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Syndicate ZMagazine ||| Issue #132 November 20. 1988
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=^^^=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
HOT Atari News and Reviews
-FALL COMDEX REPORT-
(C)1988 Syndicate Publishing Company
Publisher/Editor: Ron Kovacs
Post Office Box 74
Middlesex, NJ 08846-0074
_______________________________________________________________________
Conveyance via PayBax BBS, Wilmington, DE 302-731-5558
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%] CONTENTS [%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
(*) Editors Desk..............Ron Kovacs
(*) ZMAG Newswire.............Ron Kovacs
(*) Atari Comdex Report..........D. Pine
(*) Commodore Comdex Report.............
(*) I Touched The Turbo 8/16....Tom Hunt
(*) Dataque Update...............Dataque
(*) DeTerm Update.............Jim Dillow
(*) How To Use SuperUnarc...............
_______________________________________________________________________
Editors Desk
by Ron Kovacs
Effective November 17, 1988:
ST-Report Magazine is no longer affiliated with ZMagazine. ST-REport is
now under the control of ST-Report Inc.
For the last 4-5 months Ralph Mariano has been solely responsible for the
content of ST-Report. What began as my solo project, ST-Report became a
joint venture in June 1988. Since that time, my involvement with ST-
Report has steadily declined to a non-active status.
With my status as non-participant, I can neither comment nor defend ST-
Report in the midst of several controversies surrounding it. I take this
opportunity to formalize the separation of ZMagazine and ST-Report, a
separation which has been informal for some time. Please direct questions
of ST-Report solely to Ralph Mariano.
ZMagazine will continue to provide weekly online magazines as we have been
for the last 3 years.
_______________________________________________________________________
ZMAG Newswire
Compiled by Ron Kovacs
Anti-Virus Law Proposed in Michigan
Michigan state lawmakers are considering a proposal that would impose
penalties against anyone convicted of creating or spreading computer
viruses.
This proposal came to light based on the virus attack earlier this month
on military and research computers linked by ARPANET and other computer
networks. Luckily, this virus did not cause any damage other than down
time to all involved.
Comdex Opens
As stated in the top of this weeks edition, we are covering Comdex related
news in most of the article presented this week. Comdex opened last week
celebrating it's 10th anniversary, with a speaker stating a -customer
revolt- is changing the computer industry.
More than 100,000 people attended, making this the biggest Comdex showing
to date. Some 1,700 companies exhibited with displays covering 1.75
million square feet.
NeXt Computer Finds Site
Steve Jobs' 170-employee NeXT Inc. has picked Redwood City, Calif., a site
on the San Francisco Bay, for its new, expanded headquarters. NeXt which
announced its first computer last month, has signed a five-year lease with
an option until 1999 for 164,000 square feet of new office and research
and development space. The site will include six one- and two-story
buildings constructed on a landfill area known as Seaport Centre.
Atari's Holiday Promotion
Hoping to regain superiority in the video game market, Atari has unveiled
a holiday promotion that offers free game cartridges to buyers of Atari
video game systems and software.
The -Atari Holiday Bonus Software Program- lets consumers who purchase an
Atari 2600 or 7800 game system between November 21 and December 31 receive
a bonus of two free game cartridges direct from Atari. Current game system
owners who buy any two Atari game cartridges during that time will get one
cartridge free.
Through December 31, Atari is offering a $50 consumer rebate on the
purchase of the Atari XE. In addition, the company will continue to offer
consumers prizes for buying Atari games through the -Atari Advantage
Collector Program.- Consumers who buy five games can receive a free Atari
Advantage T-shirt. Those who purchase 15 games will receive one free
cartridge. Consumers who buy 25 games are entitled to a reduced price on
an Atari 7800 or XE game system or peripheral, plus a chance for the Atari
Advantage Grand Prize -- a seven-day expense-paid trip for two to
California.
(MICHTRON Update): GFA Systemtechnik informed MichTron in September that
they intended to begin marketing all their products, world wide, by
themselves. GFA was going to start a new company in the USA called GFA
U.S.A. Hearing this, HiSoft approached MichTron about publishing their
products in the United States.
