InCider198307

Spreadsheeting: July 1983 USA $2.95 VisiTips Make It Easy Gi der Green's Apple* Magazine Your Apple Can Pick a Winner At the tables—Viva Las Veqas p. 105 Discover the Power of Pascal | | Wh) ‘Apple® is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc. 74470" 12066 ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT PACKAGE SPECIALLY TARGETED. Works in harmony with your z-card/epm equipped Apple II. No more floppy shuffle. Fast one pass compiler that doesn't generate unnecessary intermediate files which require further assembly. PROFESSIONALLY DESIGNED. Crafted by a project team with over 15 years of Pascal programming experience. A powerful Pascal that includes all the features necessary for professional program development including random files and dynamic strings. INCREDIBLE SPEED. Resultant stand alone programs execute 10-20 times faster than the equivalent Basic or up to 4-1/2 times faster than U.C.S.D. programs. TRADEMARK CPM Digital Research Apple Apple Computers ucsD University Calif. San Diego Alcor Pascal Alor Systems POWERFUL TEXT EDITOR. Has Macro capability, reconfigurable and understands smart terminals. EXCEPTIONAL DOCUMENTATION. Includes 250 page documentation pkg. that guides you step by step. OPTIONAL ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT PKG. Includes Optimizer and Native Code Generator for even faster executing programs. ADP: $125 + shipping. ALCOR PASCAL: A new standard of excellence from the professionals at Alcor Systems. CALL OR WRITE for a free 20 page technical brochure with all the facts. 214-226-4476. Pascal System: $199 + shipping. fES! Alcor Systems LI cor) 800 W. Garland Ave. S¥Srems Garland, Texas 75040 Dealer Inquiries Invited Cirole 1 on Reader Service card. atl =~ PRESS ‘RETURN’ KEY 0 BEGIN cory -- 8 AFTER YOUR FIRST DRIVE GO WITH AMDISK. The AMDISK-| Micro-floppy disk system is an engineering breakthrough in disk size, storage capacity, media protection and user conven- ience. It’s fully compatible with your Apple Il*® and Apple Ile and is furnished with an in- terconnect cable. Enjoy a full 286K storaget capability and the extra convenience of the new 3” hard plastic encased diskette. Packed 10 per box, the disk cartridge fits into a shirt pocket and is easy to mail. Suggested Retail Price ... . $299(3" cartridge $6.99 ea.) 2201 Lively Blvd. * Elk Grove Village, IL 60007 (312) 364-4180 TLX: 25-4786 @ Amdek . The Amdisk Single Drive system is ruggedly con- structed for years of trouble-free operation and is backed with our 90 day warranty on parts and labor. Just circle the reader service number for com- plete specifications. * Apple Ilis a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc + Requires recording on both sides tive computing! Pe en, ee ea eee y Gider July 1983 Vol. 1 No. 7 All-American Program, p.100. DEPARTMENTS Hot Cider 6 by Wayne Green inCide Out 10 Fermentations 12 Letters 18 Applesoft Adviser 24 Basie Apple graphics The Assembly Advantage 36 Control structures Bent on Business 52 Goof-proof your program Fudge It! 58 Shape sequence animation Hints ’n’ Techniques 147 New hope for the dead; the lowdown on POKE 33,33; moving and restoring graphics: a handy control character chart Cider Vinegar 148 fs Company 156 Calendar 164 Hardware Reviews 168 Book Reviews 180 Software Reviews 182 New Software 196 New Products 202 this new program will let you pick the winner before the window closes, by Steven Schwartz 84 The Power Intensifies Our readers demand more informa- tion on the UCSD p-System and how it enables you to write software that runs on 40 different computers. by R. John Buczek Super-Text 40-56-70 90 This new wp software is less expen- sive than its older sibling, 40/80. That’s the good news. Question is, can you live with the bad? by Leslie R. Schmeltz The Echo II Speech Synthesizer 94 ARTICLES Harness Race Am I Using a Handicapper 68 Personal Computer? 116 The nearest thing yet to acrystal ball, Unleash the hidden powers of your Apple with this mighty macro assem- bier from Hayden Software. by Randall B. Reiss ~ Apple Care and Repair 190) Save a bundle by using these reliable home remedies. by Matteo Leona and Earle Hancock DataOps: Anatomy of an Apple Pascall.1Unit 194 Cutting generic programming chores down to size is the forte of this all- purpose data processing module. by John Stephenson Confessions of a Franklin Owner 138 If you want to make conversation with your computer, you'll have to hear what this new piece of hard- ware has to say. by Chuck Doherty Spreadsheet Variables 96 Try “speed-sheeting” your way through your next “what if” session using these tips from a VisiCalc pro. by Archie Mason All-American Program 100 A flashy little program written especially for Independence Day! by Jeffrey A. Mills Save It! DiFferent strokes will streamline your file data transfer technique and increase your productivity. by Trish McClelland Viva Las Vegas! 105 A fiendish little program for those who enjoy tangling with one-armed bandits. by-Larry Bohn Word Processing The Easy Way 110 An Apple turncoat regains his place in society, by Gerry Souter Ampersand Number Converter Stymied by unwieldy hexa-deci con- version programs? Well then, this new converter just may be the answer to your prayers. by Richard L. Emerson Darrel’s Computer 145 Using parts on hand, this five-year- old built his own Apple from scratch. by Tobi Hoffman Downloaded from www-Apple2Online.com Cover art by Erick Ingraham. inClder (ISSN pending) is published 12 times a year by Wayne Green Tnc., 80 Pine St., Peterborough, NH 03458. Phone: 603-924-9471, Second class postage pending at Peter borough. NH, and additional mailing offices. Subseription rates in U.S. are $25 for one year und $53 for three years. In Canada and Mexico, $27.97—one vear only, U.S. funds drawn ona U.S, bank, Canadian distributor: Micro Distrib- uting, 409 Queen St. West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada MSV 2A5, BC Canadian distributor: Graymar Data Services, Lid, #4 258 E, Ist Ave., Vancouver. BC VST 146, Foreign subscriptions (surface mail), $44.97—one year only, U.S. funds drawn on @ U.S. bank. Foreign subscriptions (air mail), please inquire. In South Africa contact inCider. P.O. Bor 782815, Sandton, South Africa 2146, All U.S. and A new recipe for Apple Pie that doesn’t call for all that much dough. by Sandra M. Abernathy and Timothy J. Pettibone Canadian subscription correspondence should be addressed to inCider, Subseription Department, P.O. Box 911, Farm- ingdale, NY 11737. Please include your address tabet with ‘any correspondence. Postmaster: Send address changes to inCider, Subscription Services, P.O. Box 911, Farmingdale, NY 11737. Entire contents copyright 1989 by Wayne Green Ine. 2nd Generation Spreadsheet he Everything VisiCalc can do and m artsci for Apple il and Me uch more. Plus 64K or 128K RAM. Plus 80-column display for Apple //e at no extra cost. MAGICALLC is a completely new second generation spreadsheet pro- gram for Apple II. This state-of-the-art system includes 70-column upper and lower case video, full 80-column board display, hard disk compatibility, individual column widths, invisible columns for confidential data, and full compatibility with VisiCalc that lets yu utilize existing VisiCalc models. lefer to the box below for a compari- son of MAGICALC and VISICALC. EXPAND-A-RAM 64K or 128K of additional RAM memory for expanded MAGICALC worksheets. Includes MEMORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM — relocates DOS for more free memory in BASIC. You also get RAMDISK emulators for APPLE DOS, APPLE PASCAL™and CP/M™-— a software package that emulates a standard Apple floppy disk drive but is 2 to 10 times faster. Plus more. Registered trade marks: Apple. .. belongs to Apple Computer, Inc., Magical to Artsci, Inc., Expand-A-Ram to Prometheus Products, Inc., VisiCalc to Visicorp, CP/M to Digital Research, Inc. % Circle 383 on Reader Service card. EXPAND-A-RAM for Appie II plugs into any slot and works with the many software programs that use 16K of RAM in slot 0 — including CP/M, APPLE PASCAL@LISA, MERLIN... and many others. EXPAND-A- RAM/80 for Apple Ile, which includes the 80-column display, goes into the auxiliary slot. No modification of your Apple is required. SPECIAL LOW INTRODUCTORY PRICES for the combination MAGICALC plus EXPAND-A-RAM are $399 with 64K RAM and $499 with 128K RAM. Apple Ile users (only), please specify your choice of the stan- dard EXPAND-A-RAM or EXPAND-A- RAM/80 with 80-column Display at no additional charge. See your local dealer for details: ARTSCI, INC. 5547 Satsuma Ave., North Hollywood, CA 91601, (213) 985-2922 PROMETHEUS PRODUCTS, INC. 45277 Fremont Blvd., Fremont, CA 94538, (415) 490-2370 MAGI- COMPARE! CALC Preboot required NO 70 column upper and YES lower case video display Full 80 column board display Individual column widths Invisible columns for confidential data Hard disk compatibility Full compatibility with VisiCalc Program plus 128K RAM YES YES YES Hot Cider Wayne Green hen the Apple folk announced the Lisa, despite the calm, assured outer mien of the firm, I’m sure there were all of the normal fears that accompany a new product. And this certainly had to be amplified by virtue of the newness of the concept of the product. . . the battles within the firm over it...and the intense scrutiny given this high-flying firm. After having read a wide variety of reviews of the Lisa, I think the in- dustry judgment is that the system may be easy to use but is just too ex- pensive for the relatively small group at which it is aimed. Most of the re- views were mixed in that respect, perhaps opening the way for the promised Macintosh, which is sup- posed to do much that Lisa can do. There is still silence on what may be coming for the low end market. That’s a tough place to play ball these days, with the VIC-20 down to around $89 in some stores and the Timex around $50. Whew! Panason- ic is about to jump in, joining T.I., Atari, Mattel and others in the blood bath. This is sure a good time to buy cheap computers. And what about the Model 100 Radio Shack unit? Just about every- one at Wayne Green Inc. rushed out to pick the New Hampshire Radio Shack stores clean of these the day they arrived. It looks like'a fair per- centage of our people have a Model 100 under their arm when they come to work now. To digress, as is my wont, the 100 is almost exactly the computer that I described two years ago as the computer needed for the portable market. Unfortunately, we're not in the hardware business or Remarks from the Publisher... else we might have followed through. But if we could think of it here, how about the Apple people? I wonder if they've got one coming like that too? It was a most logical product de- velopment. OK OK When the president of DEC an- nounced the entry of his firm into the desktop computer market last year, he gave a statistic that half of the peo- “Remember that the better Apple is able to do, the more support you are going to have for your particular Apple.” ple who have bought microcomput- ers have just put them away in the closet and forgotten them. I enjoy statistics like that and am not un- known to come up with them on de- mand myself. Well, with all due lack of respect, there isn’t any way to know what the magnitude of the disaster is, or if it even is a disaster. But there is no question that this is, at least, a mis- erable problem...perhaps edging dangerously on a disaster. Let’s look at it. Now you and I know that no Apple owner is going to put his Apple in the closet and forget it. But this obviously could be the fate of something as inexpensive as the Timex, and... worse. . . this situation could come to haunt all of us. Remember that the better Apple is able to do, the more support you are going to have for your particular Apple. You'll have more information, more accessories, more programs, more services and so on. You (and I) have a vested interest in Apple’s success. Okay, if we poison the minds of a growing number of the type of people who rush out to try new things, we could bring the small computer rev- olution to a grinding halt much sooner than we like to expect. We've been getting used to outlandish growth in the industry... firms sprouting up one day, going public a few months later, and getting into the hundreds of millions in sales. All this depends on a fast growing mar- ket... more people buying comput- ers for the home, for the office, the store and for school. So, if we start souring people on computers, we're just likely to screw up the whole blooming works. Okay, assuming that you agree with me, the obvious next question is: So what can I do about all this? Hell’s bells, most of us are just a lonely voice in the wilderness. Aha...not as lonely as you might think. No, you have an al- ly in this misery. . .me. But I can’t do much by myself. . . all I can do is put on the pressure, but I have to know from you where the pressure should be applied. Let’s all accept some responsibility 6 Gider July 1983 THANK YOU... ..FOR HELPING US TO THE TOP! Because of the loyal patronage of smart shoppers, Micro Mountain has become one of the industry leaders in the sales of Apple * hardware, software and accessories. We began our business on the idea that most computer ownerloperators are sophisticated buyers and that they appreciate such features as: © EFFICIENT SERVIGE: The prompt delivery, courteous treatment, and attention to detail that comes form a company which has a huge inventory and years of experience. © COMPETETIVE PRICES: The kind you get when you deal with substantial companies who buy in large quantity and pass the savings on to their customers @ DEPENDABILITY: So you know that the people who gave you the GEAT DEAL “Yesterday” are around “Tomorrow;; to be accountable for the goods and services they sell Multi Plan... . 