85p Hewlett-Packard jMQdel’16 Olivetti M-10 New 64K Atari Commodore 64 WR M icrosoft 's Word December 1983 Volume 6 Issue 12 GAMES Adventure Education Business Simulation IV r”SKn : if i WilmgSj* _ jpT— ~ 1/ \ m 4 w wrap ^ r H . ( [jfp^ V j fi i T ft ULMInMH 1 . 1 IS THIS LEVEL OF RELIABILITY REALLY NECESSARY? ACCUTRACK If you've ever lost data due to a faulty disk, you know how important reliability can be. That's why Accutrack disks are critically certified at 2-3 times the error threshold of your system. Why they're precision fabricated for higher signal quality, longer life and less head wear. And why we take such extra steps as testing single-density mini disks at double-density levels. So you don't have to worry about the reliability of your media. Accutrack disks. OEMs have specified them for years. You can trust them for your data. Distributed in the United Kingdom by: Penbie International (C.A.) Ltd. 23 Addington Road Reading RG 1 5PZ Berkshire Tel: (734) 664361 9 Colonial Way Watford WD2 4JY Tel: (923) 50596 Telex: 923321 Offices and representatives worldwide • Circle No. 101 LIST >NEWS 4 SOFTWARE NEWS I 9 From the sewer to the Christmas stocking. * c HARDWARE NEWS I 9 Meet the Octopus from LSI, and other new micros. FINANCIAL TIMES fc9 CONFERENCE REPORT Jack Schofield went to a two-day conference on personal computing. MICROMOUSE IN 9\J MADRID John Billingsley reports on the European finals. *7 MICROCHESS IN 9/ LONDON A report on the recent European computer chess championship by David Levy. IBM NEWS 09 Communications, software, and more profits for Big Blue. >GAMES <14 r OUT TO PLAY I 3 An introduction to this month’s special section — and how their range makes games important. I c education I -I O Lorraine Boyce looks at le impact of games in schools. CHESS ’Tl <£ \J Neville Maude surveys the field, with special reference to cassette programs for the BBC Micro. FLIGHT SIMULATORS I £ ^ Experienced pilot Ian Beattie-Edwards looks at what’s available, and recommends a selection for various micros. ^ I /I BUSINESS I STRATEGIES How games can provide both amusement and business training. ^ adventures I fcO IN THE MUD A look into the future with a Multi- User Dungeon Adventure, run at Essex University by Andrew Bartle. O ^ TOP 10 GAMES I 33 Jack Schofield offers his selection of the top games for micros. FEATURES 4 I COMPETITION I 1#*+ RESULTS Readers’ reports on micros from the class of 1988. 4 AA COMPUTER FRAUD IUO Martin Edwards describes how criminals are exploiting the new information technology. n THF BBC micro ■KM I U shapes up ' john Leach presents a couple of utilities for handling graphics. 447 TRUTH IN ONE LINE I 9 True/false logic is the basis for Philip Musk’s one-line Apple game. FICTION — THE 19/ COSMIC CIRCLE John Hooper eavesdrops on the Great Programmer in the Sky. >REVIEWS )N THE WORD Ol MICROSOFT With or without a mouse, Microsoft’s program has something special, as lidmeadfinds^ SERIES 200 MODEL 16 HP’s compact micro is the fastest thing yet at running Benchmarks. Ian Stobie looks for other qualities too. €%A ATARI 800XL O*# 1 HOME MICRO Is the 800XL really better than the old 800? Jack Schofield finds out. QQ OLIVETTI’S NEW OO LAP COMPUTER Ian Stobie previews the M-10, a portable to rival the Epson HX-20 and the Tandy 100. Q-3 EIGHT CBM 64 99 WORD PROCESSORS Barbara Conway reviews the packages currently available. 4AA dBASEII IUU ENCHANCEMENTS Software add-ons for this popular database program, examined by Mike Lewis. 4QP LOGO BOOKS *7^ 9 9 Christopher Roper looks into books about this enjoyable and educational language. REGULARS 5 EDITORIAL RESOLUTIONS Some you could make for next year. FEEDBACK Readers bite back. Plus, ways to calculate pi. CHIP-CHAT ^§■3 Ray Coles looks at the possibilites for 32 bits. rn Free software for Dmmodore, BBC, Apple, Tandy, 'bclair, Research Machines the Ison HX-20 and others. u*JA5 LAST WORD — ON AZ.U3 EDUCATION Brian Boyde-Shaw on what happens when micros take over the schools. Cover artwork by Michael Brownlow. | OPEN FILE PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 3 For those who thought choosing a user friendly, high capacity, software compatible, multi-user, business computer was a black and white decision: The R AIR Business Computer in colour. The RAIR Business Computer incorporates both 16-bit and S-bit microprocessors, up to 1024K bytes of user memory, 20M bytes of disk storage, and supports up to four workstations running CP/M*, MP/M* or MS-DOS" compatible software. *CP/M and MP/M are trademarks of Digital Research. MS-DOS is a irademark of Microsoft. For details of your nearest Authorised RAIR Business Computer Dealer contact Phil Harris, Hair Ltd, , 6 - 9 Upper St. Martin's Lane, London WC2H 9EQ or telephone 01 -836 6921 • Circle No. 102 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 Editorials m EDITORIAL 01-661 3609 Next year... Editor Jack Schofield Assistant Editor Ian Stobie Art Editor Steve Miller Production Editor John Liebmann Sub editor Sally Clark Editorial Secretary Sue Jordan Consultants Chris Bidmead Peter Laurie ADVERTISING 01-661 3612 Advertisement Manager Ian Carter 01-661 3021 Advertisement executives Mike Crimp 01 -661 8425 Jacqui Ball 01-661 3633 Erica Vickers 01-661 3468 Advertisement Secretary Janet Thorpe Midlands office: David Harvett 021-356 4838 Northern office: Geoff Aikin 061-872 8861 PUBLISHING DIRECTOR Chris Hipwel! Published by Elec t rical E I ect ro n i c Press, G uad ran t H ou $e . Th e Q uad ran t , Stil ion, S urrey S M 2 5 AS. Tel: 01-661 3500. Telerig rams 892084 BiSPRS G. Distributed by Business Press Internalional Ltd. Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton. Surrey SM2 5 AS, Subscriptions: U.K. £13 per annum; Overseas £19 per annum; selling price in Eire subject to currency exchange fluctuations and VAT ; airmail rates available on application to Subscription Manager, Business Press international Ltd. Oakfield House. Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath. Sussex RH16 3DH. Tel: 0444 459188. Printed in Great Britain for the proprietors Business Press International Ltd by Eden Fisher (Southend) Ltd, Southend-on-Sea. Typesel by Gentrepoint Typesetters. London EG1 . Business Press International Ltd- 1983. ISSN 0141-5433 Would-be authors are welcome to send articles to the Editor but PCcarv not undertake to return them. Pay- ment is at £3S per published page. Submissions should be typed or computer-printed and should include a tape or disc of any program. Hand- written material is liable to delay and error. Every effort is made to check articles and listings but PC cannot guarantee that programs will run and can accepl no responsibility for any errors. Christmas is COMING, the stocks are in the shops. All the manufacturers have their fingers crossed that people will be fighting over the last few of the millions of micros to be sold. And, frankly, so are we. But after Christmas comes the New Year which, as everyone knows, is a time for resol- utions. Anyone short of ideas is welcome to adopt one of the following. We, the manufacturers, resolve not to announce our new micro, place lots of adverts in the press, and cash lots of cheques until we ac- tually have the machine in production. OK, well, a prototype at least. Er, well, not before the design's finished. In principle, that is. We, the games software houses, resolve not to rip off other people's games. Or at least, we pro- mise to pay royalties if we do: after all, people are entitled to something for their skill, originality and sheer hard work. Of course, that doesn't apply to arcade games like Pacman, Donkey Kong, Missile Command, Space Invaders. That's not really stealing. Anyway we write our own code. Well, most of it. We, the pirates, resolve not to copy any more commercial software and sell it. Of course we'll still need to crack the protection schemes to take copies for back-up purposes — and one or two for a few mates at the club. You can’t stop people from giving software away, and if people want to give you something in return, well, it's embarrassing to refuse. It's ungrateful. Anyway, don't tell us you've never photocopied an article from a magazine or taped a record. The top ten Spectrum games? Only a tenner. We, the business software houses, resolve to debug software fully before we sell it, or at least, provide free or cheap upgrades to plug gaping holes in the specification — as long as the customers' demands are feasible. Obviously that doesn't cover providing a £ sign on American systems costing under about £5,000. And they can't expect anything fancy like a package that prints fractions. Who uses fractions in this day and age? Be reasonable! We, the advertising agencies, resolve to tell the truth, or at least not exaggerate too much. Perhaps saying a push-button keyboard is “professional” or that a ZX Sinclair could run a power station is going Just a touch too far, but there has to be some poetic licence. After all, a micro can do almost anything if you give it the right instructions, and Basic is practically plain English. Even a child can use it. Anyway, we’re not experts. We have to believe what the manufacturers tell us, really. We, the publishing corporations, resolve not to launch any more micro magazines, as there are too many already. Though actually, there isn't a magazine for Electron users, so we might make an exception there. Plus we have to do a Spectrum magazine, but this one will be really different. It will be on tape, for a start, and come with a free part work, and a pop record — possibly a video too. How does Personal Com- puter Tapes sound? And why stop at the Spec- trum? Anyway, if we don't launch them someone else will. We, the magazine editors, resolve to try and get most of the articles right, for a change. Of course we can only skim through the text because it would take too long to run the pro- grams, even if we had the machines available. Well, it's not a problem really* Readers like pro- grams to have a few bugs because then it's a challenge to make them work* Anyway, no one follows listings exactly. It's like cookery recipes, where you take the bits you want and see what you can make out of them* Talking of food, if you're buying lunch the pubs will be open in five minutes. W r e, the readers, resolve to buy Practical Computing every month because it is, after all, the only worthwhile magazine* Well, PCW is good too. Then there’s the dub’s newsletter, the user group magazine and the manufacturer's magazine — and one or two that come free with the job. Of course you have to keep an eye on the others. Some of them have good articles every few months or so, if only there was time to read them* Did you see that piece about how a ZX-81 is really better than an IBM PC? Or that one where the cleaning lady did the bench tests? Amazing. I IK t I I II 5 Years ago . . . L- '! Li J 3 G I? D E 0 | 0 Q P G | 0 0 f Ll G & U H D D 0 D D | G 0 0 i. 1 5 D : | U L 1 i i i it i i * < > i ii ■: i4 a 4 :< ' r- Gur Nascom-1 was a week late being delivered. Not a criticism, but more a worry as our deadlines seem earlier each month. It is not surprising, though, that the machine was late, as it reflects the phenomenal success story of the Nasconvl. Very fortunately for us ihe review kit delivered was not a kit, but a ready-built and working machine, because Ihe Nascom-1 is not a trivial kit to assemble. That Is its major disadvantage, as it arrives as a best of parts, some 203 components for the CPU board, which ammounts to approximately 1,310 solder points in con- * s * s g s n a|s an s s ? ss |a s 3|mmis n lilies , 3 ] < } j, ) t rav i; it Nit it .f - 9 M « 4 P ■: fl B fl fl 0 ti D n D m 0 D Q 0 0 0 0 0 D D D D D B G I ■ ii, v >t |J 1 -A J.r SK M f (S ttt’ttt) rt » fl JI " >» f i « struction. On a board roughly the size of this page with that’number of components — 55 are integrated circuits — the layout packing is very tight and the printed circuit tracks very thin. The construction notes supplied suggests a total of 20 hours required for construction; I think they are optimistic. Remember, part of the price the purchaser pays is the tedious work of putting together the kit. Obviously, the kit is not insuperably difficult as there are many satisfied customers but it needs careful and patient construction. Practical Computing Volume 2 Issue 1. : a a 9 9 9 9 9 9 4 9 1 9 3 9 9 9 1 S 9 a 9 9 a 9 9 9 9 9 9 J 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 J 9 9 1 1M ','4 :j i] i tint ‘ ■** PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 5 HIGH QUALITY GREEN SCREEN VIDEO MONITORS CHECK THESE FEATURES:- • ANTIGLARE SCREEN 0 P31 GREEN FOR MINIMUM FATIGUE • VIDEO RESPONSE 10Hz - 22MHz + 3db 0 SUPERB RESOLUTION -UP TO 132 CHARS/LINE • EXCELLENT GEOMETRY/LINEARITY • HIGH STABILITY • 230 VOLT 50Hz MAINS OPERATION • COMPOSITE VIDEO 0.5/2.0V INPUT • FLICKER FREE DISPLAY Designed for use with Professional and Personal Microcomputers where a high resolution display is required. Ideal for applications requiring 80 column mode or higher, high resolution graphics, etc. 12" MODEL HM123 ADD £5 Carriage/Postage * 9” MODEL HM911 * 9" MODEL HM910 THE LOWEST PRICE ANYWHERE ADD £9 Carriage/Insurance FOR A PC WITH THESE FEATURES .... LOOK AT THE SPEC. OF THE AMAZING UNITRON 2200 Dual processors - 6502 and Z80 • 64K of RAM ^ 24K ROM with softswitch control % Selectable 80 or 40 column text display 0 Detachable keyboard 0 Apple® 1 1-compatible 9 CP/M® compatible 0 High and low resolution graphics capabilities 0 Two disk I/O for your disk drives # Game paddles/cassette/video interfaces Prices exclusive of VA T Same day despatch. Access welcome. CHILTERN ELECTRONICS HIGH STREET, CHALFQMT ST. Gl LES, BUCKS, HF8 40 H TELEPHONE: 02407 71234 TELEX: 262284 • Circle No. 336 Feedback Quids in — for whom? has NO one else noticed the inability of WordStar to produce a £ sign on the IBM printer? I understand that if you use a standard Epson everything is alright but the changes made by IBM mean that the ASCII value ofthe£ sign is too high and is trapped by WordStar. It’s a bit of a cheek that after spending some £4*500 you cannot even print your own national monetary symbol. Like many others I bought the IBM package under the impression that the software designed for the IBM would be compatible with it. It should be possible for Micropro to produce a patch which overcomes the problem — I suppose it all depends on how much they value ILK, custom. John Lewis, Oxford, Easy as pi had mr mehew reread my letters of March and August he would not have wasted time and effort by barking, however eloquently, up the wrong tree in his letters of May and October, My first letter had the single aim of correcting the statement made by another contributor in an earlier issue that, if you had a 10-digit display on your computer, then 22/7 gave you tr to 10 significant digits. For the possible interest, not use, of readers I then wrote: “If you really want a rational fraction that approximates tt to 10 digits, use 3,235,853 / 1,030,004.” I italicise the words that have been over- looked, I fail to see how anyone, even with the worst will in the world, could interpret this as meaning that 1, or anyone else, would use this fraction other than under considerable duress. Inverse tangents, not being rational fractions, are clearly irrelevant here, though ingenious combinations of inverse tangents are the usual means of calculating tt to many digits. However, calculating ir/4 from arctan(l) is a text- book example of inefficient computation. Even on the Apple it takes some seconds to produce nine-digit accuracy in this way. Of course, when operating an Apple the keystrokes 4*ATN(1) invoke tt quite quickly, but only because they do not initiate any actual calculation of tt. Some operations involve a value of tt/2 stored as a five-byte constant in locations - 3997 through -3993. So neither the Apple nor, indeed, the Apple Corporation actually calculate tt. Pres- umably they looked it up in some reliable source. The diff- erence between calculation, look-up of something already calculated, and when to use one and when the other, are important problems. One should keep one’s mind clear about them. Mr Mehew asks whether anyone knows the exact value of tt. It has no finite exact value, being a transcendental number. However many digits you compute, there are always more to be computed, and you cannot find out what digit is in a particular place without first computing all the digits that precede it. The literature about tt and its calculation is vast, but the essentials are readily access- ible in public libraries. I’m sure Mr Mehew would enjoy them. R A Falrthorne, Farnborough, Hampshire, IN His continued advocacy oT 4*ATN(1) as an equivalent to tt S Mehew says “it will evaluate to as many places as the computer can handle”. True: but there is no guarantee that they will be correct, for ATN is worked out from a complicated polynomial approximation to the ATN function, and such approx- imations often result in slight errors, A check can be made by printing out the values of the bytes of the internal floating- point representation of ATN(i). The mantissa bytes should agree with the sequence: 201 ,15,21 8, 162,33! 104, 194,52, 196, 198,... which were worked out from ^correct to 40 decimal places. These bytes may be inspected by Peeking, if you know where they are. Otherwise my short program will print them out, N should be one more than the number of mantissa bytes that your computer uses. Thus for the ZX-81, which uses four- byte mantissas, N = 5 gives 210,15,218,162,0 confirming that ATN{1> = tt/4 correct to the number of bytes used. If ATN(l) is in error, one of the series of rational approx- imations to ir is safe: 104,348/33,21 5 has an error of about 3 X 10“ 10 and will give the correct value for a four -byte mantissa: 80,143,857 / 25,510,582 has an error of about 6x10“ 16 and will give the correct value for a six -byte mantissa. W E Thomson, Aldeburgh, Suffolk. LET Q~ATN(1) FOR I = 1 TO N LET Q - 256 LET B = INT(Q) PRINT B LET Q = Q - B NEXT I Dissatisfied customer... everyone must now have heard about the infamous “28 -day delivery” quoted by Sinclair and others, but may not realise the depths to which the mail-order situation has recently fallen. I refer in particular to the Oric 1 and its software. Having now managed to sort out the problems with the 1 6K Oric, Oric Products International and its software house, Tansoft, now seem to have put all their efforts into plumbing new depths of bad service with the software packages Oric Forth and Oricmon, These programs were ad- vertised in the magazine early in June, quoting the usual “delivery within 28 days”. I sent off my order to Tansoft, for the Forth and Monitor packages, on June 1 1 , About two weeks later a confirmation of the order was received and stated that delivery would be within 28 days of the date of this confirmation. Five weeks later still, having received nothing and being unable to phone Tansoft during the day, I wrote asking what had happened. A further week elapsed before the unexpected arrival of Oric Forth. There was no covering letter to explain what had happened to Oricmon, but at least 1 could now use Forth. The documentation was well down to the very low standard set by the original Oric Programming Manual. The label on the cassette itself said that the program was recorded at Fast speed. After half an hour of unsuccessfully trying different playback levels I changed to Slow speed and obtained a good load first time. The contents page of the manual says that loading instructions were to be found on pages 1 and 2, My manual began at page 3, pages 1 5 / 1 6 being considered so important that Tansoft had included them twice. The manual begins as though assuming no knowledge on the part of the user, but quickly becomes so confused and disorganised that beginners are soon on their own. Now, some 1 1 weeks after my first order and four weeks after receiving Forth, I am very pleased with the software, but making sense of the manual was very hard work. Oricmon, but at lease I could now use Forth. labelled correctly and loaded first time at Fast speed. It also seems to work, but the covering letter began “Please find enclosed your Oricmon tape. I continued on next page } Our Feedback columns offer readers the opportunity of bringing their computing experience and problems to the attention of others, as well as to seek our advice or to make suggestions, which we are always happy to receive. Make sure you use Feedback — it is your chance to keep in touch. PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 7 FeedbacksmsS (continued on previous page) The manual will be sent on to you in about four weeks when we receive it from the primers . . so 1 cannot be sure. I shall avoid Tansoft like the plague in future. Why should users pay top prices for software and then get this pathetic service? Why can Tansoft not answer enquiries about non- delivery of goods? Why is there no department to answer the inevitable technical queries brought about by the very poor documentation? Why does “delivery within 28 days” mean delivery in about 15 weeks, if you’re lucky? Perhaps Tansoft might bother to answer you. A P Hill, Braunton, Devon* ...and a happy one YOUR CORRESPONDENCE columns are full of complaints about retailers of computing equipment. There are, however, dealers who offer a service that goes way beyond even excellence. 1 purchased a BBC Micro hoping that I would be able to use it for professional purposes. After a short while it became apparent that 1 needed a random-access filing system. This was beyond my very limited capabilities so I responded to an advertisement for a book on the subject with demo disc from The Computer Room in Newihorpe. One of the programs on the disc was almost what I needed, but trying to modify it produced only system crashes. However, a letter to the author, to my astonishment — i have had previous experience of major retailers — produced by return of post a most helpful reply. Within a week I had been sent a personalised system on two discs which fulfils all my needs. No payment was asked for. 1 have had no previous connection with Mr Morris of The Computer Room. 1 might add that the failure was in no way due to the book — but to my Basic ignorance. My faith in the computer industry is almost restored. J J Hamblin, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. Sad accident MANY THANKS for including Husky in the excellent British Micro supplement to the October issue. Unfortunately, the photograph you published fails to show Husky to the best advantage. It is a shot of a unit that had previously been run over by a fork-lift truck during shipment, and had been sent to you with an associated press release describing this un- fortunate incident. While it is remarkable how little damage the Husky suffered in this event, the LCD screen is not normally supplied in the smashed form illustrated in your article. David Viewing, DVW Microelectronics, Coventry, Unimpressed if only the world were full of customers like H J Challen Fd give up my job and move into software straight away. If one follows his example of marketing disc-drive manuals, I could produce a computer and justifiably provide it with no documentation. All Fd have to do is manufacture a TV set — in very limited quantities, like the Acorn 80-track disc drives — and give the computer documentation with that. The Acorn DFS is only supplied by Acorn, Having paid £98 for a chip I expect some docmentation telling me what it does. By all means insist that the disc-drive manufact- urer provides a manual telling you how to operate the disc drives but not, for pity’s sake, a software product he has not attempted to sell to a customer. None of the manufacturers selling alternative DFS systems insist you buy a disc drive from them to find out what the ROM chip you have paid for does. Mr Challen also likes the w r ay the Forth book and cassette are separately charged items. He would presumably be happy to have the added flexibility of receiving the language cassette one month, and the accom- panying docmentation over six months later. He’d be even happier on receipt of his documentation to find that his cassette i s n o w be i ng made available in disc and ROM format for little extra cost. Finally, Mr Challen thinks it admirable that Acorn charges him £9.95 for 256 bytes of code that enable him to use his £60 word processor properly. Ian Smith, Alkhobar, Saudi Arabia. Factorials the COMMENT by Owen Bishop concerning the limitations imposed on the calculation of factorials by microcomputers are appropriate only when using the direct method shown in his examples. Lifting these limitations to the speed of computation and size of numbers factorialized is not difficult, as demonstrated in my program. The program uses Jewett’s approximation rather than the more often cited Stirling’s method and an exponent- stripping routine. Lines 10 to 80 print the heading, initialise the variables and perform sanity checks. Line 90 computes LN N!, while lines 100 and 1 10 strip as many LN 1000 as possible from LN N! putting the answer in standard engineering notation. Line 120 adjusts the exponent. Line 130 takes the EXP of LN N! less all possible integral multiples of LN 1000. The error factor using Jew r ett’s approximation is always less than the magnitude of N and so rapidly becomes insignificant. Marshall P Brown, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Q 8 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 If your microcomputer job involves managing information, you’ll need a Compsoft Data Management System. It’s your guarantee that computerisation will be a success. Tel No. Compsoft are world leaders when it comes to easy to use database programs. There is nothing quite so genuinely user friendly, and nothing quite as powerful. And Compsoft were the winners of the 1983 RITA (Recognition of Information Technology Achievement) Awards ‘Software Product of the Year’. We can give your ^Computer the power to breeze through the management of any record keeping situation, — effortlessly, efficiently, and more accurately than you ever dreamed possible. From sales ledger to stock control, purchaser ledger to personnel, clubs to customers, and in a thousand other ways, we can lend a helping hand. You don t have to be a computer expert to use Conipsoff’s DMS or Delta. Both programs offer fast, accurate and elegant database power for both first time computer users and professional system designers. You owe it to yourself to know more. Either return the coupon to us, or simply telephone" tne o well send you a complete guide to our versatile database programs - today. Delta is available for almost any microcomputer with the MSDOS, PCDOS, CP/M, or MP/M operating systems, including IBM, DEC Rainbow, SIRIUS, XEROX, ICL, EPSON and many others. DMS is also available for Commodore computers. i r Compsoft Ha U aim Court Shamley Green Nr Guildford, Surrey England GU4 8QZ Telephone: Guildford (04 S3) 8 98 54 5 Telex: 859210 CMPSFT Company Contact Address PC further details PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 • Circle No. 103 9 Personal and Prole MTX512: 64K RAM - £315 MTX500: 32 K RAM - £275 Please phone for the address of your nearest Dealer MEMOTECH LTD STATION LANE WITNEY OXON 0X8 6BX TEL* 0993-2977 TLX* 83372 MEMTEC G The All-Purpose System The MIX Series is a new departure in micro-computer technology. Whether your needs as a user ore for personal programming, games playing , scientific or process control, educational or business use the MTX Series is already capable or very easily adaptable to almost every application. Glance through the standard features below - you'll see what we mean. Hardware - 32K RAM on the AATXSOO, 64K on the MTX512, The MTX500 has 32K of user RAM as standard (64K on the 512), expandable to 51 2K plus 16K of video RAM, controlled by a separate Video Processor. Sixteen colours, 40 column text, 256 x 192 high resolution graphics with all sixteen colours available, and 32 easily moveable user defined graphics characters (Sprites) combine to make effective screen displays quick and simple to achieve. Standard outputs are centronics printer port, two joystick ports, an uncommitted I/O port, 2400 Baud Cassette port, separate TV and Video Monitor ports, 4 channel sound with hifi output plus o dedicated cartridge port. Other standard features include the ISO A processor running at 4MHz, real time clock, full moving key keyboard with 79 keys including eight 2- function keys and separate numeric pad. Software The MTX's 24K ROM contains several languages and routines which enable the novice or the experienced programmer to make full use of the machine . Standard languages are MTX BASIC, MTX LOGO commands, NODDY\ ROM routines include an A SSSBMBLER/DISASSEMBLER with screen display of the 180 CPU registers, memory and program, which can be manipulated from the keyboard. Machine code programs can be stepped through one instruction at a time, and easily called from within BASIC programs. A further feature is the Virtual Screen facility which enables the programmer to split the screen into a maximum of eight sections to work independently whilst maintaining all full screen facilities . Pascal is available as an add-on POM pack. The Disc Based Computers from Memotech Designed to use the full power of the MTX computers the FDX and HDX make perfect business systems at prices which make perfect business sense. Both feature the CP/M operating system, giving instant access to a wide range of proven application software ♦ Ava/labie in October these feature: • Full Western Digital floppy disc controller set w/fh SASi interface for 4 drives, CP/M types 0-13 . • minimal latency, very high data transfer rates • opfionai Colour 80 Column Board • optional Silicon Discs (1/4 Mb) which dramatically increase the efficiency of 8 bit software to those of 16/32 bit software; increases life and reliability of mechanical drive • permits single disc CP/M operation FDX— Floppy Disc System lor 2 5 1/4 " Qume drives 500K unformatted, 347K formatted, HDX— Hard Disc System 5 1/4" Qume drive, 500K unformatted, 347K formatted, 5 1/4" Winchester which may be 5, 10, or 20 Mb All Memotech products are designed and manufactured in Oxfordshire, England CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research Inc. MEI VIOTECH [Mlt§£ m Circle No. 104 CONTINENTAL S 0 f T W A R E We’re not just playing games... BLOBBO A fast maze chase with untold perils and hazards, TOADO Get the toad back to his nest - hut don’t get run over or drown on the way. SUPER MINEFIELD You may have seen other Minefield games but ours has tanks that lay Invisible mines, and spiders that are very tricky to avoid. CONTINENTAL INVADERS Classic arcade action, with all the features that make this game so popular. KILOPEDE This one is very fast - its not easy to get past level two, RADAR/SONAR Eliminate submarines with a combination of radar screen and sonar, very realistic. FLIGHT SIMULATOR Take off, navigate and land your high powered light aircraft. All the features of true flight. ALSO AVAILABLE: RESCUE, BEAVER, CONTINENTAL RAIDERS, PILE UP, SIGNAL MAN and many more. MTXGALC Sophisticated and powerful, the professional spreadsheet program. we mean business too. MTX WORD PROCESSOR All necessary features are included to give a powerful business tool. ACCOUNTING PACKAGE Sales and Purchase Ledgers, stock control, payroll - the complete business system. PROJECT PLANNER Speaks for itself, and helps you achieve deadlines efficiently and effectively. STRATEGY BOARD GAMES CHESS, BACKGAMMON, OTHELLO, DRAUGHTS. EDUCATION PROGRAMS MATHS 1 PHYSICS 1 The first two programs in a series of specially written software designed to teach at the pace and level best suited to the user. Software for the CONTINENTAL SOFTWARE UNIT 24 STATION LANE WITNEY > Circle No. 105 SERIES News: software Arab RAM for ZX-81 basic programming in Arabic is now possible using the Sinclair ZX-81. A Saudi Arabian company has produced an add-on appropriately called Arab RAM, which plugs into the back of the computer. It generates an Arabic character set, and text is displayed on the screen from left to right. Arab RAM also gives the Basic a full set of Arabic keywords. Keyboard overlays and a supplementary manual written in Arabic are also provided. ! The computer can still be used for programming in the English language when the user choses to. Further details from Autoram, PO Box 147, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Telephone: Saudi Arabia (010 966) 660 4212. Dragon/ Tandy converter IF DRAGON CRUNCHER does what is claimed for it the number of good programs available to Dragon owners has been vastly increased at a stroke. Dragon Cruncher converts Tandy Color Computer programs to run on the Dragon. It also works the other way, which will interest Tandy Co-Co owners. No programming knowledge is required to use Dragon Cruncher. At the moment it can only handle Basic programs. The price if £7.95, including post and packing. Contact Elkan Electronics, Freepost, 11 Bury New Road, Pre st wich , Man chest er M 26 6LZ. Telephone 061-798 7613. Lisa ledgers a combined ledger system with automatic posting to sales, purchase and nominal ledgers is now available for the Apple Lisa. Sunaccount costs £1,250. Financial reports from the package can be further manipulated by Lisacalc and Lisawrite. Contact Systems Union Ltd, 34 Delancey Street, London NW1 7NH. Telephone: 01-485 2594, Down the sewer PORTABLE COMPUTERS don't get soggy ? which gives them an advantage over pencil and paper down a sewer. Two water authorities, Thames and Southern, are using the Husky battery-powered portable to record defects found during sewer inspection. Specialised software for the task was written for them by Structural Dynamics of Southampton. The Husky is ideal for the purpose as it is waterproof and designed to operate in harsh environments, A new version is available to meet the safety requirements of industries where inflammable or explosive atmospheres are likely to be encountered. For details contact DVW Microelectronics, PO Box 135, 345 Foleshill Road, Coventry CV6 5RW. Telephone: (0203) 668181. 16 -bit Cardbox-Plus cardboX'PLUS is one of the best selling record-keeping programs for eight-bit CP/M machines. It can now be obtained for the Sirius, Wang and IBM PCs. Cardbox-Plus is simple to use because it emulates a card index, with individual records represented by a screenful of information. Record size is limited to 2,340 characters in the 16-bit version. Cardbox-Plus costs £300, A multi-user version with record- level locking is also now available for MP/M and Turbodos systems. Details from Business Simulations Ltd, Scriventon House, Speldhurst, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN3 OTU. Telephone: Langton (0892) 3 105 . Software Index YET ANOTHER computer magazine will be on the news- stands from December. Software Index takes the form of a directory of available software for eight popular home micros including the BBC, Commodore 64 and Spectrum, It is a remote cousin of Practical Computing as it is published by I PC Magazines, a rival arm of the giant Reed publishing empire. Software index will be published quarterly and costs £1.50. Intelligent disassembler MDIS is an intelligent disassembler for Z-80 and 8080 CP/M machines. It lets you take apart machine-code programs for examination or modification. MDIS goes beyond simple disassemblers and provides automatic labelling in addition to Z-80 or 8080 mnemonics. Data areas are reported in defined-byte form with an ASCII printout alongside. MDIS output can be to screen, printer or disc, and it can be edited for reassembly by a variety of assemblers including Microsoft's common M-80 assembler. MDIS costs £50 and is available in a variety of CP/M disc formats from Henry's, 404-406 Edgware Road, London W2 1ED. Telephone: I 01-402 6822. Stocking fillers most of the following programs should be available from High Street shops but a contact phone number or address of the publisher is provided. Ain Lone Raider For the Atari you enter and destroy an alien nuclear power station. It is cassette based and costs £14.99. Published by Atari. Telephone: Slough 33344. • Franklin's Tomb is one of the best Adventure games. Already running on the Dragon and Oric micros, it is now also available for the BBC machine. It costs £9.95. Published by Salamander Software. Telephone: Brighton (0273) 771942. • The.Forest simulates the terrain seen by a runner competing in an orienteering event. The scene changes as you run through the landscape. The program, which runs on the 48K Spectrum, comes with a four- colour map prepared to orienteering conventions and a 32-page book of instructions. It costs £9.95. Contact Phipps Associates, 172 Kingston Road, Ewell, Surrey KT19 OSD. Telephone: OL393 0283 • The latest program for home use is quite seriously called What's to Eat. It is a database of meals, with the computer displaying lists of ingredients and producing a shopping list. It runs on the BBC Model B and costs £9.95, or £12.95 on disc. Contact Shumwari Assoc- iates, 12 Marlin Court, Marlow, Buckinghamshire SL7 2AJ. Telephone: (062 84) 5751. • Domesticated people may also be interested in Cut Your Heating Bills, a program for the 48K Spectrum. It aims to help you compare savings from double glazing, wall, floor or roof insulation, changing fuel or altering your thermostat settings. It costs £7,95 including post and packing from Brane Software, Myrtle Grove, Brane, Sancreed, Penzance, Cornwall TR20 8RE. Telephone: (073) 672 562. PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 13 it's our service ! Whether your applications involve simple financialproceduresorcomplicated R & D Graphics (or a myriad of techniques in between) KGB have the system for you. With the right software packages to go with it. And all at sensible competitive prices But we go further still. We can help with finance and leasing. We provide sound system training. And comprehensive ma/nfenance. So send for our literature. Have a look at the KGB service ~ and find out how you can win Game, Set and Match! s for the Business, Commercial I Technical user - Stand Alone and M ulti- user Systems. KB MICROS LIMITED word processing + accountancy + financial modelling + calculation + sales office management + accounts + payroll + graphics + engineering + communications + languages + solicitors + CAD 106 St Leonards Road Windsor Berkshire SL4 3DD Tel: Windsor 50111 Telex: 23152 MONREF G (Ref 8542) • Circle No. 106 14 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 News: hardware after working methodically from M-l to M-4-* LSI has broken with tradition by giving the M -5 a name: Octopus, It is styled differently from the M-4* In being a three-piece desk top micro. Internally, like the M-4 it offers an 8088 plus a Z-80 for both eight-bit and 16-bit processing with most popular operating systems. The con- struction is, however, radically different. The neat main board has a single expansion slot near the back. Other boards can be piggybacked on to it to provide an extra five RS-232C ports, more RAM, an Arcnet-style network connection, etc. In the future, extra processors might be added. Each additional board has both an input socket and an output socket, so they simply slot one on top of another, building up a bus without the need for a card cage. The style is rather like the Memotech accessories for the ZX-8L The result is a desk-top micro which can be sold at a competitive price against the IBM PC and Sirius \ , but which can also handle* without Octopus modification* two more terminals running under M/PM-IL With the extra boards, another four or five terminals could be added, or several small systems networked together. For extra storage, Sim floppy and hard-disc drives can also be added. The result is a minicomputer-like system like* for example* the ICL PC. Did I hear anyone say “future proof”? The Octopus offers a choice of keyboards, including LSI’s word-processing keyboard with ample function keys, and an IBM PC-type keyboard from Keytronic. There is a choice of monochrome or colour monitors, as the standard machine includes colour circuitry. It also has a built-in PAL UHF output* so if you lug the machine home you can plug it into your TV. Octopus prices start at £1,530 + VAT for a single-drive system with keyboard but without monitor. A twin- floppy system with a screen and a complete integrated business package called Axis costs £2*090 plus VAT. The Oc to so ft software package brings word processing* mall merge, spreadsheet and database; it costs £295 extra. Octopus is manufactured by LSI, which is part of CPU computers, a company quoted on the Unlisted Securities Market. In the year to June 1983* this 10-year -old company showed turnover doubled from £9.6million to £19.2miilion. LSI sales were £3,5million. Contact LSI Computers, Copse Road, St Johns* Woking* Surrey GU2I 1SX. Telephone: (04862) 2341 1 . MOS Supermicro THE MOS SUPERMICRO IS a new British business computer designed and produced by MOS International of Winchester. It uses a Z-80A running at 4MHz* has 64K of RAM, and a good range of interfaces including a Mosnet port for networking. Apparently the Supermicro has been on sale in Australia, Africa and Europe for the last year. Now the British are to be offered the chance to buy it from TKT Computers. Contact TKT Computers, Rood End Road, Oldbury, Warley, West Midlands. Lucas LX many readers of this magazine will remember building their first Nascom from a kit. Since the takeover by Lucas, however, the Nascom 3 has been taken firmly into the office/small business area of the market. Now Lucas Microcomputers has launched the new LX micro running CP/M 2.2 or, option- ally, NasSys and NasDos. The LX has a Z-80A running at 4MHz* 64 K of RAM, an 8K Basic in ROM and graphics resolution of 784 by 256 pixels. Up to 4* 193 shades are available to colour graphics. The LX can drive both colour and monochrome monitors at the same time, and a UHF output is included to drive a TV, though a 12in. moniotr is supplied as standard. Prices are from £1*795 plus VAT. Contact Lucas Microcomputers, Lucas Logic Ltd* Welton Road, Wedgnock Industrial Estate, Warwick CV34 5PZ. Telephone: (0926) 497733 and 400004, Ferranti's Advance THE ADVANCE 86, a £400 IBM PC-compatible small micro* caused a stir when it was previewed in our October issue. The Advance uses Ferranti ULAs* and now a deal has been signed with Ferranti to produce the micro at its Derker Street factory in Oldham. Contact Ferranti Computer Systems, Bird Hall Lane, Cheadle Heath, Stockport. Telephone: 061-428 0771. Advance can be contacted direct at 01-609 0061. Philips Portable the well known Dutch multinational has leapt into the transportable computer market with the new P-200QC* which is based on the standard P-2000 office model It features a Z-80 A* 64K of RAM, 32K of separate video RAM, a 9in. screen and two i 5,25in. floppy discs with up to 640K of storage each. The screen resolution is excellent at 512 by 512 pixels. Some unnamed software, including a word-processing package and a spreadsheet, will be bundled with the machine. This trade information comes from Austria but hardy souls | might try Philips in the U,K. Telephone: (0206) 575115. Or contact Philips Austria, MAG Personal Computers, Trieestestrasse 64, A-1100 Vienna, Austria. Telephone: 43-222-64 55 21/584. Wang WANG has introduced the Local interconnect option which enables Wang PCs to be networked* or used as a work station in an OIS ■ — Office Information System — VS, IIS/VS or other Wang system based on a mini or 32-bit super- minicomputer. New software for the Wang (continued on page 21) PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 15 16 LONDON COMPUTER CENTRE NEC ADVANCED PERSONAL COMPUTER 16 bit 8086 128K Ram 2.4Mb Disk Storage CP/M86 - MS DOS Green Screen £1985 Colour Display £2595 EPSON QX 10 192K RAM £1735 Up gradable to 256K mullt fronts zoom graphics LCC SPECIAL BUNDLE. NEC ARC- R,R-P.£1985 NEC Dot Matrix Printer R.R.P. £ 395 Benchmark WP Software R.R.P. £ 31 1 Cables R-R-P- £ 30 £2721 you pay you save £1985 £ 736 apricot 256K from £1495 SIRIUS 1 1 .2 Mb Disk Storage £2195 2.4 Mb Disk Storage £2695 1 0. Mb Disk Storage £3995 Hard Disk for IBM PC, Sirius, QX10 NEC 10 Mb £ 1545 1 15 Mb £1695 20 Mb £ 1995 | 20 Mb Tape Streamer £1495 SUPERBRAIN 2 Dedicated Wordstar Keypad from £1865 New TANDY Model 4 CP/M 3.0* Optional extra 64K-128K RAM from £1299 TELE-VIDEO 806/816 the Multi User Computer System LAP PORTABLES EPSON TANDY 100 UVOA Portable wilh built-in 4 % da* w 4 Programmes : Word Processor, Portable with built - address book > scheduler, and Fn corrununicalions. Larqe 40 x S char. from £402 NEC PC 8201 16K RAM EXPANDABLE to 96K Lap Portable with 8 built in programmes. Word Processor, Investment Portfolio. Loan Evaluator. Appointment/Schedule, Bar Code Reader, Calculator, Tank & Snake Game, Music Generator. Large 40x8 LCD Display Buill-in Serial, Parallel & i BarCode Reader Ports. £475 9 SCREEN ZORBA FLOWRITER RP 1600 60 CPS Fast and reliable 8K buffer £1600 3 in One TOSHIBA P1350 24 Needles * high speed drafts 190 CPS Letter Period Printing 100 CPS Addressable Pm Graphics El 130 Options: Tractor E87; Sheet feeder £520 Portable full 80x24 display BOOK disc storage £1595 SENDATA 800 SERIES ACOUSTIC COUPLER £220 * Compact, lightweight, portable ' 10 hours operation from the rechnmabte batteries ' 300 SPSanswer/ofiginsaie ■ Handsel sensor on/all switch ' New crystal controlled circuitry 1 B. T, Approved . PSON FX80/100 OCPS SINGLE SHEET FEEDER £375 New JUKI 6100 Daisywheel 18 CPS Bi directional Adler daisywheels ’ Diablo 630 ^ protocols £399'" ,, ''-9& TEC F10 40 CPS Diablo 620 compatible Japanese reliability £1350 New SHINWA CP 80 MATRIX PRINTER BO CPS Friction and Tractor rnc. interface cable and paper £250 3 TRAY AUTO SHEET FEEDER For originals, copies and envelopes. £695 SUITABLE FOR MOST DAISY PRINTERS All prices are Exclusive of VAT and Delivery. Dealer Enquiries invited on all Products. Large range of CPM Software available. Please phone for Prices. Demonstrations on all models. 43 Grafton Way, London W1P 5 LA (Opposite Maples) - Opening Hours: 10-7 Mon-Fri. 12-4 Sat. 01-387 4455 (4 li nes) Telephone Answering Service After Office Hours Telex: 8953742 • Circle No. 160 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 A HOME MICRO Choosing a home micro can be a daunting task to the newcomer, and with an ever increasing number of micros emerging on the market, even up-grading, say, from a ZX81 can be a risky and expensive exercise if the wrong decision is made. It is important to look at the real facts and specifications, and check exactly what you get for your money before choosing your micro-computer system. THE PITFALLS “DON'T LET THE ADD ONS ADD UP” A number of large companies are offering packages that seem to be good value and low cost. These offers usually have a hidden Sting inasmuch as the essential accessories such as connection leads, peripherals and software often carry very high cost premiums, e g. software for low cost hardware usually costs between £29 and £49 for a ROM cartridge!! CHECK THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT. Raw materials are now an area where corners can be cut, and shoddy workmanship during 'building 1 can effect the 'up-time of your unit Areas to watch out for are unreliable edge connectors, corrosion and poor quality RCB.s. Low quality components and bad design will seriously effect the reliability of the end product, and can lead to false economy. DON’T BOY A GAMES MACHINE Unless you want just games and nothing else! With a games computer you are limited. Some computers, however, have the advantage of both games facility plus the whole world of computing to explore, as your interest and skills develop A real computer system will allow you to expand your knowledge of the Hi -Technology world, and help earn its keep with Its added uses in the field of education, communica- tion and home business use, SOFTWARE Make sure the system you choose has a growing library of support software, to enable you to realize the full potential of your machine. KEY POINTS TO LOOK FOR $ High Resolution Colour In general most home computers have a poor graphics resolution (or detail). Check on the vertical and horizontal resolution in graphic mode and multiply the two numbers together If the result is less than 35,000, then the graphics can hardly be considered high resolution Without high resolution graphics displays such as those used in games tend to be "Chunky' 1 in appearance. • High Quality Sound Some computers claim to provide a sound channel when in reality all that can be found inside the computer is a small buzzer controlled by electronic pulses. At the very least a sound facility should provide more than one channel and a raise channel as well (for gun shot effects in games for example). The best systems also provide envelope control of the sound channels to produce very sophisticated effects; very important for generating music. Also look for the ability to connect to external amplifiers, • Keyboard For accurate entry of programs and data into a computer it is important that the keyboard has a good tactile feel in operation. Coupled with acoustic feedback the user is fully aware when the computer has accepted his/her actions. Also of importance in a keyboard is layout, A standard computer keyboard layout will familiarise the user with the vast majority of computers used in the world of business and professional applications; very important if the purpose of purchasing a computer is educational. • RAM One of the most important features of a computer is the amount of RAM. or memory, included. In general the more powerful and exciting a computer program is the more RAM it requires. Bui take care, all computers are advertised quoting the total RAM used in the system. Computers use up a great deal of their own RAM for storing essential data and particularly in supporting the graphics display and the CPU . If it is less than 32K think again, is it enough? Choosing the right system carefully wilt save you from throwing your money away Check full specification, ptus peripherals and software prices, before, you buy. Preferably choose a Real computer system that can expand to meet your needs. computer system that will grow with you: able to accommodate Printers, Disk-drives. Joysticks, Communica- tions Modem, and Colour Monitor, as well as produce HI-FI sound effects. # Software The computer you choose should have a growing selection of utility software to make the most of its capability. Remember, computing Is here to stay You can’t learn to compute on a toy, or a device which does not behave like a real computer. In short, look out for a computer which offers all the points above, and you will be sure of getting the best value for money. • Computer Language It is too d if! cult to program a computer in its own binary language so high level languages are used, the most popular being BASIC. However, there are a number of BASICs, some being very different from the rest. A de facto standard in the computer industry is Microsoft BASIC, Learn this one and you will be able to program in the majority of computer BASICs; such an important point if a home computer is to be used to educate your children to face the technology of the future. To find out which company offers you the right choice, with:- • Good value, high specification, quality micros. • A quality, 4 colour, plain paper printer/ plotter. • Communications Modem. • Micro Disk Drives. • Expansion As your interest and knowledge of computing grows, you will need a • Comprehensive of software and growing range TURNOVER ESC cTfiL A s D F G H SHIFT Z X C V B / SHIFT e G ORIC 3” MICRO FLOPPY DISK DRIVE Coming soon the incredible new 3” One Micro Drives. Small size, Compact, High precision disks with storage capabilities from 1 00K Bytes to in excess of 1 Megabyte unformatted. With their own built-in power supply t these A easy to use units will add big system capability to your f * home micro. f J GRAPH ***.!* ORIC MCP 40 COLOUR PRINTER/PLOTTER The Oric Colour Printer is quality engineered to provide 4 colour hard copy on plain paper, with superb graphics and text capability, printing either 40 columns or 80 columns. It prints in red, green, black and blue, onto a 4‘/j" width standard paper roll. With a print speed of 1 2 characters a second, the MCP 40 comes with its own power supply and all necessary leads to connect straight into your Oric or to any standard Centronics interface. This superb printer represents excellent value at just £169.95 including VAT. ORIC PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL LTD. COWORTH PARK, LONDON ROAD, ASCOT, BERKS. The right choice for real computing Before making your final choice, check any other home micro in the same price bracket, against the incredible specification of the ORIC-1. Quality of build and materials Real computer keyboard layout and moving keys Superb styling / Full colour display High Resolution colour graphics 240 x 200 pixels Choice of 16K or 48K RAM Real computer language programming — Basic/ Forth Latest design technology and circuitry Teletext/Viewdata compatible graphics (28 rows x 40 characters) Real sound — 8 octaves plus Hi-Fi output Cassette Port & R.G.B. output. Centronics printer interface Fully supported and growing software library Colour printer / Disk Drives A fully expandable system for home, education & small business use Communications Modem Full range of peripherals to support your system... ■ ORIC-l Setting todays standard in Quality and Price. ORIC-1 48K£13995inc.VAT ORIC-1 16K£99.95inc.VAT All ORIC computers purchased before 31 st December 1 983 MCP 40 COLOUR PRINTER £169.95. come with a £40 voucher off the M.R.P. of the MCP 40 Colour OFFER PRICE £129.95 Printer, ORIC Software Fhe fast growing success of ORIC- 1 means that an incredible number of software titles are becominq available for your Oric. With many well known titles from independent software houses, plus exclusive ORIC SOFTWARE from TANSOFT. you can now drive /our Oric towards its full potential. , „ 3elow is a small selection from Tansoft s range, all of which offer superb value. TOURING LANGUAGES GERMAN, SPANISH, ITALIAN, FRENCH. GENERAL INTEREST ORIC CHESS, MULTIGAMES 1. MULTIGAMES 2. ORIC CAD, THE NOWOTNIK PUZZLE. BUSINESS ORIC BASE. ORIC CALC, AUTHOR. MACHINE LANGUAGES FORTH. ORIC MON. COMPUTER GAMES ZODIAC, HOUSE OF DEATH, ORIC MUNCH, SUPER BREAKOUT, ULTIMA ZONE, DEFENCE FORCE. TANSOFT ORIC SOFTWARE available f rom your ORIC supplier and all good software- dealers. For full list of furt her information contact:- TANSOFT LIMITED 3 Cl ( IB MI WS. ELY CAMBS CB7 4NW TEL (0353) 227 1/2/3/4 mouse 1 (mows) n. {pi. mice). Unique hand-operated device to facilitate fast operation of WORD, Microsoft’s sophisticated word processing software package, starting with the IBM PC. In producing WORD, we have redefined word- processing software for the foreseeable future. No longer is it necessary to have a word processor if you want to do word processing. All you need is an IBM PC and a Microsoft W( )RD software package. And away you go. Instantly your IBM is transformed from a mere microcomputer into a word processor with as many functions as you will ever need For a start, its fast, (This is where the mouse comes in.) It pushes whole sentences around with natural hand movements. And it s sure. Even if you're not. With special undo facility, multiple windowing and context sensitive help. Typefaces can be varied too. Bold, italic, underlined, you name it. And what you see on the screen is what you get on paper. So if you need word processing but don't need a word processors price, give us a call. Maybe we have a little something to talk about. i WORD Please send me further information on Microsoft Word. | Name i Position I ■ Company \ I Address J Tel | I MICROSOFT 8 | Right. First time. I Microsoft, Piper House, Hatch Lane, Windsor, j Berks SL42QT.Tel (07535) 59951, I P RA 1 2 / 3W1 • Circle No. 109 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 20 News: hardware mmm Workslate (continued from page 15) PC includes Notebook, a simple database system which searches unstructured text, and a UCSD-p run-time support system. Word-processing files from the PC can now be transferred to the Wangwriter and other Wang office systems equipment* The price of the Wang Professional Computer has been cut* The cheapest entry- level system with a single drive and no monitor costs £1,835 plus VAT* A full system with two 360K drives and a VDU costs £2,675 plus VAT. The Local Interconnect option costs £285, and Notebook costs £145 — all prices plus VAT. Contact Wang (ILK.) Ltd, Wang House, 661 London Road, Isleworth, Middlesex TW7 4EH. Telephone: 01-560 4151* Signet 3 Kenneth baker, Minister for Information Technology, recently opened the new Shelton Instruments factory in North London* The government^ British Technology Group is one of its financial backers. On view for the first time was the Signet 3, an expandable multi- user small-business system, which was to be officially unveiled at Compec. Contact Shelton Instruments, 74-77 White Lion Street, London Nl 9PJ* Telephone: 01-278 6272. Spectrum joystick DOWNSWAY is now offering a joystick which plugs directly into the Spectrum and which can be programmed to suit any keyboard-operated game. You press the key on the keyboard while moving the joystick in the desired direction, which is then remembered until you reprogram it or turn off the computer. The joystick costs £22.95. Contact Downsway Elec- tronics (U*K.) Ltd, Depot Road, Epsom, Surrey KT17 4RJ. Telephone: Epsom (03727) 27222. CONVERGENT TECHNOLOGIES, which brought you the powerful Burroughs B-20 micro, has just announced a portable for the executive. The workslate has the familiar tools such as a calculator, calendar and address book, and it also has a built-in spreadsheet. Unlike the Tandy/NEC/ Olivetti lap computers — but like the Epson HX-20 — it has a built-in microcassette recorder* The LCD display is, however, bigger than all these at 46 characters by 16 lines* Overall dimensions are about the same at 11.25m. by 8.5in. but it only weighs 31b* Like Sony with the Typecorder, CT has taken the line that real executives do not type, they dictate. Thus the U-Net for the BBC according to U - Microcomputers, Acorn cannot deliver Econet that compares with U-Net because it needs a second 6502, something that is in short supply* U- Microcomputers says, however, that it can now deliver U-Net for the BBC Micro, allowing up to 32 micros to share up to six disc drives and one or two printers. U-Net is a star network that has established itself on the Apple 11, and been on field trial on the BBC Micro since this summer. Once you have acquired U-Net, a BBC Micro satellite kit costs £50 plus VAT. Contact U -Microcomputers, Winstanley Industrial Estate, Long Lane, Warrington, keyboard is not typewriter-like and the microcassette records speech as well as programs and data. The Workslate comes with an AC adaptor, modular phone- jack cable, soft case and instruction tapes. A printer is an optional accessory* The Workslate has initially been launched at £895 via the American Express Christmas Catalogue. After that market has been filled it should be available through U.S. stores, then reach the UK some time in 1984. Contact Convergent Technologies, 38/40 Sycamore Road, Amersham, Buckinghamshire HP6 5DR. T elepho ne : (02403 ) 28 5 1 5 . Cheshire. Telephone: (0925) 54117. Phoenix Stratos THE PHOENIX STRATOS business computer runs CP/M and is said to be faster than many computers costing considerably more. Its main selling points, however, arc that it packs twin 8in. floppy-disc drives offering 2.5Mbyte of storage and it costs under £2,000. If you want to know more then you have to get in touch with Phoenix direct* Contact Phoenix Systems, Second Floor, Buckingham House, 42 Princess Street, Manchester. Telephone: I 061-236 1172* In brief • Olivetti had the misfortune 1 to pick the wrong processor, the ZUog Z-8000, For its personal micro. Olivetti has already produced an 8086 card for the M-20 to offer MS-DOS capability. Now it is signing a deal with Corona Data Systems, the manufacturer of an IBM PC work -alike. Olivetti will make the machine in Europe. • The Zeus 3X is a 32-user micro with one Z-80A and one Intel 8088 for each user* It is being sold by Millbank Computers of Twickenham* Telephone: 01-891 4691. • Almarc Data Systems has added the Motorola 68000 running Unix to the range of processors in its Spirit micro. A 10Mbyte system costs £4,000 plus VAT. Telephone: Nottingham (0602) 52657. • Cifer’s Model 2887 has a Z-80, a 5Mbyte or 10Mbyte hard disc, runs CP/M Plus and costs £3,395 or £3,995. For £995 you can add a 68000 to run Unix* Telephone: Melksham (0225) 706361. • Imp has announced a range of support products for its powerful 68000-based IMP-68. They include l Mbyte memory cards and interfaces to a range of discs and tape streamers. Imp also has Unix software including Uniplex word processing, Mince, Superfile and a CP/M emulator* Telephone: Consett (0207) 503481* • Plessey Microsystems has developed a bubble-memory system, the PBS-9QM, with 4Mbyte to 24Mbyte capacity* It is intended to replace disc systems in military applications* Telephone: Towcester (0327) 50312* • Mom Systems of Aberdeen has launched a configurable communications package to link micros to micros, minis or mainframes in asynchronous or bisynchronous modes. Mom says it has been field tested in the North Sea. Telephone: Aberdeen (0224) 571825* • Grundy's Newbrain micro may continue after all* It seems that the Dutch distributor Tradecom International wants to take it over. PRACTICAL COMPUTING December W83 21 G.W. COMPUTERS LTD LON DON’S WEST END NATIONWIDE OVERNITE SERVICE MORE PRODUCT RANGES BETTER SERVICE PROBAB LY THE WIDEST SELECTION OF NETWORKS... MICROS...AND PRINTERS ON DISPLAY NATIONWIDE *THE NEW DBMS ] I (series IK of the world's first 'task-robot'progrsfnsy**** ## ***FEATURES***** 12 online ti le arch itec lures. . 