Text content (OCR)
A2-Central’
A journal and exchange of Apple II discoveries
formerly
Open-Apple
2
June 1992
Vol.8, No.5
ISSN 0885-4017
newstand price: $3.00
photocopy charge per page: $0.20
.
Smooth print tools
by Dennis Doms
Pointless: large, but not chunky, fonts.
The easiest way to demonstrate what Westcode’s new Apple IIgs
program Pointless does is to show you:
woe A The first line is Helvetica 48 without
This is Helvetica 48 Pointless (the largest size of Helvetica
in the “System:Fonts” folder was 14).
Thi H } | H 48 The next line is Helvetica 48 generated
IS iS e vetica from the TrueType font definition that
with Pointless comes with Pointless.
Pointless installs as a GS/OS
Control Panel Device (CDev) and
figure 1 enhances the llgs Font Manager to rec-
ognize and use fonts designed with Apple’s scalable TrueType font
technology. Unlike bitmapped fonts that the IIgs has been stuck with
previously (see “Fonts: on screen and in print’, February 1989) that
only look correct at a specific designed size, TrueType fonts are
defined by mathematical curves and a governing set of “hints” that
indicate how the font should be drawn at various sizes. Although a
TrueType font file is larger than the smaller bitmapped (say, 10- and
12-point) sizes; one file adequately describes the font to allow any
size without losing quality,
In basic use, you use the Installer on the Pointless disk to add
Pointless and its included TrueType fonts (Geneva, Monaco, Chicago,
Courier, New.York, and Symbol) onto your GS/OS startup disk (you'll
need a little over 400K of space on your disk to do this). When you
reboot you'll have access to Pointless through the ligs Control Panel
NDA; pull down the Apple menu to select the NDA, then scroll to the
Pointless CDev icon in the NDA window and open it. The Pointless
CDev displays a list of currently installed fonts and has four buttons to
allow you to customize your configuration.
“Add” allows you to select the other TrueType fonts you have
available for Pointless to use; just click the “Add” button and select
the font from the “standard file” dialog presented. The fonts need to
be in a constant location (if you move them, you lose them until you
“Add” them again from their new location) but they don’t have to be
in the “System:Fonts” folder of the startup disk. Pointless therefore
gives you a way to have fonts available that are not located on your
boot disk; given the size of many TrueType fonts and the spare real
estate on the boot disk for users without hard disks, this is a great
feature.
“Remove” lets you delete a font from the installed list (but not
from disk; you can reinstall it again if you like.
“Configure” allows you to determine which characters of a select-
ed font will be generated by Pointless. When initially installed, Point-
Jess does not have the “high ASCII” characters (those with the high bit
set, giving byte values of $80-$FF or 128-255 decimal) enabled; this
cuts down tremendously (by about 50 percent) on the amount of
memory required to store the font while it is being used. But if you
require some of the special characters like “§” then you can use
“Configure” to display the character set and select the other charac-
ters you want to use. (Since | had plenty of memory, | enabled all the
displayable characters.)
“Save bitmap” allows you to select a font and save a bitmap ver-
sion in IIgs font file format, making Pointless serve as a font creation
utility for making fonts in specific sizes. There are basically three rea-
sons you may want to do this:
First, when Pointless has to scale a font to a new point size it takes
a few seconds to create the scaled version. If the bitmapped version
for that size is available in the IIgs “System:Fonts” folder that font will
be used instead, making access to it much quicker (all that has to be
done is to load the font into memory). So you may want to construct
bitmaps for your commonly used fonts and sizes.
Second, the bitmapped fonts are standard IIgs fonts that can be
used with programs that can’t use Pointless itself. This includes Pro-
DOS 8 programs, such as Publish-It! and TimeOut SuperFonts.
Third, it allows you to create bitmapped sizes for use with the Ilgs
LaserWriter driver, which doesn’t support Pointless as supplied. If font
substitution in the “Print?” options is not selected and the LaserWriter
driver finds a font that doesn’t exist in the printer it will fall back to
using a bitmapped version of the font. Pointless can be used to insure
larger bitmapped sizes of non-LaserWriter fonts are available in your
“System:Fonts” folder so that the bitmapped version downloaded to
the LaserWriter will be as accurate as possible.
You need to complete any of these configurations before you enter
“THEY'RE REALLY APPLE Ilgs COMPUTERS.
WEVE JUST DISGUISED THEM AS MACS
TO KEEP THE CRITICS SATISFIED.
8.26 A2-Central
the program in which you intend to use the changes. Pointless saves
the settings, but they aren’t recognized by the system until the next
application is started (when the Font Manager is started up).
When you enter an application, the names for Pointless’ True-
Type fonts will appear in your “Fonts” menu. You won't see Point-
Jess working unless you try to display or use a font that the system
can’t find in your “System:Fonts” folder. If the font isn’t found, Point-
Tess will look through its list of installed fonts and see if it has a True-
Type file for the requested font. If so, Pointless loads it and presents a
clocklike cursor to indicate progress as it scales it to the appropriate
size (this usually only takes a few seconds). Once scaled, you use the
new font just as you would normally. (If you open a document that
uses fonts that Pointless must generate you will see a little delay as
Pointless creates each font.)
The other indication that you're dealing with a Pointless font is in
the “Choose font?” dialog; if the font is a TrueType font, you'll see a
range of point sizes in single-point increments since Pointless can
scale the font to any size.
If requested by the Print Manager, Pointless will also generate the
correct point size for printed output. For example, since screen fonts
are defined at 72 dots per inch (dpi) and the ImageWriter prints at a
resolution of 144 (dpi) the printer driver will work better if it can find
fonts that are twice the size of the “display” font. When asked, Point-
less will generate these fonts to give the printer driver the best possi-
ble rendition of the font it needs for the printer output. The results
with even the standard ImageWriter driver are magnificent; with the
combination of a high-resolution printer and driver (we tried a
DeskJet with the Independence and Harmonie drivers, and a Citizen
GSX 145 27-pin printer with Harmonie’s Epson LQ driver) they are
spectacular. (As mentioned, the current LaserWriter driver can’t take
advantage of Pointless directly; we hope someone will find a solution
for this.)
Of course, part of the trade-off for higher resolution is time.
