Powerful. memory and controller cards 68000-Powered Once again you get a big stride forward with Cromemco. This time it's our new DPU Dual Processor Unit. It gives ejiormous power to Cromemco computer systems such as our System One shown here. Compares with mainframes ■ With the new DPU you get the almost unbelievably powerful 68000 processor and its 32-bit data-handling capabilities combined with its 16 Megabyte address space. In other words with the System One/DPU combination you get a small machine that's the equal of superminis and mainframes in some areas. 8-Bit and 68000 software The dual part of the DPU refers to its on-board Z-80A processor. With this you have access to existing CP/M* software. for tomorrow But besides being compatible with this wealth of existing 8-bit software, the System One/DPU has available a whole family of new 68000 system software. This includes a wide range of high-level software such as our 68000 Assembler, FORTRAN 77, Pascal, BASIC, COBOL, and C. Beyond all this there's a version for the 68000 of our widely admired CROMIXt Operating System. It's like UNIXt but has even more features and gives multi-tasking and multi-user capability. In fact, one or more users can run on the Z-80A processor while others are running on the 68000. Switching between the Z-80A and 68000 is auto- matically controlled. The System One itself is a bus-oriented machine that has options for color graphics, for 390K or 780K of floppy storage, a 5 MB hard disk option, communications capabil- ity, and multi-processor capability using our I/O processor card. Powerful new micro. Powerful software. Highly expandable With the System One/DPU combination, you get tremendous expandability. Right now you can have up to 2 MB of RAM storage. You get this with our new Memory Storage cards and our Memory Controller. The Controller fully supports the 16 MB storage space of the 68000, allow- ing you vast future expansion capability. Further, the memory has built-in error detection and confection, a feature normally found only in much more costly systems. Present customers can field-upgrade their Cromemco systems to use the DPU and still be able to run their present software using the Z-80A on the DPU. It's one more instance of Cromemco's policy of providing obsolescence insurance for Cromemco users. Low priced With all this performance you might not be ready for the low price we're talking about. With 256K of RAM and 780K of floppy storage, the price of the System One/DPU is only $5495. That's hard to beat. So contact your rep now. He'll fill you in on the many more features that this outstanding and powerful machine offers. 'CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research tCROMIX is a trademark of Cromemco, Inc. tUNIX is a trademark of Bell Telephone Laboratories G TM Cromemco incorporated 280 BERNARDO AVE., MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA 94040 • (415)964-7400 Tomorrow's computers today Circle 114 on inquiry card. EXPANDABLE I/O BUS OTT1 I/O INTERFACES COLOR GRAPHICS 11-MBVTE HARD DISK DRIVE EXTENSIVE SOFTWARE SUPPORT What Cromemco computer card capability can do for you The above diagram shows in a func- tional way one of the most complete lines of computer cards in the industry. Look it over carefully. It could be well worth your while. These are all cards that plug into our S-100 bus microcomputers. You can also assemble them into a custom system in convenient Cromemco card cages. MULTI-PROCESSING AND INTELLIGENT I/O The range of capabilities and versatility you can draw upon is enormous. In processors, for example, you have a choice of CPU's including our extremely useful new I/O Processor. This can be used as a satellite processor to do off-line processing, multi-processing, and to form intelligent I/O. It opens the door to a whole new group of applications and tasks. Ask us about it. HIGH RESOLUTION COLOR GRAPHICS Again, you can have beautiful high- resolution color graphics with our color graphics interface. You can select from over 4000 colors and have a picture with a resolution at least equal to quality broadcast-TV pictures. You have an unprecedented selection of memory including our unusual 48K and 16K two-port RAMs which allow high-speed color graphics. LOTS OF STORAGE These days you often want lots of disk storage. So you can select from our disk controller card which will operate our 5" and 8" floppy disk drives (up to 1.2 megabytes). Or select our WDI interface to operate our 11-megabyte hard disk drives. POWERFUL SOFTWARE AND PERIPHERAL SUPPORT There's much more yet you can do with our cards. And, of course, there's an easy way to put them to work in our 8-, 12-, and 21 -slot card cages. Our PS8 power supply makes it simple to get the system into operation. Finally, Cromemco offers you the strongest software support in the industry Cromemco with languages like FORTRAN, C, COBOL, ASSEMBLER, LISP, BASIC and others. There is also a wide choice from independent vendors. To top it all off, you can draw from a substantial array of peripherals: ter- minals, printers, color monitors and disk drives. There is even more capability than we're able to describe here. NOW AT HALL-MARK AND KIERULFF For your convenience Cromemco products are now available at Hail-Mark Electronics and Kierulff Electronics. Con- tact these national distributors for im- mediate product delivery. CROMEMCO COMPUTER CARDS • PROCESSORS — 4 MHz Z-80 A CPU. single card computer, I/O processor • MEMORY — up to 64K including special 48Kand 16K two-port RAMS and our very well known BYTESAVERS® with PROM programming capability • HIGH RESOLUTION COLOR GRAPHICS — our SDI offers up to 754 x 482 pixel resolution. • GENERAL PURPOSE IN- TERFACES— QUADART four-channel serial com- munications, TU-ART two-channel parallel and two-channel serial, 8PIO 8-port parallel, 4PIO 4-port isolated parallel, D+ 7A 7-channel D/A and A/D converter, printer interface, floppy disk con- troller with RS-232 interface and system diagnostics, wire-wrap and extender cards for your development work. i^^^J 280 BERNARDO AVE., MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA 94040 • (415) 964-7400 Tomorrow's computers today Circle 115 on inquiry card. In The Queue Volume 7, Number 10 Features 29 Beyond the Peaks of Visicalc by Jack Bishop / Three new software packages help fiscal planners study large, complex financial models. 40 Build the Microvox Text-to-Speech Synthesizer, Part 2: Software by Steve Ciarcia / Rules for conversion of plain English text to phonemes govern the operation of this SC-OIA-based device. 68 What Makes Business Programming Hard? by James L. Woodward / A banker/ programmer describes some of the pitfalls in writing software that handles "routine" business tasks. 80 Adapting Microcomputers to Wall Street by Robert Franz / Microcomputers are fast becoming crucial tools for financial managers. 96 Putting Real-World Interfaces to Work, Part 1 : Monitoring Physical Quantities with the TRS-80 by William Barden Jr. / A summary of techniques for interfacing the TRS-80 to the "real- world" and a look at some of the transducers that provide practical applications. 128 The State of Industrial Robotics by J. Michael Callahan / Industrial robots are playing an increasingly important role in manufacturing. Here we look at some of the fundamentals of robot design and describe some robot subsystems. 146 Marketplace by Robert Dickinson / You can become an entrepreneur and pit your company against the competition in this two-player telecomputing game for the TRS-80 Model III. It's the sixth-place winner in the BYTE Game Contest. 176 Ringquest by Gordon Mills / You'll need to muster up more than the usual amount of game strategy for this adventure that sometimes penalizes the aggressive player. It captured fifth place in the BYTE Game Contest. 210 The Case of the Purloined Object Code: Can It Be Solved? Part 2: Approaches to Software Protection by Richard H. Stern / An expert on software-protection law tackles the tough issues. 254 User's Column: A BASIC and Pascal Benchmark, Elegance, Apologies, and FORTH by Jerry Pournelle I A microcomputer user assesses the speed and convenience of some languages currently available. October 1 982 291 An Introduction to the Human Applications Standard Computer Interface, Part 1 : Theory and Principles by Chris Rutkowski / Six years' effort has already gone into developing an interface design that promises to make computing power more accessible to the general consumer. 315 The Personal Computer as an Interface to a Corporate Management Information System by N. R. McBurney II / Designing an intelligent terminal program for the Apple II Plus. 360 Software Arts' TK Solver by Gregg Williams / Software Arts' new "toolkit" equation solver is like an electronic calculator for algebra. 380 Naming Your Software by Stephen A. Becker / Registered trademarks provide the best protection for your software creations. 406 Program Your Own Text Editor, Part 2: Install the Video-Display-Oriented Text Editor on Your System by Richard Fobes / A listing of the text editor's source code with numerous comments concludes this two-part article. Reviews 224 Radio Shack Compiler BASIC by Rowland Archer 392 Wyse Technology's WY-100 Terminal by Mark Haas 400 Edu-Ware's Statistics 3.0 by Brownlee Elliott 447 Systems Plus: FMS-80 by Jack L. Abbot Nucleus 6 Editorial: Some Answers to Frequently Asked Questions 18 Letters 26, 386, 454, 468 BYTE's Bits 312 Programming Quickies: Generating Mohr's Circle 385, 390 Book Reviews: Personal Documentation for Professionals, Means and Methods; Visicalc: Home and Office Companion 390 BYTE's Bugs 451 Clubs and Newsletters 452 Ask BYTE 455 BYTELINES 459 Event Queue 466 Books Received 467 Software Received 471 What's New? 525 Unclassified Ads 526 BOMB, BOMB Results 527 Reader Service Page 128 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc 3 Page 40 224900 2232CP 221300 21«P0P 2lR16t» 21*400 iwn Editor in Chief fi'iijj Christopher P. Morgan f^fjfl Managing Editor Mark Haas Technical Editors Gregg Williams, Senior Editor; Richard S. Shuford, Curtis P. Feigel. George Stewart, Arthur Little, Stanley Wszola, Pamela Clark, Richard Malloy; Phillip Lemmons, West Coast Editor; Steve Ciarcia. Mark Dahmke, Consulting Editors; Jon Swanson, Drafting Editor Copy Editors Beverly Cronin, Chief; Faith Hanson, Warren Williamson, Anthony J. Lockwood, Hilary Selby Polk, Elizabeth Kepner, Nancy Hayes, Cathryn Baskin; Margaret Cook, Junior Copy Editor Assistants Faith Kluntz. Debe Wheeler. Beverly Jackson. Lisa Jo Steiner Production David R. Anderson, Assoc. Director; Patrice Scnbner. Jan Muller, Virginia Reardon; Sherry McCarthy, Chief Typographer; Debi Fredericks. Donna Sweeney. Valerie Horn Advertising Thomas Harvey, Director; Marion Carlson, Rob Hannings, Deborah Porter, Vicki Reynolds, Cathy A. R. Drew, Lisa Wozmak; Jacgueline Earnshaw. Reader Service Coordinator; Wai Chiu Li, Advertising/ Production Coordinator; Linda J. Sweeney Circulation Gregory Spitzfaden, Manager; Andrew Jackson, Asst. Manager; Agnes E. Perry. Barbara Varnum, Louise Menegus, Jennifer Price, Sheila A. Bamford; James Bingham, Dealer Sales; Deborah J. Cadwell. Asst; Linda Ryan Marketing Wilbur S. Watson, Marketing Coordinator; Timothy W. Taussig, Marketing Production Coordinator Controller's Office Daniel Rodrigues, Controller; Mary E. Fluhr, Acct. & DIP Mgr.; Karen Burgess, Jeanne Cilley, Linda Fluhr, Vicki Bennett, L. Bradley Browne Traffic N. Scott Gagnon. Scott Jackson, Kathleen Reckart Receptionist Jeanann Waters Publishers Virginia Londoner. Gordon R. Williamson; John E. Hayes. Associate Publisher; Cheryl A. Hurd, Michele P. Verville. Publisher's Assistants; Officers of McGraw-Hill Publications Com- pany: Paul F. McPherson, President; Executive Vice President: Gene W. Simpson; Senior Vice President-Editorial: Ralph R. Schulz; Vice Presidents: R. Bernard Alexander; Kemp Ander- son. Business Systems Development; Harry L. Brown. Special Markets; Robert B. Doll. Circula- tion; James E. Hackett, Controller; Eric B. Herr. Planning and Development; H. John Sweger. Jr.. Marketing. Officers of the Corporation: Harold W. McGraw Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Joseph L. Dionne. President and Chief Operating Officer; Robert N. Landes. Senior Vice President and Secretary; Ralph J. Webb, Treasurer. In This Issue According to a survey conducted by the Eastern Management Group, of the 1,400,000 personal computers installed by the United States by the end of 1981, 64 percent were operating in businesses. However, even with 900,000 personal computers in U.S. business establishments, only 1 out of every 61 white-collar workers is equipped with his own machine. Obviously, the market for personal computers within the business world is just getting off the ground. But someday, as Robert Tinney's cover playfully illustrates, microcom- puters will very likely become permanent fixtures on Wall Street. Robert Franz describes how one brokerage firm has made microcomputers work to its ad- vantage. James L. Woodward, a Boston banker, discusses some pitfalls of business programming in "What Makes Business Programming Hard?" Jack Bishop reviews three popular financial-planning systems in "Beyond the Peaks of Visicalc." N. R. McBurney II describes "The Personal Computer as an Interface to a Corporate Management Information System." Gregg Williams looks at Software Arts' new TK Solver. In "An Introduction to the Human Ap- plications Standard Computer Interface" (the first of a two-part article), Chris Rutkowski discusses new directions in which the personal computer may be heading. Steve Ciarcia concludes his two-part article on the construction of the Microvox text-to-speech synthesizer, William Barden puts real-world inter- faces to work, Jerry Pournelle discusses BASIC and Pascal benchmarks, and we continue the countdown on our Game Contest winners. BYTE is published monthly by BYTE Publications Inc. 70 Mam St. Peterborough NH 03458. phone |603| 924-9281 . a wholly-owned subsidiary of McGraw-Hill, Inc. Office hours: Mon-Thur 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM. Friday 8.30 AM - Noon. Eastern Time. Address subscriptions, change of address. USPS Form 3579. and fulfillment ques- tions to BYTE Subscriptions. POB 590. Martinsville NJ 08836. Second class postage paid at Peterborough. N.H. 03458 and additional mailing offices. USPS Publication No. 528890 (ISSN 0360-5280|. Canadian second class registration number 932 1 . Subscriptions are S 1 9 for one year, S34 for two years, and S49 for three years in the USA and its possessions. In Canada and Mexico, 521 for one year, S38 for two years, S 55 for three years. S43 for one year air delivery to Europe. S35 surface delivery elsewhere. Air delivery to selected areas at additional rates upon request. Single copy price is S2.95 in the USA and its possessions. S3. 50 in Canada and Mexico. S4.50 in Europe, and S5.00 elsewhere. Foreign subscriptions and sales should be remitted in United States funds drawn on a US bank. Printed in United States of America. Address all editorial correspondence to the editor at BYTE. POB 372. Hancock NH 03449. Unacceptable manuscripts will be returned if accompanied by sufficient first class postage. Not responsible for lost manuscripts or photos. Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of BYTE. Entire contents copyright © 1 982 by BYTE Publications Inc All rights reserved. Where necessary, permission is granted by the copyright owner for libraries and others registered with the Copyright Clearance Center |CCC) to photocopy any article herein for the base fee of S 1 .00 per copy of the article or item plus 25 cents per page. Payment should be sent directly to [he CCC, 2 1 Congress St. Salem MA 01 970. Copying done for other than personal or internal reference use without the permission of McGraw-Hill is prohibited. Requests for special permission or bulk orders should be addressed to the publisher. BYTE-' is available in microform from University Microfilms International, 300 N Zeeb Rd, Dept PR. Ann Arbor Ml 48106 USA or 18 Bedford Row, Dept PR, London WCli? 4EJ England- Subscription questions or problems should be addressed to: BYTE Subscriber Service P.O. Box 328 Hancock, NH 03449 4 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc ■ routine call away from MicroAngelo': powerful capabilities. Use one Micro- Angelo for monochrome graphics displays. And combine two or more MicroAngelos to create high resolu- ■*" tion color graphics. MicroAngelo is the OEM's choice because it is a powerful self-contained graphics display computer that is easy to add to your host. A graphics display computer that is proven reliable in over 1000 field installations. A graphics display computer that is so affordable you don't have to design your own. Think SCION for your graphics display needs. Think MicroAngelo. Call us at (703) 476-6100. 'OEM quantity 25 price (or Multibus or S-100 board. if the image is important 12310 Pinecrest Rd./Reston, VA 22091 (703)476-6100 TWX: 710-833-0684 Circle 343 on inquiry card. Editorial Circle 134 on Inquiry card. fOOt-note, n. 1. a note or comment at the end of a page, referring to a specific part of the text on the page. 2. an essential program for the serious WordStar user. FOOTNOTE"" brings full foot- noting capabilities to WordStar™. FOOTNOTE automatically num- bers both footnote calls and foot- notes, and formats the text, placing footnotes on the bottom of the correct page. At the user's option, the footnotes can also be removed from the text file to a separate note file. Footnotes can be entered singly or in groups, in the middle or at the end of paragraphs, or in a completely separate note file. After running FOOTNOTE the user can re-edit the text, add or delete notes, and run FOOTNOTE again to re-number and re-format the WordStar file. The price is $125., and includes PAIR, a companion program that checks that printer commands to underline orsetin BOLDFACE are properly terminated. FOOT- NOTE and PAIR require 48K RAM and CP/M 2.x, CP/M-86 or IBM PC DOS, and WordStar. Formats: 8" SS/SD, 5 1 A" North- Star DD, Micropolis Mod ll/Vec- tor/MZ, Superbrain 3.0, Apple II with CP/M, 5Va" and 8" Xerox 820, HP-125, HP-87, Televideo, IBM PC (specify DOS or CP/M- 86), IBM DisplayWriter with CP/M-86. SOFTWARE SOFTWARE DIGIL4L/VMRKETING DIGIT/IL /I/I/IRKETING'" DIGITAL MARKETING CORPORATION F0H1NOTF and PAIR Irademarks of PRO/TEM Software Inc WorrJSiar irademark of Mirjropro Inl'l CP/M and CP/M-86 Irademarks of Digital Research PROTEM Some Answers to Frequently Asked Questions by Chris Morgan, Editor in Chief One thing an editor gets is questions. It's part of the game. Readers and peo- ple I meet always have questions about microcomputers and various aspects of the microcomputer industry. Some of the questions are easy to answer, others are not so easy. This month I've taken some of the more frequently asked ques- tions and tried to answer them — or sidestep them gingerly, as the case may be. What's the Best Computer to Buy? Actually, most people who ask this question don't really expect me to name a specific brand, and I don't give one. Usually they're looking for general guidelines or a friendly push in the right direction. Often they want to know what my own favorite computer is. (See below for that answer.) Buying a microcomputer is a highly personal process, similar to being fitted for clothes. You have to find the right style, the right retailer, and (if neces- sary) the right tailor to make alterations. Before I could recommend a com- puter to you, I'd first have to get to know your likes and dislikes, your needs, and your budget. Only then would I risk making a timorous recommendation. So you see, the selection process is really up to you. To begin, think about what tasks you want the computer to perform. If you have some familiarity with microcomputers, you should consider your likes and dislikes. And, of course, you must be mindful of your budget. After you've gathered all this in- formation, do some reading and make a list of candidate models. Do some more reading. Read reviews and articles that discuss the computers on your list. Talk to people who own these machines. If you don't know any owners, find out if a computer club in your area has users groups devoted to those computers. And if you're not sure whether there is a computer club in your area, check our monthly feature Clubs and Newsletters as well as our most re- cent Clubs and Newsletters directory, last published in the April 1981 BYTE (page 158). Attend some of the meetings and get to know the members. You'll find it's a wise investment of your time. Another important step is to visit some computer stores without your check- book. Don't buy a computer on impulse. It's like marrying someone the day you've met. Anyway, sales personnel in a reputable computer store won't try to foist a computer on you as soon as you come through the door. Instead, they'll probably repeat the litany of items I listed above. They know only too well what happens when a human /computer match is not made in heaven. Spend time in the showroom with the computers you're thinking about buy- ing. If you're an experienced programmer, you'll quickly discover the little idiosyncrasies that can add up to headaches later. Even if you're relatively new to computers, you'll learn a lot from deciphering the owners manuals. Today's manuals are vastly better than the hastily written and typed photocopies of a few years ago. But beware — documentation still has a long way to go. 6 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc y You Get More Out of Percom Disk Systems. Field-proven designs, 100% testing and solid dealer support — these are the reasons you can expect to get more out of Percom disk storage systems. Expect In FLOPPY MINI-DISK STORAGE SYSTEMS Percom floppy disk drives are compat- I ible with selected I models of Atari, Commodore, IBM, Radio Shack and Tl personal com- puters. Percom drives are double-density rated. Formatted on-line storage capacity is typically 160,000 to over 180,000 bytes for single-headed drives, twice that amount for dual-headed drives. Primary disk storage systems (available for Atari, IBM and TRS-80* Model III personal computers) include Percom double-density disk control- lers, software, power supplies and cabling. Add-on units include a drive (or drives) and power supply, and are available in 1-, 2- or 3-drive enclo- sures. Prices start at $299 for economy add-on drives, $599 for primary drive systems. To see why you can expect more out of quality Percom disk stor- age systems, mail the coupon today. Or, call Percom toll-free for the name of your nearest Percom Retailer. WINCHESTER DISK STORAGE SYSTEMS Featuring enormous storage capacities and fast access times, Percom 5 1 /i" Winchester disk storage systems are available in 5-, 10-, 15- and 30-megabyte units. Since the Percom smart, hard-disk controller handles from one to four drives, you can have from 5 million to 120 million bytes of formatted, on-line storage capacity. / v And of course add-on units cost less because they neither need nor include a controller. Percom Winchester disk stor- age systems are now available for Apple, IBM PC and Radio Shack computers. Watch for announcements of versions for other computers, including selected minicomputers. Prices start at under $2500. PEFCOM YES. . . I'd like to know more about Percom disk systems. Please rush me information. Send to: PERCOM DATA COMPANY, INC. Dept BD2 11220 Pagemill Road, Dallas TX 75243 street city state zip phone number I'm interested in Winchester disk storage for my.. Apple (mdl) □ IBM PC Radio Shack (nidi). I'm interested in floppy disk storage for my... Atari (mdl) Commodore (mdl) □ IBM PC Radio Shack (mdl). □ Texas Instruments 99/4 The Drive People HP 11220 Pagemill Road • Dallas TX • 75243 • (214) 340-7081 PRICES AND SPECIFICATIONS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. •trs-80 is a trademark of Tandy Radio Shack Corporation which has no . relatioir^hiD'to Percom Data Company, mc . ;:0 19.81 Percom. Data Company, mc The company known for its state-of-the-art hardware, now has software to match. iaca . . v ■ ■ ; . . " . iuv . ■ compiler for Z-80 M based machines running the Digital Research CP/M-MP/M II' operating systems, enhances the use of Pascal as a business pro- gramming language. It gives you greater precision, efficiency and flexibility. InterEdit*" screen editor is designed so that novice computer-users can create, edit and save files with a minimum of keystrokes. InterEdit features an automatic paragraph indent, making it extremely useful for intensive typing programs. InterProof™ spelling checker and corrector is an all-in-one utility. InterProof checks the words in any text file against its 14,000 literal word dictionary, and automatically corrects the word spelling. InterComp 1 " source compare utility eliminates time wasted reading and re-reading revisions. It's ideal for word processing and programming applications. ^ All Ithaca InterSystems software runs on any Ithaca computer system and on any Z-80 based machine running CP/M-MP/M. You'll find that Ithaca's service after the sale is just as advanced as hard- ware and software products. We believe in what we sell and support our products . . . after the sale. For more information on these new software products, just call 800-847-2088, or in New York State 607-257-0190. Get the facts about Pascal before you buy. Don't buy a Pascal compiler until you've read "The Facts About Pascal". Call us for a free copy. sbb£ Iflmesi 0ODfa% v Sfa0D^™ We think as fast as you do. Ithaca InterSystems, Inc. 1650 Hanshaw Rd., P.O. Box 91, Ithaca, N.Y. 14850 TWX 510-255-4346 ' Pascal/BZ, Pascal/Z, InterComp, InterProol and InterEdit are trademarks of Ithaca InterSystems, Inc. ' Z-80 is a registered trademark of Zilog, Inc. ' CP/M-MP/M is a registered trademark of Digital Research, Inc. Circle 207 on inquiry card. Editorial Established companies such as Apple, IBM, and Radio Shack have good documentation for the most part. We make a lot of noise about bad documentation here at BYTE, and you'd be wise to consult our product reviews. Should I Buy a Computer Now or Wait for the Next Generation? I'll risk a generalization and say, "Buy now." Yes, there's always the chance that your brand-new machine will be supplanted by a newer model the day after you buy it, but that's a fact of life in this industry. (Anyway, by the time the new model is actually available — which is often six to twelve months or longer in this industry — an even newer model is announced, ad infinitum.) Better to learn as much as possible on a present model than sit around waiting for the elusive new one. If the same at- titude prevailed among car shoppers, no one would own any cars. Much of what you learn on any existing machine will probably be useful in working with any new machine you might buy — the technology isn't changing that fast. And manufacturers are more careful these days about making their machines as upward-compatible as possible. So your old software can in many cases run on the new models. Switching from one brand of computer to another complicates matters, however. You may be out of luck in some cases and have to buy new software. Which Operating System Will Be the Standard? Probably no one operating system will overpower the rest, just as no one high-level language has eclipsed the rest of the field. I predict that in a few years the typical microcomputer will have any operating system you want on-board in firmware, whether it be UCSD Pascal, MS- DOS, CP/M-86, Onyx, Unix, or what you will. It will simply become an economic necessity because the ulti- mate driving force in this market is software, not hard- ware. Hardware is the means to the software end. Good software ultimately creates a hardware base to take ad- vantage of it, but the reverse is not always the case. If I had to make a prediction, I'd say that MS-DOS and CP/M will be the dominant operating systems in a few years, even though CP/M is an 8-bit operating system. Eight-bit machines are not going to go away for a long time. The economic arguments for their longevity are ir- refutable. One such argument points to the installed user base of CP/M machines. MS-DOS will probably dominate by virtue of the sheer number of licenses being granted lately to U.S. and Japanese manufacturers. Which Processor Will Be the Leader in Five Years? The Intel 8086 is the likely choice based on current sales (the 8086 dominates the 16-bit market at present) although the Motorola 68000 will have a significant share of the market. The 68000 has appeared in several new designs and will continue to grow in popularity based on its architecture and instruction set, both of which have Circle 403 on inquiry card. > 897 N.W. Grant Ave. • Corvallis, Oregon 97330 • 503/758-0521 ■0/- ^ # Never having to type the word ™ "CATALOG," or trying to remember how to get from one part of a program to another! If you could do these functions, and many more like them, at the STROKE of a SINGLE KEY, would you? We thought you would! So, we invented the Enhancer ][ and the Function Strip. More than just another lower case adapter, the Enhancer ][ is an intelligent keyboard processor. Now characters, strings of data, commands and statements can all be stored in your Enhancer ][ for immediate recall by pressing JUST ONE KEY! Features that you would expect only on larger systems now can be yours. EASILY! For instance, wouldn't you like auto-repeat, and hi- speed repeat? How about a type-ahead buffer? Even user-definable function keys are available for greater input flexibility. The Videx Enhancer ][ and Function Strip; it really is the Dawn of a New Era for Apple ][™. Suggested Prices * ENHANCER ][ 149.00 I FUNCTION STRIP 79.00 — Package Deal 215.00 Apple ][ is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Enhancer ][ and Function Strip are trademarks of Videx, Inc Editorial been praised by programmers. It's still too early to call the 32-bit market. What's Your Favorite Computer? I honestly have a hard time with this question. I've probably worked with the Apple II longer than with any other machine, and it's a favorite of mine. But you can play Star Raiders only on the Atari 400 and 800 com- puters, and I dearly love Star Raiders and Atari graphics in general. I could continue in this vein for several more paragraphs, but my real sentimental favorite is the old IBM 1130 1 used while a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. I had it largely to myself one summer, and in many ways it was an early personal computer. It had a fast FORTRAN compiler and some nifty mathematical subroutines to come to the aid of a poor graduate student reeling under a semester's worth of partial differential equations. I'm still recovering from that course. What Computer Do You Have at Home? I don't. I have to rest sometime. * * * This Thing Called Videotex Videotex has been getting a lot of press lately and that has prompted a number of questions. The main question is "What is it?" Currently its definition and even its spell- ing are in a state of flux, but a basic meaning has evolved. Videotex is a system of encoding graphic or textual infor- mation on a host computer, transmitting this information over telephone lines, displaying this information on a home television equipped with a special decoder, and relaying information back to the host computer. In effect, videotex transforms home TV sets into color-graphics terminals. It is differentiated from teletext in that teletext provides information transfer in one direction only, usually via the television broadcast signal in the vertical blanking interval. (An example of teletext in use is the closed-caption system for the hearing-impaired used by PBS, CBS, and NBC.) It's easy to see why videotex has received so much coverage and generated so much in- terest. Its potential market is huge. After all, it's limited only by the number of phones and TVs in use. A controversy has developed over which method should be used to encode videotex information. AT&T is supporting a system called North American Presentation Level Protocol (NAPLP), which is a refinement of the Telidon system used in Canada. IBM is supporting the Prestel system, which is used in the United Kingdom. Currently the NAPLP system seems to be winning out: it has just been adopted as a standard by both the American National Standards Institute (ANSI X3L2.1) and the Canadian Standards Authority (CSA-T500). The Context MBA is available now at: Cilllornli Computer Cily/Brea 714/9964)800 Computer Cily/Santa Ana 714 / 549-7 749 CompoterLand/Almaden 408/267-2182 CompulerLand/Belmont 415/595-4232 ComputerLand/Burlingame 415/348-7731 ComputerLand/Fremont 415/794-931 1 ComputerLand/Hayward 415/538-8080 ComputerLand/Newport Beach 714/975-0953 ComputerLand/Pasadena 213/449-3205 ComputerLand /Sacramento 916/920-8981 ComputerLand/San Diego 714/560-9912 ComputerLand/San Diego North 714/434-7001 ComputerLand/San Fernando Valley 213/716-7714 ComputerLand/San Francisco-Financial 415/546-1592 ComputerLand/San Francisco-Markel Street 415/864-85B0 ComputerLand/San Francisco-Van Ness 4 1 5/67 3-6640 ComputerLand/Sonoma 707/528-1775 ComputerLand/South Bay 213/371-7144 ComputerLand/Stockton 209/473-1241 ComputerLand/Thousand Oaks 805/495-3554 ComputerLand/Ventura 805/656-7711 ComputerLand/WesI Covina 213/960-6351 ComputerLand/West Los Angeles 2 1 3/559-3353 Computer Plaza/Santa Barbara 805/687-9391 Gateway Computer Center /Cerritos 213/865-4444 Gateway Computer Center/Hunlmglon Beach 714/895-3931 Connecticut CompulerLand/Danbury 203/748-2300 ComputerLand /Fairlield 203/255-9252 CompulerLand/Hartford 203/561-1446 ComputerLand/New Haven 203/288-5162 ComputerLand /Stamlord 203/964-1224 Delaware ComputerLand/New Castle County 302/738-9656 Georgia ComputerLand/AllanIa ComputerLand/Smyrna 404/577-2449 I llinois ComputerLand/Arlington Heights 312/870-7500 ComputerLand /Champaign 217/359-0859 ComputerLand/Downers Grove 312/964-7762 ComputerLand/Joliet 815/741-3303 ComputerLand/Lake County 312/949-1300 ComputerLand/Naperville 312/369-351 1 ComputerLand/Niles 312/967-1714 ComputerLand /Northbrook 312/272-4703 ComputerLand/Oak Lawn 312/422-8080 ComputerLand/Peoria 309/688-6252 ComputerLand/Schaumburg 312/843-7740 Main Street Computer Co /Decaler 217/429-5505 I ndiana ComputerLand/Mernllville 219/769-8020 The Computer Room/South Bend 219/277-1600 General Microcomputer/South Bend 219/277-4972 Kansas CompulerLand/Leawood 913/341-5335 ComputerLand/Lawrence 413/841-8611 ComputerLand/Overland Park 913/492-8882 ComputerLand/Topeka 913/267-6530 Maine ComputerLand /Portland 207/774-1309 Massachusetts Business Data Systems/Hanover 617/878- 7888 ComputerLand/Boston 617/482-6033 Michigan ComputerLand/Ann Arbor 313/973-7075 ComputerLand /Grosse Pointe 313/772-6540 ComputerLand /Soulhlield 313/356-8111 Computer Mart/Ann Arbor 313/665-4453 Computer Mart/Flint 3 1 3/234-0161 Computer Marl/Kalamazoo 616/329-1000 Computer Marl/Lansing 517/351-1777 Computer Mart/Livonia 313/540-3928 Computer Marl/Tn-Cities 517/790-1360 Computer Mart /Troy 313/649-0910 The Computer Room/Grand Rapids 616/949-2802 The Computer Room/Kalamazoo 616/343-4634 Minnesota ComputerLand/Bloomington 612 / 884-1474 ComputerLand/Hopkins 612/933-8822 ComputerLand /Minneapolis 612/333-3151 Missouri ComputerLand /Gladstone 816/436-3737 ComputerLand/Independence 816/461-6502 ComputerLand/St Joseph 816/364-4498 Hew Hampshire ComputerLand/Nashua 603/889-5238 New Jersey ComputerLand /Morristown 201/539-4077 ComputerLand /Princeton 609/882-1400 New York ASD Office Syslems/Poughkeepsie 914/473-9400 ComputerLand/Nassau County 516/742-2262 ComputerLand/New York City 212/840-3223 ComputerLand/Sullolk County 516/499-4484 ComputerLand/White Plains 914/328-0144 Datel Syslems/New York City 212/921-0110 Future Oata 212/964-6666 Morris Decision Systems/New York 212/742-9590 North Carolina ComputerLand/Durham 919/493-5402 Ohio Micro Electronics/Columbus 614 / 481-8041 Oregon ComputerLand/Multnomah County 503/295-1928 ComputerLand/Salem 503/371-7070 ComputerLand/Portland 503/620-6170 Pennsylvania ComputerLand /Dresher 215/542-8835 ComputerLand/Hamsburg 717/763-1116 ComputerLand/Lehigh Valley-Allentown 215/7760202 ComputerLand/Paoh 215/296-0210 Computer Land /Philadelphia Texas ComputerLand/Dallas 214/363-2223 ComputerLand/Fort Worth 817/292-7114 ComputerLand/Houston Bay Area 713/488-8153 ComputerLand/North Dallas 214/235-1285 ComputerLand/Southwest Houston 713/977-0909 ComputerLand/Tyler 214/581-7000 ComputerLand/Houston Weslwood 713/270-1200 Utah Personal Business Computers/Cedar City 5011596-2648 Personal Business Computers/Salt Lake City 801/486-4839 Virginia ComputerLand/Charlottesville 804/973-5701 ComputerLand/Richmond 804/741-3502 ComputerLand/Tyson's Corner 703/893-0424 ComputerLand /Woodbridge 703/491-4151 Washington ComputerLand /Bellevue 206/746-2070 ComputerLand/Federal Way 206/838 9363 ComputerLand/Lynnwood 206/774-6993 CompulerLand/Renton 206/271-8585 ComputerLand/Seattle 206/223-1075 ComputerLand/Tacoma 206/383-4951 ComputerLand /Vancouver 206/695-1540 Washloolon. DC ComputerLand /Washington, DC 202/835-2200 Wisconsin ComputerLand /Madison 608/273-2020 Canada Computer Mart/Windsor 519/966-5757 10 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 105 on inquiry card. The Context MBA turns the ^•■^Ss^ IBM Personal Computer into a powerful The Context MBA is a remarkable new software package that transforms the IBM Personal Computer into a powerful management tool. C-MBA combines spreadsheet, graphics, word processing, database and communications functions in one totally integrated program. C-MBA was developed specifically for managers, not computer experts. Because it's easy to learn and use, you can produce results in hours that used to take days or even weeks. Helps Managers Review, Analyze and Report Review Information: Tie into your company's computer, a financial information service, electronic mail network or virtually any other computer system. C-MBA saves information and lets you retrieve, exam- ine, edit or print it with a few keystrokes. Analyze Alternatives: Use the electronic spread- sheet to create realistic business models simply and easily. With the drudgery removed you can work the problem to the best solution instead of to the point of exhaustion. Report Results: Compose, edit and print reports, letters and business graphs. Make revisions yourself, faster than you can explain them to your secretary. Because C-MBA is an integrated system, it's easy to incorporate data from your spreadsheets into your text. C-MBA Integrates Five Powerful Functions Modeling: Create a giant spreadsheet of figures and text. Change one number and every effected fig- ure is recalculated. Search or sort models to quickly find the information you want. Business Graphs: Build pie, high/low, bar, line, area and scatter graphs of data in your spreadsheet lising simple graphing commands. Thanks to C-MBA's unique design, graphs change automatically as you update the spreadsheet. Word Processing: C-MBA's executive word proc- essor makes concisely edited reports easy to prepare. A few keystrokes let you automatically insert tables of numbers or graphs from your spreadsheet anywhere in your report. Database: A vast electronic library makes storing and finding information easy and natural. Communications: C-MBA includes a data com- munications and conversion function which allows information from mainframe computers to be used in your models or databases. You can even use C-MBA for electronic mail.* The C-MBA is sold only by selected computer retailers who have completed special training courses to help managers get the most from the program. And C-MBA features exceptionally clear, highly detailed documentation. IBM is a trade mark of IBM? Version 1 of the C-MBA will not include communications. Version 1 owners will receive a free upgrade to version 2 which will include communications. The MBA is currently available for the IBM Personal Computer and requires two disk drives and 256k of memory. Versions for other second generation personal computers are under development. ©COPYRIGHT 1982 CMS. INC. Context Management Systems Management Software for Personal Computers 23864 Hawthorne Boulevard Torrance, CA 90505 (213) 378-8277 Telex: 181149 WEST LSA SOURCE ID TCA 442 Circle 106 on inquiry card. BYTE October 1982 11 THE MICROHOUSE ORDER CENTER IS OPEN 9:00 AM- 8 00 PM EASTERN TIME MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. CALL TOLL-FREE FOR ORDERS, PRICE QUOTES, AND AVAILABILITY: 1-800-523-9511 IN PENNSYLVANIA, AND FOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT: 1-215-868-8219 MICROHOUSE OFFERS 24 HOUR COMPUTER SHOPPING WITH MICROLINE, MICROLINE IS A COMPUTERIZED ORDER-ENTRY SYSTEM, SIMILAR TO ACCESSING TIME SHARING SYSTEMS. MICROLINE ENABLES YOU TO ACCESS SPECIFIC INFORMATION ON OVER 1000 MICROCOMPUTING HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE PRO- DUCTS, IN ADDITION TO NUMEROUS SUPPLIES AND ACCESSORIES. MICROLINE GIVES YOU THE OPTION OF ORDERING AS MUCH AS YOU WANT, AS OFTEN AS YOU WANT. MICROHOUSE WILL PROCESS YOUR ORDER WITHIN 24 HOURS. 1-215-868-1230 MICROLINE OPERATES AT 300 BAUD. 8 BITS, NO PARITY, I STOP BIT ADD 2% TO ALL ORDERS DIFFERENCE WILL BE CREDITED. OUTSIDE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES ADD AN ADDITIONAL S5.00. ALL ITEMS SHIPPED UPS GROUND. OTHER SHIPPING METHODS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST. PAYMENT 1 ACCEPTED PAYMENT BY PERSONAL CHECK, MONEY ORDER, C.O.D., MASTERCARD OR VISA. PURCHASE ORDERS REQUIRE PRIOR APPROVAL. MICROLINE PAYMENTS BY PERSONAL CHECK, MONEY ORDER, CO D . MASTERCARD OR VISA ONLY. PENNSYLVANIA RESIDENTS ADD 6% SALES TAX. MICROHOUSE 1444 LINDEN STREET P 0 BOX 498 BETHLEHEM. PA 18016 PRICES AND SPECIFICATIONS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE Buy the Franklin ACE Computer for and get a Green Screen monitor. ALL ITEMS SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY. AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE MICROPRO SOFTWARE DEALER: THE MICRO COMPUTER PEOPLE MICROHOUSE Circle 429 on inquiry card. Editorial Another major question is "What does this controver- sy mean for personal computer users?" Fortunately, no matter which videotex standard is adopted, personal computer users should be able to decode either one with only minor modifications to their machines. In fact, per- sonal computers will be able to generate videotex pages as well as receive them: Apple Computer Inc. is about to release its teletext board. Look for articles on videotex in future issues of BYTE. We plan to review a newly released book on videotex, present a series of articles describing the NAPLP system in detail, and devote a section of an issue to videotex. In the meantime, it should be mentioned that for the price of a videotex decoder, a person could probably buy a home computer that could do all the decoder does plus much more. Correction In my August BYTE editorial, "Keeping Our Techno- logical Edge," I incorrectly stated that Professor Raj Reddy had left Carnegie-Mellon University's Robotics In- stitute to work at the World Computer Center in Paris. David Lewin, Carnegie-Mellon's Director of Science and Technical Information, sent me a polite letter stating that "for the past year Professor Reddy has been on sab- batical, but he remains most definitely at Carnegie- Mellon as director of our Robotics Institute. As a director of the World Center, he has been shuttling to Paris fre- quently, but Pittsburgh remains his home base. Professor Reddy would appreciate it if you would inform your readers that, paraphrasing Mark Twain, the reports of his departure are greatly exaggerated." We regret the error and hope it has not caused any confusion. ■ WHICH OF THESE DEVICES CONNECTS TO YOUR APPLE II® DUAL-COMMPLUS? (a) Any Serial Interface Printer (b) Any Modem (c) A Speech Synthesizer (d) A Spooling Printer Adapter (e) Another APPLE II (f) A Display Terminal (g) Any of the Above (h) Any Two of the Above •uoijewjoju! ajoai joj £ XI9 ir^ubo jo jaqwnu aojAaas japeaj aqj apjjQ 'h S| jbmsue joajjoa ai|i -H3MSNV The DUAL-COMM PLUS adds two fully independent serial I/O interfaces to your APPLE II. Each serial interface can be set to respond to its own APPLE slot number or both interfaces can be operated from the same slot location. Slot locations are selected by two thumbwheel switches on the card, one for each serial port. Because each serial port has its own crystal-controlled baud rate generator, each port can be individually selected from 50 to 19200 baud. Either serial port can be used as an input port, an output port, or both. The on-board firmware provides special support for printers and modems but the card can also be used with general purpose serial devices such as a voice synthesis unit, video disks, or any number of other RS232 peripherals. ADDITIONAL FEATURES: ■ On-board firmware provides extensive printer and U/L case terminal/modem support. Great with an 80 x 24 card (especially the Full-View 80) and a Novation CAT or Hayes Smartmodem. >Can be programmed for async, sync, or even SDLC operation. Supports interrupts. Uses Z80 SIO chip. "Works with the APPLE II PLUS, APPLE PASCAL, Z80 SOFTCARD, and 80 column cards (especially the BIT 3 FULL-VIEW 80) ■ Each port has a 4 character FIFO receive data buffer. ■Jumper plug permits user to "customize" the RS232 connections. "Two 10 inch cables with RS232 connectors are included. Other quality products by FULL-VIEW 80: 80 x 24 display card for APPLE II or ATARI 800 ■■IBrr3ilH COMPUTER CORPORATION MEMORY PLUS: APPLE II or 32K ATARI 400/800 16K RAM RAM card card for for the 8120 Penn Avenue South, Suite 548 Minneapolis, Minnesota 55431 (612) 881-6955 Circle 47 on inquiry card. 3 registered trademark o< Apple Computer. Inc.; ZSOSoftcard is a registered trademark o< Microsoft Consumer Products. Smarimodem is a trademark ol D.C. Haves. Associates. I Novation CAT is a registered trademark ol Novation. Ir 14 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc PRINTMATE. 1 36 COLUMNS OF WONDERFUL. "It's wonderful!" You'll hear those words a lot when your PrintMate 1 50 first arrives. Seems everyone has a favorite reason for loving it. The way it stream- lines billing. Prepares easy-to-read financial reports. Effortlessly produces correspondence— when you need it. In fact, PrintMate is ideally suited to just about any business application— even the ones you dream up yourself. Personal. Change type styles for em- phasis. Add bold headlines. Stretch out words for I M P A C T. PrintMate makes it easy to personalize your printing. And MPI's Inexpensive application packages (called AP-PAKs) let you choose at least 15 different type styles. Mix them on the same line, or tailor a new type style to suit your business image. All with a print quality that's great for correspondence. Flexible. PrintMate lets you select virtual- ly any type size, so you can print up to 226 crisp characters on a single line. PrintMate accepts any width paper— from 3 to 1 5 inches. So it's wide enough for PJLL statements. Narrow enough for mailing labels. And perfect for every- thing in between. Versatile. With PrintMate's extensive graphics capabilities, you'll enhance sales reports with charts and graphs. Create characters for bulletin board an- nouncements, or clarify technical infor- mation with illustrations. Mix graphics with words in any combination. No other printer can match PrintMate's graphic capabilities. The applications are as unlimited as your imagination. Fast. If you're concerned about printing speed, PrintMate 1 50 won't keep you waiting. With thruput of up to 366 lines per minute, it's one of the fastest small business printers anywhere. Inexpensive. Compared to other printers, MPI's suggested retail price of $1245 for the PrintMate 1 50 is unbeatable. And it offers more features at this low price, too. ■I I 1 I No matter which small business system you use, PrintMate is the ideal compan- ion. You might say it's ingenious. You could say it's innovative. But after ex- periencing the 136-column PrintMate 150, you'll probably say, "It's wonderful!" And you'll say it for years to come. To learn more about MPI's line of American-made PrintMates, contact your local microcomputer dealer or return the coupon below. Or call (801) 263-3081. THj Micro Peripherals, Inc. Circle 264 on inquiry card. □ Please send literature on MPI's PrintMates. □ Call me regarding a dealership. Name Company Mailing address City, state, zip Area code, phone no. Return to: Micro Peripherals, Inc. 4426 South Century Dr. Salt Lake City, UT 84107 ARE YOU STILL THOUT USING A MKROBUFFER? WHY? USING YOUR COMPUTER TO DRIVE YOUR PRINTER IS A WASTE Of TIME. While your printer is running, your computer is tied up . All you can do is twiddle your thumbs until the program is finished. MICROBUFFER ALLOWS YOU TO PRINT AND PROCESS SIMULTANEOUSLY. You just dump your printing data directly to Microbuffer, whoosh!, and continue processing. Microbuffer accepts data as fast as your computer can send it. It first stores the data in its own memory buffer, then takes control of your printer. It's that easy. THERE IS A MICROBUFFER FOR ANY COMPUTER/PRINTER COMBINATION. Microbuffers are available in Centronics-compatible parallel or RS-232C serial versions. FOR APPLE II COMPUTERS, Microbuffer II features on-board firmware for text formatting and advanced graphics dump routines. Both serial and parallel versions have very low power consumption. Special functions include Basic listing formatter, self-test, buffer zap, and transparent and maintain modes. The 16K model is priced at $259 and the 32K, at $299. FOR EPSON PRINTERS, Microbuffer is $159 in either an 8K serial or a 16K parallel version. The serial buffer supports both hardware handshaking and XON-XOFF software handshaking at baud rates up to 19,200. Both inter- faces are compatible with Epson commands including Graftrax-80 and Graft rax -80+. Both are user- expandable to 32K. ALL OTHER COMPUTER/PRINTER COMBINATIONS are served by the in-line, stand-alone Microbuffers. (Pictured here, twice actual size.) Both serial and parallel ver- sions are expandable up to 256K. The serial stand-alone will sup- port different input and output baud rates and handshake pro- tocol. The 32K model starts at $299, $349 for 64K, and 64K add- ons (for up to a total of 256K) are just $179. SIMPLE TO INSTALL. Microbuffer II is slot-independent. It will fit directly inside the Apple II in any slot except zero. Microbuffer for your Epson mounts easily in the existing auxiliary slot directly inside the Epson printer. The stand-alone Microbuffer is installed in-line between virtually any printer and any computer. MICROBUFFER FROM PRACTICAL PERIPHERALS. When you think of how much time Microbuffer will save, can you afford to not have one? PRACTICAL PERIPHERALS, INC.™ 31245 LA BAYA DRIVE WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA 91362 (213) 991-8200 Circle 307 on inquiry card. ■ Nov. 29-Dec. Laa.Vegas ConventiCTPCenter Las Vecias. ...Nettada. Letters On the Way to a Standard I was very pleased to see and read Thomas Kurtz's "On the Way to Standard BASIC" (June 1982 BYTE, page 182). Many BASIC users are not even aware of the current standard for BASIC, much less the proposed standard. I found it especially interesting to read about the thinking behind some of standard's features. I hope BYTE will serve as an open forum on the proposed standard during its ratification period, and I hope this period is fairly short because this sound proposal will benefit all BASIC users. Still, I would like to see several parts of the standard changed or improved. I think that, for the beginning program- mer, one of the nicest features of most BASICs is that BASIC is an interactive in- terpreter as well as a good interactive language. By an interactive language I mean one in which it is easy to program a dialogue between a program and a user at a terminal. An interactive interpreter is one that interacts with the programmer while he is writing and debugging his pro- gram. With an interactive BASIC inter- preter a programmer can insert a STOP statement anywhere in his program; ex- amine and change variables; list, edit, delete, or add statement lines; and then resume execution anywhere in the pro- gram with the CONTINUE or RUN line number command. Let's look at a sample program that conforms to the proposed standard to see how the standard precludes an interactive interpreter. 10 REM SAMPLE PROGRAM 20 GOTO 40 30 DIM A(25,25) 40 LET A(21,15) = 13.5 50 PRINT A(21,15) 60 END The array will be dimensioned to 25 by 25, even though the logical program flow does not pass through line 30, because ac- cording to the standard an array will be dimensioned in a lower-numbered line than any line referencing the array. How does the interpreter know about line 307 The interpreter must do a pre-scan of your program after you type RUN but before it actually starts executing your program. This pre-scan prevents a BASIC inter- preter's being truly interactive. (To com- ply with this phrase of the standard and be interactive, the interpreter will have to be large or slow or both.) This problem could be easily fixed by changing the stan- dard to read that an array will be dimen- sioned in a lower-numbered line than any line referencing the array, and the logical program flow will pass through the line that dimensions the array. The TI-99/4 BASIC does a pre-scan, and I find it inconvenient to debug pro- grams on the TI after having used a Microsoft BASIC and one of Data General's BASICs, which do not use a pre- scan. The TI-99/4 interpreter does not allow you to edit a program statement and then use the CONTINUE command. It's very important that developers and users of BASIC interpreters for microcom- puters and small minicomputers read and comment on the standard. Howard G. Drake, Product Specialist BASIC Languages Data General Corp. 239 West Main St. Westboro, MA 01581 The public-comment period is now in progress for the BASIC standard being developed by the X3]2 technical commit- tee of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Copies of the Draft Standard can be ob- tained from Dr. Kurtz at Dartmouth Col- lege, Hanover, NH 03755. Interested readers may send comments on the Draft Standard directly to Ronald E. Anderson, BASIC Standards Liaison, University of Minnesota, 2122 Riverside Ave., Min- neapolis, MN 55454. . . R. S. S. Praise for RSCOBOL Two letters to the editor appeared in the July 1982 BYTE ("Turn the Tables," page 22) commenting on my review "COBOL for the TRS-80 Models I and III" (March 1982 BYTE, page 384). Both readers seemed to feel that I was less than en- thusiastic about the product, so I would like to clear the air immediately. As I stated in the review, I believe that RSCOBOL is "professionally done and well suited to the TRS-80." Mr. Erickson notes that I failed to mention what he con- siders the most outstanding quality of the system — the fact that it works as adver- tised. However, he bases his statement on the use of Ryan-McFarland COBOL on CP/M, not the TRS-80 version I re- viewed. Although the TRS-80 version is of very high quality, I found several bugs; some of these have since been fixed, some have not. Mr. Pokorny claims I did a grave in- justice to RSCOBOL. (He immediately weakens his argument by making a couple of needless and groundless ad hominem remarks.) Almost every feature Mr. Pokorny mentions in his letter received significant attention in my review. The editor's FIND and CHANGE commands are completely explained. The compiler's output options are thoroughly described. Mr. Pokorny asks rhetorically, "What are the true trade-offs to ISAM (indexed- sequential access method) files?" A full discussion appears on pages 408 through 411 of my review. On the topic of pro- gram segmentation, I stated that RSCOBOL provides "the most dynamic memory -management system that I have seen in any TRS-80 language" (page 404); on run-time speed, "my overall impres- sion of run-time performance is favorable" (page 406). Mr. Pokorny seems particularly upset with my statement that RSCOBOL's ISAM file method, although powerful, is limited by disk space to very small ap- plications. He uses a TRS-80 Model III; if his machine is standard, it has double- density, 40-track drives. The Model I, on which I reviewed the system, uses single- density, 35-track drives — less than half the space of the Model III. "Very small" is clearly a subjective concept; that is why I intentionally provided the formula given by Radio Shack to calculate file size based on record size, number of keys, etc. Pro- grammers should be able to determine, based on the information given in my review, whether RSCOBOL's ISAM files can meet their requirements. If my review left doubts in anyone's mind, let me stress again that RSCOBOL is a fine product. I wish I could afford a TRS-80 Model 16 with 512K bytes of memory and a hard disk to test my suspi- cions that it is a superior product in that environment. Rowland Archer Jr. Flint Ridge Apartment 59 Hillsborough, NC 27278 18 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Get OnTrack With ENSIGN The Mean Machine OEM's, system integrators and dealers! Join us in the winners circle with our high performance equipment and the best discount schedule and dealer plan in the industry. Call or write: Dealers inquiries circle 187. All other inquiries circle 188. With the reputation of the fastest 8 bit microcom- puter on any race course, IBC has designed its 16 bit computer entry for world class competition. The all new ENSIGN™ multi-slave processor architecture has performance that rivals the largest and most expensive 16 bit mini-computers and small 32 bit mainframes at a fraction of their cost. The ENSIGN supports up to 32 users usihg the OASIS-16™ or UNIX™ operating systems. Eight bit IBC Cadet owners can easily upgrade their system to an ENSIGN configuration as both systems share a common cabinet, disk drives and power supply. OUTSIDE THE USA WITHIN THE USA IflQlnteqraled Business Computers ^| IflC/ DISTRIBUTION 21592 Marilla Street Chatsworth, CA 91311 (213)882-9007 TELEX NO. 215349 4185 Harrison Blvd., Suite 301 Ogden, UTAH 84403 (801) 621-2294 Microprocessor Type Microprocessor Speed OASIS-16 Operating System (Max Users) UNIX Operating System (Max Users) Disk Speed I/O [MB/Sec.; Seek (Milll Sec.) Main Memory (Max) Disk Storage (Max)' 68000 8MHz 32 32 .81 35 8MB' ' ,000MB anux Z-8000 4 MHz 1MB 160MB 8086 BOMB UNIX Is a trademark ol Bell Laboratories, ONYX Is a trademark of ONYX Systems Inc.; OASIS Is a trademark of Phase One Systems; ALTOS Is a trademark of ALTOS Computer Systems. "Using Standard Supplied Disk Controller • "2 MB Available Now 6 MB Available 1st Quarter 1983 • "Not Supported Letters Moral Issues: Everybody's Business I was interested and slightly disap- pointed by Martin J, Weitzman's letter (see the June 1982 BYTE, page 36), which berated your magazine for publishing a letter from Steven Pacenka (February 1982 BYTE, page 30) concerning nuclear issues. Weitzman further suggested that BYTE should not publish any letters deal- ing with moral or social issues. I must beg to differ. We should remember that while our common tie is a technical one, we are nevertheless a subsection of society. Discussion of the moral and social con- cerns of our field cannot be left to anyone else. The computer revolution will most likely have a profound effect on our soci- ety. Therefore, because we are the ones who can most clearly see the future, we are the ones who must provide leadership and foresight. For that reason I support open discus- sion of how computers affect our world. We should encourage BYTE and other computer magazines to become forums for consideration of these moral and social issues, and we should each take time to help make ours a computer- literate society. Brett Wuth Box 971 Pincher Creek, Alberta TOK 1W0 Canada More on IBM I am writing in reply to Louis Kovacs' letter in the June 1982 BYTE (page 28). I will not attempt to defend customer "gouging" by IBM because I believe no such thing has taken place. Mr. Kovacs seems to have the miscon- ception that personal computer manufac- turers are solely out to do hobbyists a favor and not to make a reasonable profit. I am sure that if Mr. Kovacs decided to go into business he wouldn't stay there long. IBM, by all accounts that I have read, spent many intensive man-years develop- ing the Personal Computer, not to men- tion the overhead of tooling up for pro- duction, management costs, labor to build the machines, and so forth. I can't con- ceive of anyone expecting a manufacturer to sell its product at the cost of the com- ponents alone. IBM's reselling of Epson printers or Tandon drives as part of a complete package should allow the firm to recover its overhead plus a profit; other- wise, why be in business? If Mr. Kovacs feels that IBM is charging too much for its product, the best way to inform IBM is by not purchasing the Per- sonal Computer. If enough people boycott the computer, they will probably force IBM to either drop the price or drop the product completely. I doubt either of these will happen, though, because a lot of paying customers feel that the Personal Computer is worth the price. As for employee discounts on the Per- sonal Computer, of course IBM is not be- ing "altruistic." This practice encourages employees to use the Personal Computer on their own time to develop new IBM software in return for royalties. No doubt hundreds of professionals at IBM will devote countless hours to this task, hop- ing to create at least one excellent pro- gram, and IBM is wise to tap this re- source. Finally, it's unreasonable to expect any company to service products that users have modified (e.g., by installing their own Tandon drives) because the company cannot know if the modifications were in- stalled correctly, if the added parts meet the specifications of the design, and so forth. Also, while many different drives have the same interface requirements, power-supply requirements, and mount- ing holes and can be substituted safely, the company does not carry documenta- tion on the other drives and could not easily service such modified products. I believe Mr. Kovacs should reassess his position; it is unrealistic to think that any company is in business just for the fun of it. Raymond A. James 1373 Taft St. Lemon Grove, CA 92045 I would like to add this letter to the many you have received concerning IBM's Personal Computer. I bought a Personal Computer a few months ago, and while I have been generally pleased with it, I think you have neglected to mention some of its more important weaknesses. I also think that you haven't looked very care- fully into the kind of service-after-the-sale offered by this rather large and imper- sonal multinational corporation. (See Gregg Williams's "A Closer Look at the IBM Personal Computer," January 1982 BYTE, page 36.) In BYTE's first-ever article on the Per- sonal Computer ("The IBM Personal Computer: First Impressions," October 1981 BYTE, page 26), Phil Lemmons lavished praise on the IBM design staff for putting so many interesting graphics features on one machine. Unfortunately, many of these features are of little use to me in serious applications. Instead of commands that will allow me to set win- dows, viewports, scaling factors, and rotation factors and do three-dimensional graphics, I get simple line-drawing com- mands, circle generators, a PAINT com- mand whose usefulness I cannot fathom, and a graphics definition language that is also of little use to someone who wants to make plots and graphs instead of Space Invaders games. Microsoft and IBM have been curiously inconsistent with the way in which they have modified BASIC to get IBM Personal Computer BASIC. The PRINT USING command in this version is less flexible than the same command in other versions, such as HP-85 and Tektronix. For exam- ple, with IBM's BASIC I cannot conve- niently imbed spaces within a line, I can- not define a format once and then use it again, and it is extremely inconvenient to print a group of numbers with different formats on the same line. Personal Computer BASIC does not allow multiple-line define function (DEF FN) statements, nor does it have the abili- ty to pass arguments to a subroutine called with GOSUB. This makes writing even moderately efficient code very dif- ficult. Try writing a factorial function