOFTWARE
(with complete hardware system price)
If that Apple
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Includes: Alphatronic P2 with Twin Disk Drives 320,
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Includes: 64k system, twin disk drives 320, Screen
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PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982 Mice OLS
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146 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
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THE WAIT IS OVER!!! |
Question: What's faster than a Winchester, and
cheaper than a floppy Disc drive?
Answer: A 128K Disk emulator card.
\f your software crawls along because it accesses the disk drives
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Disk Emulator consists of 128K of bank-switched RAM plus software
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Programs are LOADED and SAVED in far Jess time than with a floppy.
The software provides new commands to load from a floppy onto the
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Instructions are provided to enable the creation of turnkey systems
utilising Disk Emulator cards. os - . oe
The Disk Emulator is fully compatible with all software which uses the Combining great strength with simplicity of use,
DOS 3.3 commands. It will not function correctly with programs that
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bypass DOS.
PASCAL and CP/M disk emulation is also supported. The Pascal | corrugated, holding up to four disks.
implementation follows the protocol defined in Apple’s ATTACH
BIOS specification.
VC-PLUS is a software package included in the 128KDE system which
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Up to four 128K cards may be installed, giving an incredible 512K of |
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148 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Mailing
Floppy Disks?
Use Swan Disk Mailers — and get
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Now used by over 1,000 computer companies,
Swan Disk Mailers provide outstanding postal
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There are two sizes available: 8-75”X 8-75” & 6”X 6”
ring
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for Free samples
and prices
Multicoloured text
READING the provisional handbook, it
appears that coloured text is only possible
on the BBC Micro in modes 0-6, writes
Sean Phillips of Huddersfield, West
Yorkshire. Yet a full screen of text is
difficult to read because of the size of the
text screen. The following command,
which does not appear in the provisional
handbook. allows access to seven differ-
ent text colours in Teletext mode
Mode 7:
PRINT: CHR3(&9X); “THIS WILL APPEAR
IN COLOUR xX”
Where X defines the colours:
1 = Red
= Purple
Turquoise
7 = White
2
3
4
5
6
Only the current line is affected, so |
each line could be a different colour if
| you really felt it necessary. One problem
is that teletext characters are different
from standard ASCII characters; try
using lower case or punctuation, for ex-
ample, and you will be presented with
| some very odd characters indeed.
Lack of lower case and punctuation is
an acceptable limitation when writing
program instructions. You can write the
main text in white with lower case and
punctuation available — and use col-
oured capitals for important points, for
| example, “Do not’ messages in red, and
instructions to the user in green.
Music function
TIVE TONE GENERATORS in the BBC
Micro are capable of producing a wide
range of notes, from A below middle-C
to some high-pitched squeaks, notes K
Penton of Reading, Berkshire. Yet it is a
bit of a bind to have to set the pitch by
numbers, especially as the successive
notes of the major scale do not follow in
regular increments.
This function converts note names, in-
put as strings, to the required numeric
form, allowing you to forget about the
numbers involved and concentrate on
getting the notes right. The note-name !
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Music functions.
90 REM
REM
REM
REM
REM
REM
#
b
N2$="A. A#B. Bb"
GOTO 500:
DEF FNM(N$)
N1$=LEF TS (N$,LEN(NS)-1)
Note=INSTR(Note$, N1$)
Note=Note MOD 24 -1 :
PITCH=Note*2 + (OCT-1)*48
REPEAT
READ G$>D
SOUND 1,.-10,FNM(G$),D
UNTIL FALSE
DATA C3,3-B2,3,C3,6,C2>4,C2,6,G62,3>F2>3,E2,3,62,3-C3)3>B2,3,03>6
DATA D3,5-C#3,3,D3,6,D2,6,D2, 6>D2.3,C2)3,B1,3,D2,3,62,3.F#2,3,62.6
DATA A2,3;B2,3,C3.3,B2,5,A2,3,62,3,A2,3,62,3,F2,3,E2,3
DATA F2,3,E2,3,D2>3,C2,3,C2,3-Bi>+3,A1,3,G1,2
DATA Al,3-C2,>3:B1+3>D2>3,C2,3,E2,3,D2>3>F2,3,E2,6;C2>6,C2.6
1010
1030
1040
1050
1060
>
>
>*SPOOL
DATA R»15,C2,1,E3,1-63,1,C4,3
| string must consist of two or three charac-
ters: the basic note, A-G; sharp, #, or
flat — b — as required; plus its octave,
(-6. Octaves begin on C, Cl being mid-
dle-C.
The function works by finding the posi-
tidn of the note name in Note$, which
contains the valid names with commas to
pad out the natural notes to two charac-
| ters. The second 12 names are alterna-
tives for the first 12, and line 260 adjusts
for this to produce an even number be-
tween Q and 22 for a valid note; this is
doubled in line 280 to produce one of 12
| increments of four in the pitch variable.
Hyperbolic calculations.
REM *** HYPERBOLIC FUNCTIONS «xx
MODE 6:VDU 19,0,4;
O &KKEY O PROCsinh M
*KEY 1 PROCcosh M
O *XKEY 2 PROCtanh M
CLS: END
2 DEF PROCsinh
INPUT? "x=2"x
OQ PRINT’ "sinh "yx3"
ENDFROC
¢ DEF PROCcosh
INPUT? "=?"
Oo Y=VFOS
PRINT TAB(14,Y-1); "cosh "“jx5"
ENDPROC = "3 (EXP (x) EXP (—») 72”
DEF FROCtanh
INPUT? "x =2"%
PRINT? “tanh
SHEN) =
EXE 2 ives
Sens
we EXP iC) —
EXP (-x)) / (EXP (x) +EXP(—-x))”
ENDPROC
Open file: BBC@™=—
b#eb#be#b#be#b#b# bt b # b #
# Musical Notation Conversion Function
b For BBC Computer Sound Generators
(c) 1982 K.Penton
b#b#b#b#b#b#b #b #
REM initialise note-name strings
Note$="A, A#B,C; C#D, D#E> F.F#G, GH,» BbCbB# Db,» EbFbE#Gb> » Ab"
IF LEN(N$)<2 OR LEN(N$) >3 THEN 320
+ OCT=VAL (RIGHT$(N$,1))
IF OCT<O OR (OCT=0 AND INSTR(N2$,N1$)=0) OR GCT>S THEN 320
IF Note <0 THEN 320
IF INSTR(N2$,N1$)<20 THEN OCT=OCT+1
IF PITCH<O OR PITCH>255 THEN 320
REM A little tune to demonstrate:
IF Gt="R" THEN SOUND 1,0,0,D : GOTO 510 = REM REST
SOUND 1,0,0,0 + REM TO SEPARATE EQUAL PITCHED NOTES
| adjusts for A and B, which would other-
b
#
b
#
b
REM skip function definition
REM N@ will be required pitch as note-name + octave, es AS, C#2, Eb4
To this is added the multiple of 48 re-
quired to offset for the octave. Line 270
wise end up an octave too low.
Validity checking is not comprehen-
sive, but will catch the most common
error — forgetting to add the octave
number. C(b)0 will be rejected, although
a valid note, since having the letter C in
N2$ would have caused more frequent
errors; so BO should be used instead.
This simple demonstration program
could be expanded to include control of
channel and volume using Data state-
ments. As it stands, the program. ends
with an out of Data error message.
Hyperbolic calculations
TINS PROGRAM by Paul Eaton of Cam-
bridge allows the hyperbolic functions
sinh, cosh and tanh to be calculated at the
mere touch of a button. [t runs on a
model A machine using 150 hex blocks of
memory. The three functions are
assigned to three red user keys:
fO — sinh x
ft — cosh x
f2 — tanh x
For example, to calculate sinh 3.5, press
| f0 followed by 3.5 and Return.
The program demonstrates the use of
key assignments in lines 30 to 50. Note
(continued on next page)
149
(continued from previous page)
that no inverted commas are used, unlike
the example on page 17 of the User
Guide, and that the colour command
VDU 19,0,4,0,0,0
can be shortened to
VDU 19,0,4;
Several published BBC Basic programs
use Print to print a blank line, but it is
much quicker to type ’ as in lines 110,
120, etc. The display for the cosh routine
shows a variation in which the answer is
printed on the same line as the input,
using the statement VPOS.
Fighter
THE OBJECT OF Fighter, by Brian Cassidy
of Southport, Merseyside, is to destroy
five enemy spacecraft in the shortest
Fighter
FlistLIST
130,
Orr 23,5 er
SFOR
B(13, 4) sCHRS (2
6 GCOLO,
29)3"
7DATA F,4660,
8CLS:FRINTTAH(7,2)3
RINT"A S D
U=15
:MOVE4640,5
25)
21IFQS="Z"ORQS="C"
22 IFQS="E"ORQS="0"
23GCOLO,
800, 64: PRINT; (Y-S
29ENVELOPE1, 2,50
SOE=O:UNTIL @@=5
SixFX15,0
S38S=S+4:1F S>
SONEXTG:UNTIL S>287
41ENDPROC
150
IMQDES: VDUS, 25, 227, CG) Celery Tess tay
225, 260 fegay ee eo6, 255, 255, 258, 255,171. 2,0
1: FRINTTAB (13, 4) 3 CHRS (229) 5"
Cassidy":FOR G=1TOS000:NEXTO
1224, -32,
.-32, 32, 32,E, 300, 404, 32, O,R, 428, 840, 32, -32,., 1063, 768, 0,
"ELIGHT"? * "DIRECTION CONTROLS": GCOLO,
7)3"UP":GCOLO, 2:FRINTTAB(7,9);"Q W E"::GCOLO,3: PeetrhE @, 11) "Lert
"::GCOLO, 3:PRINT"RIGHT":
9PRINTTAB(B, 15) 3 "DOWN": GCOLO, 3: PRINTTAB (OQ, <
PRINT? "YOU WILL FLY IN THE"*?
ECTED": REPEAT: SOUND1,-10, og 37s Ne
1OCLS: X=RND (64) X20: Y=RND (5
Li REPEAT: A=RND (8) : GCOLO, 12: MOVE630,512:FLOTS
2:PLOTS, 640, 452: MOVE640, 522: FLOTS, 640, 562
16GCOLO,
17IFOs=" " €=9:0¢=008
fe ee Q4=00¢
19GCOLO,
> MOVEX, Y: FRINTCHRS (225
sore meete wsdee c 1aNase
Y=Y+T
Y=Y-T
3: MOVEX, Ys PRINTCHR# (255) :GCOLO, O: MOVES20, 64: FRINTSTRINGS (2, CHR (225) )
: MOVEBOO, 64: FRINTSTRING$ (3, CHRS (2 20,64:PRINT; (X-620) DIV2u: MOVE
130) DIVZ0
241FE=9 GCOLO, 2:MOVEO, O; PLOTS, 640, 51237FLOTS, 1240, 0:
25 [FE=9THENGCOLO, O: MOVEO, 0: FLOTS
26 IFE=9THENGCOLO, 0: MOVEO, 0: PLOTS, 640, 512: PLOTS
27GCOLO, 3: MOVEX, Y: PRINTCHRS (¢
,100,-40,
SZ2PRINTTAB (CO, 7) "AVERAGE
":; [FGETS="N"THEN CLS:END ELSE VDUS:
S3DEF PROCEXPL: E=8; CQ=00+1:SC=SC+TIME: X=640: Y=512:S5=
S6REPEAT : FORQ=17T050;: SOUNDO, -U, 4, 1: V=V+1:R= RND (S) : RR=RN D(S):1IFV=4 U=U-1:V=0
37 X=X-2: Y=Y—-2:A=X+R: H=Y+RR:GCOLO, RND (3S) :FLOT69,A,8:S=S+4: IF S>287 THEN Q=50
287 THEN Q@=50
40VDU4: PRINT TAB(O,S) "YOU BLEW IT UF IN
FORG= 1T02000; NEXTG: X=RND (44) *20: Y=RND (51) 20410: CLS: VDUS: TIME=0: 00$="";
possible time. The screen shows the
head-up display of your fighter.
The control cross is the gunsight and
the two numbers at the bottom are the
distance from the target, the left digit
being the x co-ordinate and the right digit
the y co-ordinate. At point (0, 0) the
enemy fighter is directly in your gun-
sights.
The enemy fighter moves around the
screen trying to dodge out of your gun-
sight but you must out-manoeuvre your
enemy to destroy it. If the fighter is above
your gunsight you should fly upwards to
meet it. The controls are shown in the
diagram — use the space bar to fire.
The program will run on a model A
machine as long as you do not renumber
or add additional lines or spaces. Q
2F=230: DIM X (8) ,¥ (8) ,A(8) (8), L$(8)
Q=1TO8: READ L#(Q),
=32, 1,788, 660, -32,0,6, 916, 96.
"SELECTED DIRECTION"’
Sun
1) *20+10:E=8: T=20;
12I1IFA=10RA=20RA=8 X=X-T
13S TFA=20RA=30RA=4 Y=Y-T
14 1TFA=40RA=SORA=6 X=X+T
1SIFA= pa enety Me 8 Y=Y+T
>:MOVEX, Y: PRINTCHRS (25
3) > O0Q¢=
X=X-T
"E“QOROS="W"
25) ):GCOLO, 2: MOVES
Oem ee Ov sO eM, 1
11,100,120, 50, 106,-100,-10,
TIME WAS "°° ;SC/500;"
GOTO1O
161, 153,66, 60, 23, 255,¢
1950,
X(0),Y(O) ,A(O) ,B(Q) sNEXTO:FOR NN=17T0145:FOR N=1T08
4MOVE X(N), Y(N) 2 GCOLO,O:PRINTLS (N) : X(N) =X (N) +A (N) 2 ¥ (CN) =¥ (N) +B (N) GCOLO, 2: MOV
FE X(N) ,Y(N) :PRINT;L$(N) s SOUNDO, -9, RND(3)—-1,2:NEXT N,NN
SFOR Q=1701200:NEXT@:FOR @=1T010:SQUND1,
1982":PRINTTABR(S, 25) 3 "BY"; TAR(1,
1982":PRINTTAB(S, 25)
-15,RND (200) ,1:NEXTQ: GCOLO, 1:PRINTTA
27)3"H. Cassidy"
=S2, 52,H,044, 52,0, 525 7,172
32
GCOLO, 2:FRINTTAB(7, 153) 3
20); "FRESS SFACE TO FIRE”: GCOLQ, 1:
""UNTIL A NEW
L=0: 00=0: SC=0: TIME=O:kKS="";
.590, 512: MOVE650,512:PLOTS, 700,512
:GCOLO, ©
O$: QS=INKEY# (0) : KFX15,0
): IFQS="A"OROS="Z"ORAS="X"OROS="Q"
SOUNDO,-15,4,1:K¢=""
,640,512:PLOTS, 1240,0
,1240,0
255) :IF POINT (640,512)=3 AND E=9 THEN PROCEXPL
100,
SECONDS"; TAR (O,
UE EME meD Vee
Fighter controls.
| Space bar |
FIRE
1,130,130, ee ke
19,3,6,0,0
7 BY" 3 ABC], 27))5"e.
:GCOLO, 3:PRINTTAB(9
“ROCHE On.
ee OX (EVP ae glors
COURSE CU rUSeSsek
Q¢=""':
> MOVEX, Y: PRINTCHRS (2
X=X+T
8O:SOUND 1,1, 255-SQR (
21); "ANOTHER GO?
SECONDS": U=15: V=0:
xFX15,0
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Simple animation
THIS SIMPLE animation program by David
Pearson of Swinton, Manchester allows
you to switch screens, or move the screen
about using only simple machine-lan-
guage techniques. It is centred on the
amazingly useful LDIR instruction —
which stands for Load Increment and |
Repeat. The LDIR instruction requires
three parameters, HL, DE and BC which
are passed over in Registers. It performs
what is called a Block Move which, in
essence, moves one part of memory to
another. In this case the screen is moved
to high memory, or vice versa.
HL points to the start of the block to be moved.
DE points to the place where the block is to be
moved to.
BC tells the computer how many bytes are to
be moved.
Listing | gives an assembly language
listing of a program to move 1!.024 bytes
— the number of bytes in a full screen —
from memory location () to the screen.
After assembling this program you will
see the familiar message
MEMORY SIZE, RADIO SHACK LEVEL It
BASIC
or
MEM SIZE R/S L2.
It appears because you are moving mem-
ory from the ROM, and the part you are
looking at just happens to be the area
with this data in it.
Listing 2 is a Basic program which uses
this routine to animate a spinning globe.
It is in two parts: the first creates the
pictures, and dumps the screen to high
memory. It takes about two minutes to
tun. The second part dumps the globe
back on the screen, frame after frame, in
rapid succession, making the globe spin.
Space orbit
VHE MEAN HEIGHT of a satellite above the
Earth’s surface is determined by its veloc-
ity, and is in turn related to its period of
revolution around the Earth, comments
J Wilkinson-Latham from Paris.
As the orbit shrinks due to air resistance.
both the mean. height and the period
decrease so that the retarding effect of
the air-drag actually causes the satellite to
(continued on next puge)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Open file: TanQe
Simple animation listing 1.
7FOQa
7F@O
7FQ3
TF QS
7FQ9
7F QP
7F 0a
00100
08110
00120
00130
00140
08150
001460
02172
00188
5 SE AERIS IESE EEE SERIE SEITE IEEE IEEE EEUU IESE IEEE die dE
pee HH
pee HR
pee IE oe
pee HHH
pee ee eae
ee ee HH
pee coord
9 RIESE EEE SEE EEE GEE EEE JE TESTE AE ETERS SE SESE SE SE SEE I IEE aE HE
ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE PROGRAMME
TO DISPLAY THE FIRST KILOPYTE
OF ROM... DEMONSTRATING THE
##% LDIR 4##*#
INSTRUCTION
08190 5
00200 ;
002120
00220
00230
Q0248
00250
00260
00270
7FQQH
HL , @@OGH
DE; 3CQQH
BC, SFFH
ORG
LD
LD
LD
LDIR
JP
END
3 CHANGE FOR
sADDRESS IN
sADDRESS OF
31 K OF MEM
SDOM I ee
sENDLESS LOOP
sCHANGE AS ABOVE
210000
110@3C
Q1FFQ@3
EDEO
C3OB7F
ROM
LOOP
7FQQH
Q@200@ TOTAL ERRORS
LOOP
7FOR
Simple animation listing 2.
32K / 48K
SCREEN
NOT FORGET TO SET MEMORY SIZE TO 286200
PREM 3 4 36 36 226 IE FE IE HE IE IE IE HE FETE HE TEE TE TE EE JE TE TE ETE TE ETE TE TE HE TEE FETE TEE EEE EE EE
REM *#*#* HHRE
REM *##% SPINNING GLOPE HEHEHE
REM *##%* (EXAMPLE OF “LDIR") HHH
REM 3% (C), COPYRIGHT D. PEARSON HERE
REM ##3% APRIL 1982 HHH
REM #2 HH HE
REM *##% GLOBE GENERATION HEH
REM #*### PROGRAMME HEE
REM #2 % HHH
REM 2 2 EE HEHEHE HHH HH HHH HHH HHH HEHEHE KEE HEE EHH HEN
GOSUR 370 *POKE IN ROUTINE
PI = 3.1416 FOR L = 1 TO 4 GES
FOR A = 1 TO 3 +: READ J
FORSI = 0 OSPR) STEP P1/40
X = 63 + 40 * COS ( J ) * SIN ( I ) *HORIZONTAL AXIS
Y= 23+ 20s COS) ( I ) "VERTICAL AXIS
SEN ge Geekers mat
NEXT I
NEXT A
FOR A = 1 TO 3 : READ J
FOR I = PI TO PI * 2 STEP PI/6@
X = 63 + 40 * COS ¢( J ) * SIN ( I ) ‘HORIZONTAL AXIS
VY =@35+ 20 *° COS @ I ) "VERTICAL AXIS
Seek ay)
) NEXT I
NEXT A
READ B , C "READ IN ADDRESSES
POKE 32754 , B "LSP OF HIGH MEM
POKE 32755 , C "MSP OF HIGH MEM
X = USR ( @ ) "CALL DUMP ROUTINE
NEXT L
GOTO540
REM ROUTINE To POKE MACHINE LANGUAGE INTO
REM HIGH MEMORY. THIS IS THE ROUTINE TO "PUT" THE
REM SCREEN UP SO IT CAN BE RECALLED LATER.......
CLS:PRINT"POKE-ING IN DATA"
FOR I = 32750 TO 32761
READ A
POKE I; A
NEXT I
7 DEFUSR@= 3275@ ”’ DISK PASIC "USR" SETUP
POKE 16526, 238 POKE16527,127 *NORMAL LEVEL 2 USR SETUP
RETURN
REM THIS IS THE "MACHINE LANGUAGE" DATA
DATA 33,@,60: SED HL, 3CQ@@H
DATA 17,238,123:’ LD DE, 31726
DATA 1,255,323: » ED RC, 3FFH
DATA 237,176: 7 LDIR
DATA 221: > RET
REM THIS IS THE "GLOBE DRAWING" DATA
DATA @,.7854,1.5708,0,.7854,0, 238, 123
DATA @,.1963,.98174,0,.589,1.3744, 238,119
DATA @,.3927,1.178,0,.3927,1.178, 238, 115
DATA @,.5890,1.3744,0,.98174, .19635, 238, 111
FORI=32750 TO 32761
READ A
POKE I, A (listing continued on next page)
151
(listing continued from previous page)
590 NEXT I
602 DIM AC4),B(4)
610 FORI= 1 TO 4
620 READ A(T) » BCI)
630 NEXT I
640 FOR I = 1 TO 4
650 POKE 32751 , ACI)
660 POKE 32752 , BCI)
670 X = USR ( 2 )
680 NEXT I
692 GOTO642
(continued from previous page)
move at a greater velocity, though in a
smaller orbit.
The program, written in TRS-80
Model III disc Basic, calculates the para-
meters of a satellite’s orbit from pub-
lished data such as ‘Satellite X will orbit
the Earth at a height of 110 miles” or
“Satellite Y will orbit the Earth in 92
minutes”. The computations in lines 10,
120, 190, 270 and 280 can be used as a
basis for Space Invader programs.
The variables are as follows:
H — the mean height of the orbit.
Q — the mean height plus the Earth's mean
radius, 3960 miles.
V — the mean velocity of the satellite in
miles per minute.
T — the orbital time, in minutes.
Telephone bill
THE SHOCK of receiving a £200 telephone
bill prompted this program, writes C R
France of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
Keep the computer next to the telephone
with the program loaded. Press Enter
whenever a telephone charge is incurred
and the program will give vou -complete
instructions.
The file for total charges is named
Phone/Bas. After a week or so you could
find the total telephone costs and budget
for the next bill.
Telephone bill.
S).cus.
10 PRINT"Remember to always enter the time in DOS." 232 IFF=3THENH=. 30:GOTO1000
20 INPUT"Have you done that ";A%
30 IF At="Y¥"THEN 40
31 IF AS="y"THEN 40 ELSE CMD"s"
40 INPUT"The distance of the call (if over 10 miles)";A 250 IFF<2THENH=.05:GOTO1000
50 INPUT"Press <ENTER> when telephone is answered";B aah IFF< 4THENH=. 10:GOTO1000
55 PRINT"phone call charge started at “RIGHTS (TIMES, 9) 252 IFF=STHENH=. 15:GOTO1000
56 CS=MIDS( TIMES, 13,2)
57 D=VAL (CS)
60 INPUT"Press <ENTER> when conversation is finished";& 500 CS=MIDS(TIMES, 10, 2)
70 PRINT"Phone call charge finished at
BO CS=MIDS (TIMES, 13, 2)
61 E=VAL (Cs)
90 F=E-D
Oi file: Tandy"
720 REM ROUTINE TO PUT HIGH MEM ONTO SCREEN
710 DATA 33,0,a8 "LD HL,»HIGH MEM
72@ DATA 17,8,60: "LD DE, 3C@QH + SCREEN
73@ DATA 1,255)3! "LD BC, 3FFH
740 DATA 23751768 *LDIR
758 DATA 201: ’RET
760 REM THIS IS THE DATA WHICH TELLS THE ROUTINE
770 REM WHERE THE SCREEN WAS PUT...
782 DATA 238,123
79@ DATA 238,119
820 DATA 236,115
812 DATA 236,111
REM END OF PROGRAMME
REM 9 #6 a6 5 16 $e 98-9 06 6 HE EE HE SE He eH HE HE BE EEE EE HE HE BE HE HE EEE EE HE HE HE
Space orbit.
12 CLS: CLEARZO@@Q: DEFFNX(T)=INTC( ( CH+2 960) #6. ZES1E55)/V)*100) /100
20 PRINTA@342,“S PACE GRBI T ": PRINT: GOSUBZ40:CLS
30 PRINT@1ZE. “Satellites orbit at a height and speed that are in a f
ixed TelationshiP to each othertFor each height there is a spec
3d and vice-versa. “IPRINT
42 PRINT"It follows that for each height or speed there is an orbita
t time:The speed of the satellite slows as it gets higher":PRINT
S@ PRINTTAB(10); "ACCURACY IS WITHIN + OR - 1/2 %"
62 PRINT: GOSUB340:CLS
7@ PRINT@S42, “1 TO OBTAIN SPEED AND TIME": PRINTTAB(2@);"2 TO
OBTAIN HEIGHT AND TIME" =:PRINTTAB(20)i"3 TO OBTAIN HEIGHT AND SP
EED"
8 PRINTS PRINTTAB(2ZS) “WHICH 2": PRINT: GOSUBS50:CLS
92 ONVAL (R$) GOTO120, 170, 240
100 PRINT@S20, "MEAN ORBITAL HEIGHT IN MILES": INPUTH
110 PRINT"HARD COPY ? (Y OR N)":GOSUB35@: IFRS="Y"GOSUB370
120 V=INTC18650/SQR£H+3960) +100) 7100
13@ PRINT" VELOCITY “= "Vv" MILES PER MINUTE"
140 PRINT“ORBITAL TIME = "FNX(T)" MINUTES"
158 GOSUB380
168 GOSUB340:CLS!GOTO70
170 PRINTS320, "MEAN ORBITAL VELOCITY IN MILES PER MINUTE" :INPUTV
488 PRINT"HARD COPY ? (Y OR N) ":GOSUBZ5Q: IFR$="Y"GOSUBZ72
190 H=INT((€(18650/V) 42) *100)/100-2960
200 PRINT"MEAN HEIGHT OF ORBIT = “H" MILES"
210 PRINT"ORBITAL TIME = “FNX(T)“ MINUTES"
220 GOSUB3e0
230 GOSUB242:CLS:GOTO72
248 CLS
250 PRINT“TIME OF ORBIT IN MINUTES": 1NPUTT
268 PRINT"HARD COPY ? (Y OR N)":GOSUBZSQ: IFR$="Y"GOSUB370
270 Q=EXP(LOG( (1 8650*T/6. 28316) £2) /3) :H=INTC(G-3960) *102) 7108
280 V=INTCC18652/SOR(Q)) #100) /100
Z90 PRINT"MEAN ORBITAL VELOCITY = ";V¥3" MILES PER MINUTE"
300 PRINT"MEAN ORBITAL HEIGHT = “sHs" MILES"
212 GOSUBZ80
320 GOSUB340:CLS:GOTO72
330 GOSUB340:CLS:GOTO70
342 PRINT:PRINT"PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE"
350 RS=INKEY$: IFR$=""THENZ5@
360 RETURN
370 CMD"2“, "ON" i RETURN
380 CMD*Z", “OFF: RETURN
230 IFF<1THENH=. t0:GOTO1000
231 IFF=2THENH=. 20: GOTO1000
233 IFF=4THENH=. 40: G0TO1000
234 IFF=STHENH=.49:GOTO1000
235 IFF>STHENH=.99:GOTO!000
253 IFF>STHENH=. 25:GO0TO1000
254 GOTO!1000
"sRIGHTS (TIMES, 8) 510 P=VAL(CS)
520 IF P<@THENSSO
530 IFP<9THENZt= "stan": RETURN
540 IFP<12THENZ$="peak": RETURN
100 PRINT"Phone Call lasted for ";F; "minutes" 550 IFP<18THENZ$="stan": RETURN
105 GOSUBSOO
110 IF A>10 THEN200 ,
120 IF Z$="standard" THENiISO
121 IFZ$="peak"THEN18O
122 IFF<=STHENH=.05:GOTO1000
123 IFF>STHENH=. 10: GOTO1000
150 IFF<=2THENH=.05:G0TO1000
151 IFF<=4THENH=. 10: GOTO1000
152 IFF=STHENH=.15:GOTO1000
153 IFF>STHENH=. 25+ GOTO1000
180 IFF<=1THENH=.05:GOTO1000
181 IFF<=3THENH=.10:GOTO1000
182 IFF<=4THENH=. 15: GOT01000
183 IFF<=5THENH=. 20: GOT01000
184 IFF>STHENH=.25:60T01000
200 REM
210 IFZ$="peak" THEN230
211 IFZt="cheap"THEN250
220 IFF<1THENH=. 10:GOT01000
221 IFF=®2THENH=.15:GOTO1000
222 IFF=3THENH=. 20: GOTQ1000
‘223 IFF=4THENH=.30:GOTO1000
224 IFF=STHENH=. 35: G60T01000
225 IFF>STHENH=.69:GOTO1000
560 Z7$="cheap": RETURN
1000 PRINT"Cost of that phone call is ‘*"5H
1010 OPEN"R", 1, "PHONE/BAS"
1020 FIELD1,255 AS Hs
1035 GET1
1040 PRINT"Total cost of telephone calls to date is ‘*"j;
1050 H=H+VAL (HS) LEFT? (HS, 8)
1060 FRINT"Type in total cost which is ‘"5H
1065 CLOSE
1066 OFEN"R", 1, “PHONE/BAS"
1067 FIELD1, 255 ASHs
1070 INPUTY$
1071 T=VAL (YS)
1075 IFT<>HTHENFRINT"Cheat!! Try Again! !":G0T01070
1080 LSETHS$=Y%
1090 PUTi
1100 CLOSE
1110 INFUT"Another call";G%
1120 IF G$="y"THENRUN
1130 IF G Y“THENRUNELSECMD"s
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
has the right models
at the right price.
Whatever your printing
needs, one of our Oki Coal
printers will fit the bill. Oki
Microlines — the only
complete printer
@ 80column B 80cps
@ block graphics
@ pin, friction or tractor feed
120 cps bi-directional
pin-addressable or block
graphics
etc., etc., etc.
80 column @ 9x9matrix
multiple interface capability
ais
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
@ Fulli36columns HM 9x9matrix
@ 120 cps bi-directional
@ andall features of 82A
wf
Full 136 columns
Mode 1 — 200 cps (400 cps skip)
Mode 2—near letter quality
High-resolution graphics
Down-line-loadable
character set
Total flexibility
' | |
Ring Jane for your local stockist
)
|
i)
@ Circle No. 194
153
DISCOVERY SYS - GEN
SYSTEMS AND REPORT GENERATOR
UNIQUE PROGRAMMING AND SYSTEMS AID
FOR CP/M AND CP/M86 MICRO COMPUTERS
Main components
* File create
* Sort
* System generator
%* Report generator
* DBMS (database management)
* Select (information retrieval)
* System management (utilities)
Discovery SYS - GEN will dramatically improve your productivity thus saving time and
development costs.
| 7 EMPIRE COMPUTER SOFTWARE
==—— 40 Triton Square
London NW1 3HG Telephone: 01-387 4599
Fe % Discovery SYS - GEN
a product from
Peel
Software Consultants UK Ltd-
@ Circle No. 196
REGISTERED REFERRAL CENTRE
FOR THE BBC PROJECT
BEEBUG &:
THE
BBC MICRO
INDEPENDENT NATIONAL USER
GROUP FOR THE BBC MICRO
IF YOU OWN A BBC MACHINE, OR HAVE ORDERED ONE, OR
ARE JUST THINKING ABOUT GETTING ONE, THEN YOU
NEED BEEBUG.
BEEBUG runs a regular magazine devoted exclusively to the
BBC Micro (10 issues per year).
Latest news on the BBC project.
What you should know before you order a machine.
Members’ discount scheme on books and hardware.
New program listings, regular advice clinic, and hints and
tips pages in each issue.
April Issue: 3D Noughts and Crosses, Moon Lander, Ellipse
and 3D Surface.
Plus articles on Uprgrading to Model B, Making Sounds,
and Operating System Calls.
May Issue: Careers, Bomber, Chords, Spiral and more. Plus§}
articles on Graphics, Writing Games Programs and
Using the Assembler.
June Issue: Mazetrap,Mini wordprocessor, Polygon; plus
articles on upgrading. The user port, TV set and monitor
review. Graphic Part Il. More Assembler hints.
Structuring in BBC Basic, plus BBC Bugs.
