FOR BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL MICRO USERS

FEBRUARY 1986 Volume 9 Issue 2 £1.25

PRACTICALCOMPUTINGFOR BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL MICRO USERS

THE END OF THE IBM PC?EXCLUSIVE Metatext NLQ print enhancer

Tandy 3000 Torch Triple XLotus clones QuickBasic

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COVER

IBM PCSPECIALPC clones for under £1,000, AT-alikes for less than £3,000: canthe IBM PC survive? On page87 Jack Schofield sets the sceneand reflects on the future. Twoof the ultra -cheap PC clonesfrom Tandon and Centaur arereviewed on page 89 along withthe new Tandy 3000 on page92. Finally, there is acomparison of the 40 -pluscontenders in the PC and 87AT compatibles market

Tandy 3000 Faster and cheaperhan the AT itself - page 92.

INSIDE

Project Planners We review thefield - page 72.

"PRACTICALCOMPUTING

FEBRUARY 1986 CONTENTS

TORCH TRIPLE XUnix made easy with icons and windows onthis revolutionary low -price machine fromTorch Computers 54

METATEXTConvert your old Epson printer into a three -pass NLQ machine with a flip of the puck. IanStobie investigates

59

WS -3000 MODEMSteve Gold reports on the first modem whichcan cope with U.K. and U.S. telephone systems

61

LOTUS 1-2-3 CLONESAfter IBMulators, it's Lotus look-alikes. GlynMoody tries out two costing around £100, aswell as the new Lotus itself

62

WINDOWSMike Lewis provides an in-depth report onsome lesser -known features of Microsoft's hotproduct

67

FRAMEWORK IIThe first version was voted software product ofthe year: could Framework II be even better?John McTaggart finds out

70

PROJECT PLANNERSRichard Sarson picks out the right package foryour needs in his review of this important newsoftware category

72

QUICKBASICMicrosoft's latest compiler offers the best ofmany worlds, and the perfect excuse forsticking with Basic, says Mike Lewis

77

POSITIVE LIFESTYLINGTired? Depressed? Let this healthware programanalyse your lifestyle and help you on yourway to wellness

79

TOP 10 ON-LINESERVICESOn-line services are increasingly a vital part ofbusiness. Ian Stobie picks out the best 10 totune in to

INTERVIEW:PHIL CLARKEOne of the men behind Centaur's £1,000IBMulator thinks prices for PC clones are set tofall even further 85

NEWSHARDWARE NEWSPX-4 goes retail 13SOFTWARE NEWSLow-cost personalpublishing

IBM NEWSMulti-user dBase III

15

17

GENERAL NEWSData Protection Act 21

OPEN FILECONTENTSThis month's programs 103WORDSTARCrash recovery 105BUSINESS STATISTICS

106

113

114

Data inputMBASICSeparate cases

AMSTRAD 8256Sierpinksi's curve

REGULARS

EDITORIALOsbornemaniaFEEDBACKYour lettersSOFTWAREWORKSHOPCreative spreadsheetsCHIP -CHAT32 -bit battlesCOMMS LINKTravelASK PCYou ask, we answerBOOKSGoing ForthLAST WORDSpreadsheets - again

5

7

23

27

29

32

37

117

Torch Triple X Bringing Unixsoftware to the ordinary micro user- page 54.

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PUBLISHED by Electrical -ElectronicPress, Quadrant House, The Quadrant,Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS. Tel: 01-6613500. Telex/grams 892084 BISPRS GDISTRIBUTED by Business PressInternational Ltd, Quadrant House, TheQuadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5ASSUBSCRIPTIONS: UK £16.50 perannum; overseas £30.00 per annum;selling price in Eire subject to currencyexchange fluctuations and VAT; airmailrates available on application toSubscriptions Manager, Business PressInternational Ltd, Oakfield House,Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath,Sussex RH16 3DH. Tel: (0444) 459188PRINTED in Great Britain for theproprietors Business Press InternationalLtd by Ben Johnson & Co. Ltd, York.Typeset by Lithotype Design, LondonEC I

@Business Press International Ltd 1986ISSN 0141-5433Would-be authors are welcome to sendarticles to the Editor but PC cannotundertake to return them. Payment is at£35 per published page. Submissionsshould be typed or computer -printed andshould include a tape or disc of anyprogram.Every effort is made to check articles andlistings but PC cannot guarantee thatprograms will run and can accept noresponsibility for any errors.

rEDITORIAL 01-661 3609 Telecom Gold '8141T727

Editor GLYN MOODY Assistant Editor IAN STOBIE

Art Editor HUGH ANDERSON Production Editor JOHN LIEBMANN Sub -editor CAROL HAMMONDEditorial Secretary SUE JORDAN Consultants JACK SCHOFIELD, CHRIS BIDMEAD, PETER LAURIE

ADVERTISING 01x6613612-.. 4Advertisement Manager NITIN JOSHI 01-661 3021 Assistant Advertisement Manager NEIL MARCHANT 01-661 8626

Advertisement Executives KATE SCALLY 01-661 8425 JANET THORPE 01-661 3468Advertisement Secretary LYNN DAWSON Midlands and North DAVID BARKER 061-872 8861

Classified SUSAN PLAITS 01-661 8163PUBLISHING DIRECTOR SIMON TRIM

OSBORN EMANIA" predict that if I come back a year from now

there will not be a single mass -merchandisepackage selling in the U.K. for more than £100,

and that includes Lotus 1-2-3 and Symphony." SoAdam Osborne told Practical Computing last Sept-ember. As this month's issue shows, recent events onboth the hardware and software fronts could wellprove him right.

Although Osborne has been conspicuous by hisabsence from the hardware scene following thetraumas of his transportable computer, his influencelives on. Phil Clarke, one of the founders of Centaur,is a close associate; his IBMulator is reviewed in thisissue. Both Clarke and his company share theOsborne philosophy that the margins on personalcomputers should be the same as those on any othermerchandise: profitable but not profiteering. Nor isCentaur alone. Computopro, Walters and Tandonhave all launched PC clones for around the £1,000mark, in what looks like the beginning of the end ofPC pricing as we knew it.

This is not a case of desperation in a fadingmarket. Sales of the IBM PC/ AT have barely gotgoing, yet Tandon has also launched a complete AT -alike for around £3,000, and Tandy has just givencredibility to this superficially impossible pricing bydoing precisely the same thing.

There can be no doubt that a fundamental shift istaking place in the pricing of hardware. No longercan manufacturers and dealers slap a huge mark-upon scarce machines and sit back and enjoy the easymoney. They are beginning to have to work for it.

The case of software is even more interesting.Osborne referred explicity to Lotus 1-2-3, and in thisissue we review his own Paperback Software's VP -Planner, a Lotus look -alike for less than £100. Onceagain, this is no one-off quixotic gesture of a mandriven crazy by the inequities of the micro man-ufacturing world: we also look at Twin, another1-2-3 clone for around the same price, and there aremore to come. There are dBase doubles andWordStar stand-ins; quite simply, a software rev-olution is under way.

That it is happening is hardly surprising; it is onlystrange that it has taken so long. Look at the facts ofsoftware publishing. According to a recent Infocorpreport, a typical $495 package costs only $60 toresearch, develop and manufacture. Another $90goes on sales, marketing and general administrativecosts. This leaves a total profit of $345, which is splitthree ways: $75 to the publishing house, $30 to thedistributor, and a massive $240 for the dealer. Ofcourse, dealers will claim that much of this goes ontraining and support. But to quote Osborne again:"The truth is, if you get rid of the complexities thatmost people never use you come up with a product

which is simple enough that it needs no training andno support."

Publishers like Paperback Software and Mosaichave shown the fatuity of the idea of "perceivedvalue pricing" which has sustained these kind offigures. According to this, a package is priced on thenominal savings that will accrue from using it, ratherthan on its real production costs. The refusal of theleading software houses to countenance even a sem-blance of sanity in their pricing is a further sadreflection of the industry's immaturity.

The appearance of software clones couldpotentially have the same impact that IBMulators arehaving on the hardware scene, if the big softwarehouses and the courts let them. Digital Research'sout -of -court settlement with Apple over DR'salleged infringement of copyright was the first strawin the wind. There are increasing signs that largeAmerican computer companies are preparing forbloody legal battles in some hitherto obscure areas ofcopyright protection. The new clonemakers, arealmost certain to be hardest hit by any new outburstof litigation. They are by definition working closelyto an original, and are often small entrepreneurswith limited finances.

Nobody is denying software authors the right toenjoy the fruits of their labours and to protectionfrom outright pirating. But the lawsuits now underpreparation go beyond punishing infringements andverge on vindictive extermination. Such stifling ofinnovation and creative borrowing is contrary to thespirit of the micro industry. For the sake of thatindustry and of the users who support it, let us hopethat Adam Osborne and his apostles are still aroundin September 1986.

YEARS AGO...Apple Computers and ITT had seemed to be set forlegal action over the copyright of several productsApple was supposed to have licensed to ITT - butthey have reached an agreement without disclosingits terms.

Apple had alleged that ITT infringed its copyrightfor the Apple Disc II system, DOS 3.1 software and"circuit diagrams and circuit lay -out diagramsrelating to the Apple Disc II system".

Observers had expected a protracted legal battlewhen the High Court in London resumed its sittings inOctober last, but in the event both parties agreed tosettle and to keep the terms of that settlementconfidential.

In a statement read to the High Court, ITT said itwas "happy to undertake that, except as provided inthe agreement, it will not manufacture or sell anyarticle infringing the copyright of Apple".

PC Volume 4

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1986 5

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Bad habitsI DO appreciate that the Open Filesection in Practical Computing isvery much what we readers makeof it but two programs in theDecember issue lead me toquestion whether your monitorsare earning their keep. Poor pro-gramming practices should eitherbe corrected or, at least, high-lighted as a contribution to ourmutual learning process.

Line 310 of the FractalGenerator on page 114 has aGoto jump out of a For -Nextloop. Although this works on theBBC Micro it is not permitted byBBC Basic and is, in any case, anunsound practice.

The WordStar Uploader onpage 125 ignores good Pascalstyle by declaring items which areclearly constants as variables andthen initialising them.

Agreed, many of these pointsare a matter of taste, butdiscussion of programmingtechniques and style are avaluable part of your journal.

PETER AMEY,(via Telecom Gold).

Free IBM PCsoftwareIN THE article on IBM Freeware inDecember's Practical Computing,I was surprised to find nomention of IBM PC User Group'sSoftware Library.

The group, which now hasnearly 4,000 members, pioneeredthe introduction into this countryof Public Domain and UserSupported software for the IBMPC and compatibles. Our first 15discs of software were issued inNovember 1983. Since that timeIBM PC User Group has built upa library of over 2,500 programson some 130 discs, the contentsof which are listed in two 72 -pagecatalogues. Many of theseprograms were contributed by ourown members.

IAN FRASER,IBM PC User Group,

PO Box 593,London SW1V 2PG.

ScotssurnamesI HAVE been doing some work onthe approximate representation ofsurnames by a method quitedifferent from the one describedby Mike Lewis in your Decemberissue, using as my source theHighlands and Islands TelephoneDirectory. Some of his commentsneed modification for this area.In particular his figures for the

EEDBOur Feedback columns offer readers the opportunity of

bringing their computing experience and problems to theattention of others, as well as to seek our advice or to makesuggestions, which we are always happy to receive. Make

sure you use Feedback - it is your chance to keep in touch.Write to

Feedback, Practical Computing,Quadrant House, The Quadrant,

Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS

DATABASEREALITIESI USUALLY read computer magazine editorials to find them jawingaway at some relatively obscure observation which I feel is designedas a sop to minorities among their readers, but not so in yourDecember 1985 issue.

At last someone else has seen the truth! The vast majority ofmicros are sold with a database of some sort which is then adapted todo something which should be useful to the buyer. It's like a buyinga car in a few big bits and putting them together later. If an expertputs them together all the cars look alike and perform alike. If theuser puts them together he hasn't got the expertise to get the bestresults. Just like cars, every micro shop's machines and programs arethe best and are always better than the Ford/Vauxhall/Austin/Volvo down the road. At least that is until the salesman changes hispitch and then he suddenly sees the error of his past ways.

The whole purpose of a computer is for it to do something that thepotential user wants to do. But very, very often the potential user hasabsolutely no idea of what a computer can do. So what's the answer?Well, it's pretty simple, you just have to find people who have beeninvolved in computers for some years and who also have many, manyyears of practical, day-to-day, business applications. They should beover 40 and be of at least middle -management experience.

This sort of person will be able to recognise situations which arecrying out for a computer. They should be able to pinpoint the jobswhich can be satisfied by a spreadsheet and also be able to offerspecialised software for the rest at a sensible price.

Sadly, there are not a lot of computer salespeople who fall intothis category at present and I reckon we have eight to 10 years to waitbefore they start arriving. When they do arrive we shall still have theparadox of the car salesperson - that is, the whizzcar is the bestbecause it pays my wages.

So what we really need are computer companies who don't need todo it to make a living and whose executives are over 40 with provenrecords. I wonder if such animals exist.

Finally, wasn't Compec interesting. You could have pushed awheelchair around without difficulty and the Software Section couldhave been used for a pedal -car derby without upsetting anyone. Ifyou think about it, you will find it absolutely confirms yourEditorial.

ROD BUTTERWORTH,Microplan Business Systems,

Leek,Staffordshire.

lengths of British surnames aretoo low here because of the highincidence of names beginningwith Mac. Unless, of course, heimplies that Scots should beclassed as another nationality, anotion which would commandplenty of support up here.

For this work it would be veryuseful to have a count of the totalof unique surnames in whichSmith counts only once for all theSmiths, and so on. As a worstcase I worked through the Macsin the directory and got a count.Since this meant going through

about 19,000 names it was fairlytedious, and I thought that theinformation might well existalready. I therefore wrote toBritish Telecom to ask whether ithas a figure for the total ofunique surnames held in itsdirectories, and a list of suchsurnames for this area. After alapse of six weeks I got theanswers No and No.

H J GAWLIK,Muir of Ord,

Ross -shire.

ESD againI READ the letter in Feedback fromBrian Hamer in your Octoberissue on electrostatic discharge(ESD). We cannot providesolutions but we can provide adefinable discharge problem forour customers to solve. Schaffnerhas been in the business of ESDsimulation for many years, sothere has been an awareness ofthe potential problems for sometime.

As micro -electronics becomemote commonplace in our liveswe must protect sensitivecomponents susceptible to ESDboth during assembly or in use.ESD can be generated from manysources but perhaps the mostcommon source is in the officeenvironment being generatedfrom synthetic materials used inclothing, footwear and carpets.How many of you have walkedacross your office to a filingcabinet and received a shock asyou discharge your potentialdifference through the cabinet toearth? The shock you receive maybe mildly unpleasant, yet canlead to catastrophic failure insensitive electronic circuits.

In order to help the circuitdesigner and manufacturers ofcomponents and equipment,Schaffner has developed testequipment to simulate theseenvironmental shocks.

TOM LEAHY,Schaffner EMC Ltd,One Ashville Way,

Molly Millar's Lane,Wokingham,

Berkshire RG11 2PL.

MAY I clarify a point made by MrMaguire in Feedback, December.Mr Maguire very rightly identifiesthe low level of static chargewhich can damage integratedcircuits during handling - eitherduring manufacture or the serviceof equipment. However, thevoltage levels in our experiencewhich affect micros duringnormal use will tend to be highersince some level of protection isprovided by the outer case of the

(continued on next page)


FEEDBACK

(continued from previous page)

computer and the operator'sphysical distance from the PCB.The main objective of staticcontrol computer protection is tokeep the operator's voltage downto below 500V, low enough toexclude malfunctions such as lostdata, spurious signals, completecrash, etc.

T J BURTON,3M U.K. plc,

Bracknell,Berkshire.

BBC B+problemTHE ARRIVAL of the Acorn BBCmodel B micro did much toencourage interest in thepotential of the computer as aneducational resource. Despite itslimitations, it caught theimagination of teacher and pupilalike, and much good -qualitysoftware has been written for it.

Many teachers, in secondaryand, notably, primary schools,have spent much time and efforton attending training courseswhere they have learned aboutcomputers and how they may beused to broaden the curriculum.Much scarce funding has beenused to purchase peripherals andsoftware for use with themachines.

There must be mixed feelingsthen, that Acorn should quietlyaxe production of the trusty B,and replace it by the uprated andmuch more expensive B + . Whileone welcomes certain features ofthe new machine, disturbingquestions are raised about thedevelopment of educationalcomputing in the short tomedium term. Where a schoolwishes to acquire an additionalmachine to utilise its existingsoftware more fully, it will nowbe supplied with a machinewhich, it seems, will simply notrun much of the software base -including it would appear someof Acornsoft's own products. Thiscan only be a blow to plans for

BASIC BENCHMARKSBMI BM2 BM3 BM4 BM5 BM6 BM7 BM8 Av.

Atari 520ST - 68000 0.9 2.8 5.8 6.5 7.2 13.7 20.4 9.2 8.1Sinclair QL - 68008 1.9 5.4 9.3 9.1 11.8 24.0 42.4 20.7 15.6IBM PC - 8088 1.3 4.8 11.8 12.2 13.4 23.6 37.6 36.6 17.7

further integration across theschool, and to the confidence ofthose teacher -leaders whoseattempts to persuade oftenunwilling colleagues are suddenlyundermined.

At this college, we areattempting to compile lists ofexisting software where the AcornB + seems incompatible with itspredecessor in order to deal withmany enquiries from schoolswhose staff find that their newlyacquired possession simplyappears not to work. We shouldbe grateful to any of your readerswho would send details of theirexperiences in this matter.

G J FORSEY & D COUSINS,Gwent College

of Higher Education,Allt-yr-yn Avenue,

Newport,Gwent.

520STBenchmarksI RECEIVED the Atari 520ST Basicon disc at the end of November,and ran the standard Benchmarks- see table above. The averagespeed of 8.1 seconds is quiterespectable for a £7 5 0 system,especially considering the 520STholds several windows on -screenwhile running the routines, andhas to switch from the commandwindow to the output window.This is a bigger overhead thanusing a line editor on a character -mapped screen as on, say, theIBM PC.

When both the operatingsystem and Basic are finallycommitted to ROM, furtheroptimisation should mean thefinal Benchmarks are slightlyquicker.

Incidentally, the Basic disc alsoincludes, free, the ST Writer

word processor and manual. Thisis a 16 -bit version of the excellentAtariwriter program familiar fromthe eight -bit range. Extra featuresallow toggling between black onwhite text and reversed out, andbetween screens of 78 charactersby 25 lines and by 40 lines. Inthe latter, 37 lines are verylegible, editable text.

JACK SCHOFIELD,Sutton,Surrey.

HicupsTHE HITACHI MBE -16002 PC is nolonger supported by Hitachi withsoftware. Any request for suchsupport will be referred to asoftware company. Couple thiswith the fact that many of thosethat bought the Hitachicomputer did so on the under-standing that it was compatiblewith the IBM PC, which is notentirely true, and you will beginto see why it is that some of ususers of the Hitachi PC feel thatwe have not been treated toowell.

Hitachi seems to have washedits hands of its machine. Meaningno more development, confiningall users to a limbo. One suchuser is currently endeavouring toreturn his machine to thesupplier because it is not whatthey said it was. Another evenwrote to Japan for information ofa MPE-3700 light -pen as he gotnowhere with the U.K. headoffice. He has had no responsewith that attempt either. Iunderstand now that there is nolight -pen.

The pity is that the machineitself is pretty good. What isneeded is some support. Not alot will happen if the users of thismachine do not come together tomake it happen. So there is

Hicups. For want of a betterexpression, it is a user group forthe Hitachi MBE -16002 PC.

Hicups is not a softwarecompany. We are a group ofpeople trying to realise thepotential of our systems. Thisideal can be achieved by all userssharing experiences and helpingone another.

Another way to get more fromour computer, being a 16 -bit MS-DOS machine, is to plunder thetreasures of the PDL. Even here isa problem. Much of this richsource will not run on the HitachiPC. But for a small coveringcharge, we can now makeavailable programs from ourlibrary of some 30 discs.

BRUCE AINGE,Hicups,

Foxberry House,16 Foxberry Road,London SE4 2SP.

New BBSWE HAVE just started the PDSoftware Library Fido system, a24 hour free system, running at300/300 baud. Situated in EastGrinstead, Sussex, the number tocall is (0342) 315636. The Sysopis Rod Smith.

The board is mainly intendedfor CP/M, MS-DOS and IBM PCusers but also has an area for BBCand Amstrad, Several megabytesof public -domain software areavailable for download. As well asthe normal message facilities, aspecial help wanted and helpoffered message area is providedfor beginners and people withtechnical problems. Other baudrates may later be supported ifdemand is great enough.

ROD SMITH,Public Domain Software Library,

East Grinstead,Sussex. na

HI, SHIRLEY- HOW ARE. YouDOING WITH THE IBM PC?A LITTLE BEAUT, EH?

I PONT' RECKONYOU CAN BEAT IT

FOR COMPATIBILITY..

e(2

FITS A BITToo

COMPATIBLE,IF YOU ASK

ME ...

... ITS JUST ASKEPME WHAT I'M DOINGAFTER WORK

)1

8 PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1986

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*Dealer Enquiries Welcome- We will supply dealers and offer support and training to the dealer or their customer.

Call us today - you won't find a better deal in the U.K. ISC are a premier authorised dealer forPegasus software.

ISC LIMITEDGraphic House, 88 Waveney Road, St Ives, Cambridgeshire. Telephone: 0480 300533

(Prices are exclusive of VAT)

Circle No. 145


I

ccLu

cp, This is theI size

of the P-80.


Your eyes do not deceive you. (And no, we haven't cheatedwith the picture.)

The P-80 really is that compact.You can pop it in your briefcase and use it anywhere you like.

(At only just over 1 kg, it certainly isn't a pain in the arm to carry.)Yet the P-80 and its sister the P -80X boast all the important

functions of much larger printers.The print quality is actually superior to that of most dot matrix

printers, with the P -80X in particular producing very clean, sharpprint for reports and letters.

What's more, they are both far quieter than most otherprinters, since they gently apply the print by thermal transfer.

Of course, the big question is: how much are they? Fortunately,the answer is not so big. The P-80 costs £160 and the P -80X £250(both excluding VAT).

Interested? Then here's a little space for you to fill.

Please send me the small print on these small printers (P-80 and P -80X).

Name

Company

Address

Circle No. 131

Tel No BPC 2

To: Epson (UK) Ltd., Dorland House, 388 High Road,Wembley, Middlesex HA9 6UH. Tel: 01-902 8892. 1

ACTIONSTATIONS

THE SPRITE FAMILY OF MICROCOMPUTERS, FROM JAROGATE

* PC -DOS and ConcurrentCP/M

* Expandable memory* Full expansion options* IBM* compatibility

* Concurrent CP/M andPC mode

* Expandable memory* Full expansion options* High speed networking* Mainframe communications

SPRITE POWERSTATION

* Microsoft XENIX operatingsystem

* Expandable memory* Full expansion options* Full Ethernet capability on

software release* IBM PC -AT* bit compatible

Our computers aren't meant to compromise orcut corners; they're meant to work. The technologybuilt into these machines makes them immenselycapable, and our designs exploit that potential tothe limit.

Unlike some.

As a result, we believe our SPRITE microcom-puters to be the best there are, in terms not only ofperformance but also price. Each of our machines runsan 8MHz 80286 chip in an environment which reallyputs it through its paces; the added feature of anintelligent disc cache makes each member of theSPRITE FAMILY incredibly fast.

And that's only the start. To some of the mostsophisticated internal architecture ever devised, we

have added all the networking and expansion facilitiesthat anyone-in the foreseeable future-is likelyto need.

We have constructed a family of microcomputersto serve the entire range of market needs, from a super -high specification desktop 'workstation' to the unlimitedhorizons of an integrated Xenix system: prices startfrom 0,995, and these machines can be configuredto suit your needs exactly We've also given the back-upof a one-year on site warranty to each product andsupport our dealer network extensively

And all with one aim: to give the end -user theproduct they want, and not just the product we wantto sell them. No compromises, just quality

To find out more about the SPRITE FAMILY of advanced microcomputers, send a letterhead or business card to:Jarogate Ltd., Unit 2, HQ3, Hook Rise South, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 7LD.Tel. 01-391 4433 Telex 8950511 ONEONE-G ref. 13114001Where possible, please indicate your system size and requirements. This will help us to give you more preciseinformation about how SPRITE can help you.

* IBM and IBM PC -AT are trademarks of International Business Machines.

Circle No. 13912_

HARDWARE NEWS

Low-costcomms forthe homeHOME MICRO users are in luck, as awave of very low-cost modems,complete with the necessarycommunications software, has justhit the market.

Pace is selling a completehardware /software comms pack-age for the Amstrad 464, 664 and6128 machines. For £150 you get aserial interface and ROM board,a Pace Nightingale multi -ratemodem, and communicationssoftware based on the BBC Comm -star package.

With this setup you should beable to access both 300 baud ASCIItext services such as Telecom Gold,and 1,200/75 baud viewdataservices such as Prestel. ContactPace Micro Technology, JuniperView, Allerton Road, BradfordBD15 7AG. Telephone: (0274)488211.

A similar all-inclusive hard-ware/software combination is alsoavailable for BBC users fromDatastar. This time you get amulti -speed Magic modem andCommpanion software for £99,95including VAT. This combinationis again capable of both viewdataand ASCII comms, and the ROM -based software includes a CET tele-software downloader. ContactDatastar Systems, Unicom House,182 Royal College Street, LondonNW1 9NN. Telephone: 01-4821711.

Commodore users are not leftout. Miracle's 64 Multimodemworks with the 128 as well as the64, and connects to the cartridgeport. Again, it comes completewith software for both viewdataand ASCII text, while the modemis a multi -rate one with auto -dialling. The price is £98.50.Contact Miracle Technology(U.K.) Ltd, St. Peters Street,Ipswich IP1 1XB. Telephone:(0473) 216141.

HALF -HEIGHTBERNOULLIAPSTOR'S new 20Mbyte disc -driveunit for the Apricot, IBM andother MS-DOS micros uses Bern-oulli technology. The £3,450 unithas two half -height 10Mbyte driveunits stacked either horizontally orvertically. Unlike a conventionalhard disc, the Bernoulli data cart-ridges are removable, so that youcan keep several backups.

Bernoulli technology offers analternative to the ubiquitousWinchester hard disc, with com-parable capacity and speed. Data is

stored on a flexible recordingsurface inside a hard plasticcartridge. But a Bernoulli cartridgeis not the same as an ordinaryfloppy disc since the recordingmedium floats on a cushion of airas it spins inside the cartridge. Thisreputedly endows Bernoulli driveswith considerable shock resistance.

Details available from ApstorLtd, Unit 5, Victoria Road TradingEstate, Portslade, Brighton, SussexBN4 1XQ. Telephone: (0273)422512.

HARDWARESHORTS

Flexibuf-fer is a high -capacity printer buffer forEpson FX and LX seriesprinters and 80 -column IBMmatrix printers. It fits insidethe printer in place of theEpson serial board.Flexibuffer comes in severaldifferent sizes offeringbetween 8K and 265K ofbuffer space, with pricesranging from £79.50 to £203.Contact Gram BusinessSystems Ltd on (0622)679595. BBC users who have over-extended their systems mightbe interested in an additionalpower -supply unit from Pace.The £39 unit plugsindependently into the mainsand gives you four moreBBC -type output sockets.contact Pace MicroTechnology on (0274)488211.

Laser sheet feedONE DRAWBACK most of thepopular laser printers is theirslightly limited paper handling.Despite a top speed of eight pagesa minute, most come with just asingle 100 -sheet input tray. LaserFeeder is a fix for the problem.

For £1,190 it gives you two

200 -sheet input trays and a50 -envelope magazine. Anothermodel has six input trays.

For further details contactMekom Computer Products Ltd,Enfield Hall, Enfield Road,Edgbaston, Birmingham B151QA. Telephone: 021-454 2288.

Printer schedulerTHE FIRSTQUAD printer schedulerlets you share one, two or threeprinters between up to 16 users.Firstquad costs £1,300 and workswith IBMs, Apricots, BBCs andmost other common micros. It isdesigned to let you mix differentbrands of computer withoutdifficulty. The unit has 16 serial

ports to connect your computers,plus three serial and one parallelport, for the printers or plottersyou want to share.

Contact Director ComputerProducts Ltd, 39 Clarence Square,Cheltenham Spa, GloucestershireGL50 4JP. Telephone: (0242)520297.

CheapUnix foreducationTORCH is dropping the price on itsUnicorn Unix system for BBCeducational users. The Unicorn isan add-on box for the BBCcomputer. Inside is one floppydrive and a 20Mbyte hard disc,together with 1Mbyte of RAM anda 68000 processor.

For £3,995 you now get theUnicorn box itself plus UnixSystem 3 software. The price alsoincludes terminal software onROM for five BBC work stations, asmost users will probably want touse the system with either theEconet or Torchnet local areanetwork.

Details from Torch ComputersLtd, Abberley House, Great Shel-ford , Cambridge CB2 5LQ.Telephone: (0223) 841000. nal

Epson PX-4 portableTHE EPSON PX-4 is a battery -poweredCP /M machine similar in spec-ification to Epson's popular PX-8.Although it has been on sale forsome time through specialiseddealers, is only now being madeavailable more widely. Prices forthe A4 -sized machine with 64K ofmemory start at £575, notincluding software.

Compared to its better-knownPX-8 sibling, the PX-4 has asmaller display, of eight lines by 40columns. But it does have a

quicker 3.7MHz processor. Thespace freed to the right of thenarrower display can be filled witha variety of options: 40 -columnprinter, digital multimeter, micro -cassette deck, built-in modem oran extra 64K of RAM or ROM.This flexibility makes the PX-4ideal for specialised applications.

Contact Immediate BusinessSystems, 3 Clarendon Drive,Wymbush, Milton Keynes, Buck-inghamshire MK8 8DA. Tele-phone: (0908) 568192.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1986 ak 13

Speed, Power, Price.The Turbo Pascal Family.

The industry standard. With more than 400,000 users worldwide, Turbo Pascal is the industry's de facto standard. Turbo Pascal is praised by moreengineers, hobbyists, students and professional programmers than any other development environment in the history of microcomputing. And yet, Turbo Pascalis simple and fun to use!

Jeff Duntemann, PC Magazine: "Language deal of the century... Turbo Pascal: It introduces a new programming environment and runs like magic."

Dave Garland, Popular Computing: "Most Pascal compilers barely fit on a disk, but Turbo Pascal packs an editor, compiler, linker, and run-time library into just29K bytes of random-access memory."

Jeremy Pournelle, BYTE: "What I think the computer industry is headed for: well documented standard, plenty of good features, and a reasonable price."

Portability. Turbo Pascal is available today for most computers running PC DOS, MS DOS, CP/M 80 or CP/M 86. A XENIX version of Turbo Pascalwill soon beannounced, and before the end of the year, Turbo Pascal will be running on most 68000 based microcomputers.

Searching and sorting made simpleThe perfect complement to Turbo Pascal. It contains. Turbo -Access, a powerful implementation of the state-of-the-art B+tree ISAM technique:Turbo -Sort, a super efficient implementation of the fastest data sorting algorithm, "Quicksort on disk". And much more.

Jerry Pournelle, BYTE: The tools include a B+tree search and sorting system. I've seen stuff like this, but not as well thought out, sell forhundreds ofdollars".

Get started right away: free database! Included on every Toolbox disk is the source code to a working data base which demonstrates how powerfuland easy to use the Turbo -Access system really is, Modify it to suit your individual needs or just compile it and run.

Remember, no royalties!

High Resolution monochrome graphics for the IBM PC and the Zenith 100 computersDazzling graphics and painless windows. The Turbo Graphix Toolbox will give even a beginning programmer the expert's edge. It's a completelibrary of Pascal procedures that include:

- Full graphics window management.-Tools that will allow you to draw and hatch pie charts, bar charts, circles, rectangles and a full range of geometric shapes.- Procedures that will save and restore graphic images to and from disk.- Functions that will allow you to precisely plot curves.-Tools that will allow you to create animation or solve those difficult curve fitting problems. And much, much more....

No sweat and no royalties. You may incorporate part, or all of these tools in your programs, and yet, we won't charge you any royalties. Best of all, thesefunctions and procedures come complete with commented source code on disk ready to compile!

All you need to build your own word processorFull -featured word processor included. It looks and acts like Word StarTM - buts it's free! And because complete source code is included,you can modify it yourself into your ideal.

Windows in your programs. The Editor Toolbox lets you see several documents - or parts of the same document at once. You can incorporate the same

capabilities in your programs.

Detailed manual You get a 200 -page manual that tells you how to integrate the editor procedures and functions into your programs.

From Start to Finish in 300 pages.Turbo Tutor is for everyone, from novice toexpert. Even if you've never programmedbefore, Turbo Tutor will get you started rightaway. If you already have some experiencewith Pascal or another programminglanguage, Turbo Tutor will take you step bystep through topics like data structures andpointers. If you're an expert you'll love thesections detailing subjects such as "how touse assembly language routines with yourTurbo Pascal programs."

A must You'll find the source code for allthe examples in the book on theaccompanying disk ready to compile. TurboTutor might be the only reference on Pascaland programming you'll ever need.

The games you can play andreplay, revise and rewrite - butcannot resist. Chess. The ancientJapanese board game of Go-Moku. Bridge.And a manual to take you step by stepthrough each, so that you can studyprogramming techniques and analysegame, strategies land even rig the games,you cunning devil!). Irresistible.

Bristol Micro Traders distribute the complete range of Borlandproducts, including Sidekick at £39 (£59 for not -copy- protected andMacintosh versions), Reflex; The Analyst at £69, and Turbo Lightening at£69.

We also supply other programmers tools, especially those for thelanguage C. Write or call 102721 279499 for more information.

Dealers, volume buyers: please call.Turbo Pascal is a registered trademark of Borland International. Inc.

Turbo PascalFAMILY

Please send me:

Quantity

Pascal 3.0 £49

Pascal/8087 £79

Pascal/BCD £79

Pasca1/8087 & BCD £89

Graphix Toolbox £39

Database Toolbox £39

Editor Toolbox £49

Tutor £25

Gameworks £49

NOT COPY -PROTECTED

Carefully Describe yourComputer System!

Mine is: _ 8 bit _ 16 bitI use: PC -DOS _ MS-DOS

CP/M 80 _ CP/M 86My computers' name/model is:

The disk size 1 use is:

0 3" El 31/2" 11151/4" 0 8"

Name:

Shipping Address:

City:

Postal Code:

Telephone:

NOTE: Turbo Editor Toolbox and TurboGameworks are available for the IBM PC and true -

Total enclosed (UK add 15% VAT) compatibles using Turbo Pascal 3.0 ONLY.

Amstrad prices are £5 higherOfficial orders accepted from PLC's, These prices include shipping within the UK, butgovernment and education authorities only. not VAT and local taxes.Outside UK: make payment by bank draft Elsewhere in Europe, add £1 per item. Outsidepayable in pounds sterling. Europe, £5 per item.

Send chequelP.O. to Bristol Micro Traders, Borland Sales Group, Maggs House, 78 Queens Road,Clifton, Bristol BS8 1QX

Circle No. 133

4

SOFTWARE NEWS

LOW-COST PERSONALPUBLISHING PROGRAMSFLEET STREET EDITOR does for low-cost machines like the BBC Microwhat Aldus Page Maker does forthe Mac. It lets you create news-paper -style pages from yourexisting word -processor files. Theprogram costs £39.95 includingVAT for the BBC. Versions for allthe Amstrad machines and theCommodore 128 are also beingdeveloped.

The BBC version lets you typenew text straight in or use existingView or Wordwise files. Youdivide your page, which can be upto A4 in size, into a series of

columns or boxes, and then flowthe text into them. You can addheadings and graphics, and changetype styles on the page.

Fleet Street Editor comes with abuilt-in library of 600 pre -drawngraphic images, but you can alsodraw new ones or incorporate themfrom other popular BBC packages.You output finished pages to anordinary dot-matrix printer; mostof the common ones are supportedby the program.

While Fleet Street Editor is notyet up to the standard of the moreexpensive existing Mac or IBM PC

packages, the BBC version willprobably appeal to many peoplewho want to product things likeposters, newsletters and pre-sentation aids.

Clearly Mirrorsoft thinks there isa future in this type of personal -publishing package. It is alreadyworking on more ambitioussoftware for the Apricot, IBM PC,Atari ST and Commodore Amiga.The packages for the MS-DOSmachines are scheduled for com-pletion this spring, and those forthe 68000 -based machines in thesummer.

Fleet Street Editor includes 600ready-made images.

These packages will be more up-market than the sort of softwareMirrorsoft concentrates on at themoment. According to thecompany the personal -publishingpackages will probably interface toproper phototypsetting equip-ment in addition to laser printersand standard matrix printers.

Contact Mirrorsoft Ltd, FreepostBS4382, Paulton, Bristol BS185BR. Telephone: 01-377 4644.

AmnestyforWordStarpiratesMICROPRO is offering an amnesty toall end -users who possess illegalcopies of WordStar. For £40 a discit will swap dodgy copies for thereal thing with no questions asked.Paradoxically the move reflectsincreasing confidence that unauth-orised users can now be success-fully prosecuted under the newCopyright (Computer Software)Amendment Act.

According to Robin Oliver,Managing Director of theAmerican -based Micropro's U.K.operation, much of the illicitcopying has been taking place inmedium and large companies. Hesays that many users have notrealised that what they are doing isillegal: "We do not wish to getinvolved in prosecuting suchpeople, and would like to offerthem a chance to 'make it legal' ".

This offer applies to all versionsof WordStar, irrespective of thesystem. Once users have a legit-imate copy they can then get allthe benefits of properly registeredusers, including the right to applyfor software updates. .

In a related move, Micropro hasannounced a network -licensingscheme for WordStar 2000, its top -of -the -range IBM word processor.Users will be able to buy additionalcopies of the £465 program for useon local area networks at less thanhalf the price.

Contact Micropro InternationalLtd, Haygarth House, 28-31 HighStreet, London SW19 5BY.Telephone: 01-879 1122.

This is an example of FONT style 1lapis it( an example of ffeBilll stpLe 2This is an example of FONT style 34100 50 QO oaaanD0o 04 R 0C14 OCIVOG 13This is an example of FONT style 5This is an example of !FONT style lbThis is an example of FONT style 7This /s an example of FONT style rThis is an example of FONT style 9ff/tia is aic exam al ge a..tah-Gc 90

BBC printer utilityFONTWISE gives high -quality printand 10 extra print styles to BBCusers with Epson -compatibleprinters. The print utility costs just£12 and works with the Wordwiseand View word-processing

programs and with straight ASCIItext. For further details contactClares Micro Supplies, 98 Middle-wich Road, Rudheath, Northwich,Cheshire CW9 7DA. Telephone:(0606) 48511.

SPI dis-integratesOpen Access quartetSPI is about to launch a new versionof Open Access, this time as a set offour separate modules. The ann-ouncement represents yet anothersign of the shift away from giantdo -everything packages. Theoriginal, integrated six -in -oneproduct will still be available, butSoftware Products Internationalrecognises that many users nowprefer to buy simpler stand-aloneproducts as they need them,perhaps integrating them later.

The new modular family is

called Access Four. It consistsof spreadsheet, database, word -processor and network -managermodules, the last of which is des-igned to allow several users toaccess the system on a PC network.

When Open Access wasoriginally launched in 1983, wasone of the first of the big inte-grated packages, and has provedone of the most successful. Amongits strong points is the ability to

handle large amounts of datawithout becoming memory -bound.

Contact Software ProductsInternational, 13 Horseshoe ParkEstate, Pangbourne, BerkshireRG8 7JN. Telephone: (0735)74081.

Logo onthe MacLOGO is now on the Mac.Microsoft's Mac version of thepopular education language wasdeveloped by Logo ComputerSystems Inc., and so has theapproval of Logo guru SeymourPapert. The price is about £200, or£145 to educational users.

Contact Microsoft Ltd, ExcelHouse, 49 De Montfort Road,Reading Berkshire RG1 8LP.Telephone: (0734) 500741.

AMSTRADSHORTS

Compsoft Delta is availableto Amstrad PCW-8256 usersfor £99 including VAT. Deltais a powerful relationaldatabase which allows you tohave up to eight files open ata time. Contact NewstarSoftware Ltd on (0277)213218. Poly Print gives the printerwhich comes with theAmstrad PCW-8256 another10 typefaces. It does notwork with documents createdwith the current version ofLocoscript, the WP which isbundled with the Amstrad,but comes with its own built-intext editor and will work onall normal ASCII files. PolyPrint costs £29.90 includingVAT from Newstar Software.The Cracker is the firstspreadsheet with integratedgraphics for the AmstradPCW-8256. If you have datain DIF or dBase format it canread it too. The programcosts £49 including VAT fromNewstar Software. An IBMPC version is available for£98. Digital Research issupporting both the AmstradPCW-8256 and 6128machines with low-costversions of CBasic, Pascal, DRDraw and DR Graph. ThePascal is Pascal MT+, a fullversion of the structuredbusiness and educationallanguage. DR Graph is abusiness -orientated chart -making package. All fourproducts cost £49.95 each,including VAT. Telephone:(0635) 35304.


PC COMPATIBLES.

WE GIVE YOU MORE

THAN A LOW PRICEAt £995, our full feature COMPRO 88 is probably

the best value PC compatible on the market.

But we all know that successful computerbuying is more than looking for the lowest price.

You want support. We'll give you 24 hour

nationwide response, on -site maintenance.

You want memory. We'll give you 640K as

standard (without using valuable slots).You want capacity. We'll give you a choice of

hard -disks, up to 70Mbytes with tape back-up to match.You want reliability. We'll give you superb engineering

- built by us in Britain.Yes, We'll give you more, all down the line.

PCM1 (illustrated) 640KB. 8 slots. Dual, half height 360KB floppy disks. Keyboard.

Mono graphics/printer card. Mono monitor. £995.

Range of twelve machines also includes ... 10MB at £1395 20MB

system with 20MB tape back-up at £2315. And colour option with colour monitor,

colour graphics cardiparallel port at £160 extra. Prices excl. VAT, correct at time of

publishing.

COMPROComputoprocessing Limited195/197 Wardour Street London W1V 3FA

Telephone: 01-439 1819

51/4" disks79p

Unbranded, full specification disks

Prices per box of 10

feud VAT)SS/DD 48 tpi

1-4

7.90

5-9

7.40

10-24

7.20

25-49

7.05

' Well known manufacturers DS/DD 48 tpi 9.90 9.20 8.90 8.60

DS/QD 96 tpi 13.90 13.10 12.80 12.60 Hub rings

' Envelopes, labels, w/p tabsAdd 0.95 for Economy 50 Storage Case

Full no -quibble guarantee

31/2" disksss £2.20DS £2.99

Prices per box of 10 1-4 5-9 10-24 25-49

texcl VAT)Single sided 135 tpi 22.90 21.50 20.80 19.90

Double sided 135 tpi 29.90 27.90 26.80 25.80

Add £1.99 per box if See10 Library Case is required

Storage

3W Seel° Library caseEcon 30 Stg case

60dsk Stg Case, lock

svir Seem L,Prary case

Exec 50 Stge case. lock

Exec 100 Sipe case, lock

2.30

5.95

15.95

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15.95

2195

Recommended for

BBC, IBM, Commodore, Apple etc

Double Density,

suitable for single density use

Free Delivery

3,1

disks

Prices per box of 10

lexcl VAT)

CF2

£2.991-4 5-9 10-24 25-49

29.90 28.90 27.90 26.90

Single disks £3.50 each 5 off f3.20 each

1All prices tnclude 2nd Class delwxkly IU K mainland) but exclude VAT For urgent deliveries please telephone

for deliver), charges overseas add E5 per 100 disks or pan thereof for air f reighi

2 Telephone orders can be accepted from Government bodies. schools, etc. or wah a VISA card

3 Send cheque made payable to "IDS Computer Supplies", with order to the address below. Don't forget the

VAT

CELEMEVISA

IDS Computer SuppliesDept SO 15 Darin Court Crownhill Milton Keynes MK8 OAD Telephone 10908) 569655

Circle No. 135

ThrighV

Cross Compilers to produceROM code

Core (buy only once) £250Targets (each) £1756502, 651 10, 6800, 6801/3, 6809,68000, 280, 8080, 8086, 1802, 28,99xxx, LSI-1 1.

FORTH 83 HS/FORTH1 megabyte programs, graphics,floating point, assembler,strings £230

MPE-FORTH/09 for FLEX or0S9

Editor, assembler, full systemintegration, cross compilersavailable.

We are the Forth specialists, we alsostock a large range of books, listings,and implementations for machinesranging from Amstrad to Atari ST,IBM PC to PDP11.

Work-FORTHComplete with:

SCREEN MICRMACRO -ASSEMBLERAPPLICATION GENERATORCOMPREHENSIVE MANUAL

Out now for:IBM PC, APRICOT, MSDOSCPM 86, CPM 80,AMSTRAD

Extensions:Floating pointVIEW -TRACEdebuggerCross -compilers

Micro ProcessorEngineering Ltd -fic""`H21 Hanley Road, ShirleySouthampton SO1 5APTel: 0703 780084

16 Circle No. 136 Circle No. 137 PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1986

IBM NEWS

MULTI-USER dBASE IIIASHTON-TATE has shown a multi-user version of dBase III at theComdex exhibition in Las Vegas.Called dBase III Plus, the newversion of the top -selling databasepackage will allow several users toaccess the same data simul-taneously.

dBase III Plus is scheduled to goon sale in the U.K. early this year.The £595 program will replace theexisting dBase III product for bothsingle and multiple users. Ashton-Tate believes that stand-aloneusers may later want to transfertheir dBase-written applications toa network, and dBase III Plus willallow them to do this.

The new version runs on a

minimum stand-alone configu-ration of one 256K floppy -basedIBM PC. To use it with a Novell orIBM PC local area network you alsoneed to get the new dBase II LANPack. This costs £795 and allows upto three additional PCs to accessthe same data.

As well as multi-user capacity,dBase III Plus offers several majorenhancements over the existingpackage. These include pull -downmenus to assist new dBase users,quicker sorts and better debuggingfacilities. Some 50 new comandshave been added to the dBaselanguage, and there is a newquery -by -example front end forbrowsing through data.

Existing dBase III users will beable to upgrade to the Plus versionfor £99; dBase II and Friday userscan upgrade for £220.

This new product announce-ment follows on from Ashton-Tate's recent acquisition of Multi -mate. The U.S.-based company isnow probably the second-largestmicro software company afterLotus. Its product line-up for theIBM PC now consists of dBase II,dBase III Plus, Framework II,Friday and various versions ofMultimate.

Details from Ashton-Tate(U.K.) Ltd, Oaklands, 1 BathRoad, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL64UH. Telephone: (0628) 33123

SiriusIIBMmachineFULL IBM compatibility and theability to run Sirius software is

offered by the Victor VI. This ismore of an achievement than itsounds because the 5.25in. floppydiscs on a Sirius or Victor 9000series machine rotate at varyingspeeds depending on which track itis reading, whereas on the IBM PCthe speed is constant. The VictorVI drives can do either; you justput a disc in and leave it up tomachine to work out how to readit.

In other respects the Victor VI isa fairly conventional 8088 -basedPC clone. In twin -floppy con-figuration it costs £2,795, while10Mbyte, 20Mbyte and 30Mbytehard -disc versions are also availablewith prices starting at £3,995.

The twin -floppy Victor VI.

More details from Victor Tech-nologies (U.K.) Ltd, Unit 1, ValleyCentre, Gordon Road, HighWycombe, BuckinghamshireHP13 6EQ. Telephone: (0494)450661.

DOS booksTHREE GUIDES to DOS have beenpublished, and two are British.Introduction to PC -DOS by BobEager is one of the IBM PersonalComputer Series from Addison-Wesley, and it costs £11.95. FiveBritish PC books are scheduled orpublished already, and thereshould be more. The ISBN is 0 20114529 4. Telephone: (0734)794000.

MS-DOS - An Introduction isby Mark Adams, published byCentury Communications at£9.95. The ISBN is 0 7126 05541.Telephone: 01-240 3411.

The American book is PC -DOS:Introduction to High -PerformanceComputing by Peter Norton ofNorton Utilities fame. It is alsosuitable for beginners. It is pub-lished by Prentice -Hall Inter-national at £16.95, ISBN 0 89303752 4.

A M Stearns returns to PC rootsA M STEARNS' Great Communicatoris a fast AT clone built around theIntel 80286. It is constructed in anunusual way for an IBM com-patible: instead of adopting theusual motherboard/card-slotmethod, all the circuitry is oncards, including the CPU. This willsound familiar to devotees of theold S-100 bus systems.

A M Stearns claims this return tothe backplane approach makes iteasier for the user to keep thehardware up to date. Five slots onthe system are free to take con-ventional IBM A- or XT -formatcards.

A Great Communicator systemwith a 20Mbyte hard disc, onefloppy, 512K of RAM and ambermonitor costs £4,550, which is

slightly cheaper than the equiv-alent AT. A M Stearns is also

The Great Communicator adopts

backing a rental scheme underwhich the same configurationwould typically work out at around£189 a month. Among the moreunusual options available are anA4 -size monochrome monitor

the backplane approach.

which shows a full 66 lines of text.Contact A M Stearns Ltd, AM

International, Maylands Avenue,Hemel Hempstead, HertfordshireHP2 7ET. Tel: (0442) 42251.

(More news on page 19)

IBMSHORTS

SB-Writer adds word-processing and mail -mergingfunctions to Lotus 1-2-3. SB-Writer costs £72.50 fromSystembuild of Cambridge.Telephone: (0778) 344388.

Sign -Master is an easy -to -use presentation -graphicspackage designed specificallyfor producing text signs,slides and overhead -projection film. It has sevenbuilt-in character founts anda symbol library, and workswith most printers andplotters. The price is £218from P&P. Telephone: (0706)217744.Version 3.31 of the popularMultimate word processorsupports the HP Laserjetprinter and has a quickerbuilt-in spelling checker. Itcosts £450. The MultimateOn -File add-on givesMultimate improved mailingand recording -keepingabilities. It costs £110 andworks with version 3.30 andabove. Contact First Softwareon (0256) 463344. Release 2.1 of Supercalc 3gives the well-knownintegrated spreadsheet theability to handle morememory and make full use ofthe IBM Enhanced GraphicsAdaptor card. Colour printersare now supported, allowingyou to produce presentationgraphics with the £360package. Details fromSorcim/IUS. Telephone;(0753) 77733. Microsoft has releasedPascal, Fortran and Cobolcompilers for its Xenix 286operating system. Microsoftalready offers Basic and C forthe Unix -like operatingsystem designed for Intel80286 -based machines.Details from Microsoft on(0734) 500741.Opus Supplies is selling aQume daisywheel printercomplete with twin -bin sheetfeeder for £995. The 40cpsprinter comes already fittedwith an IBM interface. Detailsfrom Opus Supplies Ltd on(0737) 65080.


Which Boat Are You In?

Personal Computer

Networking

HYPER-MICRO

7

r4)ti I I I I I I I I I I I I

# ...Super -Micro

oa

Full Power for EachA simple and fair analogy to the choice of multi -station computers,wouldn't you say?Take a PC as equivalent to a single rowing boat. Just as a PC hasone processor and one user, a single rowing boat has onepassenger and one rowing power.Then a network of PCs is a collection of such boats tiedtogether trying to make a common journey; think of their speed interms of a single boat, their co-ordination is an afterthought, costper extra passenger is always the same - expensive.The so-called Super -micro is just a longer boat with,typically four or so passengers, but essentially withstill only one paddle to row with. Think of the speedagain!In the Hyper -micro, however, you can have as much'processing power' as number of users. It is based on the

'one-to-one' relationship between the number of users andprocessors and on perfect co-ordination amongst the users; just asin our 'Special 16' boat. In addition and unique to the BROMCOMHyper -micro; each user has four virtual screens runningindependently or related MS-DOS and CP/M programssimultaneously.

With this superiority, it was only fair to call it the Hyper -micro.Don't you agree?

Sales and Marketing, Bromcom LtdSouthbank Technopark, 90 London Road,

London SE1 6LN Tel: 01-928 2900 Telex: 926012

Circle No. 138

ES

ADVERTISEMENT

IS YOURCOMPUTERAS CLEVERAS THEHYPER-

MICRO?Introducing the Hyper -micro - the first system tooffer multi -processor basedConcurrent DOS 4.1 withDR -Net. The power of morethan sixteen 16 -bit PCs inone with Concurrency foreach user.

The limitations of thestand-alone PC are nowwidely known and no net-working can disguise theshortcomings of suchsystems to meet multi-usercomputing requirements.