After evaluating HiSoft BASIC and DevpacST, MichTron felt that these
products were superior to the GFA products, and signed an agreement to
publish several HiSoft products on both the ST and the Amiga.
Recently GFA's efforts to open a U.S. office were delayed. MichTron will
continue to sell and support GFA products, including GFA BASIC, until
such time as GFA U.S.A. is established.
DevpacST Version 2.0, the world famous assembler for the Atari ST, will
be launched by MichTron on December 1st at a price of $99.95. HiSoft
BASIC, an extremely powerful Microsoft and ST BASIC compatible BASIC
Compiler, will be released on December 1st at a price of $79.95. HiSoft
Power BASIC, an enhanced version of HiSoft BASIC for the serious
programmer, with debugging tools and extended libraries will be introduced
December 15th at a price of $159.95.
As a special offer, any owner of GFA BASIC will be able to purchase a copy
of either HiSoft BASIC or Power BASIC at 1/2 price. Further details of
this offer will be announced later.
Gordon Monnier, President, MichTron Inc.
______________________________________________________________________
Atari Comdex Report Part 1
Copyright 1988 Darlah J. Pine. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Comdex Overview: A Wealth of Items to Report On
By Darlah J. Pine and Sandy Wilson
Comdex is an exciting time of the year for the computer industry. Darlah's
excitement started when she packed her hard drive the morning she was to
depart. -I always wonder if Comdex will be worth it this year, if I should
have gone,- she said. -It turns out this year it was well worth the trip.-
Though Atari was in the Gold Room away from direct activity, there was a
steady stream of people milling in the room. [The stream may get heavier
tomorrow. Rumor has it that Fleetwood Mac will be playing in the Atari
booth Wednesday, November 16.]
We will try to fill you in on everything that was at the show though we
probably won't remember it all. Atari didn't show any new machines except
for a glimpse the day before of the portable, but there was a tremendous
number of items to see.
Atari Corporation was showing Microsoft Write again as well as Ultrascript.
Ultrascript is a Postscript-compatible interpreter used for printing files
with the Atari Mega and Atari Laser only at this time. For now, you have
to save the file to disk in Postscript format and then run Ultrascript.
Softlogik is looking into bypassing this extra step in order to send
directly to the laser. Ultrascript should be available in early 1989. No
suggested retail price was available.
There were several desktop publishing programs being shown. Softlogik was
showing its just-released Pagestream, and Timeworks was showing its full
line of products with nothing new. Atari was showing Deskset, its high-end
desktop publishing program. Though being displayed, it still needed final
touches and the manual was not even off to the printer. Guesstimate for
arrival on the market is -real soon now.- We all know what that means.
Calamus, from ISD Marketing, will be shipping immediately after Comdex.
As an avid user of Pagemaker, Darlah was impressed to note the similarities
and differences. In a recent article in Personal Publishing Magazine,
users were asked for their wishlist for Pagemaker. The amazing thing is
that Calamus has four out of five things on that wishlist.
-In my opinion,- Darlah said, -this is a must-have product. I have to
admit that I am sorry now for not waiting for this product before jumping
on the bandwagon to buy Pagemaker at a much higher cost.- Suggested
retail is $299.
As previously mentioned, there was very little in the way of new hardware
from Atari, but there was a bit of confusion. Atari showed a rather large,
very alpha laptop computer for a very large lap indeed. Or at least that's
what was displayed the day before the show. At the last minute, it was
taken out of view. A couple of days later, though, Darlah happened to see
a more truly laptop-size model being shown privately to someone over in
a corner. We don't know whether it was a working machine or a model, but
it raised the possibility that a true laptop is on the way. There were
three transputers up and running, with an occasional demo from the stage.
The PC-4 and the PC-5 were also being displayed with no new information
regarding when they would reach the market in the U.S.