Make cheques to
Membership
Introductory offer {closes 30 June) BEEBUG
6 months £4.50
1 year £8.50
and send to:
BEEBUG, Dept 5,
After 30 June £4.90 and £8.90 374 Wandsworth Rd,
Send £1.00 and A4 SAE for sample London, SW8 4TE
(Overseas add £1.00 for 6 months, £1.50 for 1 year)
@ Circle No. 195
154
If we can satisfy the
offshore oil industry -
we can satisfy you
Our level of professionalism
has to be that demanded by
North Sea Oil companies.
We offer that same level of
microcomputer expertise and rae
service to your business. ght
WE SPECIALISE:
In Business, Process Control, ©
Engineering Database and
communication applications.
WE SELL:
Acorns, Apples, C.A.D.O. Cat, Cromemco, and now the
amazing ACT SIRIUS 16 — BIT microcomputer designed
by Chuck Peddle.
' WE OFFER:
On-site engineering maintenance contracts for any
microsystem in the Grampian Area.
WE ARE:
Sole distributors for the highly acclaimed CONDOR
database management system.
GRANITE ClailiP’s
MICROCOMPUTERS
21 Bon Accord Street, Aberdeen.
TEL: (0224) 22520 TELEX: 739740
@ Circle No. 197
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
0 to
Ione second
If It's ea performance you're
looking for, the Ricoh 1600S Is for you,
offering an amazing 60 characters in
Just 1 second. An updated version of
the tried-and-tested 1600, the new S
model has been re-designed and fitted
with all sorts of extras. Yet one thing
hasn't changed — the price, making
the 1600S cheaper than any equivalent
model on the market. This superb
performer incorporates the Z80 micro-
processor, auto bidirectional printing
and look-ahead logic, increasing speed
and efficiency. Other capabilities
include proportional spacing, graph
plotting and word processing enhance-
ments. The printer Includes a standard
centronics interface, and RS232 and
IEEE options are available.
The Ricoh 1600S !s available only
from Micropute and their authorised
dealers, all backed up with a nation-
wide service network. If you're
interested in the 1600S either asa
customer or as a dealer, send the
coupon now.
“Picture shows 1600s fitted with tractor feed option”
Pleose send me details on the Ricoh 1600S
Nome
Position
\Cormpony
Address
Tel. No
| RICOH 1600S THE PERFORMANCE HAS‘\
RISEN — THE PRICE HASN'T i
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
THE RICOH 1600S
SPIN-
DIABLO QUME RICOH
630 SPRINT 5 WRITER RP. 1600
(10 DATA)
PRINT SPEED
(CPS) 40 45/55 55 60
PRINT ELEMENT DAISY- DAISY- THIMBLE ROUBLE
WHEEL WHEEL DAISY-
WHEEL
AUTO
BIDIRECTIONAL Yes No No No
AUTO LOGIC .
SEEKING Yes No Yes No
PROPORTIONAL .
PRINT
CAPABILITY Yes Yes Yes No
EXTENDED
CHARACTER SET No No Yes Yes
LETTER QUALITY
PRINT Yes Yes Yes Yes
CUSTOM INTER-
FACE OPTION No No No No
PRICE £1675 £1950 £1950. £1450 £1450
The above information was gathered from distributors and
abstracted from their current literature. Prices shown are those
advertised at the present time.
@ Circle No. 198
155
H ow do you stay up-to-the-minute with
the rapidly changing world of microcomputer
software? Get the Lifeboat Catalogue.
The latest innovations The new
Lifeboat Catalogue is packed with the latest
State-of-the-art software. And if we publish a
new program after the latest catalogue has
gone to press, we enclose a flash bulletin in
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The greatest selection
Because Lifeboat is the world’s largest
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our catalogue offers you the greatest selection of
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more than 200 programs range from the integrated
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We specialise in software that runs on most small
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including floppy disks, data cartridges, magnetic tape and
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computer.
Get full service We give the crucial dimension
of after-sales service and full support to everything we sell.
That includes:
@ An update service for software and documentation.
@ Telephone, telex and mail-order services in the London
office and at overseas offices in the United States, France,
Switzerland, West Germany and Japan.
@ Subscriptions to Lifelines! the monthly magazine that
offers comparative reviews, tips, techniques, identified
bugs and updates that keep you abreast of change.
WHEN IT COMES
TO MICROCOMPUTER
SOFTWARE
WE WROTE
THE BOOK / _.
a Poly
Get It now Lifeboat
now serves tens of thousands
of satisfied customers with our breadth of up-to-date, fully
tested, fully supported and competitively priced software.
You may not need all we offer, but we offer just
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Lifeboat |! sociatfes
World's forem are source
Mail coupon to: Lifeboat Associates
PO Box 125,London WC2H YLU or call 01-836 9028
|
C Please send me a free lifeboat catalogue. |
Name |
| Title |
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Address |
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Postcode
Copyright © 1981, by Lifeboat Associates.
Lifeboat Worldwide offers you the world’s largest library of software. Contact your nearest dealer of Lifeboat.
USA Lifeboat Associates 1651 Third Ave. New York NY 10028 Tel (212) 860-0300 Telex 640693 (LBSOFT NYK) TWX 710 581-2524 JAPAN Lifeboat inc. OK Bldg. 5F 1-2-8 Shiba-Daimon Minato-ku
Tokyo 105 Japan Te! 03-437-3901 Telex 2423296 |LBJTYO) ENGLAND Lifeboat Associates Ltd PO Box 125 London WC2H 9LU England Tel 01-836 9028 Telex 893709 (LBSOFTG}
SWITZERLAND Lifeboat Associates GmbH Hinterbergstrasse Postfach 251 6330 Cham Switzertand Tel 042-36-8686 Telex 865265 (MICO CH) W GERMANY Intersoft GmbH Schlossgartenweg 5
D-8045 Ismaning W. Germany Tel 089-966-444 Telex 5213643 {ISOFD} FRANCE Lifeboat Associates SARL 10 Grande Rue Charles de Gaulle 92600 Asnieres France Tet 1-733-08-04
Telex 250303 (PUBLIC X PARIS}
156
@ Circle No. 199
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
DISC
DIALOGUE
Recovering Basic
| AM SURE tt has happened to you, writes
David Breen of Nairobi, Kenya, intro-
ducing this month’s best contribution.
Two o'clock in the morning, and when
you save the latest Basic program, CP/M
reports a BDOS error and leaves you
staring at that dreaded A>. How are you
to get back into Basic? You know typing
“MBasic” will cold start and lose three
hours work.
All is not lost, if you follow this proce-
dure:
@ Correct the source of the BDOS error, for
example, change the disc — not the MBasic
one — and type a °C to warm reset.
@ Type
Save 0 @.COM Return
This saves a command file which does not
load, but executes at 100 hex.
@ Type “@ Return”, which will now warm start
Basic. You can now Run, List, and Save
your program. If MBasic reports a syntax
error, ignore it.
This is so useful, as it also allows
rerunning any long Com file still in mem-
ory, with less waiting. I usually keep
@.Com on my discs as it takes up zero
bytes, except for a directory entry.
MBasic renumber
MANY USERS need to re-enter an MBasic
line with a new line number to change the
sequence of lines in a program, writes
David Green of Nairobi, Kenya. Here is
an example of how to renumber line 160
as line 500:
@ Enter EDIT 160 followed by an extra Re-
turn: line 160 will then display.
@ Type “A, and an exlamation mark will be
displayed.
@ Type | to turn on insertion mode.
@ Type 500 followed by Return.
The line will now be duplicated at 160
and 500, if you wish 160 may be deleted
by typing 160, followed by Return. If you
find you are doing a lot of this you will
probably be better off if you save your
program in ASCII mode by keying
SAVE "NAME",A
and use a text editor such as WordStar to
make the alterations.
Paging text files
THIS CP/M PROGRAM from Jonathan
Palfrey of Warwick, written for the
Microsoft assembler, pages through a text
file on the screen. On invocation it dis-
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Paging text files.
Foos:
READF
§ start aain loop:
(oori: LD
GETCH: LD HL, (RETR
LD A, (HL?
ce EOF
oP 1,0
cP Tas
ap NZ, NOTTAB
EXPTAB: DC1O SPACE
CALL Ena
Pose
NOTCR: CP
J
POSBNZ1
$ subroutines:
EOLO:;
WEWON: SETEYT
walTe
‘File not founds
OFFH
°
ul
1
a
plays the first 23 lines of the file named in
the command line, then waits for:
Return:
when it displays the next line and waits;
Control-C:
when it returns to CP/M;
Any other key:
*PABE 1 Spr palfrey 1 29 may 19817, CR,LF,’S?
Open file: Diso====—=—=
LD (nnd, an
call CP/M FDOS funetion
direct cansole 1/0
cutput string to console
read from file
put message an console
} open the named file
2¢ ¢41@ not found,
5 stop
3 check if end of buffer reached
4 if end of buffer, read new record
3 if physical end ef file, stop
§ ceset RPTR to beginning of buffer
4 get next character from buffer
§ 16 end of ¢ile marker, atop
} output space to console
5 check for end of line
$ r@ached next tab atop?
3 0? carry on spacing
5 character ia not = TAB
4 output character to console
3 4 carr§age return
1 reset teb ston count
| and check for 23 lines
1 16 not carriage return
3 don’t count control characters
1 adjust tab stop count
} check far end of line
a check for end of screen line
if end of line, fall
end-of-line routine
through tor
count number of lines
and pause after 23
wait for any key to be typed
dieplay juet one line if CR
stop program if °C
a@therwise display 23 lines
indicates position in read buffer
i
3 counts nuaber of output lines
1 indicates position in output line
3 TAB expansion variable
displays the next 23 lines and then waits.
It will cope intelligently with unusually
long lines in the text file — the line count
is of screen lines, not of CR-LF sequences
in the file. In order to make this water-
tight, tabs are expanded explicitly in the
program.
157
SYSTEM 4000
P4000 PRODUCTION EPROM
PROGRAMMER
This unit provides ‘simple, reliable’
programming of up to 8 EPROMs. It
has been designed for ease of
operator use — a single ‘program’
key starts the blank check — pro-
gram — verify sequence. Indepen-
dent blank check and verify controls
are provided along with mode, pass/
fail indicators for each copy socket
and a sounder to signal a correct key
command and the end of a program-
ming run. Any of the 2704/2708/
2716 (3 rail) and 2508 / 2758 / 2516
/ 2716 / 2532 / 2732 EPROMs may
be selected without hardware or per-
sonality card changes.
2 year warranty. Price £545 + VAT:
+ £12.00 DELIVERY
VM10 VIDEO MONITOR
This compact, lightweight Video
Monitor gives a clean crisp picture
on its 10” screen. Suitable for use
with the EP4000, SOFTY and other
systems. 12 month warranty. Price
£88 + VAT, carriage pald.
MODEL 14 EPROM
ERASERS
MODEL UV140 EPROM
ERASER
Similar to model UV141 but with out
timer. Low price at £61.50 + VAT,
postage paid.
EPROM EMULATOR/PROGRAMMERS
EP4000 EPROM EMULATOR/
PROGRAMMER
The microprocessor based EP4000
has been designed as a flexible, low
cost, high quality unit for emulating
and programming all the popular
NMOS EPROMs without the need
for personality cards, modules or
hardware changes. Its software
intensive design permits selection of
the 2704 / 2708 / 2716 triple rail
EPROMs and the 2508 / 2758 /
2516 / 2716 / 2532 / 2732 single rail
EPROMs for both the programming
and emulating modes.
The video output (T.V. or monitor) for
memory map display in addition to
the built-in Hex LED display, for
stand alone use, is unique in this
type of system. This, with the double
function 28 key keypad, powerful
editing features, powered down pro-
gramming socket, buffered tri-state
simulator cable and 4k x 8 data RAM
gives you the most comprehensive,
flexible and compact systems avail-
able today.
2 year warranty. Price £545 + VAT:
+ £12 DELIVERY
MODEL UV141 EPROM <}
ERASER S),
@ 14 EPROM capacity %
@ Fast erase time +
@ Built-in 5-50 minute timer
@ Safety interlocked to prevent eye
and skin damage
@ Convenient slide-tray loading of
devices
@ Available Ex-Stock at £78 + VAT
Postage Paid
GP INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS LTD,
UNIT E, HUXLEY CLOSE, NEWNHAM INDUSTRIAL ESTATE,
PLYMOUTH, DEVON PL7 4JN
158
TELEPHONE: PLYMOUTH (0752) 332961 (Sales) / 332962 (Technical Service).
SOFTY oe
SYSTEMS Oe
SOFTY 2
LOW COST 2716
EMULATOR/PROGRAMMER
@ Direct output to T.V. @ High speed
cassette interface @ On card
EPROM Programmer @ Multifunc-
tion ‘»uch keypad @ 2K Monitor in
2716 @ 2K RAM ®@ 128 byte
scratchpad RAM @® 2K EPROM
Emulation @ Can program 2732/
2532 in two halves @ Editing
facilities including — Data entry/
deletion, Block shift, Block store,
Match byte, Displacement calcula-
tion @ Supplied with ZIF socket,
Simulator cable, comprehensive
manual, Antistatic lined EPROM tray
and PSU. SOFTY 2 £169 + VAT
(includes p&p)
SOFTY 1
LOW COST 2704/2708
EMULATOR/PROGRAMMER
@ Direct output to T.V. @ High speed
cassette interface — On card
EPROM Programmer @ Multifunc-
tion keypad @ 1K Monitor in 2708
@ 1K RAM @ 128 byte scratchpad
RAM @ 1K EPROM Emulation
@ Comprehensive editing facilities
@ Supplied with ZIF socket, Simula-
tor cable and comprehensive
manual.
SOFTY 1 (Built and tested)
£120 + VAT
SOFTY 1 Power Supply £20 + VAT
SOFTY 1
CONVERSION CARD
Enables SOFTY to program the
single rail EPROMs, 2508 / 2758 /
2516 / 2532. Selection of device
type and 1K block are by pcb slide
switches. ZIF Programming socket.
Supplied built and tested. £40 +
VAT.
EX-STOCK EPROMS
1-24 25-99 100up
2732 6:50 5:75 = 4:95
2716 2:80 2:60 2:40
2708 2:80 2:60 2:40
ADD VAT AT 15% - POSTAGE PAID
WRITE OR TELEPHONE FOR DETAILS
ON ANY OF OUR PRODUCTS
@ Circle No. 200
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Quick formatter
THE ABSENCE of a Print Using function is
a serious drawback to the Pet user, writes |
M C Hart of Wigston, Leicestershire, and
Commodore has not rectified the position
with the release of Basic 4.0.
Of course there are “quick and dirty”
methods of achieving the neat output
particularly of columns of figures but they
all suffer from a series of drawbacks, such
as not coping with numbers in exponen-
tial format. On the other hand some of
the Print Using routines that have been
published are exceptionally long and
complex and not easily adapted to suit
the particular needs of the user.
Having originally developed a fairly
long formatting program that covers most
Quick formatter.
of the contingencies provided by the Print
Using statement, I decided to scale down
my original program to provide the bare
clements that | would want a Print Using
to achieve. These are:
@ to round both positive and negative num-
bers correctly, avoiding the rogue .000001s
that the Pet arithmetic function occasionally
tags on to the end of certain numbers;
@ to take care of the exponential format of:
numbers less than 0.01;
@ to put in leading zeros for values less than
Bela
@ to add a fractional part of trailing zeros to
integers to ensure consistency with other
output, for example, 2 becomes 2.000.
Other criteria I kept in mind were:
@ that the routine should be economical and
be contained in as few lines of coding as
possible; those without Toolkits and the
Append function can always tag it on to the
end of a program quickly by typing in from
the keyboard;
@ that it should be easy to understand and be
capable of alteration and expansion to meet
particular needs
The routine eventually developed re-
quires only four lines of code and 178
bytes. For a Basic routine it is quite fast,
each subroutine call taking on average
80ms.
Line 60000 rounds the absolute value
and converts both the integer and the
fractional part into separate strings
Line 60010 pads the fraction string with
zeros and then reconstructs an output
string. If integer output is chosen, the
decimal point is eliminated.
Open file: Pet
Quick formatter output.
Yo ck—fornatter
Pie mc. hart |
press Creturn> only to retain same le
YRLUES ...QTHERHWISE SUBSTITUTE YOLIR
OWN.
---rewuired field length is
---number of decimal © laces
FIRST FIELD IS 4
-—-number of decimal places
SECONT FIELD IS 1
PRANDUM Ve AEE VLE |
11
in
in
- 114041549
358. 227017
18@.518585
-31.923785
484. 868335
14.6913429
14. 1522637
Ris 36221732
» 9995 759.34
618782658
958787114
994855151
» 1256465
- 682271626
- 161326154
At. 1140
3.2278
- S136
» 2238
- 8683
TIME=
AVERAGE FORMATTING
- 4333 SECS
another eun Cf? J
==send of demonstration==
Line 60020 restores the minus sign for
negative numbers, stripped off by the
Abs function in line 60000.
Line 60030 pads the output string to
the left with blanks and then returns.
If space and/or time are not so critical |
then it is possible to add an extra line to |
signal over-long output — see lines 60480
to 60560. Similarly. accountants often
like to work with trailing rather than with
(continued on next page)
166 PRINT" Ree OP PRRPRRRBIN OT CK-FORMATTER 66138 -REM REQUESTED FUR FIELD -
118 PRINT "AIstedsielerels PRDEBBI BY MN. C. HART " 6G@14@ :REM ZQ = NO OF DECIMAL PLACES
128 FOR J=1TQ200a-NEN 66158 °*REM REQUESTED FOR FIELD 2
138 PRINT" CIMeRBFRESS <RETURN> ONLY Toi RETAIN SAMPLE" 669160 -REM Zi = NO OF DECIMAL PLACES
14@ PRINT’SBR'ALIES ...QTHERHISE SUBSTITUTE “OUR” 68176 ‘REN USE IH PROGRAM
156 FRINT“SBBUUN. "> PRINT 661980 :REM ZR = ROUNDING FACTOR
166 PRINT" ARleRRRE--REQUIRED FIELD LENGTH iS f1" 66190 -REM =F = REQUESTED FIELD LENGTH
176 INPUT"@@M@MI" > ZF PRINT: IF ZF O3THEN PRINT" SORBBERE! FIELD TOO SHORT !":GOTO16@ 68204 :REM ZF = STRING OF BLANKS FOR
168 ZF#=LEFTSC" Uae 68216 *REM PADDING
198 PRINT" SleleeeRE--HUMBER OF DECIMAL PLACES IN* S226 :REM 2L = INTEGER LENGTH +1
260 PRINT" SBRBBBFIRST FIELD 75 4" 68228 = REM ZC = CORY OF Z ¢=VALUE FOR
INPUT" IS P PRINT 68248 ‘REM FORMATTING»
PRINT" We! ---NUMBER er aren FLACES IN" 68256 -REN
Mm PRINT" RB (KECOND FIE 6268 “REM --FORMATTING SUB-ROUTINE--
INPUT” eR: PRINT 68278 :REM -- CALLED AT 6a@@n>--
PRINTS RANDOM VALUE FORMATTED VALUE "PRIHT 6@28@ :RENM
Ze=a 66296 ‘REM 2 = VALUE FOR SORMATTING
27@ FOR J=17Q15:ZD=Z2F:2R-1:1F 2050 as) FoR [=i 7OQZ0: ZR=ZP¥19:NEXT I 60388 :REM 21 = ROUNDED ABSOLUTE 2
236 Z2=ERPCRND(8)#14-6)*SGNCRNDE Ad -. 2 6031@ =-REM 2% = INTEGER OF 71
298 2C=Z2:FRINTZ: ‘A=TI: GOSUREGHAR : pr TT=TT+CB-A2 68326 :REM 2xX#= STRING CF FRACTION
344 PRINT SPCC15S-LEN<STR#¢(2) 68338 :REM 2T$= STRING OF INTEGER
318 20=20:2ZR=1:IF ZI2@ THEN FOR [=17TOZ0:ZR=2R¥10:HEXT I 60346 :REM ZyY#= ZX$ PADDED WITH ZEROES
32H GOSUB 6@688:PRINTZ$:HEXT J 66358 -REM ZD = NO OF DECIMAL PLACES
396 TT=TT/¢ 15868) : TE=INTCTT#1 6088+, 5> “1 hee 60368 °-REN USED IN PROGRAM
248 PRIHT:PRINT"AVEPAGE FORMATTING TIME="Ta"SECS" 6037 “REM ZR = ROUNDING FACTOR
354 FOR J=17035:PRINT"--"; :NEXT : PRINT 66336 :-REM = STRING OF BLANKS FOR
PRINT" SANOTHER FUN CW’H) oS "> INPUT Sl AS 66336 =REM PADDING
A IF AS="""THENI 36 66446 -REM ZF = LENGTH OF FIELD
A PRINT: PRINT CIaQeleteletelelees ROR BRRE==ENT OF DEMONSTRAT IOH=== elelelaielersteletereye]' : ENT 60416 <-REM 2 = QUTPLIT STRING
: 6b420 :
68438 -REM FOR TRAILING RATHER THAN
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SHa : 6O45@ ‘REM Z$=2$+" "IF Z¢A THEM Z#=
5 ZISINTCABS (2) #2R+. 59 72R > 24221: ZX$=STRSECINT< (21-24) RZR+ 299) -2ZTE=STRECZZ9 68468 :REN LEFT$(Z#,LENC(Z$>-1)+"—"
Set STE=RIGHTHE "BHHHO"+MIDECS 2). 20): 2$=2TS+" "+247: IF SD=GTHENZE=STRECE19 6ad7h :
Gn IF 248 THEN 2#="-"4+NID¢ 28,2) 66488 ‘REM To SIGNAL INTEGER FART ToC
Sense ZSSRIGHTSCSFE+ZF, SF - RETURN 68494 :REM LOHG FOR A FIELD THEN :-
685606 :REM ~SET “ZL“ TQ INTEGER LENGTH
60518 :-REM CINCLUDING LEADING SPACE>
pees >REM IN MARIN BODY OF PROGRAM
ae oe é : " jee 68530 :REN £.G. IN LINE 268
[REM ##% TABLE OF VARIABLES #4# 68548 °REN -INSERT HEH LINE sea@25
‘ GOSS <REM (6@625) IF LEM¢ZT#)>ZL. THEN
Q = REM --NAIN PROGRAM-— 60560 “REM ZF="K"4NIDSC2$,2)
68116 -REM 6as7ea :
56120 -REM ZP = NO OF DECIMAL PLACES 6AS88 =REM ## EHD OF INSTRUCTIONS +#
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
S59}
(continued from previous page)
leading minus signs, and this can be
accommodated by changing line 60020 —
documented in lines 60430 to 60460.
If users would like output to contain a
leading character, such as a $ sign for
financial transactions, this can be
accommodated by the addition of one
extra line as follows:
60015 Z$="$"+ MID$(Z$,2):
Z$="~"+2Z$: GOTO 60030
The rounding function is placed at
270 and 310 in the main body of the pro-
gram in order to save processing time, but
if time is not at a premium and it is desir-
able to change formats within a program
it is always possible to place it within the
subroutine if desired.
IFZ<0 THEN
ROM remover
SEVERAL TIMES in the past few months I
have had to swap two alternative video
character-generator ROMs in my Pet,
and on one occasion the pins of one of
them were irreparably damaged, writes
Dan Rogers of Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex.
To avoid a repetition | made a loop of
tape which I now keep entrapped under
the ROM as shown in the sketch.
ig ig mc :
ROM CHIP
With two or three fingers of one hand
in the loop an even lift can be exerted
while the other hand controls the rate of
withdrawal. Baby or shoulder-strap rib-
bon 7-10mm. wide seems eminently suit-
able: it is thin, strong and has reinforced
edges. Adjust the length to suite the
dimensions of the ROM.
Dodgeball
LIKE MOST popular video games, Dodge-
ball by Greg Hopkins of Reigate, Surrey
is very simple yet in concept difficult to
master and interesting enough to be play-
ed again and again. At the beginning all
the player has to do is to dodge out of the
way of a ball which is bouncing around a
box on the screen. Another ball then
whole screen fills up with fast-moving
circles which destroy everything in their
paths, including sometimes the other
balls. The player is forced to think more
and more quickly in order to survive. The
time in seconds is shown at the top of the
screen — anything over one minute is a
very good score.
In Basic the program would be far too
slow to be playable, so a 260byte
machine-code program to move the balls.
The game was written on a new-ROM
160
Pet but it will run equally well on an
old-ROM machine if the keyboard check
in line 590 is changed to Peek (515).
The program is split into three main
sections. The first part prints instructions
and Pokes the machine code into mem-
ory; the second sets up the variables and
Open file: Pet ===
to the screen. The final section is where
the game is played.
After each part the computer waits for
a key to be pressed before continuing.
The level of difficulty can be altered by
increasing or decreasing the value of the
variable, originally set at 0.0002, in line
appears, and then another; gradually the.
prints the box of random dimensions on | 570.
Dodgeball.
a REMee*# DODGEBALL - BY
i6@ TATA 72. 163. 16. i41.
114 DATA 162.
DATA 234.
DATA
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R=R1:FRINT"AHOTHER GAME 2"
GETA# : IFAS=""THEN Poet
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RL=TI
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
S#H+S-LEHCSTRECINTO TI a5 TI
The cost effective solution to
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The Galaxy 1 desk top computer system can be used in education, small
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However, unlike our competitors, we supply not only the hardware but all the essential
system software needed to start using the Galaxy 1 as soon as it is installed. We have adopted
COMAL-80 as our standard language. This structured basic is rapidly gaining widespread
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editor called GEM ZAP with GEM PEN, a compact but very powerful word processing
package. The system software suite is completed with GEM DEBUG, a useful machine
code program de-bugging utility.
Modular design means reliability and ease of maintenance. Unlike many other manufacturers
Gemini offer a full one year warranty (except Disc heads which are guaranteed for 3 months). Our
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THE GALAXY 1 COMPUTER
Features include:
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@8025 Screen Format
@ Dual Printer Interfaces
@ Modular Design
@ CP/M 2.2 Operating system
@ COMAL-80-— Structured Basic
@ Z80 Editor/Assembler
@ Text Editor & Formatter
@ Program De-Bugging Utility
*Price is exclusive of
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G * Dealer enquiries invited.
Vz Wem In! Mic rocomputer S Oakfield Corner, Sycamore Road, Amersham, Bucks HP6 5EQ.
@ Circle No. 201
161 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
lol
Computer
Hardware/Software
Tenders Required
Our client markets a wide range of mini/microcomputer products in Ireland with
outstanding performance and price advantages.
Recent changes in Marketing thrust have necessitated the need to acquire new/
additional sourcing of peripherals such as visual display units, printers etc. and
professional software.
As a result of this situation, we have been commissioned to invite manufacturers
and/or suppliers to submit tenders for the supply of one or all of the requirements
listed below:
Visual Display Units (VDU’s): which would be capable of supporting a range of
microcomputer handling, word processing, financial modelling, business packages,
etc.
Printers: with daisy wheel and dot matrix printers — 80/132 column width, speed 40
to 240 cps, multiple copy sheet feeder. Options on colour printers should be included
(if applicable). Each tender should include technical specifications along with
distributor/dealer/OEM quantity discount pricing, including information on sole
representation in Ireland (if applicable), delivery, maintenance, technical and market-
ing support available; include any other relevant information.
Micro/Mini Software Packages: with compatibility for micro’s on CP/M and/or
UNIX systems, and for mini’s on standard mini computer operating systems. Packages
should cover, for example:
Small Business Accounting Packages
Insurance
Solicitors
Pharmacy
Dental and Medical
Estate Management
Others
After a suitable evaluation period all tenders received will be acknowledged. All
tenders may be submitted in confidence to:
INTELLIGENCE (IRL) LTD.,
35 MONALEA WOOD, TEMPLEOGUE, DUBLIN 16, IRELAND
Attention: Mr M. P. Smith, Managing Director
@ Circle No. 202
162 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
ee ek ror iet sn
Using
Microcomputers
in Business
By Stanley S Veit. Published
by Hayden. Paperback $9.95.
ISBN 0 8104 5152 2.
THIS BOOK is intended for the
would-be business user of a
small computer system which,
despite the title, could equally
well be a minicomputer. The
author maintains that the
advice given has been valid
since businesses started using
computers, and will remain so
in the future.
The book breaks down into
two elements, the first con-
cerned with describing what a
computer system is and what it
can do in the context of a
business. The second explains
the pitfalls and how to avoid
them on the way to compu-
terising a business.
The description of computer
hardware and how it can be
used in business is no better or
worse than countless other
books. Two chapters are de-
voted to word processing and
database management sys-
tems, and both consist of a
limited explanation of the faci-
lities provided by a typical sys-
tem, filled out with outlines of
commercially available soft-
ware packages. These outlines
provide no more information
than suppliers’ advertisements
or sales brochures — a lazy
way of writing a book. There is
also a chapter describing the
more popular languages.
The second element is con-
cerned with selecting, install-
ing and using a computer
system in a business environ-
ment. The coverage of this
topic is so much better than
the description of the compu-
ter systems that this must be
the area in which the author’s
experience really lies. He
makes the point that the buyer
must know in some detail what
the computer is to do and how,
before starting to spend time
and money on choosing a com-
puter system or a consultant.
The advice goes into much
more detail] on how this may
be achieved, and provides a
similar level of advice on
selecting both the hardware
and software, installation and
the need for continuing sup-
port from the suppliers after
installation. The author also
makes a good case for using
consultants — not really sur-
prising when he is a consultant
himself, but no less valid for
all that.
Conclusions
@ This book is subtitled a
‘“Guide for the Perplexed’’,
but the technical descriptions
will only add to the confusion.
It is not specially bad, but like
most books of this type it is
rather superficial — perhaps
because the author himself
does not really understand it.
@ The sections on selecting,
installing and using a computer
system contain excellent advice
and probably justify buying
the book. Any new user who
followed the advice diligently
would end up with a satisfac-
tory system.
@ A very uneven book whose
purchase is worthwhile for the
half that is good.
Martin Wilson
Starting Forth
By Leo Brodie. Published by
Forth Inc. 348 pages. £12.80.
AN IMPORTANT FACTOR in the
success of any computer
language is the quality of the
supporting literature. It is
therefore clear that if Forth is
to be successful it needs a high-
quality book on the subject.
Fortunately this book is it.
The foreword includes a
eulogy in praise of the author
by the originator of Forth,
Charles H Moore and is the
only part of the book to jar a
little. The user wants to know
about the language not about
the personal qualities of the
author.
Forth is in many respects a
difficult language, but this
book is distinguished by the
clarity with which the com-
plexities of the language are
presented. The author uses
graphics intelligently, especial-
ly in his discussion of stack-
manipulation operations. Un-
like many texts it has a good,
almost conversational, style
throughout and even the most
naive user could learn the
basics of the language from
this text. It is a measure of the
quality of the book that I read
over 200 pages at one sitting
without feeling overstuffed
with information or bored at
the end.
.My only reservation stems
from a remark about Forth
attributed elsewhere to
Charles Moore, in which he
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
‘describes the language as am-
plifying the capabilities of
good programmers and mak-
ing bad programmers worse.
There is not enough in the
book to help the completely
naive programmer to
approach program design in
the right manner.
Cortclusions
@ An excellent book, destined
to be the Forth bible I suspect.
@ Probably the book is most
suitable for programmers who
already have some experience
of program-design principles
acquired using another lan-
guage.
John Cookson
Computer Software
Protection
Editor Robert Muller. Pub-
lished by Gower Publishing.
113 pages paperback. ISBN 0
566 03418 2
THIS BOOK is the edited trans-
cript of the proceedings of a
conference held during 1981.
Though well covered in the
computer press at the time,
this “Computing in Business
Report” contains more detail
than the magazine articles
published then.
The report starts with the
editor’s introduction which
effectively sets the scene by
Outlining the development of
software piracy and the conse-
quent need for protection
against such illicit copying.
The introduction summarises
the current methods used for
software protection, both legal
and illegal.
The first chapter describes
the problem that illegal
copying causes for those trying
to market software and the
need to plan for taking action
against piracy. This covers
preventative measures such as
devices in the software to
deter or, for some people,
encourage copying, and the
limited or doubtful legal re-
medies after the infringement.
The second chapter details
some of the abuses and mis-
uses and the consequent losses
to those writing and selling
software. It also highlights the
consequent loss of choice to
the would-be honest buyer be-
cause of the reduction of the
number of software products
that can pay their way in pub-
lishers’ and dealers’ lists, de-
spite the piracy.
The third chapter provides
the reasons for much illicit
copying, for demonstration or
evaluation purposes or purely
to provide back-up or a realis-
tic working environment. It is
also suggested that much soft-
ware is overpriced for its
potential market and that few
software houses have a realis-
tic approach to multiple
machine licences. A better
level of service for annual li-
cences, it is contended, would
provide more encouragement
to purchase legitimate copies
rather than pirated ones.
