Acorn User 1988 Magazine

First review of
Superior’s Exile

CROSS WORDS:
Program to automate
these (8 letters)

THAT’S LIFE:

Living in a one
dimensional worldjl

FILE TRANSFER: !
View to First Word
to Pipedream

Designer softwa

Three wide carriage
printers to be won

fjjjjjw

.u.B

jJIfM

wmm

Software;

iSSSSg®-"

two floors, three ElocUon User.

anddungoon. •■•

Th .Un^u.Ha^ a(cornputet

One ol the ^rtev°JOC) P'°P el °, U J

"* udw ° f t IlLdoieklyas
■ Go out and see » ^^puting-
possible „„,hafwllMak0you
MtcroUier.

player or thee P fa0 ndea

sKassw^- 11 '-

^cornUset.

cOSM ‘ C ,^up^ttwo,. I
A»«tw R *'*°‘^ eQ u e wMeteorv^ I
An wcWna ^i® q C ed leatutev
many. gravity tewett

&«^“SKTcS£S5«

«5>?!srSi'KSS“«" w

PLAY IT AGAIN SAM 4 for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron

Superior Software has combined a brand new release, with three great chartbusters. The result is another top quality
four-game compilation that combines variety with great value for money.

BBS

BBC Micro Cassette £ 9.95 Acorn Electron Cassette £ 9.95

BBC Micro 5V/ Disc £ 11.95 BBC Master Compact 3Va" Disc £ 14.95

(Compatible with the BBC B, B+ and Master Series computers)
Please make cheques payable to “Superior Software Ltd”.

ACORN ELECTRON VERSION

Unfortunately It Is not technically possible to produce an Acorn EI ®ctr on wrs^notGRANDPRI x
CONSTRUCTION SET. The four games on the Acorn Electron version of PLAY IT AGAIN SAM 4 are.
FRAKI, SPELLBINDER. COSMIC CAMOUFLAGE and GUARDIAN.

GUARDIAN — An Alllgata Software Hit - received rave reviews when first released.

■Ws a classic Defender game.. . and It's very good .". . . A&BComputing

"A fast moving space game, with striking graphics and excellent sound effects. . . . Electron User.

superior

softujrre

ACORNSSFT

( Acornsott Is a registered trademark ol Acorn Computers Lfd. Superior Software Ltd Is a registered user )

The screen pictures
show the BBC Micro
versions ot the games.

VISA

24 HOUR TELEPHONE
ANSWERING SERVICE FOR ORDERS

OUR GUARANTEE

• All mail orders are despatched
within 24 hours by first-class post

• Postage and packing is tree

• Faulty cassettes and discs will be
replaced immediately.

(this does not alfect your statutory rights)

Dept 4PS8, Regent House, Skinner Lane, Leeds LS7 1 AX. Telephone: (0532) 459453.

The Account Book

If you have been thinking of computerising your business or have been disillusioned by the complex manuals and screens of
codes most accounting programs offer then you are in for a pleasant surprise. You do not need to know anything about
accounting to use The Account Book, and no matter how small your business, you will be amazed at how easy your
book-keeping will become. There are no strange monthly ‘rituals’ or data sorting (which is completely automatic), but more
importantly, there is no limit to the number of entries you can make. You can see your bank and cash balances, immediately, at
any time together with a break-down of all your entries including profit/loss figures and any discrepancies between your
receipts and payments which allows you to balance your books with your bank statements with the minimum of fuss. Your
entries can be analysed for reports in over 50 different ways. One example of this is listing unpaid invoices from a particular
customer, for an individual month, from a certain month to date or for all months. Another is to find out not only how much your
motor expenses were, but also how much of it was for, say, petrol. If you are VAT registered, the Account Book will produce
your VAT lists and returns for any period, automatically.

The number of key presses has been optimised for rapid entry of data and by using the labeling facility a single key press will
enter all the details of a standing order etc. Help messages are always displayed on screen, but the system is so easy to use
you probably won’t need them.

To get you going, a comprehensive and easy to read manual is supplied with the system, and a free telephone help-line service
for any technical queries or advice is also provided. The Account Book was launched twelve months ago, and ourcustomers
range from self-employed people to retail shops and limited companies. The following are two quotes from the many letters of
praise we have received:

“I have brought my accounts up to date from the
beginning of my year, which starts 1st May, without
any trouble at all. All nine months are printed out in
the neatest possible way.

I have to congratulate you on a very good piece of
work. Far, far better than anything I have previously
tried for the BBC Master and at a very much lower
cost. In fact I have abandoned two rather expensive
programs because they are too complicated for the
needs of a small business, difficult if not impossible
to use, and do not produce print-outs which are
helpful. How right you were to design your layout on
a normal ledger. It was just what I was looking for. I
only wish I had the time and knowledge to write a
review of it for the BBC magazines. Someone
should.”

“Thank you for the Accounts program which is
working well and is, without doubt, the solution to my

book keeping problems it is incredible value

for money and its operation is simplicity itself. ”

Many thanks to Mr Ronald Whitehouse of
Maldon, Essex and Mr Geoffrey Allcock of
Southampton for allowing us to quote
from their letters.

The Account Book runs on all models of BBC computer from the BBC B to the Master and requires a
minimum of 1 double sided 80 track drive, dot matrix printer and mono or colour monitor. We are at present
working on a second module to complement The Account Book which will include invoicing, statements
and stock control. There is only one thing left to mention the price: Just £27.95 inclusive.

Please send me a copy of The Account Book

I enclose Cheque/P.O. for £27.95 made out to APRICOTE STUDIOS.
All Orders/enquiries to:

APRICOTE STUDIOS
2 PURLS BRIDGE FARM
MANEA

CAMBS PEI 5 OND

TEL: 035 478 432

Delivery by return.

NAME:

ADDRESS:

POST CODE:

TEL:

AU11

ACORN US HR NOVHMBKR 1988

1

PIPEDREAM

POWER

ATYOUR

FINGERTIPS

And database and spreadsheet functions can
work together.

You can use PipeDream as a database program to
maintain your address book or sales ledger.
Perform selections and sorts to invoice all of those
customers living in London who have bought
more than 100 products from you since
February but haven't paid within 30 days.

The price of all this power? Just £99+ VAT.

With Archimedes, you have a breakthrough in
personal computing power. Enough power for
the next breakthrough in integrated software -
PipeDream.

With existing integrated packages, you have to
divide your work into artificial sections, such as
text, numbers and calculation, and database.

But don't just take our word for it. This is what
Michael By water of Punch had to say:

"PipeDream itself is a remarkable achievement
It offers a spreadsheet, a word processor and a
database, and if you think I am talking about a
conventional integrated program, you are wrong.
PipeDream does all those things within one
program. No switching between modules or
cutting and pasting; PipeDream simply offers you
a matrix of slots' into which you can either type
continuous text or figures or formulae or
database ' fields ' . "

That was PipeDream on the Z88.

Now we've completely rewritten it for
Archimedes. The result is even friendlier, faster
and more powerful. There are full menus and
dialogue boxes, making the most complex
operations easy to carry out. You'll probably
never even need to look at the comprehensive
PipeDream tutorial and reference book. And
keyboard wizards will love the optimised
keystroke alternatives to the menus. Some will
even devise their own key layouts, using
PipeDream's unique keyboard programmability.

We've maintained 100% file and keystroke
compatibility with Z88 PipeDream, so you can
transfer files between the Z88 and your
Archimedes.

PipeDream is also 100% file compatible with
PipeDream on the IBM PC, and Acornsoft's VIEW
PROFESSIONAL for the BBC Microcomputer,
so you could work at home on your BBl
M icrocomputer and take your files to the office
on your Z88, to use on your Archimedes or IBM
PC. No other software enables you to share your
files with all these computers.

New facilities include:

• user-definable colour displays

• a comprehensive range of financial functions

• full usage of foreign characters including direct
editing and printing

• loading and saving in several formats giving
compatibility with Lotus 1-2-3

• linking files enabling you to pass the results of
calculations between spreadsheets.

This in addition to all the facilities many
thousands of Z88 PipeDream users have come to
expect:

• fully Wysiwyg display

(what you see is what you get)

• many columns of formatted text on screen

• full spreadsheet power includes dates

• live calculations within formatted text

• flexible printing of special highlights such as
underlining ana bold text

• documents consisting of many separate files.

POWER
AT YOUR
FINGERTIPS

For more information or to order PipeDream cut
out the coupon or phone us on 0954 211472

lr> most cases orders will be despatched the same
day, but please allow 28 days for delivery.

With PipeDream, you compose your work in the
order you want to print it, with text and numbers
all together in one document. Incorporate
calculations directly into paragraphs of text and
formatted paragraphs directly into spreadsheets.

With this new approach you get a whole new
dimension of power . . .

PipeDream is a word processor offering many
columns of formatted text. That film script you
were going to write next holiday? Ideal.

PipeDream is a spreadsheet program with a
work area of 500,000,000 columns by over
500,000,000 rows, so you'll grow out of your
computer before you grow out of PipeDream.

And being able to mix numbers and text together
means you can calculate invoices and mail-shot
them without resorting to expensive accounting
software.

In fact, PipeDream's unique integration means
that mail-shots couldn't be easier.

Simply type in your letter or invoice, leaving gaps
for names, addresses and payment dates. Then
PipeDream will print the letter to each addressee,
automatically inserting all the details, and
keeping the text neatly formatted and aligned.

Please send me more information on PipeDream Q
Please send me PipeDream packs

Retail price £99.00

VAT £14.85

Postage UK Free

Postage overseas £10.00

TOTAL

I

I Please tick box. Acorn Archimedes 3 Vi” disk Q MS-DOS 5V4" disk Q MS-DOS 3 Vi diskQ

| Payment *VisaD ES Access □ Cheque □

I Credit card number I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

Credit card expiry date —
Name (as on credit card) _

Address _

_ Postcode-

I

Send to Colton Software, Broadway House, 149-151 St. Neots Road, Hardwick, Cambridge CB3 7 Qj AU/1 V88

PipeDream is a trademark of Colton Software Limited. Archimedes is a trademark of Acorn Computers Limited.

IBM and PC arc trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft.
Lotus 1 -2-3 is a trademark of Lotus Development Corporation. Z88 is a trademark of Cambridge Computer Limited.

ASORNUSER

ISSUE No 76 NOVEMBER 1988

COVER

NEWS

REVIEWS

EDUCATION

COVER FEATURE

CAD packages - pages 130-133
Illustration by Paul Allen

EDITORIAL

A corn’s pull back into
profit this year, plus
its showing at

Econet ’88 anti the PC Show
are all encouraging signs.

At Econet ’88, it
demonstrated it hasn’t
forgotten networks, and the
conference was seen as an
improvement on last year.

The Acorn stand at the PC
Show, a minnow next to the
giants Amstrad, Commodore
and Atari, was certainly
crowded with potential
paying customers. Acorn had
sensibly invited hardware and
software companies to share
the stand, to back up its claim
that Archimedes software is
available.

It worked. But what might
have put a few off was the
presence of a solitary Master
128. Acorn are still selling
more Masters than Arcs, and
no-one should lose sight of
the eight-bit machines.
There’ll be new applications
and new customers for a good
while yet.

Graham Bell

UNIX on networks 7

New Arc operating system,
Micronct drop software

COMMS COLUMN 12
EDUCATION NEWS 15
NOTICE BOARD 23

READER SERVICE 23
COMPETITION RESULTS 23
BLUNDERBOX 23

PREVIEW 22

Pixel Perfect from AVP, Oak
parametric design, COMX
plotter, View Cad

FEATURES

A menu-driven compiler is the
simplest way to put together
crosswords, says Joe Telford

FILES TO GO 73

David Lawrence proposes a
standard lile format to ease
transfer between Arc word-
processors

LIFE ON THE LINE 80

Susan Stepney introduces ‘one-
dimensional cellular automata’

BACK FROM THE BRINK 87

Carol Atack continues her his-
tory of Acorn, from near bank-
ruptcy to recovery, with the
Master 128

Z88 IN EDUCATION 93

Chris Drage and Nick Evans
discuss the ‘do-it-all’ micro

GAMES PAGE 125

The games world is revving up
for Christmas: Sam Grcenhill
reports on all the news

GAMES REVIEWS 127

How good arc The Empire
Strikes Back or Pipeline on the
Bceb, and Terramex on the
Archimedes?

EXILE 129

Exclusive - we present the first
review ol this year’s megagame
from Superior Software. Will it
be a Christmas success?

DESIGNER SOFTWARE 130

Alan Harding takes a look at
TeclmoCAD for the Master,
and Mike Hayward reviews
Archimedes AutoSketch - two
new CAD packages

PAINTING BY NUMBERS 135

Arc business graphics software;
Peter Sandford studies Miner-
va’s Gamma Plot and Presenter
from Lingenuity

FREE FORM FILING 139

Dave butcher looks at TFS, an
Arc database system for writers
and academics

TOUGH AT THE TOP 141

Business simulation software
needs to relate to the real
world, says Michael Leete.
Does Chairman of the Board ?

SNATCHING SCREENS 145

Dave Futcher checks out
4Mation’s screen grabber, pixel
editor and printer dump utility
for the Becb

NEWS 15

Apple plug in to schools, de-
sign your own castle

PORTABLE POWER 93

The Z88 is a worthwhile com-
panion for a BBC micro, but is
it a useful tool in schools?

REGULARS

HINTS & TIPS 41

David Atherton gives advice on
ADFS, a graphical memory
map, dates in Wordwise

ARC AGORA 46

David Acton shows how to
read IBM or Atari ST discs, he
also looks at a Tak update and
how to load palette files

COMPETITION 85

Complete a crossword and win
a wide-carriage printer

YELLOW PAGES 97

TOP OF THE LIST VM

LETTERS 163

ADVERTISERS INDEX 166

FREE ADS 167

NEXT MONTH

Carol Atack tells the story of
ARM, ARX and the Arc. Get
near plotter-quality screen
dumps on a model B, plus GKS
graphics on the Arc. Drage and
Evans show there are lots of
adventures to play at school.
And there’s the Hints and Tips,
Music and DTP pages.

lABCll

Editor Graham Bell. Technical Editor Robert Miller. Editorial Secretary Christina Neal Sub-Editor Pauline Mcl.ernon. Production Assistant Ten North. Art Editor l iz
Thompson. Assistant Art Editor I aul 1 lolmcs .Ad Sales Controller Seamus Gcoghcgan. Sales Executives Gregg Lorenz- Andrcc, Gautam Paul. Ad Production David Noakcs

: *“ And " SOn ' ,addkk - Gr ° Up Edhor T "">’ Quinn ' Edi ‘° rial **““*“■ F-«- »™*- "*"«■*>•

. Published by Redwood Publishing. 20-26 Brunswick Place, London Nl 6l)J. Tel: 01-490 1444. Telecom Gold 81 : RED001. Micronct 919992492 Printed hv River*;, 1,. p r «c rw t *r

e . ; > a t lh.,, u.,..,...., L^.i b ^ R sV

t registered trademark of Acorn Computers Ltd. Redwood Publishing is a registered data user. ISSN 0263 7456

1988. All rights reserved. Acorn is .

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

3

Peartree House, No 1 Blackstone Road, Stukeley Meadows Industrial Estate, Huntingdon, Cambs PEI 8 6EF. Telephone (0480) 50595 Fax (0480) 59026

/{rchimedes

HARDWARE

305 SERIES

* Entry System

£ 679.00

* With Green Monitor

£ 729.00

* With Colour Monitor

£ 879.00

310 SERIES

* Entry System

£ 749.00

* With Green Monitor

£ 810.00

* With Colour Monitor

£ 999.00

310M SERIES

* Entry System

£ 849.00

* With Green Monitor

£ 910.00

’ With Colour Monitor

£1099.00

440 SERIES

* Entry System

£2265.00

’ With Green Monitor

£2310.00

* With Colour Monitor

£2455.00

I Acorn ^

I The choice of experience

MASTER SERIES

BBC MASTER 128 E 359.00

BBC MASTER COMPACT
SERIES

I * Master Compact Entry System

£ 310.00

I * Master Compact TV System

£ 322.00

| ’ Master Compact Mono System

£ 365.00

| ' Master Compact Colour System

£ 475.00

1 *‘‘ BBC Model B 32k

Call

I- BBC Model B+ 64k

Call

§‘‘‘ BBC Model B+ 128k

Call

f PERIPHERALS

' Acorn Econet Starter Kit

£ 79.00

* Acorn Econet Socket Kit

£ 29.00

* Acorn Master Econet Module

£ 43.00

* Acorn Filestore E01

£ 819.00

* Acorn Filestore E20

£ 709.00

* Acorn Econet Station Lead 10

£ 25.00

* Acorn Econet Cable 100m

£ 99.00

* Acorn Master Turbo Upgrade

£ 99.00

* Acorn 1770 DFS Complete Kit

£ 43.00

* Acorn 64k Upgrade Kit

£ 27.00

* Acorn 32016 Co-Processor

£ 899.00

* Acorn Music 500 Synthesizer

£ 29.95

COMPATIBLE

MICE

I * Megamouse

£ 49.95

’ Digimouse

£ 39.95

| * AMX Mouse

£ 29.95

MODEM FOR ACORN

COMPUTERS

* Voyager Modem

£ 40.00

* BBC View Modem

£ 29.00

* Pace Nightingale

£ 99.00

: Pace Nightingale Combo

£ 129.00

* Pace Linet Modem

£ 142.00

’ WS2000

£ 113.00

* WS3000 V21/23

£ 285.00

* WS4000

£ 159.00

* Pace Series4 V/21/22

£ 360.00

CONSUMABLES FOR
ACORN COMPUTERS

| * BBC Master Dust Cover

£

4.50

1 * BBC Master Compact D/Cover Mono

... . c

7.50

| * BBC Master Compact D/Cover Col £

8.75

I * BBC Model B Dust Cover

£

4~50

1 * ATPL ROM/RAM Board

£

39.00

1 * Watford 32k RAM Board

£

29.00

| * Eprom Eraser

£

39.95

| * Eprom Programmer Up to 64k

£

69.95

: | BOOKS (No VAT)

* BBC User Guide

£

14.95

* BBC Master Ref Part 1

£

14.95

* BBC Master Ref Part II

£

14.95

* Acornsoft View Manual

£

10.00

* Acornsoft Viewsheet Manual

T"

10.00

* Acornsoft Viewstore Manual

£

10.00

* Acornsoft DFS Operating Manual

£

6.95

* Advance Sideways RAM User

T"

9.95

* BBC Advance User Guide

£

16.95

• Master Advance Ref Guide

£

17.95

| DISC DRIVE FOR

ACORN COMPUTERS

* Single Drive 400k 40/80

£

99.00

‘ Single Drive 400k 40/80 + PSU

£

119.00

* Dual Drive 800k 40/80

£ 199.00

* Dual Drive 800k 40/80 + PSU

£ 229.00

* BBC Master Bridge Drive 800k

£ 249.00

• BBC 20MB + 400k Drive

£ 799.00

* BBC 20MB Hard Disk Drive

£ 699.00

SPREADSHEETS

* Acornsoft Viewsheet

£

36.00

* Acornsoft Viewplot

£

22.00

* C.C. Intersheet

£

38.00

* C.C. Interchart

£

27.00

| * Mini Office II Disk Version

| ’ For Model B & B+ 40t or 80t £

14.75

| * For Model Master 128k 80t

£

17.00

| ’ For Master Compact 3.5" Disk

£

19.00

y * Mini Office II ROM Version

| * For B. B+ Master & Compact

£

48.00

1 * C.C. The Mega 3 ROM

£

77.00

CAD & DRAWING
SOFTWARES

* AMX Mouse & Superart

£

59.00

’ AMX Superart Only

£

43.00

* AMX Desk

£

19.00

* AMX Utilities

£

11.50

* AMX Pagemaker Stop Press

£

43.00

' AMX 3D Zicon

£

21.00

* AMX Database

£

2i:00

• 4MX XAM

£

21.00

* AMX MAM

£ ,17.00 1

* The Artist

£

39.00

r LANGUAGES

* Acornsoft ISO Pascal

£

52.00

* Acornsoft ISO Pascal S.A.Gen.

£

32.00

* Acornsoft Logo

£^

52.00

* Logotron Logo

e‘

55.00

* BBC Publication Open Logo

~Y

60.00

* Acornsoft BCPL

£

49.00

* Acornsoft BCPL Calculations

£

29.00

| ’Acornsoft BCPL Calculation S/A/G £

39.00

| * Acornsoft Lisp ROM

£

39.00

1 * Acornsoft Forth ROM

£

39.00

| * Acornsoft Comal

£

39.00

| * Acornsoft Microtext

£

52.00

| ’ Acornsoft Microtext Plus

£ 229.00

■ * Acornsoft Microprolog

£

60.00

r UTILITIES

• Acornsoft ADFS ROM

£

26.00

* Acornsoft Printer Server ROM

£

39.00

* Acornsoft Basic Editor

£

24.00

* Acornsoft Termulator

£

29.00

* Communicator

£

55.00

* Printmaster

£

26.00

* C.C. Accelerator

£

39.00

* C.C. Caretaker

£

26.00

* C.C. TTS Speech System

£

22.00

* DOS Copy BBC to MS-DOS

£

14.95

* CPM to BBC Copy

£

14.95

* BBC to CPM Copy

£

14.95

DATABASE

MANAGEMENT

SYSTEMS

* Acornsoft Viewstore

£

37.00

* Acornsoft Overview

£

77.00

* C.C. Interbase

£

55.00

WORD

PROCESSORS

’ Acornsoft View Professional

£

76.00

* Acornsoft View 3

£

44.00

* Acornsoft Viewindex

£

13.00

* Acornsoft View Printer D/Gen.

£

~ 9.00

* Acornsoft Viewspell

£

29.00

* C.C. Wordwise Plus

£

38.00

* C.C. Interword

£

39.00

* C.C. Spellmaster

£

47.00

r COLOUR

MONITORS

* Philips 8801 Monitor

£ 189.00

* Philips 8802 Monitor

£ 199.00

* Philips 9053 Monitor

£ 379.00

* Philips 9073 Monitor

£ 449.00

' Philips 8833 Monitor

£ 259.00

* Philips 8852 Monitor

£ 269.00

* Microvitec 1431 /MS 14" St/Res

£ 199.00

* Microvitec 1431/DS 14" St/Res

£ 199.00

* Microvitec 1431/MZ 14" St/Res

£ 239.00

‘Microvitec 1451 /MS 14" Med/Res

£ 249.00

* Microvitec 1451/DS 14" Med/Res

£ 249.00

’Microvitec 1441 /MS 14" H/Res "

£ 439.00

* Microvitec 1441/DS 14" H/Res

£ 439.00

* Hantarex M/Res 28"

£ 795.00

* Kaga Taxan Sup/770 Multisync

£ 599.00

‘ Samsung C452 St/Res 1 4" T&SV

£ 179.00

■ * Samsung Cl 41 2 Med/Res 14" T&SV

£ 269.00

| ‘Samsung Cl 41 4 H/Res 14" T&SV

£ 349.00

■ ‘ Samsung C431V Med/Res 14" T&SV

£ 299.00

1 * Samsung C431E Med/Res 14" T&SV

£ 299.00

r MONOCHROME
MONITORS

* Philips 7502 Green Monitor

£ 73.00

* Philips 7913 FSQ 12" Green

£ 89.00

‘Philips 7923 FSQ 12" Amber

£ 99.00

‘ Philips 7713 FSQ 14" Green

£ 103.00

‘ Philips 7723 FSQ 14" Amber

£ 107.00

‘ Monitor Stands Tilt/SW

£ 15.00

Samsung F12AA7 12" Flat/Sc Amber

£ 79.00

Samsung F39A7 12" Flat/Sc Green
£

79.00

Samsung M430 14" Amber £ 89.00

Samsung M430 14" Green

£ 89.00

All prices are exclusive of VA T

Registered in England • Registered No. 22561 50 • 6 Rother Street, Stratford-Upon-Avon

Peartree House, No 1 Blackstone Road, Stukeley Meadows Industrial Estate,

EPSON

PRINTERS

’ Epson LX800 Printer

E 199.00

* Epson KX800 Sheet Feeder

E 69.00

* Epson FX800 Printer

E 399.00

* Epson FX800 Sheet Feeder

E 139.00

* Epson FX1000 Printer

£ 499.00

' Epson FX1000 Sheet Feeder

E 159.00

* Epson EX800 Printer

E 499.00

* Epson EX800 Scanner Option

E 169.00

* Epson EX800 Sheet Feeder

E 139.00

* Epson EX800 Colour Option

E 60.00

’ Epson EX1000 Duel Interface

E 699.00

* Epson EX 1000 Sheet Feeder

E 179.00

* Epson EX1000 Sheet Feeder

E 179.00

| * Epson EX1000 Dual Sheet Feeder E 299.00 1

* Epson EX1000 Colour Option

£ 60.00

* Epson EX1000 Scanner Option

£ 179.00

24 PIN DOT MATRIX

* Epson LQ500 Printer

E 379.00

* Epson LQ500 Sheet Feeder

E 75.00

* Epson LQ850 Printer

E 599.00

* Epson LQ850 Sheet Feeder

£ 139.00

* Epson LQ1050 Printer

E 799.00

* Epson LQ1050 Sheet Feeder

E 179.00

* Epson LQ2500 Printer

E 999.00

■ * Epson LQ2500 Single Sheet Feeder

■ E 179.00

1 ’Epson LQ2500 Dual Sheet Feeder E 299.00

■ * Epson LQ2500 Colour Option

£ 66.00

I * Epson LQ2500 Scanner Option

E 190.00

DAISYWHEEL

PRINTERS

* Juki 6000 Daisy Wheel Parallel

E 179.00

’ Juki 6000 Daisy Wheel Serial

E 179.00

’ Juki 6100 Daisy Wheel

E 299.00

* Juki 6100 Sheet Feeder

E 159.00

’ Juki 6200 Daisy Wheel Parallel

E 429.00

’ Juki 6300 Daisy Wheel Parallel

E 699.00

’ Juki 6300 Daisy Wheel Serial

E 699.00

’ Juki 6500 Daisy Wheel Par/Ser

E 899.00

* Micro P MP26 Daisy Wheel

E 239.00

* Micro P MP40 Daisy Wheel

£ 299.00

"Panasonic P3131 Daisy Wheel

£ 299.00

* Panasonic P3151 Daisy Wheel

E 499.00

PANASONIC

PRINTERS

* Panasonic 1081 120cps 28cps NLQ

£ 147.00

* Panasonic 1082 160cps 35cps NLO

E 179.00

* Panasonic 1083 240cps 48cps NLQ

£ 299.00

* Panasonic 1592 136col 180cps E 359.00

* Panasonic 1595 136col 240cps E 429.00

* Panasonic KXP1540 24pin 240cps

E 599.00

| [jjJ (Dicro Peripheral/ lid

PRINTERS

’ MPl3580col 135cps F+T & NLQ E 124.00

’ MP135+ 80col 135cps F+T & NLQ

E 134.00

* MP135 Cut Sheet Feeder E 149.00

* MP165+ 80col 1 56cps F+T & NLQ

E 169.00

* MP165 Cut Sheet Feeder £ 89.00

’ MP200+ 80col 240cps F+T & NLQ

E 249.00

’ MP200 Sheet Feeder + Sound Shield

E 159.00

’ MP201+ 136col 240cps F+T & NLQ

E 299.00

' MP201+ Sheet Feeder + Sound Shield

E 189.00

’ MP480 80col 480cps F+T & NLQ £ 319.00

* MP700 136col 700cps F+T & NLQ E 449.00

r PRINTER

RIBBONS

’ FX80/85 MP165

£

4.95

’ LX80/86

E

4.50

* LX800

E

7.95

’ Canon Kaga

E

5.95

’ Epson FX100/RX100

£

7.95

’ Epson FX105

E

9.95

’ Epson LQ800

E

11.95

* Epson LQ1000

£

11.95

* Epson FX1000

E

7.95

’Juki 6100

E

6.95

’ Panasonic 1081

E

6.95

* Epson EX800 Colour

E

16.00

* Epson EX1000 Colour

£

16.00

* CPA-80 Ribbon

£

3.95

Huntingdon, Cambs PEI 8 6EF. Telephone (0480) 50595 Fax (0480) 59026

r LEADS & PRINTER
CABLES

’ BBC to TV Lead

E

1.25

’ BBC to Green Monitor Lead

E

2.95

’ BBC to Sony/Kaga Colour Lead

E

5.95

’ BBC to Microvitec Lead

E

2.25

’ Phono to Phono Lead

E

1.25

’ BNC to BNC Lead

E

2.95

* BBC to Cassette Lead

E

2.25

* BBC to Acorn Cassette Lead

E

2.25

* BBC to Centronics Lead

E

9.95

* BBC to Serial Printer Lead

E

9.95

’ 4 Way Main AC Trailing Lead

E

9.50

’ BBC Pace Modem Lead

E

4.95

* Master Compact Printer Lead

E

15.95

* Centronics to Centronics Lead

E

14.95

* BBC to Philips Col Monitor Lead

E

4.95

* BBC RGB Hantarex Lead

E

9.95

PEARTREE

PRODUCTS

COMPONENTS SPARES
ROMS & RAMS

* EPROMS 27128 16k EPROMS

£^ 5.25

* EPROMS 27256 32k EPROMS

E 5.25

* EPROMS 27512 64k EPROMS

E 10.50

*• Intel 8271 FDC

E

49.00

** Intel 8271 FDC +- Complete Kit

£ 59.00

“D-RAMS**

* 4164-15

£

2.75

* 4164-12

£

3.00

* 41256-15

£

8.75

* 41256-12

£

9.75

* 6264LP-8k Static RAM

£

8.75

* 65256LP-32k Static RAM

£

11.75

** 6502 Range

* 6502A

£

4.95

* 65C02

£

9.50

* 65C12

£

9.00

* 651 2A

£

9.95

* 6522A

£

4.50

* MR5000 Master ROM Cartridge

Allows 2 ROMS To Be Fitted

E

8.95

* MR6000 Master ROM Cartridge
Allows 4 ROMS To Be Fitted

E

11.95

’ MR7200 Master RAM Cartridge
32k W/P Sideways Cartridge

£

33.95

’ MR8000 Master RAM Cartridge
64k Battery Backed S/Ways RAM

£

49.95

’ MR3000 Mini ROM Board BBC B Only
Extension of 4 ROMS in the BBC £ 15.95

* MR4300 Mini ROM/RAM Board BBC B
32k S/Ways + 3 ROM Sockets E 39.95

The Acorn

S Y NTHESISER
Now available from Peartree the Acorn
Music 500 for the BBC, BBCB+, Master 128

£39.95

w #>clodino VAT

only from PEARTREE

* MR4800 Mini RAM Board BBC B Only
128k Battery Backed S/Ways E 89.95

DISKS 5'A & 3V4

’ Box of 10 5.25 Disks With Library
Case DS/DD 96tpi Hub Ring E 9.95

* Box of 10 3.5 Disks With Library

Case DS/DD 135tpi E 15.95

( CALL FOR ALL ACORN
MAJOR SPARES WE
CARRY MANY OTHER
ITEM S IN STOCK

You may purchase any of the items listed,
by cheque made payable to:

PEARTREE DRAM LTD.

All you have to do is list your requirements
on a sheet of paper, post it to us quoting ref,
and we will despatch your goods within 7
days, whenever possible.

Please add the following amounts for
postage and packing:

Items below El 0.00 add El .50

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All prices exclude VAT.

Visa, Access, Barclaycard, Mastercharge
card holders - call us on our new special
line: (0480) 50595

Prices are correct at time of going to press.
Peartree Dram reserves the right to change prices
without pnor notice.

All prices are exclusive of VA T

Registered in England • Registered No. 2256150 • 6 Rother Street. Stratford-Upon-Avon

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disc/tape) ranging from a
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Upgrade path
fornetwoiks

In the black

Acorn has pulled itself out of
the red, and turned in a profit
of £711,000 for the first half of
1988, compared with a loss of
almost a million this time last
year. And chairman Elserino
Piol says it’s only the start.

Acorn’s bank overdraft was
cut by £lm, but sales went up
only slightly to £20. 5m. It is

only in the period since June
that sales revenue for the
Archimedes has exceeded that
of the Master series.

The news prompted positive
comment from analysts and
journalists, but had little effect
on the share price.

Major factors in the recovery
were cost cutting at the end of
1987 (with the loss of nearly 50
jobs and the closure of the
custom products department),
plus growing Archimedes sales
and continued good sales of the
Master 128.

Armadillo Systems has added
to its sound sampler range. The
A448b is a stereo version of the
A448 8-bit sampler, and it has a
MIDI port option too. There’s
also the A616 16-bit sampler
that gives CD-quality sound
output. But it is expensive at a
price of £1,149.

■ Cheshire local education
authority has purchased 48

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

UNIX could be part of the
future for existing BBC micros
in schools. SJ Research has de-
veloped a method of running
UNIX and MS DOS programs
on an Econet network.

In a lecture at Econet ’88,
Kim Spence-Jones of SJ Re-
search outlined plans for the
growth of existing Econet net-
works. They involve using a
powerful ‘836’ machine, a de-

complete Hybrid Music sys-
tems to be used in a pilot study
for teaching music in schools.
It is expected that 36 of these
systems will be used in the
primary sector alone.

The purchase is the only
music equipment to be bought
so far using money from the
Government’s education sup-
port grant.

velopment of the IBM PC us-
ing an Intel 80386 processor,
together with the UNIX multi-
user operating system.

Normally, such a machine
can support a number of users
on separate terminals, each
connected to the main machine
by a serial link. The system SJ
demonstrated allows you to
attach the ‘386’ machine to an
Econet as an ‘application ser-

Arc compiler

Book publisher Dabs Press is
now turning its hand to
Archimedes software. ABC is a
BBC Basic compiler that takes
most programs and turns them
into superfast ARM machine
code.

The compiler allows you to
develop your program in nor-
mal, interpreted Basic, then
compile it once it’s complete.
The software costs £100.

ver’. BBC micros on the net-
work can be used as terminals
to run UNIX or MS DOS
programs, just as if they were
connected via serial ports.

The network is used to link-
the machines. Keypresses on
the terminals are transmitted to
the ‘386’ machine, and screen
data is sent back. All processing
and storage is done by the
application server. The net-
work’s capacity is used to good
effect when updating the BBC
screens - only the part of the
screen which has changed is
transmitted.

Spence-Jones sees this as part
of a gradual upgrade path for
schools, allowing them to make
use of even just one or two
powerful micros. Numbers
could be increased as budgets
allow - there would be no need
to scrap existing equipment and
replace it all at once.

■ An alternative method is to
use ArcShare from European
Communications Group. This
is an ‘application server’ using
Arcs on the network. It’s been
in use in the Computational
Physics department of Imperial
College for six months, and is
ideal for sites where typical
programs take hours to pro-
cess. It can’t be used for in-
teractive applications like de-
sktop publishing. Basic prog-
rams on normal BBC micros
are written, tested and debug-
ged. A completed program can
be sent to the Arc for quick
processing, and only the results
are passed back to the BBC.

Printers push forward

Panasonic and Citizen have
added to their ranges of prin-
ters. The 24-pin Panasonic KX-
Pl 124 (330) has five resident
fonts and emulates the Epson
LQ-800 or the IBM Proprinter.

Fanfold paper can be fed
through the rear or the bottom
of the machine, and it has both
push-tractor and friction feeds.

You can park continuous paper
to feed a single sheet; it can
take up to A3 size.

Citizen’s new 180E is an up-
date of the popular 120D, at

Panasonic KX-P1124

under £200. For this, you get a
choice of serial or parallel inter-
face, tractor and friction feed,
Epson and IBM emulation and
NLQ print.

Schools in stereo

7

First there was Prestel. . .

. . .then came Telecom Gold. . .

...now get ready for something
newer, cheaper and more
exciting.

The brand new communication network from QD Enterprises
for the Home, Small business and Educational computer user.

i 1

Name J

Address

Telephone

Present System

Do you have a modem? Yes / No

To reserve your information pack either
phone us on (0243) 528742
or send off the coupon to:

QD Enterprises Ltd.

FREEPOST
Chichester
West Sussex
P019 2YZ

Prestel and Telecom Cold arc trademarks of British Telecom PLC.

L

8

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 198S

NEWS

Archimedes set for
desktop publishing

News in brief

Aimed at the professional video
industry, the GL2000P is an
£805 genlock system and PAL
encoder for the Master 128
from Interactive Media Re-
sources. It enables you to add
computer generated text and
graphics to your video images,
and then record the combined
picture on videotape.

IMR also sell very high-
quality PAL encoders that
allow you to videotape the dis-
play from either Master or
Archimedes computers, but not
mix it with other video sources.
These units cost £288.

■ The Amstrad SM2400 is a
four-standard modem which
gives you V21 (300 baud), V22
(1200 baud), V22bis (2400
baud) and V23 (1200/75 Pre-
stel) data rates. It is Hayes-
compatible, so will work with
standard comms software like
Beebug’s Hearsay or BBC
Soft’s Modem Master. But the
real news is the price - £286 is a
lot cheaper than equivalent
modems from other comms
manufacturers.

■ Arc owners wanting to have
a go at 3D modelling can get
Euclid from Ace Computing. It
allows you to build complex
solid ‘objects’ and scenes on
screen. You can then view the
scene from different angles,
under different lighting condi-
tions, and even produce anima-
tions. Euclid costs £45.

Acorn Desktop Publisher , re-
vealed at the PC Show, is an
Archimedes version of GST’s
Timeworks desktop publishing
software. It allows you to cre-
ate fully illustrated leaflets,
magazines or even whole books
on screen, and then print them
out. GST, who also wrote First
Word Plus , already publish
Timeworks for the IBM PC
and the Atari ST.

The fully WIMP-controllcd
software allows you to design

each page in terms of frames,
by outlining columns, areas of
the page where text will fit,
where illustrations go and so
on. Text can be read into the
frames from disc, and format-
ted according to the width of
the column. There’s good con-
trol over the text font, size,
justification, and typographical
features like leading and kern-
ing. Pictures can be imported
from other drawing packages.

Frames containing text and

TV quiz winners Julian Steele (left), Duncan Sinclair, Robert
Wilson (right) and game host Debbie Greenwood, show off
their prize for being ‘First Class’. The team from Caterham
School in Surrey beat off a challenge from Tring School in
Hertfordshire in the final, and won an Archimedes 310.

The popular school quiz asks questions on general know-
ledge, and has space invader-type computer game contests.

Arc to get version of Timeworks

pictures can be moved or re-
sized, and the page can be re-
formatted into the new layout.
Because of the speed of the
Arc, this process is much faster
than with other versions of the
Timeworks software.

Acorn Desktop Publisher is
the first application to make
use of the Arc’s new RISC OS,
so won’t be available until
April 1989. The screen display
uses the anti-aliassed fonts ex-
tensively, and output can be to
Postscript printers, to non-
Postscript laser printers and to
dot-matrix printers. It can also
make use of the RISC OS
multi-tasking. This means that
you can use software such as
ARM Edit or ARM Draw at
the same time as Desktop Pub-
lisher , to draw illustrations,
write headlines and so on. This
is important, as the built-in
editor and drawing facilities are
fairly basic.

Music system gets a boost

by Ian Waugh

BBC computer music innova-
tor Hybrid Technology has
been quiet for several months.
But now it has given details of
a new product planned for re-
lease in time for Christmas -
the ‘Music 5000 Junior’ add-on
synthesiser, which will cost
well under £100.

The Junior’s hardware is
similar to the existing Music

5000, and must be plugged into
BBC model B or Master 128
computers. But the software is
very different. It’s aim is to
introduce even non-musicians
to computer music.

The Junior features five
different graphical, icon-
controlled music editors, which
show all available options on
screen at once. The computer
keyboard is used for step-time

music input, and tape-recorder-
like icon controls are used to
move forwards and backwards
through the ‘score’. The editors
all use high-resolution colour
screen modes, and are designed
to be almost foolproof in use.
There’s even a title editor to
help produce title screens.

The software is on a 32k
ROM chip. There are no mod-
ules to load from disc, so op-

eration is very fast.

Experienced Music 5000 us-
ers cannot run Ample programs
on the Junior. Nor can it accept
music downloaded from
sources such as Music City.
Neither will it support the
Music 4000 keyboard or the
2000 MIDI interface - but it
will be upgradeable to full
Music 5000 level, so they can
all be added at a later stage.

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

9

5% Discount On
ALL Archimedes
From BEEBUG

In Addition To . . .

, 0% FINANCE

Archimedes

For a limited period we are able to offer 0% APR finance
over 9 months on the purchase of any Archimedes. You pay
no interest at all. This is a brand new scheme only available
from BEEBUG. The deposit and repayments are shown
below.

A305M
A305 Base
A305 Mono
A305 Colour
A310M
A310M Base
A310M Mono

Deposit 9 Payments

£79.66

£91.21

£104.01

£104.79

£107.34

A310M Colour £129.14

£76.00

£82.00

£100.00

£97.00

£104.00

£121.00

A310
A3 10 Base
A310 Mono
A310 Colour
A440
A440 Base
A440 Mono
A440 Colour

Deposit 9 Payments

£93.24 £91.00

£104.79 £97.00

£117.59 £115.00

£278.93 £276.00
£290.48 £282.00
£303.28 £300.00

4 FREE PC EMULATOR AND
1st WORD PLUS

Purchase your Archimedes by Cheque, Access, Visa,
Official Order or 11.5% finance and we will supply you,
absolutely free, 10 3.5" discs, a lockable disc storage box,
printer lead and the latest version of The PC Emulator from
Acorn. Additionally if you are purchasing a 440 system you
will receive 1 st Word Plus.

Prices Including VAT

A305 Base £763.66 Mono £829.21 Colour £1004.01
A310 Base £912.24 Mono £977.79 Colour £11 52.59
A440 Base £2762.93 Mono £2828.48 Colour £3003.28

2

TRADE IN YOUR OLD BBC, MASTER
OR COMPACT FOR AN ARCHIMEDES

We will be pleased to accept your old computer (in working
condition) as part exchange towards the purchase of an
Archimedes. (If you use the finance scheme this will replace
your initial deposit on a 305/310, so you pay nothing now).
Allowances are as follows:

BBC Issue 4 No DFS
BBC Issue 7 No DFS
Master 128

BBC Issue 4 DFS
BBC Issue 7 DFS (OrB+)
Compact Base System

Please phone for allowances on other Compact and Master
systems.

5 11.5% FINANCE
^ OVER 12 TO 36 MONTHS

As a Licensed Credit Broker we are able to offer finance on
the purchase of any equipment, including the Archimedes.

i the free PC Emulator, discs, disc box

You still benefit from I
and printer lead. (Typical APR 23% on the purchase of a 310
Colour system over 36 months.

Deposit £152.59 36 payments of £37.36).

A DISCOUNTS FOR
EDUCATION

TO FIND OUT MORE
PHONE OR WRITE NOW.
TEL: 0727 40303

We offer a complete service,
including Advice, Technical
Support, Showroom, Mail Order
and Repairs. Our showroom in St.
Albans stocks everything available
for the Archimedes. Call in for a
demonstration.

We are able to offer attractive discounts to Education
Authorities, Schools, Colleges and Health Authorities.
Please write with your requirements for a quotation.

These discounts are available to you as a member of RISC User,

THE leading magazine dedicated solely to Archimedes. So if you are
not yet a member, join now for only £14.50 for a full year.

Please indicate your requirements below.

Subscription to Rise User (£14.50 UK) □ Information Pack and Catalogue □ 0% Finance Form for
305/310/310M/440 Base/Mono/Colour [ ] 12-36 Months Finance Form for 305/310/310M/440
Base/Mono/Colour [“] Trade In BBC/Master/Compact □ Purchase 305/310/440 Base/Mono/Colour □
UK Courier Delivery £7.00. Overseas please ask for a quotation.

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Please debit my Access/Visa/Connect Card No
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BEEBUG - The Archimedes Specialists

NEWS

Network plan

At the Econet ’88 conference at
Newman College in Birming-
ham, Acorn launched an up-
graded Filestore fileserver, dis-
cussed plans for linking Econet
to more powerful network sys-
tems, like Ethernet, and pre-
viewed the Archimedes* RISC
OS to those present.

There were lectures, demon-
strations, plus a mini-exhibition
of network hardware suppliers
and educational software au-
thors. Informal workshops in
the evening included a network
problem surgery.

Filestore is a network
fileserver in a single box - you
don’t need to use a normal
computer to run it. The base
unit has two floppy disc drives
that can be used for network
storage, but it’s better used
with hard discs. New 40Mb
and 60Mb hard disc units can
be stacked onto the base unit
giving as much as 240Mb of
storage on a single fileserver.

Acorn Users January competi-
tion winners - 1 2-year-old

Helen McUillan and 11-year-
old Richard Neal, were both
awarded a place at Computer
Park ’88. It’s a holiday at Gren-
don Hall in Northamptonshire,
where computers and electronic
equipment are over-used for
two weeks each summer. The
park is mainly BBC-based, but
has a whole range of other

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

Clares has launched Pro Artisan,
which it claims is the ‘ultimate
designer’s palette for the Arc.

It’s a mode 15, 256-colour
version of Artisan (which uses
only 16 colours). It uses the
same menu and drawing tool
system. But extra facilities such
as smooth Bezier curve draw-

machines to play with. Helen
spent a lot of time in the work-
shop, building a User Port
monitor. Richard dabbled in
electronics but worked more
on writing programs for the
BBC micro - that is, in be-
tween advising on tactics for
playing Conqueror.

Both winners said they en-
joyed the week and would like
to go again next year.

ing, a cut and paste facility for
irregular shapes instead of just
rectangles, a font editor and a
clever distortion facility are in-
cluded. There are extra screen
dumps for Integrex, Hewlett-
Packard Paintjet and Laserjet
printers. It needs an Arc 310
and costs £170.

CDS hits
high street

CDS Software are to re-release
15 of Superior Software’s best
games at budget prices. Classics
like the original Rcpton, Death-
star and Codename : Droid , will
be out on a dual BBC and
Electron cassette.

Steve Hanson of Superior
said, ‘Our time is better spent
on new games, but we hope
that CDS can reach a good high
street market.’ The intention is
that CDS distribute to shops
like W H Smith, which have
been reluctant to stock BBC
micro titles in the past. The
games will be available by
November priced £2.99 each.

■ Superior has bought the Alli-
gata games company. The joint
Superior/Alligata label will be
used on C64, Spectrum and
Amstrad games.

Art for Arc

Helen; hard at work Richard; interested in programming

Winners go on holiday

Telemap

undergoes

shake-up

Telemap, which runs Micronet,
is undergoing another major
shake up with the departure of
its editor, the introduction of a
business service and the scrap-
ping of the paid telesoftware
section - which will mean the
end of downloading Acorn
User monthly discs.

A free section is being set up
to carry software for 16-bit
machines like the Atari ST and
Amiga as well as the BBC -
part of Telemap’s ‘moving with
the times’.

Telemap’s Helen Sullivan de-
scribed the new Interbusiness
service as being of interest to
any company, because of its
ability to answer business ques-
tions within 24 hours. Special-
ists on tax, law and employ-
ment will be provided by the
Legal Protection Group, and
questions can be asked around
the clock, seven days a week.

Micronet is looking at the
possibilities of being able to
order Acorn User discs and
other software by electronic
mail order.

In another move, the multi-
player interactive adventure
game Shakes is to be available
on Telecom Gold, costing an
extra 6.5p a minute on top of
the Gold charges. But strange-
ly, this premium is only
charged during off-peak hours.

Pro libraries

Micro-Librarian is aiming at
libraries that want to store in-
formation on the Archimedes.
The company originally wrote
library software for the Master
128. Now there’s a similar
package for the Arc, claiming
to offer speedy research data.
Micro Librarian Professional
for the Arc costs £345; an extra
£230 pays for ‘customising’ to
suit your individual needs.

11

NEWS

Arc PCB pack

Electronic designers seeking a
professional PCB design sys-
tem should note the latest Arc-
PCB application from Silicon
Vision. Its £195 system, written
specially for the Arc, aims to
simplify the layout of circuit
boards up to 32 inches square,
with up to eight board layers, a
fast graphical interface and full
auto-routing to take away
much of the hard work. There’s
also a £99 version which lacks
only the autorouting option;

Gate Array chip teaching system

and a demo disc for £5. Silicon
Vision is also completing a
Gate Array chip design
teaching system.

Fast modem
prices fall

Small businesses and keen
hackers could benefit from
Miracom’s lower prices. It has
reduced prices on its \VS 3000
Hayes-compatible modems.
The V22 (1200 baud) model
now costs £424 and V22bis
(2400 baud) costs £569. The
WS4000 Schools modem,
which works at 300 baud and
1200/75 baud, falls to £132.

Italian network

Like Britain had in the early
1980s, Italy has a national plan
to put computers in every
school. Students at the Vincen-
zo Comi accountancy college
in Terano, near Milan, now
benefit from an Econet system
with a 20-megabyte filestore.
Staff were impressed with
Econet after seeing the system
at the accountancy college in
Abruzzi, and the art school at
Argezzano.

Corruption in high places

Firebird has released Corruption , the first native ARM code
Magnetic Scrolls adventure for £24.95. Corruption places you in
the cut-throat world of high flying executives, company BMW’s
and personal organisers. The text is exactly the same as the PC
version. The excellent illustrations have been reproduced and the
pull-down menus even have six holes for your organiser.

THE COMMS COLUMN

■ At the recent Personal
Computer show, Acorn made
its support and information
database, known as SID avail-
able to the public. The system
provides an online magazine
containing news about Acorn
products, software and book
reviews, downloadable tele-
software, bulletin boards,
mailboxing, response frames to
contact Acorn and, very im-
portant to a lot of people, a
realistic help service is prom-
ised for callers with problems.
As well as software, the com-
plete texts of Acorn technical
and application notes will be
available for downloading.

A comms area of the board
is run by Hugo Fiennes, sysop
of last month’s featured board
The World Of Cryton, and
author of ArcTerm. David
Wild, former editor of Pascal-
Link on Prestel will conduct
the forum on programming
languages, and other subject
areas such as graphics are plan-
ned. Education users are also
catered for, and there is plenty
of information on the use and
maintenance of networks.

It costs £10 per quarter to
subscribe to SID, plus 8p per
minute on-line charge. Three-
month free trial subscriptions
were on offer at the PC show.
If you don’t continue at the
end of the trial period, you
pay only for your line time,
not the subscription. All mail-
boxing is free.

The service is Viewdata, and
operates only at 1200/75 baud.
Calls are made via the Fastrak
access system, which offers
local call access to nearly
everywhere in the UK. A de-
monstration of the system is
available on (0223) 243642 us-
ing standard Viewdata termin-
al software. Acorn’s man in
charge of SID is Phil Colmer
who’ll be starting a column in
Acorn User next month. You
can request further details on
SID using the response frame
on the demonstration.

■ Micronet has further eased
access to its fantasy multi-user
game Shades. It is now avail-
able to Telecom Gold users, as
well as Prestel and direct-dial
(38p/min) callers. The game is
made available through a gate-
way from Gold, and costs 6.5p
per minute on top of your
other Gold charges. Contact
Phil Godsell on 01-278 3143.
Micronet’s TeleTalk con-
ferencing system has changed
its name to DialTalk, after a
prior claim to the former
trademark.

■ Little has been heard of the
comms specialist magazine,
Telelink , since Database Pub-
lications sold the title to
Marathon Videotex over a year
ago. It has, however, been
announced that the magazine
is now being edited by John
Wallbridge (chairman of the
Bulletin Board Operators
Association) and Steve Gold
(Micromouse on Prestel and
co-defendant in the famous
Duke of Edinburgh Prestel
mailbox hack case).

■ Farmlink on Prestel, the
specialist area for farmers, has
closed after the company be-
hind it folded. Prestel is look-

. ing into the possibility of pro-
viding a replacement service.

■ Bulletin board of the month
is ArcPort, a new board run-
ning on what looks like the
first Archimedes-based host
software. As you might ex-
pect, the board strongly fea-
tures the Archimedes, and
runs 6pm to Sam Monday to
Saturday, and 24 hours on
Sunday, on (0252) 737065. The
sysop and author of the
Archimedes host software is
David Joyce, who can be con-
tacted in the more convention-
al way on (0252) 737065.

■ If you have any comms
news for David Atherton, you
can write to him here at Acorn
User , or via Prestel 942876210
and Telecom Gold 72:
MAGI 1596.

David Atherton

12

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

RISC i USER

The Archimedes

Magazine and Support Group

SUBSCRIBE NOW
AND BENEFIT
FROM OUR
SPECIAL

BIRTHDAY

OFFER

GREAT birthday

u ,„ OFFER

,JORTH OVER £50
e volume One Special Disc

Whenu ^ 0r0n/y£435

JZ22P you join RISC User.

SPECIAL DISC CONTAINS ALL THIS FOR JUST £4.95

1 Pixel Editor

This powerful drawing tool is a
full-screen full-feature pixel editor,
for creating and editing screensand
sprites.

2 Toolbox

This incredibly useful utility features
a memory editor, memory search
and replace, disc editor and
disassembler. TOOLBOX contains
many of the features found in
packages costing over £35.

3 World in Motion

Astunning animation with an oddly
reminiscent feel to it.

4 Arcscan

A fast on-screen bibliography with
powerful search facilities for all the
RISC User and BEEBUG magazines
published. Normal price £12.

5 Disc Menu Module

Use the mouse to control your disc
files with this extremely useful
relocatable module.

6 Printer Buffer

This printer buffer frees your
computerduringlongprintoutsand
is configurable from a few bytes to 4
Mbytes. Similar to packages
currently selling at £19.

Altogether the items on this disc
would be worth over £50 if bought
separately.

This is what you've missed in volumel

Issue

All Mode Screen Compressor 5

CMOS RAM Editor 2

Fast Directory Copier 6

Fancy Font Scroller 7

Full Screen Pixel Editor 4

Intelligent Auto-Configure 6

Logical RAM Tracer 4

Animation Techniques 8

Mandlebrot Fractals 5

Mouse Pointer Designer 4

Multi-Tone Printer Dump 2

Using The PC Emulator 8

New Sound Voices 4

Fast Image Rescaler 9

A Module ForTwin 6

3D Landscape Editor 9

Screen Manager Utility 5

Image Distortion 10

Solids Manipulation 6

Scrolling Memory Editor 3

. . . and much more

’RACir/SSUESAVA/LABLE

TO MEMBERS

I wish to subscribe to RISC User lor ono year (10 issues) at £14.50* □

I also wish to receive the VOLUME ONE SPECIAL OISC (« £4.95* □ (tick)*

I enclose a cheque made payable to BEEBUG Ltd lor £

or I wish to pay by

Access/Visa/Connect No
Name

I

Card Expiry date | | ~[

Signed

Post Code *UK PRICES ONLY - OVERSEAS

PLEASE APPLY

Send to: RISC USER. Dolphin Place. Holywell Hill. St Albans AL1 1 EX AU11
24 hour hotline: 0727 40X3 or 24 hour Fax: 0727 60263

• School Suppliers
V • Education

LOW

PRICES

• Training

UNBEATABLE

VALUE

• Second-User
BBCs

• Repairs

PHONE ANYTIME
EVENINGS
V INCLUDED /

^^ACORN

ARCHIMEDES

Atouio. S’o ^ turata

DISC BASED COLOUR GRAPHICS

4 packages in 1 for the

ILLUSTRATOR

Create high resolution graphics and
combine at the printer with any word-
processor text. Produce illustrations
with your own design of icons and
fonts.

PLUS FREE!

CHAUFFEUR to add mouse
control to software written for the
keyboard AND FREE! GRAFIK for
colour design in modes 0, 1 ,2,4 or 5.

DIGIMOUSE

High quality, reliable mouse with
unique lock feature for drawing
perfectly straight lines. Full 12 month
warranty.

BBC B/B+ Master 128

COLOURBOX

Easy to use, Mode 1 drawing and
painting program. Features dual speed
mouse control, plus monochrome and
Integrex colour print dumps.

spe & 5^ ou ,.

a " 4 pA9.90

( uS U »'WC’ 9 ®'' M £ j9.90

s ?^rf ri29 - 90

Cheque/PO. or telephone gn

with ACCESS or VISA F\ 1

number.

Prices indude VAT & Post., HBH

Educational orders accepted.

IM idd Valley
TVTTcrq products Ltd

Depl. AU11988

FREEPOST WETHERBY WEST YORKSHIRE LS23 7YP
Telephone; Boston Spa (0937) 844661

NIDD VALLEY

Service Centre & Authorised Dealer

ALSYSTEMS

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MICRO STUDIO GRAPHICS

ARCHIMEDES SOFTWARE

ARCHIMEDES GRAPHICS LIBRARY

Beeb to Archie utilities

DFS to ADFS converter E14.49

Data cable and software El 3.80

5’/rdisc interface inc. software £29.90

40/80 disc drive £109.25

5Z

■I

Special offer 40/80 drive 5'A" interface and software

Ring for price

Archimedes computers at keen prices

Ring for info today

ARCHIMEDES GRAPHICS LIBRARY

For use with BASIC programs, CLARES ARTISAN.
GRAPHICWRITER AND FIRST WORD PLUS.

More than 2000K ol sprite graphics in full colour on a 3
disc set £19.95

BBC/MASTER SOFTWARE
STOP PRESS/PAGEMAKER USERS

PAGEMAKER GRAPHICS LIBRARY
150 cut outs (packl) £12.95

Utilities £9.95

30 new fonts £7.95

Cutout Previewer £9.95

Font Previewer £9.95

FSE-AMX Converter ea.£9.95

AMX-FSE Converter ea.£9.95

Label designer use cutout or part ot the screen + same
text and print one or two across £9.95

Instant Minipics - font picture files containing ready
made symbols and icons £7.95

FLEET STREET EDITOR USERS

fleet Street graphics library

200k 2 discs available at £12.95 each

All prices include VAT adn p&p UK<
Europe add £3.00. Outside Europe add £5.00.
State DFS format (40/80/ss/ds)
Educational orders welcome.

Access and Visa Welcome.

O

Dept 2, Micro Studio, 22 Churchgate Street,
Soham, Nr Ely, Cambs (0353) 721736.

14

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

EDUCATION

■ ESM’s Supastore database
system has been upgraded.
Supastore Plus contains an adv-
anced report generator which
enables a flexible page layout.
The global field editor allows
the same field to be changed
simultaneously over a whole
group of records, and the

L/upo$torc_

yupoStorc.

AipaStore.

More in store from Supastore

record deleter will delete whole
groups. You can also compact a
database to get back disc space
used by deleted records.

Transfer between DFS and
ADFS has been made simpler,
and two databases may now be
merged to make larger files.
Finally the import utility
allows the user to read View-
Store , Quest or Grass files.

■ Musicality Software pub-
lishes two music courses for the
BBC B. The first, Reading
Music /, teaches and tests the
rudiments of music assuming
no prior knowledge. The
second package, Musical Dicta-
tion , is an aural training course
which tackles rhythm and
pitch. The software is available
on 40 or 80-track disc.

■ New from Newman College
is the third version of its popu-
lar Front Page newspaper de-
sign package. Front Page Spe-
cial Edition will only run on
Master series machines, or on
an Econet.

It has full wordprocessing
facilities, with six fonts in three
sizes. There are six predefined
page layouts, each with a num-
ber of variants. Printer drivers
for a number of machines are
included, and a reduced size
print-out is also available.

It costs £28.75 for a single
copy or LEA licences may be
obtained from Roger Keeling at
Newman College.

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

Mac link up

Apple is set to announce a
series of products to improve
the ability of the Macintosh to
link to the BBC micro. This is
part of a strategy to gain fuller
acceptance for the Macintosh in
schools.

Leading the move is a ‘stack’,
running under the Mac
graphical database HyperCard ,
to read BBC database files from
Quest , Key y Grass , Find and
Inform through a cable link.

Software and interfaces from
Fluman Computer Interface
already allow BBC screen pic-
tures to be transferred to the
Mac, as well as View word-
processor files. View to Mac is

being enhanced to read from
Wordwise Plus and Interword
too.

The HyperCard stack is
already being distributed to
education authorities and Ap-
ple’s own regional information
centres. It will be in the public
domain and can be copied.

There will be an upgraded
BBC Basic from HCI. This is
being developed into a full
BBC emulator, handling oper-
ating system commands.

All should be available in the
spring, and will be demons-
trated at the BETT’89 exhibi-
tion in January.

The moves coincide with

Apple Macintosh; entering schools

f 4 m« uu c»i«bii pn*l" , <fl im

BBC screens can be transferred

tests by the National Council
for Educational Technology to
assess the capability of various
micros to run BBC hardware
and software.

Be king of the castle

The first of a suite of cross-
curricular software from Data
Design is Designer Castles. It
allows children to study the
elevation and plan of a castle,
design its features using the
available castle-building tools,
and then print out the result -
as a layout for a card model,
complete with fold lines and
glue tabs.

Another interesting feature is
that Designer Castles files may
be transmitted intact down
TTNS. A datafile of castles

already exists on the system.

The software was very well-
received at a recent Internation-
al Computers in History con-
ference at Leeds. It is likely to
be useful in topic work in
primary schools, as well as
GCSE History or CDT
courses. The software costs £30
to education, otherwise £50,
and includes discs, a manual
and printware support ROM.

Next will be a Villages pack,
to allow castle builders to cre-
ate a village for their serfs.

Acorn still
faithful

A large body of software avail-
able, or in development, for the
Archimedes appears to be link-
ed to education. So says a re-
cent Acorn User survey. But
closer scrutiny shows a sub-
stantial portion is ‘ported’ from
the 8-bit machines and runs
under the Arc’s 6502 emulator.
Only a small fraction have been
improved to take advantage of
the Arc’s power.

Specific new developments
were few - the reason seemed
to be a lack of confidence in the
penetration of the hardware
into the schools. Acorn is,
however, collaborating with
some software houses and local
education authorities. Major
projects on the use of Logo-
tron’s Archimedes Logo in
secondary schools, and on
‘pupil accessible resource-based
learning environments’ are
moving ahead with Essex. A
TVEI pilot project within
ILEA is looking at CDT, Cam-
bridgeshire is looking at ways
of exploiting networks, and
Berkshire is studying software
emulation.

15

RISC OS amazes advisers

Acorn has unveiled its new
operating system for the
Archimedes, after months of
denying its existence: see page
19 for full coverage.

It is claimed that, despite
sporting a wide range of new
features, the new operating sys-
tem is practically 100 per cent
compatible with existing Arc
software. Advisers at a recent
meeting with Acorn are re-
ported to have been ‘amazed’.
One educational software de-
veloper asked, ‘Will children

really benefit from an ability to
open more than one application
at the same time? I suspect that
this initiative will not benefit
schools a great deal.’ The ques-
tion is, do schools need such a
sophisticated product?

The meaning of RISC OS to
educational users will only be-
come apparent when software
developers discover how many
existing programs have been
affected and whether they have
set their horizons too low for
new products.

JOURNALIS

(What other micro has

Whether you are producing a social cluh newsletter or
writing your life story, the Archimedes system is simplicity
itself to use. producing a crispness and clarity of image
second to none.

Whether you are an enthusiastic beginner or the most
experienced musician, the ability of the Archimedes system
combined with the appropriate software offers you a superb
music work station. Add a MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital
Interface) instrument and you enter a world of unlimited

music control.

M OR JAZZ

Using Acorn’s extremely power-
ful RISC chip, the Archimedes High
Performance computer system is
probably the most versatile of any
microcomputer.

One of the first things that will
impress you is how easy it is to use.

You’ll be up and running almost
immediately.

Virtually all the applications soft-
ware you are ever likely to need is
available to exploit the speed and
power of this remarkable computer.

As a further demonstration of
versatility, the Archimedes system,
with its optional PC emulator, can run
a vast range of MS-DOS software.

It’s the perfect solution for practi-
cal disciplined work or for flexing your
creative muscles. A , . .

/Archimedes

I — Tel: 0800 678 888 (Free call anytime). —

To: Acorn Computers Limited, FREEPOST (TK960)

Brentford, Middlesex TW8 8BR.

Please send me the Archimedes power pack with relevant
information on applications packages.

I indicate below my particular area of interest.

| Healthcare ("“I Education | Home u*r

□ liuftinr**
application

CL

□ '

corral interest

□

□ Other? (please specify)

□ '

Name_

Company/ school/establishment:.

(if applicable)

Address.

Postcode.
'Pel no

Acorn

AU1J

The choice ol e

xpenei

net'.

the power to do both?)

Acorn and Archimedes arc trademarks of Acorn Computers l imited.
MS-DOS is a trade mark of Microsoft Corporation.

The Ultimate Assembly Language Development Tool

ADE+ is a 65COO series assembler system supporting all the mnemonics of the
65C12 plus the additional ’Rockweir instructions ADE+ is fast faster in fact
than the in-built BASIC assembler and all rival products that we have tested.
The assembler produces absolute code that can be ‘RUN or linker modules
that can be merged with the output from other programs using the ADE+
linker. ADE-f supports a powerful linker which drastically cuts assembly time;
a feature normally only found on minis and mainframes Full library support for
both the linker and the assembler is provided - fast searching for unknown
instructions in a random access macro library. A print spooling system uses
sideways RAM as a print buffer to eliminate waiting time; your listing runs off a
background job! Use the print spooler from BASIC or your own programs
ADE+ uses ALL available memory. With a second processor attached the 10
processor spare memory is used as a buffer to reduce the amount of disc
access All available memory is handled by ADE-Fs intelligent memory
management module Use your own favourite editor or the one provided
Assemble from disc or memory. Full utilities include librarians converter for
BBC BASIC etc

Versions and prices

Recommended lor Master Compact
ADE+ MMU and65C00 series assemb-
lers on disc (3.5"ADFS) 32K sideways
RAM required
£42.00 +vat

Recommended lor BBC B,B+

ADE+ MMU and65C00 seriesassemb-
ler on 2 16K EPROMS with DFS 5.25"
utilities disc

£46.00 +vat

Recommended lor Master 128, turbo
ADE+ MMU and65C00 seriesassemb-
ler on EPROM cartridge with 5.25" DFS
utility disc

£49.00 +vat

Features

- Runs on BBC B.B+. Master, Compact
ADFS, DFS, ANFS, NFS

- Full use of all available merrtory

• Intelligent memory management unit

- Automatic search for macros on disc

- Assemble absolute or relocatable code

- REPEAT_UNITL.WHILE.WEND..etc

- Macros nestable to any depth

- Excellent error diagnostics

• Linker

• Editor and symbolic disassembler
provided

Access and Barclaycard welcome
Further information available

Please add £1.25 P&P per unit
Upgrades also available

SYSTEM

APPLIED TECHNOLOGY

Dept A

I Fifth Floor, Sheaf House
Sheaf Street Sheffield SI 2BP
Tel: (0742) 768682

7 T > * 11111 II I

IVI

Great new products from EMR

ARCHIMEDES

EMR ARPEGGIO MUSIC SYSTEM

STUDIO 24 PLUS A complete recording studio for MIDI instruments and
Arc internal sounds created with SOUNDSYNTH. Available in
expandable software software versions on disk to umlimited tracks and
MIDI channels, SMPTE timecode, digitised pictures, graphics to music
and a comprehensive range of realtime and steptime editing. Version 1 .0
now available, suitable for home, school and studio use. Price £99.

ARC MIDI INTERFACES EMR produce a range of interfaces for use with
EMR programs using MIDI instruments, including MIDI (up to 4xMIDI
in/out for 64 discrete channels. MINI Network to 8032 channels and
SMPTE). EMR BBC Midi Interface also suitable when connected to I/O
podule. Prices from £69.90.

SOUNDSYNTH Lets you create some of the most exciting and complex
sounds ever produced by a micro. A Waveform Filing System is provided
to allow up to 32 sounds in memory at once. Designed for stand-alone
use with your own BASIC, m/c programs, Arc Music editor or as part of
the ARPEGGIO system for using interanl sounds with MIDI instruments.
Add the Armadillo Sampler Podule and SOUNDSYNTH provides
complete control of your own sound samples. Price £49.95.

CREATIONS Disks. Super sounds for use with SOUNDSYNTH. other
EMR programs of your own - ideal if you don’t want the expense of a
sampler! Each disk contains a selection of 8 and 16-bit sound sample
data, covering musical instruments, percussion and effects.

Price £19.95 each.

HANDIMUSIC Composing programs for special needs from £19.95.

(Also on BBC).

BBC MICRO

New BBC programs include PERFORMER to SCOREWRITER link for
writing out your played music, PICTURE MUSIC for age 8-11, SINGAD
for pitch training and assessment. MIDI DRUMMER - a fast pattern
generator that links to PERFORMER, ROLAND MT-32 complete voice
and disk storage EDITOR, and a superb realtime/steptime 16-track
PRO-PERFORMER on ROM.

Write or phone for comprehansive information on EMR products, let us
quote for a complete system with instruments or answer your questions
on computer midi.

COME AND SEE US AT THE BBC MICRO USER SHOW, LONDON
ON NOV 11-13!

EMR LTD. 14 Mount Close. Wickford, Essex SS11 8HG.
Telephone:0702 335747. Fax: 0702 430405.

ACCESS & VISA orders accepted. All prices inc VAT. Add £2 P&P.

EXPANSION CARDS
FOR THE

ACORN ARCHIMEDES
COMPUTER SYSTEM

IEEE488 INTERFACE a full implementation
of the standard for automatic test and
measurement systems

16 BIT PARALLEL 1/ O two 16 bit input or
output ports with handshake lines for digital
control applications

DUAL RS423 SERIAL INTERFACE for

communicating with two additional RS423 or
RS232 devices eg printers, plotters,
instruments, etc

12 BIT ANALOGUE 1/ O in development

All the above high performance expansion cards are
supplied with high level software for ease of use and a
comprehensive user guide.

Take advantage of Intelligent Interfaces’ expertise and
purchase a complete Archimedes Computer System.

Officially appointed Acorn Scientific Dealer.

Intelligent Interfaces Ltd

43b Wood Street -
Stratford-upon-Avon
Warwickshire
CV37.6JQ
Tel: 0789 415875
Telex: 312242 MIDTLX G

•Quality Products for the BBC Micro*.

PRINTER SWITCH-ROXES

These high quality 3 and 4 way printer switch
boxes are ideal for use in schools and colleges.
The switch is extremely cost-effective, it will
allow up to four rriicro's to share just one
printer by simply pressing a button. Both ver-
sions come complete with all cables. The PS4
box has 2 x 3.7m ♦ 2 x 1.7m ♦ 0.4m to the

printer, the PS3 has same but only 1 x 3.7m.
Data buffers are fitted to the extra long
3.7m cables to give reliable data transfer.

PS3 3 BBCs to 1 Printer L59.50

P54 <i BBCs to 1 Printer L69.50

CNC LATHE INTERFACE

Retrofit to
your Lathe
SEND for..

'XS.'X

Successful and proven system for teaching
CNC. Already in use in over 200 education
establishments. Complete with disc software
and comprehensive Manual. Only requires BBC
B, B* or Master set-up. ISO standard part-
programming. Send for your FREE INFOPAK.

These useful switch boxes are ideal
for use in the office or at school.
No need to keep .swapping cables
over just press the button! The
cables supplied are 2 x 1. 7m « 0.4m
with appropiate connectors fitted.
Both versions may be used with a
plotter if required. Super value.

PS1 2 BBCs' to 1 Printer .
PS2 1 BBC to 2 Printers .

32K RAM MODULE

Store all your ROMs on disc, then
load them into the RAM module as
and when required. Plugs into just
one sideways ROM slot giving two
separate 16K banks. Complete with
write switch, software on 40 or 80
track disc plus full documentation.

RM2 32K RAM module .... LI 9.95

TERRELL ELECTRONICS

7-B ESSEX GARDENS HORNCHURCH ESSEX RM11 3EH

PLEASE ADD 15* VAT TEL: 040 24 71426

EDUCATIONAL AND GOVERNMENT ORDERS WELCOME

POST 4 PACKING FREE

QUANTITY DISCOUNTS

18

ACORN USl.R NOVRMBI'R 1988

... .. . I. .LIMN mi.I.IHlilM I

NEWS

Welcome

disc

applications

There are three major applica-
tions on the RISC OS Wel-
come discs; Arc Paint , Arc
Draw and Arc Edit. All three
can be run at the same time if
you have enough memory.
Also featured are the Lander
game, the 65Host emulator, de-
monstrations and tutorials.

Arc Paint is a mouse-
controlled painting package
that can be used to produce
sprites. It’s facilities don’t quite
match specialised art packages
like Pro Artisan.

Arc Edit is a text editor

Arc Draw allows Bezier curves

which can be used to produce
short items of text. It can use
the Arc’s anti-aliassed fonts on
screen, and can produce output
to Postscript laser printers, to
non-Postscript laser printers
like the Hewlett-Packard
Laserjct, and even to dot-
matrix printers. In fact, these
output options are part of the
operating system, not of Arc
Edit , so the facilities should be
available to most programs.

Arc Draw is the most im-
pressive of the three Welcome
applications. It is similar to
CAD packages like Auto-
Sketch. You can even import
drawings in the DXF file for-
mat from AutoCAD and other
line-drawing packages. As well
as the usual text, line, circle, arc
and box functions, smooth
curves can be plotted with the
new Bezier splines. And again
output can be sent to Postscript
or non-Postscript laser or dot-
matrix printers.

ACORN USI-.K NOVMMBl-R 1988

RISC OS upgrades

Acorn previewed the new
Archimedes operating system,
now known as RISC Operating
System 2.0, at the Econet ’88
conference in Birmingham, and
announced it publicly two days
later at the PC Show.

The new operating system
chips will be available from
April 1989. Upgrades for exist-
ing Arcs are planned to cost
around £50, with discounts for
educational buyers. New Arcs
will come with the chips as
standard after April.

The RISC OS chips replace
the four existing Arthur
ROMs. The upgrade will also
include two Welcome discs and
a new manual.

The most important part of
RISC OS involves multi-
tasking. This allows the com-
puter to appear to work on two
programs at once - so a long
program can keep running

Desktop and task control panel

while you work on something
else. In practice, it allows you
to be using a program, say a
desktop publishing package,
and to call up a separate text
editor in a screen window to
write notes, without saving
your DTP work. The DTP

program continues to run in its
own window. Text can also be
moved from the editor straight
into the DTP window,* without
saving it to disc first. And the
desktop facilities remain avail-
able all the time.

Demonstrations at the show
involved several animated dis-
plays on screen at once. But
multi-tasking takes a great deal
of memory, and even 1Mb
machines can run short of
RAM.

The system contains a num-
ber of other extensions to
Arthur 1.2 - most of the im-
provements concern the
graphics. There is also a new
6502 emulator, called 65Host,
which overcomes many of the
problems of the current emula-
tor - it can deal with some
‘illegal’ programming methods,
even running many games that
directly access the screen.

Multi-tasking plus
better graphics

The multi-tasking in RISC OS
is ‘non pre-emptive’ - or co-
operative. This means that the
system will never take control
away from your program forc-
ibly. The approach is similar to
that taken by the Multi-Finder
system on the Macintosh.

It relies on your program
calling the Wimp Poll routine
regularly, so that WIMP events
can be distributed between
whatever programs are run-
ning. Programs that don’t use
the WIMP system can’t be
multi-tasked, but on specially-
written programs the results arc
impressive. Priorities can be
allocated to dilferent tasks, and
the amount of memory and
sprite size can be altered from a
control panel display.

The window and sprite sys-

tem now works in all modes,
and moving a window drags
the whole box, not just a dot-
ted outline as in Arthur 1.2.

The sprite plotting system
allows sprites to be rescaled
and plotted at any size in any
mode - the operating system
attempts to match the colours
of a sprite by dithering in mod-
es with too few colours - even
mode 0. And the 132-column
modes 16 and 17 now support
graphics as well as text; this
makes advanced terminal
emulation possible.

There are extra PLOT com-
mands to draw Bezier splines -
these are smooth curves often
used in CAD programs and
font designs, and were ex-
plained by George Blanchard in
September’s Acorn User.

i " ■ {fc-jf

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Kit Kit I

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Acorn’s new RISC OS

The ADFS has been updated,
with an improved 800k disc
format that allows bad sectors
on the disc to be skipped over.
There is now a fully-fledged
RAM filing system too, with its
own icon on the menu bar.
And output can be saved- ‘to a
sprite’ - the sprite can then be
dragged into another applica-
tion and ‘loaded’.

To make room for the exten-
sions, the Basic Editor and
HardCopy modules have been
removed from the ROMs. But
the Basic Editor is on the Wel-
come disc and can be loaded
into RAM.

19

Meet

the

Morley

Family...

Teletext Adapter

The adapter is housed in a plastic disc drive
style case, similar in colour to the BBC
micro. It connects to the User Port via a 4-
way ribbon cable and can take its power
either from the computer or from our
optional power supply.

The unit comes with the ATS (advanced
teletext software) written for us by the BBC.
The HOLD PAGE and REVEAL features are
implemented, and pages can be saved to
disc under your own file names.
Telesoftware is catalogued and selected
from the Menu page, and the programs are
easily downloaded.

THIS IS THE BIGGEST SELLING
TELETEXT ADAPTER CURRENTLY IN
PRODUCTION WORLD-WIDE, AND
COMES WITH A FULL MONEY BACK
SATISFACTION GUARANTEE.

Adapter BBC/Master £1 04.20

Adapter Compact £1 20.00

Adapter RML Nimbus £1 04.20

Optional Power supply £8.80

Teletext Utility Disc £5.20

EPROM
Programmer V2

This state-of-the-art unit, allows
programming of 2764, 27128 and 27256
EPROMS both 12.5 and 21 volt. Totally
under software control it is believed to be
one of the fastest programmers available
today.

The comprehensive user-friendly
software included in the package has
two main parts. The first allows EPROMS
to be read, programmed, verified, and
edited, also allowing a ROM image to be
loaded or saved. The second is a full
ROM management system in its own
right, which has a host of useful features
and routines, such as KILL and
RESURRECT ROM to disable or enable
a sideways ROM, dump ROM image to
buffer or disc, move ROM image in buffer
to sideways RAM, and VIEW-SEARCH
any sideways ROM.

£30.00

Eprom programmer utility disc - Put all
your favourite routines into Sideways
Rom, both BASIC and M/Code allows
multiple programmes up to 16k with
separate * commands for initialisation
and help.

£5.20

Master Board “AA”

At long last the add-on all MASTER users
have been waiting for, an internal ROM
board.

No more need to turn the computer off to
insert the cartridge containing the ROM
you need to debug the program in
memory.

The all new MORLEY MASTER BOARD
“AA” allows you to have up to 8 x 16k and
4 x 32k extra Roms installed inside your
MASTER and still leaves the cartridge
slots free. This in effect allows your
MASTER to support as many as 24, 16k
ROMs installed permenantly, with the

The Latest
Arrival...

The Morlev ran g e of
Winchester Drives are
completely compatible
with all BBC’s, B+’s and
Master computers fitted
with ADFS.

Each unit comes
complete with a utility
disc containing format,
verify, archive, initialise
and an intelligent file
copy including DFS files
to hard disc.

Finished in high quality
colour co-ordinated case
with a whisper quiet
internal fan and switch
mode power supply.
Superb quality and
competitive cost - in a
word -“Morley”!

20 Megabyte £370
30 Megabyte £420
40 Megabyte £500
60 Megabyte P.0 A

RAMDISC

Due to the rise in prices of dynamic RAM
chips we only have a limited stock of the
1 megabyte version of this device left.
Special offer price while stocks last.

£150.00

Master Cartridge

from Care

Dual cartridge 2 sockets
Quad cartridge 4 sockets
Duet cartridge 2 x 32k sockets
32k non-volatile ram cartridge
ideal for Spellmaster dictionary

addition of your standard 4 x sideways
ram banks and four banks by using
cartridges.

A staggering 32 ROM images installed
and accessible at any time.

Included in the package is a utility ROM
which has many useful features including
a clever file transfer program that transfers
files between DFS and ADFS formats or
vice versa.

£40

Software

We now stock a full range of computer
concepts software and will gladly populate
your ‘AA’ board or cartridge before
despatch.

Master Smart
Cartridge

THE MORLEY/CARE SMART
CARTRIDGE

The Smart Cartridge will at the press of a
button halt a program running in memory
and execute any one of a host of useful
built-in, or user defined procedures, and
once completed will return to the program
and continue where it left off. The only
limiting factor with this device is the
programmers imagination.

Some of the built-in features (at the press
of a button):

‘Autosaves comnputer’s entire memory.
‘Freeze program at any point.

‘Screen dump (any mode) to printer or
disc.

‘Allows most protected software to be
backed-up including tape to disc and disc
to tape.

‘User friendly menu driven software etc.

£30.00

MQRLEy

E’L-E-C-T-R-O-N-I-C-S

Unit 3
Maurice Road
Industrial Estate
Wallsend, Tyne and Wear NE28 6BY
Telephone: Tyneside (091) 262 7507

VAT: UK customers please add 15% VAT
to cost incl. carriage.

CARRIAGE £1 on all orders. £3 on larger
items (Adapters etc).

To order:

By Post:- Enclose cheque made payable
to Morley Electronics Ltd. Or credit card:
By Phone:- quoting your Access Visa
number.

Goods usually despatched by return.
Government and Education orders
welcome.

COMING SOON...

Master Speech Cartridge

"!ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!ZZiZ£ZZZZZZZZ2ZZnZ£Z^Z^ZZZZZZ!^nZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZiZZZZZZZZZZZZ^ZZZZZZZiZZZZZ!ZZZZZZZZZZZ'

In stock
NOW!

FOUR-SLOT BACKPLANE FOR Froni
ARCHIMEDES 305 AND 310 only £29 ' 9S

Before you can fit any podules to a 300 series Archimedes, a backplane is required.
(Over six different podules are currently available, so the standard two-slot
backplane can quickly prove inadequate). Our new four-slot backplane may be fitted to
any 305 or 310 Archimedes computer, and accommodates up to four single width podules.
Installation is very straightforward, and no soldering is needed.

★

★

★

★

★

Accepts up to 4 podules
Full warranty & money-back guarantee
Available as an upgrade
Quantity discounts
ideal for use with the
computer concepts ram/rom Podule

Introductory prices (excluding/including VAT)

4-way backplane with fan
4-way backplane without fan
2-way backplane with fan
Computer Concepts ROM Podule
As above with battery back-up
4-way backplane as upgrade, from.
62256 32K RAM chips
Postage £1.00

UPGRADES

If you already have a 2-slot
backplane, then our 4-slot version may
be obtained at a discount price. This
offer is for a limited period
only - please telephone for details.

£51.26

£58.95

£48.00

£55.20

£36.30

£41.75

£47.83

£55.00

£56.96

£65.50

£26.04

£29.95

£11.30

£13.00

HOW TO ORDER
to "IFEL"), POs or official
orders welcome. Access orders
accepted on (0752) 847286
Please allow £1.00 P & P.

Trade enquiries welcome.

Cheques (payable ^

IFEL, 36 UPLAND DRIVE, DERRIFORD, PLYMOUTH PL6 6BD (0752) 847286

' £zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!zzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz2Z.

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

21

PREVIEW

Plotting a
place for
low prices

The COMX PL80 plotter is a
lightly built and cheap-looking
four-colour plotter, but it be-
lies its looks. It uses tiny ball-
point pens to draw on rolls of
paper, or oil-based pens on

transparent acetate sheet.

In use, it is slow and lines are
noticeably jagged, but it is sur-
prisingly accurate. It is impor-
tant that a plotter can return to
a previous point after drawing
- say returning to a corner to
draw an adjoining side - and
the COMX does this well. The
dump shows a cross plotted
before and after the spring:
they overlap near-perfectly.
And you can even print text,
although this is an extremely
slow process as each letter has
to be drawn. However, at just
under £200, there’s little com-
petition for the plotter.

The major problem is soft-
ware. It’s akin to having a non-
Epson-compatible dot-matrix
printer - it isn’t supported by
any of the current range of
CAD software for the BBC or
Arc; you have to program it in
Basic yourself. This is not easy
for the non-technical.

This problem will only be
solved when a new model,
compatible with Hewlett-
Packard Graphics Language (a
well supported plotter stan-
dard), is ready. This is prom-
ised by Christmas.

Graham Bell

Tool for design

Oak’s Parametric Design Tool
(PDT), is at the simplest level,
an Archimedes CAD package
similar to AutoSketch. The
program allows lines, circles,
arcs and text to be entered and
edited in the usual way. Ob-
jects can also be dimensioned in
a number of ways. Facilities for
zooming and panning across
your diagram are available.
Diagrams can be dumped to a
dot-matrix printer, or a plotter.

PDT has a number of unique
features that set it head and

itt.l i<t

Animated displays are possible

shoulders above other packages
currently available. Objects are
not stored in terms of their
absolute positions, instead their
relationship between objects is

used. This means that if two
circles are drawn with a tangen-
tial line connecting them and
one of the circles is altered in
any way, the tangent is re-
drawn to match the new con-
figuration. In addition it is
possible to alter dimensions by
typing in expressions. These
two facilities enable complex
mechanical linkages to be set
up and simulated. Although it
is expensive at £339.25, PDT is
well worth a look.

Dave Lawrence

A perfect

The latest arrival on the desk-
top publishing scene is Pixel
Perfect from AVP Computing
- a competently written piece
of software that should secure
itself a share of an already well-
served market.

All the usual DTP features
are available. Pictures and text
may be freely mixed on your
page and the refreshingly clear
screen layout helps you to pick
up the basics with minimum
reference to the manual.

You’ll need to prepare your
text on a ‘real’ wordprocessor,
as the built-in text entry facili-

mix

ties are minimal. Both View
and WordWise files can be im-
ported though, so most tastes
will be catered for.

A modest but well-drawn
picture library can be added for
a little over £22 - a little expen-
sive but it is a good short-cut
to producing ‘professional-
looking’ work.

On the negative side there
are a few unpleasant features.

Perhaps the most infuriating
of these is that your work is
not automatically saved. This
means that if you don’t remem-
ber to commit your handiwork

Pixel Perfect, competent DTP

to disc, it will be thrown away
as you scroll down the page.

Pixel Perfect should prove a
useful tool in the preparation of
newsletters, school newspapers
and the like. At a little over £45
including VAT, the package is
not cheap but is fair value for
money in my opinion.

Dave Acton

With a
view to CAD

ViewCad] reasonable value

ViewCad , no relation to the
View family, is a program mar-
keted by Portsmouth College
of Art, Design and FE for

generating three-dimensional
wire-frame images.

The program is a series of
overlay modules on disc, and it
also needs either an AMX Art
or SuperArt ROM. It can only
be used on a BBC model B
with a 6502 Second Processor
or a Master Turbo.

ViewCad is capable of pro-
ducing very high quality draw-
ings. But at present the soft-
ware only supports the Graph-
tec MP1000 and MP3200 plot-
ters. An Epson dot-matrix
screen dump is also provided,
but this would only be suitable
for instructional purposes. As
the program is written in Basic,

customising it for other plotters
such as the ‘Plotmate’ series
will not be too difficult.

ViewCad should have ap-
plications in areas like indust-
rial design and it’s particularly
suitable for Craft, Design and
Technology work in schools
and colleges. It makes good use
of a WIMP style environment.

If you already have a second
processor and either of the
AMX ROMs, ViewCad repre-
sents good value for money at
only £10.35. But if you don’t
have these, then other 3-D
drawing packages should be
considered first.

Dave Futcher

22

ACORN USER NOVEMBER I98S

NOTICEBOARD

Repton winners

Diary dates

October 11-13. Computer Graphics
*88, Wembley Exhibition Centre.
Tel: Debbie Gale, Blenheim Online,
Pinner, Middx, 01-868 4466.

October 11-13. British Laboratory
Week, Olympia Exhibition Centre,
Hammersmith, London W14. Tel:
Jane McAteer 01-833 3441.

October 13-14. Exploitable
Technology *88. Gloucester Hotel,
London. Tel: Margarette Karn,
Butterworth Scientific, (0483)
300966.

October 13-15. Desktop Publishing
Show, Business Design Centre,
London Nl. Tel: Christine Lees
(0625) 878888.

November 8-9. British Computer
Society’s Computer & Exhibition
Conferences for the Disabled.
GEPB, Sudbury House, Newgate St,
London ECl. Tel: Pat Guntrip
(0277) 227364.

November 8-10. National
Conference & Exhibition on
Learning and Technology, Wembley
Conference Centre, London. Tel:
Tessa Barry 01-727 1929.

November 10-12. Design &
Technology Exhibition, National
Exhibition Centre, Birmingham. Tel:
David Bennett, (04252) 7271 1.
November 11-13. Micro User Show,
New Horticultural Hall, London
SWl. Tel: Database Exhibitions,
(0625) 87992.

November 15-17. Tcchmart
Exhibition, National Exhibition
Centre, Birmingham. Tel: Carole
Jackson, 01-834 1717.

November 17. Conference &
Exhibition on Advanced Technology
& Learning and New Directions in
Learning, Doncaster Conference
Centre. Tel: Artne Swairiston,
Resource, (0302) 63784.

Congratulations to Alistair
Clark from Glasgow, the win-
ner of our August Repton com-
petition. Alistair named each
game correctly, and wins our
unique five-foot cuddly Rep-
ton. The thirty runners up each

October’s Top of the List to
produce double-height and
double-width text was missed
off the contents page. The list-
ing can be used either as a stand
alone utility or combined with
Joe’s Ideas Processor to speed
up some of the display
routines. The listing and in-
structions for adding the
routines to the Joe’s program
appeared on page 94.

■ A common mistake when
typing in programs is missing
out essential spaces. We’ve had
a number of phone calls asking
why seemingly small programs
give a ‘Disc Full’ error when
saving. For example, line 1980
of the Microspacing listing in
September’s issue said:

1980 PROCoscli ("SAVE MI
CROSP "+STR$~code+" +100

40C 400")

receive a game of their choice
from Superior Software’s latest
catalogue - we’ve notified you
all by post. The correct answers
were:

1-E, 2-A, 3-D, 4-F, 5-C, 6-D,
7-F, 8-B, 9-E.

It is very easy to miss the space
between the 100 and the 40C;
this then attempts to save a file
just over a megabyte long!

The final parameters should
read :

+100 40C 400

which saves 256 bytes.

■ The address of Margolis Sys-
tems, who produce Comm
Plus , was missed from the
Comms Column. It is: Margo-
lis and Co, 105 Founding
Court, Brunswick Centre,
Marchmont Street, London
WC1N IAN. It can also be
contacted on Prestel mailbox
018379789.

■ In October, we said that
Great Elm services produce
‘World puzzles’; that should be
‘Word puzzle games’ for both
Beeb and Electron users. Call
(0373) 812275: for a catalogue.

Contacts

Acc Computing, 27 Victoria Road,
Cambridge CB1 2LG; tel: (9223)
462212

Armadillo Systems, 17 Glasdon
Road, Uppingham, Leicestershire
LEI 5 9PX; tel: (0572) 822499
CDS Software, CDS House, Beckett
Road, Doncaster DN2 4AD
Computer Park, 25 Bridge Street,
Rothwell, Kettering, Northants
NN142JW

COMX, Chemilab Business Systems,
91a North Approach, Watford WP2
6EL.

Data Design, Gowan Bank, 3
Botham Hall Road, Longwood,
Huddersfield, HD3 4RJ; tel: (0484)
653176

European Communications

Group, Unit 15, St Georges
Industrial Estate, Richmond Road,
Kingston, Surrey KT2 5BQ
Firebird, Telecomsoft, First floor,
64-76 New Oxford Street, London
WCl A IPS

Human Computer Interface, 1 1
Brunswick Walk, Cambridge CB5
8DH; tel: (0223) 314934
Interactive Media Resources, 8
North Street, Wolverhampton, West
Midlands WVl 1RD; tel: (0902)
25444

Micro Librarian System, Stanley
Cottage, Ridge End Fold, Marplc,
Stockport, Cheshire SK6 7EX; tel:
061-449 9357

Miracom, Hadleigh Road Industrial
Estate, Ipswich, IP2 0HB Musicality
Software, 15 Cheddington Road,
Edmonton, London N18 1LY
Portsmouth College of Art, Design
and FE, Winston Churchill Avenue,
Portsmouth, Hampshire POl 2DJ.
Silicon Vision, Signal House, Lyon
Road, Harrow, Middlesex HAl
2 AG; tel: 01-422 2274

Blunders from October

POST A PROBLEM

Acorn User has a guaranteed fast reply service for enquiries. Your
answer will be returned within 10 working days for just £3
(includes VAT), or your money back.

Just write out your problem, fill in the coupon (right), and send
both off to Acorn User with a stamped addressed envelope and
cheque or postal order for £3 made out to Redwood Publishing. If
you want recorded delivery add the cost of this on. Include as
much detail a$ possible, and a disc or cassette if a program is
involved, with enough space to record any corrected listing.

Please note: debugging readers’ programs or those from other
magazines is a complex task and we cannot guarantee to give a full
solution. Unless the problem can be spotted quickly, the service
will only be able to make general comments or suggest a strategy
for the reader.

We will answer the problem and return all material received
within a guaranteed 10 working days from receipt. If we fail to
match this promise then your cheque or postal order will be
returned with the answered question — you can’t lose!

