Apple 2000 Vol 4 No. 1 1989 02 BASUG GB

ple20004 THE NATIONAL APPLE USERS GROUP FEBRUARY 1989 VOLUME 4(1) i a Workshop | _ at Bidmuthin ~ (page 32) promac MacEurope supports the full range of promac protessional products, both internal and external. 20MB, 40MB, 50MB, 80MB, All promac products ective. To be the finest you 160MB, 300MB, 800MB SCSI disks, each the leader in its category, can buy at any price. No compromises have been made in WORM/CD-ROM, and the infinite capacity ProDrive, utilising achieving a thoroughbred design removeable 10MB floppies. ProTape backs up to cassette at Meticulous incoming component inspection, careful manufacture 3.3MB/minute. promac products are compatible with Unix and and rigorous quality control, comprehensively tested ROM and all other Macintosh environments. firmware to enhance performance, and error-free software combine to achieve our objective. promac products are elegantly designed and unobtrusive. They are exceedingly fast and very. quiet. With the reliability that comes from superior engineering. They meet or exceed all safety and interference standards. You owe it to yourself to consider promac before rope provides engineering, warranty service, support, software updates and advice. You can see the promac range at your MacEurope dealer. If yours doesn't have stock, or you don't have a dealer, please call us. We'll be happy to help. Call us for literature. ccepting any promac and ProDrive and ProTape are repistered trademarks of promae GmbH Sybvistr , 1000 Bertin 12 West Germany other drive. They represent outstanding value. You can't buy Apple Sa adeuark ef and Macintoh a trademark tegitered 1 Apple Computer inc faster or better. This advertisement prepared by the Robin Ray Partnership on the Ma pah using JustText page composition sofiware from Mackurope Motu’ The Granary, Trowse Bridge, Bracondale, Norwich NR1 2EG, England. Tel: (0603) 630636 Fax: 0603 630374 Apple2000 The All Apple User Group Committed to All Apple Users including Macintosh PP le2000 February 1989 Apple2000 P.O.Box 3, Liverpool, L21 8PY CL tS Le Fam. OF Gb Onn CONTENTS Editorial Shelf Letter Box The IIgs Library Advanced Flight Trainer - Review Pascal Power TimeOut! ChessMaster 2000 ProDOS File Types Linnet Modem - Review GS/OS HotLine News Technical TABBS Workshop 2000 Cheats Corner Supersounds - Review Falcon Tip The Boffin Answers The Nibbler PlusDisk SC - Review MacChat - The New SE/30 Solitaire Royale - Review More on PT-109 BETT 1989 Tetris - Review ImageWriter LQ Tech Ref Manual - Review Quarterstaff - Review Browser & Theldrow Anti-Virus Pro; Screen Dum Network Nee = Maze Survival - Review MultiFinder revisited FAXstf™ Outside Bug Reporter MacLibrary UserGroups Members' Small Ads Advertisers’ Index Ewen Wannop 2 3 Ewen Wannop 6 Robert Hornby 7 Dave Miller 8 Peter Davis 14 Dave Ward 20 1 Bradk ba Nigel B: 24 fee Ward 26 Dave Ward 30 31 32 Len Cavanagh 33 Paul Warwick 34 35 36 38 Ewen Wanno) 40 Norah Arnol 42 Tom Wright 44 Tom Wright 46 Norah and John Arnold 47 Ceri Fisher 50 Geoff Wood 54 Angela Wright 56 MacLibrary 60 MacLibrary o. Angela Wright 66 Technical Note #205 68 Peter Bradley 70 Apple Computer Inc. 72 76 John Lee 78 80 80 There are a number of ways to contact Apple2000. Force users who have a query about the service can contact the adminis- trator, John Lee, directly for help and advice. Call him on the number opposite or send a message to his box on the Force. If you wish to order goods or services from Apple2000, call Irene On (0/Rll GiB 4 or (during office hours) call Alison on #18 74nkUs Both have Ansafones, in case they're not around. Alternatively you can Fax. to (iifil Hid: 01iaiF write to the PO Box or (If you use comms) you can leave orders on TABBS addressed to the SYSOP. If you are experiencing problems with Apple hardware or software Dave Ward runs the Hotline and will get you out of the mire. We are very interested in the activities of local user groups, and if you have any information which you would like publicised John Lee would like to hear from you. Moans and Groans - We don't get many of these, but Mick Knapp has broad shoulders (and stomach, and thighs...) so send these to him via the PO Box. A little praise for a few of our authors wouldn't go amiss. Send all comments via the PO box, especially suggestions about what you would like to see in your magazine. ( ple2000 supports users of all the Aj ie computers. The ITT 2020, I, Il, I+. //e. //c, llgs, ///, Lisa, XL, Mac 128, 512, MacPlus, SE, SE/30, Mac II and IIx. Contributions and articles for the magazine are always welcome. We can handle any disk size or format. Please send to the PO Box. NOTE: In general, the front half of the magazine is Ant the viii Il, le IIgs an le ///. The Bick half of the. Tnaga- zine is mainly for the Macin- tosh and Lisa, Look out for the descriptive page icons. Key: Apple ll, //eand//c 2 Apple IIgs B Macintosh, Lisa g Macintosh II aes) \S Y | aaeaehsaascaaN Contact Points The Force John Lee Voice (iii mail Administration Irene Flaxman ol Stim wie eee Gil oat iGIF Adverts / Admin. Alison Davies Re Fates Hotline Dave Ward Comptia See est Mon-Fri 1900-2100 TABBS February 1989 Apple2000 Editorial Shelf co It seems no time since the AGM last year, yet here in February we are making plans for the next one. Details of the AGM will be found elsewhere in this issue. Ifyou plan to be nominated for the commit- tee, the forms will be included in the March Slices as will Proxy voting forms. We have found a suitable venue near to the M1 and M25 that will suit the majority of our members. However, now is the time to think about being involved in the group. We have grown steadily since this time last year, consoli- dating both the Apple II and the Mac sections, and with a sprin- kling of other machines in there as well. The work done by the committee and helpers, both in producing this magazine, running the hot- line, the bulletin board, the librar- ies and the services, is entirely voluntary. We are committed to helping each other, spreading the Apple gospel and generally ad- vancing the cause of microcom- puting. We need helpers to add to this team. In line with our expan- sion we would like to expand the services we offer. We can only do this if we have more expert help. members. The contents o! BASUG Ltd. ‘This journal ts publi benefit of membership October and December. The copy date ‘on request. Computer Laborato} owner. Telecom Gold™ is a trade: Ltd. Apple Il Ewen Wannop Mick Knapp Many thanks to. Apple2000. Additional Systems Inc., Electronic Pen.) \ /7- Knnual subscription rates are £25.00 for UK residents, £30.00 for E.E.C. residents and £35.00 for other overseas ‘Apple2000™ {s a trading name of BASUG Lid, a non- profit making apd preg company limited by guarantee. this journal are copyright of BASUG Ltd ous contributors, and are not necessarily supported by ished bi-monthly by BASUG Ltd as a in February, April, Junc, August, month preceding publication. Advertising rates are available ‘Apple™ and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc, Macintosh™ is a trademark of Macintosh Inc and used with the express ission of the of British Telecom ple. The FORCE™ and Apple2000™ are trademarks of BASUG The Editorial team is: Norah Arnold Irene Flaxman all those who work behind the scenes and who receive no personal credit. These people are the stalwarts of thanks to Walter Lewis of Old Roan Press (051- 227-4818) for our printing service, and to lan Sharp of Sharp Studios (051-227-2788) for our cover design. (Graphics for the cover design supplied by Apple Computer UK Ltd, Adobe Apple2000 are Founder Members and Wholehearted Supporters of the Apple User Group Council \) and/or the respective authors. Permission is granted for non- open-Apple s Tom Weishaa’s monthly newseter fr knowledge commercial repmedoeten providing the base r and ani on ? W we sa ple! ant wit Aoplo pans h are properly credited ‘@ copy of relevant jou! is Ss, ts. e. lutions to your problems. Compared 10 sent. The opinions and views expressed are those of the vari- ates fool Putte eee ee tres! canons he oe ‘andit takes up the least I cue #58 is the 5th day of the Macintosh Apples Work fax, ho best warranty (al your money ack if youre nt salsted). space, There are four primary types of Super: High Res graphics files. Three are $CO or PNT types; these are "packed" so t up less room on the disk. Type $4 FIC, is an unpacked 32K qraphic, The three packed types are dis- tinguished by the following subtypes: see the April 1988 Open- We need people experienced in DTP to help with the production of the magazine in all its stages. With enough help, we might even become a monthly! Think about standing for the committee, or offering your serv- ices in the cause. We can offer you nothing but hard toil and the satisfaction of helping others. In return we would expect a high level of commitment, profession- alism and experience. If you re- member, once upon a time you were inexperienced. It was through enthusiasts such as those at Apple2000 that you were able to gain the experience you now have. Help us share that experience with others. I hope that the present commit- tee will be able to continue the work they have been doing over the past year. However, I would like to see the group expand both in membership and involvement. This is even more important now that we are the only independent magazine published for the Apple in the UK. We have no commercial interests apart from a com- mittment to our members. Ewen Wannop From our fan mail: I have never enjoyed reading any mage azine so much as Gpes-Appte. Tike its style. The information each Issue pro- vides is amazing, With almost every issue that | read | keep shaking my head and muttering “I didnt know that!". Mf only | knew about Open-Apple carlier. | would- nt have subscribed to A+. Nibble and inCider. They aren't bad, but compared to Open-Apple. they are nowhere. Zainudin Hashim Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Try two months free! (ter good one tris only. Try Open-Apple 8 out expense, Cut out or photo take snapshot of the copy ths cougon and mail ito us fo 8 tee twe month ta subscription. 'hd cose: M23 Open-Apple | POB 7651, Overland Park, KS 66207 f Free marmad wonawoe 2 Apple2000 February 1989 10 Letchworth Close Bromley, Kent Dear Editor, Congratulations on another excel- lent issue of Apple2000. The standard is consistently Bigh and there is ave! good relationship between yourself and the readers. There are a number of points in the December issue which I would like to comment upon. I was very interested in Ewen Wannop’s comparison of Springboard Publisher and Publish It!, but puzzled by his comment that you cannot create columns or text boxes in Publish It! with any ease to any size, and that once a box is drawn, the ‘handles’ will not change tienced problems creating boxes either by eye or using the Object Specifications dialog box to see the dimensions in inches to three decimal places. I also frequently change the size of my boxes, again without diffi- culty. My only real criticism of Publish It! is that fonts do not have £ signs or characters with accents. | often have to produce notices with signs and for these I use GraphicWriter 2. The drawback of the latter is that I cannot incorporate graphics into my notices, as there does not seem to be a way of converting PrintShop pictures to high res screens for use with the program. I bought the excellent The Graphic Exchange from Roger Wagner Pub- GraphicWriter format, but perhaps they mean GraphicWriter 1. I use m Printshop pictures with Publish It! the time and conversion with TGE is a Piece of cake. If someone has the time to write an article comparing Publish It! and GraphicWriter, that might be useful. Mr Wannop’s article refers to inter- changeability of fonts and states that all the fonts in the GS library can be converted for use with Publish It!. I already use my Publish It! fonts with Superfonts and the Superfonts with GraphicWriter, but I should very much like to know how to convert the GS fonts for use with Publish It!, please. Do I have to buy special soft- ware for the purpose? Lastly, I