The ever-present Mr Kel-
man provides his usual com-
prehensive treatise on the
legal protection provisions and
on the possible extension of
legislation to cover software
copyright. The latter chapters
cover not only the convention-
al but some very unconven-
tional approaches to the
deterrence of illicit copyists.
Hardware techniques such as
the now infamous ‘‘dongle”
are outlined, as are the effec-
tive approaches of using the
legal system to cause the
would-be pirate the maximum
amount of embarrassment and
to warn off his potential cus-
tomers.
The final chapter, like the
final section of each of the
previous chapters, is a discus-
sion among the panel mem-
bers and a response to points
raised from the floor of the
conference. Many interesting
questions were asked and
perhaps there could have been
more made of this aspect.
The appendices provide de-
tails of copyright legislation,
both proposed and enacted, in
the U.K. or the U.S.A. Also
included is a summary of copy-
right limitations worldwide
and an outline of some typical
copyright problems.
Conclusions
@ An interesting and thought-
provoking discussion for any-
one involved in the marketing
of software. Much is already
familiar thanks to the extensive
coverage of this subject by the
computer press, this book
brings much of the thinking
into one slim volume.
@ This book raises more ques-
tions than it answers, but pro-
vides a useful starting point for
the resolution of this serious
roblem.
' Martin Wilson {J
163
THE ONLY SYSTEM
BETTER THAN A
MICRO NETWORK'S
SUPER 6
op Cite
SUPERRIZ
Micro Networks Ltd can now exclusively offer you a
super Superbrain that includes either six or twelve
megabytes, 5.25 inch Winchester Disk Drives inter-
changeable with floppies. The new system is supplied
with customised version of CP/M that allows the user
to treat the hard disc as single or multiple logical drives.
Any of these drives can be of any size up to the max-
imum capacity of the disc drive involved, i.e. 150 up to
790 K bytés per single drive. They can be intermixed
with each other or with the hard disc logical drive. Obvi-
ously, the incorporation of Winchester drives not only
expands the bulk storage available but it also speeds up
the access five times faster on floppies and ten times
faster on hard disc than on ordinary Superbrain.
There’s more very good news too! Superbrain and
164
CompuStar prices have been reduced by 30% plus the
NEW SUPERBRAIN lI features, which include a faster
enhanced disc operating system, a library of new visual
attributes including below-the-line descenders, reverse
video and impressive graphics capabilities.
Standard software in stock includes Wordstar,
Mailmerge and Spellstar, BASIC-80, FORTRAN-80,
COBOL-80, ALGOL-80, PASCAL M, CiS COBOL, plus
many application packages.
If you already have a system — ask us about Our ser-
vice and maintenance schemes.
MICRO NETWORKS
60 PALL MALL LONDON 01-839 3701
@ Circle No. 203
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Highland mystery
AN
anthropologist who has been study-
ing the early electronic artefacts of
the ancient peoples who live north of
the wall was most stimulated by the
new Rosetta stone which appeared
on page 165 in Practical Computing’s
June issue.
AMATEUR archeologist and |
Imagine his delight when he was
able with the help of our listing to at
last decipher the ancient Highland
PCB* which is believed to antedate
the simple Skye matrix. Its markings
are reproduced here.
An exceedingly ancient, bearded |
*Practical Computing Bible
Cc
B
N
A
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E
R
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Cc
L
Ss
Z--O0UZHAC<P-F
—nN"yvr?PIwDVD-NAaovwnSyS
PMOZOPOWWNPwWO)
ZaomnmzrdAacm—-voH0<
Z-mrm-razvewv
4H4ARKXR-vVHTV>YSrMO
m=—-MnAuur—-<MOdovUVsSS
UMesTONOHOZWIWIOMO
manrnodndnda-Trroeoa!
CrQromrosesuvuyD
Gerorss -—amem
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Qroroocoor-HA0OZz
SZrmymomnandoz- wv
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THHIGEER?
ZX81_
OWNERS
for a. complete working ZX81
In stock for the VIC now: Printers, Disk Drives, Games,
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PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
&
OFFICIAL STOCKISTS
We will allow £40 off the purchase price
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0
5
@ Circle No. 204
Turn to
Computer Plus
Puzzie===
by Douglas Tate
and kilted apparition provided a clue
to its solution, which runs as follows:
“Sir. This is as twisted as my stick,
not straight and nasty like your En-
glish ones. Our ancestors never
wasted a thing but, like a haggis, you
can only eat each bit the once”.
Our anthropological correspon-
dent is sure that you will instantly see
the significance of the remark and be
able at once to decipher the code on
the stone.
Solution to July puzzle
+ _
if If you‘re used
to the kind of
= dealer who
i rarely has exactly
what you need, but is
always ready to sell you
something nearly as good
— Computer Plus will make
a pleasant change.
We know our business and
give our customers credit for
f knowing theirs. That’s why we
/ stock a wide range of leading com-
puter hardware and software, so that
you can exercise YOUR judgement.
Extensive demonstration facilities and
professional staff are on hand, so that
you can weigh up specifications and
make comparisons.
We have excellent sales back up service and credit
facilities for our customers.
When you turn to Computer Plus you can be sure you have
taken a turn in the right direction.
COMPUTER PLUS, 47 QUEENS ROAD, WATFORD
TELEPHONE: WATFORD 33927
@ Circle No. 205 }/5
LOW COST WORD PROCESSING PRINTER
TO HOST SYSTEM
INTERFACE UNIT
* Daisy wheel typewriter/printer
* RS232 or Contronics-parailel interface
* Low cost — high quality printing
£459.00 (+ £68.85 VAT) (+ £8.50 P&P) Available now
SYSTEMS OF TOMORROW trp
COMPUTER CONSULTANTS
109c, HIGH STREET , CHESHAM , BUCKS , HP5 1DE.
CHESHAM 10494] 786989.
@ Circle No. 207
MicroRAPPORT can
handle 16 data- base files
holding up to
30 Megabytes of data.
Itis powerful very efficient
and provenona wide
rangeofmachines
MicroRAPPORTisa
proven Relational DBMS
for CPIM* based
microcomputers. /t hasan
easy to use Interactive
Query Language for
retrieving data and
formatting simple reports,
autility program for
loading data anda power-
fulcommand interface for
use within Fortran
programs. Itisa derivative
of RAPPORT, the popular
Micro
Computers
Formoreinformationor toorder
your copies of MicroRAPPORTjust
contact: Peter Barnes,
Database Products Group, DBMS for miniand
Logica Limited, mainframe computers.
64 Newman Street,
London WIA 4SE
Telephone: 0!-637 911]
*CPYM isa trade mark of Digital Research
Togica
@ Circle No. 206
166 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
BUYERS
UIDE
SOFTWARE
Software packages are listed by application, in alphabetical
order, with the systems on which each package will run also
listed alphabetically. The guide is not exclusively for business
applications: if your company is the source or dealer for a
package with a more unusual application, send us the details
and we will create a new category.
The usual criteria have been applied. The minimum con-
figuration is 32K of RAM, a disc and a printer; the price of the
package must lie between £50 and £3,000; the companies listed |
are the source of the software or the main dealers in the U.K., and |
the capacity quoted is per disc or drive.
Machine type by application
Combined Ledger/Stock/Invoicing
Machine type Supplier name Price Capacity
ACT 800 ACT Microsoft From £500
ACT Sirius ACT Microsoft £495
Apple fl and Hl Systematics From £250
Apple II Vlasak Electronics Ltd £855 1,500 a/c 5,000 trans
Apple II Dataforce (U.K.) Ltd £855
Apple II Microsense Computers Ltd £340
Apple I Southern Computer Systems £1,000 varies
Apple IVITT Informex London Ltd £298 500 a/c
Apple I] Star Systems Ltd £750 2,000 a/c 6,000 trans
Commodore Comsoft Associates £750
Commodore 3032 Compfer Ltd £400 varies
Commodore 3032 Analog Electronics £550
Commodore 3032 Logma Systems Designs £600 1-6 shops
Commodore 3032 Grama (Winter) Ltd £475 varies
Commodore 3032 _ Bristol Software Factory £300 1,000 a/c 6,000 trans
Commodore 3032 Compfer Ltd £600 500 a/c 1,000 items
Commodore 3032 HB Computers £695 500 s/c 2,500 trans
CP/M Sail £1,265 varies
CP/M Bonsai £1,875
CP/M D T Systems £750 vanes
CP/M Wisbech Computer Services £900 varies
CP/M Graffcom Systems Ltd £400 varies
CP/M Benchmark CS Ltd £950 varies
CP/M Computastore Ltd £1,000
CP/M Interface Computer Services £350
CP/M Minicomputer CS Ltd £1,250 varies
CP/M Salmon Microcomputing £750 1,600 items 1,000 trans
CP/M Selven Ltd £1,500 3K a/c 7K trans |
CP/M Map Computer Systems £1,000 varies
CP/M North Star Instar Business Systems £999 600-2,900
(QD 10 BECKENHAM GROVE, |
aa SHORTLANDS, KENT. |
| 01-464 5040
CP/M North Star Criterion Business Systems
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
RAM BARGAINS
4116 — 200ns. 80p each.
100 + 68p each.
47116 — 250ns. 70p each.
100 + 55p each.
2714 — 300ns. 85p each.
100+ 75p each.
2174—t —200ns. 95p each.
100+ 83p each.
4816 — 100ns. BBC RAM £3.50 each.
4164 — 200ns. £4.50 each.
100 + £3.50 each.
6116 — 150ns. £4.40 each.
2716 — 5v — 450ns. £2.20 each.
2716 — 5v — unwashed £1.80 each.
2732 £3.95 each.
2532 £3.95 each.
2764 — 450ns. £9.00 each.
Add 50p P & P and VAT at 15%.
ATHANA FLOPPIES
Minis with free plastic library case and hub rings.
S/S S/D. £17.95 for 10.
S/S D/D. £19.95 for 10.
O/S O/D. £23.50 for 10.
S/S 77 TRACK. £26.50 for 10.
8” Discs.
S/S S/D. £15.50 for 10.
S/S D/D. £24.50 for 10.
D/S D/D £25.50 for 10.
All other discs available add 85p P & P and VAT at t5%.
OPUS
DESKING
AT LAST COMPUTER
Full range
available at
competitive prices.
24-HOUR Dealer enquiries invited. _
TELEPHONE SERVICE
FOR CREDIT CARD USERS
QUANTITY DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE —
OFFICIAL ORDERS WELCOME
OPUS SUPPLIES
VISA .-
@ Circle No. 210
THE CP/M PROGRAMMER’S
soup, OLKIT
eaturing:
ASE allows you to access any sector on a CP/M
disc, with facilities to view, modify and replace.
Access to a particular sector is via the track and
sector numbers.
AFE provides similar facilities as ASE but is
orientated towards the logical records of any
type of CP/M file.
And, included free of charge, with
source code:
Da program which gives you a sorted wildcard
directory fist of every logged-on drive, with
Read/Write status, free space, and number of
directory entries.
CALLCPM an assembler routine which allows
any CIS-COBOL program to call any CP/M
function, and perform lower to upper-case
translation.
Availabl tandard 8” discs. Includ-
Sore anermncera gee nei EO
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
8A GUILDFORD ROAD,
BRIGHTON BN1 3LU Tel (0273) 21979
CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research
CIS-COBOL is a trademark of Microfocus
@ Circle No. 211
167
COMPUTERCAT
SOFTWARE
BBC MICRO
DATABASE | £12.95
Set up your own database with search.
sort facilities. About 300 records for
16K
TREASURE ADVENTURE £6.95
Specially adapted for the BBC Micro
- an old favourite.
‘VIDEO GENIE & TRS 80
FORTY NINER
Find the gold in sunny California.
BRIDGE BUILDER £5.95
A game of skill to bridge the gap.
TANK BATTLE £5.95
A game for two. Test your skills in
battle.
£5.95
@ prices include VAT & Postage
224 Chapel Street, Leigh, Lancs
Tel: (0942) 605730
@ Circle No. 212
ASSEMBLY ,. PET
LANGUAGE VIC
PET from 8K: VIC 20 from 3.5K
Both books cover WHOLE 6502
Instruction set, AND CONTAIN
FULL 6502 ASSEMBLER
PRICES: 2/3/4000 PET & VIC 800K £10
ALL PET & VIC: book + ASSEMBLER —
ON TAPE £15: ON DISK £17.
vic BOOK
contains ™/€ LANG MONITOR
SAE details from: DR P HOLMES (P)
21 Colin Drive
State Machine. LONDON NwW9 6ES
@ Circle No. 213
AASP SYSTEMS LTD.
TOTAL COMPUTER SERVICES
TO BUSINESS
Eprom Programming and
Copying
CP/M SOFTWARE
Multiple key file
encryption £95+vat
Help system £95+vat
Superbrain fast disk copy £75+vat
Superbrain disk test £75+vat
++ Plus much more ++
P.O. Box 17
BURTON-ON-TRENT STAFFS
@ Circle No. 214
168
North Star DOS Intelligent Artefacts
Ohio Scientific Microcomputer BM
Ohio Scientific Stratheden Ltd
Tandy Model 2 Chess Consultancies
Tandy Model 2 Chess Consultancies
Tandy TRS-80 Microcomputer Applications
Tecs Jar Software Systems
Database Managers
Machine type Supplier name
Apple II Spider
Apple Il ACT Microsoft Ltd
Apple II Courtman Micro Systems
Apple II Keen Computers
Apple IVITT Systematics International Ltd
Apple IVITT Diskdean Ltd
Apple I/ITT Systematics International Ltd
Apple I/ITT Informex London Ltd
Apple IVITT The Software House
Commodore Comsoft Associates
Commodore 3000/8 Stage One Computers
Commodore 3000/8 Commodore BM (U.K.) Ltd
Commodore 3032 CPS (Data Systems) Ltd
Commodore 3032/8 Compsoft Ltd
Compucorp Verwood Systems
CP/M Redwood
CP/M Compsoft Ltd
CP/M Great Norther CS Ltd
CP/M Microtek Computer Services
CP/M Cleno Computing Services
CP/M Interface Ltd
CP/M Median-Tec Ltd
CP/M Microbits
CP/M Southdata Ltd
CP/M SWTPC Verwood Systems
Metrotech System Méetrotech
North Star GW Computer
Ohio Challenger U-Microcomputers Ltd
Ohio Scientific Microcomputer BM
Superbrain GW Computer
Superbrain Alan Pearman Ltd
SWTPC SWTPC
Tandy TRS-80 Cleartone ADP
Tandy TRS-80 ACT Microsoft Ltd
Z-80/8080 Structured Systems Group
Z-80/Cromenco Xitan Systems Ltd
Engineering Design Systems
Machine type Supplier name
Apple II Ismael CAD
Apple II Gilmorehill Software
Apple II Microcomp
Apple II Haden Young Ltd
Apple II James C Steadman
Apple Il James C Steadman
Apple IVITT Aerco-Gemsoft
Commodore Ismail CAD
Commodore Comsoft Associates
£510
£656
1,500 a/c 5K trans
£1,200
£995 5,000 items 1,500 a/c
£90
£650 500 a/c 300 nom. a/c
Price Capacity
£200 2,800 records
£75
£106 100K characters
£425 up to 70Mbytes
£72
£120 varies
£125 1,000 references
£198 500-1,200 records
£140 900 records
£250
£45-£150 650-2,400 records
£150-£300 650-1,400-64,000
records
£200 varies
£190 600-5,000 records
£376
£120
£400 30,000 records
£110-£210 and varies
£250-£500
£90-£325 varies
£200 varies
£500
£145 varies
£650 up to 8Mbytes
£200-£1,000
£575
£175
£175
£575
£295 varies
£100
£715 varies
£75
£135 varies
£850 4,000 records/disc
Price Notes
varies Range of building and
engineering
applications
varies Range of building and
engineering
applications
From £200 Range of structural
engineering
applications
From £50 Range of software for
building/
engineering
£200 Erect concrete
columns
£250 Multibay frames
£175 Pipeline engineering
varies Provide a range of
software for
building/
engineering
£750 Engineering contractors
estimates
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Commodore 8000
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032/8
Commodore 3032/8
Commodore 3032/8
Commodore 3032/8
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
Equinox
Hewlett-Packard
Superbrain
Superbrain
Tandy TRS-80
Tecs
Estate Agents’
Machine type
Apple II
Apple II
Apple IVITT
Apple IV/ITT
Commodore 3032
Compucorp
Compucorp
CP/M
Sharp MZ-80K
The Computer Room
Micro Computation
The Alphabet Co
Comac Systems
Comac Systems
Comac Systems
Comac Systems
Comac Systems
Ismael CAD
Gilmorehill Software
Hevacomp
Hevacomp
Hevacomp
Median-Tec
Median-Tec
Median-Tec
Equinox
CSC (Northern) Ltd
Stemmos
KGB
Chess Consultancies
Jar Software
Systems
Supplier name
Atlanta
Microsense
Cyderpress
Systematic
Stage Once Computers
Verwood systems
Verwood systems
Selven Ltd
Wisbech Computer Services
Financial Systems
Machine type
ACT 800
ACT Sirius
ACT Sinus
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II and III
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple IVITT
Apple IVITT
Supplier name
ACT Microsoft
ACT Microsoft
ACT Microsoft
ACT Microsoft
Personal Computers
PE Consulting Group
Microdigital
Microdigital
Microsense
PK Microsystems
Dataforce
Informex
Southern Computer Systems
Microsense
Systematics
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
£1,500
£300
£75
£400
£400
£400
£400
£400
varies
varies
£2,250
£500
£500
£500
£500
£500
£500
Buyers’ Gude
Engineers production
information control
Building-conversion
specification
Time study and
analysis
Asset register
Maintenance plan
Work orders
Plant history
Manpower analysis
Range of building and
engineering
applications
Range of building and
engineering
applications
Heating and
ventilation system
design
Building specification
Building project cost
control
Plastic portal frames
Slope-stability analysis
Retaining wall design
Civil/structural
engineering design
from £200 Engineering design
£2,500
£2,500
£450
£600
Price
£750
£500
£650
£880
£250
£700
£1,200
£195
Price
£595
£150
£595
£150
£500
£350
£200
£130
£194
£80
£98
£750
£125
£295
systems
Stress analysis for
pipe networks
Computer-aided,
design
Production planning
Production analysis
Notes
Estate sales
Estate management
Estate agents’ sales
and selection
Notes
Micromodeller
SuperCalc
Micromodeller
Micromodeller
Income tax
computations
Microfinesse-financial
planning
Sales analysis
Credit control
Cashier retail/
wholesale
Solicitors’ accounts
Cashflow projection
VAT system
Financial controller
VisiCalc
Financial planning
and VIDEO GENIE
ARE YOU PROGRAMMING IN A POLICE
STATE?
Every time you run a BASIC program
millions of innocent machine cycles get
executed unnecessarily!
@ RED TAPE. Every GOTO and GOSUB
involves a meticulous search through the
whole program for the target line.
@® BUREAUCRACY. Every variable refer-
ence results in a thorough investigation of
the system's dictionary.
@®PROTOCOL. Who decides on _ the
precedence of operators? The BASIC
interpreter, of course.
® DOGMA. Each inoffensive constant has
to undergo an indoctrination from decimal
to binary each time it is used.
AND WHO SUFFERS? WHY YOU, THE
CONSUMER, OF COURSE!
But you can stop this neediess waste. A
compiler sorts all this red tape out ONCE,
before you run the program. The result?
Speed-ups of 10, 20, even 30 times
DO YOUR PROGRAMS A FAVOUR.
GET A COMPILER.
ACCEL Level2 BASIC
(tape)
£19.95
ACCEL3 Full DISK BASIC (tape or el
£49.9
NNSA
. Eastleigh, Hants, 5
@ Circle No. 215
PURLEY COMPUTER
SYSTEMS LTD
21 BARTHOLOMEW STREET
NEWBURY, BERKS.
Tel: (0635) 41784
STOCK TAKING CLEARANCE
@ DISC DRIVE UNITS
¢ 850 SHUGART 8", double sided, double seni
00
SA 800 SHUGART 8”, single sided, double ee
50
FD 650 PERTEC 8”, double sided, double density
@ PRINTERS
MX 100 F/T EPSON 132 column, hi-res graphics
£450
150T ANACOM 132 column, 150 cps, 2k buffer £850
DP8000* ANADEX 80 column, bi-directional, trac-
tor feed
RP1600 RICOH daisy-wheel £1395
SHEET FEEDER for above £650
@ TERMINALS AND DISPLAYS
TVI 920 TELEVIDEO rs 232 terminal £550
TVI 912 C TELEVIDEO £475
CROFTON 9” monitor £75
e@ $100 RAM CARDS
STATIC RAM 32K £100 DYNAMIC RAM 64K £150
16K £65 BUS TERMINATOR £10
GRAFFCOM SUITE (1 set only) — £1200
Sales — £300 NAD — £200 Payroll — £350
Stock control —
€275 Order entry and invoicing —
£275
ALL PRICES INC $ SURCHARGES
ALL ITEMS BRAND NEW — SHOWROOM STOCK
EXCEPT (*) (EXCL C.P.] and VAT)
@ Circle No. 216
169
TANDY MODEL1&3
TANDY COLOR and
VIDEO GENIEOWNERS
America’s
latest Arcade
craze. Its Eat
or be Eaten.
You control
SCARFMAN
around the
aze, gobbling up
everything in your path. You
. 16K
attempt to eat it all before the comb
monsters devour you.
includes V.A.T. & Postage £1 1 s
Available from vour local dealer o
MIGRODEAL
GEAL HOUSE, BRIOGES, BODMIN
CORNWALL PL30 SEF TEL: 0726 850821
DEALER ENQUIRES WELCOME
@ Circle No. 217
MICROCOMPUTER INSURANCE
Comprehensive cover at a reasonable
premium:—
@ All Risks Cover (incl. Transit)
— up to £10,000 for £20
@ Increased Cost of Working
— to reinstate lost data
@ Breakdown and Derangement
— alternative to maintenance agreement
Write with details of equipment to:
Geoffrey Hoodless & Associates
Freepost (no stamp required)
Woking, Surrey GU21 3BR
Tel: Woking (04862) 61082 (24hrs)
@ Circle No. 218
just another Apple bit copier
THROW AWAY YOUR LOCKSMITH! SNAPSHOT REMOVES
COPY PROTECTION, ANO COPIES PROGRAMS THAT NO
BIT COPIER CAN TOUCH — INCLUDING THE BIT COPIERS
THEMSELVES!
SNAPSHOT will copy any program, in any lan-
guage or DOS, that runs on a 48K Apple li (except
Programs that use a Z-80 card or that repeatedly
access their own disk while running.) SNAPSHOT is
a peripheral card that uses your Language Card to
interrupt a running program and dump the entire
contents of 48K and registers to an unprotected
16-sector backup disk. Unlike bit copiers, SNAP-
SHOT requires no parameter changes or trial-and-
error tedium. SNAPSHOT's ful! monitor facilities
make it ideal for debugging your own programs or
analysing others’ programs. PRICE £95 (inclusive).
Aark % Afar Ayctwma
54 ROBIN HOOD WAY, GREENFORD, MIDDX.
PH. 01-900 0104
@ Circle No. 219
170
Apple IV/ITT
Apple I/ITT
Commodore 3000
Commodore 3000/8
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 8000
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
Durango F-85
IBM PC
Superbrain
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
Z-80/8080
Z-80/8080
Systematics
Microsense
Stage One Computers
ACT Microsoft
Stage One Computers
CPS
L & J Computers
ACT (Petsoft)
Stage One Computers
Logma Systems
ACT Microsoft
Great Northern
Omicron
Bytesoft
Micromedia
Graffcom System
MAP Computers
Microtek
Microtek
Median-Tec
Graffcom Systems
Business Solutions
Kesho Systems
ACT Microsoft
Alan Pearman Ltd
Chess Consultancies
A J Harding
Intereurope
Graham Dorian
General Ledger
Machine type
Apple II and III
Apple II
Apple II
Apple
Apple II
Apple I/ITT
Apple IVITT
Commodore
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 8000
Compucorp
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M North Star
Horizon
Supplier name
Systematics
Computer Systems
Dataforce (U.K.) Ltd
Style Systems Ltd
Southern Computer Systems
Systematics International Ltd
Guestel Ltd
Comsoft Associates
Bristol Software Factory
Analog Electronics
Commodore BM (U.K.) Ltd
Verwood Systems
Sail
Wisbech Computer Services
Business Solutions Ltd
Bytesoft
PR Daly & Co Ltd
Haywood Associates Ltd
Median-Tec Litd
Ludhouse Ltd
Computastore Ltd
Great Northern CS
Selven Ltd
Interface Computer Services
Microbits Ltd
Map Computer Systems
Benchmark CS Ltd
Claisse/Allen Computing
Price
£250
£295
£225
£250
£750
£300
£350
£300
£450
£300
£250
£390
£300
£390
£690
£500
£500
£500
£500
£500
£345
£400
£350
£500
£300
£250
£500
Financial controller
Modelling
desktop plan
Financial accounts
package
Financial modelling
Quote processing
Invoice-costing/
jewellers
Cash book
Financial planning
Bank a/c reconcile
Sales/analysis
Micromodeller
Minimodel
Dual currency sales
and bought-ledger
systems
Financial modelling
Invoice disc factoring
Hire-purchase system
Financing system
Accounting
Budget control
Financial analysis
Purchasing system
Mars
Time recording/
ledger
Micromodeller
Financial planning
Sales statistics
Financial balancing
Financial modelling
Sales analysis retail
Capacity
500 a/c 1,700 trans
200 a/c 1,000 trans
1,000 a/c, 2,000
postings
1,000 a/c 12 branches
200 a/c
1,000 a/c 6,000 trans
600 a/c 3,000 trans
varies
varies
varies
500 a/c 5,000 trans
200 a/c 5,000 trans
999 a/c 99 centres
nine computers
250 a/c
1,000 a/c 3,000 trans
varies
varies
250 a/c 3,500 + trans
150 a/c 500 trans
999 a/c 99 entries,
nine computers
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
North Star DOS
Qhio Scientific
Tandy Model 2
Tandy TRS-80
Z-80
Z80/8080
Zilog MCZ range
Hotel and Travel Packages
Machine type
Apple II
Apple Ii
Apple 1
Apple IVITT
Apple II
Commodore 3000
CP/M
CP/M
Incomplete Records
Machine type
Apple IVITT
Apple II
Apple IL
Commodore
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
] CP/M
Durango F-85
Exidy Sorcerer
Tandy Model 1
Tandy Model |
Tandy Model II
Machine type
Apple II
Apple Ii
Apple il
Apple IVITT
Apple IVITT
Commodore
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M North Star
Intelligent Artefacts Ltd £295
Stratheden Ltd £500
Chess Consultancies Ltd £400
Tridata Micros Ltd £225
Liveport Ltd
Solitaire £500
Microbits £500
Supplier name Price
Dataforce £525
Informex Logic £298
Informex Logic £298
Guestel Ltd £500
Diskwise Ltd £695
Landsler Software £350
Sail £600
Sail £1,200
Supplier name Price
Padmede Computer Services £450
Keen Computers £580
Southern Computer Systems £750
The Computer Room £230
Stage One Computers £750
Micro Computation £555
Map £1,250
Wisbech Computer Services £750
CPL Ltd
Job Costing/Billing
Benchmark Ltd £975
Bytesoft £250
Criterion Business Systems {£375
Ludhouse Ltd £1,000
Salmon Microcomputing £950
Map Computer Systems £550
Kesho Systems £1,000
Basic Computing £350
A J Harding (Molimerx) £150
Quickmet £785
IBIS Business Info Systems
Supplier name Price
Informex London £498
Deltic Computing Ltd £250
Southern Computer Systems £750
Padmere Computer Services £300
TABS Ltd £99
Comsoft Associates £350
CSM Ltd £600
Stage One Computers £100
Bromley £400
Vauntberry £1,450
Business Solutions Ltd £190
Map Computer Systems Ltd £550
Graffcom Systems Ltd £400
Ludhouse Ltd £1,000
Microtek Computer Services £1,000
Great Northern CS Ltd £455
Salmon Microcomputing £300
CPL Ltd £300
Goldcrest £200
Intelligent Artefacts £275
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Buyers’ Guide
1,500 a/c 5,000 trans
varies
1,000 a/c
500 a/c 1,800 trans
Up to 26 by 400 a/c
100 a/c 5,000 trans
Notes
Hotel management
Travel agents’ system
Hotel administration
system
Hotel billirig
Hotel reservation and
guest billing
Hotel guest billing
Bar and food stock
Stock and accounting
Capacity
900 a/c 2,000 trans/
disc
up-to 70Mbytes
500 a/c 2,000 trans
500 centres 2,300 a/c
120 a/c 5,000 trans
250 headings, 2,000
trans per 5.25 disc
3,000 trans
2,500 entries
variable
5,000 entries
See also Micropute
1,200
300 a/c 2,000 trans
9,000 a/c codes
Capacity
1,000 emp-pro-exp
codes
999 clients 99 rates
100 jobs 3,000 trans
1,000 jobs 100 people
300 appointments
varies
400-96,000 jobs
varies
1,000 jobs 35 codes
300 clients
225 codes
electronic
symbols and
games
teletext
keymatch
set
DIFFERENT SETS OF
CHARACTERS ON
SCREEN TOGETHER
FOR 2-3-4-8000 PET/CBM COMPUTERS
ALPHA PLU §
Avon Computer
FREEPOST3 THORNBURY BRISTOL. BS12 1BR
LEPHON| 415460 -
plotting matching
@ Circle No. 220
supercharge your
SUPERBRAIN
* Speed up disk operations by 400%
* Cut copying time by up to 75%
* Copy screens to memory or printer
* Chain COM files from BASIC
* Get BDOS errors under your control
* Write unbreakable security routines
* Autoboot any program
* Customise your favourite Word-processor
SeeDee Software tune up kits start
at £30.00
_ Full details from:
COMPUTER
FACILITY
0734 867855
32 Rediands Road,
READING,
t
- Berks.
ere
@ Circle No. 221
SS
| \ ==
\
ee Sey
ASHFORD
COMPUTER
CENTRE
Most makes of Micros and Accessories sup-
plied. Courses in Computer Programming
for the Complete Novice. Free Computer
Club most Sundays 10 am — 3 pm. Micro
Hospital £25.00 + parts repairs most
Micros.
NO REPAIR — NO CHARGE
Ring for Details
ASHFORD 44955
@ Circle No. 222
171
LOW PRICES
16K RAM <£30
Dealers Welcome
Avon Computer Rentals
FREEPOST & THORNBURY BRISTOL BS12 1BR
TELEPHONE - (0454) 415460
@ Circle No. 223
Anita Electronic Services (London) Ltd
are specialists in the repair and service of
Superbrain { and Il and associated prin-
ters including Apple silent type, Centro-
nic, Anadex, NEC, QUME, Ricoh and
Empson.
We also specialise in the repair of Com-
modore and Apple computers.
We offer a fast on-sight service or alter-
natively repairs can be carried out at our
workshops should you wish to bring in
your machine.
Maintenance contracts are available at
very competitive prices. Trade enquiries
welcome.
For further information telephone or write
to:
MR D. WILKINSON
Anita Electronic Services Ltd.,
15 Clerkenwell Close,
London E.C.1.
01-253 2444
@ Circle No. 224
LOW COST HIGH QUALITY SOFTWARE FOR
32K COMMODORE PET
PURCHASE & SALES CONTROL £80 + VAT
Including new datesort routine. Runs both purchase and
sales ledgers to provide a chronological list of receipts
and/or payments. VAT calculation from either the net or the
gross amount (e.g. on petrol receipts) or VAT amount keyed
in. Provides due for payment report at any time and
purchase or sales analysis for any period with totals for net,
VAT, gross and 99 analysis codes.
INVOICE PRINT: sect. caret...
An add-on for PURCHASE & SALES CONTROL to print
invoices laid out according to your own instructions, which
you key in on the first run.
STOCKIGONTROL .. wc ce cce cence s sas £60 + VAT
Stock lists with purchase and selling valuations, re-order
list and list of goods needing re-ordering.
NOMINAL LEDGER . ......- £60 + VAT
Trial balance, profit & loss, balance sheet and 20 other
teports from 1000 nominal accounts.
ADDRESSES .... ... £60 + VAT
Select addresses by categories from your mailing list and
print labels in pairs, (Labels also available).
Don't be put off by the low prices! Write or phone for
details:
Electronic Aids (Tewkesbury) Ltd., Mythe
Crest, The Mythe, Tewkesbury, Glos. GL20
£80 + VAT
6EB.
