peelings ii v4n3 1983

THE MAGAZINE OF APPLE SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE EVALUATION EEEGRRONICS inc: SUPER FAN II™ For your APPLE II* COMPUTER $74.95 SUPER FAN II™ = witHzeNERRAYOPTION $109.00 ¢ TAN OR BLACK COLOR ¢ QUIETEST FAN ON THE MARKET e INCREASED RELIABILITY — SAVES DOWN TIME AND REPAIR CHARGES. ¢ REDUCES HEAT CAUSED BY EXTRA PLUG-IN CARDS ZENER RAY™ TRANSIENT VOLTAGE SUPPRESSOR INCLUDES FAIL SAFE WARNING LAMP SYSTEM OUR BUILT IN ADVANCED DESIGN UNIT GIVES: — STOPS ANNOYING DOWN TIME | VOLTAGE SPIKES - GLITCHES VOLTAGE SPIKES CAN JEOPARDIZE YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEMS COMPUTER - DISK DRIVE - PRINTER AND MONITOR NO CUTTING WIRES * WON'T VOID WARRANTY, JUST PLUG IN SUPERFAN I! WITH ZENER RAY *Registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc. ONE YEAR WARRANTY ¢ VISA/MASTERCARD ALSO AVAILABLE FROM AN UNINTERRUPTABLE POWER SOURCE APPLE MONITOR STAND -— Ff PATENTED AIRFLOW SEAL FOR COMPUTER TO STAND, FOAM AIR SEAL inc where art and science work for you Macic Window || word processing system Artsci, Inc. is proud to announce a new word processor — MAGIC WINDOW II. While retaining all the ease-of-use characteristics that made MAGIC WINDOW" the user's favorite, MAGIC WINDOW II includes many advanced features. Most importantly, MAGIC WINDOW II supports all popular screen display sizes. It is, of course, compatible with your APPLE'S standard 40-column display. It will also operate with any 80-column board that supports Pascal 1.1 standard. And finally, available for MAGIC WINDOW Il, is Artsci’s 70-column upper--and lower-case video driver and it’s a lot faster than most 80-column boards! Features include: e 40, 70 or 80-column display modes e Underlining support feature ¢ 160 characters maximum line length ¢ Goof-proof text safety system ¢ Search and replace ¢ New comprehensive instructional reference manual © Shift-key modification compatibility e Full compatibility with entire MAGIC SERIES | e Paragraph glue and justification ¢ Two master diskettes MAGIC WINDOW II will be available July 30, at a retail cost of $149.95. MAGIC WINDOW owners can receive a factory discount if their warranty registration card is on file, or by returning the pages of their MAGIC WINDOW manual. MAGIC WINDOW II will be available at your local software store or directly from Artsci. ci. where of and science Work For you 10432 burbank boulevard 4 north hollywood, california 91601 4 213/985-2922 ar Chaos in the bakery as you contend with = a Cantankerous in a hizres conveyor belt in an yor ch sieak olathe © a ' ‘clea A n software. ? : elfort (ojmake/ pics, security guards i in'this Gases 5 eee ~ a : NEW RELEASES | . 2 * * Runa Sante of deadly alien sharpshooters. @ pensuin sottware : The criminal element hasfrun amok: Can you round them up? eS We believe games should be fun and that the price of games sRouldn’t dampen that fun. 'The growth of é : the market over the past couple of years leads us to believe that $19.95 may work nowjas a reasonable game price, so we' re trying it for the next six months, and if we're right, longer. This policy Gos not just apply to new mamea: but to ALL our games, including our,past and current best-sellers!"Our bet i is that , we'll sell more and that the increased sales will offset the decreased income per product] If s So, more — people get to play our games, and we still make enough to keep developing newer and bette: software. As‘our customers know, at Penguin Software we take a great deal of care and pride in o products. e in our pricing in noway affects our standards of quality. We pioneered the remoyal of copy" from applications software last year injan effort to give you a better product. This year we are *, + penguin software se (312) 232-1984 830 4th Avenue, ‘Geneva, IL 60134 Dealer, Hotline: (800)/323-0116, retailers only, plea Available at your local computer "storeDealer ahd distributor i inquiries welcome. Visa/MasterCard accepted. Publisher Peelings I], Inc. Associate Editors Edward Burlbaw John Martellaro John Mitchener Contributing Editors Tom Little Michael Weasner Administrative Assistant Pamela Carmody Director Marketing & Communications Rebecca Winecup Editorial Assistants dane Trego Jack Moran Ruth Moran Circulation Director Lorie Browne SUBSCRIPTION RATES issues (1 year) $21.00 18 issues (2 years) $38.00 Sample Copy $ 4.00 Back issues $ 4.00 Canada, Mexico, APO, FPO, (First Class) Dissues $36.00 Back issues $ 5.00 South America & Europe, (Air Mail) Dissues $48.00 Back issues $ 6.00 All Other Foreign, (Air Mail) issues $57.00 Back issues $ 6.00 All remittances must be in U.S. funds and drawn on US. bank. Cover Art: Richard D. Bishop Credits: Printing: Meredith Corp., Albuquerque, NM. ‘Apple and Applesoft are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Copyright °1983 by Peelings Il, Inc. Allights reserved. Material in this publication may not be stored or reproduced in ‘any form without permission. Requests for permission should be directed to Rights and Permissions Editor, Peelings I, P.O. Box 188, Las Cruces, NM 88004. ISSN: 0744-2475. Pealings Il is published monthly ex- cept June, Aug., and Oct. by Peelings Il, Inc. 2260 Oleander, Las Cruces, NM. Second class postage paid at Las Cruces, NM and additional mailing offices, Telephone: (505)526-8364 The Source TCT 120 Postmaster: Send address changes to Peelings Il, P.O. Box 188, Las Cruces, NM 88004 Correspondence: Send all regular mail to Peclings Il, P.O. Box 188, Las Cruces, NM 88004. U.S. Address: 2260 Oleander, Las Cruces, NM 88001. New product information and other editorial correspondence should be sent to the atten tion of Pamela Carmody. Dealer inquiries should be sent to the attention of Lorie Browne. Change of address, and all sub: scription correspondence should be addressed to Peelings Il, P.O. Box 625, Holmes, PA 19043. For address changes, please include your old address as well as new, and enclose, if possible, an address label from a recent issue. Volume 4, Number 3, 1983 Pee THE MAGAZINE OF APPLE 5 7 rs 9 10 Volume 4, Number 3, 1983 STOCK MARKET ANALYSIS PROGRAMS Introduction Stock Price Forecast published by J R Software The Permanent Portfolio Analyzer published by C. R. Hunter and Associates Market Maverick published by Financial Software BEGINNER COLUMN: The Anything Machine Chapter Three: Applesoft COLUMN: 18 Cut and Dried MISCELLANEOUS 19 Guild Apple II Stand Guild Musical Instruments UTILITIES 20 David-Dos published by David Data 23 ProntoDOS published by Beagle Bros 24 Diversi-DOS 2-C published by DSR, Inc 26 SpeedDOS published by Softkey Publishing 26 PIG-DOS 2.0 published by Big Pig Software Co 28 DOS Enhancers Comparison Chart 29 ~~ Apple Mechanic published by Beagle Bros 33. Typefaces published by Beagle Bros 35 VISIBLEND published by Micro Lab EDUCATIONAL 36 Story Machine published by Spinnaker Software 40 Bumble Games published by The Learning Co WORD PROCESSOR 4 Peelings Ratings 41 Bank Street Writer published by Broderbund Software 44 Word Processor Standards Update 44 New Word Processing Standards RECREATION 48 The Compiler Writer published by Zeuss Software Praxis 50 ‘Pinball Construction Set published by BudgeCo. 52 Repton published by Sirius Software, Inc DEPARTMENTS 4 Authors 4 Reader Notices, gs ||| SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE EVALUATION 52 Advertiser Index THE AUTHORS Sandy Abernathy, who taught elementary school for thir- teen years, now teaches courses in microcomputer applications and management technology at New Mexico State University. In addition, she presents workshops on educational applications of microcomputers for teachers and administrators and uses her Apple for word processing and consulting projects. She holds a B.S. in Biology, a M.A.T. in Elementary Education and a Ph.D. in Educational Management and Development. Her hobbies in- clude fishing, camping, swimming, reading, and using her Apple. Edward Burlbaw is the regional manager for Science & Technology Corp. His background is in physics, electronics, and mathematics. He has a B.S. in physics, an M.S. in mathematics, an M.S. in physics and a Ph.D. Edward enjoys snow skiing and electronics. William K. Daugherty is a Professor of Accounting and Business Computer Systems at New Mexico State University. Dr. Daugherty has a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin. He is also a Certified Public Ac- countant and a Certified Information Systems Auditor. In his spare time, he enjoys collecting stamps and working on his own geneology. Montgomery Lee is a U.S. Air Force Captain currently as- signed to the Dept. of Defense Shuttle Program Office in Los Angeles as a Manager for Shuttle Payload Flight Readiness. He is also an F-4 pilot. He has a B.S. in mathematics and astro- nautical engineering and an M.B.A. His hobbies are science fic- tion and photography. Tom Little is a senior at New Mexico State University work- ing on a B.S. with a dual major: physics and computer science. He is also the administrator of the computer center's UNIX system. Tom’s hobbies are growing irises and writing science fic- tion (none yet published however.) John Martellaro is an operations research analyst for TRA- SANA, White Sands Missile Range working in computer graphics and combat simulation models. He has a B.S. in astro- physics and an MLS. in physics. John enjoys computer chess, science fiction, astronomy and soaring. John Mitchener is a Personnel Management Specialist at White Sands Missile Range. He is a former Electronics Warfare Analyst for the U.S. Army and has a B.S. in psychology. John’s hobbies are ballooning, cooking and ham radio. Larry Ross is an educational consultant and Director of Computer Input in Thousand Oaks, CA. He works with public and private schools, as well as individuals, setting up educa- tional software packages and giving instruction on their use. Alan Shalette is president of Shalette & Company, Inc., a Chicago-based management consulting firm. The firm provides market, product, business and operational systems planning as- sistance for clients mainly in the finance industry. He holds a B.S. (ChE) and an M.B.A. Alan’s outside interests include astro- nomy, photography, camping and reading. Michael Weasner is a U.S. Air Force Captain and a fighter pilot/instructor with multiple FAA ratings. He is currently as- signed to the Air Force’s Space Division in Los Angeles where he is manager of the Computer Resources Division in the Launch Vehicles Program Office. Mike holds a B.S. in astro- physics. Besides flying, his interests include space exploration and computers. 