Z*Net: 05-Apr-91 #9113
From: Bruce D. Nelson (aj434@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 04/13/91-06:37:28 PM Z
From: aj434@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: Z*Net: 05-Apr-91 #9113
Date: Sat Apr 13 18:37:28 1991
Also thanks to: Todd C. Miller
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** SPECIAL EDITION **
Z*NET INTERNATIONAL ATARI ONLINE MAGAZINE
Issue #91-13, Volume 7, Number 13
April 5, 1991
Copyright (c)1989, 1990, 1991, Rovac Industries, Inc.
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EDITORS DESK
------------
by Ron Kovacs
=======================================================================
This is a special edition of Z*Net. This week we have an exclusive
interview with Alwin Stumph by Z*Net Germany's Mike Schuetz. Also,
we have the first press release information from the upcoming CEPS
show in Chicago. This is Part 1 of 2.
We are sending belated birthday wishes to Bob Brodie, Atari Corporation
User Group Services Manager. Happy Birthday Robert!! I bet you thought
we forgot!!!!
Next week, a full exclusive eyewitness report from Z*Net Correspondents
at the CEPS show and hopefully some interesting pictures are coming, so
stay tuned to the online services and the Z*Net BBS for the latest CEPS
information!
Thanks for reading!!!
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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ALWIN STUMPH AND RICHARD MILLER
--------------------------------------------------------
by Christian Strasheim and Michael Schuetz
=======================================================================
courtesy of Germany's ATARI PD JOURNAL
translated by Kevin Festner for Z*NET
During CeBit 91, we had the opportunity to talk with Alwin Stumph,
Managing Director of Atari Germany and President of Atari Worldwide
Sales and Marketing, and Richard Miller, Chief of R & D with Atari USA.
PD JOURNAL: A question on your role at Atari, Mr Stumph. In the last
few months there has been some confusion concerning your area of
responsibility. What is it all about?
Alwin Stumph: My range of responsibility concerns all of Atari's
divisions, including the U.S. That means my role in the U.S. is
practically the same as in Holland, Austria, or Germany. The section
heads report to me.
PD: What is the policy at Atari concerning video games, particularly
with the Lynx?
AS: There is a another Lynx model that differs merely in the design from
the current model. CeBit is not a forum for this product, and because
of that, we displayed only a few for entertainment. A renaissance has
taken place in video games. In the last year, in Germany alone, we have
sold 250,000 video games, without expending a lot of effort. It
wouldn't be prudent to abandon this market.
PD: Will Atari distinguish itself from its video game line, and like
Commodore, show and sell them separately?
AS: We're divided on that already, the funds and sales are divided.
PD: How do you evaluate the market for Windows in the U.S.? Due to its
cryptic user interface, DOS machines up to now posed no direct
competition for the ST. Microsoft has really pushed Windows. 20
million packages have been sold and of course, this speaks for itself.
Does Windows pose any threat for Atari?
AS: I can't assess it at this time. In fact, I have the feeling, this
competition will stimulate business, as so frequently happens. We are
not the only ones employing a graphical user interface. The desktop is
becoming a standard and due to this it might make selling a bit easier.
PD: What's the story on the Portfolio? At the press conference we
learned that a RAM extension, for example, would be very expensive,
bringing the Portfolio into the price range of the Notebook. Do I
understand that the originally planned redesign will not be carried
out?
AS: In this respect the market has changed a little, as you approach the
price of the Notebook. And the Portfolio as a lap-top computer does not
make any more sense. Atari prefers to approach this market from above,
so to speak.
PD: And that's the key concept here. To what extent will the hardware
have similarities to the current ST?
Richard Miller: The ST-Book will embody two custom chips already used in
the STE. In addition, we will be installing a lot of new hardware in
both new models. About 30 discreet CMOS chips will use special 'Power
Management' allowing the optimal use of battery capacity. We will also
equip the existing production models with these discrete chips, since
they have less power consumption than newer chips. We're talking about
micro-amps. The power consumption of a CMOS chip in standby-mode
amounts to perhaps 10 micro-amps. That corresponds to two electrons
per second.
PD: What does that have to do with pseudo-static RAM?
RM: Pseudo-static RAM is primarily dynamic RAM with some intelligent
logic chips added. Addressing is carried out in parallel and is not
normally multiplexed. And because of that, the chip has more pins than
dynamic RAM. In addressing a specific point in memory, fewer parts of
the chips are activated than with dynamic RAM. In concrete terms that
means that in a 16 bit data bus, only two pseudo-static RAM chips with
an 8 bit bus must be addressed, and with dynamic RAM 4 or 16 chips must
be addressed. Furthermore pseudo-static RAM has a self-refresh mode
without necessitating an external refresh. In this mode pseudo-static
RAM needs about ten times as much current as static RAM and the contents
in memory can be stored over months.
PD: The external storage card in the ST Pad is certainly interesting
news. Who will offer the cards and at what price?
RM: The specifications for this card and especially for the 68 pin
mechanical connector comes from a firm by the name of JEIDA and has
already become standardized. These cards come equipped with static RAM
and can offer a storage capacity of up to 4 MBytes. Principly, they can
be equipped with any type storage, even with ROM, so that a complete
application can be offered. There are about eight suppliers of such
cards and the price will certainly fall to such an extent that I really
don't want to speculate on the cost. In addition, these card can not
only be fitted with memory. I know a company who offers a modem on this
type of card. That means there is a complete system bus on the
connector.
PD: At first report the ST Pad will not be offered with a hard-drive.
It this decision final?
RM: Hard drives are very sensitive at the moment. The head flies over
the surface of the platter at a distance of a few microns. Anytime such
a mechanical contrivance is used there is a high risk of damage. We
need to look around more for a hard drive to equip the ST Pad which can
offer a certain level of reliability. But I'm not convinced whether the
ST Pad requires a hard drive. The use we have envisioned for the ST Pad
is that it can manage well without a hard drive. I'm more interested in
offering a radio modem and a hard drive, which can send data over packet
radio. Atari is working with other firms on the development of such a
modem.
PD: Do you think it will be possible to equip it with such a modem,
especially in Germany?
RM: That will certainly be difficult. In the U.S, the F.C.C. reserves
certain frequencies for such uses. Radio modems can be purchased, for
example, from Motorola. The German Postal Service is the big problem
here.
PD: Finally a question on which we really don't expect an answer. At
the press conference last night, there was a question from the audience
regarding the Multi-tasking TOS. Leonard Tramiel and you, Mr. Miller,
responded by smiling. What should we read from this smile?
AS: It has never been a secret that Atari is moving towards multi-
tasking. We have entered into discussions with major software firms in
Dusseldorf on this subject. And in time we will be working on it. And
with every new TOS version, an upgrade to multitasking TOS will be
possible.
PD: Can we count on this TOS being ready for release sometime this year?
AS: Perhaps.
PD: Mr. Miller, Mr. Stumph, thank you for this informative interview.