Today's successful busi-ness requires a fully inte-grated multi-user computerwith easy expansibility asthe needs grow.

The Hyper -micro offersmulti -processor based Con-current DOS 4.1, operatingthrough DR -Net, to up to 16simultaneous users fromone central system. Multi-processing means allocatingthe equivalent power of onePC to each user so that noCPU degradation is ex-perienced as more users add-ed onto the system. This is acontrast to the "shared pro-cessor" principle most com-monly used. Not only can all16 users share the same dataand communicate with eachother but at the same timeeach user has, at his or hercommand, four virtualscreens allowing up to fourtasks to be conducted con-currently at each work-station.

Thus with such function-ality and with more than thepower of 16 PCs we thinkyou will agree that theHyper -micro adds a newdimension to multi-usercomputing.

How clever is your com-puter?

IBM NEWS

IBM adopts Novell LAN in U.S.NOVELL has stolen a march on itsnetwork rivals by getting IBM tomarket its LAN software. The dealapplies only to the U.S. at themoment, but it gives a big boost tothe Novell product's credibility.

Novell Netware is a multi-user,multi -tasking network operatingsystem which actually replaces thesoftware IBM provides for its PCnetwork and cluster systems. Yourun Netware software on the

LAN's file server, while eachstation runs a small Novell shellprogram on top of MS-DOS.

The advantage Novell claims fornetware over the own -brand IBMsoftware is improved performanceand compatibility with more third -party application packages.

Theoretically you can connectup to 50 PC stations to each LANfile server, though in practice thehardware cannot handle more than

four of five with reasonable per-formance. Another advantage ofNovell Netware is that it lets youuse several file servers on the samenetwork, so providing a wayaround this hardware limitation.

Netware costs £2,100 per fileserver. For further details contactNovell Data Systems, 78-82 St.John's Road, Tunbridge Wells,Kent TN4 9PH. Telephone:(0892) 47833.

MI

1111111111111111

4iffIldtf t 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,

'

I I

1

Bigger WinchestersTHE PROFESSIONAL 15 a high -volume140Mbyte hard -disc subsystem forthe IBM PC. It costs £6,995 andcomes fitted with a built-in tapecartridge for making backups.

Discs of this capacity make mostsense connected to a network,and the Professional claims to sup-port all the leading brands. A

280Mbyte version of the discsystem is also available, and aneven higher -capacity model offer-ing three-quarters of a gigabyte ispromised for the end of 1986.

Contact Micro TechnologyGroup, 51 The Pantiles,Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 5TE.Telephone: (0892) 45433.

Omnis 3for IBMOMNIS 3 is probably the mostsuccessful application generatorfor the Macintosh, and one of thefew British software packages tomake it into the U.S. sales charts.It is now available in a new versionfor the IBM PC and clones.

Compared to other IBM data-bases of the application -generatortype, Omnis 3 is fairly easy to use,but it is quite expensive at £445.You define report and recordlayouts and end up with a tailoredmenu -driven application.

Omnis 3 comes complete witha set of example applications,including a sales ledger and timeand cost recording. It can acceptdata from Lotus 1-2-3, Multiplanand other packages which uses theDIF format.

For more information contactBlyth Software Ltd, MitfordHouse, Benhall, Saxmundham,Suffolk IP17 1JS. Telephone:(0728) 3011.

Better APLRELEASE 5 of the APL*Plus PCversion of the popular APLnumbers -orientated language hasfull IBM graphics and improvedediting and performance. Fullhigh -resolution graphics are nowavailable from within APL.

Pre -written APL graphics func-tions are provided for drawingthings like pie, bar and line charts,and the new release supports theIBM Enhanced Graphics Adaptor.The new full -screen programeditor offers a spreadsheet -likefacility for numeric arrays whichcan also be incorporated in yourown applications. A set of fastassembler -written utilities forthings like string search andreplace and text justification is alsoprovided to speed up programexecution.

APL*Plus PC costs £695 fromCocking & Drury Ltd, 16 BerkeleyStreet, London W1X 5AE. Tele-phone: 01-493 6172.

Low-cost telex with a PCTELEX 2000 gives an ordinary IBMPC or clone the full functions of aproper telex machine. What ismore, you can have Telex 2000running in the background,waiting for incoming messages,while you continue to use yourspreadsheet or word processor.

This all assumes you generateenough telex traffic to make itworth your while leasing your owntelex line from British Telecom.You then need a telex modem tofit between the telex line and yourIBM PC; these are more complexthan phone modems, and more

expensive. Telex 2000 is designedto work with the Telexbox 3 unit- at £1,450 it is quite cheap astelex modems go. Telex 2000 itselfis the software part of the system; itcosts £125.

You also need a graphics card inthe PC and a printer. The total costworks out below what you wouldpay for a dedicated telex machine,and you still have the normal PCfunctions available.

Contact Telex 2000, 34Copelands, New Ash Green,Dartford, Kent DA3 8LG.Telephone: (0474) 872558.

Tandy AT- emulatorLATEST in Tandy's line of very goodvalue IBM compatibles isthe Tandy 3000, a full Intel80286 -based AT -clone system forjust under £3,000. With a20Mbyte hard disc, one 1.2Mbytefloppy, 512K of RAM and mono-

chrome screen the price comes to£2,974. The 3000 is reviewed onpage 92 of this issue.

Contact Tandy Corporation,Tameway Tower, Bridge Street,Walsall, West Midlands WS1 1LA.Telephone: (0922) 648181. 0

For more details see the opposite page.PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1986 19

OLIVETTI, ERICSSONAND EVERYTHING FOR IBM PC/XT, 'AT' AND COMPATIBLES

oft micronixmg computers Ltd

IBM PC/XT COMPATIBLE SYSTEMSAll MICRONIX PC's are fully IBM Compatible and offer best value ever -compare our specifications and prices before you buy elsewhere. Four layer 8slot motherboard with switch selectable 7.5MHz turbo mode improves systemthroughput by 40%! All systems have 640K RAM. Full 12 month ON -SITE -WARRANTY BY NATIONAL ADVANCED SYSTEMS ON ALL MICRONIX PCSYSTEMS!

12 MONTHON -SITE WARRANTY

BYNATIONAL

ADVANCED SYSTEMS

PC1: 8088 CPU 7.5/4.77 MHz (selectable), twin drive, 8 slots, 640KRAM, keyboard, Hi-res type Monographics Card, parallel port,serial port, clock Er battery and monitor. £999

PC2: As PC1 but one floppy and 10MB/20MB Hard Disk ....£1,499/1,799PC3: Same as PC2 but additionally with internal 20MB Streamer. £2,499

MICRONIX WORDPROCESSING PACKAGEYou get all this for only £1,399!1) MICRONIX IBM PC/XT Compatible PC1 enhanced Colour System

featuring: Fast 8MHz 8088, 8 slots, 640K RAM, Clock/Calendar,Battery, Serial Et Parallel Ports, twin 360K Floppy, professional 108key Keyboard with separate Cursor Pad and extended Function Keysplus Colour Monitor.

2) Daisy Wheel Printer, 20 CPS.3) Best selling wordprocessing Software "EASY WORDSTAR"

10MB HARD DISK, SINGLE FLOPPY PACKAGE ONLY ... £1,999

IBM "AT" COMPATIBLE SYSTEMIncredible prices! 12 month ON -SITE WARRANTY by NATIONALADVANCED SYSTEMSAT1: System with 80286 6MHz/8MHz CPU, IMB RAM, 6 x 16 bit slots,2 x 8 bit slots, 1 x 1.2MB floppy, 1 x 360K floppy, 2 serial, 1 parallelport, Keyboard, Hi-res type mono graphics and Monitor £2,099

AT2: Same as above but with 20MB Hard Disk £2,999

12 MONTHON -SITE WARRANTY

BYNATIONAL

ADVANCED SYSTEMS

PC/XT COMPATIBLE: 8088 7.5/4.77 MHz, up to 640K RAM, 8 slots,4 layer PCB with 128K/640K RAM £299/f399AT COMPATIBLE: 80286 8MHz/6MHz, 6 x 16 bit slots, 2 x 8 bitslots, built-in floppy Controller, built-in 2 serial, 1 parallelport and clock/calendar, 1MB RAM £1,099

RAM UPGRADES64KRAM 15ONS: Set of 9 chips (64K)/set of 36 chips (256K) / set of

54 chips (384K) f20/f75/f100128K RAM 15ONS: Piggyback for "AT": Set of 9 chips £43256K RAM 15ONS: Set of 9 chips (256K)/ Set of 18 chips ( b12K) e50/E90512K RAM Board with Clock/Calendar and battery with 512K RAM £299

MONO/COLOUR GRAPHICSColour graphics adaptor 320 x 200 Colour, 640 x 200 monoHi-res monographic Card (720 x 348), printer port

£140£160

MULTIFUNCTION BOARDSFor PC/XT and Compatibles:

MF-640: Up to 640K RAM, 2 Serial (2nd port optional), 1 Parallel,Clock/Calendar with battery, games port, - with 256K/384K/512K RAM f230/£260/£290

For "AT" and Compatibles:MF-3000 up to 3MB RAM! Serial Et parallel ports with 512K RAM

£350

FLOPPY DISK DRIVES360K half height drive for PC/XT £130360K drive for "AT" - exactly same drive and colour as IBM "AT" £1991.2MB drive for "AT" - exactly same drive and colouras IBM "AT" £299MAC -400: External drive for MACINTOSH £249

OLIVETTI M24/M21M24 with 640K RAM, Single Floppy, 10MB Hard Disk, Keyboard Screenand DOS £1,899As above but with 20MB Hard Disk £1,999M21 with 640K RAM, Single floppy, 10MB Hard Disk £1,899As above but with 20MB Hard Disk £1,999

THE ERICSSON PC - INCREDIBLE VALUEALL ERICSSONgraphics

128KRAM,

MONOTWO

DRIVESYSTEM

ONLYf1299*VAT

PC's have built-in serial,

FULL24

MONTHON -SITE

WARRANTYBY

ERICSSON

1. 640K RAM, Clock/Calendar with bat-tery, 2 x 360K floppy, KB, DOS, GWBA-SI C2. Above but with 1 x 360K floppy, 10MBhard disk3. As in 2 above but 20MB Hard Disk4. As in 2 above but 40MB Hard Disk

parallel ports and

Subject to signing2nd yearsmaintenance

hi-res

Hi-res Amber Hi-res ColourScreen Screen£ £

1,499 1,799

1,799 2,099

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ERICSSON PORTABLE with plasma screen, 512K RAM, ERGODISK,SINGLE FLOPPY and built-in PRINTER - Our price £2,999 (Normal price£4,100!). Under 8kg - Briefcase size, 6 month Warranty.

ASK ABOUT SUPER DISCOUNT FOR EDUCATIONAL AND GOVERN-MENT ORGANIZATION! (discount based on Ericsson list prices)

HARD DISK/STREAMERSMICRONIX will upgrade your PC/XT, AT, OLIVETTI, ERICSSON to20MB HD/STREAMER at our premises at no extra charge10MB Hard Disk + Controller + Cables £49920MB Hard Disk + Controller + Cables (internal) £65040 MB hard disk + Controller + Cables (internal) £139920MB Streamer + Cables + Software (internal or external) £750/f85040MB Hard Disk + Controller + Cables (internal) £139920MB half height hard disk for "AT" £45020MB Hard Disk + 20MB Cassette Streamer + Controller + Cables+ Software - External Subsystem £1,499KEYBOARDS83 key for PC/ XT £99

108 key UK KB - PC/ XT, separate cursor pad £160Keyboard for "AT" £190

MONITORSZenith Amber Monitor £125

£159£225£249

KAGA Amber Monitor - IBM CompatibleEAGLE 13" Colour - IBM Compatible 640 x 200MITSU BISH I 14" Colour IBM compatible

POWER SUPPLY155W replacement PSU for PC/ XT, DC Fan £140200W replacement PSU for "AT", DC Fan £190

SYSTEM BOXMetal Case, flip -top -cover, 8 slots suitable for MICRONIX PC/XT Com-patible Motherboard, PSU and Floppy/HD/Streamers £100

Metal Case for "AT" Compatible Motherboard, PSU, Floppy/ HD f175

PRINTERSFUJITSU DC1200 136 column, 180 CPS/36 CPS NLQ IBM TYPE f399FUJITSU S P320 48 CPS daisywheel, Centronics £899FUJITSU DPL 24 288CPS/96CPS letter quality £999QU EN DATA 20 CPS Daisy Wheel £199

VISA, ACCESS WELCOMEOrdering Information:Prices are exclusive of Carriage & VAT. Please add 15% to TotalCost. Carriage: Systems Et Subsystems £20, Drives ErKeyboards £8, Boards £5, RAM Chips £1. Monitor/Printer £15.' Visit our brand new Showroom - off-street parking, nearest tube Kilburn(Jubilee Linel OPEN MON-FRI: 9.30am - 5.3Oom

micronixcomputers Ltd

1 Grangeway,Kilburn,London NW6 2BWTel: 01-625 0295/9 (5 lines)Telex: 295173 MICROX G

20

Circle No. 132


NEWS

DATA LAW LOOMSWITH the 11 May 1986 deadline forthe Data Protection Act gettingcloser, panic should soon besetting in as computer users beginto worry about whether they aremeant to register. After 11 Maymany unregistered organisationswill be breaking the law if theyhold the sort of personal datacovered by the Act.

In fact, if you hold any infor-mation on other living people forbusiness or professional reasonsyou probably are required toregister. And, although some usershave not realised it, the edu-cational sector is not exempt. Onthe other hand, if your people -related data is held for genuinely

recreational purposes or the man-agement of purely personal house-hold affairs you probably can getaway with ignoring the Act.

In the Practical Computingeditorial office we are not going toregister, because the data we holdis on products and companies, notpeople. But our subscription andmarketing departments probablywill regiser as they hold data onidentifiable living people - poss-ibly you.

A fuller guide to who is affectedby the Act appeared in the Sept-ember 1985 issue of PracticalComputing. The Data ProtectionRegistrar will send you free ofcharge a registration pack with an

explanatory booklet and thenecessary forms. Registration itselfcosts £22. The Data ProtectionRegistrar is at Springfield House,Water Lane, Wilmslow, CheshireSK9 5AX. Tel: (0625) 535777.

If you need more help, thetraining organisation ADM hasproduced a rather steeply pricedkit, aimed mainly at small tomedium-sized businesses. For £65you get the Registrar's forms, acopy of the Act itself, ADM's guideto the act and a set of forms des-igned to help you decide whetheryou need to register. Details fromADM Ltd, ADM House, 5-9 Head-stone Road, Harrow, MiddlesexHAI 1PL. Tel: 01-863 0621.

Women'strainingpackTHE Women's Computer Course isa free 80 -page source book des-igned for women who teach aboutcomputing. Arising from a seriesof evening classes run by theauthors, it contains original and

cuttings,pictures and cartoons. Topicscovered include women's jobs,health and history in computing,word processing, and a longsection on Basic programming.The book pulls apart easily, sosections can be photocopied.

Produced with help from theEqual Opportunities Commission,the teaching pack is free, but youhave to send an A4 SAE and 90ppostage. Contact Robyn Smits andMary Jennings, 157 MarylandRoad, London N22 5AS.

Mailpost deliversemail to the doorOLD paper -and -envelope lettershave many advantages, not theleast of which is that you can sendthem to people who are not equip-ped to receive electronic mail.Mailpost is a brand-new facility onthe Telecom Gold mail systemwhich lets you exploit a com-bination of old and new tech-nology in a useful way.

With Mailpost you email thetext of your letter and the addressof its intended recipient to Mail -post's mailbox on Gold. TheMailpost staff then type the letterout on real paper, stick it in a realenvelope and post it off. A fewdays or weeks later it will,hopefully, arrive.

The service makes most sense ifyou are travelling around abroad oraway from your office with a port-able computer. A typical letter

sent to someone in the U.K. worksout at around £1 with Mailpost. Tothis you must add a once -off reg-istration fee of £135, which alsogets you a Telecom Gold mailboxif you do not already have one.Mailpost is run by New Tech-nology Systems, which operates itsown Telecom Gold user group.

New Technology Systems alsooffers a complementary service sothat your email -less recipient canreply to you. Your correspondentrings up a Mailbox number on theordinary voice telephone and dic-tates a message to Mailbox staffwho then forward it electronicallyto your Telecom Gold mailbox.

Details from New TechnologySystems, Pembroke House, TheCrescent, Leatherhead, SurreyKT22 8HW. Telephone: (0372)379873.

ZenithwinnerWE HAD nearly 800 entries for ourcompetition in the Septemberissue to win a Zenith ZF-158-42IBM-compatible computer. Themain task we set was to list sevenfeatures of the system in order ofimportance. The tie -breaker askedyou to come up with an improve-ment on the rather dull name.

Only one entrant came up withexactly the same sequence as thePractical Computing judges. RGibson of Winchester agreed withus on CDGBAFE: the ability torun colour packages even with amonochrome monitor; speedswitchable between 4.77MHz and8MHz; full one-year guarantee;five free expansion slots; 768Kmaximum on -board RAMcapacity; no motherboard forgreater reliability; and uses large-scale gate array technology.

He therefore wins the com-petition, and all your suggestionsfor a better name for the Zenithsystem were not needed. This wasjust as well as the majority of themwere pretty feeble. But R Gibson,who won anyway, did not do badlywith his suggested name,"Apex". Many thanks to ZenithData Systems for providing theattractive prize.

Database publishing on CD-ROMTHE PROMISE of having the world'sknowledge, or at least large chunksof it, at your fingertips has beenwith us ever since the first on-linedatabase publishing service sawthe light of day.

But a promise is what thisfacility remains for most people.The complexities of accessing data-bases and of formulating effectivesearch strategies are a barrier togeneral use of on-line databases,but an even greater barrier is thecost of mounting even simplesearches.

Now compact -disc read onlymemory (CD-ROM) is poised toremedy some of the deficiencies ofon-line database publishing. CD-

ROM is a development of the fam-iliar 12cm. CD audio disc, andshows great promise as a cheapand robust high -capacity storagemedium.

Philips has introduced a unitcalled the CM -100, which can store600Mbyte on a single -sided disc.This is the equivalent of 230,000pages of A4 double-spaced text ormore than 1,000 images.

The CM -100 adheres to thestandard developed by Philips andSony, which allows total inter-changeability between discs anddrives for compact audio discs.Progress is being made to extendthis standard to include CD-ROM,and it will soon be implemented

for the IBM PC /XT and PC/ATcomputers and compatibles. In theU.S. a company called MicroTrends has developed a CD-ROMinterface card for the Apple II.

So far, the number of CD-ROMproducts is small, and what ispotentially a large publishingmarket is caught up in a familiarbind: products are not developeduntil the customer base is suff-iciently large, and the customerbase grows slowly if only a limitednumber of products are available.

On the software front, Grolier ispublishing its Academic AmericanEncyclopaedia on CD-ROM for theIBM PC and Atari 520ST, andSydney Library Products can now

provide the entire Library of Con-gress Marc database of bib-liographic records on CD-ROM.Sydney also provides the CD-ROMsoftware and equipment, in-cluding the interface board for theuser's PC, as part of a package dealfor the Marc database.

In the U.K. a system developedat AERE Harwell combines theStatus information -retrieval soft-ware with compact -disc tech-nology. Users of the system canaccess information on CD-ROM,using either standard Status com-mands or tailored menus. They canthen use the information from theCD-ROM, to create their ownpersonal databases. PC


10MB or 20MB storageon Half -height Winchester

5.25" 96 TPI 800K or 1.2MBDual speed

5.25"48 TPI 400KHalf -height

3.5" 135 TPI 800KMicrofloppy

Floppy disk incompatibility - an unpleasant fact ofcomputer life. GEMINI M -F -B 2 SYSTEM -a pleasant

computer solution.When we introduced the original Gemini M -F -B system,we provided a lot of answers to the growing problem ofdisk size and format incompatibility. And now with the

M -F -B 2, we can provide even more answers.The new system continues to provide the ability to

format and transfer data between any of themicrocomputer formats currently available within its

library of over 400 machine type and formatcombinations, but now goes even further.

The changes in hardware manifest themselves in asystem that now provides either 10MB or 20MB ofWinchester based storage and the adoption of half -height devices have allowed the inclusion of a 3.5"

floppy drive as standard.The software changes now provide the M -F -B 2

system with the capacity to not only hold up to 700format combinations, but to also supply an MS-DOSsuite of software enabling support of the entire IBM

PC (PC, XT and AT) family, and IBM 'lookalikes'.The Gemini M -F -B 2 now comes with a 12 month free

format update service.The 8" drive shown may be omitted from the system.A 0.5MB RAM Disk is an additional option for the system.

91 GeminiComputer Systems LimitedSpringfield Road, Chesham, Bucks HP5 1PUTelephone: (0494) 791010. Telex: 837788

Circle No. 140

12_

ESOFTWARE

of you were to conduct a surveyinto what people use theirspreadsheet packages for, you

would probably find that the vastmajority stick to the same fewapplications, with budgets, cash -flow forecasts and sales analysisprobably topping the list. This isfair enough; after all, these arepresumably the very jobs for whichthe original purchase of thespreadsheet was made.

Yet how many more problemsgo unsolved, and how manydecisions are made on the basisof inadequate information, justbecause people do not realise thehelp their spreadsheet could givethem? There must be hundreds ofeveryday business problems whichare eminently suitable for spread-sheet treatment, given only a littleplanning and imagination.

DISTANCESOne such group of applications

are those that could loosely betermed geographical: problemsinvolving places and distancesrather than pounds and pence. Forexample, suppose your companyhas recently attracted newcustomers in a distant part of thecountry, and you have to decidethe best site for a new warehouse toserve them. You have a short list of10, and now you must work outwhich has the lowest costs.

You do not need a computer toadd up the fixed costs like rentand rates, but when it comes tovariable costs such as those thatdepend on the number of del-iveries and distances travelled,things are much trickier. Supposethat each customer has a knownnumber of deliveries per period,and that the transport costs, inpounds per vehicle -kilometre, arealso known. For simplicity, you canassume that each delivery is asingle vehicle load. The problemthen boils down to identifying thewarehouse site which involves thelowest total distance to all cust-

omers, weighted by the number ofdeliveries.

To find the distance for each tripyou could use a mileage chart fromone of the motoring organisations.You would then go through,multiplying each one by thenumber of drops, and obtain atotal for each of the possible sites.

But with 10 sites and, say, 500customers, you would be facedwith the daunting prospect of5,000 look -ups. Also, most pub-lished mileage charts are for maintowns only, while customers arelikely to be here, there and every-where.

A better approach would be tofind the distances betweencustomers and warehouses byapplying some elementary prin-ciples of Cartesian geometry, witha little help from Pythagoras.These tell us that if two points haveco-ordinates of (xl ,y1) and (x2, y2)respectively, the straight-linedistance between them is

/((x -x2)^2 + (y1 -y2)"2)If all the customer and warehouselocations are given co-ordinatesrelative to a common origin, youcould build this formula into aspreadsheet and let the software dothe calculating.

Fortunately, all the locations inquestion already have such co-ordinates, as has every town,village, large building and duckpond in Britain, thanks to thatmarvellous invention, the Nat -

GRID SQUARECONVERSIONAn extract from the table used toconvert the two -letter identifiersof the 100km. squares to numericx,y co-ordinates.

SquareSD 3 4SE 4 4TA 5 4NY 3 5

NZ 4 5

ional Grid. In this system, thecountry is divided into 50 squares,each side of which is 100km. Eachsquare has a unique two -letteridentifier. Locations within thesquares can be referenced by theirco-ordinates along an east -to -westand north -to -south axis res-pectively, relative to the south-west corner of the square.

You can find grid references bylooking at an Ordnance Surveymap, or from the index of the Ord-nance Survey Atlas of GreatBritain. Before you enter theminto the spreadsheet, you mustconvert the two -letter labels of thebig squares to a numeric form. Un-fortunately, there is no formula forthis, so you will have to resort to alook -up table, an extract of whichappears below. For example, theswing bridge across the harbour atWhitby has a full grid reference ofNZ 899 115. The less precise ref-erence for the entire town is NZ 8911. Since the south-west corner ofsquare NZ has co-ordinates 4,5 inunits of 100km, the typed -in valuefor Whitby becomes 489 511.

DATA ENTRYYou can now set up the spread-

sheet, entering customer locationsin the rows and warehouses in thecolumns. Enter each half of a gridreference in a separate cell, sincethis is a separate term in the Cart-esian formula mentioned earlier.After you enter and replicate theformula, the software will placethe straight-line distances in thebody of the sheet.

By now you have probably seenwhat appears to be a majorobjection to all this: lorries seldomtravel in straight lines. Is there apredictable relationship betweenthe distances travelled along theroad and the straight-line distancesobtained by the formula?

To answer this question, I took alarge sample of British towns andvillages, and plotted the actualmileages between them against the

0

0-13

BY MIKE LEWIS

KEEPYOURDISTANCEIt is not only financialproblems that lendthemselves to solutionon a spreadsheet.

straight-line distances. I then usedthe least -squares method to findthe line of best fit. The result wasthe following formula

r = 1.18s - 0.72where r is the road distance and s isthe straight-line distance. It is sur-prisingly accurate for most pointsin mainland Britain. In practicethe constant term, 0.72, can beomitted because it lies within themargin of error of the six -charactergrid references.

Further columns may now beadded to the spreadsheet forholding the road distances. Youcan then multiply each of these bythe number of drops for eachcustomer, giving the total numberof vehicle -kilometres for eachpotential site. Of course, thisexample contains many assump-tions that might make it inapprop-riate for your own use. But it doesat least show that there is far moreto spreadsheets than budgets andcash -flow forecasts. na

WAREHOUSE -SITING SPREADSHEETAn extract from the warehouse -siting spreadsheet, showing three possible sites and 11 destinations.

Grid ref No. ofdrops

Stockton444 519

Catterick423 497

Dalton443 476

Straight Road Total Straight Road Total Straight Road TotalGoole 474 423 5 100.6 118.0 589.8 89.9 105.3 526.6 61.4 71.7 358.7Ilkley 411 447 7 79.2 92.7 649.2 51.4 60.0 419.7 43.2 50.2 351.7Leyburn 411 490 12 43.9 51.1 613.4 13.9 15.7 188.1 34.9 40.5 485.9Malton 478 471 5 58.8 68.7 343.4 60.8 71.1 355.3 35.4 41.0 205.0Northallerton 437 493 2 26.9 31.1 62.1 14.6 16.5 32.9 18.0 20.6 41.1Pately Bridge 415 465 15 61.3 71.6 1074.1 33.0 38.2 573.0 30.1 34.8 521.7Ripon 431 471 8 49.7 58.0 463.7 27.2 31.4 251.0 13.0 14.6 117.0Selby 461 432 1 88.6 103.9 103.9 75.3 88.1 88.1 47.5 55.4 55.4Settle 382 463 4 83.5 97.9 391.5 53.3 62.1 248.5 62.4 72.9 291.5Skipton 398 451 9 82.1 96.2 865.4 52.4 61.1 549.5 51.5 60.0 540.2Thirsk 442 482 4 37.1 43.0 172.0 24.2 27.8 111.4 6.1 6.5 25.8

Total vehicle -kilometres 5329 3344 2994


Oasis Instruments

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Circle No. 143

Hardware and softsystems formicrocomputeQL BBC IBM

Home, laboratory and industrial applicationsFull software support supplied:- General purpose acquisition package with easy userinterface and interactive scan control and data filegeneration.- Comprehensive product description to allow thehardware to be driven from your own software, eitherusing the routines supplied or from your own low levelroutines to operate the analogue to digital processdirectly.- Data file generation for export to existing spreadsheetor other post -processing software.

Custom hardware, software and systems solutions on aconsultancy basis.

Peter Nelson

Design Consultancy Circle No. 141

CIVCO ACRE COMPUTER

CONSUMABLES

SPECIALISTS IN 3M DISKSLIFE GUARANTEE

LOW PRICESMONEY REFUNDED IF NOT SATISFIED

Disc Prices per Box of Ten 1-35,k" Mini -Discs

1. 744D S/S D/D 48 TPI2. 745D D/S D/D 48 TPI3. 746D S/S Q/D 96 TPI4. 747D D/S Q/D 96 TPI5. 31" S/S D/D 13 STPI

Please specifysectored versions incolumn supplied.P&P FOC on orders4+

15.7019.0023.5027.0039.50

Please contactMarketing Manager fororders 10+Name

Address

Post code

Tel:

4-9

14.7018.9022.5026.0039.00

QTY SECT COST

TOTAL EX VAT15% VAT

Postage & Packing(50p per box)

TOTAL PAYABLE

To: Civco Acre ComputerConsumables,DEPT (PC1)58 Great Cullings,Rush Green,Romford,RM7 OYL

Tel: 01-593 9868

I enclose cheque/P.O payable toCIVCO ACRE COMPUTER CONSUMABLES"Quotes for 8" 3M Datalife Disks, Listing Paper, PrinterRibbons supplied on request.

Circle No. 142


In computersthe biggest thing about

big namesis usually the price.

Tandon is the exception.Tandon suggest you decide simply on performance. And price.

(

THE TANDON PC.

Intel 8088 processor,two floppy disk driveseach with 360 KByte,256 KByte main storagememory, expandableto 640 KByte,high resolution14" monitor.THE PC COSTS £1,295 + VAT.

P(X, THE TANDON XT.

Intel 8088 processor,floppy disk drivewith 360 KByte,256 KByte main storagememory, expandableto 640 KByte, 10 MBytefixed disk drive, highresolution 14" monitor.THE PCX COSTS £1,595 + VAT.

In case you didn't know, Tandon is the world's largest manufacturer of disk drives.

We got there, by simply doing everything in our power to make these highly sensitive

and costly parts not only better but less expensively. an onNow we're doing the same for whole microcomputers. Computer (UK) Ltd.

1111111111111111 L.__

P(A, THE TANDON AT.

Intel 80286 processor,floppy disk drive with1.2 MByte, 20 MBytefixed disk drive, mainstorage memory with512 KByte, expandableto 16 MByte, highresolution 14" monitor.THE PCA COSTS £2,195 + VAT.

Please send me details of Tandon microcomputers.NameCompanyAddress-

Tandon Computer (UK) Ltd., 5, Su ttons Industrial Park, LondpEonPTRoPCad1,Reading, Berkshire RG6 1AZ, Telephone: 07 34/66 46 76, Fax 07 34/66 54 10

Circle No. 144

ZS

1 2-4 5-9 10-19 20+20.90 18.90 17.90 16.90 15.90

23.90 21.90 20.90 19.90 18.9023.90 21.90 20.90 19.90 18.9028.90 26.90 25.90 24.90 23.90

To order, precede number with the letter Oiled, 101range

(Ylellow, (Skeen, IBIlue or (W)hite, e.g. for Red DIsided 48 tpi disks,order R2D. Or "RAINBOW" for multicoloured pack.

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DISKING FREEPOST, LIPHOOK, HAMPSHIRE GU30 7BR, UNITED KINGDOMHow to contact us:General Enquiries & Sales (0428) 722563; Trade/Government (0428) 722840; Telex - 858623 Telbur G

ColouredDiskettes

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DISKINGProfessional MinidisksLifetime Warranty

5140151<S Prices & Qtys relate to ten packsPRICES EXC VAT

010 SIS 48 tpi02D DIS 48 tpi010 SIS 96 tpi020 DIS 96 tpi

1

15.90

17.90

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22.90

2413.9015.9015.9020.90

5.9

13.40

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101912.90

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19.40

3'; 0151(5 Prices & Qtys relate to ten -packsPRICES EXC VAT 1 2-4 5-9 10-19DMID SISided 0.5Mb 24.90 22.90 22.40 21.90DM2D D/Sided 1.0Mb 31.90 29.90 29.40 28.90

Datalife

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51" DISKS Prices & Otys relate to ten packs

20

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PRICES EXC VAT 1 2-4 5-9 10-19 20.525-01 SIS 48 tpi 20.90 18.90 17.90 16.90 15.90

550-01 DIS 48 tpi 23.90 21.90 20.90 19.90 18.90

577-01 SiS 96 tpi 23.90 21.90 20.90 19.90 18.90

557-01 OIS 96 tpi 26.90 24.90 23.90 22.90 21.90IBM PC AT (HIGH DENSITY)MDHD DIS 1.6 MByte 34.90 32.90 31.90 30.90 29.90

31" DISKS-- Prices & Otys relate to ten -packsPRICES EXC VAT 1 2.4 5.9 1019 20.MF350 SISided 0.5Mh 29.90 27.90 26.90 25.90 24.90

MF360 DISided 1.0Mb 3920 37.90 36.90 35.90 34.90

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Verex

Verex by VerbatimVerbatim Promise plus Value5" DISKS Prices & Otys relate to ten -packs

PRICES EXC VAT 1 2.4 5-9 10.19 20*150-01SIS ISO 48 tpi 14.90 12.90 12.40 11.90 11.40

200-01 SIS DID 48 tpi 15.90 13.90 13.40 12.90 12.40

250-01 WS DID 48 tpi 17.90 15.90 15.40 14.90 14.40

'NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW *NEW *NEW NEW NEW 'NEW'257-01 WS 010 96 tpi 19.90 17.90 17.40 16.90 16.40

8" DISKSPlease call

-.-1V110REX

514- 0151<5 Prices & Qtys relate to ten -packsPRICES EXC VAT 1 2-45210 SIS 48 tpi 18.90 16.905220 DIS 48 tpi 21.90 19.905410 SIS 96 tpi 23.90 21.905420 DIS 96 tpi 24.90 22.90

IBM PC AT (HIGH DENSITY)Prices and quantities relate to Ten -Packs

5-9 10.19 20+15.90 14.90 13.90

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21.90 20.90 19.90 M25M50M40

PRICES EXC VAT 1 24 595660 DIS 1.6MByte 41.90 39.90 38.90

1019 20+37.90 36.90

31st 0151<5 Prices & Qtys relate to ten -packsPRICES EXC VAT 1 2.4 5.9 10.19 20+3450 S Sided 0.5Mb 29.90 27.90 26.90 25.90 24.903460 D Sided 1.0Mb 39.90 37.90 36.90 35.90 34.90

Dysart DysanFor the Discerning

584 0151<5 Prices & Otys relate to ten -packsPRICES EXC VAT

104110 SIS 48 tpi104120 DIS 48 tpi204I1D SIS 96 tpi204120 DIS 96 tpi

1

22.90

29.90

29.90

34.90

2-4

20.9027.9027.9032.90

5,9 10-19

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26.90 25.9031.90 30.90

HOW TO ORDER

UK Shipping Rates exc VAT5 Disks or microdisks1 2 packs each pack @ 95p3.5 packs each pack @ 75p6.9 packs each pack @ 60p10+ packs POST FREE

All Cleaning Kits1 off 60p each27 oft 40p each6* off POST FREE

Disking Diskwriters50 -pack E1.00Disking Supermailers100,pack f3.00

20.17.90

24.90

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Diskette StorageM10, FF10, FF15, SEE 10,SEE 10,3, SEE 10.81-4 off @ 40p each5-9 off @ 30p each10+ off @ 20p eachM25, MINI 50, BUDGET 501 off f 1.002-7 off 70p each8* off POST FREEM50, M40, MINI 100, KM25FFS1O, KM50, JUMBO

1 off (2.00 each2-7 off f 1.30 each8+ ofi POST FREE

Credit Card Orders 10428) 722563 (24 hours)ACCESS & VISA welcome, call anytime but please don'twhisper. Just leave the following details:1 Day -time 'phone number;2 Cardholder name and address;3 Your Credit Card Number;4 What you want and how many;5 Normal or first class post.Leave the REST to US!

Urgent OrdersIf you are posting your order, leaye out the word FREEPOST fromour address, and use our normal post code GU30 7EJ and do notforget to stamp it First Class. If you are telephoning your order,please make it clear that you wish to pay for your goods to besent to you by First Class Post.

First Class RatesMinidisks & Microdisks:-First Ten -Pack 2.00Second and subsequent Ten -Pack 1.50

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3 StorageM10 MICROBOX 10' For 10 Microdisks 4.90

STANDARD MICRO 25 For 25 Microdisks 10.90STANDARD MICRO 50 For 50 Microdisks 19.90LATCHING MICRO 40' For 40 Microdisks 31.90

5-,1" StorageFF10 Flip 'n' File 10' For 10 DiskettesFFS10

FF15

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5 FF10's RedlOrangelYellowiGreen1BlueFlip 'n' File 15' For 15 DiskettesSTANDARD MINI 50 For 50 DiskettesSTANDARD MINI 100 For 100 Diskettes

KM25 KEYBOX MINI 25'' For 25 DiskettesKM50 KEYBOX MINI 50" For 50 Diskettes'With flip 'n' file action, displays vertically stores horizontally"These have locking or latching mechanism flip 'n' file action

Disking's StorageSEE 10 For 10 Diskettes

SEE 10-3

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For 10 Microdisks

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Lockable storage for 50 .3.5" or 15 .3"

Computer CareSDD

MDD

MKEY

MTV

Sapona Single Sided 3.5" drive head cleaning kit

Memorex 5.25" disk drive head cleaning kit

Memorex case & keyboard cleaning kit

Memorex VDUITV screen cleaning kit

Diskette Mailing

3.9019.50

5.9016.9032.9025.9036.90

2.502.503.508.90

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DSM 5.25" disk mailer for up to 4 disks Iper 1001 24.90

Very Urgent OrdersIf ordering by telephone, and by 3.00pm you may requestDatapost which delivers the next morning at 9.00am. Minimum

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Official Government Orders WelcomeWe supply all Government bodies including schools, Universities,

Ccic

Colleges, Hospitals, the Utilities, Research Establishments,

Armed Forces, the Ministries and Local Auth rities world-wide. Itordering in quantities of fifty diskettes or more, please ask for ourwholesale price list. 4

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Circle No. 146

CHIP -CHAT

0t is always tempting to wonderwhether the introduction ofthe latest microprocessor

design will represent the ultimatelimit of performance beyondwhich it will be unnecessary to go.

Some people once predictedthat passengers on trains wouldsuffocate at speeds of 30 miles perhour or more, and that high-speedtransportation would remain forever the preserve of a privilegedminority. Likewise there are con-temporary prophets who predictthat the market for 32 -bit micro-processors is so small that the costof developing such devices cannoteasily be recouped.

It is true that today's market for32 -bit computers is very small incomparison to the market foreight- and 16 -bit systems. Butcheap and available technology hasa habit of creating its own marketwhere none existed previously.Judging from the activities of thechip manufacturers, this is likely tobe the case for 32 -bit micro-processors.

RECESSIONDespite the worst recession in

semiconductor sales for more thana decade, all the major micro-processor manufacturers arepushing ahead with extensive32 -bit programs. They are con-fident in the belief that there reallywill be a mass market for micro-computers and other systems basedon this very powerful technology.

Although there is not much tobe gained from porting most oftoday's software packages on to a32 -bit machine, the new softwarewhich will soon become availablewill be able to perform all the oldtasks with increased user -friend-liness and reliability. It will alsomake some tasks possible for thevery first time.

One intriguing question con-cerning this giant leap in per-formance is which chip family willemerge as the industry standard, ifindeed any one does? Until nowIntel has had an unbroken string ofsuccesses. They started with itspopular eight -bit 8080A, whichwas only ever eclipsed by the com-patible Z-80 from Zilog, and pro-gressed to the 8088 and 8086 ofthe IBM PC and its compatiblecousins, and most recently the80286 of the IBM PC/ AT.

One of the major reasons forIntel's success has been the com-patibility of its processors. This hasprovided a software upgrade pathfrom one generation to the next,allowing users to preserve theirsoftware investment. Other chipmanufacturers - notably Zilog,whose 16 -bit Z-8000 failed to catchon for microcomputer applicationsdespite the huge Z-80 following -

ignored the need for software com-patibility and have suffered badlyas a result.

Although the market hasdecided that upwards com-patibility is very high on its list ofpriorities, this attractive featurehas only been available at a price.To retain compatibility Intel hashad to pass many of the less thandesirable features of its earlierprocessors on to their successors.Consequently it has been severelyconstrained in the architecturaldesign of all its new devices.

Other manufacturers, partic-ularly Motorola and National,decided that although softwarecompatibility was a good thing,they need not go back as far as theeight -bit generation. In a boldattempt to oust Intel from thenumber one slot they designed32 -bit processor architecturesbefore they could actually build a32 -bit processor, and then intro-duced a downwards compatible16 -bit variant as their first familyproduct.

This strategy achieved moderatesuccess, with sales of both the68000 and the 32016 beingadequate to ensure continuation ofthe species. But Intel has remainedfirmly in first place. The questionnow is whether the need for 32 -bitprocessing power will stretch theIntel architecture beyond sensiblelimits. Will the Motorola andNational families, which are stillwaiting in the wings with a steadilyincreasing software base, now beable to eject Intel from the numberone position? Perhaps they mayeven be able to woo the mightyIBM away from its staunch positionof using Intel only.

LOYALTYThe Intel 32 -bit offering is the

new 80386. On the face of it, it is avery powerful device whichincludes an on -chip memory -management unit, and offers ahigh degree of compatibility withall its earlier progenitors. But willit be good enough to retain theloyalties of big customers such asIBM in the face of intense com-petition from the architecturallymore advanced offerings fromMotorola and National?

I do not know the answer, and Iam making no predictions as I gotit wrong the first time around. Ithought that the Motorola 68000would have ousted the Intel 8086and its cousins long before now.This time there are two main con-tenders for the 32 -bit crown: theMotorola 68020 and the newNational 32332, an improvedversion of the 32032 which was thefirst conventional 32 -bit micro-processor to become available.

National Semiconductor is one

of the world's largest chip pro-ducers with 29 plants in ninecountries and with sales in the yearto the 31 May 1985 of $1.79billion. However, despite its sizeNational has had a string ofproblems. Its early micro-processors, such as the eight -bit8060 and NSC-800, failed to notchup sufficient sales to enable themto become true classics like theZ-80 and the 6502.

National's earlier micro-processor efforts were half-hearted, but with its relatively new32000 family it has spent vast sumson product development andmarketing. The results have beenimpressive. Already available is acomprehensive family whichshares an identical internal 32 -bitarchitecture and comprises the32008 with an eight -bit data bus,the 32016 with a 16 -bit data bus,and both the 32032 and the 32332which share a full 32 -bit data bus.

SUPPORT CHIPSWithin the 32000 family,

software migration is guaranteedbecause internally all familymembers are virtually identical. Acomprehensive array of peripheralcircuits is available too. Also, it isdifficult to fault the Nationalfamily in performance terms, withthe 32032 notching up 0.8 millioninstructions per second (mips) andthe new 32332 about 2.5mips.Promised for the future is the32C532 which should managenearly 6mips. Also to becomeavailable this year is a floating-point arithmetic chip set whichwill crunch four million floating-point operations per second.

The 32332 contender offers a4Gbyte address rage, dynamic bussizing from eight to 32 bits to suitthe application, and a burst modememory -addressing capabilitywhich gives 60 percent timesavings on the execution of certaindata move operations. All this,added to the demand -pagedvirtual memory, Unix System Voperating system, and C, FortranPascal and Ada language com-pilers, makes the National chip apotent competitor.

But sheer peformance may notcarry the day. The ugly duckling80386 is a fairly simple upgrade forexisting 80286 -based systems suchas the IBM PC/ AT, and there is alot of inertia in the personal -computer business.

To help us make up our minds,National has produced a detailedcomparison between its 32 -bitfamily and the Intel 80386. It con-cludes that the jump to 32 bits isstretching the creaky old Intelarchitecture beyond sensiblelimits, and that it is now time for itto make way for a more advanced

BY RAY COLES

SQUARINGUP FORTHE32 -BITBATTLEAs the chipmanufacturers slug itout for the 32 -bitcrown, it remains aneven bet whethercompatibility orperformance will winout.

design. National cites a long list ofdeficiencies in the 80386 designwhich are not, of course, shared byits own device.

With the 80386 chip there arelots of rules to remember aboutwhich registers, data types, addressmodes and instructions can beused together. Newer families likethose from Motorola and Nationalprovide greater programming sim-plicity. They keep things general-purpose and untrammelled byhistorical precedents which dateright back to the 8080A of theearly seventies.

The uniform architecture of the68000 and 32000 families providesupwards and downwards softwarecompatibility so that softwaredeveloped for the 32008 can easilybe converted for use on the 32332and vice versa. While it is fairlyeasy to adapt 80286 software to runon the 80386, it is less easy to gothe other way unless many of thenew features of the 80386 are notused.

Finally, the traditionalsegmented -memory approachused by Intel is less flexible thanthe linear 4Gbyte space affordedby its competitors. Also thevirtual -memory support in theIntel family is much less soph-isticated. In performance terms thechoice seems simple, but I will notbe placing any bets on theoutcome.


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licommsfi

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71

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/0 TO EXIT FROM THE OAG EE 3* 308.00 PA/Y YLX2814* 308.00 BA/M YLX2 There is now an all -ENTER THE COMMAND OF YOUR CHOICE 5* 308.00 BA/M YLX2

OAG:/F 6* 308.00 NW/V YLX11 electronic edition o7* 323.00 TW/M MLW14ENTER DEPARTURE CITY NAME OR CODE 8* 323.00 BA/M YLW2 the Official AirlineOAG>LONDON * ENTER LE TO VIEW LIMITATIONS

ENTER ,,LE,XE,SE,M,RF (E.LINE NUMBER) Guide.YOUR DEPARTURE CITY IS NOT UNIQUE.USE LINE NUMBER TO SELECT CITY NAME Here I guessed that RF stands for Return Fare.OR AIRPORT NAME FROM THE LIST BELOW.1 LONDON,ONT,CANADA Help menus are not obviously available. f you are one of those people2 LONDON,ENGLAND lucky enough to work for a3 LONDON,ENGLAND/GATWICK4 LONDON,ENGLAND/HEATHROW

OAG,RFcompany that believes in doing

5 LONDON,ENGLAND/LUTON ENTER RETURN DATE business face to face, which means6 LONDON,ENGLAND/STANSTED7 LONDON,KY,USA

OAG-70 JAN you are flying around the world8 LONDON,OH,USA9 LONDONDERRY,N.IRELAND,U.K. FARES IN U. S. DOLLARS THU-30 JAN

SELECTED FOR OAk-LHRfrom time to time you will beinterested in a service which has

ENTER f, -,LINE NUMBER OR CITY NAME.OAG>4

(TAX NOT INCLUDED)£ ONE-WAY RND-TRP ARLN/CLASS FARECODENO LOWER FARES IN CATEGORY

just become available on TelecomGold. It is called the Official

ENTER DESTINATION CITY NAME OR CODEOAG>SAN FRANSISCO

WO/Y YLW21* 495.00Airline2* 495.00 WO/Y YOW2 Guide Electronic Edition3* 495.00 WO/Y YOX2 (OAG EE).

CANNOT IDENTIFY YOUR DESTINATION CITY.4* 495.00 WO/Y YLX25* 566.00 TW/M MLX14 It claims to be a fare -based,

IF YOUR CITY NAME IS NOT LISTED BELOW, 6* 566.00 PA/Y YLX281 unbiased airline flight-infor-SCHEDULED FLIGHTS MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE. 7* 566.00 BA/M YLX2 mation system available 24 hours1 SAN FRANCISCO,CA,USA/CHINA BASIN 8* 566.00 BA/M YLX22 SAN FRANCISCO;OAkLAND,CA,USA/OAK * ENTER LE TO VIEW LIMITATIONS per day which contains the direct3 SAN FRANCISCO,CA,USA/OAKLAND CONV ENTER +,LE,XE,SE,M,RF (E=LINE NUMBER) and connecting schedules of over4 SAN FRANCISCO DEL ORO,MEXICO5 SAN FRATELLO,SICILY IS,ITALY

OAG>750 airlines worldwide. The data -

6 SAN GABRIEL,CA,USA7 SAN GAVINO MONREALE,SARDINIA IS I had now found the information I required base holds details of 350,0008 SANGENJO,SPAIN and so tried to off the system. North American fares updated9 SAN GENNARO VESUVIANO,ITALY

getdaily, 60,000 international fares

ENTER +,-,LINE NUMBER OR CITY NAME. OAG,QUIT updated weekly, fare price com-OAG>1parisons, departure and arrivalSORRY, CANNOT UNDERSTAND YOUR ENTRY;

THERE IS NO AIR SERVICE PLEASE CHECK YOUR ENTRY AND TRY AGAIN. times, airline and flight number,FOR -SAN FRANCISCO,CA,USA/CHINA BASIN OAG,OFF aircraft type, meal service, numberTHE OAG EE CAN NOT ASSIST YOU IN SORRY, CANNOT UNDERSTAND YOUR ENTRY; of stops, and the actual journeyOFFERING ALTERNATE AIR SERVICE.

YOU MAY WISH TO REFER TO AN ATLAS FOR

PLEASE CHECK YOUR ENTRY AND TRY AGAIN,OAG,/OFF

time.Whether the actual journey

ANOTHER LOCATION WHICH MAY HAVE AIR SORRY, CANNOT UNDERSTAND YOUR ENTRY; time given will have that muchSERVICE. PLEASE CHECK YOUR ENTRY AND TRY AGAIN.

OAG,HELP relevance to the time on the day ofENTER ANOTHER CITY NAME OR CODE OR travel, considering the number ofANY SLASHED COMMAND. SORRY, NOT SURE WHY YOU NEED HELP AT aircraft delayed or cancelled due toTHIS POINT. SUGGEST YOU RETURN TO THE

OAG COMMAND MENU AND BEGIN AGAIN, bad weather, industrial action andAt this point I had to go back to the first menu OR REVIEW THE HOW TO USE DISPLAYS. so on is debatable. But given theand work my way back to entering the ENTER IM FOR OAG COMMAND MENU OR

/I FOR INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE. limitations, the OAG EE doesdestination name. OAG /M contain a great deal of infor-

** OAG COMMAND MENU ** mation. Getting at it requiresOAG>SAN FRANSISCO ENTER: /I FOR INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE some patience: there are a distinct

CANNOT IDENTIFY YOUR DESTINATION CITY.

/F FOR FARES DISPLAYS/S FOR SCHEDULE DISPLAYS lack of menus, until you work out

IF YOUR CITY NAME IS NOT LISTED BELOW,SCHEDULED FLIGHTS MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE.1 SAN FRANCISCO,CA,USA/CHINA BASIN

/H FOR HOTEL/MOTEL DISPLAYS/M TO RETURN TO THIS MENU/U FOR USER COMMENTS AND

how to call them up.Apart from the difficulty of

2 SAN FRANCISCO:OAILAND,CA,USA/OAK SUGGESTIONS BOX using the system, my other3 SAN FRANCISCO,CA,USA/OAKLAND CONV /0 TO EXIT FROM THE OAG EE criticism of the OAG EE is its cost:4 SAN FRANCISCO DEL ORO,MEXICO ENTER THE COMMAND OF YOUR CHOICE5 SAN FRATELLO,SICILY IS,ITALY OAG,/0 56.5 pence per minute at peak6 SAN GABRIEL,CA,USA time, and 38 pence per minute off -7 SAN GAVINO MONREALE,SARDINIA IS8 SANGENJO,SPAIN END OF OAG SESSION peak.9 SAN GENNARO VESUVIANO,ITALY

ENTER ,,-,LINE NUMBER OR CITY NAME,Your session with OAG has nowbeen closed. Thank you for using

If you want to use the OAG, youneed to be on Telecom Gold. Use

OAG.,-2 the Telecom Gold Gateway Service. the command OAG at theprompt.

>PC


More than acvfor less than

KEYBOARD, SCREEN AND PRINTER

Don't look at the price of the Amstrad PCW 8256 or you won't believe refer to "pull down" menus as you work, so you don'twhat is to follow. have to memorise complicated codes. This simply

Because the PCW 8256 is a complete wordprocessing system and a means it's easy to use.complete personal computer at a completely unbelievable price.

It's a powerful wordprocessor.And the PCW 8256 has an integrated printer, with

compatible software that gives you a choice of letter qualityand high speedThe PCW 8256 is totally equipped for wordprocessing. It has a high drafting capabilities.

resolution screen with 90 columns and 32 lines of text. That's 40% more Finally there's an automatic paper load system, as well as tractor feed for

usable display area than most PC's. continuous stationery. All for the price of an electric typewriter.There's a high speed RAM disc that allows you to It's a powerful computer.

store and retrieve information instantaneously, as you're The PCW 8256 is more than a wordprocessor. It's also a purposecreating a document. built computer with an enormous 256k memory.

The 82 key keyboard is specifically designed for By employing the CP/M* Plus computer operating system with 61k TPA,wordprocessing. Its special function keys allow you to it opens the door to over 8,000 commercial software packages. If that's

30

FOR A FREE DEMONSTRATION VISIT YOUR LOCAL DIXON

xdprocessor,a typewriter.