ACORN USER READER SERVICE
20-26 Brunswick Place, London Nl 6DJ.

i

i-

NAME I

ADDRESS

1

POSTCODE

DAYTIME PHONE NUMBER i

I enclose a cheque/postal order for £3 made out -to
Redwood Publishing and.an sae with my problem. |

OFFICE USE ONLY Date in: |

Date out: •

Answered by: i

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

23

AVON COMPUTER EXCHANGE

MAILORDER

OTHER

BRANCHES

BRISTOL: 42 Cannon St, Bedminster
Tel: (0272) 637981 (4 lines)
CARDIFF: 87 City Rd

Tel: (0222) 483069/471600
SWINDON: 31 Faringdon Rd

Tel: (0793) 512074/3

ALL PRICES INCLUDE VAT AND FREE DELIVERY

PHILLIPS MONITORS

Mono 7502 Amber E82

Mono 7502 Green E79

Colour 8502 El 99

Colour 8833 E2T9

Colour 8833 E299

LAZER

PRINTERS

CITIZEN OVERTURE £1395

EPSON GQ 3500 £1495

CANNON LBS 82 £1895

Panasonic

KX-P1081 £159

★ 120 COS DRAFT

★ 24 CPS NLQ

★ SWITCHABLE FONTS

★ TRACTORS SINGLE SHEET

★ CENTRONICS

AMSTRAD COMPUTERS
AT COMPETITIVE PRICES

LC-10 £189

COLOUR VERSION
£239

★ 120 CPS DRAFT

★ 30 CPS NLQ

★ 4K BUFFER

★ TRACTORS SINGLE SHEET

TE

rchimedes

A305 BASE M u a muwwi £703.85

MONO £761.35

COLOUR £933.85

A310 BASE £791.25

MONO £848.75

COLOUR £1021.25

BBC B (ex demo) £1 79.00

NEC

PINWRITER P2200

£329

★ 140 CPS DRAFT

★ 47 CPS LETTER QUALITY

★ 24 PIN

★ TRACTOR S SINGLE SHEET

★ CIT SHEET FEEDER - AVAILABLE

WESTERN DIGITAL HARD CARDS

21 MBYTES £219withexthree

32 MBYTES £269 software

43 MBYTES £299 l/q

^CITIZEN

120D £1 39

★ 120 CPS DRAFT

★ 24 CPS NLQ

★ TRACTORS SINGLE SHEET

★ CENTRONICS

ATARI 520 STFM £269

ATARI 520 STFM (SUMMER

PACK) £349

ATARI 1040 STF (with built in

modulator) £449

COMMODORE AMIGA A500 £389

PRODUCTS AVAILABLE
ALL SLOGGER FROM STOCK

132 COLUMNS PRINTER

OMP4000 £299

CITIZEN HQP45 24 PIN £399

GAKKEN DAISY WHEEL £1 99

AUTHORISED

DEALER FOR

lAMSTRAD ★ ACORN ★ ATARI ★ COMMODORE ★ PANASONIC
CITIZEN ★ STAR ★ NEC ★ OPUS ★ PSION

FREE NEXT DAY DELIVERY ANYWHERE IN MAINLAND

ONLY ON

ORDERS OVER

£100

We are expanding our business to
franchising please write to our
Bristol address for details

VfSA

24

ACORN US HR NOVHMBRK 1988

Computers and Upgrades

Archimedes 305

£699.00 (a)

Archimedes 305 mono

£759.00 (a)

Archimedes 305 col

£919.00 (a)

Archimedes 310

£835.00 (a)

Archimedes 310 mono

£895.00 (a)

Archimedes 310 col

£1055.000 (a)

Archimedes 310m

£895.00 (a)

Archimedes 310m mono

£995.00 (a)

Archimedes 310m col

£1115.00(a)

Archimedes 410

POA

Archimedes 410 mono system

POA

Archimedes 410 colour system

POA

0% FINANCE ON THE ARCHIMEDES RANGE
(Subject to status) PHONE FOR DETAILS

Archimedes podule backplane

Archimedes ROM podule

Archimedes I/O podule

Archimedes MIDI add-on to I/O podule

Archimedes MIDI Podule

Master 128

Master Compact

Master Turbo Upgrade

Master 512 Upgrade

Master 128 Eprom Cartridge

Master 128 Dust Cover

Compact RS 232 Interface

Compact TV Modulater

1770 Disc Interface

ADFS ROM (B+ or B with 1770)

B+64 64K Upgrade

Cambridge Computers Z 88

Z 88 PSU £8.65 (d) 128K RAM £43.00 (e)

/ Printers (Dot Matrix)

Citizen 120d80col.20CPS + 25cpsNLQ £150.00 (a)

Citizen MSP10E 80col. 160cps + 40 cps NLQ £225.00 (a)

Citizen MSP15E 136c/160cps + 40cps NLQ £230.00 (a)

Citizen MSP40 80c/200cps + 50cps NLQ £300.00 (a)

Citizen MSP45 136c/200cps + 50cps NLQ £400.00 (a)

Citizen MSP50 80/250cps + 60cps NLQ £379.00 (a)

Citizen MSP55 136c/250cps + 60cps NLQ £520.00 (a)

Citizen HQP45 24pm 136col 200 cps + 60cps LQ £454.00 (a)

CITIZEN HQ P40 24pin 80col 200cps + 60cps Q £379.00 (a)

STAR LC10 120cps + 30cps NLQ £199.00(a)

STAR ND10 80col/180cps + 45cps NLQ £320.00 (a)

STAR ND15 136col/180cps + 45cps NLQ £380.00 (a)

STAR NR10 80col/240cps + 60cps NLQ £395.00 (a)

STAR NR15 136col/240cps + 60cps NLQ £460.00 (a)

STAR LC24-10 80col/142cps + 47cps LQ 24pin £330.00 (a)

/ Printers (Daisy Wheel)

Juki 6 1 00 1 1 Ocol 20cps £290.00 (a)

Citizen Premier 35 132col 35cps £554.00 (a)

MP26-26cps Diablo 630 compatable £234.00 (a)

MP40-40cps Diablo 630 compatable £319.00 (a)

2yr warranty on Citizen. Juki and mp printer

. / Printers (Laser)

£1450 (a)

Citizen Overture 110+

10 pages/min
Star Las>ir Printer 8
8 pages/min £1900 (a)

All laser printers with 1 year on site maintenance.

AMX Mouse and Software

AMX Mouse + Super Art
AMX Pagemaker
Extra Extra
Mouse Mat

. / Disc Drives

£60.00 (d)
£37.00 (d)
£ 21.00 (e)
£4.34 (e)

Single DS 40/80T

£96.00 (a)

Single DS 40/80T in psu

£ 111.00 (a)

Dual DS 40/80T

£189.00 (a)

Dual DS 40/80T in psu

£209.00 (a)

Dual DS 40/80T in psu and plynth

£214.00 (a)

20mB Winchester

£449.00 (a)

Combination 3.5 5.28 Winchester

available. Phone for details.

COMPUTING

BUSINESS SYSTEMS • HARDWARE
SOFTWARE • VIDEO SYSTEMS
MEDIA SUPPLIES
OFFICIAL DOMESDAY DEALER

£39.00 (d)
£59.00 (d)
£85.00 (d)
£39.00 (e)
£69.00 (d)
£369.00 (a)
from £310.00 (a)

£ 1 10 . 00 (c)
£95.00 (c)

£ 1 1 . 00 (c)
£4.50 (e)
£26 00 (c)
£26.00 (e)
£41.00 (d)
£25.00 (e)
£30.00 (d)
£244.00 (a)

128K EPROM £43.00 (e)

Acorn!

ITx- < Imirrnl r\|H , rii*nrr‘

ACORN APPROVED DEALER

Phone 0602 787923

/ Discs

Discs 5.25” (Boxed in 10*s Lifetime guarantee)

3M 744 SS/DD 48TPI

£ 8.00 (d)

3M 745 DS/DD 48TPI

£9.00 (d)

3M 747 DS/DD 96TPI

£13.00 (d)

Add £1 for plastic library case

B & S Label 96TPI in see through LIB. Case DS/DD

£ 10.00 (d)

Disc Cleaning Kit (state 5 V 4 " or 3 1 /?")

£5.00 (d)

3.5"

3M 35SS SS DD (Box of 101

£13.00 (d)

3M 35DS DS DDlBox of 10)

£16.00 (d)

B & S Label DSDD

£ 13.00(d)

Lockable Anti-Static 5.25" Storage Cases

50 Disc Capacity

£8.00 (d)

100 Disc Capacity

£10.00 (d)

Monitors

All Monitors include BBC Lead
Phillips Range of high resolution Mono Monitors
with Audio Input Green
BM 7502 (Green)

Hi-Screen ST 88 Monitor

_ Spec as Phillips CM8833

Phillips Colour Monitor RGB. Composite Video,

Audio in Linear RGB Green Screen Switchable

BBC/IBM Compatible CM8833

Philips Multisync

CM8873 CGA/EGA/PGA Compatible

Ideal for use with the Acorn Archimedes computers

Microvitec

1431 iMetai or Plastic Case please speedy) Std Res
1451 (Metal or Plastic Case please specify) Med Res
1441 (Metal or Piastc Case please specfyl Hgh Res
1431 AP Metal Case RGB and CV Audo Std Res
1451 AP Metal Case only RGB and CV Audo Med Res
TILT and SWIVEL Stands for Plast.c Case Only
Plinths
BBC B Smgle
BBC Master Single
BBC Master with Shelf

ROM Boards

£69.00 (a)
£195.00 (a)

£220.00

£520.00 (a)

£184.00 (a)
£229.00 (a)
£379.00 (a)
£214.00(a)
£260.00 (a)
£1900 Idl

n i oo ic)
Cl 2 00 Ic)
C22 00(b)

ATPL Sidewise Model B
ATPL Sidewise Model B+
Viglen Spare Cartridges

£35.00 (d)
£3 1.00(d)
£2.50(e)

We are licensed credit brokers. El 000 instant credit available ask
for written details. (Apr 32.1 %)

UK Customers: please add 15% VAT to all rices
(including carriage).

Government and educational establishments official orders welcomed.
When ordering please enclose a cheque or postal order for the
appropriate amount. UK Carriage Rates (a) £8.00 - courier insured
delivery (b) £3.50 (c) £2.50 (d) £1.50 (e) £1.00; All prices are correct at
time of going to press. All offers are subject to availability, all prices
are subject to change without prior notification and are available on
request. Current price list is available on request.

Good normally desptached on receipt of order.

B & S COMPUTING (NOTT'M) LTD
THE LENTON BUSINESS CENTRE
LENTON BOULEVARD
NOTTINGHAM NG7 2BY
PHONE: 0602 787923

Peartree Products

Master ROM Cartridge. Allows 2 ROMS to be fitted £ 8.95

Master ROM Cartridge. Allows 4 ROMS to be fitted £ 1 1.95
Master RAM Cartridge 32k W/P Sideways Cartridge 33.95

Master RAM Cartridge 64k Battery Backed S/Ways .RAM 49 95
Mini ROM Board BBC B Only. Extension of 4 ROMs in the BBC

£15.95

MR4300 Mini ROM/RAM Board BBC B 32k S/Ways + 3 ROM Sockets

£39.95

MR4800 Mini RAM Board BBC B Only 128k Battery Backed S/Wavs

£89.95

Printer Ribbons and Accessories

Epson LX 86 (Compact)

£2.50 (e)

Epson MX 80/RX 80/FX 80/FX 80/85 (Compact)

£3.00 (e)

Juki 5510/Citizen MSP 20 (compact)

£3.00 (e)

Citizen 120DLSP10

£3 75 (el

Taxan 810 Canon (Compat)

£3.75 (e)

Juki 6100 Multistrike

£2 30 le)

Tatty MT85 Fabrc

£5 00(e)

Tally MT86 Catbon

11 00 (el

Punter lead 1 5m B B+ M128 ELK + 1

C6 00 (el

Printer lead 1 5m Compact

£8 00(e)

Printer lead 1.8m IBM or Archimedes Compatible

£10.00 (dj)

80col Printer Stand with paper shelves

£29.00 (c))

Printer Switch Box 2 Way T Switch

£34.00 (c)

All Modems inc BBC Lead

M racle WS2000

M’racle WS40Q0 Hayes Compat

Pace Commstar II ROM

Pace Linnet

Pace Series 4 2123s

£95 00 (cl
£144 00 lal
£28 00 (el
£124.00 (c)
£230.00(a)

Acorn Soft

M cro Prolog

£50 00 Idl

ISO Pascal

£42 00 Id)

Logo

£44 00 (dl

BCPL

□9 00(0

View Printer Driver (D)

* 8 (e)

Comal

£32 00 Idl

Lisp

£33 00 (e!

Hi View

£37 00 Idl

View professional

£75.00 (c).

View 3.0

£39.00 (d)

Vewsheet

£37 00 idl

View Store

£37 00 Id!

View Spell I80T onlyi

£29 00 Id)

View Plot

£21 00 (e)

View Index •

£1000 le)

Overview

£69.00 (c)

1st Word Plus (Arch)

£75 (c)

Logistix (Arch)

£95 (d)

Computer Concepts

Interword

£39 00 Id)

inter Sheet

□9 00 Idl

interchart

£26 00 Id)

mterbase

£49.00 (d)

Arcnimedes versions available - call for

price and

Mega 3

availability

£75.00 (c) Spellmaster

£42.00 (d)

Wordwise

£30 00 (dl

Wordwise +

£37 00 Id)

Mirrorsoft

Fleet Street Ed tor

£31 00 id)

Fonts and Graph-cs £11 75(e)

Clares

Fontwse +

£16 00 le)

Repi ca III

£11 00 lei

VINE MICRO REPLAY (State M C and D*sc Interface! £30 00 le)

Artisian (Arch) £31 (e) Artisian Support £1? (e)

NB It is essential to state machine and 40/80T
when ordering software

/ Books (No VAT on books)

Master Rel Manuals Ptl £14 00 (dl Pi 2 funoid)

Advanced Master ref Manual (Bray & Dickens) £19.95 (d)

L.sp £8.00 (e) Forth £8.00 (e) ISO Pascal £8.00 (e)
BCPL £14 00(d) VewGu.de £6 00(e) Into View £6 00 (el

View 3 £9 00 (el View Sheet £9 00 (el View Store £9 00 (el

Archimedes Ref manual £29.95 (d)

Arm assembly language manual £12.95 (e)'

Mastering View ViewSheet and ViewStore £12.95 (e)

Understanding Inter Word £6.50 (e)

View - A Dabhand Guide

1

£12.95 (e) Z 88 Computing £9.95 (e)

^ / Fanfold Paper and Labels

2000 x 1 Pan 60gm 11x95“ Micro Pert £12.00 (c)

, 000 x 1 Part 85gm 11 x 9 5" Micro Peri £9.00 (c)

1000 x 1 Part 90gm ‘Perfect” A4 Micro Perl £12.00 (b)

1000 89mm x 36mm Labels £4 00 (d)

(000 89mm x 49mm Labels £6 00(d)

1000 102mm x 36mm Labels -• £5 00 (d)

Please stale Single or Twin Row when ordering labels

E3

VISA

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

25

Deal yourself a

iiiiini'i mi i HI

Here is a bumper package of
top quality products, not only at unbelievably low
prices but also with unbelievable offers! Like our
diskettes - buy 2 boxes and get one free! And
each box containing extra disks at no extra cost.
Like our two-for-one lifetime gurantee! Read on
and treat yourself to some real bargains!

Probably one of the most frequently ordered Items but
least considered. Now check Mydisk prices and see
how much you will save!

Buy 2 boxes of diskettes and we'll give
you a third box free!

The sky's the limit.

And if that's not enough each box
contains extra disks - 13 or 27!!

Fully tested and guaranteed for life it all
adds up to a package to good to miss.

If a Mydisk product falls In use, for as long
as you use It, Mydisk will replace It with two.
Undorstondably, we cannot guarantee
damage resulting from misuse, nor can we
assume responsibility for fe

consequential damage. m

* Price quoted is for 10 boxes of product No. 1001
excluding postage and packing and VAT

** Mydisk Data Cartridges

are second-to-none for reliability. Whether you"
use them for data storage or for back-up,
they'll perform perfectly time after time- or we
will replace them with two.

Mydisk Limited,
FREEPOST (RG1475)
Windsor, Berks SL4 IBS

0753 830466

for information on our full range of low cost products

Price £

Product No.

Description

■ \

per box of
13 disks*

PROD.

FLOPPY DISK PRICE LIST

PER BOX OF 13 DISKS

No.

DESCRIPTION

1-4

5-9

10+

1001

574" DS/DD 48TPI

6.39

5.99

5.59

1002

574" DS/QD 96TPI

7.39

6.99

6.59

1003

574" High Energy 1.6Mb

14.99

14.49

13.99

1004

372" DS 135TPI

14.99

14.49

13.99

PER BOX OF 27 DISKS

1001-1

574 H DS/DD 48TPI

12.49

11.29

10.99

1002-1

5V 4 “DS/QD 96TPI

13.99

1 12.79

11.99

Product

Number

Printer

Description

Ribbon

Type

Price

per Ribbon

EPSON

6001

MX80

Nylpn

£2.85

6002

MX100

Nylon

£3.50

6003

LQ800

Nylon

£3.45

6004

LQ1000

Nylon

£4.20

6005

MX80/LQ800

Multistrike

£2.10

6006

MX100/LQ1000

Multistrike

£2.35

6007

LQ2500

Nylon

£6.15

AMSTRAD

6101

DMP2000/3000

Nylon

£3.15

6102

DMP4000

Nylon

£4.75

6103

PCW8256

Multistrike

£3.65

6104

PCW9512

Multistrike

£2.25

PROD.

DATA CARTRIDGE PRICE LIST

PER CARTRIDGE Supplied in packs of 3

No.

packs of three

1-3

4-6

7-10

11+

2001

DC300 XLPEquivalent

per cartridge

17.99

16.99

15.99

15.49

2002

DC600 A Equivalent

per cartridge

19.49

18.49

17.49

16.49

2003

DC2000 Equivalent

per cartridge

18.49

17.49

16.49

15.99

PER BOX

1-4 5-9 10+

1.99

1.99
7.49

6.99

1.49

1.49
6.99

6.49

.99

.99

6.49

5.99

Just think of the night-
mare if someone spilt
their coffee over your
floppies! Don't wait for
to happen, order your
Mydisk Disk Case now.

5001

5002

5003

5004

V10 574“
V10 372"
NL50 57-»"
NL30 372"

Diskette Box
Diskette Box
Diskette Box
Diskette Box

holds 13 disks
holds 13 disks
holds 50 disks
holds 30 disks

DELIVERY CHARGES Sub total £

Up to 4 boxes £4.00 (Trakback) Postage &

Over 4 boxes £6.50 (Courier) Packing £

Please rush me my disks within 14 days VAT 15%

Name/Company
Address

Postcode Telephone

Type of computer system

Telephono your order to us using your

Access or Visa cord on 0753 830466 My Access/Visa No is:

Signed 1 I i 11 11 1

Cheques should be made payable to Mydisk Ltd.

Please send to: Mydisk Ltd., Freepost (RG1475) Windsor, Berkshire SL4 IBS

H

AU/11/88

STOP PRESS

‘Stop Press’ puts you right at the heart of the Desktop Publishing
Revolution. Utilising dynamic WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You
Get) facilities, 'Stop Press’ makes it simple to create professional
newsletters, leaflets, flyers, forms or in fact anything where text and
graphics are required.

'Stop Press' is the ideal publishing software solution for home
enthusiasts, schools, societies and small businesses.

M&ALL ABOUT IT

Documents may be prepared using any of the superb selection of type-
faces (12 or more) supplied or alternatively a typeface of your own
design.

Text can be entered from within 'Stop Press’ or imported from your
preferred word processor with fully automatic on-screen text formatting
as the file loads.

Centering, ragged right, and literal justification are all available. There
also is full pixel resolution control over character size and spacing.

bu^M i c design ■===?.

As well as the ability to import digitised images there are outstanding
facilities for drawing, spraying and painting using either the patterns
supplied or your own pattern designs, enabling you to produce graphs,
charts, diagrams and pictures.

These can then be pasted, cropped or re-sized to fit any layout, and for
those finishing touches a fantastic zoom is available.

HOT OFF THE PRESSES

At anytime your pages can be previewed before being output to a wide
range of Epson or compatible dot matrix printers.

AMX MOUSE

‘Stop Press' can be used with a joystick or keyboard but the AMX MK III
Mouse gives you the control and flexibility which you would expect from
the most accurate pointing device available. Produced in Switzerland
the AMX Mouse has a unique patented design which includes high
resolution movement (D.P.I.) and superior ball technology to ensure
’ that contact between the
Mouse and surface is _
constant at all times.

■XTRA! EXTRA!

Complimenting ‘Stop Press', Extra! Extra! is a superb collection of
ready made clip art and new typefaces covering a wide variety of
subjects and styles.

‘STOP PRESS’ IS AVAILABLE FOR

SOFTWARE

ONLY

WITH AMX

MK. Ill MOUSE

EXTRA!

EXTRA!

ACORN BBC/B + /MASTER

£49.99

£79.99

£24.99

AMSTRAD PCW 8256/8512

£49.99

£89.99

—

AMSTRAD CPC 6128

£49.99

£79.99

£24.99

COMMODORE 64/128

£39.99

£69.99

-

These superb products are available from all good computer dealers or
direct by cheque, Access or Visa. All prices include VAT, postage and
packing. Become your own publishing baron with 'Stop Press’ and start
the presses rolling.

ADVANCED MEMORY SYSTEMS LIMITED

v" O- Imagination at your fingertips

FOR INSTANT ACCESS OR VISA ORDERS TELEPHONE: (0925) 413501. HS
ADVANCED MEMORY SYSTEMS LIMITED 166-170 WILDERSPOOL CAUSEWAY, WARRINGTON W A 4 6QA.
TELEPHONE (0925) 413501 TELEX: 628672 AMS G FAX: 0925 58039

TUBELINK ON MICRONET 800 -TUBEUNK # SUPPORTS THE AMX MOUSE AND ALL AMS SOFTWARE

EVEN MORE

EVEN MORE

MICRO POWER GAME

Ghouls

Cybertron Mission
Mr Ee!

Jet Power Jack
Blockbuster
Felix & Evil Weevils
Felix Fact
Killer Gorilla

Frenzy

Rubble Trouble]
Stock Car
The Mine
Dune Rider
Swag

Plutonium Plunder
Bandits at 3 O’clock

OFFER PRICE

ARCHIMEDES REF MANUAL E28.75
BBC REF GUIDE Vol 1 or2 £14.95 ea

View, Viewsheet, Viewstore man. £9.95 ea

WORD PROCESSORS/SPREADSHEETS

ANY 5 FOR
£11.95

bbc ACCOUNTS bbc

bbc DATABASES bbc

AVOUSLAFRANCE?

EDUCATION

bbc COMMUNICATIONS bbc

A complete introductory package for
French language learning. Includes 45
computer programs.

CASS or DISC

52 * 95 ' £ 21.95

BISMARK

- Death of a battleship
Requires the highest qualities of
judgement, observation & strategy.
DISC

_£ 4 * 95 " £ 12.95

BBC B or Ele Cass

MICRO POWERS

DRAW

with booklet
now only

£ 4 . 95 !

RRP

OFFER

Nominal Ledger

£59.95

£44.95

Order/Invoicing

£45.95

£39.95

Purchase Ledger

£45.95

£39.95

Sales Ledger

£45.95

£39.95

Stock Management

£45.95

£39.95

MATHS WITH A STORY 1 or 2
PICTURECRAFT (6-1 4 yrs)
ANSWERBACK JUNIOR QUIZ
ANSWERBACK SENIOR QUIZ
HAPPY WRITING
HAPPY NUMBERS

BBC or

ELE CASS DISC
£9.95 £10.95
£15.95
£7.95 £8.95

£7.95 £8.95

£8.75
£8.75

bbc GAMES! bbc GAMES! bbc GAMES!

MINI OFFICE 11 RRP OFFER

Master 12B £19.95 £15.95

BB« (state 40 or 80t) £18.95 £14.95

Rom £59.95 £55.95

WORDWISE * £56.35 £43.95

SPELLMASTER £59.50 £53.95

INTERWORD £56.35 £49.95

INTERSHEET £56.35 £49.95

INTERCHART £36 80 £28.95

FOR THE BBC

COMPETITION PRO

X 22 r 45 El 9.95

ELITE ZIPSTICK

£15 S/5 El 0.95

RRP

OFFER

Database (40 or 80)

£25.00

£21.95

Database

£15.35

£12.95

Interbase

£69.00

£59.95

System Delta

£64.95

£54.95

Viewstore

£59.80

£49.95

Advanced Teletext
Communicator
Modem Master

RRP OFFER

£9.95 £8.95

£69.00 £59.95

£12.95 £10.95

Please quote

DEPTAUB

on all orders

TITLE

B. Clough Football
Battle of Britain
Big K.O.

Black Queen
Cholo

Colussus 4 Chess

Commonwealth

Countdown

D. Thompsons ST

Despatch Rider

Dunjunz

Elite

Family Tree (4 or 8)
G.G. Test Cricket
Goal!

I. Bothams T. Cricket
Impact

a

irprinl
‘’Font’ Editor
Fdntwise-f
•- Music sr-

■ ' ■'

Viewplol

?P ee?h

fWr\ Dabhand Guide

£27.00

£ 14.05

£59.80

£ 44 , 95 ;

£ 21:95

£ 49.95

£27.00

£9,95

£11.95

£ 22.00

£22.00

£29.95

£14.95

£49.95

£29.95

£59.80

£99 95
£9 '95
£39,95

£11.95

£49.95

£34.95

£17.95

£39.95

£21.95

£7.95

£9;95

£17.95

£17.95

£24.95

£11:50

£49.95

£29.95

EDUCATIONAL

COMPENDIUM

(3-10 YRS)

WORKSHOP ABC

SPOOKY MANOR TALKBACK
CASS OR DISK El 1.95

0532 587735
0532 687789

£17.95 £18.35

TITLE

Jet Set Willy 2

Lord of the rings

Not A Penny More

Phantom Combat

Phantom

Psycastria

Rick Hanson Trilogy

Scrabble

Skirmish

Snooker

Spitfire 40

Tanks

Thrust

Village of lost Souls
White Knight MK 12
Winter Olympiad
Yes Prime Minister

BEST FOUR LANGUAGE
BEST FOUR MATHS

(7-1 1 YRS)

BBC DISC COMPACT

CASS

£11.95

£7.95

DISC

£14.95

£10.45

£10.45

£12.95

£14.35

£11.95

£10.45

£11.95

£8.95

£6.45

£11.95

£15.95

£9.50

£9.95

£9.95

COMP

£11.95

£10.45

£6.95

£5.95

£6.95

£2.35

£9.95

£7.95

£5.95

CASS

£5.95

£11.95

£11.95

£7.95

£5.95

£5.95

£9.95

£7.95

£5.95

£7.95

£9.95

£11.95

DISC

£9.95

£15.95

£9.95

£9.95

£9.95

£19.95

£11.95

£8.95

£8.95

£9.95

£9.95

£8.95

£9.95

£12.95

£11.95

£15.95

COMP

£9.95

BBC

IMOGEN

DISC CASS

£7.95 £6.95

Me and My Micro
Book, £1.00

Dept AUB, 8/8A Regent Street, Chapel Allerton, Leeds, LS7 4PE

n FOR
BBC, ELECTRON AND
ARCHIMEDES!

ELECTRON SPECIALS I ARCHIMEDES!!

ELECTRON COMPUTERS £59.95

(includes power supply, aerial lead and 90 day warranty)

PLUS ONE INTERFACE £49.95

PACKAGE ONE

.95 I

PLUS1.VIEW&VIEWSHEET.... £69,

PACKAGE TWO

ELECTRON COMPUTER, PLUS 1 + VIEW
only £109.95

VIEW + VIEWSHEET ROMS £21.95 |

LOGO, VIEW, VIEWSHEETfor £49.95

And get Lisp ROM FREE

PACKAGE FOUR

PACKAGE FIVE

PLUS 1 , VOLTMACE 3B TWIN JOYSTICKS
with VIEW or VIEWSHEET £71.95

PACKAGE SIX

PLUS 1 , LOGO, VIEW + , VIEWSHEET £1 09.95
+ get Lisp ROM FREE

Lloytron

DATA RECORDERS

Suitable for Ele or BBC

Only £1 9.95

Lead suoDlied FREE!

MORE JOYSTICKS
AT LOW PRICES

ELECTRON JOYSTICK INTERFACE
& SOFTWARE £14.95

QUICKSHOT II TURBO
JOYSTICK £13.95

BUY BOTH £24.95!

RRP

OFFER

1st Words Plus D

£91.94

£84.95

Alerion

£14.95

£12.95

Alpha Base

£49.95

£44.95

Ansi C

£113.85

£99.95

Arctist

£19.95

£17.95

Artisan Support Disk

£19.95

£17.95

Artisan

£39.95

£34.95

Autosketch

£90.85

£79.95

Creations disk

£19.95

£15.95

Conqueror

£24.95

£19.95

Deltabasc

£29.95

£25.95

Desk Top Enhancer

£29.95

£24.95

Flying Start 2

£99.95

£89.95

Fortran 77

£113.85

£99.95

Gama Plot

£69.95

£59.95

Graphic Writer

£29.95

£24.95

Hoverbod

£14.95

£11.95

Interchart

£28.75

£24.95

Intersheet

£44.85

£39.95

Interword

£44.85

£39.95

ISO Pascal

£1 13.85

£99.95

Kcrmit

£56.35

£49.95

Lisp

£228.85

£219.95

Logistix

£113.85

£99.95

Minotaur

£14.95

£11.95

Missile Control

£14.95

£11.95

Nominal Ledger

£64.95

£54.95

Order Processing/Invoicing

£64.95

£54.95

PC Emulator

£113.85

£113.85

Personal Accountant

£279.99

£249.95

Pipcdream

£1 13.85

£99.95

Presenter

£28.69

£24.95

Prolog

£228.85

£215.95

Purchase Ledger

£64.95

£54.95

Sales Ledger

£64.95

£54.95

Sigma Sheet

£69.95

£59.95

Sound Synth

£49.95

£44.95

Spellmaster

£58.99

£49.95

Stock Management

£64.95

£54.95

System Delta Plus

£69.95

£59.95

Tcrramex

£19.95

£17.95

Toolkit Module

£39.95

£34.95

Twin

£33.35

£29.95

U-Conncct

£59.95

£49.95

View 3

£59.80

£49.95

Wordwisc +

£23.00

£19.95

Zarch

£19.95

£17.95

VOLTMACE DELTA 3B TWINS
£21.95 £18.95

For use with Plus 1 or BBC

VOLTMACE 1 4B HANDSET £1 5.95
INTERFACE FOR 14B £14.95

BUY BOTH £27.95!

VOLTMACE DELTA 31 b SINGLE £1 3.95

VOLTMACE DELTA 35 £12.95
(for Master Compact)

BBC BUSINESS AND

DESKTOP PUBLISHING

OFFER PRICE

View Professional

E79.95

Overview

E78.45

Admin Extra

El 1.55

System Delta

E54.95

Fleet St Editor (State 40 or 80t)

E31.95

Fonts & Graphics (State 40 or 80t)

E10.99

AMX Mouse & Superart

E69.96

Pagemaker

E39.95

Extra! Extra!

El 9.95

Fontwise 1

El 5.95

MICROPOWER AND OTHER GAMES

MITSUBISHI

DISC DRIVE

400K, DD, 40/80t & 2 yr warranty
ONLY £139.95!

tLLClHUN

Giroscopo

££-9f>

Bandits at 30 Clock

Escapo From Moon Baso Alpha
Ghouls

etHrrt

xj-wt

Stock Car

Killer Gorilla

XWtJ

Rubblo Trouble

Swoon

X-MKr

Burn Ole Uco

Position

Felix & The Fruit Monstors

Cybertron Mission

XX**5-

Moonraidot

XXfMr

Felix And Tho Evil Weevils £*r*?T

Frenzy

SPECIAL OFFER

Cricket

Uranians

Skyhawk

Hunkidory

Jack Attac

Star Force Seven

Ice Hockey

PlanB

Tennis

Squeakaliser

Roboto

Savage Pond

| Twin Kingdom Valley

BBC/ELE Cass

Any 5 for E9.95

SUPERIOR DEAL!

Death Star

Repton 2

* Mr. Wiz

Repton 3

* Chess

* Draughts

* Tempest

* Overdrive

Fruit Machine

* Stranded

(‘Ele Only)

Invaders

Any 5 for £9.95 Cass only

KARATE COMBAT

1

Only E4. 50

' Please add 95p P&P (overseas £4.50)

* All prices include VAT

* Goods despatched within 48 hours - Subject to
availability

* Out of hours answerphone: 0532 687735

EDUCATION

SPECIALS

Lmkword Spanish
Linkword Italian

Maths O’ Level 1

ANY 2

Maths O' Level 2

Biology

English

World Georgraphy
(BBC only)

European Knowledge
Graphs & Charts

Business Games

FOR

£3.95!

CASS

Talk Back

Workshop

ONLY

iiimi

mm

ttuc

Giroscopc J&r&T

European Knowledge

World Geography

Junior Maths

Killor Gorilla £7,05-

Bandits At 30 Clock Lin-
stock Car czn

Cybertron Mission JW9 -

Position £7 Oft-

Fat Man Sam

Star Drifter £XU*»

Microcosm
Wizards challenge

ANY FIVE FOR ONLY
C7.95! (Cass only)

FOR

BBC, ELECTRON AND
ARCHIMEDES!

'^Thomson ^

12" High Resolution
Green Screen
MONITOR

now only

BBC OR Ele lead FREE!!

Rediffusion

T.V. TUNER

Turns your monitor into a T.V.!

* Push button control
* 7 Channel Option

(Works with any monitor with a composite video input)

only £49.95!!

LOGO

For the Master 128
or Ele Plus 1

only £ 24 . 95 !

RECENT RELEASES
AT SPECIAL PRICES

BBC

BBC

BBC

OR ELE

DISC

COMPACT

Acomsotl Hits 1

£4 95

£9 50

£11.50

Acomsofl Hits 2

£4.95

£9 50

£11.50

Barbarian

£7.45

£9.50

£11.50

Bonecruncher

£7 45

£9 50

£11.50

Breakthrough

£7.45

£9 50

£11.50

Codenarnc Droid

£7 45

£9.50

£11.50

Crazee Rider

£7 45

£9.50

£11.50

Elixir

‘ £7.45

£9.50

£11 50

Impact «

£7.95

£9.50

—

Kourtyard

£7.45

£9 50

-

Life Of Repton

£5.50

£6.50

£7.95

Palace Of Magic

£7.45

£9.50

£11.50

Pipeline

£7 45

£9.50

£11.50

Play It Again Sam

£7.45

£9 50

£11.50

Play It Again Sam 2

£7.45

£9 50

£11.50

Quest

£7.45

£9.50

£11 50

Skirmish

£7 45

£9 50

—

Spellbinder

£7.45

£9 50

£11.50

Spy Cat

£7.45

£9.50

£11.50

Spy vs Spy

£7.45

£9.50

£11.50

Strykers Run

£7.45

£9 50

£11.50

Superior Collection 1

£7.45

£9.50

£11.50

Superior Collection 2

£7.45

£9.50

£11.50

Superior Collection 3 (Ele)

£7.45

£9.50

£11.50

LOOK!

ELECTRON POWER SUPPLIES

only £9.95

AC0RNS0FT

SPECIALS

Crime & Detection
Music Quiz
Theatre Quiz
Set Fi Quiz
Dating Game
Royal Quiz
Sphinx Adventure
Crazy Tracer
Castle of Riddles
Starship Command

ANY

5

FOR

£7.95!

MICRO

POWERS

CASTLE

QUEST

BBC

CASS DISC
£5.95 £7.95

Dept AUB 8/8a Regent Street, Chapel
Allerton, Leeds LS7 4PE.

Tel: 0532 687735, 0532 687789

We can offer attractive discounts for
all educational establishments, phone
or write for a quote.

We supply a catalogue of our entire
stock range per machine type with
every order.

Take a stroll down Innovation
Row - a brand new show
feature area, specially
constructed for the event.

See the grand finalists
displaying their breakthroughs
in public for the first time. And
you can help pick the winners
by casting a vote in both
categories of the awards -
BBC Micro and Archimedes.

How to get there

Underground: The nearest tube
stations are VICTORIA (Victoria
District and Circle Lines),

ST. JAMES'S PARK (District an(
Circle Lines) and PIMLICO
(Victoria Line).

By British Rail: VICTORIA
STATION. The halls are a 10-
minute walk from the station.

By Bus: 11, 24, 29, 70, 76 and
Red Arrow 507 to Victoria Stree
- alight Army and Navy Stores.

The premier exhibition for users
of all Acorn machines returns to
its popular venue in the heart of
the capital.

Traditionally the liveliest event
of the year on the Acorn
calehdar, the pre-Christmas
show is the one you just cannot
afford to miss.

It's your value-for-money
passport to:

• 70 exhibitors displaying all
the latest developments
across the entire Acorn
range.

• Archimedes World - which
provides a fascinating
glimpse into the current and
future roles for this
remarkable machine.

• Technical advice from the
UK's leading experts on all
Acorn computers.

• Hundreds of special offers for
the BBC Micro and Electron
waiting to be snapped up as
top-value Christmas presents.

All this - and so much more -
at the 20th record-breaking
Electron & BBC Micro User
Show.

You can even save yourself £1
before you get there by using
this advanced ticket form.

The show that ALWAYS
'eeps you one step ahead

F

Greycoat Street,
London SW1

Please supply tickets for November show:

□ Adult tickets at £4 (save £1 ) £ .

□ Under-16s tickets at £2.50 (save £1 ) £ .

□ Cheque enclosed made payable to
Database Publications Ltd.

Total £ .

Admission at door:

£5 (adults)

£3.50 (under 16s)
Advance ticket orders
must be received by
November 2, 1988

□ Please debit my credit card account: □ Access □ Visa Expiry date: I / I

I I I I- 1 l.l-Ll - 1 I I J— 1 J I 1 1-1—1

Name

Address •' ,

Signed

Post to: Database Exhibitions, Europa House, Adlington Park, Adlington, Macclesfield SK10 4NP .

PHONE ORDERS: Ring Show Hotline: 0625 879920
Prestel Orders: KEY *89 THEN 614568383
MicroLink/Telecom Gold Orders: 72:MAG001
Please quote credit card number and full address

A490

DATABASE

EX 1 11BITIONS

10am-6pm Friday, November 11
10am-6pm Saturday, November 12
10am-4pm Sunday, November 13

BROADCASTING

BRITISH^

70

SOFTS

CORPORATION

BBC SOFT

NEW TITLES FOR
THE AUTUMN

/^ BRITISH

Watch : Ramayana Tales

A bright, colourful package that provides primary pupils with their first taste of desktop publishing.

This package develops communication skills using a library of over sixty images that can be combined
with children's text to form a book of up to forty pages. The picture library contains characters and
scenes from the Ramayana, the Indian epic. It is designed to support Watch on BBC School's TV.

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiisiaiii

V^poR/fqp^V

Technology & Design Part 2

Three very diverse computer programs are contained in this package which allows the user valuable
experience in problem solving.

The Bus Game allows four players to run competing bus services in a small town.

Adventure of Sorts requires problems to be solved using people of different physical make-up.
Pack-lt is a CAD program that explores packaging and the problems involved with design, cutouts,
quantity, wastage and profit.

" lliiilL | f

m

m

Spelling It Out : Context

Eighty rich and interesting texts are used to bring alive the many varied elements contained within
the English language. The program was developed with the Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Unit and
was based on the successful Developing Tray program by Bob Moy. This version supports the new
BBC TV series. Spelling It Out, which will run in the Autumn

3BC TV series. Spelling It Out, which will run in the Autumn.

" " . *' •• ?

; - : : : , - I - /. : • ■ ! ■

mum

Inside Science

A package of four programs providing an insight into Pollution Control, Artificial Intelligence, Nuclear
Power and Plastics. Each program enables the user to explore the area and observe the results of
different strategy combinations.

An exciting and stimulating package which accompanies the Inside Science radio programmes to be
transmitted on Radio 4 from October to December.

All the products are available from:

BBC Soft, PO Box 22,

Wellingborough NN8 2RE TeM0933) 79300
Please add £1*30 to cover post and packing*

tf you would like our new BBC Soft catalogue

m

! Please send me your new BBC Soft catalogue

:i Name

|

p Address

ill!

- i

iiiii

i i

mm

ACORN USIiR NOVEMBER 1988

31

Archimedes Podule

A plug in podule which accepts
up to 7 ROMS or RAM chips
(each chip can be up to 128K
bytes). Optional battery back-
up for the RAM. Includes a
full-feature RAM filing system
(fully ADFS compatible)
allowing storage of files up to a
possible 896K bytes, as if they
were on disc. Easy to install
and comes with a full manual.
NB: requires prior installation
of a podule backplane. £49.00 +
VAT or £59.00 + VAT with
battery.

Speech System

Used in conjunction with the
TMS 5220, the Speech System
(Speech ROM and Text to
Speech ROM) enables BBC B
users to easily produce the
entire range of English speech
and intonation from their
machines. NEW PRICE: £25.00
+ VAT (+£5.75 for the 5220
if required).

Accelerator

The most comprehensive BBC
BASIC compiler, with full
floating point arithmetic. Can
compile to an intermediate G
code, which ensures that the
object code is compact, but
utilities are also provided to
convert G code to faster
machine code. NEW PRICE:
£30.00 + VAT.

Mega-3

Recently released version of
Inter- Word, Inter-Sheet and
Inter-Chart, all on one 128K
chip. BBC: £85.00 + VAT (ask
for details of exchanges).

SOFTWARE
FOR THE
BBC MICRO
&

ARCHIMEDES

Wordwise Plus

A 40 column word processor

with a flexible and simple

BASIC type programming

language for user

spec ific programs. On ROM

for the BBC. disc for the

Archimedes.

BBC: £49.00 + VAT.
Archimedes: £20.00 + VAT.

Spell-Master

A 128K spelling checker on
ROM, with a 57,000 word
dictionary. Can check as you
type in Wordwise, Interword or
View, allows creation of user
dictionaries 8c dictionary
browsing. Crossword, anagram
and fuzzy checking features. A
completely new version for the
Archimedes, with extra
features. BBC, Archimedes and
Z88: £51.30 + VAT.

rel

Computer Concepts Ltd

Inter-Word

A full WYSIWYG word
processor on ROM. Features
include ruler controlled
margins and tabs, simultaneous
on screen display of printer
highlights and text alignment,
multi column printing, multi
file operation, "10/80/120
column screen modes. BBC:
£49.00 + VAT. Archimedes:
£39.00 + VAT.

| Inter-Sheet

An easy to use spreadsheet on
ROM. Features include 255
rows x 64 columns with
individually adjustable width,
full range mathematical
functions, selective printing,
lockable boxes/rows/ columns,
40/80/132 column scfeen
modes, auto step on. BBC:
£49.00 + VAT. Archimedes:
£39.00 + VAT.

Inter-Chart

A comprehensive chart and
graph plotting program on
ROM. Features include bar
graphs, pie charts and line
graphs (up to 16 in memory at
once, overlay/print in any
combination) auto/manual
labelling, accepts data from
file/keyboard. BBC: £32.00 +
VAT. Archimedes:

£25.00 + VAT.

Inter-Base

A database on ROM, based
around a powerful
programming language.
Features of the card index
program include menu
operation, variable field length
8c number of fields per record,
unlimited records, full
conditional search 8c sort,
fast search via indexes. BBC:
£60.00 + VAT.

Gaddesden Place Hcmel Hempstead Herts HP2 6EX Telephone 0442 63933
(Access &: Bare layc arc! accepted)

u

D

OVERSEAS MEDIA DISTRIBUTORS

CREDIT CARD HOTLINE (0B33) 340114 (24 HOUR8)

COMPUTER SUPPLIES AT WHOLESALE PRICES

PRICES FULLY INCLUSIVE OF VAT & DELIVERY (UK ONLY)

TOP BRAND DISKS

3" Amsoft CF2 £23.90
3 1 /*"

5 1 /*"

BRAND

DSDD

DSHD

PS/2

DSDD
48 TPI

DSQD
96 TPI

DSHD
AT DISKS

SONY

£17.90

£39.90

—

—

-

DATALIFE

£16.90

£37.50

£ 8.90

£14.50

£19.50

DYSAN

£18.90

£45.00

£10.90

£15.50

£16.50

3M

£18.90

£45.00

£ 8.90

£14.50

£19.50

Prices per box of 10 disks

BULK DISKS Certified & Guaranteed

25 50 100 200

5’/." DSDD 40T £9.90 £18.90 £31.90 £59.90

5% " DSDD 80T £10.90 £20.90 £36.80 £68.90

Supplied with Envelopes, Labels & Write Protects

10 25 50 100

3y2”

DSDD 1 35T

£10.90 £24.50

Supplied with Labels

£47.50

£89.00

DISK STORAGE BOXES

DISK AND BOX OFFER

Type

Capacity

Price

With

48T

96T

5% "

50

£5.90

50 Disks

£21.90

£28.90

5% "

100

£6.90

100 Disks

£31.50

£39.50

5 V* "

140

£9.90

1 00 Disks

£35.50

£42.50

3 1 /*''

50

£5.90

25 Disks

£29.50 50 £51.50

3 1 /*"

80

£6.90

50 Disks

£52.50 100 £92.50

All Storage Boxes are with Lock and come with 2 Keys

PRINTER RIBBONS

Amstrad 8256/8512 £3.95

Amstrad DMP 2000/3000£2.75
Citizen 120D £4.25

Epson FX/MX 80/FX 800 £2.90
Epson LX 80/86 £2.40

NEC P2200 £3.90

Panasonic KXP 1081 £3.90

Star NL10 £3.90

Star LC10 £3.90

Shinwa CP 80 £3.75

Most other makes of Ribbon available, phone for details.

HEAD CLEANING KITS

PRINTER CABLES

5 % ' ' £2.50 3 ’/a" £3.75 || IBM, RS232 Centronics £8.50

COMPUTER PAPER

PLAIN FANFOLD PERF. EDGES
1 1 x9’/ 2 " 60 gsm 1000 £ 9.50

11 x 9’/ 2 " 60 gsm 2000 £14.50

A4 1 1 % x 9% ' 85 gsrri 1000 £13.90

COMPUTER LABELS

SELF ADHESIVE, C0NTINU0UIS
PACKED 2000 1 , 2 or 3 across
3’/ 2 xiy i6 " £ 9.50

4xiy )e " £10.50

PRINTER STANDS I MOBILE PRINTER STAND

K/D Printer Stand
80 Column £24.90

132 Column £29.90

COPY HOLDERS

With

adjustable

arm

80 Column
£14.50
132 Column
£19.50
Desk Top
£8.90

Rugged steel frame.
Height adjustable basket
ssps* for output paper & base
shelf for input paper.
Self assembly -
includes castors.

80 column £57.50

132 column £74.50

Available in RS232 or Centronics

2- Way £24.50 4-Way £39.50

3- Way £32.50 Cross 0ver£45.00

OVERSEAS MEDIA DISTRIBUTORS

B 30 GREAT MEADOW ROAD, BEAUMONT LEYS mma
LEICESTER LE4 OQA. TEL: 0533 340114 ^

EDUCATIONAL. GOVERNMENT AND PLC ORDERS ACCEPTED. TRADE AND EXPORT ENQUIRIES WELCOME

M-TEC — v

At last BBCBASIC to run on YOUR IBM or IBM
Compatible running under MSDOS

All the features of BBC BASIC including:

> Multi-lined named procedures

> In-line assembler using standard mnemonics

> Serial random and indexed disk files plus the ability
to access any byte in the file

> BBCBASIC VDU commands; graphics; sound

> Full screen editing

> Plus all the standard commands

> 500 page user manual

> Program examples on disk

> Price £95.00 plus £4.00 carriage plus VAT

You need never say GOTO again but
we won't stop you!

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN

Also available comms program including serial lead to
download from Acorn to IBM requires BBC Basic (86).
Please state 40 or 80 track Acorn Format.

Price £19.00 plus £1.00 carriage plus VAT

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll^

M-TEC COMPUTER SERVICES (UK)

4 Church Hill Reepham Norfolk NR10 4JL
Tel: (0603) 870620 Fax: (0603) 870436

SQUIRREL SOFTWARE

Programs on Disc for

BBC B, B+, Compact and Master

The CARES DISK - £29.95 - comprising all four Cares utilities.
INVESTMENT CARE PLUS

Keeps track of all UNIT TRUSTS, SHARES etc. Produces displays &
printouts of Capital Gains. Dividends. Current Holdings valuations
showing Quantities. Bid/Offer prices. Values. Gains/Losses. APR. HiVal
%. etc. and a 3D BAR CHART program with a disc search procedure to
collect past data.

CASH CARE

Bank account AND Savings account. Full Analysis - 60 categories.
Budget Forecasts. 3-D Bar Charts. Password Protection. Easy storage of
data. Printouts of all accounts and Bar Charts.

BUILDING SOCIETY CARE

Checks the complex interest calculations involved on a day to day basis.
Shows interest eanred to date. Spreadhseet display. Easy storage of
data. Printout of account to date.

VAT CARE

225 Sales AND 225 Purchases each month (BBC). Three month period.
ALERT warning if VAT 2% or more incorrect. Easy storage of data
Printout with month & 3 monthly totals.

.TheCARESDISK - £29.95 - comprisingall four Cares utilities.

TV DIRECTOR - popular in schools and colleges £1 4795*

Make your own video without cameras!

THE GAMES DISK COMPILATION OF GAMES PROGRAMMES

Supergolf- Trafalgar- Polar Perils- Bunfun £ 14.95

PROGRAMS FOR ARCHIMEDES

THE CARES DISK - improved version of above £34.95

SUPERGOLF - re-written especially £i 2.95

WORDSQUARE - crossword compiler with a 72000 + wordbank - can
complete a 1 5x1 5 square in less than 60 seconds! Full printout facilities to
produce professional looking crosswords £ 49.95

PLEASE FORWARD ME 40TKQ80TKn3V2n

I HAVE A BBC-B □ BBC B+ □ COMPACT □ ARCHIMEDES □

DEBIT MY ACCESS CARD NO

OR ENCLOSED £ SIGNATURE

ADDRESS

Dept AU1 1 , 4 Bindloss Avenue, Eccles, Manchester M30 0QU

Please phone 061^-789 41 20 for brochure rll

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

33

/ A

TECHNOMATIC

Burnley Road, London NW10 1 ED Tel: 01-208 1177 Fax: 01-452 1500
305 Edgware Road, London W2 Tel: 01-723 0233 Telex: 922800 k

/

ARCHIMEDES, BBC COMPUTERS & ECONET REFERRAL CENTRE

£685(a)
£799(a)
£2, 399(a)
£60(a)
£220(a)
£2 10(a)
£60(b)

300 & 400 SERIES

Archimedes 305 Basic
Archimedcs310 Basie
Archimedes 440 Basic
Acorn Mono Monitor*

Acorn Colour Monitor*

Philips CM8833 Col Monitor*

PC Emulator Software*

’Prices applicable only when purchased with Ihe computer

ADD-ONS

0.5Mb Ram upgrade kit (for 305)

2nd Floppy Drive (305, 310)

Backplane for 2 podulcs
Atom wide Backplane 4 slots
Cooling Fan for AW Backplane
I/O Podule

20Mb Hard disc + podule
Acorn ROM Podule
CC ROM Podule
Midi Addon to I/O
Midi Expansion Card
Econct Network Module
Archimedes Printer Lead
Archimedes Colour Monitor Lead
IEEE Interface Podule
16 Bit Parallel 1.0 Card
Dual RS232 Card
Armadillo Sound Sampler
FourierTransform Software

ARC/BBC Serial Link
ARC External Drive Adaptor
External 5.25 Drive

BOOKS: (no VAT)

Arc. Ref Manual

Arc. Assembly Lang- Prog. (DABS)

Inside Autosketch

SOFTWARE:

PC Emulator Version 1 .20
Includes MS-DOS 3.2)

LANGUAGES:

ANSI C £95(c) ISO PASCAL

Prolog X 1181(b) FORTRAN 77

LISP £18I(b) COMAL

PROGRAMMERS TOOLS:

TWIN Editor
Toolkit Plus Module
Software DevT/Box
Software Dev Debug T/box
Archimedes Assembler

WORDPROCESSORS

First Word Plus £79(d) View SKM31 (c)

Graphics Writer £27(d) Interword (e)

PipeDream £99(d) Wordwisc +

SPREADSHEETS

Logistix

(Includes spreadsheet/dalabase/limesheets/graphics)

Matrix 3D

(3 Dimensional s/sheet with 1 9k col, 10k row & 100 pages)
Sigmashcet £59(d) ViewshcctSKM7(e) £47(d)

Intershcct (e) £35(d)

DATABASES

Deltabase £26(d) ViewstoreSKM07(e) £47(d)

£144(b)
£1 18(b)
£37(c)
£49(c)
£10(d)
£80(c)
£469(a)
£55(c)
£45(c)
£37(c)
£66(c)
£43(d)
£7(d)
£7.50(d)
£283(b)
£195(b)
£195(b)
£105(b)
£40(d)

£25(d)

£30(d)

£104(b)

£29(b)

£I4.95(b)

£15(b)

£99(d)

£95(0

£95(c)

POA

£29(d)
£41 (d)
POA
POA
£199(b)

£47(d)

£35(d)

£20(d)

£95(d)

£79(c)

£39(d)

System Delta+ £57(c) Alphabase

Prog Ref Guide £26(c)

Support modules for System Delta Plus each
CC MEGA 3 For Arc

ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE

Minerva’s suite 5 Modules (ea)

Order Processing, SalesLcdger, StockManagcr, Purchase Ledger
& Nominal Ledger

£35(d)

£79(c)

£54(d)

Special Offer

FREE £1 15 inevat VOUCHER

with every Archimedes model 310 and
440 purchased from us.

The voucher can be redeemed against
any future purchase from us (inc Arc
monitor, PC Emulator (at £60), discs,
cables, paper etc.)

OR

Autosketch CAD package, Inside
Autosketch book & 2 boxes of 3M 3.5"
DS Discs.

Additionally we will offer discounts up
to 10% on Archimedes hardware
stocked by us.

GRAPHICS/ART/CAD
Artisan £30(d) GammaPlot £30(d)

Artisan Support £ 17(d) System GammaPIus £59(d)

Autosketch £69(d) Interchart (e) £25(d)

Presenter £24(d) Prof Artisan £POA

GAMES:

Zarch £17(d) Minotaur £1 1(d)

Hoverbod £ 1 3(d) Missile Control £13(d)

Conqueror £24.95(d) Enthar Seven £29. 00(d)
Orion £13(d) Freddy’s Folly £ 13(d)

Dust cover for Archimedes systems £12. 50(d)

Software packages marked with (e) run under 6502 emulated mode.
Please check on availability of some of the above
packages

ECONEl ACCESSORIES

Acorn Filestore E01/E20

At Reduced price £999(2 x a)

(includes 2x3.5" Drives + 20Mb Drive FS software)

New Acorn Filestore to lie
released soon. Phone lor details

£299(b)

ECOLINKCard

Full spec on request

(PX/XT/AT interface card for connection to Econet network)
Econet Starter Kit £85(b) Econet Bridge £174(b)

Econet Socket Set £29(c) Printer Server Rom £4l(d)

File Server Level II £75(b) 10 Station Lead Set £26(d)

Master FS Utility Disc £17.25(d)

tecfi/ioCNu)

To be launched soon

The most comprehensive CAD system for
the Master. Host of innovative features for

creating complex drawings, peb layouts,
c. Virtually no restrictions on

sketches etc.
drawing sizes. On screen scaling for plotters,
variety of screen dumps for compatible
printers.

FREE

evaluation on disc available. The disc
contains operating instructions and will
perform as release version except for file
functions.

MASTER SERIES

AMB15 Master 128K £356(a)

We include free Educational/Fun software bundle from BBC
Publications range (RRP £40) and a STARdataBASE package
worth another £40.

ADC06 Turbo 65C102 Module £1 15(b)

ADC08 5 12 processor £99(b)

includes PC compatible D0S+ & Gem Suite.

ADF10 Econet Module £40(c) Acorn Rom Cartridge £13(d)
ADJ22 Ref Manual I £14(c) ADJ23 Ref Manual II £14(c)
View User Guide £8.50(d) V/sheet User Guide £8.50(d)
TRC2 ROM Cart £7.50(d) TRC44ROM Cartridge £ll(d)
TRC3232K RAM Cart. £21(d) Master Dust Cover £4.75(d)
Acorn IEEE Interface (for B. B+ Mastei) £265(b)
Universal CoProc Adapter £49(b)

BBC Domesday System £3,750(2 X a)

MASTER SUMMER SPECIAL

Master AMB15-F512 Co-Processor
for only
£420(a)

(Allow £5 extra if you would like us to fit the card for you)
512 upgrade includes
80186 processor with 512K RAM,
DOS+, GEM Suite (Desk Top,
Paint & Write) and Mouse

This offer valid while stocks last.

Ask for our list of DOS software compatible with 512.

CANON PW1080A PRINTER
including BBC Master Lead

£149(a)

MASTER COMPACT

128K RAM, 640K 3.5" DS Drive + Educ software
and our bundled Educ/Fun package included
SYSTEM 1 Entry System £310(a)

SYSTEM 2 with 1 2" Mono Monitor £365(2 X a)
SYSTEM 3 with 14” Col Monitor £475(2 X a)
2nd Drive Kit £90(c) Serial Kit £25(d)

Mertcc Adaptor £35(c) TV Modulator £26(d)

Ext Drive Adaptor £9(d) Printer Lead £7(d)

UPGRADE KITS

1.20S ROM
DNFS ROM
BASIC 1 1 ROM

£15(d) ADFS ROM
£19(d) 1770 DFS Kit
£22.50(d) Econet Kit

£26(d)

£49(d)

£55(dl

EPROMS/RAMS

2764-25 £2.80 27256-25

27128-25 (l2.5vVpp) £4.50 27128-25 (21 vVpp)
27512-25 £9 6264LP-15

These prices subject to change (Carriage code d)

£6

£6

£6

RAM/ROM EXPANSION

’i f I*L Board for Model B. Simple

to instal, no soldering. Allows
expansion to 15 Roms +2*8K RAMS
ATPL Battery backup kit
ATPL Board for BBC+ (10 Roms)

£37(c)
£18(d)
£3 1(c)

H

-

:

7 I : M-i h : .! C !- r l Ml wi I

All prices ex VAT aiid subject to change without notice. S ee page 5 for Carriag e Charges.

1 1 11 II 1 tl-H I 1 1 1 1 111 II M I I 11 1 II II II I I I 1 1 I I 1 1 Hi I I I II I III H +H-t

Technomatic

17 Burnley Road, London NW10 lEDTel: 01-208 1177

TECHNOMATIC DISC DRIVES

TS 400

A range of high quality high performance drives to meet the needs of all BBC Micro Users.

All drives fitted with high quality, slim line Mitsubishi drive mechanism and necessary cables.

*AI1 drives are fitted with high quality slim line ultra low power mechanisms capable of single and double
density operation and offering fast track access and head setting times. Our confidence in their quality
enables us to offer a two year parts and labour warranty on these mechanisms without any extra charge.
*5.25" floppy drives are fitted with 40/80 track switches as standard at no extra cost. The switches are
located in the front and clearly marked to indicate the status at a glance.

*The mechanisms are set inside attractively styled, sturdy metal casings painted in BBC beige colour.

*A11 drives fitted with all necessary leads and are ready for operation on unpacking. The drives with the
mains power supply are supplied with a mains lead fitted with a suitably fused 13A moulded plug.
*TECHNOMATIC drives stand out from other drives because of the high quality of construction and use of
reliable switchmodc power supply units on dual drives.

5.25" Single Drives 40/80 switchable:
TS400 400K/640K

PS400 400K/640K with integral
mains power supply

£90(b)

£101(b)

5.25" Dual Drives 40/80 switchable:
TD800 800K/1280K

PD800 800K/1280K with
integral mains power supply

£170(a)

£190(a)

PD 800P

For users who do not need 40/80 switching
capability, please specify as such and add suffix N
on our product code. Drive price will be reduced
by £5/mechanism.

PD800P 800K/1280K with
integral mainspower supply and
monitor stand

3.5" 80T DS Drives:
TS351 single 400K/640K

£209(a)

£69(b)

PS351 3.5" single drive with
integral mains power supply
in a 5.25" case.

TD352 Dual 800K/1280K

PD352 3.5" dual drive with
integral mains power supply
in a 5. 25" case.

Combo Drives (5.25" & 3.5" drives)
PD853 with integral psu
PD853P with integral psu

DISC DRIVE MULTIPLEXER
For Master, B, B+ and any DFS/ADFS
TDM2 Two computers/one drive unit
TDM4 Four computers/onc drive unit

£85(b)

£126(b)

£149(b)

£175(a)

£195(a)

£65(b)
£1 15(b)

TECHNOMATIC WINCHESTERS

Technomatic offer the most popular range of
Winchester drives for BBC micro systems at
competitive prices. The drives are fully
compatible with Acorn ADFS system. Fan cooled
switch mode power supply ensure efficient and
reliable operation. Combination of floppy and
winchester drives in our elegant plinth housing
provides an ideal solution for need to have large
storage and ease of transferring data to floppies.

Technomatic front end utility for the Master
supplied with the winchesters at no extra cost
provides an easy and efficient file management
system. The entire contents of the drive are
displayed on the screen on boot up, each file or
directory appearing as an icon. The icon type
indicates whether directory or file and type of data
if latter.

P20HD TECHNOMATIC 20 Mbyte
Winchester Drive

P30HD 30Mb Winchester Drive

£419(a)

£435(a)

TFC10 10 Mbyte Pre-formattcd
Cartridge for use with P2041HT
andTSlO.

£21(d)

P40HD TECHNOMATIC 40 Mbyte
Winchester Drive with Acorn
ADFS ROM

£669(a)

WINCHESTER Drive Multiplexer

5

P204HP TECHNOMATIC 20 Mbyte
Winchester and a 80T DS floppy Drive
built in a monitor stand.

Includes ADFS Rom.

£609(a)

— 1 1 1 f

Lj

IWM4

P2041HT As P204HP but also with a
10 Mbyte tape streamer backup unit
and backup utilities.

Includes ADFS Rom.

1 MM* BUS CONNECTOR

£1 179(a)

These units let you share aWinches-
ter drive between a number of com-
puters. Full details on request.

Files can be loaded by pointing at the icon .
Larger capacity drives available on request.

TS10 10 Mbyte Tape Streamer
Backup unit with utilities.

£546(a)

TWM2 for two computers.
TWM4 for four Computers.

£99 (b)
£149 (b)

Following the great success enjoyed by our P20HD unit,
we are pleased to announce the launch of P30HD - a 30Mbyte
hard drive. This drive is also supplied with the free front end utility
for the Master. £435(a)

BULK DISCS

50 5.25" 40 T single sided discs with sleeves
in lockable box. £25(b)

50 5.25" 80 T double sided discs with sleeves
in lockable box. £32(b)

50 3.5" 80T double sided discs with sleeves

3M FLOPPY DISCS

5.25" Discs in packs of 10
744 40TSS DD £6.50(d)

74540TDS DD £8. 00(d)

746 SOT SS DD £12. 00(d)

74780TDS DD £1 1.00(d)

3.5" Discs in packs of 10
80TSSDD £13. 50(d)
80TDSDD £15. 00(d)

(Add £1 for library case packing)

in lockable box.

£60(b)

FLOPPICLENE DRIVE HEAD
CLEANING KIT
5.25" Kit with 20 disposable discs
3.5" Kit with 20 disposable discs

£14.00(d)

£14.75(d)

DISC STORAGE BOXES
DB340 Lockable 40 x 3.5"
DB550 Lockable 50 x 5.25"
DB570 Lockable 70 x 5.25"
DB5100 Lockable 100 x 5.25"

£8. 50(c)
£6.50(c)
£8.50(c)
£ 10.50(c)

: 2 :

I I

^7^ l ~(- | - | - | Tj-b4-l-l- 1 -f-l-l-L-l-l-l-l-LI-l-LL | . I I I I..I.I.- U 1 I I I I I CP

All prices ex VAT and subject to change without notice. See page 5 for Carriage Charges.

UT:

Technomatic

305 Ed ^ ware Road, London \V2 Tel: 01-723 0233

PRINTERS

LX800
FX800
FX1000
EX800
EX 1000

EPSON

£ 179(a) LQ500
£309(a) LQ850
£4 19(a) LQ1050
£429(a) LQ2500+
£579(c)

£285(a)

£439(a)

£599(a)

£849(a)

GQ3500 Laser Printer £1249(a)

Taxan KI>815 £159(a) TaxanKP915

Star LC 10
Star LC10 Colour

£275(a)

£175(a)

£249(a)

NATIONAL PANASONIC

KXP1081* £145(a) KXP1082* £172(a)

(* includes Wysiwyg ROM + Master Lead)

KXP3131 with38K buffer
Canon PVV1080A
Canon Laser LBP8-II
Brother HR20 Daisy Wheel
Juki 6100 Daisy Wheel
Integrex Colour Inkjet

£245(a)

£149(a)

£1595(a)

£349(a)

£295(a)

£529(a)

PLOTTERS

Hitachi 672XD A3 4 Colour HPGL £499(a)

Plotmate A4S £379(a)

Plotmate A3M £549(a)

Roland 880 A3 Flat bed 8 col £599(a)

Variety of Plotter pens and accessories in stock.
Larger Plotters available. Please enquire.

EPSON LQ500

Epson’s budget 24pin letter quality printer pro-
vides unrivalled print quality with two built in
letter quality fonts and widest repertoire of type
styles at low cost. Sans Serif and Roman or draft
font can be selected from the front panel.
Maximum resolution of 360 x 180 dpi.
Friction and tractor as standard. Parallel interfa-
ce. Designed for low noise operation 55dB(A).
Introductory price incl. master lead £279(a)

EPSON LX800

Epson’s latest budget printer offers a host of new
features all utilising Epson’s unrivalled knowhow
of printer technology and reliability.

★ 180cps draft/25cps NLQ ★ two modern fontsas
std: Sans Serif and ROMAN. NLQ font selection
from front panel ★ Tractor and friction feed

★ Single sheet guide with auto load switch.
Original + 2 copies.

★ 3K input buffer with character downloading
facility

★ Fully compatible with BBC & IBM graphics

★ Centronics interface as standard

★ Price including BBC master lead £179(a)

A new style printer stand with easy paper feed and
paper seperation, provides complete access to
paper. Can be used with both top and bottom
paper feed. Very space efficient. £26 (b)

PRINTER BEEPERS
SHARER & CONVERTERS

£169(a)

TSB 256 Auto Sharer/Buffer

256K buffer with 3 input ports. Each port
scanned automatically every 10 secs until data
found. PAUSE, COPY and RESET Facitilies.

Full spec on request.

Smart Printer Buffers
Facilities include: COPY upto 265 copies
PAUSE, RESET, Self-Test.

For serial: X-on/X-off, ETX/ACK or DTR/DTS
protocols independently selectable baud rate
for each port

PP256256K Parallel buffer
SS256256K Serial buffer
Parallel Multi-Spoolers
Allows connecting 2 printers to 2 or 4 computers
Butter allows quick dumping of data to free the
computers

COPY allows upto 999 copies. SELF-TEST,

PAUSE, CLEAR

MS4224computers/2printers 5 12K buffer £299(b)
MS223 2computcrs/2 printers 5 12K butter £199(b)
Compact Two Way Switch 2 computers to 1
printer or 2 printers to 1 computer Attaches to
the side of a computer or a printer £23(c)

£ 1 69(h)
£189(b)

Serial/Parallel/Serial Converters

Compact economical converters which
support X-on/X-off, ETX/ACK, DTR/DSR
protocols

C-PS Parallel/Scrial converter £35(c)

C-SP Serial Parallel converter £35(c)

Add £49 to above prices for units with 64K butter
Manual Printer Sharers:

(All lines are switched). Parallel

2 computers to one printer £25(c)

3 computers to one printer £39(c)

4 computers to one printer £45(c)

2 computers to 1 or 2 printers £49(c)

Cable sets for a bo ve sharers a \ nibble for ail popular computers
BBC Computer Sharer: TCS26

1 computer to 2 printers fitted with BBC cable
Paper & Labels

Plain fanfold paper with microperforation:

2000 sheets 9% x 11*

Serial

£25(0

£39(c)

£45(0

£49(c)

£21(0

2000 sheets 1416 x IP
1500 sheets A490gsm

Labels/1000

Single Row 3^" x l 7 /i6-

£12(0.50)

£18.50(£4.50)

£!8.(KH£4.00)

(d) Triple Row 2 7 /W x 7 /W

OHP Transparencies A4( 100)

£5(d)

£56(b)

PARALLEL PRINTER LEADS

BBC/Master (1.2m) £5(d) BBC/Master (2m)

Archimedes (2m) £7(d) Compact ( 1 .2m)

£7(d)

£7(fd)

MODEMS

MIRACLE WS4000 V21/23
MIRACLE WS3000 V21/23
MIRACLE YVS3000 V22
MIRACLE WS3000 V22 bis
Pace Linnet

(All modems are BABT approved)
BBC Data Cable for WS3000/4000

£129(b)

£244(b)

£379(b)

£495(b)

£I39(b)

£ 10(d)

MIRACLE WS2000V21/23 & BELLstds £92(c)

MONITORS

12", 14" and 20" MONITORS

Microvitec 1431
Std Res, 14"

Microvitec 1431AP
Std Res + PAL/Aud, 14"
Microvitec 1451
Med Res, 14"

Microvitec 145 1AP
Med Res + PAL/Aud, 14"
Microvitec 1441
Hi Res, 14"

£179(a)

£199(a)

£225(a)

£255(a)

£359(a)

Philips 8833 14" RGB

Med Res, 14", high contract screen,

TTL/Linear input, Mono/Colour

Switch Stereo Sound Input.

Separate controls for brilliance and

contrast.

£2 19(a)

Sanyo CRT 70

14" High Resolution Colour Monitor

Compatible with Master , B, Compact,

compatibles

Microvitec 2030CS

20" Standard Resolution RGB/

Comp Video

Microvitec 2040CS

20" High Resolution RGB/Comp

Video

TAXAN SUPER VISION 620
12" Hi Res/Hi Contrast Option to
switch to green/amber BBC/IBM
Compatible

TAXAN SUPER VISION 625
12" Super Hi Res and contrast RGB
Monitor with option to switch to
mono BBC/IBM compatible.

£149(a)

and PC

::

£380(a)

£675(a)

£269(a)

£3 19(a)

TAXAN 770+

MultiSysnc Autoscan 14", ideal for
utilising the hi res modes on
Archimedes. Our price includes a
tilt & swivel stand

£485(a)

NEC MultiSync II 14"

Enhanced version of the original NEC MultiSync.
complete with tilt & swivel base. Suitable for
Archimedes and PC compatibles. £479(a)

MONOCHROME MONITORS

1 0

PHILIPS 7752

14" green screen monitor.

This is a new addition to the Philips’ popular
mono monitors. Features include Flat screen,
Inverse video switch, separate brilliance
and contrast controls. £85(a)

PHILIPS BM 7502

Hi Res green screen £72(a)

PHILIPS BM 7522

Hi Res amber screen £79(a)

Tilt & Swivel Stand for

Philips Mono £6(c)

MONITOR ACCESSORIES

Microvitec Swivel Base
(14" plastic monitors)

Monitor Stand Models B & B-f
Monitor Stand Master
Double Tier Stand Models B,

B + or Master
Taxan RGB Lead
Microvitec Lead
Monochrome BNC/Phono Lead
Copy Holder Self Supporting A4

£17(c)

£10(c)

£13(c)

£24(b)

£7(d)

£4(d)

£4(d)

£13(0

3 'i

(-144444-1-1-1- 444444 I I I I I {'I I I 1 .1-1444-1-1 I I I I M I 1-14 4

- All prices ex VAT and subject to change without notice. See page 5 for Carriage Charges,

TTT

i i ii

i i i

mm

II 1 I I II 11 I 1 [TTT f II I I I T I » I T I 1 1 » I I I I I I l I I I I I il lllllii.il I L i. I i. i_i I*

Technomatic

17 Burnley Road, London NW10 1 El) Tel: 01-208 1177

NOVACAD

Cad Package for B, B & MASTER.
(See page 5 for specification)

Tracker Ball/Mouse Version (TM)
TM Version plus Tracker Ball
TM Version plus Mouse
Plotter Driver Generator
If purchased with Novacad

MOUSE

AMX MOUSE with SUPER ART
(pse specify B, B+ or Master)

STOP PRESS (Pagemaker)

EXTRA/EXTRA
(utility for the Pagemaker)

MAX

STAND ALONE MOUSE
RB2 TRACKER BALL

RB2 Tracker Ball with Icon Master
(forB, B+ & Master)

RB2 Tracker Ball with Cursor
Control Rom (for Master only)

RB2Tracker Ball ‘Stand Alone’
for use with NOVACAD &
other software)

Cursor Control Rom for Master

MIRRORSOFT FLEET
STREET EDITOR

£49 (d)
£94 (d)
£79 (d)
£15 (d)
£12 (d)

£59 (d)
£32 (d)

£19(d)
£17 (d)
£34 (c)

£59 (c)

£59 (c)
£47 (c)

£12.50 (d)
£35 (d)

TIMKWARP

Real Time Clock, Plugs into the
user port, battery back up as
standard, includes manual, demo
software including a diary/planner
application program

£29(d)

BBC SOFT/FIRMWARE

DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

VIEWSTORE

£36 (d)

STARdataBASE

£39 (d)

MASTERFILE II

£17 (d)

ACORN OVERVIEW PACKAGE

Special Offer

£69 (b)

(RRP £86)

INTERBASE

£49 (d)

WORD PROCESSORS

ACORN VIEW PROFESSIONAL (BBC) £69 (c)

VIEW 2.1
VIEW 3.0

Double View Rom Version
Double View Disc Version
(for Master & Compact)

VIEW INDEX

VIEW' PRINTER DRIVER
GENERATOR

VIEWSPELL
DOT PRINT PLUS
WORDWISE
WORDWISE PLUS
WYSIWYG PLUS
SPELLMASTER
INTERWORD
WORDEASE
SPELLCHECK III
EDWORD II

£35 (d)
£45 (c)
£42 (d)
£33 (d)

£12 (d)
£8 (d)
£29 (d)
£28 (d)
£24 (d)

£38 (d)
£21 (d)
£42 (d)

£36 (d)
£24 (d)
£31 (d)
£43 ( C )

44

SPREADSHEETS

VIEWSHEET

WINDOMATIC (A Viewsheet Utility)

VIEWPLOT

INTERSHEET

INTERCHART

ULTRACALC

MINI OFFICE II DISC Version
For B&B + 40T or 80T
For Master 80T
For Compact

MINI OFFICE II ROM Version
For Master, Compact, B + & B

MEGA 3Rom

CC’s integrated package offering
Intershcet & Intcrchart on one 128K
Master, Compact, B-F & B

£36 (d)
£15 (d)
£22 (d)
£37 (d)
£25 (d)
£26 (d)

£14 (d)
£16 (d)
£19 (d)

£43 (c)
£76 (b)

Interword,
ROM. For

—

LANGUAGES

META ASSEMBLER
TEAM DISASSEMBLER
MACROM
ACORNSOFT ‘C’

ACORN MICRO PROLOG
ISO-PASCAL

ISO-PASCAL STAND ALONE

GENERATOR

OXFORD PASCAL

(40 or 80T) Specify B or B +

OXFORD PASCAL

for Master

ACORN LOGO

LOGOTRON LOGO

BBC PUBLICATIONS OPEN LOGO

ACORN LISP ROM

ACORN FORTH ROM

ACORN COMAL ROM

Advanced BASIC Disc

(for B, B+ & Master + 6502 2nd Processor)

MICROTEXT

MICROTEXT PLUS

£145 (b)
£145 (b)
£33 (d)
£40 (c)
£62 (d)
£51 (c)

£30 (d)
£36 (d)

£52 (d)
£46 (c)
£55 (c)
£59 (c)
£39 (d)
£39 (d)
£39 (d)
£26 (d)

£52 (c)
£229 (b)

COMMUNICATIONS

TERMULATOR
COMMSTAR II
MAYAComms Package
See next page for details
MODEM MASTER
COMMAND

MASTER TERMULATOR

£25

£28

(d)

(d)

£49 (d)
£11 (d)
£34 (d)
£34.75 (d)

UTILITIES

ACORN ADFS ROM
ACORN BASIC EDITOR
MONITOR (BBC Pub)
SLEUTH
TOOLKIT Pl.US

£26 (d)
£24 (d)
£19 (d)
£23 (d)
£31 (d)

TOOLBOX 2 (BBC Pub) Manual
Cassette

£9.50

£9

id!

ACORN GXR GRAPHICS ROM

specify B or B +

PRINTMASTER

PRINTWISE

DUMPMASTER

FONTW1SE PLUS

AI)V TELETEXT UTILITIES ROM

£24(d)
£24 (d)
£24 Id)
£26 (d!
£17 (d)
£7.95 (d)

COMPACT (all on 3Vi" disc)

AKTROOM
FONTWISE +

FONT EDITOR
BETABASE

WHITE KNIGHT MKII

£27 (d)
£22 (d)
£22 (d)
£27 (d)
£16 (d)

BBC PUBLICATIONS
EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE

A series of programs developed in many cases along-
side Radio & TV programmes by BBC’s Education
Department which supplement the classroom studies
by moving and colourful displays helping in clear
understanding of a variety of subjects. Some packages
also include audio cassettes.

PRIMARY EDUCATION

ASTRONOMY £11 (d)

COMPUTERS AT WORK Aud/EC/disc£16 (c)
PICTURE CRAFT Disc£17 (d)

INTRODUCING GEOGRAPHY Disc£16 (d)
MATHS WITH A STORY 1 Cass£8 (d)

MATHS WITH A STORY 2 Cass£8 (d)

NUMBER GAMES Cass/EC£7.50 (d)

USING YOUR COMPUTER Cass£24 (c)
THE HALL OF MIRRORS Disc£13(d)

MATHS Disc+AudCas£17(d)

SECONDARY LEARNING

£21.50 (c)
£10.50 (d)

Disc£23 (d)

Disc£17 (d)
Prog CassflO (d)
Audio Ca$s£5 (d)

Disc£14 (d)
Disc£14 (d)
Disc£14 (d)

TECHNOLOGY & DESIGN Pll
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ADVANCED LEVEL
STUDIES: STATISTICS
ADVANCED STUDIES:

GEOGRAPHY
INSIDE INFORMATION
Book£8'(d)

OPEN LEARNING

PACK Disc/AudCas+book£36(b)

SCIENCE TOPICS (ST)

S.T.:WAVES
S.T.iRELATlONSHIPS
S.T.:BONDING
S.T.:ELECTROMAGNETIC
SPECTRUM

S.T.:ELECTRONICS IN ACTION Disc£14
S.T.:NEWTON & THE SHUTTLE Disc£19
S.T.:ECOLOGY Disc/EC£19

S.T.:POLYMERS Disc/EC£19 (d)

S.T. CLASSIFICATION &

PERIODIC TABLE
S.T.:FOOD & POPULATION
SEC.SCIENCE
MICROTECHNOLOGY
SEC.SCIENCE:THE
MOLE CONCEPT Disc/Aud/EC£16 (c)
BIRD SPY Disc£13(d)

GEORDIE Racer Disc£13(d)

Disc£20 (d)
I)isc£20 (d)

Cass£7 (d)

GENERAL

VU-TYPE PROFESSIONAL
WHITE KNIGHT MKII
(fori 770 DFS)
BATTLEFIELDS
A VOUS LA FRANCE

I)isc£19 (d)

I)isc£16 (d)
Cass£8.50 (d)
Disc£20 (d)

Book£5.25 (d) Aud Cass(2)£7 (d)

ESPANA VIVA

Audio Cass(2)£8 (d)

DEUTSCH DIREKT

Disc£19(d)
Book£6.95 (d)
(2) £7.50 (a)
Disc/aud/EC£16 (c)
Book£5.95 (d)

BLACK QUEEN

A long awaited bridge game. ( 1770DFS)

BISMARCK

History of the famous battleship.

(1770DFS) £ 1 3(<1)

£13(d)

All software in this advertisement has been tested to
work with appropriate Acorn Disc Filing Systems only
and we are unable to comment on compatibility with
any other filing system. It will be the buyers
responsibility to verify such compatibility.

u ~ 1 t i 7 i .tH- l * : ' ' 1 1 1 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 mr

1 rices ex VA L and Sllhicef to rhnnnp wit limit nnficn nniu. c r — r'r :

All prices ex V AT and subject to change without notice. See page 5 for Carriage Charges.

r

t

Technomatic

305 Edgware Road, London VV2 Tel: 01-723 0233

_ L" 1

BOOKS

WYSIWYG PLUS

WYSIWYG PLUS is a printer and screen utility for Wordwise Plus, View, Interword, and Basic users,
supplied on a 16K Eprom. To obtain a particular printer effect, such as enlarged text, it used to be
necessary to discover the appropriate ‘printer control code’ from your manual and incorporate it into
your text. Secondly, you had to print several trial copies in order to position the effect correctly in
relation to the rest of your text.

WYSIWYG PLUS simplifies this trial and error approach using easily remembered ‘commands. For
example, ‘ENLARGED not only selects enlarged text on your printer, but uniquely shows you double
width characters on your screen, even from within Wordwise Plus!

WYSIWYG PLUS incorporates a logo editor. Just draw your design on screen using the arrow keys, and
save the results. Use the ‘GRAPHICS command to incorporate your design anywhere in your text;
position and see your design in your text before faithfully reproducing a hard copy.

There is also special help for daisy wheel users. The ‘WHEEL command will prompt you to change
daisy wheels whenever a change in type style is about to occur.

WYSIWYG PLUS is designed to work with the following systems:

BBC Model B 6502 Second Processor, BBC Master 128

BBC Model B + Turbo coprocessor All printers (Except lasers)

WYSIWYG PLUS workspace is relocatable. £21(d)

MAYA TERMINAL EMULATOR

A comms package for the professional user. MAYA emulates DEC VT52, VT100 and Tandbcrg
TDV2215. Special BBC VDU mode allows full access to the BBC VDU driver.

Menu driven software allows the setting up of parameters and function key definitions which can be
saved to disc for future use.

Flexible command parser provides a uniform user interface and allows full access to * commands and
HELP facilities.

Xmodem and Kermit file transfer protocols are included as standard. Unique feature of MAYA is
that Kermit can also be used in ‘remote mode’, which allows file transfers to be initiated by other
computers connected to the BBC. File transfers can also be done with a ‘dumb' ASCII protocol. Open
architecture allows for expansion and addition of new features. Options currently under development
are graphics drivers for Tektronix 4010/4014 emulation, TDGR driver for TDV2215 and a Viewdata
patch (provisional version included in the current issue). Registered users will be provided with regular
updates and customisation service will also be available to those interested.

The package comprises of a rom, utils disc and a comprehensive manual. It is compatible with Master,
Models B & B + . It supports DFS, ADFS, NFS and ANFS filing systems. £49(d)

No VAT Carriage Code (c)

LANGUAGES

6502 Assy Lang Prog £19.95

6502 Programming £13.95

8086 Book £23.95

Acorn BCPI User Guide £15.00

Acorn FORTH £7.50

Acorn LISP £7.50

Acorn ISO Pascal Ref Manual £10.00

Intro to COMAL £10.00

Intro to LOGO £7.50

Micro Prolog Ref Manual £10.00

Introduction to Turbo Pascal £14.95

Prog the Micro with Pascal £8.50

The Supervisor’s BBC Micro £10.95

BBC MICRO GUIDE BOOKS

Inside Information £8.95

Maths Prog in BBC Basic £7.95

The Friendly Computer Book £4.50

Toolbox 2 £10.95

ARCHIMEDES

Archimedes Reference Manual £29.95(b)

ARM Assembly Language Prog £12.95(b)

Inside Autosketch £15(b)

PROGRAMMING/UTILITY

Advanced Sideways Ram User Guide £9.95

Advanced User Guide (BBC) £15.95

Applied Assembly Language on the BBC ...£9.95

BBC Micro Advance Programming £9.95

BBC Micro Ref Guide (B Smith) £10.95

BBC Micro Sideways ROM’s RAM’s £9.95

Guide to the BBC Rom £9.95

Beginners Guide to W.P £7.95

Mastering Assembly Code £8.95

Mastering Interpreters & Compilers £14.95

Master Operating System £6.95

Mastering View, Viewsheet & Viewstore. ...£12.95

View by B. Smith £12.95

View 3.0 User Guide £9.00

Viewstore User Guide £9.00

Viewsheet User Guide £9.00

Wordwise Plus £9.95

SOUND & GRAPHICS

Computer Graphics & CAD Fundementals .£9.95
Mastering Music £6.95

DISC DRIVE SYSTEMS

Advanced Disc User Guide £16.95

Disc Book £3.50

Disc Programming Techniques £7.95

Disc Systems £6.95

File Handling on the BBC £6.95

Discovering Disc Drives £POA

Practical Disc File Techniques £5.95

Mastering the Disc Drive £12.95

Mastering DOS plus £12.95

APPLICATIONS

BLACK QUEEN

A contract bridge program from BBC Publica-
tions both for beginners and for club players.
Features include rebid and/or reply of any deal
just played. Deals can be saved to a disc. Unique
feature of Black Queen is its ability to construct
deals from standard or classic ones in newspapers
etc.

Compatible with Master, B and B-f £13(d)

EDUCATIONAL/FUN
SOFTWARE BUNDLE

Wordmovcr Drawstick

Wordplay Pantry Antics Locomotion

VU-TYPE

Do you have finger trouble when typing?

Do your letters look like this?

Dear Sor,

I wuold like to...
then you need:

VU-type, a complete touch typing program pro-
duced by BBC/Pitman.

It allows you to learn at your own pace and has a
wide range of exercises. Screen displays show the
keys you have pressed and it will report on your
speed and accuracy.

Supplied on a 40T Disc with a manual
Available at a special price of £7. 50(d) instead of
the usual £15. Offer valid while stocks last.

BISMARCK

Interfacing Proj for BBC *.

BBC and Small Business

The Software Business

£6.95

£5.75

£5.50

1 Mastering Operating System

I (David Atherton)

£6.95

These programs are supplied from the BBC
Publications Educational Software range and will
be supplied on a 5.25" disc for BBC Master, B-f
and B and on a 3.5" disc for the Compact.

5.25" Disc £17.50(d)

3.5" Disc £18. 50(d)

(Normal RRP over £40)

See the previous page for comments on compatibility.

An enthralling game of strategy involving the
famous German battleship of the same name.

You can play the role of British Navy in its quest
to find the Bismarck and sink it or take either
British or German role against another player. It
requires the highest qualities of judgement, obser-
vation and decision to plan strategy and tactics to
plot the death of Bismarck. £13(d)

PRINTER ACCESSORIES

EPSON ACCESSORIES:

8143 RS232 £32 (d)

8148 + RS232 + 8k £79 (d)

IEEE 488 £40 (d)

Apple II £40 (d)

Colour option of EX800/1000 £55 (d)

TRACTOR FEEDERS

LQ800 £44 (b)

LQ1000 £55 (b)

LQ850 £70 (b)

LQ1050 £85 (b)

LQ2500+ £90 (b)

EX800 £85 (b)

EX1000 £90(b)

SHEET FEEDERS:

LQ800/850 £159 (b)

LQ1000/1050 £189 (b)

EX800/FX800 £159 (b)

EX1000/LQ2500+ £225 (b)

FX1000 £189 (b)

Ribbons:

FX/FX100/100 +, FX105 £7(d)

RX/FX80, FX85/800 £4 (d)

LX80/LX800 £4.50 (d)

LQ800/850 £6 (d)

LQ 1000/ 1050 £7.75 (d)

EX800/1000 Black £7.50 (d)

EX800/1000 Colour £16.80 (d)

H180 Pen Set (Aqueous/Ball point)

£8.25 (d)

HITACHI 672 Plotter
Aqueous Pen Set six pens ....£18.50 (d)
Oil Based Pen Set six pens ...£25.00 (d)
TAXAN CANON Accessories:

Ribbon, KP8 1 0/8 1 5/9 1 0/9 1 5 £6 (d)

Star Printer

NL10/LC10 Sheet Feeder £55 (b)

NL10/LC10 Ribbon £4.50 (b)

National Panasonic KX P1080/81

Spare Ribbon £4.50 (d)

KXP3131 Tractor £90 (a)

KXP3131 Sheet Feeder £189 (a)

KXP3131 Ribbon £4.50(d)

JUKI 6100

Tractor Feed £149 (a)

Sheet Feeder £219 (a)

Ribbon (Carbon) £2.00 (d)

BROTHER HR20

Sheet Feeder £229(a)

Tractor Feed £116 (a)

Spare Ribbon Nylon £3.00 (d)

Spare Ribbon Carbon £4.50(d)

INTEGREX INK JET COLOUR

PRINTER

Spare Ink Cartridge Black £8 (d)

Sparc Ink Cartridge Colour £14 (d)

Paper Roll £7 (d)

Printer Leads:

BBC Parallel Lead (1.2m) £6 (d)

PAPER & LABELS

Plain Fanfold paper with micro
perforations:

2000 sheets 91" x 1 1" 60 gsm/sq m ..£12
(£3.50)

2000 sheets 141" x 11" 60 gsm/sq m

£18.50 (£4.50)

1500 sheets A4 90 gsm £18 (£3.50)

Labels/1000:

Single Row 31 x UY' £5.25 (d)

Triple Row 2tY' x 1 fs £5 (d)

All prices ex VAT and subject to change without notice. See page 5 for Carriage Charges.

ranging

powerful eprom programmer

[barciaycard]

Technomatic

MVII.ORDIR&KII AIL
17 Burnlc) Rond
London N\V 101 I I)
lav 01-452 1500
I elex: 922800

RMAILSIIOPS

15/17 Burnley Road, London N\Y 10 1LI)
Tel: 01-208 1177 Telex: 922800
(close to liollis 1 1 ill -Hr )

\\ est Lnd Branch
305 l 'dg» arc Road, London \\ 2
Tel: 01-723 0233, 01-402 0444
(near Ldgwarc Road -O')

Orders welcome irom
government depts<&
educational establishments

All prices e\A VI .
Prices are subject to
change nit limit notice
Please add carriage

(a) €8.00 (C ourier)

(b) £2.50

(c) £1.50

(d) £1.00

lor last deliver) telephone
your order on 01-2081177
using VISA/ Access C ard

NOVACAD

Computer Aided Draughting
System

Novacad can drive a plotter to produce drawings of highest quality...
Novacad is excellent. It is flexible, genuinely easy to operate
without much practice, and a pleasure to use. Ikebug Dec 86

A sophisticated CAD package with unique
facilities. Thousands of Novacad packages are
being used in widely differing fields
from industries for producing
drawings to accountants offices for producing
flow charts. Architects, engineers, plumbers,
kitchen planners and many other professions
requiring easy to use facilities for producing
high quality output are making extensive use
of Novacad’s unique features. Novacad is
proving to be an invaluable teaching aid in
technical schools simply because of the ease
with which it can be used.

Sea ' •

* 0 l '

Data

’0/07/96

Eng Ins

Ssct . on

Novacad is compatible with all models fitted
with Acorn DFS. Hardware requirements can
be minimum; single drive and FX80
compatible printer are enough to get started,
though its performance is enhanced
considerably by use of 6502 2nd processor,
dual drive and to a degree with B+ and
Master’s shadow ram.

The major features offered are:

★ Simple and easy to use with logical command
sequence.

★ A large drawing area (approx 15 screens)

★ Unique ability to create complex icons made
up of upto 500 lines instead of the usual 15 to
20 pixels, store them in a library and recall
them at different scales and orientations.

★ Zoom facility.

★ Create multi level drawings.

★ Text entry at any 90° orientation anywhere on
the screen.

★ Grid scaling and locking, displacement
measurements.

★ Printer routine for FX80/100 compatible
printers

★ Cursor control from keyboard/tracker ball/
mouse.

Plotter driver generator available as an optional
utility, configures a routine for any BBC
coompatible plotter. Pre configured routines for
popular plotters like Epson HI80, Hitachi,
Plotmate are included. Drawings can be scaled to
maximumm plotter size.

NOVACAD T/M Version £49(d)

NOVACAD T/M + Plotter DG £61(c)

Plotter Driver Generator £15(d)

EpromRvter

EPROMER II

♦Highly sophisticated & Advanced Programmer
♦All current single rail eproms handled
♦State of the Art Programming Algorithms

EpromRyter is a
designed for use with the BBC Master Computer.
It takes full advantage of the latest developments
in the eprom technology and the extra facilities on
the Master to provide fast, simple and efficient
programming and editing facilities.

The software is totally menu driven and on
screen help messages make the programming
simple for both specialists and novices alike.

The EPROMRYTER interfaces with the
Master through 1MHz bus. It is mains powered
with its own psu. 3M Textool zif socket has been
fitted to ensure consistent and reliable service
over long periods.

The single rail eproms handled by the EpromRyter are:

• 2716 2732 2764 27128 27256 27512 27513 2701 1
2516 2532 2564 (NM0S& CMOS)

• One time eproms P27XXX, 87CXXX etc.

• Also A suffix eproms such as 27XXXA

_l

£89(b) + VAT

META Ver III ASSEMBLER

“All the good features you would expect to find in a good source code
editor are present ... Meta assembler lives in a different world. It is
structured to work with any new processor ...as new instruction sets
can be added ...as needed ... has a well featured editor with colour
highlighting, a sound modular approach." Acorn User October 1986

• Assembles for over 30 popular processors,
including Z80, 6800/01/02/04/05/09/1 1 etc - and
68000 - using native mnemonics for each
processor, eg LD A, (HL) for Z80 and MOV
A0, $1000 for 68000 etc.

• Fully integrated Editor: four field, all search,
search/replace, block copy, delete, move,
marked save, load etc.

• Compatible with Portal Eprom Emulators and
Team Disassembler.

• Send object code in Intel Hex, S-Record,
straight binary etc. down to discs, RS232,
parallel port, Eprom Emulators etc - all
during Assembly.

• Over 50 directives included as standard:
handling nestable macros, conditional
assembly and twenty types of table definition
directives.