=======================================================================
Z*NET NEWSWIRE
--------------
=======================================================================
APPLE IIE CARD
Apple Computer has begun accepting orders for the new optional card on
Feb. 25, 1990, and will begin shipping orders by the end of March 1991.
The Apple II card has a suggested retail price of $199 and takes full
advantage of the Macintosh LC computer's peripherals, including the
monitor, keyboard, floppy drive and mouse. The new card comes with 128K
(RAM) and can use up to 1MB of the Macintosh LC personal computer's RAM.
The card also features a floppy disk drive controller and connector
ports, allowing customers to connect to a 5.25-inch floppy disk drive
and an Apple joystick.
ATARI PLANNING FACTORY IN ISRAEL
Atari is planning to set up a huge multi-million dollar factory to build
computers in Israel, according to the Israeli Trade and Industry
Ministry. Investment costs are expected to total 150 million dollars,
which will be shared by Atari and the Israeli government. The factory
will initially create 600 jobs, mostly for engineers and could rise to
1,000 in five years with an annual turnover of 150 million dollars.
TOSHIBA SHIPS MATRIX COLOR LAPTOP
Toshiba announced this week that its T3200SXC color Portable Desktop
computer is now shipping. The T3200SXC is the industry's first portable
computer to incorporate full VGA-compatible active matrix color display
technology, providing the functionality of a desktop machine without the
limitations of a deskbound system.
EPSON ADDS FONTS/FEATURES
Epson is now shipping enhanced versions of three dot-matrix printers,
the LQ-510, LQ-850 and LQ-1050. The enhancements include additional
letter-quality fonts, automatic single-sheet loading, an expanded front
control panel and, on the LQ-510 only, faster print speeds. The LQ-510
is a 24-pin, 80-column printer with a retail price of $499. The LQ-850,
an 80-column printer, and LQ-1050, a 136 column printer, have retail
prices of $749 and $1,099 respectively.
VERBUM CD MAGAZINE
Verbum announced the mid-April availability of "Verbum Interactive 1.0,"
a CD magazine which features a showcase of animation and interactive
multimedia works, interactive columns and feature stories, with music
from popular musicians Todd Rundgren and Graham Nash, and several
recognized electronic music composers. The 2-disc "Verbum Interactive"
edition requires a CD-ROM player and a Macintosh II color computer, and
sells for $49.95. Verbum will launch a regular quarterly subscription
service to the magazine in early 1992, for both Macintosh and MS-DOS/
Windows systems. For more information contact, Verbum (619) 233-9977.
BORLAND SHIPS POWER PACK
Borland announced this week the ProView Power Pack, a collection of
graphic enhancements designed for users of Borland's Quattro Pro 3.0,
the new WYSIWYG version of Borland's high-end spreadsheet. The ProView
Power Pack provides additional clip art, fonts, macros and other
presentation materials to augment those already found in Quattro Pro.
Both the ProView Power Pack and Quattro Pro 3.0 began shipping on
Wednesday, March 27, 1991. The ProView Power Pack will be included free
in the $495 retail price version of Quattro Pro 3.0. Users upgrading to
Quattro Pro 3.0 from Quattro Pro 1.0, 2.0 or from competitive high-end
spreadsheets, may purchase the ProView Power Pack for $49.95.
MICROCOM UNVEILS VIREX
Microcom announced this week the Virex Appleshare Installer, which
allows a network manager to easily update Virex anti-virus software over
a network of Macintosh computers. Using the Installer, network managers
review a log to determine which network users have the latest version of
Virex. The Virex INIT can be pre-configured and locked in each user's
system folder and password protected to prevent tampering. The Virex
Installer resides on any Appleshare server. It automatically loads the
latest version of Virex and the Virex INIT and removes outdated versions
when the user double clicks on the Installer icon. The INIT is
installed in the system folder while user name, date, and time of
installation go into a comprehensive log file easily accessed by the
network manager.
IBM TO CUT WORK FORCE
IBM said Thursday, March 28, 1999 that it would reduce its total work
force by 14,000 in 1991. No layoff plans were announced, and, as with
its previous job reduction programs, IBM offered substantial incentives
for early retirement or voluntary departure. IBM's current work force
amounts to about 373,000 people worldwide, including about 206,000
people in the United States. It is the first time the company is
proposing to include its overseas staff in a major work force reduction
plan.
COMMODORE LAUNCHES INTERACTIVE PRODUCT
Commodore introduced this week the first interactive multimedia product.
The CDTV player, an Interactive Multimedia product that combines audio,
video, graphics and text into a component, that will be available at
audio/video retail chains in Los Angeles, San Jose, Calif., San
Francisco, Sacramento, Calif., and Chicago on April 19 followed by New
York, Boston, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Dallas and Denver in May. The CDTV
player, which resembles a conventional audio compact disc player,
connects to a television set and home audio system to become an
interactive education, information and entertainment center. A simple
hand-held infrared remote control provides access to an entire library
of multimedia educational, entertainment, information and reference
titles. During the introductory, 50 CDTV multimedia titles will be
available, with more than a hundred planned. The CDTV library will
consist of titles developed by leading entertainment and reference
companies including Grolier, Guinness, Disney Software and LucasFilm.
SPA RELEASES "HITS LIST"
The Software Publishers Association announced this week the top-selling
video games and MS-DOS computer games for February, 1991. In the
category of MS-DOS computer games, Sierra On-Line again tops the list
with King's Quest V as the number one selling game. SimEarth published
by Maxis, jumped from the number nine spot to number two. Red Baron,
published by Sierra On-Line, moved from number two in January to the
number three spot in February. MicroProse, Orgin, Microsoft round out
the top ten selling software packages. Software Publishers Broderbund,
Microsoft, Sierra On-Line and MicroProse each have three games on the
chart. New on the hits list for February are programs from Konami and
Electronic Arts. In the video game category, Teenage Turtle-Arcade
Game, published by Konami moved to the number one spot from number three
in January. The Simpsons by Acclaim Entertainment appears in the number
two spot and Super Mario Land moved from number nine in Janaury to
number three in Febraury. Other publishers in the top 25 include Caoco,
Electronic Arts, Enix, Acclaim Entertainment, Konami and Tecmo.
=======================================================================
ATARI AT CEPS 1991
------------------
PROFESSIONAL SYSTEMS GROUP'S DIRECT TO PRESS PUBLISHING SOLUTIONS
=======================================================================
P R E S S R E L E A S E
PART ONE
The advent and evolution of desktop publishing has been a great benefit
to the computing and the publishing communities. The technology has put
design and production power in the hands of many enabled innumerable
elegant designs, and enpowered creative as well as production artists.
But until now, desktop publishing products have been subject to
compromises in quality and output speed when put to the test in the most
demanding professional situations. Most existing desktop publishing
systems force users to compromise on the quality of photographic images
or to use scanned images for position only--as placeholders for photos
that must be stripped manually. And those systems require impractically
long periods of time to process each image.