MPUTER WORDPROCESSOR

not enough, for the real computer buff, a combination of the powerfulMallard basic, Dr Logo and GSX Graphics system extentions will mean you:an write your own programs. There's also an optional combined serialand parallel interface, that gives you access to modem, additional printersand other peripherals. And you can even add an extra 1 M byte drive.

So even if you started off just wanting a wordprocessorit won't be long before you'll be hooked on the com-pelling possibilities of micro -computing.

Now you can look at the price. The Amstrad PCW 8256costs just £399 + VAT It's a lot less than you'd expect to pay

or a lot more than a wordprocessor.

DEMONSTRATION AT DIXONS

I-Please send me some more information about the PCW 8256

Name

Home user 0-IOffice user 0

( Please tick )

Address

Company

Amstrad PCW 8256co

[_Amstrad, P.O. Box 462, Brentwood, Essex CM14 4EE. Tel: (0277) 228888.1'CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research Inc.

IRE OR GOOD COMPUTER OR OFFICE EQUIPMENT DEALER.

Circle No. 148

31

ASK PC

Q Word processors are beingused increasingly bystudents for writing up

dissertations and projects, becausethey allow you to change what youhave written repeatedly, and rightup to the last moment. While Ilike the right -justified edge theycan produce, I do not like the largenumber of blank spaces that getleft on a line. Is there any wayWordStar can be made to reducethe amount of blank spaceproduced?

AA DUNCAN

Most word processors thatjustify text to give astraight right-hand

margin produce a lot of emptyspaces on a line of text. This isbecause each line must be paddedout with extra spaces to make itfinish in the right place. We tooprefer text to be fairly dense on aline, and using a printer capable ofproportional spacing this is how wedo it.

If you are using a 10 -pitchdaisywheel the default spacing is.CW12, which gives a characterspacing of 120/ 12 or 10 charactersper inch. Extra spaces added byWordStar to adjust the rightmargin are divided into theappropriate number ofmicrospaces, each 1/ 120in. , andextra microspaces are added firstbetween words, and then betweenletters. Thus unless a line containsexactly the right number of lettersto fill it, the actual spacingbetween letters is increased, so thatthough you intended to print 10characters per inch, you will almostcertainly print less than this.

When we are using a 10 -pitchdaisywheel we issue a .CW11command, giving a spacing of120/11 or 10.9 characters per inch.If a line is filled with exactly theright number of letters, it willprint 10.9 characters per inch, butif WordStar adds any extra spacesto justify the right margin thenumber of characters per inch isreduced - hopefully to about 10.We find that this works well inpractice. Similarly, if you are usinga daisywheel designed to give 12characters per inch, you couldissued a .CW9, which gives 120 / 9or 13.3 characters per inch.

A different solution forWordStar users is to alter themicrojustify algorithm so that itputs more emphasis on addingmicrospaces to the gaps betweenwords, rather than insertingmicrospaces between the letters ina word. This can be achieved byrunning the patcher subroutine inthe Install or Wlnstall programand changing the hexadecimalvalue at location DMJWB from 00to FF.

POWERSUPPLIESQ

A

Please can you explain the difference between a normal powersupply for a computer, and a switching power supply. Why is theswitching power supply considered best?

M HUGHES

The first power supplies for computers comprised a transformerto step the 240V a.c. mains down to a low voltage - say 5V -for the computer boards, disc drives, etc. , and a rectifier to

convert the low -voltage alternating current to direct current. There aretwo problems with this arrangement.

First, if you draw a lot of current the voltage is likely to drop; addingextra boards or extra disc drives may cause this. If the voltage falls, thechips behave erratically and the computer may crash or give wronganswers. The probem can be overcome by having a very large transformerwith a lot of soft iron in the core, and thick wires for the windings, so thatit can deliver much more current than you are likely to need. But bigtransformers are both expensive and heavy.

A second problem is that the voltage provided by the mains itself mayvary. If the mains voltage varies by 10 percent the output voltage will alsovary by the same margin, and instead of getting 5V d.c. you would onlyget 4.5V. A remedy for this is to produce, say, 8V d.c. from the powersupply, and use a voltage stabiliser to drop it to the required 5V. Thesnags are that this adds extra components and so increases the cost, andthat in dropping the voltage the voltage stabiliser produces heat - andchips do not like too much heat.

This is where the switching power supply comes in. At its simplest, itconverts the a.c. mains into d.c. , which is fed through the primary coil ofa transformer to produce the required low voltage in the secondary coil.Since transformers do not work with d.c., an electronic switch that goes onand off repeatedly is placed in the primary circuit, giving intermittentd.c. that will work a transformer.

The voltage induced in the secondary coil depends on two factors: theratio of the number of turns of wire in the primary and secondary coils ofthe transformer, and the frequency with which the switch in the primarycircuit goes on and off. A suitable electronic circuit can vary the switchingfrequency to compensate for variations in the mains voltage, and in thisway the voltage from the secondary coil of the transformer can be keptconstant. Of course, the secondary voltage is still a.c. and requires arectifier to provide d.c. to drive the chips.

All modern microcomputers have switching power supplies. Theadvantages are that they can use smaller, lighter and cheapertransformers, and give a stable voltage without producing a lot ofunwanted heat.

? . ! . ? . ! . ? . I . ? . ! . ? . ! . ? . ! . ? . !

QI am considering buying amicro for use in solvingmathematical problems,

so I am interested in how to judgethe speed with which it willperform arithmetical operations. Isthere any significant differencebetween the available micros inthis respect, and if so which has thegreatest calculation speed?

T LOCK

APractically all micros aresold with some version ofBasic interpreter, either

built in as a PROM inside thecomputer, or loaded into memoryfrom a disc. You are thereforeprobably concerned with therelative speed of doing arithmeticcalculations in Basic on differentmachines.

When magazines such as

Practical Computing review newcomputers, they include a series ofBenchmark timings. These are thetimes taken by a standard series ofBasic programs to perform variousarithmetic tasks. The programs arelisted on page 104 of the January1984 edition of PracticalComputing. The average of theseeight tests gives a measure of thecomputer's speed. This variesdepending on several features: The clock speed of the CPU -2MHz , 4MHz , 4.77MHz , 8MHzand so on. The faster the clockspeed, the faster it can docalculations. Whether the memory chips canrun fast enough to keep up withthe CPU, or whether wait statesmust be introduced to slow theCPU down so that the memory cankeep up.

The type of CPU chip used.Z-80, 8088 and 6502 processorshandle eight bits at a time,whereas 8088, 8086, 80186 and80286 chips handle 16 bits at atime. The 16 -bit processors shoulddo arithmetic faster than eight -bitprocessors running at the sameclock speed. The 68000 processorsare potentially the best around,but the 68008 used in the SinclairQL only accesses eight bits of data,and so is slow. The particular version of Basicused. Some are much lessefficiently coded than others. The number of figures accuracyused in calculations; the morefigures carried, the slower thecalculations.

If your arithmetic calculationsinvolve reading data from files, orwriting it to files, then these mayinvolve a significant amount oftime, and the speed of theseoperations depends on how wellthe operating system has beenwritten, and on the speed of thedevices used to store files. Cassettesare very slow, floppy discs are a lotbetter, and hard discs are prettyfast.

If you are really concerned withspeed, using a Basic compilerrather than an interpreter makesan enormous difference in runningspeed. We recently speeded up aprogram by between 15 and 20times using a compiler. Similarly,other languages such as Fortran orPascal run much faster than Basicinterpreters.

The IBM PC and its many cloneshave the facility to add an 8087arithmetic co -processor chip,which speeds arithmetic by threeto 10 times, provided yoursoftware can use the chip.Interpreters certainly cannot, andnot all compilers can either.

If you are concerned withgetting accurate answers, beware!Most computers carry six or sevendecimal figures, and this is notenough. For accurate scientificwork we use Micro Mike's Bazic onan eight -bit CP/ M computer, andXitan's XBasic on a 16 -bit MS-DOS computer. Both allow you tochoose how many figures accuracyyou wish to use.

The fastest micro is probably theTDI Pinnacle or the Tadpole. Bothuse a 68000 CPU, and both areexcellent machines but are outsidethe price range of most small users.We had one of the first SinclairQLs and found it slow -a seven-year -old Z-80 CP/ M machine ranfaster - and Microdrives are notmy choice, but there are a lot ofsatisfied Sinclair users. If you cango up-market a bit, you shouldlook at the Ferranti PC, which hasimpressed us as good value, or theRM Nimbus.


ASK PC

QI have been told that thereis no limit on the size offile handled by WordStar

other than the maximum size offile you can store on a disc. Thelarge document capability ofWordStar is supposed to comefrom its ability to read theappropriate part of a file horn discinto memory, storing parts of thedocument in temporary disc files ifnecessary, and putting the wholelot back together at the endwithout the user ever being awareof this. I was therefore surprisedthat every time I tried to handle afile of 260K my WordStar programcrashed, and the crash isreproducable.

Is there a bug in WordStar, or ismy copy corrupt? Have you anysuggestions how I can get roundthe problem?

AM STOKES

It used to be true that themaximum size ofdocument that WordStar

can handle is the maximum size offile that you can store on a disc.But discs have been getting bigger.With versions of WordStar up toand including version 2.6 themaximum document size wasrestricted to 250K, but this wasincreased to 500K at version 3.0,and this limit will be raised to8Mbyte in later releases.

If your copy of WordStar isworking properly on more normal,smaller files it is not likely to becorrupt. First check that you havedisc space for this 260K file, abackup and some temporary filespace; if you have not, lack of spaceon the disc could be the cause ofthe crash. Otherwise, we suspectthat your problem is that you areusing WordStar version 2.6 orearlier.

If you are using an early versionof WordStar, the best remedy is toask your dealer to upgrade yourmaster copy to the latest version.Provided you have the master copyof the disc, good dealers willusually do this for no more thana nominal sum.

As regular users and enthusiasticsupporters of WordStar, we wouldlike to query your reasons forhandling such large files. It willmake reading, writing and editingof files slow, and will greatlyincrease the risk of running out offile space. We write books, butstore each chapter as a separatefile, and either print the chaptersseparately, or use Mailmerge toprint several files together as onedocument. Subdividing a largedocument into several smaller files

makes it much quicker to find agiven place to make a correction.Working with smaller files alsomakes it quicker to write theupdated version on to disc at theend of the edit. Reading andwriting disc files is slow on systemswith floppy discs.

The optimum size of a file is onejust small enough to reside inmemory, since this saves the timetaken to write and read temporaryfiles. Remember, too, that youneed disc space for both the newversion and the backup version ofthe file. Usually these will be onthe same disc, but you can arrangeto have one file on one disc driveand the other file on another discdrive. These comments are lessvalid if you use a hard disc, or ifyou use a large silicon disc but westill prefer several small files to onevery large one.

QI was disappointed tolearn that the Advance86B is unable to run

Concurrent CP / M or use the 8087mathematical co -processor chip.Will an upgrade be available fromFerranti and, if not, will the lack ofvectored interrupts on theAdvance prevent the use of thefuture multi -tasking MicrosoftWindows? Do you know whetherSupercalc release 3.2 and TurboPascal release 3 will work with the256K Advance 86B with an EpsonFX-80 printer?

TROND MYKLEBUST

AThe original design of theAdvance 86 has a flaw,and vectored interrupts 21

and 22 are not handled correctly.We believe it was something to dowith buffers for these interrupts.Though Advance designed themachine, it was actually made byFerranti, which spent a lot of timeimproving the Advance, correctingthe vectored -interrupt problem,and providing better heatdissipation, new versions of ULAsand new ROM sets. Theseimprovements are carried forwardinto the Ferranti 860 PC and XTmodels.

The failure of the vectoredinterrupts to work properly has noeffect on most applications, butwith two important exceptions: ifyou want to run ConcurrentCP/ M, and if you want to use an8087 arithmetic co -processor.Towards the end of the productionrun of the Advance, Ferrantidesigned a small piggyback boardto cure the problem. The boardplugs into the socket on themotherboard which normally

holds the 8088 CPU chip, and the8088 plugs into the extra board.This board costs about £160, butboth Concurrent CP/ M and the8087 chip work with it. Unless youbought the machine last summer,and you specially asked for it, Idoubt if you will have themodification. If it is there, it willbe quite obvious if you look at themotherboard.

If you want to add the board toupgrade your machine, we suggestyou contact a Ferranti dealer. Twowe have found very helpful are:Consort Data Ltd, 126 New Walk,Leicester LE1 7JA ; and AdvancedMicrocomputer Applications, 8Glebe Street, Beeston,Nottingham NG9 1BZ.

Remember that an 8087 chipcan improve the speed ofarithmetic calculations by anaverage of three times, sometimeseven more. However, the softwaremust be able to use the chip, or itwill have no effect. Basicinterpreters do not use an 8087,nor do any of the word processors.Compilers may use the chip, butbefore you buy one you shouldcheck that it can.

We have no personal experienceof multi -tasking using MicrosoftWindows, Supercalc version 3.2 orTurbo Pascal release 3, but theonly program we know that willrun on an IBM but will definitelynot run on a Ferranti - or anAdvance with the interruptmodification - is Anagram. TheEpson printer may require a specialROM set to use the IBM graphicscharacters: you should check with adealer.

QI own a Sharp MZ-80Kcomputer with a SharpMX-80FD twin disc drive

and a MZ-80 I/O interface. I alsohave a Sharp MZ-80P3 dot-matrixprinter, plus a Brother EMItypewriter. I wish to purchase anew 128K or 256K computer,and want one if possible whichwill work with my presentperipherals, to save me buyingnew ones. I particularly wish tocontinue using the twin discs andthe Brother typewriter, which arevery expensive. Is there acomputer on the market whichwould allow this?

J R MOORE

ABefore trying to answeryour question it is worthposing another one. Why

do you want a new computer? Isyour present one too slow, does ithave too little memory to runprograms you really want to use,

are the discs too slow, or do theynot store enough data? If youchange machines, you will haveconsiderable expense both on themachine and on software, andyou will spend a lot of timelearning about the new machine.You must be sure that it is anecessity, not just a fad.

Unless you possess considerableexpertise and patience as anelectrical engineer and machine -code programmer, I can see littlechance of you using your existingfloppy -disc unit with a new16 -bit machine. Almost all the16 -bit machines are sold with atleast one, and usually two discdrives already built-in.

I do not have any technicalinformation on the SharpMZ-80P3 dot-matrix printer. If itis connected through a serialport, there is a very good chancethat it will work with anothercomputer; if it is connectedthrough a parallel port you willalmost certainly need a newribbon cable with different plugson it, or get the old one changed.Even then it may or may notwork. Printers need not be allthat expensive. We have recentlyseen several good, cheap printerswhich will work with the IBM PCand look-alikes.

The Brother typewriter has anand this

should be easy to connect to anew machine. However, youmust make sure that the newcomputer has a serial port, sincesome only have parallel asstandard. The 16 -bit machineshave their own keyboard, so youdo not require the typewriter asan input device; if you do anyamount of printing you will finda proper printer faster and muchmore robust.

As to which machine tochoose, it depends what you wantit for and how much you canafford. Remember that you onlyget what you pay for. The Sanyois one of the cheapest 16 -bitmachines around, and includes alot of software. The FerrantiPC -860 is British and extremelygood value: it has a lot ofbundled software, and a betterperformance than the cheaperSanyo or the much moreexpensive IBM PC. The ResearchMachines Nimbus is also British,has an advanced specification andis very attractive; ResearchMachines has built up anexcellent reputation with schoolsand other educationalestablishments through the 380Zand 480Z machines.

In "Ask PC" John and Timothy Lee answer questions on any area of microcomputing. If you have a nagging problem, write to us, marking ASK PC clearly on

the top left-hand corner of the envelope. Letters should contain one question only. We cannot guarantee a personal reply, but to be considered your lettermust include

your name and address, together with a stamped addressed envelope. The most representative questions of general interest will be answered and published.


P C SOFTWARE: OVER

5 01 DISCOUNT!

r WHY PAY MORE?WORDSTAR 2000 2 27 RRP 465 -51%!MULTIMATE 2 25 RRP 450 -50%!SUPERCALC 3.2 1 80 RRP 360 -50%!DBASE III 3 05 RRP 550 -44%!OPEN ACCESS 3 09 RRP 550 -43%!XCHANGE 2 80 RRP 495 -43%!WORDSTAR PRO 2 29 RRP 399 -42%!FRAMEWORK 3 22 RRP 550 -41%!DBASE II 2 37 RRP 395 -40%!SYCERO 3 70 RRP 595 -37%!PROJECT

MANAGER 2 42 RRP 375 -35%!WORD PERFECT 2 80 RRP 425 -34%!HERCULES

MONO 299 RRP 449 -33%!QED+ 200 RRP 295 -32%!WORD 272 RRP 400 -32%!SYMPHONY 375 RRP 550 -31%!DB COMPILER 450 RRP 650 -30%!LOTUS 1-2-3 275 RRP 395 -30%!CAPTAIN BOARD 225 RRP 319 -29%!CBASIC

COMPILER 280 RRP 395 -29%!MBASIC

COMPILER 285 RRP 385 -25%!CLIPPER 498 RRP 650 -23%!DATAMASTER POA NOW AVAILABLE!IRMA BOARD 899 RRP 1158 -22%!MILESTONE 175 RRP 225 -22%!DGRAPH III 160 RRP 200 -20%!HERCULES

COLOUR 156 RRP 195 -20%!QUICKCODE III 160 RRP 200 -20%!CLIP FAST 102 RRP 120 -15%! Most popular business micros supported! Fast delivery! Quantity discounts! Credit accounts available! Government & overseas orders welcomed! Customised software & consultancy service!

(IBM-PC prices shown exclude VAT and arecorrect at time of going to press)

Call us NOW on 0480 53044 for further details!

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Elite Computer Systems40 SAPLEY ROAD HUNTINGDON CAMBS PE1 8 7Y0

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High Resolution High PerformanceColour Graphics orFrame Grabbing

Digisolve manufacture a range of highperformance graphics displays that are used in theVideo, CAD/CAM, Process Control, educational andImageing fields, with resolutions from 512 x 512 to1376 x 1024 in 64, 256, 4l', 64N and 16Mcolours at pixel draw rates of 1M pixels per second.

Our family of products are supported on manycomputers with a broad range of software, contactour Sales Office for more details or a demonstration.

Digisolve Ltd.Aire & Calder Works, Cinder LaneCastleford, W Yorks WF10Tel: 0977 513141. Telex: 557661 AGRAM

Circle No. 151

34 Circle No. 150 PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1986

The'Classic'Menu Generator.

Eliminate all user contactwith operating system

commands. Use MENUGENfrom M icroft Technology tocreate menus to access allyour regularly used programs.

MENUGEN is a utilitywhich will create menus forany activity. A menu selectionwill run a program, call another menu, return to aprevious menu, run a basic program, execute operatingsystem commands, or exit to the operating system.

User Ltd. Selection Menu

1 ASPECT2 Wordstar3 Lotus 1234 Disk formatting menu5 Exit to operating system

Please type in selection number

FACILITIES INCLUDEUP TO 20 MENU OPTIONS PER MENU SCREEN

UP TO 15 LEVELS OF NESTED MENUANY NUMBER OF LINES OF HEADINGS AND FOOTNOTES

USE OF COLOUR FULLY USER DEFINABLE'ARE YOU SURE?' MESSAGE OPTION AFTER ANY SELECTION

PROMPTING FOR UP TO 16 PARAMETERS AFTER ANY SELECTIONOPTIONAL PASSWORD PROTECTION ON MENU SELECTIONS

OPTIONAL LOGGING OF ALL SELECTIONS TAKEN

MENUGEN is available formost CP/M, MS DOSor PC DOS micros including IBM PC/XT/ATandcompatibles, Sirius, Apricot, HP150, DEC Rainbow,and manyZ80 machines. MENUGEN costs £48 + VAT(£55.20) fora single userlicence, or£720 + VAT(£138)fora network licence, and is available from Micro ftTechnology Limited, The Old Powerhouse, Kew GardensStation, Kew, Surrey 7W93PS. To order, or for furtherinformation, telephone 07-9488255.

MENUGENMENUGEN is a Trade Mark of Microh Technology Ltd and is a British product.

Circle No. 104

PRINTER REPAIRS &SERVICING

DOT MATRIX & DAISYWHEELCOLLECTION/DELIVERY SERVICE

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SUPER UTILITY IBM PC/XTDATA RECOVERY UTILITY FOR IBM

RESTORES DAMAGED OR DELETED FILESWORKS WITH BOTH HARD & FLOPPY DISKS

ONLY £99 + VAT

Tel: 061 428 2014A+G COMPUTERWAREPO BOX 34, CHEADLE,

CHESHIRE SK8 4PT

SPECIAL SECTION

WORDPROCESSING

Now that word-processing software has beenaround for a few years, general-purpose packagesare giving way to programs designed for users with

more specialised needs. In this feature we look atsome of the vertical markets that are beginning to

emerge, such as scientific word processing,intelligent real-time spelling checkers and the

exciting field of thought processors.

HARDWAREPanasonic has returned to the fray with a range oftransportables: we try out one of them. After OnePer Desk and the Acorn Communicator we look at

the latest in office work stations, this one fromTandata.

SOFTWAREPractibase, the first of the cheap dBase doubles, willbe on the test bench. We also investigate Sperry's

best-selling Mapper, a mainframe package that hasarrived on the micro, and we look at the world of

fourth -generation languages.

TOP 10 SURVEY

TRANSPORTABLESWay back in the mists of micro time the

transportable began the shift away from desk tops.Things have moved a long way since then, and we

present our top 10 models.

Don't miss the March issue of

'PRACTICALCOMPUTINGOn sale at W H Smith and all good newsagents after 12 February.

Contents may vary due to circumstances beyond our control and are subject tochange without notice

Circle No. 105PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1986 35

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3(0 Circle No. 106

FORTH promotes the writing ofwell -structured programs but it isfriendlier to the computer than itis to the programmer. Since,loosely speaking, Forth is acompiled language, Forth pro-grams can be as fast and efficient asmachine code. But compared witha language such as Basic, Forth ismore difficult to learn. However,unlike Basic the language itself caneasily be extended to suit yourapplications, which makes it a lotmore versatile.

Availability is one of Forth'sstrongest points. It is public -domain software and languagedocumentation for Fig -Forth(Forth Interest Group Forth) is

readily available. There is also anexcellent version of Forth -83available free to CP / M user groupmembers. There is at least onecommercial version of Forth formost microcomputers. The fourmain systems in use are Poly -Forth, Forth -79, Fig -Forth andMMSForth; Forth -79 is oftenreferred to as standard Forth andForth -83 is an updated version ofForth -79.

Forth was designed for con -

Martin Eccles examines the wide range ofbooks available on how to learn and improveyour knowledge of this versatile programminglanguage.

GOINGFORfil

elan to

ORM

trolling telescopes and its forteremains in real-time controlapplications. As such, Forth is usedby many engineers, but it can beused to write any type of program;most of Forth is written in Forth.Its other advantages are that it isinteractive, largely processor -independent and uses virtualmemory. On the other hand, Forthlacks a file structure, it uses un-familiar notation and it has poordata structures, which is why it isless suitable for writing data-processing software.

California University researchassistant Margaret Armstrong inher self -teaching guide LearningForth demonstrates that learningForth need not be boring. Herquestion and answer method andclearly written text will not suiteveryone's mentality but LearningForth is certainly a book that

MRODUCTIONTO FORTH

,NPR " ""'222,±t2iLliTh_ 14,

anyone interested in computerscan understand. For example,number manipulation usingpostfix notation is discussed as anaspect of Forth's stacking mech-anism rather than as a math-ematical hurdle. This makes a sur-prising psychological different.Had the Jupiter Ace beenaccompanied by this work, itwould probably have survived a lotlonger.

Most of the book concentrateson number manipulation and dataprocessing, and there is very littleon graphics. But the book containsplenty of software examples,including a simple payroll pro-gram, and origins and differences

6174115 10 FlaOW ill Ell K17115 ri7

FUNDAIINEM

Farni, 11

of the various Forth interpretationsare discussed briefly.

Of the introductory books,Learning Forth contains the mostuseful Forth glossary. A list ofForth words with brief explan-ations is an invaluable pro-gramming aid. Such a list is usuallyfound in the language manualbut it might not be as useful as thisone. Sadly though, Learning Forthis very exensive.

Exploring Forth is denselypacked and, in the words of theauthor, is "not a book for armchairreading." This is a practical intro-duction to Forth programmingwhich takes you far enough to beable to continue on your own. It

BOOKREVIEWS

does this by concentrating more onintricacies of the languages ratherthan on constructing programs.

A section on simple graphicsand animation is included. It ismore of a reference book thanLearning Forth and better forreaders with experience in anotherlanguage. The list of words at theback of the book has no ex-planations and is less useful thanthe list obtained by a command inthe language itself. No furtherreading list is provided.

Paul Kail's An Introduction toForth is a lively little introductionwritten with Spectrum and JupiterAce users in mind. The manydiagrams help you understand thelanguage, and teaching how towrite programs is combined reas-onably well with descriptions ofhow the language works.

This is the most concise of theintroductory -type books. Despitethe book's small size, it has briefsections discussing graphics, soundgeneration, and tape and discinterfacing. Apart from manyshort programming examples inthe text, there are seven slightlylonger light-hearted programs atthe end of the book. The book'sForth word glossary is quite good,but use of the book for reference isimpaired by the lack of a goodindex.

The only introductory bookwritten for a specific version ofForth is Introduction to Forth forTRS-80 users running MMS-Forth,which is also available for the IBMPC. It consists of useful detaileddescriptions of Forth words andhow they work together, whichmakes it a good reference book forprogrammers. However, specificinformation on how the languageworks is not included, and in thisrespect the book is not a completeintroduction, rather more anexcellent supplement to thelanguage manual.

Fundamental Forth begins bytalking about computers, thenprogramming, then Forth, whichis a good start. Each chapter afterthat is well defined and clearlywritten, providing a good



BOOKREVIEWS


grounding on how Forth workswithin the computer and how towrite programs. What is more,Fundamental Forth is one of thecheapest of the books reviewedhere.

Glossaries are included for Fig -Forth, Forth -79 and Forth -83 tohelp the reader to adapt programexamples, and there is a chapteron disc use. This book isrecommended to anyone inter-ested in Forth.

I would argue that Forth'srequirement for rigidly structuredprogram writing makes it moredifficult to learn properly if youalready know Basic. The authors ofForth for Micros, The Student'sForth and The Complete Forthdisagree, suggesting that famil-iarity with Basic will help youfollow their works. It would havebeen more practical to assume thatthe reader had read a goodintroductory book on Forth.

With Forth Techniques theauthors claim you can "learn howto handle advanced arithmeticoperations, explore the realms ofturtle graphics and even createyour own compiler." The compileris for turtle graphics and isincluded to illustrate how Forthcan be moulded to suit the user'sapplication.

Forth Techniques does notprofess to turn you into an expertprogrammer but it succeeds in itsgoal of taking its readers to a pointwhere they can produce their ownpractical solutions to everydayproblems. It does this with the aidof numerous working examples.

Chapters deal with extending

the Forth system, extendednumber manipulation, and fixedrecord -length disc files. This is theonly book reviewed with a chapteron hardware control -a task thatForth is particularly suited to. Pro-gram examples are to Forth -79specifications but sufficient in-formation is given to allow themto be modified for other versions ofForth.

Forth Techniques is intended tofollow on from Fundamental Forthand together, these two bookscost about the same as ForthProgramming for twice thenumber of pages. They are bothpractical and well written.

Forth for Micros is intended toteach programming in Forth anddemonstrate its use and power.Described as useful for microenthusiasts and students of com-puter science, it is not as practicalas Forth Techniques but it goesdeeper into the intricacies ofprogram structures.

Written for people who canalready program in Basic or Pascal,Forth for Micros is intended as aconversion course. It teaches Forthby example and comparison, andincludes useful subroutines formanipulating strings, provision ofcharacter literals and imple-mentation of multi -dimensionalarrays. There are one or two exer-cises at the end of each chapter.

Again, this book is written forForth -79 and supplementaryinformation is given where neededto allow the examples to be mod-ified. However, Forth 83 is notmentioned.

Forth is written by engineers ingeneral terms for standard Forthand will appeal most to engineers,students, scientists and anyoneneeding a deep understanding ofthe language. Emphasis is onencouraging the reader to writeefficient, economical programs.

It concentrates mainly on seriousprogramming and how thelanguage works, providing a briefintroduction and history followedby details of how the interpreterworks, mechanics of the language,recursion and multi -tasking.Special properties of the languageare discussed later on in the book.

A chapter of problems withsuggested solutions and anexcellent bibliography areprovided.

A building-block approach is

used in the American offeringForth Programming, aided by over50 program examples. Impatientpeople love this approach. It allowsthem to start putting big programstogether in a short time. But if youwant to be able to write programswithout the aid of the book, youwill still have to study how all thebuilding blocks work and how tobreak them down. For that reasonit is probably best to consider it as aprogrammer's reference.

Each of the book's 13 chaptersexplains an aspect of the languagesuch as arithmetic, stack man-ipulation, adding words, Doloops, string processing and discoperations. The text is clear, as istypical of American books, thestructure is logical and theexamples are useful. The onlydrawback is its price. It includes aForth glossary but there is nobibliography.

The author of The CompleteForth has written a Forth compilerand his understanding of how thelanguage functions is reflected inthe text. It is divided into aspectsof the language but the explan-ations go deep, with frequent des-criptions of what is happening inthe computer memory. The firsthalf of the book uses frequentcomparisons with Basic and thelatter half describes the moreunusual features of Forth, many ofwhich have no equivalent in otherlanguages.

Man Winfield

The Complete Forth is writtenfor standard Forth -79 but commondepartures are detailed as foot-notes. It is densely packed andoften a little too busy, but it gives afull description of how thelanguage works, using manyexamples and diagrams. The Forthglossary is on a pull-out referencecard and a brief bibliography isincluded.

In The Students' Forth the firstthing that readers are told is thatthey will not be able to use nor-mal conventions when writingalgebraic expressions. Admittedlythis is a textbook for formally

teaching the inner workings of thelanguage, but do books forstudents have to make learningappear so difficult? In fairnessthough, the book works throughthe language systematically.

The main intention of TheStudents' Forth is to show thereader how to use the language.But the author also claims that bythe time intelligent readers haveread it they should be able toimplement their own version ofForth. This book is essential foranyone thinking of implementingForth. Forth -83 is used forexamples, with references toForth -79, MMS-Forth and Poly -Forth.

GOING FORFORTHLearning Forth by Margaret AArmstrong. Published by WileyPress, 223 pages, £17.80. ISBN 0471 88245 3Exploring Forth by OwenBishop. Published by Granada,176 pages, £6.95. ISBN 0 24612188 2An Introduction to Forth byPaul A C Kail. Published by MicroBooks, 120 pages, £8.95. ISBN 0946705 01 1

Introduction to Forth by KenKnecht. Published by Howard WSams, 142 pages, £8.95. ISBN 0672 21842 9Fundamental Forth by RichardOlney and Micheal Benson.Published by Pan, 239 pages,£6.95. ISBN 0 330 28960 8Forth Techniques by RichardOlney and Michael Benson.Published by Pan, 253 pages,£6.95. ISBN 0 330 28961 6Forth for Micros by SteveOakey. Published by NewnesTechnical Books, 148 pages, £6.50.ISBN 0 408 01366 4Forth by W P Salmon, 0Tisserand and B Toulout. Publishedby Macmillan, 159 pages, £7.95.ISBN 0 333 36798 7Forth Programming by Leo JScanlon. Published by Howard WSams, 246 pages, £13.55. ISBN 0672 22007 5The Complete Forth by AlanWinfield. Published by SigmaTechnical Press, 131 pages, £6.95.ISBN 0 905104 22 6The Student's Forth by GlynEmery. Published by BlackwellScientific Publications, 101 pages,£6.50. ISBN 0 632 01436 9 ga


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It Reads, Writes andIt Paints in 3-D, Keeps

and Talks toIt's called "OPEN ACCESS," and it's theresult of 60 man-years of effort tocreate a truly do -it -all, super-program-one that can perform virtually everytask you're ever likely to encounter.

The beauty of it is, all that capabilityresides on a single program. You don'thave to re-enter data. Or spend timetrying to get unmatched programs towork together.

OPEN ACCESS takes its name fromthe source of its power-a relationaldata -base manager that gives you accessto more data in more ways than anycomparable software.

OPEN ACCESS includes an electronicspreadsheet, 3-D graphics, wordprocessor, appointment scheduler andtelecommunications module-allrevolving around the powerfulinformation manager.

1

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT-THEMASTERMIND. This advanced data -basemanager stores and retrieves multiple filesquickly, easily and reliably. What's more, itshares all information with the other programs,so you never have to re-enter the same datatwice.

2

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ELECTRONIC SPREADSHEET-NUMBERCRUNCHING AND GOAL SEEKING. It helpsyou produce forecasts, cost estimates and"break-even" points-in seconds, instead ofhours or days. Best of all, it allows "goalseeking." Ask, for example, "What sales must Ihave the rest of the year to net $1 million?,"and OPEN ACCESS will figure it out!

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3-D GRAPHICS-NOT JUST PRETTYPICTURES. These graphics distill raw datainto trends that can be instantly visualized,helping you discern the important facts froma wealth of information.

does Arithmetic.Your Appointmentsthe World.

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Because they do not have a dedicatedrelational data -base manager that canquickly direct massive amounts of data,other programs simply can't do whatOPEN ACCESS can. Some don't have acommunications program, others nodedicated word processor. None have atime management program.

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WORD PROCESSING-EDITOREXTRAORDINAIRE! Superior word processorsmake it easy to correct typos, change words,shuffle paragraphs and format documents.This is one of that breed. Use it to writeefficient memos, letters, proposals andreports.

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TELECOMMUNICATIONS-YOUR LINK WITHTHE WORLD. This program gives you accessto virtually any other computer system in theworld. Not only can you transmit and receivereports from your colleagues, you can alsosubscribe to special data banks that knoweverything from GM's stock price to therelative humidity in Genoa. Now that's power!

There's just one conclusion:OPEN ACCESS can do more for you thanany other comparable business programon the market. Bar none. But the onlyway for you to be convinced is for youto see OPEN ACCESS work its magic onyour work load. So call your localsoftware dealer today, or call us at SPI,

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TIME MANAGEMENT-CONSERVING YOURMOST PRECIOUS RESOURCE. This modulehelps you keep track of all your appointments,hour by hour, day in and day out. It alerts youto standing obligations, automaticallycoordinates meeting times with other busyprofessionals, and lists all your associates ona ReiodexTm-like file.

Circle No. 108

The new Epson SQ2000.

You'll make more noisecutting the coupon.

Unlike squealing dot-matrix and daisy -wheel printers which whack thecharacters onto the paper, the new SQ2000 quietly shoots on astonishinglyaccurate microdots of ink.

So you can use it in your office and you won't notice it's there.What you will notice is its speed (at 105 c.p.s. in letter -quality mode

and 176 c.p.s. in draft, it's far quicker than a daisy -wheel), itsnear -photographic standard of graphic reproduction and its print quality(as high as that of an impact matrix printer).

As you'd expect of an Epson printer, the SQ2000 is extremely reliable.It's also very flexible, taking a range of paper widths and offering an

enormous variety of print styles and paper feed options.The price? £1825 + VAT. It may be more than current printers cost,

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'ATARI 520ST SPECIFICATIONSMEMORY512K RAM (524.288 bytes)16K ROM expandable to 320KPort for addnI 128K plug-in ROM cartridges200K TOS operating system

GRAPHICSIndtvidually addressable 32K 00 -mappedscreen with 3 screen graphics modes

320x2110 pixels in 16 colours (low resolution)6400200 pixels in 4 colours (med resolution)5405400 pixels in monochrome (high res)

16 shades of grey in low res mode512 colours available in low/medium res8 levels of each in red, green and blue

ARCHITECTURE4 custom designed chips:

GLUE Chip WU Memory Mngmnt UnilDMA Controller - Graphics Processing Unit

16/32 bit Motdrola 68000ProortSeer 8Mblzeight 32 bit data registerseight 32 bit address registers16 Oa data bus/24 bit address bus

avels of interrupts/56 instructions+4 addressing modes/5 data types

DATA STORAGEHigh speed hard disk interfaceDirect memory access 1.33 Mbytes per secondCO (Compact Disc) interfaceBuilt in cartridge accessDedicate, floPPY rnsb c08818.

DISK DRIVE5000 (unformatted) s/sided 31; floppy 0/drive349K (formatted) storage capacity

SOUND AND MUSICSound GeneratorFrequency control from 30Hz to above audible3 voices (channels) in wave shaping sound inaddition to a noise generatorSeparate frequency and volume controlsDynamic envelope controlsAMR (Attack. Decay. Sustain. Release)Noise generatorMIDI intertace for external music synthesizers

KEYBOARDSeparate keyboard microprocessorStandard OWERTY typewriter stylingErgonomic angle and height95 keys including 10 function keysNumeric keypad - 18 keys including ENTEROne touch cursor control keypad

MONITOR1 screen - high res monochrome monitor540x400 monochrome resolution

Display - Low Resolution - 40 columnsArleddegb Res - 40/80 plus cola

Medium res 058 (fiedrGreernBlue) outputHigh resolution monochrome (Nana & White)

COMMUNICATIONScBidirectionai ntronics parallel interlace forpunters, or modems capable of inputroutputRS232C serial modem/printer interfaceVT52 Terminal Emulation SoftwareMaximum Baud Rate up to 19,200High speed hard disk interfaceFloppy disk controller (Western Oigitall2 joystick ports (one for 2 button mouse)MIDI interlace for external music synthesizers

GEM WIMP ENVIRONMENTWIMP - Window Icon Mouse Pop -down menusTwo button moose controllerIcons/Pull down menus/WindowsGEM 001- Virtual Douce interfaceGEM AES - Application Environment ServicesGEM BST - Bit Block TransferReal time clock & calendar

SOFTWAREGEM environmentwith user Meng* Macintosh style operation705 Tramiel Operating SystemAtenS own system based on GP.'M 68K withhierarchical directory 8 file structure plus ahost of MS DOS 8 UNIX command structuresBOS - ...mess Operating Systemto run any standard BOS business programsGEM desktopwith GEM PAINT graphics trign, sYsteMarid GEM WRITE word ProceSeetPersonal BASIC and DR logooriginally written by Digital Research IDR)Vett, much like those on Other machinesexcept for the ertensive use of pull dawnmenus, mouse control and wintlOws

VARIOUSDimensions 47Ornmr240mmx8OrrrnReplacesble external power suoptesExpansion Surt floppy disk drives 500,1.000K

(two drives can be connected)3i/r' 15Mb hard diskCD (compact laser discoDot matrix & drwheel pint's IlutaCThermal dot matrix (colour)0513 8. monochrome monitors

LANGUAGESBASIC & LOGO suppliedMany others win soon be available Including:Assembler. BOPS, C, Cobol. Compiled BasicLisp, Moduter-2 and Pascal

`Note'. Some of the above specifications are pre-release and may thenatOm be sub,. to Chenge.A

7MACINTOSH v Fle v 520ST'Imagine a Fat Mac - the 512K Apple Macintosh but with a bigger screen, a farbigger keyboard with numeric keypad, cursor and unction keys, and colour. Thatvies you some idea of what the Atari 520ST is like, asap. for two important things.First the Atari seems faster. Second the Atari system is about one eh rd of the price."

June 1985 - Jack Schofield - PRACTICAL COMPUTING

APPLE APRICOT ATARIRIMES If SUM SYSTEM SWIM FIR 12ISTPrice Includes B/W Monitor YES NO - extra £200 YES

Keyboard size mm (Lx 0 x H) 330x147x50 050x167x28 470a240010Keyboard size ins (Ls Dx H) 13x53/4x2 171/2x64xx1 18Yri9,51121/23,/,'' D/Drive (Unformatted) 5000 5006 5000316" D/Drive (Formatted) 3996 315K 345K

WIMP tWindow. Icon. Mouse ,,) Apple ACT - Activity GEMReal-time Clock YES YES YESPolyphonic Sound Generator YES NO YES

RS232 Serial Port YES YES YES

Centronics Parallel Printer Port NO YES YES

Dedicated Floppy Disk Controller NO YES YES

Hard Disk DMA Interlace NO YES YES

Full stroke keyboard YES YES YES

Number of keys on keyboard 59 92 95

Numeric Keypad NO YES (16 Keys) YES (1S keys)Cursor Control Keypad NO YES YES

Function keys NO 10 10

16 -bit processor 68000 Intel E086 58000Processor running peed 8MHz 4 77MHz SMHC

RAM size 512K 256K 5120Number of graphics modes 1 4

Number of colours Monochrome 16 512

Max Screen Resolution (pixels) 512 x 342 640 x 256 540 400Mouse Included Single Button NO -extra E95 Two ButtonReplaceable External Power Pack NO NO YES

Cartridge Socket NO NO YES

Joystick Ports NO NO YES (Iwo)MIDI Synthesiser Interface NO NO YES

Monitor Size 9" 9"- extra £200 12"

ROB Video Output NO YES YES

System Cost Mtn: Mouse - Monochrome Monitor - 512K RAM - 5000 Disk DrivePrice of basic system (exc VAT1 E2595,VAT i595, -VAT 5552i -VAT

Mouse Included E950VAT Includedn Monochrome Monitor Included E200+VAT Included0 Expansion to 512K RAM Included E295 rVAT IncludedPrice of complete system (exc VAT) f2595xVAT El 185VAT 052+11AT

PRICE intnuddVgdown £2.994 £1,362 £749

rs "mweiteTrIilikely it"alrrr:r'thent ofto71=1Oreww=TrerZei established the maxim that 'Business is wee" PRESS COMMENTAugust 21st 1984 FINANCIAL TIMES

"This la the only personal computer i know of that comes witha Midi interlace as Standard."Peter Bright March 1985 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD

"The (GEM) wrsion running on the Atari 88000 machines wilthave the additional advantage of leaving the PC versionstanding." Apnl 6th 1985 PERSONAL COMPUTER NEWS

"it would seem that GEM offers the ideal operating system.'March lth 1985 POPULAR COMPUTING WEEKLY.

"I found it (GEM) extremely easy to use and was veryLtimpressed with the way in which it diaguises th unfrtendly

ardware and operating systems lurid g under th urface."Peter Bright Feb 1965 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD

"The electronics in the machine area work of art The heartof the 5205T is a Motorola 88000, one of the most powerful16 -bit processors around and in many respects it is close tobeing a 32 -bit chip when the machine appears In the shops.I'll be at the front end of the queue to buy one."

Peter Bright June 1985 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD

"This machine is significantly more powerful than an IBM PCIf Ifs possible to design a sure-fire winning machine, this is

May 11th 1985 PERSONAL COMPUTER NEWS

the use of GEM makes the new range of Atari computersso similar to the Macintosh (with the added attraction ofcolour), that they ems already being called 'Jacluntoshes' "

May 2nd 1955 COMPUTING

"The new Atari ST computers truly represent to the consume:1what Jack Tramiel is saying - easy -to -use computing powerwithout the price" March 1985 ANALOG COMPUTING

Ot (the ST) uses the most modern technology that is

affordable, in a package that gives a profeemonal impression'.May 23rd 1985 POPULAR COMPUTING WEEKLY

"The Atari ST is one of the most elegant designs I have seenAtari has used an original and elegant method of memorymanagement which should make the ST fester than any otherPC on the market - In any prMe bracket The 60K dollarquestion is would I go out and spend money for one? Towhich the only answer is 'Try and stop me!"'

John Lambed July 1995 ELECTRONICS a COMPUTING

"The 520ST is technically excellent ... The 520ST hardware isthe new standard by which others will be judged."

July 1985 YOUR COMPUTER

ALATARI

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WE ARE THE UK'S I101 ATARI SPECIALISTS

..1ALATARI

At Silica we have been successfully dedicated to Atari ever since their products first appeared on the UKmarket. We can attribute our success largely to the Atari specialisation which we practice and to the userback-up we provide. Rest assured that when you buy a piece of Atari hardware at Silica you will be fullysupported. Our mailings giving news of software releases and developments will keep you up to date withthe Atari market and our technical support team and sales stall are at the end of the telephone line todeal with your problems and supply your every need. With our specialist bias, we aim to keep stocks ofall the available Atari hardware, software, peripherals and accessories. We also stock a wide range ofAtari dedicated books and through us, the owners on our list can subscribe to several American Ataridedicated magazines. We can provide a full service to all Atari owners and are now firmly established asthe UK's NUMBER ONE Atari specialists. Here are just some of the things we can offer to our customers.* FREE POST & PACKING ON MAIL ORDERS it you would like to be registered on our mailing* FREE NEXT DAY SECURICOR DELIVERY list as an Atari computer owner, or as a person* INFORMATION MAILING SERVICE interested in buying an Atari machine, let us* TECHNICAL SUPPORT TEAM know. We will be pleased to keep you up to date* HIGHLY COMPETITIVE PRICES with new Atari developments free of charge. So,* AFTER SALES SUPPORT SERVICE return the coupon today and begin experiencing* REPAIR SERVICE ON ATARI PRODUCTS a specialist Mad service that Is second to none.

ATARI

POWER WITHOUT THE PRICETHE NEW ATARI 520STUnder the new leadership of Jack Tramiel (former boss and founder of CommodoreBusiness Machines), Atari Corporation hive marked their entry into the world ofbusiness/personal computers with a machine which leaves the competition standing.Tramiel's slogan 'Power Without the Price' has been implemented in the manufactureof the new 512K Atari 520ST colour computer which offers the user amazingly highperformance at an incredibly low price. Launched as a work -station, this new systemincorporates seven software packages as well as the 520ST computer with 512K RAM,mouse controller, high resolution monochrome monitor (6400400), 95 key keyboard(with 18 key numeric keypad). MIDI interface, GEM and a 500K 3,/, inch disk drive, allfor the package price of only £651.30 (+VAT = £749). Dubbed the 'Mac beater' and the'Jackintosh' (after Atari's Chief, Jack Tramiel). Atari's new machine has been directlycompared with the Apple Macintosh RRP £2595 (+VAT = £2985) which offers similarfeatures and capabilities but ate much higher price. Favourably reviewed by the UK'shighly critical specialist computer press, the 520ST Is likely to make a great impact inthis country as a sophisticated alternative to an IBM PC, APRICOT or APPLEMACINTOSH. Unlike its overpriced competitors, the Atari 520ST can be linked up to acolour monitor to unleash a choice of up to 512 colours. The addition of colour bringsout the full potential of graphics packages such as GEM.

USER FRIENDLY GEM OPERATING SYSTEMThe power of the ST is harnessed and made user friendly by the new operatingsystem 'GEM' from Digital Research. GEM stands for Graphics Environment Managerand allows a user friendly colour or B/W graphics interface which closely resemblesthat of the Macintosh. This similarity extends to the use of moveable resizeablewindows, icons to represent objects such as disks and disk drives, and the use of pulldown menus and a mouse. The advantage of all this is that the computer becomesextremely easy to use. GEM has now been implemented for the Acorn, ACT, Atari,IBM, ICL, and Olivetti. Software written for GEM on one computer should also rununder GEM on another computer. This will enable the market to quickly produce alarge library of standard interchangeable software.

FREE SOFTWARE AND FUTURE EXPANSIONThe Atari 5205T comes supplied with seven free software packages as listed below:1) TOS -Tramiel Operating System based on CPU 680. 2) GEM Graphics EnvironmentManager by Digital Research (DR) giving a WIMP (Window, Icon, Mouse, Pull downmenu) environment. 3) DR GEM Paint for creating graphics masterpieces. 4) DR GEMWrite for word processing. 5) Logo learning language to enable you to write your ownprograms easily using turtle graphics. 6) DR Personal Basic a powerful user friendlyversion of the Basic programming language. 7) BOS operating system giving youaccess to dozens of business applications packages already available on the market..Designed with future expansion in mind, the ST also features a host of differentinterfaces to the outside world and en impressive list of accessories is planned. Atariwill soon be releasing a 10000 (1MB) 31/, inch disk drive, and a 15MB hard diskstorage system as well as a mass storage compact disk (CD) player capable of storingan entire 20 volume encyclopedia on one disk. A full range of inexpensive printers areplanned including dot matrix, daisywheel and thermal colour printers. With itsunbeatable graphics, speed and software at a price which is far below that of anycomparable personal computer currently on the market, the ST is all set to do battlewith the competition. To receive further details of the ST from Silica Shop, just fill inthe coupon below with your name and address details and post it to us.

Silica Shop Price: £851.30 E97 70 VAT = £749.00 This price includes:

* 512K RAM *B/W MONITOR*MOUSE *500K 3.5" DISK DRIVE* GEM * KEYBOARD (95 KEYS)

7/19SILICA SHOP LTD, 1-4 The Mews, Hatherley Road, Sidcup, Kent, DA14 4DX

SEND FOR FREE ATARI ST LITERATUREImmo mi im .11 Imo*

To: Silica Shop Ltd, Dept PC 02 86 1-4 The Mews, Hatherley Road, Sidcup, Kent, DA14 4DX

PLEASE MEwillIEFLIITERERATURE

Mr/Mrs/Ms:

Address:

Initials: Surname:

01-309 1111 Circle No. 112

Postcode:

IDo you already own a computerII so, which one do you own?

im mit umMI 11.>Bec)11.4-5

THE 520SAVON BRISTOLComputer Exchange.AVON BRISTOLLaskys.AVON BRISTOLRedford Hi Fi.BEDS BEDFORDBedford Computers.BEDS LUTONHobbyte Ltd.BEDS LUTONLaskys.BELFASTCEM Micro -Computer Services LtdBELFASTComputer All Ltd.BELFASTEducation Company Ltd.BELFASTIdeal Radio.BELFASTN.P0.BERKS READINGHMV Micro Shop.BERKS. READINGLaskys.BERKS SLOUGHLaskys.BERKS SLOUGHSilicon Chip.CAMBS CAMBRIDGECambridge Computer Store.CAMBS CAMBRIDGELaskys.CAMBS PETERBOROUGHLaskys.CENTRAL FALKIRKMicroplus.

CHESHIRE CHESTERLaskys.CHESHIRE CREWEWoottona TVCHESHIRE WARRINGTONWarrington All Computers.CHESHIRE WILMSLOWFairhurst Instruments Ltd.CLWYD WREXHAMMicro Computer World.CLWYD WREXHAMMicro Computer Centre.CO.DERRYDonaghy Brothers.CO. DOWN WARREN POINTVisions Video.CO. DURHAMDARLINGTONDarlington Computer Shop.DERBYSHIRECHESTERFIELDF.A.W. Electronics.DEVON EXETERLaskys.DEVON PLYMOUTHLaskys.DEVON PLYMOUTHSyntax Ltd.DORSET BOURNEMOUTHLansdowne Computer Centres.DORSET POOLELansdowne Computer Centres.ESSEX COLCHESTERColchester Computer Centre.ESSEX COLCHESTERCapricorn Computers.ESSEX COLCHESTERLaskys.

ESSEX HARLOWAchter Instruments Ltd.ESSEX HARLOWLaskys.ESSEX ROMFORDLaskys.ESSEX SOUTHENDLaskys.ESSEX SOUTHENDEstuary Computers.ESSEX WESTCLIFF-ON-SEASterling Resources.FIFE GLENROTHESComputer Services (Scotland) Ltd.GLOUS CHELTENHAMLaskys.GLOUS GLOUCESTERLaskys.GRAMPIAN ABERDEENLaskysGRAMPIAN ABERDEENMicroshack.GT. MANCHESTER BOLTONComputer Annex.GT. MANCHESTERFAILWOODFIELDMighty Micros.GT. MANCHESTERMANCHESTER M4Laskys.GT. MANCHESTERMANCHESTER MILaskys.GT. MANCHESTERMANCHESTERLewis's Ltd (Sound & Vision).GT. MANCHESTERMANCHESTERNSC Cornputershops.

ATARI

GT. MANCHESTER STOCKPORTNew Mills Micro Centre.MERSEYSIDE LIVERPOOLLewis's Ltd (Sound & Vision).GWENT EBBW VALEComputability.HANTS PORTSMOUTHMicrochoice.HANTS SOUTHAMPTON'AMS Systems Limited.HANTS SOUTHAMPTONLaskys.HERTS ST ALBANSHobbyte Ltd.HERTS WATFORDLaskys.HIGHLAND INVERNESSNova Computers.HUMBERSIDE HULLGolding Computer Services.HUMBERSIDE HULLTommorrows World.KENT BECKENHAMTransform Ltd.KENT BEXLEY HEATHLaskys.KENT BROMLEYLasky.KENT MAIDSTONEKent Microcomputers.KENT MAIDSTONELaskys.KENT ORPINGTONLever Computers.KENT SEVENOAKSChalk Hill Computers &Office Supplies.KENT SWANLEYSwanley Electronics.