in IBM's BASIC; it will make you cry for North Star's multiple-line DEF FN syntax. Another problem with the Personal Computer graphics is the inability to put characters at a given x,y coordinate. This means that when I am drawing a graph I can't put axis labels anywhere I choose; I am forced to put them in the 25-line by 80-column matrix. Furthermore, there is no axis-drawing ability in Personal Com- puter BASIC; this must be done by the user, which takes considerable machine and programmer time. I had hoped that these were weaknesses that IBM would want to know about and fix expediently. I conveyed my sugges- tions directly to IBM and had to wait be- tween two and five months for answers to 20 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc THE FIRST AND LAST WORD IN LETTER-QUALITY OUTPUT: SPIN WRITER. There's only one word for a com- prehensive printing system in the letter-quality office printer/terminal market: Spinwriter. NEC's Spinwriter 3500 Series includes ten models- all of which bring new dimensions to letter-quality printing. With each Spinwriter 3500, you get the benefits of a superior, medium speed 35 CPS print mechanism plus more. Ten Totally NEC-built Forms Handlers. Of all printer companies, only NEC designs and manufactures its own comprehensive family of forms handlers. All of them are user- changeable, to handle all your forms quickly and easily. There's a single- sheet feeder that's user-upgradeable to add a second bin or envelope feed. There's also a cut-sheet guide, a bi-directional tractor, demand document tractor with tear bar and copy separator, manual inserter and bottom feed. Remarkable Uptime Standards. Standards which have made the Spinwriter a legend. A 3,000-hour MTBF— more than two years be- tween failures! And no preventive maintenance or routine lubrication. Ever. And, with only 3 easy access major spares, MTTR is reduced to only 15 minutes! Word Processing Assist. To simplify use, the terminal can perform WP tasks like automatic bi-directional printing, automatic proportional space printing, auto- justification, line centering, automatic bold and automatic shadow printing. In all of Spinwriter's many type styles, in thimble print elements of up to 128 characters. Immediate Interfacing With Your System. Choose from ten printer or terminal models with Qume, Diablo, Centronics, IBM PC, RS-232C interfaces. Spinwriter 3500s are also functionally compatible with Spinwriter 7700 and 5500 Series. The Spinwriter 3500 Series. Reliable, quiet, compact, flexible, and easy to use. From NEC. The first— and last— word for better letter-quality output. SEC NEC Information Systems, Inc. '"nEC Information Systems. Inc. BE1082~' 5 Militia Drive, Lexington. MA 02173 □ Have a representative call me. □ Send me more information on the Spinwriter 3500. Name Title Telephone Company Letters my letters. IBM's responses were noncom- mittal, general, rehashed from its manuals, and hence thoroughly useless. It looks like IBM is going to wait for the market to decide what will sell and let someone else write the software. L. Ravi Narasimhan 1700 Argonne Dr. Concord, CA 94518 Maintenance Alternatives It's about time you informed your readers of the alternatives to maintenance and service problems that a personal com- puter buyer faces (see "Maintenance Alternatives for Personal Computers" by Lewis A. Whitaker, June 1982 BYTE, page 452). I own a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I and am very disappointed with Radio Shack's repair service. I was once charged in excess of $300 for service although the unit was never fixed. (I have since read that my problems were caused by bad in- terface connectors). Because of these problems, I purchased a Hewlett-Packard HP -85 computer. Un- fortunately, one month after the 90-day warranty expired, the system quit. I sent the unit to an HP service center, and after spending another $300 I had my system back. I blame the computer dealer for not in- forming me that a service contract (which I now have on my system) was available for $15 per month. I recently purchased a disk drive, and its service contract costs $9 per month. (These contracts are for "bench," or off -site service.) The HP service has been excellent, and after over a year of use I've had no other problems. I would advise owners incapable of repairing their personal computers to buy some kind of service contract. (I find the HP service contracts to be more reason- able than others.) William R. Spencer Jr. 5421 Grandin Rd. Extension Salem, VA 24153 P-LISP for the Apple In the June 1982 BYTE, Jeff Bonar and Steve Levitan reviewed App-L-ISP from Datasoft Inc. (page 220). Our company also markets a version of LISP for the Apple II that we feel is far superior to the Datasoft product. Our version, P-LISP, not only supports all the standard LISP functions, but also includes high-resolution graphics, floating-point math, random-access files, support for assembly-language program- ming with PEEK, POKE, and CALL statements, and a memory-management scheme that lets you allocate or protect any page in memory. You can even use the extra 16K bytes of memory on a language card, if you have one. All Apple DOS functions are supported, as is ONERR for very powerful error process- ing capabilities. We also support use of the TRACE command for functions and string atoms. For documentation, instead of supply- ing Winston and Horn's LISP book and then trying to make the software follow the book, we have available The P-LISP Tutorial. This book was written for us specifically to work with P-LISP. We welcome inquiries from BYTE readers about our products. Stewart M. Schiffman, President Gnosis 4005 Chestnut St. Philadelphia, PA 19104 Flying ANT In Richard Campbell's fine article on air navigation, "Omni Aviation Navigation System" (June 1982 BYTE, page 468), he introduced a program that, utilizing trigonometric techniques, could simulate the VOR (very-high-frequency omni- range) readings of an airplane in flight. He then observed (in the "Modifications" sec- tion) that this program would lend itself well to high-resolution graphics displays of simulation space, the To/From flag, the CDI (course deviation indicator), and so on. Such a program does indeed exist and has many additional features. Air Naviga- tion Trainer (ANT) is available for the Apple II computer from Space-Time As- sociates (20-39 Country Club Dr., Man- chester, NH 03102, (603) 625-1094) for $40. ANT is a real-time simulation involv- ing a world of six VORs, two NDBs (non- directional beacons), and other land- marks. In this program you must actually navigate by making heading, airspeed, and OBS changes, adjusting for the effects of the wind (selectable), viewing the ground track (selectable and scale- adjustable), etc. All maps and cockpit in- strumentation are in graphics. Sound ef- fects, including Morse station IDs, add to the realism. Four different simulations and a VOR demonstration for beginners are included. Ken Winograd Space-Time Associates 20-39 Country Club Dr. Manchester, NH 03102 (603) 625-1094 Double Density for the Osborne 1 As a long-time user of the Osborne 1, I was greatly interested by Mark Dahmke's well-written analysis of this superior com- puter ("The Osborne 1," June 1982 BYTE, page 348). Permit me, however, to make a few remarks and additions to his findings. First, the command FMT is now FOR- MAT with the new ROM. Second, concerning the numeric key- pad (and the numeral keys on the regular keyboard), you needn't choose either numerals or preprogrammed functions. Without the control key the numerals work as usual; with the control key the alternate function is used. In answer to the justified complaint that the disks hold only 92K bytes of data (for- matted), help is on the way. The double- density option mentioned in the article has been announced and should be avail- able by the time this letter is published. According to Adam Osborne, who wrote me two weeks ago, both single- and double-density options will be supported by the installed hardware and the accom- panying software. Again, thank you for a lucid review of a great machine. Felix Schnur 18 Murray Hill Rd. Scarsdale, NY 10583 The double-density option for the Osborne 1 has been delayed due to design problems related to the data-separator chip being used. Osborne designers have gone back to the drawing board and now expect the option to become available this fall. . . M. H. 22 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 401 on inquiry card. Verbatim Datalife™ flexible disks now come in a bold, new storage box. But more important, they now come to you with a five year warranty* We can give you a war- ranty this long because we're confident the way we make Datalife disks will make them perform better, last even longer. All of our Datalife disks feature seven data-shielding advances for greater disk durability, longer data life. To protect your data from head-to-disk abrasion. To shield your data against loss due to environmental condi- tions. To insure a longer lifetime of trouble-free data recording, storage and retrieval. Every Datalife disk is extensively tested under the most extreme conditions. Critically-certified to be 100% error-free. Assuring you an added margin of perfor- mance, no matter what the operating conditions. And we back it up with a five year warranty. Five times longer than the in- dustry standard. Because Verbatim is the standard of excellence. For flexible disks you can depend on-a lot longer -call (800) 538-1793. In California, or outside the U.S. call (408) 737-7771 collect for the name of your Verbatim dealer. If you want longer data life, keep all your data on Verbatim Datalife. Our name is the promise. Our warranty is the proof. \ferbatim Here's the most exciting part of Verbatim's new packaging. \V*S, — i. 1 982 Vflrtiaiim Com. Datalife is a irwtamarfc of Verbatim Ohj *S<*: Vert*;) lint's warranty jkiIIcv for«l«wiU When you say your disk drive has more juice than Apple's, be prepared to cut one open. The problem with Apple's disk drive stems from the core. There are a lot of good reasons why dealers all over America aren't recommend- ing Apple's disk drive. And one of the main reasons is Rana Systems' new Elite Series of Apple II compatible disk drives. It's easy to see why Apple 8 has been having some major slipped disk problems. Just look at their antiquated head positioner. Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc. It's plastic. Just like a toy. That's why it can take multiple passes to get the information needed. And why the information on your disk can appear obscured and unreadable. If Apple's positioner doesn't accu- rately center the head over your data tracks, it's no bargain at any price. Apple's primitive plastic positioner A workable, but sloppy, way to cap ture data. 24 BYTE October 1982 Rana's slate of '.he art technology lead screw and metal band positioners give vastly improved speed and accuracy. Rana knows the head positioner is the heart of the machine, so we didn't cut any corners. To most accu- rately place the head over the data area we use finely machined lead screws and metal band positioners. They provide you with the fastest and clearest data recognition on the market. With three to four times faster access, track to track. With far greater pre- cision than Apple's, to give you virtually 100% data integrity. More juice on Apple's inferiority. There's another big problem Apple has chosen to ignore. The irritating scratching noise that occurs when it is searching for information. Rana, on the other hand, has built the Elite Series to be virtually noiseless. And more importantly, Rana has an advanced write protect feature which makes it impossible to lose your information. A simple touch on the front panel's mem- brane switch gives you failsafe control. Apple of course only has a notch or tab, which gives you only minimal protection. With the superior Elite controller card, you can control up to four floppy disks using only one slot. With Apple's you can only use two. Of course, you can still plug into Apple's controller card, but down the line you'll want to switch to Rana's and save yourself a slot. Elite also gives you more byte per buck. Even our most economical model, the Elite One, gives you 14% more storage than Apple's. 163K versus Apple's 143K. With our Elite Two offering 326K and our top-of- the-line Elite Three offering a 356% storage increase at 652K. That's almost comparable to hard disk performance, all because of our high density single and double sided disks and heads. Elite Three 652K • 356% Elile Two 326K ■ 128°. Elite One 163K ■ 14° Disk II 143K And the cost? Just look at the chart. 272 Bytes per dollar for Apple, versus between 363 to 767 Bytes per dollar for ours. They're not even close. Apple Disk II Elite One Elite Two Elite Three The real beauty of it isn't the beauty of it. There is no comparison to the lean, clean design of the Elite Series to Apple's 5 year old model (which by the way has never been updated). It's our superior technology, operating economy, increased storage and faster step that makes us the best performing and hottest selling disk drive in America. So give us a call or write for more infor- mation. It doesn't take a lot of courage to cut into an Apple when you outshine them as brilliantly as we do. RanaSystems 20620 Soulh Leapwood Avenue. Carson. CA 90746 213-538-2353 For dealer information call toll tree: 1-800-421-2207 In California only call: 1-800-262-1221 Source Number: TCT-654 Available at all participating Computerland stores and other tine computer dealers. Circle 332 on inquiry card. BYTE October 1962 25 Call SYNCOM. We've got a friendly way of solving things. We figure you don't need any more stress. You've got enough just getting your word or data processing work done. So, whenever a floppy diskette -anybody's floppy diskette -fails to initialize or read/write properly, call Syncom. Talk with a person who will help you analyze the problem. Environ- ment. Equipment. Handling. Or the diskette itself. Your Syncom distributors or local dealers are already using our trouble-shooting staff as part of their service. We'll talk you through step-by-step and help pinpoint what the problem is. But, for the times when you'd prefer to get quietly to the bottom of the matter your- self, why not jot these numbers in the margin of the Error Codes page of your operator's manual. 800-843-9862; 605-996-8200 Or write: Syncom, Box 130 Mitchell, SD 57301 SYNCOM Manufacturer of a full line of flexible media Lettersi Short but Sweet I have one comment regarding R. S. Peterson's letter in the June 1982 BYTE ("Cruel but Fair," page 34): typical mili- tary thinking. R. D. Peterson 16 Manorshire Dr., Apt. 6 Fairport, NY 14450 It's a Small World, After All I find it disturbing to read, in such a fine publication as BYTE, technically in- competent (if not deliberately misleading) advertising. I refer to the advertisement by Microstuf Inc. on page 121 of the June 1982 BYTE. I have seen this advertisement in earlier issues but assumed it would not appear again. In the first place, the headline reads ".001 Second From Wall Street," and the first sentence seems to equate that to a microsecond. If that weren't glaring enough, the people at Microstuf have also moved western Kansas to within 186 (or .1867) miles of New York City, unless they know of some other Wall Street or have found a data-transmission medium faster than light. Steve Hendrix Route 8 Box 81E New Braunfels, TX 78130 BYTE's Bits IBM to Exchange Easywriters Current owners of IBM Easywriter 1.0 can exchange that version at authorized IBM Personal Computer dealers for the recently introduced Easywriter 1.1. Ac- cording to IBM, the new version is faster, easier to use, and features enhanced capa- bilities such as the ability to store documents as individual DOS files and to convert and merge Visicalc print files into Easywriter documents. To exchange versions, provide your dealer with the inside cover page of the Easywriter 1.0 manual as proof of pur- chase before December 31, 1982. ■ Circle 377 on inquiry card. The Bi When we unveiled our CompuStar™ multi-user terminal system just over a year ago, we thought we had created the most powerful, lowest-priced multi-user computer we would ever manufacture. We were wrong. Today, we've made our best even better! Our newly redesigned CompuStar" 1 boasts the same performance statistics that made its predecessor such an over- night success, plus a host of exciting new features. CompuStar users now get the added benefits of dual character set ca- pability, an expanded library of visual attributes including reverse video, un- derlining and below-the-line descenders, an enhanced disk operating system and Microsoft BASIC — all at no extra cost! And single-user systems now start at as little as $2995. There are four types of CompuStar'" workstations (called Video Processing Units or VPU's) that can be connected into a variety of central disk systems with 10 to 96 megabytes of multi-user storage. 'Mtoosotl is .i trademark "t Mkniwft Corporation -fenuml trademark oi 1% *st Made Better Up to 255 VPU's can be tied together to form a massive multi-user network. Or, you can start with only a single VPU and easily expand your system as your processing needs become more sophis- ticated. But whether you start with one or one-hundred VPU's, you'll probably never outgrow your CompuStar. Un- like other systems, you configure the CompuStar the way you want it . . . connecting any combination of VPU's in a "daisy chain" fashion into the central disk system. And since each VPU has its own twin Z80 processors, its own CP/M* operating system and a full 64K of internal memory, (not to mention disk capacities of up to VA million bytes), overall system response time remains unbelievably fast! And that's a claim most of the other multi-user vendors just can't make. Inside our new CompuStar you'll find a level of design sophistication that's destined to establish a new standard for the industry. A series of easy-to- service modular components has ■ been engineered to yield the most impressive reliability figures we've ever seen. But CompuStar users are not only thrilled with our system's performance (and the miserly few dollars they spent to get it), they also have the peace of mind of knowing that Intertec's comprehensive customer protection and field service programs will insure their total after-the- sale satisfaction. For more information on what just may be the last multi-user microcompu- ter you'll ever ( have to ) buy, ask your dealer today about our all new CompuStar™ system. Or, contact us at the number and address below. We'll gladly explain how we've made our best . . . even better! NTE7TEC DATA SYSTEMS imil Id- ® 2300 Broad River Rd. Columbia. SC 29210 (803) 798-9100 TWX: 810-666-21 15 Circle 203 on inquiry card. Z-80A™ CPU, Floppy Disk Controller, 64K of Memory, Serial & Parallel I/O Ports ... all on a SINGLE S-100 BOARD! Don't Buy Another One of Those 3 Board Sets Till You See What One Can Do! Advanced Micro Digital has been producing the SUPER QUAD for some time now and it's truly one of a kind. Just plug this board into any S-100 mother board and hook-up your disk drives to it. It files. Runs with CP/M, MP/M, and turbo-DOS. You can also plug In additional boards, I/O, hard disk controllers, etc. SUPER QUAD Is a BUS master. The cost of this board is one third to one half of what you have been paying for the three board set. Just take a look at these features: NOTE: off-board DMA supports . IEEE S-100 Standard • . Z-80A CPU • 64K of Bank Select Memory as well as extended addressing • Double density floppy disk controller. Both 8 or 5%" Disk Drives • 2 serial & 2 parallel I/O ports (RS-232 and intelligent hard disk interface). • 2K or 4K of monitor EPROM • Runs with CP/M®, MP/M® and turbo-DOS'" • One year warranty, • Free copy of superbios disk Now it's time to replace or throw away the old S-100 boards and plug the SUPER QUAD In. Save space, money and power. Retail price is S875. For more information write or call: Sales Dept. Also Introducing SUPER/SLAVE to run multi-processing operating systems such as turbo-DOS™. With 128/64K of memory, serial &. parallel I/O, you can plug multiple of the slaves with the master and each user will have its own CPU and memory local. 12700 B Knott St. • Garden Grove CA 92641 • (714) 891-4004 ©Registered Trademark of Digital Research Corp. Circle 8 on inquiry card ™ Registered Trademark of Software 2000 Inc. TELEX: 678401 tab irin • Copyright 1981 Advanced Micro Digital Corp Beyond the Peaks of Visicalc Desktop Plan II, Micro finesse, and Plan80 let financial planners handle large and complex models. Jack Bishop 916 Maple Ave. Evanston, IL 60202 Planning, particularly financial planning, has always been associated with some level of mystique. In an- cient times, planners studied the stars, consulted with oracles, or ex- amined the entrails of animals. Even today, our modern statistical tech- niques are considered by some to be as mystical as the reading of tea leaves. But mystical or not, the goal of financial planning has always been About the Author Jack Bishop is a strategic planner and economist who has degrees in both chemical engineering (BS) and business (PhD). His first association with computers dates back to the days of vacuum tubes (IBM 709). Visicalc is a trademark of Visicorp. Editor's note: Until very recently, Microfinesse was distributed by Osborne /McGraw-Hill of Berkeley, California, and it was there that all of the author's dealings took place. At press time, the developers of the software, P-E Consulting Group of Egham, England, were handling the distribution, but they are actively seeking another firm to take over distribution in the U.S. . . R.M. the same: to manage available resources in the most profitable way. The goal of the three software packages reviewed here is to do just that. One of the main advantages of financial planning is that it provides a rationale for making financial deci- sions. Long-range plans can be used to evaluate such issues as the merits of borrowing how much, when, and at what terms. Effective planning also lets a manager anticipate cash needs in time to avoid the expense of last- minute borrowing. These three software packages are intended to help us reduce financial and other types of plans to numbers. The claims for the packages include budgeting, planning, control, finance, and cash management. The marketers also suggest that their soft- ware can analyze sales, capital, infla- tion, interest rates, real estate, pro- ductivity, cost and variance, research-and-development projects, and so on. That's quite a list, but all three packages achieve the goal of pro- viding powerful yet simple financial modeling tools for a modest cost. With a fair degree of training and ex- perience in the accounting field, you will find any of these packages a cost- effective tool. For those without such training, I hope this article may pro- vide a bit of background. Financial Modeling Long-range planning, often called a "modeling exercise," can extend beyond mere numbers to mirror the organization of a business. Variables such as labor, material, and capital requirements can be charted by day, week, month, or year. Such a model ties concepts together and suggests relationships between people, pro- ducts, and money. It is important to realize that, without an understanding of the "real" world, the best model is useless. Hence the key to constructing workable models is a strong sense of how the world works and what is im- portant. With these factors in mind, the software can help you develop financial insight. October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc 29 At a Glance Name Name Name Desktop Plan II Microfinesse Plan80 Type Type Type Financial Planning-Plus Financial Planning-Plus Financial Planning-Plus Manufacturer Manufacturer Manufacturer Visicorp (Personal Software) P-E Consulting Group Ltd. Business Planning Systems Inc. 2895 Zanker Rd. Park House Two North State St. San Jose. CA 95134 Egham, Surrey Dover, DE 19901 [408) 946-9000 England TW20 OHW |302) 674-5500 [formerly distributed by Osborne/McGraw- Language Hill] Language BASIC CP/M Language Price Pascal Price $250 S295 1 system disk Price 1 system disk 1 backup disk S495 4 system disks Documentation Documentation Software protection chip 139-page manual 1 99-page manual Documentation Equipment required Equipment required 139-page manual Apple and standard CP/M system Apple II or II Plus 56K bytes [or more) 32K bytes |or more) Equipment required 2 disks (or more) 1 disk [or more) Apple II Plus Editor to create and modify text files Printer recommended 48K bytes |or more) Terminal with: 2 disks (or more) cursor addressing Audience 80-1 32 column printer clear screen Financial professionals Pascal language system Independent business professionals with Audience MBA or equivalent Audience Financial professionals Financial professionals Independent business professionals with Independent business professionals with A/D A r~ir art i in / zx Ifnt MBA or equivalent The Limits of Visicalc Visicalc was the pioneer of finan- cial planning programs for microcomputers, and my first love. Its greatest strength is its extreme flex- ibility. With it I can quickly lay out the basic structure of a model (the number of years, the main elements of income and expense, and so on). But the development of a model is a "cut and paste" process; it is never right the first time. Lines have to be changed. And lines have to be added. As time went on and I added more line items, more years, more businesses, and so on, this "more is better" syndrome led me out of memory so many times that I decided to look for additional software. I needed something that would handle more information but provide the flexibility and ease of use Visicalc gave me. This review is the story of that search. Getting Started Desktop Plan II, from the wonder- ful folks who brought us Visicalc, is the simplest package to use. And it even lets you transfer Visicalc files to the format required for Desktop Plan II. But the documentation in the package I bought left something to be desired: after I read page 4 in section 1, I expected to find page 5; instead, I found page 5 of the table of contents. I still wonder if I missed something important. Such mistakes are usually the exception, but even minor exclu- sions can throw you off. In addition, a few helpful features were missing. Color highlights in the manual would let some of us flip through quickly and others savor each word. Tabs for each section would be helpful in each of these packages. A pocket card summariz- ing the key points on the operation of the system would also be a welcome addition. I use many computer systems and languages, each with its own syntax and mechanisms, and such pocket cards are invaluable references. On a positive note, I appreciate the heavy paper stock of the Desktop Plan II manual. Manuals tend to receive quite a bit of abuse. Desktop Plan II sets a decent standard for others in its use of heavy paper. Developing a model on Desktop Plan II is fairly simple. As with any system, modeling begins by writing out the line items on a sheet of paper (sales, cost of goods, and so on). The next step is defining the mathematical relationships between line items. This can be as simple as "gross margin equals sales minus cost of goods sold." Having written the model down (after 15 years of developing models of one sort or another, I con- fess to doing much of this in my 30 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Maximum Number of Lines Desktop Micro- Periods Plan II Plan80 finesse 10 270 304 250 18 140 200 250 20 N.A. 183 250 30 N.A. 130 166 Table 1: A summary of maximum model sizes (lines) versus the number of periods (columns). Plan80 and Microfinesse offer an advantage in that you can run larger problems. Note: N.A.= not available. head), I simply type the data into the machine. With Desktop Plan II, the data entry moves easily, followed by calculation rules selected from the menu or programmed in BASIC on the side. (More about these calcula- tion rules later.) As far as time is concerned, with Visicalc I could develop a simple in- come statement and balance sheet, with some ratios, in a couple of hours. That includes some simple projections for the future values and some time for "prettying up" the reports, but no forecasting routines. The same sort of model took a little longer with Desktop Plan II, but no longer than half a day. Although it gave me some extra power and I saved the time I usually spend clean- ing up the Visicalc reports, the added structure of Desktop Plan II involved a little more time. Plan80 doesn't really start the same way. Copying the single disk is sim- ple, and running through the routines to customize the system to my Anadex CM13L was reasonably straightforward, even though this ter- minal was not among those listed in the manual. Forty-five minutes later, after only a few problems, I was able to boot the copy disk, type "Plan80," and enter the name of one of the seven examples. Working through the examples on the Plan80 disk is painless, but watch out for a long, slow-breaking pitch on page C-7 of the manual: To create a new Plan80 applica- tion you use a program, called an editor. ... If you have a favorite program for composing letters and reports, then use it to create text files containing Plan80 statements. Sounds great, but moving back and forth between my editor and the Plan80 code wears my patience thin very quickly. And if you don't have a favorite editor, or any editor, you're in trouble. Unlike the Desktop Plan II manual, Plan80's 8Vz by 11 format is difficult to balance on your lap along with the data, notes of the model structure, and whatever. And while the manual for Desktop Plan II includes pictures of the screen, Plan80's instructions are vague because the authors don't know what editor I am using. The first time I could really see Plan80 itself was when I ran the program after I set up the model using the prescribed structure and conventions. I read the first 60 pages of the manual without really tumbling onto this fact. My two-hour Visicalc model and four-hour Desktop Plan II model took more than eight hours with Plan80. I gained some more power along the way but sacrificed some ease; I was still left with a report that had formatting problems. Microfinesse — with four disks to copy and Pascal routines to patch in- to the copies, not to mention the "software protection chip" to replace my game paddles in the paddle port — intimidated me at first. Finally, I was able to figure out which disks should be inserted into which drives, and when. But the manual could be more explicit. Again, the rows and columns are the first things to set up, but they are very hard to change. After having to rewrite a model from scratch, you'll be sure to plan the next one very carefully. The manual pro- vides a convenient overview of the process, but the instructions on the screen don't quite seem to match the manual. A rewrite of the manual with screen displays (a la Destop Plan II) and walk-through answers would be a vast improvement. So would distin- guishing a "one" from an "el." Microfinesse, the most powerful of the three packages, can be a bit over- whelming at the start. The first model I did took all day, and that's just an estimate. Model Size Limits One of the major advantages these packages have over Visicalc is their ability to handle fairly large and com- plex models. Early Visicalc models had about 150 rows and 20 columns (for months, quarters, or years), but for many applications that was not enough. An industrial or retail plan for a given period of time in the future should also include an equal number of months or years of his- tory. This means that you would need 30 to 50 columns for a monthly plan and 15 to 30 columns for an annual plan. With fewer than about 20 col- umns, you must force the analysis to fit the model, an undesirable state of affairs. By this standard, both Plan80 and Microfinesse improve on Desktop Plan II (see table 1). Not that Desktop Plan II won't work well for most models, especially those that re- quire fewer data points — it will. But take the number of columns into ac- count before buying. Another drawback to Desktop Plan II is its inflexibility in terms of size. A key phrase in the Desktop Plan II manual explains: The entries defining the size of the model cannot be changed for this model any time after the "Y" response. This means you should spend some October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc 31 Dpcikton Plan 1 1 Plan80 1 1 CI 1 1 uv Microfinesse Define rows and InsGrt titles of Insert titles of columns rows and columns rows and columns Fntpr vp Ii iP9 L_-l 1 I 1 V O 1 U t/O Enter values Fntpr va Ii ip^ Choose calcula- Define calculation Define calculation tion rules rules rules and structure Choose items for report Table 2: The basic structure of the modeling packages. Tlie different structures of each package don't seem to offer any clear advantages. GOVT INST ACTS38 CONSUMER 21 1 Photo 1: Microfinesse s graphics options include pie charts and bar charts. time carefully planning the model before you start to lay it out, or face the risk of having to go back and redo everything. All packages require some commitment to size at the start, but Plan80 offers the greatest degree of flexibility of the three. Desktop Plan II's size constraint and inflex- ibility make it the most limited in this regard. Structure The structure of a program largely determines its capabilities and flex- ibility. A program that creates a separate file of calculated values or reports, for example, is easier to leave to someone else for printing or fur- ther analysis. Microfinesse is designed to accom- modate as many as 15 different reports. The other two packages let you format reports after developing the model, and of these Desktop Plan II offers the simplest but least power- ful report structure. The report struc- ture provided by Microfinesse is its most powerful selling feature. All three programs provide a separate model-definition structure, which is an easy form to use. Desktop Plan II walks you through the con- struction of the model, one step (row or column) at a time, not necessarily in sequential order. Plan80 and Microfinesse ask you to develop calculation rules but do provide powerful functions for quick and ac- curate model development (more about these later). Microfinesse, however, seems to have manufactur- ing problems, bad luck, or both, because the model development op- tion on my copy had unexplained er- ror codes. While some structural differences in the programs exist (see table 2), no one method is clearly superior to the others. For my purposes, I prefer to put in the data that is readily available, develop some rules (rela- tionships), test them out, get some more data, and so on. None of these packages is as suited to that kind of eclectic development as Visicalc. However, Microfinesse, which sets up a names structure right away, lets me work with abbreviations, a helpful addition. And Plan80 offers 32 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc the option of names or row numbers, a handier method in practice than you'd think. Making Changes Somewhere, other than in text- books, is a model that is actually built right the first time and does not re- quire changing. Until I find it, I look for software that lets me learn and expand so that I can improve my models and then contract, simplify, and improve them even more. Only one package of the three, Plan80, seems to address this need directly. Microfinesse lets you make changes by saving single rows — a nuisance — but you can save the rows of a small model, grouping them into a larger structure to develop a new, improved version later. That's a lot of trouble, and I have a feeling that re- entering the data would be easier. Desktop Plan II suggests that I leave blank lines for subsequent changes. This point is well taken and would be enhanced if the program let me renumber lines and move blocks of code around in the structure of the model. Plan80 models, built by your own editor outside of Plan80, have a great deal of flexibility. Why the marketers haven't pushed this is beyond me. The ability to move the whole struc- ture of the model around is probably Plan80's best feature. Graphics As a fan of the ability of graphics to present the results of modeling, I looked forward to the graphics all three packages promised. I expected to be able to do the following: • select line, bar, scatter, or pie charts • mix line and bar charts • set the scale for both horizontal and vertical axes • set titles anywhere on the page • select up to five curves per graph • plot changes in earnings versus changes in sales or assets — a marginal income analysis Alas and alack, three promises, one delivery — and even that is not with- out severe limitations. The first Microfinesse graphics disk I received had a bad sector, so I had to wait for a replacement. Fortunate- ly, it was worth the wait. The litera- ture promised line or bar charts, pie charts, and a color slide show. Microfinesse's performance proved to be spectacular (see photo 1). Its op- tions include title slides, choice of col- ors, and center- or left-margin posi- tioning. In addition, the user controls the order in which the slides are presented (in forward or reverse order). The user sets the timing. All of these features are built into Microfinesse. Still, the x axis is limited to 24 values, too few for many of my needs, but possibly plen- ty for yours. Of course, being limited to one line on a chart at a time precludes many analyses and much power. But keyboard entry of graphic data provides such additional cap- abilities as adding an economic con- text to a sales projection. Desktop Plan II offers the second- best graphics of the three (see photo 2). I can get line or bar charts but not the mixture of the two that I find very useful. I can also save the picture to print with my Epson later — a vast im- provement over a pile of computer pages (you can print the graph direct- ly if you have a Silentype). A feature that would let the user set an initial configuration to print with his par- ticular equipment would be a wel- come addition. Autoscaling the axes is a real nuisance, and I hope that subsequent versions remove this restriction. My attempt to plot small values messed up the screen and hung up the system. Plan80's graphics capabilities leave a lot to be desired (see photo 3). The scaling on the x (horizontal) and y (vertical) axes is crude and only nominally under my control. I found the commands difficult to use because the options are paged "underneath" the class of the option (the type of graph — bar, two bars, scatter, cumulative — is visible for only an ins- tant and then disappears behind the word "TYPE" again). The simplistic structure of the graph renders it useless to me. However, highlighting the data points on the screen is a nice touch. The literature asserts that the ability to get a hard copy of the graph is in the works, and such a feature would be welcome — if I thought the basic graphics routines were worth printing. The graphics routines need improvement; revamped parameter handling and more observations and curves would make the package useful. If I were the author of these routines, I'd scrap them. While the graphics capabilities of the Microfinesse package approached my expectations, the others were a source of great disappointment to me. October 1982 © BYTE Publications lnc 33 Photo 3: An example of Plan80 graphics. Certainly microcomputers have greater graphics potential than these packages indicate. Built-in Functions The functions that are built into the software enable someone who doesn't know what a net present value is, for example, to calculate one to more decimal places than common sense dictates. I have mixed emotions about features such as this. If I don't under- stand the power (and assumptions) of a function, I hope that I have the good sense to read about the assump- tions and limitations associated with it. It's always a good idea to avoid us- ing tools you don't understand. Desktop Plan II, to my mind, has the most limited and inconvenient functions of the three packages (table 3), but its authors do let you write a number of custom rules. It didn't take me long to discover that the custom- rule feature was by far the best for most of my models, while I ignored most of the built-in rules. The stan- dard row-and-column manipulations seemed very clumsy to use. The data-generation functions Desktop Plan II provides for forecast- ing are adequate for simple purposes, but not very powerful. Plan80 and Microfinesse solve the problem by making the user write the whole model off-line, but provide a number of special functions keyed to financial modeling. The depreciation options, most ful- ly laid out in Plan80 and more modestly in Microfinesse, are a worthwhile addition. I am, however, disappointed not to find routines for funding debt or to enable a multi- variate regression analysis of historical data for use in establishing a basis for the projection of the future of an ongoing business. Because all three packages tout their ability to deal with monthly and quarterly data, I expected to see some statistical routines for dealing with such data. No such luck. Moving averages, more advanced seasonal adjustment, exponential smoothing, and so on are possible but may be dif- ficult for the authors to include. The absence of such routines is a real loss. I wasn't really surprised to find multivariate regression routines miss- ing, but I do believe statistical routines have a place in any modeling package. The ability to move smoothly from historical data through data genera- tion is somewhat cumbersome in all three packages. Examples that com- bine historical and projected sections, such as those that show calculated historical growth rates and sales pro- jections derived from assumed growth rates, would display a better understanding of the user's needs. The presentation of an example along these lines might result in the development of more powerful second-generation offerings. The allocation rules Microfinesse provides are more powerful than they seem and offer the potential to take a top-down approach, allocating the shortfall in a profit plan to individual products and salespeople, for in- stance. Wow! In general, however, a model's basic structure is the simplest part; count on doing that yourself. The functions provided by Plan80 and Microfinesse will help you around a few of the curves, but you must do anything fancy off-line, with the results plugged back into these struc- tures. Examples and Reports Examples of how a software package works let us see the cap- abilities of the program and learn some tricks as well. These examples are particularly helpful because they may give us insight into the structure of a model that the authors intended and for which they developed their programs. A sample of each of the reports hints at the reporting flexibili- ty more than any "tricks" the authors might share with us. Sophisticated reports are distin- guished by a number of little touches, including centered titles and headings, footnotes, the time and date stamped on each page, good pagination, true-column underlines (rather than a bunch of dashes that use up a line), commas to indicate thousands, a leading "$" at the head of a column, and a variety of ways to express "zero" (0, blank, — ) and negatives ( — , brackets ) and so on. In the modeling business, two features are absolutely required: the stamp of the date and time on each page, and the ability to dump the equations (similarly date- and time-stamped) easily. Modeling involves many dif- ferent alternatives ("What if . . . "), and without the time and date stamped, you might forget which set of reports came from which set of assumptions or calculation rules. 34 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Desktop Micro- Plan II Plan80 finesse Arithmetic and add, sum add, sum add, sum trigonometric subtract subtract subtract multiply multiply multiply divide divide divide percent percent percent maximum minimum lookup absolute absolute absolute natural and natural and natural and common logs common logs common logs exponential exponential exponential sin, cos, sin, cos, sin, cos, tan, etc. tan, etc. tan, etc. square root square root square root integer integer integer fraction Depreciation straight-line straight-line decl. balance decl. balance sum of year's digits decl. bal.- ctr lino oil. Mile Time phasing time shift lag lag Investment analysis net present net present value value IRR IRR Forecast generation interpolation: arithmetic geometric growth: growth: simple simple compound aiiocauon. equal pro-rata Table 3: A summary of built-in functions. Desktop Plan II provides a single, but straightforward, example of a program (listing 1). The reports are date-stamped but not time-stamped. The overall look of the report is state- of-the-art for a mainframe about 10 years ago. The equation list (listing 2) will take some getting used to. As for custom rules, you're on your own; the list gives the calculation rules only, which I find very cumbersome. The single example provided with Microfinesse offers little clue to the power of the program(s). I could have used about five more examples show- ing how to take advantage of the ef- fort expended in the development of this product. The quality of the reports, too, leaves a great deal to be desired (listing 3). The report is date- stamped, but the rest of it looks as if it were designed by engineers for October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc 35 engineers (as an engineer as well as a manager, I admit to being oversensi- tive to the cosmetics of a good presen- tation). Looks like scissors and rub- ber cement are the solution to pagina- tion. Equation lists are similarly straightforward (listing 4), without the cosmetic care that went into the graphics. I hope the authors will con- sider adding to the reporting section the little things that can mean so much to help communicate the results of the analysis, such as commas to in- dicate thousands. Plan80, which offers seven pro- gram examples, has moved in this direction, but the examples are on one side of a page while the rules are on the back side (thank goodness for photocopiers). Plan80 reports are simple and utilitarian (listing 5). For equation lists, I am left to the quality of the editor I was forced to bring to the party. Some tricks in putting data and row headings into the report ob- viously exist. But several hours with the manual have yet to reveal some important ones. Sensitivity Analyses After you develop the first few sim- ple models, you may wonder, "What will happen to profits (and borrow- ing) if the sales growth is reduced?" Or "How much can sales fall and the business still break even?" The way you develop the model is one major key to the ability to do such analyses. An original model design that in- cludes many ties between variables provides this capability. Only Micro- finesse, however, offers a specific function to aid in this kind of work. If you are skilled in modeling, you Listing 1: A report produced by Desktop Plan II. The look is reminiscent of that available on mainframes about 10 years ago. time stamp (7:41 p.m.) had to be done by hand. TOPNOTCH MANUFACTURING COMPANY FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS FISCAL 19— TOPNOTCH JUNE 8 1982 - 7:41PM ASSUMPTIONS PRIOR YEARS MONTHLY SALES (5) MONTHLY GROWTH RATE <7.) <6> RETURNS & ALLOWANCES (7. SALES) (7) VARIABLE SALES COST (7. SALES) (8) MATERIAL COST (7. SALES) <* -DIGIT LTD.- *) <* THIS MODEL PRODUCES THE FOLLOWING REPORTS : CONTRIBUTION SUMMARIES -PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNTS -BALANCE SHEETS -CASH FLOW STATEMENTS DIGIT LTD. PRODUCES TWO PRODUCTS. CALCULATORS AND DIGITAL WATCHES. THE TIME HORIZON IS TWO YEARS AND THE PERIODS ARE QUARTERS. *) PROCEDURE CALCULATE; BEGIN WITH FINESSE-- DO BEGIN <* CALCULATERS *) CSALVAL: =CSALVOL*CUPRICEj CDCOST: =CSALVOL*CUCOST; CCONT: =CSALVAL-CDCOST; CCPRQPS:=CCONT/CSALVAL*100; <* DIGITAL WATCHES *) DSALVAL : =DSALVOL *DUPR I CE 5 DDCOST: =DSALVOL*DUCOST; DCONT : =DSALVAL-DDCOST ; DCPROPS: =DCONT/DSALVAL* 100; <* CONTRIBUTION SUMMARY *> SALES: =CSALVAL+DSALVALs DCOSTSa =CDCOST+DDCOST; CONT : -SALES --DCOSTS 5 CPROPS : =CONT/SALES* 1 00 ; Desktop M i c ro- Plan II Plan80 finesse Getting started *** * * *■ Model size * * * * * * * Structure * * * * * * * * Making changes * * * * * * * Graphics * * * * * Built-in functions * * * * *** Examples and reports *** * * * * * Sensitivity Analyses * * * * * Consolidation * * ** * * Errors *** * * * * * fair ** good *** excellent Table 4: A summary of the re lative strengths of the three software packages in terms of several key characteristics. could do such analyses with the other two packages, but Microfinesse makes this degree of sophistication a bit more automated and easy to use— a valuable plus for even the most skilled analyst. Consolidation The ability to consolidate the results of a number of small businesses is one of the main reasons for using one of these packages. With this consolidation capability, you are to a large extent freed of the limita- tions of handling everything within, for example, 48K bytes of memory. You can bring in one business at a time without overloading the memory, consolidating as you go. You can also build models for one product at a time, consolidating several to develop the structure of a product line. At this point you could add the common costs of the product line, avoiding the distortions of the allocation of common costs. Similar- ly, you can consolidate the product lines into small businesses, divisions, and large corporations. A mainframe can handle this easily, but the microcomputer is constrained by its core size and the size of the disk it uses for storage (fortunately, these limitations are rapidly vanishing). Caution: consolidations with each of these packages can take some time, substantially more than you may be used to with a large computer. Errors If you make an error in the midst of model development or execution, the clarity of the error messages is very important. Having suffered through IBM manuals ("probable program- mer error") at 2 in the morning, I look for error sections that are easy to find, complete, and useful in fixing the error. I instinctively bristle at unhelpful error-code lists. Microfinesse lists three types of er- rors (including "nondetected," prob- ably the worst) and refers me to the Apple Pascal Language Reference Manual. May the f\eas ot a thousand camels infest those who take that cop- out. Obviously the authors did it because going into Pascal language errors is beyond their concerns in 38 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Listing 5: Plan80 reports are simple and utilitarian. PLAN80 EXAMPLE #4 Reinvestment of Earnings Model Openi ng Balance 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 Income Statement Investment Income Interest Expense Admin Expense Depreci ati on 270 -81 -175 -14 271 -81 -20 -26 295 -90 -22 -21 •107 -23 -17 429 -129 -25 -12' Profit Before Tax Taxes 144 43 162 49 206 82 263 105 Net Income/Loss 101 1 1; = -—. z:z ^- 5K=== = 123 158 :™ — = Balance Sheet Assets Cash 1000 104 179 293 353 414 Investments 900 904 983 1 1 76 1429 Physical Assets 50 100 100 100 100 Accum Depreciation -14 -40 -62 - 79 -90 Total Assets 1000 1040 1 143 1314 1551 1852 = = = 3=Z= = = = = =3 X= = = = :3J = = = = = = = = = = Balance Sheet - Liabilities Debt 500 540 542 600 714 857 Equity 500 500 600 714 837 995 Total Liabilities 1000 1040 1143 1314 1551 1852 Assumpt i oris New Physical Assets Yeild on Investment Cost for Debt. Tax Bracket #1 Tax Bracket #2 Tax Bracket #3 Tax Rate #1 Tax Rate #2 Tax Rate #3 50 0 . 300 0. 150 99 199 0 . 200 0 . 300 0.400 50 0 . 300 0. 150 99 199 0.200 0. 300 0.400 0. 300 0. 150 99 199 0. 200 0 . 300 0.400 <_> . 300 0 . 1 50 99 199 0 . 200 0. 300 0.400 0 . 3U<-> 0. 150 99 199 0. 200 0. 300 0.400 model building. Consequently, you must be aware that when you run Microfinesse you have to carry that extra baggage. And in the case of my favorite, "System I/O Error," I must say I no longer care what a "S#0 P#57 I#158" is. Plan80 has 36 error codes along with some common-sense advice that includes instructions on how to read and react to the error-handling routines — not bad! Desktop Plan II includes a section on errors, but no index. Errors in the custom rules (for calculations) refer you to the Apple manuals, which are preferable to the old IBM manuals I use as a standard. This is no big prob- lem, but be prepared to balance your worksheets, the program manual, and the Apple manuals on your lap at once. Conclusion If you don't have any financial training, these packages are a waste of money because they don't provide you with enough crutches to help. If you can find a corner computer store that stocks and can explain these, you'll be lucky. Generally, you have to buy this sort of package on faith. However, if you have a fair amount of financial training, you can't go far wrong with any of these packages. For a professional, the payback on your investment can be measured in a few weeks based on my experience. It will take you a day to build the first model, and in a week or so you should be fairly comfortable with any of the packages. Although no one package is clearly superior to the others, each has something for someone (see table 4). All are cost- effective tools. The power of the microcomputer, with packages such as these, is challenging those who supply time- sharing modeling for business use. But don't expect such niceties as leading dollar signs, commas between the thousands, true underlining, and so on. Do expect a decent, profes- sional product, more akin to a Model A than either a Model T (build-your- own Visicalc) or a Rolls-Royce (a la IFPS, SIMPLAN, XSIM, et al.). And remember: a model is only as good as the skill of the modeler. ■ October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc 39 Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar Build the Microvox Text-to~Speech Synthesizer Part 2: Software Rules for conversion of English plain text to phonemes govern the operation of this SC-OlA-based device. This is the second of two articles on the design and construction of an ad- vanced text-to-speech voice syn- thesizer that can be used as a peripheral device in most small com- puter systems. Its features (listed in table 1) include phoneme-based speech synthesis, 64 inflection levels, software handshaking, and the ability to produce music and sound effects. In addition, the synthesizer recog- nizes and echoes the entire printable ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) character set, plus the control characters Return, Linefeed, Escape, and Backspace. The voice synthesizer is sold under two trade names: Microvox (from The Micromint Inc.) and Intex-Talker (from Intex Micro Systems Corpora- tion). I'll call it the Microvox in this article. Special thanks to Dianna Visek for her work on the text-to-speech algorithm. Votrax is a trademark of Federal Screw Works. Copyright © 1 982 by Steven A. Garcia. All rights reserved. Steve Ciarcia POB 582 Glastonbury, CT 06033 The hardware of the Microvox, described in detail last month and shown in photo 1, consists of a general-purpose 6502-based micro- computer with a voice-synthesizer output section. This month, I will concentrate on how text-to-speech algorithms work in general and on how the Microvox's program operates. The Votrax SC-01A chip allows the construction of English words and phrases from phonemes. Text-to-Speech Conversion By the end of the first or second grade, most people have the ability to convert written text in their native language into speech. This conver- sion has three basic steps: 1. the visual recognition of the characters in the printed text 2. the mental conversion of these characters into the appropriate commands to the mouth, tongue, larynx, and lungs 3. movement of the body parts to make the sounds We shall now look at how a computer can simulate the second and third of these tasks. The specific commands necessary to produce synthetic speech vary ac- cording to which speech synthesizer is being used. The Votrax SC-01A chip used in the Microvox is designed to allow the construction of English words and phrases from the pho- nemes (basic speech sounds) of the English language. (The phonemes used in the Votrax system are listed in table 2 on page 42.) Simulation of step 2 consists of converting a se- quence of known characters into commands to voice-synthesis cir- cuitry, which simulates the vocai cords and mouth. The basic task of the control pro- gram in the Microvox is to convert a string of characters making up an English-language phrase into the cor- responding string of phonemes. In ad- dition, as will be discussed, the com- 40 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Photo 1: An assembled Microvox speech synthesizer, which can pronounce texts consisting of English words from their representa- tion as ASCII characters according to fixed pronunciation rules. The Microvox contains a general-purpose 6502-based microcom- puter programmed to control the Votrax-SC-OlA-based speech-synthesis circuitry. puter should try to produce the ap- propriate intonation for each phoneme. Phrases can be converted to phonemes in three ways: 1. translating whole words to phonemes by looking the words up in a table, with one table entry for each word 2. breaking words into syntactically significant groups of letters (called morphs) and looking up the phonemes corresponding to each group of letters 3. applying a set of rules to letter pat- terns and individual letters in words Let's examine these in order. Whole-Word Lookup Possessing the appropriate copy- right license, you could store a stan- dard pronouncing dictionary, such as A Pronouncing Dictionary of Ameri- can English by Kenyon and Knott (reference 6), in computer memory. The input text could then be broken into its constituent words. After this, each word could be looked up in the dictionary and replaced with its cor- responding pronunciation. This sim- ple lookup program would contain no more than 1000 bytes. There are, however, two disadvan- tages with this method. First, because a lot of high-speed, randomly accessi- ble storage would be needed to store a sufficiently large vocabulary, search- ing the list for each word might take too much run time. Second, whole- word lookup fails completely when given a word not in the dictionary; an unusual word, a newly coined term, or a proper name could cause failure. For the next few years anyway, whole-word lookup seems unpromis- ing for most applications. Morph Analysis and Lookup Professor Jonathan Allen of the Massachusetts Institute of Technolo- gy has developed a pronouncing system, MITALK-79, that is based upon analysis of morphs, the letter representations of constituent parts of words. In a recent article (see reference 1), he points out that a dic- tionary of 8000 morphs is sufficient to deal with more than 95 percent of the words in typical texts. Also, because new morphs are seldom formed, the morph dictionary rarely needs up- dating. In the few cases where the 1. Phoneme-based speech synthesis 2. 6502 control microprocessor 3. 64 crystal-controlled inflection levels 4. 700-character buffer (optionally ex- pandable to 2.7k characters) 5. 6K-byte plain-text-to-phoneme algorithm 6. Full ASCII printable-character-set recognition and echo, plus four control codes 7. Adjustable data rates (150 to 9600 bits per second) 8. RS-232C and parallel input inter- faces 9. Phoneme access modes 10. Serial X-on/X-off software hand- shaking 11. User-expandable memory 12. 1-watt audio amplifier with volume control 13. On-board power supply 14. Music and sound effects Table 1: Major characteristics of the Microvox text-to-speech synthesizer (and of its alter ego, the Intex-Talker) . October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc 41 ecimal Phoneme Duration Example Word leme Symbol (ms) Code 00 EH3 59 jacket 01 EH2 71 enlist 02 EH1 121 heavy 03 PAO 47 no sound 04 DT 47 buffer 05 A2 71 make 06 A1 103 pa/I 07 ZH 90 pleasure 08 AH2 71 honest 09 13 55 inhib/t OA 12 80 /nhibit OB 11 121 inh/bit OC M 103 mat OD N 80 sun OE B 71 bag OF V 71 van 10 CH 71 ch\p 11 SH 121 shop 12 Z 71 zoo 13 AW1 146 lawful 14 NG 121 thing 15 AH1 146 father 16 001 103 looking 17 00 185 book 18 L 103 /and 19 K 80 trick 1A J 47 judge 1B H 71 hello 10 G 71 get 1D F 103 fast 1E D 55 paid 1F S 90 pass 20 A 185 tame 21 AY 65 jade 22 Y1 80 yard 23 UH3 47 miss/on 24 AH 250 mop 25 P 103 past 26 0 185 cold 27 I 185 p/n 28 U 185 move 29 Y 103 any 2A T 71 fao 2B R 90 red 2C E 185 meet 2D W 80 win 2E AE 185 dad 2F AE1 103 after 30 AW2 90 salty 31 UH2 71 about 32 UH1 103 uncle 33 UH 185 cup 34 02 80 bold 35 01 121 aboard 36 IU 59 you 37 U1 90 June 38 THV 80 the 39 TH 71 th\n 3A ER 146 bird 3B EH 185 ready 3C E1 121 be 3D AW 250 call 3E PA1 185 no sound 3F STOP 47 no sound Note: T must precede CH to produce "CH" sound. D must precede J to produce "J" sound. Table 2: The 64 Votrax SC-01A phonemes defined for the English language. Most of these correspond to speech sounds, but two produce silence and one causes speech synthesis to stop. morph approach fails, MITALK-79 uses the letter-to-phoneme approach described later. Dr. Allen's system offers the best- quality output of any currently avail- able text-to-speech system. Its pro- cessing and memory demands, how- ever, stretch the limits of the present generation of microcomputers. If you allow 5 bytes for each morph and 5 bytes for its pronunciation, the morph dictionary will occupy 80,000 bytes. The algorithm for finding morphs considers all possible ways in which each word can be decomposed. Thus, it requires too much processing power to achieve real-time perfor- mance with a typical 8-bit micropro- cessor. Using a 16-bit computer would, of course, increase through- put, but the total cost of the system would be significantly higher. Letter-to-Phoneme Rules Letter-to-phoneme rules are a necessary supplement to word or morph lookup because there will in- evitably be words or morphs not found in the system's dictionary. By eliminating or at least greatly reduc- ing the size of word and morph dic- tionaries, and relying mainly on letter-to-phoneme rules, it is possible to construct a text-to-speech program that will easily run in real time on an 8-bit microprocessor and will provide satisfactory performance with 4K to 8K bytes of memory. Probably the best of the published rule-based text-to-speech algorithms is that developed by a team at the Naval Research Laboratory (referred to as NRL; see reference 5). The text- to-speech algorithm embodied in the software of the Microvox is derived from the NRL algorithm, which com- bines word, morph, and letter rules in a single table of about 400 rules. This table contains subtables for each let- ter of the alphabet. A minimum set of rules for English text-to-speech conversion is shown in table 3 on page 48. With these rules, it should be possible to achieve intelligi- ble, albeit less than perfect, speech. Each rule in table 3 supplies a pro- nunciation for the character string enclosed in parentheses; each paren- thetic string may also have a right 42 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Disk Storage Needn't Double The Cost Of fi» if ^ TTT*™ Expanding disk storage on your Apple III can be an expensive proposition. But Micro-Sci has a better proposition for you, because our disk drives for the Apple III give you greater capacity and performance for every dollar spent. And no compatibility problems. The A3 is a direct replacement for Disk III drives, and the 70-track A73 and 140-track A143 are supplied with a driver that is easily added to the SOS driver module, affording extra storage and fast seek rates for all of the programs that run under that operating system. "Registered Trademark or Apple Computers. Cupertino. California. All three are the same 5V4" size as your built-in drive and use the same diskettes. They also use your Apple Ill's controller and ju-sa MICRO-SCI power, saving an expansion slot and no AC power cord. And they can be mixed in any combination on the daisy-chain. At572 KBytes, the Al 43 makes a truly viable backup device for the ProFile Hard Disk. At 286 KBytes, the A73 gives you a lot more capacity than a Disk III drive. The A3 offers identical capacity — and is an excellent choice for second drive compatibility in the Apple 1 1 emulation mode. So see your Micro-Sci dealer today. He'll show you how to up your Apple Ill's performance the affordable way. Circle 249 on inquiry card. Micro-Sci is a Division of Standun Controls. Inc. 21 58 SOUTH HATHAWAY STREET • SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA 92705 • 714/662-2801 International Dealer Inquiries.... IMC International Markets Corp. 