fail to see why your corre- spondent, Bill Pearce, should get so worked up about Spelling Checkers. I used Sensible Speller for about four years, as well as the built-in spellin, checkers with MouseWrite and Wo! Perfect, until the incredibly fastTime Out QuickSpell came along. I use the speller mY, to pick up typos rather than to check spelling as such, as I constantly find myself typing ‘thye’. ‘thta’, ‘educaiton’ etc. and the speller inevitably picks these up. I also like the double word feature, which picks up such errors as ‘and and’ in a sentence. I accept that a spelling checker has limitations, but within bea limitations it is a very useful tool. the size of that box. I have never lishing, which claims to convert to Bob Symonds oe Introducing PlusDisk SC the first completely electronic disk drive for the Macintosh PlusDisk SC is a major leap forward in storage technology. It combines the lightning-fast performance of an internal RAMDisk with the permanent storage and convenience of a Hard Disk. Unlike a RAMDisk, PlusDisk SC doesn’t use any precious internal memory. Unlike a Hard Disk, PlusDisk SC has no moving parts or noisy fans and consumes virtually no power (it uses a small mains power pack when in use). PlusDisk SC easily outperforms all other disk drives (PlusDisk has an access time of ZERO Milliseconds compared with 70 Milliseconds for the average Hard Disk drive)! PlusDisk SC is 100% compatible with ALL Mac software and SCSI utilities. PlusDisk SC totally eliminates disk delay frustration forever! Starting up applications takes only a fraction of the normal time (eg Excel or Word in under 5 seconds). Quit any application to the desktop in /ess than 1 second! Because the Mac spends a large amount of time on disk-based operations, PlusDisk accelerates total system performance to a higher level. PlusDisk SC has an inbuilt power source to maintain your data in special fast access, low-power RAM chips for ultimate reliability and superior performance. The power source is recharged automatically when you use PlusDisk. Even if PlusDisk is not in use or plugged in at the mains, its contents are fully protected for a minimum of 3 months, effectively making it a permanent storage device! PlusDisk SC connects straight onto the SCSI port on any MacPlus. SE or II any time, using plug-in 256K modules, right up to 4 Megabytes. ADD THE LIGHTNING TOUCH TO YOUR MAC WITH PLUSDISK SC from £348.00 It comes complete with 1 Megabyte and can be expanded at Available from your Mac dealer or direct CORTE CHI (Prices exclude VAT) CIRTECH (UK) Limited, Currie Road industrial Estate, Galashiels, Selkirkshire, TD1 2BP, Scotland Telephone: (0896) 57790 Telex: 265871 (MONREF G) ATTN. 84: CPD 001 (Telecom Gold) QI am not as experienced with Pub- lish It! as Bob ts, and so missed some of the things it can do. | think this points up the faults of Publisher even more. I have had some feedback from members who have bought Publisher and they agree with my findings. The launch of AppleWorks GS with its Page Layout feature, has made Pub- lisher look even more silly. Apple- Works GS can paste and alter text faster than either of the two other programs. The standard GS/Mac fonts often have the £ sign in the wrong place. ‘There is an Apple ligs utility available on TABBS that w’ axap characters within a font. We as yet do not have a full font editor for these fonts to run on a II. Any programmer out there interested? ‘There Is also a utility on TABBS to change file types. This will change the files to type $F7 for use with Publish It! There are other programs around that can alter the directory file type, or if you know what you are doing. you can change with a disc zap program like Bag of Tricks or Copy Il+. (These utilities find their way onto TABBS first, and whena diskfull is ready they are released into the libraries). Ewen Wannop Berthold Instruments (UK) Ltd. 35 High Street, Sandridge St. Albans, Hertfordshire Dear Sirs, My company still maintains and services a large number of Apple sys- tems which are installed and used at our customers’ premises. ‘We are having great difficulty in purchasing replacement Titan Accel- erator cards at the present time and would be grateful if you could let us know of any companies that still sell these cards. JW Newell Service Manager Q Can anyone out there help? The cards exist in two forms, for the Il+ and the //e. As faras lam aware they are discontinued. Ed. B Sitivey Weadle ‘iL, Naieaavtaane: Sagiuiaase fLaeanes Dear Sirs, I cannot praise AppleWriter WPL enough! I have an extensive suite of Ap- pleWriter WPL pro; which pro- vide a very high degree of automation for the preparation of Specifications for Minor Building Works. I have developed sophisticated routines for creating contents pages, for sequential outline numbering of edited text. The entire specification is printed out on our LaserWriter via AppleTalk! 1 also have a large number of ‘patches’ for the ProDOS version of AppleWriter: these can give position of cursor in a line, enter date and time in body of a document, calculations, increased number of variables etc., ete, It is not an exaggeration to say that, as a committed Mac-User, that Ap- pleWriter WPL Is the only reason that I keep the IIGS! MP Scott Q And some ple would say the Apple II is dead! I think this sums up the power of the two machines, and the reason why Apple2000 have al- ways been committed to the whole Apple range. Ed. Microsoft Limited Excel House 49 De Montfort Road Reading, Berkshire Dear Mr Hobson, Thank you for your recent corre- spondence regarding Microsoft Word for the AEP Macintosh computer. As requested here is an explanation of the issues you raised: Pricing differentials between the US and other countries will always be an issue where you have product to import, a series of distribution points to support and a reseller channel that needs a margin to sell and support our products. Those are the facts of i. When Microsoft Word version 3.01 (both US and UK versions) were first released, the ImageWriter LQ printer had not yet been marketed in either country. As soon as Microsoft gained the necessary technical information from Apple Computer, our develop- ment staff put together version 3.02 in the United States which addressed compatibility with this printer. The new version was not shipped directly to every registered user, since the changes in the program were minimal and flected very few customers - onh those who owned the printer hart. ware in qisttons Both in the US and the UK this product was made avail- able free of charge to any registered user requesting it. Microsoft feels that this policy has created the least con- fusion for our customers, since the large majority of them were not af- fected by the update. In regards to the inconvenience of the need to hold the Shift key when selecting various printing parameters using the Print and Page Setup com- mands, this is an interim solution that allows our customers to use this printer with the current software, and will be addressed in version 4.0 of Microsoft Word. Technical informa- tion on the ImageWriter LQ that would have prevented such an incon- venience was not available at the time that version 3.0 was being developed in 1986. Microsoft decided at the time Word 3.0 was first available, to include a System Folder on the disk in the product. This was for the convenience of our customers who use floppy disk drive systems. The need for this has become less over time, as fewer Macs with this configuration are sold. It is now no longer the policy of Microsoft to ship a System with their applica- tions. However this will not com- pletely take effect until we receive new versions into our warehouse. Microsoft is aware of the problems you mention with the inconsistency of the thickness of printed lines when using boxed ph formatting and vertical line tabs. Improvements in these areas are being considered for a future release of the program. We also appreciate your suggestion regarding the Number Lock function. It is important that the user be able to view page numbers and other infor mation, whether or not the ki is being used for entering numbers or cursor control. You also mentioned that your cursor keys were not work- ing when the keypad is operating in Number Lock mode. We have been unable to reproduce this problem with Version 3.01 (British) or 3.02 (US) and are a bit puzzled by your problem. Ifyou have not resolved this trouble, please call our Technical Hotline and one of our staff will assist you. Mr Hobson, the above are answers to the issues you raised. Microsoft does to provide the best products to it's Mac customer base. Yes, we can always do a better job and you letter is a reminder of that fact. David Svendsen Managing Director OThis ts the reply that Simon Hobson received from Microsoft. We promised Simon that we would publish any reply he got . Ed. é eatigf itera 1 cheats aes Leela RNR Treaties, Eney Dear Apple2000 Justa note with my subs to encour- age those who are working to put more form and structure and purpose into Apple2000. For real amateurs there need be no purpose - they can t drunk on terms and expressions which mean little to outsiders. | am not an amateur. I am a user who needs quick sharp reference on prod- ucts and applications. It is worth almost as much to me to find out that I need not bother with a piece of kit, or that it is desirable but incompatible with my own machine, as it is to find a real gem of software that makes life easier. In practical terms the latter is get- ting harder to achieve. I use Format 80 Enhanced WP and Microsoft Multiplan for spreadsheets. I could be interested in an eventual upgrade for my //e via the PC Transporter but I would like to hear a lot more about 4 Apple2000 February 1989 other users successes before taking any action myself since I'm only inter- ested in a no-hassle upgrade. Oddly eshane I didn't go for Apple- Works cause I had tried Ap- pleWriter and didn't like it, and when I tried one of the earlier versions of AppleWorks found the spreadsheets less practical than Multiplan (just a Pe aa view). Please keep up the tests and don't hesitate to define terms for those like me who do not eat sleep and live in an Apple environment. Happy and successful New year to you all - keep up the good work. Bob Wileman QA fan ... Bob has understood what Apple2000 is all about. We do plan to continue imy , and we do have ideas for the future. Ed € (Cliffe Giese Willlegdie le Phatara: Caray Dear Editor, May | sound a note of warning re- garding the Apple //c. I have been a satisfied user here in SuSTeey of an Apple Hie for aoa , but since I spend a of my time in Teneriffe, Tdccided to buy a //c for use there. Not trusting servicing arrange- ments in Teneriffe I chose the //c since it would be easier to transport back to Guernsey for repair. This has been necessary twice. The first time it was a faulty ribbon cable from see |. Because this is soldered at the keyboard end I was given a new keyboard at £99.49, The next problem was a faulty RAM. Again this was soldered to the board solwas, anew boardat£107.49, I can understand that with the high cost of labour, replacement of a major unit be less expensive than a re ich could require a signifi- cant number of man hours. However, it seems to me that the design lacks forethought if it necessitates a major replacement due to the failure of a minor component. Alan Shipley QApple assume that their computers will never break down. Very little is now socketed on the mothe: is of any of the current machines. There is a need for those dealers who can repair machines to make them- selves known. Some do in fact adver- tise in the magazine, but I am sure there are others around. Iam shocked at a price of £107.49 for a new motherboard, Bidmuthin ad- yertise a replacement unit at £81.49 + VAT. It is a very easy to change units, one screwdriver and a few minutes are all that is necessary. It can't cost £20.00 or so for labour can it? Bidmuthin are an Apple Level 1 Serv- ice Centre and can supply exchange units for all Apple machines. Ed. @& Cork Regional Technical College Rossa Avenue Bishopstown, Cork, Ireland Dear Sir, As anew member to your organisa- tion I was very pleased with the amount of bumph that! received. You certainly seem to give good value for money. Thank you. Iam involved in administration in a College that caters for about 2000 full-time students and around the same number of part-time students. In my office we have a small network of four Mac Plus’s and an SE dao under AppleShare with 60 mb h: disk. I am not computer literate (which is why I use a Macintosh) and computer jargon makes my eyes go funny. I don't care what hap- pens under the bonnet as long as I get the job done. I would be interested in getting in- formation about Educational Admini- stration fe. Class/teacher timetabling, rooms scheduling, stu- dent records etc. At the moment I use FileMaker 11 which ts a superb data- base, but I feel that there must be some dedicated software packages out there which would do the job. Can you help, please? Can anybody help and earn my undying gratitude? 