Tel. (0386) 831020 or (0 84) 294003
We
Machine type
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple I/ITT
Apple IV/ITT
Apple IV/ITT
Commodore
Commodore 3000/8
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032/8
Compucorp
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M Horizon
| CP/M North Star
CP/M North Star
CP/M Vector
North Star
North Star Horizon
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
| Z-80/8080
Z-80/8080
Machine type
Apple II
Apple III
| CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
Mailing Systems
Supplier name
Keen Computers Ltd
SBD Consultants Ltd
Microsense Computers Ltd
Informex London Ltd
Atlanta
Keen Computers
Systematics International Ltd
The Software House
Personal Computers Ltd
Comsoft Associates
Amplicon MS Ltd
MMS Computer Systems
Stage One Computers
Compsoft Ltd
Verwood Systems
Bromley
Sail
Goldcrest
Compsoft Ltd
Structured Systems Group
Graffcom Systems Ltd
Median-Tec Ltd
Microbits
Interface Computer
Services
Microtek Computer
Services
Intelligent Artifacts
Micromedia Systems
Taylor Microsystems
Intelligent Artifacts
Wisbech Computer
Services
AA J Harding (Molimerx)
Comput-A-Crop
Intereurope SD Ltd
Micro Focus
| Nominal Ledger
Supplier name
Logic Computers
Logic Computers
Map
Bonsai
Bromley
P R Daly
Vauntberry
D T Systems
Order Entry/Invoicing
Machine type
Apple II and Ill
Apple II
Apple Il
Commodore 3032
Compucorp
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
Supplier name
Systematics
Informex
Southern Computer Systems
MMS Computers
Verwood Systems
Sail
Bromley
P R Daly
Vauntberry
Typestyle
Wisbech Computer
Services
Graham-Dorian
Goldcrest
PR Daly & Co
Price Capacity
£300 500 addresses
£55
£70
£198
£55 1,000 names and
addresses
£495 32,767 records
£300 500 addresses
poy 750 names and
addresses
£50 400 entries
£150
£145 1,500-4,000 records
£250 3,000 records
£100 325 records
£190 13,000
£250
£400
£100 varies
£200
£400 27,000
£50 varies
£250 800-5,000 records
£500
£230 varles
£200 varies
£250 varies
£250
£195
£395
250 :
£195 1,200 per disc
£55 600-3,750 records
£78 varies
£200 30,000 entries
£90 varies
Price Capacity
£630 100 depts, 200 a/c
£630 §00 depts, 500 a/c
£400 999 headings
£475 999 headings
£400
£500
£950
£750
Price Notes
£250 Invoicing
£198 Invoicing system
£750 Invoicing
£250 Order control
£250
£250 Invoicing/back orders
£400 Order processing
£350 Invoicing
£950 Order processing
£250 Invoicing
£600
£500 200 invoices 1,500
£300 Invoicing
£200 Invoicing
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
Tandy TRS-80.
Z-80/MCZ
Payroll
Machine type
Apple Il
Apple III
Apple II and III
Apple II
Apple IVITT
Apple IVITT
Apple IVITT
Apple I/ITT
Apple IVITT
Apple
Apple IVITT
Commodore .
Commodore 3000/8
Commodore 3000/8
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M ©
CP/M North Star
CP/M North Star
CP/M Vector
Durango F-85
Horizon
Ohio Scientific
Sharp MZ-80
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy Model 2
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
Tecs
Z-80/8080
Z-80/8080
Zilog MCZ range
Graffcom Systems
Interface Ltd
Median-Tec
Tridata Micros
Software Architects
Supplier name
Logic Computers
Logic Computers
Systematics
Dataforce (U.K.) Ltd
TW Computers Ltd
Informex London Ltd
Algobel Computers,
Vlasak Electronics Ltd
Computech Systems
Style Systems Ltd
Tabs Ltd
Comsoft Associates
Commodore BM (U.K.) Ltd
Landslex Software
Analog Electronics
L & J Computers
Intex Datalog Ltd
Comiputastore Ltd
ACT (Petsoft) Ltd
Map
Bromley
P R Daly
Vauntberry
Benchmark CS Ltd
Haywood Associates Ltd
Median-Tec
Salmon-Microcomputing
Map Computer Systems
Daman Computer Services
Selven Ltd
P R-Daly & Co Ltd
Graffcom Systems Ltd
Horizon Software Ltd
PCL Software Ltd
Ludhouse Ltd
Comput-A-Crop
Microbits
Micromedia Systems
Intelligent Artefacts
Taylor Micro Systems
Kesho Systems
Claisse-Allen Computing
Stratheden Litd
Tridata Micros Ltd
AJ Harding (Molimerx)
Chess Consultancies
FIBS
P J Norvis
Tridata Micros Ltd
3-line Computing
Jar Software Systems
Liveport Ltd
Solitaire
Microbits
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
£350
£250
£75
£600
Price
£630
£630
£250
es
£145
£298
£295
£375
£379
£350
£99
£350
£150
£150
£90
£220
£195
£75
£195
£850
£400
£380
£950
£380
£350
£500
£300
£350
£900
£500
£380
£500
£500
£495
£450
£495
£500
£495
£52
£490
£500
£500
£750
£250
£120
£400
£429
£500
£218
£140
£250
£280
£500
£500
==Buyers’ Gude==
Order entry/invoicing
Irivoicing
Invoicing
Invoicing
Order entry/invoicing
Capacity
300 personnel
1,000 personnel
500 employees
200 employees
300 employees
450 employees
50 weekly 100
monthly
500 employees
200-600 employees
200-500 employees
200 employees
483 employees
600 employees
5,000 employees
300 employees, 50
departments
1,000 employees
500 employees
300-96,000 employees
1,000 employees/
Byte
400 employees
500 employees
1,200 employees
300 employees
175 employees
Varies
350 employees
100 employees
250 employees
varies
400 employees
400 employees
1,000 per disk
400 employees
300 employees
500 employees
200 employees
300 employees
as t@ do i follow step-by S1e0 Instructions i the lexi to acquire an underata
opts behind lunction and command uses, and the ability to apply them to thew om
1F YOU OWN OR ARE THINKING OF BUYING
VISICALC OR SUPERCALG YOU SHOULD OWN
' HIS BOOK |
PROTOCOL COMPUTER PRODUCIS — Phone. 01-460 2580
@ Circle No. 226
OSBORNE 71
IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
WE DEMO AND
DELIVER TODAY
0295.66555 COMPUTER SERUICES
@ Circle No. 227
HISOFT PASCAL 4
Incredible Speed, Incredible Price!
Hisoft announces a new, disk-based Pascal com-
piler which is available for Z80 CP M systems."
‘The compiler produces Z80 object code directly, no
P-codes, and this code executes faster than that
produced by any other currently available micro-
computer Pascal compiler.
All the major features of the Pascal language are
supported including RECORDs, POINTERs and
FILEs (of CHAR).
Hisoft’s policy is to continuously extend the capa-
bilities of its software and further versions of the
compiler will be supplied to purchasers of the
current version at a minimal cost. Extensions to
FILE handling will be available soon.
Hisoft Pascal 4 is a powerful and reliable piece of
software and yet it requires only a 32K system in
which to run and costs:
_ anincredible £40!
“Currently available for SUPERBRAIN, RML380Z,
NASCOMs & GEMINI.
Hisoft also have available:
Hisoft Pascal 3 tape-based pascal compiler for NAS-
COM & SHARP MZ80K 3
ZOEV a 280 Development System for GEMINI
{G805 or G809) disk system £45
NASMON a 4K NASCOM monitor £25
NASGEN assembler under NASMON £15
NASNEM disassembler under NASMON £10 |
BAS12K 12K BASIC interpreter under |
All prices are fully inclusive.
Full details from:
HISOFT
60 Hallam Moor, Liden,
Swindon, SN3 6LS.
Tel. 0793 26616 ansaphone.
@ Circle No. 228
73
UK101 COMPUTERCASES SUPER'D
NASCOM TANGERINE BIGBOARD MANY MANY OTHERS
Expansion problems eliminated, all your expansion boards, power
supplies etc., neatly housed in one steel black textured case. The case
is precut for TWO 54° disc drives, [please enquire for 8” drives)
keyboard panel is also precut.
CASE SIZE approx 24” deep, 21" wide, 8)" oe at the rear. ihe sloped
Ki aoe. ooo is hinged and removable
Or easy acces:
UK101 keyboard + Two disc ae cutout
Move . As site plus power bulge to accom. Audib Computers
pate poe module.
Please equire for other keyboard options available, or for further
information ae 8.2.8.
MODEL . £75.00 MODEL B,.. £7700
ORIVES
To fit above case or your own enclosure.
EXCEPTIONAL value famous make drives with solenoid operated head
to minimise unneccessary head contact Saving wear on head and disc.
mars ere 40 Track single sided (can be used in double density mode if
Ores POPOL UK101 Superb’d, Nascom, Genie, Tandy Atom,
ao SS. ... £139.00 Dual 54° S.S.... £275.00
or with power supply ply
pele 54" S.S. with power supply £175. Dual 54” S.S. with power sup.
- SPECIAL OFFER
Deduct £5.00 from order if ONE drive + computer case ordered
together.
Deduct £10.00 if TWO drives + computer case ordered together.
DISCS
5" ono -. IX = £1.89. 10X $4" $.S.5.0, .
. Please add VAT @ 15% to above prices.
jeh supeck on computer case free. Post on disc drives
. £17.50 with free library
ee Fania PO. to.
SILENT COMPUTERS Ltd.,
27 WYCOMBE Rd., LONDON N.17 SKN. Tel: 07-801 3014
MAIL ORDER ONLY viewing and collection can be arranged at
weekends by appointment only.
Good UKI01 arcade type or ater programs wanted, especially with
Sound, standard or 32 X 48 fo:
UK101 COMPUTERCASES SUPER'D
NASCOM TANGERINE BIGBOARD MANY MANY
OTHERS
@ Circle No. 229
THE POWER BANK
Plug your micro computer video unit and Printer
into the POWER BANK and forget about a disabling
break in the i sunely ye Lhe will con-
tinue to 0) ‘Our sys! the t of a mains
failure .. H NO Werurtion 10 ‘YOUR WORK!
Batteries
included
Vital when running business systems. This unit will
of course suppress MAINS SPIKES and SURGES.
SINEWAVE OUTPUT
120VA £320 250VA £450
plus carriage, packing and VAT
POWER. TESTING LTD
137a anh Street, Brentwood, Essex ee 4RX
Tel: Brentwood (0277) 220617
@ Circle No. 230
* BIG EARS *”,
SPEECH
INPUT
FOR ANY
COMPUTER
Hugely successful Speech Recognitidn Sysi
complete with microphone, software and fut isch
BUILT TESTED & GUARANTEED ONLY £49
PLEASE STATE COMPUTER: UK101, SUPERBOARD. NASCON2,
Vic 20, Micron, BBC Micro 2X8081, PET, THS80 BOK, APPLE |i
2X80 2X81
MUSIC SYNTHESISER 5 ce |
a S
So, Hs
+16 LINE CONTROL PORT 2x,
Play 3-part music, sound effects,
drums etc, Full control of attack, decay
and frequency. input/Output lines provide
control and monitor facility for Home Security, Robot Controls
Model Railway, etc, etc. Works with or without J8K RAM
Add keyboard to make @ live perlormance polyphonic: aynthesiser!
Full instructions/software included.
AMAZING VALUE AT ONLY £1 9. 50 tr
Extra Connector at £2.50
COLOUR MODULATOR
RGB In, PAUUHF oul
UK101/NASCOM COLOUR GRAPHICS
inc. Modulator. Still the best selling system!
Please add VAT at 15% to ail prices.
Barclay/Access orders accepted by telephone
WILLIAM
STUART
SYSTEMS Ltd
£25.50 (BUIL
Dower House, Billericay Road
Herongate, Brentwood,
Essex C!
“Telephone; Brentwood (0277) 810244
@ Circle No. 231
174
Personnel and. Administration
Machine type
Apple II
Apple II
Apple IVITT
Apple II/ITT
Apple IV/ITT
Commodore 3000
Commodore 8096
Compucorp
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M North Star
CP/M Vector
Superbrain
Z-80/8080
Supplier name
Informex Logic
Inforrnex Logic
Informex Logic
Informex Logic
Informex Logic
Intext Datalog Ltd
Missing Link
Verwood Systems
MJN Consulting
Median-Tec Ltd
Micromedia
Taylor Microsystems
Micro-Pension
Intereurope
Property Management
Machine type
Apple IV/ITT
Apple IVITT
Apple II/ITT
Apple I/ITT
Commodore 3032/8
CP/M
CP/M a
CP/M
Z-80/8080
Supplier name
Cyderpress Ltd
Informex London Ltd
Cyderpress Ltd
Algobel Comiputers Ltd
Compsoft Ltd
Compsoft Ltd
Algobel Computers Ltd
Salmon Microcomputing
Graham Dorian Software
Purchase Ledger
Machine Type
Apple II
Apple III
Apple II and III
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple IV/ITT
Apple IV/ITT
Apple
Apple II/ITT
Commodore
Commodore 3000/8
Commodore 3000/8
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 8000
Compucorp
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
Supplier name
Logic Computers
Logic Computers
Systematics
Dataforce (U.K.) Ltd
Logic Box Ltd
Deltic Computing Ltd
Computech Systems
Southern Computer Systems
Systematics International Ltd
Padmede Computer
Services
Style Systems Ltd
Guestel Ltd
Comsoft Associates
CSM Ltd
Anagram Systems
ACT (Petsoft) Ltd
Compfer Ltd
Commodore BM Ltd
Verwood Systems
Sail
Bonsai
Bromley
P R Daly
Vauntberry
Typestyle
Johnson
DT Systems
CPL Ltd
Goldcrest
Price Application
£198 Personnel records
£298 Staff selection tests
£298 Employment agency
system
£198 Medical records
£198 Hospital
administration
£100 Hospital
administration
£2,000 Personnel records
£250
£2,000 Integrated personnel
records and payroll
£1,500 Employment agency
system
£595 Personnel records
£500 Piéce work
£950 Pensions
administration
£500 Personnel records
Price Capacity
£650 1
£298 300 entries
£650 500 properties
£650 400 properties
£190 13,000
£400 27,000
£650 2,000 trans
£900
£325 varies
Price Capacity
£630 800 a/c, 1,500 trans
£630 2,000 a/c, 5,000 trans
£250 |
£315 200 a/c, 1,000 trans
£490 400 a/c, 1,000 trans
£280 1,000 trans
£295 500 a/c, 1,600 trans
£750 variable
£300 900 a/c, 4,500 trans/
disc
£250 650 a/c, 1,750 trans
£300 200 a/c
£350 1,000 a/c
£550 1,000-2,000 a/c
6,000-10,000 trans
£399 30200-2,000 a/c
800-16,000 trans
£120 200 a/c 700 trans
£300 1,000 trans
7,000 entries
£300 600 a/c 4,500 trans
£250
£395 varies
£475
£400
£350
£950
£250
£200
£750
£300
£300
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M North Star
Durango F-85
Exidy Sorcerer
Honzon
Ohio Scientific
Tandy Models 1&2
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
Zilog MCZ range
2-80
Z80-8080
Sales Ledger
Machine type
Apple ll
Apple III
Apple II and II!
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple I/ITT
Apple IVITT
Apple IVITT
Apple II
Apple
Commodore
Commodore 3000/8
Commodore 3000/8
Commodore 3032
Commodore 8000
Compucorp
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M’
Wisbech Computer Services £300
Bytesoft
Business Solutions Ltd
Median-Tec Ltd
Ludhouse Ltd
Great Northern CS Ltd
Structured Systems Ltd
Selven Ltd
Salmon Microcomputing
Map Computer Systems Ltd
Microbits
PR Daly & Co Ltd
Computastore Ltd
Haywood Associates
Interface Computer Services
Selven Systems
Benchmark CS Ltd
Kesho Systems
Basic Computing
Claisse Allen Computing
Stratheden Ltd
Chess Consultancies Ltd
FIBS
Tridata Micros Ltd
Microbits Ltd
Liveport Ltd
Solitaire
Supplier name
Logic Computers
Systematics
Computech Systems
Dataforce (U.K.) Ltd
Logic Box Ltd
Deltic Computing Ltd
Padmede Computer Services
Guestel Ltd
Systematics International Ltd
Southem Computer Systems
Style Systems Ltd
Comsoft Associates
Anagram Systems
CSM Ltd
ACT (Pétsoft) Ltd
Commodore BM (€U.K.) Ltd
Verwood Systems
Map
Bonsai
Bromley
P R Daly
Vauntberry
Typestyle
Johnson
Wisbech Computer Services
Goldcrest
CPL Ltd
Business Solutions
Bytesoft
PCL Software Ltd
Great Northern CS Ljd
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
£400
£390
£500
£500
£315
£460
£600
£350
£400
£500
£350
£400
£350
£350
£600
£250
£500
£125
£500
£500
£250
£750
£225
£500
£500
Price
£630
£630
£250
£296
£315
£490
£250
£300
£300
£750
£250
£350
£299
£550 and
£650
£120
£300
£250
£400
£475
£400
£350
£950
£250
£200
£300
£300
£300
£425
£400
£475
£415
Buyers’ Guide="
vanes
varies
500 a/c §,000 trans
500 a/c §,000 trans
500 a/c
varies
1,000 a/c
2,000 trans
1,000 a/c
24,000 trans
400-96,000 a/c
varles
500 a/c 3,100 trans
varles
500 suppliers 5,000
trans
100 a/c 300 trans
See also Micropute
800 a/c 2,000 trans
varies
300-500 a/c
part of integrated
system
125 a/c 1,000 trans
400 suppliers
1,000 trans
200 by 26 a/c
Capacity
600 a/c, 1,500 trans
2,000 a/c, $,000 trans
500 a/c 1,600 trans
200 a/c 1,000 trans
300 a/c 1,300 trans
1,000 a/c
900 a/c 4,500 trans/
disc
200 a/c
650 a/c 2,500 trans
250-2,000 a/c
500-10,000 trans
1,000-2,000 a/c
6,000-10,000 trans
200 a/c 700 trans
600 a/c 4,500 trans
with invoices
varies
950 a/c
500 a/c
Oneday:10amto 6pm.
August 21st. Westminster Exhibition Centre
(Royal Horticultural Society New Hall)
Greycoat Street, London SW1,
Nearest Tube, Victoria or St James Park.
Admission, Adult 60p; Child (under 1%) 40;
Mike Johnston, 71 Park Lane, London M7 OHG Enclose SAE).
@ Circle No. 232
Calling all
hobbyists,
schools, software
houses and
budding
programmers!
We would like to hear from program
writers who would like to see their work
published on Prestel for everyone to
use, We'd like programs for most mic-
ros — Apple, BBC, Commodore, Tandy,
Sinclair to be included in our Database,
Aladdin's Cave.
If you are interested then please contact
us at:
Aladdin's Cave, Prestel Headquarters,
Telephone House, Temple Ave, London
EC47 OHL.
Prestel and the Prestel symbol are
trademarks of British Telecommunica-
tions.
@ Circle No. 233
i |
POLYGON |!
oes High Resolution Graphics
IEE 696 512 x 512 graphics
Latest dedicated controller for high speed opera-
tion and ease of use.
512 diagonal can be drawn in 700 u
Can display 85 x 57 characters ating built in
character generator.
Characters may be:
straight or tilted
written in any of four directions
characters may be scaled by a factor of 1 to 16
(independently for X and Y)
1O mapped controller does not take up user mem-
ory space,
Light pen facility.
PCB & documentation
Built and tested
Add on colour ee —to geliows a
Please add £7.50 p&p and 15% VAT
DATA SYSTEMS CO SULTANTS, 43 SIMONBURN
AVE., FENHAM, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, NE4
SUA 0632-741723 evenings and weekends.
@ Circle No. 234
175
MICROWARE
(London Ltd)
COMPLETE DISC DRIVE
SUB SYSTEMS
For Tandy;. Video Genie;
Nascom
AND ALL POPULAR MICROS
SINGLE UNITS £175
DUAL UNITS £295
BBC MICRO
SINGLE UNIT. FROM £135
Includes PSU and attractive desk top cabinet
@ Fully guaranteed CDC disc drives
®@ Cast aluminium chassis
@ 5 mili sec track to track
@ 250k; 500k or IMB
@ industry compatible
Microware
(London Ltd)
637 Holloway Road,
London Ni9
Tel: 01-272 6237
01-272 6398
@ Circle No. 235
:DISCS FORTH;
Complete DIY FORTH kit
1) Installation manual s+ epee EO
How to do it + definitiions + editor.
2) Source code listing for one processor £10
6502, 6800, 6809, 8080/Z80, 8086/8088, 9900, 1802
manual + one listing . £19
Ready to run
FORTH on disc for most machines incl. PET, TRS80,
FLEX, CP/M, IBM, and more ........-. from £50
Dual 8" disc drives £525 + VAT
2 x 8" single-sided double- density ‘Shugart drives
+ box + PSU + intelligent controller
SAE for details including FORTH baoks
MicroProcessor Engineering Ltd
21 Hanley Road Shiney
Southampton SOt 5AP
Tel: Southampton 775482
@ Circle No. 236
«TERMINUS» VDUs
RS232, 11 speeds 75 to 38400 baud. Green matt
screen. 25 x 60 with status ling. ASCII (true
decendsrs) plus graphics, 190 displayable charac-
ters; 6 x 8 matrix in 8 x 11 box, full box avail-
able to graphics; alter matrix any character.
Reverse video, dual intensity, flashing & under-
lining, any combination, character by character;
selective erasure. Protected spaces, Ustached key~
board with sidepad. Full cursor control including
addressing & read position. On & off line editting.
Scroll & pags. 20 strings up to 511 characters
storable & recallable from keyboard & line.
Optional 2nd page memory improves editting, allows
animation.
Optional printer port.
£540-00
£ 24-00
Printer port q add £ 7-50
Introductory offer p & p free. Please add 15%
VAT. Allow 28 days delivery. DEALER ENQUIRIES
WELCOME.
COLEWOOD COMPUTERS LIMITED, 25 Sycamore Avenue,
St. Austell, Cornwall, PL25 40K.
@ Circle No. 237
"Terminus" VOU :
2nd page memory: add
176
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M North Star
Durango F-85
Exidy Sorcerer
Horizon
Tandy Models 1 & 2 Claisse-Allen Computing
Chess Consultancies Ltd
Tandy TRS-80
Tecs
Z-80
Stock Systems
Machine type
Apple I] and III
Apple Il
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple Il
Apple II
Apple II
Apple
Apple IVITT
Apple I/ITT
Apple I/ITT
Apple IVITT
Apple IVITT
Apple IV/ITT
Commodore
Commodore 3000
Commodore 3000/8
Commodore 3000/8
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032/8
Compucorp
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
Haywood Associates Ltd
Median-Tec Ltd
Ludhouse Ltd
Graffcom Systems Ltd
Computerstore Ltd
Salmon Microcomputing
‘Selven Systems
Map Computer Systems Ltd
Daman Computer Services
PR Daly & Co Ltd
Interface Computer
Services
Benchmark CS Ltd
Kesho Systems
Basic Computing
Tridata Micros Ltd
Jar Software Systems
Liveport Ltd
Supplier name
Systematics
Logic Box Ltd
Vlasak Electronics Ltd
Dataforce (U.K.) Ltd
U-Microcomputers Ltd
Microsense Computers Ltd
Informex London Ltd
Souther Computer Systems
Style Systems Ltd
Microdigital Ltd
Vlasak Electronics Ltd
Systematics International Ltd
Guestel Ltd
Padmede Computer Services £300
The Software House
Comsoft Associates
Intex Datalog Ltd
Commodore BM (U.K.) Ltd
Rockliff Brothers Ltd
Logma Systems Design
ACT (Petsoft) Ltd
ACT Microsoft Ltd
Anagram System.
L & J Computers
Bristol Software Factory
Stage One Computers
SMG Microcomputers
Compfer Ltd
Compsoft Ltd
Verwood Systems
Bromley
Sail
P R Daly
Typestyle
Johnson
CPL Ltd
CGoldcrest
Wisbech
Bytesoft
Compsoft Ltd
£350
£500 500 a/c 5,000 trans
£500 2,000 a/c
8.0 trans
£450 540-7,000
£400 500 a/c 3,500 trans
£350 1,000 a/c
24,000 trans
£600 500 a/c 5,000 trans
£300 400-96,000 a/c
£900 1,500 a/c 500 trans
£350
£350 varies
£250 200 a/c 500 trans
£500
£125 See also Micropute
£500 800 a/c 2,000 trans
£250 300 a/c
£225 175 a/c 1,350 trans
£650 500 a/c
Price Capacity
£250
£490 1,200 items
£150 7,000 items
£200 850 items
£199
£100
£198
£1,000
£250 900-80,000 items
£225 625 items
£285 500 items
£500 200-2,500 items
£300
2,000 postings
£80 800 items
£350
£195 2,400-3,700 items
600-2,000 items
£275 3,400- 10,000 records
£600 1-6 shops
7G) 2,400 items 1,000 a/c
£75 1,200-5,900 items
£320 500-600 items 255 a/c
£60 500 items
£300 2,300 items
£100 and 600-650 items
£395-£495 2,450-7,000 items
£350 200 lines 20 bars
£190 13,000
£250
£400
£250
£200
£250
£200
£300
£300
£300
£700
£400
2,000-8,000 lines
27,000
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M Cromenco
CP/M Horizon
CP/M North Star
CP/M Vector
North Star DOS
Exidy Sorcerer
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
Tecs
Tecs
Zilog MCZ range
Z-80/8080
Z-80/8080
Z-80 MCZ
Z-80
Buyers’ Guide™"
Microtek Computer Services £750
PR Daly & Co Ltd
Great Northern CS Ltd
Haywood Associates Ltd
Median-Tec Ltd
Microbits
Graffcom Systems Ltd
Salmon Microcomputing
Map Computer Systems Ltd
Ludhouse Ltd
Interface Computer Services
Selven Systems
Micromedia Systems
Microtek Computer Services
Benchmark CS Ltd
Taylor Micro Systems
Intelligent Artifacts Ltd
Basic Computing
Chess Consultancies
A J Harding (Molimerx)
Cleartone ADP
Chess Consultancies
FIBS
Micro Gems
Tridata Micros Ltd
Microgems Software
Jar Software Services
Jar Software Services
Microbits
Graham Dorian Software
Rogis Systems Ltd
Software Architects Ltd
Liveport Ltd
Word Processing
Machine type
ACT Sirius
ACT Sirius
Apple I
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple IVITT
Apple IV/ITT
Apple IVITT
Commodore 3000
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Compucorp
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M North Star
CP/M Vector
North Star (‘c’)
Z-80 Superbrain
Miscellaneous
Machine type
Apple II ~
Apple
Supplier name
ACT Microsoft
ACT Microsoft
Rocon
Dataforce (U.K.)Ltd
SBD Consultants Ltd
Keen Computers
Systematics International Ltd
Algobel Computers Ltd
Personal Computers Ltd
Stage One Computers Ltd
Dataview Ltd
ACT (Petsoft) Ltd
Verwood Systems
Wisbech Computer Services
Interface Computer Services
Microbits
Intelligent Artifacts
Taylor
Intelligent Artifacts
Alan Pearman Ltd
Supplier name
Wida
Attar
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
£350
£375 1,500
£350
£500-£800 1,000 items
£500 varies
£350 350 records/disc
£400 5,000 items
£250
£1,000 12,000 parts
£350 varies
£600
£1,000
£500-
£1,000
£450 350 items 275 trans
£995 4,000 items/Mbyte
£195
£125
£995
£150 1,000 items
£325 4,000 items
£750 500 items six sites
£750
£150 1,000 items
£200-£375 630 items/disc
varies
£150 1,000-2,000 items
£800 10,000 items 5,000
orders
£850 1,000 items 300 a/c
£500 2,300 items
£325 varies
£600 900-3,500 items
£600, varies
Price Comments
£295 WordStar
£325 Select
£170 Zardax
£190
£60
£275
£75
£75
£225-£300
£125
£159
£325
£500
£245
£200
£230
£250
£395
£250
£225
Price Application
£120 German language-
learning package
£280 Dental lab package
SEARCHING FOR BEST PRICE
FOUND BEST PRICE... GO TO ORCHARD
Our own
transport
delivers
CASSETTE
16K
nation-
wide
weekty.
All you
need is
our Best
Price
Quotation.
Contact
us now!
For super
PRINTERS service.
4022P 80CDL.BIDIR
8023 136COL
8300 DAISY
{f you know what you want why wait?
ORCHARD COMPUTER SERVICES
ORCHARD HOUSE, 21 ST. MARTINS ST.,
WALLINGFORD, OXON.
TEL: WALLINGFORD (0491) 35529
@ Circle No. 238
OSBORNE 1
IN OXFORDSHIRE
WE DEMO AND
DELIVER TODAY
0295.66555 COMPUTER SERVICES
@ Circle No. 239
Save fff
on
Matrix Printers
All popular micros including BBC.
Rin for prices for Epson range of
printers with or without graphics
on Bracknell (0344) 50720 any-
time.
@ Circle No. 240
“ZX GRAPHICS
PROGRAMMING MADE EASY"
Full Colour A4 Manual, 24 pages packed with ZX
Graphics Programming techniques and ideas for games
and ‘serious’ Programs. Written in ‘easy to understand’
language and illustrated at =
every Stage.
Ideas include:
Information Graphics
Sketch-Pads.
Saving your ‘Art’.
Making serious
programs interesting.
Graphics Stringing.
ZX Printer Graphics
1:50
{INCLUDING UX. POSTAGE)
Print’n' Plotter Products (PC)
19 Borough ae Street,
London SE1 9SE.
Us’
APPLE DEALER SS
FOR " :
PETERSFIELD & GUILDFORD
WILL DEMONSTRATE COLOUR GRAPHICS
DATA BASE/MAILING LIST
TABS ACCOUNTING SYSTEM
FOR SALES & SERVICE:
ACCESS CONTROL SYSTEMS LTD.
72 WINCHESTER ROAD,
PETERSFIELD, HANTS GU32 3PW
Tel: Petersfield (0730) 5274
_@eprie
@ Circle No. 242
ATOM HARDWARE
INTERFACES
*% Serial interface card
% Real Time Clock card
% Joystick and Controller
*
*
po Digital-Analogue
car
Home Power Controller System
% Custom interfaces made to your
specification i
For further details either fill in Reader
Enquiry Service card, or call direct.
S A KIRK
TEL: (01)-470 3673
@ Circte No. 243
Complete Business System
TRS 80
48K Model | Level Il, Double Density upgrade,
Lower Case upgrade, Numeric Key pad, complete
with Interface, System Desk, Green Screen, etc.
£795.00
To suit above: 2 Shugart SA 400 disk drives, 35
track Double Density, £145.00
Alternative: Teac 80 Track Double Density twin
drives. £455.00
Two of these twin drives will give total disk storage
of app. 1.5™M
Also Centronics Dot Matrix Printer Model 779.
£195.00
We also have Business Software, specifically writ-
ten for this model and orientated towards distribu-
tlon and accounting:
Please phone Wolverhampton
(0902) 710 700 for further details.
@ Circle No. 244
Educational
Programs
BBC MICRO
GEOGRAPHY — italy — colour map dis-
plays, regions, cities, mountains, rivers —
text and testing £5
MATHS — Translations — colour diagrams,
explanations, tests £5
SUITABLE 9-15 yr. olds
Please state whether 16k or 32k
CORONA (Software),
21 Tennyson Ave,
London E.11. Tel: 01-989 8534
’ @ Circle No. 245
178
Apple II and III
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple Il
Apple II
Apple II
Apple
Apple IVITT
| Apple IV/ITT
Apple IVITT
Apple I/ITT
Apple IVITT
Apple IVITT
Apple JVITT
Apple IV/ITT
BBC Model B
Commodore
Commodore Vic
Commodore 3000
Commodore 3000
Commodore 3000
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
Commodore 8000
Commodore 8000
Commodore 8000
Commodore 8000
Commodore 8000
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
Northern Computers
Vlasak Electronics
Humac Ltd
Humac Ltd
Humac Ltd
Keen Computers
Keen Computers
Style Systems Ltd
Informex Logic
Informex Logic
Diskwise
Cyderpress
CPR Systems Ltd
Personal Computers
Personal Computers
Padmede Computers
Typestyle
Comsoft Associates
The Computer Room
Anagram Systems
Anagram Systems
The Alphabet Company
Microland
Stage One Computers
Stage One Computers
Commodore BM (U.K.)