Pointless usually only takes a few seconds itself to generate the prop-
erly sized font, but high-resolution printers require much more infor-
mation to be sent to them (it increases proportionately to the square
of the resolution) and therefore printing sharper documents will take
longer. But with Pointless you won't be wasting time printing high-res-
olution images of oversized low-resolution fonts.
Another trade-off is memory. Larger fonts require more memory
to store while in use. Many large fonts may require a lot more memo-
ry. Pointless will run on a 1.25 megabyte ligs, but your choice of fonts
may be squeezed by memory constraints. The answer (one that is rel-
ativel inexpensive now) is to add more memory. Also, if you are using
System 5.0.4, you are limited to a maximum font size (in terms of
memory used) of 64K; if you try to scale a font to a size larger than
this (and don’t ask us where the break occurs; it changes with each
font) you'll have problems. The solution is System 6.0, where this
limit has been removed.
Finally some applications have a limit on the size of font you
can use. The largest size AppleWorks GS will support is 48 points;
some applications will allow larger sizes. The Pointless manual has a
table showing the limits for several popular applications.
The Pointless manual also describes how to convert TrueType
fonts from Macintosh disks. With GS/OS 6.0, you can copy True-
Type fonts over directly from a Macintosh disk if you have the HFS
FST installed; Pointless will recognize and install them. You may be
able to find user supported (freeware/shareware/public domain) fonts
available for downloading; if the fonts are in a Stuffit 1.5.1 archive
(not Stuffit Deluxe, Compactor, or another Mac archiver) you can use
the ligs version of Shrinkit to extract the font for installation. (Unfortu-
nately, there’s no easy way to visually tell a Stuffit 1.5.1 archive from
a Stufflt Deluxe archive; both are indicated by a *.SIT” suffix on Mac
BBS systems. Sometimes the file description will tell what archiver
was used. Other archives do use different suffixes.)
Pointless ($79.95 from Westcode Software, Inc., Suite 112, San
Vol. 8, No. 5
Diego, Calif. 92128, 619-679-9200 voice or 619-451-0276 fax) is an
inexpensive way to graphically improve the way your text looks on
screen and in print. We think it’s an essential utility for Apple IIgs
owners.
Express: make your computer spend
more time with you than with your printer.
Most computer users are familiar with the concept of a printer
buffer; it’s memory dedicated to holding information sent to the print-
er until the printer is ready for it.
Since memory is sometimes a limited resource, a function similar
to a buffer can be performed by a spooler, where output from a pro-
gram is “printed” (“spooled”) into a file (rather than memory) for stor-
age until the printer is ready to accept it. Another companion routine
then searches your disk periodically for spooled files that need to be
printed and feeds them to the printer.
Either function doesn’t make a printer print any faster from a
mechanical standpoint; what they do is create a “holding tank” for
output waiting on the printer to catch up. You are returned to your
program so you can do more work while the buffer feeds the remain-
ing output to the printer. The difference is not in how fast your docu-
ments actually print — since each method actually adds more manip-
ulation to the output and actually slows down printing slightly — but
in how quickly your program is freed of monitoring the print opera-
tion. When you print with a buffer or spooler, your computer is
returned to you while your printer continues to labor on.
When printing from an Apple IIgs desktop application, your pro-
gram may be tied up for several minutes while sending information to
the printer. Seven Hill’s Express CDev is intended to return you to
work more quickly by allowing you to spool desktop printing to disk
files that Express will send on to the printer later. Express can steal
chunks of the Ilgs’s time to send the files on to the printer while you
continue working, or you can elect to hold all the files on disk and
print them out in a group later.
The Express disk includes an Installer to add it to your cur-
rent system disk. Given the possible size of the spooled files on
disk, the program requires a hard disk drive for safe operation.
Express works with any direct connect printer accessed by the Ilgs
Print Manager. This includes printers driven by Apple’s drivers or third-
party drivers like Independence or Harmonie, but it doesn’t include
AppleTalk printers like the LaserWriter or AppleTalk ImageWriter. Any-
time you print via the Print Manager when Express is enabled, the out-
put is spooled to disk instead of sent immediately to the printer.
Express doesn’t require any special changes in your printer config-
uration; its duties are set up through a separate Control Panel device.
A set of options lets you choose how the spooled files are handled
(whether they should be deleted after printing, kept after printing, or
simply held and not printed until you decide what to do) and whether
Express itself is inactive (when inactive, the “Print?” menu item goes
back to working as if Express weren't installed). A window at the bot-
tom of the Express Control Panel displays a list of spooled files cur-
rently in the queue to be printed. Below the window is a one-line sta-
tus message letting you know what action is currently being per-
formed with regard to printing, Above the window is a pop-up menu
that allows selecting the current print mode: “Auto” continuously
searches through the print queue, printing the next available spooled
file. “Next” will print the next available file, but then stops and waits
for the next command (useful if you want to manually print one file at
a time). “Off” stops the printing of spooled files but doesn’t affect the
files on disk; if you turn printing back on printing will resume with the
file currently being printed (the manual warns you to reset and form
feed the printer for a new start on a fresh page).
While spooling is suspended, you can select a document by double
dune 1992
-clicking its name. This brings up an information dialog that allows
you to change the status of the document. This includes deleting the
document completely to avoid sending it to the printer.
The most severe limitation of Express is a limitation of the
hybrid nature of the Apple IIgs. Not all application programs use
the ligs Print Manager tools. When the Print Manager is inactive,
Express can’t spool the file to disk or send spooled files to the printer.
This most commonly happens when you're not using a desktop appli-
cation; this would include text programming environments, even if
they run under GS/OS, and all 8-bit applications, It also happens
under the Finder; with System 5.0.4, printing will stop when you're in
the Finder. The System 6 Finder provides a way for Express tov start
the Print Manager and continue to work.
When you exit GS/OS you will shut down Express. Other than
crashes or other unscheduled detours, this will most often occur
when you leave GS/OS to run a ProDOS 8 application. When this hap-
pens, Express won't lose the spooled files on disk, but will have to
stop sending information to the printer. If Express is in the middle of
sending a file to the printer, the printer will probably be left in some
unpredictable state of affairs. The only reasonable workarounds are to
reset the printer and form feed to the next page before printing from
your ProDOS 8 application or returning to GS/OS. When you return to
GS/OS, Express (if enabled in “Auto” mode) will go back and print the
interrupted file from the beginning (this is the only reliable way to
make sure the file is printed intact).