819950 CONTINENTAL SOFTWARE CPA Accounting Pkgs. General Ledger, Payroll, Seen Re au 9 AZ G00 SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY The Creator (1 senie? 1 095° (COMPLETE PLATO LINE AVAILABLE~CALL FOR PRICES SOFTWARE MASTERS -ASK FOR FREE CATALOG- p PHONE IN EXTNGS ey | "OUEoRDE ok (800) 854-5649 Washington State residents oft coe see phone numbers in programs entitles you to a your choice of Original ORDER PHONE HOURS: Adventure Game or Applesoft® Mon.-Fri. 9 to 6 (PST) Tutorial on disk FREE! Sat. & Sun. 10 to 2 (PST) Any order = PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT Circle $5 on Reader Service card. KENSINGTON MICROWARE ALSO AVAILABLE FOR IBM at $199.50 System Saver cnaede $6550 PLATO SOGIWARE $EQ50 CENTRAL POINT SOFTWARE Physics ....... 99859 GGpy il PLUS... 52850 Algebra V=VIE (one aist $3950 Bank Street Writer $5850 EASTSIDE SOFTWARE 16K Ram Card . .4959 Wild Gard... .$11950 Includes Utility Disk for Apple ll+ and Apple Ie SILICON VALLEY SYSTEMS $ 50 pow sones Word Handler . .°119 Market Analyzer $27550 Coe victor 6502 . .$3950 Disk Drive... . .$26950 COPY II PC AVAILABLE FOR IBM CALL FOR QUANTITY DISCOUNTS BE SURE TO ADD $2.50 SHIPPING AND HANDLING FOR ALL | ‘SOFTWARE ORDERS, ADD ADDITIONAL $3.00 FOR BLUE LABEL (Ain. SHIPPING ON’ HARDWARE ITEMS—EXTRA. Washington | residents add 61% sales tax. We accept MASTERCARD, VISA and AMERICAN EXPRESS. C.0.D.'s add $5.00. ] NAME srneer I city. STATE & ZIP. | CARD #. EXP, DATE | SIGNATURE 14617 N.E. 169th ST., WOODINVILLE, WA 98072 ORDER PHONE — Outside Wash. — (800) 854-5649 Wash. Residents & Cust. Service (206) 483-2000 TICE July 1983 Gider 7 Circle 304 on Reader Service card. [He] STATISTICS SERIES FLEXIBLE + ACCURATE EASY-TO-USE Human Systems Dynamics programs are used by leading universities and medical centers. Any program that doesn’t suit your needs can be returned within 10 days for full refund. Designed for use with Apple II 48K, 1 or 2 Disk Drives, 3.3 DOS, ROM Applesoft. | pee] REGRESS I 5150 Complete Multiple Regression Series ‘Stepwise, Simultaneous Solutions Forward, Backward Solutions Auto Power Polynomial Solutions Data Smoothing, Transformations | Correlation and Covariance Matrices | Residuals Analysis, Partial Correlation Research Data Base Management Count, Search, Sort, Review/Edit Add, Delete, Merge Files Curve Fit. HiRes X-Y Plot Hot Cider PUBLISHER/PRESIDENT Wayne Green EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Sherry Smythe-Green GENERAL MANAGER/VICE PRESIDENT Debra Wetherbee ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT Matt Smith ASSISTANT PUBLISHER Jeff DeTray CORPORATE CONTROLLER/VICE PRESIDENT Roger Murphy ASSISTANT TO CONTROLLER Dominique Smith CIRCULATION MANAGER 603-924-9471 Patricia Ferrante BULK & NEWSSTAND SALES MANAGER Ginnie Boudrieau | STATS PLUS Complete General Statistics Package Research Data Base Management Count, Search, Sort, Review/Edit ‘Add, Delete, Merge Files Compute Data Fields, Create Subfiles Produce Hi-Res Bargraphs, Plots | 4-5 Way Crosstabulation | Descriptive Statistics for All Fields Chi-Square, Fisher Exact, Signed Ranks Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, Rank Sum Friedman Anova by Ranks 10 Data Transformations Frequency Distribution Correlation Matrix, 2 Way Anova J «Rho, Tau, Partial Correlation 3 Variable Regression, 3 Tests $200 | ANOVAII 450 ‘Complete Analysis of Variance Package Analysis of Covariance, Randomized Designs Repeated Measures , Split Plot Designs 1to 5 Factors, 2 to 36 Levels Per Factor Equal N or Unequal N, Anova Table Descriptive Statistics, Marginal Means Cell Sums of Squares, Data File Creation Data Review/Edit, Data Transformations File Combinations, All Interactions Tested High Resolution Mean Plots, Bargraphs | | HUMAN SYSTEMS DYNAMICS To Order — Call (213) 993-8536 or Write | HUMAN SYSTEMS DYNAMICS 9010 Reseda Blvd. Suite 222 Northridge, CA 91324 | Dealer inquiries invited — ADVERTISING, 603-924-7138 David Schissler, Director; Denis Duffy, Sales Manager; Craig Everett, Sales Representative; Michele Gilmore, ‘Ad Coordinator. * PRODUCTION Nancy Salmon, Manager; Michael Murphy, Assistant; Frances Benton, Michael Ford, Phil Geraci, Marjorie Gillies, Donna Hartwell, Kimberly Nadeau, Lynn Parsons, Deborah Stone, Theresa Verville, Robert Villeneuve, Karen Wozmak; ‘Ad Coordinators: Paula Ramsey, David Woztnak, Taylor Morris; ‘Advertising Production: Bruce Hedin, Fiona Davies, Scott Philbrick, Jane Preston PHOTOGRAPHY ‘Thomas Villeneuve, Supervisor; Katherine Coker, Sandra Dukette, Laurie Jenison, Sturdy Thomas, Irene Vail TYPESETTING Sara Bedell, Supervisor; Darlene Bailey, Melody Bedell, Michele DesRochers, ‘Prem Gongaju, Lynn Haines, Nancy Massal, Debbie Nutting, Lindy Palmisano, Heidi Thomas DESIGN Joyce Pillarella, Supervisor; Denzel Dyer, Howard Happ, Susan Donohoe, Laurie MacMillan, Dion Owens, Diane Ritson, Susan Stevens, Donna Wohlfarth CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jonathan Graves DESIGN DIRECTOR Christine Destrempes for keeping our strange industry moving along. If you see some- e. .. perhaps Timex. . . putting out a computer with lousy instructions, don’t just sigh and forget it; write me a letter and bitch about it. . .offer constructive suggestions. If people struggle with the Timex...and I'm using that as an example, even if the shoe doesn’t fit...if they struggle and lose, then all of us lose. For you know as well as I that every one of those people who figure that they got burned. . . got taken for a sucker... are going to bad mouth not Timex, but the whole computer field. So find out what computers your friends are getting. ..and how they “Heat brings light, generally. . .if you have enough of it.” are doing with them. If they are hav- ing any serious problems, get the facts on the situation and send me a letter I can publish. As obscure as some of my magazines may be, they are read by the industry. Messages for Timex. . .and any other firm. . . will reach the right people. Oh, they may get furious about them, but I’m ready for the heat. Heat brings light, gen- erally. . .if you have enough of it. What are we looking for? We're looking for people who have bought a computer and had a hard time of it...for reasons of hardware, ser- vice, documentation, instructions or stupidity. The more we can force the desktop computer industry to adjust to the customer, instead of demand- ing the reverse, the faster the industry is going to move ahead. So you see what is going on and pass the word . .okay? And the end result will bea better industry, more Apple sales and more stuff for your Apple. 8 Cider July 1983 20 TONS OF THRUST PACKED INTO THE WORLD’S MOST ADVANCED AIRCRAFT Pitted against cruisers, submarines, fighter planes, anti-aircraft guns, torpedos & sea-to-air missiles . . . ind YOU'RE THE PILOT! AVANT-GARDE CREATIONS NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR APPLE™ AT YOUR LOCAL COMPUTER STORE And by calling AVANT-GARDE CREATIONS at (503) 345-3043 % Write to us for our entire software catalog * P.O. Box 30160, Eugene, OR 97403 Circle 62 on Reader Service card July 1983 Cider 9 Fermentations by Bill O'Brien Counterp pril’s inCider was, as usual, stuffed full of insight and en- lightenment about Apple products. Within its pages appeared the usual complement of articles, reviews and commentary, including the editorial by Wayne Green. He’s the publisher of inCider as well as a bevy of other magazines about computers and what is probably the ham radio magazine, 73. (It was, in fact, the computer articles in 73 that got me interested in these beasts.) Over the last five years I have al- ternately been impressed by Mr. Green’s insight and angered by what appears to be his never-ending battle to stir the masses by issuing con- troversial verbiage. The role of devil’s advocate is, of course, not foreign to me. But this time my erstwhile benefactor has in- vaded a realm near and dear to my heart. One paragraph of his April ed- itorial rubbed me so much the wrong way that I had to find someone to scratch his nails on a blackboard to calm me down. “It’s a good thing the Apple II bombed,” quotes the sage. Mr. Green, sir, in many things I respect your wisdom; after all, you are more deeply involved in the com- puter industry than I am. But please, there are some perspectives that can- not be gained even by talking to all the retailers in the world. I was once a computer retailer. I have been interviewed by the Times (both New York and London) con- cerning matters computer, as well as a few other periodicals. I have been included in an opinion poll con- oint: In Defense of the III ducted by the prestigious Rosen newsletter concerning IBM comput- ers. 1 was even chosen as spokesper- son for the Commodore computer line at a symposium of retailers held in Canada in 1981. With all that, and I will grant you it still costs me 75 cents to use the New York subways, I “Do you blame Chrysler when your Reliant gets a bad tank of gas?” would never have made as naive a statement about a computer as you made about the Apple III. Without dredging up the entire history of the III, a painful tale I am sure most of us know, let me say that the III is quite alive, despite many at- tempts by retail computer outlets to kill it. I will grant you that sales have in no way approached those of its kin, the Apple II, but there is no reason they should. It’s a completely different type of computer. Let’s look at the facts. The Apple III is standard with 128K of memory, and has an 80-col- umn screen with upper and lower case. It has a numeric keypad and an integral disk drive. Why the drive is so small in capacity is a question sometimes raised. The simple an- swer—to maintain compatibility with Apple II software, something that a host of computer manufac- turers have been trying to do but have yet to succeed at. Do we blame the III because. software manufac- turers have incorporated physical de- vices or Integer/Applesoft token-pass- ing protection schemes into some of their programs to bolster their para- noia? Do you blame Chrysler when your Reliant gets a tank of bad gas? The III has excellent video-han- dling features, including screen par- titioning; physical position format- ting as well as the typical variable formatting; an inverse mode; four graphics levels; multiple and redefin- able character sets (which, thanks to the efforts of Interactive Structures and their PKASO board, are print- able on many dot matrix printers, not just the MX-80); non-destructive graphics-to-text or text-to-graphics switching with four distinct graphics display elements; and the inclusion of text into the graphics environment which, at maximum black and white levels, produces a character set iden- tical to the screen character set and, at worst, is simply an over-empha- sized low-resolution display, equal to the Apple II. The audio capabilities are equally impressive, but you can read about those in the January issue of inCider. Basic on the III is unrivaled, with its ability to employ more than 64K of memory and to reroute output to any physical device without redefin- ing the program steps that control the output flow. This allows the printing of reports to screen, printer or disk (for inclusion in word processor origi- nated documents), and, in a program requiring all of these options, can cut programming steps by as much as two thirds. 