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RO 1995 00 NEC SPINWRITER 7710 S. RO 2545.00 NEC SPINWRITER 7730 P. RO 2545.00 NEC SPINWRITER 7700 D SELLUM....2795.00 NEC SPINWRITER 3500 SELLUM 2295 00 OKIDATA MICROLINE 80 389.00 OKIDATA MICROLINE 82A 469.00 OKIDATA MICROLINE 83A 720.00 OKIDATA MICROLINE 84 1199 00 OKIGRAPH 82 59.00 OKIGRAPH 83 59.00 GRAPH PROMS 82 & 83 79.00 CORVUS FOR S-100, APPLE OR TRS-80 MOD I, III Controller, Case/P S , Operating System, A & T. 5 MEGABYTES 3245.00 10 MEGABYTES 4645.00 20 MEGABYTES 5545.00 MIRROR BACK-UP 725.00 APPLE HARDWARE SUPER CLOCK II 129.00 VERSA WRITER DIGITIZER 259.00 ABT APPLE KEYPAD 119.00 SOFTCARD PREMIUM SYSTEM 579.00 MICROSOFT Z-80 SOFTCARD 260.00 MICROSOFT RAMCARD 125.00 VIDEX 80x24 VIDEO CARD 260.00 VIDEX KEYBOARD ENHANCER II 129.00 VIDEX ENHANCER REV 0-6 99.00 M & R SUPERTERM 80x24 VIDEO BD..315.00 SSM AIO BOARD (INTERFACE) A & T... 165. 00 SSM AIO BOARD (INTERFACE) KIT 135.00 APPLE COOLING FAN 44.95 T/G JOYSTICK 44.95 T/G PADDLE 29.95 T/G SELECT-A-PORT 54.95 VERSA E-Z PORT 21.95 MICRO SCI A2 W/CONTROLLER 510.00 MICRO SCI A2 W/0 CONTROLLER 419.00 MICRO SCI A40 W/CONTROLLER 479.00 MICRO SCI A40 W/O CONTROLLER 409.00 MICRO SCI A70 W/CONTROLLER 629.00 MICRO SCI A70 W/0 CONTROLLER 549.00 THE MILL-PASCAL SPEED UP 270.00 PROMETHEUS VERSACARD 180 00 LAZAR LOWER CASE + 59.00 MICROBUFFER 111 16K W/GRAPHICS...259.00 MICROBUFFER lit 32K W/GRAPHICS. .299 00 SUPERFAN II 62.00 RANA CONTROLLER 114.00 RANA DRIVES 360.00 MONITORS NEC 12" GREEN MONITOR 179.00 NEC 12" COLOR MONITOR 399.00 SANYO 12" MONITOR (B & W) 249.00 SANYO 12" MONITOR (GREEN) 269 00 SANYO 13" COLOR MONITOR 469.00 ZENITH 12" HI RES GREEN MONITOR. 124. 00 AMDEK COLOR 1 389.00 AMDEK RGB COLOR II 859.00 AMDEK RGB INTERFACE 169.00 COMREX 12" GREEN MONITOR 165.00 MOUNTAIN HARDWARE CPS MULTIFUNCTION BOARD 199.00 ROMPLUS W/ KEYBOARD FILTER 179.00 ROMPLUS W/0 KEYBOARD FILTER . .130.00 KEYBOARD FILTER ROM 49.00 COPYROM 49.00 MUSIC SYSTEM 369.00 ROMWRITER 149.00 APPLE CLOCK 252 00 A/D + O/A 299 00 EXPANSION CHASSIS 625.00 RAMPLUS 32K 149.00 CALIF. COMPUTER SYSTEMS S-100 BOARDS 2200A MAINFRAME 459 00 2065C 64K DYNAMIC RAM 539.00 2422 FLOPPY DISK CONT. & CP/M' 359 00 2710 FOUR SERIAL I/O 279.00 2718 TWO-P/TWO-S I/O 269.00 2720 FOUR PARALLEL I/O 199.00 2810 Z-80 CPU 259 00 APPLE BOARDS 7710A ASYNCHRONOUS S INTERFACE149 00 7712A SYNCHRONOUS S. INTERFACE 159 00 742A CALENDER CLOCK 99.00 7728A CENTRONICS INTERFACE 105.00 VISTA COMPUTER CO. APPLE VISION 80-80 COL CARD 329.00 APPLE 8" DISK DRIVE CONTROLLER. 549 00 MODEMS NOVATION CAT ACOUSTICS MODEM. .135.00 NOVATION D-CAT DIRECT CONNECT .156.00 NOVATION AUTO-CAT AUTO ANS 219.00 NOVATION APPLE-CAT 310.00 UDS 103 LP DIRECT CONNECT 175.00 UDS 103 JLP AUTO ANS 209.00 HAYES MICROMODEM II (APPLE) 289.00 HAYES 100 MODEM (S-100) 325.00 HAYES SMART MODEM (300 BAUD) ...227.00 HAYES SMART MODEM (1200 BAUD). 540.00 HAYES CHRONOGRAPH 199.00 LEXICON LEX-11 MODEM 109.00 TERMINALS TELEVIDEO 910 639 00 TELEVIDEO 912C 745.00 TELEVIDEO 920C 830 00 TELEVIDEO 950C 995.00 ADOS-VIEWPOINT 599.00 IBM HARDWARE SEATTLE 64K RAM + 370.00 QUADBOARD 64K 464.00 64K MEMORY UPGRADE 80.00 Call lor additional prices on hardware 44 BYTE October 1982 TRS-80 MOD I HARDWARE PERCOM DATA SEPARATOR 27.00 PERCOM DOUBLER I! 159 00 TANDON 80 TRK DISC DRIVE HI P/S .345.00 TANDON 40 TRK DISK DRIVE W/ P/S. 289.00 LNW DOUBLER W/DOSPLUS 3.3 138 00 LNW 5/8 DOUBLER W/DOSPLUS 171 00 MOD III DRIVE KIT 615 00 MORROW DESIGNS FLOPPY DISK SYSTEMS Controller, P S . 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Prices quoted are for stock on hand and are subject to change without notice. 31245 LA BAYA DRIVE, WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIFORNIA 91362 CP/M is a reg. trademark ol Digital Research Circle 11 on Inquiry card. ■ Requires Z-80 Soltcard tReg trademark of Micro Pro International Corp trademark ol Practical Peripherals. Inc BYTE October 1982 45 4> mm* "SED" - LETTERS TO BE MATCHED IN INPUT STRING "( " - LEFT CONTEXT SEPARATOR LEFT CONTEXT "#"- RESULTS IN CALL TO SUBROUTINE TO MATCH ONE OR MORE VOWELS ")" -RIGHT CONTEXT SEPARATOR - RIGHT CONTEXT TERMINATOR • PHONEME CODE SEPARATOR " ;" - RULE TERMINATOR Z", "D" - PHONEME CODES RIGHT CONTEXT "!" - RESULTS IN CALL TO SUBROUTINE TO MATCH A NONALPHABETIC CHARACTER Figure 1: Interpretation of the format of the text-to-phoneme rules of table 3, on the next page. Q startJ DO ALL CHARACTERS WITHIN PARENTHESES MATCH CORRESPONDING CHARACTERS IN ENGLISH | STRING? DOES RULE FOR LEFT I CONTEXT MATCH CORRESPONDING CHARACTERS IN ENGLISH STRING? DOES RULE FOR RIGHT | CONTEXT MATCH CORRESPONDING CHARACTERS IN ENGLISH STRING? APPEND PHONEME COOES FROM RULE TO PHONEME BUFFER LOOK FOR NEXT UNMATCHED CHARACTER IN ENGLISH STRING HAVE WE FINISHED 1 THE STRING? ^ DONE ^ Figure 2: Flowchart of the text-to-speech algorithm used by the Microvox, which employs the rules of table 3. < Circle 420 on inquiry card. T\Z\y OOnn multi-purpose I \ZW C.CXJ\J OSCILLOSCOPES THE PERFORMANCE/ PRICE STANDARD Now! A 60 MHz Tektronix scope built for your bench. In 30 years of Tektronix oscil- loscope leadership, no other scopes have recorded the immediate popular appeal of the Tek 2200 Series. The Tek 2213 and 2215 are unapproached for the performance and reliability they offer at a surprisingly affordable price. There's no compromise with Tektronix quality: The low cost is the result of a new design concept that cut mechanical parts by 65%. Cut cabling by 90%. Virtually eliminated board electrical connectors. And obviated the usual cooling fan. Yet performance is written all over the front panels. There's the band- width for digital and analog circuits. The sensitivity for low signal mea- surements. The sweep speeds for fast logic families. And delayed sweep for fast, accurate timing measurements. The cost: $1100 for the 2213*. $1400 for the dual time base 2215. You can order, or obtain more information, through the Tektronix National Marketing Center, where technical personnel can answer your questions and expedite delivery. Your direct order includes probes, operating manuals, 15- day return policy and full Tektronix warranty. For a demonstration stop by your local Tektronix Sales Office. ORDER TOLL FREE 1-800-426-2200 Ask for Department J0338 In the state of Washington, Call (206) 253-5353 collect. 'Price F.O B Beaverton. OR Tektronix COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE Copyright© 1982 Tektronix, Inc All rights reserved. 135 ( (A)! = UH2; (AR) = AH1.R; #:(AL)I =UH,L; (AL)$ = AW1,UH3,L; (A) = AE1; B (B) = B; (CH) = T,CH; (C)+ =S; (C)=K; J K L D (D)=D; M ' #:(E)! = ; N !:(E)! = E1; #:(E)D! =; E (ER)=ER; #:(E)S!=; 0 I (EE)=E; (EA) = E; (E)=EH1 P F (F)=F; Q G (G)=G; R H f(H)#=H; ((H)=; !(IN)=I1,N; (!)$ + :#= I; (l)$+ = AH2,I2; (0=11; (J)=D,J; (K)=K; (L)L=; (L)=L; (M) = M; (NG)= NG; (N)=N; (OF)! = UH2.V; (OR) = AW,R; l(ON)=UH2,N; (P) = P; (QU)=K,W; (Q) = K; (R)=R; V W X Y ( (SH) = SH; #(SED)!=Z,D; (S)S = ; •(S) = Z; I (S) = S; !(THE)! =THV,UH2; (TO)! =T,IU,Ut; (THAT)! =THV,AE,T; (TH) = TH; (TI)0 = SH; t (T) = T; (U)$$! = UH1; (U) = Y1,IU,U1; (V) = V; !(WAS)! =W,AH1,Z; (W) = W; (X)=K,S; #:$(Y)! =2E1; (Y) = 311; Z (Z) = Z; ( )=PA0; Table 3: A minimum set of text-to-phoneme rules for the English language, as used by the Microvox text-to-speech synthesizer. These rules are derived from an algorithm developed at the Naval Research Laboratory. The rule format is inter- preted in figure 1 on page 46, and special symbols used in the rules are listed in table 4. Symbol Function in Rule String ! Causes call to subroutine that attempts to match any nonalphabetic character in English input string. 11 match fails, reports failure. If match succeeds, moves rule-string pointer forward by one character in rule and moves input-string pointer forward by one character in English string. § Causes call to subroutine that attempts to match one or more vowels (A, E, I, O, U, or Y). If match fails, reports failure. If match succeeds, moves rule pointer forward by one character in rules and moves string pointer forward by number of vowels matched in English input string. : Causes call to subroutine that attempts to match zero or more consonants. Match always succeeds. Moves rule pointer by one character in rules and moves string pointer by number of consonants matched in English input string. + Causes call to subroutine that attempts to match a front vowel (E, I, or Y). If match fails, reports failure. If match succeeds, moves rule pointer by one character in rules and moves string pointer by one character in English input string. $ Causes call to subroutine that attempts to match one consonant. If match fails, reports failure. If match succeeds, moves rule pointer one character in rules and moves string pointer one character in English input string. Causes call to subroutine that attempts to match a voiced consonant (B, D, G, J, L, M, N, R, V, W, or Z). If match fails, reports failure. If match succeeds, moves rule pointer one character in rules and moves string pointer one character in English input string. Table 4: Special symbols used by the text-to-phoneme rules. When the program en- counters one of these symbols in a rule, a special subroutine is called to match pat- terns of characters in context. context and a left context, as shown in figure 1 on page 46. The algorithm for interpreting the rule expressions is as follows. The processor recognizes the first character of the input plain-English text string; it skips down the list to the first applicable rule (one that con- tains the character in question as the first character in the parenthetic string) and attempts to match the rule's parenthetic string to the input text. If there is no match, the process is repeated with the next rule ap- plicable for the letter. If there is a match on the parenthetic string, an attempt is made to match first the left and then the right context. If either context match fails, the processor proceeds to the next rule. The final rule for each letter contains a paren- thetic string of just the letter with no left or right context, thus guarantee- ing an eventual match for any letter in the input text. Once a match has been achieved, the phoneme codes in- voked by the rule (shown to the right of the equal sign in the rule expres- sion) are transferred to a phoneme buffer. Note that some rules invoke no phonemes. During the attempt to match a character string, the processor may encounter a special symbol (such as or "I") in the rule expression. In such a case, the symbol is looked up in a table in memory, and the cor- responding subroutine, one of several listed in table 4, is called. For in- stance, the symbol "$" calls a subrou- tine that tries to match any single consonant. After a successful match of one consonant, the rule pointer moves to the next character in the rule, and the input-string pointer moves to the next character in the in- put string. If the rule pointer en- counters a a similar matching subroutine for vowels is invoked. When a matching attempt of this type fails, the subroutine reports failure, and the processor skips to the next rule. How to Use the Algorithm The operation of the text-to-speech algorithm can best be illustrated by following the translation of a specific phrase into the Votrax phonemes 48 October 1982 © BYTE Publications lnc Alspa Makes the Fastest Floppy-based ^ Microcomputers in the Industry. . . and in the classroom, the hospital, the office 0 Ease of use, ALSPA utility programs make it happen. Durable, rugged metal chassis. Serviceable boards and assemblies use connectors. HERE IT IS! Fastest possible exe- cution speed, optimized I/O. Flexible, 3 RS-232, 1 parallel, and 1 Hard disk port standard. Mass Storage, floppies to 2.4 MBytes, hard disk to 44 MBytes Minimum size and weight, only 18 lbs. in Vz cu. ft. Professional, uses 8-inch drives. Maximum software availability with CP/M O.S. Inexpensive, computers start at $1995. 300 Harvey West Blvd. 95060 (408) 429-6000 GP/M is a trademark of Digital Research, Inc. Circle 13 on inquiry card. listed in table 2. Our example will be the phrase " the national debt " . Following the algorithm and its rules, matching uppercase and lower- case letters identically, we begin to find the pronunciation of this phrase by translating the initial blank to the short silent phoneme represented by the mnemonic PAO. Then the "t" of "the" leads us to the rules for the let- ter T. The first T rule's parenthetic string exactly matches "the", and the exclamation point ("I") symbols for right and left context match the spaces on each side of "the" in the English input text; therefore, we add the phoneme codes THV and UH2 to the list of phonemes to be spoken, which are stored in the phoneme buf- fer. The space after "the" in the English text becomes PAO. We then come to the "n" of "na- tional", which sends us to the rules for the letter N. Although matching fails for the "NG" rule, it succeeds for "N". We then add the phoneme N to the output buffer. Next, we proceed to the letter-A rules. The first A rule is not matched because the "a" in "na- tional" is not followed by a nonalpha- betic character, as demanded by the exclamation point. The next three rules also fail to match because "a" is not followed by "r" or "1". The final rule does match, and we add AE1 to the phoneme buffer. We now return to the T rules, matching "ti" with "o" as the right context and adding the phoneme SH to the buffer. We consult the O rules, matching "on" with "i" as the left con- text; we place the phonemes UH2 and N in the phoneme buffer. Now we are up to the second "a" in "national". We return to the rules for the letter A. The first rule fails because the letter we are trying to match is not followed by a nonalpha- betic character. The second rule fails because the second "a" in "national" is not followed by an "r". However, the third rule succeeds. The "al" in "national" matches the 'AL" in the rule. Checking the left context, moving from right to left, we first encounter a colon (":"), which means we must match zero or more consonants to the left of the "al". We match "n" and then proceed leftward to a number sign ("#"), which means we must match one or more vowels. This we do with "io". When we check the right context, we find that "al" is indeed followed by a nonalphabetic character, satisfying the rule's ex- clamation point. The rule thus suc- ceeds and we transfer UH and L to the phoneme buffer. Last, we translate " debt ", each character matching on its last rule. We end up with the following phonemes in the buffer: PAO, THV, UH2, PAO, N, AE1, SH, UH2, N, UH, L, PAO, D, EHl, B, T, and PAO. Except for the inclusion of the B phoneme for the normally silent "b" in "debt", this is a good translation. Only a much larger set of rules would contain a rule to handle the silent "b". If you have control over the input English text, you could change the spelling of "debt" to "det" and avoid the offending phoneme. Intonation Providing realistic intonation is much more difficult than choosing the correct phonemes. Most intona- tion patterns are not represented in English spelling. Achieving the prop- er intonation may require gram- matical parsing of a sentence or even knowing the writer's state of mind. Probably the best that can be done short of very detailed analysis is to use the algorithm developed by Bruce Sherwood (see reference 9), which in- volves raising the pitch on stressed syllables, raising it at the start of sentences and before commas, and lowering the pitch before the period at the end of a sentence. Before a question mark, the pitch is raised, unless the sentence begins with a question word (who, what, when, where, etc.), in which case it is lowered. Punctuation and Abbreviations Punctuation and abbreviations can also be converted into words and pro- nounced by the text-to-speech algo- rithm. A simple rule that works for many abbreviations is to pronounce the individual letters in an abbrevia- FEATURES • Typewriter operation with nothing to disconnect • io. 12 or 15 characters per inch switch selectable • Portable with carrying case • Entire interface mounted internally in the Olivetti Praxis 30 typewriter • Underlining • Cables available tor most computers • Service from Olivetti dealers • Centronics compatible parallel input • Built in self test • Cartridge ribbon • 2nd keyboard switch selectable. 125 NORTHVIEW RD., ITHACA, N.Y. 14850 (607) 272- 1 132 50 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 58 on inquiry card. WHEN WE ANNOUNCED THE COMMODORE 64 FOR $595, OUR COMPETITORS SAID WE COULDN'T DO IT. THAT'S BECAUSE THEYCOULDN'T DO IT. The reason is that, unlike our competitors, we make our own IC chips. Plus all the parts of the computer they go into. So Commodore can get more advanced computers to market sooner than anybody else. And we can get them there for a lot less money. WHAT PRICE POWER? For your $595,* the Commodore 64™ gives you a built-in user memory of 64K. This is hundreds of dollars less than computers of comparable power. Lest you think that the Commodore 64 is some stripped-down loss leader, a look at its available peripherals and interfaces will quickly convince you otherwise. SOFTWARE THAT WORKS HARD. The supply of software for the Commodore 64 will be extensive. And with the optional plug-in Z80 microprocessor, the Commodore 64 can accommodate the enormous amount of software available in CP/M? Add in the number of programs available in BASIC and you'll find that there are virtually no applications, from word processing to spread- sheets, that the Commodore 64 can't handle with the greatest of ease. PERIPHERALS WITH VISION. The Commodore 64 interfaces with all the peripherals you could want for total personal computing: disk drives, printers and a telephone modem that's about $100, including a free hour's' access to some of the more popular computer information services. Including Commodore's own Information Network for users. RUN YOUR BUSINESS BY DAY. SAVE THE EARTH BY NIGHT. At the end of a business day, the Commodore 64 can go into your briefcase and ride home with you for an evening's fun and games. Because of its superior video quality (320x200 pixel resolution, 16 available colors and 3D Sprite graphics), the Commodore 64 surpasses the best of the video game machines on the market. Yet, because it's such a powerful computer, it allows you to invent game programs that a game machine will never be able to play; as well as enjoy Commodore's own video game cartridges. ATTACK, DECAY, SUSTAIN, RELEASE. If you're a musicologist, you already know what an ADSR (attack, decay, sustain, release) envelope is. If you're not, you can learn this and much more about music with the Commodore 64's music synthesizing features. It's a full-scale compositional tool. Besides a programmable ADSR envelope generator, it has 3 voices (each with a 9-octave range) and 4 wave- forms for truly sophisticated composition and play- back—through your home audio system, if you * Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price: July 1. 1982. Disk drives and printers are not included in prices. The 64 's price may change without notice. CP/M " is a registered trademark of Digital Research, Inc. HE COMMODORE 64. ONLY $595. wish. It has sound quality you'll find only on separate, music-only synthesizers. And graphics and storage ability you won't find on any separate synthesizer. DON'T WAIT. The predictable effect of advanced technol- ogy is that it produces less expensive, more capable products the longer you wait. If you've been waiting for this to happen to personal computers, your wait is over. See the Commodore 64 soon at your local Commodore Computer dealer and compare it with the best the competition has to offer. You can bet that's what the competition will be doing. r Commodore Business Machines Personal Systems Division P.O. Box 500,Conshohocken, Pennsylvania 19428 Please send me more information on the Commodore 64™ Name. .Title. Company. Address City .State. Zip- _Phone_ L O commodore COMPUTER .,o] Circle 75 on inquiry card. (old signal character)X(new signal character) Code Function !A pronounce all punctuation ie pronounce by direct phoneme input !Dx set phrase-terminating delay, from x = 1 (0.1 second) to x = 8 (0.8 second) !D9 set mode for phrase termination only by return character !E each-letter pronunciation !F set flat (monotone) intonation !Hbr set handshaking busy b and ready r characters !l set automatically inflected intonation !K/ synchronize speech using character / as signal !L line-by-line pronunciation !M pronounce most punctuation IN play musical notes (see table 5b) !0 turns Microvox on-line !Px set intonation base pitch !Q turns Microvox off-line !Rx set intonation clock rate; x = 1 is lowest rate, x= 16 highest IS pronounce some (unusual) punctuation IT pronounce by text-to-speech algorithm !W whole text pronunciation IX/ changes command-code signal character to / Table 5a: A list of most of the control codes and sequences used by the Microvox, with their functions. Code Function opv play a note of time value v at pitch p in octave o op + v play a sharped note, otherwise same op-v play a flatted note, otherwise same as first code Rv observe musical rest of duration equal to time value v (o is a digit from 1 to 7; p is a letter from A to G; v is a number from 1 to 256) Table 5b: Control codes used by the Microvox in music mode. tion consisting entirely of consonants and to pronounce abbreviations con- taining vowels as words. This rule works well for the names of some computer companies, such as CDC and DEC. Unfortunately, it fails miserably for IBM. Operator Interaction The Microvox is a stand-alone in- telligent peripheral device that con- verts ASCII-character text into spoken English. The Microvox is at- tached to the source of ASCII text (a computer, terminal, or modem) through either a serial or parallel communication link. Operation of the Microvox is similar to that of a printer except that the output consists of sounds instead of black marks on paper. The Microvox has many selectable function options that make possible a high level of intelligibility in many different applications. These options are activated by device-control codes transmitted to the Microvox along with the text. In general, Microvox control codes are in the following form: \(letter)(option)(option) For example: ID3 Most of the control codes are listed in table 5. The exclamation point is a signal to the Microvox that a control code follows. If you wish, you can set it up to use any other character as the control -code signal. This is done by giving the following instruction: For example: !X$ which changes the control signal from an exclamation point to a dollar sign. From this state of affairs, the com- mand $X! will change the control signal from the dollar sign back to the exclama- tion point. Device-control codes can be embedded anywhere in the text transmission; they are not spoken. Device-Control: Handshaking If a standard parallel or an RS- 232C serial connection is used, the sending computer har dware can detect and examine the ACK (Ac- knowledge) or RTS (Ready to Send) signal to determine whether the Microvox is ready to receive a character. However, many popular microcomputers lack the hardware to detect the RTS handshaking signal. Furthermore, the RTS signal cannot be used for this purpose if the com- munication path includes a modem/ telephone link. In the Microvox, special software-handshaking signals, described below, are provided to con- trol the flow of input text. (In general, hard ware handshaking through RTS or ACK is preferable whenever possible, because it relieves the host computer's processor of the hand- shaking chore and allows use of higher data rates.) Software handshaking is activated by setting switch section 3 of DIP (dual-inline pin) switch SWl on the Microvox's circuit board to the closed position. (The open position allows hardware handshaking.) The par- ticular characters that the host com- puter should recognize may be selected by the command IHfbusy character)(ready character) For example: !H@# 52 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc 5000 IS The Desktop MaifFteme The Most Versatile Integrated System Available! — Without Compromise. From the crystal clear monitor with a true typist keyboard to the high performance switching power supply— an engineered solution— the 5000 IS system is designed with IEEE standard S100 Bus architecture, giving you the flexibility and compatibility expected of an industrial grade computer. Now you can have 1 MByte Floppies, 25 MByte Winchesters with ECC, extended RAM memory (beyond the basic 64K), various peripheral controllers, and best of all, the 5000 IS can serve as the host processor of a multi-user, multi- processing system. Up to four I/O processors may be resident in the 5000 IS, each with its own Z80 Micro- processor, 64K of memory and two Serial I/O Channels. With this flexibility you can configure the highest performance, lowest cost multi-processing system available. Memory parity— of course! Two year warranty— naturally! For complete information and specifications on the 5000 IS plus the location of your nearby IMS International dealer, call or write today! (714) 978-6966 or (702) 883-7611 2800 Lockheed Way Carson City NV 89701 Telex: 910-395-6051 INTERNATIONAL We Build Computers As If Your Business Depended On Them. See us at Fall COMDEX booth 1144 for more surprises! IMS INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTORS: Argentina Canada France India Korea Netherlands So. Africa Sweden United Kingdom Australia Chile Greece Israel Malaysia New Zealand Singapore Switzerland U.SA Austria Ecuador Hong Kong Italy Mexico Phillipines Spain United Arab Imerates West Germany Circle 190 on inquiry card. -boouiihe-bus- INDUSTRIAL QUALITY BOARDS FOR THE IEEE-696/S-100 BUS After receiving this command, the Microvox will send the at-sign char- acter to the computer when it is unable to receive more data; it will send the number sign to the computer when it is again ready to receive data. It is the responsibility of the host- computer programmer to write the software necessary to use software handshaking. Finally, it is possible to use the Microvox with no handshaking by simply invoking the software-hand- shaking mode and ignoring the hand- shaking transmissions. In this case, you must insert timing delays in the text-transmitting program so that data will not be sent to the Microvox faster than it can handle. Text Synchronization For many applications, it is impor- tant to synchronize the output speech with other outputs from the com- puter, such as text or graphics ap- pearing on the display screen. For in- stance, an instructional program may require placing a picture on the screen when certain speech output begins and placing a question mark on the screen when the speech ends. For syn- chronization, the following command may be used: ^(synchronization character) For example: !K#John!K%Marsha!K$ After receiving this text string, the Microvox will send a "§" back to the computer just before starting to say "John"; it will send a "%" to the com- puter just after saying "John" and just before starting to say "Marsha"; and it will send a "$" character to the screen just after saying "Marsha". None of these special synchronization characters will be spoken. It is the programmer's responsibility to use the incoming synchronization charac- ters to coordinate the screen display with the speech. Phrase Termination Many aspects of English pronun- ciation are controlled by the context in which a given letter or word is 54 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 140 on inquiry card. Circle 394 on inquiry card. GOOD NEWS Have you put aside buying a color monitor because it's too expensive? But, have you looked at the new TAXAN RGBvision color monitor? Would you be excited at a suggested retail price of $399.oo tor the RGBvision I. and $599 tor the RGBvision II? DO WE HAVE GOOD NEWS FOR YOU! For those low prices, you can have. S Full compatibility with Apple III and IBM PC without interface modules 3 Compatible with Apple II through the TAXAN "RGB-II" card 3 RGBvision I medium resolution ■ 380(H) lines a RGBvision II high resolution - 510(H) lines a Unlimited colors through linear amplifier video circuit and 16 colors tor Apple III and IBM PC 312-inch, 90° deflection CRT display Can you really afford to turn all that down without looking at the TAXAN RGBvision monitors? See your local dealer for a demonstration. TAXAN 12" green phosphor monitor, model KG12N. features an 800 line resolution at center. 2000 character display. TSK ELECTRONICS CORPORATION 1524 Highland Avenue Duarte, California 91010 A subsidiary of Kaga Denshi Apple II and III are trademarks ot Apple Computer, Inc. IBM PC is a trademark ot International Business Machines, Inc. spoken. For this reason, the Micro- vox can wait to receive a complete phrase before translating from text to speech. If you don't specify other- wise, the Microvox will wait to translate a phrase until it has received one of the following phrase-terminat- ing characters: 1. a period followed by two spaces or a return character 2. a comma, semicolon, colon, ex- clamation point, or question mark followed by a space or return 3. a return character For some types of output, such as computer programs or poems, you would want each line read as a separate phrase. For others, such as ordinary English narrative text, you may not want a return character to terminate a phrase. You have two op- tions to deal with this situation. The command "!W" means "whole- text pronunciation." If this option is selected, a return character will not terminate a phrase unless one of the conditions of rule 1 or 2 above is fulfilled. The command "!L" means "line-by- line pronunciation." If this option is selected, a return character will always be treated by the Microvox as terminating a phrase. When the Mi- crovox is first turned on, it is in the line-by-line mode. Rather than always send a special signal to terminate a phrase, you may wish to have the Microvox treat a phrase as terminated if a certain delay occurs without any phrase terminator being received. Possible applications of this option include situations where the user does not fully control the output. For instance, suppose the Microvox is passively connected to a transmitting device that doesn't send any of the terminating characters listed above (maybe it sends "STOP" instead). In such a case, there is no way to insert phrase-termination characters in the output stream. However, if the Microvox is set to treat a half-second delay without receipt of information as the end of a phrase, computer output will not be lost or ignored. The following option provides timed-delay phrase termination: !D(de/ay time) The delay parameter, which ranges from 1 to 8, varies the delay from 0.1 second to 0.8 second. (If too short a delay is used, a phrase may be translated in pieces, resulting in odd intonation or pronunciation, because the Microvox uses the context of let- ters and words to determine their pro- nunciation.) The command !D9 is a different case; it makes the Microvox wait for a phrase-terminating character even if it has to wait forever. (This is the default mode.) Generally speaking, !D9 should be used with slow data sources such as a keyboard. This selectable-delay feature is par- ticularly useful for the visually dis- abled. It can allow a blind program- mer to use a standard unintelligent terminal by connecting the Microvox to receive the output from both the user and the computer. If the delay is set to 0.1 second, keys pressed by the user will be echoed as spelled letters (because the slight delay between them will be treated as an end of phrase), but output generated by the computer will be spoken as complete lines because there generally will be no significant delay between charac- ters. The delay can be varied to fit the particular application. Intonation The pitch at which individual phonemes are pronounced can be controlled automatically by the text- to-speech algorithm, be kept fixed, or be altered by user command. Some of you will prefer automatic inflection, because of the variety it gives to the speech, even though the inflection is often not accurate. Others think a computer should sound like a com- puter and will prefer flat speech. Still others may wish to experiment with controlling the pitch to optimize in- telligibility. This control can extend to even make the Microvox sing. ALF COPY SERVICE FAST • RELIABLE • LOW COST BLANK 3M DISK $1.65 BOX OF 100 COPIED 3M DISK $1.95 MULTIPLES OF 50 If you need your software duplicated quickly and conve- niently, ALF's disk copying service is the answer. Most orders are shipped in less than a week. Every disk we copy is verified bit by bit and guaranteed 100% flawless. Stan- dard formats include Atari, Apple (including nibble-copy- proof and double-boot formats), and TRS-80 model 1. Our "no frills" pricing means you don't have to buy extras you don't need. Of course, we have the frills too — includ- ing custom printing and packaging. Call us today for complete details. r ALF (303)234-0871 1448 ESTES DENVER, CO 80215 56 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 324 on inquiry card. One picture is worth a thousand numbers. Introducing the new wide-tape Quasar " 4-Color Plotter, driven by the portable with the speed and power of a desktop computer. Coupled with the sophisticated Quasar Hand-Held Computer, this advanced, 80-character plotter turns dry statistics into dramatic graphics anytime, any- where. Makes analysis easier, presentations more exciting. The Quasar HHC is actually a desktop computer you can take with you. Its heart is a fast, powerful 6502 microprocessor, with powerful programming languages — Microsoft BASIC, SnapBASIC and SnapFORTH, and high-memory capacity of up to 8KB RAM and 16KB ROM internal, expandable with external Memory Modules and ROM's or EPROM's in capsules. Operates on rechargeable NiCad batteries and retains data with power off. The Quasar mainframe has a complete range of intelligent peripherals including a new 40-Character Printer, Telephone Modem/Cassette Interface, RS232 Interface, Color TV Adaptor, I/O Adaptor that works with up to 6 peripherals. That means the Quasar HHC system can be your personal computer and database.or portable terminal that interacts with a large, central computer, or sup- plementary system to host computers for data retriev- al, collection and transfer. An expanding array of snap-in software includes modelling programs for "what if" alternatives, pro- grams for time-billing professionals, financial calcula- tions, and many others for scientific, engineering, marketing and business applications. For a complete information kit, write Quasar HHC Dept., or use Reader Service Card. Portable Computer Systems For HHC system tailored to your specific application contact System House/OEM: American Medical Instruments Cyber Diagnostic Corp. Impact Technologies Group, Inc Albany, CA 415-525-1113 Insta-Data Systems, Simi Valley, CA 805-522-9629 Aurora, CO 303-695-8751 Inc. Pentagon Industries, Inc. Chicago, IL 312-867-9200 Salisbury, NC 704-637-6183 System Exposure Dunedin, FL 813-736-5154 Systems 7, Inc. Houston, TX 713-468-4394 Agent Computer Services, Inc. Columbia City, IN 219-422-6552 Quasar HHC Distributors: RPC Electronics InterNet Pittsburgh, PA San Francisco, CA 412-782-3770 800-227-4258 415-781-0175 Straitline Marketing Inc. New York, NY 212-445-4225 QUASAR COMPANY, Division of Matsushita Electric Corporation of America, 9401 West Grand Avenue, Franklin Park, IL 60131 (312) 451-1200 YOU SAVE WHEN WE BUY FOR YOU AS YOUR AGENT. We are a commercial buying company. Our fee is one-fourth of what we save you off list price. We offer: • Better prices • Exporting • Leasing • Full service and support • Access to 500 manufacturers • Assembly, integration, testing All prices shown include our fee. These are just a few of the products we can buy for you : COMPUTERS Alpha Micro 1000 VW $ 5,960 IRM Ppr^nnalrnmn CALL Alpha Micro 1030 12,047 Rahv/ Rl i ip Dauy di uc PAI I Alpha Micro 1051 17,634 ua vui ly j 1 1 icy . n.u. 1 S7S I , J 1 J AlspaAC1-2/SS 2,320 CALL Altos 8000-10 6,295 IBC Cadet 4,211 Altos 8600-10 7,586 Micromation CALL Altos Series 5-1 5D 2,182 NEC 16 bit system CALL Altos Series 5-5D 4,372 NEC 8000 64KPC system 2,266 Apple 2 + 48K 1,208 NorthStar Advantage 2,750 BMC 20 B 5,422 NorthStarAdv. H.D.5 4.395 Calif. Comp. Sys. 300-1A 4,414 NorthStar Hor.64KQD 2,650 Compupro/Godbout 26% OFF Onyx 5001 MU-6 7,350 Sys.816/A 4,050 Onyx 8000 MU-10 7,900 Sys. 816/C 6,630 Sanyo 2000 2,708 Corvus Concept CALL Seattle System 2 3,251 Cromemco System 1 2.946 TelevideoTS-802 2,600 Cromemco System 2 3,400 TelevideoTS-802H 4,545 Cromemco 68000 System 1 4,395 TelevideoTS-806 5,200 DEC VT-180xx 3,344 Vector 2600 3,895 Dual 12,636 Vector 3005 5,495 Dynabyte 26% OFF Vector 4 CALL Eagle II 2,350 Victor 22% OFF PRINTERS NEC 3510 CALL NEC7710R/0 2,325 Brother, parallel, daisy 853 NEC 7720 KSR 2,685 C. ltohF-10, daisy 1,400 NEC/Sellum 1 , 16K, tractor 2,595 C. Itoh Comet II, dot 799 Qume9/45 full panel 2,045 Diablo 620, daisy, 25cps 1,260 Qume 9/ 55 full panel 2,180 Diablo 630, daisy 2,098 Smith Corona TP- 1, daisy 681 IDS Prism 80 740 Tally CALL IDS Prism 132 column 1,430 Texaslnstr.TI 810 1,285 DISK DRIVES, MODEMS, ETC. Amdek Color II term. 694 Houston Instr. DMP-2 841 Ventel 212 + modem 765 Houston Instr. DMP-4 1,195 Corvus 10 meg. M.D. 3,825 Houston Instr. DMP-7 1,693 DEC VT-100 terminal 1,390 Morrow 20 meg. H.D. 3,650 Mastercard, VISA at 3% handling fee. Prices subject to change without notice. Minimum fee $150. 15% restocking charge. EXPORT SERVICES available. We are buying agents for overseas computer dealers and distributors. International Telex 470851 THE PURCHASING AGENT 1635 School Street, Suite 101, Moraga, CA 94556 Call Toll Free 800-227-2288 In California (415) 376-9020 The hardware in the Microvox allows control of pitch in two dif- ferent ways. The Votrax SC-OlA speech-synthesis integrated circuit has four selectable pitch levels. In ad- dition, the output pitch can be varied by selecting 1 of 16 different rates for the clock signal fed into the SC-OlA. When the Microvox is first turned on, the synthesizer chip is set to pitch level 1 (low) and base speech rate 5 (defined below). The intonation is generated by an algorithm that selects an appropriate clock rate for each phoneme. To turn on or off the automatic clock-rate setting, you can send the command IF (which stands for flat intonation), and the output rate will stay at the base rate. To restore automatic clock- rate variation, you can send the com- mand II which stands for inflected intonation (by algorithm). The intonation algorithm adds to or subtracts from the base rate to derive the final voice pitch. Using the !I mode, however, limits output to only four base-rate pitch-level shifts. You may decide to operate without automatic inflection on all text-to- speech translation and yet desire to add certain pitch changes on specific words or phonemes. This can be easi- ly done on the Microvox, because the base pitch and clock rate can be con- trolled independently and changed at any time. The control code is of the form IPx where x is a digit from 1 through 4; x = l selects the lowest pitch with pitch increasing according to the value of x. You may also decide to control the clock base rate with a command of the form \Rx where x = l yields the slowest rate 58 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 319 on inquiry card Circle 179 on inquiry card. More Apple II owners choose Hayes Micromodem II than any other modem in the world. Compare these features be- fore you buy. You should. It's your money. Thousands of other Apple II owners have already compared, consid ered, and are now communicat- ing - all over the U.S.A. - with Micromodem II. The best mo- dem for the Apple II. The most modem for your money. .• ■ A complete data communi- cation system. Micromodem II is not "base priced" plus necessary "options." It's a complete, high- performance data communication system The printed circuit board fits — quickly and easily- into your Apple II. eliminat- ing the need for a serial interface card. And the Microcoupler™ (included) con- nects the Apple 1 1 directly to a standard modular telephone jack. Auto-dial and -answer features are built-in. Operation can be full or half duplex, with a trans- Microcou pler .. :. ._ HERE'S THE PASCAL YOU'VE BEEN READING ABOUT. AND, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, THE REVIEWS CALL JRT PASCAL A SUP E R PRODUCT FOR AN A MAZING PRICE! Goodbye BASIC, PL/1, COBOL— hello PASCAL! Now, to make this most advanced language avail- able to more micro users, we've cut our price — to an amazing $29.95! This astonishing price includes the complete JRT Pascal system on diskette and the new, comprehensive user manual. Not a subset, it's a complete Pascal for CP/M* Check the features below. THIS IS THE SAME SYSTEM WE SOLD FOR $295! IfifoWorld Software Report Card JRT Pascal Version J 2.0 h "a 1 1 -5 1 a. s o Performance □ □ □ a llfHtunicntation □ □ 0 □ I'.USV. Ml t (no □ □ □ 0 Error lliinilliii^ □ □ □ 0 From INFOWORLD magazine. August 16.1982 So how can we make this offer? — why the unbe- lievable deal? Very simply, we think all software is overpriced. We want to build volume with the booming CP/M market, and our overhead is low, so we're passing the savings on to you. AND A T NO RISK! When you receive JRT Pascal, look it over, check it out. We invite you to compare it with other systems costing ten times as much. If you're not completely satisfied, return the system — with the sealed diskette unopened — within 30 days and your money will be refunded in full! THAT'S RIGHT- COMPLETE SATISFACTION GUARANTEED OR YOUR MONEY BACK! In addition, if you want to copy the diskette or manual — so long as it's not for resale— it's o.k. with us. Pass it on to your friends! BUT ACT TODAY— DON'T DELAY ENJOYING PASCAL'S ADVANTAGES— AT $29.95, THERE'S NO REASON TO WAIT! New 125-page user manual and 5V 4 " oro- diskette True dynamic storage Advanced assembler interface Random files to 8 megabytes with variable length records 64K dynamic strin Activity analyzer prints program use histogram Extended CASE statement Graphing procedures Statistic procedures n PRCN. 14 digit BCD FLOATING POINT arithmetic Fast one-step compiler: no link needed Efficient compiler needs only 85K diskette space Maximum program size more than 200,000 lines More than 200 verbal error messages Separate ompilation of auto-loading external procedures No limits on procedure ize. nesting, or recursion I need the S'A" diskette for □ Northstar □ Osborne □ Apple-CP/M □ Heath, Hard Sector □ Heath, Soft Sector □ Superbrain. I need the □ 8" SSSD diskette. Send to JRT SYSTEMS 1891 — 23rd Avenue San Francisco, CA 94122 Phone 415/566-5100 Name_ . Address- City. State- Zip- O.K. You've sold me. Send me JRT Pascal; I understand that if I'm not completely satisfied, I can return it within 30 days — with the sealed diskette unopened — for a full refund. (Please allow 2-3 weeks for delivery.) □ Check □ C.O.D. □ MasterCard □ VISA (CA residents add sales tax. Add $6 for shipping outside North America.) Card # _ .Exp.. Signature *CP/M is a Digital Reserach TM. A 56K CP/M system is required. chase. The hundred-dollar package must run (or at least fail safely) when handled by raw beginners who may never have seen a computer before. Murphy's Law is an ever-present phenomenon: if anything can go wrong, it will. Memory and disk space are always full to their limits, and if you buy more of either, the usage will rapidly expand to fill the new capacity. (Those of us with a few years of experience behind us know that Murphy dreamed up his apho- rism when, after a long session on a Univac I, a vacuum tube blew just before the machine would have started delivering results. We also know that he was an optimist.) The Factors Involved The heart of the problem is that there are so many different ways to handle the same business functions. For example, a firm can pay employ- ees daily, weekly on a fixed day of the week (except in holiday weeks when the day will change), every other week on a fixed day of the week, once or twice a month on a fixed day of the week or weeks, and once or twice a month on a fixed day of the month. In addition, bonuses can be paid at odd times, payment for people on commission is handled differently, and so on. People can be paid by the piece, hour, day, week, month, or year. If the rules for federal contrac- tors apply and the employees are nonexempt personnel, they will be paid at a time-and-a-half rate for work exceeding 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week, or for work done on the sixth day of the week, unless they are part-time or it is a holiday week. If they're exempt, they can be paid nothing, straight rate, or time and a half after 40 hours. If the federal rules don't apply, others will. One federal tax rule applies to everyone, except people who get a payment from the government be- cause their incomes are low, people who pay no taxes because they have many deductions, and so forth. Because the IRS is firm, forceful, and feared, it's important to compute the federal tax accurately and to handle the no-tax status correctly. But federal taxes aren't the only ones to consider. Several states have no state income taxes to worry about, but tax regulations in various cities in other states bring the total to more than 50 different rules for calculating state and local withholding taxes. Add to these the various state rules for calculating unemployment and workers' compensation, along with the various forms that must be printed, and you begin to understand why Automatic Data Processing, which makes a successful business out of paychecks, writes 1 out of 10 pay- checks in the United States. Business programmers must also overcome the peculiarities of the calendar. "That's simple enough," you say. But is it? Start with the hour. It's made up of 60 minutes, right? Wrong, if you figure time cards in hours and hundredths of an hour, as many companies do. Many of these companies have time clocks that print decimal hours. When you start figuring in months, quarters, and years, your program really gets in- teresting. You can always follow the standard Gregorian calendar. This is ★ FEATURING 8 and 16 BIT S-100 SYSTEMS* ★ ★ WE OFFER A WIDE RANGE OF CRTs, PRINTERS, GRAPHICS EQUIPMENT, SOFT- WARE FOR ALL SYSTEMS. EACH SYSTEM COMPLETELY TESTED, INTEGRATED, READY FOR PLUG-IN OPERATION WHEN YOU RECEIVE IT. WE TAILOR & CON- FIGURE SYSTEMS TO MEET YOUR BUDGET AND NEEDS. WE CUSTOMIZE SOFT- WARE TO YOUR SPECS. WE WELCOME YOUR REQUEST FOR TECHNICAL INFO BY PHONE OR LETTER. CAD-GRAPHICS 16: Architects • Designers • Engineers • Create, store and edit drawings. Use arrays, zoom, windows. Completely interactive hardware/software package includes 9900 16 bit microcomputer, high resolution graphics display, digitizer, plotter. Does the work of a $200,000. system for $10,200. CP/M® optionally available. IMS 2 yr. warranty on boards! SX systems w/8" or 5Vt" drives, optional 10, 20, or 40 MB Winchesters, built-in tape back-up, Z-80 S-100 bus. 5000 system with integrated screen now available. On site service for NY quad-state area. MULTI-USER IMS: MPU/slave cards give each user CPU, 64K, 2 serial ports. TURBODOS: Single or multi-user. Spectacularly FAST CP/M® compatible Operating System. Cuts link/edit time in half. Z80 Code interrupt driven. Up to 6X faster than CP/M; up to 35% increased disk capacity. For IMS, CCS. CROMEMCO: 68000/Z80 dual processor systems starting at $4,670. Also, new Z-80 personal computer w/integrated screen. Model C-10 $1,695. VICTOR 9000: 8088 business system, 128K RAM. 132 x 50 line screen. Dual 5Vt " drives w/2.4 MB capacity. Higher res graphics than IBM PC. . . .$4,995. Price includes both CP/M® 86 and MS-DOS. Letter quality and/or dot matrix printer additional. Elegant, completely interactive business software and word processing offered. MASTER MAX: Z80 single card computer, 4 slot, S-100, w/dual 8" drives $2,540. See details in this issue of BYTE, page 196. LOMAS DATA 8086 SYSTEM: Complete Lomas card set in TEI 12 slot mainframe, 86-DOS, dual Shugart 801s, Televideo 912, assembled & tested $4,599. Options: Double sided drives, 8087 & 8089. CP/M® 86, Winchester interface. SEATTLE 8086 SYSTEMS Featuring 86-DOS, the IBM PC Operating System. SYSTEM 1:8 MHZ CPU, 64K Static RAM, in TEI mainframe $2,695. SYSTEM II: with 128K Static RAM $3,550. S-100 BOARDS OR BOARD SETS: Godbout, Systems Group, SD Systems, SSM, Tarbell, Morrow and others. Discount prices. MAX BOX DISK DRIVE SUBSYTEM mfg by John D. Owens Assoc. Dual drive cabinet w/regulated power supply, fan, complete internal cabling. Ready to plug in. W/2 Shugart 801 $1,275 W/2QUME DT-8dble sided drives $1,605. JOHN D. OWENS Associates, Inc. 12 Schubert Street, Staten Island, New York 10305 212 448-6283 212 448-2913 212 448-6298 70 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc fine, except that having periods end on different days of the week is a nuisance, so that there are several schemes for improving on Pope Gregory's system. The most popular alternative uses 13-week quarters consisting of two 4-week "months" and one 5-week "month" (the order is usually 4-4-5 but sometimes 5-4-4). The "months" and quarters end on a Friday or Saturday; the year-end is always on the same day of the week. Because this year has only 364 days, once every few years you must add an extra week in the last quarter to keep it more or less in synchroniza- tion with the Gregorian calendar. The other popular artificial scheme uses thirteen 4-week "months." This yields 13 equal periods for comparison pur- poses, but names for the periods are confusing. Most people number them; some use the 12 names we all grew up with and throw in an extra (Midsummer's month?). Any of these methods can use fiscal year-ends that are not the end of December. Most businesses end their fiscal year on or near the end of a calendar month; for the vast majori- ty, that month ends one of the four calendar quarters. In addition to these choices, all must close out their payroll books on the calendar quar- ters for Uncle Sam. There are more complications; for example, not every business follows the same accounting procedures. But enough of this. Let's just say that the world of business is a mess; and for many programmers, adapting to this is both their bread and butter and their nightmare. Program Testing Tests People The complications that hamper the designing of business programs also make testing difficult. Oddball cases are a plague: no-tax-status, people with negative net pay because of ex- cess deductions, the employee who works a 105-hour week when your system allows only 99.9, or the null character (ASCII zero) that gets into a name and fouls up its matching within the program but can't be detected on a printout or the video screen. Because there are so many odd combinations of low-probability events, completely comprehensive testing may be impossible. The pro- grammer must rely on an intimate knowledge of the program, its strengths and its weaknesses, and devise tests to attack the weak points. This task is difficult for most pro- grammers. Testing and fixing bugs is a painful process, and the program- mer may be reluctant to really attack his own code and try to make it fail. Indeed, many programmers tend to deliberately avoid testing areas they know to be weak. Some software houses have had success with hiring bright and aggressive high school or college students to test the company's programs. The drawback to this ap- proach is that students may not have the necessary background. The prop- er testing of accounting packages, for example, requires a tester with some knowledge of accounting. Testing has another inherent dif- ficulty: it certainly doesn't pay in the short run. The hours spent testing will not initially help sales as much as the same hours spent adding features to the application. It is only recently COLUMBIA DATA IBM PC look-alike. More features, lower prices. Completely PC hardware & software compatible & interchangeable. Write for details. SEATTLE RAM PLUS w/FLASH DISK 64K RAM + SERIAL I/O S380. 128KRAM + SERIAL I/O S500. 192K RAM + SERIAL I/O $620. 256K RAM + SERIAL I/O $740. 64K Chip Kit $120. Each RAM card has an RS232 serial port which uses IBM supplied software. Boards socketed for easy upgrade. Flash disk allows high speed access to files nor- mally stored on diskette. 8080/8086 EMULATOR runs CP/M® on IBM PC. All I/O runs at operating system speed $200. AMDEK COLOR II MONITOR . .5810. MICROSOFT RAMDrive Expands physical memory AND implements RAMDrive. Allows high speed access to files normally stored on diskette 64K $420. 128K $590. 192K $760. 256K $930. IDS PRINTERS PRISM 132 color $1,795. PRISM 132 black $1,395. PRISM 80 color $1,615. PRISM 80 black $1,255. BABY BLUE: Z-80B, 64K RAM substi- tutes for IBM memory card in IBM PC. Will run 280, CP/M® software .... $540. w/Wordstar® & Mail Merge™ totally configured for IBM keyboard $800. CORVUS HARD DISK SYSTEMS 6.7MB ...$3,035. 11.3MB ...$4,745. 20.5MB $5,695. EPSON MX 80 $475. MX80 F/T . . $575. MX 100 . . $725. 3M SCOTCH DISKETTES FOR IBM PC744 ss/sd (5 box minimum) $ 26. MICROBYTE IBM-1 Five slot expansion chassis $805. IBM PC software ... Too extensive to list here. We are evaluating new products for the IBM PC as they are announced. Please call us for complete, up-to-date listing. S-100, PERIPHERALS, DATA COMMUNICATIONS, ETC. 1 IBM 3270 USERS - Teletype Model 45 j Cluster controllers, terminals, printers. t Bisync or SNA/SDLC protocol, local or : remote connect. Up to 32 devices on one ; cluster. Cost effective! Fast delivery! HAYES MICRO MODEM 100 $359. Smartmodem . $251. Chronograph . $224. PMMI S-100 Modem $349. PER SCI: Model 299B $2300. 1 MICROANGELO GRAPHICS j SUBSYSTEM W/LIGHT PEN . .$2,300. Without light pen $1,930. 3 Graphics card alone $ 975. 1 ScreenwarePakllorTEKEM . . .$ 350. 1 Color systems from 4 to 256 colors, j Basic color system (4 colors) ....$2,330. TEI MAINFRAMES, S-ioo MCS112 . .$680. MCS122 ...$820. RM12 $720. RM22 $870. COMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE Micro to terminal to micro to mainframe to modem. HAWKEYE GRAFIX $500. i HOUSTON INSTRUMENTS ! PLOTTERS Standard & Intelligent models j w/surface areas of 8V2 "xll " to 11 "x 17". ; DMP-2 . . .$ 935. DMP-3 . . .$1,195. ! DMP-4 ...$1,295. DMP-5 ...$1,455. • DMP-6 . .$1,685. DMP-7 . .$1,865. Hi Pad Digitizer $755. TELETYPE Model 4320 AAK $1,140. Model 43ASR, 8 level, 1" tape . . . $2,595. SOFTWARE: Micropro, Microsoft, Ashton-Tate & many others at discount prices. lArF FYPHRT Overseas Callers: TWX 710 588 2844 Wfc LAI OK 1 phone 212 448-6298 or Cable: OWENSASSOC [OHN D. OWENS Associates, Inc SEE OUR AD ON FACING PAGE October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc 71 North star has the Advantage over IBM and Apple. Before you buy a desktop computer, compare these imoortant North Star features with both the IBM PC auvain lAut gives you more man twice me oisk storage per dollar of either the IBM PC or the Apple III. Only North Star offers both 8 bit and 16 bit power. With our new North Star ADVANTAGE 8/16, you can run industry standard 8 bit CP/M s software plus new 16 bit software (including software available for the IBM PC). Better business graphics. The North Star ADVANTAGE comes complete with graph preparation software, and its screen precision beats both IBM and Apple. Low-cost expandability and service. The North Star ADVANTAGE provides cost-effective expandability to meet your growing needs: from 8 bit to 16 bit power, from single user to multi-user networks and from floppy disk to higher capacity Winchester storage. And onlv North Star offers vou a choice of e. For the name of the North II toll-free and gradually that the customer has become aware of the value of "bullet- proof" (bug-free) software. One of the great advantages of pro- gram generators (aids to program design and coding that we hear talked about a great deal and that are actual- ly beginning to appear) is that it should be possible to design program testers that take advantage of a pro- gram generator's structure and test boundary and other difficult condi- tions. Structured, modular programming is also much discussed as a way to ease testing. This view has merit, but it's a moot point — a programmer would have to be crazy to try to write a comprehensive business package in a nonmodular fashion. The package I know best runs more than 50,000 lines of a high-level language in more than 500 separate modules. To say that these modules have made the package easier to test is certainly true, but it would have been impossible to write, much less test, without break- ing it into pieces. Error and Change People are born, they die, they move, their pay goes up and some- times down. Their names are mis- spelled, more than one John Smith works for the company, people punch the wrong time cards, an operator punches the wrong hours, the power stops, and the computer stops. All these factors cause errors in a company's information base that should be easily reparable by the operator at the terminal without ex- posing the system to further errors, careless or intentional. It is almost never possible to throw away your data base and start again; whatever the damage, it must be repaired or replaced by a backup, which must then be brought up to date. The vendor, customer, and employee information for a million- dollar company may add up to several megabytes, all of which has been tediously entered at some sort of keyboard, one byte at a time. The fastest keyboard operators in the land can enter 25,000 bytes per hour, 1 megabyte per week. If you can find 72 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 279 on inquiry card. THE MULTI-USER FRIENDLY 256K MEMORY BOARD WITH COMPRO No Compromise in Performance □ Main-frame type memory mapping for optimal BANK SWITCHED applications or 24-BIT extended addressing □ Operates in any S-100 System IEEE/696+ or non IEEE □ DMA operation fully supported 1 □ 8/16 data transfer protocol 1 " □ Up to 6 MHZ with no wait states; Up to 10 MHZ with automatic wait state assertion □ Parity error detection 1 " □ Double parity in 16-BIT operation No Compromise in Features □ All memory/refresh cycle timing is generated ON BOARD providing easy CPU independent characterization □ Ideal for use with the new generation of operating systems: CP/M-807"* CP/M-86. ,U * MP/M-11"" MP/M-86,'"* OASIS,™" UNIX 7 "*" No Compromise in Quality □ Multilayer board and bus signal filtering for noise-free operation □ Thorough 100% final test and burn-in No Compromise in Versatility □ Manual provides source listing and complete installation guide for MP/M-II'"* BANK SWITCHED multi-user applications □ For the CP/M-2.2™* user: Manual includes implementations of Virtual Disk' for solid state disk /file applications No Compromise in Customer Support □ Comprehensive technical manual □ User hot-line □ Full one year parts and labor warranty ttn accordance with IEEE-696 standard Registered trademarks ot 'Digital Research, "Phase I and ""Bell Labs ORDER NOW (213) 887-5737 If you wish, send a check or money order for $1,379 (in California add 6% sales tax where applicable) || Manual available at $25.00 each ■ refundable with order. MACROTECH International Corp., 22133 Cohasset St., Canoga Park. California 91303 MACROTECH International Corp., 22133 Cohasset St., Canoga Park, California 91303 In the U.K. call "0621" 828-763 Circle 228 on inquiry card. BYTE October 1982 73 one of these paragons of flying fingers, you could have him or her reenter a megabyte or two, but your employees would miss a week's pay- check and you wouldn't be able to send out any invoices for a while. On the other side of your ledger, you would have to tell your vendors that the computer is down; if they haven't heard that one from you before, they've heard it from someone else. But as a practical matter, no million- dollar company can afford to reenter its entire database under the pressure of the everyday work load. All these possibilities dictate the use of a backup. The system must allow you to make foolproof backups easily. If backups aren't easy, they won't be done regularly, and when the backup must be used, a lot of catch-up entries will be needed to up- date it. I believe in making backups daily so that you can always update the backup with only a day's work. Operators will make other mis- takes. They may give alphabetic responses to prompts that expect numbers, or they will stop a program at some point if the machine takes longer than expected to perform an operation. The program must check every entry as much as possible. Is the entry legal? Is it within an appro- priate range? The program should make it difficult to enter a weekly, monthly, or annual salary in response to a prompt that expects an hourly rate. If an operator enters an employ- ee number, the employee name should be displayed for verification. None of this will eliminate all er- rors. If Joe worked 5 hours, an opera- tor should not be able to enter 50 without the program's producing a query: "Are you sure?" But only Joe will notice the error if the operator mistakenly enters 4 hours. Most mainframe computer systems allow for critical data to be keyed twice; any differences are resolved by a supervisor. This procedure radically reduces random errors because in order to survive keying by two dif- ferent operators, the same error would have to be made in the same place by both operators. It does not, however, eliminate errors caused by illegible documents; both operators may interpret the difficulty the same way. Repeat keying is less frequently done on mini- and microcomputers; they tend to have systems relying on the ability to verify some data based on information in the files, the ability to fix problems after the fact, and luck. Perhaps this approach is a mistake. Friendly Software It's no accident that the author of several highly successful business software packages is a student of psychology who gave up studying for his PhD when his software looked as if it would be more interesting and profitable. His software background, while sound, is much more limited than his knowledge of the quirks of humanity. Many microcomputer pro- grammers fall into the trap of writing good code that produces results in- comprehensible to the user. Avoiding the trap is hard because most pro- grammers learn their trade writing projects for their own use and inspec- tion. Cryptic prompts and legends are not only easy for the programmer, but they also save valuable time and space. Furthermore, developing truly effective user interaction requires repeated polishing. Classes in pro- gramming all too often emphasize good code, not good interaction. (This focus is appropriate, to a point — the program must run correct- ly before anyone will care if it is easy to use.) This is not to say that one should write prompts and commands in what Digital Equipment Cor- poration's TECO word-processor manual calls "War and Peace mode." The intent is clarity first and then, if possible, brevity. The ideal is to pro- vide clear and concise prompts and a Help function that can be activated at any time by pressing a special key or by simply typing "help" or a question mark after any prompt. In any case, the result should be a two-to-five-line explanation of the prompt, the possi- Best Buys in Computer Science The Origins of Digital Computers Selected Papers Third Edition Edited by B. Randell Review of /he First Edition "This superb book is by far the best extant collection of historical material about the early development of digital computing machines. ..should set a standard of excellence for future historians of computer science and technology." — Historia Mathematica 1982/598 pp./126 illus./cloth $29.50 ISBN 0-387-11319-3 Selected Writings on Computing A Personal Perspective Edsger W. Dijkstra A volume of uncommon technical and historical interest, this unique book presents a representative sampling of technical and personal selections from the writings of Edsger W. Dijkstra, a founder of programming methodology. 