Text content (OCR)
A2-Central’
TCT
A journal and exchange of Apple II discoveries
formerly
Open-Apple
January 1992
Vol.7, No.12
ISSN 0885-4017
newstand price: $3.00
photocopy charge per page: $0.20
Celebrating 15 years of Apples
by Ellen Rosenberg
Genie’s head Apple II sysop, Chet Day, declared November
“Celebrate the Apple I” month. He challenged subscribers to post
messages describing the positive feelings they had about their Apple
Il computers. He asked them to talk about the ways they used Apple
Ils to create, to produce, and to simply have fun. The response was as
diverse as it was creative and uplifting,
A number of ins) is came out of these mes-
sages. Oh, the writers probably didn’t think of them as inspirational
or testimonial as they keyed their thoughts into their telecom pro-
's, but as I read the messages, sentences seemed to jump from
the monitor, just begging to be archived or to be memorialized in
needlepoint or calligraphy.
Some people focused upon the uniqueness of the Apple I
community:
Ken Taggart-"One of the greatest benefits of owning an Apple Il is
becoming a member of the Apple II community. It is a very special
community of dedicated hobbyists, educators, programmers, hard-
ware engineers, and vendors who all love this machine.”
John Hopkins-"The power of the Apple Il is not just the power of
the machine....it's the power of the Apple Il community. A computer
that just won't die..a community made up of generous, talented Apple
Il diehards..and an Apple II RT (RoundTable) operated and populated
by some damn fine people.”
Other thoughts centered around the user-friendly interface
and the amazing versatility of the machine:
Ross ncintosh"The Apple Il’s and the fantastic programs available
for them do more of what I want to do, the way I want to do it, and
with less pain than any other machine | have seen or used.”
Kirk Hollingsworth-"The key point is that the Apple Il sparks cre-
ativity in a way that MS-DOS never did.”
Lloyd Devries-"There’s nothing | want to do with a personal com-
puter that | can’t do with my Apple Ile.”
Udo Huth-’The purchase of my Apple Ile in 1984 was the beginning
of a long and lasting friendship that found its peak with an Apple ligs.
The Apple II’s do what I want them to do, they've never failed, they
function as properly today as they did when they were new.”
A final category of sentiments had a kind of ‘hacker ethic’
quality:
Kelly Gray remembered building his first Apple II Plus clone in
1980 with parts collected from various merchants in his area. It had
48k of memory and a monitor. Period. Today it has been transformed
into an Apple Ile, built from genuine Apple parts (excluding the power
supply) with two 3.5 drives and a 20 meg hard drive. He says,
“Throughout all this construction, | have learned more about what
makes my Apple go than I would have in a lifetime of just using the
computer, and I’ve had a lot of fun doing it. | don’t think that there is
any other computer on the market that I could have done this with.”
Dave Rogers related his fascination with science fiction and tech-
nology and how the story of Steve Wozniak in The Hackers, by Steven
Levy, cemented his commitment to the Apple Il. Dave wrote, “Here
was a machine designed by a person (who | felt shared my faith in
technology) for the fun of it. It was built for people who felt the way
Wozniak did about computers....that same spirit exists in all the II's.
It's an intangible element of the ‘Il experience. The systems have all
been open and friendly and quirky and I love them.” Rogers goes on
to summarize his feelings, “I don’t do anything earth-shaking with my
IL, but everything | do with it brings me joy. It is an honest expression
of one person’s expectation of the goodness that technology can
bring to our lives. And it is still very much the reflection of that one
person (Wozniak). There is no other computer on the market today
with this spirit or heritage.”
Scott Alfter is another one with a hacker's heart. He has trans-
formed his Apple Ile into a machine with many of the same qualities
as an Apple llgs. He wrote a program called SoftDAC which allows him
to play digitized sounds from an Apple llgs or a Macintosh through the
rarely-used cassette port. In this way, his machine can play a variety
of sample sounds upon startup. His current project is a program that
will print GIF files on an ImageWriter—on multiple pages and even in
color on an ImageWriter I.
Both Ed Stutsman and S. Elliott have found ways to cus-
tomize their computers to suit their individual needs, Harry
Jessen calls himself an ‘accidental’ Apple Ii user. He was given an
Apple lie and loved the fact that it wasn’t IBM compatible! He worked
with mainframes during the day, you see, and didn’t want to take
work home with him. He reiterated that the Apple Il did everything he
needed and everything his wife needed for her direct sales job. Steve
Weyhrich enjoys his computer so much that he has spent the last few
months writing an historical account of the Apple il computer. The 11
installments that Weyhrich has written to date are available for down-
load on GEnie (and other major online services, I suspect). It’s no sur-
prise that they are also beginning to appear in user group newsletters.
Then there's Bill Heineman, whom I've heard people refer to
as an Apple i Higher Being. Bill works for Interplay and has devel-
CRATE
DS
Eee CAPTAIN. THE CNLY WAV WELL VCR TIS CASE 1S TO GET INTO
PROF. TAMARAS PERSONAL COMPUTER FILE, BUT NO ONE KNOWS THE PASSWORD.
KILROY'S GOT A HUNCH IT STARTS WITH AN ‘S, BUT HECK, THAT COULD BE ANYTHING”
7.90 A2-Central
oped or created the Apple Il version of many games including Battle
Chess, Dragon Wars and the Bard's Tale series. Bill relates how he
bought his first Apple II in 1977 with money saved from his paper
route, He is still developing new software for the Apple II (he’s just
finished Bard’s Tale Ii!) but is also using his Apple IIgs as a Nintendo
development machine. (Here’s a guy who knows where the money
is!) Bill says that he sometimes laughs when he sees others using
high-powered IBM machines that cannot assemble code as fast as
Merlin on the Apple llgs. His quote, destined for immortalization is,
“But I am the enlightened one, they are but mere sheep, following
each other in the name of compatibility.”
The one person I have failed to mention thus far is Art Cough-
lin. He is a programmer/hacker who, incredibly, has not only hooked
his whole house up to his Apple IIgs but has hooked himself up as
well. I feel that this story deserves a column or two all to itself and
I'm hoping to convince Mr. Coughlin to write it down for a future
issue.
The subject of celebrating the Apple Il, of recounting the
ways that we use and enjoy our computers, brought to the sur-
face some thoughts and queries that I've had since becoming
involved with these machines. I've often wondered what it is that
makes us so impassioned about this computer. And we are passion-
ate in a way that I'm sure owners of other computers are not.
For me, I think that it has something to do with the ability to
get inside the machine: to replace that battery, to add those memo-
ty chips, to install a SCSI card. The first time I put these thoughts to
disk, the text read like a pulp novel. “Hands trembling and moist with
anticipation, she opened the case and peered inside. There under the
massive power supply, lying limp and useless, was the dead battery.
Anticipation mounting, she frantically rummaged in the drawer for the
snippers, found them, then paused long enough to regain her compo-
sure.” Well, | could go on but I suspect that the rest of the story
belongs in HyperBole anyway.