12 Gider July 1983 Color for the Price of Black and White e Built by Seikosha, the oldest manufacturing company of the famous Seiko group—providing precision products since 1892 . Transtar « Box C-96975 Bellevue, Washington 98009 Circle 265 on Reader Service card. Fermentations. Included at no extra charge on the II is a software programmable serial port; an RGB color output port; a standard video monitor output con- nector for either black and white or color; a built-in disk drive controller for up to four drives; and an audio output connector and two joystick ports, one of which can double as a printer port for the inexpensive Apple Silentype printer. I feel like Homer cataloging the ships that set forth against Troy. Concerning the III’s initial prob- lems, Apple’s response in exchanging all affected units is unparalleled, Did Ford do that with the Pinto? I must also point out that the com- parisons implied in the sales cam- paign for the IBM Personal Com- puter were based strictly on the Apple II. The only tenuous advan- tage the PC may have over the III is the use of an almost 16-bit 8088, and that was implemented with an oper- ating system rumored to be below average in speed. Vector Graphics’ Series 4 com- puters, which contain both a Z-80 and an 8088 and perhaps state-of- the-art equipment in its range, do not as yet have an operating system for the 8088. Nor will the Vector Graph- ics version of Basic make use of the 128K supplied with the machine. The Osborne has reliability prob- Jems, or at least so I assume from the rows of keyboards I’ve seen lined up in some repair facilities here in New York. Altos, although excellent in de- sign and implementation in both 8-bit and true 16-bit versions, lacks anything that can be remotely called a support arm for its equipment. Commodore has proven to be the fickle company of computerdom, changing operating systems more of- ten than most companies change models. Radio Shack—well, Mr. Green, you’ve said enough about Ra- dio Shack for both of us. And I won't even bother to comment on the clones. So then, why, if it’s such a great machine, isn’t the Apple III selling like 30-cent-a-gallon gasoline? The answer—lack of support. One part of your editorial I totally agree with. Apple will shortly be forced to re-evaluate its dealer net- work in light of the complexity and direction of the machines it is now marketing. Dealers no longer have the leisure to sell the equipment and forget it, like they did the II. Until such time as Apple comes to terms with the people who have pur- chased the III, we owners will mud- dle through on our own, discovering the true boundaries of this complex and sophisticated beast. It hasn’t bombed, and it isn’t dead. As was the understated Jacques Brell, the Apple TIL is alive and well. And, I believe we owners intend to keep it that way. @ BASEBALL BUFFS— PLAY BALL! The flag waves in the breeze—your computer plays “Take Me Out To The Ball Game”—you hear the last bars of the National Anthem and then—Play Ball! You're at bat. The pitcher hurls the “question bail” at you. Some are easy—right over the plate. Some are tricky curves. If you answer correctly, the ball zooms out of the infield and you race toward first. Depending on the difficulty of the question, you'll hit doubles, triples, even homers. ..but only if you really know your baseball. There are two levels of difficulty; so you can startin the minors and work your way up to the major leagues. |.Q. Baseball features realistic animation and the sounds you hear at the real ball park. Hit a homer-~and you'll even get a “high five” from your team mates. If your computer has 48K and a disk drive, you can play 1.Q. BASEBALL on Apple II+/lle Only $24.95 Available soon—Separate disks each containing questions ‘on your favorite American League or National League Team. Or one entire disk of questions on the World Series. Only $14.95 Ask for |.Q. BASEBALL at your favorite computer software store or order directly from DAVKA. Call Toll-Free 1-800-621-8227 InMlinois call 1-312-944-4070 |powene = a Bi6 “MLL FAGUE BASEBAY J) ) ™ vavka pall 845 North Michigan Avenue - Suite 843- Chicago, Illinois 60611 M4 Gider July 1983 Circle 68 on Reader Service card. “"@hign ap em an am Gb a ae Its simple. The typewriter was a wonder in its with Letter Perfect, and more, time. Letter Perfect is a wonder for Much more, today, Letter Perfect from LJK When it comes fo practical lets you use your computer to software for Ataris and Apples, write letters and create reports Letter Perfect is simple to and edit your work. Change learn. And hard to beat. Ask Q word. Move a line. your dealer for a demon- Combine two paragraphs. stration, or write LUK You can do it all for more information. LUK, INC. * 7852 Big Bend Bivd, St. Louis, MO 63119 + (314) 962-1855 Circle 106 on Reader Service card, winchester disk A i is you all th power you need, it's not rotten. It just needs to be juiced up. With a Starfire” Winchester hard disk drive from Corona. It leaves Apple DOS in the dust. For starters, the Starfire gf power inherent in a hard disk drive. Lightning speed (up to 10 times faster than a floppy), enormous storage capacity (5 and 10 megabytes), and superb data reliability. With none of the bottlenecks, headaches and hassles of floppy drives. But even better, it m Apple DOS infinitely friendlier, faster and more powerful (7 corona starfire 5 m the pie. Our version of Apple DOS is so po ful and friendly it's like getting a whole nex computer. You can work with files up to 4001 Boot into any program from the hard disk. And run prosrams with a single keystroke. We've added other features from the Corona PC, our own 16-bit desktop and personal computers. You can automatically, selectively backup your vol- umes. Partition the disk and run up to 16 different Operating systems, including Apple DOS, Pascal and CP/M id depend on our DataGuard™ and Fail- Safe” data protection systems for the disk reliability and data integrity you need. Gircle 175 on Reader Service card. Your saving grace. And if you're running programs use a lot of K's, you're still okay be we don't use any of your main The Corona Starfire is soft compatible with ind is ike ‘4 being squeezed, Se itt tarfire hard disk. acca a ~ For the name of your nearest Corona dealer, VW just call us toll-free at 800-621-6746. Or write FEEL THE PO! ER. Corona Data Systems, 31324 Via Colinas, Westlake Village, CA 91361. (213) 991-1144. Corona Data Systems 1983 1m Digital Research. 2 tm Vsicorp (needs “Tanspocter fom Omegs Microwave). 3 im Stoneware tm Ashion‘ate Letters Graphics Dump Enhancement Thank-you for the article “From Screen to Printer” in the March edi- tion with the Epson graphics dump program. That article alone has justi- fied the price of subscription. I found that some of the hi-res screens did not look very good and suspected that I needed to invert the image. A Basic program will do just that. 10 FOR] = 8192 TO 16383 20 POKE J,255 — PEEK(J) 30 NEXT J Unfortunately, it seems to take for- ever. Not being knowledgeable about machine code I was reluctant to take the plunge. However, the speed of the Basic program forced me. It was a matter of pointing to each location in memory and subtracting from $FF to invert the byte. The code is entered by the monitor at 03C0 and called from Basic by CALL 960. Glen Roger Box 785 McBride, B.C. Canada Readers’ Response To “It Works” It worked! Did you see how that program of mine in “It Works” in the April inCider brought out the com- puter pros? Now, I could use an old teacher’s ploy and excuse my mis- takes by saying, “I wrote that pro- gram on purpose, just to see if you were paying attention.” (But I didn’t.) My program was a stab of desperation when the programming got rough. As a result of publishing my arti- cle, I received two nice letters from other hackers who were willing to share their know-how in program- ming skills. Both solutions were similar, using IF X/12=INT(X/12) THEN INPUT “RETURN. ..”. With that one, neat line, I'am now able to replace ten lines in my own program. You can bet that I'll never forget that solution! Thanks to Robert Tucker of New Jersey and Philip Sturmfels of Missouri. Mr. Sturmfels also expressed an idea for a “Problem of the Month” column for inCider. Just such a col- umn would be a real aid. Right now in my programming, I’m trying to break out of a loop and there must be an easier way. How about it, readers? Bob Blaske 8867 S.E. Colony Hobe Sound, FL 33455 Editor's note: We have forwarded an overwhelming number of letters to Bob from our readers giving a simpler solution to his problem. Cassette Viewpoints You claim in the Hot Cider editori- al (April ’83) that “Apple. . .cut the cassette umbilical cord.” And you ask what would it have cost to keep the cassette interface in the system. But both the Apple I Plus and the Tle still have the cassette interfaces, The only thing Apple dropped was the free cassette cable—still available for $3. However did you estimate a $5 to $10 saving on cassette software deliv- ery over diskette? Software compan- ies get their diskettes for less than $2 each and packaging does not add much. A difference of $1.50 is more likely the case, -If you have ever tried to help cus- tomers use cassettes to load and save programs as I used to do, then you would understand that the dealer would gladly absorb that difference in cost tenfold rather than deal with cassette recorders. The tapes are not with us because the users found that they were not pleasant to deal with. When I first got involved with Ap- ples, tapes were common—in fact I still have a tape player hooked up to my third Apple (a Ile, which suc- ceeded my II and II Plus). But I soon realized that I would not make good use of tapes. Later, in 1980 when I started to sell Apples, tapes were on the decline. Our users group con- tinued with a tape library into 1981 but the last users converted to disk drives at that time. No one had regrets. Diskettes are wonderfully reliable, fast, and easy to work with. They are not very expensive, even though the disk drives are expensive compared to recorders. Michael H. Carlson 1201 Lakeview Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55416 Your comments about preserving cassette tape simply reflect a failed technology. The Apple Corps of Dal- las has a thousand members and we no longer support tape distribution, because the person who was handling it wasn’t distributing any and bought disk drives. The Apple has never had a very good cassette management system and data storage is just plain difficult. In my use of cassettes on the KIM-1, Apple and TRS-80 Color Computer, I have found cassette tapes to be less reliable than diskettes; or rather, the recorders are less pre- dictable. In the time I have used disk-” ettes, carrying my machine and the diskettes all round the city and the country, using 200-300 diskettes as a free-lance custom programmer and heavy business user of my own ma- © chine, less than five diskettes have failed, one from heavy constant use (anticipated with a backup), all the others failing initialization within the first few minutes of use and unique to a box. Mike Firth 104 N. St. Mary Dallas, TX 75214 After reading your editorial Hot Cider in the April ’83 issue I just had to sit down and write to you. You stated Apple didn’t do users any favors when they cut the cassette um-* bilical cord. I was most upset. I worked hard to earn the money to buy the Apple II. Within 16 months I could not buy a ready-made cassette program for my Apple. I am not pro- ficient enough to write anything complicated so I am left with about 10 professional tapes and what I can do on my own. Tt hurts when you pay $1,400 