1982/approx.272 pp./10illus./cloth$28.00 ISBN 0-387-90652-5 The Science of Programming David Gries "David Gries is well known in the computing field for his writing on difficult but important topics, and this may well be his most important book. . .This volume belongs in every technical library and every college library." — Choice 1981/366 pp. /cloth $19.80 ISBN 0-387-90641 -X Programming in Modula-2 N. Wirth More than just an introduction to programming, this text provides a thorough grounding in the language Modula-2. The book provides an introductory chapter, but those with a basic understanding of programming will benefit most. 1 982/ 1 76 pp./4 illus/cloth $1 3.50 ISBN 0-387-1 1674-5 Save time, order by phone! (800) 526-7254 U.S.A. (201)348-4033 New Jersey Springer-Verlag New York, Inc. ,1 Dept. S5820 P.O. Box 2485 Secaucus, NJ 07094 i 74 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 365 on inquiry card. Circle 174 on inquiry card. Introducing 5.25" Fixed/Removable GENIE Cartridge Drives I.B.M. • APPLE II • RADIO SHACK The Genie Cartridge Drive is a revolutionary new 10 Megabyte Hard Disk Drive that includes a 5 Megabyte removable cartridge. The cartridge Drive system simply plugs into your computer, and includes all necessary software and hardware. Genie drives are compat- ible with most popular software. "^^^^ and each cartridge replaces ^^^^^^g^^ flj^^^ over 30 double-density H V floppy disks. FEATURES 10 Megabytes of on-line storage. File sizes to 5 Megabytes. Power-on self-test. Easy back-ups in minutes. System expandable to eight drives. Built-in error detection and correction. No preventative maintenance required. Comes complete with all necessary software and hardware. MTBF 8000 Hours. Built-in fan. Operates 110/220 VAC 50-60 Hz. One year limited warranty. 'Manufacturer's suggested retail price. Includes all required components. IBM Personal Computer Is a registered trademark of IBM Corporation. Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Radio Shack is a registered trademark of Tandy Corporation. Removable Cartridge. Imagine, 5 Megabytes in the palm of your hand. These small cartridges are only .75 inches thick and 5.50 inches square. The disk itself is completely sealed from the outside and all its hazards by a sliding door that opens only once the cartridge is firmly seated inside the drive. Long term availability of this cartridge is assured by its adoption by several well known manufacturers including Dysan, the world leader in computer mass storage media. Only $399500* Available at your local computer dealer GEfliE COMPUTER CORPORATION 31127 Via Colinas #802 B~\ Westlake Village, CA 91362 (213) 991-6210 ble responses, and their implications. (Because the required volume of text cannot usually be stored in memory, the Help function requires the ability to access the disk to get the text, a restriction that has its own problems.) At the very least, a Help response should refer to a particular page in the documentation. Speaking of documentation, my local bookstore has four books that describe the use of the CP/M operat- ing system but only one on the more complex intricacies of Visicalc. While it would be a mistake to read too much into this limited example, the Visicalc documentation is a model of clarity that requires little elaboration, it should be required reading for every company selling software. I cannot speak so well of the CP/M documentation, at least of the version I received. Why is it so hard to write prompts and documentation and to design output formats? Paradoxically, good programmers are so familiar with their programs that they find it very difficult to step into the shoes of the novice user; furthermore, they are so 1200 BAUD BIZCOMP's 212A-Compatible Intelligent Modern'* Sets the Pace in Quality and Reliability BIZCOMP just moved its Intelligent Modem family into high gear with the Model 1012 — a full-duplex 300/1200 FCC-registered modem with the advanced features you want: Auto-dial, auto-repeat dial and auto-answer. Attached to any terminal, you have automatic keyboard dialing at your finger- tips. Or, connect the 1012 to a mini/micro for computer-computer electronic mail or auto-polling applications. With the BIZCOMP 1012, you have a no-hassle upgrade from 300 baud to achieve a fourfold improvement in throughput. And it's software compatible with BIZCOMP's popular 300 baud Model 1022. Take a lesson from computer professionals everywhere: The way of the future is 1200 baud. The path of the future is BIZCOMP 1012. Call us today for the name of a BIZCOMP Authorized Distributor near you. BIZCOMP Communications . . . Why not start with the best? BIZCOMP P.O. Box 7498 • Menlo Park, CA 94025 • 415/966-1545 Copyright© 1981 Business Computer Corporation familiar with the general concepts of computers that it is hard for them to explain disks and files and all the other things that programmers take for granted. Some time ago, C. P. Snow, novel- ist and physicist, wrote about 'The Two Cultures" (New Statesman, 6 October 1956), referring to the divi- sion between the arts and the sciences. We now appear to be devel- oping two different cultures as the computer becomes part of our daily lives; the division is between com- puter programmers and naive users. It is possible to bridge the gap be- tween programmers and users; the software published by Visicorp has done it repeatedly. Bridging the gap requires people more expert in ap- plications than in software; people who prefer dealing with people to working with computers. As I look around at chief executive officers of successful software houses, I see ar- ticulate, people-oriented executives who are perfectly comfortable with computers. This is no accident. Cer- tainly several successful programs have been written by the "wild-eyed guru," the computer genius who works 36 hours at a stretch and wears blue jeans and has unkempt hair, but that breed is at a disadvantage. As hardware becomes more capable and less expensive, it will require a much less intimate knowledge of the com- puter to write software that runs fast and well. The wild-eyed guru will lose the competitive advantage he has to the applications- and people- oriented businessperson who happens to be a programmer. Where does all this leave us? For the programmer who thoroughly un- derstands the intricacies of the appli- cation, who is able to write bullet- proof code, who is then willing to shoot cannons at the spots he knows are weakest, and who also truly un- derstands the strengths and frailties of not just the average user, but of the weakest one — for such a paragon, business programming is not a prob- lem. The rest of us must examine our own weaknesses and shape them up through study, practice, and help from fellow programmers. ■ 76 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 48 on inquiry card. of apple add-ons from lit ■ _ computei Vista Available through your oca I computer dealer. MODEL GB75© Typewriter Interface Apple to IBM Electronic 50, 60, 75 Typewriters Interface ■ Reads IBM keyboard in parallel with Apple keyboard ■ Sup- ports the IBM code functions using an escape sequence ■ Types at about 13 characters per second ■ Prints from Integer or Applesoft programs ■ Sup- ports the "Control I Number N" parallel line length mode se- quence ■ Has switch selec- table upper/lower case I/O 60, 66, 78 continuous from feed page lengths, 40+video, 80, 95, 132 character line lengths Suggested price $225.00 TIMECARD III© Multi-function time utility for the APPLE III computer system. Contains the year of the century, the month, the date, the day of week, the hour, the minute, the second. ■ A countdown timer with a range of one millisecond to 999 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds, 999 milliseconds ■ Selectable 12 or 24 hour time formats ■ Diagnostic error reporting ■ Fully compatible with the APPLE SOS operating system Suggested price $195.00 Circle 418 lor Dealers only Circle 419 for OEM MODEL 150 TYPE AHEAD BUFFER ■ Up to 40 character type ahead capability ■ Enter commands or data while your Apple is pro- cessing previous instructions ■ Compatible with all Apple computers, keyboards and software ■ No cuts — no jumpers — no software patches required ■ Includes complete instructions for quick and easy installation Suggested price $49.95 A800© FLOPPY DISK CONTROLLER ■ High speed DMA transfer of data (1 micro-second/byte) ■ Documentation provided — in- cludes theory of operation, schematics and diskettes ■ Uses all standard Apple DOS commands (OPEN. CATALOG, LOCK, DELETE, LOAD, etc.) except for I NIT which has been improved and enhanced in a Vista format routine ■ Com- patible with Apple DOS 3.3. Pascal 1.1 and CP/M 2.2 (with the Z80 soft card by Microsoft) ■ 2K x 8 PROM contains Autoboot functions and all eight-inch s only Circle 420 for all other inquiries driver code allowing complete compatibility with Apple DOS 3.3 Suggested price $545.00 PROM DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM© ■ Menu driven program devel- opment monitor ■ Programs 2708, 2716, 2532, 2732and 48016 EPROMS ■ Simulates PROM from RAM 4K ■ Data and ad- dress interface for operator location and control ■ Com- plete user documentation Suggested price $495.00 VISION 80 ■ Full upper and lower case character with 3 dot descenders ■ 9x10 dot matrix per line U.S. (9x11 Europe) ■ 128 ASCII character set ■ BASIC, FOR- TRAN and Pascal languages supported ■ Z80™ and CP/M" comtible ■ Compatible with all standard Apple'" peripherals COMPUTER COMPANY, INC. Vista Circle 404 on Inquiry card. ' Copyright 19B1 Visla Computer Company. Inc. '"Apple Computer Company. Inc. .Shift and lock for upper and ■wer case ■ Source switches between 40x24 and 80x24 soft- ware and hardware ■ Rated #1 video card by Softalk and Call Apple Suggested price $325.00 VISION 40 Softscreen programmable char- acter/generator card for the Apple II computer ■ Allows use of DOS tool kit upper/lower case character sets in Apple 40 column mode ■ Permits crea- tion of new alpha/numeric and graphic characters under Am- inatrix ■ Ideal for non-English language applications ■ Compatible with most popular word processing software pack- ages Suggested price $175.00 VISION 20 ■ Cost effective ■ Compat- ible with the latest Apple II ■ Complete easy to follow instal- lation guide ■ 120 day war- ranty ■ Immediate delivery Suggested price $29.95 1317 E. Edinger Santa Ana, CA 92705 (714) 953-0523 '"Digital Research, Inc. "^Designed by Burtronix EIGHT USERS TO GO Pick up an Altos 16-bit 9 UNIX-based computer system today, and get minicomputer networking power at a microcomputer price. Looking for a powerful, yet affordable, 8-user computer system that has everything your business needs, including communications? Then get your hands on an ALTOS* field-proven, XENIX7UNIX"-based ACS8600 microcomputer. Our powerful 16-bit 8086 is packed with an 8089 for disk/memory interface, an optional 8087 math processor and an intelligent Z80" I/O, which share the workload for faster execution and response. A unique memory management and protection system subdivides up INTER-ALTOS LOCAL NETWORK ACS8600-12 20 MByte Winchester 1-8 USERS with ALTOS- NET/ UNET" ACS8600-14 40 MByte Winchester 1-8 USERS with ALTOS- NET/ UNET REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS ACS8600-14 MByte Winchester 1-8 USERS with 2780 3780 3270 SDLC X.25 to one megabyte of memory (500K of RAM is standard), automatically giv- ing each user the maximum available. Built-in Error Detection /Correction (ECC) maintains system integrity. And it's all available today on our highly reliable, fully socketed, proven single board. Altos has exactly what you need for a smooth migration into the office of the future. Communications and local networking support, includ- ing Ethernet" and ALTOS-NET" for inter-Altos networking. Large data storage capacity— integrated Win- chester, floppy and tape back-up in a wide range of configurations and capacities, from 20 to 80 megabytes, starting with the ACS8600-12 with 20 MBytes and the ACS8600-14 with 40 MBytes. Plus support of popular multi-user operating systems like XENIX/UNIX, MP/M-86" and OASIS-16. Produced in the heart of Cali- fornia's technologically fertile Silicon Valley, Altos microcomputers are the professional choice of Fortune 500 companies, computer service organ- izations, major software developers, and even mainframe computer manufacturers. Founded in 1977, Altos has already delivered more than 25,000 multi-user systems to major OEM customers. Plus Altos maintains a worldwide sales and service network. So when you want a multi-user, multi-tasking computer system that has the communications capabilities your business demands, and you want it today, pick up an Altos. For further information, call our toll-free number or write: Altos Computer Systems, 2360 Bering Drive, San Jose, CA 95131. Telex 171562 ALTOS SNJ or 470642 ALTO Ul. Packed with fresh ideas for business Utscftl COMPUTER SYSTEMS 800-538-7872 (In Calif. 800-662-6265) Circle 14 on inquiry card. ALTOS is a registered trademark and ALTOS -NET is a trademark of Altos Computer Systems. Ethernet Is a trademark of Xerox Corp. MP/M-86 is a trademark of Digital Research, Inc. OASIS-16 is a product of Phase One Systems. Inc. XENIX is a trademark of Microsoft and is a microcomputer implementation of the UNIX operating system. UNIX is a trademark of Bell Laboratories. Z80 is a trademark of Zilog. Inc. UNET is a trademark of 3Com Corp. 8086. 8087 and 8089 are products of Intei Corp. c 1982 Altos Computer Systems Adapting Microcomputers to Wall Street Microcomputers are fast becoming crucial tools for financial investors. Microcomputers are streaming into Wall Street's canyons. In its short ex- istence, the microcomputer has become a versatile tool and an impor- tant supplement to mainframe com- puters already at work in financial in- stitutions. The microcomputer's use is spreading and diversifying so quickly that the task of encapsulating all of its applications is both fascinating and frustrating. Yet using the microcomputer to the fullest is one of the challenges facing Wall Street. The financial community depends on speed. Timely knowledge and new ideas produce a trading ad- vantage. Traders, brokers, under- writers, analysts, and investment managers need complex financial analyses fast. They need communica- tions that can tell them everything About the Author Robert Franz is managing director of cor- porate systems at Warburg Paribas Becker— A. C. Becker, an international finan- cial firm. He has spent most of his career in the financial community, previously serving as partner in charge of New York systems con- sulting for financial industries for the account- ing firm Arthur Anderson & Company. Mr. Franz has an Apple of his own at home. Robert Franz Director of Corporate Systems Warburg Paribus Becker— A. G. Becker 55 Water St. New York, NY 10041 from the latest earnings of a Califor- nia company to the current state of the Brazilian coffee harvest. Invest- ment firms need access to massive computers that account daily for the flow of money and securities. A firm's systems department combines communications, word processing, and database and analytical support. The volume of securities and money also generates an enormous need for management information — tracking profitability, products, and areas subject to failure. Serving Two Masters Complicating the implementation of microcomputers is the need to serve two distinct types of managers on Wall Street. The first type are the entrepreneurs whose livelihoods are commissions and volume. They have little time for training and low tolerance for anything that is not reliable and ready-to-go when it reaches the desk. Back offices sup- porting these entrepreneurs usually employ the second type of manager, those who are more systems-oriented. They process the flow of information and provide the framework that keeps firms functioning. Managers of this type may or may not have greater patience than entrepreneurs with getting software and machines to work properly. On Wall Street, we are concerned with not one or two microcomputers but dozens. They should be linked to the in-house mainframes and to any number out of house. Moreover, firms are faced with providing both prompt assistance when training employees on microcomputers and successful hands-on experience for skeptical executives. When everything works correctly, applica- tions are limited only by managerial imagination. When things go wrong, financial professionals may distrust the merits of the machine and subse- quently not take advantage of this key tool in the quest for the all impor- tant competitive advantage. Microcomputers at Becker Warburg Paribas Becker— A. G. Becker is a full-line international financial institution with offices in eight countries. In fiscal 1981, the firm's total purchases and sales of debt securities alone exceeded $860 billion. Becker serves as the back of- fice for more than 300 brokerage firms throughout the world and for more than 600 "market makers" (ex- 80 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc THE LANIER TYPEM ASTER TRIAL OFFER See it do the work of three ordinary electrics in the space of one. A TRIAL OFFER* DESIGNED TO IMPRESS YOU. We want you to see exactly how productive and easy to use the TypeMaster can be. So we'll set up the equip- ment. We'll train any one person you choose. And we'll let you try the software that's right for your business. NO PROBLEM® TYPING IN THE SPACE OF AN ORDINARY ELECTRIC. We designed the Type- Master with the printer built into the top. To give you No Problem typing in one compact unit.You'll get letter- perfect pages printed in less than 40 seconds. And you can store up to 40 of those pages on each memory disc. AN INVESTMENT THAT PAYS OFF. Because the TypeMaster is much more efficient than ordinary electric type writers, we estimate that it can pay for itself in a year. . . or less. For example, while one document is printing out, your secretary can be typing another on the screen. So work gets done faster, and there's time to handle other jobs. SEEING IS BELIEVING. After using the Type- Master for a few weeks, you'll see how it gets your typing back faster, looking better and right the first time. You'll also see how responsive we are in training, service and support. With all this in mind, we think you'll want to keep the TypeMaster. But don't take our word for it. Prove it to yourself in your own office. * Trial charges may be partially applied to your TypeMaster purchase. There's only one place to judge the real value of Larders TypeMaster: in your own office. With your own people. On your own work. Thats the idea behind our Trial Offer. To let you see how the TypeMaster can do the work of three ordinary electrics. Send us this coupon to set up an immediate appoint- ment. Or call (800) 241-1706. Except in Alaska and Hawaii. In Georgia, call collect (404) 321-1244. ©1982 Lanier Business Products, Inc. Mail to: Lanier Business Products, Inc. 1700 Chantilly Drive N.E., Atlanta, GA 30324 Oct. '82 Byte 4 76 B 12 Name Title Phone Best time to call Firm Address County City State Zip Makers of the TypeMaster,™ No Problem* Typewriter, No Problem Shared System™ and EZ-1™ Work Processor Circle 219 on inquiry card. BYTE October 1982 81 pert stock traders) who trade on U.S. security exchanges and prefer to have their bookkeeping done outside. For accounting, Becker relies on both in-house processing and a ser- vice bureau but is constructing a com- puter center in Chicago that will han- dle its worldwide network and will integrate microcomputers into the ac- counting system. As managing director of corporate systems for Becker, I became in- terested in personal computers for several reasons. First, I own an Apple, which I use at home and which is linked by phone to my of- fice. Second, Becker, like most organizations I am aware of, has a group of managers who do not necessarily work for the systems department but who own microcom- puters and have pushed for their use. In fact, the rapid entry of microcom- puters can be attributed primarily to these managers. In some cases, these managers started their drive before the systems department had formed a response to the uncontrolled growth in the use of microcomputers at Becker. And third, microcomputers represent the leading edge of technology, which must be capital- ized on and integrated into a firm's overall systems-support plans. Getting Involved Becker's systems policy attempts to capitalize on the capabilities of main- frames and microcomputers. We ap- prove each acquisition and make sure the intended use can be achieved. We do this because, unfortunately, if computer novices believed claims made by some voices in the industry, they would not achieve the full poten- tial provided by microcomputers. We also want to ensure that the microcomputer is not employed simply as a costly status symbol. The corporate systems department's role is to provide un- biased information and to guard the integrity of the network. The systems department evaluates suggested uses, machines, and software, and it aids in procurement and installation. We I-Queue . . .the intelligent buffer that frees your IBM Personal Computer from the time- consuming printing function. I-Queue accepts data at processor speed (over 4000 characters per sec- ond) and sends it to the printer* at whatever speed the printer can accept. I-Queue can store 16K of RAM, which is approximately 7 pages of average printout (optionally expand- able to 65K for storage of 28 aver- age pages). Standard features include complete pagination and formatting capabili- ties, a reprint buffer, a clock/calendar and many other design enhancements usually found only in sophisticated word processors. Available direct or from participating PC dealers. Distributor and dealer inquiries invited. For new brochure, write, or call our 800 number. "Fully compatible with IBM printer and all Centronics interface printers. IBM Personal Computer is a trademark of IBM. AVAILABLE FROM STOCK - WITH CLOCK/CALENDAR & COMPLETE DEMO PROGRAMS: $495 65K MEMORY EXPANSION OPTION: $175 iiliilPGRIPHGX inc. 149 Palmer Road Southbury, CT 06488 800-221-0732 In NY: (212) 961-2103 then prefer to back away when users in our firm can clearly go it alone. Where there is need for custom pro- gramming, we will help. For prospec- tive microcomputer users, we provide a center where managers can try machines and software before pro- curement. We also have a portable "Apple Cart" for those who do not need a machine full time. This cart, which holds a microcomputer and printer, can be wheeled from office to office. Our involvement provides advan- tages. First, the systems department is a clearinghouse. When managers find new applications, they have a way of sharing them with others. Second, Becker gains through central purchas- ing. We have an arrangement with a major supplier that provides more than respectable savings on hardware and some software. Third, we pro- vide on-site maintenance. In New York, for example, all microcom- puters are under a single contract guaranteeing same-day service from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fourth, Becker main- tains some standardization. Our "plain vanilla" machine is an Apple II Plus with a side-port fan. We chose it because of the widespread familiarity of our employees with the Apple, availability of software, and considerations of procurement and maintenance. Becker's Apples nor- mally have 80K bytes of memory achieved by adding the Saturn 32K-byte RAM (random-access read/write memory) to the 48K-byte machine. We also use VC Expander to display Visicalc in 80 columns. Monitors have 12-inch green- phosphor screens with the exception of a few Electrohome color RGB (red- green-blue) sets. Disk drives are stan- dard Apple II drives. Besides the Ap- ple computers, Becker uses a modified Sharp PC 1211 electronic hand-held calculator. Our selection of printers is eclectic. The Epson MX-100 is most popular, but we also use Integral Data Systems (IDS) 560Gs, IDS multicolor Prisms, Houston Instrument 8-pen plotters, and a daisy wheel or two. Printer choices are dictated by both user need and the same considerations we had in choosing the Apple II Plus. 82 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 303 on Inquiry card. Check The Chart Before You Choose Your New 16-Bit Computer System. New Multi-Personal R Computer, Featuring IBM-PC R Compatibility, Excels In Professional, Business And Industrial Applications. Check it out. Columbia Data Products' MULTI-PERSONAL' COMPUTER can use software and hardware originally intended for the IBM" Personal Computer . . . while enjoying th flexibility and expandability of all Columbia Data's co puter systems. Available operating system software includes singl user MS-DOS" or CP/M 86" or multi-user, multi-taskin MP/M 86" or OASIS-16", with XENIX" available soon, providing users with a host of compatible software pack- ages for personal and professional business and indus- trial applications. A large selection of higher level languages arealso available, including BASIC, FORTRAN, COBOL, PASCAL and MACRO Assembler. Our standard 16-Bit 8088 hardware configuration pro- vides 128K RAM with parity, two RS-232 serial ports, Centronics parallel printer port, interrupt and DMA con- trollers, dual floppy disks with 640K storage, Winchester disk and keyboard interfaces, and eight IBM-PC compat- ible expansion slots . . . and lists for only $2995. Winches- ter hard disk configurations, featuring cache buffer controllers for enhanced disk access performance are also available, starting at $4995. So, when you need to grow, why gamble and hassle with independent third party hardware and operating system vendors which may or may not be compatible . . . not to mention the hidden expense and frustration of implementing peripheral drivers in the different operat- ing systems and upgrades? Who needs the finger-pointing when things don't work out? After you review our chart, you will agree .. . for overall 16-Bit microprocessor superiority, expandability, flexi- bility, compatibility and real economy, Columbia Data is your total source. Our Multi-Personal Computer . . . the 16-Bit system born to grow! Get yours n I 1 ■ ■ ■ % MAIN FEATURES CDP-MPC IBM-PC* OTHERS Microprocessor 16-Bit 80BB 16-Bit 8088 1 8-Bit 2-80 (Opt) USER Memmy IBM-PC Compaiib Exriansions Slnts Professional Conl 128K-1 Mbytes 16K-256 Kbytes ? 0 Resident Floppy Disk Dual I60K (Opt) ' Storage Dual 320K (stl!) Dual 320K (Opt) Rosldent Cache Bulfer Hard Disk Stoiaqo 5M/10M - ? OPTIONAL OPERATING SYSTEMS (Supported by Companyr MS-DOS (PC-DOSi Yes Yes ? CP/M 86 Yes Yes ? MP/M86 Yes - ? oasis-is \ : XENIX Soon OPTIONAL HARD RS-232 Conimunk MARE EXPANSION BOARD (Supported bv Company) .ations Yes Yes B/W and Color G-ii play Yes Yes ? Jjwnjion Memory Yes Yes 7 B" Floppy Disk System Yes ? 8 Hard Disk Syst "m Up to AO Mbytes - ? race Cariridtje Sy. lem Yes" ~- ? 'For comparison purposes, typical professional configurations con- sisl ol 16-Bit 808B Processor. I 28K RAM with Parity. Dual 320K 5-mch Floppies. DMA and Interrupt Controller. Dual RS-232 Serial Ports. Centronics Parallel Port and Dumb Computer Terminal or Equivalent - Columbia Data Products also supports CP/M 80' with an optionally available Z-80 CP/M Expansion Board 'As advertised COLUMBIA DATA PRODUCTS, INC ^^ 7,7 ■ no Office: 8990 Route 108 Columbia, MD 21045 Telephone 301-992-3400 TWX 71 0-862- 1B91 ^ r^^^^^^^^^H__ IBM Is the trademark ol International Business Machines. CPJM and MP/M are trademarks ol Digital Research. OASIS Is the trademark ot Phase One. MS-DOS and XENIX are trademarks ot MICROSOFT. 390 1 MacArthur Blvd. Suite 211 Newport Beach. CA 92663 Telephone 714-752-5245 Telex 277778 Europe: P.O Box 1118 450 Moenchengladbach 1 West Germany Telephone 02161-33159 Telex 852452 OUR PRICES WILL GET YOUR ATTENTION. OUR S ERVI CE WILL KEEP IT. SOME OF OUR PRODUCTS: TELEVIDEO COMPUTERS LIST SELL TS-801 Computer 3295 2065 TS-802 Computer/ Terminal 3495 2835 TS-802H Computer/ Terminal 5995 5045 NORTHSTAK COMPUTERS LIST SELL ADVANTAGE ADV-2Q-64K HORIZON HRZ-2Q-64K HRZ-1Q-64K-HD5 3999 Call 3599 Call 6695 Call ZENITH DATA SYSTEMS MONITOR LIST SELL ZEN-VM-121 12" Green Screen Monitor 160 110 Ask us about other fine Zenith Products. TELEVIDEO TERMINALS 910 Terminal 925 Terminal 950 Terminal LIST SELL 699 585 995 745 1195 945 TELEVIDEO SOFTWARE LIST SELL TELE SOLUTIONS WordStar Plus CalcStar Packaged For Televideo 790 500 PRINTERS LIST SELL Okidata82A 719 490 Okiddta 83 A 1 195 740 We also handle NEC. Epson and Smith-Corona. Call for prices and availability. MICROPRO SOFTWARE WordStar Apple WordStar— 16 Sector SpellStar MailMerge DataStar SuperSort Apple MailMerge— 16 Sector CalcStar LIST SELL 495 275 375 235 250 155 150 89 350 235 250 165 Call 295 190 PLUS MANY OTHER FINE PRODUCTS: □ OWNERSHIP Don't let anyone tell you that service and prices are a trade-oft. We're proof you can have both. Our service begins even before you call. Because we've taken the trouble to select the most reliable equipment and products for sale. We'll discuss your needs and help you make the right decision. Then we'll test and configure equipment to be sure it's compatible with CALL TOLL FREE: 800-854-7635 your system. We'll even initialize your software. Our repair parts stock and technical expertise will help you keep your system up, and hold maintenance costs down. So go ahead and be amazed by our low prices, but remember: the best is yet to come. Prices change daily- call for current pricing. In California call 714-562-7571 AUTOMATED EQUIPMENT, INC 8775 Olive Lane, Suites I & J, Santee, CA 92071 Generally, Becker uses wide-column printers for spreadsheets, a mainstay in the financial business. A few machines, used by people performing custom programming or directly assisting others, have extra features. These systems have the Hayes Micromodem II for com- munications, Mountain Computer clocks, Z80 cards, multiple Saturn boards for 128K-byte memory, and a diversity of tailored plug-ins for specific software. Becker has made few attempts to standardize software because needs and personal familiarity vary widely. However, linked software packages such as the "Visi" series from Visicorp, the Star series from Micropro, and DB Master are used widely. The most useful software is the electronic spreadsheet, followed by database and then word process- ing. Custom programming is needed throughout the firm, and it is rarely done by us. My philosophy is to let it happen. Many applications do not re- quire the systems department's in- volvement, and it would constrict managers to force them to clear each application with us. This, of course, has implications for documentation when other managers take over machines already in place. Applications Becker employs microcomputers basically in four areas, but utilization will certainly be extended as more machines are installed. Today, micro- computers support direct trading, operations, special financial analysis and projects, and mainframe access. The first use is a direct competitive weapon to gain advantage over other firms. The second use supplements mainframe processing to obtain management information. Special financial analysis and projects consist of the small or one-time programs for which there is no need to install main- frame software. Finally, employees wanting mainframe access use the microcomputer as a terminal. Sharp trading: You make profits in foreign currency interest-rate ar- bitrage by playing off current and future values of money and securities. The trader tries to spot favorable dif- 84 October 1982 © BYTE Publications lnc Circle 31 on inquiry card. INTRODUCING THE SAFT STANDBY POWER SYSTEM. IT KEEPS YOU FROM LOSING YOUR MEMORY WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT. If the power fails while you're reading this ad, everything your computer knows could be lost. In an instant, information crucial to the smooth operation of your business can vanish without a trace. Memories can be flushed, disks can be damaged. That's why you need the Saft Standby Power System. In the event of a blackout or brownout, it takes over instantly — before the computer can tell there's anything wrong — and supplies 200 watts of power for 20 minutes. Which gives you plenty of time to get off the machine safely, without missing a single byte. And during normal operation it acts as a line filter, protecting against damaging voltage spikes. Ask your dealer about the Saft Standby Power System. It's the first standby system designed specifi- cally for small business computers. And offered at a small business price. -HTTP AMERICA More power to you. Circle 338 on inquiry card. • ... © — Saft Portable Battery Division, 931 Vandalia St., St. Paul, MN 55114 (612) 645-8531 ferences in rates in the marketplace between, for example, the peso and the dollar in both the present spot market and the forward future market, which can be any number of days ahead. Because of the variables involved, arbitrage is complicated, and calculations, if done by hand, take 40 minutes or more per transac- tion. A systems person at Becker discovered that time could be reduced to about 5 minutes through use of a modified Sharp PC 1211 electronic hand-held calculator and CE-122 printer with cassette interface. He chose the Sharp calculator because preprogrammed calculators are difficult to work with, while this machine's 1.8K bytes of memory is in easily maintained BASIC. The calcu- lator was custom programmed with foreign exchange equations but, more important, was made user-friendly through a query system. The 16 func- tion keys were programmed and relabeled as input and output variables. The mode button, which allows access to the program, was disabled to prevent the program from falling into competitive hands. The trader uses function and numeric keys to enter data, and then the machine prints eight lines of results on paper tape. The calculator provides iterative solutions to the following kind of We established a system with three Apples to help traders find the most advantageous buy/sell positions on any exchange. problem. An investor wishes to make a 93-day investment of 5,900,100 French francs (FF). The spot rate is 5.90010FF to the U.S. dollar, while the forward rate for 93 days is 6.0500FF. Becker has a primary cer- tificate of deposit (CD) maturing in 93 days that will yield 17.9500 per- cent, and the investor will accept 27.7500 percent using a 360-day year. Will the investor accept the CD, and, more important, can Becker make any money from selling it? The program calculates the U.S. dollar equivalent of the foreign in- vestment, determines the U.S. dollar position and the franc position at the end of the deal, calculates the foreign interest payment, and determines the cost in U.S. dollars of the forward position and the U.S. dollar profit (which is $1,236.83). Finally, it calculates the break-even foreign yield in francs (28.24075 percent), the break-even foreign rate (6.04285), and the premium or discount (in this case, 10.29075 percent). The Sharp calculator is so inexpen- sive that we keep backups on the shelf rather than have a maintenance con- tract. The principal trader is delighted with it. We established a more complicated system with three Apples to help traders find the most advantageous buy /sell positions on any exchange. Two Apples serve as intelligent ter- What is Unique-NISS? l An unprecedented forecasting software support service that provides you with one-on-one interaction with our staff of professionals. Maximize your personal productivity through the use of our forecasting software, a one-year service agreement, newsletters and prompt access via our toll-free hot lines. 2 The leading forecasting software packages available today for the leading personal computers. Call us now and pro/if from the integration between you, the discerning end-user, and NISS, the unequalled direct support service. NATIONAL INTEGRATED SOFTWARE SERVICES, INC. 1-800-52 5-SOFT In Colorado (303) 694-1994 8800 East Arapahoe Road, Englewood, Colorado, 80112 BY 10/82 V n riT! 86 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 271 on Inquiry card. SECURELY TOGETHER ERGONOMICALLY DESIGNED If you have an I.B.M. computer from their largest 3081 to their smallest Personal Computer, we have the right workstation for you. The Compucart is the first ergonomically designed, fully lockable, mobile computer/terminal workstation. The Compucart's ERGONOMIC design means that not only is the keyboard at the correct height for comfortable interactive entry, but it is adjustable both horizontally (back and forth) and vertically to accommodate both the user and the hardware. The design further means that the keyboard, the work and the screen are all in your comfortable LINE OF SIGHT. The Compucart is engineered to minimize fatigue and to improve the user-computer interface. ONLY the Compucart offers SECURITY by returning the computer to the closed position when not in use or running unattended, the double walled tambor door is closed and the whole workstation is secured with one lock. For a terminal user it means that you can comfortably step away from your desk while you are logged on and access to your terminal is restricted. The Compucart is mobile to allow multiple users to take full advantage of the multifunction features of modern computers and NETWORKS. Mobility also means BACKUP for a terminal or workstation that is down. The Compucart, even with all its features, requires minimum floor space (about 4 sq. ft.) and is the engineered workstation that suits both you and the hardware to conserve the human resource and keep your HARDWARE and SOFTWARE. ..SECURELY TOGETHER FOR YOU! _ , 201 North Rome Ave. P.O. Box 2095 Tampa, FL 33601-2095 CirC | e4 Ph. (813) 251-2431 (in Florida) Call Toll Free 1-800/237-9024 minals hooked to a third that acts as a receiver with an RS-232C port, which picks up broadcasts from a network of satellites and local microwaves and shows prices on the monitor screens of the other two Apples within 2 to 3 seconds of the time the prices appear on any floor. Certain types of infor- mation, such as advantageous trade differences, are automatically flagged and blink on the screen while the screen shows recommendations for action. The third machine, which is plugged to a color pen plotter for graphing, prints out data from the two terminals for analysis. About 95 percent of the software is custom pro- gramming that includes trends analysis, graphics, activity prompts, and electronic mail to all branches. This is combined with database soft- ware, electronic spreadsheets, and word processing to yield the final result. The system is, we believe, Unique and gives traders a distinct ad- vantage over counterparts by speed- ing identification of buy/sell oppor- tunities. Operations: The incorrect trading ticket is one of the more irritating occurrences in brokerage. Keypunch errors, an incorrect security price, or the wrong quote price can cause buy/sell orders to be rejected by service-bureau accounting. When this happens, the tickets must be reprocessed at a cost of $15 each. Because Wall Street works on very thin margins most of the time, this ex- tra cost quickly damages the bottom line. At Becker, "Cancels and Cor- rects" are always a potential problem because the firm serves as back office for so many other operations. Several thousand tickets pour through the brokerage department monthly. The best answer for such failures is to spot trends as soon as possible and then get to the source for correction and, if necessary, billing. With hand reprocessing, this was virtually im- possible to do. A relative novice in computers and proud holder of a PhD in French literature who works for our broker- age administration solved the reprocessing problem with four custom programs on an Apple. His first program, completed in seven long days, is in 1200 lines of BASIC. The menu-driven query system has a screen with a setup option for restart- ing each month, daily updates com- bining "Cancels and Corrects" for more than 300 offices, a dump routine to print current data to hard copy, a specific-records feature to select any office from the 300, an op- tion for new office entries, and a duplicate backup disk line to prevent loss of data. Each record gives count, date, office number, account number, number of trades, data verification, and an edit list. The program has 20 error codes for the most frequent failures. During the month, a clerk enters "Cancels and Fails" daily, a process that takes about two hours. At the end of the month, he hands the disk of information to the analyst, who processes it through three 50-line pro- grams that analyze the data several ways (e.g., by number of total com- pleted trades, by office, by account, and by error code). This system has proved to be a low-cost solution to tracking of failures — something that we could not justify because of cost The DS120 Terminal Controller makes your LA36 perform like a DECwriter® III. The Datasouth DS120 gives your DECwriter® II the high speed printing and versatile performance features of the DECwriter® III at only a frac- tion of the cost. The DS120 is a plug compatible replacement for your LA36 logic board which can be installed in minutes. Standard features include: • 165 cps bidirectional printing • Horizontal & Vertical Tabs • Page Length Selection • 110-4800 baud operation • 1000 character print buffer • X-on, X-off protocol • Self Test • RS232 interface • 20 mA Current Loop interface • Top of Form • Adjustable Margins • Double wide characters • Parity selection • Optional APL character set Over 5,000 DS120 units are now being used by customers ranging from the Fortune 500 to personal computing enthusiasts. In numerous instal- lations, entire networks of terminals have been upgraded to take advan- tage of today's higher speed data communications services. LSI microprocessor electronics and strict quality control en- sure dependable performance for years to come. When ser- vice is required, we will respond promptly and effec- tively. Best of all, we can de- liver immediately through our nationwide network of distributors. Just give us a call for all the details. data@@(A computer corporation 4216 Stuart Andrew Blvd. •Charlotte, North Carolina 28210* 704/523-8500 88 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 128 on Inquiry card. THE BEST GETS Available NOW! ComboPlus with Real-Time-Clock as shown Model MR-128SP Fully field upgradeable 64K-256K Parity Checked Memory Parallel Printer Port (IBM compatible) Real-Time-Clock (MS-DOS support standard, CPM/86 support available) Async Com. Port (IBM compatible) Other products available for IBM PC: 1) 2780/3780 Bisync Emulation package; 2) Advance Com. card - Async, Bisync, SDLC, HDLC; 3) Expansion parity memory - 64K-256K; 4) Disk++ (memory, Async & disk host adaptor; 5) Original Memory Combo; 6) Async Communication Card - (1 or 2 ports); 7) Wire Wrap Card (13.1 " X 4"); 8) Extender Card. Ask for AST products at your local Computerland stores. Circle 3 on inquiry card. R€S€RRCH INC. 2691 Richter Ave., Suite 104, Irvine, CA 92714 (714)540-1333 Dealer inquiries welcome Circle 327 on inquiry card. INCOME TAX ACCOUNTING "Quick jax has the finest software I've ever seen for the Accounting and Tax Professional. The programs are so well designed and supported, we had no start-up problems."— Ronald Braun, CP. A. 1040 TAX PROGRAM 995 • ALL MAJOR FORMS & SCHEDS. • PRINTS ON IRS FORMS. MULTI- PART FORMS, OR OVERLAYS. • INDIVIDUAL OR BATCH PROCESSING. • AUTOMATIC CARRY-FORWARD OF PRIOR YEAR DATA. • DIAGNOSTIC REPORTS. • LETTER OF INSTRUCTION. • AUTOMATIC CLIENT BILLING. • MAILING LISTS/LABELS & ENVELOPES. • UNLIMITED SUPPORTING SCHEDULES. Simple and easy to use! PLUS: P ROFORM A/TAX ORGANIZER STATE MODULES AVAILABLE TAX PLANNING DEPRECIATION SCHEDULE ALSO AVAILABLE: GENERAL LEDGER CLIENT WRITE-UP AFTER THE FACT PAYROLL AMORTIZATION SCHEDULE TIME AND BILLING ALL QUICK TAX PROGRAMS COME WITH ONE YEAR WARRANTY & SUPPORT. See your nearesi computer dealer. Or, call or write tor more information. Quick -Tax Software is available for Xerox 820, IBM, PC, Radio Shack, DEC, Vector Graphic, Northstar, and other CP/M based computers. CP/M it a registered trademarK of Digital Research, Inc. DEALER DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE. 319 Clawton St . Dept. bm S.I., N.Y.C., N.Y. 10306 (212) 351-6143 Ltd under manual reprocessing. This same "novice" shortly fol- lowed with a Visicalc application, transforming logarithmic to linear curves, which helped determine a sliding commission schedule for op- tions sold in our London office. He did his first iteration with a hand calculator and it took six hours. He used Visicalc for the first time on the second run and reduced his time to two hours. The remaining six itera- tions, also on Visicalc, were com- pleted in 20 minutes apiece. Becker's Puerto Rico security underwriting department uses Per- sonal File System and Personal Report for primary record keeping on client contacts. The three-man group in Puerto Rico maintains nine data fields, including the name of the Becker corporate-municipal person in charge of the account, the name of the Becker institutional security salesperson in charge, company name and address, client contact, an account-activity status code, a sales- presentation status code, and a sum- mary of all prior contacts. The sys- tem generates list sheets, priorities, and transactions for each member to follow up. More important, it records completed transactions by size and income earned and provides com- parative analysis over several years. Further, the group has adapted Visifile (another of the Visicorp series) to track expenses by client, in- cluding out-of-pocket and time allocations. Reports provide com- plete budget analysis. Visifile was chosen because its files can be used with Visicalc and Visiplot. Special analysis and projects: In the computer services group, the number of personnel in two cities — Chicago and New York — fluctuates between 180 and 200. This causes constant complications in budget tracking, project assignments, and hiring. Frankly, standard corporate reports are not frequent enough to allow for flexible planning and expense track- ing. In this regard, Visicalc has proved a blessing. A department analyst devised a multicolumn format that in- cludes name, position number, base salary, bonus percentage, bonus amount, and annualized direct com- pensation, which includes bonus, fiscal-year adjusted compensation if the person is a new-hire or turnover, actual direct compensation, and total compensation including benefits. This yields a 12-month figure, an ad- justed total personnel cost, broken down by individual, section, report- ing structure, and job title. I can monitor this report at my conve- nience, and that gives me much more control of total personnel costs. We adapted Visicalc further to do personnel staffing analysis. Hardware and software projects are listed by business area broken down by month of the year and man-months to com- pletion. Staff deployment is tracked over time and projected into the next fiscal year. When projects change, I see instantly the impact on the total department and have much more flexibility in moving personnel around the firm to give support. In the brokerage department, Visicalc has proved successful for portfolio analysis of prospective clients. Becker, unlike many Wall Street firms, does not serve the small investor and, for the most part, restricts its activities to clients who are "asset enhancers." These are suc- cessful people who have been building their portfolios for several years and are now looking for ways to maximize the yields from the in- vestments they have. Needless to say, in the 1970s and 1980s, with the volatility of the financial markets, high interest rates, and inflation and disinflation, enhancement of assets is not a simple exercise. Moreover, the kinds of financial investments that a person can purchase have exploded in number, and, of course, each has its own characteristics. The electronic spreadsheet is used to determine risk and payoff posi- tions, income flow, and tax status of changing mixes to yield dollar amounts of potential gains or losses on an investment. This is especially valuable in getting away from the usual recommendation of "we like the stock" to the more meaningful "if the recommendation works, you gain x dollars and your portfolio looks like this. If it does not work, you lose y 90 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Who says Accounting is simple? We do. Over 40,000 BPI account- ing systems have been put to use by almost every con- ceivable type of business. Why? Our soft- ware is simple to understand and easy to use, yet powerful enough to meet the needs of almost every business. Our accounting software systems have been proved again and again by people in all walks of life. And most of them had no previous computer experience. With some accounting software, if you have questions, getting answers can be difficult or even impossible. BPI Systems has a service department as close as your telephone. Questions about any of our products will be an- swered promptly and accurately. With- out a service charge to you. BPI Accounting Software is compatible with most microcomputers available today. In fact, our accounting systems are approved, distributed, and sold by almost all of the top computer manufacturers. Our General Accounting System may be all the accounting software you will ever need. If you have more specialized needs, you can choose any of our totally integrated systems including Ac counts Receivable, Payroll, Inventory Control, Job Cost, Accounts Pay able, and Profes- sional Time Accounting. Alone or in combination, they are the easiest to use business accounting systems available today. BPI Systems offers proven reliability backed by a customer service commit- ment second to none in the account- ing software industry. Ask for a demonstration by your computer dealer or write us for more information. You'll see jK^jjp^" that our software is simple to understand and easy to use. SIMPLY, THE MOST POWERFUL SOFTWARE IN BUSINESS. 3423 GUADALUPE/AUSTIN, TX 78705/5 1 2-454-280 1 Circle 53 on inquiry card. LINEAR CIRCUITS TL062 CP - 95 TLOWCN- 1.10 TLD84 - I 60 IAKTJ! - 7S LMX1'748 - .30 LM307 - X LM308 - .75 LM310 - 1 10 LM311 - .50 LM31B - .75 LM324 - 66 LM34B - .90 LF3S1 - .75 LF353 - 1 .25 LF3S5 - li6 LF356 - 1.35 LM35B - SO 4001 4002 4O06 4007 LM361 - 1.75 LM377 - 1 60 LM380- .95 LM382 - .80 LM383 - 2.50 LM336 ~ 1.40 LM387 - 1.25 LM333 - 1.00 LMS65 - .45 LM556- 85 ■ 585 - 3.50 747 - 50 CA759 - 1.7S LM1310 - 1.75 1456 - 80 145B - .50 LM1BDB - 1.7S LM2901 - .95 CAX18- 1.95 CA307B - 1.50 CA306O - 95 CA3086- .95 CA3140- 1.20 3900 - 45 4136 - .85 N5596A - 1.50 D6XQB - 1.75 B038CC - 3.90 THIS MONTHS SPECIALS RAM's 2114UI S1.65 4116-2 1.70 MK4802-J3-2KX8. 8.96 93L422 BIPOLAR . 5.95 4164-2-64K 9.95 2147 JMKXI STATIC 6.95 0 ISL Lo trollfirs J 7 ^ 29*00 1793 35.00 1795 , , 45.00 D765C .... 25.00 68000 L8. .$70.00 CRT Controllers TMS9927NL $ 9.95 6845 16,95 8275 16.95 SPECIALS GOOD THRU OCT. 1982 4015 4016 4017 4018 4019 4020 4021 4022 4023 4024 4025 4029 4030 4034 4035 4040 4042 4043 4044 4046 4047 4049 4050 4051 4052 4053 4066 4068 .25 4072 1 4076 4077 4081 4501 4506 4510 4511 4514 4515 4516 4518 4520 4539 4553 74C0O 74C02 74C08 74C10 74C14 74C20 74C32 74C74 74C76 74C85 74C86 ' 74C90 74C93 74C154 74C157 74C160 74C161 74C163 74C173 74C174 74C175 74C192 74C901 74C902 - 74C914 74C921 RAM'- 4164-2 21I4L-3 4116-3 4116-2 21L02-3 TMS3409 - MK4027-3 - MK4096-11 - 6116-3 TMS4050NL - MM52B0 2101 l Z6104-4 '- 5101E 2111AL 93L422 2.45 2.50 2.95 1.20 1.15 1.15 ROM': 2708 2716 * 5V 2732 2532 276*25 82S23 82S1T2 82S115 B2S123 825129 B2S130 3628A-3 AM9214C 8256-5 (74188A1 74S474 B.95 18.95 1.95 3.00 2.95 1.25 UART's AY5-1013 - 3.75 TR1602B - 3.95 - 8.95 CPU'S & SUPPORT CHIPS AMD 2901 6202 8212 8237 3242 8251 8255 2B0A CPU . 7BOAS10 280AP10 280 CTC A TMS9927NL B275 6845 6810 8.95 25.00 2.25 3.60 2.90 3.25 2.75 4.50 9.00 14.00 6.00 - 5.75 - 6.95 25.00 600 6.00 12.95 - 9.95 - 16.95 - 16.95 _ 2.50 CRYSTALS .000 1.579 18.432 * 20.000 1 5.000 6.000 6.144 8.000 Loco i 3 -° 2.000 ] 3 -5 18.432 I 4 0 S4.25 S3 50 10.000 ea. 18.000 CABLE GRAY, 28 gauge 26cond .607ft 40conrl .90/ fl 50 cona . 1 .00 TANTALUM CAPACITt 22UF 35V Bit 47UF35V 5-! .68UF35V 5't 1UF 20V 5/1 2 2UF20V B/l 3 3UF 20V 4/1 4.7UF35V 4/i 6.BUF35V 3'! 10UF 20V - ! 22UF10V - : 15UF 16V 3/: 30UF6V 5/1 33UF20V I 47UF 20V 68UF 10V ! 120UF6V i 200UF 20V I REGULATORS LM317T $1.75 723 S .50 340T-5, 6, 8. 9, 12, * 15,18or24V...$ ,85 LAS1412 + 12V 3AS3.9S. 78M05 4194D LM305G 320T 5.12, $ .35 $ .95 S .75 5or24 S .90 n olo^ l> \j i y i v DB25Pmale .. S2.75 DB25S female . , , 3.75 HOODS 1.25 74LS SERIES 74LS0O 20 74LS107 36 74LS01 74LS109 36 74LS221 74LS02 .23 74LS112 38 74LS240 74LS03 - .23 74LS113 45 _ 90 74LS114 55 74LS05 23 74LS123 60 74LS243 23 74LS124 1 25 74LS244 74LS09 25 74LS125 45 50 74LS10 23 74LS126 45 74LS247 75 74LS11 - ,25 74LS132 — .55 74LS24E 1 10 74LS12 - .25 74LS136 - ,45 68 74LS13 - .46 74LS137 - .95 74LS2S3 68 74LS14 - .40 74LS138 - .50 74LS257 68 74LS15 - .35 74LS139 - .52 74LS258 68 74LS20 — .23 74LSI51 - .38 1 40 74LS21 - .25 74LS153 - .40 74LS266 60 74LS22 - .25 74LS155 - .60 1 15 - 74LS26 - .35 74LS156 - .80 74LS279 48 74LS27 - .23 74LS157 - .45 74LS280 1 80 74LS28 - .46 74LS158 - ,4a 74LS283 85 74LS3Q - .22 74LS160 - .70 74LS290 75 74LS32 - .27 74LS161 _ 70 95 74LS37 - .30 74LS298 100 74LS38 - .X 74LS163 2 00 74LS164 80 74LS36S 80 74LS42 - .44 74LS165 - .80 74LS366 - .80 74LS47 - .65 74LS166 - .80 74LS367 - .58 74LS51 - .22 74LS169 1.75 74LS368 - .58 '74LS54 - .25 74LS170 - 1.50 74LS373 - 1.25 74LS73 - 35 74LS173 - .70 74LS374 - 1.25 74LS74 - .35 74LS174 - .45 74LS377 - 1.25 74LS75 - .35 74LSI75 - .40 74LS386 - .65 74LS76 - .45 74LS181 - 1.95 74LS390 - 1.30 74LS83 - .68 74LS190 - 80 74LS393 - (.30 74LS85 - .80 74LSJ91 - .80 74LS398 - 2.50 74LS86 - .40 74LS192 - .65 74LS670 - 1.60 74LS90 - .39 74LS193 - .65 74LS682 - 3.00 74LS92 - .50 74LS194 - 75 81LS97 -1.10 74LS93 - .50 74LS195 - .90 81LS98 - 1.10 74LS96 - .70 74LS196 - .85 8T26 - 1.25 25LS2569- .50 25LS253J -1.50 8T97 - .95 POSTAGE RATES ADD 10% FOR ORDERS UNDER $25.00 ADD 5% FOR ORDERS BETWEEN $25.00 AND $50.00 ADD 3% FOR ORDERS ABOVE $50,00 TERMS:FOB CAMBRIDGE, MASS. SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER. MINIMUM TELEPHONE. C.O.D. PURCHASE ORDER OR CHARGE $20,00 MINIMUM MAIL ORDER $5.00. SEND $.25 FOR OUR CATALOG FEATURING TRANSISTORS & RECTIFIERS. 145 HAMPSHIRE ST., CAMBRIDGE, MASS, 02139 SOLID ST> P.O. BOX 74 B SOMERVILLE, W .SS. 02143 TEL. (617) 547-7053 TOLL free 1-800-343-5230 FOR ORDERS ONLY SoP^SKna 1 ' Data-Vu™ lVs For Ttw r ..^ (A DBMS) by SEE TABLE BELOW FOR PIN NUMBER ) LINE PRINTER ( CENTRONICS BUS ) CONNECTOR -{2> GROUND * PIN USED 21 23 25 28 AND VALUE 128 64 32 16 SWITCH OFF 1 1 1 1 SWITCH ON 0 0 0 0 Figure 6: Switch detection in Models via the status lines of the Centronics port. This method is not recommended for wire runs longer than a few feet. Computer): Use the general-purpose input/output board described in the June and August 1982 issues of BYTE to drive up to 24 lines. Use either relays or optocouplers with each line. See the articles referenced for further details. Reading In Analog Signals Real-world quantities such as temperature and light intensity can be converted to electrical analogs (counterparts) such as voltage and resistance. Although I'll discuss this particular topic in more detail later, here are the general approaches: Method 1 (Color Computer): Read in an analog voltage of 0 V through 5 V by referencing it to ground and connecting the input to one of the four joystick channels, as shown in figure 3. Use JOYSTK(X) to get the input value in the form 0 through 63. Convert to the proper voltage or real- world equivalent. This method is good for conversions of dozens of times per second. See "Color Com- puter from A to D" in the December 1981 BYTE (page 134). For faster con- version speeds (up to 8K samples per second), see "Voice Synthesis for the Color Computer" in the February 1982 BYTE (page 258) for a high- speed Color Computer analog-to- digital converter. Lines to "current- driven" transducers may be hundreds of feet or more. Method 2 (Models I/HI): Build the analog-to-digital converter described in "Build a Joystick A-to-D Converter for the TRS-80 Model I or III," January 1982 BYTE (page 160). This 102 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Now I con get the information I need. From anywhere. Immediately. To do business, I need information from o lot of places. Sales figures from Cincinnati. Production costs from Philadelphia. Personnel levels from our ad- ministrative offices three blocks away. And — sometimes — I need up to the minute market prices from The Source . Whatever I need, I get it. Immediately. That means that I don't waste time waiting. And I don't have to make decisions based on old information. Even if it's just a day old. Information from anywhere. Immediately. With 1 UKOSXI ALK Crosstalk allows your CP/M or MS- DOS based computer system to ac- cess almost any dial-up computer, capture and store the data, and transfer files between any two Crosstalk systems with complete error checking. Even when disk for- mats are incompatible. To get your information, Crosstalk can automatically dial any dial-up system, capture on-line data for analysis off-line. Crosstalk saves you and your computers time. It saves you money. And, best of all, it gets you the information that you need, when you need it. Now available for IBM PC Microstuf.lnc. 1 845 The Exchange Suite 205 Atlanta, GA 30339 (404)952-0267 DEALER INQUIRES WELCOME CROSSTALK is a trademark of Microstuf , Inc. CP/M is a registered trademark of Digital Research Inc. The Source is a servicemark of Source Telecomputing, Corp. a subsidiary of The Readers Digest Association, Inc. M5-DOS is o trademark of Microsoft, Inc. Circle 256 on inquiry card. Circle 276 on inquiry card. personal computer UCSD p-System ™IV.1 A superior implementation of the UCSD p-SYSTEM is available NOW for your IBM Personal Computer. Network Consulting has added many features that the professional programmer will find useful. These features are not available from any other sources. • Hard disk support for Corvus, Tall Grass Technology and others • 25% more floppy storage, without adding or modifying hardware, retaining compat- ibility with standard IBM diskettes • Double sided and double sided/double tracking stepping floppy disk drive sup- port • Up to 800K on each mini-diskette • RAM disk support (a pseudo-floppy volume that uses up to 51 2k RAM) • 8086/87/88 macro assembler • Extended memory support • Adaptable system support available for adding custom I/O drivers • Remote Terminal support • XON/XOFF flow control for serial printers • A library of program modules and other utilities • Disk write verification • and more! Standard p-System features include: • Standard I/O redirection (including com- mand files) • Dynamic program overlays • Support for asynchronous processes and concurrency primitives in Pascal • Fast Pascal p-code compiler • Fast FORTRAN and Basic p-Code com- pilers also available • A powerful screen oriented editor • A filer for handling both files and volumes • A Native Code Generator that processes your Pascal, Fortran and Basic programs to convert parts of them to native machine code • Dynamic runtime binding of separately compiled programs and units • Turtlegraphics for easy graphics displays • Print spooler for background printing • Symbolic debugger USCD p-SYSTEM from Network Consulting The only serious choice for business TM The Regents of the University of California ' ,.. . : 5S INTERNAL ZENER DIODES (IN982 ) TO "REMOTE" PLUG TO " MOTOR ON" LOGIC N0RMALLY OPEN INTERNAL 5V RELAY RATING « 3/4 A -o FRONT VIEW CA5S0UT » > » • > i i i ik* ... ...u. .....t,. :„,_l„ SINGLE BOARD 512KB WITH RS232-C IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER MEMORY Designed Specifically for IBM's PERSONAL COMPUTER is Chrislin Industries newest CI-PCM+ and CI-PCM Memory Modules. • Pin-to-pin compatibility. • Full one year parts and labor warranty. • On-board parity with interrupt on parity error. CI-PCM without RS232-C 256K x 9 $475.00 • Off the shelf deliveries. • Addressable as a contiguous block in 64KB increments thru 1 megabyte. CI-PCM+ with RS232-C 512K x 9 $895.00 DON'T ASK WHY WE CHARGE SO LITTLE, ASK WHY THEY CHARGE SO MUCH. Chrislin Industries, Inc. 31352 Via Colinas • Westlake Village, CA 91362 • 213-991-2254 TWX 910-494-1253 (CHRISLIN WKVG) Circle 68 on inquiry card. 108 BYTE October 1982 processed to eliminate noise or bounce. In general, the greater the frequency, the shorter the lines must be. Use twisted-pair or shielded wire, and you can have lengths of 50 feet or more. Method 1 (Models I/III): The Model I cassette-tape input circuit takes a series of 500-bit-per-second (bps) pulses, rectifies them, and looks for the DC level at the proper time. It would be possible to input a range of pulses at about 500 to 2000 pulses per second and read them from the cas- sette port (255, bit 7). This method can also be applied with the Model III using the 500-bps circuitry, but it's best to use method 2 below, which is more reliable. Method 2 (Model III and Color Computer): The 1500-bps cassette logic uses a zero-crossing detector. The incoming waveform should be about 2 V to 4 V peak-to-peak and must go negative. AC coupling or a dual power supply comparator can be used to generate the waveform. See "Ports of Entry and Soft Breezes for the Color Computer and Model III" in the May 1982 issue of BYTE (page 162). The data is read by INP(255) AND 1 for the Model III or PEEK(&HFF20 AND 1) for the Color Computer. Method 3 (Color Computer): The Color Computer RS-232C port RD line can be used to input a string of pulses and can be read very rapidly by PEEK(&HFF22) AND 1. The waveform must be in quasi-RS-232C format (logic 0 greater than +3 V, logic 1 less than -3 V). See May 1982 BYTE. Method 4 (Models I/III): Use the four RS-232C input lines described under "Reading Switch Closures, Method 6" above. The waveform must be in standard RS-232C format. Method 5 (Models I/III, and Color Computer): Build the general-pur- pose input/output board referenced This person used to develop applications for the 8086/8088 market with the best of them. micRosvsTems Circle 352 on inquiry card. October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc 109 This person develops applications for the entire market, including the Z-80, 8080, 8086/8088, 6502, LSI-ll/PDP-11, 9900, and the M68000 with the best there is. The Universal tm Operating System.