Our Apple Il's are no ordinary computers. For those of us who
think of them as-more than just machines, they are, in and of them-
selves, a celebration. They are incredibly versatile; they can be as
complicated or as simple to operate as we want them to be. We can
beef them up all by ourselves or pay someone else to do it. We can
turn a deaf ear on twelve-year-old sons who badger us for that other
kind of computer (so that they can keep up with the latest games), or
we can buy another machine to supplement, not replace what we
have. Do | celebrate my Apple II? Bet my hard drive I do.
Since 1992 marks the 15th anniversary of the Apple I, we'd
like to celebrate all year long. Put into words what it is about this
computer that has infected you. Send those words to us and each
month we'll have a little celebration right here in A2-Central.
Designing educational software
by Phil Shapiro
Designing educational software is an interesting challenge. The goal
is to produce a learning activity that is both fun and educationally
beneficial. Thinking up a computer program that is educationally ben-
eficial is not too difficult. But making that activity appealing at the
same time is no small challenge.
There's a vital ingredient to good educational software that
can never be fully described. It's an intangible quality. It’s a quality
that creates a positive chemistry between the child and the computer.
As an educational software designer, the most richly satisfy-
ing reward you'll get is watching a child become excited and
involved in using software you've designed. It’s as if they were
interacting personally with your mind. The computer becomes an
extension of you yet capable of existing independently of your corpo-
real body. When children interact with a well-designed educational
program, it's as if they were closely interacting with the sharp wits of
the person who designed the program.
Coming up with ideas for educational games can sometimes
be a hurdle for novice software designers. For example, thinking
up a novel math game is a very steep challenge if you hope to dis-
tribute the product commercially. Dozens of large educational soft-
ware companies have produced many excellent math games in the
last ten years. And schools are reluctant to spend scarce funds on
Vol. 7, No. 12
software that accomplishes the same results as software they've
already purchased.
Likewise, simple word games, while beneficial and often appealing
to children, just do not excite much interest in the educational mar-
ket today. (This is not to say that such programs are not worthwhile
for a shareware disk or for your home or local school.) These days
educational software purchasers are rather discriminating. For a prod-
uct to have a commercial appeal, it must stand out from the crowd. It
must be unique in some important way. Educational software critics,
who write reviews for the leading educational software magazines, will
spare no effort in finding flaws with software that does not meet their
exacting standards of originality and ease-of-use. One such critic
remarked recently that she holds all educational software publishers
to the same stringent standards, Small startup companies are held to
identical standards as multi-million dollar enterprises.
In some ways, this is only fair. Mediocrity should never be tolerated
in educational products for children. Yet, fair warning is needed to
those with an interest in starting their own educational software com-
pany: it's a tough market out there. Schools will not consider pro-
grams that do not offer substantial benefits to their students. And
magazines will rake you over the coals if you dare place any software
on the market that has not been thoroughly tested and designed.
Summarizing then, the three most important rules of educa-
tional software design are:
1) Test your software with kids.
2) Test your software with kids.
3) Test your software with kids.
If the kids don’t like it, you need to go back to the design phase to
see if you can incorporate some of that intangible magnetic appeal.
Ask the kids what they think should be added or taken away from the
program. Kids aren‘t shy about expressing their opinions. And they
have special insight as to what works and doesn’t work in an educa-
tional game.
If you don’t have a herd of children running around the house
to serve as in-house beta-testers, you might try volunteering for
after-school computer classes at one of your local schools. Or
see if there is a summer computer camp in your vicinity that would be
interested in helping beta-test your software.
Two summers ago I had a valuable experience betatesting soft-
ware at a computer camp near my house. Early in the summer the
kids saw the program in a raw, unfinished form. With each passing
week they saw small enhancements being added. And their week-to-
week response to this software provided vital feedback as to the fea-
tures that were ultimately included in the product.
A special luxury is beta-testing educational software with
children who have ming skills of their own. Such kids are
experienced enough to know what is feasible and not feasible on the
computer. You can bounce ideas off them, getting feedback both on
the ideas themselves, and the possible programming work needed to
implement those ideas. In some cases, you might even enlist their
help to produce some of the modules of the software,
Creating educational software can be one of the most satisfy-
ing types of programming work. The rewards can be as lucrative as
a young child’s gentle smile. Late night programming sessions
become eminently worthwhile if you've ever witnessed a child interact
enthusiastically with one of your programming creations.
(The author is the founder of Balloons Software, a new Apple II edu-
cational software company. Number Squares, the first disk produced
by Balloons Software, was nominated for the annual educational soft-
ware guidebook, Only the Best, published by R.R. Bowker. This disk
of logic puzzles has also been licensed to several schoo! districts.
You can reach Shapiro at 5201 Chevy Chase Parkway NW, Washing-
ton, D.C. 20015-1747, phone 202-244-2223)
Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com
January 1992
ProTERM 3.0-a review
by Dean Esmay
A new version of ProTERM , the widely popular Apple Il modem
program, is now available from InSync Software. The program has
been entirely re-written and includes complete support of every popu-
lar file transfer protocol (Xmodem, Ymodem, Zmodem, and Kermit),
with every imaginable variation, a brand new user interface, an aston-
ishing scripting language, a greatly improved on-line editor, new and
improved terminal emulations (including limited ANSI-BBS), and a
very detailed, indexed new manual. It operates on the 128K
enhanced lle, Ilc, Laser 128, and the ligs.
I've had quite some time to become familiar with the new
ProTERM. | was one of the twenty-seven people who tested the pro-
gram extensively in the months before its release. If the old ProTEKM
were to be called a Cadillac (big, cushy, and loaded with features, but
a bit of a hog) one would have to call ProTERM 3.0 a Rolls-Royce (big,
cushy, loaded with more features, and elegant as all get-out). Is there
a feature you'd like a modem program to have? ProTERM 3.0’s almost
certainly got it. Are there things you wished the old version of Pro-
TERM would do, or did better? Chances are good that your wish has
been answered in either case.
The first thing to talk about is ProTERM 3.0's astonishing
interface. If you're a beginner who prefers software that uses a
mouse and pull down menus, you'll find ProTERM very easy to use
and just about as intuitive as you could ever want modem software to
be (with one exception, noted below). Novices will find ProTERM to be
both simple and friendly.
On the other hand, if you don’t own a mouse or just like to keep
your hands on the keyboard, you'll feel right at home with ProTERM
3.0. Unlike most software that uses the mouse but claims to work
just fine without one, ProTERM 3.0 does. in fact, | use the program
daily but I so rarely touch the mouse | sometimes forget it’s an
option. é
poe one area where this doesn’t hold true; namely, file selec-
tion dialogs. Instead of using the standard Apple guidelines for file
dialogs, with the familiar “Volume” “Open” “Close” and “Cancel” but-
tons, ProTERM 3.0 relies on a system of commands such as “Parent
directory” and “Select” listed right in the same column as the list of
files! This method is pretty simple once you get the hang of it, and old
hands at ProTERM will be used to it. But it seems incomprehensible to
me that a program that makes so much effort to be friendly and intu-
itive would not at least attempt to incorporate Apple’s standard inter-
face in addition to its own interesting but non-standard method.