4 Peelings Ratings Peelings Ratings are a letter grade designed to indicate an overall impression of the product. It is a measure of how well the publisher did the job he intended to do taking into consideration comparison to other similar products, price to performance, ease of use, documentation, and sophistication. We stress that you should not skip a review or disparage a program because it receives a low rating. The rating alone can never tell the whole story. Only reading the entire review will give you all the information you need. For this reason, the rating should never be quoted alone without reference to text of the review. The Peelings II rating categories follow: Some example criteria are given for the categories, but they are not meant to be all inclusive. AAA - Absolutely astounding software. We have seen one program in two years that fits this category. AA - Top notch, superb. Programs in this class generally use * the most sophisticated programming techniques and have ex- cellent documentation. A- Very good. Software in this class incorporates very good programming techniques and has clear and informative docu- mentation. B - Good. Software in this class may have minor errors or be slightly flawed, it may be lacking in thorough documentation, or it may just be unexciting. C - Average. Software of a mediocre nature. There may be a lack of good programming concepts or lack of good error trap- ping. It may be a repeat of other work, or have a low per- formance/price ratio. D - Below Average. Software with a blatant disregard for the user in terms of programming design, unacceptable documenta- tion, or unacceptable price to performance ratio. F - Unacceptable. Software of such poor value or usability that it should not be marketed. READER NOTICES READER FEEDBACK Peelings Ilintends to do comprehensive articles on data base programs and word processors in the near future. These will be the usual reviews with revised and expanded standards. In addi- tion, however, we would like to publish short letters or articles from users of these programs. We are particularly interested in user experiences, attitudes, and observations concerning these kinds of programs (please include the version number of the pro- gram). We are also very interested in user experiences with un- conventional hardware configurations and compatibility prob- lems and/or successes. LOOKING FOR AUTHORS Peelings II would like to remind you that we are looking for qualified authors who can write software and hardware reviews. If you would like to see your evaluations of Apple software and hardware published in Peelings Il, write or phone Pamela Car- mody and ask for our author package. Peelings II Attn: Pamela Carmody P.O. Box 188 Las Cruces, NM 88004 505-526-8364 Peelings II Stock Market Computing Recordkeeping, calculating, and analyzing, when masses of data are involved, are tedious, time consuming tasks which most of us have little inclination, or time to do. We now see some relief from this onerous situation for just as the engine has extended man’s physical ability to do work, the electronic computer has extended his mental ability and enabled him to perform routine tasks much faster and far more accurately than was ever possible before computers appeared on the scene. Now it is practical to apply complex, analytical techniques which were formerly impractical because of the amount of data and the number of calculations required. Application of computers to assist in making decisions about investments is a natural for the alternatives are almost limitless and the information available is over- whelming. Computer software packages designed to perform recordkeeping and analy- tical tasks with regard to investments and potential investments are beginning to hit the software market in large numbers. Programs to be reviewed are arriving at Peelings II almost daily. Some do only a few recordkeeping and computational tasks and contain no investment advice or underlying investment theory. Others provide extensive recordkeeping services, automatic updating of data files, use exceedingly complex quantitative techniques and have an underlying theoretical base. Most are directed to common stock investments, a few to real estate or other kinds of investments. Some are oriented to decisions regarding individual investments. Others are concemed with the overall mix or portfolio of investments. With this issue, Peelings II begins a series of reviews of investment programs. Initially common stock investment programs will be emphasized because there are more of these than for other types of investments. All common stock investment techniques are based on one of two distinct approaches—fundamental or technical analysis. Fundamental analysis seeks and uses information about the company that issues a stock—competitive strengths and weaknesses, market, earnings, stock prices and any other information that will help to determine “true value” of the stock. Compar- ing true value to current value (current price) reveals stocks that are over or under pric- ed and after considering other information, may lead to an indication of the appropriate investment decision. Technical analysis, the more controversial but for many, the more appealing approach, is based upon trends. It uses quantitative techniques and charts for analyzing and detecting changes in trends and making buy/sell decisions. The term “chart readers” is often applied to technicians, sometimes in a derogatory manner. Both schools have their ardent defenders and point to their successes as evidence of the efficacy of their techniques. In our reviews, we will focus primarily on the software package itself—the functions that it performs, documentation, error detecting and handling, and any other factors that may impact on the user confronted with the problem of getting the package up, running and doing the things it is supposed to do. We will describe, within practical limits, what the programs do and how they do it. In some cases a few paragraphs is sufficient. In others, all the pages in the issue would not be enough. Two programs re- viewed in this issue, Stock Price Forecast by J R Software and Market Maverick by Financial Software, Inc. represent respectively both extreme cases. While we may make general statements about the theory or philosophy underlying a particular sys- tem, no part of our rating is based on these aspects of the program. Ongoing research in universities, brokerage firms and other financial institutions produces a continuous stream of doctoral dissertations, master’s theses, books and articles on new techniques and evaluations of existing techniques. Personally, | would not use any computer pro- gram or investment technique without first having a good understanding of the tech- nique itself and then tempering any decision indicated by the technique with as much common sense as I could muster. With regard to claims to success, keep always in mind that it is possible to find situations that will support almost any investment technique regardless of how ridiculous it may be. Volume 4, Number 3, 1983 20 $5 bye ELSEWHERE pues Us. ints ONLY EDN f ews ourent ulilitY = ae! s suBseRt weXCO: DI ysa 829 oa SE WHERE us. OCR POWERTEXT. THE ONLY FULLY AUTOMATIC WORD PROCESSING SYSTEM FOR YOUR APPLE | Now even hunt-and-peck typists produce perfectly formatted letters... memos... presentations...scripts...automatically. NOW... A COMPLETE SELECTION OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE FEATURES IN TODAY’S MOST ADVANCED WORD PROCESSING TOOL. The professionals who use PowerText tell us it's changed their whole concept of word processing. Because this is the system that goes far beyond the write/edit/print/file capabilities of other word processors. PowerText produces documents that look exactly as you want them to look.. automatically. From everyday business letters to the most complicated presenta- tions and reports you can devise. You define the basic formats. PowerText stores them in its style files. So when you write, you just bat out the words and never worry about where they go on the printed page. That's PowerText's job. You just tell PowerText, ‘| want a letter,” and you get a letter...and envelope. With every element just where you want it to be. Ask for a memo and you get a memo. Ask for a dramatic script and you get a dramatic script. OK, that’s one big PowerText plus: the automatic formatting capability that can save you untold time and effort. But there's still more. A full selection of high-performance features to make your word processing faster, easier, more auto- matic than any system you've ever seen... ‘Total control editing. Automatic indents and numbers for out- lines, with system-assigned Roman and Arabic numerals, and alphanumerics. A disk-based editor: file sizes limited only by disk space. The system automatically maintains a backup copy of the file being edited. User-definable function keys. Up to 7 levels of “nested” editing to let you suspend editing one file and move to another. “Paint mode” editing allows vertical typ- ing for diagrams. ALL THIS IS AUTOMATIC IN EVERY KIND OF DOCUMENT YOU WRITE. * Margins ° Variable pitch * Indents Pagination Spacing * Table of contents Headers and footers Footnote Numbers e Intelligent page breaks * Title page * Envelope, label ¢ Justification * Centering PLUS MANY OTHER VALUABLE FEATURES. © Built-in form letter —¢ No limit to docu- capability ment length * Boxed copy ¢ 132-character Print macros lines eUpto14columns — ¢ Superscripts, * Boilerplate subscripts inclusion * Column and © Optional word- line adjustment by-word cursor capabilities move ¢ And much more. * Vert. and horiz. border lines NEW 10-LESSON TUTORIAL. Our new, streamlined 10-lesson tutorial makes learning PowerText a snap. You'll master it quickly, as you discover how easy and straightforward it is to use. And your system also includes a complete ref- erence manual FULL 5-YEAR WARRANTY. PowerText does everything we say it will do. If it should ever fail to perform as spe- cified, Beaman Porter, Inc. will fix it at no charge, anytime within 5 years after you've bought it. PowertText » BEAMAN PORTER, INC. ( High Performance Computer Products | Pleasant Ridge Rd. Dept. STA-3 Harrison, NY 10528 (914) 967-3504 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS. PowerText is a self-contained, bootable system, that supports both serial and par- allel printer interfaces. You'll need your Apple I! with 64K, 2 disk drives, anda printer. COMPLETE APPLE Il POWERTEXT SYSTEM SOFTWARE PLUS TUTORIAL AND MANUAL $299. SPECIAL! PowerText plus easily-installed PowerCase chip for Apple II upper/lower- case and shift key capability, just $329.95.) (PowerText for Apple I! and III users who. have Apple Pascal, $199.) (PowerText is also available for IBM PC. Write for information.) ‘Tutorial/manual alone for any version: $25. Available from selected dealers. Or order directly from Beaman Porter. VISA and MasterCard accepted. NY State residents add appropriate sales tax. [BEAMAN PORTER, INC., | DEPT. STA-3 | Pleasant Ridge Road | Harrison, NY 10528 | Cl) send _____ complete PowerText sys- | temis) for Apple |! @$299. C] With Power- | Case upper/lowercase chip $329.95. C1 | have Apple Pascal. Send complete PowerText system(s) for 1 Appie tt or (7 1h @s199, C)Send tutorial/manual only, for | version @$25. | (NY State residents add appropriate | sales tax) | My check or money order for | 8 erclosed | O Orbill $__ to my: OMasterCard ClVisa ‘MasterCard only list 4 digits above your name. ) | Card No. | Name. Exp. Date. | Steet | City, state, ZIP. STOCK PRICE FORECAST by J.R. Erler J R Software P.O. Box 693 Florissant, MO 63032 (314) 741-6907 $95.00 + $3.00 S&H Unlocked Rating C— Reviewed by William K. Daugherty INTRODUCTION As the name implies, the purpose of Stock Price Forecast is to help an investor make stock buy-and-sell decisions by fore- casting future stock prices -- both highs and lows. It is intended to be the first in a series of programs directed toward the average investor according to its author. The programs apply multiple regression techniques to five variables; cash flow, earn- ings and dividends per share, indices of industrial production, and a prime rate to find an equation that best fits historical data about a company. This equation then is used to predict future high and low values for the price of the stock. Next year’s prices can be predicted on the basis of historical financial and eco- nomic data or historical data plus user supplied estimates of a company’s future cash flows, earnings, and dividends. Up to twenty years of data can be stored for each company. This data must be entered through the keyboard and can be changed and updated by selecting the amend files option from the main menu. A program is also provided under this option to adjust financial data for stock splits. EVALUATION The twenty-seven page manual that comes with the package is well written. Instructions are clearly written and the user is shown in the manual what he should see on the screen as each set of instructions are executed. The user is led through an ex- tensive example using data about the EXXON company which comes on the program disk. Basically all the programs do is store data and make forecasts using multiple regression tech- niques, and they do this very well. My low rating of package is based on several factors -- some relating to the programs themselves and some relating to data used in the programs. Error handling leaves something to be de- sired. For example, when asked to supply the name of a com- pany for which a forecast is to be made, an incorrect answer causes the program to abort and return to BASIC. Generally, once an option has been selected there is no way to cancel it. One must proceed to do what he indicated he wanted to do or hit reset and rerun the program. Financial data about a company can be reviewed and changed. The prime rate and industrial per- formance statistics cannot be seen but they can be updated. Furthermore, the statistics used in the programs are not defined and their source is not given. A statement on page one indicates that yearly updating will be required, and that J R Software will provide assistance in making this change, but does not mention how this will be done or how much it will cost. In summary, programming deficiencies, unknown numbers used in calculations, vague promises of assistance don't offset good documentation. The program gets an average rating in my books. 