If you know you will be bouncing into ProDOS 8 (or printing
from an application that doesn’t use the Print Manager) before
Express will have time to finish printing, you'll be better off entering
Express’ Control Panel to disable printing of remaining documents.
Then after the current file has completed printing, you can exit GS/OS
to do other things. When you return to GS/OS for a while, re-enable
printing of the spooled files.
Even with Express, you may become impatient at the printing of
larger files to a high-resolution printer (such as the DeskJet 500 or 24-
or 27-pin printers); it will still be time consuming. But you will get con-
trol back quicker with Express than you will by waiting for the pro-
gram to drive the printer directly. And with Express you have the
option of waiting until the end of a work session to print all files while
you steal some time away from the computer to work (or play, or
sleep) elsewhere.
Express is $39.95 from Seven Hills Software, 2310 Oxford Road
Tallahassee, Fla. 32304, 904-575-0566.
Mixing expressions with words.
Many Apple II users working in the sciences have been looking for
some way to handle symbolic expressions from within an Apple II
word processor. It’s difficult because complex mathematical expres-
sions don’t follow the normal “typewriter” paradigm of uniform lines
of text. Math tends to require more complicated typesetting.
We haven't seen an Apple II word processor that will let you enter
such expressions within a line of text. To tell you the truth, we
haven't seen them for the Mac, either; it’s possible to typeset such an
expression within a desktop publishing program, but it would require
some sophisticated manipulation of the component symbols. The eas-
iest way to handle it would be to allow embedding the expression into
the text as a graphic, but that leaves the problem of constructing the
expression,
Seven HIll's Formulate creates the environment to make con-
structing the expression easier; it is essentially a typesetting sys-
tem specifically designed for the creation of mathematical expres-
sions. Like Pointless, the results are easier to show than to
describe. (see figure 2)
The pictured expression is from a Formulate sample named
“Minkowski”. Although they aren't visible, various elements of the
expression are contained in families of “boxes” similar to text and
graphics frames used in desktop publishing, except that the relation-
A2-Central 8.27
S file Edit Wintw 3/0 mW Ext Fh WAN abe
SSS iho ———— |
figure 2
ship of the “frames” is tightly controlled. The contents of the frames
can be selected from the various menus topped with graphical sym-
bols. There are menus for symbols (summation, integration, and so
on; Greek symbols, and others), Frame structures are selected from
the menus topped by the boxlike figures (look almost straight up from
the highlighted “k=1" and you'll see the frame menu). For example,
the symbol for a superscripted item is a large box with a small box to
its upper right. There are several combinations presented in the
menus for various common arrangements; the items are presented
symbolically, so they‘re hard to describe.
The highlighted “k=1” hints at the way expressions are built.
The “k", “=", and “I” are actually separate elements in three “frames”
Grouped linearly. “k” and “1” are alphanumerical characters which are
entered from the keyboard linked by the “=” sign which is selected
from one of the “symbol” menus (since the “=" sign is in a “symbol”
frame it could be something more exotic, like a “less than or equal
to” symbol), You can select one of the frames to edit by clicking
directly on top of it, or the equation by clicking between two of the
symbols to indicate you want the “confining” frame for all three
selected.
You can only edit the individual items, not something like the
selected expression. But you can “cut and paste” the selection else-
where, including into another document via the clipboard (as a graph-
ic). You can select larger portions of the expression by clicking in a
area that doesn’t belong to any of the individual elements, but within
the area that bounds all of the elements. For example, clicking where
the mouse pointer is located in the screen shot would select all the
elements under the radical (that is, it would select the summation
expression). You can select a portion of the expression and insert or
append new items to edit the entire expression.
Once the expression is created, it can be printed from Formulate
itself, “copied” or “cut” to the clipboard, or exported to a graphic file
(as an object-composed “QuickDraw PICT file’, or as a complete
graphic in Apple Preferred or Unpacked Screen File formats). The
expression can be “pasted” from the clipboard or imported from the
file as a graphic image. For example, you can paste the expression
into an AppleWorks GS page layout “graphic” frame.
The Formulate package comes with the program itself, several sam-
ple files, a demo version of Formulate, and several sizes of the Times
and Symbol fonts used in constructing the formulas (if you have
Pointless, it can scale additional sizes of the Times and Symbol fonts
for you).
Embedding expressions as graphics is probably not as fluid a solu-
tion as mathemeticians would prefer. It requires creating documents
with both text and graphic frames and if the text is revised, the graph-
ics may have to be repositioned (one possible alternative solution is
available in MacWrite, and some other programs that treat a graphic
as if it were a single character so that it can “flow” with the text). Still,
this is a solution to a complex problem — Formulate makes the type-
setting of the expressions themselves much more systematic than a
raw desktop publishing package can.
Formulate is $49.95 from Seven Hills Software.
8.28 A2-Central
Marketing Educational Software
by Phil Shapiro
The first part, creating excellent educational software, is the easy
part. Marketing it to schools and homes is the real challenge. In the
past year I've discovered some helpful marketing techniques for edu-
cational software, and | thought it might be useful to pass this experi-
ence on to others.
The first step in marketing any type of software is to get it
reviewed and evaluated. This means sending out several dozen free
evaluation copies to large school districts, magazines, educational
software evaluation organizations, and user groups.
Therese Pavone,
Program Manager
Resource Evaluation -
Curriculum Branch
Alberta Education
11160 Jasper Ave.
Edmonton, Alberta, TSK OL2
Canada
(403) 422-4872
Chris Castillo
Arizona Dept. of Education
Computer Education Services
1900 W. Thomas
Phoenix, AZ 85015
(602) 255-5061
Gary Bitter, Program Coordinator
Technology-Based
Learning\ Research Lab
PAYNE, Room 148
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ 85287-0111
(602) 965-7192
Cecil McDermott, Director
Project IMPAC.
Arkansas Dept. of Education
#4 Capitol Mall
Little Rock, AR 72201
(501) 371-1401
William Rust
Office of Computer Education
Baltimore County Public Schools
825 Providence Rd.
Towson, MD 21204
(301) 887-3858
Doug Green
Computer Services Dept.
Binghampton Public Schools
98 Oaks St.
Binghampton, NY 13905
(607) 773-4744
Booklist
American Library Assn.