KENT SIDCUPSilica Shop.KENT WELLINGK.E.C.M. Computers.LANCS ACCRINGTONPV Micros.LANCS BLACKPOOLLewis's Ltd (Sound & Vision).LANCS BOLTONComputer World.LANCS BURNLEYBytes And Pieces.LANCS DARWENGrahams Micro Shop.LANCS LANCASTERCastle Computers.LANCS LANCASTEROnline Computer Services.LANCS OLDHAMHome & Business Computers.LANCS PRESTONLaskys.LEICS HINCKLEYLeigh Computer Systems.LEICS LEICESTERDimension Computers.LEICS LEICESTERMay's Hi Fi Ltd.LEICS LEICESTERLewide Ltd (Sound & Vision).LEICS LEICESTERLaskys.LEICS LEICESTERData Nest.LINCS GRANTHAMOakLeaf.LONDON BROCKLEYHomeview Video.

LONDON NW4 Laskys.LONDON NW5 Zoomsoft.LONDON SW13 LEWISHAMLaskys.LONDON W6 EALINGLaskys.LONDON W9 MAIDA VALEMicro Monde Ltd.LONDON WI Cornpuface Ltd.LONDON WI Laskys.LONDON WI Laskys.LONDON WI Micro Anvika.LONDON WI Silica Shop.LONDON WI Selfridges.LONDON WIComputers of Wigrnore St.LOTHIAN EDINBURGHLaskys.LOTHIAN EDINBURGHSilicon Centre.LOTHIAN EDINBURGHThe Games Master Ltd.MERSEYSIDE LIVERPOOL LILaskys.MERSEYSIDE LIVERPOOL.L2Laskys.MERSEYSIDE SOUTHPORTCentral Studios.MERSEYSIDE ST HELENSMicroman Computers.MIDDLESEX ENFIELDJennings Stores Ltd.MIDDLESEX ENFIELDLaskys.MIDDLESEX NORTHWOODScreens.

4(0

1 TIC ATARI 520STNk Personal Computer

has a list of qualifications aslong as your arm. With apowerful 16 bit processor an512k of memory linked tohigh resolution graphics and512 colours its work is fast,clear and sharp on yourscreen, no matter how

demanding the task.Controlling the 520STis easy through itsmouse and unique

operating systemincorporating GEMdesk top manager,

whilst its elevenperipheral connectors

including MIDIinterface enables it tomix and communicateeasily with other

computer products.The ST which presents

itself in smart modem stylingcomes with powerful BASIC

IFIED AND UNDERPAID.MIDDLESEX PINNERP & H Micro.MIDDLESEX RUISLIP MANORIntech Software Ltd.NORFOLK GT. YARMOUTHThe Micro Shop.NORFOLK NORWICHTetranite (Spectrum).N. YORKSHIRE YORKSLaskys.N. YORKSHIRE YORKMicrobridge.N. YORKSHIRE YORKSYork Computer Centre.N. YORKSHIRE RIPONArthur Yates Ltd.NOTTS HUCKNALLS P Electronics.NOTTS MANSFIELDMansfield Computers.NOTTS NOTTINGHAMIntoto.NOTTS NOTTINGHAMLaskys.NORTHANTS NORTHAMPTONLaskys.NORTHANTS NORTHAMPTONNorthampton Home Computers.NOTTS REDDINGTONGA Computers.OXON HEADINGTONMaddison Computers.OXON OXFORDLaskys.OXON OXFORDSelfridges.ORKNEY STROMNESSGet Taped.

PERTHSHIRE BLACKFORD.Silicon Glen Ltd.SHETLAND LERWICKTomorrows World.S. GLAMORGAN CARDIFFCardiff Micro Computers.S.GLAMORGAN CARDIFFLaskys.S. GLAMORGAN CARDIFFSouth World Computers.S. YORKSHIRE DONCASTERDanum Computer Systems.S. YORKSHIRE ROTHERHAMRotherham Computer Centre.S. YORKSHIRE SHEFFIELDJust Micro.S. YORKSHIRE SHEFFIELDLaskys.STAFFS. STOKE-ON-TRENTLewis's Ltd (Sound & Vision).STAFFS. STOKE-ON-TRENTTown Computers.STRATHCLYDE GLASGOWLaskys.STRATHCLYDE GLASGOWLewis's Ltd (Sound & Vision).STATHCLYDE GLASGOWUnitsoft.SUFFOLK SUDBURYSudbury Microsystems.SURREY CROYDONLaskys.SURREY FARNHAMFarnham Computers.SURREY GUILDFORDLaskys.SURREY KINGSTONLaskys.

SURREY LEATHERHEADEvergreen Ltd.SUSSEX BRIGHTONBrighton Computer Exchange.SUSSEX BRIGHTONBrighton Computer Centre.SUSSEX BRIGHTONLaskys.SUSSEX CRAWLEYLaskys.SUSSEX WORTHINGData Direct.TAYSIDE DUNDEECursor Keya.TAYSIDE DUNDEEMicromania.TAYSIDE PERTHVICS.TYNE AND WEAR GATESHEADCurrie & Maughn.TYNE AND WEARNEWCASTLE UPON TYNELasky.WARWICKS LEAMINGTON SPASpa Computer Centre.WARWICKS NUNEATONMicro City.WARWICKS NUNEATONWarwick Computers.W. MIDLANDS BIRMINGHAMLewis's Ltd (Sound & Vision).W. MIDLANDS BIRMINGHAMSoftware Express.W. MIDLANDS BIRMINGHAMLaakysW.MIDLANDS BIRMINGHAMLee Computers.W. MIDLANDS COVENTRYCoventry Micro Centre.

W. MIDLANDS COVENTRYLaskys.W. MIDLANDS DUDLEYCentral Computers.W. MIDLANDSWOLVERHAMPTONLaskys.W. MIDLANDSWOLVERHAMPTONMicro Business Centre.WORCS KIDDERMINSTERCentral Computers.WORCS REDDITCHAmpower Video and Computers.W. GLAMORGAN SWANSEABlame Ltd.WEST LOTHIANLIVINGSTONEComputer Centre.W. YORKSHIRE BRADFORDCNA Computing.W. YORKSHIRE HALIFAXAbacus Computers.W. YORKSHIREHECKMONDWIKEThought & Crosses.W. YORKSHIREHUDDERSFIELDMicroworld.W. YORKSHIRE LEEDS 12Farnells.W. YORKSHIRE LEEDS 6Interface Engineering Ltd.W. YORKSHIRE LEEDSLewis's Ltd (Sound & Vision).W. YORKSHIRE LEEDSLaskys.W. YORKSHIRE LEEDSMicropower.

plus Logo programminglanguages, a word processorand drawing programme, yetcosts only £652* includingdisc drive and black andwhite monitor.

Why? Because at Atariwe bring up our productsto work hard for their living.

ATARI®Power Without the PriceTM

*This price is exclusive of VATGEM is a registered trademark of Digital Research.,{

Circle No. 113 `ft

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Only theEpson LX -80also printslike this.

The print on the left is certainly legible, which is quite goodenough for most purposes.

But it's nothing to write home about. Or with.

That's why Epson have brought out the new LX -80.

The LX -80 is a dot matrix printer that can print in correspondencequality (like this) as well as in draft. Yet at only £255+VAT it'sno more expensive than any of its less capable rivals.

This alone would make the LX -80 unique. But there's more.

Changing fonts on the LX -80 doesn't involve a complicatedrigmarole as it does on other machines. By simply pressing acombination of buttons on the front, you can change from one fontto another to ii other .b)anoth.r. As easily as that.

The LX -80 will justify or centre type if you like. It will evenprint your own symbols.

Alternatively, you can use the standard 1K buffer to free yourcomputer for other tasks more quickly.

The LX -80 takes plain sheets as standard, though a variety ofpaper feed options are also available.

It should go without saying that the LX -80 is as reliable asEpson printers have always been. But there, we've said it anyway.

There's still more to tell, of course. But fill in the coupon -in whatever style you like - and we'll fill you in completely.

EPSON Which Computer Showstand 435.

Please send me more information on the LX -80.

Name Address

Tel No LK 4

To: Epson (UK) Ltd., Dorland House, 388 High Road,Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 6UH.

Circle No.114

A-9

More muscle.THE NEW MINSTREL 4

MULTI-USER NETWORKING IN STYLE

The designers of Minstrel 4were given a simple brief:

produce a world-beating, cost-effective and practical multi-usersystem.

And do it with style.

Minstrel power -80I86 masterand HIS 186dual processor slaves.

They passed the latter test withflying colours. But looks aren'teverything. Inside this beautifullyengineered chassis, you'll find aclose coupled Turbo DOSI" networkthat holds the key to all your multi-user computer projects.

Now, and for the future.Minstrel 4 is a multiprocessor

machine-every user of the systemgets a DEDICATED CPU and 512 KbRAM. This virtually eliminates theresponse time degradation you

Minstrel design -fast tape back-up for safety andconvenience.

often find on timeshareminicomputers and so-calledsupermicros.

Minstrel 4 is more powerfulthan most minis, even in its mostbasic state. You can start with twousers, but a full blown 16 usersystem will give you 9 MBytesdynamic RAM and 17 CPUs with80186 instruction sets, runningconcurrently at 8 MHz. With thatsort of power, we're confident thatyou won't run out of steam.

Minstrel workstations-come complete withfunction keys and business graphics potential.

Minstrel 4 has unprecedentednetworking capability. TheWinchester controller has built inARCnet. You can network IBM PCs,ATs, Apricots, Olivettis and alllookalikes if required. Gateways toIBM and ICL mainframes areavailable. Most important, you cannetwork Minstrel 4s together- 256of them to be precise.

Minstrel 4 supports CP/M,MP/M, MS DOS (including version3.1 with file and record locking) andhas PC DOS emulation, so you canrun nearly all the popular businesspackages.

Storage capacity is onlylimited by your budget. A singleMinstrel 4 holds up to 160 MBytesformatted disk capacity, with

onboard streaming back-up of upto 60 MBytes. Direct memoryaccess means you can download 20MBytes onto tape in less than 4minutes. Higher capacity drivescan be supplied.

You can even network stand-alones into theMinstrel System, using Minstrel ARC net cards.

A two user Minstrel 4 system,complete with tape back-up andterminals will cost you less than£7,000. Additional workstations,just over £1,000 per user, a price/performance package you'll findunbeatable.

At last there is a seriousalternative to the minicomputer,with the sort of costs and flexibilityyou'd associate with a micro. It'scalled Minstrel 4, and you shouldfind out more about it. Write or callus for details.

With Minstrel, expansion is integral, not anafterthought.

Circle No. 115

So

TM IBM/PC is a trademark ol International Business Machines Inc.8MAD iin MS DOS is a trademark of Microsoftricot

plcApricot is a trademark of Ap

Registered trademark of Software 2000 Inc.

HM Systems Limited, 220 The Vale, London NWI I 8HZTelephone: (01) 209-0911 Telex: 266828 -HMS G Easyli nk: 19001060 Systems

P,0 '

Look whA.stt Ep se.% o ri'rapid drEdat the tca button.

That's right, it instantly gives you near letterquality print when you'd expected rough draft only.

As if that's not enough, here's more: it comesin two economy sizes. The FX85 (£438 + VAT)prints up to 160 characters a line, while the largerFX105 (just £131 more, + VAT) is ideal forspreadsheets: it manages 272 characters a line.

Both FX's print all the IBM graphic characterstoo. Just flick a DIP switch and you've selectedeither those or the industry standard. Although

that's something to shout about, the next featureisn't: they're three decibels quieter than theirpredecessors.

And chew this over: now you can get an aut'feeder as an optional extra.

To finish off, we've uprated the new FX'sbuffer size to a whopping great 8K, meaning yoi_.computer can move onto other tasks even morquickly than before.

For full details of the new FX's, please cut out th52

happens5 new F X

t printertucla of

0coupon. But if you're in a real hurry, press a fewbuttons (our phone number's below).


Your switchboard was jammed. Please send me details ofyour new FX85/105 printers. RPC 2

EPSON Name

Epson (UK) Ltd., Dorland House, 388 High Rd., Wembley, Middlesex HA9 6UH. PositionTelephone: 01-902 8892.

Company

Ad dress

Tel No

Circle No. 116 ,cS

PREVIEW

TORCH TRIPLE XWIMPS MEET UNIXBy G yn Moody

Could this be the machinewhich at last brings Unixsoftware within the grasp ofthe ordinary micro user?

unix and micros have not been a verysuccessful mix so far. Partly this isa result of the juggernaut -like

progress of PC -DOS, but in many respectsUnix has been its own worst enemy. It is alarge, complex system, and though the ever-increasing memory and processor poweravailable on micros has made the size ofUnix less of a problem, its complexity andblatant lack of user -friendliness remain.

All this may change with the launch ofthe Triple X from Cambridge -based TorchComputers, best known for its BBC Microadd-ons. The Triple X is a Unix machine,but with the important difference that ituses a Macintosh -like Wimp interface tohandle the command sequences. Not

Torch has also come upwith a 1Mbyte RAM 20Mbyte Winchestermachine, with colour, for only £4,700.

As befits a machine which is trying to lookmore like a conventional desk -top microthan a forbidding Unix engine, the Triple -Xhas a neat and compact system box in whitemoulded plastic. Thought has evidentlybeen given to fairly minor elements of thedesign.

The on/off switch is a touch -sensitive

contact switch on the front of the machine.It can be controlled from within theoperating system for a controlled self -shut-down process, complete with safe parking ofthe hard -disc head. At the back, the PowerIn and Power Out sockets are positionedunderneath an overhanging lip which usesthe weight of the main box to hold the plugsin place.

Inside there is a tidy layout, with the Win-chester in the centre and the 720K floppydrive to the right. The motherboard liesunderneath. A quiet fan is placed at theback; on the review model it was held inwith rubber bands. In operation, themachine throws out warm air, mostlythrough vents at the front.

SPONGY SPACE BARThe keyboard has a reassuringly PC look

about it, even down to the 10 function keysdown the left-hand side. Unfortunately,what is otherwise a perfectly acceptable pro-fessional keyboard is marred by a spongyspace bar which would be a disgrace on aSinclair Spectrum Plus, let alone a £4,000business machine. The mouse, which comesas standard, plugs into the keyboard at theback.

A major feature of the machine is itscomms facilities, and an on -board Ethernetchip set is incorporated as standard, allowingimmediate LAN comms. As well as oneserial port for use with printers, modems or

SPECIFICATIONCPU: 68010 running at 8MHzRAM: IMbyte standard plus 64K for bit -mapped colour graphics; expandable to7Mbyte internallyROM: 16K self -test, diagnostic and start-up routinesDisplay: 10in. standard; optional 13in;normal resolution 720 by 256; highresolution up to 800 by 512 pixels, andup to 16 different colours selected from atotal of 256Keyboard: full QWERTY, numerickeypad, cursor keys, 10 function keysMass storage: 720K floppy and20Mbyte Winchester as standard;40Mbyte optionInterfaces: three serial ports, Ethernet,BBC -compatible 1MHz bus, VME busSoftware in price: System V Unix;Unisoft Uniplus + implementation withshared libraries; Wimp front endHardware options: high -resolutiongraphics board, 68028 board,Winchesters up to 500MbyteDimensions: main system box 450mm.(17.7in.) x 310mm. (12.2in.) x 130mm.(5.1in.)Price: £3,995 for 1Mbyte RAM,20Mbyte Winchester system; £700 for10in. colour monitor, £799 for 13in.colour monitorManufacturer: Torch Computers Ltd,Abberley House, Great Shelford,Cambridge CB2 5LQ. Telephone: (0223)840238

UNIXFor what has now become the serious operating system parexcellence, Unix's origins were decidedly frivolous. It grew outof an abortive time-sharing project called Multics, whichinvolved MIT, Bell Labs and General Electric. When Bell Labspulled out, one man there was rather miffed: Ken Thompsonhad developed a nice little space -travel game on the system,and rather than lose his valuable work, he wrote his ownoperating system for a DEC PDP-7 mini, and ran it on that.Recognising that his system was not quite so grand as Multics,Thompson called it Unix.

Through a combination of benign accidents and some usefulfeatures, Unix grew into the favoured operating system for thelater PDP-11s. Eventually it was rewritten in C, by which timeit had grown to a staggering 300,000 lines of code.

Until recently Unix has been found mainly in educationalestablishments. But with the introduction of Microsoft's Xenix,along with more and more interest in micro -based multi-usersystems, Unix in its various forms has been gaining ground inthe business micro community.

Unfortunately Unix still shows its ad hoc and academicheritage in many respects. It is a large and powerful system, butit does not go out of its way to help users. The nearest thing to

a concession in this direction is the Shell. As its name suggests,the Shell forms the outermost layer of the operating system andacts as a kind of buffer between the user and the nitty-gritty ofthe main code. From it, the main commands like listingdirectories and controlling disc allocation are handled.

Although Unix has become something of a bogeyman withwhich to frighten micro tyros, a subtle process of infiltrationhas begun which could lead to most of us using more Unixthan we ever imagined possible. MS-DOS 2.0 incorporatesvarious ideas taken directly from Unix: for example, treeddirectories and the use of special files. The latter are not files atall, but allow you to treat things like the keyboard as if theywere. So the command in MS-DOS

copy con: examplewill allow a file called Example to be created directly fromkeyboard input, called the console here. It seems likely that asmicro operating systems move more in the direction of multi-user configurations, further features will be borrowed fromUnix. It is also significant that Microsoft produces not only theleading PC operating system in MS-DOS, but also a version ofXenix. Ultimately, some kind of convergence can be expected,though in what form is unclear.

54

(continued on page 56


PREVIEW

Far left: The neatly packed motherboard.

Left: Triple X's Gem -like display.

Below: The Triple X's deceptivelyconventional appearance conceals aformidable Unix engine.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING Fetyuc 986

EREVIEW


additional terminals, there are a further twofast serial ports. These can handle terminalsor hook directly into X-25 or SNAapplications. The X-25 protocol is usedwidely in telecommunications such asPABXs or even the PSS network. Torch seesthe Triple X as being particularly well suitedto such comms applications.

After you have turned the machine on,you are greeted with a surprisingly forthrightbeep, possibly followed by a request to keyin a password. This is the first but not lastoccasion that the Triple X shows its origins.Unix was designed with a multi-user capa-bility from start, and so is well endowed withmany levels of password protection through-out its operation.

The main opening menu looks re-freshingly familiar. Apart from a windowgiving the total free memory, the rest of thescreen bears more than a passing resem-blance to the Macintosh's. Around the edgethere are a number of icons: some are in theform of labelled folders, while others arerepresentations of filing cabinets, floppydiscs and so on. Operation of this desk top isalso closely similar to that followed byApple's machine. Placing the cursor over anicon and holding down the left-hand buttonallows you to drag the icon across the screen.Clicking once selects it, and double clickingcauses the icon to be activated.

Activating a folder calls up the files heldwithin it. They may be picture icons, otherfolders or files. They appear in a newlyopened window which has scroll bars and acorner pull which allows you to alter its size.The whole window can also be moved bydragging the main bar at the top. In the topleft-hand corner there is a Close box. Whenyou open up a window, various optionsappear across the top command line of thescreen. One of the options allows you toreplace icons by listings of the full file names

PICTURE ICONThe process of calling up folders can be

continued for as long as the nesting of filescontinues. The picture icons generallycorrespond to commands: for example, thefiling cabinet corresponds to viewing the toplevel or root directory. The window size is 80by 24, so successive windows overlap. A bigplus is the ease with which concurrent taskscan be set up by opening further windows.

As well as invoking commands, icons canbe used to select operations like disc for-matting and file transfers. There is a FormatFloppy Disc icon, and a Palette icon whichlets you alter the on -screen colours. Thesystem is designed to allow file transfers tobe performed by opening both the folderfrom which the file is to be transferred andthe destination folder, and then simplydragging the icon across. However, on thereview machine doing this produced an errormessage with the note that the procedurehad not yet been implemented.

The desk -top collection of icons can bealtered by clearing the screen of all but themost essential icons, such as the filingcabinet and the waste folder, and then

With 10 function keys on the left-hand side,dragging out those that you wish to bepresent on start-up. This set is then saved atclose -down.

Utilities like a calculator and real-timeclock are represented by icons. There is alsoan icon for the Unix Shell, which takes youout of the icon -driven desk top into thenaked Unix environment itself.

This is necessary if you intend using any ofthe deeper levels of Unix - for setting up amulti-user system, for example. Such multi-user operation is one of the key advantagesof running Unix, which incorporates all thenecessary elements from the start. Othermicro multi-user operating systems are alltoo often attempts to bolster what areessentially single -user products, with oftendubious results.

The tried and tested Unix multi-userenvironment is a strong selling point of the

TRIPLE X

PC VERDICT0

g. V gk

4'

4,44

Performance MENUEase of use Documentation . Value for money M M III

0 The Triple X offers full but user-friendly Unix at a bargain price.

Triple X. The unmodified system cansupport up to three additional terminalsconnected via the Triple X's serial ports;more can be added, though there is thendanger of degradation of response.

Even with one user the Triple X did notseem blindingly fast. Windows were openedand files pulled in at a rate which lookedroughly comparable with the Mac, which ishardly the fastest machine on earth. But lossof speed seems a small price to pay fortaming Unix. In practice, speed is only likelyto be a problem with processor -intensiveoperations. Any loss caused by the overheadof handling multiple windows with iconscan easily be wiped out by returning to theShell. Effectively the Triple X wins on bothfronts.

Even though the unfriendliness of Unixseems to have been overcome with thissystem, there remains a serious obstacle tothe machine's success: the lack of cheap

the keyboard resembles that of the IBM PC.

business software. There is certainly businesssoftware around, and it will run on theTriple X without difficulty, but much of it isunsuitable and the rest is ludicrously over-priced. For example, two packages whichcame with the review machine were Uniplexword processing and Ultracalc. Neither wasearth -shattering in performance, though theprices were, at £1,000 and £1,300 respect-ively. The micro professional is simply notused to paying this sort of price, which inany case flies in the face of industry trends.

LIMITED APPEALWith luck, the Triple X may itself help to

bring about the introduction of reasonablypriced Unix software. But until it does, theappeal of the machine is likely to be limitedto academic establishments, where Unix isrelatively popular already, and those bus-inesses which already have substantial, mini -based Unix installations. For the latter, theTriple Xis a real bargain. It might also provepopular for departments who wish to invest-igate the world of Unix but who havehitherto been put off by the high entry-level price and the language's fearsomereputation.

The Triple X comes with full documen-tation which ranges from an introductoryhandbook to two thick spiral -bound tomeswhich dot the i's and cross the t's for everyaspect of Unix.

Future developments include a 19in.monitor with 1,836- by 1,836 -pixel res-solution for CAD/ CAM work, and boardswith a 68020 and a floating-point processor.The Triple X seems likely to do very well inspecialist markets where such add-ons areparticularly relevant. Whether it succeeds inthe wider business micro world will dependon a number of factors quite independent ofthe machine's undoubted virtues.

CONCLUSIONS The Triple X is a Unix V machine which usesicons and windows to circumvent user -hostileaspects of the operating system. The Wimp techniques work very well,though it is still possible to get lost amongextended trees. Even for those who prefer the old-fash-ioned virtues of Shell operations, the Triple Xoffers exceptional value for money. Unfortunately the generally high standardof the system's construction is spoilt by aflawed keyboard.III The lack of reasonably priced businesssoftware remains a major problem for Unixusers. aa


SAGE ACCOUNTANTSALES, PURCHASE,NOMINAL LEDGERS

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&

FULL AUDIT TRAIL

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AS YOU CAN SEEITALL COMES DOWN TO

THE BOTTOM LINESome naive individuals still believe that a higher

price automatically guarantees higher performance.These misguided souls are happily shelling out foraccounting programs that give them little or no change from£1,000, when Sage Accountant would leave them changefrom £500. Their mistaken belief is that, at thatprice, Sage can't possibly be as good.

Actually, Sage isn't thatgood. It's better. Out of the19 important functions listedabove, Apricot provides a mere12, while Pegasus does onlyslightly better with 13. SageAccountant has got the lot.For roughly half the price.

Whatever your needs, optfor Sage. The most competitivelypriced accounting package on themarket also happens to be the best.*Comparisons relate to versions for Apricot PC, IBM PCand compatibles. Sage programs are available for a widerange of MS-DOS .

E975

Sage Accountant is just one member of the Sage family ofcompatible and upgradeable accounting programs.Choose the one to suit your needs from:SAGE FINANCIAL CONTROLLER £995+VAT (4th Qtr. '85)

SAGE ACCOUNTANT PLUS £695+VATSAGE ACCOUNTANT £495+ VATSAGE BOOKKEEPER 2295+ VAT

SAGE SO Pir2Please send me more details of Sage AccountingPrograms and my nearest dealer.Name:

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131-413TTElt SAGE '1'1 IAN S3()I i I IN'PC2861

Circle No. 117

Powerfulsingleormultiusersystem.

ASPECToffers the database builder the facilities to set

up applications quickly and simply using its powerfulEnglish -like command language. It can be run entirely viamenus which provides an excellent way for the new user tolearn the system, or through direct command entry.

ASPECT can read data from and output data tomost other systems including accounting packages,spreadsheets and word processors. It has a reportgenerator of such power and flexibility that this alone canjustify purchasing ASPECT.

For the increasing number of organisations that arerecognising the importance of linking their microcomputerstogether ASPECT is available in a multi-user version withthe appropriate file and record locking facilities.

AVAILABLE FORTORUS TAPESTRY,10 NET APRICOTPOINt 32 ANDRML NIMBUSNETWORKS

THE ASPECT SYSTEM FEATURESMULTI FILE MULTI LEVEL (HIERARCHICAL) FILE STRUCTURE WITH UP TO SEVEN LEVELS

VARIABLE LENGTH RECORDS SYSTEM MENUS USER DESIGNED MENUS DIRECTCOMMAND MODE FULL SET OF CONDITIONAL OPERATORS POWERFUL REPORTINGSYSTEM LABEL PRINTING CONTEXT SENSITIVE AND USER WRITTEN HELP FACILITIES

READING AND WRITING OF FILES FROM OTHER SYSTEMS REPORTING DIRECTLY FROM OTHER SYSTEMS

ASPECT costs £400 + VAT for a single user version and £950 + VAT for thenetwork version*. A limited record version is available for £40 + VAT and this amountwill be deducted from the price of the full version if one is purchased later.

ASPECT is available from Microft Technology Limited, The Old Powerhouse,Kew Gardens Station, Kew, Surrey TW93PS, or from many dealers. For furtherinformation telephone 01-948 8255.* This allows up to 5 terminals on the network. A further £100 + VAT is payable for each additional terminal.

The database management system.ASPECT is a Trade Mark of Microft Technology Limited and is a British Product.

Circle No. 118

"SOFTWARE REVIEW

METATEXTPRINT ENHANCERBy Ian Stobie

This RAM -resident utility forIBM PCs induces an ordinarydot-matrix printer to produceNLQ output.

Many people are happy with theirexisting matrix printer for pro-ducing quick drafts of documents

for their own use, but would like to producebetter -quality output to send to otherpeople. They face the choice betweenbuying a new printer or finding a cheap wayto enhance the old one.

Metatext represents the enhancementroute. It is a £95 software utility which runson the IBM PC and close compatibles. Withit you can produce very readable near letterquality (NLQ) print on the IBM GraphicsPrinter and most Epson and Epson -compatible machines.

The penalty you pay for this quality is lossof speed. Metatext produces its NLQ outputby getting the printer to make several passesover the same piece of text. However, it doesalso let you switch back to your printer'snormal printing method, so you can stillprint quickly when quality does not matter.

Metatext comes on disc in a box with amanual. There is also a small, flat rect-angular piece of plastic called a puck, whichis for switching between your printer'snormal printing mode and Metatext'senhanced -quality printing. The puck hasDraft marked on one side of it, Quality onthe other. Inside is a gravity -sensitive switch.You turn whichever side you want face -up,and the Metatext software knows from theswitch position what quality to print.

The first thing you do when setting upMetatext is connect the puck. It has a thincable leading from it which fits between theprinter port on your computer and your ex-isting printer cable. You plug the puckadaptor into the port and then piggybackthe printer cable into the back of it.

To install Metatext you boot MS-DOS,

insert the disc and type MT80 or MT132,depending on the width of your printer.This sets Metatext running in a small area ofmemory, and then returns you after a fewseconds to the MS-DOS prompt. You canthen run existing software packages as

normal.Metatext takes up 29K of memory if you

are using an 80 -column printer, or 34K with132 columns. It ran without any troublewith all the software we tried, whichincluded Multiplan, Lotus 1-2-3 and various1-2-3 clones, Basic, and different wordprocessors. Memory -resident programs like

ETATEXT

IaVERDICT0

0 --,, 0(i P 0

k,

kt

Performance MI

Ease of use III

Documentation M M . Value for money

O Simple to install and very easy to use.Gives NLQ print of excellent standard.

Metatext can run into problems if you tryand use them at the same time as anothermemory -resident program, but we triedMetatext with Sidekick and it worked fine.

The advantage of Metatext compared tomany other printing utilities is that once youhave installed it you can forget about it. Youdo not have to send special Escape sequencesor any other commands. In each of theMetatext founts Metatext will print the fullIBM PC character set, so there is no need toalter any software. You just print frominside your application package in thenormal way, or use the IBM Print Screenkey, and Metatext prints in quality or draftmode depending on which way up the puckis.

MetatextMetatextMetatextMetatextMetatext

BM CHI

draft prprintingprintingprintingprinting

Draft and NLQ type from Metatext.

ds Printer outputint is the samein Courier fountin Typewriter fountin Italic fountin Orator Fount

L

SPECIFICATIONDescription: memory -resident printutility to produce higher -quality print onstandard dot-matrix printerFounts: offers Courier, Cubic, Elite,Italic, Orator and Typewriter founts inaddition to normal qualitySupported printers: Epson FX, RX,JX and LX series and compatibles, IBMGraphics Printer and compatiblesRuns on: IBM PC and clonesCopy protection: nonePrice: £95Publisher: Image Computer SystemsLtd, 27 Cobham Road, FerndownIndustrial Estate, Wimborne, DorsetBH21 7PE. Telephone: (0202) 876064Available: now

Metatext also produces very good qualityoutput. Usually it gets the printer to makethree passes when printing text in qualitymode, as against only one normally or indraft mode. On each pass Metatext fires adifferent set of pins in the print head, so thecharacters are built up on a different patternto the normal fount. This gives better resultsand allows for the use of several alternativefounts.

Metatext comes with six different fountson disc, but you can only have one going at atime. Courier is the default fount. If youwant to use Elite, for instance, you have togo back to the operating -system level andretype MT80 with the appropriate par-ameter. Fortunately, the Metatext manual isexcellent: all the information you need to dothis is there and it is very well presented.

As with other memory -resident utilitiesyou need to reinstall Metatext each time youturn on your machine. Since the Metatextdisc is not copy protected you can simplifythings for yourself by copying the relevantfiles on to your boot disc and setting up theAutoexec.Bat file to install Metatext auto-matically at power -on. This makes install-ation into a once -and -for -all task.

CONCLUSIONS Metatext is not cheap but it does producevery good printed NLQ output from standardmatrix printers. Where it really succeeds is inease of use. An alternative to Metatext for some printerssuch as the Epson FX series is to add ahardware NLQ card inside the printer. Thisgives good results but Metatext is slightlycheaper, and offers a broader choice of fountas a bonus. Metatext is best suited for people who domost of their work at draft speed but wantgood quality on special occasions.


rwi

Out of every 100 new type- writers soldin the UK, over one-third are from SILVER REED.Odds of around 11-4 in fact.

Now we're planning on the same impressive rate ofsuccess for our thoroughbred range of daisy wheelprinters -especially our new champion performer -theEXP 800.

Of course its not simply the SILVER REpedigree that will convinceyou -strong though SilverReed's reputation is. It's the Company Name

sheer performance and style Company Address

of the EXP 800 that makes it Post Code

EXP 800 has a revolutionary built-in triple interface-centronics, RS232C or IEEE -488 and it respondsinstantly to a host of sophisticated functions at thetouch of a switch. It has full IBM compatibility and a 3Kbuffer which is expandable to 40K.

There's a lot to be said for putting your investment1 where the smart money goes

a front runner. Name

It's got speed too -up to 40 Position

characters per second. And Tel No.

the Silver Reed stable isfavoured for the remarkablyclear impression all its runnersmake.

11,111,1,

EXP400 EXP500

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EXP550

-after all when you want topick a winner you're alwaysbetter off backing thefavourite.

EXP 800 -another racingcertainty from SILVER REEDand all for a target price ofunder £800.00.

EXP770

Circle No. 119

REVIEW

MIRACLE WS -3000HAYES COMPATIBLE MODEMSBy Steve Gold

The first BT -approved rangeof modems which can useboth the U.S. Bell andEuropean CCITT transmissionfrequencies.

If you pick up literature or even a manualfor a U.S. -originated personal -computercommunications program, you will see

the phrase "Hayes protocol compatible"throughout. Hayes is a modem man-ufacturer whose units - for better or worse- have had their control codes adopted asthe de facto standard. U.S.-built modemsadhere to them almost as rigidly as businessmicros seem to default to IBM PC standards.

Because of the plethora of commu-nications software available for personalcomputers, it is inevitable that the U.K.'sfledgling modem industry should bring outmodems compatible with prevailingsoftware standards. The WS -3000 series ofmodems are among the first offerings from amainstream U.K. company.

SPEED BUFFERINGPrincipal to the WS -3000 modem's

concept is the adoption of the Hayes pro-tocols, which permit control of the modemvia the computer keyboard. Such commandsmust adhere to a special format and areprefixed by the AT or similar commandprefix. They also allow speed buffering ofdata, so that a computer whose RS -232 willonly support same -speed full -duplex datatransfer can be connected with a split -speedservice such as Prestel.

The WS -3000 modems sport the grey,black and red livery that Miracle Technologynow regards as its standard colours. Thefront panel of the V-2123 unit has LEDindicators for: Power On, On-line, TerminalReady, Request to Send, Clear to Send,Carrier Detect, Send Data, Receive Data,and Autoanswer Mode.

The modem worked faultlessly withseveral micros and comms software pack-ages. Connection is simply a matter ofhooking up a 25 -way RS -232 plug on to therear of the sparsely populated back board ofthe WS -3000. Booting in a terminalsoftware package established direct com-munication with the modem, and onwardsto the phone line. Ideally, the RS -232should be set at 300 baud for 300 baudoperation, or 1,200 baud full -duplex for1,200 baud combinations such as 1,200 / 75,etc.

All units feature an on -board Nicad-backed, memory unit that retains up to 63telephone numbers plus descriptions forautodialling. This can be useful where suchfacilities were not available via thecomputer's software.

The WS -3000 V-2123 version does not usefull -duplex 1,200 baud, but offers host -con-trolled half -duplex switching. This meansthat only one 1,200 baud channel withassociated tone generation is in operation atany given time. There is no back channelsent, as is the case with 1,200 / 75 baudworking. In practice, there are very few hostsystems in the U.K. which allow working atsuch half -duplex speeds. The only publicoption which uses this rate is Prestel, andeven then only for bulk updating by infor-

MIRACLE WS -3000

PC VERDICT , ,..c., 4,,

0"1---\

Q. .53. - 6 ) o 94 - C) <ti

Performance

Ease of use

Documentation Value for money

fi Costly, but worth considering if youwant a full -featured modem withminimal hookup problems.

mation providers to its system. The onlyother possible use for such a half -duplex rateis for transmissions between basic WS -3000units, which brings to mind softwareexchange and its inherent overtones ofsoftware piracy, etc.

As well as offering CCITT tones in variousconfigurations, the WS -3000 also has thedistinction of being one of the first modemsto legally use 300 baud Bell frequency tonesin the U.K. It does this by generating aspecial guard -band frequency while the 300baud Bell tone is in operation. This preventsthe local telephone exchange from inter-preting the Bell tones as multi -frequencyspectrum. For this reason, modems which donot generate the guard -band frequencycannot legally connect to the U.K.'s phonesystem, which rules out almost every modemyet produced in the U.S.

All Hayes commands are prefixed withAT, which indicates to the modem that acommand is coming. The commands accept-able to the modem use a mnemonic which

SPECIFICATIONDescription: series of threeautodial/auto-answer modems usingHayes protocol; they handle U.S.-styleBell and European -style CCITTtransmission frequencies; BT -approvedHardware required: can be usedwith any micro equipped with an RS -232port and running Hayes -compatiblecomms software such as Enable, Fido,Framework, Symphony, Crosstalk,Smartcom, ASCII Express, Vicom andChit -ChatProtocols: Bell 103, CCITT V-21, V-23,V-22 (V-22 and V-22 bis models only),V-22 bis (V-22 bis model only)Prices: V-2123, £295; V-22 £495; V-22bis £650; data -security option, £98Manufacturer: Miracle Technology(U.K.) Ltd, St. Peters Street, Ipswich IPI1XB. Telephone: (0473) 216141Availability: now

allows the user to grasp the meaning of theabbreviations without constantly referringto the manual. This is a reflection of thesuperb simplicity of the Hayes protocolsrather than the modem itself. However, itmade installing and using the modem astraightforward process, especially whenlinking up to an unfamiliar machine withcommunications software that was difficultto understand.

The manual available for review with themachine was a draft one, without photosor glossy paper, in a basic photocopied A4format. It was obvious that it had beencompiled from the technical notes of themodem's designer. I found it a littledifficult to have to wade through severalchapters before going on-line. In the end Igave up reading at the third chapter, andhooked the modem up to my well -used BBCMicro. The fact that I got on-line almostimmediately is a tribute to the originators ofthe Hayes protocols, not to the manual'swriters. A revised manual is said to be inpreparation.

CONCLUSIONS The relatively high price of these units buysflexibility and ease of use. A wide range of communications softwareis available to drive them, since they acceptHayes -standard codes.II For anyone wishing to operate within theU.S. phone system from the U.K., no other BT -approved unit is yet available. The appearance of standard, serviceableunits of this kind is a reflection of the growingmaturity of micro comms in the U.K.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1986. 61

ESOFTWARE REVIEW

VP -PLANNER & TWINLOTUS CLONESBy Glyn Moody

Lotus 1-2-3, the world's top -selling package for over twoyears, is about to be undercut by a flock of programs whichoffer all its functions and more - at a fraction of the price.

It had to happen. After the IBMulators -clones of the top -selling IBM PC, oftenfor half the price - we now have Lotus

look-alikes which offer the full functionalityof 1-2-3. Two of the first past the mark, inwhat is almost certain to develop into a fastand furious contest, are VP -Planner andTwin.

As befits a product from Adam Osborne'sPaperback Software. VP -Planner doesindeed arrive in the form of a paperback,albeit a rather thick one. The Osborne phil-osophy is that software should be soldthrough traditional outlets such as book-shops, and packaged and priced accord-ingly. VP -Planner weighs in at a veryattractive £99.95.

COPY -PROTECTEDAs with all Paperback Software, the discs

are held in a reinforced pouch at the back ofthe book. The act of unsealing this is held tocommit you to all the usual dubious rig-marole about accepting the terms and con-ditions of the licensing agreement. As a mandedicated to injecting some sanity into theselling of software Osborne seems to bebacksliding. Another surprise is that themain system disc is copy -protected, but it ispossible to buy an unprotected disc - forusing with a Winchester, say - for a smallextra charge.

These gripes apart, the package emergesas little short of extraordinary in terms ofperformance and, especially, value formoney. For all that it is no more than apaperback, the manual is a paragon of itskind.

Installation is easy: you just put the disc inyour machine and run it. The openingscreen presents you with seven options,including Quit. Two options let you list thecurrent directory and set up the path namefor files to establish the working directory.The two main commands let you work withthe spreadsheet or with the multi-dimensional database.

As you might expect, the spreadsheetlooks and handles almost identically to Lotus1-2-3. The software authors have, however,been unable to resist the temptation tomake improvements. For example, 1-2-3lets you enter commands from the / menueither by selecting them with the cursor keysor using their initial letters. VP -Planner

displays commands at the foot of the screenrather than above the spreadsheet.

Extra features include the ability to hideportions of the spreadsheet. This is achievedby setting the column width to zero: thedata remains and can be displayed in thestatus line by moving the cursor into theappropriate part of the invisible region. Youcan set up six windows rather than two.Range names which have been defined canbe called up with a simple command, andthere is a relative Goto command; instead ofgiving the Goto address directly, you specify

VP -PLANNER

PC VERDICT ..0 ::-

q- 4 ,4 k-' (5', c,,z.'o---

<I0 P (5 0, -

Performance II i Ease of use M IIDocumentation . . . mValue for money

1 ] Matches Lotus 1-2-3 as aspreadsheet, and goes way beyond itas a database.

two cells where the required row and columnare stored.

There are a couple of interesting additionsto the family of @ functions, notably @polyand @root. The first evaluates a polynomialwhose coefficients are stored in a range ofcells, and the latter solves a similar poly-nomial using iterative approximations.

The ability to create macros - that is,complex strings of commands - and assign

them to single keys is one of Lotus's mostpowerful features, but also one of its mostopaque ones. VP -Planner supports all theusual Lotus features and uses the samecodes, but adds several of its own which gosome way to alleviating the complexities ofthe process.

Foremost among these is the Autokeymacro. Like Microsoft's Excel, reviewed inthe November issue of Practical Computing,VP -Planner will record a macro as you type itin. You simply invoke the Autokey Definecommand, and then proceed through themacro step by step. Until this mode is term-inated, every keystroke will be recorded andassigned to a predetermined key. The macrois than called up in the usual way by pressingthat key simultaneously with the Alt key.

Where VP -Planner goes furthest beyond1-2-3 is in its provision of a multi-dimensional database facility. This is inaddition to the primitive database functionsalso available on the spreadsheet, as with theLotus product.

Conceptually, the multi -dimensionaldatabase can be seen as an extension of thesedatabase facilities. Data is still entered on atwo-dimensional spreadsheet -like grid, withcolumn labels providing the fields, but inaddition the row labels act as further fields.This is a true two-dimensional database.

Higher dimensions are obtained byadding further spreadsheet grids. Forexample, on a database holding informationabout a range of product sales, the row labelsmight be a breakdown of gross and net sales,together with profits. The columns could bemonths, so the figures on each sheet wouldshow the variation of the gross and net salesfor each month.

If there were a whole range of products,each with sales and profit figures, a separatespreadsheet grid would be needed for each.This would produce a three-dimensionaldatabase. A fourth dimension would be

(continued on page 64)

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'SOFTWARE REVIEW

mpg PrintGraph Translate Install View Exit

tThter 1 Lotus Worksheet/Craphics/Datahase program

1-2-3 Access System

Lotus Development Corporation

Copyright 1985

All Rights Reserved

Release 2

The Access System lets you choose 1-2-3, Pr inttraph, the Translate utility,

the Install program, and A View of 1-2-3 from the menu at the top of this

screen. If you're using a diskette system, the Access System may prompt

you to change disks. Follow the instructions below to start a program.

o Use [RIGHT] or [LEFT] to move the menu pointer (the highlight bar at

the top of the screen) to the program you want to use.

o Press [RETURN] to start the program.

You can also start a program by typing the first letter of the menu

choice. Press [HELP] for more information.

Release 2's menus are like those of Lotus Report Writer.

Lotus Translate Utility Version 2.81

Copyright 1985 Lotus Development Corporation All Rights Reserved

What do you want to translate FROM?

1-2-3, release 1A

1-2-3, release 2

dllase II

dlase Ill

D1F

SYMPHONY, release 1.8

SYMPHONY, release 1.1

V1SICALC

Move the menu pointer to your selection and press [RETURN].

Press [ESCAPE] to leave the Translate Utility.

Press [HELP] for more information.

The Translate menu allows you to swap files between programs.

LOTUS 1-2-3 RELEASE 2It is three years since Lotus launched 1-2-3 on an unsuspectingworld. All the more surprising then, that there are not morechanges in its new release 2 of this top selling product. Partlythis reflects the fact that, like IBM, Lotus is effectively lockedinto its own standard. To stray too far from it would be to courtunpopularity and worse from a large and loyal user base - asMicropro found out to its cost with the radically differentWordStar 2000. Though 1-2-3 was a well -judged product fromthe start, there remains plenty of room for improvement,especially in terms of added facilities, as VP -Planner and Twinboth show. Lotus no doubt avoided this approach for fear ofharming sales of its other major product, Symphony.

The most radical changes have occurred in the packagingrather than the product. Gone is the dowdy cloth -bound case;instead we have a gleaming grey laminated case, with the newclean-cut logo.

Best of all, the manual has been split into three andcompletely rewritten. Getting Started and Tutorial both convertwhat were mind -numbingly pedantic chapters in the originalversion to light prose spiced with plenty of screen dumps andeven a few illustrations. In many respects this new airy imagereflects the distance Lotus 1-2-3 and its users have travelled: thedifference between Getting There and Being There. Thereference manual, perhaps the most important member of theset, also represents an improvement. The command tree is nowdrawn quite explicitly, though the format of the explanation isstill not as clear as that provided by the exemplary VP -Planner.

Changes to the program itself are relatively few and minor.For example, you can now set up spreadsheets with 8,192 ratherthan 2,048 rows; the 8087 and 80287 maths co -processors aresupported; and the upper memory limit has been boosted to4Mbyte. However, the minimum RAM has also increased from192K to 256K. You can also copy the system files to hard disc,but only once; they have to be copied off before reinstallingthem.

Release 2 has the same user-friendly menus found in LotusReport Writer, reviewed last month. Installation is controlledfrom an approachable front end, called Access. From this initial

menu you can also invoke the Print Graph program as well ascontrol the translation of files between different formats - say,from Jazz to 1-2-3. A welcome improvement is the ability toenter the path directory as you call up a file for retrieval.

On the main command menu there is a newcomer. CalledSystem it lets you hop back into DOS without losing all yourfiles. Typing Exit takes you back to where you left off. Thismeans that you can load another program while running 1-2-3,given sufficient memory.

The Worksheet -Global -Format -Hidden sequence makes thecontents of a specified range disappear on -screen, even thoughthey still exist. A new Range command, Transpose, switches arow into a column and vice versa. Data has two interestingadditions: matrix inversion and matrix multiplication. The matrixinversion is particularly neat and convenient; it also lookedpretty fast. Data has also acquired some regression capabilitiesand a more exotic one called Parse. This allows you to split up along entry occupying just one cell - possibly imported from adatabase - into separate cell entries.

There are a number of new functions, still signalled by theinitial @. Several of these beef up the string -handlingcapabilities, while others offer more obscure financial functionslike double -declining depreciation.

The Print Graph section has undergone rather more radicalchanges in its command structure, the net effect of them beingthat more choices are available as far as output hardware isconcerned.

Clearly release 2 is no radical revision of 1-2-3, just a tastefulface-lift. The biggest gains are for the tyro, who is less likely tobe intimidated by the manual. The old hands will have toconsole themselves with the fine-tuning which has been donehere and there.

Lotus 1-2-3 release 2 is free for those who purchased theearlier version on or after 24 April 1985, though there is a £25postage, packing and handling charge. For those who bought itearlier the inclusive cost is £140. Otherwise the full price is£395. Contact Lotus Development U.K. Ltd, Consort House,Windsor, Berkshire SL4 1EX. Tel: (0753) 840281.

83gang. Copy Move Pile Print Graph Data gull

GlohnI. I Delete. Colo.-Width Prase Titles Gina. Status

Sales

strict

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ar Graph Figures Pie Chart Figures

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From the left:

VP -Planner highlights function keys ininverse video.

Twin's command menu appears at thebottom of the screen.

The original Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet.

Lotus Release 2 shows the date and timeat the bottom left-hand corner of thescreen.


'SOFTWARE REVIEW


added if a different set of stacked sheets wereneeded for different sales regions.

Typical manipulations of such data wouldbe consolidating - that is, adding together- all the sales for the different regions foreach product, each month and each categorylike net sales. Alternatively the fourdimensions could be reduced down to threeby adding up all the months to give theyear's figures for each region, each productand each category.

If this sounds complicated, it is. Thinkingin four dimensions is not easy, and in factVP -Planner can handle five -dimensionaldatabases. In the example quoted this mightcorrespond to having all the informationalready described, but for several countries.VP -Planner does its best, allowing you to cutthrough the multi -dimensional sheets in anypair of the dimensions, and so input or editdata from any viewpoint. It also allows youto set up logical relations between elements.For example, you can specifiy that the Totalsfigure in the time dimension is obtained byadding up each of the months. Suchrelationships need to be specified, since thedatabase itself possesses none of the arith-metic abilities of a spreadsheet.

Multi -dimensional databases can belinked in with spreadsheets, allowing data tobe manipulated using the full range offunctions. Once modified, it can then bestored back in the database. This feature canbe used to link together the multi-dimensional database with dBase files. Thisis possible since the spreadsheet has a facilityto store and retrieve dBase files, and can actas an intermediary in the process.

CLEAR THINKINGThe ability to set up and manipulate

multi -dimensional databases is a very pow-erful feature and a complicated one. Gooduse of function keys and on -screen help isprovided, but a clear head is still needed.

Taken together with the other refine-ments, the inclusion of this powerful data-base facility in a package costing less thanone-third the price of 1-2-3 is astonishing.Even for current owners of the Lotus pro-duct, VP -Planner could well be worthbuying just for the additional features or as abackup system. It has no difficulty inhandling files created by 1-2-3, and workswith the new Lotus Report Writer, reviewedlast month. In fact, the otherwise excellentmanual almost assumes that you are familiarwith 1-2-3 anyway: it deals slightly perfunct-orily with the basics, partly because VP -Planner offers so much more in the way ofadvanced features. However, this lack is

compensated for by the full referencesections, which are clearer than their Lotuscounterparts.

Like VP -Planner, Mosaic Software's Twincombines added value with a price wellunder that of 1-2-3, in this case £145. Theextended graphics facilities it offers arepartly a product of Twin's place in a widerrange of programs called Integrated 7,published by the same company. One bonusit offers is the possibility of importing

graphs created from the spreadsheet - oreven 1-2-3 - into word-processing doc-uments. As a result of its enlarged graphicsfacility, Twin requires a minimum of 260Kto run, which is just too big for a 256Kmachine.

Once again, Twin's manual is rather lessgrand than the full Lotus set, taking theform of a thick spiral -bound booklet. A con-ventional pouch at the back holds the threediscs: two system discs and a library disc.They are not copy protected.

The installation process simply consists ofcopying across the system files from DOS tothe Twin disc so that you can boot straightup from that. The hardware configurationcan be altered from a very full menu ofoptions contained within the program.

The on -screen appearance is very similarto 1-2-3, except that the command menuonce again appears along the bottom of thescreen. Twin lets you change the back-ground colours of the program display.

Practically all the commands are set outand work in the same way as in the Lotusproduct, and data for 1-2-3 can be handledwithout problem. One slight variation,apparent when you are retrieving a file, is

TWIN

®VERDICT ,.-0....<

c?Q ,,,4. C9,

Performance MI M M

Ease of use III MI

Documentation 0 0Value for money D N El

El Gives you everything Lotus does, plusa wider range of graphics.

,

that the disc directory obscures the display ofthe spreadsheet itself. This has theadvantage of clarity and can also cope withextended directories. Once a file is selected,the spreadsheet display is reinstated.

Choosing Graph from the main com-mand menu causes the substantial sub-sidiary graphics program to be pulled infrom the main system disc. This can berather slow, particularly if you are jumpingbackwards and forwards between the spread-sheet itself and graphs produced from it. Aswell as the normal 1-2-3 options, Twinallows you to produce three-dimensional bargraphs, which use blocks rather than strips, asimilar three-dimensional pie chart, and apie / bar chart in which one of the pie slices isfurther exploded into a bar chart.

Most of the extra features are controlledfrom the Options three -page sub -menu. Asin the directory listing, the command menusspill over a substantial part of the spread-sheet itself. The first page handles the size,colour and fount of the legends whichappear on the graph. There are eight sizes,two palettes of three colours, and you canuse three out of 11 possible founts.