0 The evaluation of this package is based solely on characteristics of the package itself. Neither Peelings II nor the reviewer ex- presses any opinion upon its fitness for any particular use or pur- pose. Judgement in these matters rests solely with the user. [J THE PERMANENT PORTFOLIO ANALYZER C.R. Hunter and Associates, Inc. 1527 Northwood Drive Cincinnati, Ohio 45237 513-761-9322 $295.00 Unlocked Rating: AA Reviewed by William K. Daugherty Iliked this one from the beginning when it played a few bars from “I'm Just Wild About Harry” to the end when it displayed a poem reminding me to make a backup copy of the disk and wished me a good day. A couple of cute gimmicks doesn’t earn an AA rating, however. This package has excellent documenta- tion and programming and produces well-designed reports on the screen and/or on paper. Volume 4, Number 3, 1983 What is a portfolio analyzer? A portfolio is simply a group of assets held for investment. A portfolio might contain stocks, bonds, bullion, currency, real estate, treasury bills, postage stamps, antiques or any number of other types of assets held by an investor with the expectation of realizing income while the assets are held and/or profits when the assets are sold. The ex- tent to which these expectations are ultimately realized depends on a number of factors including the mix and proportions of each asset held and the economic conditions that exist through the time period while the assets are held. The Permanent Portfolio Analyzer provides an investor, or’ potential investor, several processing options to assist in the analysis and management of one or more investment portfolios. The analyses and projections are based on the investment strategy of a widely-known author and investment advisor, Harry Browne. In a nutshell, this strategy involves the use of five inflation scenarios ranging from a level rate of inflation at about the current rate to a sudden and traumatic deflation leading to negative price inflation rates. Mr. Browne has devised what he considers to be the ideal mix and proportions of assets to hold 7 @ Makes studying for the SAT easy and enjoyable. © Builds test-taking skills quickly in planned systematic program. @ Simple and easy to use even for those with no computer experience. Special Features @ 1000 Electronic Vocabulary-Building Flash Cards @ 540 Specially-Designed Computer- ized Drill Items Complete Textbook “How to Prepare for the SAT" 470 pages. @ FourFull-Length Exams—enteran- ‘swerS in computer for instant scor ing and diagnosis ‘© Complete review of verbal and math Categories found in exams. @ Strategies for answering every kind of question. User’s Manual Simple clear instructions take you step-by-step through the entire Com- puter SAT program. YES, piss snd me ‘Ouanity for my ~ 48K Apple” tt and Apple” I! Pus or Apple ile. high the SAT" Computer SAT Acomplete program for Scoring High on the on Scholastic Aptitude Test Combines Computer Software, Review Textbook and User's Manual Into the Most Comprehensive SAT Study Program Available. Computer Software @ Scores and times your performance @ Calculates College Board equivalent score @ Diagnoses your strengths and weak- nesses in 15 key areas ot study. @ Prescribes specific drill and review ‘on computer and in the textbook’ to improve your score. @ Strengthens and builds your vocabu- lary and math comprehension. Educator’s Edition Available Conduct group sessions with this unique package of software and text books with detailed instructor's guide. 4 Sets of Software (4 Disks per Set). 20 textbooks. and 20 users manuals L483 Dept. Computer SAT; 1250 6th Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101 Computer sat* ce $799 an TRS-80 Model I Pease add $2.00 fr handling (UPS deivery guaranteed). Please add applicable state and local sales tax ‘Method of Payment: 1 Check (7 Money Order (Charge My: Visa MasterCard ‘American Express FOR CREDIT CARD ORDERS CALL TOLL-FREE 800-543-1918 (In California call collet (619) 699-6335) Acct #. Exp. Signature. Name. Address City Stat Zip. Please send more information: {Si The Computer GRE [ ! H ! ! | J asitutons mst send putas oder tobe bed) Ofer rested to Conienal USA and Cana, ! ! ! ' ! ! ! ! (The IBM COMPUTER SAT* Ti The Educator's Edition Package « $395.00 ea —--- for investment purposes for each of these scenarios. This pro- gram contains two sets of recommendations for each scenario — one for the go-for-broke investor who is willing to assume a high degree of risk for potential big payoff and another for a more conservative investor who prefers to assume less risk for a smaller payoff somewhere down the line. A user may create an ideal portfolio by selecting Option #2 from the Main Menu, entering the dollar amount to be invested, indicating whether he wants a go-for-broke portfolio or a balanced portfolio and indicating the inflation scenario for which the portfolio is to be created. For example, if the amount to be invested is $100,000, a go-for-broke portfolio is selected and the deflation scenario is indicated, the program will suggest the following investments: Silver Coins 25.00% $ 25,000 Treasury Bills 25.00 25,000 Treasury Bonds 50.00 50,000 Totals 100.00% $100,000 The same amount invested in a balanced portfolio under the assumption of level inflation will result in: Gold Bullion 18.00% $ 18,000 Silver Bullion 16.00 16,000 Silver Coins 2.00 2,000 Swiss Fr. W/Int. 7.00 7,000 Leveraged Stocks 25.00 25,000 Real Estate 10.00 10,000 Cash 1.00 1,000 Treasury Bills 10.00 10,000 Treasury Bonds 18.00 18,000 Long-Term Debt -7.00 —7,000 Totals 100.00% $100,000 By selecting Option #1 from the Main Menu an investor may enter his current portfolio (the assets he now owns) and store it on diskette. An evaluation of that portfolio may be obtained by entering current prices for the assets in the portfolio and select- ing Option #3 — Print Portfolio Balance Sheet/Evaluation. The result will be a report listing each asset, its current value, its pur- chase price, unrealized gain/loss, percentage of change in value, and its percentage of the total portfolio as measured in current market values. Option #4 produces a ten-year projection under any of the five inflation scenarios, compares the actual invest- ment mix with the ideal mix and computes a difference to be bought or sold. Option #5 allows you to make changes or addi- tions to your portfolios. If you don’t like Harry Browne's as- sumption about inflation rates — no problem. Option #6 allows you to change them. You could keep Harry's on one disk and yours on another and use them all. “What if” analyses involving hypothetical changes in your portfolio or in assumptions about inflation rates, future investment prices, are done quickly and easily. If you change your mind after selecting an option, CTRL-C will take you immediately back to the main menu. The twenty-two assumption tables used by the programs are printed in the instruction manual which contains a total of forty- seven pages. Each menu option and report is clearly explained and a sample portfolio is provided to practice on. Screens are illustrated with the explanations. A copy of Harry Browne's Special Report — “Creating & Analyzing a Permanent Portfolio” is included with the manual. This one is top notch in all categories and should be con- sidered by a serious investor. 0 The evaluation of this package is based solely on characteristics of the package itself. Neither Peelings II nor the reviewer ex- presses any opinion upon its fitness for any particular use or pur- pose. Judgement in these matters rests solely with the user. Peelings II MARKET MAVERICK by John A. Koehler Financial Software, Inc. 11401 Westridge Circle Chardon, Ohio 44024 216-338-6811 or 800-392-2669 $175 without Monthly Newsletter and Updating Service. $295.00 with a one year subscription to the News- letter and Updating Service. $25.00 for a demonstration package including a complete manual. This charge will be credited toward the purchase of the programs. Unlocked Rating: A Reviewed by William K. Daugherty Market Maverick is promoted as “A Proven Stock Selection Tool for Raising Investment Returns” and, according to the user’s manual, is adapted from a model developed by a broker- age firm in the mid-1960s. Various statistics are quoted in mar- keting literature and in the user’s manual as support for its valid- ity as an investment tool. My rating of Market Maverick is based on my evaluation of the system itself as a software package and not upon the underlying assumptions or calculations performed by the programs. The primary purpose of Market Maverick is to perform a valuation analysis of a group of stocks contained in a Data Base stored on a Maverick Data Disk. The key figure in this analysis is the Target Value. This is the amount tHat the stock should be selling for at the present. To the extent that its current price is more or less than its target value, the stock is over or under priced. A stock that is significantly over or under priced is ex- pected to change in value so that its price moves toward its target or true value as a result of investors buying under-priced stocks and selling over-priced stocks. The Valuation Analysis report ranks stock investments by their potential for price appre- ciation. Advice on interpreting and using this information is pro- vided in the user’s manual. To use the system it is necessary to create one or more data bases on a data disk. These data bases contain information about the Standard & Poor (S&P) 400 stocks and about the individual stocks included in each data base. S&P 400 informa- tion includes an assumed inflation rate, an inflation pass- through percentage — a factor computed from the Producer and Consumer Price Indexes (which is included in the computations as a measure of a corporation’s ability to pass on higher costs to its customers), normalized earnings per share, and earnings volatility. Earnings volatility is a measure of risk that is based on variability of earnings around a trendline. The requirements for each stock in a data base are 1) an expected annual rate of growth in earnings per share, 2) the percent of dividends paid out in relation to earnings per share, 3) normalized earnings per share, 4) earnings volatility, and 5) current price. Financial Volume 4, Number 3, 1983 Software will provide an additional service not included in the Market Maverick price to update information in the data bases. This service includes a monthly newsletter and updating diskette (Maverick Manager) which contains the stock parameters for 905 stocks and the input data for the S&P 400. The updating service is not required to use Market Maverick. Other sources of the required information are suggested in the manual. Current prices can be input manually by the user or extracted from files saved by other investment programs. Market Maverick permits up to 255 different data bases, each containing information about as many as 200 stocks. One data disk can contain as many as eight data bases. In addition to the Valuation Analysis, Market Maverick will provide a Sensitivity Analysis which allows the user to see what growth rate or level of earnings is implied in the current price of a stock. This anlaysis can be displayed or printed. A