[Ed. Next week we will continue this article with information on: JRI,
Neriki, Navarone and more....]
_______________________________________________________________________
Commodore COMDEX Report
COMMODORE INTRODUCES THE AMIGA 2000HD
Las Vegas, November 15, 1988 - Commodore Business Machines, Inc. today
introduced the Amiga 2000HD to address the needs of the professional Amiga
user. This extension of the Amiga series, builds on the Amiga 2000 base
unit which comes standard with 1 'MB of RAM and a single 3.5 inch floppy
disk drive. Specific Amiga 2000HD enhancements include a pre-configured,
high performance 40 MB hard disk drive; the A2090A autoboot hard disk
controller; and Kickstart v. 1.3 and Workbench v 1.3 system software.
The open architecture design of the Amiga 2000HD allows extensive internal
expansion with the multi-processor, multi-DOS options. Contained in the
Amiga 2000HD are seven full-size expansion slots which include a combination
of Amiga, standard PC XT/AT and dual purpose slots; a CPU expansion slot
for 68020 and/or math-co-processor boards and a video expansion slot.
In addition, the Amiga 2000HD features custom sound, animation and graphics
chips, a detachable 94-key keyboard with separate numeric keypad, ten
function keys and a two-button optomechanical mouse.
The Commodore Amiga 2000HD will be available through authorized Commodore
Amiga dealers and has a suggested retail price of $2,999.
COMMODORE INTRODUCES AMIGA WITH 68020
Las Vegas, November 15, 1988 - Commodore Business Machines, Inc. today
introduced the Amiga 2500 designed for the needs of graphics, animation
and video professionals. Based on the original Amiga 2000 introduced a
year ago, the Amiga 2500 is configured with an A2620/2 co-processor card
that comes standard with the Motorola 68020 praocessor, 2 MB of 32-bit RAM
(expandable to 4 MB) and a 68881 math-co-processor. These high-performance
features enable the new Amiga system to perform at the workstation-level
speeds required by many of the new second genertion graphics based Amiga
applications.
Standard on the Commodore Amiga 2500 is a Motorola 68020-based co-processor
card (A2620/2) running at 14.26 MHz with 2 MB of 32-bit RAM, (expandable to
4 MB of 32-bit RAM); a built-in 3.5 inch floppy disk drive; a
pre-configured, high performance 40 MB hard disk drive and hard disk
controller; custom sound, animation and graphics chips; RS232 serial and
parallel connectors; and two RCA-type audio output jacks. Also available
is an MS-DOS compatible bridgeboard allowing the Commodore Amiga to run
MS-DOS compatible software under Amiga control.
The Commodore Amiga 2500 will be available through authorized Commodore
Amiga dealers and has a suggested retail price of $4,699.
COMMODORE ANNOUNCES U.S. ENTRY INTO THE PC/AT MARKETPLACE
Las Vegas, November 15, 1988 -- Commodore Business Machines, Inc., today
introduced the PC40-III [tm], the latest addition to its Professional
Series III line of MS-DOS computers. The PC40-III targets the business
and education professional who needs a fast, expandable computer that
provides maximum performance while retaining compatibility with a wide
variety of application sofatware.
The AT-compatible PC40-III features a 12 MHz 80286 microprocessor, with
1 MB of RAM, 256K of video display RAM and IBM VGA-compatible video and
graphics modes. Storage includes a 1.2 MB 5.25-inch floppy disk drive, a
19 millisecond 40 MB high-performance hard disk driave and an optional
3.5-inch floppy disk drive.
The unit includes built-in parallel, serial and mouse ports and a
clock/calendar with battery back-up. When used in conjunction with the
Commodore 1352 mouse the PC40-III offers compatibility with Microsoft [R]
mouse software. The PC40-III features an enhanced 101-key keyboard with
a numeric keypad and a security lock for keypad lock-out.
The Professional Series III line of MS-DOS computers was introduced to the
U.S. market in May, 1988. The series also includes the XT-compatible
PC10-III [tm] and PC20-III [tm]. The PC40-III will be available through
authorized Commodore Professional Series III dealers and has a suggested
retail price of $2,395 without a monitor and $2,595 with the Commodore
Model 1403 monochrome VGA monitor.