SPECIFICATIONSVP -PLANNER

Description: Lotus 1-2-3 clone withadded multi -dimensional databasefacilitiesHardware required: IBM PC orcompatible with at least 256K RAMCopy protection: yes; unprotecteddisc available for around £8Publisher: Paperback Software,CaliforniaU.K. distribution: Unique SolutionsLtd, 17-21 Castle Street, Cardiff CF1 2BT.Telephone: (0222) 390714. ComputerFrontier (U.K.), Business and TechnologyCentre, Bessemer Drive, Stevenage,Hertfordshire, SG1 2DX. Telephone:(0438) 310163Price: £99.95Availability: now

TWINDescription: Lotus 1-2-3 clone withextended graphics facilities; part ofIntegrated 7 family of productsHardware required: IBM PC orcompatible with at least 260K RAMCopy protection: nonePublisher: Mosaic Software,Cambridge, Ma 02140, U.S.A.U.K. distributor: Future ManagementCorporation Ltd, 38 Tanners Drive,Blakelands North, Milton Keynes MK145LL. Telephone: (0908) 615274Price: £145Availability: now

The second page of the sub -menu allowsdetailed control of the axes. For example,you can specify linear or logarithmic scales,and whether a grid is to be displayed. Thefinal page handles the details of shading andthe legends to be appended.

The other graphics feature of note is theability to create so-called slide files ratherthan printed outputs. These can beimported later into a text document createdwith the companion word processor in theIntegrated 7 family.

MANUAL ADEQUATEThe accompanying manual is adequate,

but bears no comparison with that for VP -Planner. If that skimped slightly on thebasics, Twin's ignores them almost com-pletely. Macros in particular suffer from alack of detailed explanation. The only areato receive its due is graphics wherethe extra facilities are explained at length.The command list follows Lotus's listingsformat, which looks very confused comparedto VP -Planner's well thought-out and well -presented nested commands. Against thedensely packed eight pages of index of thePaperback Software package, Twin has arather more meagre four. Even more thanVP -Planner, Twin seems to assume that youeither know how to use 1-2-3 or are preparedto go out and buy a book on the subject.

Twin's main strength is undoubtedly itsextended graphics. For anyone who is con-sidering 1-2-3 but requires particularlystrong graphing facilities, Twin is a sensiblebuy. In fact, even current 1-2-3 owners may


U SOFTWARE REVIEW

VP -PLANNER

VP PLANNER

Copyright 1915

Kent Brothers, David Mitchell, James StephensonStephenson Software Inc

All rights reserved

Published by Paperback Software International

WHICH VERSION OF THE PROGRAM DO YOU WISH TO RUN?

0:1=111313112 Multidimensional Database with Worksheet

3 CreateEdit Mullidieensional Database Structure4 Path for Multidieensional Files

5 Directory Listing

6 Transfer to and from DIF Files

7 Quit

Enter selection,

The opening menu presents you with seven options.

JwITASE SPECIFICATION Database name - VIDGETS1 DIMNUL Account Category - 8

]numberof Dimensions - 4

'Noche, of places behind the decimal point. Rates - 2

Enter,Edit short and long dimension names

Short Names Long Names

Dimension 1 TIME Time

Dimension 2 ACCT Account

Dimension 3 PROD Product

Dimension 4 ' REGION SALES REGIONS

IIINCTION KEYS

HELP

Amount, A

Ctrl left and right arr. to Jump hetween

38

WUR

4 AIMYou can set up a four-dimensional database.

1.1.410iSE SPECIFICATION

ItIonther of Dimensions - 4

Database name - WIDGETSEDIMNUL Account Category - 0

Humber of places hehind the decimal point.

Enter4dit short and long category names

Enter names for: AccountShort Names

Rates - 2 Amounts id

Select dimension number 2

AmountstAlLong Names OR ItatesIRi

FUNCTION KEYS 1 UNITS Unit Sales A

1 ELI 2. REPS Unit Retail Price

3, GIRO) Gross Revenues

do itmn n 4 COG Unit Cost of Goods

5. GRPA Gross Profit

6. AUNITS Actual Unit Sales A

7. AGAREU Actual Gross Revenues

B. AGRPR

9. parrsActual Gross Profit

Actual Unit Retail Price

OR. AGOG Actual Cost of Goods

Ctrl left and right arrow to Mmp lietween columns

Setting up details within each dimension.

51111INSTM

legend

PS PAW.

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IN VCR WKS NADR WKS iliVITAIRS NUS POR1EAS1 OS ROI 111E

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Bar data range for Pie Bar

Bar label range for Pie Bar

Subtitles (For Pie -Bar charts,

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FrIFIB

The Graph menu over part of the spreadsheet.

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Color Scale Units Between N Labels

tics Between A Labels

Units Between 11 Labels

Tics Between II Labels

Units Between Y2 Labels

tics Between 12 tables

Toff

You can label the x and y axes.

find it worth the price, especially if they findthe possibility of importing graphs intoword-processing documents attractive. Thefact that Twin is part of a complete inte-grated family may also be a point in itsfavour for those who are looking for acomplete system with 1-2-3 compatibility.

When people started copying the PC,IBM took it surprisingly well, judgingrightly that more clones meant a biggermarket penetration, and so more softwareand mote reason to buy IBM. Lotus may notprove so benevolent. VP -Planner and Twinmay be among the first clones to appear, butthey will certainly not be the last, AnotherLotus look -alike on the horizon is Practicalc,part of an entire clone family.

Clones of 1-2-3 will add to the effectiveinstalled base of the product, but theincreased production of Lotus add-onswould be nowhere near so important toLotus as more IBM software has been to

IBM. The bottom line is that Lotus stands tolose out.

End -users can only benefit from this kindof competition, but American courts maystart coming down hard on anything evenvaguely resembling a product clone. TheGem settlement between Apple and DigitalResearch may not be representative, butthere are other cases which indicate thatvisual appearances alone may be enough toconvince the courts that an infringement hastaken place.

CONCLUSIONS VP -Planner is a Lotus 1-2-3 clone with avery powerful multi -dimensional databasebuilt in as an extension.MI Twin is also fully Lotus 1-2-3 compatible,and has extended graphics facilities. Both packages are good value.In The manual of VP -Planner is excellent, bothin terms of content and appearance.

It would be sad if the big boys were allow-ed to stifle any suggestion of creativeborrowing, though obviously they have aright to protect their investment in asuccessful product. But if they do obtain aruling from the courts which maintains theireffective monopolies, to what extent is isreasonable that they should charge artif-icially high prices? For the moment end -users would do well to get in there while theycan, and benefit from the coming spate ofhigh -quality software clones.

Partly as a result of its power, but alsobecause of the need to keep within 1-2-3 con-ventions, VP -Planner's database is ratherdifficult to use. Twin falls down slightly on its somewhatinadequate manual, which tends to assume,even more than that for VP -Planner, basicexpertise in 1-2-3.


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Circle No. 120

'SOFTWARE REVIEW

4-

u'iw ....

MICROSOFT WINDOWSTHE MULTI -TASKING WIMPBy Mike Lewis

Not just another window, icon and mouse program, but a vehicle that will allow existingMS-DOS applications to be run and displayed simultaneously.

use master

display structure

Structure for file: C:MASTER ,DBF

Hinter of records: 00001

Date of last update: 20(11/85

Primary use database

Fld Name Type Vidth Dec

001 NAME C 016

0812 PHONE C 012

003 SOURCE .0 004

004 DATE:SEEN C 008

005 TINES:SEEN N 002

006 REASON C 001

oea -File Edit Search

_,F4mNIRAm

4u0fraTogigirm; 8,.9.00

ANA r.

Enter filename (or RTN to quit): windows,

File View

MS-DOS Executive

pecial

A

AB

1 CACALENDAR.EX

CARDFILLEX

p End Session

Create Directory...

Change Directory...

Format Data Disk...

Make System Disk...

Set Volume Mame...

EX E

: XE

:OM

, EX E

F

The new program is terrific, but

routine is especially slow, I kno

when I first saw a review copy ofWindows, I jumped to theconclusion, as many others

seem to have done, that here was anotherMacintosh -like Wimp manager, bringingicons, overlapping windows and multiplefounts to the world of MS-DOS. So I startedpreparing this review as a point -by -pointcomparison against that other exponent ofthe graphical interface, Digital Research'sGem.

On this somewhat simplistic basis, theMicrosoft product scored badly. Its windowsdid not overlap, its use of graphics was verylimited, and only one of its subsidiaryapplications could handle the fancy founts.

No fewer than 11 separate programs areactive here, five of them visible on thescreen. We noticed considerabledegradation, but at least the clock stillkept the correct time.

A definite win for Digital Research, or so Ithought.

But after using Windows regularly forseveral weeks, I am now convinced not onlythat it is the superior product, but that itleaves the competition standing. Forgetabout Wimps; that is not what Windows isall about. It is as a vehicle for multi -taskingthat this program really shines.

With Windows, you can run several tasksat the same time, you can quickly and easily

switch between them, and you can transferboth text and graphics from one to another.Best of all, Windows works with existingapplications; you do not need a specialversion of your favourite database or spread-sheet to take advantage of its power.

The whole thing is controlled by acommand -line substitute called the MS-DOS Executive, which is invoked auto-matically when you start Windows. Thisshows, in a window, a list of the files in thecurrent directory, and also sports a set ofpull -down menus for copying files,changing directories, and suchlike tasks.

Running a program is simply a matter ofpointing to the appropriate file name with



'SOFTWARE REVIEW


the mouse and double-clicking the button.Windows then relegates the Executive to thegrey icon bar at the foot of the screen, andopens a fresh window for the selectedapplication. This can be moved around andresized like any other window, and has asingle pull -down menu for such operationsas cut and paste.

The multi -tasking aspects of this processare not always obvious. The point is thatafter you have started the applicationrunning, you can close its window while yougo on to something else. Meanwhile, theoriginal job is still executing in thebackground. The only indication of what isgoing on in memory is the icon bar, sincethis shows an icon for each program that iseither running or waiting for attention fromthe user.

When you want to take a look at any ofthe background tasks, you drag its icon fromthe grey bar towards the centre of the screen.This causes the application's window toreopen. It is possible to split the screenbetween several applications by draggingone icon to the border of another's window.

Of course, the application program is un-aware that it is running in a window, andwill happily display its output as if it had thewhole screen to itself. Only a portion of thescreen is visible at any one time, so you haveto use the scroll bars at the window's edge topan the window around the virtual screen.This raises a small problem when the cursoris outside the window area, since it is

possible to enter data through the keyboard,and for the program to accept what you havetyped, without your input being visible. Nodata will be lost, but it could be dis-concerting if you are not aware of what ishappening.

REDISPLAYS OUTPUTUnfortunately, not all programs can run

in a window. The system works by inter-cepting the program's screen output, andeither redisplaying it in a window orinhibiting it completely if the program isrunning in background. This is fine if theprogram uses MS-DOS system calls todisplay its output, but many softwarepackages bypass MS-DOS and write directlyto the video -mapped memory instead.

To make matters worse, Windows cannotintercept graphics output, so many popularapplications - including Lotus 1-2-3 andMicrosoft Word - are unable to run in awindow. Microsoft has provided specialgraphics routines to make such softwareWindows -compatible, but so far very fewvendors have taken it up.

Where an application is unable to run in awindow, the system hands the entire screenover to it. But you can still switch to and frobetween the application and Windowssimply by pressing Alt and Tab at the sametime. However, only one such full -screentask can be active at a time. While it is

switched out, it does not continueexecution, although you can return to it atexactly the point at which you left it.

Switching out in this way needs lots of

RAM, so the Alt -Tab technique does notwork with memory -hungry programs. Hereyou need to quit the application beforereturning to Windows. The same is true ofprograms that read the keyboard directlyrather than through MS-DOS, since therewould be no way of trapping Alt -Tab.

By now it should be clear that Windowsneeds to know a lot about a program beforeit can start it running. It needs to know howthe program writes to the screen and readsthe keyboard, whether or not it outputsgraphics, how much RAM it uses, and alsowhat other resources it needs.

PIFSIt gets these parameters from a set of

program information files - Pifs for short.There is one file for each application.Windows comes with Pifs pre -installed forseveral mass -market packages like Lotus1-2-3 and WordStar, but for other programsyou need to set them up yourself.

Creating a Pif is easy enough, thanks tothe Pif Editor, which reduces the task to aform -filling exercise. The trouble is that theaverage user has no way of knowing what tofill in. How many of us know whether ourfavourite word processor writes directly tothe screen, or reads the keyboard buffer, oreven how much RAM it needs? But this isjust the sort of information that you musthave if the program is to run in a window,which is the whole point after all.

The only advice that the Windows

WINDOWS

PC VERDICT,,,.00

S

,,,4, e_4,

--\ 0T 0 di

Performance

Ease of use

Documentation

Value for money

E] If you really want multi -tasking, thiscould be your best bet.

manual gives on this issue is to experiment,and that is exactly what I did. I found thatall my Microsoft Basic and Turbo Pascalprograms ran in their own windows, as diddBase II and III, Rbase, Sagesoft's Chit -Chatpackage, the IBM Assistant series andMultiplan. On the other hand, WordStar,Reflex, Supercalc 3 and Microsoft Word allneeded the full screen, and the first two ofthese failed to respond to Alt -Tab.

With Basic, I could not use any of thegraphics commands, which seemed reas-onable, nor would the Screen statementwork, which was surprising. Windows quiteproperly stopped me from using Chit -Chatwhile its own terminal -emulator was active,since both require the communications port.I was delighted to see that Sidekick workednormally. The biggest failure occurred whenI tried to run a program that itself uses the

® Pro ran Information Editor

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Program Title

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Directly Modifies:

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Microsoft Basic Interpreter

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The Program Information Editor is used totell Windows how to run an applicationprogram. Filling in the form is easyenough; knowing what to enter issometimes more difficult.

SPECIFICATIONDescription: multi -tasking extension toMS-DOS, providing fast switchingbetween tasks; includes a word processorand painting program and a large set ofdesk accessoriesHardware required: IBM PC, XT, ATor close compatible, RM Nimbus,Apricot; needs at least 256K RAM, twinfloppies or hard disc, MS-DOS 2 or later,graphics card or equivalent; a hard disc,mouse and 640K RAM are stronglyrecommendedCopy protection: nonePrice: £95 for Windows and deskaccessories; Windows Write andWindows Paint are also included in pricefor the initial releasePublisher: Microsoft Corporation ofBellevue, Washington, U.S.A.U.K. distributor: Microsoft Ltd, ExcelHouse, 49 De Montfort Road, Reading,Berkshire RG1 8LP. Telephone: (0734)500741Available: early 1986

Microsoft mouse: this caused the system tocrash completely.

All this experimentation was very time-consuming. Perhaps the day will come whensoftware publishers automatically includetheir products' Pif parameters in themanuals, or even supply the file itself.

CUT AND PASTENo multi -tasking operating system or

extension is complete nowadays withoutsome form of cut and paste betweenapplications. Windows resembles theMacintosh in this respect, with its built-inclipboard. With both window -basedapplications and those that take over theentire display, you can copy whole screens tothe clipboard by pressing Alt-PrtSc. Thisworks for graphics just as well as for text.Alternatively, you can use the mouse toselect any rectangular portion of a window,then execute the Copy command from apull -down menu to transfer this to theclipboard.

Similarly, there is a paste command whichcopies from the clipboard into a window.With text, the effect is the same as if you hadtyped the data at the keyboard. You cannotpaste to full -screen applications, although


SOFTWARE REVIEW

Microsoft Basic Inte reter NIB Note ad - PROGNOTE,TXT

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Top: The highlighted portion of theBasic window can be copied to theclipboard by selecting the appropriatecommand from a pull -down menu.Above: The clipboard's contents have nowbeen copied to another application. This isa good deal faster than merging files, andcan also be used with graphics.

you can copy graphics from such programsinto the Paint program.

Perhaps the most important issue whicharises when looking at multi -tasking is thequestion of degradation. To what extentdoes one program slow down the executionof another? With Windows, degradationcertainly exists, but not always to the extentof reducing overall throughput. A lotdepends on the type of programs that arerunning.

For example, I have a particularly large

spreadsheet which normally takes a full 20seconds to recalculate. When running underWindows, with no other task active, thetime increased to 32 seconds. However, Ithen tried running the spreadsheet at thesame time as typing furiously into a wordprocessor. The recalculation time increasedto 36 seconds, but during that time I wasable to type a fairly lengthy paragraph, withno noticeable loss of response from thekeyboard.

WORD COUNTER SLOWIn another test, 1 set my word -counting

program going while the spreadsheet was atwork. It normally takes 62 seconds to counta 4,000 -word file, but in this case thetime was 92 seconds. During this time, therecalculation was virtually suspended,although it resumed at normal speed once

the word counting was finished. I put thispoor performance down to the continualdisc accessing that is required by the wordcounter.

Even switching between windows can takeseveral seconds while disc -intensive tasks arein progress, although at other times it is

instantaneous. Perhaps the worst result I

obtained was on loading dBase II. Thisneeded a staggering 33 seconds just to writeits sign -on message, compared to just threeseconds taken to do the same task outsideWindows.

I carried out these tests on an OlivettiM-24, a very speedy machine whenmeasured against an IBM PC/XT. But theresults would be a good deal better on an ATor one of its look-alikes. I have seenWindows running on the 80286 -basedApricot Xen, and while I was not able tocarry out detailed timings, I certainly didnot notice the slightest degradation in per-formance.

DESK ACCESSORIESYou would probably see much better

performance from programs written espec-cially for Windows. So far, the only ones toappear are Microsoft's own Windows Writeand Windows Paint, and a CAD packagecalled In -a -Vision from Micrografix. There isalso a collection of desk accessories which aresupplied with Windows itself; these includea card file, notebook, calendar, calculator,clock and terminal emulator.

If you want to write your own Windows -compatible applications, you will need tobuy a programmer's toolkit from Microsoft.This allows you to construct your own pull -down menus, dialogue boxes, mousesupport, application icons, and much more,all in standard Windows format. It alsosupplies the system calls you need to outputgraphics to a window.

I have not yet had a chance to get to gripswith the toolkit, but at first sight it looksmany times easier to use than the Gemequivalent. But the best thing aboutWindows is that none of the goodies in thetoolkit are really important, since mostprograms can run under Windows withoutthem knowing anything about the interface.This fact alone puts the product streetsahead of Gem.

CONCLUSIONSIIIIt is a mistake to regard Windows as anotherMacintosh -like graphical interface. Its Wimpfeatures are incidental to its main role as avehicle for multi -tasking. Its greatest strength is the fact that it can beused with existing applications, although someapplications are more amenable to runningunder Windows than others. The effortneeded to find out if, and how, a givenprogram interacts with the system could beconsiderable.N Transferring graphics and text betweenprograms is very simple.IIIAlthough switching between tasks is usuallyvery rapid, you can expect a noticeableslowing down of some programs in certaincircumstances, especially when runningWindows on 8088/86 -based machines. [a


SOFTWARE REVIEW uple[151[CALIFORNIA/ 'I. Ira,.

FRAMEWORK IIINTEGRATED GIANTBy Glyn Moody

Ashton-Tate has produced anexceptionally elegant andpowerful multi -functionprogram, but how manypeople will have the time orpatience to learn to use it?

practical Computing voted Frame-work the commercial softwarepackage of 1985. Now Ashton-Tate

has come out with Framework II, and foronce gilding the lily has produced a productwhich is not only bigger but also sub-stantially better.

The original Framework was by no meansperfect. As is often the case with integratedpackages, the word-processing features werelimited and the comms were manifestlybolted on as an afterthought. It is in thesetwo areas that the main changes haveoccurred.

The first thing you notice about Frame-work II is the size of the box: it is gross.There seems to be another law of secondreleases, that however minor the changes tothe program are, the manuals are given athorough revamp. In all, there are fivemanuals, eight discs and a host ofparaphernalia such as quick -reference cardsand keyboard templates.

TRY IT AND SEEThe manuals are arranged a bit like the

recent Encyclopaedia Britannica with itsPropaedia, Micropaedia and Macropaedia.Ashton-Tate's efforts consist of anintroductory Getting Started, a basicLearning Framework, a Using Framework forreference and a final Advanced Framework.Apart from the obvious shifts in level, thereare also differences in approach, notably inLearning Framework where the emphasis ison try it and see.

Generally the manuals are an improve-ment over the earlier versions. They are wellwritten and well produced with full indexes,but to my mind they are badly let down bythe peculiarly opaque instructions on settingup the system. It turns out that all theinformation is on the Set Up disc itself,though since this point is mentioned only inpassing it is all too easy to miss. For the in-experienced user this could be very off-putting.

There are no fundamental changes in theway in which Framework operates. As thereview of the original Framework inFebruary 1985 issue of Practical Computing

explained, everything is based around theidea of frames, which are like windows,except that they are much more active. Forexample, frames can hold not only text,spreadsheets, databases and graphs, but alsoother frames, which may in turn hold any ofthose as well as formulae. The formulaeare built up in Fred, the frame -editinglanguage. This too is an extension offamiliar ideas: all Fred commands andfunctions begin with @, just as in VisiCalcor Lotus 1-2-3. One final element, takenfrom the Macintosh way of doing things, ispull -down menus.

Where Framework scores over its rivalsand is so innovative is in the thoroughnesswith which these basic concepts can be

FRAMEWORK II

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E Currently the ultimate integratedpackage, though for many people itmay not be the most practical solution.

applied at every level, and in everyapplication. So, for example, the pull -downmenus have the same effect in whateverapplication. You can also copy framesholding frames holding frames just as easilyas single words. The command structureremains constant, wherever you happen tobe in the program.

Framework II's biggest advance is in thearea of comms. Where before there was aseparate program called Mite, with its owncommand structure, telecommunicationshave now been fully integrated into theframe approach. The comms are called upfrom a new pull -down menu, called Apps,placed at the extreme left of the menu bar.Calling up the next level down from thetelecommunications option brings up amenu of services which for the U.S. releasereviewed here included Lexis, Compuserveand seven others, all of which can be dialleddirect by the machine without further inter-vention from the user.

The parameters such as dial -up number,baud rate, parity and the rest can be preset

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using the Setup menu, also available fromthe main telecomms menu. The versionreleased in the U.K. will come set up forservices such as Telecom Gold, Prestel andOne to One.

After you have been connected via yourmodem to one of these services, a commsframe opens to display the incoming data.This frame can then be handled like anyother: information may be copied across toother frames, and so on. It is possible to keepa comms frame active in the backgroundwhile you carry out other tasks such asspreadsheet calculations. A small on -screennote reminds you that you are still runningup a phone bill even if the telecomms screen


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SPECIFICATIONDescription: integrated package withword processor, mail -merging, spellingchecker, spreadsheet, database, graphicsand commsSystems requirements: 384K IBMPC or PC/AT; 512K RAM with hard disc isdesirablePrice: £550; earlier version bought after1 September 1985 may be upgradedfree; for those bought earlier upgradecosts £85Copy protection: yes; can be copiedonce only to hard discPublisher: Ashton-Tate, Oaklands, 1Bath Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL64UH. Telephone: (0628) 33123Availability: now

has been folded away. The buffer for thisbackground capture can be set to up to 64K.

There are two types of transmission: texttransfer and file transfer. The latter in-corporates error checking, and is always aforeground process. If the on -board modemhas autodial facilities, you can also use anoption from the same comms menu to dial anumber by pointing to it in a frame, andthen conduct a normal voice conversation.

The Apps menu also allows you to accessthe other new feature of Framework II: an80,000 -word spelling checker. Once again,this is fully integrated into the frame -basedoperating environment. To use it you simplyselect your document, spreadsheet, or

database, or even a set of frames with sub -frames, go to the Apps menu, select thespelling checker, and then run it.

When the check encounters an unknownword, it will offer you what it judges nearalternatives which you can then select, orwill add the new word, or just go on. Thescreen photograph above shows some of thewords it did not recognise, as well as itssuggestions for the strange English word"colour". The version shipped in the U.K.will have fully anglicised dictionaries, andwill use £ signs and so on. Running off ahard disc on a fast AT -alike, the check wascarried out very quickly. Additonal refine-ments include the ability to detect con-secutively repeated words and to installpersonal, as well as business and computersub -directories.

A number of other word-processingfeatures have been added or tightened up.For example, page breaks can be set and arevisible, there are soft hyphens and non -breaking spaces, and there is now a usefulword count.

MAIL MERGEMail -merging has also been fully in-

tegrated into the working of the program.By making the relevant database co -residenton the desk top, it is very easy to insert theappropriate field names in the document tobe merged. The field names, which are heldas column headings in the database, areplaced between < and > markers. Providedthe database file is on the desk top, invokingMailmerge from the Apps menu carries outthe insertions automatically. The new Mail -merge works with dBase II and III files too.A feature lets you print labels, using framedragging techniques which are very similarto those employed in the Lotus ReportWriter reviewed last month.

The other main improvement to theword processor is the gathering together ofall the commands which handle the printedappearance, including headers, footers, andcondensed and NLQ print, in a new sub -menu of the Print menu. Originally thesecommands formed part of the Fred

language: their new position should ensuretheir wider use.

Other small changes in Framework IIinclude the addition of 13 Fred commands,and an extra menu option here and there toround things out. You can also set up largerframes of all kinds, using boards likeRampage and Above Board. This is con-trolled from the Set Up program which alsolets you allocate portions of hard discs asvirtual memory. This allows frames and fileswhich are too big for RAM to be shunted offto the Winchester, which acts as a kind ofmake-believe RAM extension. Files can beimported and exported from a number ofprograms such as Lotus, WordStar andMultimate. More important is the ability toset up keyboard macros by recording themfrom the keyboard as you go through therelevant sequence. This method is a greatimprovement over having to type them inexplicitly.

MACROS ON -SCREENMacros are held in a new on -screen

feature, the library cabinet. This replaces theolder Maclib program. Also stored here areprinting templates and abbreviations, whichare set up in the same way as macros and letyou shorten commonly used phrases to acouple of letters which are then auto-matically replaced.

The most important difference betweenthe two versions is that Framework is nowtruly integrated. You can treat all theapplications in exactly the same way, andshift data effortlessly between them. Thefive functions are now, at last, equals.Ashton-Tate has ironed out the bumps andproduced full -function applications which,together with the powerful if slightlydaunting Fred programming language,should meet all professional needs. Theresult is probably the first totally integratedpackage which does not skimp on any of itscomponent parts.

But the question remains: does anyonereally need such monster programs? In itspresent form, Framework is a monumentalpiece of coding and a veritable softwarecolossus. Because of its conceptual purityand rigour - the way everything comes backto nested frames - getting to grips with itsmany functions is also a formidable task.Perhaps it is best regarded as the ultimateturbo -charged power program, and left tothose who feel equal to its challenge.

CONCLUSIONSII1Framework II improves on an alreadyimpressive earlier version by fully integratingcomms into its system of pull -down menus andframes.MR is still relatively complicated, and requiresa clear and logical mind to navigate its many -layered complexities.EThe word -processor element now holds itsown against most stand-alone packages, andhas many other features besides, such as aspelling checker and mail -merging."'Such is the size and power of the programthat you could not sensibly contemplaterunning it on anything less than an AT orcompatible.


IIISOFTWARE REVIEW

PROJECT PLANNERSORGANISING YOUR RESOURCESBy Richard Sarson

This month we take a closer look at the Tabloid programswritten with the everyday micro user in mind, but notforgetting the more sophisticated Heavyweight packages.

ast month we looked at how project -management software can be useful inhandling the costing and scheduling

of large and complex jobs. A new breed ofprogram that has sprung up over the last twoor three years allows anyone with an ordinarybusiness micro to do the kind of analysis pre-viously available only to large companiesand project -management specialists. TheseTabloid packages join the Heavyweightprograms derived from specialised main-frame software. How far and in what waysthese packages reflect what goes on in aproject varies from program to program.

One of the main differences is the way inwhich systems represent the time, resourcesand costs of a project. For instance, thesimpler systems assume that one activitystarts immediately the last one has finished.In real life, you can start pouring concretebefore your mate has finished digging thetrench. Apart from the Heavyweights, onlyTimeline can handle these leads and lagsaccurately.

SMALL UNITSMost of the packages allow time to be ex-

pressed in units, which range from minutesto months. Having the right time unitmatters where, for instance, a firm works ahalf -day on Saturday. For this, time units ofdays and weeks alone are not good enough.

The cheaper systems have one calendar,but the Heavyweights have more - up to256 on Cresta. This could be useful, say, ona project in the Gulf, where the Muslimweekend is Friday and Saturday, and alsowhere subcontractors may work differenthours.

Most systems relate the calendar to theactivity but some, notably Superproject,give a calendar to every resource. This willtake into account where an art director and acameraperson may be working on the sameclip, but may work different hours with diff-erent holidays. Some of the Heavyweightsallow the user to state the day of the week onwhich an activity should start - useful ifyou know that Charlie will always have ahangover on Monday. Another thing towatch out for is that some packages do notrecognise that different countries usedifferent formats for dates. Expressing 2June 1985 as 6.2.85 can be very confusingfor a British user.

There are differences in the size ofnetwork which can be handled. On thecheaper systems this can vary from 200activities on the Harvard Project Managerup to 2,500 activities on Pertmaster.Heavyweights Hornet and Plantrac quote upto 64,000 activities. However, this is a theor-etical figure which could not be controlledby one person or fitted on to a 10Mbyte disc.The realistic maximum for a single system is3,000 to 4,000 activities. Cresta quotes32,000 activities for its multi-user system.

There are two different ways of buildingup a network. The first is by defining anactivity as a duration between twonumbered nodes, which are connected toother activities. This is called an arrownetwork. The second is by precedence,where the activity is defined merely by theduration of the activity and the ident-ification of the activity which precedes it.Both methods have their adherents amongproject managers. The cheaper U.S.packages are precedence only, but some ofthe Heavyweight British systems have mixedsub -projects, with some on arrow and someon precedence.

A year or two ago, a major issue in theselection of project -management systemswas whether they catered for sub -projects,and whether resources could be spread overmulti -projects. Now, almost every packageoffers sub -projects in one form or another.

A final difficulty some of the cheaperpackages have when dealing with time isthat once an activity is under way there is noprovision for changing the remainingduration or the percentage completed, evenif it has become obvious that your originalestimate was wrong. You are stuck with theoriginal estimate of time.

As well as calculating the length of time a

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project will take, the programs work outwhether resources allocated to the activitiesin a network get overloaded. The cheaperprograms beep or flash when they find anoverload, and wait for the user to move theactivities around to remove it.

The Heavyweights try to overcome theproblem by performing automatic resourcesmoothing. At its simplest this meanslevelling out the resources to reduce thepeaks by shifting the activities around,moving the overloads as far as possible intotrough periods when the resource is under-utilised. Others go further and delay thecompletion date of the whole project toremove the overloads.

Hornet and Kernel are even more sophist-icated. They have two overload limits on aresource. One is the normal level, whichindicates, say, that the normal number ofbricklayers is five, but with an absolute limit

THE HEAVYWEIGHTSThe Heavyweight packages surpass the Tabloids in features, size and power. They arelikely to be used by professional production managers as their basic tool and are lessuser-friendly than the Tabloids. Prices start at around £1,500 and rise to over £10,000.

Artemis: Metier Ltd, 23 Clayton Road, Hayes, Middlesex UB3 'IAN. Telephone: 01-8483400. Cresta: K&H Ltd, 9 Villiers Road, Kensington upon Thames, Surrey KT1 3AP.Telephone: 01-549 0056. Hornet: Claremont Controls Ltd, Albert House, Rothbury,Morpeth, Northumberland NE65 7SR. Telephone: (0669) 21081. Kernel: Harvey Baker& Partners, 1 Mansell Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire CV37 6NR. Telephone:(0789) 295880. Plantrac: Computerline Ltd, 118 Church Road, Addlestone,Weybridge, Surrey KT15 1SG. Telephone: (0932) 40298.


ESOFTWARE REVIEW

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of seven if contract labour is taken on.Hornet goes a stage further by making itpossible to specify a maximum and mini-mum duration to an activity as well as theordinary estimated duration, so as tooptimise the use of resources.

The packages offer a varying number ofresources available to a project. Only 35 areavailable on Microplanner, but many offerunlimited numbers, even among thecheaper systems. Most packages define aresource as Labour, Material, Plant or Over-heads, but project Manager's Workbenchdefines a resource as Labour only.

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When allocating a resource to an activity,some packages allow the resource to beapplied to only part of the activity. Forinstance, a crane may only need to be avail-able for part of the time for erecting the firstfloor of a building. Cresta, Kernel, Micro -planner and Plantrac offer this facility.

Cresta allows you to offer an alternativeresource, such as a drawing -office manager,if there is an overload on the normal resourceof drawing -office staff.

Most packages allow for both fixed andvariable rates to be charged against aresource. Some, such as Microsoft Project,

allow a fixed cost against the activity. Mostof the Tabloids give good cost reports.Where the project -management packagescannot provide flexibility of reporting, theytransfer data to a spreadsheet, and do it thatway.

Hornet can delay costs until after theactivity has happened. This reflects real life,where the bill for materials is oftenpresented and paid after the relevant activityhas been completed.

For a project lasting several years, you maywant to increase the costing rates for theresources, to keep up with inflation. The



SOFTWARE REVIEW


Tabloids cannot do this, but the Heavy-weights would have no problem, par-ticularly Hornet, which has its own built-inresource spreadsheet.

The traditional way of entering andamending dates, durations and resources inthe networks is to draw out the network withpencil and paper, and then fill in a form onthe screen. You then set a calculationroutine going, and look at the resultspresented to you as a bar chart or resourcehistogram which scrolls across and down thescreen.

Microsoft Project and Project Manager'sWorkbench present you with a split screenso that you can fill in the input form at thebottom, and see the effect on a bar chart atthe top. Superproject and Macproject go astage further. Instead of drawing thenetwork on paper, you draw it directly onthe screen, by filling in boxes for eachactivity.

PRETTY MEANS SLOWThy is all very user-friendly, but there are

snags if you have a network of any size. Thescreen is small, and despite zooming andscrolling you cannot get enough data intothe boxes and you can get lost in your ownnetwork. Of course, a large network takestime to recalculate, so what should beimmediate visual feedback becomessluggish. The more sober input methods ofthe Heavyweights, with their full -screenentry forms, are therefore better for complexjobs.

To make life easier for people used tospreadsheets, Microsoft Project has designedits input forms to look and operate like aspreadsheet. Similarly, Timeline has mim-icked Lotus 1-2-3. For mouse -orientatedusers, Harvard, Macproject and Microsoftare the ones to use. Among the Heavy-weights, Artemis, Cresta and Kernel requireusers to design their own input forms. This isgreat for project managers who know whatthey want, but a pain for the casual user.

Most programs have good help screens orprompts. They are necessary for such bigprograms where the manuals are cum-bersome. Timeline and Macproject providean audio -cassette introduction to projectmanagement along with the basic functions,which gives a pain -free entry. Timeline's wasthe best of the Tabloids, and Hornet thebest of the Heavyweights. Most of theHeavyweights provide a Beginner's modeand an Expert mode. Among the Tabloids,PMW, Superproject, Timeline and Pert -master provide this.

The systems provide different kinds ofreports. The Tabloids print out bar charts,network diagrams, tabular summaries ofresources and costs, and detailed lists ofactivities. Among them, only MicrosoftProject and Timeline print resource histo-grams. If you do want to do your own thing,all the systems provide DIF or ASCII formatsfor links to database programs, and mosthave direct import/ export links to Lotus,Multiplan, Supercalc or WordStar.

Among the Heavyweights, Microplanner

SPECIFICATIONSHARVARD TOTALPROJECT MANAGERSpecial features: useswindows to show bar charts,histograms; reports on selectedparts of networkHardware required: IBMPC, XT, AT, and compatibles,320K RAMPublisher: Harvard Soft, Inc.,521 Great Road, Littleton, Ma60, U.S.A.U.K. distributor: Softsel Ltd,Syon Gateway, Great WestRoad, Brentford, MiddlesexTW8 9DD. Telephone: 01-5688866Price: £495

MACPROJ ECTSpecial features: supports2,000 activities; reports cashflowHardware required: Mac,128K or 512K RAMPublisher: Apple Computer(U.K.) Ltd, Eastman Way,Hemel Hempstead,Hertfordshire HP2 7HQ.Telephone: (0442) 60244Price: £99

MICROPLANNERSpecial features: offers sixcalendars; comprehensive timeand resource reportsHardware required: IBMPC or XT, 256K RAM; Apricot,Sirius, Sage, Corvus Concept,128K RAM; Macintosh, Apple II,Apple III, TDI PinnaclePublisher: MicroplanningSoftware Ltd, 34 High Street,Westbury on Trym, Bristol BS93DZ. Telephone: (0272) 509417Price: Macintosh £395; Apricot£750; IBM £1,250

MICROSOFT PROJECTSpecial features: supportsonly 128 activities, but links toMultiplan, dBase, Lotus andMicrosoft ChartHardware required: IBMPC or XT, 128K RAMPublisher: Microsoft Ltd,Excel House, 49 De MontfortRoad, Reading, Berkshire RG18LP. Telephone: (0734) 500741Price: £245

PERTMASTERSpecial features: supports2,500 activities; cash -flow curvereportsHardware required: IBMPC or XT, 128K RAM; MS-DOSand CP/MPublisher: Abtex SoftwareLtd, 8 Campus Road, Listerhills,Science Park, Bradford BD71HR. Telephone: (0274)734838.Price: £650; Pertprinter £295

PROJECT MANAGER'SWORKBENCHSpecial features: input bydrawing bar chart on screen;reports can be edited manually;links to LotusHardware required: IBMPC or XT, 320K RAM; DECRainbow, HP 150, Wang PCPublisher: Hoskyns GroupLtd, 91-93 Farringdon Road,London EC1M 3LB. Telephone:01-831 6811Price: £1,250

SUPERPROJECTSpecial features: input bydrawing network on screen;calendars for each resource;links to Supercalc andSuperdataHardware required: IBMPC, XT or AT, 256K RAMPublisher: Sorcim/IUS, 43-51Windsor Road, Slough,Berkshire SL1 2EQ. Telephone:(0753) 77733Price: £395

TIMELINESpecial features: stores upto eight levels of networks; linksto dBase, Lotus, Multiplan andSupercalc; comprehensive timeand cost reportsHardware required: IBMPC, XT or AT, 256K RAMPublisher: BreakthroughSoftware Corporation, 505 SanMarin Drive, Novato, Ca94947, U.S.A.U.K. distributor: Softsel Ltd,Syon Gateway, Great WestRoad, Brentford, MiddlesexTW8 9DD. Telephone: 01-5688866Price: £450

and Plantrac give a very wide range ofstandard reports in tabular and graphicalform. Artemis, Cresta and Kernel aredatabase systems with powerful report gen-erators, so they leave it up to users to designtheir own reports. Kernel even provides aprogrammer's toolkit, so that users can boltcomplex modelling systems on to theirplanning system.

Hornet takes a half -way position. Thecompany provides a set of standard reportswhich can be customised, but also provides areport generator and a library of morecomplex reports with guides on how theywere designed. Also, some other softwarehouses are bolting systems on to Hornet.

One important point about reporting theprogress of a plan is whether the reports cancompare the actual position with theoriginal plan on one sheet of paper. Betterstill, if you can see three stages - say,today's position compared with last week'sand with the original baseline plan. Micro -planner and PMW show this well on theirstandard reports. Even if the standardreports do not show it, it is important for thesystem to make it easy to archive one or twolevels of history, to build up a plannedversus actual user -generated report. Time-line saves eight levels automatically.

Currently, there is no clear market leader

in the U.K., either among the Tabloids orthe Heavyweights. The Heavyweights inparticular have been rather a craft industry,like CAD on micros. Whether this willremain the case depends on whether thepresent heavy sales of the Tabloids to casualusers keep up, and bring project man-agement to the masses, or whether thefashion passes, and the planning packagesgather dust on the shelves.

CONCLUSIONS If you have a Macintosh, small projects andlittle money, Macproject is the most suitablepackage. If your projects are not bigger than 500activities, but in other respects you want quitea sophisticated planning system, the Macversion of Microplanner is the most approp-riate package. Harvard, Timeline and Superproject arebest if you want to draw small networksstraight on the screen, but Pertmaster is best ifyou have slightly larger networks and wantmore reports. If you are used to spreadsheets, you mayfind Microsoft Project convenient to use. If you are planning office projects and, say,writing complex sales proposals, and wouldlike a good consultant at your elbow, ProjectManager's Workbench will suit your needsbest.


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Circle No. 168PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1986

111 SOFTWARE REVIEW

QUICKBASICTHE BEST OF BOTHWORLDS

y Mike Lewis

Now IBM users have at their disposal a Basic compiler thatincludes all the virtues of Basica and GWBasic, and will runexisting code almost unchanged.

Microsoft's latest Basic compiler,QuickBasic, offers little that iscompletely new, but it does

bring together some of the best features ofits predecessors. At £99, it is also somethingof a bargain.

Until now, Microsoft Basic has beendeveloping in two different directions. Thecompiled language, in the shape of BusinessBasic, offers lots of goodies for the pro-fessional programmer: separately compiledmodules, dynamic arrays, alphanumericlabels and the like. The interpreters, likeBasica on the IBM PC and GWBasic on IBMcompatibles, derive their strength fromadvanced hardware -dependent features,especially sound and graphics.

What QuickBasic does is to combine thetwo. Programs originally written for Basicaor for Business Basic can be compiled withQuickBasic with little or no change, givingyou the benefits of structured programmingalong with the bells and whistles. The maindisadvantage of QuickBasic is that it is onlyavailable for IBMs and compatibles ratherthan MS-DOS machines in general.

For most programmers, the compiler'sgreatest attraction will be the ability tomaintain a subroutine library. Withinterpreters, the only way of reusingstandard routines is to duplicate the sourcecode. QuickBasic lets you compile a sub-routine to Microsoft's standard objectformat, which can be combined with themain program or other subroutines duringlinking.

Compiled subroutines are invoked with

the Call command. You can pass parameterseither by reference - which means that thecalled module can alter the value within thecaller - or by name where the subroutinehas a private copy of the parameter. Thefamiliar Run and Chain commands are stillavailable, but Call is altogether neater andmore efficient.

An important side effect of separatecompilation is that you can now break the

QUICKBASIC

K, VERDICT A,

o ,!,,,

% (k.7- 6' ,,,'O% ,.., 0 c,,zic) - co <tv

Performance M

Ease of use III IIDocumentation mi D U

Value for money

1 i A powerful argument for staying withBasic.

64K limit on program size. In fact, the codesegment is still subject to this figure butsince the limit is 64K per module it is easy toget round it. The data segment must also bewithin 64K, but again this is no realproblem thanks to the fact that arrays cannow be allocated and released dynamically.

The compiler does have a few roughedges, one of which is its claimed net-working feature. There are commands for

HOW QUICK?QuickBasic Basica Turbo Pascal

Sieve of Eratosthenes 0.5 71.0 1.6160,000 empty For Loops 1.2 32.1 2.0750 prints to screen 58.4 58.9 45.040,000 Psets 9.5 31.5 6.5Drawing 5,500 horizontal lines 3.7 38.5 34.0Word counting 7.0 80.0 14.0

The first of these benchmarks performs a single iteration of the Sieve of Eratosthenesprime number benchmarks; like the four following benchmarks it was carried out byMicrosoft. The last was our own test, using an 800 -word file with the word -countingprogram published last year on page 31 of our August 1985 issue. All times are inseconds.

The average compile -plus -link time for five QuickBasic programs, all between 60and 100 lines, was five seconds. We obtained exactly the same average time for fivesimilar Turbo Pascal programs, including writing the Corn files.

SPECIFICATIONDescription: compiler for MicrosoftBasicHardware required: IBM PC orcompatible, one floppy, 256K RAM, MS-DOS 2 or laterCopy protection: nonePrice: £99Publisher: Microsoft Corporation ofBellevue, Washington, U.S.A.U.K. supplier: Microsoft Ltd, ExcelHouse, 49 De Montfort Road, Reading,Berkshire RG1 8LP. Telephone: (0734)500741Available: now

locking or unlocking individual records,ranges of records or entire files. However,there appears to be no way of seeing if therecord that you are about to access hasalready been locked, and the manual issilent about the results of trying such anaccess. On several occasions, our attempts atrecord locking caused some otherwise bug -free programs to crash.

But in most respects, the language ishighly compatible with interpreted Basic.Most of the differences are new features, soprograms that run correctly under theinterpreter should compile first time. Apartfrom record locking, the only difficultiesthat we found were in the macro -languageprocesses, Draw and Play, where theExecute Substring functions needed slight

The mechanics of compilation are similarto earlier Microsoft compilers. Two alter-native libraries are available for linking.Brun 10.Lib is used with large systems ofprograms and needs a RAM -resident run-time module. BcomlO.Lib is more suitablefor small free-standing programs, where thelibrary routines are linked directly to theexecutable file.

Although compiling a program is

straightforward, QuickBasic is not acomplete programming environment alongthe lines of Turbo Pascal. There is no built-in editor, and nothing approaching Turbo'ssuper run-time error trapping. Nevertheless,the Microsoft product could present a seriouschallenge to Turbo Pascal in the sub -k100compiler market. It is at least as fast, and ithas the enormous advantage of separatecompilation of subroutines.

The people at Bellevue see QuickBasic asthe first in a line of budget -pricedcompilers. If it succeeds - and it certainlydeserves to - you can expect to see moreQuick products emerging. QuickPascal andQuickFortran will probably be next.

CONCLUSIONSII1QuickBasic is excellent value for money. Ifyou have an IBM or compatible, it is hard tothink of a reason for buying any other Basiccompiler.III1The language is powerful, and highlycompatible with earlier compilers andinterpreters. It should go a long way to helpingBasic programmers write structured, modularcode.


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SOFTWARE REVIEW

POSITIVE LIFESTYLINGHEALTHWARE FOR YUPPIESBy Glyn Moody

Aid or gimmick, this programis one of a new breed to helpyou use your micro as amentor for self-improvement.

It is interesting that the rise of thepersonal computer should coincidewith the baby -boom generation's

passage through middle management in theprofessions. Matching that generation'sdesire for self-improvement there has arisena whole class of programs which can beclassed as wealthware and healthware.

The first group is well represented by theThoughtware management -training pro-grams reviewed in the June 1985 issue ofPractical Computing. They were notable notso much for the originality of their ideas,which are largely based on establishedfindings in the field, but on their use of themicro to replace class -bound tuiton.

Much the same can be said of PositiveLifestyling from Softworld Inc. It is designedto monitor and advise on aspects of nu-trition, exercise, stress management, weightcontrol and what it calls "chemicaldependence", meaning addictions toalcohol, drugs, tobacco and so on.

Installation is simple, and consists ofcopying across the system files and Basica tothe main program disc. Although the binderclaims that the package will run with an IBMPC/XT as well as an IBM PC, my attempt totransfer files to the hard disc ended infailure. This difficulty partly reflects the thinnature of the notes on installation.

Thereafter, operation consists of pressingReturn, the A, B or C keys, or enteringnumbers. As the program is written in Basic,it is not fast. Also it is highly modular sothere is frequent accessing of both theprogram disc and the data disc.

SPECIFICATION

Description: a self-improvementprogram designed to monitor andregulate aspects of your life style, such asexercise and nutritionHardware required: 128K IBM PCor compatible, colour or graphics boardCopy protection: yesPrice: $69.95Publisher: Softworld Inc., 9550 BlackMountain Road, Suite G, San Diego, Ca92196. Telephone: (U.S. area code 619)578-4878U.K. distributor: none at present

POSITIVE LIFESTYLING

PC VERDICT0 «,r

A.

Performance IIEase of use Documentation

Value for money

E Mainly of interest as a harbinger ofself-improvement programs to come.

On booting up, you are presented with ashort introduction to Positive Lifestyling'soverall aims. They are partly in the form ofcrude animations, and it appears that youmust suffer this each time you load theprogram.

There is a main menu, from which youcan choose to set up an inventory of yourlife-style characteristics. Having set that up,you then seek advice on improving aspects ofit. You are presented with a number ofquestions on a variety of related topics andoffered a choice of possible responses. Asyou go through the sections on nutrition,exercise and so on, your answers are logged.A complete record of these aspects may bekept for each day, allowing a picture to bebuilt up over many months, or even years.Consequently, you can view your ascent intowellness or your slouch into slobdom.

The questions of the life-style inventoryare almost trivial, but do possess some value.For example, they spell out what areas youshould be aware of. The nutrition section

highlights elements such as fibre, fat andcarbohydrate quite well. A simple bar chartthen indicates your relative state of wellness.

The manual includes a series of exercises.There are also more details on the content ofvarious foodstuffs and the metabolic rates ofsporting activities. This side of the productseems rather underdeveloped, and there areplenty of books which handle such things ingreater detail.

However, Positive Lifestyling does offerprivacy, which can be very important in anarea that people may be embarrassed about.All entries are password protected to ensuretheir confidentiality.

Positive Lifestyling is interesting as anexample of a trend rather than as a productwhich you would use constantly. Its price of$69.95 may seem extortionate in Britain,but probably not in relation to the costs ofU.S. software. Similarly, its restriction to theIBM PC is partly explained by thatmachine's penetration of the serious homemarket in the U.S.

Equally, Positive Lifestyling is intended asa corporate product, and aimed at busy exec-utives who may neglect to look after theirhealth. Positive Lifestyles is a method ofnudging executives into getting fit, to thebenefit of the employer as well as the in-dividual. As such, its aims are laudable.

CONCLUSIONS Although it works on a rather simplisticbasis, Positive Lifestyles does serve to remindthe user of the basics of healthy living.III The dollar price is likely to be converted intoa comparable sterling figure if a distributor isfound in the U.K. This will make it ratherexpensive for personal use, but less so for acorporate environment.


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ON-LINE SERVICES

For years, on-line databases have beenof limited use to the average businessmicro user. They have been too

expensive and have usually offered onlyspecialised information, so to most peoplethey have been irrelevant.

This is beginning to change. Largenumbers of micro users are acquiringmodems, mainly for electronic mail. Thiscreates a large number of appropriatelyequipped potential customers for on-lineservices. The more enlightened databasepublishers are beginning to think oflowering their prices and improving theusability of their software to tap this hugenew potential market.

But it is early days yet. Even with the mostpopulist services you are still talking aboutspending maybe £50 an hour to access thedata, and to this you have to add the phonebill for ringing through to the database hostsystem.

HOST OPERATORThe terminology used in discussing on-

line databases can be confusing. The host isthe computer system on which the databaseis held or the company which operates thehost. As a user, your dealings are generallywith the host: you ring up the host computerand you pay the host operator.

The database publisher or owner is usuallysomeone different. They create the databaseand keep it up to date, but do not deal withusers directly. The distinction is similar tothat between book publishers and book-sellers. Any one host will usually offerseveral databases, for example Datastaroffers 87, and Dialog over 230. Conversely,some databases are available from more thanone host, such as Derwent's patents indexwhich can be found on several systemsincluding Dialog and Questel.

Many of the most interesting databases inour survey are hosted in the U.S. In fact it isonly in the U.S. that the opportunity pre-sented by the arrival of a mass market ofbusiness micro users has really been grasped.Most of the European databases are still veryspecialised and they are often harder to use.

We have tried to give a general idea ofcosts, although these vary depending on thedata you are looking at. Normally the host

PThe market for on-line services isexpanding as more micro usersacquire modems. Ian Stobie

picks out 10 database hostslikely to be of use to business

and professional users.

charges a joining fee or an annual sub-scription. Generally this entitles you toseveral hours free use of the system. Afterthis you are billed by the host on a regularbasis, usually monthly.

Charging structures are often complicatedbecause several different companies areinvolved. The host probably makes a flat -rate hourly charge but the database pub-lishers' charges must be added to that. Theymay be worked out differently in eachdatabase: say, on a simple hourly basis or ona sliding scale depending on the number ofsearches you make.

BETTER WAYSBecause of both the cost and the greater

complexity of getting at data distributed on-line, database publishers are seriouslyexploring alternative methods of dis-tribution. Data is usually made available on-line either because it needs frequentupdating, or because the volume of data youneed to work with is too great to distributeon disc.

There is really no alternative to offeringhighly volatile data on-line. But optical -disctechnology is opening up new possibilitiesfor bulky, static data. CD-ROM, thecomputer equivalent of the hi-fi compact

PSS AND QUICK MODEMSApart from the charges made for accessing the data, you can easily run up large phonebills using any on-line service, either electronic mail or database.

For all but the lightest on-line user it is worth considering joining British Telecom'sPacket Switch Stream network. PSS is only available for sending data, not voice calls.It lets you ring any distance at the local rate plus a small PSS charge. So at off-peaktimes you can ring the U.S. for about £1.50 per hour instead of the normal £36.

Joining PSS costs £25. You are given a Network User Identity (NUI) which is yourPSS passport. To ring someone on PSS they must also subscribe to PSS or the localnational equivalent, and you need to know their Network User Address, which is likeanother phone number. Fortunately, most database hosts have NUA numbers, so youcan call them at cheap PSS rates.