™ Why does this application developer look so happy, you may ask? Because, unlike others in his field, he's one of the smart ones. He uses the UCSD p- System™ from SofTech Microsystems. It's the first truly universal operating system ever developed. It lets him develop an awesome array of high-quality applications. And it's equally at home with an IBM PC, TRS-80™ Model II, Apple Hf Osborne 1™ TI Business System 200™ Zenith Z-89? Hewlett-Packard HP- 87™ Philips P-2000™ the new DEC Professionals™ or any other micro in the market. That makes our developer one of the elite. Because he'll never have to worry about locking himself into an operating system that will eventually lock him out of the market. A Universal Operating System. At last. Whether it's a Z-80, 8086/8088, M68000, 6502, or you name it, the p-System is portable across any popular microprocessor made any- where today. And we don't mean just at the source code level, either. We mean you can develop your pro- gram, on any machine, then compile to object code (p-code), and it's totally transportable. You get it done right the first time. Every time. For any machine. Now you can design for the whole market. Once and for all. The p-System actually enables you to broaden your customer base without significant reinvestment in programming, time and time again. Simply because it's the only OS that runs the same object code programs on all popular 8- and 16-bit microprocessors. No matter who makes them. No matter who uses them. 110 BYTE October 1982 Circle 353 on inquiry card. And that's only the beginning. There's more to the p- System philosophy Much more. Take programmer productivity, for example. We know how much work you put into programming, so we understand the importance of stream- lining that process. So we saw to it that the p- System allows you to reuse program components, time and time again. It's been our experience that as much as 50% of the code developed for one application can be reused on others. And you can also create your own library of utilities suited to solving your own unique problems. Try finding that on some other operating system. All the tools you need for the job. Any job. When you write your programs with the p- System, you can use any combination of UCSD Pascal?" FORTRAN -77 and BASIC. Each language operating effectively with the others. So you can finally take advantage of the best features of each language — in a single program. And you also get a complete, fully integrated set of software development tools to make your job even simpler. Naturally. Including a screen editor, macro assemblers, and a debugger, as well as add-ons such as TURTLEGRAPHICS, Native Code Generators, and even Print Spoolers. Our admirers have impeccable credentials. In case you wondered who else believes in our Universal Operating System, there's the fact that the p-System is licensed by most of the major hardware manufacturers around. Manufacturers like IBM, DEC, TI, HP, Commodore, Osborne, Philips, and Zenith. You know, all those "little guys!' And the p- System's reliability is well -documented. Has been since 1977. And this, coupled with the upward compatibility of source code programs, has given the p- System five years of proven, documented field testing. By the toughest critics in the business. Given all this, it's easy to see how your productivity can be enhanced. Now you can develop higher quality applications faster, less expen- sively, and more dependably than ever before. For a much larger market. All at the same time. All on one machine. All without worrying about some hardware enhancement limiting your business opportunities and leaving you with no other choice than peddling popcorn or ice cream on some lonely street corner. If you don't believe it just take a look at our Applications Catalog to prove it. At last, using the p- System, you can design programs once. Once and for all. I I i I hear you, SofTech Microsystems. Please send me a brochure on the p-System, the world's only Universal Operating System. And keep me off the streets. NAME Please send coupon to: SofTech Microsystems, 9494 Black Mountain Rd. San Diego, CA 92126, or call (714) 578-6105 B I TITLE COMPANY- ADDRESS. CITY _ STATE_ ZIP TELEPHONE^ _EXT._ UCSD p-System and UCSD Pascal are trademarks of the Regents of the University of California; Universal Operating System is a trademark of SofTech Microsystems; TRS-80 is a trademark of Tandy Corp.; Apple II is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc.; Osborne 1 is a trademark of Osborne Com- puter Corp.; Business System 200 is a trademark of Texas Instruments; Z -89 is a trademark of Zenith Corp.; II P-87 is a trademark of Hewlett Packard Inc.; ~-2000 is a trademark of Philips Electronics; and Professional is a trademark of Digital Equipment Corp. I I I Circle 354 on inquiry card. BYTE October 1982 111 Expand your IBM PC ^rr^ton, Ba M- Worth $100-00; ^ This otter expires soo n 1 soAUJ Add-In Winchester Disk System (PC) 2 's Add-In Winchester Disk System is housed within the IBM chassis and is easy to install directly into the floppy slot, reducing desktop space. Also available in 12 and 18 M Bytes capacity. When you order our PCM-100-2 our DS-DISK software is offered at no extra charge. Memory Expansion Board (PC) 2 's Expansion Board offers 4 TIMES the amount of memory offered by IBM. P.C. Configurations can be set at 64K, 128K, 192K and 256K Bytes. Board can be easily upgraded in 64K capacities. Upgradability is the key! Asynchronous Communications Controller 1 or 2 line capability on one card. Totally compatible with IBM software and diagnostics. Combination Memory/Asynchronous Controller Board (PC) 2 high capacity memories are combined on one board with single or double ported asynchronous communications controllers to create the (PC) 2 Combination Memory Expansion/ Asynchronous Controller Board. (PC) 2 Combo Boards are fully upgradeable in 64K increments up to the 256K byte board capacity and are configured with support for one or two RS-232C Ports. s 1895 00 For 6M Bytes As little as 53 1900 Larger quantity pricing is available. For further details call (PC) 2 Today. Phone or Write Now! (408) 749-9313 (PC) 2 , 510 Lawrence Expressway No. 678 Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Postage and Handling included within continental U.S.A. One year warranty on all board products. MasterCard, Visa, Checks and C.O.D. accepted. PLUG COMPATIBLES FOR PERSONAL COMPUTERS 112 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 422 on inquiry card. above. This provides up to 24 lines that may be read tens of thousands of times per second. Do not use long runs of cable unless using opto- isolators or current-driven schemes. Outputting Rapidly Changing On/Off Signals There are not as many common real-world applications for this topic, but I'll sketch some of the methods: Method 1 (Models I/III): Use the cassette output line to send square waves of up to 3kHz or so. Output is accomplished by OUT (255,1) fol- lowed by OUT (255,2) in BASIC or by equivalent assembly-language code. The waveform will swing be- tween 0 V and 1 V. Method 2 (Color Computer): The TD line of the Color Computer can be toggled on and off by writing alter- nate 0s and Is to address hexadecimal FF20, bit 1. The resultant waveform will be at standard RS-232C levels (-12 V and +12 V). Method 3 (Models I/III): Two RS- 232C signals in the Model I and five in the Model III can be toggled on and off. The TD line of the RS-232C can- not be toggled on and off except by outputting a predefined character. However, by repeatedly outputting a carefully chosen character and con- trolling the bps rate, you can generate a repeating on-off sequence of known frequency. The waveforms will be at standard RS-232C levels. See "Using the Model I/III RS-232C Port" in the July 1982 BYTE for details. Method 4 (Models I/III and Color Computer): Build a general -purpose input/output board, and you can tog- gle up to 24 separate lines tens of thousands of times per second. Out- put will be at TTL (transistor- transistor logic) levels and will swing between 0 V and about +4 V. Now that I've reviewed the possible interfacing methods, I'll present some data on specific devices and methods of measuring real-world quantities. I've tried to use only relatively com- mon devices here, ones that will not cost more than about $15. Most of them can be obtained at Radio Shack or a similar type of electronics parts store. I'll start with the simple ones and work up to the more exotic. A Complete Graphics epartment For Just $i 995 Realize day-in and day-out solid performance from a quiet and capable desktop plotter. It's true. For only $1995" the Houston Instrument HIPL0T™ DMP-29 will provide you with world-class multi-color hard copy graphics, and deliver a level of quality and perfor- mance that you would expect in a plotter costing three times as much. It's a hard worker. The DMP-29 goes about its job with amazing speed and precision. Unbeatable resolu- tion and repeatability are yours in both 8V2" x 11" and 11" x 17" formats, and 8-pen capability assures you of fast attention-free flexibility when multi-color output is required. High pen speed combined with an ad- dressable resolution of O.OOl" assures fast, accurate and stepless traces. It's friendly. You can call 21 different functions directly from the front-panel membrane keyboard. It's tolerant too. The DMP-29 will modestly protect itself from user errors, as when attempting to place a pen in an already occupied stall. And it's smart. An extensive set of firmware routines makes life easier for the user. A small sampling of the built-in talent inherent in the DMP-29 includes character generation, circle, arc and elipse synthesis, line type variations, viewport/windowing, clipping and scaling, For more information on the hard working, friendly and smart DMP-29 plotter, contact Houston Instrument, RO. Box 15720, Austin, Texas 78761. (512) 835-0900. For rush literature requests, outside Texas call toll free 1-800-531-5205. In Europe, contact Houston Instrument, Rochesterlaan 6, 8240 Gistel, Belgium. Telephone 059/27-74-45. BAU5CH . LOMB f U.S. Domestic price only 1 Trademark of Houston Instrument Circle 36 for literature. Circle 37 to have a representative call. 4P005 Need to Measure Your Corporate Communications? Want to define your company's image? Measure competitive strengths? Determine the acceptance of your company publications? Gauge reactions to your annual report? Determine the effectiveness of your corporate advertising? Monitor the impact of important trends and developments on your company's business? Call McGraw-Hill Research Backed by 30 years of research experience covering scores of markets and fields, McGraw-Hill Research professionals design custom projects that can make a big difference in the success of your corporate communications efforts. The Corporate Commu- nications Research Center will meet your research needs promptly, at a reasonable price. Put McGraw-Hill Research to work for you. HIS CONTRIBUTIONS WERE 114 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc For a quote or proposal, call Joan Bullen, Director-Corporate Communications Research Center at (212) 997-3517 or Eleanor Nicoletti, Project Director, at (212) 997-3095. Or, write Corpo- rate Communications Research Center, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 If it's a communications problem, we probably pioneered the solution. 16" LONG Figure 9: This Window Sensor device is a simple mercury switch that can be used to detect rotation in addition to security violations. Detecting Break-ins The first device I'll look at is the Radio Shack Window Sensor (part number 49-516) shown in figure 9. This is simply a mercury (I assume) switch mounted inside a disk. The device comes apart into two pieces; the back cover has sticky tape that can be used to stick the cover to a window or other smooth surface. The front section, containing the switch, can be rotated around the secured back to any position. The intended purpose of the device is to act as a window security sensor. The device is stuck to a window and rotated so that the switch is just off or just on. If the window is broken, or tapped hard, the switch will toggle as the device rolls or pitches forward or the mercury sloshes around. This device is somewhat simple- minded but can be made into a work- able roll indicator or level sensor as shown in figure 10. The advantages are that it's modular, comes with the backing, and is supplied with a short cable. A Vibration Detector The Window Sensor described above is really not very sensitive. Certainly, window breakage will set it off, but for sensing moderate vibra- tion, it is ineffective. Radio Shack's Mini Shock/Vibra- tion Detector (part number 49-521), Vol. llnsideApple no. 1 JL. JL Apple adds a whole new cast of characters. As you may already know, both the Apple* II and III can drive virtually every printer on the market. Regretfully, not every printer on the market can offer you the same level of service and support you'd expect from Apple. So the same kindly, com- petent dealer who healed your Apple overnight may have no idea how to fix your Samurai Ichiban daisywheel. Silentype a. a Dot Matrix. Letter Quality. (instead of the usual 30-35], it's the speediest letter quality printer in its price range. It also offers a full 130- character print wheel. [The current standard is a not- so-full 96 characters.} Plus varied pitches and spacing, form or linefeed, operation pause-seemingly unimportant talents until you ""^o&yslj discover your machine doesn't have them. Both the Apple Letter Quality and Dot Matrix printers come with self- teaching diskettes. So your Apple computer can tell you how to use your Apple printer. That's why we thought it would be nice, maybe even profitable, to offer a full line of printers that would look like Apples, last like Apples, with Apple warranties and Apple dealer service and Apple documentation. We even gave them Apple names: The new Apple Dot Matrix Printer. The new Apple Letter Quality Printer. And the new Apple Thermal Printer. (Which is really the old, reliable Silentype'") Taking it from the top, our 7x9 Apple Dot Matrix Printer is a superb machine for correspondence-quality printing. With exceptionally legible, fully-formed characters, it gives you a choice of eight different type sizes and five different fonts. It can also give you proportional spacing. Plus boldface printing, underlining, varied pitches, varied line spacing and more. With 144x160 dots per square inch, our Dot Matrix can put all kinds of high resolution graphics on paper— from bar charts and line graphs to digitized portraits. The Apple Letter Quality Printer, on the other hand, is the preferred machine for just that. In fact, for any word processing or data processing applications where graphics aren't a primary concern. For one thing, it lets you get the words out faster. At a blazing 40 cps (800) 538-9696 (California (800) 662-9238) Apple Computer Inc . Adverlismg and Promotion Depl . 20525 Mariam Ave „ Cuperlmo. CA 95014 Naturally, all our printers -including the sturdy, inexpensive Silentype™— are deliberately designed to take full advantage of all the advantages built into every Apple computer. The interfaces are clean, the electronics compatible. So you don't have to go peeking and poking to adapt print commands or parameters, or spend your summer vacation kluging an interface. Which is a lot more than we can say for the Samurai Ichiban. All of which should stimulate you, we hope, to see the newest Apples up close. They look good, even on paper. Circle 22 on inquiry card. BYTE October 1982 115 NORMALLY CLOSED, OPENS ON VIBRATION \ 0 ROTATED 50° ( CIRCUIT OPEN ) Figure 11: This vibration sensor is quite sensitive and, when sitting 36 inches away on a table, will detect a penny dropped from a height of 2 inches. Figure 10: The Window Sensor used as a roll indicator and as a water-level sensor. tive setting, it will detect a penny dropped from a height of 2 inches and landing 3 feet from the sensor; the sensor was secured to a wooden table in this test. In fact, that is fairly sensi- tive, and it would certainly make an excellent security sensor or earth- quake detector. If you care to experiment with this device and have a Color Computer, use 100 B = &HFF00 110 IF (PEEK(B) AND 1) = 0 THEN GOTO 110 120 SOUND 100,40:GOTO 110 however, is very sensitive. It is shown in figure 11. This device is designed to detect vibration from forced entry and tampering with the device itself. The figure gives a side view. The con- tacts are normally closed, but they open when vibration moves the device. The large mass of the upper contact gives it a great deal of inertia, and because it resists movement, the contacts open when vibrated or dis- turbed. How sensitive is it? (This sounds like a late evening talk show. . . .) The specs show settings for 1 to 21 grams as contact pressure. This is somewhat difficult to translate into practical effects, but at its most sensi- to read the right joystick switch and sound an alarm when the sensor breaks contact. The 80-times-per-sec- ond sample rate should detect every switch activation. Glass Reed Switches A glass reed switch is shown in figure 12. These switches are glass- enclosed magnetic reeds with axial leads. The contacts on the reeds close 116 October 3982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 424 on inquiry card. PER DOLL flFi It's true! The AVT-2 personal computer - fully Apple™ compatible - gives you more bytes per dollar than the market leader. Check the Specs . • Basic 64 K byte RAM memory upward expandable in 256 K byte cards to a maximum of four cards giving 1 M byte potential. • 6502 Central microprocessor. • 16 K byte ROM memory. • EPROM-resident software. • Composite B/W video output. • Optional board generator for PAL, NTSC or RGB color signal. • 40 col. x 24 line character display in B/W or color system. • B/W graphic display 280 x 192 or 280 x 160 with 4 text lines. • 16 Color graphic display 40 x 48 or 40 x 40 with 4 text lines. • 6 Color graphic display 280 x 192 or 280 x 160 with 4 text lines. • Full-feature detached keyboard with 65 keys and cursor steering. • Seven Apple™ compatible slots for plug-in peripherals. • Additional slot for color generation card, or programmable CTR control card or light pen interface card or 80 char, x 24 line generation card. • Double 5'/t inch floppy disk drives, optional. • Cassette and utility strobe output. • 4 Annunciator outputs. * The AVT-2 has a basic 64 K memory compared to 48 K of standard Apple II™. To find out how much cheaper the AVT-2 is, write or telex for a personal quote: AVT Trading A.G., Chamerstrasse 50, CH 6300 Zug, Switzerland. Telex 865267 GSAG. Apple and Apple II are trademarks of Apple Computer Inc. We are at Comdex Amsterdam, Booth 1226, from 8-11 nov.'82. Number of Magnets Close Distance (inches) %* % Open After Close Distance (inches) % m 1% Table 1: Open/close characteristics of a typical glass reed switch. -1/8" DIAMETER MAGNETIC REEDS SEPARATED BY 1/64" Figure 12: The magnetic reed switch can be used to detect a magnetic field and is effec- tive for sensing applications where physical contact cannot be made. j i i czr MAGNETIC REED SWITCH CH Figure 13: An example of magnetic-read-switch sensing. The model railroad car ac- tivates the reed switch as it passes over the device. when a magnetic field is brought near the switch. The switches are very in- expensive; Radio Shack sells a package of 10 for $1.98 (part number 275-1610). Glass reed switches can be used as detection devices when no physical contact is possible. A typical applica- tion, for example, might be detection of passage of a model railroad car, as shown in figure 13. Another good ex- ample would be measuring the rota- tional speed of a shaft by mounting a glass reed switch near the cir- cumference of a disk mounted on the shaft. A magnet mounted on the disk would actuate the switch when it passed nearby on every revolution. The number of revolutions could be easily counted by a computer with a built-in debounce circuit or software. The obvious question here is, just how sensitive is the reed switch? To answer that, I used Radio Shack ceramic magnets (part number 64-1875). These are rectangular magnets as shown in figure 14, which can be stacked together. They are not "super" magnets, but a garden vari- ety with a "lift force" of 1/8 pound. (A typical 6-inch bar magnet similar to the one you might have used in high school physics class has a lift force of about 1 pound.) The ceramic magnets are ferrite-based and very resistant to demagnetization. Table 1 shows the number of magnets required, the "close" distance, and the "open after close" distance for the reed switch described above. You can see that a reed switch/magnet combination could easily lend itself to a variety of computerized sensing applications, especially if a more powerful magnet were used. Of course, it's one thing to talk in generalities about what to do and quite another to do it. To prove to myself that it was feasible to measure rotational speed using reed switches, I rigged up the test setup shown in figure 15. A small DC motor drove a disk with two magnets, identical to the type I've been talking about. A reed switch was mounted about Vt inch away from the circumference of the disk. The program shown in listing 1 was then entered into the Color Computer after first performing a CLEAR 200,&H3EFF to protect the RAM (random-access read/write memory). This program is identical to the one in "Ports of Entry and Soft Breezes for the Color Computer and Model III" (May 1982 BYTE) except that (1) the joystick switch port is read instead of the cassette port; (2) you're looking for a 0 in place of the 1; and (3) a short time delay was introduced before execution to connect the switch leads. (You'll recall that the joystick switches share two of the keyboard rows; connecting the switch lead before execution creates spurious keyboard characters in the closed-switch state.) The program first asks for an inter- val and time delay parameters. An in- terval value of 16474 corresponds to about Vi second. A time delay of 20 milliseconds (ms) was used to de- bounce the switch closure. With the motor turning at 240 rpm (4 revolu- 118 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Display Manager The competitive edge in applications development. You can significantly reduce development time and provide better application programs with Display Manager from Digital Research. Display Manager lets you inter- actively design displays faster than ever before, and ensures that whatever features your CRT supports can be used by the program, automatically. Since Display Manager sup- ports most CRT attributes, including flashing, reverse video, underlining, and highlighting, your program is more dramatic and easier to use, no matter what CRT you use. You can even test a prototype application without a lot of costly and laborious coding. In short, Display Manager Circle 136 on inquiry card. !fl DIGITAL RESEARCH The creators of CP/M™ saves time, provides CRT independence and saves memory. Display Manager works with Digital Research's com- mercial programming languages, Pascal/MT+7 PL/I-80," and CB-80, 1 " the CBASIC Compiler. Combined with Display Manager, they add up to the most powerful pro- gramming packages you can buy. So try Display Manager, the advanced productivity tool that makes your CP/M compatible programs better than the competition's. For more information, call Digital Research, (408) 649-5500 or (408) 649-3896, or write to 160 Central Avenue, Pacific Grove, CA 93950. Europe Vector International Research Park B-3030 Leuven, Belgium, 32 (16) 20-24-96 Telex: 26202 VECTOR Far East Microsoftware Associates 6 Floor A.Y. Building, 3-2-2 Kitaaoyama Minato-ku, Tokyo 107, Japan, 03-403-2120 C1982. Dl»play Manage!, C Pa«al/MT + . CB-80 CBa™ PL/1-80, logo and tagline are of Digital Research Inc. Circle 153 on inquiry card. CHOOSE An Apple Desk A compact Bi-Level desk ideal for the Apple com- puter system. This 42" x 29'/!" desk comes with a shelf to hold two Apple disk drives. The top shelf for your TV or monitor and manuals can also have an optional paper slot to accomodate a printer. It is shown here with the optional Corvis shelf which will hold one Corvis disk drive. The Corvis shelf is avail- able on the 52" x 29'/i" version of the Apple desk. A Universal Micro Desk The Universal Micro desk accommodates the S-100 type microcomputers. The desk is available in four sizes: 17.75 inch, 19.06 inch, and 20.75 inch wide openings with 24 inch front-to-rear mounting space. The fourth size is a 20.75 inch wide opening with a 26.50 inch front-to-rear mounting space. A Mini Rack Mini racks and mini micro racks have standard vent- ing, cable cut outs and adjustable RETMA rails. Choose a stand alone bay or a 48", 60", or 72" desk model in a variety of colors and wood tones. A custom rack is available for the Cromemco. A Printer Stand The Universal printer stand fits the: Centronics 700's Dec LA 34 NEC Spinwriter Lear Siegler 300's Diablo 1600's & 2300' s T.I. 810 & 820 Okidata Slimline Anadex 9500's Delivery in days on most styles in stock. Dealers inquiries invited. ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS FURNITURE COMRflNy 17129 S. Kingsview Avenue Carson, California 90746 Telephone: (213)538-9601 -REED SWITCH ( MAGNET -OPERATES WHEN WITHIN 3/16" DOES NOT OPERATE WHEN SO ORIENTED Figure 14: A typical ceramic magnet can be used- to operate a reed switch or other devices. Ceramic magnets retain their magnetism well but are not powerful. Listing 1: This BASIC program incorporates machine-language code that is relocated to high memory to sense joystick switch inputs in the Color Computer. Switch debounce time and window time may be specified. 110 120 1 30 140 150 160 170 180 190 £00 210 220 225 230 240 250 260 270 DflTR DATA DflTR DflTR DflTR DflTR DflTR FOR I READ NEXT DEFUS INPUT FOR J POKE POKE R-USR B-B+P GOTO 1 90 > 63 , 250 , 1 6 , 1 42 , 0 > 0 > 43 ,31,31 16,77,43, 13, 182,255,00, 132, 1,38 242,49,33,141,7, 32 , 236 ,16,191, 63 254,57,52, 16, 198,63,252, 141,6,48 31 , 38, 259, ! 144,52, 16, 142,0, 111 48 ,31,38,252,174,100, 48 , 1 36 , 223 , 1 75 100,53, 144 *&H3F00 TO &H3F3E A 'POKE I,FI I R0=&H3F00 "INTERVAL, DELAY" .i I CDC =0 TO 30©0 'NEXT J &H3FFA, INK IC'256 '> > POKE &H3FFB, IC-1NK IC/25S >*256 &H3FFC, INK DC/256 ) > POKE &H3FFD, DC-INK DC'256 >*256 0 1 -, 0 > EEKC &H3FFE >*25S+PEEK< S.H3FFF > ' PRIHTB 250 120 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc How To Sell More Software s~r~ A one-day seminar on Writing User Manuals That Sell You know better user manuals sell more software, but how do you make better user manuals? How do you identify just the right details to motivate prospective users to buy? How do you organ- ize these details into a sequence that makes sense to first- time users while it provides ongoing reference to veterans? How do you format and package a manual so it's attractive enough to get attention yet clear enough to be readily understood? And, how do you do all this at a pace that keeps up with your product release schedule? This seminar has the answers. If you're an individual software author or a software company in the business of publishing or selling software, or if you'd like to be, you can benefit from this seminar. Unlike seminars that concentrate on the academic do's and don'ts of technical writing and formatting, this seminar gets down to the business value of the user manual as a marketing and sales tool that helps you get more users and keep them. Developed and conducted by software marketing professionals with over 50 years of collective expe- rience in writing software manuals for the commer- cial market, this seminar is loaded with facts and ideas on these subjects: Manual Design How to make content, organization, page layout, and document format work to your sales advantage without spending a fortune. Training vs. Reference. Can one manual do both? How to implement the techniques of tutorial writing into a well organized reference format that provides easy access for later questions. Packaging That Controls Point of Sale How to make your manuals work for you at the point of sale to help the dealer present your software in its most competitive light-both on the shelf and on the demonstration machine. Automated Manual Writing How to let the software document itself wherever possible, and how to use word processing systems effectively to obtain maximum value from automated publishing tools. Seminar Manual All attendants will receive a detailed "How To" manual on writing and pro- ducing user manuals for commercial use. Many past attendants have praised the manual and other handout materials as being worth the price of attendance by themselves. Schedule: October 5 October 7 October 19 October 21 New York Atlanta San Francisco Los Angeles November 2 November 4 November 1 6 November 1 8 Denver Seattle Dallas Chicago Only $145 With Our Guarantee Price includes lunch and materials. We offer a 1 0% discount for companies sending more than one person. Get Details Today! Space is limited so make your reservation now. Use the coupon to enroll now, or to get enrollment details, simply call Michele Keplinger (303)471-9875. PramptOac 833 West Colorado Avenue Colorado Springs. CO 80905 See our software ad in this issue. ® How To Enroll Please reserve seats in (city) . seminar on (date) . Please check appropriate items: _My check is enclosed for $ _You may charge $ _ to my Master Card account number Signature Names and Titles of Registrants: VISA_ which expires on 1 98 _ Company Name Mailing Address & Telephone- Tuition Refund Guarantee If you aren't satisfied this seminar is everything we say it is, just tell us in writing why you're dissatisfied, return the seminar manual, and we'll send you a full tuition refund. Ask About Our Other Services ( ) Send information on other seminar offerings ( ) Send information on in-house seminars ( ) Send information on the Prompt Doc® structured documentation service Send information on the Prompt Doc® Manual Maker software package ( ) BYTE October 1982 1 21 Circle 33 on inquiry card. Fancy Shmancy Elaborate microprocessor develop- ment systems cost a lot of money, and they can close off your engineering options by locking you into just one or two kinds of chips. Sound familiar? Well, read on-we've got a better idea. Use your desktop computer; anything that will run CP/M* is fine. With our microprocessor cross-assemblers you can produce software for eleven of the most popular chip families, and more are on the way. In two years on the market, our cross- assemblers have gained a reputation for quality, performance, and reliabili- ty. Hundreds of industrial R&D labs and several major semiconductor houses have found these products a fast, cost-effective way to develop their microprocessor software. We in- vite you to join them. CP/M CROSS-ASSEMBLERS Extremely fast absolute assemblers, running under CP/M. Generate object file (Intel hex or Motorola S-record for- mat) and listing from standard assem- bly language for the target processors listed. Features include comprehen- sive syntax checking, listing control, nested conditional assembly, and in- sertion of external source files. All ver- sions listed have been thoroughly field-tested and are available now. XASM05 6805 XASM09 6809 XASM18 1802 XASM48 8048/41 XASM51 8051 XASM65 6502 XASM68 6800/01 XASM75 NEC 7500 XASMF8 F8/3870 XASMZ8 Z8 XASM400 COP400 Assemblers $200.00 each except XASM75 $500.00 Visa and Mastercard accepted. We ship on 8" single-density and Softcard + 5.25" diskettes. Ask us about other formats. OEM INQUIRIES INVITED. ■ Trademark ol Digital Research \ + Trademark ol Microsoll y AVOCET jf~ SYSTEMS INC. 804 S. STATE ST.. DOVER. DEL. 19901 302-734-0151 . BY82 1.5-6 VDC MOTOR 1 1 HI 1 IK f t is 4 New K.ing St. 3198 Chestnut St. 555 Jackson St. 2990 West Lomita Blvd. White Plains, NY 10604 Philadelphia, PA 19101 Amherst, OH 44001 Torrance, CA 90505 (914) 428-6000 (215) 823-2000 (216) 988-9411 (213) 530-3400 i I 1. f\ l ' ' II l I J I L c_'!/Jll, / (ID i M L. , Automatix Inc. lvi ii^^n/il O 1 1 1 n i-n nine fur mausiriui s\uiomuies inc. J / s u\J \**UF riffle f Lfc: jterling-Uetroit Co. 217 Middlesex Turnpike 6123 West Mitchell of. Dteriing rieignts, lvii <±oU// 261 fcflsf Colaengate Burlington, MA 01803 Milwaukee, vvi d3zii Detroit, ml 48203 \0L/) Z/J-Qj'lU [J1JJ JOO-JdUU Binks Manufacturing Co. I.S.I. Manufacturing Inc. lR?f) Sunset Alio 9201 West Belmont Ave. 31915 Uroesoeck tiwy. L,Wflz>lilg, iVll rtoyX/ TPtprtmi'innfi} CnTYinratinyi X 'It ' In U.'UUH f LJ\J 1 Lit 1 L' M tranklin rark, IL 60131 eraser, Ml loVZo (517) 177-5150 (312) 671-3000 (313) 294-9500 DaZe, /A/ 47523 Prak Conveyors Jmc. (812) 937-4476 Cincinnati Milacron Manca Inc. Robot Division 4701 Marburg Ave. Leitz Building POB 2121 Cincinnati, OH 45209 Rockleigh, N] 07647 5QAA FT Yilrrr^yn l? A Oy't't c. IKUgore L\u. (513) 841-8100 (201) 767-1100 Kalamazoo, MI 49003 Shelter Rock Lane (616) 349-8761 Danhury, CT 06810 (203) 744-1800 OW/MtrIILj ltlL. A /T /~i fn /"i f rw^iz-ivnt-i rwi LVlUOUl K^UTfJUTUllUfl Kimrock Corporation 15645 Sturgeon 980 Buenos Ave. 1700 Rimrock Rd. Roseville, MI 48066 San Diego, CA 92110 Columbus, OH 43219 dli) 778-7220 (714) 275-4W0 (61 4) 477 -5Q7t5 The Micro Link 1200 features originate and answer capability. The Auto Link 1200 includes these features plus auto-answer. Both units are FCC certified for direct connection to the phone lines via a standard RJ11C phone jack and include RS232. Self Test, and a one year limited warranty. Take advantage of higher technology at lower cost. Call for full product specifications and today. Micro Link 1200 $449" Auto Link 1200 $549* 'Suggested list price, quantity one U.S. ROBOTICS INC. • Full duplex • 120 CPS over any standard phone line Microprocessor design has invaded the modem world. Our new 1200 baud modems pack Bell 212 compatibility into 10 integrated circuits by far the lowest parts count of any 212 modem available. The extremely low parts count translates directly into long life, outstanding reliability and low production costs savings passed on to you in a lower price. Circle 397 on Inquiry card. We created SCREEN MASTER™ for purely selfish motives. Basi- cally, we wanted to make our job easier and faster. After many man-years of effort, our systems re- searchers—collaborating with our application developers — created a Screen Management System with unprecedented data entry and display capabil- ities. Our application people were understandably posses- sive about SCREEN MASTER. But it worked so incredibly well we couldn't justify keep- ing it to ourselves. So we decided to make it available to programmers everywhere. SCREEN MASTER interfaces with all the popular programming languages (PL/1, PASCAL, C, FORTRAN), It also inter- to be independent of terminal type. You don't need to re- compile just to use a different terminal. For more information, fill in the coupon or contact your local ISE office. Developed by: Micro Data Base Systems, creators of SCREEN MASTER, MDBS, and other fine software products, one of the world's leading software R&D firms. Offered by: International Software Enterprises, an international consortium of the world's leading software and consulting firms, repre- Screen Management System 5,000pro- Introducing the faces with our state-of-the- ^ — ^ _ — • ^ fessionals that s so good we almost P s» tern, MDBS III. 5 "I" fgW r%llV££>llf£>C friendly tools for building That means that an I M\, H ^JH..!. Jylflj user-friendly applications, application developer MASTER automatically performs a vast range of integrity checking and data editing. HELP messages for each screen can be displayed with a single key stroke at any time during screen processing. The current screen is automatically re- stored after the HELP session. SCREEN MASTER is program- independent. Modification of screen layouts and characters can be made without recompiling any of the applica- tion programs. SCREEN MASTER is terminal-inde pendent. It allows all application software can at last end the productivity bottle- neck caused by other screen handling approaches. SCREEN MASTER allows one-time definition of frames which may be used in any number of window definitions. Once defined, a window may be used in any number of screens. And once a screen's defined, it may be used in any number of programs. SCREEN MASTER provides dictionary-driven control over color, intensity, blinking, prompting, editing, validating, positioning of screen ele- ments, etc. During data entry, SCREEN For more information, contact: ISE-USA— in the United States and Canada (312) 577-6800 ISE-PACTEL— in the United Kingdom and Ireland 01-828-7744 ISE-ADV/ORGA— in West Germany (041) 23 23 60/61 in Austria and Switzerland 01- 251-0270 ISE-CEGOS — in France 620-61-61 ISE-DATEMA— in Norway 02- 67-0880 in Sweden 08-834020 ISE-COLRUYT— in the Benelux countries 32-2-356-3880 ISE-TIETOTEHDAS— in Finland 0-5261. In the U.S. and Canada, contact: 1SE-USA 85 West Algonquin Road Suite 400 Arlington Heights, Illinois 60005 (312) 577-6800 Outside U.S. and Canada, contact your local ISE Representative or ISE-lnternational 350 West Sagamore Parkway West Lafayette, Indiana 47906 (317) 463-4561 5B402 Tell me more about SCREEN MASTER. Name. Title. Company- Address City _State_ _Zip_ Phone. My computer is:_ Processor Operating System. Programming Language- SCREEN MASTER and MDBS III are trademarks of MDBS, Inc. Application- Circle 206 on inquiry card. Visit us at Booth No. 3260 COMDEX show in Las Vegas Spot Tool Spray Assembly Welding Loading Foundry P ainting Line Other 35% 20% 15% 15% 10% 5% Table 2: The five major modern applications for robots. As the science progresses, robots will be used for a variety of industrial purposes, so the percentage of "other" uses will become larger. Photo 16: The Apprentice robot in action, welding a steel structure. material. Robots are especially suited for die casting because of the harsh environment that exists in a foundry. Welding is another area where robots have been used extensively. Photo 16 shows a Unimation Appren- tice arc welding. Good arc welding requires close control of the welding gun along the weld path. It is essential that both position and speed are con- trolled to obtain a uniform weld with no unnecessary metal buildup or blowholes. Robots provide the posi- tion and speed accuracy needed in arc welding as well as in spray painting. For spray painting, it is important that the robot be able to follow a predefined path in order to obtain a uniform coat of paint. For details of robot applications, see references 4 and 5. The Future All of the examples here are of robots that can follow only a specific set of instructions. They are not capable of receiving information about their surroundings and adapt- ing to changing conditions. In the next five years, advances will be made in the areas of sensor tech- nology and the application of intelli- gence to robotic systems, giving a robot the capability to respond to a variety of environmental situations. Specifically, advances in vision and artificial intelligence will allow robots to become more adaptable. At General Motors Research Lab- oratories, work is being done on a vision-based robot system that can recognize and pick up different- shaped objects moving on a conveyor belt. Advances in sensor technology will make proximity and tactile sen- sors commonplace on robots. Another issue that must be dealt with in the near future is the standardization of robotic sub- systems. Standardization should not limit new and innovative design but should allow for a common means of interfacing robots to computer-aided design/computer-aided manufactur- ing systems. We will certainly see ad- vances in robot-control languages, such as VAL, in the near future. ■ References 1. Asimov, I. /, Robot. New York: Fawcelt, 1978 (pap.). 2. Chen, W. Year of the Robot. Dilithium Press, 1981. 3. Dodd, G. and Rossol, L. (Eds.), Computer Vision and Sensor-based Robots. New York: Plenum Press, 1979. 4. Engelberger, J. Robotics in Practice — Management and Applications of In- dustrial Robots. New York: American Management, 1981. 5. Glorioso, R. and Osorio, Fernando C. Engineering Intelligent Systems: Con- cepts, Theory, and Applications. North Billerica, MA: Digital Press, 1980. $$ READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO SAVE MONEY $$ ALL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE FROM 10%-35% OFF! APPLE BUSINESS SOFTWARE Visicalc $189 Versaform $299 Supercalc $210 DB Master $185 DB Master Util. Pak 1 &2 $ 79 Format II $275 Pro Easywriter Combo ^ Accounting Plus II I Call INVOICE PLUS I for FMS-80,81,82 I Best dBASEII I Prices VISICORP Software / ★ THE LAST ONE* The program that writes programs! WE HAVE IT! Call Last One Manual $ 25 APPLE PERIPHERALS Thunderclock $125 Mountain Computer Prod. 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Prices subject to change Call to verily. Order hours 9-5 POT, Mon-Fri Personal checks allow 3D days to clear All products will) lull manufacturer's war- ranty, lactory sealed. C alii . residents add 6% sates COMPUTER SYSTEMS Xerox 820 Computer Call Xerox Peripherals Call MONITORS NEC Hi-Res 12" Green $129 NEC RGB 12" Color $995 Sanyo Monitors Call Amdek Monitors Call MISCELLANEOUS Micro Sci Drives Call 16-Bit Apple Card Call TG Joysticks/Paddles Call ABT Keypads $ 99 System Saver Fan $ 77 JOMMUNI INC. 1400 GRANT AVE. / NOVATO, CALIFORNIA 94947 IMMEDIATE DELIVERY PHONE ORDERS CALL COLLECT 415-892-7139 or 415-897-1414 142 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 76 on inquiry card. INTRODUCING MORE REASONS FOR TRYING CONTROL DATA FLEXIBLE DISKS RIGHT NOW. 2 FREE IN EVERY BOX. Now you have two more reasons to try Control Data flexible disks. IWo free disks in every specially labeled box of 10 be- ginning July 1st. That's 12 disks, or 20% more in every box. 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Suntex Data Supplies 713/783-5270 San Antonio, Bull's I Data 512/656-6367 San Antonio, Transcontinental Dtshlb. 572/824-0781 UTAH Salt Lake City, Rebel Enterprises, Inc. 801/261-3300 VIRGINIA Fairfax, Data Research Associates 703/385-3414 WASHINGTON Kent, Western Paper Company 206/251-5300 Pasco, Western Paper Company 509/547-1633 CONTRPL DATA Circle 107 on Inquiry card. YOUR PROGRAM HERE j 144 BYTE October 1982 The best software for the IBM Personal Computer. Could it be yours? Attention, all programmers. Here's a chance to reach the top. If you've written software that's completed and runs on the IBM Personal Computer, we could be interested in publishing it. (We also could be interested if it runs on another computer. If we select your software, we'll ask you to adapt it to our system.) But be advised. Our expectations are great. Because the software we publish must be good enough to complement IBM Personal Computer hardware. In fact, the more you take advantage of all our hardware capabilities (see the box at right), the more interested in your software we become. Think about incorporating color graphics into your program, for example. Use sound. Consider the power of our keyboard and remember to utilize the ten programmable function keys. In all cases, we're interested in "friendly" software — with emphasis on quality and wide appeal. Programs with the greatest chance of being published must be easy to use, offer a better way to accomplish a task and provide something special to the user. What kinds of programs? All kinds. Education. Entertainment. Personal finance. Data management. Self improvement Games. Communications. And yes, business. We select programs that will make the IBM Personal Computer an even more useful tool for modern times. r IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER SPECIFICATIONS 1 User Memory 16K-512K bytes* Microprocessor 16-bit, 8088* Auxiliary Memory 2 optional internal Display Screen High-resolution* 80 characters x 25 lines Upper and lower case Green phosphor screen* Operating Systems diskette drives,5!4", DOS, UCSD-p System 160K bytes or 320K bytes per diskette Keyboard 83 keys, 6 ft. cord attaches to system unit* 10 function keys* 10-key numeric pad Tactile feedback* Diagnostics Power-on self testing Parity checking* Permanent Memory (ROM) 40K bytes* Color/Graphics Text mode. 16 colors* 256 characters and symbols in ROM* Graphics mode: 4-color resolution: 320hx200v* Black & white resolution: 640h x 200v* Simultaneous graphics & text capability Communications RS-232-C interface 12 character styles, up to Asynchronous (start/stop) 132 characters/line* protocol 9x9 character matrix * Up to 9600 bits per second CP/M-86t Languages BASIC, Pascal, FORTRAN MACRO Assembler, COBOL Printer Bidirectional* 80 characters/second L. ♦ADVANCED features for personal computers .J So, if you think your software is the best, consider submitting it. If it's accepted, we'll take care of the publishing, the marketing and the distribution. All you have to do is reap the benefits of our new royalty terms. And you're free to market your program elsewhere at any time even if you license it to us. We're offering the ladder. Think about taking the first step. For information on how to submit your program, write: IBM Personal Computer, External Submissions, ml Dept. 765 PC, Armonk, New York 10504. ===. =* The IBM Personal Computer A tool for modern times For an authorized IBM Personal Computer dealer near you (or information from IBM about quantity purchases) call 800-447-4700. In Illinois, 800-322-4400. In Alaska or Hawaii, 800-447-0890, fUCSD p-System is a trademark of the Regents of the University of California. CP/M-86 is a trademark of Digital Research, Inc. Circle 189 on inquiry card. BYTE October 1982 145 Marketplace Robert Dickinson POB 3004 Thousand Oaks, CA 91362 If you've always suspected that you have the kind of entrepreneurial talent that could have launched the Pet Rock, this may be the game for you. Called Marketplace, it gives you the opportunity to test your managerial expertise in a simulated business environment. Marketplace is different in that it is a telecomputing game. I wrote the program for two TRS-80 Model Ills with 48K bytes of RAM (random- access read/write memory), each with RS-232C interface boards, modems, and disk BASIC. Two players can play over the phone or hardwire two Model Ills together via RS-232C ports. Because most of the game is written in BASIC, you can rewrite the pro- gram to run on one computer only, in which case the players can take turns at the keyboard. I find, however, that playing the game over the phone adds an interesting dimension. Game Description In Marketplace you assume your place as general manager (GM) of a company. Your company is one of two that produce a high-technology product. Naturally, the firms com- pete directly with each other for the same market. Your success as a manager is measured by the amount of cash your company has on hand (retained earnings) at the end of a given time period. Years and quarters of years are the standard units of time. If the competition's retained earnings are greater at the end of a given period, you will be ousted by the shareholders. (Cruel, but true; remember, we promised realism.) Several conditions are given. The demand for your product is quite seasonal, but the seasonally adjusted demand seems to be increasing stead- ily. The buyers in your market are very sophisticated; they base their decisions to buy or not to buy the product on the level of technology it provides as well as its purchase price. Product technology (determined by the program) divided by the price equals the cost/benefit ratio (CBR) of the product. If your CBR is better than your competitor's, you will sell more of your product. The public, which responds emotionally to your company's reputation in the marketplace, will buy or pass by your product in accordance with that reputation. The market share for each company is determined by the tech- nological sophistication of the pro- duct, its selling price, and the com- petitor's reputation. (The exact inter- relationship is given later.) Your company has a very good — in fact, infallible — market research staff. Each quarter the staff provides the following data on your competi- tion: product technology, market reputation, demand, units sold, unit price, and retained earnings. But 146 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc while the members of your market research staff are skilled at reporting what happened last quarter, they are completely incompetent at predicting what may happen next quarter. To spare themselves such humiliation, they have categorically refused to try to predict the future. In addition to a market research staff, your company boasts a product technology research and development (R&D) staff, a manufacturing technology R&D staff, and an adver- tising department. The product technology R&D group, which is responsible for improving the pro- duct, does its job reasonably well. Still, R&D is at best a risky enter- prise; spending money on it does not always yield results. In fact, the ef- forts of this group seem to result in in- creased technology only 25 percent of the time. Success is a mixed blessing because improved product technology brings with it the company's inevitable (and expensive) expansion. Of course, it costs money to upgrade the manufac- turing facility. And any inventory on hand becomes practically worthless when the new product goes into pro- duction (the inventory is generally sold for surplus at 10 percent of its former market value). Finally, it costs more to make the new and improved product. But (lest you forget) this is a cutthroat business, and your com- pany must remain competitive. The manufacturing technology R&D group explores new production techniques and processes in an at- tempt to control production costs, which increase every quarter due to inflation. As competent as the prod- uct R&D group, the manufacturing group yields results about 25 percent of the time. When a new process is developed and then implemented, manufacturing costs drop. Still, to upgrade the manufacturing facility costs money. The product, however, remains the same, so there are no adverse effects on the inventory. The advertising group spends its budget trying to convince potential buyers that your company is great and your product is worth buying. They are moderately successful, again yielding results about 25 per- cent of the time. Advertising expen- ditures do not affect any other revenues, but they do deplete your re- tained earnings. As general manager you are re- quired to perform several duties at the beginning of each quarter. You set the production lot size; determine the budgets for the product technology R&D, manufacturing R&D, and ad- vertising departments; and fix the Marketplace consists of three programs: two In BASIC and one In machine language. selling price for the product. The sell- ing price must take into account the variable production costs per unit and the fixed costs associated with doing business; of course, both in- crease constantly as a result of infla- tion. In addition, if the product R&D or the manufacturing R&D groups have improved their respective tech- nologies, you as general manager must decide whether you should up- grade your facility to take advantage of these new technologies. Game Quantification Now let's fill in the areas where numeric values are required by look- ing at Marketplace's output displays and input prompts. The first value to be quantified is the degree of difficul- ty of the game. The Task Manager program will prompt for this value immediately after the communica- tions link is established. A level of difficulty of 4 evens up differences in skill levels between the players. An 8 turns minor differences into for- midable advantages for a more ex- perienced player. A 7 makes for a good "hardball" game. Table 1 shows a quarterly report display from the Marketplace pro- gram. Each column contains two rows of numbers. The lower row of values is your competition's parameters and is therefore in- complete. The first value shown under the PROD TECH heading is the current technology of the product you are marketing. It begins at 1.0 and typically increases to about 1.6 after a simulated 10 years of play. The sec- ond value shown is the technology available, which increases when you spend money in $100,000 increments on product R&D. (There is a proba- bility of 0.25 that any $100,000 incre- ment will increase the available technology by 0.1.) The value shown on the second row under PROD TECH is the competition's current product technology. You do not know the competition's available technology. The values shown under the MFG TECH heading are the current and available manufacturing technol- ogies, respectively. As with PROD TECH, this value starts at 1.0 and will increase to about 1.6 after 10 years of play {simulated years, that is). The available technology in- creases when you spend money in $100,000 increments on manufactur- ing R&D. (Again, there is a probabili- ty of 0.25 that any $100,000 incre- ment will increase the available tech- nology by 0.1.) You are not aware of the competition's manufacturing technology. MKT is the value of your reputa- tion in the marketplace. It starts at 0.5 and will increase to a maximum of 1.0. This value increases when you spend money in $100,000 increments on advertising. (For every $100,000 increment you spend, there is a 0.25 probability that your market reputa- tion will increase by 0.05.) The sec- ond row of the display is the competi- tion's market reputation. DEMAND displays your and the competition's demand for the pro- duct. SOLD contains information October 1982 © BYTE Publications lnc 147 RESULTS FOR YEAR: 1 QUARTERN MARKETPLACE VER 1 .1(M) PROD TECH MFGTECH MKT DEMAND SOLD COST PRICE 10 10 1.0 1.0 0.50 100 100 2500 3000 1.0 0.50 100 100 3000 INVENTORY RET EARN PROD R&D MFGR&D ADVERT FIXED COST 0 1500.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 65.0 Table 1: A Marketplace quarterly report. The values in the first row beneath the headings are the parameters for your company. The second row contains your com- petitor's parameters. The dual values under PROD TECH and MFG TECH are, respectively, the current technology used and the technology available. MKT is the market reputation. COST and PRICE are in dollars per unit. RET EARN, PROD R&D, MFG R&D, ADVERT, and FIXED COST are all in thousands of dollars. about the number of units you and the competition were actually able to sell. Marketplace is set up so that you will sell everything you can — that in- cludes units manufactured during the quarter as well as units in inventory. If you overproduce, the surplus goes into inventory. The only way you can affect the DEMAND is via the product technology and market- reputation factors. Units SOLD are all units available plus production. COST, the last quarter's variable manufacturing cost per unit, is ex- pressed in dollars and adjusted for in- flation every quarter. It may be decreased by 10 percent for every 0.1 increase in the manufacturing tech- nology you use. COST is increased by 5 percent for every 0.1 increase in the product technology used. The competition's manufacturing cost is not available to you. PRICE, the selling price of your and the competition's product in the marketplace last quarter, is expressed in dollars. It is input via a Market- place prompt every quarter and is unaffected by any other parameters. If you bring a new product technol- ogy on line, any units in the inven- tory are sold for 10 percent of that price. INVENTORY is the number of units you had on hand at the end of the last quarter. This value is affected by production, sales, and product- technology upgrades. RET EARN, your company's re- tained earnings balance, is expressed in thousands of dollars (i.e., $100,000 is displayed as 100.0). This value is the net result of all activity within the company; it is a cumulative amount. The next three headings — PROD R&D, MFG R&D, and ADVERT - are the amounts expended last quarter for these functions (also in thousands of dollars). You are, of course, not privy to the competition's budgets. FIXED COST, the cost of operating the company whether or not any units are manufactured, is not within your control. You and your com- petitor have the same fixed costs, which increase as a result of inflation each quarter. Listing 1 shows Marketplace prompts. Marketplace first checks to make sure there is sufficient cash on hand to meet the fixed costs, then deducts these costs from your re- tained earnings. There are no prompts for this process. If you have improved the product technology available through R&D, Marketplace prompts for the amount you want to upgrade. (Don't forget that changes to the product require that you invest retained earnings to upgrade the manufacturing facility.) Similarly, if you have improved the available manufacturing technology, you will be prompted for the amount you want to upgrade, which again re- quires an investment of capital to im- prove the manufacturing line. A zero -.2 09^ \ 4 °l' 148 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 333 on inquiry card. mm op feacuRes makes the LNWSfc a QUALITY CONSTRl A GALAXY of features .makes the LN.W80 a QUALITY CONSTRUCTION - Instrumenta- remarkable„ computer. As you explore the tton quality construction sets LNW80 com; LNW80, y:ou will find the most complete, puters apart from ail the rest. Integrated into powerful, ready to run, feature-packed per- , fhe sleek solid steel case of the LNW80 is a sonal and business computer ever made into professional 74-key expanded keyboard that one compact'solid unit. t * includes a twelve key numeric keypad. HIG.H RESOLUTION GRAPHICS& COLOR- The stunning 480 X 1 92 resolution gives you total display control - in color or black and white. The choice of display formats is yours; 80, 64, 40 and 32 columns by 24 or 1 6 lines in - any combination of eight colors. PERFORMANCE - Lift-off with- a 4MHz Z80A CPU for twice the performance. The LNW80 outperforms all computers in its class. MODEL I COMPATIBILITY - The LNW80 is fully hardware and software compatible with the Model I. Select from a universeof hardware accessories and software - from VisiCalc 8 ' to space games, your LNW80 will launch you into a new world of computing. • * ' ' Jit FULLY LOADED - A full payload includes an on-board single and double density disk controller for 5 W'Jfnd 8" single or double sided disk drives. RS2-32C communications port, cassette and parallel printer interfaces are standard features and ready to go. All memory is fully installed - 48K RAM," 16K graphics RAM and 12K ROM complete with Microsoft BASIC. down to earth price won't send you into LNW Research Corp. ,.2G2l>"WAlM'FT Tustin. CA. 32680 (7U) (5-11-8850 (711)544-5744 Monitor and Drsk'dnvos noPtncludad TM Personal Seftware. Inc. 1 " Circle 221 on inquiry card. BYTE October 1982 1 49 Pnct fnr p,nct fnr uUOl IUI run 1 1 nai iyc Mani if^pti irinn 1 InnraHp lvi cu i u i cio lu i ii ly ufjyi ouc P < = 0.2 $300,000 $250,000 0.2 < P< = 0.5 $800,000 $800,000 P > 0.5 $1,500,000 $1,000,000 Table 2: Costs required to upgrade the product and manufacturing technologies. When the product technology is upgraded, any inventory on hand is sold for 10 per- cent of the last quarter's market price. Listing 1: Marketplace prompt sequence. All entries are checked for gross errors and displayed for the players' approval. If a player rejects any of the values, the program loops back and starts the input prompt sequence again. INPUT VALUES FOR QUARTER 4 PRODUCT TECHNOLOGY POINTS AVAILABLE .2 POINTS TO UPGRADE? .1 INVENTORY SOLD FOR 10% OF MARKET VALUE MANUFACTURING POINTS AVAILABLE .2 POINTS TO UPGRADE? . 1 NEW MFG COST: 2363 MAXIMUM LOT SIZE 375 LOT SIZE ? 200 RETAINED EARNINGS: 412.5 PRODUCT R&D BUDGET (IN $000)? 100 MANUFACTURING R&D BUDGET (IN $000)? 100 ADVERTISING BUDGET (IN $000)? 100 SELLING PRICE? 3500 MSG TO OPPONENT? SAMPLE MESSAGE PARAMETERS FOR THIS QUARTER LOT SIZE: 200 PRODUCT R&D BUDGET: 100.0 MFG R&D BUDGET: 100.0 ADVERTISING BUDGET: 100.0 SELLING PRICE: 3500 MSG: SAMPLE MESSAGE VALUES OK (Y/N)? Y response to either prompt, which is acceptable, results in no upgrade. (Table 2 shows the cost schedule for both product and manufacturing technology upgrading.) The max- imum lot size, based on remaining funds, is then computed and displayed as an aid for your decision- making. Next, Marketplace prompts you for LOT SIZE. You may manufacture no units or up to the maximum lot size at any time. RE- TAINED EARNINGS is then dis- played so that you will know how much money you have left to fund the product, manufacturing, and advertising budgets for this quarter. Zero is an acceptable value for any of these items. Marketplace will prompt for the product R&D budget in thousands of dollars. Remember: the program will only accept amounts in $100,000 incre- ments. You may input a 1 ($1000) and Marketplace will spend it, but nothing else will happen. Similarly, if you enter 101 ($101,000), the extra $1000 will have no effect. Market- place will prompt for the manufactur- ing R&D and advertising budgets and spend the money according to the same algorithm as for product technology. SELLING PRICE is next. This is the price per unit, or value of your product in the marketplace, and it is expressed in dollars (not thousands). Marketplace places one restriction on this value: it can't be zero (if you get a "divide by zero" er- ror, the program dies). Otherwise, sell your product for the price you want. (Hint: don't forget that the cost displayed under COST in the quarter- ly report is only the variable cost; your price should be marked up enough to cover the FIXED COST as well.) The last prompt is for a message to your competition. If you have nothing to say, just hit ENTER. After you have quantified these values, Marketplace will feed back your inputs for you to check. If all values are acceptable, input a Y and wait for the next cycle of the game. Game Play Marketplace consists of three pro- grams: two in BASIC and one in machine language. Both BASIC pro- grams provide identical interfaces to the player, although they function rather differently. One program is the overall Task Manager. The other pro- gram, the Slave, is primarily a book- keeper and interface to the other player. The communications equip- ment and technique used determine which player runs which BASIC pro- gram. If the players communicate via modem, the player with the modem operating in answer mode should run the Task Manager program. Both modems must be operated in the full- duplex mode. If both players have modems with answer-mode capabili- ty, you can arbitrarily decide which computer will originate data. If you plan on hardwiring the Model Ills (RS-232C to RS-232C), you may also make an arbitrary decision. The player who runs the Task Manager loads and starts the program (listing 2 is a copy of the screen display for the entire dialogue). 150 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc lUUlfllitirtii. HlUflj MUKW.! How to chart your company's fortune without spending one It's a fact. A single chart or graph can tell you instantly what it takes hours to interpret from printouts or other raw data. Now, with the Strobe 100 Graphics Plotter and Software package, you can create superb hardcopy graphics directly from your computer. And you can do it for a fraction of the cost of most other systems. The Strobe System transforms complex data into dynamic, colorful visuals with a few simple commands from your computer. Charts and transparen- cies that once took hours to pro- duce are plotted within minutes. Information can be presented as bar charts, pie charts, curves or isometrics in a variety of colors. And with a resolution of 500 points per inch, the Strobe 100 matches or surpasses the quality of plotters costing thousands of dollars more. You can also save and modify your graphics through Strobe's menu-driven programs. A broad selection of software — including a VisiCalc* -compatible program — is now available. When the Strobe Graphics System is interfaced to your computer, an 8-1/2 x 1 1 inch sheet of paper can speak any- one's language — visually. Visit your local dealer and learn how to start charting your for- tunes today. Because a perspective on the present can also be your window on the future. o vSTROBEy Strobe Inc. 897- 5A Independence Avenue Mountain View, CA 94043 Telephone 415/969-5130 The Strobe Graphics System c e 69 n Seeing is believing 'VisiCalc is a trademark of VisiCorp. Big sale onlCsl 16K.. .$149.95 32K... $199.95 48K... $249.95 64K... $299.95 New JAWS-IB The Ultrabyte Memory Board Due to the tremendous success of our JAWS I, we were able to make a special purchase of first-quality components at below-cost prices for JAWS-IB. And we are sharing our cost saving with you. But don't be surprised if the next time you see this ad the prices have gone up substantially. Better yet, order now, and get the best memory on the market at the best price on the market. ONE CHIP DOES IT ALL laws-IB is the Rolls-Royce of all the S100 dynamic boards. Its heart is Inters single chip 64K dynamic RAM controller. Eliminates high-current logic parts . . delay lines . . . massive heat sinks . . . unreliable trick circuits. JAWS-IB solves all these problems. LOOK WHAT JAWS-IB OFFERS YOU Hidden refresh . . . fast performance . . . low power consumption . . . latched data outputs . . . 