Product Comparison
------------------
Commodore PC40-III IBM (R) PS/2 [TM] 30/286
------------------ ------------------------
CPU
- Type 80286, 1 wait state 80286, 1 wait state
- Clock Speed 12 MHz (6,8,12) 10 MHz
- Co-Processor 80287 (optional 80287 (optional)
MEMORY
- RAM 1 MB Standard 512K Standard
- System Maximum 16 MB 16 MB
INPUT/OUTPUT PORTS
- RS232 1 built-in 1 built-in
- Centronics Parallel 1 built-in 1 built-in
- Mouse Interface 1 built-in 1 built-in
INTERNAL STORAGE
- Standard 1 1.2 MB 5.25- fdd 1 1.44 MB 3.5- fdd
1 40 MB hd (19 ms) 1 20 MB hd (80 ms)
- Optional 1 1.44MB 3.5- fdd
or additional 5.25- fdd
or streaming tape drive
- Total Capacity 2 Fdd (or one fdd and 1 fdd, 1 hd
one other device) plus
hd simultaneously
EXPANDABILITY
4 total slots: 3 slots:
3 PC/AT 16 bit and 3 PC/AT 16 bit
1 XT 8 bit
VIDEO
VGA built-in VGA built-in
plus hardware compatible
MDA/Hercules and CGA modes;
132x43 & 132x25 text modes
on a VGA monitor
OPERATING SYSTEM MSDOS (R) 3.3 included None included
KEYBOARD 101/102 Enhanced AT 101/102 Enhanced AT
POWER SUPPLY 112 Watts 90 Watts
Size W 14.0- D 15.5- H 5.6- W 16- D 15.6- H 4-
21.9 lbs. 19 lbs.
Price $2,395 $2,595
including MS-DOS and plus cost of
GS BASIC operating system.
_______________________________________________________________________
I Touched a Turbo-816!
Copyright (C) 1988 By Tom Hunt
Notice: This article may be reprinted only if it remains in it's entirety.
On Saturday, November 5th, 1988, the Turbo-816 was shown for the first
time at the Mid-Ohio Atari Users Group (MAUG). It was announced before
hand, in the MAUG newsletter, that the Turbo-816 would be demoed, and that
interested parties should bring any software that they wanted to test out
on it. Chuck Steinman of Dataque was on hand to to answer questions
pertaining to the Turbo-816.
The Turbo-816 is a new product being developed by Dataque that is
basically a replacement for the CPU and operating system. It replaces it
with 16-bit CPU and an operating system that maintains compatibility with
existing software and also make use of the special 16-bit mode. Two Atari
XL's were on hand for these particular demos. One being a stock machine,
and the other equipped with the Turbo-816.
Chuck pointed out that the new operating system is now fully functional,
but not fully optimized. Thats to say that there are still some routines
that need to be rewritten to get the most power out of the new 65816 CPU.
The floating-point routines in the Turbo-816 machine had been partially
optimized for 16-bit mode. The demos here run on each machine, and the
timed results were compared.
The first demo resulted in four different mathematical equations being
plotted to the screens. When the timing results were compared, it was
found that the stock XL took 256.783 seconds, and the Turbo-816 machine
took 24.049 seconds. Chuck pointed out that when the drawing routines are
optimized, that there will be an even more dramatic increase in speed.
The second demo was a test of the various math functions of basic and the
operating system. The only screen output generated was the printing of
the timed results. Each math function was interated 1000 times.
Cartridge basic was used on the Turbo-816, since this machine was a
prototype. Chuck then allowed MAUG members to test out the Turbo-816 with
any software they wanted to try. Testing for compatibility with existing
8-bit software was the purpose of this. SynCalc ran just fine, as did
PaperClip ver.1.2 64k.