Another way to reduce running costs is to get a faster modem. Most hosts will letyou access at 1,200 bits per second. Even though some of them charge slightly more atthis speed, it generally works out much cheaper to use the faster rate. If you are usinga 300 baud modem at the moment a quicker one could pay for itself in both reducedphone bills and lower connect time.

disc, looks like being the cheapest and mostpromising of the competing opticalproducts. One disc can hold the equivalentof more than 1,000 floppy discs. CD-ROM'sbig disadvantage as a general floppy replace-ment is that it does not allow you to alterdata on the disc, but that is not a problemwhen it comes to distributing this sort ofdatabase.

WHERE TO LOOKIn this survey we have concentrated on

those databases which are most likely to beof interest to ordinary business and pro-fessional users. Of course, many databasesare highly specialised and you should beable to find out about these through therelevant professional body or a goodtechnical librarian. An on-line source ofinformation is available from Cuadra'sdirectory of databases, one of the services onDatastar.

Two other general sources of informationare Information World Review, a monthlynewspaper published by Learned Infor-mation Systems, subscription £18 per year,and Aslib, an organisation which publishesvarious useful reports and surveys.

SUPPLIERSAslib 26-27 Boswell Street, LondonWC1 N 3JZ. Telephone: 01-430 2671.Publishers reports and guides on specificdatabases areas. Circle 361.Butterworth Telepublishing 4-5Bell Yard, London WC2A 2JR.Telephone: 01-404 4097. Circle 362.Compuserve 5000 Arlington CenterBoulevard, Columbus, Oh 43220, U.S.A.Telephone: (U.S. area code 614)457-8600. Circle 363.Datastar Plaza Suite, 114 JermynStreet, London SW1Y 6HJ. Telephone:01-930 5503. Circle 364.Datasolve Electronic PublishingDatasolve House, 99 Staines Road,Sunbury on Thames, Middlesex TW167AH. Telephone: (0932) 785566. Circle365.Dialog PO Box 8, Abingdon, OxfordOX13 6EG. Telephone: (0865) 730969.Circle 366.I P Sharp Heron House, 10 DeanFarrar Street, London SW1 H ODX.Telephone: 01-222 7033. Circle 367.Learned Information SystemEurope Besselsleigh Road, Abingdon,Oxford OX13 6LG. Telephone: (0865)730275. Organises annual on-lineexhibition, publishes newsletter and alsoagent for Dialog. Circle 368.Mead Data Central 1 St. Catherine'sWay, London El 9UN. Telephone:01-488 9187. Circle 369.Pergamon Infoline Ltd 12 VandyStreet, London EC2A 2DE. Telephone:01-377 4650. Circle 370.Prestel Freefone Prestel Sales. Circle371.PSS Freefone 6460. Circle 372.Telecom Gold Telephone: 01-4036777. Circle 373.The Source 1616 Anderson Road,McClean, Va 22102, U.S.A. Telephone:(U.S. area code 703) 734-7500. Circle374.


In PCOMPUSERVE

Price guide: starter pack $40; hourlyrate $6 off-peak, $13 peak time

Example databases: CommoditiesNews, up-to-date price and news service;

Standards and Poors, financial reports andforecasts; U.S. Today Update, American

news magazineOther services: email, conferencing,

SIGS, CB

n the U.S there is not the sameI distinction between business and homeuser. Compuserve serves both, which givesit a much larger user base than any con-ventional database - it claims to have250,000 registered users. This creates itsown pull for the business community, andCompuserve is used for selling both pro-fessional services and straightforwardconsumer goods. Traditional databases arethere, but in among more consumer -orientated offerings. Popular services areAssociated Press news and U.S.A. TodayUpdate, a news magazine. Investors arewell served with a range of current andhistoric price data, forecasts and reports,but much of it is U.S.-orientated. In fact,much of Compuserve has an Americanrather than an international feel to it. Sub-scribing to Compuserve from the U.K. isquite complicated, but worthwhile sincethere is much on the system that is ofinterest to computer users.

DATASTARPrice guide: no subscription; charge of

£40 to £87 per hourExample databases: Business

Opportunities, international tenders, etc;Martindale, drug information; BMA Press

Cuttings, medical articlesOther services: email

Datastar is particularly strong in thebusiness and biomedical area.

Although based in Switzerland, Datastarhosts a wide range of English -languagedatabases - the BMA's press -cuttingsdatabase is held on the system, forexample. Most databases hold abstracts orsummaries, but a few are full -text, such asthe Harvard Business Review and Martin -dale's drug pharmacopoeia. Other busi-ness services include the magazine -clippings database Prompt, also availableon Dialog, and Celltech's abstracts on bio-technology and commerce. Many ofDatastar's 87 databases are ratherspecialised, such as East EuropeanChemical Monitor. There is no joining fee,but Datastar charges up to £20 an hour inaddition to the database owners' royalties,which average from £20 to £70 an hour -the pricing is in Swiss francs.

DATASOLVEPrice guide: £60 per hour

Example databases: World Reporter,news and current affairs; Magic,

advertising and marketing; WorldExporter, sales leads, tenders, risk analysisOther services: hosts private databases

World Reporter provides the full textof current and back issues of

several major journals for a flat fee of £60per hour. The journals include theEconomist, Financial Times, Guardian,New Scientist and Washington Post. It alsoholds transcripts of the BBC World Servicenews, summaries in English of foreignbroadcasts picked up by the BBCMonitoring Service, and Associated Presswire -service reports. Magic is a new servicefor the advertising and marketing world. Itoffers media data from Mintel, Meal andBrad, consumer forecasts of consumerbehaviour and the full text of Campaignand other relevant journals. The annualsubscription fee of 1200 also gives access toWorld Reporter. The hourly charge is

again £60 for most data, but Mintel costsmore.

DIALOGPrice guide: no joining fee; hourly rate

$50 to $100Example databases: Prompt, articlesfrom world business magazines; ICC, U.K.

company data and performancecomparisons; Medicine, medical abstracts

Other services: email

Dialog is the largest traditional on-lineservice, hosting over 230 different

databases. Most of these give abstracts orreferences to printed material, althoughsome such as Playboy or ScientificAmerican are full -text. The Dialogapproach is to offer databases in mostareas, but it is particularly strong inmedicine, technology, biology, patentsand music. Hourly charges vary dependingon the database. They average $80 to $100in the business areas, with scientific data-bases generally cheaper at $50 to $80 anhour. Dialog gives a PSS number auto-matically to all its U.K. users, and has itsown leased line across the Atlantic whichcosts a flat $10 an hour. Although Dialogis based in the U.S., the databases areinternational. For example, in the medicalfield it hosts both the U.S. Medline andthe Dutch Embase.

I P SHARP

hour and 0.9 pence per priceExample databases: Ex -Share, shareprices from all world stock markets; OECD,

economic data and forecasts for OECDcountries; Official Airline Guide, flight

times and prices worldwideOther services: email

P Sharp is a Canadian -based hostspecialising in financial and economic

data. Extel's share price service Ex -sharecovers all the world's major exchanges:Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, NewYork, London and Tokyo. Users arecharged at 0.9 pence a price plus connecttime. I P Sharp also holds a large volume ofhistorical data on share price movements.The OECD produces numerous trade andeconomic statistics, including annualnational accounts for all its 24 membercountries, plus twice -yearly EconomicOutlook forecasts. It also issues reports onEastern European and Third Worldcountries. For many of these you just paythe connect time to I P Sharp - the dataitself is free. The Official Airline Guidecovers all major airlines' scheduledservices, giving times and prices. It is avail-able on Telecom Gold too, as you can readin the Comms Link column on page 29 ofthis issue.


ON-LINE SERVICES TOP 10

MEAD DATACENTRAL

Price guide: $200 joining fee; about $50per hour

Example databases: Nexis, full -textmagazines and newspapers; Lexis, British

and U.S. case law and statutes; Exchange,company and industry research reports;

Medis, full -text medical reportsOther services: on-line document

ordering

Mead Data Central is U.S.-based butacts as a host for both its own Nexis

service and the British legal database Lexis.Lexis has almost cornered the market inlegal databases, at least as far as the U.K. isconcerned. It is expensive, costing £4,800 ayear or more depending on use. But it is afull -text database containing all Britishstatutes, general case law back to 1945 andtax law back to 1885. Although hosted inthe U.S. Lexis is marketed in the U.K.directly by its publisher, Butterworth Tele-publishing. Nexis is a very large full -textdatabase of international periodicals. Itcovers over 175 journals, including theFinancial Times, Business Week, theEconmist and the Washington Post. Nexisis marketed by Mead, so prices are in U.S.dollars. There is a $200 joining fee, and aminimum hourly charge of $20 withadditional charges based on the data youare looking at and the number of searchesyou make. You would be wise to allow atleast $50 an hour for using it.

PERGAMONINFOLINE

Price guide: no joining fee; £50 perhour

Example databases: Jordan Watch,U.K. company profiles; Key British

Enterprises, on-line business directory;British Standards; BSI abstracts

Other services: document ordering

Pergamon Infoline hosts 40 databases,many of them with a strong British

bias and in the business area. JordanWatch holds financial data on 52,000British companies, and the basic details onall companies registered at CompaniesHouse. Key British Enterprises is a full -texton-line version of Dun and Bradstreet'sbusiness directory, covering 20,000companies. Pergamon also hosts theBritish Standards Institute's on-line data-base; you can order up paper copies of therelevant standards after locating them inabstract form. Pergamon offers severaldatabases of U.S. and British health andsafety information, plus a patents databasecalled Impadoc. There is no joining fee forInfoline, and Pergamon quotes an averagehourly charge of £50 on the business data-bases.

PRESTELPrice guide: £6.50 quarterly rental;

page charges, plus £3.60 an hour at peaktimes

Example databases: Citiservice,shares, commodities and futures prices,and news; Bizznet, business news and

software for computer usersOther services: email, telex, shopping,

home banking

Prestel could claim with some truth tobe the largest on-line database host in

the U.K., but it is not really a database inthe same sense as the other servicesdescribed in this survey. Prestel comes inthe form of pre -formatted patges designedfor display; the other database servicesprovide it in the form of an ASCII stream,which means that as well as putting theinformation up on your screen you can doall sorts of things with it such as search forspecific words, compare numbers, andtransfer data into your spreadsheet or wordprocessor. Prestel is more limited and is'more of an electronic magazine than adatabase, but it is a very large one, withnearly a third of a million pages. Prestel isquite cheap, but you pay for some of thepages, especially the more business -orientated ones. Much of the most serioususe of Prestel happens inside closed usergroups.

TELECOM GOLDPrice guide: £40 joining fee; £3.50 per

hour cheap rate, £10.50 peakExample databases: IDB, daily

newspaper for computing industry; OfficialAirline Guide, flight times and prices

worldwideOther services: email, radiopaging,

telex

Telecom Gold is best known as anelectronic mail service, but it also

beginning to serve as a host for databases.Infomatics Daily Bulletin, a newsletter forthe computer industry, has been availablefor some time. The real value of having iton-line is that you can search through backissues to locate references to a particularstory. IDB costs 56 pence a minute toaccess on top of the normal Telecom Goldcharges. The Official Airline Guide is justgoing on to Telecom Gold now - see page29. Telecom Gold is the largest electronic -mail service in the U.K., with around30,000 users. This gives it a head start as adatabase host. Individuals pay £40 to join,and companies pay £300, which givesthem an unlimited number of mailboxes.Both Ashton-Tate and Lotus are setting upprivate bulletin boards on Telecom Goldfor users of their software packages. Thesewill provide answers to technical queriesand will probably download software

THE SOURCEPrice guide: £49.95 joining fee; $30 per

year, plus $14 to $18 per hour off-peakExample databases: AP, UPI,

Washington Post, news, Newsbytes,computer newspaper; Investor, stock

prices, news and purchasingOther services: email, electronic

conferencing, SIGS

Although much smaller than Compu-serve, The Source is probably its main

competitor in the populist, personal -computer orientated on-line field. Boththese systems are American, and unlike theservices run by the traditional hostoperators they are very easy to use,especially The Source. Unlike a traditionalon-line system The Source does notcontain a few massive databases, but alarge number of quite small ones. Many ofthe 800 or so on offer are frivolous, butmany are not. In the U.S., home and busi-ness users are not so distinct as in the U.K.For instance, The Source offers stock andcommodity pricing services aimed at boththe fund manager and the home investor.Home and business computing is very wellsupported, with specialist user groupsorganised by machine and interest. Inmany ways The Source is more anelectronic forum than a database. The on-line conferencing facilities in particular arevery powerful and you can participatealmost simultaneously in dialogues with alarge number of users worldwide.


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Circle No. 160

84

Phil Clarke is marketingdirector of Cardiff -basedCentaur Systems. Thisnewly formed companyhas recently launched arange of IBM PCcompatibles for pricesstarting around £1,000,one of which is reviewedon page 89 of this issue.Centaur has alreadyclocked up a series ofmulti -million pound OEMdeals with its newmachines. Before joiningwith four othershareholders in thisventure, Clarke lived for anumber of years in theU.S. where he has his ownsoftware companies. Healso worked with AdamOsborne, who introducedthe first cheaptransportable, along withthe idea of bundledsoftware. Clarke alsoworked for IBM in systemssupport.

NTERVIEWPHIL CLARKE of Centaur Systems

INTERVIEWED BY GLYN MOODY

How do you see the IBM PC worlddeveloping over the next year orso?WHAT you are seeing and what you will seeis a complete change. Up to six months ago,you had the end -user coming into the dealerand paying £2,000 -plus for a system, underthe impression that there was some magic inthere that would make it work. For the smallbusinessman that is maybe 10 percent of hisannual turnover paid out on this one piece ofkit.

What's happened over the last six months,and what will happen over the next 12months, is that the prices of both hardwareand software are really going to dropthrough the floor. To the point where you'regoing to get a hard -disc system - monitor,printer, software - for under £1,000. It willkeep on dropping. As to where themarketplace will bottom out, I don't know. Ihave this suspicion that you may see a PC forunder £300 within the next two years. Andthat will make life very interesting. What youhave is raw component cost as your guidingfactor. The current product can be puttogether - and I'm talking about anybody'sproduct, not just ours - for under $150.

And then you come to monitors. You cango out to the Far East and buy monitors forunder £20. And I'm talking about IBM -stylemonitors which will retail for over £200. Youmay find that the old idea of having eightmachines in a dealership and people come inand spend an hour there - that disappears,and what you have is almost like a cash-and-carry PC business. If that happens, I thinkwe're starting to approach where a PCshould be in terms of the marketplace.

How are these prices, in particularyour prices, being achieved?BY SHEER volume. By turning the PC intowhat it really is, which is a commodityproduct. It's not a high-level computer, it isvery, very simple. If you open the case andhave a look inside, what you have is amotherboard, two disc drives, a powersupply, a disc controller, a video controller, aspeaker, and that's it. The components thatgo on there you can probably buy for 30 to40 dollars and put it together yourself. Soyou're just seeing volume component costs,as ours are, and we put them out at what wethink is a realistic price.

This is very much the Osbornephilosophy; what are yourconnections with him?WE'VE worked pretty closely. We both havethe same philosophy. Adam's made thestatement to me about the software industryitself, which has been profiteering over thelast five years, where you have a productionunit cost of pennies. Certain manufacturers in

particular, where they have a 15- to16 -dollar total production cost are retailing atthe 400- to 500 -dollar mark. And that level ofprofiteering could not go on. Adam'sparticular strategy is with software, with hisPaperback Software. If you look at hisproducts, they are not the best in the world,but neither are they the worst. They aregood -quality products at a ridiculously cheapprice, and they are presented in a form whichis acceptable to the current marketplace.

The packaging is a clue to this. Previously,you would have the plain binders - it's theindustry's way of trying to give a mystical airto what's inside. They don't say a damn thingon the outside. You look at a two-, three-,four -inch manual: it frightens the life out ofthe end -user. And nine times out of 10 theynever learn to use the product properly.That's almost criminal in this industry wherepeople are paying the amount that they are.

Do you think any big names aregoing to be in trouble?THERE ARE a few big names already introuble. You've seen in this country alonewhat has happened to ICL because theydidn't change with the marketplace. Apricotare a good company, but they are a goodcompany in the U.K. and nowhere else, andin this day and age you just can't do that.Particularly for British companies you have togo overseas, and not just Europe: you haveto attack the American market.

What impact do you think youractivities will have on Americancompanies?IT'S a difficult thing to estimate. We've justsigned a major contract where we're sellingmachines into the heart of the Valley - coalsto Newcastle.

Why do you think you havemanaged to bring about this kind ofprice reduction when no one else,American or Japanese, has?WILLPOWER. It's really that simple: becausewe wanted to do it. We looked at ourparticular strategy for our company and tooka supermarket approach to it, which isproducing a good -quality product at a goodprice. Now at this point in time we are lowerthan anybody else in the marketplace, andwe will attempt to keep it there. Now IBMcould sell that machine at a loss for two yearsand put us out of business. Well, that's just afact of life. But the company will be there infive year's time, and we will turn over inexcess of 30 million dollars this year.

And next year?WE'RE looking for up to 60 or 70 milliondollars. We hope at the end of five yearswe're doing consistently $100 million. [a

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tt

THE ENDOF THEIBM PC?

Old-fashioned and slow, the

IBM PC is coming under

attack from more advanced

systems on the one hand and

cheap clones on the other.

Jack Schofield assesses

the future of the micro

standard of the mid -eighties.

Ayear ago I wrote in this magazine:"The question facing everyone whobuys a micro today is not 'Why buy

an IBM PC?' but 'Why buy anything else?'When it comes to single -user businessmicros, IBM has the field under its thumb."The continuing increase in the IBM PC'sshare of the market shows that most microbuyers have taken the same point of view.

But nothing lasts forever, and it may nowbe time to consider two further questions.First, how long will the IBM PC standardsurvive? Second, will IBM be able to stay inthe micro market?

The first question is really about whetherIBM simply joined the micro market when itlaunched the PC, or whether it changed itirrevocably. The second question is whetherIBM can compete with the clones for othercompanies in the U.S., Korea, Taiwan andJapan.

The chief value of the IBM PC today is notthat it offers technical excellence, but that itoffers a standard. Technically, the IBM PCwas an advance when it was first launched inAugust 1981, almost six months before theACT Sirius 1 appeared in the U.K. But bytoday's standards it is primitive, old-fashioned technology. Half a dozen corn-

panies can offer much higher performancefor down to one sixth of the price.

The advantage of having a hardwarestandard is that it sets up a benign circle forsoftware houses and end -users. Softwarewriters are encouraged to write for the PCstandard because it provides them with alarge potential market; end -users areencouraged to buy the standard PC becauseit makes a wide range of software available.This benefits everyone. However, nostandard lasts for ever, and it may be that theIBM PC is coming to the end of the road.

The 1977-80 business standard was theApple II with VisiCalc. It lost out because itlimited software writers and users to AppleDOS, and the limitations of the Applehardware of the time - limited disc spaceand an upper-case 40 -column screen displaybeing the major drawbacks.

The 1980-82 standard became 64KCP / M, because this solved the Appleproblems. First, programs could run on awide range of hardware, as long as it had anIntel 8080 or Zilog Z-80 chip and 64K ofRAM. Second, it could provide an80 -column screen with upper and lowercase. Third, it offered the chance to put



IBMIMP &COMPATIBLES

continued from previous page)

more data on a disc. Once Supercalc cameout, CP/ M killed the Apple II as a businessmicro.

The 1983-85 standard has been the IBMPC with Lotus 1-2-3, because it solved theproblems that arose with CP/ M micros.First, PC -DOS swept away the confusion ofdisc formats that had arisen under CP/ M.Now any 5.25in. PC disc should run on vir-tually any PC -compatible micro. Second,the Intel 8088 cracked the 64K memorylimit which enforced the use of slow overlayswhich big programs like WordStar had touse on CP/ M micros. PC -DOS provided ahuge 640K of addressable memory space.

OUT OF DATEToday, however, the PC standard is due

to be replaced, because it fails to meettoday's needs for speed, multi -tasking, theability to handle a lot of data, and for good -

quality bit -mapped graphics. The 4.77MHzIntel 8088 is a painfully slow, out-of-dateprocessor compared to current offerings suchas the Motorola 68000 or later Intel chips. Itmakes the IBM PC slower than home microsthat cost only a couple of hundred pounds.

PC -DOS's 640K of address space com-prises 10 64K segments, which is fine for asingle -tasking, single -user micro, buthopeless for the micros of the future. PC -

DOS's 32Mbyte limit in disc -addressingcapability is too small, as the availability oflow-cost, high -capacity hard discs will soondemonstrate. The 5.25in. 360K disc drive istoo small and too slow by today's standards.

Finally, the IBM PC's display is a mess.You can have a green screen which is

excellent but does not do bit -mappedgraphics, or a colour screen which offersalmost illegible text and cannot scroll

The IBM PC: old-fashioned, but still theone the others have to follow.without flickering, or an enhanced colourgraphics adaptor which is expensive and soslow as to be virtually unusable.

The IBM PC was designed as a 16K homemicro with Basic in ROM and a cassette port.But anyone sitting down to design a propercomputer would now use something like a16MHz Motorola 68000 offering 16Mbyte ofunsegmented address space - 25 timesmore than the PC and sufficient to runseveral programs at once. The 5.25in. discswould be replaced by 720K 3.5in. drives.The display would provide both readabletext and high -resolution, bit -mapped colourgraphics, and so on.

The IBM PC has been upgraded since itslaunch. PC -DOS gave way to DOS 2, thenDOS 3 and 3.1, with DOS 4 due early thisyear. The 160K single -sided drives werechanged to 320K double -sided with anincrease from eight to nine sectors per trackproviding 360K. The original 16K RAMswere changed for 64K RAMs and one dayIBM may even move to 256K chips.

Also, there is a huge industry whichproduces add-ons to patch up the defects ofthe original. Hercules display cards, accel-erator cards which have faster chips, theAbove Board RAM card which busts the640K DOS limit, plug-in hard discs, mousedrivers and thousands of others products areon offer.

Unfortunately all these add-ons areworking to destroy the IBM PC standard. Itis no longer enough to say "This programruns on an IBM PC". You have to say "Thisprogram requires DOS 3.1, two 360Kdrives, 384K of RAM, a Colour GraphicsAdaptor or Hercules card, a Hayes Smart -modem . . ." and whatever else is required.

There is nothing new about the process bywhich micros go out of date and arereplaced. It has happened before, and it willcertainly happen again, because not eventhe IBM PC standard is going to last athousand years. The fact that it is IBM'sstandard, rather than someone else's, onlymeans that it may last longer than it wouldotherwise. The question is whether it willlast another five years, or two years, or less. Iwould bet on two.

OVERNIGHT DISASTERThis is not to suggest that the IBM PC is

going to lose its appeal overnight. There isno reason to suppose it will prove less long-lived than the Apple II, an old-fashionedeight -bit micro which was launched eightyears ago but which has every appearance ofcontinuing as a best-seller. Nor need sales ofIBM PCs and PC clones drop. For example,no one raves about eight -bit CP/M the waywe did five years ago, but Amstrad willprobably sell more CP/ M machines this yearthan were ever sold during the years whenCP/ M was dominant. The IBM PC standardcould, in its turn, take over the homemarket, once business users have moved onto something better.

The IBM PC standard could also bereplaced by another IBM PC standard,perhaps based on the Intel 80286 or 80386chips. Machines built around these shouldhave the advantage that they can run the oldIBM PC software. However, the newsoftware will not be capable of running onthe old IBM PC, so IBM would effectively bestarting again, just like anyone else. Con-sidering IBM's recent track record - thePortable PC, the PCjr, the AT, Topview, theEGA - success is far from guaranteed.

The second question I posed was whether


IBM

IBM could stay in the PC market in com-petition with the U.S. companies makingsuperior clones, the Koreans, the Taiwaneseand the Japanese. So far IBM has done verywell out of its horse -and -buggy standard,but the PC's primitive design makes it veryexpensive to manufacture.

A comparison of a PC board with that of aclone like the Olivetti M-24 is instructive.The Olivetti packs almost everything youneed on to the motherboard, with fewerchips, which makes it far cheaper to manu-facture. Olivetti can thus offer a machinethat runs more than twice as fast, sell itcheaper than IBM, and yet - I would guess- still make more profit on each one sold.

When it comes to cost cutting, theKoreans and Taiwanese do even better.There are dozens of clones coming on to themarket at prices of around £800, comparedto the £2,000 cost of an IBM PC with asimilar specification. Not everyone wants aKorean or Taiwanese copy, but when highlyregarded Japanese companies like Epson getinto the act later this year, IBM could startfinding its products a lot harder to shift.

POACH TECHNOLOGYAnd there is worse - or better - to

come, as several companies reduce the PCand PC/ AT to a few custom chips. Onecompany, Zymos, is launching what it callsPoach technology. The somewhat pro-vocative name derives from"PC on a chip",and Zymos has reduced 87 discrete com-ponents from the IBM PC/ AT to only twocustom chips. The company claims it will bepossible to add an Intel 80286, some RAMand a couple of controllers, and build anIBM PC/ AT -alike on a 4in. square printed -circuit board.

Initially the cost will be sufficient toenable to a PC clone to be built as a lap -topmicro for about £600. Once production isramped up, the cost will be negligible. Theequivalent of an IBM PC/ AT could be pro-duced small and cheap enough to go intoevery science student's school satchel.

Can IBM compete with this? When IBMcame into the micro market, its presidentcommitted it to becoming "the low-costsupplier" . Note the definite article. In spiteof continuously increasing production, andrepeatedly cutting the cost of its PCs, it hasnot managed this. It has lost the battle forthe transportable market, where it wasbeaten by Compaq. It may not win thebattle for the high -end PC market, whereCompaq and Olivetti/ AT&T are competinghard. It has failed in the home -computermarket, where the PCjr was an unexpecteddisaster. When it launches into the lap -topmarket next year, it will find other suppliersalready becoming entrenched. We couldend up with an IBM PC standard, but withIBM not selling a significant number ofmachines.

However, one thing is certain: the battleis not over yet. The establishment of theIBM PC standard was not the beginning ofthe end of the micro market, merely the endof the begining.

-&-COMPATIBLES

Things are hotting up at the bread-and-butter end of the PCmarket with a rash of cheap, serviceable clones.David Barlow looks at two bargain machines.

PRICE -BUSTERSThere have been some dramaticdevelopments on the PC -compatibleprice front. Whereas last year at this

time it was hard to buy a decent dual -floppymachine for less than £1,500, this year thestarting price is around half that figure.

These bargain -basement machines fallinto two distinct groups. The first, as youmight expect, is made up of machinesmanufactured by unidentified plants inTaiwan or Thailand and imported into theU.K. by enterprising distributors. Thesecond group comes as something of asurprise as it contains some big names likeTandon, of disc -drive fame, and Epson, bestknown for its large range of printers. Thesemachines are not quite as cheap as the face-less imports, but they are better made andhave the reputations of established manu-facturers to back them up.

This review looks at one example fromeach group. The Centaur PC is distributedin the U.K. by Centaur Systems of Cardiffand retails for around £850. From Tandon,we tested a hard -disc machine comparable tothe IBM PC/XT, costing £1,595.

PERFORMANCE ADEQUATEBoth suppliers cover most of the PC

range. For example, a Tandon machineconfigured to match the Centaur PC sells foraround £1,295, while its top -of -the rangeAT -alike costs £2,740. Both firms' reviewmachines performed perfectly adequately,and will probably make life very hard formany of the manufacturers of higher -pricedmachines.

In the best traditions of Far Easternproducts, the Centaur PC appears almost in-distinguishable from the IBM PC, at leastwhen viewed from a distance. Its footprint isalmost identical. At close quarters themachine does look cheap, especially whencompared with the Tandon, but internallythe finish is good, and the space inside thebox is used effectively.

The Centaur is based on the Intel 8088CPU running at 4.77MHz. This is exactlythe same configuration as the IBM PC anddoes not provide much in the way ofperformance when compared to sophisti-cated PC -compatibles like the OlivettiM-24. Although the basic Centaur is onlyprovided with 128K of memory, the MS-

DOS maximum of 640K can be mounted onthe motherboard by fitting two banks of256K chips. There is also a socket alongsidethe Intel 8088 for the 8087 arithmetic co-processor.

The review machine was supplied withtwo Matsushita 360K floppy discs. Hard -discupgrades of 10Mbyte, 20Mbyte and40Mbyte are also available. There is room fora further two half -height storage units in thecase, and the disc controller is capable ofhandling a total of four floppies.

The Centaur also scores well when itcomes to other areas of expansion. Themotherboard has six full-length expansionslots and two half-length. The floppy -disccontroller sits in one of the short slots andthe display driver board in one of the longslots, leaving a useful six still vacant.

CENTAUR PC

=VERDICTo

,"' :,-,

,- ,k -'r c° 4<,0° -.`' 0 (J4 P C9 <tr

Performance

Ease of use

Documentation IN 5 M

Value for money MI

E Amazing value but let down by slowfloppy discs and poor overall finish.

Accompanying these machines from the FarEast there are a wide variety of multi-function cards covering serial and parallelports, clock calendar, graphics and RAMfunctions, all at suitably low prices.

The major problem area with the basicCentaur proves to be its display card. Tokeep the cost down a compromise unit isinstalled, and while the distributors claim ithas graphics capabilities, we could not findany. The machine refused to run even themost basic test of compatibility, the FlightSimulator, because the display card is notgraphics compatible with the IBM.

Every other program that called for agraphics card also failed. Compatibility ontext -only software proved to be excellent,

BASIC BENCHMARKSBoth machines run the Benchmark routines slightly faster than the IBM itself, but thedifference is unlikely to be of any significance in practice. The routines were publishedon page 104 of the January 1984 issue of Practical Computing.

BM I BM2 BM3 BM4 BM5 BM6 BM7 BM8 Av.Centaur PC - 8088 1.3 4.7 10.2 10.6 11.6 21.0 32.3 34.5 15.8Tendon PCX - 8088 1.4 5.1 11.1 11.4 12.4 22.2 34.7 36.9 16.9Olivetti M-24 - 8086 0.5 2.0 4.7 4.7 5.2 9.4 14.8 16.1 7.2IBM PC - 8088 1.3 4.8 12.2 12.2 13.4 23.6 37.6 36.6 17.7



89

IBM-&-COMPATIBLES

BAGSHAW BENCHMARKSThe disc Benchmarks show where corners have been cut or pains taken with the look -alike machines. The performance of theCentaur's floppy drive is sluggish by current standards, and is likely to make the machine tedious to use for many applications. Bycontrast, Tandon has really gone to town with the PCX - its 10Mbyte Winchester is among the fastest we have tested. The discBenchmarks are explained on page 99 of the July 1985 issue of Practical Computing.

BMO BMI BM2 BM3 BM4 BM5 BM6 BM7 BM8 8M9 BM 10 BM 1 I BM 12 BM 13 TotalCentaur PC - 360K floppy 24 15 11 93 23 80 9 111 18 9 41 817 414 114 1779IBM PC - 360K floppy 21 10 21 21 20 30 8 65 17 7 15 311 145 51 742Tandon PCX - 10Mbyte hard 21 7 10 12 5 9 4 10 4 4 5 44 32 5 172IBM PC/XT - 10Mbyte hard 19 5 19 15 3 22 8 27 8 3 3 76 31 15 254


but you would be well-advised to budget fora decent graphics card when comparing theCentaur machine to more established equip-ment. Centaur is offering a Hercules -compatible card, but it was not supplied forreview and as yet no price has been fixed.

The 12in. monitor supplied with theCentaur has a very similar performance tothe IBM unit. Its text display is stable andclear, but the marked ghosting whenscrolling can be tiresome. Of all aspects ofthe Centaur, the least likeable is the key-board, which looks and feels very cheap. Keyaction feels rather vague, though on the plusside it does include LED status indicators onthe Num Lock and Caps Lock keys. Mostcheap compatibles use a Keytronics-stylekeyboard; even this has its shortcomings,but it is vastly superior to the Centaur unit.

The Centaur was supplied without anoperating system or any documentation.The distributors say that these items will besupplied with production machines, but thiskind of presentation does little to inspireconfidence. The machine will be suppliedwith MS-DOS 2.11; we used a spare copy tocarry out the review.

SACRIFICE SUPPORTLavish after -sales support is one thing that

those who buy cheap micros must expect tosacrifice. Nevertheless, the Centaur PC issupplied with a three-month guarantee.Centaur is also looking into including a12 -month on -site warranty at no extracharge.

The Tandon PCX, though not identical tothe IBM PC / XT, is certainly reminiscent ofit. The unit is actually more attractive,finished in lighter colour shades and isslightly smaller in size. The all-round finishof the machine is superb. The system isbased around the Intel 8088 running, aswith the Centaur and the IBM, at 4.77MHz.The basic Tandon is fitted with 256K ofRAM which can be expanded to 640K,either by adding chips to the motherboardor by fitting extra RAM boards.

There are seven slots on the expansion busof the Tandon: five full-length and two half-length. On the hard -disc review machineone of these was occupied with the disccontroller and another with the displaydriver. This leaves four full-length slots andone half-length slot free for user boards. Thebasic Tandon machine is supplied with aparallel port mounted on the display board.Tandon is quite honest about the cap-abilities of the display board fitted to its

machine: in line with IBM's policy, thebasic PCX is configured for text -onlyapplications. However, there is a colourversion of the machine available for an extra£325 which includes the colour monitor andgraphics card.

It comes as no surprise to find both thefloppy disc and the hard disc are manu-factured by Tandon. The company has, afterall, been supplying similar units to majormanufacturers for many years. The larger -than -average 14in. green -screen monitor,

TAN DON PCX

PC VERDICT ,0 k,

i0 4 0 L'Cl P (5 4tr

Performance

Ease of use 0Documentation . III

Value for money

CI Impeccably presented IBM PCcompatible with good hard -discperformance.

included in the basic price of the Tandon, isa very attractive unit. Once again, per-formance is very much on a par with theIBM unit.

Tandon's keyboard is a beautifullyfinished unit which appears to have beenspecially made for this machine, unlike thecheaper compatibles which seem to sourcetheir keyboards from the same few manu-facturers. Key action is good, and the unitfeatures a tilt device and status LEDs.

The Tandon PC is supplied with a

standard implementation of Microsoft MS-DOS 2.11. Once again, compatibility washard to assess without a full graphics card,but the machine ran all the text -based IBMsoftware without no difficulty. It isreasonably safe to assume that a companylike Tandon with a reputation to preservewill ensure that the compatibility of its firstbusiness PC will be acceptable at the veryleast. Distributors of a foreign import areless likely to have the necessary resources ortechnical support to rectify deficiencies inthis area.

The Tandon is supplied with three well -presented A5 manuals: a user guide, a DOSguide and a GWBasic reference manual.Although brief, they should be sufficient formost users' needs. The standard warranty issix months.


IBMCOMPATIBLES

Above: Space is well used inside theCentaur PC.Below left: The Centaur PC, almostindistinguishable from an IBM PC.Below right: The Tandon PCX issuperbly finished and does not revealits budget pretensions.Right: Inside the Tandon PCX.


SPECIFICATIONCENTAUR PCCPU: Intel 8088 running at 4.77MHzRAM: 128K, expandable to 640KDimensions: 500mm. (19.7in.) x140mm. (5.5in.) x 400mm. (15.7in.)Display: 12in. monochrome monitordisplaying 80 columns by 25 lines;various graphics options availableKeyboard: 83 -key IBM layout with 10function keysMass storage: two 5.25in. 360K half -height floppiesInterfaces: parallel only; othersoptionalSoftware in price: MS-DOS 2.11Price: £860; colour system £1,220U.K. distributor: Centaur Systems,17-21 Castle Street, Cardiff CF1 2BT.Telephone: (0222) 390714

TANDON PCXCPU: Intel 8088 running at 4.77MHzRAM: 256K, expandable to 640KDimensions: 500mm. (19.7in). x140mm. (5.5in.) x 350mm. (13.8in.)Display: 14in. monochrome monitordisplaying 80 columns by 25 lines;various options availableKeyboard: 84 -key IBM PC layout with10 function keysMass storage: one 5.25in. half -heightfloppy; one half -height 10MbyteWinchesterInterfaces: parallel only; othersoptionalSoftware in price: MS-DOS 2.11Price: £1,595; 20Mbyte model £1,795Manufacturer: Tandon ComputerU.K. Ltd, 5 Suttons Industrial Park,London Road, Reading, Berkshire RG61 AZ. Telephone: (0734) 664676

CONCLUSIONS Despite some rough edges, the Centaur PChas all the necessary basics to make acompetent if unexciting PC compatible. The Tandon PCX is a well -finished PC/XTcompatible supported by a major manu-facturer; the performance of the Tandon-built10Mbyte hard disc is substantially better thanIBM's. Users of both machines should budget for aserial port and a decent graphics board whencomparing them with better -establishedcompatibles; the basic Centaur PC has only128K of memory, which may need to beupgraded. The Centaur PC has good expansionpotential, but its disc performance is poor bycurrent standards.

91

IBMCOMPATIBLES

The upper end of the PCmarket looks set for a shake-up judging by this cheap, fastAT clone, tested by GlynMoody.

TANDY3000

Tandy presents a heartening case oflearning to get it right. The TRS-80series of machines - known affect-

ionately or otherwise as "Trash -80" - werethe first generation of serious machines fromthe company, and many of them are stilldoing sterling service. But they are dinosaursfrom an era when everybody and his or herdog had their own operating systems.

For its subsequent micro, Tandy recog-nised that you have to be brave or Apple togo it alone in a world dominated by the IBMPC. Even so, the company was still reluctantto go the whole hog: the Tandy 2000,reviewed in September 1984's issue ofPractical Computing, was a fast andpowerful MS-DOS micro.

Following the unspectacular sales of the2000 model Tandy came up with the 1000.As we reported in our April 1985 review, thisexcellent machine offered full functionalIBM compatibility with good price per-formance. Unfortunately, Tandy remaineda touch idiosyncratic: the expansion slotswere not full length, thus precluding totaloperational compatibility; the keyboard wasdifferent; and there was no provision foremulation of the high -resolution mono-chrome mode.

FULL COMPATIBILITYWith the Tandy 3000, Tandy has taken

the plunge, and offers full AT functionalcompatibility and full-length expansionslots. The 3000 weighs in with a price whichknocks the bottom out of the market:around £3,100 for a 20Mbyte system,1.2Mbyte floppy, 512K RAM, serial andparallel ports, keyboard and monochromemonitor. The equivalent IBM price is nearly£4,900.

Even the casing of the main system boxmimics Big Blue. Gone are the curiouslydated, rounded curves of the Tandy 1000and 2000. Instead there are strong lines andsquare corners, though the unit is smalleroverall than the PC / AT. At the front of themachine there is a recessed Reset button.

Standardisation at last - the Tandy 3000even looks like an IBM.

TANDY 3000

PC VERDICT

e. calr 0' 6C)

'zk0 `r (5 <4,

Performance II M Ease of use IIDocumentation .Value for money I Offers more performance than theIBM PC/AT for a significantly lowerprice.

One noticeable omission ig the locking keyfound on the IBM. Tandy says that it prefersto use software rather than hardware to keepthe system secure.

Opening up the machine reveals plenty ofroom for expansion cards. There are agenerous 10 slots in total: seven 16 -bit, andtwo full-length and one half-length eight -bit. On the review machine, three slots were

occupied by cards for monitor, printers anddisc controllers.

A hefty power -supply unit sits at the backof the box and a fan is placed at the front.There are various permutations of discdrives. For example, you can have twofloppies - either 1.2Mbyte or 360K - plusone 20Mbyte Winchester, or one floppy andtwo Winchesters. The flexibility of allowingtwo hard discs and up to 40Mbyte of storageis attractive. The drives and power -supplyunit are protected by clear plastic coverswhich lie above them. Beneath it all is themotherboard, which is neat, spacious andseems to manage without any last-minutefudges.

For the keyboard, Tandy has abandonedits quixotic version used with the Model1000, and produced a more spacious designwith a normal AT layout. The overall sizehas been kept smaller than IBM's, largelythrough the incorporation of Number,Scroll and Caps Lock indicators in the keysthemselves. The feel of the keyboard isgood: it is very light but not shallow. Thereare small ridges on the home keys to helptouch -typists, though they may find it along stretch to the Backspace Delete key.

BAGSHAW BENCHMARKSBMO BMI BM2 BM3 BM4 BM5 BM6 BM7 BM8 BM9 BM I 0 BMI 1 BM12 BM13 Total

Tandy 3000 - floppyTandy 3000 - 20Mbyte hard

11.46

3.51.9

4.52.3

14.62.9

14.91.7

24.39.5

4.32.8

23.614.9

12.34.7

7.61.7

143.1

82.115.8

48.29.1

23.112.2

288.488.6

Compaq Deskpro 286 10.5 4 4 12.5 15 16.4 5 17.5 5.3 8 13.4 75 45.5 18.2 250.3- floppyCompaq Deskpro 286 6.2 1.8 2.5 2.3 2.8 3.6 1.2 3.8 1.1 0.8 1.6 11 5.9 3.2 47.8

- 30Mbyte hardHP Vectra - floppy 10.3 3.5 3.7 11.8 12.1 23.2 4.1 23.6 12 7.7 15.1 83.2 48.1 22.1 280.5


SPECIFICATIONProcessor: 80286 running at 8MHzRAM: 512K standard, expandable to640K on -board, and to 12Mbyte underXenixROM: power -up diagnosticsKeyboard: full IBM PC/AT QWERTYlayoutDisplay: 12in. green or 14in. colourmonitor; 80 or 40 characters per line, 25or 50 lines; optional 640 -by -400monochrome graphics, or 320 -by -200 in16 colours, or 640 -by -400 in four coloursDiscs: 5.25in. drive can read 360K or1.2Mbyte formats; optional 20MbyteWinchesterInterfaces: serial and parallel portsstandard; internal IBM eight- and 16 -bitbus expansion slotsSoftware in price: noneHardware expansion: RAMupgrades, maths co -processorDimensions: 165mm. (6.5in.) x483mm. (19in.) x 457mm. (18.in.)Weight: 21.3kg. (471b.)Prices: basic machine with 20MbyteWinchester, one 5.25in. floppy, serialand parallel port, but no graphics board£2,795; single -floppy version £1,995;14in. colour monitor £499; 12in.monochrome monitor £179; graphicscard £399, text display card £199; mathsco -processor £249; hard -disc controller£399; MS-DOS 3.1, Basic, Deskmate £78Availability: nowU.K. distributor: Tandy Corporation,Tameway Tower, Bridge Street, Walsall,West Midlands WS1 1 LA. Telephone:(0922) 648181

In operation the Tandy 3000 proved tohave another virtue over and above its price:it is very fast. It is aided in this respect byrunning its 80286 at 8MHz rather thanIBM's more sedate 6MHz. As the Bench-marks show, it is comfortably close behindthe swift Deskpro 286 in its Basic andfloppy -disc performance.

Increasing performance does have itsdrawbacks, though. For example, the cursor

now blinks at a manic rate. More seriously,there are suggestions that IBM might oneday use timing routines to check thatsoftware is running on a bona fide 6MHz PCrather than a souped -up clone.

The Tandy 3000 is scrupulously faithful toits mentor in the degree of software com-patibility it offers; it goes as far as the ATbut not further. For example, it runs suchpackages as 1-2-3 and Sidekick, but like theIBM machine it will not run the ordinaryFlight Simulator. No software comesbundled with the machine but Basic, MS-DOS and Deskmate are available for £78.Tandy has also announced that Xenix will beavailable this year.

On the review machine there was a nastyhardware fault with the power supply, whichcut out several times. Tandy says that themodels to be released to the public will haveundergone modifications to avoid thisproblem. Set against this, the machine hadundergone far more to-ing and fro-ing as aresult of demos up and down the countrythan any normal business micro is likely tohave to put up with. The fact that the harddisc accepted both this constant movingaround and power cuts with such equan-imity augurs well for reliability in thatdepartment.

DOWNWARD SHIFTThe Tandy 3000 emerges as an excellent

machine with a truly tempting price tag.Anyone contemplating buying an ordinaryPC/XT can now stretch to a full AT -alikewithout serious financial strain. What isparticularly significant about the launch ofthe Model 3000 is that it joins Tandon'ssimilarly priced AT clone in establishing anew level of pricing for ATs. Given the per-formance of the 3000 it seems inevitablethat most other compatibles will be forced tomove at least some way towards this level.

The PC -clone market has been openingup for some time, and it is getting more cut-throat by the minute. With the launch ofthe Tandy and Tandon machines the firstshots have been fired in what could be asimilarly bloody battle at the upper end ofthe PC market.

CONCLUSIONS The Tandy 3000 is a full IBM PC/AT clone forabout two-thirds of the price. It is also muchfaster. The possibility of incorporating up to40Mbyte of Winchester storage is a usefulfeature. The review unit experienced some problemswith the power supply; otherwise, the unitseemed well made and reliable.

BASIC BENCHMARKSThe figures below show the time in seconds taken to run a run a series of standardbenchmarks. Details and listings were given in the January 1984 issue of PracticalComputing.

BM I BM2 BM3 BM4 BM5 BM6 BM7 BM8 Av.Tandy 3000 - 80286 0.3 1.3 2.9 3.0 3.4 6.2 9.7 9.5 4.5Compaq Deskpro 286 - 80286 0.3 1.2 2.8 2.9 3.2 5.7 9.1 9.2 4.3HP Vectra - 80286 0.3 1.4 3.0 3.1 3.4 6.6 10.2 9.6 4.7IBM PCIAT - 80286 0.5 1.9 4.6 4.7 5.2 9.1 14.6 13.5 6.8

IBMCOMPATIBLES

As more manufacturers aimfor greater IBM compatibility,we compare current PC- andAT-alikes.

TURNINGTHETABLESON IBM

There have been two ways of followingIBM. One is to offer compatibilitywithout sacrificing the refinements

which can be added quite easily. The other isto go all the way, warts and all. Surprisinglyenough, the first method was the most pop-ular to begin with, and is only now beingsuperseded by the second.

In the first class there are machines likethe Olivetti M-24, which has long provideda benchmark against which subsequentIBMulators have had to be measured. Inparticular the 8MHz clock rate instead of theoriginal 4.77MHz has resulted in some fairlyspectacular gains in performance. Compaqand Sperry, other early contenders in thismarket, also offer faster clock rates.

But the tide has now turned. If youproduce a PC clone today, the chances arethat it is an identical copy, as far as is legallypossible. Since there are no incentives topurchase in the specification, all the atten-tion is concentrated on one area: price.

As the tables on the following pagesshow, the latest round of machines hoveringaround the £1,000 mark make the moresenior members of the club look ridiculouslycostly, and that includes the IBM PC itself.This is partly a reflection of the maturingmarketplace. Now people are prepared tobuy on price alone, and to hell with thethree letters on the front or the weeks ofhandholding sometimes offered. It alsoreflects that the cutting edge of technologyhas moved on to the world of the AT.

Until recently it would have been safe tomake the distinction that while the PCmarket was coming to the end of its life andwould be subject to increasingly savageprice -cutting, the AT was safe for a while atleast. After all, the machine is barely a yearold. Then along came Tandon, and morerecently Tandy. Both offer a full IBMPC / AT -alike for not much more than theprice of the IBM PC itself.

It is not clear to what extent these rep-resent flashes in the pan. Both Tandon andTandy are major players in their respectivefields, and it seems unlikely that eitherwould adopt this kind of pricing lightly. Itwould therefore appear that a fundamentalshift is taking place in the IBM PC and ATmarket, with even the undisputed king ofthat world likely to feel the repercussions.

(continued on page 96)


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THETHE PRINTERCROSSOVERS(2 MICROS TO 2 PRINTERS;PARALLEL - 25D SOCKETSSERIAL R5232 -25D SOCKETS

£85 ,c£70 (hi

CENTRONICS (36 PIN) PRINTERSHARERS, PRINTERCHANGERS &PRINTERCROSSOVERS AND FOR BBC, SIRIUS. APRICOT WANG. MACINTOSH.COMMODORE, 26 PIN APPLE!! Ile & Ilc AVAILABLE

ACCESSORIESSERIAL TO PARALLEL CONVERTER WITH PSU £6025 PIN D GENDERCHANGER M/M, F/F (SHIELDED! £1025 PIN RS232 SURGE PROTECTOR M/F (SHIELDED; £206FT. FLEX PRINTER CABLE 25 PIN TO 36 PIN f15

24 HOUR CUSTOM MADE CABLE SERVICE AVAILABLE.

PRICES ARE EXCLUDING VAT Postage: (b) (c( £2.50

KEYZONE LTDU14, REGENERATION HOUSE, SCHOOL ROAD,PARK ROYAL, LONDON NWIO 6TD.

kay.one Telephone- 01-9651684/1804 Telex: 8813271Acc *es

Circle No. 16294


20 MEGABYTES

£595Twenty megabytes of hard disk storage on your PC. Sixty times the capacity of your floppy

drives. Three million words. A thousand hours of typing. Enough room for all of your programsand all of your data for a long, long time.

Twenty megabytes of fast storage. Hard disks are ten times as fast as floppies on a PC or XT.And our proven Seagate drives are faster still - access times are 25% under competing hard drives.

Twenty megabytes of reliable storage. Our Seagate 20 MB drives have a mean time between fai-lure (MTBF) of TWENTY THOUSAND HOURS. At forty hours per week, that's ten years oftrouble -free operation.

How do you get one in your machine? For £595, we do it all for you. Pick your machine up. Testit. Install the pre -tested drive. Test it again, for an entire day. Deliver your new Super Micro backto you.

Or for £549, you can do it for yourself. We will send you a complete kit for upgrading your PC,XT, or compatible into a Super Micro. It's the same Seagate drive, fast controller, cable, faceplate, mounting bracket, and little bag of screws. You do have to supply the screwdriver.

Ah, you say, but what if it doesn't work? Well, you give us a call. We grumble at our shakingtechnical staff (this isn't supposed to happen!). You send it back to us. We repair it (or, morelikely, just replace it with a brand new one) at no charge. We send it straight back to you.

How long does this last? An entire year. We include a full one year repair -or -replace warranty onany upgrade kit that we sell.

So what are you waiting for? Ring us, write, or just send in your machine (system box only) anda cheque. We're Bristol Micro Traders, Upgrades Group, on (0272) 279 499, at Maggs House, 78Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1QX.

BRISTOLMicro Traders

Bristol Micro Traders supply a complete range of upgrades for the PC, AT, and compatibles: 10MB half -height drives 20MB fast (40ms access) full -height drives 30MB, 40MB, and larger drives 130 watt power supplier for the PC 10MB, 20MB, and larger streaming tapes.

All carry at least a one year repair -or -replace warranty. All are available as kits, but we dorecommend that you allow us to assemble and test. We can also supply bare drives, with-out controllers and mounting kits. Please call or write for prices.

Dealers, volume buyers: please call.

Circle No. 163

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The new Brother1509 wid-e column printer solves th-e problem ofgetting a lot o-f information onto a singleline.

a

/WOK UNn APREAPANEET ,..a. PROOOCINo BALAR REPoRlsOR ANY rnwitft ROSINERS APPTICATION N.C. INS COLUMNS.

IT PAINT. AT OLIVIA. ISO CHARACTERS PISA SECOND. BUT nws THE AWED ADVANTAGE OF ANMLO MODE IRE CPS/ FOR WNW PROCESSING APPLICATIONS.

SLIM QUIETNESSM41. T. ISOR TANKS UP RATHER LESS SPACE TMAIS MANYCOMPETITORS. *SOL.IT'S OF OPERATION WILL SE WELCOME IN NOV RUST OFFICE ENVIRONMENT.

FIAIVALta

136 COLUMNSISO CHARACTERS P. 9.0103LETTER QUALITY (AS CPSJDUAL INTERFACE IRS23.C/CENTRONICS,ISM CONFATIRLSOPTIONAL PLOW -IN TYPE STYLESMILT-IN TRACTOR FEEDDONN-LOAD rumrr,ow /CREATE YOUR OWN RINSCH, OR TYPE STYLE./LON PROFILE t IV.a IS^

/NW IIIThe future at vour fingertips. Circle No. 164

DEPARTMENT P. BROTHER OFFICE EQUIPMENT DIVISION,JONES + BROTHER, SHEPLEY STREET, AUDENSHAW, MANCHESTER M34 5JD. TELEPHONE: 06I- 330 6)11

98TELEX: 669092. BROTHER SHOWROOM: 83 FUSION ROAD, LONDON NW1. TELECOM GOLD: 83: JBC002. BROTHER INDUSTRIES LIMITED, NAGOYA, JAPAN

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Somerset Yeovil 0935 71117Staffordshire. Stoke -On -Trent

0782 269883.Suffolk. Bury St Edmonds

0284 3181.Surrey. Croydon 01-680 1852.

01-681 5021. 01-684 5678. Egham0784 31333. Farnham 0252 711677.

Kingston - Upon -Thames01-5411495.