• 32 bit labels; 31 character names. Arithmetic
and Boolean arithmetic to 32 bits.

• Modular source code with numeric and string
parameter passing.

• Serial communicator area with eight options
lines: echo, control code trap, LF suppression/
addition etc.

• Over 500 in use throughout the world in
universities and many different industries.

• Two 16K Roms, two 80 track discs, A4
ring-bound manual, function-key strip.

£145(b)

A proven Eprom programmer for BBC Model B
and B+ with thousands in use in industry,
educational and R&D establishments. It offers
many of the powerful features of the EpromRyter
and can program all single rail eproms upto 27256.
Full details on request. £89(b)

PORTAL EPROM
EMULATORS

• Emulates 2716, 2732, 2764, 27128, 27256,
27512 eproms at 150ns Access time.

• Load at 4Kbytes/second - No “erase” time.

• 28 pin header plugs into Eprom socket on
target system - status monitored on 13 Leds.

• Fully software controlled from Meta
Assembler.

• 100 times faster than standard EPROM
program/erase cycle.

• Fully CMOS compatible; draws no power
from target system.

• Four portals may be independently
programmed off same user-port cable.

• Complete with all cables, manual and disc.

PORTAL 512 (2716, 2732, 2764, 27128, 27256,

27512 )- £245(b)

TEAM DISASSEMBLER

The third part of the Universal Development

System: a Meta labelling disassembler.

Supports 1802, 8080, 8085, #HD64180, Z80,

65XX (includes 65 col, 6511 etc), 68XX (includes

00,01,02,03,08 etc):

• Up to 64K of object code translated back into
META compatible source code modules:
labels automatically inserted on all jump
targets, memory references etc.

• Pre-editing stage allows marking of object
code areas as byte, string, word, long word
etc, tables. These areas disassembled into
appropriate directives instead of garbage
mnemonics.

• Reconstituted source code ready for
immediate re-assembly by META.

• Omniversal search/repalce for re-naming
arbitrary label names with meaningful ones.

£145(b)

1

This advertisement can only show an example
of the range of products stocked by
Technomatic. So send for our latest BBC
catalogue providing detailed information and

P rices on BBC Computer Systems,
eripherals, Software and Books. To obtain
your free copy please complete and return the
coupon below.

Technomatic is a BBC Computer and Econet
Referral Centre providing a professional and
reliable service to the BBC user.

NAME

ADDRESS.

.PostCode ,

11/88

Return to Technomatic Ltd, 17 Burnley Road,
London NW101ED

HOW TO GET MORE FROM YOUR ARCHIMEDES

FLYING START II

- the friendly database

Brings together, in one package, the easiest
possible introduction to database design for (he
inexperienced and a range of sophisticated
capabilities for those who need a productive data
manager for all kinds of applications.

Use it in Schools and Colleges

to teach data management skills on an effective business
tool; keep records of school & social activities; to
develop cross-curricular projects.

Use it for your business data

for applications from simple client/contact lists, through
sales & stock transactions, mail merge and labels, to
analysed asset registers and customised management reports.

Use it productively at home

to catalogue books, videos - any kind of collection; for
club records and accounts; cheque-book reconciliation;
address lists and all sorts of labels.

Complete with superb manuals and teaching pack,
FLYING START II costs just £99.95 (inch VAT)

Archimedes

DESKTOP ENHANCER

Provides direct, mouse-driven access to the Arthur
operating system, to resident and disc- based
programs, to directory and file- handling routines,
in one consistent working environment.

Features:

Display disc directory map - full path names as window titles

- go to subdirectory - delete directory - find a file on disc

- name/rename a disc - verify, compact a disc - display free
space - format and copy floppy discs - backup hard disc

Set user root, current and library directories - change file
time stamp, access and type - print file to screen or
printer.

run BASIC and execute EXEC files (* commands) - clear screen
before running programs - ’pause 1 to read screen messages
before returning to DeskTop after running programs.

save/restore DeskTop set-up and colour palette - set mouse
speed - Mitre ’Make DeskTop' utility.

Supplied with fully detailed User Guide, the
DeskTop Enhancer costs only £29.95 (inch VAT)

ASK YOUR ACORN DEALER FOR A DEMONSTRATION , OR CONTACT

MITRE SOFTWARE LIMITED

International House, 26 Creechurch Lane, London EC3A 5BA

Tel: 01-283-4646

Oasis Instruments

OASIS VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT SYSTEM

Pi l !

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' 1"

J

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....

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- ** m

....

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....

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...

For fast delivery, phone your order
on 0603 747887. Technical queries
answered and requests for further
information on this number.

NEW VERSION - NEW INTERFACES - HIGH SPEED OPTION

The OASIS Virtual Instrument System (VIS) emulates conventional OSCILLOSCOPE,
CHART RECORDER, PROCESS MONITOR, MULTI-CHANNEL DVM, X/Y PLOTTER
and DATA LOGGER in one easy to use package, NOW INCLUDES SPECTRUM ANALYSIS.
HARDWARE

VIS includes a precision 16 channel A-D converter, with programmable ranges
and read rates of 50k R/s at 8 bit, 25k at 12 bit (100k and 60k with high speed
option). This simply installed unit has proven long term stability and reliability.

SOFTWARE

The menu-driven acquisition, analysis and display programs combine
on-screen set up of measurement parameters, SPREADSHEET data
manipulation and a range of display formats, with ZOOM and ON-SCREEN
MEASUREMENTS

Total data mobility from measured information to memory, disk, screen and
HARDCOPY output, including screen dumps.

The OASIS VIS carries full documentation to allow the beginner or
professional programmer to create new interface applications or personalised
instrument emulations.

PRICE

The price of the complete system is less than any one of the instruments it replaces.

Prices exclude VAT, P&P (£8). High speed option £1 60.

The Virtual Instrument System is supplied complete - no further components are
required - just plug in to your laboratory computer.

Digital to Analogue and industrial interface options - POA

PC-XT/AT - £499, Nimbus - £499, BBC/Master - £399, New Archimedes Version - £499

The Street. Old Costessey, Norwich NR8 5DF Tel: 0603747887

Design Consultancy

40

ACORN US HR NOVUM BUR 1988

HINTS & UPS

FIND OUT ABOUT LIBRARIES

How ADFS libraries work, capturing a real-time clock from teletext, creating double-width text and
a program to represent on-screen how much memory is free are among this month’s bright ideas

ALOOKAT

LIBR ARIES

This month, in my examination of ADFS, I
am going to explain the sometimes confus-
ing concept of libraries. Much of the diffi-
culty people have with libraries arises be-
cause they come to ADFS after using the
normal Disc Filing System. In DFS, librar-
ies exist, but are much less important,
because when you look at the catalogue,
you can see all the files on disc at once.

A library is an alternative directory to
the current one. This means that if you try
to load a file, and it isn’t in your current
directory, then the filing system tries to
load it from the library before giving up
and reporting ‘Not found’. Actually the
library system doesn’t work with LOAD,
"LOAD, CHAIN, "EXEC and so on, but
only with "RUN or *<filename>. This
means that library programs really need to
be in machine code, or on a Master they
can be *EXEC files. This is because the
Master’s operating system will *EXEC any
file you tell it to "RUN, if the execution
address is &FFFFFFFF. "BUILD sets such
an address automatically.

The library should therefore be filled
with machine code routines which you
wish to use, but do not want to clutter up
your current directory. Such routines
might include many provided in this col-
umn, or other commercial and published
utilities such as screen dumps, screen com-
pressors, cross-referencers and so on. If
you create a directory called ‘Library’ in
the Sdirectory of your disc, then you
sometimes don’t even need to set the
library explicitly when you start, because
"MOUNT and "'ADFS include in their
startup routines a check on whether a
directory called S.Library exists. If so, they
make it the current library. The first direc-
tory found that starts with ‘Lib’ is used, so
a directory called ‘Liberal’ would be used
ACORN USIiR NOVKMBHR 1988

instead of Library. ADFS on the Master
series doesn’t do this, so you’ll have to
type :: 'LIB LIB* to get the same effect.

Whichever directory you are using on
your ADFS disc, files in the library will
always be available to *RUN. If you need
Basic programs in your library, you can
use one of the many published converters
which make a Basic program runnable with
a star command. Alternatively, if you only
have a couple of Basic programs in your
library, you could do what I do. First,
create a subdirectory within the library
called Basic, and place in it all your Basic
library programs. Then create an "‘EXEC
file for each program in the Library direc-
tory itself.

♦BUILD $. Library. Exampl e

0001 *BASIC

0002 CHAIN *. Library. BASIC. Example"

Obviously, you should substitute your
own program name for Example. The fig-
ure below shows a typical directory tree to
make things clearer.

Cp

!

!__/ —

L

Library

Other dirs

|

i 1 r

eas ^i □ □ n

nth

Machine code

5 ? : Utilities

M

Bas i c utils

EXEC f i les

The ADFS library structure

This technique will give you the ability to
use many additional star commands, in the
same way that they are provided by ROM-
based utilities. The only drawback is that
Basic programs and some machine code
programs may use areas of memory that
they shouldn’t. Of course, there is another
problem, which is that the library is only

available while the correct disc is in your
drive.

Obviously this isn’t a problem for hard
disc or network users, but for floppy drive
owners, the majority of us, it can be
tedious to copy the contents of your lib-
rary onto each working disc.

Fortunately, if you have a dual disc
drive, there is a way round this. The
library need not be on the same disc as the
directory you’re working in. So, for exam-
ple, you could have a large library com-
pletely filling a 640k ADFS disc in drive 1,
and your work disc, with no library at all,
in drive 0. If you then type:

♦mount o

♦DIR <whatever ...>

♦LIBRARY :1. Library

the programs in the Library direcrory of
drive 1 will be available. You can select any
directory on either drive 0 or drive 1
without altering the library setting. If you
wish to select a directory on drive 1, then
do it with *DIR:l.<directory>, and don’t
use the *MOUNT command, as with some
ADFS versions this resets the library set-
ting, as mentioned above.

Note that the catalogue display, while
correctly naming the library, does not
identify which drive it is on. However, you
can check this by typing *LCAT, the
command to catalogue the current library.
The library catalogue listing will show
which drive it is on. *LCAT does for the
current library what *CAT does for the
current directory.

There is another command associated
with this, "'LEX, which has the same effect
on the library as *EX does on the directory
(similar to "INFO on DFS, but directory
rather than file-based). Because there is
only one library the command cannot take
parameters, unlike *CAT and *EX, and
any parameters that you type will therefore
be ignored. It is worth mentioning that this
trick of setting your library to run on a

41

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J

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

42

£5

HINTS & TIPS

different drive also applies to DFS. With
DFS if you have a group of utilities called,
say U.DUMP, U.PACK and so on, where-
as "LIB U will allow you to invoke these
programs, though they will still clutter up
your catalogue, as DFS always displays all
the files when you type "CAT.

However, if you have a double-sided
drive, you can put the utilities on the other
side (Side 2), and type "DIR:0. $ and then
*LIB:2. $. Then the library files will not be
in the way or taking up any space in your
working area on drive 0. But they'll still be
available as star commands.

Dual drive users are able to perform the
same trick by putting the utilities on a
separate disc in drive 1 and then typing
*LIB:1.$.

On the Master series, the library does
not even have to be in the same filing
system as the one you are currently work-
ing in. This feature is of most benefit to
network users, where they can work on
their own ADFS or DFS discs, but have
access to the network utility library.
However, there is no reason why a library
may not be kept in DFS while working in
ADFS. If your ADFS disc is in drive 0, and
your DFS library disc is in drive 1, then
typing "ADFS, then "-DISC-LIB :1.$ and
; *-DISC-LIBFS will leave you in ADFS
with drive 0 mounted. But when a star
command is used, the library on the DFS
disc would be searched.

In this set up, you can have an extra
ADFS library as well. The order of search
for a file is first the current directory, then
the library of the current filing system (if
any), and then the library of the filing
system selected by "LIBFS (if any). To
‘undo' any secondary library, just type
:: 'LIBFS. This command effectively means
‘make the current filing system the library
filing system'.

To finish this series on ADFS, there are
a couple of points which have confused
some readers. "'CREATE is used on the
Master to create a ‘dummy' file. The com-
mand must be followed by the filename,
and then the length of the file you wish to
create. The new file will contain random
data, and should not be loaded or run until
you have written your correct data into it.
If the created file already exists, the con-
tents will not be changed, but the length
might be adjusted.

Because of the way "'CREATE works, if
you use it with DFS, you could still get a
‘can't extend' error if you recreate an
existing file and make it longer.

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

The other point is about "'COMPACT,
and is simply that on a Master "'COM-
PACT 0E 72 is the preferred setting. The
second parameter is the number of pages
used as a buffer, and not the last page, thus
&72 pages from page &0E means that you
should use memory from &0E00 to &8000.
This will corrupt the screen but it is
harmless.

£5

ONE LINE

FUNCTION LIST

There have been many function and pro-
cedure listing programs before, but this
one from Nicholas Sayers of Canterbury is
something special. It runs in one line of
Basic and can therefore be set up on a
function key, rather than the usual method
of either appending to the Basic program
or working in machine code. Type in the
key definition exactly as shown (listing 1
on the yellow pages) and then load or type
in the program in which you wish to list
the functions and procedures. At any
point, pressing fO will run Nicholas' prog-
ram, and list each line number which
contains a DEFPROC or DEFFN state-

rH.:Rtr.H=r?l*/Jb*r?2:r=P«3:Ktr.r=P*l:U.fP=2ZiUK?r=130Hr>l0P:lh 7 r<>Z21U.r>10r
:i.R£P.P=P*l:U.’P< >32:P.RI.” “♦SJRJH.S):" “;«.-FHPR0C“,flBS(‘»P=242)»3.2*flBSr ? P
242»»2) : :R£P.P=P*1:W.?P :0. ?P=13:P . :U.P/I0r

198 PRkerr
328 PROCsetup
856 FROCvalid
536 FHok

666 PROCcur s(s>.)

646 FHn?nu(n,c)

846 PfiOCsub(cti)

946 FNdosub
1616 PROCnuind(n.f)

1888 FNutnttrMi)

1318 FHusjv?

1458 FHuload
1588 FNlista(v)

1638 FHctnter(FS)

1828 FNcsave
2810 FNcload
2816 FKIistc(v)

2268 FHbuild
2418 PROCfit
2418 PROCf ltword(i)

2636 PROCfituordl

26 n fr'jCnunbfrsquares

2318 FHf mddoun

2856 PROCsortad

2976 PROCsortnfc(start,end,t$>

3898 PROCsuitcMa.b)

3176 FROCchtcksUrtd.y)

3258 PROCsort

Use these abbreviated Basic tokens

ment, and give the name of the procedure
or function.

The program works by reading through
memory, starting at PAGE where the be-
ginning of the main Basic program is,
recording each line number in variable N.
It then checks for a DEF token, and prints
everything from it to the next carriage
return. To work properly, the function
definition should be a single statement line.

The function lister stops when it reaches
TOP, the end of the Basic program.

As a key definition is limited to 255
bytes, you must enter the program using
the abbreviated Basic tokens shown.

If you have any other keys defined, you
may get a ‘Bad key’ error. Just clear all the
other key definitions by using *FX18.

DOU BLEWID TH

TEXT

J D Michael of Brighton, noticing how
double-height text has been covered in this
column in the past, has sent us something
different - double-width text. His program

Double width text demonstration

This screen shous nornal

and double width text

all on a Mode 0 screen!

Pixels set in character shape double in size

(listing 2 on the yellow pages) takes a text
string and prints it on screen in double
width using the procedure PROCdouble.
The procedure can be added to your own
programs, and takes just one argument -
the text to be printed, and is useful when
working in mode 3, to provide easily
readable mode 6 lookalike headings.

The program works by reading the char-
acter data using Osword &0A, and then
expanding it so that each pixel set in the
character shape becomes two.

Mr Michael says that even with his
limited knowledge he can see that the
program could be converted to assembly
language quite easily.

£15

MAKING A

DATE

Colin Robertson, from Maidenhead, had
the new GIS Teletext Adapter fitted to his
BBC B and realised that one of the features
of the teletext system is a real-time clock.
He has sent us a useful segment program
(listing 3 in the yellow pages) to allow
datestamping in Wordwise Plus , taking the
date from the Television Service Data
Packet (TSDP), which is transmitted along
with the teletext signal.

The program copies the date into the D$
variable, which may then be placed in your
text in a number of ways, most simply by
including the lines
SELECT TEXT
TYPE D$

in your segment. The date is stored in the
form ‘dd/mm/yy’. The program should

43

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Relocatable Assembler and Linker
first with Source-Level Debug.
Now bring you a New ’C' Compiler.

Now at last you can achieve
the speed of a true compiler
without loosing the program
size advantages of BASIC.

r

Use it for games business or
industrial software. Ideal for
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techniques.

Shell ROM image provided
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Use any editor, a simple
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Optional disk with source of
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Phone or write today V
for full details.

From: Mijas Software
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Full support of BBC Graphics
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40+K of Program space even without overlays

Complete System including Assembler Linker,
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A Book on ’C by
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44

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 198S

work on any BBC micro and with or
without a 6502 second processor (and on
Master series computers, although these
provide a real-time clock anyway).

Teletext features a real-time clock

It is possible to extend the utility to
provide a date in the full form ‘31 January
1988’ or even ‘31st January 1988' by man-
ipulating the data in D$. The present
program is intended primarily to demon-
strate a technique for reading teletext data
into Wordwise Plus , but its procedures
could be embodied in any segment pro-
gram requiring a date. Once typed and
saved, the utility can be loaded into any
Wordwise Plus segment and executed with
Shift plus the relevant function key.

The essential element in the program is
the call to Osword with A=&7A, a series
of calls in the ATS reserved for accessing
teletext data. Like all Osword calls, this
requires X and Y to point to a parameter
block on entry. The required length of the
block depends on the function. In the
Osword &7A series, the first byte (offset
0) contains the command code that deter-
mines which function will be performed.
To access the date, the command code is
&16, and the block is 13 bytes long.

Some careful thought has been given to
setting up a parameter block using the
Wordwise Plus programming language,
which does not normally support direct
writing to memory. This is done by using
location &430 which is where the variable
L% is stored. By setting L%, location
&430 is set to the required value, in this
case the command code &16. A detail to
note is that X% is deliberately assigned
with the whole two-byte address, not just
the low byte. By doing this only the low
byte is written to the X register when the
Osword routine is called, but the full value
remains available in X% for use when
reading the contents of the block after-
wards. Y% is assigned with the high byte
(&04) in the usual way.

The parameter block is 13 bytes long, so
when the Osword call is made, the four
Wordwise Plus integer variables L%-0%

are overwritten. Each takes up four bytes.
The date information is contained in 10
bytes (offsets 1-10). Offset 11 is unused.
The last byte (offset 12), is an error flag,
which on exit contains zero if all is well,
and &FF if the date acquisition has failed.

The functional part of the program con-
tained in the procedure PROCcalendar
command at line 25 is one of several which
are available for selecting one of the tuned
channels in the adapter. A time delay of 1.6
seconds follows, in addition to the appreci-
able time it may take to acquire the
channel.

The L% variable is then assigned, and
the Osword procedure is called. The tele-
text system is then turned off. If an error in
reading the date occurs, the program jumps
to .error to show that no date is available.
Otherwise the contents of offsets 1-10 in
the parameter block are read into D$, a
byte at a time. Offsets 7 and 8 are omitted,
as these contain the first two digits of the
year (19), and are not required for the
standard date format.

Note that the numbers comprising the
date are available directly as Ascii codes,
and even the separator 7’ is included in the
parameter block where required. This
greatly simplifies the acquisition program
compared to the Master 128’s format, given
the limited facilities available in the Word-
wise Plus programming language.

The program hasn’t been tested with the
popular adapter or ATS ROM, but as this
call is a standard feature of ATS it should
work on all ATS systems - including the
original Acorn teletext adapter with BBC
Soft’s ATS upgrade ROM.

Colin has another tip for Wordwise Plus
users: unlike View , Wordwise Plus doesn’t
have a command to differentiate between
left and right-hand pages, so that the
narrow margin is on the left of the paper,
and the wide margin is on the right, for
times when output is to be bound into a
folder. However, this can be achieved very
simply by taking advantage of the fact that
Wordwise Plus always stores the page num-
ber in P%, and also that it allows the use
of arithmetic when specifying numeric
arguments to commands. For example, if
you define your header as follows
[fl]DH[fl]LM8+P%MOD2*5[f2]
then provided that your document is set up
to print a header (ie, paging is enabled and
a header margin is provided), all your
left-hand pages will print with an eight-
character margin, and all your right-hand
ones with a 13-character margin.

£10

COLOURFUL

MEMORIES

Steven Harris of Middlesbrough wanted a
quick way of seeing how much memory
his Basic program took up, and how much
was still free, so he came up with a
graphical form which quickly gives a feel
for the total amount of memory used.

He has sent a short assembly language
program (listing 4 on the yellow pages)
which sets up a mode 5 screen, runs
through memory from &0000 to &5800
and displays one pixel to represent each
byte. Three colours are used in the map.
These are: red for memory containing &00
which is obviously free, yellow to repre-
sent memory containing bytes other than
&00, and black for the area occupied by a
Basic program.

As long as you clear all memory bytes to
&00 before you commence loading files,
this can also be used as a quick and very
useful indicator of how much memory is
being used by stacks, data areas and so on.
Run the program listed in the yellow
pages, and then save the resulting machine
code. This can then be *RUN immediately.
You will be able to see the space used up

Graphic memory map

by both the machine code program and the
original Basic source.

The program works by simply checking
the contents of each byte and setting a
pixel accordingly. The start and end of the
current Basic program is found by reading
the value of PAGE from location &18, and
TOP from &12 and &13. These locations
are well known to writers of Basic utilities.
For speed, Steven writes the pixels directly
to screen memory, rather than through the
operating system, so don’t have a shadow
screen enabled when running this program.
All submissions - hints , tips, programs or

simply ideas - should be sent to Hints and
Tips, Acorn User, Redwood Publishing,
20-26 Brunswick Place , London N1 6DJ.

ACORN USKR NOVl-MBKR 1988

45

ARC AGORA

FULLY TRANSFERARLE

Up for discussion: transferring files from MS-DOS to the Arc, displaying 256 colours in
a graduated scale and tackling the Tak function

£20

EASY

PC

We kick off this month with an invaluable aid
for users of MS-DOS who want to transfer
files to ADFS. Our utility is the handiwork of
Dutch reader Jeroen Boomgaardt, and forms
listing 1 on the yellow pages.

It’s not a simple process to copy files from
the IBM PC or other MS-DOS computers to
the Arc. The problem is the same with TOS
on the Atari ST, which uses an MS-DOS-like
disc format. It can be done with the PC
Emulator, using the GetFile utility, but if you
only have a single drive you could run into
difficulties. I could only manage it with the
help of some Computer Concepts battery-
backed RAM!

But listing 1 is an easy answer. As always,
we have little space to spare on the yellow
pages, and so can only publish a simple form
of Jeroen’s program. His full version, which
also reads DFS discs, is on the November disc.

Having typed in listing 1, run the program
and enter the desired source and destination
drives - they can both be drive 0 if you only
have a single drive. You'll be prompted to
insert an MS-DOS disc into the source drive.
Press a key when you’ve done so and the
MS-DOS catalogue will be displayed.

Now enter the name of the file you want to
transfer, including a file extension if necessary:

the right disc in the drive at the right time -
this is the only check on whether you’ve got
an MS-DOS or ADFS disc in the drive.

Disc sectors are read using PROCreadsec-
tor. This takes a variety of parameters describ-
ing where on the disc to look and what sort of
disc it is. The type and size of the disc is
discovered by PROCdirmsdos. The nature of
MS-DOS discs is too complex to discuss here,
so if you are interested in exactly how the
program functions you should acquire MS-
DOS datasheets and refer to them while
looking at listing 1. The mildly curious might
like a brief description though, so here goes.

MS-DOS files are stored as ‘clusters’ of data.

MYTEXT.BAT for example. If this is a valid
file and will fit in the available memory it will
be loaded; if not, an appropriate error message
will be displayed. The amount of buffer space
is displayed when you first run the program. It
can be increased by reconfiguring your
machine with a smaller screen size or some-
thing similar.

You cannot load files from MS-DOS sub-
directories, so make sure all files to be transfer-
red are in the root. If the MS-DOS file is
loaded correcdy you will be asked to insert the
destination (ADFS) disc. Do so and press a
key - the file will be saved and the whole
process repeated again. Press Escape to leave
the program.

Listing 1 works by making use of the SWI
call ‘ADFS - DiscOp’. This call can be
persuaded to read MS-DOS discs, although
listing 1 requires an ‘identity’ byte to be
present at the start of the disc. The first byte of
the disc is checked by the UNTIL at line 880
and its value should be either &E9 or &EB for
the disc to be recognised as an MS-DOS one.
Whereas MS-DOS PC discs have this byte as
standard, it appears Atari ST discs do not and
so must be edited using an appropriate disc
sector editor. We used ANTIC’s Disk Doctor
to prepare Atari discs for file transfer, but any
good ST disc editor will do. Alternatively, you
can remove die UNTIL at line 880 and the
REPEAT a little before it. Remember to put

Atari 1040 ST

A cluster consists of one or more disc sectors
and the cluster that contains the first part of a
file is recorded in the disc catalogue. However,,
because data can be deleted and ‘holes’ opened
up on a disc, files may be spread across a disc
in disjointed chunks. To locate the rest of a file
we must consult a ‘FAT’ or ‘File Allocation
Table’. A FAT contains a series of pointers -
one for each cluster. And the pointers it
contains are diemselves cluster numbers. So,
once we have the number of a file’s first cluster
we simply look up the next cluster number in
the FAT and so on. To make things awkward,
FAT entries tend to be 12 bits long. This
explains the occasional need to multiply things

46

ACORN USKR NOVHMBKR 1988

by 1.5 when extracting information. FNevalfat
takes a cluster number (multiplied by the
magic 1.5) and returns the number of the next
cluster to examine. The file is loaded - cluster
by cluster - into the buffer called buf%.

The procedure PROCcluster performs the
task of loading a single cluster and takes two
parameters: the cluster number and the loca-
tion in memory to place the data that is read.

PALETTE

FILES

This short procedure will allow you to use
palette files produced with the Desktop palette
editor in your own programs. It should work
in any 16-colour mode.

1000 DEF PROCpalette (f
ile$)

1010 LOCAL file%, col%
1020 file%=OPENIN file$
1030 FOR col%=0 TO 15
1040 COLOUR col%, BGET#
file%, BGET# file%, BGE
T# file%

1050 NEXT

1060 VDU 19, 0, 24, BGE
T# file%, BGET# file%, B
GET# f ile%

1070 FOR col%=l TO 3
1080 MOUSE COLOUR BGET#
file%, BGET# file%, BGE
T# file%

1090 NEXT

1100 CLOSE# file%

1110 ENDPROC

Procedure to load palette files

It redefines all the colours, as well as the
border and pointer.

TAK

TWO

Loyal readers may well remember David
Johnson-Davies’ article on the Tak function. It
appeared in the June 1986 issue of Acorn User ,
and an update came along in November 1986.
The Tak function is a useful little device for
comparing the speeds of different machines

and different languages. We thought it was
about time to try the Arc at the Tak problem,
and the result is listing 2 on the yellow pages.

The function Tak ( ) takes three parameters:
x, y and z. If x is less than or equal to y, the
value of the function is z. If x is greater than y,
the value of the function is defined to be:

Tak (Tak (x-l,y,z), Tak (y-l,z,x),

Tak (z-l,x,y))

As you can see, it is very recursive.

TTie original article tested different languages
by calculating the value of Tak (18,12,6) which
is, incidentally, seven. BBC Basic managed the
task in 185 seconds while the machine code
version managed it in 2.64.

Listing 2 on the yellow pages finds the same
answer in three different ways: using a stan-
dard Basic function, using a simple ARM
machine code routine and using an ARM
routine that stores values in a table for future
reference. Table 1 shows the various timings
and the performance of the Archimedes is as
impressive as you might expect.

The Basic function is called FNt and the
shortness of die name improves the speed. The
first machine code routine is called by FNmc
and the integer variables B%, C% and D%
are used to pass the values of x, y and z to
‘.tak’ which does the work.

If you’re familiar with ARM assembly
language you should be able to see how it
works. The useful multiple store and load
commands STM and LDM come in very
handy when writing ‘recursive’ programs such
as ‘.tak’. They can be used to preserve variables
in exactly the same way as the Basic command
LOCAL does, ‘.tak’ begins by preserving the
values of x, y and z, together with the link
register. If x is not greater than y, the value of
z is returned immediately. The register (r) is
used to pass results back through the ‘recursive
tree’. Thus:

CMP x, y

MOVLE r, z

LDMLEFD (sp) ! , (x,y,z,pc)

is just about directly equivalent to the part of
the Basic function FNt that says:

IF x<=y THEN =z

The rest of the routine merely shuffles the
contents of registers about in order to make
the three subsidiary calls to ‘.tak’. Intermediate

values are preserved on the stack where neces-
sary. The second machine code routine, ‘.tab-
tak’, is a simple extension of the first. The only
addition is that the table at ‘.table%’ is ex-
amined to see if the value being calculated at
present has already been worked out. If so, the
value previously found is returned - removing
the need for further calculation. If the value
has not already been worked out it is calcu-
lated in the usual way and then stored in the
table for future reference. The appropriate
position in the table is found with the help of
an MLA and an MUL instruction. The ARM
multiply instructions are slower than other
instructions (they take 16 clock cycles), but are
nonetheless great time (as well as space) saving
devices. They are particularly useful when
addressing large tables, as is the case with
‘.tabtak’.

Using a table in this way dramatically
improves the performance of the function. The
table needs to be cleared to -1 beforehand
(the value that indicates no previous calculation
has been made). We’ve cheated a little by
doing this before starting the stopwatch, but
rest assured - to clear the table in machine-
code takes a neglible amount of time and
wouldn’t affect die overall result.

BARS OF

GOLD

We finish off this month’s selection with a
little something in mode 15 from Dave Law-
ence. Although it’s nice to have 256 colours to
play with, the odd way in which the colours
are arranged makes it difficult to select the
right hues - particularly when trying to create
a nice graduated ‘colour scale’.

Dave’s program - listing 3 on the yellow
pages - groups the 256-colour mode colours
together to form scaled bars. In total, 38 such
scales may be obtained and listing 3 displays
them all.

Each scale consists of 12 colours and is built
up from data stored at the end of listing 3. A
symbol (‘*’, ‘O’, T or ‘#’) is read for each of
the red, green and blue components of the
colour. This symbol is decoded by PROCst to
provide ‘start’ and ‘increment’ values and these
are used to build up the scale.

Using these colour scales for sprites and
other graphic effects can add considerable
‘depth’ to a screen.

Send your programs , hints and tips for the
Archimedes to: Arc Agora , Acorn User, Red-
wood Publishing , 20-26 Brunswick Place , Lon-
don N1 6DJ.

Rewards for published items go up to £20, so
go on - write in . . .

\7

Language /Method

Machine

Time (seconds)

BBC Basic 2 FN

BBC Model B

185.00

6502 machine code

BBC Model B

2.64

BBC Basic 5 FN

Archimedes

21.93

ARM machine code

Archimedes

0.15

ARM code + table

Archimedes

0.00 (!)

Table 1. How long it took the Arc and BBC micro to calculate Tak (18,12,6) by various methods

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

Screen»Mac - Transfers graphics between the
BBC Microcomputer and Macintosh

Screen»Mac allows you to exchange bit-
mapped graphics images between a BBC

Microcomputer and a Macintosh.

Applications include:

► Incorporate BBC Micro screen displays in
documents created on a Macintosh, or in
HyperCard stacks.

► Use MacPaint, and other Macintosh tools,
to create graphics for BBC Microcomputer
programs.

► Transfer photographic images to a BBC
Micro using a Macintosh-based scanner.

► Use Macintosh clip-art in BBC software.

View»Mac - Transfers and converts documents
to MacWrite from View on the BBC Micro

View»Mac converts documents from the
View word processor on the BBC
Microcomputer and Master 128, to
MacWrite on the Macintosh. The resulting
MacWrite file can then be edited, or
imported into other Macintosh applications.

View»Mac will also transfer any type of file
from the BBC Microcomputer; a catalogue of
the DFS or ADFS disc is displayed on the
Macintosh screen to allow you to select files
or change directories.

View rulers and formatting, extended
highlights, and stored commands, are all
converted to their MacWrite equivalents.

M'.im

kll KI 0 >i« nltm «M i T iu :U<rM

win? Ti*r on »K « H* irdctH »r*

to t W lU aJ.-U uaihj . ,10911.

HUM fi Hthf

f> w

*♦ »t» «jitv rtf****! tot IU <im 1 p.p. 4 #»wn »M
l»r«t T4» tr.rjf.ri.-l trc* 'irr U

iicetpcitM iw tU (imI ,»;» J.ti.T. nU Kit ei

tb»ir fit* ioiaittlrg «rj UgUk-ji.: 119

Tt* tin! »rt*iik II n+r |>i*t*4 o«* 0 M 0 in *|i 1.

L.i.iTitt.r II « l:t» wtiHi tc-i
oo (1* Scftoel Olllii |r iMti

BBC BASIC - Now available for Macintosh

BBC BASIC has become established as the
major programming language used and
taught in UK schools. Its structuring
features, such as named procedures and
functions with arguments, make it an ideal
language for learning to program.

Now Macintosh™ owners can program in a
version of BBC BASIC designed to behave in
exactly the same way as on the BBC
Microcomputer or Acorn Master 128, and
interchange programs directly.

BBC BASIC for the Macintosh includes an
integral editor, for the fast entry and editing
of programs, and built-in menu commands

for transferring programs to and from a BBC
Microcomputer.

HUMAN C O M P U T E R
1NTE RFAC E- LIMITED

For more information on Mac Connectivity:

Human-Computer Interface Limited
25 City Road, Cambridge, CB1 1DP, England.

Telephone: Cambridge (0223) 314934

EPROMS, 8271

Exc VAT 1

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1-9 27128 250nS 21V

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10+ 27128 250nS 21V

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10+ 27128 250nS 12.5V

2.91

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485

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1-9 TTLCmos set

4.50

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39.13

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Acorn 8271 DFS

45 22

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45.22

5V4 DISC DRIVES

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9043

104 00

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117.39

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85 22

98 00

MD4006 400k & PSU

100 87

11600

MD802C 800k No PSU

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204 35

235 00

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MONITORS

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68 70

79 00

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68 70

79 00

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82 61

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Microvitec 1451

221 74

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(Prices me BBC Cable)

PHILIPS CM8833

with BBC cable

£249.00 (£216.52 + VAT)

ROMS

Exc VAT

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35 65

41 00

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3565

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48 70

56 00

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37 39

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71 30

82 00

Spell Master

40 87

47 00

View Spell

27 83

32 00

View 3 ROM

55 65

64 00

View 2 1

38 26

44 00

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38 26

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68 70

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62 61

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DISKETTES

100% error free

(lifetime warranty)

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10 Banana Roversiblo disks

865

995

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990

10 96tpiO/SD D ♦ case

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50 96tpi D S D O in boxes

17.17

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100 96tpi D S D O in boxos

32 09

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40 Disc Box 3 5" ♦ lock

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5 65

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1 39

MASTER/ARCH

Ex VAT Inc VAT
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VOLTMACE JOYSTICKS

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with BBC cable & paper

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with Screen Dump 2m cable and
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£165.00 (£143.48 + VAT)

Exc VAT Inc VAT

KXP 1080 Fabric ink ribbon 4.26 4.90

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PANASONIC KXP1082

(as 1081 but 160cps)
with BBC cable & paper

£189.00 (£1 64.35+ VAT)

CITIZEN 120D

with BBC cable & paper

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STAR LC10

with BBC cable & paper

£205.00 (£178.26+ VAT)

STAR LC10 COLOUR

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JUKI 6100

with BBC cable & paper

£299.00 (£266.00+ VAT)

Amstrad LQ3500 (24)

with BBC cable & paper

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PRINTER RIBBONS

Inc VAT
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552

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Phono lor quantity discounts

KAGA/TAXAN KP815

with BBC cable & paper

£179.00 (£155.65 + VAT)

CANON PW1080A

with BBC cable & paper

£179.00 (£155.65 + VAT)

EPSON LX800

with BBC cable & paper

£229.00 (£199.13 + VAT)

EPSON LQ500

with BBC cable & paper

£325.00 (£282.61+ VAT)

MP 480 (480 cps)

with BBC cable & paper

£299.00 (£260.00 + VAT)

PRINTERS/CABLES/ETC.

Exc VAT Inc VAT
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Epson FX1000 400 00 460 00

Epson FXBOO 313 04 360 00

1 5m (4 toot) BBC Cablo 5 70 6 50

2.0m (6 foot) 7 74 8 90

Compact printer cablo 7 74 8 90

IBM Archimedes cablo 6 00 6 90

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6100 Shoot Foodor 188 70 217 00

Printer Dust Covers 4 00 4 60

Phone for our best price before placing your order

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BBC MASTER

Master 128 359.00

Master Turbo upgrade 99.00

Master 512 upgrade 199.00

Master Econet Module 37.60

BBC MASTER COMPACT
(3W DRIVE)

Master Compact Entry System

299.00

Master Compact Mono System

349.00

Master Compact Colour System

499.00

RS232 Upgrade Kit

27.50

3 l /i to 51/2 Ext Drive Lead

12.50

Compact Printer Lead

10.00

DISC DRIVES

51 / 4 " Akhter 2 Year Warranty

MD400A D/S 40/80 no PSU

99.00

MD400B D/S 40/80 with PSU

115.00

MD802C Dual D/S 40/80 no PSU

199.00

MD802DM Dual D/S 40/80

with PSU in Plinth

249.00

3!#' Akhter 2 Year Warranty

MD400F Single 400K no PSU

98.00

MD400G Single 400K with PSU

108.00

5V4" NEC 1 Year Warranty

DN400A D/S 40/80 no PSU

99.00

DN400B D/S 40/80 no PSU

116.00

DN802C Dual D/S 40/80 no PSU

199.00

DN802E Dual D/S 40/80 no PSU

249.00

MONITORS

1431 Microvitec Std Res Colour

169.00

1451 Microvitec Med Res Colour

209.00

7502 Phillips High Res Green

69.00

7522 Phillips High Res Amber

74 00

PRINTERS (incl. Master/Compact Lead)

Matrix

Citizen 120D 120cps25NLQ80Co!

129.00

Star LC 10 100cps25NLQ80Col

209.00

Epson LC800inc Tractor Unit

209.00

Star LC2410 24pin 80Col

359.00

Star NX 1520cps30NLQ 136Col

329.00

Epson FXIOOOinc Tractor 136Col

455.00

Daisywheel

Panasonic Kx P3131 17cps

299.00

Brother HR20 22cps

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Citizen Cl 10 Overture

1799.00

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2664.00

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ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

49

System

305

310

310M

440

*

s
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Watford Electronics

Acorn ^

The choice
of Experience

Jessa House, 250 Lower High Street, Watford WD1 2AN, England
Tel: Watford (0923) 37774 Tlx: 8956095 Fax: 01 950 8989
Shop Hours: 9am to 6pm (Mon. -Sat.) Thursdays 9am to 8pm
All prices exclusive of VAT; subject to change without notice 8i available on request.

Credit Card Orders (ACCESS 8t VISA) Tel (0923) 33383 or 50234 (24 Hours)

The choice
before and after
the experience

rchimedes

micro

Basic

£699

£829

£879

£2399

Mono Colour

£759

£875

£925

£2449

£909

£1025

£1099

£2595

(Securicor carr. £10 on Micros)

Archimedes FREE
PRINTER OFFER

FREE, £160 worth of Hardware

With every Archimedes Micro purchased
from us this month, we are giving away
absolutely FREE a Panasonic KX-P1081 Dot
Matrix PRINTER and an Archimedes PRINTER
LEAD worth £160. If you already own a prin-
ter, then simply phone in for alternatives.
(P.S. This offer does not apply with 0%
finance scheme mentioned in column).

0.5 Mb RAM for 305 £149

Podule Backplane £37

ROM Podule (Computer Concepts) £48

ROM Podule (C C) with Battery Backup £59
ROM Podule (takes five 8 bit ROMs,
of 16, 32, 64 or 128K) £56

Archimedes Ref Manual £29

2nd 800K floppy disc drive
(for 305, 310 & 410) £118

Econet Network Board £40

Backplane for 2 podules. with fan
(305,310) £39

I/O Podule (with User port. Analogue port
& 1MHz bus) £85

MIDI add-on to I/O Podule £38

MIDI Expansion Card f66

Real time Video Digitiser (Watford) £249

Sound Sampler (Armadillo) £105

20 Mb Hard Disc & Controller Card £469

WORDPROCESSORS

Wordwise +

£18

Pipedream

£89

Image Writer

£25

View

£49

Interword ROM

£35

Viewspell

£32

1st Word Plus

£79

Viewlndex

£12

Archie Spell Master

£49

DATABASES

AlphaBase £39

System's Delta Plus

Viewstore

SPREADSHEETS

Intersheet ROM £35 Viewsheet

£49

£60

£49

BUSINESS GRAPHICS

GammaPlot £30 Interchart ROM £22

INTEGRATED PACKAGES

Logistix - Database, Spreadsheet, Time Manage-
ment & Business Graphics

£95

PC EMULATION Pack

(for 310, 410 & 440), including MSDOS 3.21

GRAPHICS, ART & DESIGN

Interchart £25 Gamma Plot

Artisan £31 Gamma Plus

Support’Disc £17 Autosketch

Toolkit (Beebug) £32
ArcTermulator £59

Toolkit (Clares)
Zarch

£79

£30

£60

£69

£31

£16

LANGUAGES

ANSI 'C'; ISO-PASCAL, FORTRAN 77; £95 each

Cambridge LISP; PROLOG X £181 each

Archimedes Assembler £189

TWIN EDITOR £27

0% (APR) FINANCE

For a limited period, Watford Electronics are
able to offer the Archimedes range of
microcomputers at 0% (APR) finance. Credit
facility available subject to status Please
inquire for further details.

(Watford Electronics are Licenced Credit
Brokers)

Archimedes to BBC SERIAL LINK

Using this simple data link, it is possible to
solve all your BBC to Archimedes data transfer
problems. The kit is supplied with a disk, and
the necessary cable to connect the two
computers. Using this package it is possible to
transfer any data from the BBC to Archimedes
at upto 19200 baud.

By far the easiest way to transfer data to' your
new computer.

Only £25

Archimedes 5 Vtl’/ZVz" Disc drive
Interface

With this interface it is possible to connect
almost any 5V473V?" disc drive with its own
power supply to the Archimedes. NO
SOLDERING is involved. Supplied complete
with necessary lead.

Only £19

Note; This is not simply a lead. Attempting to
connect an external disc drive by direct
connection may result in damage to your Micro.

By Popular demand we are now
supplying refurbished and fully
guaranteed BBC Micro Model B with
Disc Filing System

(Please telephone for price & availability)

Archimedes On-site Maintenance
now available

(Please write in for further details)

The 80186 Co-Processor

This package consists of the Master 512 board,
Watford Co-Pro Adaptor, 1770 Disc Upgrade
and Acorn ADFS. This is a complete package,
with its own power supply, ready to interface
with your BBC Micro. The Master 512 board
using the 80186 16 bit Processor at 10MHz and
running Digital Research DOS Plus, gives a high
degree of IBM compatibility at an extremely
reasonable price. Included in the 512k package
is a mouse and the amazing Digital Research
GEM suite of software; GEM Paint, GEM draw
and GEM desktop giving a complete Mouse
Icons environment (All other GEM packages will
work on the 512k). Famous packages that will
work with the 512k board include Wordstar,
Dbase II, Lotus 123 and many others. The only
requirement to upgrade any BBC Model B to
this system is you must have twin 80 track disc
drives

New low price £175

CREDIT TERMS now available.
Please telephone or write in for
further information.

BBC MASTER

MASTER 128K Micro incl. Acorn's:
View, Viewsheet, ADFS, BASIC Editor
& TERMINAL plus £125 worth of
FREE OFFER (see below) £379

SPECIAL OFFER

FREE . . . £105 worth of

Hardware & Software

Gemini's OFFICE MATE & OFFICE
MASTER packages on Disc consisting
of: Database, Spreadsheet, Beebplot
graphics. Accounts packs: Cashbook,
Final Accounts, Mailist, Easyledger,
Invoice & Statements, Stock Control
and Watford's double sided 1
Megabyte (unformated) single disc drive
complete with cables, ready to connect to
the micro - with every BBC Master
purchased from us this month.

BBC MASTER with Turbo Board +
above SPECIAL OFFER £513

51 2K Processor Add on Board
"inc. Mouse and GEM package" £75

BBC MASTER plus 512K 80186
Co-processor Board (incl. Mouse
and GEM package) plus the above
£105 worth of SPECIAL OFFER

£449

ADD-ONs & ACCESSORIES

Turbo 65C102 Add-on Module £116

Econet Module for the Master £40

Twin ROM Cartridge for Master £7.50

Quad ROM Cartridge for Master £11

Universal Processor Adaptor £75

Master Reference Manual I (No VAT) £14

Master Reference Manual II (No VAT) £14

Master Advance Ref. Manual (No VAT)£19

64K Upgrade Kit for B + £32

Acorn 1770 DFS Kit complete £49

ECONET Upgrade Kit for BBC £42

ALL ECONET UPGRADES Available
ARIES' Professional IEEE Interface £238

Acorn IEEE Interface Complete £265

Morley Teletext Adaptor with ATS Rom £99

Filestore E01 £699 Filestore E20 £599

Filestore E01 & E20 together £999

BBC MASTER COMPACT

System 1 Standard Package £299

System 1A System 1 + TV Modulator £315
System 2 System 1 4- Green Hires Monitor

£345

System 3 System 1 + Medium Res Colour

Monitor £469

RS232 Kit for BBC Compact £25

Additional 3W Drive for BBC Compact £90

(Securicor carriage £7)

65C102 2nd PROCESSOR

(65C102 replaces the original
Acorn 6502 2nd Processor)

This amazing package consists of the Acorn
65C102 'Turbo' Board, the Watford Co-Pro
Adaptor and Acorn 1.2 DNFS ROM. The 'Turbo'
board, running at 4MHz with 64k of additional
RAM will increase the speed by between 50 and
200°o depending on the application running,
and allow a BASIC program of upto 44k in any
screen mode. Simply by plugging in the Co-Pro
and the DNFS ROM with its special Tube host
code and you massively increase the power of
any Model B. This is a complete package, with
its own power supply, ready to interface with
your BBC Micro.

£159

Z88 Sinclair's
Portable Micro

The worlds first, truly portable Micro.
It is A4 size, only an inch thick and
weighs under 2lbs. Ideal for use when
travelling or as a personal organiser.

Only:

£239

FREE

With every Z88 purchased from us this
month, we are giving away absolutely FREE,
a Z88 to BBC Interface Link, 4 rechargeable
batteries and a compact Mains Battery
Charger worth £38.

ACCESSORIES

Mains Adaptor

32K RAM Pack or 32K EPROM Pack
128K RAM Pack or 128K EPROM Pack
512K RAM Pack

Z88 Spellmaster for Pipedream

Z88 to BBC Link

Z88 to PC Link II

Z88 EPROM ERASER

Serial Printer Cable

Parallel Printer Cable

Z88 Modem

Z88 Soft Carrying Case

Sinclair Z88 Computing Book

AA Nicad Rechargeable Battery

Battery Charger, Compact & Fast (3 Hours)

£8.65

£17.35

£43.40

£169

£51

£21.70

£30

£34.75

£8.65

£24.00

£145

£8.50

£9.95

£1.50

£6

CO-PRO Adaptor

Now for the first time you can add the Master
Co-processor boards, to your standard BBC
model B, or B Plus. With this brand new launch
from Watford Electronics you can attach any BBC
Master co-processor to the original BBC Micro.
Once again Watford strides ahead with a new
concept in BBC B Micro add-ons. This unique
external Co-Pro Adaptor, is protected by patent
applications.

Use the super fast Turbo Board with your BBC B,
it is much faster than the 6502 2nd processor
superseding it.

With the 51 2K addon your standard BBC machine
achieves IBM PC compatibility at a realistic price
running GEM, Lotus 123 and many other pro-
grams. Included with the 512k package is a high
precision mouse and the Digital Research GEM
suite of software; GEM Desktop, GEM Write GEM
Paint. This requires both the 1770 DFS and the
ADFS to be fitted to your computer.

To use other co-processors you require a BBC B
wjth DNFS 1.20 or higher, or BBC B+ fitted with
1770 DFS 2.20 or greater. Co-processors work
exactly like a second processor.

Master owners may use Co-Pro to add a second
Co-processor externally.

Watford, brings power to your BBC at only:

£35 (carr £5)

Archimedes
Real-Time Digitiser

Watfords' Archimedes Video Digitiser is the most sophisticated
digitiser ever designed for a micro. It provides a fast and
flexible means of capturing images from a video camera or
recorder for display and manipulation on the Archimedes
range of Micros. Off-air television signals may also be digitised
via a video recorder or TV tuner.

Once captured, Video images can be stretched, squahsed,
rotated, stored on disk, printed, or used by applications
software.

Applications include desktop publishing, graphics, anim-
ation, image analysis and recognition, medical imaging, auto-
matic inspection and measurement, databases, interactive
video, remote transmission of pictures via a modem, move-
ment detection ... or anything else you can think of!

SPECIFICATION

SOFTWARE

All the driver software for the digitiser is contained in a ROM
on the podule. Facilities provided include:

• Grabbing of images to the screen or dumping to memory

• Continuous grabbing and display for previewing or camera
alignment.

• 'Hot key' grabbing - pressing a (configurable) key combin-
ation grabs and displays an image on the screen while another
program (e.g. paint software such as Artisan) is running.

• Scaling (zoom/shrink) any section of an image to any size in
X and Y directions, with optional X/Y flip, window clip and
logical IAND/0R/X0R) plotting.

• Rotation and scaling to any angle and size, rotating about
any point, with optional window clip, and logical (AND/OR/
X0R) plotting.

• Very versatile matrix printer screendump facility for Epson
FX, LQ and EX compatible printers - pictures can be printed to
ANY size (including multiple sheets) at any orientation, using
any available printer density and one of six internal sets of dot
patterns, or with user definable patterns (pattern editor
supplied). The screen-dump can also be used for general
purpose graphics screen printing.

• Pixel value lookup tables: pixel values can be passed
through a user defined lookup table to allow contrast enhance-
ment, thresholding pseudo-colouring etc.

• Smoothing and noise spot removal to enhance image
quality.

• Creation of sprites from all or part of a digitised image.

• Saving and loading of digitised images in compressed
format.

• Combination of pictures by adding, averaging, subtracting,
multiplication etc.

• Much faster versions of the Arthur ‘ScreenLoad and
•ScreenSave commands.

Software facilities are accessed via operating system star (•)
commands and SWI calls. High resolution screen modes using
MultiSync type monitors are supported.

UTILITY DISK

A disk is included, containing sample pictures, examples and
utility programs including the following:

• Colour image grabbing using colour filters with mono-
chrome or colour cameras, including colour balance adjust-
ment and scaling facilities.

• Pattern editor for 2 colour display modes and printer screen-
dumps.

• 512 line interlaced display for non MultiSync monitors,
t Thresholding to create two colour images.

• Capture and replay of animated sequences.

• Several example programs illustrating the use of digitiser
software.

RESOLUTION

Images are digitised to 512 (h) x 256 (v) pixels, and then scaled
to fit the Archimedes' screen. It is possible to digitise to 512 x
512 pixels if the picture is stationary for about 0.1 second. 512 x
512 images can either be displayed on a MultiSync monitor, or
on a normal monitor using interlacing.

Pictures are digitised to 64 levels of grey (6 bits). Note,
however, that it is only possible to display all 64 levels on a
monochrome monitor, or a colour monitor which has a
composite (CVBS) input. For this reason, the Philips CM8533
monitor is recommended instead of the standard Archimedes
monitor. It is also possible to connect both a colour and a
monochrome monitor at the same time.

Any 2,16 or 256 colour graphics mode can be used to display
digitised pictures. In two colour modes, grey levels are repre-

sented using dot patterns, which may be redefined if required
edit<

(a pattern editor is supplied).

Cont.

Video fields are captured in real time (1/50th sec.), and then
transferred to Archimedes' memory or the screen. The grab /
display rate is dependant on the screen mode and picture size,
up to 25 fields per second for quarter screen images, or 12.5
per second for fullscreen (Mode 9).

HARDWARE

The digitiser is a single width podule, with a BNC socket on the
rear panel for the video input, which may optionally be
terminated via a link. There is 128K of on-board memory to

store the digitised image, and a 32K ROM on the podule
‘ I the ‘

contains all the driver software.

Automatic video level control and black level clamping
circuitry is used to ensure that the optimum contrast is
obtained from a variety of video sources. A filter is included to
avoid patterning effects when using colour sources.

Price £249

Watford Electronics are
Appointed & Authorised
DEALERS / REPAIR CENTRE
for Acorn Computers Ltd
Microvitec Monitors
Panasonic Printers

BBC PCB DESIGNER

'At last! A PCB design package for the BBC Micro
that eclipses some industry CAD software. Hard
to believe, isn't it? Just look at some of the
impressive package specification:

Library Component Designer

Component Library (over 200 parts)

Component List Editor

NetList Editor

PCB Board Designer

Plotter Driver

Dot Matrix Printer Driver

This integrated suite of programs is packed full of
sophisticated PCB related features making the
design of a circuit board a dream instead of a
nightmare.

Input for the design may be manual or Auto
mode.

Some of the PCB Designer's features are:

Over 120 library pad sizes/shapes
Four colour adjustable palette
Zoom range 2:1 to “U:4
Highlighting of specific tracks
Normal and surface mounted components
Rapid screen review
Menu driven
Variable gridlock
Switchable measurement grid
Pre-select pan/scroll facility
Large 24” x 24" Board size
Copy route facility
Connectivity held at all times
Ratsnesting of part connections
Auto-plaement of text references
Text linked to parts
Automatic placement of vias
Printer and plotter outputs provided
Comprehensive manual

TYPES OF PLOT OUTPUT

Top and bottom track artworks, top and bottom
silkscreens, solder resist mask, drilling detail
drawing and check plot. All these may be with
pad holes on/off, scale of 2:1 or 1:1, board edge
on/off, 90 degres rotation, mirror image, width of
pen, x & y offsets and batch plots to disc.

The above is only a taste of the superb features of
this software, surely capturing previously
unknown performance from the BBC Master
computer. BBC B owners will need to fit at least
one block of sideways RAM, Shadow screen
memory and a disc drive, A trackerball or a
mouse is also required.

Introductory Offer: £99

(Please write in for further technical details)

Continued

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MONITORS

All Monitors are supplied complete with BBC
connecting leads FREE.

MICRO VITEC 14"

1431 - Standard resolution as used on the
BBC television computer programme £175

1451 - Medium resolution, suitable for word
processing in mode 0 £219

1441 - High res, exceeds the capabilities of

£359

the BBC micro

1431 AP RGB 4- PAL and AUDIO £199

1451 AP RGB + PAL and AUDIO £255

2030 CS 20" Med Res £380

2040 CS 20 Hi Res £675

Dust Cover for Microvitecs £5.50

• Touchtec 501 Touch Screen £239

TAXAN 12" & 14"

• TAXAN Super Vision 2 Type 620 Hi-res RGB

Colour monitor. Ideal for Wordprocessing *£263

• TAXAN Super 3. Type 625 Ultra Hi-res, RGB

Colour) Text mode switch allows
monochrome text display in Green, Amber,
White reverse or White on Blue £313

• TAXAN 14 Multisync 770 Plus - An

autoscanning Ultra high res, colour monitor.
Ideal for Archimedes, IBM &

Compatibles £479

• NEC JC-1401P3EE 14” Multisync Ultra
Hi-res Intelligent Colour monitor. Auto scans
frequencies between 15KHz to 35KHz. Text
switch provides 7 colours for Database &
wordprocessor. £475

PHILLIPS

• BM7502 12“ Hi-res Green Monitor

• CM8833 14" Med. Res Colour Monitor

• CM8852 14" Med/High Res Colour

• CM8873 14" High Res Colour Monitor

STAR BUY

£65

£219

£249

£475

• PHILLIPS 14 Medium Res, dark glass,
attractively finished Colour Monitor -
supplied complete with RGB, SKART and
Audio/Phono Inputs. A push-button
switch toggles between Hi-Res
monochrome green text mode and full
colour display. (Please state the type of
Connecting Lead you require).

ONLY £195

Dust Cover for Phillips Monitors

£6

SPECIAL OFFER

AMBER MONITOR

'BT MERLIN/Acorn 12" Hi resolution Amber
monitor. Ideal for wordprocessing. Consealed
front panel mounted controls. Illuminated
mains on/off rocker switch. Supplied complete
with BBC Cable.

Only £49

(Offer valid wnile stocks last)

N.B. carriage on Monitors £7 (securicor)

SPARE LEADS

BNC Lead for Zenith or Philips £3

Skart Monitor Lead £5

lead for TAXAN Monitors £3

Archimedes Colour Monitor Lead £7.50

RGB lea
Archimi

SWIVEL BASES

By placing your monitor on one of our
professional swivel bases (see monitors
drawing on the left), you gain the freedom to
adjust the monitor viewing angle to suit your
needs and thus alleviate eye strain and reduce
back stress. The front mounted adjustable
control dial makes adjusting the monitor
viewing angle very simple.

for 12” Monitors £7 (carr. £2.50)

for 14” Monitors £10 (carr. £2.50)

Anti-Glare VDU Screen

These extremely effective, easy to install, 12” &
14" VDU screens eliminate harmful glare,
improves contrast on colour monitors.

Increases productivity in offices. A must for all
wordprocessor users. Hundreds of these
screens are in daily use in various branches of
one of the leading High Street banks.

£12

TAXAN KP-815 PRINTER

80 column, Bi-directional, 160 CPS, (NLQ
24cps); Friction & tractor feed + paper roll
holder as standard; Epson FX compatible.

Offer Price £155

Taxan KP915 132 Column Printerr £275
(carr £7)

RS232 Interface £49

RS232 Interface with 2K Buffer £69

RS232 Interface with 16K Buffer £89

Panasonic KX-P1081

Attractively finished in BBC beige. Bi-
directional, logic seeking. Has IBM and Epson
RX compatible command calls. Speed: 120CPS
draft mode. 24 CPS NLQ mode. Character width
range from 5 cpi to 17 cpi. Upto 40
downloadable characters. Functions include.
Proportional spacing, Justification, centering
and left & right ranging.

(Price inludes, FREE a 4ft Printer Lead, and a
Dump Out 3. Screen Dump ROM worth £35
with every printer purchased from us).

Special Price: £145 (carr. £6)

Optional RS232 Interface: £39

Panasonic KX-P3131
Daisy-Wheel Printer

Low-cost, high performance; Bi-directional,

Logic seeking, Proportional spacing, 10, 12 & 15
CPI, Speed 17CPS. 6K Buffer.

Only £255 (carr. £7)

£90
£12

Tractor Feed
Daisy Wheel (various)

Ribbons: Standard £4.50; Long Life £7
Extra 32K Printer Buffer (internally fitted)

£13

RS-232 GENDER CHANGERS

Male to Female
Female to Male
Male to Female

£6.95

£6.95

£6.95

Panasonic KX-P4450
LASER PRINTER

Latest technology at affordable price. Prints 11
pages a minute. Two A4 size paper bins, Serial
& Parallel ports, 512K Buffer - expandable to
1.5Meg, 15 Character LCD Display, Diablo 630,
Epson FX-286, IBM Proprinter, HP Laserjet
emulations, 5K pages per month duty cycle.

ONLY £1,649

NEC P2200 PINWRITER

24 pin; 80 column; 168CPS - 56CPS LQ; Epson
LQ compatible, 7K Buffer; 7 resident FONTS,
Friction & Tractor feed, front load single sheet
feed. etc.

Price: £269

FREE Price includes a Free BBC Cable.

Cut Sheet Feeder £65

Additional Font Cartridge £25

NEC P2200 Pinwriter Ribbon £6

NEC PINWRITER
P6/P7 Plus

The Ultimate matrix Printer for Business.

Some of the features are:

• Print Speed, 265cps in Draft and 90cps in
letter quality.

• Inbuilt Tractor & Friction feed.

• A paper park & low tear of facility.

• 20 inbuilt FONTS as standard.

• A Font cartridge facility.

• 8K byte Printer Buffer as standard.

• 24 Pin Printhead

• Colour Option available

P6 Plus 80 columns
P7 Plus 136 columns
Cut Sheet Feeder
Colour Option
Serial Interface

£439

£545

£125

£74

£73

EPSON PRINTERS

EX800

£415

LQ850

£469

EX1000

£569

LQ1050

£599

FX850

£315

LQ2550

£899

FX1000

£425

LX800

£179

GQ3500 Laser
LQ500

£1249

£285

SQ2500

£975

Star LC10

£192

LC10 Colour

£239

PLOTTERS

Hitachi 672 Colour Plotter
Plotmate Plotter A4S
Plotmate Plotter A3M

£475

£379

£549

CUT SHEET FEEDERS for
EX800 £149; EX1000/LQ2550 £210; FX800
£149; FX1000 £179; LQ/LX800 £139;

LQ500 £75; LQ850 £135; LQ1050 £175.

TRACTOR FEED for

EX800/1000 £85; LQ800 £44; LQ850 £69;
LQ1050 £85; LQ2500 £195

ACCESSORIES

• EX800/1000 Colour Option £55

• EX800/1000 Colour Ribbon £18

• LQ2500 Colour Option £65

(Securicor Carriage on Printers £7

EPSON PRINTER INTERFACES

All these interfaces fit inside the printer.
RS232 £32 RS232 + 2K Buffer £52

IEEE 488 £40 RS232 + 8K Buffer £79

Universal

Printer Sharers/Changers

Connect upto 5 Micros to 1 printer or 5 Printers
to 1 Micro with our combined, Sharer/Changer.
These Units are made to a very high standard.
For extreme reliability, they all have Printed
Circuit Boards mounted inside the case, (not a
Spagetti Junction of wires). Internal connection
is made via high quality ribbon cables.

(Ideal for School environments.)

Connects

2 to 1

3 to 1
5 to 1

Serial

£22

£30

£40

Centronics

£23

£32

£42

(Cables extra at £6 each. Please specify type
required when ordering)

INTEGREX COLOUR JET
PRINTER

Colour Jet 132 Printer

£515

Paper Roll

£6

Screen Dump Software

£10

Colour Cartridge

£14

Black Cartridge

£8

100 A4 OHP transparencies

£55

8K Serial Interface Optional

£99

Professional Printer Stand

This new profes-
sional printer
stand takes hardly
more space than
your printer. Due
to the positioning
of the paper feed
and re-fold

compartments ie.
one above the
other, the desk
space required for
your printer func-
tions is effectively halved. Additional facilities
include ^fasy access to paper from both sides,
used wtfn both top and bottom feed paper and
with its dial controlled paper feed system with
adjustable deflector plates it ensures smooth
paper flow and automatic refolding.

80 Column version £23 (carr. £2.50)
132 Column version £26 (carr. £2.50)

PRINTER LEADS

BBC Centronics 4’ long

£5

BBC Centronics 6’ extra long

£7

Compact's Special Centronics Lead

£7

Archimedes Printer Lead 1 meter

£7

IBM Parallel Lead 1 meter

£7

Double Ended 36 way Centronic Lead

£9

RS232 Leads (Various)

P.O.A.

PRINTER RIBBONS &
VARIOUS DUST COVERS

Type

Ribbons

Dust Covers

BBC Micro

_

£3.50

BBC Master

_

£4.00

Archimedes Micro pair

_

£9.00

IBM PCs pair

_

£9.95

Brother HR15/20

£3.00

£5.00

DMP2000

£3.75

£4.75

EX/LQ800

£4.50

£4.50

EX/LQ1000

£7.50

£5.00

RX/FX80/85/800/MX80

£3.90

£4.95

RX/FX100/1000

£5.75

_

Kaga/Taxan KP810/815

£4.90

£4.00

LC10 (Black)

£4.25

£5.00

LQ500/800

£3.75

£5.00

LQ1050/LQ2500

£8.50

£5.50

LX80/86/800

£3.80

£4.50

M1009/GLP

£3.80

£3.75

Panasonic KX1080/81

£4.00

£4.75

SQ2500

£23.00

£5.50

Star NL10

£3.75

£4.50

Olivetti Ink Jet

Cartridges (set of 4)

£9

Our attractive Dust Covers are manufactured
from translucent PVC. The seams are stitched
and edges are taped to prevent splitting due to
continuous use.

Listing Paper (Perforated)

• 1.000 Sheets 9 Y 2 " x 7 7" Fanfold Paper £7

0 2,000 Sheets 9 Y 2 ” x 1 1" Fanfold Paper £12

• 1000 Sheets 9’/?‘ x 1 V NCR 2 Part Fanfold £19

• 1.000 Sheets 15" x 11" Fanfold Paper £9

• 1000 Sheets true A4 Fanfold Paper £1 1

• 2000 Sheets true A4 Fanfold Paper £19

• Teleprinter Roll (Econo paper) £4

(All our Fanfold paper is Micro perforated leaving
a smooth clean edge when the tractor feed strips
are detached).

Carriage IK Sheets £2.50. 2K Sheets £3.00

PRINTER LABELS

(On continuous fanfold backing sheet)

1,000 90 x 36mm (Single Row ) £5.00

1,000 90 x 36mm (Twin Row) £4.90

1.000 90 x 49mm (Twin Row) £7.50

1.000 102 x 36mm (Twin Row) £6.25

Carriage on 1.000 Labels £ 1.00

PLINTHS FOR BBC MICRO,
MASTER & PRINTERS

Protect your computer from the heat of your
VDU. Our micro plinths have slots for maximum
ventilation. The single plinth is suitable for a BBC
and VDU. whilst the double height version
provides enough room for our stacked disc drive
and other peripherals like, Eprom programmer,
music unit or simply discs & stationary. The com-
puter slides neatly in the lower section allowing
easy access to remove the lid.

The single printer stand is equally sturdy but
instead of coolingslots it has elegant cutouts on
the sides. This allows access to paper from all
sides. Colour: BBC Beige.

Single BBC Plinth
Double BBc Plinth
Printer Plinth
Single Master Plinth
Double Master Plinth

£12 (carr. £2)
£20 (carr. £3)
£12 (carr. £2)
£13 (carr £2)
£24 (carr £3)

Perspex Printer Stand

Give your Computer System a touch of Class with
our elegant, smoke finished Perspex Printer
stand. The printer sits on top and the fanfold
paper rests neatly underneath, thus occupying
the same space as the printer footprint.

Only: £16 (carr. £3)

Whether you want to type in your latest pro-
gram or the draft of a new trilogy, Watford's
manuscript holders are superb for holding your
paper at the ideal height and angle to allow you
to read and type in ease and comfort.

Available in 2 full A4 versions, desk resting and
shelf clamping. Paper is held firmly by means of a
plastic retaining ruler and a clip grip, (for resting
books or magazines, the desk top version is rec-
ommended).

Desk Top £10 (carr. £2)

Angle poise £14 (carr. £3)

MEGABUFFER 256

This new Megabuffer 256 from Watford is a full
featured 256K Printer Buffer. It allows the com-
puter to print 256,000 character in a short time
thus freeing the computer very quickly. In short it
makes light work of printing large documents,
screen dumps, etc. It is extremely simple to con-
nect. The features are:

• Low Cost, High performance.

• Improves efficiency by making more efficient
use of computer and printer.

• Compatible with any computer and printer
that uses Centronics Parallel connections
including all BBCs, IBM PCs, etc.

• Total compatibility with all software.

• Cheaper phone bills when using your
Modems.

• Ideal for those doing large graphics screen
dumps that are slow to print.

• Multi-Copy facility allows you to print several
copies via Megabuffer without going through
your computer.

• Data Dump facility is included.

• Built in test unit for both the buffer & your
printer.

In conclusion it can safely be said that
MEGABUFFER 256 is the ultimate printer 'Buffer
for both the amateur and professional user.

Only £149 (carr £2)

OKIMATE
COLOUR PRINTER

The first ribbon transfer printer in its price
range which offers fully versatile colour or black
printing. A 24 element print head produces
more than 100 shades with exceptional clarity.
Ideal for use with Quest Paint or AMX Super
Art.

Only: £119

BBC Screen Dump
Colour Ribbon
Black Ribbon

£10

£6

£6

THE EPSON RX-FX-KAGA
PRINTER COMMANDS
REVEALED

So you bought yourself a new printer, because
the salesman in the shop showed you how
clever it is and impressed you with all sorts of
printouts to show its capabilities - he may even
have offered you a special price.

However, now that you have got it home and
connected it to your BBC microcomputer, you
are wondering how to make it perform these
magical tasks. The manual seems to give no
clues, and when you type in the example
programs, the computer throws the LPRINT
statements back in your face.

Now what do you do, when this £400 piece of
high technology refuses even to move its head,
and you have stayed up until 2 in the morning
with copious supplies of coffee, desperately
trying to print something out. Once again,
Watford Electronics comes to your help with
our new book entitled THE EPSON FX-KAGA
PRINTER COMMANDS REVEALED'.

This book describes in plain, easy to
understand English, how to use and make the
most of your KP810, PW1080A or any other
Epson FX80 compatible Printers like Panasonic
KX-P1 080/1, etc., with the BBC Micro, both from
BASIC and Wordwise.

It describes in detail how to obtain the
maximum in graphics capability from your
printer and includes full indexes allowing you
to cross index the numerous commands. Every
command is explained in detail, with an
accompanying BBC Basic program and an
example of its use from Wordwise.

£5.95 (No VAT)

CREDIT CARD 24 HOUR
Ansaphone Hot Lines
(0923) 50234 or 33383

Continued •

Special 40/80 Disc Drive/DDFS Mk II Offer

• The popular 40/80 track 400K single
Disc Drive, Double Sided, cased with
Cables. Plugs directly to your Micro.

• Watford's extremely popular DDFS Disc
Interface {allows 720K storage). Will run in
both, Single & Double Density modes.

• A comprehensive User Friendly Manual.

A Bargain at Only £125 (£6 carr)

(Offer valid while stocks last)

(Ideal for educational establishments)

3W DISC DRIVE OFFER

At last, a low cost alternative to the Econet system. Watford's Intelligent
Disc Drive Sharer allows you to connect 3 BBC micros (model B, B-* and
Master series) to a single or double disc drive. Running under any DFS or
DDFS, this intelligent unit will automatically queue the computers. Each
j computer has a status light dedicated to it. If it is green you will get
; immediate access to the disk, and red means that you are next in line.

The unit plugs directly into the disc drive socket on each computer and is
powered by the mains. (N.B. Not for use with ADFS.)

Launch Price: £65 Price includes 3 Cables

These top quality 3V?" Double sided, 80
track, 1 Megabyte (unformatted each Disc
Drives), are attractively finished in BBC
beige. They are supplied complete with all
cables and a Utilities Disc. They run
directly from the BBC B/Master's own
PSU.

• CLS35 400K Unit £69

• CLD35 800K Unit £126

NOW WITH EXTRA FEATURES
AT NO EXTRA COST - Watford's latest DFS 1.44

# Incorporates Acorn's Official Tube Host Code so that those with 2nd
processors no longer need to waste a ROM socket on the DNFS.

• Option to DOUBLE the speed of BPUT and BGET.

WATFORD'S & ACORN's
SINGLE DENSITY DFS

Watford's popular and widely acclaimed DFS has now been available for six
years and has gained a large following amongst serious and educational
users of the BBC Micro. Owners of Acorn or any other standard DFS can
upgrade to our “Ultimate" DFS merely by replacing their DFS ROM. See
below for this upgrade. ( P.S . Watford's highly sophisticated DFS is fully
compatible with Acorn standard DFS). (while Acorn’s 1770 DFS is fully
compatible with Watford's Mk II DDFS)

• Complete Disc Interface Kit including DFS ROM and

fitting instructions £48

• Acorn ’s 0. 90 DFS Kit complete £49

• DFS Manual (Comprehensive) (no VA T) £6.95

(P.S. Our DFS manual is the only comprehensive
Manual available for the BBC micro and covers both
Acorn & Watford DFSs).

• Watford's sophisticated DFS ROM only £ 1 6

• We will exchange your existing DFS ROM for

Watford's Ultimate DFS ROM for only £12

• DNFS ROM only £17 • ADFS ROM only £25

Watford's Mkll 1770
Double Density DFS Interface

'Many of our customers have wanted to use our superior DDFS and Acorn
ADFS together. Now our Mk II DDFS Board with its 1770 Disc Controller, has
been adapted to allow the use of Acorn ADFS as well. It also has all the
commands of the Acorn's 1770 DFS, plus the added features:

Added features include:

Acorn ADFS compatible - Use ADFS on our DDFS board.

Tube host Code - No longer any need to have the DNFS in your machine
to use Co-Processors, even the CoPro and Master 512.

Auto 40-80 Track sensing - no need to fuss with 40/80 track switches
(even works with protected disks).

An extremely powerful 8271 emulation - ensuring compatibility with
almost all software.

New low profile - small footprint board.

Fits with all third party ROM boards.

Option to double the speed of file handling operations - BPUT and BGET.
Operates in both single and double density modes.

OSGBPB has been recoded, increasing still further the speed of file
handling.

Please note that not all DDFS's are capable of providing either the full 80°o
storage increase or of allowing a file the full size of the disk - Ours allows
both of these!

If you already have a DDFS (any manufacturer), and wish to upgrade to our
Mkll version, then simply return your existing ROM and DDFS board and we
will supply the new DDFS for only £30.00.

Mysteries of Disc Drives & DFS Revealed

Are you tired of faulty cassettes, and lengthy loading times? Do you want to
upgrade your BBC micro to take discs but you get tied up in the plethora of
jargon surrounding the choice and use of these systems.

Then The Mysteries of Disc Drives and DFS Revealed is the book for you. It
explains in detail the different types of systems available, how they are
installed and how to use them. Many examples are given including pre-
written programs to call various functions of the DFS available only through
Operating System calls. Different types of disc, 40/80 tracks etc. are all
explained. This book is ideal for the beginner confused by the plethora of
choice available in the marketplace.

£5.95 (Book No VAT)

DISC ALBUMS

Attractively finished in black leather look vinyl. Stores upto 20 Discs. Each
disc can be seen through the clear view pocket.

£4

FLOPPY HEAD CLEANER KIT

The heads in floppy drives are precision made and very sensitive to dirt. The
use of a cleaner Kit is a sensible precaution against losing valuable data. It
s recommended to clean the drive head once a week. It is very simple to
jse. Available in 3VF & 5V4", please specify.

£6

ANTISTATIC LOCKABLE DISC STORAGE UNITS

Gives double protection - Strong plastic case
that affords real protection to your discs.
Antistatic helps avoid data corruption whilst
in storage. The smoked top locks down.
Dividers and adhesive title strips are supplied

for efficient filing of discs.

• M35 - holds upto 50 5% ’ discs £6.00

• M85 -holds upto 95 5’/4" discs £8.00

• M25* - holds upto 25 3 W Discs £5.50

• M50- holds 50 3’/?" Discs £7.50

• M10 - holds upto 10 Data Cartridges £15

• Not lockable

PLASTIC
LIBRARY CASES

Holds up to 10 5VV* Discs. Only £2.00

• Special introductory offer £39.00

• DDFS Manual (No VAT) £6.95

• We will exchange your existing DFS Kit for our
sophisticated DDFS for only £25.00

Please note, as the Mkll DDFS is a hardware and software upgrade, it is not
possible for existing Watford DDFS users to simply exchange their ROM for
the new version.

DUST COVERS (For our Disc Drives)

Single CLS (without PSU) £3.20 Twin CLD (without PSU) £3.85
Single CS (with PSU) £3.95 Twin CD (with PSU) £3.90

DISC PLONKER RACK

When using ones micro, there is a tendency to have
more than one Disc on the desk. This exposes them to
the hazards of fingerprints, scratches, dust, coffee and
an untidy desk.

Why not protect your valuable data from all these
hazards with the help of our extremely handy and low
cost DISC PLONKER RACK. It holds up to eight 5V4*'
Discs.

Protection at Only: £2

Quality Disc Drives from Watford

To help you decide which drive is the most suitable for your needs (and
your pocket!), we have produced the table below.

The first capacity given in the first column indicates capacity in single
density mode. That within the brackets is the capacity in double density
mode. All disc drive type numbers start with the prefix "C".

The tinting on some of the boxes is used to indicate which Drives are 40
track (non-tinted) and which are 80 track (tinted). All our 80 track drives are
already fitted with a 40-80 select switch.

All our Disc Drives are Double Sided and will operate in both Single and
Double Density modes. Extensive experience of the usage of disc drives
suggests that the JAPANESE drives currently represent about the best in
terms of speed, reliability and overall " elegance " available for the BBC
Micro.

3M - DISKETTES

3M - SCOTCH Diskettes with Lifetime warranty from Watford Electronics
your 3M Appointed Distributor.

9 W x 5'A" S/S D/D 40 Track Diskettes (744) £ 6.00

9 10 x 5'A" D/S D/D, 40 Track Diskettes (745) £ 7.50

9 10 x 5/4” S/S D/D 80 Track Diskettes (746) £11.50

9 10 x 5'A" D/S D/D 80 Track Diskettes (747) £11.75

9 10 x 5'A" 1.6M D/S D/D High Density Discs for IBM

XT and AT £19

9 10 x 3 ’//' S/S D/D 40/80 track Discs £10.00

% 10 x 3'A" D/S D/D 40/80 track Discs £11.75

9 10 x 3 /y High Density Diskettes £37

Various UK " manufacturers' ’ of disc drives for the BBC micro (more
accurately, " packages " label other manufacturers drives with their own
name). We buy the high quality NEC and Mitsubishi drives in large
quantities directly from the manufacturers, package them and sell them at
“ dealer " prices direct to the public.

If you look around the popular BBC micro press, you will find that the prices
we quote for the top quality, new slimline disc drives are, virtually without
exception, some of the best around. These prices, coupled with the backup
of one of the country’s largest distributors of BBC peripherals provides a
superb deal.

Unless you anticipate using dual drives in a fully expanded BBC system for
long periods of time with little ventilation , then we suggest that our range of
“CL " disc drives without the PSU (Power Supply Unit) would be quite
adequate (extensive tests within our workshops have confirmed this). All
drives are supplied complete with a SPECIAL UTILITIES Disc, Cables and
Plugs. The Drives with power supply have a mains moulded plug for safety
purposes. Ideal for Schools & Colleges. We are now able to supply all single
disc drives with Power Supply, in either single or dual case. (Dual case has a
twin data cable and a power supply capable of driving two disc drives)
allows easy expansion to a dual drive unit, at a later date. Prices stated in
the pricing boxes below are for single drives in standard single cases. Single
drives in a dual case cost an extra €5. (At Watford we anticipate your needs
of tomorrow, not just today)!

When using a BBC Micro, most people find themselves short of desk space.
The Watford's BBC Micro plinths form an ideal way of recovering some of
this precious space) your BBC, Disc Drive and Monitor can all occupy the
same vertical footprint and still be comfortably situated. With the Watford
Double plinth, your Disc Drive is mounted vertically at one side, leaving a
very valuable area directly in front of you for such useful items as spare
discs, pen, paper, reference manuals, etc. Follow the trend with Watford
plinth. (Turn to the 4th page of our advert for the Plinths).

P.S. All our S'A" Disc Drives with PSU are compatible with the Compact
Micro. All you require is the special Compact Disc Drive Cables designed by
us.

Our Disc Drives conform to BS415

TOP QUALITY 3V 2 "&5Va" DISKETTES

To complement our range of Quality Discs and Disc Drives, WE are now
supplying SPECIAL OFFER packs of 10 Lifetime guaranteed discs. Each disc
has a reinforced hub ring. Supplied complete with selfstick labels and a
Plastic Library Disc Box.

• 10 x M3 3'A" D/S D/D 80 Track Discs £11

9 10 x M9 3'A" Double Side High Density £34

9 10 x M4 5 A" S/S D/D 40 Track Discs £5

9 10 x M5 5'A" D/S D/D 40 Track Discs £7

9 10 x M7 5'A" D/S D/D 80 Track Discs £9

•10 x M8 5V4" D/S H/D Hi-Density Discs £14

• 3" Double Sided Discs £3 each

Special BULK OFFER on 5%" DISCS

(Supplied packed in Anti-Static Lockable Storage Units)
(Lifetime warranty on Discs)

BULK PACK DISCS in lots of 100

Type S-S 40T D-S 40T D-S 80T

• Without Sleeves £35 £39 £45

• With Sleeves £38 £42 £48

WATFORD'S

WINCHESTER

DRIVES

Undoubtedly the best value for money Winchester Hard disc available
anywhere for the BBC Micro.

This 30 Megabyte hard disc is completely compatible with the Acorn
ADFS - that's why we have bundled it with each Winchester drive, along
with a full user guide and full utilities including file copy, 1000K save
routines, Format and Verify - in fact all you need and more.

Finished in rugged metal and fetching BBC beige, the Winchester has an
internal fan, so quiet you won't even hear it! A switched mode power
supply and a neon-lit on/off switch are there along with a light on the hard
disc to tell you when it is working - just compare the price with our
competitors' 20 or 28 Mbyte discs!

Compatible with the Master, and the BBc B (with 17 X disc interface).

• 10 Megabyte £350; • 30 Megabyte £420

Capacity

Drives without P.S.U.

Drives with P.S.U.

Single

Twin

Single

Twin

200K

(360K)

CLS 200
£89

CS 200
£98

400K

(720K)

CLS400S

£82

CLD 400
£168

CS 400S
£92

CD400

£188

800K

(1.44M)

CLD 800S
£162

CD 800S
£182

• TWIN Disc Drive Case, complete with Power Supply & Cables £43
Securicor carriage on Disc Drives £5 to £6

Prefix C = Cased Drive Suffix S = 40-80 Switchable

L = Less PSU
S = Single
D = Double

e.g. CLS400S = Cased Disc Drive, Less power supply unit, single 5'A" 400 K,
(720K in double density); Double sided; 40/80 track switchable.

Cable to connect SW' Disc Drives to BBC Compact
Single £9 Twin £12
Special Cable to connect both 3 Vi" and 5Va" Disc
Drives simultaneously to the BBC Compact £13

Twin 800K Double sided 40-80 track switchable disc drives mounted in an
attractively finished Beige colour plinth for the BBC Micro. Supplied
complete with integral power supply, cables and Utilities disc. The mains
switch with neon On/Off light indicator, and the two 40/80 track switches are
mounted on the front panel for ease of use.

CDP 800S for BBC Micro £192
CDPM 800S for Master £196
DP35-800 for BBC/Master £165

(For DP35-800S spec, see Page 8 of our advert)

(Securicor Carr. £7)

(The above drive units are 2 Megabytes unformatted)

Continued

QUEST MOUSE

The ultimate in Mouse technology, the Watford
Electronics Quest Mouse must be the most
powerful Mouse package yet produced for the
BBC Micro. Featuring state of the art 32K ROM
software the Quest Mouse package is filled with
features essential to the budding artist. The
Quest Mouse is a high precision, low profile
and large footprint mouse. It has three large
comfortable buttons and its RUBBER COATED
STEEL BALL is smooth and easy to use on
virtually any work surface. This also eliminates
any directional bias that one encounters on the
most well-known mouse for the BBC. The Quest
Mouse is FULLY HARDWARE COMPATIBLE with
the AMX MOUSE so that it will work with any
of the AMX range of software.

The two parts of the Quest package are
available separately so that existing Mouse
owners can upgrade to the Watford's
sophisticated Quest Paint software or replace
their existing worn out mice for a minimum
cost.

QUEST PAINT

The Quest Mouse software is supplied on a
PALPROM unit to allow the sophisticated 32K
program to be used from a single ROM socket.

It is compatible with the BBC B, BBC B Plus and
BBC Master Series machines
The software is used to draw high resolution
Mode 1 pictures in full colour. All menu
selection and control of the drawing process is
performed with the mouse so that you will
hardly ever touch the keyboard.

SOFTWARE FEA TURES

The software is far too powerful for us to
describe it fully in such a small space. Below is
a list of the various features. Please write to us
for a fully descriptive leaflet.

Disk interface not required. Utilities disk has
facility to create and print big screens. Colours
applied can be solid, either pattern of user
defined pattern. Drawing can use brush or
airbrush. Brush shapes can be defined and
stored. Airbrush sprays colour/pattern randomly
with four jet sizes and even or center spread.
Colour cycles. Colour protection to stop
particular colours from being overwritten by
selected drawing actions. All standard drawing
facilities like: rubber, straight pencil lines,
triangles, circles, ellipses, rectangles,
parallelograms, polygons, etc are provided. All
shapes can be solid or just a boundary line.

Once a shape has been set up it can be
repeated anywhere on the screen. Global colour
replace in a rectangle. Powerful fill facility for
areas and vertical/horizontal lines. Full cut' and
paste of rectangular areas with rotation and size
with screens from Watford Beeb Video digitiser.
Load and Save screens with colour pallet
information, save brush and pattern definitions
etc.

Take The Guesswork Out of Selecting a Mouse
Package

With reviews like this how can you go wrong.
Popular Computing Weekly, 9-11 June '87
"What you actually get for your money is a well
built, three button mouse (far superior to the
AMX mouse). "

"Overall the combination of a quality mouse
and decent art package gives Watford
Electronics a real chance of supplanting AMX
as mouse supremos. "

Micro User June '87

"Quest Mouse and Quest Paint can hold their
heads high in the market. . . "

A8/B Computing June '87
". . . Watford Electronics, a company famed for
excellent hardware add ons and versatile
software packages. Called Quest mouse, "this is
a very special mouse driven drawing package..."

". . . you will have one of the most comfortable
and professionally built mice I have used in a
long time. The buttons are responsive, the
mouse movement is smooth and without
directional bias - a pleasure to use. "

"What we have here is probably the best art
package there is for the BBC Micro
"Quest Paint is a major leap forward in BBC
programming. . ."

"Quest Paint is an original piece of
programming, it is friendly and well endowed
with many useful facilities. I would comfortably
say it is easier to draw good pictures with
Quest Paint than it is with more expensive
'Professional' art packages for the Atari ST and
the Commodore Amiga. A recommended buy if
you are looking for the best in BBC micro based
art packages".

Acorn User, September '87

"The mouse (Quest) performs well in the face
of competition from AMX, Wigmore and the
rest ..."

". . . this package represents excellent value for
money. If you are interested in art then this
program is for you to buy".

"Given time. I can see no reason why Quest
Paint shouldn't take on the title of the definitive
art package available for the BBC Micro to
date".

"All in all. Quest Paint is a very professional
package. It contains virtually every feature the
budding artist could require".

"What makes Quest Paint so versatile is the
addition of a sub-menu which allows you
extensive control over each function".

"Until recently. Superart from AMS had been
judged as the definitive mode 1 graphics
package for the BBC micro. But now it has a
serious rival in the form of Quest Paint, from
Watford".

"As a measure of what is contained within
Quest Paint, I would say it had all the features
of Superart plus ..."

"In most art packages, provision is given for
drawing triangles and rectangles. Quest Mouse
goes 14 better, allowing any regular polygon of
upto 16 sides".

"One facility, not found on any other Art
package to my knowledge, is the ability to
access a digitiser from within the program".

The reviewer concludes by saying, "The result
is an extremely comprehensive and
professional art package".

John Kilby. Head of Computer Science, Bishop
Wulstan High School, Rugby, writes:

"Quest has been an excellent piece of
equipment. The problem that seems to occur
everyday is that at lunchtime the pupils rush to
the computer room to make sure that they are
first in the queue for the 'Quest' mouse".

Lt. Col. C.G. Holton, HQ 1 (BR) Corps, BFPO 39,
writes:

"As ever your service is superb and the Quest
Mouse proves every bit as good as the adverts
claim".

Beeblet User Group, New Zealand Oct '87:

"One of its nicer features is that the top menu
is done in Mode 0, the drawing itself is in Mode
1. Thus on screen together are two different
Modes. A neat way around an old problem".

"PAN is used when a larger than one screen
size image is required. The mind boggles at an
A3 size drawing".

"I like it partly because of the mouse itself
which is smooth and easy to handle but mainly
I suppose because of the features I longed for
and previously never got. Its easy to use with
almost everything at your fingertips from the
mouse. The software is simple where needed
and complex where complexity is required".

Watford's Quest package is an extremely
powerful and flexible drawing package, with
very wide and unusual features. However, since
its launch various suggestions for even more
advanced & powerful facilities were received
from the Quest users. ConQuest allows you
these more advanced facilities, like, distortion
of a cutout to any shape and a full font
designer. If you also have a GXR ROM in your
machine or you are using a BBC Master then
ConQuest will take advantage of this to give
ellipses at any angle, sectors and arcs, etc.

Quest combined with ConQuest and Acornsoft
GXR ROM make up THE MOST POWERFUL
drawing packages available for the BBC range.
Quest Paint is able to take advantage of almost
any additions to your machine, such as Shadow
or Sideways RAM. ConQuest takes this principal
even further, by utilising the otherwise normally
incompatible Sideways RAM facility by holding
pictures in them.

Some of the features are:

• Pick filenames off the screen for loading and
saving.

• Rotate a cutout to any angle and Distort it to
any four sided shape.

• Has Built in Font editor.

• Default brushes and patterns on startup.

• 16 x 16 font available on start up.

• Ability to reset patterns, fonts and brushes to
default at any time.

• ROM based enhanced Epson and compatible
printer dump.

• ROM based enhanced extended picture
routine.

• Ability to create and abort extended pictures.

• Improved disk access speed for extended
pictures.

• User definable sideways RAM driver for
incompatible sideways RAM systems.

• Ellipses at any angle on Master 128 (or B
with GXR ROM).

QUEST MOUSE & QUEST PAINT £54

QUEST MOUSE, QUEST PAINT, AMX
PAGEMAKER & PAGEFONT £82

QUEST MOUSE ONLY £25

QUEST PAINT SOFTWARE £32

QUEST FONT DISC £12

ConQuest 32K ROM Package £29

QUEST MAT £3

Part-exchange your old Mouse for a New
QUEST MOUSE for only £23

GXR ROM for BBC Micro £22

N.B.

1. Quest Paint supplied complete with Software
in a 32K ROM. Comprehensive User Guide and
a Utility Disc.

2. Quest Font Disc has 22 text FONTS for use
within Quest Mouse.

MARK II LIGHT PEN

Our Mark II Light Pen is the very latest in light
pen technology. It is totally insensitive to local
lighting conditions and works with many
different monitors. The pen only responds to
the High Frequency light produced by your
monitor/TV. An LED indicates when valid video
data is being produced. A conveniently located
switch is also fitted.

Price Only £21

(Price includes FREE software Disc and
Operating Manual)

RB2 Marconi Tracker Ball

RB2 (AMX/Quest compatible)
RB2 including Quest Paint

£52

£78

FLEET STREET EDITOR

Software pack for BBC Micro
Software pack for the Master
Software Pack for Compact
Admin Xtra Disc Utility
Walt Disney Disc Utility
Fonts N Graphics Disc Utility

£33

£39

£40

£13

£13

£13

THE NEW Mk III
AMX MOUSE

ONLY: £59 Inc. Super Art package

(carr Cl. 50)

(Please specify for BBC. Master or Compact)

FREE our popular Colour Art software pack
worth C15 with every AMX Mouse package
purchased from us.

MOUSE MAT

i

£3

AMX MOUSE ONLY

£29

AMX UTILITY Package

£11

AMX SUPERART Package

AMX STOP PRESS - A Desktop
publising software. Works with

£34

Keyboard, Joystick or a mouse

£32

We are giving away absolutely FREE, our
PAGE-FONT disc with every purchase of
STOP PRESS from us.

PAGE-FONTS - Over 20 Fonts for
use with AMX Pagemaker £12

AMX DESIGN (ROM)

AMX 3D ZICON Disc
AMX XAM Educational
AMX EXTRA EXTRA
AMX MAX A gem of desktop
(ROM)

£55

£19

£15

£16

£15

DIAGNOSTICS DISC

The BBC Micro is a very complex machine and
thus diagnosing a fault can be very difficult.

At Watford Electronics, we realise how difficult
it can be when faced with a problem, finding
yourself a long way from your nearest dealer,
or even just uncertain about your Beeb's health,
but not wanting to waste time and money
taking it to be looked at.

The solution to these problems is here now, in
the form of the Watford's Diagnostics Disc. This
excellent utility is specially designed to test out
the following areas of your Beeb:

RAMs, ROMs, ULAs, Sound, Keyboard, Disc,
RS423, ADC, User Port, Printer Port, Cassette,
Joysticks, Speech, Disc Drives, 6502 and 280
2nd Processors.

This utility is an invaluable aid for all those who
take the reliability of their system seriously. A
comprehensive manual provides full operating
details and a list of possible causes and
remedies for any faults that you may find along
the way. The package also enables a permanent
equipment and service record to be maintained.

Only £20.00

BEEB

VIDEO DIGITISER

Using any source of composite video (colour or
monochrome) and the Watford Beeb Video
Digitiser, you can convert an image from your
camera into a graphics screen on the BBC
Micro.

This uses the full graphics capacity of the BBC
micro in modes 0, 1 or 2. The video source may
be a camera, video recorder or television, and
is connected via the video output socket.

Images produced can be compressed, stored to
disc, printed on an Epson compatible printer,
directly used to generate graphics, analysed for
scientific and educational use or converted to
other formats e.g. Slow Scan TV or receiving a
picture from a remote camera using a modem.

The output from the digitiser exactly matches
the graphics capability in each mode, with up to
8 levels of grey in mode 2. The unit connects
into the User Port and automatically scans a
complete picture in 1.6 seconds.