CSM Ltd
S A Systems
L & J Computers
Mandata Ltd
Peach Data Services
Peach Data Services
Peach Data Services
Stage One
Stage One
Orchard
Orchard
The Computer Room
Core
Core
Core
Bromley
Bromley
Bromley
Bromley
P R Daly
P R Daly
£290-£690 Price discounting
£30
£1,000
£600
£499
£499
£750
£198
£198
£198
£650
£960
£195
£100
£500
£750
£450
£250
£850
£800
£350
£175
£100
£200
£50
£500
£550
£420
£1,000
£350
£550
£995
£800
£330
£200
£150
£980
£1,500
£1,500
£350
£2,000
£1,000
£2,000
£400
£1,050
£2,000
Petrol pump losses
Auctioneer's package
Invoicing sales —
timber
Microfiche records
Inhouse teletext
Graphics
Retail warehouse
management
Insurance records
Time records —
solicitors
TV rental
management
system
Auction system
Insurance brokers
system
Operational research
Time series analysis
Insurance brokers
system
Retail newsagents
Domestic central-
heating estimates
Newsagents
Media control system
Slot machine monitor
Newsagent suite
Printers quote system
Insurance brokers
system
Printers job control
Appointments planner
Window replacement
Farming — office
systems
Machine hire
Insurance brokers
Library retrieval
system
Footware industry
sales reporting
Clients home
accounting
General accounting
package
Petaid/Wordcrafv/Visi-
Calc link ®
Manufacturing
shortage control
Shortage progress
chasing
Newsagents accounts
and distnbution
Advertisers accounts
system
Insurance brokers
accounts system
Recruitment agency
system
Bookmakers system
Industrial cleaners
system
Investment brokers
system
Property management
Contract costing
Integrated solicitors
accounting
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M North Star
CP/M
Ohio Scientific
Ohio Scientific
Ohio Scientific
North Star DOS
North Star Horizon
North Star Horizon
North Star Horizon
SuperBrain
SuperBrain
SuperBrain
SuperBrain
SuperBrain
SuperBrain
SuperBrain
SuperBrain
SuperBrain
SuperBrain
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
P R Daly
Vauntberry
Vauntberry
Vauntberry
Johnson
Johnson
Basys
Benchmark Ltd
Bytesoft
Bytesoft
Bytesoft
Byesoft
Microtek
Horizon Software
Horizon Software
Research Resources
Sail
Sail
Sail
Salmon Microcomputer
Selven Systems
Map Computer Systems
Map Computing Systems
Map Computer Systems
Haywood
Comput-a-Crop
Microtek
Goldcrest
Micromedia
Taylor Microsystems
Stratheden Ltd
Stratheden Ltd
Stratheden Ltd
Intelligent Artifacts
Wisbech Computer Services
Wisbech Computer Services
Wisbech Computer Services
Alan Pearman Ltd
Alan Pearman Ltd
Alan Pearman Ltd
Alan Pearman Ltd
Alan Pearman Ltd
Alan Pearman Ltd
Alan Pearman Ltd
Alan Pearman Ltd
Alan Pearman Ltd
Alan Pearman Ltd
Typestyle
Chess Consultancies
Cleartone ADP
Cleartone ADP
PJ Norris
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
£500
£1,950
£2,200
£1,000
£200
£200
£1,000
£350
£850
£150
£850
£200
£500
£1,000
£400
£240
£1,000
£1,850
£600
£150
£400
£450
£760
£425
£500
£1,000
£1,000
£300
£195
£800
£300
£52
£750
£750
£450
£190
£105
£225
£125
£490
£325
£75
£225,
£195
£380
£1,500
£995
£300
£500
£1,000
Buyers’ Guide™
Time recording
Production control
Requirements
planning, bill of
materials, stock
control
Double-glazing design
and costing
Insurance brokers
Prestel software
Estate agents
Time recording
Work in progress
Perpetual inventory
Bill of materials
Kit control
Garage system
Integrated business
system
Costing systems
Statistical analysis
Jewellers integrated
system
Publishers integrated
stock and accounts
Retail stock
Appointments planner
Nominal ledger
Time recording
Calor system
Newsboy/newsagents
system
Time recording
Farm management
Plant hire
Nominal ledger
Vehicle maintenance
Bill of materials
Statistics package
Insurance brokers
system
Hospital package
Parts list management
and ordering
Double-glazing
manufacturer
Double-glazing costs
Time recording
Statistics package
APL utility functions
APL Text editor/
processor
Micro-mainframe
communications
Modelling/simulation
Actuarial calculations
Password security
system
Report formatting
CP/M networks
Hard graphics copy
Wholesale newsagent
Haulage
administration
WIP and invoicing
system
Patient and drugs
records
Comprehensive sales
and purchase
Atom & BBC
Your local Fruit and Nut
NORTHERN COMPUTERS
Churchfield Rd, Frodsham,
Warrington WA6 6RD.
0928 35110
@ Circle No. 246
OSBORNE1
IN WARWICKSHIRE
WE DEMO AND
DELIVER TODAY
0295.66555 COMPUTER SERVICES
@ Circle No. 247
All Prices Inclusive: Access Holders Ring (0249)
3241 Ex. 39
VIC SOFTWARE
SPACE HOPPER
Afast action game of skill and excitememt, can you guide your space
frog through the hustle and bustle of space traffic, without being
crushed by Intergalactic space trains, can you avoid being shot by
hidden laser guns and are you able ta hop through the small gaps
Provided by the space traffic, This incredible game is very fast
mony and the use of HI-RES graphics make it a game not to be
missed. No Vic awner should be without this one.
SUPPLIED ON CASSETTE AT £7. (unexpanded Vic)
For more details on software ring the ‘TITAN HOTLINE’ or send a
SAE for our latest catalogue. GENEROUS DEALER DISCOUNTS
AVAILABLE, SEND NOW FOR OUR PRICES.
OTHER CASSETTES INCLUDE {for the unexpanded Vic)
STAR WARS II at £7.
NAVAL ATTACK at £7.
& TROLL ISLAND {a great adventure game) at £6.
TITAN HOTLINE on 0225 810132 or 0249 55854
For instant despatch send cheques or postal orders
to:
TITAN PROGRAMS, 83 ASHWOOD ROAD, RUD-
LOE, CORSHAM, WILTSHIRE SN13 OLG.
@ Circle No. 248
STEMMOS LTD ANNOUNCES | |
AUTOCODE
Automatic development of d-Base ||
program code without any program-
ming, |
Automatic Menus
Automatic Data Entry Screens
Automatic Data Entry Routines
Automatic Edit/Validation.
String, Numeric, Data and calcu-
lated fields.
Automatic Multiple Reports
Automatic Programs in d-Base
code with interactive screens.
STEMMOS LTD
344 KENSINGTON HIGH STREET,
LONDON W14
TEL: 01-602 6242
d-Base Il TM Ashton Tate
@ Circle No. 249
179
DISKS STATIONERY PRINTERS
Special offers on disks, stationery and
printers
Floppy diskettes in boxes of 10
5} s/s s/density s/sectored only £15.00
8” s/s s/density s/sectored only £20.70
(Add £1.00/box P & P + Vat.)
Continuous stationery-1000 sheets
93°11" Plain single part only £4.61
93°" 11" Plain (with $” margins) only £5.96
144"°X11" Lined or plain single part only
6.
(includes delivery, excludes Vat.)
Printers fram Newbury Labs
Special introductory Offer
A free box of 9}’"x 11" Stationery with
every Newbury Printer purchased
The 8510 (11” carriage)
only £480.00
The 1550 (15” carriage)
only £650.00
For the printer that has everything standard,
buy The Newbury 8510 or 1550. Price
includes 6’ cable
CDP Consultants Limited
Ring Clavering (079985) 617
@ Circle No. 250
“IC TEST SOFTWARE”
Written for Gen-Rad 1732
Digital IC test systems. Ideal
for goods inwards checking
etc. competitive service.
Contact:
Micro-Developments (UK) Ltd
01-656-7782
@ Circle No. 251
“MONOPOLY
w& Computer challenges you at Monopoly as a player.
w& For up to 6 players (Including computer).
% Unique system featured whereby computer detects the
skill of best player then adjusts its skill automatically to
match that player.
% Computer's game at highest level is ‘strong’.
w Every game different, close, exciting and challenging.
te Game data can be saved on tape to continue game at
another time.
w Easy fool-proof entry ideal, even-for children to use.
% 2 versions of Monopoly included. ‘Standard’ — as to
rules. ‘Popular’ — slight variation to rules.
t Many, many hours of fun for all the family.
On tape for the VIDEO GENIE and TRS-80. Model
1 & 3. Level 2. 16k.
1 BELL LANE
COMPUTICS 786i Lan
MICROSOFT OXFORD OXS 1xY
£9.95 inclusive.
@ Circle No. 252
180
Tandy TRS-80 Quickmet £785
Zilog MCZ range Microbits £1,000
Zilog MCZ range Microbits £1,000
Zilog MCZ range Microbits £1,000
Z-80/8080 Intereurope £500
Integrated accounts
package
Insurance brokers
system
Production control
Bill of materials
Conference organiser
Alphabetical list of suppliers
Supplier
3-Line Computing
0482-445496
ACT Microsoft Ltd
021-454-8585
Aerco-Gemsoft
04862-22881
AJ Harding (Molimerx)
0424-22039
Alan Pearman Ltd
0244-46024/2 1084
Algobel Computers Ltd
021-233-2407
Amplicon M § Ltd
0273-60833 1
Anagram Systems
0403-50854
Analog Electronics
0203-417761
Atlanta Data Systems Ltd
01-739-5889
Attar Computers Ltd
Leigh 671491
Basic Computing
0535-65094
Basys Ltd
01-953-7303
Benchmark CS Ltd
0726-61000
Bonsai Ltd
01-580-0902
Bristol Software Factory
0272-277135
Bromley Computer
Consultancy Ltd
01-464-8080
Business Solutions Ltd
01-554-5985/0582
Bytesoft Systems Limited
0533-531441
Chess Consultancies Ltd
061-832-6792
Cleartone ADP
0495-244555
Clenlo Computing Services
01-653-6028
Commodore BM (U.K.) Ltd
Slough 74111
Address
36 Clough Road
Hull HUS 1QL
ACT House
111 Hagley Road
Edgbaston
Birmingham B16 8LB
27 Chobham Road
Woking, Surrey
28 Collington Avenue
Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex
Maple House, Mortlake Crescent
Chester CH3 5UR
33 Cornwall Buildings
Newhall Street
Birmingham B3 3QR
Richmond Road
Brighton, Sussex BN] 6JA
60a Queens Street
Horsham, West Sussex
RH13 5AD
47 Ridgeway Avenue
Coventry
350/356 Old Street
London ECIV 9DT
211 St Helens Road
Leigh, Lancashire WN7 3BR
Oakworth Road
Keighley, West Yorkshire
BD22 7LA
191-195 Shenley Road
Borehamwood, Hertfordshire
WD6 1AW
7-8 Aylmer Square
St Austell, Cornwall
PL25 5LL
112-116 New Oxford Street
London WCIA 1HJ
Kingsons House, Grove Avenue
Queens Square, Bristol BS] 4QY
244A High Street
Bromley, Kent BR] 1PQ
| Park Avenue, Ilford
Essex IG] 4LU
16 New Street
Leicester LE] 5NR
Progress House
31-33 Mount Street, Salford
Manchester M3
Prince of Wales Industrial Estate
Abercarn, Gwent NPI 5R]J
15 South View Court
The Woodlands, Beulah Hill
London SE19
818 Leigh Road
Slough Industrial Estate
Slough, Berkshire
Sales
Tim Hill
Matthew
Wauchope
John Harding
Amanda Anders
Peter Wood
Frank Laughton
David Isherwood
Mike Collier
Cliff Gudgeon
John Fisher
Michael Kraftman
W J Kyle-Price
Anthony Burridge
S Page
David Biggins
D G West
C J Holbrook
A Gould
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
—eeees Buyers’ Gude
Compfer Ltd
0772-57684
Compsoft Ltd
0483-39665/5059 18
Comput-A-Crop
01-771-0867
Computech Systems
01-794-0202
Comsoft Associates
021-449-9151
Core International Ltd
0785-4261 |
CPL
(CwmniPeiriannegLlyn Ltd)
(0758) 3035
CPR Systems Ltd
04492-5488
CPS (Data Systems) Ltd
021-707-3866
CSC (Northern Ltd)
(0274) 391076
CSM Ltd
021-382-4171
Cyderpress Ltd
0491-37769
Daman Computer Services
061-793-7015
PR Daly & Co Ltd
09274-29815
Deltic Computing Ltd
Basingstoke $9715
Diskdean Ltd
01-242-7394
Diskwise Ltd
05793-3780
D T Systems
(0603) 27833
Equinox Computer Systems
01-739-2387/9
Fully Integrated
Business Systems Ltd
021-328-7920
Gilmorehill Software Ltd
041-332-2013
Goldcrest Computer
Services
Newport Pagnell
613188/611988
Graffcom Systems Ltd
Graham Dorian Software
01-379-7931
Great Northern Computer
Services
0532-589980
Guestel Ltd
0225-65379
G W Computers Ltd
01-636-8210
Hayden Young Ltd
01-387-4377
Haywood Associates Ltd
011-428-9831
HB Computers Ltd
0536-5209 10
Preston Computer Centre
6 Victoria Buildings, Fishergate
Preston, Lancashire
Great Tangley, Manor Farm
Wonersh, Guildford, Surrey
32 Whitworth Road
London SE25 6XH
168 Finchley Road
London NW3
.C-2D Wake Green Road
Moseley, Birmingham B13 9EZ
92 Wolverton Road
Stafford, Staffs ST17 4AH
Liverpool House, Pwilheli
Gwynedd LL53 5DE
37-39 Ipswich Street
Stowmarket, Suffolk
Arden House, 1102 Warwick Road
Acocks Green
Birmingham B27 6BH
“Ash Court", 2 Ash Grove
Great Horton Road
Bradford BD7 1BN
Refuge Assurance House
Sutton New Road, Birmingham
2 Church Lane
Wallingford, Oxfordshire
Kennedy House, Rutland Street
Swinton, Manchester M27 2AU
Oaklands Gate, Northwood
Middlesex HA6 3AA
and Floor, May Place House
May Place, Basingstoke,
Hampshire
23 Bedford Row
London WCIR 4EB
25 Fore Street
Callington, Cornwall
32 Surrey Street
Norwich NR] 3NY
Kleeman House, 16 Anning Street
New Inn Yard, London EC2
18 Hanover Drive
Gravelly Industrial Park
Tyburn Road, Birmingham
B24 8TE
26 Park Circus
Glasgow G3 6AP
67 Union Street, Newport Pagnell
Buckinghamshire
52 Shaftesbury Avenue
London
c/o Lifeboat Associates
32 Neal Street, London
WC2H 9PS
16 Town Street
Horsforth, Leeds LS18 4RJ
Refuge House
2-4 Henry Street, Bath
55 Bedford Court Mansions
Bedford Avenue, London WC1
PO Box 117, 141 Euston Road
London NW1 2AY
11 Station Approach
Northwood, Middlesex
22 Newland Street
Kettering, Northamptonshire
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Jenny Wilson
Laurence Payne
E Chisman
D Fisher
L Roberts
Roger Taylor
Stewart Smith
Peter Mart
C Murphy
LJ Watson
Peter Daly
R Cornforth
M Kusmirak
John Metcalf
H Sigerson
C Hartnett
Barbara
Castedine
Allan 'limpany
Tony Winter
Johnny Johnson
SYSTEMS OF
TOMORROW snncunce
THE OSBORNE PLUS RANGE
OSBORNE + 340 Kbytes floppies £1,450
OSBORNE + 790 Kbytes floppies £1,650
OSBORNE + 5 Mb to 21 MKB Winchester
hard disks from £2,2
OSBORNE + with standard disks + SOF
utility package
Prices exclude VAT
Contact
SYSTEMS OF TOMORROW LTD
109c High Street,
Chesham, Bucks.
Tel: Chesham (0494) 786989
@ Circle No. 253
ImPE Ws
Owing to further expansion, IM-
PETUS COMPUTER SYSTEMS
seek experienced PROGRAM-
MERS on perm. or contract basis.
Hendon area.
Call Cliff Stamford on 01-202 2726 or
01-202 9630
@ Circle No. 254
MACHINECRAFT
OFFERS 40% ROYALTIES
FOR ZX81 SPECTRUM AND
ATOM
SOFTWARE
SEND
SOFTWARE ON CASSETTE
OR S.A.E. FOR DETAILS TO:
MACHINECRAFT LTD
P.O. BOX 2
COGGLESHALL, COLCHESTER
CO6 1TJ
@ Circle No. 255
MICROCASE
“turns a board into a real computer”
For NASCOM 2
COMPUKIT
SUPERBOARD
ae UNCUT FOR NASCOM 1
ETC.
Direct from us or from your dealer —
but make sure you see a
GENUINE MICROCASE
SIMPLE porno LTO
cits
15 HAVELOCK ROAD
BRIGHTON, stir BN1 6GL
@ Circle No. 256
181
(0273) 504879
KEYBOARD DUST COVERS
FOR PETS ;
Keep your Pet Commodore keyboard free from con-
tamination by fitting a superb flexible high quality
transparent silicone rubber cover. Does not shrink;
withstands boiling water, etc.
Keys operate with cover in place, ideal for exposed
machines running daily in offices, labs, warehouses,
etc. Covers fit Commodore, Pet/CBM with large
keyboard, including the 80 column models (covers
will also fit other computers with similar size
keyboard).
Price per cover £6 + 90p VAT
Send cheque/PO to:
D.B,M. Products,
P.O. Box 6, Melton Mowbray,
Leicestershire LE13 1YL.
Please allow 28 days delivery.
Registered in England No. 2798902.
@ Circle No. 257
INSURE
YOUR COMPUTER
Impact vt Fire & Theft Insurance
for your Computer, Equipment:
£1 to £1,500 cover ........... £8.00 p.a?
£10 (excess) x/s
£1,500 to £2,500
£15 x/s.
For detalls:
KGJ Insurance Brokers,
6 Hagley Road, Stourbridge,
West Midiands, DY8 1Q
Tel (03843) 5333/2545
@ Circle No. 258
ANADEX DP. 9501
printer,
Bi-directional, 220 CHARS/LINE, 200
CHARS/SEC, Adjustable width tractor
feed. Also Lear Seigler ADM 3A VDU
terminal. Cost over £2,000 new. Offers
considered around £1,000. Both in
working order, virtually unused, COM-
PANY LIQUIDATION forces sale. Tele-
phone C. DONNELLY, 0782-279901
(Daytime ). 61 Broad Street, Hanley,
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
@ Circle No. 259
MICRO ADS
are accepted from private readers only, pre-paid and in
writing, 20p per word, minimum charge £2.
Please make Cheques payable to Practical Computing
and send to Room L310, Quadrant House, The Quadrant,
Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS.
ACORN ATOM 12K + 12K, PSU, software,
Atom Magic Book, manual. £200. Tel: (0573)
24516 (evenings).
WORDSTAR FOR SIRIUS — simpieminded
farmer finds the program too complicated for
daily use. £225 ono (+vat). Tel: 0234-865
469.
MZ-80K horse-race analysis. Winners galore.
Cassette £5.75. Details: SAE P. C. Birch,
“Moorside” Woodlands, Wimbourne, Dorset.
2X81 16K BASIC line re-numbering and multi-
line erasure. M/C code, cassette £3.95p. M. J:
Franklin, 69 The Heights, Northolt, Middx.
VIDEO GENIE 16K extra keys VU meter and
‘sound. Software assembler disassembler
games. 6 months sub on magazine. As new in
box. £275.01 946 1429.
182
Hevacomp Ltd
Sheffield (0742) 52752
Horizon Software Ltd
0533-556550
Humac Ltd
Romford 752005
IBIS Business Information
Systems Ltd
061-881-0585
Informex London Ltd
01-318-4213/7
Instar Business Systems
01-680-5330
Intelligent Artefacts
0223-207689
Intereurope SD Ltd
0734-789183
Interface Computer
Services Ltd
0376-518112
Ismail CAD
01-802-0019
James C Steedman
0903-814923
Johnson Microcomputers
Camberley (0276) 20446
Keen Computers
0602-583254
Kesho Systems
041-226-4236
KGB Micros Ltd
Slough (75) 38319
L & J Computers
01-204-7525
Landsler Software
01-399-2476/7
Liveport Lid
0736-798 157
Logic Computers
01-222-1122
Logma Systems Design
Bolton 389854
Ludhouse Ltd
01-679-4321
Map Computer Systems Ltd
061-624-5662
Median-Tec
0734-664969
Metrotech
0895-58111
Micro Computation
01-882-5104
Micro Focus
Microact Ltd
021-454-8585
Microbits
0734-792021
Microcomp
0703-21397
Microcomputer Applications
0734-470425
Microcomputer BM
01-981-3993
Microdigital Ltd
051-227-2535
25 Byron Road
Sheffield $7
Regent House, 16 West Walk
Leicester LE] 7NG
168-186 South Street
Romford, Essex RM1 1TR
Pargate House, Cross Road
Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Manchester M21 1DH
8-12 Lee High Road
London SE13 5LQ
61 High Street
Croydon, Surrey
Cambridge Road
Orwell, Hertfordshire
19-21 Denmark Street
Wokingham, Berkshire
RGI11 2QX
First Floor, 17 Guithavon Street
Witham, Essex
47a St Johns Road, Tottenham
London N156QS
18 Manor Road, Upper Beeding
Steyning, Sussex
Johnson House
75-79 Park Street, Camberley
Surrey GU15 3XE
Sb The Poultry
Nottingham
72 Waterloo Street
Glasgow G2
14 Windsor Road
Slough, Berkshire SL1 2E]
3 Crundale Avenue
Kingsbury, London NW9 9PJ
29a Tolworth Park Road
Surbiton, Surrey KT6 7RL
The Ivory Works
St Ives, Cornwall
31 Palmer Street
London SW1
2-10 Bradshawgate
Bolton, Lancashire
2-6 Marian Road
London SW16 5HR
111 Union Street
Oldham, Lancashire OL] 1RU
120 Oxford Road
Reading, Berkshire
Waterloo Road
Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 2YW
8 Station Parade
Southgate, London N14
c/o Lifeboat Associates
32 Neal Street, London WC2
Act House,
111 Hagley Road, Edgbaston
Birmingham B16 8LB
Barford House, Shute End
Wokingham
Berkshire RG11 1BJ
125 High Street
Southampton SO] 0AA
11 Riverside Court
Caversham, Reading
Berkshire
4 Morgan Street
London E3 5AB
25 Brunswick Street
Liverpool L2 OBJ
AJ Baxter
John Oatham
F Brown
O Ismail
R V Johnson
Bob Ellis
Angus Nial
Sandy Saunderson
Jack Goodman
E Landsler
M Ward
G Rigby
R A Adey
Graham Jones
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Microgems Software
0602-275559
Microland
0723-70715
Micromedia Systems
Newport 59276/7
Micro-Pension
01-394-2049
Micropute
0625-612818
Microsense
0442-41191/48151
Microtek
0689-26803
Minicomputer CS Ltd
0494-448686
Missing Link
01-349-4711
MJN Consulting Ltd
01-941-3327
MMS Computer Systems
0234-40601 —
Northern Computers
Warrington (0925) 601683
Omicron Management
Software Ltd
01-636-6575
Orchard Microsystems Ltd
0455 209126
Padmede Computer
Services
025-671-2434
| PCL Software Ltd
021-552-6126
Peach Data Services Ltd
0283-44968
PE Consulting Group
Egham (0784) 34411
Personal Computers Ltd
‘01-626-8121/2/3
PK Microsystems Ltd
01-839-3143
P J Norris Computer
Applications
053-183-428
Quickmet Software
Development
0202-8882 17
Redwood Bureau Services
0707-42424
Research Resources Lid
07073-26633
Rockliff Brothers Ltd
051-521-5830
Rocon Ltd
0235-24206
Sail (Software Aids
International Ltd)
01-904-8139
SA Systems
Newbury 45813
32 Buckingham Avenue
Hucknall, Nottinghamshire
17 Victoria Road
Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Seymour House
14-16 Chepstow Road
Newport, Gwent
24 High Street
Ewell, Surrey
Communique Place
9 Prestbury Place
Macclesfield, Cheshire
Finway Road
Hemel Hempstead
Hertfordshire
50 Chislehurst Road
Orpington, Kent
Pilot Trading Estate
163 West Wycombe Road
High Wycombe
Buckinghamshire
Abacus House
53-55 Ballards Lane
London N3
105 Walton Road
East Molesey, Surrey KT8 ODR
26 Mill Street
Bedford
Churchfield Road
Frodsham, Cheshire WA6 6RD
Mayfair House
39 Great Portland Street
London WIN §DG
PO Box 12, Lutterworth
Leicestershire LE!7‘STA
112/116 High Street
Odiham, Basingstoke
Hampshire
146-150 Birchfield Lane
Oldbury, Warley
West Midlands B69 2AY
5 Horinglow Street
Burton on Trent DE14 1NJ
Park House, Egham Jan
Surrey TW20 0HW Szymankiewicz
194-200 Bishopsgate Mike Hardwick
London EC4M 4NR
46-47 Pall Mall
London SWIY 5JG
Roger Millard
Michael Norman
Chris Piff
R Tattersall
John Packwood
P Hemmings
Brian Homewood
Rochester House, Canon Frome PJ Norris
Ledbury, Herefordshire
HR8 2TG
57 Leigh Road, Wimborne I Metcalf
Dorset BH2] 1AE
86 Queens Road
Watford, Hertfordshire
40 Stonehills
Welwyn Garden City
Hertfordshire
2 Rumford Street
Liverpool L2 88Z
Radley Road Industrial Estate
Radley Road, Abingdon
Oxfordshire
Peter Osborne
M Taylor
David Elliot
16 Norval Road David Bull
North Wembley
Middlesex HAO 3TE
Allington Lodge, Round End S A Trinder
Newbury, Berkshire RG14 6PL
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Buyers’ Guide™"
SYM-1 and Teletype fully working 8K. BASIC,
RAE, SUPERMON II. Fully documented. £250
ono. Tel: 0386 3148.
BETTER APPLE 1! colour. Full modification
details — £3. ‘10 Applesoft Games’ disk £20.
H. Hopkins, 117 St. John’s Road, Exmouth
Devon.
TRS 80 L2 16K, software, games and cas-
sette also available. £280. Macclesfield (0625)
31699. ;
ACORN ATOM 8K ROM 12K RAM. 5 volt
external PSU, manuals, books, disassembler,
chess, invaders etc — complete with tape
deck £195. 051 526 7087 day.
PET 4040 disk drive + BASIC-4 ROMS £500.
PET 3016 + cassette + toolkit £425. 2022
printer £250. All 3 £1,100. (Could deliver in
West Midlands/North West). -Telephone
Penrith (0768) 62621 evenings only.
FORTH for UK-101 . . . may be modified for
Superboard. Learn on 8K machine. Includes
incremental compiler, documentation and
sample programmes e.g. 6502 Assembler.
£12 W. A. Powell, 16 Vantorts Road, Saw-
bridgeworth Herts CM21 9NB.
16K ZX81 fast machine code space invaders
and breakout. £2.50 for cassétte: D. M. Gil-
day, 88 Wookey Hole Road, Wells, Somerset.
UK101 Software for sale, many quality pro-
grams, TW Soft, 33 Barnesdale Crescent,
Orpington, Kent for details and catalogue.
ACORN ATOM — 1K machine language MINI
TEXT EDITOR (suitable for 12K RAM
‘ATOMS). Allows language storage of text on
tape with good editing facilities — only £4.00
all inclusive for tape and full documentation —
| or sae for more details. M. Ridley,-19 Sharrose
Road, Hooe, Plymouth, Devon.
16K ATARI 400 + Program recorder + 9
games inc Space Invaders and Star Raiders,
under warranty till November ‘for just £350.
Tel: 01-979 1159.
SUPERBOARD II 8K, cased 48x32, Cegmon,
Basic 1, 3 and 4, £200. Tel: Bolton 34886
evenings. ;
FANTASTIC OFFER 50 PET GAMES for
30:00. 2001, 3000 & 4000 series. 50
assorted games for each of the above models,
some with sound, some fantastic graphics, all
good fun. State model. Disks or tapes (add
£2.50 for tapes) P&P inc. Also some business
& misc. programs send sae for details going
up to 8096. K.J. Rose, 101, Old Tiverton Rd.
Exeter, Devon EX4 6LD. Tel: 0e92-73596.
NORTHSTAR ADVANTAGES Two virtually
unused machines (still under warranty), sur-
plus to requirements, for sale.-One with one
serial port, one with two serial ports. CP/M,
NorthStar DOS, NorthStar Basic and Word-
Star also available. £1,850 — unit with one
port. £1,925 — unit with two ports. Software —
£375.00. Please telephone’ 01-828 3721 or
722 6075. j
8K PET with 24K Petite add-on memory.NEW
ROMS, Integral cassette, small keyboard,
dust cover, some tapes. £400 R. N. Syming-
ton, Coopers Farm, Chiddingly, Lewes BN8
6HD. Tel.: Chiddingly (082583) 237.
ACORN BUILT Atom, 12k + 12k, via, F.Point,
regulated PSU 5V3A, leads, manual books,
software, cassette, 4 mths old. £250. Tel::
01-459 6133 (evenings).
183
FOR SALE, MX80 Type Ill printer, brand
pti Must sell £380. Phone 841-3491 after
pm. i
PET 4032, cassette, dust cover, manuals, etc,
ce 1 year old, £500. Tel: A. J. Boyle 01-802
658.
VIDEO GENIE 16K . . . Keyboard/lower case/
Sound mods. Acculab Floppy tape. Over £150
in software inc. Basic 4, books manual. £500.
R. ‘aad Lincoln 730421 Ext. 423. (day-
time).
2 SWTP 6800 systems for sale in working
order. Computer +24K £399, CT64 terminal
£199, MF68 Twin disk drive. £299. Tel.: 0788
87 629 or 0727 51404.
HP41-CHESS. Knows all rules. Very strong.
Very fast. Price 2000 flux (ca. £20). Bank TR.:
332/014507/00 Banque Generale Luxbg. Add.
information: Claude Roeltgen, Rue d’Ehler-
ange 44 L-3918 Mondercange Luxbg.
BBC SOFTWARE CASSETTE No. 1. Lunar
Lander and Attack £5.00. Cassette No. 2
Adventure 1 £5.00. Both £9.00. K. P Ham-
mond, 5 Rodborough Road, Dorrldge, Solihull,
W. Midlands, B93 8EB.
STATISTICS for the Apple Il, 5+ programs for
£20. Regression, correlation, latin-sqr, etc.
S.a.e. E. Suto, 96 Victoria Ave, HULL.
380Z 32K. Minifloppy. High resolution,
graphics, software: includes CP/M. £1,500 .
ono. Oxford 53514 evenings.
16K ZX81 for sale. Excellent condition —
approx. 50 programs. Bargain at £80.00.
Phone 0504/44991 after 5 pm.
A 6502 Assembler simulator that’s as friendly
as BASIC! 40 of the most used commands are
implemented for the PET 4032. Written in
machine code and BASIC, supplied with 25
page users manual and cassette for £20 from
Mr. B. Williams, 456, Heol-Las, Birchgrove,
Swansea, SA7 9DR. Or call (0792) 781370 for
further information.
CENTRONICS P1 Microprinter. Centronics
parallel interface 80 cpl vgc. £80. PERSO-
NALL COMPUTER WORLD back issues 1978
to 1982. £10 the lot.
HATFIELD 73240.
MATRIX PRINTER. Hydra printer model B.
185 C.P.S. Serial RS232 interface. 132 col-
umns. Upper & lower case. Cost new £1,250.
Two yrs old. Good working order. Unused for
9 months. £450. London NW1. Phone 01 723
Sie
TELETYPE ASR33 (tape punch and reader
model) one owner from new, regularly ser-
viced. Includes quantity of tapes and complete
set of manuals. For quick sale £125. Auto-
Route Ltd, Alton (Hants) 0420 62952.
UK101, MISSILE COMMAND, a machine
code version, VERSI-MAFS, a general maths
program and more! SAE for details N. John-
stone, 59 Copeland Avenue, Mirehouse,
Whitehaven, Cumbria.
ALTOS 8000 micro 64K CPU with twin 500K
8" floppies & CP/M. Complete with terminal
VDU & OKI printer, business software and
some games. A chance to buy a high powered
machine for a home computer price. £1,975.
Tel: 051 526 7087.
APPLE Il plus 48K, disk 3.3, modulator, some
disks and software (Gorgon, Asteriods etc).
Will deliver free. £800. Telephone Raymond
061 794 5175 evenings.
NASCOM 2 16K, 10 amp psu, graphics, port
probe, sargon chess, creed printer, 10” moni-
tor, usual extras, hardly used 021-559 8365.