50 E. Huron St.
Chicago, IL 60611
Tim Winkelmans
Classroom Resources Branch
78 Viewfield Rd.
Victoria, B.C. V9A 4V1
Canada
(604) 356-2681
California Technology Project
Box 3842
Seal Beach, CA 90740-7842
(213) 598-7661
Constance J. Lind,
Dept. of Instructional Technology
1091 King Ave.
Columbus, OH 43212
(614) 365-5100
Chauncy Rucker
Special Education Tech Lab
‘School of Education
University of Connecticut
Box U-64
Storrs, CT 06269-2064
(203) 486-0172
ISTE
University of Oregon
1787 Agate St.
Eugene, OR 97403
(503) 346-4414
Marvin Koontz, Coordinator
Chapel Square Media Center
4414 Holborn Ave.
Annandale, VA 22003
(703) 978-0075,
Florida Center for
Instructional Computing
University of South Florida
College of Education, 123 H
Tampa, FL 33620
(813) 974-3470
Jorge Ortega, Administrator
Instructional Tech Services
Florida Dept. of Education, B 24-E
Collins Bldg.
107 W. Gaines
Tallahassee, FL 32399
(904) 922-5776
Vol. 8, No. 5
One place to start is with the organizations that recommend
software for the annual educational software guidebook Only
the Best, published by R.R. Bowker. The school districts and orga-
nizations that recommend software for Only the Best have set proce-
dures for evaluating new educational software. After receiving a new
disk, they have four or five different professionals take a close look at
the disk. These professional evaluators then compare notes and
decide whether the software meets their standards. If the software is
really top notch, the disk will be recommended for the guidebook.
But it takes three positive recommendations and no negative evalua-
tions for the software to be actually listed in the guidebook.
The list of addresses where you can send Apple Il educational
software for formal evaluation by R.R. Bowker appears below.
Warren Buckleitner
High/Scope Educational
Research Foundation
600 N. River St.
Ypsilanti, MI 48198
(313) 485-2000
Home Office Computing
Scholastic, Inc.
730 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
Paul Statt
A+/inCider
80 Elm St.
Peterborough, NH 03458
(603) 924-0100
Jean Donham van Deusen
Iowa City School District
509 S. Dubuque St.
Towa City, IA 52240
(319) 339-6800
Jan Bybee
Computer Science Dept.
Jefferson County Public Schools
1829 Denver West Dr., Bldg. 27
Golden, CO 80401
(303) 273-6940
Linda Kostner, Director
The Learning Exchange
3132 Pennsylvania St.
Kansas City, MO 64111
(816) 751-4100
Sandra Weiss
Textbook and Software Services
Angeles Unified School District
1320 W. Third St., Room 180
Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 625-6994
Michele Sokoloff
Media & Methods
1429 Walnut St.
Philadelphia, PA 19102
(215) 563-3501
Harold McDermot
Minnesota Dept. of Education
682 Capitol Square Bldg,
St. Paul, MN 55101
(612) 297-2534
Division of Media Evaluation
North Carolina
Dept. of Education
2905 Reedy Creek Rd.
Raleigh, NC 27603
(919) 733-3929
Linda J. Lewis
Office of Instructional Technology
Bonnie Johns Center
Prince George’s County
Public Schools
8437 Landover Rd.
Landover, MD 20785
(301) 386-1549
Ken Wasch, Executive Director
Software Publishers Association
1730 M St., Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 452-1600
Holly Brady, Editor-in-Chief
Technology & Learning
(formerly Classroom Computer
Learning)
2169 Francisco Blvd. East,
Suite A4
San Rafael, CA 94901
(415) 456-4333
dune 1992
Here are a few comments about getting your software evaluated by
these organizations/magazines:
From the time your software is received, it usually takes a
minimum of two to three months before an evaluation is com-
plete. With magazines, you also have to factor in the lead time,
which tends to be about three to four months. If your software is cho-
sen for review (if it’s not deemed worthy, it won’t be reviewed), you
can expect a review to appear about six months to a year after the
software was first released.
You may want to call first before sending your software out for
evaluation. But once the software has been sent out, there’s very lit-
tle else you can do. Please note that editors and organizations do not
take well to attempts to persuade them over the phone about the
merits of your software. The merits of your software should stand out
on their own (which is how it should be).
If you don’t hear anything back after four months or so, a
courteous follow-up call is appropriate. When you send out your
software for evaluation, you may want to include a stamped, self-
addressed envelope, along with a polite request to send copies of any
evaluations/reviews. Receiving a copy of such evaluations/reviews,
regardless of their content, is a welcome indicator that the evaluation
system is working smoothly.
On a positive note, 76 per cent of the educational software disks
listed in last year’s Only the Best guidebook were made for the Apple
Il. (A meager 15 per cent of the listing were for the Macintosh). It’s
helpful to know, too, that there are about 3 million Apple II's current-
ly in use in our nation’s schools. (This figure excludes Apple II com-
patibles and Mac LC’s with Ile cards.)
User Groups
Apple's User Group Connection lists over 1000 Apple user groups
in the United States and Canada. (For some shortsighted reason they
don’t keep track of overseas Apple user groups.) Quite a few of these
are joint Apple II/Mac groups. Some are Apple II only; some are Mac
only.
To reach the more active user groups, you might want to download
a file on GEnie titled: “A2.Editor.BXY,” This file lists the names and
addresses of the Apple II editors at several major Apple user groups.
Getting free evaluation copies of your software to these editors could
help get your software reviewed in user group newsletters. Since user
groups swap newsletters with one another, a review in one newsletter
could be seen by people in other groups, too.
The advantage of getting your software reviewed in user group
newsletters is that their lead time is usually much shorter than the
lead time of the more formal magazines. It pays to stay in close touch
with the editors of the newsletters, though, to make sure your soft-
ware does not get shuffled back to a reviewer's back burner.
Lesser known publications that review educational software
Rainbo Electronic Reviews
This organization publishes book and software reviews on Com-
puServe and GEnie. They claim to reach about a million people, but
not everyone on these information services reads the reviews on a
regular basis. Their short reviews tend be written in a honest, infor-
mal style that sounds much like a friend giving an honest appraisal of
a new program. Contact: Maggie Ramirez, Senior Reviewer, Rainbo
Electronic Reviews, 8 Duran Ct., Pacifica, CA 94044. Phone: (415)
993-6029.