Both the black and white levels can be adjusted
manually for the optimum picture, or switched
to automatic for unattended use. The image
produced can be reversed if necessary.

Full controlling software is supplied on a
normal sideways ROM and this is easily
accessed via additional * commands. The
package i designed to allow easy input of
complex screens and give full access of the
data to the user. Once on the screen, the image
can be used as a normal graphics screen,
allowing any of the usual graphics commands
in BASIC or other ROMs to work on it.

A special print dump routine is included with
the driver programs. This is specially designed
to produce a fast, correctly proportioned
picture, with reduced "contouring", resulting in
an accurate reproduction of the original image.
Detailed examples of driving this unit from
BASIC or other languages are all provided in
the extensive manual supplied.

£109 (Carr. £3)

(Price includes) Digitiser Unit, Software in ROM
& a Comprehensive Manual)

(BBC B + and Master compatible, except Master
with Econet)

Magazine Maker

(As seen on TV)

A combination of the Pagemaker and Watford's
Beeb Video Digitiser.

Using any video that provides a composite
signal and the digitiser, images from a camera
or TV can be converted into a graphics screen
on the BBC Micro.

They can then be used within Pagemaker to
illustrate magazines or newsletters - in fact
anything that needs to be created on A4 size
paper.

With Pagemaker's many features, a variety of
pictures can be composed - the only limit being
the imagination.

Pictures can be doctored using Pagemaker's
graphics option to produce any number of
effects.

Text can be formatted around the digitised
photo on screen using the facilities available,
which include 16 typefaces, character and
pattern definer, text formatting and the ability
’ iwfili

Tiles plus much

to load in wordwise and vie
more.

Once created the picture can be printed out
The Magazine Maker is suitable for any use
that requires illustrated documents.

Complete Package £135.00 (carr. £3)

OFFICE

MASTER

CASHBOOK - A complete "Stand Alone"
accounting software package for the cash based
sole trader/partnership business. It is designed
to replace your existing cashbook system and
will provide you with a computerised system
complete to trail balance.

FINAL ACCOUNTS - Will take data prepared by
the Cashbook module and produce a complete
set of accounts as following: Trial Balance with
inbuilt rounding routine; Notes to the accounts;
VAT Summary; Profit & Loss A/C; Balance
Sheet.

MAILIST - A very versatile program. Enables
you to keep records of names and addresses
and then print, examine, sort and find them, all
with special selection techniques.

EASILEDGER - A management aid software
tool designed to run alongside an existing
accounting system. Essentially a Debit/Credit
ledger system which can handle sales, purchase
and nominal ledger routines to provide instant
management information.

INVOICES 8i STATEMENTS - Greatly reduces
the time and cost of preparing Invoices and
Statements by storing essential information like
customer names, addresses and account
numbers. Has VAT routines and footer
messages facility.

STOCK CONTROL - Allows you to enter stock
received, stock out, summary of stock items
and current holdings together with details of
total cost, total stock to minimum level, units in
stock ordering, quantity and supplier detail.

All this for only £21 (Disc)

OFFICE

MATE

• DATABASE

• BEEBCALC SPREADSHEET

• BEEBPLOT GRAPHICS

DATABASE - Set up a computerised card index
system with powerful search facilities.
SPREADSHEET - Offers many calculation and
editing features.

BEEBPLOT - Provides visual representation
from Spreadsheet data.

OFFICE MATE Only £10 (Disc)

Disc Drives DP35-800S

A Double disc drive - with a difference! Times
are changing fast for the floppy disk, and whilst
the current standard for the BBC B and Master
Series is the 5.25 inch disk, the standard for the
future will most certainly be the smaller; faster
and more reliable 3.5 inch disks - now a
standard feature of both the Master Compact
and the Archimedes Series.

To support the present disc drive users, and
cope with the future, we have designed our
own plinth-mounted disk system - called the
DP35 800S, it contains both the 5.25 inch and
the 3.5 inch drive formats as well as offer a firm
and rigid support for a monitor on top. With the
BBC Micro underneath, the plinth makes a
surprisingly small footprint on the desk -
leaving you more space to work with.

The 5.25” disc drive is 40/80 track switchable.
For ease of access, the switches are front
mounted. DP35-800S has its own power supply,
independent of the BBC Micro.

Watford's new plinth enables users to read,
write and format disks both in DFS and ADFS
format - currently the accepted standard for the
Master Compact and the Archimedes, it also
enables the user to read disks written for the
Archimedes. Ideal for both BBC & Master.

Launch Offer: £165 (carr. £7)

V

Aries B-12

Sideways ROM Board

This board is extremely well made, simple to
install, reliable when fully loaded and compatible
with the Aries-B20 and the Aries-B32

The B12 provides a total of twelve sideways
ROM sockets (the four in the original machine are
replaced by the twelve on the board), all fully
accessible by the MOS sideways ROM system. In
addition, there are two sockets for sideways
RAM, giving up to 16k of RAM using 6264 static
RAM chips.

The B12 system consists of two parts: a large
detachable "mother board" which carries the
extension ROM sockets and a small "base board"
on a short ribbon cable, which plugs into the
existing sideways ROM sockets. This two-board
design eliminates the reliability problems
previously associated with some other ribbon-
cable based systems.

If you do not have a B32 or B20, a small adaptor
module (the Aries-B12C) is available at a nominal
cost.

Price: Aries B-12 £40

Aries B-12C £5

ARIES

CORNER

SIDEWAYS
ZIF SOCKET

SOLDERLESS
SIDEWAYS ROM
SOCKET BOARD

In the May 1986 Micro User's independent
review, the writer concludes, "The board has
been well laid out. Its position is much better than
others - not over the HOT RAM chips and further
away from the disc controller area". "I give the
solderless ROM board the thumbs up and wish it
success".

This brand new board from Watford Electronics
is designed specifically for those wishing to add a
ROM board to their own BBC without the need to
perform any soldering.

This new board expands the total possible
number of ROMs in a BBC from 4 to 16.

Unlike our competitors inferior boards, the ONLY
upgrade required for fitting battery backup to the
Watford Solderless ROM board (all Watford ROM
boards, actually) is the fitting of the battery itself.
(No other expensive components are required.)

• The key features of this new, no fuss, easy to
install quality product from BBC leaders
Watford Electronics are as follows:

• Increase your BBCs capacity for ROMs from 4
to 16.

• No soldering required.

• Very low power consumption.

• Minimal space required.

• Compatible with Torch, DDFS, RAM Card, 2nd
Processor, etc.

• Socket 14 takes two 6264 RAM chips.

• Read protect to make RAM "Vanish") allows
recovery from ROM crashes.

• Battery backup option for RAM chips.

• Supplied ready to fit with comprehensive
instructions.

Price: Only £32

Battery backup fitted £36
Battery Backup only £3
(carriage £2)

• Sideways RAM Utilities Disc for Solderless

ROM Board. Includes the options to load and

save ROM Images and the facility to use Side-
ways RAM as Printer Buffer.

Only: £8

B-32 Shadow RAM Card

Like the BBC B + , the B32 provides 20k of shadow
screen RAM and 12k of sideways RAM. Unlike the
B+, the B32 has simple software commands
which allow the user to reconfigure the RAM as
16k of shadow RAM and 16k of sideways RAM, or
all 32k as sideways RAM.

With the B32, the programmer gets up to 28k of
RAM available for Basic, Logo, Comal, Forth, Lisp
and BCPL programs in any screen mode. The
business user gets extra memory for View,
ViewSheet, Wordwise Plus, Interword and many
other applications. For advanced applications,
the scientific user gets access to a massive 47k of
data storage using the Acorn approved *FX call.

Sideways RAM enables you to load sideways
ROM images from disc, allowing you to have a
large library of sideways ROMs (subject to the
copyright holder's permission) stored on disc.
The B32's sideways RAM can also be used to
extend any operating system buffer (such as the
printer buffer) or to load tape programs into a
disc system.

The B32 simply plugs into the 6502 processor
socket on your BBC micro - no flying leads to
connect and no soldering. Provision of the on-
board ROM socket means that the Aries-B32
control ROM does not use up one of your existing
ROM sockets.

• Recommended by Computer Concepts for use
with their Inter series of ROMs.

Price: £80 (carr. £2)

Allows you to change your ROMs quickly and
efficiently, without opening the lid. The ZERO
INSERTION FORCE (ZIF) socket is located into the
ROM Cartridge's position.

• Very simple to install. NO SOLDERING
required. The ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) elimi-
nates the possibility of damage to your ROM pins
when inserting & extracting.

• The low profile of the socket allows unrestric-
ted access to the Keyboard.

• All data and address lines are correctly termi-
nated to ensure correct operation of suitable
ROMs with the BBC micro. We also supply a
purpose designed see-through storage container
with anti-static lining, allowing you to store up to
12 ROMs, protecting them from mechanical and
static damage.

• This versatile hardware solves the problem of
running out of socket space. Simply lift the ROM
from the ZIF & insert a different one (No pulling
or pushing of Cartridges. It is a must for all
professionals and Hobbyists alike.)

• BBC. B+ and Master compatible.

ONLY £16 (carr £2)

Low Profile
CARTRIDGE SYSTEM

Complete System consists of: Low profile ROM
Cartridge, Socket housing, Cable assembly, 5
labels and a library storage rack for the BBC B.

• Complete System £11

• Spare Cartridges £2.50

• Spare Rack £1.50

ROM Cartridges for the BBC Master

Twin £8; Quad £12

16K DISC RAM

ARIES B-488

IEEE-488 INTERFACE UNIT

The Aries-8488 is an interface unit to enable the
BBC micro to control and monitor IEEE-488 bus
systems. The IEEE-488 bus (also known as the
'GPIB' or 'HP-IB') is the standard method of
interconnecting programmable laboratory instru-
ments and control equipment. Using the B488, up
to 15 devices may be connected in a single
high-speed data network.

£238 (Carr £3)

EXTERNAL ROM BOARD
for BBC MASTER

This external Beige finished, free standing cased
unit with its own Power Supply allows you to
plug-in upto 12 ROMs and 16K Sideways RAM.

Only £78

Complete with such features as read and write
protection, these new modules from Watford
Electronics are ideal for the hobbyist, software
developer and ROM collector.

Key points to note about this new addition to the
Watford range of products are:

• Write protection (useful in a variety of circum-
stances).

• Read protection (allows recovery from ROM
crashes).

• Compact construction.

• Supplied complete with Battery Backup.

• Multiple units may be fitted, even with a ROM
board.

• No overheating or overloading problems.

• Free utilities disc supplied.

• Can be used as a 16K PRINTER BUFFER.

• Ideal for professional software development.

• Supplied with utilities software disc.

Only: £35 (carr £2)

P.S. 16K Disc Ram Board is not designed to work
in conjunction with a Sideways ROM Board.

USER PORT
SPLITTER UNIT

Gone are the days when you had to plug and
unplug devices from the User Port. This
extremely useful little device allows two units to
be connected to the User Port simultaniously,
and select between them simply by toggling a
switch. This device is particularly useful for those
people using Quest Mouse and the Watford
Video Digitiser or any similar combination.

Excellent Value at £22 (carr £2)

ROM/RAM

CARD

Watford Electronics announced the first ever
commercial ROM board for the BBC micro, the
Watford Electronics 13 ROM Socket Board 3
years ago. Following the success of this board,
we have designed what probably represents the
ultimate in expansion boards, the new Watford
Electronics ROM/RAM board. This highly ver-
satile and sophisticated board represents the
latest in “2nd generation" sideways ROM tech-
nology for the BBC micro, designed to satisfy the
serious BBC user.

• NO SOLDERING required to fit the board.

• NO overheating problems.

• No User Port corruption (avoids problems
with the mouse, modems, Eprom Programmers,
etc.)

• Fully buffered for peace of mind.

• Firm mounting in BBC micro.

• Compatible with all BBC micros (not BBC+ or
Master).

• Total number of ROMs increased from 4 to 8.

• Up to 8 banks of sideways RAM (dynamic).

• Option for 16k of Battery backed CMOS RAM
(CMOS RAM needs one ROM socket).

• Software Write protect for ALL RAM.

• Read protect for CMOS RAM (ALLEVIATES
crashes during ROM development).

• Separate RAM write register (&FF30 to &FF3F).

• Automatic write to currently selected RAM
socket for convenience.

• Accepts any ROM.

• FREE utilities disc packed with software.

• Compatible with our DDFS board, 32k RAM
Card, Delta Card, sideways ZIF, etc.

• Large printer buffer.

• UNIQUE Fully implemented RAM FILING
SYSTEM (similar to the popular Watford DFS).

• ROM to RAM load and save facilities.

The SFS (Silicon Filing System) can utilise up
to the full 128k of RAM (with the SFS in any
paged RAM) as a SILICON DISC. This behaves as
a disc drive, with all the normal Watford DFS
features (including OSWORD &7F for ROM-
SPELL, etc.) to provide an environment that looks
like a disc but loads and saves MUCH faster.

The ROM-RAM Board plugs into the 6502 CPU
socket. This leaves free all the existing ROM
sockets, which can still be used normally.

Any ROM that can be plugged into the BBC
micro's own ROM sockets may be used in the
ROM-RAM Board.

The ROM-RAM Board is supplied with all
ordered options fitted as standard. Upgrade kits
(with full instructions) are available for all of the
options, for later

Please write in for further details.

INTRODUCTORY PRICES:

• ROM/RAM card with 32k dynamic RAM £48

• ROM/RAM card with 64k dynamic RAM £65

• ROM/RAM card with a massive 128k dynamic

RAM £109

(carriage on ROM-RAM Card £3)

OPTIONAL EXTRAS:

• 16k plug-in Static RAM kit £17

• 16k Dynamic RAM for Upgrade £17.50

• Battery backup £3

• Read and Write protect switches £2 each

Complete ROM-RAM board

All options installed £115

PS.

Is your existing ROM Board overflowing with
ROMs? Do you need more Sideways RAM? Is
your Board unreliable? Then upgrade to Watford
ROM/RAM Board and pay £5 less

The MODEM from Watford

At last a professional MODEM for the BBC Micro.
Unlike other ' Modem packages' this is a complete
package there are no extra software costs to get
'up and running'. Of course Le MODEM is multi-
standard , i.e. 300/300. 1200/75 & 75/1200 UK and
BELL (USA) are all supported.

The features that make Le MODEM such good
value are:

• A complete communications terminal that
transforms your BBC Micro into a very powerful
World-wide data transfer system.

• Auto Dials , Auto answers, and is completely
controlled by your micro. There are no external
controls !

• Allows you to access PRESTEL. B.T. GOLD,
THE SOURCE, MICROLINK, MICRONET .
MICROWEB, THE TIMES NETWORK, MICRO LIVE
(BBC TV database ). CITY BB and more.

• Designed to be SIMPLE but SOPHISTICATED.
To LOGON to a data base all you have to know is
its TELEPHONE NUMBER. Le MODEM does the
rest.

• Supplied with a comprehensive telecomms
package in a 16K sideways ROM which includes a
FULL PRESTEL terminal allowing TELE-
SOFTWARE to be downloaded.

• A comprehensive 80 column terminal. This
includes XMODEM error checked transfer proto-
col. to allow error free data transfer anywhere in
the world!

• FULLY controlled by simple ' *COMMANDS
allowing you to control it from your own BASIC
programs. To get you started we supply a FREE
disc of bundled software!

• Connects to the 1MHz bus. A • AUDIO ON-OFF
command allows you to actually hear the tele-
phone line through your BBC micro loudspeaker.

• Completely self contained with internal mains
power supply. (Even a free mains plug is fitted!)
A * TEST facility gives ON SCREEN indication that
Le MODEM is working correctly.

• Packaged in such as way that you need noth-
ing else except a BBC Micro to communicate with
computers all over the world.

• FREE Registration to Micro Link.

SPECIAL OFFER

Price: £82
(carr £3)

(Price includes, Le Modem, Software ROM,
Cables & Comprehensive Manual)
(Write in for further details)

REPLICA 3

This new improved REPLICA 3 from Clares is a
very powerful disc based TAPE to DISC Utility.

It now transfers even more programs than ever
before. Replica 3 will not work with all
programs but then neither will anything else.
30,000 Replicas have been sold to date. It has to
be good.

£15 (40 or 80 track)

Acorn's Speech Synthesiser
package, complete

Special Offer £18

APOLLO

The NEW Modem from Watford

Following numerous requests from you, our dis-
cerning customers for an APPROVED, Low Cost &
High Performance modem with Auto Dial & Auto
Answer facilities as standard) we bring you the
versatile APOLLO Modem. Just compare the fea-
tures and look at the price (which incidentally
includes the cost of the Software, manual and
BBC connecting cable). We are sure you will
agree that Watford Electronics in their traditional
way are giving you a super 'value for money'
deal.

Just look at these features:

• V21 for Bulletin boards, Microlink, Telecom
Gold, etc.

• V23 for Prestel, Home Banking, and other
Viewdata services.

• Reverse V23 allows User run Viewdata service.

• 1200-1200 half duplex for communications.

• XMODEM, HEX and ASCII file transmission.

• Auto Dial of given 'phone number.

• Auto Answer for User's Bulletin Board.

• 80 column terminal with split screen facility.

• Prestel text screen dump.

• Fully BABT approved.

• FREE Registration to MicroLink.

The Apollo is attractively finished in matt black. It
opens the doors to world communication to both,
the Hobbyist and the Professionals alike. With
baud rates varying from 300/300 Originate and
Answer, 1200/75 and 75/1200 full duplex and
1200/1200 half duplex, virtually all the popular
tele-services can be accessed. A comprehensive
Comms ROM oversees the use of the APOLLO,
providing simple commands for all the software
controlled facilities. APOLLO is an ideal modem
for both the first time buyer and the seasoned
user. Join the Telecommunications Revolution -
Buy a Watford APOLLO!

Only: £82 (Carr £3)

Price includes, the Modem, Comm Software
Cables & Operating Manual).

(Write in for full specification)

VOLTMACE JOYSTICKS

Delta 3B Single Joystick £10

Delta 3B Twin Joysticks £15

Delta 3C Joystick for Compact £10

Delta 14B Single Joystick £11

Delta 14B/1 Adaptor Module £12

T ransfer Software Disc-Tape £7

ATTACHE CARRYING CASE

For the BBC Micro. Attractively finished in
antique brown leatherette. Lockable.
Only £10 (£2 carr.)

Versatile BEEB SPEECH

SYNTHESISER Unit

The Watford Speech Synthesiser is a very flexible
speech synthesis unit based upon the powerful
phonemes system. This system stores the
building blocks of speech (called phonemes) and
allows you to combine them quickly and easily to
form virtually any word imaginable.

Supplied with an advanced ROM, you are
provided with a 500 word dictionary to get you
started. These can easily be added to by
following the notes given in the comprehensive
manual.

SPECIAL PRICE £32 (carr £2)

Continued-

COMPUTER CONCEPT'S

ROMS

ACCELERATOR

£46

CARETAKER Basic Utility

£23

DISC DOCTOR

£28

Graphics ROM

£29

TERMI

£25

COMMUNICATOR

£49

SPEECH SYSTEM

£35

Printmaster

£25

Wordwise

Wordwise plus

We are giving away absolutely FREE,
the superb Word-Aid ROM worth
£24, with every WORDWISE PLUS
package bought from us.

VIEW

VIEW WORDPROCESSOR 2.1 £35

VIEW 3.0 ROM

£48

VIEW PROFESSIONAL

£59

HI-VIEW (for 6502 2nd Processor)

£36

VIEWSHEET (Acornsoft)

£36

VIEWSTORE

£36

VIEWSPELL-wfth 80 track disc

£29

VIEWPLOT Disc

£20

(Please specify for Master 128 or Compact)

Word- ft id

The most comprehensive
utilities ROM
for Wordwise-Plus

CREDIT CARD 24 HOUR
Ansaphone Hot Lines
(0923) 50234 or 33383

Extend the power of your Wordwise Plus word
processor with this most advanced ROM from
Watford. By utilising the powerful Wordwise
Plus programming language, WordAid provides
a whole host of extra features, all accessed via
a special new menu option. This ROM has been
personally approved by Mr Charles Moir, the
author of WORDWISE PLUS.

• Alphabetical sorting of names and
addresses.

• Text transfer options.

• Chapter marker.

• Epson printer codes function key option.

• Search and display in preview mode.

• Embedded command removal.

• Print Multiple copies of a document.

• Multiple file options for print and preview.

• Address finder.

• Label printer.

• Mail-merger.

• Number/delete/renumber.

• Clear text-segment area.

• BBC B, B+ and Master compatible.

Only £24

(N.B. Word Aid requires a Disc Interface in your
Micro)

HI-WORDWISE-PLUS DISC:

£5

SPELL MASTER

£42

Inter SHEET only £37

| sCHART

£36

MEGA-3 ROM

Interword, Intersheet & Interchart -
3 in one ROM

£76

INTERBASE

£49

All Prices Exclusive of VAT

VIEW-INDEX

£12

OVERVIEW Packs 1 & 2

£69

Watford's own Sophisticated

VIEW PRINTER DRIVERS

Epson FX80 & Kaga KP (Disc)

£8

Juki & Brother HFU5 (Disc)

£8

Silver Reed Printers (Disc)

£8

MINI OFFICE II

DISC Version for BBC B&B+ £14.00

DISC Version for BBC Master £16.50

ROM Version £43.00

(When ordering please specify for which Micro
& 40 or 80 track Disc).

Harness the full potential of your Epson RX or
FX printer. The NLQ ROM makes Epson printers
produce Near Letter Quality output with
optional proportional spacing, enlarged and
underlined. Accessed by simple * commands
from Basic. Wordwise and View (with driver) or
almost any other language.

(Send an SAE for sample printout )

Only: £25

VIEW PRINTER DRIVER for NLQ ROM £7

VIEW PRINTER DRIVER

ROM

View is a powerful word processor, but until
now has seriously lacked in terms of printer
support. With the launch of our Printer Driver
ROM, which includes an extremely powerful
and easy to use Printer Driver Generator, View
users can find themselves in the realms of
advanced word processing only at a small
outlay.

The VPD extends View's printer command
with a series of mnemonic commands. All
standard highlight sequences are also
supported. A large range of printers are
supported by drivers contained within the ROM
(the drivers can be downloaded and
customised). Printers supported include:

Epson's MX, RX, FX, FX, LX, JX80 range, HI80,
KP810/910, PW1080, JP101, HR15, M1009, GLP,
Panasonic KX-P1081/2, JUKI 6100, etc.

Other printers are readily supported by
defining a Printer Driver using the built in
Printer Driver Generator. The features
mentioned below are available to both the built
in Printer Drivers and user defined drivers
(assuming the printer supports the features).

NLQ control. Underline, Bold, Proportional
Spacing, Microspacing, Italic, Superscript,
Subscript, Condensed, Enlarged, Double Strike,
Set lines per inch numerically (e.g. LPI 6), Set
characters per inch numerically (e.g. CPI 5),
Select printer font, Select printer ribbon colour.
Translation sequences, Emulation of BBC
Character Set, Simple numeric expressions for
certain operations, Full printer setup, Send
control codes, Print prompt on screen,
Redefinable Pad character, Pause for key press,
Prompt to change daisywheel, and Execute *
command when printing.

Other features include a very powerful on
screen preview, with bold, italic, underline,
super/subscript, enlarged highlights, and a
special printer driver to allow memory based
text to be previewed by View 1.4. Of course,
View 1.4, 2.1 and 3.0 are all supported, as is
Shadow RAM and 6502 Second Processors. The
BBC B series and Master series of micros are
supported. A comprehensive manual is
supplied. All in all, a very professional product
for the discerning user who wants power at
their finger tips. (Write in for a detailed leaflet).

Price: Only £33

ROM-SPELL

Probably the most advanced and fastest
spelling checker available for the BBC Micro.
Compatible with View, Wordwise and Wordwise
Plus ROMSPELL is simple to use with easy
editing of incorrect words. Full facilities for
editing the user dictionary to allow
customisation to your personal needs.

Dictionary includes over 30,000 words and is
supplied with a Comprehensive manual.

NOT compatible with 1770 DFS.

(Please state 40 or 80 track disc)

Price still only: £25

DUMPOUT 3

A highly sophisticated screen dump ROM. This
has to be the most flexible and powerful screen
dump ROM yet produced for the BBC micro. It
will put on paper anything you see on the
screen, including full Mode 7 graphics.

Also provided are window setting utilities and
OSWORD calls to plot and read Mode 7
graphics pixels.

Facilities:

• Vertical and horizontal scaling in all graphics
modes and mode 7

• Rotation of image by 90, 180 or 270 degrees

• Left hand margin setting

• Screen dump window setting

• Colours appear as grey scale

• Two tone fast dump’

• Colour mask

• Mode 7 contrast expansion

• Mpde 7 contiguous dump

• Key triggered and User Port triggered dumps

The Micro User Feb. 1985.

'Without reservation I wholeheartedly
recommend the Dump Out 3 ROM as the
ultimate screen dump facility for the BBC Micro
... it must represent excellent value for money
and surely cannot be beaten".

For use with the following printers:

GLP, GP80/*00/250, CANNON, STAR, KAGA/
TAXAN, NEC. SHINWA CP80, GEMINI. EPSON
MX/RX/FX, M1009. NEC PC8023, DMP100/200/
400, Panasonic KX1081/82, Mannesman Tally
and compatible, 0n|y . £25

Maths with a Story 1 (Disc). 4 primary level
maths programs £11.25

Maths with a Story 2 (Disc) 4 further maths
programs £11.25

Picture Craft (Disc) 6 - 14 age group. Pack
consists of flexible geometrical design &
colouring programs £17

WAVES: Science Topics (Disc) CSC O Level
Physics program. £14.95

RELATIONSHIP: Science (Disc) O Level
Biology program. £20.00

BONDING: Science (Disc) O Level Chemistry
program. £20.00

ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM (8 Discs) O
Level program. £20.00

ELECTRONICS IN ACTION (Disc) O Level
program £19.95

NEWTON & THE SPACE SHUTTLE (Disc) O
Level program. £20

ECOLOGY (Disc) O Level program. £20

POLYMERS (Disc) O Level program. £20

Clasification & Periodic Table O Level. The
suite is supplied with its own database of
chemical elements which can be classified
according to your own rule. £20

FOOD & POPULATION (Disc) O Level
program. £20

MICROTECHNOLOGY (Cassette) O Level
program. £11.25

A VOUS LA FRANCE (2 Cassettes) A French
language home study aid. £21 .70

DEUTSCH DIREKT! (Disc & Audio
Cassette) £19.95

Modem Master (Disc) £11.25

ADVANCED TELETEXT SYSTEM £8.65

PERIOD TABLE SOFTWARE £20

Astronomy - Primary (Disc) £12

Computers at Work- Primary £17.35

Introducing Geography - Primary £17

Introducing Geography 11-17yrs £17.50

Electric Fields 6-14 years £11.25

BlackQueen Contract Bridge £13

Espana Viva -3 Discs £19.95

A Vous La France Disc £21 .50

ROM MANAGER

Take control of your Sideways ROMs with ROM
Manager. This powerful utility ROM gives you
power over your sideways ROMs. Disable
whole ROMs, send commands directly to
named ROMs and many other powerful
facilities.

"Provides comprehensive management of all
your installed ROMs". (BEEBUG November '84.)

ONLY £20

ADDER

The only low cost EPROM Programmer for the
BBC Micro that will program both the standard
21V and the new 12V5, 27128 EPROMS.

Adder is the ultimate EPROM programmer for
the BBC Micro. It will program many different
EPROMs up to the very latest 27256 32K
devices.

The Adder unit connects to the User Port and
draws its power from there too. The EPROM is
mounted in a top quality ZIF socket. There are
no switches or controls as Adder is entirely
software controlled.

The Adder software provides sophisticated
facilities for programming EPROMs from a RAM
image produced by loading disc files. The
software is menu driven and designed for ease
of use.

Features:

• Two ultra fast programming algorithms or
standard slow algorithm.

• Supports standard 21V programming and
newer 12.5 volt EPROMs. (Software switched).

• The RAM image to be programmed can be
built up in many ways. Sections of image can
be loaded separately. Part programming. Read
EPROM. Edit data in memory.

• Automatic processing to handle a list of files
to program into the EPROM.

• Automatic disc buffering to allow
programming of 32K 27256 devices from a 32K
file without extra effort.

• Verification gives detailed error list and
checksums are maintained. There is also a
blank check facility.

• Works with all standard filing systems.
Generates header code for RFS ROMs to allow
Basic programs etc. to be stored in EPROM.
More than one file per ROM permitted.

• Programs the following EPROMs:

From 2K to 32K: 2516, 2716, 2532, 2732, 2764,
2764A, 27128, 27128A, 27256 (Both 12.5V and
21V).

£75 (£3 Carr)

TEX EPROM ERASERS

EPROMs need careful treatment if they are to
survive their expected lifetime. Over erasure of
EPROMs very rapidly turns them into ROMs!

The TEX erasers operate following the
manufacturers specifications to give the
maximum possible working life by not erasing
too fast. We use these erasers for all our own
erasing work.

• ERASER EB - Standard version erases up to

chips. £28 (carr £2)

• ERASER GT - Deluxe version erases up to 18

chips. Has automatic safety cut-off to switch off
the UV lamp when opened. £30 (carr £2)

• Spare UV tubes. £9

SHADOW RAM-
Printer Buffer

Expansion Board

A MUST FOR WORD PROCESSING

Watford Electronics now brings you the latest
state-of-the-art MEMORY EXPANSION BOARD
for your BBC microcomputer. Don't throw away
your BBC B for a BBC B Plus or BBC Master.
Just plug the ribbon cable into the 6502
processor socket, and fit the compact board
inside the computer. Immediately you will gain
not 16K or even 20K, but a massive 32K of extra
RAM!!!

• IMPROVE your WORD PROCESSING system,
whether disc or cassette based. Don't wait for a
slow printer - type in text while printing. TWO
JOBS DONE SIMULTANEOUSLY and £100 +
saved on a printer buffer.

• "VIEW" Wordprocessor users can now type
in letters in 80 columns and have up to 28,000
bytes free - 5 times as much as normal.

• In WORDWISE (or WORDWISE-PLUS),
preview in 80 columns with the full 24K of text
in memory. This product is recommended as an
ideal complement by Computer Concepts.

• Combine GOOD GRAPHICS and LONG
PROGRAMS. Use the top 20K of the expansion
RAM as the screen display memory, leaving all
the standard BBC RAM free for programs.
Benefit from MODE 0/1/2 graphics and 28K of
program space.

• Use the FULL 32K or the bottom 12K of the
expansion RAM as a PRINTER buffer for
PARALLEL or SERIAL printers, sound channels,
RS423 etc. Print large text files while running
long graphics programs, and have all your
buffer options available as well
( # FX15,21,138,145,ADVAL etc). Please note only
a 12K printer buffer can be used with Wordwise
or Wordwise-Plus, due to the way they are
written.

• Unique facility to turn ROMs off and on
again. Unlike all other ROM managers, this
feature does not use 'unofficial' memory. Two
bytes of normally user-inaccessible memory on
the RAM card are used to ensure ROMs are
disabled WHERE OTHER ROMS FAIL.

• Recommended by Computer Concepts for
use with their Inter series of ROMs.

Only £59 (carr £2)

(Price includes a comprehensive manual
and the ROM)

INCREDIBLE

WORDPROCESSING

DEAL

Watford's 32K SHADOW RAM CARD and
Computer Concept's INTERWORD
Wordprocessor package.

at Only

£89

(carr £2)

Continued

BOOKS (No VAT on Books) 1

Microtext for the BBC

Microtext Plus Manual

£10.00

£9.95

1 5 Hr Wordprocessing BBC/View

£5.95 |

Microtext UserGuide

£5

1 5 Hr Wordprocessing BBC/WW & WW+

£5.95 I

PASCAL-Introductionto

£17.95

30 Hour BASIC ( BBC Micro)

£9.95

PASCAL Programming

£9.45

6502 Assembly Language Program

£19.95

Pick Operating Sys. Practical Guide

£14.95

6502 Application

£13.95

Practical DiscFileTechniques

£5.95

6502 Development Package

£7.50

Quick Program Ref. Guide - dBASE III

6502 Programming the

£16.95 |

PLUS

£8.95

6502ReferenceGuide

£10.95 1

Quick program Ref. Guide - dBase III

68000 Assembly Language

£15.95

Within the t BBC Micro

£13.95

68000 Assembly Language Prog.

£19.95

Structured Basic

£7.95

b 68000 Assembly Language Techniques

£24.95

The Epson FX-KAGA PRINTER
Commands REVEALED

1 68000 MachineCode Programming

£13.00

£5.95

68000 Microprocessor Handbook

£14.95

The Software Business

£5.50

68000 Programming the

£22.95

Towers Int. T ransistor Selectors

£14.95

68000UserGuide

1 6809,Programmingthe

£8.95

£18.95

Understanding Interword -
ABeginnersGuide

Using DOS * on the 1512
(95°oOkfor512Bd)

View 3.0 User Guide

f6.50

1 Advanced DiscUser Guide

1 AdvancedProg.GuidetoBBC

Adv. Sideways RAM User Guide

£18.95

£9.95

£9.95

f9.95

£10

Advanced UserGuidefor BBC

£10.95

ViewGuide(View2.1 )

£4.50

| AmigaHardwareRefManual

f23.70

Viewsheet & Viewstore Dabhand Guide

£12.95

1 AmigaMachineLang. Guide

£19.95

Mastering View, Viewsheet &

| ARM Assembly Lang. Prog. Manua £12

Viewstore

£12.95

Art of Microcomputer Graphics

£16.95

VIEWDabhandGuide

£12.95

Assembly Language Prog, for the BBC

£9.95

Viewsheet UserGuide

£10

k AY-3-8910 Programmable Sound Generator

Viewstore User Guide

£10

1 Data Manual

£3

Within the BBC Micro

£13.95

" BASIC2-UserGuide

BasicROM UserGuide

f2

£11.95

Wordprocessing On The BBC Micro

Writing Interactive Interpreters

£6.25

. BBC-AdvancedGraphicswiththe

£10.95

&Compilers

£8.45

I BBC - Advanced Programming

Wordwise * AUserGuide

£10.95

Techniquesfor

£8.95

Z80Applications

£15.95

BBC -Mastering Assembly Code

£8.95

Z80 Assembly Language Prog.

£20.95

BBC Micro & the small Business

£5.75

Z80 Programming the

£19.95

| BBCMicroBasicSound&Graphics

£7.95

Z80 Reference Guide

£9.95

| BBCMicro-FileHandlingOn

f7.95

Z88Computing

£9.95

| BBCMicroProgramsinBASIC

£5.95

BBCMicroROMBook

£10.95

BBC Micro -within the

£13.95

BOOKS for

| BBC Master 128 for High Flyer

1 BCPLUserGuide
* BCPLTheLanguage&itsCompiler

£10.95

£14

£8.50

IBM PC & Compatible

(No VAT on Books)

CBigRedBookof

£7.50

1-2-3 For Business 2nd Edition

£18,45

| C- ADabhandGuideto

£14.95

1 -2-3Command Language

£18.45

I ‘C'lntroducing

£9.95

1 -2-3 Special Edition (QUE) - Using

£21.95

| C for Programmers

£9.95

8086/8088 Assembly Language Prog.

£11.95

C Programming Lang.

£23.95

8086/8088 Programming the

£17.95

COMAL- Introduction to

£9.50

Ability-Using

£12.95

| Complete FORTH

£6.95

Accountancy software in Business

1 Computer Graphics& CAD fundamentals

£9.95

Using

£12.95

" DeutschDirekti(Bookonly)

f5.95

Advance C Tech & Application

£19.95

DNFS Instruction Booklet

£2

AdvancedTech. in Turbo Pascal

£19.95 |

^ Disc Drive Projectsfor Micros

£6.50

Aldus Pagemaker - Using

£18.45 1

I DISC FILING SYSTEM (DFS)

Amstrad Basic2 Manuals

£12.95 I

" OperatingManualforBBC

£6.95

Amstrad Technical Manuals

£19.50 1

File Handling on BBC Micro

£8.50

Amstrad PC Programmers Ref Guide

£15.95

FORTH-Advanced

£9.95

Amstrad PC151 2-1640 Step by Step -

k FORTH-ATextReference

£19.10 '

Using

£8.50

1 FORTH-Introductionto

£8.95

Art and Desktop Publishing

£18.45

" FORTH on the BBC Micro

f9.95

Autocad-using

£18.95

FORTH-Starting

£19.10

Businesscompaniononthe 1640

£12.95

^ HackersHandbook-New

£6.95

CP-M Bible

£16.50

I Hitch-HikersGuidetoA.I.

£8.95

CP-M Handbook with MPM

£9.95

^ Interfacing and Robotics

f15.95

CP-M PlusHandbook

£13.95

Introduction to COMAL

£9.50

CP-M Soul of

£16.50

Introduction to FORTH

f8.95

CP-M The software BUS

£8.95

k IntroductiontoLOGO

£6.95

dBase II & III -Understanding

£7.95

1 Introduction to PASCAL

£17.95

dBase II - Working with

£9.95

^ Inside Information, Computers & Corns.

£9.95

dBaselll-Mastering

£19.95

ISO -PASCAL Reference Manual

£9.95

dBase III Plus

£12.95

L LISP2nd Edition

£15.95

dBase III Plus Handbook 2nd Edition

£19.95

I LISP Looking At

£11.95

dBase III Plus - tips, tricks and traps

^ LISPontheBBCMicro

£7.95

(QUE)

£18.40

LISP the Language of

dBase III Plus -Quick Ref. Guide

£4.95

Artificial Intelligence

£13.95

dBase III Plus -Quick Prog. Guide

£8.95

|| Logoonthe BBC Micro

£7.50

DOS Instant Reference (up to 3.3)

£10.95

I LOGO-Introductionto

£6.95

DOS, Mastering for Versions upto 3.3

£19.95

^ Mysteries of DISC DRIVES and DFS

DOS Plus Manual/Amstrad PC

£17.00

REVEALED

£5.95

DOS Plus- Mastering

£12.50

^ Mastering AssemblyCode

£8.95

Excel IBM Version -Using the

£17.95

1 MasteringCP-M

£17.95

Hard Disk Manage IBM PC XT AT

£17.35

^ Mastering Interpreters &

Hard Disc- Managing your

£18.45

Compilers

£14.95

IBM MacConnection

f 17.35

Mastering Music

£6.95

IBM PC& Macintosh Networking

£17.95

k MasteringtheDiscDrive

£7.95

IBM PS/2Handbook

£17.95

1 Master Operating System

£12.95

IBM PC AT-lnsidethe

£20.95

™ MasterReference Manual Part 1

£14.00

Local Area Networks 2nd Generation

£19.95

MasterReferenceManual Part2

£14.00

Lotus 1-2-3 Desktop Companion Soft/B

£24.95

^ Master Reference Manual -Advanced

£19

Lotus 1 -2-3— Illustrated

£18.45

1 Mathematical Prog, in BBC Basic

£7.95

Laserprintit

£15.95

9 MicroProlog

£10.00

Managing your Hard Disk

£18.45

Mastering l-2-32ndEdition £18.95

MicrocomputerCADManual £25.95

Microsoft Windows- Illustrated £18.45

MS-DOS-ABCon 17.95

MS-DOS Advanced Programming £19.95

MS-DOS Advances(Microsoft) £19.95

MS-DOS Handbook3rd Edition £18.95

MS-DOS Instant Reference Guide £10.95

MS-DOSlIlustrated € 18.45

MS/PC DOS 3.3 -Illustrated £18.95

MS-DOSMastering-Tricksof £22.50

MS-DOS Performance Programming
Under £19.95

MS-DOSQuickProgRefGuide £8.95

MS-DOSQuickReferenceGuide £3.95

MS-DOS- Running 3rdedition £21 .95

MS-DOS-Supercharging £17.95

MS-DOS Users Guide 2nd Edition £16.95

MS-DOS-Using £9.50

OperatingthelBMPCNetwork £18.45

Pagemaker- Desktop Publishing £15.95

PagemakerlBMPC-Mastering £18.45

Pagemaker-lllustrated £18.45

Quattro-Mastering £21.95

Smart-Using £21.45

Smart -tips, tricks and traps (QUE) £22.45

SuperCalc4 £19.95

SuperCalc4-Using £17.45

Symphony 3rd Edition -Mastering £22.95

TurboPascalComplete2ndEd. £21.45

TurboPascalLibrary £14.95

Using 1-2-32ndEdition £21.95

Using Microsoft WORD 2nd Edition £18.45

Using PC-DOS 2nd Edition Ver. 3.3 £20.45

UsingPagemakeronthelBMPC £22.45

UsingSuperCalc4 £17.45

Ventura-Mastering £21.95

Ventura Publishing -Instant £34.75

Ventura Tips + Tricks £18.95

Word Perfect Desktop Companion £25.95

Wordperfect-lllustrated £18.45

Wordperfect3rdEd-Using £18.45

WordPerfect Made Easy £15.95

Wordstar & CP/Mmadeeasy £9.95

WordStar Release4-Mastering £17.95

WordStar 1 51 2/1 640- Using £9.50

WordStarUser'sRef.manua! £12.50

Wordstar-Quickprogram Ref. Guide £8.95

WordStar4. 0-Using £17.45

Xerox Ventura-Desktop Publishing £14.50

Xerox Ventura Publishing -Inside f 18.45

P

The Advanced
Reference Manual
for the BBC Master

At last Acorn's long awaited Advance Reference
Manual for the BBC Master Series of
Microcomputers has now been published.
Watford Electronics' own authors have edited
and added missing sections to the original
script and produced a very high quality
publication.

It features information about:

• Memory Organisation

• Slow data bus

• Detailed circuit description

• Keyboard controller

• Screen display

• User port

• Serial Processor

• Peripheral bus controller

• 1 Mhz Bus

• Machine operating System

• Second processors - Internal, Z80 and 80186

• Disc Filing Systems

• ANFS

• Terminal Emulator & Editor

• View internal format

• Detailed differences between Model B, B + ,
Master 128K and Compact

• Comprehensive appendix on 65C12
instruction set

At the rear of the manual there are pull out
circuit diagrams for the Master 128K.

A worth-while addition to any Master owner's
library.

All this for just £19 (NO VAT)

THE COMPLETE BBC
COMPUTER USER HANDBOOK

" Why has no-one written a book like this
before ? It's long overdue ".

If you own a BBC-B, BBC B + , Electron, Master
128, Master Compact or ■Archimedes then this
book is for you. It shows you how to get the
most from your computer, and how to make
the computer work for you. Although some
sections are machine specific, most of the
information, programs, hints and good solid
experience are for the whole range of BBC
machines. The general style and level means
that both beginner and expert will feel satisfied
with the quality and quantity of the material.

GENERAL - Uses and abuses of computers.

HARDWARE - How to design your own work
station. Hardware additions (disc drives, ROMs,
printers, 2nd processors, etc). DIV alterations.

HARDWARE RUNNING BBC-BASIC - All BBC

machines are described with their differences.
Compatibility between the various BBC
machines. Networks. The Archimedes and its
advantages.

GETTING ORGANISED - so that you keep track
of your programs and control of your software.
Setting up for easier programming sessions.

NEAT PROGRAMMING - Good style. Writing
structured programs. Getting the best from
BBC-BASIC, Graphics and screen displays.
Speeding up programs. Saving space.

GENERAL PROGRAMMING TIPS AND HINTS -

with a multitude of examples (eg input vetting,
dealing with dates, blanking out function key
messages, error trapping, disabling ESCAPE
and BREAK, use of EOR with colour, etc).

DEBUGGING - Specific errors and how to
handle them. How to test programs fully.

STANDARD PROGRAMS - Assessing word-
processors, spread-sheets, databases, graphics
packages, communications etc. How to
customise them to your own requirements.

COMPUTERS AT HOME AND IN THE OFFICE -

Introducing the computer to the office. Program
protection. Computers and the law.
Communications. Selling your own proqrams.
28 FULL CHAPTERS, elegantly written and
extensively indexed. To dip into, consult, or
read from cover to cover, again... and aqain...
and again...

Only: £14.95

Watford Electronics are the
main Approved Stockist of
ACORN SPARES and Acorn
ECONET Referral Centre

Servisol Foam Cleaner

This 415MI, king size multi-purpose foam
cleaner spray is ideal for cleaning the Keyboard,
Monitor, Disc Drive and your computer
furniture surfaces. Simply spray on the surface
to clean and wipe off with a clean cloth.

Antistatic Aerosol Spray

Ideal for cleaning and preventing static build-up
on TV/Monitor Screens.

£2.50

Aerosol Dust Spray

Aerosol Dust Spray

This simple to use aerosol spray is ideal for
removing Dust and Dirt deposits from the
Keyboards and similar inaccessible places. £3

CREDIT CARD 24 HOUR
Ansaphone Hot Lines
(0923) 50234 or 33383

SURGE PROTECTOR Plug

Fitted in place of your normal mains plug, this
device protects your equipment against mains
surges. Nearby lightning strikes, thermostats
switching and many other sources which put
high voltage transient spikes on to the mains.
This can lead to data corruption in memory and
on disc and can result in spuriously crashing
machines. A must for every computer user.

Protection for only £7.50

4 WAY MAINS
DISTRIBUTION SOCKET

4 way top quality mains trailing sockets.
Supplied wired up with mains plug ready for
use. Can be screwed to floor or wall if required.
Very useful for tidying up all the mains leads
from your peripherals.

£7.95 (carr £1.50)

SPIKES CLEANER UNIT

A 4 way mains distribution unit as above with a
built-in Surge Arrester, providing protection for
your complete computer system

£13.00 (carr. £1.50)

ROM EXTRACTION TOOL

This extremely useful tool allows you trouble
free chip insertion and removal from your
computer by distributing the removal force over
the whole body of any 24 or 28 pin chip.

£2

Replacement FLEXIBLE 17 way
Keyboard Connector £3

28pin DIL HEADER PLUG

SOLDER type £1.50; IDC CRIMP type £1.95

8 WAY DIP SWITCH

Increase the speed of your Disc Drives by
soldering this switch to your BBC BorB-f
Keyboard.

Only £1.00

28 pin ZIF SOCKET (Textool)

£6.95

Watford DATA DUCK

Convert two single Disc Drives into one Dual
Drive with this simple external unit (Suitable for
Disc Drives with PSU. For Disc Drives without
PSU, you will also require Watford Power Duck,
see below).

£14

Watford POWER DUCK

CONNECTING LEADS

(All ready made and tested)
CASSETTE LEADS 7 pin DIN Plug
to 5 pin DIN Plug + 1 Jack Plug
to 3 pin DIN Plug + 1 Jack Plug
to 7 pin DIN Plug
to 3 Jack Plugs

6 pin DIN to 6 pin DIN Plug (RGB)

DISC DRIVE POWER LEADS

Supply from BBC power supply to standard
Disc Drive connector.

Single £3.00 Dual £3.75

DISC DRIVE INTERFACE LEADS

BBC to Disc Drives Ribbon Cable
Single £4 Twin £6

Miscellaneous Connectors

RGB (6 PIN DIN)

RS423 (5 pin Domino)
Cassette (7 pin DIN)
ECONET (5 pin DIN)
Paddles (15 pin 'D')

Disc Drive Plug 4 way
6 way Power Connector

£8

£2.00

£ 2.00

£2.50

£2.00

£2.50

Plugs

Sockets

30p

45p

40p

50p

25 p

65p

20p

30p

80p

200p

75p

-

80 p

95p

SPARES for

BBC Micro

Keyboard

£43

Speaker

£2

Master Keyboard

£62

Keyswitch

£1.50

UHF Modulator

£4

16MHz Crystal

£4

Speaker Grill

£1

32.768MHz Xtal

£1.00

Power Supply

£56

Master PSU

£59

BBC Casing

£20

CHIP SHOP

ASSORTED
ROMS

DS3691

DS88LS120

LM324

SN76489

SAA5050

UPD7002

WD1770

2764-250nS

27128-250nS

(12V5)

27128-250nS

(21V)

27256-15

27512

27C101G (1 Meg)

4013

4020

4164-15

4464-12

4464-15

4816 RAM

41256-15

41256-12

6264LP-8K’

6502A CPU

65C02 3M

65C12

651 2A

6522

6522A

65256ALS-15

6818

6845SP

68B50

68B54

7438

74LS00

74LS04

74LS10

74LS123

74LS163

74LS244

74LS245

74ALS245

74LS373

74LS393

75453

75159

8271

9637

ICL7673PA

£4.50

£5.25

£0.45

£5.50

£8.75

£6.00

£12.00

£3.50

£3.25

£5.25

£5.00

£10.50

£17.50

60p

£0.90

£3.25

£8.95

£8.25

£2.00

£8.25

£9.75

£8.50

£4.50

£9.75

£9.00

£10.00

£3.40

£4.50

£12.50

£4.00

£6.00

£2.95

£7.50

40p

25p

25p

25p

80p

70p

80p

£1.00

£2.75

£1.00

£1.00

70p

£2.00

£39

£2.00

£2.00

ACORN ADFS

£25

User Guide

£22

Acorn BCPL

£42

Acorn COMAL

£38

ACORN DNFS

£17

Acorn FORTH

£32

Acorn Graphics

£25

Acornsoft C

£52

Acorn LISP

£19

Acorn LOGO

£49

Acorn OS B+

£25

Acorn OS 1.2

£14

Basic Editor

£24

Beebfont

£25

Beebmon

£22

BROM Plus

£32

Buffer & Backup

£20

Communicator

£49

Commstar II

£28

Graphics Extension

Rom

GXR-B

£21

GXR-B-f

£22

Help II

£27

ISO Pascal

£51

ISO-Pascal Stand

Alone Generator

£30

ICON Master

£28

Logotron LOGO

£45

Master OS ROM

£38

Master Termulator

£32

Micro Prolog

£62

Microtext Disc

£46

Microtext Rom

£199

Mini Office II ROM

£43

MUROM

£21

ROMIT

£29

Serial ULA

£13

TED

£35

Termulator B, B +

£25

Termulator Master

£32

Toolkit Plus

£31

Video ULA

£14

ULTRACALC II

£26

1Mb OS ROM

£39

Watford

Dealers' List

UNITED KINGDOM

Alpha Microtec Ltd, 321 Stratford Road, Shirley,
Solihull, West Midlands. Tel: 021-745 8998.

Badger Micros (Devon), Badger's Hill,
Southerton, Ottery-St. Mary, Devon EX11 1SE.
Tel: 0395 68516.

Beebug Retail, Dolphin Place, Holywell Hill,

St. Albans.

Cambridge Computer Store, 4 Emmanuel St
Cambridge CBl 1 NE. Tel: 0223 358264.

Cirkit Distribution Ltd,

Park Lane, Broxbourne, Herts.

C.J.E. Micros, 78 Brighton Road, Worthing,

West Sussex. Tel: 0903 213361.

HCCS, 575-583 Durham Road, Low Fell,
Gateshead, Nr. Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Tel. 091 4870760.

Mancomp Ltd, Printworks Lane, Levenshulme
Manchester. Tel: 061-224 1888-9888.

Microman Computers, Pasture Lane Farm,
Pasture Lane, Rainford, St. Helens, Merseyside
WA1 1 8PU. Tel: 074488 3667.

The Computer Depot, 205 Buchanan Street,
Glasgow G1 2JZ. Tel: 041-332 3944.

Verospeed Ltd, Boyatt Wood, Eastleigh, Hants.

Continued —

I

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ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

65

JOES JOTTINGS

GETTING YOUR
LINES CROSSED

Have you ever wanted to create your own crossword? Here is something
that may help you do just that

Figure 1 . Try and solve the Acom User crossword

T he impetus for this month's prog-
ram came from two sources, over
12,000 miles apart. I'd just unear-
thed a pile of readers’ letters that
I’d filed as containing potential
project ideas, and was looking through
them when I came to a request for a
crossword-compiling program from a
group of Australian readers. I’d put it down
previously because the amount of program-
ming needed struck me as being quite large.
In addition I hadn’t forgiven Barson’s (the
Australian distributor) for offering me a
crate of cut-price soap at the first ever Acorn
User show.

Then the darling daughter waltzed into
the lab at the Towers with her latest holiday
reading - 5001 Crossword Puzzles for your
Spare Time. There’s no doubt that we like
to pit our wits against the authors of such
crosswords, but it suddenly struck me that
there. must be an equal sense of satisfaction
in actually building one.

Crosswords consist of a blank grid where
letters can be placed, along with a set of
clues. The clues are arranged in numerical
order, across then down the grid. If you
look at the Acorn User crossword in figure
1, you’ll see how this is done. Look at the
way some of the squares are numbered, 1 to
19, left to right, then top to bottom.

But these are the elements which we see.
What if we wanted to check the answers to a
crossword? In this case the information
shown in the box on page 70 would be most
useful to us. This allocates words to the
grid, and lists them in number order across
and down.

We’re now getting to the point where we
can see exactly how a crossword can be
built. But there are actually two approaches,

which I’ll call the pattern-based and the
thematic approaches.

The pattern-based approach is illustrated
in figure 2. This layout, common to many
newspapers, is based on first designing a
regular grid of squares, then filling the grid
with any words at all, so long as they fit.
Once done, the squares are numbered and
clues added. However, using a computer to
design such a crossword would require

access to a very large dictionary, like
View Spell or Spell Master.

The thematic approach puts more emph-
asis on the words which are intended to be
used in the crossword. These crosswords
are more likely to appear in special interest
magazines because they are developed
around a theme. Figure 1 is a thematic
crossword, and this article deals only with
this type. Really keen readers might like to

66

ACORN USER NOVKMBIiR 1988

JOES JOTTINGSS

work on the ideas here, to modify them for
pre-designed patterns.

To build a thematic crossword, you first
have to select the words which you want
your audience to guess. This is an important
task, because the words should be within
the ken of most of the audience, or if not,
easily guessable from the clues. Next, these
words have to be laid down on a grid, so
they overlap with at least one other word -
like adding words in Scrabble. This is a
process of sorting, matching and counting.
Each word has to be given a number,
depending on its position in the grid, and
then grouped into Across and Down words.
Finally a clue has to be designed for each
answer in turn. This marks the end of the
design process, but the crossword has to go
through two presentation stages, where the
blank is drawn up and the clues added.

Of these tasks, choosing the words and
designing the clues are best done by you,
but most of the other work can be delegated
to your micro. The computer replaces only
the activities which don’t require creative
thought, and you retain the management
role to make sure the system is followed.

The programs are designed to run on any
BBC micro with shadow screen memory;
for a standard BBC micro a crunched
version of program 2 is needed. If you
intend typing the published version into a
model B or Electron without shadow mem-
ory, then you’ll need to compact the second
listing with a toolkit program. The prog-
rams will work on NET or ADFS, but you
will need to create directories W,X and C
beforehand, and on certain machines (Elec-
trons or model B machines with ADFS for
example) you won’t be able to set PAGE
low enough to run them. Because the
programs generate files, I recommend that
you allocate a whole disc to this package.
Type in or copy the first program - CWDl
- and save it on the disc. Type in (and
crunch if necessary) the second program,
CWD2-c, or copy it, and save it too. Then
"BUILD the 1BOOT file:

"BUILD IBOOT
0001 -’BASIC
0002 -SHADOW 0

0003 MODE 4

0004 CHAIN “CWDl”

ESCAPE

"OPT 4, 3

Using the crossword generator

When CWDl runs, a title page appears and
prompts you to press Space. The title page
will disappear and the second program will
then load. Notice that the program is
ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

generally window-based: all commands
and input are via windows.

The main keys to use with a menu are
the cursor up and down keys, with Return
confirming your choice. The Escape key
always cancels whatever you’re doing, and
gets you back to the last menu. Sometimes
you are invited to press other keys or to
type words - these are always clearly
indicated, and unless you press Break or
Escape by accident, you can’t go wrong.

CWDl has two important functions.
First, it sets up the user-defined characters,
and second it sets up the maximum size of
the crossword grid at a 20 by 20 square.
This value is found at the beginning of the
program - it is known as the M% variable.
M% also sets the maximum number of
words which can be entered at 20. Howev-
er, advanced users might like to think how
this number could be increased. The prog-
ram is also a front end for the crossword

CROSSWORD CLUES

Across:

4: Twin hacks of 9 across (5,5)

5: In the meeting place. But it’s all
Greek to me! (5)

9: Column about kids for adults? (9)
10: Tech man rings true after off-colour
meat (6,4)

13: The world’s best magazine for users
of Acorn computers (5,4)

14: Cambridge computer firm takes a
chance (4)

15: The mighty one of 7 down (4,5)

17: Notes written down at the ‘Towers’
(4,8)

19: Front column collects facts from
compass directions (4)

Down

1: Column which puts the Orson be-
fore the cart! (6)

2: Forest publisher may distribute in
USSR? (7)

3: Demented dwarf with gold covered
choc earrings (3,4)

4: Contributor of Arabia? Goliath
wouldn’t agree! (5,8)

6: Undergone some adventures below
without Queen! (7)

7: He who must be obeyed! (2)

8: Connector for 11,18 down (3)

11: (also 8, 18 down) Column gives help
- sort of clues (5,3,4)

12: Micro maths pack removes decimals
for artists in chaos? (8)

16: Place to find info? (5)

18: Spit in confusion - see 11 down (4)

generator itself.

When the main program begins, the
highlight bar in the main menu indicates
the ‘Words’ option, so you simply press
Return. A further ‘Actions’ menu appears
giving you the choice of typing in new
words or loading an existing set from disc.

Choose ‘New’ from the Actions menu
by moving the highlight bar and pressing
Return. A new window opens up, into
which you can type the words for your
crossword. Type in up to 20 words anc
conclude by typing a **’ on a line all by
itself. If you add the maximum number o: :
words, the ‘*’ isn’t necessary. Once the
words have been entered, the main menu
reappears.

To save a word set, move the highlight
bar down to ‘Words’ and press Return,
then select ‘Save’ from the Actions menu,
think of a filename and enter it. Wordfiles
are stored in the W directory, and this is
built in to the program - so a file on
astronomy could be W. ASTRO. Once the
name is entered, the wordfile is spooled to
disc, and then the main menu reappears.

File management

After you have selected ‘Words’ from the
main menu, you can use the Action menu
to either catalogue the wordfiles on the
disc, or to delete them. Similar actions
work on the clues and crossword files.
Select ‘Catalogue’ and press Return. When
the catalogue appears, the Space bar returns
you to the main menu. Note that the
catalogue is of one of the three directories
W, C and X, for word lists, clues and
crosswords, depending on what was
selected from the main menu.

To delete a file, select ‘Delete’. A cata-
logue of the relevant files will be displayed,
and you just enter the file name that you
want to delete, not including any directory
extension, for example ASTRO. This
would delete W. ASTRO, that is assuming
‘Words’ was picked from the main menu.
The file will vanish and the main menu will
reappear.

The files of words which the list prog-
ram generates are saved in Ascii form, so
they can be edited by your favourite word-
processor. They can be read into View or
Wordwise , spellings can be corrected and
words cap either be removed or added -
but make sure you don’t exceed 20 words.
You can even create the entire wordlist
with your wordprocessor and then use the
‘Load’ option in the ‘Words’ submenu to
load them. This ‘load from disc’ option
exits if you add a **’ to your word-

67

68

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

JOES JOTTINGS

Figure 2. Pattern-based crosswords require access to a large dictionary

processed file, otherwise you can add extra
words to the end of the list before typing
the ‘*’ manually.

Of course, not everyone has a word-
processor, so the program will function
without one. You can also load and amend
clue files with a wordprocessor; these are
saved in Ascii form too. The crossword file
is saved, byte by byte, and cannot be
altered. Note that once a crossword file is
generated the wordlist is fixed, and the
original wordlist will always reappear
when a crossword file is loaded. The rule is
that you should consider rebuilding the
crossword file whenever you change the
words in the wordfile. Remember too,
when using a wordprocessor, that you
should save the wordprocessed file in Ascii
- don’t put any stored commands into the
file - and words should be no more than 20
characters long. Clues in clue files should
never be more than 60 characters long. The
other options on the words submenu allow
you to display the wordlist on screen, or
print it out on your printer. Once you
have finalised the wordlist, it then needs to
be made into a crossword.

Building a crossword

This is the largest part of the program, and
it can take a good deal of time to complete.
With a wordlist loaded, select ‘Crossword’
from the main menu. You then select
‘New’ to build a new grid. A submenu
allows you to select a tight or open cross-
word, or the option of returning to the
main menu. OPEN is an option which
instructs the computer to build its grid by
overlaying each new word across the pre-
viously fitted words, in the order last fitted
to first fitted. This tends to result in a
crossword which spreads right across the
available grid space. The TIGHT option
instructs the computer to build its grid by
overlaying each new word across the pre-
viously fitted words, in the order first
fitted to last fitted. This tends to result in a
crossword which is grouped more centrally
in the grid space.

Neither type of crossword guarantees a
fit, as this depends on the frequency of
matching letters in the words you enter,
and on the randomness of the first few
overlays made by the program. The build-
ing routine itself works by ordering the
words by length, then laying down the
longest word, near the centre of the grid.
Successive words are matched randomly
from either end of the first word, and
progressively from either end of the later
words. A counter on the screen indicates
ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

which word you are up to. If the word-
count sticks on a word near the end for an
abnormally long time, say about a minute,
then the chances are that the crossword
cannot fit. Press Escape and rebuild. We’ve
never yet had a crossword that couldn’t be
built, although the option to accept a
crossword apart from a non-fitting last
word is built in. In some cases this option
is useful, but it does cause the last word to
vanish completely.

Once the crossword has been built, the
program automatically numbers the grid,
sorts the wordlist by number, then groups
them into words across and words down.
The main menu reappears at this point,
although the program tells us where it is at
every step of the way. It is now best to
save the crossword, by selecting ‘Cross-
word’, then ‘Save’ from the menus. In the
example of an astronomy crossword we
might use the filename X. ASTRO, where
X is the crossword directory. ‘X’ is added
automatically by the program.

Once you’ve got the crossword saved,
you need to prepare the clues. I find that
this task can be made easier if I first go to
the Words menu then select ‘Print’, to get a
list of the answers, then select ‘Cross-
words’, and ‘Print’. At this stage, a new

submenu appears offering a draft of the
grid - select this. Now I can see the
relationship of words and the crossword,
and take this into account when actually
composing clues.

Normally clues are added by selecting
the ‘New’ sub-option of the ‘Clues’ sec-
tion, and this prompts for each clue by
giving the word and its corresponding
number in the crossword. The clues must
be typed using anything up to 60 charac-
ters per clue.

For safety’s sake I recommend saving the
clues as soon as they are entered, so you
select ‘Clues’ then ‘Save’, and in our astro-
nomy example we would type the name
ASTRO to save them as C. ASTRO.

You can now leave the computer and
come back to perform your print-out later,
or you can continue and print it out now.
The only difference is that if you restart
the computer, you must reload the cross-
word using the ‘Load’ option in the
‘Crossword’ submenu, and the clues with
the one in the ‘Clues’ submenu.

Displaying the crossword

To print it all out, make sure the printer is
ready. It should be Epson FX-compatible -
if not, you’ll have to rewrite the PROC-

69

m

JOES JOTTINGS

Main Menu

Ret i ons

Method

Format

Wo rds ❖

New ❖

Draft

Tight

Clues ❖

Save

Ctteibi

[1X3333

[cTSOlSHiKS

Load

Large

❖

Quit

D i sp lay

❖

lj^ ■ ii9k2

Cat alog

■

Delete

❖

Figure 3. The major options and sub-options you can use. Choose any option just by using either the up or down cursor key

dump routine. Then select the ‘Crossword’
option from the main menu, then ‘Print’
from the submenu, and decide whether
you want a small or large crossword. Select
the one you want using the highlight bar.
The screen will display a large version of
half of the blank crossword which will
then be dumped to the printer. This is
followed by the other half of the cross-
word, and finally the chime reminds you to
press Space to return to the main menu.
This part of the program can take up
anything to five minutes for the large
version and about two for the small version
- depending on the speed of your printer.-
A small routine looks at the screen before
printing begins, to reduce the amount of
entirely black lines, and this can save a lot
of time in small crosswords, and is a major
reason why I’ve never found it necessary to
alter the size of the crossword.

Once the crossword is dumped, you can
reselect ‘Clues’, then ‘Print’. This gives us
an immediate hard copy of the clues,
underneath the crossword. If we use the
small crossword option, then both cross-
word and clues will fit on an A4 sheet of
paper. With a large crossword, the prog-
ram does a form feed after printing the
grid, so the clues go on the next sheet.

While the above explains how the pro-
gram works in detail, figures 4 and 5 are
aide-memoires to remind you of the stages
necessary for producing your own cross-
words. Remember that the computer tells
you where you are every step of the way,
and that the Escape key aborts any activity.
If you Escape in the ‘Enter words’ section,
the words, crossword and any clues are
destroyed. If you Escape in the ‘Build
crossword’ section the same happens, but if
you Escape in the ‘Enter clues’ section,
only the clues go.

I hope you enjoy working with this
package - and particular thanks to our
Australian readership for suggesting the
topic in the first place!

Main Menu

Options

Other

l.

Words

New

2.

Words

Save

3.

Grids

New

Close/Tight

4.

Grids

Save

5.

Grids

Print

Draft

6.

Words

Print

7.

Clues

New

8.

Clues

Save

9.

Grids

Print

Small/Large

10.

Clues

Print

Figure 4. An aide-memoire -

to help you produce your crossword quite easily

Main Menu

Options

Other

1 .

Grids

Load

2.

Grids

Print

Small/Large

3.

Clues

Load

4.

Clues

Print

Figure 5. All the necessary stages are shown to help you

Crossword Answers

*************** ***j\* Across:

*************** ***b*
********* ****r**m*IJ*
******** *DRAGEEVANS *

* * * * *jkGORA* * *D * *D *E*

*D * *E * * * *V* A*W* *A*R*
*U*EDUCATION*0**L***
*jq*******D*D*0**E***
*GRAHAMBELL**D**X*F*

*E * * j * * * *A* ****** *R*

*0* *N* * * *W* ****** *A* Down:

*N* *t*ACORNUSER* * *C*
**RISC***E********T*

***** * *TONYQUINN* *A*
*********C******I*L*

******* JOES JOTTINGS*
*************I**D***
*************p *NEWS *

******** *****s**x***

********************

4: DRAGEEVANS
5: AGORA
9: EDUCATION
10: GRAHAMBELL
13: ACORNUSER
14: RISC

15: TONYQUINN
17: JOESJOTTINGS
19: NEWS

1: ABUSER

2: REDWOOD

3: MADALEX

4: DAVIDLAWRENCE

6: DUNGEON

7: ED

8: AND

11: HINTS

12: FRACTALS

16: INDEX

18: TIPS

70

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

M r Master compatible

M = Master compatible

*= Electron disc
available

M= Master compatible

ACORNSOFT

Revs A Revs 4 Tracks(RBC Only)
A8L

Stalk M
Breaktetoogh M
: Impact M

Pcwecpack t (7 games) JElec
Pwerpack 2 {7 games) jOnl
ZggyM

ORE BIRO

Sentinel (BBC Only) M
Cbdo(BBC Only) M

SUPEHOR

Play It Again, Sam 3 M

Reptcn Thru Time M
Barbarian M
Spycat M
Quest M

Ptay it Again Sam 2M
Bcneouncha M
SpeibnderM
Play it Again Sam M
The Die of Repton M
Einr M

Pal ace ot Magic M

GREMLIN GRAPHICS
KrakouJ (BBC Orty) M
Poofcallef of tie Year

Ransack M
Despatch Rider M
Thunderstruck
Thundersirudt 2 M
SftettaOf Destiny M

HEWSON
Evening Star M
Uridum (BBC Only) M

Omega OrbM

Graham Gooch Test Cricket

BBC SOFT

Bisntark(8BC Only) M
Black Queen (BBC Only M)
White Knight MM2 (BBC Orty) M

HEYLEY SOFTWARE (State 40 or
SO Track) (All BBC Only)

The Ultimate Priae M
Pirates Petit M
Dream Time M
The Taroda Scheme M
Stand ed U

Repton Around tee World M
Cram Rider M
Codename; Droid (Stryker’s) M
Grand Phi Cons. Set MfBBCorty)
Repton 3 M

Revs 4 4 TrackMBBC only) M

BEAU JOLLY
Five Star Games t (5 games)
Frve Star Games 2 (5 games)
Fwe Star Games 3 (7 games)
Computer Hits 3 (10 games)
Computer Hits 4 (12 games)
Computer Hits S ( S game6)

EHeM

Acorn Hit* Volt or 2 M
Sop Col 1 or 2 (BBC a
Superior Cd.3(Elec C
Speech (BBC oniy)M
Citadel M
RavenskJM
Thrust M
Gafaforce M'

IMPACT SOFTWARE (Discs are
BBC B A Master Compatible 40/80
Cheat It Agar, Joe i
Cheat It Again, Joe 2

BUGBYTE

Bugbyte Comp, 1 (4 games) M
Bug byte Comp 2 (4 games)
OunjunaM

INFORGRAMME
Apocalypse (BBC Only)

COS

Cdossut Bridge M
CoIoesus Chess M
Steve Davis Snooker M
Brian Ctopgh Footbal M

7YNES0FT
Summer Oympiad M
SagcnU

Winter Olympiad *88 M

LOGOTRON

XORM

LBSUREGENfUS
Soabble (BBC Onfy)

BoJderdatftM
Indoor Sports M
Phantom M
Oxbridge M

Commonwealth Games M
Future Shod M
Ucrovalue (4 games)
Mcrcvalue2(4gam'es)
MicrovaXie 3 (4 games)
McrovatusGdd

CODA SOFTWARE
Headcoach M

IOTHLOR1AN
Roundheads (BBC Only) M

DESIGN PEOPLE
Sink The Bismark M
Tanks M

Battle o I Britain M (BBC Only)

MANDARM

Icarus M

Time and Mag* (60 Trad Only,
BBC B with sdewayv shadow
RAM. B*. Master) M

MICROPOWER (State 40 or 60
Trad when ordering Oiscs)
Imogen (BBC Only) M
Or Who (BBC Onfy]M
Maopower Magic 1 M

St* Wars M

Living Daylights (BBC Only) M
Trivial Pursuits (All BBC Only)
Genus Edtion M
Young Players M
Baby Boomer M
Butts Eye (BBC Only)

MARTECH

War (BBC Only)

MOSIAC

Yes Prime Minister M

(BBC Only)
Maopower Magic 2 M
(BBC Only)

Cocntdown (BBC Only)
Treasure Hunt (BBC Only

ROBICO (State 40 or 80 Trad
when ordering tfcks)

Enthar Seven M

Island ctXaan (BBC Only) M

R<k Hansen Trilogy M

Project Thes us M

MyoremM

The Hunt M

Vilage o! Lost Souls M

EUTE

Paperboy M
Commando (BBC Only)

EPIC SOFTWARE

The lost Crystal M

The Wheel of FcrtunejEtec Only)

Castie Frankenstein (Elec Only)

The Quest for the Holy Gtatf (Etec Only)
The KJngdcm ol Klein (Elec Only)

GO DAY
SkamishM
Koutyard M

TOPOLOGIKA
(Text Adventures 51/4“
state 40 or 80 tracks)
Retem to Doom M
Kingdom ol Ham! M
Countdown to Doom M
Acheton M
Riiospher’s Quest M

DATABASE SOFTWARE
Starajake (BBC Only) M
Uni Office 2 (BBC B ONLY)
Uni Office 2 (Master Disc)

ELK ADVENTURE CLUB
The Axe ot Koffi
Starship 0ue6t
MagneficMoon

Ceuene

aeoeeson

VtjtWjnco-* ) ALL
Stx»w ifeSCOM

C<n«ind [LI* 0n»

aoctiv*

aitwato* tormuit

?wtor»

CwrMtlr*

Art ( 9 BC O'M
CivyEr»*l
Ojitm Jpwtltvl*'

Sob* Ian

tk»nc#ialUi(H)«cCW|)
VO.oP.rtnt
rrgt0oart1.ro 13

''•»or

Vote CrU Artis.
Nyvr.w Vir.

Or i

Orf

Suit'd l

CttrM

f»i*\*w* tetri
> ejt Mewi.r* jfcut (Vyy

Chxa
Slat Ctr
9axt>

*•»*< Can.

o*%* offline twjj

Cvo.irrrU.tsn

St**!

b» Uremia Orl,)
Cnawr

F»xWi»wi.(titcOn«

bo.esinglfttOrtri
btfiw W(e«6«>}

IK 0C1CT
SwmiM

OlOrTtl cm

8 »f Juki 9eptt C nmnfl.
Ot vi Cun Srontr.n
QiicicPitral

VigtiAOM

xr« 0*1 mg.

BUDGET CASSETTES

BBC or Electron

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(Impact)

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BBC 5 1/4* Discs

FREE HELPSHEETS/MAPS

Spend over £4 on games and you may choose any ONE of the following helpsheets/solutions
and maps absolutely FREE:* Spend over £10 and you may choose any TWO FREE:-

Spycat...

...(Solution v map)

Quest...

Ravorskul.— .....
Q label

...(Solution * map)

(Solution t map)

.............. (Solution *4 maps)

...(Solution + map)

Plan B 2 (Solution ♦ map)

Spy V$ Spy.— -—..(Helps beet)
Spelt>i< ; ’b9f.,„.„.„„„,_..„;.. r .„„(Soiutx)n + maps)

E xv. — — . (So’ution y maps)

Paperboy. j ..(He’psheel)

Twin Kingdom VaBey... -...(Solution + map)

Onega Orb .....; (Solution + map)

Elite (Helpsheet + tps)

Tartan -—.(SoUtian -t map)

Stranded...,

-.(Solution)

Codename: Droid.......... -.{Solution + map)

ThundersYuck...... -.(Sotuton 4 map)

Thunderstruck 2— .(Sotuton 4 map)

The Lost Crystal —..(Solution)

— (Solution)

Kowtya/d...

Ounjunz..—

Gisburnes Caste.... .(Solution

.(Helpsheet + map) Imogen.

.....(Helpsheet + map) Cho'o.

Palaoe of Mage.....,-.

map)

.—....(Solution 4 map)

Impact (Heipsheets 4 passwords)

Icarus. (Help sheet 4 maps)

Sphinx Adventure (Solution)

Anarchy Zone (Helpsheet ♦ passwords)

Philosopher's Quest.(Soluton 4 map)

Repton 2— (He'p6heet4 18map6)

Bonecruncher— ...(Passwords ♦ 10 map®)

Skirmish-—. (Helpsheet)

(Solution)

...(Solution)

Quest for Freedom.. ..(Solution 4 map)

ARCHIMEDES GAMES

MC(ov

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last me long awaiiea sequel to tne excellent Ravenskull
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ILLUSTRATION BY JONATHAN INGLIS

ARCHIMEDES

MAKING

MOVES

Transferring files is becoming increasingly difficult as the number of
wordprocessors increases. A standard file format may be the answer

Dave Lawrence

T ransferring files be-
tween wordprocessors
has always been tricky
to say the least. Practi-
cally every word-
processor stores its text in a
different way and the chances
of formatting and layout com-
mands being the same are very
slim indeed. On a small scale,
even the differences between
View and Wordwise make
moving files between the two
awkward. Now, with the ad-
vent of the Archimedes and its
slowly growing number of
wordprocessors, file transfer is becoming
almost impossible.

I actively use three different word pro-
cessors - Pipedream on the Z88 (when Pm
on the train), View on a BBC (when Pm in
the office) and First Word Plus on the
Archimedes (when Pm at home). Pm
planning to move completely over to
Pipedream on the Archimedes, but before I
actually do, I need a utility to move files
between the three.

I could use the ‘Save as plain text’
options and then ‘read’ my files in as
straight Ascii. This will work fine, but I
would lose all my page layout, formatting
and highlighting commands.

I could have written six transfer pro-
grams to convert between all the possible
combinations of formats, but this would
take too long and is not easily expanded
on. For example, I might suddenly have to
use a new WP such as Microsoft’s Word ,
then if I wanted to transfer files between
this and all my existing WPs Pd have to
write another six converters!

I Instead of these two options, I decided

to define a ‘standard* wordproccssor file
that contains all the elements necessary for
specifying layout, formatting and high-
lighting and then, for each WP, write two
utilities, one to translate to this format and
one back again. So, although I’d still need
to write six programs for my initial WPs, if
I ever had to use any more I’d only need to
write two more converters.

This approach is rather like the UNCOL
programming language. This was a stan-
dard intermediate language proposed in
1958. It was envisaged that languages such
as C and Pascal would compile to UN-
COL with the ‘front end’ compiler, and
then a ‘back end’ compiler would be used
to convert the UNCOL source into the
machine code for the relevant machine.
Thus if a new language was invented, then
only one compiler need be written - one
from the language to UNCOL. Likewise if
a new machine was built, only one compil-
er need be written - from UNCOL to the
machine. (There is an UNCOL compiler
for the Archimedes as well as an ARM
back end. . .!)

BBC Enterprises has been
working on a simplified gener-
al format called UniForm ,
however this is really just a
superset of Ascii and not really
suited for transferring WP
files. Instead of using this, I
have defined my own format
called August - the Acorn User
Generalised Utility for Script
Transfer. This is based on the
UniForm standard, but is en-
hanced to include page layout
and highlighting commands.

August files consist of 8-bit
Ascii text. The only ‘control’
characters (Ascii codes less than 32) that
are used are ‘tab’ (Ascii 9) and ‘cr’ (Ascii
13). All the August constructs are intro-
duced by a ‘Control Sequence Indicator’
(CSI) ‘I’ (the double bar) and are termin-
ated by a ‘Control Sequence Terminator’
(CST) This allows constructs to be
nested. Paragraphs are stored as solid text
with no soft spaces or carriage returns.
This is done because it is expected that the
destination WP should have to reformat
the text itself. Paragraphs are terminated by
a carriage return (Ascii 13).

All measurements in an August file are
made in thousandths of a point (1 /72000th
of an inch) - this is to cater for microspac-
ing and kerning constructs.

The type of construct is indicated by the
character following the CSI. There are
currently nine constructs, 10 highlight
commands and three special characters.
These are shown in the table on page 75.

Please note, in the following section a
number of example constructs are given in
which extra spaces have been added to
make the examples more legible.

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

73

rchimedes

HARNESS THE POWER

Alpha -D(&e

£ 49.95

Alpha-Base is the successor to Beta-Base, the top
selling database for the BBC micro. Alpha-Base really
does ' HARNESS THE POWER' of the Archimedes.
As with all Clares products we have made Alpha-
Base powerful but easy to use. You can be using a
database within 5 minutes of receiving the
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not lose any functions or power. Here arejustsome
of the functions:

* wimp based using icons and mouse

* Hard disc compatible - massive files

* Free format screens with on line editing of field
order

* Upto 400 fields & 27600 chars per record

* Upto 2.14 billion records per file III

* Multiple display, entry and printer forms can be
used with each file

* Fast search by fields or record

* Plain English entry of search & sort criteria with
many inbuilt functions

* Five data types including formulae

* Calculation facilities with inbuilt min, max,
average, age etc

* Comprehensive print options inc labels

* validation on each field if required

* Transfer fields from one file to another

* Password security if required

* Data stored on disc so computer failure will not
result in loss of the data

If you want a powerful database that you can boot

up and run within 5 minutes then buy Alpha-Base

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£ 29.95

Graphic Writer, formerly image writer, is a
sophisticated WIMP based word processor with an
inbuilt graphics editor. It can be used as a standard
word processor or graphics can be included to
provide diagrams, graphs etc within your
document. Graphics can even be imported from
ARTISAN

■ Totally icon driven from menus

' Multiple documents in memory, upto 512k

* Super smooth scrolling

* Fast search & replace

* Justify centre 4tc .

* Text styles give plain, bold, italic, underlined,
subscript, superscript or combinations of these
eg bold italic underlined subscript.

* centered and Temporary text styles

* Block operations - move, copy delete and recall

* Full Wysiwyg preview

* Graphics editor

‘ Page format controls page length, headers,
footers, pad and pound characters.

* Page composition allows placing of graphics, mini
preview etc

* Multiple print out options

* Auto page numbering even through multiple
documents

To create a document with Graphic writer you
type in your text, using the many text styles
available, leave room for the graphics and then
place the graphics using Page composition. It's
simple and easy to use. You can have up to 14
documents in memory on a 310, that's equivalent
to about 220 pages of A4 text.

See what the magazines say:

ewic

the scrolliing § unbelievably smooth r . .

recommend this excellent * * , " • 1 can highly

*ord processor for the ArcSed^ ^

Micro USER April 1988

excellent value... bowled over by its
stunning use of graphics.

RISC USER December 1987

TOO!

DON'T FORGET, YOU CAN Ol

ARCHIMEDES

The constructs

:h-

Horizontal ruler (tab positions
and margins)

:v-

Vertical ruler (page layout)

;t -

Header definition

;b-

Footer definition

IF-

Font specification

|E -

Expression

u-

Justified text

IP-

Conditional page eject

1?-

Application specific data

The highlights

JO -

Normal (reset)

Jl -

Underline

]2 -

Bold

|3-

Light

|4-

Italic

|5 -

Subscript

]6 -

Superscript

|7-

Extended

J8 -

Condensed

j9-

Small caps (user defined?)

Special characters

i

i

Literal ‘|*

is-

Literal ‘$’

i

i ~

Page number

Table 1. Summary of August format

f

• A

IM •

i

Harold MaterMi
Blotchley Data SystfM Ltd
54 Middlesex Avene
•litcMei

24tl» February 1914

Dear Harold

The BBC side of the pre-rredeetiifl sa*le has beet tested
and does not need uy alter iiy ii m h>9*

To transfer the rroyra« to tin in the correct order press
Shift-Break or type »EXEC !IMT, The proyrans fill be saved
with a S second yap at the start of the tye.

Voors sincerely,

View, embedded page layout commands

Pipedreanr. option page

spaces are not part of the August format.
Also the word ‘tab’ has been used to mean
the tab character, Ascii code 9.

To achieve horizontal rules, just type:

“ |H gutter, left, indent, right, justified,
tab, tab, ...S”

The \H is followed by four margins, sepa-
rated by commas. These are all measured
from the left edge of the page. The left
margin is the area of the page (on the left)
in which no text can ever be printed. On
right-hand pages the gutter margins
are on the left-hand side of the page.

The indent margin is used to create^;
‘hanging indents’, so when typing in a WP,
the cursor returns to the indent margin
whenever Return is pressed. This margin
will usually be the same as the left margin.
The right margin sets the position beyond
which no text can be printed. The overall
line length is therefore the right margin
minus the left margin.

Following the margins, and again sepa-
rated by a comma, is a character indicating
how the text following this ruler should be
justified. The four possible characters are:
L for left justified (ragged right margin)

text, C for centralised (each line is indi-
vidually centralised) text, R for right justi-
fied (ranged right, ranged left margin) text
and F for fully justified (all lines should be
made the same length by inserting extra
spaces where necessary) text.

If any tabs are set, then their positions
follow, preceded by their type and sepa-
rated by commas. The list should be ter-
minated by a CST. If there are no tabs,
then the justification character is im-
mediately followed by the CST. There

^ are ^ 0Ul c yp es ta ^ s current *y su P"

ported: L which is left justified,
where text starts immediately at the tab; C
which is centre justified, where text is
centralised about the tab; R which is right
justified, where text is positioned so it ends
at the tab and D which is decimal, where
the text contains a decimal point, then it is
positioned at the tab, otherwise the text is
right justified, (‘spreadsheet’ tab, corres-
ponds to column position.) For example:
HO, 48000, 72000, 840000,

L,L1 92000, L384000,L576000$ /

means a gutter margin of 0, left margin
of 4, indent margin of 6 and a right taJ

margin of 70. The text in figure 1 should be
left justified. There are three ‘normal’ tabs
set at 16, 32 and 48.

To get a vertical ruler, the sequence to
type is: “|V top margin, header space, head-
er margin, footer margin, footer space, bot-
tom margin, page length $”]

The |V is followed by seven vertical
margins measured from the top of the
page. As usual, these are measured in
1/ 1000th of a point. The top margin is the
distance to the top of the header, the
header space is the distance to the bottom.
The header margin is the distance to the
top of the text, while the footer margin is
the distance to the bottom.

The footer space is the distance to the
top of the footer, the bottom margin is the
distance to the bottom, and the page length
is the distance to the bottom of the page.
Look at figure 2 for an example.

To get header and footer definitions, just
type “|T text $” for headers and “|B text S”
for footers. The header is printed at the top
V of each page between the top margin
an d the header space. The footer is
printed at the bottom of each page

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

75

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ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

ARCHIMEDES

between the footer margin and footer
space. The definitions can contain any
other August constructs, although the only
useful ones are the highlights (JO to |9), |F
(for changing font) and [J (for creating

to the construct separated by tab characters
(Ascii 9) and terminated by a CST. The
first one is the ‘left* text, this will be
positioned with its first character on the
left margin. The second element will be
three-part headers or footers). The header centralised on the line, and the final ele-
(or footer) is taken as all text between f v y ment will be right justified. Elements

the |T and the CST. Thus it is possible^V' | / need not be present, but both tabs

for multi-line headers and footers to
be defined (although not many WPs sup
port this). Going even further, the header
could be defined something like:

“ [T [ J text <tab> text <tab> text $

| J text <tab> text <tab> text $$
which is a two-line, three-part header! See
the section below about jj, the justification
construct.

To specify a font, enter:

“|F font name, point size, extra leading $”

The |F is followed by three parameters
separated by commas, terminated by a
CST. The first is the actual font name. This
would usually be something like ‘Helveti-
ca’ or ‘TmsRmn’. This is the font that
should be used as the ‘base’ font for
subsequent text printing. If possible, var-
ious styles of this font should be available,
such as italic and bold, so that highlights in
the text can be reproduced. Following the
font name is the point size. For normal text
as printed by a WP, such as View on a
dot-matrix printer, this would be 12000
(six characters per inch, 72 points per inch
= 12 point). The final parameter is the
extra leading. This is the extra blank space
printed below each letter. Books often say
on one of the first pages ‘printed 10 on 12
point’. This means that the text is 10 point,
but it is printed with a line spacing of 12
point. In this case the extra leading is two
points. This can be used to specify the line
spacing of a piece of text. Double spaced
text would be indicated by “,F
name, 12000, 12000$”

The construct “|E expr $” allows spread-
sheets to be transferred as well as WP files.
The expression should be an Ascii formula
terminated by a CST. Spreadsheets should
be stored ‘horizontally’ with each |E con-
struct separated by a tab (Ascii 9). Two
special |E expressions are defined, these
are: “]E xx.xx.xx $” which indicates a date
and “|E xx:xx:xx$ ” which indicates a time.

The “|J left <tab> centre <tab> right
$” construct is used to justify individual
lines. Normally, a paragraph will be for-
matted according to the justification-type
byte set in the horizontal ruler definition.
If, however, one line needs a different type
of formatting, it should be stored within
the |J construct. There are three elements

and the CST must. It is allowable to
put further August constructs within the
elements, although as with headers and

footers, the only useful ones would be ]F
and JO to |9. For example, “|J Chapter 1
<tab> <tab> Introduction” would left
justify ‘Chapter 1’ and right justify ‘Intro-
duction’. This construct is ideal for setting
up three-part headers and footers that are
used by a large number of WPs.

The |J construct forms a separate line

First Word Plus: can’t read Iflew files

and would normally be preceded by a
carriage return. Text following the CST of
the |J will start on the next line.

“|P ‘n’ S” informs the formatter of the
destination WP not to split the following
‘n’ lines across a page break. For an
unconditional break, like forcing a page
break immediately, then ‘n’ should have a
value of 0. This construct is used to
prevent the splitting of tables or figures.

Data specific to a few applications can
also be transferred using the August format
by using the “[? application name, data $”
construct. Thus all data in a file is at least
retained in the August format file. If
another application ‘knows’ about this type
of data, then the converter to that applic-
ation can be made to recognise it and
translate it as necessary. This is a bit of
a cop out as it means that August is
not totally universal, but for the sake
of not overcomplicating the format, this
method offers a quick way out!

The |? construct has two elements sep-
arated by a comma and terminated by a
CST as usual. The first clement is the name
of the application from which the construct
came. The list of existing applications is:
View , ViewSheet , ViewS tore, Wordwise ,
Pipedream and First Word Plus .

The second element (following the comma)
is the data. This can contain any characters,
although it is advisable to keep away from
‘control characters’ (Ascii values less than
32) so as to keep the August file Ascii-
readable. This data is totally format free.
The only slight restriction is if you need to
put an ‘$’ in the data, then you’ll need to
precede it by an ‘ J ’, (see the section below
on ‘special characters’).

There are 10 highlights currently de-
fined. The full list can be seen on page 75.
They are turned on by putting the
appropriate pair of characters into the file.
This code should be repeated to switch
them off again. None of the codes auto-
matically switch off at the end of lines (as
text is now a continuous block and may be
reformatted).

The two literal sequences are needed to
prevent an August converter from getting
confused as to what CSIs and CSTs are and
what real ‘ |’s and ‘$’s are. The | # con-
struct is used to mean ‘the current page
number’. Many documents create headers
or footers that contain the page number
somewhere in them, so a standard method
of retaining this is needed, j # can be
placed freely within the main text, a
header/footer or a justified line.

As an example of the versatility of Au-
gust , and also to demonstrate nested con-
structs, the following sequence: [T | J
Chapter 1 <tab> August Definition
<tab> Acorn User S |j Page ]P <tab>
<tab> November 1988 SS would define a
two-line header that would be displayed
as:

Chapter 1 August Definition Acorn User
Page 5 November 1988'

You must of course remember to set up a
vertical ruler with a suitable top margin
and header space to allow for the two lines.

That completes the definition of the
August standard. Next month’s issue will
contain converter programs for View ,
Pipedream and First Word Plus. In the
meantime, I’d be interested to hear any
comments on this standard, ideas for en-
hancing it without over-complicating it
and converters for other WPs or, in
deed, any other applications.

The ideas behind UNCOL , and the
original proposal can be found in the Au-
gust and September 1958 issues of the
Communications of the ACN. The paper
was entitled: The problem of programming
communication with changing machines: a
proposed solution and was written by J
Strong , ] Wegstein, A Fritter , J Olsztyn , O
Mock and T Steel.

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

77

DABS

PRtTQC
Jt IVDuU

Dabhand

User

News

Dabs Press are pleased to
announce the launch of
ABC - the Archimedes
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pretive process, or the
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run your programs. A
simple * command is all
that is required after
passing through ABC.

But the power of ABC
goes much further - by
including compiler
directives it is possible to
control the manner in
which ABC compiles
programs. For example, by
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REM statements at the
start of the BASIC pro-
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These are just some of the
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ABC was written by Paul
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Archimedes

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The fast and powerful way to write instant machine code

The Archimedes Basic Compiler makes writing machine code programs and relocat-
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ABC is very easy to use and makes full use of Archimedes windows. Programs may
be compiled from RAM or disc or using any combination of RAM and disc.

Just look at some of the advantages of using ABC:

Speed: Compiled programs may run considerably faster than BASIC ones. As the
benchmarks below show speed increases of up to 4000% are possible!

Syntax errors: Once a program has been compiled you can be sure that it is free of
syntax errors. With the interpreter there is no guarantee of this.

Stand alone code : The object program which is produced by the compiler is entirely
"stand-alone" and could for example be used as utility or library package by another
application program. You can re-run the program or module later without either ABC
or ROM BASIC being present.

Language Specification: The compiler accepts BBC BASIC programs in their stan-
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or no modification.

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data types, integer, floating point and strings are supported.

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BASIC

ABC

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CRAFSCRN

1.68

0.84

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INTMATH

0.19

0.02

950%

SIEVE - 1651 primes

5.16

0.58

890%

TAK(18,12,6)

27.53

0.78

3530%

FIBONACCI

49.43

1.40

3531%

ACKERMAN(3,4)

4.89

0.12

4075%

INT-ARRAY

1.84

0.34

541%

WHILE

13.11

0.40

3278%

REPEAT-UNTIL

12.75

0.37

3446%

FOR-NEXT

2.15

0.29

741%

ABC is supplied with two discs including a disc full of example programs and two
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Archimedes Assembly Language: 368 pages devoted to programming the
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78

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

comp EH

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ILLUSTRATION BY M1CKLY I-'INN

PROGRAMMING

Two or three dimensional evolution of cell patterns can be interesting
to watch on a screen. But what of the one-dimensional variety?

Y ou are all probably familiar with
John Conway’s game of Life -
from the pages of this magazine if
not elsewhere. It is an incredibly
simple idea: ‘cells’ are placed on
the screen and ‘evolution’ takes place with
the future of each cell governed solely by
its neighbours. A good, fast implement-
ation is fun to watch - one such
implementation was presented in May
1988’s Agora column. An obvious exten-
sion to Conway’s original is 3D Life ,
which was covered in Acorn User , in
March 1984.

But there’s another possible variation:
One-Dimensional Life , where a single gen-
eration takes up just one line of the screen.
The first generation is displayed at the top
of the screen, the second generation on the
line below, and so on until a whole pattern
of evolution is built up.

ID Life , or to be more technical, one-
dimensional cellular automata, starts off as
a line of cells. Each cell can have one of
several values or states. In Conway’s ori-
ginal Life , cells just have two states: on and
off. The future of each cell is determined
by the states of nearby cells.

Just how far a cell’s influence stretches
depends on the ‘neighbourhood’. More
precisely, if N is the neighbourhood, the
state of cell ‘i’ at time ‘t’ is determined by
the states of cells i+N to i-N at time t-1.

In Conway’s Life , N=1 : only next-door
neighbours affect a cell’s future, but there
are rules which govern the state of a cell in
the next generation and these are defined in

Life history of a single cell

terms of the current states of other cells.

In Conway’s Life the rules are fixed: the
game is to find different cell patterns that
evolve in interesting ways.