graphics op- tion will plot and display price against growth rate or against earnings per share. Market Maverick comes with a ninety-page user’s manual and one Maverick Manager updating disk. The programs are easy to use. User documentation is ex- cellent. On the right side of each page, operating instructions are given and operator responses explained; the computer re- sponses are displayed on the left side. Using this format, the operator is walked through each operation step by step. Ex- amples, sample printouts, and brief discussions of such topics as the stock market in general, group psychology, selling short, and buy/sell decisions are helpful. Chapter VIII provides an explanation of the Market Maverick Model itself. The chapter begins with a discussion of risk measurement (MM uses earnings volatility rather than price volatility as a measure of risk) and the relationship of inflation to payout ratios, discount rates, and corporate returns on invested capital. Following this discussion is a series of illustrative cal- culations beginning with the calculation of a Market Price Earn- ings Ratio and ending with the calculation of the target value of an individual stock. The information sources and calculations are not as well documented and explained as the programs themselves. The brokerage firm that originally developed the model is not identified and there are no references to particular investment or valuation theories, but academicians and some professionals will probably recognize some of the ideas of Molo- dovsky, Whitbeck, Kisor, Holt, and others. A short glossary winds up the documentation. There is no index but there is a fairly detailed table of contents. Financial Software, Inc. has a toll-free number and the people at that number seem quite will- ing to answer questions about the programs. As the “A” rating indicates, I like the package but I would not want it without the automatic update capability provided by Maverick Manager. Maverick Manager provides monthly data for 905 stocks at a cost, after the first year, of $15.00 per month. The user must provide information for any stock that is not one of the 905 on the Maverick Manager disk. I suggest that you take advantage of the Demonstration offer before buying the whole package. 1] The evaluation of this package is based solely on characteristics of the package itself. Neither Peelings II nor the reviewer ex- presses any opinion upon its fitness for any particular use or pur- pose. Judgement in these matters rests solely with the user. [1] THE ANYTHING MACHINE by Tom Little Chapter Three: APPLESOFT Applesoft is the standard programming language provided with the Apple II+ and //e computers. It is a specific version of the BASIC programming language, which is the most wide- spread language for small machines. This month’s column will describe some of the “high points” of Applesoft. Some comments apply to nearly all common pro- gramming languages, while others apply to BASIC, or to Apple- soft specifically. Many programming languages have the same basic (pardon the pun) features, although the details are different. INTERPRETATION Any programming language is really nothing more than a translator, which takes instructions written in some (hopefully) human-intelligible form (such as BASIC command), and trans- lates these into a sequence of specific machine instructions which activate the hardware of the computer. Programming lan- guages may differ from one another in both the human-intellig- ible instructions they are capable of translating, and in the man- ner in which the translation takes place. Applesoft (and most other forms of BASIC too) is a special kind of translator called an interpreter. This means it acts as a direct intermediary between the pro- grammer and his machine. The programmer types in an instruc- tion; Applesoft relates it to the machine which executes it; then Applesoft waits for the next instruction from the programmer. For this reason Applesoft is called an interactive language. For example, consider the following dialog between a pro- grammer and the Applesoft Interpreter: Applesoft prints its prompt, ‘]’. This shows that it is ready to translate the programmer's next instruction. The programmer types “PRINT 5+3”. “PRINT” is one of the instructions, a command in the BASIC language, which Apple- soft can translate, and it has a specific meaning: find the value of the expression following the word “PRINT” and print it on the screen. Applesoft finds the value of “5 +3” and prints it: “8”. Since its task is complete, it again prints the prompt, “]’. PRINT =~ INPUT ire u HARDWARE wes <—| MACHINE Figure 1 The programmer now types “HOME”, which is an Applesoft command (it may not be the same or even available in other ver- sions of BASIC) which means to clear the screen. Applesoft clears the screen in response to “HOME”, and prints its prompt, now at the upper left corner, which is a good place to start printing on a clear screen. 10 And so it goes. The idea is that the Applesoft Interpreter is able to execute any of the large selection of commands listed in the manual. And it can do this immediately when the program- mer types the command. Of course this is not usually what we have a computer for. It is desirable to write programs, complex sequences of com- mands that can be stored and executed as a unit, rather than one command at a time. Applesoft allows the programmer to write a program inter- actively, similar to typing in commands, but with important differences. If the programmer types “PRINT 5+3”, Applesoft will print the answer, as described above. However, if he or she types “10 PRINT 5+3”, the “PRINT” command will not be executed, and only the prompt will be printed. The “10” is a line number, and it directs Applesoft to store the command in memory as part of a program rather than executing it. This is similar to doing busi- ness by mail. As soon as you find that the company you're deal- ing with has attached a number to your name, you can bet that something irreversible has happened and that your name will not be overlooked in the future. Likewise, the program line “10 PRINT 5+3” is here to stay in the computer’s memory. 15. PRINT “HELLO WORLD’ INPUT —> | HARDWARE APPLESOFT <—| MACHINE MEMORY 10 PRINT 5+3 20. PRINT SQRI2) Figure 2 When the programmer types “RUN”, Applesoft executes each program line in memory, following the order of the line numbers. Consider the following programming session. Things printed by Applesoft are shown in boldface type: ] 10 PRINT 5+3 ] 20 PRINT SQR(2) ] 15 PRINT “HELLO WORLD” ] LIST 10 PRINT 5+3 15 PRINT “HELLO WORLD” 20 PRINT SQR(2) ] RUN 8 HELLO WORLD 1.41421356 ] Peelings II Having Computer problems? Paws for the solution. @° @ BUSINESS Retail Wildcat Price Price 250.00 187.46 74.95 56.21 74.95 56.21 CONTINENTAL CPA | Gen. Ledger First Class Mail . Home Accountant . 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S 44,96 44.96 56.21 33.71 34.95 44.95 34.95 26.21 33.71 26.21 . 150.00 120.00 49.50 37.13 os ww TERMS & CONDITIONS There is a $2.00 shipping fee on all software and a 2% fee on hardware and supplies with a $2. minimum. No overseas shipments. Texas residents add 5% on all products except soft- ware. Immediate shipment with money order, cashiers check or charge card. Allow 10 days for personal checks to clear. Prices and availability subject to change without notice. Send for free catalog with complete listing of product line. Wildcat Computing, Inc. 1160 Park Boulevard Plano, Texas 75074 (214) 424-3582. HARDWARE MACHINE (w=) OUTPUT Vex HELLO WORLD MEMORY 20 PRINT SQR(2) Figure 3 The first three lines show the programmer entering program lines into memory. The lines are not executed, but stored for execution when he later types “RUN”. The “LIST” command is used to view the program as it currently exists in memory, with all the lines in the proper numerical order. “RUN” then causes these lines to be executed. After Applesoft runs the program, it again presents its prompt, awaiting further instruction. This program may be saved onto the disk by typing, for ex- ample, “SAVE WORTHLESS”. Here “WORTHLESS” is the name our modest programmer has given to his creation. Having been saved this way, the program may be brought back into memory at a later time (even if the computer has been turned off in between) by “LOAD WORTHLESS”. SAVE WORTHLESS | om” Input APPLESOFT eS, 00s —> | HARDWARE + | MACHINE WORTHLESS MEMORY 77 10 PRINT 543 10 PRINT 5+3 15. PRINT “HELLO WORLD" 15. PRINT “HELLO WORLD ST __ [20 PRINT Son 20 PRINT SORI2) S wy DISK Figure 4 All programming languages have features which allow the “transfer of control.” This means that a program may be written so that its individual lines need not be executed strictly in the order of the line numbers. Consider this example: 10 PRINT “TYPE A NUMBER” 20 INPUT N 30 IF N=0 THEN GOTO 10 40 IF N>1 THEN PRINT N*N 50 IF N«1 THEN PRINT -N 60 PRINT “THE END” Several important ideas are illustrated in this short program. First, the command “INPUT” causes Applesoft to print a “2” prompt, and waits for the user to type something at the key- board. “INPUT N” means that the user’s response to the “2?” prompt is interpreted as a number and assigned to the variable 12 —> | HARDWARE | MACHINE (w=) APPLESOFT ouTPUT th MEMORY 10. PRINT “TYPE A NUMBER’ 20, INPUT N 36 40_ IFN >1 THEN PRINT NON 60. PRINT “THE END” » [ies] Figure 5 “N”. A variable is a place in the computer’s memory. In this case we would say that the name of the variable is “N” and its value is the number which the user typed in response to the “INPUT” prompt, “?”. Lines 30 through 50 compare the value of “N” with certain other numbers (0 and 1). The “GOTO” command causes Applesoft to execute the given line number next, rather than one which would come next numerically. Using GOTO, whole sec- tions of a program may be executed more than once or even skipped over entirely. To show how this program works, con- sider this example run: ] RUN TYPE A NUMBER 20 TYPE A NUMBER 26 36 THE END ] In order to understand why this program runs the way it does, it is necessary to “play Applesoft” and execute each line in your head or on paper. Tracing through a program in this way is the single most helpful activity in learning a programming lan- guage. In order to understand the results displayed above, a complete understanding of the INPUT, GOTO, and IF com- mands is needed. If you're new to Applesoft, you should attempt such a trace, using the example given. It may seem as though only a very few of all the Applesoft commands listed in the manual have been covered so far. This is true. However, most of the central concepts of programming in Applesoft BASIC have been treated. Armed with an under- standing of what Applesoft really does when executing a pro- gram, a person can achieve a high level of programming pro- ficiency just from study of the Applesoft manual. Other programming languages have different commands and different styles of translation, but the principle of a program stored in memory and executed sequentially is universal. This is why learning a second programming language is so much easier than learning the first. The giant leap is learning to “think like a machine,” executing one instruction at a time, blindly following “the flow of control.” We turn now to some specific features of Applesoft BASIC. Peelings II COVISISCHEDULE (1) SUPERCALC [1 VISICALC 1) WORDSTAR [1 D.B. MASTER (] MULTI PLAN [1 VISIFILE (] dBASE II 1) NEVER INVEST IN SOFTWARE AGAIN! unless you can “‘test” it first, from United Computer’s SOFTWARE RENTAL LIBRARY You can now RENT the most popular software available for just 5% of Manufacturers’ Retail Price e Eliminate the risk—rent first! e All purchases are 20% Off of Manufacturer’s Suggested List e 100% of rental fee applies toward purchase e Rentals are for 7-days (plus 3 days grace for return shipping) OC YaLIUASNIOA ) +08 YSDVNVW 31d) 1934duad VIVO There are now 2 different plans to choose from: Join the Game Group for only $50.00} Join the Business Group for only per year and receive your first computer | $125.00 per year and receive your first game rental FREE. Then rent as many | rental FREE. Then rent as many business games as you like for only 15% of Mfrs. | application programs as you like for only Sugg. Retail Price.