The Direct To Press publishing solutions are designed to meet the
highest quality and speed requirements, and to do so at very affordable
costs. There products provide an array of options for compatibility
with other computing and publishing standards, as well as in depth and
breadth of capabilities. Complete Publishing Solutions. No
Compromises.
Direct To Press means no compromises: No compromises on speed, no
compromises on achieving the best value and lowest cost, and no
compromises on image quality.
Direct To Press is a collection of hardware and software tools from a
select group of manufacturers assembled and led by Professional Systems
Group, a division of Atari Computer. The publishing software offered in
these solutions is among the most innovative and exacting available on
any popular computing platform. And it's designed for hardware that
packs the power to support such advanced applications.
ATARI TT030
Design and imagesetting workstations are based on versions of the Atari
TT030, the company's most powerful computing platform. It features a
32MHz Motorola 68030 microprocessor with on-chip cache and memory
management as well as a 68882 math coprocessor, 8MB of RAM expandable
up to 26MB, an 80 MB hard disk, and a wide range of storage expansion
options, including larger capacity hard disks and a removable Syquest
cartridge drive.
The system's built-in video processing includes support for a wide range
of resolutions from 320 x 200 at 16 colors, or 320 x 480 at 256 colors
to 640 x 480 with 16 colors on the PTC 1426 14" color monitor. All
colors are chosen from a palette of 4096 colors. With the 19" TTM194
monochrome monitorm the system supports 1280 x 960 resolution without
requiring an additional video board. The video system can access up to
10 MB of the system RAM. Suggested retail prices to be announced:
Output for proofing purposes is provided by the 300 dot per inch Atari
SLM605 laser printer. The SLM605 features a small footprint, high-
quality output, and fast 6 page per minute operation. Suggested retail
price to be announced.
HELL SYSTEMS IMAGESETTER
The Hell Systems imagesetter is capable of resolutions up to 3000 dpi.
When used with the Image Speeder, only four (600, 800, 1200 and 2400
dpi) resolutions that result in the highest precision are used. The
imagesetter produces 55mm of film per minute at 2400 dpi, 110mm/min at
1200 dpi, and 220mm/min at 600 dpi. Actual throughput depends on the
raster processing technique and the use of the specialized support
hardware. For futher information about Hell Systems imagesetters,
contact:
Linotype-Hell
Ultre Division
145 Pinelawn Road
Melville, New York 11747
(516) 753-4800
PAGESTREAM 2
Soft-Logik's PageStream 2 is an extremely powerful and versatile desktop
publishing program with an intuitive user interface, and full support
of the PostScript page description language. It imports and exports a
wide variety of graphic and text formats, works with industry-standard
type font families, and supports a large number of printing devices.
The program can import and color separate 24-bit images, and supports
spot or process color. PageStream 2 is equipped with a full complement
of page layout tools and facilities for handling complex books up to
1000 pages in length. It is designed to meet the needs of a wide range
of users, from hobbists to professionals.
PageStream 2 can display AGFA Compugraphic's Intellifont hinted outline
fonts, or the Adobe Type 1 IBM format, using font point sizes from .02
to 183,000 points with variable horizontal and verticle point size on
the screen as well as print them out on a wide variety of PostScript
(and non-PostScript) printers.
PageStream 2 exhibits impressive flexibility: It can create documents
of any page size up to 400 feet by 400 feet, control tracking to .0001
of an em, leading to .01 points, and kerning to .0001 of an em. It can
draw and edit Bezier curves, support an unlimited number of columns per
page with text routing between columns in any order, easily bleed
objects off the edge of a page, flow text arounf irregular shaped
graphics, crop pictures, view or print pages at 15 - 1500%
magnification, and rotate or twist any text or graphic. Suggested
retail price is $299.95. For futher information about PageStream 2,
contact:
Soft-Logik
Post Office Box 290070
St. Louis, MO 63129
(314) 894-8608 or (800) 829-8608
CALAMUS SL / tms CRANACH STUDIO
CALAMUS SL
Widely acclaimed Calamus Sl from ISD Marketing features true WYSIWYG,
fast printing speeds, and extensive color support. Calamus SL takes a
modular approach to incorporating features for image management, graphic
design, text processing, illustration, font editing, and autotracing.
The program uses proprietary outline font technology to produce
identical results on both the screen and the printer. Fonts can be
scaled from 0.1 to 999.9 in tenth of a point increments. Text and
graphics can be rotated 360 degrees, Text can be formatted around
irregular objecs.
Calamus SL can have up to seven documents loaded simultaneously, and
select multiple files and multiple fonts for loading. Each object --
text, line, fill pattern, picture -- can take on any of up to 16.7
million colors. Users can specify colors either by simple RGB mixing
method or by an external module such as Pantone. Calamus will create
the necessary four films per page for color separations.
Calamus SL's Mount & Print module enables large documents to be split
into smaller pieces. Text attribute combinations can be saved as
styles. Drivers for import and export functions are contained in
external modules so that new ones can be added as the need arises.
Suggested retail price is to be announced.
CALAMUS OUTLINE ART
Calamus Outline Art supplements Calamus SL and is a complete vector
graphics editor for lines, Bezier curves, control paths, and other
vector shapes. Calamus Outline Art can also generate freely definable
raster areas. Text attributes include rastering, transparent, rotation,
outlines, stretching, compression, and cursive styles. Text handling
features enable circular text, text along a freely definable vector
path, and kerning functions. Calamus Outline Art also includes as
integrated fully-programmable calculator with a pre-defined and user-
expandable library of transformations. Suggested retail price is
$289.95.
tms CRANACH STUDIO
tms Cranach Studio is an electronic image manipulation program. It uses
a modular format for functions and features, similar to the strategy
followed by Calamus SL. tms Cranach Studio can import and export a wide
array of graphic formats. It can even load color separations.
tms Cranach Studio can simultaneously display up to six graphic screens
with different picture formats--raster, grayscale, color, and vector.
The program offers a zoom range of 100-800%, and it will zoom a vector
image along a background.
tms Cranach Studio is strong on color handling and separation. It can
perform a 3-color separation based on CMY or RGB, or a 4-color
separation. It can correct low color values, adjust adornment colors,
manipulate gray balance, and even output the color separation as
grayscale film.
The Draw and Paint module offers lacquer, watercolor, crayon, airbrush
textures, and other effects. Retouching functions include lightening
or darkening, modifying the image with water or watercolor, finger-
painting, or oil painting.
tmc Vector Studio is an add-on module to tms Cranach Studio that
provides a raster-to-vector (autotracing) and vector-to-raster
conversion program that enables the user to work with halftones, bit
maps, color and vector geometry. Suggested retail price is to be
announced.
CALAMUS SOFTRIPS
Calamus SoftRIPs connect directly from the Atari TT030 to the Linotronic
or AGFA CompuGraphic 9000 series imagestters. These proprietary raster
image processors provide substantial speed and quality advantages over
the competitive PostScript RIP. Suggested retail price of the Calamus
SoftRIP is $3500.00, which includes a special version of Calamus SL.