In ID Life , different rules give rise to
wildly different results: the game is to find
interesting rules.

So, how many different possible rules
are there? Consider the simplest interesting
automaton where S=2 (just two states) and
N=1 (the smallest interesting neighbour-
hood in where only next-door neighbours
matter). Here, only the cell itself and its
two immediate neighbours affect its future.
There are only eight possible initial states:
111, 110, 101, 100, Oil, 010, 001, and 000.

In general, for an automaton with S
states and a neighbourhood of N, there are
Sa( 2N+1) possible initial states. Consider
these to be base-S numbers, and write them
out in decreasing order. Underneath each
one write the resulting state as a digital in
base-S. You get an Sa( 2N + 1) digit num-
ber in base-S - the rule number. Table 1

80

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

PROGRAMMING

shows a couple of examples. The rule
number for the first is 0001 1 1 10 in binary,
or 30 in decimal. The second has rule
number 01111110, or 126.

Every choice of final state for each of
these different initial states is described by
a different rule. In base S, there are SaN
different N-digit numbers, and this means
there are Sa (Sa (2N+1)) different possi-
ble rules. For our simple automaton (with
S=2, N=l) this gives 256 different rules.
That doesn’t look too bad, but just increas-
ing S to 3 gives 3 a (3 a 3) or about eight
trillion different rules, so there’s plenty of
scope for exploration!

An easy way to cut down the number of
rules considered is to use only those where
the final state depends on the sum of the
values of the initial states. Table 2 contains
an example of such a rule. There are only
four possible sums and, for each, there is
an end-state defined. These end-states form
the rule. For example, consider a cell with
a neighbour on either side. Using the rule
in tabic 2, the initial state is 1 1 1, the sum is
3, and so the state of the cell in the next
generation will be 0.

The rule in table 2 is 0110 and this is
known as the totalistic code. The rules in
Conway’s original Life are, in effect, tota-
listic - the life or death of a cell depends
only on the number of neighbours and not
their positions. Table 3 shows how many
totalistic codes exist for various values of S
and N.

Listing 1 on the yellow pages calculates
the automaton described by a totalistic
code. It fills the screen, with each genera-
tion making up a line, and then waits for
you to press any key. Add a ‘save screen’
option at line 125 if you want.

Listing 1 was written to run on a stand-
ard BBC in modes 0, 1 or 2, but works
about eight times as fast on an Arc. If you
want to use one of the Arc’s higher resolu-

tion modes, change lines 170-190 where the
resolution is set up. The number of distinct
cells across the screen is stored as m% and
the number of lines down the screen is
stored as line% (160 and 256 respectively
in screen mode 2).

There are three main variables: the num-
ber of states per cell (s%), the size of the
neighbourhood (n%) and the rule (rule$).
PROCparams requests these values and
then asks for an initial pattern. You can
either enter your own, or press Return for
a random one.

The work is done by PROCscreen.

Development of a random line of cells

There are two arrays, a% and b%. The
current generation is stored at a % and is
plotted out as a line of dots, different states
being shown as different colours. The new
generation is calculated and stored at b%.
After displaying a generation, a% and b%
are swapped over so that the current gen-
eration becomes the last.

What happens at the edges of the screen?
Listing 1 employs a common solution,
using ‘periodic boundary conditions’. This
is a way of wrapping the line round into a
circle, so what falls off one edge reappears
at the other.

Lines 320-450 of listing 1 deal with this.
It’s not really necessary to do the ends
separately, but the MOD function is quite
slow, and is only needed at the ends. By

ACORN US HR NOVHMBHR 1988

81

82

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ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

making a special case of the ends in this
way, the program’s speed was improved by
30 per cent.

To change the program to accept a rule
number, rather than totalistic code, you
just have to change the following lines:

540 index%=index%*s%+?

(a%+i%+k% )

change lines 430 and 440 similarly

720 dim%=s%~ ( 2*n%+l )

Table 4 contains the values used to
produce the pictures on these pages. Figure
la shows the development of a single cell;
the other examples pictured used random
starting conditions.

It’s probably better at the start to restrict
yourself to either a small neighbourhood
with a large number of states or vice-versa.
That way, there may be few enough rules
for a systematic exploration.

Rules fall broadly into four groups:
those which give ‘instant death’; simple
periodic structures; continuously growing
structures, and chaos! Since random start-
ing conditions give a different picture each
time, it is probably worth trying a few
different starts. I usually define a function
key with values for N, S and R, to make
experimentation easier.

initial state m 110 101 100 011 010 001 000

Rilea 00011110

Rilfib 01111110

Table I.Simplelules

Initial state 111 110 101 100 011 010 001 000

Sun 3

2

2

12 110

Resible slue 3

2

1

0

Rile 0

1

1

0

Table 2. Sum rules

N

S

Possible

'■ Possible

rules

codes

1

2

256

16

1

3

8x1012

2187

2

8

1030

3x1032

Table 3. Totalistic codes

N

S

Totalistic codes

1

2

•110

figure 1

1

3

1002100

figure 2

2

2

110100

figure 3

Table 4. Examples

At the moment, the program does only
one screenful and then stops - you can
only see 256 lines. To look at long-term
behaviour, you might want to make the
screen scroll.

If you are going to do a lot of work on

PROGRAMMING

one particular size neighbourhood, it’s well
worth producing a hardwired version with
the k% loop replaced by a direct sum. This
improvement can speed the program up by
about 30 per cent.

Most conditions evolve to a steady state

Another possible enhancement is to
make the new state at time (t) depend not
only on states at t-1, but also at t-2. In
other words, make history matter more.

It has been proved that Conway’s Life is
computationally irreducible. That means,
given an arbitrary starting pattern, there is
no way of working out what the result will
be - total death, steady state or infinite
growth - without following each evolu-
tionary step. There are no short cuts: the
quickest way of finding the answer is to
watch it evolve. It’s probably the case that
some of the ID rules also give computa-
tionally irreducible automata, but this has
yet to be proved.

This is quite a remarkable result - it
shows that a simple set of rules can lead to
fundamentally complicated behaviour. It’s
only recently, with the help of computers,
that we’ve begun to understand how the
very simple rules of physics can be com-
patible with the complicated Universe that
exists around us.

Tommaso Toffoli and Norman Margolus
Cellular Automata Machines: a new en-
vironment for modelling (MIT Press, 1987)
is a good book about cellular automata in
general (not just in ID), showing how they
can be used to model real physical systems.

Stephen Wolfram introduced ID cellular
automata to the world in general. Two of
his papers are worth getting hold of: the
titles are given below. Both are highly
technical but he does include a lot of
interesting rules (although, perversely, he
often gives them in base 10!)

S Wolfram (1984) Cellular Automata as
Models oj Complexity , Nature, vol 311,
pp 419-424.

S. Wolfram (1985) Statistical Mechanics
of Cellular Automata , Reviews of Modern
Physics, vol 55(3), pp 601-644.

ACORN USI'R NOVKMBKR 1988

83

The most
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INTER-BASE

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84

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

COMPETITION

PIT YOUR WITS

Three lucky winners will receive one of Acorn User’s own wide-carriage printers
if they can solve our crossword puzzle. So come on, have a go

Across:

1 The Immune Cat Co assembles to make con-
tact.

4 How did the RAC get mixed up with this
machine?

6 Ponder about a duck or a rodent with buttons.

8 A seed, a journalist and a box of paper is all you
need to make a wordproccssor.

9 Basic keyword in Diourbel, Senegal.

10 Adhere, perhaps, to top of printed document.

13 Disc mechanism made from galvanised rivets.

15 Undid knot around eastern keyword abbrevia-
tion.

18 Almost breezy about one’s curves.

20 Part of the old block.

2 1 Project follows advert for game.

22 Unlit mishap terminates the loop.

23 Force it into memory.

24 Sort of software to make Titanic veer!

Down:

1 2000 points in bed! A useful reminder when
programming.

2 Computer found in meandering stream.

3 IT’s distant writing.

5 Ammunition returned in CND order.

7 Oriental group returns, follows Del and re-
moves a file.

1 1 Sounds like Arthur’s a character!

12 Sound’s like Noah’s residence and a bee’s home
are used to store data.

14 What the US voters did to make this little
computer.

16 Flight simulator came, initially, from air vehicles
Ian and Ted overhauled recently.

17 OS that is mixed with stewed plums.

19 Alien runs around pan of eye network.

ordsmiths - you can win a
super wide-carriage printer!

If you have a devious turn of
mind, and you fancy a chance to win one
of three Acorn User printers, then why
not have a go at this crossword.

The printers are Epson FX-
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ACORN USER NOVEMBER IV88

printer cable and a ma-ual. Being 132
columns wide, they are ideal for printing
out those massive spreadsheets.

The winners will be the first three
correct solutions out of the hat or.
December 6. Either list your words on
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crossword grid and fill it in clearly.

Remember to include your name and
address so we can let you know if you’re
one of the winners, and include the
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" "acorn user” "

COMPETITION

NOVEMBER

85

OFFERS

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Please send me Pipedream packs at £99

My computer is

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86

ACX)RN USER NOVEMBER 1988

HISTORY OF ACORN

FROM BOOM
TO BUST

Continuing our story of Acorn - how it rose to the dizzy heights
and how it came down to earth

The Acom Business Computer - never recouped the expenditure invested in its development

A corn’s first few years were ones
of wild growth and expansion.
The demand for computers had
exploded in a way unimaginable
in 1980 - the days of soldering
mail order kits together. The BBC micro
had ridden this wave of sudden enthusiasm,
taking the company with it. Not only was it
backed by the BBC’s Computer Literacy
Project, but from 1982 the Goverment’s
Micros in Schools scheme ensured that
Acorn dominated the newly opened educa-
tion market. Micros in Schools was the
brainchild of the present education secret-
ary, Kenneth Baker: it subsidised the
purchase by schools of BBC micros, Sinc-
lair Spectrums or Research Machines’ 3802.
Of these approved machines, the Beeb was
by far the most popular. Sales in the
Christmas 1983 period were double those of
1982. Would the boom continue or would
home computers become a passing fad like
skateboards or hula-hoops?

Acorn’s directors firmly believed that
growth would continue, and the launch of
the company on the Unlisted Securities
Market suggested that City economists
supported that view. However there were
signs that the type of computer in demand
would change. Chris Curry’s pet project,
the Electron, was designed to cater for less
sophisticated late-comers to the computer
market. It was launched in August 1983,
timed for the Christmas rush and priced at
£199. However it was late, dogged by
production problems particularly with the
large custom designed chip at the Elec-
tron’s heart. Acorn failed to meet the
demand for the new machine in much the
same way as it had with the BBC micro.

The Electron was unpopular with
Acorn’s design boffins, who saw it as a
threat to the company’s commitment to
developing machines at the forefront of
technology. They busied themselves with
more technically interesting projects such
as finding more and more arcane second
processors to attach to the Tube, and
developing Hermann Hauser’s office auto-
mation dream.

At the beginning of 1984, Acorn was
determined to be able to satisfy the de-
mand for its micros - something it had
failed to do in the previous year. The
failure had been caused by several factors,
most notable among them a shortage of
crucial components. Actual production of
the computers was handled by sub-
contractors, so the volume of machines
which could be produced was limited by
their schedules and there was little flexibil-

ity to increase or reduce levels. This would
become critical over the next year.

Contracts for supply of components and
production of machines had to be decided
and agreed well in advance. So by April,
Acorn’s directors had already decided that
this was to be another year of unbridled
expansion. Large retailers showed an in-
terest in stocking the machines, and initial-
ly prospects for the Christmas ahead

seemed good. But by the autumn, it was
clear public demand and enthusiasm was
on the wane. While Acorn was locked into
producing vast numbers of Electrons, the
chain stores were developing cold feet and
failing to confirm the orders and quantities
they had been discussing.

Despite an extensive £4-million advertis-
ing campaign, a third of the Electrons that
were built never made it on to Santa’s

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

87

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88

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

HISTORY OF ACORN

sleigh - and behind them, there were -large,
stockpiles of components that had been
paid for, but remained unused.

The US division set up that year had
been intended to win Acorn a share of the
vast American education market. But this
also failed to contribute any profits. By the
time Acorn closed its American subsidiary
it had cost it over £2 million.

The business machines with which
Hauser and Acorn had been hoping to
reach new market areas likewise failed to
take off. The Acorn Business Computer,
launched in 1984, was a large and unwieldy
device. The original idea was for it to
contain a BBC micro and a Z80 second
processor, to run the then standard CP/M
operating system. But CP/M had already
lost ground to the MS-DOS standard set
by the IBM PC. Another planned version
used an Intel 80286 - ideal for competing
with IBM PCs but this never appeared. In
fact, the only ABC model to achieve even
limited success was the Cambridge work-
station, featuring a fast 32016 second pro-
cessor instead of the Z80, and aimed at the
further education and research market. The
machine certainly never recouped the huge
resources expended on its development.

What was more critical to the company’s
success was the upgrading or replacement
of the BBC micro. Acorn’s commitment to
research and development was undeniable;
at one point its hundred or so development
staff were working on around 140 projects.
While some of these projects eventually
emerged as useful and marketable pro-
ducts, much effort was expended on work
with no obvious application. Several efforts
were made to rein in this side of Acorn, in
parallel with attempts to give the company
a more conventional and coherent manage-
ment structure. However, very often,
priorities were muddled.

Microsystems manager David Bell recalls
his frustration at seeing resources diverted

away from the project he was managing at
this time, the BBC Master, in favour of the
stopgap model B-f.

The B4- was clear to all as a model B
with a new sticker on the front. The
changes involved in the B + were aimed
mainly at reducing the cost of manufactur-
ing - and hardly merited the title of ‘new
product’. But the Master, eventually laun-
ched in early 1986, was the true replace-
ment and to this day continues to be a
successful product for the company, and a
well thought-out machine for its mainly
educational users.

The most advanced division of the Adv-
anced Research and Development section
was, during 1984, working on a new pro-
cessor chip incorporating the idea of a
reduced instruction set - an idea that was
at that time quite revolutionary.

Even within Acorn few people knew
about the project - it took Roger Wilson
some time to tell his boss, Hauser, what he
was doing, let alone anyone else. Other
projects that were under development at
that time concentrated on telecommunica-
tions, interfacing computers with them and
interactive video.

While the depth and number of research
projects showed that Acorn had a long-
term, if hazy, commitment to the future,
its parlous state at the end of the disastrous
Christmas 1984 sales period did not inspire
similar confidence. Investors, the press and
Acorn’s creditors on the production side
were all worried. Newspaper articles, most
notoriously those in the Sunday Times ,
suggested that all was not well. The share
price, buoyant through most of 1984 fell
rapidly from its peak which had valued the
firm at over £190m. Eventually, in Feb-
ruary, one creditor issued a winding-up
petition. Acorp had fallen out with one
potential source of help - its merchant
bankers Lazards, and receivership seemed
only too likely. Instead the company’s new

bankers searched for another company
which could take on Acorn and help it
through its crisis.

The Italian computer giant Olivetti step-
ped in after brief but intense negotiations.
On February 20, 1985 (at 2.30 in the
morning to be precise, reported Acorn User
at the time), Curry and Hauser signed an
agreement which gave Olivetti a 49 per
cent stake in the company for £12 million.
The money would go some way to cover-
ing Acorn’s £11 million losses in the pre-
vious six months.

Tales abound of Acorn’s optimism and
profligacy - it bought 10,000 music add-
ons for its computers. They occupied valu-
able warehouse space for years until re-
cently being resold to the original supplier
for a much smaller sum of money. Manuals
were lovingly produced in Acorn style for
CP/M software for the business machines.
The aeroplane and the racing cars dis-
appeared quickly.

Other changes were to be made to the
company, a new structure, a new board
including members from Olivetti and
AT&T (Olivetti’s large American share-
holder) and 120 fewer staff - a quarter of
the previous total. And it was only after
the Olivetti take-over that proper emphasis
was put on the real replacement for the
BBC model B - the Master.

However great the sums handed over,
they soon proved to be insufficient. During
1985 it became clear that the sales targets
set by Olivetti were not being reached. A
further cash injection increased Olivetti’s
share of Acorn to 80 per cent and a new
managing director, Brian Long, was install-
ed. It was at this stage that the first
rumours of the reduced instruction-set
chip began to emerge - amazingly Olivetti
had taken over Acorn without knowing
about the company’s most promising long-
terrti project. Roger Wilson says, ‘After
Olivetti arrived we said to them, “Now

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

89

^ob/c 0

ENTHAR

SEVEN

Now For The / Archimedes

Enthar Seven is a brilliant science fiction
adventure for the Acorn Archimedes. It has 450
locations, 80 objects, an extensive vocabulary
and over 140Kof text -enough for a small novell
Several locations are illustrated with breath-
taking, full colour pictures which enhance the
atmosphere of the game and show just what
your super-computer is really capable ofl This
game is a must for your Arc software collection!

Enthar Seven, when it was released on the BBC,
achieved unrivalled critical acclaim. It was
voted Best Overall Adventure in A & B
Computing and Computer + Video Games were
ecstatic over the game: "Enthar Seven is an
absolute knock out! We couldn't have given it
more marks if we tried! Cassette owners go
out and buy a disc drive. Disc owners read on
then buy the game! Personal Rating: 10
doesn't start to say it!"

Enthar Seven is available NOW on the
Archimedes on 800K disc with full colour
graphics. A 130K Mode 7 version without
graphics is available for the BBC B / B+ /
MASTER and a 130K Mode 6 version also
without graphics is available for the Acorn
Electron with DFS compatible disc interface.

You can order by telephone using your ACCESS
card, or by cutting out the coupon below. All
orders are despatched first class by return.

..-‘m . •>>. -!

TO: ROBICO, 3 FAIRLAND CLOSE, LLANTRISANT, MID GLAMORGAN, CF7 8QH.
PLEASE SEND ME THE FOLLOWING ADVENTURES:

TELEPHONE (0443) 227354

copies of ENTHAR SEVEN - Archimedes at £29.95 each. TOTAL: £

copies of ENTHAR SEVEN - BBC Micro with DFS at £1 7.95 each. TOTAL: £

copies of ENTHAR SEVEN - Electron with DFS at £1 7.95 each. TOTAL: £

I enclose a cheque/postal order made payable to Robico for £ . or please debit

Access Account number

Signed:

My name and address is:

I I I I exp. date:

40 TRACK □ 80 TRACK □

5>/ 4 " □

3Vi" □

HISTORY OF ACORN

you’ve bought the company, we can tell
you what we are really working on”.’

The Master series was launched at the
beginning of 1986. It seemed to some
observers an anomaly, an 8-bit machine
when all except the cheapest home compu-
ters were turning to the 16-bit MS-DOS
formula imposed by the success of the IBM
PC. As a refinement of the original BBC
machine it bad a lot to offer, with con-
venient bumps and holes to house the
beloved add-on bits and pieces of the BBC
world. And because of the use of custom
chips and more modern components, it
was cheaper to manufacture than the ori-
ginal model B had become. However at
£499 for the basic model, it was relatively
expensive, and outside Acorn’s stronghold
in the education market it could never
hope to achieve the sales of the original
BBC micro. A concession to industry stan-
dards was offered by the Master 512 -
which gave a measure of PC-compatibility,
but at a price close to £1000.

With its own 32-bit chip looking very
good during development, it is clear that
Acorn saw no need to forsake the trusty
6502 chip which ran its computers at more
than acceptable speeds. Why bother to give
that up in favour of a 16-bit standard that
could only be a stopgap? But even if you
dispute their validity, compatibility with
prevailing industry standards offers at least
the safety of numbers, and following its
own path would prove a risky business for
Acorn. In an industry which expects every-
thing to get better and faster on an annual
basis, Acorn seemed for a time to be
refusing to compete. Its new product,
announced in September 1986, the Master
Compact, offered little new except its ex-
terior design packaged into three boxes
rather than the customary two. Even this
was a stopgap - an engineering necessity
born out of the need for a ‘new product
now’ - the Compact cases were originally
designed for the Acorn Communicator, an
ill-fated product which sold in low num-
bers to companies needing computers with
built-in modems.

The RISC chip, while new and exciting
and very, very fast, had not yet taken the
form of a tangible machine which could be
sold to customers. Luckily, the continued
good sales of Masters kept the company
afloat while the Advanced Research and
Development team under Roger Wilson
and Steve Furber developed the ARM chip
and its companions that eventually became
the Archimedes.

Stanley Baxter; part of an unsuccessful advertising campaign for the Electron

Continued next month

A RISKY BUSINESS

1977 Sinclair launches MK14

1978 Chris Curry leaves Sinclair to set up CPU with Hermann Hauser

1979 Acorn Computers is formed with premises at Market Hill, Cambridge. System
1 is launched

1980 Acorn launches the Atom. Acorn forms Acornsoft with David Johnson-Davies
as managing director. Richard Russell at BBC does specification for micro to
accompany TV series. Econet is launched on System machines. BBC sees
Proton design

1981 BBC deal is signed for 12,000 BBC micros. BBC TV launches The Computer
Programme

1982 PCW features ‘Anatomy of the BBC micro’. Same issue announces Electron
and S2000- Acorn micro is running with National Semi-conductor 16032 chip.
Acorn User is sent free to owners of BBC micros. Advertisers included
Computer Concepts with Wordwise , Becbug, and CJE Micros. Acornsoft
launches Defender and Snapper. 25,000 BBC micros are shipped. View is
announced. BBC TV’s Making the Most of the Micro series begins

1983 Acorn launches BBC micro in USA. Electron is launched. 100,000 BBC micros
are shipped

1984 Year end: £4. 5m promotional campaign in a bid to win sales of 300,000
Electrons and BBC micros and £2. 5m in software by Jan ’85. Acorn announces
plans to extend product range in FT, and reduces dependence on home
computer business. Elite comes from Acornsoft. In 6 months £55m turnover,
£llm loss, after taking into account £7m provision for loss of value of stock
and £2m trading loss in US and Germany

1985 Acorn press statement talks of ‘orchestrated campaign’ and ‘vendetta* in the
press, especially in the Sunday Times. Acorn shares are suspended. Olivetti
refinancing. It pays £10.4 for 49% of Acorn. Losses announced: arise from US
(and Germany), and shortfall in Electron sales over Christmas. First ARM
samples are operational. Cambridge Workstation based on 32016 is released
Year end: £78m turnover, £6m loss. Brian Long is appointed MD and
Alessandro Uboldi replaces Hermann Hauser. Second Olivetti financing is
announced. Creditors write off almost £Sm. Olivetti raises Acorn holding to
79.8% at cost of £4m. 400,000+ BBC micro owners. ARM and 128k BBC
model B is announced

1986 Master series is launched at BBC’s Langham Gallery, Master Compact follows

1987 Bruno Soggiu is appointed chairman, Brian Long resigns

1988 Harvey Coleman is appointed new MD

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

91

Educational

S

V^Jubscribe to
Educational Computing
and get to grips with
computers

Educational Computing magazine aims to help teachers at every
level, and in every subject, to get to grips with computers. Whether
you are teaching at primary, secondary or tertiary level,
Educational Computing will show you what to do and how to do it.

Some of our past features have included:

□ Who's buying which computers and why? □ Wordprocessing

□ Down-to-earth advice on desk top publishing □ Using spreadsheets

□ Putting in a networii - the pleasures and pain □ Government policy and how it affects you

□ An easy guide to fault-finding on your micro □ Computing courses for teachers

A classroom project is run in every issue. Recently we carried
a very popular conservation project - tree-planting and pond-
dipping were just two areas covered.

Educational Computing is published six times a year, twice every
term. Take advantage of our special offer and receive two years
issues for £16, or pay the full price of £9 for one year. Payment is
easy, either fill in your official order number and we will invoice you,
or pay by credit card or cheque. Send to: Educational Computing,
Unit 5, Riverpark Industrial Estate, Billet Lane,
Berkhamsted, Herts HP4 1HL.

If you would like to see a free sample issue, send us the
coupon below.

I would like to subscribe to Educational Computing:

I □ for two years at £16 □ for one year at £9

□ please send me a free sample issue

I □ please invoice £ Official order number

□ I enclose my cheque for £ made payable to:

I Redwood Publishing Ltd

□ please charge my Access/Barclaycard

NUMBER I I I I 1 1 1 1 1 -J 1 1 1 1. J 1 1 1 -1-J EXPIRY I 1 1 -1-1

I NAME

I JOB TITLE

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I SIGNATURE DATE TW01

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92

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

EDUCATION

LAPPING
IT UP

Does an A4-sized computer have what it takes to revolutionise
the education system? We take a closer look

T he Z88 may seem to be a strange
theme for an article in an Acorn-
dedicated magazine, yet this new-
comer to the laptop market has a
huge amount to offer all Acorn
users, particularly those in education.
This article is an overview of some of the
facilities offered by the Z88. It evaluates
its potential, not only as a computer for
teachers to use but, more importantly,
as a universal keyboard in the satchel
of every secondary school child.

The Z88 is a computer the size of an A4
paper pad, with a built-in LCD screen
which displays text 80 characters across by
six lines down. It has a dedicated set of
application software, incorporating word-
processing, spreadsheet and database facili-
ties as well as the normal desktop tools. A
comprehensive Help facility provides you
with an inbuilt guide to the operation of
most aspects of the machine’s use. The Z88
is powered by either four penlight batteries
or a mains adaptor. Its resident memory is
expandable from the basic 32k up to 15
megabytes using slot-in RAM packs. There
are facilities for storing information or
applications more permanently, on both
EPROM and ROM packs. The machine’s
lines of communication with the outside
world include a serial port similar to that
on the Archimedes. Using this port, all
operations such as printing, communica-
tions and file transfer may be undertaken.
There is also a PCB edge connector which
will be used for further devices.

Since the whole intention of the Z88 is
to provide a dedicated set of tools, there is
one program which provides all the facili-
ties apart from computer management and
desktop tools. Pipedream is a package
ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

Z88: cheap, compact and portable

which is now available on the Archimedes
(see review by Graham Bell, Acorn User
Oct ‘88). Its facilities include word-
processing, spreadsheet and database, an
all-in-one package. Since the software is’
very V7eit;-like, new users will have little
difficulty, especially if they are also famil-
iar with a spreadsheet. The power of the
package lies in the fact that it can handle
normal wordprocessing with the features
of spreadsheet and database included. So,
for example, documents that might pre-
viously have been built up by importing
output from ViewSheet and ViewStore into
View may now contain ‘live’ information,
removing the need to import. As an exam-
ple, the music teacher’s records in the box
show a main file which charts the progress
of pupils and their instruments, while the
abstract (which was created within the
same document) gives a specific print-out
of the required data. Moreover, since the
data is ‘live’, it can be modified dynamical-
ly. For instance, if the pass grade necessary
for a distinction rises from 130 to 135, a
simple editing procedure modifies all re-

lated data in the document. This would
have been complex to create using
normal business tools, but in Pipe
dream the task is relatively simple
and, with practice, becomes a matter
of routine.

Since software can be stored in
RAM, EPROM or ROM, and data col-
lected may be put into the RAM or
EPROM and then transferred to other
machines later, the Z88 also provides a
powerful tool for field study work.

The beauty of the whole system, as far
as BBC, Archimedes and IBM PC users
are concerned, is that files created on the
Z88 may be transferred to the desktop
micro. In fact the operation is exactly the
same as loading the information in from a
disc. You must connect the two micros via
an RS232 cable and run the Link software
on the Z88. In Pipedream on the
Archimedes or IBM PC you select the
Load option from the pulldown menu,
enter ‘Z88:’ and then examine the contents
of the Z88’s memory as if it were a disc
catalogue. When you select the relevant
file, the system loads it in, ready for use.
The process of saving files to the Z88 is
exactly the same, except that the Save
command is used. This powerful facility
eliminates all the hassle of transferring files
between computers.

Professor Tom Stonier of the University
of Bradford has long maintained that the
computer is the single most powerful educ-
ational tool that can be given to any child.
Seymour Papert, creator of Logo, also
maintains that every child should be given
access to the most powerful computers
available, even at the start of their educa-
tion. The advent of the Z88 means that the

93

EDUCATION

idea of a computer for every child may no
longer be that far-fetched.

If the day does arrive where all school
children have computers, there would
obviously be many advantages. All the
children would have access to word-
processing and calculation facilities, as well
as other tools. Communication with local
and remote databases of information would
become a reality; mass distribution of in-
formation to pupils for administrative and
educational purposes would become possi-
ble; and the lack of keyboards which is the
main reason for the non-development of
information technology in schools would
be remedied in one fell swoop.

The benefits of wordprocessing, prob-
ably the most significant computer-centred
activity in schools, need no proposition
here: it is a well-established fact that the
power of drafting with a wordprocessor
not only enhances the fluency of a child’s
writing but also enables them to express
their ideas more directly and clearly. If you
add to that the ability to handle figures in
spreadsheet form, you realise that here are
two of the main educational ‘skills’. The
Z88 serves both well.

Teachers, as well as children, will benefit
from the introduction of a do-it-all
machine. Again, the question of accessibil-
ity is the one that has limited teachers’ use
of the computer. The staffroom machine
has made many converts who have since
been disappointed by lack of equipment.
With readily available equipment of a stan-
dard type which will communicate easily
with other machines in the school, the
teacher has access to a powerful tool for
the creation, storage, analysis and output
of all the documentary work that is in-
volved in their professional life. With stan-
dard ‘templates’ (structures ready-prepared
for data that may be loaded into computer
applications), all teachers could have access
to a standard format for the collection, .
storage and analysis of marks, attendance,
examination entry and so on.

A further interesting possiblity for the
Z88 is the personalised timetable/classlist/
holiday planner or whatever. With time-
tables, etc, becoming increasingly orga-
nised by computer, the ability to distribute
information in a form personalised to each
teacher and child would save time, printing
costs and confusion. The simplest method
would be to send all data relating to groups
and their timetables to each machine. At
the same time a program in the machines
would abstract from the data those pieces
of information relevant to them. The re-

maining irrelevant data would then be
destroyed and the memory space retrieved.
In this way, each child would have access
to information about their school day,
week and year at the press of a button.

Obviously, a scheme such as this is not
as simple as it first appears. There are many
logistical problems which would need to be
sorted out before mass implementation
could take place. If the children were to
use batteries, the power requirements of
the Z88 might well take a school’s entire
funding. There would need to be either a
recharging facility available on the machine
or DC power supply for each machine in
the classroom. A similar problem is that of
transferring information from the host
Archimedes or IBM machine or network
to a class of 30 Z88s. How would they be
linked up: one at a time, all at once?

Furthermore, how appropriate are the
keyboard and screen to the needs of child-
ren? Is the clarity of the screen sufficient
for prolonged use? Will the screen scratch
in transit, and thereby become unreadable?
How durable is the keyboard? Is the
software on board appropriate to the needs
of the child and if not, what modifications
would need to be undertaken? How secure
would schools’ data systems be with every
child carrying a powerful micro? How
would one justify the expense of providing
one micro per child? There would of
course be many more questions and an
overwhelming need for documentation
more tailored to the needs of young users.

Whether Acorn realises it or not, the Z88
could be very important to them. The use
of the Archimedes is likely to rise as
children transfer files for project databases,
wordprocessed documents or even prog-
rams between the machines. Since the Z88
has BBC Basic on board, computer studies
projects may be developed on these
keyboards and transferred and run on
BBCs or Arcs.

The introduction of such a tool into the
classroom, especially in large numbers, has
serious implications for all aspects of class-
work. Apart from material cost of the
computers, there is a large overhead in
training of teachers and pupils, of mainte-
nance and technical support and in terms
of programming support that may be
undertaken centrally. The organisation of
such a scheme, especially in the early
stages, would be fraught with difficulties.
However, since this type of opportunity
has never before been available, it is worth
grasping it and having at least an experi-
ment to test the feasibility of the ‘one
computer per child’ school of thought.
Although it has been done before, particu-
larly in the USA, the availability of cheap
keyboards means that schools have a
chance to try out the potential of informa-
tion technology education.

It is certain that general purpose compu-
ters for all work in the classroom will be
with us sooner or later. For the sake of
Britain’s place in the technological race, it
should be sooner.

94

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

HAVE YOU EVER WISHED ...

that you could understand and handle
the discounting technique DCF ?

Well now you can!

“Handling Time” is a single player teaching topic, which not only
describes the logic and the mechanics of DCF (discounted
cashflow). But also provides worked examples on the computer for
you to follow, and working models to provide you with plenty of ex-
perience to increase your confidence in using the technique. The
data for use in the working models are given in the handbook,

Price : £35 plus p&p (£2.50p) and VAT or £42.50p all in.

RML “Nimbus” or BBC/B or Master (80 track DFS)

Company training version for I.B.M. PC and compatible’s.

Price : £85 plus p&p (£2.50p) and VAT or £100 all in.

HANDLING TIME

of the logic and the W mechanics of
discounted cashflow (DCF) and of its
application to business decisions.

LEARN TO BECOME A YUPPIE MILLIONAIRE !

“Don’t Panic!” is a fun business simulation with a good dose of
learning by experience. It is a single player game, where you
have to keep Fothergale’s solvent for two years and at the
same time maximise profit.

It is tough! It is challenging! BUT
it’s fun! A quick enthralling game.

Price : £25 plus p&p (£2.50p) and VAT or £31 all in.
RML “Nimbus” or BBC/B or Master (80 track DFS)

Order from: RBRC SOFTWARE, The Guild House, 32 Worple Road, Wimbledon, SW19 4EF

Telephone: 01-946 8641.

please state whether RML “Nimbus" or BBC/B or Master.

QUEST64- An Advanced Information Handling (database) package

What is QUEST64?

Quest64 is a sophisticated Information Handling (database) system
for use with the BBC Master 1 28 and compact microcomputers.

What can I do with QUEST64?

As with all versions of QUEST, you can manipulate, question and
display data in a variety of ways.

What facilities does QUEST64 have?

It enables you to handle larger datafiles (up to 64K) extremely quickly. Alongside other
enhanced commands for searching, sorting and displaying data, QUEST64 also has a
video-disk ‘driver’ to control the actions of an Interactive video disc player.

Can I Use QUEST data with QUEST64?

Data created using both QUEST and QUEST-D can be used with QUEST64. There are
data files in Home Economics, Geography and History which are available separately.

When will QUEST64 be available?

QUEST64 is available now and costs £30. To order QUEST64 or to request a catalogue of
our software, contact:

The Advisory Unit for Microtechnology in Education,
Endymion Road, Hatfield, Herts ALIO 8AU
Tel: (07072) 65443

SATELLITE PICTURES ON YOUR BEEB!

With one of our high performance weather satellite
receiving stations you can receive and display
up-to-the-minute weather satellite pictures from
American, European, or Russian satellites!

The systems are suitable for
BBC models B, B+ & Master

I WXSAT L

standard resolution weather satellite station

A complete hardware and software package comprising MSA20 aerial, MSR20 receiver, and
MSS20 decoder/interface with WXSAT software package. In a recent review by Radio &
Electronics World Magazine they concluded “. . . have reviewed four different weather satellite
receiving stations in the past two years, varying in price from £400 to around £800, but this one
must surely beat the lot."

£182.04 + VAT

PRICE UST

NET

CARR & INS

MSR20 Receiver

132.65

6.00

MSA20 X-Dipole Aerial

26.75

5.00

WXSAT Basic Station

182.04

7.20

MSS20 Interface

74.95

1.50

MSG20 Graphstore

347.75

6.00

MSD20 Dish Aerial

121.50

18.00

MSC20 Down Converter

138.65

1.50

ADD 15% VAT TO ALL ORDERS

| HIGH RESOLUTION

FRAMESTORE/GRAPHICS PROCESSOR

A high resolution (512 pixel x 512 line x 128 greyscale) digital framestore/graphics processor
of unparalleled performance. Coupled to the BBC Micro and MSR20, satellite receiver is
capable of viewing weather satellite pictures as never before. Powerful features include
zooming, scrolling, film mode, text overlay, picture enhancements.

Complete with software package £347.75 + VAT
Complete weather station £767.30 + VAT

I STOP PRESS: Archimedes System now available ||

1 demo disk £5 M

Remote Sensing

1 08 Queen's Road, Farnborough, Hants GUI 4 6JR Tel. (0252) 51 5666 Telex: 859489 (MARTLC G)

96

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

YELLOW PAGES

COMPATIBILITY

Program

Page

BBC B

B+/128

Master

128

Master

Compact

Electron

Arc

6502SP/

Turbo

ADFS

Econet

Shadow

RAM

Monthly

T/D

Hints & Tips

97

Listing i-2

■

■

■

■

B

B

B

B

■

■

■

Listing 3(1)

■

■

■

■

B

B

B

B

B

Listing 4

■

■

■

B

B

B

B

Arc Agora

99

Listing 1-3

B

B

B

B

B

B

Joe’s Jottings

103

Listings 1-2

■(2)

■

■

■

□

B

B

B

B

B

Life on the Line

110

Listings 1

■

■

■

■

■

B

B

□

B

B

B

Top of the list

111

■

■

■

■

B

fl

B

B

Note

1. requires \Vordwise+ & Teletext adaptor

2. requires Shadow RAM

hints & TIPS

See Hints & Tips, page 41

Listing 1. Procedure & Function lister

10 REM One-line F/P Lister
20 REM by Nicholas Sayers
30 REM for B/B+/E/M/C
40 REM (c) Acorn User Nov 88
50 :

60 *K. 0 P=PA . s REP . N=P? 1 *256+P?2 s P=P+
3 : REP . P=P+ 1 : U . ?P=22 1 OR?P= 1 30RP >TOP : I F?P
< >221U. P>TOP EL. REP. P=P+1 : U. ?P< >32: P. RI
. “ "+STR*N,5> ; " " ; M. "FNPROC" , ABS (?P=

242) *3, 2+ABS <?P=242) *2) ; : REP. P=P+1 : V. ?P
:U.?P=13:P. :U.P>TOP!M

Listing 2. Wide Text

10 REM Double Width Text
20 REM by J D Michael
30 REM for B/B+/E/M/C
40 REM (c) Acorn User Nov 88
50 :

60 MODE 3
70 DIM blk7. 9
80 FOR I7.=&70 TO &7F
90 READ ?I7.

100 NEXT 17.

110 INPUT LINE "Text String :
120 PRINT ;

130 PROCdoubl e (text*)

140 PRINT
150 END

text*

Continued ►

◄ Hints and Tips listing 2 continued

160

s

170

DATA 0,3,12,15,48,51,60,63

180

DATA 192, 195,204,207,240,243,252,

2

55

190

:

200

DEF PROCdouble (t*)

210

FDR I7.= l TD LEN (t*)

220

PROCosword (ASC (MID* (t*, 17., 1) ) )

230

FOR J7.=0 TO 7

240

? (&80+J7.) =? (&70+ (bl k7.? ( J7.+ 1 ) AND

2

40) DIV 16)

250

? (&88+J7.) =? (&70+ (bl k7.? ( J7.+ 1 ) AND

1

5) )

260

NEXT J 7.

270

VDU23, 128, ?&80, ?&81 , ?&82, ?&83, ?&84

,?&85,

?&86, ?&87

280

VDU23, 129, ?8<88, ?8<89, ?&8A, ?&8B, ?S<BC

,?&8D,

?&8E, ?&8F

290

VDU128, 129

300

NEXT 17.

310

ENDPRCJC

320

:

330

DEF PROCosword (c% )

340

A7.=&A

350

X7.=blk7. MOD 256

360

Y7.=blk7. DIV 256

370

?blk7.=c7.

380

Z7.=USR<&FFF1)

390

ENDPROC

Listing 3. Time in Wordwise+

REM Teletext Date in Wordwise

VDU12, 31,0,5, 134

REM by Colin Robertson

PRINT " WW+/tel etex t

date acquisition"

REM for B/B+/M/C with WW+ & TTX

VDU10, 10, 131

REM (c) Acorn User Nov 87

PRINT "Today's date

is";

REM

VDU130

D$=" "

PROCcal endar

-

Continued ^

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

97

YELLOW PAGES

◄ Hints & Tips listing 3 continued

VDUIO, 10, 131

PRINT "To exit, press any key"

*FX15, 1

IF GET THEN

DISPLAY

END

. calendar
*TTXON
*ITV
TIME=0

REPEAT

UNTIL TIME >160
L7.=8(16

PR0Cosword7A

*TTXOFF

IF?(X"/.+ 12X>0 THEN GOTO error

I"/.= l

DOTHIS

D$=D*+CHR* ?(X7.+ I7.)

I7.= I7-+1

IF I 7=7 THEN 17=9
TIMES 8

PRINT D*+" (held in D*) "

ENDPROC
. error

PRINT "not available"
VDU10, 10, 129

PRINT "Date reading error"
ENDPROC

. osword7A
X 7=8(0430
Y7=8(04
A7=8<7A
CALL 8<FFF1
ENDPROC

Listing 4. On-screen memory display

10 REM Graphic displa
y of free memory

20 REM by Steven Harr
i s

30 REM for B/B+/M
40 REM (c) Acorn User
Nov 88
50 s

60 MODE 7

70 VDU 23; 8202; 0;0;0;
80 DIM oscli7 40
90 s

100 PRINT' "Graphic dis
play of free memory."

110 PRINT

120 PRINT "Assemble at
which hex . location?"

130 INPUT "8<"code$

140 code7=EVAL ( "8<"+cod
e$)

150 PROCassembl e (code7

)

160 PRINT '"Enter name
to save under"

170 REPEAT

180 INPUT ""file*

190 UNTIL LEN (file*) >0
AND LEN (f i 1 e*) <8
200 PROCsave (f i le$, cod
e7,P7)

210 END
220 s

230 DEF PROCassembl e (c
ode7)

240 oswrch=8(FFEE
250 osasc i =8<FFE3
260 osbyte=8<FFF4
270 osrdch=8<FFE0
280 FOR pass=0 TO 2 ST
EP 2

290 P7=code7
300 COPT pass
310 .freemem
320 LDA #22
330 JSR oswrch
340 LDA #5
350 JSR oswrch
360 LDA #0
370 STA x
380 STA x + 1
390 STA 8(76
400 STA 8(77
410 LDA #232
420 STA y
430 LDA #3
440 STA y+l
450 LDA 8(18
460 STA pg
470 LDA 8(12
480 STA tp

490

LDA

8(13

1100

CMP

tp

500

STA

tp+1

1110

BNE

basicloop

510

LDA

tp

1120

LDA

#1

520

CMP

#0

1130

STA

chck

530

BNE

start

1140

. contl

540

LDA

tp+1

1150

LDA

(8(76) , Y

550

CMP

pg

1160

CMP

#0

560

BNE

start

1170

BEQ

set 1

570

LDA

#1

1180

LDA

#2

580

STA

chck

1190

STA

col

590

. start

1200

JMP

cont

600

LDY

#0

1210

. set 1

610

. loop

1220

LDA

#1

620

LDA

#160

1230

STA

col

630

STA

8(75

1240

. cont

640

. 1 aop2

1250

LDX

#0

650

LDA

8(77

1260

• dovdu

660

CMP

pg

1270

LDA

vdu, X

670

BNE

contl

1280

JSR

oswrch

680

LDA

chck

1290

INX

690

CMP

#0

1300

CPX

#9

700

BNE

contl

1310

BNE

dovdu

710

. basicloop

1320

. cont2

720

LDA

8(76

1330

LDA

8(76

730

CLC

1340

CLC

740

ADC

#1

1350

ADC

#1

750

STA

8(76

1360

STA

8(76

760

LDA

8(77

1370

LDA

8(77

770

ADC

#0

1380

ADC

#0

780

STA

8(77

1390

STA

8(77

790

LDA

X

1400

LDA

X

800

CLC

1410

CLC

810

ADC

00

1420

ADC

#8

820

STA

X

1430

STA

X

830

LDA

x+1

1440

LDA

x + 1

840

ADC

#0

1450

ADC

#0

850

STA

x + 1

1460

STA

x + 1

860

DEC

8(75

1470

LDA

8(77

870

LDA

8(75

1480

CMP

#8(58

880

CMP

#8(FF

1490

BEQ

qui t

890

BNE

cont3

1500

DEC

8(75

900

LDA

#0

1510

LDA

8(75

910

STA

X

1520

CMP

#8(FF

920

STA

x + 1

1530

BEQ

cont4

930

LDA

y

1540

JMP

1 oop2

940

SEC

1550

. cont4

950

SBC

#4

1560

LDA

#0

960

STA

y

1570

STA

X

970

LDA

y+l

1580

STA

x + 1

980

SBC

#0

1590

LDA

y

990

STA

y+l

1600

SEC

1000

LDA

#160

1610

SBC

#4

1010

STA

8(75

1620

STA

y

1020

. cont3

1630

LDA

y+l

1030

LDA

8(77

1640

SBC

#0

. 1040

CMP

#8(58

1650

STA

y+l

1050

BEQ

quit

1660

JMP

loop

1060

LDA

8(77

1670

. qui t

1070

CMP

tp+1

1680

JMP

instructions

1080

BNE

basicloop

1690

. vdu

1090

LDA

8(76

Continued

98

ACORN USI-.R NOVl-MBl-R I98K

YELLOW PAGES

◄ Hints & Tips listing 4 continued

1700

OPT FNequb ( 18)

1990

JMP

oswrch

2210 :

1710

OPT FNequb (0)

2000

. mess

2220 DEF FNequb (byte"/.)

1720

. col

2010

OPT

FNequs ( "&5800:

2230 ?P7.=byte"/.:P7.=P7.+ l

1730

OPT FNequb (0)

")

2240 =pass

1740

- vdu2

2020

OPT

FNequw (ScDOD)

2250 :

1750

OPT FNequb (25)

2030

□PT

FNequs ("Reds E

2260 DEF FNequw (word"/.)

1760

OPT FNequb (69)

mpty slot 1

')

2270 ?P"/.=word7. MOD 256

1770

. X

2040

OPT

FNequb (13)

2280 P"/.?l=word"/. DIV 256

1780

OPT FNequw (0)

2050

OPT

FNequs ( "Yellow

2290 P"/.=P"/.+2

1790

-y

: Full

slot")

2300 =pass

1800

OPT FNequw (0)

2060

OPT

FNequb (13)

2310 :

1810

- instructions

2070

OPT

FNequs ( "B1 ack :

2320 DEF PROCsave (fileS

1820

LDA #31

BASIC

">

,s"/.,e7.)

1830

JSR oswrch

2080

OPT

FNequw (&D0D)

2330 oscl i S="SAVE "+fil

1840

LDA #0

2090

OPT

FNequs ( "Press

eS+" »+STRS~s7.+ " "+STRS~

1850

JSR oswrch

a key"

)

e"/.

1860

LDA #19

2100

OPT

FNequw (13)

2340 PRINT'"*"; oscl iS

1870

JSR oswrch

2110

-pg

OPT

FNequb (0)

2350 Soscl i‘/.=oscl iS

1880

LDX #0

2120

.tp

OPT

FNequw (0)

2360 X7.=oscli"/. MOD 256

1890

. print

2130

. chck OPT FNequb (0

2370 Y'/.=oscli"/. DIV 256

1900

LDA mess, X

)

2380 CALL &FFF7

1910

JSR osasci

2140

J

2390 ENDPROC

1920

INX

2150

NEXT pass

1930

CMP #0

2160

ENDPROC

1940

BNE print

2170

:

1950

JSR osrdch

2180

DEF

FNequs (sS)

1960

LDA #22

2190

SP7.=

=sS:P"/.=P7.+LEN(s

1970

JSR oswrch

S)

1980

LDA #7

2200

=pass

See Archimedes Agora, page 46

Listing 1. PC & ST disc reader

10

REM Agora - listing 1

340 ELSE

20

REM MS-DOS Disc Reader

350 VDU 7

30

REM by Jeroen Boomgaardt

360 PRINT '"Error: ";REP0RT$;" (Error

40

REM for Archimedes only

number ; ~ERR; " ) "

50

REM (c) Acorn User November

1988

370 PRINT '"Press a key to restart Dis

60

5

c Reader";

70

ON ERROR PROCerror : RUN

380 *FX 15

80

buf 1 en*/.= ( H I MEM-LOMEM-&2000 )

AND &7

390 key"/.=GET

FFFFC00

400 ENDPROC

90

DIM f ileS(255) , block'/. 256, buf"/. buf

410 :

len7.

420 DEF FNtidy(tS)

100

MODE 0

430 LOCAL c7.,i7.,

rS

110

COLOUR 0,4

440 rS=" "

120

PRINT '"Archimedes Disc Reader VI.

450 IF tS="" THEN tS=" "

00 - by Jeroen Boomgaardt"

460 FOR i"/.= l TO

LEN(tS)

130

PRINT STRINGS (80, CHRS (95) )

470 c"/.=ASC(MID*(tS, i"/., 1) )

140

VDU 28,0,31,79,4

480 IF c"/.<>32 THEN

150

PRINT " Buffer si ze=" ; buf 1 en"/.s " by

490 IF c7. >96 AND

c"/.<123 THEN c"/.-=32

tes ('

•jbuflen"/. DIV 1024; "K> " '

500 rS+=CHRS(c"/.)

160

REPEAT

510 ENDIF

170

INPUT"Enter source drive (0-

-4) : " e

520 NEXT

ource"/.

530 IF RIGHTS (rS

, 1)=CHRS(46) THEN rS=L

180

UNTIL source7.>=0 AND source7.<=4

EFTS (rS, LEN (rS) — 1 )

190

REPEAT

540 =rS

200

INPUT"Enter destination (ADFS) dri

550 s

ve (0-

-4): "adfs"/.

560 DEF PROCchoosef ile

210

UNTIL adfs"/.>=0 AND adfs"/.<=4

570 REPEAT

220

REPEAT

580 INPUT ' "PI ease enter file to copy:

230

@7.=&90A

"files

240

PROCdi rmsdos

590 fileS=FNtidy (fileS)

250

PROCchoosef i 1 e

600 f ound=FALSE

260

PROCcopymsdos

610 FOR file"/.=0

TO noffiles7-l

270

UNTIL FALSE

620 IF f ileS(f ile7.)=f ileS THEN found=T

280

END

RUE

290

.

630 NEXT

300

DEF PROCerror

640 IF NOT found

THEN PRINT '"Invalid

310

IF ERR=17 THEN

abject - try again

• 1

320

MODE 0

650 UNTIL found

330

END

660 ENDPROC

Continued ►

ACOKN USI.K NOVI-MBI-R I ‘ASS

99

YELLOW PACES

ARC ACCRA

◄ Arc Agora listing 1 continued

670 :

680 DEF PROCreadsector (drive’/., secsize'/.

, secpertrk"/., nof heads7, densi ty7., di scsize 1 /.

, head7., track’/., sector"/., where"/., toread"/.)

690 LOCAL add r"/.

700 addr"/.= ( (track’/.*nof heads’/.+head’/.) *se
cpertrk"/.+sector’/.) *secsize’/.

710 block’/.?0=LOG (secsize’/.) /LOG (2)

720 block’/.?l=secpertrk’/.

730 block"/.?2=nof heads/.

740 block"/.?3=densi ty"/.

750 block’/.! 4=0: block"/.! 8=0: block"/.! 12=0
760 block’/. ! 16=di scsize"/.

770 block"/. ! 20=0: block"/. ! 24=0: bl ock’/. ! 28=
0 : b 1 oc k"/. ! 32=0 : b 1 oc k’/. ! 36=0

780 block"/.! 40=0: bl ock"/. ! 44=0: bl ock"/. ! 48=
0: block"/. ! 52=0: bl ock’/. ! 56=0: bl ock’/. ! 60=0
790 SYS "ADFS_DiscOp", ,( (block’/. DIV 4)
<<8)+l, (dri ve’/.<<29 OR addr"/.) , where’/., tore
ad"/.

800 ENDPROC
810 :

820 DEF PROCdirmsdos
830 REPEAT

840 PRINT '"Insert MS-DOS disc in driv
e "; source’/.;" and press a key..."'

850 *FX 15
860 key"/.=GET

870 PROCreadsector (source’/., 512, 9, 1,2,1
84320,0,0, 1 , buf ’/., 30)

880 UNTIL ?buf’/.=S<E9 OR ?buf’/.=&EB

890 secsize’/=buf 7 . ! &0B AND &FFFF

900 secpercl us7=buf 7?&0D

910 noffats’/.=buf’/.?&10

920 maxentr’/.=buf 7. ! &1 1 AND &FFFF

930 nofsecs’/.=buf"/.!8<13 AND &FFFF

940 descr’/.=buf "/.?&15

950 secperf at7.=buf 7?&16

960 secpertrk"/.=buf’/.?&18

970 nofheads’/.=buf’/.?&lA

980 cl ussi ze’/.=secsi ze’/.*secperc 1 us’/.

990 discsize’/.=nof secs’/.*secsize7* (secpe
rtrk’/.+ l ) /secpertr k"/.

1000 f irstfat’/.= l+(buf’/.?&E)

1010 lastf at’/.=f irstf at’/.+secperf at’/.-l
1020 f i rstd i r 7= f i rstf at’/.+secperf at ’/.*nof
fats’/.

1 030 f i r stsec7=f i r stdi r 7.+max entr7.*32/se
csize"/.

1040 FOR dirsec7=f irstdir’/. TO firstsec’/
-1

1050 head’/.= ( ( (di rsec’/.-l ) DI V secpertrk’/.)
MOD nof heads"/.)

1060 track’/.= (di rsec’/.-l ) DIV (nof heads’/.*se
cpertrk’/.)

1070 sector’/.= ( (di rsec’/.-l ) MOD secpertrk’/.
)+l

1080 PROCreadsector (source’/., secsize’/., se
cpertrk"/.+ l , nof heads’/., 2, di scsi ze’/., head’/., t
rack’/., sector’/., buf ’/.+secsi ze’/.* (di rsec’/.-f ir
stdir’/.) , secsize’/.)

1090 NEXT

1100 PRINT " Volume in drive ";CHRS(65+
source’/.) ;

1110 volume$=" has no label"

1120 FOR f ile’/.=maxentr’/. TO 1 STEP -1
1130 of f set"/.=buf 7.+ (f i 1 e’/.-l ) *32
1140 IF ( (off set’/.?ll) AND 7.101000) =7.1010
00 THEN

1150 volume$=" is "+FNname (of f set7)

1160 IF vol ume$=" is " volume$=" has no
label"

1170 END IF
1180 NEXT

1190 PRINT volume$

1200 PRINT " Directory of " ; CHRS (sourc
e’/.+65) ; " : \ '

1210 @’/.=8<607
1220 count’/.=0

1230 FOR file’/.= l TO maxentr’/.

1240 of f set’/.=buf ’/.+ (f i 1 e7-l ) *32
1250 f ileS=FNname (offset’/.)

1260 IF f ileSOCHRS(&E5) AND ((offset"/.?

11) AND 7.1 100) =0 THEN
1270 timeS=FNtime (of f set’/. ! &16 AND &FFFF

)

12B0 dateS=FNdate (of f set’/. ! &18 AND &FFFF

)

1290 length’/.=of f set 7. !& 1C
1300 PRINT LEFTS (f i leS, 8) ; " " ; RIGHTS (f i
1 eS, 3) ;

1310 IF ( (off set’/.?ll) AND 7.10000) 00 THE
N PRINT " <DIR> "; ELSE PRINT , length’/.

9 1320 PRINT " "dateS" "timeS
1330 count’/.+=l
1340 ENDIF
1350 NEXT

1360 IF count’/.=0 THEN PRINT "File not f
ound " : nof f i 1 es7=0: ENDPROC
1370 @7.=&609: PRINT count’/.;" File(s)";

1380 count’/.=0

1390 FOR file’/.= l TO maxentr’/.

1400 of f set’/.=buf ’/.+ (f i 1 e’/.-l ) *32
1410 fileS (count’/.) =FNname (offset/.)

1420 IF fileS (count’/.) < >CHRS (&E5) AND ((
of fset’/.?ll) AND 7.11 100) =0 THEN fileS (coun
t’/.) =FNti dy (LEFTS (f i 1 eS (count’/.) , 8) +" . "+RI
GHTS (fileS (count’/.) ,3) ) :count’/.+=l
1430 NEXT

1440 nof f i 1 es/=count7

1450 PRINT FNbytesf ree; " bytes free"

1460 ENDPROC
1470 :

1480 DEF FNtime(time’/.)

1490 LOCAL hour’/., min"/., rest’/., times, hours
, minS

1500 hour’/.=time’/. DIV 2048: rest’/.=ti me’/. M
OD 2048

1510 min’/.=rest’/. DIV 32

1520 IF hour’/.>12 THEN hour’/.=hour’/.-12: ti
meS="p" ELSE timeS="a"

1530 IF hour 7=0 THEN hour’/.= 12
1540 IF hour’/.<10 THEN hourS=" " ELSE ho
urS=" "

1550 hourS=hourS+STRS (hour’/.)

1560 IF mi n7< 10 THEN minS=":0" ELSE min
S=": "

1570 mi nS=mi nS+STRS (mi n7 )

1580 =hourS+minS+ti meS
1590 :

1600 DEF FNdate (date’/.)

1610 LOCAL year’/., month’/., day’/., rest’/., mont
hS, dayS

1620 year’/.= (date’/. DIV 512) +80: rest’/.=dat
e’/. MOD 512

1630 month’/.=rest’/. DIV 32: day’/.=rest’/. MOD
32

1640 IF month’/.<10 THEN monthS="-0" ELSE
monthS="-"

1650 monthS=monthS+STRS (month’/.)

1660 IF day’/.<10 THEN dayS=" " ELSE dayS

_ n ii

1670 dayS=dayS+STRS (day’/.)

1680 =dayS+monthS+"-"+STRS (year’/. MOD 10
0)

1690 :

1700 DEF FNbytesf ree

Continued ►

100

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

YELLOW PAGES

ARC AGORA

◄ Arc Agora listing 1 continued

1710 FOR fatsec7=firstfat7 TO lastfatY
1720 head7.= < ( (f atsecY-1 ) DI V secpertrkY)
MOD nofheads7.)

1730 track7= <f atsecY-1 ) DI V (not heads7*se
cpertrkY)

1740 sector7= ( (f atsecY-1 ) MOD secpertrk7.
)+l

1750 PROCreadsector (source'/., secsize'/., se
cpertrkY+l , nof headsY, 2, discsizeY, headY, t
rac kY, sectorY, buf 7+secsi zeY* (f atsecY-f ir
stf atY) , secsizeY)

1760 NEXT

1770 f ree'/.= (nof secs'/.-f irstsecY+l ) *secsi
zeY

1780 FOR fatpos=3 TO secperf at7*secsi ze
7.-1. 5 STEP 1.5

1790 IF FNevalf at (f atpos) < >0 THEN free7.
-=clussizeY
1800 NEXT
1810 =free7.

1820 :

1830 DEF FNevalf at (f atpos)

1840 fatbyte7.= INT(fatpos)+buf7.

1850 ncl7=!fatbyte7 AND &FFFF
1860 IF INTCf atpos) Of atpos THEN ncl7.=n
cl7->>4

1870 =ncl 7 AND &FFF
1880 :

1890 DEF PROCcopymsdos
1900 IF f i 1 e*=" " THEN ENDPROC
1910 FOR dirsec7.=f irstdi r7. TO firstsecY
-1

1920 head7= ( ( (dirsecY-1 ) DIV secpertrkY)
MOD nofheads7.)

1930 track7.= (dirsec7.-l ) DIV (nof heads7*se
cpertrk7.)

1940 sector7= < (di rsecY-l ) MOD secpertrk7.
)+l

1950 PROCreadsector (source*/., secsize'/., se
cpertrkY+l , nof headsY, 2, discsize7., headY, t
rackY, sector7., buf 7+secsi zeY* (dirsecY-f ir
stdirY) , secsizeY)

1960 NEXT
1970 file7.=0
1980 REPEAT
1990 file7.+=l

2000 of f set7.=buf 7.+ (f i 1 e7.-l ) *32
2010 thi sone$=FNname (of f setY)

2020 IF thisone*<>CHR*(&E5) AND ( (of f se
t7.?ll)AND 711 100) =0 THEN thi sone*=FNti dy
(LEFT* (thi sone$, 8) +" . "+RIGHT* (thi sone$,3
) )

2030 length7.=offset7.!&lC
2040 start7.=offset7.!&lA AND &FFFF
2050 UNTIL f i Ie7=maxentr7 OR thisone*=f
ile*

2060 IF ( ( (Iength7+clussize7-l) DIV clu
ssize7.) *clussize7.) >buf len7.-secperf at7.*se
csize7. THEN ERROR 20,"File too big to fi
t in buffer"

2070 of f set7.=buf 7+secperf at7*secsize7.

2080 PROCcl uster (start/1 , of f set7 )

2090 IF Iength7.>clussize7. THEN

2100 FOR f atsec7=f irstf aty TO last fat 7.

2110 head7.= ( ( (f atsec7.-l ) DIV secpertrk7.)
MOD nofheadsy)

2120 tracky= (f atsec7.-l ) DIV (nof heads7.*se
cpertrky)

2130 sector7.= ( (f atsec7.-l ) MOD secpertrk7.
)+l

2140 PROCreadsector (source*/., secsize'/., se
cpertrky+1 , nofheadsy, 2, discsizey, heady, t
racky , sectory , buf 7+secsi ze’/.* (f atsec7-f i r
stf at 7.) , secsize'/.)

2150 NEXT Continued ►

< Arc Agora listing 1 continued

2160 cl usy=FNeval f at ( 1 . 5*start7. )

2170 WHILE cl us7< >&FFF

2180 IF clus7.<>0 AND clus7.<&FF7 THEN

2190 of f set7.+=clussize7.

2200 PROCcl uster (cl usy , of f sety )

2210 END IF

2220 c 1 us7.=FNeval f at ( 1 . 5*c 1 us7. )

2230 ENDWHILE
2240 END IF

2250 PRINT '"File loaded. Insert ADFS d
isc in drive ";adfsy;" and press a key..

ii •

2260 *FX 15
2270 key7.=GET

2280 OSCLI( "MOUNT "+STR* (adf s7.) )

2290 pp7.= INSTR(file*,CHR$(46) )

2300 IF pp7.>0 THEN f i 1 e$=LEFT* (LEFT* (f i
le*,pp7.-l)+"_"+MID*(file*,pp7.+ l,3) , 10)
2310 *blocky=f i 1 e*s ? (blocky+LEN (file*) )
=0

2320 SYS "OS_File",0,block7.,0,0,buf7.+se
cperf at7.*secsize7., buf 7.+secperf aty*secsi z
e7.+lengthy

2330 SYS "OS_Fi 1 e" , 9, bl ockY.

2340 ENDPROC
2350 s

2360 DEF PROCcl uster (cl usY, whereY)

2370 FOR plusY=0 TO secpercl usY-1
2380 abssecy= (clusY-2) *secpercl usY+f i rs
tsecY+plusY

2390 headY= ( ( (abssecY-1 ) DI V secpertrkY)
MOD nofheadsY)

2400 trackY= (abssecY-l ) DI V (nof headsY*se
cpertrkY)

2410 sectory= ( (abssecY-l ) MOD secpertrkY
)+l

2420 PROCreadsector (source'/., secsize'/., se
cpertrkY+l , nof headsY , 2, di scsi zeY , head 7. , t
rackY , sector'/., whereY+pl usY*secsi zeY , secs
i zeY)

2430 NEXT
2440 ENDPROC
2450 s

2460 DEF FNname (of f setY )

2470 f*=""

2480 FOR charY=0 TO 10
2490 byteY=of f setY?charY
2500 IF byteY<32 OR byteY>126 THEN f*="
" : byteY=S<E5s char7.= 10
2510 f *=f *+CHR* (byteY)

2520 NEXT
2530 =f*

Listing 2. Tak Test

10 REM Agora - listing 2
20 REM ArcTak
30 REM by Dave Acton
40 REM for Archimedes only
50 REM (c) Acorn User November 1988
60 :

70 MODE 0

80 PRINT "Archimedes Tak Test"'

90 DIM codeY &9000
100 PROCassemble
110 FOR iY=0 TO &7FFF STEP 4
120 i Y ! tabl eY=— 1
130 NEXT

140 PRINT "Method used "TAB (27) "Answer "

TAB (35) "Time"

150 PRINT STRING* (80, "-") ;

160 TIME=0s PRINT"Basi c f uncti on " , FNt ( 1
8, 12,6) , TIME/100

Continued^

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

101

YELLO W PAGES!

ARC AGORA

◄ Arc Agora listing 2 continued

170 TIME=0: PR I NT" Mach i ne code" , FNmc ( 18
, 12,6) , TIME/100

180 TIME=0: PR I NT " Mach i ne code + table"
, FNmctab (18, 12,6) , TIME/100
190 END
200 :

210 DEF FNt (x , y , z )

220 IF x<=y THEN =z ELSE =FNt (FNt (x-1 ,
y , z ) , FNt (y-1 , z , x > , FNt <z-l , x , y ) )

230 s

240 DEF FNmc (D7.,C7.,B7.)=USR (tak)

250 :

260 DEF FNmctab (D7.,C7.,B7.)=USR(tabtak)
270 :

280 DEF PROCassemble

290 r=0: z=l : y=2: x=3

300 tbase=4s temp=5s temp2=6

310 dimx=7s di my=8

320 sp=13: 1 i nk=14: pc=15

330 FOR pass7.=0 TO 2 STEP 2

340 P7.=code7.

350 COPT pass7.

360 .tak

370 STMFD (sp) ! , Cx,y,z,link>

380 .maintak
390 CMP x , y
400 MOVLE r , z

410 LDMLEFD (sp ) ! , Cx , y , z , pc>

420 SUB x,x,#l

430 CMP x , y

440 MOVLE r , z

450 BLGT tak

460 STMFD (sp) ! , Cr>

470 ADD temp , x , #1
480 SUB x , y , #1
490 MOV y , z
500 MOV z,temp
510 CMP x , y
520 MOVLE r , z
530 BLGT tak
540 STMFD (sp) ! , Cr>

550 ADD temp,x,#l

560 SUB x , y, #1

570 MOV y , z

580 MOV z , temp

590 CMP x , y

600 MOVLE r , z

610 BLGT tak

620 LDMFD (sp) ! , Cx,y>

630 MOV z , r
640 B maintak

Listing 3. Arc palette

10

REM Agora - listing 3

190

IF green<0 green=0

20

REM 456 colours?

200

IF blue<0 blue=0

30

REM by Dave Lawrence

210

GCOL (blue<<4) + (green<<2) +red TINT

40

REM for Archimedes only

(t7.<<6)

50

REM (c) Acorn User November 1988

220

MOVE (n7. MOD 19) *64+ (c7.*4+t7.-4) *2,

60

*

(n7. DIV 19) *500

70

MODE 15s OFF

230

DRAW BY 0,480

80

n7.=0

240

MOVE <nV. MOD 19) *64+47- (c7.*4+t’/.-4)

90

REPEAT

*2, (n7. DIV 19) *500

100

READ c$

250

DRAW BY 0,480

110

WHILE c*<>" !"

260

NEXT

120

PROCst (MID$(c*, 1, 1) ,b,bl)

270

r+=r 1 s g+=g 1 : b+=b 1

130

PROCst (MID$(c$,2, 1) ,g,gl)

280

NEXT

140

PROCst (MID$ (c$, 3, 1 ) , r , r 1 )

290

n7.+=l

150

FOR c7.= l TO 3

300

READ c*

160

FOR t7.=0 TO 3

310

ENDWHILE

170

red=r s green=gs blue=b

320

END

180

IF red<0 red=0

330

Continued ►

650 :

660 .tabtak

670 ADR tbase, tabled

680 ADD dimx,x,#l

690 ADD di my , y, #1

700 MUL temp, dimx , dimy

710 MOV dimy, temp

720 . ttak

730 STMFD (sp) ! , Cx,y,z,link>

740 . maintabtak
750 CMP x , y
760 MOVLE r , z

770 LDMLEFD (sp ) ! , Cx , y , z , pc>

780 MLA temp, dimx , y, x

790 MUL temp2,dimy,z

800 ADD temp, temp, temp2

810 LDR temp2, Ctbase, temp, ASL #23

820 CMN temp2, #1

830 MOVNE r,temp2

840 LDMNEFD (sp ) ! , Cx , y , z , pc>

850 STMFD (sp) ! , <temp>

860 SUB x,x,#l
870 CMP x , y
880 MOVLE r , z
890 BLGT ttak
900 STMFD (sp) ! , Cr>

910 ADD temp , x , #1
920 SUB x , y , #1
930 MOV y , z
940 MOV z,temp
950 CMP x , y
960 MOVLE r , z
970 BLGT ttak
980 STMFD (sp) ! , Cr>

990 ADD temp , x , #1
1000 SUB x , y , #1
1010 MOV y , z
1020 MOV z , temp
1030 CMP x , y
1040 MOVLE r , z
1050 BLGT ttak
1060 LDMFD (sp) ! , Cx,y>

1070 MOV z , r
1080 BL ttak
1090 LDMFD (sp)!,Ctemp>

1100 STR r, Ctbase, temp, ASL #23
1110 LDMFD (sp) ! , Cx,y,z,pc>

1120 :

1130 . tabled
1140 3 s NEXT pass7.

1150 ENDPROC

102

ACORN USER NOVKMBRR 1988

YELLOW PflBESr

JOE'S JOTTINGS

◄ Arc Agora listing 3 continued

340 DEF PRQCst <c$, RETURN start, RETURN
inc)

350 CASE c* OF

360 WHEN "*" : start=0: i nc=0

370 WHEN "0" s start=0: i nc=l

380 WHEN " 1 " : start=l : i nc=l

390 WHEN "#" : start=-*l : inc=l

400 ENDCASE

410 ENDPROC

420 s

430 DATA 001,**1,##1,0*1,*01,0#1,#01,*
#1,#*1

440 DATA 010,*l*,#l#,01*,*l0,0i# f #i0 *

1#,#1*

450 DATA 100, 1**, 1##, 10*, 1*0, 10#, 1#0, 1
*#, 1#*

460 DATA 110, 11*, 11#, 101, 1*1, l#i 0H *

11, #11, 000, 111

470 DATA !

See Joe’s Jottings, page 66

Listing 1. Crossword setup

M Joe's Jottings listing 1 continued

10 REM Crossword Generator Part 1

530 DEFPROCspc

20 REM by Joe Telford

540 PROCmess ( "Press" , 30, 1 )

30 REM for BBC B+/M/C/A/B with Shad

550 PROCmess ( " SPACE " , 30 , 4 ) s PROCmess ( " t

40 REM (C) Acorn User November 1988

o" , 30, 7)

50 s

560 PROCmess ("go on.", 30, 10)

60 M‘/.=20

570 REPEAT: SOUND 1 , 1 , 4, 20: UNTIL INKEY (

70 MODE 4

300) =32

80 VDU 23; 8202; 0; 0; 0;

580 LOCALloop

90 PROCsetup

590 FOR 1 oop=lTO 30: PRINTTAB (30, loop) ;

100 PROCtitle

STRING* (10, " " ) ; : NEXT

110 CHAIN ,, CWD2"

600 ENDPROC

120 :

610 :

130 DEF PROCsetup

620 DEF PROCdrawwindow (x , y, w, n%, f )

140 VDU 19, 0,7; 0-

630 1 = (x + 1 ) *32: d=991- (y+n"/.+ l ) *32

150 VDU 19, 1 , 0; 0;

640 r= (x+w+1 ) *32: u=1023- (y+1 ) *32

160 VDU 23,128,32,80,80,80,32,0,0,0

650 VDU18, 0, 131,24, 1 ; d-12; r+12; u; 16

170 VDU 23,129,32,96,32,32,112,0,0,0

660 VDU18, 0, 131,24, 1 -8; d-4; r+4; u+8; 16

180 VDU 23,130,32,80,16,32,112,0,0,0

670 VDU18, 0, 128,24, l-4;d;r;u+4; 16,26

190 VDU 23,131,96,16,96,16,96,0,0,0

680 ENDPROC

200 VDU 23,132,80,80,112,16,16,0,0,0

690 :

210 VDU 23,133,112,64,96,16,96,0,0,0

700 DEF PROCmess (t*,x,y)

220 VDU 23,134,32,64,96,80,32,0,0,0

710 PROCdrawwindow (x , y, LEN (t*) +1 , 0, 1)

230 VDU 23,135,112,16,16,32,32,0,0,0

720 COLOUR 128: COLOUR 7

240 VDU 23,136,32,80,32,80,32,0,0,0

730 PRINTTAB (x+1, y+1 ) ;t*;

250 VDU 23,137,32,80,48,16,32,0,0,0

740 ENDPROC

260 VDU 23,153,24,28,246,131,246,28,24

750 :

i 0

760 DATA 5,6, ACORNUSER, 0

270 VDU 23,154,24,56,111,193,111,56,24

770 DATA 12, 12, PROGRAM, 0

i 0

780 DATA 15, 6, JOES, 0

280 VDU 23,155,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1

790 DATA 3, 11,0NE,0

290 VDU 23,156,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,255

800 DATA 5,8, OF , 0

300 VDU 23,157,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,255

8 1 0 DATA 13,5, CROSSWORD , 1

310 VDU 23,158,255,255,255,255,255,255

820 DATA 5,6, ANOTHER, 1

,255,255

830 DATA 15,6, JOTTINGS, 1

320 VDU 23,159,255,129,129,129,129,129

, 129,255

330 ENDPROC

340 s

Listing 2. The Crossword designer

350 DEF PROCtitle

360 FOR 1=1 TO 20

10 REM Crossword Generator Part 2

370 PRINTTAB (1,1); STRING* (20, CHR$159)

20 REM By Joe Telfod

380 NEXT

30 REM For BBC B+/M/C/A/B with Shad

390 FOR 1=1 TO 8

40 REM (C) Acorn User November 1988

400 READ x,y,a*,d

50 :

410 VDU 31 , x , y

60 MODE 132

420 FOR J=1 TO LEN (a*)

70 PROCsetup

430 PRINTMID*(a*, J, 1) ;

80 ON ERROR PROCerr

440 IF d VDU 8, 10

90 REPEAT

450 NEXT

100 REPEAT

460 NEXT

110 IF NOT sf ch=FNmenu(0,ch)

470 PROCmess ( "The Acorn User Crossword

120 IF ch< >3 PROCsub (ch )

Program" , 2, 22)

130 UNTIL ch=3

480 PROCmess ( " Another one of Joe's Jo

140 UNTIL FNok

ttings! ",2,25)

150 MODE 7

490 PROCspc

160 *FX4

500 CLS

170 END

510 ENDPROC

180 :

520 s

190 DEF PROCerr

Continued ►

Continued ►

ACORN USBR NOVEMBER 1988

103

YELLOW PAGES!

JOES JOTTINGS

780 IF A=1 c= (c+1 ) MODmn
790 IF A=2 c=(c+mn-l) MODmn

< Joe’s Jottings listing 2 continued

200 VDU3, 26: CL0SE#0: COLOUR 128:C0L0UR1
: PROCcurs (0)

210 PR0Ccls:m7.(2)=0:m7.<3)=0
220 IF err$="W" words=0: cl ues=0: cwd=0:
PROCresetcw: err$=" "

230 IF err*="B" cwd=0: PROCresetcw: err*

_ H n

240 IF err$="C" cl ues=0: err$=" "

250 IF ERR=17 AND NOTINKEY-1 PROCem ("L
ast action cancel led" ): ENDPROC

260 IF ERR=198 PROCem ( "Di sc Full: Chan
ge Disc") : ENDPROC

270 IF ERR=190 PROCem ( "Catal ogue Full:
Change Di sc") : ENDPROC
280 IF ERR=179 PROCem ( "Di rectory Full:
Change Di sc" ): ENDPROC
290 REPORT: PRINT" at line ";ERL:*FX4
300 END
310 :

320 DEF PROCsetup

330 DIM cw7.(M7.,M7.) ,cl <M7.,3> , a* ( 1 1 ) , w* (
M7.) ,c*(M7.) ,i*(2) ,m7.(3)

340 DIM osb 13, bl k 40

350 err$=" " : words=0: cl ues=0: cwd=0: M7.=2
0: ch=0: *FX4, 1

360 bem*="Please build/load crossword
first"

370 sf =FALSE

380 VDU 23; 8202; 0; 0; 0; 0;

390 VDU 19,0,7;0; 19, 1,0;0;

400 PROCval id: PROCresetcw
410 ENVELOPE 1 , 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, O, 126, -2, -1
,-l, 126, 100

420 PROCcurs (0)

430 ENDPROC
440 :

450 DEF PROCval id

460 cap*=" ABCDEFGHI JKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ"
470 low*=" abcdef ghi j klmnopqrstuvwxyz "
480 nos$=" . 0123456789"

490 pun*=" -_!#*7.&' ()=?/*:+;. ,<>"+CHR*
34

500 al 1 $=nos$+cap$+l ow$+pun$

510 ENDPROC
520 :

530 DEF FNok

540 PROCmessCDo you really want to ex
it? (Y/N) " , 20)

550 REPEAT A*=CHR* (GET AND 223): UNTIL
A$=" Y" OR A*="N"

560 PRINTA*

570 PROCwi nd (2, 20, 36, 0,0)

580 =(A*="Y")

590 :

600 DEF PROCcurs (s/C)

610 VDU 23; 10, 255-s7.*152; 0; 0; 0
620 ENDPROC
630 :

640 DEF FNmenu(m,c)

650 PROCmwind (m, 1 )

660 COLOUR 1: COLOUR 128
670 PRINTTAB (mx , my) ; t*

680 REPEAT

690 RESTORE (7640+m*20>

700 FOR 1=0 TO mn-1

710 READ a*: IF a*="<" a*=CHR*154

720 COLOUR l+(I=c> : COLOUR 128- (I=c)

730 PRINTTAB (mx, my+I+1 >; a*;

740 IF m=0 AND I<3 OR m=l AND ch=2 AND
(1=0 OR 1=4) PR I NTSPC ( mw-LENa* ) ; CHR* 1 53
750 NEXT
760 REPEAT

770 A=INSTR (CHR*138+CHR*139+CHR*13, GET

*)

800 UNTIL A
810 UNTIL A=3
820 =c
830 :

840 DEF PROCsub (ch)

850 IF NOT sf sub=0: sf =TRUE
860 REPEAT

870 sub=FNmenu ( 1 , sub) : ex= (sub=7)

880 IF NOT (ex) ex=FNdosub
890 UNTIL ex<0
900 PROCmwind ( 1 , 0)

910 sf =FALSE
920 ENDPROC
930 :

940 DEF FNdosub
950 RESTORE 7720
960 FOR I7.=0 TO ch*7+sub
970 READ m*

980 NEXT

990 =EVAL("FN"+m*)

1000 :

1010 DEF PROCmwind (m,f)

1020 RESTORE (7630+m*20)

1030 READ t*, mx , my , mn, mw

1040 IF mV. (m)Of PROCwi nd (mx , my, mw, mn, f

)

1050 m7.(m)=f
1060 ENDPROC
1070 :

1080 DEF FNwenter (f $)

1090 PROCwind (1,11,23, 19,1)

1100 PROCwind (26, 11, 11,2, 1)

1110 PROCinf ( "Enter words.", "To exit,",
"type a *.")

1120 VDU 28,1,30,24,11
1130 words=0
1140 err$="W"

1150 IF f$<>"" PROCoscli ("EXEC "+f$)

1160 FOR word=l TO M7.

1170 REPEAT

1180 IF word< 10: PRINTTAB (0, word-1) ; " ";
word; ELSE: PRINTTAB (0, word-1 ); word; "

: " ;

1190 w$ (word) =FNgpi (20, 0, nos$+cap$+"*" )
1200 UNTIL w$ (word) >" "

1210 IF LEFT* (w* (word) , 1)="*" words=wor
d-1 : word=M7: IF words=0 words=-l
1220 NEXT word
1230 IF words=0 words=M7.

1240 IF words=-l words=0
1250 cwd=0: err*=" " : VDU26
1260 PROCresetcw
1270 PROCcls

1280 PROCwind (1, 11,37, 19,0)

1290 =0
1300 :

1310 DEF FNwsave

1320 IF words=0 PROCem ("No words to sav
e" ) : =0

1330 f*=FNsname ( "words", "W")

1340 IF f*="" PROCcls: =0
1350 PROCwind (1,25,37,3, 1)

1360 VDU 28,1,28,38,25
1370 PROCoscli ("SPOOL "+f*)

1380 FOR loop=l TO words
1390 PRINT w*(loop)

1400 NEXT

1410 *SPOOL

1420 PROCcls: VDU26

1430 =0

1440 :

1450 DEF FNwload

Continued ^

104

ACORN US MR NOVEMBER 1988

YELLO W PAGES

J 0 E '$ JO I T I H 0 S

◄ Joe’s Jottings listing 2 continued

1460 f*=FNl name ("Load words" , "W" )

1470 IF f$="" PROCcl s: =0
1480 =FNwenter (f$)

1490 :

1500 DEF FNlista(v)

1510 IF cwd=0 PROCem (bem$) : =0
1520 PROCwind < 1 , 15, 37, 15, 1 )

1530 VDU 28,1,30,38,15

1540 df =0: VDU 12, vs IF v=3 VDU 14

1550 PRINT ' "ANSWERS" ' "Across: "

1560 FOR loop=l TO words
1570 IF df =0 AND cl(loop,2)=0 PRINT'"Do
wn: " : df = 1

1580 PRINTcl (loop, 3) 5 " : "jw$(loop)

1590 NEXT: VDU3,26, 15
1600 PROCspc
1610 =0
1620 :

1630 DEF FNcenter (f $)

1640 IF cwd=0 PROCem (bem$) : PROCcl s: =0
1650 PROCwind <6, 12,26,0, 1)

1660 PRINTTAB ( 6 , 12) ; "Please enter all t
he clues- "

1670 PROCwind (4, 17,30,2, 1)

1680 err*="C"

1690 clues=0

1700 IF f$<>"" PROCoscli ("EXEC "+f*)
1710 FOR clue=l TO words
1720 wrd*=STR$(cl (clue, 3) )

1730 IF cl (clue, 3X10 wrd$=" "+wrd*

1740 IF cl (clue, 2) =0 wrd*=wrd*+" DOWN
" ELSE wrd$=wrd$+" ACROSS "

1750 wrd$=wrd$+"i s: "

1760 PROCmess (wrd*+w$ (clue) +STRING* (21-
LENw$ (clue) , " "),15)

1770 VDU28, 5, 20, 34, 18

1780 REPEATVDU30

1790 c$ (clue) =FNgpi (60, 0, al 1 $)

1800 UNTIL c$ (clue) >" "

1810 VDU26
1820 NEXT clue
1830 err$="":clues=words
1840 PROCcl s
1850 =0
1860 :

1870 DEF FNcsave

1880 IF words=0 OR cwd=0 PROCem ("No clu
es to save ") :=0
1890 f*=FNsname ( "clues", "C")

1900 IF f$="" PROCcl s: =0
1910 PROCwi nd ( 1 , 25, 37, 3,1)

1920 VDU 28,1,28,38,25
1930 PROCoscli ("SPOOL "+f$)

1940 FOR loop=l TO words
1950 PRINTc$ ( 1 oop )

1960 NEXT
1970 *SP00L
1980 PROCcl s: VDU 26
1990 =0
2000 :

2010 DEF FNcload

2020 IF cwd=0 PROCem (bem$) : PROCcl s:=0
2030 f$=FNl name ( "Load clues", "C")

2040 IF f$="" PROCcl s: =0
2050 =FNcenter (f $)

2060 :

2070 DEF FNlistc(v)

2080 IF clues =0 PROCem ( "PI ease enter cl
ues first " ) : =0
2090 PROCwind (1, 15,37, 15, 1)

2100 VDU 28,1,30,38,15

2110 df =0: VDU 12,v:IF v=3 VDU 14

2120 PRINT ' "CLUES" ' "Across: "

2130 FOR loop=l TO clues

2140 IF df =0 AND cl(loop,2)=0 PRINT'"Do
wn:": df =1

2150 PRINTcl (loop, 3) ; " : ";c*(loop)

2160 NEXT: VDU3,26, 15
2170 PROCspc
2180 =0
2190 :

2200 DEF FNbuild

2210 IF words=0 PROCem ("No words to fit
" ) : =0

2220 cwdtype=FNmenu (2, 0 ) +1

2230 COLOUR 128: COLOUR 1

2240 IF cwdtype=3 PROCmwi nd (2, 0) s =0

2250 PROCwind (1, 11,21, 19, 1)

2260 PROCwind (26, 11, 11,2, 1)

2270 FOR I7.=0 TO 19

2280 PRINTTAB (2, I7.+ 1 1 ) ; STRING* (20, CHR*1
59)

2290 NEXT

2300 PROCinf ("Blanking", "grid. ", "")

2310 cwd=0: PROCresetcw

2320 PROCinf ("Sorting", "words. ", "")

2330 err$="W" : PROCsort : err$=" "

2340 PROCinf ("Fitting", "words. ", "")

2350 err$="B" : PROCf i t : err$=" "

2360 IF cwd< >2 cwd=l

2370 IF cwd=l PROCnumbersquares

2380 PROCspc : PROCmwi nd (2,0)

2390 =0
2400 :

2410 DEF PROCf it

2420 x =0: REPEAT :x=x+l

2430 PROCf it word (x ): VDU 26

2440 UNTIL x >=words

2450 ENDPROC

2460 :

2470 DEF PROCf itword(x)

2480 PRINTTAB (26, 11) ; "Fitting"

2490 PRINTTAB (26, 12) 5 "word "jx
2500 PRINTTAB (26, 13) ; "from "5 words
2510 VDU 28,2,30,23,11
2520 IF x=l PROCf itwordl: ENDPROC
2530 f itdone=FALSE:state=FALSE
2540 REPEAT

2550 IF cwdtype=l f i tdone=FNcl osedl oop
2560 IF cwdtype=2 f i tdone=FNopenl oop
2570 IF NOT fitdone state=FNxchange (x )

2580 UNTIL state OR fitdone
2590 IF FNpr i nt (3)

2600 IF state AND NOT fitdone AND x=wor
ds cwd=FNloselast
2610 ENDPROC
2620 :

2630 DEF PROCf itwordl
2640 di r=RND (2) — 1

2650 IF dir=l PROCf ithl ELSE PROCf itvl
2660 IF FNprint (3)

2670 ENDPROC
2680 :

2690 DEF PROCnumbersquares

2700 PROCinf ( "Number i ng" , "Squares" ,"" )

2710 LOCAL x,y,n:n=l

2720 FOR y=l TO M7.:F0R x = l TO M7.

2730 IF cvtV. (x , y) < >0 PROCcheckstart (x , y )

2740 NEXT: NEXT

2750 PROCsortad

2760 startdown=FNf inddown

2770 PROCsortnos ( 1 , startdown-1 , "across"

)

2780 PROCsortnos (startdown, words, "down"

)

2790 ENDPROC
2800 :

2810 DEF FNf inddown

Continued ►

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

105

YELLOW PAGEST

JOES JOTTINGS

◄ Joe’s Jottings listing 2 continued

2820 L0CALn:n=0: REPEAT: n=n+l: UNTIL cl (n
, 2) =0
2830 =n
2840 :

2850 DEF PROCsortad

2860 PROCi nf ( "Sort i ng ", "across "down

")

2870 LOCALi nl oop , outl oop , poi nter
2880 FOR outloop=l TO words-1
2890 pointer=outloop
2900 FOR inloop=outloop+l TO words
2910 IF cl ( i nl oop , 2) >cl (poi nter , 2) poin
ter=i nl oop
2920 NEXT inloop

2930 IF poi nter< >out 1 oop PROCswi tch (poi
nter, outloop)

2940 NEXToutl oop
2950 ENDPROC
2960 :

2970 DEF PROCsortnos (start , end , t$)

2980 PROCinf ("Number", "sort "+t$,"")
2990 LOCALinloop, outloop, pointer
3000 FOR outloop= start TO end-1
3010 poi nter=outl oop
3020 FOR ini oop=outl oop+1 TO end
3030 IF cl (inloop, 3) <cl (pointer , 3) poin
ter=i nl oop
3040 NEXT inloop

3050 IF pointer< >outloop PROCswi tch (poi
nter , outloop)

3060 NEXToutl oop
3070 ENDPROC
3080 :

3090 DEF PROCswi tch (a, b)

3100 LOCALspare$, spare, loop
3110 spare$=w$ (a) : w$ (a) =w$ (b) : w$ (b) =spa
re$

3120 FOR 1 oop=0 TO 3

3130 spare=cl (a, loop) : cl (a, loop) =cl (b, 1
oop ) : cl (b , 1 oop ) =spare
3140 NEXT
3150 ENDPROC
3160 :

3170 DEF PROCcheckstart (x,y)

3180 LOCAL loop, flag
3190 FOR loop=l TO words
3200 IF cl ( 1 oop , 0) =x AND cl(loop,l)=y c
1 (loop, 3)=n: f lag=l
3210 NEXT

3220 IF f 1 ag=l n=n+l
3230 ENDPROC
3240 :

3250 DEF PROCsort
3260 LOCALx , y

3270 FOR x=l TO words: FOR y=l TO words-

1

3280 IF LENw$(yKLENw*(y+l) PROCswap (y,
y+1 )

3290 NEXT: NEXT
3300 ENDPROC
3310 :

3320 DEF PROCswap (a, b) : LOCAL A$

3330 A$=w*(a) : w* (a) =w$ (b ) : w$ (b ) =A$

3340 ENDPROC
3350 :

3360 DEF FNxchange(x)

3370 LOCALbubbl eup

3380 IF words=x THEN =TRUE

3390 wspare$=w$(x)

3400 FOR bubbleup=x TO words-1
3410 w$ (bubbleup) =w$ (bubbleup+1 )

3420 NEXT

3430 w$ (words) =wspare$

3440 =FALSE

3450 :

3460 DEF FNloselast
3470 L0CALA$

3480 PROCmess (w$ (words) + *' won't fit. ,# ,2
3)

3490 PROCmess (" (Dose or (K)eep it?", 26

)

3500 REPEAT : A$=CHR$ (GET AND 223): UNTIL
A$="L" OR A$="K"

3510 PRINTAS

3520 IF A$="K" PROCmess ("Word kept - Re
build crossword" , 29) : PROCresetcw: =2
3530 w$ (words) =" " : words=words-l
3540 PROCmess ( "Word deleted - crossword
OK", 29)

3550 =TRUE
3560 :

3570 DEF PROCfithl

3580 py=INT (M7./2) : px=py-INT (LENw* ( 1 ) /2)

: cl ( 1 , 0) =px :cl (1, l)=py:cl (l,2)=dir
3590 PROCpl ace ( 1 , w$ ( 1 ) )

3600 ENDPROC
3610 :

3620 DEF PROCfitvl

3630 px = INT (M7./2) : py=px-INT (LENw* ( 1 ) /2)

: cl (1,0) =px : cl ( 1 , 1 ) =py: cl ( 1 , 2) =dir
3640 PROCpl ace ( 1 , w$ ( 1 ) )

3650 ENDPROC
3660 :

3670 DEF PROCpl ace (w, t$)

3680 VDU 31 , px , py

3690 IF cl ( w, 2) =0 PROCpl ace v (w,t$)

3700 IF cl ( w, 2) =1 PROCpl aceh ( w, t$)

3710 ENDPROC
3720 :

3730 DEF PROCpl ace v (w, t$)

3740 FOR y=cl ( w, 1 ) TO cl ( w, 1 ) +LENt$-l
3750 cw"/.(cl ( w, 0) ,y)=ASCMID*(t*, 1+y-cl (w
,1),1)

3760 NEXT: ENDPROC
3770 :

3780 DEF PROCpl aceh(w,t$)

3790 FOR x=cl(w,0) TO cl ( w, 0) +LENt*-l
3800 cw*/. (x , cl (w, 1) )=ASCMID$ (t$, 1+x-cl (w
,0),1)

3810 NEXT: ENDPROC
3820 :

3830 DEF PROCresetcw

3840 FOR y=l TO IT/.: FOR x = l TO M"/.:cw7.(y,
x)=0: NEXT: NEXT
3850 ENDPROC
3860 :

3870 DEF FNcl osedl oop

3880 LOCALI oop

3890 FOR loop=l TO x-1

3900 f itdone=FNf it (w$(x) , loop, cl (loop, 2
) )

3910 IF fitdone loop=x-l
3920 NEXT
3930 =f i tdone
3940 :

3950 DEF FNopenloop
3960 LOCALI oop

3970 FORI oop=x-l TO 1 STEP -1
3980 f itdone=FNf it (w$(x) , loop, cl (loop, 2
) )

3990 IF fitdone loop=l
4000 NEXT
4010 =fitdone
4020 :

4030 DEF FNf it (w$, pos, dir)

4040 IF di r=0 THEN =FNf i th (w$,pos)

4050 IF di r=l THEN =FNf i tv < w$, pos)

4060 =FALSE

Continued ►

106

ACORN USI-R NOVLMBKR 1988

YELLOW PAGES]

JOE'S JOTTINGS

◄ Joe’s Jottings listing 2 continued

4070 s

4080 DEF FNf ith (w$,pos)

4090 dumdi r=RND (2)

4100 IF dumdir=l THEN =FNf i thdown (w$, po
s)

4110 IF dumdi r=2 THEN =FNf i thup (w*, pos)
4120 =FALSE
4130 :

4140 DEF FNf ithdown (w$,pos)

4150 startx=cl (pos, 0)

4160 starty=cl (pos, 1 )

4170 1 tf =LENw$ (pos)

4180 LOCALcl oop , wl oop , dumf i t
4190 dumf i t=FALSE

4200 FOR cl oop =st arty TO starty+ltf
4210 FOR wloop=l TO LENw$

4220 IF cloop<=M7. THEN IF cw7. (startx , cl
oop ) =ASCMID$ (w$, wloop, 1) dumf i t=FNtryf i t
h (startx , cl oop , wl oop , w$)

4230 IF dumf it wloop=LENw$

4240 NEXTwl oop

4250 IF dumf it cl oop=starty+l tf
4260 NEXTcl oop
4270 =dumf i t
4280 :

4290 DEF FNf it hup (w$, pos)

4300 1 tf =LENw$ (pos )

4310 startx=cl (pos, 0)

4320 starty=cl (pos, 1 ) +1 tf
4330 LOCALcl oop, wloop, dumf it
4340 dumf it=FALSE

4350 FOR cloop=starty TO starty-ltf STE
P -1

4360 FOR wloop=l TO LENw$

4370 IF cloop<=M7. THEN IF cw7. (startx , cl
oop) =ASCMID$ ( w$, wl oop , 1 ) dumf i t=FNtryf i t
h (startx , cl oop, wloop, w$)

4380 IF dumf it wloop=LENw$

4390 NEXTwl oop

4400 IF dumfit cl oop=starty-l tf
4410 NEXTcl oop
4420 =dumfit
4430 :

4440 DEF FNtryf i th (cx , cy, wl , w$)

4450 LOCAL loop,realfit
4460 real f i t=FALSE
4470 FOR loop=l TO LENw$

4480 real f i t=FNf hp ( 1 oop , w$, cx-wl +1 oop , c

y>

4490 IF NOT realfit loop=LENw$

4500 NEXTloop

4510 IF NOT realfit THEN =FALSE
4520 FOR loop=l TO LENw$

4530 cw7 (cx-wl +1 oop, cy) =ASCMID$ (w$, loop

,D

4540 NEXT

4550 cl (x , 0) =cx-wl +1
4560 cl (x , 1 ) =cy
4570 cl (x , 2) =1
4580 =TRUE
4590 s

4600 DEF FNf hp (loop, w$, xl , yl )

4610 IF (xl-loop)<0 THEN = FALSE
4620 IF (x 1 < 1 OR xl>M7.) THEN =FALSE
4630 IF (cw7.(xl ,yl ) < >0 AND cw7. (x 1 , yl ) < >
ASCMID*(w$, loop, 1) ) THEN =FALSE
4640 IF (yl+l)<=M7- THEN IF (cw7. (x 1 , yl + 1
)<>0 AND cw7.(xl ,yl )<>ASCMID$ (w*, loop, 1) )
THEN =FALSE

4650 IF (yl -1 ) >=0 THEN IF (cw7. (x 1 , yl -1 )
<>0 AND cw7. (x 1 , yl ) < >ASCMID$ ( w$, 1 oop , 1 ) )
THEN =FALSE

4660 IF (xl+l)<=M7. THEN IF (cw7. (x 1 + 1 , yl
)<>0 AND cw7. (xl + 1 , yl X >ASCMID$ (w$, loop + 1

, 1 ) ) THEN =FALSE

4670 IF cw7.(xl-loop,yl)<>0 THEN =FALSE
4680 =TRUE
4690 :

4700 DEF FNf i tv (w$, pos)

4710 dumdi r=RND (2)

4720 IF dumdi r=l THEN =FNf i tvl ef tr i ght (
w$, pos)

4730 IF dumdir=2 THEN =FNf i tvr i ghtl ef t (
w$, pos)

4740 =FALSE
4750 :

4760 DEF FNf i tvlef tright (w$, pos)

4770 startx=cl (pos, 0)

4780 starty=cl (pos, 1 )

4790 1 tf =LENw$ (pos)

4800 LOCALcl oop , wl oop , dumf i t
4810 dumf i t=FALSE

4820 FOR cloop=startx TO startx+ltf
4830 FOR wloop=l TO LENw$

4840 IF cloop<=M7. THEN IF cw7. (cl oop , sta
rty)=ASCMID$(w$, wloop, 1) THEN dumfit=FNt
ryf i tv (cl oop, starty , wl oop , w$)

4850 IF dumfit wloop=LENw$

4860 NEXTwl oop

4870 IF dumfit cl oop=startx+l tf
4880 NEXTcl oop
4890 =dumf i t
4900 :

4910 DEF FNf itvrightlef t (w$, pos)

4920 1 tf =LENw$ (pos)

4930 startx=cl (pos, 0) +1 tf
4940 starty=cl (pos, 1 )

4950 LOCALcl oop , wl oop , dumf i t
4960 dumf i t=FALSE

4970 FOR cloop=startx TO startx-ltf STE
P -1

4980 FOR wloop=l TO LENw*

4990 IF cloop<=M7. THEN IF cw7. (cl oop , sta
rty)=ASCMID$ (w$, wloop, 1 ) dumf i t=FNt ryf i t
v (cl oop, starty, wloop, w$)

5000 IF dumfit wloop=LENw$

5010 NEXTwl oop

5020 IF dumfit cl oop=startx-l tf
5030 NEXTcl oop
5040 =dumf i t
5050 s

5060 DEF FNtryf i tv (cx , cy, wl , w$)

5070 LOCAL loop, realfit
5080 real f i t=FALSE
5090 FOR loop=l TO LENw$

5100 real f i t=FNf vp ( 1 oop , w$ , cx , cy-wl +1 oo
p>

5110 IF NOT realfit loop=LENw$

5120 NEXTloop

5130 IF NOT realfit THEN =FALSE
5140 FOR loop=l TO LENw$

5150 cw7 (cx , cy-wl +1 oop ) =ASCMID$ (w$, loop

,D

5160 NEXT

5170 cl (x , 0) =cx

5180 cl (x, 1 ) =cy-wl +1

5190 cl (x , 2) =0

5200 =TRUE

5210 :

5220 DEF FNf vp (loop, w$, xl , yl )

5230 IF (yl-loopXO THEN =FALSE
5240 IF (yl < 1 OR yl >M7.) THEN =FALSE
5250 IF (cw7.(xl,yl)<>0 AND cw7. (x 1 , yl ) < >

ASCM I D$ ( w$ , 1 oop , 1 ) ) THEN =FALSE
5260 IF (xl + l)<=M7. THEN IF (cw7. (x 1 +1 , yl
)<>0 AND cw7 (xl , yl ) < >ASCMID$ (w$, loop, 1 ) )

THEN =FALSE

Continued ^

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

107

YELLOW PAGES

JOE'S JOTTINGS

◄ Joe’s Jottings listing 2 continued

5270 IF (xl -1 ) >=0 THEN IF (cw7 <x 1 -1 , yl )
<>0 AND c w7 ( x 1 , y 1 ) < >ASCM I D* ( w* , 1 oop , 1 ) )
THEN =FALSE

5280 IF (yl+l)<=M7 THEN IF (cw7(xl,yl+l
)<>0 AND cw7(xl,yl + l)OASCMID*(w$,loop+l
,1)) THEN =FALSE

5290 IF c w7 ( x 1 , y 1 — 1 oop ) < >0 THEN =FALSE
5300 =TRUE
5310 :

5320 DEF FNxsave

5330 IF cwd=0 PROCem ("No crossword to s
ave" ) : =0

5340 f*=FNsname ( "crossword" , "X")

5350 IF f$="" PROCcl ss =0
5360 PRQCmess ( "PI ease wait: Crossword S
aving" , 29)

5370 a7=0PEN0UTf*

5380 PRINT #a7, words
5390 FOR 17=1 TO words
5400 PRINT#a7,w*(I7)

5410 NEXT
5420 PRINT #a7,M7
5430 FOR 17=1 TO M7
5440 FOR J7=l TO M7.

5450 BPUT#a7,cw7(I7,J7)

5460 NEXT

5470 FOR J7=0 TO 3
5480 PRINT#a7,cl (17, J7)

5490 NEXT
5500 NEXT
5510 CL0SE#a7.

5520 PROCcl s
5530 =0
5540 :

5550 DEF FNxload

5560 f $=FN1 name ( "Load crossword ", "X" )
5570 IF f$="" PROCcl s:=0
5580 PROCmess ( "Please wait: Crossword L
oading" , 29)

5590 cwd=0: words=0: a7=0PENUPf *

5600 INPUT #a7, words
5610 FOR 17=1 TO words
5620 INPUT #a7, w$ ( 17)

5630 NEXT
5640 INPUT #a7, M7
5650 FOR 17=1 TO M7
5660 FOR J7=l TO M7
5670 cw7(I7, J7)=BGET#a7
5680 NEXT

5690 FOR J7=0 TO 3
5700 INPUT #a7,cl (17, J7)

5710 NEXT
5720 NEXT
5730 CLOSE #a7
5740 cwd=l
5750 PROCcl s
5760 =0
5770 :

5780 DEF FNdword ( v)

5790 IF cwd=0 PROCem (bem$) : =0
5800 PROCwindd, 11,21, 19, 1)

5810 VDU 28,2,30,23,11
5820 IFFNpri nt ( v)

5830 IF v=3 VDU 26:PR0Cspc
5840 =0
5850 :

5860 DEF FNprint(v)

5870 LOCAL x,y
5880 VDU 30, v

5890 FOR y=l TO M7: IF v=2 VDU 1,14
5900 FOR x = 1 TO M7

5910 IF v=3 AND cw7(x,y)=0 VDU 159
5920 IF v=2 AND cw7(x,y)=0 VDU 42
5930 IF cw7 (x , y ) < >0 VDU cw7(x,y);

5940 NEXT: IF y< >M7 PRINT
5950 NEXT: VDU 3
5960 =0
5970 :

5980 DEF FNpmenu

5990 IF cwd=0 PROCem (bem$) : =0

6000 pc=FNmenu (3, 0)

6010 IF pc=0 pc=FNdword (2)

6020 IF pc= 1 PROCpcwd ( "S" )

6030 IF pc=2 PROCpcwd ("L")

6040 PRO Cc 1 s : VDU26 : PROCmwi nd ( 3 , 0 )

6050 =0
6060 :

6070 DEF PROCpcwd (t*)

6080 VDU 28,0,31,39, 11, 29,05 0; 2, 1,27, 1,
65,1,8,3

6090 PROCpoutl i ne ( 1 , INT (M7/2) , t$)

6100 PROCpoutl i ne ( INT (M7/2) +1 , M7, t*)

6110 VDU 2,1,27,1,64,3,12
6120 ENDPROC
6130 :

6140 DEF PROCpoutl ine (start , end, t*)

6150 C0L0UR129: CLS: C0L0UR128

6160 db*=CHR*10+CHR*8+CHR$8: up*=CHR* ( 1 1

>

6170 bl k*=CHR* ( 158) +CHR* (158) +db*+CHR* (
158) +CHR* ( 158) +up$

6180 opn*=CHR* (32) +CHR* (155) +db*+CHR* ( 1
56) +CHR* ( 157) +up*

6190 LOCALx , y
6200 VDU30

6210 FOR y=start TO end: FOR x=l TO M7
6220 IF cw7(x,y)=0 PRINTbl k*; : ELSE PRIN
Topn$;

6230 NEXT: IF y< >end PRINT
6240 NEXT

6250 PROCnumerate (start , end)

6260 MOVE 0, 0: DRAWO, 67 1
6270 IF t*="L" PROCdump (16,960,3) ELSE
PROCdump (32,640, 1)

6280 ENDPROC
6290 :

6300 DEF PROCnumerate (s, e)

6310 L0CAL1 oop
6320 FOR loop=l TO words
6330 IF cl (loop, 1 ) >=s AND cl ( 1 oop , 1 ) <=e
PROCputno (cl ( 1 oop ,0) , cl (1 oop , 1 ) - (s-l ) , c
1 (loop, 3) )

6340 NEXT
6350 ENDPROC
6360 :

6370 DEF PROCputno (x , y, n)

6380 x= (x-1 ) *64+4: y=664- ( (y-1 ) *64)

6390 VDU5

6400 IF n>=10 MOVEx , y : VDU128+ (n DIV 10)

: n = n MOD 10:x=x+16
6410 MOVEx, y:VDU128+n
6420 VDU4
6430 ENDPROC
6440 :

6450 DEF PROCdump (st , n, b)

6460 FOR Y7=67 1 TO 31+st STEP -st
6470 VDU 2, 1,27, 1,76, l,n M0D256,l,n DIV
256

6480 FOR X7=0 TO 1276 STEP 4:A7=0
6490 FOR Z7=0 TO st-4 STEP 4
6500 A7=A7* (b+1 ) +POINT ( X7, Y7-Z7) *b
6510 NEXT

6520 PRINTSTRING* (n/320, CHR*1+CHR*A7) ;

6530 NEXT: IF Y7< >st VDU 1,10
6540 NEXT: VDU 3
6550 ENDPROC
6560 :

6570 DEF FNdel (d*)

Continued ►

108

ACORN US HR NOVEMBER 1988

YELLOW PAGES

JOES JOTTINGS

< Joe’s Jottings listing 2 continued

6580

f$=FNlname ("Delete file",d$)

6590

IF f $< >" " PROCoscli ("DELETE "+f$>

6600

PROCcls: VDU 26

6610

=0

6620

:

6630

DEF FNcat (c$,f >

6640

PROCwind (1, 17,37, 10, 1)

6650

PROCmess ( "Fi 1 es available: ", 15)

6660

VDU 28, 1,27,38, 17: t=0:p=0

6670

PROCoscli ("DIR "+c*>

6680

?osb= 0 : osb ! l=bl k : oeb ! 9=0

6690

X‘/.=osb MOD 256:YV.=osb DIV 256:A‘/.=8

6700

REPEAT: osb ! 5=1 : CALL&FFD1

6710

IF osb ! 5=0 osb! l=bl k : ? (bl k+l+?bl k)

=13: PRINTTAB (p) ;*(blk+l) : : t=t+l

6720

p=p+12: IF p=36 p=0: PRINT

6730

UNTIL osb! 5=1

6740

IF t =0 PRINTTAB (16, 4) ; "<none>"

6750

IF f PROCspc

6760

*DIR *

6770

REM*DIR 1988. NOV. DISC

6780

= t

6790

s

6800

DEF FNsname (t*, p*)

6810

PROCwind (21, 1 , LEN (t* > + 8 , 2, 1 )

6820

PRINTTAB(21, 1) ; "Save ";t$;" as "5

6830

REPEAT: PRINTTAB (23, 3) ;p*;

6840

f$=FNgpi (7,0, all $) : UNTIL f*>" »

6850

f *=p*+" . "+f $: a'/.=0PENUPf *: CLOSEtta'/.