T have another quibble with ProTERM 3.0's interface. One of
the program's handier features is the ability to select several different
systems to call at once. It will start at the first system on the list and,
if it finds a busy signal, dial the next system on the list, and so on ina
circular fashion until it connects to one of them. Many heavy-hitting
modemers will find this an extremely useful feature, but may never
find out about it unless they read the program manual, as it’s hidden
behind an obscure menu option called “Rotary Dial.” Most people,
myself included, would assume “Rotary Dial” to be an option to have
the modem dial out using rotary (also known as “pulse”) dialing
instead of touch-tones. Far better to have called this option “Circular
dialing’ or “Multi-Diating.”
Despite these problems, the program as a whole remains very easy
to understand and use.
There's more to the new ProTERM than a new interface, how-
ever. The file transfer protocols have been beefed up considerably.
Of special interest is Zmodem, a much faster and more powerful pro-
tocol for file transfers. Unlike previous versions, ProTERM 3.0’s Zmo-
dem is now fully compatible with GEnie and other systems and
includes both Zmodem Resume and CRC-32 options. More wonderful
news: all the transfer protocols, even in batch mode, now support the
use of the Binary II standard for both uploading and downloading.
ProTERM 3.0 is even smart enough to recognize whether or not a file
on disk is encoded with Binary II, making the attachment of an addi-
tional wrapper unnecessary. (If you don’t know what that means, it’s
just something that makes life a whole lot easier for ProTERM 3.0
users and for those who trade files with them.)
As mentioned above, the new editor sports many new fea-
A2-Central 7.91
tures; in fact, the ProTERM 3.0 editor could almost be called a
full-fledged word processor. It's also got an extraordinarily nifty
reformatting feature for selecting part of a bulletin board message
that you can quote in a response, as well as a number of other text-
reformatting features. With the ProTERM editor, which is always just a
keystroke away and available whether you're on-line or not, respond-
ing to electronic mail or bulletin board messages becomes much easi-
er on practically any system.
The ProTERM 3.0 manual is easily one of the most wonderful
software manuals I've ever seen. Not only is it written in plain, sim-
ple-to-understand English, not only is it indexed and well-organized,
but it includes absolutely everything a novice would need to know as
well as what more advanced users need to use the software to its
fullest potential.
For example, the manual starts with a very nice treatise for begin-
ners on telecommunications as a whole. It also explains the ProDOS
operating system, file transfers, baud rates, and more. In fact, it does
such a remarkable job of taking all those scary-sounding topics that
intimidate beginning modemers and making them understandable,
that portions of the manual could easily be sold as a primer on
telecommuntications.
One of the things novices won't need to know about Pro-
TERM 3.0 are its macros. Don’t worry, you don’t need to know this
stuff, it's for advanced programmer-ypes. Since I'm not really one of
those, I've asked Barry Hatchett, who is, to help me out by writing a
review of the ProTERM 3.0 scripting language. (See below.)
It’s important to note that ProTERM 3.0 has all the features
that made the original ProTERM so powerful and easy to use;
Scrollback, which uses as much memory as your system has available
to record your on-line sessions; automated dialing; automatic logon
macros, which watch you connect to a system and do it for you auto-
matically next time; and an excellent unattended mode, which will
allow you to set up your system so others can call in and trade files
with you, even if you're not available.
In fact there's so much to the new ProTERM that any review
can only scratch the surface. The folks at InSync put a great deal of
effort into small details; each part of the program has a multitude of
options, yet it all remains simple and straightforward.
If you're still bound to 5.25 drives, or have only 128K of memory,
you may find ProTERM a little cumbersome to use. ProTERM normally
loads all its segments into memory as you access them, but if you
don’t have enough memory it has to periodically purge and re-load
them. Other programs, like Talk Is Cheap, load completely into mem-
ory, even on a 128K system, and remain fast and responsive at all
times. Even so, ProTERM is still worth considering, as no other pro-
gram has as many features, is as easy to use, or is more powerful,
ProTERM 3.0 retails at $129.95, but is available for less from a
number of mail order houses. Updates from older versions of Pro-
TERM are available for $40.00 plus $5.50 shipping and handling For
more information, contact InSync Software, 3035 E. Topaz Cir,
Phoenix, AZ 85028-4423, (602) 992-5515.
(Dean Esmay is the editor of A2-Central On-Disk as well as Studio
City. He has included a demo version of ProTERM 3.0 on the January
disk.)
Proterm macros boosted
by Barry Hatchett, Ph.D.
Compared to packages like Talk Is Cheap, Point to Point, and
ReadyLink, ProTERM's automation capabilities have traditionally
lacked power and flexibility. Not anymore, though. Like the rest of the
program, ProTERM's macro language has undergone a complete over-
haul in version 3.0.
ProTERM 3.0, like previous versions, has three different
of macros: System Macros, Global Macros, and Macro Files. Sys-
tem Macros are accessed by holding down the Open-Apple or Com-
mand key while pressing a number key. (You get 10 System Macros in
5.0, not just 8.) Each system you've defined in ProTERM 3.0’s Dial
menu has its own independent set of System Macros. You use System
Macros to enter your user ID and password, to sign and save your
messages, and to perform other common on-line tasks. And just as
7.92 A2-Central
before, ProTERM 3.0 can watch you log on and write your System
Macros for you.
Global Macros are invoked by holding down the Solid-Apple or
Option key and typing a letter. Global Macros are available at all
times, no matter what system you're logged onto — they're even
available off-line. Most people use Global Macros to set up “hot keys”
to dial their favorite systems and to begin uploads or downloads with
one keypress.
The third type of macro, Macro Files, are executed by selecting
Macro File from the Misc menu and choosing the file from an Open
dialog, Macro Files are typically used for long, involved online pro-
cesses which would clutter up the Global Macros — like a macro that
logs onto a system, downloads all your mail and new messages,
uploads any replies, and logs off. Macro Files are ProTERM’s equiva-
lent of most other communication programs’ “scripts.”
ProTERM 3.0's macro language is bristling with dozens of new
commands and functions. (Yes, functions: you can use algebraic
expressions instead of just literals or variables, but the syntax is a lit-
tle confusing.) Most of the old commands are still there. Many have
been enhanced. Macro keywords are two letters long (e.g., CL for
“close’); you can spell most of them out if you like. That's a good
idea, because ProTERM's macro language has no enforced spacing or
indenting rules, It’s easy to create macro files that look like minimalist
yaffiti.
9 A few things changed for no obvious reason. A picky example: to
transfer control to a System Macro from another macro, you now GO
~5 instead of GO 5. Labels within Global Macros and Macro Files are
defined with “@” and “%" symbols instead of “#” symbols. The Display
command is gone, but PRint has been upgraded and a new debugging
command (BAr) has been added. Other things have changed too (for
example, the DO command works a lot differently — a change made
necessary by ProTERM 3.0’s menu structure), but if you've used Pro-
TERM macros in an earlier incarnation, you should feel right at home.
ProTERM now supports more variables. The variables share
memory with the Global Macros; if you have a lot of Global Macros,
you won't be able to use as many variables. ProTERM 3.0 also sup-
ports string variables up to eighty characters long, Unfortunately, vari-
ables are still defined and referenced by number, not by name or
even by an initial letter, making ProTERM macros more cryptic than
they should be. And, alas, there’s no array capability. A variety of sys-
tem variables are also available for watching and directing ProTERM’s
operation.