1 wait with hope. E P O'Connor Senior Staff Officer 0 As usual, I ask you all if you can pep solve the problem outlined here. sbblircetiane) stusarenate, Wwirevendt bead Sapte, Lanes Dear Mick Knapp, I read with interest your editorial on 's attitude to the Great British os Whilst Apple's policy is fully in accordance with the general outlook in the UK of, as much as you can and the take the hindmost, it's aeeae ers which I subacrie: It ae ice that one can buy Apple computer goods, pay Air Freight, VAT and Customs charges on them, and still beat Apple's UK prices by a con- siderable margin. In my experience, Apple's much vaunted Dealer Net- work is nothing but a sick joke to the home computer user. Apple Com- puter Inc. should change their name to Mammon Inc. as being a better description of their activities. I managed to get my 128 mac up- graded toa 512/800 model a couple ofyears ago, and I would dearly like to upgrade to a model with colour, but there is no way that I, as a pensioner, albeit with a modest work's pension, could afford Apple’s fancy prices. It is almost certain that I shall have to move to one of the better grade colour computers now available and relegate my Mac (if 1 can afford to keep it!) to tasks which do not require colour. Shame on you, Apple. John Stanier OQ Weare constantly told that the dol- lar for pound price relationship is to cover the costs of shipping and distri- bution. The machines however are made in Ireland. Surely the cost of labour is not higher there than in Cupertino! I know quite a few copies of this magazine find their way to Hemel Hempstead. How about a reply to John Stanier’s letter from He of- fice? Ed. é Dear Mr Knapp, I was very pleased to receive your information about Apple2000 and would very much like to subscribe to your magazine. I was very pleased to read in your letter that you are pre- pared to offer me the subscription at the reduced price of £15 as I am disabled. I am looking for articles relating to the Apple ][ hints with Programming techniques and ideas, perhaps the occasional utility program. Unfor- tunately I am not yet convinced that there would be enough material in the magazine which would be suitable for use with a 48K Apple ][ Europlus. The issue before me Gime 88) which you kindly sent me contains just one let- ter from someone with an Apple }[ asking about an 80 column card. As you know. Windfall had a lot of useful items for the Apple ][ and so did AppleUser in its earlier . Itis sad that such an it machine should be just forgotten, better for nothing than the dustman. Surely this cannot be right? Ifyou can convince me that normally there is a fair number of items for the Apple ][ in your azine then I am keen to take a year’s (or longer) subscription. As I am home and cannot get out at all I am really looking for something that could replace the personal contact which I would normally have with Apple |[ users. Heidi Schmitz Q We offer a reduced subscription to the disabled, old age pensioners, stu- dents and UB40 holders, just send us a photocopy of proof with your sub- scription. The amount of material for the Apple ][ varies from issue to issue. We do try and cover all machines with some balance, but it does depend to some extent on the level of contribu- tions. We must cover the newer ma- chines as well as the old, and eighty pages Is already not enough to pub- lish all we receive! I plan on re-print- ing some of the old Hardcore material when time and space allow. Ed. & February 1989 Apple2000 5 The llgs Library Ea ee es Ewen Wannop explains how to use the disks in the IIgs library The GS Library The disks in the GS library, except for the System 4.0 disks, are not bootable. They simply contain files and folders. This has confused some of the newcomers to the GS, who are used to booting a disk to see what it contains or does, This guide to‘how to use GS disks’, is aimed at those users. It is an explanation of how to use the Finder, and how to run programs on the GS. The GS Finder is very like the Macintosh Finder, and allows you to do your file maintenance and disk filing from its desktop interface. System 4.0 The new system disk is a departure from earlier versions of the Finder. You need both the SYSTEM.DISK and SYSTEM.TOOLS to install working disks or to install tem 4.0 on a hard disc. It is not intended that you use the System disks for everyday use, they are only used for preparing working disks. You must have the revision ‘01* ROM to run the new GS/ OS, and if you intend using a hard drive, you must have the revision ‘C’ ROM for the Apple SCSI card. Both these ROM’s are available from your dealer on an exchange basis. The following is a quick guide to in- stalling with the new System 4.0 disk. amore complete ‘Users Guide’ should be available from your dealer shortly. Single Drive Install First boot the SYSTEM.DISK, and when you get to the Finder remove the disk by pressing the eject button on the drive. Now insert the SYSTEM.TOOLS disk into the drive. Twin Drive Install Insert the SYSTEM.DISK in Drive 1 and the SYSTEM.TOOLS disk in Drive 2. Boot the system from Drive 1 Running Install Open the disk folder of the SYSTEM.TOOLS disk by double click- ing on the disk icon. Run the file ‘INSTALLER ' by double clicking on its icon. You will see a dialog window open with a selection of ‘Scripts’ on the left and a standard file window on the right. You should now click on the ‘Volume’ button till you see the disk that you want to ‘install’ at the top right: You may need to remove the System disk from the drive and insert your formatted blank disk. You will not be able to install on a hard drive immediately, ProDOS will not have seen the drive from the SYSTEM.DISK. You must install on a floppy or a /RAM disk first, and then install the hard disk after booting your newly installed disk. Select ‘Install Everything Possible’ from the left window, and click on the Install button. Once the installation is complete, you may wish to select ‘SCSI Hard Disk’ to install on a hard drive and ‘Apple Disk 5.25' ifyou wish to use a 5.25 drive. ‘This installed disk can then be used as your day to day system disk. The Finder This is your ‘Launching Pad’ for programs. All files are represented by an icon, though not all files of course are programs and can be run. This may seem confusing at first to see such an array of little pictures, but you will soon get used to what each icon means and which you can run and which you cannot. You can ‘grab’ these icons and move them about. In this way you can move files from one folder to another, one disk to another or even put them into the ‘Trash’ to delete them. Pro; icons are usually shown as a diamond with a hand, but may be specific to the program and so non- standard. All this confuses things further. To run a program, simply double click on the icon. No harm will be done if the file cannot be ‘run’. In this case it will report the fact by a message ‘An application cannot be found’ and return you to the desktop. File Types The easiest way to find what kind of a file it is, is to click once on the icon. ‘This will ‘highlight it and allow you to then go to the pulldown File Menu and select Get Info. You will then see all the information relating to that file. The ‘Kind’ field will show what kind of file it is. The Library Disks In most cases, the files on the li- brary disks have been placed or grouped into similar s. Ifthere are a batch of files relating to one pro- , then these have been put into a sub-directory of their own. You will find many programs have a ‘Read Me’ or document file. To view these, use AppleWorks, a word processor or the program ‘Showfile’ from the library disk 2GS003. Ifyou check against the following tables, you will be able to decide where to put the various files on your disks and how to use them. Key to ProDOS filetypes [page 23] Type: Description of the file type Mnemonic: This is the file Wee as displayed by a Catalog Code: The actual ProDOS file type code Application: Will it run or not? Folder: Where can this file nor- mally be found? Notes: Other relevant infor- mation about this file type Ewen Wannop Apple2000 February 1989 Flights of Fancy Robert Hornby reviews Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer Advanced Flight Trainer by Ned Lerner is one of the best flight simula. tors I have ever played before with jood graphics. I started by looking at the caceiad which aba eie Apert want to know about the game. The manual has 45 pages and the things inside tell you all about flying a real airplane even Ifyou are only playing a game. The game self starts when you can choose what kind of flight you want, like obstacle course and racing. But I chose a normal flight which just started you off playing. After choosing your location you had to choose which kind of plane you would like to fly. You can choose from Blackbird, Presenting First Byte’s Talking Educational Library. Exciting learning activities for children ages 3 to 12 the Apple IIGS and Macint speech hardware required. § aler Inquiries Spitfire the Camel and three experi- mental flight craft. I found that it was easy flying the Camel, but with every plane there is one hard thing todoand that is landing. I tried about ten times to land but without success, and every time I was greeted by a sorrow- ful face (Chuck Yeager’s the ultimate survivor) “That’s no way to land an aircraft!". The one other good thing about the game was that you could choose other views besides the cockpit view like the chase plane view and overhead view etc. This about wraps up the game except for telling you about the graph- ics of the game the cockpit and the terrain. The cockpit was just the same Available for Computers. No addi iggested re ail price 19.95-49 For ordering and catalog information call MGA SoftCat TEL: (0233) 83571 TELEX: 94070358 PEAR G FAX: 83561 as any other cockpit in other games with the altitude, your speed, your power and rudder indicator. The ter- rain was not all that interesting; all it was on one of the courses was big blocks standing out in the dark back- ground which are easy to wind in and out of, So that is all I have to say about the game. Robert Hornby (age 11) «€ info Product : Chuck Yeager's AFT Publisher : Electronic Arts Available from : MGA Softcat Pear Tree Appledore Kent TN26 2AR (0233) 83571 Price: £29.95 dé édde edd Value : Performance : Documentation : February 1989 Apple2000 PASCAL POWER Dave Miller continues his major series on languages with one of the crucial developments of the last twenty years In this instalment I shall cover one of the most successful of the languages developed from the ALGOL-60 family: Pascal. Pascal was developed mainly by one man: Professor Niklaus Wirth, Originally Wirth proposed a successor to ALGOL-60, called ALGOL-W but this proposal failed. ALGOL-W was developed into Pascal, so called after the French scientist Blaise Pascal, and was publicly announced in 1971. Wirth tried to develop a language which was primarily designed for teaching the concepts of programming. Thus the language required some structuredness and data-handling capacity but had to be relatively simple and, very importantly