184
Salmon Microcomputing
0325-72 1368
SBD Consultants Ltd
01-940 5194
Selven Ltd
0376-40900
Sheffield MIS Ltd
0742-20224
SMG Microcomputers
Gravesend 55813
Software Architects Ltd
01-734-9402
Solitaire Ltd
04252-71448
Southdata Ltd
01-994-6477
Southern Computer Systems
Torquay 212957/8
Spider Software Ltd
01-680-0267
Stage-One Computers Ltd
0202-23570
Stemmos Ltd
01-602-6242
Stratheden Ltd
-0624-26668/25639
Style Systems Ltd
0254-71638
SWTPC Ltd
01-491-7507
Systematics [nternational
Microsystems Ltd
0440-61121
T W Computers Ltd
061-456-8187
Taylor Micro Systems
021-358-2436
The Alphabet Company
0304-617209
The Computer Room
0732-355962
Tridata Micros Ltd
021-622-6085
Typestyle Ltd
0624-25890
U-Microcomputers Ltd
Warrington 54117
Vauntberry Ltd
Fareham (0329) 285151
Verwood Systems
0788-87629
Vlasak Electronics Ltd
0494-448633
Wida Software
01-567-6941
Wisbech Computer
Services
Xitan Systems Ltd
0703-38740
PO Box 26 Croft-on-Tees
Darlington DL2 2TN
15 Jocellyn Road
Richmond, Surrey TW9 2TJ
West House Chambers
3 Sandpit Road
Braintree, Essex CM7 7LY
77 Hallam Grange Rise
Sheffield S10 4BE
39 Windmill Street
Gravesend, Kent
34/35 Dean Street
London WIV 5AP
Highcliff House,
411-413 Lymington Road
Highcliff, Dorset BH23 5EN
10 Barley Mow Passage
London W4
7 Park Hill Road, Torquay
Devon
98 Avondale Road
South Croydon
Surrey CR2 6JB
6 Criterion Arcade
Old Christchurch Road
Bournemouth
344 Kensington High St
London W14
Exchange House, 54 Athol Street
Douglas, Isle of Man
28a Railway Road
Darwen, Lancashire BB3 2RG
38 Dover Street
London W]
Cleves House, Hamlet Road
Haverhill, Suffolk
293 London Road
Hazel Grove, Stockport
Greater Manchester
Hamstead Industrial Estate
Old Walsall Road, Great Barr
Birmingham
2 Whitefriars Way, Sandwich
Kent CT13 9AD
87 High Street
Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1RX
Smithfield House, Digbeth
Birmingham B5 6BS
1 Avondale Court
Onchan, Isle of Man
Winstanly Industrial Estate
Long Lane, Warrington
Cheshire
9 Wych Lane, Bridgemary
Gosport, Hampshire PO13 0SU
Verwood House, High Street
West Haddon,
Northamptonshire
Vlasak House, Stuart Road
High Wycombe
Buckinghamshire HP13 6AG
2 Nicholas Gardens
London W5 SHY
10 Market Street, Wisbech
Cambridgeshire PE13 1EX
23 Cumberland Place
Southampton
. R Horman
Buyers’ Guide=—=
SJ A Still
Susan Ben-David
R Crowther
R A Coates
Richard White
Nick Spicer
N Hewitt
Shibli Abi-
Shaheen
P Bridson
CA Taylor
AL Minter
Mark Meakings
A Plackowski
M Foottit
P Hayes
N Howard
Paul Vlasak
lan Duffy
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
WISIKING
FOR THE FINEST DISKS & ACCESSORIES
All disks are factory fresh and individually certified 100% error-free
DISKING INTERNATIONAL FREEPOST LIPHOOK HANTS GU30 7BRUK TEL (0428) 722863
NEW
FREE OFFERS
NOW FREE with EVERY TEN-PACK of disks
das DISKING:-
. The genuine EGLY’ LIBRARY BOX worth
at least £2.00
2. The 24 page PVC bound DISKING DISK
DIRECTORY ‘priceless”
3. The Ultrafine Writing OISKING DISK-
WRITER worth 459
* **PLUS PERSONALISED PEN SERVICE for
5+ ORDERS**
When ordering 5-9 Ten-Packs you will also
receive a BRUSHED CHROME PAPERMATE
PEN, and for 10+ Ten-Packs the GOLD
PAPERMATE PEN. EITHER PEN may be inl-
tialied FREE, please state letter required. The
two tone GOLD PEN comes in Maroon, Black
or Brown, please state colour preference.
SUPERBRAIN SOFTWARE
‘DATAKING’
Here at Jast; ‘DATAKING’ is a POWERFUL yet
SIMPLE to operate REPORT WRITER. for use with
fixed length record files. such as those created by
Wordstar & Datastar,
‘DATAKING’ will ‘pull’ ANY data from such records.
and columnate the way YOU want it. with user
defined headings. totals & averages.
‘DATAKING’ will also generate SELECTIVE RE-
PORTS, by allowing the user to apply numerical
limits to ANY data item within that file,
FORWARDS, BACKWARDS, RESTART. PRINT,
STOP-PRINT, CHANGE MODE & EXIT DATAKING
are only over ONE or TWO buttons away ANYTIME
“DATAKING’ has no one way dead-end roads.
"DATAKING’ ts ONLY available from DISKING IN-
TERNATIONAL: any other vendor in the U.K. is 4
VERBATIM ‘Datalife’ are the World's favourite media
Minidisks are all double density wah hub ring remforce-
ment.
5.25" DISKS
EXc VAT
MDS5Z25 S/Sided 40 track . £18.95 5.25" DISKS PLASTIC LIBRARY BOXES
0 4
Vif ee aie aed ah oe y + ie = The genuine Egly Box that stores and protects your
M0567 D/Sided 77 track f £3495 on rs Sige track ae ae In tens — Unbeatabie — (Free with every ten
(Density 40 track J jisks ordered)
10 & 16 Hard Sector at same prices 3491 D/S D/Density 40 track £2395
10 & \6 Hard Sector at same prices LBS for Minidisks £1.90
& DISKS LB8 for 8" disks , £2.00
€xC VAT
F034-1000 S/Sided S/Denshty 22% & DISKS
024-9000 S/Sided S/Density* £28 95
eae posed pate areal 3060 S/Sided S/Denslty . i 5
10-4008 D/Sided S/Density a) 3090 S/Sided D/Density 95
OD34-4001 D/Sided D/Density £3495 3101 D/Sided D/Density £2595 ATTENTION THE TRADE
“For Critical applications 3102 D/Sided D/Density £29.95
32 Hard Sector at same prices
SUPERLUXE DiSK LIBRARY
Manutactured exclusively for us to our own design,
the SDL keaps your valuable disks flat & dust trae,
while at the same time allowing you instant visual
eelection of any single disk. The standard SDL
holds 20 disks, while the SDLX holds 28 disks. The
SDL may be uprated to an SDLX retrospectively.
They come (ndividually boxed complete with in-
structions & self adhesive spine tabel.
SOL only £9.95
SOLX only £11.95
(tyou have not yet ined the NEW MEMOREX media. you are
in tor surprise, Just arrived are their latest formulation
diskettes, and customer feedback suggests that they are
very conservatively. rated! Now with hub ting reintorce-
ment
Please witte to us on your letter headed paper, and ask for
out special trade prices and offers,
It you are selling software OR hardware, you can give your
products the ultimate in presentation by offenng your
personalised disks, disk envelopes. disk & document ring
binders and of course a personalised Superiuxe Oisk
(Ubrary. Ask for our Vendor branding leaflet,
Your cotour PYC, printing and design makes your package
professional
32 Hard Sector at same prices
STOP PRESS
8” Diskettes NOW stock-
ed. Credit Card Sur-
charges ABOLISHED RE-
DUCED prices AGAIN! —
See our post & package
rates — The more you
buy, the cheaper it gets.
DISK DRIVE HEAD CLEANING KITS
Prevent head crashes and ensure efficient error
tree operation. Enough for 26 bl-manthly cleans &
pirate, and risks certain litigation, QTY SDL Prices: for SDLX add £2.00 alot cheaper than a service call!
DATAKING complete package £49.50 £95 ca.as tage ta60 i730 15 CK5 tor 5.25" disk drives £16.50 arity ieraeeenee
DATAKING User Manual only £250 Uprating Conversion Kit £2.00 CK8 tor 8 disk drives . £18.50 ALWAYS
* ees es ee ee i sees ees OD me os oe
U.K. P&P RATES EXC VAT NORMAL ORDERS _ | |
: = To: DISICKING FREEPOST, Liphook, Hants, R. UK.
Masks 12 PADKS each pack on We accept Armed Forces and all Ministry or | a ol ail ai |
paint PACKS * POST FREE Defence Establishments orders over £50.00
ds 2 PACKS each pack @£f% in yas All other Giseiess cheques with | arty DESCRIPTION PRICE EXC VAT |
disks 3-5 each pack fa 3p order please payable to DISKING. if you are 13
Oar lla © post erent a large estalishment, and can not raise | €
ee pathic -4of G 400 cheques without an invoice please post or =.
LBS $.25" Library box 5-9 off @ 300 telephone us your order, and we will send a Me if MR eee pee.
pee eaeataee Rae pro-forma invoice by return, for your | TOTAL GOODS VALU Vv |
UN 8" Library box 5-9 off 4p accounts department to pay against. AL e) LUE EXC. VAT £
LB8 8” Librury box 10+ off 30p | |
ee Cleaning kit rear Minidisk postal sates 10+ TOTAL DELIVERY AND INSURANCE £ F
Foctxa & Cleaning knt read 8” disks postal rates 10+ POST | SUB TOTAL EXC. VAT E: Be |
For SDL or SOLX (525° verslon oni] read Minick postal | VAT £ |
tates
DATAKING SOFTWARE fi
DATAKING SOFTWARE artes ; - | VALUE OF CHEQUE PAYABLE TO DISKING €. At |
____ CREDIT CARD ORDERS | Name: {
URGENT ORDERS We welcome Acces {Mastercharge), Barc- Address: . |
: : : laycard (VISA) & Oiners Club International, |
Either post your cheque not forgetting to and there is NO credit card surcharge. You | |
stamp it FIRST CLASS, or telephone your may write your c/card No. on your order or
order with credit card No., mentioning in telephone the order day or night, 365 days a | Tel No: |
either instance that your order is URGENT. year. You may speak far as jong as you like, Pp Fi i"
You may then pay FIRST CLASS POST for and don’t forget to give full details of what | lease charge my credit card No: i |
your goods, if required. you wish to purchase, your credit card pe
HIRST CLASS RATES EXC VAT number, credit card holder's name & | [VBA WE |
First TEN-PACK {Mini or 8”) . £1.80 address, and delivery or invoice address if & 2 LCOME
Second & subsequent £1.30 different. | J
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
@ Circle No. 260
185
KEELE CODES’ unique
compression utility E40 will compress
files written in English to approx 40% of their original size
in the same time as it would take to make a copy.
Making backups? — receiving disc lasts twice as long
Archiving a Winchester? — half as many disc changes
powertul archive commands
Data by telephone? — halve the cost
Running out of space? ~ double the space you ‘see’ from
the terminal
Computer/ — part of the package — and twice
computer transfer?. as fast as a bonus
You don't believe it? ~— If not satisfied
return within 30 days — we
will refund your
-ully deveioped, E40 is
the result of extended research at
the University of Keele.
Optimized for English, E40 will compress any text/data files.
Numeric or tabular material compresses to about 50%.
Database files can come as low as 20%. All 256 ASCIl
characters are processed, and the decode program faithfully
restores the original file.
A third utility transfers E40 files through a serial port.
: formats include — Xerox 820, Superbrain, North
Star, Osborne, Z80-Apple, IMS 5000, RAIR,
Vector, NEC, Sharp, Heath/Zenith, 8” IBM.
Also available for PDPIl and GEC 4080 series.
Write or phone for full
goals KEELE CODES
Keele Codes Limited, University of Keele,
Keele, Staffs ST5 5BG
Telé 0782 629221
Telex: 36113
24 hours service. Guaranteed despatch within 72 hours
Tick
E40 for CP/M... .. £55 + VAT {incl postage) (|
CP/M manudl...... yeeses £5 a]
Further details
Name
| Address
i | enclose a cheque for Access no
My computer is Year of purchase
@ Circle No. 264
186
COST
CONSCIOUS!
Heralding the beginning of a
new age of low cost Word
Processing Computer
systems
SMITH CORONA TP-1
e Dedicated Computer
Printer
© Microprocessor
Controller
e Serial, Parallel
or IEEE
Interface
© Lowest cost
purpose-built
Daisywheel
£485
+ VAT
BYTEWRITER
© Keyboard Printer
Lift off facility
© Built-in self test
® Rigid
carrying
case
DISCOM TRADING COMPANY
Dresden House, 51 High Street
Evesham, Wores. WR11 4DA
Telephone (0386) 3591
Further Information Please
Name
Address
Telephone
@ Circle No. 265
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Is the fall of Rome imminent
in this game
reviewed by Paul Marks?
BRITISH GAMES software is aS good as
anything from the States. Hannibal is a
program by Richard Bodley-Scott for the |
16K TRS-80 or Video Genie, consisting
of a main program in Basic together with
a machine-code section. Back-up copies
can be made using CSave for the Basic |
element, and a short Basic program is
included within the written instructions
that enables a copy of the machine-code
part to be made without the aid of a
specialist copying program.
The instructions consist of five pages of
explanation plus two one-page appen-
dices which list initial town ownerships
and troop deployments. They are clear,
and give the player a good idea of the
scope of the game. They are slightly more
detailed than is absolutely necessary but
contrast superbly with the legalese of
board-game rules.
The game is for two players, a Roman
and a Carthaginian, though it also passes
as a solo game for the purposes of work-
ing out tactics, etc. The two leaders join
in conflict to achieve sole supremacy over
the countries surrounding the Mediter-
ranean. Victory occurs when either
Rome or Carthage is captured by the
opposing side, so a sudden victory is
possible if one player can launch a sneak
attack against the capital. In practice this
is very difficult to achieve.
Machine-code maps
On running, a map of Italy is displayed
together with a menu which lists maps of
Africa, Sicily, and Spain, and Area Re-
port, Treasury Report, Recruitment,
Movement or End as options. The maps
are held in the machine code and print
Virtually instantly, without disturbing any
other information on screen.
The problem of having the map split
into four is very largely overcome by the
speed of printing. Major towns and sea
areas are named and movement is from
one such feature to an adjacent one.
Ports are specified and are accessible to
warships and naval transports. These play
a very important role, allowing forces to
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
be rapidly shifted from one front to
another.
Area reports list the troops deployed in
that area. Many towns start as neutrals
but can usually be “persuaded” to join
one side. Captured towns can be sacked
or just occupied. Sacking yields immedi-
ate loot while occupying earns a regular
tax income.
Treasury report gives your bank bal-
ance. Recruitment is restricted by cash to
certain areas and troop types and levels.
Eligible troop types are infgntry, cavalry,
elephants — good for scaFing cavalry —
warships, transport and artillery.
A player-turn generally moves through
recces, recruiting and finally. movement.
There are three moves to a year and taxes
are collected each winter. The order of
play is Roman, Carthaginian, Combat,
Carthaginian, Roman, Combat, etc.
Some form of combat is mandatory
whenever there are opposing forces in the
same area during the combat phase. This
can be an open battle or a siege if one
| player is occupying a town.
Conclusions
®@ Hannibal is Richard Bodley-Scott’s best
effort to date.
@ It is one of the very small number of
programs that can claim to be both good
games and historical slmulations.
@ Ratings:
Physical quality
Subject complexity
Perceived complexity
Play balance
Realism
Overall
Good
High
Low
Excellent
Good
Excellent
End of fle==
Combat results in varying losses which
can be quite drastic for the loser. Motto
— don’t fight unless you are going to win.
Sieges especially can be nasty if an assault
is made rather than just waiting.
Economic war
You can achieve a victory by purely
military means if you defeat the enemy in
combat. In the longer term you can play
an economic strategy by concentrating on
the capture of towns, which increases
your income and naturally restricts that
of your opponent.
Like the Punic Wars the game can go
on for a very long time until one side
achieves a breakthrough. There are a
couple of basic plans, but with numerous
variations and with care you can quickly
change your strategy. Fortunately you
can store a half-played game, although it
is fairly addictive and people will often
play on to the small hours.
The program makes extensive use of
Peeking and Poking and it is not easy to
work out exactly what is going on. Given
time, it could be done, but there is little
point.
One area that could be improved
covers the troop disposition information.
Each player can obtain complete details
of all areas. This could be altered to only
allow reports on a limited number of
areas, or perhaps only for areas in the
vicinity of your own troops. |
The War Machine is a monthly magazine of reviews of games
Software from various manufacturers; it also covers game-
assistance programs and programming theory. Write to Emjay,
17 Langbank Avenue, Rise Park, Nottingham NGS SBU.
England. Single issue £1.25 (overseas £1.75), annual subserip- -
tion £13 (overseas £20).
187
Electronic Brokers
DEC SALE
a selection from our
huge stocks
PROCESSORS RA11-BD a Floppy Olsk
Y, Drive andct! [NEW £895
aoe bide ciaek ie.’ £1,750 VT50 DECscope Terminal 2OmA .£250
aad /344,128KB MOS... £5,000 VT50 DECscope Terminal E1A....£275
POP11X44-CB 256K8 CPU
VT52 DECscope Terminal
OualTU58, HS642 Cabinet ...£12,750 E1Aor20mA). £395
POP1 das CPU. S6KW 52 DECscope Terminal (NEW), £525
Core.C £7,450 V7T55Graphics Terminal £650
PDP‘ a0 CPU, 512KB MDS. SYSTEMS
DualCab P.0.A. SMFX4MMA-DN 11/24 CPU
PERIPHERALS & OPTIONS 256KB, H9645 CAB,
2 x ALG2 Disk, KT24,VT100/ £17,000
Console, RSX11M (NEW)
BCO6-S-10Massbus Cable.........
BCO6-S-15MassbusCable.........
BC11A-08 UnibusCable .... 11/34 CPU 128KB MDS
DOU1 1 Synchronous interface AL11A SMB Disk & Cul
KMC11A Auxiliary Processor ALO1A 5MB Disk
(N HOBO Cab Ale
W11LRealTime Clock . LA3E Console
KW111P Programmable Clock
LAS4DAKSRTerminalE1A.. i
LA36CUKSRTerminal20mA ......£4
LASGHJKSATerminalE1A......... £49
LA120DA KSA Terminal[NEW)£1, 225
LA120RA RD Terminal(NEW).....€895
RASX11M Licence
11/44 CPU 256K8 MOS
Qual TUS8, H9642 Cab
RK711 28MB Disk & Cu
RKO7 28MB Disk
LA120 Console
+> £26,300
ET AINEW) Mista £670 RSX11M Licence
LA180-PD AD Printer- 11/44 UPGRADES
Parallel (NEW).. £495 complete service offered
LPO4 900 1pm Drum Printer including supply and
installation of 11/44 CPU
and trade-in of redundant
processor
11/70 CPU, 512KB MOS.
P.0.A.
N
MBAB 4 6KWCore(NEW)......£995
PC1 1A Reader/Punch and
control £925 )
£2,200 RWMO5 Disk Drive and Ctl
TWU77 mag tape and ctl Wi 000
AKOEG Add-on Disk Drive
pied. AD Add-on Disk Drive
(NEW) .£10,500 LA120 Console [NEW]
Special purchase
Hazeltine 1500
series VDUs —
manufacturer's
surplus — ALL
BRAND NEW
BOXED
HAZELTINE 1510 - SAVE £330
* 24x80 Upper/Lower case ASCII
* 7x10dot matrix * Dual intensity
* 8 SwitchSelectable baud rates 110/9600 baud
* Full/Half duplex plus format mode
* Remote XY Cursor addressing
%* 12" non-glarescreen * EIA/20mA Interface
Manufacturer's list price £880
OUR PRICE £550
HAZELTINE 1520 — SAVE £425
All the features of the 1510 pilus buffered
serial/parailel printer interface. Manufacturer's
list price £1 O50
OUR PRICE £625
Also available — Reconditioned Hazeltine H2000°
VDUs @ £299 while stocks last
All items reconditioned unless otherwise Stated
ADD 15% VAT TD ALL PRICES Carriage And Packing extra
Electronic Brokers Ltd., 61/65 Kings Cross Road,
London WC1X LN. Tel:01-278 3461. Telex 298694
@ Circle No. 267
188
wt fe ~-PET/CBM
ev"
‘This book is excellent.’
- Jim Strasma
‘Unquestionably the most accurate
and comprehensive reference I have seen to date.’
- Jim Butterfield
Many programs, charts and diagrams.
17 chapters, appendices, and index.
iv + 504 pages. 19 x 26 x 2%cm.
Paperback. ISBN 0 9507650 O 7.
Price in UK and Europe £14.90 each
{incl. post and heavy-duty packing}.
LEVEL LTD., PO 80x 438, Hampstead,
London NW3 18H. Tel: 01-794 9848.
Five or more £12.90 each. Clear plastic
cove
Dealer/Bookseller Enquiries invited.
(Sa Se Ge Ge ee ee eee ee eee
Cut out or copy coupon, or write to:
LEVEL LTD (PC), PO Box 438, Hampstead, London NW3 1BH.
copy/ies of Programming the PET/CBM at £14.90 (post free)
Bestseller — comprehensive
teaching and reference book on
all software aspects of
Commodores 20Q0, 3000,
4000 and 8000
microcomputers and
peripherals.
| enclose cheque/P.O. for £...
NAME .
ADDRESS worceeessexcenenss
.or official order.
@ Circle No. 266
IN YOUR OWN
HOME,
IN YOUR OWN
TIME,
AT YOUR OWN
PACE.
¥ AY TO BASIC.
OR COBOL
isin computer programming quickly and easily
through the renowned ICS “Open College”
system, taking the course at your own pace and
in your own time.
Use the famous ICS study texts, backed up by
your own expert tutor, and learn computer
programming, the proven way, with ICS home
study.
Courses:
Introduction to Computer
Programming
Programming in BASIC
Programming in COBOL
=)
Member of ABCC
CACC)
Approved by CACC
Please send me your prospectus on Computer Programming I
Name __
Address
HAWN, Post to: Dept 346 X a> i
ia ICS School of Computer Programming |
Diy. Nabonal
Educ; ath ‘ 160 Stewarts Road, 01 622 9911 j
Corporation London SW8 4UJ (all Ju ed
Cae om ee ee eee eae es es es
@ Circle No. 268
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Software Released.
The Hardware Barrier
Whatever microcomputer you own or use its capability has
been limited by the availability of software as this is generally
designed to run on a specific type of machine. And all too
often that important software package has been unavailable
on your machine. This restriction has necessitated the bene-
fits of hardware being traded off against software availability
with consequent loss in efficiency. Now there’s the Master
System.
The Key to Freedom — The Master System
The Master System removes the language barrier imposed
by amachine giving you total freedom of choice in both soft-
ware and hardware. So that you can select the software best
suited to your needs to run on the machine you prefer. It also
means that you can write a program in your choice of
languages, confident that it can run on any microcomputer
upgraded to the Master System without change or amend-
ment. As a result software can be made more versatile and
with a far broader application.
The Master System — Powerful and Comprehensive
The Master System -— the UCSD p-System (Version 4) soft-
ware is the operating system of the future. It comprises a
powerful suite of languages includind.Pascal, Basic, Modula 2
and Fortran and corresponding compilers. Cobol will be
available shortly.
Choose your Language
Different computer languages offer different benefits to the
user. Such is the Master System's versatility that even a
program having modules written in different languages can
be run and executed. This allows you to capitalise on the
advantages of particular languages avoiding their
weaknesses.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
\ASOIN
The Master System
UCSDp—Sysiem
(Version 4)
An Investment for the Future
With advances in microcomputer technology happening so
fast, your major concern is whether your investment in today's
technology will be protected in the future. The Master System
is designed to give your needs that protection. Software and
Hardware houses such as IBM, Applé and ACT Sirius | have
already adopted the Master System and it is gaining rapid
worldwide acceptance. More than 30,000 users have chosen
it. Increasingly the Master System will enable you to take
advantage of the latest software releases. As your computing
needs grow you may outgrow the capacity of your micro-
computer, the Master system ensures that your investment in
software programs and important data is protected without
restricting your future hardware options.
Complete Documentation
The Master System is currently available as a software pack-
age comprising a diskette and comprehensive documenta-
tion. The Master System is also being built to accommodate
Winchester based systems.
For Most Micros
The Master System is available for all 8080/8085 and z80 based
microcomputers with the CP/M operating system; including
Apple 1], ACT Sirius 1, Pet and IBM personal computers.
CL] lama dealer |
(_] lusea microcomputer
| Name |
| Address re |
Tel. No. : :
| BLOCK CAPITALS PLEASE |
| ASOLV Asolv Ltd, The Master System, 12-14 Church St.
The Master System Basingstoke, Hants. RG2] 1QH. Tel: (0256) 795746.
@ Circle No. 269
189
STOTRON LTD.,No. 4A,
Shilton Ind. Estate, Bulkington Ra.,
Shilton, Coventry CV7 SUY
Tel: (0203) 613521
STOTRON LTD.,
Haywood Way, Ivyhouse Lane,
Hastings, East Sussex TN35 4PL
Tel: Hastings (0424) 442160 Telex 957066
OIAR DP-8480
Manufactured by STAR Co. LTD., Japan
MICROPRINTER!
The STAR DP-8480 printer is so reliable, our service team are
quite bored! It's a friendly printer too, being compatible with the BBC
microcomputer, Acorn Atom, Tandy and most other major computers.
And fast! With 80 columns, 80 cps (also 96 and 132 cols.) plus
bi-directional, logic-seeking print head.
There’s traction feed and friction feed on both the RS232C and
the Centronics models and at a price that’s almost embarrassing: RS232C
with traction feed is £286.15 , centronics friction feed is £243.63
and the traction feed version only £267.86 (plus VAT and delivery).
All available from stock so there’s no waiting!
STOTRON LTD. 22° 42>
MINIPRICED,
MAXISPEED,
STOTRON LTD.
72 Blackheath Road,
Greenwich, London SE10 8DA
Tel: 01-691 2031
STOTRON (HAYWARDS HEATH) LTO.,
12 Bridge Road, Haywards Heath,
West Sussex RH16 1UA
Tel: (0444) 52550
@ Circle No. 271
We will assist YOU in your DECISION |
for Planning, Modelling,
Accounting or Commercial systems
We will support YOU in achieving
the most from your Microcomputer
now, and as your business grows
VISICALC - MICROMODELLER - MICROFINESSE
SALES, PURCHASE AND GENERAL LEDGER
COSTING AND STOCK CONTROL
WORD PROCESSING AND MAILING
For the best professional service contact:
JOHN CHANG, MSc, ACMA
Komputation Automation Information Ltd
203A Belsize Road, London NW6
01-328 7038 & 01-328 3968
@foppic computer
AND OTHER GOOD MICROS
190 @ Circle No. 270
EPROM PROGRAMMERS
FOR ALL PET VIC ACORN COMPUTERS
@ All programmers can read/programme 2716 (2K) 2516 (2K)
2532 (4K) EPROMS and compatible ROMs.
@ All you will ever need to make hard copies of your machine
code programmes,
@ INDEPENDENTLY POWERED
@ READ
@ PROGRAMME
@ VERIFY £62.00
@ COPY INC P&P FOR UK
@ CHECK EFFORT IS ERASED
@ FULL SOFTWARE TAPE SUPPLIED
@ PET owners — free programme for making your own character generator
2716 EPROMS £4.50 inc. P&P
2532 EPROMS £8.50 for UK
PET SUPERBOARD 32
Select up to 8 ROM/EPROMS from one location. £62.00 inc pap FOR UK
@ NO WIRES, SWITCHES OR SOLOERING @ PLUGS ONTO THE EXPANSION PORT
@ EXPANSION PORT STILL AVAILABLE @ SELECT UP TO 8 ROM/EPROMS UNDER PROG-
RAMME CONTROL @ PLUGS INTO ANY SPARE ROM SOCKET @ POSSIBLE TO RUN A 3KK
PROGRAMME FROM ONE ROM LOCATION @ PLUGS INTO THE CHARACTER GENERATOR TO
SELECT CHARACTER GENERATOR SETS @ USES 2516, 2716 (2K), 2532 (4K} EPROM/ROMS
@ RUN TOOLKIT VISCAL ETC FROM ONE LOCATION a must for all programmers”
ACORN MONITOR CHIP Ke ;
Please state which location you wish the chip to reside i.e. A000 or DOO.
ENTER MACHINE CODE FROM SCREEN
PC NMI SR AC YR YR SP R = DISPLAY REGISTERS AS SHOWN
1000 A000 30 AS 04 60 FO M = OISPLAY MEMORY £29 50
‘ . G = EXECUTE RUN ADDRESS 2
'M 1000:1010 AS FF 20 O2 FF 2D O02 FF T = MOVE DATA FROM A T0 B INC P&P
1000 4 08 AQ 60 00 00 00 00 y— VERIFY ANY TAPE PROGRAMMES
: FLASHING CURSOR ALSO REPEAT, INSERT, OELETE ETC.
A POWERFUL TOOL FOR MACHINE CODE PROGRAMMERS
£6.50 inc pap
PET USER/IEEE CONNECTORS AND COVERS.
ALL OFFICIAL OROERS WELCOME SAE FOR FURTHER DETAILS
PLEASE STATE TYPE AND MODEL OF YOUR COMPUTER WHEN ORDERING
COMPUTER INTERFACE DESIGNS
4 ALBERT RD, MARGATE, KENT CT9 SAW (0843) 294648.
VIC USER PORT CONNECTORS AND COVERS
@ Circle No. 272
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
URMSTON COMPUTER
CENTRE
Full range of Sharp Microcomputers and
peripherals available from stock.
Call in for a demonstration
MZ80B 64K
MZ80A 48K
MZ80K 48K
SHARP
“Pout, and forecast.
BOOKS AND SOFTWARE
Competitive Prices!
BAR INSTRUMENT CO. LTD
URMSTON COMPUTER CENTRE
SS... 124 Flixton Road, Urmston
[i IP Manchester M31 3BG
as Telephone: 061 747 4626
@ Circle No. 274
COMMODORE COMPUTERS AT ROCK
BOTTOM PRICES
ASK THE REST THEN ASK US LAST
WE KNOW WE’RE BEST SO PHONE
US FAST
CBM 8096 £1000 CBM 2031 £330
CBM 4032 £550 CBM 8026 £800
CBM 8032 £680 CBM 8023 £750
CBM 8050 £750 CBM 4022 £330
CBM 4040 £550 All excl VAT
Also cables, ribbons etc. These silly prices must
end August
Welsh Computer Centre
MICROCOMPUTER SPECIALISTS
Tremains Road, Bridgend. Phone 0656-2757 or
67996
@ Circle No. 273
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
\\
IBIS
SOFTWARE SPECIALISTS FOR
PRACTISING
ACCOUNTANTS
* ACCOUNTS PREPARATION
* INTEGRATED WORD PROCESSING
* PAYROLL (BUREAU SYSTEM)
* TIME RECORDING
* MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING
IBIS software for accounting practices is
amongst the finest available. But no matter how
fine the product, the personal touch cannot be
beaten. We provide a friendly service which
includes full training of your staff on your
premises. Costs typically range from £3,500 to
£6,000, including hardware, software and user
training.
IBIS software is now
available on the
= ACT
o> SITUS 1
CP/M Dealer Enquiries
Welcome
TERN R eee e re cee reece er tet ere see ees es eseren sc ereeererseeerestenesenerte
Oooo ee eee reece eee ere re er err Tries
IBIS Business Information Systems Ltd,
Parkgate House, Cross Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy,
Manchester M21 1DH. Tel: 061-881 0585
@ Circle No. 275
191
PROTECT YOUR SOFTWARE INVESTMENT
COPY Il PLUS
Apple Copy II Pius gives you the power to make back-up copies of nearly
all the “protected” software packages currently available.
INSURANCE
With Copy II Plus you can protect your valuable software
investment. Make back-up copies of Visicalc, DB
Master, DeskTop Plan, the Apple Special Delivery
Software range and many other packages.
RELAX
Copy II Plus allows you to make back-up copies for normal
use, So you can keep your originals safely locked away —
away from the dangers of spills or stray magnetic fields,
or just the wear and tear of everyday usage.
EASILY PAYS FOR ITSELF
While some software companies offer replacement of
expensive damaged diskettes, many do not. With Copy II
Plus you eliminate the time, expense and worry of costly
accidental damage. to your valuable software.
~otax-*
TYPE|N, TALK™
& CHECKBOOK uTiLity
VOTRAX TYPE’N’ TALK
* Unlimited Vocabulary
Built-in microprocessor with text-to-speech algorithm
RS232C interface—connects in same circuit as any
terminal or runs on its own.