1400 character record sizes. . .. 32000 records per filename,,. mathematical scratchpad 20 main)2Q0 sub fields par record,., 240 fields using cross-ref erencing record relational indexes field and record related formulae.. cross-record calculations translateabte to any language 'Jump-to 1 any of 32000 records per file.. ‘Jump-to’ any record in 12 files., ra ndom/binary/key/mu 1 1 i pie field sea rch . . Usendef i nea bfe fr fesf f i eld words/s izes. . endless 'eilher-or' matching.. User-defineable reporting. field protect [onfclaseificat ion 'sf-then* questioning.. eilher-or, same as. greater, smaller .., file protection/password entry formulate/recall on selection criteria, sorts ‘alpha or numeric' any window............... range match, not match, integer match 13 interrogation question types... 12 online file architectures sort speed 500 records per 20 seconds,. short filing outpu Uaud i( trails , .. „ r . „ . Word-star & Mbasic compatible DBMS 1117 NEW SWITCH MODE FACILITY ENABLES YOU TO CROSS UP TO 12 DIFFERENT FILES (32000 RECORDS PER FILE) PRE SELECTING ANY OF UP TO 20 FIELDS PER RECORD/FILE FOR DISPLAY/PRINT OUTPUT (240 FIELDS) IN ALL ONE MASSIVE ENQUIRY CAN PASS THROUGH 384,000 RECORDS Y gu might have two files whose records are directly related to each other, so that the first file {say containing names and addresses! refers to the second file {say financial and other information relating to the same record numbers in the first file) directly. Then you can simply select that in file 1 you are interested in just the name and telephone numbers, whereas in file 2. you are interested in the income trading period and number of branches, information. Your enquiry can then passthrough both files highlighting that information only. Actually there doesn t need to be a strict correlation between the same record numbers in different files, and you can also on just one JUMP command qo to any record in any of the 32000 records in any of the twelve files and carry on cross-referencing from there onwards. DBMS'S MACROS WORK FROM THE MOMENT YOU INSERT THE TASK DISK' IN THE COMPUTER Simply design your file, give its fields your words, setup your report mask, and then enter your records. Switch to 'automatic drive' and formulated any task you wish to program to fulfill, the task is stored as a macro. Take a copy of the program on another task disk' and from then on, the task disk will function without a single key-stroke. Think of a number of such Task disks' such as "stock- re-order reports"' stock valuation reports"; "analysis"; "patient history analysis"; "research- ana lysis"; "budgetting-analysis"* "vehicle-location control ; librarian analysis ; plus more?" Not only does this program surpass most of its kind that FREE . DBMS IJ fV SIRIUS/VICT0R/I8M ex. training). n v H? IS P r0 9 ranri surpass most of its kind that you might buy elsewhere, but if you buy the hardware from us then vou opt ir . DBMS II (WITHOUT MACROS) AND DBMS III ARE FULLY IMPLEMENTED UNDER CPM-86 tml AND MS DOS rtmU E DBMS II IS £395.00 (or £250.00 by mail order ex, training) . . DBMS III is £5 75 000 lor £2 95 $0 by 111 order MICRO-COMPUTERS IWTERTK -5u;eto64K RAIA320K disks 169500 -Supetei 6JK RAMffGCK disks 2395JOO -Gompuslar SiK AAW33CK risks 219503 -Compustar 64K RAY, TOOK risks 259500 NORTH STAR ■Atf^irage 64k HA Y.TtOK risks E2195.CO fercOOS! ■At^anlase 64K RAM-53M risks £3095.60 TELEV1D6Q -S02&SK FlAMdTKX disks 239500 «EH WK RAM7.3M disks 3950 jM 6C6&SK RAM'ICM disks 610500 -3l62!6Ki750K disks ■£3350 DO ACT -Sirius 1 256W12M disks ■£21%C0 -Sius 2 25cKi24M disXs P £2095.CO ■Sirius 3 256K/ICW EG risks ■£^9600 VICTOR: ■SC0055eK'UM disks 'E21S500 IBM ■PC6JK RAM640K disks -PCI 33XMK disks £3196.00 ISM XT (TEN HEGAEYTEJ 14430.00 X# IHYEMEGA3TTFI £3650.00 ALTOS ACS30O2 m RAM)'lM4iSS 219500 ACS80Q-10 206^1 D.5Meg disks 56S.OO NEC APC lSK.RAkV2M disks taJLDO CORVUS Coocsfpne bd pc can DO GBO S^KRAW-m disks H95.C0 PRINTERS OKI ■Microline 80 295.00 -Microline & 2 A 395.00 -Microline B3 695.00 -Micro line &4 895.00 EPSON ■MX30KFT-3 42&.00 -MX 1 00/ FT -3 575.00 AN AD EX ■DP9000 395.00 -DP 9501 1045.00 -DP 9501 (A) 1145,00 QUME ■9/45 R/Q 1995.00 -9/55 R/O 2195.00 -9/35 R/O 1495,00 NEC -3510 FVO 1495.00 ■7710 R/O 2196.00 -5520 KSR Z250.00 ORE 6820 1295.00 ■3630 1695.00 TEXAS -810 996.00 ■825 995,00 DIABLO -&30 1995.00 RICOH -RP1600 1 695.00 OLYMPIA ■ESW 103 14 CPS 975.00 SOFTWARE All compuier prices mdude mbaste as slaitdoni All price* jnarted ’ am 6.'1G M machines. THE BEST KNOWN SOFTWARE ALSO MOST OFTKE BEST SSHLSJSSS 0F * peripherals from 300.00 to mw J SYSTEM DEAL (our speciality) SAVES YOU 1500.00 + G W. COMPUTERS LTD - Tel: 01-636 0210 POPULAR BRANDS OF EQUIPMENT WE SELL MICROS: SiriusA/tclorH, B.M./DEC E pso n/Nort h -star/Sa n yo/Sup erb ra in Compu $ta it A It o$/ A pp le - L isa/Tel evi de a P R I NT E RS: N e c/Qu me/Di a bloJO k UEp son OJ y m p fa) R ic oh (T exas/Dre/A n ad ex OTHERS: Corvus/Compustar Hard disks networks and multiplexors Sp ool g rs(M odem s t Bu f f ers most of the best known brands of software G.W.L ■BUS V&QO (Accounts) -DBMS II (Database) -DBMS II (by mail order onlyj -DBMS Hi (database) ■DBMS III (by mair order only! ■ FO RM ST EXT, 'CALC/- DBMS IV -Sales Ledger ■Purchase Ledger ■ Nominal Ledger -Stock-Control -AddressMaNer . . -QASorVQNSofl (500 Recs/1 4sees) Microsoft -Mbastc so ■Forti an B0 -CobolSO -Basic Compiler ■MU I isp/mu star ■Word-star ■Mail-merge -Spelslar -W- sta r/M 'merge/Sp’Star ■BStarri (communications) -BStms (tele-comins') ■CGasic -Concurrent CPM/66 -CBasicSS -Pascal MT ■T/Maker -CIS Cpbol ■Forms ll , -Super Calc PEACHTREE Magic Wand -Magic Calc VARIOUS -including tele-comms etc Software formats on alj micros In our hardware list Alf prices marked £ are available 8/16 bit lormats. MICROPRO BY ROM DIGITAL LIFEBOAT M 1 FOCUS SORCIM 275.00 + £395,00 ■E25Q.00 ■£575.00 '£295.00 *£575.00 *£95.00 £95.00 ’£95.00 ‘£95,00 ■£95.00 *£95.00 ■ 195.00 295.00 395.00 '225.00 125.00 *£295.00 '£95-00 125.00 42500 100.00 100.00 75.00 ■375.00 "f 75.00 225.00 155.00 420.00 100.00 195.00 190.00 175.00 callOO PERIPHERALS & ACCESSORIES SOFTWARE COMMENT!!! INTEGRATED SOFTWARE IS PROPERLY REPRESENTED, when the degree of integration reflects the ability to refer to as many different files, as well as employ as many different functions under as many different modes as possible in one program only. This principle not being observed, will confer upon your purchases the attribute of their being expensive as an aggregate even though individually they are cheap. “DBMS III,?" and “THE KEY" are comparably worthy of such a label. CGRVUS INTERTEC N’STAR RODIME GENIE QUADRAM B3ZCGMP AST GIX -5 Meg hard disk 1950.00 -11 Meg hard disk 2950,00 -20 Meg hard disk 3950 qq - Mu 1 1 ipJexor 7 s tat ion 695. 00 ■ Mi r ror back u p c a rd 695.00 ■Com pus ta r 1 0 M eg ha rd d isk 2950 00 -CDC 144 Meg hard disk 7950-00 ■ 16 BH u/grade 395.00 -16 Meg hard disk 2995 00 -6 Meg hard disk 1495.00 ■12 Meg hard disk 1950.00 -5 MG fixed/5MG removeable disk . 3295.00 -64K print spooier/eopier 29500 -RS232/AU to- modem 1200 baud 450-00 -port expanders (4 imnts to 1 prlr) 395.00 ■port expander (switcher) 95.00 NOTE: Corvus drives with multiplexor may network smu s , . Superbra in . . Concept , . PET r . Victor TERMS & ETC G, W. Computers Ltd (Grama (Winter) Ltd) 55 Bedford Court Mansions Bedford Avenue .London W.C.1. England. Tel: 01 636 8210: 01-631 4813: tlx 892031 two gj Boston office tlx 94-0090 24 houranswerphone-leave address for ‘rftfppacks’ We do not operate a reader's reply card servibe. Terms: G.W.Q. or C.O D. Prices exclude V r A.T.. but include all non-credit discounts available, ’ No dealers. The above lists are not exhaustive Please call at our showroom only by prior appointment. Unless expressly agreed, all warranties are commercial 90 days return to base for parts and labour. Annual warranties and maintenance facilities available nationwide through closely related third parties. TELEPHONES: 01 636 8210 01-631 4818 TLX: 892031 TWCG (BOSTON 94-0890) AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FOR POTENTIAL SYSTEM BUYERS Any serious buyer knows that although the HARDWARE and SOFTWARE are both interfoependant, the choice of software is CRITICAL to the consequence of having useless piece of hardware nor not. With this in mind our standard system deal gives you the software free with a system purchase. However, if you want more! NOW we have a piece of software that is a challenge to the highest state of the art on micro-computers today. It's the first of its kind world-wide. It is called THE KEY, and it will unlock the power of your micro to the limits of your imagination. It is very expensive however, because it is the first to embody many features of other programs, in one single program that has over- lapping functions. It costs 995.00 Stg., and is available with a system purchase. it features, the entire list of functions already covered by our program called DBMS !ll.7a to be seen elsewhere in our advertisement. PLUS. ++++++++ Paint any form including upwards from 1 00 (depending upon size of ram in hardware) data fields on the screen. Screen width up to 250 columns. Page lengths 100 lines. The form might be a letter where data fields on the screen. Screen width up to 250 columns. Page lengths 100 liens. The form might be a letter where data fields are name- addresses. Search files and accept any fields on teh database into any fields on the letter. The form might be a spreadsheet, where searches call records (in columnated style) from the database and perform calculations, the difference here is that unlike other 'calc' programs giving you 254 lines per spreadsheet, THE KEY gives you 32000 lines if your database has that many records. The standard attributes of any field, allow you to SEARCH OTHER FILES for fields to accept into any field on the current form, plus allowance to POST OTHER FILES any fields from the current form into any fields on that file. RELATE TO AS MANY OTHER FILES, as the number of data fields you have on the master form. Make data fields CALCULATE AGAINST FORMULAE, and other data fields. VALIDATE DATA INPUTS criticially character by character; numerically, alphabetically and date- wise. NO MANUAL NEEDED, all help menues accessible by hitting 'esc' at any point in the three major modes of activity (create, data entry, data query). You can set up dozens of individual files that eventually are inter-connected through one master form; like an invoice, order, personnel-file, stock control, mail-shot. The master form may at every juncture of a data field, go outside the current form to supplementary forms for data retrieval, or post-filing. Come along the computing road with us. We're out in front so you'll get the best there is at the price. On IBM and SIRIUS, - The first robot-concurrent-forms-database-text-processor- spreadsheet- no- manual- all- in-one- prog ram . G. W. COMPUTERS LTD — Tel: 01-631 4818 Contains the highest state of the art software available today Q _ FORMS/TEXT/CALC/DBMS IV ALL IN ONE PROGRAM — KEY —at £995 When you budget for a compete systen^fsoftware^oi^eventuaMyen^p^wi^l^ host o^pacl^ges^ke. Sales, urc ases. omma , ' The list is endless and the outlay several thousands of pounds . Design a form as wide as a window of 250 characters, long as needed. Cursor "demerits are left. ^ngM, up, down, delete left delete right, tab right-left-up-down' Paint your form as you like directly on t Write a letter as you see it on the screen, edit it then simply enter P to print. Set into the form, your data fields, "££££££" and specific file-related activities, formulae and validation checks. Enter values and see the spreadsheet calculate itself. Search files for data to be inserted to fields specified. All the features of DBMS 111, explained elsewhere in our ad. Here's an example of an invoice you might des j 9 "rpr your stationery --■ ■■ f . existing You could design your own spreadsheet, order form, statement or any other kind of form that required stationery . Features, Text.,.,.. Calc...... Database, To£<1>EE£E£EE££££E£ C<2>EEE££E£EC£EE££E£E £<4>C££L£££E££:£:e£ In VOICE < 0 > E C £CECC£££ ££ From: G.W. Ltd 55 Bedford Court Mans. Bedford Avenue London W.C.t. Date <6>££.££ Tax point <?>££.££ Agent <&>£££ Quantity Description Cost Tax Total 1*1 F' <9>£££ <14>££ < 1 5 >eE££££EECC£££C < 1 G>££ <17>££ <ia>£££ and so on,.. Total...- <19>EE£C££ Tax...<20>££££ < ,,, items <1 >to <5 internal command to request name input, and then search an address file for details. <??> items <6 >to <7 > request date input and validate. < ?? > item < 8 > request agent number and validate range, <??> <9 > request quantity, validate range. ralrulate fields < 1 1 >, < 12>, < 1 3>, if finished in- <??> < 10>request description, search file, accept, and calculate tieias ^ N °puX e a t%ea°rch V “t names,' and sXkTut after iheinvo£,s theTe^s yoThave setctedTaytepass^'fo EG: Send fields <0 > . < 1 >j < lolTo 1 ^to^oductln^ys's file Then send fields <0 >, <1 >, <7 > - < 1 ? >a < 2° > • Circle No. 110 Then send fields < 1 0> , < 1 1 > , < 1 2 > , < 1 3 > to Nominal ledger. Available at present oniy on SIRUSi'IBM PC. There's no room for a comedy of errors when it comes to choosing the right accounting program. The wrong decision will produce a very sad clown indeed. Vbu can, if you really wish, pay £1,000 or more for a sprawling, highly complicated, 4-7 disk monster, with a manual you can’t lift without a course of weight training, or understand without a brain transplant Alternatively, for just £375, you can discover the unique simplicity of SAGE. ft’s fully automatic - which means no shuffling through the program to find the section you need. It’s complete and self-contained - no expensive modules to buy every time you need an extra function. It' s suitable for use on CP/M o r MS-DOS machines and has so far been implemented on Osborne, Superbrain, Epson QX-10, Sirius, Victor 9000, IBM PC, BBC/Torch Z80 and NT with others in the pipeline. What’s more, the SAGE accounting program has been successfully tested in hundreds of installations and is the only system of its type- is as effective in a one-man business as in a multi million pound corporation. Check it out and we’ll turn the smile the right way up. Return the coupon and we will send you more information and the name of your nearest dealer. SAGE produces the only accounting program which is truly integrated and uses only one program and one data diskette. • Sales and Purchase Ledgers, • Nominal Ledger, • Cash Bonk, • Journal Entries, •Trial Balance • VAT Return, •Monthly and Annual Accounts, ®Age Analyses, • Statements and Audit Trail - accounting function you need in one compact and comprehensive package. The SAGE program is also widely used for Incomplete Records Accounting (without requiring modification). It can therefore be used by practising accountants for both functions, its efficiency is built on simplicity- and its simplicity accounts for the price. The SAGE accounting program is easy-to-j§arn and easy-to-use, with a short, clear and simple manual, fttsition Company. Address^ GE viriit L Hn I LJ send me ypurfl page explanatory brochure CD Please arrange for me La hove a drnio’hsi ration. 1 do noL yeT own a comp ti le I mve a -Del hi- as apprupriali' .computer. British Softnarr foiTirilish Business SACK SYSTEMS ITD.jhiwick Crescent Industrial Estate Newcastle upon \K(i IAS Tel: 0632 761G6&lHcx: 53623 SAGKSLC Our innovation accounts for our price! • Circle No. Ill PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 inbiue New Interface 2 and ROM cartridges! New Software! TAKING NEW SOFTWARE IN NEW DIRECTIONS You’ll see that this issue of Sinclair Special devotes considerable space to software.Why, when we’ve so much to say about hardware and peripherals? Simply because at Sinclair we believe in supporting first-class hardware with first-class software. This month sees the start of a new commitment to education in our catalogue, both for adults and children. In the field of micro theory, we’ve programs like Beyond BASIC and Make-a-Chip, which take you from the creation of simple ZX® assembler subsets to simulated circuit design projects. There's Musicmaster, to teach you music terminology, note values and composition. And if you’re keen to beat your Spectrum at chess (which can be hard), you’ll certainly want to try Chess Tutor 1 , the first program in a complete chess masterclass. Coming soon... In the pipeline are many new releases, some of which break completely new ground. LOGO and micro-PROLOG for instance. They’re fifth generation languages which will take you and your Spectrum closer than ever before to the creation and application of artificial intelligence. A formal agreement between Sinclair and Macmillan Education has been announced, the first results of which will be published this autumn. These consist of five programs in a complete early reading course plus the first four of a series of programs based on Macmillan’s top selling Science Horizons Scheme. All programs are designed for use in schools or the home. And with Blackboard software, we’re publishing six more home education programs for primary school children. Covering alphabet, spelling and punctuation, each of these programs is a true gem, unlike any other education software, and fascina- ting to run. Even for adults! I believe that these new titles represent a major advance in educa- tional software for the home. New ROM software too! You may well have heard news of ZX Interface 2® and ROM cartridge pro- grams. You’ll find full details of the Interface and its software on the facing page (and there’s an order form on the back page too!). These offer an instant games playing facility at unbeatable prices, and expand the possibilities of using your Spectrum in yet another direction. Alison Maguire Applications Software Manager SOFTWARE UPDATE The latest cassette software for ZX ® Computers Chess Tutor 1 For 48K RAM Spectrum. £9.95. Chess Tutor is a new way of learning all about chess - using your ZX Spectrum.® It starts from the beginning by teaching you about the chess pieces and the way they move -including castling, en passant, promotion, check, checkmate, stalemate and perpetual check. Then it teaches you the basic tactics - pins, forks, double attacks and skewers. There are over 120 exercises and over 200 questions for you to answer- with demonstra- tions and hints from yourZX Spectrum when you want them. You can choose which parts of the course you want -and even experienced players may be surprised at what they can learn from Chess Tutor. Musicmaster For 48K RAM Spectrum. £9.95. Musicmaster turns yourZX Spectrum into a musical instrument which will not only play tunes, but will also demonstrate key signatures, durations of notes, and scales. You can write your own tunes - in any key - play them over and over again, save them on tape, modify them. You can either write your music on a stave, or place a simple overlay on your Spectrum for a 17-note keyboard. Make-a-Chip For 48K RAM Spectrum. £9.95. Make-a-Chip teaches you the basic elements of circuit design, shows you how they fit together, and then lets you design and test your own circuits. When you have designed a circuit, you can give it inputs and outputs and yourZX Spectrum will check it for you. Then it will run it, or tell you what’s wrong so that you can modify it. Make-a-Chip is a fascinating way of finding out how computer logic works. Print Utilities For 16K and 48K RAM Spectrum £9.95. Increase the printing and display facilities of your ZX Spectrum with the Print Utilities program. Print Utilities enables you to enhance your programs by generating characters of eight different sizes which you can place anywhere on your screen. Beyond BASIC For 48K RAM-Spectrum. £9.95. Takes the agony out of assembler. Takes the mystery out of machine code. Beyond BASIC gives you a deeper insight into the workings of your ZX Spectrum. It explains what happens inside your micro when you run a program, and it teaches you simple Z80 machine code programming. A major feature of Beyond BASIC is that it enables you to write your own Z80 assembler programs -then you can actually see on your screen how they affect the ZX Spectrum memory and registers. ZX INTERFACE 2° The New ROM Cartridge/Joystick Interface Loads programs instantly! Takes two joysticks! Just plug-in and play! The ZX Interface 2 is the latest new peripheral for the ZX Spectrum® system. It enables you to use newZX® ROM cartridge software: plug-in programs that load instantly. It allows you to use two standard joysticks, without the need for separate, special interfaces. To use new ZX ROM cartridge pro- grams, just connect Interface 2 to the rear of your Spectrum or Interface 1 and plug in the cartridge of your choice. The program is then loaded, ready to run! You can use any joystick that has a 9-way D plug. Use one or two of them for extra fun with ZX ROM cartridge or Sinclair cassette programs- or with dozens of other Spectrum -compatible programs! ...AND BRAND NEW ROM CARTRIDGE SOFTWARE! There’s already plenty of choice of ZX ROM cartridge programs for your Spectrum. Some are old favourites, in an exciting new form. Others are new. And now, thanks to ROM cartridge technology, you can run them all on a 16K RAM Spectrum, even if they were originally written only for 48K machines! Every ROM cartridge program loads fast and fault- lessly. No wires, no waiting, no worries about loading errors! All of them are affordably priced too, at £14.95. Backgammon Everything you need to play the famous and decep- tively simple board game. Board, stones, rolling dice and doubling dice are shown in full colour and high resolution. Choose from four levels of skill to suit experts and beginners alike - full rules are included. Space Raiders Your skill is all that's stopping successive waves of aliens from destroying Earth. Use your gun base to attack. Shelter behind buildings. . . move out and blast the passing alien soaceshipl Full-colour high-resolution graphics with sound. New! PSSST Robbie the Robot sits in his garden. Help him fetch compost to cultivate his prize Thyrgodian Megga Chrysanthodil, Help him make the right choice of pesticide, to ward off devilish insects Stop the insects breeding to overwhelming numbers before Robbie’s plant has bloomed. PSSST is horticulture with a horrendous twist! One and two player option, with a host of features including sound effects. Chess I This sophisticated program does everything you'd expect at board game level, and much more besides. The high-resolution chess- board and pieces are arranged in a row and column system, so it's easy to key in your moves. At any stage of the game you can request the computer to suggest a move, reverse roles or change the level of skill. Full-colour high-resolution graphics. mm New! Tranz Am Set in a future time ruled by cars and trophies, in a land where petrol re- places gold, and status is possession of the 8 Great Cups of Ultimate. Driving your Super Blown Red Racer, use your skill to outwit and crash the Deadly Black Turbos. Use your instruments to locate and collect the trophies - before you overheat or run out of fuel. A program with outstanding multi directional movement, graphic features, and a playing area equivalent to more than 600 times actual screen area. Horace and the Spiders Guide Horace on the hazardous journey to the cobwebbed house full of poisonous spiders Safely in the house, you must move along cobwebs, choose a spot . . . and jump on it! The spiders will be in a frenzy - scuttling to repair their precious web. And when a spider is spinning a new section, you're safe to attack and destroy it! Kill all the spiders, and a new web appears . . with even more spiders to catch. Full-colour high-resolution graphics. Planetoids Dodge and swerve using yourthrust button, turn on a planetoid. ..fire! But beware -the alien ship moves fast to destroy you with cluster bombs. And when it comes to the crunch, use your hyperspace button! Full-colour high-resolution graphics with sound. New! Cookie You’re Charlie the Chef, who keeps his ingredients locked in the larder But if the ingre- dients escape, they bring the inedible Nasties with them! You must daze the escaping ingredients with flour bombs, and knock them into the mixing bowl. Stop them getting into the dustbin, at all costs! And beware of Nasties that get into the mixing bowl! Cookie is fast-moving panic in the pantry, with a cast of real characters. A program to make you smile-and sweat! Hungry Horace Horace is forever being chased around the park by guards. He steals their lunch, eats path- way flowers and creates chaos in the park by ringing the alarm! You'll have to be quick to keep Horace out of trouble! Full-colour high-resolution graphics with sound l x M > ) NewlJetPac assemble spaceship kits. On your way round the galaxy, you’re free to collect precious stones and gold The catch? Rocket fuel is precious and scarce. And the aliens don’t take kindly to the theft of their valuables. You’ll need your wits and your lasers! With a host of features, inclu- ding multi directional movement, explosions, sound effects and one and two player option. ZX MICRODRIVE NOW ON RELEASE The ZX Microdrive' System - as you’d expect from Sinclair — is unique to the world of computing, It’s a com- pact, expandable add-on system which provides high-speed access to massive data storage. With just one Microdrive alone {and Interface 1), you’ll have at least 85K bytes of storage, the ability to LOAD and SAVE in mere seconds, the begin- nings of a iocal area network of up to .64Spectrums, and a built-in RS232 interface! The cost? Less than £50 for each Microdrive, How to get ZX Microdrive Spectrum owners who bought direct from us, by mail order, have been sent full details. Order forms are being mailed in strict rotation, so if you haven’t yet received your order form please bear with us. We’re making good progress in meeting the huge demand. If you didn’t buy your Spectrum by mail order, don’t worry. Send us the form from the bottom of this page. We’ll add your name to the mailing list, and send you details by return. Each Microdrive costs £49.95. I nterface 1 costs £49.95, but just £29.95 if purchased with aZX Microdrive. Extra ZX Microdrive cartridges: £4.95. How to order Simply fill in the relevant sections on the order form below. Note that there is no postage or packing to pay on some purchases. Orders may be sent FREEPOST (no stamp needed). Credit card holders may order by phone, calling 01-200 0200, 24 hours a day. 14-day money-back option, of course. Please allow 28 days for delivery. ® ZX, ZX Spectrum, ZX Interface and ZX Microdrive are ait registered trade marks of Sinclair Research Ltd. Sinclair^ Sinclair Research Ltd, Stanhope Road, Camberley, Surrey, GUI 5 3PS. Telephone: (0276) 685311. To: Sinclair Research Ltd, FREEPOST, Camberley, Surrey, GUI 5 3BR. J wwiwwwu, Section A: Hardware Qty Item Code Item Price Total £ £ ZX Interface 2 8501 19,95 ZX Spectrum -48K 3000 129,95 ZX Spectrum - 16K 3002 99.95 Postage and packing: orders under £90 0028 2.95 orders over £90 0029 4.95 TOTAL £ Section B: Software ROM CARTRIDGE PROGRAMS G12/R Planetoids 5302 14.95 G9/R Space Raiders 5300 1495 G13/R Hungry Horace 5303 14,95 G24/R Horace and the Spiders 5305 14,95 G2S/R PSSST 5307 14.95 G30/R Cookie 5309 14.95 G29/R TranzAm 5308 14.95 G27(R JetPac 5306 14.95 G22/R Backgammon 5304 14.95 G10/R Chess 5301 14.95 ORDER FORM CASSETTE PROGRAMS for ZX Spectrum E9/S Chess Tutor 1 4308 9,95 E7/S Musicmaster 4306 9.95 E3/S Beyond BASIC 4307 9.95 E6/S Make-a-Chip 4305 9.95 L5/S Print Utilities 4404 9,95 TOTAL £ *1 enclose a cheque/postal order made payable to Sinclair Research Ltd for Please charge to my Access/Barclaycard/Trustcard account no- 'Deleleteomplete as applicable. 1 L_ 1 1 i J f ] L I I I i Sign ature | Mr/Mrs/M iss [ | | | j | Address | | j | | Li l i i i i i i i i i i J L J L -I I I I I I PRC91 2 1 (Please print) ZX Microdrive information request n ^ e J° the Mjp rodrive Mailing List, and send me a colour brochure with full specifications ZX Microdrive/Interface 1 (tick here). You can use the above form to send us your name and address. • Circle No. 112 _ " — Printout extra^m FT conference Jack Schofield was among those attending this exclusive personal computer event. in mid-OCTOBEr the Intercontinental Hotel* London, was packed with the cream of the British computer industry for a two-day conference organised by the Financial Times. The theme was The Professional Personal Computer: Markets and Strat- egies. The message that came across was that the micro market is booming* and there is money to be made from both hardware and software — especially if you are IBM, Speakers on the first day included Floyd Kvnmme of Apple Computer Inc., Cyril Yansouni of Hewlett-Packard and Alex McIntosh of IBM U.K. Noticeable by his absence was the personable Adam Osborne, who was due to speak on “Where the Professional Computer is going”. It would have been interesting to hear where the Osborne l is going. jean Yates, President of Yates Ventures and well known Unix watcher* gave an interesting talk on “The Likely Winners and Losers”. The winners will apparently be IBM, Apple and any one of the three others, take your pick. In a humorous aside, Ms Yates declined to name losers on the grounds that some of them were her clients. Imitation IBMs However she did point out the difficulties faced by the massed ranks of IBM imitators. Most are buying sub-assemblies from the same or similar sources* and could therefore be squeezed on price. They are following IBM standards, so they could be in trouble if IBM changes the standards. No one could achieve IOC percent com- patibility with IBM, leading to potential problems attracting software writers. The dealers and distributors are overcrowded with products, and some must lose the fight for shelf space. Finally, there is a lack of mini and mainframe products in the line-up to provide an upgrade path. Dr Alex McIntosh, speaking for IBM* gave nothing away. However, he did drop a few hints about IBM's possible entrance into the small micro market. Showing a Newsweek graph of the booming market he said: “Seriously, if a sector of your industry was showing such runaway growth as this, would you sit back and ignore it? Of course not, and neither could we.” Later he added: “IBM has been in every area of computing since the earliest vacuum tube monsters ... In this light, it's unthinkable that a major industry trend like personal computing would not eventually involve IBM.” So why not home computing? I For me* however, the highlight of the day was the presentation by Daniel Fylstra, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officers of Visicorp. His unstated theme was the background to the integrated software product VisiOn, which is a Lisa-like suite promised for the 1 BM PC. He showed how the requirements for the suite arose from the micro- computer's transition from an individual item into an all-purpose office work station. Day 2 started with a new chairman, Ian McNaught-Davies, and a talk from Ted Stein of the $6.5 billion insurance company Connecticut Mutual. It was willing to face a fact about microcomputerisation that most large companies are not: that “by the time an organisation makes a proper business decision, cost justified and all that, the technology is obsolete”. One of their number saw an Apple on TV and they decided to replace their 1972-vintage network with micros. That was in July 1981, and they called it “the Apple solution”. When the equipment was shipped in June 1982 they had, by that time, fixed on the IBM PC. They bought 1,000 of them. They also made themselves into a computer store and sold a further 450 PCs, plus peripherals and software, to their independent sales outlets. The afternoon session was opened by Brian Androlia of ACT, who gave the background to the launch of the Apricot micro. Key decisions were that the machine should be designed to match an existing software base — so the Apricot was made compatible with the Sirius — and that it should appeal to the replacement market. He reckoned that most Apples and Pets had already been written off in the company books, so a smart new machine should appeal to these users* as well as to new users. With the minimum worthwhile aim of producing 3,000 machines a month, Androlia said it cost £1 1 million to launch the Apricot. “You have to buy the best,” he said. And, he pointed out, the entry cost was getting higher every month. The one thing which gave everyone pause was Androlia's comment that “rarely does a successful computer manufacturer produce a good follow-on product, I can't think of one.” ACT, however, is already working on a follow-up to the Apricot. The next talk w r as from Susumu Aizawa of Epson* Japan, He described recent developments there, leaving us with the impression that the Japanese have LCDs, printers, floppy-disc drives and portable micros pretty much sewn up. What next? The “fifth-generation” micro. It will have “enormous artificial intelligence and a huge database, and its ultra high-speed CPU will operate under critically important new r software.” He added: “At that time, perhaps, the Japanese will be able to shed their reputation for imitation.” The final speaker was Dr Horsnell of Philips, and he poured a welcome dose of cold water on some of the more gung-ho thinking that, over two days, had begun to take hold. He pointed out that the EEC budgeted £8 billion to pay subsidies to farmers via the Common Agricultural Policy. Worse still, the budget had just been overspent by some £240 million. Meanwhile, the government had only managed to come up with £100 million for our own Estrial fifth-generation research. Small is best In the final forum discussion, lan McNaught-Davies demurred. He con- sidered that all the good software has come from small, under- financed entrepreneurial organisations working in backrooms. CP/M, MS-DOS* and VisiCalc are famous examples. “Mac” went so far as to say that if large software teams wanted to increase their productivity by 40 percent this could be done by shooting 20 percent of their members. My own impression is that, by and large, he is right. in the micro business — both hardware and software — agile, small companies outperform large ones most of the time. In fact the whole micro market has been created by hobbyists and home enthusiasts, and it is only recently that the large corporations have sought to cash in. However, notwithstanding the success of Apple, it is true that the small companies often fail to capitalise on their deve- lopments — due to a shortage of capital. Everyone agreed that the British banks were hopeless when it came to backing ideas with money, and that a ready supply of venture capital was what kept the American micro boom going. That in turn accounted for their 80 percent share of the world market. Dr Horsnell may well be right too, but pouring government money into schemes has generally been ineffective. Still, if this Financial Times conference encourages British capitalists to take a tew more risks backing innovative micro companies it will have helped. Whether the delegates got full value for their £500 conference fee is another matter. Separate talks did not relate to one another, and there was not enough hard infor- mation. Still, plenty more was doubtless exchanged in the bar afterwards. Q PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 29 have you ever tried to explain to a Spaniard who speaks no English that you want to make a metal template to guide the drilling of 1,088 precise holes in a three- metre square of chipboard? That’s easy, compared with getting him to buy emulsion paint rather than wood paint for the running surface. Next time 1 go to Spain I'll make sure IVe learnt the Spanish for more than Mieromouse — fos ratones robot. Super lite I and II were the first finalist mice on the scene in the Telecommuni- cation department of Madrid Technical University. Next to arrive were the Finland team from Tampere with 3j mice. The aptly named Lego eventually failed to qualify, largely because it fell apart into a heap of bricks every time it ran. Massive Microsaurus came to defend its title, while Manu and Telu were based on a nimble tricycle, but shared only one set of mechanical parts. We agreed that both could compete, but could only win a single prize. The boys from Mador School, Bangor- on-Dee turned up, thanks to the Welsh Development Agency. Fullyautomatix II had improved greatly since Eads Court, but to live up to its name needed some debugging. Yes, they had seen the Ilford boys on the plane. No, they had no idea where they were staying. Madrid has a lot of hotels. The laboratory adjoining the maze became a hive of industry as tests took place on a skeleton 80-wall maze. The walls, each containing two nails, had been laboriously carried in my suitcase. I still wonder what Airport security made of the X-ray! Mid-afternoon on Tuesday the British hopes arrived: Knownaim, Thumper, T4, T3 and T1 — plus the remaining maze walls. Some astute detective- work had tracked down Clement Chambers and the troupe he was sponsoring from Ilford Ratones robot John Billingsley supervised the 1983 Euromouse finals in Madrid. Here he reports the results. County High School Orac brought the total of mice to 13. Five would have to be eliminated before Thursday's final. The qualifying maze complete, trials began in earnest. One after another mice reached the centre in times which shrank from an initial five minutes to an alarming 15 seconds. A redesign of the finals maze was necessary so that the timing would not require an accuracy of hundredths of a second. Microsaurus, Knownaim, Telu and T4 all looked evenly matched, and the contest was set to be a close one. An audience of 400 crammed into the lecture theatre next day. The judges were Jan Wilmink, the Euromicro Chairman, Manu/Telu carried off Euromicro’s $1,000 and the Brass Cheese. Mouse history In 1979 when planning started, the organisers of Euromicro ‘80 felt that the conference would benefit from some light relief. The IEEE magazine Spectrum was starting to print reports of a Micromouse contest in the United States. How could we organise a similar contest here? The next issue of Spectrum described all the problems they had encountered with a corner-target maze, when high-speed wall followers started to out-perform the more intelligent mice. It was decided that the walls and passage-width dimensions should comply with the American contest but that other features, such as the sandpaper floor, should be abanonded. In particular it was decided to place the target at the centre of a square maze, designed on a 16 by 16 grid. After the initial publicity enquiries flooded in, but as the day for the trial contest at Portsmouth Polytechnic approached mice started to fall by the wayside. In July 1980, the first British trials were held with just five mice. Plessey’s Fred and Marconi’s Meryl were far from complete — Fred could only spin in circles and Meryl relied on a lot of cheating “fly-by-wire”. The boys from Worthing Sixth Form College had their wires crossed and Algernon could not travel in a straight line. The two other mice had been constructed as final - year projects in Portsmouth Polytechnic and the only one to show real promise was Free-Wheelin Franklin which could at least navigate a straight passage and a couple of corners before becoming bewildered. The more erratically the mice performed, the more the audience enjoyed the proceedings. BBC South screened a delightfully amusing report of the contest. The European Finals at Euromicro 80 were quite a different matter. Mice arrived from all over Europe: Midnight Sun from Finland, Lami from Switzerland, Superlite from Germany and Yamahico II from Japan. Fred now boasted a grey fur cover, a mousely leer and a singing voice like Les Dawson. Meryl was at last on autopilot and Ancomical, a new mouse from ICL, appeared in a beautiful brown furry shape which must have been envied by small children across the country when the mice appeared on Blue Peter. There was an enormous of variety of technology, including a mouse built from a plastic toy car. Despite being sawn down, its three-point turns could barely get it around the corners. One mouse was built very simply from aluminium: with primitive mechanical sensors which clattered along the tops of the walls and with a 30 P R ACT ICA L CO M P U T I N G December 1 983 jerky stepper-motor movement, the mouse was far from pretentious. This, however, was Nick Smith’s Stirling Mouse, the first European champion and the first mouse to reach the centre of the maze and know that it had got there. Following an Easter workshop meeting organised by ICL Amateur Computer Club, mice improved in leaps and bounds. At Wembley in 1981 Thumper and Thezeus appeared. Thezeus established the practice of building a mouse around a small personal computer — with the keyboard sawn off to keep it within the size limit — while Thumper combined ingenuity with craftsmanship. In the light of experience the rules of the contest had been changed slightly to allow each mouse 15 minutes to perform. The mouse was allowed to make as many runs as it could within the time limit. To benefit mice with ingenuity and maze-learning ability, only the best time was taken into account. Thumper achieved a time of 47 seconds, Stirling Mouse 1 minute 37 seconds and Thezeus 2 minutes 27 seconds. At the 1981 European Finals, held in Paris at the Palais de le Decouverte, Thumper defeated 14 opponents to establish itself as the new European champion. Among the competitors at the Earls Court Computer Fair for the 1982 British finals were Thezeus, Son of Thezeus and T3, all out of Alan Dibley’s stable. Phil Yeardley brought Brainy Bricks, a mouse constructed from Lego. It had first appeared at the 1980 final and David Buckley brought Major Tom to join several novice mice. The two new Thezeii beat Thumper into third place — but all three times were less than one minute. The 1982 European Finals were held at Tampere in Finland, where one of the hazards facing the contestants — and organisers — was an evening sauna, complete with the proverbial jump into a freezing lake. Eight mice battled hard for the title, snatched by a mere two seconds from T4 by the home team’s Microsaurus from Tampere University of Technology in a 40-second sprint. The contest is going from strength to strength with an increasing representation of school entries. Copenhagen is the venue for next year's European finals in August, following British finals to be held at the Computer Fain Next year's Champion will embark on an expenses-paid trip to Japan to take part in the Japanese 1985 Mouse event. With other events planned next year for Austria and Madrid, it threatens to be a busy year. For a set of the rules and details of contests to come, please write to John Billingsley, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Portsmouth Polytechnic, Anglesea Road, Portsmouth POI 3DJ. arrived, but met the same fate as its brother. It is especially sad that Superlite was unable to show off its cunning recognition strategy. Once it has learned the maze, it can be put down anywhere at random in any orientation, and it will find its bearings and run to the centre. Superlite’s early retirement caught Alan Dibley by surprise. T4's power supply had been interrupted, and the program had to be reloaded. Now T4 steadfastly refused to turn left, and so retired. Now it was all up to David WoodfiekTs Knownaim. In secret practice, Knownaim had beaten 14 seconds on the qualifying maze. Now it shot forwards along the first straight, turned the first corner — and stuck. It did it again, and then again — and all British hopes seemed lost. Manu now arrived on the maze, bearing more than a slight resemblance to Telu. Its performance, too, was identical; for each run its time was within one second of its alter ego . This provoked a question which set the judges conferring: if Telu could run again as Manu, with only a change of processor board, could not Knownaim run with a change of ROM? It seemed only fair to give it five minutes, especially as Microsaurus was undergoing last-minute surgery. Knownaim reached the centre in exactly one minute — but was timed out before it could do better. Now Microsaurus was brought forth, rescued from blindness in the nick of time. But despite its promise in practice, one minute dead was the best of its four times. So Manu /Telu carried off the SI, 000 first prize, donated by Euromicro, Microsaurus won a 48K Spectrum donated by Investronica, while Knownaim ousted Thumper from third place to win £150 donated by Citema. David Wood field was especially happy to win his mounted piece of brass cheese, one of the three winner's trophies. ED The finals maze was redesigned to spread out the contestants. T4 and Dibley: refused to turn left. Mr Tashiro of the Japanese Micromouse Association and also of Namco, maker of Pacman, Mario Urea of the Madrid branch of IEEE, and Professor Mariagiovanna Sa m i o f M i I a n Po lytechnic . Neither school team had really qualified, but both were allowed to run for five minutes to compete for the novice trophy. Despite three changes of processor and a valiant attempt at debugging, the Welsh team could only persuade Fullyautomatix to run a short way before it crashed — again and again, Orac, however, managed; at least half a corner before it abandoned maze-solving for Flamenco dancing. Clearly Orac achieved the better per- formance, and was awarded the novice trophy. Professor Sami said that she was especially pleased because “the little boys looked so sweet in their white CRL shirts.” T3 was the next to run, and more by luck than judgement found the centre in a time of 1 minute 13 seconds on its first run. It went on to find two other routes, but neither was faster. Superlite 1 had problems from the start, while Thumper babbled its way around the maze, finding a succession of routes to the centre. On its fourth run* Thumper beat T3’s time by just one second, in 1 minute 12 seconds. Now for the Finnish mouse Telu. On its first run it found the centre in 41 seconds. Six runs later, each under a minute, it achieved 31.6 seconds, which three further runs could not better, Superlite II now f -31 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 don’t expose yourself! You’ve a deadline to meet, therightCP/M Software pack- age is needed, the right decision has to be made; which format, which product, when can it be delivered, at what price? You need good advice, and just as important, you need to talk to some- one who has a large enough range to be able to offer honest advice. Someone who can then deliver on time, someone whose catalogue is fast becoming the byword of the software industry. So don’t expose your- self, talk to Software Limited. Choice, advice and delivery all aimed at meeting your deadline. Software Limited... Because there’s more to choose from, we’re the only choice to make. 01-833 1173/6 Software Limited No. 2 Alice Owen Technology Centre 251 G os we! I Road, London EC1 CP/M "t a trademark of Digital Research < D- 1 Software Limited Attractive quantity & dealer discounts available • Circle No. 113 PRESENT LIKE THE FUTURE. THE WORLD’S FINEST PROGRAMMING 'UTORIAL FOR ONLY £ 12 . 95 . Thousands who own, or would like to own home computers have :t to experience the feeling of discovery that comes when you write your vn programs. Yet learning programming can be easy. 1 Learn Basic’ from Logic 3 is the ultimate development of the method rst devised at Strathclyde University- a straightforward, easily understood itorial written by Professor Andrew Colin and Veronica Colin, authors of ritain’s best-selling tutorial package. Using the method tested by university students and used uccessfully by over 200,000 home computer users, 'Learn Basic’ runs on our own computer and explains everything in dear non-American nglish without jargon or computer talk. In a matter of hours, you will be writing programs that work. x Essentially 'Learn Basic’ and the rest of the' Learn Computing’ eries that will follow soon are designed for people who want to eep abreast of the computer age. For people w r ho realise that nderstand i ng computers is the key to future success, at school , _ ‘work and as a parent llfll— ^ Get ‘LearnBasic’ by Logic 3 -two tapes and a full -size manual for Spectrum or Dragon (others soon) at just £12.95. At that price, it’s a gift. Buy the Logic 3 * Learn Computing 1 Series at computer shops and major retail stores all over Britain. In case of difficulty, write to Logic 3 in Windsor TO: Logic s Ltd, Mountbatten House, Victoria Street, Windsor SL41HE. If you would like to know more about using and programming a computer in your home, send this coupon tor your free copy of our 16-page explanatory booklet "100 things you wanted to know about computers:' It will help you cut through the jungle of computer jargon, and give you news about software developments -even games. □ Or send for our software catalogue (tick either or both). Q Name _ — Address. iristmas Make vour future, and your family’s future, richer this ^ 7 ■ -THE KEY TO THE WORLD OFTOMORROW. — I have already/intend to get a_ fdeleleas inapplicable! .microcomputer • Circle No. 107 MICRO] Microline S2A and 83A High quality and performance as well as an attractive price are key features of these printers, Built on a moulded aluminium plale and driven by 2 motors. These printers can work almost without limitation, as the printheads design allows tor over 200 million characters to be printed. The short line logic seeking printing speed is rated at 120 cps. The carriage width allows for the printing of SO characteres (model 8 2 A) and 136 characters (model 83A). Character sets for several languages and graphics printing are standard features of these printers as well as the processing of various paper types. The interfaces provided allow for parallel or serial data transfer - buffered or unbuffered - from most popular desktop computers and widely-used PCs / MICROLINE - more than ISO. 000 printers In Europe In use. OKI ELECTRIC EUROPE GmbH Emanuel- Leutze-St r . 8 - D-4000 Dusseldarf II Telefon 02 .11/59 20 31 Telex 8 587 218 U,K. F- 7 05/75 1 Deal Avenue Trading Estate. $]ough Berkshire SL I 4SH Tel: 0044-753-7233] Tlx: 051-847728 I COUPON . Please send me/us more informal ion to- _ I □ MICROLINE 8 2 A 3 | □ MICROLINE 83 A « | □ The whole MICROLINE program j Name: | SI reel: " — | Oty " " - — I Phone : ~~ ' — “ i • Circle No. 114 Put some colour into your printing without going into the red Actual print sample The new PRISM impact matrix printers let you put colour into your printed output, at a cost you can afford. Both the PRISM 80-column and the PRISM- 1 32 column make most single colour printers look pale by comparison. □ Added versatility: the four basic colours (black, cyan, magenta and yellow) can also be mixed precisely to give up to 1 44 different shades. □ Correspondence quality at 1 10 cps. □ High quality draft printing at 200 cps. □ 84 x 84 dpi high resolution graphics capability. □ Staggered 9-wire print head - ideal for precision word processing applications. □ Bi-directional printing to maximise throughput. □ Proven reliability. □ Selectable automatic justification and character sizes. □ Optional manual and automatic sheet feeding. PRISN printers. They brighten up your day. □ Compatible interfaces to most micros Dealer Enquiries including Apple, IBM and Sirius. Welcomed. Teleprinter Equipment Ltd. Akeman Street ,Tring, Herts. HP23 6AJ, Telephone: Tring (0442 82)401 1/5551 International Telephone: +44 44282401 1/5551. Telex: 82362 Regional Sales and Service: Manchester (061-626) 3371. Associated Companies GADC.'CAE'ME CAE Group, UK distributors for computer peripherals from General Electric, Geveke, GNT, Integral Data Systems, Navtel, NEC, Mitsui, Qume, Silver Reed, Spectron Northern Telecom, Tele ray, Teletype and Texas Instruments. PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 * Circle No. 333 35 Are you the QX-10 that undertakes financial modelling, stock control,^ word processing, information analysis, book-keeping...? With over 20 years of experience in producing high quality printers, Epson have now perfected a fully integrated desktop computer. All the” evidence has gone to prove that the QX-10 is capable of performing all the tasks you will ever require of it, quickly and efficiently. Installation of the QX-10 can be carried out with the minimum of interruption, and with its easily understandable keyboard, it is simplicity itself to operate. Having such a diverse range of software packages available such as database from Pearl and office productivity and accountancy from Peachtree with C P/M and multifont BASIC as standard, the QX-10 can supply all the answers whatever your business. Just look at what's on offer: a big memory - 192k upgradable to 256k RAM and all the graphics you'll ever need - and high resolution graphics at that. The ability to communicate easily with other machines, including our own HX-20 and the advantage of using our fine range of printers, make the QX-10 a totally versatile system at a price you'll find impossible to equal - £1735 plus VAT. If you're looking at micros, look at the QX-10. The system with all the answers. EPSON Extraordinary product. Exceptional quality. I would like a demonstration of the QX-10. Please ask my Epson dealer to contact me. n | Name Epson (UK) Limited, Freepost, I Position _ Wembley, Middlesex HA9 6BR. I p Sales Enquiries: Freefone EPSON, i om P an Y General Enquiries: 01-902 8892. | Address Telex: 8814169. Lr .Tel: PC, 12^10 zl • Circle No. 116 Chess Battle of programs David Levy reports on the 1983 European microcomputer chess championship. each year SINCE I97S there has been a chess competition held within the PCW show. The mixture of Europe's best amateur chess programs with some of the most prominent commercially available chess computers provides an excellent proving ground — a kind of annual state-of-the- art contest. The 1983 European Microcomputer Chess Championships took place in London from September 28 to October 2 at the Barbican. The bare results of the tournament do not reveal all the excitement, frustration and tensions that were fell by most of the contestants. Watching your chess program take part in a tournament is a most nerve- racking experience. It is enornmously frustrating to have to sit back and watch, kn o w r ing t h at you r p rogram h as w ha t should be an easy win, and see it fritter away its advantage into a draw or even a loss. If parapsychology really u'orks I would love to know the medium used to transmit the information. I would build an add-on for certain chess computers and beam my thought processes at them. Perhaps it will happen one day, but by then most chess programs will probably be much stronger than I am, so I will not be able to help them. But back to the tournament. The overall winner of the event was from the amateur category. Programmers Mike Johnson and Dave Wilson brought back the super-fast hardware which had won last year's tournament. It is built around a 1 6-bit Advance Micro Devices bit -slice processor, working in conjunction with a 64-bit ALU, and provides approximately 80 times as much computing power as a 4MHz Z-80A. With such an enormous start on all the other competitors it was hardly surprising that Advance 3.0 won the tournament. Yet it still had some bad moments. Advance lost its game against the Constellation, and was in losing positions in other games. But when its opponent fails to find the most accurate continuation to clinch the same Advance is very resilient and normally weathers the storm to come out on top. If it reaches the end-game without having a totally lost position, Advance can be almost certain to outplay anything running on a conventional microprocessor. It can search the game tree much more deeply and employs special transposition tables to speed up the tree search still further. Johnson and Wilson deserved to win the tournament because theirs was clearly the strongest entry, but I cannot help feeling that hardware such as this is not entirely in the spirit of microcomputer chess tournaments. They were banned from the World Microcomputer Championships in Hungary. The European Commercial Cham- pionship was won by Chess 2001, a magnetic sensor-board chess computer manufactured by Newcrest Technology in Hong Kong. The program in this product is a version of Cyrus 2,5, written by Richard Lang at Intelligent Software Ltd. Although it was dearly the best of the commercially available entries, Chess 2001 was not quite in the same league as Advance 3.0, When Advance had a totally lost position during the last round 1 had vague hopes that Chess 2001 might share first place in the tournament — but Advance eventually won its “lost" position. One of the most interesting moments of the tournament came in 200 Ps last-round encounter with Caesar, when we saw what 1 believe is the first ever example in computer chess of Zugzwang. This German word describes a position in which one side is 1 — Advance 3.0, private: 1\ 2 — Chess 2001, commercial: 6i 3 — Constellation, commercial: 6 4 — Cyrus 2.5, home; equal with White Knight II, home: 5J 6 — Cyrus IS Chess, home; equal with Caesar, private; and Colossus, private: 5 9 — Mephisto Experimental, commercial; equal with Spectrum Chess II, home: 4i 11 — Merlin X, private: 4 12 — Dragon Cyrus, home; 2 13 — Albatross, private: 14 — Chessnut 2, private: { Final placings, with category and number of wins out of nine games. compelled to lose something, usually some material, because and only because it is its turn to move. In other words, the opponent does not threaten to win the material, but the side whose turn it is to move must make a move which throws itself on the sword. It is extremely rare for Zugzwang to occur in a game between human players, and this particular example will go down in the annals of computer chess. In third place was another commercial entry, the new Novag Constellation. This machine was unfortunate enough to be thrashed by ail three of the strongest versions of Cyrus: Chess 2001, Cyrus 2,5 running on a Sirius, and Cyrus IS Chess on a Sinclair Spectrum. Since it was the only program to defeat Advance 3.0 it fully deserved its high placing. There was a tie for the European Home Computer Championship between Intelligent Software's Cyrus 2.5, another incarnation of Richard Lang, and BBC Software's White Knight 1 1 written by Martin Bryant. Both programs showed that it is now becoming possible to buy chess programs for some home computers that will be almost as strong as or stronger than many of the leading commercially available chess computers. L expect the strongest dedicated chess machines to keep their edge for the next few years, partly because chess-computer manufacturers are taking advantage of the faster versions of the eight-bit microprocessors, and partly because of the inevitability of the switch to 16-bit processors in dedicated chess machines. At the same time 1 would expect most home computer owners in 1985 to be able to buy a £10 chess program that is more than strong enough for their needs. Of the other competition in the tournament I would like to single out Caesar, which has made a great deal of progress since it last competed. This program is very much a spare-time hobby — its programmer is a pharmacist — and shows just how much can be achieved by an amateur chess programmer who goes about things in the right way, 1 have to say that — he took my advice back in 1979. What can one conclude about the state of the art in microcomputer chess from the games and results of the tournament? First, despite the relative success of Caesar, it is clear that the professional chess programmers are at an enormous advantage. Although Advance was an amateur entry — that is, it did not run on a home computer and was not programmed in a commercial environment — Mike Johnson has been writing chess programs for a living since the beginning of 1979. Richard Lang, Constellation's author, Dave Kittinger, and Martin Bryant are professionally involved in chess pro- gramming. If, as I suspect, the commercial incentives remain for another couple of years, 1 would still expect to see the professionals walking away with the prizes in 1984 and 1985. By then there will be so many amateur chess programmers all over the world that it will be quite possible for the big breakthrough to come from, say, a garage behind a small house in a small California town. Q PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 37 V>' ..tMV ^' e > 4 & 8 ^V «a. OlVO #" 6^ ■ rt\) e ^ O OS® , 0^®°^ - 0 ^: 0 S >00 ^VVs.^V'iX $£&**«**&$& >:S^skSs» ol o «^ #1 OO O'* 0 ^<^- ■***' ^CO<10^ G ?e 00 9 0 \0V' 6 -3&l o^ o^ tf® cO’ it** lO V ‘ >^ S ’ (IS moe> * 5 ?$^ s S^VSV 0 -^\e^' ^ fcl 3°* ^ r. & *ff O'' , tftf* . ss * e< " '$<s* ,, u . , 4e ' ,0.1' ' 5 e 1 O' 2 lf^ Oo .