Oddly enough, PaperClip ver.2.0 128k didn't recognize that there was 256k
of ram available. Chuck said that he was working on it, and that programs
that use banked memory will be fully supported by the Turbo-816. Game
cartridges were also tested. These included Atlantis, Pac Man, Astro
Chase, Submarine Commander, and Alien Garden. These worked just fine. From
my own personal observations, some games actually seemed to be more
responsive to the joystick, enhancing playability. Two cartridges from
Spinnaker would not work. These were Adventure Creator, and Delta Drawing.
Chuck said that in his own testing he found AtariWriter, AtariWriter+, and
Pole Position worked just fine. After testing these software titles for
compatibility, things settled down to a general question and answer
session. Chuck said that in the future he hopes that the Turbo-816
operating system will be combined with a graphics interface into a single
rom. Static ram will probably the used for the new ram expansion. The new
linear addressing range is up to 16 megs! The new ram will be on the
expansion bus, and will be internal up to either 256k or 512k. After that,
an external expansion box would be necessary. Keep in mind that this ram
would be used for executable code. Generally we are now limited to around
40k of executable program code that can be in the computer at one time.
This ram will be fast ram, with no wait states caused by either ANTIC
stealing memory cycles, or ram refresh cycles that dynamic ram chips
require.
The question was raised about how programmers are supposed to make use of
the 65816, since there aren't any assemblers especially made for it. Chuck
said that it is easy to make macro extensions for use with either AMAC or
MAC/65.
In addition to reporting about the first public demonstration of the TURBO
-816, here are a few technical details of the 65816 cpu....
In many ways, the 65816 stands in relation to the 6502 as the 8086 stands
to the 8080. First, it has a 16-bit data bus, but an 8-bit internal data
bus. This means that all 16-bit memory accesses take two clock cycles,
effectively reducing its potential speed by a factor of two. Second, the
register structure of the 65816 closely expands upon that of the 6502, in
that all the 8-bit registers have been extended to 16-bits.
In addition, a new register, called the direct-page register (D), has been
added; it allows quick access (like to page zero) to any 256-byte page in
the first 64k of the address space.
One big improvement in the register structure is that the stack pointer is
now sixteen bits, so the stack can be located anywhere in the first 64k of
the address space. And it can have a depth greater than 256 bytes. The
mode (native or 6502 emulation) is set by a new bit (M) in the processor
status register. Several new instructions (SEP and REP) allow you to
manipulate individual bits in the status register.
Address modes available include all the original 6502 modes, the NCR 65C02
modes, and Rockwell's additional 65C02 mode, as well a eight new 65816
modes. The 65816 has the three hardware interrupts of the 6502 (RESET,
NMI, andRQ), and a new one, called ABORT, which may be used to implement
a virtual-memory system. As in the 6502, the interrupt vectors are located
in the highest locations of the first 64k of memory.
Software interrupts include the old BRK instruction, as well as a new COP
instruction, used in interfacing a co-processor IC. In addition, two
instructions adapted from the 6800 family, WAI (wait) and STP (stop), halt
the processor until a hardware interrupt occurs (NMI or IRQ), or until the
processor is reset, respectively.
MAUG members would like to thank Chuck Steinman of Dataque for giving us
the first public demonstration of the TURBO-816. The excitment generated
by the demo was real, and reminiscent of what must have been felt by
computer enthusiasts when the first real personal computers were shown to
the world.
For more information about the TURBO-816, call Chuck's board, The Master-
800BS, at 419-529-5197. And, for the latest MTOS and enhanced ram
programs, feel free to call my board (Closer To Home BBS) at 419-368-4413.
_______________________________________________________________________
Dataque Update
From: DataQue Software
P.O. Box 134
Ontario, OH 44862
To: All interested parties
Subj: Program test
Date: November 15, 1988
Hi, this textfile is to request that any user using any home computer
write a program meeting the specified criteria listed below. The language
used is not of particular importance, but the source file and target file,
should be executable on any machine of the same type without any
modifications.