for computers in the early 1970s, had to place the minimum of burden on the computer's resources. Wirth saw in ALGOL-60 the germ of a language ideally suited to the above criterion. What Wirth did to ALGOL-60 was to simplify some of its structure and syntax. The result was a langauge which was, in some ways, less powerful than ALGOL-60 but, importantly, far easier to use. Pascal compilers generally placed a lighter load on the computer than ALGOL compilers. This is important because in a learning environment, such as a computer being used by programming students, the compiler will be used often. ALGOL compilers had (and still have) the reputation of being memory and CPU hungry. Pascal compilers were designed with efficiency in mind: any Pascal compiler can theoretically be a one-pass compiler. This means that the source code has only to be scanned once to achieve compilation. Many other languages, ALGOL included, require multi-pass compilers which can be much slower. The disadvantage of a single-pass compiler ts that the produced machine code is seldom optimised because many optimisation techniques require at least two passes of the source code. This did not bother Wirth because students would most likely be writing relatively short programs with little scope for optimisation. Language structure Since Pascal is devloped from ALGOL-60!I shall refer to ALGOL-60 in dealing with Pascal's structure (see the June and August editions of Apple2000 Magazine). Q Source format Pascal adopts free-format source files. Unlike ALGOL those messy primes are not required to delimit keywords. Spaces are used. Primes were, and still are, a major headache for students (and experienced programmers!). Pascal is case insensitive so keywords and variables can be written in both upper and lower case although the latter is more common, Q Variables Pascal has five base types of variable: integer, real, Boolean, pointer and char. A pointer is a variable which points to some other data item in memory (it contains the address of the datum being referred to). Pointers are very useful because they allow very complicated data structures to be built up and modified dynamically. A “char” is a single character. This is augmented by user-definable types. Variables can be grouped into arrays, sets and records, The latter is a very powerful feature which allows for complicated data handling. ¢.g. some simple variable definitions: integer; real; Boolean; char; ern Arrays can be defined easily: vector: array [1..20] of integer; matrix: array [1..10, 1..10] of real? “Vector” is defined as a one-dimensional array of integers dimensioned from 1 to 20 and “matrix” is defined as a two-dimensional array dimensioned from [1,1] to [10,10] fo reals. Some unusual array definitions are allowable: oddarray: array [‘A’..'2’] of Boolean; This defines a Boolean array which is indexed using characters, not integers. In fact, Pascal allows 8 Apple2000 February 1989 any ‘discrete type’ (i.e. anything except reals) as indices to arrays: Boolarray: array [Boolean] of integer; This array has two elements: “Boolarray [true]” and “Boolarray [false]”. Arrays can be packed. Pascal then reduces the amount of storage used to a minimum. The most common use of packed arrays is to provide character strings: string: packed array [1..80] of char; {this takes up 80 bytes} string: array [1.-.80] of char; {this takes up 80 WORDS, not bytes} Note that on most implementations of Pascal, a word is taken to be two bytes although on some minis and mainframes a word can be upto eight bytes. The first of the above arrays takes up 80 bytes whereas the second takes up 80 words. Even though the second array requires more storage it can not store anything but characters, which are by definition 7- or 8-bit numbers (i.e. byte-sized (!)). The extra bits in each element are wasted. Records group seperate data items together and allow the complete item to be accessed as a whole: group: record number: integer; string: packed array [1..80] of char end; Note the unmatched “end” to terminate the record definition. This defines the variable “group” to be a record having two components: a number and an 80- character string. Accessing “group” refers to the whole record but “group.number” refers to the integer number and “group.string” refers to the character string. Records can be packed in the same way as arrays. The keyword “packed” is placed before “record” to indicate a packed record. Although sets are a very interesting feature of Pascal, they tend not to be used often and are quite complicated so I shall not cover them here. O Statements As with ALGOL, the semicolon is used to seperate statements, not to end statements. The keywords “begin” and “end” are not regarded as statements and so do not require semicolons. Pascal has a rich set of statements: 1 Declaration statements These are used to define labels, variables and constants: Disks 3.5" DS/DD (box of 10 5.25" DS/DD (box of 1 Disk Boxes 80 Capacity35" £6 100 Capacity 5.25" £7 We supply Apple Il & Macintosh Software Internal 450RX (45Mb) £420 1000RX (100Mb) £650 1400RX (140Mb) £779 /Hardware. Externa Just phone or write $20+(20Mb) £365 for a quote, we do S$45+ (45Mb) £510 not like to be under- S60+(60Mb) £555 sold. ASK FOR OUR $100+ (100Mb) £725 LATEST LIST. $140+ (140Mb) £875 MacWrite v5.0 ONLY £50 to clear! Delivery Minimum £2. Prices all ex YAT. The Apple Specialists 0775 85481 Cuckoo Lane, Pinchbeck, Spalding, Lincs. PE 3XT {this is a comment - the following code fragment is a typical declaration section of a procedure} (* this is another type of comment designed for terminals and computers without braces - both are valid *) label {define two labels} 1, 23 const {define some constants - these can not be changed} pi = 3.1412; hi = ‘Hello’; n = 2; {define the value of pi) {define a text string} type (define two user-definable types} colour = (red, blue, black, white); {define some colours} byte = 0..255; {define a subrange of integers) var intl, int2: integer; {define 2 integers} © : real; {r is a real variable) flag : Boolean; {flag is a Boolean variable} string : packed array [1..20] of char; {20-element character array} col : colour; {declare a colour variable) location : byte; {declare a byte) (@ February 1989 Appie2000 9 Note the declaration of “col” and “location”. These are defined via user-defined types: “col” can be assigned any of the following values “red”, “blue”, “black” or “white” and “location” can be assigned any integer in the range 0 to 255. Any other assignment will cause an error to be raised. ‘An integer subrange such as 0 to 255 has the added advantage in that many compilers will actually reduce the size of “location” to just one byte (since 255, the maximum value, requires only eight bits of storage). Such subranges are useful when declaring variables of a fixed size. Also note the order of the statements: label definitions come first, then constants, then user- defined types and then variables. This order must be followed although some sections may be omitted (labels are not commonly used and are usually omitted). In Pascal everything has to be predeclared before use. 2 The assignment statement This is the same as in ALGOL: intl := 2; xr 3.45 flag true; ce re fal; col i= blue; {see above) 3 The GOTO statement Believe it or not Pascal actually supports the GOTO statement but it does so rather grudgingly! Unlike ‘ALGOL, Pascal's labels are numeric only, like FORTRAN's. This is purposefully done to make using GOTO as unpleasant as possible! Many compilers will to their upmost not to accept GOTO statements. 1: on := 33 goto 1 The label “1” must be predeclared. 4 The IF statement This is straightforward: if a > 2 then dosomething else if v < 32 then dosomethingelse else dosomethingdifferent; 5 The FOR statement for i := 40 downto 2 do countdown; These are the only two valid FOR statements in Pascal. Note that the increment is always one. 6 The WHILE loop To make up for the rather week FOR loop Pascal provides this powerful looping structure: while n > 3 do loop; The statement “loop” is performed while the condition “n > 3” remains true. Note that the condition is tested before the loop is entered so there is a chance of “loop” not being executed. 7 The REPEAT...UNTIL loop This is a strange construct because it automatically includes a compound statement definition, All the statement(s) in between the “repeat” and “until” are executed while the condition remains false. The test is performed at the end of each iteration: repeat loopa; loopb {note *;” is not required between the “loopb” and “until”)} until n <= 3; Looping continues until the specified condition becomes true. Note that this is not equivalent to the above WHILE statement. 8 CASE statement This allows several options to be performed depending upon the state of a test variable: case x of liz 2: 3, 6 xisli xis2; xis3and4and5; xis6 4, $3 Note the unmatched “end” used to mark the end of the CASE statement. What if x is less than 1 or greater than 6? Well standard Pascal does not cope with this and performs an “undefined operation” but many versions of Pascal adopt one of two approaches: one is to skip to the next statement and the other is to provide an “otherwise” option which can be selected by default: case x of 1: xisl; This has been simplified from the ALGOL 2: xis2; equivalent: otherwise xissomethingelse for i := 1 to 50 do andy countup; ce 10 Apple2000 February 1989 All the latest for your //GS Unleash the incredible sound potential of the IIGS - with Applied Engineering's Sonic Blaster Every Apple IGS was born with incredible sound potential in the form of a built-in Ensoniq 32-channel oscillator digital synthesizer chip. The Sonic Blaster, our full-featured stereo digitizer, records, amplifies and plays back in rich, full stereo...and that's just the serious side. It's also an awesome sound effects amplifier that'll knock your socks off playing great new IIGS games like Toma- hawk, 4th and Inches, Winter Games, Silent Service, The Music Construction Set and Skate or Die, to name a few. Use your own speakers, amplified or unamplified. Our own powerful software is included free, so there's nothing more to buy. Stereo Recording ‘The Sonic Blaster features simultancous left and rightchannel recording. A built-in oscilloscope helps you set input levels before recording and visuall.y analyze the inputted data. Impressive Editing Functions ‘The Sonic Blaster gives you a new world of sound editing capabilities with familiar, "mac-like", pull down menus and a host of functions like cut, paste, copy, amplify, reverse, fade-in, fade-out and echo, All with lighming fast response. Stereo Playback The Sonic Blaster's playback function gives you control over volume and placback rate. 