* minimum order, 3 game rentals | 15% of Mfrs. Sugg. Retail Price.* (1 HdV¥Dd *Sdd () TWNOISSSIONd YALIWAANTIUDS [ REMEMBER, THESE ARE NOT DEMOS, BUT ORIGINAL UNRESTRICTED SOFTWARE PROGRAMS (complete with manuals in original manufacturers’ packages) To Immediately Order, or for more information: Money Orders or credit cards BUSINESS HOURS Toll Free CALL 1-800 992-7777 eS) = Monfr: 8:30-5:30 In California CALL 1-800 992-8888 er! Saturday: 8:30-2:00 Checks allow 2 weeks Pacific Time Zone In LA. County CALL 1-213 823-4400 *plus postage and handling. Some programs may require 2-4 weeks delivery. C0 AZTEC (1) SUBMARINE COMMANDER [) WIZARDRY—SCENARIO | [] PREPPIE (] CANYON CLIMBER [] DEADLINE [] STAR RAIDERS (] CENTIPEDE [) ZORK II [1] LOId/GN3YLISIA (1) Y3T1AdS FTSISNAS FHL FROGGER [| CHOPLIFTER [] GORF [) DAVID’S MIDNIGHT MAGIC [| EASTERN FRONT (1941) [1 ZORK | NUMEROLOGY Computers compute. Given this tautology, we may ask how accurately and quickly they can do it. The accuracy of the numbers which a programming language uses depends on the amount of memory set aside for each number. This doesn’t mean that acquiring more memory will increase accuracy, however, since a given programming language will deal with numbers of a certain length, and will just have room for more of them if there is more memory available. Applesoft stores its numbers in floating-point format. In this case, this means that any number between about ten to the negative thirty-eighth power and about ten to the positive thirty- eighth power may be used by Applesoft. This is a large enough range for most applications. However, the precision of the number is only about nine digits, regardless of how large or small the number is. Thus if you are keeping business records and you show a net loss of $10 million or so, Applesoft may not be able to store the number with total accuracy to the last cent. A worse problem is that calculations tend to reduce the ac- curacy of numbers. To take a more exciting scenario, a net profit of $1 million or so could lead to an inaccuracy if used to calculate income tax. Unfortunately, Applesoft cannot be counted on to err either too high or low with any consistency. There are ways to sneak around accuracy problems (you can do just about anything to a computer if you're sneaky enough). However, the price for using elaborate programming gimmicks is usually execution speed. And Applesoft is slow enough as it is. This is hardly noticed in a garden-variety program, but a scien- tific application with much calculation may seem to take an un- reasonable amount of time. Part of the reason for this slowness is Applesoft’s interpretive nature: it must examine each instruc- tion and painstakingly translate it into machine language before executing it. If computing is what your computer is for, it is a good idea to know both the features and limitations of numeric computation in the language you are using. And remember that it is the pro- gramming language (usually), and not the computer hardware, that determines the machine's computational prowess. A PIECE OF STRING Computers need not compute. Given this contradiction, we may ask what else it is they do. One very important type of information which programming languages can usually deal with is text. That is, letters, numbers, punctuation and so on, as might be found on a printed page. The oldest programming language, FORTRAN, still has not really adjusted to this idea. Applesoft BASIC, though, has no problem. Besides handling numbers, it can handle strings. Strings are strings of characters. (“A”, “4”, “H’, and “.” are characters, “HELLO WORLD”, “#1”, and “APPLE ][” are strings. A character can also be considered a string of length one.) Applesoft permits strings with names (string available), so that a running program may alter a string in deep and mys- terious ways. Strings can be combined, rearranged, taken apart, shortened, lenghtened, and altered with special Applesoft com- mands. So there is really nothing supernatural about a word proces- sor or a data-base manager, which are simply programs that manipulate strings instead of numbers. 14 Here is an example of a program which uses strings: 10 A$ = “” 20 PRINT “TYPE ANY WORD” 30 INPUT W$ 40 A$ = A$ + “*” + WS 50 PRINT A$ 60 IF W$ = “STOP” THEN GOTO 10 70 GOTO 20 The strings in this example are used much like the numbers in the previous one: the INPUT statement gets a string from the user’s typing, and one string can be compared with another us- ing an IF statement. However, there are also differences. Here “+” does not mean addition (arithmetic manipulation of letters is meaningless). Instead “+” is used to join (or concatenate) two strings together. Can you determine what this program does before actually running it? PRETTY AS A PICTURE Yes, but what about video games? One of the Apple’s selling points when it was young was its beautiful graphics. The Apple could not only display graphs, charts, and drawings, but it could do so in color, and animation was even possible. The principles of computer graphics on most systems are based on the notion of Cartesian coordinates. The screen is con- sidered to be a grid of intersecting vertical and horizontal lines. At every intersection is a “pixel”, which may be black or white or some other color. So a graphics display can be easily designed ‘on graph paper. The Apple has two different graphics modes, called high- resolution (hi-res) and (shock!) low-resolution (lo-res). In hi-res mode, the screen is a rectangular grid of 280 columns by 192 rows. So there are 53,760 distinct pixels on the hi-res screen. Each pixel may be black. If it is in an even-numbered column it may also be either violet or blue. If in an odd-numbered column, green or orange. However bizarre this seems the designers of the Apple were trying to get the most colorful display possible with limited memory (it was expensive then), and they did well in terms of this objective. The lo-res screen has only 40 columns and 48 rows. However, each pixel (they are so large it is more appropriate to call them “blocks”) may be any of 16 colors. Lo-res graphics are no longer in vogue these days because most Apples have enough memory to use the hi-res graphics without worry. HPLOT 100, 70 er —> | HARDWARE APPLESOFT —— MACHINE 100 10 -4-------- 6 ooo SCREEN Figure 6 Peelings II “Doing” graphics from Applesoft consists essentially of deciding what color each pixel should be, then plotting it in that color. The color can be set by the Applesoft command “COLOR=” (‘HCOLOR=" for hi-res), followed by a numeric code for the color to be used. A point may then be plotted using “PLOT” (“HPLOT” for hi-res), followed by the x and y coor- dinates of the point. There are also commands to draw lines bet- ween points and draw predefined pictures (“shapes”) on the hi- res screen. The Apple cannot easily display text and graphics together. This is a source of some frustration to programmers, who often resort to “drawing” text on the hi-res graphics screen by plotting groups of points that form characters. Here's a quick program for learning the Apple's hi-res coor- dinate system: 10 HGR 20 HCOLOR=3 30 HOME 40 VTAB 21 50 PRINT “ENTER X” 60 INPUT X 70 PRINT “ENTER Y” 80 INPUT Y 90 HPLOT X,Y 100 GOTO 50 Like the string program, this one will go on forever unless you turn off the computer, type CTRL-C, or press the RESET but- ton. I believe programs should be assertive and survival- oriented. This month’s column has had two purposes. The first was to present some important features of Applesoft BASIC in a way that does not presuppose general knowledge of programming languages. The second was to bring together some of the con- cepts applicable to all programming; of these the most impor- tant (this is, of course, subjective) is the idea of sequential execu- tion of program lines, and the use of IF and GOTO to alter this normal pattern of execution. This and the concept of a variable, or storage location, are fundamental tools in learning to “think like a machine.” In upcoming columns, some of the topics touched on this month (such as graphics) will be treated in more detail. A col- umn will be devoted to the Pascal programming language and its differences and similarities to Applesoft. Before leaving the world of Applesoft, it will be necessary to discuss the multi-tentacled beast which pervades this world: DOS, the Disk Operating System, and it is the next stop on the itinerary. 0 For Your Apple’ Hayes Novation SSM Apple Count. the: Ves 0s..59M/s ay Features: Micromodem li™| Apple Cat I* | Modemcard™ AnD Moemeate ae mest st money. No external equipment [1107300 baud operation [ves | ves | ves) recuired all other modems are now obsolete. [ Haul Duplex [ves [ves [ves | nha with SSM's Transend soft- ware, your Apple can send [ Auto-bia/Autoranswer [ve [ves ves electronic mail or talk to other i ii ition ser- [_ Fits completely inside Apple | No | No l Yes l Computers oF rormaen Ba Operates without additional Yes Yes Yes Dow Jones News/Retrieval®. (The Serial interface | J | a ModemCard is also compatible [ Touch-Tone® Dialing | No | Yes l Yes ] ith stro for the Micro- modem [Single-Modem-chip” Relabiity [No | No | _-Yes__| _—_ The SSM ModemCard: The only = choice for choosy Apple owners. | Audio Monitor | No [ No | Yes ] Available from your local compu- 5 ter dealer. Satisfaction is guaran- [ Self Testing Nant | Yes ] Yes | Yes ] teed. Or your money back. [_Warranty period L2 | tye | 20 ] ie <j) [[ Suggested Reta Price [$379 | S3e9 $200 |” Seii'itierocomputer Productsiine Ts etm ee pi reine tern aor 2190 Paragon briv, San Jose, SOOEISEG Un Sone son crane pean bc aga mae Does Amen, Oo ree “felon. 171171 S3Ml SN Volume 4, Number 3, 1983 15 5 } i e } : 1 ae we ci ry fe } ey na a oe ae seeiee' A oe Gad ae ms ee Take a bite... ..Oof Apple Pchard! Your Apple will love you for subscribing to APPLE ORCHARD! An official publication of the International Apple Core, APPLE ORCHARD has all the information you need for your Apple. In addition to outstanding feature articles, we present new product information, product and book reviews, program listings, articles and news from member clubs (maybe yours!), and IAC information, including club listings, sponsor listings, and upcoming events. Please enter a subscription to APPLE ORCHARD for: NAME. ADDRESS = F ~ Subscribe today! ciry. STATE ZIP. You. ..and your Canada, Mexico, APO, and FPO addresses: $27.00 Apple. ..won’t want Overseas and other foreign surface postage: $36.00 to miss a singl C1 Check or money order enclosed O visa 1 MasterCard gle issue! No. ————— Reply to: Apple Orchard Subscriptions 908 George Street Santa Clara, CA 95050 ee 1 I I ! 