The IF command, which was once just a variant of the WT (wait)
command, has now taken on a life of its own for testing of variables
and other logical conditions. Several Boolean functions are available
for doing comparisons and logical ANDs, ORs, and NOTs. WT has
been enhanced to permit conditional branching based on text
received through the modem (IF‘s old job).
PRint (and the new INput) now support “device channels,” allowing
you to redirect macro input and output from the normal modem chan-
nel. Macros can read and write disk files via Channel 5. There are also
channels for making text appear to have come from the remote sys-
tem (so it gets put into the capture buffer), for pumping text through
the current terminal emulation, and for sending text directly to the
printer. Channel 2 (local console) lets you display messages to the
user (via PRint) and accept responses (via INput) without affecting the
remote system. The Video command is used for cursor and screen
control. And there's a Window command for drawing fancy screens.
ProTERM 3.0 supports structured programming via CAll and EXit for
subroutines and REpeat, UNtil, WHile, BReak, and COntinue for loops.
(Sorry, no local variables.) The IF statement allows multiple condi-
tions for simulating CASE statements; the first condition that matches
is executed, You can simulate the ELSE construction by making sure
the last condition is always true (just specify a literal value of 1). Both
loops and conditionals support “code blocks” — any macro state-
ments you put between curly brackets will be executed when the
specified condition is met. If you prefer spaghetti code, ProTERM is
happy to oblige with GOto, POp, and PUsh commands.
ProTERM's file management commands are more robust, as
well, We've got OPen and CLose for designating a file for PRint and
INput’s device channels; MArk for random access of data files; and
CKeate and DElete for making new files and killing old ones. And two
new functions — EXist to find out if a file already exists, and EOf to
Vol. 7, No. 12
determine when we've read to the end of a file.
Two commands are available for controlling ProTERM from a
macro. DO allows a macro to choose a command from a pull-down
menu, fill in the command’s dialog box, and click the buttons just as
the user would. KEy allows a macro to “press keys” on the keyboard
— for example, to enter text in the editor or to issue an Open-Apple-1
through Open-Apple-9 to move through scroliback. And the new SCan
function reads a screen line into a string variable, allowing the macro
to “see” what's going on in any part of the program.
There’s much more, of course — would you believe peek and
poke? — far more than we have space for here. A Macro File
included on the ProTERM disk shows off the macro language by draw-
ing a gigantic real-time clock on the screen. It may be a trivial applica-
tion, but the fact that it can be done at all from within a telecommuni-
cations program is nothing short of phenomenal.
The best new feature, in my opinion, is that every single part
of ProTERM can be automated. A macro can take you into the edi-
tor, back to terminal mode, and then into scrollback without missing
a beat. (In previous versions of ProTERM, macro execution was sus-
pended when you left terminal mode.) Global Macros can now be
invoked from terminal mode, the editor, and scrollback, not just from
terminal mode. There’s even a system variable that tells macros what
part of ProTERM they're in; a simple IF statement thus allows a macro
to have very different functions depending on where it’s invoked.
Seamless integration is what makes ProTERM's macro lan-
j¢ so great. Sure, its two-letter commands and its numbered
variables give it a fairly steep learning curve compared to other pack-
ages’ relatively plain-English commands. The manual has a couple of
errors in its chapter on macro programming, and a few features —
notably the DO command and the use of the %S and %D escape char-
acters in string literals — need to be documented more clearly.
But we're picking nits, because, truthfully, no other communication
program has so much power to automate all your online and off-line
telecommunications activities. Talk Is Cheap’s editor is a separate
program and thus can’t be scripted. ReadyLink has an editor and one
of the nicest scripting languages in any communications program,
but, like TIC, lacks features like ZMODEM that would make it a serious
contender.
Here's an example of what kind of power we're playing with.
Off-line message managers for GEnie and other information services
have long been available for use with TIC, Point To Point, and
ReadyLink, but they all use separate programs (HyperCard stacks, an
AppleWorks/UltraMacros task file, or a GS/OS desktop program) to
actually manage off-line tasks like reading and replying to messages.
The communication program is used only as a “robot” to fetch and
post messages and files. ProTERM 3.0 is sufficiently robust that it’s
possible to write an off-line message manager that functions entirely
within ProTERM. After all, ProTERM has a very good text editor; why
should you have to run another program to write your replies? One
hacker is, in fact, working on just such an integrated message manag-
er for GEnie.
In case you haven't already guessed, the verdict on ProTERM
3.0’s macro language is a hearty thumbs up. It’s got the features
today’s modem users demand, and it provides access to all of Pro-
TERM's considerable power. ProTERM is not only the friendliest Apple
Il communications package on the planet, it’s just become one of the
most sophisticated.
Miscellanea
It takes a woman to find Bill Budge....well, actually it takes a
hot tip from Apple Computer's Matt Deatherage. Last month, Jay
Jennings didn’t have any luck locating Bill Budge. | did. I found Bill in
the Bay area, answering his own phone no less. He’s been spending
the past 5 years writing a program to control Lego’s from a Macintosh.
Another tip from A2-Central subscriber Bob Sherman confirmed that
Nasir Gebelli resides in California as well. Sherman’s wife runs a com-
puter search business and was asked to help find Gebelli about 6
months ago. Her computer (an Apple IIgs) found him living in Califor-
nia with an unlisted phone number. (Well, he wasn’t actually living
with an unlisted phone number....stay tuned for the results of my note
January 1992
to him.)
We don’t do Windows or upgrades. We get numerous letters
from customers asking us to upgrade this program or that. We don’t
do upgrades. We can’t do upgrades. Mail order companies are typical-
ly middlemen (since I'm female I'll take the chance of being politically
incorrect here. <grin>) and are not authorized to upgrade a publish-
ers product. For upgrade information, always contact the publisher,
And if you send in your registration cards, maybe they will even con-
tact you.
Not all Apple I software is disappearing. VIP Professional, a
spreadsheet package that caused quite a stir a few years back has
resurfaced to the delight of many satisfied customers. It is Lotus 1-2-
35 1a compatible, has a large 8,192 row by 256 column spreadsheet
and additional data query fields. It is mouse-driven, uses pull down
menus and addresses over 8 megabytes on the Apple IIgs. VIP Pro-
fessional requires at least 256k of auxiliary RAM to operate, and it
works with a range of memory and accelerator boards. For more infor-
mation or to order VIP Professional contact ISD Marketing, Inc., 2800
John Street, Unit #15, Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R OE2, 416-479-
1991 (voice), 416-479-1882 (fax) They are offering our subscribers a
special price of $69.95 until January 31, 1992.
Free GS+.A toll-free line for orders and subscription information,
that is: 800-662-3634. For technical support and shooting the breeze,
the folks at GS+ can still be reached at 615-870-4960.
Softdisk is paying for Apple software. The Shreveport-based
software publishing company and new home of our former editor, Jay
Jennings, is actively recruiting original programs written by you. For
further information contact Softdisk, PO Box 30008, Shreveport, LA.
71130-0008 or call them at 318-221-2173.