For futher information about the Calamus and tsm Cranach Studio line of
products, contact:
Nathan Potechin
ISD Marketing, Inc.
2651 John Street, Unit 3
Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 2W5
RETOUCHE/DIDOT
The following group of publishing tools has been developed by 3K-
ComputerBild and is published in North America by Goldleaf Publishing,
Inc. The products share a focus on providing tools to meet the
requirements of the most demanding lithograohy or typography
professional, and most of the products use a propreitary technique of
rasterizing the image within the application software, thereby removing
the need for a separate raster image processor (RIP).
(EDITORS NOTE: Next week we will complete this background press release
from Atari. Also, look for a full eyewitness report from our staff
currently enroute to the 1991 CEPS show in Chicago.)
The following is a summary of the hardware and software to be shown at
the show.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Atari TT030 Computing platform Professional Systems
32 MHz 68030, 8MB RAM Group. ( A division
80 MB HD, 1280 x 960 of Atari Corporation)
monochrome monitor
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
3K Image Speeder Based on TT030, tower Goldleaf Publishing
case, graphics co- developed by 3K-
processor, screening ComputerBild
processor, scanner and
imagesetter interfaces
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hell Systems Imagesetter 300-3000 dpi Linotype-Hell
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Page Layout PageStream 2 Soft-Logik
Calamus SL ISD Marketing
Didot Professional Goldleaf Publishing
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Line Art Calamus Outline Art ISD Marketing
Didot Line Art Goldleaf Publishing
tms Vector Studio ISD Marketing
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Digital Image Processing
Retouche Professional Goldleaf Publishing
(grayscale)
Retouche CD (color) Goldleaf Publishing
tms Cranach Studio ISD Marketing
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Character Recognition Sherlook Professional Goldleaf Publishing
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Presentation Graphics SciGraph Goldleaf Publishing
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Document Processing Wordflair II Goldleaf Publishing
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Agency Contact: Andy Marken
Marken Communications, Inc.
(408) 296-3600 Office
(408) 296-3803 FAX
(408) 732-9589 Home
=======================================================================
Z*NET NEW ZEALAND
Australia the forgotten Atari-land
----------------------------------
by Jon Clarke
=======================================================================
The Hardware project
How many times do you see the word "Australia" in an average day? Do
you know where it is? That's right the little island off the west coast
of New Zealand (opps).
Remember the Kangaroos, Wombats, Koala Bears (look out for the "DROP
BEARS"), Tasmanian Devils, and the millions of Sheep? Remember the
Sydney Opera House, the Opal, the World Expo, Ozzie Rules, the outback,
Crocodile Dundee, Mal Gibson, the Holden Motorcar, QANTAS ?
If you answered no to one or more these do the following. Go and find
your old atlas and a piece of tracing paper. Trace the out line of
Australia onto the tracing paper with a pen or pencil. Right now we are
ready for a little geography lesson. Overlay the tracing over your
country.
The realization
If you are in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, France, Germany,
Sweden or the UK one thing will be perfectly clear to you. AUSTRALIA is
a big nation! See how it covers your country with ease even on your
little atlas or globe. With a population of some 15 million people I am
happy to report Atari has a thriving market on its hands. Atari
Australia.
You may remember 12 months ago in Z*Net International I reported the
pending release of the TT and the Atari specific show in Sydney
Australia. Not to be out done by their past efforts Atari Australia has
been a major "shaker and mover" in the home and business computing
fields in the Australian PC market place. The past twelve months have
seen many of the major retail firms stock the full Atari range of
computers from the Portfolio to the STE. Now located in their new
premises in North Ryde they are set to capture more of the Australian
computer market. If this reads like a press release it is not. It is
just that I was very impressed with Atari Australia's operation.
Let me expand a little more on this
The new offices of Atari Australia are located in the electronics area
of Sydney. (Get the maps out) In an area called North Ryde, a few miles
from the heart of down town Sydney. They are surrounded by giants like
Sony and Dick Smith Electronics. "Who are Dick Smith Electronics ?" you
ask. Well to me they are the guys with the biggest flag in Australia,
and in 1985 on a trip to Sydney I remember this flag gracing the front
room of several technicans from an opposition firm. With a large
distribution network though out Australia and a very large warehouse
adjacent to the administration block Atari Australia can have full hands
on control of all their product.
What impressed me the most was the attitude of _all_ the staff. From
the time I first rang them their receptionist was only happy to direct
my queries (unlike many other computer firms who's front line people
seem to have _failed_ charm school). I was supposed to be there to meet
Alastair Campion at 2pm last Monday, but work got in the way and I was
running late. So a short phone call to say this, I was on the way. I
arrived and was greeted with a cool blanket of air conditioned air.
"Bliss" I thought as it was 27 degrees Celsius and very humid outside
(who said it is cool in the fall in Australia?)
As I was running a little late I overlapped with an other appointment of
Alastairs so after a cup of well deserved coffee and a tour of the
presentation room Alastair appeared from the upper levels of the
complex. Up till now Michelle who a lot of you will know as Atari-OZ on
the GEnie RTC's had been showing me around. I must confess it is nice
to see the face behind the "fingers", and Michelle I take back all those
Ozzie jokes (grin). Having been some twelve months since we had met
face to face we had alot of "gossip" to catch up on and an other coffee
or two.
I was floored when I as taken upstairs and shown to a demo room that had
a "TT 030" in bits for all to see and feel the insides (real hands on
stuff). This sort of practise along with a room dedicated to in-house
training for not only the staff but dealers pointed out to me the
dedication to Atari product Down-Under by Atari Australia.
With the varied product line Atari carries now and with my job taking
me more and more in the *nix (read UNIX) fields I can see the TT030 *Nix
becoming a major force. X-Windows support and all the other features
you have read about in Z*Net International are a reality not just
fiction. Expect to see more and more Australian users on GEnie soon.
As they now have access to GEnie via the Public Data Network in
Australia called "Austpac".
After a few hours of mind boggling demos and a quick tour on the world
networks it was time to go back to the hotel.
As I traveled through the State capitals over the last few weeks I have
been seeing all these people caring yellow bags with the Atari symbol on
them so I decided to pop into a few stores and there they were all lined
up (the Atari STe's). I as a few stores how the STe's were selling.
From all accounts the STe is selling well every where I asked. I would
like to thank all the staff at Atari Australia for their time in showing
me around their complex and for their hospitality.
=======================================================================
BLACKJACK PLUS 3
----------------
Press Release
=======================================================================
by MUSICODE SOFTWARE
A UNIQUE NEW PRODUCT FOR ATARI ST USERS!
Realistic casino play, plus 3 additional play modes using programmable
strategies. More than just another game, BLACKJACK PLUS 3 can show you
why you have lost in the past and teach you how to WIN in the future!
Both new and experienced players will find this program equally
valuable.
Play with one to seven players. Play with one to nine decks; you may
specify the deck dealing depth (when to shuffle). Adjustable playing
speed. Card totals for each hand may be displayed. Set casino rules.