Library Talk & The Book Report
These magazines are relatively new on the scene: the former about
five years old, the latter about ten years old,
Library Talk is for elementary school librarians; The Book Report is
targeted at junior and senior high librarians. Library Talk endeared
itself immediately to me when it published a letter to the editor con-
taining an AppleWorks tip. Contact: Carolyn Hamilton, Editor, 480
East Wilson Bridge Rd., Suite L, Worthington, OH 43085-2372. Phone:
(612) 436-7107.
A2-Central 8.29
Arithmetic Teacher & Mathematics Teacher
If your software involves math or problem solving skills, you may
want to send evaluation copies to either of these magazines, which
are published by the National Council of Math Teachers, The former
is for elementary and middle school teachers, The latter is for high
school teachers. Reviews tend to be quite short in length. NCTM,
1906 Association Dr., Reston, VA 22091. Phone: (703) 620-9840.
Apple Library User Group Newsletter
This publication is produced by the Apple Library User Group
(ALUG), a club coordinated by Apple’s corporate library. Most of the
articles and reviews have a slant of interest to librarians or media spe-
cialists. But surprisingly, about 30 per cent of the 17,000 members of
ALUG lists themselves as educators. If your software has appeal to
school media specialists, the ALUG Newsletter would be a suitable
venue for a review. Contact: Monica Ertel, Editor, ALUG Newsletter,
10381 Bandley Drive, M/S 8C, Cupertino, CA 95014. (408) 974-
2552.
Softdisk and Softdisk GS
Softdisk is the popular monthly disk publication for the Apple II.
Each month they put together a smorgasbord of different small pro-
grams for people to use. They also write brief reviews of new Apple II
software of merit. Contact: Lee Golden, Editor, Softdisk Publishing,
P.O. Box 30008, Shreveport, LA 71130-0008. Phone: (318) 221-
2173.
If Softdisk chooses to review your software, your company name
and address will appear each month in the Industry Connection file
on Softdisk GS.
Enhance
Many Apple II users are familiar with this free newsletter distribut-
ed by Quality Computers. Current circulation is about 130,000. Con-
tact: Carl Sperber, Editor, P.O. Box 665, St. Clair Shores, MI 48080.
Phone: 1-800-443-6697.
A2-Central
If your Apple II software is innovative or otherwise newsy, send a
copy to A2-Central at P.O. Box 11250, Overland Park, KS 66207.
Phone: (913) 469-6502.
Marketing educational software is most certainly an uphill
struggle. But if you've created an exceptional program that helps
children learn and are seriously interested in marketing this software,
you'd be well advised to focus your initial marketing efforts on getting
the software reviewed.
With a handful of favorable reviews in hand, your software may
catch the interest of one or more school districts. Be forewarned,
though, that praiseworthy reviews are just the first step in marketing
educational software. Favorable reviews are a necessary, though not
sufficient, condition for marketing success.
References:
Only the Best: Annual Guide to Highest-Rated Educational Soft-
ware/Multimedia for Preschool to Grade 12, Neill, George W., and
Neill, Shirley Boes, editors. Available for $29.95 from: R.R. Bowker,
Order Dept., P.O. Box 31, New Providence, NJ, 07974. Phone: 1-800-
521-8110.
(Phil Shapiro is the founder of Balloons Software, (5201 Chevy
Chase Parkway, NW, Washington, D.C. 20015-1747) a new Apple Il
educational software company. Number Squares, the company’s first
disk, was recommended for Only the Best. The company’s second
disk, Big Text Machine, displays text files in a large attractive font at
a user controllable rate of display.)
8.30 A2-Central
Miscellanea
If you were hesitant to monetarily support the Apple Il Alliance
because you thought they were a fly-by-night outfit, hestitate no more.
One of the more visible steps to focus attention on the Apple II is the
placement of ads in major magazines. Look for the June issues of
Mother Jones, Discover, Sports Afield, The Atlantic, Inc., Electronic
Musician, and CQ (for ham radio operators). Ads have already
appeared and will continue to appear in National Review. For more
information about the Alliance write to them at Box 20756,
Louisville, KY. 40250.
You remember reading an article about multiple column lay-
outs in AppleWorks. You can’t recall whether it was in TimeOut-
Central, InCider, AppleWorks Educator, or was it a tip in a letter to
Uncle-DOS in A2-Central? You could dig through all those back
issues and spend half a day looking for it (and forget what your look-
ing for by the time you find it) or you could order the Kula Index pub-
lished yearly by Kula Software. It’s a series of AppleWorks database
files covering articles and reviews from the major Apple II publica-
tions. It’s available for a mere $9.00, They also sell a fairly large sam-
pling of 8-bit public domain and shareware disks. For further informa-
tion contact Kula Software, 2118 Kula Street, Honolulu, Hawaii
96817, 808-595-8131.
While we're on the subject of Apple I publications, I'd like
mention The Road Apple published by Apple II renegade, Al
Martin. The Road Apple is touted as “an Apple II End Users Under-
ground newsletter” and is published six times a year. It contains infor-
mational articles, sometimes gleaned from the online services, some-
times exclusive. It’s a great source for user group newsletters, Al's
irreverent sense of humor makes it a grin to read, and hey, it’s only
$10.20 a year. Al will send you a free sample in exchange for a self-
addressed stamped envelope or a bottle of your favorite local bar-
beque sauce. Write to Al c/o The Road Apple, 1121 NE 177th Street,
Suite B, Portland, OR. 97230.
Paul Reich and Fred Ford are the designer and programmer
Vol. 8, No. 5
respectively of the yet-to-be-released Star Control II—The Ur-
Quan Masters for the IBM PC. So why am | telling you about it? Glad
you asked, It seems that they're not satisfied with the synthesized
sound hardware on the IBM PC and have decided to use digitized
sound for the game. They are going to use the Amiga standard MOD
file format and need about 35 musical themes. They are asking MOD
composers around the world to submit their best efforts. Those
selected will receive credit in the game manual, $50.00, and a copy
of the game when published. The person who submits the best MOD
will receive $500.00. Wouldn't it be a hoot if the winning theme
turned out to be produced on an Apple llgs? For further details con-
tact Paul Reich Il, Toys for Bob, 1602 Grant Avenue. #207, Novato,
Calif. 94945.