6860

IF a7.<>0 PROCem ("That name is in u

se") :=

- 11 11

6870

=f*

6880

:

6890

DEF FNlname(t1>,p$)

6900

IFFNcat (p* , 0) =0 PROCemC'No files t

□ load" ) : =" "

6910

PROCwind (21, 1 , LEN (t*> +3, 2, 1 )

6920

PRINTTAB (21, 1) ;t$;

6930

REPEAT: PRINTTAB (23, 3 ) 5 p*; " . " ;

6940

f*=FNgpi (7,0, all *) : UNTIL f*>" "

6950

f *=p*+" . "+f *: a7.=0PENUPf *: CL0SE#a7.

6960

IF aX=0 PROCem ( "Can 't find that fi

le") :=

_ II II

6970

VDU 28,0,31,39,14,12

6980

=f $

6990

3

7000

DEF PROCwi nd (x , y, w, n%, f )

7010

1 =x *32 : d=99 1 - ( y +n"/. ) *32

7020

r= (x+w+1 ) *32: u=1023-y*32

7030

5 16

VDU18, 0, 128,24, 1 -12; d-16; r+16; u+12

7040

IF f =0 ENDPROC

7050

VDU 18, 0, 131,24, l;d-12;r+12;u; 16

7060

VDU18, 0, 131,24, l-8;d-4;r+4;u+8; 16

7070

VDU18, 0, 128,24, l-4;d;r;u+4; 16,26

7080

ENDPROC

7090

3

7100

DEF PROCcls

7110

PROCwind (1, 11,37, 19,0)

7120

PROCwind (21, 1,17,11,0)

7130

ENDPROC

7140

3

7150

DEF PROCmess (t*,y)

7160

x=19— INT ( (LENt*)/2)

7170

PROCwind (x , y , LEN (t*) , 0 , 1 )

7180

C0L0UR128: COLOUR 7

7190

PRINTTAB (x , y ) ; t * ;

7200

ENDPROC

7210

3

7220

DEF PROCinf (i*(0),i*(l),i*(2>)

7230

FOR i7.=0 TO 2

7240

PRINTTAB (26, 11+i'/.) ;SPC12

7250

PRINTTAB (26, 11+iX) ; i $ ( i X)

7260

NEXT

Continued >

1 )

< Joe’s Jottings listing 2 continued

7270 ENDPROC
7280 s

7290 DEF PROCspc

7300 PROCwind (26, 11, 11,2, 1)

7310 PROCinf ( "Press SPACE", "to return",
"to menu.")

7320 REPEAT: SOUND 1 , 1 , 4, 20: UNTIL INKEY (
300) =32
7330 PROCcls
7340 ENDPROC
7350 :

7360 DEF PROCem (t*)

7370 PROCmess (t*, 29)

7380 S0UND1 ,1,4, 10: a=INKEY200
7390 PROCcls
7400 ENDPROC
7410 :

7420 DEF FNgpi (len, effect, val id*)

7430 PROCcurs ( 1 )

7440 LOCALa*,b
7450 a*=" "

7460 PRINTSTRING* (len, "."); STRING* ( 1 en ,
CHR* (8) ) ; :REM*FX15, 1
7470 b=GET : IF b=13 PROCcur s (0) : =a*

7480 IF b<32 THEN 7470
7490 IF b=127 AND a*="" THEN 7470
7500 IF b=127 a*=LEFT* (a*, LEN (a*> -1 ) : PR
I NTCHR*b ; " . " ; CHR* ( 8 ) ; : G0T07470
7510 IF ef f ect=0 THEN7540
7520 IF ef f ect=l b=b AND 223 ELSE b=b 0
R32

7530 IF ef f ect=3 AND (RIGHT* (a*, 1 ) =" " 0
R a*=" " ) b=b AND 223
7540 IF LEN (a*) =1 en OR INSTR ( val i d*, CHR
*b > =0 SOUND 1, 1,4, 20: G0T07470
7550 PRINTCHR*b ; : a*=a*+CHR*b : G0T07470
7560 :

7570 DEF PROCoscli (*blk)

7580 LOCAL X"/.,Y7.

7590 X7.=blk MOD 256:Y7.=blk DIV 256
7600 CALL &FFF7
7610 ENDPROC
7620 :

7630 DATA Main Menu, 1, 1,4,9
7640 DATA Words, Cl ues, Gri ds, Qui t
7650 DATA Act i ons, 12, 1 , 8, 7
7660 DATA New, Save, Load , Di spl ay , Pri nt , C
atalog, Delete, <

7670 DATA Format , 21 , 1 , 3, 6
7680 DATA Tight, Open, <

7690 DATA Method , 21 , 1 , 4, 6
7700 DATA Draft , Smal 1 , Large, <

7710 :

7720 DATA wenter ( "" ) , wsave, wl oad , 1 i sta (
3) , lista(2) , "cat (""W"", 1) ",del ("W")

7730 DATA center (""), csave, cl oad , 1 i stc (
3) , 1 i stc (2) , "cat (""C"", 1) " , del ("C")

7740 DATA bui 1 d , xsave, x 1 oad , dword (3) , pm
enu, "cat (""X"", 1 ) " , del ( " X " )

‘How to enter’ for Joe’s Crossword:

Lines 6760 and 6770 of ‘CWD2’ should be changed according to
which filing system you are using.

DISC:

ADFS:

ACORN NET:

6760

DIR $

6760

*DIR

6770

REM

6770

*DIR dirl

SJ NET:

6760

*DIR A

6760

*DIR A

6770

REM

6770

REM

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

109

YELLOW PAGES

LIFE

◄ See Life on the Line, page 80

Listing 1. One-dimensionai life

10 REM ID Life

550 X7.=X7.+xres7.

20 REM by Susan Stepney

560 NEXT 17.

30 REM for B/B+/M/C/E/A

570 Y7.=Y7.-yres7.

40 REM (c) Acorn User November 1988

580 NEXT J7.

50 s

590 ENDPROC

60 ON ERROR MODE 7:PR0Cerror

600 :

70 MODE 7

610 DEF PROCerror

80 PROCsetup

620 VDU 23, l,l30;050;

90 MODE mode*/-

630 REPORT: PRINT " on line " 5 ERL

100 VDU 23, 1 , 0; 0; 0; 0;

640 END

110 PROCscreen

650 ENDPROC

120 WAIT=GET

660 :

130 END

670 DEF PROCparams

140 s

680 INPUT "neighbourhood N : "N7.

150 DEF PROCsetup

690 INPUT "states S : "S7.

160 PROCparams

700 dim7.= <S7.-l)*<2*N7.+l)+l

170 mode7.=2

710 INPUT "rule R : "rul

180 M7.= 160*2'M2-(mode7. MOD 3))

e*

190 line7.=256

720 IF LEN(rule*)<dim7. rul e*=STRING* (d

200 xres7.= 1280/M7.

i m/C-LEN (rul e$) , "0")+rule$

210 yres7.= 1024/line7.

730 DIM rule7.(dim7.)

220 DIM cl7. M7.

740 FOR I7.=0 TO dim7.-l

230 DIM c27. M7.

750 r u 1 e7. ( 1 7. > =E V AL ( M I D* ( r u 1 e * , d i m7.- 1 7. ,

240 IF rnd PROCinitrnd ELSE PROCinitse

1 ) )

ed

760 IF rule7.(I7.) >=S7. VDU7: PRINT" i nval i

250 ENDPROC

d state ";rule7.(I7.) 5 " in rule ";rule*:EN

260 :

D

270 DEF PROCscreen

770 NEXT 17.

280 LOCAL A7.,B7.,X7.,Y7.

780 PRINT "seed pattern"'" RETURN for

290 Y7.= 1023

random,"'" or string of numbers in ran

300 FOR J7.=0 TO line7.-l

ge 0— " 5 S7-1 5 " : " : INPUT" "seed*

310 IF J7. MOD 2=0 THEN A7.=c 17.: B7.=c27. E

790 IF seed*=" " THEN rnd=TRUE ELSE rnd

LSE A7.=c27.:B7.=cl7.

= FALSE

320 FOR I7.=0 TO N7.-1

800 ENDPROC

330 GCOL 0,?(A7.+ I7.)

810 :

340 PLOT 69, I7.*xres7.,Y7.

820 DEF PROCinitrnd

350 GCOL 0,?<A7.+M7.-1-I7.)

830 FOR I7.=0 TO M7.

360 PLOT 69, <M7.-l-I7.)*xres7.,Y7.

840 ?<cl7.+ I7.)=RND(S7.)-l

370 index7.=?(A7.+ <I7.-N7.+M7.) MOD M7.)

850 NEXT

380 index27.=?(A7+(M7.-l-I7.-N7.) MOD M7.)

860 ENDPROC

390 FOR K7.=-N7.+ l TO N7.

870 :

400 index7.=index7.+?(A7.+ (I7.+K7.+M7.)M0D M

880 DEF PROCinitseed

7.)

890 FOR I7.=0 TO M7.

410 index27.=index27.+?(A7.+ < M7.- 1 - 1 7.+K7. )

900 ?<cl7.+ I7.)=0

MOD M7.)

910 NEXT

420 NEXT

920 len7.=LEN(seed$)

430 ?<B7.+ I7.)=rule7.(index7.)

930 127.=len7./2

440 ? ( B7.+M7.- 1 + 17) =rule7 (index 27. )

940 start7.=M7./2-127.

450 NEXT 17.

950 end7.=M7./2+127.

460 X7.=N7.*xres7.

960 IF len7. MOD 2=0 THEN end7.=end7.-l

470 FOR I7.=N7. TO M7.-1-N7

970 FOR I7.=start7. TO end 7.

480 GCOL 0,?<A7.+ I7.)

980 ?<cl7.+ I7.)=EVAL(MID$(seed*, I7.-start

490 PLOT 69,X7.,Y7.

7.+ 1, 1) )

500 index 7.=? ( A7.+ 1 7.-N7. )

990 IF ?<cl7.+ I7.) >=S7. VDU7: PRINT" i nval i

510 FOR K7.=-N7.+ l TO N7.

d state ";?(cl7.+ I7.) 5 " in seed pattern "5

520 i ndex 7.=i ndex 7.+? ( A7.+ 1 7.+K7. )

seed*: END

530 NEXT

1000 NEXT

540 ?<B7.+ I7.)=rule7.(index7.)

1010 ENDPROC

November listings

If you don't like typing, the easiest way to enter the listings is

Micronet if you have a Micronet subscription.

to buy the monthly listings disc. The disc is fully menu-driven

The Acorn User software can be downloaded just like any

and an excellent buy at only £5.95. The programs are also

other programs from Prestel. Go to the first page by entering

available on 3. 5 -inch disc for the Arc , Compact and Electron at

*AUPROGS#. From there the operation is fully prompted.

£ 6.95 . See the order form on page 115 for details.

The charge for the software from Micronet is £ 5.00 , so you can

Alternatively , the listings can also be downloaded from

save money too.

110

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

YELLOW PUBES

Listing 1. Mode 1 screen dump for Hewlet Packard Laser print

10 REM Mode 1 LaserJe

680

LDA

&36F, X

1400 PLA

t dump

690

ASL

A

1410 JMP oswrch

20 REM by David Lawre

700

TAX

1420 s

nee

710

LDA

ti mes4

1430 -send

30 REM for B/B+/M/C/E

720

CMP

#2

1440 LDA str , Y

40 REM (c) Acorn User

730

BCC

lowbi ts

1450 BEQ sent

November 1988

740

INX

1460 JSR char

50 s

750

. lowbi ts

1470 I NY

60 MODE 1

760

LDA

scales, X

1480 BNE send

70 PROCdump

770

PHA

1490 .sent

80 PROCcheck

780

LDA

times4

1500 RTS

90 REM Load picture h

790

LSR

A

1510 s

ere.

800

BCC

highs

1520 -str

100 dummy=GET

810

PLA

1530 -init

110 CALLdump

820

AND

#&F

1540 OPT FNequs (CHR$27+

120 END

830

JMP

phew

" E " +CHR*27+ " *t 300R " +CHR$

130 s

840

. highs

27+"*rlA"+CHR*0)

140 DEF PROCdump

850

PLA

1550 s

150 base=&70s x=&72s pee

860

LSR

A: LSR A: LSR As

1560 .line

k=&73

LSR A

1570 OPT FNequs (CHR$27+

160 maskl=&75: times4=&

870

. phew

"*bl28W"+CHR*0)

77 : y=&78

880

JSR

nibble

1580 s

170 mask2=&79 : f 1 ag=&7A

890

I NY

1590 .done

180 byte=&7B

900

CPY

#8

1600 OPT FNequs (CHR$27+

190 oswrch=8<FFEE

910

BNE

1 1 oop

" *r B " +CHR$ 1 2+CHR*0 )

200 :

920

LDA

peek

1610 s

210 FOR I7.=0 TO 2 STEP

930

CLC

1620 .scales

2

940

ADC

#&80

1630 OPT FNbin ("11 11111

220 P7.=&900

950

STA

peek

111111111")

230 COPT 17.

960

LDA

peek+1

1640 OPT FNbin ("1011011

240 . dump

970

ADC

#2

011011010")

250 LDA #2

980

STA

peek+1

1650 OPT FNbin ("0100100

260 JSR oswrch

990

DEC

y

100100101")

270 LDY #0

1000

BNE

yloop

1660 OPT FNbin ("0000010

280 STY flag

1010

DEC

ti mes4

000000001")

290 JSR send

1020

BNE

tloop

1670 OPT FNbin ("0111111

300 LDA #&78

1030

ASL

mask2

111011111")

310 STA base

1040

ASL

maskl

1680 OPT FNbin ("0101101

320 LDA #&32

1050

BCC

ml oop

001011010")

330 STA base+1

1060

LDA

base

1690 OPT FNbin ("0100000

340 LDA #80

1070

SEC

101000001")

350 STA x

1080

SBC

#8

1700 OPT FNbin ("0000000

360 .xloop

1090

STA

base

000000000")

370 LDA #16

1100

LDA

base+1

1710 1

380 STA maskl

1110

SBC

#0

1720 NEXT

390 LDA #1

1120

STA

base+1

1730 ENDPROC

400 STA mask2

1130

DEC

X

1740 s

410 .mloop

1140

BEQ

finish

1750 DEF FNbin (b$)

420 LDA #4

1150

JMP

xloop

1760 t=0

430 STA times4

1160

-finish

1770 FOR p7.= l TO 16

440 -tloop

1170

LDY

#done-ini t

1780 t=t+ <2^ ( 16-p"/.) ) *VA

450 LDA base

1180

JSR

send

LMID$ (b$, p7., 1)

460 STA peek

1190

LDA

#3

1790 NEXT

470 LDA base+1

1200

JSR

oswrch

1800 ?P7.=t MOD 256

480 STA peek+1

1210

RTS

1810 P7.?l=t DIV 256

490 LDY #line-init

1220

:

1820 p-/.=py .+2

500 JSR send

1230

. nibble

1830 =17.

510 LDA #32

1240

PHA

1840 s

520 STA y

1250

LDA

flag

1850 DEF FNequs (b$)

530 .yloop

1260

EOR

#1

1860 $P"/.=b$

540 LDY #0

1270

STA

flag

1870 P7.=P"/.+LEN(b$)

550 .Hoop

1280

PLA

1880 =17.

560 LDX #0

1290

LDX

flag

1890 s

570 LDA (peek),Y

1300

BEQ

sendi t

1900 DEF PROCcheck

580 PHA

1310

ASL

As ASL A: ASL As

1910 TX=0

590 AND maskl

ASL A

1920 FOR I"/.=Sc900 TO P7.-

600 BEQ nothigh

1320

STA

byte

1

610 INXsINX

1330

RTS

1930 T7.=T7.+?iy.

620 .nothigh

1340

. sendi t

1940 NEXT

630 PLA

1350

□RA

byte

1950 IF T‘/.=27365 ENDPRO

640 AND mask2

1360

. char

C

650 BEQ notlow

1370

PHA

1960 PRINT "Checksum er

660 INX

1380

LDA

#1

ror . "

670 .notlow

1390

JSR

oswrch

1970 END

1

TOP OF THE LIST

ACORN USEK NOVEMBER 1988

111

OFFERS

TELETEXT RECEIVER

Switch onto the world of teletext with the
most advanced teletext receiver yet. This
exceptionally high quality receiver will
give you access to the many pages of
information on both Ceefax and Oracle, as
well as enabling you to download free
telesoftware.

The Advanced Teletext Receiver from
General Information Systems was
developed with the co-operation of the
BBC. It is the next generation of teletext
receivers for the BBC microcomputer
series and is the only BBC-approved
teletext adapter design.

The adapter incorporates many of the
advances made possible by recent
developments in teletext chip technology
all packed into a ruggedly built, compact
box, which can be either wall-mounted or
left free-standing.

Other key features include:

• Complete access to Ceefax, Oracle and
free downloadable software.

• Connection to the user port of the BBC
models B, B+ and the Master 128.

• Powered by the micro’s 5v output.

• 'The only receiver with ATS Plus ROM
and on-board dedicated microprocessor
for superior performance. The ROM is
supplied with a function key strip and
excellent user guide.

• The software supplied with the receiver
is guaranteed to operate with BBC
transmissions.

• Tuning of the receiver is achieved
using simple star commands.

• If you are using teletext for a period of
time the terminal has the ability to keep

The most advanced teletext
receiver available

■nnmnmnr

COMPUTING

TS-680FTUARE

CBD303

TELESOFTUARE

NEXT Micro -Magazine 701

Reviews 702

DATA Forthcoming avants 703

REPORT Education special

- software reviews 704

♦CAT Programs available now.. 710

♦ INFO Program Information 7li

LIST Programs next weak 712

TELESOFTUARE The programs 720

to 731

Please send me

Advanced Teletext Receiver(s) at £149 inclusive ot VAT.

NB: educational discounts are available - contact Seran at Acorn User.

I enclose a cheque/postal order for £ made payable to GIS (Reader Account)

Please add £4 p&p

Please charge my Access/American Express £

ACCOUNT NUMBER

TTT1 C

EXPIRY DATE

MIT

TTT

D

NAME

ADDRESS

POSTCODE

SIGNED

. DATE .

Please send this coupon with your remittance to Teletext Offer, Acorn User Merchandising,

20-26 Brunswick Place, London N1 6DJ. Or fax your order to 01-490 0494. | j nc | uc tjng VAT.

pages for you, updating them when new
data becomes available.

• Designed for the future: the receiver
offers upwards compatibility to full page
teletext and picture quality teletext.

The BBC is committed to developing its
telesoftware and has already made a large
amount of public domain software
available to its users.

You can also use the receiver’s ATS
Plus ROM commands in your own
programs to extract data from the teletext
pages to build a personal database of
information. So you could keep track of
the fortunes of your favourite football
team, for example, or automatically check
up on the state of your share portfolio -
you could even build a system that
monitored the market, and then warned
you of changes.

We are pleased to accept official
educational orders, and educational
discounts are available for orders of 10
or more: for more information telephone
01-490 1444 Ext 297.

The Advanced Teletext receiver is
exceptional value, and costs only £149

112

ACORN USER NOVEMBER IV88

OFFERS

Games disc

Ten of the best Acorn User games on one
80-track double-sided 5.25-inch disc.
Whether you're into arcade or adventure-
type games this new disc has something
for everyone. Start stargazing with War-
lord, our great adventure guide to the
galaxy and beyond.

Once you’ve returned to planet Earth
find out the mysteries of Wizalon, then
you can terrify yourself racing round the
Castle of Nightmares avoiding obstacles.

If destroying submarines is more in your
line then discover the murky depths with
Run Silent, Run Deep.

Trying to fit together Polyominoes is as
compulsive as Space Invaders. Once you
have mastered that art, try to get four in a
row with Quadline. Be lost and amazed in
Acorn Usefs very own maze game.

We have also included three of the
most popular one line games from recent
Abusers. Test your knowledge with Mas-
termind and start playing Varpon and
Lurch to win. Make sure you get your disc
of fun and entertainment and send off for
the Games disc today. At only £8.95 it’s a
bargain not to be missed!

EDUCATION DISC

Easy learning with the Education disc

The Acorn User Education disc makes learning easy and
enjoyable. The disc is packed with useful programs. You can
have fun with our version of Turtle Logo. Graphics are a major
feature of the disc and they include Bulletin, which converts your
micro into an electronic message board. Strings of up to 255
characters can be screened in colourful sideways scrolling
letters. Create screens with Easyplot and then use the two
display programs Vufoil and Noticeboard to show them off.

There are also two screen dumping programs: an all-mode
dumping routine for Epson-compatible printers and a teletext
■ dumping routine which dumps in mode 7 to Epson FX80-
compatible printers.

This disc comes in 40-track 5.25-inch format, but is easily
transferred to 80-track and is yours for only £7.95.

ACOKN USl-R NOVI-MBKR I98S

ECO -FAX 01^1 2*84

REVEAL

TC REVEAL FACILITY CAN

ME tMfp TO

REVEAL hlOCcIi I3r -FMiCS OR HIQOEM

JhiiiNilL

H ■ “I IJH

PRESS’ R* AND

FRED THE

TORTOISE UILL

COME OUT OF

HIS SHELL

MORE TO

COME >>>>>>

MAIN INDEX PAGE 100

DAMES DISC

Games galore on the new

only £8. 95

113

OFFERS

THIS MONTH’S LISTINGS

Joe has come up with the perfect pro-
gram to dispel the winter blues - a
crossword generator: Start designing and
creating your very own crosswords and
challenge your friends with them.

Also on the disc is the Life program, a
simulation of a one-dimensional cellular-
automa, ie, an amoeba. Watch the life
process from birth to death.

Among this month’s Hints and Tips
there is a graphic memory map, which

shows how all your memory is being
used, plus a date-stamp for WordWise
Plus - all your documents will be auto-
matically dated. There is also a one-line
function proceeder lister and a routine to
double the width of your letters.

Among the Agora programs on the disc
is a demonstration of the 256-colour
palette. The November disc comes in
5.25-inch format for £5.95 and 3.5-inch
format for just £6.95.

Crossword mania has hit
Acorn User discs

DISCS AND BINDERS

For the first time owners of an
Archimedes or Compact can guarantee
the priority delivery of their 3.5-inch
listings discs for only £55 a year. Those
of you with 5.25-inch disc drives can still
take advantage of our special £40 sub-
scription offer. If you buy both Acorn
User magazine and the Acorn User 5.25-
inch monthly discs then you can save an
additional £7.50 by subscribing to both
for a mere £50.

Keep your copies of Acorn User in mint
condition with our smart red binder.- The
binder features a wide spine to hold 12
issues of 200 pages. Only £4.95 ensures
that misplaced and dog-earred copies are
a thing of the past.

Save pounds by
subscribing

’87 COMPILATION DISC

Acorn User has put all your favourite
programs, routines and utilities from
1987 on one disc.

Featured are: Kiddie Art; Tapestry; PCB
by CAD; Autumn and Theme, our music
programs from April ’87. Also on the disc
is Joe Telford’s GEM-like front end for the
Master including a desktop calendar and
year planner.

Other useful utilities include a prop-
ortional screen dump, a View printer

driver generator, a monitor-testing
routine and a routine for printing spread-
sheets sideways.

The second half of the disc is devoted
to graphics, with a video image enhancer
and six of the best Graphics Bonuses.

The Acorn User ’87 Compilation disc
comes in 5.25-inch 80-track format, with
a comprehensive manual which includes
all function key strips and instructions
needed for the programs.

All the very best
of ’87 on one disc

(0672) 40825

114

ORDER BY TELEPHONE

ACORN US MR NOVRMBI-R 1988

ORDER FORM

5.25-INCH DISC SUBSCRIPTIONS

Yes! Please start my 5.25-inch disc subscription

with the issue.

01 UK

□

£40.00

02 UK (with Acorn User

□

£50.00

magazine)

03 EUROPE (Airmail)

□

£76.00

03 OVERSEAS (Surface)

□

£76.00

04 OVERSEAS (Airmail)

) □

£84.00

TOTAL VALUES.

5.25-INCH MONTHLY DISCS

1987

1988

□ JAN

0216-X

□ JUL 0222-4

□ JAN 0228-3

□ FEB

0217-8

□ AUG 0223-2

□ FEB 0229-1

□ MAR

0218-6

□ SEP 0224-0

□ MAR 0230-5

□ APR

0219-4

□ OCT 0225-9

□ APR 0231-3

□ MAY

0220-8

□ NOV 0226-7

□ MAY 0232-1

□ JUN

0221-6

□ DEC 0227-5

□ JUN 0233-X

□ JUL 0234-8

These discs arc 5.25-inch only.

□ AUG 0235-6

□ SEPT 0236-4

TOTAL VALUE £

□ OCT 0237-2

□ NOV 0238-0

3.5-INCH DISC SUBSCRIPTIONS

Yes! Please start my 3.5-inch disc subscription with the issue.

01 UK

□

£55.00

02 EUROPE (Airmail)

□

£76.00

02 OVERSEAS (Surface)

□

£76.00

03 OVERSEAS (Airmail)

□

£84.00

TOTAL VALUES

3.5-INCH MONTHLY DISCS

1988

□ AUGUST

0501-0

□ SEPTEMBER

0502-9

□ OCTOBER

0503-7

□ NOVEMBER

0504-5

Monthly 3.5-inch discs are suitable for the Master Compact and

the Archimedes.

UK = S6.95

TOTAL VALUES

Europe = S7.95
Overseas = £8.95

MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS

Yes! Please start my subscription with the

issue.

(UK subscribers should see page 76.)

12 issues

27 issues

01 UK

£17.50

£35.00

02 UK WITH 5.25-inch DISC

£50.00

• • • •

03 EUROPE

£25.00

£50.00

04 MIDDLE EAST

£30.00

£60.00

05 THE AMERICAS AND

£35.00

£70.00

AFRICA

06 REST OF THE WORLD

£40.00

£80.00

TOTAL VALUE £

N

MAGAZINE BACK ISSUES

1986
□ JAN

0032-9

1987
□ JAN

0044-2

1988
□ JAN

0056-6

□ FEB

0033-7

□ MAR

0046-9

□ FEB

0057-4

□ MAR

0034-5

□ APR

0047-7

□ MAR

0058-2

□ APR

0035-3

□ MAY

0048-5

□ APR

0059-0

□ MAY

0036-1

□ JUN

0049-3

□ JUN

0061-2

□ JUN

0037-X

□ JUL

0050-7

□ JUL

0062-0

□ JUL

0038-8

□ AUG

0051-5

□ AUG

0063-9

□ AUG

0039-6

□ SEP

0052-3

□ SEPT

0064-7

□ SEP

0040-X

□ OCT

0053-1

□ OCT

0065-5

□ OCT

0041-8

□ NOV

0054-X

□ NOV

0066-3

TOTAL VALUE £ _

□ DEC

0055-8

UK = £1.95
Europe = £2.95
Overseas = £3.95

TOTAL VALUE £

BINDERS

□ MAGAZINE BINDER 1201-7
: 1

UK = £4.95

Europe = £7.95
Overseas = £14.95

24-HOUR TELEPHONE SERVICE (0672) 40825 ||

ACORN USPR NOVEMBER 1988

115

ORDER FORM

ACORN USER ROMS

ACORN USER SPECIAL CASSETTES

□ USER DUMP 1001-4

UK = £19.95

l

□ ACORN USER GRAPHICS

0601-7

UK = £2.95

□ USER ROM 1002-2

Europe = £20.95

□ BEST OF ACORN USER

0602-5

Europe = £4.95

□ AXR ROM 1003-0

Overseas = £21.95

□ FINEST FAVOURITES

0604-1

Overseas = £5.95

TOTAL VALUE £

TOTAL VALUE £

ACORN USER SPECIAL DISCS

GRAPHICS UTILITIES DISC

UK = £7.95

SIDEWAYS RAM

UK = £9.95

40-track 0830-3 □

Europe = £8.95

UTILITIES DISC

Europe = £10.95

Overseas = £9.95

40-track 0825-7 □

Overseas = £11.95

EDUCATION DISC

40-track 0815-X □

CALLIGRAPHY

40/80- track 0950-4 □

VIEWCHART DISC

UK = £12.95

PORTFOLIO DISC

40-track 0920-2 □

Europe = £13.95

80-track 0970-9 □

Overseas = £14.95

1987 COMPILATION DISC

UK = £6.95

NETWORK UTILITIES

UK = £19.95

80-track 0990-3 □

Europe = £7.95

DISC

Europe = £20.95

Overseas = £8.95

80-track 0809-5 □

Overseas = £21.95

TOTAL VALUE £

GAMES DISC □

UK = £8.95

80-track, double sided 0610-6

Europe = £9.95

Overseas = £10.95

1 1 T pnrlnsp i rhenue/nostfll order for a total of £

made payable to Redwood Publishing Ltd

□ Please debit my □ Visa (Barclaycard) □ Access (Mastercard)

f*r/»/lit r'ird nnmnpr .

: cl

Expiry date

V^IUUll Lul U liUlllUvi L — - — — 1 ■ — - 1

SIGNFD

DATE

MR/MRS/MISS/MS INITIALS

SURNAME

ADDRESS

POSTCODE

TELEPHONE

Please return your order to: Redwood Publishing Ltd, Acorn User Mail Order, Marlborough Rd, Aldbourne, Wilts SN8 2DD.

For Office Use Only

0 1 0 1 1 1 □

2

0 0

ljx

2 1 7

2 [N] 0 ® E [

B41

24-HOUR TELEPHONE SERVICE (0672) 40825

116

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

hoverbod

JJf adven,ure in the Sts
jous Proportions. Hoverh

I Hoverbod is a
Miner, yet it , s
dr °i d, has been
stolen treasure
him and help bin
quest level. But

CONTROL-

, me wh«en' or

turner

0 bg\na\ c '

launches

missies.

missiles

\ n r r \y

SOFTWARE

mutants - otherwise they will turn agai ^ efS 0 rion j s a fast and furious
explode into^Swarmers andwavejd on the all time arcade classic.

Tho ♦ ivimju I MUK

want a game where quick shootout macr 3 ^ 6 ' f ° r children or adul,s who
walks around the Labyrinth collecSno itSc ? ar ® not necessar y- Theseus
fated men which have been nrnvirio,-i 9 J 'ferns i lo assist in the search of the ill

aim is then to kill the Minotaurand lead the°mf>n° r l h8 « ^ motaur - The ultimate
The maze size is fully deSe bv fhl , °n ° f ' he Labyrinth 10 safet V-
reloaded for use at a latlrTime Games may be saved and

rchimedes Games

69 SIDWELL STREET • EXETER EX4 6PH TELEPHONE EXETER 0392 437756

MICROMAN

Computers

PASTURE LANE FARM,
PASTURE LANE, RAINFORD,

ST. HELENS, MERSEYSIDE, WA11 8PU

PHONE 074488 3667

SHOWROOM

SHOWROOM OPENING
9-6 MONDAY TO FRIDAY

MAIL ORDER

PHONE 074488 5242

We accept both Access and Visa credit
cards. Simply telephone your order,
giving card number, expiry date, name
and address, or send your order with
cheque or postal order to the address
opposite.

DELIVERY CHARGES

INCLUDING VAT

Computers/Printcrs/Drivcs:

Next day £8.00, Trackback £4.00
Small Items: £1.00

3£ E3

ACORN DEALER : ECONET : SERVICE CENTRE

rchimedes

ARCHIMEDES 300 SERIES Ex VATinc vat

Archimedes 305 Base 699.00 803.85

Archimedes 305 Mono 759.00 872.85

Archimedes 305 Colour 919.00 1056.85

Archimedes 310 Base 835.00 960.25

Archimedes 310 Mono 895.00 1029.25

Archimedes 310 Colour 1055.00 1213.25

Archimedes 310M Base 895.00 1029.25

Archimedes 310M Mono 955.00 1098.25

Archimedes 310M Colour 1115.00 1282.25

ARCHIMEDES 400 SERIES

Archimedes 440 Base
Archimedes 440 Mono
Archimedes 440 Colour

2529.00 2908.35

2589.00 2977.35

2749.00 3161.35

ARCHIMEDES SPECIAL PACKS

ARCHIMEDES 310 COLOUR
FREE

Archimedes S2S/3S Disc Interface
PC Emulator

ARCHIMEDES 440 SERIES

FREE

Archimedes S2SI3S Disc Interface
PC Emulator
S2S Disc Drive + PSU

ARCHIMEDES ON-SITE SERVICE
Phone for full information sheet

MUTISYNC MONITORS

NEC Multisync 2 520.87 599.00

Taxan 770 Plus 599.00 688.85

ARCHIMEDES UPGRADES

0-5 MB RAM (305 only) * 149.00 171.35

Floppy Disc Drive * 115.00 132.25

20MB Hard Disc • 499.00 573.85

(Requires Backplane Podulc)

• Dealer Upgrade Only

ARCHIMEDES PODULES/EXPANSION

39.00 44.85

85.00 97.75

59.00 67.85

49.00 56.35

59.00 67.85

Acorn Backplane Podule
Acorn I/O Podule
Acorn ROM Expan Card
CC ROM Podule
CC ROM Podule + BB

ARCHIMEDES SOUND SYSTEMS

Acorn MIDI Add-on to I/O 39.00 44.85

Acorn MIDI Expansion Card 69.00 79.35

EMR Sound Synth 43.44 49.95

Armadillo Sound Sam pler 110.00 126.50

S oun d Sampler + FFT 140.00 161.00

FFT Software 40.00 46.00

ARCHIMEDES 5.25/3.5
DISC INTERFACE

Microman has produced an interface for the
Archimedes which supports up to four
drives in any internal or external combina-
tion and provides priority switching. It is
fully buffered and does not restrict the num-
ber of podulcs which can be fitted to the
Archimedes.

25.00

28.75

Ex VAT

Inc VAT

ARCHIMEDES LANGUAGES

Ansi C

99.00

113.85

ISO-Pascal

99.00

113.85

FORTRAN 77

99.00

113.85

PROLOG

199.00

228.85

LISP

199.00

228.85

Twin

29.95

34.44

ARCHIMEDES PIPEDREAM
99.00 113.85

Ex VAT Inc VAT
Archimedes Pipedream is file compatible
with Z88 and PC Pipedream, the Z88 com-
puter is an ideal companion to the
Archimedes as a personal organiser when
travelling.

Z88 COMPUTER

Z88 Computer

239.00

274.85

Mains Adapter

8.65

9.95

128K RAM Pack

43.44

49.95

128k EPROM Pack

43.44

49.95

Z88 PC Link II

30.39

34.95

Z88 BBC Link

21.70

24.95

ARCHIMEDES APPLICATIONS

PC Emulator

99.00

113.85

1st Word Plus

79.00

90.85

Logistix

99.00

113.85

Sigma Spreadsheet

60.83

69.95

Minerva Deltabase

26.04

29.95

Minerva System Delta Plus

60.83

69.95

Clares AlphaBasc

43.44

49.95

Clares Graphic Writer

26.04

29.95

ARCHIMEDES GRAPHICS

Clares Artisan

34.74

39.95

Clares Artisan Utilities

17.35

19.95

Timeworks

Coming Soon

ARCHIMEDES UTILITIES

Gares Toolkit Module

34.74

39.95

U Connect

52.13

59.95

AUTOSKETCH
79.00 90.85

Ex VAT Inc VAT

AUTOSKETCH is a precision drawing
package with a friendly appearance that-
makes it particularly well-suited to the be-
ginner or occasional user. At the same time

it has great "depth” and provides many fea-
tures of a two-dimensional CAD package.
The files arc upward compatible with
AUTOCAD Autodesk’s full 3D CAD pack-
age for PC computers and workstations.

Microman Computers are an AUTH-
ORISED AUTOCAD DEALER for full
details of all AUTODESK PRODUCTS for
Education and Business please contact
Kevin Shave.

ROLAND PLOTTERS Ex vat inc vat

DXY880A A3
DXY 1 100 A3 - NEW
DXY1200 A3 - NEW
DXY1300 A3 - NEW
DPX2200 A2
DPX3300 A1
GRX300A1 - NEW
GRX 400 A0 - NEW

BBC MASTER 128

591.30
713.04
956.52
1 129.57

680.00

820.00

1100.00

1299.00

2999.00 3448.85

3999.00 4598.85

3999.00 4598.85

5800.00 6670.00

Master 128

Master Turbo Module
Master 512 Upgrade
Microman 5 lz Disc Utils

BBC B/B + UPGRADES

379.00 435.85

120.00 138.00

99.95 114.94

11.26 12.95

Acorn 1770 Disc Interface
Acorn ADFS ROM

49.00

26.08

56.35

29.99

DISC DRIVE SPECIAL

5 2 5 40/80T 400K (640K ADFS)
DISC DRIVE

65.00 74.75

Ex VAT Inc VAT

BBC MONITORS

Philips CM8833

239.00

274.85

Philips Green 7502

73.00

83.95

■WATFORD PKUUUL15

Solderless ROM Board

32.00

36.80

ROM/RAM Card 4-32K

39.00

44.85

ROM/RAM Card +64K

52.00

59.80

ROM/RAM CARD + 128K

80.00

92.00

32K Shadow RAM Board

59.00

67.85

CONCEPT KEYBOARDS

Concept Keyboard A4

115.00

132.25

Concept Keyboard A3

146.50

168.48

PRINTERS

Star LC-10

189.00

217.35

Star LC-10 Colour

235.00

267.95

Star LC24-10 24 Pin

329.00

378.35

Epson LX800

209.00

240.35

Epson LQ850

549.00

631.35

Epson LQ1Q50

549.00

803.85

Panasonic KXP1081

145.00

166.75

Star Lascrprintcr 8

1995.00

2294.25

All prices inc cable

For our full

ARCHIMEDES, MASTER, BBC
and PC price list please phone.

GOVERNMENT, NHS AND EDUCATIONAL ORDERS ACCEPTED

MICRONET. THE FIRST TRULY
INTERACTIVE MAGAZINE.

P C

WITH 250,000 PACES,
150,000 CONTACTS, AND MORE
EXCITING SERVICES, YOU NEVER
KNOW WHAT’S GOING TO POP UP.

Micronet. The interactive magazine. Modem-linked by
phone to your computer. Original, creative, exciting, 24
hours a day, 365 days a year. Communications including
interactive chatlines, teletalk, bazaar, your own electronic
mailbox, and download free programmes.

Information with more than V4 million frames.
Entertainment from prize quizzes to Multi-User Games . . .
Want to join? Then just complete the coupon, pop it
in the post, and receive full details, or contact the Sales
Desk on 01-837 7872.

TELEMAP GROUP LTD

JWteli:

<J_J TELEMAP G
/ 8 HERBAL I

GROUP LTD DURRANT HOUSE
HILL LONDON EC1R5EJ

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I AM VERY
INTERESTED IN
MICRONET. PLEASE
SEND ME FULL DETAILS.

NAME

MODEM
WITH 1st YEAR
SUBSCRIPTION -
WHILE STOCKS LAST!

AGE

ADDRESS

TEL. NO.

MACHINE TYPE

AU/MN/1188

miiCNEX

DTAPPR

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This map shows just a small
part of the World of Exile.

Shooting the
Mischievous Monkeys

Searching for
Abandoned Weapons,

Leaving the Space Craft

Attacked by a Robot

ft' &

C| ; * ^

* •« 4 .A

• m

\ L Av

^plL^S © * “ ;

Have you the Skill and Cunning to Conquer the World of EXILE?

A Massive Arcade Adventure featuring Characters with Realistic Movements and Actions.

The planet Phoebus has been taken over by an exiled, evil Genetic Engineer,
named Triax. In a complex warren of caves, he has built an evil world
Inhabited by eccentric robots and strange mutated creatures, such as blue
monkeys, giant wasps and sharp-toothed eyeless maggots. On the planet
surface and around the caves are scattered the debris of a previous mission,
and maybe some of the members of that ill-fated venture still remain.

Have you the skill and cunning to conquer the evil world of the exile? Are you of
elite status? If you take up the challenge, you will have to carefully pick your
way through the massive cave system, solving complex puzzles along the way
and ruthlessly destroying the alien creatures, until finally you face the evil one
himself.

Each copy of EXILE includes:

• The Exile game programs, Including an enhanced version which
will run on the BBC Master series and BBC Micros with sideways RAM.

• A Novella, which sets the scene for the Exile game.

• An Instruction Manual.

The game was designed and written by Peter Irvin and Jeremy Smith.

r

BBC Micro Cassette £12.95 Acorn Electron Cassette £12.95

BBC Micro 5V4" Disc £14.95 BBC Master Compact 3 V 2 " Disc £19.95

(Compatible with the BBC B, B+ and Master Series computers)

Please make cheques payable to 'Superior Software Ltd”.

(The screen pictures show the enhanced version of the games.)

supcmoft

soFTiunnc

ACORNS*FT

(Acornsott is a registered trademark ot Acorn Computers Ltd. Superior Software Ltd is a registered user )

Dept. EX2, Regent House, Skinner Lane, Leeds LS7 1 AX. Telephone; (0532) 459453

Available from

j^WHSMITH

and all major dealers

24 HOUR TELEPHONE
ANSWERING SERVICE FOR ORDERS

OUR GUARANTEE

e All mail orders are despatched
within 24 hours by first-class post.
• Postage and packing is free,
e Faulty cassettes and discs will be
replaced immediately.

fThi* does not aftact your *»otutcxv rights)

W here did Repton come from? Where is he now
and where is he going? Find out and shape his
destiny in Superior Software’s great adventure
Repton Thru Time. It makes the ideal Christmas
gift and you receive a free £3 voucher against
the next game you buy from Superior. The prehistoric sees
Repton battling against dinosaurs. While in Egyptian times,
Repton chases around pyramids meeting the odd mummy or
two! In Victorian times, Repton collects gold coins - but can
he avoid the gallows? On to the present day and Repton has to
rush around the city jungle. If the gangster’s machine gun
doesn’t get him, the traffic wardens will. Amazingly Repton
makes it to the future, where the Martians are on his trail. Will
he get away? Only you can help Repton Thru Time!

You will also receive the free £3 voucher, if you buy Life
of Repton and/or Round the World in 40 Screens.

Please send me Repton Thru Time on:

□ BBC micro cassette at £6.95 □ Electron cassette at £6.95

□ BBC micro 5.25-inch disc at £7.95 □ Master Compact
3.5-inch disc at £9.95

I enclose my cheque/postal order for £ made payable

to Superior Software

Please charge my Access/Barclaycard £

ACCOUNT NO. EXPIRY DATE

n i i i nrr i i llli i i i i i i i i i i i

NAME

ADDRESS

POSTCODE

SIGNED DATED

Send this coupon with your remittance to Repton Offer, Acorn User
Merchandising, 20-26 Brunswick Place, London N1 6DJ. Alternatively, you
can fax your order to 01-490 0494.

122

ACORN USHR NOVUMBI-.R 1988

BBC Upgrades

The Multi-function Twomeg 1 28K

Mains powered, can display TV picture
and sound on Philips monitors.

Free ATS ROM image and manual for

£89.95 all BBC's.

ACORN AT SOLIDISK

RING 0702 354 674

1 7 Sweyne Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex SS2 6JQ

All prices include VAT.

Post & packing. Please allow £2 on small items and £1 0 on large items.

A305 £725

A310 £860

A310M £923

A440 £2599

with Acorn or Philips CM8833 colour
monitor, please add £227 (CM8833
has CBVS input for TV picture), £345
for QUADRAM colour multisync,
£183 for TVM MG-11 greyscale
multisync.

Full Acorn price list is available on request.

1 772 double-density disc

interface £35.00

1772/8271 DFDC (requires Acorn

8271) £45.00

Solidisk DFS 2.2 ROM £10.00

Solidisk ADFS+DFS two-ROM

set £20.00

40/80 track switchable double-sided

drive £11 9.00

Twin 40/80 track drives in a
bridge £338.00

MG-11

This new style TWOMEG 128K board is the best ever solution for memory
upgrades. It combines a ROM expansion, a Sideways RAM and a Shadow RAM
on a single board, offering:

— 8 ROM sockets (4 on the TWOMEG board, 4 on the BBC motherboard).

— 8 Sideways RAM banks (4-7, C-F).

— can be fitted with only 64K RAM (banks C-F).

— 4 of the RAM banks (4-7) can be used as a RAM disk with Solidisk DFS or
ADFS.

— 2 of the RAM banks (C-D) can be used as a Shadow RAM and a small (8K)
Sideways.

— any bank can be used as a printer buffer.

— Write Protect switch for Sideways software.

— in the included software: MENU, MANAGER, Printer Buffer.

Easy installation: simply remove the 6502, drop in the board and push three
wires onto the middle pins of S20, S21 and S22.

ABSOLUTELY NO CUTTING, NO CLIPS, OR SOLDERING.

TWOMEG 1 28K FROM £55

with 64K of RAM
£55

with 128K of RAM
£70

2x4464'sRAM chips
£15

Prices include VAT and soft-
ware disc. Please add £2 for
post and packing.

SPECIAL OFFERS ON ATARI COMPUTERS

Limited stocks and they move fast!

p&h micros

CHINEHAM SHOPPING CENTRE
BASINGSTOKE, HAMPSHIRE
TEL: 0256-28588 • 24 HR
ON A33 Reading Road.

22-24 GUILDFORD ROAD
BAGSHOT, SURREY
TEL: 0276-73078 • 24 HR
3 mins Jet 3 M3

A rchimedes

mjU5 No Monitor £753.20

A305 Mono Monitor £828.00

A305 Colour Monitor £1000.50

A310 No Monitor £914.25

A310 Mono Monitor £977.50

A310 Colour Monitor £1150.00

A310M No Monitor ♦ MS-DOS ..£977.50

A310M Mono + MS-DOS £1035.00

A310m Colours MS-DOS £1219.00

A410 No Monitor £TBA

A410 Mono Monitor £TBA

A410 Colour Monitor £TBA

A440 No Monitor £2760.00

A44U Mono Monitor £2829.00

A440 Colour Monitor £3013.00

ARCH-PODULES/UPGRADES

0.5 Mbyte RAM for 305 £155.00

Floppy Disc — £135.00

20 Mbyte Hard Disc + Podule £535.00

Podule Back Plane £42.00

ROM Podule £64.00

I/O Podule £92.00

Midi add-on to 10 £42.00

Midi Expansion £75.00

Arch Ref Manual £29.00

PC Emulator £106.00

MASTER SYSTEM

MASTER btHIES

CUMANA UISC DRIVES

Master 128

.£425.00

CSX100 100K 40T

....£105.00

Master Turbo Module

£115.00

CSX400/S 400K D/S 40/80T Switchblade £140.00

Master 512 Module

.£215.00

CDX800/S Dual 400K 40/80 Switchblade£280.00

Master Eprom Cartridge .

...£14.00

1770 Upgrade

£50.00

Master Manual 1 or 2

£14.95

ARCHIMEDES SOFTWARE

Ansi C

£105.00

Toolkit

£35.00

|*fn Pascal

£105.00

Flying Start II .....................

£63 00

Fortran 77

£105.00

SpellMaster

£50.00

Logistix.

£105.00

InterWord

£40 00

Twin ,

.... .£30.00

InterSheet

£40 00

Lisp

£210.00

1 nte rChart

£26.00

Prolog X

£210.00

Con Comp Podule

£54.00

PC Emulator

£105.00

as ahnvp + hattery

£65.00

Kermit

£52.00

Zarch

£18.00

First Word Plus

£85.00

Conquerer

£22.00

Clares Artisan

£35.00

Minotaur

£13.50

Clares Image Writer

£26.00

PSION HAND HELD

FREE CARRIAGE ON ALL PSION ITEMS

Psion Orcaniser II Mod CM £90.00 Maths Pack

£27 50

Psion Ortraniser 1 Mod XP £125.00

Spelling Checker ...................

£27 50

8K Datapack

£12.00

Comms Link-PC/XT Plug..

£55.00

16K Datapack

£18.50

Mains Adaptor

£12.00

32K Datapack

£32.00

Organiser Finger/Letter.....

32.00

64K Datapack for XP

£55.00

Diary Link

£12.00

128K Datapack for XP...

£90.00

Mini-Formatter

£32.00

32K Rampack for XP

£50.00

Complete Guide Book

£9.50

Snrcarfsheet for XP

£3800

Harves ter Superchip .................

£94.00

Comms Link AdDt to BBC £12.00

Games Organiser

£33.00

Finance Pack

£27 50

Hangman Game

£2800

AMSTRAD SYSTEMS

PCW RANGE

PCW8256

396.75

PC 1640 RANGE

MONO DISPLAY

PCW8512 ...

£494.50

SD MD

£563.50

PCW9512

£540.50

DD MD

£713.00

PPC RANGE

PPC512S

HD MD

£1035.00

....£448.50

COLOUR DISPLAY

PPC512D

£598.00

SD CD

£73025

PPC640S

£563.50

DD CD

£86825

PPC640D

£701.50

HD CD

£1196.00

PC1512 RANGE

SD MM

£448.50

ECD COLOUR

SD ECD

_ £897.00

DD MM

£603.75

DD ECD

£1046.50

SD CM

£61525

HD ECD

— £1357.00

DD CM-

.£759.00

Z88 LAPTOP SPECIAL £270.00

Mains Adaptor

FREE CARRIAGE ALL Z88 ITEMS

£9.50 Carrv Case

£9.50

128K RAM Pack

£49.00

32K RAM Pack

£19.00

128K EPROM Pack

£49.00

32K EPROM Pack

£19.00

EPROM Eraser

£39.00

PC Link II

£34 00

Parallel Cahle

£29.00

Serial Cable

£9.00

BBC Link..

£24.00

Modem

£170.00

512K RAM Pack

£195.00

SpellMaster

£55.00

PRINTER SPECIALS

Panasonic 1081 £165.00 Printer Lead BBC £8.00

Panasonic 1082 £200.00 Amstrad DMP 3250 £215.00

Printor Lead Arch £12.00 Amstrad DMP 4000 £360.00

Star LC10 £200.00 Amstrad DMP 3500di £360.00

Star LC10 Colour £240.00 Amstrad DMP 5000di £415.00

ACORN BOOKS

Forth Manual — £10.00 Lisp Manual £10.00

BCPL Manual £15.00 Iso Pascal Manual £10.00

Intro to Comal £10.00 Intro to Logo £10.00

Logo Ref Manual £7.50 6502 Dev System Manual .£7.50

View Store Manual £10.00 View Sheet Guide £10.00

Price* Indude VAT aft 15%.

Instant Credit up to £1000 for callers only at both shops.
Oder by Phone or Letter
Cheques to be made out to:

P&H ELECTRONICS LTD.

CHINEHAM SHOPPING CENTRE
BASINGSTOKE, HANTS
canlaoe Cots flnckxttno BFPOl Her hem
Books, Software, Upgraaes, Accessories - Carriage Free
Disc Drives — £6.00 Micros. Monitors. Printers

UK/BFPO
£9.00

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

123

PINEAPPLE SOFTWARE

Programs for the BBC model B, B+, Master and Master Compact with disc drlue

DIAGRAM II now also available for ARCHIMEDES

Diagram II represents a major breakthrough in the techniques used for
drawing software on the BBC micro. It works on a completely different principle
to other drawing software by storing the drawing information straight to disc
as coded 8*8 Pixel blocks.

This technique has three major advantages. First, the size of the diagram is
only limited by the amount of space on disc. Second, there is no limit to the
amount of information which can be stored on a given diagram as the information
is stored on disc and not in computer memory. Third, the disc storage technique
allows the smooth scrolling of the screen over the whole surface of the
diagram.

For people not familiar with Diagram, the basic operation of the program is
to first display any part of the diagram, either by quoting an index name or
screen number. At this point you are free to scroll the diagram around the
screen using either cursor keys, trackerball or mouse. You may stop scrolling
at any point and enter the edit mode which allows you to modify or add new
information to the diagram. When you have finished making alterations, the new
information is stored to disc and you are free to scroll elsewhere on the
diagram stopping to edit at any time.

The edit features are now very comprehensive. Text may be typed straight
from the keyboard, and if other fonts are stored as user defined characters
then these fonts may be printed using the normal keyboard keys.

The print routines are now completely 'scaleable' with both the horizontal
and vertical scales being totally variable in 1’/. steps between a size that will
give 18 rode 0 screens on an A4 sheet and a size that would print just one pixel
on a sheet 1 The routines are adaptable to most types of dot matrix printer and
full advantage may be made of wide carriage printers. The printouts may be
rotated through 90 deg. if required.

The new editing features make DIAGRAM II suitable for all types of serious
drawing application including scale drawings, flow charts, architectural ,
family trees, and many other subjects as well as circuit and schematic diagrams.
As an example of what Diagram II can do, this complete advertisement (with the
exception of the PCB drawing) has been produced with the package.

7.

8 .
9.

10 .

11 .

12 .

13.

Works on any model BBC computer with either DFS or ADFS. (ADFS only if
Shadow memory available).

Will automatically take advantage of shadow memory (any make) to
provide more User Definable Characters, 880 with Shadow, 381 without
Shadow.

Rapid horizontal and vertical line drawing routine with automatic
joins for circuit diagrams

Full rubber band line drawing and circle drawing modes.

Takes advantage of the Acorn GXR rom to provide drawing of arcs,
sectors, chords, parallelograms, ellipses, and flood filling. Note
this rom is already fitted to Master and Compact machines.

Pixel cursor drawing and deleting mode allows very fine detail to be
added.

Defined areas of screen may be roved, copied, deleted or saved to
disc.

On-screen indication of cursor position shows either the cursor
position on the overall diagram or the distance from a preset point.

Keyboard keys may be predefined to print User Defined Characters,
enabling new character sets to be stored as user defined characters
and then printed straight to the screen using the keyboard keys.

Wordprocessor files may be loaded to the screen and automatically
formatted into any shape screen area.

Index names may be set up to point to given areas of a large diagram,

to enable rapid access to a given point on a diagram.

Fully compatible with Marconi trackerball and most makes of mouse.
All Diagram ' Util ities' are included, enabling screen ident numbers

and borders to be added, and any area of diagram to be moved or
copied. The whole diagram may be displayed in reduced scale (either
4*4 or 8*8 format) on a single screen, and the size of the overall
diagram may be increased or decreased.

14. Completely scaleable print routines allow any area of the diagram to

be printed either horizontally or through 90 deg. in scales that may
be varied in iY. steps allowing up to 18 mode 0 screens to be printed
on an A4 sheet (still with readable text),

15. Complete with 40 page easy to understand handbook.

REAR ELEVATION

Diagram II consists of a set of disc files and a
16k Eprom. The disc supplied is formatted in 40T
on side 0 and SOT on side 2. Please state if this
is unsuitable for your system, or if you require
a 3.5" Master Compact disc.

ARCHIMEDeS version on 800k 3.5" disc.

DIAGRAM II - £ 55.00 + uat

P & P free (except overseas)

H.B. Upgrades are available to existing Diagram
owners. Please contact Pineapple if you have
not received an upgrade letter.

PCB

Pineapple's now famous printed circuit board drafting aid produces complex
double sided PCB' s very rapidly using any model BBC micro and any FX compatible
dot-matrix printer.

The program is suppl ied on Eprom and up to 500 component and 500 ASCII
component descriptions may be stored for each PCB. There is no limit to the
number of tracks that may be stored for a given PCB although the maximum board
size is restricted to 8" ♦ 5.6".

Using a mode 1 screen, tracks on the top side of the board are shown in red,
while those on the underside are blue. Each side of the board may be shown
individually or superimposed. A component placement screen allows component
outlines to be drawn for silk screen purposes and component numbers and
outlines entered on this screen may be displayed during track routing to aid
identification of roundels.

The print routines allow separate printouts of each side of the PCB in a
very accurate expanded definition 1:1 or 2:1 scale enabling direct contact
printing to be used on resist covered copper clad board. The print routines
are very fast taking typically 5 minutes for a 1:1 print of a 7" • 5" board.

This program has too many superb features to describe adequately here, so
please write or 'phone for more information and sample printouts.

PRICE £ 85.00 .

URT

Plotter Driver to suit
post plotters £ 35.88 ♦ vat

PCB AUTO -ROUTING

This brand new addition to the PCB program
greatly increases the power of the software
and speeds the design of PCB' s even more.

A connection list of up to 190 connections
may be entered in the form of a ' rats nest'
and then the computer does the rest 1

You may specify which side of a board you
wish the track to be on or leave the choice to
the computer, and you may also say whether
tracks should be allowed to pass between I.C.
pins. Tracks may still be drawn manually at
any time so boards may be produced by a
combination of manual and auto techniques if
required.

The program is in the form of a second Eprom
and all the features are available even with
an unexpanded model ' B' computer

Please write or 'phone for full details.

COMPLETE flUTOROUTE PACKAGE
(including Manual eproft)

£185.00

♦ UAT

MARCONI TRACKERBALL

This high quality device comes in three versions. Version one is for the
standard BBC micro and comes with the Icon Artmaster drawing package from
Micro-Draw, and Trackerball Utilities which allow the trackerball to be
used with other software.

Version two is for the Master 128 computer and this comes with the
Pointer Rom. This is a Rom which allows the Master to be configured for use
with the Trackerball and has commands to enable the Trackerball to
intercept the cursor key or joystick routines of other software. Comronds
are also available to reverse the axes of the trackerball and set the
sensitivity. The three buttons may also be set up to produce any ASCII code.

Version three is simply the bare Trackerball which comes without software
but is suitable for use with specially written software such as Diagram or
Diagram II.

Trackerball adapters are also available which plug onto the end of the
cable and convert the connections of the trackerball to be the same as a
mouse. This enables the trackerball to drive all types of 'mouse' software.

For Model 'B' and B 4 (with Icon Artmaster)
For Master 128 (with Pointer Rom)

Bare Trackerball (no software)

Pointer Rom - available separately
Trackerball to mouse adapters
Postage & packing on Trackerballs

£ 60 00 ♦ vat
£ 60.00 * vat
£ 49.00 4 vat
£ 12.50 i vat
£ 8.00 f vat
£ 1.75

Microlink number mag 1 2085 All orders sent by return

UI8A

39 Brounlea Gardens,Seuen Kings,!

MITEYSPICE

Miteyspice is a very powerful AC & X circuit analysis package with graphics
suitable for use with any model BX micro including those with 2nd processors.

As well as all the usual facilities available with this type of program,
non-1 inear effects, small signal, noise measurements and sweeps may be
performed. Component values may be swept, allowing component tolerances to be
investigated as well as thermal performance etc. Comprehensive transistor
modelling is incorporated using a 20 parameter Ebers Moll description. The
program is supplied on disc with a very comprehensive 49 page manual.

PRICE £119.00 + uat

ADFS Utilities Rom — ADU

ADU is an invaluable utility for all ADFS users. It adds over 22 new
•commands to the ADFS filing system as well as providing an extensive Menu
facility with over 35 sub commands covering areas such as repeated disc
compaction, saving and loading Rom images, auto booting of files and many more

Copying of DFS discs onto ADFS discs can be made in one pass with automatic
creation of the required directories on the ADFS disc. All functions are fully
compatible with Winchester drives including ♦BACKIP which allows backing up of
Winchesters onto multiple floppies. n „__.

Additional *commands include:- ♦ADU, ♦BACKIP, •CATALL, ♦CHANGE, ♦DFSDFS,

PRICE £29.00 + uat

ford, Essex IG3 9NL Tel 01-599 1476

124

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

REVIEWS

THMjAMmjflGE

COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS

Sam Greenhill reports on how the software houses are gearing up
to part you from your money over the festive season

The games scene appears to have fallen into
silence. Now the summer rush is over, the
games companies are saving their energy
for an onslaught of Christmas releases, and
leaving us to amuse ourselves. But
although not many new games are in the
shops, they aren’t far off, and a few
software houses have spilled the beans.

It had to happen sooner or later. Just
after the Arc’s first birthday, Repton stakes
its claim to the 32-bit machine. The Arc-
Repton will contain all the screens from
the original Repton 3, Around the World ,
Life of Repton and Repton Thru Tune - a
total of 144! Some say the absurd immor-
tality of Repton has gone too far, but
Superior’s Richard Hanson is convinced
the game will sell just as well as it always
has done.

If there’s one other game that has had as
many sequels as Repton , it’s Breakout.
Again Superior is the bottom line, and it’s
having a bash at the now familiar bat ‘n’
ball formula - after all everyone else has.
To be called Brixx , it ought to be around in
time for Christmas and will be available
only for the Archimedes.

We can expect one other Arc game from
the company in the near future - Deliverer.
It’s a shoot-em-up cross between Elite and
Space Invaders using 3-D vector graphics.
If I were to choose, I would associate
Deliver more with the former, but it won’t
be nearly as complex.

Sometime between now and the biggie
for 1989, Exile, will be another compilation
of four games for the 8-bit beeb and Elk.
Following the example set by Play it Again
Sam 3 , Sam 4 will only include two of the
company’s own titles; Grand Prix Con-
struction Set and Spellbinder. The Electron
version replaces Grand Prix with Guar-
dian. The third game is the very popular
Frak! Number four is a new game, called
Cosmic Camouflage - a sort of Super

ju*r

Cosmic Camouflage: hidden in a compilation

Meteors. In fact Superior is working on a
whole set of compilations for the future,
but it won’t necessarily have written the
games itself. The idea is for the Superior
label to market games from other com-
panies that never quite made it.

Superior has also leaked its plans for a
boxing simulation in which you can cheat
if the referee isn’t looking!

On the subject of compilations Audio-
genic is preparing for Christmas four of its
most popular games bundled into one
package, to be called Fab Four. The pack-
age will include a revised version of Sphere
of Destiny (hopefully a bit easier to play),
plus Psycastria with new screens. The com-
pany’s Peter Calver claims they are all
full-price ‘strong’ titles - certainly not to
be sniffed at.

Rainbird, a subsidiary of Telecomsoft, is
working on a couple of games for the
Archimedes to follow up Corruption , its
yuppie ‘adventure.’ One that sounds the
most interesting (and humorous) is Fish
from Magnetic Scrolls. It isn’t yet certain
that the game will be released, but if it is,
the idea is that you - a goldfish - are
trapped in a glass bowl. Perhaps the object
is for you to provoke the cat into knocking
over the bowl?

As promised last month, here’s the full
set of passwords for Repton Thru Time -
from Andrew Pepperell of Lincolnshire.

Screen

Password

1A

PREHIST

IB

HEATERS

1C

HILLOCK

ID

PILFERS

IE

MEDIATE

IF

COMPACT

1G

CARTOON

1H

TABULAR

2A

EYGPT

2B

FAVOURS

2C

HAPPENS

2D

PERSONS

2E

CONQUER

2F

EVENING

2G

MASTERS

2H

PIMPLES

3A

VICTORI

3B

MERCURY

3C

CLEAVER

3D

BINDERS

3E

CONFUSE

3F

JINGLES

3G

DOLPHIN

3H

MINSTER

4A

NOW

4B

OCTAGON

4C

CASTLES

4D

CHARLES

4E

GREATER

4F

BOOKLET

4G

FUNTIME

4H

SAVOURS

5A

FUTURE

5B

ORACLES

50

STAPLER

5D

DANCING

5E

FANCIER

5F

BANANAS

5G

EVEREST

5H

KINGDOM

All the passwords for Repton Thru Time

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

125

BRAINSOFT

LTD

FOR THE BBC SERIES AND ARC.

ARC DESKTOP + TRANSFER SOFTWARE.

This software is an enhanced desktop for the Archimedes ((C) Acorn computer Ltd) , and has the following functions:-

SCIENTIFIC CALCULATOR, A 30 function scientific calculator with a facility for number conversions.

CLOCK, A clock with a difference ! . Big bon digitised and incorporated in the archlmedes desktop.

DIARY, Same design and function as Acorns standard diary.

NOTEPAD, An improved version of Acorns notepad, with direct pointer driven input.

PALETTE, A Palette of the same design as the Acorn Palette.

BBC CONVERTOR, This program blends into the desktop, when a RS232 lead has been connected between the BBC and the
Archimedes select the 5.25* disk icon and a window showing the files on the BBC B disk drive appears on the archlmedes.

To load files just select them with a mouse (as many as you want) , and from the desktop menu select load to make the
files transfer automatically from the BBC to the archlmedes. The baud rate is set at 19200 baud although any speed can
be used, the Convertor is intelligent and recognises automatically the file types contained on the BBC's disk drive.

EDITOR, This is an optional facility for editing source text files for compilers (FORTRAN, C, PASCAL etc), to work it must be used on at least a 310 (this is not a disadvantage
as none of the conpilers are able to work on a 305). This advanced program blends fully into the desktop envirenent, and is very user friendly and intuitive in its use, the maximum
text size is 2000 lines. The files produced are compatible with twin, it is entirely WIHP driven and needs no control /function keys.

The basic editor functions Included are string search, search and replace, load, save, merge, print, clear.

'•This kit frets Bralnsoft can ba thoroughly raccBmaded” from ravlaw in Archive magaslna December 1987 .

BRAIN30FTS 32K STILL THE BIST VALUE
SIDEWAYS RAM FOR THE BBC RANCE .

•Uses latest technology.

•32K of ran In a sire no
larger than a EPROM.

•No soldering required the
two liwds clip on.

•Takes up only one sideways
rm socket.

•Does not use user port but
uses irUO register.

•Low power consuieption.

Inccrpatlble with ren boards except Peartree MRJ000.

BRAINSOFT3 16K COMPATIBLE WITH MOST
PCM BOARDS.

This module has been tested with the following boards:-
ATPL, Watford, and Peartree MA3000.

This nodule has the same construction of the 32K module
but Is minus the bank select lino.

Wcita protect switch

At little extra cost a write protect switch can be added to
a nodule which allows "protected* softwaro to be loaded.
JOTE: it Is illegal to crpy or pirate software.

All the above are cruara^.twd for 1 yr. Please state ccr^ter,

SOFTWARE

SIDEWAYS RAM UTILITIES BBC B.Ba, MASTER
Now Version 3 with ARFS and APB f !

-MENU DRIVEN SOFTWARE this selA:ts RAMLOAD. RAM SAVE. RAMLIST, PRINTER
BUFFER, or PROGRAMMERS UTILITIES.

-ADVANCED PRINTER BUFFER provides the user with up to an extra S3K of buffer space,
which allows the user to continue using WORDWISE-PLUS, VIEW or BASIC whilst the
printer is priming.

-PROCRU+ERS UTILITIES are a collection of 2S utilities including a full-screen
memory editor, all variables clear, program relocation, program compaction,
program repairer, ram list, ran enable, ren disable, ram status, speed control,
computer status, string search, variable list, vector list, dose all files, list of
tho currently active variables, keyload, key save, program comparison with a file
held on disk, ren save, and screen ccrpactlon/unccepactlon which can pack
a node 0 screen in less than IK of disk space.

-ADVANCED ROM TILING SYSTEM provides the user with fast access to programs and
data, so fast that It can load a 2CK program quicker than the BBC's CLS camand takes
to cloar the wetory. The ARFS Is capable of storing files longer than 32K In length, the
anount of file space Is limited to the number of sideways ran the user has, the r.wber of
files, length of names being limited by only the ram sizo. The ARFS when enabled by
•RFS acts like a disk Interface allowing saves and deletions, as well as loading, many
programs which use 'legal* disk calls are ccrpatiblc.

Also provided on the disk are three BASIC programs which can be easily adaptod to run
on NETWORK systems, ramload, ram save and rami 1st .

Provided with the sideways ram utilities Is a 12 page Instruction book, the software is
supplied on a 40T disk with I0T conversion software.

PRICE LIST 1ST QTR 88
16K MODULE JUST £14

32K MODULE £14.5

WRITE PROTECT SWITCH £2
SIDEWAYS SOFTWARE t€

SIDEWAYS SOFTWARE
ORDERED WITH A MODULE£3

62256LP-12 RAM CHIP
2+OFF 62256LP-12

£11

£10

ARCHIMEDES SOFTWARE
LEAD ONLY £8

SOFTWARE ONLY
SOFTWARE ♦ EDITOR

LEAD + SOFTWARE £14

LEAD + SOFTWARE* EDIT £19

PRICES GIVEN FULLY
INCLUSIVE NO EXTRA COSTS.

EDUCATIONAL ORDERS ACCEPTED
DISCOUNTS 6IUEN FOR QUANTITY

BRAINSOFT LTD
22 BAKER ST.
LONDON WIM IDF.
TELEPHONE 01-4860321

a
c n

o

T3

33

u

H

o

in II II in

BASIC

MONO

A305

763.65

829.20

A310

912.23

977.78

A310M

997.78

1043.33

A410

1528.40

1583.03

A440

2762.93

2828.48

stocked - ring for price

‘Master Series from

£412.95

‘Compact senes from

£375.69

‘Compact Professional:-

Computer, Monitor. Brother Oaisy Wheel &

Overview from

£709.03

Special Cambridge Z88

£267.73

Sec/user BBC B's from

£199.00

6502 Sec Processors

£103. 50U

Master 51 2 Module

£149. 50U

MONITORS

Phil ps 8833 colour

£275.82

Philips 8852 colour

£309.46

Philips 7502 green

£83.65

Microvitec 11431

£211.64

Microvitec 1451

£189. 75U

Microvitec 1441

£430.10

KagaTaxan Sup VIII

£395.98

Microvitec 1431

£149. SOU

Tatung Col Monitor

£169.00

PRINTERS

Panasonic KXP 1081

£169.00

Panasonic KXP1082

£243.80

Citizen 1200

£171.63

Epson LX800

£268.80

Epson LQ800

£539.05

Micro P 135+

£159.36

Ml INI M 1 IMH ■

Digimouse + Artroom

£53.91

Digimouse ♦ Graphic

£35.91

Digimouse + Illustrator

£40.39

’We specialise in trading in used hardware &
software also we will buy in certain software
and hardware.

•Anything we have for almost Anything you
have.

-NEW LAMPS FOR OLD!!**

USER PRINTERS

Epson 0Q3500 laser £1692.68
This 'la printed on the
0Q3500. we offer a special help
lino on the QQ3500 with custom
ooftware soon ! ! !

iwwwiai'W'i.-iwHim.a

The above are NEW prices for the Archimedes
•All Discounted!!

Full range of Archimedes poudulcs etc etc

ACP Battery backed RAM

£37.17

ACP ROM Adapter 2

£13.90

ATPL Sideways ROM Board

£41.50

Cambridge Z8832K RAM

£18.95

Cambridge Z8832K ROM

£18.95

Cambridge Z88128K RAM

£47.43

Cambridge Z88128K ROM

£47.43

Cambridge Eprom Eraser

£37.95

Cumana Touch Pad

E34.50U

Graph Pad

E69.00U

MorleyAA Board

£43.64

Morley RAM Disci Meg

£189.92

MorleyRAM Disc 2 Meg

£332.41

Morley Teletext Adaptor

E65.00U

Pace Linnet Modem inc Commstar

CommsROM

£143.86

Pace Nightingale Modem

E69.00U

Ferguson TV tuner

£55.00

Vine Mocros ROM Board 3

£17.94

Vine Micros ROM Board 4

£26.94

Voltmace Delta 14B

E9.20U

Acorn Master Cartridge

E9.20U

Peartree Mast Carl PEP002

E9.20U

Prism 200 Modem

E40.25U

AMX Design

£62.98

AMX Mouse + Superart + OS

£71.94

AMX Superart

£44.94

AMX Max

E12.00U

AMX Desk

£22.44

Extra Extra!

E15.00U

AMX Slop Press

£44.98

AMX Slop Press

E33.00U

DATABASE SOFTWARE ■

Wmi office disc 5.25

£12.70

Mini office disc 3.5

£16.45

* "We stock all the popular and unpopular
games both new and used from as little as
El. 72

•The above are just a few of the items we
have on our lists. At present we have over
1000! Please tel or send a large SAE for up to
the minute prices.

No PSU Drives

Discmaster

£13.80U

Ahktcr 40. 80 400K single

£118.95

Teletext Tape

C4.02U

Ahkler 40/80 800K Dual

£229.44

Master File II disc

E11.50U

Cumana CSX 400 Single

£138.54

Printwise Disc

£14.95U

Cumana CDX800S Dual

£256.45

Quickcalc Disc

£11.50U

Pace PSD3 single

£137.13

Pace PDD3 Dual

£254.86

*We stock the complete range Bcebug Soft all

Opus Single 40T

E51.75U

Discounted.

Acorn Single 40T

E46.00U

■ CLARES MICRO SUPPLIES

Witn PSU Drives

Alpha Base (Archimedes)

£44.94

Ahktcr 40 80 400K single

£131.69

Artisan (Archimedes)

£35.95

Ahkter 40 80 800K Dual

£276.20

Toolkit (Archimedes)

£35.95

Cumana CS400 Single

£161.95

BromBBC

£1 1 .5011

Cumana CD800S Dual

£305.94

Macrom

E17.25U

Pace PSD3P Single

£161.71

Fontwise 5.25' package

£26.99

Pace PDD3P Dual

£302.73

Fontwise 3.5* package

£30.59

Hard Disc Units

COMPUTER CONCEPTS ■

Ahktcr 20meg HD2000

£539.94

Ahkter 40megHD4000

£809.94

Inter-Base

£55.20

Viglen 20meg Drive 0

£584.07

Inter-Chart

£29.44

Viglen 20rneg Drive 1

£494.09

Inter-Sheet

£45.08

Viglen 40mcg Drive 0

£940.49

Inlcr-Word

£45.08

Viglen 40meg Drivel

£737.08

Inter-Chart (Archimedes)

£23.00

Inter-Sheet (Archlmedes)

£35.88

ACORN SOFT

Inter-Word (Archimedes)

£35.88

Mega 3 ROM

£87.97

spell Master

£47.19

Basic Editor

E18.00U

Wordwise Plus

£30.00U

C language

E51.75U

ARM Ass Land Book

£11.65

ISO Pascal (Archlmedes)

E65.00U

ROM podule Arch Bat Back

£64.44

Logo

£39.00

ISO Pascal ROM

£55.20

1

Lisp

E9.19U

Logistix (Archimedes)

£102.46

Master Guide Book

£11.65

Micros in Business

£39.95

Viewstore/Sheet book

£11.65

Twin (Archimedes)

£30.00

View Guide Book

£11.65

View 3.0

£47.84

Master Emulator ROM

£17.94

View Index

£11.96

Program Discs for books

£7.14

View Plot

£23.95

Hyper Driver

£26.49

View Professional

£79.94

View Sheet

£47.84

t!

View Spell

E23.00U

View Store

£52.61

Replay Tape to Disc

£31.48

Romboard3

£17.94

-

Romboaid4

£26.94

Write Protect Switch

£8.05

Wight Signwriter

£26.94

TD ROM for BBC B

£13. SOU

Fonts for above each

£5.17

’All prices in this Advert include VAT at 15%
Post and Packing charges 92p for light items.
£1 .95 lor medium items. Expensive products
C7.48 courier delivery Items marked IT are
used stock.

C0MPUTECK Ltd. Dept (AU)

I O O F. House
69 High Street West
Glossop

Derbyshire SK138AZ
VISA/ACCESS Tel 04574 65953

System Della ♦ Card Index £58.45

Oeltabase (Archimedes) £26.94

System Delta Plus (Arch) £62.95

Accounts Packages all 10% disc.

Binmiai MgEMa

Genie in a Box

Genie Junior

Genie Master Cartridge

Genie Utilities

Genie Real time Clock

6502C B2P Sec Processor

£71.41
£22.49
£71.41
£8 94
£26.08
£80.95

Introducing throe titles under
our own label
"SENSIBLE SOFTWARE"
Introductory Price £14.95 each

THE MENU

Displays both sides of a disc on
scrolling window: Auto LOADS
BASIC, M/Code & WP files: File
handling made easy: Shows all 16
ROMS: loads ROMS automatically in
SWR and save to disc: This is what a
'.boot file was made for:

THE LIST

Auto selects DFS/ADFS: Allows 39
chars, description of files so months
later you know what a file was and
where It is: ADFS path route shown
and routing made easy: Printout of all
data to keep In each disc envelope

THE LABEL

The ultimate label printer, Bold,
NLQ, Condensed, Enlarged, U/Llned
etc WYSIWYG on screen editing: Aulo
duplication from one to print as many
as you want: Configures to many
label sizes and numbers across: If
you print labels this Is a must!

*We are mainly Mail Order but
persoinal callers are welcome to
collect goods and arrange tor
demonstration of computers and
accessories.

Please Telephone to arrange
appointment first.

126

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

MOON

WALKING

Pipeline; Superior Software, BBC and
Electron cassette, £9.95, 5.25-inch disc,
£11.95, 3.5-inch disc, £14.95.

Take Codename: Droid and Ravenskull y
and you get Pipeline. It's set on Io, Jupi-
ter’s fiery moon, where you must collect
sulphur drums from the disaster-struck
mines. The game is an arcade adventure -
Ravenskull-s tyle - written by two 15-year-
olds, Ian Holmes and William Reeve.

Loading the game was a slight problem.
Only after I stripped my machine of every
ROM except Basic and DFS did it run.

Once down the mines you stroll around
collecting sulphur, avoiding monsters and
fires. You can pick up objects for use,
throw or drop them.

To complete the game, you must execute
a mission, a bit like Droid. Each level is
pretty large, and could take a long time to
finish. Of course there are also the famous
pipes to contend with. Once you enter a
pipe you have reached the point of no
return, and you are whisked along a pre-
defined course and deposited at the other
end - a bit like Repton's transporters but
more ‘graphic’. Pipeline incorporates a
mass of puzzles to grapple with, including
teleports, remote control units and ‘space
burgers’ - a puzzle in itself. Finally you
must find the control robot (the finishing
sprite) and pick it up.

Pipeline has the facility to redesign
almost everything. You design the sprites,
the keys, the screens, the mission, even the
puzzles. The level designer is extremely
comprehensive, allowing an enormous
number of flags to be set per puzzle. So,

REVIEWS

GAMES

you could set up a puzzle wherein you
can’t reach a crucial ‘collectable’ until
you’ve found the Jovian wine and used it
to put out the fire near the door! But you
can’t tell whether your puzzles work until
you’ve entered the game - a process taking
a fair amount of time, too many loader
screens and four disc changes.

Graphically Pipeline is good. There are
two things that let the game down - only
slightly. First, the sound is only adequate
and second, the company appears to have
been a bit tight-fisted over the instruction
sheet. Pipeline requires you to read a lot of
small print. I’m sure a small booklet could
resolve the problem.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Pipe-
line is a great game. I recommend you rush
out and buy it immediately.

Sam Greenhill

THE SECOND
STRIKE

The Empire Strikes Back; Domark, BBC
cassette, £9.95, or disc, £11.95.

In this, the second in the Star Wars trilogy,
Luke Skywalker finds himself on the ice
planet of Hoth, battling against Darth
Vader’s evil Empire. In the first stage, you
fly around in your snowspeeder destroying
all the probots in your path. From there,
you move on to fight the AT-ATs, fly
through space avoiding giant asteroids, and
then, finally, onto the last level where you
must seek out and destroy the great giant
asteroid itself.

Like the first game in the series, The
Empire Strikes Back uses wire frame
graphics to good effect. Although a little
slow, the animation is smooth and the
perspective works very well. The giant
walkers, a memorable sight in the film, are
particularly well portrayed. As in the film,
the only way of killing them is by laun-
ching a kind of giant bolas at their legs,
sending them crashing to the ground.

I enjoyed The Empire Strikes Back ; I
found it fun and addictive. Unlike many
games these days, it has enough action and
gameplay to make you want to come back
to it time after time. The now traditional
£9.95 asking price is, I think, fair enough
for such a good game.

Rob Miller

ALL EYES

TO EARTH

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8 low

VBOftRD CONTROL ON

Terramex; Grand Slam, Arc 3.5-inch
disc, £19.95.

Yet again the world is doomed. Only
Professor Eyestrain can save us!

Terramex puts you in the role of one of
five explorers armed only with a line of
invisible pygmies to carry all the objects
you collect. It is your task in this game to
find Professor Eyestrain and persuade him
to save the Earth.