for an Apple and there is no way to in- crease its use. In these times I have no way to get additional funds to pur- 18 Cider July 1983 PKASO Printer Interface Family Welcomes the New Apple/ie... We work together. The PKASO family makes you and your Apple Computer a master of text and graphics. [RyAase aE stores paragraphs or pictures for printing in any order—any PKASO Interfaces PKASO makes it easy to use the features of your number o' come complete printer—select character sizes, vary line spacing, alle bana even print in colors. Simple PKASO commands Diskette and make these features usable from the keyboard or a Comprehensive program Manual PKASO also adds features to your system. Press a few keys and get a snapshot “dump” of the image you see on the screen—text or graphics. Add new characters and symbols that you couldn't print before, using our SuperFont '’ system. Add our new Pipeline ™ printing buffer and your printer can take its time while you and your Apple move on to the next task. The PipeLine is a modular add- on to the standard PKASO board. The PKASO interface is designed for Apple Il and @ Apple /// in all the popular configurations. It prints in full color on the IDS Prism Printer, and in striking black on C. Itoh, Centronics, Epson, IDS, NEC, and Okidata matrix printers. Interactive Structures Inc. 146 Montgomery Avenue Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004 Circle 28 on Reader Service card Telephone: (215) 667-1713 Introducing the Most Powerful Business Software Ever! TRS-80™ (Model I, II, III, or 16) ¢ APPLE™ ¢ IBM™e OSBORNE™ © CP/M™e XEROX™ — Tired ©f Your GENERAL LEDGER? VERSA me LEDGER Fe HE wes The VERSABUuSINESS’ Series Each VERSABUSINESS module can be purchased and used independently, ‘or can be linked in any combination to form a complete, coordinated business system. VERSARECEIVABLES™ $99.95 VERSARECEIVABLES™ is a complete menu-driven accounts receivable, invoicing, and monthly statement-aenerating system. It keeps track of all information related to who ‘owes you or your company money, and can provide automatic billing for past due ac- ‘counts. VERSARECEIVABLES™ prints all necessary statements, invoices, and summary reports and can be linked with VeRSALEDGER IT* and VERSAINVENTORY™. VERSAPAYABLES™ $99.95 VERSAPAYABLES" is designed to keep track of current and aged payables, keeping you in touch with all information regarding how much money your company owes, and to whom, VERSAPAYABLES™ maintains a complete record on each vendor, prints checks, check registers, vouchers, transaction reports, aged payables reports, vendor reports, and more. With VERSAPAVABLES™, you can even let your computer autornatically select which vouchers are to be paid. VERSAPAYROLL™ $99.95 VERSAPAYROLL™ is a powerful and sophisticated, but easy to use payroll system that keeps track of all government-required payroll information. Complete employee records are maintained, and all necessary payroll calculations are performed automatically, with totals displayed on screen for operator approval. A payroll can be run totally, automati- cally, or the operator can intervene to prevent a check from being printed, or to alter information on it. If desired, totals may be posted to the VERSALEDGER II system. VERSAINVENTORY™ $99.95 VERSA INVENTORY is a complete inventory control system that gives you instant access to data on any item. VERSAINVENTORY™ keeps track of all information related to what items are in stock, out of stock, on backorder, etc., stores sales and pricing data, alerts ‘you when an item falls below @ preset reorder point, and allows you to enter and print invoices directly or to link with the VERSA RECEIVABLES™ system. VERSAINVENTORY™ prints all needed inventory listings, reports of items below reorder point, inventory value re- ports, period and year-to-date sales reports, price lists, inventory checklists, etc. COMMPUTRONICS: 50 N. PASCACK ROAD, SPRING VALLEY, N.Y. 10977 Circle 66 on Reader Service card. ‘VERSALEDGER II™ $149.95 ‘VeRSALEDGER II™ is a complete accounting system that grows as your business grows. VeRSALEDGER II™ can be used asa simple personal checkbook register, expanded to a small business bookkeeping system or developed into a large corporate general ledger system without any additional software. © VeRSALEDGER II™ gives you almost unlimited storage capacity (300 to 10,000 entries per month, depending on the system), ® stores all check and general ledger information forever, © prints tractor-feed checks, © handles multiple checkbooks and general ledgers, '® prints 17 customized accounting reports including check registers, balance sheets, income statements, transaction reports, account listings, etc. VersaLepcer If comes with a professionally-written 160 page manual de- signed for first-time users, The VERSALEDGER II™ manual will help you become quickly familiar with VersaLepceR II, using complete sample data files supplied on diskette and more than 50 pages of sample printouts SATISFACTION GUARANTEED! ry VERSABUSIN due ie quaranteed to outperform all other competitive ‘ol their cost. Ifyou are not satisted withary VERSABUSINESS™ mo return t vathin 30 days fora refund. Manvals for any VERSABUSINESS™ mod wurchased for 425 each, crecited toward & later purchase of that module Tadd $5 to Ico * add proper postage elsewher 2s © DEALER INQUIRIES WELCOME All prices and specifications subject to change / Delivery subject to availabilty + TRS-0 is a trademark of the Radio Shack Division of Tandy Corp. - "APPLE is a trademark of Apple Corp. “IBM i a trademark of IBM Corp. - “OSBORNE js a trademark of Osborne Corp. “*CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research - *XEROX is a trademark of Xerox Corp. Letters chase a disk drive. I think the Apple computer is the best, but I am sorry I invested my hard-eartied money in one. I would not recommend it to anyone of limited means today. Apple made a great mistake; they cut off a lucrative market when they hurt me and others like me. True, the tapes were slow, but money was also slow com- ing in. I've never had any problems with my cassettes. L hope cassette users will write Ap- ple before other companies will fill this need for low-cost cassette use: Mrs. L. A. Duff 411 Garfield Ave. Palmyra, NJ 08065 Not Accountable? There is more to the problem of supporting local Apple dealers than the difficulties dealt Apple owners who have no local dealer in the area. The deeper aspect of this situation is that the local dealer system makes no one accountable for the products Ap- ple sells. This system might work if Apple supported its products. But when they reach the point of selling a dot matrix printer for several hundred dollars, and do not bother to provide any user’s manual for it, how can the local dealer help you? Naturally, I am not very sympa- thetic towards a system that leaves the purchaser of Apple products out in the cold, with nowhere to turn. To me it just seems like a way to avoid anyone being accountable. In fact, there ought to be a law against it. Lola Lahtinen PO Box 10066 Glendale, CA 91209 Book Review Questioned As the author of.a review of Mar- vin L. DeJong’s book Apple II Assem- bly Language that has been accepted but not yet published by Microcom- puting, I feel compelled to respond to the review of the same book in your March issue. While the reviewer does make some valid points, she also levels a number of charges that cause me to wonder whether she has a copy of the same book I have. Your reviewer is entitled to her opinions, but her facts are usually wrong. The book is much better than the reader of your review would be led to believe. It has its weaknesses, but it easily beats most of the com- petition. F. Kuechmann 1921 S. 13th Ave. Maywood, IL 60153 Real Estate Software Needed We believe the use of computers in the real estate industry is a sleeping giant about to awake. We plan to publish listings of all available real estate software pro- grams we are made aware of, show- ing what the programs will do, the language they will operate on, the type of hardware they will run on, their price, and the name and address of the source. We would appreciate receiving in- formation from all sources outlining the information they would like to have included. J. Don Shields Shields Realtors Drawer 758 Shelby, NC 28150 Portuguese Version I have already purchased two Ap- ple computers—a Plus and a He. But now I am deeply interested in the Ile International Version. I am a Brazilian citizen who has been using Apple computers a lot, basically with the excellent Apple- Writer program. But when it comes to writing in my native language, Portuguese, there the problems start. Not that Portuguese has that many characters English does not, but it has a few. And there are a few characters found in English and not in Portuguese. I very much need a Portuguese version for the Apple Ile. And I be- lieve that in Brazil, a country of 130 million people—not to mention Por- tuigal and its African ex-colonies— T'm not the only one. I would be immensely grateful if you could help me—and others like me. Flavio de Campos 5160 Claremont Ave. $405 Oakland, CA 94618 Editor’s note: Apple advises us that a Portuguese keyboard for the Ie will be available by the time this issue of inCider appears. Up with Games Hooray for George Engel! His Fer- mentations, “In Defense of Gaming,” hits the alien squarely with the phaser. Those of us who enjoy a good game are usually looked upon as indi- “Society has conditioned us to believe that games are... for children,” viduals who suffered through an un- happy childhood. Society has condi- tioned us to believe that games are almost universally for children. The only acceptable. games for adults are cards, chess, and checkers. I, for one, will readily admit to be- ing an avid gamer, both of board games and computer games. I am proud of my game collection and can honestly say that I probably have at least one game in every category for which a game is available. Gaming is my hobby. One problem with board games is the necessity of a human opponent for the game to be fully enjoyed. This problem vanishes with computer games. A good computer game com- bines skill with a little luck, in order for the player to be victorious. The game forces the player to use skill, but also allows for the unexpected. By putting out little fires skillfully, the player achieves the ultimate goal and gets the chance to put out the big fire. Therefore, can’t we say that a July 1983 Eider 21 Letters game mirrors life itselfP Don’t we have to put out a number of little fires before we get a crack at the big one? Don’t we have to plan and reason before we can successfully attack the problem? As human beings, we revel in a challenge. We enjoy tackling a tough problem, and relish our successful solution to it. Gamers are similar to early explorers. The early. explorer probed to find the limits of what he was searching: Gamers probe to find the limits of their minds. Those limits haven't even been sighted yet. Martin J, Hrovat Rt. 1 Box 355-J Lot #109 Slidell, LA 70458 Microline 92 Information? Tam in desperate need of informa- tion indicating how to access the spe- cial functions of the Okidata Micro- line 92 from the Apple II Plus using the AppleWriter II word processing program. Donald L.. Amoroso 125 Prescott Court Athens, GA 30605 Bibliography Program Used With Word Processing As a reader, I must congratulate you on the excellent quality of the first few issues of inCider. As an author, I should point out that my own articles published here have prompted more reader response than I had previously received anywhere, so you must be doing something quite right, indeed! Oné point I would like to pass on to the readers. The REFCITED Pascal program of mine that was in the March 1983 issue can be used with manuscripts prepared with any word processing system that puts out files in the DOS 3.3 format—and that ap- pears to include most of the popular word processors. To use it, the DOS textfile must be converted to a Pascal textfile; the VISITERM diskette in- cludes a Basic program that does this, and the Nov/Dec 1981 issue of Call- A.P.P.L.E. included a Pascal pro- gram that does the same thing. This should make my Pascal bibli- ography system more attractive to people who are already heavily com- mitted to DOS-based word process- ing systems. James R. Florini, Ph. D. Biology Dept. Syracuse University Syracuse, NY 13210 IMAGE PRINTER JL THE FULL SERVICE PICTURE PRINTER BEYOND CONVENTIONAL PROGRAMS. FEATURES GRAPHIC PRINTER ‘CARDS OTHER PICTURE PROGRAMS The new, improved IMAGE PRINTER goes beyond the capabilities of conventional picture printing pro- grams for the Apple //. Even awners of graphic printer interface cards will find that IMAGE PRINTER greatly expands their picture printing abilities! FULL SERVICE MEANS MORE FEATURES. IMAGE PRINTER starts you out on the fast track by heiping you ‘‘capture”’ the HI-RES pictures from your favorite programs—even the copy-protected ones! IMAGE PRINTER then lets you customize the picture ihe way you want by adding titles, lines, boxes, color filling portions of the screen, or even scrolling the entire picture in any of four directions. After you polish your picture, MAGE PRINTER lets you easily select any portion of it to be printed. The resulting image can be shrunk or expanded and then printed either vertically or horizontally, anywhere on the printed page.. *| Unprotected, modifiable Capture pictures from programs| Save pictures on diskette Menu driven for ease of use | ><>} Add titles, borders, lines & boxes| Color. fill portions of picture Scroll pictures 4 ways View picture before printing Print any portion of picture Select a portion of a picture using a graphic ‘‘window"’ Print 2 to 6x normal size Print horizontally or vertically Print anywhere on page Ixx fl KKK KKK KKK KOK OKOK Ix] xx | Image Printer works with over 30 different printers and 20 different interface cards. DON'T SETTLE FOR LESS! GET THE FULL SERVICE PICTURE PRINTER! $49.95 ©, Sensible . 