This program is very simple, and by changing parameters could be done more
efficiently. This is not the objective though, I am looking to get the
execution times from several different systems, for use in comparing a new
product I am manufacturing.
Computer types of particular intrest are: Apple //, Apple //gs, Apple
Macintosh, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Amiga, Commodore 64, IBM/PC, IBM-PS/2,
Coleco Adam, TI-99/4a, Sinclair. These of course are just examples, and
programs will be accepted for any personal computer system.
When you return your program, the following should be supplied to expidite
your entry into our logs. Your Name, Address, Computer Brand, Computer
Model, Computer Specs (clock speed, ram, dos, hard drive, and any special
hardware), compiler/assembler/linker used. Total execution time on your
machine in seconds, and fractions. And most importantly, the source file
for your program, this can optionally be a compiler/assembler .LST file.
Also the executable program size. If an ARC compatible compression
technique is available for your system, you may want to include the
executable version of the program, but the source is needed regardless.
You may upload the file onto this service to the name of DATAQUE or mail
a source listing to the above address.
Program Specifications:
The program will do 1000 iterations of full screens of each of the 26
capital letters of the english alphabet. To equalize the various screen
sizes on different machines, a screen is defined as 500 characters. If
your screen is larger than this then just pick any origin you feel is
apropriate, but keep the same number of characters. In pseudo language
the program will look like this:
start timer ; start a timer of some sort
for w = 1 to 1000 ; 1000 iterations
for c = 65 to 91 ; ascii 65 (A) to 91 (Z)
cls ; cls, (or home cursor as a minimum)
for p = 1 to 400 ; 400 characters per -screen-
print char(c); ; print each character
next p ; character print loop
next c ; screen loop
next w ; iteration loop
stop timer ; stop your timer
print time ; display total time
end
_______________________________________________________________________
DeTerm Update
All versions of DeTerm are copyright (c)1988 By James Dillow. All rights
reserved. DeTerm is a Share-Ware program, if you have something you would
like to share send to:
Jim Dillow
P.O. Box 2552
Sarasota,FL 33578
If you write me a letter please do not expect me to reply, it does warm my
heart but at this point in my life I dislike writing letters, I am into
using the phone. Also at any time in past or future you sent or send Email
via either Compuserve or Genie and I did or do not reply it is probably
because I filed your address and then lost it, try yelling at me one more
time.
DeTerm is a telecommunication program written entirely in assembly
language for the the Atari XL, XE, 800 computers with 48k and at least one
disk drive. Please make a back up copy of DeTerm and all support files,
just to be safe.
And now for the beginners, if someone or some media tells you that DeTerm
is not for beginners ignore them. I am sure when you were learning to tie
your shoes no one came up and said -Oh do not do that you are a beginner-,
right, instead you were probably applauded when you were able to tie them
yourself (in my case it was more like -about time- <grin>).
First follow the directions on how to boot Determ then relax and for gosh
sakes do not be shy, just jump in and play, if you do nothing you learn
nothing. If and when you have a question, ask, first yourself then someone
else. Trust your feelings and experiment, it's fun and part of your
natural growth..
DeTerm SX212:for the SX212 modem connected to SIO port, last in chain. Has
a built in handler which relocates to lomem on boot, please do not append
one.
DeTerm XM301:for the XM301 and 1030 modems connected to SIO port, last in
chain. Has a built in handler which relocates to lomem on boot, please do
not append one.
DeTerm 850:for Hayes or compatible modems connected to a 850, P:R: or MIO.
DT850 is appended to a 850 booter.
DeTerm Mpp:for the Mpp modems pluged into joy stick port #2. Has a built
in handler which relocates to lomem on boot, please do not append one.
DeTerm:for Hayes or compatible modems but has no booter or handler, you
will have to supply your own. Works fine on an MIO.
BOOTING UP!
As you might have noticed by now, 90% of all docs for DeTerm are in help
files. I suggest that you place them on a separate disk.
Note:Please do not change help file names if you wish to use them. DeTerm
uses file name -HELP.xxx- where xxx=is an alpha numeric extender.