1 ! I ! I I H Annual Subscription Rate: $19.50 for 9 issues | I I I ! I ! I I l ! l ! | ! NEW Beagle Bros Unlocked Utilities! All Beagle Bros disks are Uniocked and “aaa ‘DOUBLE- TAKE ony ONY 2-WAYLIST/MULTIPLE UTILITY BY MARK SIMONSEN LISTS & CATALOGS SCROLL UP and DOWN, making file names & program lines much easier fo access. Arrow-keys control scroll direction, NEW LIST FORMAT lists each program statement on new line— FAST program trace/de-bugging. VARIABLE-DISPLAY shows all of a program: st & variables with current values. CROSS- REFERENCE shows line nos. on which each vari- able/string appears. Better RENUMBER/ APPEND lets you merge proj programs (not just end-to-end). Applesoft "AUTO.LINE-NUMBER as type. In- stant Hex/Dec Converter, Program Stats, Eliminate/Redefine, Free Space On Disk... (includes Peeks/Pokes Chart) NP\- Apple Mechanic's Hi-Res type routines are usable in your Prog ‘WITHOUT LICENSING FEE! Just give Beagle Bros credit on your disk and 2050 APPLE MECHANIC SHAPE-WRITER/BYTEZAP UTILITY SHAPE = "Keyboard draw ‘shapes for hi- res animation in your programs. Design Propor- tionally-Spaced TYPEFACES with special characters, Six fonts on the disk. Listable show how to use shape tables to animate games, graphics and professional Charts & Graphs. BYTE-ZAP: Rewrite any byte on a diskfor repair or alteration. Load entire sectors on the screen for inspection, Hex/Dec/ Ascii displays and input. Complete instructions & experiments for making trick file names, restoring deleted files, etc. MORE: Useful music, text and hi-res tricks for your programs. Educational documentation. (includes Peeks/Pokes Chart & Tip Book) TYPEFACES FOR APPLE MECHANIC 26 NEW FONTS for Apple Mechanic programs. All sizes of fully-editable characters. BEAGLE MENU: Display only filenames you want from YOUR DISKS (e. . only Applesoft or only Locked files) for one-key selection. (includes Peeks/Pokes Chart & Beagle Menu Utility) UTILITY CHY oN 21 UTILITIES ON ONE DISK —_29.50_ ‘T KERSEY. LIST RCeMATEE Fe prints each program state- ment on a new line. Loops indented with printer page breaks. A great de-bugger! Also... MULTI-COLUMN catalogs for printouts, auto- post Run-number & Date » put invisi- "le commands in programs, create INVISIBLE file names, alphabetize/store info on disk, convert decimal to hex or INT to FP, renumber to 65535, append programs, dump text-screen to printer... MORE TOO: 21 Programs Total, a best-seller! (includes Pecks/Pokes Chart & Tip Book*3) Wing you oe ju the MOST for your Bont settle for Toss! 4315 SIERRA VISTA / SAN DIEGO, CA 92103 619-296-6400 “APPLE” is a registered trade mark of You-Know-Who. oo ProntoDOS+ omy HIGH-SPEED DISK UTILITY Put aONSREED DOS in e's normal memory, Language Card or Ile high-memory— Function Normal Pronto BLOAD HI-+ RES IMAGE | 10 sec. 3 sec. LOAD 60-SECTOR PROGRAM ...16 sec. 4 sec. SAVE 60-SECTOR PROGRAM - BLOAD LANGUAGE BOOT PRONTO disk oF Create new high-speed dis! en updated disks. with normal INIT command. Compatible with ALL DOS COM- MANDS and almost ALL of your pro; LANGUAGE CARD or Ile high-memory can n hold DOS— 10,000 Extra-Bytes of program space! MORE DISK SPACE: ProntoDOS frees-uj extra-sectors per disk, almost one full tra PLUS: Auto-Free-Disk-Space, New “TYPE” Com- mand displays Text Files, and much more... (includes Peeks/Pokes Chart) ‘ONLY ALPHA PLOT 3% BY BERT RERSEY & JACK CASSIDY 15- DOS BOSS 35 seek COMMAND E1 2h) ERT REROEY & JACK CASSIDY ERROR MESSAGES: : ‘Syntax Error” can be ‘Oops” or anything you want. Protect your 5 unauthorized sa ‘Save-attempt can luce ‘Not Copyable” message. Also LIST-prevention and one-Key program-run from catalog. CUSTOMIZE DOS: Change Disk Volume head- ing to your message. Omit/alter catalog file codes. Fascinating documentation and tips; hours of juicy reading and Apple experiments. ANYONE USING YOUR DISKS (booted or not) will be formatting DOS the way you designed it. (includes Peeks/Pokes Chart & Tip Book*2} ONLY LEX TEXT 2250. 70-COLUMN-TEXT WITHOUT HARDWARE BY MARK SIMONSEN PRINT VARIABLE-WIDTH TEXT on the hi-res screens with normal Applesoft commands (including Htab 1-70). Normal, d & com- pressed text on same screen— no hardware! ADD GRAPHICS TO TEXT or vice-versa. Run existing programs under Flex Text control. Easy to use and compatible with PLE® and GPLE.© DOS TOOL KITe FONT compatibility, or use Flex Text fonts. Select up to 9 fonts with ctrl- commands, Print/List/Catalog in any style! Cus. tom TEXT CHARACTER EDITOR included. REQUIRES MONITOR, not TV; (includes Peeks/Pokes) BEAGLE BAG our 12-GAMES-PLUS ON ONE DISK _29.50_ BY BERT KERSEY DIGPRCOMPARE BEAGLE BAG with any one, fame I all 12 locked-up game disk on the market games are a blast, the price is right, the tions are crystal clear, AND the disk is co} You can even change the programs or list LEARN, and see what makes them tick. TWELVE GAMES from the Applesoft Ace, Bert Kersey TextTrain, Slippery Digs. Wowzo. Buzzword, Magic Pack. games that tap your review in January 83 Softalk (page 148). BEAGLE MENU TOO: See “ 5" disk. (includes Peeks/Pokes Chart & Beagle Menu Utility) able. emto ONLY HIGH-SPEED DISPLAY UTILITY 29.50 BY TOM WEISHAAR —__ MAKE PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS of ex isting hi-res, lores & text frames. FAST hi-res loads in 2'4-seconds! Paddle or Keyboard vance |. UNATTENDED SHOWS optional— ic arranged & pre-pro ed to display to 99 seconds. ‘SCREEN EDITORIlets you creste biw text alides” Add type “live” from oard during shows. Send copies of presenta- tions-on-disk to your friends and associates. (includes Peeks/Pokes Chart) Apple's flexibility Excellent BT ad DRAW IN HI-RES, on 2 pages, OR paddles/joystick. View lines beta stot Mixed-colors and reverse (background opposite). Fast circles, boxes and ellipses; filled or outlined. COMPRESS HI-RES PICS TO 1/3 DISK-SPACE. Superimpose pages or re-locate any rectangular image area anywhere on either hi-res page. HI-RES TEXT: ional spacing, adjustable character size and color, upper & lower case, no htab/vtab limits, sideways typing for graphs. (Gncludes Peeks/Pokes Chart & Tip Book") GOTO YOUR Apple Software Store for Beagle Bros disks. If TIP DISK #1 100 TIP BOOK TIPS ON DISK BY BERT KERSEY 100 LISTABLE PROGRAMS from Beagle Bros mnentation, Includes our Apple Command Chart with ALL Applesoft, Integer & DOS Commands! (includes Peeks/Pokes AND Apple Command Charts) ee RUSH the following disks by First Class Mail: OC Alpha Plot . 39.50 O Pronto-Plus 29.50 oA lechanic 29.50 O Tip Disk*1 . 20.00 le Bag . 29.50 Typefaces . . 20.00 Boss .. 24.00 i Utility City | 29.50 Add me to mail list. O!'m already ON it. AT YOUR APPLE DEALER NOW! Or order directly from Beagle Bros— Visa/MasterCard/COD, call TOLL-FREE Nationwide: 1-800-854-2003 ext.827 California: 1-800-522-1500 ext. 827 Alaska/Hawaii: 1-800-854-2622 ext. 827 OR mail U.S.Check, Money-Order or Visa/MC* to BEAGLE BROS, 17th-Floor 4315 SIERRA VISTA, SAN DIEGO, CA 92103 ‘Add 150 First Class Shipp size order. Overseas add 4.00. COD add 8.00, Cal Mornin add 6%. ‘ALL ORDERS SHIPPED IMMEDIATE] CUT AND DRIED by John Martellaro This issue begins a new column of rantings, ravings and highly personal opinions by one of your humble Peelings II editors. He has been given a free hand to express his personal views which may or may not reflect those of the magazine. In the V4 N1 issue of Peelings II, | discussed some potential candidates for the next generation’ microcomputer language. Some well known languages have evolved through the years that have solved specific problems and gained a strong follow- ing. However, these languages are considered neither friendly enough nor modern enough to meet the needs of novice users entering the microcomputer age of the 1980's. Most will agree that highly abstract and symbolic languages developed for expert users are not practical for the average user. Languages like C, APL, and Forth, while powerful and popular, are not going to get widespread popular support. Pascal, developed in the late 60's before the age of cheap memory, has failed to reach a consensus for an update and universal format that meets the needs of microcomputer users. The syntax of Pascal seems vexing and arbitrary. Continuing reader surveys indicate that through 1982, a small fraction of Apple II users program in Pascal while the majority continue to program in BASIC. FORTRAN has available extremely sophisticated compilers that produce efficient code. FORTRAN 77 has been updated to address many of the objections that have been leveled against it during the years. FORTRAN is in many ways not very different from BASIC in the physical appearance of the source code, but the structural differences are striking. FORTRAN is overkill for small programs, yet it is inadequate for larger projects. The shar- ing of large blocks of data among many subroutines is extremely tedious with COMMON statements. The logical compares are archaic: IF(A.EQ.B.) instead of the simpler IF A = B. Continua- tion statements are inconvenient. The FORMAT. statement problem never has been completely solved due to the require- ments for compatibility with previous versions. Line numbers in- stead of character labels are a carry over from older days. Rag- ged arrays are impossible as are mixed type arrays, and the at- tribute/entity formalism of SIMSCRIPT is sorely missed. In sum, FORTRAN will continue to be used by scientists and industrial users, but it will never catch fire on personal computers. Some of the statements I made in part one of this series about CBASIC were not entirely correct. It is its compiled big brother CB-80 that is fast. After looking at CBASIC, I have con- cluded that it is not the answer either. While it has long variable names, character labels, and a more structured approach, it has syntatic irregularities and severe limitations on the nesting of IF statements. A review of CBASIC is coming, and I will report on CB-80 when we can get a copy for review. The January 1983 issue of BYTE magazine has an article on the proposed ANSI BASIC standard. It seemed to me from reading the article that there are those who want BASIC to grow to the point where it rivals FORTRAN. There are those who want to keep BASIC simple. The fundamental problem is defin- ing a BASIC that is a standard, yet includes graphics and num- ber format extensions. These features, more or less, depend on 18 the available hardware. In my opinion, efforts to produce a stan- dard BASIC that will gain acceptance in the market place will fail. Eventually, there may arise a university standard for a teaching BASIC to be implemented on large computers, but the special features and functions of various microcomputers will always dictate irregularities in the BASIC implemented on the TRS-80 and the Apple II. Many have lamented that the TRS-80 version of Microsoft's BASIC came to have 16 bit integers and double precision real numbers which are missing in Applesoft. There was only so much one could fit into a 10K interpreter in 1976. Apple's requirement for High Resolution graphics prob- ably supplanted the special number handling features made available in the TRS-80 BASIC. In 1983, a 40K BASIC inter- preter is entirely realistic. Hewlett-Packard does it routinely and they have a powerful BASIC for their HP-9845 desktop computer. Like FORTRAN, BASIC will never go out of style. It will get incrementally better but will never change sufficiently to address its major shortcomings. Regretably, we are not likely to see a new generation of fast but powerful BASICS from the major microcomputer companies for several reasons. The Apple //e points out how the tables have turned. In 1977, we were simply happy to have a computer. The hardware was the telling and selling factor. Now, the enormous software written for the 6502 has forced Apple to produce an 8 bit computer that runs this wealth of software. A new BASIC would not have an immediate market potential unless there were some compelling reason for software companies to begin writing in this language. The market place is big and getting bigger. New customers to the market place probably don’t care that Applesoft is an obsolete language or that the 6502 is an obsolete microprocessor. They have the eyes of babes and they are happy enough to have lots of excellent software, slick manuals and a thoroughly, repeat thoroughly, debugged system. In part one of this column (V4N1), I mentioned that I have been programming in a particularly nice language that meets most of my criteria for a good language. Those standards will be discussed in a future column. An excerpt from this language (SIMSCRIPT) was quoted. (It was first correctly identified by Carol Jacoby of Long Beach, California.) While SIMSCRIPT turns out to be enormously useful for most applications, it is also a formidable language both in the memory and disk storage re- quirements and in the scope of the language. I hope that some- day it will be available on a powerful 68000 based micro with hard disks. Until then, we will need a beginners all purpose lan- guage that is both faster than BASIC, more flexible, yet equally easy to learn. With the assumption that there is no current language that meets all the needs of a new to intermediate microcomputer user in the mid 1980's, then the next question to ask is: “What are the forces for change that might create this language?” Clearly, standards committees, mired as they are in so much