Tyne & Wear. Newcastle - Upon -Tyne091-272 2022. 0632 612626.0632 615161.091-268 3333.Warwickshire.Nuneaton

0203 328967.Wiltshire. Swindon 0793 762449.

Worcestershire. Worcester0905 612931. 0905 21616.

Sussex. Crawley 0293 5433010293 29778.

West Midlands. Birmingham021-233 1020. 021-643 5368/5362.

021-643 6351.021-233 4321.Cleveland St. Wolves 0902 712121.

Coventry 0203 23582. Sedgley09073 63115.

SCOTLANDDumfries. Dumfries 0387 69151.

Stranraer 0776 833309.Grampian. Aberdeen 0224 636081.

0224 647074.Highlands. Shetland Isles

0595 5787.Lothian. Edinburgh 031-229 4418.

031-225 3693.031-337 9870031-225 9337/8854.

Strathclyde. Glasgow 041-332 5525041-221 7409. 041-226 4211.041-333 9531. 041-221 8413.

041-778 8585.Isle of Lewis. Stowaway 0851 3244

WALESMid Glamorgan. Swansea

0792 467980.South Glamorgan. Cardiff

0222 45859/398698.

N. IRELANDN. Ireland. Belfast 0232 732 223.

That's solved the problemof where to buy it.

411=11 -The fUture at your fingertips.

TAY COMMERCIALSERVICES LTD

WASH LANE, BURYLANCS BL9 7DU

TEL: 061 7052288 TELEX: 665233

COMPUTERSCOMMODOREPC10 256K RAM2 360K FLOPPY DRIVES £1299

PC20 256K RAM1 360K FLOPPY DRIVE1 10MB HARD DISC £2150

SPERRY PCMODEL 200 256K RAM2 360K FLOPPY DRIVES £1850MODEL 400 256K RAM1 360K FLOPPY DRIVE1 20MB HARD DISK £2950MODEL 450 256K RAM1 360K FLOPPY DRIVE1 20MB HARD DISKMEDIUM RESOLUTION COLOUR MONITOR £3200PC/IT 512K RAM1 1.2MB FLOPPY DRIVE1 44MB HARD DISC

APRICOTPC 256K DUAL 315K DRIVES £1199PC 256K DUAL 720K DRIVES £1349Xi10 256K 10MB HARD DISK £2099Xi10S 512K 10MB HARD DISK £2499

£ CALL

OLIVETTIM21M24

£ call£ call

PRINTERSEPSON LX80 £199EPSON FX80 + £299EPSON FX85 £339EPSON FX100 + £439EPSON EX105 + £439EPSON LQ1500 £799EPSON SQ2000 £1399EPSON DX100 £370EPSON HI 80 PLOTTER £315BROTHER HR25 £649BROTHER HR35 £749DIABLO 630 £1539

DISKETTES (BOX 10)DSDD 40 TRACK

3M £19DYSAN £23XIDEX £18

DSDD SONY £39.50

SOFTWAREWORDSTAR PROF £279WORDSTAR £215WORDSTAR 2000 £295SYMPHONY £399DBASE III £340LOTUS 123 £319PEGASUS from £175SUPERCALC II £129SUPERCALC III £235MULTIPLAN £139MULTIMATE £287

THIS IS A LIMITED SAMPLE OF THE GOODS WE OFFER.PLEASE RING FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

ALL PRICES EXCLUDE VAT AND CARRIAGECHEQUE WITH ORDER OR ACCESS/DINERS/AMERICAN EXPRESS


Circle No. 177

vv

"In 1986 it's going to be veryPRINTERS-DOT MATRIX COLOUR PRINTERS/PLOTTERS COMPUTERS

ANADEX / BROTHER / CANON /DATAPRODUCTS / EPSON / HONEYWELL /JUKI / MANNESMANN TALLY / MICRO -PERIPHERALS / NEC / NEWBURY DATA /OKI -MICROLINE / PANASONIC /RITEMAN / SEIKOSHA / STAR / TAXAN /TEC / TOSHIBA

CANON F-60 80cps ThermalDRAFT/NLQ/LQ/GR 110col £349EPSON LX -80 80co1 100cpslocos NLQ £195EPSON RX-100 136co1 F/T 100cps £317EPSON FX-80 80col 160cps £295EPSON FX-100 F/T 136col 160cps £395EPSON LQ-1500 200cps (NLQ)4 to 16" paper width £849EPSON SQ2000 136co1 176cps 1055cpsNLQ P+S+IEEE £1419JUKI 5510 80col 18cps F/T £265STAR SG -10 (F/T) 120cps, 80col,(50cps NLQ) £199STAR SG -15 (F/T) 120cps, 136col,(50cps NLQ) £295

SERIAL TO PARALLEL PROTOCOLCONVERTER

Serial RS232 in-parallel centronics out!Converts almost any serial computer cheaplyto operate with almost any parallel printer.Baud rate selectable from 150-19200Hardware (DTR) Handshaking. SelectableDATA/STOP/Parity bits. Powered by +5v onpin 18 of centronics interface. Supplied withconnectors + cable. £39.95

PRINTERS-DAISY WHEELBROTHER / TOWA / DIABLO / EPSON /JUKI / NEC SPINWRITER / QUME / QUENDATA / UCHIDA / RICOH / SILVER -REED /TEC STARWRITER

BROTHER HR -15 Parallel 20cps £295BROTHER HR -25 Parallel 25cps £599BROTHER HR -35 Parallel 35cps £659TOWA Daisy Junior 14cps 80col, P11 £199TOWA Daisystep 2000 18cps132col, P11 £215EPSON DX -100 Parallel 20cps £312JUKI 6100 18cps £289QUEN DATA Daisy WheelParallel 18cps £215UCHIDA DAISYWHEEL 20cps Parallel £199

DIGITASK are dealers for all the above manufacturersFor the most competitive pridng on all models call!!

Conditions of Sale (D 4REMEMBER Even if you don't see it advertised here we can probably supply it AND FOR LESS. Problems with limited spacemeans that we are only able to advertise a limited range of products Additional prices on application. Consumables, paper,ribbons, etc supplied at exceptional prices 24 -HOUR DELIVERY on items ex, stock.CARRIAGE WITHIN UK items which may be dispatched by POST leg peripheral cards etc) add f 2 00 per order under £5000ORDERS EXCEEDING £50.00 CARRIAGE FREE SOFTWARE PACKAGES CHARGED SEPARATELY MINIMUM CHARGE£400 Items which must move by CARRIER (such as printers, monitors, etc I will be delivered within 24 , hours for a charge of£10.00 OR ALTERNATIVELY within 48 -HOURS at a charge of £7 50 Add 15% for VAT to all prices given Remember. VAT isalso applicable on carriage at 15% Terms STRICTLY CWO. DEALER ENOUIRIES WELCOME FOREIGN enquiries if possible bytelex, please Favourable rates to most destinations CALLERS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

ANADEX / ASTAR / CANON / DIABLO /EPSON /JUKI / MANNESMANN TALLY /OKIMATE / PENMANN / SEIKOSHA /SILVER -REED

PENMANN (with cable & software) £249

MONITORSINDESIT / MITSUBISHI / PHILIPS / SANYO /TAXAN / YAN JEN / ZENITH

SANYO DMC 7650 IBM/APRICOTColour Monitor £319PHILIPS 7502 12" Green,composite 20MHz £69PHILIPS 7513 12" Green,IBM Compatible 20MHz £85PHILIPS CT 2007 Monitor/TV RF,CVBS, RGB £199PHILIPS CM8533 MED CV RGB/LINEARRGB/TTL (IBM) £269TAXAN KX 1201G 12" 20MHz,Green, P31 tube £89TAXAN KX 1202G 12" 20MHZ,Green, P39 tubeINDESIT APRICOT Display 12"(beige or black)

£99

£159

APPLE COMPATIBLE PERIPHERALS

Digitask is the major supplier ofperipherals in the U.K.-This monthall items in stock at 'Sale' prices!!!

Call for free price list

SUPER 4 -BANK -FAST EPROMWRITER TO 256K!

Handles 2716, 2732, 2732A, 2764, 2764A,27128, 27128A, 27256, 27256A ProgrammingVoltage Auto Set to 25/21/12.5 volts. Canprogram, blank check and verify to EPROMssimultaneously! 8 times faster than our usualcard! External Textual Bank. Fullycomprehensive software supplied.

£199

APRICOT / EPSON / CANON /COMMODORE / COMPAQ / IBM /OLIVETTI / SANYO

DIGITASK PC -16

* 256KB standard upgradable (on board)to 640KB (1024KB with CCP/M).

* 8088 processor operating at 4.77MHzswitchable to 8MHz TURBO.

* 8 IBM compatible expansion slots.* Provision for 8087 co -processor.* Four DMA channels.* Three timer channels.* MS-DOS ' /PC -DOS and CP/M-86

supported.* 130 Watt XT -style power supply.* 2 x 320K floppy drives.* 1 parallel, 1 serial (2nd. serial optional),

I games port as standard.* 83 -key cherry style keyboard.* 12 inch, Monochrome monitor, with

high persistence tube.

only £695

DIGITASK are dealers for all the above manufacturersFor the most competitive pricing on all models call!!

SOFTWARECARD BOX PLUS / CROSSTALK / DMS / DR/ D BASE / EASEL / FLIGHT SIMULATOR /FRAMEWORK / FRIDAY / LOTUS / MICROSOFT / MULTIMATE / MULTIPLAN /NICEPRINT / NORTON / OPEN ACCESS /PEACHTREE / PC / PEGASUS /PERTMASTER / PFS / SAGE / SIDEKICK /SIDEWAYS / SMART / SPREADSHEET /SUPERCALC / SYMPHONY / TURBO /WORDSTAR

,A\A

ectSe'Ce' 9) se*

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difficult to match our prices.PC/XT PERIPHERALS

Unique, Technically excellent & Superb value4 -LAYER XT MAINBOARD -8 -Slot * 8088 processor clocking at 4.77MHz *provision for 8087 * 4 separate DMA channels * 3 timer channels *64K -1024K on board. £199SUPER XT MAINBOARD-2 layer construction as above but limited to 256K onboard memory. £169SUPER TURBO XT MAINBOARD -8 -slot * 8088 processor clocking at either4.77MHz or 8MHz in TURBO mode. £219384K MULTIFUNCTION CARD -(Full length) parity checked memory 64K to384K * Parallel printer port * One async. comms. port (2nd optional) *Clock/calendar with battery back-up * Games port * RAMdisk, PRINTspool,and TIMer software. £125512K RAM EXPANSION CARD -(Full length) user selectable start and finishaddresses * 64K to 512K on board £89576K RAMASTER EXPANSION CARD-(Short 4"x 5") State of the art SHORTRAM card * Uses 64K or 256K DRAM chips * Bipolar PROM for addressdecoding of just three RAM banks * Selectable parity ON/OFF. £892MB RAM EXPANSION CARD FOR PC/PC-XT-(Full length) Breakthroughthe conventional 640K barrier of DOS * adds 2MB of parity checked memory *conventional and expanded memory are switch selectable * Intel and Lotusmemory expansion spec. * MFPLUS software included. * Note: backordered toFEB. 1986! Please check when ordering. £P.OA.PARALLEL PRINTER ADAPTER-)Short 5" x 4") Centronics compatible *selectable port address * 25 -pin D connector * may be used as general I/Ointerface via 12 latched TTL buffer points. £29ASYNC. SERIAL COMMS. ADAPTER-(Short 5" x 4") One standard, 2ndoptional RS232C port * Programmable baud rates from 50 to 9600 baud *Five, six, seven or eight data bit characters with 1, 1V., or 2 stop bits * Fullyprioritized interrupt system controls transmit, receive, error, line status and dataset interrupts. £49ASYNC. 2 PORT COMMS. ADAPTER-(Short 5" x 4") As above but secondport added and cable supplied. £59MULTI-ASYNC. CARD (PC/XT)-(Short 5" x 4") Provides FOUR communicationsports on a single card! * Ports are switch selectable as COM1 through COM8 *Three interrupt channels supported IR02, IR03, IR04. £149ADD-ON SERIAL PORT KIT -3 chip set for additional comms port * intendedfor COMMS and MULTIFUNCTION cards. £12.50514-4 FLOPPY DRIVE CONTROLLER CARD -(8" x 4") Two internal drives maybe daisychained on 34 -way edge connector * 38 -way external D' connectorfor two additional drives, tape streamer, etc. £54514-4B FLOPPY DRIVE CONTROLLER CARD -(4" x 5") Short version of theabove card. £49MULTI 1/O CARD WITH CABLES-(Full length) 6 -way!! * Dual floppy interfaceon 34 -way edge connector * Serial port and optional 2nd serial port (bi-directional, async. comms.) RS -232C * Parallel port * Clock/calendar withbattery back up * Games port £165PSIO-405XT MULTIFUNCTION CARD -(Short 4" x 5") Parallel port (configur-able as LPT 1 or 2) * One standard, 2nd optional async. comms. port(configurable as COM-1,2,3 or 4) RS232C * Uses 8250B serial comms. chip *Clock/calendar with battery back up * RAMDISK, PRINTSPOOL & CLOCKsoftware. £129MONOCHROME/GRAPHICS CARD -(Fu II length) IBM/HERCULES compati-ble * Text mode 80 x 25 * Graphics mode 720 x 348 * Direct drive output *Parallel printer port. £99.95MONOCHROME (TEXT) DISPLAY ADAPTER -(Full length) 6845 CRT con-troller module * 4K static RAM display buffer * Supports 256 character codes *8K character generator * 80 x 255 screen/9x 14 character box/7x 9 characters* Direct drive output. £84COLOUR GRAPHICS CARD -(Full length) 2 layer construction * A/N andAPA modes * 640 x 200 in graphics mode * 16KB on board memory * outputsfor direct drive, composite video * light pen interface. £89MULTI LAYER COLOUR GRAPHICS CARD -(Fu II length) 4 layer construction* Uses motorola 6845 CRT controller * 16K display buffer * Drive RGB (TTLlevel), standard composite and RS -170 composite monitors * Light pen interfaceas standard * Alphanumeric mode 40 x 25 and 80 x 25 * APA (graphic) mode320 x 200 and 640 x 200. £139

COLOUR/GRAPHICS AND PRINTER ADAPTER -(Full length) Supportsdirect drive, RGB, composite colour and composite monochrome monitors *Alphanumeric mode 40 x 25 and 80 x 25 * Graphics mode 320 x 200colour/640 x 200 monochrome * Parallel printer port * Light pen interface *Fully compatible with the IBM. £129COLOUR/MONOCHROME GRAPHICS DISPLAY CARD-(Short 5" x 4")Capable of driving Direct drive RGB, Direct drive Monochrome and Compositevideo Mono/Colour monitors * light pen interface * mouse interface *supporting software * for use with PC/XT/AT and compatibles. £149GAMES ADAPTER-(Short 4" x 5") Allows attachment of two joysticks to thePC/PC-XT * paddles must have a range of 0-100K Ohms * 15 pin female 'D'connector. £2482551/0 CARD -(4" x 8") A programmable input/output interface for PC/PC-XT. 48 I/O lines * 3 independent 16 -bit counters * 16 LEDs for I/O statusdisplay.PCP 128 EEPROM/EPROM PROGRAMMER -(4" x 5.5") Half in/half outdesign allows external EPROM handling * 'Breakaway' design option allowsremote handling of EPROMs * Software handling of 2716/2732/2732A/2764/2764a/27128/2816 * Menu driven software19 features. £149512K 4 BANK PROMBLASTER EPROM PROGRAMMER/ANALYSER-(4" x8") 4 ATA TIME! * can program, check and verify four EPROMs'simultaneously* internal card, external TEXTOOLS * up to 8 times faster than our normal card* handles 2716, 2732, 2732A, 2764, 2764A, 27128, 27128A, 27256, 27256A,27512, 27512A * programming voltage automatically set according to type *no dip switches to set, all settings under software control *software supplied. £259130W POWER SUPPLY UNIT-Conservatively rated at 130 watts * UL listed *C SA approved * Built-in EMI filter * switchable to 117 VAC for USA/Canada *Input surge protection * overvoltage/overcurrent protection * power goodsignal * directly replaces IBM original supply * cable loom for 4 -drives andmain board £89PC/XT SWING TOP CASE-Similar in looks and styling to the original but withthe added convenience of easy access * full mounting hardware and blankingplates supplied. £55360K HALF HEIGHT FLOPPY DISK DRIVE -Slimline, BRAND NAME, high-tech floppy drive. £84.95NEC 20MB FIXED DISK DRIVE-One of the ony drives on the market withtrue head retraction to safeguard your data * 85ms average access time. * halfheight with floppy size footprint. £439NEC 10MB FIXED DISK DRIVE-see above. £279WESTERN DIGITAL SWX1000-2 HARD DRIVE CONTROLLER -(4" x 8")Suitable for most PC -compatibles * Special driver ROMS for ERICSSON,FERRANTI, OLIVETTI & TANDY-1000 * XT Winchester emulation * Data ratesup to 5 MBI TS/SEC. * Supports TWO hard drives * Automatic error detectionand correction on field * Selectable retries * Automatic formatting. .... £135SET OF CABLES FOR HARD DRIVE-Pair of 20 & 34 way cables for standardST -506 Winchester connection. £25K-1501 CHERRY TOP KEYBOARD -84 -key * lit CAPS LOCK and NUM LOCKindicators * Uses CHERRY (full travel) mechanical contact switches * lifetimegreater than 50 million operations * meets DIN ergonomicrequirements. £69IRWIN-110 10MB TAPE BACK UP-Ease of use and comprehensive softwaremake this system excellent value.

39IRW1N-225 20MB TAPE BACK UP-As above but greater capacity. E£4795

4164 DRAM CHIP-150ns Dynamic RAMs at a dynamic price * 9 pieces for aparity checked bank of 64K * PC/XT and compatibles. £0.75 (each)4128 DRAM CHIP-Upgrade PC/AT and compatibles * 9 pieces for a paritychecked bank of 128K. £4.75 (each)41256 DRAM CHIP-Upgrade PC/XT compatibles, Olivetti, Compaq, etc. * 9pieces for a parity checked bank of 256K. £3.75 (each)8087-2 MATHS CO PROCESSOR-Upgrade for Olivetti £1698087 MATHS CO PROCESSOR-Upgrade for PC/PC-XT andcompatibles. £139

PC/AT PERIPHERALSSUPER AT -COMPATIBLE MAINBOARD -Complete compatibility withPhoenix BIOS. £925AT HARD/FLOPPY CONTROLLER CARD -For AT and compatibles. £3953MB MULTIFUNCTION CARD FOR THE AT-Full parity checked memory *user expandable to 3MB in 128K or 512K increments using 64K or 256K DRAMchips * start address configurations at 256K, 512K or above 1MB * 1 async.comms. interface * 1 parallel printer port * games adapter * optional 2ndcomms. port. £449SERIAL/PARALLEL CARD FOR THE AT-(Short 4"x 5") parallel printer port *async. comms. port £89PSIO-405AT MULTIFUNCTION CARD-(Short 4" x 5") similar to PSIO-405XTbut for AT and compatibles * parallel printer port * async. comms. port *option for 2nd comms. port * optional games port * uses 16450 serial comms.chip for to match the AT's faster speed * no clock (the AT has oneon board). £149

MULTI-ASYNC. CARD FOR THE AT-)Short 4" x 5") Four async. comms portsswitch selectable as COM1 through COM8 * three interrupt channelssupported IR02, IR03 and IRO4 £195200W POWER SUPPLY UNIT FOR THE AT-Meets UL/CSA standards *built-in EMI filter * switchables to US/CANADA 115 VAC * input surge currentprotection * overcurrent/overvoltage protection * power goodsignal. £189PC/AT STYLE CASE £1251.2MB FLOPPY DRIVE-Name brand * Half height floppy. £149AT -COMPATIBLE KEYBOARD £139

"Probably the best value for moneyanywhere in the U.K." tot

101111110Mte

ma.

Computer SuppliesPC -XT SELECTRIC KEYBOARDS

V.' Our volume purchase of these excellent selectric typekeyboards will bring the features you have beenwanting down to a price you can't resist. So manyfeatures - you'll love it!

Single key reset Separate numeric keypad

Separate 'Arrow" keypad Dimple marked 'S", F, & J keys

KEY -1051 Selectric £112.00KEY -1051 Standard £60.00

1 vtiox.cal

=OW MOTHERBOARDWe announce a powerful new IBM XT type motherboard. 4 layers for superior

reliability & speed. Turbo mode allows 40% higherthroughput by increasing system clock to 6.67MHzunder software control. Designed to use new 256KRAM or 64K chips, 640K memory expansion doesnot require use of valuable card slots.Many outstanding features combined with our new7PAK Multifunction board makes previously expensiveoptions standard features at a LOW LOW cost.

BOA -6078 Supplied with OK RAM £237.00

Do it Yourself!

MINN

ADD-ON POWER SUPPLIES

Two new, thoroughly testedIBM PC/XT power supplies foryour system upgrade. Bestprice with ONE YEARwarranty!!

POW -1040 135 Watt £95.00POW -1044 150 Watt £118.00

SUPER 384K MULTI -FUNCTIONThis one is really loaded! Features: One Parallel Port, One RS 232-CSerial Port, One Game Port, Real -Time Clock/Calendar with BatteryBack-up, Expandable to 384K of Parity -checked Memory, Supplied OK RAr,'Memory, all cables, PrintSpoolerand RAMDisk Software.BOA -6355 £139.00Addition (9) 64K Memory ChipsKIT -8000 £13.95

£999.00Three ways to begin- an Empty Cabinet -a "Basic" -a Full system - all that you assembleyourself!

CABINET ONLY8 Slot CAB -3068 £61.00

"BASIC"Cabinet, Keyboard, Power Supply,TURBO Motherboard w10k RAMKIT- 9400 £459.00

Add -In StorageHard Disk

This internal system is cheaper becauseit does not need a P/S & Chassis. Itcomes complete with Controller andcablesSUB -8010 10Mbyte 1/2htSUB -8020 20Mbyte 1/2ht

Features!I RAM DiskI Game PortI 640K cpcty

PrintSpoolerI Turbo Mode!4.77MHz -6.67MHz

I Ser. ParI ClockI 256K Std.

Check these£599.00

£699.00

TapeInternal tape back-up also availableSUB -8610 10Mbyte £499.00

SUB -8620 20Mbyte £559.00

CompleteSystem!

17,000 in Service!

WOW!

10 Meg H.D.£1643.00

20 Meg Colour

£2136.0020 Meg W/Tape

£2334.00Software XWORD XBASIC XBASE XCALC

standard features: Full-size, Feather -Touch, Capacitance Keyboard,10 Function Keys, Calculator -Type Numeric Keypad Parallel & Serial I/00 RealTime Clock 2-Slimline 51/4" DS/DD 48 TP1 360K Drives 8 IBM expansion slots

Game Port RAM Disk Print Spooler 4 DMA & 3 Timer Channels Full 640K Capacity on -board 8088 16 -bit CPU Monochrome

Video Card Up to 32K EPROM (full 8K supplied) SupportsPC -DOS, MS-DOS, CP/M-86 0 Power Supply Hard -Disk -Ready,

no need to add-on additional power High resolution12" Monitor, Green Screen, 22MHz bandwidth

Add -On Storage

Complete with power supply. SuperAppearance! Fan -cooled!

Hard Disk10 or 20 Megabyte Hard Disk plusController and all cables.SUB -7010 10 Mbyte £699.00

SUB -7020 20 Mbyte £799.00

Tape10 or 20 Megabyte Tape Back-upwith cableSUB -831010 Mbyte £599.00SUB -8320 20 Mbyte £659.00

Combined.10 or 20 Megabyte Hard Disk plus Controller,Tape Back-up plus cablesSUB -8210 10 MbyteSUB 8220 20 Mbyte

Not enough room here- Call for CatalogueMISCELLANEOUS £££ SAVERS.

Expansion Boards7PAK Multifunction Floppy. RTC, 2 Serial. 1 Parallel. Game. RAM Disk

£175.001309-6250641( Memory Chips (9)KIT -8000 £13.95256K DRAM Memory Chips (9) = 256KKIT -9000 £39.95Add-on Memory, (up to 5126) supplied OK RAMBOA -6350 £99.00Floppy Controller, Controls up to four selves. 51/4" 48/96 TIPBOA -6100 £58.00Monochrome Graphics Card (Hercules Type) 11-2-3 Compatible) 72oh x 384VBOA -6150 £118.00Colour Graphics Card, 320 x 200 Res Colour. 640 x 200 Monochrome £112.00BOA -6200Clock Calendar Board, fits in 'short slot' of/battery Back-up

£49.00BOA -6375Hard Disk Controller, standard ST -506 for DOS2.1 8. 3.1BOA -8060

£139.00Monochrome Monitor, 22MHz bandwidth, TTL

£87.00MON-1775 GreenMON-1750 Amber £87.00Asynchronous Communications Adaptor, 1 Serial exp 2nd Serial

£54.00BOA -6300Parallel Printer Adapter, tits in 'short slot'BOA -6310 £32.00Hi -Resolution Colour Graphics, similar to PrincetonBOA -6275 £339.00Monochrome Video, 80 x 24 or 40 x 16 character, TTL OutputBOA -6225

£99.00

We want your DRIVE business!

Drives

10 Megabyte 1/2 height Hard DiskDRI-414520 Megabyte 1/2 height Hard DiskDRI-4147360K Floppy DriveDRI-6675Irwin 110 Tape Drive 10MbyteDRI-8080Memtek 20Mbyte Tape DriveDRI-9080

£299.00

£479.00

£89.95

£424.00

£483.00

All prices include delivery (U.K. mainland) but exclude VAT.

IDS Computer Supplies162 Dept X3 Circle No. 179 0908 569655

£1199.00£1369.00

Now =um in a Kit!Completely XT Compatible

£899

Why didn't anybody think of it before?If you have a phillips screwdriver and 1-2 hoursavailable, SAVE yourself a bundle of MONEY! No-where will you beat this deal on a complete 8 slotready -to -assemble and run XT compatible.

Cabinet 135 watt power supply Keyboard 8 slot Motherboard 256K RAM

2-360K Drives Floppy Controller &

Cable Mono Video Card TTL Amber Monitor

Unit 15 Darin Court Crownhill Milton Keynes MK8 OAD

OPEN FILE'In Open File we offer programming tips and freesoftware to key in - from demonstration routines toready -to -use business programs. As well as major

feature programs, every month we publish a selection ofsoftware written by our readers.

We welcome serious software for any of the microsystems listed opposite, especially short routines andutilities. Programs can be in Basic, Pascal or any otherlanguage.

Submissions should include a brief description whichexplains what your program does, and how it does it. Ifpossible it should be typed, with lines double-spaced. Weneed a disc of the program, and a printed listing from afully debugged, working program; hand-written listingscannot be accepted.

When printing listings, please remember to use a newribbon or double -intensity printing - faint listingsreproduce badly. Use plain paper only, and try to list theprogram across either a 35 -character or a 70 -characterwidth. Make sure all special graphics, inverse -videocharacters or any other non-standard symbols are listedcorrectly, or else include Rem statements to explain them.

Each program listing or disc must have your name andaddress on it, or we cannot promise its safe return. Astamped addressed envelope is appreciated.

If you write in with a comment, correction or enquiryplease state the machine and the program title.

We pay at least £10 for any programs used, or £35 perpage and pro rata for part pages.

OPEN FILE MONITORS

AmstradApple

Ian StobieBill Hill

BBCCommodoreCPIMdBaseIBM PCTandyResearch MachinesSharpSinclair QL

Nicholas McCutcheonMike Todd

Glyn MoodyIan Stobie

Glyn MoodyJohn Wellsman

Ian StobieJohn HooperGlyn Moody

WORDSTAR105

RESCUING WORDSTARJohn and Timothy Lee explain how to recover your document after a crash

BUSINESS STATISTICS106

DATA MAKERIn the first article of a series, Owen and Daniel Bishop present a pair of programs which organise

your data into a form ready for processing

MBASIC113

SEPARATE CASESMake your assembler listing more presentable with David Dawe's utility

AMSTRAD PCW-8256114

SIERPINSKI'S CURVEObhijit Chatterjee uses DR Logo to implement the Sierpinski and Hilbert functions

BETTER SERVICE : BETTER PRICES : WIDER CHOICE

FERRANTI PC860Best value IBM compatible. Fast 8086 processor, GW basic, Colour graphics standard, Perfect 2

software suite. Hi Res monochrome monitor, 12 months FREE ON -SITE WARRANTY £1199PC860XT as above with 10MB hard disk

ATARI 520ST E645

AMSTRAD PCW256

Apricot range

inc. free disks & paper

£1949

call

£399

External hard disks from £895 - networked E200Istation

PERFECT 2 SOFTWARE SUITE. Comprises Perfect Writer 2 (inc. Speller & Thesaurus),Perfect Calc 2 & Perfect Filer 2. "Perfect Writer 2 is the best word processor available for itsprice". "Best handbooks I have come across" P.C. Business World. £135 per module

WORDCRAFT inc database £375 DELTA 4 £350PROPHET ACCOUNTS inc SaleslPurchase Ledgers, Invoices & Statements £160CAD SOFTWARE & SYSTEMS - Please call for details

PRINTERS. All leading models supplied e.g.

* AMSTRAD DMP2000 NLQ

* EPSON LX 80

* MP165 NLQ at 75cps

* CANON PW1080AITAXAN KP810

* MANNESMAN TALLY MT85 NEW! 180cps. NLQ

* NEC PINWRITER P2 inc i/f

* UCHIDAIDAISYSTEPIQUENDATA

18 cps Qume compatible daisywheel. Superb value

* BROTHER HR15 DAISYWHEEL

* NEC SPINWRITER ELF

£155*£195*£219*£239*£299 *[399*

£179**£309 *[299*

PRINTER BUFFERS

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WORDSTAR

WITH MOST Word processors, Word-Star included, the text typed in isstored in RAM. If the computer isswitched off, the power fluctuatesor fails, or if any other computerdisaster occurs before you havesaved the text on to disc, then thedata you have carefully typed inwill be lost. Because of this, it isgood practice to save the file youare working on at regular intervalsof, say, 15 or 20 minutes; Word-Star has the simple commandControl -KS to save and re-edit thesame file, to make this easy to do.Should you then have a systemcrash of any kind, you at least havea fairly recent copy of thedocument on disc to fall back on.

In spite of this, most people whouse word processors regularly willat some time have forgotten to savethe document for several hours,and find that when they eventuallytry to do so they get a crash of somekind.

There are a number of possiblereasons for a crash. First, it may bebecause the disc is so full that thereis insufficient space to store thefile. With WordStar, this gives themessage

Fatal Error - Disk FullIf you are lucky, you will remain inWordStar, still editing your file.

In this case, the remedy is fairlyeasy. Type Control-KF from with-in the document to display thedirectory of files on the disc.Delete one or more files to makespace on the disc with

Control-KJ <filename>Then remove the directory fromthe screen with Control-KF, andtry to save the file again withControl-KD.

BACK TO CPIMIf you are unlucky, and

following the Disk Full messageyou crash out of WordStar back tothe CP / M operating system, then amore elaborate method usingCP / M's DDT is needed to saveyour file, and this is describedlater.

Another similar disaster occurswhen there is still space on the file,but the directory is full. In this caseyou get the message

Fatal Error - Directory FullAgain, if you remain in WordStaryou can display the directory,delete a file, hide the directory andsave the file as previously outlined.If you have left WordStar and arenow under CP / M, then the moreelaborate method using DDTmust be used to save your file.

The disc directory holds thenames of the files stored on thedisc, and also where on the discthey are located. Many versions ofCP / M have a maximum of 64directory entries, and for exampleif a lot of short letters of 1K or 2K

RESCUINGWORDSTARAll may not be lost, even when a system crashleaves several pages of a newly entereddocument still lodged precariously in memory.John Lee and Timothy Lee explain howyou can retrieve your precious text.have been stored on a typicaldouble -sided double -density5.25in. disc, the directory willbecome full long before the discitself.

Another disaster can occur ifyou accidentally press the Resetbutton. This causes the computerto terminate the WordStar runabruptly and without any warning,and reloads CP/ M from the floppydisc.

If for any of these reasons youhave unexpectedly left WordStarand find you are under CP/ M withthe prompt A > or B > , rememberthat if your document was smallenough to store in memory, it willstill be there. But you must notswitch off the computer or it willvanish for ever. You cannot loadand rerun WordStar, sinceWordStar does not have a re-entrypoint that will preserve the data.

What you can do is to use DDTto move the data from its presentposition to 100 hex, which is theplace that programs normally loadunder CP/ M, and then save thecontents of memory to a disc file.The following description of howto do this assumes that thecomputer has two disc drives, onefor the system disc and the otherfor your data files.

First type Dir to see if theprogram DDT is stored on thesystem disc. If so, then all is well; ifnot, replace the disc by one thathas DDT and press Control -C totell the system you have changeddiscs.

If the current data disc hassufficient space for a file of around30K, then all is well and this disccan be used to store the data. If youare not sure if there is enoughspace on the disc, you can run theprogram Stat to find out. This willnot corrupt your data in memory,since the program loads low downin memory at 100 hex and is toosmall to overwrite the text in thehigh part of memory.

If there is not enough space onthe disc, replace it by one withplenty of space and pressControl -C to tell the system youhave changed discs. This alsoensures that it will not be treated asa write -protected disc. If you need

another disc but do not have a for-matted disc available, you can runthe program Format; once again,this will not corrupt your data sincethe program loads low down at 100hex and is too small to overwritethe text in high memory.

Assuming that you have a 64KCP/ M system, that you are loggedin to drive A, and that DDT ispresent on that drive, type

DDTand press Return. The bannerheading from DDT will bedisplayed, followed by the DDTprompt, which is a minus sign.

If you are using WordStarversion 2.0 or 2.2 type

M7320, DF F F, 100to move the contents of memory- hopefully your text - down to100 hex, ready to be saved. Alter-natively, if you are using WordStarversion 3.0 or 3.3, type

M7849,C2FF,100to move the contents of memorydown to 100 hex, ready to besaved. In either case typeControl -C to leave DDT andreturn to the operating system.

Next type:SAVE 109 B:NEWFILE

for WordStar versions 2.0 and 2.2;for WordStar versions 3.0 and 3.3type

SAVE 75 B:NEWFILEIn each case this will save the con-tents of memory in a file calledNewfile on drive B. You may, ofcourse, specify another file nameor another disc drive.

Finally use WordStar to editNewfile. You will probably findthat there is some rubbish at thebeginning of the file, and this canbe removed quite easily. To dothis, put Control -KB, the be-ginning of block marker, at thebeginning of the rubbish and putControl-KK, the end of blockmarker, at the end of the rubbish.Then delete the block withControl -KY. There may also besome rubbish at the end of the file,which should be marked as a blockand deleted in a similar way. Thensave the edited file in the usual waywith Control-KD. This editing willprobably reduce the size of the fileconsiderably, and with luck the filenow contains your work exactly as

it was before the trouble occurred.If you were working with a file

that was too large to fit into theavailable memory when the crashoccurred, then the file you recoverwill only contain part of the orig-inal document. If this is the case,then examination of the directorywill reveal the presence of one ortwo temporary files. If your textfile was called Book.TXT, thenthere may be a file called Book.$$$and possibly also Edbackup.$$$.Such temporary files are normallydeleted by WordStar once themain file has been saved safely. Ifit exists and is not empty,Book.$$$ will contain the start ofthe file Book.TXT up to the placewhere the remainder was residentin memory. Edbackup.$$$ willonly exist if you have moved a longway backwards through the file.These files must be renamedbefore they can be handled byWordStar, and the renamedBook.$$$ can be inserted at thebeginning of the rescued file usingthe WordStar command Control -KR.

SMALLER SYSTEMSThe procedure just described

works for a 64K version of CP/M.It is worth examining the figures,since once they are understood asimilar process can be applied toCP/ M for any other size ofmemory. For example, the NorthStar Horizon normally has a 56KCP / M, since the disc boardoccupies an address at 58K.

The commandM7320, DFFF,100

for 64K CP/ M and WordStarversions 2.X moves the block ofmemory beginning at location7320 hex (29472 decimal) andending at DFFF hex (57343decimal) so that it starts at 100 hex.The size of the block is therefore27,871 bytes. Data is written todisc in blocks of 256 bytes, so thenumber of blocks to be written is27,871/256 or 109 blocks, and thisis specified in the Save command.

Similarly, the commandM7849, C2 F F, 100

moves the block of data betweenthe hex locations 7849 (30793decimal), and C2FF (49823decimal) down to start at location100 hex. The size of this block istherefore 19030, which requires 75blocks to be specified in the Savecommand.

For a 56K CP / M and WordStarversions 2.0 and 2.2 the commandsareM7320, BFFF,100SAVE 77 B:NEWFILE

For a 56K CP / M and WordStarversions 3.0 and 3.3 the commandsareM7849,A2FF,100SAVE 43 B:NEWFILE PC


BUSINESS STATISTICS

LIES, damned lies or just plain con-fusing, statistical data shouldalways be approached with scep-tical respect. Numerous tests areavailable to discover the truthbehind the raw data, and thisseries will be explaining what themain ones are, and when and howto use them.

Though the examples presentedare designed for business use, thetests are equally applicable inscience, medicine, education, orany other field in which numericaldata is processed. To use theprograms in the form they arewritten you will need a BBC Microwith at least one disc drive.

The first statistical program,which generates histogram charts,appears next month. But first youneed programs for putting the dataon to disc. The Data Makerprogram stores tables of data andrecalls them for display or printingout on any future occasion, or foranalysis by the statistical programs.The following step-by-step des-cription explains how it is used.1. If you are loading an existing file- that is, one previously preparedby Data Maker - proceed to step10. For a new file, continue withstep 2.2. Enter the data. You can use anyformat; a convenient one is

DDMMYYso that you enter 190786 for 19July 1986.3. Enter the number of columnsyou need. The table can have fromone to 12 columns.4. Enter the number of rows youneed. The maximum number ofrows allowed depends on howmany columns you decide to have.5. Enter the column width - thatis, the number of characters

DATA MAKERIn the first article of their series on statisticaltests, Owen Bishop and Daniel Bishoppresent a pair of programs which organiseyour data into a form ready for processing.

required in the widest column.Count one character for thedecimal point, if there is one, onefor each digit before and after thedecimal point, and add one for thespace between columns. There isno need to allow for minus signs,as they are displayed in the spacebetween columns.6. Enter column labels. Labels arenot essential, but if you choose touse them you are asked to type inheadings for each column.7. Enter row labels - again, notessential.8. State whether you wish to enterdata by columns or by rows. Withmany kinds of data it is moreconvenient to work down column1, then go to column 2 and so on.This is called "by columns";choose which you prefer.9. Enter the number of decimalplaces you require. All values in acolumn must have the samenumber of digits after the decimalpoint, but you may specifydifferent numbers of decimalplaces in different columns. Key inthe numbers of places whenrequested. Key 0 for any columnwhich is to contain integers.10. The data table is displayed, orthe top -left corner of it if the tableis too big for the screen. The top ofthe screen displays a status lineshowing the file name, date,number of columns and rows, and

the number of decimal places foreach column. For example, if theDP display shows 203, the firstcolumn has two decimal places,the second column has none andthe third has three.11. Data entry begins here. Thecursor starts at column 1, row 1, sotype in the value for this positionfirst. The computer does not letyou type in more digits before thedecimal point than there will beroom for in the chosen columnwidth. If it refuses to accept anymore numeric digits, it is waitingfor a decimal point. Similarly, itrequires the correct number ofdigits after the decimal point. KeyReturn when a value has been fullyentered. If it does not already fillthe column width, it moves to theright within the column.12. The cursor then moves to thenext row or column, depending onthe option you selected in step 8,and waits for you to enter the nextvalue. At the end of one row orcolumn the cursor moves auto-matically to the start of the next.With some types of data, columnsor rows may not all be filled withvalues. If you have finishedentering all the values for a givencolumn or row, key * and thecursor moves to the start of thenext column or row. You can usethe cursor -control keys to move thecursor manually to any position in

the table, either to enter a value orto replace the existing value with anew one.13. When you have finishedentering data, the contents of thetable, including its headings andother information, may be savedby keying S or printed out bykeying P. After either of theseoperations, you are returned to thetable display with all data presentand can save a backup copy or takeanother printout if you wish.Typing R clears all data and returnsyou to step 1.

You can use the cursor -controlkeys to roam over the entire table,to enter or change a value or simplyto review the table. The displayscrolls to bring the required areaon -screen. There is an importantdifference between a positionwhich contains a zero and onewhich is merely left blank. A zerois treated as a value which is used incalculations, while a blank squareis treated as a missing value and isignored.

The Data Disc Initialiser pro-gram prepares a special data discby setting up 14 files, each largeenough to hold the largest table ofdata that Data Maker allows. It isnot essential to use this programbut it is a wise precaution, as itensures that you will never findyourself without enough space tosave a file that you have justedited.

All the programs in this series,along with five others, areavailable on a single -sided 40 -track5.25in. disc. The price is .f20including postage and 15 percentVAT. Please send your order toOwen Bishop, c/o PracticalComputing; cheques should bemade payable to Owen Bishop.

DATA MAKER10 REM- DATA MAKER20 REM- A Statistical Utility Program30 REM40 REM- by Owen and Daniel Bishop50 REM60 REM- Version 1.0 - 3/10/8570 REM- For the BBC Micro Model B80 REM90 *TV 255,1100 *FX4,1110 MODE?120 DIM DP(12)130 CR=0: KEY$=CHR$136+CHR$137+CHR$138+

CHR$139140 L$=STRING$(10," ")150 CLS:PROCco1:PRINTSPC(3);"DATA MAKE

R";SPC(66)160 PROCbtm:PROCcol:PRINT "Do you want

to make a NEW data file":PROCcol:PRINT"or LOAD an existing file?":PROCalpha("(N/L) ",1)

170 IF QR$="N" THEN PROCnewfile:GOTO 390

180 IF QR$<>"L" THEN VDU7:GOTO 160190 CLS:PROCcol:PRINT SPC(3);"EDIT:";S

PC(71)200 PROCbtm:PROCco1:PRINT "Enter name

of file to be loaded":PROCalpha("(max 7letters): ",7)210 ON ERROR PROCfserror:VDU31,10,0:PR

OCcls:GOT0200220 FILES=QR$:A=OPENIN FILE$230 VDU31,10,0:PRINT FILE$240 INPUT#A,DF$:VDU31,24,0:PRINT"DATE:";DF$250 INPUT#A,NC,NR:VDU31,0,1:PROCco1:PR

INTSPC(3);"COLS: ";NC;SPC(2);"ROWS: ";NR;SPC(22-LEN(STR$(NC))-LEN(STR$(NR)))260 DIM SC(NC,NR),CL$(NC),RL$(NR)270 INPUT#A,CW,LC280 IF LC=0 THEN 300290 FOR J=1 TO NC:INPUT#A,CL$(J):NEXT300 INPUT#A,LR310 IF LR=0 THEN 330320 FOR J=1 TO NR:INPUT#A,RL$'(J):NEXT330 FOR J=1 TO NR:FOR K=1 TO NC:INPUT#

A,SC(K,J):NEXT:NEXT340 FOR J=1 TO NC:INPUT#A,DP(J):NEXT:I

NPUT#A,DP$350 CLOSE#0


BUSINESS STATISTICS

DATA MAKER360 ON ERROR OFF370 NT=FNnt380 PROCbtm390 VDU31,26,1:PRINT"DP=";DP$400 SW=36-7*LR:CC=INT(SW/CW):IF NC<CC

THEN CC=NC410 RD=16:IF NR<RD THEN RD=NR420 CD=CC:CS=0:RS=0:HB=4+7*LR:CX=HB:CY

=5:X=1:Y=1430 IF LR=0 AND NR>=100 THEN HB=5440 PROCcolumns:PROCrows450 PROCdata460 *FX15,0470 VDU31,CX-1,CY-1:K$=GET$480 IF K$="R" THEN CLEAR:GOTO 110490 IF K$="S" AND NT>0 THEN PROCsave:G

OTO 460500 IF K$<>"D" OR NT=0 OR SC(X,Y)=1E-2

9 THEN 520510 SC(X,Y)=1E-29:NT=NT-1:VDU31,CX-2,C

Y-1:PRINTLEFT$(L$,CW):IF NT=0 THEN 440 ELSE 460520 IF K$="P" THEN PROCprint:GOTO 460530 IF INSTR(KEY$,K$)>0 OR K$="*" THENPROCmove:GOTO 460540 IF ASC(K$)>47 AND ASC(K$)<58 OR IN

STR(".-",K$)>0 THEN PROCnumber:GOTO 460550 VDU7:GOT0460

560 DEF PROCsave570 PROCbtm:PROCcol:PRINT "Enter file

name to save under":PROCalpha("(max 7 letters): ",7)580 IF LEN(QR$)=0 OR LEFT$(0R$0)=CHR$

32 THEN VDU7:GOTO 570590 ON ERROR PROCfserror:GOT0570600 A=OPENOUT QR$610 PRINT#A,DF$,NC,NR,CW,LC:IF LC=0 TH

EN 630620 FOR J=1 TO NC:PRINT#A,CL$(J):NEXT630 PRINT#A,LR:IF LR=0 THEN 650640 FOR J=1 TO NR:PRINT#A,RLX(J):NEXT650 FOR J=1 TO NR:FOR K=1 TO NC:PRINT#

A,SC(K,J):NEXT:NEXT660 FOR J=1 TO NC:PRINT#A,DP(J):NEXT670 PRINT#A,DP$:CLOSE#0:0N ERROR OFF680 PROCbtm690 ENDPROC

700 DEF PROCprint710 PROCbtm:PROCnum("Width of printout(40-132) ? ",1,40,1,132)720 ON ERROR PROCpterror730 VDU2,21:PW=ON:PC=INT((PW-12)/CW)740 PRINT750 SC=0:PP=PC760 IF PP>NC THEN PP=NC770 PRINT"FILE: "FILE$""DATE: "DF$780 FOR J=1 TO PP -SC790 PRINTTAB(6+LR*6+(J-1)*CW);J+SC;BOO NEXT:PRINT:IF LC=0 THEN 820810 FOR J=1 TO PP-SC:PRINTTAB(6+LR*6+(

J-1)*CW);CL$(J+SC);:NEXT:PRINT820 FOR K=1 TO NR830 PRINT;K;TAB(4)RL$(K);840 FOR J=1 TO PP -SC850 IF SC(J+SC,K)=1E-29 THEN A$="" ELS

E @%=&102000A+(DP(J+SC)*&100):A$=STR$(SC(J+SC,K)):IF RIGHTS(A$0)="."THEN A$=LEFT$(A$,LEN(A$)-1)

860 W/.=&90A:PRINTTAB(5+LR*6+(J-1)*CW)RIGHT$(L$+A$,CW);870 NEXT:PRINT880 NEXT

890 IF PP',NC THEN SC=SC+PC:PP=PP+PC:PRINT:GOTO 760900 FOR L=0 TO 4000:NEXT910 VDU 6,3920 ON ERROR OFF930 PROCbtm940 ENDPROC

950 DEF PROCmove960 IF i$="*" AND CR=0 AND X.NC THEN X

=X+1:Y=1970 IF K$="*" AND CR=1 AND Y:NR THEN Y

=Y+1:X=1980 X2=X:Y2=Y:IF K$=CHR$(1:9) AND Y>1

THEN Y=Y-1990 IF K$=CHR$(136) AND :CA THEN X=X-11000 IF K$=CHRS(137) AND X -(NC THEN X=X+

1

1010 IF K$=CHR$(138) AND Y --,NR THEN Y=Y+1

1020 IF INSTR(KEY$,K$) 0 AND X2=X AND Y2-`1 THEN VDU71030 DF=01040 CX=HB+CW*(X-CS-1)1050 IF CX-alB THEN CS=CS-CC:DF=1:GOTO 1

0401060 IF CX,40-CW THEN CS=CS+CC:DF=1:GOT

010401070 CY=4+Y-RS1080 IF CY:5 THEN RS=RS-16:DF=1:GOT0107

01090 IF CY' 0 THEN RS=RS+16:DF=1:GOT010

701100 RD=16:IF NR-RS.:RD THEN RD=NR-RS1110 CD=CC:IF NC -CS -:CD THEN CD=NC-CS1120 IF DF=1 THEN PROCcolumns:PROCrows:

PROCdata1130 ENDPROC

1140 DEF PROCnumber1150 SG=1:IF K$="-" THEN VDU31,CX-2,CY-

1:PRINTKI:SG=-11160 S$=" ":IF SG= -1 THEN S$="-"1170 XN=CX:NK=0:ND=CW-2-DP(X):AM1=""1180 IF DP(X)=0 THEN ND=ND+11190 GOTO 12201200 *FX21,01210 VDU31,XN-1,CY-1:K$=GET$1220 IF VAL(KS)=0 AND K$,.:"0" AND K$,>"." AND K$<.CHR$13 OR K$="." AND DP(X)=0OR K$=CHR$13 AND DP(X)<.>0 THEN 12001230 IF k$=CHR$13 THEN 13401240 IF NK=ND AND K$<")."." THEN 12001250 XN=XN+1:PRINT K$:IF K$="." THEN 12

701260 AMS=AM$+K$:NK=NK+1:IF NK,ND+1 THEN12001270 IF DP(X)=0 THEN 1340

1280 AMS=AM$+".":NE:=01290 VDU31,XN-1,CY-1:K$=GET$:IF

=0 AND K$<,'"0" AND K$:',CHR$13 OR) AND F.$c>CHR$13 THEN 12901300 IF K$=CHR$13 AND NK=DP(X)

01310 IF K$=CHR$13 AND NK.DP(X)

0

VAL (K$)NK=DP(X

THEN 134

THEN 129

1320 PRINT K$:XN=XN+11330 AMS=AM$+K$:NK=NK+1:IF NE DP(X)+1 T

HEN 12901340 SC(X,Y)=VAL(RIGHT$(L$+S$+AM$,CW)):

NT=NT+11350 VDU31,CX-2,CY-1:PRINT SPC(CW)

(listing continued on page 109)


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toS Circle No. 184

BUSINESS STATISTICS

DATA MAKER(listing,xmtmuedfmmlimge1(17)

1360 VDU31,CX-2,CY-1:PRINT RIGHT$(L$+S$+AM$,CW)1370 IF CR=1 THEN 14001380 IF Y=NR THEN K$="*":PROCmoye:ENDPR

OC1390 F$=CHR$138:PROCmove:ENDPROC1400 IF X=NC THEN V$="*":PROCmove:ENDPR

OC1410 V,S=CHR$137:PROCmove:ENDPROC1420 DEF FNnt:LOCAL NT%,J%,V%:FOR J%=1

TO NC:FOR K%=1 TO NR:IF SC(J%,K%)-, 1E-29THEN NT%=NT%+11430 NEXT:NEXT:=NT%

1440 DEF PROCdata:LOCAL J,V:VDU23,1,0;0;0:0;:FOR J=5 TO 20:VDU31,HB-1,J-1:PROCc11:NEXT1450 FOR J=1+CS TO CD+CS:HH=HB-1+(J-CS-1)*CW1460 FOR K=1+RS TO RD+RS1470 IF SC(J,K)=1E-29 THEN 1490 ELSE @%

=&0102000A+(DP(J)*&100):AT=STR$(SC(J,K)):IF RIGHTI(A$0)="."THEN A$=LEFT$(A$,LEN(A$)-1)1480 VDU31,HH-1,3+K-RS:PRINT RIGHT$(L$+

A$,CW):@%=&90A1490 NEXT:NEXT1500 VDU23,1,1;0:0;0;1510 ENDPROC

1520 DEF PROCcolumns:LOCAL J:VDU2.3,1,0;0;0;0;:VDU31,0,2:PROCc11:VDU31,0,3:PROCc11

1530 VDU31,0,2:FOR J=1 TO CD1540 VDU31,(HB-1+(J-1)*CW),2:PRINT;J+CS

1550 NEXT1560 IF LC=0 THEN VDU23,1,1;0;0;0;:ENDP

ROC1570 VDU31,0,3:FOR J=1 TO CD1580 VDU31,(HB-1+(J-1)*CW),3:PRINTCL$(J

+CS);1590 NEXT:VDU23,1,1;0;0;0;:ENDPROC

1600 DEF PROCrows:LOCAL K:VDU23,1,0;0;0:0;:FOR V=5 TO 20:VDU31,0,K-1:PROCc11:NEXT1610 FOR <=1 TO RD:VDU31,0,i-+3:PRINT;K+