Your own character can be controlled by
keyboard or mouse. He can move left and
right, climb ropes and ladders and jump up
slopes. This is one feature that annoyed me
- you can move down slopes simply by
walking, but you have to jump up them.
Apart from this, movement is good and
keyboard response is fast.

To complete your quest, you’ll have to
pick up and use most of the objects dotted
about the 50-odd screens. Some of these
are used to get past the puzzles in the
game, others must be given to Eyestrain so
he can make the asteroid deflector.

Graphically the game is excellent, back-
ground scenery is varied and detailed, with
nice touches such as the bones of hapless
explorers. Your character is also very nice-
ly animated, especially when you ask him
to think!

The sound in Terramex is much better
than in any Arc game I’ve played so far;
good effects and a stereo backing tune. If
all this was not enough, you can also play
the game in ‘fast’ mode (which is about
four times faster!).

Overall, the game is very good, if a bit
easy. It should give you something to do in
these long winter evenings. Let’s hope we
see more ST and Amiga games migrating to
the Archimedes.

Dave Lawrence

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

1 17

AUTOSKETCH

The technical drawing
tool that records, maps

and cooks

AutoSketch is
ideally suited to
CDT — after all,
it’s the precision
drawing tool for
the computers used in schools and
colleges.

But it’s also a valuable tool for any
subject which benefits from accurate
line drawings. The possibilities are as
varied as your imagination.

Ergonomic kitchen design, land use
mapping, and field study recording
are just a few possibilities.

AutoSketch enables you to
produce complex drawings
from simple elements. Ybu can
even build up libraries of
symbols to use in any drawing.
Powerful editing operations
include associative dimensioning,
mirroring, and scaling — and you can
‘zoom in’ to work in minute detail.

But you don’t have to be an expert to
get to grips with all this power
AutoSketch uses the same advanced
user interface as AutoCAD, the world’s
leading CAD system. Pull-down menus,
clear prompts and precise editing help
users develop skills rapidly. And
AutoSketch drawings can easily be
transferred to AutoCAD.

Whatever subject you teach, you and
your students will benefit from
accurate illustrations.

Isn’t it time you brought
the modern way of
drawing into your
classroom?

Name _

Complete the coupon and we’ll
send you further information
about AutoSketch and Autodesk’s
commitment to education. Or call
us now on 01-928 7868.

Please send me more
information about
AutoSketch.

(plus VAT)

Organisation .

Position

Address

AutoSkotch and AutoCAD are registered trademarks of Autodesk.

Autodesk Limited
South Bank Technopark,

90 London Road, London SE1 6LN
Telephone: 01 -928 7868

AUTOSKETCH

REVIEWS

EXILED IN SPACE

Dave Lawrence was lucky enough to have first shot at the latest adventure
from Superior - and found it’s a must

Gravity affects everything - so if you shoot something, it moves

When a game comes complete with a
novella to describe the scenario, you know
it must be something special. Superior
Software’s latest release, Exile , is one such
game. It is -set on the hostile planet of
Phoebus, where the crew of the landing
craft, Pericles, have been subdued by the
evil professor Triax. You must try and
rescue them.

Exile is an ‘arcade adventure’, and seems
to draw ideas from a number of previous
BBC games.

The game runs fine on an unexpanded
model B, but is greatly enhanced by adding
one bank of sideways RAM; The enhanced
version also works on a Master.

The action starts with your spacecraft in
geostationary orbit above the stricken Peri-
cles. You must work out how to get out of
the airlock (not difficult) and then find a
path to the planet’s interior.

Once inside you need to spend some
time exploring and getting used to the
control keys. This is quite tricky at first,
but after a while you get the hang of it and
it’s great fun zooming around with your
jet-pack. Besides flying around, you can
walk or even crawl.

You are unequipped initially, apart from
the jet-pack, so it’s essential to arm your-
self against the hordes of roving nasties.
These come at you in several forms. First
you’ll be buffeted by harmless birds and
mischievous imps, but later you’ll be
attacked by poisonous bees, vicious birds
and even the robotic crew of the Pericles!

Avoiding (or shooting) the inhabitants of
Phoebus is really only a side-line; there are
numerous puzzles to solve and there isn’t
just one way to succeed. Opening the door
at the start is relatively easy, but later on
there are fires to deal with, doors to open,
turrets to shoot, transporters, secret pas-
sages, friendly robots, magic mushrooms
and the dreaded windy shaft!

Exile does not feature lives in the normal
way, because you never actually die! In-
stead you are teleported away at the last
second. You can ‘remember’ up to four
teleport positions, so when you reach a
ACORN USliR NOVl-MBl-R 1988

safe place, it’s advisable to ‘remember’ that
place. The positions are stored on a stack -
you go to the last one and when all four
are used you are returned to your ship.

The game is graphically very pretty. The
scenery is large and detailed, especially the
two spacecraft. The scrolling is not
smooth, but acceptable. Sprites are rather
on the small side, but charmingly ani-
mated. The bees and birds fly about very
convincingly. The imps run around, throw
things at you, then hide in their flowerpot!
Little worms ooze out of the ground to
crawl about and the intelligent robots chase
you with their jet-packs.

The use of sound is well done; with
most things bleeping (or talking with the
enhanced version) in some way. One odd-

ity is that if you pause the game while a
sound is playing the effect pauses as well.

I liked many aspects of the game: its
attention to detail; the windtunnel-like
dust effects in the windy areas; the water
bubbling in the flask; the sparks in the
fires; the beehives and the birds’ nests; and
being able to aim your gun at any angle.

There is a save game facility that again,
due to memory problems, is slightly
strange - you press Shift f9, then CTRL-
Break and reboot the disc!

I did find the game frustrating in places,
but I found it great fun to play - I’m
certainly going to try and finish it some-
time. Exile is certainly a contender for the
best Beeb arcade adventure tor a long time.
It’s definitely the best game this year.

129

DESIGN

DRAWING
THE LINE

Two more packages have entered the computer-aided design market.
We’ve been taking a look at what they can do

AutoSketch- Autodesk’s 2D drafting system on the Archimedes

W ith hard copy devices be-
coming more sophisticated,
there is an increasing de-
mand for high-quality
graphics software. Fast op 1
eration, precision, quality hardcopy, ease of
use, and a good range of drawing ‘tools’ are
the features required, not an easy group of
requirements for any micro. This is the
market that TcchnoCAD and AutoSketch
have entered.

There is now quite an extensive range of
graphics programs available for BBC mic-
ros. They vary from the highly sophisti-
cated packages like Bitstik , Compas Ad-
vanced and Techsoft Designer (precision
packages priced from £2 to £700) to the
more simple paint programs like AMS
Super Art priced around £40.

Until recently, if you wanted an accurate
plot rather than a print-out, then the
program was likely to be expensive. Not so
now with the hybrid programs such as AMS
Design, Diagram II and Novacad costing
£50 or more.

In addition, there is quite a market within
.education for programs which perform a
specific task very well, without covering a
vast range of facilities. Here you find some
real bargains, few are priced above £30:.
geometric programs, 3D modellers, some
with advanced features such as auto-
dimensioning and hatching, even pattern
development for tapestry, all aiming to fulfil
a specific need.

TechnoCAD -tar the Master

TechnoCAD is an ADFS-based program for
the Master series micros. It has a pedigree -
Technomatic’s Novacad is now several
years old. The range of facilities in Techno-
CAD is extensive, and they are all easy to
access: there is support for a variety of
plotters, an accurate screen dump, and an
uncluttered screen during drawing. The
drawing tools are available from a pop-up
menu at the touch of a button. All this
makes this package worth investigating.

TechnoCAD aims to be an accurate and
fast graphics program. Speed is assured by
keeping the evolving drawing and program
in memory for instant access, and accuracy
is set by scaling the screen. The result is a,
package which is much faster and more
precise than screen paint programs.

CAD programs store drawing inform-
ation as a series of co-ordinate points which
are then given various styles of connections
(line types). This produces a very precise
and flexible drawing program which lends
itself to manipulation. Screen paint pro-

grams generally produce graphics by con-
trolling each screen pixel - images are
formed by colouring areas of pixels. You
can only recall the image as a whole picture.
The difference is important - you could
double the size of a vector drawing without
reducing the resolution, but if you double
the size of a painted image, all the pixels
grow. One pixel is changed into a block of
four, so the picture gets ‘chunkier’.

CAD drawings need to be stored in
memory as a series of vector instructions so
that they can be later edited. Painting
programs don’t record the sequence of
operations that created the image. They just
store the picture. Vector-based programs
store the whole sequence of operations

needed to draw the image so that they can
draw or redraw the image at different scales.

TechnoCAD makes the most of available
memory in two ways. First, it reduces the
size of each drawing by encouraging the
extensive use of icons. This means that the
detail required for the icon needs to be
stored only once. Second, the drawing
information is stored in sideways RAM.

TechnoCAD presents two choices alter
‘booting’ up, the drawing program and a
•‘toolkit’ option. The toolkit allows installa-
tion of the hardware and customisation of
the drawing options. It is impressive, cover-
ing things like input device (keyboard,
mouse or trackerball), printer and plotter
types or use of an external plotter driver for

130

ACORN USKR NOVEMBER 1988

DESIGN

those not supported. In all there are some
20 selections, all with subsidiary choices.

The drawing program presents a simple
four-choice menu: Old diagram, New dia-
gram which prompts for a filename, Load
diagram which recalls diagrams saved to
disc, and List diagrams which catalogues the
disc. The first option is used because
TechnoCAD uses all four sideways RAM
slots for storing the evolving diagram.
Consequently the diagram is preserved even
after the Break key is pressed - drawing can
be interrupted in order to carry out other
tasks, and the diagram recalled from side-
ways RAM later.

Diagrams are produced on a clear screen
with a simple border, the only information
being the cursor cross, its co-ordinates
(outside the border at the top), and in-
formation relevant to current activity (out-
side the border at the bottom). The screen is
a ‘window* which can be panned over a
large page (up to 841 x 1189mm in real-
world measurements). There are three
working colours and a background colour.

To put TechnoCAD to the test, an
electronic circuit was drawn. It involved the
production of an icon set and ‘sub-
assemblies’. The icon set is shown in figure
2. All were drawn on the same page.

Forming an icon is carried out by setting
a box cursor around the desired part of the
drawing and adjusting its size to suit the
area. Icons are stored in memory and can
also be saved to disc if required.

Electronic schematics are a convenient
test of this type of package because the basic
icon set can quickly be used to construct
more complicated icons; figure 3 shows two
such units. The final circuit, figure 1, is an
assembly of icons connected together by
simple lines, easily achieved by using the
snap grid to connect them all together.
Accurate connections and details can be
drawn with the zoom option which has a
range between 0.05:1 and 20:1.

Producing icon sets and using them is a
simple task which is supported by a good
range of tools: changing scale, rotating and
so on are simple. The set-up features such as
grid spacing, line thickness and so on can
also be altered to suit. One quickly becomes
adept at moving through the selections,
making changes as the need arises.

With the icons formed, the next task is to
make them into a ‘key’ file. These files are
attributed to the function keys. Thirty-eight
icons at a time can be assigned to the keys
using the Shift, CTRL and Shift plus CTRL
keys with each key, and the set can be
changed while drawing if required. The fO

and ShiL-fO keys are reserved for calling the
last icon used and for calling an icon by
name - very useful when repeats are re-
quired. Once you have completed the
formation of a key file, a key strip is easily
produced on a printer.

In addition to drawing on a single sheet,
diagrams may be constructed on up to eight
layers, in effect a sandwich of drawings.
This allows each diagram in a series to have
correct registration while having a separate
identity, so that it could be plotted on a
different sheet or in a different colour.
Examples of use might be the production of
multi-layer overhead slides, or a base draw-
ing with different text on subsequent layers.

TechnoCAD has a number of limitations.
The first concerns resolution - the finest
drawing distance that can be set is 0.1mm.

This has knock-on effects when attempting
to draw arcs to particular angles. Of course
resolution is no problem for sketches, but it
is a problem for any drawings that require
geometric formations like tangents, bisec-
tions and any line, arc or point of intersec-
tion which should terminate between these
0.1mm grid points. A second limitation
concerns the drawing tools available; lines,
arcs, circles and text only. Line types or
styles (like dotted lines) are surely an
important omission. Of course these can be
constructed as icons, but it is unnecessarily
difficult. There are also no hatching or fill
routines and no auto-dimensioning.

The edit or modify features are good, and
as with all selections, they are fast. Lines,
arcs, circles, icons and text can be selected
and modified in a number of ways such as
moving (in the case of lines either the whole
entity or each end) and deleting. Thickness
and colour can also be changed.

TechnoCAD's speed and range of sup-
port facilities are enough to suggest that it
will be a useful working CAD package. But

it can only be used on the Master series -
the educational field is expected to be its
main market. How will they use it? Prob-
ably any task where schematic arrange-
ments or stylised drawings arc required:
flow charts and electronics spring to mind,'
although all science subjects including de-
sign technology have such applications.
Small businesses would also benefit with
schematic applications, but you should bear
in mind the limited geometric drawing.

The package comes with a fairly compre-
hensive manual which contains a number of
tutorials (although I only saw a draft). It
does revert to jargon at times, which might
upset a novice. In this respect it is worth
considering that the micro is moving from
the province of the computer buff into that
where it will be used as a tool. TechnoCAD

is a good tool, but priced at around £140 it
does appear a little expensive.

AutoSketch - for the Archimedes

Having used AutoCAD for drawing work
in industry, I was more than impressed with
Autodesk’s AutoSketch for the Archimedes,
both with the speed with which you could
draw, and with the overall size and com-
plexity of the drawings that this new
Archimedes drafting program is able to
cope with.

It has all the basic draw, edit and view
commands of a professional drafting system
such as AutoCAD plus one or two that I’ve
often wished would • be included in an
improved version. I soon got the hang of
AutoSketch , by trying each of the options in
turn and using each of the items in the
pull-down menus. In most cases everything
became clear after a quick look at the
manual. But I’ve found that manuals for
users of CAD software are notoriously
poor, often giving a description of a func-
tion without telling you exactly what you

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

131

Archimedes

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DESIGN

should use it for - the AutoSketch manual
is, I’m afraid, no exception.

Installing the AutoSketch files and con-
figuring it for the correct peripheral devices
is no problem - there’s a special installation
guide. AutoSketch really requires either a
normal colour monitor or one of the
multisync screens to allow you to use the
higher resolution modes. The size and
complexity of the drawings possible is
limited by the amount of RAM present in
your computer. Plots and print-outs can be
achieved through a variety of devices, rang-
ing from Epson and IBM-compatible dot-
matrix printers through to Roland plotters,
Hewlett-Packard plotters and laser printers.

To the CAD novice, the AutoSketch
screen may seem a bit daunting, but once a
few menu options have been selected, you’ll
see that they pull down into friendlier-
looking lists. Any beginner should concen-
trate on the Draw, Change and View
menus, drawing lines, boxes and circles,
editing them and zooming and panning the
screen (shifting the view of the drawing or
enlarging it so you can work on the detail of
a small part of it). This should help you in
getting used to the mouse for drawing.
Most of the commands are self-explanatory,
especially with the help of the prompts
on the bottom line of the display.

One rather puzzling command when you
first use it is Curve. When you try and draw
a curve, what you get is a ‘frame’ of control
points connected by straight lines. When
the Curve command is completed, a smooth
Bezier spline curve is drawn, passing
through the first and last points, with the
curve pulled in the direction of the other
two control points. But the frame remains
displayed. It cannot be edited, and the Erase
command won’t get rid of it. The answer is
to be found in the shape of the Frame
command under the Assist menu. This
toggles the display of the frame on and off.

Group is an extremely useful command.
It can be used to group together parts of an
object - lines, curves, boxes and so on -
together into a single compound object, so
they become a single entity. This means that
when moving or copying, only one element
of a group needs to be selected in order to
capture the whole group. It is possible to
create a group of grouped objects, and
grouping can be ‘nested’ up to eight levels
deep. The Ungroup command reverses the
process so a group reverts to a set of
independent entities again.

When you’ve got the hang of drawing,
editing and zooming in and out, it’s time to
explore commands that make drawing

easier. Grid and Snap give precision when
drawing things that have to be of an exact
regular size if you’re not using the keyboard
for co-ordinate entry. I suggest setting up a
grid of dots every time you start a drawing,
spacing them at five or 10 drawing units.
Coupled with a snap setting of say one unit,
this will help ensure that the ends of lines do
actually meet, giving more accurate results.
Say you wanted to draw 10 circles, with a
pitch (distance between their centres) of five
units. With no snap spacing, this is very
tricky, but with a snap spacing of five units
it is easy, as the cursor will always lock onto
points at exactly the right pitch. Snap works
both horizontally and vertically. Both Snap
and Grid can be switched on and off with
the Assist menu, and the distances can be
adjusted with the Settings menu.

As a shortcut in AutoSketch , pressing the
function keys brings up many of the more
frequently used commands, without having
to go through the menus. For example,
pressing fl gives you Undo, while pressing
Shift- Alt-fl gives you Line. One of the
features that AutoSketch has had for some
time is ‘associative dimensioning’. That is
when a dimension is stretched, or a compo-
nent’s size is increased, the distance is
remeasured and the text attached to the
component is automatically changed. This
is very handy, and saves having to retype all
the dimensioning information if you change
the size of a component.

There are 10 available drawing layers on
AutoSketch drawings. These are best de-
scribed as transparent overlays, each with a
different part of the drawing on them. Parts

of a drawing can be on different layers, in
different colours if required, so that any
layer can be viewed or plotted on its own or
in any combination with other layers.

AutoSketch also has two features that will
be of interest to anybody who may be able
to use AutoCAD in the future for drawing
work. If your application outgrows Auto-
Sketch , you can use the Make DXF com-
mand to make a special DXF file of your
drawing, so you can load it into AutoCAD
and use its features to improve your draw-
ing. A DXF file is in a special format,
Drawing Exchange Format, that can be
understood by many professional CAD
packages. A DXF file is usually given the
same name as the drawing file, but it is
stored in the DXF directory, whereas the
main drawing files are kept in the SKD
directory. Sprite files can also be created, so
drawings can be loaded into other Arc
applications and then, if required, be used
independently of AutoSketch.

Import IBM performs the same sort of
function but in reverse - a read DXF in
effect. It allows you to import files from MS
DOS versions of AutoSketch , AutoCAD or
other CAD packages. However, owing to
limitations of AutoSketch , some drawing
constructs such as splines won’t be im-
ported properly. Other versions of Auto-
Sketch (on MS DOS machines) don’t have
this Read DXF ability at all.

A final word about plotting; it’s here that
you can specify what units you want your
drawing to be plotted in. Commands in-
volving selecting pen colours and speeds,
paper sizes and scaling are fairly simple, and
they should be adjusted to suit your ap-
plication, plotter or printer.

The Arc version of AutoSketch does not
lack any major requirement for its intended
application. I would like to have seen more
flexible dimensioning and an easier way of
making multiple copies of something, rather
than grouping them. A cross-hatching abil-
ity would be nice - lines at a user-definable
spacing and angle would suffice.

But aside from these minor points, Auto-
Sketch is more than adequate at handling
most sorts of drawings. It is as at home
drawing house extensions as graphs and
technical illustrations. If you possess an
Archimedes and you’re curious about
CAD, then you should be seriously in-
terested in A utoSk etch. '

AutoSketch; £91 from Autodesk , South-

bank Technopark , 90 London Road , Lon-
don SE1 6LN. TechnoCAD; around £ 140
from Technomatic, 17 Burnley Road y Lon-
don NW10 1ED.

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

133

THE CONCEPT KEYBOARD
SOFTWARE HOUSE

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SHIRLEY
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Tel: 0703 701694

We are always interested in hearing about
your projects using the Star Microterminals
Limited Concept Keyboard and will consider
publishing software on your behalf.

Please write to DAVID JUPP at the above
address.

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Protect Switch and a battery life of approx 1 0 years £33.00 £37.95c

CARE MASTER ROM CARTRIDGES

ALSO SUITABLE FOR INTERWORD AND SPELL MASTER

Standard Cart takes two Roms £9.00 £1 0.35c

Standard Cart with Single Zif £1 3.40 £1 5.41 c

Standard Cart with Two Zifs £ 1 7.60 £20.24c

Quad Cart takes Four Roms £1 4.00 £1 6. 1 0c

Cartridge forTwo32K Roms £12.00 £13.80c

Master Rom Extender for using BBC B Cartridges

on the Master-Ideal for schools £1 3.00 £1 4.95c

Morley AA (Internal)Rom Board £40.00 £46.00d

BBC B ROM CARTRIDGE SYSTEM

BBC B Low Profile Rom System £1 2.00 £1 3.80c

BBC B Spare Cartridge £3.00 £3.45c

BBC B Cartridges can be used on the Master with the master Rom
Extender -See above

EPROM PROGRAMMER V2

Programs 8K, 16K, 32K CMOS or NMOS devices voltage selectable
21 V or 1 2.5V. Complete with comprehensive software which includes
Rom management system, plugs into the user port £30.00 £34.50c

SPECIAL OFFER
MORLEY TELETEXT ADAPTOR

Comes with 16K ATS Rom, 16K Utilities Rom, Two Manuals and
utilities Disc at the unbeatable price of £84.80 £97.52

LABELMASTER

Uses a variety of print styles and sizes. All formatting is done for you
and can accept different label sizes. A comprehansive label printing
program that is easy to use for BBC B, Master, Compact and Electron.
Please state model when ordering £1 5.00 £1 7.25c

CARE PRINTER BUFFER

User definable for BBC B, master on Rom or Disc £1 4.00 £1 6.1 Oc

MASTERCOPY

If you need to copy between DFS and ADFS and DFS. MCOPY is it
£11.26 £1 2.95c

PRINTER SWITCHERS

Two Printers to one computer £30.00 £34.50d

Four computers to one printer £50.00 £57.50d

Please note that all the above units switch all lines, are suitable for all types of
printers and computers using Centronics Parallel and INCLUDE LEAD

Six computers to one printer £71.00 £81 .65d

Four to one automatic switcher £1 02.00 £1 1 7.30d

Eight to one automatic switcher £1 28.00 £1 47.00d

For advice or a quote on your installation please phone

User port switcher 2 to 1 off £33.00 £37.95d

User port switcher 6 to 1 off £72.00 £82.80d

RS423 Serial Switcher 2 to 1 £20.20 £23.23d

CARE READY MADE LEADS RANGE

BBC/Master RGB-7 Pin Hitachi £6.20 £7. 13c

BBC/Master RGB-7 Pin Ferguson £6.20 £7.13c

Centronics to Centronics Printer £1 1 .00 £1 2.65c

User Port Extension lead 0.5M £9.00 £1 0.35c

1 MHz Bus Extension lead 0.3M £1 0.40 £1 1 .96c

Wide range of leads in stock - please phone
Government & Educational orders welcome. How to order: Enclose your cheque or P/Order

made payable to CARE ELECTRONICS. «« , ,

Access or Visa cards welcome. Please allow 7 days for delivery.

Please add Post & Packing - a=£10.35; b=£5.75; c=£1 .15; d=£2.30

134

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

COPING WITH NUMBERS

Charts and graphs make understanding reams of numbers much easier. Peter Sandford looks at
two packages that can help you transform boring old numbers

RE VIEWS!

SOFTWARE

Prestenter, bar chart menu allows you to select an attractive three-dimensional display

Confront the average person with a solid
page of numbers and the chances are that
you’ll be met with a glazed expression and
evidence that you’ve discovered an infall-
ible cure for insomnia. Convert those sta-
tistics into a series of colourful charts and
diagrams and you stand a much greater
chance of getting your message across.

When the BBC micro was released,
several software houses recognised its
potential as a means of presenting inform-
ation in graphical form. Packages such as
View Plot, Inter Chart, and even Acorn Us-
er's own ViewChart , have all been used
widely in homes, business and education.
They translate data extracted from data-
bases and spreadsheets into barcharts,
piecharts or other forms of graph.

Two new pieces of Archimedes software
aim to exploit the advanced graphics cap-
abilities of the new machine for a similar
purpose. Presenter from Lingenuity makes
full use of Arthur’s WIMP environment to
provide an easy-to-use package. Gamma-
Plot, from Minerva, is a more ambitious
package which exploits the Archimedes’
graphics to the full.

Both packages enable you to enter and
edit data manually, or to read it in from an
external database or spreadsheet. Once en-
tered, the data can be plotted in a variety of
forms, and you can swap instantly from
say, a piechart to a barchart or a line graph,
to find the best way to present the data.

1 was pleased to find that both packages
come complete with their own demons-
tration datafiles, which proves invaluable
for learning to use the software.

As mentioned earlier, Presenter makes
use of the built-in WIMP environment of
the Archimedes. Having used First Word
Plus extensively, I found it very easy to
familiarise myself with Presenter s system
of pop-up menus. I found I could access
most of the options, without recourse to
the manual, after a very short time indeed.

Data is entered into a straightforward
‘spreadsheet* type of display. Menu op-
tions allow you to select automatic hori-
zontal or vertical movement of the cell

cursor, if required. Data can be edited with
a series of mouse-controlled commands,
allowing you to cut, paste, insert, and
delete individual rows and columns.

Having entered your data, you can
choose to plot it in the form of either a
barchart, piechart or line graph. Each type
of graph offers a further menu, allowing
you to control details such as the position-
ing of legends and choice of screen colours.
The barchart menu also allows you to
select a three-dimensional bar display
which is particularly attractive. These op-
tions are saved to disc with the data.

Three types of printer are supported by
Presenter; Epson FX and compatibles, In-
tegrex 132 colour printers, and Plotmate
A4SM and A3M colour plotters. Data can
be imported from spreadsheets and data-
bases, but must be in CSV (comma separ-
ated value) Ascii format - lists of numbers
separated by commas. The datafiles must
also be copied into a specific directory on
the same disc as the main Presenter prog-
ram files. 1 was disappointed that there was

no facility to access data from other discs
while the program is running.

The screen displays created by Presenter
arc clear and simple, but I found the range
of options somewhat limited. For instance,
it is not possible to highlight an individual
piechart segment by ‘exploding’ it from the
main body of the piechart. Presenter will
only operate in a 16-colour mode, and
there is no facility to add extra text or to
customise the display substantially. Ling-
enuity appears to have assumed that users
ol this software will also have access to a
separate graphic art package such as Arti-
san. This would certainly be essential
should you wish to add any finishing
touches to the display.

GammaPlot is a much more ambitious
piece of software, and offers a much wider
range of facilities than Presenter. Inevit-
ably, it takes a greater effort to learn to use
it; but Minerva is to be commended for its
clear, illustrated manual, which includes a
lengthy ‘experimental’ section. This takes
you step-by-step through a demonstration

ACORN USi'R NOVl.M BKR 1988

135

REVIEWS

SOFTWARE

tutorial based around the sample datafiles
supplied with the disc.

Rather than use the native WIMP system
of the Archimedes, Minerva has opted for a
menu-driven program. Some sections of
the software make use of the mouse, while
others rely solely on keyboard input. I
found this to be rather inconsistent, and
would have preferred to be able to use the
mouse throughout.

GammaPlot offers five basic types of
graphs and charts; scattergrams, line
graphs, piecharts, barcharts and three-
dimensional barcharts. I was surprised,
however, to find that neither GammaPlot
nor Presenter allow you to plot 'stacked’
barcharts, where each bar is subdivided
into segments.

As data is entered, the current graph
type is actually plotted in miniature in the
top left of the screen. All the obvious
options are available to allow you to tailor
the basic graph display to your require-
ments. For instance, labels can be plotted
in a choice of normal, thin or small fonts,
and there is full control over the verticle
and horizontal scales of the axes. You can
also choose whether to use a 16 or 256-
colour screen mode.

Having entered the data and defined the
basic graph type, you must switch back to
the main menu to view the full-sized graph
display. This is where the software starts to
show its real qualities. The screen 'win-
dow’ which the graph occupies can be
redefined using the mouse, allowing you to
increase or decrease the size of the graph
and to alter its position on the screen.
Moreover, it is possible to store the data
and window definitions for several
graphics in memory at the same time.
These can all be plotted at once, thereby
enabling you to build up some quite com-
plex and sophisticated screen displays,
combining several different types of graph
if you wish.

The data used in the graphs can also be
analysed to provide an instant display of
key statistical information. This includes
minimum and maximum values, the mean
value, the standard deviation, the line of
best fit, the correlation co-efficients and
co-variance.

GammaPlot also allows you to plot data
using a series of macro commands. These
effectively act as a mini-programming lang-

GammaPlot — I

rntt Iirrriiet T:Fr»Aie» FtFriot Etc.Fiil...

Gamma Plot, statistical data can be displayed

Sophisticated screen displays can be created

uage which can be used to build up com-
plex screen displays. They also allow you
to pre-define certain types of data display
which may need to be used on a regular
basis, such as monthly sales graphs.

Some 28 commands are available, and
these can be combined with eight standard
Basic commands to control the screen
display. As an example, the following
sequence of commands can be used to load
and plot the datafile ‘SALES86’ as a line
graph, complete with line of best fit:
LOAD SALES86
FONT THIN
LINE SALES86
BESTFIT SALES86

More complex command sequences can be
built up, including conditional branches
and loops. Commands can be saved and
reloaded, and there’s a built-in editor.

The other major feature offered by
GammaPlot is its built-in art package. This
can be used to edit screens, and customise
them to your requirements. It also offers
sufficient facilities to act as a drawing
package in its own right, operating in
either 16 or 256-colour modes.

This customisation program is controlled
by a series of on-screen menus, with most
options selected and controlled using the

mouse. It includes all the standard facilities
offered by art packages, including air-
brushes, a pixel editor and various shape-
plotting options. Text can be plotted in a
variety of sizes and fonts, and there is a
choice of eight different types of boxes
which can be used to highlight parts of the
display. There is also a choice of screen
dump options, including Epson-
compatibles and Integrex colour-jet prin-
ters. It is also possible to load and display a
series of screen displays in sequence as a
kind of ‘slide show’, controlled by the
mouse keys. A nice touch here is that the
mouse pointer can be toggled on or off at
will, enabling you to point to areas of the
screen during a demonstration.

Data can be imported into GammaPlot
in a variety of formats. There is obviously
strong support for Minerva’s own System
Delta database in the form of a special
linking program enabling you to plot data
directly from the database files. Data can
also be plotted directly from Ascii files, but
these must be in an unusual format using
Tabs to separate values instead of the
conventional CSV file format.

Data can also be extracted from spread-
sheets, but must first be converted into the
correct file format. A special utilities menu
allows you to do this, supporting View-
sheet , Intersheet , SigmaSheet , and CSV
spreadsheets like Pipedream. The Gamma-
Plot manual was thin on this subject, but I
found that standard CSV format Ascii files
could be imported in this way, by regard-
ing them as ‘CSV spreadsheets’.

My overall impressions of GammaPlot
were very favourable. It is a comprehensive
package which, with a bit of ingenuity, can
be used to create very sophisticated and
attractive screen displays. It does, however,
require considerable input from the user to
get the most from the software. If ease of
use is your main criteria, then take a good
look at Presenter . Personally, I found it
offered a rather limited range of display
options, which don’t fully exploit the capa-
bilities of the Archimedes. But other users,
particularly in education, may be attracted
by its simple but clear screen presentations.

Presenter, H9.84 , from Lingenuity , Wood

Farm , Linstead Magna , Halesworth , Suf-
folk IP19 ODD, tel: 098-685 475. Gamma-
Plot, £69.95 from Minerva Software , 69
Sidwell Street , Exeter , Devon EX4 6PH.

X lllw T lilw

136

ACORN US HR NOVRMBHR vm

AQHWim.

PRINTERS

I ARCHIMEDES

1 305 BASE AKB 10

612.00

I 305 & mono monitor

665.00

| 305 & colour monitor

827.00

1 310 BASE AKBI5

731.00

1 310 & mono monitor

783.00

1 310 & colour monitor

922.00

I A3I0M AKB30

783.00

1 A3I0M mono

835.00

1 A3 10M colour

975.00

1 410 SERIES

1 Mono

P.O.R.

1 Colour

P.O.R.

I 440 SERIES

I Entry System

2210.00

I Mono

2263.00

I Colour

2403.00

| Archimedes/Master Econet

43.00

I 0 5 MB RAM

127.00

| Floppy disk

110.00

I 20 Mbyte hard disk & podule

423.00

1 |300 only)

1 Podule Backplane

35.00

I Archimedes Pref. Manual ....

29.95

Assm. Lang Prog Manual ....

11.00

Archmedes software In stock

MASTER 128

1 Complete with internal

1 Software

346.00

1 Master Turbo Upgrade

99.00

1 Master Econet Module

40.00

I Master 512 Upgrade

99.00

1 Universal second processor .

75.00

I Eprom Cartridge

13.00

Reference Manual Part 1

14.95

Reference Manual Part 2

14.95

BBC MASTER COMPACT

ENTRYSYSTEM

1 * 1 28k* 'Single 640K Drive*

1 ’Bundled Software*

306.00

TVSYSTEM

*I28K* 'Single 640K Drive*

*UHF

I Modulator* 'Bundled Software*

319.00

MONO S YSTEM

•I28K* -Single 640K Drive*

-Bundled >

Software* *17' High Res Monochrome '

Monitor*

349.00 1

COLOURSYSTEM

*I28K* 'Single 640K Drive*

’Bundled

Software' *14" Medium Res Colour 1

Monitor"

481.00

I MONITORS

Phillips BM 7502

12" Hi res. P3I Green Phospher Screen
CVBS input. Audio input Band width 20 !

MHz. 2000 CHRS Display

68.00

Samsung 12" Mono White ...

89.00

Samsung 12" Mono Green ...

89.00

Samsung 12" Mono Amber ..
Samsung 14"

97.00

Mono Hi Res White

97.00

Samsung 14"

1 Mono Hi Res Green

97.00 I

Samsung 14"

Mono Hi Res Amber

109.00

Samsung 14" CGA

. 249.00

Samsung 14" CGA/EGA

.. 335.00

Samsung 14" VGA

.. 335.00

Samsung 14" Multiscan

COLOUR MONITORS
Phillips CM8833

.. 355.00 1

I4"CVBS and RGB medium resolution 1

colour monitor. IBM PC compatible. Fast

blankup to enable superimposing.

Stereo Audio. Ear phone socket. 600 dots 1

x 285 lines vertical

Phillips CMBBS2

234.00 I

! 4" RGB professional med res colour. 700

| dots x 285

251.00 1

SERIAL & PARALLEL T SWITCHES

Parallel T switch (2 way)

20.00

Parallel T Switch (4 way)

25.00

MITSUBISHI DISC DRIVES

Source 100% BBC compatible slimline disk
drives. All drives supplied complete with
formatting diskette, comprehensive users
manual and all necessary cables. All drives are
40/80 switchable and have two years
warranty.

S'/S Drives without P.S.U.

'lOOA Single 400K Double Sided 90.00

SD 802C Dual 400K Double Sided

190.00

S'/S Drives with P.S.U.

4008 Single 400K Double Sided

117.00

SD 802E Dual 400K Double Sided

204.00

SD 802D Dual 400K Drives horizontally
mounted m a monitor stand to fit both
the BBC B and the Master series ... 230.00

Mitsubishi Bave dnves’uncased with
40/80 switch 77.00

WINCHESTER DISC DRIVES

20 Mbyte 408.00

30 Mbyte 432.00

40 Mbyte 552.00

60 Mbyte 672.00

Ail Winchester come ready to plug into
the Master 1 28.

ADFS RAM required for BBC 26.00

ITWllSfAJ

PANASONIC KX-P 1081

Panasonic KX-P 1081 135.00

The faster and -

enhanced KX-P 1 08 1.

120 cps in draft
mode. 24 cps in NLQ
mode, Fully Epson
RX80 and IBM Matrix

and Graphics Printers u

compatible. Standard friction and tractor reed'
Operator accessible print mode switch. Standard
8 bit parallel interface. RS 232 interface is optional

NEC P2200 PINWRITER

275.00 + vat

RSLTO

FREE PRINTER CABLE
FREE PRINTER STAND

FREE 200 SHEETS PAPER
24-pin dot-matrix printer. Letter-perfect print,
in several sizes, at 56 characters per seconds
(cps). Or switches to draft mode for
high-volume outputs at 1 68 cps. Built-in
tractor that permits push or pull feeding.
Print Rate: High-speed draft: 168 cps. Standard
draft: I40cps. Letter quality: 56 cps
Printhead: Impact 24-pin dot matrix.

Input Buffer: 8K standard

Graphic Resolution: Up to 360 x 360 dpi

CUT SHEET FEEDER 59.00

SERIAL INTERFACE KIT 55.00

FRONT CARTRIDGE 25.00

NEC MONITORS

OFFICIAL NEC UK PRODUCTS

MULTISYNC PLUS 695.00

This 15 inch, high resolution (1024 x 768) monitor is
ideal for use with IBM/XT/AT and PS/2 plus Apple Mac
II and othe IBM PC compatible microcomputers It
automatically scans all horizontal frequencies from 21.8
KHz to 48 KHz and vertical frequencies ranging from
50 to 90 H2. It supports EGA enhanced EGA PGC.
MCGA and VGA colour graphics standards

MULTISYNC II 450.00

This redesigned 14" MultiSync high resolution monitor
offers all the benefits of the previous model such as
automatic synchronisation, suitable for use with IBM/XT /
AT and PS2 plus Apple Mac II and compatible with
Hercules. MDA. CGA EGA. EGA-f, PGC. and VGA
graphics standards plus front mounted user controls
and automatic selection of AnalogTTTL and Vertical Hold
modes.

MULTISYNC GS 149.00

Offers the user a high resolution (720 x 480|. 14 inch
monochrome display which is hardware compatible
with IBM PC XT. AT. and PS/2 machines The MultiSync
GS supports MDA Hercules. CGA EGA MCGA and
VGA display standards. It automatically' locks on to one
of five frequencies from 15.7 to 31.5 KHz to suppport
all the above major graphics standards and three vertical |
frequencies ranging from 50 to 70 HZ

PC ADDONS

20 Mb Hard Disk

199.00 1

30 Mb Hard Disk

240.00 I

20 Mb Hard Card

199.00 1

30 Mb Hard Card

Other PC products available.

Call for details.

240.00 I

SPECIAL PACKAGE

Phillips CM8833 Monitor
and TV Tuner

j { Save £45. )

APEX HOUSE
BLANDFORD ROAD
NORWOOD GREEN
SOUTHALL
MIDD UB2 4HD
© 01-574 5271 or
S 01-571 5938
Telex : 25247 Telex G.attn TIL
Fax: 01-574 4326

You can purchase any of the Items listed. All you have to do Is write your
| requirements on a sheet of paper, and we will despatch your goods within 24
hours, subject to availability. Please add the following amounts for Postage
and Packing.

I Items below 10.00 add 1.50 Items below 50 00 add 2. SO

I Items below lOO.OOadd 3.50 Items over 100.00 add 8.00

I (UK Mainland only j

All prices exclude VAT. Please add 15% VAT to all orders.

, Prices correct at time of going to press but subject to change without notice
Please make cheques payable to TWILLSTAR COMPUTERS LTD.

\ AccessA/lsa Card Holders: Welcome.

VISIT OUR MEGA-COMPUSTORE OPEN 9am - 6pm Monday to Saturday
CREDIT FACILITIES, we are authorised credit brokers. Typical APR 36% I

PRINTERS

AMSTRAD LQ3500 250.00

24 pm NLQ 160cps LQ 54CPS Prints
graphics output Supplied with bolt-on
tractor and featuring PC and Epson
LQ- 1 500 compatibility

(Subject lo av.iiMUiiiiy)

AMSTRAD DMP4000 250.00

200cps wide-carriage Inbuilt tractors
allow fast paper slew rates, and PC and
Epson FX compatibility

(Subject to .iv.uWiiliiyl

NEW PRINTERS

AMSTRAD DMP3250 dl 189.00

AMSTRAD LQ3500 dl 299.00

AMSTRAD LQ5000 dl 369.00

STAR LC- 10 189.00

New enhanced version complete with

IBM & Parallel Interface

Sheetfeeder POA

STAR LC-10 Colour 2 1 5.00

Ribbon 4.70

MP135

135 cps. 80 column printer. Friction
tractor feed. NLQ Epson & IBM
Compatible 126.00

EPSON PRINTERS

LX-800 199.00

FX-800 320.00

FX-1000 399.00

EX-800 420.00

EX- 1000 565.00

LQ-500 299.00

LQ-850 449.00

LQ-1050 599.00

LQ-2500+ 720.00

LQ-2550 899.00

SQ-2500 969.00

SQ-3500 1199.00

NEC PINWRITER P9XL

P960XL 885.00

P965XL Serial/Parallel 970.00

NEC SILENTWRITER LC866+/LC890
LC866+ 1870.00

LC890 2995.00

FREE with Silentwriter 12 months onsite
maintenance contrac.

PRINTERS

SPECIAL OFFER OF
THE MONTH

CITIZEN 1 20D 117.00

Dai Matrix Printer. I20cps NLO. 2 year

warranty. You have to see the quality
at this price

CITIZEN LSP I00P 138.00

l20/25cps 80 column Centronics IBM
Parallel

CITIZEN MSP ISE

!60/40cps 136 column Centronics

IBM Parallel 240.00

CITIZEN HQ P40 325.00

80 column. 24 pm. Dual interface.

Colour Option 50.00

Colour Ribbon 20.00

CITIZEN HO P4S 289.00

136 column. 24 pin. Dual interface.

NEC PINWRITER P5XL

P565XL Serial/Parallel 740.00

Pm tractor 50.00

Bi-directional tractor . 125.00

Single bin cut sheet feeder 240.00

Double bin cut sheet feeder 440.00

Font cartridge 40.00

RAM cartridge 30.00

NEW NEC PINWRITER P6/P7

The ultimate matrix printer for business
Prin speeds of 265cps in draft and 90cps
in letter quality. Inbuilt tractors A paper
park and low tear off facility. Twenty
inbuilt fonts as standard. A font cartridge
facility for greater flexibility. An amazing
80K byte print bufer. 24 pm printhead
Centronics parallel interface. Compatible
with previous NEC 24 pin printers.

P6+ 80 characters 434.00

P7+ 136 characters 608.00

DAISYWHEELS
BROTHER HR 20

Daisywheel 8K standard buffer
upgradable to I6K Standard serial/

parallel po rt 338.00

JUKI Daisywheel

Juki 6100 286.00

GAKKEN GPR-2000

Print speed of 18 characters per second
Fully Qume compatible. Takes Qurne
exchangable Daisywheel and ribbons.
Selectable 10, 12 & 15 pitch. Supports
proportional spacing Standard friction
feed. Tractor/cut sheet feeder and serial

interface optional 146.00

CITIZEN Daisywheel
Premiere 35

35cps 15" daisywheel. Diablo
compatible 399.00

— J

CITIZEN 120D

Maintenance contracts available.
Authorised service centre.

Call for details 01-574 5271

CITIZEN HO P40

Archimedes is a registered trade mark of
Acom Computers Ltd

Communications Software for Acom Archimedes computers

U-Connect is a general-purpose, but full-featured communications software package written
specifically for the Archimedes range of computers, using a combinations of assembler and C'

U-Connect runs exclusively within the Archimedes WIMP environment, fully utilising the concepts
of multiple windows, icons, and pop-up menus to provide an easy-to-use. flexible, and attractive
mouse-driven package

U-Connect provides:

Terminal Emulations - Teletype, VT52, VT 100 and VideoTex (Prestei)

File Transfers ASCII, X-Modem. Kermit, CET (Prestei Download)

Screen Review view past text/frames in separate scrolling window
Modem Drivers - support for all common types of modems , fully user configurable (Hayes,
Dacom, Pulsed and Dumb supplied as standard)

PhoneBooks - Multiple Phonebooks allowed, each with 40 entries, defining phone numbers,
logon, function keys etc . allowing the complete environment to be pre-configured automatically
before connection

U-Connect is ideal for the Archimedes User who wishes to connect to remote computer
services, such as Bulletin Boards, Online Databases. Conference Systems. E-Mail
systems etc It is supplied on 3 5’ disk, with a comprehensive user manual covering all
aspects of the package

U-Connect is the first in a range of Magenta Research software packages planned for
the Archimedes over the coming months

Price: £59.95 inc VAT & p+ p (outside UK add £4 p+p) Send cheque or PO to:

MAGENTA RESEARCH-LTD

5lh Floor, Amp House. Dingwall Road Croydon, CRO 9XA. United Kingdom
Phone 01 681 7179 International +441 681 71 79 Telex 934302 MAGSYS G

fannulEch

INTEGRA-/?

The Expansion for the BBC
Model B

Includes

64k Sideways Ram,
12k Private Ram,
20k Shadow Ram,
Real-Time Clock,

8 free Rom sockets
will take 128k Ram.

What the press have said -

A&B Computing • Clive Grace
“I like this board -- buy itt”

ACORN USER • Dave Futchcr
“an outstanding product'’

The INTEGRA-/? provides four operation modes - as standard Beeb or with
shadow Ram and emulation of ‘B+’ or of Master 128. Ideal for educational,
commercial and data collection applications, as well as the private user.

The included battery-backup system, (which covers all fitted Ram), can save any
data in Ram during a power-line disturbance or when the computer is switched
off. Also, Rom images can be loaded from disc, stored and cleared at will,
minimising the need for physical Rom changes. Compatible with DFS, ADFS
and second processors conforming to ACORN® protocols.

OFFER PRICES

UK - £130 (inch PAP, VAT), Europe - £118 (inch PAP), Others - £118 plus PAP.
Extra 32k RAM Chip - £14 - (inch PAP UK A Europe)

Dual WP Switch Assembly - £7, Extra Way - £1.50, (inch PAP UK A Europe)

“ COMPUTECH

77i< Garth, HampsfeJl Rocui, Grange over Sands, Cumbria. LA11 6BG

Telephone: 044 84 4604

Statistical
Services Centre

INSTAT

INSTAT is available for PC’s and BBC Microcomputers
INSTAT is a general purpose statistics package for interactive
data analysis. It is useful for statistics teaching and for my
research requiring statistical analysis of data.

Facilities include:

easy data entry and editing
descriptive statistics
multiple regression
multiple tables
probability distributions
extensive help facilities

calculations
powerful plotting
ANOVA

random sample generation
macros

. . . and much more. . .

“. . . where extensive use is made of statistics and a BBC mirco
can be devoted to the purpose, INSTAT is quite simply the
best”. Acorn User January 1987

“. . . the authors of INSTAT clearly believe that they have
produced something rather special. I, for one, would agree with
them”. Times Higher Education Supplement, June 1987.

Prices (educational and multiple copy discounts available):

INSTAT BBC £85 + VAT

(disc, EPROM, Introductory, Reference and Supplementary
Guides)

INSTAT PC £150 + VAT

(disc, Introductory, Reference and Supplementary

Guides) BBC Basic (86) to enable you to

program and add modules to INSTAT PC £95 + VAT

For further details contact: Alison Anseil at the Statistical
Services Centre, Department of Applied Statistics, Universty of
Reading, Reading, RG6 2AN. Telephone: (0734) 318025

138

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

REVIEWS

A SCHOLARLY STORE

Researchers and academics will find ArcTFS - a specialist program for
the Archimedes - a useful tool, says Dave Futcher

Both the wordprocessor and database have
limitations for storing certain types of data.
Neither is particularly good with unstruc-
tured information that you collect while
studying a subject, like quotations, chunks
of text, jotted notes and precis. To make
the best use of this data you have to
cross-reference it. But it lacks the con-
formity that you need for a database.
Storing it in wordprocessed files is not
that helpful and wordprocessors don’t have
the necessary sorting and selecting power.

ArcTFS may be the answer to every
researcher’s dream! It’s a specialised system
that you can use to organise all these
disparate pieces of text. It is best described
as a free-form filing system. The text items
can vary in length from a couple of lines to
a page or more, and ArcTFS stores them on
disc economically and allows immediate
access and manipulation.

ArcTFS actually uses four datafiles to
manage the data, one each for Text, Con-
text codes and Source codes, and a fourth
known as the Linker file which links the
other three.

Each portion of text is identified by a
Context which states its relationship to the
chosen theme, and a Source. The Linker
file plays a central role - it links the other
three files together. It’s a database, contain-
ing pointers to the three other files, show-
ing where the text, the context and the
source start for each item. You can add
extra information on each item too - a date
field or a country of origin for example.
However the larger the Linker file, the less
room there will be for actual text.

The Context codes are the most impor-
tant. They allow you to specify context or
keywords which are appropriate to the
piece of text you are filing. When a code is
used for the first time, you are asked to
write a definition - you can go back to it if
you forget what the code means. For my
own research, some of the Context codes
might be APU (meaning Assessment and
Performance Unit), KIREP (Kingman Re-
port on the Teaching of English) and
NATCUR (National Curriculum).

The answer to every researchers dream

The source of the information also needs
coding. Again, examples from the same
research include: EDCOMP ( Educational
Computing magazine), HAMMOND
(Hammond, Ray. Forward 100 , Viking,
1984), and EVANS (Evans, Nick. The
Future of the Miaocomputer in Schools ,
MacMillan, 1986). Prolific authors can also
be coped with by using a slash: EVANS/
86A. The Context file has room for 250
codes and the Sources file has room for 400
sources.

Once you have entered information for
the Context and Source you can begin to
enter the text you want to store. To help,
ArcTFS has its own text editor. It’s quite a
respectable editor too, with most of the
features that you would expect. The max-
imum length of text is 100 lines of 78
characters, and all this text area is accessi-
ble in a scrolling window of nine lines.

As well as typing in text, you can import
it directly. For a start you can move
references from one ArcTFS file to another.
And wordprocessed text can be imported -
this works wonderfully with First Word
Plus files from the Arc and it should work
with any other ASCII files, including BBC
micro wordprocessing packages such as
Wordwise and View. More and more re-
searchers now log on to on-line databases
(particularly American ones), and it is
possible to import files downloaded from
this kind of source.

You can’t yet import from a 288 port-
able, but an upgrade to do this is promised:
this will be a great boon to researchers

working with their portables in the uni-
versity library!

Once you have entered some informa-
tion, you can use it as you wish. It is easy
to search for all references with a common
Context - an excellent way of finding out
what you have stored on a particular topic.
These references can then be sorted or
printed out, and they can be exported to
First Word Plus ready for inclusion into
your document.

It is possible to browse through the data,
‘tagging’ records which are of particular
interest and selecting these for action.

The program does not use the Arc
WIMP system at all, but has its own
mouse-driven menu and help systems
which are fast, unobstrusive and accurate.

ArcTFS comes with a 25-page spiral-
bound A4 manual. It adequately explains
all you need to know about this complex,
but very usable, program. It even has a
good index. I feel I can only really fault it
on the lack of screen shots.

Although ArcTFS was designed as a
research or study tool, it has applications
in teaching. It also has possibilities as an
extensive bibliographic database.

Anyone who has previously struggled
with a normal database for referencing
research material will be pleased that Tex-
cellence has released ArcTFS. It certainly
allows easier file creation, filing and search-
ing than any normal card-index type data-
bases. It is adaptable and it works. It
allows sophisticated cross-referencing,
searching, sorting and collating. I also
value the fact that I can tag items in my
large file and export them into First Word
Plus , then process them ready for a paper
I’m presenting. There is no doubt about
the value of ArcTFS to the writer or the
researcher. It’s easy to use, and allows
sophisticated searching and sorting of text.
Anyone who needs to manage large
amounts of this sort of information should
find ArcTFS invaluable.

ArcTFS costs £29.95 for the Archimedes

from T excellence, 2 Greenhill Road , Col-
eraine, Northern Ireland BT51 3JE

AC:ORN USUR NOVl-MBKR I %’S

139

OFFERS

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Chris Drage
Nick Evans

Micros in education
- the definitive guide

Microcomputers need no longer stay hidden in the corner,
gathering dust. Teacher Friendly is a new book, written by
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that is destined to become the definitive guide to using the
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Suitable for everyone involved in education - whether or
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sections on using micros in Maths, Language, Topic work,
Science, Music, CDT, Special Needs and Art.

The book is packed with information, written in plain
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Stop Press comes on two 16k ROMs and two discs for the
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I enclose my cheque/postal order for £ made payable

to LDA Ltd.

Please charge my Access/Barclaycard for £

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Send this coupon with your remittance to Stop Press Offer , Redwood
Publishing Ltd, 20-26 Brunswick Place, London N1 6DJ.

I

140

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

REV IEWS

TOUGH AT THE TOP

Have you ever ^agined yourself at the helm of a successful company?
It’s not such a big deal, as Michael Leete discovered

Chairman of the Board is a £60 package
consisting of a single disc and two bundles
of A4 paper bound with plastic coloured
strips. Appropriate, as this method of
binding is popular in business circles be-
cause it’s easy to dismantle for photo-
copying. But it can't be laid out flat to read
while you are typing. The bundles are
inscribed ‘Tutor’s Manual’ and ‘Player’s
Instructions’. Both arc well written, but
the print and the quality of the paper mean
that they probably won’t make good
copies for long.

The software supposes that the player,
or team, has been appointed chairman of
the board of a company that makes and
sells microcomputers. The company is two
years old, and so is the home market in
which it operates. There is also an export
market which is only one year old and so is
less developed. The years progress in
quarterly steps, and decisions in produc-
tion, marketing and finance are taken by
the board, then processed and reported
upon by the computer

My own strategy, as the new chairman,
was to make no new decisions until I had
got my knees brown. Accordingly, in the
first quarter, I studied the reports for
period 0, and accepted the computer’s
suggestions. They happened to turn out
quite well, although I soon found that they
could be bettered. Evidently the retirement
of the old board had been overdue.

The next step was to save that position
before tackling negotiations for the over-
draft facility in the next period. Unfortu-
nately, saving the game is geared to a
school bell, so it exits the program.

Having got back to the end of period
one, I tried to see how the program coped
with preposterous business decisions. It
did just fine. I went bust in six months,
and was told that the company was in the
hands of the Liquidator. Pressing Escape
produced the statement ‘your company is
bankrupt’. In retrospect, my decisions had
not been quite as silly as I’d supposed. I
had exceeded my borrowing limit in two

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988 £

successive periods but, at the end of the
day, there was still cash in the bank. In real
life, I might just have been in the hands of
a Receiver appointed by the bank and the
question of a liquidation would never have
arisen. In any case, a company cannot be
bankrupt - the proper word is insolvent.

So how was it that I had been trading
successfully, though not optimising profits,
and still blew it? The answer was that the
program makes the unrealistic assumption
that the cost of raw materials, manufactur-
ing costs, delivery and salaries are paid out
on the first day of the quarter. All income
arrives on the last day. So apart from any
opening bank balance, all operating costs
have to be financed from borrowings for
the full three months.

The program’s blurb invites the player
‘to manage and control all the key opera-
tions of a typical manufacturing company’.
Yet this cash flow picture is not typical of
any company I’ve ever encountered.

At this point I abandoned the program
as a simulation and treated it as a challenge.
This brought another major complaint. It
is madness to sit in front of a computer and
still have to use a calculator. You are told,
for example, the unit cost of supplies and
of manufacture but you have to do your
own arithmetic to calculate the initial cash
outflow. Not too difficult, perhaps, but if
the mathematical consequences of decisions
had been placed on the screen against the
actual results of the previous quarter, no-
thing would have been lost and much

gained - this is precisely how real forecasts
must be presented.

Persevering, I took my next strategy
from the lessons of Acorn. I reduced the
price of the company micro to £499 (ex-
cluding VAT, of course, although the cash
flow benefits of VAT in such a labour-
intensive company are not considered in
'the program) and, since our export market
obviously included the USA, steadfastly
had nothing to do with it. In the short
term, this helped the profit record so I
calculated the best dividend that I could
pay, with a view to a Rights Issue later on
when the share price had risen. Then the
share price plummetted.

Here, I read the Tutor’s Manual, where I
learned that the share price is fundamental-
ly affected by the change in dividend
payments in successive quarters. A good
dividend record is only one of the factors
that give underlying support to a share’s
price, but I cannot see the logic of a
quarterly assessment. I also confirmed that
greater emphasis is placed on promotional
expenditure than is typical of most com-
mercial enterprises. I accept the authors’
analysis but take the view that far too
much importance is given to marketing,
while not a penny is spent on research and
development. Both, I believe, would be
essential to the chosen enterprise.

Frankly, I found the tutor’s manual
more interesting than the program. I think
that a lot of good work has gone into the
program and the two booklets, but not
enough has been done to make the simula-
tion realistic or typical. Without an excep-
tional tutor, it just isn’t sufficiently instruc-
tive. Comparative figures between forecast
and actual results are vital and I would
have liked some on-screen comment about
performance to draw attention, in particu-
lar, to failure to co-ordinate the resources
of the company. As it stands, I cannot
recommend the Chairman of the B oard.

Chairman of the Board; £60 from Leen

Valley Associates , 36 Trevor Road , West
Bridgford , Nottingham NG2 6FT.

141

ARCHIMEDES SYSTEM

DABHAND COMPUTING

A fresh new force
in Acorn computing.

Call Graham Stanley or
Bruce Smith on
(0727) 38375 for all your
computing needs.

ALL PRICES INCLUDE VAT!

Proprietor: Dabhand Computing Ltd. Registered in England No. 2262465 VAT No 451 4585 47 Directors D. Atherton, B Smith. G Stanley.

PO Box 278
St Albans
Herts
AL4 9TD

ACORN BBC SOFTWARE

ARCHIMEDES SOFTWARE

ViewSheet ROM 44.28

ViewStore ROM 44.28

View 3 ROM 66.70

ViewPlot 25.30

COMPUTER CONCEPTS (BBC)

InterWord 50.03

InterSheet 44.85

InterChart 29.90

Mega 3 (BBC) 97.75

Spell-Master 55.00

CUMANA DISC DRIVES

Format With PSU NoPSU

Single 100k 40T 126.50 106.95

CD800S 40/80 switch 800k 286.35

BLANK DISCS

Format Qty Price

5.25" DS 40T 48tpi 10 9.00

5.25" DS 80T 96tpi 10 10.50

5.25" DS 40T 48tpi 50 51 .00

5.25" DS 80T 96tpi 50 53.00

3.5" 135tpi DS80T 10 15.00

3.5" 135tpi DS 80T 50 59.00

All discs come with lifetime warranty and
guarantee.

DOT MATRIX PRINTERS

Panasonic KXP1081 175.53

Panasonic KXP1082 208.21

Epson LX 800 270.00

Epson FX 800 444.00

Epson FX 1000 580.08

Epson LQ 500 (24-pin) 386.40

Epson EX 800 (24-pin) 609.14

Star LC10 211.84

Star LC10 Colour 260.26

Buy any printer and save £5 on the Dabs
Press HyperDriver Printer Control ROM - Just
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MONITORS

Phillips Green Mono 83.00

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Microvitec 1451 Colour 289.00

Microvitec 1431 Colour 239.00

Supervision 620 Colour 318.00

Supervision 625 Colour 379.50

Ace Euclid 45.00

Acorn ANSI C 113.85

Acorn ISO Pascal 113.85

Acorn Fortran 77 1 1 3.85

Acorn Logistix 113.85

Acorn PC Emulator 1 1 3.85

Acorn TWIN 33.55

Acorn Termulator 79.35

Logotron Logo 69.00

Colton Software - Pipedream 11 3.85

Minerva SigmaSheet 69.00

Minerva System Delta + 69.00

Minerva Order Processing 64.95

Minerva Stock Manager 64.95

Minerva Purchase Ledger 64.95

Minerva Nominal Ledger 64.95

Clares Artisan Art Package 39.95

Artisan Support Disc 1 9.95

Clares Toolkit 39.95

Clares Render Bender 79.95

EMR Sound Synth 49.95

EMR Creations Disc 19.95

Alerion (Dabs Press) 14.95

Zarch (Superior) 1 9.95

Conqueror (Superior) 24.95

Droom (Resource) (Educational) 18.95

Free: Technical Help and Advice Service.
Purchase your computer from us and you’ll
also receive a free years subscription to our
technical help service. Alternatively subscribe
for one year at just £1 0 per annum. Write or
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ORDERING DETAILS

All prices include VAT. Please add carriage
as follows: hardware over £100 - £10, soft-
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£1 .50. Please enclosed cheque payable to
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Orders (T erms 30 days) accepted from PLCs/
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by lack of VAT. Payment in sterling please.
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AL4 9TD

System Base Mono Colour

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31 0M 1029.25 1098.25 1282.25

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ARCHIMEDES HARDWARE/LEADS

2nd Floppy drive (3.5" internal) 143.75

20Mb Hard Disc 573.85

Podule Backplane 44.85

ROM Podule (Acorn) 67.85

I/O Podule 97.75

Midi Add-on 44.85

Midi Podule 79.35

Archimedes Printer Lead 9.50

Archimedes Serial Lead 10.00

Archimedes Scart Lead 9.42

BOOKS FOR THE ARCHIMEDES:

Archimedes Assembly Language 14.95

Archimedes Ref Guide Parts 1 & 2 ...22.95
C: A Dabhand Guide 1 4.95

MASTER 128 & COMPACT

Base Mono Colour

Master 128 435.91 504.91 688.91

Compact 375.00 440.00 575.00

Compact TV System 390.00

All our Masters are supplied with our Starter
Packs which are absolutely FREE and con-
tain over £50 worth of essential goodies!

Master 128 Starter Pack - Free: MOS Plus
ROM, HyperDriver ROM, Ten 5.25 discs

Master Compact Starter Pack - Free: Hyper-
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plus the option to purchase any two Dabhand
Guides - books and disc - for just £29.95.
Choose from: Master Operating System, View:
A Dabhand Guide, Viewsheet/ViewStore: A
Dabhand Guide.

BBC HARDWARE AND LEADS

Care Cartridge 2-way 8.95

Care Cartridge 4-way 14.95

1770 Upgrade Kit Acorn 56.35

ADFS ROM for 1770 29.33

Printer lead 2 metres 8.00

Monitor Lead RGB 5.75

Monitor Lead BNC 3.90

Serial Lead 6.00

Supervision/Philips 6.99

MASTER 512

Master 51 2 co-processor 1 1 3.85

Master 512 Utilities Disc 12.95

Every Master 51 2 co-processor comes with 5
FREE discs full of 512-compatible software.

MANY MORE ITEMS NOT LISTED DUE TO
SPACE. TELL US YOUR REQUIREMENTS.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDRI NX < ANTOURIS

REVIEWS

STARRING TWO PRINTERS

Because of falling prices, 24-pin models now dominate the printer market.
Graham Bell has been testing two of the latest models

Draft

Roman

Sans serif
Chut limed
Siiado wed
Amd fiM&tlh

The Epson LQ-500- no worries about its robustness but slower than the LQ800

Draft

Courier

Prestige

Orator

The Star LC24-10-a wider range of fonts and paper parking

The latest Epson and Star printers continue
the trend towards 24-pin dominance of all
but the lowest price range. Each is a 24-pin
printer with a variety of built-in fonts,
flexible paper-handling, and a price that
wouldn’t have been unreasonable for a
9-pin model only two years ago.

The Epson LQ-500 is the baby brother
of the LQ-800 model reviewed in Acorn
User , November 1987. Physically it is
well-built, with fairly chunky plastic
mouldings and solid-looking metal parts
and runs with a reassuring lack of clatter.

It comes not only with a cover that goes
over the tractor feed that fits on top of the
printer, but a lower one you can fit if you
just want friction feed, and it has a paper-
guide for single sheets. But tearing off
sheets of paper is difficult as there isn’t a
sharp edge on the top cover.

Setting up is easy - the DIP switches are
accessible via a hatch on the right side,
where there’s also a socket for an extra font
card. I set it up to use the US character set
with no automatic line feed, and once
plugged in to my BBC micro or an Arc
there were no problems printing. With all
the wordprocessors I tried, it worked first
time with existing printer drivers designed
for the LQ800.

Graphics too were just like the LQ800.
But remember that few of the 24-pin
printers can fully emulate the 8-pin
graphics of a ‘standard’ Epson printer.
There are two problems in particular. First,
24-pin models feed the paper in 1/60 or
1/1 80-inch steps, whereas 9-pin machines
use 1/72 or 1/2 16-inch units. This means
there are often gaps between the lines of a
screen dump. Second, the printers don’t
accept the ESC 5 command that’s often
used in ‘proportional’ dumps (dumps that
ensure circles appear truly round on pap-
er). Having said this, the LQ500 performed
faultlessly, running all the 24-pin dumps
printed in Acorn User , as well as other
software aimed at LQ800 owners.

There are two built-in letter quality
fonts, one Roman and one sans serif, as
well as the fast draft font. Examples of the
two LQ fonts are shown above and they
ACORN USI.R NOVRMBI-R 1988

are as good as the other 24-pin printers
tested over the last few months. Swapping
between the fonts is simple - just press a
button on the front panel.

The Star LC24-10 looks decidedly more
streamlined than its boxy Epson counter-
part, but it performs with a similar lack of
fuss. Again it is built robustly, and setting
up is simple. The DIP switches are under-
neath the ribbon cartridge - simple to
change - but they are a bit too close to
some other components for my liking.
Like the Epson, one switch chooses be-
tween an 8k printer buffer and the ability
to use up to 50 downloadable characters.

Paper feeding is better than the LQ500.
The tractor feed pushes rather than pulls
the paper through the printer, and it goes
through a slot in the back of the machine.
It seems less prone to sucking in the sheet
it’s just printed, and you can tear off very
close to the bottom of a sheet and not
waste too much paper. Plus it has ‘paper
parking’ - you can wind out continuous
paper part way, and feed in a single sheet at
the touch of a button, print and then
rewind the continuous paper again.

Once connected up, it gave me no sur-
prises. Printing out from all my favourite
applications went without a hitch, using
LQ800 printer drivers. Just as the FX80
became the standard 9-pin printer, the
LQ800 is seen as the standard 24-pin, and
the Star emulates it almost perfectly.

Most of the features I tested, including
24-pin screen dumps, worked perfectly,
and the text print quality is excellent.
Draft, Courier, Prestige, Orator and Script
fonts are built-in, and there’s a front slot
for font cards. All can be italic, and there
are the same shadowing or outline options
offered by the Epson.

The Star LC24-10 typically costs about
£340, and offers extremely competent
printing. It has better paper handling and a
wider range of fonts than the LQ500, but
seemed slightly noisier. Compatabilitv
with the LQ800 standard is little short of
perfect. The Epson LQ500 is equally able,
usually £15 or so cheaper, and is perfectly
compatible with its bigger brother. But if
you use both continuous stationery and
single sheets, its lack of paper-parking
make the Star a better bet.

143

The day Roger Jackson sent
his first mailshot.

I was impressed by the fact that Star have now
produced a great looking little budget printer with a
24 pin head.

I was impressed by its excellent quality- the
8 resident fonts available and its high density letter quality
helped me produce a really professional mailshot.

I was impressed by the extremely swift draft elite speed
of 170cps and LQ elite at 57cps and the standard 7k buffer.

I was impressed by the special push-tractorfeature
that allows the LC24-10 the lowest possible tear off and its
ability to 'park' continuous paper and load single sheets
automatically-so there's no need to remove the continuous.

I was impressed by the touch-button front control
panel that makes using the printer an absolute dream.

But most of all, I was particulary impressed with myself.

Because my Star LC24-10 was so inexpensive
and no other printer comes close for sheer quality and
value-for-money.

StarMicronicsU.K. Ltd.

Craven House, 40 Uxbridge Road,
Ealing, London W5 2BS.
Telephone: 01-8401800.

COMPUTER PRINTERS StarMicronics Co., Ltd. Japan.

Please tell me how the Star LC24-10 can handle my printing needs.

Name-

Company-
Address —

L

Postcode Telephone

Or just call Belinda on 01-840 1829. L 24 anuii

J

REVIEWS

SCREEN SNATCHING

Dave Futcher is impressed by Snatch, a utility package from 4Mation, which will be of
particular interest to those involved in education

4Mation, author of; excellent adventures
such as Granny’s Garden and Flowers of
Crystal , has now produced an outstanding
utility package called Snatch , which will be
of considerable interest in education, as
well as to the general user.

Basically, Snatch allows you to print
screens from programs while they are run-
ning, or to save them to disc for printing or
displaying at a later stage.

Snatch will let you print almost any
screen from educational packages instantly
on both 9-pin and 24-pin Epson-
compatible printers. All screen modes are
supported and screens can be saved to disc
for printing later just by pressing a few
keys. It’s also possible to choose whether
to print the whole or part of the screen,
and if you are not happy with the original
colours you can change them.

There is also a built-in routine for dis-
playing saved screens. The disc contains a
pixel editor so that you can also make
alterations to saved screens.

Snatch does not come as a ROM but as a
ROM image that can be loaded into side-
ways RAM. If you only have access to an
unexpandcd Model B, 4Mation is also
selling a version with easy-to-fit SRAM.
It even provides a utility on the disc to
check what your machine has got in the
way of ROM and RAM.

Snatch is called into action by the com-
mand "’SNATCH, which brings up a sim-
ple menu from which you choose either to
prepare a disc or display screens. You must
prepare a special screens disc before using
the program.

Don’t forget to format your disc norm-
ally before you let Snatch prepare it - the
otherwise brilliant instructions don’t seem
to tell you that. The preparation consists of
saving empty screens to the disc.

Using Snatch to print screens while your
program is running is simple. You merely
press a combination of three keys. For a
black, white and grey dump press Shift,
CTRL and E, and if you are using an
Integrex colour printer you press Shift,
CTRL and I.

Snatch dumps are of very good quality,
ACORN USER NOVRMBKR 1988

The Titanic's radio operator taps
out the distress signals.

Snatch pixel editor at work

Format How many screens?

mode 7 other

DFS 40tr

80tr
ADFS s

m

1

19 4

19 9

15 7

15 15

15 31

how many screens on one disc

Printer

Screen mode

0 17

LQ800

LX86

Integrex

3.5 3.2 2.0
4.0 3.2 2.5

14 13 2.0

time to dump In

ml nu tes

Disc type capacity and typical timings

but don’t expect the control of orientation,
width, height and position that Computer
Concepts’ Printmaster gives. You can,
however, place the dump left, right or
centred and you are able to reverse black
and white.

If you want to save screens to disc,
simply press Shift, CTRL and X. It’s
actually a better idea to save screens to
disc for later printing; especially in a class-
room where printing holds up other people
wanting to use the computer.

Print-out times depend on screen and
printer types. So, the speed of a Snatch
dump is as good as it could be, given the
good quality of the dumps.

Something that Snatch has managed
where both Replay and ScreenPrint failed is
in printing ‘dual mode’ screens. A number

of software developers use dual mode
screens, placing text in one window and
graphics in another. In Snatch the two
modes are either 2 or 5 for the graphics and
1 or 4 for the text.

When you are ready to look at what you
have saved to disc, you type "’SNATCH
and choose the Display Screen option. A
whole host of options are available: Load,
Enlarge, Wipe, Restore and Cycle. But
there is no menu option for screen print-
ing; you use Load to call up the screen you
want and then print it with Shift, CTRL
and E or Shift, CTRL and I, depending on
your printer.

The Display Screens menu offers a
tremendous option that allows you to
enlarge any part of the screen. Once the
screen portion has been enlarged you have
a number of options available. It can be
printed or saved to disc, or enlarged fur-
ther. The possibilities of this enlarging
option are enormous. Children can save
and enlarge parts of graphics screens and
print them as illustrations for their work
away from the computer.

Snatch screens have no special character-
istics - you can easily use them in a rolling
display or children can put them into their
own programs. You may need to change
their colours with a VDU statement
though. Teachers have found that children
like to use computer graphics to illustrate
their topic work. Snatch offers a great way
to build up a library of graphic cut-outs.

The recently released framework pack-
age called Windows from MESU is crying
out for additional screens, so Snatch will be
a real boon here. And it’s also possible to
use saved screens for further development
in graphics packages like Quest Art or
AMX Super Art.

A bonus on the Snatch disc is ‘The Pixel
Editor’ - ideal for touching up saved
screens. Unlike some pixel editors this or.*:
is very simple to use. In the centre of the I
screen is a small box which can be moved
around, and an enlargement of this is
displayed in the bottom left corner.

Snatch costs £16 and at that price it is a
real bargain. So get snatching!

145

PRINTERS RHEHTY!

OKI MICROLINE
PRINTER
SPECIALISTS

The professional printers for all business
applications Print speeds up to 400 cps with
120 cps NLQ. PC/Epson compatible.

Call for engineering advice.

Competitive prices to match any competition

OKI MICROLINE 393
Advanced 24 pin print head

Superb print quality with a choice of paper
handling modes We highly rocommend this
versatile and rugged printer Parallel and serial
interfaces are fitted Emulates Epson LQ
Codes. Plug in font modules The best buy at
lust £1195 + VAT.

OKI LASERUNE 6 EIHe

LaserJet Plus compatible. £1750 + VAT
The ideal daisywheel substitute having a wide
range of emulations and resident font
variations. Quiot in operation, compact and
reliable HP series II compatible

LOWPRICE
LASER TONER
CARTRIDGES

Canon LBP8 £74.75

Canon LBP8 Series II £74.75

CENTRONICS PP-8 £39.00

Citizen £22.95

Epson GQ3500 £18.50

HP Laserjet £74.75

HP Series II £74.75

Kyocera £28.50

OKI Laserline 6 £18.50

Technitron TLP-12 £17.50

Call for competitive prices from £459

★ Multiple Host Connect - up to 4 ports and
6 windows.

★ Multiple emulations incl IBM 6 DEC.

★ 6 concurrent virtual terminals

★ Up to 15 pages of screen memory

30mb HARDCARD for
AMSTRAD £275 + vat

PCW 9512 + D/W PRINTER
PC 1512 SD MONO
PC 1512 DD MONO
PC 1640 SD MONO
PC 1640 DD MONO
PC 1640 20M MONO
PC 1640 + ECO
PC 1640 DD + ECD
PC 1640 20M +- ECD
Standard col. mon - add £140 to n
PPC 512 SD

PPC 512 DD

PPC 640 SD + Modem
PPC 640 DD + Modem

Plus PRINTER BUFFERS • INTERFACES
• CABLES • RIBBONS • SWITCHES etc.

J^£"!"5£U*rT OFFERS Xj-
°>1 THIS MONTHS o 0K1M1CR0L , NE
' ».tcoc 24 pin printers

MICROLINE 390 80 COL ■ •

MICROLINE 391 136 COL

plotters

Roland 0 XY- 880 A.

Hitachi 672.

ALL PRICES EXCLUDE VAT & CARRIAGE
Prices subject to change without notice

o

yv ■ - - —

EPSON PRINTERS

LX-800

FX-800

FX-1000

LO-850

LQ-1050

EX-800

EX-1000

UQ-2500+ .-•••'

Amstrad Parallel cable

OTHER PRINTERS

Star LC-10

i Panasonic KX-P 1°8'

Diconix 150 Portable

£210

£345

£445

£495

£635

£469

£619

£799

£12

£550

£765

Ol

£199

£325

£169

£350

£535

£535

Hitachi 672.

AMSTRAD 1640 UPGRADE
TO 286 - £299 + VAT

DA,SYW kx E p3^p

Panasonic KX-P^i

Qume 12/20 ' - ■ ■

BROTHER HR15* l

£269

£350

£199

Ajurno

Irrlfvnwi

GENERAL

OUR SPECIAL WINTER PACKAGE!

24 PIN PRINTER

80 col + paper parking
Please quote our ref no PCW11 when ordering
to qualify for this EXTRA SPECIAL DISCOUNT.

ORDERS and ADVICE

07357

4466

OPEN 9-5.30 MON-FRI, 9-12 SAT

Delivery charge £9 + VAT on printers & computers

Call us now for:

• PRINT SAMPLES

• DEMONSTRATIONS

• ENGINEERS ADVICE

DEALER ENQUIRIES
WELCOME

Specialists in MICRO and PRINTER technology

Dept (AUii) Unit 25, Horseshoe Park, Pangbourne, Reading, RG8 7JW

146

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

P.l. DIGITISER SYSTEM'

Designed for use with the BBC Model B Microcomputer

o>

OJ

CD

E

-•hXZ

The P.L. Digitiser System enables you to reproduce complex pictures and
diagrams, or produce original designs, quickly, easily, and accurately.

TO: B. S. Dollamore Ltd, Castle Gresley,

The package consists of the 'Graphics Digitiser' incorporating a tracing pad
(mapped out by rectangular grid) 256mm x 205mm and the 'Control
Program' (cassette tape or disk) which handles the information passed
from the digitiser to the microcomputer.

WIDE RANGE OF INSTRUCTION
BLOCKS. Instruction blocks
enable: boxes and circles of any
size to be constructed by specifying
two probe positions; filling area
with chosen colour; drawing of
irregular shapes using chosen
resolution; outlining defined area in
different colour and varying line
thickness; creating lines in
Horizontal, Vertical or Angled
modes, with parallel lines in repeat
or multiple repeat styles again in
selected thickness; write and
position text.

COMPLETE EDITING FACILITY.

Mistakes can immediately be erased
and rectified.

scale may be increased or reduced
by making just two inputs.

STORAGE. Pictures may be saved
on cassette or disk file or
reproduced by a line printer.

FULL COLOUR. The range of
colour facilities offered by the BBC
micro is easily handled by the
Digitiser, in modes 4 and 5.

ZOOM VIEW. Produces a
magnified display of selected
portions of the screen.
USER-DEFINED CHARACTER
GRAPHICS. Enables keyboard
characters and/or graphics to be
plotted in a variety of different
styles.

Burton-on-Trent, Staffs DE11 9HA

Please supply the following:

Qty Description

P.L. DIGITISER

Cost

£29.95

Value

Price includes post, packing

1 & VAT @ 15%

Each Digitiser is supplied with disk. Control Program, key
card and comprehensive operating instruction manual.

I enclose cheque/P. 0. for £ or please charge on

Access/Visa Card

No

Signature

Name

Address

RELOCATION AND SCALE.

Images may be relocated simply by
inputting two probe positions and

TM-B. S. Dollamore Ltd. Castle Gresley.
Burton on Trent. Staffs DE11 9HA.
Telephone: Burton on Trent (0283) 217905

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

PUBLIC APOLOGY

We at M.D. Office Supplies would like to take this opportunity to apologise to all our
competitors. We shall with IMMEDIATE effect supply COMPUTER DISCS, STORAGE

BOXES, ETC, AT INCREDIBLE PRICES.

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

★

1 ★
1 ★
★ ★

OUR SPECIAL OFFER PRICES
ARE UNBEATABLE

5.25" DISCS A BOXES

25 Double Sided 96 TPI with 50 Capacity Disc Box £12.49

50 Double Sided 96 TPI with 50 Capacity Disc Box x , ..... £17.49

75 Double Sided 96 TPI with 100 Capacity Disc Box £22.49

100 Double Sided 96 TPI with 100 Capacity Disc Box £28.49

All boxes come complete with dividers, two keys and are antistatic

3.5" DISCS & BOXES

20 Double Sided 135 TPI Discs with 40 Capacity Disc Box £19.95

30 Double Sided 1 35 TPI Discs with 40 Capacity Disc Box £29.95

40 Double Sided 135 TPI Discs with 80 Capacity Disc Box £36.95

50 Double Sided 1 35 TPI Discs with 80 Capacity Disc Box £43.95

60 Double Sided 1 35 TPI Discs with 80 Capacity Disc Box £49.95

75 Double Sided 135 TPI Discs with 80 Capacity Disc Box £59.95

1 00 Double Sided 1 35 TPI Discs with 1 20 Capacity Disc Box £82.95

All boxes come complete with dividers, two keys and are antistatic
Educational - Government - Corporate Orders Welcome

PRICE AND QUALITY GUARANTEE

Allour discs are top quality and are certified 100% error free.

Should you ever see a comparable product advertised in this magazine at a
lower price we will not match it we will beat it Guaranteed

BRANDED DISCS 10

30

50

100

3M

DSDD48TP1 5.25"

9.95

28.90

43.95

79.95

3M

DSDD96TP1 5.25"

12.95

37.90

52.95

119.95

VERBATIM

DSDD48TP15.25"

9.45

28.50

42.95

78.45

VERBATIM

DSDD96TP15.25"

11.95

36.50

49.95

114.95

3M

DSDD135TP13.5"

18.50

45.00

POA

POA

VERTABIM

DSDD135TP13.5"

19.50

46.50

POA

POA

SONY

DSDD135TP13.5"

18.95

47.50

POA

POA

TRADE ONLY: For lowest rates in the UK please ring for
prices (min 250 discs)

ACCESSORIES

3.5" HEAD CLEANER 3.95

5.25" HEAD CLEANER 3.95

DELUXE MOUSE MATS 3.95

DISC NOTCHER (DOUBLER) 3.95

PROFESSIONAL PRINTER STAND (SpaceSaver)

80 COL 22.95/1 32 COL 23.95

itWifMX-.WA*;

3.50" Lockable - Holds 40

3.50" Lockable - Holds 80

3.50" Lockable - Holds 120

5.25" Lockable - Holds 50

5.25" Lockable - Holds 100

5.25" Lockable - Holds 140 £8.95

MIX AND MATCH

Buy any two. deduct 50p from each, buy 3. deduct £1 .00

M. D. OFFICE SUPPLIES

18 Cresent Way, Farnborough, Kent BR6 9LS. Tel: 0689 61400. Fax: 0689 50628

All goods are supplied subject to availability. All prices inclusive of VAT and Carriage

Educational - Government • Corporate Orders Welcome

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

147

fflCRO flEDIR Computer Supplies Ltd

Freepost, Dept. AU, Rydal Mount
Baker St., Potters Bar, Herts. EN6 3BR

(5 lines) RBF

r \ Access & Visa mm

0707 52698

Out of Office Hours (Answer Machine)

Orders despatched 24 hrs
Please allow 5 days for delivery
For guaranteed next day delivery please ring
From £2.50 extra
Postage covers UK only.

ALL PRICES INCLUSIVE OF DELIVERY
AND VAT

Personal callers welcome
Weekdays 8.30am - 5.30pm
Saturdays 9.30am - 1 .00pm

DS40/80T

3 '/l to 20 50 100

DS/DD 11.30 21.76 47.90 91.50

SVa Brand Discs

SS/DD 6.40 12.10 28.30 51.70

DS/40T 7.50 14.15 33.15 61.30

DS/80T 8.50 15.95 36.25 71.25

DS/HDPC AT'S 1 4.90 28.60 68.25 130.50

WbVERSIBLE 9.75 18.50 43.85 81.50

All discs suppled are with labels 5W write protects,
envelopes & hub rings. 100% certified error tree
lifetime guarantee

3 Vi Mcsonsc® Brand Discs

SS/DD 13.70 26.90 64.40 122.60

DSDD 14.90 28.60 68.20 130.50

DS/HD2MB 37.95 72.40 172.40 319.60

Autumn catalogue out now - 1 2 pages

Please ring or write for your free copy.

sach

960 Wire Pri nter Sta nd

10.90

adjusts by front
dial turn 360°
i Tilt up &

\ down 25°

refolding of paper

trnron memo _ miron r/emm _ mi; uj / /'//-/ //.

80 col H100 W310 D61
132 col HI 00 W430 D61

miron memo

“/ II u\u i iujii i

S%000000 ^ 00 ^ Static MD100

miron merno _ miron merno

i

SIGNWRITER/

Quality lettering any size

£ 29.95 (BBC, some Electrons) £ 49.95 (Archimedes)
Many extra fonts (£5.75 each), e.g. :

IDECC Com

WIGHT SCIENTIFIC (01) 858 2699

Dept. AU. 44 Roan Street. London SE10 9JT

Also: PA PER BASE for bibliographies COLOURED RIBBONS
LABEL-WRITER for multiple labels

Authorised dealers: Acorn/Amstrad Etc.

C $ exc

All Disketts - Nashua,

VAT

Maxell. Memorex, TDK,

Amslrad PC1640 Complete system - as adv

>

899 00

Dysan etc. -Best offers

Amstrad PC 1640 Double Mono

2

599 00

All Ribbons - Unbeatable

Amslrad PC1640 Double colour

Amslrad PC1640 Double ECD

O

729 00

869 00

Prices - Guarantee refunds if

Ail Others

— UJ
>

CALL

overcharged

Acorn Archimedes

305 Mono Syslem

< to

3 %

674 00

Other items: Scientific
instruments. Upgrades. All

310 Mono System

uj

815 00

Accessories etc.

440 Mono System

O u.
a: Li

2330 00

Master 128K Micro Computer

Turbo Module

Opus PC III Single Mono

§ $

330 00

90 00

460 00

Help Lines: 01 440 0803 or

636 6614

PC III Double Mono

630 00

(Callers by arrangement

Printers

z >-

only)

Epson 1X800 NLQ including tractor teed

0 2

219 00

KARIR INTERNATIONAL LTD

Epson FX800 200 cps 8k butler SO col

Brother 1109 80 Col lOOcps

0 c

g§

363 00

197 00

17 Bishops Close, Mays

Taxan KP815

267 00

Lane,

Panasonic PI 081 80 Coi'120 draft 28 nlu

<cc

136 00

Barnet EN5 2QH

Canon PW 1080A 80 Col 190 cps

Juki 6100 132 Cot/20 cps

Alt OTHER POPULAR MAKES AVAILABLE

243 00

263 00

CALL

lu 0
a. cc
co 0

Trade and export

Mu'tipon Oata Switches • 2 way

a -

36 95

enquiries most

Muit.pon Data Switches • 4 way

co

59 95

welcomed

IBM printer cab’e

Centronics to Centron-cs

<

9 75

12 95

Telex: 8951182

RS232 Cable

16 75

Faxd: 01 441 6813

Modem Computer • 9 way 0 Socket'25 way

13 95

D Plug

MASTER 51 2K Boards - now only £99

15” PRINTER

MONITORS

200cps, 50 NLQ

AMBER HI-RES

AMSTRAD DMP 4000

only £59.95

SPECIAL PRICE

£279

THE COMPUTER DEPOT
205 BUCHANAN STREET GLASGOW G1 2JZ
041-3323944 E3

PANASONIC 3Va" DISK DRIVES

Vb hoight Model JU-363 1 megabyte low component Double Sided, Double Density 80
track drives with Shugart compatible interface using 34 way IDC connector. Uncased, with
power connector. CRQ 50

Please Note:

‘Data cable for BBC available at £7.50 + VAT
‘Carriage £3.00 + VAT

^‘Quantity discount of 20% for 1 0+

TA/Royal Office Master 2000 Daisy Wheel Printer

Our purchase of nearly 2000 of these printers direct from West Germany enables us to otter
them at enormous savings! Features include:

* 20 cps operation ‘ Full DIABLO 630 and IBM compatibility ‘ CENTRONICS compatible
parallel Interface * 132 column with variable pitch capability including micro
proportional spacing * Subscripts, superscripts, bold type, underline etc. £*| -J 9.50

* Manufactured to highest standards (rigid steel chassis etc) in West (Carr. £5 go)
Germany by Europe’s largest typewriter manufacturer * 6 month

full guarantee • Ribbon* typewheel included or

* Cables for IBM. Am s trad. BBC. Matmos, Centronics L ( .OU each for 5 + .j

MATMOS LTD COMPUTER APPRECIATION,

1 Church Street. Cuckfield. W. Sussex. RH 17 5JZ. 30/31 Northgate. Canterbury. Kent.CT 1 1BL
Tel (0444) 4 14484/454377 Tel: (0227) 470512

148

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

OFFERS

OUR CHRISTMAS PRESENT TO SUBSCRIBERS

1

Of

12

This Christmas, treat yourself to an Acorn User magazine the world of Acorn computers by subscribing now.

subscription and we will give you two issues absolutely free. To start your subscription to Acorn User, and qualify for your

For just £ 17.50 \ we will send you 14 issues of Acorn User , free issues , simply complete the coupon below and return it before

packed with news , reviews, and feature articles. So make sure you, January 31, 1989.

and your friends, don y t miss out on anything that J s happening in This offer is only available to UK readers.

Please start my subscription to Acorn
NAME

with

SCI

ADDRESS

issue. / enclose my cheque/postal order for £17. 50 made payable to
Redwood Publishing.

Please charge my Access/ Barclaycard

POSTCODE.

I would tike to give an Acorn User subscription as a Christmas SIGNED

present starting with the issue to •

NAME UK ONLY

ADDRESS III

DATE _

POSTCODE

□ Please send a gij't card.
ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

Send this form with your remittance to Caroline Gregor y, Acorn

a AU11 User Subscriptions, Redwood Publishing Ltd, Marlborough Road,

Aldbourne, Wiltshire SN 8 2DD.

i j

The Atari 520STFIV

Of £450 wort

MARBLE MADNESS. £24.95
Electronic Arts.

TEST DRIVE. £24.95
Electronic Arts.

BEYOND THE ICE PALACE. £19.95

Elite.

BUGGY BOY. £19.95
Elite.

EDDIE EDWARDS SUPER SKI. £19.95

Elite.

CHOPPER X. £9.99 ROADWARS. £19.95 XENON. £19.95

Mastertronic. Melbourne House. Melbourne House.

Here it is! The new Super Pack from Atari.
You don't just get the brilliant 520STFM.
We're giving you twenty -two great software
titles that most people would gladly sell their
grannies for.

There's no catch. You really do get the
520STFM and £450 worth of great software
titles for just £399.99.

So make sure you include yourself in this
great offer*

‘Available from most Atari dealers. Offer ends March 1st 1989.

. £399.99 inclusive.

/ ATARI

-

i of software.

DRS. £14.95

RANARAMA. £19.95

Hewson.

m

THUNDERCATS. £19.95

Elite.

ZYNAPS. £19.99
Hewson.

QUADRALIEN. £19.95
Logotron

STARQUAKE. £19.95
Mandarin.

ORGANISER BUSINESS
SOFTWARE. £49.95
Triangle Publishing.

I Please send me details of this and other Atari Products

| Name Address

| Postcode

I— Atari Corp (UK) Ltd., Atari House, Railway Terrace, Slough, Berkshire SL2 5BZ^J

AATARI

SUPER PACK

ATTENTION ARCHIMEDES USERS!

ArV\S Video Graphics Podule

This remarkable system upgrades the standard Archimedes computer and colour
monitor to provide fully genlocked live colour video displays.

The built in. real-time frame grabber with 380K bytes of video memory allows the
simultaneous display of 32 thousand different colours to create video quality images
and modified images in colour, monochrome mode 1 5 and false colours.

A large range of software controlled keys and effects are provided to combine the
images from the live video source, the video frame store display and the normal
Archimedes display into one video output.

Please write for details of the ARVIS system and our Beeb-Lock range for standard
BBC Micros

VIDEO ELECTRONICS LIMITED

Wigan Rd., Atherton, Manchester M29 ORH
Tel:0942-882332

IS YOUR DATA SAFE?

It will be if you use the Quasar Protection System. This program encrypts all your
data using a highly advanced protection algorithm and a user given password.

It encodes the following BASIC data structures:-

* Integers

* Reals

* Strings

* Basic Programs

* Areas of memory

* Integer arrays of 1 or 2 dimensions

* Real arrays of 1 or 2 dimensions

* String arrays of 1 or 2 dimensions

* Indirected strings eg (S&900)

* Screen displays

Available on cassette or 5 Va" disc for the BBC or Electron computers.

Prices:-

Cassette £1 2.95 inclusive

Disc £14.95

Disc versions are in Acorn DFS formal 5 V4* format only. Please stale: 40T. 80T or Cassette

Send cheque/po to

Quasar Software, 29 Lower Park Road, Hastings, East Sussex. TN34 2LA.

Multiprom Eprom Programmer ^ f Uviprom 16/32 Eprom Programmer

Multiprom Eprom Programmer

★ Programs 2764, 27128, 27256, 27512. 27513
& 27011, inc. "A" & CMOS types

★ Plugs into user port on BBC B, 128 or Master.

★ High Quality TEXTOOL ZIP socket.

★ 21 or 12.5 Volt programming.

★ UVP 1.1 ROM has five * commands.

★ Custom made cream TAR RH

„ aluminium case. L43.UUj

Uviprom 16/32 Eprom Programmer

★ Programs 2764, 27128 & 27256, including "A"
& CMOS types

★ Plugs into user port on BBC B, 128 or Master.

★ High Quality TEXTOOL ZIF socket.

★ 21 or 12.5 Volt programming.

★ UVP 1.1 ROM has five * commands.

★ Very easy to use fQD HR

hardware and software. tiOUiUU

Uvipac Eprom Eraser

The U VI PAC was designed especially for the home computer enthusiast
requiring to erase up to 3 EPROMs at a time Also erases Datapaks.

★ Compact 90 x 80 x 40mm size

★ 240 Volt mains powered.

★ 15 Minute timer option in (T) model

★ Timer + sounder option in (TS) model

★ Spare tubes only £3.00.

UVIPAC UVIPAC (T) UVIPAC (TS)
£21.50 £26.50 £28.50

Multiprom Special Offer!!

Save £6.50 by purchasing a Multiprom and a
UVIPAC (T) together Normal price £71.50.

SPECIAL OFFER PRICE £65.00

^EPROMS

1-2

3-9

10 up^

27128-25

£3.70

£3.50

£3.30

27C1 28-20

£4.00

£3.70

£3.50

27256-25

£5.00

£4.90

£4.80

All types use 12.5 Volt Vpp

L S.A.E for old UVIPROM 21 to 12.5data.y

^roum/O

\^ICvnlrvl

TEL: 0702 230324

DEPTAU11
GROUND CONTROL
ALFREDA AVENUE
HULLBRIDGE
ESSEX SS5 6LT

E3

ALL PRICES INCLUDE
VAT AND P&P
MAIL/TELEPHONE ORDERS
ONLY PLEASE.
EDUCATIONAL AND
GOVERNMENT ORDERS
WELCOME.