Not only is Softdisk helping to grow Apples but it is also
helping to keep the earth green, They recently started a campaign
to recycle and sell used diskettes. The recycled disks that they receive
are magnetcially erased and then relabeled. They're available in packs
of 25-3.5 inch or 50-5.25 inch for $9.95. For more information con-
tact Tim Choate, Softdisk Publishing, 606 Common Street, Shreve-
port, LA 71101 or phone 318-221-8718 FAX 318-221-8871,
The Deja-vu or I'm really-trying-not-to-smirk department. A
recent article in our local College Boulevard News was entitled, “Sug-
gestions for buying your first personal computer.” After the author
advised 1) determining what you want to do and 2) what kind of soft-
ware you want to run, he posed the question: “Do you want to go with
a Macintosh or an IBM or IBM compatible?” The answer, according the
office manager of a local computer store was, “If the computer is
meant for children in grade school, you might want to consider a Mac-
intosh. Mac’s see heavy use in elementary schools and there’s a lot of
educational software available. But if your child is older, an IBM com-
patible may be more appropriate because Big Blue dominates the real
world.” The author goes on to state that with the advent of Windows,
the Macintosh has lost its previous edge in the desktop publishing
and graphics arena. Ho hum.
SoundConvert from Triad Venture is the you need to
digitize directly into HyperCard GS. It supports all known digitizers
for the Apple llgs. It imports, it exports, it does just about anything
you'd need to do to create and add sound files to HyperCard Gs, It
even includes a digitizing NDA. The retail price is $49.00 but Triad is
offering an introductory price of $28.00 for a limited time. To learn
more contact Triad Venture Inc., PO Box 12201 Hauppauge, N.Y.
11788,
WestCode software is once more on the leading edge of Apple
ligs technology. They have just introduced Pointless, a new technol-
ogy that allows font output to screen or printer to be smooth, crisp
and clear. Pointless, which is scheduled for release in time for Christ-
mas, purports to improve output to almost any type of printer, includ-
ing the ImageWriter, to laser-quality, The trick behind the technology
is the use of TrueType outline fonts, the new font standard on the
Macintosh and Windows. Pointless works transparently and is easy to
install. Pointless will create any point size you need from a single
TrueType font. It retails for $69.95. We haven't seen it here yet but if
it is half as good as it sounds, Pointless will be a big boon for Apple
ligs owners. For more information contact WestCode at 11835
Carmel Mountain Road, Suite 1504, San Diego, Calif. 92128, 619-
679-9200 (voice), 619-451-0276. (fax).
It looks like C.V. Technologies is at it again. Not to rest on their
A2-Central 7.93
laurels, they are offering a new upgrade to their RamFAST SCSI
Board. The new board is much smaller than the previous versions
(only 3° by 5) due to the use of surface mount technology. It draws
less power (.150 amps versus the .600 amps for the older card).
While a 256k cache is still standard it is expandable to 1 meg, This
card is recommended for Apple llgs owners only. Apple Ile owners
can contact C.V.Tech for information about buying a refurbished Rev
C RamFAST board for $99.00.
The company states that owners whose systems include either the
original processor or the ZipGS will benefit additionally because with
these setups, the Revision D RamFAST SCSI uses DMA to transfer data
throughout the entire 8 megabytes of memory, if available, instead of
the normal limit of 4 megabytes. This new board should also be able
to make use of non-DMA compatible memory products, such as the
RamKeeper, older versions of the AE GS-Ram and GS-Ram Plus cards.
Evidently, the TranswarpGs is not as friendly with the new board.
You can upgrade from an older RamFAST board for $69.00
(256k version) or $139.00 (1 meg version). If you send them a
credit card number (VISA/MC) or a check for the full list price of
$199.00 or $279.00 respectively as collateral, they will send you a
new board and an invoice for the upgrade amount. You will then have
15 days to send in your old card and a check. They will not actually
charge upgrades through the credit card. This way, you never need be
without your hard drive up and running, Contact them at C.V. Tech-
nologies, 1800 East Whipp Road, Suite 200, Kettering, Ohio 45440,
513-455-5743 (voice), or 513-435-9554 (fax).
Officially, it’s just about the start of winter and I'll bet many
of you are thinking of that dreaded day in April already. Here are
3 options that you may want to consider. Double Scorpio Software
(formerly Island Software) offers a package called TaxSmith in various
forms. The base package, TaxSmith.Quick contains form 1040,
schedules A, B, and EIC (the new earned income credit calculation
($9.95, upgrade $7.50). TaxSmith.Family contains all of the above
plus 2106, 2119, 2441, 3903, schedules D, and D-1 ($19.95 or
$15.00 upgrade). To TaxSmith.Full add 4562, 6251, 8582, 8606,
8615, 8814, 8829, schedules E, R, SE ($49.00 or $25.00 for
upgrade). The last option is TaxSmith.Pro which contains all the previ-
ous versions and 5 additional smaller configurations ($74.95, $37.50
for upgrade). This one is designed for the tax professional.
The company also has a new product called Mr. Mortgage, which is
an AppleWorks-based mortgage analysis package. There are 18 mod-
ules included that evaluate and analyze mortgages from many differ-
ent angles. The price is $29.95. Shipping is $1.50 per package. For
additional information on these products contact Double Scorpio
Software at 6704 Van Haven Drive, Raleigh, N.C. 27615 or call 919-
676-4227 or 800-826-7146 to order.
The National AppleWorks User Group (NAUG) offers 1040Works for
$32.95 plus $3.50 for s/h. The update price from earlier versions is
$22.95 plus the s/h charge. Additionally, NAUG announced
1040Works Tax Planner, a comprehensive new tax planning package
for AppleWorks ($29.95 plus $3.50 s/h). For further information con-
tact NAUG at 45163 Quaker Hill, Canton, MI 48187.
HowardSoft, a long time supporter of Apple II users, continues its
support. Its professional package for the consumer and professional
alike is available for $199.00 through us (see December 1991 cata-
log) or by ordering directly from HowardSoft, 1224 Prospect Street,
Suite 150, La Jolla, Calif. 92037 619-454-0121.
Here's a cute one from the proverbial roller coaster depart-
ment. Back on October 15, 1991, MacWeek’s Mac the Knife column
had a blurb entitled, “Forever stops here.” Without going into the gory
details, the columnist predicted the demise of the Apple IIgs as early
as that month. Apple would cease production, he said. Where have
we heard that before? We didn’t give it any more credence than the
other unfounded rumors we've heard. Now, as our roller coaster takes
us uphill, Jerry Borrell, editor-in-chief of MacWorld magazine informs
us that “as a statement of pragmatism, Apple has decided not to cede
its Apple II market and has a new version of the product under devel-
opment.” This statement appeared in the MacVONK Server, November
1991, Whew, hold on to your hats, I'm getting dizzy —edr
7.94 A2-Central
Ask
Bypass surgery
In October of this past school year all my
lovely lle's were replaced with Ilgs's and Macs
and the whole business is tied together with an
AppleTalk network. My Ile’s went next door and
wound up networked similarly. When the Ile’s
start up over the network they all finish booting
in seconds whereas my Ilgs’s take about 10 or
15 minutes to come to scratch. The bottleneck
seems to be GS/OS and we don’t use a single
application that requires it. Is there some way
to make the ligses bypass GS/OS and go direct-
ly to the 8-bit ProDOS and Artistotle menu pro-
gram?
T've been tinkering with putting my creations
on the file server but trying to run Artistotle
from a BASIC program has eluded me so far.