6619 Perham Drive amd Software, Inc. West Bloomfield, Michigan 48033 (313) 399-8877 Visa and Mastercard Welcome Add 1 25 postage and handling per program 22 Eider July 1983 Circle 32 on Reader Service card. power @ vist move2 X'S! new standard pro 100 move t and ile il aioe? * The PRO. 100 detachable keyboard, with 5 foot cable, sets the new stan- dard for the Apple Il and Apple I! plus personal computer. It combines the latest in state-of-the-art capacitance keyboard technology with the power and performance of your Apple. The PRO 100 is a 100 key keyboard that features 3 modes requiring no chip changes. 18 software supported FUNC- TION keys, 25 APPLE BASIC keys and 22 VISICALC keys assist the program- mer to access user commands into one key function. This feature reduces user training time and creates a friendlier computer. The PRO 100 offers horizontal and vertical cursor movement (through all modes), separate number pad with en- ter key, relocated reset key (soft set) and full 128 ASCII coded keyboard. The rugged lightweight PRO 100 has automatic repeat, typewriter style con- figuration, 35 cps typing input and Amkey’s highly reliable keyswitch (typically 100 million: MGBF). The Amkey promise... If you are not completely satisfied with the PRO 100, return it within 10 days, in its original condition and Amkey will refund the purchase price. The PRO 100 is priced at $265.00 (tax not included). An optional Upper/lower case chip (rev. 7+) and a Pre-boot Diskette containing: BASIC disk util- ities, user friendly menu, keyboard in- formation and a useful word processor and graphics program that demon- strates the programming flexibility of the function keys is available for Amkey $35.00. Amkey, Inc. A Subsidiary of American Power Devices, Inc. 220 Ballardvale St., Wilmington, MA 01887 Tel. (617) 658-7800 Telex: 951-206 IF YOU WANT TO SET NEW STANDARDS WITH YOUR APPLE Il AND APPLE II PLUS, CALL OR WRITE AMKEY TODAY TO ORDER YOUR PRO 100. MASTERCARD AND VISA ACCEPTED! “Registered Trademark of Apple Computer Corporation The Applesoft Adviser by Dan Bishop Te month I'll present some of the fundamental concepts in- volved with doing both lo-res and hi- res graphics, with the emphasis on lo- res graphics. Applications of these concepts can go beyond simple video games. The old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words can be ap- plied to business programs and edu- cational programs to make these more effective in transmitting in- formation. Graphic displays of his- tograms or pie charts depicting a company’s profit progress or expense distributions provide a more last- ing impression than mere tables of numbers. Educational programs that add graphic animation to illustrate con- cepts hold the student’s attention longer than displays containing only written text, providing a greater opportunity for the concepts to seep in and be remembered. The real im- pact of the personal computer in our society will be felt only as more and more applications become available that make extensive and appropriate use of computer graphics. The emphasis in the previous state- ment should be on the word appro- priate, however. Graphics can im- pair the usefulness of a program as easily as enhance it. Graphics should not be used simply because they are available. The basic objectives of a given program should be kept upper- most in the programmer's mind at all times, and if graphics can enhance the achievement of those objectives, the added time and effort needed to incorporate the graphics display into the program will be worthwhile. Apple Graphics and Memory The Apple supports two different types of graphics displays, lo-res (low resolution) and hi-res. In order to use the hi-res capability, the computer Basic Apple Graphics must have at least 16K of RAM mem- ory. This is because the RAM re- served for hi-res displays in the Apple begins at address 8192 and extends up to 16383. In order to explain just how RAM memory correlates with the video display, you need to consider the ailable memory in your computer in terms of a memory map, in which each byte of memory has a unique location that is specified by a memory address. The first byte of RAM has an address of 0, the second byte is ad- dressed as 1, etc. You might imagine a street with the houses built along only one side (with a park on the other side of the street) and with the houses numbered sequentially from zero. Now imagine the street broken up by cross streets, so that there are 256 houses in each block. The houses along the street are still numbered in sequence, so the first house in the sec- ond block has the number 256 (re- member that we started numbering at 0). One byte of information is al- lowed to reside at each address. This illustration correlates with how RAM memory is organized. Each block is referred to as a page of memory, starting at page 0. The video display screen is not a part of RAM memory in the Apple. However, each display position on the screen displays a byte of informa- tion that corresponds to a byte of in- formation that is stored in RAM, sort of like a mirror. When the computer is displaying a screen full of text, the video monitor is actually reflecting pages 4, 5, 6 and 7 of RAM memory. (This corresponds to actual RAM ad- dresses of 1024 through 2047.) The RAM memory that is reserved for dis- play storage is referred to as a “buf- fer.” Thus pages 4~7 are the memory buffer for the text display. Your Basic program instructions are stored in memory, starting at lo- cation 2048 (page 8), right after this memory buffer. So when your pro- gram uses an instruction such as 10 HOME: PRINT“HELLO” this instruction is placed in RAM somewhere just above location 2048 in page 8. When the program is run, pages 4-7 are cleared out and the ASCII codes for the word HELLO are placed in memory locations 1024~ 1028. In addition, those same codes are sent to the video driver that di- rects the five characters to be repro- duced on the screen display. Lo-res graphics use the same RAM buffer area that the Apple uses for text displays. As far as the Basic user is concerned, only two single word instructions, GR and TEXT, are need- ed to switch the computer's interpre- tation of how to send information stored in the buffer to the screen. The GR instruction tells the comput- er to send that data to the screen as graphics characters, while TEXT tells the computer to send the data as text characters. Of course, if the RAM is filled with graphics codes and the word TEXT is received, the display will fill with garbage as the’ text character generator produces char- acters to correspond to the graphics codes. The HOME command must then be used to clear the screen of the garbage. There are actually two screen buff- ers for lo-res graphics display. The manual refers to these as “pages,” but so as not to confuse this use of the word with a “page” of RAM (con- taining 256 bytes), I will refer to them as screen buffers. The secon- dary lo-res screen buffer coincides ‘Address correspondence to Dan Bishop. PO Box 429, Buena Vista. CO 81211. 24 Cider July 1983 SPRING APPLE SALE! FD-35 DISK DRIVE By MA Systems * Direct Replacement for Apple Disk II * Compatible with Apple Controller or other Apple compatible controllers * Specially designed electronics with low power consumption * DOS 3.3 and 3.2 compatible %* Owner's Manual and Warranty Card included * 90-day Warranty NEW. wnagnueroRy $22995 CONTROLLER CARD $89.95. APPLE il KEYBOARD 599.95 From the Keyboard Co. * Brand New Rev. 7 keyboard — NOT an imitation * Special Purchase — Supply very limited * Includes Encoder Board and Cable APPLE COMPATIBLE POWER SUPPLY ‘99.95 * Compact Switching Design * All Outputs regulated * Short Circuit and Overload Protection * Complete with Apple-type plug-in power cord x Apple Compatible — Yet higher output allows more disk drives and cards without overheating * +5V @ SA, +12V @ 3A, -5V @ .5A, -12V @ 5A * Shielded enclosure: 10%" x 3%" x 2%6" VIEWMAX 80 A Full Function 80 column card for Apple II* 2 YEAR WARRANTY $19995 NEW IMPROVED JDR COOLING FAN FOR YOUR APPLE II * Easy modification — no modification of Apple required x Eliminates overheating problems * Switch on front controls fan, Apple, and extra outlet * Rotron whisper fan is the quietest, most reliable on the market NOW WITH SURGE SUPPRESSION $69.95 WITHOUT SURGE SUPPRESSION ‘59.95 INTERFACE CARDS By Perisoft PRINTERLINK $79.00 * Centronics Standard Parallel Interface for Apple II * Simple to use — Yet supports custom driver applications from ROM or Disk * Includes card, cable and user's manual * 1 Year Warranty MESSENGER £119.00 * Serial I/O for Appie II * Connects virtually any RS-232 serial device * 6 switch selectable drivers: - 4 printer drivers - Terminal Driver — 40 or 80 driver * Includes card, cable and user's manual * 1 Year Warranty OKIDATA PRINTERS * 120 cps, 9x9 Dot Matrix * 50% faster than EPSON * Parallel and Serial interfaces $479% $69995 $1059” CALL FOR PRICES ON 82A TRACTOR OPTION AND 82A, 83A GRAPHICS OPTION. CABLES are standard ML-84 parattet . AND INTERFACE CARDS AVAILABLE JDR 16K RAMCARD For Apple II* * Expand your 48K Apple to 64K * Fully compatible with Apple Language System — Use in place of Appte Language card * Provides extra memory for Visicalc™ * Run PASCAL, FORTRAN, Integer Basic with appropriate software * Highest quality card features: gold edge connector, sockets for all IC’s NOW WITH 2 YEAR WARRANTY ASSEMBLED & TESTED WITH WARRANTY KIT — INCLUDES ALL PARTS & INSTRUCTIONS... BARE PC CARD WITH INSTRUCTIONS MONITORS GREEN PHOSPHOR NEC JB1201M 4 69° ZENITH zvu-iz1 $119°° COLOR AMDEK cotor: $335%° IF YOU CAN FIND A PRICE LOWER ELSEWHERE, LET US KNOW AND WE WILL MEET OR BEAT THEIR PRICE! (SEE TERMS BELOW) 5%" DISKETTES ATHANA ss sp SOFT .. MEMOREX sssosort 26.95 VERBATIM SSDD SOFT 29.95 VERBATIM 10 SECT. HARD 29.95 NASHUA TOP QUALITY — LOW PRICE! Single Sided, Single Density Soft Sectored with Hub Ring $19.95 Box oF 10 » 24.95 ORDER TOLL FREE 800-538-5000 800-662-6279 a CALL US FOR VOLUME QUOTES ALL MERCHANDISE 100% GUARANTEED Circle 88 on Reader Service card. 1983 JOR MICRODEVICES, INC. "APPLE IS A TRADEMARK OF APPLE COMPUTER CO. July 1983 Cider 25 The Applesoft Adviser. “Lo-res and hi-res graphics differ in the number of | with the same four pages of RAM that are used for program storage, pages 8~11. Because of this, rather unusual programming techniques are necessary to use this secondary screen buffer. Otherwise, your program would get clobbered. Consequently, the secondary screen buffer for lo-res graphics is not often