If using DTXM, DTMPP, DTSX212 and you have a P:R: or 850 interface, please
do not boot them, because the handlers are built in. If you do boot them
it will raise lomem and you might not have enough memory to run DeTerm.
Booting with DOS 2.0 or 2.5:
1> construct a boot disk containing DOS files (including RAMDISK.COM, if
appropriate), and DeTerm. Rename the DeTerm file AUTORUN.SYS
2> Boot your computer (modem on) with the disk in D1: IMPORTANT-> HOLD
DOWN THE OPTION KEY to disable Basic (XL/XE ... 800 users, remove the
Basic cartridge.)
Booting with SpartaDOS:
1> rename DeTerm to DETERM.COM.
2> boot the computer (modem on), put your DeTerm disk in D1: and go to
DOS. You can run DeTerm from the command line or from a batch file.
Disable basic before running. NOTE:DeTerm works with TDLINE ON and
KEY ON.
AUX FILES
DeTerm attempts to load some auxiliary files off the drive you are booting
from (no harm if they're not there). These are:
LIST.BAT - simply contains the name of your default 'phone list', followed
by a RETURN. (Phone lists are created within DeTerm ... see below.) The
name in LIST.BAT MUST BE A FULL FILESPEC, including the drive number. You
can create LIST.BAT file by typing in the following basic program and
running it:
100 DIM A$(30):A$=-D1:PHONE.LST-:REM or whatever name you like.
110 OPEN #1,8,0,-D1:LIST.BAT-:REM open file
120 PRINT #1;A$:REM print the name
130 CLOSE #1:REM done!
140 END
Another way to create the LIST.BAT file using your Dos's copy routine,
copy from E: to D:LIST.BAT, type
D:PHONE.LST (press RETURN)
hold down on the control key and press '3'.
In the above examples, after DeTerm boots it will read LIST.BAT to find
the name of your list file, then load that file into the appropriate
buffer.
MODEM.BAT - is a 'setup' file that allows you to send commands directly
to your modem before running DeTerm (consult your modem documentation to
see what commands you can send.) Again, each command or string of commands
must end with an Atari RETURN character.
To create a MODEM.BAT file type in the following basic program and run it:
100 DIM A$(30)
110 OPEN #1,8,0,-D1:MODEM.BAT-
120 A$=-ATX2-:REM select extended result codes
130 PRINT #1;A$:REM Send to file
140 A$=-ATS11=60-:REM Speed tone dial up a bit
150 PRINT #1;A$:REM Send to file
160 CLOSE #1:REM done!
170 END
Or again using your Dos's copy routine, copy from E: to D:MODEM.BAT and
type:
ATX2 (press RETURN)
ATS11=60 (press RETURN)
hold down on the control key and press '3'.
In the above examples, after DeTerm boots it reads MODEM.BAT and sends the
commands:
ATX2 (return)
ATS11=60 (return)
to your modem, just as if you'd typed them in yourself.
DEFAULTS - Loads user defaults, set previously (see ETC.)
MENU NAVIGATION
DeTerm uses an ST-like interface which includes extensive use of Windows
and Drop Down Menus. The first thing you'll notice is the menu line at the
top of the screen, which contains the following:
Online R:Dev Modem Disk Etc Quit
RUNNING A MENU
Whenever the Menu Line is displayed, you can Run a menu (display the
commands in the menu) in a couple of ways:
Cycle the bar cursor through the choices by pressing the OPTION or SELECT
keys, as well as any of the 'arrow' keys (without pressing the control
key.) When you get to the menu you wish to access, press either START or
RETURN. OR press the FIRST LETTER of the Menu you wish to run (no RETURN
necessary.) In both cases, the menu window under the header will open,
and you'll see the supported commands.
Note:To display commands a section has (also a brief summary of the
commands) position the cursor bar over menu header and then press the '?'
key.