\e* -te" , O' • Circle No. 117 A multi-user CP/M compatible system with high performance and reliability. The Sirton MIDAS-MPS computer systems Sirton Computer Systems’ new Distributed Processing System; MIDAS-MPS, has been specially designed to be a flexible, multi-user system. Each user terminal added to the system has its own local processor, expanding the computing capacity of the system. The MIDAS-MPS is CP/M compatible, has sophisticated password protection, it is easily installed and, as with all our systems, reliable. If you'd like to learn more about MIDAS-MPS why not write or ’phone for our leaflet which includes full specification. We’d be pleased to help you with your enquiry. Features: ★ CP/M Compatible ★ Multiple Directories with Hierarchical Access ★ Easily Expandable ★ High Throughput ★ High Speed Communication ★ Individual Processors at each Terminal if Easily Installed it Reliable ★ User Friendly Sirton Computer Systems Unit 14, 29 Willow Lane, Mitcham, Surrey, CR4 4NA. Telephone: 01-640 6931/2/3 • Circle No, 118 If the number of computer systems on the market leaves you totally bewildered^ we don't blame you. And that's not your only problem. If you are not very careful; the system you buy today could well be obsolete tomorrow. That's how fast computer technology is progressing. But take heart . There is one computer system that won't become obsolete. Because it is modular in concept it can be expanded both inside and outside to accommodate extra capacity and new advances -as well as being able to increase in size and capability to keep pace with your own growth or changing requirements. You have a choice from a virtually unlimited range of CP/M compatible application software. Plus the support of total dealer back-up. And; most important; you won't find that you' ve bought a system that suddenly doesn't meet your needs. The Communicator offers the facility to enhance and upgrade existing models to take account of new applications. Comart have also met the stringent CCTA requirements. Which means we are A1 . In short; Comart Communicator systems can keep pace with both progress and innovation. So don't get bogged down with obsolete equipment. Contact your Comart dealer for a demonstration now. The Comart Communicator. One computer system that won’t sink into obsolescence. What's more; it's British, At any one of the addresses listed below you can see the remarkable flexibility of a Comart Communicator system for yourself. In under three years, it has become a complete family of compatible; fully expandable microcomputer systems; covering 20 models and including single user; multi-user and multi- processing systems. To become technical for a moment; there's a choice of S or 16 bit processors, up to 1 megabyte of RAM and a wide range of floppy and hard disk storage capacities and add on modules. COMART COMMUNICATOR SPECIFICATIONS CP1M Sriir'SytiriH. MiintfrKa’O'i * Eli ZsOAl L » Cl Mcmoi y: (i-lJMil hyiH Sioiifit JCflK nr,'?3l£ Tiycfi disti-iMr SMflf MSMStw'hwJJ.Lti Sytifmi: CP.'M, MfV.M U A f.P/NET, muLu' fitotriwr L»5uiiri I tefl eM’t Frilii ret f tinnu la bnih CrLCB 4f SyiMmi Kc*-M<irdiBiijiliy: IGiKrr, dsBtHtd 54" gEHn ktceli > swiwli(4l . EipinMCfi! iMMnil - SLMnrdt, rrjMlfniStt <LMnQunicniant4 prolttMlt. kipinimn-: fcKrtti* !~ puetable m«3uSinrK, rMltidtt i*pe A ft" uoppj- Murd 4nif t C FUJI . MFiM I ] , CF'Mdb , ire ru Jtmirki DfDipUl Ttcjrtifhl ne . ZfiCA in mdtmiElE afZiloj Carp, MSDO&u 1 1 niti ajw fMitlW* Carp Cflrttlil t ijMemjEMef indlbf CorrjrE kyJSlEf I*: k.i afCemiri l.r J comart Comari Limitedj Little End Road., Eaton Socon, St. Meats, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PEI 9 3 JG. Tel: (0480) 2 15005, Tele*: 32514 Comart G Member ofihfl c * maH Oroup ofCampanis J ^ N COM ART COMMUNICATOR UK DEALERS ABERDEEN" MOM Offshore Teh 0224 2252Q AYLESBURY BIRMINGHAM The Byte Shop Til: 021-622 7 149 CAM HR I DC IE j K Refold Associates Cambridge Computer Scene 311.029627473 1*1:022367334 BEDFORD Rurada'GrjJlq’ Td:02346858t IIEDS(AMPTHILL) M,F- Marketing Td. 0725 40426 2 ' BELFAST Cardiac Service* Co Td: 02 32 625566 Teh 022 3 67334 CAMUS {ST NJ-OTS) Wesraam Td: 0480217217 CHANNEL ISLES Ikl I Data Systems Tel: 0181 23671 COLCHESTER Furoicc Consultant s leE 0206 72736 DONCASTER Spul Computers Tel: 0302 25379 DUBLIN (EIRE) ljend ui.' Daw Systems Tel: 000 1 710226 EDINBURGH Holden v Micros, ■ stem* Tel: 03 1-557 4060 GLASGOW The Byte Shop Tel: 041-221 3202 GLENROTHES Computer Services Scotian J Id: 0592 773710 LEEDS Holdene Til; 0732 459479 LONDON (BRIXTON) Jarop.alc Tel: 01-67 1 0321 LONDON (COVENT GARDEN) Dtgjt us Tel: 01-379 6908 LONDON (EC4> /.ygd Dynam ics ' Tel: 01*248 4883 LONDON (NWl) The IlyLc Shop Tel: 01,3870507 LOUGHBOROUGH Data One Tel: (5309 37281 MANCHESTER The Byte Shop ' Tel: 061-2364737 MANCHESTER NSC Computers Tel: 061-832 2269 NORWICH Eastern Bus. & Accounting Systems Tel: 0603 3 7460 NOTTINGHAM The Byte Shop Teh 0602 40576 OXGN (BICESTER) ZygaL Dynamics Td: 08692 3361 READING M,E. F.tecironks ’ Tel: 0734 667663 SOUTHAMPTON The Hyte Shop Tel: 0703 334711 STAINES Newbury Data Recording Td; 0784 61141 SWINDON Great Western Computing Tel: 0793 4657 17 WATFORD LusCompuicr Services Tel: 0923 47367 WILMS LOW Holdenc Tel: 0625 529486 WINDSOR Korn tec Tel: 07 5 35 51570 WORTHING Ace C&rtSpur i ng Services Tel: 090 3 354 11 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 * Circle No. 119 41 PULSAR BUSINESS SOFTWARE The star performer for apricot The Pulsar range of business software will turn Apricot into a powerful management tool. Software engineers working hand-in-hand with the Apricot development team have enhanced the range of accounting, word-processing and modelling packages to maximise Apricot’s exciting fourth generation features. Already 10,000 users of Sirius and IBM PCs have given Pulsar their seal of approval. STAR PERFORMER PULSAR takes the mystique out of computing without sacrificing performance. From the design of the software through to the documentation, the accent is on friendliness and ease of use, making it an effective business partner in a matter of hours. And by harnessing the new fourth generation features of Apricot -like the unique MicroScreen tm - Pulsar has become the friendliest business software around. Pulsar is true 16-bit software developed by ACT at a cost of over £1 million for today’s business computers. Pulsar owes nothing to early 8-bit software, being developed from powerful programs written by ACT’S engineers for its own bureau mainframe computers. It draws on over 18 years experience in creating packaged business software. Please send me details of Pulsar Business Software for Apricot DESIGNED TO PLAY A LEADING ROLE The Pulsar range has been designed to meet all the management information needs of business users. Consisting of some 15 integrated packages, the range includes commercial accounting functions, office systems for word processing and electronic mail, and management tools for planning and modelling. The integration between packages is powerful and flexible. Shared information means files don’t have to be duplicated and data does not have to be re-entered. AND IN SUPPORT ACT’s investment in Pulsar goes beyond the software to encompass full training facilities for users and ‘hot-line’ support for your dealers to make sure you get the best service possible. In addition to a nationwide network of over 500 independent dealers ACT has hand-picked 60 Pulsar Software Centres who specialise in Pulsar and can give immediate on-the-spot advice and action. A STAR-STUDDED CAST The Pulsar Range for Apricot: Sales Ledger £195 dBase II Purchase Ledger £1 95 Nominal Ledger £1 95 Payroll Stock Control Invoicing Data Analysis £195 £195 £195 £195 Informer Database £295 Micro Modeller'" SuperCalc 2 ,m SuperCalc 3 ,m Multiplan'" 1 Wordstar" 11 Mail Merge'" 1 SuperWriter'" 1 £395 £595 £175 £295 £195 £295 £95 £295 i Name E Position P Company E Address Telephone For more information on Pulsar the Star Performer for Apricot clip the coupon and return to ACT (Pulsar) Ltd Freepost Birmingham B16 1BR or call 021-455 7000 • Circle No. 120 indicates registered trade mark. Ownership details on request All prices exclude VAT. PROTECT 3MM« In today's fast moving business world, your information has to move with you. Over the past few years there has been an increasing demand for a totally portable computer with the ability to meet so many challenges. Epson, with over 20 years experience in designing and manufacturing high quality printers, have produced the HX-20, a precision machine with its own rechargeable power supply that can be used for just about any task within todays discerning business; from data capture to word processing, from card indexing to sales order entry. Communicating with other machines is no problem and the HX-20 is easily coupled to one of our fine printers. You can even link in another computer system by using an acoustic coupler. Don't be fooled by its size, the HX-20 has all the software back-up you'd expect from a much larger machine and incorporates many "bigger computer" features - 18k RAM expandable to 32k with serial interfaces, a full size typewriter keyboard, it's own built in LCD screen and a dot matrix microprinter. A microcassette facility is available as an optional extra, A complete computer that will either stand on its own or could be the obvious extension to your existing system. More and more people are finding out just how big the small compact HX-20 is. Why don't you find out for yourself - you owe it to your business. EPSON Extraordinary product. Exceptional quality. i C Please ask my Epson dealer to contact me. I Name Epson (UK) Limited, Freepost, Wembley Middlesex HAS 6BR. Sales Enquiries: Freefone EPSON. General Enquiries: 01-902 8892 Telex: 8814169. Position Company Address Tel: PC 12/20 Thrilled to 32 bits THE FIRST microprocessors to perform like real computers rather than like calculators arrived in the mid-1970s, and are still very much with us. Prise the lid off a Spectrum, Oric or Vic-20 and inside you will find a first-generation eight-bit processor such as the Z-80 or the 6502 still going strong, despite the walking stick. Eight-bit processors are now in the mature phase of their life, which means that they are available by the truck load at very reasonable prices. They have long since stopped drawing gasps of admiration from would-be system designers, who now have their fickle eyes riveted on the sexier 16-bit devices like the Intel 8086, the Zilog Z-8000 and the Motorola 68000. There are already many up-market personal computers available, such as the IBM PC and the ACT Sirius, w'hich use the newer 16-bit technology. In both these cases the chip is an Intel 8088 which has a 16-bit processor on the inside behaving like an eight-bit device on the outside to reduce memory costs. Also becoming available are systems based on true 16-bit processors such as the Apple Lisa, w r hich uses the Motorola 68000 device. Unlike the Intel 8086, the Motorola device was designed from the outset to have an internal 32-bit register set and architecture while retaining a 16-bit memory interface to reduce packaging problems and to enable it to compete with the lower-cost Intel and Zilog designs. With the promise of 256K RAM chips just around the corner, however, the time has come for the 68000 to emerge from its chrysalis and assume the full glory of its 32-bit inheritance. 1984 is going to be the year of the 32-bit processor, and systems designers are already going goggle-eyed at the prospect of all the goodies shortly to be unveiled by the chip manufacturers. It will, of course, be some time before Sinclair Research comes up w'ith a 32-bit home micro with a cardboard Winchester and a 2Mbyte add-on RAM pack. But we can expect other manufacturers to have higher-priced systems available from 1985 onwards. What amazing systems they will be! They will offer more power than a Vax minicomputer in a desk-top package costing a fraction of the current Vax price, and with graphics and software which will make your mouth water. Four manufacturers have already announced their 32-bit plans. Next year is going to see a tussle for market leadership in this prestige area, with some interesting changes compared with the previous contests for eight- and 16-bit leadership. In the past Intel has alw'ays been first in the field. Zilog and Motorola generally followed shortly afterwards with technically superior devices, one of which has gone on to be at least as successful as the early-bird Intel. In the 32-bit stakes, however, the order has been reversed. A rank outsider, National Semiconductor, has already announced the launch of its 32032 device. Motorola and Zilog are to follow close by Ray Coles behind in early 1984, with Intel rather surprisingly bringing up the rear with a late-84 launch for its iAPX386. It is true that Intel already has a 32-bit processor, the iAPX432, but this low-profile device is not likely to be a direct competitor in the mass market. One cannot help wondering whether Intel knows something that the others don’t. National will be first thanks to a late launch for its 16032 16-bit design which was, like the Motorola 68000, designed to have a 32-bit internal architecture. With a 16Mbyte address range, built-in memory management and floating-point co- processor, and an elegant and powerful instruction set, the 32032 is a mighty beast indeed. The latest silicon processing techniques have been used to squeeze the 100,000-plus transistors required on to a small die which fits inside a 60-pin package. Software writers w ill flip at the prospect of being able to use any data type or addressing mode with any of the basic instructions. Early reports suggest that the 32032 can run high-level compiled languages such as Fortran at the same speed as an equivalent machine-code program. Early in the new' year we will witness the launch of the Motorola 68020, a souped- up full-width 68000 with lots of new instructions and an amazing 256Mbyte address range. The 68020 will use CMOS technology to reduce power consumption to just 1.8 watts while running from a 16MHz clock and achieving 1.5 million instructions per second. Another innovation will be an on-chip instruction cache which will speed up program execution by reducing the time spent in accessing slower system memory. Since most program code runs in a sequential fashion, the fast cache memory can speed things up by being filled a block at a time. In most situations a cache hit- rate of greater than 90 percent can be expected. Zilog is due to launch the Z-80000 later in the year, but has already released full details of the nought-bound monster following in the footsteps of the Z-8, Z-80, Z-800 and Z-8000 already with us. Like the National and Motorola devices the Z-80000 prides itself on having instruction-set compatibility with its 16-bit predecessor. As usual, Zilog has gone for speed, with clock rates up to 25MHz promised and a throughput of up to 5,000,000 instructions per second. Unlike Motorola, Zilog has incorporated cache memory for both data and instructions, and 16 cache blocks each 16 words deep are available on the chip. Also on the chip is a built-in memory- management unit which provides for virtual-memory operation and soph- isticated protection mechanisms. Finally we will be offered the long- awaited iAPX386 from Intel. It was first announced over two years ago but is unlikely to see the light of day until late 1984. The 386 will double the throughput of Intel’s current top-of-the-line 16-bit processor, the iAPX286, and will use a closely related architecture which can be traced back to the 8086. The architecture of the 8086 has always seemed rather messy to me, and it is difficult to see how Intel can hope to compete with the offerings of the other three manufacturers which will be first — as well as best — this time round. Yet the Intel bandwagon has a big following which wants more than just sexy chips, and no one has yet been able to challenge Intel in the software and hardware support offered to designers. So there it is, the 32-bit era is about to dawn. But don’t put your trusty eight-bit crate out to grass just yet. It will be quite some time before we see the first 32-bit personal computer advertised — even in this magazine! Q PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 45 Discover the Microcomputer Age Come along to The Northern Computer Fair and discover for yourself the excitement of the microcomputer age. All you need to know about personal computers, home computers and microcomputer systems for business will be on display at Belle Vue, Manchester from November 24-26. All your questions will be answered at the North’s premier personal computer exhibition. Enthusiasts can see the latest software and hardware technology in action, and for those new to the world of computers this show is a great introduction. Being sponsored by Practical Computing and Your Computer, the leading microcomputing magazines, you can be sure of value for money at £3 a ticket for Adults and £2 for Children under 16. Hiis voucher entitles the bearer to a one pound reduction on the purchase of one adult or child full price ticket. This cannot be used with any other offer _ Northern fomputer pairszsi Belle Vue Manchester November 24-26, 1983 Travelling to the show is also easy as the organisers have arranged special reduced-price tickets with British Rail which include the cost of admission. For further information ring British Rail Enquiry Bureau on 061-832-8353 before November 11. The Northern Computer Fair is open between 10.00 am and 6.00 pm every day so come along and bring the microcomputer age alive for you. For special party rates and further information contact: The Exhibition Manager, The Northern Computer Fair, Reed Exhibitions, Surrey House, 1 Throwley Way, Sutton, Surrey SMI 4QQ J Northern t omputer W mm Personal computers J-CIU £ Sponsored by: (SS» and Personal computers Home computing Small business systems Belle Vue Manchester November 24 - 26, 1983 ©aftjiftyjuiS ASHTON. TATE ■ dBase II* The worlds leading micro database package can now be enhanced with one of the worlds leading automatic programmers If you’re not a programmer it writes powerful dBase ll* programs for you. If you are ^ programmer it cuts your time dramatically and gives you buq free Codes first time. A 15 minute demonstration will convince you. • Automatic Menus and SubMenus • Automatic Data Entry screens • Automatic Data Entry Routines • Automatic Edit/Validation • String, Numeric, Date and calculated fields • Automatic Multiple Reports Selection on part fields • Automatic Programs in dBase* code with interactive screens • Documentation of the generated system produced automatically • No prior knowledge of dBase II* is needed • Installed on more than 50 microcomputers • Available on MS-DOS, CP/M 86 and CP/M 80 Call Stemmos or any of our distributors and dealers to arrange your demonstration at your nearest Autocode centre DISTRIBUTORS TRADESOFT LTD London SW1 1 01 622 9373 XITAN SYSTEMS LTD Southampton 0703 38740 SOFTWARE LTD London EC1 01 833 1173/6 FERRARI SOFTWARE Feltham 01 751 5791 PETE AND PAM COMPUTERS Rossendale 0706 212321/227011 ENCOTEL SYSTEMS LTD Croydon 01 686 9687/680 6070 Sp 48 STEMMOS LTD Stemmos Ltd 199 Uxbridge Road, London W12 Tel: 01-740 9444 Telex 893003 Stemmos G. *dBASE II is a registered trademark of AshtonTate Ltd. • Circle No. 123 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 Authorised Dealer Service Centre System Consultancy cdmputech hard ware... just vV? plugi h 1 1 paIj-i Mn 1 Od switches and jumpers provide hardware options without soldering of o iftieth DIPLOMAT VIDEO DIGITISER store a frame from video camera in second, process and print — for Apple for APPLE lie , including 64K Extended 80 Column Card DIPLOMAT PARALLEL Interface DIPLOMAT SERIAL COMMUNICATIONS Interface DIPLOMAT RAM 16 Memory Expansion DIPLOMAT CLOCK/CALENDAR LOWER CASE Character Generator with Applewnter 1.1 enhancements MICROMUX Data Exchange (Max 16 Ports) MATRIX PRINTERS, Microline and Epson with graphics and up to 200 cps MICROLINE Optional Character Generator DAISY WHEEL PRINTERS, Olympia, ©ume, Ricoh 195. £345 £80 from £50 £850 from £222 £15 from £798 Prices exclude VAT, Carriage and Packing For full details phone for data sheets and a FREE demonstration COMPUTECH .SYpt f Ilf ■ 168 Finchley Road, London NW3 6HP. Tel: 01-794 0202 The Apple logo is a trade mark of Apple Computer Inc. VisiCalc is a trade mark of VisiCorp Now, a home computer with virtually no limit to its possibilities. The astonishing new Sharp MZ700. A machine with a dazzling array of talents. First, it's a 'clean' machine . So you are not limited to any one computer language. You have the flexibility to run and write programs in BASIC, FORTRAN, MACHINE CODE, PASCAL, ASSEMBLER and many others. And the MZ700's 512 predefined characters mean you can build up detailed pictures on the screen, without spending time specifying and designing special characters for games and special effects. Second, it has a memory of 64K. So as your technique improves and develops, you are able to move forward to more and more advanced programming. All of which makes this the perfect home computer for parents, as well as children. The MZ700 gives you access to a wide n i as w 1 ^□Q JSR J *4 t ♦ ♦ f ■ 0S jfsra | choice of new software, from only £3-95 per cassette. An additional plotter/printer, costing £129-95, can produce high resolu- tion graphics in 4 colours. A data cassette recorder is an extra at £39-95. Both add- ons fit snugly into this easy to carry compact system with no trailing wires. And you get ten exciting games, free on purchase, including Super Puckman, Circus Star, Snake v. Snake, and Man-Hunt. The brilliant new MZ700. The no-limit computer. £249-95. From Sharp. Where great ideas come to life. CPU: Z8 0A 1 ROM: Monitor 4K byte ROM 1 C haracter generator 4K byte ROM 1 RAM: 64K byte D-RAM 8 4K byte V-RAM 2 I/O bus: Expansion I/O bus ! Additional printer I/O bus 1 Cassette READ/WRITE terminals 2 Joystick ter minals 2 RGB MONITOR/ VIDEO MONITOR/RF OUTPUTS ~ Look for this logo on software denoting Sharp Compatible Software. To: Sharp Electronics (UK) Ltd, Home Computer Division, Sharp House, Thorp Road, Newton Heath, Manchester MIO 9BE. Tel: 061-205 2333 Please send me details of the Sharp MZ700. Name Address — PC2 * 1 The world of m SHARP . where great ideas come to life. V • Circle No. 1 25 The sign of a good disk. When you see this on a disk, it means top-quality computer media When you see this on the box, it means you’re getting it for less. With so much money and valuable data tied up in your computer, small business system or word processor, it doesn’t pay to go for low prices on your computer media at the expense of quality. Except when you can buy ultra-reliable top quality and save money into the bargain - with BASF FlexyDisks, available as ‘10 for the price of 9' for a limited period only. Existing BASF FlexyDisk users swear by their quality, reliability and long-life data protection, summed up by the new Qualimetric symbol. And that’s why they are certain to be first in the queue to snap up available supplies at such a saving. Consult the list for your nearest BASF FlexyDisk Dealer. Before stocks run out. a BASF ®FtexyDisk 52 • Circle No. 126 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 LONDON AND HOME COUNTIES: Data Efficiency Limited Maxted Road, Maylands Avenue Hemel Hempstead, Herts HP2 7LE 0442 6Q 155 Data Media Services Unit 9 Ashford Industrial Estate Shield Road Ashford, Middlesex TW15 1AV 07B42 47341 AWS Computer Supplies 57 Surbiton Road, Kingston, Surrey 01-541 lisa Computer Accessories Ltd IQ Barley Mow Passage Chiswick, London W4 4 PH 01-994 6477 Com pul a term 4 Met I vale Road, Harrow, Middlesex 01-4235005 Data Processing Accessories Unit 06, Bearbrook Industrial Estate Rabans Lane, Aylesbury, Bucks 0296 24411 Essex Data Product 17 Guithavon Street, Witham, Essex 0376 518629 North amber 3 Dawes Court, Esher, Surrey 037268311 Pete and Pam Computers 103 B leg borough Road, London SW16 01-7691022 Medial He 86/96 Gairatt Lane, London SW18 01-870 7996 MIDLANDS: CCS Media 277a Woodborough Road Nottingham NG3 4ST 0602620979 Frank Grooms Group of Companies Nottingham 0602 301633 Brigg 0652 54966 Coventry 0203613417 Leeds 0532 771181 Leicester 0533 556479 Lincoln 0522 36984 G east Compu te r Se nr ice s Carr Road Industrial Estate Peterborough, 0733 51231 Stratton St Maroarel Swindon, 0793 927727 QBH Data Services Dumfries Chambers 91 St Mary Street, Cardiff CF1 1 JY 022225653 Landscape Computer Services East Field House Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire 0526 53560 Regent Paper 657 Melton Road, Thurmaston Leicester LE4 BEG 0533 695952 Stryder Publishing POBOX167, Sutton Norwich NR129RS 069282011 Trade Date (Trade Enquiries Only} 49 l niffe Avenue, Qadby, Leicester 0533712378 NORTH WEST: Pete and Pam Computers New Hall Hey Road, Raw I en stall Rossendale, Lancashire 0706212321 Broker Forms 214 Manchester Road, Warrington 0925 34440 National Micro Centres: Wilmslow 0625530891 Stockport 061 480 0539 YORKSHIRE Tandberg Elland Road, Leeds 0532774844 SYSTEM 12 Collegiate Crescent Sheffield, 310 2BA 0742682321 NORTH EAST: DP Supplies St Andrews House, Westfield Terrace Gateshead, Tyne & Wear 0632785066 SCOTLAND: Excel Data Clydebank Business Park Clydebank, Glasgow G81 1 JA 041 952 7878 Tail Components 973 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow 041 3399959 Tullts Neill Peggy's Mill, Mayfield Dalkeith EH 22 4AD 031 6636691 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 STEMMOS the dBASEII experts TEMMOS are one of Britain's leading software houses and specialists in dBase II TEMMOS offer a helpline for dBase II users flTEH Sr pTEP Sr flTEII Sr TEMMOS wrote Autocode I," the only intelligent program generator for dBase II flTEf Sr TEMMOS hold monthly seminars in the heart of London on dBase II - An opportunity for anyone from engineer to businessman to write their own microcomputer program, - And for the programmer the chance to write programs in a fraction of the time. Seminars: 7, 8, 9 h Nov, 5 r 6, 7 r Dec, 10, 11, Jan, STEMMOS The Key to successful software Please send me more information on: dBase II Autocode I C dBase II User seminars Name: Company: Address: Sr STEMMOS LTD 1 99 Uxbridge Road. London W1 2, Tel: 01-740 9444 Telex: 893003 STEMOSG >r Ashton T«i» A^ncotfr i* Si-mnwji Lbd % m -o 1 OQ -o i Circle No. 127 53 TENSOR Computers have been helping to run British industry for years! Unlike other microcomputers, the TENSOR is a complete range of hardware and software products; from fibre optic Local Area Networks or Programmable Process Controllers, to COBOL based business packages and industrial software for factories. T4O00 T4001 T4003 T4004 T4012 T4013 T40I4 T4015 T4016 T4020 T4030 T4050 Dual 5.25 floppy disk module (2x400k) Single 5.25 floppy disk module (40Qk) Dual 8" floppy disk module (500k) SingleS' 1 floppy disk module (250k) 5 MB hard disk unit 10 M B hard disk unit 20 MB hard disk unit 40 MB hard disk unit 80 MB hard disk unit Mini winchester controller Cartridge tape backup unit Micro cassette unit T60G0 64k S100 computer Z80 based T6001 64k SlOO computer 8086 based T802 1 Loca I Area N et wo rk co nt rol I er T8G00 T8001 T8002 T8003 T8005 T8009 T8013 T8022 T8029 T803I TS037 T803S TS039 T8041 T8054 Si 00 Z80 processor card S100 process control I/O board $100 64k memory card SIQO CRT and video controller Si 00 industrial keyboard encoder Si 00 6 slot motherboard $100 proximity switch detector $100 serial comms board SI 00 floppy and hard disk controller SI 00 80 way 170 board SlOO 8086 processor board $100 16 bit 128k memory board $100 16 bit floppy and hard disk controller SlOO Ethernet controller SlOO 11 slot motherboard T805 5 S 1 00 1 j me r/interu pt boa rd T8071 SlOO Z80 64k computer +1/0 T 1 000 Sta i n less steel data collection node T9 1 0 1 Data collection te r m ina I T99QO Da ta logg i n g te rm i nal T9 103 Time and attendance terminal T9002 Bar code reading computer T9102 Z8Q based programmable controller T9QQQ T3100 T8106 T8070 T8072 T8063 TS025 T8027 2732/2764 EPROM burner Fibre optic transiever 10 way fibre optic controller 280 single board industrial controller Industrial data logger with cassette 8 way TRIAD controller 4 digit thumbled LED display unit Solenoid Operated Valve controller S P 1 120 Mu it ibu s speec h com pu te r PR2000 Unlimited text- to- speech computer P500 P501 P502 P504 P505 P506 PtOO Pi 02 PI 05 Nominal ledger package (COBOL) Sales Ledger package (COBOL) Purchase ledger package (COBOL) Fixed assets package (COBOL) Project management package (COBOL) Payroll, SSP and personnel package (COBOL) Computerised manufacturing package (COBOL) Finished goods stock control package (COBOL) Shop floor documentation package (COBOL) All of the above products are designed, built and maintained by Modus Systems Ltd. Modus would like to install a TENSOR computer in your business or factory. Call us today, maybe we can help you! MODUS Park Drive, Baldock, Herts, SG7 6EW Telephone Hitchin (0462) 894848(4 lines) Telex 825058 Modus G Circle No. 196 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 MICROCOMPUTER / TWIN-DRIVE COMPUTER SYSTEM FROM ONLY The MX Series are beautifully housed in a low profile brown/ beige metal case. Now MICRONIX smashes the price barrier of Professional Systems — 100% British designed and built. No frills, no gimmicks, no forced purchase of unwanted software at hidden cost! Our low, low system cost gives you freedom to choose and buy software to suit your requirement and still save money! Four models to choose from and a massive 21 Mbyte Hard disk Subsystem is also available. Based on the versatile MICRONIX 80HD Single Board Micro all models have • Z80A MHz CPU • 64k (expandable to 128k) RAM • 24 x 80 VDU • Floppy Disk Controller • SASI Hard Disk Interface • Real Time Clock/Calendar with battery back-up • Two RS232C Ports • Two Parallel I/O • Buffered BUS • ASCII Parallel Keyboard Port • Composite Video • CP/M compatible Operating System. Just add a terminal or video monitor and a keyboard (optionally available) and you are in business! LOOK AT THESE PRICES! MODEL MX1600: MODEL MX1600: , OQQQ 1600K TWIN 57/ SYSTEM only fcOTO MODEL MX400: , C7QQ 400K TWIN 57/ SYSTEM .only t ------ MODEL MX800: t OQQQ K%v L runuR^ mrFM nnlv£1199 800K TWIN 57/ SYSTEM .only LOQQ 2400KTWIN5A SYSTEM....only L I,IW The heart of the system - MICRONIX 80HD Single Board Micro — also available separately micromx computers Ltd KEYBOARD: 102 Key Low Profile ASCII Keyboard only £125 (C5 carriage) HARD DISK: Mass Storage Hard Disk Sub-systems complete with Software and ready to plug into any MX System above: Model MX115HD 11.5 Mbyte Hard Disk only Cl, 250 Model MX216HD 21.6 Mbyte Hard Disk only Cl 399 All prices are exclusive of carriage (C15 per System) and VAT. Suite 2, 26 Charing Cross Road, London WC2. Tel. 01- 240 0213/0217. Telex 295173 VILOR DG • Circle No. 220 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 55 Wembley Conference Centre March 13-15 Open 09.30-17.00 daily If you want to talk to buyers then 'The Computer Trade Show '84 is the certain way of reaching an audience of the highest quality. Only bona fide trade visitors are admitted to the show and at the last exhibition 3,653 trade buyers came to The Computer Trade Show'. Such people are serious business ^Hy erS| ^ 1 P €T cent 1983 visitors involved in computer/ WP systems distribution and 25 per cent looking for OEM equipment for systems integration. This impressive audience attends The Computer Trade Show' because of the guaranteed quality of the show Held near the centre of London at the modem Wembley Conference Centre with its sophisticated businesslike atmosphere, it is staged by the country's largest exhibition organiser, Reed Exhibitions! Sponsors of the show are Computer Weekly ', Systems International' Software', Practical Computing' and ‘Micro Business'. A prestigious conference programme held in conjunction with the show is certain to attract wide media coverage and professional visitors of a high calibre. With important industry issues discussed in depth, the conference will be the talking point of the year in the trade. For further information contact Christine Jones. Tel. 01-643 8040. Reed Exhibitions has organised an impressive promotional programme for The Computer Trade Show '84' with direct mailings to selected visitors to the COMPEC series of exhibitions and to the entire circulation of the sponsoring magazines. Editorial previews of the exhibition in the sponsoring journals will ensure that interest in the show is at its height in the crucial period just pnor to The Computer Trade Show 84'. With this kind of backing it is no wonder that an important number of computer companies, like Digital Equipment Company Perkin Elmer, Kode, Norsk Data t General Automation Redilhision, Geveke , Newbury Data and Multicomputer. have already booked stand and space at the show. So if you want to be sure of meeting thousands of business buyers with bulk purchase at the forefront of their minds you must reserve your stand space at The Computer Trade Show '84' by dipping the coupon below, or better still phone Gillian Johnson on 01-661 3125 NOW! I am interested in exhibiting at The Computer Trade Show 64 Please send further information □ I am interested in visiting. Please send me a visitor registration leaflet □ Name Position Company Address t = Telephone No Return coupon to: Gillian Johnson, Exhibition Sales Department. Electrical/Eectronk Quadrant House. The Quadrant. Sutton, Surrey SM2 5 AS Press. • Circle No. 129 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 56 A PERFORMANCE AND PRICE BREAKTHROUGH IN APPLE ][ & lie HARD DISC STORAGE High Performance AID hard disc systems of 5-20 megabyte capacities, specifically designed for use with the Apple, are now available running under DOS, CP/M & Pascal. The units cold boot and throughput speeds are really impressive. If you want to leave others standing, try our fast DOS option! The range features the 5+5 and 10+10 drives which enable you to configure half the drive as primary and half as secondary storage tor ease The systems have been designed around the concepts of data reliability and convenience of operation. They are simply the most competitive hard discs on the market, bo why pay more for less. interface INTEC technology LOW PRICE 5Mb £990 io Mb £1270 20 Mb £1490 All prices ex-VAT. Apple is the registered trade mark of Apple Inc. DEALER ENQUIRIES WELCOME INTEC. 41A-45. Knight’s Hill. West Norwood. London. SE27 01-761 5999 Tlx: 8813271 GECOMS G • Circle No. 130 Meet the fa Minstrel + lUrboDOS the marriage of reliability and versatility Minstrel r r The Minstrel is an exciting new British micro-computer and offers Winchester- based systems at fantastically low prices. The range extends from single-floppy single- user CP/M systems right up to a 68000-based model and includes an 8086-based range. The Minstrel is compatible with the North Star Horizon and offers a superior alternative at a much better price. There is a network of Minstrel dealers in the UK and Europe. Contact us for the name of your local dealer. Dealer enquiries invited. S100 bus The amazing versatility of the Minstrel is due to the bus used: the SI 00 bus. This bus system is not only future-proof- the future is created on the S 1 00 bus. Every major micro- computer development appears first on the SI 00 bus. Now over 150 manufacturers make SI 00 products and their combined range approaches 1000 boards. HmSustems ■ Untol Mir«C.«4 Hotel Microsystems Limited 69 Loudoun Road, London NW8 0DQ national 01 328 8737 international +441 328 8737 telex 266828 mily One machine — eight computers Yes! Inside the Minstrel micro- computer illustrated there are actually 8 Z80A single-board computers. One is dedicated to each user of the system resulting in astonishing performance. A ninth processor controls central disk storage and printers. TurboDOS provides sophisticated spooling for multiple printers, supports 1000Mb disk drives and 128Mb files, and employs powerful disk buffering techniques. • Circle No, 131 HirboDOS ® CP/M COMPATIBLE MULTI-USER OPERATING SYSTEM TurboDOS is a popular high-performance multi -processor operating system. Each user has their own slave processor board (illustrated above). TurboDOS systems have been shown to out-perform mini-computers in the DEC PDP1 1/34 class at a fraction of the hardware cost. TurboDOS is compatible with CP/M, the industry standard operating system, which means you have access to a vast range of off-the-shelf software, The next development to TurboDOS on the Minstrel allows you to connect systems together via a Local Area Network. ASTONISHING PRICES! Minstrel with two 400Kb floppy drives £1 790. With 1 400Kb drive and 5Mb Winchester £261 5. A sample 2-user A sample 5-user TurboDOS system TurboDOS system including: including: Minstrel Minstrel 1 800Kb floppy 1 800Kb floppy 1 5Mb Winchester 1 20Mb Winchester 2 slave processor 5 slave processor cards cards 5KDS7362 VDUs {illus} 2 KDS7362 VDU's 1 Epson printer (illus) 1 Epson printer 1 OKI 84 printer £5420 £9850 TurboDOS is a registered Trade Mark of Software 2000, Inc. one stop shopping Q Get it together from one manufacturer The QumeTrak 142; high data reliability, trigimballed head, low cost, half height in. floppy disk drive . . . The new QYT range; ergonomically designed emulating video terminals , , . The Sprint 1 1 Plus; legendary print quality, operator-exchangeable interface, daisywheel printers. . . 1 he recipe for quality peripherals from Qume blends the QumeTrak 142 floppy disk drive and the QYT range of video terminals with the Sprint 11 Plus printers to satisfy all the needs of the discerning system builder who demands quality, capacity 1 , reliability and aesthetic ergonomic d esign . .all from one shop , , . QUME. Ask your nearest Authorised Distributor for further details or ’phone or write Steve Hammond at Oume (UK). Qume. Qume (UK) Limited, Bridgewater Close, Reading, Berkshire RQ3 1JI Tel: Reading (0734) 584646. Telex: 849706 A British Company of ITT CAMEL PRODUCTS QUME Distributor Network UK and Ireland P= Printers. V= Video Terminals. M^Disk Drives. PV Access Data Com rcuin Scat ions Lid Unit 17 Eskdale Road Uxbridge Industrial Estate Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 2RT. Tel: 0895 59781 PV Alp ha tech Computer Systems I ,rd Marlow Road. Bourne End Buckinghamshire SI, 8 5.SP. I'd: 06285 28257 PV Bytech Ltd Unit57 Suttons Industrial Park London Road, Earley Reading, Berkshire Rt>6 lAZ.Tcl: 0734 61031 PV Daisy 'Terminals Ltd Bridge Road Hav wards I loath, West Sussex RH 16 H A. Teh 0444457546 PV Da tic Ltd 4\i dor Road, Altrincham Cheshire WA14 STN.Tek 061 941 2361 M Kura Electronics Ltd Twvman House, 31 Camden Road London NW! 1 YE. Tel: 01-2675416 p Facit Data Products Maidstone Road Rochester, Kent MEl 3QN. Tel: 0634401721 V Nouhamber Ltd Sand own Industrial Estate Mill Road. Esher, Surrev KTI09QA Tel: 0372 68311 PV ISC j Data Sales Ltd UnitS Wellington Industrial Estate Basingstoke Road, Spencers Wood Reading, Berkshire RG7 1AW Tel: 0734884666 V RT S, Technology Ltd. {Unit 12) St- Fane fas Commercial Centre 63 Trait Street, London NWl 0BY, Tel: 01-267 7541 PV Teleprinter Equipment Ltd Akeman Street 'Erin g, H ertfo rdsh ire H P 23 6 AJ . Tel: 0442824011 Pr intwheels and Ribbons IS A Ltd ( Master Distributor ) 80-84 Thornton Road Bradford, Yorks. Tel: 0274 306787 & 0 1 -992 341 1 Faeit Dataproducts Maidstone Road Roc heste r, Ken t, Tel: 0634 40 1 72 \ Ko res Nordic (GB) Ltd West Road/lcmplefields Harlow, Essex. 'Tel: 027920411 Willis Computer Supplies Ltd P.O, Box !G, South Mill Road B is hop s Stn rtford . H c rts CN 23 3 1 )N , Tel: 0279 50649 1 Srylographic Services Ltd 40 Wading Street, Radletc Herts WD7 7NN. Tel: 092764585 Desco Carbon & Ribbon Supplies Ltd 7GCIober Road, Milngavic Glasgow G62 7SSTch 041 956 1134 Willis Com p ute r Su ppli e s { 1 reland) l , td 15 Windsor 'Terrace, Dun Laoghaire Co. Dublin, Ireland. Tel: 0001 HO 1470 Quine. Qume (UK) Limited, Bridgewater Close, Reading, Berkshire RG3 1 JI Tel: Reading (0734) 584646. Telex: 849706 A British Company of ITT BL 0 PR 0 M 81 A uniquely sophisticated EPROM PROGRAMMER In use at various labs incl. Sinclair Research [Eprom programmer for (he 2516. 27XX single supply families, yes. even the 27128 from Intel. Cheek, Read, Program + Verify all or pan of Eprom. | So immensely user friendly you'll hardly need the manual. Designed for the beginner but includes a single key eniry route for the profes- sional. Supplied as firmware, the m/e driver routine alone is worth more (Inin the price of BLOPROM-81. No Personality Cards or other additions, jusi a ZX8I. Several inbuilt safely features. On- board Vpp general ion, 28pin Zll socket. Cabled connector and ex- tender plug. ABS ease, [ Note: Can provide up to 36 inputs or 40 outputs as an I . O £79.95 NEW IN CMOS MEMIC 1.2 A 4KB 2532/2732 rcplaeemeni in fast (200nSet) CMOS RAM with Lithium hat t cry backup. 12” cabled connee- tor. For any system with a 24 pin j Eprom socket £35.95 | I MEMIC 8U for the 2X81 Faster than a Floppy. Easier than an EPROM. A 4K CMOS memory and Lithium battery unit. Saves programmes up to 10 years without external power. Plug it into the ZX81 and Hick a switch and your program is ready for retrieval. A simple PRINT USR . . entry loads your program into RAM. Resides in 8-1 2K but can be moved it) 12-16K. Comprehensive notes + exam pie £29. 95 |CRAMK-8M I Banish the Whir, Click and 1 ry again ol ZX81 Systems, 1 16K CMOS RAM and Lithium battery in cabled ABS case, with expan- sion adaptor. | Powers off the /.X81 when running. Resides in I6-32K. Can beused like an ordinary 16K but can also reiain program up lo 10 years. In- genious hard ware/so ft ware allows swopping of RAMs from pro- gram. £7995 PI0SP An Sh 8 line parallel In put /Output card which lests the Spectrum conv municatc with external systems. Rugged TTL chips used. Connec- tions on 8 pin sockets. Mating connectors supplied £18.50 PI0-81A As PIO-SP but for theZX81 £14*95 DREAM-81 A 64k with extras. Full 64k Rampack with link options to disable 0-B-16K. Plus a 28 pm EPROM socket for 2716/2732/2764 and even the taiesl 27128 from Intel, Fasi/slow Eprom option, professionally built and tested. In an AH$ case with an LED indicator, £69.95 PR0MER81 A l last! A low cosi reliable programmer lor 2516/32, 2716/32 EPROMS. This is the solution to using EPROMs instead of tape. Requires 4 x PP3 batteries for a regulated 25 volts. Remarkably prices at £19.95 ROM'S 1 Provides two 24 pin sockets lor up to 8K of EPROM memory in the 8-16K area. Eproms are permanent memory which require program- mers (sec above) to write to them . Can use 25 16/32 or 27 1 6/32 £19.95 PRINTERM0NIT0R ACCESSORIES MSB Monitor Stand for BBC micro. Si is over the lleeb 1 7” x 12” x 3.75 1 P + P £3 JO £19,95 TSS Standard printer stands lor OKI, Epson etc. 15” x 12” X 4,5” Ph P 0.50 £16,95 PSJ. I.arue mode! 17” x 14.5” x 3,75 P + P13.50 £19.95 | PSC-3 for Epson MX- 100 etc. 21” x 14” x 3.75”, P+PL3.50 £22.95 | CUSTOM V R I X I K R ST A M>S for larger primers P.O. A. I POT Printer Outpul Tray for II” fanfold paper P i P 0,50 £16.95 UK, VAT extra. No VA I on exports P + P UK, Tree Europe t 5 “A — Overseas + U>% UK & Worldwide dealerships available. Cmbsxige hk.rc&at&KS ltd. One Mto 0d, Cambfrdge CB4 fUY Jet {8223} 3t4 $14 » Circle No. 133 61 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 ^ • Circle No. 132 IF®® @>MM EX-RENTAL RAIR MICROS WE HAVE A NUMBER OF EX- RENTAL MACHINES AVAILABLE FOR SALE WITH ON-SITE MAINTENANCE AVAILABLE. PRICES FROM; 3/20A64K £750 8MB HARD DISK £600 3/30A 64K £1750 3/30S 64 K £2250 3/50 256 K £3000 CONTACT: JULIE HEWITT ON:- (01)-897 3071 ^innsile HEATHROW HOUSE BATH RO. CRANFORD HOUNSLOW Middlesex rwa gop • Circle No, 1 n+GjCDITIRUTERUJPRE XMAS SPECIALS *AIL THE BEST FROM A + G* Only while stocks Last! A Christmas Gift! Smith Corona TPI Daisywheel Primer Serial or Parallel £280! YES! ONLY £280! BASF DISKS 5f" S.S.S.D. Box of Ten £15 Only, Guaranteed for a lifetime with no quibble. Exchange for any that fail to please. 5}" S.S.S.D. Box of Ten £20! 8" D.S.D.D.Bqx of Ten £23! Don't miss this "Once in a lifetime" offer. All first quality media. No seconds. SPECIAL OFFER Shrink Wrap Super Sealer 240 volt machine. Up to max 16" width. All film available. Should cost £1000 — Offer price £276 Phoenix 1 2 J MONITORS Green Screen HiRes £99, Amber £109. APPLE SOFTWARE Send for exciting 1 984 List — Lower prices. Lots of New Items — Bargains Galore! PRINTERS Juki 6100 Daisywheel £335! Epson RX80FT £280! XMAS OFFER ONLY Full Price Lists and Brochures on request. Just a phone call away. Govt. & Educ, Orders welcome. Fast delivery by Interlink — Carriage £8 —Disks £1 per order. Please add VAT to all totals. P.0, Box 34, Cheadle, Cheshire, SK84PT Telephone 061-428 2014 » Circle No. 135 AIMGRAM: FOR UNBEATABLE PRICES CHOOSE FROM THE WIDEST RANGE OF LOW COST PERIPHERALS- ALL EX-STOCK For printers; monitors; Apple interfaces; ribbons; diskettes and a host of micro accessories. If you want peripherals fast and at the lowest prices around . ring Aimgram first. Kaga green monitor FROM ONLY £87 (Exc VAT & carriage) One look at these two examples from our range will show you what we mean! Epson RX80 printer FROM ONLY £239 (Exc VAT & carriage) Please send cash with order for immediate delivery, or ask for our complete price list. £ 359.00 Aimgram Ltd, 31 Roman Gardens, Kings Langley, Herts WD4 8 LG PHONE 09277 68211 FOR LOWEST PRICES AROUND OTHER EXAMPLES FROM OUR RANGE EPSON PRINTER PRODUCTS Epson FX0Q Dot Matrix (160 cps) Printer Epson MX tOO Type 3 Dot Matrix ( 1 00 cps) Printer £399,00 Epson FX100 Do! Matrix (160 cps) £4?g 00 Printer E pson R X90FT Dol Matrix ( 1 00 cps) £269.00 Printer KAGA MONITORS AND ACCESSORIES Kaga 12 Amber Monitor (Hi* Res) Kaga Medium Res 12" RGB Cotour Monitor Kaga High Res 12" RGB Colour Monitor Kaga Super High Res 12* RGB Colour Monitor STROBE PLOTTER Complete System inc. BBCPtot Software Complete System: inc, Inlerface fgr Apple ll/ll e and ’AppPlot' Software All prices exclude VAT and carriage £95.00 £189.00 £229.00 £319.00 £349.00 £379.00 STOP PRESS! Dyson floppies from around £20 (bos of/O) 62 • Circle No. 136 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 Get it right at Laskys... Games, business* education, word processing, accounting * . * The amazing potential of micro computers is virtually limitless, so you need the right advice in order to find exactly the right machine for you. At Laskys we have a specialist micro department called Micropomt, where we can help you to analyse your requirements and experiment with everything from the simplest to the most sophisticated equipment. A choice of easy ways to pay, free 2 year guarantee, a commitment to exchange products if you are not completely happy and, of course, a nationwide after sales service. You can’t buy micro anywhere better than Laskys - who else offers you so much? § mm ATARI 400 FREE ATARI 4t0 CASSETTE PROGRAM RECORDER FOR LOADING AND STORING PROGRAMS. USUAL PRICE £49.90 Home computer with 16K memory. Spill proof keyboard. Superb graphics. Colour ana sound, includes Basic program kit. APPLE He PROFESSIONAL HOME COMPUTER PACK A sophisticated micro with amazing scope for home and office. 64K memory, disk drive, RF modulator enabling you to use your existing TV as monitor, includes Owners Pack. Compact powerful 96K home unit at a budget price. Colour, sound and graphics. Compatible with most cassette players-£2^g Lynx Parallel Printer Interface £49.90 Lynx Serial Printer Interface £3. 90 Recommended Epson printers for Lynx Epson FX80 £498 Epson MX100/3 £539 Epson RX80 £349 The Home Entertainment Specialists ALL MAJOR CREDIT CAROS ACCEPTED LQNQOH & HOME COUNTIES ±1 TsttErfiiffi CtMl Road Wi 257 T&npYaro Cam FlWC W ' w? open Sunji> njm *?:-i 730 ArclSlrrti W 1 fftVn B€W.e*rtATH Trtaiaxhi/ SROWlEV 2 ? Marvel Sq^e COLCHESTER 1 2 TmrfySou™ CROVDCM 7701 End ENF lE-i .0 Palace Kings™ E«flSiieet LUTON 19? Amdaie Oenhe RE*D*J 0 F.inr Sued BRISTOL i MO Penn SMfl RICHMOND Hd 5er«i CHATHAM i 1 he Penlagcr- ROMFORCiSa^Slreel CUSMCESTEfl 2 S StTW SlOtJOK Queeriyren? Cwe M* 0 £TOJ£ 7 M« W«L Slreei WATFORD Cnamef P-Ke SCUThEnD JOMW-CIvkni W«r SOUTHERN ENGLAND MIDLANDS AND NORTH BRIGHTON 151-2 Wfcnetn float BIRMINGHAM i£2i Corporator, 31 DHEST£fl 71 >«F(j«un NEWCASTL 6 -UPON-TVHE LEEDS 26-34 AJfctjn Seed ^lloihupbciland Si LEICESTER X Marvel Plate HOBIWUMPTON 70 Wjmglur SUM LIVERPOOL 33 Dale $Wi NOTTINGHAM 1 -4 SnMhT tar i 57 a Jc#m t Pvwmd OkFCRD i£ Wtesgaie Sheffield sb lb***; snwi WOLVERHAMPTON 4 WullTon Souse YORK lOaGcne^ Str-eel SCOTLAND EDINBUF!GH-i-6Sl jafms Cenire MANCHESTER 12-14 Si Mah^sOiHf PETERBOROUGH QvKKHisMteCiefllre GLASGOW 66- 70 BuctenW SY«f PRESTON &j«haii AneWf WALES CARDIFF I ti Ou«h Streel XMAS& NEW YEAR OPENING HOURS lltoflMhtoc-llonttiJifLl ALL STORES Jw- 7 |>HM<irt.frij 5=.t -Cpm:Si!| Sal 24th D«cld4M 4pm Op*rtilan£fidJwi OUEE N 5 WAY ft pH GRES N OPEN EVERY SUND AY 11 am-Tpm Watch out for new Laskys Stores opening soon in Ealing, Southampton, Brent Cross, Cambridge and Exeter, • Circle No. 137 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 63 V Anglia Computer Centre 88 ST BENEDICTS STREET NORWICH NR2 4AB TELEX 975201 ACOMP G jVi SPECIALISTS IN BUSINESS COMPUTERS Kings Lynn, BUSINESS COMPUTERS Phone (0603) 667032/3 or 21117 APPLE, SIRIUS, OSBORNE, ANADEX, IBM*, DEC, EPSON. + Complete with professional back-up service* HOME COMPUTERS Phone (0603)26002/667031 BBC, DRAGON, COMMODORE 64, SINCLAIR, OR1C, LYNX. * On special offer * Call tor Price £££ BOOKS AND STATIONERY CENTRE Phone (0603) 2S652 PROBABLY THE LARGEST SELECTION OF COMPUTER BOOKS IN EAST ANGLIA ACCESS AND BARCLAYCARD WELCOME NBM authorised dealer — IBM Personal Computer 'Circle No. 138 STOCK TAKING SALE >SltTUS1 oliwetU Praxis 35 only £385 128K RAM. 1.2 Mb CP/M & MS DOS operating systems, only £1850 Other printers at unbeatable prices * Daisywheel Electronic Typewriter Printer * Centronics Interface * Correction Ribbon * Choice of Typefaces Seiko sha GP1 00 A £170 Seikosha GP250X £220 Epson RX80 £260 Epson FX80 £360 Add VAT but Delivery is Free ASCO BUSINESSES 43 Windmill Way, Reigate, Sy RH2 OJBTeh (07372) 48055 'Circle No. 139 lA^nrimis Supermarket Cash and carried away? Some people are trying to promote self-service computer shopping. It would be a mistake to get carried away, there s a difference between frozen peas and peripherals! In selecting a computer to perform the functions you need, The Leeds Computer Centre can help you. They are responsible for innovations approved by the major computer manufacturers and have developed their own computer systems sold on overseas markets . The Leeds Computer Centre Is ideally qualified to offer you advice and consultations. Along with this, they can show you not only the newest on the computer scene but what in their judgement represents the best quality and value. Main dealers for:- Sharp f Epson, Gemini , Quantum, Nascom & Dragon S COMPUTER CENTRE ; I Mg Sfffl COMPUTER P R ODUCTS LTD ) 55 Wade Lane f Menton Centre, Leeds LS2 8NJ Tel (0532) 458877 64 • Circle No. 140 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 New Home Computer with 16K memory* Full size keyboard plus help key (for additional information and menu screen) superb graphics, colour and sound. Compatible with all Atari home computer Software* Includes VIC 20 5K computer, C2N cassette recorder for loading & storing programs, & cassette software which includes Introduction to Basic Fart 1, Blitz, Hoppit, Race & Type-a-Tune! COMMODORE 64K A home computer with a full size keyboard Powerful 64K memory, sprite graphics, colour and sound. DISK DRIVE 1541 £229 WITH FREE EASY SCRIPT WORD PROCESSING AND GAMES SOFTWARE. (USUAL PRICE £75.) * UT r. memory, ergonomic keyboard, colour/ sound graphics. £l ^Q.90 Oric MCP40 Printer £169.90. - L '- F * nm-'LASKYS software > SELECTION ISCOVER OUR MASSIVE RANGE - SOFTWARE IN STORE l ALL IT [THE LATEST TOP TITLES FOR ALL THE POPULAR FORMAT II +****»»"" ms iu raiivcb ^VXlWi ASK* The Home Entertainment Specialists ALL M AJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED BEHLElf HE ATH1:j 1§ ■ fcc &cd£wav BflOMJEV 2J MaiVet S^vafC COLCHESTER 12 Trrtty e CROVDONTTBl NwlrEne t NFiEL 0 46-46 Palate GawiS KINGSTON £«ri LL/TON i$2 Arnaald CeiHie READING Ffiw Si i«4 RJCHMOtCNJiSireei FtOMFOflOSorfiSifWl SLOUCH Queerer^ WATFOffl>Char»fPU« SOUTHERN ENGLAND BRISTOL Vj-St'PerrSUe* CHATHAM 6 The GLOUCESTER & Ewnyie Sucet MAIDSTONE ft&l Suet - ECOTHEND 205-206 Qnkte Wf$| MIDLANDS AND NORTH CHESTER 7 The F sum NEWCASTLE UPON- FVNE LEEDS 28-34 A tor SUeet & NontvrtKrianc Si LEICESTER *5 Ma'itf Pure Scot- NORTHAMPTON 78 A&ngw Sfc«t LIVE RPOOL 33 Dale SH«t NOTTINGHAM l i 157 Si Join i Precre! O^OPD 16 WfcSgalE SHEFFIELD 56 L«fK*JSneet WOWE RHAMPTON 2 Wiifrim 5 ql*e VORN iCUC 0 fe>-Sli«l SCOTLAND EDINBURGH *-6 Si James Offline MANCHESTER l?'MS)M 4 iy;Gate PE TER&OROU0H OUKfwafe Ce^re GLASGOW &j-70 Suet-joan Sweet PRESTON Gij-ki-j! At:«k- WALES CARDIFF 1 22 Queen Sneer XMAS& NEW YEAR OPENING HOURS iHw. -HonftJi ,*n| AIX STORES I ■ 9 * 1 ™ - rpm jUem-Fpiil Sint- &p*rt|Si1| U\ 24ft Apert Open Mon 2nd J An QUEE N SWAT t GOLDE RS GRE EH OPEN EVERT SUNDAY 11 am-Tpon BRGHTON tn 2 'Wtutni ROM BIRMINGHAM 19-21 tMtffjnw- Si Watch out for new Laskys Stores opening soon in Ealing, Southampton, Brent Cross, Cambridge and Exeter , ...nobody sells micros better.’ at Lasky s • Circle No, 141 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 65 B CHILTERN ELECTRONICS THE MONITOR SPECIALISTS AMAZING VALUE IN VIDEO MONITORS Professional quality equipment by AGC Corp ideal for your micro Look at these features: * Superb resolution for graphics, 80 col*, etc. * Bandwidth 1 0hz - 22Mhz * Green Screen P31 phosphqr^^ r ^r - g$i5yJ w ^ 1 * Antiglare tube * Attractively styled case \ — * Composite video, Mains operation Available in 9" Model HM91 1 .... £85 12" Model HM123 £89 Add £5 carr. & VAT RGB COLOUR MONITORS Superb quality at unbeatable low prices By Electrohome, Canada 13" Standard Resolution Mode! 1301/1 . , .£209 1 3" High Resolution Model 1301/2,.. £299 MicrovitecClub 14" Standard Resolution Model 1431 .. . £244 14" High Resolution Model 1441... £450 Add £8 carr & VAT FANTASTIC KEYBORD BARGAIN!! Scoop purchase allows us to offer a 49 key QWERTY layout, ASCII encoded keyboard. Fully cased, used but guaranteed working. Full logic diagrams and Information supplied. ONLY £15 Add carriage £1.85 and VAT Educational discounts. ACCESS welcome. Same day despatch. Call Gary Kent on 02407 71234 HIGH STREET, CH ALFONT ST GILES, BUCKS HP8 4QH Telex 262284 • Circle No. 142 OUR DUST COVERS LOOK OLD VERY QUICKLY But given the choice between your computer equipment, which cost hundreds or thousands of pounds, and our DUST COVERS which only cost a few pounds, we know which you would prefer to look old first. Manufactured from ANTI-STATIC and FLAME RETARDANT PVC, specially made for Crown Dust Covers to cover computer equipment. Each cover will pay for itself many times over, reducing use of expensive cleaning materials and substantially increasing the trade-in value when you up-grade the system. Dust build up on sensitive internal components can also cause break down and expensive repair bills. DUST COVERS AVAILABLE FOR ALL MAKES AND MODELS For further details write or phone us. CrovOn Dust Orders 11 RAILWAY TERRACE KINGS LANGLEY HERTFORDSHIRE WD4 8JB Tel: Kings Langley (09277) 65979 Make Ideal Christmas Presents for the Home User • Circle No. 143 LONDON COMPUTER CENTRE 8/16 bit SOFTWARE The comprehensive range includes WORDSTAR £235 SUPERCALC If/ll! £190 WORD PROCESSING £ Spellbinder 290 Peach Pack* 332 Spell star 134 Maillist 50 Grammatik 85 FINANCIAL PLANNING Plannercafe Supercalc I Multiplan Lotus 1-2-3 DBASE CORNER FasIBase Autocode □uickcode Dgraph Friday Infostar UTILITIES Sid £60. ZSid £76, Mac £133 85 130 170 357 150 195 205 190 185 266 □ BASE II £349 SPELLING CHECKER £80 LANGUAGES £ M Basic 215 MBasic Compiler . 235 C Compiler 330 Fortran 80/86 326 Cis Cobol/Forms2 399/105 Pascal MT + 240 Pascal MT +'SSP 350 ACCOUNTING Pegasus from 250 Peachtree from 325 Tabs from 199 Exact 500 Pulsar 395 COMMUNICATIONS Bstam 130 Crosstalk 135 Moveit 80/86 90/105 *fncL Peach Spe 1 I/Mai Mist Please telephone for the LCC Software Catalogue FORMATS: Superbrain, Televideo. Sirius, Sanyo. Osborne Northstar. 8" SD, DEC. Epson QX-10 IBM ICL, H-P ; XEROX, ALTOS, AH prices are exclusive of VAT New! The fast and easy way to generate your own dBase 11 Applications programs - use fastBase. £150. * only fastBase allows 7 index files per data base, all others allow 1 index file * only fastBase allows report generation on 3 files others 1 file * fastBase Structures Command files with indentations allowing maximum speed in execution * fastBase uses a series of on-screen prompts and Help Menus to lead you through the process of generating your own dBase 11 Command files. Demonstrations on all software daily -call in or order by mail. 43 Grafton Way, London W1P 5LA (Opposite Maples) Opening Hours: 10-7 Mon-Fri, 12-4 Sat. 01-387 4455 (4 lines) Telephone Answering Service After Office Hours Telex; 8953742 66 • Circle No. 144 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 NSSOTMU some m mam mu BOS/SALES LEDGER Provides facilities to maintain customer accounts from entry of invoices, credit notes, payments and jou mats through to credit checking, production of statements and cash forecasting. Both balance forward and open item accounting are available. OOS/tN VOICING Provides facilities to produce invoices and credit notes and sales analyses by customer, product, territory and salesman. BOS/ Invoicing automatically maintains stock records and safes ledger accounts, BOS; invoicing requires BOS/Sales Ledger. BQS/INVENTORY CONTROL Provides facilities to maintain stock records, to record and control stock issues and receipts, to check re-order levels and lead times and to provide total financial management of stock. BOS/PURCHASE LEDGER Provides facilities to maintain all aspects of a company’s purchase ledger from the logging of transactions and the approval of payments, through to the calculation of discounts, scheduling of payments, printing of cheques and credit transfers and the maintenance of supplierdetaifs. BOS/NOMINAL LEDGER Provides facilities to maintain all aspects of a company's accounts. BOS/Nominal Ledger accepts input directly or from BOS/Sales Ledger, BQS/Purchase Ledger or BOS/Fixed Assets and produces profit and loss statements, trial balances, balance sheets and detailed schedules by company, department and account type. BOS/FAYROLL Provides ail the facilities to produce payslips, credit transfers and management reports for a company payroll. BOS/ Payroll fulfils all Inland Revenue requirements for the calculation of tax deductions, contracled-in and contracted- out National Insurance, and covers SSP reporting (UK). BOS/ORDER PROCESSING Handles all aspects of multi-warehouse sales order processing: back orders, forward orders, regular orders, picking lists, delivery notes and invoices. Order details per product and perclient can be displayed on demand. BOS/Order Processing requires BOS/Sales Ledger and operates in conjunction with 8 OS/ Inventory Control and BOS/Microsafes, BOS/FIXED ASSETS Maintains a complete register of the fixed assets of a company or group of companies, and calculates depreciation automatically either by historical cost or current cost conventions Current cost accounting conformsloSSAP16{UK). BOS Software’s extensive experience in international software satisfies the needs of our clients, not only in the UK, but throughout the world. Choose BOS Business and Office Software and you will be buying not only the most comprehensive quality range of software available for the micro market, but also BOS Software’s five years of international experience. BOS Software is supplied in the UK by MPSL. For fu rther details of BOS Software complete this coupon, clip to your business card or letterhead and return to MPSL MPSL 87-89 Saffron Hill, London EC1 N BQU, England, Telephone: 01-831 8811 Telex: 22763 Name Company Type of Computer PC 12/83 • Circle No, 145 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 67 WITHOUT KEYSTAR THE USER HAS TO FIND THE CORRECT KEYING SEQUENCE . AND OPERATE A COMPLEX COMBINATION OF KEYS. Dear Mr j refits ^ispTtaUty «“ . MW t M »» 0 “ £ot,0 e ? x ,PP«= late * * wouia 1 ^ 8 vour pre” ise ' , OJ £ an4 «° r s " y recent ffijtl'jj- mss y°n r ° P ?' u itiee' I?* $£1 titfe^to turin? 4acl , yo ur eP e around y° ur ro the aspects lsa t: roe , «oursel £ ' ^ - roW compuT. ^nanise ^r-ea' tly i i|ifimj|j^j^^^M| KEYSTAR WORKS AT THE PRESS OF A SINGLE, CLEARLY MARKED KEY. Keystarputs editing on Wordstar into plain language. is your secretary the only person in your office who can talk to your word processor? Wordstar is by far the most popular word processing program available. But, like all such systems, it takes time and practice to learn its language. Keystar now puts the whole office on speaking terms with Wordstar. Good news for those of us who have to work late on that vital report. And for the temp who started yesterday. (We like to think that it will also add a whole new dimension to your secretary’s relationship with Wordstar.) Keystar makes Wordstar immediately accessible by providing fifty-six of its editing commands as colour-coded buttons, each labelled in plain English. Press the appropriate Keystar button; Wordstar performs as commanded. And since there is no need to display help menus, there is fifty per cent more room on the screen for your documents. Make Wordstar work for you! Contact your nearest Keystar dealer or order direct by completing and returning the order coupon. For the technically minded, Keystar connects easiiy to your microcomputer via an RS232C/V24 serial port. This port can be shared with other devices and on some systems, for example, Cromemco and Altos the device would naturally be the V.D.U, On integral systems, e.g. Apple II, Osborne, RML380Z, Superbrain, Act Sirius/Victor 9000, IBM PC, the device could be a printer, a plotter or a modem and special instructions are provided to direct Wordstar to recognise the presence of Keystar on such systems. To: WMI PRODUCTS, INTEGRATED MICRO APPLICATIONS LTD., 21 LANSDOWNE CRESCENT. EDINBURGH EH12 5 EH Please send me Keystar units at 6231.75 per unit (price Includes VAT, carriage and insurance), I will be connecting Keystar to a microcomputer. ] enclose a cheque/ postal order for £ to 1 WMI Products.’ . made payable Please debit my Access Card No . ■h Visa Card No - for £ for £ . Signature Name Address . Tel. No.. Dealer enquiries welcome. Telephone 031-225 3141 ask for J im Wheatley, Please allow 23 days for delivery. VAT No, 270769925- Integrated Micro Applications Ltd reserve the right not to accept any order. Any acceptance will be subject to Integrated Micro Applications' terms and conditions. Wordstar is a registered trademark of Micropno Corporation International, • Circle No. 146 m PCBulletin : news ^si Plan 2000 network zynar* already well known for networking Apples, has launched Plan 2000 to network IBM PCs, as long as at least one of them is the XT, This hard- disc model provides 10Mbyte of storage to be shared by all the PCs on the network. The system is based on the well proven Arcnet system pioneered by Datapoint and also used by the new LSI Octopus, as well as Tandy, Wang and Zenith. The Plan 2000 development has, however, been done in the U.K., partially funded by a grant from the Department of Industry under the MAP project-support scheme* The Plan 2000 starter system includes a card each for two PCs, plus the coaxial cable to link them together, and this costs £1,475. Further PCs can then be added at a cost of £475 each, up to a maximum total of 255 work stations. Before this level is reached, however, the system will have been upgraded to the Plan 4000, with a 137Mbyte hard disc as a file server. Plan 4000 has been on sale since January, and supports Apples too. The network allows PCs to swap files or data, send electronic mail, and share system resources such as hard discs, printers, telex and modem links. Contact Zynar Ltd, 122/3 High Street, Uxbridge, Middlesex UBS LIT. Telephone: Uxbridge (0895) 5983 L PC Flashes • Landsotft has upgraded its popular payroll package for the Commodore to Payroll 3 for-the IBM PC* Telephone: 01-878 7044/7. • Pele & Pam is now importing Type Faces, a program from the Alpha Software Corporation of Burlington, Mass, which provides 15 type styles on the Apple II and IBM PC. The program supports Epson MX and IDS printers and costs £99 plus VAT. Telephone: Rossendale (0706) 227011. • Simon Computers Ltd sells add-on cards for the Apple II and Sirius L Now Simon has a RAM expansion board with an asynchronous serial port for the IBM PC. Prices are from £180 for 64K to £305 for 256K, plus VAT in each case. Telephone: 01-680 4646. • Aptec, Appropriate Technology Ltd, has enhanced and expanded its bilingual Arabic /English software* Arabstar 2 is Aptec’s enhanced word- processing package* Arabforms for forms generation and a relational database called Arabdbase, have been added. Telephone: 01-328 7272* Big Blue's profits up 25 percent iem made SI. 3 billion profit on turnover of $9.4 billion during the third quarter of 1983, ending 30 September, according to chairman John Opel* This was mainly due to soaring hardware sales of $5*29 billion, up 40 percent on the same period last year. IBM’s rental earnings, however, were down by nearly 20 percent. Massive sales of the PC in America must also have been a factor* These figures translate into £867 million profit on £3,527 million sales in real money. Graphics card THE STANDARD IBM PC COmeS with a monochrome card and printer, which can be a little tricky if you want to run a program using colour graphics* Reflex Ltd has the answer in the form of the Hercules graphics card* It replaces the mono card and allows colour graphics to be displayed — in mono, of course — on the standard monochrome screen* Thus it becomes possible to use the facilities of programs like Lotus 123 and Supercalc- 3 without splashing out on a colour monitor* The mono Hercules costs £395. Contact Reflex Ltd, Wellington Industrial Es- iate,Basingstoke Road, Spencers Wood, Reading RG7 1AW. Telephone: Reading (0734) 88461 1 * Making a connection in I98i a company called The Legal Connection merged with Fountain Management Services to form The Professional Connection. Fountain had Trial — Time Recording and Integrated Accounting for Lawyers — to run on IBM minis, and the new company started distributing software for the IBM Display writer too. Now it has added an IBM PC connection. The Professional Connection claims exclusive distribution rights for Dataease, an IBM PC database which is part of the “ ease” series from Software Solutions Inc. Dataease requires 128K of RAM and costs £450. Another Professional Connection package is the word processor Palantir, from Designer Software. It is easy to use, includes mailing facilities and costs £240. Also in the catalogue are the Easy series from Information Unlimited; the Chang Laboratories range of Docuplan, Memoplan, Micro- plan, Graphplan, Dataplan and Fileplan, plus the usual Peachtree and Vi si ranges. Hardware available includes a mouse plus the Big D disc drive. The Sin. drive is designed to run alongside the IBM PC’s 5.25In* floppy, so you can transfer files to the smaller format. That could be useful if you have an IBM Display writer, 4300, System 38 or 34 or 23 or similar, but with a price of £1,495 it is not a toy. The Personal Computer Connection, part of The Professional Connection, is at the Old Manor House, Wickham Road, Fareham, Hampshire POI6 7 A R . Telephone: Fareham (0329) 230870 or 239025. IBM Robots ibm (UK) has announced two high-precision robotic systems that can be programmed using the PC. Each has a servo- controlled, jointed arm* Pro- graming is done in the AML/Entry Version 2 programming language. The robots cost £21,559 and £27,399 and are built In Tokyo by Sankyo Seiki* PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 69 MICROSOFT WORD Even without a mouse, this package has plenty to teach the others; with one, Chris Bidmead found it was like a month of birthdays. WORDSTAR, Memorite, Wang writer, Perfect Writer, Peachtext, Spellbinder and similar extensions to journalistic fingertips have been pretty thoroughly digested in this office over the years, so excitement over a new word -processing package is rare* But 1 am euphoric about Word — also rather clumsily known as Multi-Tool Word — the latest fruit of the current 16 -bit burst of creativity by Bill Gates and his team at the Microsoft Corporation of Belleveue, Washington. Here is a deep-down, thoroughly designed package. It has a smooth and presentable user interface that will not frighten away beginners, but concealing an array of dazzling functions that can be unfolded one by one in the user’s own time, like a month of birthdays. Word looks like being the writing aid that we writers, journalists, typists, managers and all have been waiting for ever since micros became affordable* You will find some criticisms in the eulogy that follows, criticisms expressed as disappointments. Take them as a compliment to the package* It is so good it deserves to be better. And bear in mind that what I looked at was the Beta test version of the software* Word is superficially a WYSIWYG word- processing system — what you see is what you get. It is a school of thought exemp- lified — though far from perfectly — in good old reliable WordStar. In WYSIWYG word processors the display on the screen shows more or less how you can expect to see the text when it is printed out. This is certainly true of Word. But internally Microsoft’s new offering incorporates many of the features of a diametrically different approach known as Emacs* One of the driving ideas behind the Emacs word- processing system, originally developed at the MIT artificial-intelligence lab, is that what appears on the screen is important only in respect of its content. Formatting is a function of printing, and should not bother the head of the programmer or creative writer using the package. His or her primary concern is to get around the text quickly, access and edit several texts at the same time, and generally treat the screen as if it were an electronic desk top on which papers can be shuffled* Later, when the time comes to produce hard copy, format codes embedded in the text will make calls on a library of ready- made formatting instructions, guiding the layout with no further human intervention. j the ad va ' ’ ' ‘ j i W or dp roc easy cur this res fact aft 3 this fea I able to features | f Spreadslt 1 particul 1 . • i \ ! . r encourag 1-2-3 ta area ( un 5 supports of cours spreadsh I the keyboard. The name ? mouse' has an added ring of of what the device does to the cursor, sending it oss the screen at a rate unapproached when you use or keys. With the proper software supporting the codes it use the mouse to draw lines of all shapes and ng up picture on the screen* Its role in text Wordprocessing software often makes far too little provision f easy cursor control and the movement of blocks of text, and in easy cursor control and the movement of blocks of text, and in this respect good old familiar WordStar is a chief offender, fact after many years absence I J m returning to WordStar to wri this feature with rodent aid, having discovered that the mouse COMMAND: Alpha Copy Delete Format Gallery Help Insert Jump Library Options Print Quit Replace Search Transfer Undo Window Ldit document or press Cancel to use menu EDIT <> ? 39y. Free Microsoft Word: MOUSE* DOC Screen windows can be used to display text from several files; the four-line menu is a permenant feature. 70 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 PCBulletin: software H The Emacs philosophy has many advantages for the experienced user, but is hard to sell to newcomers, who find the “glass typewriter ,, aspects of WYSIWYG software more instantly reassuring. But in going the WordStar route they sacrifice: • The facility to alter the entire file format quickly and simply by changing the style instruction at the head of the text. • The ability to move around the text, and move the text around, in logical increments of character, word, sentence, paragraph, rather than the physical increments of row, column and screen. • The opportunity to work on more than one file at the same time. Emacs offers all this and more. Now Word has it too — libraries of format styles, multiple buffers, the lot — but bundled cleverly into the lower reaches of the software where the complexity will not interfere with the beginner’s sense of control over the package. When you first bring up Word a bordered window appears, occupying most of the screen but leaving four lines at the bottom for the menu. The window is empty except for a cursor positioned in the top left-hand corner. The cursor appears to have a hollowed-out diamond in the centre, but in fact the diamond is the end-of-text marker, a separate symbol overlaid at the moment by the cursor. You type in the text as you would on a typewriter. Automatic word wrap takes care of line endings, and you only need hit Return when you get to the end of the para- graph. Elementary correction works as you might expect, with the Backspace key wiping out text as the cursor moves to the left. When the screen fills, a very fast scroll clears it and puts the last few lines at the top. Simple editing is almost as easy, using the cursor keys supplemented by the Page Up and Page Down keys to go back to mistakes. WordStar and Word both sensibly forbid the cursor to stray outside the area of text but, in a welcome departure from WordStar’s cursor handling, the Word cursor travels intelligently up and down, tucking in towards the left margin to follow short lines, but remembering its original column when line length permits. By default the editor is in insert mode, so text to be replaced has to be deleted first, using the standard Delete key. If inserted characters increase the length of any line beyond the margins readjustment of the paragraph takes place automatically. You do not have to tidy edited paragraphs manually, as in WordStar. Up to this point the system behaves like a super-typewriter, and there is nothing to alarm the moderately experienced typist. If you have already used word processors like WordStar moving, deleting and copying blocks of text should raise no difficulties either as it is actually simpler. Instead of visible block markers, Word appears to stretch the cursor to highlight the area of text you are selecting. Delineating a logical Horizontal bars show where windows fall. The mouse adds an extra cursor. unit of text — a word, a sentence or a para- gaph — is even simpler as an IBM function key is set aside for each function. Unlike WordStar, Word does not lose deleted text. Instead it is sent to a special buffer area called Scrap, from w'hich it can be recalled simply by hitting the Insert key. This elegant idea imported from Emacs means that there is no essential difference between deleting and shifting text around. The same concept is extended naturally to create a glossary function. Instead of the default deletion to Scrap you can slice away sections of text and store them in named buffers for instant recall later. So instead of having to type Yours disgustedly, Major Philip J. Ffolks-Appleby (rtrd), The Old Granary, Wittering-cum-Lowdly, Nr Tunbridge Wells, Kent at the end of all my letters to The Times I can squirrel the lot away in a buffer called Bye, where it lurks for instant recall. The glossary system lets me create a whole set of such abbreviations and file them for later use. Experiment with all this awhile, and you will be able to write, edit and print simple documents. Progress is fast because you can try out new functions without any fear of doing permanent damage to your text, thanks to the Undo command that reverses the last action you took. But at this stage you will barely have scratched the surface of what Word can do. The awesome power of the package starts to unfold when you investigate how it handles formatting. In standard Emacs a format instruction like ©begin(quotation) makes no change to the screen layout, but is read by the formatting routine run immediately prior to printing. It will be understood as a command to switch in the appropriate left and right margins and observe other format conditions like line spacing, all of which add up to what is called the “environment”. This particular environment would be switched off again by the instruction ©end(quotation) In Word, instead of being bracketed between ©begin and @end statements, environment codes are stored invisibly at the end of every paragraph and every division. A division is a section of the text established by the user, perhaps to demarcate chapters of a book or separate a preface from the main body of an article. The environments are defined by the user in a separate part of the software called the gallery, accessed by way of the main menu. The gallery can be used to establish a number of environments. Each one is given one- or two-character codes so that the gallery can store freeze-dried formats just as the glossary stores canned instant text. In Edit mode you enter the code by holding down Alt while hitting the approp- riate character keys. The code may or may not appear in the left-hand margin of the text window, depending on your choice, but either way the screen changes instantly to reflect the way the text will print out. The environments and their definition codes can be stored in a style library, grouped according to context. People who spend their time writing articles, reports, memos and letters tend to develop an individual way of laying out each job. Word allows you to have style files called, for example, Article, Report, Memo, Letter, and attach the appropriate one to the file you are working on. This way the person generating memos need only to think about the layout once in a lifetime, not every time one is typed. The next logical step in the exploration of Word is to start splitting the screen up into windows. A window is simply a bordered section of the screen in which text is handled independently from the other windows, and you can have up to eight • of them. The most easily graspable application is when a special window — normally, but not necessarily, at the bottom of the screen — is reserved for collecting footnotes. You might also use the idea to look at two parts of a text simul- taneously, for example when moving a paragraph from the end to the beginning of a long document. You can take the window idea further by attaching different text files to different windows. Grasshopper minds can edit several separate documents at the same time. More orderly authors can move text between documents or use one window to scribble notes on while developing the argument in full on another. All this works well enough using the basic IBM hardware. The review was run (continued on next page) PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 71 PCBulletin: software ^ MICROSOFT WORD (continued from previous page) on an IBM XT, but the hard disc makes no spectacular difference to performance because Word keeps all its text in memory. Few people work with text files longer than a couple of dozen pages, but if you have an urge to create really large documents, enhancing the IBM to 256K will give you all the space you need to handle over 40,000 words, A significant difference to Word comes when you plug in the high-resolution graphics board. With the appropriate monitor this will give you colour, and Word is equippped to use this feature to help differentiate between the windows, 1 find colour monitors excruciatingly eye- aching to work with for any length of time, but the real advantage of high-resolution graphics is that it will enable Word to show italics, underline, double underline characters and the rest of the character enhancements exactly as they will appear in print. On the normal IBM mono screen all enhanced text apart from bold print, which appears highlighted on the screen, is simply displayed in the underlined form. One small bug in this section leaves underlined sections of the text semi-highlighted when the cursor passes over them. Of course the add-on that really zips up Word’s performance is Microsoft’s new mouse, which is hardly surprising as the two were conceived together. I have avoided mentioning it so far to make clear that Word is a perfectly viable proposition on its own, but rodent control certainly adds a new dimension. Unlike some mice, which take over the existing cursor, Microsoft’s adds a second, smaller cursor to the screen. It can still be used to give the text cursor a kind of seven league boots to stride over miles of prose with the flick of a wrist, but it has the added advantage of being able to stroll all over the screen, and outside the text window on to the menu. By rolling the mouse cursor across to the appropriate word on the menu and clicking one of the two buttons, any of the listed functions can be summoned without recourse to the keyboard. The borderlines that box in the windows are also sensitive to a tickle from the mouse. Placing the mouse cursor a certain distance along the left-hand vertical or the lower horizontal of the frame and pressing a button make the text in the window scrolls vertically or horizontally to an extent prop- ortional to the distance. Press the other button and it scrolls the same distance in the opposite direction. The mouse can also summon the text cursor from one window' to another, and directly split and recombine windows. Without the mouse window management has to be organised through the menu and is a little cumbersome. Thanks to the clarity of WYSIWYG, 72 printing out text prepared by Word holds no terrors. The only area of doubt — which will delight WordStar devotees — is that Word is unable to display page breaks dynamically. If you want to know where they will appear you have to run a Repaginate routine, which for a long file means a few minutes of thumb- twiddling while internal goblins go through the text inserting arrows into the margin in the appropriate places. Subsequent changes to the text will invalidate the arrows, requiring a rerun of the routine. In some badly implemented word processors that work like this you might have to go around this loop several times, setting forced page breaks and seeing the subsequent knock-on effect before you judge the text fit to print. The problem is a lot less likely to arise in Word, where cond- itional page breaks are implemented far better than WordStar simply by letting you assign the Keep characteristic to para- graphs. Keep paragraphs never break: a new page will be started if the whole para- graph will not fit. It should not be necessary to call on Keep too often, because as a default MTW will automatically avoid creating “widows’* — the printers’ name for solitary lines split off from their paragraph by a page break. My biggest disappointment, 1 suppose, is the fixed menu that permanently takes up the bottom four lines of the screen. Its presence emphasises the family likeness to Multiplan, which is nice for Microsoft’s marketing department. Certainly the menu mechanism is going to conic in handy when you first approach the package, and experienced users driving mice require it to dick the functions into life. But nobody needs it all the time, and there is no reason why it should not be vanished away until summoned, leaving more room on the screen for text. The multiple file-handing also falls short of excellence. Although you can have several different documents open at any time, each one has to be associated with a window, and of course every window you create makes futher inroads into screen space. This is further complicated by the fact that you cannot create a new window as an object in itself. Instead it has to be cloned from an existing window, carrying over one of its dimensions and all its existing text. Cleaning out the text, attaching a new r file and possibly reshaping the window then form additional operations. This is a pity. In the philosophy of Emacs the business of attaching new files and switching between them is designed to be extremely simple. In Word, if you want to switch around between documents you have the following choices: A— Make equal-sized windows for each document. B — Enlarge the window for each document as you work on it, then shrink it again. C— Keep one large window, then pull the documents in and out of it as you work on them. If you are just juggling two documents, approach A might be a possible solution. But remember the irremovable menu section is already taking up the lowest four lines of your screen, and each window you create has to give up two rows and two columns to the border. For more than three documents, solution A just is not feasible because the windows will be very pokey. Suggestion B seems a sensible way of going about things, except that changing the window shape is less than instant for non-mouse users. But unless you really do need to read both texts simultaneously — which in practice is seldom the case — it is a poor substitute for method C, Solution C is the approach familiar to users of an Emacs development by Mark of the Unicorn for CP/M machines called The Final Word. In it you do not attach files to windows taking up screen space but to buffers, invisible and dynamically change- able segments of the virtual memory. That sounds like a mouthful, I know, and the value of a window is that it is something concrete and easily graspable, which is probably why Microsoft uses the concept. But buffers are nothing more than invisible window's that you can bring into view at the touch of a button. Once you are used to the economy of screen space implicit In this way of doing things it is not easy to take the mandatory fragmentation that accompanies Microsoft’s handling of multiple files. You might assume that Word can be pursuaded to emulate approach C by making the secondary windows very small and then somehow swapping files between windows, but alas the software will not let you. Nearly all the word processors I have looked at give a character count to keep track of the verbiage being generated — which is useful for journalists in particular. Not so Word, The bottom line of the didsplay shows the percentage of available memory that is being taken up , and and a discreet horizontal bar travels up and down the left-hand side of each window to indicate the position of the cursors relative to the whole file. But there is no built-in word or character count. • Microsoft’s Word is a logically clear, many-talented new word processor that adds considerable lustre to the IBM PC, • Even without the graphics hoard and the mouse. Word has a lot to teach existing word-processing packages. With them it is a revelation. • At £275 it looks like value for money. You can also buy it bundled in with the mouse for £340, which is a real bargain* But if you go for the mouse, cost in the IBM graphics board at a further £216; it is not essential but you will he hard put to resist having the full kit. • Contact Microsoft at Bulbourne House, ' Gossoms End, Bcrkhemsted, Hert- fordshire HP4 3LP, Telephone: I (07535) 59951. Q PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 • Circle No. 147 ^ Conclusions TRS-80 Colour Computers UpTo £80 Christmas Savings 1 6K Standard Colour Computer r . i i i i i i i mrnmm ■MM HMMMMH i i 1 l i ! ! r They’re Ideal For Entertainment, Education And Home Use! Colour Computer Upgrade Kits Add More Memory and Better Graphics 32K RAM Upgrade Kit, 26-3017* £79.95 Extended Colour BASIC ROM Upgrade Kit 26-3018* £59.95 Colour Computer Joysticks. 26-3008 Pair £9.95 TRS-80 Standard Colour Computer With Built-in 16K Memory, The TRS-80 Colour Computer makes computing fun for the entire family! Just pop in a Program Pak for entertainment educational or personal uses. On with the easy-to-use manual, learn to write your own programs In Colour BASIC. It comes with 16K of internal memory (expandable up to 32K), eight colours and a built-in RS-232 interface for easy communications ability. You can easily add a printer or joysticks, and it comes with a comprehensive instruction manual. 26-3004 £179,95 Save Even More On The TRS-80 Colour Computer With Extended BASIC. Advanced programming is more affordable than ever! With Extended BASIC, it’s easy to draw highly- detailed shapes using simple, one-line commands. Produce impressive designs, charts, even animation. It's loaded with the dynamic features a serious programmer needs too, like PEEK, POKE and USR commands, multi-character variable names (two significant), string arrays up to 255 characters, full featured editing, tracing and nine digit accuracy. Includes tutorial manuals or both Standard and Extended Colour BASIC. 26-3002 , £299^5 Save £80.00 £219.95 TRS-80 Colour Computer With 32K Extended BASIC. 26-3003 £379r95Save £80 .00 £299.95 Specifications: Microprocessor: 6809E 8-bit processor. Clock Speed; 0.894 MHz, Keyboard: 53 keys, including up, down, right and left arrows, BREAK and CLEAR. Video Display: 16 lines of 32 upper case characters. Colour graphics capabilities range from 32 x 64 (8 colours) to 1 92 x 256 (1 colour and background colour) with 3 intermediate formats. Higher resolutions in the same range are available through machine language. Extended BASIC or Program Paks. Output connects to any standard UHF TV set and includes video and sound. Memory: 1 6K internal dynamic RAM. Expandable to 32K. Colour BASIC is in 8K ROM, 16K ROM with Extended BASIC Input/Output: 1500-baud casse tte (recorder optional). Connectors for two 2-dimensional joysticks (optional). RS-232C serial I/O port. Interrupt Timer: Accessible from Extended BASIC or machine language only. Power: 240 VAC, 50 Hz, 50 W. 'Installation required, Not included Tandq The Biggest Name In Little Computers Over 340 Stores And Dealerships Nationwide This computi to be desig Only one person could precisely the right computer for your business. You. But unless your name is Clive Sinclair you’ll probably need help from someone with a little more experience, Like LSI computers, (That's us.) Around fifteen hundred pounds will buy you an Octopus system at its simplest. The central computer with a fully programmable keyboard and one disc drive. With the optional carrying case, you can take it home, to business meetings, to your hotel; anywhere a TV screen is available. ’A couple of thousand pounds will buy a fully- fledged business computer system, including two disc drives and a high resolution monitor And, quite free, over athousand pounds worth of software; a package called Axis! It's capable of controlling stock, invoicing and keeping your sales, purchase and nominal ledger and would almost certainly be the first software package you'd have to buy We’ve had seven years’ experience of dev- eloping micros and software exclusively for business, (You won't find us in primary schools or amusement arcades.) The result of which Is the most flexible system ever offered - Octopus, For an appreciably greater investment the ultimate Octopus starter kit offers the extra speed and capacity of a Winchester disc drive, integrated with the central computer Keep your options open. This is where your designing comes in. (And the back of the box is where it goes in.) sr is designed led by you. We've left room for four option boards and are offering, already a choice of seven. For example, a telecommunications board facilitates all kinds of links through the standard network. A graphics board conjures up all kinds of shapes and sizes. Others offer colour display RAM, links for printers and other peripherals and, ultimately the ability to connect up an entire Octopus network. And because you'll be able to get up-dated option boards, the Octopus system means you can keep your options open for the foreseeable future. With all this inbuilt flexibility we had to be doubly sure about the abilities of the central processor Which adds up to the fact that Octopus will accept virtually all of the business micro software that’s currently on the market, Not that we let that stop us from designing our own, And designing it better; with the kind of thoughtful detail that makes for real convenience. For instance, we provide a mat to lay over the keyboard when its function keys are re- programmed. So you won’t have to re-train staff to use a keyboard that says one thing and means another Or re-train them whenever you up-date or expand the program. An advantage, we might add, which you could only enjoy with a computer system that doesn’t become obsolete or outgrown. No matter what size of business you’ve got designs on. So we included two of them. Namely the Intel 8088-2 and the Zilog Z80B. In plain English (well, plainish), this means Octopus can operate both the tried and tested 8-bit programs and the new, faster 1 6- bit ones; even, if m ■ — r— t - y -.» -v ^~ ~r? aF~~ A necessary switching between the two. It can also speak five languages or more and work on any of five operating systems. Please send me ; Name. I Position J Company. i Address Telephone details of the Octopus computer systemT! The growing business computer. i To LSI Computers, Copse Rd., St. Johns, Woking, Surrey GU2 1 \ FX Tel: 04862 234 1 1. i I PC 2 / 831 • Circle No. 148 THE first thing to strike you about the Series 200 Model 16 is that it is very compact, Hewlett-Packard has fitted about the same processing power as the Apple Lisa into a square foot or so of desk space, if you don't count the keyboard* The system's very powerful Motorola 68000 16-bit processor and half a megabyte of memory are packaged in with the 9in. screen in a single unit no bigger than an IBM PC monitor* It sits atop or alongside the dual disc-drive box, which uses Sony 3, Sin, drives and is also very compact. The keyboard continues the theme, being just large enough to accommodate a standard - size QWERTY key layout* Although Hewlett-Packard is well known for its own processor chips, the Model 16 is the fourth machine it has designed around the Motorola 68000 chip. The Model 16 is the latest and least expensive model in the 200 Series. In the configuration we had to review, with 512K of RAM and twin 270K micro-floppy drives the price is £4,758. We also tried out the 8290 5 B printer, price £604, which is an Epson MX-80 with an HP badge and interface on it, and used the excellent £832 7470A two-pen plotter. The graphs for Practical Computing's October cover, were produced on this system. Unlike the Lisa, which is intended mainly for first-timers in an ordinary office, the Model 16 is aimed at a more technically sophisticated kind of user, who is probably working in a scientific or technical environment. This accounts for the HEWLETT PACKARD MODEL16 Dream machine or expensive nightmare? Ian Stobie found that it depends who you are. enormous differences between the two machines even though they are both built around the same 68000 processor. The typical Model 16 user is likely to program the machine as well as or instead of using packages. The Model 16 is therefore intended more as a powerful programming work station to sit on the desk or lab bench than as a conventional piece of office equipment* The 68000 processor and 0*5 Mbyte of RAM are housed inside the CRT casing. 76 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 Review Taking a closer look at the Model 16 reveals signs of this intended role* The various components of the system are connected together in a neat way with cables that terminate in a standard connecting block. Each block has a plug on one side and a socket on the other, so you can push another block into the back of it, letting you piggyback several cables into the one HP1B socket on the back of the main unit. The initials HP IB stand for Hewlett- Packard Interface Bus, the HP imple- mentation of the IEEE -48 8 standard interface originally designed for programmable instrumentation. A large range of specialised instruments can be connected to the Model 16 through it. The only problem I found with this connection method is that with discs, plotter and printer all piggybacked together the back of the main unit began to be pushed away from the wall. The keyboard also has a tell-tale sign of the special bias of the system, in the rotary control knob positioned to the left above the keys. In some of the general-purpose applications we tried you can turn this knob to move the cursor — around a spreadsheet, for instance or through a word -processing document. The knob's origins go back to HP's Shadow terminal from which the Model 16 casing is descended, where it provided a convenient analogue control for instruments attached to the HPIB. The knob can still be used in this way, and it is supported by appropriate Basic statements. The typical user may well want a plotter with such a system. The two-pen 7470A plotter is one of HP's smaller models. It can plot on to ordinary A4 paper or, with different pens, on to overhead projector slides. All plotters arc fascinating to watch, and the 7470 A especially so. The pen is held by an arm which moves from side to side; at the same time the paper is moved backwards and forwards by two rollers. The rollers grip the paper very tightly, leaving a small furrow along two sides of the paper. The system seems to achieve very accurate positioning. The 7 4 70 A can work with two colours at a time under program control: the arm moves across and grabs the appropriate pen when so instructed by the software driving it. For more colours you need to change pens manually. One particularly elegant feature of the Left: the new HR image. Below: the HP Series 200 Model 16 system. Model 16’s Basic, which is typical of the whole HP approach, is that the same set of plotting and drawing commands work on a w r ide range of different output devices. With our set-up we could display the same graphics image on the screen, on the plotter or on the matrix printer simply by including a line of code to specify the device type. Software for the system all came on the neat Sony micro-floppies. The Model I6’s drives combine HP electronics with Sony Corporation drive mechanisms. The most obvious advantage is compactness, of both drives and storage media. Each drive has a formatted capacity of 270K, or about the same as HP’s 5,25m. drives. They are single sided, but double-sided drives are under development. HP can already provide one- plus-onc units combining a 3. 5 in, micro- floppy with 4,6 or 9.6Mbyte hard discs. The standard operating system is HP’s own, and it takes a while to get familiar with it. However, the Model 16 is likely to appeal to the more experienced user, so it should give them few problems. Although powerful it does have some irritating features, particularly the long device names which you have to type in repeatedly. The graphics presentation package, which has been translated from one HP machine to another over the years, now seems somewhat long in the tooth. It is adequate for presenting graphs in a pre- determined format but you cannot replot the same data as a different type of graph — changing from pie to bar chart, for instance. By contrast, MBA from Context Management Systems does allow this, but is much more difficult to use. MBA — which also runs on the IBM PC — is a large integrated piece of software based around a spreadsheet of up to 90,000 cells. Cells can contain up to 8,000 characters of text so short documents can be stored. It has involved searching, sorting and retrieval commands like a database. It comes on three discs and takes up a lot of memory. My initial impression is that it is rather complex, requiring a large investment of time to learn to use. With this type of programming-oriented machine the obvious thing to load up first is Basic. HP Basic is also available on ROM — for an extra £990 — for users who do not want to load from disc. This would also free an appreciable amount of memory as HP Basic is very comprehensive and takes up 277 K, Pascal, Fortan and a Hewlett- Packard version of APL, called HPL., are among the other languages available for the Model 16 system. With Basic loaded, available memory on our 512K system was 240,576 bytes. You are told the available memory without asking for it every time you List, which is very sensible. The first thing to get used to when using HP Basic is the heavily formatted screen. Only two lines of the 25-line by 80-character display show the lines you (continued on next page) PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 77 HEWLETT PACKARD MODEL 16 The Model 16 has another trick up its sleeve. While running a program you can list it — in fact you can execute any command that does not require input while a program is running, as the Model 16 is a multi-tasking system. Variables can be inspected and changed, a disc directory obtained, a listing printed, while all the time some massive computation is chugging away. HP Basic goes well beyond the usual microcomputer Basic in several respects. Apart from providing very good editing and debugging facilities, it allows structured programming and has a number of powerful and unusual commands. The editor allows indenting of program lines and has a Find and Replace facility, which is useful for changing variable names. Lines can optionally have labels as well as line (continued from previous page/ have most recently typed im The bulk of the screen is taken up with an 18-line output area, with other areas set aside for program prompts, function- key definitions and various indicators. You can type in lines in the normal way, one at a time with line numbers, or use the editor. The editor is preferable, as program lines do not disappear as you type them in. In fact* you can scroll through a listing to any position using the rotary control knob. You change direction from up-down to left-right by hitting the Shift key. An indicator on the screen shows the current direction* Having typed in a program, your next surprise is the speed at which it runs. HP Basic is in fact semi compiled, in that each time you type in a line a symbol table is updated so that labels and variables can be resolved to memory addresses very quickly when the program is actually running. In a fully compiled Basic — C Basic, for instance — you first have to write the source code with a text editor, then compile it to an intermediate file, then finally run it. Despite its speed, HP Basic is as suited to spontaneous programming as any purely interpreted Basic. Specification CPU: Motorola 68000 running at 8MHZ RAM: 51 2K expandable to 768K internally, with further 4,6Mbyte expansion available through external expansion unit Size: Main unit placed on top of disc unit, and ignoring keyboard, measures 370mm. high by 325mm. wide by 330mm, deep Display: 9in. diagonal 25-line by 80-characfer CRT with 300-by-40Q dot high-resolution graphics capacity; characters are made up of seven-by-eight matrix within 1 0-by-1 2 cell Keyboard: Detached QWERTY keyboard with five function keys and rotary control knob; knob can be used to position cursor or to generate program interrupts; other keyboard options available with numeric keypad Interfaces: HPIB and RS-232C; H RIB is IEEE-488 and can communicate with up to 14 devices using piggyback connection system; wide range of optional Interfaces available Discs: Twin 3. Sin. micro-floppy drive unit, formatted capacity 27QK per drive; uses Sony discs; disc options include 4.6 Mbyte and 9.6Mbyte Winchesters System software: HP Basic 2,0 Pro-Basic language system with integral OS; optional languages Include Pascal and HPL, HP’s version of A PL; Fortran available from third-party supplier; optional operating systems include Digital Research’s CP'M-63K and Unix App I i cat lo n so f t wa re: H P- s u ppl ted packages include VislCalc, Graphics Presentation, Forecasting, Statistics Library 1, 2 and 3, Numerical Analyst AC Circuit Analysis. Waveform Analysis Manufacturer: U S, -based Hewlett- Packard at its West German plant LLK. prices: £3,773 for 51 2K system comprising 9816 main unit, keyboard and Basic 2.0 on disc; disc drives priced separately at £985 for 9121 D dual 3.5En, micro-floppy unit ILK. distributor: Hewlett-Packard Ltd, Personal Technical Computers, Eskdale Road, Winnersh, Wokingham, Berkshire RG11 5DZ. Telephone: Growl home (0344) 773100 The 68000 CPU , Misleading advertising claims are confusing the whole issue of processor performance. The Model 16, with its Motorola 68000 CPU, was designed from the outset to be a programmer’s machine running a high-performance ; Basic, and the choice of chip was important. The Motorola chip has a 16-bit wide data bus for CPU- to-memory transfers. In other words, it grabs data in I 16-bit wide chunks which, other things being equal, is twice as fast as grabbing data in eight-bit chunks. This aspect of a processor’s operation is considered to be of fundamental importance and is why the 68000 is called a 16-bit chip. Other popular 16-bit chips are the Zilog 2-8000 and the Intel 8086; the Intel 8088 as used in the IBM PC and ACT Sirius, by contrast, only has an eight-bit wide data bus. The Motorola 68000 used in the Model 16 can directly address more memory than the other common 16-bit chips. Its 24-bit wide address bus means it can directly address 16Mbyte. By comparison the Zilog Z-8000’s 23-bit wide address bus gives it an 8Mbyte address space, while the 20-bit wide address bus on the Intel : 8086 and 8088 limits their address space to a single megabyte. This is still superior to the 64K permitted by the 16-bit address bus of the earlier generation Z-80 and 6502 processors, but the more program segments or data L available to the user without bank switching or disc accessing the better. On the HP Model 16 all this address space has been used to provide both a large amount of user RAM and to memory map peripherals, a technique which allows fast and convenient I/O. The main board of the Model 16 has 256K of RAM on it, and two expansion slots allow expansion inside the case up to 768K; our review system had one expansion board fitted. An external expansion box can be used to add more memory, up to another 4.6Mbyte. Where the Motorola 68000 really scores over the rival processors is that internal arithmetic and logical operations are carried out 32 bits at a time in 32-bit wide registers. This is what makes exceptionally fast and accurate calculations possible. By comparison, the Zilog Z-8000, Intel 8086 and Intel 8088 have 16-bit internal registers. If the Intel 8088, with its limited eight-bit wide data bus, can be advertised as a 16-bit processor — presumably on the strength of the 16-bit width of its internal registers — then you could equally plausibly hype the Motorola 68000 as a 32 bit chip. In the technically sophisticated market HP is aiming the Model 16 at, claims matter less than performance. HP appears to have chosen the best chip for the job. Running our standard Benchmark tests on the Model 16 we found it the fastest machine we have yet tested. This is so in spite of the high numeric precision — 15 significants digits — of the Basic’s default-variable type. 78 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 Review numbers, and you can obtain a full cross- reference table of the labels and variable names you have used. Debugging aids include tracing, the setting of break points, and single stepping. You can cause the program to run one line at a time by pressing a special Step key on the keyboard. The line being executed is displayed on the screen, HP Basic permits very long strings of up to 32K characters. They are particularly useful when reading information into a siring from a device attached to the HP1B, Substrings are delineated in the ANSI way; PRACTICAL 1 ’ [6,7] specifies the substring TIC. A full set of graphics commands support both the screen and other HP output devices. In Graphics mode the Model I6's screen can display 3 (XL by -400 dot graphics. An uncommon but useful command found in HP Basic is Select -Case, which works with all variable types. For example: 10 SELECT S$ 20 CASE ,L 0” to “9” 30 GOSUB Valid 40 CASE “E" 50 GOSUB End 60 CASE ELSE 70 GOSUB Ignore 80 END SELECT Arrays can have up to six dimensions. You can set a subscript range for each dimension anywhere between 32K and -32K. Twenty commands are provided to allow external events to interrupt normal program flow and force a branch to a named subroutine. HP Basie is documented in a set of four manuals. They are not included in the cost of the system but are thorough and include indexes. All in all HP Basic seems very complete. For more specialised applications HP provides an extension package which contains another 170 Basic statements, mainly matrix manipulation and external device handling. Marketing push Hewlett-Packard is the world's seventh- biggest manufacturer of computers, selling S2.2 billion dollars worth of computing kit in 1982. It is structured into 44 fairly autonomous divisions, 22 of which produce computers in some form, the others mainly instruments. The company’s growth has been achieved with very little borrowing. This financial rectitude has historically been coupled with an unwillingness to shout very loud about the company’s expensive but generally technically excellent products. HP is now trying to reorganise itself into a more marketing-oriented company. While the restrained technical approach was alright for its traditional instru- mentation and technical-computing business, HP does not want to lose out on the computer boom. The company still remembers that Apple was founded in 1977 by a defector from HP: Steve Wozniak was an HP engineer. The plan is to move from number 7 to number 3, behind IBM and DEC, by 1986, and one of the first manifestations of the new HP is the promotion of the Model 16, A brash and bold leaflet has landed through many of the nation's letterboxes. According to an HP handout: “direct mail thrust is expected to exceed 200,000 individual shots — close to the U.K.'s entire universe for Electronic Engineers, Scientists and Technical Professionals,” The Model 16 leaflet aims to impress the nation's technical elite with a rather disreputable-looking cartoon lion, which appears to be trying to sell them the computer. The Lion describes the rotary control knob as a “super personal magic wheel”. The accompaying personalised letter quotes Byte magazine as describing the Model 16 as “a lion packaged as a house cat”. What it fails to note is that the Byte article in question, published in June 1983, was written by John Monahan, an employee of Hewlett-Packard's Desktop Computer Division. So it is just one HP publicist quoting another. I'm probably not alone in preferring the old HP style. The real way for HP to win wider markets is by dr opping its prices. Conclusions • The HP model 16 is extremely compact and also extremely powerful. It is primarily intended tor users who require great precision and speed or the ability to connect their system up to instrumentation, • To use the Model 16 solely for general office work would he expensive overkill, A machine with less processing performance but a larger base of general software would be more appropriate. • The availability of general office software for the Model 16 is of importance because it allows the machine to be more fully employed when placed in a technical environment , doing rou I ine tasks as well as those demanding high performance. • The 3. Sin, micro-floppy discs are a great success. They are convenient to use and handle, and will probably rapidly be adopted by other manufacturers in place of conventional 5.25in. floppies, • HP Basic is very impressive. Fortunately the Model 16 has lots of memory as it is also very big — 277 K! Asmemory costs iall and the processors capable of using il become more widespread perhaps the Basics offered on other machines will start reaching similar standards, • For the user/programmer, especially one working in a technical environment, the Model 16 must be dream machine of the year. Q Micro-floppy discs Although at first sight not a very spectacular development, the 3.5m. micro- floppy discs are very convenient in practice. They mark a large step forward from conventional floppy discs. The smalt discs are tougher for three reasons. First, the recording film is mounted inside a rigid plastic case. Second, a metal shutter covers the gap where the read/write heads need to get close to the recording surface. On the HP drives the shutter is automatically opened when the disc is Inserted, and closed again when the disc is removed, so the recording medium itself is always protected from finger marks and dust. Finally, the micro-floppy has a solid metal centre. Conventional floppy discs are gripped and rotated through the centre hole, the edge of which is subject to a good deal of wear. .. c HP says it is already shipping more 3.5in. micro-floppy drives than 5.25im and Sin, drives combined. It expects to deliver six times as many in this first year of availability. Apart from the greater compactness and convenience to the customer, the failure rate of the drives themselves is said to be only one-quarter of that experienced with HP's 5.25in. drives Users benefit, and HP does too as it saves money under guarantee provisions. Benchmarks The up Series 200 Model 16 is the fastest machine we have tested. The table shows the time in seconds to run eight standard Benchmark routines. They test out various typical tasks, each routine repeating an appropriate set of Basic statements 1,000 times. We were using the HP Basic 2.0 language system supplied on disc with the Model 16. HP Series 200 Model 16 - 63000 CPU Orion - 8086 CPU Olivetti M*20 — Z-8000 CPU IBM PC -8088 CPU BM1 BM2 BM3 BM4 BM5 BM6 BM7 BM8 Av, 0.2 0.6 1.4 1.6 L7 2.8 4,3 15 3.4 0.6 2.1 4.8 4.9 5.8 10,5 16.7 13 7.3 1.1 4.0 8.0’ 8.4 9.2 17,1 26,5 12 10.8 1.2 4.8 11.7 12.2 13,4 23.3 37,4 30 16.9 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 79 Microware and IBM — an unbeatable combination. We promise to: • Analyse and identify your requirements. • Advise on your system needs. • Supply and install your equipment. • Provide the widest range of software support. • Offer comprehensive maintenance contracts. • Take pride in our unparalleled after sales service. MEMORY EXPANSION 1 . Memory expansion from 64o 12K 2. Memory expansion with extended features: • Printer port • R232 • Games control • Battery clock/calendar • Expansion up to 51 2K 3. Memory expansion for electronic disk ( RAM ) providing capacity of up to 2 Mb MULTI-TASKING • Multi-tasking software is now available for PC DOS - up to 9 tasks can be run • Concurrent CPM WINCHESTER DRIVES 1. PC Pair Hard disk storage • 3.9" Winchester drives • Single board DTC controller plugs directly on to PC Bus • No additional power required • Fixed or removable second drive 2. Our range of 5 l A" external Winchesters NETWORKING PC net • Local area network and shared resource • Independent of disk type ie XT, corvus etc • Independent hard disk system • Remote PC • IBM PC DOS 1.1, 2.0 • Disk and file sharing • Low cost, easy to use • Simple to set up • Up to 16 PC’s per file sharer SOFTWARE Pegasus ' Business application systems • Sales Ledger • Purchase Ledger • Nominal Ledger • Invoicing • Payroll • Stock Control • Order Entry • D Base II Applications Our complete list of software is too long to publish, but the widest range is available from stock including: Wordstar, Mailmergc, Supercalc, D Base II, Fortran 80, Easyfiler, Easy writer, Visicalc TRAINING We offer training to our IBM PC customers: 1 . Computer aided training, which, after initial set-up, your PC guides you through the software 2. On site personal training by our experienced professional instructors MONITORS We recommend from our range the following: • The new IBM colour monitor • LUXOR — high res. colour • AMDEK - the only IBM compatible amber screen monochrome available • H ANTAREX - 14" high res. colour SERVICE We offer a number of service options including: 1 . Warranty/non- Warranty repairs 2. Extended Warranty contracts 3. Quick response service contracts covering both parts and labour PURCHASE TERMS 1 . Rental agreements 2. Leasing contracts 3. Approved credit purchase 4. Credit cards Microware Microware (London) Ltd. Showroom at: 637 Holloway Road, London N 19 5SS. Phone 01 -272 6237/6398 or Telex 297598. IBM Authorised Dealer • Circle No. 149 Personal Computer Revolutionize the way you think about computers. The new OM8064 ie 8064 packs all the power you will ever need. Sleek and trim, yet fully expandable with eight slot hie^Iewhf deslqned compact keyboard is a piece of art in itself. The OM8064 features ultrasensitive key id single key programming commands, you will get much more including a powerful 64K dynamic RAM U P ' to Jk of ROM, 24line x 40 character text display with high resolution graphics a 6502 and Z80 microprocessor. Dealer Enquiries welcome TASHKL COMPUTER SYSTEMS LTD 24 LOGAN ROAD, WEMBLEY, MIDDLESEX HA9 8PX TEL No. 01-904 4467. TELEX No. 296708 CP M is a registered trade mark of Digital Research Inc. £1080 PLUS VAT THE PRICE OF THE COMPLETE SYSTEM COMPRISING OF: OM8064 MICROCOMPUTER WITH * STANDARO 64K RAM * 8 SLOT EXPANSION UNIT & COVER * STANDARD 2K ROM FOR CP/M® * MAXIMUM 14K ROM FOR BASIC 4= STANDARD 6502 CPU AFG CARD ® STANDARD 2-80 CARD * STANDARD CENTRONIC l/F CARD & l/F CABLE •Circle No. 150 * STANDARO 80 COLUMN CARD * STANDARD FLOPPY DISK DRIVE CONTROLLER * TWO 5%in SSSD SLIMLINE DISK DRIVES & l/F CABLES EACH 1 63 KBYTi * 12in GREEN MONITOR & CABLE * JOYSTICK ADAPTOR CABLE * TV ADAPTOR 4: TAPE RECORDER CABLES FACTORY MANAGE! The problem with buying a home computer, as you may already have discovered, is there's often very little software to go with it. Or all that is available is games, games and more games. There's no such problem, however, with the Commodore 64. It has a more extensive range of serious software than any other home computer. It also has an unusually huge (in fact elephantine) 64K memory, as well as every peripheral you're ever likely to need. Put simply, this means the computer has the capacity to run more interesting, entertaining and complex programs. You can teach yourself just about any subject you care to mention, even computer programming. And for the office there are programs like word piocessing, financial planning, information storage and stock control. Finally, when you're mentally exhausted, you can even entertain yourself — yes, with grimes. When all s said and done, however, we do have to admit that in one respect the Commodore 64 isn't up with the competition. It costs around £229, much less than any comparable machine. And that's a we hope you'll n< ever forget. When you have an enormous memory there's no end to the things you can do. Send to: The Commodore Infonnation Centre, 675 Ajax Avenue, Slough, Berkshire SL1 4BG. Or telephone (0753) 79292. t commodore 6S PCO 1283 Address Please send me further information on: the 64 computer □ 64 software □ disk driveD cassette unit □ printers □ monitor □ Name (Mr. Mrs. M iss) • Circle No, 151 ]|]| HI ST iMiNCiabou- the new Aran HOOXL h [hat it is pretty much the same as the old 800. Atari, like Apple with the lie, has such a large user base world- wide, and so much software, that it was essential to retain I compatibility. Thus it was possible to write much of this review on the review machine, using Atari writer and an 8 10 disc drive, I was also able to try some new games, including I Ast ro-Chase, Super-Cobra and Chess from Parker Brothers, Caverns of Mars on ROM and Donkey Kong from Atari, plus the exceJJeni Computer War — Thorn-lAlTs i best effort yet, 1 also tested a number of older programs. When loading autoboot discs like Zaxxon \ Atari’s Donkey Kong Computer War; Thorn EMI’s best yet. EMRUftTR Wi Iff Q3KLETK Wif (it>2T Film [30 R MAT Qinh ONOKH Of I bi&fo darn* r it* [3RSNT Pi*® HSR OK ru# ATARI WRITER Jack Schofield, already a fan of the old 800, discovers It had some faults after all. But the new 800XL . . . 84 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 and VisiCalc, you just hold down the Option key when switching on to switch out the Basic ROM and free the available RAM. With autoboot tapes using Basic, you still hold down Start as before. There must be some software that uses illegal entry points in the operating-system ROM, or something of that kind, which will run on the woo but not on the 800XL. 1 could only find one — a pre-release EPROM version of Astro-Chase from Parker Brothers. All available peripherals worked with the 800XL, The new machine offers several improvements over the 800 which it replaces. The most obvious one is the 64K of RAM instead of 48K, Of course, this does not provide any more RAM free to Basic: there is still about 37,5 K, the same as the Commodore 64, because that is all the 6502 CPU can handle once it has taken care of Basic and the operating system. It was disappointing to find that no extra RAM is available to machine-code programs such as VisiCalc, There are many other changes to both the machine and the system. Appearance is greatly improved. The case is much smaller — less than half the size and has attractive two-tone styling and brushed silver function keys. The S00XL has more potential for expansion, A new edge connector expan- sion bus has been provided on the back to take an eight-slot system box called The Expander. It will hold Apple-style expansion cards to offer such options as a 128K RAM-disc, hard disc, flat-screen TV interface, IBM PC emulator, IEEE-448 interface and a few other fancy gadgets. Some of them have been available to fit inside the 800 in a memory slot, but this meant removing one or two of the 16K RAM cards and substituting a 32K or 48K card with the option card. For self testing a new Help key brings up a self test of the RAM, keyboard, four sound channels and graphics. Such diagnostic routines are normally found only on far more expensive micros. Two new debugged ROM chips replace the old operating-system card and cartridge-load Basic, One 16K chip includes the old 10K operating sysem and the new self-test routines. An 8K ROM on the single board now holds die Basic. The Basic has been further — and apparently completely — debugged. More graphics The 800XL has new capabilities in text and graphics. There are four new graphics modes using the existing Antic and GTIA custom graphics chips. They are actually existing Antic modes which were previously very troublesome to access from Basic. There is now an international character set in addition to the standard set, the double- width set and the double-width/ double- height set. The international characters include accents, umlauts, and a £ sign CHR${8), all in both normal and inverse forms. The extra characters are accessed by Poking 204 decimal into location 756 — which is less than delightful but is necessary to retain compatibility with existing software. It is still possible to redefine the character set. The new line of four micros brings with it a new range of peripherals in the same two- tone black-and-grey style. They include the 1050 double-density 5. 