Play and enjoy, alone or with friends, using the mouse, keyboard or
joysticks!
All aspects of the game of blackjack are supported. You always have the
option to: Double Down, Split, Double after Split, take Insurance (when
the dealer has an ace up) or Surrender your hand.
You will lower or eliminate the casino's odds by practicing the game.
See why you have lost, and how to win next time!
Set up and try any playing, betting or counting strategy. All
strategies and program settings may be saved to disk.
Each player may be individually set to one of four playing modes:
MANUAL - you play the game, just like in the casino
AUTO - play is automatic, according to chosen strategy
FEEDBACK - play manually, you are informed of mistakes in play
BACKGROUND - test strategies quickly (100 hands in 8 seconds)
Practice different strategies to see how to improve your game.
A log may be kept which shows all play action for every hand!
Statistics are tallied for each session and may be displayed on the
screen. The log and statistics may be printed for evaluation.
BLACKJACK IS ALWAYS FUN TO PLAY, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU WIN!
Check out the self-executing demo in Library #10 (DEMOS): (GEnie)
# 18758 BJP3DEMO
Ask your dealer to order it for you, or contact:
MUSICODE SOFTWARE
5575 Baltimore Drive
Suite 105-127
La Mesa, CA 91942
(619) 469-7194
RETAIL PRICE: $89.95
=======================================================================
ATMODEM: ATASCII COMMUNICATIONS FOR PC USERS
--------------------------------------------
by Mike Mezaros
=======================================================================
For almost six years I used Atari 8-bit home computers. Only recently
did I part with the last of my 8-bit components simply because I had
nowhere to keep them (they went to everybody's pal and Atari 8-bit
diehard Stan Lowell, a regular columnist for Z*Net PC's sister
publication for Atari 8-bit users, Z*Magazine). Sure, in this day and
age where 1024x768 resolution displays and stereophonic digitized sound
samples are common, the Atari 8-bit's are a little behind the times.
But you get attached to them. Not enough to rent extra storage space,
but certainly enough to miss certain features when they're gone.
Which is why I was happy to find ATMODEM Version 1.0 on the
aforementioned Stan Lowell's Atari 8-bit BBS (The Blank Page, 908-805-
3967). ATMODEM is a simple DOS terminal program that let's PC users
connect with Atari 8-bit BBS's in their native ATASCII mode. Before you
(the uninitiated) ask, ATASCII is a special version of the universal
ASCII character set. It adds special graphics characters, special
control codes, special cursor control functions, and so on. ATASCII is
very similar in concept to ANSI, minus the colors.
The result: Atari users can call other Atari users, or Atari BBS's, in
ATASCII mode and add a lot of flair to their telecommunications. Flair
like ATASCII animations, graphics displays, inverse characters, and
other special effects. A few years ago it was extremely common to see
Atari users sign their messages with fancy, personalized ATASCII
animations. It's probably not so common anymore because these days a
lot of non 8-bitters call Atari 8-bit boards in ASCII, ANSI, or VT-52
mode, which interpret ATASCII characters as jibberish.
What I really missed were the ATASCII games available on the only Atari
8-bit BBS I call regularly, The Blank Page. That's not a problem
anymore, though, thanks to ATMODEM. Sure, the 40 column text looks huge
on my VGA monitor, but I can live with it.
ATMODEM is shareware (the author, Robert Sinclair, requests $10, but
seems to be very liberal about it), and features an 80 column VT-100
emulation mode (suitable for calling most BBS's), a 40 column ATASCII
emulation mode, X-Modem file transfer, a capture mode, a dialing
directory which allows multiple directories with nine entires each, and
two user-defined macros per dialing entry. Also included in the package
are ATMAKER, an early version of an ATASCII editor, and AT2ASC for
converting files from ATASCII to ASCII and ASCII to ATASCII.
The ATASCII emulation speed seemed fine on my 20Mhz 386 with 2400 baud
modem, but the documentation mentions that it may be sluggish on slower
PC's. This can be partly remedied by turning off the graphics block
cursor by hitting F3, which gives the program less screen updating to
do. The documentation also notes incompatibility with certain Tandy
1000SX systems, for reasons unknown.
ATMODEM's interface is utilitarian and takes a little getting used to
(like P for the phone directory and F10 for the terminal), but it is
completely menu driven so you can never get stuck. Otherwise the
program seems very well written with great emulation and reasonable
speed. It isn't a disk hog, either, with the ATMODEM.EXE program taking
up less than 57k. I also had no trouble using the program under
Windows, so I imagine DesqView won't be a problem either.
As you can see above, the only feature of ATMODEM that stands out is
it's ATASCII emulation. The others are pretty much bare-bones. And
that's okay, because ATMODEM was obviously not designed to be a standard
terminal program with the added feature of ATASCII emulation. This
program is ATASCII emulation first, second, and last. Even the author
concedes that for other communications you're much better off with a
different program.
But for playing (and eventually losing) the ATASCII trivia game on The
Blank Page BBS while using a PC, ATMODEM is the only way to go.
=======================================================================
CODEHEAD SOFTWARE UPDATE
------------------------
Press Release
=======================================================================
(Editors Note: April 1991 is CodeHead Month in Z*Net Online and you
will be updated every-week this month with Codehead information)
CodeHeadQuarters
Friday, April 5, 1991
---------------------
WE BLEW IT !!!
AND YOU SAVE !!!
...BUT YOU MUST ACT FAST !!!
The CodeHeads have no one to blame but themselves. They couldn't just
release a normal update to MaxiFile worth $10. Noooo...they had to
keep adding this and that nifty gadget and inventing new features that
just couldn't be left out until MaxiFile was transformed into a JEWEL
worth far more than they're charging.
As it turns out, the printed addendum to MaxiFile is almost equal in
size and content to the original MaxiFile manual. Unfortunately, the
CodeHeads can't afford to continue offering upgrades to MaxiFile
including the addendum for the advertised price of $10. On May 1st,
the price for the MaxiFile 3.0 upgrade will be increased to $15
including the addendum manual. At that time, the purchase price for
MaxiFile will also be increased to $44.95.
HOWEVER ... our loss is your gain!
Those who have already ordered their MaxiFile update and those whose
orders are placed (or postmarked) before May 1st will still pay only
$10 for the upgrade, or $39.95 for the full package! So hurry -- send
back your MaxiFile disk today for upgrading (see below) and you'll
receive the complete MaxiFile upgrade package, including the printed
manual addendum, and save yourself $5.00 at the same time!
See our previous press releases for an impressive listing of all of
MaxiFile's features.
HOW TO ORDER OR UPDATE YOUR OWN COPY OF MAXIFILE
------------------------------------------------
MaxiFile can purchased and used separately, or you can enjoy its
increased power when linked up with HotWire by purchasing HotWire and
MaxiFile packaged together as HotWire Plus, AND save yourself $15-20 at
the same time.
As a current owner of MaxiFile, you can obtain an update by sending
your original MaxiFile master disk and the update fee to the address
listed below.