How do you quit from a program and get back
to that menu without rebooting?
John G. Thomas
Trenton, N.J.
While demonstrating 6.0 at KansasFest, an
Apple person mentioned that there will be a
new option in 6.0 to allow ligs users starting
up from the server to select booting into Pro-
DOS 8 or GS/OS.
You return to any ProDOS 8 program selec-
tor, including Aristotle, from an Applesoft
program by using the ProDOS BASIC.System
“BYE” command. Try something like this at the
point that you want to return to Aristotle:
1000 Print CRS (4); “BEE”
You should also note that the GS/OS Sys-
tem Tools disk includes an Installer script to
update Aristotle.—DJD
CD-ROM, CD-HAM
I have a question for the technical experts
cout there, even though ! suspect I already know
the answer. In addition to my Apple II's, I also
have a 386SX clone “with all the trimmings,”
which includes an external Sony SCSI CD-ROM
drive. Are there any drivers for the Apple II
series that might be able to talk to the MS-DOS
CD-ROM drive? Obviously, programs won't be
transferable but text data might be. Since it’s a
SCSI device, I presumably have only to obtain a
SCSI cable that’s compatible with my Apple
SCSI card.
On another subject-if Bill Currie (VKSAWC)
wants to know if Chuck Gaifo (WB4JMD) is still
writing programs, it would be relatively easy for
Bill to look Chuck up in the Amateur Radio
Callbook, which lists all licensed Ham Radio
operators. I'd do it for him except | don’t have
a current copy of the book.
Kenneth Mitchell
Citrus Heights, Calif.
CD-ROM, cont.
In answer to your customer's questions
about connecting secondary SCSI CD ROM
drives to the Apple ligs via the Apple ti-Speed
SCSI card, we have found that any Macintosh
ready CD ROM drive will work. A CD ROM driver
is included with the Apple Hi-Speed SCSI card.
The bad news is that it’s a real slow-working
puppy, and the Apple ligs will sometimes get
confused while reading CD disks. A second and
third read attempt is required when accessing
large folders. More bad news is that at present
there are only a few CD disks available for the
Apple I world.
We presently have the Generous Efforts of
Many CD of public domain and demo software,
as well as a Mac/Apple ligs CD from Apple, Inc.
that's 95 per cent Mac. We also have over 25
CD's for the Macintosh.
| couldn’t honestly recommend a CD ROM
drive for the Apple Il. Macintosh owners
shouldn't be without one. Just my two cents.
For the what it’s worth department...the Mac-
intosh is a fine drawing and game computer.
We've spent hours upon hours playing games
on the Macintosh Iici and lisi. The color and
graphics are dazzling, to say the least. However,
when we want to get down to business, and get
something real done, we crank up an Apple Ile.
Jeff Smith, Apple 1 owner
Price Busters
(Apple Compatible Enhancements)
8130 La Mesa Blvd
Suite 402
La Mesa, Calif. 91941
Our Apple CD SC uses a Sony CDU-8001
mechanism; if your “MS-DOS” unit uses the sae
one, it will probably be recognized by the
Apple drivers. However, don’t assume the
drive is “SCSI;" some MS-DOS units use a seri-
alstyle interface,
We've gotten conflicting reports on the com-
patibility of other CD-ROM drives with the ligs:
we're not in a position to go out and buy one
of each available version to test. We've been
specifically informed that popular NEC models
won't work without an ancillary driver (some-
thing other than the driver Apple provides with
its SCSI card) and also that Toshiba drives
don't work with existing drivers. We're still pre-
pared to pass on combinations that readers
tell us do work.
We had occasion to try the RamFast SCSI
interface with an AppleCD SC and it works fine
with a CD-ROM with all ProDOS partitions
(specifically, we could read the Generous
Efforts of Many disk). However, it failed to read
a disk formatted with a non-ProDOS file system
even though the Apple interface would. We've
Jet C.V. Tech know so they can look into it.
Frankly, there isn’t enough ProDOS-specific
CD-ROM software out there to justify the pur-
chase of a CD-ROM drive for most Apple Il
users. Accessing data files from MS-DOS (High
Sierra) disks and Mac CD-ROM volumes (with
System 6.0’s HFS FST) will probably be the
strongest justification for buying a drive for an
Apple Il. The ability to transparently access
these disks (as GS/OS's FST structure was
meant to support) is what can make the invest-
ment worthwhile—DJD
Happy feet
I thoroughly agree with Jay Jennings’ com-
ments in the November issue. I have the typical
Vol. 7, No. 12
Ile set-up with a few added peripherals. I have a
printer with 12 different print wheels for my
more formal work.
1 wouldn’t care if Apple never made another
version of the Il. | am still finding new ways to
use the CPU power built into the ROM of my Ile,
With AppleWorks, Print Shop, Publish it, and a
myriad of other programs, I can do just about
anything that | need in my activities in clubs,
organizational newsletters, financial, and house-
hold records. And there are still several thou-
sand Apple II programs available for me to
explore!
If a program doesn’t quite fit the bill, I can
make alterations to fit my needs, or write a new
program if necessary.
So I say to those who are continually in pur-
suit of an “upgrade*—The fact that something
new with more speed, memory, bits or glitter
appears on the market does not diminish the
utility of my own set-up. I can still do my work
and get my satisfaction—and keep my money in
the bank.
Viva Apple Il!
Herb Lipson
Sun Valley, Calif.
Three cheers for Jay Jennings. | refer to
“Worrying about the Apple Ii (A2-Central
November 1991, pp 7.76-7.77) It is about time
someone told the whiners to shut up and go
away.
Since | sell computers as well as use them, I
see many strange and goofy things. One trend I
am seeing is that many computer owners are
doing a repeat performance. I'll explain. For
many years 1 watched people purchase Apple
lle’s, purchase software for them and then let
the machines languish. It was as though they
expected the computer to magically do some-
thing without any effort on their part.
Many of these same people are now purchas-
ing Macintosh or PC computers and guess
what? They're doing the same thing. Once the
initial whiz bang stage wears off, the machine
spends most of its time sitting and collecting
dust.
1 now own five computers: an Apple llgs (my
favorite), an Apple II Plus, an Apple III (which
my wife uses daily), an IBMPC/XT and a
restored Lisa with hard drive. They each have
their own strong and weak points but rarely
does a day pass without having any two (at
least) of them on at any one time. One advan-
tage of multiple computers is that 1 can do sev-
eral things simultaneously. One computer can
do printing while another is being used for word
processing, etc. Very handy.
With regard to “It’s the Money’...A2-Cen-
tral, November 1991, p. 7.80), [ get the same
Sierra newsletter that Mr. Mitchell refers to. The
editorial by Ken Williams should scare most all
computer owners, not merely the ligs group.
His remarks will scare Tandy owners; Sierra is
discontinuing EGA/Tandy versions of many
games because of sagging sales, they will
depress many PC owners; future titles will be
targeted to 386 based PC’s or color equipped
Macintoshes. Imagine how many millions of
computers aren't going to be able to run the
future crop of games, not to mention the cur-
rent crop.
One point that must be made is that the mar-
ket that will be on the leading edge in the
January 1992
future will be the game market, not the busi-
ness market, as has been the case in the past.