25 in. disc drive with DOS-3, the 1010 dedicated cassette recorder, Super Joysticks, Trak Ball, a touch-tablet and three new printers. With DOS-3 the 1050 offers only a rather poor 127K of storage, which is not quite up to Apple standards. Compatibility with the 810 has been preserved, however. The 1010 recorder, like the other new add-ons, has two serial ports so it no longer has to be at the end of the peripheral daisy-chain. The £70 touch-tablet is brilliant, and so is the light- pen. The 1025 printer is an 80-column dot- matrix model; the 1020 four-colour printer/plotter resembles the Tandy/ Oric/Sharp models. Like the others, the letter-quality 1027 printer plugs straight into the 800XL, It may only do 20 characters per second, but the print quality is outstanding, and it costs only £299. Atari's 80-column CP/M add-on has already been demonstrated running on an ! Atari 800, As it hangs on the serial bus it works with any Atari, including the existing 400 and new 800XL, The only CP/M programs available on Atari disc were WordStar and Multiplan, However, there are plans to add all the most popular programs including dBase II, Peachpak software, Pascal/MT+ and Soreim's Super* series. Of course. Atari CP/M add-ons have been available — mainly in the U.S. — for some time. They include the Critical Connection, ATR-8000 and Micro Mainframe, The ATR-8000 already offers an 8088 board with 256K of RAM and either CP/M -86 or MS : DOS for IBM PC compatibility, while the Micro Mainframe is able to read and write most disc formats. However, having an Atari -backed system will do wonders for hardware interchange- ability and software availability. There are already over 50 programs in Atari’s main line of programs, plus over 150 in the cheaper APX line-up, and the rate at which programs are being introduced has increased. New issues scheduled include a superb Logo, 10 games including Pole Position, Robotron, Joust, Jungle Hunt and Ms Pacman, plus more serious software such as Family Finances and Timewise. The original VisiCalc has been relaunched with the new machines. Internally the 800XL shows the same kind of advances as the Commodore 64. The seven separate pieces of a 48 K 800 with Basic have been reduced to a single clean board. There are still five big integrated circuits, of course: Antic, GTIA, PI A, Pokey and the 6502 itself. However, a small IC has taken over the timing from a mass of capacitors and resistors. Memory is greatly simplified to a single row of eight 64K chips. Finally, the PAL monitor circuitry has been cleaned up and improved. The result is that the 80QXL is cleaner and neater than the 800. It should prove even more reliable, and of course be much cheaper to manufacture. There may be other differences l missed. No docu- mentation was supplied with the review machine. Not much has been sacrificed from the 800, except the huge, solid aluminium interior casing. It has been replaced by tin sheeting folded over the main board to prevent RF interference. You could stand a monitor on the old 800 but you couldn’t do it with the new one. Another thing to go is the small loudspeaker inside the case. Now all the beeps, synthesised sounds and key clicks are output through to the TV set, or via the (continued on next page) Basic Antic Cols x Rows Colours RAM required mode 0 Mode 2 40x24 x shades 2 992 1 6 20x24 5 672 2 7 20x12 5 420 3 8 40 X 24 4 432 4 9 80 X 48 2 696 5 A 80x48 4 1,176 6 B 160x96 2 2,184 7 D 160x96 4 4,200 8 F 320x192 2 8,138 9 F 80x192 1x16 8,138 10 F 80x192 9x5 8,138 11 F 80x192 16x1 8,138 12 4 40x24 5 1,152 13 5 40x12 5 660 14 C 160X192 2 4,296 15 E 160x192 - # V- nr • 4 8,138 * ^ Modes 12 to 15 are new to the XL line. Mode 9 offers 16 shades of one colour, where mode 11 offers 16 colours but all the same intesity. Mode 10 offers nine colours and five intensities. Different modes can be mixed on the screen at the same time. PRACTICAL COMPUTING December t9$3 85 Preview ATARI 800XL (continued from previous page} composite video DIN port to a hi-fi outfit* There is only one cartridge slot, instead of two. Very few cartridges were made for the right-hand slot, but if you own, say, the Eastern House Monkey Wrench toolkit you will not be able to use it with the 8QGXL, The 800XL is no longer turned off automatically w^hen inserting or removing cartridges, but doing this with the power on seems to do no harm. There are only two joystick ports, instead of four* This may bother people with the Thorn-EMI Soccer and Ice Hockey cartridges — which were playable by four players — but not many others* People like me, who have converted two of the joy- stick ports into one eight-bit parallel port, will have to find a different way of driving an Epson MX-8G or similar parallel printer. In other respects, the 800XL seem to match the 800, as reviewed in the July 1982 issue of Practical Computing, pages 74 to 78. The 800 keyboard was quite good, but the XL one is superb and suitable for fast touch-typing. The matt finish and the clarity of the labelling are improvements. In addition, Atari has corrected the solitary placing error of its previous models: the key which gives inverse video has been moved to beyond the right Shift key. It no longer carries the Atari logo, but graphically declares its function. In all there are 57 typewriter keys plus five function keys including Help and Reset. The Shift keys are huge* A Caps key toggles between upper and lower case. A Control key allows the set of 29 graphics characters to be entered directly, though they are not marked on the keyboard. The Control key also allows four- way cursor movement through the full-screen editor. As Atari Basic dates back to 1979 it Is by now quite a well known dialect. It offers rather better support for the hardware than Commodore Basic, and while it is poor compared to BBC Basic it is only half the size* It has no structured commands, but you can Goto a variable name to emulate the BBC's procedures* The advantages of Atari Basic are that it provides syntax checking on line entry and superb editing facilities. It also provides long, meaningful variable names, and some useful error trapping. It offers long strings rather than string arrays, which some think of as a bug but 1 think is a feature. There is no single-key keyword entry, but there is a quick alternative: abbreviations can be used instead. For example, you can enter GR* for Graphics, SE. for Set color, DR. for Drawto, F. for For and N. for Next, etc. Basic is tokenised and so expands them when you list the program. The few bugs in the original Basic seem to have been dealt with. After long editing sessions the Basic never hangs up* A naked input no longer causes a lock up, and the unary minus, -0, works correctly. Dimensioning a string larger than memory now produces an error message* If there are other bugs in the Basic, I couldn't find them. The 800XL runs the standard Bench- marks a tiny bit quicker than the 800. However, Atari Basic is still slow, and far too slow for action games unless you are a clever programmer* There are quicker Basics such as Basic A + , Basic XL and Microsoft Basic for the Atari, three compiled Basics, plus numerous other languages, including Pilot, several assemblers and macro-assemblers, five Forths, Pascal, Dalasoft's Lisp, OSS's Tiny C, etc. If you don't like Atari Basic, you don’t have to lump it. A fast new games language called Action! is on the way from Optimized Systems Software, the original author of Atari Basic* It comes on a 24K ROM cartridge with the compiler paged in 8K* It is said to have features from assembler, Pascal and C, and the U.S. price is $100, or S65 discount. Sounds wonderful; not here yet. The 800 XL is already a great games machine, but can it offer more? It is Specification CPU: 6502C running at 1.79MHz Specialised ICs: GTIA graphics display; Pokey sound generator aftd control of ports; Antic screen and I/O ROM: 16K operating system and diagn ost ics; 8 K Basic RAM: 64 K; 37*5K free to Basic Keyboard: 57 typewriter keys with auto- repeat plus five function keys including Help key Display: 16 modes, from 40 characters by 24 lines of text to 320 by 192 pixels graphics; up to 16 shades of up to 16 colours Sound: four channels, sound synthesiser with distortion control, up to 3.5 octave range with 255 notes from Basic; about eight octaves via Pokes; sound or music from dedicated cassette recorder can be incorporated in programs; key click and all other sound output via TV. Ports: ROM cartridge slot, 8-1 6K; two joystick ports; PAL TV output; composite video/sound output port; serial bus; processor bus for expansion connection Special features: player-missile graphics, equivalent to Commodore's sprites; upper/lowercase character set with 29 block-graphics characters; international character set; double- width and double-height characters Power: separate transformer; on/off switch on back of console Dimensions: 374 x 220 x 57mm* approx. suitable as a home machine thanks to the smattering of family programs and Atari's excellent computerised card index, Home Filing Manager. With the easy-to-use Atariwriter word processor on a ROM cartridge, and a cheap letter-quality printer, it is eminently suitable for word processing at home* From the educational point of view there are some good programs but most of these are American in origin* Atari (U.K.) is starting to tackle this by converting American to English, but the BBC Micro, the cheaper Electron and even cheaper Spectrum all look better bets from this point of view because they are widely used in schools. Apart from VisiCalc and some database programs, U.K* business software remains thin. There are the Ch ipso ft accounting and ledger packages, which require discs and/or Microsoft Basic, and a few others, but the Commodore 64 already has more business software* With the CP/M and IBM options it will of course become a viable option, but then Commodore and Acorn are both promising CP/M too. One area where Atari will score is in support. It has over 70 local service centres where a machine can be taken for repair. There is also an excellent user hotline which will answer queries promptly over the phone. Atari publishes a glossy magazine I/O which is free to users. And there are already around 100 user groups. In an industry where many new machines leave the user isolated, with no software or peripherals, struggling to debug crass errors in the basic machine, the 800XL represents an attractive alternative. Conclusions • The Atari 800XL is a well designed, thoroughly debugged, well supported home/games micro with an outstanding specification at a reasonable price* It knocks machines like the Lynx and the Electron into a cocked hat* • The 800XL already has peripherals available, including discs, and masses of software, making it usable right from the start. • With either the Expander box or 80-column CP/M upgrade, which has a Z-80 running at 4MHz, it could grow into a business machine — but, like the BBC Model B and Commodore 64, only for a very small business. The wide availability of Atari servicing and the user hot-line are advantages* • So far Atari does not seem to have achieved the kind of market share in the U.K, which as a S2 billion corporation it enjoys in the rest of the world* The XL range could change (hat* The hardware and software are there, but it still needs the marketing. • The 800 XL costs £249*99 and is distributed by Atari International (U*K.) Ltd, Atari House, Railway Terrace, Slough, Berkshire, Telephone: Slough (0753) 33344* [7] 86 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1933 watch out for data warrior Data Warrior are proud to announce the launch of their new product range which includes the highly acclaimed Hewlett-Packard 7470A Plotter.The only one with "Sweet-Lips" technology. HEWLETT-PACKARD J There are many other pro- ducts available in our extensive range and these include Warrior 10 System for IBM; Sirius; Apple and S100 BUS; Digitek Expansion Cards for Apples; Phoenix Monitors-, Centronics Printers; Sapphire Mars -CP/M Financial Modeller and a wide range of BASF Floppy discs. We have an 7470A PLOTTER Despite the myriad imitations, the 7470A Plotter is the only one with "Sweet-Lips" technology, it's interesting to see other plotters producing what appears to be a similar output to the 7470A, but if accuracy in dimen- sions is important to you, then you'll find that few if any can match the Hewlett-Packard expertise. The HP 7470A can plot 1000 points in a l-inch line! With that degree of resolution coupled with the capability to run almost all popular micros, and the back-up and experi- ence of one of the world's largest manufacturers, you can't afford to sell lesser machines. extremely competitive pric- ing structure which includes dealer's stocking finance and end user leasing. What's more we can offer very fast deliver- ies (48 hours in most cases) and a comprehensive and highly geared organisation. Data Warrior will soon be a force to be reckoned with. Watch out for Data Warrior. This advertisement shows only a small part of our range. For complete details please complete the coupon or telephone: Name Position Company Address Data Warrior, Adelaide House, 9 Adelaide Street, St Albans, Herts AL3 5BE. Telephone: St Albans (0727) 37327. PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 87 OLIVETTI M-10 Ian Stobie visited Olivetti’s U.K. headquarters to get the feel of its new Japanese-built lap portable. OLIVETTI^ M-io battery-powered portable computer is strikingly similar to the Tandy 100. This is not surprising as both machines are made in Japan for their respective famous-name suppliers by the same company, Kyocera. We reviewed the Tandy machine, in a generally favourable way, in the August issue of Practical: Computing. But there are enough differences between the two versions in specification and the way they are being sold to warrant taking a look at the machine as it appears in its Olivetti colours. Olivetti says the M-10 will be available in November, while Tandy's Model 100 is on sale in Tandy stores now . Both systems cost around £500 for the unexpanded machines with 8K RAM. A system with the full 32K of RAM costs £730 from Tandy; Olivetti's price is likely to be similar. These prices are also roughly comparable with the similar-sized Epson HX-20 portable. The HX-20 is actually slightly less expensive at £402 for the 16K model, but it has a much smaller four-line by 20- character display. On the other hand it comes complete with a built-in 24-column dot-matrix printer and has an optional £75 micro -cassette drive which fits neatly on the machine. To complicate the choice still further NEC is about to launch another version of the Kyocera machine in the U.K., this time with interna] RAM expandable to 64K and with optional 32K battery -backed RAM cartridges for program or data storage. The NEC machine will cost £475 for the 16K version, £82S for the 64K version, with the ] battery-backed RAM cartridges costing £195. The display is the most striking feature of the Olivetti system as large LCD arrays are still quite unusual. Taking up most of the top surface of the machine, it measures about 195mm. by 50mm. It can show eight lines of 40 characters, or 64-by-240 dot graphics. Graphic characters can be generated from the keyboard and the Basic has point-plotting and line-drawing commands. The whole display panel can be propped up at about a 30 degree angle. Combined with adjustments of the LCD itself the overall result is a very clear display, which personally I prefer to looking at the glowing screen of a conventional CRT. The keyboard is one of the most attractive features of the Tandy machine, and the Olivetti keyboard feels equally good. The U.K. version has two more keys than the Tandy and resembles the IBM PC keyboard a little, with the Backslash key between the Z and the left Shift In use the M-10 appears to behave identically to the Tandy model, although there are apparently a few minor differences in the 32K Microsoft ROM which contains the Basic, operating system and built-in application software. When you switch on a menu appears, showing a directory of all the programs and files currently in the system, and the date, time and amount of free memory. To select and run a program you simply position the cursor over the file name and press the Return key. A simple word-processing program 88 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 called Tex i lets you prepare text or program files. It has rather I ini i ted formatting abilities but does have useful features like Search and Replace, Block Move and Block Copy. The Basic interpreter offers 1 4-digit numeric precision without being too slow, which is a considerable achievement for a CMOS machine. The M-10 hardware is well supported, with Basic commands for the graphics and sound, and function keys. The Olivetti manual is clear and compre- hensive, although l think someone new to programming would have to buy abook to supplement the rather skimpy tutorial section on Basic, The Telcom program is for transferring files through the RS-232C interface. It allows you to change various parameters like the baud rate, parity and number of stop bits, and then send or receive named files. 1 was not able to try this during my visit. It is supposedly easy to connect machines up and transfer files, providing the two machines you are using have the standard RS-232C interface, but I have found that in practice it often turns out that something thwarts you. Olivetti is offering three different RS-232C cables, so one of them should work. The M-10 will be distributed in the U.K, through Olivetti's existing 350 dealers. Many of them will be bundling the M-10 up with software for specific vertical markets and looking to sell to larger customers in fleet quantities. To reach the individual, buyer more effectively Olivetti is also negotiating arrangements to sell through some of the major independent High Street retail chains. Olivetti plans to have a battery-powered acoustic-coupling modem available at the same time as the machine lor around £200. Also battery-powered is Olivetti’s PL- 10 four-pen plotter, similar to the Oric and Tandy plotters and costing around £150. It has four small ball-point pens mounted on a carousel mechanism which allows it to produce colour graphics or up to 80 Specification CPU: OKI 80C85, an eight-bit CMOS code-compatible look-alike to the Intel 8085, running at 2.4MHz ROM: 32K ROM containing Microsoft- written software; free slot for additional 32K ROM RAM: 8K expandable to 32K; battery backed. Size: 300 x 210 x 50mm. Weight: 1.7kg. Power supply: Four AA batteries or equivalent lasting a claimed 20 hours in continuous use; internal NiCad back up batteries are fitted as standard; AC adaptor optional Display: tillable eight-tine by 40-character liquid crystal display with contrast adjustment; 64 by 240 dot addressable graphics. Keyboard: full-size QWERTY layout with full-travel keys; eight programmable function keys, eight other special keys; numeric keypad simulated with Numeric key Interfaces: parallel printer interface; RS-232C serial; tape cassette; bar-code reader Software: Standard ROM contains Microsoft Basic, Text mini word processor, simple address list and appointments scheduler and communications software Manufacturer: Kyocera, Japan for Italian- based Olivetti U,K. distributor: British Olivetti Ltd, Olivetti House, PO Box 89. 86-88 Upper Richmond Road, London SW15 2UR. Telephone 01-785 6666; scheduled for distribution in November at around £500 including VAT for 8K version, characters of text across 115mm. paper rolls. The other vital peripheral the Olivetti needs is a cassette recorder, for storing programs or data. Although Olivetti says any cassette recorder should work from the cassette interface it will be recommending a | specific brand . One of the advantages the Epson HX-20 enjoys over the Tandy Model 100 is the volume of independent software available. U is helped by having a reliable method of program distribution, in the Epson - supplied micro-cassette, but there is nothing to stop standard cassette tape software being supplied for the Olivetti M-10. The machine also has space for another 32K ROM, which may well attract system houses developing customised hardware, as no cassette and no loading are necessary. It is too early to say whether a large body of cassette-based software aimed at the individual user will develop for the M10. Olivetti says some software houses arc working on such packages and that a Calc is on its way. The real question is whether between them NEC, Tandy and Olivetti can sell enough machines, as software writers can probably cover all three systems with little extra effort. Conclusions • The M-10 is virtually the same machine as the Tandy 100, Principle differences from the Tandy are the more IBM-like keyboard layout and the fact that the display panel pops up, • The M-ItVs large eight-line by 40- character LCD display is dear in normal light conditions and the keyboard is excellent. • Undoubtedly highly portable, the M-10 is well suited for commercial applications requiring text entry or data capture away from the mains power supply. It is also suitable as a personal machine for writing and using quick programs while on the move. • Olivetti's matching battery-powered acoustic coupler and printer will be important to the success of the M-10, allowing it to be expanded into a powerful communicating computing system, • The M-10 is also very similar to the NEC PC -8201, which is also about to be launched in the LLK, (he NEC has the potential for greater memory expansion than either the Olivetti or Tandy machines, which may be an advantage in some applications. • The strength of Olivetti's distribution network and its marketing resources give the M-10 a good chance of emerging the best seller out of these three similar machines, • The similarly priced Epson HX-20 is probably a more suitable machine, with its micro-cassette drive installed, for appli- cations requiring the collection of large amounts of data in the field. The Epson also has a larger existing independent software base. • All of these portable machines are inferior to similarly priced home computers in terms of processing speed and display facilities. They arc only worth considering if true portability is important to your application. Q Expansion ROM and RAM sockets, bus connector and batteries are in the base. PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 89 partner with Icarus When you’re choosing a computer, love at first sight can lead to a brief and disappointing flirtation, when what you wanted was a lasting and meaningful relationship. That’s where the unique Icarus computer dating service can help! just fill in this simple questionnaire and see if Icarus can help you in your search for a perfect partner. Computer Systems Lid L What do you consider to be the essential qualities of a IS BIT microcomputer? Easy-on-the eye Q Floppy and amber screen Winchester disc configurations Two RS-232 serial ports a one parallel printer port 13A plug 3< What interests and activities wiU you be sharing with your computer? Accounting d Word Processing Financial analysis and projection Stock control Full colour graphics Games d FREE software to the value of £750 d Good looks 4. What special features do you look for in a serious relationship? Access to hundreds of 16 BIT off the shelf software packages including all those designed for the IBM PC d Access to 8 BIT CP/M software via optional Z80 expansion card LJ Icarus Computer Systems Ltd Deane House, 27 Greenwood Place, London NWS INN Teh 01-485 5574 Telex: 264209 • Circle No, 153 3, Which of Ihe following characteristics do you consider important in a 16 BIT micro? Choice of CP/M 86 and MSDOS operating systems I— I Expandability up to 896K RAM D Plenty of 1 BM PC compat ib le expansion slots d Wide range of enhancements, such as additional serial ports, 8087 arithmetic co-processorforhigh speed maths fu net to ns and 1 EEE bus cont roller d Close proximity of servicing and technical advice Good family connections Thank you for your trouble. Here's some great news - there is a computer that's just right for you. The Columbia 16 BIT PC. It's your perfect partner. For more intimate details, write in complete confidence. OUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE APPLE SCENE CARDS Interfaces continued — U-PT ie w digital I/O and timer card. £105.00 U-CENT+e/ff Centronics interface. £69.00 U-4DISC - e disc controller (4 drives). £65.00 RAMCARDS - with free software. U-RAM16 h equivalent to Apple language card includes DOS mover. £65.00 U-RAM32 + versatile 32K card ^^(includes DOS mover, VVE and VRD). £50.00 U-RAM64 ! e and U-RAM128 4 e big value, big memory cards including free DOS mover, disc emulation (VRD) and Visicalc expand software. (VVE). 64K £180.00 1 28K £275.00 VVE80 lie Visicalc expand software for the 1 1 e 80 column board and our U-RAM64 or U-RAM 128. £30.00 ENHANCEMENTS U-Z80 +e processor card for CP M U-TERM + 80 col, display. £150.00 U-M68OO0 he 32 bit 68000 processor card. £469.00 U-TALK +e speech synthesis. £85.00 timer. INTERFACES AIDS U-PRINT 16 ' e serial centronics, buffer and graphics printer interface. £129.00 U-EXT + e Wslo! extender, £9.50 U-PROT+e fit prototype card. £12.00 U-NSCRUMP+e ///software protection card. POA STRUCTURED BASIC* 9 The most sophisticated, powerful and easy to use network system for the Apple II + or 1 1 e. Up to 29 users share up to six disc drives, one or two printers and a clock. Distance from host to satellite 1 00m with longer distances possible via modems. Detaiied information on request. U-PRINT 64 + e version with 64K buffer. £229.00 U-PRINTCAB Centronics cable for U-PRINT. £15.00 U-S232 4 e /// serial interface, £75.00 U-PORT 1 e/// 8 serial interface on one card, £195.00 U-A/D fe ^8/16 channel, 12 bit A/D, software controlled gain, 32 digital I/O channel and timer! £375.00 The package that adds structured BASIC commands to Applesoft. It allows structured programming without the complexities and fussiness of PASCAL. £90.0( MOTHERBOARD The U-COM2 is a fully compatible 8 slot, 64K RAM motherboard selling in increasing quantities to OEM’s and System builders. Big quantity discounts! Details on request. the only package Ive seen this year I'd buy for my own collection Personal Computer News. Jun 83 Prices exclude VAT and delivery, 12 months warranty with all items. KEY + compatible with I \ + e compatible with Me /// Apple /// version avail able with SOS driven Price on request U-Microcomputers Ltd Winstanley Industrial Estate, Long Lane, Warrington, Cheshire WA2 8PR Telephone 0925 54117 Telex 629279 U MICRO G USA Subsidiary — U-Microcomputers Inc., 300 Broad Street, Stamford, Connecticut 06901, USA, Telephone 203 359 4236 Telex 965999 Q&S STD U-NET is a trade mark of U-Mterocomputers Ltd. Apple is a trade mark of Appte Computer Inc. ORDER FROM YOUR DEALER NOW! Word processing when commodore introduced its new 64K computer a large part of the sales pitch was that here, at last, was the perfect dual- purpose machine for home and business. Like most such claims it was a little over- enthusiastic. The machine itself turned out to be more of a curious hybrid, with plenty of memory and features for home use but some major drawbacks as far as the serious business user was concerned, including the very limited Basic and the 40-column screen. Yet the 64 has some admirable qualifications for use as a word processor. The ample memory allows long documents or chapters to be included in each file. And the superb Commodore screen editor tends to spoil regular users for other micros. With built-in advantages like these, the 64 was an obvious candidate for WP programs and, after a delay of several months following its launch, it got them. I have looked at most of the packages currently on the market for the 64 — and more are imminent. Prices range from £40 to over £80, so the buyer can afford to be choosy and, perhaps predictably, it turns out that price is an unreliable guide to quality. Paperclip 64 The opening screen is dear and inviting and the program does nothing to disappoint — quite the contrary. Paperclip 64 is one of the easiest of the professional word processors to use, with a sensible manual and plenty of aids for the accident- prone. The package consists of a disc, a 112-page manual and a dongle which slots into the first joystick port* There are a wide variety of options for printer files, including my own version of the Epson MX-8G, plus a do-it-yourself guide to setting up a printer if you do not own one of the many models provided for. 1 did have a little trouble loading the right variation for my printer. So perhaps the instructions need to be a little clearer on that point. If one idiot can become fuddled then so can others. All in all there is very little to complain of in Paperclip 64, All the standard functions are there and several fancy additions to the normal minimum. Although it does not format as you type, the format instructions are fairly effortless. You can switch whole paragraphs, lines or phrases with a few keystrokes, and highlight word by word if you need to. Another pleasing facility, particularly for those writing technical documents, is the ability to give special identification keys to phrases which are likely to crop up frequently. All you then need to do is press the relevant key, and your phrase, complex latin name or whatever is printed for you* Considerable effort has been spent on Barbara Conway is a City columnist on the Daily Telegraph The 64K question The Commodore 64 is hailed as one of the best home micros for word processing — but which package to buy? Barbara Conway offers some advice The limit for any individual total is 38 digits which was enough for me* On the general principle of wanting a mile or two when offered an inch, 1 did feel that the facility was so useful that I resented being restricted to just two mathematical functions. Backing up the mailing-list facility is an alphanumeric sorter which can be used for sorting out lists of names and addresses both by surname and, if some surnames are repeated, by a subsidiary field of information such as street name* Of more interest to writers and journalists is the ability to generate an index of sub -headings for each file as a report is written, with the page numbers automatically recorded for easy reference* When reviewing a series of packages one of the indications of the merits of a program is how heroic you feel when you have made your way through one. In the case of Paperclip I hardly noticed any struggle at all. Bearing in mind the limitations of even a powerful home micro like the Commodore 64, as against the ( continued on next page) ensuring that all functions are accessed easily, including disc operations. Another feature which will appeal to professional users is the numeric mode. It allows you to perform simple arithmetical operations with the program, and makes life a great deal easier when you prepare your tax returns, or the like. Having struggled with this task on other programs, I found it a pleasure on Paperclip 64. Setting out columns of figures, and even manipulating them in spreadsheet style, is easy although the actual calculations allowed are only addition and subtraction* PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 <4 • Circle No. 154 The 64K question (continued from previous page) IBMs and their like, this program kids you that your micro is a mini in many respects. Drawbacks include the fact that in-text format instructions swallow valuable memory and the minor grouse about the print files, but these are relatively faint damns in a praiseworthy professional package. Easy Script Before going into any detail about Easy Script I have a confession to make. This package, produced by Commodore, was the first to come out for the 64 and also the first 1 had ever used. Because there was a hefty time lag before anything comparable appeared, 1 had plenty of time to form a near-sentimental prejudice in favour of Easy Script. The program was originally written for the 64 and although the early manual 1 have refers to a cartridge it is actually on protected disc. The manual itself is a very hefty and well printed affair. It starts from scratch with plenty of pauses in the instructions to check that you have understood the lessons so far. Printer options are comprehensive and the screen colour can be changed, which in this case is just as well since it starts as a pretty depressing grey -and- white combination. The printer-choice menu is straight- forward. One of the beauties of Easy Script is that, although it possesses enough powerful features to stand up well against most of its more recent competitors, it comes very close to being idiot proof. It is one of the few programs where, in my earliest attempts to use it, 1 was not able to crash any files. It may be possible to do so, but short of accidentally turning off the machine I have yet to find out how. The text is entered unformatted. The format instructions are fairly easy to learn, but as in so many of these packages they take up valuable text memory. The page can be viewed almost as it will be typed — with the exception of some special printer instructions where you have to guess the final appearance — with one simple output command and printed with another. Files can be saved to tape or disc and editing in format mode is a single-key operation. Disc directories can be viewed without danger to unsaved text, and files already stored can be appended to those currently in the machine with little problem except memory size. Text manipulation is catered lor well, and for report work there are facilities for both horizontal and vertical tab settings. Using the basic 40-column screen can be awkward for that function, but the screen does scroll horizontally in the video-output mode, which lets you see if you have worked out the tabs properly. Files can be linked for global printing when required with a simple format instruction. Search and replace can be used, although there is some scope for confusion here, and chunks of text can be shifted around the file. Headings and page numbers are also catered for. The mail- merging facility can cope with most needs and requires little practice to produce a standard letter suitably printed out with different addresses and salutations. Easy Script also has a matching spelling checker, Easy Spell. Although it lives up to its title for simplicity of use, it soon palls. To use it properly there are so many fiddly disc-switching operations that after a while you just stop bothering. It is not difficult, but it is irritating. Wordcraft 40 An established star adapted from the Pet Wordcraft 80, this is the package with almost everything — including the biggest price tag of the lot. It is an undeniably excellent program, but with so much high- powered competition around it is hard to justify its cost. Wordcraft 40 comes on cartridge, making it particularly attractive to those all. The manual is in a ring binder but the copy with my package was very badly printed, which detracted substantially from the quality of the contents. As with many of the manuals, it starts from the very beginning, assuming little or no knowledge of the medium. Its first step is to make sure that the equipment is properly connected before powering-up. An idiot-proofing measure within the program is a flashing screen and error message when you get a code wrong. Although it is possible to crash text while performing disc operation, the screen does warn you of the risk when it occurs. When entering text you toggle painlessly Horizontal scroll Auto- format Lines of text Numeric mode Search and Global print Price Supplier and phone number per file replace Easy Script Y * 764 Y Y £75 Commodore (0753) 7929 Paperclip Y it 829 Y Y Y £86 K o b ra M icro M a r ket I n g (049) 122512 Quick Brown Fox Y Y 800 Y Y £60 SPT Electronics (0621) 868484 Script 64 * + + Y Y Y £78.25 fmpex Designs 01-900 0999 Simply Write 699 Y Y E35-£4Q Simple Software (0273) 504879 Wordcraft 40 Y Y 341 Y Y £89.95 Audiogenic (0734) 586334 Wordpro 3-PlusMO 329 Y Y Y £80 Wego Computers (0833) 49235 Viza write Y / Y 875 Y Y £69 Viza Software (0634) 813780 ‘final format can be output on video t stores screen by screen up to 99 A4 pages 94 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 Word processing mb between typing and editing modes. The sc ree n i ay o u t is el ea r , with f o rm at instructions for page width and length in the status line away from the text itself. Text is formatted as you write. Operations such as centring are made unusually simple. One minor point which took some gelling used to was the command for a new line at the end of a paragraph. Most 64 programs use the Return key for this, but Wordcraft 40 makes use of one of the function keys instead. Full marks go to Audiogenic for some nice friendly touches in the manual, like the suggestion of taking a break after the first few sections. The computer equipment may not have been overheating but the user, suffering from a surfeit of word processors was quite near to it and appreciated the thought. Text manipulation is much the same as that on other full-function packages. The Insert mode is a little idiosyncratic, opening up patches of 61 characters apiece, which close after the text is typed in rather than simply letting you type in however much new text you need and then returning to normal. There are no complications over shifting blocks of text, repeating blocks, search and replace and other similar operations. Naturally at this price, there are full header and footer facilities. Disc and printer instructions are comprehensive and, in isolation, Wordcraft 40 would be very attractive. But with the likes of Paperclip around, it does not quite justify the price. Quick Brown Fox As a reasonably kindly soul, and one who was given a great deal of help and professional courtesy by SPT Electronics, I find myself in a real quandary over this package. There was one thing about the unit 1 received that 1 really liked; unfortunately, it wasn’t the word processor. My copy came complete with a large box of tricks which, when inserted into the cartridge port, gave me the one thing that l yearned for on my 64 — an 80-column screen. It will not work on an ordinary television, and definition on my colour monitor left something to be desired, but on a green monitor the effect was very impressive. The cartridge allowed the word processor to be switched out so that the 80 columns could be used in normal programming. So much for the good news. As far as the word processor itself is concerned, 1 can only report that I am baffled. It has most of the right features, but someone seems to have decided to make them as fiddly and difficult to use as possible. Even relatively simple editing involves switching in and out of modes which seem designed to irritate. It is not difficult to do, but annoying when you are trying to get a decent flow of words going. The manual, like the program itself, has all the right ingredients but the result is not a pretty sight . There may be places for its painfully jokey approach but a word- processor manual is not one of them. The actual instructions are reasonable enough, but the effort required to swallow the condescending tone renders them all but useless. I would use the 80-column board with pleasure, but only with the word processor permanently switched out. Vizawrite One of the earliest word processors produced for the 64, and very much in the “user friendly’’ category is also twinned with a spelling checker. It makes a rounded package well matched to the needs of heavy users such as myself. Vizawrite formats on screen, unlike most of the Commodore 64 word processors. Most people will probably use it with the 40-column page width for composition and a revised width for actual printing. The program scrolls across the screen auto- matically if you set for full page width, but S prefer to see large chunks of my text fully available to me as 1 write. Having only half the page visible makes me nervous. Perhaps it is a hang-up from more years than I care to think about of being a typewriter hack. Format instructions are clear and are further explained in the admirably laid-out manual. You are allowed a generous amount of text per file. The program disc is heavily protected with no facility for making a back-up copy. Although Viza Software will replace a corrupted disc an y problems with it will mean that further writing depends on the speed of the company's response. At least one facility on Vizawrite seems to be unique. The program actually admits the existence of other word processors and can merge its own files with sequential files from some of them — such as Commodore's own Easy Script. It is a nice touch and, for the likes of me who have many an Easy Script file, it is very practical. The display is averagely clean. Like most others, Vizawrite can change screen colours, which is a mildly attractive if hardly decisive facility. It caters without too much trouble for most likely printers. Disc access is straightforward, and disc operations such as reading the directory can be used in the middle of text operations without risk of losing the story so far. If 1 had not used Paperclip I probably wo u Id not h a ve n ot i ced the f ac t that calculations and sorting operations are not catered for in Vizawrite. Most other needs are, in straightforward vein, so that complex editing including matters such as switching chunks of text are easy to get the hang of. It took me some time to get used to the mailing operation, but once I got the hang of it there was no usage problem there at all. Although produced early in the life of the 64, Vizawrite holds up very well against most of its rivals. The spelling-checker option is a plus, particularly since it operates without undue fuss. Vizawrite is good value for money. Simply Write This is the cheapest package of the lot, but do not let that mislead you. It is startlingly good value for money. Simply Write comes on disc or tape with a relatively slender but workmanlike manual. Bearing in mind the prices its features are remarkable. It can get along with any printer, disc handling is straightforward and the maximum text per file is just about double that of the most expensive program in this survey. Almost all the text-manipulation requirements are there, including shifting blocks of text, page numbering, justification of text and centring. Better still, the commands are easy to memorise (continued on next page) PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 95 Word processing \ The 64K question (continued from previous page) and use. Simple Software has even given it a colour-change facility — one of many features showing up the opposition. It is not the best of the bunch, but a package at this level which offers linked files, mailing-list facilities with an alphabetical file sort, and the ability to view formatted text before printing has to be good value. For many home users, particularly if they want to use a word processor without the added expense of a disc drive, this is an ideal starter package. Script 64 This is an unusual package in several respects, most notably because it is the only one currently on the market to include an integral spelling checker, a development which others look very likely to follow. Script 64 comes on disc with a well printed ring-binder manual which covers most of what you are likely to want to know, including a wide range of text and print- control functions. The program is different from most of the others in that instead of performing the usual scrolling-up function when your text reaches the bottom of the screen window, it switches to the next screen. I found it less convenient than the conventional continuous scrolling text. Printer choice is liberal and disc commands are clear. The program makes the most of the text memory available by not cluttering it up with format commands. They are enclosed in special control maps which can cover either an entire file of up to 40 screens or each individual screen. A special structured-screen format exists to deal with technical documents or charts. There is a numeric mode, once again with calculations limited to addition and subtraction. Keys can be redefined and files linked globally. The star turn is definitely the spelling checker. You have to create your own dictionary disc, and building up a suitable vocabulary is a little tiresome, but that applies to any such program. If you need this facility — and most home users probably will not — Script 64 is the obvious choice. Impex designs is also now marketing another package, which I have not had the chance to test, called The Word. Again it is not for the majority of home users, but since it is based on Paperclip run on an 80-column board it sounds a good option for those likely to need a word processor for heavy use. A database is included and the package costs £195. The price puts it way out of the normal range, but if you can make use of the facilities it could turn out to be fair value. Wordpro 3-Plus/64 When the majority of word processors available for the Commodore 64 cost an average of around £60 then a package which costs £80 had better be something special. Wordpro is good, but for a program in *he luxury price bracket it has some surprising deficiencies. Most obvious of these shortcomings is the file capacity. One of the features of the 64 is the fact that it has 39K available to the user. With a maximum text area per file of 329 lines, Wordpro is well behind most of its rivals. The other problem is almost inexcusable in a package like this: a disc operation can crash the text in a file. It is something that most other packages have either prevented or at least provided insistent warnings about. The package includes a copy- protected disc and a comprehensive manual which manages to cater for the absolute beginner without being unduly patronising. However, the text is not formatted as typed, which is par for the course. And although there is no problem in getting it to print out a full page width, the screen will not scroll horizontally across 80 columns to show you exactly what the printer will produce. The printing output is straightforward but I met a hitch here that may be worth recording. Wordpro accepts different printers but it will only recognise a printer if it is attached to the computer by the serial bus. That left my Epson, using a Centronics ribbon connector, feeling distinctly unloved when 1 tried to output text. Assuming that your printer is connected acceptably, Wordpro has the facility, matched by Paperclip, to print up to 255 copies of any text without any further complications and separately from the mailing-list operation. There are no complaints about text manipulation, including erasure, switching, duplication, etc., or about the ease of disc operations — always remembering the real risk of losing text while reading a directory. The main program has 329 lines of text for files, but there is an Extra Text mode for frequently used material and mailings. The ability to key in often-used text is one area in which Wordpro beats Paperclip, since the more expensive package can extend this function to cover several lines against Paperclip’s maximum of one line. Wordpro will also let you key in an abbreviation which the program will change to the full word when you include it in the text. Wordpro matches Paperclip’s numeric functions, with the ability to set up columns and perform addition and subtraction with them. But it goes no further than Paperclip in this and, bearing in mind the vast price difference, looks on balance to be the less attractive of the two. Q 96 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 "ONE THING YOU'LL NEVER GROW OUT OF" When we tell you that the new Spectravideo SV-318 is incredibly expandable, we mean it If you think that goes without saying just glance through a few of our competitors’ ads. Time and again, you’ll read about ’a wide range of expansion modules now in the pipeline’, ‘coming next year’ ... ‘in the shops soon’. The SV-318 has a full supporting system of 14 peripherals, available now Which means that when you’re ready to take the next step, so are we. For software, too, the SV-318 is second to none: built-in CP/M compatibility gives you immediate access to over 3000 existing programs. And, using Microsoft BASIC as its resident interpreter, it’s a home computer that gives you real scope for writing your own programs. Compact good looks and a host of intelligent design features (including a unique built-in Joystick/Cursor Control) may be no more than you’d expect from such a powerful and sophisticated machine. ’KQJP P T HPI///Tr77 But the price may well * 1 TTVtfiLJELJ . surprise you. At £199 (incl. VAT), the Spectravideo SV-318 is far better value for money than any of its ‘disposable’ competitors. PERSONAL COMPUTER • Memory - 32K RAM expandable to an incredible 256K, and 32K ROM expandable to 96K. • Expandibility - Full supporting system of 14 peripherals, including game adapter, 7-slot expander unit, floppy disk drive, data cassette, etc. • CP/M Compatibility- Immediate access to over 3000 existing software programs. • Graphics - 16 colours, and 256 x 192 high resolution graphics. • Sound - 3 sound channels, 8 octaves per channel. • 71 Key QWERTY Keyboard - special features include unique built-in Joystick/Cursor Control. Microsoft BASIC is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation CPIM is a trademark of Digital Research Inc r, For more information on the expandable SV-318, and the address of your nearest dealer, telephone or write to us at: Name Address : ‘“I .Tel. CKSupplies Unit 5, Norside, Oldmixon Crescent, Weston-super-Mare, Avon BS24 9AX. Telephone (0934) 418838/516246 PC _l • Circle No. 155 SOFTWARE FOR YOUR MICRO British Broadcasting Corporation ^BRITISH® I & p CORPORATION SS£M Basic These new software packs are designed to exploit to the full the sophisticated design and great versatility of the British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer. White Knight- Mark Eleven The amazing chess program that won joint first place in the P.C.W. Microcomputer Chess Championships. £11,50 Canyon The game is fascinating, the graphics are good, the instructions excellent, and the whole thing is a pleasure' “THE MICRO USER £10.00 Dr Who: The First Adventure Wriggling Worms and Terrordactyls are among the hazards facing Dr Who in this exciting graphics game. £ 10.00 VU Type An ingenious program that teaches you to touch- type without the need for a book, using exercises approved by Pitmans, £16.10 Record Keeper A very useful program enabling householders and small businessmen to keep track of their lists. £13.80 Taxealc This Which? income tax calculator enables you to check your tax bill for 1982-83, £1Z25 Toolbox This invaluable set of programming aids includes a REM stripper, cruncher, RAM test and program re -sequencer. £21.00 Beyond Basic A book and software pack explaining and demonstrating assembly language programming using the British Broadcasting Corporation Micro s built-in BASIC assembler. Book £725 Software Pack £11.50 Published joinlJy with National Extension College Trust Lid. The Friendly Computer Book An illustrated, step-by-step guide to computing and BASIC, by Jonathan Inglis. £4.50 The original software range from the British Broadcasting Corporation is still available: Early Learning. Fun Games. Games of Strategy, Home Finance. Painting, Drawing. Music. The Computer Programme Programs Vof, 1 The Computer Programme Programs Vol 2 Each £10.00 ON SALE NOW AT SELECTED BOOKSELLERS AND MICROCOMPUTER SHOPS Prices. Include VAT, 98 • Circle No. 156 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 Ill System Utilities The market leaders!... ATA’S philosophy is to ensure that our customers have quality computer hardware and software products at COMPETITIVE prices, together with technical assistance required to efficiently operate their computer system. Export specialists — ring or telex for details with recognised professional support Kaypro II Diagnostic package 69 00 CP/M configuration package 119.00 MS DOS prngrMvmw»r<'. toolkit 169 00 Sirius 1 hardwarereferencemanu.il 45 00 IEEE 488 package 169 00 Graphics toolkit 169 00 Asynchronous communications 169 00 remote batch 285.00 3270 emulator . 340.00 Fresh from the U.S.A.! The best value portable micro from KAYPRO . . including Software KAYPRO II 2 x 200K disc drives 1395.00 KAYPRO IV 2 x 400K disc drives £1695.00 KAYPRO X 1 x 400K disc drive and built in 1 0MB Winchester £2875.00 Other software including financial ledgers etc also available. Sirius Hardware Sirius 1 1 28K 1 2mb disk drives Sirius 1 256K 2.4Mb disk drives Sirius 1 256K 1.2mbdisk drive & 10Mb internal Winchester 128K RAM Boards , 256K RAM Boards ... . 384 RAM Boards 51 2K RAM Boards Z80 CPIM 80 System £ 1795 00 2395 00 3295 00 . 264.00 . 399 00 . 499 00 .. 575.00 I.C.E. Winchester Sub systems 5 Megabyte 1395.00 10 Megabyte 1599.00 20 Megabyte 2099.00 40 Megabyte 3399 00 Tape Streamer Will fit all drives as above £1660.00 and also Apple ProFile 5Mb (Please state which drive when ordering) Cartridges DC 300A (5Mb & 1 9Mb) 1 6 00 DC 600A (20Mb) 25.00 (Size after Formatting. One year's on site maintenance.) MULTIPLEXOR AVAILABLE FROM £950.00 t Colour Monitors Luxor high resolution 25Mhz linear & TTL 499 00 Kaga Denshi medium resolution TTL 325.00 Kaga Denshi low resolution . 265 00 We also stock the Hantarex RGB monitors, as recommended by Apple in Europe Hyperion Hyperion 256 x 2 MSDOC. Basic 2950 00 Printers & Plotters Epson Epson RX80 1 20 CPS 260.00 Epson FX80 1 60 CPS 350.00 Epson MX 1 00 1 00 CPS 420.00 Epson RX80FT 295.00 Epson FX100 160cps 525.00 Apple APPLE Dot Matrix 1 20 CPS 349.00 APPLE Letter Quality Printer 11 99 00 Ricoh Ricoh 1 300 Flowriter 1 1 55.00 Ricoh RP1 600 Flowriter 1499 00 Mannesmann Tally MT1 60L 449.00 Mannesman Tally MT180L 649.00 Plus full Range of Centronics Printers Available Plotters Hewlett Packard HP7470 999.00 Hewlett Packard HP7475(A3> TBA 1 399.00 Calcomp 8 PEN (A3) 2999.00 SSEZ80CP M 80 system 395 00 WE ALSO STOCK APPLE FTT51 AND HEWLETT PACKARD Sirius Software Languages CBasic 86 Level 2 Cobol with forms 2 Microsoft Basic compiler Microsoft Pascal compiler Microsoft Fortran compiler Word Processing WordStar SpellStar MarlMerge Word Mailer Databases dBase II Autocode DataStar Spreadsheet Multiplan CalcStar 179 00 595 00 269 00 335.00 335.00 269 00 120.00 120 00 .. 80.00 365 00 180 00 135.00 180 00 80.00 PRICES EXCLUSIVE OF VAT AND CURRENT AT TiMF Or PRINTING TERMS AND CONDITIONS For delivery please add £0 £199 • £5. £200-£l499 • £13. £1500 • 17 V CHEQUES WITH ORDERS Please allow 1 0 days for clearance PLC's. public sector etc 30 days credit available on official orders, subject to 5% credit charge ^ ATA - LONDON 4 Albion Hse, 1 Back Hill, London EC1 . 01 -833 0044 Telex 251 02 CHACOMG ATA - POTTERS BAR 197, Hi gh Street, Potters Bar, Herts EN6 5 (0707) 571 13 ATA - SHEFFIELD 72 Eldon Street. Sheffield. SI 4GT (0742) 700802 FRFFPOSTSHEFFIELDSt IAV • Circle No. 157 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 99 Enhancing dBase II If you judge a product by the number of add ons produced for it Ashton Tate’s database package must be a winner. Mike Lewis tries some of them out. ashton-tate’S DBase ii has been on the market for less than three years. Yet a veritable sub-industry has grown up around it. There are firms that will sell you dBase courses, dBase consultancy, books on dBase and, inevitably, a clutch of software products which claim to enhance and improve the original program. Some of these add-on programs will indeed make life easier for the dBase user. But most of them appear to do little that you cannot do for yourself with minimum effort. Perhaps the leader in the field is Fox & Geller, an American software house that has recently set up shop in central London. It has three dBase-oriented products: dUtil, which provides a rag-bag of functions for the dBase programmer; dGraph, a graphics program which I have come to like a lot; and its best known product, Quickcode, which is grandly claimed to be a program generator. Quickcode Quickcode does indeed generate pro- grams, but they are very limited in what they can do. What you end up with is a simple set of dBase command files that create and maintain a single database. It is adequate for a few simple applications, but the process lacks flexibility and fails to take advantage of the power of dBase II. To use Quickcode, you describe your application in terms of a data-entry form. A simple editor places field captions, instructions and boxes on the screen, exactly as you wish them to appear to the end-user. To specify an input field, you type a semicolon followed by the field name. There is the usual set of cursor-control and editing keys to help you design the form. In fact, Fox & Geller allows you to assign any keys you like to the various control and editing functions, a practice which more software publishers should follow. You can use these keys to juggle things around on the screen until you are happy with the way they look. To describe the input fields in more detail you enter Quickcode’s field mode. It presents you with a table setting out the characteristics of each field that you have put on the screen. Some of the entries in this table are filled in by default; others are initially blank. Using the same control keys, you go through the table filling in the entries, or altering existing ones. In this way you define the lengths of the fields, their types, validation criteria, and other characterist- ics. You can go back and forth between the data-entry screen and the field table as often as you like, altering things as necessary. You can also save the whole thing to disc for later recall. When you are satisfied with your screen and the fields, you tell Quickcode to generate the programs, which is completely automatic. It also produces an empty data- base, and a print file containing an image of the screen for documentation purposes. The generated programs form a menu- driven system for running from within dBase. You can use these programs to add records to the database, and to retrieve and amend existing records using the data-entry screen that you specified in Quickcode. There are also functions for printing reports and for setting up a data file for processing by WordStar and Mailmerge. The best thing about Quickcode is that it is indeed quick. It took me less than an hour to generate a sample order-processing system, and the actual program generation took under three minutes. The problem is that the generated programs can really only do one thing — maintain a single file. This might be fine for, say, a mailing list. But if that is all you neeed to do you may be better off with a simple filing system such as Micropro’s Datastar or Caxton’s Cardbox. Most serious programmers would find Quickcode too limiting for anything other than rough-and-ready applications. You have very little control over operator messages, and none at all over disc usage. I like to put plenty of Help screens in my programs, which you can easily do in dBase, but in Quickcode you would have to amend the generated code. Although it is easy enough to do, it rather defeats the object of a program generator. Friday An alternative front-end system to consider is Friday. It is produced by Ashton-Tate, the publisher of dBase itself. Strictly speaking, Friday is not a dBase ddd-on becaus it functions quite independ- ently of dBase. It is a very useful program in its own right, and provides a simple method of creating and maintaining dBase -type files. It gives you all the functions of Quickcode programs and a great deal more. Friday has many of the features of dBase, except that it is not a language. It is entirely menu-driven, and certainly easier for beginners to use. dUtil Fox & Geller’s second offering is dUtil, a collection of utility functions for dBase programmers. This program is straight- forward to use and reasonably fast, but it does very little that you cannot easily do by other means. The main feature of dUtil is its ability to merge subsidiary command files, which are like subroutines in other languages, into higher-level programs. The theory is that this saves running time because it cuts down the disc accessing needed to call in . the lower-level code. I found that this works well up to a point, although the time savings are quite small. The theory falls down when the main program has to call one of several different 100 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 Software review subroutines, according to some conditions* To illustrate, consider the following coding: DO CASE CASE CODE = <L A" DO GETSALES CASE CODE = “B" PGGETCOSTS etc, etc. ENDCASE If you put this through dUtil you would find that all the subsidiary routines had to be loaded with the main program, and each would need to be scanned by dBase, Without dUtil only the routine that was actually used would be loaded. So dUtil would slow the program down in this case, rather than speed it up. A better solution would be to use a macro call* You would rename the subroutines as, say, Geta, Getb, etc*, then replace the entire Case statement by a simple Do Get&code, Unfortunately, dUtil cannot handle this construction. Another problem with dUtil is that it could greatly increase the amount of disc space needed by the programs. It can also cause difficulties with Return statements in subroutines. When these are brought up to the high level, they will cause a branch to the wrong place* At least, the accom- panying manual warns you of this problem and gives advice about dealing with it. Other dUtil functions include: expanding keywords and converting them to capitals, putting indents into a program to emphasise its structure, adding comments to Endifs and Enddos, and outputting a tree diagram for a set of linked command files. 