Product Before May 1st After May 1st
================================================
MaxiFile Update $10.00 $15.00
MaxiFile 3.0 $39.95 $44.95
HotWire $44.95 $44.95
HotWire Plus $69.95 $69.95
CodeHead Products are available from your local Atari dealer, through
mail-order houses, or directly from CodeHead Software:
CodeHead Software
P.O. Box 74090
Los Angeles, CA 90004
Phone: (213) 386-5735
FAX: (213) 386-5789
BBS: (213) 461-2095
CodeHead Software accepts Mastercard, Visa, and American Express, as
well as checks, money orders, and cash. Shipping charges are $3 US, $4
Canada, and $6 elsewhere. The is no shipping charge for updates.
Current office hours are Monday-Friday 9A-1P Pacific time. Prices and
hours are subject to change without notice.
Thank you for your support!
=======================================================================
Z*NET SOFTWARE SHELF
--------------------
by Ron Berinstein, Contributing Editor
=======================================================================
CodeHead Quarters BBS
1610 Vine Street
Hollywood, CA 90028
Well the folks at ICD keep working and working at trying to keep their
software working in the best possible way. Hence, it was just last
month that we saw the last revision. Now another new upgrade is posted
and available for downloading on GEnie and CompuServe. STHOST_E.ARC is
the file for the latest SCSI Host Utilities (Version 5.2.0 of ICDBOOT
included). CLEANUP is in a separate file. ICD_VERS.TXT contains the
latest current version numbers. It was mentioned this week in one of
the message bases that the ICD BBS has yet even more "current" versions
available than those posted on GEnie. I have not confirmed that, so,
your assignment this week, should you choose to accept it, is to darn a
Sherlock Holmes cap and check out if the rumor is true. One thing that
definitely is true is that ICD does limit the availability of their
software, making same only accessible (with regard to Online Services)
from GEnie and CompuServe. This writer feels that at the very least it
would be nice if Delphi also could post it. Delphi is fast becoming a
home to many ST fans that formerly logged on to the other big two only.
A reason for this change is their agressive policy at signing ST folks
up.. Twenty hours of monthly time on Delphi costs as little as twenty
dollars!
So, where else are freely distributable software files available?
Certainly it is no surprise to the readers of this column that there are
several regional and local BBS's that help to maintain a network for
developers to make their software downloadable inexpensively. What
might be new knowledge though is the updated "Prichard's Pursuer v.3.5
PRG. and ACC." Same will automatically handle all the chores of using
PC Pursuit. It will call up to 100 BBS's, as well as track and log
chargeable connect time. It will link to your terminal program's
scripts, macros, and recordings. PPUR35.LZH is shareware and sports
other new features as well.
ARCSHL24.ARC (Shareware) was released on March 30th, by Charles F.
Johnson and Little Green Footballs Software. This, the latest version
of the program that adds a complete, easy-to-use GEM interface to
archive programs like ARC.TTP and LZH11316.TTP. This version provides a
"link" to CodeHead's MaxiFile as well!
Under the heading of: "I'll Give You An Image To Remember!"
SQUEESIM.ARC (Shareware) replaced the recently uploaded file named
similarly SQUEEZIM.ARC. "SQUEEZIMG" squeezes the original size of your
.IMG files and makes them smaller, but still viewable! This because
several .IMG program modules save the files without compressing them,
and some that may compress them might not do so as effectively as
possible. The author feels you might save anywhere from 2% to 60% of
.IMG file related disk space! Besides preserving the "time/date stamp"
of the .IMG file this program also allows you to delete those "GEM
sister" files that TOUCH UP creates.
VIDI_CON.ARC (Shareware $5) will convert a series of sequentially-
numbered Degas (.PI1) files to a Delta (.DLT) file (that which allows
for animation). It will convert an animated sequence created with VIDI-
ST, REZRENDER or any program that creates similar files. This program
will run in any resolution but will convert low res. files only.
MARIE_1.LZH and MARIE_2.LZH are the photographer's first pictures of
Marieta that he digitalized with his new VIDI-CHROME software. In both
shots she is pictured completely nude. She is quite beautiful and one
might wonder how in fact he had any time at all to play with his new
VIDI-CHROME! These are SPECTRUM (.SPC) pictures.
So what kind of game are you playing?
Three uploaded this week include:
CONCENTR.LZH (Shareware $5) "Picture Concentration" is just like the
card game. You match pictures of course instead of cards. The source
code is available. Written in LDW Basic. Low Rez only.
AMAZE.LZH "...clear the playground from the squares, but don't jump
aside..." A program written with Modula-2. Runs on all machines, but
not in Low rez.
TRAPPER.LZH Well this little game ought to get you a pleasant evening
of "entertainment." It is meant to be played "between/with" your
girlfriend/spouse. Lewis Trapper is trying to catch her, and this
program instructs her what she must do should be caught. A little bit
of "in-to-your-mate" fun is created here.
MDMZ2DOC.LZH is a file that is here due to the courtesy of a users
group in Ontario, Canada. This file contains an English translation of
the German docs for MIDIMAZE 2 program.
Well, it may well be that 1991 might be declared the, "year of the text
reader."
At one time we used to have ASCII text files and to view them we clicked
on the Atari desktop's SHOW button... now that seems by any conservative
opinion very antique. CodeHead's "LookIt" was introduced last year,
offered a variety of options and provided you with text that began to
roll faster than ever! And, ASCII itself is being challenged... now TX2
has made the scene as well.
Shareware authors have seen the potential for marketing the readers and
voila!, text readers, and color pictures, and mono pictures, and ASCII
versions, and TX2 versions, big versions, and small versions, and
continuous updates seem to occupy our current file library databases
everywhere! Some of this week's choices include:
TX2VIEW5.LZH (Demo) the latest upgraded version of David Holmes' program
corrects all of the known bugs resulting from the graphics being
integrated with the text. Mouse support is turned off after five
minutes, and this version, or higher, will be necessary to view much of
the new TX2 material that is to be released.
MINITX23.LZH (Shareware $10) updates the the Mini TX2 Viewer. Like it's
big brother it fixes the known bugs with the graphics and provides the
ability to view the newer releases of TX2 text material.
STEXT14E.LZH (Shareware) is the March 28th update of STEXT, a file and
picture viewer.. It now supports mouse controlled block features, print
from page to page, TT command lines, printer output line status, linking
to application, online magazine index format, and more.
Under the heading: "Oh my God, I forgot I had a Date Tonight!"
PACAL117.ARC (Shareware $3) "Personal Appointment Calendar v1.117" will
provide an appointment book feature for those who don't want to end up
in "Hot Water," or, the "Dog House." It can also be used for event
storage, and the printing of simple calendars. This is a real quick and
efficient piece of work.. Probably a real good buy for all of three
dollars!
Other posts this week:
P_A_M_2.ARC (Shareware $5) The latest version of "Print-A-Matic." The
print formatting commands included allow for single sheet mode, width
and length of page, line numbers, page numbers, margins, and more.