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ShowOff comes complete with many ready to use graphics, and Bid will import artwork from PrintShop GS and many other paint programs. Hard copy will print full size, 1/4 size for presenter's notes, and 1/16 size for notebooks and catalogues. Te Price £49 + VAT — —S February 1989 Apple2000 nH 9 Subprogram calls To call a subprogram (i.e. a procedure or function), its name is placed in the code as if it were a keyword. Parameters are placed in brackets after the keyword. As in everything else, a subprogram has to be declared before it can be called. Pascal supports call by value and call by reference parameters. In the former, the value of the parameter is given to the subprogram only whereas in the latter the address of the variable is passed. Thus only call by reference parameters can be modified by subprograms. All parameters are call by value unless marked by a “var” (meaning variable parameter) in the parameter list, in which case they are call by reference: procedure add (a, b: integer; var ¢? integer); {read “a” and “b” only but read and write to “c”} begin {“begin” marks the start of adds’s code) {add two values together} c:imat+b end; {“end” marks the end of add’s code} This is called: add (1, 2, result) If add were an integer function then it would be defined thus: function add (a, b: integer): integer; begin add := a+b end; This is called: result := add (1, 2) QO Compound statement Pascal retains the ALGOL compound statement but its use has been severely limited. It can be used for two, and only two purposes: 1. to group the code for a procedure/function/ program together 2. to force looping and selection constructs to operate on more than one statement. Compound statements can not be placed in the code except for the above two reasons. U Blocks and dynamic variable allocation Pascal does not support ALGOL's blocks but dynamic variable allocation is supported insofar as each procedure and function's local variables are dynamically defined on invocation. Dynamic data structures can be built up via the pointer type. In- code variable declaration, via blocks, entails a considerable overhead in both compilation and program execution and its absence is not really missed apart from the ability to define arrays dynamically: Pascal can not do this but ALGOL can. OQ Recursion Recursion is supported in Pascal. Subprograms can be called recursively and the language can be described in a recursive fashion (refer to June’s edition of Apple2000 Magazine). Pascal, though, takes recursion one step further. The data structures provided by Pascal can be recursive. Consider a “node”. This is a data item which has three elements: a value. and two pointers. These pointers can be used to address other nodes, one to the node's “left” and one to the node's “right”: <it would look nice if this diagram were produced with straight diagonal lines! I know... he’s never satisfied!!> value left right rae value value left right left right 4 / \ x x x value left right / \ x x Here we have four nodes linked in this manner. The “x"s indicate pointers which do not address anything (called nil pointers). Now consider this structure from the view point of the top-most node. Its pointers address two nodes “under” it. The node on its “left” also addresses a node but this time to its “right”. The other two nodes address nothing. This is a specific way of describing the above structure but a generic description is also possible. This structure can be one of two things: nothing at all or a node which can address other structures of the same type as this one (notice the recursive definition?). To formalise this in BNF (see June's instalment if you are not familiar with BNF): structure :== nothing | node + two substructures Apply this to the above structure and you will see 12 Apple2000 February 1989 that it is correct: each sub-structure is, in effect, exactly the same as the whole structure, as far as this description goes, and, from the view point of any node, its sub-structures can either be nothing at all or other nodes with their own sub-structures! The thing to note here is that this description does not give any information about the exact arrangement of the structure, it only informs us of the way nodes can be arranged in relation to each other. This structure is called a Binary Tree, so called because it is a tree-like structure which splits into two subtrees at each node. It is used for many purposes including sorting and searching. Compilers use binary trees to store the structure of the code during conversion from source to object. The Pascal statements to define a simple binary tree are as follows: type nodepointer = “node; {point to a “node”} node = record {this is a record - a grouped set of variables) value: integer; left, right: nodepointer end; var tree s nodepointer; The “4” indicates that the pointer is to address a “node”. Note that “node” has not yet been defined. This does not matter because all pointers are the same no matter what they address, the compiler remembers that the pointer addresses a “node” and performs the relevant processing once “node” has been defined. This is the only time in Pascal where an undeclared item can be referenced. The variable “tree” is a pointer to the first node, which is defined dynamically as and when necessary. The tree is grown by creating new nodes and linking them to the nodes directly above them in the tree structure. Q Conclusion Few can doubt that Pascal is a success well beyond the limited scope at first envisioned by Wirth: it has spread from a language used for teaching programming to a fully-fledged programming language. Its success 1s two-fold: it is far simpler to use and implement than ALGOL and the features that lacks are far outweighed by the features added. Pascal is a practical language, designed to be easily taught whereas ALGOL-68, the other notable direct offspring from ALGOL-60, is designed as a mathematically correct language. The differences between the two languages are extreme. ALGOL-68 is “orthogonal”: i.e. rules apply to the whole language, without exception. Pascal is a far more useable language although being distorted and unorthogonal (regard the implicit compound statement definition in the REPEAT UNTIL loop or unmatched “end"s required in CASE statements and records). Many of the features offered by Pascal are not new and ALGOL-68 can do everything that Pascal can but to do so calls for some thought by the programmer. Some say that had ALGOL-68 been released earlier, or had Pascal been available later, Pascal would not enjoy its success. I feel that Pascal would have superseded ALGOL-68 irrespective of their relative release dates. Pascal embodies the “small is great" philosophy and its success indicates the value of a concise and well-planned programming tool rather than a sprawling monster of a language (the irony of this fact will become clear when I cover Ada, the new real- time and defence applications language). Pascal does. though. have failings: standard Pascal has no real character strings - just character arrays which are not the same thing and file handling, although better than ALGOL’s, could still be better. Error handling in Pascal is sometimes a problem: errors explicitly cause run-time compiler errors in standard Pascal. This is okay when using Pascal in a teaching environment but it causes trouble when real programs are written needing special, application specific error handlers. The solution to this is usually different for every implementation of Pascal. Some of these failings have been corrected in implementations such as UCSD Pascal, which offers the string type and improved and error file handling. With a few exceptions, the ALGOL-style language is virtually monopolised by Pascal. One exception is a language which has become fashionable only in the last few years but has existed in its present form since the middle 1970s. It is a third generation product from ALGOL-60 and so shares many common features with Pascal but is also a very different language. This language is C and it is this language that I will cover in my next instalment. Dave Miller é Editors' Note: Dave Miller's article on C will follow in the June issue of Apple2000 azine. Pascal and C are the most important languages available for the Apple machines (with the possible exception of BASI } and the majority of serious applications available were written in one language or the other. To keep you in the programming mood Dave Miller has provided an example Pascal preeam for the April magazine. This will illustrate fully the correct she and syntax for Pascal, and will provide a user defined dictionary application. Pascal compilers are available for both Apple// a Macintosh computers from most reputable ealers. February 1989 Apple2000 13 TimeOut! More Applications to Brighten Up Appleworks Reviewed by Peter Davis Times are Changing My original assignment was to cover PowerPack, DeskToolsll, MacroToolsII and SpreadTools, but it needs to be said that superimposed on this review are other very significant changes, to AppleWorks itself in the form of version 2.1 and with that come changes UltraMacrosV2.2 and TimeOut itself in the form of version 2.1. Still more there is the problem that SpreadTools did not arrive in time to be included. so perhaps next time. Inthe main, all the initial testing and evaluation of these new packages was carried out using AppleWorksV2.1. Later on small difficulties with MacroToolsII convinced me that I should revert to with AppleWorksV2.0 but it should be accepted that with the exception of MacroTools II, all the packages perform perfectly with AppleWorksV2. 1. The step required to make the change from AppleWorks 2.0 to AppleWorks 2.1 is a subject on its own. I can only say that I have looked carefully at version 2.1 which, in the main, is amore solid program than its predecessor, contains an entirely new SEG.PR file which can be configured for printers and also for direct networking between Apples or other computers. Some of you may wish to make this change for the sake of necessity or simply out of interest and a love exploration of the new, but be wamed the cost can be great in time. dollars and pence. Even with TimeOutv2.1 quite a few of the early TimeOut accessories fail to function with this new offering from Claris. At this instant version 2.1 has no compatibility with PinPoint or any So in the mean time there will continue to be some confusion concerning just what TimeOut utilities work with AppleWorksV2.1. Ican only hope that a BeagleBuddy system will soon be established in UK. Some of the incompatibilities just crash V2.1, some are very obscure. Here is an example of obscurity. FILEMASTERV1.1 works just fine with new AppleWorks, but after you use it just once, no more file saving is permitted by AppleWorks. (Luckily for me, | discovered that I could still PRINT a TXT file to disk, The moral is be very careful making the change). Perhaps the greatest horror awaits the dedicated UltraMacros, “MacroManiac”: because many of the carefully researched locations are no longer where they once where to be peeked or poked. Sadly many of your most elegant macros (and Beagles) will just fall flat on their backs. No doubt some of this will be taken care of by the time you read this, but prepare yourself for careful testing and expense if you intend make the change and carry all your Accessories with you. Adding Applications With an ever increasing scope of TimeOut applications contained in the new packages, Beagle have incorporated a new feature in TimeOut 2.1 under Utilities enabling the user to load up to 30 new applications, all from within AppleWorks and if that does not suit you can choose another group from another directory. Each package can have a separate and associated applications screen. Given that each application screen has a separate switching between application screens is accomplished by means of the <TAB> key, it can be easily seen that there is almost no limit to the number of additional facilities available under the latest TimeOut format. And by the way the Data Converter has had a face lift and now converts all ways round, ie AWP to ASP, AWP to ADB, ADB to ASP, and so on. Beware the Marketeer At the same time it must be recognised that each new application package seems to contain a carefully structured mixture of the almost banal, sprinkled with a few entirely brilliant new facilities (some of which were standard in SuperMacroWorks). One has to recognise the hand of a marketing person somewhere behind all this. This person has refined two old features; ‘cross referencing’ and ‘redundancy’. See ifyou can tuess what I mean? You cannot fully exploit one package without another, you find the almost the same feature in two different packages. When in the past we said; “Beagle does it again”, it was in uninhibited recognition of something special, of more than the best, delivered with generosity and precision. It seems to me that the present method of presentation falls short here. In cove: the four packages one can single out maybe 10 new applications as being items which once seen and used can never be discarded, some that could be useful sometimes, while a little of what is there is frankly trash, UltraMacros version 2.2 has changed in major respects; the introduction of a Help Screen (TO.MACROS ULTRA) which covers the whole of an extended range of standard macros, with its pre-compiled source, which in combination with PowerPack’s Help Screens, offers a