1 suppose some dBase users would find these moderately useful, but I doubt if many would consider it worth paying £69 for them. dGraph By contrast Fox ^Geller’s third product, dGraph, although not cheap, is worth every penny of its £200 purchase price. My initial reaction to this graph-drawing utility was that it would be too limited for most users. But dGraph has hidden depths, and once I started using it I began to realise its power. On the surface, dGraph is a simple program that will draw four different types of diagram: bar charts or histograms: Hne charts, such as a time series; pie charts; and a sort of rectangular pie chart called, a piebar figure. The main limitation is that the diagrams are fixed in size at roughly half an A4 sheet. To use dGraph at its simplest level you type in an array of figures — up to four columns and 52 rows — then tell the program to start drawing. dGraph will use default settings to produce a take-it-or- leave-it diagram, but the fun begins when you start specifying your own settings* You can choose the type of shading, the symbols to use as markers, reverse — white on black — printing, and various headings, titles and legends. You can zoom on to a small pan of the graph; you can merge text with graphics; and you can plot averages and cumulative values on the same axes as the basic data. So what has all this to do with dBase? If you tell dGraph to get its data from a dBase file it will access the file structure and let you use the fields and records to define the graph. You can perform arithmetic on the fields, select records, and much more* It is very powerful, but also very easy to use. My only complaint is that the manual makes the process look more complicated than it is* But dGraph is in no way tied to dBase and you can use it as a stand-alone program* It incorporates a rather crude text editor for keyboard entry of data, or you can pass data to it in the form of a file* It makes it easy to link it to prgrams in other languages. From the system developer’s point of view, dGraph has some useful features* You can separate the process of defining the graph from the actual drawing, so the end-user can call up a predefined graph simply by typing a CP/M command line such as DGRAPH SALES CHART You can use the dBase Quit command to (continued on next page} What is dBase ii? — ■ — — The cover of the dBase II manual bears the title Assembly-Language Relational Database Management System . Don’t let this put you off — nothing could be further from the truth. dBase has nothing to do with assembly language. True, the program was itself written in assembler. But then, so was WordStar, CP/M and most Basic interpreters. So what? You certainly will not need to know assembler to use dBase. Then there is the bit about relational databases. If you def ine a database as a method of storing data independently from the programs that use it, then dBase more or less fits the bill* But there is a lot more to relational databases than this — see "What exactly is a database?", Practical Computing , May 1983. dBase is a long way from being a true database package but then so are most of the products that rely on this overworked description* In fact, dBase II — the II Is part of the name but is usually omitted; there was never a dBase I — is a high-level programming language that is especially useful for applications involving filing, searching, Indexing and retrieval. To give you an idea of Its power consider the following dBase program: USE ACCOUNTS REPLACE ALL YEAR:TOT WITH YEAR:TQT + MNTH:TOT, MNTH:TOT WITH 0 FOR TYPE >2 AND. ACTIVE ^ “YES" Yes, this really is a complete program. It opens a file, reads each record in turn, tests for certain conditions, updates two of the fields in the record, rewrites the updated record, tests for end of file, closes the file, and returns control to the calling program. Not bad for two program lines. dBase programs tend to be so short that many users manage without them altogether* They simply type the commands as and when they need them. But like all languages, dBase has its weaknesses. In particular, it is completely useless for any type of table handling or subscripting. Its string manipulation is minimal, and it has no floating-point arithmetic. It is in file handling that dBase really shines* It has high-level commands for indexing, searching, sorting and joining — comparing two files and extracting a common subset. And the programmer never has to worry about the structure of a file, ail references being by field name* Add to this the dBase commands for screen handling and report writing, and you begin to realise why this is such a popular tool. Few users would claim that it is ideal* It still has bugs and it can be infuriatingly slow. There are also many look-alike packages on the market, some of them quite good. But as a method of producing ready-to-use systems as quickly as possible, dBase II is hard to beat. PRACTICAL COMPUTING December W83 101 (continued from previous page ) link dGraph with a dBase menu, allowing the user to select a graphics option without being aware that a separate program is in use. One snag with dGraph is that you need a printer with bit-mapped graphics. The program supports a range of popular matrix printers, but there is also an option for writing a bit image of the graph to disc. A competent programmer could easily write a program for printing this file to any suitable hardware, including a bit-mapped screen or, at a pinch, a plotter. dBPIus While dGraph will find a ready market among non-dBase users, Humansoft ’& dBPIus package is firmly aimed at the dBase fraternity. It has three functions, each of which neatly exploits a weakness in dBase itself. Firstly, there is a program for sorting dBase files, Humansoft claims this to be up to 15 times faster than the Sort command within dBase. 1 did not carry out any exact timings, but sorting in dBase is so slow that 1 can readily believe It. The strength of the dBPIus version is that you can sort on as many fields as you like in a single pass. In dBase you can only sort on one field at a time. Even so, this feature is nothing to gel excited about. 1 suspect that most dBase uses avoid sorting at all costs, preferring indexes instead. This is not only faster than sorting, it is much more flexible. In dBase, you can combine fields, sub-fields and constants in almost any way to produce indexes. And you can arrange for an index to be updated automatically as records are added and deleted. The second dBPIus function is used to compress a dBase file, with the aim of saving disc space for back-up and archive copies. It takes advantage of the fact that dBase uses a full byte to record each character, digit, flag, sign and decimal point in its files, DBPIus uses a much more efficient method. 1 did not achieve the savings of 70 percent that Humansoft claims, but I can imagine that such savings are possible in the most favourable circum- stances. The snag is that you can only use the packed version ofthe filefor archives and security. dBase cannot itself access this copy, and you have to reverse the process in order to process the file an any way. Fortunately, it takes no longer than normal file copying. The third dBPIus function is called Transform. U is a menu-driven version of dBase’s Modify Structure command. It does not appear to do anything that you cannot do in the dBase verson, but it is certainly simpler to use. Runtime Finally, Ashton-Tate has a product that will be warmly welcomed by software houses who wish to sell dBase packages off the shelf. Up to now, such firms have had Books about dBase When you buy dBase II, you get a 188-page A4 typeset manual. It is reasonably well written, carefully organised, and full of examples. True, the typography is a little peculiar — the most recent edition has funny little diamonds Instead of quote marks. But most people manage to understand much of the text, which, by the standards of our industry, can only be described as excellent. Still, there are a lot of writers about who think that they can do better. No doubt some of them can, so you can expect to see books about dBase appearing in your local bookshop or computer retailer from now on. One such writer is Adam Green. Mr Green is the head of an American firm called Softwarebanc, a consultancy that specialises in dBase applications. He is the author of dBase // User's Guide, published by Prentice-Hall at £24.65. Of this book’s 150-odd pages, some 45 are devoted to a sample set of programs all clearly explained and nicely commented. They show Mr Green to be a system designer and programmer of the old school — one who plans his application carefully before putting his fingers on the keyboard. If you are new to programming you would do well to study these samples. The programs are for keeping track of donations to a college, but they will serve as a model for many other applications. They also neatly illustrate many dBase techniques. Alas, Mr Green’s undoubted skill as a programmer does not spill over into his writing; the book itself is not well written. I suspect that someone who finds dBase hard to understand will be even more confused after reading this volume. An experienced dBase user will learn nothing from it either. But the worst thing about this book is the appalling typography. It has been printed on a daisywheel typewriter, with absolutely no thought to its appearance. The page layout is sloppy to say the least, and typing errors abound. Using word processors to create camera- ready copy In this way is becoming quite common, and there is no excuse for not making a good job of it. Take a look at some of Digital Research’s recent manuals to see how well it can be done. The surprising thing is that a firm with the prestige of Prentice-Hafi should agree to let the book out in this condition. And to charge nearly £25 for it is nothing short of an insuit, A much better bet is Everyman’s Database Primer by Robert Byers, published by Ashton-Tate at £12. Although not a small book at 300 typeset pages, it is very easy to read. Mr Byers has a good writing style, and you will zip through it. Although he sets out to describe the theory of databases, the author uses dBase II for all his concrete examples and illustrations, which is not surprising when you consider who the publishers are. I would not be surprised If an intelligent newcomer to computers was able to learn to use dBase from this book alone. i would go further and say that this book provides a very useful Introduction to computers in general. It will fake the reader from the basic idea of organising data through to some fairly advanced programming concepts, and all at a very easy pace. J recommend it. 102 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 Software review two big problems. First there was the question of cost* To use a package a user had to buy dBase as well, and this greatly increased the cost of the application* Then there was the Fact that the developer had no way of protecting his source code* Ashton-Tate’s Runtime package over- comes both these problems* It consists of two programs: dBCode, which crunches a batch of command files in such a way that they cannot be read by a human; and dBRun, which executes the crunched programs. To the end-user, the application looks exactly the same as if it was being run under dBase proper. The difference is that the user no longer has access to the dBase command line* He can only run the programs that he has purchased* And because dBRun can be licensed at a much lower price than the full dBase package, off-the-shelf systems work out much cheaper to buy* dBase II is now firmly established as the leading database-management language, and there is likely to be a big increase in the number of ready-made packages in dBase* Another growth area will be in application packages that have no connection with database management, but that never- theless includes an interface with dBase files. AshtonTate's Financial Planner is a good example* It is a modelling language, with a Read command that can access dBase data. And I know of at least one payroll that permits the user to pick up details of bonuses and overtime from dBase. Conclusions • With dBase II gaining a dominant position in the database market, the growth of add-on programs, compatible languages and off-the-shelf applications has been inevitable. If a software product can be advertised as dBase-compatible, it has a head start* • Some of the add-on progams are useful and powerful systems in their own right* A good example is dGraph, which is likely to find a niche in the growing graphics market even among non-dBase users* • Others are less useful* A typical reaction to dUtii or dBPIus might be: “Great program* So what?” These products do precisely what they set out to do, but gg r-p n — — 1 1 T — — 1 1 F" — L ' “ r t “1 Jan F*b Mar Af *r Ma* Jun Jul Ayp Oct Nov Dec |~~1 S th* Nor is tl tU' Marketing Product STUDENT SCORES ON EXAM SCORES A ^.1 B 2 4.5 C 4S.1 3> 14. F 3*2 provide little or nothing that cannot be achieved with a text editor or with dBase itself* • If your database needs are extremely simple, a dBase program generator such as Quickcode might be worth looking at. But you would probably be better off with a single-file handler or with Friday, a sort of menu-driven version of dBase* • The dBase Runtime package will be good news for vendors of application pack- ages* It is likely to lead to more off-the- shelf products being written in dBase* Q dBase products Product: Quickcode Description: A dBase program generator. You define an application in terms of a data-entry screen. Quickcode generates a menu-driven set of dBase programs that use this screen format for adding data to a file and performing basic file maintenance. Publisher: Fox & Geller, 17 Wlgmore Street, London W1, Telephone: 01-580 5816 Price: £200 Product: Friday Description: A file-manipulation system aimed at first-time micro users* If has many of the features of dBase, and its file are dBase compatible* But it is completely independent of the dBase language and no programming knowledge is required. Publisher: AshtonTate, Cofferidge Close, Stony Stratford. Telephone: (0908) 568866 Price: £190 Product: dlltifc Description: Various utility functions for dBase programmers. Publisher Fox & Gelter Price: £69 Product: dGraph Description: A program for drawing histograms, true graphs, pie charts and piebar diagrams. It can be linked with dBase, used on its own, or interfaced with other programming languages* Price: £200 Product: dBPIus Description: Programs for sorting and compressing dBase files, and for altering fife structures. Publisher: Humansoft. There appears to be no official U.K. distibutor, but the package is usually obtainable through dealers. Price: About £100 Product: Runtime Description: A product which makes it possible for software publishers to market their dBase programs without having to sell dBase itself. Publisher: AshtonTate Price: Special licensing arrangements are available for software houses* etc. PRACTICAL COMPUTING 1983 103 Birthday surprise We present the winner — and the best of the rest — from our anniversary competition. continue to make cock-ups just like they do today? Obviously, In case anyone is interested, the consensus is that the micro of the future will look rather like a small briefcase. When you open it up, the keyboard will be on the bottom and a full-size Oat screen, inside the lid. Brian Williams calls it the knee/desk PC, which is shorter than the Premier Executive Portable Work Station. One of the many nice variations on this micro is the Deja Vu* on which A M Warburton reports. The most futuristic part of this new Commodore is that it contains graphics commands such as Arc, Dot, Draw and Colour. Notwithstanding the attractive drawings submitted the name is just too true for this type of micro. The Gavilan is expected to be with us * £ real soon now”, and that already wraps up the 1988 nearly 90 — and they showed a wide variety of approaches. Some people tackled the assignment seriously, with predictably dull results. Others paid less scrupulous attention to the actual year of their new micro’s launch, but explored areas in which micros might possibly develop. Yet others poked fun at the whole enterprise. The most po-faced of these described a new micro called Mabel . It was remarkable, not to say depressing, that a great many of the visionary new micros contained obvious flaws which were carefully pointed out in the reports. Does this mean the manufacturers are going to hardware in a brief-case sized box. It was good to see a sense of humour evident in many entries. J E Chesney took the logical step from today’s infatuation with mouse operation and christened his micro The Cheese — well, its official title is the eQual. The point about this micro is that it has graph-driven software. Everyone is familiar with the boring system whereby production increases and you plot the resulting graph. Far better to move the graph up and watch production increase. The eQual also has a personal software package that generates horoscopes, and if micros really are to become part of FOR PRACTICAL COMPUTING’S fifth birthday this year we set a competition, with Commodore (U.K.) kindly donating £500-worth of prizes of the winner’s choice. Having looked back at the developments in computing over the previous five years we asked what the computer of 1988 will be like? More specifically, we invited you to submit a short report of the sort we often publish as a preview — a brief review of a machine that is new and that we have not had the chance to subject to the extensive hands-on testing required by a proper review. There were more entries than expected — The Thought Processor Trevor Hatchett previews a flexible and elegant blend of hardware power and programming sophistication. What marks this new computer apart from all of its competitors is its abifity to communicate with mere humans with the same high efficiency with which It communicates with other computers and peripheral devices. For the novelty of the Thought Processor, as it is called, lies not merely in its massive memory, but rather in the uncannily intelligent manner in which it is used. It has a vast chunk of RAM — inaccessible to the user — that is entirely for its own benefit, ^and which is completely under its own control. It uses this memory to store what it experiences and. has a separate processor to constantly refer to and modify this increasing bank of data. As a result, after a few hours of use, you begin to feel that it is almost able to read your mind. And maybe that isn’t far from the truth. For it certainly is a very intelligent machine. However, let us first take a quick look at the appearance of the system. The rather bland, timeless appearance belies the thought and cleverness that has been put into the system. What your own system looks like depends very much upon you, for the Thought Processor comprises a set of interconnecting modular units, each of which has a specific function. You simply plug together the combination of parts that you need. They clip together solidly, and come apart readily, if need be, in a most satisfying manner. The range of peripherals is comprehensive and well integrated. There are units to enable it to talk to most other types of computer, receive all kinds of broadcast and transmitted communications, and scan text and graphics. But the huge memory and the extensive use of powerful intelligent software make it most impressive when communicating with human beings, it accepts input via the keyboards — typewriter, musical or graphic — or through the marvel ious touch-sensitive high- resolution flat colour screen, or using the optical- character readers, or voice-recognition, or simply by the executive mouse. ! found this almost too much to take, particularly while verbally word processing, as I was mildly rebuked for my grammatical inaccuracies by my own disembodied voice. I eventually opted for one of the more relaxing default voices. I did have some fun creating a duet with my computerised seif using the music keyboard as well. It will also learn to read what you write, eventual fy. You have to be neat and clear, and it takes some time to absorb your style of writing, but once it has mastered your idiosyncracies, it doesn’t make as many mistakes as you might expect. Using this feature is a chastening experience — I had almost forgotten what it was like to write more than a few sentences in ionghand. However, it does read printed matter far more readily, picking up new typefaces in a matter of seconds rather than minutes. It retains the facility, should you wish, to 104 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 Competition report everyday life that has to be a logical development. If the software also generated page 3 girls then the eQual could replace the Sun. One last question: why is it called the eQual? Because no one would buy it if it was called the Superior* James Bryant and Dave Kress of Analog Devices submitted a report on the Commodore Playmate complete with flat screen colour display and Smalltalk: all eminently sensible. However, they also suggest the machine will have a BT- approved modem. This is just too futuristic for 1988. Sorry, we have to draw the line somewhere* But given that in 1988 everything electronic will be interconnected with everything else, R J Collins has a fascinating way of increasing programming power. His Googol-flop machine is based on the knowledge that with millions of micros around, CPU time far exceeds user time — just the reverse of the mainframe days. Thus the CPU only needs the facility to lock into any number of other inactive units inside a predetermined neigh- bourhood to increase its power by parallel processing. If a program took an hour to run, the CPU would simply borrow 500 free units round the country and finish the job in a few seconds. Mr Collins notes: “The rather novel design philosophy has some interesting applications — as sales increase, so does the power of any given system. This means that if you buy the first system now, by 1997 it will be 10,000 times more powerful.” Another novel approach to hardware was taken by Malcolm Phillips, S Hayward and others. Considering what Honeywell has already achieved with its integrated helmet and display sighting system, IHADSS, for military pilots, couldn't the computer of the future use similar technology? In other words, the micro could be worn like a helmet. Mr Hayward's Capo 1 computer solves the problem of kids sitting passively in front of the computer all day. They can wear it out instead, Malcolm Phillips suggests a more distributed type of machine. The hardware sits over the shoulders like a Bone Phone stereo. The RAM is knitted into your jumper, while the screen image is created inside the lenses of a pair of spectacles. However, it must not go unrecorded that, according to Alan Burns, 1988 is the year when Russia enters the £100 micro market, “The whole outfit is in a very solid leatherette-covered steel case .... The first impression is that one is looking at a very old-fashioned typewriter, owned by a mad wire-maker / * Sounds as though Mr Burns owns an early-model Russian camera. Nevertheless, the Apparatchik works well and will give years of service. In general, most of the hardware developments for 1988 look logical; 256K or 1Mbyte RAM chips as standard, built-in hard micro floppies offering megabytes of storage, built-in printers and large fiat display screens. All this technology is on the horizon; it just needs to be made smaller and a lot cheaper to become the stuff of everyday life. But it is software that offers the more exciting developments. Current projects such as integrated operating systems, megabytes of Lisa-like software offering user-friendly operation, plus the millions of pounds/dollars/yen being thrown at the twin problems of expert systems and artificial intelligence must surely produce some dramatic improvements in these areas. While Smalltalk is a very popular programming language in 1988, other new languages have been invented. RCade, mentioned by A W Cowley, is obviously a must for games writers. R A Humphries notes that other popular languages are Fifth and Limp, along with the software packages Mega Cardbox and The Very Last One* His micro, incidentally, is the Multimate from the Sinclair subsidiary ICL — hence called Sinicle — and Mr Humphries notes that its main rivals in the market are the Oak Meson and the ITV Coronation* He may jest, but truth is often stranger than fiction. Forth would have been called Fourth if six- letter file names had been allowed, so Fifth (continued on next page) Mabel Personal computing takes a quantum leap with this revolutionary system, previewed by Roger Peacock. Five years ago, the Apple Lisa system made a genuine attempt to open another route with its emphasis on interaction with the machine on a more practical and “real” level. Its approach did not divert other makers f rom their quest for miniaturisation, but it did prompt two young designers from Cambridge — home of de Bono's lateral thinking — to start work on Mabel* They firstly renounced virtually every single design reproduce on the silent highTesolution colour printer a more than reasonable facsimile of the acquired type style, with all the usual graphic manipulations available from the software resident within the printer* But where 1 suspect the designers have scored an enormous direct hit with consumers is having created a machine that has the ability to run software, not only from all of the various forerunners from its own manufacturer, but also from almost any of the recently popular micros. This ability has already earned it the nickname The Sponge, but it does mean that you can use nearly all the software that is currently available. There is obviously no need for you to completely get rid of your own old system. Just transfer what you want into the Thought Processor and you can retain the benefit of all the time and hard work you already put in. No programs are lost, there is no data to re-enter: the Thought Processor takes it all in its stride* It is a remarkable machine to work with. If you are writing, composing, drawing or programming, it imperceptibly anticipates, corrects and guides you in a most constructive way, because over time, it detects and remembers the way that you tend to think* Consequently you can work very quickly and accurately. To prevent you getting into too much of a rut, the designers have also provided a kind of random free- association mode that can help you brainstorm your way out of trouble or predictability. In all it is a machine 1 should want to work with for the foreseeable future, even at the current rate of progress. But who knows what might be dreamed up next? Even five years ago, something tike the Thought Processor would have been thought impossible. parameter passed down intact from the earliest Pets and Tandys, and started from scratch to build a truly “user- friendly” system. At its official press launch on Friday, I saw journalists visibly trembling with excitement at the greatest breakthrough in personal computing since the chip itself* The first striking thing about Mabel is its physical appearance — a large, slate-grey metallic cabinet standing about three feet high on the floor and covering a rectangular area of six feet by three feet* No screen, keyboards or disc slots were in evidence, and the only clue to the use of this monolith was the tunnel area in the centre of one long side where the user places his or her legs comfortably to operate the equipment. The demonstration began, and eyes began to widen as the really radical nature of Mabel's approach became apparent* The flat top surface of the console turned out (continued on next page) ✓ PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 105 mCompetition report where aficionados speak machine language and think in hexadecimal. Only five years ago, remember, these mysteries were already redundant knowledge, mastered for no other reason than the glow of achievement, plus a remote chance of making some money,” Mr Hague also notes that “with the Mime key down, Select Commodore 64 pressed, the screen powered up with the near- forgotten border and 64 K RAM SYSTEM 38911 BASIC BYTES FREE, followed by a refusal to accept programs from an old disc I still had around.” Ah, those were the days. With so many fascinating — and diverse — entries it was difficult to choose a winner. In the end the Editor awarded the prize to Trevor Hatchett of Stockport, Cheshire, for picking up the key points on the computer horizon. He gives us at least a glimpse of what could be in the future, while his ideas are solidly based in developments taking place today. Small consolation prizes have been sent to K B Cusson of Epson, Surrey for the Boxatrix, and Roger Peacock of Thetford, Norfolk for making us laugh with his account of Mabel. We must do this again some time. Probably in 1988. Q (continued from previous page) is logical. There is already a language called Extended WSFN — “which stands for nothing”. But who, in 1988, is going to sit around writing programs? D .1 Hague has a good idea: the people who do it now. Hence the most important feature of his Cerebus 32 micro, from the CBM/Sinclair consortium, is the Mimic mode, in which it will imitate most of the computers of the early 1980s. Mr Hague points out that this satisfies the growing market in pioneer hardware: . . with many clubs devoted to the specialised aspects of microcomputing, (continued from previous page) to be the central operational area, to handle in a flexible manner most of the input and output, centred on a movable 12 in. by 8 in. plain white work area. Input involves a revolutionary cordless light-pen type implement designated the Program Entry Module. When the user places the Module against the white work area, it physically deposits layers of graphite which echo the input exactly. There are no fixed pixel positions so the system is capable of virtually infinite resolution. Multicolour graphics are simply a case of changing modules. So much for graphic input, but how on earth have the designers coped with alphanumeric entry without resorting to more conventional hardware? The answer is refreshingly simple: the revolutionary principle of Direct Handwriting Recognition. While most microdesigners have been struggling for years with speech recognition, Mabel takes the alternative but totally effective route of allowing the user simply to write away on the white work area with the module. Every stroke, cross and dot is faithfully reproduced in the dark graphite with no hardware barrier between the user and the text. Before the dumbstruck audience had time to draw breath, the demonstration proceeded from data entry to data storage. Surely this totally unconventional computer would have to fall back on more traditional facilities for the permanent retention of data? Not a bit of it. The designers ran quickly over the well known shortcomings of magnetic storage: vulnerability — degradation, rough handling, etc. — and explained that one of the chief micro aversions still restricting computer acceptance was that an inability to see magnetic information leads to an inability to believe in its complete integrity. The answer for Mabel is probably the simplest yet most devastating of all - visible storage. The journalists held their breath when this was demonstrated. The designers simply peeled off a 12in. by 8in. wafer from the white work area and held it aloft, showing the previously entered text and graphics still intact for all to see. Then in one deft movement a large cassette-like box slid from the console to the operator’s right and in went the visible storage wafer, intact, visible and entirely non-volatile. Head-crashes, disc errors and power cuts were not going to affect that data, and the most suspicious non-computer cynic would have total faith in data in his or her own handwriting. At this stage in the demonstration it had dawned upon everyone that Mabel is not merely another new computer but a complete overthrow of ever tenet of conventional wisdom as we have come to accept it. Questions such as “Will it run CP/M?" Suddenly became a complete irrelevance, and larger issues such as Mabel's repercussions on the information revolution began to come to mind. The designers have not been content to leave any area of the machine unchanged in their quest for friendlier operation. For example they have taken the Lisa screen calculator and given it real substance in the form of a remote numeric-pad-like mini-console which detaches from another storage cassette in the main console and on which a complete range of scientific and floating- point number crunching can readily be effected. A demonstration of a paperctip-type database was also given with another instance of total practicality, this time in the shape of a box-like container housing dozens of visible storage units, now on thicker wafers, which could be grouped using small metallic clips to give ready access to sorted files. Software for the new system was briefly touched upon, but it appears that virtually every item of alphanumeric text ever published in English will form Mabel’s software base and, by utilising the visible- storage principle, access to that base is immediate. The price of the actual system at around £100 brought gasps of sheer disbelief from the assembled gathering. Predictions and forecasting in the micro world of 1988 is normally an area best avoided, but from what I have seen of this revolutionary new system I will go out on a limb and state that Mabel will change our lives. It could well be that within the next five years every schoolchild in the country from infant to student will have his or her very own Mini-Mabel at which to sit and at which ail teaching will be conducted. It is also now a real possibility that every town and local authority will start central town database facilities using the new visible storage, whereby any citizen can go along with a ticket and borrow visible files for consumption at home sitting at Mabel, The Mabel recolution has only just begun! 106 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 The market Pleaders!... NEW’. cipp*® SSSoig.**! rm — Modulator, APP» ^ Apple Spo^BM m ONLY ||49 ATA’S philosophy is to ensure that our customers have quality computer hardware and software products at COMPETITIVE prices, together with technical assistance required to efficiently operate their computer system. 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Citoh, NEC & TEC Super PrintMastei III interface 100.00 available for all printers as above and also for the Apple Dot Matrix printer RS232 high speed serial interface 80 00 Z80 with manuals 149.00 Screenmaster 80 inc. soft switch 1 85 00 inverse video. 3 scroll speeds & altern. chr. sets Eurocolour card with modulator (II ♦ I 95 00 UHF Modulator with clean signal' 39.00 Robocom Bit Stik C.A.D. Graphics System Robocom Bit Stik.l 1 system 230 00 Robocom Bit Stik 1 000 upgrade software 1 90.00 Robocom Bit Stik 1 000 system package 4 1 5.00 DUttnr Awwtor fnr A A A3 nlntlfifS 90.00 Kaypro II £ FRESH FROM THE U S A ! The best value Portable Micro from Kaypro Including Software KAYPRO II 2 x 200K disc drives 1395.00 KAYPRO IV 2 x 400K disc drives 1695.00 KAYPRO X 1 x 400K disc drive and built in 10MB Winchester 2875 00 Other Software including financial ledgers etc also available Hyperion Hyperion 256 x 2 MSDOS. BASIC ... £2395.00 Printers & Plotters Epson Epson RX80 1 20 CPS . 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The recent world-wide increase in crooked or near-crooked misuse of new technology has been spectacular. Yet for some reason this activity does not seem to attract the stigma that is attached to other kinds of crime. In the past few months, the mass media have been quick to recognise and to capitalise upon the trend. The BBC TV serial The Consultant showed us a cunning bank-fraud scheme under investigation by a villainous anti- hero w r ho happened to be an expert computer-security consultant* Having identified the modus operandi he neatly exploited it for his own benefit* Hollywood gave the subject a fresh and highly topical twist in the massively successful movie War Games. The film charts the progress of a teenage hacker from accessing into the school computer in order to improve his grades to tapping into the top-secret U.S. military computer that continuously plays war games. When the precocious youth becomes directly engaged in a deadly game of gobal thermonuclear war the results make riveting watching. The Pentagon reckons that War Games could never happen in everyday life. Let us hope so. But the plot is not as distant from reality as one might think at first. Remarkable incidents of a comparable if less dramatic nature have already occurred. It is not so long since a 15-year-old Westminster schoolboy cracked the sec- urity system of a London computer time-sharing service. Last year a group of teenagers from Manhattan worked their way into the Pepsi-Cola computer network, and wreaked havoc with the giant company’s deliveries in Canada* The upsurge of computer fraud stems from the rapid increse in opportunities for abuse of new technology. The computer plays such an important part in modern life that it would be surprising if it were not sometimes the context or means of the crime. It is the sheer scale of the problem that is beginning to cause so much concern. A leading expert on computer security, Michael Comer, said in his book Corporate Fraud, which sets out many examples of computer crimes: “One good thing about computers is that they cannot steal, drive delivery truck* 01 climb ladders”. All the same, the reasons why computer fraud is big business are easily explained. The power and complexity of many computer functions make It possible to achieve massive gains from minute and virtually undiscoverable manipulations of programs. Colin Tapper, an eminent lawyer specialising in computer problems, has said: “The situation is one in which the opportunities are endless, the rewards unbounded, the techniques easy and the danger of detection minimal”* Computer fraud has been described by cynical American investigators as “equal- oppon unity employment”. The majority of computer frauds involve employees of the victim company, although some of the villains are business contacts or outsiders. Access to sensitive computer information can put a poorly paid employee in a position to take enough money to ruin his company. Even if the would-be computer crook does not have any business training he need not despair, he can enjoy a vocational course in computers as part of the rehabilitation programme in any one of a number of U.S. penal institutions. No doubt this policy will soon be duplicated in English prisons. There is absolutely no reason why computer fraud should be confined to major institutions or larger companies, nor is it. Small businesses with limited financial resources and consequently less elaborate security procedures are very much at risk, A small business computer may cost only a couple of thousand pounds or so and be capable of functioning in an ordinary office, run from the mains power circuit and operated by a clerk. A decade or so ago, a computer of comparable power might have cost hundreds of thousands of p ou n ds a n d i eq u i red s p cci al en v i ron m en ta I conditions and an expert staff to. run it. Not surprisingly, more and more firms are investing in hardware and programs to red uce ad m in i stration a nd s ta f f o v erh ca d s , to increase productivity and to improve access to critical business information. But there arc risks in the brave new world. The investment will be counter- Martin Edwards is a solicitor practising in Liverpool* productive if new systems create new openings for vandals and other criminals. In the search for improved efficiency, many computer systems eliminate the separation of functions that once acted as a major check on crime* Such statistics as exist are alarming. According to a recent report from the Guaranieee Society, a subsidiary of the insurance company General Accident, new technology is helping dishonest employees to steal more than £2 million a day from their companies. Some estimates put losses world-wide from computer abuses in excess of £1,500 million a year. Computer frauds come in a very wide variety of forms. In the United States, computer fraud has for a number of years been perceived as the dark side of technological progress. The Americans have developed a picturesque and rather idiosyncratic vocabulary of their own to describe the methods of computer vandals and criminals. The new jargon is loosely used at times, but by its sheer colour it conveys a striking image of the techniques that are now being employed* The kind of unauthorised access graphically depicted in War Games may be considered as a variant of the well established phenomenon of piggybacking. The expression was originally devised to cover one type of computer abuse in the world of commerce. When someone using a distant terminal accesses the central processor, a line of communication is established. If the line is not properly closed down or terminated the next user to come on line may find that he is accessing files which are not his own. The consequences of piggybacking can be highly embarrassing. In one case, two engineers based in Los Angeles accidentally used a password which was one digit different from the one allocated to them. The number happened to belong to the president of the computer bureau by whom they were employed. As a result, much to their surprise and gratification, they obtained direct access to highly confidential clients and financial data. The engineers went on to use the unlimited amount of computer time which the password made available to them in order to exploit the secret information. Potentially even more damaging, is the lod PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 PICTURE COURTESY OF UNITED ARTISTS CORPORATION Fraud use of so-called logic bombs to sabotage the system. On a number of ocassions disgruntled employees have programmed the company computer to perform a damaging function. The logic bomb may be triggered some time after the employee has left the company, perhaps introducing deliberate errors into the program or wiping dear valuable files. input data is particularly susceptible to the activities of the computer crook. The available studies show a preponderance of data diddling in the reporter cases. Although techniques vary with the circumstances of the case, the essence of data diddling is usually the creation of a false credit coupled with the concealment of a consequential debit, usually in an account where controls are not as tight as they should be. Sometimes the object of manipulation is to hold back cash receipts, or the target area may be purchases. An example of the latter was the case involving an accounts clerk employed by a U.K. catering service. In collaboration with an accomplice who owned a grocery business he sub mi ted a series of false account numbers and invoices for undelivered food to the company’s computer system. So successful were this pair that the sting continued for eight years, netting in excess of £50,000 before they were detected and convicted. A villain with a more original cast of mind happened to be a senior executive in a U.S. company which distributed telephone equipment. The company’s branches had dial-up facilities into the computer system at head office. The executive would place orders for the delivery of equipment to one of his company’s remote warehouses, using his own telephone terminal and masquerading as a branch of the company. This gave the appearance of an internal stock movement that did not involve rendering a bill to an outside customer. The ingenious thief would then pose as a company driver, pick up the goods in a disguised van and sell them off. Again, he was eventually detected, but after serving a brief prison sentence it is reported that he made use of his experiences by setting up a computer-security consultancy! Unauthorised alteration of computer programs is another widely recognised means of fraud. Program patches, known as M trap doors”, allow an unauthorised user to exploit weaknesses in the design, logic or electronic circuitry of a system to defeat its security procedures. Information can then be drained off without leaving any trace of what has happened. When using an operating system with manufacturer- supplied software it is often impossible to guarantee that it contains no trap doors. Among the other possibilities are superzapping, using a specially written program to bypass security controls so as to amend or reveal information contained within the system. In the Trojan Horse type of fraud parallel instructions are added, so that the computer carries out unauthorised functions while the program continues to perform in the expected manner. Round-dow r n frauds illustrate the way in which unauthorised patches can operate to the benefit of a thief, by diverting odd amounts such as fractions of a penny or a cent into an account in which he has an interest. In one case, a computer programmer at a bank in Hamburg, West Germany, embezzled almost 500,000 Deutschmarks from a large number of accounts. The unauthorised patch inserted into a transaction the query; “Is there an odd amount in the entry?” If the answer was No, the entry was processed correctly. If the answer was Yes, the odd amount would be deducted from the entry. The round balance was posted in the normal way to the proper account, while the odd amounts were transferred to the thief’s account. I The Americans have nicknamed this highly effective slicing procedure as “salami” fraud. The individual sums deducted are so trivial that it is unlikely that their absence will be noticed. If the worst happens — from the criminal’s point of view — and he is caught, the bank may in any event be reluctant to prosecute because of the adverse publicity which the case might attract. Another potentially lucrative category of fraud involves the alteration of master- file data. The problem here Is summarised by Michael Comer; “While many computer frauds are restricted to people within the computer centre, manipulation of master files is possible by many people within an organisation ... To ensure that business practices stay flexible, master files have to be easy to amend. But this ease of amendment also means ease of fraudulent manipulation, either on data input forms or through program alternations.” A further attraction is that master- file information tends not to be subject to control to the same extent as transaction data. Thus it may be possible either to create a fictitious master File or to manipulate data on general files, for example by removing an overdraft limit or credit limit from the master file of a favoured customer. An analyst employed by a British chemical company noticed that one of his employer’s subsidiaries was not being allowed the standard discount for intra- group purchases to which it was entitled, but was being charged the full amount. In collusion with a buyer, he created a company of his own, which he set up in his employer’s accounting system as a subsidiary. Supplies to the real subsidiary were made through the crooked subsidiary, which retained the discount. The thieves are reported to have made a profit of almost £200,000 in two years. Clearly, one of the major problems is detecting when computer fraud has actually occurred. The case studies show that all too often a crime is only discovered by chance. The means used to perpetrate the crime may remain a mystery. Some businesses may be reluctant to report computer crimes because to do so may damage their credibility. United States law demands that computer crimes be reported, but this is not the case in Britain. Nevertheless, it is no longer possible to hope that the problem will just go away. Businesses are arming themselves with a whole range of defences against computer fraud. They include more efficient personnel security procedures; improved controls on access to the system, whether direct or by remote terminal; eliminating weaknesses in system design; and spot check and routine security review procedures. The piggy backers, data diddlers and superzappers of this world are no latter-day Robin Hood. Their activities are selfish and destroy confidence in computers and commerce. Businesses suffer as a result and jobs are lost. Computer fraud is an evil of our time. Q PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 109 BBC shapes up With John Leach’s pair of Basic utilities you compose complex graphic objects on the screen, and move them at will within your own games programs. a whole class of commands are available in BBC Basic to control output to the screen. They are prefixed by the characters “VDU” and replaced the screen Pokes used on other computers. It is still possible to Poke to the BBC secreen using the ? command. But to do so you need to know the correct memory loca- tion and there is no guarantee that code of this type can be transferred unchanged to later upgrades of the system. The VDU23 command can be used to establish user-defined characters, either within a program or as a direct command. It does not write directly to the screen memory, but to an area reserved for user- defined characters. Any characters defined in this way remain in memory until the computer is switched off. They will survive a Break interrupt, and even the loading and running of a new program. The VDU23 command is followed by eight bytes representing the eight rows of an eight-by-eight pixel which makes up the character. The first byte is the top row. Each of the byte’s eight bits corresponds to a specific pixel. A I turns on a pixel; 0 leaves a blank. The most significant bit represents the left-most dot. The VDU23 command accepts bytes as decimal or hexadecimal numbers. Thus 32 or &20 have the same effect, as they represent the same number in decimal and hexadecimal notation. This is all very well, but it requires some mental agility to convert a spacecraft or even a simple triangle into the necessary set of decimal or hexadecimal numbers. The program l have written will do it all for you from a character you draw on the screen using the cursor controls. Some interesting, undocumented features were used in the program, A few were discovered by examining the listings on the BBC's own demonstration tape, and others were picked up from scattered user group publications. The * FX 4, I command allows the cur- sor keys to act as input keys without mov- ing the cursor directly. As well as the cursor arrow keys, the Copy and Delete keys are used in the same way. The codes transmit- ted by pressing these keys can be used within a program. An undocumented equivalent of the Peek command is used here to read memory for previously defined characters. The syntax on the BBC machine is: I = ? MEMORY LOCATION equivalent to Peek, and 7MEMORY LOCATION = 1 equivalent to Poke. In BBC Basic there lurks a trap for the unwary in the use of procedures. It is possi- ble to enter a program and start running it and find that all is well for a while, until suddenly the dreaded No Room message appears and the program bombs out. This happens because a Procedure call creates a temporary demand for extra memory, and the more nesting of calls there is, the worse the situation becomes. It can be quite puzz- ling when, after exiting the program, you Print Himem and Lomem and find that you have 200 to 300 bytes free. So when you enter the listed program be careful how you type it in. The initial ver- sion worked well until a deliberate error was entered. A call to ProcErr resulted, and this led to the display of the No Room message. Removing three spaces from the listing allowed sufficient space for the ProcErr call to be handled. The program is teetering on the edge of allowable memory, at least for the Model A, which is why there are no Rems, so do not put in extra spaces to make it look tidy. The program is documented in figure 1 , Save the program on tape, and then run it. It is useful to define *KEY0 “RUNiM” You will see an eight-by-eight square of yellow lines on a black background at the bottom of the screen. The screen background is white. You are asked to enter the defined character's number, which must be bet wen 224 and 255. When you press Return, the square fills up with the character previously defined by that number. It is displayed as red squares between the yellow grid lines. If you are running the program on a black- and-white television, the red squares do not show up well, so change the program to Listing 1. Character generator. 880REM *** Character Definition *** 890 900 DIM CHBYTE ( 7 ) 9 10MODE5 : : VDU28 ,0,11,39,0: COLOUR I : COLOUR 131: CLS:VDU24, 192,0, 128, 0, 192,2 >128,2: CLEARLINE $=STRING $ ( 2 0 , " "■) 920VDU4 : VDU3Q : FOR I%=0 TO 7: PRINT TAB( 0>I%) ; CLEARLINES : NEXT 1%: PROCPANEL 9 30 INPUT TAB( 0,3) "Enter number >"NCHAR 940IF NCHAR=0 THEN MQDE6:G0T0 1060 950 IF NCHAR<224 OR NCHAR > 255 THEN P R0CERR; G0T092Q 960 FOR VT%=1T0 8: J%=1 :K£=?(&0C00+(NCH AR-224)*8+8-VT%) : FOR HT%-8 TO l STEP-1: I F(J%ANDK%)>0 THEN PRGCBL0B { 1 , HT£ , V1 % ) 97QJ%=J%*2:NEXT HT% : NEXT VT% 980 PROCMOVE: PRINT TAB (0*3 ) CLEARL INE $ ; TAB (0,5); CLEARL INE $ 990 @%»1 : F0RI%=0T07 : CHBYTE (I%)-0:K%= 12 8:FORJ%=OTQ7 : P%=P0INT(224+J£*64 , 160+I%*6 4) : IFP%=1THEN CHBYTE (I%)=CHBYTE(I%)+K% 1000 K%-K%/2 :NEXT J%: PRINT TAB (12, 27-2* 1010 IF CHBYTE (1%) <16 THEN PRINT "0"; 1020 PRINT “'CHBYTE ( 1%) : NEXTI% : 1030 VDU23 , NCHAR > CHBYTE ( 7 ) , CHBYTE ( 6 ) > CH ' B YTE ( 5 ) , CHBYTE ( 4 ) , CHBYTE ( 3 ) , CHBYTE ( 2 ) , CH BYTE ( 1 ) , CHBYTE ( 0 ) 1040 PRINT TAB (0,3 )NCHAR ; " - “;CHR$(NCH AR); ,T 0<K* M ; : INPUT Y$:IF Y$»"" THEN M ODE 6: GOTO 1060 1050 IF LEFT$£ Y$ , 1 )<>"Y" THEN PRINT TAB (0,5) ; ''Continue entry 0 : GOTO 980 ELSE GOT 0 920 1060 PRINT: PRINT: FOR I%=0 TO 7: FOR J%=>2 24 TO 248 STEP 8: PRINT 1%-hJE;" - " ;CHR$( " j : NEXT J% : PRINT : NEXT I%:END 1070 DEF PROCP ANEL : CLG : GCOL0 , 2 : MOVE 192 ,128: FOR 1=192 TO 704 STEP 64: MOVE 1,128 :DRAW I, 640: NEXT I: FOR 1=128 TO 640 STEP 64: MOVE X92,I;DRAW 704,I:NEXT I 1080 FOR I=L3 TO 27 STEP 2 : PRINTTAB(12 , I);* " : NEXT1 : ENDPROC 1090 DEF PROCERR: PRINT TAB{0 , 6) "Error ( 224 to 255)" :T=TIME: REPEAT UNTIL TIME=T+ 300: ENDPROC UOGDEF PROCMOVE .:REM MOVE CURSOR 110 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 Programming define GCol 0,2 or GCoI 0,3 instead of GCol 0,1. When switched on, the operating system defines alternate sets of eight full and eight empty squares. You are now in the editing mode, and the point to be edited is shown by a small red cursor square, if the point is black, or a black square if the point is red. You move the editing point around with the cursor arrow keys and enter a defined point by pressing Copy. If you try to move out of the square a Beep will wake you up. You can obliterate any point by pressing Delete, If you want to start over again press C, which dears the display, or F, which completely fills it with red. When you are satisfied, press Return. Pressing Return does two things. First, the hexadecimal representation of the pat- tern is listed to the right of the square display so that you can copy it down for use in VDU23 commands in your own pro- grams. Then the defined character is primed, and you are asked if it is OK. If you reply Yes you are asked for another number; if No you continue entry with the cursor controls. Before the character is Printed it must have already been entered into reserved memory. One further command is available when you are in editing mode. If you enter N a message appears asking for a new number. When this is entered the character is assign- ed to that number, rather than the number you started with — provided it is within the range 224 to 255, of course. This facility can be used to build up a series of similar pixels without entering each from scratch . It could be particularly useful for prod- ucing animated figures. A Return without a new number exits from the program, after listing the character set from 244 to 255, including those you have previously defined. If you want to make any further additions or changes, just run the program again. Listing 2. Multi-character blocks. 100 PRINT TAB(X,Y): REM Start the block off at some point 110 FOR I%=1 TO 10: REM Or whatever 120 VDU 9,32,10,8,32,11, Print 2 blanks at left N1,N2,N3,N4, Print top row of pixels 10,8,8,8,8, Move down and backspace 4 left N5,N6,N7,N8, Print bottom row of pixels 8,8,8,8,8,11 Cursor back to top left 130 X= INKEY (DELAY): REM Slow • down the movement 140 NEXT 1%: VDU 30: REM Home cursor At a later stage you can display the defined characters with PRINT CHR$(N) where N is the character number. Alter- natively you can simply put VDU N1,N2,N3 , . . where N1,N2 5 N3 ... is a series of defined characters. This is an economical way of displaying a block, and if you insert 8, 9, 10 or 11 in the series, to shift the cursor around you can display a complete block of defined characters in one command. The example in program 2 shows how a block of four horizontal by two vertical previously defined characters can be moved very quickly across the screen. The listing is set out with comments on several lines for clarity, but in your program write them as one long string of numbers or variables separated by commas. As it is all in one VDU command the action is very fast, and may have to be slowed down, by line ! 30, for example. It is equally simple to move blocks in any direction on the screen. Q Figure 1. Character generator lines. Line 910 — Sets numeric Print width with Defines graphics screen area with VDU24, and text area with VDU23. Line 920 — VDU4 separates text and graphics cursors. VDLJ30 homes the cursor to the top left of the screen. Line 960 — Discovers what the previous- ly defined character is by Peeking the screen with the ? command, ofsetting &0C0G, the beginning of the defined character area. Line 990 — Illustrates the use of the Point command within the editable square to set up the ChByte array. This technique avoids the need to nave a separate eight-by-eight array to hold the information. Line 1020 — Uses the - Print syntax for printing numbers in hexadecimal; not documented. Inserts an extra 0 to align display if number is less than & 10 . Line 1030 — Uses VDU23 to set the character from the ChByte array. Line 1060 — Prints out the complete set of defined characters. Line 1 120 — Uses * FX 4 r 1 to disable cursor arrow keys. Line 1160 - — Picks up numeric value of keyboard arrow key and branches accordingly. Line 1210 — *FX 15,0 flushes out the type-ahead keyboard buffer. Line 1250 — Uses the Copy key. Line 1260 — Uses the Delete key. Line 1280 — After detecting an F in editing mode, fills the square with red, then back to the default of black. Line 1340 — Tests the point of the editable square with the Point com- mand; returns the current colour. Line 1360 — Draws the small square cursor. Line 1380 — Fills the editing point with a red or black square. H1Q*FX 15,0 1120 *FX 4,1 1130 H=1 : V-l :PR0CSPQT(1 ,R,V) 1 I 40 A$=GET$ : C%=A5C ( A$ ) 1150 IF CK136 OR C%>139 GQTO1240 1160 ON C%-135 GOTO 1170,1180,1190,1200 L 170 IF H-1 GOTO 1210 ELSE PRQCSPQT(0>H, V) : H-H-l : GOTO 1230 1180IF R-S GOTO 1210 ELSE PROCSPOTC0 5 H, V } : H-H+l : GOTO 1. 2 3 0 L190IF V=l GOTO 1210 ELSE PROCSPOTCGjH, :GC0LO, 128: GOTO 1140 1290 IF A$= ,T tr THEN PRINT TAB(0, 5) ; CLEA RLINE $ ; TAB (0,5) i INPU T "New number >"NTES T: IF NTESK224 OR NTEST >255 THEN PROCE RR: GOTO 1140 ELSE NCHAR= NTEST : ENDPROC 1300 GOTO 1140 1310 *FX 4,0 1320 ENDPROC 1330 DEF PROCSPOT(C,H,V) 1340 H% : =(H-1)*64 : V%=( V-l )*64:P%-PQINT(2 24+H%,16Q+V%) : IFP£=1 AND 00 THEN C=l:GO V) : V-V^l: GOTO 1230 1200IF V-8 GOTO 1210 ELSE PROCSPOTtO/H, V) :V~V+1:G0T0123G 1210 *FX 15,0 1220 VDU7: GOTO 1140 1230 PR0GSPQT(1 ,H,V) : GOTO 1140 1240 IF C%^13 GOTO 1310 1250 IF C%=135 THEN PR0CBLGB( 1 V) :GOT 01140 1260 IF C£=127 THEN PROCBLOB ( 0 , R , V ) : PRO CSPOT ( 1 , H , V ) t GOTO 1140 1270 IF A$="C" THEN PROCPANEL:GQT0 1130 1280 IF A$="F" THEN GCOLO ,129: PROCPANEL TGI 360 1350 IF P%-1 AND O! THEN 00 1360 GCOL 0,C:MOVE 208+H%, I444-V%:DRAW24 0+H% , 1 44+V% : DRAW2 40+H% , 1 7 6+V% : DRAW 208+H& , 1 76+V% r DRAW2G8+H% , 1 44+V% : ENDPROC 1370 DEF PROCBLOB ( C% ,H, V ) : H%=(H-1 )*64 : V %=(V-1)*64 : GCOL G,C% 1380 MOVE 2 G0+H% , 1 3 2+V% : DRAW2 54+HZ ,132+ V% : DRAW2 54+H% , 188+V% : PL0T8 5 , 2QO+H% , 1 32+V % :DRAW200+H% , 188+VE : DRAW254+H% , 1 88+V% : PL 0T85*20Q+H%,132+V%: ENDPROC PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 111 3 You need to store greater quantities of data with faster access times so Winchester Disc Storage facility now required. If you started with a W6, move forward 4 places. Otherwise . . . 2 Each SUPERBRAIN comes with CP M operating system, BASIC programming language, twin Z-80 microprocessors and an RS-232 communica- tions port. 1 Choose your SUPER- BRAIN. Twin floppy hard disc (W6) or multi user(COMPUSTAR) models available. If you need a W6 or multi-user straight away, don’t worry - you can always upgrade later on. J. Either upgrade your SUPERBRAIN by replacing one floppy drive giving a Winchester plus floppy con- figuration . . . mm 6 Add on a 5 V-T Winchester in a separate box. Whichever way you doit, Icarus Winchesters give 5, 10 or 30 MB of disc- storage -enough to accommodate up to 200 separate items of information about each of 300 individual customers sales prospects or up to 60,000 stock control records. 7 Your company moves to another part of the country to take advantage of regional development grant. SUPERBRAIN servicing well ^ supported by Icarus nationwide J dealer network. A 1 j/\ Your financial V 1 1 1 director I M\S decides to use SUPERBRAIN for I “What if ...” budgetary I calculations. Icarus I supplies specialised I software. Enhance VJ performance of J SUPERBRAIN by addition of GRAPHICS BOARD and supporting software. You can now read and create 1 your own 1 IBM 8" format floppy I discs. 