Included also is your ability to send the regular breed of commands to
your printer as well. Has a "Macro Mode," and is a TOS type program.
NSYSCM.LZH "SYSCOM v.1.2" will show you the GEMDOS, BIOS, XBIOS, and
GEM calls as they happen. You can even slow the system down and watch
windows draw. Choose where the information is displayed. Runs in high
resolution only.
TN_PCALC.LZH Version 1.2 The real version 1.2! This file replaces a
previous one recently claiming to be 1.2 but really was 1.1.
Programmer's Calculator from Take Note Software
For the real expert:
Our thanks to Albert Dayes for uploading BISON.ARC.
*Same is his choice for: PROGRAM OF THE WEEK!*
BISON.ARC is a YACC clone formerly on MS-DOS and ported to the ST with
Laser code. Porting by James Patchel. File was originally downloaded
from Megamax BBS and comes complete with development log on problems
with moving code from IBM to Atari ST. Very Good Documentation!
The above files were compiled by Ron Berinstein co-sysop CodeHead
Quarters BBS (213) 461-2095 from files that were either directly
uploaded to CodeHead Quarters BBS, or downloaded from GEnie, Compuserve,
and Delphi online services.
=======================================================================
CALAMUS TUTORIAL - PART VII
---------------------------
Graphics II by Geoff LaCasse
GXR systems, Vancouver, B.C.
=======================================================================
Last session I discussed Calamus's built-in graphic tools: Raster Area
Graphics, and Line Graphics. I find both useful for defining page
elements and dimensions.
For example, we can add graphic backdrops to Calamus's text frames which
are transparent and have no borders. Retrieve your document from last
session. Turn on SNAP TO HORIZONTAL/VERTICAL AUXILIARY LINES. In the
space in the lower right, create a small text frame and fill it with
text. Turn off SNAP TO... With the frame still selected, click on dX
(WIDTH) in the upper right of the screen. dX displays the frame's Width
(left to right). Type in a new value 0.04 (of an inch) smaller (ESC or
BACKSPACE to delete old). Use the down arrow key to move to dY (HEIGHT-
- measured top to bottom) and do the same thing. Press RETURN. The
frame's anchor point--its upper left corner--is unchanged, but width and
height are reduced by 0.04. Follow a similar process but add 0.02 to X
and Y (to the left of dX and dY). X and Y define a frame's page origin
measured from the upper left corner of the document. Turn on SNAP TO...
and create a raster frame (with raster, shadow, and border style) on top
of the text frame. Make sure you not select the text frame when SNAP
TO... is on. Turn off SNAP TO...
Click on the Raster frame, then on PLACE FRAME TO BACKGROUND (FRAME icon
pad, bottom row, left). This and the adjacent icon--PLACE FRAME TO
FOREGROUND--rearrange frame stacking order. The raster frame moves from
above the text frame to below. Frames can be placed above or below one
another and remain distinct entities. Only your system's memory limit
the number of frames which may be stacked.
Frames may also be grouped. Hold down the shift key, click on the
raster and text frames (make sure both show handles), and select GROUP
FRAME (FRAME, fourth row from bottom, on the left). Alternately, you
could select GROUP FRAME and drag the cursor across the frames to be
grouped. The disadvantage there lies in selecting only those frames
which you want to group. Shift-Left mouse button is more accurate if
somewhat slower. Grouped frames show as one frame but GROUP FRAMED is
highlighted when selected.
Grouped frames re-size as a unit, although text point size will not
change. Individual elements can't be modified without breaking up the
group. To ungroup, select the frame, then UNGROUP FRAME (exploded icon
on third row), and click on the right mouse button (to deselect all
frames in the group). Click on DRAW UP PROPORTIONALLY (third row from
bottom, right) to re-size proportionally. Click on PROTECT FRAME (to
the right of Ungroup Frame) if you want to protect frame dimensions and
position. Protected frames have hollow (visible when selected) in place
of solid handles. Individual or grouped frames can be protected.
Line frames can be used for a variety of tasks, for example, defining
page length and width, and separation of adjacent frames. They will re-
size in length but not thickness when part of a grouped frame. When
choosing line thickness, use common sense. Hairlines (<1.0 point) can
only be accurately printed by Linotronic printers (default for others is
1.0 point). Thick lines (>6.0 points) have horrible banding on 9-pin
printers. Don't underline text with a line. Any changes to the wording
will change line placement.
Calamus's Line and Raster Area commands provide some simple drawing
tools for the desktop publisher. Experiment but remember a few rules.
Calamus's strengths lie in the nearly limitless imagination you bring to
the task and the tools the program has given you to exploit its
flexibility and complexity. If you understand both the medium you are
using and the tools to provide the message, you will have no difficulty
working with Calamus. But, as I have said previously, its strengths can
also be its weaknesses in the wrong hands. If your message cannot be
easily discerned, then the message, no matter how entertaining, is lost
on the readership. Because of this, I prefer simplicity of form to
complexity. Beginners should heed this, if only to prevent abuse. Do
not overuse Raster Area graphics and lines.
Calamus has as yet no Raster or Vector graphics tools. Instead, both
must be imported. Delete your grouped Text/Raster Area frame, and click
on RASTER GRAPHICS FRAME (FRAMES, third icon pad, second row, on the
right). Create a frame where the Raster Area graphic frame used to be.
Note the paint brush symbol in the upper left corner of the new frame.
In Calamus, each frame type is distinct, identified only by the symbol
(except Raster Area and Lines which need none). These visual clues are
important because frames (whether paint, drawing, or text) hold
particular file formats.
Select the Raster Graphic frame, and click on IMPORT from the File menu.
A dialogue box with a list of file formats will appear. Some--Degas,
GEM Image--should be familiar. Others--STAD, for example--will not
(STAD is used by German programs such as Sketch). Choose the file
format you want to import (have a file in that format ready to import).
Calamus looks into your \PICTURE folder for files. If not there, click
on the drive letter at the bottom of the screen, and again on the folder
or file in the item selector window. Load the file. The graphic will
fill the frame you created. To properly proportion the picture, click
on FRAME SPECIAL FUNCTIONS (the ? mark on the second icon pad), and
highlight OPTIMIZE SIZE FOR PRINTER (at bottom, second row, left).
Calamus re-scales the graphic to match the resolution of your printer.
For example, a Degas file will appear one-quarter scale if your Calamus
printer is capable of 300 dpi (DeskJet or LaserJet), because Degas uses
a bit-mapped image of the Atari screen--at 72dpi (or approximately one-
quarter of 300 dpi)--for its drawing format. Highlight PICTURE SIZE
INDEPENDENT OF FRAME (on right, bottom) if you want to enlarge the
Raster Graphic frame without changing picture size or position on the
page. Or select CENTRE PICTURE IN FRAME (which also selects the icon
Picture Size Independent of Frame) if you want to stretch the borders of
the frame and leave the graphic centred and untouched in the frame.