used. By the same token, there are two sereen buffers for hi-res graphics. The first of these occupies pages 32-63 of RAM memory (addresses 8192-16383), and the second uses pages 64-95 of RAM (addresses 16384-24575). Of course, in order to use the secondary hi-res screen buff- er, you must have over 24K of RAM. The instruction that tells the comput- er to switch from text mode or lo-res mode into hi-res mode is simply HGR to access the primary hi-res screen buffer, and HGR2 to access the sec- ondary hi-res screen buffer. Thank Heaven We gota Guardian Angel.” Circle 67 on Reader Service card. “POWER FAI Goodbye valuable data. Unless you have a Guardian Angel uninter- Tuptable power source on duty. Guardian Angel switches to 150 watts of backup power in 1/100 of a second or less while alerting you of blackout or brownout conditions. Its tugged 12V battery gives you up to six minutes (15 at half-rated power), enough to save your data and shut down your system if line power does not return. Guardian Angel is compatible with virtually every major microcomputer system, including Apple, IBM, H-P, TRS-80, Xerox, Eagle and Osborne. Its transient voltage suppressor also prevents system damage from power spikes. Guardian Angel simply plugs in between your power source and your microcomputer. Its compact size permits either desktop use or out of the way placement. Protect your investment: see your R.H. Electronics dealer today about Guardian Angel Be or contact us at 566 Irelan Street, Buellton, CA 93427, (805) 688-2047. Guarcian Anger wit LED power status Inakcator automaticaly safeguards data ‘rom Blackouts, brownouts for just $595, RHELECTRONICS, INC. "Patents pending, UL iste, FCC approved 240/50 He version avalible, Desers and OEM inquties intext display positions that are available on the screen.” Since the RAM used for these two buffers is simply an extension of the RAM used for storing your Basic pro- gram, a long Basic program that ex- tends above page 32 will restrict your use to the secondary screen buffer. You can use both buffers with long programs but, as with the secondary lo-res screen buffer, you'd have to take extraordinary measures to clear the buffer areas while still maintain- ing the integrity of your program. Figure 1 shows how these areas of RAM relate to each other. Apple Graphics Screen Displays At this point you may be asking how lo-res and hi-res graphics differ. The main difference is in the number of display positions that are available on the screen. This in turn affects the size of each point that can be plotted on the screen, and the overall appear- ance of the display. Lo-res graphics provide a full screen display that consists of 40 col- umns by 48 rows. Thus each point that is plotted in lo-res will have the same width as a text character and half the height. In other words, it will appear as a small square (half the 2 > = pamany text 810-8 svrren oh Ex Seeonbeat rene ovnes forren 2 abe roman ane conan sees | PRIMARY HI-RES BUFFER ees ‘SECONDARY WI-RES BUFFER ee or Figure 1. Memory Map of Apple Il RAM, showing the locations of the four screen buffer areas used by the Apple for text, lo- res, and hi-res displays. The Applesoft Adviser. height of the cursor block). In RAM, each byte contains the color code for two of these blocks. The two blocks are stacked vertically, so memory ad- dress 1024 contains the codes for the blocks located in column 0, rows 0 and 1. Hi-res graphics provide displays that consist of 280 columns and 192 rows. To get that many dots (53,760) on the screen, you can expect the in- dividual dots to be pretty small. This is super for any diagonal lines (they won't have a stair-step appearance) and curves that look like curves. Of course, much more RAM is required to buffer a hi-res screen display (32 pages vs. 4 for lo-res). The lo-res graphics allows selec- tion of up to 16 different colors (0-15), using the COLOR=#/ com- mand. In order to support that many colors in hi-res graphics, considerably more memory would be required. Thus a compromise of sorts is reached, and the number of hi-res colors is restricted to 8 (0-7), using the command HCOLOR = ##. Figure 2 lists the colors available for both lo- res and hi-res graphics along with the corresponding number appropriate to that color. The number code for hi-res colors is misleading, however, in that the dot’s position on the screen has as much to do with determining that dot’s color as the number select- ed for HCOLOR. But more about this next month, With the Apple it is no simple mat- ter to mix text with graphics on the same area of the screen. In hi-res, this can be done by plotting the letters in or by defining the individual letters as shapes and drawing the shapes on the screen in the desired location. In lo-res, only large block letters may be drawn on the screen. However, it is possible to reduce the size of the screen in either hi-res or lo-res mode so that the bottom four text rows (corresponding to 8 lo-res graphics rows or to 32 hi-res graphics rows) are left, open for text. In fact this is the normal result when either GR or HGR commands are used to access these modes. On the other hand, HGR2 re- sults in full screen graphics rather than mixed text and graphics. To switch between full screen graphics mode and mixed text and graphics, in which the bottom four lines are opened as a “text window,” the following instructions are used: POKE ~-16301,0 changes graphics display from full screen to mixed text plus graphics. POKE —16302,0 changes graphics display from mixed text plus graphics to full screen graphics. In either case, to be able to easily use the four rows of text (using PRINT statements or whatever), you must be using the primary screen buffer area, whether in lo-res or in hi-res graph- ics. This is because the text buffer area that is displayed on the bottom four rows corresponds to the graphics buffer area then in use, whether it is the primary or secondary area. And recall that the secondary buffer area for lo-res (and thus also for text) coin- cides with the RAM area used to store your program. What this means, then, is that if Circle 91 on Reader Service card. NO POWER SPIKES WITH SUPER FAN II. Super Fan II's Zener Ray™ Transient Voltage Suppressor and Power Filter squelches spikes up to 6000 amps—even those caused by lightning —while responding up to 100 times faster than Apple I's built-in suppressor. In addition, Super Fan II cools your Apple, removing heat buildup at a remarkable 17 cubic feet of air per minute. Yet it’s the quietest fan of its kind on the market Super Fan II also positions a lighted on/off computer switch and two accessory plugs at your fingertips. It's warranted for two years and simply clips to your Apple II, Ie or monitor See your R-H. Electronics dealer today about Super Fan II*, or contact us at 566 Irelan Street, Buellton, ~ CA 93427, (805) 688-2047. RHELECTRONICS, INC. July 1983 Gider 27 The Applesoft Adviser. Lo-Res Lo-Res Hi-Res 4 0—black 8—brown 0—black 1—magenta 9—orange 1—black or green 2—dark blue 10—grey 2—violet or black 3—purple ll—pink — 3—violet, green or white 4—dark green 12—green 4—black 5—grey 13—yellow 5—black or red 6—medium blue 14—aqua — 6—blue or black ‘7—light blue 15—white 7—blue, red or black Note: In Hi-Res mode, the first color listed applies to dots plotted in even columns, the second to dots plotted in odd columns. Two dots side by side horizontally will appear white if the color is 3 or 7. the pixel or block to be plotted next. Figure 2. Color codes that are used in lo-res and hi-res graphics modes to specify the color of time, and some useful CALL instructions. HLIN aa,bb AT ce aa =starting column for horizontal line bb = ending column for horizontal line co = row (0-47) in which the horizontal line will be drawn VLIN aa,bb AT cc aa =starting row for vertical line bb = ending row for vertical line cc = column (0-39) in which the vertical line will be drawn Table 1. Graphic short cuts. POKE -16297,0 SELECT HI-RES GRAPHICS MODE POKE -16298,0 SELECT LO-RES GRAPHICS MODE POKE -16299,0 SELECT SECONDARY DISPLAY BUFFER POKE -16300,0 SELECT PRIMARY DISPLAY BUFFER POKE -16301,0 SELECT MIXED GRAPHICS + TEXT MODE POKE —16302,0 SELECT FULL SCREEN GRAPHICS POKE -16303,0 SELECT TEXT MODE POKE -16304,0 SELECT GRAPHICS MODE CALL -1994 CLEAR UPPER 40 LINES OF LO-RES PRIMARY BUFFER AREA CALL -1998 CLEAR FULL SCREEN (48 LINES) OF LO-RES PRIMARY BUFFER AREA CALL 62450 CLEAR HI-RES BUFFER AREA (WHICHEVER ONE THAT 1S CURRENTLY IN USE) TO BLACK. CALL 62454 CLEAR HI-RES BUFFER AREA (WHICHEVER ONE THAT IS CURRENTLY IN USE) TO THE LAST COLOR SPECIFIED BY AN HCOLOR COMMAND AND USED BY A PLOT COMMAND. Table 2. Switch controls that can be used to specify the screen display qttributes at any given you're using full screen graphics in hi- res mode, in the secondary buffer area, and then POKE -16301,0 to switch from full screen graphics to mixed text and graphics, the bottom four lines of display will reveal part of your program code! To place text material into the bot- tom four lines of the screen display when using the primary screen buffer in mixed text and graphics mode, use the VTAB instruction to locate the printed material on the line desired (21-24). To return to text mode when the screen is displaying graphics, use the command TEXT:HOME. The reset key will return the screen to text mode also. Figure 3 lists several commands that, when used as a group, define the specific screen mode at any time. Four “switches” are controlled by the POKE commands. These switches de- termine the following four attributes of the screen display: 1. Text display or graphics display. 2. Primary buffer or secondary buffer. 3. Hi-res or lo-res (if in graphics mode). 4. Full screen or mixed text and graphics (if in graphics mode). In addition to these commands, four other useful assembly-language subroutines can be called from Basic using the CALL commands listed in Figure 3. They provide functions that are similar to the HOME instruction for the text mode. Lo-Res Graphics When working with graphics on any system, you will find that a tablet of graph paper is your most valuable tool. This is true whether you are us- ing lo-res graphics or hi-res graphics. Outline the screen on the paper, en- compassing the same number of squares that your particular graphics mode supports on the video display (e.g., 40 by 48 for lo-res full screen mode). Then sketch in your figure(s) just as you would have them appear on the display, filling in the squares completely. If you wish, you might use colored pencils to correspond to the colors you will use in the display. You should then number the columns (0-39) and rows (0-47). Your Basic program will now be- gin the graphics display by using the following procedure: first select lo-res graphics mode and, if desired, switch the display\to full screen graphics. You may also wish to blacken the full screen (GR just cleared the top 40 lines) with a CALL -1998. Then ify the color you plan to use for the first block to be drawn. 