200 NS 4116 RAM's . . . on-board crystal . . . RAM Jumper selectable on 8K boundaries . . . fully socketed . . . solder mask on both sides of board . . . phantom line . . . designed for 8080, 8085, and Z80 bus signals . . . works in Explorer, Sol, Horizon, as well as all other well-designed S100 computers. io-uiv MONEY-BACK TRIAL: Try a lull v wired and lesled board lor lodays— Ihen either keep II. relurn II for kit, or simply return It In wnrklng condition. Continental U.S.A. Credit Card Buyers Outside Connecticut: TO ORDER CALL TOLL FREE 800-243-7428 From Connecticut Or For Assistance: (203) 354-9375 Please send (he items checked below: JAWS-IB kit: □ 16K $149.95* □ 32K $199.95* □ 48K $249.95* □ 64K $299.95* JAWS-IB Fully Assembled, Wired & Tested: □ 16K $179.95* □ 32K $239.95* □ 48K $299.95* □ 64K $359.95* □ EXPANSION KIT, 16K RAM Module, to expand JAWS-IB in 16K blocks up to 64K. $59.95 Ail prices plus $2 posloee and insurance ($4.00 Canada). Connecticut residents add soles tax. Total enclosed: $ □ Personal Check □ Money Order or Cashier's Check □ VISA □ Master Card (Bank No. ) Accl. No. _ Signature . Print Name Address - _ Exp. Date . City State I5v _Zip . NETRONICS R&D Ltd. 333 Litchfield Road, New Milford, CT 067761 Listing 2: Initial input required to load and run the Task Manager program. Note that the memory size is set to 65000 to save space for the assembly-language communica- tions routines. If you are using a "smart modem" you must set it before running this program. TRSDOS Ready BASIC How Many Files? Memory Size? 65000 TRS-80 Model III Disk BASIC Rev 1.3 (c)(p) 1980 by Tandy Corp. All Rights Reserved. Created 5-Jul-80 37,671 Free Bytes 3 Files READY >RUN "MARKETTM/BAS NEED TERMINAL EMULATOR FOR COMMUNICATIONS LINK? (CURSOR WILL DISAPPEAR, 'BREAK' RETURNS HERE)?N TRYING FOR COMMUNICATIONS LINK TRYING FOR COMMUNICATIONS LINK Listing 3: Initial input required to load and run the Slave program. As with the Task Manager program, memory size must be set to 65000. Again, you must set a smart modem before running this program. TRSDOS Ready BASIC How Many Files? Memory Size? 65000 TRS-80 Model III Disk BASIC Rev 1.3 (c)(p) 1980 by Tandy Corp. All Rights Reserved. Created 5-Jul-80 37,671 Free Bytes 3 Files READY >RUN "MARKETSL/BAS NEED TERMINAL EMULATOR FOR COMMUNICATIONS LINK? (CURSOR WILL DISAPPEAR, 'BREAK' RETURNS HERE)?N WAITING FOR COMM Both programs have simple ter- minal emulators built in. You'll need the emulator only if you need to com- municate with the modem or com- munications equipment. I have a Hayes Smartmodem and must set its characteristics to initiate the com- munications. If your modem has only switches (e.g., Radio Shack's Modem I), then bypass the terminal emulator. The Task Manager program will out- put a test character. The other player now starts the Slave program and originates the modem communica- tions (listing 3 is a copy of the entire dialogue). The Task Manager's modem answers, the computers link up, and play begins. The game will end only under two conditions: if one or both players run out of money (i.e., you don't have sufficient retained earnings to cover your fixed costs) or if the players reach a predetermined point in time or dollar amount and quit. The win- ner is, of course, the player with the largest retained earnings. In the first instance, the Marketplace programs invoke the terminal emulator func- tion in each machine; the players can then "chat" via the modems. In the second instance, Marketplace cannot detect an end condition and continues indefinitely. Communications The interaction of the two com- puters in Marketplace depends heavi- 152 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc :$425 64K STATIC RAM BOARD Does your current 64K board have these features? FEATURES • Conforms to IEEE 696 standard. • 8 or 16 bit data transfers. • 24 bit addressing. • Bank select in 32K-32K or 48-16K. • Banks selectable/deselectable on DMA. • Responds to phantom pin 67 or 16. • 2Kx8 static rams with 2716 pin out. • Power consumption is typically 600 ma. • Banks on or off on power up. • Banks addressable to any of 256 possible ports. • 8MHz with 150ns parts standard faster speeds available on request. • Available partially loaded as a 32K board. • Multiple bank residence. • Phantoms read only, or read and write. • Generates onboard M-WRITE, or uses bus M-WRITE. • Two seperate banks, independently addressable on 1 6K boundaries. Banks may be overlapped. Omniram 64 United States & Canada Prices Only 64K 150ns. Hitachi Rams $425 100ns. Toshiba Rams $550 Board Without Ram $200 . 32K $300 $395 INTELLIGENT VIDEO I/O FOR S-100 BUS The VIO-X Video I/O Interface for the S-100 bus provides features equal to most intelligent terminals both efficiently and economically. It allows the use of standard keyboards and CRT monitors in conjunction with existing hardware and software. It will operate with no additional overhead in S-100 systems regardless of processor or system speed. • HIGH SPEED OPERATION • PORT MAPPED IEEE S-100 INTERFACE • FORWARD/REVERSE SCROLL or • PROTECTED SCREEN FIELDS • CONVERSATIONAL or BLOCK MODE (opt) • INTERRUPT OPERATION • CUSTOM CHARACTER SET • CONTROL CHARACTERS • ESCAPE CHARACTER COMMANDS • INTELLIGENT TERMINAL EMULATION • TWO PAGE SCREEN MEMORY VIO-X1 - 80X 25 5X7A&T $295.00 Conversational Mode VIO-X2 -80X 25 7X7A&T $345.00 Conversational & Block Modes Circle 417 on Inquiry card. FULCRUM" COMPUTER PflODUCTS Distributed by: WW COMPONENT SUPPLY INC. 1771 JUNCTION AVENUE • SAN JOSE. CA 95112 • (408) 295-7171 For European enquiries and sales contact: Fulcrum (Europe) England. Phone 0621-828-763 Circle 64 on Inquiry card. ( INVESTMENT ANALYSIS ^ FROM CENTENNIAL CENTENNIAL SOFTWARE/410 17TH ST. SUITE 1375 DENVER, CO 80202/(303) 595-9193 STOCK-FOCUS Find out how low is low and how high is high. Using capital structure and performance data, Stock- focus objectively calculates the underlying value of a stock. The system was first developed by the manage- ment science department of a major money center bank, and is now in use by investment advisors, trust companies and brokerage houses. On your screen, Stock-focus will plot an estimate of lowest value, highest value and the current price. You then decide what to buy, sell or hold. THE FOCUS TECHNIQUE FOCUS is CENTENNIAL SOFTWARE'S new approach to Program Architecture, providing a nat- ural interaction between microcomputers and users. It provides worksheet style input screens, free access to all program segments, and the ability to com- REAL-FOCUS Exhaustively analyze potential real estate invest- ments using the Wharton School's approach to real estate analysis. In minutes you can project profit, costs, and IRR for any project over a 10 year period. Real- focus accounts for amortization, debt, income, operat- ing expenses, taxes, depreciation, and cash flows for both after-tax holding and the results of sale. With Real-focus you can analyze any potential investment from a single building project to a complex time-phased planned unit development. bine individual results files for portfolio analysis. You also receive a usable reference manual, menu helps, a program glossary, multiple report formats and spool- ing. With our FOCUS technique even the most com- plex programs are versatile and easy to use. ly on three routines placed in high RAM. These routines provide ter- minal emulation and the ability to transmit and receive streams of characters. Listing 4 shows the assembly-language program for these routines. The terminal emulator oc- cupies lines 230-420. The special transmit (XMIT, lines 470-670) and receive (RECV, lines 700-940) routines are discussed below. Two main types of communication are used for Marketplace: single- character and string transmission. The single-character dialogues are used by the Task Manager for pro- gram synchronization and control, the string dialogues for data. Single- character transmissions are done directly with BASIC function calls to the built-in RS-232C routines in low ROM (read-only memory). Using a similar technique to transmit or receive a stream of characters is unreliable at bit rates much higher than 150 bits per second (bps). In- stead, I chose a technique of reading and writing string buffers with BASIC PEEK and POKE and receiv- ing and transmitting these buffers with machine-language code. This results in a very high bps rate at the expense of the microprocessor time required to format the buffers in and out of BASIC. The XMIT routine (listing 4, lines 470-670) simply transmits the number of characters defined in BUFCT (line 970) from the memory area beginning at BUFF (line 980). After all the characters have been transmitted, the routine returns to the caller. XMIT uses the Model Ill's single-character transmit ROM routine. The RECV routine (lines 700-940) fetches characters via the Model Ill's ROM code, counts them, and places the characters in BUFF. The character count goes into BUFCT. This process continues until an ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) carriage return character is encountered. Marketplace BASIC Programs I use pseudocode to structure my programs. Unfortunately, Radio Shack's BASIC does not easily ac- commodate structuring techniques, COMPUTER MEMORY-K REAL-FOCUS STOCK-FOCUS IBM PC 64 $179.00 $189.00 Apple (plus) II 48 149.00 159.00 TRS-80 1 48 149.00 159.00 TRS-80 II 64 179.00 189.00 TRS-80 III 48 149.00 159.00 ALL PROGRAMS IN DISK BASIC IBM is a trademark ot IBM, Apple is a trademark ol Apple Computer Corp., TRS- 0 is a trademark of Tandy Corporation. ORDER N0WI FILL IN OR CALL 800-525-2003 (Toll Free) PROGRAM NAME COMPUTER MEMORY. NAME PHONE # ADDRESS ACCOUNT * EXP. DATE ( ITicrcSfiell ccr Jicts jour Cf/m computer with mere pewer ttiar ever before! What is MicroShell? • A normal CP/M program which adds a powerful set of com- mands to all programs running under CP/M. What will MicroShell do? • Automatic Disk and User Management - Finds your programs from another drive or user number - automatically! Save time and precious disk space. • Powerful Redirection Capability - Send screen output to a file or printer. Send printer output to a file. Take program in- put from a file instead of the keyboard. • Much More - Multiple commands on a line, more powerful and faster "submit" capability, user-definable prompt and many more features. Dealers - MicroShell gives you: • A user-friendly interface to the computer. • Automatic execution of an application program at startup. •Self-running demonstrations of your favorite software packages. Will MicroShell run on my computer? • Requires CP/M 2.2. Available on 8" and 5" disks (North Star, Heath, Apple-CP/M, Osborne, SuperBrain and IBM-PC w/Baby Blue. CRM ■ TM Digilal Research. UNIX ■ TM Bell Labs. Word- Star • TM MicroPro. Baby Blue ■ TM Xedex, dBase ■ TM Ashion Tate. MicroShell $150.00 Manual Only $25.00 VISA, MC accepted VA residents add 4% Overseas orders add S20.00 lor air mall Give me some examples! • Run Wordstar or dBase II from any disk drive or user area. • Save the screen from a pro- gram for later use or to edit into a report. Save printer out- put in a file. • Put commands into a file and have MicroShell supply them to the pro- gram from the file. ► Change MicroShell's prompt to sound the bell on your terminal when a pro- gram is done! Software Developers - MicroShell gives you: • A powerful UNIX-like development en- vironment for CP/M with some features that even UNIX doesn't have! •The Ability to collect the output of a program in a file and ease the documentation chore. Call or Write Today! 4 NEW GENERATION ^SYSTEMS, inc. ORDER LINE 800-368-3359 2153 Golf Course Drive Reston, Virginia 22091 Phone: (703) 476-9143 154 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 440 on inquiry card. "Ufc Home Computer* This is the one? A lot of computers offer a lot. Only one in its price range offers the most. The Tl Home Computer. Better to begin with. Anyone can start right away with our Solid State Software™ Command Cartridges. Dozens of programs are available in home management, educa- tion and entertainment. Easy to expand. Our Peripheral Expan- sion System gives you plug-in cards for memory expansion, P-Code capabilities, a disk drive controller and the RS232 Inter- face. You can also add a modem, speech synthesizer, disk drive and 80 column dot matrix printer. Programming flexibility. TI BASIC is built into the Home Computer. But it can also handle TI Extended BASIC, UCSD Pascal* Version IVO.TI LOGO II, TMS 9900 Assembly Language and TI PILOT. Programs can be stored in the optional Mini Memory Command Cartridge. High-Tech specs. 16-bit microprocessor, 16K bytes RAM (expandable to 52K). 26K bytes internal ROM, up to 30K bytes external ROM. 3 simultaneous tones from 110 HZ to 40,000 HZ. High resolution video. U. &l.c. Single line overlay for 2nd function. Control &. function keys. 16 color graphics with 4 modes &. sprites. Sound impressive? Compare a TI Home Computer with the competition and really be impressed. You won't even need a computer to tell you this is the one. , Texas Instruments i 1982 Texas as Instruments "UCSD Pascal is a Trademark of the Regents of the University of California Circle 389 on inquiry card. Affordable Dependability Prom Comdec Easy Access Keyboard Handsome Woodgrain Cabinet The vgr-io now only $1500 FEATURES Finally a video graphics terminal with more features than other comparable models, for only $1500.00. You'll get the emulated Tektronix 4010 Series in graphics mode, true scrolling alpha-numerics with screen editing, 640H x 380V resolution or 640H x 240V resolution, high resolution P31 phosphor monitor, optional P39 monitor, ASCII and APL character sets, true overstrike on APL, optional 4 page memory gives 4 independent screen images, selectable by user or host, VT lOO Emulation option allows use with systems dedicated to the DEC® VT lOO Terminal, com- . pletely self-contained RS-232 Compatible data commu- nications terminal. OPTIONS • P39 Monitor P.O.A. • 4 Page memory $250.00 • VT lOO Emulation $200.00 Contact us today and take advantage of this special price. The VGR-IO is brought to you by COMDEC, a company pioneering the evolution of affordable graphics. ■■■COMDEC inc P.O. Box 8050 Ann Arbor, Michigan 48107 (313)973-8422 Listing 4: The assembly-language listing for the terminal emulator program and communications routine used by the Marketplace game. This code resides in high memory starting at address 65001 (decimal). FDE9 005A 0050 0055 0033 002B 41E8 41F0 00100 00110 00120 00130 00140 00150 00160 00170 001S0 00190 00200 00210 00220 RSINIT RSRCV RSTX VDCHAR KBCHAR RCVBF TXBF ORG 0FDE9H EQU 90 EQU 80 EQU 85 EQU 51 EQU 43 EQU 16872 EQU 16880 65001 TO BASIC ROM RS232 INITIALIZATION ROM FETCH A CHARACTER ROM SEND A CHARACTER ROM DISPLAY A CHARACTER ROM FETCH A KEYBOARD CHAR RAM ONE CHAR BUFFER RAM ONE CHAR TX BUFF THIS IS QUICK AND DIRTY TERMINAL EMULATOR FDE9 CD2B00 00230 KEYIN CALL KBCHAR ; CHECK KEYBOARD FDEC B7 00240 OR A FDED 2806 00250 JR Z.RSIN ; NOTHING CHECK RS232 FDEF FE01 00260 CP 01 ;LOOK FOR BREAK KEY TO GET BACK FDF1 C8 00270 RET Z FDF2 CD05FE 00280 CALL XMIT3 ;SEND IT FDF5 21E841 00290 RSIN LD HL, RCVBF ;P0INT TO RAM BUFF FDF8 CD 5000 00300 CALL RSRCV ; INVOKE RAM ROUTINE FDFB 7E 00310 LD A, (HL) FDFC E67F 00320 AND 7FH FDFE 28E9 00330 JR Z, KEYIN ;IF NO WAIT.0-N0 CHAR FEOO CD3300 00340 CALL VDCHAR ; ELSE DISPLAY IT FE03 I8E4 00350 JR KEYIN ;G0 BACK FOR MORE FE05 F5 00360 XMIT3 PUSH AF ; SEND KEYBOARD CHAR FE06 CD5500 00370 CALL RSTX FE09 2002 00380 JR NZ, AGAIN ;W/ NO WAIT.NZ-NO XMIT FEOB Fl 00390 POP AF FEOC C9 00400 RET FEOD Fl 00410 AGAIN POP AF ;REC0VER CHAR AND TRY AGAIN FE0E 18F5 00420 JR XMIT3 FE10 E5 FEI1 D5 FE12 F5 FE13 2153FE FE16 1154FE FE19 7E FE1A B7 FE1B 280C FE1D 1A FE1E E5 FE1F D5 FE20 CD5500 FE23 Dl FE24 El FE25 13 FE26 35 FE27 20F4 FE29 Fl FE2A Dl FE2B El FE2C C9 FE2D E5 FE2E D5 FE2F F5 FE30 2153FE FE33 1154FE FE36 AF FE37 77 FE38 E5 FE39 05 FE3A CD5000 FE3D Dl FE3E El FE3F 3AE84I FE42 E67F FE44 2809 FE46 12 FE47 34 FE48 FEOD FE4A 2803 FE4C 13 FE4D 18E9 FE4F Fl FE50 Dl FE51 El FE52 C9 0001 007F FDE9 00000 Total 00430 00440 00450 00460 004 70 XMIT 00480 00490 00 500 00510 00520 00530 00540 00550 XMIT2 00560 00570 00580 00590 00600 00610 00620 00630 00640 XMITND 00650 00660 00670 00680 ; 00690 ; 00700 RECV 00710 00720 00730 00740 00750 00760 00770 RECV2 00780 00790 00800 00810 00820 00830 00840 00850 00860 008 70 00880 00890 00900 00910 RECVND 00920 00930 00940 00950 ; 00960 ; 00970 00980 00990 Errors NOW WE HAVE THE SPECIALIZED XMIT & RECV ROUTINES FOR THE GAME PUSH HL PUSH DE PUSH AF LD HL.BUFCT LD DE , BUFF LD A, (HL) OR A JR Z, XMITND LD A, (DE ) PUSH HL PUSH DE CALL RSTX POP DE POP HL INC UE DEC (HL) JR NZ.XMIT2 POP AF POP DE POP I1L RET ;PT TO COUNTER ;PT TO BUFFER ;COULD BE EMPTY ;IT IS ;GET CHAR ; KEEP SENDING BUFCT BUFF PUSH HL PUSH DE PUSH AF LD HL.BUFCT LD DE , BUFF XOR A LD (HL),A PUSH HL PUSH DE CALL RSRCV POP DE POP HL LD A, (RCVBF ) AND 7FH JR Z, RECVND LD (DE ) , A INC (HL) CP 0DH JR Z, RECVND INC DE JR RECV2 POP AF POP DE POP HL RET DEFS 1 DEFS 127 END KEYIN | SET UP POINTERS ;SET COUNTER TO ZERO ; STRIP TO 7 BITS ;EXIT ON A NULL CHARACTER ;LOOK FOR CR ;TIS ; KEEP GOING Listing 5: The Task Manager program. 20 1 THIS IS THE MARKETPLACE TASK MANAGER PROGRAM 30 ' 156 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 74 on inquiry card. Listing 5 continued on page 158 Circle 376 on inquiry card. | At last, two books to show you how to make BASIC mean business. '**.'>* ^^^^^^^^^^^^ ~~- — — ■ — hi 4Hh 1 1 Mil ifiiJlMniii 3 i'l I'llll-H i FlrT BiaMIIIjlKII ii E \Vu '' SSI ffllii "1 " 1 ffll 1 I'l 1 fl' M | ' 1" Hi 1 1 1 W iiW:ll;ni hIi|(ilhP^jWnTifTluTT7THt'll^JnT iiiPT'rnK^jM'i|U | ■ 1 er speciaus free cataio Hll>Mll!lI4HMMi[i]in>liHhl 0 LL-FREE 415/848-82 iMi/WwiiEInirAi \i\mw. .) Sendme:D frea catalog Q BASIC for Business S12.95 I " □ Executive Planning with BASIC $12.95 \^T- ty% Add: □ $1. SO/Book UPS □ 75"h" THEN 320 390 POKEOB ,ASC("g") 400 X-USR2C0) 410 FOR 1=1 TO 1000 420 NEXT 430 POKE 16890, SHFF 'TURN WAIT ON 440 X=USR0(0) 450 RANDOM 460 PRINT: INPUT"DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY (4-EASY, 8-DIFFICULT )" |DD 470 IF DD<4 OR DD>8 THEN 460 480 Tl=l 490 F1CD-1. 500 T2=l 510 Fl(2)=l. 520 T3=l 530 T4=l 540 Ml=0.5 550 MO$="" 560 MIS""" 570 Fl(3)=.5 580 Cl=2500 590 C2=3000 600 FI(5)=3000 610 CX=250O 620 FX=6.5E4 630 11=0 640 Sl=100 650 Fl(9)=100 660 R1=1.5E6 670 F1(6)=1.5E6 680 Bl=500 690 B2-100 700 B4-100 710 Ql=l 720 Yl=l 730 DIM QF(4) 740 QF(1)=- 0.5 750 QF(2)=0.5 760 QF(3)=0 770 QF(4)=-0.2 780 Pl$="#«.# ttt.t IHtlt.lt tilt.* 790 P3$="M#.* 800 P2S="#M«#«- tlHtHII.lt- 810 P45=" t1tt1ttlt.lt-' 820 GOSUB 970 'CLS SDISPLAY LAST QUARTER 830 LR=R1 840 COSUB 1240 'GET THIS QUARTER PARAMETERS 850 PRINT: PRINT: PRINT"PARAMETERS FOR THIS QUARTER : " 860 PRINTUSINCLOT SIZE: tttltt" ;1l 870 PRINTOSING"PRODUCT R&D BUDGET: tttttt.t" ;D1/1000. 880 PRINTUSINC'MFG R&D BUDGET: tlttttt.t" ;D2/ 1000 . 890 PRINTUSINC'ADVERTISING BUDGET: fftttt.f" ;D3/1000. 900 PR I NTU SING "SELLING PRICE: ttttltf" ;C2 910 IF LEN(MO$)>0 THEN PRINT"MSG : " ;MO$ 920 INPUT"VALUES OK (Y/N)";Z$ 930 IF ZS="Y" OR Z$="y" THEN 950 940 Rl=LR:GOTO 830 9 50 GOSUB 2000 'PROCESS 960 GOTO 820 970 1 980 'ROUTINE PUTS UP DISPLAY 990 ' 1000 POKE 16916,0 1010 CLS 1020 PRINT"RESU LTS FOR YEAR:";Y1;" QUARTER: "jQl ; 1030 PRINTTAB(40); "MARKETPLACE VER l.l(M)" 1040 PRINT" PROD TECH" ; 1050 PRI.VTTAB(I6);"MFG TECH" ; 1060 PRINTTABC 26 ) : "MKT" ; 1070 PRINTTABf 33); "DEMAND"; 1080 PRINTTAB(45);"SOLD"; 1090 PRINTTABC 52); "COST"; 1100 PRINTTABC 58 ) ; "PRICE" 1110 PRINT USINGP1$;T1,T3,T2,T4,M1,B2,S1,C1,C2 t.tlt tltttttt- ttltttttt- ttttlt Ittttt" n.tt ttttttt- tttttttt- ttttt" tttttlt.t- tlttttt.t- ttlttU.lt- Hltttt.t-" 1 120 1130 1140 1150 1160 1170 1180 1190 1200 1210 1220 1230 1240 1250 1260 1270 1280 1290 1300 1310 1320 1330 1340 1350 1360 1370 1380 1390 1400 1410 1420 1430 1440 1450 1460 1470 1480 1490 1500 1510 1520 1530 1540 1550 1560 1570 1580 1590 1600 1610 1620 1630 1640 1650 1660 1670 1680 1690 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070 2080 2090 2100 2110 2120 2130 2140 2150 2160 2170 2180 2190 PRINTUSINGP3$;F1(1),F1(3),B4,F1(9),F1(5) PR I NT" INVENTORY" ; PRINTTABC 10 ) ; "RET EARN"; PRINTTABC 20 ) ; "PROD R&D"; PRINTTABC 31 ) ; "MFG R&D" ; PRINTTABC42 ) ; "ADVERT" ; PRINTTAB C 50 ); "FIXED COST" PRINTUSINGP2$; II, Rl/ 1000, Dl/ 1000 , D2/ 1000 , D3/ 1000, FX/1000 PRINTUSINGP4$;F1(6)/1000 PRINT POKE 16916,7 RETURN 1 ROUTINE UPDATES PARAMETERS FOR NEXT QUARTER RUN IF LEN(MIS)>0 THEN PRINT: PR I NT "MSG : ";MI$ MI$="" IF R1>FX THEN 1340 CLS:PRINT:PRINT"YOU LOST I 1 1 1 I 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 " INPUT"NEED TERMINAL EMULATOR" ; AS IF A$-"Y" OR AS-V THEN POKE16890 , 0 : X-USROCO) : X-USR5 (0) STOP R1-R1-FX IF Fl (6)>FX THEN 1400 CLS : PRINT : PRINT"OPPONENT IS BROKE , YOU WIN II!! I" INPUT"NEED TERMINAL EMULATOR" ;A$ IF A$="Y" OR A$-"y" THEN POKE 16890 , 0: X=USR0(0) : X-USR5C0 ) STOP PRINT: PRINT"INPUT VALUES FOR QUARTER "; IF Ql+1>4 THENPRINT1 : ELSE PRINTQ1+1 IF T3>T1 THEN GOSUB 1640 ' UPGRADE PROD TECH IF T4>T2 THEN GOSUB 1820 ' UPGRADE MFG TECH PRINT PRINT"MAXIMUM LOT SIZE "j PRINTUSING"»#####";RI/C1-I. INPUT"LOT SIZE ";L1 IF R1-L1*C1<0 THEN PRINT"YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT" : LI *0 : GOTO 1470 R1=R1-L1*C1 PRINTUSING"RETAINED EARNINGS: Ittttt. t ";R1/1000. INPUT"PRODUCT R&D BUDGET (IN $000 )" ; Dl : Dl -D1M0OO IF R1-DK0 THEN PRINT"YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT" : Dl -0: GOTO 1510 R1-R1-D1 INPUT"MANUFACTURING R&D BUDGET (IN $000 )"; D2 : D2-D2* 1000 IF Rl-D2<0 THEN PRINT"Y0U CAN'T AFFORD IT" : D2=0 : GOTO 1540 RI-R1-D2 INPUT"ADVERTISING BUDGET (IN $000 )" ;D3 : D3-D3*1000 IF RI-D3<0 THEN PRINT"YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT" : D3=0: GOTO 1570 R1=R1-D3 INPUT" SELLING PRICE";C2 M0$="" INPUT"MSG TO 0PPONENT";M0$ RETURN 'ROUTINE UPGRADES PRODUCT TECHNOLOGY I PRINT PRINT"PRODUCT TECHNOLOGY POINTS AVAILABLE ";T3-T1 INPUT"POINTS TO UPGRADE" ; PT IF PT>(T3-T1) THEN 1680 IF PT-O THEN RETURN IF PT>0.5 THEN 1780 IF PT>0.2 THEN 1760 IF R1-3E5<0 THEN PRINT"YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT":G0T0 1670 R1=R1-3E5:C1=C1*(0.5*PT+1. ) :T1=T1+PT: GOTO 1800 IF R1-8E5<0 THEN PRINT"YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT":GOTO 1670 Rl =R1-8E5 : C1=C1*(PT*0. 5+1 . ) : T1=T1+PT: GOTO 1800 IF R1-1.5E6<0 THENPRINT"YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT" : GOTO 1670 R1=R1-1.5E6:C1=C1*(PT*0.5*1):T1=T1+PT R1=R1+I1*C2*. 1: I1«0:PRINT"INVENTORY SOLD FOR 102 OF MARKET VALUE" RETURN ' ROUTINE UPGRADES MFG PROCESS PRINT PRINT"MANUFACTURING POINTS AVAILABLE ";T4-T2 INPUT"POINTS TO UPGRADE";PT IF PTXT4-T2) THEN 1860 IF PT=0 THEN RETURN IF PT>0.5 THEN 1960 IF PT>0.2 THEN 1940 IF R1-2.5E5<0 THENPR INT"YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT":G0T0 1850 R1=R1-2.5E5:C1=C1-C1*PT:T2=T2+PT:GOTO 1980 IF RI-6E5<0 THENPRINT"YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT":GOTO 1850 R1=RI-6E5:C1=C1-C1*PT:T2=T2+PT:G0T0 1980 IF Rl-1E6<0 THENPR liNT" YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT":GOTO 1850 R1=R1-1E6:C1=C1-C1*PT:T2=T2+PT PRINIUSING"NEW MFG COST: (*####*' JOl RETURN ' ROUTINE CRUCHES THE NUMBERS AND UPDATES THE QUARTER Ql-Ql+1 : IF Ql>4 THEN Q1=1:Y1=Y1+1 'DID ANY TECHNOLOGY INCREASE IF INTCD1/1E5X1 THEN 2110 FOR 1-0 TO Dl STEP 1E5 IF RND(0)>.75 THEN T3=T3+. 1 NEXT IF INTCD2/1E5X1 THEN 2150 FOR 1-1 TO D2 STEP 1E5 IF RND(0)>.75 THEN T4=T4+.l NEXT IF INTCD3/1E5X1 THEN 2200 FOR 1=1 TO D3 STEP 1E5 IF RND(0)>.75 THEN Ml=Mlt.05 NEXT IF M1M.0 THEN Ml = I.O Listing 5 continued on page 160 158 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 308 on inquiry card. Princeton Graphic Systems High Resolution RGB Color Monitor Designed for the IBM Personal Computer FEATURES □ 80 characters x 25 lines □ 690 dots horizontal resolution □ 1 6 colors □ .31 mm dot pitch tube □ non-glare, black matrix □ plugs directly to IBM PC $795 Princeton Graphic Systems' new HX-12 high resolution color monitor is designed with an NEC .31 mm dot pitch CRT to give you up to 690 dots horizontal resolution. You need not compromise the display quality of your system with monitors rated at less than the 640 horizontal dots generated by your IBM PC. The PGS HX-12 delivers 16 supercolors, 80 characters x 25 lines. It is the best priced performance PC direct drive monitor in the market today. Get the PGS HX-1 2 and discover for yourself how well it complements your IBM Personal Computer. Princeton Graphic Systems 195 Nassau Street □ Princeton, New Jersey 08540 □ (609)683-1660 □ TLX: 685 7009 PGS Prin Listing 5 continued: Bring the flavor of Unix to your ZSO CP/M system with Unica "Unicum: a thing unique in its kind, especially an example of writing. Unica: the plural of unicum. " The Unica: a unique collection of programs supporting many features of the Unix operating system never before available under CP/M. The Unica are more than software tools; they are finely crafted instruments of surgical quality. Some of the Unica are: be - binary file compare, display differences in hex cat • catenate files (vertically) cp - copy one or more files, even between users dm - disk mapper, reports free blocks and directory space fid file identification by unique numbers (CRC's) he • horizontal file catenation and column permutation In - create file links (multiple names for one file) Is - intelligent directory lister, optional multi-columns mv - move (rename) files, even between users rm • remove (delete) files, with optional verification sc - source file compare, with resynchronization sfa ■ set/reset file attributes, optional verification sp ■ spelling error corrector, with 80,000 word dictionary sr ■ search multiple files for a pattern srt ■ inmemory file sorter, optional duplicate line omission tee - pipe fitting (copy input stream to multiple outputs) tr • transliterate (translate character codes) wc • word counter, counts characters, words, and lines wx - word extractor, copies each word to a separate line Each Unicum understands several flags ("options" or "switches") which control program alternatives. No special "shell" is needed; Unica commands are typed to the standard CP/M command interpreter. The Unica package supports several Unix-like facilities, such as filename user numbers: sc data.bas;2 data.bas;3 (compares files belonging to user 2 and user 3); Wildcard patterns: rm -v *tmp* (types each filename containing the letters TMP and asks whether to delete the file); I/O redirection: Is -a >proj.dir (writes a directory listing of all files to file "proj.dir"); Pipes: dm b: | sr free >lst: (creates a map of disk B:, extracts those lines in the map which contain the word "free", and prints them on the listing device). The Unica are written in XM-80, a low level language which combines rigorously checked procedure definition and invocation with the versatility of Z80 assembly language. XM-80 includes a language translator which turns XM-80 programs into source code for MACRO-80, the industry standard assembler from Microsoft. It also includes a MACRO-80 object library with over forty "software components", subroutine packages which are called to perform services such as piping, wildcard matching, output formatting, and device-independent I/O with buffers of any size from 1 to 64k bytes. The source code for each Unicum main program (but not for the software component library) is provided. With the Unica and XM-80, you can customize each utility to your installation, and write your own applications quickly and efficiently. Programs which you write using XM-80 components are not subject to any licensing fee. Extensive documentation includes tutorials, reference manuals, individual spec sheets for each component, and thorough descriptions of each Unicum. Update policy: each Unica owner is informed when new Unica or components become available. At any time, and as often as you like, you can return the distribution disk with a $10 handling fee and get the current versions of the Unica and XM-80, with documentation for all new or changed software. The Unica and XM-80 (which requires MACRO-80) are priced at $195, or $25 for the documentation. The Unica alone are supplied as *.C0M executable files and are priced at $95 for the set, or $15 for the documentation. Software is distributed only on 8" floppy disks for Z80 CP/M version 2 systems. All orders must be paid in advance; no COD's or purchase orders, please. Quantity discounts are available. Shipment outside of the US or Canada costs an additional $20. Bank checks must be in US funds drawn on a US bank. Knowlogy P.O. Box 283-C Wilsonville, Oregon 97070 Visa/Mastercard customers call (503) 639-3420 for next day shipment. CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research. Unicum and Unica are trademarks of Knowlogy. Unix is a trademark of Bell Telephone Labs. XM-80 is a trademark of Scientific Enterprises. ZBO is a trademark of Zilog Inc. 2200 1 NOW WAIT FOR SLAVE TO CATCH UP 2210 POKEOB.ASCC'a") 2220 X-USR2(0) 2230 X-USRl(O) 2240 IF CHRS (PEEK( IB) AND 127)<>"b" THEN 2210 2250 ' TELL OTHER MACHINE TO SEND THEN GO FOR MSG 2260 POKEOB.ASCC's") :X-USR2(0) 2270 X-USR3C0) 2280 J-PEEK(BC) 2290 XS-"" 2300 FOR 1-1 TO J-l 2310 XS-X$*CHR$(PEEK(BF+I-1)) 2320 NEXT 2330 FOR N»l TO 9 2340 K-INSTR(1,X$," ") 2350 IF K-l THEN X$-RIGHT$(X$,J-2):J-J-1:C0T0 2340 2360 Fl(N)-VAL(MIDS(X$,l,K-l)) 2370 J-J-K 2380 X$«RIGHT$(X$,J-1) 2390 NEXT 2400 1 2410 1 NOW COMPUTE TOTAL DEMAND 2420 1 2430 B3-Bl+Bl*QF(Ql)+Bl/2*(RND(0)-0.5) 2440 NF-1.01*RND(0)*0.01 2450 C1-C1*NF 2460 F1(4)-F1(4)*NF 24 70 FX-FX*NF 2480 CB-T1*10000/C2:CB-CB+CB*(M1-0.5)/2:CB-CB|DD 2490 CC-Fl(l)*10000/Fl(5):CC-CC*CC*(Fl(3)-0.5)/2:CC-CClDD 2500 B2-INT((CB/(CC+CB))*B3) 2510 B4-INT(B3-B2) 2520 IF B2XI1-+L1) THEN:Rl-Rl+(Il+Ll)*C2:Sl-Il+Ll:Il-0: ELSE R1=R1+B2*C2: I1-I1+L1-B2: S1-B2 2530 IF B4XFI(7)+F1<8)) THEN: Fl (6)-Fl (6 )♦ CF1 (7)»F1 (8) )*F1 (5) : Fl(9)-Fl(7)i-Fl(8):Fl(7)-0: ELSE F1(6)»F1(6) + B4*FH5>:F1(7)-F1(7) + F1(8)-B4:F1(9)=-B4 2540 1 2550 1 PREPARE OUTBOUND MSG 2560 1 2570 XS-"" 2580 X$-STR$(Tl)t" » 2590 X$»X$tSTR$"(i" THEN 2680 2720 X-USR4(0) 2730 IF LEN(MO$)-0 THEN 2860 2740 P0KE0B,ASC("m") 2750 X-USR2(0) 2760 X-USRKO) 2770 IF CHR$"s" THEN 2740 2780 MOS-M0$-*CHR$(13) 2790 J-LEN(MOS) 2800 POKE BC.J 2810 FOR 1=1 TO J 2820 POKEBF+I-1 , ASC ( MID$ (MOS , 1 , 1 ) ) 2830 NEXT 2840 X=USR4(0) 2850 GOTO 2890 2860 ' IF NO MESSAGE 2870 P0KE0B,ASC("n") 2880 X=USR2(0) 2890 X-USRKO) 2900 TTS-CHR$(PEEK( IB) AND 127) 2910 IF TT$»"m" OR TT$="n" THEN 2920 : ELSE 2870 2920 IF TT$-"n" THEN RETURN 2930 POKEOB.ASCC's") 2940 X-USR2(0) 2950 X»USR3(0) 2960 J-PEEK(BC) 2970 MI$-"" 2980 FOR 1-1 TO J-l 2990 MI$-MIS*CHR$(PEEK(BF-H-1)) 3000 NEXT 3010 RETURN Listing 6: The Slave program. 10 ' 20 ' THIS IS THE MARKETPLACE SLAVE PROGRAM 30 ' 40 CMD"L","RS232/CMD" 50 ' 60 'ROUTINE TO SET RS232 AND ESTABLISH COM 70 1 80 CLEAR 1000 90 DEFUSR0-90 100 DEFUSR1-80 ' RECEIVE 110 DEFUSR2-85 'XMIT 120 DEFUSR3-J.HFE2D 130 'RECV STRING 140 DEFUSR4-SHFE10 150 'XMIT STRING 160 DEFUSR5-SHFDE9 Listing 6 continued on page 162 160 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc up to now, bubble technol- ogy has been the exclusive domain of large computer systems. Now, MPC Peripher- als has boldly ventured where no one has gone before — successfully channeling the same state- of-the-art bubble technology into the personal computer field. Introducing the MPC Bubble Memory Disk Emulator for the Apple II. A compact board with 128K bytes of non-volatile data storage. Executes DOS commands three times faster than a standard floppy disk drive. Uses less power. Functions quietly, efficiently and error- free in any hostile environment. The rugged, solid-state bubble memory is totally non-volatile, unlike disk, there are no moving parts to wear. On-board error correction plus automatic power-down in the event of outright power failure or brown-out ensures absolute data storage reliability. Once again, we offer you a TWO YEAR WARRANTY — an expression of product confidence unprecedented in this industry. MPC Peripherals corp. 9424 Chesapeake Drive San Diego, CA 92123 Tel. (714) 278-0630 Circle 263 on inquiry card. The Bubble has landed in the orchard NEVADA FORTRAN '199.95 L DISKETTE AND MANUAL Just a beautiful compiler that's a pleasure to use! Perfect for Teaching Fortran. Perfect for Learning Fortran. Perfect for Scientists and Engineers. Advanced features include IF.. THEN.. ELSE., constructs, COPY statement, a very nice TRACE style debugging, and 150 verbal error messages. What's more, you can intermix in-line Fortran and Assembly Language statements for those special Micro needs! Get yours, today! NEVADA PILOT $149.95 DISKETTE AND MANUAL Why has Nevada PILOT become so popular? It's definitely easier to learn than Basic. The documentation (146 pages) by Professor Starkweather is exceptional! And, it meets all the PILOT — 73 standards with many new features. You can quickly write user-interactive programs much easier than with Basic. Order yours now! Diskette and manual comes with 10 FREE programs. NEVADA COBOL ($199.95 DISKETTE AND MANUAL Nevada COBOL is based upon the ANSI— 74 standards with many advanced features. It's field-proven with thousands of users world-wide in Business, Government and Education. The excellent documentation (153 pages) is used as a classroom text at a number of colleges. Because of Nevada COBOL's superior design, It requires about half the memory of competitive COBOL compilers. This major advantage is just one reason many business programmers are switching to Nevada COBOL. And, lots of students are using Nevada COBOL because it's the affordable, easy to use COBOL! Order yours now! Also available: COBOL Application Packages Book 1 ..$24.95 Nevada SORT ...$1 19.95 Nevada EDIT ...$1 19.95 All our software requires the CP/M operating system, 32K RAM, one disk drive, CRT or video display and keyboard. Available on 8" standard single density or 5V«" diskettes for Apple II, Osborne I, North Star, Micropolls Mod II, Superbraln, TRS— 80, IBM — PC and many other microcomputers. Dealer, Distributor, O.E.M inquires Invited. COD'S WELCOME o ELLIS COMPUTING 600 41st Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94121 (415) 751-1522 Osborne Comoulef Corp; IBM, International Business Machines. ©1962 Ellis Compuling Listing 6 continued: ' SIGNLE CHAR IN BUFFER 'SIGNLE CHAR OUT BUFFER '300 BAUD 'RS232 INITIALIZED 170 ' TERMINAL EMULATOR 180 BF=&HFE54 190 'TR STRING BUFFER 200 BC=&HFE53 210 1 TR STRING LENGTH 220 IB-16872 230 OB=16880 240 POKE16888.&H55 250 POKE16889.&HEC 260 POKE16890.&H0O 270 X-USRO(O) 280 CLS 290 PRINT"NEED TERMINAL EMULATOR FOR COMMUNICATIONS LINK?" 300 INPUT"(CURSOR WILL DISAPPEAR , 1 BREAK ' RETURNS HERE)" ;AS 310 IF AS="Y" OR AS="y" THEN X-USR5C0) 320 POKE16890.&HFF 330 X=USR0(0) 340 FOR 1=1 TO 1000:NEXT 350 PRINT"HAITING FOR COMM" 360 X-USRl(O) 370 IF CHRS(PEEKUB) AND 127)<>"w" THEN 360 380 P0KE0B,ASC("h") 390 X=USR2(0) 400 X=USR1(0) 410 IF CHR$(PEEK(IB) AND 127)<>"g" THEN 350 420 RANDOM 430 Tl=l 440 F1UM. 450 T2-1 460 Fl(2)-1. 470 T3-1 480 T4-1 490 M0S-"" 500 MIS""" 510 Ml-0.5 520 Fl(3)=.5 530 Cl=2500 540 C2=3000 550 Fl(5)-3000 560 CX=2500 570 FX=6.5E4 580 11=0 590 Sl-100 600 Fl(9)=100 610 R1-1.SE6 620 FK6J-1.5E6 630 Bl=500 640 B2=100 650 Q1=I 660 Yl = l 670 DIM OF (4 ) 680 QF(D — 0.5 690 QF(2)=0.5 700 OF(3)=0 710 QF(4)=-0.2 720 Pl$="«#.# Ht.lt 730 P3S="«l».0 740 P2S = "|J|)#0 THEN PRINT"MSG: ";M0$ 860 INPUT"VALUES OK (Y/N)";Z$ 870 IF ZS="Y" OR ZS="y" THEN 890 880 Rl=LR:GOTO 770 890 GOSUB 1940 1 PROCESS 900 GOTO 760 910 1 920 'ROUTINE PUTS UP DISPLAY 930 ' 940 POKE 16916,0 950 CLS 960 PRINT"RESU LTS FOR YEAR:"[Y1[" QUARTER: " ;Q1 ; 970 PRINTTABC40) ; "MARKETPLACE VER 1.1(g)" 980 PRINT" PROD TECH"; 990 PRINTTABC 16 ) ; "MFG TECH"; 1000 PRI NTTAB( 26 ) ; "MKT" ; 1010 PRI NTTABC 33 ) ; "DEMAND" ; 1020 PRINTTAB(45);"S0LD"; 1030 PRINTTAB(52);"C0ST"; 1040 PRINTTAB(58);"PRICE" 1050 PRINT USINGP1$;T1,T3,T2,T4,M1,B2,S1,C1,C2 1060 PRINTUSINGP3S;F1(1),F1(3),B4,F1(9),F1(5) 1070 PR I NT" INVENTORY"; 1080 PRINTTABf 10) ; "RET EARN" ; 1090 PRINTTAB(20);"PROD R&D"; 1100 PRINTTABC 31 ) ; "MFG R&D"; 1110 PRINTTABC42 ) ; "ADVERT" ; 1120 PRINTTAB(50);"FIXED COST" 1130 PRINTUS INGP2S; I 1,R1/ 1000, Dl/ 1000, D2/ 1000, D3/1000, FX/1000 1140 PRINTUSINGP4$;FI(6)/1000 1150 PRINT 1160 POKE 16916,7 1170 RETURN 1180 ' 1190 'ROUTINE UPDATES PARAMETERS FOR NEXT QUARTER RUN 1200 1 1210 IF LEN(MIS)>0 THENPRINT : PRINT"MSG : ";MI$ 1220 MIS-"" 1230 IF R1>FX THEN 1280 1240 CLS : PRINT : PR I NT" YOU LOST .'!!!!!!!!!!!" ttt.t ttt.t t.tt ttttttt- tttttttt- ttttt ttttt" t.tt ttttttt- tttttttt- ttttt" - mm.*- tttttt.t- tttttt.t- tttttt.t- tttttt.t-" tttttt.t-" CLS &DISPLAY LAST QUARTER 162 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 154 on inquiry card. Listing 6 continued on page 164 For Cooling As soon as you move to 64K RAM or 80 columns you need SYSTEM SAVER. Today's advanced peripheral cards generate more heat. In addition, the cards block any natural air flow through the Apple II creating high temperature conditions that substantially reduce the life of the cards and the computer itself. SYSTEM SAVER provides correct cooling. An efficient, quiet fan draws fresh air across the mother board, over the power supply and out the side ventilation slots. JUST CLIPS ON. NO MOUNTING OR HARDWARE REQUIRED COLOR MATCHED TO APPLE II. © LISTED For Line Surge Suppression The SYSTEM SAVER provides essential protection to hardware and data from dangerous, power surges and spikes. By connecting the Apple II power input through the SYSTEM SAVER, power is controlled in two ways: 1) Dangerous voltage spikes are clipped off at a safe 130 volt RMS level. 2) High frequency noise is smoothed out before reaching the Apple II. For Operating Efficiency SYSTEM SAVER contains two switched power outlets. As shown in the diagram, the SYSTEM SAVER efficiently organizes your system so that one convenient, front mounted power switch controls SYSTEM SAVER, Apple II, monitor and printer. The heavy duty switch has a pilot light to alert when system is on. You'll never use the Apple power switch again! MONITOR APPLE II i PRINTER POWER $89 95 at your local dealer or order direct by phone or mail from: Kensington Microware Ltd. 300 East 54 Street, Suite 3L New York, NY 10022 (212) 486-2802 When ordering by mail include payment of S89.95 plus $2.50 for handling. New York State residents add 6Vi% sales tax. By phone payment can be charged to VISA or MASTERCARD. Dealer inquiries invited. Circle 216 on inquiry card. m KENSINGTON m MICROWARE Listing 6 continued: 1250 INPUT"NEEU TERMINAL EMULATOR" ; AS 1260 IK AS="Y" OR AS="y" THEN POKE 16890 ,0: X=USR0 (0) : X-USR5<0) 1270 STOP 1280 R1-R1-FX 1290 IF Fl (6)>FX THEN 1340 1300 CLS : PRINT : PRINT"0PP0NENT IS BROKE. VOU WIN Mill" 1310 INPU r"NEED TERMINAL EMULATOR" ; AS 1320 IF AS="Y" OR AS-"y" THEN POKE 16890 .0: X=USR(0) : X=USR5 (0 ) 13 30 STOP 1340 PRINT : PR INT" INPUT VALUES FOR QUARTER "; 1350 IF Ql+I>4 THENPRINTllELSE PRINTQ1+1 1360 IF T3>T1 THEN GOSUB 1580 1 UPGRADE PROD TECH 1370 IF T4>T2 THEN GOSUB 1760 1 UPGRADE MFG TECH 1380 PRINT 1390 PR INT"MAXIMUM LOT SIZE "; 1400 PRINTUSINC"*»#»#";R1/CI-1 . 1410 INPUT"LOT SIZE ";L1 1420 IF R1-L1*C1<0 THEN PRINT"YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT" : L1=0 : GOTO 1410 1430 R1=R1-L1*C1 1440 PRINTUS I NG "RETAINED EARNINGS : HtHM.lt ";R1/1000. 1450 INPUT"PRODUCT RSD BUDGET (IN $000 )" ; Dl : D1=D1*1000 1460 IF R1-DK0 THEN PRINT"YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT" : D1=0 : GOTO 1450 1470 R1=R1-D1 1480 INPU T" MAN FACTU RING R&D BUDGET (IN S000 )" ;D2 : D2»D2*100O 1490 IF Rl-D2<0 THEN PRINT"YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT" : D2-0 : GOTO 1480 1500 RI=RI-D2 1510 INPUT"ADVERTIS ING BUDGET (IN SOOO )" ;D3 : D3«D3*I000 1520 IF Rl-D3<0 THEN PRINT"YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT" : D3=0 : GOTO 1510 1530 R1=R1-D3 1540 INPUT"SELLI NG PRICE";C2 1550 MOS="" 1560 INPUT"MSG TO OPPONENT";MOS 1570 RETURN 1580 ' 1590 'ROUTINE UPGRADES PRODUCT TECHNOLOGY 1600 ' 1610 PRINT 1620 PR I NT" PRODUCT TECHNOLOGY POINTS AVAILABLE ";T3-T1 1630 INPUT"POINTS TO UPGRADE" ; PT 1640 IF PTXT3-T1) THEN 1620 1650 IF PT=0 THEN RETURN 1660 IF PT>0.5 THEN 1720 1670 IF PT>0.2 THEN 1700 1680 IF RI-3E5<0 THEN PRINT"Y0U CAN'T AFFORD IT":GOTO 1610 1690 R1=R1-3E5:C1=C1*(0. 5*PT+1. ) : T1-T1+PT : GOTO 1740 1700 IF R1-8E5<0 THEN PRINT"YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT":GOTO 1610 1710 R1=R1-8E5:C1=C1*(0.5*PT+1.):T1=T1*PT:GOTO 1740 1720 IF R1-1.5E6<0 THENPRINT"YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT":GOTO 1610 17 30 R1=R1-I .5E6:C1=C1*(PT*0.5+1):T1»T1*PT 1 740 RI=RltIl*C2*. 1:I1=0:PRINT"INVENT0RY SOLD FOR 10? OF MARKET VALUE" 17 50 RETURN 1760 ' 1770 'ROUTINE UPGRADES MFG PROCESS 1780 ' 1790 PRINT 1800 PR I NT"MANU FACTU RING POINTS AVAILABLE ";T4-T2 1810 INPUT"POINTS TO UPGRADE" ; PT 1820 IF PTXT4-T2) THEN 1800 1830 IF PT=0 THEN RETURN 1840 IF PT>0.5 THEN 1900 1850 IF PT>0.2 THEN 1880 1860 IF R1-2.5E5<0 THENPRINT"YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT":GOTO1790 1870 RI=Rl-2. 5E5:C1=C1-C1*PT: T2=T2*PT.- GOTO 1920 1880 IF R1-6E5<0 THEN PR I NT" YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT":G0T0 1790 1890 R1=R1-6E5:C1=C1-C1»(PT):T2=T2+PT:G0T0 1920 1900 IF R1-1E6<0 THENPRINT"YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT":GOTO 1790 1910 Rl-Rl- IE6: C1«CI-C1*PT: T2-T2+PI 1920 PRINTUSINC'NEW MFG COST: ttttlttt" ;C1 19 30 RETURN 1940 ' 1950 'ROUTINE CRUCHES THE NUMBERS AND UPDATES THE QUARTER 1960 ' 1970 Q1=Q1*1:IF Ql H THEN Ql = 1 : Y 1 =Y 1 +■ I 1980 ' 1990 'DID TECHNOLOGY INCREASE 2000 1 2010 IF [NT(D1/1E5)<] THEN 2050 2020 FOR 1=0 TO Dl STEP 1E5 2030 IF RND(0)>.75 THEN T3=T3*. 1 2040 NEXT 2050 IF INT(D2/1E5)<1 THEN 2090 2060 FOR 1=1 TO D2 STEP 1E5 2070 IF RND(0)>.75 THEN T4=T4+. 1 2080 NEXT 2090 IF INT(D3/1E5)<1 THEN 2140 2100 FOR I>1 TO D3 STEP 1E5 2110 IF RND(0)>.75 THEN M1=M1*.05 2120 NEXT 2130 IF M151.0 THEN Ml=1.0 2140 ' NOW WAIT FOR MASTER 2150 'PREPARE OUTBOUND MESSAGE 2160 XS="" 2170 XS=STR$(T1)+" "+STRS(T2)t"- "+STRS(M1) + " "tSTRS(Cl) 2180 XS=XS+" "+STR$(C2)+" "+STR$ (R 1 )+" "+STR$(I1)+" " 2190 X$=XS*STR$(L1 )*" "+STR$(S1)*" "*CHR$(13) 2200 X=USR1(0) 2210 IF CHRS(PEEK( IB) AND 127X>"a" THEN 2200 2220 POKE OB,ASC("b") 2230 X=USR2(0) 2240 X=USR1(0) 2250 IF CHRS (PEEK ( IB) AND 127)<>"s" THEN 2200 2260 J=LEN(X$) 2270 POKE BC,J 2280 FOR 1=1 TO J 2290 POKEBF*I-l ,ASC( MIDS (XS , 1 , 1 ) ) 2300 NEXT 2310 X=USR4(0) 2320 X=USR1(0) 2330 IF CHR$(PEEK(IB) AND 127)<>"c" THEN 2320 2340 POKEOB, ASCC'd") 2350 X=USR2(0) 2360 X=USR3(0) 2370 J-PEEK(BC) 2380 X$="" 2390 FOR 1=1 TO J-l 2400 XS=X$tCHRS(PEEK(BFH-I-l )) 2410 NEXT 2420 GOSUB2690 2430 FHD-X 2440 GOSUB2690 2450 F1(5)=X 2460 GOSU82690 2470 F1(6)=X 2480 GOSUB2690 2490 Fl(3)-X 2500 GOSUB2690 2510 C1=X 2520 GOSUB 2690 2530 R1=X 2540 GOSUB 2690 2550 I1=X 2560 GOSUB 2690 2570 B3=X 2580 GOSUB 2690 2590 B2=X 2600 GOSUB 2690 2610 S1=X 2620 GOSUB2690 2630 B4=X 2640 GOSUB 2690 2650 F1(9)=X 2660 GOSUB 2690 2670 FX=X 2680 GOTO 27 50 2690 K=INSTR( 1 ,XS ," ") 2700 IF K-l THEN X$ = R IGHTS ( XS , .1-2 ) : J = J- I : GOTO 2690 2710 X=VAL(M1DS(XS, I , K- 1 )) 2720 J=J-K 2730 XS=RIGHT$(X$,J-1) 2740 RETURN 2750 X-USRl(O) 2760 IF CHRS (PEEK( E B ) AND I27) = "n" THEN 2850 2770 POKEOB,ASC("s") 2780 X=USR2(0) 2790 X=USR3(0) 2800 MIS="" 2810 J=PEEK(BC) 2820 FOR 1=1 TO J-l 2830 MI$=MI$+CHR$(PEEK(BF+I-1 )) 2840 NEXT 2850 IF LEN(MOS)=0 THEN POKEOB , ASC( "n") : X=USR2( 0) : RE IURN 2860 POKEOB, ASCC'm") 2870 X=USR2(0) 2880 X=USR1(0) 2890 IF CHRS ( PEEK( IB) AND 127)<>"s" THEN 2860 2900 MO$=MOSfCHRS(13) 2910 J=LEN(MOS) 2920 FOR 1=1 TO J 2930 POKEBF + I-1 , ASC ( MID$ (MO? , I , D) 2940 NEXT 2950 POKEBC.J 2960 X=USR4(0) 2970 RETURN Listing 7: Pseudocode for the executive section of the Marketplace game. The line numbers in parentheses perform the stated function; the first set is for the Task Manager program and the second is for the Slave program. Load machine-language code (40) (60) Define machine-language code entry points (90-260) (90-260) Initialize RS232C port (270) (270) If terminal emulator required then call EMULATOR (290-310) (290-310) Establish communications link (320-440) (320-410) Initialize program variables (450-810) (420-750) Do Forever: (820-960) (760-900) Call DISPLAY last quarter (820) (760) Do until next quarter values OK: (830-910) (770-880) Save current value of retained earnings Call GETVALUES (840) (780) Feedback input for review If values not OK then restore retained earnings Endloop Call PROCESS (950) (890) Endloop 164 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 286 on inquiry card. FALL THE THINGS YOU BUY, HOW MANY ARE GOOD ENOUGH TO BE WARRANTED 5 YEARS? the test of time. Because few are built to the precision standards or certified to the critical levels of Omni's complete line. Each Omni disk is rated for 12 million passes without disk- errors or significant wear, ertified error-free at a twice the error threshold of your system. And built to exceed all industry specifications including those of ANSI, ECMA, ISO and virtually every drive manufacturer. So you can count on them for the long haul. We guarantee it. Call toll-free (800 343-7620) for your nearest dealer. In Mass., call 617 799-0197 Dealers. Softw Check our prices, servi specifications. We offer duplicating, formatting, private labeling, small minimums, fast delivery and copy protection schemes on disks for virtually any system Task Manager Slave Parameter Variable Variable rrouuci i ecnnoiogy used T-1 1 1 I 1 available T3 T3 competitor's F1(1) F1(1) Manufacturing i ecnnoiogy used Tn I d. TO I I available T A I 4 T A I 4 Market Reputation your company Ml Ml competitor H(3) F1(3) unii uemana your company DO DO competitor D A □4 D A d4 units bold your company C H bl competitor F1(9) F1(9) Unit Price your company competitor 1-1(5) rn /r-\ F1(5) Retained Earnings your company R1 R1 competitor F1(6) F1(6) Variable Costs C1 C1 Fixed Costs hX FX Inventory 11 11 Product R&D D1 D1 Manufacturing R&D D2 D2 Advertising D3 D3 Base Demand B1 Seasonal Demand B3 Inflation ME Nr CBR Task Manager CB CBR Slave cc Table 3: Definitions of variables used in the Task Manager and Slave programs. Listing 8: The GETVALUES subroutine used by both the Task Manager and Slave pro- grams. The numbers in parentheses refer to the line numbers in the respective programs; the Task Manager program is first and the Slave program is second. Display any message from opponent (1270) (1210) If game lost: (1290-1330) (1230-1270) Display message If terminal emulator required then call EMULATOR Stop Endif Reduce Retained Earnings If game won: (1350-1390) (1290-1330) Display message If terminal emulator required then call EMULATOR Stop Endif If Product Technology Available > Product Technology Used then call Product Upgrade (1420) (1360) If Manufacturing Technology Available > Manufacturing Technology Used then call Manufacturing Upgrade (1430) (1370) Compute and display maximum lot size (1450-1460) (1390-1400) Prompt for and error check the following: (1470-1620) (1410-1560) Lot Size Product R&D budget Manufacturing R&D budget Advertising budget Selling Price Message to opponent so I will explain how the programs function and flow in pseudocode terms and leave you to work through the BASIC listings of the programs. The BASIC listing for the Task Manager program is shown in listing 5, and the Slave program is shown in listing 6. Table 3 lists the important variables and their BASIC names for each program. Listing 7 is the pseudocode of the executive section for both the Task Manager and the Slave programs. Both programs set the RS-232C port to 300 bps, no parity, one stop bit, and an 8-bit word. (For other set- tings, refer to the TRS-80 Model III Operation and BASIC Language Reference Manual, pages 41-48.) The "establish communications" step requires some explanation. In general, the Task Manager (lines 320-440) does not know if the Slave program is on-line when it tries to in- itiate communications, so the Task Manager simply sends a control char- acter, pauses, listens, and repeats the process. It keeps this up until it re- ceives a recognizable test character. This requires that the RS-232C port be initialized to the "no wait" condi- tion — when the receive routine is in- voked, it returns immediately, whether or not a character has been received. The Slave program (lines 320-410), on the other hand, in- itializes its RS-232C port to the "wait" condition. The Slave simply has to listen for the test character and send an acknowledgment when it receives a character it understands. After the communications link is established, the Task Manager resets its port to the "wait" condition for the re- mainder of the program. (The ter- minal emulator must have a "no wait" condition established before it is called.) The executive section uses three subroutines. The DISPLAY subrou- tine uses simple print statements. The Task Manager DISPLAY subroutine is found in lines 970-1230; the Slave's is in lines 910-1170. The GETVALUES subroutine (pseudocode shown in listing 8) is the same for the Task Manager and the Slave. The two points to consider 166 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Finally you can afford to satisfy your lust for power. ZX81 PLOT UNPLOT REM RUN RAND RETURN □inn INPUT POKE PRINT 0 -ilwfcl E el R sIt .-Iy sfU II 10 IP COS TAN RND STRS CHRS CODE PEEK TAB GOTO GOSUB LOAD LIST LET lEj EE; mr ill m rn qi m ARCSIN ARCCOS ARCTAN SGN ABS SOR VAL LEN COPV CLEAR CONT CLS SCROLL NEXT PAUSE fZ IX JC Iv IB I 1 M SPACE ■ IN KEYS NOT For $ 99.95 you can have a full powered personal computer. Most people know by now that the ZX81 from Sinclair Research is the lowest priced personal computer in the world. But serious program- mers are looking for more than a low price. They're looking for true computer power. And that's where the ZX81 surprises a lot of people. Just look at the key- board and you'll get some idea of the ZX81 's power. It The ZX81 is also very convenient to use. It hooks up to any television set to produce a clear 32-column by 24-line display. And you can use a regular cas- sette recorder to store and recall programs by name. What you get. When you order your ZX81, you get everything you need to start programming. It comes with connectors for your TV and cassette recorder, an AC adaptor, and a free programming guide and operating manual that com has more than 60 Sindair programs available . P letel y documents the capabil BASIC commands 20 graphic symbols, and complete mathematical functions. And there's even more power that you can't see. A breakthrough in personal computers. The ZX81 offers features found only on computers costing two or three times as much. Just look at what you get: • Continuous display, including mov- ing graphics • Multi-dimensional string and nu- merical arrays • Mathematical and scienti- fic functions accurate to 8 decimal places • Unique one-touch entry of key words like PRINT, RUN and LIST • Automatic syntax er- ror detection and easy editing • Randomize function useful for both games and serious applications • Built-in interface for ZX Printer • IK of memory expandable to 16K • A comprehensive programming guide and operating manual ities of the ZX81. Options and add-ons. Like any full-powered computer, the ZX81 can be expanded and upgraded. Its IK memory can be expanded to over 16K just by plugging the Sinclair Memory Module onto the back of the unit. The cost is only $49.95. Sinclair has also published pre-recorded programs on cas- settes for your ZX81. We're con- stantly coming out with new pro grams, so we'll send you our latest software catalog when you order your computer. How did we do it? The question most often asked about the ZX81 is, "How can so much computer power cost so little money?" 16K Memory Module The answer is that Sinclair Research simply took a different approach. Our only goal was to make programming power as affordable as possible. So we developed a radical new design that cuts costs dramati- cally without cutting computer power. For example, our unique Master Chip replaces as many as 18 chips used in other personal computers. The success of the ZX81 speaks for itself. It is now the fastest-selling per- sonal computer in the world. And we stand behind our product. If anything goes wrong in the first 90 days, we'll repair or replace your unit free of charge. Even after that, you can take advantage of our national service-by- mail facilities for a minimum fee. Order now and try it out for 10 days. Simply send the coupon along with a check or money order. For faster delivery, call our toll-free num- ber and use your MasterCard or VISA. You have 10 days to try out the ZX81. If it isn't all we say it is, just send it back and we'll refund your money. Why wait any longer? With the Sin- clair ZX81, you can finally afford to have the computer power you've al- ways wanted. Call toll free 800-543-3000. Ask for operator #509. In Ohio call: 800-582-1364; in Canada .call: 513-729-4300. Ask for operator #509. Phones open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Have your MasterCard or VISA ready These numbers are for orders only. If you just want Free guide to programming information , please write: Sinclair Research Ltd., 2 Sinclair Plaza, Nashua, NH 03061. To order call toll free: 800-543-3000 n ADCOD c AOBY MAIL TO: Sinclair Research Ltd., One Sinclair Plaza, Nashua. NH 03061. PRICE* QTY. AMOUNT ZX81 $99.95 16K Memory Module $49.95 Shipping and Handling $4.95 $4.95 *U.S. dollars TOTAL Name Address | Lily Zip □ Sinclair technology is also available in Timex/Sinclair computers under a license from Sinclair Research Ltd. BEHIND EVERY GOOD SINCLAIR IS A MEMOPAK If you own a Timex-Sinclair 1000 or ZX81 computer, you should have a Memopak behind it. From increased memory to high resolution graphics, Memotech has a Memopak to boost your system's capabilities. Every Memopak peripheral comes in a black anodised aluminum case and is designed to fit together in "piggy back" fashion to enable you to continue to add on and still keep an integrated system look. Printer Interface^ Memopak RAM High Resolution Graphics Order at no risk All Memotech products carry our 10 day money back guarantee. If you're not completely satisfied, return it in ten days and we will give you a full refund. And every Memotech product comes with a six month warranty. Should anything be defective with your Memopak, return it to us and we will repair or replace it free of charge. Dealer inquiries welcome. To order any Memotech product call our toll-free number 800/662-0949 or use the order coupon. i 1 Mail to: Memotech Corporation, 7550 West Yale Ave., Denver, CO 80227 Code: BY 10 CORPORATION 7550 West Yale Avenue Denver, Colorado 80227 (303) 986-1516 TWX 910-320-2917 * Price Qty 64K RAM SI79.95 32K RAM 109 95 16K RAM 59 95 Centronics Parallel Printer Interface 104.95 RS232 Printer Interface 139 95 High Resolution Graphics 144.95 Shipping and handling 4.95 $4.95 * All prices quoted in U.S. dollars Tax** ** Colorado residents please add sales tax □ Check □ MasterCard □ Visa Total Account Mo Fvn Name Address City Memopak 64K RAM The 64K RAM extends the memory of your Sinclair by 56K to a full 64K. It is directly addressable, user transparent, is neither switched nor paged and accepts such basic command as 10 DIM A (9000). The Memopak 64K turns your Sinclair into a powerful computer suitable for business, recreational and educational use. No additional power supply is required. Memopak 32K RAM The 32K RAM Memopak offers your Sinclair a full 32K of directly addressable RAM. Like the 64K Memopak, it is neither switched nor paged and enables you to execute sophisticated programs and store large data bases. It is also fully compatible with Sinclair's or Memotech's 16K RAM to give you a full 48K of RAM. Memopak 16K RAM The Memopak 16K RAM provides an economical way to increase the capabilities of your Sinclair. And at the same time, it enables you to continue to add on other features with its "piggy back" connectors. It is compatible with the Sinclair 16K or a second Memopak 16K or Memopak 32K to give 32K or 48K of RAM respectively. Memopak High Resolution Graphics The Memopak HRG contains a 2K EPROM monitor and is fully programmable for high resolution graphics. The HRG provides for up to 192 by 248 pixel resolution. Memopak Printer Interface The memotech Centronics parallel or RS232 printer interface paks enable your Sinclair to use a wide range of compatible printers (major manufacturers' printers available through Memotech at significant savings). The resident software in the units gives the ASCII set of characters. Both Memopak printer interfaces provide lower case character capabilities. The RS232 Interface is also compatible with modems. New products coming soon Memotech will soon be introducing four new Sinclair compatible products: a high quality, direct connection keyboard, a digitizing tablet, a 16K EPROM and a disk drive. Watch for our future advertisements. Listing 9: Pseudocode for Task Manager's PROCESS subroutine. This subroutine manages all data and performs number-crunching for both Task Manager and Slave. Numbers in parentheses refer to the Task Manager program only. Update Quarter and Year counters (2030) For each 100,000 increment of Product R&D budget: (2070-2100) If random number > 0.75 then increase Product Technology Available by 0.1 Endloop For each 100,000 increment of Manufacturing R&D budget: (2110-2140) If random number > 0.75 then increase Manufacturing Technology Available by 0.1 Endloop For each 100,000 increment of Advertising budget: (2150-2180) If random number > 0.75 then increase Market by 0.05 Endloop If Market > 1.0 then set Market = 1.0 (2190) Wait for Slave program to reach this point (2200-2240) Request parameter message from Slave (2250-2260) Call RECEIVE (2270) Unload RECEIVE buffer to BASIC string (2280-2320) Parse and convert string to required program variables (2330-2390) Compute the following for both programs: (2430-2530) Total Demand Inflation Unit Demand Units Sold Inventory Retained Earnings Convert Slave program variable to strings and load XMIT buffer (2570-2660) Tell Slave message is ready and call XMIT when requested (2670-2720) If any outbound messages to opponent: (2730-2850) Load XMIT buffer Tell Slave message is ready Call XMIT when requested Endif If any inbound messages: (2860-3000) Request Slave to send Call RECEIVE Unload RECEIVE buffer to message string Endif here are that each program has suffi- cient information to determine when either player wins or loses and that the retained earnings are reduced each time an item is bought. The re- quirement to reduce retained earnings as items are purchased dictates most of the flow of this subroutine. In ad- dition, each value is checked to en- sure that sufficient funds are available before any action is taken. The two subroutines PROD UPGRADE and MFG UPGRADE handle the adjust- ment of the product and manufactur- ing upgrades and reduction of re- tained earnings. After all values have been input they are fed back to the player for final approval. If any value is rejected, you must reenter all of the others. This may seem burdensome, but during play it lets you reevaluate your strategy. The PROCESS subroutine is the most interesting portion of the pro- gram. Initially, I envisioned both pro- grams doing their own computations, which would simplify both the traffic between the computers and the pro- gramming. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible because each com- puter would have had to use the BASIC random-number generator in- itialized to a different starting point and would have drawn different ran- dom numbers. Environmental factors such as inflation and demand would also have been different for each pro- gram. So I decided to have one pro- gram do all of the environmental computations and share the informa- tion. The only thing left to do was to figure out how to accomplish that. The general solution to the problem follows. 