If the graphic is too small, highlight HALF-TONE PICTURE SIZING, enlarge
to desired size, and click on OPTIMIZE SIZE FOR PRINTER. Half-Tone
Sizing works in multiples of the optimal size, to avoid pattern effects
when the graphic is printed. Use OPTIMIZE SIZE FOR SCREEN when cropping
or sizing graphic to fit with original size (and not match dot for dot
as above). CROP PARTS OF A PICTURE (the scissors icon at bottom, mid)
selects the desired area of a graphic. Highlight the icon, position
cursor (thin cross) at the upper left, hold down the left mouse button,
and drag to the right and down. When you have selected the graphic area
you want, release the mouse button. The selected area will expand to
the borders of the frame.
Vector Graphic frames work similarly to Raster Graphic frames. Create a
Vector frame, and import a file. Use IDEAL SIZE in FRAME SPECIAL
FUNCTIONS to properly proportion the graphic. If you want to enlarge it
while keeping the X and Y dimensions correct, select PROPORTIONAL
DRAWING (third row, right, in FRAMES icon pad). The frame will only
have four handles and changing dimensions in one direction will change
it in the other.
Next session we begin our last document. Have handy a three-four page
word processor file plus a number of Raster and Vector Graphic files.
=======================================================================
PUBLIC DOMAIN UPDATE
--------------------
by Keith MacNutt
=======================================================================
UPDATE ON FORMDOIT!
-------------------
In my article in last weeks ZNET, I stated that I could not get
FormDoIt! to work on my 1040STE. After submitting the article for
publication, I discovered that the LZH program I used to extract the
program had rendered the file unworkable. I re-downloaded the program,
and this time was able to install and see that the program did indeed
work as stated in the accompanying documentation. I would like to
apologise at this time to both DAN WILGA and GRIBNIF SOFTWARE for any
inconveniences arising from this unfortunate error in my article.
Yours Truly
Keith MacNutt
PRINT-A-MATIC V2.0
Michael H. Douville
1661 S. Deframe ct.
Lakewood, CO 80228
Print-A-Matic's main purpose, as stated by the author, Is to make it
easy to setup and automate the configuration of you printer. Some of
the features included are:
1. Send control characters to you printer to enable curtain features.
2. To group these features together in macro format.
3. Save the configuration for future use or modification.
4. To print text files from within the program.
5. A test feature to enable you to see how the file will look on your
printer before the entire file is printed.
6. This, the latest version, has a variety of print formatting
commands.
USING THE PROGRAM
There is no installation process to follow, only that the files
PRINTA.TOS and PRNCONFG.DAT are in the same folder.
The documentation file states that before the program can be used, you
will have to enter control codes that allow the program to control the
setup of the printer. To do this, you should get the manual that came
with your printer and look up the ESC sequences that tell your printer
what to do. Next you pick a letter between A-Z and type CONTROL + the
letter you have chosen to edit. The rest is very simple in that you
give that entry a name and then enter the control sequence that you wish
to use with that entry. If you make a mistake you need only use the
BACKSPACE key and re-type the correct code in its place. The program
allows you to also turn on or off the control codes by simply typing
the letter A-Z and the line will become tagged or un-tagged, depending
on how many times you press the letter.
CREATING AND USING MACROS
To create a list of macros you simply tag the codes you will want to use
and then by pressing CONTROL and a number from 1-9 on the numeric at the
same time, a macro of those features has now been made. What could be
simpler then that. This allows you to make up to 10 (0-9) different
macros that can control how the page is laid out or the type size of the
print.
PRINT CONTROLS
F1- Sends the tagged ESC codes to the printer.
F2- Prints any legal file
F3- Test print. Prints 4 lines of text to the printer for final check.
F4- To reload the printer and macro configurations.
F5- Save the printer codes you have entered.
F6- Clear all printer codes and macros.
F7- Clear all tagged codes.
PRINTER FORMATTING
SHIFT F1- Sets the number of copys of the text file.
SHIFT F2- Sets the number of lines and the number of characters across
the page.
SHIFT F3- Page length-either 11" or 14" paper.
SHIFT F4- Set the left margin from 0-20 or how many spaces, 0-20, are
skipped if a TAB character is detected.
SHIFT F5- Sets page numbers on or off.
SHIFT F6- Pause printing at the end of each page.
SHIFT F7- Prints header information. Name of the file,date and time and
the title of the file which can be up to 40 characters.
SHIFT F8- Prints line numbers preceding each line of text.
SHIFT F9- Allows you to by-pass the print formatting used by Print-A-
Matic.
SHIFT F10- Selects whether a form feed is sent after each file printed.
CONCLUSIONS
If this impressive list of features hasn't knocked your socks off yet,
then the news that the author will be adding more to the program,
including a GEM interface in the near future, should do it. As always,
the author requests a donation of only $5.00 if you use his product, and
will send you the latest version (GEM) if you include your Name and
address along with the above mentioned contribution. Oh, by the way,
the new version will also work as an accessory.
=======================================================================
DC SHOWER
---------
Press Release
=======================================================================
Available now!
If you loved DC SHOWIT, you'll love DC SHOWER!
(pronounced: Dee Cee Sho Ir)
This is SHOW magic! SHOW 'NUF!
DC Shower replaces the GEM desktop SHOW FILE function with up to seven
DC Shower modules that let you view text files, binary files, 17
different picture formats, and (even extract) ARC, LZH, ZIP and ZOO
archives.
Use the DC Pick desk accessory to view files in any GEM program.
Or, use DC Shower directly from UIS 3.3 (simply drag a file to the <P>
button in UIS 3.3 and click on SHOW).
Or, you can install DC Shower as the ALTERNATIVE SHOW in NeoDesk 3.0
for even more power!
Fully compatible with all ST, STe and TT computers. 100% assembly!
Check out what the April 1991 ST Informer says about DC Shower! They
love it!
Only $29.95! Ask your dealer for a copy!
++++++++++++
SPECIAL DEAL
++++++++++++
Get DC Shower for 1/3 off the retail price!
As a special bargain, you can have DC Shower for only $19.95 (US)!
Simply send us a disk with a copy of DC Showit v1.0 or v1.1 and $19.95!
(DC Showit is available online on GEnie, CompuServe, the DCS BBS, and
many, many other BBS throughout the world - in case you are interested.)
(add $3(US) or $5(foreign) shipping/handling, TX residents add 8.25% tax)
This offer ends June 1, 1991.
Mail, COD, VISA and MC orders welcome.
You can reach us almost everywhere!
Double Click Software
PO BOX 741206
Houston, TX 77274
(713) 977-6520
GEnie : DOUBLE-CLICK (CATegory 30)
CompuServe : 75300,577 (GO ATARIVend, area 13)
Usenet : uace0@menudo.uh.edu
DC BBS : (713)944-0108
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Z*Net International Atari Online Magazine is copyright (c)1989 - 1991,
Rovac Industries, Inc.. Middlesex, New Jersey. (908) 968-2024
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