The Morgan Davis Group has recently announced eight new
software releases. Their popular ProLine bulletin board system has
been upgraded to version 2.0. It supports over 40 popular modems,
hardware handshaking, advanced protocols (xmodem crc; 1k and 4k,
ymodemr-batch and zmodem), and new terminal emulations including
ansi, vt-220, vt-102, vt-100 and ProTERM special. Screen perfor-
mance is 200 per cent faster than in previous verisons and a key-
board buffer is available for the Apple Ile. There's a command shell,
an updated conference system with commands completely consistent
with those in the electronic mail area, and online documentation.
Many ProLine sites are connected to the Internet sites that you've
heard power users talk about. If you’ve ever thought about running
your own bulletin board system, this is the software to use.
ModemWorks 3.0 is a communictions toolbox for programmers
with Object Module Manager capability. Its primary purpose is for cre-
ating host systems but it can be used to call other computers as well.
Other Morgan Davis upgrades include ModemWorks Lite 3.0, the
ModemWorks Technical Reference, the ProLine Reference Manual,
Object Module Manager 1.3, VirusMD2.1 and MD-Basic 1.5 Interface
Update. For more informntion on these products contact The Morgan
Davis Group, 10079 Nuerto Lane, Rancho San Diego, Calif. 91977-
7132, 619-670-9643.—edr
Ask
(or tell)
Uncle
Basically, a problem
Have you received word of any problems
with the version of BASIC.SYSTEM on System
6? | installed this version of BASIC on the disk
containing one of my old programs (actually a
commercial music education program | wrote
several years ago) and was startled when it
repeatedly broke down with an error #53 (illegal
quantity). When | restored the older BASIC
everything went back to normal.
It finally occurred to me that this was hap-
pening just where | CHAINED from one segment
of the program to another. My program used a
POKE 41859,3 just before the CHAIN and POKE
41859,7 at the start of the next segment. This
was necessary to avoid a possible breakdown
at the time I wrote the program; | recall that the
necessity of these POKES “Was” removed “i'd
later BASIC but | left them in since it was
announced that they wouldn't cause a problem.
Now they seem to have become fatal, however;
when | removed all POKEs to 41859 the prob-
lem completely disappeared! 1 hope there
aren’t any other surprise changes of procedure
in the new BASIC!
Abram M. Plum
Bloomington, IL
In search of....
I have an Apple llc with AE 1.0Mb Z-Ram
Ultra expander. In 1989 | purchased an Apple
3.5 Unidisk drive.
Recently, | became interested in Pascal and
Turbo Pascal program applications. | can use
the Ramdisk for Apple Pascal but not for CP/M
Turbo Pascal, Also | can use the Unidisk 3.5
drive for CP/M applications but not for Apple
Pascal or CP/M Turbo Pascal.
It is my understanding that to access the Uni-
disk 3.5 drive under Apple Pascal or CP/M
Turbo Pascal, | need an “Attach Tools Disk”
from the Apple II Pascal Device Support Tools,
Workbench series.
Could you tell me where I can get the Apple
“Attach Tool Disk,” and at what price. I’d appre-
ciate any information you may have on this.
Alex van de Ven
Galveston, TX 77554
‘his disk is part of the current version (v1. 5°
of Apple Pascal. APDA offered updates to 1.3
from earlier versions for several years, but dis-
continued the update program a couple of
years ago. You can get the entire Pascal v1.3
from us for $69, which isn’t much more than
what an update normally costs.—TW
More celebrating
Last summer's Apple Central Expo helped to
reinforce what many (Apple included) has for-
gotten, that the Apple 1I is still a viable comput-
er in the age of Mac proliferation. New and
advanced technology is not always what every:
one needs or even wants and is not always bet-
ter. Sometimes the “old stuff” is best.
I still do all of my off-air video recording on
my Beta video cassette recorder. (I will admit
that I did break down and get a VHS deck since
Beta tapes are no longer available as rentals in
my area.)
| added a CD audio player to my audio sys-
tem (as with Beta, LP's are getting hard to find)
but I still do most of my listening off of vinyl.
While my wife has the hots for a new Taurus
station wagon, my main mode of transportation
is still my rusty trusty ‘68 Volkswagen Beetle.
(Speaking of my wife, she’s the same one I
started with.)
June 1992
Some may say Beta, vinyl, and air cooled
engines are dead. That may be with respect to
the consumer market, but that is not true for
those of us who still rely on those technologies
and will not be convinced to leave them
behind.
My Apple Iigs is still serving my needs splen-
didly. While | have added several new machines
to my electronic arsenal and it looks like my
family will be travelling in a fancy new Taurus,
my Ilgs (and my wife) will not be sharing my loy-
alties with new and improved models.
Larry Dawson
Lincoln, NE
What's a celebration without a prize or two?
The person who writes us the most inspiring,
or clever or creative letter telling us how this
computer has infected their lives will be award-
ed the upcoming Resource Central Apple !I
15th Anniversary T-Shirt . I've got a couple of
second place prizes in mind as well. So dip
those quills in the ‘ole ink bottle and get writ-
ing! (Please don't call to ask us to ask about
purchasing these gems just yet, it’s a future
product slated for real soon now.)—edr
Failing Insecure
I read Tom’s column “Failing Grades II" in
the March 1992 issue. | enjoyed it very much
because I, too, believe that the Apple [i will sur-
vive in schools and homes for a long tome to
come. | do wish to call your attention to one
additional reason that | believe II's are pur-
chased over other choices: Security.
I taught in the school system for a time and |
can assure you that security of equipment is
still a high priority. If you took your Apple ligs,
your Mac, or even the IBM, that you so lovingly
take care of so that your needs are met, and
placed it into most classrooms you would soon
find out where the delicate features of those
computers are located. Just try to imagine the
event. A percentage of students in each system
will try to test those weak spots for reasons
every teacher wishes they could understand.
My worst disappointment with the Apple igs
is the inclusion of these sensitive areas that
jeopardize its function in the classroom. If I
were principal, making the choice among popu-
lar computers, | would likely choose the Apple
Ile even if they all cost the same, purely on the
basis of the security of the Ile.
The next time you are pointing out the justifi-
cation of the Apple Ile in the classroom see if
you can't slip in a little security message too.
Paul Leach
Cincinnati, Ohio
Incredible
If anyone is wondering, AppleWorks GS and
the Personal LaserWriter NT are a great combi-
nation for newsletters, etc. People are shocked
at the quality of print that comes out.