ready and natural means of composing a help menu to suit yourself from a simple word processor document. This is an invaluable new aid to any MacroManiac, whose memory for mnemonics will ultimately atrophy. of the old Appleworks id number (PEEK 7786 * 256 + enhancements. PEEK 7785) and _ that simple 4 OB Apple2000 February 1989 The Highlights PowerPack contains some outstanding items, a program selector, a Help Screen formatter and an AWP to TXT conversion facility for communications. DeskToolsII contains an invaluable and really powerful reversed polish notation scientific calculator which is directly linked with the spreadsheet and DirecTree which provides a visual display of directories and sub-directories which allows you to directly access and load any AppleWorks file buried at depth within a subdirectory. MacroToolsII is more of the same as MacroTools with 5 macro composing and programming aids but as before there are only about 2 rare gems, The Macro examples given are of a very high standard. PowerPack PowerPack was reviewed by Keith Rookledge, last month. I do not propose to duplicate his article, but there are one or two areas which only became clear to me with the advent of items like UltraMacrosV2.2. Help Screens For the MacroManiac who is running out of mnemonics this is a really good idea. The power and flexibility is not very well illustrated in DeskTools itself. When you see the feature in UltraMacrosV2.2, it becomes clear that this is something truly invaluable. Every Default Macro is listed on the compiled file TO.MACROS.ULTRA, to be instantly available as TimeOut application. The source file enables you to compose your own custom Help Screen to go with the macros you have created. Mouse Text, inverse, all add a professional appearance. It makes sense to have individual versions of this Utility to go with each Task File. File Librarian This application creates a Data Base file listing all files in the AppleWorks’ current drive or directory. You can change disk or directory at will from within the application and utilities can be set for file sizes in Kilobytes or Blocks. Those of you who will seen the same facility in SuperMacroWorks, or even written a macro to do the same thing, may wonder why I just why I like it so much. First this is a “light speed” TimeOut application; the disk drive is accessed, the rest happens so fast you that at first it is dificult register. There is a minor limitation in that the contents of only one directory are read to the Data Base on at each time. This is offset by the inclusion of a near perfect macro which entirely cancels the shortcoming. The macro, searches the desktop for the file; “File Library” (the correct data base file), and does the job of recording, files, directories and the contents sub- directories all ina blink. (A blink equals 8 seconds on 5.25" disk, 28 seconds for a packed 3.5" disk”). This application deserves no criticisms. With the backup of a near perfect macro (which works on both versions of AppleWorks) this is Beagle at its best. Category Search A tremendous increase in speed. about * 10 better on the data base that I use most often (it Bring real world data to your Apple. 12 Bit, 16 Channel Programmable Gain A/D Monitor flow, temperature, wind speed and direction, humidity, light intensity, pressure, RPM, soil moisture and many other conditions. Our complete 12 bit A/D converter has 16 single-ended channels, 9 programmable full scale ranges from +10 volts to +25MV. Any of the 16. channels can have any range at any time. Other features include very fast (25 MS) conversion time and a user connector with +12 and —12 volts for powering your sensors. £279 VO 32 Set up a home burglar alarm, digital joystick or directional sensor, or use with relays to turn on lights, sound buzzers, start motors, control tape recorders and printers. All four 8-bit ports can be inputs or outputs. Inputs can vary from simple switches to high- speed logic. Onboard firmware makes programming easy. £89 8 Channel A/D & 8 Channel D/A A/D specifications include fastconversion (078 MS per channel) and totally transparent process (looks like memory). Wide range of user-programmable input ranges and continuous channel sequencing, D/A has on-board output buffer amps able to drive 5 MA, totally transparent process, fast conversion (.003 MS per channel) and user-programmable output ranges of 0-5 volts and 0-10 volts. £199 Signal Conditioner External 8 channel conditioner designed for both A/D converters and allowing almost any gain or offset. For example: an input signal varying from 2.00 to 2.15 volts or from 0-50 mV can easily be converted to 0-10V output for the A/D. Conditioner can be powered by your A/D or from an external supply. Large bread board area. £79 Order today! PRICES INCLUDE p&p/VAT HE APPLIED ENGINEERING™ MGA SoftCat é PEAR TREE APPLEDORE, KENT = TN26 2AR ENGLAND PC TEL: (0233) 83571 FAX: 83561 February 1989 Apple2000 ae has 15 categories and 337 entries.) If you happen to know what you are after, it is a better method of finding a Category. Program Selector This selector is interesting in that it takes temporary control of up to 5 programs to select in the presence of other supervising Program Selectors such as Prosel, RunkRun or Birds Better Bye. In other words you can exit AppleWorks, exercise specific program options, then return to AppleWorks, exit in the normal way and allow your normal program selector to regain control. The potential for communications, makes this facility very useful. To emphasise this point, two rather clever (and quite perfect) macros accompany the package. This macro set allows you to exit AppleWorks using Program Selector and have your original Desktop is automatically restored when you return. There are other areas where this kind of selector can be useful. It can be useful to adjust the contents /RAM. The size of the QuickSpell and Thesaurus Dictionaries are quite large and soon absorb a most of a Megabyte, and it may be an advantage to have these available in /RAM for maximum speed. DeskToolsII Area Codes Nearly useless to us who live in the UK, I hear you say. Why should I want to know what the Zip codes are for San Diego, CA, let alone know that the telephone dialing code for Pittsburgh PA is 412. This package deals with the main cities in USA, but as someone who knows the area around Tulsa Oklahoma, there are all the cities I would need to know. Very well it is good idea, not very useful here in this Sceptered Isle, unless someone, negotiates with Beagle Bros., does some serious hacking, a good deal of work and probably breaks the Official Secrets Act. Calculator+ This is a powerful reversed polish notation scientific calculator that can be directly linked with the spreadsheet by 6 DB import from a cell. There are 3 (X,Y,Z) memory registers, plus a Total register. The contents of these registers remain as long as your machine Is switched is in AppleWorks. There are 18 fundamental physical constants, more important the Calculator Plus gives direct and inverse ithmic functions (natural, base-16, base-10 & base-2), Trigonometric functions (Sin, Cos, Tan) and a range of built in financial modes starting with compound interest. The results can easily be transferred (Insert facility) back to the DataBase, Word Processor or Spreadsheet. Alternatively any part of the visible calculator is subject to the UltraMacros <cell> command. ie (Speed of light = 299792500 m/s). Does anyone get the feeling I am rather captivated? You are right, I am. Nomore SuperCalc for me. This is not going to enthrall all of you, put this feature gives the AppleWorks Spreadsheet a much needed boost when handling Mathematical functions. The unusually large manual devotes 27 of its 97 pages dedicated to very careful explanation of this feature, and this in itself is a good indication of its quality and potential. Clipboard Viewer You can look at and delete part of what is on the Clipboard. It works well, you get a clear statement of the type of data you are about to behold. you can precisely see data on the clipboard, just as it would appear. I have read the manual and the advertising. I am afraid my search for the purpose of this tool, has stretched my imagination beyond it's natural limits. The conclusions are that it is an interesting tool clearly demonstrating mechanism of data transfer within AppleWorks. It could be useful in making a_ prior inspection of data prior to or during mailmerge. Then of course it could be useful in getting your brains unscrambled if you were using TripleClipboard from PowerPack. (Is this an example of “cross referencing”, oram! unjust do you think ?) Measurements Apple2000 This is a simple unit converter, which works easily for Length, Liquid (volume), Weight and Time. Plenty of Imperial to Metric conversions, even believe or not: Rods, Poles & Perches, are included. It also has a facility for transfer conversion factors to your text or transfer your answer to your normal AppleWorks application. If you wanted to know what 68 statute miles is in nautical miles, the number <59.09> comes back as text, just as easily the conversion factor can be made to reappear <.869>. _It does not compare with Calculator+, but it could be useful, and it is very easy to use, DirecTree - ULTRA. SYSTEM -UTIL BIN DIR + +SUB2 ++-SUBSUB1 + +. SUBSUB2 . -UTIL.SYSTEM DIR DIR DIR sYs This feature is not quite comparable with the display you get with CopylIPlus. The View Files feature gives easy visual catalog of all files directories and sub-directories, with the <OA-P> option to list them to the printer. You may also load any AppleWorks file. You can use utilities to leave the directory as AppleWorks new default, and if that does not appeal to you, another pre-configuration lets you recall the last directory you looked at. Unfortunately “view files” really means “load files”, this could be disadvantage if you do not have much memory. This application is much better that anything I have seen from JEM software. There strong a likeness to Prosel's ‘Information Desk’ with a better printout and while the string search capability makes it nearly comparable “Find File”, but then it also has the capacity to recall the your last directory search. Please remember all this is in AppleWorks, without doubt this accessory is in the “really useful” class. You can choose what you want to look at by Slot & Drive but really this is a Directory oriented application; (try disk swapping and there is a delay while knickers are untwisted). February 1989 Printout gives Blocks used, Block Free, and Total Blocks, but of course you can print to the screen. Open-Apple Up/Down Arrow gives fast tracking through files on disk. DiskTester This utility tests disks for readability (or alternately Read and then Write back to the disk.) This later seems a potentially dangerous procedure and I would prefer there was some waming given before this function is enabled. I tried it on some disks, which had errors, faults were not detected in all cases. This accessory is not intended to repair a disk and is no substitute for Copyllplus, Prosel Mr Fixit or Bag of tricks, If it was totally reliable, one would expect to be part of FileMaster. In present form, I regard it as something I could well be without. File Search Does what Directree does not, that is to search an AppleWorks file for a string without loading the whole file to memory. This is really useful feature where you do not much memory. My first thought was that the edit optiona neat way of writing to the disk. Sadly no, you have to load the whole file, with all that entails, going through all AppleWorks admonitions like; “You are about to have more than one copy of this file on the DeskTop”. Leaving the application does not leave you in the directory you were looking at, (or the Slot & Drive) which is good. This application does not search non-AppleWorks files, which is an unreasonable limitation, in the case of TXT files should have been included. In my view this is another feature that should have been part of FileMaster but is not. Printer Manager This application painlessly injects control sequences to your printer after