28 Eider July 1983 NAVIC SOFTWARE Circle 167 on Reader Service card. $9°° SPECIAL BUY ONE OF NAVIC’S POPULAR LO-COST PROGRAMS AT REGULAR PRICE, AND GET YOUR CHOICE OF ANY OTHER NAVIC PROGRAM FOR JUST ‘9.00. (OFFER EXPIRES SEPT. 1, 1983). STOCKROOM MANAGER 1000 — Item Inventory Program There are 5 separate files of 200 items each recorded on the diskette. Each entry is classified by its own part number and description up to 14 characters long. The item no. includes a file designator, and each entry also Carries 2 location code, unit price and minimum stock level number. Items may be retrieved from the files by searching for part number or description. Printout routines are included for -(1) listing the entire inven- tory, (2) listing lowstock items below the preset minimum levels, and a separate routine for calculating the dollar value of the entire inventory $30.00 Personal Filing and Mail List Program This program sorts and prints alphabetized lists with optional Categories. It records Name, Ad- ress, Affiliation and Phone No. and prints labels up to 3-across arranged by zip code. Its ap- plications are limited only by the users imagination. It accom- modates up to 250 names. Keep track of dues payments, and sort names by active or non-active membership status. Print alphabetical lists for fund raising activities and mailing labels for monthly bulletins. ists customers and’ prospects which are sorted by product interest and territory. $35.00 PORTFOLIO II Stock Market Investments Price information entered on a daily, or weekly basis is com- pared with the purchase price to establish gains and losses for up to 40 individual securities and for the whole portfolio. The program accumulates the history of each security's price flutuations. Trends are then presented as line graphs, with the stop-loss and profit-taking limits an integral part of the video screen display. Portfolio || also has flexible routines for additions, changes, and deletions. Printouts of portfolio contents and lists of designated sell-offs are preformatted and selectable from the main menu. $27.50 Budgeting and Financial Planning This program is designed for analyzing the expenses of a small company, by comparing historical to projected data. It calculates the effects of changes in income, labor costs, Material costs, overhead and G&A expense on company opera- tions. Up to 50 individual expense ac- counts are proportionately allocated to separate overhead and G&A expense pools. The user can adjust the proportions to test the effect on burden rate percentages Printouts of complete expense plans are available, and burden Tate percentages are instantly Computed for cost accounting and bidding purposes. $55.00 CASH CONTROLLER A Special Accounts Payable This program is specifically in- tended for the small business- man who is always short of cash. It helps him to apply available funds in the most judicious manner, by combining both age of invoice and dollar amount in the pay decision. CASH CONTROLLER accommo: dates up to 300 invoices at a time, with routines for totaliz- ing, finding, deleting, correct- ing, updating and listing the entire data base Printouts sorted by age, amount, complete list and com- bined payout list are selectable from the main menu. The pro- gram does not print checks. $30.00 TAX SHELTER Personal Income Tax This program is based on the 1983 Federal Income Tax Rate tables. It accepts entries for each of the IRS specified income Categories, adjustments, deduc tions, credits and payment methods, and projects ‘bot- tomline’’ tax liability. This program makes subsidiary calculations on income averag- ing, alternate taxes, capital gains, exemptions etc. before displaying a summary of the various categories of income and expense. Separate data bases can be stored by varying situations or for different individuals. TAX SHELTER is an invaluable tax planning and estimating tool. It is not intended for printing IRS forms. $45.00 MORTGAGE MAKER Installment Payments & Amortization Tables This program is useful for ac. countants, attorneys, brokers and others who are in business or arranging financing on Monthly payment plans. There are 2 separate routines in- Cluded. The first routine quickly calculates the amount of the monthly payment required for a loan of any value, term and in- terest rate. The user simply enters the essential data, and the computer responds with the exact amount of the monthly payment. The computer then prints out the schedule of payments, de- tailing the allocation of prin- Cipal and interest, as well as the principal balance for each monthly payment. $19.95 MEDICAL ADVISOR Diagnose Common Illnesses FAMILY MEDICAL ADVISOR is a program to analyze overt symp- toms and identify the most pro- bable causative medical condi- tion. It uses the power of the computer to diagnose common ailments, obscure diseases, or simple childhood illnesses using nearly 10,000 possible combina: tions of symptoms. Simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers to a series of questions promp- ted by the computer establish a unique data pattern. A special algorithm then enables the computer to analyze the accu- mulated data, and diagnose the most probable medical condi- tion from a data base of nearly 200 common (and some not-so- common) illnesses. $37.50 ALL PROGRAMS RUN ON APPLE II PLUS OR APPLE Ile WITH SINGLE DISK DRIVE AND PRINTER pas ORDER TOLL FREE 1-800-327-2133 IN FLORIDA CALL (305) 627-4132 OR SEND YOUR CHECK TO: NAVIC SOFTWARE ¢ BOX 14727 © NORTH PALM BEACH ¢ FLORIDA ¢ 33408 101 REM box in with a second specified calor. 10 REM DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM THAT FRAMES A BOX IN ONE COLOR The Applesoft Adviser—— 11 REM AND FILLS IT WITH ANOTHER COLOR. TO CHANGE 12 REM BOX POSITION AND DIMENSIONS, CHANGE THE 13 REM VALUES IN LINE 30. [20 HOME BO C1I=1S: CZ=10: R1i=B: R2=20 40 GR 5O COLOR=2: GOSUB 100 60 COLOR=i: BOSUB 200 70 END 100 REM SUBROUTINE TO DRAW BOXES; C1 & Ri ARE UPPER LEFT CORNER COLUMN AND ROW; C2 & R2 ARE WIDTH AND HEIGHT C1 & Ri ARE UPPER LEFT €2 & R2 ARE WIDTH 410 IF C1+C2 > 40 THEN C2 = 40-Ci 120 IF Ri+R2 > 40 THEN R2 = 40-R1 150 HLIN C1, C1#C2-1 AT RI 140 HLIN Cl, Ci+C2-1 AT R1+R2-1 150 VLIN Ri, RIFR2-1 AT C1 160 VLIN Ri, Ri+R2-1 AT Ci+C2-1 170 RETURN 200 REM SUBROUTINE TO PAINT BOXES IN; 201 REM CORNER OF BOX FRAME 202 REN AND HEIGHT. 210 FOR T=R1+1 TO RI+R2-2 220 HLIN Citi, C1#C2-2 AT T 250 NEXT I 240 RETURN Listing 1. Two subroutines that can be used to frame a box in any color specified and to fill the 10 GR: POKE - 16302. 0: CALL - 1998 Now if you have an orange block to fill in at column 18, row 15, use the Fi ~ 2 COLOR =9: PLOT 18,15. The color may be redefined at any time with another COLOR = ## com- mand. In this way you may fill the entire screen, one block at a time. Fortunately, there are several short cuts to this technique. If you wish to draw a horizontal line with blocks having the same color, the HLIN...,... AT ... instruction may be used. Similarly, for vertical lines there is the VLIN...,... AT... command, Both of these commands require that three numbers be included to com- plete the command. Table | indicates what these numbers represent for each of the two commands. So if we wanted to draw a vertical line through the center of the screen (col- umn 19) in blue, we would add 30 COLOR =2: VLIN 0,47 AT 19 and to add a horizontal line through the center of the screen that is green on the left side of the vertical line and yellow on the right side you would need: 40 COLOR = 12; HLIN 0,18 AT 23 50 COLOR = 13; HLIN 20,39 AT 23 So much for individual blocks, horizontal and vertical lines. With that we can draw boxes on the screen. But what if we want a diag- onal line? For example, we may wish to draw a bright red X across the screen. To make the X symmetri- cal, start at row 4 for the top of the letter and end at row 44 for the bot- tom. In that way you will traverse 40 rows as you traverse the 40 col- umns of the screen. - The FOR/NEXT loop can be used to good advantage for diagonal lines. In this case, you want the diagonal line to be drawn by incrementing both the column and row values by 1 after each block is drawn. That is, you want to plot point 0,4 first, then point 1,5; then point 2,6; etc. To ac- complish this with a simple loop, the following lines should be added to your program: 60 COLOR =1 7 FOR I=0 TO 39 80 PLOTI,4+1 90 NEXTIT As you can see, the loop counter I is used for determining both the col- umn position and the row position. Also note that the PLOT instruction (as well as the HLIN and VLIN instruc- tions) can use variables or mathemat- ical expressions to specify the column and row positions. Lines 60 through 90 plot half of the X. The loop counter steps the pro- gram through 40 PLOT instructions. In order to draw the other half of the X, it will be necessary to step through another 40 PLOT instructions. A simi- lar loop could be written to accom- plish this task. The program can be made more efficient, however, if you plot the second diagonal line within the same loop that has already been set up. Add the following line to your program: 85 PLOT I, 44-1 This takes care of the second diagon- al line. Notice the difference in the two PLOT commands of line 80 and 85 as far as the row specification is concerned, In line 80, each time through the loop the row position is incremented by 1 (just as the loop counter is incremented by 1). In line 85, each time through the loop, the row position is decreased by 1. Paint Some Basics have a PAINT com- mand that allows the programmer to fill in geometric figures on the screen. However, proper use of FOR/NEXT loop instructions, using the loop counter as part of the PLOT instruction, enables any Basic to ac- complish this task. Usually the fill- ing in of a figure on the screen will require two nested loops. In Apple- soft Basic, however, the HLIN and VLIN instructions act as built-in loops and their use can allow a fig- ure to be “painted in” with just one FOR/NEXT loop. Listing 1 contains a short program that uses two subroutines. The first will outline a rectangular box on the screen in a given color, while the sec- ond will fill the box in with a second color. Before calling the subroutines, the column and row position (C1 and Rl) of the top left corner of the box must be defined. Similarly, the width of the box (C2) and its height (R2) must be given. By changing the val- ues in line 30, you can construct boxes of any size anywhere on the screen. You can even make the entire screen into a box, with lots of smaller boxes inside it. Lo-Res Animation Now the fun begins. It is just a short step from creating static dis- plays to drawing objects that appear to move across the screen. The secret to motion is that if an object is drawn in the same color as the background color, the effect is the same as if the object were erased. Thus by drawing an object on the screen in some color 30 Cider July 1983 APPI ES Pll Tell You What... Now you can put a bigger byte in your Apple. NOT JUST A Pp Pp L E 16K RAM on one Board or 64K RAM on one Board or even 128K RAM on one Board pea So What NEW from the legendary leader, you get the extraordinary S-CARD combination, only from Legend, to increase your Apple’s byte from Dera 64K RAM to one Megabyte on one a ane : RAM Board. Bacall The fantastic S-CARD combination! From 64K RAM to one Megabyte od user upgradable | | with just one RAM Board i i only from Legend Industries, Ltd. it the legendary leaders in Apple Ask about our complete line of products at your local dealer. compatible products. Legend Industries Ltd, 2220 Scott Lake Rd. Pontiac, MI 48054 (3143) 674-0953 AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTORS: EUROPE WEST COAST NEW ENGLAND. FLORIDA EAST COAST and MIDWEST BLP. Group 3 cps World Wide Products Legend Industries, Ltd. 220 Joseph Disjon 2643 Manhattan Beach Bid. 226 Route 122 Electronics, Inc. 2220 Scott Lake Rd. 75048 Paris, France Redondo Beach, CA 90278 Ambherst, NH 03034 10848 N.W. 6th Court Pontiac, MI 48054 (A) 255-4463 (243) 973-7844 (603) 673-7375 P.O. Box 680279 (343) 674-0953 Miami, FL 33468 Ask for Joe Krajenke (305) 754-5475, ‘or Norm Dybowski Circle 104 on Reader Service card. July 1983 Eider 31 ‘The Applesoft Adviser— 10 20 GR 30 COLOR=2: GOSUBI00 _| 40 coLoR=13: 50 03° GOSUB 40 : GOSUB 500 GOSUB 500: VLIN 34,38 AT 18 VLIN 33,38 AT 19 VLIN 33,38 AT 20 VLIN 34,38 AT 21 RETURN PLOT 17,32: PLOT 22,32 HLIN 17,22 AT 34 PLOT 17,33: PLOT 22,33 VLIN 33,36 AT 19 VLIN 33,36 AT 20 PLOT 18,37: PLOT PLOT 17,38: PLOT RETURN 21537 22,38 puter animation. REM JUMPING JACK ~ SIMPLE LO-RES ANIMATION EXAMPLE GOSUB 400: GOSUB 200: REM DRAW FIGURE A GOSUB 210: REM DRAW FIGURE B GOTO 40 HLIN 15,25 AT 39: RETURN: FOR I=1 10 200: NEXT I: RETURN: REM LONG PAUSE FOR I=1 TO 50: NEXT I: RETURN: REM SHORT PAUSE REM SUBROUTINE 70 DRAW FIGURE STANDING STRAIGHT REM SUBROUTINE TO DRAW FIGURE B STRADDLED Listing 2. Jumping-Jack program to illustrate fundamental principles involved with com- REM ERASE FIGURE A REM ERASE FIGURE B REM DRAW PLATFORM (with black background), then re- drawing that object, using exactly the same coordinates but using COL OR =0 (black), then drawing the ob- ject again in the original color but us- ing slightly different coordinates, you will have made the object appear to have moved. The simplest example of this tech- nique is a short program that causes a block to appear to move across the screen from left to right. A pause loop is inserted into the program at line 50 so the progress of the block can be more easily observed. 