1. compute specific parameters for each computer 2. have the Slave program report its updated values to the Task Manager 3. have the Task Manager compute the environmental parameters 4. give the Slave the new values Although the PROCESS subrou- tine pseudocode for the Task Manager is different from that for the Slave, the key to Marketplace is the interaction of these two routines. The following discussion presents the Task Manager's point of view (see listing 9). (To understand the com- plementary processes, refer to the Slave pseudocode in listing 10 any time an action by the Slave program is mentioned.) After the quarter and year counters have been updated, the payoffs for all the R&D and advertis- ing budgets are determined. These values are computed locally by each computer. At this point, the pro- grams must be synchronized to ac- complish the data transfer. The Task Manager sends a test character and waits for an acknowledgment. If the proper test character is received, the Task Manager tells the Slave to begin transmission and calls the machine- language receive routine. Then the Task Manager converts the received- character string to numeric parameters and computes the remain- ing values. The outbound data string is prepared and the Slave is informed that a data message is ready. When the Slave requests the message, the machine-language transmit routine is called and the message is sent. The text dialogue between the players is handled in a similar manner. Closing Notes I have focused on the first genera- tion of Marketplace. Many readers will recognize that the programs described here have overlooked a plethora of possible interactions. For example, production capacity is unlimited, the product demand is in- elastic, technologies once gained through R&D have an unlimited shelf October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc 171 You can't buy more computer for less. $1790 is the total retail price of the complete Micro Decision™ System you see in this ad. And that includes the computer with a disk drive, a full size smart terminal, and over $ 1800 worth of software. No other business computer available today offers so much for so little (a comparable Apple system costs almost twice as much). The Micro Decision is a bargain any way you look at it. The computer alone, with all that software and one disk drive is only $1195. If you want to add another disk drive, the price is still great: just $1545. And the smart terminal is only $595. Retail. As for the microcomputer itself, our Micro Decision includes a 64K CP/M® 2.2 Operating System. That's the industry standard operating system that gives you access to over 2000 business programs (avail- able right now — right off the shelf). If you'd like more information, or to find out about our substantial quantity discounts, call us at (415) 430-1970. We'll introduce you to more Morrow. And less price. LOOK TO MORROW FOR ANSWERS TODAY MORROW OESIGN5 600 McCormick St. San Leandro, CA 94577 I J (415)430-1970 1 i Circle 261 on inquiry card. Listing 10: Pseudocode for Slave's PROCESS subroutine. This subroutine transmits and receives messages. Numbers in parentheses refer to the Slave program only. Update Quarter and Year counters (1970) For each 100,000 increment of Product R&D budget (2010-2040) If random number > 0.75 then increase Product Technology Available by 0.1 Endloop For each 100,000 increment of Manufacturing R&D budget (2050-2080) If random number > 0.75 then increase Manufacturing Technology Available by 0.1 Endloop For each 100,000 increment of Advertising budget (2090-2120) If random number > 0.75 then increase Market by 0.05 Endloop If Market > 1.0 then set Market = 1.0 (2130) Convert program parameters to strings and prepare XMIT string (2160-2190) Wait for Task Manager to reach this point (2200-2250) Load XMIT buffer from XMIT string (2260-2300) Call XMIT when re q uested (2310) Wait for Task Manager to say message is ready (2320-2330) Tell Task Manager to send (2340-2350) Call RECEIVE (2360) Unload RECEIVE buffer to BASIC string (2370-2410) Parse and convert string to reguired program variables (2420-2680) If any inbound messages (2750-2840) Re q uest Task manager to send Call RECEIVE Unload RECEIVE buffer to message string Endif If any outbound message (2850-2970) Tell Task Manager message available Load XMIT buffer Call XMIT when re q uested Endif life, and fixed costs are really ar- bitrary. My intent was to explore techniques for a two-machine dialogue and to create a game that re- quired its players to use the best com- puters available — their own mental faculties. Marketplace in its current form requires a great deal of thought and planning on the part of its players to balance the parameters. It is very easy in this game to get behind the curve and be destroyed by the com- petition. Success at Marketplace depends on how well you ride the "curve" of ris- ing prices by improving your pro- duct's level of technology, maintain- ing your market reputation, and keeping your retained earnings high. The author has offered to make copies of his programs available to BYTE readers. Send a blank disk and a check or money order for $15 to Robert Dickinson POB 3004 Thousand Oaks, CA 91362 SuperBrain II - CompuStar™ Network Systems Excellent dealer & E0M discounts CMC's own national on-site service Toll-free Ordering & technical assistance Six- month warranty High resolution graphics System support training in our facilities Module replacement Advertising co-op After-sale support CMC ALSO OFFERS • Optional green phosphor screen • Enhanced DOS software with advanced files directory, diagnostics, disk editor, communications software and others SOFTWARE, PERIPHERALS FOR SUPERBRAIN COMPUSTAR SOFTWARE Accounting Plus Microsoft Wordstar dBase II Microplan Profitplan Bisynch 80 CBasic II M Basic Fortran 80 Cobol 80 M/T Pascal P/L1 80 Spellguard Spellstar PRINTERS Datasouth Epson C. Itoh Okidata NEC Starwriter F10 MODEMS Anderson-Jacobson CAT Novation HARD DISKS CMC Targa Corvus MEDIA Dysan Verbatim MISC. Line Filters Power Supplies CMC INT 'NATIONAL A Division of Computer Marketing Corporation 11058 Main Street, Suite 220 Bellevue. Washington 98004 TELEX: 152556 SEATAC CompuStar Hard Disk Systems 10mb, 32mb & 96mb Control Data Corp. Phoenix Drives 9448-96 CMD 9448-32 LOWEST PRICES ANYWHERE! For Information Call (206)453-9777 To Order, Call Toll-free 1-800-426-2963 DEALER INQUIfllES. GSA. GOVERNMENT. EDUCATIONAL BIDS INVITED Supetflfflin and ComouSUr are registered trademarks ol inieHec Dau Systems Cwfxmn 174 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 69 on inquiry card. Why pay hundreds more for a four (as in QUAD) function IBM PC board? This may be the only board you need to expand your IBM personal computer. Stan- dard with three functions; memory up to 256K, clock/calendar with battery back-up, and asynchronous serial (RS232C) port, (COMl or COM2). On the same board a parallel printer port can be added foran extra $50. All the options you may ever need if you have the color graphics adapter. If you have the monochrome/printer adapter, you can save the $50, unless you plan to run two parallel interface printers. Or you may add this option later if needed. No corner cutting here You may think that since this board costs so much less there has to be a catch. The catch is you have to put the board in yourself, and set a switch to tell your computer the board is there. It's all done in less than ten minutes. Our clear instructions with illustrations make it a snap. The board is a four layer design with rows of nine memory chips for full parity checking. Each board is solder masked, silk screened, and has gold plated contacts. The memory chip locations are all socketed. All components are premium grade, meet IBM performance specifications, and are burned in and tested prior to shipment. The highly rated design is well proven with several thousand boards in the field providing reliable service. How much memory? We offer the board with 64K, 128K, 192K, or 256K of memory. Buy only the memory you need or your budget allows. Quite frankly we don't think you can put your own untested chips on as cheaply, and ours are prime #1 chips, burned in , tested, and warrantied for one year. We have found the 192K board to be the most popular because coupled with the 64K in your computer this gives you a full 256K of memory. The board can hold up to 256K (a total of 320K with the 64K in the PC). Clock/calendar & clip-on battery That round thing in the picture is a lithium battery. It may last as long as five years since it is only needed when the computer is turned off. Note the holder it is in. The under $4.00 battery just slips out and a new one slips in. No soldering required as with some other clock boards. The clock/calendar sets the time and date when your computer is turned on. This is done with a program which we send you on a diskette. The clock on the board is set using the IBM DOS commands TIME and DATE. The offer you shouldn't refuse Our spreadsheet offering, SUPERCALC, is the best one we have seen for the PC. It has all the features of the popular VISICALC program, with some extra features that make it much more useful and convenient. SUPER- CALC will address up to 512K of memory and if you order it with your board we will sell it to you for the unheard of price of $176. This offer is only available at the time you order your board. When you buy from us? Service and support are the keys when you buy any product. How many mail order companies take the trouble to write their own installation instructions? How many include schematics with their boards? How many offer a diagnostic program for just $10 that let's you check out your board so you don't send it for service until you know there really is a problem? Who else charges no extra for credit cards, COD fees, or shipping charges? How many will face our acid test? The acid test Qubie Distributing gives you our 30 day satisfaction guarantee on all board purchases. If you are not completely satisfied we will return the entire cost of your purchase as well as pay the postage to return it. If you can get one of our competitors to give you the same guarantee, buy any other board you think compares and return the one you don't like. We're not worried because we know which one you'll keep. On top of this we give you a one year parts and labor warranty, and a one year extended warranty for $50. War- ranty repairs are done in 48 hours or we will send you a new board. You don't have to wait Just send the following to the address below: Name & street address. Memory size. Optional parallel port? SUPERCALC & cables you want. Your daytime telephone number. A check or money order. Visa & MasterCard buyers may substitute their credit card number and expiration date for the check. Or call us and save the trip to the mailbox. TO ORDER BY PHONE: Outside California (800) 421-7103 In California (213) 870-3718 PRICES: 64K $375 192K $499 128K $439 256K $599 (Includes serial port, and clock/calendar) OPTIONS: Parallel Port (LPTl or LPT2) $50 SUPERCALC for IBM 176 Cable for Epson Printer 35 Cable for Serial Printer or Modem 25 Memory Diagnostic Diskette 10 Extra Speedy Delivery: By UPS surface freight prepaid. For $5 extra we will ship it blue label air service. We ship credit card and bank check orders the same day we receive them. Personal or company checks take 18 days to clear. QUBIE' Circle 416 DISTRIBUTING 1707 Stow art St root Santa Monica, CA 90404 Ringquest Gordon Mills 6 Denehill Bradford, West Yorkshire BD9 6AT England 1 INSTRUCTIONS FOR MOVING: 488 8ECS SCORE 0 SECTOR • il Photo 1: The screen display for Ringquest. The map of the mines is drawn as you travel through the passages and caves. The main object of most adventure games is to fight monsters and grab all the treasure you can carry. Ring- quest, inspired by Tolkien, encourages a different point of view. You have the opportunity to offer friendship to a monster and pursue your quest by less violent means. Of course, for more hardened players the game also offers the traditional modus operandi for dealing with monsters: using swords and spells. I had been interested in creating a fantasy game since 1979, when I acquired an 8K-byte Commodore PET. Having read about adventure games in magazines, I wondered if I could pack one into a computer that had only 7K bytes of program storage. Eventually I managed to do just that, using a game I had come across as my model. (See 'The Origin of Ringquest" for details of the game's evolution.) Later, I modified the game to run on my new Apple II with 48K bytes of RAM (random-access read/write memory). A description of the resulting ver- sion of Ringquest follows. Playing the Game The object of the game is, as you might expect, to find the ring and remove it from the mine. When you set out on each new quest, the only thing you can be certain of is that you will be exploring a set of caves and passages completely different from any you have met before. First, you'll descend into the center area of the mines. Your moves will be displayed on a map that shows passages and caves (see photo 1). When you enter a cave for the first time, you will usually see both a monster and treasure — unless you fall into one of the underground streams, that is, in which case you will be carried off to somewhere else in the mines (fortunately, only 5 percent of the caves contain these streams). Initially, more than half of the monsters you see will be Red Ores, whose fighting ability is inferior to yours when you start. As you acquire weapons, your chances of meeting stronger monsters will increase. "Treasure" also includes weapons. These are always acquired in the same order and always improve your fighting ability. But if you greedily set about taking all the gold bars you can, your fighting ability will be re- 176 October 1982 © BYTE Publication* Inc duced in proportion to the amount of gold you have ac- quired. In any case, the number of gold bars you can carry is limited. All the main game operations are decided by random functions: selection of passages and caves, monster types and treasure, the monsters' reactions to friendly over- tures, and the combat. Nevertheless, the field for decision making is wide. For example, you can retreat from any cave after entering it, decide whether to attack the monster or try for friendship, retire from a fight if hurt, and decide to fire an explosive charge. The latter not only unblocks rockfalls but sends such great re- verberations through the cave system that many of the monsters move to different caves. Of course, violent behavior is discouraged, so after you fire a charge your charm rating and injury resistance will be lower. If you are carrying at least one bar of gold when you enter a cave that contains no treasure or fewer than five bars of gold, and you try for friendship with the monster, it will demand some gold from you. The bartering pro- tocol that operates in the caves is as follows: (1) If you do not possess the number of bars the monster demands but comply with the demand, the monster is offended and always attacks. (2) If you refuse to comply with the demand, the monster is not offended, and you can decide to offer friendship again, to attack, or to retreat. (3) When you offer friendship again, the monster may demand more or fewer gold bars. (4) If you do possess the number of bars the monster demands and comply with the demand, you increase your chances of friendship by a factor roughly in proportion to the number of bars the monster demanded. (5) If the monster chooses to be friendly, you can then take any treasure that is inside the cave when you enter in exchange for the treasure you have acquired already. Winning at Ringquest requires both luck and a com- bination of skills. It may be many hours before you find the ring and many more before you figure out how to ac- quire it and take it out of the mine; until then, you have a score to aim for. The ring itself plays a role in the scoring system. For instance, you stand a much greater chance of success if the ring is in sector 2, but you gain only about 100 points for taking the ring out of sector 2, while you gain 200 points if you manage to bring it safely out of sec- tor 1. I don't know what the highest possible score might be, because I have never successfully removed the ring from sector 1, but it should be possible to get nearly 300 points. Time is the main constraint, and the approximate- ly 960-second allowance for traveling through each sector seems all too short when you are desperately engaged in barter with a Gray Elf who seems determined to ignore youl As in more traditional adventure games, you must work out one or two strategies for yourself. It wouldn't be fair for me to divulge them here and spoil your enjoy- ment! I can, however, offer some advice. You can obtain the ring only by visiting many caves, so you have to move fast and try to avoid long-winded bartering and re- tracing your steps through already-visited caves. You can use underground streams to your advantage during the first few minutes in each sector, because they let you rapidly seek more caves, but avoid them as you approach the time limit. Very occasionally, you may find yourself completely blocked, but this normally occurs only in the very early stages of the game. If you have a gunpowder flask, you can press E to create an exit at your current position. If you run out of explosives, just press E to end that quest and start again. The Origin of Ringquest The model I used for Ringquest took up 18K bytes of RAM on a 32K-byte PET. The game could be played by up to four players whose object was to obtain the most gold and return to the entrance. The PET graphics sym- bols, which create a network of passages between caves, were stored in a 40 by 25 array so that when you entered a cave, the screen cleared and you were offered informa- tion about a monster and treasure. If the monster did not kill you (which happened very quickly most of the time), the cave map was redrawn using POKE statements. This process, which required 13 seconds each time, was frus- trating, but there was a certain fascination in not know- ing which monster would appear next. I was determined to modify the program to fit into 7K bytes. My main objectives were to eliminate the long 1982 VERSION IFR SIMULATOR Apple II Plus DOS 3.3 Features a lifelike panel that simulates the airplane instruments that are used for flying and navigating in clouds. FLY IFR LANDINGS, PATTERNS, and CROSS COUNTRY in several areas of The United States. $50.00 at your computer store or direct from: PROGRAMMERS SOFTWARE 2110 N.2nd St. Cabot Arkansas 72023 (501) 843-2988 delay in redrawing the screen map, even up the chances for the player facing a monster, and reduce the chances (quite high in the original game) that a player might find passages blocked in every direction. First I decided to design a single-player game. Then I decided to make use of my limited knowledge of machine language to write a routine to store the screen display in the upper IK bytes of RAM. By using machine language to store the screen display, I was able to dispense with the really large arrays. But I still needed arrays to store the details of the caves con- taining monsters and treasure; that would lend continuity to the game and exercise the players' judgment. I chose a 3 by 50 array so that each cave had its position, monster, and treasure. Then I reduced the chances of meeting dead ends by doubling the chances of encountering both four- way passages and caves. Finally, I introduced an original idea: the gunpowder flask, which could blast through passages when the way was blocked. I retained a "rockfall" feature from the seed game; a rockfall in one of the passages occurred at random but with increasing frequency as the game proceeded. Be- cause you could "score" your treasure only if you re- turned to the mine entrance, this, in practice, limited the total number of moves. The goal of the game was still to acquire gold and return safely. By carefully pruning all nonessential features, I completed the first version, which I called "Mines of Moria," in three weeks. The game proved very popular when tested out among family, colleagues, and friends, but I was still not satisfied. For the game to be a true adventure, I wanted it to have a goal that transcended the mere acquisition of wealth. The solution, obvious enough in hindsight, was the idea of a Ringquest. After some thought, I made the following changes: (1) arranging for the ring to appear only after the Magic Sword has been obtained and used to kill a Balrog (2) including a scoring system of points for acquiring gold and silver charms and vanquishing certain monsters (3) adding a time limit and a time/score display to the screen map (4) letting the player withdraw from a fight when in- jured (5) introducing a gold-bartering system if the player offers friendship to one of the monsters (6) stipulating that, when a cave containing the ring is finally found, another condition placed on the player must be satisfied or the ring will be spirited away to another cave (7) including a Time Spell, which would occasionally be available from a wizard, to extend the normal time limit (8) adding an Invisible Cloak that, if obtained, would let the player enter any cave and take the treasure; the cloak also carried with it such drawbacks as prevent- ing you from fighting a monster or gaining informa- tion about your status 178 Octobtr 19S2 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 316 on Inquiry card. How many times have you wanted a program that would instantly let you create a database to enter, save, and retrieve information without having to spend hours figuring out how to run a structured data base management system? The TMMP/FreeForm gives you an easy to use, powerful program that can be used for appointment calendars, client and prospect lists, personal and business inventories, recipes, record and tape indexes . . . the list goes on and on. Because the TMMP/FreeForm is written in optimized machine code and uses random files, it runs fast enough to be used in "real time" applications like telephone logs, price lists, and catalogs. ■ Electronic Index Cards Stored Automatically in Alphabetical Order ■ Keywords Any Word, Number, or Date on Cards for Lookup and Printing ■ Built-in Screen Editor Full Featured with Word Wrap ■ Wild Card Searches For Card Title and/or Key Words ■ Hard Copy Options Uses Standard Printer Paper or 3" by 5" Index and Rolodex Cards ■ Professional Self-Training Tools Fully Illustrated Manual, Video Tape Training Available TM WHAT IS THE T/Mlj^ SYSTEM? The TOTAL MANAGEMENT/ MARKETING PLANNING system or TMMP/ is a fully integrated, screen oriented, software environment. Each powerful TMMP/software package can be used alone or a number of TMMP/packages can be put together with the TMMP/Front-End to give you one integrated software system. The TMMP/standard also means that once you learn how to use one TMMP/software package, it's easy to learn any other TMMP/program. For instance, the key you use for "Insert" in one TMMP/product is the same in all TMMP/products and it is used the same way. The TMMP/"prompt box" allows quick and error free data entry with unique "help" screens that allow you to read "Help" without erasing the information you're working on. Like data can be transferred from one TMMP/package to another. For instance, information created with the TMMP/FreeForm can be directly accessed by the TMMP/Manager and TMMP/Manager data can be used directly by the TMMP/Calc to create electronic spread sheets! Excellent manuals, video tape training programs; the list goes on and on. The TMMP/ software is the new generation of software you've been waiting for and is available for not only desk top computers, but also supermicros and mini computers. Now Put The Power Of The^FreeForm On Your Computer! Available from you local computer dealer or order direct, postpaid, from TUSC! NOW! IBM-PC (PC/DOS) $149.98 NOW! IBM-PC (CP/M-86) $149.98 NOW! UniFLEX $198.98 NOW! CANON CX-1 (See Your CANON Dealer) OS-9SOON CP/MSOON □ EC PDP/1 1 (RT-11) SOON Others Call Or Write TMMP/FreeForm Video Tape Train- ing Program VHS or Beta Format $1 50.00 U-Matic Format SI 7Q.OO TM vusc $1 C31 6) 6 .38 4-5281 The 2431 East Douglas United Software .... . ., — company Wichita, Kansas G7211 TMMP/, TMMP/FreeForm. TMMP/Calc. TMMP/Manager, TMMP /From- End. TMMP/Wn- ter, and TUSC logo are trademarks of Lhe United Software Company CX-1 is a trademark of Canon Inc. IBM PC DOS is a trade name of International Business Machines Inc. CP/M and CP/M-86 are a registered trademark of Digital Research Inc PDP and RT-11 are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corp, OS-9 is a trademark of Microware. UniFLEX is a trademark of Technical Systems Consultants Inc. Circle 400 on inquiry card. BYTE October 1982 1 79 Buy From Us and Save Your Green _ftt ^ Toll Free sr 800-854-6654 ^MffL^jK W CALIFORNIA & INFORMATION (714) 698- 8O68 MP AfRw * We accept all * Most Orders Shipped _f^S W ^ftjl^ 1 v» rna» or c redi * cards. within 24 Hours JfgjB^ ^BBH major credit cards ★ 15 Day No Risk Policy ★ Most Orders Shipped Within 24 Hours ★ Serving people everywhere since 1977 ★ We will try to meet ★ Free Shipping* or beat any currently (Pre-Paid advertised price. Cash Orders) SEC PC-6000 Please call lot details. The serious fun machine for liv- ing, learning, working and play- PC-8Q0IA Microcomputer (32K) PC-8031A Dual mini-disk drives PC.Bu12AlfOunil.32K, 7 slols FDCI/Oporl NECB023Prmler 32K Memory Add on card PenTec 2 pori RS-232 card RenTec Wedge Expansion w/32K . . RGB to Composite Video Converter NEC PC-8001 Soltwaio NEC CP'M Operating System 125" FORTRAN by Microsoft 349" General Accounting System 249" Accounts Receivable System 249" Inventory Control System 249" Payroll Syslom 249" Job Cost Syslem 249" Select Word Processing w/speller .349" Report Manager 149" Games PacK 1 Alien, Space War 29" Games Pack 2 UFO Galaxian. Bomber, .29" WordStar by Micropro , .299" Datastar by Micropro .249" Mailmerge for NEC Wordstar 109" Spellstar by Micropro 169" Supersorl by Micropro 169" Baslc-80 Compiler by Microsoft 349" Baslc-SOby Microsoft 319" Cobol-BO by Microsoft 649" Racet NEC DOS 139" Term II Communications Pkg. . 149" FileFax Sysiem 149" Protran (converts TRSBO software) 99" KFSBO ISAM Package 139" More Software and Accesso'tes everyday. TERMINALS Viewpoint, Al Viewpoint. A2 - Viewpoint. A3 . ftTel^vldeo 912C 920C 925C 950C • COMPATIBLE ACCESSORIES 64K memory card by microsoft 379" 128K memory card by" 499" 192K memory card by" 659" 256K memory card by" 799" 64K ram chip upgrade kil 169" Serial Async. Comm. card w/t port .... 128** Serial Async. card with 2 ports ...... 249" Clock Calendar card 105" Combo Card by Apparat 235" Joystick for IBM 55" Expansion Chassis CALL Baby Blue Z'80w/64K&CP/M CALL Percom minl-lloppy drives (add-on) . . CALL TandonTM 100 mini-lloppy drives . . . .CALL IBM compatible software Continental Home Accountant Plus , 129" T.I.M. Itl by Innovative 349" SuperCalc 239" SuperWrllor 299" Easywrllerll 269" Easy Spelter 148" Easy Filer 278" ( fTHcfoPfo) Wordstar by MicroPro . . 298" MailMerge by MicroPro 129" \/ VlSlCORT VisiCalc (Standard) 168" VisiCalc/256K 199" VisiTrend/PIo! 239" VisiDex 19B" VisiFHe 188" Desktop Planl 248" 0 SANYO computer Please call for details. THE FRANKLIN ACE FEATURES • Apple II Compatible • 64K RAM User memory • Upper and lower case ^ • Typewriter style keyboard • Twelve key numeric pad s* C "a**'* • Alpha lock shilt key p\e a ^o' • VisiCalc Inendly r \sfi • 50 wall power supply The Franklin ACE 1000 is a professional personal computer that is hardware and soltware compatible with the Apple II and includes many features not found on the Apple unit. All programs written for the Apple II will run o Ihe ACE 1000 without modifica- tion including those using high and low resolution black and while graphics. The ACE 1000 is plug compatible wilh Apple. All peripherals that operate in the Apple II will operate in the ACE 1000 without modifica- tion. The Alternative • Apple II Compatibility in both peripheral cards and software • 6502 and Z 80 CPU's • 64K RAM, expandable lo 128K • RGB and Composite Video Output • Selectable 80 or 40 column display • High Resolution Graphics: 6 colors, 280 x 192 with four lines of text • 8 bit Parallel I/O interface • Detachable Keyboard: All standard ASCII characters and keyboard functions, upner/lower case, and a numeric keypad, cursor control block, and 15 programmable special funclion keys • Buill in hardware lor mounling two 5V« inch mini-lloppy disk drives Six Apple N compatible slols for plug in peripheral cards PLEASE CALL US FOR MORE DETAILS □ commodore Please Call For More Information Order Toll Free 800 - 854-6654 Info & California 714 - 698-8088 Call or write for Free Catalog Wo accept most major credit cards, bank wire Iransler, money orders, cashiers or certified checks and personal chocks (10 days to clear). Unless prepaid with cash please add 5% shipping, handling and insurance (mln. S5.00). CA residents add 6% sales lax. Foreign customers please call lor ordering information. AM equipment is subject lo price change and availability without notice. All equipment is now and complele wilh manufacturer's warranty. We have a 15 day salislaclion policy — call lor details. The Friendly Computer $199 VIC 20 Personal Computer 244' VIC 1540 Single Disk Drive .48B 1 Dalasette Cassette I/O unit 65' Joystick Controller. 10 1 VIC 1515 Graphic Printer 328" VIC Super Expander 54' 3K Ram Cartridge 34' 8K Ram Cartridge 48' 16K Ram Cartridge 88* VIC IEEE-48B interlace 78' VIC RS-232C Terminal Interlace ...... .38' umi ViCalc ■ Viable Calculator (T) 11" ViCal- Visible Catalog (8K|(Ti CALL VICheck- Checkbook MgUSKMT) IB" VlTerm - Dumb Terminal (T) 16" Basic Programmers Utility ROM 27" Spiders olMars(C) 38" AMOK(C) 31" AMOK(T) 15" Meteor Run [Q 38" Alien Blitz (C) 32" Allen Blitz (T) 19" Simon (T) 7" Kiddie Checkers (T) 7" 3-D Maze (T) 11" Raceway (T) - 11" Kosmic Kamikaze (8KfT) 20" Kiddie Pakl(4Tapes) 31" Super Four I (4 Tapes) 39" The Alien (6K/T) 18" Renaissance-OthellofC) 38" SkyMath(BKT) 12" LongDive(BKT) 12" SpaceDiv I8K/T) 12" Super Hangman l8K(T| . 17" T = Tape. C = Cartridge. 8K m 3K expansion MODEMS Anchor Automation Signal | Novation^ Novation Apple Cat CD Hayes Hayes Stack Smartmodei Hayes Stack Chionograpn Hayes Apple Micromodem Universal Data Systems Direct Connect Modems 103 LP Orig ,/Ans 300 baud 165* l03JLPOrig.fAu1o-ans 300 baud 199' 202 LPOrig./Ans 1200 hauil 229' 202SLPOng 'Auto^ans 1200baud. 249' DISKETTES Dysan5 r -."(Soft. 10 or 16 suctmed) 10/39" Dysan 8" Sgl. Den./Sgl. Sided 10/54" Verbatim 5' .' (Soft, 10 or 16 sect I 10/29" Verbatim B " Sgl Den /Sgl Sided 10134" Scotch 3M 5* (Soft. 10 oi 16Secl i 10126" Same as above in quantity of 100 . .245* Scotch 3M B" Diskettes all types CALL Scotch 3M Drive Head Cleaning Kit 15" SB") .. . 28* > Buy From Us and Save Your Green sjotii + m I Free set 800 - 854- 6654 CALIFORNIA & INFORMATION (714) 698- 8O88 * 15 Day No Risk Policy * Most Orders Shipped Within 24 Hours * Serving people everywhere since 1977 ★ We will try to meet * Free Shipping* or beat any currently (Pre-Paid advertised price. Cash Orders) Circle 104 on inquiry card. SHOP THE GREEN PAGES FOR DISCOUNTS ON APPLE PERIPHERALS!! PRINTERS A ATARI APPLE II COMPATIBLE SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE \7 VlSlCORP VislCalc 185" VislCalc Templates (New!) CALL. VlsiFile|Data Base Manager) 185" VislTrand/VisiPlol 199" VisiSchodule(New!> 239" VlsiTerm 88" VislDex 185" Desktop Plan II 1B5 M Tax Preparer 119" Real Ealato Analyzer 119" Creative Financing 119" CfflkfoPrb) WordSiar" by MicroPro 199" MailMergo" Dy MicroPro 79" SpellSlar' by MicroPro .115" DalaSlar 1 by MicroPro 169" CalcSlar* by MicroPro 118" Superso'l I" by MicroPro 115" WordStar Customization Notes 269" /MlCRfpSOfT MICROSOFT SOFTCARD PREMIUM SYSTEM (Includes: Softcard. RAMCard. Videx VldoolBrm 60 Col., Softswitch. Osborne CP/M User Guide) Lisl . 755"° only 659" Micfosoll TASC Applesoft Compiler . . 149" Forlran-BO' 148" A.LDS 89" Basic Compiler ' 289" CoboiBO* 499" Time Manager 129" Super Tex I II Word Processor Muse .119" PFS. Personal Filing System 79" PFS: Reporl 78" DBMasler 185" Systems Plus Accounting Sattware CALL Peachlree Accounting Software" CALL Continental Accounting Pkgs . 169" 'ReQi ires a Z-80 SoltCara CP/M Software mkroPro WordStar 289" Supersort 189" MailMergo 109" OaiaSlar 239** SpeiiStai 188" CalcSlar 238" /♦irCPpsOfT BASIC 80 289" BA5IC Compiler 309" Fortran B0 359" Cobot B0 569" Macro 60 . .179" niuMflffi'muSIMP ... 215" muLISP'muSTAR 189" d BASE II 499" PLAN B0 249" CflASIC 115" PASCAL MT * Ver 5.5 399" Spellguard 299" PASCAL 2 329" SUPERCALC 225" Sjjj Mountain Computer CPS Multi-Function Card 169" Music System (16 voices) 299" A/D * D/A Interlace 279" Expansion Chassis (8 slots) 569" ClOckrCalendarcard 229" SuporTalkerSD-200 -.149" Romplus + card 129" Keyboard Filler ROM lor Romplus 40" CopyRom lor Romplus 40" flomWrltercard 149" RamPlus 32K ram add-on (w/16K| . . . .149" Sorrento Valley Associates SVA 2 + 2 Sgl. Den. 8" Disk Com CALL SVA ZVX4 Megabyter 8" Disk Cont. . . CALL Apple Cache 256K by SVA CALL THE KEYBOARD COMWlSfY Joysticks by Keyboard Co 4 23 Key Numeric Keypad by " 11 (jgjp M&R Sup-R-Fan *5" Sup-R-Termina! 80 column card 299" CONCOMP 1SK RAMBoard assembled & tested . . .69" IRK RamBoard by CCl in kit form 50" Mrsco/raneous Forth (Apple compatible) Drives . . CALL IEEE-488 Interface by SSM 389" Adwai Video Processor Mod CALL Vidoodisk-Apple Interlace . .475" Echo II Speech Synthesizer 219" Symlec Lighlpen 210" The Mill-6809 Processor .319" Lazer Lower Case Adapter 55" Houston Inst. Graphics Plotter CALL SYNERGY Mum-Card . CALL Prometheus VersaCard . ..219" Versawnter Digitizer Table 249" Grappler Printer Interfaces .139" M crobuffer tl 32K (specify prnlr ) 289" Microbuffer II 16K(speclly prnlr.) 249" 8K Serial Buffer Card for Epson 149" 16K Parallel Buffer l/F for Epson 149" We Have more items too Please Call Js jUSCl APPLE II COMPA TIBLE DISK DRIVES i controller ... . A2w'ocontroller A40 with controller A40 wilhout controller A70 wilh controller A70 wilhout controller . . : CORVUS SYSTEMS Corvus Winchester 5 Mb Disk 2950" Corvus Winchester 10 Mb Disk 4295" Corvus Winchester 20 Mb Disk 5195°° Mirror Back-Up 69B" /HicnpsofT Z-80SoftCardby Microsoft 289" 16K RamCard by Microsofl 155" ThunderCIOCk/CalenOarcard ,, . 199" Smarterm 80 column card 289" j5||j§ Vtdex VideoTerm 80 column card . . ... 245" Videx Keyboard Enhancer Hong.) 75" Videx Keyboard Enhancer II 129" Novation Novation Apple Cal modem 319" Expansion-Mod 39" Handsel , 29" BSRX-10 control interface mod 19" Touch-Tone Firmware CALL CD Hayes Hayes Micromodem II Hayes Smartmodem Hayes Chronograph Vista 16K RamBoard FOR APPLE II Viston-60 Col. card by Vista 255" Prom Development System by Vista . .355" 8" Disk Drives by Vista CALL IF YOU DON'T SEE WHAT YOU NEED LISTED, PLEASE CALL $50 00 KIT Pnadex DP-9501 w/2K buffer 1149" <35 C. Itoh F-10 40 CPS (parallel) 1399" F-10 40 CPS (serial) 1450" ProWriter 8510 10" (parallel) 469" ProWriter851C 10"" (serial) 579" ProWriter II 1550 15" (parallel) 699" ProWnler II 1550 IS" (Serial! 749" EPSON MX-80 T Type III w/graptucs ... CALL MX-80 F'TType III w/ijraphics CALL MX B2 F/TType III w/graphics CALL MX- 100 Type [Myographies CALL Epson Graxtrax 80 ROM 59" '(B tnli-KMlUiU VMi-mvlm. Prism 80 wilhout color option 1049" Priam 00 with color 1299" Prism 132 with color 1589" Apple Prism co or software 55" NEC 8023 Impact Dol Malrlx 489" 351033CPSserial 1749" 3530 33 CPS ceHronlcs parallel 1749" Bi-direclional tractor for 3500's ..... .229" 771055CPSseiial 2349" 7730 55 CPS cenlronics parallel 2349" Tractor for 7700 series 229" OKJDATA Okidata Microline 80 (ltd quan.) 319" Okldata 82A w/lraolor, 80 col 469" Okidata 83A w/traclor 132 cot 725" Okidata 84A 132 col. serial 1189" Okidata 84A 132 col. parallel 1029" Smith Corona Prmier Parallel 649" MONITORS ASSEMBLED & TESTED S69' /lMD=K Amdek Video 300 12" Hi-Res Green . . .169" Amdek Video 100 12" B&W 129" Amdek Color I 13" Color w/audio 379" Amdek Color II Hi-Res RGB monitor. . .769" Amdek Apple II DVM RGB card 189" NEC NEC 9" Hi-Res Green monitor 179" NEC 12" Hi-Res Green monitor 169" NEC 1 2" Composite Color monitor, . . .349" NEC 12" Hi-Res RGB Color monitor. . .799" •ft SANYO Sanyo 9" B&W 169" Sanyo 9" Green monitor 179" Sanyo 12" BSW 189" Sanyo 12" Green (New case slyle!) . . .269" Sanyo 11" ColorMonitor 369" Zenith 12" Green n Alari600(16K) 679" Atari 800 w/32K 729" W/48K . . 769" Atari 400(16K) 329" Bit 3 80 Column Card for 800 299" 410 Program Recorder . 79" 810 Disk Drive .439" 850 Interface Module 169" Epson cable for 850 module 34" Atari Joysticks (pair) 20" A>lon Ramcram32K module 149" Alari 16K Module by Microtek - . . .69" ATARI Software EDU-PAK Educational 14 Tape Series 149" VlslCalc lor Atari (D) 1B5" Word Processor(D) 119" Personal Finance Management (D) , . , .47" Dow Jones Inveslmenl Evaiuator (D) . 99" Microsoft Basic (D) 69" Macro Assembler & Texl Editor (D) 69" Conversational French (T) 49" Conversational German (T) .49" Conversational Italian (T) . .49" Conversational Spanish (T) ......... . 49" Pa- Man (carlridge) 34" Centipede (cartridge) 34" Asteroids (cartridge) ...34" Missile Command (cartridge) . 34" Star Raiders (cartridge) . . 39" Space Invaders (cartridge) 34" Caverns ol Mars (disk) 34" Assembler'Editor (cartridge) .... 49" We carry all ATARI software and hardware •si fm ••• Control Everything In your Homo BSR Ultrasonic Command Console . . , .39" BSRAppliance Module 18** BSRLampModule 17" BSRTimer Module 65" SUPPLIES Orange AC Surge Protector 6 ... Lemon AC Line Filter Executive Library CaseSV .- Cableworks Cables (all sizes) Plex glass cover lor Apple II 5-'.." Disk Bank Storage Box . . . 8" Disk Bank Storage Box GENERAL RIBBON PRODUCTS NEC Multi-Strike Ribbon NEC Black Fabric Ribbon Qume Mulli-Slrike Ribbon Qume Black Fabric Ribbon Diab o Multi-Strike Ribbon Diab o Black Fabric Ribbon Anacex DP-9500 Carl. Ribbon C. lioh 8000 Nylon Ribbon CBM 2020-2022 Nylon Ribbon .... Paper Tiger Black Nylon Ribbon . . Epson MX70/80 Carlridge Ribbon . Epson MX 100 Cartndae Ribbon . .24" DUST COVERS Apple II 9" Disk H Only 5" Applell &2 DriveB 13" Apple Dual Disk Cover 7" Apple III Compuler 13" Epson MX-80Cover 11" Sanyo 9" Monitor cover , . .9" Atari 800 9*' Televideo Terminal 9" Amdek 12" B&W 10" NEC 12" SNTSC Color 9" Diablo 630 RO Prii NEC RGB Color Moi Epson MX-l00Co< Fourth Dimension Has a Drive For Any Size Application St 1 □ „ Making an APPLE II computer a serious business system is an easy, plug-in proposition. 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(9) including a second mine sector that could be entered by exiting the original mine sector but that did not allow you to reenter the first; the ring would be pre- set to be in one of these sectors and would therefore not be found in the other (10) adding a system of messages to give the player infor- mation concerning the whereabouts of the ring and what to do under certain circumstances Including all the above in a new version of the game re- quired extensive machine-language routines that in- volved using the RAM normally reserved for the cassette buffers. The game instructions had to be stored in screen code at the end of the program. After display, at the start of the game, they would then be overwritten by the variables store. Tackling each new item required wholesale rewriting to save a few bytes here and there (including using a renumbering facility on another avail- able 32K PET). This made debugging more difficult, but eventually I achieved every one of my goals. I even managed to add such extra touches as descriptions of each monster. The Apple Version Some weeks after completing the PET version, I ac- quired an Apple II. I put Ringquest to one side in favor of my interest in developing a "structured" BASIC system. After experimenting with a set of standards proposed by the British MUSE (Microcomputer USers in Education) Society, it became clear that transferring programs from one microcomputer to another would be much easier if a number of simple rules were followed. My next task was to convert Ringquest to operate on my new Apple II, which was not particularly easy. There were two main technical problems. First, the Apple II lacked "dedicated" graphics, which meant that I had to create a special set of 27 shapes to use on the high- resolution graphics page 1. I selected page 1 so that I could use the "window" to display information about score and time, etc. Second, I wrote the PET version with very little formal structure (in order to save as much space as possible) and placed the main subroutines near the start to speed up the operation of the game. For the first problem, I used my own Shape Utility pro- gram to build the necessary shape table. I had to store the positions of the shapes on the screen in an array. I retained the principle (from the PET version) of storing information about the contents separately from informa- tion about the position of each cave. Listing 1 illustrates how I solved the second problem. The first 9 lines contain initialization. The next 13 lines form a control section with line 590 being the key — the variable Z is set to direct the flow of the game to the 12 main modules. Originally, I had intended all subroutines that were hardware-dependent to be at the end of the pro- gram to facilitate rewriting for different computers. But by the time I realized that 6K bytes (which is all that my Apple II had available below the high-resolution page 1) would be a limiting factor, it would have meant a major October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 167 On inquiry Card. MORE THAN EVER, ATARI HOME COMPUTERS ARE SPEAKING YOUR LANGUAGE. With more program languages than ever to choose from, you now have more opportunities than ever to utilize the amazing capabilities of the ATARI 800™ Home Computer. Whether you're a beginning programmer, or at the fore- front of the art, you'll find an ATARI programming language that can make your task quicker and simpler than ever before. Just look at what ATARI has to offer: ATARI Microsoft BASIC -Now we offer the industry standard, the most powerful Microsoft BASIC yet. With simple commands, it allows you to take advantage of unique ATARI hardware features such as our well-known player/ missile graphics. For ease of programming, it includes n-dimensional arrays for numerics and string handling. And importantly, conversion procedures are simple. ATARI Macro Assembler— Faster and more powerful than any ATARI language before, the ATARI Macro Assembler also allows you to access more memory space. And it's excel- lent for I/O interface and manipulation of such features as: player/missile graphics, sound registers and peripherals. In addition, the macro processor and "include" file library features speed-up program development considerably. Fig-FORTH — For specialized programming needs, such as educational or game applications, ATARI Fig-FORTH is uniquely effective. Fig-FORTH combines power and sim- plicity in an efficient 10K size, with characteristics of an interpreter and the speed of machine language code. ATARI BASIC- An affordable and easy to use BASIC that requires only 8K of memory. It allows you to take advantage of the spectacular ATARI graphics and sound capabilities. And its immediate mode error messages greatly simplify debugging. ATARI Assembler Editor — An excellent tool to assist the assembler-programmer in creating, editing and debugging assembly programs. PILOT— ATARI PILOT is an exceptional learning language, with built-in "turtle" graphics to let you create spectacular designs and pictures with very short programs. Simple one or two-letter commands allow you to create a dialogue with the computer. And a single "match" command can perform complex text evaluation and pattern-matching instantly. ATARI Pascal — An excellent high-level language for teaching structured programming, and for developing and maintaining programs. In addition to offering all the features of the ISO Pascal standard, ATARI Pascal offers unique extensions that allow you to take advantage of ATARI graphics and sound capabilities. ATARI is constantly developing new ways to help you get more out of your ATARI 800 Home Computer. So watch for more innovative and exciting programming languages from ATARI in the future. For more information, write to ATARI, Inc., Dept. ClZ.P.O.Box 16525, Denver, CO 80216. ATARI' A €■ llfl AWRI. Inc All Rtghi« Reserved •Available from the ATARI Program Exchange ATARI HOME COMPUTERS We've Brought The Computer Age Home™ Circle 30 on inquiry card. rewrite to locate the main program above page 1. I intro- duced CALL statements so that I could eliminate as much of the text as possible from the main program and store it above address 6000 hexadecimal (see listing 2). Having completed the Apple version, which included all the features of the original PET version, I finally re- viewed the whole game. I wanted to include other im- provements or desirable additions that could be carried out on the Apple II. After extensive Ringquest sessions, I decided to make a minor technical improvement by alter- ing the routine for selecting the treasures in a cave so that weapons, silver charms, and so on were more evenly distributed. The only other change was prompted by my colleague Tom Stonier, a strong believer in downplaying aggres- sion in computer games. In the PET version, the best strategy was to attack a monster when you knew that your fighting ability was greater. To modify this so that friendliness increased the player's chances for achieving the quest required one very minor programming change: every "attack" in the Apple version is penalized by a reduction in the player's capacity for carrying treasure. This penalty is not obvious in the early stages of the game, but it could be crippling at the climax. Technical Details The Ringquest program runs on an Apple II with 48K bytes of RAM. The main program (listing 1) takes exactly 6K bytes of memory as listed. I advise you to shorten (but not eliminate) one or two REM statements to ensure that you do not encroach on high-resolution graphics page 1. The shapes table, some data, and many of the strings are stored in addresses from 6000 to 6820 hexadecimal. You must type this data in (see listing 2) before you run listing 3. To type in listing 2, access the monitor with a CALL-151 and enter the code. As with any machine-language program section, you should save it upon entering it in by typing BSAVEQX,A$6000,L$820 Then carry out the following checks in immediate mode: (1) CALL24700 should save the current screen. Entering HOME and then CALL24720 should restore the saved screen. (2) Typing POKE232,0:POKE233,96:ROT = 0: SCALE = 1 :HOME:HGR:FORI = 1T027: DRAWIATI*8,50:NEXT should result in a set of the 27 shapes used in drawing the screen map. (3) CALL the following numbers in turn: 26339, 26115, 25431, 25570, 26427, 26083, 26622, 26383, 25780, 26480, 26167, 25378, 25584, 25616, 25469, 25330, 25753, 25714, 25673, 26534, 26588, 25971. All should produce recognizable phrases or messages. To reduce the amount of memory required for the main program, four screens are stored in addresses 5000 to Text continued on page 206 184 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Listing 1: Main program for the Ringquest game. The game runs on an Apple II with 48K bytes of RAM. 50 PRINT CHR* (4) { "BL0ADQQ" BO LQMEMt 27000 82 HCQLOR™ 7\ R0T== 0: SCALE* UA - 70 0 J POKE! 232,0 1 POKE 233 ,96: i... - 10 :ss - ljkk - is id ~ LJG « 25280 J F ~ It HGR : TEXT : home;: 1 0 0 DIM A ( 34,1 9 ) , M$ < 2 0 ) , T < 99 , 3 ) , B(11) , F (14) 5 DEF FN R ( I ) = INT ( RND (1) * IKS* » "YO U HAVE " J3R = FN R<2) + 1 110 FOR K = 1 TO 71 FOR J - :l TP 3 5 FOR I « 1 TO 5!A*( J,K> - A$ « PEEK (Q + 14 + I) I NEXT I J FOR I - 1 TO 7:C - PEEK (Q + 35 + I) JE( I) = PEEK (Q + 42 + I) t NEXT I 150 FOR I = 1 TO 9i READ H$(10 + I) J NEXT i:M$ = " GOLE) BARS" ', FOR I = 1 TO 5? REAE) M$<5 t I) , N$o:> t M# ( I) = SIR* (I) + M$: NEXT I5M*<0> = "GUNPOWDE R FLASK" tl* * "INJURY RESIST ANCE " JM*( 1 ) - LEFT* (M*(l) , L ) 160 DATA "RED ORC" , "DWARF" , "WERE WOLF" , "SNAKE" , "GREY ELF"" , "WI ZARD" , "EALROG" , "UNDERGROUND STREAM", "CLOAK OF INVISIBILI TY" 180 DATA "CLUB" , "DAGGER" , "SILVER CHARM" , "WAR -AXE " , "GREEN UNO UENT" ♦ "RAPIER" , "BELT & POUCH " , "MAGIC SWORD", "TIME SPELL" , "*>kTHE RING**" TITLE INFO NEWS E C T R MOVE IF Z THEN 59 0 : REM IF Z THEN 59 0 S REM IF Z THEN 59 0 t REM IF z THEN 59 0 ! REM IF z THEN 59 0 5 REM IF z THEN 5901 REM IF z THEN 59 0 I REM RE1 ■1 EXIT GAVE FIGHT- TREASURE 590 ON Z GOTO 530,540,550,560,57 0,520,580 ,60 0,610,620,630 60 0 GOSUB 240 0J IF Z THEN 59 0 ! REM BLAST 610 GOSUB 24001 IF Z THEN 590 i REM STREAM 620 GOSUB 280 0 5 IF 7. THEN 590 J REM ?FRIEND Listing 1 continued on page 186 Circle 202 on inquiry card. PKASO Printer Interface Family PKASO Interfaces come complete with Cable, Instructional Diskette and . Comprehensive Manual. The PKASO family makes you and your Apple II or Apple /// a master of text and graphics. PKASO makes it easy to use the features of your printer— select character sizes, vary line spacing, even print in colors. Simple PKASO commands make these features usable from the keyboard or a program. PKASO also adds features to your system. Press a few keys and get a snapshot "dump" of the image you see on the screen— text or graphics. Add new characters and symbols that you couldn't print before, using our SuperFont™ system. Add our new PipeLine™ printing buffer and your printer can take its time while you and your Apple move on to the next task. The PipeLine is a modular add- on to the standard PKASO board. The PKASO interface is designed for Apple II and Apple /// in all the popular configurations. It prints in full color on the IDS Prism Printer, and in striking black on C. Itoh, Centronics, Epson, IDS. NEC, and Okidata matrix printers. Interactive Structures Inc. 146 Montgomery Avenue Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004 Telephone: (215) 667-1713 Listing 1 continued: 630 GOSUB 3000? REM END 1 0 0 0 REM TITLE 10:1.0 i ~ 84 5 go sub 5 too; if g * s 3 THEN Z - 1 JTM * 1 1020 IF G * 83 OR G * 66 THEN RETURN 10 '(0 FOR X * 11 TO 17? GO SUB 510 0: FOR I ~ 1 TO 30 0 5 NEXT I, X 10150 IF G = 83 OR G » 66 THEN RETURN 10 60 GOTO 1010 110 0 REM INFO 1110 I = 80 J GO BUB 540 0 5 GOSUB 44 00 5 GET A* JTM - 11 RETURN 120 0 REM NEWSECTR 1210 7 = 01V » 15 + FN R(5) 5W = 9 5 GOSUB 530 0 5 GOSUB 570 0 5 CS ~ CS ■♦■ 15 RETURN 140 0 REM TRY MOVE 1410 ,1 - 0 57 s 0 5 IF G * 82 THEN XC - XCJYC = YC5Q = 5 - Q 5 G = 0 5 GOTO 1500 1420 G 0 S U B 56 0 0 5 G O S U B 6 1 0 0 5 Q = G - 72 5 IF G * 69 THEN Z - 8 5 RETURN 1430 IF G * 70 AND A(M,N) =» 9 THEN Z - 7 5 RETURN 144 0 IF Q < 1 OR Q = 4 OR Q > 5 THEN 1420 1460 Q m Q (0 « 5) SXC P CO « 3) - < q = 2) :yc (O * 4) ( O = 1) 150 0 M = M •»■ XC5N N + YG5 IF N * M « 0 OR M * 34 OR N = 19 THEN M - M XC 5 N == N ~ YC5 GOTO 142 0 1510 T a A(M,N)5K1 = 0 5 U = 0 5R * 0 5 IF A ( M > N ) » 0 THEN T * B< FN R (14) + 1) 5K1 = 15A(M,N) 1530 FOR I * 1 TO 4? IF T m F(3 * O •- 3 + I) THEN R - 151 ■ 4 1540 NEXT 15 FOR I - 1 TO 4 5 IF R = 1 OR S * EC 12 3 * « + I) THEN U * 151 == 4 155 0 NEXT 15 IF U = 1 OR T * 11 THEN GOSUB 59 0 0 5 2 ~ 2 5 RETURN 156 0 S » T5 GOSUB 660 0 5 IF T < > 7 THEN Z = 2 1570 RETURN 1600 REM CAVE 1605 SC = 3D + 2 * TT + C5 GOSUB 6120 J GOSUB 450 0 5 IF T(H,D * T(H,2) > 30000 THEN Z - 25 RETURN 1610 GOSUB 7000 5 IF P THEN 1635 1620 Y = FN R(L)5 IF N(Y) > .5 + W / L AND Y < > 6 THEN 162 0 1625 GOSUB 480051(^,1) » G5KYU ,2) == Y5 IF Y - 6 AND ( (WW > 6 OR (WW > 4 AND (MM < 3 OR SR < > CS) ) ) OR (WW 6 AND (X = 18 OR CL = 1 OR RA * 1) )) THEN 162 0 186 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc 1630 N(Y) = N(Y) + 0 THEN Y = 1 9 164 0 IF X 16 AND FN RCA) < TM / 3 THEN Y = L 1650 TEXT 5 HOME 5 CALL 26295 5 VTAB 3 5 IF A == X THEN J * 0 5 PRINT M$(Y) 5Z == 5 5 RETURN 1655 IF WW - 6 AND Y - 6 THEN RA - 1 1660 PRINT M$(X)5 GOSUB 5100 5 IF X ■ 13 AND CL > 0 THEN CALL 26339 5 CALL 26622 5 CL * OtY = A 167 0 IF A > Y THEN PRINT 5 PRINT "WITH "M$(Y) 168 0 IF X * 18 THEN Z - 9 5 RETURN 1690 IF CL THEN CALL 26383 5 Z * 5 5 GOSUB 70 00 5 RETURN 170 0 VTAB 20 5 CALL 25780 5 CALL 2 4634 5 BB 960 - TM 5 IF BB < 0 THEN Z - 115 GOBI.) B 550 0 5 RETURN 1710 IF BB < 180 THEN PRINT "SE CTOR "CS" COLLAPSES IN " INT ( BB ) "SECS" 1720 IF MM - 1 THEN CALL 25330 5 MM * 2 ' 1730 GOSUB 610 0 5 IF G - 82 THEN Z ~ 2 5 GOSUB 530 0 5 RETURN 1740 IF G = 7 0 THEN Z = L5 RETURN 1750 IF G m 65 THEN Z = 4 5KK == K K - 15 RETURN 1760 IF G < > 66 AND G < > 76 AND G < > 83 THEN 1730 1770 I - 80 * (G - 66) + 92 * (G m 76) + 88 * (G * 83) 5 GOSUB 5 40 0 5 GOTO 1650 18 0 0 REM ATTACK 1810 Z - 0 5 5 F2 - C(X -• L) IPX = F2 5R == 0 5 IF AU - 0 THEN VTAB 18 5 PRINT "THE "M*(X)" FIGHT S BACK" 5 F2 * F2 * .8 1820 AU * OtB » SB FN R(7) 5G Fl + FN R ( 7 ) GOSUB 70 0 0 5 GOSUB 7 0 0 0 183 0 HOME 5 R - R ■♦• 15 PRINT "ROU ND "R5 IF B > G THEN 1870 184 0 IF B < G THEN D - INT ( ( D G B) * L) / L..5 GOTO 185 0 1845 CALL 261155 GOTO 1820 185 0 IF D > 0 THEN CALL 261415 VI AB 75 PRINT "YOUR "I*"IS "D5 GOTO 190 0 186 0 7. ■■■■■■■■ 115 RETURN 1870 PRINT 5 PRINT "THE "M*(X)" IS"} 5F2 F2 •- B •»■ G5 IF F2 < 1 THEN PRINT " DEAD" 5 GOTO 194 0 188 0 F2 = INT (F2 * L) / L5 PRINT " WOUNDED" 5 YTAB 75 PRINT "I TS "IVIS "F2S GOTO 1820 Listing 1 continued on page 191 Peripherals unlimited.. 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Exp. for Atari $114 NEC PRINTERS 7710/30 Spinwriter R/O CALL 7720SpinwriterKSR CALL 3510/30 Spinwriter R/O CALL NEC DOT MATRIX PC-8023 $474 Call for prices on ribbons, etc. MORE PRINTERS Anadex 9500/9501 $1295 Anadex DP-9000 $1049 OkidataMicroline82A CALL Okidata Microline 83A CALL Okidata Microline 84 CALL Tractor (OKI 80 + 82 only) $60 Diablo 630 $2044 MONITORS Sanyo 12" GRN Phosphor $266 Sanyo 12" Black + White $239 Amdek 12" 300 GRN Phosphor $149 Amdek 12" Color $319 Amdek Color II $779 NEC 12" GRN Phosphor $149 NEC 12" Color $344 EPSON PRINTERS MX-80 w/Graphics CALL MX-80 FT (Friction + Tractor) CALL MX-100(15" Carriage) CALL Call for prices on Ribbons, Cables and Interfaces NEC-PC 8000 Series Microcomputer PC-8001 A Computer W/32K $888 PC-8012A W/32K + Exp. Slots $588 PC-8031A Dual Mini Disk $888 PC-8032A Add-on Mini Disk $777 Call for Software Prices FOR THE LOWEST PRICE CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-343-4114 ORDERING INFORMATION Our order lines are open 9AM to 6PM EST Monday thru Friday. Phone orders are welcome; same day ship- ment on orders placed before 10AM. Free use of Mastercard and VISA. Per- sonal checks require 2 weeks clearance. Manufacturer's warranty included on all equipment. Prices sub- ject to revision. C.O.D.'s accepted. For service, quality and delivery call: PERIPHERALS UNLIMITED (617) 655-7400 62 N. Main St.- Natick, MA 01760 Circle 302 on inquiry card. BYTE October 1982 1 87 400 A ATARI 800 -J 16K ... s 249 32K . . . s 369 48K . . . s 469 410 Recorder $76.00 810 Disc Drive $449.00 822 Printer $269.00 825 Printer $589.00 830 Modem $159.00 820 Printer $259.00 850 Interlace $169.00 CX40 Joy Stick $18.00 CX853 16K RAM $77.95 16K ... $ 649 32K . . . $ 724 48K . . . $ 769 Microtek 16K RAM $74.95 Microtek 32K RAM $119.95 Ramdisk (128K) $429.95 Intec 48K Board $219.95 Intec 32K W19.95 One year extended warranty $70.00 481 Entertainer $69.00 482 Educator $130.00 483 Programmer $49.00 484 Communicator $344.00 m HOT ATARI- \JK GAMES JK I PAC-MAN $35.00 I Centipede $35.00 I Caverns of Mars $32.00 I Asteroids $29.00 I Missile Command $29.00 I Star Raiders $39.00 Canyon Climber $25.00 Protector $24.00 Mouskattack $31.00 Jawbreaker $27.00 Ghost Hunter $24.00 KBYTE ROM CARTRIDGE GAMES FOR YOUR ATARI Krazy Shoot Out $39.00 K-razy Kritters $39.00 K razy Antics $39.00 K star Patrol $39.00 STICK STAND % ARCADE ACTION FROM YOUR ATARI JOYSTICK Telecommunications Modems Hayes Smart $239.00 Chronograph $199.00 Micromodem tl S279.00 Micromodem 100 S309.00 Novation Auto 5239.00 D Cat $169.00 Cat S 159.00 Anchor Modem S79.00 AMDEK MONITORS 300G $169.00 Color I $339.00 Color II $699.00 Color III S429.00 OTHERS Zenith 9 " (Green) $109.00 BMC 12" Green $85.00 VISICORP VISICALC Apple II + $189.00 Atari $189.00 Commodore $189.00 IBM $189.00 Also available are: VISIDEX VISIPLOT VISIFILE VISITERM VISIPACK VTSITREND SOFTWARE We stock manufacturer's and third party software for most all computers on the market! Call today for a copy of our new CATALOG You'll find programs by Atari, APX, Data Soft Crystal Software, EPYX, Synapse, OnLine, Arcade Plus, K BYTE, Magis, Canadian Micro. Professional Software, Creative Software, BPI, VISICORP. Com- modore, NEC and of course our own! FRANKLIN ACE 1000 64K Personal Computer Hardware, software and peripheral compatable with the Apple II and even has some fea- tures not found on the Apple. MICRO-SCI Apple ll/Franklin compatable Disk Drives! Call now for best price!! Finally, a dual disk drive for the Atari 800/400. Both single and dual drive models read both sides of the disk! Will read all disks written for Atari 810. CALL FOR INTRODUCT- ORY PRICE! NEC COMPUTERS 8001 A $749.00 8031 $749.00 B012 $549.00 PRINTERS 8023 $549.00 7710/7730 $2399.00 3510/3530 $1789.00 MONITORS JB-1201 $179.00 JC-1201 $349.00 JC-1202 $899.00 SANYO 1000 COMPUTER S1599.00 Maxell Disks MD I (box of 10) $36.00 MD II (box of 10) $46.00 MFD I (8") $44.00 MFD II (8" Double Density) $54.00 Syncom (box of 10) $29.00 Computer Covers Commodore VIC-20 $6.99 Atari 400 $6.99 Commodore 8032 $14.99 Atari 800 $6.99 Commodore Atari 810 $6.99 8050/4040 $10.99 west In Nevada CALL 1(702)588-5654 8QQ-648-33M P.O. Box 6689 Stateline. NV. 89449 EWLETT PACKARD jm HP«85 s 1969 HP>87 $1799.00 HP- 125 S1999.00 HP-85 16K Memory Module S169.00 5v 4 " Dual Master Disc Drive S1799.00 Hard Disk w/ Floppy S4349.00 Hard Disk $3549.00 "Sweet Lips" Plotter $1 199.00 BO Column Printer $649.00 - HEWLETT EM PACKARD HP41CV CALCULATOR s 239 HP 41C $189.00 HP 11C $79.00 HP 12C $114.00 NEW 15C $119.00 NEW 16C $125.00 HPIL PERIPHERALS IN STOCK! ■ -1 TP EPSON PRINTERS MX 80 w/Graltrax $449 MX 80 FT III CALL MX 100 CALL ADA 1600 Parallel Printer to CBM $119.00 ATC-1 Parallel Printer to Atari $29.00 AP-B0 Apple Parallel Card & Cable S69.00 IBM-1 Parallel Printer to IBM 532.00 In-stock items shipped same day you call. No risk, no deposit on C.O.D. orders. Pre-paid orders receive free shipping within the continental United States with no waiting period for certified checks or money orders. All advertised prices include a 3% cash discount from normal credit card prices. NV and PA residents add sales tax. All items subject to availability and price change. CBM 8032 s 999 Word Pro 5+ $319.00 Word Pro 4 + $299.00 Word Pro 3+ 5199.00 The Administrator $379.00 InfoPro Plus $219.00 Power $79.00 Televideo Terminals 910 $579 91 2C 5699 920C S749 925C 5749 960 S950 802 SCall 802H SCall 816 SCatl 806 SCall TEC PRINTERS Starwriter F10-40CPS $1399.00 F10-55CPS $1749.00 Prowriter 8510A 5499.00 Prowriter 1550 5799.00 ADA 1450 Serial Printer to CBM S1 19.00 ATC-2 Serial Printer to Atari 529.00 AP-S10 Apple Serial Card & Cable 595.00 CENTRONICS PRINTERS 739-1 $519 739-3 $619 2 Meter RS232 RS232 Cables 529.95 -ALSO - Diablo 630 Special $1799.00 Talley 8024-L $1629.00 IDS Prism CALL Daisywriter CALL Commodore Business Machines CBM 64 CALL 4032 $969.00 8096 Upgrade Kit $369.00 Super Pet $1599.00 2031 $529.00 8250 Doubled Sided Disk Drive $1699.00 D9060 5 Megabyte Hard Disk $2399.00 D9090 7.5 Megabyte Hard Disk $2699.00 8050 $1299.00 4040 $969.00 8300 (Letter Quality) $1799.00 8023 $769.00 4022 $499.00 Pet to IEEE Cable $37.00 IEEE to IEEE Cable $46.00 Tractor Feed lor 8300 $240.00 VIC 20 s 179 o VIC'20 / 1 Wi.Vi.V. i »' u lit 1 VIC 1530 Commodore Dalassetle 569.00 VIC 1540 Disk Drive $499.00 VIC 1515 VIC Graphic Printer $339.00 VIC 1210 3K Memory Expander $32.00 VIC 1 1 10 8K Memory Expander 553.00 16K VIC Expansion $94.00 VIC 1011 RS232C Terminal Interlace S43.00 VIC 1112VIC IEEE-4B8 Interlace $86.00 VIC 1211 VIC 20 Super Expander $53.00 VIC Mother Board $99.00 Smith-Corona TP-I $ 649 Letter Quality Daisy Wheel 12 CPS Text Printer OKI DATA PRINTERS 82A $469.00 83A $599.00 84 Parallel $1099.00 84 Serial $1249.00 NOTE Okidata 82A and 83A Printers come equipped with both parallel ports & RS232 Serial ports. ADDITIONAL MANUFACTURER'S DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE TO QUALIFIED EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTI 800 233-8950 477 E. THIRD ST. Williamsport PA 17701 IN PA CALL (717)327 9575 n o c m 3 QJ o a QJ in How many times must your computer stop just to talk to your printer? Your computer talks faster than your printer can listen. Expensive time is lost forever. SPOOL/64, a 64k byte hardware print spooler, keeps your computer processing while your printer is printing. No more wailing. No more wasting. SPOOL/64 buffers your print output and transmits the information to your printer at the printer's specific print rate. It buffers up to 13 minutes of print output (at 80 characters per second). SPOOL/64 plugs directly into both your printer and routines. And SPOOL/64, used with your software spooler, can give you the highest performance spooling available. computer, accepts input from parallel Centronics cables (serial RS-232 available soon), and its user programming feature allows you to download your own programs so SPOOL/64 can handle sophisticated print Apparatlnc. 4401 So. Tamarac Parkway, Denver, CO 80237 (303) 741-1778 "ON GOING SUPPORT FOR MICROCOMPUTERS" SPOOL/64 utilizes 64k of dynamic RAM, a Z-80 CPU, a 27 16 ROM and a copy of the source program for the object code in the ROM is included. > SPOOL/64, priced at just *3*WT is the most cost/effective print spooler on the market. Evaluate performance. Evaluate price. Then let SPOOL/64 get your computer back talking to you. Call or write Apparat today for a free brochure. Dealer inquiries invited. 190 BYTE October 1982 Circle 21 on inquiry card. Listing 1 continued 1900 1910 mo 195 0 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2060 2070 2080 CALL 261675 GOBUB 3500 5 IF G * 89 THEN G » 82 J GO SUB 53 00 JZ = 2J RETURN GOTO 1820 TCH.l) At SO ■ SO + (X « 14 ) + (X m 17) * 2 5 IF MM < > 3 OR Y < > 6 THEN MM = MM + (X * 17) x (MM * 2)5 GOSUB 7 000 5 RETURN WW * WW - 15TOU2) - A 5 Y * A 5RA = 0 5 CALL 253785 GOSUB 4 40 0 5 GOSUB 5300 JZ * 2 J RETURN REM TREASURE IF A = Y THEN GOSUB 5300 JZ = 2 J RETURN VTAB 10 J IF Y AND Y < 6 THEN PRINT S*JTTJM* PRINT J PRINT "DO YOU WANT A "M*(Y)J GOSUB 3500 IF G ■ 78 THEN GOSUB 5300 J Z = 2 J RETURN F ~ F + ( Y • 0 ) J IF WW = WW + 1JM*<6) ■ M = MM + (MM = 0) * JSD a SO + INT (WW S / 960 ) Tl = TT + Y x ( Y < 6) 5 > KK THEN HOME 5 CAL. Y - 6 THEN N$(WW) JM (WW = 5) * TM * C IF Tl L 2543 15 GOSUB 7000 5 GOSUB 530 0 JZ = 2 J RETURN SS * SS + 5 * ( Y - Tl) / 55TT * T15C « 6) + == C + = 8)5 IF Y (TT (Y = 1 THEN G = 32 THEN 2 5 RETURN !230 PRINT S$"FAIL 5 PRINT N*<5>" "SR 5 GOSUB 320 SR >5616 44005 IF 5300 J Z a 2 5 > 81 THEN : HOME ! ED - "5 PRINT WAS IN SECTOR 0 CALL 2.5469 CALL 25570 5 GOSUB G a 49 THEN Z a ZJ 0 5 RETURN IF G » so THEN Z ■ 1J HGR J TM a I S FOR I a 1 TO 33 J FOR Listing 1 continued on page 192 610 0 J GOSUB IF 530 Get The Most From Your NEC PC-8001 With RACET computes Software!! RACET NECD0S does more for your PC-8001 than any other DOS. It's faster, more efficient and easier to use. It's loaded with extra features to let you stretch the limits of your system. This advanced operating system works with the ROM NBASIC to give lull compatibility with color and other BASIC commands. EMPHASIZES 1 INTEGRITY. NO MOUNT or REMOVE commands. Excel- lent protection Irom improper diskette swapping. AGAIN. HELP PINO and REF commands. File password protection. ADVANCED FEATURES. All DOS functions and commands irtay be used directly in a BASIC program!!! Special RUN oplion allows merging ol programs, retaining all variables in memory. Fixed block spanned records AUTO and DO commands. Machine language loads and saves. MAI PRINT and MATINPUT to disk. Complete directory. ALL super- visory calls documented and available to the machine language pro- grammer Superzap utility included $99.95 * NEW * THE most popular Microcomputer Word Processor in the world now available on ihe NEC'!! With many added features. Embedded print commands. Print from memory and disk!! Sellable tabs, indent and hanging indent. Parallel, Serial, and Video drivers. DICTAMATiC cas- sette control for translating dictated messages!! And much more 1 " Most features ol wore processors costing live times as much 111 Runs on 32K or 64 K system 1 " * NEW * ELECTRIC SPREADSHEET* ★ ★ S75 A BASIC Spreadsheet program for the PC-8001 Anything you work with columns and rows and a calculate belongs on the Electric Spread- sheet. Results formatted for screen or printer. What if questions answered. P/L forecast Personal budget. Real estate investment. Ni't ■ worth forecast. Cash flow estimates. Business Jomis. Works on 32K or 64 K system!!! 70 operators plus histogram plot, revise spreadsheet layout, and more. Select preprogrammed operalors lor line, column, or ceil calculations. Set column widths and numher of decimals. Manual and diskette include 22 examples ★ NEW* ADVANCED PROGRAMMING BASIC * * S60 THE functions and commands in this package give you extended control over data and youi PC-8001 system These extensions lo NBASIC provide complete conversion^ time and date functions including days between dales and Julian dales. Extended string functions include justify, truncate, center, rotate, translate, shift, pack, and search. Array functions include masked search of both sorted and unsorted arrays, and insert in sorted arrays. MULTI-KEY SORT MKS' $60 SUPER FAST Machine Language In-Memory Sorts. Three key sort on 500 elements in 4 seconds 1 !! Simple one-line BASIC functions - SORTV and SORTC verhs. Mixed ascending and descending keys BASIC PROGRAMMING UTILITIES BASUTIL' $60 COMPRESS. EXPAND. PRETTY. XREF Cross Reference Utility. Greal for modeling, debugging and structuring BASIC programs KFS-80 KEYED FILE SYSTEM 'KFS-80' $150 MACHINE language BASIC ISAM utility provides keyed and sequential access to multiple files. Simple interface to BASIC. Binary tree keyed- file index system provides rapid access lo records. CONVERT TRS-80* PROGRAMS TO RACET NECD0S WITH 'PR0TRAN' $99.95 COMPLETE utilities for tile transfer and BASIC program conversinn. Mod III diskettes may be read directly: Mod I and II via RS-23?. Transfer BASIC programs, data files, or machine lanyuage Hies. NO SUPPORT is provided for conversion of machine language files or PEEK'S. POKE'S or USR's to function on PC-8001. Substantial knowl- edge ol IRS BASIC and NBASIC required. Package designed for software authors AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL NEC DEALER or from RACET computes CHECK. VISA. M/C. C O.D.. PURCHASE ORDER Telephone Orders Accepted (714) 997-4950 F RACET COMPUTES ltd. _| I Integrity in Software — I 1330 N. Glassell. Suite M. Orange, CA 92667 (714) 997-4950 •TRS-80 IS A TRADEMARK OF TANDY CORPORATION ELECTRIC PENCIL IS A TRADEMARK OF MICHAtl SCHRAYLH ' -ELECTRIC SPREADSHEE T IS A TRADEMARK OF DAN G HANEv * ASSOUAN f- Circle 330 On Inquiry Card. October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc 191 PRICE BREAKTHRU- BULL! IT'S A MIRACLE!! SMITH CORONA TPI Daisy Wheel Printer Std. Opts.: Serial (RS232V Parallel, 10/12 pitch- Please Specify £ Cable Extra— Factory Warranty 639. OO LIMITED SUPPLY TANDON FLOPPY DISK DRIVES For Mod I, Mod III, IBM-PC, CQ|>n * A.f\*U etc. inc. PS & case wuu *»UIK Add $100 for 80 track $ J| d% jE? OO Floppy Disk Case and Power I Z^M m Supply-$49.95 Available as Bare Drives DSDD * 40tk •SSDD — Single Side Double ^ J^fc jjP*^ AA Density, DSDD-Double Side W m <* Double Density MIRACLE of the MONTH $4 CQQOO 9.6 Meg SA 7QQ I Wvv Complete complete I ff 9w I w 9 9 Complete Famous Manufacturer 6.3 Meg WinchesterDisk System Inc. Power Supply, Case, Cables & DOS Assembled & Tested— 120 Day Warranty Available forlBM-PC 9.6 Meg $4 7QQ complete I ■ 12.6 Meg complete $AAAA (2 drives) Jp W *J 19.2 Meg complete $07QA (2 drives) &f 99 Coming Soon— Mod III & IBM Internal Winchester MOD I - Floppy-Winchester Combo, pkg. "LAST but not LEAST" TRS-80 Mod III 48K $ 899 $ 1349 $ 1549 add»70 DOS+ *99 + 1 Floppy disk* + 2 Floppy disks* RS 232C Add $1 00 ea. for 80 tk drives— TRSDOS& Manual $21 — 'Available Separately as complete kits— t dr. S440 2 dr. S630 BACK better than EVER Terms— COD or Prepaid Only DISK SUPPLY CO. F.O.B. Shipping Point Suite 439 (215)461-5437 ° X • Prices Subject to Change 1 1 1 S. OIlVG St. without Notice. Media, PA 19063 TRS-80 Trademark of Tandy Corp. Listing 1 continued: Q = 1 TO 18tA = Ot NEXT Q,It RETURN 22:90 240 0 2410 242 0 >A3Q 2440 260 0 26.1.0 262 0 266 0 267 0 280 0 201 0 282 0 2830 2840 285 0 286 0 2870 288 0 289 0 3 0 0 0 3010 32 0 0 GOTO £70 REM BLAST IF F * 0 THEN HOME : TEXT J CALL 26480 J GOSUB 320 0 F <* F - 15D a [) - 2tC = :: C - UP m 0: FOR I * 1 TO Wi GOSUB 480 0 !T(I f l) * GJ NEXT It GOSUB 550 0 FOR I a i TO 5JV = :: M + (I == 3 ) - ( I ■ 4 ) t W - N ■♦■ ( I = 1 ) - <:i: - 2) : if a = ItS * It RETURN REM STREAM GOSUB 70005 PRINT I IF FN R(2) THEN PRINT "YOU LEAPT OVER THE "M*<18)}Z = 5 5 GOSUB 70 00 5 RETURN K * 8 5 GOSUB 6700 tK * 7t GOSUB 68 0 0 t CA I... L 2 6 5 3 4 5 I F C I... T H E N GALL 26588 5 CL. * 0 M - FN R(33) + 15N - FN R < 18) •♦• 15 IF A ( M , N ) < > 0 THEN 266 0 GOSUB 5800 5V » MtW « NtK - 85S = 7tZ - 2t GOSUB 6800 tA( M.N) St TEXT t GOSUB 530 0 5 POKE - 16297,0 5 RETURN REM ? FRIEND I - FN RCL) + GtE L - E(X L) t IF < ( Y < 5 AND Y > 0 ) OR Y a A) AND TT > 0 THEN Y = Y * < Y < 6) t GOTO 2.84 0 IF MM = 3 AND Y m 6 THEN J ^ 30 1 NN - At GOTO 2850 J « 0 1 NN * T(H,2) t GOTO 2870 J •> 5 YtJ » FN R(J) ■<■ ItN N » J •»• Y HOME t PRINT "THE "M*(X) M D EMANDS "J5M*t GOSUB 350 0 i IF Y - 0 THEN Y - A IF G = 78 THEN Z == 3t RETURN HOME t PRINT "THE "M* E - J / 2 THEN PRINT " IS FRIENDLY" tTT » TT - JtS S •♦■ J / 5 ♦ T < H» 2 ) NN t GOSUB 70 00 tZ ^ 5 J RETURN PRINT " IGNORES YOU"tZ - 3 5 RETURN REM END TEXT t HOME t PRINT S*"B£EN KILLED" t IF BB < 0 THEN CALL 26 0 83 UTAB 5? PRINT "YOUR QUEST S CORE IS "SCJTM = :: Ot CALL 257 53 t CALL 25714t GET A*t IF A Listing 1 continued on page 194 192 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc "My computer helped me write The Final Encyclopedia. I wouldn't trust anything less than Scotch 8 Brand Diskettes to make a long story short!' Gordon R. Dickson, Science Fiction Author, Minneapolis, Minnesota Gordon Dickson: a small business- man whose product is his own imagination. He's written more than 40 novels and 150 short stories; his newest work is The Final Encyclopedia. He uses his personal computer and word processing software to maximize his production. All his words-his product- are stored on diskettes. He calls up sentences and paragraphs on demand, and gets more rewrite out of the time available. So he depends on Scotch diskettes to save himself production time. Dependable Scotch media can work just as hard for you. Each Scotch diskette is tested before it leaves our factory, and certified error-free. So you can expect it to perform exactly right. Scotch 8" and 5 1 /t" diskettes are compatible with computer/diskette systems like TRS-80, Apple, PET, Wang and many others. Get them from your local 3M distributor. For the one nearest you, call toll-free: 800/328-1300. (In Minnesota, call collect: 612/736-9625.) Ask forthe Data Recording Products Division. In Canada, contact 3M Canada, Inc., Ontario. If it's worth remembering, it's worth Scotch Data Recording Products. 