Archimedes

CSS COMPUTER CENTRE

Unit 3A,

Townfoot Industrial Estate,
Brampton,

Cumbria CA81SW

Educational, Home and Business
Systems

Acorn and SJ Research Authorised
Dealers

Network Specialists * Peripherals
S 06977 3779

Cumbria Software Systems Limited

Acorn^

The choice of experience.

Government, Pic and Education orders welcome

MULTIPORT BUFFERED DATA SWITCHES

The Multiport Buffered Smart Automatic Switch can actually multiply the utility of PCs and laser
printers by allowing several users to share printers automatically. The internal buffering system
allows simultaneous access to users thus freeing the computers for other tasks. The printer can be
selected either manually or by software control.

• BOTH PRINTERS PRINTING DIFFERENT DOCUMENTS SIMULTANEOUSLY •

CENTRONICS

SERIAL

Model Memory

Inputs

Outputs

Price Model

Memory

Inputs

Outputs

Price

PB12 64K(E)

1

2

£269(d)

SB41

256K

4

1

£420(d)

PB14 256K(E)

1

4

£345(d)

SB42S

256K

4

2

£495(d)

PB42(S) 256K

4

2

£41 5(d)

(36 PIN) WITH SOn CODE

SB71

256K(E)

7

1

£655(e)

PB42(WS) 256K

4

2

£36 5(d) !

SB71

IMB

7

1

£895(e)

(25 PIN) WITHOUT SOFT CODE

SB22

256K(E)

2

2

£375(d)

PB22 64K(E)

2

2

£215(d)

PB22 256K(E)

2

2

£295(d)

CENTRONICS & SERIAL 256K EXPANSION

= £80

PB71 256K(E)

7

1

£545(e)

(E) INDICATES EXPANDABLE

PB71 IMB

7

1

£785(e)

PB41 256K

4

1

£340|d)

SMART AUTOMATIC SWITCHES

IPXA

PARALLEL 2

2

£145(d)

V244A

SERIAL

4

1

£1 60(d)

IPS4A

PARALLEL 4

1

£ 130(d)

V248A

SERIAL

8

1

£200(e)

IPS8A

PARALLEL 8

1

£170(e)

V24-42A

SERIAL

4

2

£175(d)

APS42A

PARALLEL 4

2

£1 65(d)

INTELLIGENT PRINTER BUFFERS

> SELF-TEST FUNCTION • BUFFER/PRINTER READY INDICATOR • BUFFER RAM STATUS
INDICATOR • RESET AND MULTIPLE COPY FUNCTION • BUFFER BYPASS SWITCH •

PB64

PB64P

PB642

PB256

PB2562

PB512

64K
64K
64 K
2S6K
256K
512K(E)

1 1

POCKET BUFFER
1/2 2/1

1 1

1/2 2/1

1 1

C1S0(d) SB64
£1 00(d) SB256
£1 95(d) SB512
£21 5(d) SB1M
£260(d)

£325(d)

64K(E)
256K(E)
51 2K(E)
1M

£1 70(d)
£285(d)
a 85(d)
£585(d)

SERIAL & CENTRONICS 256K EXPANSION BOARD £100

UNIVERSAL BUFFER

• SERIAL & PARALLEL INPUT AND OUTPUT • X ON AND X OFF SOFT AND 0TR HARO HANDSHAKE •

CENTRONICS • 2 FRONT PANEL T SWITCH INPUT AND OUTPUT • COPY •

RESET • EXPANDABLE TO 2S6K •

UB (64K) £1 90(d) UB (256K) £275(d)

ACCESSORIES

KSM101

RS232 SERIAL TO PARALLEL
CONVERTER WITH PSU £65(a)

KSM101-B ABOVE WITH 64K BUFFER £160(c)

KSM104 PARALLEL TO SERIAL

CONVERTER WITH PSU £70(a)

KSM104B ABOVE WITH 64K BUFFER £170(c)

KSM108 CENTRONICS DATA BOOSTER (100ft) £40(a)

KSM109 SERIAL RS232 DATA BOOSTER (100ft) £S0(a)

KSM1 10 SERIAL LINE DRIVER (3 MILES) £80(b)

KSM111 MULTILINK SWITCH SELECTABLE SERIAL

CABLE RS232 (25D-M/F) £24

KSM112 SERIAL-PARALLEL-SERIAL

BIDIRECTIONAL CONVERTER £110(b)

KSM112-B ABOVE WITH 64K BUFFER £190(d)

CUSTOM CABLE MAKING SERVICE AVAILABLE

Add postage: (a) £2.00 (b) £4.50 (c) £5.50 (d) £6.50 (e) £8.50 + Cables £1.00 each + 15% VAT

KEYZONE COMPUTER PRODUCTS LTD WM

U14, Acton Business Centre. IT % ■

School Road. London NW 10 6TD I tetM Jl M

hevzonn Telephone' 01-965 1684/1004 Tele* 8013271 GECOMS G

152

ACORN US HR NOV KM B HR 1988

SENSATIONAL
NEW LOW PRICES

MENTOR THE MASTER COMPATIBLE SYSTEMS THAT OFFER YOU MORE
FOR YOUR MONEY

INTRODUCING 1 2 NEW HARD DISC MODELS

Mentor Computer systems are 100% Acorn Master 128 compatible and they are used in
industry, commerce, education, research, and the home. They can be networked and have all
the standard i/o ports available at the rear of the computer, and internally they will accept all co
processors, turbo board 512 board etc. plus all third party add ons. If required Mentors can be
fitted with 3% inch disc drives at no extra cost, finally we are pleased to quote for the assembly
of bespoked systems to your exact requirements. All systems are covered by our 12 month
warranty. Hard disc * * * *20sc will not accept a second hard disc, whereas * * * *20st will

Standard Models

Model2800nodrives

Model 2801 one

40/801 drive

Model 2802 two

40/80drives

Modol 2820sc one 40/80t

drive and20Mbwini

Model 2820st one 40/80t

Model 2840st one 40/80t

Model 2860st one 40/80t

No Monitor
£349.00

Mono Monitor
£424.00

Colour Monitor
£638.00

p&p £14.00

£429.00

£504.00

£718.00

p&p £14.00

£509.00

£584.00

£798.00

p&p£14.00

£798.00

£873.00

£1087.00

p&p £14.00

£829.00

£904.00

£1118.00

p&p £14.00

£998.00

£1073.00

£1287.00

p&p £14.00

£1098.00

£1173.00

£1387.00

p&p £14.00

OAK WINCHESTER DISC DRIVE SYSTEMS

The Oak Winchester Hard Disc Subsystems are ready to plug in and use on all OAK and Acorn
BBC B. B + and Master series computers. For the BBC B. and B + models you simply need to fit
Acorn ADFS rom. if you will require to use a floppy disc with the above models you will require
the Western Digital 1 770 Disc controller which works in conjunction with the ADFS The OAK
Winchester hard disc subsystems are 100% compatible with the Acorn Winchester and ADFS.
the Acorn Master 512 board with DOS Plus and the SJ Research file server. Drive 1 a second
Winchester is available for backup or extra storage it comes complete with easy to follow fitting
instructions. OAK Winchester hard disc subsystems comprise; the Winchester disc unit. case,
power supply, controller and host adaptor cards, all cables, hard disc utilities and user guide.

12 MONTHS WARRANTY PLEASE SPECIFY WHEN ORDERING FOR AN SJ RESEARCH FILESERVER

20MbOAKW»ni £430.00 p&p £10.00

28MbOAKWim £499.00p&p £10.00

40MbOAKWmi £599.00p&p £10.00

5f>MbOAKWini £659.00 p&p £10.00

60 Mb OAK Wim £699.00 p&p £10.00

75MbOAK Wini £799.00p&p£10.00

20 MbOAK Wini dr 1 E330.00p&p £10.00

28MbOAKWinidr 1 £399.00p&p£10.00

40MbOAKWinidr 1. £499.00p&p£10.00

56MbOAKWinidr 1. £559.00p&p£10.00

60 Mb OAK Wini dr 1. £599.00 p&p £10.00

75MbOAK Winidr 1 £699.00p&p £10.00

SPECIAL OFFER SPECIAL OFFER SPECIAL OFFER SPECIAL OFFER

20 MbOak Winchester £299.00 p&p £10.00

A complete hard disc subsystem its only draw back it cannot be expanded to except a
second drive, ie SCSI interface. Not manufacturer rejects the same maker as above comes
complete with; st225n Winchester unit. case, power supply, host adaptor card, all cables,
hard disc utilities and user guide, and 12 months warranty.

WE REGRET THAT WE ARE UNABLE TO ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS ON THIS SPECIAL OFFER

Individual Data Sheets are available, free of charge, by written request, or by telephone, by
quoting the product name.

OAK DISC DRIVES FOR THE BBC COMPUTER

Oak disc drive systems comprise; Mitsubishi double sided disc drives, capable of both single
and double density. 40/80 track switchable. house in metal cases, colour matched to the BBC
computer and include all cables, manual and utility disc and are covered by our 12 month

warranty

5V4 inch disc drives

400K Single Drive. 40/80t. double sided £85.00p&p£6.00

800K Dual Drives. 40/80t. double sided, (rear switches) £165.00p&p£8.00

800K Dual Drives. 40/801. doublesided. (front switches) £180.00p&p£8.00

800 K Dual Drives. 40/80t. (front switches)

with power supply £215.00p&p£8.00

3 Va INCH DISC DRIVES

400K Single Drive £83.00 p&p £6.00

800K Dual Drives £170.00p&p£8.00

800K Dual Drives with power supply £199.00p&p£8.00

MIXED 5V« AND 3Va INCH DRIVES

BOOK Dual Mixed Unit. 5% inch 40/801. double sided, drive

housed with3 % inch, double sided drive, (switch at rear) £1 75.00p&p £8.00

800K Dual Mixed Unit. 5% inch 40/80t, double sided, drive

housed with 3 inch doublesided drive, (switchon front) £190.00p&p£8.00

BOOK Dual Mixed Unit. 5 % inch 40/801. double sided, drive house

with3'/j inchdouble sided drive, with power supply(switchonfront) £225.00p&p£8.00

SECOND HAND COMPUTERS

We always have stocks of reconditioned BBC B and Master 128 computers
Please ring for current stock

BBC model B. with DFS from £249.00p&p£8.00

Master 128 from £295.00 p&p £8.00

BITS AND PIECES

New uncased 5’ 4 inch 40/801. half height. DSDD. Mitsubushi

disc drive £67.00 p&p £5.00

New uncased 3% inch one third height DSDD

disc drive £62.00 p&p £5.00

3% inchto5’ 4 mchadaptorkit £18.00p&p£2.50

NewuncasedSeagateST225N20Mbharddiscdrive £235.00 p&p £8.00

NowuncasedSeagateST22520Mbharddiscdrive £189.00 p&p £8.00

New uncased Seagate ST251 40Mbharddiscdrive £308.00p&p£8.00

NewuncasedSeagateST27760Mbharddiscdrivo £420.00 p&p £8.00

THE ABOVE DRIVES AND WINCHESTERS ARE COVERED BY A 12 MONTH WARRANTY

Hard Disc controllercard £145.00p&p£3.00

Oak hard disc host adaptor &softwareADFScompatible £55.00 p&p £3.00

Singlediscdrivecase £7.00p&p£2.50

Dual disc drive case with provision for rear switches E14.00p&p£2.75

Dual disc drive case with provision for front switches

and power supply £19.50p&p£3.25

Hard disc case with provisions for PSU& FAN £29.00p&p£3.25

Dualdrivepowersupplyforabovecase £35.00 p&p £4.00

Winchesterharddiscpowersupplytofitabovecasc £45.00p&p£4.00

Singlediscdnvepowercable £2.95p&p£1.00

Dualdiscdnvepowercable £3.65p&p£1.00

Singlediscdrivedatacable.. £3.95p&p£1.00

Dualdiscdrivedatacable. ... £5.95p&p£1.00

BBC B AND BBC B PLUS SPARES

Keyboard £25.00p&p£3.50

Power supplies £38.00 p&p £3.50

Plasticcases £12.00 p&p £3.00

17waykeyboardconnector. £1.00p&p£0.50

Plastic key strip £2.00 p&p £1 .00

Speakergrill £1.00 p&p£0.50

Speakerassembly £2.75p&p£0.50

MASTER SPARES

Keyboard £56.00 p&p £3.50

Motherboard £246.00 p&p £3.50

Power supply £51. 00 p&p £3. 50

Speakerassembly £2.75p&p£0.50

Battery pack £2.75p&p £0.50

EDUCATION AND VOLUME DISCOUNTS
AVAILABLE

MONEY BACK GUARANTEE If you are not completely satisfiedfGoods are returned by insured
parcel post, postage paid, goods should be in as new condition and returned within 10 working
days). PRICES EXCLUDE VAT U.K. Customers please add 15% to Total cost + p&p).

LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
GOVERNMENT AND
■■■ EDUCATION AUTHORITY
J ORDERS ACCEPTED

OAK COMPUTERS, CROSS PARK
HOUSE. LOW GREEN. RAWDON,
LEEDS LS19 6HA.TEL.(0532)502615
TLX ; 51 31 1 RELAYS G.

Two into one
will go!

Tubelink is proud to introduce ‘DoubleView’, a sophisticated 32k extension
system for the ‘VIEW’ wordprocessor and ‘VIEWSHEET’ spreadsheet.
DoubleView offers a professional style split screen display featuring variably
sized document windows and a continual display of free memory, current
position in the document being edited, current file and printer driver names
and which (if any) markers are set for the two current documents.

With DoubleView you can work on two documents at the same time, with
a ‘cut and paste’ clipboard for rapid transfer of text between documents.
DoubleView enables short document files to be ‘linked’ together and treated
as one long document - far simpler than the ‘continuous processing’ system.
DoubleView makes it simple and quick to transfer data from ViewSheet to
the View wordprocessor.

DoubleView has many more features including ...

• Improved screen handling by up to 35% • Recovers documents after ‘soft’ break

• Automatic security backups of documents • ‘Delete word’ function added

• 106 column screen included • On-screen help information

• ‘Pop Up’ menus for View functions • Compatible with SpellMaster

DoubleView comes in two versions, with a comprehensive 32pp manual
Pack 1: Either 40/80T 5.25" disc or 3.5" disc for sideways RAM .... £39.95
Pack 2: Supplied on two 16k EPROMs (32k) which can be inserted into the
main board or a ROM cartridge .... £49. 95

DoubleView is suitable for the Master 128 and Compact computers
only. A version for the BBC model B/B+ micros will follow shortly.

UK Postage FREE on all items (Overseas please add £3). FREE DoubleView
information sheet on request. Dealer enquiries welcome. Official Orders
accepted. 24 hour order line: 01-205 9393

TubeLinK

Orders and enquiries to:
TUBEUNK

»w\ f)AV //.I

01-205 9393

PO BOX oil

LONDON NW9 8TF

Prop. B. Rietti Rog.Addr. 40 Old Church La. London NW9. Mail Order Only please

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1VSS

153

Sciways for Scientists

* Over 350 defined characters accessible with simple 2-key codes

* All characters printable on both screen and printer

* User defined characters can be stored on disc

* All facilities can be used with word processors or with BASIC

* Tested with BASIC I & II, Wordwise, Wordwise Plus, View 2.1, View 3.0,
on the Master 128, B+ & Model B, and with Epson /compatible printers

GREEK ALPHABET: Upper and lowercase, upright and italic

ABraEZH®n AnHsonPETmTQ

SCIENTIFIC CHARACTERS: Mainly mathematical but also chemical
symbols

H H O H H 0

| I / oxidation I I

H-C-C-C * H-C-C-C

I I \ II

H H H M M OH

; {■— tssH--}

See Review in April Acorn User:

" first doss produd - nobody should be without it"

Orders accepted from schools, colleges, establishments, etc.
Private orders - cheque with order, please

PRICE £39.95 inc. VAT, p8tp
16k ROM, 40/80 disc 8i manual
(not compatible with Inter-Word)

Mayhew Telonics,

376a Ringwood Road,
Poole, Dorset BH12 3LT
TEI : (0202) 747 695

EBBS

Bulletin Board
Software

Do you own a modem
or intend to buy one?

Are your phone bills
too high?

Would you like to talk
to other users?

If you have answers yes to most of
the above questions then yuou
need EBBS. It is a simple to use
system that needs no programming
skills to operate.

Features

* Kinghack on most versions

* Full colour

* Viewdata & Terminal Modes

* 40 Si 80 Column Modes

* Four methods of files transfer
including X-Modcm & CET

* Extended chat facilities

* Timeouts

* Wordwrap on messages

* Private areas allowing for
closed user groups

* Use of external programs
e.g. Adventures

For a demonstration of
EBBS dial 025459352
V21, V23, V23v, V22.

* Use of Prestcl type star
commands

* Low Cost

* Ideal for schools

Prices.

Software. Modems

BBC B/Master SWR Version £35.00 Modems are BT approved.

BBC Rom Version £40.00 Dataphone Demon 11 U5M

Master Compact Version £40.00 Dataphone Designer H I M

' Pace Linnet V21/V23 £140.00

Please specify modem when ordering. |/ ,ce ,yimRt 1

‘ Series Four 2123S £265.00

Minimum Hardware requirement is a ^ er j es J' our

400K disk drive. Series * our 2400S £490.00

Please send SA E for more details.

Cheque or Crossed PO to:

All Prices Include VAT

Orion Computer Services

and Carriage

Dept 11AU, 17 Carlton Road,

(UK Only)

Leyland, Lancs PR5 1LP.

Telephone: 0772 421984
Prestel: 0111 11996

Succeed with LCL Self-Tuition Courses

klSMqsrai Highest ever marks in
recenHeview.

Hons, graduate/teacher authors.
World leader (24 countries)

FOR YOU

for beginners (from

ages 4 to adult), exam candidates
or teachers with any BBC Micro (B, B+, Master, Compact,
Electr on or ARCHIMEDES BHMh

HS immediate dispatch

£5 off total for 2 courses, £10 off for 3, £17 off for four, £24 off for five
SOFTWARE. Each course includes 24 programs on up to
105 topics held on 2-4 discs/tapes and usually with 2 books
and a voice tape and costs only £24.

PRIMARY MATHS COURSE All animated, colour graphics (4 discs)
extra two disks available for £5
With real speech & graphics adventure game
Best seller, highly acclaimed
MICRO ENGLISH (8-GCS£) Eng. Language or EFL with real speech
(new enlarged)

A'-level course with all Calculus by graphics

MICRO FRENCH (8-GCSE
MICRO MATHS (11-GCSE

MEGA MATHS
HOME COLLEGE QgQ

Open learning courses of video, software and books.
Choice of MATHS, ENGLISH, or FRENCH. Only
£49.99 each

SEND COUPON OR PHONE ORDERS OR REQUESTS FOR FREE
COLOUR CATALOGUE AND POSTER TO:

LCL (Dept A) Thames House, 73 Blandy Road, Henley, Oxon RG9 1QB

NAME

-ADDRESS

TITLE

COMPUTER

40/80/Disc/Tape/3 , /i” disc

USE A PERSONAL ORGANISER?

YOU NEED THE

I FAX*FILE ORGANISER!

Combine the power of your BBC with the flexibility and
convenience of a personal organiser (Filofax. Lefax etc)
to create a personalised data base. Using special sized
computer paper or single sheets to print:

Diaries including your data (on disc)

Address book pages, up to 48 entries sorted by
name.

Custom designed forms.

The program is menu driven with plenty of on-screen
help. The graphics are superb and the printed pages will
match the high quality of your personal organiser.

The Organiser will run on a BBC 13 or a Master I2.X. It
requires an Epson FX80 compatible printer. Extra
computer paper (tractor feed, pro-punched) is
available.

FORMS

i

DIARY.

"simple but effective product, very easy to use" Acorn User
"Extremely friendly. I cannot fault it" Bccbug

"I have no reservations about recommending this product" Micro User

£12.95 INC P&P

DISC, 40/80 track (state which)
manual

sample pack of paper.

ARC Version

MEWsoft

Phone for

1 1 Cressv Road

details.

London NW3 2NB

(01 2672642)

MEWsoft’s latest product: THE A4 FORMS DESIGNER
‘A cheap and effective program’ Acorn User Sept, 88

Similar to tl|c Forms Designer feature of the Fax*file Organiser
hut with block copy, scrolling A4 size page, data insertion, etc.
Ideal for Schools, Clubs, and for invoices, membership forms
etc. For Master/Compact, ARC, Model-B with Shadow RAM.
5Va" Disk £9.95 Arc Version £12.95 V/i* Disk.

154

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

STATISTICAL PROGRAMS/BBC MASTER ADFS/ARCHIMEDES

For Scientific, Educational, Engineering, Medical and Bilogical
Applications

This is an advanced series of statistical programs for the comprehensive
analysis of a wide variety of data. The program is menu driven and very easy to
use. Data entry is by an on-screen scrolling editor. Analysed data text is
output to an Epson compatible printer with graphics output to either an Epson
printer, or by serial output to an HPGL plotter.

TESTS

Means, Chi-squared, Student’s T-test, Paired T-test, Anova, Regression,
Correlation, Fisher Exact Probability, Mann-Whitney U-test, Wilcoxon Ranked
Pairs Test, Kruskal-Wallis Anova, Wald-Wolfowitz Runs Test, Spearman
Rank correlation, Kendall Rank Correlation, Kendall Concordance,
Histograms, Scattergrams.

PRICE £80 + VAT

Newcastle Photonic Systems, The Medical School, Framlington
Place, The University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 4HH
Tel: 091 232 851 1 Ext 6963

XYZ DRILLING / MILLING FROM C.A.D.

I P.C.B. DRILLING DIRECT FROM C.A.D. I

Yes you can now use your CAD to provide the drilling coordinates to save
you hours of hand-drilling.

Programs such as PROTEL; PADS -PCB; RACAL-REDAC
EE DESIGNER; LINTRACK (PC) all put out the information needed to
automatically drill your PCB’s.

LEEWOOD DEVELOPMENTS, LEEWOOD WORKS

UPTON, CAMBS, (0480) 890 860

Other CAD programs such as AUTOCAD, GENERIC CAD, PRO-DESIGN, can
provide the data to drive the machine.

LABELMASTER

THE MOST VERSATILE LABEL-PRINTING PROGRAM

All your label-printing requirements available in one easy-to-use program.

Message labels • hundreds of uses for home and business, e.g. labelling samples, products, packaging, books, discs
etc., using a variety of print styles and sizes.

Address labels - create mailing lists and print them onto labels.

All formatting is done for you. Accepts variety of label sizes
Too many features to list - telephone us for details .

Requires XO-cohimn screen and Epson-compatible printer (address labels can also Ik* printed on daisywheel).

Single colour sersion £18 Multi-colour version (for colour printer) £23.

Available on 40- or 80 track disc for all models of BBC including Master A: Compact and also Electron. Please
state model when ordering. Please add £ I for 3.5" discs.

CAN HE VIEWED AT CARE ELECTRONICS.

15k BUFFER KIT FOR JUKI 5510

Fined in minutes (no soldering required) full easy-to-follow instructions provided
Only £18

All prices include VAT and p&p

Calderduta, 17 Ingfield Terrace, Slaithvvuitc, Huddcsflcld 111)7 5BJ
Tel: 0484 846126.

“FIRST”

ADVANCED STATISTICAL SYSTEM

For Acorn Archimedes; BBC Models B. B+ and Master; “Industry Standard” machines
A powerful and practical tool for Research, Industry, Business, and Teaching.
Integrated, interactive, robust, fast, accurate, modular. Designed to facilitate data
critique. Many data entry options. Full data management and formatted display. Extensive
data transforms. Handles missing values and data subsets. Scatterplots, regression
plots, function plots. Univariate statistics. Paired and unpaired t tests. Chisquare tests.
Nonparametric methods. Unrivalled REGRESSION facilities eg weighted, through the
origin, standardised, full statistical information. Residusals, fitted and predicted values.
Much more. Correlations. ANOVA. Contour plots of regressions. DIAGNOSTICS - VIFs,
influential points etc. Automatic warnings. ROBUST regression - many influence
functions. Powerful NONLINEAR least squares. Time Series, eg moving averages,
exponential smoothing, causal models. One-two- and three-way ANOVA subsystems.
Distributions generator. Histograms. Linear Calibration. Cluster analysis. Many other
powerful analytical and descriptive features. Full utilities.

Price £120 - £180 (machine and version dependent). Special discounts available.

There’s FAR too much to describe here. Get full information now from:

Serious Statistical Software, Lynwood, Benty Heath Lane, Willaston, South Wirral L64 ISO
Tel 051 3274268

|l|| Iffi K. J II

(STjSV of TechSoft Df auaMing modeOfeal,

A pro1essiona\cu __

draughting sy ^ ser j 0Si

HaSgsK'-'

^include hatching, .rotate.

dimensioning. text.ni etc u

.■—rtf imaQ6i i j'.uioi ill

<ox -ss^-srasEs,

ORDERS 0"’ c ’l«“fpay®l 8 » g/B ,

only) derange-' ““J'eLus, pM® 8 '

TechSon u^“' ER + a mgn
TechSott DE® w . g mo de ('d 0a V
resolution d»gJo*part pWM? 1

for the g® n ® C NC milling + the

SsSSsfessag-

also included. rec j sections, ca ^ 0S .

SSSSS- 2 ! SZZS.Z**-'***

-rr.' "

^ ” _ t. .it Al\S of

Name and Address.

1

. old School Lane, Erryrys. MOLD.

o^CHTADA-TeT, 082-43-3*

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

155

MAKE YOUR MICRO EARN!

Yes making money becomes incidental when you know how. Your
micro is, if only you knew it, a gold mine. The size and make is
irrelevant. Make the initial effort NOW by starting your own

HOME BASED BUSINESS.

This may be the most important move you will ever make!
REMEMBER: You’ll never get rich by digging someone else’s
“ditch". Anyone in the country, including YOU, can become very rich
in a relatively short period of time just by doing a few basic things! It’s
more rewarding than playing games. The benefits are many and
varied. Full or part time. For FREE details send S.A.E. to:

M<Q ill B&SiEED

BwsM&Mmm

31 Pilton Place, Dept, AU11
King and Queen Street
Walworth, London SE17 1DR

Exeter Road, off Coventry Grove, Doncaster, DN2 4PY

INTO THE FUTURE WITH ESG

RESOURCE’S Conference and Exhibition

This one day event is a follow up to the successful "Coping with ESG" conference held last December.
The initial feedback suggests that this year's event will be even bigger and better than last year.

This year's event will explore progress of the Eductional Support Grant for "IT Across the Curriculum"
but more importantly it will try to look to the future, both in terms of technology and also in new styles
of learning and teaching.

If you are an advisor, an advisory teacher, involved with the TVEI and its extension or an interested
teacher there will be something of interest to you and your colleagues.

Into the Future with ESG will be held at Doncaster Exhibition and Conference Centre on Thursday, 17
November 1988 from 9.45 am until the end of the exhbition at 6.00 pm. The delegate fee, which
includes a buffet luncheon is £8.00, payable in advance or on entry. If you are interested in attending
please contact Anne Swainston or Kevin Smith at RESOURCE. (0302) 340331 .

NEW FROM NUMBER ONE
SYSTEMS -EASY-PC

PCB CAD, FOR THE PC/XT/ AT THAT YOU CAN AFFORD

Output on Dot Matrix Printer reduced from 2:1

Are you still using tapes and a light box?

Have you access to an IBM PC/XT/AT or clone incl. Amstrad 1 640 or 1 51 2?
(EASY-PC will run on the Archimedes in D05 emulation mode)

Would you like to be able to produce PCB layouts up to 17" square?

With 8 track layers and 2 silk screen layers?

With eight different track widths anywhere in the range .002 to .531"?

With 1 6 different pad sizes from the same range?

With pad shapes including round, oval, square, with or without hole?

With up to 1 500 IC’s per board, from up to 1 00 different outlines?

That can also be used for surface mount components?

That is as good at circuit diagrams as it is at PCB’s?

Where you can learn how to use it in around half an hour?

That only costs £275.00 + VAT?

Standard output to dot matrix printer. Pen output optional extra.

Write or phone for full details: NUMBER ONE SYSTEMS LTD. Ref: AU Harding
Way, Somersham Road, St Ives, Huntingdon, Cambs, PEI 7 4WR. Telephone:
St Ives (0480)61778

ArcTFS - THE RESEARCH &
AUTHOR’S DATABASE

* Indexes, cross-references and files typed or imported ASCII text items up
to 7700 characters in length.

* Keeps searchable alphasorted files of explainers for all indexing and source
codes.

* Creates additional referencing fields to suit the subject.

* Creates text files up to 650K in length on a 800K disc - the equivalent of
80,000-100,000 words.

* Searches text items directly or any referencing field.

* Formats any subset and saves it as a file which will be read as a default -
formatted native file, answerable to all reformatting commands, by
AreWriteror 1st Word Plus.

* Translates Wordwisc or View files in ASCII form into Are Writer or 1st
Word Plus format, and gives database indexing and control of these files in
the meantime.

*7 have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone engaged in research, or
anyone else who needs to file a large number of disparate pieces of text. At the
price it is excellent value for money... ” Richard Seel, ST World, June 1988,
writing of the Atari ST version. (The Archimedes version is considerably
enhanced.)

ArcTFS (Text Filing System) - £29.95

(Cheque or PO only) to:

TEXCELLENCE

2 Greenhill Road, Coleraine, N. Ireland BT51 3JE. Tel: 0265 44686

( For further details send SA E)

BBC B Sideways RAM

32K Unit £16.00
16K Unit £14.00

• Fool proof fitting - No soldering

• 16K Unit Rom Board Compatible

• RW Protect switch as standard

• Each unit requires one rom socket

• Compatible with tape, disc & econet

• Low power slimline units

• Battery backup made obsolete by Software below

Sideways RAM & Utility Software Pack v4.0

SWR software (requires at least 16K SWR) includes:

- Intelligent menu-driven software for load/save/test/clear SWR-Toolkit

- Automatic rom leader removes need for battery backup-Printer Buffer

Utility software (no SWR required) includes 25+ useful programs:

- Graph plotter - Damaged disc recovery - Flood Fill - Disc imager

- Char definer - Screen enlarger/flipper/compacter plus much more.

Please state 40/80 track, sold with SWR £3.00, separate £8.00

Switching Boxes

1 )

User Port

Printer

RS423

1 to 2

£24.00

£24.00

£14.00

U miPKDULS

1 to 3

£28.00

£28.00

£17.00

rmnnui

1 to 4

£39.00

£39.00

£22.00

1 J

1 to 5

£44.00

£44.00

£27.00

1 nil

1 to 6

£49.00

£49.00

£32.00

WC •*

Prices apply to Changers & Sharers. All data lines switched inlcudes all connectors,
leads length 1 m, longer leads available.

Please send for free catalogue

A&G ELECTRONICS
28 HURSTWOOD AVE,
BEXLEY,

KENT, DA5 3PH
(MAIL ORDER ONLY)

BT GOLD:72MAG90461
PRESTEL 32252231 5

TRADE & SCHOOL
DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE

ALL PRICES INCLUSIVE

Tel: 0322 521 949

156

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

THE ACORN SPECIALISTS

The widest range of Archimedes Hardware &

Software anywhere!

'External Drive Interface'

with link option. Fully buffered. THE
BEST £30.00. NB. Not all drives are

Archimedes compatible

'Drive Swap Switch' for above
makes external drive '0', internal
drive '1 '. Ideal for PC Emulator as
5V4" drive becomes A: Internal B:
£8.00

'Drive Select Translation
Cable' when used with above.
Interface links in external drive
can stay set to '0', saves hassle
when moving a drive from a Beeb
£9.00

'DFs Utils' A quick and easy to use
program that will transfer all or
selected files from DFS to ADFS and
ADFS to DFS. DFS formatter included.
£20.00. DFS reader only £1 3.00

Archie/BBC 'Monitor Switch'.

Plug both a BBC and an Archimedes
in to an Acorn Archimedes colour
monitor, £1 0.00

Archimedes ◄ ► BBC RS423

link kit including file transfer soft-
ware. £1 5.00

P&P £1.00 or as Quoted.
TRADE & EXPORT
ORDERS WELCOME
please enquire for
delivery cost.

'FONTAID' NLQ Font
designer for CANON/
TAXAN & STAR NL10/LC10
(Archie version available).

Ring for a leaflet.

E5 * EZZ3 ;T

'Multi Font NLQ' for most

printers (SWR workspace version now available).

INFORM' Sideways Ram

information system! Ring for a leaflet.

PRINTERS Star/Canon/
Panasonic/Juki MONI-
TORS Philips/Microvitec

Ring for best prices

Phone/Credit Card
and Official
Orders welcome.

C.J.E. MICRO'S
Road, Worthing, W. Sussex
(0903) 213361 (3 lines)

(Dept. AU) 78 Brighton
1 , W. Sussex BNll 2EN

rchimedes

Acorn

Thrchoirr ol r\|M*ri<*n< <\

TA

Special offers on
ARCHIMEDES & MASTERS.
Rina for details.

Officially approved ACORN/
ARCHIMEDES Dealer &

shop for a

Service Centre.
Come to our
demonstration.

ACORN USKR NOVliMBFR 1988

157

ALPHA MICROTEC LTD.

SECOND FLOOR, 321 STRATFORD RD„
SHIRLEY, WEST MIDLANDS B90 3BL.
TEL: 021 -745 8998

•k k

MAJOR SUPPLIERS TO OFFICIAL

EDUCATION & HEALTH ECONET

AUTHORITIES CENTRE

DISCOUNT AVAILABLE

*

FULLY-EQUIPPED ACORN-DEDICATED WORKSHHOP

★ *

ACORN SPARES BOOKS

* *

AGENTS FOR
- WATFORD
ELECTRONICS
• COMPUTER CONCEPTS
- AMX

- CLARES ETC

WE SPECIALISE IN EXPERT ADVICE - SPEAK TO US FIRST

021 - 745-8998

OPEN TUESDAY TO SATURDAY 9.15- 6.00

321 STRATFORD RD, SHIRLEY, SOLIHULL, B90 3BL

ARCHIMEDES
SALES AND SUPPORT

★

GAMES,

EDUCATIONAL AND
BUSINESS SOFTWARE

V

BBD

PROFESSIONAL

BBD

o DUST o

COVERS FOR THE

o DUST 0

COVERS

BBC MICRO RANGE

COVERS

DIRECT FROM THE LEADING MANUFACTURER

Tailored from the best quality ivory coloured nylon that has been
coated with polyurathane to which an anti-static inhibitor has been
added. These fabric covers are tastefully finished with brown piping
and have the model name hot foil printed over the keyboard. They
are washable and can be ironed with a cool iron.

ARCHIMEDES: £9.0C

BBC COMPACT SET

.£9.00

(Please state whether colour or monochrome monitor).

BBC MASTER £5.00

BBC B/B-f £5.00

MATCHING COVERS FOR PRINTERS,
MONITORS AND DISC DRIVERS

A large range of covers for printers, monitors and disc drives are
available to match the computer covers.

PRINTERS COVERS FROM £5.00

MONITOR COVERS FROM £6.00

DISC DRIVE COVERS FROM £3.00

If you have a specific requirement please do not hesitate to
contact us as we will be delighted to help.

Prices include VAT and First Class Postage. All our covers are
unconditionally guaranteed. Please make cheques out to:

BBD Computer Dust Covers
The Standish Centre
Cross Street

Standish, Wigan WN6 OHQ
Callers and Dealer inquiries welcome

TEL: 0257425839 FAX: 0257 423909,

ZONE

ZONEFOUR LIMITED

Ptaaaa Not*: Wa can now otfar you a duplicating
aarvlce and ln~houaa printing, packaging and moat
aarvlcaa, ptaaaa telephone for a quotation on

0707334460

Please call (or bulk and aaaaonal prloaa and a full Hat
of Paper, Label*, etc. etc. and new catalogue.

MIMIC IN FREE LIBRARY CASES

Black Coloured

DS96TPE 5.25" 10s £6.90 8.05

FLIPSIDED 5.25 10s £6.90 8 05

DS 48 TPI 5.25" 10s £6.90 8 05

UNIVERSAL 5.25" 10s £6.90 8.05

HIGH DENSITY 5.25" 10s £6.90 N/A

CF 13" 10s £13.80 N'A

CF2DD3" 10s £26.45 N/A

5.25" BULK UNBRANDED DISKS LIFETIME GUARANTEE

Black Coloured

5 75 8 05

10 35 19 55

19 5 5 34 50

34 50 57.50

00 50 149 50

.276.00

FULLY CERTIFIED
Try 10 and see
25

50

100 Free E180 Video Tape
250 2 Free E180 Video Tapes
500 5 Free E180 Video Tapos 149 50

RED, GREEN, BLUE, YELLOW, WHITE

10 in single colour or 2 of each - please state in large quantities your choice. (II stocks are
available)* n library cases Will work on single/double sided 48/96 TPI D/D Drives

3.5” BULK UNBRANDED DISKS 135 TRILIFETIME GUARANTEE

25

50

100

250

500

DS
£28.75
£51 75
£97 75
£230 00
£421 25

SPECIAL BBC DISK OFFER
GREY COLOURED 96TPI DSDD 5.25"

10s £7.50 25s £14.50 50s £27.50 100s £45.00

SEND FOR OUR FREE PRODUCT CATALOGUE WITH MANY, MANY,

MANY OTHER PRODUCTS

ALL 5 25* DISKS HAVE REINFORCED HUB RINGS. SLEEVES. LABELS AND WRITE
PROTECTS ALL DISKS CARRY A LIFETIME GUARANTEE ALL DISK PRICES INCLUDE
VAT AND P/P TO ORDER PLEASE CALL DIRECT DISK LINE 10am-€pm

All disks now sent
1st class or courier

ACCESSORIES

IBM/Amstrad PC1512 Printer Cable GPR10125 x cent £5.75

Disk Notcher/douNers £3 45

D»k Cleaners 3.5* £3 45

5.25* Cleaner £3.45

Mini Vac for printors and keyboards £5 75

3* Disk cleaning Kit £5 75

Centronics 2 Way Swich Box/RS232 £24.65

Centronics 3 Way Swich Box/RS232 £29 33

Centronics 4 Way Swich Box/RS232 £34 50

Centronics X Way Swich Box/RS232 £34 50

Centronics/RS232 Cables (if purchased with switch box) £4 60

Male to Male Cables £8 05

BBC Printer Cables £5 75

Filter Screen* Mono Colour

12* £12.65 £1495

14* £14.95 £1725

16* £19.55 £23.00

Printer Stand*

80 Col standard £10.35

80 Col deluxe £13 80

80 Col multi purpose £17 25

Monitor Stand*

MS0912 12* £10 35

MS0914 14* £12 65

MS0918 18* £14 95

Copy Holder*

Thingi (left or right handod) £3.45

Angle Poise (80 Col) £13 85

Angle Poise (132 Col) £23 00

Desktop (80 Col) £9.20

MIMIC HIGH DENSITY COBALT COATED 1 .6 MEG SUITABLE FOR A T S.

10 50 100

£1150 £48.30 £92 00

Verbatim preformed for use with Kodak 6 6 meg drive or equivalent (5 Pack) £90 00

DISK BOXES

526* - - 60 capacity £6.90 - 100 capacity £9.20

5l 25" .. 140 capacity £1 1 .50 - 40 capacity £8.90

a5* 40 capacity £6.90 BO capacity £920

a(T - 40 capacity £920

Mimic Highgrade Video Tapes £2.25 Mimic Super Highgrade Video Tapes £2.75

MimiC Super Grade E 1 80 Video T ape £2.99

ZONEFOUR LIMITED

Unit 11, Mundells Court, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL7 1EN. Telephone: (0707) 334460

158

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

Archimedes four-slot backplane

Now available for just £49.00 each our four-slot backplane suits all 300-series
Archimedes and allows up to four single width Podules to be connected. Supplied
with all necessary metalwork and fixing screws for rapid and simple assembly.

Archimedes Prototyping Video Genlock/

Expansion Card Modulator cards

This single width Podule has a pre-decoded and We can supply several video cards for Acorn

fully buffered 8-bit bus interface with over 65% computers including the “630B” genlock for the

of its area devoted to 0.1" square pad to allow BBC Microcomputer range at £155.00 each and

the construction of prototype circuitry using the “ArchieLock” for Archimedes at £175.00

any of the common wiring techniques. Avail- each. Ask about our “ArchieCode” PAL en-
able as a bare PCB for just £ 1 5.00 each or with coder to allow you to use your Archimedes with

the interface fully constructed for £35.00 each. domestic video equipment.

All prices exclude VAT. Please add £5 P&P per order. Cash, cheques or institutional purchase orders accepted. Please enquire
about quantity discounts. Don’t forget to include your delivery address and, if possible, telephone number(s). Most orders

fulfilled the same day but please allow up to 28 days for delivery.

Atomwide Ltd., 23 The Greenway, Orpington, Kent BR5 2AY (0689) 38852

/ OUNOIE

g | -p | + Full Software Support

• Comprehensive Manual

CONTROL BOARD:-
for only 99 pounds

inc VAT and P&P

For use with popular

BBC MICRO SERIES

The RCB1 is an inexpensive, versatile, robust, and powerful interface,
controlled by BASIC or MACHINE CODE ROUTINE (supplied).
FEATURES INCLUDE: NO SOLDERING!

Promotional
Video on
Request

- 8 ADJUSTABLE DIGITAL INPUTS
-4 ANALOGUE INPUTS

- 8 PUSH/PULL POWER TRANSISTOR
OUTPUTS

- 2 INTERRUPT DRIVEN COUNTERS
WITH DEBOUNCING FACILITIES'

EXPANSION BOARDS also available to double functions. LOGIC BOARDS with 2 NOT
gates. 1 AND gate, and 1 OR gate, at ONLY £17.00.

For further details, write to: The Sales Manager. Oundle Edutcch Ltd. Oundlc School,
Oundle, Peterborough PE8 4EN.

CARDIGAN

Electronics and computing for business education and leisure.

★ ACORN APPROVED DEALERS *

* ARCHIMEDES & BBC MASTER *

* HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, PERIPHERALS *

★ ACORN SPECIALIST SINCE 1981 ★

Call lor an Archimedes demonstration, no appointment necessary.

TEL: 0239 614483
CHANCERY LANE, CARDIGAN,
DYFEDSA43 IMD

CLOSED ALL DAY WEDNESDAY

Ace Computing

*

Euclid

is a fully

programmable 3-D
modelling and animation
system. It allows instant visualisation
of scenes in 3-D which you can then view
from a variety of positions and angles, with camera
control Ifce a TV studio. Objects can be moved around and
constructed live on screen.

Typical drawing times of 1 /5th second for full screen

• Intersecting and concave surface polygons

• Line or surface drawing

• Full hidden surface removal
■ Instant scene and object transformations

• Works in any graphics mode

• Multiple use of solid definitions in one scene

• Orthogonal or perspective projections
• Conversion to and from DXF format

• Supports a number of oolour printers at full resolution

For all models of Archimedes

Cost: C45 (including VAT and P&P)

■

Order Form

Please send me

copy/copies of Euclid. Euclid for Archimedes

I enclose a cheque/PO for C (made payable to Ace Computing).

Name:

Address:

Dale:

Signed:

Please complote and return to: Ace Computing, 27 Victoria Road, Cambridge CB4 3BW

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

159

1 Contex ■

Bank Manager

Advanced personal bank account management programme lor disc
systems

Standard Bank Manager for BBC B and B+ £1 7.50
Master Bank Manager for Master and Compact £22.50
Archimedes Bank Manager £25.00

Bank Manager Business Utilities

Adds trial balance and Spreadsheet reports to Bank Manager systems

for all Bank Manager versions (state which) £1 2.00

Typing Tutor

Teaches touch typing, 90 lessons, including metronome and audio key
click, recommended

Version 1 , cassette only £1 2.50
Version II, for BBC B, B+, Master and Compact, disc only

£12.50

Archimedes version, disc only £1 5.00

Shareware for Archimedes PC Emulator

Suitable MS DOS software selected for the Arc PC Emulator

Spreadsheet; 64x256 rows, sorting, many functions

£7.50

Word Processor; fast, easy, many functions, dictionary

£7.50

Database; 2 discs, many facilities, on-line help £1 5.00
MS DOS Tutorial; Interactive learning £7.50
Pinballs; 8 good pinball games on one disc £7.50

All prices fully inclusive, free postage in UK

Enquiries and Access orders ’phone 02303 347

State: B, B+, Master, Compact, Archimedes and if 40tk 5.25", dOtk
5.25" or 3.5" disc

Contex Computing

15 Woodlands Close, Cople,

Bedford MK44 3UE

Dave's been
down-under!

Unfortunately, they sent him back. His father did all he
could, but to no avail. Apparently David was beating
the Aussies at "Hopper' (as well as cricket) and they
didn’t like it. Anyway, he’s back, so if you come to see
our full range of BBC software and hardware, disc
drives, printers, monitors, cables etc, and you hear an
Australian accent, it will only be David showing off.
Actually, he sounds better than he used to!

NUMBER ONE IN BROMLEY

Data Store

6 Chatterton Road, Bromley, Kent. Tel.: 01-460 8991

PARKE INDUSTRIES

13 Bristol Avenue,
Wallasey,

Merseyside

L44 OBB Tel: 051-639 4749

Computers

Arc.305 Entry System £775
Arc.305 Mon. System £840
Arc.305 Col. System ....£995
Arc.310 Entry System £900

Arc.310M £950

Arc.440C £3,000

Master Series

Mast. 128 £400

Mast compact £335

Akhter, P.C. computers
available

Printers

Star LC10 £200

Star LC10 Col £230

"Citizen printers & canon
available**

Epson

LX800 £265

FX800 £430

FX1000 £599

LQ500 £425

Disc Drives
Single 400k 40/80T
MD400A £19

As above with PSU £135.95
’To make sure of the best
for you ring us now!!"

If what is displayed here,
does not meet with your
needs then ring us now
on 051 639 4749 and hear
our offers for disc drives,
printers, modems, PC’s,
accessories and lots
more besides!

Cheques made payable to

Parke Industries

All Prices include VAT at 15%

TEL: 01 -508 4904

GEORGE HOUSE
50 SPRING GROVE
LOUGHTON
ESSEX IG104QD

EPSON LASER SPECIALISTS

Our popular GQ - 3500 package
NOW WITH

FREE ONE YEAR ON-SITE
WARRANTY!

PACKAGE:

Epson GQ - 3500 Laser Printer (with 1 2 month on-site
warranty), parallel interface and cable, programming
manual, codes sheet, FORMS1 form design software, 12
c.p.i. download font, expert help service:

£1498.80 (free delivery)

Consumables & Accessories:

FAST service at DISCOUNT prices e.g.: 5 toner carts,
for £82.00 delivered free.

Download GQ Fonts:

High quality, low cost font discs - send large S. A.E.
(26p) for catalogue.

Allow 28 days for delivery
Please add £1 1 .95 - Securicor Enquiries Welcome

Please add VAT at 1 5%. Official orders welcome or
C.W.O. We deliver FAST.

160

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

r~~j

★ Capsules containing
deadly bombs or extra
powers!

★ Lasers, splitting balls,
invincible bricks, etc!

if Mouse control!

★ Two-player option!

if Amazing soundtrack
and sound FX!

ORDER NOW

£19.95

The Fireball is a sphere of awesome power that can destroy all in its way — if
controlled by an expert! Clear your way through the space debris — brick-like
constructions which, when destroyed, may discharge strange floating capsules,
some of these are deadly, but others, if caught, will further enhance the super
powers of your Fireball!

FIREBALL Block-busting brick-blasting action for the amazing Archimedes! With
100 screens of colourful action and a screen designer to let you make your own
custom screens. Fireball is packed full of playability and a host of special features . .

MIL

12 CHILTERN ENTERPRISE CENTRE
STATION ROAD, THEALE,
BERKS RG74AA.

TEL: 0734-302600

Vine Micros Ltd

Replay

The Ultimate in Tape to Disk Transfer.

Features include:

* Very fast saving and loading of files

* No soldering or track cutting required

* Saves up to 22 files per disk

* Fully menu driven

* Money back guarantee if not satisfied

BBC Master Self Contained £35.00

BBC Master Add on for Romboard 3 £27.00

BBC B Mkl (please state DFS) £29.90

BBC B Mk2 (for any 1 770 DFS) £29.90

Mk2 additional features include:

Built in Formatting, Auto file creation.

Master to B Conversion

For those who have upgraded from a B to a
Master, to enable most old cassettes to be
used. £14.94

B+ to B Conversion

Enables you to switch between OS 2.00 on B+
and OS 1.20 used by the B £14 95

Write Protection Switch

Fits internally in the Master to write-protect
sideways RAM, no soldering required. £8 90

MBB3SE

V/SA

Rombard 3 • for Master 128
Adds 3 extra ROM sockets.

Works by replacing the computer's built-in
ROM software with other ROMs (including the
Inter-series from Computer Concepts). gg

Romboard 4 - for Master 128

Adds 4 extra ROM sockets plus a Read/Write

protect switch.

Supports up to 4 ROMs, by overlaying either
RAM banks or cartirdge slots. £26 50

ADDCOMM - (not Master) details available
Provides 40 extra BASIC commands including
Graphics, Toolkit, and other utilities £23 go

Matrix ROM - (not Master) details available
Adds BASIC commands to enable matrix
algebra in you own programs

£26.00

* All products fully documented

* Full backup services available

* All prices include VAT and postage

For details/orders contact:

Vine Micros Ltd, Marshborough
Sandwich, Kent, CT13 OPG
Telephone: 0304 812276.

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

161

XMAS SALE

Archimedes

*ESTABLISHED SUPPLIERS*

Registered Acorn Dealer

Entry

System

Mono

System

Colour

System

A305

599.00

649.00

769.00

A310

699.00

749.00

869.00

A310M

749.00

799.00

919.00

A440

2029.00

2079.00

2199.00

MASTER SYSTEM

AMB15 MASTER 128K 349.00

PLEASE ADD 15% VAT TO ALL ORDERS
+ £10 DELIVERY CHARGE.

PAYMENTS WITH ORDERS
All prices exclude VAT
*Mail Order Only*

V.M.S. Enterprises Ltd,

Unit 1 Bouverie Lodge, 4 Rectory Road,
Beckenham, Kent. BR3 ITU
Tel: 01 -650 91 52

I wish to order

I enclose cheque/PO for £ Inc VAT

Name

Address

Postcode Tel No.

Fax 01 -207 6375

Tei oi -9536009 Field Electric Ltd

, 3 Shenley Road, Borehamwood

Herts WD61AA

Official Orders. Oversea’s enquiries welcome. Order by phone or post. Open 6
days. Postal rates apply U.K. Mainland only. All prices include 15% VAT. Phone your
order (or quick delivery with Access, Am/Ex, Diners or Visa cards.

5 V 4 " V 2 height disk drives in case. New case size 12V4 x 9 V 2 x 2 40 track double
sided. £46.00 c/p £2.50.

Tabor Corp: Disk drives. 3" New & boxed 34 way IDC edge pin connector. 360k 40
track. Data. £24.00 c/p 2.00.

MPI micro peripherals inc 5V4" full height disk drives 40 track single side £22.50 c/p
£ 2.00

Special Offer. NEC 12" Green screen monitors. 750 composite video input. Black
plastic case. High resolution. 240 vac input. £1 9.95 c/p 5.50
Nec 9" green screen monitors 75Q composite video input. Black plastic case with
built in handle £1 9.95 c/p 4.50

12" Green screen monitor. New and boxed 750 composite video input. High
resolution £59.95 c/p 5.75. __

PC/XT & AT compatable keyboard. Auto-sense key-board. Keys arranged in 3
areas. Function array. Qwerty array. Special function/number pad. Shielded 6’
terminated to 5 Pin Din. £45.00 c/p 4.95. New and boxed.

We stock switch mode/linear PSU etc same as Oct 88 micro user.

Learn about our solar system by visiting and exploring 3D landscapes
of 24 satellites from Mercury to Pluto’s Charon!

•A comprehensive Space Adventure Simulation ideal for schools or the family
(ages 10/14 )

•Plan & investigate in groups or progress at your own level
•A host of unique group-interactive features

•Complete with two manuals , ideas, a Guided Tour and an enhanced Master
version !

Other simulations: FARMER GILES £13 ROMPTON COMBE £13

£1 7.50 BBC B/MASTER

Write for our catalogue — — 40T or 80T disc

Magnolia Soft Available on approval

24 ELLIOT CLOSE EXETER EX4 5ED TEL. 0392 213724

7 A LOW COST DISC BASED

PROFESSIONAL
ACCOUNTING PROGRAM

For the BBC Computer

"Micro-Trader"

INTEGRATED SALES PURCHASE AND NOMINAL LEDGERS

Designed for business use by a business man. "Micro-Trader" offers full Sales and
Purchase Ledger facilities including SALES INVOICE and STATEMENT PRINTING
with a capacity of up to 1,000 accounts and 5,000 transactions per month.
Nominal Ledger features quick and easy entry of everyday transactions. Up to 6 Bank
Accounts, full V.A.T. facilities, Journal Posting. Full Reporting for individual accounts.
Audit Trail, Trial Balance, Profit b Loss and Balance Sheet.

"MICRO-STOCK"

Stock Control program, fully integrated with
"Micro-Trader”. 4,000 Stock Items with user
defined Codes. Invoice and Credit Notes and
Cash Sales routine. Full Stock Held Reports.

£75.00 -+- V.A.T.

"EXTENDED PAYROLL"

Micro- Aid Full Feature Extended Payroll. For use
stand alone or integrated with "Micro-Trader”.

£49.95 +- V.A.T.

"MICRO-MAILER"

A Mailmerge program, fully
integrated with "Micro-Trader".
With a user Database.

£30.00 -+- V.A.T.

sail

m

rchimedes

PHONE TODAY FOR A FREE FACT SHEET

ItlEADOU) COmPUTERS

11. LONDON STREET. WHITCHURCH. HAMPSHIRE. RG?8 7 L H

Telephone: Whitchurch (0256) 892008

Business Programs

Payroll and Wages

Now in its seventh year. The only BBC program for wages, tax and National Insurance for up to 400 employees
covering Weekly. Formghtly. Four weekly or Monthly pay whether contracted in or out. Accepts up to 46 items of
data per employee in two parts. Pay and personnel, prints out P35 data, personal information per employee for
P45 and P60 forms. The Payroll accepts standard, regular pay or compilation of pay from hourly, three overtime
rates, pension funds, sick-pay. SMP, SSP, holiday pay. bonuses, pre and post-tax adjustments and even no
pay. Three summaries, two different types of payslips and optional coin analysis. Annual contract
which keops you up to date
with the budget changes.

Twin NCR payslips. OR _L 1# A T

Send for demo disk. ~T~ W I

Bookkeeping

1) Double entry bookkeeping for home or club use. All data
kept in memory. Three character analysis code enable you
to know where the money comes from and whore it goes. 48
transactions per A4 page. Analysis summary of up to 30
categories.

2) Asl) r Random Access giving 2000 items. C ASH'BANK
or VAT/BANK headings. Password controlled. String sear-
ches. For schools, clubs, churches, non credit business.

3) As 2) + Credit facility and statements. For small working
on credit businesses.

4) As 3) t Invoicing, Orders. Quotations, etc. Full sorting of
data by 5 options. Automated statements, mailing labels.
Multiple automatic nominal ledgers. For independent schools
and VAT businessess who wish to cut the effot.

5) MicrO’Trader is a full accountancy package with features
right through to final Balance sheet. Stock Control at £75 +
VAT extra. For shops/firms wanting full accounting facilities.
Payroll can be integrated.

£11.95 + VAT

£19.95 + VAT

£29.95 + VAT
£49.94 + VAT

£200.00 + VAT

21 8 to 1 875 addresses on disc
Multiple labels, mail merge and sorts.

Mailing

£1 1 .95 or £29.95 + VAT

Family History £19.95 inc
Archimedes Version £24.94 inc

As far as we know the only genealogical program for the BBC written and sold by
genealogists for genealogical enthusiasts.

Send for full brochure of these & other items.

Demo disks £2.50 each. Postage add 57p.

(AU), 25 Fore Street, Praze,

Camborne, Cornwall TR1 4 OJX
or telephone 0209-831274 with ACCESS

rTTicro-flid

162

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

Acorn User, 20-26 Brunswick Place, London N1 6DJ. BTG/TTNS 81:RED001

SCREEN

DUMPING

screen dumps in the August
1988 Hints and Tips feature is
one of the most useful I have
come across. Unfortunately I
can’t get it to work with View-
Store on my BBC Master. The
utility transposes text from the
left-hand side to the right-hand
side when printed either in
sheet or card display. If other
readers have this problem, I’m
sure some advice would be
helpful. No problem is exper-
ienced with Basic programs.

R Duncan
Somerset

Sir, I use ViewStore a great deal
and was delighted to find the
screen-dump utility in Hints
and Tips, August 1988. Unfor-
tunately I cannot use it as I use
a 6502 second processor which
is listed as incompatible. Can
you recommend any modifica-
tions to the program that
would allow me to use it?

Dr E Latusek

Derbyshire

The program can be made to
work on a second processor
simply by changing line 2150
to:

PROCoscl i ( "SAVE PRTSC FF
FF0900 FFFFO"+STR$~end%)

The FFFF before the two
memory addresses ensures
that the PRTSC program is
loaded into the correct I/O
processor.

R Duncan’s problem arises
(only on a Master) when there
are sections of inverse video
(black on white) as well as
normal text: ViewStore uses
inverse video to highlight the
database name for example.
The three extra lines below
should cure the problem:

1075 BMI loopO

1085 . loopO

1820 PROCchecksum( &900 , end
- 1 i &80A0 )

IV

ADDICT

Sir, Is it possible to use a BBC
B computer to superimpose
text over a television picture,
for adding subtitles? If so, how
can this be done?

A Dodd

Merseyside

Computer text or graphics
can be overlayed onto a video
picture using a system called
‘genlock’. In simple terms,
this combines two signals to
produce one signal containing
both television and computer
pictures, and so keeping the
computer in step with the
video signal.

Several companies manu-
facture genlock interfaces;
Wild Vision (6 Jesmond Road,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE2
4PQ; tel: 091-281 8481),

Atomwide (23 The Greenway,
Orpington, Kent BR5 2AY;
tel: (0689) 38852). Both com-
panies also produce genlock
podules for the Archimedes.

WORKING WELL

TOGETHER

Sir, I have recently bought a
new 80-track (non-switchable)
disc drive for my BBC micro
and it works fine. I can also use
my old 40-track discs on the
80-track drive by using a soft-
ware fix.

My problem is that when I
connect my old 40-track drive
to my micro as well, using a
two-into-one adapter, I can
only use either the 80- or the
40-track drive, but not both
together. I presume the soft-
ware fix that makes the 80-
track double step is also affect-
ing the 40-track drive, thus
making it a ‘20-track’ drive.

Can you suggest another
software fix or, even better, a
way to make my 80-track drive
switchable?

Alan George

Swansea

Your best option is to change
your current DFS for one
that supports individual
double-stepping. The Watford
DFS will allow drives to be
switched to double step indi-
vidually, as does the Acorn
1770 DFS 2.2.

ANY FREE

MEMORY?

Sir, Is there a reader out there
who has managed to get more
than 589824 bytes of free mem-
ory for the Archimedes PC
Emulator, and if so how?

Does anyone know how to
transfer data from standard
5.25-inch 360k discs to 3.5-inch

discs (720k) used on the
Archimedes?

At the moment, I am having
to transfer the 360k discs to
BBC format using the PUT-
FILE program on my Master
512. I then have to convert the
disc back to IBM format using
the GETFILE program and a
5.25-inch drive hooked up to
my Archimedes.

N Newman
Farningham

A twin-drive Arc running the
PC Emulator and MS-DOS
can copy from a 360k to a
720k disc.

To get this amount of
memory for the PC Emulator,
you have to unplug most of
the modules, and reconfigure
the memory map: the table
gives more details.

A file called *PCSize does
this automatically; it is in-
cluded on this month’s 3.5-
inch Acorn User disc.

It’s also worth upgrading to
the latest version of the PC
Emulator, V1.2; you can up-
grade by returning your ori-
ginal Emulator discs, plus £15
to Acorn Customer Services,
Acorn Computers, Fulbourne
Road, Cherry Hinton, Cam-
bridge CB1 4JN.

ELKS MOVE
UPACLASS

Sir, We have a number of Elec-
trons at school. As their
second-hand value is negligible,
it would make good sense to
upgrade them to (near) BBC-
compatibility. Ideally, I would
like this to be a disc-based
system, but I do not relish the

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

163

eren Computer Systems

Telephone Hotline 0734 391222
Fax: 0734 785467

EPSON HI 80

FOUR PEN PLOTTER £295 WHILE STOCKS LAST
FULL RANGE OF HEWLETT PACKARD
VECTOR PC’S
PRICES EXC VAT.

25% EDUCATIONAL DISCOUNT TO RECOGNISED
AUTHORITIES.

UK CUSTOMERS ADD £8 PER CATRON P&P
Answerphone service
0734 771455

EUROWORD

for WORDWISE and WORDWISE PLUS

Converts Wordwise to a European Wordprocessor

• On-Screen Accents

• On-Screen Underlining

• Menu to Set Preferences

• Customise to Printer

• 40 Page Manual

Provides a minimum of 26 European Characters, all of which can be used in a
single document.

Printer drivers for Epson, Citizen, Diablo/Qume, Juki, Ricoh and IBM mode
printers.

Other useful features, such as additional embedded commanJs for Wordwise
similar to those in Wordwise Plus.

Charm Micro Soft
31 Freshmeadow Lane, Helsby,
Cheshire WA6 OQU. Tel: 0772-616705

Price:£14.90 inclusive
Add £2 for a 3.5" disc
Specify 40/80T and printer type

if

STOCK

CLEARANCE

SALE

ON ALL BBC AND
ACORN PRODUCTS

RING FOR PRICE FIRST.

TEL: 01 -631 1098

COMPUFACE LTD
227 TOTTENHAM
COURT ROAD
LONDON W1P9AE.

Archilock

The complete solution for Interactive Video
using Archimedes.

The power of the Archimedes can now be
used for interactive video training, sales and
information systems. Archilock provides a
complete interface to a range of videodisc
and tape players.

* Full genlock and pixel-accurate
overlay.

* Software controlled fades of both
video picture and computer text.

* Software controlled brightness,
contrast and colour saturation.

* Composite video or RGB input (eg:

Philips 400 videodisc players).

* RGB outputs for use with Archie’s own
monitor or any linear RGB / multiscan
monitor.

* Additional RS232 port.

* Control software for a range of
videodisc and tape players.

* Costs £495 + VAT. Complete IV
systems available from £2,975.

Find out more about the Archimedes
potential for Interactive Video
Call Ol -977 0272

THE SOFT OPTION Elmtree Road, Teddington

iMTT-RftCTivETECHiMDLosEs Middlesex, TW1 1 8TD

HARDWARE, SOFTWARE &
PERIPHERALS AT DISCOUNT PRICES

Offer Price
inc VAT

Acorn Master 128k £400.00

Master 512k Upgrade £215.00

PACE

400k l)S 40/80 switching Disc Drive (no I’SU) £140.00

CUMANA

400k DS 40/80 switching Disc Drive (no PSU) £140.00

AKHTER

Master Compact £368.00

Master Compact + TV Modulator £382.00

Master Compact Mono Monitor £415.00

Master Compact 4 Colour Monitor £570.00

ARCHIMEDES

A 305 Base £699.00

A305 4 Mono Monitor £770.00

A305 4 Colour Monitor £930.00

A3 10 Base £845.00

A310 4 Mono Monitor £905.00

A3 10 4 Colour Monitor £1,060.00

A310M Base £905.00

A310M 4 Mono Monitor £965.00

A310M 4 Colour Monitor £1,125.00

NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW

BT FAX MACHINE (group 3 auto reception)

RSP £995 + VAT OUR PRICE £925 + VAT

CANON FAX 110 (group 273 auto plus telephone)

RSP £1499 + VAT OUR PRICE £1295 + VAT
(Free installation plus 1 year warranty on site with Canon 1 10)

ALL PRICES INCLUDE VAT FREE POSTAGE

vndch^,,, VVILLOW SOFTWARE

Mail Order Dept ( At 1 1 )

The Willows, Wrington Lane, Congresbury, Bristol BS19 5BQ
Tel.: (0934) 876031 (2 lines & Ansaphone out of hours)

I | Oiler*, available lor a limitevl period & subject to availability. [■ccHd

Phone for best prico-we always trv to give you the best deal 1 *

164

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

LETTERS

thought of taking out a second
mortgage to pay for all the
equipment!

Can you suggest a solution?
I have heard that ACP do some
kind of disc system.

C Price
Merton Court School

A company called Pres (6
Ava House, High Street,
Chobham, Surrey GU24 8LZ;
tel: (0276) 720467) is now re-
sponsible for marketing ACP
products. It has a wide range
of add-ons for the Electron,
including a complete 3.5-inch
disc upgrade for £114. Other
products include 5.25-inch
disc interfaces and sideways
RAM and ROM boards.

MASTER

MUSIC

in mu ii

Sir, I am the owner of a Master
128, and was wondering
whether it is possible to use it
as an audio sampler or MIDI
controller, without the need to
buy Hybrid Technology’s
Music 200 or similar.

I was thinking of using the
analogue port as a sampler, but
this would be limited to sounds
of about lOOhz (a low growl).
The RS423 seems a good choice
for a MIDI port, although,
again, this is too slow; 19.2
kbaud to MIDI’s 31.5 kbaud.

Would adding a Turbo
board, or other second or co-
processor help to speed up
these two interfaces?

Bruce Eddy
Dundee

Adding a co-processor will in-
crease the speed of your com-

puter but will have no effect
on the various ports. If you
arc serious about using your
Master for music, it may be a
good idea to first buy a MIDI
interface and then add a sepa-
rate sampler via that.

Three companies produce
such interfaces: Electro Music
Research: 14 Mount Close,
Wickford, Essex SS11 8HG,
tel: (0702) 335747; Hybrid
Technology, Unit 3, Robert
Davies Court, Nuffield Road,
Cambridge CB4 1TP, tel:
(0223) 316910; and Umusic, 17
Parkfields, London SW15
6NH, tel: 01-788 3729.

HIGH STREET

ARCHIMEDES

Sir, I would just like to make a
few comments on the
Archimedes. Although the
machine is a terrific achieve-
ment for Acorn, albeit an ex-
pensive one, the sales of the
Archimedes have been atro-
ciously handled.

It has been over a year since
the Archimedes was first laun-
ched, and there are still only a
handful of software packages
available. People are more like-
ly to go out and buy PC-
compatibles that already have a
large software base.

Why don’t Acorn sell the
Archimedes through high-
street stores, such as Dixons, in
a similar way to the Amstrad
range? More people would see
the Archimedes and then,
perhaps, more would be sold.

Angus Baigent
Isle of Mull

JUST SAYING

HELLO

Sir, While ‘playing’ with my
BBC computer, I found an in-
teresting, though not disastrous
problem with the RENUM-

BER command. First enter
PRINT CHR$141; “HELLO”.
Now try typing in the follow-
ing, using the Copy key to
copy the CHR$(141) character
off the screen into the quotes
(it’s the space before the half
H):

10 PRINT" <CHR$ 14 1>HELL0"
20 PRINT" <CHR$ 14 1 > HELLO"

Running the program in mode
7 will obviously produce the
word ‘HELLO’ in double
height.

If you now RENUMBER
the program, you get two
errors; ‘Failed at 10’ and ‘Failed
at 20’. This does not affect the
program and it will still ex-
ecute. Have you any sugges-
tions as to why this happens?

P McDonald
Scunthorpe

To understand the problem,
you need to know how the
BBC stores line numbers in-
ternally. Programs are held in
a tokenised form. That is,
codes arc used to represent
keywords (such as IF or
THEN) in order to save space.
The full list is printed in the
BBC User Guide.

Code 141 is used to repre-
sent GOTO. When the pro-
gram is renumbered, the com-
puter finds a GOTO token
and so looks for a line number
immediately after it, in case it
needs changing. What follows
(‘HELLO’) is not recognised
as a line number and so the
renumber fails.

This ‘feature’ is only pre-
sent in Basic 1 and 2. In Basic
4 onwards, anything between
quotes is ignored when re-
numbering.

DATA

REMOVAL

Sir, I am trying to use an
Osbyte call to read data from
the serial input buffer, but 1 am

unable to get the data out. I
have tried to use:

A%=145:X%=1:Z%=U
SR &FFF4

but this doesn’t return the data
in the Y% variable. Can you
help?

Neil Gladden
Auckland

Osbyte 145 returns the char-
acter from the buffer in the Y
register of the 6502 chip. USR
doesn’t put the A, X and Y
registers back into the three
different integer variables as
you might expect - they all
get added together and put in
Z% (in the order
&PPYYXXAA). To find what
Y is, you must use:

Z%=USR &FFF4

Y%= ( Z% AND &FF0000 ) DIV
&10000

C%=(Z% AND &1000000) DIV
&1000000

This way, C% is set to 1 if the
buffer was empty; if it wasn’t,
then Y% is the character read
from the buffer.

OF RELEVANCE

TO ATO MS

Sir, I have an Acorn Atom and
I am disappointed that I can no
longer find anything in your
magazine for my computer. It
would be nice to see you rec-
tify the matter by providing
programs, games or even a sell
and swap column.

Finally, I would like to ask if
there are any other Atom users
out there? If so, would they
like to sell or swap programs,
ideas etc?

D Peploc

Newport

I suggest you contact Robin
Bradbeer of the London Asso-
ciation of Computer Clubs,
Polytechnic of North London,
Holloway, London N7 8DB
for information about an
Atom user group.

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

165

3»c

min mum 1 1 11 in 11 iiiiiii

SCHOOL AND GOVERNMENT ORDERS WELCOME

Oeluxe 120 Disc capacity
lockable Oise Box worth
over £14. (Please state it
you want the 100 capacity
Box instead). when you buy

25 disks DS/DD for El 8.25 —

or 50 disks DS/DD for £27.50 ^

or 1 00 disks DS/DD for £44.50 ^

FREE CATALOGUE WITH EVERY ORDE R -

Nebulae, dept MH, FREEPOST, Kilroot
Park Industrial Estate, Carrickfergus, 1 —
Co Antrim, BT38 7BR Tel (09603) 6502C ™*p —
(Mon-Fri 9 to 5) mmm m

7 Day Delivery. One year guarantee & 1 4 day <—
money back period. Prices inc. VAT + postage —

II III II I III II Tel: (09603) 51020 III 111

FREKP()ST_YOUK ORDLRTTJUAY^NO^ STAMP REQUIRED _

Archimedes Macro Assembler

Features:

* Full ARM Instruction Set Supported

* Powerful Macro Facility

* Conditional Assembly

* Free Upgrade

£34.50 (inc. VAT)

The Wingpass Assembler is designed to be used in con-
junction with the ANSI ’C’ Compiler. No linker is supplied.
Wingpass Ltd,

19 Lincoln Ave, Twickenham, MIDDX TW2 6NII

Reach For The Sky

with GLIDER PILOT 2, our comprehensive flight simulator.
Features cable launch, thermals, cross country with map and
practice option. Extensively machine coded for quick
response. Instruction booklet.

With full instrumentation and “solid” colour perspective
graphics, this is not a game but an accurate and challenging
simulation. Keys or potentiometer joystick. Find the thermals
and soar!!

FREE to disc users - “NOTEBOOK” - an easy to use
memopad utility. Use it as a flight log for Glider Pilot 2!

B, B+ and master.

Cassette £7.95, 5.25" Disc £8.95, 3.5" Disc £9.95.

APEX Software, Station Road, Penshaw, Tyne & Wear
DH4 7PE. Tel: Durham 091-385 3091.

COMPUTER AIDED PRINTED CIRCUIT DESIGNER.

* ICON DRIVEN SELECTION OF COMPONENTS AND FUNCTIONS.

* OVER 60 PREDEFINED COMPONENTS.

‘ CURSOR DRIVEN FROM KEYBOARD. JOYSTICK OR AMX TYPE MOUSE

* PRODUCES DOUBLE SIDED BOARDS WITH SILK SCREEN.

* MAXIMUM BOARD SIZE 8" BY 6,4".

* PRODUCES HARD COPY TO ANY FX COMPATIBLE PRINTER.

* COMPATIBLE WITH THE BBC B, B+ AND MASTER 128, WITH DISC DRIVE.

* PRICE C69 95 ON EPROM WITH 40/80 TRACK DISC & MANUAL.

ELAN ANTENNA & SOFTWARE
UNIT 66

STIRLING ENTERPRISE PARK
STIRLING, FK7 7RP.

ALL ORDERS SEND BY
RETURN OF POST.

ACORN USER
ADVERTISEMENT PAGES
- NOVEMBER 1988

4Mation

153

May hew Telonics

154

A&G Electronics

156

Maynard (Codax)

161

Ace Computing

159

Meadow Computers

162

Acorn Computers

16-17

Mewsoft

154

AlSystems

14

Micro Media

148

Alpha Microtec

158

Micro Studio

14

AMS

27

Microaid

162

Apex Software

166

Microgeneral

146

Apricote Studios

1

Microman Computers

118

Atari

150-151

Mijas Software

44

Atomwide

159

Minerva Systens 117

, IBC

Aucbe

96

Mitre Software

40

Autodesk

128

Morley Electronics

20

Avon Computer Exchange 24

Mydisk

14,26

B S Dollmore

147

Nebulae Software

166

B&S Computing

25

Nidd Valley Micro Products 14

BBC Software

31

Norwich Computer

BBD Dustcovers

158

Services

132

Becbug

6,10,13

Number One Systems

156

Brainsoft

126

Oak Computers

153

Calderdata

155

Oasis Instruments

40

Cambridge Micro Systems 21

Orion Computer Services

154

Cardigan Electronics

159

Oundle Edutech

159

Care Electronics

134

Overseas Media Distributors 33

Charm Microsoft

164

P&H Electronics

123

CJE Micros

157

Parke Industries

160

Clares

74

Pear tree Dram

4-5

Colton Software

2

Pineapple Software

124

Compshop

79

PMS

92

Compuface

164

Q & D Enterprises

8

Computaccount

42

RBRC

95

Computcch

138

Resource

156

Computeck

126

Robico

90

Computer Concepts

32,84

Rotherham Computer

Computer Depot

148

Centre

49

Contcx Computing

160

Serial Port

65

CSS

152

Serious Statistical Software 155

Dabs Press

78,142

Silicon Vision

88

Datastore

160

Soft Option

164

Datahorn

160

Software Bargains

28-29

Dept. Of Physiological

Solidsik Technology

123

Sciences

155

Sqirrelsoft

33

Elan Antenna

166

Star Devices

134

Electro Music Research

18

Star Micronics

144

Europrcss

30

Superior

Field Electric

162

Software 120-121, IFC,IBC

Ground Control

152

Synergy Software

65

HCCS Associates

76

System Applied Technology 18

Home Based Business

156

Technomatic

34-39

HSV Computer Services 44

Tcchsoft UK

155

Human Computer Interface 48

Telemap

119

Ifel

21

Terrell Electronics

18

Impact Posters

71

Texcellence

156

Integrex

72

Towerhill Computers

68

Intelligent Interfaces

18

Tubclink

153

Karir International

148

Twillstar Computers

137

Keyzone

152

University of Reading

138

LCL

154

Vercn

164

Leewood Development

155

Video Electronics

152

Lindis International

134

Vine Micros

161

M D Office Supplies

147

VMS

162

M-Tec

33

Watford Elcctonics

50-64

Magenta Research

138

Waycott

152

Magnolia Software

162

Wc-Serve

49

Manor Court Supplies

82

Wight Scientific

148

Martelec

96

Willow Software

164

Matmos/Computer Apprecia-

Wingpass

166

tion

148

Zone Four

158

166

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

FREE ADS

Penpals wanted (teenage) with BBC B
and disc drive, to swap hints and tips, etc.
56 Ellis Avenue, Rainham, Essex RM13
9TU.

Penpals BBC B/Archimedes for mutual
assistance, chat. Also Repton addicts, any
age/sex. Doug Bishop, Shauna New
Barnstaple Rd, Ilfracombe, Devon.

Z80 second processor plus extra software,
£200. AMX mouse with Super Art , etc,
£50. Tel: (0295) 750758.

Nightingale modem and Commstar
ROM for BBC B, as new. Complete with
leads and manuals, £85. Tel: (0706)
46419.

Master 65C 102, 6502 turbo co-processor,
£70. Tel: (0793) 770886.

Compact AMX mouse, £20. With Super-
A rt, £30. Mertec companion, £25. Wanted
colour or monochrome monitor. Tel:
(0222)811076.

Printer Shinwa CPA80+, £75 ono. Tel:
Nigel (0203)504254.

BBC B OS 1 .2, joystick, cassette recorder,
manual, books, £200 4* worth of software.
All £250. SE Wales area. Tel: (063349)
350.

Swap my Triumph Toledo, MOT Aug
’89, alloy wheels for your BBC B com-
puter, plus dual 40/80T, DS disc drives,
monitor. Tel: (0509) 843214 eves.

BBC B OS 1.2 40/80TTDS drive. Hi-res
monitor, modem, software, manuals,
boxed. £350 ono. Tel: 01-837 7 165.

Acorn Electron, Master RAM board,
advanced Plus 1, Plus 3, unit. Also user
port, Pascal, View , ViewSbeet , £225. Tel:
051-737 1224.

BBC B 2x40/80T drives, 32k sideways
RAM/ROM board. ZlF socket, various
ROMs, 70 discs, manuals, £450. Tel:
(0635)524501.

Master 512 DOS+ Gem mouse, colour
monitor, dual 40/80T disc drives, printer,
many ROMs, games & manuals, £900
ono. Tel: (0494) 675670.

Master 128 turbo, £300. Acorn Music
500, Hybrid Music 4000, keyboard, of-
fers? Tel: Chesterfield 70730, eves.

Acorn second processors as new, 65002
cased, £125. Z80 cased with software
manuals, plus Wordstar profession, £160.
Tel: (0525) 375179.

BBC B issue 7. Acorn DFS, software
£225. Disc drive, 40T double sided. 30
5.25-inch discs, £75. Tel: Sunbury
788322.

BBC B, Amstrad, Dragon bits and pieces
for sale. Must go soon! Tel: Jeff, 01-997
5555 ext 278.

BBC B issue 7, Solidisk DFS,ADFS, Ziff,
£250. Tel : 02 1 -550 6 1 97 ( Ansaphonc).
BBC B OS 1.2 DNFS, 32k SWR, View,
£275. Or swap for Master 1 28. Tel: (0223)
246753.

Archimedes 310 colour system, PC
emulator, reference manuals, boxed as
new, £900. Tel: Alan (0256) 464889, eves.
Compact base system including ROMs
ViewStore View , Logo dumpmaster,
ACP. Advanced 1770DFS leads, Viglen
ROM adapter, digimouse, £325. Tel:
01-986 4442.

BBC B+ 1 770DFS, 2 40/80T, disc drives,
Cub452 monitor, Wordwise. KP10
printer, trackerball, Quicksbot , Voltmace,
joysticks, loadsa games, manuals, £700.
Tel: (0753) 86573.

BBC B + issue 7, 1770DFS, 2.0 OS,
DSDD disc drive +PSV. £50+ software,
books, mags, etc. Perfect condition,
boxed, £370 ono. Tel: (07456) 2698.
Electron 64k Plus 3, Plus 1. AP2 AP6
printer, 14-in colour TV. Second pro-
cessor, joystick, discs, cassettes, books,
cartridges. ASR, ABR recorder, £300 ono.
Tel: (0533) 873915.

Acorn User magazines, 26 total, ’85-’88,

£5. Buyer collects. Tel: Burgess Hill,
45116 eves.

BBC ROMs, NLQ ROM, £10. TDROM,
£10. AMX ROM, £10. WordwisePlus ,
£15. Also, Beebugsoft Design, £5.
Hershey fonts, £10. Tel: Mike (0293)
515320.

Electron, API, AP3, data recorder, Volt-
mace joystick, tapes, blank discs. ROM
cartridge, mags, manuals, as new, £200.
Tel: (0252) 837721.

Turbo co-pro, £80. Master reference
guides, 1+2, £20. Overview packs 1+2,
£60. 2 socket ROM cartridges, £5. Tel:
Paul 01-886 8594.

BBC+ 32k hi-res colour monitor, 40/80T
disc drive. Joysticks, stacks of software,
mags, books, DFS 1.4, £350. Tel: 01-229
2926.

BBC B issue 7, 40/80 + DS disc drive, 50
discs, AMX mouse, sideways ROM/
RAM board. 12 ROMs+ manuals, 16k
sideways RAM fitted, £400 ono. Tel:
(04252)71784.

Electron and almost 200 games, including
over £300 of originals. Ideal Christmas
gift. First reasonable offer. Tel: (0698)
52293.

Second processor 32016, £500. Latest
panos, 40T disc drives, £30. Tel: (050841)
8152, eves.

BBC micro ROMs Wordwise , toolkit,
Exmon graphics, £15 each. Acornsoft
Forth, Lisp cassettes, plus textbooks, £12
each. Tel: (0232) 702417.

Master with co-processor, Cumana DS
40/80T disc drive, trackerball, mouse,
light-pen, software, manuals, £500 ono.
Tel: (0782) 774187,evcs.

AMX mouse, Master 128 version, plus
SuperArt, £20. Tel: Burgess Hill, 45116
eves.

BBCB, Acorn DFS Microvitec 1431
monitor, 16k sideways RAM. AMX &
trackerball speech processor. Joystick,
Music 500, may split. Tel : 05 1 -426 1 202.
Acorn 6502 second processor, £60. Tel:
(0742)680541.

Microvitec high-resolution colour
monitor, (as new), £140. Epson MX-80
F/T+ printer (as new), £120. Tel: (0272)
566415.

BBC B Wordwise Plus , Wordaid ROMs,
£30 for both. Tel: Mr Noble, 061-431
5854.

BBC Master 128k with 6502 second
processor. 20M hard disc, monitor,
printer, disc drive, leads and casing, £650.
Tel: (0491) 575192.

Centronics GLP II printer, tractor feed,
roll paper and stand, £90 ono. Also games.
J Prinner, 10 Moor Park, Millom,
Cumbria, LA18 5DX.

BBC B OS 1.21 Wordwise , games, £150.
Barbarian, £8, Spyhunter, £6. Revs and
Revs, 4 tracks, £5. All cassettes. Tel:
078-571 4168.

Acorn 65C102 Turbo board, £80. RH
video digitiser, £100. Both with original
software and documentation. Tel: (0222)
614401 eves.

Master 128, 40/80T disc drive, Music 500,
AMX mouse, tape recorder, joysticks,
instant Mini Office, books, magazines,
200 discs, £420. Tel: 061-223 1883.

Master 128/512, Microvitec Cub med-
res, Akhter MD802E drives with PSU.
Vast software library, £550. Tel: Mitchell
(0202) 33630.

BBC B+ 128k Cumana disc drive,
printer, colour monitor, Z80 processor,
modem, Torch, graduate software,
manual, mouse, joysticks. Tel: 01-935
0640.

BBC B OS 1 .2 Torch-A80, twin 400k SOT
drives. Perfect WP, database, spreadsheet,
programmable database, accounts pro-
gram. Monochrome BBC monitor, £350
ono. Tel: (0604) 32287.

Electron AP4 disc I/F, T2P4 transfer
ROM, advanced disc toolkit, Starmon, all
for £120. Tel: Alan (10923) 30097.
Watford, video digitiser for BBC B, £75.
Tel: (08293) 2727.

Archimedes 310 + second internal drive
and 10 discs, £825. Master Compact +
second internal drives, £265. Phillips col-
our monitor, £150. Tel: 01-572 2917.

Z80 second processor, £160. Z80 turbo
Pascal, £22. ATPL sidewise, battery
backed RAM, £33. EPROMs, games,
books’, list available. Tel : (076 18)521.
Electron User group. Monthly news-
letter, 26p + SAE. From: Dave Smith, 3
Goosetree Estate, Rings End, Wisbech,
Cambs PE13 4DE.

Phillips monochrome moniter (green)
with lead, £35. Datachat, modem, Comm-
star 2, £30. Prism 2000 Modem, Micronet,
software, £20. Tel: (0734) 665180.

Master 128 for quick sale, hardware from
mouse to modem, cost £1000, sell around
£750. Might split. Tel: (0602) 817935
eves.

Archimedes A310M colour, 2nd drive,
First WordPlus , other software, games,
Star LC-10, mint condition, with boxes,
£110. Tel: 01-550 4826, eves.

View J, complete package, including
printer driver, software, £30. Includes
postage. Tel: Alan (0978) 759732, eves or
weekends.

BBC Master, 40/80T disc drive. Manuals,
Becbug C, language software, games,
parallel printer lead. Excellent condition,
£500. Tel: Shahid, 01-847 3321

Master, 512 upgrade, twin 40/80T drives,
Citizen printer, books, software, joy-
sticks, new, £1300. Selling £650 ono. Tel:
James, Frodsham 32993.

BBC Model B + DFS, £275. Music 500,
£80. Graphics ROM, speech ROM,
Sleuth, offers? All hardly used. Tel:
061-799 5766, eves.

Econet utilities, all on DFS or ADFS.
Send SAE for details. D Penny, 98 Labur-
num Crescent, Allestree, Derby DE3
2GS.

Sanyo monitor, 12-inch, green. New £55.
Acorn monitor, 12-inch, green, as new.
Tel: (098982) 537.

BBC B 100k, disc drive, books, joystick,
games, discs, issue 4, £225. Tel: (0822)
854148.

BBC B, with 40/80T dual drives, colour
monitor, joysticks, manuals, plus soft-
ware and magazines, £475. Tel: Ravi.
01-902 0397, eves.

Wanted Spellmaster ROM. Curry, 12
Carnvue Avenue, Newtownabbey BT36
6RA.

Wanted EMR MIDI interface, plus soft-
ware. Tel: Andy, (0602) 279657, eves.
Wanted Penman plotter, working condi-
tion, for BBC. Tel: Ian, 091-536 5821.
Acornsoft - Mirle business software.
Accounts receivable and stock control
programs wanted. Also instruction
manual for mailing system. Tel: (0222)
593412.

BBC B Opus Disc Drive 40/80T, Tandy
Printer, mono TN, software, Mini Office
II, etc, £260. Tel: Mick (0293) 884409.
Acorn User magazines for sale. Full set,
except first issue. Offers? Tel: (02406)
3217.

Morley Teletext Adaptor with ATS and
support ROMs, plus utilities disc and
PSU, £85. Tel: (0933) 679954.

Master system disc, colour monitor,
mouse, software, modem etc, £750. Lot or
split. Tel: (0602) 817935 eves.

Acorn User magazines, Oct ‘82 to Mar
’86. You arrange delivery and they are
yours. Tel: (0533) 541076.

BBC B ROM/RAM board, dual disc
drives, 20 ROMs, including View, View-
Sheet plus games and joysticks, £475 ono.
Tel: (0895) 391267.

Acorn Electron, Plusl , Plus4, Disc Drive,
second processor, lots of software, books,
ROMs, Electron User magazine. Will
split. Tel: 051-342 6472.

ZX81 .16K, + games, educational

cassettes, boxed as new. Offers? Tel:
(0202) 875122.

Econet Module for BBC Master. Will sell
for £29, (worth £50). Tel: James (0482)
861307 eves.

FREE PERSONAL AD SERVICE

Fill in the form below to a maximum of 20 words (one in each box) and send it to Acorn UserFrec Ads, 20-26
Brunswick Place, London N1 6DJ. Please use capital letters, write clearly, and remember your name,
address and telephone number. Without this full information, supplied on a separate sheet of paper, we
regret we cannot carry your Free Ad. We cannot accept entries selling or swapping software. This is a
service to readers - no companies please. One entry per form only. Free Ads are carried in the magazine as
space permits, and any Free Ads not used within a month of receipt will be disposed of.

L

ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1988

167

I m0m

A Tony for Clares; Resource miss out.

nil

Tony award for Clares

This month’s Tony award for
packaging and publicity must
go to Clares Micro Supplies. It
provided some superb demon-
stration pictures to go with its
ProArtisan painting package.
But sadly the leaflet was not up
to the same standard. Accord-
ing to Clares, it’s the 'ultimate
designers palette’. And WIMP
stands for ‘wimps, icons,
mouse and pointers’. A good
example of recursion. And
that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

A close second this month is
•Resource. Formerly known

only for its calendars, its latest
promotional item is a list of
names, numbers and addresses
of the good and the great in the
educational computing world.
Clever, because the list of
names and addresses in the
booklet could also be used as a
mailing list to send the thing
out! And it comes pre-punched
for your personal organiser.

Nice try. The first number
Orson tried was wrong. This
would normally deserve some
severe abuse, but it turns out to
be quite useful after all.

Tales from
Cambridge

Rumour from the land of the
Acorn continues to flow, parti-
cularly after the first install-
ment of our intriguing history
of the company. Apparently
the typical reaction at Ful-
bourne Road is to immediately
phone Roger Wilson and ask if
that really was his own hair in
the photo.

The latest gossip is that on
Orson Fact’s latest incognito
visit to Cambridge, he noticed
lots of shiny new manuals
and specification sheets lying
around the Acorn ‘inventions’
department.

Sagely, he murmured ‘Ah,
the new operating system’, pre-
tending he already knew all
there was to know about it. But
no, they turned out to be for
Impulse, Computer Concepts
rival system. Hmm. And yet
curiously, some of the capabili-
ties of RISC OS appeared to be
quite a surprise to the team
from CC.

Curse of Abuser

Acorn User' s exclusive ‘pre-
announcement’ of RISC OS 2.0
in the July issue certainly
turned a few heads at the
Acorn headquarters.

One effect was a rapid
change of the name of the sys-
tem, from Arthur 2.0 to RISC
OS - is this because of the
Dudley Moore film we pointed
out in September? Even then,
RISC OS is not entirely a good
choice, as it can be shortened to
‘ROS’. That’s owned by some-
one entirely different.

Lizard Lore

Our rural readers might like to
sneak a look at the October
issue of Country Life magazine.
As well as all the usual features,
it’s got a complete six-page fea-
ture on Repton.

Not, in this case, the compu-
ter game, but instead the
famous eighteenth century
landscape gardener. Still, it
might just give you a few ideas
for new screens...

Blundeibox

Acorn User may make a few
mistakes - you only have to
look at the Noticeboard page
to find the list of blunders. But
that’s nothing. Take this reply
to a reader’s letter:

Laser printing

/ HAVE recently bought a
Hewlett Packard Laserjet
series 2 printer and it works
wonders on my Apricot Xen.
But it does not^vork QQjr*'
BBC EL -

# Unfortunately nobody in the
office has any experience with
this printer which - don't be
fooled by the name - is not a
laser printer but is actually a
high quality inkjet. So we
can’t help; can any reader?

130 MICRO USER August 1988

The Hewlett-Packard Laserjet
is only the world’s most popu-
lar laser printer. It’s effectively
the FX80 of the laser printer
world. And this month, there’s

even a BBC mode 1 screen
dump for the laserjet, in Top of
the List on the yellow pages.

And the cover flash that
claims the The Z88 User is ‘top
selling’ is beginning to look a
wee bit frayed - Acorn User
sells 20 per cent more copies
than it does every month.

In the interest of balance,
though, does this beat C&D
Confusing's great October cov-
er flash? Sadly all the cut out-
’n’keep guides to DTP had
already been cut out ‘n’ kept
from all the issues in our local
newsagent.

Next month, Clive and Dar
rin plan a snip out’n’stick uni-
form for Commander Jameson ^
- an idea you may recognise
if you ever had a Cindy f ^
doll. There always se- f
emed to be cut-out
dress patterns
in magazines
like Mandy ^ ^ v*
and the -vV

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SOFTWARE

69 SIDWELL STREET ■ EXETER EX4 6PH ■ TELEPHONE EXETER (0392) 37756

AMSTRAD CPC

A Fair Punch

COMMODORE 64

BBC MICRO

SPECTRUM

Opponents Facing Up

A Foul Move

The Ref Sees a Foul Move

BECOME THE WORLD CHAMPION - BY FAIR MEANS OR FOUL

A realistic boxing simulation. You can even cheat... it the refs not looking!

You're behind on points and time is running out. The ref looks half asleep. You’ve won, but in the next championship contest you meet a boxer who

A quick head butt and a sly punch below the belt and your opponent is knows more dirty tricks than you. It needs skill and cunning, lightning

toppling over. But as he falls, his knee strikes you a paralysing blow. responses and deadly strategy. Have you got what it takes to become the

"Foul" shouts the crowd, and your opponent is disqualified. World Champion - By Fair Means or Foul?

( c...

W

Fair

Moves

FAIR AND FOUL MOVES

Head Punch
Body Blow
UpperCut
L Duck Punch

Foul

Moves

(

\

Head Butt
Knee

Groin Punch
Kick

COMMODORE 64/128 • SPECTRUM • AMSTRAD CPC 464/664/6128
BBC MICRO B/B+ /MASTER/MASTER COMPACT • ACORN ELECTRON
Cassette: £7.95 Spectrum

Cassette: £9.95 C64, Amstrad, BBC Electron

5V4" Disc: £11.95 C64, BBC

3 V 2 " Disc: £12.95 Spectrum

3V2'’ Disc: £14.95 Amstrad, BBC Master Compact

/supcmon
j Asonuinnc

ACORNS*FT

(Acornsoft is a registered trademark ot Acorn Computers Ltd. Superior Sottware Ltd is a registered user )

Dept. BF11 , Regent House, Skinner Lane, Leeds LS7 1AX. Telephone: (0532) 459453.

Please make all
cheques payable
to “Superior
Soltware Ltd.”

24 HOUR TELEPHONE
ANSWERING SERVICE FOR ORDERS

OUR GUARANTEE

• All mail orders are despatched
within 24 hours by first-class post.

• Postage and packing is free.

• Faulty cassettes and discs will be
replaced immediately.

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