conflicting input, are not likely to be forerunners of such change. Nor are large microcomputer companies, in general, likely to be inter- ested in fundamental changes to the status quo. (Apple’s development of the Lisa is a noted exception.) Despite the fact Peelings II f producing enor- the spark and vi- gs happen. Some bs in their garage ra solution to his in another area, ture rockets but mples and many xg vision of an in- change in a par- ) fe enough): an in- a new microcom- ventional wisdom. that will, because orm every dreary nguage will not be Cards Attached ion designed to be compatible with anything. It will not have to meet government specifications. It will not adhere to the traditional norms taught in computer science. It will be written for a specific microprocessor and it will make that particular microprocessor enormously successful. The language will be one person’s dream of what a personal, friendly, fast, and natural microcomputer language ought to be. When it appears, it will probably be criticized and derided by the experts because it doesn’t meet their particular standards. But people will start using it and lov- ing it. I will even predict that his name will become so famous that it will be part of the new language’s name. It will make the author enormously rich and famous. Here you are sitting on a modern microprocessor, perhaps 128K of memory, some disk drives and a printer. A scientist of the 1950's would turn green thinking about the enormous power you have at your fingertips. And here you sit playing Choplifter. Get to work. 0 stand TO SUBSCRIBE or RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION Please See Postage-Paid Subcri ad is a solid wood ovide an aesthetic able platform for a MasterCard & VISA Orders / Dealer Inquiries For Your Convenience Use This 24hr | Day Toll-Free Number 800-345-881 1 2 (In Pennsylvania: 800-662-2444) 2 (see the accom- oversize 12 inch e two disk drives. to give up the con- ipple II. The Guild sturdier and better nicromodem since he plastic monitor A stand has cutouts Ba uper Fan II. There = # ventilation. It is a 25 : gz 3 the quality of the this stand makes ride of craftsman- any or ash, your ightly beveled and like glossy varnish . My personal feel- stand just do not does. It comes al- some sort of anti- ag that you should also be aware of is that once installed, it is mildly inconvenient to undo everything for access to the inside of the Apple II. If you are constantly removing peripheral cards or otherwise need in- stant access to the innards of the Apple, it is more work to un- ravel everything. I am greatly pleased with the quality, appearance, and con- venience of this stand. In these days of less than excellence in many manufactured goods, it is nice to see a product that measures up to the perfection of the computer it surrounds.) 19 CUT AND DRIED This issue begins a new column of rantings, ravings and highly personal opinions by one of your humble Peelings II editors. He has been given a free hand to express his personal views which may or may not reflect those of the magazine. In the V4 N1 issue of Peelings Il, I discussed some potential candidates for the next generation microcomputer language. Some well known languages have evolved through the years that have solved specific problems and gained a strong follow- ing. However, these languages are considered neither friendly enough nor modern enough to meet the needs of novice users entering the microcomputer age of the 1980's. Most will agree that highly abstract and symbolic languages developed for expert users are not practical for the average user. Languages like C, APL, and Forth, while powerful and popular, are not going to get widespread popular support. Pascal, developed in the late 60’s before the age of cheap memory, has failed to reach a consensus for an update and universal format that meets the needs of microcomputer users. The syntax of Pascal seems vexing and arbitrary. Continuing reader surveys indicate that through 1982, a small fraction of Apple II users program in Pascal while the majority continue to program in BASIC. FORTRAN has available extremely sophisticated compilers that produce efficient code. FORTRAN 77 has been updated to address many of the objections that have been leveled against it during the years. FORTRAN is in many ways not very different from BASIC in the physical appearance of the source code, but the structural differences are striking. FORTRAN is overkill for small programs, yet it is inadequate for larger projects. The shar- ing of large blocks of data among many subroutines is extremely tedious with COMMON statements. The logical compares are archaic: IF(A.EQ.B.) instead of the simpler IF A = B. Continua- tion statements are inconvenient. The FORMAT. statement problem never has been completely solved due to the require- ments for compatibility with previous versions. Line numbers in- stead of character labels are a carry over from older days. Rag- ged arrays are impossible as are mixed type arrays, and the at- tribute/entity formalism of SIMSCRIPT is sorely missed. In sum, FORTRAN will continue to be used by scientists and industrial users, but it will never catch fire on personal computers. Soine of the statements I made in part one of this series about CBASIC were not entirely correct. It is its compiled big brother CB-80 that is fast. After looking at CBASIC, I have con- cluded that it is not the answer either. While it has long variable names, character labels, and a more structured approach, it has syntatic irregularities and severe limitations on the nesting of IF statements. A review of CBASIC is coming, and I will report on CB-80 when we can get a copy for review. The January 1983 issue of BYTE magazine has an article on the proposed ANSI BASIC standard. It seemed to me from reading the article that there are those who want BASIC to grow to the point where it rivals FORTRAN. There are those who want to keep BASIC simple. The fundamental problem is defin- ing a BASIC that is a standard, yet includes graphics and num- ber format extensions. These features, more or less, depend on 18 by John Marte the available hard dard BASIC that fail. Eventually, 1 teaching BASIC t special features ¢ always dictate irr TRS-80 and the / version of Micros: double precision 1 There was only si 1976. Apple's rec ably supplanted available in the T preter is entirely r they have a po computer. GaALIANI SAIMINONI Like FORTRA incrementally bett its major shortco, new generation a microcomputer cx points out how th happy to have a selling factor. Nov has forced Apple wealth of software market potential 1 software compan market place is b market place prot language or that t have the eyes of t of excellent softu thoroughly, debug In part one of been programmin most of my criteri: discussed in a fu (SIMSCRIPT) wa Carol Jacoby of turns out to be enc a formidable lang quirements and in day it will be avai hard disks. Until t guage that is both easy to learn. With the assu meets all the need in the mid 1980's the forces for cha standards commit input, are not like large microcompu ested in fundam development of tr mn =) = < r=) = = Sar) r=) 3 <= oO = @o 3 oO oO i ”n oO = =. an I) = > = o & < = Ss = on = oO wo =a = 3 > is-J g © 2] » ot 16) > = 0 i i) NO : : | 49/28 / S19P1O VSIA 9 P1e910)SeW payseyy spied uol}disoqns pled-23e3s0q 22g eseaiq ( souinbu NOILdIYISANS UNOA MIN3Y 40 FaIWISANS OL that teams at large companies are capable of producing enor- mous technological innovations and products, the spark and vi- sion of an individual is often what makes things happen. Some notable examples have been Wozniak and Jobs in their garage creating the Apple II, Dan Bricklin yearning for a solution to his business courses and creating VisiCalc, or, in another area, Robert Goddard experimenting with miniature rockets but dreaming future space travel. In these examples and many others, it is usually the near fanatic and driving vision of an in- spired individual that makes a fundamental change in a par- ticular area of endeavor. I will make this prediction (which seems safe enough): an in- dividual working alone will have a vision for a new microcom- puter language. He will throw out all the conventional wisdom. Working alone, he will create a new language that will, because of the crispness of his vision, simply outperform every dreary language bom of a committee or group. The language will not be designed to be compatible with anything, It will not have to meet government specifications. It will not adhere to the traditional norms taught in computer science. It will be written for a specific microprocessor and it will make that particular microprocessor enormously successful. The language will be one person’s dream of what a personal, friendly, fast, and natural microcomputer language ought to be. When it appears, it will probably be criticized and derided by the experts because it doesn't meet their particular standards. But people will start using it and lov- ing it. I will even predict that his name will become so famous that it will be part of the new language’s name. It will make the author enormously rich and famous. Here you are sitting on a modern microprocessor, perhaps 128K of memory, some disk drives and a printer. A scientist of the 1950's would turn green thinking about the enormous power you have at your fingertips. And here you sit playing Choplifter. Get to work. Guild Apple II Stand Guild Musical Instruments 225 Grand Street Elizabeth NJ 07202 201-351-3002 Mahogany $69.95 including freight Ash 54.95 Reviewed by John Martellaro The Guild Musical Instruments Apple stand is a solid wood stand that fits over an Apple Il in order to provide an aesthetic looking enclosure for the disk drives and a stable platform for a display unit. My motivation for acquiring this furniture (see the accom- panying photograph) was that my slightly oversize 12 inch monitor did not fit comfortably on top of the two disk drives. The configuration was unstable, and I refused to give up the con- venience of having the drives on top of the Apple II. The Guild stand went a long way towards providing a sturdier and better looking support for my monitor and Hayes micromodem since its shelf is 16.5 inches wide. In contrast to the plastic monitor stand that Apple Computer supplies, the guild stand has cutouts on both sides just the right size for an R.H. Super Fan II. There is plenty of space around the disk drives for ventilation. It is a sensible and convenient design. The best part about the stand, however, is the quality of the workmanship. The company that makes this stand makes musical instruments, and | detect a certain pride of craftsman- ship in the construction. It is solid mahogany or ash, your choice. The fittings are flush. The edges are lightly beveled and sanded. There is no detectable finish. I do not like glossy varnish and prefer the texture and look of bare wood. My personal feel- ing is that the metal varieties of this type of stand just do not have the pleasant look and feel that wood does. It comes al- ready assembled. The only criticism I have is the lack of some sort of anti- scratch pad on the feet of the stand. One thing that you should Volume 4, Number 3, 1983 also be aware of is that once installed, it is mildly inconvenient to undo everything for access to the inside of the Apple II. If you are constantly removing peripheral cards or otherwise need in- stant access to the innards of the Apple, it is more work to un- ravel everything. I am greatly pleased with the quality, appearance, and con- venience of this stand. In these days of less than excellence in many manufactured goods, it is nice to see a product that measures up to the perfection of the computer it surrounds. 