The business customer can live just fine with
an 8088 or 286 PC, a Mac Plus or an Apple Ile.
The serious gamer, on the other hand, needs a
fast 586DX PC if he wants realistic flight simula-
tor performance or wants to experience the full
impact of Ultima VI. The DOS market is doing a
fine job of perpetuating the myth that the busi-
ness market is the leader when in reality it is
falling ever further behind the game market.
We would like your readers to know that we
have not yet joined those Apple dealers who
have abandoned the Apple Il family of comput-
ers. Yes, we sell Macintosh’s, we also sell DOS
hardware. But we feel the Apple II still has life
and function for many users. If anyone is look-
ing for Apple software or hardware, feel free to
refer them to us. Our people have been around
long enough to have owned and loved the
Apple Il. We will do our best to help anyone
out.
Vern Mastel
Team Electronics
1051 East Interstate Avenue
P.O. Box 1512
Bismarck, N.D. 58502-1512
701-223-4546
1 read Jay Jennings article (“Worrying about
the Apple IIA Psychic Energy Drain*, November
1991, pp. 7.76-7.77) and agree with his senti-
ments. What happened to the fun in comput-
ing? | compute purely for the fun of it. An Apple
lle plus 128k isn’t very much but the joy of
exploration is just as much in terms of pleasure
as a high powered machine. So what's all the
fuss about?
| am over 70 years old, my learning curve is
somewhat steeper but my enjoyment is not
lessened by that fact. When I think of all the
thousands of programs that have been created
over the years in your country for the Apple, it
seems incredible that so little interest in the Ile
remains.
Henry Linton (“Whiner-Central”, November
1991, p.7.78 ) got it exactly right in his last sen-
tence, “let's exchange our fun and successes.”
Most of your readers, I would guess, are in it for
the fun; be it games, graphics, or numbers.
Whatever their interest, it is fed by information.
May I therefore ask if you could spare a cou-
ple of columns for the older machines with
information supplied. by readers. themselves.
What about Henry Linton for examplémen like
him obviously have the experience. Henry! Are
you listening?
Harry Markham
Scunthorpe, England
Answering answers
I've got an additional comment about an
answer in the December 1991 issue (Kudos and
kwestions, p 7.84). While the question specifi-
cally asked for info on printing a field in con-
densed type from HyperCard ligs, it would be
worthwhile to point out that if all he wants is to
quickly print an entire field, there’s a THREE
LINE solution just waiting for him:
open printing
print card field 1 -replace "1" with desired fld’s oum-
ber
close printing
It’s a lot simpler to implement, can be done
from memory via the message box, and makes
a great tip when all you're trying to do is print a
big field of text to Smnpily reading it or just to
have a record of what's in it...
Tim Swihart
Cupertino, Calif.
Word from New Zealand
I have a problem with AppleWorks GS. Hav-
ing gotten used to the speed and convenience
of AppleWorks 3.0, I am finding the GS version
slow and frustrating. It does not appear to have
a global search function on the database but
searches only within fields. Worse, it will not
search a field of static text. In spite of all the
pretty graphics, a database which cannot do a
Global search is of little use when you work with
large files. | have read the spots off the manual
and tried every trick I know of but no joy.
Before I consign AWGS to the dustbin, is there
any way it can be persuaded to do a global
search sil to the beautifully easy ‘Open
Apple F’ function of AppleWorks 3.0? .
| have also read your comments about word
processors with interest. Have you ever seen a
word processor known as Fulltext. Pro.80? It is a
locally written word processor which | believe
to be the best ever written for the Apple Il fami-
ly, It is WYSIWYG, very fast, with some graphic
capabilities (eg inserts and borders), beautifully
easy formatting and bulleting features, a dictio-
nary and just about any other feature you could
wish for in a basic word processor. My work
requires me to be familiar with a large range of
word ‘processors for Apples, IBM's, Com-
modores, BBC's, etc and Fulltext.Pro.80 out-
classes them all for ease of use and power. The
price is also ridiculously cheap. Its only weak-
nesses are no thesaurus and no additional fonts
other than extended and jumbo. It has become
the standard Apple II and Apple IIgs word pro-
cessor for New Zealand. No | don’t have any
shares in the company or any pecuniary axe to
grind. You can get one from Spacific Software,
Box 8035, Dunedin, New Zealand.
It is so convenient to use that in spite of hav-
ing access to AppleWorksGS and AppleWorks
3.0 with TimeOut applications, | still find it easi-
er to type everything into Fulltext, do an unfor-
matted save, and then import it into TimeOut
Superfonts for final printing when 1 want some-
thing better than draft quality.
CA. Wright
Christchurch, N.Z.
All_ we can come up with is to copy the
database file to the word processer, then use
the find command to do the search. Does any-
one else out there have any tricks for solving
this problem?
We haven't seen Fulltext.Pro.80 here in
the United States. I wrote to the company
shortly after receiving your letter but haven’t
received a reply as yet. | would think that
many users would be interested in giving it a
try.—edr
Driving Miss Daisy
I have an Apple Ile with an Apple 3.5 floppy
disk drive interface card and an Apple 3.5 Uni-
disk drive with an additional 19 pin socket on
the back. Can the AMR drive be daisy-chained
to the Apple drive or must I have the Laser 3.5
controller?
JW. Faulkner
Hornsby, N.S.W.
Okay, here’s the rap...
Apple's UniDisk 5.5 controller for the tle
A2-Central 7.95
won't work with anything but the UniDisk 3.5,
The same controller is built-into the Ic.
On the other hand, the current versions of
the Laser Universal Disk Controller won't
work with the UniDisk 3.5. (This has been true
for a few years.)
Therefore, you have a no-win scenario. Both
drives won't work on the same controller, so
they can’t be daisy-chained on a Ile. You're in
a better situation than a IIc owner, however,
because if you have a free slot you can use
two controllers. Ilc owners can't use any 3.5
except the UniDisk. (The lic Plus and ligs inter-
nal disk ports can mix UniDisk 3.5 and Apple
3.5 types of drives.) —DJD
(Word)perfect processing
We currently use Wordperfect for the Apple
Ilgs but as we upgrade to the current operating
system on our hard drive, Wordperfect seems
to develop problems in pull-down menus, key-
board input, and cut and paste functions.
Wordperfect doesn’t seem interested in upgrad-
ing to GS/OS compatibility. Can you recom-
mend a word processor that has comparable
features and supports the latest GS/OS?
W.A. MacDonald
Bakersfield, Calif.
We aren't aware of such a creature. It would
be nice if WordPerfect would add the
enhancements, or Claris would enhance Apple-
Works GS (especially since there hasn't been a
revision since 5.0.x was released) to add some
of the desired features.—DJD
Taming a turbo mouse
1 am hoping that somebody may be able to
inform me of a modification to make my Kens-
ington Turbo Mouse Plus work with my Apple
lic. | have been unable to get answers from
either the manufacturer or the mail order com-
pany it was purchased from.
As supplied, the cursor drifts right and down
until it drops out of the bottom right-hand cor-
ner of the screen, with no control being exer-
cied by the trackball. | have wondered if all that
is needed is to modify the connecting cable to
make the device suitable for a lic but | suppose
that such a simple solution would be wishful
thinking.