you have used utilities to suit. You can create several versions to suit particular print requirements, which has some real advantages which I have not fully explored. There is also a whole lot to leamed from this package about 80 Column Cards, SuperSerial Cards, and Applelic ports. If I had an ApplelIGS I would be even wiser. You can choose NLQ, Extended, line feed + CR, plus a whole lot more and your brain fails to hurt, or so I thought till I was on the final lap of this review. From full recommendation, I cautiously suggest that this package contains the means of controlling any printer and will probably deal with GS serial firmware, even the SuperSerial card. My caution results from the fact that I have not been able to do it. The problem, which is not new, comes up when the printer has been used to print Graphics through the SuperSerial card. You then fail to get a Line Feed after a Carriage Return. I had so hoped that this accessory would elliminate the need, for the sledge hammer solutions I use to solve the problem. I am ashamed to admit that CTRL-RESET, gets me out of trouble nine times out of ten, alternately under AppleWorks create another Printer which inserts the needed line feed. (This is a troubled subject dealt with at length by Tom Weishaar of OPEN-APPLE, January1988 & November1987). Screen Out In a sense this is a manual duplication of the UltraMacros Screen Preserver. The touch of a key. or password protection as an option will re-enable the screen. In other respects it is entirely inflexible by comparison with the UltraMacros feature where a wide range pre-set times can be used to blank the screen. It merely displays count down 5 4:3 2 1, then out goes the screen. It does not appear to be interfered with by the by UltraMacros. This little 1K facility has a good deal to said for it. if you need a screen preserver. It needs no clock, you use it when you want it and being entirely manual, you are not hassled by time or wake up macros, Not essential but nice. Screen Printer From line at time, to page at a time. Taken together with Printer Manager, this is a worth while Substitute for Pinpoints Typewriter. But I deceive you not. a whole lot more besides. This is a useful accessory, slightly marred by the fact that it disables February 1989 Apple2000 the “FIND” facility in the Data Base. Stop Watches Five digital stop watches and space to note what you are timing. Useful on the boat for navigation. Somewhere it says keep track of time for billing etc. Well at this point elapsed time on watch number 1 for this article says “03:46:00 TimeOut Article” plus time at Begin and End. If I had a GS the seconds would show as well. TimeOut MacroTools II TimeOut MacroTools II is a collection of sample macros and applications for use with TimeOut UltraMacros. It will also upgrade an earlier version of UltraMacros to version 2.0. Please bear in mind that some of the TimeOut applications are designed to be used within a macro and that although these applications all appear to be compatible with AppleWorksV2.1, the supporting macros given are a bit iffy, not to say dubious, in a few cases. Thave only given much detail of individual macros where it is essential the text. The general impression is that though fewer, the degree of finish is far higher than those contained in MACROTOOLSI. Some of the examples explore the UltraMacros language and I fear, reveal some of my own solutions to problems as inept and clumsy. Study of these macros takes time and Ican highlight some of the of the more elegant examples in a later article, if there is an interest. The list with comments must suffice for the present. FileLister This can only be used within a macro like “FileList.Macro” or (any specific macro you care to design). The essential feature here is to be able to identify any Prodos 8 file type. ie:- $04 SFO TXT Ascii Text P16 PD16 operating system The above are just some of the file types but be sure there are 28 separate types, described in the accompanying macro. FileLister therefore enables @- Be 17 Add Encyclopedia Power to Appleworks! “Fact Works= Use your Iles, ile or lic to e set eter using the of KS and Poottins information from over a 100 database files. Thousands of interesting and Consenaon ‘ow 4 Volumes iy i! i T mamary 120K *B2% ce POSTFREE MGA SoftCat magi fT APPLEDORE, KENT PC SSP ARS ‘TN26 2AR ENGLAND ‘TEL: (0233) 83571 FAX: 83561 AppleWorks an ability it never had before, and this could well bea useful feature for some kinds of macro. Ultra Lock TO.ULTRA.LOCK allows you to lock a macro set so that is can't be listed using the Macro Compiler. Well if you want to able to do that, now you can. My only comment is that for every individual who wants to keep his macro set a carefully guarded secret, there will be 20 hackers, only too delighted unscramble it all. UM Reference This is a handy reference which lists the various UltraMacros commands against the page numbers of the manual. This is none other than another incarnation of DeskTools, HelpScreens, but useful. Publish Help & Publish Menu Ultra Publisher is a unique combination of TimeOut applications and an UltraMacros Task File (PUBLISH T,SYS) that makes it easy to convert Word Processor files to two or three columns. TO.PUB.HELP and TO.PUB.MENU have to be in your TimeOut directory to get this remarkable application to work and it does work. The macro is of required is of baffling complexity and goes through the intricate procedure of creating a text file, loading it to the spreadsheet in measured chunks, so that the result really does produce a balanced 3 column lump of text. I would say that this is a good example UltraMacros, “Pushing the outside of the envelope”. PTeUUETIPTTCT Pee iia . . = Contents of MacroToolsll : . . = 5 File SizeK Note ad . . = Ultra Pub vl. 20 Macros UltraPublisher precompiled version of PUBLISH . : TO.FILELISTER 1 All Prodos Types within Macro s TO.PUB.HELP 2 Specific and interactive with PUBLISH is = TO.PUB.MENU 2 Specific and interactive with PUBLISH . TO.ULTRA.LOCK 1 Macro Compiler cannot display current set s a 1O.UM.REF 5 Useful reference to key stroke and manual page no. 5 = PUBLISH 4 Ultra Pub v1.0 compiled 2 or 3 columns . = Notes 8 Description of TimeOut features : a Ultra Pub vl. 20 Macros for UltraPublisher (precompiled as PUBLISH) . = Docs MacroTools 10 General documentation 2 3 FileList Macro 4 makes it easy to get a filename in a macro; requires TO.F a a GetStr Patch 2 Fixes a problem with using Getstr in the Data Base up to : = Macros SMW 3 UltraMacros equivalents of some old Super MacroWorks . = Macros Ultra 13 Default macros from UltraMacros 2.0 : a Notes 8 Notes from UltraMacros 2.0, manual update a = AE AutoStart 1 Bootup macro for AE users;+ reconfigure AE options . | All JEM 4 Promo file for JEM Software enhancements : = Ask Yes.No Ques 5 Lets you create your own “Yes/No” prompts in a macro . awp.printer 9 Prints slashed 0's on an ImageWriter; how send codes . Disassembler 2 Converts machine language subroutines into macro pokes : a Double DBmacro 4 Jumps from a data base to corresponding record in another . : Ellis Routine 5 Replacement for Getstr and Input, identify menu line no . s lgs Date Time 3 Ilgs-only macros for time to the nearest second : = Macro SS Jump 2 Jump to the far right of the SP in a hurry . = Macros AutoEnv 2 Equivalent to AutoWorks envelope addresser s Macros DateSet 2 Manually change the date used by <date> 2 oon Tee CCPC rier rir) . 3s 2B Apple2000 February 1989 Macro Screen Shot Screen Shot deserves a special credit because I have used it to create screen shots in the form of a word processing files. A great help to use ifyou want to write an article like this, perhaps made more excellent because I do not fully understand how it all works. There was nothing of this kind in MacroToolsl. Conclusion The manuals for PowerPack & DeskToolsII are excellent, better than previous TimeOut offerings. 1 leave you to judge whether you need the content. MacroToolsII contains useful, well documented and professional macros, plus some interesting Tools. PETER DAVIS é PRODUCTS TimeOut PowerPack, DeskToolsII & MacroToolsII AVAILABLE FROM Bidmuthin Technologies Ltd DO YOU LOVE PRINT SHOP”? We do! And that's why we have created the PS LOVER'S UTILITY SET. P.L.U.S. is a sot of ten “Print Shop™" related utilitios pial af SLSR, YOST. ONION EEN YO ANG SIE Ret eae mM. P.L.U.S. runs on any Apple™ Il+, Apple Ile, Apple lic, Apple IIGS, or Laser 128 computer. P.L.U.S. aiteen many dot matrix printers including the ImagoWriter™, Epson MX-RX-FX, or Okidata 192. ‘With P.L_U.S., you can: * Make charts of the "Print Shop Graphics™”, fonts or borders on a data disk, P.L.U.S. reads the data disk’s directory and prints out a master sheet that shows the picture and the name of all “Print ‘Shop™* graphics, borders or fonts on the disk. : Desi and print mailing labels with "Print Shop™" graphics and lox! * Make bookmarks which feature graphics, borders and text. ‘They're great for school projects. * P.L.U.S. allows you to transfer "Newsroom™” Clip Art graphics Brent House 212 Kenton Road Middlesex HA3 8BT 01/907/8516 89550511 into "Print Shop™* graphics and vice versa. order product number PS01 for only ONEONE G REF 22554001 MGA SoftCat PRICES RESPECTIVELY PEAR TREE #49.00, #49.00, #25.00 plus VAT APPLEDORE, KENT PUBLISHERS TN26 2AR ENGLAND Beagle Bros Inc., CA, USA. No Keyboard Macro Power Startup 3 Press Space Bar a Printer Chars = RamReset 5 Reset Date a Safe Save = Screen Shot Sre = Show Time.Date (Requires SizeK P.L.U.S. comes on a non-copy protected disk and has a manual which describes each of the utilities. To get a copy of P.L.U.S., TEL: (0233) 83571 PRICES INCLUDE VAT Note Autoloads QuickSpell dictionaries on bootup Change entire words to upper case, lower case, or capital Test file for Mail Merge macro AWP name, MID$ functn, positn AWP cursor, DB = criteria Improved mail merge by Steve Ellis Allows ATO macros to be subroutines and no calls by keys Quick load TimeOut applications at bootup Use “Press Space Bar” within macros Send control codes to a printer Make Control-Reset work with Apple and RamFactor cards Reset <date> from Prodos location used by your clock Save files if “insufficient room” error occurs in V2.1 Nearly reads the AppleWorks screen into a file. Displays current date & time on screen, uses store & wait a Steal Key Trick to disable Return within macros = Str Presenter Novel way to display messages = TaskExit II Proper macro exit technique a Tips Advertising other products = TypeWriter = Ultra On.Of = Ultra Variables ® UpperCASE Str = Various Macro a What is What ™= Mail.List NVNWNUGSAPWNHNHK DEK OKVOUHWNOAKHNHND Typewriter, file counter, ascii values macro Deactivate UM in powerful macros, access MLI Use multiple variable sets, saved & restored Force a string to upper case Instant screen blank, screen flash killer, inverse ApIWks Version, enhancement identifier Also V2.1 sample data base for use with Mail Merge = AUTHORS:- Randy Brandt, Dan Verkade, Glen Clawson, Mark Munz, & Others AppleworksV2.0 or V2.1 + UltraMacros for MacroToolsII) February 1989 Apple2000 &4ae Chessmaster 2000 Dave Ward tries out a star chess program for the Apple// The Chessmaster 2000, published in 1986, is per- haps the latest chess playing program for the Apple // range of computers and compatibles. During the review of this product it seems reasonable to com- pare it with Colossus 4 and Sargon III, two other well known chess playing programs. The Chessmaster 2000 arrives in a cardboard wallet with a 5.25" diskette inside. Also contained within the sleeve are a 21 page booklet and a 6 page instruction manual. The outer faces of the wallet describe the product as “The finest chess program in the world” with an endorsement by Yasser Seirawan a prominent US Grandmaster. In the box oppos- iteare a list of most of the claims vaunted on the back of the wallet. The booklet describes how to play chess for begin- ners and then gives a long history of chess and chess playing machinery. The library of classic chess games and problems supplied on the back of the program disk are fully described. The instruction leaflet