SELECTING A MENU OPTION
Once the commands are displayed, you again have a couple of options to run
a specific command:
Use an 'arrow' key to cycle the cursor through the commands. When you
reach the command you want, press RETURN or the START key. Type the FIRST
LETTER of the command (no RETURN is necessary.) The command will be
executed, and, in most cases, you'll be returned to the drop down menu.
MENU GLOBAL
In all menus, a few 'global' commands will prove useful:
1-9 pressing a number will display the directory of the drive specified.
You can stop a directory display by pressing SELECT.
?- This is your help key. Make sure all help files are in source drive,
position the cursor bar over the command or menu header you need help with
and press the '?' key.
Q - Quit .. this will close the menu, and return you to the menu line.
ESC - Pressing the ESCAPE key causes an immediate jump to terminal mode.
INPUT CONVENTIONS
When inputting text into a DeTerm window (eg. phone number, file name,
etc.) the regular Atari edit keys (Backspace, Insert, Delete, etc.) are
supported.
For most input operations, use the SELECT key to cancel the operation and
return to the menu currently running. When any Y/N (Yes/No) prompt appears
pressing SELECT is treated by DeTerm as a NO.
_______________________________________________________________________
How To Use Super Unarc
These are some very brief instructions on how to use SUPERU.COM, Bob
Puff's SUPER UNARC version 2.2. These are NOT the complete docs; PLEASE
see SUPERA.ARC for the Full Official Documentation!!!
SUPERA contains the full docs, the latest versions of SUPER ARC and SUPER
UNARC, and a small modification program for DOS 2.5 users. You need to
get the entire package to make full use of this program... in fact, we've
only made SUPER UNARC available separately for those of you who don't yet
have an UnArc utility. If you already have an earlier version of SUPER
UNARC or one of the ARCX.COM programs, you don't need SUPERU.COM -- go
ahead and download SUPERA.ARC instead!
Still with me? OK, on to the instructions...
You'll want the complete docs for this program, so start out by
downloading SUPERA.ARC -- it will be an ideal introduction to the wonders
of DeARCing.
Next, copy SUPERA.ARC to a freshly formatted disk. DO NOT write DOS files
to this disk! If you do, the disk won't have enough room to hold both the
ARC file and the files we'll extract from the ARC.
Ready? OK, now binary-load SUPERU.COM from the DOS menu. You'll see a
menu labeled -SuperUnArc! Ver. 2.2- on the screen, and there will be a box
of options at the top of the screen. (You don't need to worry about those
options now... they'll be explained in the docs.) Remove your program
disk from D1: and insert the SUPERA.ARC disk you made earlier.
The first choice on the menu says -[A] Un-Arc/Un-Alf a file-. That's what
we want to do, so hit the -A- key.
The screen will clear, then you'll see the prompt -Enter complete source
file name:-. Type in -D1:SUPERA.ARC- (without quotes!) and hit the RETURN
key.
The next prompt will appear -- -Destination Drive # or Path [&mask]:-.
When you see this prompt, just type in a -1- and hit RETURN.
Now the fun begins! The disk drive will start up, and your screen will
blank out except for one line in the middle. This line will show you
which file is currently being extracted from the ARC... in this case,
you'll see ARC.COM first, then UNARC.COM, DOS25.MOD, and DOCS.TXT.
When SuperUnArc finishes extracting the original files, the full screen
will reappear, and you'll see the messages -Done!- and -Press RETURN to
continue...- At this point, hit RETURN to get back to the menu.
That's all there is to it! If you're using Atari DOS, put a DOS disk in
the drive and hit -G- to reboot your system. (SpartaDOS users can just
hit an -H- to return to the DOS prompt.) Now be sure to read the doc file
to find out how to use all the features of these programs. Even better,
copy DOCS.TXT to your printer for a permanent reference!
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Next Week:
(*) 800XL Modification, Part 2 of Atari Comdex, ZMag Extra, and more!!!
Syndicate ZMagazine
Issue #132 November 20, 1988 (c)1988 Syndicate Publishing Company
NOT Affiliated with ANY other Online Magazine.
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