Dennis Fay
Levering, MI
Multiple question
| have two questions. One relating to Apple
Writer Il and the other to the StyleWriter printer.
| have two Apple Il computers in my posses-
sion. The first is an Apple I! Plus | that | bought
in 1978 under the Bell & Howell name (com-
monly known as the Black Apple) and the sec-
ond is an Apple Iigs. I'm able to run Apple Writ-
er Il on the Black Apple without any problems
but when | try to run it on the Apple ilgs, the
computer just hangs. Of course, | can run
AppleWorks GS on the llgs but Apple Writer I
has some neat features that AppleWorks 3.0
does not have, like WPL (word processing lan-
guage), and others. So my question is why does
Apple Writer II cause the Apple ligs to hang and
what can be done about it?
At work, | sometimes use the cursed Macin-
tosh with a StyleWriter printer. While | do not
care for the Macintosh, | am quite favorable
impressed with the StyleWriter. The print quality
is similar to that of a LaserWriter at only a frac-
tion of the cost. Do you have any information
concerning whether Apple Computer has any
plans to market an interface card to operate the
StyleWriter from the Apple II series? If so, I'll
tush right out (as they say) and buy one.
I enjoy reading your monthly newsletter,
although it has gotten away from the reason I
originally subscribed. | prefer to peek and poke,
rather than read the product reviews. I’m more
interested in doing my own programming.
James Murphy
Sunnyvale, Calif.
We've run Apple Writer on a ligs. It will hang
when you try to print through the Iigs printer
port; Apple Writer's printer port driver doesn’t
like the ligs port hardware, Don Lancaster has
published patches to fix this problem in his
Ask the Guru columns for Computer Shopper.
These are available from Don in collections at
Synergetics (P.O. Box 809, Thatcher, AZ
85552, 602-428-4073}
For a printer to work from ProDOS 8, the
Program using it needs some sort of driver. For
text mode the driver is built into all Apple Ils;
you can print text as long as your printer
accepts standard ASCII character codes. The
StyleWriter is one of a new breed of printer
that doesn’t.
The StyleWriter prints in graphics mode
only. For graphics printers, a driver is printer-
specific and we don’t know of any supporting
the StyleWriter from ProDOS 8.
There is a StyleWriter driver in System 6 for
the ligs, but it is somewhat restricted. For
example, it doesn’t support landscape (side-
ways printing) mode.
If you're looking for an inkjet or (non-
PostScript compatible) laser printer for the
Apple ll or ligs, we'd strongly recommend a
printer that includes an ASCII character set of
its own such as the Hewlett Packard DeskJet.
Several inexpensive inkjet and laser printers
can be equipped with an Epson printer emula-
tion, which should be compatible with many
Apple Il programs, The drawback is that when
printing graphics images via the Epson emula-
tion the output will not look contiguous; the
image will appear to be made of very distinct
dots. (Programs that print text as graphics
images, such as TimeOut SuperFonts, will also
A2-Central 8.31
be subject to this limitation.)
If you want good graphics output, you'll
need to use a program with drivers specific for
the printer. For 8-bit applications, the choices
are limited; Publish-It! is one of the few good
choices (with drivers for high-resolution Epson,
HP Desket, and PostScript compatible printers)
If you want a more universal solution, use a
Ilgs desktop program to “typeset” your work
and an appropriate ligs printer driver—DJD
A phone call to Don Lancaster confirmed
that he still has a limited number of his
AppleWriter Cookbook for sale and that the
easiest way to get AppleWriter to work on an
Apple llgs is simply to use a super serial
card,—edr
Don’t interrupt
For a few months now, my Apple ligs started
crashing within certain applications, giving a
sound interrupt error (O8FF). Can you tell me
why or how I can repair it? It seems to have
started with the addition of a TranswarpGS or
some games my grandson plays with.
My system has an internal Megacore hard
drive, 4 megs of RAM, and a TranswarpGs.
Robert Burger
France
A few users who've seen this error have
cured it by removing the Ensonig chip, clean-
ing its contacts, and reseating it. If that doesn’t
do it, we're stumped.—DJD
Superscript satisfaction
I converted a text-file created with Apple Writ-
er to AppleWorks and found the superscript
command worked differently. Using Apple Writ-
er, the superscript numbers were tiny and dis-
torted. The superscripted numbers printed with
AppleWorks were ordinary numbers but elevat-
ed a tiny bit.
‘The latter (AppleWorks) method is more diffi-
cult to read, judging from the number of ques-
tions my students asked (Is this 105 or 10 to
the fifth power?). | used an Apple ligs and an
ImageWriter II for printing both examples.
What's up? Are these methods of superscript-
ing “interchangeable.” Can I get the scrunched
type out of AppleWorks?
Robert Hall
Nantucket, Mass.
You've discovered the two ways printers
have of doing subscripts and superscripts.
Some printers support neither, some support
one or the other, and some support both.
Printers like the ImageWriter Il have direct
support for subscript and superscript charac-
ters. These are typically smaller than the stan-
dard characters. For example, the following
codes are what Apple Writer was using to set
up sub- and superscripts:
Superscript Begin ESCAPE x
Superscript End ESCAPE 2
Subscript Begin ESOPE y
Subscript End ESCAPE 2
8.32 A2-Central
On other printers, including the original
ImageWriter, the only way to do subscripts and
superscripts is to roll the platen half a line for-
ward or backwards to begin the sub- or super-
Script, and return it to end. Obviously, printers
that support this must have commands for par-
tial and reverse line feeds. Using this method,
the sub- or superscripted characters are exact-
ly the same as standard characters, they’re just
a little above or below the line. These are the
kind of characters your students are complain-
ing about, but they‘re hard to do even on an
ImageWriter, because when you send the car-
riage return to move the platen, the print head
moves to the beginning of the line. Your pro-
gram has to reposition the print head to the
correct place on the line, which isn’t easy, but
AppleWorks can do it.
So here’s a trick. If you tell AppleWorks you
have an original ImageWriter (which must be
how you're set up now), you get “platen rolled”
sub- and superscripts. If you tell it you have an
Image Writer II (and you actually have one), you
get the scrunched ones.—TW
European Connection
A new group on the Apple II support front is
becoming more serious.
The European GS Project will try to get Apple
ligs software and hardware to European IIgs
owners faster and at less cost to the Europeans.