describes installation on all the different machine for which the program is available plus all the features of The Chessmaster 2000. The 5.25" ‘copy-protected’ diskette contains the program and ‘book-moves'’ on the main side with a library of a 100 classic games and problems on the other side. The instruction leaflet claims that “To maintain the value of your investment this program has been copy-protected” The program diskette boots up on all the Apple // computers that I could lay my hands on including Apple }[ plus 64K, Apple //e, Apple //e enhanced, Apple //c and an Apple IIgs. The only slight problem occurs on an Apple IIgs where interrupts are acti- vated. Normally this is no problem but it can occur, if for instance, you have Diversi-KEY active. Al- though the diskette is copy-protected it boots up quickly through two hi-res credit screens to the main text screen shown in Figure 1 opposite. You get the one-time choice of using the keyboard or joystick and the message in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen blanks. The top-left-hand rec- tangle always contains the main menu. This is necessary because the command keys (mainly con- trol keys) do not normally act as prompts as we shall see. he | We y= || i i = N ( > Now!...Play World Class Chess! The Chessmaster 2000...the most powerful! computer chess program in the world today—and| the friendliest! It draws from amammoth opening library of ove 71000 moves—the world’s largest. In mid-game, it) displays amazing combinations of classical and imodem strategy. At end game it calls further upon, the world’s newest and finest computer chess} algorithm to mount virtuoso tactics. The ‘Chessmaster 2000 is the perfect champion chess companion, adversary and instructor for chess) enthusiasts of all ages and skills. Compare The Chessmaster 2000, feature by; feature, with any other chess program ona the’ market today. See why the chess world has declared... “The Chessmaster 2000 is the new standard against which all computer chess programs must now be judged!” On-Screen Menu-Driven Easy-To-Use Features. * 12 different levels of play from “Newcomer” to} “Grandmaster” * Select an “Easier” mode between levels. In “Teach” mode the Chessmaster shows all possible legal moves. ¢ Let Chessmaster suggest a hint for you in “Hint” mode. * Take back moves. © Shows captured pieces. © Change sides at any time. « Turn the 3D board 90 degrees to see every angle. a3 4 2» ae Appie2000 February 1989 Figure 1 CHOICES WHITE BLACK PLAYING DISPLAY CHESSBOARD REPLAY GAME SET-UP BOARD GAMES ON DISK’ HODZADY (USE CRTL KEY) ESC FOR BOARD) WHITE TO MOVE USE JOYSTICK Y/N? J —-—---—--,--- 4 —---— The ESCape key acts as a toggle between this text page and the hi-res board. When you choose one of the items in the menu rectangle a sub-menu appears in the bottom left-hand comer and the current options opposite to each entry in the bottom right- hand corner. See what happens when you choose control-A (PLAYING) :- Figure 2 CHOICES WHITE BLACK PLAYING DISPLAY CHESSBOARD REPLAY GAME SET-UP BOARD | GAMES ON DISK (USE CRTL KEY) | RODRZQY PLAYING | B NEW GAME C COFFEEHOUSE | COFFEEHOUSE OFF D PLAY LEVEL = PLAY LEVEL: 03 E EASY MODE EASY MODE OFF F WHO PLAYS YOU VS. CHESSMASTER HINT E2-E4 | THINKING BOOK The last area of the screen, the upper right-hand comer shows the last 7 moves by both sides and right at the bottom of the screen you'll see HINT E2-E4 THINKING BOOK which can be switched on or off from the DISPLAY option of the main menu. The CHESSBOARD option allows one to show the board in colour or monochrome or in two or three dimensions. The SET-UP BOARD is very easy to use once you are used to it pieces are entered simply by four key- strokes such as WKE1 which places the White King on square El. The EXTRAS menu allows one to set the number of moves to find MATE, to actually search for a MATE? and print the moves of the current game. Enter moves is done in the simplest way possible, for instance, at the start of the game you type E2E4 to move the kings pawn from E2 to E4. You can do this quite easily ‘blind’ with the board showing because the “to” square is highlighted in inverse and in teaching mode (control-K toggle) all the legal moves for the piece are shown too. If you attempt to make an illegal move you get a claxon sound and that part of the move is cleared and The Chessmaster waits for you to reply with a legal entry. Back in February 1986, pp17, I reviewed Colossus 4.0 written by Martyn Bryant an Apple 2000 mem- ber. Since that was the best chess playing program, that I had seen, for the Apple // series it seems appropriate to compare the two in this review. Using some of the timings given in Chessmaster 2000 manual I set Colossus 4.0 to move at a similar rate and played ten games. This was repeated for the first 4 levels of play from The Chessmaster 2000, The results of my tests are shown in Figure 3 overleaf. On these results I would put The Chessmaster 2000 to be marginally better than Colossus 4.0 but they belie that Chessmaster 2000 makes its moves in around 75% of the stated times whilst Colossus 4.0 ‘steals’ an extra 2 minutes, on average, for every 10 minutes it puts on the screen. On this basis I feel that The Chessmaster 2000 is a better chess-playing program than Colossus 4.0. Colossus 4.0 also gains, fairly and wisely, in another way by using it's allotted time as most good players would. That means that if it (Colossus 4.0) thinks it needs extra time on a particular move to look a little deeper it will take the time and move a little faster later on. The Chessmaster 2000 rarely seems to do this to any extent except when ft moves quickly because the opponent has made a move that it anticipated. Co- lossus 4.0 does this because it sets a ‘time-control’ at move 60 and even on a 5s per move game will on occasion use a minute of its allotted 5 minutes on a particularly difficult move. This must be an advan- tage in games that end in much less than 60 moves. I find it difficult to believe that The Chessmaster 2000 actually uses a 71000 move ‘book’ since it February 1989 Apple2000 Qe 2 Figure 3 Chessmaster 2000 (level) Colossus 4 draws result 0 Ss 6 SiS 2 On§: 1 1s 6 4:5 +6.5).5 2 10s 1 Ser 5 3 30s 4 6:4 never accesses the disk whilst search- ing its ‘book’ and it surely cannot store so large a ‘book’ in memory at any one time. Colossus 4.0 on the otherhand claims a book of just 3000 moves which are on the disk. In all the games I played or supervised Colos- sus 4.0 stayed in its ‘book’ generally longer than The Chessmaster 2000; never less. Both programs recognise draws by repetition and the 50 move rule. In my opinion, however, The Ch- essmaster is not perfect in cither of these, although I don't have an official set of rules to hand. If a position occurs three times each with the same side to move then the game is a draw irrespective of the number of moves between those positions. Colossus 4.0 always finds these draws but in three of the games where Colossus 4.0 claimed a draw The Chessmaster 2000 wanted to carry on! The Chess- master thinks that a draw exists when each side have played 25 moves (total 50) without a capture or pawn move; Colossus 4.0 does this after 50 moves by each side (total 100). The Chessmaster 2000 manual also claims that the program will solve checkmate problems. You can choose SOLVE MATE from the EXTRAS menu and also adjust the number of ‘moves’ to search for checkmate, too. The manual gives very little information about this and one might think that the num- ber you enter for mate-in-two would be 2 and 3 for mate-in- three. It never works and you have to enter the number of plies. For instance mate-in-two is 3 plies and mate-in-three is 5 plies. Even then The Chessmaster will not find the correct solution particularly if it finds a nice check- ing sequence that it prefers!! When it does manage to solve chess problems of this type it is fast but rather slower than Colossus 4.0. The Chessmaster 2000 graphics are not, in my opinion, as good as those of Colossus 4 and Sargon Ill. This is, I think, possibly due to the graphics hav- ing been translated from a machine with higher resolution graphics. The other two programs give the appearance that their graphics have been custom made for the Apple // Hi-res screens. The 3D board appears very cluttered and really needs a better screen resolution. The Chessmaster 2000 works on both the Apple Iigs (fast or slow) and with all Apple // computers fit- ted with a Zip chip. One slight problem, though, is that the 3D board cannot be used either on an Apple Ilgs or with Zip chip because the program crashes. In conclusion I feel that The Chessmaster 2000 is very good chess-playing program for all Apple // computers, currently probably the best. It has most of the features required of a modern chess-playing program and is easy to play, though not always to beat. If you want a program to solve chess-problems this is definitely not the program to purchase, though. Dave Ward é Apple2000 February 1989 J 3 Hi-Res picture The ProDOS file types(from Morice: 616 Fc tae P Page 6): Application: Yes erp oe Type! cy file Not The t usual kind of P16 Folder: inemoniec: C! a or GS/0S application Notes: Se screen dump Code: Application: No APW Run-time library Fol ler: */SYSTEM Maonte: Rr Tyre: _ Font file Notes: Generated by applications Soi inemonic: AN : Text file App ication: No Secleanc No Metionic: Tet Neue eee by APW Folder: | */SYSTEM/FONTS Code: $04 7 Notes: Font files are used by CS Application: No Type: APW shell application programs, Superfonts and No i Usually text file Code: ae $B5 tes: sually an ASCI : Eg ste but may be downloaded Application: Yes Finder data file data Folder: : FND i A Notes: May be ru ra from the Finder fintion: sco Macmonie: BINDS eer: Everywhere ... coe $06 2 Big init Pee file Notes: This file ORR BB in ory Application: Yes Mee tes d ree by These mally PS files, ede ts 380 i ioe are noi a yn: No and can be BRI Fal ler: */SYSTEM/ Maemo Icon File SYSTEM.SETUP nic: ICN Type: Directory file Notes: Run by P16 on startup Code: _ SCA we SOF a P16 temporary init file Application: Ticons Application: No Nocmone: pa hes Used by Finder Folder: le: Notes: These are the files that Application: No Mino Pascal partition hold Sub-Directory infor- Folder: * /svsrey nic: PAS oe Notes: ‘ . Apication: No Type: leWorks Database file inemonic: ABs ayes New Desk Accessory Notest Pascal partition on a hard Code: $19 inemonic: NDA disk tio Petes N° peplisation! No Type: P16 and GS/OS file Notes: aye have your Apple Folder: */SYSTEM/DESK.ACCS monic: P16 forks disk mounted, you Notes: Loaded by P16 at startup Code: SFO can double click ae icon and called from the App! pa ication: Yes ler: orth Sete — Notes: GS/OS application Type: AppleWorks word proces- a Classic Desk Accessory sor fie F foea SUN CDA ayes: Applesoft Basic program Mnemonic: AWP Code: $B9 inemonic: BAS Code: S1A Application: No Code: SFC Application: No Folder: otereM Desk, ACCS Application: Yes : Ne 5 at si hu] Notes: It you have your Apple- a and called by OA-Ctrl-Ese Notes! Usually run from Basic but forks disk mounted, vou may be launched from the ety ema Macro seabed BASIG LAUNCHER and vbshisiaae eee hs SBA BASIC.SYSTEM are present ‘Type: AppleWorks spreadsheet fleas ga ‘epi Piston: T/SYSTEM/TOOLS Pres EDASM relocatable file ei Ste Notes: Loaded by P16 at startup Inemonte: REL Appication: No Type: P16 Printer Driver Application: No le Mnemonte: DRY ler: Notes) a Retr ARS: fi $53 nes: Used by EDASM Works disk mounted, you Poneme No can double click this icon Rees */SYSTEM/DRIVERS a P8 system program to run AppleWorks Noten Used by applications Maemonic: ove Mer new: Source Code ‘Type: File System Translator Application: Yes : le: oder $B Coder SBD Rotear he fle name usually has Application: No Application: No the suffix .SYSTEM and is Folder: */SYSTEM/FSTS run by P8 on boot if it is Notes: Text file used by APW Notes: Used by GS/OS the fiat fe ee this suffix 2 APW Object code : P16 Document file fnemonic: OBJ Meenicic $B1 Code: SBF eotication’ No Apy sie tan: No Ser: Fol Notes: File generated by APW Notesci 2 APW Library Type: Compressed