Speaks any plain English text that is sent to the
terminal
Built-in audio amplifier (no speaker)
750 character buffer
Band rates to 9600
Data echo
De-selectable and addressable
Phoneme access modes
U.K. Distributor: INTELLIGENT ARTEFACTS
Cambridge Road, Orwell, Royston, Herts.
Tel: Cambridge (0223) 207689
educational &
quantity discounts
@ Circle No. 276 |
FAST
The high-speed option allows you to copy diskettes in less
than 45 seconds — faster than any other bit copier — ideal
for backing-up your ordinary data disks.
Copy || Plus needs Apple II with 48K , DOS 3-3 and at least
one disk drive.
Send £50.00 + VAT to:—
Apple Orchard
1 New Cavendish Street
London W1
or Phone 01-580 5816
and quote your Access
or Diners Club Card
@ Circle No. 277
Another new CP/M product from Sapphire
Systems
SUPERCOM
the most versatile and easy to use COMMUNICA-
TIONS Software Package available for your micro-
computer, enabling you to
@ exchange files between two micro’s
@ exchange files between a micro’ and a main-
frame
@ emulate a timesharing terminal on your micro’,
with an option to transcribe to a disk file
@ run your printer at the same time as communi-
cating with a remote computer
SUPERCOM is Super-fast and Super-secure
Package including 20-page manual can be yours for
only £195 + VAT. Order now from your dealer or
contact
Sapphire Systems
19/27 Kents Hill Road
Benfleet, Essex
Telephone: 03745 59756
Dealer enquiries welcome
@ Circle No. 278
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
BUILD YOUR OWN SPEECH
SYNTHESIZER UTILIZING THE FAMOUS
VOICE CHIP
VOTRAX SPEECH SYNTHESIZER SC-01A
Parallel Port Speech Board B & T
Apple tt Plug-in Board B & T
P.C.8. (Bare) with Documentations .99
High performance self contained voice oe with geihaics' and serial
ports + P/S + speaker boxed unit AC-101.....
P.C.8. (Bare) + Documentation AC-101
Firmware Eprom for AC-101
Votrax Speech Chip SC-01A.. ac Wiss snes dnsbseiananr er sce. co. oem
1200 Word dictionary hard copy . AP EUREREMRCRR ys ++ +s samesaiRmENUR TERS «se £9. £9.99
BUILD YOUR OWN SOUND GENERATOR
USING THE FAMOUS G.I. CHIP AY-3-8910 .
Acorn Atomsound Board Kit
Atom Sound Board built and tested.......
Atom Sound P.C.8. + Documentation
PET, OSi, UK101, NAS | & Il Sound Kit...
Above Boards Built & Tested
Above P.C.B. (Bare) + Documentation ..........0... ccc ceec eer eee 9.00
Siar STG ccc sis ccs ke cca nsec ouserctweacsciesenwedteuea £5.50
Atom Sound Firmware Eprom .. oie ca ton ae
Ribbon Cable Connection for PET, Osi, “UKI01
(plug both end) :
Power Supply Kit
Acorn Atom Expansion Board : h
Special Offer RAM Chip 2114 onlly «0.0... eee ees er eee ees £0.80
For other support chips uP kits such as RAM boards, Eprom Burner Kit,
280, 6502, 6800 Single Board Micros Kit, Technical Books, etc. Please
send self-addressed envelope. Our prices are very reasonable. All ex-
stock. VAT extra.
Credit cards facilities, technical advice all readily available.
Easicome ltd
57 Parana Court, Sprowston, Norwich NR7 8BH.
@ Circle No. 280
ARBOR SUPPLIES
5.25 Diskettes — 70 Packs”
DYSAN - UNBEATABLE QUALITY
Single Sided/Single Density £24.00
SingleSided/Double Density £28.00
DoubleSided/ Double Density £34.00
DoubleSided/* Quad ‘Density £50.00
KYBE ACCUTRACK - With Free Library Box
SingleSided/Double Density £10.00
BLANK LABEL - Economy for APPLE & PET
SingleSided/Singte Density £15.00
(PLEASE SPECIFY IF 10 OR 16 SECTOR DISKS REQUIRED)
Disk Storage — 0 D/sK caraciTy
Genuine “EGLY 'PlaStic Library Boxes £1.90ea.
Drive Head Cleaning Kits
£16.60
26 Weekly Cleans for
All Prices exclude Postage and VAT
UK P&P -Diskettes £0.60 per pach: Library Boxes
£0.50; Head Cleaning Kits £0.60 ea.
VAT is calculated at 157 of total goods + P&P value
Please make Cheque/PC. payable to ARBOR SUPPLIES
or quote your ACCESS Number
iL CHAMBERLAIN GARDENS, ARBORFIELD CROSS,
NR. READING, BERKS. Tel. (0734) 470174
@ Circle No. 279
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
ZX Spectrum
20 Programs £6.95
The ZX Spectrum has brought advanced
computing power into your home, The
Cambridge Colour Collection, a book of
20 programs, is all you need to make it
come alive.
No. experience required. Simply enter the
programs from the book or load them from.tape
(£2.95 extra) and run.
Amazing effects. All programs are fully
animated using hi-res graphics, colour and sound
wherever possible.
Entirely original. None of these programs has
ever been published before.
Proven Quality. The author already has 30,000
satisfied purchasers of his book of ZX81 programs.
Hours of entertainment
@ LunarLanding. Control the angle of descent
and jet thrust to steer the lunar module to a safe
landing on the moon's surface.
@ Maze. Findyour way out from the centre ofa
random maze.
@ Android Nim. Play the Spectrum at the
ancient game of Nim using creatures from outer-
space.
@ Biorhythms. Plot the cycles of your
Emotional, Intellectual and Physical activity.
Some would say this is not a game at all.
Improve your mind
@ Morse. Acomplete morse-code training kit.
This program will take a complete beginner to
R.A.E. proficiency.
@ Maths. Adjustable to various levels, this
program is an invaluable aid to anyone trying to
improve their arithmetic.
Run your life more efficiently
@ Home Accounts. Keeping track of your
finances with this easy-to-use program will
enable you to see at a glance where the money
goes and plan your spending more effectively.
@ Telephone Address Pad. Instant access to
many pages of information.
@ Calendar. Displays a3 month calendar past
or future, ideal for planning or tracing past
events.
ORDER FORM:
Send Cheque or P.O. with order to:—
Dept. A., Richard Francis Altwasser, 22 Foxhollow, Bar Hilt,
Cambridge CB3 8EP
Please send me
O1 Copies: Cambridge Colour Collection Book only £6.95 each.
O Copies Cambridge Colour Collection Book & Cassette
£9.90 each
Name:
Address: _
@ Circle No. 281
193
BRAINS GOT THE BLUES?
MicroMeds Ltd. HAS THE ANSWER
COMPATIBILITY FULL SuperBios Compatibility
FULL Intertec Compatibility
Products for SuperBrain lor |W Fute SuperBrain Compatibility
ROM to prevent loading wrong Intertec System Same ROM either machine £40
SuperBios 1.8
to run on SuperBrain | or II (it IS CP/M)) £60
8" disk interface . £195
(Software support by SuperBios)
Winchester interface (Software support by SuperBios) PLUS:
Reformat protection Fast seeks supported £215
System load from hard OR floppy Arbitrary configuration of hard disk
SuperVid (for SuperBrain | only) BLO eam nancemnenits £195
and alternative character sets
MicroMeds Ltd.
53 Acton Road, Long Eaton,
SuperBrain is a TM of Intertec Data Systems Corp. Nottingham NG10 1FR
CP/M is a TM of Digital Research Inc. Tel: (06076) 64264
SuperBios includes supporting utilities compiled with PRO-PASCAL
Prices exclude VAT and carriage
@ Circle No. 283
- MZ 80B - MZ 80A - Atari 800 - Books Knig his TD R
COME AND SEE COMPUTERS
ONE OF uae eee, MERLE
SHARP & ATARI DEAL
vena ae A ea
LARG EST guages plus 100 siGarefis a os Be oa £477
SELECTION rie cOBe an Rui “Easy
OF PERSONAL
COMPUTERS
AND SOFTWARE
ASSEME UZ 0. a er) Ft £899
DEAL A4 — Complete MZ-80A system —
micro, floppy disk, printer, expansion unit,
all cards, cables, manuals etc....... £1399
DEAL B11 — Complete MZ-80B system —
micro, printer, floppy disk, expansion unit,
all cables, cards, manuals etc....... £1999
ATARI 1 — ATARI 400 — 16 colours with 8
brightness levels, 4 sound voices, 320 x 192
point definition and 25 programs..... £255
We guarantee to supply Sharp and Atari at unbeatable
prices. All prices exclude VAT but include UK delivery.
Write for our latest newsletter, price list and software
catalogue. We have hundreds of programs for Sharp
and Atari.
| KNIGHTS TV AND COMPUTERS
| 108 Rosemount Place, Aberdeen.
62-64 High Street Kensington W8.
01-937 8587.
Texas Instruments - Apple - Commodore : URC 20 : Sharp
Jpeys ajqeaBbpajmouy . sawey . woly ws00y - OOH ely -
Telephone: (0224) 630526. Telex: 739169 KNIGHT
@ Circle No. 282 @ Circle No. 284
194 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
THE FINEST PRINTER/TYPEWRITER MONEY CAN BUY.
THE CROWN RANIER
ONLY £795 + VAT
seeeean
1 TT |
We offer a heavy duty daisy wheel printer/typewriter at the flick of a switch. This machine has the very latest linear motor — no cables or
belts to break, stretch or wear. Beware of light weight, low cost machines, these can never give long term reliable service. THI
MACHINE WILL!! : nt 6
Centronics or IEEE interface. Interchangeable daisy wheels — variable pitch — whole line memory. Uses standard type IBM ribbons and
lift off correetors. Perfection as a typewriter (used by local authorities). Perfection as a printer.
Ask your local computer or office equipment dealer for furthyer information. EXSTOCK DELIVERY
SOLE UK AGENT. TRADE ENQUIRIES INVITED.
Zee GROWN susiness centre
EASTBOURNE, 56-58 SOUTH ST.,
SUSSEX. (0323) 639983.
@ Circie No. 286
WHY YOU NEED LOCKSMITH.
Youre invested some money and a lot of time in a software that is traceable back to the purchaser).
commercial software program for your Apple. It works
well, to the point that you are dependent on its day-to-day ocksmith includes nine other utilities, of which these
functioning. But the ‘disks are copy-protected. So you are five are vital to the. integrity of your system: 1. Media
also dependent on the vendor's back-up (if furnished), on surface check — Never commit data to a flawed diskette
his living up to vague promises of support, even on his again. 2. Disk-drive speed calibration — the most frequent
ability to stay in business. cause of communication bugs between + 3. Degauiss
and Erase — Make sure no stray data is left over. 4.
N: computer user can live with that. So until the Nibble-Editor — sophisticated read/write tool for repairin
situation changes (and it will), you need Locksmith. blown disks. 5. Quickscan — Check for unreliable data, fin
used and unused tracks.
[os (new 4.0 version) will copy almost all A
“protected” diskettes for the Apple. It is the most reliable Ul tor just £65.00 at your local dealer or direct. You
nibble-copy program you can buy. Locksmith is suitable don’t just need Locksmith. You can’t afford to be without
only for backups, because the copies it. Acoess or Va
include all serial numbers, codes aceepted. Add £1.50
and protection features of the P&P. VAT
original (under the new copyright .
age athe excluded. VERGECOURT
foolish to try bootlegging
LTD
17 NOBEL SQ.. BASILDON
ESSExX@SGarls aI
TEL. (0268) 728484
Apple 1s a registered trademark of Apple Computer. Inc.
@ Circle No. 182
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982 195.
| MORE FROM
MICROSoOuURCE
MICROSOURCE sells mainly APPLE software, peripherals and books.
We cannot list all our products in a short space, so look in back issues
| and other magazines. We can get hold of most of your wants quickly,
and at a competitive price. We specialise in the specials, what you
need but cannot get elsewhere. Write or ring for a quote or more
information — you can’t lose!
EPSON OWNERS
Are you an APPLE owner with an MX-80 or MX-100 printer?
Are you having trouble using VISICALC, GENERAL MASTER or other
suet software which conflicts with your EPSON TYPE Hi interface
car
Then we can help you with a replacement ROM to go on your card
which now allows the standard APPLE parallel interface commands to
set up your printer correctly. For example CTRL-| 80N will set the
column width.
There is no need to POKE numbers into odd locations. The card
supports graphics and uses simple commands such as CTRL-16 for
default printing of page 1, or CTRL-! GD2 for a double size print of
page 2.
Replacement ROM for EPSON TYPE Il APPLE INTERFACE CARD . £18
EPSON RIBBON NEED REPLACING?
Do you find it costly replacing the whole cartridge for your MX-80 or
MX-100?
We can supply ribbons at £3.10 incl p&p. Fitted in minutes at a
fraction of the cost of a new cartridge.
ITT 2020 OWNERS
YOU NEED JAILBREAK
COME OUT FROM BEHIND THOSE HI-RES BARS
Now you can run any hi-res program written for your Apple on your
2020 without the annoyance of the 40 vertical bars. Chess and
complex games are a joy to behold. '
* Saves having to modify programs to 2020 standard (no mean task
with complex games which can be over 16K bytes long).
* No soldering required — fit in 5 minutes by following the simple
instructions. i
* Switchable between APPLE and 2020 nodes.
* Compatible with Apple PASCAL and Microsoft Softcard BASIC.
* Gives 280x192 hi-res dot screen like an APPLE (the 2020 normally
gives a 360x192 hi-res dot screen). Text and lo-res are unaffected.
* Does not support hi-res colour. Colours produce various shades of
grey on a b&w display.
JAILBREAK incl VAT p&p joey MESS
COSMOS SCREEN MIXER
MIX THE DIFFERENT SCREENS including LO-RES TEXT AND HI-RES
to produce completely new effects.
The SCREEN MIXER is a set of modules which replace three ICs on the
APPLE II mother board, which allows mixing of any two screens from
HGR, HGR2, GR1, GR2, TEXT1 and TEXT2, without software, but
under software control. Does not use up any slots.
By mixing HGR screens it is possible to have 560 dot resolution across
the screen. You can also have 280 dots of half tone, black or white
dots in one line.
COSMOS SCREEN MIXER — including software and manual ver and
‘ PRONE ooo:5 ce torsis ; : 36.50
BEER RUN
PEGASUS 1
MUMMYS
CURSE
COUNTY
FAIR
INTERFACING YOUR APPLE
Two books for extending your APPLE to interface with the outside
world.
Apple interfacing by Titus, Larsen and Titus describes circuits and the
controlling software in BASIC to allow you to build control devices,
monitor external events, build communication devices, etc. After you
are taken through the principles of interfacing to the 6502 processor,
there is detail on specific problems of interfacing with the APPLE,
details of the APPLE I/O ports and then 16 experiments covering Input
and Output ports, D to A and A to D conversion etc.
Price including p&p. . . £8.30
ADVANCED 6502 INTERFACING by Holland
Practical guide to design techniques and actual circuits for almost any
situation using computer control. Covers I/O port design, serial
communications, timers and timing, A to D and D to A conversion,
Data acquisition, noise elimination. Includes comprehensive guide to
6502 family including technical specs.
Advanced solutions to complex problems are given in an easily
understood manner, with clear and comprehensive explanations.
Price including p&p. . 3 ‘ . 2 a. eee
SABOTAGE
SBD SOFTWARE
15 Jocelyn Road, Richmond TW9 2TJ.
Telephone 01-948 0461
Telex 22861
a ee ee
To help you make your own cards to fit in the APPLE slots, we can
offer
VERO PROTOTYPING BOARDS
Price including p&p. ah ' a; . £8.50
ALL PRICES INCLUDE VAT UNLESS SPECIFIC MENTION IS MADE, ALL PRICES
Company INCLUDE P&P
Address =_L =“ | 1 Branch Road,
el: Park Street (0727) 72917
@ Circle No. 288 @ Circle No. 289
196 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Please telephone for a full catalogue, or use the coupon provided.
Dealer enquiries are welcome. All prices are plus VAT, postage & packing free.
Name
The Arcom range of computer boards
@ programmable in BASIC @ Eurocard size
Arc1 single-board computer with BASIC, clock/calendar with battery,
RS232 interface, 4K bytes of RAM, 2K demonstration EPROM
£135 + VAT
10C1 power controller board with four solid-state relays, three triacs,
three reed relays, four darlington drivers, and eight opto-isolated
inputs
£148 + VAT
Epic! EPROM programmer for 2K and 4K EPROMS, with
relay-switched power, zero insertion force socket, LED
indicators and 1200 baud cassette interface
£64 + VAT -
All boards
(except PSU) A PSU2 power supply with toroidal transformer, giving
oe 5V at lamp, +12V at 200mA, 35V (nom) for EPROM
Eurocard or programming
ibbbe cable £34 + VAT
connector.
Please °
specity. , . -
Carriage and packing — Also available
hearse he a ADA‘ 8 bit 8 channel A/D converter with differential input amplifiers and
(minimum £2) (UK only) DMA, plus 8 bit D/A converter with output amplifier
£138 + VAT
Order from XZ8 CP/M cross assembler for 28 code £140 + VAT
card frame and system hardware - contact Arcom
Arcom CONTROL SYSTEMS LTD.
37 Grahame Close, Blewbury, Oxon Tel: 0235 850544
orfrom _ HiTek Distribution, Trafalgar Way, Bar Hill, Cambridge’ Tel: 0954 81996
@ Circle No. 291
A complete business computer service from
——forte data systems
Introducing the New
ACT
— SITTUS 1
Minicomputer Performance — Personal
Computer Price — 16 bit processor: £2,395
Free consultation — Implementation — Customisation
Forte Data Systems offer a free consultation service to
evaluate and discuss your requirements. We will under-
t See eee eee ee eee eee Se ee Se
ake to install systems and provide you with an after q {]
sales support service to ensure that you get the full To: Forte Data Systems
benefit of today’s technology. | 27 Rathbone Street, London W1P 1AG fi
Tel: 01-637 0164
Systems include: | PLEASE CONTACT ME WITH FURTHER DETAILS fs
Word processing . order processing . stock control . » Name
invoiding . sales ledger . integrated accounting . manage- i Position J
ment accounts . mailing lists . financial modelling . i aaa: d
mainframe communications . databases Company/address
Telephone 01-637 0164 to arrange for a demonstration 7 '
or complete the attached coupon. Callers by appoint- [| iz ‘ — Mi
ment only. : ire lie : P.C.8 i
am meme eee Hee Ee ee ee ee ee
@ Circle No. 290
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982 197
- td
DISKS & TAPES M 1¢ ro- The Gemini Mult!Board concept is the
' Jogical route to virtually any
a & 3 microcomputer system you Care to
” SUPPLIERS YO TRADE MPUTERS
5V, SSSD BASF $17.95 ay VAT Ye ea Sh COMPUTE! name. Whether you require a business system,
ee ~ an educational system, a process contro! sysiem
or any other system, there is a combination of
1 w" N,
5%" SSDD BASF £21.45 + vaT INDUSTRY MAINTENANCE MuitiBoards to fulfil that function.
5%" DSDD BASF £25.95 + VAT 19 ROSEBURN TERRACE, EDINSURGH EH12 SNG- Final soso ee ce eas
jon i: th
PC ba cast oo Sears atte
: structure, whi is finding Increasing acceptance
yy," . c u i
5V Library Case £1.90 + VAT PAYMENT AND DELIVERY COMPONENTS procaine the prodcetibses. RIES
Payment is by Cheque, Postal _MEMS HARDWARE (BUILT & TESTED)
Order, ACCESS, VISA etc, [RAMMMMMMMNPBGSEIE v0) Errow ron cars fos) Evora leet aateare Ena
nh JA PSU £40 Single drive disk unit
Cassettes (C20) 65p All storage media is top quality—
No High St. rubbish.
~ PLEASE add postage and VAT. BAAR Le ment) * EPROM programmer with) PSU (350K) £325
Ma FDC card 1 Double drive disk unit Pay
Add £1.50 p. & p. per box. Allin stock items sent same anal 95p GMAETOK SA PSU 8 with PSU
Mult! 0 board
28 Disk protection folder £10.49 + VAT day. Allnon Kit items have a PRINS cuss, tooo” Speech board
25W plug €1.50 Gmai2 = 280 IVC card ight Per
r rantee. ; cine
\ N T CK 1 year guarantee 25W socket cee oC 2 oo
ALL PRICES APPLY TO a 2
N p END SEPTEMBER 1982 oe: £1.20) Behe sperm Geni Diy Te asnesibier
The new colour board > qQw Mumtoaca £90 Geougger tape
WN F from Lucas TOP ToP GMS1T GemZap edit/asm tapetas Gem Dis disassemblert
ere it ANN VALUE ad R | N T E R be VALUE Goh) catretee Comare0 tape
tex! formatter tape 4S Comal-80 disk
Ne.
oA? nas com Anadex DP8000 B&O Matrix £3004 VAT fi OM Ger tersatin os
ieee Bama Tec 45&55CpsDaisyWheel £995+ VAT fm O™?! SemPerean
: Silver Reed Typewriter/Printer
SHARP §
NQASCOM | «2:01 MBP), Icon RP1600 £1149 + VAT
i : 7 Triumph-Adler Stylist £595
KITS
Nascom 1, with Computers <<
NAS-SYS tess P10 £112.50 Pp PRINTERS
Nascom2,nouserRAM ° £20250 unbeatable prices , E SO
< , PRINTERS
BOARD LEVEL
Nascom 1, with £31 5 + VAT M X80FT— | £307 + vat
NAS—SYS 1 less P10 £126.00
Nascom2,nouser RAM High Resolution - MX80FT—II £3154 vat
CASEO SYSTEMS
Nascom3,nouser RAM Graphics for MZ80K Se, MX80FT—IIl £327 é
ak user RAM \ + VAT COMPUTER FOR BUSINESS ETC
wekuser RAM £110. — MX100 Type £439 PVs Hardware *Prog. Character Generator
32K user RAM
AaK user RAM eee... oa MX82FT £330 + vat “Twin ZBOA CP/M System “160 x 75 Pixel Graphies
Kit form r Nascom single disc drive ee RAM Fe *Centronics Parallel I/O
MEMORY CARDS (350K8) incl. FOC card x is 4 isk Storage (Formatted) *RS232 /0
RAM B memory card Nascom dual disc F *B80 x 255 Screen Format * Light pen interface
portray aes, TERMINALS/MONITORS _ fede “lon pep intetace
memory car incl, FDC card
pe by CREAM ats yoo! NAB o> csc op SP sten . BMC 12v Green Screen Monitor £119+ VAT software *GEM.ZAP Assembler!
ional . . y
Acc oralea RAM ‘ NAS-SYS 1R}OM . Televideo 910 Terminal £425 ea ermal “GEM PEN Text editor
VO boards tor 3 P10 SeAP at DNAS y Televideo 925 Terminal 525 *Comal-80 structured *GEM-DE BUG
1x CTC, 1x UART SYSin4 x EPROM Televideo 950 Terminal £615 Eisele debugging software
Prd tor sbove HO Teele 1YEARGUARANTEEON [eHiEesaicn £1450 + VAT
: ysy
CcTck ove 1/0 BK mi tt basi
UART forabove 0 ae ALL NON KIT ITEMS Green Screen Monitor £117 + VAT
dy
@ Circle No. 292
UK Subscription Dept.
24 Woodhill Park Pembury Tunbridge Wells Kent TN2 4NW
LOOK what you get when you subscribe to MICRO-80 the monthly magazine for TRS-80 and Video
Genie. Now in the 3rd year of publication!
All new subscribers (and existing ones when they renew) receive free of charge a Software Cassette
complete with 62 page user manual featuring
* Level lin Level Il - Convert your Level I] TRS-80 to operate as a Level | machine.
* Copier - Copies Level Il System tapes, irrespective of where they load in memory.
* Z80 MON - A low memory, machine language monitor.
* Improved Household Accounts - Powerful enough to be used by a small business.
* 80 Composer - A music generating program.
* Plus Two Games - Poker and Cube (a version of the Rubiks cube for Disk users).
Order just the magazine or take it each month complete with the published programs ready-to-load
on cassette or disk.
Please enrol me for an annual subscription and send me my FREE cassette program. | enclose
£16.00 D0 (magazine only) or £43.60 DO (magazine and cassette edition) or £75.00 D (magazine and disk
edition).
(Enclose your cheque/P.O. made payable to MICRO-80 and send to the above address.)
Software offer, and prices apply to U.K. residents only. Overseas subscription rates on application.
BLOCK CAPITALS PLEASE
Address
PC 8/82
@ Circle No. 261
198 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
EVIE SHOP a
Your specialist computer store
329 Euston Road, London NW1 3BG. 001-387-0505
Are you uncertain what computer system you need? Are you sure you
need a computer? Why not come along to one of our seminars or
demonstrations and see what we have to show you. We can supply
computers from £200 to £20,000 plus. Full installation and service
support.
ALL PRICES EXCEPT VIC ITEMS EXCLUDE VAT.
EPSON | SSBORNE | WHEE?) | pisks | eeepc commuter
Full range inc We can supply with a If you buy a VIC + Low prices Full Range
the new type S Daisy-wheel printer for only cassette deck we give Wabash Apple IC
ideal printer for £1,749.00 you 5!” SSSD 17.00 +
almost any This must be the cheapest | FREE worth | 5}’DSDD 24.95 | Apple 111
system. word-star based word pro Intro to basic 14.95 | Boxes (10) with the new acceégs data
Also buffered system. Gamestapes 19.95 | 2 YEAR G/TEE base from Spider Software
interfaces 10 C1Z tapes 5.00
8-32K
PRICES FROM
£315.00
@ Circle No. 294
EXTRAS FOR THE} $431 b
all cassette based
> “MEDMON-B” MACHINE CODE MONITOR — 20 Com-
mands — Dissassemble, Memchange, Break-
points, etc. £9.95
> “MEDTED-B” FREE FORMAT TEXT FILE GEN/EDITOR
— including: ;
“MEDMAIL-B" MAILSHOT LABEL PRINTER £9.50
> “MEDPROM-B” EPROM PROGRAMMER — Machine
Code software — Programs 2516/27 16/2532/2732
£79.00
MICRO WORK_ STATIONS
A new concept in work stations designed to
solve space and mobility problems.
A compact storage unit able
to house a full system yet
only occupying a space just
larger than a 60cm square.
Even ‘packed away’ the
equipment can still be used
effectively.
O
ae
AND FOR THE [°) ip
cassette or disk
> “MEDTED-P” FREE FORMAT TEXT FILE GEN/EDITOR
— including:
“MEDMAIL-P” MAILSHOT LABEL PRINTER £9.50
> “MEDDEV-P” CASSETTE OR DISK FILE BASED
DEVELOPMENT PACKAGE — Assembler and Offset
with ample knee Loader £19.75
seer > "MEDPROM-P” EPROM PROGRAMMER — spec. as
Write or phone for full details to:- “MEDPROM-B” £79.00
Opening the hinged
leaf doubles the
work surface area
creating an
operating position
For PET specify Model Type and Screen Size.
PET programs on Disk add £2 per order.
Microtrol Engineering Design Ltd.
640 Melton Rd, Thurmaston,
Leicester LE4 8BB.
Tel.: 0533 704492
@ Circle No, 295
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982 199
Crowther- Cosine,
6, Middleton Road, Whittington,
Lichfield, Staffs. WS14 SNB.
tet. (0543) 432376
@ Circle No. 293
STAY SOUTH FOR
TELEVIDEO COMPUTER SYSTEMS
The microcomputer that expands from single user, to multi-user. Special
packages offers: -
TELEDIT WORD PROCESSING SYSTEM £3,990
TS802 computer, word processing system and special keyboard daisy wheel printer, starter kit.
TELECAL ACCOUNTS SYSTEM £3,990
TS802 computer, accounts system, matrix printer, starter kit.
We sarply and support the complete range of TELEVIDEO computers, terminals, and CP/M
software.
Purchase rent or lease from the market leaders in multi-user microcomputer systems
THE ELECTRONIC OFFICE
PHOENIX BUILDINGS @ 32 WEST ST. @ BRIGHTON
Tel: BRIGHTON (0273).722248/9
@ Circle No. 296
'
fe v/
WABASH DISKETTES [ At last an ‘electronic spreadsheet’ that gives you ali the features you want afd
. r | written especially for FLEX (soon to be available for UNIFLEX),
DYNACALC features 16 DIGIT arithmetic, an extensive ‘HELP’ feature for each
command, graph plotting and many functions for both financial and scientific
calculations.
1 0 x Bt S j n g le -S d e d DYNACALC is available direct from COMPUSENSE, or from cur dealers.
COMPUSENSE is the European distributor for DYNACALC, Dealer enquiries
Single-Density, soft sector | ae PRICE 1K) £140.00 excl VAT
U.K. Dealers — Stirling Microsystems
“k o% & & NEW PRODUCTS — NEW PRICES *# & & &
— 6809 CPU, BARE PCB £50.00 excl VAT
— 6502 TO 6809 TRANSLATOR for FLEX £60.00 excl VAT
r 7 — 6805 SIMULATOR for FLEX £60.00 excl VAT
FREE - LIBRARY BOX = Boe SIMULATOR forsLEX pibimavat
— 6809 Position Independent XLTR £50.00 excl VAT
FREE- K @) STA G F | Hang on to your hats TANDY COLOUR COMPUTER Owners — FLEX is here for
| | you too!
FREE PAC KI N G | MANY MORE call or write for a catalogue
|
DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS
FT 5 | VAT (£2.25)
pete DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS piss:
Send cheque with order to
1-99 100+
ABRA&SS MEDIA SUPPLIES
with | For example— 64k STATIC RAM, 2MHZ OPERATION —475.00 excl VAT
WABASH 5” SS/SD Soft Sectored £1.45 £1.40
WABASH 5” DS/DD Soft Sectored £2.00 £1.80
WABASH 8” SS/SD Soft Sectored £1.70 £1.60
WABASH 8" DS/DD Soft Sectored £2.40 £2.25
ADD VAT at 15%. P&P £1 per order.
DISKS
DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DiSKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS
DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DiSKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS DISKS
* % % RINGUS FOR CREDITCARD INFORMATION * & &
PO BOX 169 — PALMERS GREEN — LONDON N13 4HT
01-882 0681 |
@ Circle No. 319 @ Circle No. 297
200 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
357 EUSTON ROAD, LONDON NW1 3AL. TEL: 01-388 2061
SEEMS LIKE WONDERLAND
Alice (reviewing her 80,000 Records): “‘Now, which of you
sounds like Thomson?
Chorus: Tomson here Miss! Tomasson, if you please Miss! My
names Thomass in....
SS
sa he <— ~
Skip, ,
Siig 1 6
Y £ Len a Kea \ si
g 4 SN V4
at
PA
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Wa
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Boog
INFORMATION MANAGERS
Are the flavour
SUPERFILE
Is an advanced, elegant,
package that gives:
speed
flexibility
security
of ‘82
home-grown
unique phonetic matching
an interface to any CP/M |
anguage
multi-user capability (the first in the
world)
SUPERFILE is a 12K package in Z80 code
for any CP/M machine — Xerox, Apple
(with Z80 card), Osborne, Superbrain,;
multi-user on Equinox under Turbodos,
DC4 under MP/M etc.
Two advanced end-user
available: SUPERFORMS
specialist design, store and use screen
Forms to enter information, retrieve it
and do calculations. Half a dozen Forms
— which take only an hour to set up —
can do all a small company’s book keep-
ing. Tailored software at package prices!
tabulated Reports,
address labels, Mail Merge compatible
SUPERTAB for
files. (Ready June 1982)
One-off prices:
SUPERFILE
MULTI-USER
SUPERFORMS
SUPERTAB
DEMO DISK
MANUAL ALONE
Software dealers:
A BRITISH
(and much better)
ALTERNATIVE
packages are
Are you sick of having to say: ‘I’m very
lets the non-
sorry — they’re stuck at the airport” ‘‘I’m
very sorry — we'll get on to California
right away” “I’m very sorry — we'll ring
you next week”
If you could do without:
Slow deliveries
Poor support
High prices
User-hostile software
Then you might try calling Southdata.
We can give you:
Immediate deliveries
Instant support
Low Prices
Terrific Discounts
Remember — the SUPERFILE package
gives you Tailored Software at Package
Prices.
Southdata Ltd
10 Barley Mow Passage, London W4 4PH
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
01-994 6477 Telex 8811418
@ Circle No. 298
201
UP — DOWN — THRUST — FIRE
First and only full screen display.
Software to drive Q8 SOUND BD.
Moving Planetary surface. Up to
84 fast moving characters on
screen at once. On screen scoring.