If there is a solution that is economically fea-
sible, | would be grateful to know if it. If |
understand correctly, the device cannot even
be used on my Apple Iigs because of the con-
nector.
Peter Schaper
Katherine, NT
We opened a Kensington trackball we hap-
pened to have here and there are no adjust-
ments to do what you ask. If someone out
there has a suggestion, we'd be happy to hear
it—DJD
Frankly fonts
Is there a full “ImageWriter II font set” avail-
able? | would like to be able to use these fonts
in different sizes and styles.
Tom Galway
Madison, Wis.
Are you saying that you use ligs-style pro-
grams ‘and want a font in various sizes and
Styles that looks like the ImageWriter II font
set? Or do you use standard character-based
software but would like to use italics and big-
ger letters?
7.96 A2-Central
The ImageWriter (I or Il) has no self-con-
tained fonts except the character-based fonts
included in the printer. These can be printed in
bold and in a variety of widths from 5 to 17
characters per inch. The ImageWriter can also
accept downloaded fonts of the same height as
those built into the printer (a program that pro-
vides this support is Beagle Bros’s Power
Print)
).
Be aware that these “downloaded” fonts are
extremely limited, which is probably why most
users have opted to use programs like Time-
Out SuperFonts, Publish-Itl, or the IIgs Print
Manager, all of which use the graphics mode of
the printer to generate widely varying font
styles, We do have a collection of llgs fonts
which will work with these programs, but they
aren't “ImageWriter fonts” per se.—DJD
Developing aspirations
I am a high school science teacher who has
been writing programs which I think may be
useful to other teachers, and some of those
other teachers who have seen the programs
even agree with me. So, | intend to sell them,
an in order to keep them inexpensive and more
in tune with the putit-all-together-in-the-garage-
Old Apple (not the IBM-clone New Apple Co.), 1
will be distributing them myself.
Here’s where you come in: I was wondering if
you could recommend a good supplier of any or
all of the following items: disks (both 5.25 and
3.5); labels for disks; plastic (or other) bags to
put the disks and documentation in; and mail-
ing envelopes suitable for mailing disks. Also.
A2-Central’
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need a program to print disk labels, and per-
haps you can recommend one of those, too.
And any other advice you have for someone
making a small start in the software business
would be gratefully received.
‘Apple Il forever department: My school
recently bought a laser disc player a Mac to con-
trol it, and a chemistry disc which didn’t have
any software with it. I will be working on writing
something for the Mac once the laser disc toolk-
it for the Mac comes from APDA, but in the
meantime [ demonstrated to the other teachers
how HyperStudio can run the laser disc without
all the extra fuss. Meanwhile, on my own Apple
IIgs, on one Prosel screen | have both the first
long Applesoft program I wrote 10 years ago for
my II-Plus (it averages my grades), and the most
upto-date- medium in HyperStudio, both acces-
sible with a touch of a button on the same
machine; the Apple Ilgs is a really great bridge
machine as the computer evolves. Thanks for
your continuing support of the Apple Il.
Martin F, Schmidt, Jr
Finksburg, MD
We order supplies a few thousand at a time,
so we may not have a decent answer for you.
Here’re the addresses of a few companies you
might want to contact:
Viking Products, 11777 Central Pway, P.O.
Box 19085, Jacksonville, Fla. 32245-9085,
800-421-1222
Chiswick Trading Company, 35 Union
Avenue, Sudbury, Ma, 01776-2246, 800-225-
8708
Moore Business Products, P.O. Box 5000,
Vernon Hills, Ill. 60061, 800-325-6230.
‘Another good source for information is
microcomputer pioneer Don Lancaster's Ask
the Guru books. Don tends to be primarily a
PostScript hound these days, but his emphasis
is self-publishing and the Guru volumes con-
tain many tips on packaging, presentation, etc.
His The Incredible Secret Money Machine is
indispensible for the entrepreneur. You can
reach Don through his company, Synergetics
(P.O. Box 809, Thatcher, AZ 85552, 602-428-
4075) or through the PostScript RT on GEnie
(keyword PSRT).
It turns out that running the “commercial*
laserdisc players (those like the Pioneer VP-
2200 or VP-4200 with a serial interface) from
HyperCard ligs is also pretty easy using the slot
access XCMDs. Here’s an example:
on returinField
‘put slotOpen(2) into slotzD
slotiizite slotID, me & return
pot “Waiting...” into bg field “returnCode”
at slotRead(slotID, 10, 13) into bg field “returnCode”
slotClose slotID
tabley
end returnlaPield
This is obviously bare-bones and leaves the
work of implementing a complete control inter-
face to you. HyperCard ligs v.1.1 (due within a
few months) will include a new Media Control
Stack that will have “cut and paste” buttons
and scripts available for adding (as well as
other things) video control to your stacks.
HyperStudio, of course, incorporates an
integral “control window” that pops up when
you select “Add a video...” for a button.
Vol. 7, No. 12
In search of...
I am in search of aid regarding a product
called Softweigh that was manufactured and
sold by Microsystems Research Corporation of
Cranbury, N.J. Softweigh is a card for the Apple
Il that allows a Mettler balance to be interfaced
to the computer.
The company has gone out of business and |
am left without support for the 4 cards that I
have. Does anyone out there have knowledge of
this product and could repair it? Or would any-
one be willing to sell theirs?
. J. Joel Sieh
Cortland, Minn.
Bug bytes
Has anyone come up with a fix for a bug
which appears to exist in AppleWorks 3,0 where
use of tab’s along with full justification some-
times plays havoc with the formatting? At best,
the first line is displaced a couple of spaces to
the right, at worst, parts of the line are moved
to the next line and the like.
A colleague who operates a Ile has a prob-
Jem switching from 40- to 80-column operation
while in Applesoft. Once 80-column mode is
activated, DOS commands of the form PRINT
CHR$ (4) “xxx” have no effect and DOS can
only be reconnected by resetting the machine.
I'm sure there is a simple fix, but I cannot find
it in any of the manuals we have available.
David Steele
Thurso, Caithness
Scotland
It’s not quite clear to us how you mix tabs
with full justification, other than perhaps to
indent ai the beginning of a paragraph. If
you're making a table with tabs, you should
have a return at the end of each line, which,
from a formatting standpoint, creates left-justi-
fication rather than full justification.
Therefore, one possiblity might be to tun
full justification off right before your table and
tum it back on afterwards.
If that doesn’t solve your problem, your next
step should be to procure and apply Beagle
Bros’s AppleWorks Patcher v1.61. It’s avail-
able from Beagle Buddies and also from many
freeware sources. After that, about all you can
do is document the bug and report it to Claris
in the hope it can be fixed in a future revision.
(If someone out there knows a patch, let us
know.)
If you are activating the’ 80-column_card
from within an Applesoft program where you
have booted from a disk, you must issue the
command as a disk command, along the lines
of:
‘10 PRINT CHRS (4) ;"PRE3": REM you need that control-D
Otherwise, you'll cut the disk operating sys-
tem out of the chain of command and disk
commands won't work. (Normal Applesoft
manuals may not tell you this, but ones involv-
ing disk commands like BASIC
with ProDOS or ProDOS Inside and Out
do.)—DJD