7 $ pr/ Data y interchange jy facility required so / external 8" floppy disc- drive added giving ability to transfer data to and from a mainframe computer. Fit all your existing „ SUPERBRAINS with ICARUS multi-user chaining adaptor to take advantage of ^COMPUSTAR facility. A r | ACOMPUSTAR I J system enables M ■■ you to establish a multi-user network of SUPERBRAINS, with each SUPERBRAIN connected into a central data store giving 10, 96, or 144 MB of storage. } ou don't need to throve a 6 to start. To find out more about S UPERBRAIN m icrocomputers and add-ons from Icarus , circle the reader reply number below or phone for full details. A ^7 Leave I \ nothing to M m S chance. Add a 13 MB CARTRIDGE TAPE B ACK-UP UNIT to give file-by-file back up for your SUPER- BRAIN hard disc. ::E ^rSUPE?BRAIN ipmn- - M SUPER- BRAIN: the game with no end. Our development continues as your business prospers . . . The I earns S UPERBRAIN dealer network includes: LONDON CALIBRE BUSINESS SYSTEMS, 87 Long Lane, West Smithfield, LONDON EC1A 9ET. Tel: 01-606 1738. J & F GROVER LTD, 10 Bariev Mow Passage, LONDON W4 4PH. Tel: 01-994 6477 HOME COUN TIES COMPUTING CONSULTANCY, Lyngcn. Oldhill Wood, Studham, DUNSTABLE, Beds LU6 2NF. Tel: (0582)872463 STRATEGY BUSINESS SERVICES, Station House, UCKFIELD, East Sussex. Tel: (0825)4143 Computer Systems Ltd. Deane House, 27 Greenwood Place, London NW5 INN Tel: 01-485 5574. Telex: 264209 THAMES VALLEY COMPUTERS, lOMapleClose, MAIDENHEAD, Berks. Tel: (0628)23532 TRANSFLO INSTRUMENTS LTD, Loose Road, MAIDSTONE, KentME15 7BY. Tel: (0622)683888 SOUTH & SOUTH WEST MICRO-XZEC LTD, Walton House, Richmond Hill, BOURNEMOUTH, Dorset. Tel: (0202) 2 1220 EAST CAMBRIDGE MICRO COMPUTERS, Cambridge Science Park, Milton Road, CAMBRIDGE. Tel: (0223) 3 14666 CULLOVILLE LTD, Thomfield, Woodhill Rd, Sandon, CHELMSFORD Essex. Tcl:02454I39l9 MIDLANDS BASIC BUSINESS S YSTEMsT LTD, Network House, 20 Ludlow Hill Rd, WEST BRIDGEFORD, Nottingham. Tel: (0602)232265 MICROAGE LTD, 53 Acton Rd, LONG EATON, Nottingham NG10 1FR. Tel: (0607) 664264 VIGO SOFTWARE SERVICES, Malt Shovel Cottage, Vigo. Burcot, BROMSGROVE, Worcs. Tel: 02 1-445 1445 WALES _____ BORDER COMPUTING & PROGRAMMING, Dog Kennel Lane, BUCKNELL, Salop. Tel: (054 74) 368 .MICROCARE COMPUTING LTD, 18 Baneswell Rd, NEWPORT, Gwent. Tel: (0633) 50482 NORTH AP LTD, Maple House, Monlake Crescent, CHESTER, CH3 5UR. Tel: (0244)46024 JENNINGS COMPUTER SERVICES, 55 57 Fagley Road, BRADFORD, West Yorkshire. Tel: (0274)637867 MICROSERVE (Humberside) LTD, 39 Oswald Road, SCUNTHORPE, South Humberside UN 15 7PN. Tel: (0724)849696 NASTAR COMPUTER SERVICES LTD, Ashton Lodge, Abercrombie St, CHESTERFIELD S41. Tel: (0246) 207048 SORTFIELD LTD, E Floor, Milbum House, Dean Street, NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. Tel: (0632) 359593 XENON COMPUTER SYSTEMS, 18 Old Rectory Gardens, Cheadle, STOCKPORT, Cheshire. Tel: 061 -428 9508 SCOTLAND ESCO COMPUTING FACILITIES, 321 Blvthwood Court, Anderston Cross, GLASGOW G2 1 Tel: 04 1 -22 1 03 10/2536 TURNKEY COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY LTD, 10 Somerset Place, GLASGOW. Tel: 041-332 7101 • Circle No. 159 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 I Programming Basic truth The true/false logic implicit in Basic provides a powerful alternative to If-Then. Philip Musk puts it to use in an Apple arcade game — in one line of Basic. ALL computers are capable of assessing whether a statement is true or not, as such a facility is essential for any decisions to be made. Most Basic programmers would use the If-Then type of statement, but there is a second method for performing functions if a condition is met. A computer has three logical operators which can be used for comparing numerical and even string values. These operators are < , > and - , If you type PRINT 1-1 then the computer responds with 1 because the statement is true. Some computers generate - l to indicate that .a statement is true. If you now type PRINT 1-2 then the computer returns 0 because this is a false statement. The operators < and > are used in exactly the same manner. Any combination of two of the operators, such as < - , is also possible. The logical operators can only perform a mathematical function if the condition is met or otherwise, w r hereas an If-Then type statement can perform any function. This is obviously a drawback, but the logical operators offer one ability which is not possible with the conventional kind of decision statement. On most computers, when an If condition is met, then all the functions on that line after the Then are performed. If the condition false, then all the functions following the Then ate ignored. With logical operators, the rest of the line is processed whether the condition is true or false. This small difference can vastly increase the power of one line of Basic. The one-line program Three Blobs for the Apple 11 -f makes use of logical operators, it could be described as a fast- moving action game with on-screen scoring, a high score and sound effects. You are represented by a V on the top line of the screen. Using paddle 0 as a steering wheel, you dodge clusters of stars which scroll up the screen towards you. For every line the screen scrolls up you are awarded one point. Your total score is displayed in the top-left corner of the screen. If the V hits a star or goes off the top line to the left then you aic deemed dead and the game ends. You cannot crash into the score displayed on the screen. After a crash, a beep sounds and your score is show n alongside the highest score attained. Pressing any character-producing key restarts the game. Only four variables are used: A$ — arbitrary character typed by user to restart game B — position of the V relative to 1044 r the middle of the top screen line C — your score D — the high score When you type Run all variables are set to zero, and the string to null. The first section of the program puts the cursor at the beginning of the first screen line. The next then prints your score there. The program then draws the V in the centre of the top screen line. The variable B is decremented it the paddle is turned to the left, oi incremented if die paddle is turned to the right. Your scute is then increased by I . The cursor is then moved to the beginning of the 22nd line down the screen and three asterisks drawn at a random position on that line. The Call causes the execution of the standard routine for scrolling the screen up one line* These three sections appear to be a long and slow method for printing the stars on the screen and then scrolling them. The stars could be printed on to the bottom line and the screen allowed to scroll naturally. However, when the stars were put on to the far right of that line the screen scrolled up twice, allowing the V to fly through some stars. The same thing happened on the 23rd line, even with the preferred method* The next part of the program is a conditional jump. It checks to see if the place where the V was before the screen scrolled is now blank, if it is the loop described so far is repeated. If the place cheeked is not a space, code 160, then a crash is concluded, and the rest of the line is executed. The next part of the program adds (C-D) to D if C is laiger than D. It increases the high score to your own score if your score is higher than the previous high score. A beep is then sounded, code 7, and your score and the high score are printed* The keyboard buffer is then cleared to remove all unwanted key presses. The command Get A waits for a key to be pressed. The horizontal position of the V is then reseL to zero, and so is your score. The screen is then cleared by the Home, and the game is restarted. When the program is typed in, no spaces should be included otherwise the end of the line will be ignored. Take care to type correctly, because if you list the program to edit it the Apple includes spaces and it becomes too long. Once the program is in memory It can be run. For the first game you might crash into the program listing, which is still on the screen, but this will not happen again as the screen is cleared after each game. The highest score to date on the paddle is about 2,500, but the control can be a little difficult to master. The paddle buttons can be used for left and right instead of the paddles themselves. To alter the program, replace (PD L(0) < 5b) + (PDL(O) > 200) with PEEK (49249) >127 + (P£EK(49250) > 1 27) The game is now played with paddle 0 on the left and paddle 1 on the right* A logical operator is not only useful in one-line programs. An operator takes longer to process than one If-Then statement but less time than lwo so you may be able to write faster programs if you replace two or more if statements by a logical operator. Q ijTvtabi : k-m : T C : P0KB 1 0W.+B ,150: b=b-(pdl( +<55 ) + ( pdl( +> 20h 1 : _ VEtxB2 2 ; *3H\ T TiiB( HI u> ( 1 ) * 1$+ 1 ) ,f *** ” : S&BL 64624 : 0l > ( Hj^K( 1 J5 +4+B) - 1 Gp , JJ p. jj = D+ ( 3-D) * ( C>D) : PRIH T Ch& k ( 7) "M' '35 : ” 0 , " HI GH : "D : P 0KB 491 68,0: A$: B=0:C=0:HOi.A : GO T0 10 PRACTICAL COMMUTING 1963 ' lo “ducaUotua^l^ 1 computer to help y W«fS &9«f L ■ t' ' L ‘ ‘ -Rnots Menzies, mie &°m W nsS^ aIld Software m^^SSSW Id J of CiffvwlWor CWWff&rM* wwwwssww m Group**™ ** Programming and graphics by Micromega dumber recognition Introduction to the 4-8yrs£7.95 alphabet & word re cog- BIBB ZX Spectrum 16k/4Bk nition4-6yrs £7.95 EJUrfffffi Simple adding £* subtracting 4-6yrs £7.95 ZX Spectrum 18k/48k *^\N\\\\ xs Ot *15 '<? Practice in number skills 4-8yrs £9.95 BBC B 1 1,1 114 • Circle No. 184 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 Special feature Computer games can have serious content — and anyway, what’s wrong with having fun? Jack Schofield introduces this month’s special feature. because we are serious people and tliis is a serious magazine we have a tendency to look down on games. We shouldn't. There are no Brownie Points for having a micro that is bad for games: any micro that is bad for games must be bad for other things too. Too slow, eh? No colour option? No fine scrolling or high-resolution graphics? Too bad. Today’s big -selling attention-grabbing software uses colour and sound, draws graphs, offers fine scrolling on multiple windows, and joystick or mouse operation. WordStar, Lotus 123, Microsoft's Multi- Tool Word, Supercalc-3, Context MBA: the old Teletype terminal approach is doomed. People have been playing games with computers ever since they were invented. One of the most famous mainframe games is Adventure, or Colossal Caves, which was originally developed by William Crowther and Don Woods. But Adventures only require a simple text display, such as can be provided by a teleprinter or Teletype terminal. The boom in games is based on other, more powerful facilities, such as colour graphics and sound effects. Spoilt for choice These attractions are many and various, because computer games today cover a wide field, from the completely mindless to the usefully educational. Modern games include Adventure, fantasy and strategy games, educational games, business games, simulations, space and arcade games, as well as computer versions of traditional I sports and pastimes. The best known strategy games are war games, and are also — more tediously ^ played with game boards, armies and dice as well as on computers. Chris Crawford's Eastern Front is the classic of this genre, though there are now marly examples. Space games started originally with versions of Star Trek, derived from the cult TV series The apotheosis is Star Raiders, a three-dimensional real-time all-action implementation. Space games really took off when they arrived in the pubs, clubs and arcades in the form of Taito's Space Invaders. Others followed: Asteroids, Missile Command, Scramble, Defender, Galaxians, Zaxxon . * * microcomputer versions have ex- hausted most of the possible variations. Fast action, brilliant colour and explosive sound are the important elements. Once the arcade machines had become established, other types of games started to appear, The first big hit among them was a maze game, Pacman. Like Space Invaders itself it originated in Japan. The next major development was jumping games such as Donkey Kong, Jungle Hunt, etc. Other games, such as Tron, have been based on films. Again, micro versions have generally followed to exploit ideas from the arcade originals. Many computer games are simply transpositions of established games. Chess is the most obvious example, but other writers have put backgammon, solitaire, bridge, snooker, darts and even dominoes on to the micro. Flight simulators It is but a small jump from these to simulations, which need not actually be games. Driving and flight simulations are common. The fun of playing them need not be amassing points or blasting aliens, but simply the enjoyment of mastering a difficult skill. Compare the instrument panel of a Cessna light aircraft with that of the Microsoft Flight Simulator and you will see how accurately the simulation can be done. Business games are also a form ot simulation. The program parallels the running of a business, which might be in American examples — a lemonade stand, or the economy of a whole country. Whatever the product, these games generally involve setting production levels, paying the workmen, buying advertising and negotiating loans with the bank The program may also throw in random disasters like strikes and wet winters, to see how well you cope. In real life, economists and politicians regularly play this kind of game -- except they call it the Treasury model of the economy. Each faction feeds in its policies and trade assumptions, and the model co mes bac k with the results — - us unity inflation and higher unemployment. Educational games also run the gamut from the pre-school level — learning the alphabet — to arcade-style action Drill has a bad name in these progressive times, but nonetheless it is something a computer can handle very efficiently. American games Some modern American educational games really do offer arcade-style action. Type Attack is one example. Letters rain down on your position and you have to press the appropriate letters on the keyboard to destroy them. Even if games don't teach anything, they have one very important function: they make micro- computers friendly and accessible. Right from their earliest days, when most people were afraid of computers, micros have been dismissed as toys. The original Apple was dismissed out of hand by most of the major computer companies, because it had colour and sound and attracted lots of games. Those major companies stood by as Apple became a billion-dollar corporation. Of course the companies who want to sell to the business user tend to play dow n the games aspect of computing. One reason is that they are afraid to have their micros compared to machines like the BBC Micro and Commodore 64, which ate not only vastly cheapei > but in some respects more powerful But this anti-games attitude is mistaken, as is shown by the example of IBM. The IBM PC already sets the standard in the small business/ executive work-station category of micros, and is set to become the most successful micro in history. Never- theless it is not dressed up as a “professional”, bui is plainly a personal computer. Games and education programs make the IBM PC an all-round appli- cations machine, and that accounts for its wide appeal The fact that it is a powerful business machine is too obvious to need stating. The point is that a computer is simply an applications machine, like a telephone, a camera or a TV set. If you tried to sell someone a telephone that only took business calls, or a TV that would only receive information programs, but had an automatic cut-out for Coronation Street , people would think you were crackers. They'd be right. Nevertheless people do the same thing pretending games don't exist when, if the truth be told, they permeate all microcomputing, Ed PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 115 Work or play? Children really do enjoy messing about with computers. Lorraine Boyce explains how they could be learning at the same time. distinctions between work that which I must do, and play, that which I enjoy doing, become ever more blurred. Since many school leavers are unlikely to find a job immediately after leaving school, educational objectives have to change. Fifth-year courses increasingly include an dement of education for leisure designed to keep unemployed teenagers off the streets, and to reduce the potential mischief of idle hands. One recent government initiative extends the provision of Information Technology Education Centres, ITECs. Based on the famous Netting Dale centre, there are now over 100 dotted throughout the country. Unemployed school leavers are given workshop facilities and instruction in micro-technology and electronics. The spin-off is that they become employable in an area where demand for competent personnel at present exceeds supply. Young people initially attend the ITECs for the best possible reason: they want to. Even in overcrowded, badly equipped inner-city schools fascination with new technology is not stifled. Video arcades and High Street micro dealers sell the idea that it is essential to get closer to the changes prompted by the microchip. Some young people even shoplift home computers in order to teach themselves to program. With motivation such as this who can judge what is work and what is play? If the premise that work and play are becoming indistinguishable is accepted, then any piece of software can be regarded as a game. Apart from commercial installations, few of us load a program a second time which we do not enjoy using. A whole population must be educated to computer literacy, as rapidly and painlessly as possible. The door is wide open for professional micro programmers to assist attempts by educationalists and parents to channel the young's enormous enthusiasm for games and technology into valid learning experiences. So much the better if these can be seen to enhance the constituents of the traditional curriculum found in schools. Teachers may complain about the lack of first-rate educational software, but there are still some useful samples around. Several established micro dealers have responded to the interest and are stocking educational games. Tentative enquiries for educational games in branches of W H Smith produced a positive, informed response. Prominent among the selection of software available were three Spectrum programs released by Longman. They were written for the government's Microelectronics Education Programme, MEP, and were part of the software support for the Department of Trade and Industry's half-price hardware for schools package. Parents have always gone to some lengths to acquire the same textbooks as their children use at school. Spectrum owners may now do the same with primary-school cassettes such as ABC Liftoff and Hot Dog Spotter, which reinforces estimation of number. Other Spectrum games include Widgit’s trio: one on the alphabet and two assisting with the concept of sets, the foundation of much Infant-school level mathematics. Sets also feature in Get Set, one of the Griffin range also available from W H Smith. The Griffin programs are written by practising teachers; Get Set by the Sinclair prize winning Fisher- Marriott duo, who learned the hard way to make error messages less attractive than the reward for a correct response. Their spelling game included monstrous purple space invaders to carry away unwanted letters and dump them in a large wastepaper basket. The children loved them. This salutory lesson T16 PRACTICAL COMPUTING Pp cember 1983 I Education has yet to be heeded by the ingenious designer of Scisoft’s Jungle Maths, demonstrated before an interested throng in Tottenham Court Road's Spectrum Centre. The reward ^ a correct calculation is the movement of a u.iy figure through the pixels of a strip of jungle at the top of the screen. Try a wrong answer and the display changes. Palm trees and a larger figure appear; falling coconuts bombard the figure until its limbs fall off. Onlookers agreed that this was far more fun and carried on getting the sums wrong. The Pit yawned in front of us and the figure fell to land with a splat at the bottom. Even the tattooed skinhead whose exploration of Psion's Flight Simulator had been interrupted by the experiment felt that lack of skill was being reinforced. Flight simulators occupy their own niche. It is probably libellous to repeat the persistent rumour that at least one eastern European airline uses the Psion Spectrum version to train its pilots. But these games do seem to have opened up a new area of realistic simulations. Those wondering how they compare with the real thing should tune to Central Television's Magic Micro Mission in November. One edition of this six-part Tis was- ins pi red series shows a flight simulator used by a real air-traffic controller talking down a real airline captain. Also anonymous is the Oxford Street software emporium which stocked but refused to load or even describe the Texas instruments educational games. The range undoubtedly has some most attractive graphics and TI Logo, with its magical sprites, is based on Seymour Papert's research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Those alarmed that young people are becoming voluntary Basic hacks can take hope in the strong movement of primary teachers towards use of Logo as the only programming language for children. Would that the CSE and O-level examination boards could look at it that way too. Far too many are prettified versions of drill-and-practice programs designed to teach and test spellings and number bonds. Here it is arguable that the patient and uncritical micro is a better mentor than a hard-pressed teacher or worried parent. However, the capabilities of the computer lend themselves to far more imaginative and worthwhile educational games. Some of the best are appearing in non- (con tinned on next page) Educational software catalogued by Theodora Wood ATARI o «/ S / £ Conversational French LP 16 AT 10 + £40 Conversational German LP 16 AT 10 + £40 Conversational Italian LP 16 AT 10 + £40 Conversational Spanish LP 16 AT 10 + £40 Cubbyholes Q 16 AT 5-12 TBA European Countries & Capitals Q 16 AT 10 + £15 Hickory Dickory LP 16 AT 5-11 £11,50 invitation to Programming 1-3 PR 8 AT 10 + £2G-£23 Mathematic-tac-toe Q 16 AT 8-16 £11.50 My First Alphabet LP 32 AT 2 + £30 Number Blast RD 16 AT 6-16 £11.50 Quizmaster (disc) G 32 AT 8 + £16 Scram SIM 16 AT 12 + £20 Speed Reading LP 16 SL 15 + TBA The Music Tutor MU 40 AT 6 + TBA Three R Math System RD 48 AT 5-13 TBA Tricky Tutorials 1-11 PR 16 MA 12 + £21 U.S, States & Capitals Q 16 AT 10 + £1 5 Vdeo Math Flash Cards RD 8 AT 6-10 £11.50 BBC MICRO </ j, & </ ^ 32 32 Additional Fun BO Algebra 2 LP Algebraic Manipulation LP Animal Vegetable Mineral IN Biology LP Business Games SIM Chemical Analysis LP Chemical Simulations LP Chemical Structures LP Educational Games Q First Steps in Algebra LP Happy Numbers RD Introduction to Trigonometry LP Jars RD/LO 32 SM 16/32 AC 16/32 BE 32 SI 16/32 AC 32 32 32 AC AC AC 16/32 GA 32 32 32 SM BE SM AC 13 + 15-18 7-13 14- 16 12-18 15 - 18 15-18 15- 18 5 + 10 + 4-6 16 - 18 7-13 £7.95 £9.95 £5.69 £12.50 £9.95 £13.80 £13.80 £13,80 £5.95 £7.95 £8,95 £7,95 £1 1 .90 Launching Logic LO 32 SH 5-8 £14.95 Learning Maths Package RD 16/32 GA 9-12 £7 Lift Off with Numbers RD 32 SH 3-6 £14,95 Mental Arithmetic RD 32 SM 8-14 £6.95 Missing Signs RD 16/32 AC 5-10 £11.90 Mr T Tells the Time RD 32 GH 3-7 £12.95 Mr T T S Money Box RD 32 GH 3-7 £12.95 Mr r$ Alphabet Games RD/Q 32 GH 3-6 £12.95 Mr T’s Measuring Games RD/Q 32 GH 36 £12.95 MrT's Number Games RD/Q 32 GH 3-6 « £12.95 Mr T’s Shape Games Q 32 GH 3 + £12.95 Music Tutor MU 16/32 GA 8 + £10.95 Number Balance RD 16/32 AC 5 + £9.95 Peeko Compuler LO/PR 16/32 AC 5 + £9,95 Sets & Operators LO 32 SH 7-12 £14,95 Sentencing Sequencing RD 32 AC 7-9 £11.90 Theorem of Pythagoras LP 32 SM 10 + £7 95 Timeman One RD 32 BE 4-9 £8.95 Tree of Knowledge IN 32 AC 4 + £9.95 Town Test Q 32 SI 4 + £6.50 Turtle Graphics LO/PR 32 AC 9 + £16,85 COMMODORE PET ✓ S’ S' , ✓w ✓ Animation PR 16/32 SU 8 + £15 Broadwater Economics SIM 16 WL 14 + £28.75 English Skills RD 16/32 PE 9-13 £10 Flight Simulator SIM 32 SU 9 + £20 Font PR 16/32 SU 10 + £8 Kings + Queens Q 32 SU 8 + £6 Languages Mathematical Games 1&2 Q G 16/32 16/32 PE PE 9-16 8-14 £10 ElOea, Multiple Choice Q 16/32 PE 6-9 £10 Northern Hangman Q 16/32 PE 9-13 £10 Numeracy Skills RD 16/32 PE 4-8 £10 Physics 1-5 LP 16/32 PE 14 + £iOea. Southern Hangman Q 16/32 PE 14 + £10 COMMODORE 64 ✓ ✓ ^ . A Gortek, The Microchips St 12 Educational Programs Gortek, the Kryptobytes & 12 Educational Programs PR 64 PE 10-13 £12,95 PR 64 PE 10-13 £12.95 (table continued on next page ) PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 117 Calpac*s programs include the rule-and-drill type. ( continued from previous page ) commercial areas, but Applied Systems Knowledge, ASK, has some good games available over the counter for the BBC and Vic-20. The series includes a version of Kim T s game as well as the identikit Pacemaker. Inner London Education Authority has set up a unit which steadfastly withstands all approaches to commercialise its excell- ent maths programs. Secondary Maths Individual Learning, Smile has some of the best and soundest educational software available. It includes simple number guessing and attractive maze games. Nirn prompts much discussion but is rarely beaten, and involves searching for lost animals, which motivates work on the use of co-ordinates. Unfortunately this highly desirable 380-Z software is normally avail- able only to ILEA teachers. When Northamptonshire teachers realised how little software would initially be available for their DoTI 480-Z machines, they set to and wrote some straightforward but useful material. The (table continued from previous page) VIC-20 </ <3? Vi? ,, /•/, Biology O-level LP 20 PE 14 + £9.99 Physics O-level LP 20 PE 14 + £9.99 DRAGON 32 ✓ & f Artist PR 32 AB 5 + £5 ' First Letters and Words RD 32 AB 4-6 £6,50 Flight Simulator SIM 32 PSS 9 + £7.95 Infant Pack RD 32 SD 3-6 £3,95 Junior Pack RD 32 SD 6-9 £3.95 Maths Level 1 RD 32 CH 4-6 £19.95 Maths Tutor RD 32 AB 3-10 £5 Music Tutor MU 32 AB 5 + £12,95 O-level Physics LP 32 AB 14 + £6.50 Pop star SIM 32 SW 9 + £5.25 Puzzler LO 32 SO 8 + £6.95 Quiz Pack Q 32 SD 6 + £3.95 Time Traveller SIM. 32 WL 9-13 £9.95 SINCLAIR SPECTRUM Programs marked with an asterisk* are also available for the ZX-81 Qp * 4* ABC Lift-Off RD 16/48 LO 4-8 £7.95 Adding & Subtracting RD 16/48 Wl 3-6 £5.25 Alphabet RD 16/48 wi 3-6 £5,25 Animated Arithmetic* RC 16/48 LC 3-8 £6.50 Ballooning SIM 48 HE 8-12 £9,95 Calpac FL1* RD 16/48 CA 5-8 £9.50 Calpac FL2* RD 16/46 CA 7-10 £9.50 Calpac FL3* RD 16/48 CA 9-12 £9.50 Calpac O-level Chemistry* C 16/48 CA 9-12 £9,50 Car Journey SIM 48 HE 8-12 £9.95 Count a bout RD 16/48 LO 4-8 £7,95 Counting RD 16/48 Wl 3-6 £5.25 Educational Quiz* Q 16 RO 6 + £4,95 English Literature Q 16/48 SC 9 + £6.95 Firework Music* MU 16/48 SO 4 + £5 First Numbers RD 16/48 CO 3-6 £5.95 Flight Simulation SIM 48 SC 9 + £7,95 French Vocabulary Test RD 16/48 SC 9 + £4.95 Geography 1 Q 16/48 SC 9 + £6.95 German Vocabulary Test RD 48 TU 11 + £4.95 Hidden Letters Q 16/48 PO 5 + £5.95 History 1 Q 16/48 SC 7 + £6,95 Hot Dog Spotter RD 16/48 LO 4-8 £7.95 Intermediate Maths 1&2* RD 16/48 RO 9-13 £4.95 Inventions 1 Q 16/48 SC 7 + £6.95 Language Development* RD 16/48 DR 7-13 £7.90 Maths 15* LP 16/48 SN 11 + £7.95 Micro-Maths* LP 16/48 LC 14 + £24.50 Money RD 16/48 PO 3-10 £5.95 Music Maker MU 48 BL 5 + £5,75 O-level French Revision* LP 16/48 RO 14 + £4,95 O-level German Revision* LP 16/48 RO 14 + £4.95 Shapesortei RD 16/48 Wl 3-8 £5.25 Short Vowel Sounds RD 48 SR 3-8 £7 Snail Logo LO/PR 48 CP 9 + E9.S5 Special Agent SIM 48 HE 8-12 £8.95 Tables RD 16/48 CO 7-11 £5,95 Teliirig the Time RD 16/48 PO 3-9 £5*95 Telitng the Time RD 16/48 CO 3-9 £5,95 The Night Sky* A 16 BR 6 + £0.90 The Four Rules of Number* RD 16/48 DR 6-13 £11,70 Tuner* " “ i — MU 16/48 SO 5 + £5 Program type IN: Information retrieval categorisation Only a limited number of these programs exist for children. They familiarise the user with filing techniques to set up data banks and information-retrieval systems of their own choice. LO: Logic learning Maze programs found in games listings are the oldest form. Adventure programs explore this area in an imaginative way but few have been produced specifically for children. Programs specifically for children are available to encourage logical thought, and introduce younger children to the concepts of sorting according to shape/coiour/size. More advanced versions exist to explore this area further. LP: Learning package Learning packages are valuable aids for the secondary-school child onwards, and can teach a variety of subjects. Like Rule and Drill, they teach by example and test, and could be particularly useful in revision for examinations, MU: Music Programs of this sort use the computer's sound and graphics 118 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 inevitable Hangman is there but so are helpful programs on sets and Venn diagrams, a computerised Battleships, three-dimensional Noughts and Crosses and an infant word processor. Full marks for initiative to the Northamptonshire pioneers. Board games, the family entertainment of our Victorian predecessors, readily lend themselves to today’s technology. No longer do we need to search down sofas for missing pieces, and any tendency to cheat is automatically checked. The chess sim- ulations on the market are a boon to the lone enthusiast and are now joined by Griffin’s Reversi — also called Othello — TI’s Yahtzee, and Psion’s Scrabble* Unlike the majority of games played against the micro, Psion’s scrabble gives the player a slight advantage* If a word which the computer does not recognise is entered it will be challenged* However, the player can then affirm that the word exists and the micro wall accept it, although it is unable to add it to its vocabulary for next time. Cheating is possible but the ethics of I Education someone prepared to cheat a computer at Scrabble are beyond comment. Less easy to fix is the Mensa intelligence test available for the Spectrum. Right from the beginning computing has been regarded by most of its exponents as play. Mainframe boffins cheerfully and absorbedly spend most of their waking hours at the keyboard. Lights burn all night in university computer centres — not all the students inside are using or writing Adventure games either* Unwilling school children are ejected from after-hours computer clubs by teachers who forget to eat lunch because they are as hooked as their pupils. Tots on TV giggle as they press keys to animate floor turtles. Even Hunt the Thimble has been computerised by Ginn* People enjoy computers* It is hard to draw a line where the games stop and the education begins. Recent revised opinion even holds that much-criticised video games have an educational spin-off in terms of enhanced concentration and the strengthening of weak or damaged limbs. Software for schools is now a thriving cottage industry, a response to teachers’ insistent demand for good educational software. The position improves all the time and many established publishers are entering the market. Assessment of the educational aspects of software is simple. Just ask yourself "Did I learn anything and was it fun?” If the answer to both is yes, then you could probably say it was an educational game. Q capability to introduce recognition of tone, use of a keyboard and musical notation. PR: Programming skills There are a number of programs available to teach programmingdo older children and adults. For the age range 9 to 16, these skills are either taught in a simplified game/test format or introduce versions of Logo, This teaches programming skills by allowing the child to use simple commands to move and draw with a turtle on the screen or on the floor. They encourage a familiarity with logic, programming routines and geometric functions. Problem-solving skills learned in this way can be applied in other areas, Q: Quiz Quiz programs operate in various fields of education and are either quizzes set by the program and/or can be used interactively by the child/adult setting the questions and levels of difficulty* Also included in this category are educational games. RD: Rule and drill Rule-and -drill programs use the computers capability of graphics, sound and animation to teach basic skills from pre-school to secondary age. The format is generally to present examples and then test. Following on from more familiar methods of teaching these skills, they can make rote learning more interesting and fun if used for short periods of time. The programs listed for the younger children can introduce them to the computer and its keyboard. SIM: Simulation Many programs have been produced for older children and adults, but few for the under-IQs* Children make decisions based on information presented either graphically or as text. They can introduce a child to the vocabulary and concepts and the consequences of decisions taken. Programs listed here are available on cassette, and sometimes on disc too. Suppliers AB: Abacus Software, 21 Union Street, Ramsbottom, Bury, Lancashire. AC: Acornsoft, 4a Market Hill, Cambridge CB2 3NJ. AT: Atari International (U.K.), Atari House, Railway Terrace, Slough, Berkshire SL2 5BZ BE: Bourne Educational Software, Dept AU 6, Bedfietd Lane, Head bourne Worthy, Winchester, Hampshire. SG23 7SQ. BL: Bellflower Software, 6 Rosewood Avenue, Greenford, Middlesex. BR: Bridge Software, Dept SU, 36 Fernwood, Marpit Bridge. Stockport. Cheshire SK6 5BE, CA: Calpac Computer Software, 108 Hermitage Woods Crescent, St John's, Woking, Surrey GU21 1UF* CH: Cheshire Cat, Am pal soft Computer Services Ltd, Knutsford, Cheshire* CO: Collins Educational, (W.H. Smith & Son), Glasgow G4 ONB, CP: CP Software, Dept YC 8, 17 Orchard Lane, Prestwood, Buckinghamshire HP16 ONN, DR: CES, 94 Airedale Avenue, London W4. GH: Good Housekeeping, Ebury Software, 72 Broadwick Street, London W1V 2BP. HE; Heinemann Computers in Education, 22 Bedford Square, London WG1B 3 HH. LC: LCL, 26 Avondale Avenue, Staines, Middlesex. LO: Longman Group Ltd, Longman House, Burnt Mill, Harlow, Essex CM20 2JE MA: Maplin Electronic Supplies, PO Box 3, Rayleigh, Essex SS6 SLR, PE: Commodore Dealers; or Commodore Information Centre, 675 Ajax Avenue, Slough, Berkshire SL1 4BG, PO: Poppy Programs, Richmond House, ingleton, Garnforth, Lancashire LAG SAN. PS: PSS, 452 Stony Stanton Road, Coventry CVS 5DG. RO: Rose Cassettes, 148 Widney Lane, Solihull, West Midlands B91 3LH, SC: Sinclair Research, Camberley, Surrey GUI 5 3BR* SO: Shards Software, 189 Eton Road, Ilford, Essex IG1 2UQ. SH: Shiva Publishing Ltd, 4 Church Lane, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 5RQ. SI: Silverlind, 156 Newson Road, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire DEI 5 OTR. SL: Silica Shop, 1-4 The Mews, Hatherley Road, Side up, Kent DA14 4DX. SM: Small School Software, 1-2 King Street, Ludlow, Shropshire, SN: Simon Software, Dept YC, Newend, Redditch B96 6NE, SO: Software Cottage, 19 Westfield Drive, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE113QJ* SR: Sherston Software, 1 Noble Street. Sherston, Malmesbury, Wiltshire SN16 0NC, SU: Supersoft, Dept G7, 1st Floor, 13-14 Canning Road, Wealdstone, Harrow HA3 7SJ. I SW: Swan soft Software, Dept YC, 8 St Aiden Drive, Killay, Swansea. TU: Tutorial Software, PO Box 43, Enquiry Office, 22-29 Mill Street, Newport, Gwent NP1 3XZ. Wi: Widget Software, 48 Durham Road, London N2 9DT. WL: John Wiley & Sons, Bafflns Lane, Chichester, Sussex PO10 1UD. PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 119 computer chess has progressed remark- ably over the past decade, to the extent that a chess computer recently drew a game with world champion Anatoly Karpov — though admittedly it was during one of his simultaneous displays. When David Levy made his famous bet in 1968, that no computer program produced in the following 10 years would be able to beat him, the wager was a good proposition for the human player. Making a similar bet today would be a different matter. The best programs and the specialised hardware developments go into the dedic- ated chess machines which are, of course, single-purpose instruments. However, not everyone wishes to invest in one, especially if they have their own micro. It seems much more logical to utilise the power of the computer and have the display on a TV set or monitor. Producing the display is noL the simple task it may appear at first sight. One pro- blem with early computers was designing black and white pieces that were equally visible on both black and white squares. The general availability of colour has helped here, but some programmers are still having difficulties. A good screen display can swallow a great deal of RAM, while remembering the moves for subsequent replay or listing can take a lot of the remainder. Often too little RAM is left for the actual playing of the game. The problem is that chess is very demanding of both memory and processor. Even if only a few moves are considered on each side, the number of possible variations can be very large indeed. To search through all the possibilities by brute force quickly becomes impossible, so the program must evaluate each position it finds as besL it can. This leads to the horizon effect: the ability to see one more move ahead may produce a crushing victory for the machine, but it does not have the power, or the time, to search the next level. Li cannot see over the horizon. Human players play differently from machines, in that they are able to pre- visualise a position they would like to be in. They can then work backwards, to see how the favourable position can be arrived at. In other words, instead of simply u ying to make the best of a given position, they evolve a plan. The vast majority of possible moves do not need to be analysed at all by the player. Chess computers have evolved rapidly over the last few years, not just because of increased processing power but also thanks to the skill of the software writers. A good account ol this progress is given in David Levy's book Computer Gamesmanship > published by Century Publishing earlier this year. The first popular chess programs for micros were Sargon, written by Rathe and Dan Spraeklen, and the ROM cartridge programs for the Atari and TL99/4 comp- uters, In its time the Atari was something of a pace-setter for the industry, though it lacks sophistication by modem standards. Towards mastery Neville Maude looks at the best chess programs and pits two BBC tapes against the opposition. Its game is played on a rcctangluar board, and the graphics could certainly be improved on today. It also suffers fromthe common complaint of becoming too slow at the higher levels. .Sargon, developed in 1977, was published in book form, and appeared on cassette for the popular Pet micro — at a fairly high price. Sargon II, for Z-80 based computers, was an improvement and a version which ran on the Jupiter Wavemem 111 achieved remarkable success at the American Chess Masters tournament in Washington. Sargon II appeared on many popular micros including the Apple I I and the Atari, and has most recently come out on the Vic-20. Much of the success of the Sargon II can be ascribed to the algorithm which analyses the values of exchanges at the terminal nodes — the bottom of the tree in a root- Game Runs on Chess Chess Chess Chess Chess Chess Chess Chess Chess 1.4 Chess 7.0 Chess IJ Chess, The Turk Chess ZX-81 Cyrus Chess Cyrus IS Grandmaster Chess Master Chess Masterchess Sargon 11 Sargon III Superchess Superchess II The Chess Player Video Chess Voice Chess White Knight ZX Chess ZX Chess I ZX Chess 11 and-branch search. Recently a new program, Boss, has been announced, which is claimed to beat Sargon II and probably does. However, even more recently, Sargon 111 has been announced, though so far it is only implemented for the Apple He and IBM PC, Another new U.S. program is Chess 7.0 from Odesta, for the Apple II and Atari micros. It was written by Larry Atkin, who was one of the co-authors of the North- western University program, Chess 4.7, which won almost everything in the 1970s and was, at the end of the decade, World Computer Chess Champion three years in a row. Which of these three is better I really do not know. Among dedicated computers, Sargon 2.5 has been superseded by Morphy, which has better opening strategy and avoids the Sargon w eakness of castling into danger. Supplier Atari Parker Brothers Computer Concepts Program Power Acornsoft Bug-Byte Mikro-Gen Psion/Sinclair Abersoft Odesta Artie Oxford Computer Pubs, Artie Dragon Data Intelligent Software Audiogenic Mikro-Gen Psion Heyden Heyden CP Software CP Software Quicksilva Texas Instruments Artie BBC Publications Mikro-Gen Artie Artie Atari Atari, IBM PC BBC BBC BBC, Electron BBC, Vic-20 Spectrum ZX-81 16K ZX-81 Apple, Atari, TRS-80 Spectrum 48K Spectrum ZX-81 Dragon Spectrum Commodore 64, Vic-20 Spectrum Spectrum 48K Apple, Atari, Vic-20 Apple, I BM PC Spectrum 48K Spectrum 48K Spectrum 48K Tf-99/4a Spectrum 48K BBC ZX-81 ZX-81 Spectrum 48K 120 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 4 Chess Morphy can be expanded at both ends by specialised programs to play more varied openings in greater depth and to improve end-game play. For up-to-date standings, see the report by David Levy on page 37 of this issue on the most recent European computer chess championship. It is natural to expect that the improvements evident here will event- ually work their way through into the standard chess programs for micros. Whereas previously most of the devel- opments were taking place in the U.S., David Levy's company Intelligent Software is now making significant strides in the U,K. It is noteworthy that the latest ROM cartridge chess program for the Atari computers, to be launched shortly by Parker Brothers, is based on the Cyrus program, A slightly later version, Cyrus II, has just been launched on cassette for the Spectrum and is said bo be very strong. Main criteria Yet another new U.K. program is Grand- master Chess from Audiogenic, available on cassette for both the Vic-20 and Commodore 64. It claims to be one of the world's stongest programs for home computers, but is too new to have estab- lished a track record. Ideally, of course, every program would be rated for strength on one of the standard scales. While this is often a selling point of dedicated chess machines, it is rare among computer games. The main criteria to be considered when choosing a chess program are the strength and speed of the game — which are inter- related aspects — and the facilities avail- able, such as the ability to modify the board. The provision of a Hint facility, to suggest a possible next move, and the quality of the graphics are probably secondary though dearly individuals may have different priorities. To some players the ability to take back a mistaken move — though this is not allowed in tournament chess — may be important. The ability to play on automatic, as it were, is offered by a number of programs, including Grand Master, Cyrus II and the Parker version of Cyrus. The last two will also replay the game you have just finished. Disc- based programs like S argon III and Odesta’s Chess 7.0 can offer a selection of historical master games: Chess 7,0 has 30 and Sargon III no less than 107, The overriding consideration must always be that the program must play well enough to provide the human player with a real challenge at a reasonable rate of play. There is no real amusement to be had from repeatedly crushing a weak program. The latest generation of chess programs to become widely and readily available is for the BBC Micro with 32K, and these can be taken as exemplifying the current state of the art, Bug-Byte and Computer Concepts provide two examples while the latest release Is the very strong White Knight II from BBC Software. The Bug- Byte cassette is, of course, in machine code and loads in only two minutes by the command * RUN l, CHESS iJ . As with most serious modern programs it moves by standard algebraic commands, understands castling and en passant , recognises a stalemate, plays black, white or both, and does not permit illegal moves. This is about the minimum that is accept- able today. Advertisements for the game claim It can be set to 1,000 levels, which sounds impressive, but it is the range of strengths that matters, not the number of minute subdivisions into which that range can be divided. Nevertheless the control over game strength is of interest. It is set by inputting a number from 0 to 9.99. The number before the decimal point sets the number of moves ahead the computer will search; the number after the point is the number of moves that will be considered at each node. While this gives a good range, play becomes impossibly slow at. the higher levels. For a first trial, I set the maximum strength and opened E2-E4. There are only 20 possible first moves and about six to eight common ones, but after four hours 1 was still waiting for a reply. Moving down to level 7 gave a time of about five to 10 minutes per move. Then 1 let it play Mephisto — one of the best dedicated machines available at the moment — at its level 4, which takes about 45 seconds per move, Mephisto polished it off in 30 moves, with the issue never being in doubt. On the lower levels, the Bug- Byte chess invariably replies to E2-E4 by bringing out its knight, B8-C6, and after the reply D2-D4 brings out the other knight , . , which is, of course, chased away by E4-E5, and white has a very easy game. The weak- ness of this cassette Is that it has no opening book, so the computer can easily be placed in a poor position before the middle- game starts. All chess programs are strongest in the middle -game and are weaker at end- game play. You should step up the level towards the end if you want a more worthy opponent. Another BBC cassette from Computer Concepts is described as version 2.32B, it is also in machine language but loads with CHAIN ‘CHESS' 1 which in practice boils down to the universal BBC loading CH.“ Loading is again quick, at three minutes. In this version the player can control the computer strength to an unprecedented degree. You can set the number of moves ahead which the computer explores from one to eight. This is a brute-force search. The next option concerns captures only, and the menu terms it Care; it runs from 0 to 9. Next comes Sub-level, which determines the number of moves considered at each level, and can be set from 0 to 9. This equates with the setting after the decimal point in the Bug-Byte program. Finally there is a setting called, for no apparent reason, Speed. It is similar to the Sub-level PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 setting, but the number of moves depends on merit, rather than being fixed in advance. Mercifully, Computer Concepts has refrained from claiming that its program can be set to 8,000 different levels. On level 1 the Sub-level and Speed settings have no effect unless the Care setting is 2 or greater. When Care is greater than 2, a random choice is made between moves of equal merit, which makes for greater variety in games. Extra features A typical choice of settings could be 3 ,2, 8, 3 at which moves take five to 10 minutes, or longer according to the comp- lexity of the position. Again, however, Mephisto on its 45 second setting beat it without difficulty, despite the great time advantage given the Computer Concepts program. Other features of this cassette are that it uses the assignable function keys of Lhe BBC Micro to change levels, sides, etc. while Ctrl-H offers a Hint facility. Unfort- unately the hints are not very good, as they correspond to the move the computer would make on level 1 with a Care setting of 0, Chess programs for micros still have plenty of room for improvement, especially in the provision of reasonably good opening books. Another major advance would be programs that continued thinking in their opponent's time, like human players and the best dedicated machines. A better alpha-beta pruning tree would not come amiss, either. 1 would like to see the provision of time docks so that the computer can be required to play under tournament conditions, with the possibility of coming under time pressure. Other ideas are the ability to select a particular opening line, and provision of a Hint facility of good quality. However, the main requirement is still the ability to play at a level of, say, BCF or UCSF l ,400 at a tournament speed of 40 moves In two hours or, preferably, 30 moves in one hour. If computer chess shows the same improvement over the next decade as it did during the last, this will come. Grandmasters must look to their laurels: by 1990 we may have a computer as world champion. &J 121 > Taking off It may not be the real thing — but it’s safer and cheaper. Ian Beattie-Edwards outlines the complexities of flight simulation. just ABOUT every computer magazine and Sunday supplement carries advertisements for the Psion flight simulator for the Spectrum, as well as the Hew son Consultants Night Flight, both of which are always in the list of top-selling “games”. But do not be misled. They arc not just games, which I suspect is why they have sold so well, as they are simulating rather well the flight characteristics of a light aeroplane. There are a multitude ol similar programs designed to run on most home computers — with the notable exceptions, at the time of writing, of the Vic-20 and Commodore 64, ,But since the prospective simulator buyer will almost certainly already have bought a computer, so in practice most people have little real choice. The exceptions are Apple owners. At present there are five simulations or flight trainers for the Apple, This relative plenty is a result of the machine's good graphics and its market penetration in the U.S., where the Hying fraternity is well supported by software writers It is confirmed by the glut of flight -planning and similar programs — some good, some bad. The prospective buyer of any home computer simulation must remember that he or she is trying to compare the micro with, at worst, two or three minis driving a multi-million pound simulator like the Redifon. And that is sufficiently sophisti eated to be taken as the real thing by even the most experienced pilot. Many flying dubs have the next best thing, an Instrument trainer, and will be pleased to show you the simulator and a real aeroplane. You may even get a trial lesson: you never know, you might prefer the real thing. There are several variations on the theme of simulation so do not be confused by the slight variation in phraseology. There is a world of difference between an instrument trainer, a visual flight trainer or a cockpit procedural trainer. To a learner pilot a visual flight trainer would be the most help, but unfortunately it also the most expensive and difficult to design and build. The trainee pilot relies on all the visual dues, such as wing lips in relation to the horizon, the attitude of the aircraft by referencing a mark on the windscreen, or a distance from the cowling to the actual horizon. The pilot can also gain dues to the aircraft's speed from the rate that the view- changes. There is also ”seat of the pants” information like the wind rushing past the aircraft, and even the angle that the aircraft crabs in to wind. All these must be available visually, and valid for all phases of flight. The instrument trainee is a much more Ian Beattie-Edwards is a director of Beattie-Edwards Aviation Ltd of Crawley, Sussex, supplier of flight simulators. experienced pilot who must now fly the aircraft only with reference to the instruments provided in the cockpit, A modern cockpit has several instruments, but only a limited number are essential to safe flight. The remainder are provided to make life easier, and in some cases almost make the pilot redundant. For example, there is a basic layout called the T, which was developed by the military in the early days of flying to help pilots make a regular scan of the primary flight instruments. These essential instruments are the giro compass, artificial horizon, turn and slip, climb and descent, air-speed indicator and possibly an engine rpm counter. The pilot must then scan the remainder of the instruments, including the navigation instruments, at a less Frequent rate to ensure a safe flight. The final type is the cockpit procedural trainer, designed to assist experienced pilots to convert more quickly and cheaply to a new type of aircraft. The idea is that the pilot learns the position of switches, selectors and indicators and the inter- relation between them. There is no attempt to mimic the aircraft's performance. The pilot then goes on to the simulator which might just be an instrument simulator or, more likely, a fully visual simulator. Most modern instrument and visual simulators have sound, vision and motion to provide realism. Only smell is missing. A real-life cockpit — the Airbus Industrie A31Q. 122 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 * Simulator Supplier Runs on Type 737 Flight simulator Salamander BBC B V/l 747 Landing simulator Atari APX Atari limited V/l 747, Airbus, Molimerx Tandy; 747 for the Concorde BBC B AinSim-1 * Mind Systems Apple II V! Cleared for landing* Programmers Software/BEA Apple II V/l Dawn Patrol Apple II combat simulation Dragonfly Hewson Dragon 32 Flight Simulation* Psion Spectrum 48K V/I Flight Simulator Microsoft IBM PC V/l Fly One Kuma Sharp MZ-SOA Heathrow ATC* Jumbo Hewson Spectrum Tandy, Genie, BBC B air-traffic control Jumbo Jet Pilot Thorn EMI Atari V/l ISlightflite Hewson Spectrum V/l Pilot Sinclair ZX-81 16K limited V/l Space Shuttle Microdeal Dragon 32 Space Shuttle V/l Spitfire Ace Microprose/BEA Atari 32 K combat simulation Spitfire Simulator Mind Systems/ BEA Apple !1 combat simulation TR&fFFSI, A2-FS1 Sub-Logic Recommended, BE A: Beattie-Ed wards Aviation Ltd V/l: visual/instrument Tandy, Apple II Flight simulation Night flite for the Sinclair Spectrum, by Hewson Consultants. Clearly a home computer cannot compete with the quality of simulation provided by the industry. But there is a new piece of kit* called MinLsim, currently available in America and soon to be distributed in the U.K t Mmisim is a dedicated comuter with rudder pedals and a control wheel, throttle, etc. which plugs into your TV or monitor. It correctly simulates the instrument flying required by the Federal Aviation Authority in America, and does so well enough to allow a reduction in mandatory training. The National Physical Laboratory is also investigating an economic visual instru- ment simulator that, when produced, should satisfy the medium-level training market — if the price is right. But back to reality. For most people, the only way they will ever fly a large or even a small aircraft is to fly a simulator. While none of the products on the market compares with the specification offered by the big machines or the real thing, most micros have several programs available. Those in the table marked with an asterisk are particularly recommended, but I have not tried all the packages lisLed. There are no cockpit procedural trainers on the home-computer market, as it is probably felt that it is not interesting enough to the general public. However, there are firms that specialise in producing computer simulations for training in supertankers, oil rigs and similar prob- lematical areas, so there is hope for a similar trainer for pilots When assessing a visual simulator make sure the view from the cockpit moves in relation to the control movements; it must bank and climb And whatever the simulator is designed to do, if it is simulating an aeroplane then you must have joystick control; keys for left, right, up and down movement are not acceptable for a realistic simulation. The refresh rate for the screen and the joystick read must be fast enough to ensure jump- free displays. Finally, the mathe- matical model used to simulate the aircraft must work in all axes, and the aircraft must be able to loop and stall correctly. As far as an instrument trainer is concerned, its main function is to ensure the scan rate is sufficient to ensure that the actions carried out by the pilot are the correct responses to the problem in hand. Q PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 123 Play for profit Learn how to run a company without going broke or landing up in jail. business games are now one of the most interesting areas of computing, with numerous amusing games for home micros and, at the other extreme, serious mainframe games that attract top-flight institutional entries. Business games did not start with computing. Perhaps the first really popular example of a business game was Monopoly, for which there was a craze in the States in the 1930s, during the great economic depression. Monopoly is, in fact, a property-management game, with its panoply of rents, mortgages, and house and hotel building. A substantial game with a number of participants will often have a separate banker to dole out the Monopoly money. Of course Monopoly remains popular today* and there are a number of versions for microcomputers including Monopoly, Space Monopoly and Do Not Pass Go. A Monopoly program listing for Commodore computers was published in the December 1982 issue of Practical Computing. There are distinct advantages to using a micro as the banker. It can take over the tedious chore of apportioning rents and, usually, will provide an electronic banking service. In this respect* at least, Monopoly gains from computerisation in a way that bears a resemblance to real life. At the other extreme, consider something like the Treasury model of the U.K. economy. This is an enormously elaborate computer model which is programmed to mimic the real behaviour of the economy as exactly as possible. Insofar as there are “rules” — the laws of economics — these are but dimly understood and thus appear to be frequently broken. The idea of the Treasury model is that Corplan has a substantial ring-bound manual, as suits a serious learning game. the government should be able to feed something into the system, such as an increase in VAT, and see the effect. If the real economy fails to follow the model then it is the model that is wrong. The complexities of the problem were covered in an article by John Hudson, The U.K. Budget on a Micro, in the July 1983 issue of Practical Computing. Whether they are done seriously or for amusement* it is computers that make such simulations possible, by providing the calculating power to work out all the very complex implications of financial actions. They are far too arduous and time consuming to be done manually, but without them the simulation ends up being trivial. One reason why the Treasury model* or any model, of a whole economy is of doubtful use is that the real economy is not a closed system. Actions by other countries* over which the government has no control, may have far-reaching consequences. Thus, in a small way, when sterling crashes for political reasons, shopkeepers on the South Coast benefit from a flood of cross- channel shoppers. The performance of an individual company can be modelled more accurately, though even here a reasonably constant national background must be assumed. This is the basis for a number of management games where the aim is to maximise one particular aspect of its performance — either profits, production or employment. This is the approach taken in the National Management Game* sponsored by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the Financial Times and ICL, in association with the CBl and the Institute of Directors. This year’s finalists are teams from M&G, Rediffusion Radio Systems, and Watney Combe Reid. Another example is Corplan — short for Corporate Planning — which is avail- able for a number of micros from Game Machine Publisher Acquire Apple II, TRS-80, Pet Avalon Hilt Airline Atari, TRS-80, Tandy CoCo Adventure Internationa! Airline ZX-B1, Spectrum Cases Computer Software Auto Chet ZX-81, Spectrum Cases Computer Software - Boardroom Spectrum 48K, ZX-81 16K Wessexsoft Cartels & Cuthroats Apple 11 St arte c h Champions BBC, Dragon, Spectrum, ZX-81 Peaksoft Comanex* CP/M Sapphire Systems Company Director* TRS-80 Molimerx Conflict A ZX-81, Spectrum Martech Games Corn Cropper ZX-81, Spectrum Cases Computer Software Corplan* Apple 19, Nascom, Pet BBC, Spectrum, TRS-80 Understanding Ltd Dallas ZX-81, Spectrum Cases Computer Software Dictator Spectrum 48K dkTronies Do Not Pass Go Spectrum Work Force Domination Atari Atari APX Energy Czar Atari Atari Everest Ascent Spectrum 48K Richard Shepherd Flexi-Game* BBC B Ulster Mgmt Centre Football Manager Spectrum 48K Addictive Games Galactic Empire Atari Adventure International Great Britain Ltd Spectrum 48K Simon Hessetl Kingdom Atari Atari Millionaire Apple II, Atari, IBM PC Blue Chip Software Miner Newbrain Computasolve Monopoly ZX-81 MPT Ocean Trader ZX-81 Guicksflva Print Shop ZX-81, Spectrum Cases Computer Software Ship of the Line Spectrum Richard Shepherd Space Monopoly Dragon Microdeal Space Trader Dragon Abacus Taipan 'serious games Spectrum Jaysoft 124 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December J 983 i Business simulation 23466 7B 2346 3346 2346 irr Dictator you have to pay for a secret police report to see how you are doing- Understanding Ltd. Corplan provides an introduction to corporate planning through its simulation oT an imaginary company making corples* The company is run by three people: a production director, a sales director and a finance director. Corplan is a very detailed management game, to the extent oT using double-entry book keeping. It was originally developed on a DEC 10 and a mainframe at the University of Birmingham, before being shifted to the Tandy TRS-80 micro because mainframes were simply not transportable. Radio Shack in the United States has done a considerable amount of work extending and Americanising the original package, and it forms the basis oT its push into universities and colleges* Corplan *$ co-author Martin Mitchell says the game is based on around 100 economic equations and is quite usable up to the level of Masters degree in Business Administration. It is already used as a training aid by a number of major companies including Carreras Rothmans, and is the basis of a national competition run by the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants in conjunction with Tandy (U.K.)