10 GR 2 FORI=0 TO 39 » COLOR = 12 40 PLOTI,20 30 FORJ=1T0 50: NEXTJ 60 COLOR=0 70 PLOT I,20 80 NEXTI To get the block to return from right to left, add line 120 (below) and re- peat lines 30 through 80 using line numbers 130 through 180. 120 FOR1=39 TOOSTEP -1 Then add line 200: 200 GOTO 20 You now have a block that seems to bounce back and forth across the screen. To achieve the same effect with a more complicated figure, use a sub- routine filled with the necessary PLOT information to define the fig- ure, Then in lines 40, 70, 140 and 170 use a GOSUB instruction instead of the PLOT commands to jump to this subroutine. In this way a static figure (such as a ball, flying saucer or submarine) can be drawn, erased and redrawn, causing the figure to move back and forth across the screen. If the figure itself is to show move- ment, such as an animal, human fig- ure or bird, in which arms, legs or wings alternate between different positions, then two or more subrou- tines must be called in succession, with each subroutine showing the figure in a different position. Each cycle through the loop will take the figure through all of its various posi- tions. The basic principle of drawing the figure, erasing it and then re- drawing it in a different position and location remains the same as before. Listing 2 contains a very simple example of this technique. Although not very sophisticated with the block graphics of lo-res, and using only slow Basic commands, this program does illustrate the concepts de- scribed above. The figures must be kept small so that the Basic PLOT commands can complete the figure as quickly as possible. The same techniques work with hi-res graph- ics as well, and can produce some really astonishing effects, particu- larly when more sophisticated imag- ing techniques are used. Detecting a Hit Only one additional command needs to be introduced in order to complete the repertoire of lo-res graphics commands (with the excep- tion of a a few POKEs to be mentioned later). Many games are designed around the idea of shooting at or bombing a target or intercepting a ball. There must be some way of de- termining when an attempt to plot a point on the screen results in placing the point over a screen position that has already been plotted. The com- mand that does this uses the SCRN(aa,bb) function. This function “looks at” the screen position that has column aa and row bb and returns a number that corresponds to the color found at that location. If the screen display is using black for a back- ground, then the statement X=SCRN(15,32) will return a value of 0 if position 15,32 has not been lit up with a PLOT instruction, or some value between 1 and 15 if it has been lit. So before plotting the new position for the ten- nis ball, for instance, the proposed position is checked to see if the SCRN() value for that position is still 0. If it is, the ball is redrawn to the new position. If the SCRN() value for that position is not 0, then a hit must have been made with either the racket or with the border at the edge of the screen. By using different col- ors for the racket and the border, the value of X will also tell you which object the ball bounced against. Lo-Res Histogram Construction Listing 3 illustrates a useful appli- cation of lo-res graphics to business applications. Again, this program has been designed to illustrate the concepts presented in this article and thus lacks frills. Even so, it stands as a useful program without further additions. The program allows the user to construct a histogram (bar graph) for up to five different sets of data. Each set will be represented by a different color, with bars drawn side by side on the screen. A total of 32 Cider july 1983 Circle 101 on Reader Service card. = = THE PRICE WAR 1S OVER" as creat SQQG0° OPTIONAL: € $§95°° SMEG REMOVABLE DISK CARTRIDCE DRIVE 10 MEG — ‘°1249. 15 MEG — ‘1449. 10 -10 MEG — °1999. 15-15 MEG — £2299. 5MEG DISK CARTRIDGE *75.00 ADAPTOR KIT INTRODUCTORY For APPLEN&lle $150. SPECIAL PACKAGE ForFRANKLIN 1502. #SAVWE*75.00 For IBM-PC/XT 150. 5Meg Winchester ForTRS-80MODi = 150. fixed drive S995, For LNW-80/11 150. Cartridge drive $595. 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CABLE “VRDATA" TELEX 845-124 10 REM LO=RES HISTOGRAM (BAR GRAPH) PLOTTER 20 REM = SD$. & SD NUMBER OF DATA SETS 30 REM nee & NE NUMBER OF ELEMENTS IN EACH SET 40 REM Dg(I) NAME FOR EACH DATA SET rj 90 REN C(I) COLOR FOR EACH DATA SET 60 REM (I,J) J"TH_DATA ELEMENT FOR SET I 70 REM MX MAXIMUM DATA VALUE ENTERED 80 REM oT&d LOOP COUNTERS USED INTERNALLY 90 REM 100 HOME 110 DIM C(5}, D8(5) 120 GOSUB 500 130 GOSUB jee 140 GOSUB 150 VTAB eke INPUT"PRESS (RETURN) TO END. oe"3X$ 160 ‘TEXT: HOME: END 490 REM DATA ENTRY SUBROUTINE 500 INPUT"HOW MANY SETS OF DATA (5 MAX)? ";SD$ 510 SD=VAL(SD$): IF SD<1 OR SD>5 THEN 500 520 PRINT"HOW MANY ELEMENTS IN EACH SET (";INT(4O/SD);" MAX) 2"; 530 INPUD" ";NE§ : NE<VAL(NES: 50 IF NEC! OR NEDINT(4O/SD) THEN PRINI"TOO MUCH DATA":GOTO 500 550 FOR I=! TO SD 560 PRINTVKEY NAME FOR DATA SEP #";1; 570 INPUT": 5 D$(I) 580 NEXT T 590 DIM D(SD,NE) 800 ot oC1)= 13 G(2)=72 C(3)=9: C(H)e12: 0(5)<2 1 620 FoR ro 1 10 sD 630 HOME: PRINT"DATA FOR "; D8(I) 640 FOR Jx1 TO NE 650 PRINT'SET #325" = ELEMENT "505": 5 660 INPUT" 5 DS 670 ES J) =VAL( D8) 680 eb, J)> MX THEN MX=D(I,J) 690 NEXT 700 NEXT T 210 RETURN 800 GR: HOME: REM BAR GRAPH PLOTTING SUBROUTINE 810 FOR J=1 TO Wi 820 FOR Tet 70 8p 830 COLOR=¢(T) 840 VLIN 40-D(I,J),39 AT I+SD*(J~1)~1 850 VTAB 21: IF J/2sINT(J/2+e3) THEN VIAB 22 860 PRINT LEFTS(D$(I),1)5 870 NEXT I 880 NEXT J 890 RETURN 990 REM SUBROUTINE THAT NORMALIZES DATA 70 FIT SCREEN DISPLAY 1000 FOR I=1 10 SD 1010 FOR J=1 TN 1020 DCTs J) = F ee( DCT, 3) *40/x) 1030 NEXT 1040 NEXT I 1050 RETURN Listing 3. Business Application for lo-res graphics. This program plots a histogram (bar graph) for up to 40 elements which may be divided into up to five sets or categories. The Applesoft Adviser— 40 different elements may be dis- played. So if a single set of data is be- ing used, 40 elements from that set may be entered. If two sets are being compared, then each set may have up to 20 elements. If five sets are used, then each set is limited to eight elements. For example, suppose you wished to illustrate the relative GNP for the United States, Germany, Great Bri- tain and France over the past ten years. You will have four sets of data, and each set will contain ten data elements. The program will ask for the number of sets you wish to have displayed (five max) and will ask you to provide a name for each set. The display will use only the first letter of the name, so choose names for each set that start with a different letter. For example, the four countries listed above could be named United States, Germany, Britain and France. You are then asked for the number. of elements to be included in each set. The computer will reject any entry here that will result in more than 40 total elements to be plotted. The pro- gram uses this information to dimen- sion the data array, and you are then prompted to enter the data elements for each set, one complete set at a time. In order to make the most use of the screen height, the program keeps track of the data elements as they are entered and saves the single element with the largest value as MX. This element is then used to adjust the relative heights of all of the other elements so that MX will rise from the base line to the top of the screen. This process might be referred to as a nor- malization, with each element being multiplied by 40 and divided by the value of MX. Thus their relative values will remain the same, but all of the elements will now have values between 0 and’ 40 and will thus fit on- to the video screen. The plotting routine displays the first elements from each set, side by side; then the second elements of each set; then the third; etc. Each set is represented by a different color, as well as a one-letter prompt on the text display line in rows 21 and 22, so the different sets can be differen- tiated and compared with ease. Another example using this pro- gram might be to compare the num- ber of older homes sold vs. new homes sold for the last 20 months within the city or county. Or how about comparing interest rates vs. number of real estate sales over the last 20 months. A note of caution about the values you choose when comparing different items, however. This program assumes that all values will be in the same ball park. So if your interest rates run from 9 percent to 18 percent and the property sales run from 120 to 350, then multiply the interest rates by 15 before enter- ing them. The range of interest rates then becomes 135 to 270 (relative val- ues), which can then be plotted side by side with the property sales. Conclusion With the procedures described in this column mastered, you will find little difficulty in jumping into hi-res graphics, which will be the subject for next month’s column. I will dem- onstrate a method for using the shape table capability of the Apple that is simpler to use than the method de- scribed in the Applesoft Manual, and suggest a method for allowing the use of both hi-res buffer areas, even when the Basic program extends into one or both of these areas. i 34 Sider July 1983 “YOU DON’T HAVE TO GET HIT OVER THE HEAD TO REALIZE HOW QUICKLY APPLE TECHNOLOGY IS CHANGING.” “It used to be that those one-size-fits- all computer magazines were fine for learning more about computing. In fact, they were about all one could find. And it was a treasured issue in- deed that contained ore than one ar- ticle about your particular system. The gravity of this situation was beginning to dawn when suddenly it struck me...and I made the greatest discovery of my career, inCider. inCider is a monthly magazine devoted exclusively to the Apple* com- puter. Each issue contains more Apple- specific information than any other magazine, including: *programs articles applications enew product announcements *reviews etutorials eutilities inCider promises to revolutionize the world of Apple computers and for only. $24.97. You'll receive 12 monthly issues of inCider loaded with money-saving cn ea ee ee a i ee ads and advise, each issue saving you peed several times your initial lnvedtment It T want subscri ption fo inGider doesn’t take a genius to know a great | for one year at $24.97. deal when he sees one.” 1 l OCheck enclosed OMC OVISA OAE OCBill me . j cart Exp. date. Send in the attached order form, the Signature coupon below, or call toll free | Signa 1-800-258-5473 ie Address inCider Subscription Department ! City State. Zip. PO Box 911, Farmingdale, NY 11737 ! Canada and Mexico $27.97, yee onl U US funds. Foreign surface $44.97, 1 year only, US funds drason on US bank. Please allow 6-8 weeks for deli 33785 “Apple is a trademark of Apple Computer Inc. I inCider Subscription De Dept., P.O, Box 911, Farmingdale, NY 11737 July 1983 Gider 35 The Assembly Advantage by Randy Hyde I: the previous three installments of this column I’ve described how to define and use SPEED/ASM vari- ables and how to perform the stan- dard integer arithmetic operations, and T’ve discussed some 6502 code necessary to write complete SPEED/ ASM programs. With most of the basics behind us, its’ time to begin a consideration of SPEED/ASM’s con- trol structures. The FOR. . NEXT Loop SPEED/ASM supports two varia- tions on Basic’s FOR...NEXT ‘loop: FOR and FORO. The FOR subroutine is a geneéralized FOR toop that allows variable initial/ending values and a stepsize. The FORO. routine is a spe- cialized version of FOR that assumes the initial and ending values are con- stants and that the stepsize is one. Since the FORO loop is used better Control Structures than 90 percent of the time, I will de- scribe it first. The FORO loop uses the structure: JSR FORO ADR IVAR,STARTVAL,ENDVAL ; Body of loop JSR NEXT . IVAR must be the name of a SPEED/ASM integer variable; STARTVAL and ENDVAL must be in- teger constants. If you specify a 10 FOR I=1 TO 20 20 PRINT “I= “I 30 NEXTI 40 END Listing 1a. Sample Baste FOR. ..NEXT routine. SPEED/ASM variable name for STARTVAL or ENDVAL, SPEED/ASM. will use the address of the variable, not the contents of the variable, as the initial or final value. Since most FOR loops take the form: FORI=1TO 10 the FORO routine turns out to be quite adequate for most applicati