RS:NEXT1620 IF LR=0 THEN VDU23,1,1;0:0:0;:ENDP

ROC1630 FOR K=1 TO RD:VDU31,3,3+K:PRINT RL

$(K+RS)1640 NEXT:VDU23,1,1;0;0;0;;ENDPROC1650 DEF PROCnum(0$,01,02,03,04)1660 *FX21,01670 F'ROCcol:PRINT 0$;:INPUT""ON$1680 ON=VAL(ON$)1690 IF QN=0 AND ON$ '"0" THEN 17201700 IF ON,)INT(ON) THEN 17201710 IF (03=0 OR ON =Q4) AND (01=0 OR 0

N>=02) THEN ENDPROC1720 PROCline1730 GOTO 16601740 ENDPROC

1750 DEF PROCalpha(0$,01)1760 *FX21,01770 PROCcol:PRINT 0$;:INPUT""OR$1780 IF LEN(OR$)<=01 OR 01=0 THEN ENDPR

OC1790 PROCline:GOTO 1760

1800 DEF PROC1ine:VDU1l:PROCc11:VDU7:ENDPROC1810 DEF PROCbtm:VDU31,0,20:PROCc1s:VDU

31,0,20:ENDPROC

1820 DEF F'ROCfserror1830 ON ERROR OFF1840 CLOSE#01850 VDU71860 IF ERR>44 OR ERR=6 THEN 19001870 CLS:VDUll:REPORT:PRINT " at line

;ERL1880 *FX4,01890 END1900 PROCbtm:IF ERR=222 THEN PRINT"No s

uch file";:PROCcol ELSE VDUll:REPORT:PROCcol1910 PRINT" error. ":PROCcol:PRINT"Pres

s SPACEBAR, when you are ready "1920 *FX21,01930 REPEAT:A=GET:UNTIL A=321940 VDU11,11:PROCc1s1950 ENDPROC

1960 DEF PROCco11970 PRINT CHR$130;1980 ENDPROC

1990200020102020203020402050

);

20602070208020902100

DEF PROCclsLOCAL CRSX,V,HV=VPOS:H=POSCRS%=999-H-(40*V)VDU23,1,0;0;0;0;REPEAT:IF CRS%,255 THEN 2060CRS%=CRS%-255:PRINTSTRING$(255,"

UNTIL CRS%255PRINTSTRING$(CRSX," ");VDU31,H,VVDU23,1,1;0;0;0:ENDPROC

2110 DEF PROCc112120 LOCAL V,H2130 V=VPOS:H=POS2140 PRINT STRING$(40-H," ");2150 VDU31,H,V2160 ENDPROC

11

2170 DEF PROCnewfile2180 CLS:PROCco1:PRINT"NEW FILE:"'2190 PROCbtm:PROCalpha("Enter file name(max 7 chars): ",7)2200 IF VAL(OR$)>0 THEN VDU7:GOT021902210 VDU30:PRINTTAB(0,5)"FILE NAME: ';Q

R$2220 FILES=OR$2230 PROCbtm:PROCalpha("Enter file date(max 6 chars): ",6)2240 DF$=OR$:VDU30:PRINTTAB(0,7)"DATE :

";DF$2250 PROCbtm:PROCnum("How many columns(1-12)7 ",1,1,1,12):NC=ON2260 VDU30:PRINTTAD(0,9)"COLUMNS = ";NC2270 DATA 140,110,90,75,65,55,50,45,40,

35,35,302280 FOR J=1 TO ON:READ NR:NEXT2290 PROCbtm:PROCnum("How many rows (1-"+STR$(NR)+")? ",1,1,1,NR):NR=ON2300 VDU30:PRINTTAB(0,11)"ROWS = ";NR

(listing continued on page 111)

O0m

rm-


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110


BUSINESS STATISTICS

DATA MAKER(continued from page 109)

2310 PROCbtm:PROCnum("Column width (5-10)? ",1,5,1,10):CW=ON2320 VDU30:PRINTTAB(0,13)"COLUMN WIDTH

= ";CW2330 PROCbtm:PROCalpha("All OF: (Y/N)?,1)

2340 IF ORT<>"Y" AND ORT<>"N" THEN VDU7,30:80T0 23302350 IF QRT="N" THEN N=N-1:RESTORE 2270

:MI -021802360 DIM SC(NC,NR),CLT(NC),RLT(NR)2370 FOR J%=1 TO NR:FOR K%=1 TO NC:SC(K%,J%)=1E-29:NEXT:NEXT2380 NT=0:VOU31,0,4:PROCcls2390 PROCalpha("Do you want to label columns (Y/N)?",1)2400 IF OR$< >"Y" AND ORT<>"N" THEN PROCline:GOT023902410 IF ORT="N" THEN LC=0:GOTO 25002420 LC=12430 VOU31,0,2:PROCcls:PROCcol:PRINT"Key in column labels (max ":CW-1;" chars):

2440 FOR J=1 TO NC:PRODalpha(STRT(J)+"",CW-1):CLT(J)=ORT:NEXT2450 PRINT2460 PROCalpha("All OK (Y/N)?",1)2470 IF ORT<>"N" AND ORT<>"Y" THEN PROC

line:GOTO 24602480 IF OR$="N" THEN 24302490 VOU31,0,2:PROCcls2500 PROCalpha("Do you want to label ro

ws (Y/N)?",1)2510 IF ORT<>"Y" AND ORT<>"N" THEN PROC

line:GOTO 25002520 IF QRT="N" THEN LR=0:GOTO 26302530 LR=12540 VOU31,0,2:PROCc1s:PROCcol:PRINT"Ke

y in row labels (max 6 chars):"2550 RR=0:RD=1B2560 IF RR+RD>NR THEN RD=NR-RR

2570 FOR J=1 TO RD:PROCalpha(STRT(J+RR)+" ",6):RLT(J+RR)=QR$:NEXT2580 PRINT2590 PROCalpha("All OK (Y/N)?",1)2600 IF ORT<>"Y" AND ORT<>"N" THEN PROCline:GOTO 25902610 IF OR$="N" THEN VOU31,0,3:PROCcls:

GOT025702620 RR=RR+18:IF RR<NR THEN VOU31,0,3:P

ROCc1s:GOT025602630 VOU31,0,2:PROCc1s:VDU31,0,4:PROCal

pha("By columns or by rows (C/R)?",1)2640 IF ORT<>"C" AND ORT<>"R" THEN VDU7:GOTO 26302650 IF ORT="R" THEN CR=1 ELSE CR=02660 OPT="":PRINT":PROCcol:PRINT"How many decimal places (0";CW-3;")?":FOR J=1TO NC:F'ROCnum("COL "+STR$(J)+" ",1,0,1,CW-3):OPT=DPT+ONT:DP(J)=ON:NEXT2670 PRINT2680 PROCalpha("All OK (Y/N)?",1)2690 IF QRT<>"N" AND ORT<>"Y" THEN PROCline:GOTO 26802700 IF OR$="N" THEN VOU31,0,2:PROCcls:GOT026602710 VOU31,0,1:PROCc1s2720 VOU31,10,0:PRINT FILET2730 VOU31,24,0:PRINT "DATE: "OFT2740 VOU31,0,1:PROCcol:PRINT SF'C(3);"COLS: ";NC;SPC(2);"ROWS: ";NR;SPC(22-LEN(STRT(NC))-LEN(STRT(NR)))2750 ENDPROC

2760 DEF PROCpterror2770 ON ERROR OFF2780 VDU 6,3,72790 CLS:VDUll:REPORT:PRINT

;ERL2800 *FX4,02810 END

at line

DATA DISC INITIALISER10 REM- DATA DISK INITIALISER20 REM- by Owen and Daniel Bishop30 REM -40 REM- Version 1.0 - 3/10/8550 REM- For the BBC Micro Model B60 REM70 *TV255,180 MODE 790 PRINT TAB(7,1)CHR$130"INITIALISING

A DATA DISK"100 PRINT""Place your data disk in dr

ive 0."'"The disk must have already been"'"formatted with a program like *FORM4O

110 PRINT'"Initialising will destroy any data whichis on the disk.":INPUT""Areyou sure that this is a blank disk"'"orone that you no longer need? (Y/N) "AT120 IF AT<>"Y" THEN END130 INPUT'"Press 'Y', then 'RETURN', w

hen the"'"disk is ready in drive 0 "AT140 IF AT<>"Y" THEN 130150 PRINT160 CLOSE#0170 ON ERROR IF ERR=214 THEN 260 ELSE

REPORT:PRINT;" at line ";ERL:PROCkeys:END

180 *ACCESS 0.#.*190 *FX11,1

200 *FX12,1210 *ENABLE220 *DESTROY 0.#.*230 AT=GETT240 PROCkeys250 IF AT<>"Y" THEN END260 ON ERROR OFF270 PRINT'"Initialising data disk - pl

ease wait"280 *TITLE "STAT DATA"290 *OPT 4 0300 PRINT310 FOR J=1 TO 14320 ET="FILE"+STRT(J)330 PRINTJ"340 X=OPENOUT ET350 FOR K=1 TO 30360 PRINT#X,STRINGT(196," ")370 NEXT380 CLOSE#0390 NEXT400 PRINT""Data disk ready"410 END420 DEF PROCkeys430 *FX12,0440 TIME=0:REPEAT UNTILTIME>50450 *FX15,0460 ENDPROC


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Circle No. 187112 PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1986

MBASIC

SEPARATE CASESYou can improve the appearance of your Basic and assembler listingswith this routine, devised by David Dawe.

PRINTED program listings are hardlythe most convenient way of trans-mitting software, but sometimesthey are the only method avail-able. It is therefore worth puttingsome effort into making listings aseasy as possible on the eye, toensure that worthwhile programsare not ignored just because theyare difficult to read.

My MBasic Indent program,published in the October 1985issue of Practical Computing, doesthis for Basic programs. Theroutine presented in this article isdesigned to process assemblersource code, but it may also beused to tidy up an MBasic source -code listing if it is saved in ASCIIformat. Assembly code is usuallywritten in four -column formatunder the headings Label, Oper-ator, Operand and Comment. Thecomments are separated from thecode using the semicolonseparator.

When I am developing a newprogram over several editingsessions, I find that I end up withcode and comments as a mixed

BEFORE . .

;This is a Demonstration of BEAUTY

org 100hPRSTR: equ 9 ;CP/M funtion to print stringbdos: EQU 5 ;FDOS call aDDressStart: mvi c,PRSTR ;Use fn 9

lxi h,messg ;Point to start of MESSAGECALL bdos ;go do itJMP ;back to cp/m

messg: DB 'What a super ProgramB'

. . AFTER;This is a Demonstration of BEAUTY

ORG 100HPRSTR: EQU 9 ;cp/m funtion to print stringBDOS, EQU 5 ;fdos call addressSTART: MVI C,PRSTR ;use fn 9

LXI H,MESSG ;point to start of messageCALL BDOS ;go do itJMP 0 ;back to cp/m

MESSG: DB 'What a super Programs'

bag of upper- and lower-casecharacters. I prefer to see the codein upper case and the comments inlower case, though there does seemto be a growing trend towardsusing lower case for the code. Butwith this program I can convert mysource listings back and forwardwhenever I like.

The program splits each line ofprogram at the separator and

allows selection of upper or lowercase for both parts of the line. Thusthe source listing shown above canbe tidied up so that the code is inupper case and the comments arein lower case. Lines which beginwith a comment separator are del-iberately left alone. In the case ofassembler listings nothing is

altered beyond a single quote sothat lines such as:

CPI 'z'Or

DB 'Thats all FOLKS$'are left intact.

The program could have iso-lated and altered each characterusing Basic's Mids$ function, butthis proved incredibly slow, so themachine -code subroutine tech-nique was adopted. The sub-routine used is written in Z-80code, and was listed as discussedin my article on machine -code sub-routines in the August 1985 issue.The subroutine Call takes theform:

CALL MLOC(A%,B$)where B$ is a string to be pro-cessed. The variable A % controlswhat is done with the string. Onlyalphabetic characters are affected.If A% is set to 0 then all trans-lation is to lower case. If A% is setto 2 then only the first character istranslated to upper case, the restwill be lower case. If A% is set to 3then the first letter of each word istranslated to upper case, the restwill be lower case.

The program will also work onMBasic ASCII source code. Thecode must use the single -quoteseparator. Lines beginning withthis separator are left unaltered.This utility, used together withMBasic Indent, should make anyprogram look good.

SEPARATE CASES100110 ************* BEAUTY ***************

620630

WHILE NOT EOF(1)LINE INPUT #1,N$

120 640 L$="":11$=""130 650 IF N$="" THEN 810140 PRINT "This program 'beautifies' a Source Code ASCII file" 660 P=INSTR(N$,S$)150 PRINT "which has trailing comments separated by

' or 670 IF P<6 AND ES="BAS" THEN I.4=NS:GOTO 810160 PRINT 680 IF P=0 THEN LS=NS:GOTO 740170 PRINT "It converts the code & comments to lower or UPPER" 690 IF P=1 THEN LS=NS:GOTO 810180 PRINT "case as required. It works for all lines except" 700 LS=LEFTS(NS,P)190 PRINT "those beginning with the separator. These are" 710 RS=RIGHTS(N$,LEN(NS)-P)200 PRINT "deliberately left unaltered." 720 IF CM$="U" THEN A%=1 ELSE A%=0210 PRINT 730 CALL MLOC(A%,R$)220 PRINT "Program by D F Dawe (C)" 740 IF CO$="U" THEN A%=1 ELSE A%=0230 PRINT "Cornwall Microelectronics and Computing Centre" 750 IF ES="BAS" THEN LLS=LS:GOTO 790240 PRINT "Cornwall College of Further & Higher Education" 760 Q=INSTR(L$,"'")250 PRINT 770 IF Q=0 THEN Q=LEN(LS)260 'The machine code below is assembled for 6,88000 780 LLS=LEFTS(L$,Q)270 'It changes the case of the letters as required 790 CALL MLOC(A%.LL$)280 'much faster than using BASIC I 800 MIP$(1,$,1,LEN(LL$))=1,L$290 CLEAR,&HB000 810 PRINT L$7R$300 MLOC=&HB000 820 PRINT #2,LS;RS310 FOR 3=0 TO 128 830 WEND320 READ N 840 CLOSE330 POKE MLOC+J,N 850 PRINT:PRINT:PRINT340 NEXT J 860 INPUT "Are you happy with this format (Y/N)";R$350 PRINT "Please state name of file to be beautified" 870 IF R$="Y" THEN 930360 PRINT "I require the extension BAS,ASM, MAC or PRN" 880 IF R$<>"N" THEN 860370 PRINT 890 KILL NFILE$380 INPUT "FILENAME.EXT....";FILES 900 PRINT:PRINT390 P=INSTR(FILES,".") 910 PRINT "Your source file remains unchanged"400 IF P=0 OR P<>LEN(FILES)-3 THEN 350 920 END410 E$=RIGHTS(FILES,3) 930 KILL FILES420 IF ES="BAS" THEN S$="'":GOTO 470 940 NAME NFILES AS FILES430 IF ES="ASM" THEN SS=";":GOTO 470 950 PRINT:PRINT440 IF E$="MAC" THEN S$=";":GOTO 470 960 PRINT "Your file has been beautified as requested"450 IF ES="PRN" THEN S$=";":GOTO 470 970 END460 GOTO 350 980 PRINT "Your source file must be saved in ASCII II"470 OPEN "I",#1,FILE$ 990 END480 INPUT #1,A$ 1000 'Z80 MACHINE CODE as my UCLC program490 CLOSE 1010 DATA 229,213,126,254,4,48,9,135,79,6500 IF ASC(AS)>127 THEN 980 1020 DATA 0,33,19,176,9,233,209,225,201,24510 INPUT "State format for the code, select U or L";CO$ 1030 DATA 6,24,28,24,50,24,69,209,225,205520 IF CO$="L" OR CO$="U" THEN 530 ELSE 510 1040 DATA 121,176,126,205,41,176,35,5,32,248530 INPUT "State format for the cOmments, select U or L";CM$ 1050 DATA 201,254,91,208,254,65,216,198,32,119540 PRINT:PRINT:PRINT:PRINT 1060 DATA 201,209,225,205,121,176,126,205,65,176550 IF CMS="L" OR CMS="U" THEN 560 ELSE 530 1070 DATA 35,5,32,248,201,254,123,208,254,97560 PRINT "The file list will now be as follows" 1080 DATA 216,214,32,119,201,209,225,205,121,176570 PRINT:PRINT:PRINT 1090 DATA 126,205,65,176,35,5,200,126,205,41580 NFILES=FILES 1100 DATA 176,35,5,32,248,201,209,225,205,121590 MIDS(NFILES,P+1,3)="TMP" 1110 DATA 176,126,205,65,176,35,5,200,126,205600 OPEN "0",#2,NFILE$ 1120 DATA 41,176,35,5,200,254,32,40,238,24610 OPEN "I",#1,FILE$ 1130 DATA 243,235,70,35,94,35,86,235,201,0


AMSTRAD PCW-8256

Figure 1.

SIERPINSKI'S CURVELogo is well suited to plotting certain types of mathematical function.Obhijit Chatterjee presents a program which implements theSierpinksi curve and plots it out on an Amstrad PCW-8256 system.THE Italian mathematician andlogician Giuseppe Peano showedhow a single point, tracing out amonster curve - that is, a curvewith no unique tangent at anypoint - moving continuously overa square, could pass at least oncethrough every point in the squareand on its boundary. David Hil-bert proposed a simple way ofgenerating a Peano curve with twoend -points. In the limit, the curvebegins and ends at the square's topcorners.

However, Waclaw Sierpinskigenerated a closed Peano curve -with no end -points - whichbounded an area 5 / 12ths that ofthe square. The procedures listedillustrate how the Sierpinski curveis constructed. The structure ofHilbert's curve can be illustratedby similar procedures and the firstfour generations of the sequence ofdrawings leading to it are shownopposite.

DR Logo is particularly suited toproducing this curve because itsgraphics depend on the concept ofmoving a turtle around the screenby specifying its direction and thedistance it has to travel in thatdirection. This technique dis-penses with the need for the messycalculations which would other-wise have been used to generatethe curve had the graphics beendependent on a co-ordinatesystem.

The procedures illustrate thefourth generation of the polygonaldrawings whose limit is theSierpinski Curve. The primaryprocedure, called Sierpinski,initialises the screen and sets upthe basic design for the plot. Itcalls two procedures, a and b.

The two procedures draw thebasic components of the diagrams.The procedure called Side drawsthe element shown in figure 1B,and the procedure called Omegadraws the element shown in figure1A. Procedure a calls Side, Omegaand Side in turn. Procedure b callsSide, followed by three Omegas,followed by Side.

The following commandsreplace

[a b a a b b b a a b a]in the second line of Sierpinski

/\----/ A /B

/\ /

SIERPINSKI PROGRAM?po "Sierpinski

to Sierpinski

make "long 20

make "half :long / 2

ct clean fs ht pu setpos [-280 256] pd

seth 315

repeat 4 [abaabbbaab a]

end

?po "a

to a

side Omega side

end

?po "b

to b

side repeat 3 [Omega] side

end

?po "side

to side

rt 90 fd :half rt 90 fd :half lt 45 fd

:long lt 45 fd :half

end

?po "Omega

to Omega

rt 90 fd :half rt 90 fd :half

45 fd :long lt 45 fd :half]

end

?copyof f

repeat 3 [lt

after Repeat 4 for the variousgenerations. The first generationneeds only

sideThe second generation needs

The third generation needsa b a

The fourth generation, as listed,needs

[a b a a b b b a a b a]

The fifth generation will besingle triple single single triple triple

triple single single triple singlewhere Single is defined to be

a b aand Triple is defined to be

abbbaClearly, a pattern begins to

emerge so that, for the sixthgeneration, if Single is redefinedto be

single triple singleand Triple is redefined to be

single triple triple triple singlethe design for the fifth generationmay be applied. If successivegenerations are defined in thisway, the scale of the drawing beingreduced at each stage to keep theoverall size constant, the wholesquare will eventually be filled.

To produce different gen-erations, three changes need to bemade to the procedure Sierpinski.First, the global variable :longshould hold the distance forthe longer forward movement.Second, the Setpos commandshould be adjusted so that thediagram does not fall off thescreen. Third, the Repeat 4 loop inthe fourth line should be amendedas previously indicated.

It is quite possible to adapt theprocedures to produce successivegenerations with a pause after eachone, although this has not beenattempted to avoid further com-plication of the issue.

The command to print thegraphics produced on the screen is

< EXTRA > <PTR>pressed simultaneously.

Peano curves are discussed byMartin Gardner on pages 124 to133 of the December 1976 issue ofScientific American, along withdescriptions of other curves, suchas snowflake curves.

SIERPINSKIPROGRAMThe first two lines of Sierpinskiinitialise the global variables:long and :half, the twodistances required by the fdcommands in Side and Omega.Between successive generations,the variable :long should behalved. For example, the thirdgeneration will have :long set to40.

The third line sets up thescreen ready for plotting tobegin. It clears the screen ofboth graphics and text, puts thehidden turtle near the top left-hand corner of the screen andpoints it 45° to the left fromthe vertical.

The fourth line defines thecurve. Since the curve hasrotational symmetry of order 4,only one quarter of it need bespecified, and this is repeatedfour times.

The a procedure defines asingle unit for Sierpinski. Asingle unit consists of a Side, anOmega followed by a Side.

The b procedure defines atriple unit for Sierpinski. Atriple unit consists of a Side,three Omegas, followed by aSide.

1 14 PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1986

AMSTRAD PCW-8256

SIERPINSKI CURVESKNN First generation

\>Second generation

Fourth generation

\>

/\>

Third generation

HILBERT CURVES

Second generation

First generation

Fourth generation

Third generation


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LAST WORDRalph Cornes suggests that it is time for thespreadsheet to change into a tool capable of

more specific use.

THE important argument in theDecember editorial, about thelikely impasse in personal com-puting, can be developed toproduce some interesting ideas onpossible solutions.

The editorial hypothesised thatspreadsheets have been too suc-cessful in personal computing, andthat users tend to twist everything,from filing to text editing, into aspreadsheet application. Con-sequently, executives do not usepersonal computers properly.More importantly, this misuseshows that executives are lesshooked on computers than theindustry had imagined, which isundoubtedly true.

It is an important argumentbecause conceptually personalcomputers have gone about as faras they can go, unless we changethe rules of the game in the sameway that they were changed whenVisiCalc first appeared. There aresome excellent tools for all thebasic information -handling func-tions in office work. You cannotinvent extra functions; all that canbe done is to combine them indifferent ways, and you soonexhaust the viable combinations.

ONE IN FIVEIt is a truism to say that personal

computing is concerned witheverything except traditional com-puting, which processes structureddata in large volumes in order toprovide administrative supportsystems. The people concernedwith traditional corporate com-puting are generally accountants,accounting and administrativeassistants, and clerks. Theyamount to less than 20 percent ofthe white-collar work force, sopersonal computing has a targetuser market which is at least fourtimes the size of traditionalcomputing and more than fourtimes as variegated.

The members of this pool ofpotential users are diverse innature. Between the manager andthe secretary in the corporate hier-archy, there are other staffmembers who are generally knownas professionals. They fall into twomain classes: those who deal withpeople, such as the executive, therep and the personnel officer, andthose who deal with things or

PERSONALCOMPUTING:THE WAY FORWARD

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It

Are spreadsheets leading us up a false trail?

objects, such as the researcher, theengineer and the scientist. Allthese people have widely differingprofiles and requirements.

The object -orientated pro-fessionals usually want lots ofcomputing power and the tools touse it. If you give them this, theywill make all sorts of adjustmentsin their work, but will never learnanything which they consider to belogically surplus to their specificrequirements.

The people professionals, too,tend to have a short fuse whenasked to conform to a rigid andformal application protocol. But inother ways their requirements andprofile can be very different. Theywant speed not power, user -friend-liness and a lot of little systems,while the objects professionalswant one big omnibus system. Therequired tools and the ways inwhich they need to be presented todiferent users vary in nearly everypossible way: in power, scope, easeof use, user -friendliness, com-plexity, speed, capacity and cost.

Whether you agree with thecategorisation of informationhandlers is irrelevant to theargument, which merely echoesShakespeare's phrase: "customcannot stale their infinite variety" .It is a variety which is not satisfiedby existing personal computer pro-ducts; there is no word processorcum graphics package designedexpressly for a civil engineer, nora spreadsheet designed for ametallurgist.

A further truism is that thetraditional disciplines ofcomputing, office automation,personal computing and tele-communications are all con-verging. The use of each one on itsown increases productivity in anapplication area, but the resultscan be revolutionary when theytouch. This can be seen in the useof videotex for holiday travel,electronic funds transfer, thechanging economics of automobilemanufacture, the use of an orderbook to drive flying shears in ametal mill, and so on.

Pressure is beginning to growfrom user management and userprofessionals to develop these totalinformation-processing systems,where the information is prac-tically untouched by human handfrom start to finish. It is a pressuresparked off initially by the adventof personal computing. The designengineer who finds it very difficultto become enthused about netrequirements planning is pushinghard to have his or her CADapplication generate automaticallythe master files for subsequentproduct planning.

To underline the obvious, thisconvergence is on an applicationbasis. The salesperson with a port-able terminal and cellular radiowants to co-ordinate his or her act-ivities with the order -handlingoffice on the one hand and withthe marketing strategist on theother. The personal computerprobably has to be hooked directly

into the mainframe applications toexpedite the convergence whichgives the big bang payoff, andwhich will give new dimensions tothe use of personal computers inbusiness.

The professionals and supportstaff who are on the periphery ofadministration, are sucked into avertical application. But the wholethrust of personal computing,both from suppliers and fromusers, is that it shall be introducedand managed on a functionalbasis, and the products, includingspreadsheets, reflect this. They aregeneral where they should bespecialised and they communicatesideways but not vertically. Thereare no general-purpose logicalhooks. We want a logical RS -232,which is impossible but gives thegeneral idea.

A final statement of the obviousis that the end -user is not going tostay happy with personal com-puting as now defined. As thepower on his or her desk grows, heor she will want to constructpersonal, sectional and evendepartmental systems which areindependent of the corporatecentre. And that meansdeveloping languages for open -shop systems development. Theuser increasingly will insist ontalking to the mainframe direct.Just as in the Reformation, whengood Christians and true believerswanted to talk directly to God, theuser now wants to talk directlyto the corporate computerpriesthood.

TAILOR-MADEA summary of all these obvious

points shows a market demand forvertically integrated applicationswhich can be constructed largelyby screwing together specialisedpersonal -computer products.

The answer to what is needed toenable the personal computer tofulfil its potential now definesitself. First via a spreadsheet -typeof program, we want to be able tocommunicate directly with thecorporate computer. We wouldlike to be able to define thecontents of a spreadsheet cell sothat it arrives automatically intothe spreadsheet from a mainframedatabase. This involves making the



LAST WORD


spreadsheet communicate withdata dictionaries for all the maindatabases, Adabas, Total, IMS,IDMS, etc.

This is not as easy as it sounds.If the lines between personalcomputer and mainframe are notgoing to be swamped by the sheervolume of data, a lot of processingis required on the mainframe. Forexample, select a subset of records,select information from a subset ofrecords, accumulate all entries of aparticular type, and do all thiswhile sorting into complicatedsequences.

Communication also needs togo in the other direction. Thepersonal -computer user will needto update corporate data whichtoday is verboten; the Pope wouldas soon rent St. Peter's to theMoonies as would DP managers letyou modify their central data.Therefore the user needs a sort ofinterim scratch pad within thecentral database that he or she canwork on and with, and which theDP manager can use to update thecorporate data when satisfied withits legality and correctness. Both ofthese communications flows implythe solution of major softwareproblems.

The next requirement to getpersonal computers out of the

corner that the spreadsheet haspinned them into, is to make thetools modular and specific forspecific users. The current armoryof spreadsheet, text -editor, data-base, and communicationsmanager are very good general-purpose tools. But none of themcan be ideal for all users, becausesome users have requirements andprofiles which are the exactopposite of others, and this is

regardless of whether the packagesare integrated with other packagesinto vertical systems.

metal, feels happier doing all thiswith double -precision arithmetic.The decision -support theorists allseem to want floating-point astheir algorithms go round in ever -decreasing circles. But all of themlove using a spreadsheet.

The last thing you want to do isto scrap the spreadsheet or toinhibit its use; you want to developit into something different. Theanswer is to make the spreadsheet acentral piece of software to whichall sorts of different professionalrequirements can be appended.

THE LAST THING YOU WANT TO DO IS TOSCRAP THE SPREADSHEET OR TO INHIBIT

ITS USE . . .

An engineer has different filing,text -editing, graphics and calc-ulation requirements to an econ-omist, accountant, planner ormarket researcher. The plannermight be satisfied with aninput/output table that workson straight-line equations; theheating engineer might have allsorts of oddly shaped curves to putinto a model. Similarly, a researchmetallurgist, who seems to spendmost of the time bending andstretching and banging andcooking and freezing pieces of

We want a sort of Meccano kitwhich we can screw on to thespreadsheet skeleton to meetspecialised demand.

Finally, there are couple of otheritems which should ensure thatyou swim with the tide. The use ofan application generator would bewelcome to most professionals.Application generators give usersthe chance to develop personalsystems and sectional systemswithout having to wait for thecomputer professional. For themyou can wait a couple of years, by

which time your initial problemhas been replaced by yet anotherone.

It is a personal -computerbusiness to modularise software tomeet end -user requirements, andto match user profiles. The init-iative for making the mainframe -to -micro link, probably via anaddition to the modularisedspreadsheet, must come from themainframe specialists. Fortu-nately, there are proprietary data-bases in fairly common use and Ianticipate that spreadsheet inter-faces with, say, Total and Adabaswill arrive once the need for themis evident.

So this is how to move out of thecorner personal computers arepinned into. The message is thatsoftware must be market -led andnot technolgy-pushed. Veryprobably most designers think italready is, but they have notunderstood their potential market,nor where it is taking them. Thetwin answers are modularity toreflect the different kinds of usersand a two-way link -up with main-frames. You will then see businessproviding the rather frighteningsums of money necessary if, as allthe forecasts say, four out of fivestaff are to be using personalcomputer work stations by the endof the decade. [6]

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144

3EU.

TEL: 10604) 858011 Telex: 312242 MIDTLX G149

Tel (0604) 858888 Telex: 312242 MIDTLX G.

Circle No. 322 Circle No. 324 Circle No. 327


rnaow

ALBANY COMPUTERS

REPAIR DOMESTIC AND

PROFESSIONAL

COMPUTERS AT A FIXED

CHARGE.

CONTACT US FOR AN

INSTANT QUOTE

ALBANY COMPUTERS

ALBANY WORKSQUEENS ROAD

THAMES DITTON, SURREY KU ORETEL: 01-398 8055

139

Circle No. 328

DISKCOPYINGIFORMATTINGI

FILE TRANSFERWE CAN TRANSFER YOUR DATABETWEEN OVER 500 DIFFERENT

MICROS, MINIS AND MAINFRAMES.FORMATS INCLUDE: CPM, CPM 86,

MSDOS, PCDOS, UNIX, XENIX, IDRIS,TAR, RT11, MDOS, IBM BEF, ISIS,

FLEX, 0S9, VICTOR-SIRIUS, APPLE.TORCH, ACORN, AMSTRAD, MISC.TYPESETTING/WORD PROCESSING.

'OVERNIGHT SERVICE - most formats returned bynext day's Post

10.00 + VAT per copy(Blank disks not included)

*DISCOUNT for BULK

109

ILLDOWNLOADINGSERVICES166 PORTOBELLO ROADLONDON W11 2EBTELEPHONE 01-727 8722

Circle No. 329MC ZOID8

CoaoiLnatc OTotamoFERRANTI PERSONAL COMPUTERS

PC 256K 2,360K FLOPPY DRIVES MONITOR E1299PX XT 256K 11360K FLOPPY 10MB WINCHESTER MONITOR E2199PC XT 256K 1,360K FLOPPY + 20MB WINCHESTER MONITOR E2799All Ferranti PC prices include 12 months FREE entice maintenance and FREE software.

HARD DISK UPGRADES FOR THE ADVANCE 868, FERRANTI PC, IBM PC ANDOTHER COMPATIBLES

TOMB INTERNAL XT UPGRADE KIT E69920MB INTERNAL XT UPGRADE KIT E825Upgrade kits include - HallBeight Hard Disk Vol. Disk Controller Card. Cables.Manual and Fitments.

INTERNAL TAPE STREAMER UNITS... ......from 0499

EASY TO FIT ADD.ON CARDS complete with the necessary manuals, cabsndsoftware.

COLDURIPARALLEL PRINTER CARD.... E155

384K MULTIFUNCTION CARD.. E275

384K on board, Battery backed real.finke calendariclock,Parallel printer port, RS232 serial port, Games port.

384K RAM EXPANSION BOARD 1384K on board)..... 0120

MULTIFUNCTION COMMUNICATIONS BOARD. 0120

RS232 serial port, Battery backed real-time calendar/clock.Games adaptor port.IOPTIONS ON BOARD - Parallel printer port, 2nd RS232serial port.)

Buy the RAM EXPANSION BOARD and the MULTIFUNCTION COMMA BOARDtogether at the SPECIAL PRICE of. E210

Other hoards available, please enquire.Fitting service at our own workshop available if required.All prices are exclusive of carriage and VAT.

MICRObe Computer SystemsPO Box 1, Wray, Lancaster LA2 8RFTelephone Bentham (0468) 62333 138

Circle No. 330

CABLING PROBLEMSWe have an extensive range of cables and ac-cessories including:Gender changers M -F or F -M [16.50RS232 extension cable 6ft C23.00RS232 cable for commodore £25.00RS232 cable for epson px8 £17.00RS232 cable for epson hx20 15.00

Or make your own cables - cable from 75pper metre. Cables made to yourspecification.Contact - Runnymede Computer HardwareLtd., 69 Clarence St., Egham, Surrey 078439844 for our catalogue.Postage packing and VAT included in price.Cheques req'd with order. 145

Circle No. 331

LOOK! LOOK! LOOK!NEW! NEW!

How many times have you wanted a word but just cant think of theright one? Now its easy with

"WORDFINDER"a 90.000 synonym finder Chats only a key stroke away. Type yourown choice, call -WORDFINDER", and in seconds a list of wordswith similar meaning appears on your screen for you to make yourchoice of a replacement. "WORDFINDER" replaces Withcapitalization and punctuation.EASY TO INSTALL, -WORDFINDER- OPERATES INSIDE YOURWORD -PROCESSOR AS AN EXTRA FUNCTION.

RUN ONE OF THESE ON ONE OF THESEWordstar (3.0 or 3.3) IBM PCWordstar 2000 PC CompatiblesMultimate Sanyo PC.Microsoft WordWord PerfectPf s.WriteIBM Writing AssistantEasy Writer II.

ORDER NOVA AVAILABLE ONLY FROM:T&H Marketing Ltd 59 Northcott, Bracknell Berks. RG12 4WS

Tel: Bracknell (0344) 53354

SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER -ONLY E75.00 A COPY!! 141

Circle No. 332

WHAT IF?COURSES IN FINANCIAL PLANNINGON YOUR COMPUTERYou will find our computer based coursesdesigned to run on your spreadsheet software, anideal way to learn the essentials of financialplanning. And you can use the carefullydesigned programs to make your business moreprofitable.For details of our courses and introductory trialpack just drop us a line giving details of yourspreadsheet software and computerconfiguration.Dept.PA10Interactive Learning ProgramsP.O. Box 2, Redruth.Cornwall TR15 2UD.Tel: (0209 842628) 128

Circle No. 333

Typesettingfrom your computer

Our customers typeset fully formatted books,magazines, etc. on their micros. Send us your disksor use TYPENET the 24 hr on-line telephonetypesetting system on 01-658 6942 [300 baud].Send for your info pack to:

Budget Typesetting22 Queens Road, Beckenham, Kent

Telephone: 01-658 8754TELECOM GOLD 83 BTL001 127

Circle No. 334

ATTENTION PCIMS DOSSOFTWARE DEVELOPERS

PROGRAMMERS TOOLKIT FOR IBMPC AND COMPATIBLES

A set of 14 utility programs providing UNIX -likefacilities under PC -DOS or MS-DOS.Package includes:MAKEequivalent to UNIX make command, rebuilds pro-grams with minimum recompilations after one ormore source tiles modified. Same spec as UNIX ver-sion, including macros, built in and defineable rulesand 11 command line options.XCOPYequivalent to UNIX copy command (plus extrafeatures). Copies files, directories, or whole filetrees. I command line options, including archive op-tion which copies only files modified since lastbackup. Also permits disk change it destination fillsup part way through operation.

grep (pattern matcher), WC (word count), Is (file list),tee (for splitting pipes), cat (file concatention), rm(file remove), find (searches tree for files), touch (up-dates file date/time stamp), mu (moves files), hd (hex -dump), chmod (changer tide attributes)

All the above accept starnames, where relevant, andmultiple arguments (eg grep main *.c)

£59.95 free postageDemo Diskette also available for £3, thisdemonstrates how the above are used and producessample output. (included in full package)

AXIS SOFTWARE, Orient House 42/45 New BroadStreet, London EC2M 1QY

mail order only please114

Circle No. 335

HAND HOLDINGFOR BUSINESS MICRO USERS

Our team of on -site support staff can help you start torelease the full potential of your computer for your

particular business.A short intensive training course may not be theanswer for you or your staff. Our approach is that ourpeople are there to help as the queries actually arise.

land we don't charge the Earth)

DATAN COMPUTER SERVICES

TEL: 01-446 7955863 High Road, London N12 OPT

137

Circle No. 336

31: FUJI2 Microdisks

ss/oo £29.95DS/D° £39.95

5" FLOPPY --1-1 DISKS

nearlyand double-sid 5," disk sy

Replacement Goasanteestems.

lIosed to lOsPRICES PER BOX

s rnOS/DD n30 900 887;

PRICES PER SOX

SS 29.95 29.50 29.10DS 39.95 39.30 39.70

FIA ldetine Guarantee

PEACH REPLACEMENT

GUARANTEER any Mak should fanrettms Ierevlaemens

1.

0

EXCL VAT

SEE10 LIBRARY CASES(Hold 10 desks Ito 20,1.85 1 75

1.99 as 75

HOW TO ORDER

DELIVERY

D ks in So 1 75p SOP 40AUlm, Cases 60p 30P .P

To total order value add Delivery. Men add 15, VAT and send to

IDS Computer Supplies104 Po 303 433 333.30Fr 133703 3F3331311003 To 3303 310833

Circle No. 337


CP/M-IBM user group, disk libraries 800+volumes 12000+ items also cheap diskformat translation service most formatspossible. Sae/Tel R. Smith, 138 Holyte Rd.,East Grinstead, Sussex RH19 3E (0342)313883 211M

10MB Superbrain. In good workingcondition. £950. Phone: Brian Taylor (0422)41152. 240M

RAIR BLACK BOX and ICL PCs (8 bit).Bought sold exchange repaired advicegiven. Ring 0734 668951 (Reading). 267M

AMSOFT SERIAL interface with RS232 plugto fit, tested but never used, fits all CPCS.£30. Tel: 041.9421511. 283M

INMAC 4 -way, 2 -switch, RS232, changeoverswitch, 1 + 4 or 4 + 1 printer to computer,£98. Tel: 0243 606066. Day 0243 605529.Evenings. 284M

FUTURE FX30, screen and keyboard, 10MB,hard disk, CPM86 and spellbinder, very littleused, only 18 months old, £950 ono. Tel:Richard Barcock 0727 55215. 285M

NEC PC -8800. Complete heavy duty colourbusiness computer system. As brand new,ex -demo. NEC -14" Ultra high resolutioncolour monitor. NEC -2 Megabyte DiskDrives. NEC -64K ram CPIM Computer withbasic. NEC high speed buffered printer. Allcables & manuals. Bargain at £1,195.00 +VAT. Paper Tiger 440 Matrix Printer,198c.p.s. 2K -buffer £95.00 + VAT. Tel:Maidstone (0622) 58356. 281M

HP41CV Hewlett Packard with printer cardreader, bar code, reader ILP interface. Port,expansion, modules, P.S.U. User books, etc.Phone: Datchet 0753 45216. Offers. 282M

WANTED USED IBM. XT. + 10MB Hard Disk+ Epson Dot Matrix Printer. DOS version 2upwards: complete Phone Walsall 092225471.

SANYO MGV555. Expanded memory. Serialand Centronics interfaces with usualsoftware (Wordstar etc.) and RAM Disk£550. Tel 0738 37165

CONNECTIONS - WE will build interfacecables, printer switches, gender changersetc. to your specifications. For rapid lowquote send specifications to: 27 ChestnutRoad, Botley Oxford OX2 9EA.

TWIN DRIVE APPLE II plus Z-80/CPMkeypad 80 col 64K Print Serial IncredibleJack Software TLO Generator £425 HX20 +lntext Wordprocessor £180 Tel 0285 861060evenings (private)

TRS-80 MOD I, Drives, Software, Manuals,books. MOD III, Drives, Software, Manuals.Epson MX82/90 Graftrax +, Disks. SharpPC -1500, CE -150 Printer Interface, PaperRolls, Cassettes. Any reasonable offerconsidered. Tel: (Day) 0602 761566, (Eve)0949 37586.

DISKETTES 3M D5/DD/51. Un-used (Infactory sealed cartons). Surplus to ourrequirements. to clear £22.50/Box 10 Incl.Vat/Delivery. Tel; 041-881 5701

When replying toClassified advertisements,readers are recommendedto take steps to protecttheir interests beforesending money.

OSBORNE 01+ Double Density, 64K CPM,Compac Modem, co -power board. AllowsMSDOS or 256K RAMDisk Expandable toIMB sold with monitor, software givenaway! If bought now at discount, would beover £1100 in this spec. My offer £800 all in!phone 01-904 2559 Evngs after 7.30pm.

BRAND NEW 512K Apple Macintosh plus15" Imagewriter external disk drive andusual software package. £2500 o.n.o tel01-991 2050.

DISK COPYING SERVICEMoving data and program files fromone machine to another is often made

difficult because differentmanufacturers have adopted different

disk format standards.

We can copy your files to and fromover 250 disk formats Including

cp/m, cp/m-86, MS-DOS, PC-E0S, ISIS,APPLE, SIRIUS, TORCH, APRICOT, HP150,

DEC RT-11, and IBM REF.

Disks are normally despatched on theday they are received.

Our charge is £10.00 + disk + VAT.Special prices for quantities.

For more information call us.

JP FY MATTER4RoggMeadow,Ashburton,DeyonT0137DF

TEL. (0364) 53499 10

Circle No. 338

MICRO ADS. Order FormSELL IT WITH PRACTICAL COMPUTING

inaowClassified RatesLinage 40p per wordMinimum 20 words prepayable.Box No. £7.00 extra

Display Adverts.Rate per single columnCentimetre: £18.00Minimum 5cmSERIES DiscountsAvailable on requestTel: 01-661 8163.

Method of PaymentCheques etc should be madepayable to BUSINESS PRESSINTERNATIONAL LTD. and crossed.I enclose herewith cheque/PO for

Post to:Cut out the order form and returntogether with your remittance to:Classified Department,Practical Computing,Room H211, Quadrant House,The Quadrant, Sutton,Surrey SM2 5AS.

Conditions of AcceptanceMicro Ads are accepted fromPrivate readers only and must besubmitted on (or a photocopy of)this order form. All Advertisementsmust be prepaid.

Please insert the following advertisement in Practical Computing LINAGE

Cost per insertions1 Ins, 1v5Z; TOTAL

£6.00 £0.90 £6.90

£8.00 £1.20 £9.20

£10.00 £1.50 £11.50

£12.00 £1.80 £13.80

,,£14.00 £2.10 £16.10

£16.00 £2.40 £18.40

£18.00 £2.70 £20.70

Box No. Required YES/NO No. of Insertions(50p discount for 2 ins.)

NAME (Please include initials)

ADDRESS

THIS FORM SHOULD BE RETURNED BY 28TH JANUARY 1986 FOR MARCH ISSUE

Company Registered Number: 151537 (ENGLAND).

Registered Office: Quadrant House, The Quadrant. Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS


SPEED UP WITH THE 8087Now, using advanced, large scale

integration technology, the Intel 8087 family

of chips dramatically boost the performanceof your PC. Simple to fit with only 1

switch to set on the motherboard. Supported by an increasing number of

software packages including Lotus 1-2-3

ver.2.0. Supercalc III Rel.2, Smart and

Autocad. Makes your IBM PC as fast as anAT for £165. Available for the Apricot atf 165. For Olivetti and Compaq 8MZ £235. For IBM AT 80287 £235. For othermachines please enquire. 12 Month

Warranty.

APRICOT RAM EXPANSION BOARDS* 12 Month Warranty `

128K £130.00256K £149.00512K £265.00

HERCULES MONO CARD

2 Year Warranty

_z440- £299

PLUS 5 EXTERNAL HARD DISKSFor IBM1OlivettilEricsson/Apricot

FIXED DISK SUBSYSTEMS10 MB ONLY £ 935.0020 MB ONLY f 1045.00

* 12 Month Warranty "

UPGRADE TO TRISOFT0629-3021

PROFESSIONAL ADVICE LOW PRICES HOTLINE SUPPORTFAST SERVICE

DISCOUNTS FOR QUANTITIES

INTERNAL HARD DISKSFOR IBM PC, OLIVETTI M24 AND ERICSSON PC

12 MONTHS LABOUR AND PARTS WARRANTY

WE CAN EITHER COLLECT AND INSTALL HERE

10 MB HARD DISK £695 20 MB £795

OR WE CAN INSTALL ON -SITE IN MOST AREAS.

10 MB HARD DISK £825 20 MB f925

We are dealers forTecmar, AST, Plus 5, Simon, Intel

and many other manufacturers of upgrade supplies.

INTEL ABOVE BOARD* TWO MEMORY BOARDS IN ONE FILLS CONVENTIONAL

MEMORY BELOW 640K EXPANDED WORKSPACE MEMORY

ABOVE 640K FOR USE WITH LOTUS 2.0, SYMPHONY 1.1,

FRAMEWORK 2.0, SUPERCALC III REL.2.1

Please telephone for details

FOR IBM PCIAT & COMPATIBLES ...2 MB RAM £1330 £795

FOR IBM AT & COMPATIBLES ...2 MB RAM £1420 £945

` FIVE YEAR WARRANTY "

Local Authority, Government and Corporate enquiries welcomed.

All prices are subject to V.A.T.

Crown Square, Matlock, Derbyshire. DE4 3AT Telephone: 0629 3021Telex: 8950511 ONEONE G (Ref. 129770011

Telecom Gold: NTG 344 Prestel: 533544601

TECMAR CAPTAIN MULTIFUNCTIONBOARD

For IBM and compatibles Tecmar'sanswer to AST Six Pak Plus Sub - 1%failure rate.

12 Month warranty Expandable to

384K.

24 personal productivity programs. Parallel port for printing power. Serial port for communications power. Clocklcalendar Autotime software. Pal lockout option for security.

Ramspooler software Ramdisk

software.

64K R.R.P. £335 OUR PRICE f 195384 R.R.P. £589 OUR PRICE (295

IBM RAM EXPANSION BOARDS

* 12 Month Warranty `256K f 165.00384K £225.00512K £265.00

EXPANDED OUADBOARD 384KParallel port Serial port

Clocklcalendar. Memory expansion Game port I/O bracket and Quadmastersoftware with spooler and QuadRAM drive(RAM disk) £295.00

PLUS 5 EXTERNAL HARD DISKSFIXEDIREMOVABLE SUBSYSTEMS

10 MB + 5 MB....ONLY f 1825.0020 MB + 5 MB....ONLY £1945.00

Circle No. 191

PRACTICALCOMPUTING

AAccess Software 104A & G Computerware 35AMA Computer Supplies 104Amstrad 30/31 , 1 1 4/1 1 5Applied Technology 76Atari 46/47

BBristol Micro TradersBrom ComBrother Industries

C

Advertisement Index

E

Elite Computer Systems 34Epson (UK) Ltd 9, 1 1 , 42/43,

48/49, 52/53Erima UK Ltd 1 1 6

GGemini Micro Computers 22

14, 95 I

1 8/1 9 Icarus Computer Systems 8498/ 9 9 IDS Computer Supplies 1 6, 102

Insurance SolutionConsultants 10

Cambridge Micro ElectronicsCentre Time LtdCivco AcreComputaproComputer ExpressCrown Dust Covers

DDigisolve3D Digital Design

Digitask Business

44424

16,8675

110

34Development

75Systems Ltd

100,101Digithurst 94Disking International 26D & R Computer Services 94

J

Jarogate

KKECMKeyzone Ltd

12

1 0494

MMannesmann Tally 80Matmos Ltd 4Mayfair Micros 78Mercator Computer Systems Ltd

36, 7539

35, 582820

Miracle TechnologyMicroft TechnologyMicro GeneralMicronix Computer LtdMicro Peripherals

Inside Back CoverMicro Computer Services 36Microprocessors Engineering Ltd

16Micro Rent 10Morgan Computer Co 1 1 8

P

Peter Nelson DesignPineapple Software

2478

Raindrop ComputersRaintech LtdRingdale PeripheralsRomtech Ltd

6

241 1 8

SSage Soft 57Samarkand Computer Services

78Sentinel Software (Satellite Soft-ware) Back CoverSilica Shop 45Silica Centre 1 1 2Silver Reed UK 60Software Product International

40, 41Software Publishing Corporation

Inside Front CoverSoft Quest Ltd 1 10

TTandon Computer UKTay Commercials ServicesThoughts & CrossesThurston Supplies LtdTrisoft Ltd

25997676

66,122

Worldwide Computer Ltd 108

122PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1986

Affordable and reliableprinters froTipictgive you more bPSfor your money

micro PCPA 80 - 100 cps+ EPSON COMPATIBLE

CPB 80- 130 cps+ IBM COMPATIBLE

FROM £199*

Even in today's high tech world, for most of us, the written word is stillthe least expensive means of sending and receiving information. If youown a microcomputer the chances are that sooner or later you areprobably going to need a printer in order to get into print.

micro P - CPP40A low cost 4 colour 40/80 column printer/plotter capable of print-ing text or graphics on plain paper. The CCP40 is an ideal compan-ion for small and portable micro's, as it is fitted with re -chargeablebatteries - perfect for beginners.

micro P - CPA80With 100 cps quality printing, the CPA80 probably gives more cps/

than any other printer available today. The CPA80 is packed withfeatures you would normally find on a more expensive printer.With an optional RS232 version available (even for the QL) thisEpson compatible printer will hook up to almost any micro.

Buy from your local dealer today! Circle No. 103

AP

0185

AP micro P

MP 165 _ 165 cps+ EPSON COMPATIBLENLQ PRINTER

In*AFORBOUTE26,

micro P

CPP 40 _ 4 COLOURPORTABLEPRINTER/PLOTTER

ABOUT 79FOR

-f

micro P - MP165Looking for a matrix printer as well as a daisywheel? Well, theMP165 combines all the attributes of these two technologies togive a matrix printer capable of printing at up to 165 cps, as well

as providing crisp Near Letter Quality, (NLQ) print at 75 cps.Features include a 2k buffer as well as both friction and tractorfeed, as standard. Ideally suited to most popular micro's, theMP165 is now available in a new RS232 QL compatible version.

lip Micro 123

Peripherals lid"PRINTERS FOR ALL APPLICATIONS"

INTEC UNIT 3, HASSOCKS WOOD, WADE ROAD,BASI NGSTOKE, HANTS. ENGLAND, RG24 ONE.

Telephone: BASINGSTOKE (02561 473232 (32 lines).Telex: 859669 MICROP G Facsimile: 0256 461570

Full 12 months warranty - R RP ex. VAT. QL is a registered Trade Markof Sinclair Rese-irch

Quite simply, it leavesother word processors

lost for words.WordPerfect 4.1 includes

many features not found inother word processors.

Newspaper style columnscan be displayed on screen,120,000 word UK phoneticdictionary, word -count,background printing andautomatic reformattingincrease efficiency.

Line drawing and rulers,sorting search and5 -function maths areinvaluable assets.

The colour -coded templatemakes using WordPerfectsimpler than you wouldbelieve. Most features are

available with a singlekeystroke. This makes learningeasier than ever before andusing it a real pleasure.

What you see on the screenis what will actually print.This makes good, professionallayouts simple.

Documents are treated as awhole and not a series ofpages. Reformatting andrepagination after editing areautomatic and very rapid.

However fast you type, youwill never be too fast forWordPerfect.

To find out more, write to theaddress opposite.

And see how WordPerfectdelivers today what others arestill searching for.

SATELLITESOFTWARE UK LTDSentinel, Wellington House,New Zealand Avenue,Walton -on -Thames, Surrey, KT12 1PY.Telephone: 0932 231164r

Circle No: 102

FOR BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL MICRO USERS

Documents

Transcript of FOR BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL MICRO USERS