* The aim of the game is to maximise profits; go wrong and you go bust. Comanex, from Sapphire Systems, is a similar game, specially written for micros* It is currently available on CP/M-86 for the IBM PC and requires 8QK to run, but a version is being produced for the Research Machines 380-Z for the schools market* Like Corplan, Comanex is designed to give players insight into the running of a typical manufacturing company, and to illustrate how the company's accounts reflect their operations, and how the various accounts fit together. Comanex also has a couple of extra points. First, the skill level can be set by the administrator. Second, random events are built in to simulate some of the risks, uncertainties and surprises of real-life company operations. Sapphire says its game is used and approved by leading manageent con- sultants, and that a major professional institution is going to use it as the basis for a national schools-managcment competition, yet to be announced. The Ulster Management Centre’s business simulation is called Flexi-Game and runs on the BBC Model B* Factors m hopper fuel CBS PER FILL i petrocheh HO /WIT Hunch m ✓UNIT EV**THQ«UNCH e /UHIT eODSTERSRICC ra /imrr SOLD m ✓unit Xj Quicksiiva’s Trader on the Spectrum contains little actual trading activity. involved include price, quality, sales promotion, advertising, trends and seasonal variations, stock control, investment and cash flow* It is one of the few serious business games to use graphics, which should make it suitable for use in schools* However, it would be dangerous to be patronising. Most of the national business game competitions seem to be won by teams of schoolboys, while teams from the major banks go bust, and those from the major political parties finish near the bottom of the league. There are numerous other programs where the accent is on the game rather than the business. The Dictator from dkTronics, allows you to run a banana republic on a 48K Spectrum. You have to balance the interests of the various factions such as the army, the peasants, the landowners, the guerillas and the secret police. Your aim is to salt away as much cash as you can in your Swiss bank account, then make a dash for it in your Suppliers Atari International (LUC) lnc. f Atari House, Railway Terrace, Slough, Berkshire SL2 5BZ. Cases Computer Simulations, 14 Langton Way, London 3E3, dkTronics, 23 Sussex Road, Gorleston, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. MPT, 42 Raedwald Drive, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. Peaksoft, 7 Hawthorn Crescent, Burton on Trent, Staffordshire. Sapphire Systems, L3 Park Avenue, Ilford, Essex 1G1 4LU. Simon W Hesse!, 15 Lytham Court, Cardwell Crescent, Sunning hill, Berkshire. The National Management Game, Institute of Chartered Accountants, PO Box 433, Chartered Accountants Hall, Moorgate Place, London WC2. Ulster Management Centre, Manor House, Rathlm Island, County Antrim. Understanding Ltd, The Production Village, 100 Crtcklewood Lane, London NW2 2DS, Work Force, 140 Wilsden Avenue, Luton, Bedfordshire, helieopror before the inevitable revolution leads to your assassination. This game also throws in random events to spoil your plans. You can be invaded by nearby Leftoto or find banana prices drop by 98 percent. Atari's Kingdom allows you — more seriously — to run a small agricultural community. Items of concern include the number of people starved, number of immigrants, the quantity of land owmed, the bushels per acre harvested and the bushels eaten by rats. Your aim is to keep the maximum number of people alive, in which case you are popular and get elected for another term of office. If you have grander aspirations there is Simon Hessel’s Great Britain Ltd, for the 48 K Spectrum, which makes you prime minister. This time your aim is to stay in power for as long as possible — just like real life — so you soon learn to expand the health service and build new schools just before an election. However, it must be said that the program, while amusing, is not a serious economic model. Cases Computer Simulations, run by M R Lloyd- Jones MBCS, MBIM, also has a good range of business games for both the 2X-81 and Spectrum. In Print Shop, for example, you have to juggle the number of staff and machines, paper stock, job-cost estimates and production schedules to try to make a profit. The number of orders is randomised to make life difficult. If you are looking for a business game to buy, remember that not everything with ‘Trader” in the title is a real business game. The Trader Trilogy from Quicksilva, for the Spectrum, has some amusing graphics but the amount of buying and selling involved is extremely limited. A good business game must be cyclical, whether the business is run weekly or monthly, or there is no chance to apply the lessons learned. Also the random factors must not have too great an effect on the final result* It may be funny to be wiped out by an unforseen disaster, but business games are not meant to be all that funny. What they can do, at their best, is introduce people — both children and adults — to business concepts that they might not otherwise meet, and to do it in an entertaining way* This is not to say that everyone has to agree with the way business is done. But it is certainly a good idea to know about it. Q PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 125 A voice from the dungeon Drawing on his experience running Essex University’s Mud, Richard Bartle speculates on the possibilities of multi-user games. one of the most intriguing prospects envisaged by games players is a multi- player version of Adventure, You would not only be pitted against fiends provided by the game designer but could also be thwarted by another player, who might well appear out of the blue and mug you for all your treasure! Although proper multi-player Adventure-type games are probably a fair way off for micros, programmers have already taken advantage of the resources available on the larger, time-sharing mainframes to make the first experiments along these lines. Multi-User Dungeon is the first and, so far as 1 know, the only large-scale up-and-ru lining multi-player Adventure, h is written fro the DEC System 10 mainframe — which happens to be the same make of machine as the one on which the original Adventure look its first few steps. Mud originated at Essex University, where its kernel was written in 1979 by a then undergraduate, Roy Trubshaw. Even in its infant form, the game easily overtook Adventure in popularity among the students. When Trubshaw left in 1980 I took over control of the program and expanded it to its present-day form. Mud runs on the university's DEC System 10, which has a KL-10 processor running under Tops- 10 monitor version 7. Communication between players is by shared data using a writable, sharable segment of physical memory. It runs in around 64K 36-bit words, much of which is the shared data, and uses another 40K in random-access disc files for non-changing information such as text. For speed it is written in BCPL, When he wrote Mud, T rubshaw aimed to produce a multi-player game with a Game modifiable database. The modifiable database was required to allow changes to be made quickly and easily, without having to recompile the Mud program itself — which is similar to the state of not changing your Basic interpreter in order to modify your Basic program. It was considered undesirable that the program might otherwise have hardwired within itself a line to, say, check if the bear were following you, as is the case in Adventure. Whai if the database designer wanted a world without a bear, but with some other animal instead, or a world with a bear which was not quite so friendly? Mud's database is written in a language called Multi-User Dungeon Definition Language, MUDDL, It has undergone many enhancements from which it has emerged with a quirk or two, but is definitely a success. Ii only takes about two minutes to add a new room, the connections to other rooms, the associated objects and the things you can do to them. It is all done with a normal editor, and the resulting program is compiled by DBase, the database loader, which sets up all the internal representations so that Mud itself can come along, eat, and interpret. Th e p rogram s t ru ct u re al I o ws great flexibility and permits Muds to be chained together so that leaving a room from a certain direction might pul you imper- ceptibly into an adjacent room which is actually in another Mud, running with an entirely different world. The only penalties are not being able to talk across such Muds or take things over with you. Such facilities would require shared data, a luxury unavailable between programs. Of course, within the same world, communication is very heavy. A Mud can be likened to an interpreter trundling over a program, which happens in this case to be a description of an environment. Players run one of the interpreters and play in its world, but that Mud may run another version loaded with different data in order to give the impression that the world it represents is larger than what it can actually hold. Modifiable databases permit appli- cations for programs in many non-game worlds. The two clasic non-Adventure examples are taxi drivers “on the knowledge* * and biology students travelling through the human body: “You are now heading up the superior vena cava. On your right you can see . . Other applications are not too difficult to imagine — say, finding your way in advance across the London Underground, or following current along electrical circuits. Home computers are unlikely to use this facility, at least for the next few years. Storing instructions implicitly as a program, that is procedurally, is more compact than storing the same information explicitly as data and then interpreting it. So until larger memories become commonplace it will always be more economic to hardwire a program. Why program in MUDDL when Basic is halfway to being as good and you probably have a Basic interpreter already? Besides, what software manufacturer is going to release games interpreters which run a language so simple a child can write Adventures if this means they will not sell so many of their own games as a result? Another reason we will not be seeing home computers with multi-player Adventures in the near future is that their implementation is likely to involve one micro running a series of slaves, rather than a network or ring of independent machines. Runs on Apple, Atari, Tandy Apple, Atari Atari, BBC, Commodore 64, Lynx, Nascom, Oric Spectrum Apple, Atari, Commodore 64, IBM PC, Vic-20 Spectrum 48K, Oric, Commodore 64, BBC Apple, Atari, Vic-20 Apple, Atari, Commodore 64, IBM PC, Tandy, DEC, CP/M Publisher Adventure International Muse Level 9 Epyx Melbourne House Sierra On-Line/Melbourne Infocom Comments Scott Adams series lastest rave mainframe classic has graphics has graphics ciassics Adventures 1-12 Castle Wolfenstein Colossal Adventure Temple of Apshai The Hobbit The Wizard & the Princess Zork 1, II, III 126 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 E96L J0QUJ9D9Q ONIindWOO IVDIiOVHd LZl (6Zi uo panutntoo) 3 qj jo ^iiios ' uoa\ noX SuiuinssE ‘siuiod Of inoq e noX p2 pjnoAv ‘Xipju^ppui ‘uiiq 2rn\\m pUBUiuios §uo| Xjess 333 u 3qi ino adXi 01 p 3 JBd 3 Jd sje noX 3 ini] Xj 3 a 3 jutod ^jSTLijs e noX sill’s 9 qniqAv 1 JuSSaq 3 qi Sut^piq si uoqd 33 X 3 X[tio sqi pBXjp sqi ^uyniq jo uoiiod 341 Euiquup uf se ‘uopsanb ui p 3 fqo 3qi jo uonotuisap 3A(0 aui Xsqi inq ‘duiBA\s sqi ut sSuiqi guiddoip uiojj 1JE dE SJUjOd pS OJ SXEAV J3qiO 3JE 313 41 usppiq si umojo sqi 3J3qM aippiui 3qi ui jjq Xip 3i(j oi qBnoiqi 3inoj sqi puy oi uoilBJsdo-os pssu noX os ‘sisXEjd die supu £ uiquis-uou Xjuo 3m quis isnf Asqi se * sp 3 fqo Suiddoip jo poqpui ieuoiupauod sqi Xq paddEtu sq lOUUES ipjqM ‘jpsu szeui snoiuofruf he SB ssjqnop ‘XnBiuappui * diUBMS 341 szbui piEXsAEjS sqi qSnoiqi noX SpE3| ]I 3STlE33q UQfl 31(1 JO 3H3niElS 31(1 dss^ oi p 3 iuEM noX lEqi jouoq m ssymi noX usqi ‘siEsddEsip sinsBSJi sqi siufod Sqi 3J0SS puB *J3A3lEqA\ JO 44 3JnSB3JJ dOJQ,, XBS ‘UI q(BA\ noX ESSES qSJEUJ sqi oi iq^n Snaps dn jpsmoA A\ojq ion op noX mqi os puEjq jnoX pssnop Suiabh * qoEq q pS lou p(n 0 A\ noX if dojp oi 3 j 3 a\ noX ji IBqi snoiAqo Xipjd si }\ os £ dlUBA\S E OX 3inSE311 UED 01 3ABL| noX pUJAj UI 'JESddESlp 01 SuioS SBA\ If 3SIIE3J 10 U pip noX ji 3 uiB[q oi jpsjnoX 3 ABq Afuo noX PUE ‘if 33S pS3U 3S]3 3U0 OU tSJIlSESJl UA\0 jnoX ioj siuiod 3J0DS ues no^ ‘sjuibu Xjsa ii 3 qi Xq 313 qi tuoij dn sSuiqi pid oi 3jqE 3q 10U l(TM noX 1 EI|X UlE(d 3pEUl SI 1 ( S33Ejd P3P3]3S UmiJ33 UI psddOJp U9qA\ JE3ddBSip 3inSE3Ji 3qi 3 ^eui o] si uoiinjos oqx ■3JnSE3ll Supq SB J 19 M SE ‘SJOOp pUE S33J1 UMOp sdoip puE 3id03d s\yi){ 3XE sqi :s 3 sn xsqio SEq 3JT1SE3JI 31(1 U31J0 3SHE03q *11 1E3 LU3qi 3>[Em JO ‘PESISUI dn If s>|3fd 3U03UI0S 3111(1 XJ 3 A 3 !E 3 ddESlp If 3AEq ISnf 10UUE3 HO^ ■^ ( 3lSEUI„ ISnf 1011 pilE — 33UEJE3ddES]p Slf JOj U0flEUE(dX3 3[qfSE3J E p33U noX * 33 E|d 3 qj ui psddoap u 3 qA\ JE3ddESip 3 i 35 JEUJ noX ji + 3 iq£]iEABun X|qEipiS 3 i 3JE noX jo iuojj ui 3 i 3 qi Su]Xi spsfqo 3 qi lEqi p(Oi 3 q oi SuiXoutm Xpsusiui si 11 du ii >(3id oi Xu puE SuO(E auioo iqSiui ssp 3U03U10S iBqi ui 3 ]qojd 3 qi 3 ABq noX sixieS laXBid-iiinui b uf inq ppqM3Uios sSuiqi Sufddojp JOJ P3J03S 3JE SlUfOd ‘S3U1BS J3XB(d-3|SuiS UI ‘XlIElUJOfsl Suiqi 31UBS 3 i[i op pm? 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Please send large s.a.e. for full details. i muh ' .j i' .h TRADE ENQUIRIES WELCOME. VISA 128 Soft option SOFTWARE -CENTRE — r The Soft Option (UK) Ltd. Home Farm House Colsterworth Grantham Lincolnshire NG33 5HZ Tel: Grantham (0476) 860171 • Circle No. 161 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 Adventure V\ {continued from page 127 j tasks are surprisingly complex: for example, finding the rope to fix to the gunpowder to put in the cannon, finding the metal ball to load the cannon and lighting the rope to discharge the cannon at a sturdy door. Safe places to hide treasure are in short supply too. Only a certain number of objects may be carried, depending on your dexterity and only up to a certain weight, depending on your strength. Although bags and pack animals will to some extent alleviate this problem, they often prevent you going where you want. The ox will not jump off the cliff with you even if you have got the umbrella, and even if it is open. There is no guarantee that leaving an object in one place will mean that it will still be there when you return. It is a case of finders keepers, and your beautiful gold-bound book may be being used to feed the goat by then. The solution is to employ a guard or put it somewhere such as a locked room where no one else can reach it — but then your keys may be stolen from you. For those who like the idea of posterity, messages and advice for future players can be left behind. The main debating forum is the captain's logbook on a wrecked ship out to sea. Comments ranging from t£ PascaI rules OK” to “Dragons kill 99 percent' of known mortals” have been left for the benefit and edi fiction of future generations of Adventurers. Most exploring is done by logging the game in a file and looking at it later, It is a handy device, but not of much practical use on any micro version, primarily because the game can be printed out on the printer as you play. Also useless unless you are in a timesharing environment is the Bug feature — well it bugs me — which allows players to complain about any aspect of I he program which they think is wrong. V have just completed a map of where all the terminals in Essex University are, so that in the future it may append to a message “You have been killed by Nic” the note l i who is sitting two rows behind you to your left ...” One feature which enhances Muds — though it is a complete waste of time in single-user dungeons — is being able to sleep to recuperate your lost stamina, say after a hard slog at a zombie. You get back a point every 10 seconds or so, but of course if some vindictive type chances upon you while you slumber, you cannot expect to be playing for much longer. Originally Mud had a Debug mode to check out new sections of the database. It is tedious to have to get the coracle to brave the shark to reach the island in order to find the acorn to give to the squirrels when you eventually get back. Now r called Wizard mode, Debug mode has evolved into a sort of on-going end-game which continues to fascinate even master players who have been in 4,000 games or so. It is Wizard mode which makes Mud something more than just a taned-up single-user game. Flying around and glowing in the dark while in Debug mode are quite useful features, and after a while other perks were inserted with only a little extra work. Being able to look in rooms without going there, kill people with a single blow, pick up objects from any room without having to fly there first, find the location of objects without having to search for them — all these were a cinch to put in for debugging, and made life comfortable for the program maintainers. The change came with the Snoop command. It allows someone in Debug mode to see what is on the screen of some other player, without that other player knowing. Suddenly, a command became available to the elite which was not actually any use for debugging. After I first implemented the facility, I spent the next three hours just sitting watching the other players stumbling around asking each other stupid questions and eventually managing to cook up an intelligent solution to all the traps I had laid on for them. It was a revelation. So was born Wizard mode. It came at a useful time, too: as with most Adventure- type games, once you have all the points it is a case of “So what now?” In the pre- programmed, non-random games such as the original Adventure and the superb Zork there is an end-game which you may enter once you have earned most or all of the points. The end-games soften the blow because they are specially constructed climaxes, and a new section conies as a welcome surprise if you know the rest of the place like the back of your hand. But then, that’s it. You have finished. You go out and buy a new disc with a new game, and start off from scratch. In Mud, the concept of a level was borrowed from the real-world game Dungeons and Dragons, from which Adventure took the original fantasy role- playing idea.’ D&D still beats computer versions hands-down because people are better dungeon masters than computers — and you cannot threaten a computer when things do not go your way. A player in Mud starts off as a novice, and when anyone meets them in the flesh or types Who, to see who is playing, they are told that, say, Polly is here. After 300 points, Polly goes up a level and becomes Polly the Warrior. Strength, dexterity and stamina go up by 10 too. After 600 points it would be Polly the Heroine and after 1 ,2000 Polly the Champion, As the points double successively Polly becomes the Super- heroine, followed by Enchantress, Sorceress, Necromancess, Legend and finally, at 76,800 points. Witch. At this stage, strength, etc. are at the maximum of 100, although that does not really matter since wizards can change any of their attributes when they like* As you reach higher levels of experience you accrue abilities and magical talents* For example, at Enchanter level the deadly magic wand — a sort of medieval laser — can be used to dot off most of the denizens of the land without so much as a by your leave* The ability to cast certain spells appears if you are in possession of the relevant magical item. Such magic lets you see what other players are doing, summon people to where you are so that you can attack them, find out w r here items are, and so on. In short, they are the least dangerous of the Wizard mode commands. On reaching that final level, the Wizard mode password is revealed, and for you the game has entered a new dimension. All the time you have been playing you were being pestered by wizards who kept appearing with crashes of thunder, and disappearing in puffs of smoke. If you were stuck they have miraculously known, and you have suddenly found yourself in possession of just the item you needed to get you out but which you dropped in the fiery pit by accident. You have been w r hisked from the centre of the maze to somewhere you actually recognised, and reluctantly put back if it turned out you were not lost in the first place. You have attacked the pompous, know-it-all, god- like so-and-so’s and been ground into the floor first hit; insulted them and found things typed on your screen you did not type. But now you have made it to wizard yourself you can teach them , . , The first thing you notice is that the prompt has changed from a boring old * to an impressive magic wand * . Next you {continued on next page} PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 129 4 ft Adventure (con tin ued fron i pro i f ioi is page) observe that you are told the names of all the objects you come across, so you can see what is lurking hidden in a room even if mortals cannot. You can switch the rain on and trap someone underground when it floods the river. Hmm, useful. Then all of a sudden you get a message: ‘‘Cynthia has started to play Mud having pi ay ed 0 t i m es be fore ' \ Aha! * 4 Get fl o wer from garden. Go start. Give flower to Cynthia. Hiva, Cintb! 1 ’ From maniacal. paranoid, kih-it if Amoves legend you have transformed into kindly, benevolent, tolerant, omnipotent wizard. You will soon pick up some of the other nifty Wizard mode commands, such as an attach/detach feature which lets you play two or more characters at once and swap between them. One moment you are a wizard, the next a simple novice asking dozy questions to egg players on so that you can give them a bit of what for when they set about you with an axe. Oh, that feeling of veiled power! Ad vent u redike games can be improved drastically by better descriptions, graphics of some quality and by the increased experience of the games designers them- selves, Having the odd multi-user game on resource -sharing micros will enliven many an evening, but the real fun only comes when the players do not necessarily know each other and are of varying degrees of experience. The database must be large enough not to bore players by making them get most of their points in several nigh identical sessions. In Mud, if you get all the treasure you pan make wizard in four games Having several other players in at the same time makes this harder, but you get more points for each individual item and for winning fights* What 1 would like to see — and it’s a long, lopg way off — is some local or national network with good graphics, sound effects and a well designed set of worlds of varying degrees of difficulty. In this true meritocracy, you will forever be encountering new situations, new diffi- culties, new solutions, and above all new people. Everyone starts off on an equal footing in this artificial world. It is doubtful whether multi-userness is going to he more than just a novelty among the better-off home-computer enthusiasts for a good while yet. Setting up a network over telephone or cable TV lines would have to be big enough business to attract more than just the hobbyist, too. So perhaps we will eventually see a decline in the popularity of the micro Adventure and an increase in a more continuously running campaign* Still, who wants to play in a game full of primary schoolkids going around locking you in small rooms just for laughs? Mind you, they wouldn't if there was a wizard watching , . . well have to wait and see. |3 EXTEND YOUR BASIC WITH THESE NEW CO MMANDS INDEX * File records by name * Fast retrieval by key * Fast sequential retrieval * Balance Tree files * Cross reference keys SORT * Fast sorting * Comma delimited files * Fixed length files * Sorts INDEX files * Compatible with Wordstar SCREEN CONTROL * On line screen design * Automatic data validation * Screen editing features * Adaptable for any VDU * Memory mapping as BASIC as the knife and fork USE OUR TOOLS FOR NEATER, QUICKER CODE - All of these tools have been specifically designed for use with Microsoft BASIC (interpretive or compiled) but can be linked for other languages. They will run on any CP/M machine with 8080 or Z80 processor They are all written in machine code for maximum efficiency and full source code listings arc given in the manuals, with full instructions on how to implement and install them, PRICES INDEX Manual £9.95 SORT Manual £13.50 SCREEN Manual £9.95 Diskettes £50 each, excluding VAT. Standard format, IBM single sided single density 8". Other formats can he supplied - enquire for full list Dept F FREEPOST EM 463 (No stamp) 172 Kingston Road, Ewell, Surrey KTI90BR telephone 01-393 0283. 24 Hour answering. Prices include postage but for air mail delivery in Europe add 90p (outside Europe add £2.20) per item. _ Access and. Visa welcome • Circle No. 22A 130 PRACTICAL COMMUTING December 1983 PHIPPS ASSOCIATES O » Software So Powerful You’d Buy A Computer To Use It One Personal Pearl can do all this .... INCOME TAX Individual Tax Management Individual Tax Planning INVENTORY CONTROL Business Inventory Inventory Accounting Inventory Conlrol Inventory Management Materials Tracking Order Enlry/ Inventory Control PoInl-of-Sate Relail System Properly Manager ol Moveable Equipment Rental Business Retail Inventory Stock Conlrol JOB & CONTRACT COST ACCOUNT Contract Billing Contractor Job Cos! Cost Accounling Equipment Costing Job Cost Accounling Projecl Cost Accounling for Architects Project Cost Accounling for Engineers MAILING LIST & LABEL PROCESSING Address Book Mailing Li&l Commercial Mailing Name £ Address Management School Mailing Small Business Mailing & Filing MARKETING SALES ANALYSIS □ If ice and Agenl Productivity Proposal Developer Sales Analysis Sales Management Program Sales Projecl Management Sales Tracker ORDER ENTRY ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE Accounts Receivable Cash Receipts Company Sales Invoicing Membership Billing Multi- Properly Accounts Receivable Order Enlry Order Tracking Purchase Order Sales Invoicing Sates Ledger PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT Personnel Management Personnel Data Recorder Personnel Record PROFESSIONAL OFFICE SYSTEMS Insurance Broker Client Billing System Denial Accounting and Billing Den la! Office Management Legal Billing & Timekeeping Legal Time Accounting Medical Office Management Fatten I Accounting Pattern Billing & Accounts Receivable Pat ten I Scheduler Professional Time and Billing PURCHASING/SALES ACCOUNTING Safes Ledger Bought Ledger Accounts Payable Cash Disbursements Posting Check Writer Company Purchases Contractor Accounts Payable Purchase Ledger PROPERTY Flat Management Commercial Property Management Listing Office/ Apartment Management Properly Management Rental Management Tenant Processing TIME MANAGEMENT AND SCHEDULING Agenda Files Appointment Calendar Personal Daiebook Staff Appointments Time Management WORD PROCESSING Business Form Design Form Letter Index Cards . . . and more ACCOUNTING Asset Record Accounts Management Bookeeping System Business Accounling Business Check Register and Budget C lien I Accounling Construction Accounting Delivery Service Automation Depreciation Calculations and Reports Executive Accounting Fixed Asset Accounting Fixed Asset Depreciation Fund Accounting Multi-Journal Accounling Nominal Ledger AGRICULTURE CAPITAL PROJECTS Project Management Project Planning Project Scheduling Project Tracking distribution Beer Distribution Management Inventory, Order Entry, Invoicing Oil Jobber Management Order Entry and Inventory Control Retail Management Wholesale Distribution Address File Auto Records Checkbook Balancing Checking Account Management Diet Analysis Financial Analyzer Grocery List Home Finance Home Inventory File Magazine File Mortgage Analysis Personal Accounting Personal Expense Record Personal Finance Manager Adjusted Weaning Weights Cattle Feeding Management Corn Harvest Losses Cow-Calf Probability Crop Yields Farm Management Feeder Pig Production Field Population Field Size Generation Annotated Pedigree Herd Management Performance Job Cost (Crop COSl) Least Cosi Fertilizer Application Nel Energy for Feed tot Cattle Sheep Production Management Soil Erosion Soybean Harvest Losses Swine Production BUSINESS MANAGEMENT Budget Planning Business Productivity Business Planner Creative Financing Filing System Financial Planning Project Cost Control Projecl Planning and Budgeting Estate Agenls Repon System Retail Purchasing and Pricing Salary Planner Sales Analysis FINANCE, INVESTMENT & PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS Quotecharter Quoteprocessor Stock Porflolio Slock Tracker HOME MANAGEMENT EDUCATION Catalogue Cards Comparative Buying Income Meets Expenses Interactive Tutorials Job Rea din ess- Assessment Living Things Money Management Assessment Questions £ Answers in Biology Questions £ Answers in History MICROCOMPUTER PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED THE HOME OF MICROCOMPUTER SOFTWARE RnnmPPl. Tel: 01-591 6511 Central House, Telex: 892395 Cambridge Hoad. Barking, Essex IG1 1 8NT. • Circle No. 163 n Mi cro Use your BBC Model B as an image analyser with MicroSight I Available on BBC, Apple, Commodore, Research Machine, Sirius, etc, Includes Camera cables, interface, software and documentation. £495,00 + VAT MicroScale, Image processing software to calculate area and perimeter of objects within a specified window also to dimension features. Disk and printer dumps of binary and grey scale data, £295.00 + VAT MicroEye Vision Interface. 256 x 256 pixel resolution with 255 grey levels per pixel comes complete with software and document- ation, Can be used for video tape digitising Satallite picture analysis etc. Available for BBC, Apple, Commodore, Research Machine, Sirius etc. £295,00 + VAT DIGITHURS Digithurst Ltd, Leaden HilJ. Orwell. Royston. Herts 5 G 85 QH Tel: 10223) 208926 andcominitaywBjj^H TOIIN CASSETTE INTERFACE F0RTHETRS-80 This add-on I/O Port Smultane- Model I Level ! '^SJSSSSe decks which unW -ssssfsr Stor es d^a mceWe(Hro^sensorsa^dig^ta a computer. being measured change sioy^ portab i e an d required over ^ J™ e(d p work. May be used W Mh o^ercomputere with minor modification. • Circle No. 165 Disky AAA Grade diskettes Top Quality Media - at the right price from the number one supplier. HALs huge stocks mean immediate availability of the right diskette whatever your system. Write or phone for your free Disky compatibility list. Or, to place your order, dial direct on any one of our six telephone sales lines. ★ MO FUSS ★ MO WAITING ★ TOTAL SERVICE FROM A TEAM THAT UNDERSTANDS DISKETTES AND COMPUTERS Sales hot line number 0252517171 Exclusive U.K. Agent HAL Computers Ltd*, Invincible Road, Farnborough, Hants. GU147QU • Circle No. 164 132 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 4 Games choice Jack Schofield picks the micro games which stand up best to the test of time. once upon a time it was possible for someone to have heard of all the microcomputer games available, and to have played most of them. Now few people know more than a tiny proportion* Just keeping track of the publishers would be a full-time job. Computer games programs are now as emphemeral as paperback novels. Under the circumstances, choosing a Top 10 is extremely foolhardy, not to say arrogant* What I can plead in mitigation is that, as a reviewer, I have had the chance to try more games on more different machines than most people could stomach* To further balance the selection, I have chosen a wide range of games that I know are all among the best of their type, if not the best. I have deliberately not picked my latest favourites such as Thom-EMPs Computer War. Games which are exciting now may in time lose their attraction, especially if the main appeal is the sound and graphics. That happened to me with Preppie. Some of the Top 10 have been around for years, and Pm confident they will stand the test of time* But I have not just picked my own favourites, or Atari’s Centipede would be among them, with Zaxxon by Datasoft, to name but two* All the games chosen satisfy other people too* If there isn’t room for all my favourite games, almost by definition there isn't room for yours. Fans of such gems as Ultimate’s Jet-Pac, Broderbund's Chop- lifter, Atari's Pacman or Acornsoft’s Snapper, Atari’s Donkey Kong or Program Power’s Killer Gorilla, dk’Tronics’ Dictator or Addictive’s Football Manager will look for them in vain. Please do not write in and complain until you’ve tried all those in my selection. If you get the chance to try them, I think you will like them. The Top 10 selection is overleaf. Also worth checking out are: Choplifter, Zaxxon, Zork l/ll/ll, Miner 2049er and Bandits for the Apple II and Atari, Computer War, Donkey Kong, Missile Command, Qix for the Atari. Hover Bovver, Attack of the Mutant Camels for the Commodore 64. Donkey King for the Dragon 32. Jet-Pac, Manic Miner, Zzoom, Jumping Jack for the Sinclair Spectrum* Zaxxon for the Tandy Color Computer. Parsec, River Rescue for the TI-99/4a. ZaxxorHia^vondenLJi^cronin^hr^^SliTmnslonal graphics, but wilt it continue to stand up as a game? PRACTICAL COMPUTING. December 1983 133 CYRUS IS CHESS E10-E35 Chess programs nowadays play quite well, but the quest is still on for a machine that plays a more human — a more imaginative — game. Also, it helps to have extra facilities. The Cyrus iS chess program, written by Intelligent Software for the Spectrum! plays extremely well and won the second European Microcomputer championships in 1981. ft lets you save and replay games, set different levels and change during play, print out the moves and/or the board, take back moves and set up problem positions. You can also choose the colour of the black pieces. Format: Cassette for Spectrum from Sinclair and as Cyrus Chess for Dragon; on ROM for Atari; and disc for IBM PC from Parker Brothers* For. Plays well. Many functions. Against. Graphics of Spectrum version less attractive. DEFENDER In Williams' great arcade game you manoeuvre a needle- fighter above a rudimentary landscape, defending humanoids against green landers. Ideally you destroy all the landers first, but listen for humanoid cries. Check radar* zoom round, kill lander, catch humanoid and return him to the ground* You also have to shoot bombers, pods, swarmers and baiters. A lost humanoid becomes a kamrkaze-like mutant. Atari's licensed Defender Is a brilliant version with three levels of play. The only limitation is that a joystick does not give the starfighter feel of the original controls. Acornsoffs Planetoids rs a passable unlicensed version playable, after a fashion, from the keyboard. Format: ROM for Atari; Planetoids on cassette for BBC. For. Fast, gripping space game. Good sound effects and highly manoeuvrable fighter. Against. Too easy after first 60,000 points. Atari ROM only counts 99 attack waves. EASTERN FRONT £22-£30 War games have a reputation for being fiddly and tedious to play. Chris Crawford changed all that in Eastern Front by making the computer do ali the work. Playing it needs no board, no dice and no counters — just a joystick. Eastern Front simulates the German Barbarossa campaign of 194142, where the human plays the attackers and the computer the Russian defenders. The computer always wins though it is possible to take Moscow, which is more than Hitler managed. The graphics are amazing. The game map covers about 10 screens with single-pixel scrolling in all directions. It takes three hours to play. Avalon Hill also has Chris Crawford’s quicker game* Legionnaire. Format: ROM, tape and disc for Atari only; 16K for cassette. For. Easy to play. Good game. Good historical simulation. Amazing graphics* Against Takes three hours to play. No Save Game feature* For. Poetic* moving and tough as hell. Text only but with correct spelling. Save game feature* Against. Tedious tape loading* Disc version not available. FLIGHT SIMULATOR £42 Few outside the U.S. knew flight simulators like Airsim-1 and Cleared for Landing, for the Apple, so Microsoft’s Flight Simulator, developed from one of them, came as a revelation. It has a full-feature instrument panel, right down to the magneto, which closely follows a Cessna light plane. Full allowance Is made for wind and clouds, and if you fly around for long enough it gets dark. Meanwhile* the view out of the cockpit window — optionally front, left, right or down — shows a moving three-dimensional landscape. It is well-nigh perfect for frustrated flyers or learners* There is also a World War 1 flyrng-ace mode, where you can fight German biplanes. It is very, very difficult. Format: Disc for the IBM PC with colour-graphics card. For. Accurate, detailed simulation. Good but slow three- dimensional graphics. Against. Expensive equipment needed to run it. Check disc runs with your set-up before purchasing. COLOSSALADVENTURE £10 Adventure, written on a mainframe by Growther and Wood, has been crammed on to a micro, on tape, by Level 9 Computing. A whole new ending has been added, with 70 new locations* It has all been squeezed into 32 K by using data-compaction techniques, but the game still takes up to 10 minutes to load from tape. Then your quest takes you exploring the dangerous Colossal Caverns — if you can find them. You must collect all the treasures, get past the giant green snake, defeat the dragon and outwit the bridge troll. And if you do all this without getting killed maybe you will become a Grandmaster. Buy it immediately. Format: Cassette for Atari, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Lynx, Nascom, Research Machines, Spectrum* 134 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December T 983 Games top 10 GRIDRUNNER £5-£8 Imagine Centipede crossed with Iron and you get some idea of the flavour of this international hit by Jeff Minter of Llamasoft. Where Centipede is a novelty game Gridrunner is a technoflash effort suitable for the most bat tie-hardened veteran of the intergalactic space war. Your blaster runs on the tower portion of a grid down which stream the Gridsearch runners while you try to blast them. Meanwhile XY Zappers on the edge of the grid shoot at you from the side and underneath. There are great sound effects on the Atari and Commodore versions. It is possibly the fastest game in the Universe, but if you beat it try the even more vicious Matrix. Format: Cassette for Atari, Commodore 64 and Vic-20 by Llamasoft; for Dragon and Spectrum by Salamander. For. Ultra-fast brain- damaging action. Against. No disc versions. Seen on ROM only in America. SCRABBLE E16-E25 This is a computer version of the popular word game from J W Spear and Sons — a remarkable piece of programming which packs a vocabulary of around 10,000 words as well as the program routines into a 48K Spectrum. In the original Apple version the dictionary is held on the reverse of the program disc. The graphics of the two programs are quite different, and the Spectrum version has a particularly nice tile-shuffling routine. The computer will play from one to four parts, and at one to four skill levels. Average response time is under two minutes. At the highest level it plays a very good game, scoring on average from 350 to 450 points. Format: Cassette for 48K Spectrum; disc for 48K Apple; Commodore 64 and BBC Model B versions to come. For. Plays a good game to official rules. Quite fast. Good graphics. Save Game Feature. Against: Challenges some well known words and plays its own obscure ones. STAR RAIDERS £30 The cult TV series Star Trek fathered a series of slow, complex computer games. Star Raiders is a high-speed arcade version of the same idea, and probably the best computer game of all time. You have to destroy all the Klingons, preferably without losing any of your own Starbases. Then you get a rating. If you do it quickly enough, without taking any hits or stopping for repairs, you get a high rating. The game has four main screens: fore and aft views from the Enterprise windows, galactic chart, and long-range scan. Switching is instant. The best feature is the three- dimensional view of the action. If you have only played Star Raiders at Novice level, you haven't played it. Format: Atari ROM only. No rivals in the game galaxy. For. Brilliantly fast, complex, challenging space game. Against. Atari only. Needs three hands or Le Stick joystick. THE HOBBIT Melbourne House’s famous graphics adventure is based on Tolkien’s book of the same name, which is supplied with the game. It's called a graphics adventure because it includes about 30 still pictures of locations which are drawn when you get to them. This leaves room for only 80 locations in all, compared with Colossal Adventure’s 270. Still, The Hobbit has other qualities, Including a 500-word vocabulary and the ability to understand quite complex sentences. The game has a real-time element: you can’t sit around thinking because time passes. The adventure follows the book quite closely with you as Bilbo. Format: Cassette for Oric, Spectrum, Commodore 64 and BBC Micro, WAY OUT Maze games were an early feature of computer gaming, but there has never been a maze game like this one by Paul Edelstefn. It constructs three-dimensional mazes on the screen, and you can go careering through them at high speed using a joystick. There is a flash each time you bounce off a wall. Meanwhile the maze through which you pass is drawn at the bottom of the screen — as long as you have your compass. This can be stolen by the whirling cleptangle, so you have to chase that to get it back. Way Out offers 26 extremely realistic mazes, all with the same graphics, and keeps a record of the best score for the shortest way out of each maze. A two-player Mark II version is on the way. Format: Disc for Apple and Atari from Sirius Software. For* Attractive graphics. Large vocabulary. Time element. Many features, including text printout and Save Game. Against. Slow to load. Some bad grammar and spelling* For. Real-perspective high-speed moving graphics* Good sound effects. Against. Maze restricted In size on screen* Maze plan rather hard to see. PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 135 THE SORD M68 BRIDGES IHE GAP BETWEEN 8 & 16-BIT MACHINES Keep your 8-bit software and move across to 16-bit performance If you’re about to outgrow your 8-bit micro system but, naturally, can’t bring yourself to throw away that huge investment you’ve made in 8-bit soft- ware, focus on the new Sord M68. It features two separate central processing units in one powerful machine. There’s the reliable and respected Z80 8-bit CPU, partnered by the remarkable newlOMHz 6800016-bit CPU. The incredibly low-cost M68 will maintain your 8-bit software investment and give you 16-bit per- formance. It is the ‘bridge’ everyone has been looking for-and SORD have found. The M68 is PIPS compatible. PIPS is Sord’s simple no-program computer language for business. For further details or the address of your nearest SORD dealer, please phone 01-9304214. SDSD Specification 7.5mb Winchester Z80A 8-bit CPU Highlights 20mb Winchester 68000 16-bit CPU 10 MHz Software BASIC, FORTRAN, C, COBOL, PIPS CP/M 68k, CP/M-80, MS-DOS, USCD P-SYSTEM Word processing, SORD graphics language. S-NET Local Area Network from £1,300 Display 12in. green monitor. 12in. colour-16 colour graphics with a palette function of 491 3 colours. 206 o characters (80x25). 640x400 dot resolution. 512 character set I/O Serial ports -RS-232C. Parallel ports-1 (centronics compatible). GP-IB-1 port (IEEE-488). On-line terminal- IBM 3270 mainframe emulation ITHE JAPANESE EDGE M68 Mk41 - £2995 + VAT, includes 64K 8-bit RAM/256k 16-bit RAM, 2x1mb 5 '/tin. floppy disk, 12in. green CRT. PIPS III and C/Basic. M68Mk5- £3845 + VAT, as above but 2x1 mb 8in. floppy disk. TOKYO, NEW YORK AND NOW LONDON 01-930 4214 • Circle No. 1fi7 Cosmic circle T he image on the screen flickered, the colours chasing up through the visible spectrum and back again, and then steadied. “You see? 15 the Operator exclaimed, “I told you we're getting close to System failure.” The silence was punctured by the faint crump of exploding shells, and the display showed fountains of debris rising from the battlefield as salvo after salvo landed across the Roman trendies, “We've never had this problem before. How often has it happened?” queried the Observer. “Well” the Operator began, “it hasn't been too bad on an absolute scale — say, three or four times in the last 10 watches — but the check 1 ran shows the effect is increasing both in rate and intensity. I'd say we've less than half a watch before a malfunction serious enough to beat ail the error traps and cause a full scale crash.” The Observer pulled a long face. “Half a million years of system time, but only eight hours for real! I don't see how we can possible get the replacement up and running in time and link the two for transfer. Are you getting the same problem with other slots?” Swinging round to the main panel the Operator signed in a new co-ordinate set, “See for yourself’” he replied, waving towards the display. “I've left the tracer on so we can get instantaneous confirmation of any disparities. It slows things up a bit, but at this level the locals will never notice.” T he viewer showed an empty plain, straggly bushes and wiry grass The sound of wind and rain swirled out over the watchers. The Observer read off the tracer F/T-M output. “Salisbury Plain, England; 910573,7; matching to better than 10“ ,n percent 1 Seems OK. Jump it forward, say 100 System years.” The scene flashed bright, then faded to much the same place and time as before. The tracer readout, glowing gently green above the display, opined that reality and predicted reality again matched to better than 1 2 decimal places, “And again. And again”. Still no change. “Now give it, oh, a thousand years”. Before the flash had died away the tracer chimed softly, and its message flared into orange. Matching no better than 10 _ 2 percent. Error growing. “But I don't see anything wrong," complained the Observer. “It's there, just on the edge of the image.” As the Operator swung the display across an aiming graticule materialised in the field and locked on to the target “Close up, and run check 5”, ordered the Operator. The scene hurtled out of view around the edges, and the cross-hairs centred firmly on by John Hooper a circular arrangement of standing stones. The Tracer bonged softly, and noted in red that the match was now no better than 10“ l . Its rather synthetic voice said sweetly that the predicted reality was most definitely not capable of producing this artefact, adding that the stones were foreign to the site and the local technology Insufficient to erect them, let alone get them there in the first place. It suggested a probably UMOS error, and fell silent. “Oh, wonderful!” sneered the Observer. “Now f tell us something we don't know.” He signed for Control, and reported the matter, ending “And next time we re-equip they'll put in MP/C over my dead body! i am fed up to here with their rotten Universal Memory Operating System. Universal Cock-up System would be more like it!” T he indignant squawk in reply was missed by the Operator, who had switched to a command channel and was carrying out a Tull deep scan of the relevant memory store. The reality image had been replaced by an enlarged view of the store's main index, “Look,” the Operator exclaimed “this seems to be the problem!” He heightened a trail of disturbances running through the Index. “It's corrupted the pointers to this whole P/T sector. No wonder the matching w r as off; the data is effectively jumbled up like someone had given it a random shuffle! We're lucky we didn't get Stone Age mixed with Atomic Age!” The Observer grimaced, “Look's like a soft error to me,” he said, “But the size of it!” retorted the Operator. “Most SE’s I've seen have been spectacular but short, and the monitor program's repair section can design round them, but this — this extends through almost half the index. That's over a billion years system time!” His awed voice became plaintive. We'll never rescue this one!” The Observer had been listening to Control. “They say that at present rate their Monitor Program/Cosmos simulator predicts a zero match — disaster — in less than 5,000 years system time, and that the divergence will be uncorrectable within 2,000 years, which is about two minutes real time. They regret that the back-up file has been mislaid, and anyway things look too far gone for Transfer. They suggest we scratch, and start again,” The Operator sighed, “How many times will that be?! I've lost count,” the Observer smiled wryly, “but it's given us so much trouble I’m beginning to wonder if we'll ever get the bugs out of this Cosmos.” He turned to the Operator: “OK, take it away!” The Operator manually unlocked and removed a protective cover, revealing the Reset key. He glanced at the image, currently showing a silvery- white craft of some son lifting off with no visible means of support from the stone circle, now clearly a landing cradle. The tracer flashed an angry crimson Matching no longer meaningful Divergence critical at over 10 major points* and increasing. Recommend Abort Cosmos. He turned to the Observer, who nodded and depressed the key. The image cleared, and the viewer showed nothing but a centrally located hard point of light. The tracer P/T-M output, now in soft green, said, complacently, Cosmic Centre; 0.0000000. Match perfect. RUN Vi PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 137 A FLOPPY FOR YOUR MICRO SHARP TRS80 500K £182 • TWELVE MONTHS GUARANTEE AVAILABLE AS ONE OR TWO DRIVE SYBSYSTEMS • BACKED BY SERVICE COMPANY TO THE TRADE • DRIVE REPAIRS FROM £25 SPECIFICATION NAKED BOXED WITH PSV 250K 40 TRACK SS £142 £182 500K 40 TRACK DS £182 £222 1000K 80 TRACK DS £252 £300 PRICES DO NOT INCLUDE VAT i- (COMPUTER ENGINEERING) LTD 0225 742586 TOP SAVINGS PRINTERS- Also Available Seikosha, Oki, Star, Qume, Olivetti, TEC, Mannessman Tally. Epson RX80 £ 229 RX80 F/T 256 FX80 FAT 335 FX100 F/T 430 Diablo 630 (RO) 1699 Smith Corona TP1 299 Juki 6100 350 Ricoh RP1300S 945 RP1600S 1165 Brother HR15 419 COMPUTERS Commodore 8096 £ 735 64 165 1541 165 Epson HX20 375 QX10 1600 Spectrum 48 109 Prices exclude VA1. Next day insured delivery £10. Monday to Friday 9.00 - 6.00. Phone for stock availability and out of hours collection arrangements. MAYFAIR MICROS 5th FLOOR 65 DUKE STREET LONDON W1 Telephone 629 2487 CUBEFLEX 6809 2nd processor for the BBC micro 6809 + FLEX - the ultimate in 8-bit systems The BBC microcomputer is already so good, how can it be improved? FLEX is the only truly machine independent operating system for 8-bit processors. Even CP/M (for Z80) is machine specific to a significant degree. But take any standard 5 1/4" FLEX diskette and it will load on CUBEFLEX All variations of double or single sides, 40 or 80 tracks (if 80 track drives are fitted), and even double density (if an appropriate disk interface is fitted on the BBC) are automatically catered for. CUBEFLEX connects to the BBC via the TUBE, and uses the standard BBC disk interface and disk drives. All BBC facilities are unimpaired by the addition of CUBEFLEX, and can be called up or returned to at any time. The FLEX configuration parameters are held in EPROM, and the unconfigured FLEX diskette is read in and initiallised upon entry of the start-up command. CUBEFLEX 6809 2nd Processor unit £299 Unconfigured FLEX diskette + manual £130 CUBEFLEX for education and software development CUBEFLEX is supplied with a number of useful machine code handling facilities, and FLEX itself comes complete with a text editor and machine code assembler for 6809. However, the real strength of FLEX is the enormous range of other software to run under its operating system. Cross assemblers and macro facilities exist which allow the CUBEFLEX to develop object code forall the 68 range from 6801 to 68000. all the 80 range and the Z80. The CUBE ROMULATOR can be added to the spare slot in the CUBEFLEX. and so emulate the developed software in a target system. COMPILERS PL/9 is a high level compiling language whose structure resembles BBC BASIC. However, when compiled into machine code it runs four times as fast. "C", Pascal and 6809 extended BASIC are all also available, and allow the userto employ the languageof his choice. Send for our free 150 page catalogue. All prices exclude VA T. Trade enquiries welcome. Control Universal Ltd Anderson’s Court Newnham Road, Cambridge CB3 9EZ. Tel 0223 358757 138 • Circle No. 170 PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 ASHTON -TATE ■ d BASED The worlds leading micro database package can now be enhanced with 3 new products Fox & Geiler, the world’s largest suppliers ofdBASEHadd-ons, are now established in the UK to supply and support The dBASE II program generator. QUICKCODE writes concise programs to set up and maintain any type of database. You still have all the power of dBASE n and there is no programming required. Draw your data entry form, on the screen and you’re in business - it's that simple. The most powerful program generator available. And the easiest to use. QUICKCODE makes dBASE H easy. dUTIII The dBASE II utility program. dUTIL auto- matically combines your dBASE E command files, saving disk access time and speeding up your programs. dUTIL makes your listings more readable by automatically indenting and aligning command sequences. Makes debugging that much faster.dUTIL also cuts out repetitive programming. Simply type your instruction sequence into a standard text file — then INCLUDE it in as many dBASE H command files as you wish. dUTIL makes dBASE n faster Fox & Geiler (UK) Ltd 1 7 Wigmore Street London Wi . Tel. 01-580 5616 FOX&GELLER dGRAPH T he d BAS EH graphics system. Now you can bring your dBASE H database to life! Produce pie charts and baror line graphs in minutes and with ease. Advanced features make dGRAPH as powerful as it is easy. Features like autoGRAPH which will automatically load dBASE Ildata. compute scales, draw grid lines and label charts. Then there’s automatic shading and overlay graphs. And more. Easy to use dGRAPH makes dBASE XL better to look at Dealers -contact your Fox & Geiler distributor for more details: Encotel 01-680 6040 Soft Option (0476) 8601 71 Ferrari 01-751 5791 Tamsys (Windsor) 56747 Midlectron (077382)6811 Tradesoft 01-627 1800 Pete & Pam 01-769 1022 Xitan (0703) 334711 Soflsel 01-844 2040 Software Ltd 01 -833 1 1 73 QUICKCODE. dGRAPH, dUTIL and autoGRAPH are trademarks of Fox & Geiler dBASE ll is a trademark of Ashion-Tate PRACTICAL COMPUTING December 1983 • Circle No. 174 141 A HIGH PERFORM MULTI-USE GRASPTHE FACTS AND SAVE UPTO 50: Memory p erUser Pa y much les«5 w w S^fperstar L ®M 1 ^ — _ llSer — Processing Power * Backup up to 16 Fr om lOMh^rr^ ___ , to ^ 60 Mbyte ^xpandabilitTT r~~^ ^- tape 1 , 5355 1 (rncJucffnq \ /p f ^ Systems Archite cture ^ to, %leMem^M^^ea^ I8h(iW ^ailablesoftw mSST I s sbom com S pec/a/i'sed are ges J“jTT£U 5 * «Sb N °m alLedoer L / >Z 9y ^ ana9emenl ^CoZ IT^Sement OitorftD cesl t!' n90ffieeCton Job Gosling 9 Brokers Payroll ® ,£***■* rasss, Garment Trade ^ordSfar /Rdojr^ ,Spell$t a , C080L DaSf/^N ■ uataSbr/ pascal Reportsia r c Spellbinder py, %»rCafc api dBase), 1 L Jl OOBUS Micropian I • Circle No. 175 ANCE.GENUINE, R SYSTEM. Some installations are a little more difficult than others! Such as the one at Banham Patent Locks, Limited, in London. BROMCOM® supplied hardware and software that would have taken a respect- able-sized minicomputer from, say, DEC or IBM or Olivetti at twice the price for hardware, three times the price -for software and four times as long to implement. The Hardware - BROMCOM SuperStar™- is handling six terminals (expandable to 16) and three printers with 20Mbyte disk storage and tape backup. The operators work round the clock, so the speed and reliability demanded of the system are high. Operators can simul- taneously enter Invoices, Payments, etc, while other functions such as word processing and database operations (over 1 5 000 entries!) are in constant use by other terminals. BROMCOM Bromley Computer Consultancy Ltd 417-421 Bromley Road, Bromley Kent, BR1 4PJ. Telephone: 01-697 8933 Telex; 896691 POWERFUL - HIGH PERFORMANCE - FLEXIBLE VERY COST-EFFECTIVE WITH LOW ENTRY PRICE FULLY MODULAR AND EASY LOW-COST EXPANSION . WORLD-STANDARD Si 00 HARDWARE AND OPERATING SYSTEM - CP/M 1 OR MS-DOS FULL MULTI-USER CAPABILITY WITH -JK- RECORD/FILE LOCKING AND PRINTER 1 SPOOLING FIELD-PROVED OVER TWO YEARS WITH A LONG LIST OF SATISFIED CLIENTS ^ STYLISH NEW DESIGNS FOR 1984 AND T BEYOND -4_ MODEL 10 CATERS FOR UP TO 6 USERS, “T MODEL 20 UP TO 1 6 USERS si SupcrStcir ★ Message facility ★ Shared or local printer ★ Terminals can support local floppies ★ Fully intelligent terminals with dual processors & 64K System RAM * The Network will support over 30 terminals *11.8 Megabytes Hard Disk Storage * Global drive with common read only files * Password protected, read/write files * Common read/write files with file locking Limited number of Dealerships available in the UK. QUANTUM COMPUTER SYSTEMS LIMITED, THE LEEDS COMPUTER CENTRE 55, WADE LANE, MERRION CENTRE, LEEDS LS2 8NJ Telephone (0532) 458877 • Circle No. 176 >c i FILE PRA cm CAL COMPUTING DECEMBER 1983 SINCLAIR Open File monitors Apple John Harris Atari Jack Schofield BBC Nicholas McCutcheon, Commodore Mike Todd Dragon Ian Stobie Epson HX-20 John Wellsman IBM PC Jack Schofield Newbrain David Watt Tandy John Wellsman Research Machines Ian Stobie Sharp John Hooper Sinclair John Wellsman Open File is the part of the magazine written by the readers of Practical Computing. All aspects of microcomputing are covered, from games to serious business software and utilities. Fully-debugged programs can be submitted for any micro, and for standard CPfM machines such as the Osborne and Superbrain. Programs can be in machine code or any language, including Forth and Pascal, Submissions should include a brief description which explains what your program does, and how it does it. If possible it should be typed, with lines double-spaced. We need a printed program listing. Hand-written listings cannot be accepted. A tape or disc of the program helps if it is in a standard format. When printing listings, please remember to use a new ribbon or double-intensity printing — faint listings reproduce badly. Use plain paper only, and try to list the program across either a 35-character or a 70-character width. Also, make sure all special graphics or inverse- video characters are either listed correctly or else include Rem statements to explain them fully. Each program listing, tape or disc must have your name and address on it, or we cannot promise its safe return. A stamped addressed envelope is appreciated. If you write in with a comment, correction or enquiry please remember to state the machine and the program title. We pay at least £10 for any programs used, or £35 per page and pro rata for part pages. « J% £ USER-DEFINED I 40 PROBLEMS Crispin Read’s character generator and editor overcomes some of the problems of user-defined graphics on the Spectrum. >C0MMODORE 4 r*3 SCREEN ROUTINES I 3 3 Save a copy of the Pet screen to disc, and then read it back again with L V Turner’s handy routines. 4| C A WRITING LETTERS I 34 A Pet word processor capable of handling up to 2K characters. 4FE CRASH PROOF INPUT 133 Accidental null inputs can cause Pet Basic programs to crash — unless you have installed Doug Maloney’s simple fix. RESEARCH MACHINES RML typewriter I V I A simple-to-use text editor for the 380-Z plus Epson MX-80F/T, from Whitehaven Grammar School. BANNER I D«i Two programs to print up to 80 times normal height. >BBC 4 ^4 MODE 7 PICTURES I / I A utility to allow full-colour graphics and text to be entered on the mode 7 screen. 4 SEA BATTLE I m & A quick-reaction arcade game by Chris Carr. ^ A DISC DUMP I # 4 Direct access to 128-byte blocks provides some useful information for programmers with disc-based systems. >APPLE HANGMAN 1 m 3 The instructive and popular game translated to the Apple screen by Graham Wilson. >EPS0N HX-20 ¥| T9Q ALARM CLOCK I M 2# In the gaps between programming your portable can still be working for you. 5 TO pmnt using I # 2r Unravelling the difficulties of combining this command with Tabs. 4fl MEMORY STRUCTURE I # 29 How the HX-20 divides up its RAM ... m «|A CODED PROGRAMS 1 # 2 / ... and how it finds programs once they are there. >TANDY * 04 SYSTEM TAPE COPIER I O I A copying utility which declares the start and end addresses of the program. 4| Q4 MIXING TEXT IOI AND NUMBERS Tabulate text as well as numerical data with a modification to the Print Using command. >END OF FILE 40 1 ) ORIC OTHELLO 103 The classic game translated for the 48K Oric by Gary | Nugent. 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