A? Central :
© Copyright 1992 by
Resource Central, Inc.
‘Most rights reserved. All programs pubisted in A2-Centraf are public
ora and may be copied and cstibuted without charge. Apple usergroups.
and signcant ofers may obtan permission to repr artes from time to
‘ime by spect writen request.
Publisher Edtor
Tom Weishaar Ellen Rosenberg
with help from:
Denise Cameron Dennis Doms Sally Dwyer
Dean Esmay Richard Ginter Jeff Neuer
Jean Weishaar
A2-Central ited Open-Apple trough January, 1983—has been pub-
Shed monthly sce Janvay 1985. Workhwde pices (r US. dolar; ama
ceiver included at no acon charge): $34 for 1 year, $60 for 2 years; $84 for
23 years. Al back sues ae curently avalable for $2 each; bound, indexed ed
tons of our fst six volumes are $14.95 each. Volumes end wth the uanuary
‘sve; anindex he por voume isncded th the Febuary sue.
‘The ful text of each issue of A2-Centrals avaiable on 3.5 disks, ong
wit a selection of the best new pubic domain and shareware fles and pro:
rams, fr $20 a year (rewslter and disk combined), Single disks are $10.
Pease send al correspondence to:
A2-Central
P.O. Box 11250
Overland Park, Kansas 66207 U.S.A.
‘A2-Centralis sod in an unprotected format for your convenience. You
ae encouraged to make back-up archival capes or easy-to-read enlarged
‘copies for your own vse without charge. You may also copy A2-Central for
‘stibuton to others The cstbution fe is 20 cents per page per copy dis-
Inbuted,
WARRANTY AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. We warrant that most of
the information in A2-Central is usetu and correc, athough dtvel and
mistakes are included fom te to time, usualy unntenfanaly. Unstsied
subscribers may cancel their subscription at any tme and receive a ful
relund of ter last subscription payment. The untled porion of any paic
subscripon wil be relunded even to satisied subscribers upon request
(OUR LIABILITY FOR ERRORS AND OMISSIONS IS LIMITED TO THIS
PUBLICATION'S PURCHASE PRICE. {n no case shall our company of out
contours be Hable fr any incidental or consequential damages, nr for
ANY damages in excess ofthe fees pad by a subscriber.
188N 0685-4017 Genie mail: A2-CENTRAL
For hardware and software developers, this
could mean an expansion of their overseas mar-
ket.
Any developer or publisher wanting to take
advantage of this new group should contact
them at The European GS Project, 941 Di Giulio
Avenue, Santa Clara, CA 95050, 408-727-8902.
John Majka
Louisville, Ky.
It's alarming
I recently purchased HyperCard Ilgs and had
problems booting as well as the system locking
up. It was necessary to shut off the power in
order to gain control of the computer. | discov-
ered the culprit was AlarmClock.NDA.
As near as | can figure, both HyperCard and
AlarmClock.NDA poll the system clock and in
doing so, lock the computer.
Fred Greatorex
Pascagoula, Miss.
LaserWorks
1 have both an Apple Ilgs and a Macintosh
llcx and I’m thinking about buying a laser print-
er. Will any true Postscript printer work with the
LaserWriter driver under GS/OS? Will the
ImageWriter emulator work with such a printer
on an AppleTalk network? I'm leaning toward
the GCC Technologies BLP Elite or BLP Il if | can
use both computers with it.
Eddie Clark
Denton, Texas
If the printer is a genuine postscript printer,
the answer is yes.—DJD
Optical mark reader probs
Under Applesoft and the Beagle Compiler,
I've written a program to input data from a
Scantron 1300 Optical Mark Reader through the
Apple Il modem ports and then decode. | have
a problem.
All ASCII codes pass through the port just
fine except ASCII 127, delete. The following
subroutine allows me to pass ASCII 127 using
A$’Z” on the Apple lic and Hic Plus but not on
the Apple ligs. On the Apple ligs, evidently the
Vol. 8, No. 5
port doesn’t. recognize the command and eats
ASCII 127. What am I doing wrong? | thought all
ports respond to A$ commands.
6710 REM Input Scantron Form
6720 AS = CHRS (1): D§ = CHRS (4) : PRINT DS"PRA2”
6730 PRINT AS"1OB"A$"4D°AS"2"
6740 PRINT CHRS (17); :REM Unlocks the reader
6750 PRINT DS” IN2”
6760 INPUT "”;1$
6770 PRINT D$”IN#O": PRINT D$'PREO”
6780 RETURN
By the way, the program is used to handle
registration and auditioning of state honor high
school bands and choruses. The student marks
one form to register, the judge marks another
for scoring and walla, the students are ranked
and the results can be posted immediately. The
work of 20 people at calculators all day han-
dling several hundred auditions is now reduced
to one.
You've probably guessed it by now, I'm a
band director. Hope you can help. Keep it sim-
ple, I'm pretty good in Applesoft, poor in Merlin
assembly.
Barry Lumpkin
Memphis, Tenn.
First of all, Barry, your problem isn’t with the
port on the ligs. The serial interface “2” com-
mand prevents the port firmware from messing
with what you send through the port. It has no
effect on incoming characters. So we're going
to have to look elsewhere.
So let's see if we can enter an ASCII 127
into an Applesoft program from the keyboard,
never mind the serial ports. Try this on your IIc
and then on your ligs:
10 eur as
20 PRINT LEN(AS)
30 IF LEN(AS) > 0 THEN PRINT ASC(AS)
40 Gono 10
After you run the program, press a single
key and then press Return. If you try out all the
keys, you'll find that your statement “All ASCII
keys pass through...just fine...” isn’t correct.
Applesoft can’t see ASCII 0 (Control-@), ASCH
8 (Control-H), or ASCII 21 (Control-U) with an
INPUT statement, On a Iigs, it can’t see ASCII
127 (Delete) either. But on a Ilc it can, as
you've already discovered.
When I changed line 10 in the above pro-
gram from INPUT A$ to GET A$ and ran it on a
IIgs, 1 was able to collect every keyboard char-
acter (including Delete) except Control-@. 1 sus-
pect this will work in your program, too. Try
changing your INPUT statement into a GET
loop, like this:
6160 H=""
6765 GET TTS : IF TISOCERS(13)
THEN TSSTS#TTS : CODD 6765
I think this will solve your problems.—TW