Ten missiles at once. Increasing
attack patterns. Requires 8K
ROM, and 4K min of RAM. &8.80.
QS SOUND ED.
A programmable sound effects
board using the AY-3-8910. 3
TONES; 1 NOISE; ENVELOPE
SHAPER: + TWO 8 BITI/O PORTS.
Easily programmable from
BASIC, the AY chip does most of
the work leaving your computer
free for other things. Signal O/P
via 3.5 mm Jack socket Ports 0/P
via a 16 pin IC. Socket. £26.00.
QS CHRS BD./
A programmable character
generator giving — 128 SEP-
ARATELY PROGRAMMABLE
CHARACTERS. ON/OFF SWITCH.
1K ON BOARD RAM. Enables
creation and display of your own
characters to screen or printer.
Demo cassette of fast machine
code operation routines and lower
case alphabet included. See below
for ZX PRINTER listing. 486.00.
IS - cover case
abcdefghi-ikimnoparstuvuxyz
Special offers & news
LEADERS IN COMPUTER GAMES
LEFT — RIGHT — _ FIRE
137 INVADERS; High score; 3
levels of play; RND saucers; Bonus
base; Drives Sound bd. & CHRS bd.
Requires 7K RAM, 8K ROM +Slow.
48.80.
Q8 HI-RES BD.
A Hi-res graphics board giving —
256 X 192 PIXELS. 6K ON BD.
RAM. SOFTWARE SELECT/
DESELECT, MIXED TEXT AND
GRAPHICS. 2K ON BOARD ROM.
Resident fast machine code
graphics software (in ROM)
provides the following HI-RES
Commands. — MOVE x, y; PLOT x,
y; DRAW x, y; BOX x, y; UP; DOWN;
LEFT; RIGHT, PRINT A$; SCROLL;
BLACK; WHITE CLEAR COPY. See
above for: ZX PRINTER listings
using COPY. £88.00.
(1) Q8 Mother bd. +connector +CHRS ba. +The special Graphics version of
ARCTIC COMPUTING’S EX CHESS 11. £45.00.
The strongest chess program with 7 levels of play.
ae Q8 MOTHER BD+CONNECTOR + either SOUND or CHRS bd. &40.00.
“STOP PRESS
New Game, QOS Scramble £5.50
FIRST CHOICE FOR ZX:SUPPORT:
2X-80
QS ASTEROIDS,
LEFT — RIGHT — THRUST — FIRE
Software to drive Q8 SOUND BD.
Multiple missiles firing in 8
directions. On screen scoring.
Increasing number of asteroids.
Full mobility of ship to all areas of
the screen. Two asteroid sizes.
Bonus ship at 10,000 points.
Requires 8K ROM, 4K min of RAM
+ SLOW function. £8.80.
QS 3K RAM Bd.
An extremely reliable static RAM
Bd. which combines with the
computer's memory to give 4K
total. Plugs direct in to the rear
port on your ZX Computer.
£18.00.
Q8 MOTHER BOARD BD. & Q8
CONNECTOR.
A reliable expansion system
allowing a total of any RAM pack
plus two other plug in boards to be
in use at once. On board 5V
regulator drives all external
boards. Fitted with two 25 way
double sided edge connectors.
Connector is 2X23 way edge
conns soldered back to back.
Expansion can operate in two
ways — (1) COMPUTER <>
CONNECTOR < Any QS add on bd.
(but no extra RAM pack). (2)
COMPUTER «<> CONNECTOR +
MOTHER BD ~ ANY RAM PACK.
(2 dds to fit in mother bd.) Mother
board .00 Connector £4.00.
POSTAI, AND MONEY ORDERS TO: AI.I, PRODUCTS FULLY GUARANTED.
QUICKSILVA: 95, UPPER BROWNHILL RD. : MAYBUSH : SOTON : HANTS : ENGLAND.
Please state Type of machine, Which KOM, Memory size, when ordering,
@ Circle No. 299
Ms HE EUROPEAN
You could be a distributor, a oe a software
house, a systems integrator, 7)
a sales and service company,
a retailer—even a DP man
about to go into business
on your own. You could
know the DP/WP business
backwards, or you could
be coming into the ring for
the first time.
But whatever your status,
if you owe your livelihood to
buying and reselling computers,
software or peripherals, you owe %
it to yourself to visit ECTF at the
NEC this Autumn.
ECTF means business ‘\\
Because it has been specially
created for you, it's the computer
‘industry's own trade show.Ithasbeen “aaa
designed to provide you with a wider range of ree
business loa together under one roof.
ECTF is there to help you plan the most profitable
product line, to get the best hardware and software
and to negotiate the most advantageous trade deals.
Quite simply, your visit could be crucial to your future
business success.
Seeing, hearing...and comparing
Wang,DEC, Sony, Olivetti, ICL, Hewlett-Packard,
Toshiba — a host of household names will be there,
plus many names you may not know: new companies
in the market with new products that could be next
year's big money makers.
They all need to meet you. They'll want to talk
trade terms, marketing support, dealerships, discounts
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
OMPUTER
TRADE FORUM
Helping you make money,
eel 1Ot MIS
(OS) eee
~and how their products can mean
bigger profits for you.
And you need to meet them to
see, discuss and compare the whole
spectrum of WP and DP products.
In fact that's the key to ECTF. By
knowing what's available, you'll
be in a better position to make
money...and avoid mistakes.
For trade and
trade alone
The general public are
not invited to ECTF. The
emphasis is on business.
And for you it's free.
It takes place at the
National Exhibition Centre
Birmingham, easily reached by
car or train. It will be open for just four
aa 28 September to 1 October Fill in the coupon
and send it to ECTF. 232 Acton Lane,
London W4 SDL —or telephone
01-747 3131 and we'll mail you
FREE tickets for you and your
business colleagues.
ems PLEASE FILL OUT AND USE CAPITAL LETTERS comm com
4 Please send me__Free Entrance Tickets for my colleagues and myseff.
i ———— a a
Company. = SSS
I
ine 21
I Address. l
I
I
! Telephone Telex _
J (No one under 18 will be admitted) tit |
] [| | would like to receive information on exhibiting i | ~|
Wei wos oman aa eee 4]
@ Circle No. 263
203
ARE YOU A 2X81 USER WHO'S NOT
£472
Including VAT.
complete
@ Each ECR81 comes complete with its own individual
certification tape, tested and serial numbered to prove your
machine reliability.
@ Mains Operation only.
@ Mains & DIN connector leads provided.
®@ Certification of tape head alignment - height and azimuth.
@ Certified tape tension, torque and speed.
@ Fast forward and rewind tape search controls.
The ECR81 is also suitable for Sinclair 2X80
@ Please allow up to 28 days delivery. @ The ECR81 is
backed by our 14 day money-back option.
MONOLITH
electronic products
Telephone: Crewkerne 0460 74321 Telex: 46306
PLAYING GAMES?
ECR 81 DATA RECORDER SAVES AND
LOADS YOUR PROGRAMS EVERY TIME!
The ECR81 Enhanced Certified Recorder from MONOLITH is a
major advancement in cassette recorder technology which minimises
the problems associated with standard audio recorders. The unit is a
high reliability program store for ZX computers based on a modified,
proven cassette mechanism. The two sections of data recording
circuitry automatically ensure precise levels are written onto the
tape and that optimised signals are received by the computer.
THE ECR81 IS NOT SUITABLE FOR AUDIO REPRODUCTION
NO MANUAL VOLUME OR TONE CONTROL ADJUSTMENT PROVIDED
<i a SS ey Se eee = |
To: MONOLITH ELECTRONICS CO. LTO., 5/7 CHURCH STREET, CREWKERNE, SOMERSET
| Please lease supply me with: Price |
Total
| ae ee _-(Qty.) Monolith ECR 81 Enhanced Certified Recorder(s) fecen
to be used with my ZX81
| also enclose postage & packing per recorder £2.50
|
|
|
| 5 Prices include VAT
|
|
I
|
Name: memrs/miss. LL | 1 | | eit | | si] | | ra! | Li
a yn ' TL Deter ees Bee eee,
pil Oitititiiii Ht Ut |
@ Circle No. 313
Pe CUNEW BOOK CALSSO OF INTEREST
INTERFACING TO
MICROPROCESSORS AND
Full constructional details given
Projects work with any system
may be linked to the world around it, e.g. light
circuits of each interface are fully explained.
Owen Bishop gives full constructional details,
programming the system to operate with the
interface.
or microcomputer system.
0 408 011297 160 pages £4.95
MICROCOMPUTERS owen Bishop
Consists of a series of practical projects for the
home constructor showing how a micro system
sensor or sound effects generator. The theory and the advantages and pitfalls in their application
strip-board layouts, lists of components and hints already trained in hydraulic or electromechanical
on alignment and trouble-shooting. Also included technology to catch up on twenty years of
are flowcharts and suggestions for methods of
Using this book, a wide variety of interfaces can
be constructed to suit almost any microprocessor
MICROPROCESSORS FOR
INDUSTRY
JN W Baldwin
The microprocessor has recently brought
computerised control systems within the budget
of many small businesses. J N Baldwin has had
nearly twenty five years’ experience of applying
computers to industry; his book explains the
capabilities and limitations of microprocessors,
and the general scope for applying this new
technology in industry. The book will help anyone
development in electronics and take profitable
advantage of the microprocessor's potential.
0 408 00517 3 144pages £7.50
ORDER NOW from your local bookseller
In case of difficulty this advertisement can be returned to
Patricia Davies at the address below
Please send me copy /ies of { enclose a cheque/PO for £ in total payment
Interfacing to Microprocessors and Microcomputers From
(Bishop) 0 408011297 £4.95
Microprocessors for Industry (Baldwin) 0 408 005173 £7.50 AOGrCSS: ae
f division of Butterworths Borough Green, Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 8PH (PC 8/82)
204
@ Circie No. 262
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
HOW TO
GE | MORE
TAKE A COURSE AT
THE COMPUTER
TRAINING AND
EDUCATION
CENTRE.......
CP/M* (User level) 2 days
A practical course designed for those unfamiliar with
CP/M, familiarising the new user with the operation of
the typical hardware attached to a disc-based 280
microprocessor system, and giving an understand-
ing of the facilities available and of its management
of disc files.
Advanced CP/M 2 days
This course is designed for those who wish to modify
the standard CP/M operating system and includes a
detailed investigation of BIOS and its interaction
with CCP andBDOS. Previous assembler experience
is essential.
Programming in BASIC 1 week
Giving a thorough understanding of the BASIC
language and enabling the student to put this
knowledge into practical use, facilitated by hands-on
sessions and practical exercises.
EC
A professional organisation with first class
training facilities in Central London.
*CP/M is the T/M of Digital Research Corp.
tWordstar is the T/M of Micropro Corp.
Programming in PASCAL 3days
Giving an understanding of structured programming
techniques as used in PASCAL and providing
practical experience on a microcomputer.
Wordstart Wordprocessing 2 days
Giving the user an understanding of the facilities
available in the Wordstar/Mailmerge Wordprocess-
ing System and hands-on experience which enables
this knowledge to be put to practical use.
All courses are in London. A wide range of
hardware is available for practical work.
Contact The Courses Secretary, Computer Training
& Education Centre Ltd, 102-108 Clerkenwell Road,
London EC1. 01-251 4010/4019.
AD OUI ee er concen
CORT DTI ae ath eroee hee acento es
(NOLO RESS cerca Nee cee 5 ccc PR ce
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
@ Circle No. 300
205
£3355.
ranges of systems and boards.
For Hardware, Software, Consultancy and Maintenance.
CROMIX USERS......
Jarogate Ltd. offer the JD12 and JD24 giving 12 or 24 M byte (formatted)
storage capacity using Rodime 51 inch British made Winchester disc
drives. Prices of £2295 and £3435 respectively include S100 controller,
Case, power supply and Cromix drivers.
Also available as an alternative to the Cromemco HDD-11, the Jarogate
JDD-11 provides the same IMI 7710 drive in a more attractive cabinet at
Tape Backup System: 24 M byte capacity £2295.
Jarogate Ltd. are main dealers for Comart, Cromemco and North Star
JAROGATE LTD.
the microprocessor consultants
197-213 Lyham Road, Brixton, London SW2 5PY Telephone 01-671 632]
(LO research Itd.
BABY PLUTO
320 (H) x 288 (v) x 8 COLOUR DISPLAY
The power and performance of Pluto but
with 96Kbytes of memory and half the
resolution. An ideal match for low cost
colour monitors.
Incredible value at only £299 + VAT
A/D BOARD FOR NASCOM
e 8 input channels e 8 bit resolution
e@ 30 microsec conversion @ Sample and hold
@ Over voltage protection @ Full flat/interrupt control
e Prototyping area e NASBUS compatible
Price £120 + 15% VAT (post free)
EPROM PROGRAMMER
@ Programs 3 rail: 2708/2716
Single rail: 2508/2758, 2516/2716, 2532/2732
e@ Software supplied for Read/Program/Verify
@ Can be used with other machines with 2 parallel ports
Price £63 + 15% VAT (post free)
6 Laleham Avenue, Mill Hill,
London NW7 3HL
Tel: 01-959 0106
@ Circle No. 301
206
Cromix is a registered trade mark of CROMEMCO INC.
@ Circle No. 302
(\O research Itd.
“PLUTO” COLOUR GRAPHICS PROCESSOR
Pluto is a self-contained colour display processor on an
8” x 8” NASBUS and 80-BUS compatible card featuring:
e@ Own 16 bit microprocessor
e |192 Kbytes of dual-ported display memory for fast flicker’- free
screen updates. (Outside of the host address space).
e@ 640(H) x 288(V) x 3 planes (8 colours) — 2 screenfulls
R
O
640(H) x 576(V) x 3 planes (optional extra)
e Fast parallel 1/O interface usable with ALMOST ANY MICRO.
Only single +5v supply required.
Pluto executes on-board firmware providing high level
functions such as:
e Fast vector draw —- over 100,000 pixels/sec. Lines can be drawn
using REPLACE, XOR, AND, OR functions
e User-definable characters or symbols
e Spare display memory with memory management facilities for
allocating symbol storage space or workspace
e Rectangle Fill and copy using REPLACE, XOR, AND, OR plus 5
other functions
e Fast access to single pixels
@ Write protect memory planes during copy
e Double-buffered screen memory for animated displays
e Complex polygon colour fill
Pluto is expandable. An expansion board will be available
later this year to give Pluto up to 8 memory planes with no
loss of resolution. $100 Interface now available.
AVAILABLE NOW. ONLY £399 + VAT (p&p free)
Dealer and OEM enquiries invited.
6 Laleham Avenue, Mill Hill,
London NW7 3HL
Tel: 01-959 0106
@ Circle No. 303
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
PRO PASCAL THE MODERN WAY TO PROGRAM
Pascal provides the user with means of structuring both data and code. Pro Pascal is a true
compiler, generating programs which make full use of the registers and instructions of the
Z80 processor.
@ Superset of ISO Standard Pascal @ Pro Pascal runs on any Z80 micro with CP/
M and at least 52K RAM, for instance:
@ Fast, compact object code — see published benchmarks Apple + Softcard
@ Separate compilation facility allows large programs to be Clenlo Conqueror
snedivided into manageable segments Cromemco (with CP/M or CDOS)
i Digico Prince
@ For Business applications: Gemini Galaxy
nine-digit integers (32 bits) — Heath/Zenith Z89
— string handling Nascom
sequential and random access to files — NEC PC8000
@ For scientific use: — ae Sat & Advantage
: ; i isi : et + Softbox
va (32-bit) and double (64-bit) precision real Research Machines 380Z
— input/output and all math functions in both precisions Sharp MZ-80B
—Superbrain
@ For systems programmers: —TeleVideo
— object programs can incorporate assembler-coded Vector MZ
modules ~ Xerox 820
— compiled code is reentrant (ROMable) Zilog MCZ
Pro Pascal is developed and supported in the UK. The single-user price is £190 plus VAT.
The software package includes disc-to-disc linker and a cross-reference generator.
‘Prdspero PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE SPECIALISTS
Prospero Software, 37 Gwendolen Avenue, London SW15 6EP Tel: 01-785 6848
@ Circle No. 305
The Micronex 128S £675. High resolution graphics
High resolution display generator 2 pages x 1024 x 512 pixels packages for the Superbrain 1
a. he & Superbrain 2
Hardcopy printer output facility £55.
IDS PT560 & Prism 132 printer drivers
Digitiser pad input facility £55,
Graphics primitive handlers for
Summagraphics Bit-Pad YF
if
packages £395.
For Pascal, FORTRAN, BASIC
under CP/M include —
Graphics Primitives. Graph
Plotter. Surface Plotter in 3D with true-perspective
and hidden-line removal. 3D graphics for
wire-frame objects. Tektronix 4010/4014 graphics
terminal emulator
FAST ACCESS
The exclusive Micronex VU-DISK £115.
Lets you use your Micronex 128S Pixelplotter just like a
very-fast-access 128K byte disk under CP/M.
Eliminates time consuming disk-drive activity.
Up to three times faster for sorting, merging,
compilation, assembly.
For further details contact:
Computer Systems Ltd.
Icarus Computer Systems Ltd. Deane House 27 Greenwood Piace London NW51NN Tel: 01-485 5574 Telex: 264209
@ Circle No. 304
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982 a 207
CITY MICROSYSTEMS LIMITED
65 LONDON WALL, LONDON EC2M 5TU
01-588 7272
VIDEO GENIE
with VISICALC
SUPERBRAIN TELEVIDEO SYSTEMS
Multi-user, multi-task, multi-processor, televideo
reliability with complete expandability.
One to sixteen users.
Complete system £1275, inc. Computer,
Monitor, Expander, 1-disk drive printer
and Software.
Vast library of standard software.
320K, 680K and 1.5MB Diskdrives.
Full graphics available.
Wide range of standard packages.
Complete business accounting systems from £2000. Word processors from £1420
ADVICE, TRAINING AND MAINTENANCE
ALL YOUR COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS READILY AVAILABLE
IN THE CENTRE OF THE CITY — LONDON EC2
VISITORS TO OUR OFFICES MOST WELCOME 10.30am-4.30pm
@ Circle No. 307
PROFESSIONAL
__ VWIDEO
MONITORS
Telefusion have the full
range of video monitors
manufactured by Electrohome.
These monitors are extremely
rugged, dependable and
available in a variety of screen
sizes, and phosphor options,
to suit the Communications, Digital,
Medical and Industrial Monitoring
industries.
As the U:K. authorised distributor
and service repair centre, Telefusion can
offer competitive prices, expert applications advice <
and a comprehensive after sales service from our factory, or from
the regional depots throughout the country.
CONTRACTS DIVISION
Unit 10/11 Barrs Fold Close Wingates Industrial Park
Write or phone for further details Westhoughton Bolton BL5 3XH Telephone: 0204 66393
@ Circle No. 306
208 PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
Microware (London) Ltd., The North London Computer Store, 637 Holloway Road, London N19. Tel: 01-272 6237
01-272 6398
.
> ‘
MEMOREX FLOPPY
WHOLESALE PRICES DISKS
FOR END USERS =
oe : BF eric density £1.59
= 4" Double sided
@ Double density £1 .99
SB" sci, £2.29
DISK STORAGE_
BOXES
from
£14.95
full range
of 5}” and 8”
»” Doublesided aay
8 Double density 2-99 oo “ £2.45 7d
£3.15
Solt Seared full range 4, :
t
16 Sect available an
Full. range available
Instock
Dust Covers for Micro’s &
Printers & VDUs from
Floppy Saver Kits from
Indexing Systems from £2.00
@ Circle No. 308
Advertisement Index
A D J R
A Solv 189 Data Applications 81 —_Jarrogate Lid 206 R Altwasser 193
ie oo Pa or # agen ee + Johnson Micros 123 Rade Systems 47
Adter ‘124 Dataright 2 2K pp abe Macbined 140
Almarc Data Systems 76 Derwent Data Systems 123. Kat 190 Riva Terminals 104
nee Ja = Digitek 5] Keele Codes 186
pple Orchar 192 Discom 186 Kgb Mic
Appledore Electronics 210 Disking 185 Kittie Tv 194 Ba hire Systems 192
Appropnate Technology 211 Kram Electronics 78 $80 Care ie 196
pie aol , 193 Sharp a 58,59
rcom Control Systems 197 , L hactal ;
Easicomp Ltd 193 Sinclair Research 94, 95
Atlanta Data 145 ie isetronia Braker 19g b&J Computers 118 Sintrom Electronics 128
Electronic Office 200 Level Lid i 188 Sirton Products 115
Empire Computer Systems 131, 139, 184 _ifeboat Association 156 Southdata 201
B Encotel Systems 4 Logica Lid 166 Stage One Computers 90
Bar Instrument Co 19] Euro-Micro 212 London Computer Centre 102 Stotron Ltd 190
Beebug 154 Exleigh Business Machines 122 Lowe Electronics 48 Swan Packaging 148
BFI Electronics Ltd 26 Lucas Logic 8.9 Symbiotics 138
Hae ag! olbeee Consultancy 39 «OF . eae 52
romley Computer Shop 148 P ystems of Tomorrow 166
Bittenvanhe 204 Forte Data Systems 197 iiaee Micres 146
Be ribo 126 G aa Video 14
i trot ™
pad be Gemini Microcomputers 161 Mico ae ie : ta Ba ns
GP Industnal Electronics 188 Micro Mods ean oe
Graficom 16. 17 Micra Ges 194 'Yelesystems 96
c Gramma Winter 22 23 eee, 2 Texas Instruments 119
CLEL. 198 Granite Chip. 154 Moe 164 ‘The Software Rental Bank 18
Calco Software 72 Grundy Business Systems 86.67 Ror ui. 6.7 Tolimit 138
Camden Electronics 122 u : penile 185 ‘Transam Components 34
Chronideonic 114 Meconau ce 196 ‘wickenham Computer Centre 165
City Microsystems 208 «2 icrotroll Engineenng 199
Giapplalroliack 203. Hélistar Systems 24,25 Microvalue Dealers 18,19 U
Clenlg 147 Hilderbay Ltd 19g Microware (Idn) Lid 209 U Microcomputers 30
Comart Ltd 137 ‘Hitec ae 20,21 yom System 68
Compshop 134 Hotel Microsystems 132 Mitsui 88 Bs
Combest 60 Molimerx (A. J. Harding) 42 v
Compusense 20 | peeth 1 gas Vector International 32
Computech _ 84 1.0. Research 206 : Vergecourt 195
Computer Fair 27 IBC Computer Systems 210 :
Computer Interface Design 190 {bis Ltd 191 9
Computer Plus 165 Icarus (Colombia) 3g Overseas Computer Systems 145 W ;
Concept Computers 72 Icamus (Soft Option) 31 Watford Electronics 46
CPU Peripherals 10, 11 Icarus (Superbrain) 69 PF Welsh Computer Centre lot
Crofton Electronics 122 Icarus Computer Systems 219 Pad-mede Computer Services 57 Willis Computer Supplies 122
Crown Business Centre 198 ICELtd 146 Pearcom BB
Crowther Cosine 199 «ICS Pete & Pam 100 X
188
Ctec 208 — Inmac (UK) Ltd 145 Prospero 207 -X-Data 153
Cumana 97 Intelligence (IRD Ltd 162
Cumana Lid 113. Intelligent Artefacts 192 Q z
CWP Services 28 == Interam 106 = Quicksilva 202 Zenith Data Systems 53
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982 209
CIFER
APPLE II
APPLE III
SIRIUS
IMS 8000
EQUINOX
NORTH STAR
PDP II
VAX 11/780
SUPERBRAIN
VECTOR MZ.
MICROENGINE
SCENIC
KEMITRON
EXTEL
PROJECT PLANNING
WITH
MASTER PLANNER
LOW COST:
SINGLE PAYMENT
SUPPORT
MODIFICATIONS
INSTALLATION
NETWORK ANALYSIS
RESOURCE ANALYS!S
RESOURCE ALLOCATION
KEY EVENTS
CALENDARS
‘USER SPECIFIED REPORTS
BAR CHARTS
HISTOGRAMS
RESOURCE OVER/UNDER USAGE
SORTING
SUBNET LIBRARY
CRITICAL PATH REPORT
DEPT/COST CODES
AUTO UPDATE
NETWORK ERROR DETECTION
f {4 CG Computer Systems Limited
Sunderland House, Sunderland St., Macclesfield, Cheshire. (0625) 616399
®@ Circle No. 310
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210
Dept. PC.1.
4 MEETING STREET, APPLEDORE, NEAR BIDEFORD, NORTH DEVON EX39 1RJ
TELEPHONE: BIDEFORD (S.T.D. Code 02372) 5629
CLOCK KIT ZULU II
%& Operates on 12v AC or 12v DC
% On board XTAL timebase
*% Automatic battery back-up
% 24-hour format and 31-day calendar
%* iin. readouts show hrs., mins., Secs.
% Unique NOX'™ circuit activates read-
outs with a handctap
% Readouts can be constantly on
% Special noise suppression and a bat-
tery reversal circuit
COMPLETE KIT £14.50 EACH
Case optional extra
Plastic Case in BLUE with ruby lens
£4.95
OVERVOLTAGE PROTECTION KIT
Complete MO reas kink £9.00
Provide cheap Insurance far your expensive
equipment. Trip voltage is adjustable from 3 to
30 volts. Overvoltage instantly fires a 25A SCR
and shorts the output to protect equipment.
Should be used on Units that are fused. Directly
compatible with the PS-14 and PS-15. All elec-
tronics supplied. Drilled and plated PC board.
LOW PROFILE SOCKETS
BY TEXAS
SE-01
Sound
Effects Kit
The’ SE-01 is a complete kit that contains all
the parts to build a programmable sound
effects generator. Designed around the new
Texas Instruments SN76477 Sound Chip, the
board provides banks of MINI DIP switches
and posts to program the various combina-
tions of the SLF Osclilator, VCO, Noise, One
Shot, and Envelope Controls. A Quad Op.
Amp IC is used to implement an Adjustabie
Pulse Generator, Level Comparator and Mul-
Mage Oscillator for even more versatillty.
The 3}in. x 3in. PC Board features a pro-
totype area to allow for user added Circuitry.
Easily programmed to duplicate Expiosion,
Phaser Guns, Steam Trains, or almost an
infinite number of other sounds. The unit
has a multiple of applications. The low price
includes all parts, assembly manual, pro-
gramming charts, and detailed 74677 chip
specifications. It runs on a 9v battery (not
included). On board 100MW amp will drive a
small speaker directly, or the unit can be
connected to your stereo with incredible
results! (Speaker not included.)
Main chip SN76477 is included in kit.
COMPLETE KIT ONLY . £16,
The DOOMSDAY Alarm
THE BEST NOISE-MAKER FOR BURGLAR ALARM
Four separate adjustable oscillators are mixed,
stepped and disabled at a rate that is adjustable.
The 10-watt output gives ear-splittin
The kit comes with all electronics and
plated PC board. Requires 12v DC at 1 amp. Also
rome. 8 ohm speaker {not included). TOTALLY
DEFIES INATTENTION.
volume.
rilled and
“*LEARN ELECTRONICS THE ‘PRACTICAL’ WAY — START WITH A KIT*
APPLEDORE ELECTRONICS
24hr ANSWERING SERVICE
ORDERING INFORMATION: TERMS OF BUSINESS
— CHEQUE/P.O.s OR BANKER’S DRAFT WITH
ORDER. GOVERNMENT AND EDUCATIONAL IN-
STITUTIONS’
OFFICIAL ORDERS ACCEPTED.
TRADE AND EXPORT INQUIRY WELCOME, P AND
P. ADD 60p, EXPORT ORDERS ADD £2.
L& BEEP to
Ry ,
SW AY-3-8910
COMPUTER SOUND CHIP. The
amazing AY-3-8910 is a fantasti-
cally powerful sound and music
generator, perfect for use with
any 8-bit microprocessor. Con-
tains 3 tone channels, nolse
generator, 3 channels of ampli-
tude controls, 16-bit envelope
period control, 2 parallel 1/0,
3D/A converters pilus much
more. All in 40-pin DIP Super
easy to Interface to the S100 or
other Busses.
. £5.50 EACH
£2.25 for 60-page
data manual
Data av. with purchase of chip
only.
SN76477N SOUND CHIP
£1,60 each
Data £1
Data av. with purchase of chip
only.
A nog chip versatile SOUND
EFFECTS GENERATOR
SN76477N, is ideally suited for
applications such as arcade or
home video games, alarms,
sound effects boxes and toys.
EPROM 2716
Single 5v
450ns
£2.25 ea.
4116 — 200ns ... 75p each
aA
Displays %,
Car Horns
* Bullet %
NEW SUPER MUSIC
MACHINE KIT
AT LAST — an affordable kit that can be
PROGRAMMED TO PLAY ANY SONG OR
GROUP OF SONGS! instead of a
nightmare of numerous ICs and special
expensive Bipolar ROMs the SUPER
MUSIC MACHINE uses a SPECIAL MASK
PROGRAMMED COMPUTER CHI
CMOS gate and the most papuler
erasable EPROM, the 2708/2716 saries.
BASIC KIT includes drilied, plated and
screened PC board and ALL components
except the EPROM and 12v transformer.
The basic kit will play short renditions of
25 tunes through its 7 WATT AMPLIFIER
SECTION. Add an optional ROM and any
tune programmed will be played.
FEATURES
* Basic kit contains 28 short tunes In the
main ICI.
* Will address external ROM for up to
1,000 MORE NOTES per ROM (ROM is
not included).
* Operates on 12V AC or 12V DC at
500mA. (Using unit on 12V DC and with
optional ROM requires 9V bias battery,
not included),
* 7 watts of audio power will drive 8 or
16 ohm speakers or horn speakers {not
Included},
* DIP switches not included.
* NEXT TUNE’ provision steps
sequentially through all tunes.
* Tune address can be wire jumper
astected or board is designed to take
IP one
OIP awitches.
* PITCH, VOLUME and TEMPO are all
aoe
* SPECIAL ‘CHIME’ SEQUENCES can be
dctivated regardiass of tune address to
provide for multiple doorbeit
applications.
* All tunes consist of electronic musical
notes played one at a time. There are
no chords or harmony sound to the
music.
* STEP-BY-STEP ASSEMBLY
INSTRUCTIONS provided.
Complete kit £21.00
’ WAY — START WITH A KIT*
@ Circle No. 309
PRACTICAL COMPUTING August 1982
% SOLE U.K. BULLET AGENT
%& SOLE U.K. BULLET AGENT
The RP1600
RITER.
A Daisywheel Printer that
thinks it’s a computer !
The RICOH FLOWRITER is the most intelligent
Daisy Wheel printer on the world market, Equipped
with an internal micro computer and a largememory
it will intelligently handle all printing and word pro-
cessing operations; hence relieving the host computer
for simultaneous use.
The Flowriter is fully compatible with software writ-
ten for any intelligent printer and is plug compatible
with all popular hardware.
Standard Features
@ Prints up to 60 characters in I second.
@ Compatible with QUME SPRINT, DIABLO
and NEC Spinwriter standard and enhanced
word processing commands including graphics.
@ Proportional spacing tables programmed in-
ternally.
@ Automatic margin justification even with
proportional spacing.
@ 8K buffer under full program control.
@ Auto bidirectional printing.
@ Optimised auto logic seeking in
both vertical and horizontal direc-
tions. =
@ Graphics capability down to
1/120".
@ Three interfaces included in-
ternally: Centronics -IEEE
488 - RS232C.
@ Detached keyboard option.
@ External program mode,
allows use of many
more printwheels.
ae Be
Oe APPROPRIATE TEGHNOQLOGY LIMITED
i 2-4 Canfield Place London
9575/5134 Telex 264538 SSE G
The RP1600 FLO WRITER is only supplied by APTEC and their authorised dealers, backed by national and international service networks.
The FLOWRITER is designed and manufactured by APTEC UK, @ Circle No. 311
MAGNETIC bus
8” floppy rigid/fixed rigid/remove offices
———— eee
5%” floppy _rigid/fixed [Suorrand\\fianaNett™)) tile transfer
a a nee
tape Q9track cartridge gateway to greater things
A full range of terminals
and printers available
hardware
bus
IEEE $100
front panel
graphics
analogue I/O
instrumentation
number-crunch
eprom/burn
eprom/emulate
prototype
a
Available without hardware front panel
For further details on how this quadruple
decker can help solve your problem call
today for a SuperFAST” response.
01-341 2447
EuroMicro Limited ;
EuroMicro House, Coleridge Lane, London N8 8ED, England
Telephone: 01-341 2447
TM SuperFAST, EuroMicro and EuroMicroNet are the trademarks of EuroMicro Inc.
“CP/M and MP/M are trademarks of Digital Research Corp.
@ Circle No. 312
Open Library