19 DOS Enhancers Update In Peelings II, Vol. 4, No. 1, we presented in-depth reviews of five DOS enhancers plus a pre- liminary review of David-DOS. Peelings has received the final version of David-DOS and its up- dated review will be presented along with ProntoDOS, Diversi-DOS 2-C, SpeedDOS and PIG- DOS. A summary chart of all enhancers reviewed to date follows the reviews. DAVID-DOS by David Weston David Data 12021 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 212 Los Angeles, CA 90025 213-478-7865 $39.95 Rating: AA Reviewed by Michael L. Weasner and Edward Burlbaw DAVID-DOS David-DOS is a fast LOAD/BLOAD (RUN/BRUN) DOS en- hancement but with several extra features. When you boot the installation disk, you will see a HIRES menu of seven options: install one of the three versions of David-DOS directly onto a disk; INIT a disk and specify the HELLO program type (BASIC, Binary, or EXEC); add the DATE command to David-DOS; see the instructions; and exit. The exit option displays the disk CATALOG before exiting; an excellent choice so that a user will see the extra files available. A CALL 4096 will restart the installation program if no other program has been loaded. This information was left out of the documentation. The David-DOS installation program is entirely loaded in from the boot tracks and hence there is no installation file. The instructions are avail- able in a separate text file that can be read with a word proces- sor and formatted for printing, or you can use the TLOAD/TLIST commands discussed below. There is no hard- copy manual with David-DOS since the documentation is con- tained in the installation program (or text file). If a hard-copy is needed, this file can be printed. Installation of David-DOS is easy: select the version desired and insert the disk to be con- verted. The patches will be made directly to the disk. Some of your own DOS patches may be compatible with those of David- DOS but you should try it on a backup first. You can also INITialize a disk with David-DOS version 1. Either method can be continued for as many disks as desired or you can return to the menu or exit. If you are using a forty-track drive, you can run a program on the diskette to patch a copy of the installation diskette (it is unlocked) and then use this version of the installa- tion diskette to INIT or update forty-track disks to have David- 20 DOS. The installation program is single drive only, but since the entire program is contained in memory, there is no need to have the installation diskette in the drive once it is booted unless you need to change the INITialization process from 35 to 40 track versions or back. The forty track installation diskette will update thirty-five track disks without problems. One could have wished for a multi-drive installation capability, but none is really re- quired. Once you have David-DOS on your disks you can use its fea- tures. If you have exited the installation program, David-DOS version 1 is still in memory and you can check it for compatibil- ity with your programs. Version 1 has all the extra commands and disk free-space displayed each time a disk is CATALOGed. By the way, there is an alternate way to get a CATALOG: just type a “/” and a RETURN. David-DOS interprets this as CATA- LOG and acts accordingly. I have found this an easy-to-remem- ber option. If | have a question about the files on a disk I just use the “?” key without pressing the SHIFT key. Version 2 is exactly the same except the free-space option is removed. This was done because some software has problems whenever the DISK VOLUME header is modified. Version 3 has only the fast load- ing capabilities without the extra features. Speed increases with David-DOS are comparable to those of the other DOS en- hancers. During the timings an insignificant speed increase was noted during SAVEs (see the accompanying chart for details). When you boot a disk containing David-DOS, you will see the added commands displayed on the forty-column screen while the rest of the boot process continues. These commands are: TLOAD — fast loads all text files (random or sequential) TLIST — lists the TLOADed file to the screen or printer DUMP — dumps HEX and ASCII to the screen or printer DISA — disassembles memory to screen or printer without the need to enter the monitor AL — displays (any) program address and length HIDOS — moves David-DOS to a RAM card in slot 0 The commands are all DOS commands and are usable from immediate or deferred mode. Booting David-DOS also searches for an INTEGER or Applesoft Firmware card in any slot making the alternate BASIC available without loading or POKEing if you have a firmware card. The TLOAD, TLIST, DUMP, and DISA commands can be expanded with A)ddress and/or L)ength in either decimal or hex. Scrolling speed can be con- Peelings II SNAPSHOT Apple disk copy card THE FIRST. ..AND STILL THE BEST PEELINGS II magazine compares SNAPSHOT with Wild Card and Crack-Shot: aa Overall, with one of the supported RAM cards, SNAPSHOT, at $109.95 is the best buy.” “The copy procedure is perhaps the easiest and clearest of the three cards.” SNAPSHOT has been a best-seller in England since early 1982. It will copy any memory-resident program that runs on the 48K Apple. SNAPSHOT uses your 16K RAM card* to interrupt a running program and dump the entire contents of 48K and registers to an unprotected backup disk. SNAPSHOT backs up programs that baffle nibble copiers like Lock- smith without any complex parameter changes or trial-end-error hassle. And SNAPSHOT is still more effective, less expensive and easier to use than its imitators. @ You have full, normal use of your other @ Full monitor capabilities to examine, modify, hardware and software: you don’t need to open trace, single-step or disassemble any the Apple’s lid. interrupted program ... Print the graphics on @ Ideal for debugging or analyzing programs. your Epson printer. @ Freeze-frame your game. Print the graphics on @ Suspend work with one program while you use your Epson printer and resume play. another (for instance, interrupt word-processing @ Shooting down space invaders and the phone a letter to look up an address in database, then rings? Interrupt your game until later, or resume the letter exactly where you left off.) tomorrow. Save your high scores! lH Move protected programs to hard disk or 8” @ Repeatedly interrupt and resume running disk; copy several programs onto the same disk. programs. @ List ‘“unlistable” Basic programs; make custom @ Faster and easier to use than nibble copiers or modifications. other copy cards. SNAPSHOT has many more features for programmers, gamesters, and more. Write for our info packet or leave your ad- dress and questions with our answering service at (413) 584-7600. We regret that we cannot return all calls. TO ORDER: Mail check payable to Dark Star Systems. Add $3 for shipping in the U.S. ($7.50 to Canada; $15 elsewhere). Mass. residents add $5.50 tax. COD costs $5 extra (not available outside U.S.). Dealer Enquiries Invited. Aark Afar Ay 4tyvma PO. Box 140, Dept.PR. Amherst, MA 01004 “One drive and 16K card required. Works with most popular cards, including Apple, Microsoft, Ramex, Digitek, MPC, RH Electronics, Orange, Franklin, etc. Other brands: specify when ordering. Works on Apple Il and Apple Il +, and Franklin 100 and 1000. Apple, WildCard, Crackshot, and Locksmith are reg. trademarks respectively of Apple Computer, EastSide Software, Pirate's Harbor and Omega Microware. trolled through various keys at several rates from extremely slow to extremely fast. All outputs can be sent to the printer with a PR#1 (or appropriate slot) and then the command used. The TLOAD/TLIST option is only a “READ” but does have its uses for displaying instructions from a text file or previewing a text file. Since both random and sequential text files are supported, you are not limited by not knowing the record length. A “DUMP, A$800” command provides a display like: 0800- 00 6D 08 01 00 AE 3A 97 -HA..:. 0808- 3A 44 24 DO E7 28 34 29 :D$Pg(4) 0810- 3A BA 44 24 22 50 52 23 =D$“PR# 0818- 33 22 3A 58 DO 32 33 34 = 3*:XP234 etc. The hex codes are on the left with the ASCII conversion on the right. The benefit of having the DUMP command is easily seen if you need to modify a BASIC program. Normally you would have to use a utility program or go to the monitor with a CALL -151 to look at the hex and read conversion and BASIC token charts. But with the DUMP command the display provides all the necessary information (except the tokens) from BASIC. For example, if you want to change the “PR#3” to “PR#2” you can compare the left and right side of the display and see that if ad- dress 0818 were changed to a 32, then a “2” would result on the right. Enter the monitor with a CALL -151 and type 0818: 32 to make the change. Return to BASIC with a Ctrl-C. Your Apple- soft program has now been changed and can be SAVEd with the change. This example is very simple, but it illustrates the principle. You can make “illegal” statements in your programs in this manner. A “DISA, A$3DO” command provides the follow- ing output: 03D0- 4CBF9D JMP $9DBF 03D3- 4C849D JMP $9D84 03D6- 4CFDAA JMP $AAFD 03D9- 4CB5B7 JMP $B7B5 03DC- ADOF9D LDA §$9DOF etc. This is similar to the output from the monitor L)ist command ex- cept that you are still in BASIC and you can control the speed of the scrolling as well as specify the starting address and the length. You can scroll through large sections of memory without the need to type the monitor “L” after each screenfull. You can pause the display with a key and continue by pressing any key (the speed of the scroll will be determined by the key you use). Besides giving the starting address and length of the last file LOAD/BLOAD/TLOADed (or last TLIST, DUMP, DISA), it can also be used as a quick decimal/hex conversion aid. For ex- ample, to find out what $1000 is in decimal just perform these few key strokes: DUMP, A$1000 and press RETURN as soon as the screen starts displaying. Then type: AL and the following will be displayed: $1000 A4096 This method is accurate up to $FFFF or 65535. Typing HIDOS moves David-DOS into a RAM card in slot 0 and adds two more commands: FIND and DATE (f installed). 22 This frees 10K for program or data use. FIND can search for any hex string in 64K of memory and will display all addresses where the string was found. FIND normally searches just the motherboard address, but a patch is provided in the instructions to allow FIND to search a RAM card. DATE reads a Mountain Hardware clock and returns the month, day, and year. Some clocks do not work with this option, typically the multi-function card clocks even though they may be in Mountain Hardware for- mat. Since all David-DOS commands can be executed from within a program, you can have your HELLO program move DOS to a RAM card without the requirement for a separate DOS mover program on the disk. With just three POKEs you can also have your program continue execution after moving DOS, whereas most DOS movers destroy any program in mem- ory. This feature alone has made David-DOS my most used DOS. The extra programs on the installation disk are for the con- venience of the user. When run, they do such things as patch FID or RENUMBER for use with HIDOS, demonstrate how to move DOS or use any of the extra commands from within your programs. If you are an Apple PIE (or PIE Writer) lover, there are programs that will patch PIE to make it compatible with David- DOS. In fact, only programs that modify DOS seem to have problems with David-DOS. All DOS entry addresses have been left undisturbed, so some version of David-DOS should work with your programs. There is a universal patcher program that will take your input of a DOS patch and write it directly to the DOS on a disk. If you should find a problem with a program run- ning under David-DOS, you will be pleased to know that David Data has demonstrated excellent customer support in attempt- ing to correct problems whether a modification needs to be made to the DOS or the program. In summary, David-DOS provides a faster DOS plus several highly useful added commands. If you don't have a hardware utility like The Inspector/Watson ROMs (reviewed in Peelings II, Vol. 4, No. 2) then the DUMP and DISA commands will be a welcome addition to your DOS. The other added features of David-DOS like ‘/” for CATALOG and the correct display of file lengths up to 65535 sectors and BSAVE lengths up to $FFFF will also find their way into your heart. Eve