3M Hears You... 3M Circle 391 on Inquiry card. r >v For The Best In Price, Selection and Delivery, Call Now TOLL FREE 800-368-3404 (In VA, Call Collect 703-237-8695) AMPEX'INTERTEOTEXAS INSTRUMENTS -GENERAL DATA COMM. 'ANDERSON JACOBSON'C. ITOOQUME • BEEHIVE* DATASOUTH* DIABLO •CENTRONICS • NEC 'PRENTICE SUPERBRAIN MICROS INTERTEC: 64K DD* 64KQD' 64K SD* (96TPI) •(includes M/Soft BASIC) DDS-10 Meg (Hard Disk) EflMBaEH ONLY S1975 ONLY $2350 ONLY S2750 PRINTERS NEC: 7710 -.$2196 7715 Call for Special Price 7730 $2196 7720 Call for Special Price 7725 Call for Special Price Std. Forms Tractor $ 200 3510 $1690 DATASOUTH: Call DIABLO: 630-R102 $1995 630-R110 $1795 630-R153* $1745 ■(lor IBM P.C, Apple II, TRS-80) 630-K104(KSR) $2385 620-SPI $1195 QUME: Sprint 9, 35 KSR $1840 Sprint 9, 45RO, Lim. Pan . $1845 Full Panel $1969 Sprint 9, 55 F.P.Ex.Mem. . $2186 Sprint9,55RO,Ltd.Ex.Mem.$2095 Bi-Dir. Forms Tractor $ 199 EE AMPEX: Dialogue 30 $ 775 Dialogue 80 $ 939 BEEHIVE: (SMART DISPLAY) DM5 Call DM5A Call DM310 (3101 Emulator) Call NOTE: IBM and Burroughs compatible ter- minals available. Please inquire. C. ITOH CIT 101 $1350 TEXAS INSTRUMENTS: 745 Standard $1390 745 Std. (Reconditioned) . . . Call 810 Basic $1249 810 Package $1439 820 Package RO Package $1610 820 KSR Package Call 840 RO Basic $ 795 840 RO Tractor Feed Pkg. $1059 PRENTICE STAR: 300 Bd . . $ 1 24 DISC DRIVES QUME: Data Trak 5 . . Data Trak 8 . . $300 or 2 for $549 $525 or 2 for $999 SOFTWARE BISYNC-3780 $ 769 Wordstar $ 289 Data Star $ 199 Mail Merge $ 99 Spell Guard $ 229 Plan 80 $ 249 Super Calc $ 249 Wordstar (IBM P.C.) $ 289 Mail Merge (IBM P.C.) . . . .$ 99 d Base II $ 529 CalcStar $ 189 SuperSort $ 186 Nevada Cobol $ 176 Special! While They Last! SOROC TERMINALS IQ 120 IQ 130 IQ 140 ONLY S625 ONLY S525 ONLY S989 ( In addition, we can make EIA RS 232 or RS 449 cables to your order, and supply you with rib- bons, printer stands, print wheels, thimbles for all printers listed. And many, many more items. CALL NOW. All items shipped freight collect either motor freight or UPS unless otherwise specified. All prices already include 3% cash discount. Purchase with credit card does not include discount. Virginia residents, add 4% Sales Tax. For fastest delivery, send certified check, money order or bank-wire transfer. Sorry, no C.O.D. orders. All equipment is in factory cartons with manufacturers' warranty (honored at our depot.) Prices subject to change without notice. Most items in stock. TERHMALS m 1 Terminals Terrific, Incorporated, P.O. Box 216, Merrifield, VA 221 16, 800-368-3404 (In VA, Call Collect 703-237-8695) Listing 1 continued: 323 0 3210 35 0 0 3510 353 0 'H O 0 1110 150 0 151.0 1520 18 0 0 IB 10 1820 510 0 5110 530 0 53 10 510 0 5110 513 0 55 0 0 5510 560 0 5610 562 0 563 0 57 0 0 5710 5720 58 0 0 5810 $ ~ "Y" THEN RUN 80 IF A* :-• "N" THEN END GOTO 8200 REM Y/N CALL 25711! GO SUB 6100 5 IF G < > 78 AND G < > 89 THEN 3510 RETURN REM CO-NT CALL 25673J G 0 S U B 6 .100 I R E T U R N REM FILL CAME FOR I a 0 TO 99 5 IF T ( I , 0 ) * 33 * N + M THEN H - UP m 15 RETURN NEXT I! VV ■■■■■■■■ VV - (VV ■■■■■■■■ 99) * 99 + nT 0 tH * VV! RETURN REM GET MONSTER G « FN R ( 1 9 -- WW) + WW 5 IF G < 11 THEN G « 11 RETURN REM SKETCHM FOR I * 1 TO 3 J VTAB (2 + I ) : H T A B 3 0 5 PRINT A$(I.X -- L ) J NEXT It VTAB IS RETURN REM MAP TEXT 5 HOME 5 POKE -- 16301 ,05 CALL 25971J RETURN REM SCREEN POKE 21721,1: GALL 2172 0! IF I m 88 THEN R < 1 ) ■ TT!R<2) ~ KKSR<3) * SS5R(1) « D5R(5) » C5R<6) « FS FOR I » 1 TO 6! VTAB (1 + 2 * X) J HTAB 2 0 ! PRINT R(I) 5 NEXT I GOSUB 610 0 5 RETURN REM SHAKE FOR I ■■■■■■■■ 1 TO 20 5 TEXT 5 HOME I POKE 16301 , 0 5 NEXT 15 RETURN REM ROCKFALL 1 ~ FN R(33) + 1 5W1 ■■■■■■■■ FN r: ( 1 8 ) + i : k - A(vi,wi> : if k » 0 OR K « 7 OR K » 9 OR ( M * Ml AND N » HI) THEN RETURN 1 THEN = VI 670 0 i K w 115 GOSUB = 11 IF FN R(5) ■ !W « HI! GOSUI 68 0 0 5 A< VI ,W1 ) RETURN REM NEWMAP FOR X so 8 TO 261 STEP 8 5 DRAW 21 AT X* 0 * DRAW 21 AT X,152t NEXT X! FOR X = 8 TO 1.11 STEP 8 5 DRAW 26 AT 0»Xt DRAW 26 AT 272, X; NEXT X!M = V 5 N = W i K = 101 GOSUB 680 05A(M,N) - 95 S * 9 DRAW 20 AT 0,0 5 DRAW 22 AT 272,0! DRAW 1.8 AT 0,1.52! DRAW 5 AT 272,152 5 RETURN REM SPIRAL V = 20 ! W = 20 5 GR 5 COLOR- 1 5 5 FOR E ■■■■■■■ 1 TO 22 STEP 35 FOR Q 1 TO 2 * E 5 V » V + (Q < E ) * < 1) A EtW = W + (G > Listing 1 continued on page 196 194 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 387 on inquiry card. Smith Corona TP-1 TEXT PRINTER $59988 UPS DELIVERED ■ 120 words/min (12 cps) with full letter-quality ■ Either parallel or RS-232C interfacing available (specify) ■ 10 or 12 pitch (characters per inch) available (specify) ■ Friction feed on 10 1 /a" printable line; takes 4-part forms Okidata Printers TEC Printers MICROLINE 80 S 349 M MICROLINE 82A »439 M 80/82A TRACTOR »59 88 MICROLINE 83A »694 M OKIGRAPH ROM *44 M RS-232C 2K BUFFER '159 88 MICROLINE 84 Parallel 200 cps *1044 ffl MICROLINE 84 RS-232C 200 cps S 1164 M Anadex Printers DP-9500A M469 88 DP-9510A '1469 88 DP-9620A '1569 88 Brother Printers DAISyWRITER 2000— Includes Parallel, RS-232C, IEEE488, & Current Loop interfacing standard '1089 88 CABLES S 49 M TRACTOR S 149 M Centronics Printers CENTRONICS 122 >979 M CENTRONICS 739 Parallel Interface S 564 M CENTRONICS 739 RS-232C Interface »679 M 739 COLOR OPTION S 79 M IDS Printers PRISM 80 , 999 88 Includes Sprint Mode, Dot Plot, and Cut Sheet Guide PRISM 132 *1699 M 4-Color Graphics, Sprint Mode, Dot Plot, and Cut Sheet Guide CALL FOR PRICES On NEC Spinwriters, Qume & Diablo Daisywheels. QUANTEX, DATASOUTH, DIP, MPI and other printers available. DMP85 s 469 88 Generic version of NEC & Prowriter printers. Features 120 cps, bi-directional, logic-seeking, 1 .3K buffer. 5 fonts, 8 sizes on 9x9 matrix, w/proportional print; true descenders, & Greek/Math font. 160 x 144 dots/inch Hi-Res graphics matrix, 1/144" line feed. Friction & tractor standard, rear paper path. Parallel only. NEC PC-8023A-C s 509 88 C.ITOH PROWRITER s 499 8s C.ITOH PROWRITER Parallel & RS-232C ^U 88 CJTOH PROWRITER 2 . . . . »734» 8 C.ITOH PROWRITER 2 Parallel & RS-232C S 794 M F-10/40 STARWRITER 40cps Parallel or RS-232C .... M499 88 F-10/55 PRINTMASTER 55cps Parallel or RS-232C .... M799 88 F-10 TRACTOR «289" Cables & interfaces available for the Apple, Atari, CBM/Pet, IBM PC, Osborne and TRS-80s Hayes Smartmodem ill 7 ' ■ HAVES SMARTMODEM . . . s 229 88 HAYES 1200 BAUD SMARTMODEM »574 M MODEMS HAYES MICROMODEM II . '299 s8 SIGNALMAN MARK I W 88 NOVATION AUTO CAT . . S 224 B8 NOVATION APPLE CAT . . *334 M NOVATION 1200 BAUD AUTO CAT '569 s8 NOVATION 1200 BAUD APPLE CAT '579 s8 USI Pi Series 20 MHz bandwidth, 1000-line-at- center resolution, 80 columns by 24 lines— the USI Pi-3 with amber screen redefines quality. Amber makes any display easier to read all day, every day. Used by THE BOTTOM LINE'S president the USI Pi-3 Amber Monitor comes with his personal recommendation. USI Pi-1 (9" Green) 4 164 88 USI Pi-2 (12" Green) .... '174 88 USI Pi-3 (1 2" Amber) .... '199 88 USI Pi-4 (9" Amber) '169 s8 Amdek Monitors AMDEK 300G 13" M79 88 AMDEK Color I S 379 M AMDEK Color II High Resolution RGB '799 s8 AMDEK Color III (RGB) . . .*499" Zenith Monitors ZENITH ZVM-121 (12" green) '139 88 IBM Products Quadram QUADBOARDS Memory in 64K blocks (up to 256K), a Centronics-compatible parallel I/O with hardware to an external port, an asynchronous RS-232C communications port (DB-25 male external), and a clock/ calendar with on-board battery— all of this on one QUADBOARD. Exceptional quality & design leaving remaining IBM PC slots free for other applications 64K QUADBOARD S 439 M 128K QUADBOARD «539 M 192K QUADBOARD '629 s8 256K QUADBOARD «719 88 64K MEMORY CHIPS (PKG. 9) s 99 88 QuCeS Inc. Big Blue for the IBM PC features a Z80 microprocessor running at 55 MHz, 64K memory, a Cen- tronics-compatible parallel port, the RS-232C port, an on-board calendar/clock & a hard disk interface. BIG BLUE '519 88 QuCeS Hard Disk subsystems for the IBM PC. 6mB HARD DISK »2489 88 12mB HARD DISK '2839 s8 24mB HARD DISK '4229™ Xedex BABY BLUE $ 539 88 Microsoft 64K RAMcard $ 274 88 64K MEMORY CHIPS (PKG. 9) s 99 88 Maynard Electronics FLOPPY DISK CONTROLLER M89 88 Tandon Drives 40 TRACK, SS *229 88 40 TRACK, DS '319 88 IBM PC Software We carry a full line of IBM PC Software. Also Apple/Franklin software. Ask about our Software Society discounts. Orders & Information: CALL (603)-673-8857 Orders Only: CALL (800)-343-0726 No Hidden Charges No surcharge for credit cards-No charge for HIGH TECHNOLOGY AT AFFORDABLE PRICES UPS shipping— Stock shipments next day — — ^_ ^H^H M — HE BOTTOM All equipment shipped factory fresh with manufacturer's warranty— We accept CODs Open PO's not accepted— $50 minimum order— No foreign orders accepted Prices subject to chanse— call for quotes 1 —►LINE Milford NH 03055-0423 BYTE October 1982 1 95 Listing 1 continued: E) x < 1) Et PLOT H t NEXT a * t return 59 0 0 REM DRAW- NGMOUL 5910 y - MtW - NIK - "ft GO SUB 68 0 OtM - M XCJN - N - YCJ RETURN 610 0 REM GE T CUR 6110 G - PEEK ( 16384) 128! IF TM > 0 AND G < 0 THEN VTAB 2 3 S T M ■■■■■■■ TM t 0 , 077 5 PRINT INT (TM)" 8ECS SCORE "GC" SECT OR "CO! GOTO 6110 612 0 POKE 16368,0; RETURN 66 0 0 REM MA I"' MOVE 6610 V = M - XG 5 W - N - YCU< - A< + It GOSUB 670 (UK - K - It GO SUB 68 0 0 IV ~ M !!, * NSK A ' U » !••! ) t IF Kl < 1 THEN GOSUB 67 0 0 663 0 K m K + It GOSUB 680 0 t RETURN 670 0 REM CANCEL 6710 XDRAW K AT V M 8 f W »: 85 RETURN 68 0 0 REM DRAW 6810 DRAW K AT V * 8 f W • 8t RETURN 70 0 0 REM DELAY 7 010 FOR I = 1 TO At NEXT ItTM * TM •»• It RETURN THE MASTER MAX $2540. FEATURING: S-lOO, IEEE 696 4 SLOT MOTHERBOARD Z80 AT 4MHZ SINGLE CARD COMPUTER including: 64K RAM (64KX1 chips) / 2 serial ports (ZSIO) / 2 eight bit parallel ports, one usable as intelligent Winchester interface (ZPIO) / On-board EPROM (2732) / NEC floppy disk controller / all devices interrupt driven / real time clock CP /M 2.2® Dual Tandon 8 " drives, single sided, double density, 1 .2 MB. Quali- ty, regulated power supply. Three empty slots for expansion. Compact, light weight, modular construction. Dimensions: 17% "wide, 5^" high, 23 "deep. OPTIONS: 220 volt, SOHZ operation at no extra charge Doublesided, double density 8 " drives, 2.4 MB: Add $335. Turbodos single user with spooler: Add $100. Turbodos multi user with spooler: Add $550. We can also provide you with terminal, printer, other peripherals and software from our extensive catalogue. CALL OR WRITE FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR FOR DEMONSTRATION Prices subject to change without notice. ort JOHN D.OWENS A Associates, Inc. 12 Schubert Street, Staten Island, New York 10305 (212) 448 6283 (212) 448 6298 (212) 448 2913 TWX: 710 588 2844 CABLE: OWENSASSOC. Please See Our Other Ads in This Issue on Pages 70- 71 1 96 October 1 982 © BYTE Publications Inc Listing 2: Shape table, data, and strings used with the Ringquest game. This data defines the shape of the maze and the strengths of the player and monsters in addition to providing some of the text and prompts on the screen. 6000, 61BF 60 0 0- IB FF CA 0 0 DA 0 0 EF 0 0 60 08- FC 0 0 13 01 ID 0 1 37 0 1 6010 - 4F 0 1 5D 0 1 6D 0 1 83 0 1 60 18- 9D 0 1 AA 0 1 CI 0 1 CE 0 1 60 2 0 - E7 01 F4 01 OC 02 16 02 6 0 28- 30 02 3B 02 55 02 5F 02 6030 - 79 02 83 02 9D 02 A7 02 6038- CI 02 A2 0 0 BD 48 60 9D 6 0 4 0 - AA 04 E8 E0 10 DO F5 60 6048- 02 AO A8 D3 C5 C5 A9 AO 6 0 50 ~ C2 D2 C9 C5 C6 C9 CE C7 6 0 58- C9 CF CE D3 FF FF FF FF 60 6 0- AO 0 0 88 B9 0 0 5F 99 0 0 60 68 - 07 CO 0 0 DO F5 60 A6 18 60 70 - 8E 65 60 A6 19 BE 68 60 6 078- 20 60 60 60 A9 04 85 18 6 0 80 - A9 5C 85 19 20 6E 60 E6 6088- 18 E6 19 E0 5F DO F5 60 6 0 9 0 - A9 5C 85 18 A 9 04 85 1 9 6 0 98- 2 0 6E 60 E6 1 B FA I-. o 1 9 f n 6 0 A 0 - 07 DO F5 6 0 A 2 0 o BD 8C 6 0 A8- 03 9D 0 0 8 0 E8 EO 20 DO 6 0 B 0 - F5 60 FF FF F'F' FF F'F' FF 60B8- F'F FF FF F'F FF FF' F' F FF 6 0 G 0 - FF FF pp F'F F F FF F F F'F' 6 0C8- FF FF 49 36 3E 3F' 2E 2D 6 0 D 0 - 36 2E 24 2C 2D 3C 3F 24 6 0D8- 3C 0 0 35 37 2D 24 4D 2D 6 0 E 0 ■■■■ 3E 37 20 96 3F 2E 35 3F 60EB- DF 3F 2C 25 3F 04 0 0 49 6 0 F 0 - 36 3E 3F 2E 2D 36 2E 24 6 0F8- 24 24 24 0 0 35 37 2D 24 6 1 0 0 - 4D 2D 3E". 37 2D 3E 37 2D 610 8- 3E 37 2D 3E FF 3B 27 2D 6110 - 3C 27 0 0 49 36 3E 3F 2E 61 1 8- 2D 25 24 24 0 0 35 37 2D 6120 - 24 4D 2D 3E 37 2D 3E 37 6128- 2D 3E 3F 3F 3F 2E! 2D 2D 6 1 3 0 - 2D 3E 3F 3F 3F 07 0 0 49 6138 ■- 3E 37 2D 3E 3F 2F 3 A \.i o 2 l= i 6 1 4 0 - X.. u. 'I A o o X. jL. L, X. xJ IF J t 2P OX TO 3r 24 j / 3F ','4 X. 1 74 X. I n n u u /. i is n — f Ti X. U r u t..if Tl A J o OA TO T> A Jo Jr A | rs o ... DUO rip TIE" Jr t~ T u t ft n u u 1 1 i.L a 1 ad - nc i~ u. x. L. JL OA J O or:* OP JL, 6168- 27 3C 2C 24 00 12 24 2D 6170- 4D 2D 36 96 36 3F DF 3F 6178- 24 0D 2D 25 3F 27 2D 25 6180- 3F 3F 00 2E 6C B6 IF 37 6188- 16 2E 24 68 16 2E 0D 25 619 0 - FF 04 68 25 0 4 20 37 16 6198- IF 04 2 0 04 00 92 2D 2D 61A0- 2D 35 3F 37 36 27 24 3F 61A8- 3F 00 2D 2D 2D 35 3F 3F 61B0- 3F 37 2D 2D 2D B5 3A 37 61B8- 2D 3E F F 3B 27 2D 3C 3F 6 1C0 .637F 6 1C0- 0 0 49 36 36 36 2E 24 2G 6 ICS- 2D 3C 3F 24 24 00 49 0 9 Listing 2 continued on page 198 Finally, a MULTI-USER micro for professionals by G&G Engineering Shown; WordStar" from MicroPro EXPANDABLE You can start with a single user installation and add users as your needs grow. The G&G system can be easily expanded in field— just add more memory. Shown: SuperCalc 86* from Sorcim Hard Disk Based Multi- User Systems start at $10,500 MP/M 816 is a proprietary implementation of Digital Research's MP/M 86 operating system, configured for CompuPro by G&G Engineering. CompuPlot is a trade- mark of G&G Engineering. CP/M and MP/M are regis- fered trademarks of Digital Research. SuperCalc and SuperCalc 86 are trademarks of Sorcim. dBASE II is a trademark of AshtonTate. WordStar is a trademark of MicroPro. CompuPro is a trademark of Godbout Electronics. MULTI-USER MP/M™ 8-16" Up to seven users can run their own programs with their own pro- tected data or share common pro- grams and data. High speed DMA hard disk and cache memory give this system fast access to data, so you avoid bottlenecks. G&G's MP/M 8r16 systems have been shipping since March, 1982. They are field proven! Shown: CompuPlot " from G&G Engineering 8 and 16 BIT CP/M™ COMPATIBLE Each user can run the vast inventory of 8 bit CP/M programs, or choose from the library of powerful new 16 bit CP/M 86 software. Your past investment in CP/M software is protected, while at the same time the door to the 16 bit world is opened to you. SUPPORT We wrote the book on 8/16 bit multi-user systems. Our phone sup- port is the best in the business. Plus, CompuPro components in G&G sys- tems carry a two year factory-backed warranty. Shown: GL by Structured Systems Group UPGRADABLE The G&G system is based on the IEEE 696/S-100 bus and uses Compu- Pro's state-of-the-art components. Our 20 slot bus guarantees that you will never be left in a corner with obsolete technology. Your investment in hard- ware is protected. Shown: dBASE II " from AshtonTate G&G Engineering is an authorized CompuPro systems center. GS.G ENGINEERING 1922 Republic Avenue, San Leandro, California 94577 (415) 895-0798 315 California Street, Suite 515, San Francisco, California 94104 Circle 171 on inquiry card. BYTE October 1982 1 97 CRT'S • PRINTERS • TELEPRINTERS MICROMAILS OT LETTER QUALITY PRINTERS • 630 RO • 40 CPS • SERIAL RS232C $1899.00 630 KSR CALL ★ DIABLO ± "/N7 $1149.00 • 630 API-RO "INTRODUCTORY OFFER" CALL FOR PRICE "TAILORED TO YOUR SYSTEM" • 620 RO '■INTRODUCTORY OFFER" • 25 CPS • SERIAL RS232C NEC • 7700 SERIES • 3500 SERIES Call for Our LOW PRICES DEC LA 34 DA $899.00 "LA 120 REPLACEMENT" LA 12D . . . . NEW! CALL VT100 CALL VT101 CALL VT13I $1499.00 Q.UME "ON SITE WARRANTY" • SPRINT 9/45 •SPRINT 9/55 Call for Our LOW PRICES TELE VIDEO 910 $569.00 912 $689.00 920 $725.00 950 $909.00 925 NEW! CALL DEC LA 100 •DUAL MODE MATRIX PRINTER 3M ^-MFWi- WHISPER WRITER W ^ TWX/ TELEX • TIME SHARE ' COMPUTER TERMINAL ^^^^^^ ANADEX DP9S00/9501 $1125.00 DP 8000 AP $749.00 DP 9620A NEW! 6000 NEW! CALL "LABOR SAVER" CUT SHEET FEEDERS as low as $749.00 TEXAS INSTRUMENTS 810/2 CALL {includes uppei/lower case option) 810/2 VFC/CP CALL (includes u/1 case loans contio! & compressed pnnl) VT100/ TELE VIDEO GPAPHICS OPTION AS LOW AS $999.00 CALL TOLL FREE (800) 854-6028_ SAVE ON MASTERCARD C.O.D. SHIPPING IS PREPAID VISA REQUIRES FREIGHT 1 ORDERS ACCEPTED 15% DEPOSIT COLLECT I WE SELL INTERNATIONALLY Listing 2 continued: 61D0-- 2D 3E 37 2D 96 3F 2E 35 61D8- 3F DF 21 21 21 3C 36 36 61E0 • 36 3E 21 21 21 21 00 49 61E8- 36 3E 3F 2E 2D 2D 2D 3C 61F0- 3F ?/\ 21 0 0 12 21 35 2E 61F8- ?A 'tD 36 25 2C 36 96 3F 620 0- 3F 3F 37 2D 2D 2D 35 3F 6208- 3F 3F 3F 00 19 36 36 2D 6210- 2D 3C 3F 21 21 0 0 2D 1D 6218- 2D 3E 37 2D 96 3F 3F 2E 6220 2D 35 3F 3F 27 21 21 3C 6228- 36 36 36 27 21 21 21 0 0 6230 - <\9 92 2D 2D 3E 3F 36 3E 6238- ?A 21 0 0 2D 2D 2D 35 3F 6210- 3F 3F 37 2D 2D 2D B5 3 A 6218- 37 2D 3E FF 23 21 3C 36 6250- 36 27 21 21 0 0 92 2D 2D 6258- 36 36 27 21 3F 3F 0 0 2D 6260- 2D 2D 35 31- 3F 3F 37 2D 6268- 2D 2D 35 36 36 27 21 3C 627 0- 36 36 DF 3F 2C 25 3F 07 6278- 00 92 2D 2D 2D 35 3F 3F 6280- 3F 3F 0 0 2D 2D 2D 35 3F 6288- 3F 3F 37 2D 2D 2D B5 3A 6290- 3F 3F 3F 2E 2D 2D 2D 3E 6298- 3F 3F 3F 07 0 0 19 36 36 62A0- 36 2E 21 21 21 21 0 0 36 62AS - 36 36 2E 21 21 21 2C 36 62B0- 36 36 6E 21 21 21 21 35 62B8- 36 36 36 25 21 21 21 01 62C0- 00 13 10 12 05 0 3 16 1A 62C8 - OE 12 11 OC 16 18 FF 01 62D0- 03 0 5 07 OC OE 10 12 11 62D8- 16 18 :LA 01 07 08 0B OE 6210- 11 11 19 IE 03 02 01 0 8 62E8 02 0 3 09 0 3 01 01 0 0 0 2 62F0- 03 0 0 A 2 00 BD 00 63 9D 62F8- 50 05 E8 EO 22 DO F5 6 0 630 0- OD 05 13 .1.3 01 07 0 5 20 6308- 06 12 OF OD 20 02 09 OC 6310 - 02 OF 2 0 2D 20 0B 0 9 OC 6318- OC 20 01 2 0 02 01 OC 12 6320- OF 07 A2 00 BD 3 0 63 9D 6328- 5 0 05 E8 EO 27 DO F5 6 0 633 0 - 07 OF OC OC 15 OD 20 13 6338- It OF oc: 05 2.0 11 08 05 6310- 2 0 12 0 9 OE 07 2 0 01 15 6348- 12 0 9 OE 07 20 11 08 05 6350 - 2 0 0 6 09 07 03 11 21 A2 6358- 0 0 BD 65 63 9D 0 0 05 E8 636 0- e:o 18 DO F5 60 11 08 01 6368- 1°! 27 13 20 11 OF OF 20 6370- 0D 15 03 08 20 11 OF 20 6378 - m 03 01 12 12 19 A 2 0 0 BD 638 0 .653F 6380- 00 63 9D 28 07 E8 E0 12 6388- DO F5 A 2 0 0 BD A5 63 9D 639 0 - 50 04 E8 EO 17 DO F5 60 6398- FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 63A0- FF FF FF FF FF 14 08 05 63 AS- 2 0 12 09 OE 07 20 0 9 13 63B0- 2 0 0 9 OE 2 0 13 05 03 11 63B8 - OF 12 20 32 10 12 05 13 Listing 2 continued on page 202 cMCRLirciflJL.. P.O. Box 3297 / Santa Ana California 92703 Tel: 714/731-4338 TWX: 910 595 1146 198 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 252 on inquiry card. GP-100A: US$389 COMMAND PERFORMANCE. Seikosha gives you all the best features — including economy and super-clear graphics. Unlike some graphic printers, Seikosha's new GP-100A Uni-Hammer Graphic Printer puts full dot addressable graphics at your command. The GP-100A lets you repeat a column of data as many times as needed with just one command. Software control enables double-width character output, and the positioning is both character and dot addressable. Designed for simple operation, it ranks among the most cost-efficient graphic printers on the market. Command performance tech- nology that not only works for you now, but takes you well into the future. Other valuable features: •Graphics, regular and double width character modes can be intermixed on the same line. •Automatic printing. When the text exceeds the maximum line length, there is no loss of data due to overflow. • Self-test printing is a standard feature. •Centronics type parallel interface. • Paper width is adjustable up to 10 inches. • Optional Interface:RS232C,IEEE488, apple ll.etc. Series Graphic Printer Available at COMPUTERLAND and other fine stores in your area Distributed by AXIOM CORPORATION 1014 Griswold Avenue San Fernando, Calif. 91340 Phone (213) 365-9521 TWX (910) 496-1746 Manufactured by SEIKOSHA SYSTEM EQUIPMENT DIV. 4-1-1 Taihei Sumida-ku Tokyo Japan. Phone: 03-623-8111 Telex: 262-2620 Circle 345 on inquiry card. without get No matter how you slice it, the only way you're going to know if a data handling program is right for you is by running it on your computer, solving your problems, your way. And the only database management sys- tem (DBMS) that lets you do that is dBASE II™ A DBMS like the mainframers have. Conceptually, dBASE II is a relational database management system, like the system IBM introduced on their mainframes last year. Practically, dBASE II is the most powerful DBMS made for a micro. It handles multiple databases on a single drive and simplifies every- thing from accounting to project management to monitoring rainfall on the Upper Volta. With a word or two, you CREATE data- bases, APPEND new data instantly, UPDATE, MODIFY and REPLACE fields, records and entire databases. Organize months worth of data in minutes with the built-in REPORT. Do sub- field and multi-field searches, then DISPLAY some or all of the data for any conditions you want to apply. And you've just begun to tap the power of dBASE II. Easy to look at, easy to use. Input screens and output forms couldn't be easier — just "paint" your format on the CRT and what you see is what you'll get. You can do automatic calculations on fields, records and databases, accurate to 10 digits. V* I And you can use dBASE II interactively for instant answers. Or save your instructions and automate your data handling with two words: DO Finances, DO Rainfall, DO whatever has to be done. Use dBASE II to help make your choice: Instead of asking you to pore over a manual, we'll let you try dBASE II free for 30 days. Send us $400 and we'll send you a copy of dBASE II that you can run on a 48k Apple with 200 BYTE October 1982 database system ting skinned CP/M ($700 for expanded hard-disk version). Put it through its paces. Then after 30 days, send it back and we'll return your money no questions asked. But we don't get many back, because dBASE II is the one database management system that can really cut it. Call (213) 204-5570 today or drop by your local computer store for the rest of the story. Ashton-Tate, 9929 Jefferson Blvd., Culver City, CA 90230. Ashton-Tate ©1982 Ashton-Tate CP/M is a registered trademark of Digital Research Circle 29 on inquiry card. BYTE October 1982 201 Listing 2 continued: 63C0- 13 20 31 20 OF 12 20 32 20 14 OF 20 03 08 OF OF 63D0- 13 05 2 0 14 08 05 20 OE 63D8- 05 18 14 20 13 05 03 14 63E0 - OF" 12 A2 00 BD BC 63 9D 63E8- 00 05 E8 EO 26 DO F5 60 63F0- A 2 0 0 BD FE 63 9D DO 06 63F8- E8 EO 12 DO F5 60 1 0 12 640 0- 05 1 3 13 20 .11 20 1 4 OF 6408- 20 11 15 09 14 20 OF 12 6410- A 2 00 BD 00 63 9D 50 0 5 6H8- es EH 0 12 DO F5 A2 00 BD 6420- 2B 64 9D 50 06 E8 EO IE 6428- DO F5 60 1 0 OC 05 0 1 13 6430 - 05 20 1 2 05 14 15 12 OE 6438- 20 14 OF 20 13 05 05 OB 6440- 20 14 08 05 20 12 09 OE 6448- 07 A2 00 BD 57 64 9D DO 6450 - 07 E8 EO IB DO F5 60 10 6458- 12 05 13 1 3 20 13 1 0 0 1 6460- 03 05 20 02 01 12 20 14 6468- OF 20 03 OF OE 14 09 OE 6470- 15 05 A 2 00 BD 80 64 9D 6478- DO 05 E8 EO 19 DO F5 60 6480- DO D2 C5 D3 D3 AO 09 AO 6488- C6 CF D2 AO D9 C5 D3 AC 6490- AO CE". AO C6 CF D2 AO CE 6498- CF A 2 00 BD A7 64 9D D 0 64A0- 04 EI 8 EO OD DO F5 60 CI 64A8- CE CF D4 C8 C5 D2 AO C7 6480- CI CD C5 BF A 2 00 BD 03 DEC LSM1 Components Dependable service at discount prices Domestic and Export R ■■ T I ■ ■I ■ I r ■ L r i ■ ■ ■ I III II \JV VV VV V<7 L Computer Suppliers, inc. 25 Chatham Rd., Summit, N.J. 07901 Since 1973 (201) 277-6150 Telex 13-6476 64B8- 65 90 80 07 E8 EO OE DO 64C0- F5 A2 00 BD 11 65 9D 2 A 64C8- 05 E8 EO OE DO F5 A2 00 64D0- BD IF 65 9D AA 05 E8 EO 64D8- 10 DO F5 A2 00 BD 2F 65 64E0 9D 2 A 06 E8 EO 12 DO F5 64E8 A2 00 BD 41 65 9D AA 06 64F0 - E8 EO 15 DO F5 A2 00 BD 64F8- 56 65 9D 2 A 07 E8 EO ID 650 0- DO F5 6 0 C4 CF AO D9 CF 6508- D5 AO D7 C9 D3 C8 AO D4 6510- CF 01 AO AO AO AO AO AO 6518- AO CI D4 D4 CI C3 CB 12 6520 - AO AO AO AO AO AO AO D2 6528- D5 CE AO CI D7 CI D9 0 6 6530- AO A 8 D4 D2 D9 A9 AO C6 6538- x D2 C9 C5 CE C4 D3 CB C9 6540 . 66FF 6540- DO 13 AO A 8 C7 C5 D4 A 9 6548 • AO D3 D4 CI D4 D5 D3 AO 6550- D2 C5 D 0 CF D2 D4 OC AO 6558- AO AO AO AO AO AO CC C9 6560- 03 D4 AO CD CF CE D3 D4 6568- C5 D2 D3 AF D3 C3 CF D2 657 0- C9 CE C7 A 2 00 BD A 8 65 6578- 9D 5 0 0 6 E8 EO 25 DO F5 658 0- A 2 00 BD CD 65 9D FO 0 6 6588- E8 EO 0 7 DO F5 A 2 0 0 BD 659 0- D4 65 9D 70 0 7 E8 EO 08 6598- DO F5 A 2 00 BD DC 65 9D 65A0- FO 07 E8 EO 0 7 DO F5 6 0 65A8- C9 CE D3 D4 D2 D5 C3 D4 65B0- C9 CF CE D3 AO C6 CF D2 65B8- AO CD CF D6 C9 CE C7 BA 65C0- AO AO AO AO AO AO AO AO 65C8- 09 AO AO D5 DO OA AO AO 65D0- CC C5 C6 D4 OB AO AO D2 65D8- C9 C7 C8 D4 OD AO AO C4 65E0- CF D7 CE A 2 0 0 BD Fl 65 65E8- 9D 0 0 0 5 E8 EO 12 DO F5 65F0- 6 0 42 59 6 0 41 6 0 43 41 65F8- 56 45 60 43 4F 4C 4C 41 660 0- 50 53 45 A 2 0 0 BD 11 66 66 0 8- 9D 00 0 5 E8 EO OC DO F5 6610- 60 CE C5 C9 D4 C8 C5 D2 6618 - AO C8 D5 D2 D4 A 2 00 BD 6620 - 2B 66 9D 00 05 E8 EO OC 6628- DO F5 60 59 4F c:' ET J3 6 0 41 6630 - 52 45 6 0 48 55 52 54 A 2 6638- 0 0 BD 45 66 9D 28 05 E8 664 0- EO 0 9 D 0 F5 60 D2 D5 CE 6648- AO til D7 CI D9 BF AO A3 665 0- A3 A3 AO DB AD DE AD DD 6658- AO DC AD AF AO A 8 CF AO 666 0- CF A 9 A 8 AO DE AO A 9 AO 6668- A 8 BD A 9 AO AO AO DE DE 667 0 - AO AO AS AO AO DC BC DF 6678- DF A 9 AO 7C A7 AO AO AO 668 0 - AO A 9 DF AO DF AO D5 AO 6688- D5 AO AO AO 5E AO AO AO 669 0- AO CF AO AO AO AO AB AO 6698- AO 6 A AO AO AO DE AO DC 66A0- AO AO 06 AO AO DC AF C9 66 AS- DC DC AO AF AF BC 4F DE 66B0- 4F B E AF AD BD AD DC A 2 Listing 2 continued on page 204 202 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 259 on inquiry card. AFTER YOU OUTGROW THE YOU'LL BE READY FOR THE DATA GENERAL CS, DATA GENERAL CS. The Data General CS is a high speed, single terminal desktop com- puter with enough capacity to do all the jobs a small business requires. (Without requiring a small business- man to run out and buy all sorts of options.) On the other hand, depending on the application, it's also a high speed computer with the ability to support anywhere from two to nine terminals. Then again, the Data General CS is a high speed business system with the ability to handle up to 25 terminals. All right, so just what is the Data General CS? The ideal first computer, a great mid-range computer, and a multi-function business system. For the Data General Commercial System is a whole family, each fully compatible with the next one up the corporate ladder. All the way to the largest computer Data General makes. Which means what you learn on one you can use on any other. They all act and think alike. And even speak the same universal languages: Interactive COBOL and Business BASIC. So, if you succeed in business, you can go from one terminal up to 25, from a computer that fits on a desk to a computer that fits on a wall. Without really trying. Or replacing. Or rewrit- ing. Or retraining. But not only do Data General CS computers remove the fear of success they remove the fear of failure. For they can usually help diagnose their own problems. And help correct them. And if they can't, help is often an 800 number away. And so is our world- wide service and support organization. No wonder systems suppliers who can buy anybody's equipment, add to it and market it, often buy ours. No wonder 82 out of the top Fortune 100 companies have Data General com- puters. If you'd like us to put you in touch with a Commercial System Supplier who has computer systems which can perform general accounting, produc- tion scheduling or even keep your golf scores, fill in the coupon and return it to us. Most likely he'll have a computer system to suit your needs, one that you'll hopefully outgrow. i w Data General WE ENGINEERED THE ANXIETY OUT OF COMPUTERS. I Mail to: Data General Corporation I I 4400 Computer Drive MS C228, | Westboro, Mass. 01580 I Attention: Marketing Communications Services | . Please send me info on the new Data General CS family. . I Name | I Title I Company Tel | Address | I City State Zip I I I Circle 120 on inquiry card. BYTE October 1982 2 03 Circle 177 on inquiry card. DEVELOPMENT HARDWARE/SOFTWARE GTEK MODEL 7128 EPROM PROGRAMMER Compare the features: • Microprocessor based intelligence for ease of use and interface. • RS-232 interface and ASCII data formats make the 7128 compatible with virtually any computer with an RS-232 interface port. • Auto-select baud rate, Xon/Xoff or conver- sational handshake. • Program and read the following: 2508, 2758, 2516, 2716, 27C16, 2532, 2732, 2732A, 27C32, MCM6B766, 2564, 2764, 27C64, 271 28 . . . plus more as new types become available. • Automatic use of proper program voltage based on type selected. • Optional support for EEPROMS • Menu driven eprom type selection, no personality modules required. • Supports Intel and Motorola data formats as well as conversational hex formats. Formatted screen dump and block read commands. • Interupt driven type ahead, program and verify real time while sending data. • Program single byte, block, or whole eprom. • Intelligent diagnostics discern between eprom which is bad and one which merely needs erasing. • Erasure check command. • Busy light indicates when power is being applied to program socket. • Complete with zero insertion force socket and integral 120 VAC power supply. (240 VAC/50 HZ available at slight addi- tional charge) • High Performance/Cost ratio. Model 7128 PRICE $389.00 MODEL 7128/24 - budget version of the 7128. Supports 24 pin parts thru 32K only. Upgradable to full 7128 capacity. Model 7128/24 PRICE $289.00 | Mm*.., sr. ♦ - ^ — Accessories Erasers, Eproms, Cables Gtek INC. GTEK MODEL 9000 SERIES COMPUTERS • 4 MHz Z80 CPU, no wait states • 128K byte RAM with bank select • DMA floppy disk operation with track buf- fering for fast disk I/O. • 2 serial ports with type ahead, speeds to 76.8K baud. • Parallel printer port, with 47K interrupt driven spooler. • Winchester interface port, • Dual mini-floppies, FORMATTED storage to 1.6 Megabyte. • Eight inch drives available also. • One year warranty (90 days on drives) High Performance/Cost ratio Prices start at $2390.00 + CP/M' Contact GTEK direct for quotation on Series 9000 tailored to your specific needs. CROSS ASSEMBLERS by Avocet Systems, Inc. (For CP/M* based machines) For the following families: 6805, 6809, 1802, 8048, 8051, 6502, 6800, NEC7500, F8, COP400, Z8 Cross Assembler price $200.00 each except NEC75O0 price $500.00 * Trademark of Digital Research, Inc. Post Office Box 289 Waveland, Mississippi 39576 (601) 467-8048 IT'S YOUR MOVE y^MAKE IT NOW EPSON CARTRIDGE RIBBONS MX-80 MX-100 $9.95 Ea. $1 2.95 Ea MINIMUM ORDER OF 3 RIBBONS SAVE 10% WITH PURCHASE OF A DOZEN LABEL SPECIAL 1 ACROSS 3V 2 x 15 /, 6 " CONTINUOUS LABELS r\A \ NOW 2.99/ M (5M Min.) CHECK-MATE is now a distributor of Memorex Diskettes Check-Mate Ma 617-963-7694 Toll Free 800-343-7706 P.O. Box 103 Randolph, Ma. 02368 WE ACCEPT MASTERCHARGE AND VISA Listing 2 continued: 66B8- 66C0- 66C8- 66DQ- 6608' 66EQ- 66E8" 66F0- 66F8- 00 E 0 AO D4 C3 C8 9D 60 D3 BD IE GO CS CI AO 00 07 AO DO CI D2 06 CI 06 CB CP 66 F5 06 CS CS A2 E8 CF C6 9D 60 CS C4 AO 00 EO AO C6 00 09 AO AO 07 BD :I.C 02 AO 0 4 CF CS CI C9 Fl DO C9 A 6 670 0 , 681F E8 D5 CE AO 04 66 FS 00 AO 670 0- C4 CS 03 04 D2 CF 09 03 67 0 8- AO D9 CF 05 D2 FF FF A 2 6710- 0 0 BD 10 67 9D 80 07 E8 6710- EO IE DO FS 60 09 CF 05 6720 - D2 AO C9 CE D6 C9 03 C9 6728 - C2 CC CS AO C3 CC CF CI. 6730 - CB AO C8 C9 C4 CS 03 AO 6738 - D9 CF 05 A 2 00 BD 49 67 6740- 9D 8 0 0 4 E8 E0 27 DO FS 6748- 6 0 C3 CF CE C7 D2 CI 04 6750 - D5 CC C 1 D4 C9 CF CE 03 6758- AO CF CE AO 09 CF OS 02 6760- AO C2 D2 C9 CC CC C9 CI 6768- CE 04 AO C6 CS C 1 D4 Al 6770- A 2 0 0 BD 7E 67 9D 80 04 6778 E8 EO 23 DO F5 60 09 CF 6780- D5 AO C8 CI D6 CS AO C4 6788- C9 CS C4 AO CF C6 AO CS 679 0 - D8 C8 CI D5 D3 D4 C9 CF 6798- CE AO C9 CE AO 04 C8 CS 67 AO - AO CD C9 CE CS 03 A2 0 0 67A8- BD 64 O t 9D 5 0 0 6 ES E 0 67B0- 28 DO F5 6 0 09 CF D5 AO 67B8- C8 C :l. D6 CS AO C2 CS CS 67C0- CE AO D3 D7 CS DO 04 AO 67C8- CI D7 CI D9 AO D4 CF AO 670 0 - CI CE CF D4 CS CS D2 A!) 67D8- C3 CI 06 CS A 2 00 BD EA 67E0- 67 9D 5 0 0 7 E8 EO 14 DO 67E8 - F5 6 0 D9 OF D5 AO CC CF 67F0- D3 CS AO D9 CF 05 D2 AO 67F8- C3 CC CF CI CB Al A2 00 680 0 - BD oc 68 9D 8 0 0 6 E0 EO 6808- OF DO F5 6 0 C9 CE D6 C9 6810- D3 C9 C2 CC CS AO C3 CC 6818- CF e i CB FF FF FF FF FF Listing 3: Text screen program. It produces four screens of infor- mation that can be accessed during the game to give information on the player's status. 100 1 1 0 1 2 0 HOME : VTAB 4 S HTAB 14; PRINT "RING QUEST" J VTAB 85 HTAB 11 t PRINT "C. C.MILLS 1982"; VTAB 35 HTAB 15 PRINT "PRESS B F OR BRIEFING OR POKE 24705,84 5 ; CALL 24700 HOME J PRINT : E ENTERING THE A WITHT HE TASK 3 TO POKE- START " 24716,87 PRINT "YOU AR MINES OF MORI OF FINDING :«* Listing 3 continued on page 206 204 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 65 on inquiry card. 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Let US help YOU get started MAKING MONEY by HELPING PEOPLE to put COMPUTERS to WORK. Write or Phone today. Which Computers are Best? . . . Free Insured Shipping at Low Rates. TELEVIDEO Televideo 910+ 518 Televideo 925 718 Televideo 950 899 Televideo Computers Call ADDS VIEWPOINT A-1B 525 ZENITH Z-19 Terminal 649 Z-89 48K Computer 2119 Z-90 64 K DD 2399 ZVM-121 ZENITH Green Screen monitor 125 INTERTUBE III or EMULATOR AMDEK Color Monitor S710 S329 GODBOUT COMPUPRO Super Sixteen 8085/8088. The fastest 8-16 bit computer! Runs 8 and 16 bit code! 128K Static RAM, 6MHz CPU's LIST 3409 SPECIAL 2873 New: Systems 816/A. B, and C with enclosure and drives. 816/A List 5495 Only 4729 SEATTLE pure 16 bit computer is the fastest microcomputer by actual test! S-100, 128K Static RAM, 8 MHz 8086. 22 slot Mainframe Model #2 List 4185 Only S3195 #1 as above but64K List 3190 Only S2595 IBM PC memory made by SEATTLE. Now with "Flash Disk." .. 192K = 525 64K = 375 CALIFORNIA COMPUTER 2210A List $1995 OnlyS1722 Z80, 64K, I/O. Disk controller + CPM. California main frame 484 SYSTEMS GROUP computers run FRIENDLY OASIS Call SAVE QUAY COMPUTER Two drives + CPM S1745 Four user MPM 208K + Hard Disk $5945 TARBELL'S Empire I & II have two 8" disk drives. The I is single sided, the II is double sided. FREE Business Software Empire I ... List 4888 ... Only 3495 Corvus Hard Disk SAVE SSM Video BRD VB3 kit 361 Spectrum Color ASM 326 T NORTH STAR ADVANTAGE 64K Green Phosphor. The Best Business Graphics, 2 Disks. Serial Port. Options CPM — Business programs $2894 MICRO DECISION "A DEAL YOU CANT REFUSE" 64K RAM, Z80, 4MHz, 2 Serial Ports, Disk Controller. FREE SOFTWARE. CPM — Microsoft BASIC — BaZic —Wordstar — Calcstar — Spellstar. with 1 5 V with 2 Si- Disk Disks List $1195 . 1545 Only $ 949 . 1199 NORTH STAR Horizon Powerful North Star BASIC Free Superb for Business & Science Horizon Standard is now HRZ-2-64K Quad Factory Assembled & Tested Only Horizon-2-64K-Quad $2649 Horizon-1-64K.-QHD 5 3795 Horizon RAM 64K 594 Big Sale on Multi-User Time-Sharing SAVE North Star Hard Disk 18Mb 3995 English to Basic Translator 75 Zbasic 2 to 5 times faster! 325 Secretary Word Processor 75 Wordstar Word Processor 278 Floating Point Board 339 Oasis Multi-User Software 699 CPM for N'-Extra features 147 Micro Mike Software CALL MICROSTAT $265 Pascal-80 539 Extra Precision BASIC 49 Northword 179 Infomanager 329 General Ledger 399 Accounts Receivable 399 Accounts Payable 399 Inventory 399 Order Entry 399 PROPAC 1299 DOS + BASIC 5.2 28 INTEGRAND main frames S-100. Many models to choose from Only 200 & UP MODEMS DC HAYES — S-100 $329 POTOMAC MICRO MAGIC ....369 SIGNALMAN 97 CAT NOVATION 159 AUTOCAT 215 DECISION I "The IBM-360 on the Z-80 & S-100 BUS!" Sixteen Programs running simultan- eously! Free CPM. Microsoft BASIC, and WORDSTAR with complete system! DECISION 1 + 65K Static + 8" Disks DMA 3403 DECISION 1 + 65K Static * 2 5VS" Disks 2795 DECISION 1 < 65K Static + 5" Disk + 5 Mb Hard Disk 4235 DECISION 1-3 user 256K Static + 5" Disk + 5 Mb Hard Disk * MICRONIX 5830 DECISION 1 - Z-80 + I/O + 65K 1915 DECISION 1 — Rackmount + 20 Mb HD - 8" DRV Reg. 6235 Inventory Sale 5415 MORROW Hard Disks up to 26 MEGABYTES HDC-M26 $3333 HDC-M20 3333 HDC-M10 2955 DMA-M5 Reg. 1755 Inventory Sale 1500 DMA-M10 2235 DMA-M16 2795 MORROW 8" Disk Discus 2D + CPM 600K .. Only $834 Discus 2 + 2+ CPM 1.2 Mb .... 1068 Add Drives 2D = 599 2 * 2 = 1795 Discus 2D dual + CPM ... Only 1384 Free Microsoft BASIC from MORROW with Discus system or hard disk. FAST FIGURE — Most powerful spread sheet. 5Vt" or 8" 99 Wordstar 278 All MicroPro Software for IBM, Apple, North Star, Morrow, etc. SAVE' CALL Call for latest prices & availability AMERICAN 919-889-4577 4167 Kivett Dr Factory Guarantees We Beat Prices COMPUTERS Jamestown N.C. 27282 919-883-1105 Circle 17 on inquiry card. BYTE October 1982 2 05 Listing 3 continued: THE RING**"! PRINT 5 PRINT " THERE ARE TWO SECTORS, THE RING MAY BE IN EITHER. THE POWERS OF DARKNESS HAVE" 130 PRINT "ARRANGED THAT EACH SE CTOR WILL COLLAPSE" * PRINT " 16 MINUTES AFTER YOU HAVE EN T E RED."? P R I NT " Y 0 U CAN D E I... A Y THE COLLAPSE TEMPORARILY ONLY BY OBTAINING A TIME SPE LI..." 14 0 PRINT J PRINT "YOU ENTER NEA R THE CENTRE OF EACH SEC TOR A ND CAN ONLY EXIT AT THE SAME PI... ACE BY PRESSING THE KEY Ft YOU CAN EXIT AT ANYTIME BUT ONCE YOU HAVE ENTERED SE CTOR 2, YOU CANNOT RETURN TO SECTOR 1," 150 PRINT' PRINT " ROCK FA I... LB (£) OCCUR MORE FREQUENTLY AS Y OU PROCEED, IF YOU HAVE A G UN POWDER FLASK AND ARE TRA PPED , YOU CAN PRESS E TO GI VE 4 EXITS AT YOUR CURRENT P 0 S I T I OMAN D T H R 0 U G H A D J A C E N T ROCK FALLS * " 160 PRINT ? INVERSE ? PRINT "PRE SS SPACE BAR TO CONTINUE" ? ? POKE 24705,80? POKE 24716,83? CALL 247 0 0? NORMAL SENECA ELECTRONICS SUPER DISCOUNTS TRS-80® AND OTHERS TRS-80" 64K MODEL II $2995.00 ATARI™ 800 W/16K $650.00 VIC-20™ HOME COMPUTER $245.00 ALL MACHINES COME WITH FULL MANUFACTURERS' WARRANTY!! COMPUTER FURNITURE, PRINTERS, PERIPHERALS, YOU NAME IT, WE GOT IT, AT THE PRICE YOU WANT TO PAY. WE ACCEPT CERTIFIED CHECKS, MONEY ORDERS, VISA & MASTERCARD. SHIPPING CHARGES WILL BE ADDED TO CHARGE CARD ORDERS. SENECA ELECTRONICS RD #1, HARMONY, PA 16037 (412) 452-5654 170 HOME ? PRINT "YOU HAVE"? PRINT ? PRINT "TREASURE" ? PRINT ? PRINT "CARRYING CAPACITY " ? PRINT ? P R I NT " F I G H T I N G A B 1 1... I' TV" * P R I N T ? PRINT "INJURY RESISTANCE"? PRINT ? PRINT "DEGREE OF CH ARM " 180 PRINT ? PRINT "EXPLOSIVE CI I A RGES " S VTAB 23? HTAB 1? PRINT "PRESS SPACE BAR TO CONTINUE "?? POKE 24705,88? POKE 2471 6,91? CALL 24700 9() HOME ? HTAB 9? PRINT "COMBAT ZF R I E N D I... I N E S S " i H TAB 9 J PRINT "ABILITY ANT I I FOR" 20 0 PRINT "RED ORG 8 3 0 40 30"? PRINT ? PRINT "D WARE 11 20 4 0 4 0"? PRINT i PRINT "WEREWOLF 14 40 50 10" 210 PRINT i PRINT "SNAKE 17 8 0 2 0 0"? PRINT ? PRINT "GREY ELF 20 20 60 20"? PRINT ? PRINT "WIZARD 25 3 0 4 0 30"? PRINT ? PRINT "BALROG 3 0 9 0 10 0" 22 0 PRINT i PRINT "SCORING"? PRINT "1 PER SILVER CHARM OR DEAD SNAKE"? PRINT "2 PER BAR OF GOLD OR DEAD BALROG"? PRINT "ZERO TO 9 FOR WEAPONS" 23 0 PRINT "OVER 10 0 IF ESCAPING WITH JKXTI-IE RING xx": PRINT 5 PRINT ? PRINT "PRESS SPACE BAR TO CONTINUE" ? 24 0 POKE 247 0 5,92? POKE 24716,95 5 CALL 24700 25 0 HOME ? PRINT "TO CHECK, PRES S A KEY TO OBTAIN EACH 'S GREEN' SUCCESSIVELY" 26 0 FOR I m 0 TO 3? GET A$? POKE 24721 , (80 + I sk 4) ? CALL 247 20? NEXT I Text continued from page 184: 6000 hexadecimal. You can accomplish this by typing in listing 3 and running it after listing 2 has been validated. When you enter listing 3, you may replace the pound sign with a dash. When you are satisfied that the screens are properly formatted, save these and listing 2 by typing: BSAVEQQ,A$5000,L$1820 You are now ready to type in the main program given in listing 1. Conclusion Ringquest is a good example of the way a game evolves. Through its various incarnations you can see the problems I encountered and the solutions that led to the game's final version. The incorporation of a friendliness feature adds a new attitudinal twist to adventure games. I consider it my most important contribution to a more caring and peaceful society. ■ 206 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 346 on inquiry card. Circle 342 on Inquiry card. . . . the PERSONAL LANGUAGE system that mirrors your commands using your own words! What SAWY is - SAWY is a miraculous new information handling system. SAVVY is an automatic database management system. SAWY is a new level of machine intelligence. SAWY, part hardware, part software, is the beginning of truly "Personal Computing". SAWY comes with: General Ledger, rfflS^^ Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Payroll, Mailing List, {IB Document Writer and Inventory Control. Trademark: SAWY, Robot Programmer: Excallbur Technologies Corporation. Personal Language: SAWY Marketing International. What SA Through SAWY, you and your computer talk to each other in your own natural, conversational English (or Spanish, or ■" ■ ~ French, etc.). It learns from you what you want done in your own personal language. Once SAWY learns your language it can create any file you wish. Input, output, additions, -5^. changes and l ' J ?N, deletions are W. arranged for you. AJ%f ,. SAWY's Robot : **r%tt)rr Programmer" XySC/ has been trained to write 100% of the programs needed to manage your database information. SAWY runs CP/M™ and Apple DOS. What YOU discover - You'll discover that SAWY recognizes your personal words, even if misspelled, or even if you use a phrase never used before I SAWY continues to grow through use to become better and better at understanding your commands. Eventually, you will see SAWY as a rrirror to your own way of thinking and working. It is a re-def initlon of "user-friendly". SAWY, it's the first system that truty means "personal computing". SAWY is like no other system on earth. SAWY cost $950. Seeing is believing. SAWY is on display at selected computer retail locations. Call for the name of your nearest dealer. CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research Corp. Apple Is a Trademark of Apple Computer Inc. 100 South Ellsworth Street. 9th Floor, San Mateo, CA 94401 (415) 340-0335 SAVVY MARKETING INTERNATIONAL Before you buy any the features of Mean Time to Rep air Our simple design, quality components and modular construction make service easy and quick. Our average MTTR is a mere 15 minutes. Drawin g Solutions on Screen The 950's powerful graphics capability can express complex data as clear charts, diagrams, graphs, line drawings or other visuals to facilitate communication. Status and User Lines TeleVideo's 950 checks on its own operational status. What is the edit mode? Baud rate? Intensity mode? The 950 reports its condition while functioning without interfering with ongoing work. Programmable Function Key s The 950 is equipped with twenty-two user-definable function keys. The operator can short-cut to desired programs and save a lot of time. Editing TeleVideo's sophisticated editing features let you insert or delete characters or lines with a wraparound feature for maintaining data as long as you need it on screen. Ergonomic Keyboard The 950's detachable keyboard is made for operator comfort. Work close to the screen, or place it on your lap. You decide what is more comfortable and productive. TeleVideo's 950 offers the features you'd expect in terminals costing much more than ours. And most of these features are also offered in our 925, at even a lower price. Both terminals are built with TeleVideo reliability, both engineered for high performance. Whichever you choose, you can be assured And then check the of the same high quality and reliability, as well as nationwide service by General Electrics Instrumentation and Communication Equipment Centers. And TeleVideo builds to sales projections, and does not keep you waiting for delivery That means if you order 200 TeleVideo terminals California/Santa Ana 714-557-6095; Sunnyvale 408-745-7760; Georgia/ Atlanta 404-255-9338; Texas/Dallas 214-980-9978; Illinois/Chicago Area 312-351-9350; smart terminal, TeleVideo's 950. check Line Lock You can frequently reserve data by freezing some facts on screen while changing others. This feature eliminates inadvertent changes of field. Tilting Screen Just touch a knob to make the screen tilt toward the viewer There's no need for neck- craning here. The tilting screen is designed for easy use. Buffered Print Port TeleVideo's 950 can be used with printers of various speeds, so you won't lose data during slower peripheral cycles. Transmission Speed Our baud range is 50B to 19,2Kb, broad enough to accept data for the great majority of applications. Smooth Scrolling The. 950, like all TeleVideo terminals, offers easy reading of fast- moving information, without those jerking movements that strain your eyes. Self-testing Remote troubleshooting feature determines if a service call is really needed, or if the operator can handle the problem. That saves time and money. TeleVideo Systems, Inc. Attn: Terminal Division Dept 200A 1 170 Morse Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94086 I would like more information about TeleVideo's 950 and 925 terminals. today, we can ship them tomorrow. To learn more about the 950, the 925 and the other terminals that have made TeleVideo the industry leader, complete this coupon, or call: 800-538-8725 (In California, 408-745-7760). ©iTekMdeo Systems, Inc. Circle 385 on Inquiry card. Massachusetts/Boston 617-668-6891, New York/New Jersey 201-267-8805; United Kingdorn/Woking, Surrey 44-9905-6464 NAME COMPANY . ADDRESS- CITY PHONE #_ .TITLE. . STATE. .ZIP_ Suggested retail price for TeleVideo's 950, $ 1 195, TeleVideo's 925, $995, excluding applicable state and local taxes — Continental U S A , Alaska and Hawaii, The Case of the Purloined Object Code: Can It Be Solved? Part 2: Approaches to Software Protection An expert on the law relating to software protection tackles the toughest issues. Part 1 of this article, which ap- peared in last month's issue, ended with a list of things that a proper sys- tem for protecting software would have to do. They are: • accommodate the conflicting inter- ests of the various groups concerned with the use and protection of soft- ware • devise remedies tailored to deal with the different ways in which soft- ware can be appropriated • be structured for ease of access to the system and ease of administration • generally encourage development of new software without discouraging the use of software or the growth of the industry As suggested in the first part of this article, the legal systems that have About the Author Richard H. Stern is a lawyer specializing in intellectual property and antitrust law. As Chief of the Justice Department's Intellectual Property Section, he tried and supervised the government's patent and antitrust litigation, including the computer software patent cases in the Supreme Court. He is now in private prac- tice in Washington, DC, dealing with the prob- lems of high technology and computer soft- ware. Mr. Stern also has a degree in electrical engineering. Richard H. Stern Stern & Roberts 2555 M St. N.W. Washington, DC 20037 evolved for patents, copyrights, trade secrets, and contracts have reached an equilibrium on these considera- tions that does not at all represent the optimum for software. A system designed to protect soft- ware in general, it should be recog- nized, may differ importantly from one designed to protect just object code. Whether it is better to deal with software protection comprehensively or just deal with object code depends largely on our attitude toward Many groups have an interest in software and these interests vary widely. protecting algorithms and concepts of programs ("ideas"). We can simply devise a scheme that protects object code and stops there. A further con- sideration is that legislation protect- ing "ideas" is bound to face more op- position than legislation merely against duplicating ROMs. (This arti- cle treats considerations involving more than just the object code aspect of software, but the emphasis is on object code.) Interests at Stake Who are the groups with an inter- est in software and what are their interests? These groups include: • proprietors and marketers of soft- ware, including licensers primarily of software itself, sellers of data- retrieval services, and sellers of com- puter hardware bundled with operat- ing systems or other software • programmers and systems analysts • direct users, such as banks, stores, industrial users (chemical plants, machine tool systems users), and per- sons engaged in scientific research and engineering • the general public, which includes those who purchase products using or manufactured by use of software, and who thus may bear the ultimate cost of protection for software These interests vary widely. At one extreme are the public and direct users of software. In the short run, they would gain the most from no protection or minimal protection for software. This is also probably true for hardware sellers. In the long run, and viewing the question from a purely selfish standpoint, these groups would economically benefit most from a legal system giving that 210 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc STANDARD INTRODUCES MICRO-PRICING MICRO-PRICING™ from Standard Software is your guarantee of the best values in America on CP/M" and IBM PC software. Values that start with the lowest possible everyday price on every item we carry — including big savings on the best selling pro- gramsin the nation. Andthatalso includes this promise — if we're able to lower our price even further within thirty days of your purchase, we'll automatically re- fund the difference. So, what do you give up to get MICRO-PRICE™ savings? Nothing. Because we still back up every program we sell with the promptest, most knowledgeable service available. Got a question? Pick up the phone and call Standard. Got a program with a problem? We'll replace it fast. Changeyour mind? You've got 60 days to return your unopened disk for a full refund. Plus, we'll pick up shipping costs on multiple orders. We'll give you another 3% off for pre- payment. And we gladly accept purchase orders from qualifying companies and institutions. Now, that's top value for your software dollar. That's MICRO- PRICING™, only at Standard Software. MICRO-PRICED m software for CP/M and IBM: Digital Research® CB 80 $419.00 CBASIC2 $ 99.00 Lexisofl" Spellbinder S279.00 Lifeboat' 9 T/MAKER II $209.00 Micropro Mailmerge $ 89.00 Spellstar $159.00 Calcstar $209.00 Microsoft® Basic 80 $284.00 Basic 80 Compiler . $325.00 Multiplan $229.00 Standard Software® The Protector $165.00 WORDSTAR by Micopro" Simply the best micro word processing package around. Now improved! CPIM, IBM, List: $495. MICRO-PRICED ^279 CROSSTALK by Microstuf- Flexible communications for micros. Fits about everything. CPIM, IBM, others. List:S195. MICRO-PRICED dll IDS Prism 80/132 Affordable Color, Speed Dot Resolution Graphics • 9-wire staggered printhead • Lowercase decenders • Over 150 CPS • Bi-directional, logic-seeking • 8 character sizes • 80-132 columns • Proportional spacing • Optional Color • Text justifications Prism 80 Base List $999 CPlll Prism 132 Base List $1,299 ylfdll NEC Spinwriter 7700 & 3500 Daisy Wheel Quality Leader High speed, letter quality • 55/33 CPS • Typewriter quality • Bi-directional printing & proportional spacing • Quiet • OCR quality print • Hi-res plotting/graphing • Quick change ribbon • Optional cut-sheet feeder, horizontal or bidirectional tractors • Prints up to 8 copies. NEC Spinwriter RO Serial Parallel 77xx List $3055 $2500 35xx List $2290 $1900 Smith Corona TP-1 Daisy Wheel Printer For Under $900 The Epson Series High-Quality Printers at a Low Price. 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Anadex Silent Scribe The Quiet Serial Matrix Impact Printer Epson MX80 List $645 /S/> ■■ Epson MX80FT List $745 SL3II Epson MX-100 List $995 Full Line of Epson Accessories Televideo CRT's Price, Performance & Reliability • 16 CPS • Prints up to 6 copies • Bidirectional • Cloth or carbon quick-change cassette ribbon • Quiet, efficient operation for word processing • Brothers HR-1 (Parallel) List $1 ,100 CPoll Brothers HR-1 (Serial). .List $1,200 v>lsdll Up to 200 CPS • Dot addressable graphics • Parallel and serial interfaces standard • Switch selectable protocol • Cartridge ribbon • Foreign character sets • Underlining* 1.5Kto 3.5Kbuffer • Correspondence quality print Anadex DP-9500A List $1,725 Anadex DP-9620A List $1,845 Cfoll Anadex DP-6000 List $3,250 OwdH 910 925 950 List $699 OQaU List $995 Forlow List $1195 Prices Interface Equipment Complete Stock of Options, Cables and Accessories. CCS APPLE SERIAL Interface & Cable . $150 ORANGE INTERFACE tor Apple II Parallel Interface Board & Cable $90 NOVATION CAT Acoustic Coupler $175 NOVATION D-CAT direct connect modem $180 COMPLETE STOCK OF EPSON ACCESSORIES SCall CUSTOM PRINTER CABLES FOR Apple, Atari, IBM, TRS-80 (all models) SCall HAYES MICROMODEM II $300 PRINTER STANDS: Large $99 Small $25 PRINTER RIBBONS— Most Types SCall MAKE US EXPERTS. Largest Computer Printer Inventory. The Grappler+ ,u Apple - Graphics Interface • Graphic and text screen dumps • Dual Hi-Res Graphics • Printer Selector Dip Switch • Apple III compatible' • Inverse Graphics- Emphasized Graphics • Double Size Picture • 90° Rotation • Center Graphics • Works with Pascal and CPM • • No software needed £"f7E Grappler 4- V I / O ' Requires software driver Apple is a registered Trademark of Apple, Inc. The Okidata Series Hi-Res or TRS 80 Block Graphics 120 CPS • 9x9 Matrix • Bidirectional logic seeking printing • Lower case descenders • four print styles • Optional Hi-Res Graphics Okadata82A List $649 CPoll Okadata 83A (w/Tractor) . .List $995 ylrClll IDS Microprism 480 Prints like a daisy, priced like a matrix! • Correspondence Quality in a Single Pass • Dual Speed 75, 110cps • Proportional Spacing • Bidirectional Logic Seeking Head • Platen pin or pressure feed • 24x9 dot matrix • 10, 12, 16.8 Characters per inch • Double width Characters IDS Microprism 480 . . . List $799 $Call Our People, Our Product: Both Are Specialized. Because our salespeople are printer specialists, they know the capabilities of each printer — and how to match one to your exact need. Red Baron's volume stocking assures a low, low price on a wide array of major brands. 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Here's How To Order: Phone orders are welcome; same-day ship- ment on orders placed before 11:00a.m. Free use of MasterCard and Visa. COD's accepted. Personal checks require 2 weeks clearance. Manufacturer's warranty included on all equipment. Prices subject to revision. Call Toll Free For Catalog: (800) 854-8275 CA, AK, HI (714) 630-3322 VISA Red Baron COMPUTER PRODUCTS 1100 N. TUSTIN #207, ANAHEIM, CA 92807 Other Quality Printers at Red Baron C. Itoh 8510 Prowriter $845 $Ca 1 1 Diablo 630/6 . . . $2995 $2570 plies to unlitigated software as well as litigated software, but litigation costs are borne only when the software is involved in a suit. These factors are not the only con- siderations, however, in choosing a system. A registration system allows more invalid "scarecrow" claims on the books than an examination sys- tem does. The effect of such claims of exclusive ownership of software would probably be to some extent to inhibit legitimate enterprise in the use of software that properly belongs to the public. This factor is very hard to quantify. In addition, it would seem clear that fewer applications will be filed in an examination system because of its higher front-end costs; and even fewer applications will mature into issued certificates because some will be rejected. The answer probably comes down to whether the system just protects object code or also protects algorithms and program concepts. If unloading ROMs and the like is our main concern, a registration system should suffice. It establishes objective proof of who was first, and examin- ing the program for originality may be beside the point. But if ideas are to be protected, it is very risky to the community (probably too risky) to allow a monopoly claim to be staked without first examining its merits to some degree (but this judgment depends on the scope of the monopo- ly to be granted). By the same token, it would be perfectly reasonable to have a mixed system in which algorithms were examined and ROMs were simply registered. Duration of Rights Patents last for 17 years. Copy- rights last for approximately 75 years. Trade secret rights last until the secret becomes public. Contract rights last as long as the parties agree, subject to considerations of public policy. How long should software rights last? The answer may depend on the type of right in question— one to pro- hibit others' use completely or one to levy a small toll. The answer may also depend on the kind of software in question. The theoretical length of a monopoly grant should be one that maximizes net social benefit, mea- sured by the social value of the addi- tional innovative product (software) called forth minus the total rent the public pays the proprietor during the life of the monopoly — making a present-value calculation at a suitable interest rate. Assuming that we could in some way make such a calculation, we might reasonably suppose that the answer for a new algorithm would not be the same as that for an old or obvious program put into a ROM. Nothing more sensible can be said about this matter now, other than that it is another illustration of the in- terdependence of the different ele- ments of a software protection sys- tem. What is a sensible duration for rights under a software certificate depends on the strength of the rights — that is, on what constitutes infringement of the exclusive right and on what are the remedies. Conclusions The basic conclusion reached here is to answer the question posed in the title, "Yes, but with much difficulty." Sensibly adjusting the variables and accommodating the interests at stake calls for informed resolution of dif- ficult questions of economic policy, perhaps social policy too. The pur- pose of this article is less to answer those questions than it is to: • raise them • stimulate discussion among those with a legitimate interest in what hap- pens to software • pave the way for well-considered, rather than naive, legislation Software is clearly different enough and important enough to justify its own system of legislative protection. The question that needs an informed answer from the software community is "What kind of protection?" That answer should be stated only after ample discussion among those with an interest in the creation and use of software. ■ WICAT has the 68000 While others are promising, WICAT Systems for nearly two years has been quietly delivering their complete 68000 computers. The System 150 is a popular desktop computer with large memory and hard disk, unmatched in price/ performance. The System 100 is its expandable software compatible high performance companion. Concurrent's integral'" database and menusystem greatly accelerate the development of applications. Full UNIX™ System 3 with no compro- mises is ready. Concurrent can discuss your needs and help you select the proper configuration. Please write or call (513) 281-1270. Motorola 68000. 256K memory. 10MB Winchester disk. 760KB floppy, terminal, system software, choice ot Pascal. FORTRAN. C. Assembler, BASIC. COBOL Single user 150-1 $ 9,450 Three users 150-3 $10,850 Six users 150-6(51 2K) . $12,850 MULTIBUS is a trademark of INTEL Corporation UNIX is a trademark of Bell Laboratories OPTIONS graphics, printers. IEEE 488 instrumen- tations interface, videodisk controllers. A/D boards Concurrent 1870 Madison Road Cincinnati, Ohio 45206 Corporation 222 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 102 on inquiry card. Circle 233 on Inquiry card. Two of mankind's greatest treasures Reflected in two outstanding peripherals for your APPLE II The MBI" APPLETIME™ Card $99 00 * Fully Mountain Software compatible Disk included with all software Includes Datebook'" - a complete desk calendar Time of day Calendar date Day of week Program timer International time-keeping ability Recharging battery backup Complete software formatting Offset time/date/day readout 1CROCOMPUTER USINESS IDUSTRIESr 3RPORATION , UKIUA I A $149 The MBI ™ VIP Card VIP™ Card - "Versatile Interface Peripheral" (Available for EPSON, NEC, C-ITOH, IDS PRISM, OKIDATA and other graphic printers soon) VIP " Card - The Ultimate Graphics Card A Centronics Parallel Interface with a Serial Port and Cables featuring: • Text and graphics screen dump routine • Graphics with inverse & emphasized modes • Enlarged picture mode • Variable line length with left & right margins • Block graphics • 90° picture rotation • Chart Recorder Mode • A serial port with full RS232 capability • Software baud rate control from 1 1 0 to 9600 baud *Suggested List Price 00* IMINISTRATIVE OFFICES: LEPHONE: (303) 279-8438 1019 8TH STREET, GOLDEN, COLORADO 80401 (U.S.A.) TWX: 910-934-0191 Apple {$ a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. MBI, Applelime, VIP, and Datebook are trademarks of Microcomputer Business Industries Corporation. Software Review Radio Shack Compiler BASIC Compiled BASIC offers other advantages beyond faster execution. Compatibility between a compa- ny's software products is extremely important from a marketing stand- point. Many people were surprised, therefore, when Radio Shack an- nounced that its BASIC compiler (RSBASIC) would not be compatible with the BASIC interpreter supplied Rowland Archer Flint Ridge Apartment 59 Hillsborough, NC 27278 with every TRS-80 Model I and III. Thus, TRS-80 programmers cannot use this compiler on existing BASIC programs to gain faster execution and other benefits of compilation. Why did Radio Shack make such a decision? Jon Shirley, vice-president of Radio Shack's Computer Division, discussed this point in the June 1981 issue of the TRS-80 Microcomputer NEWS. He said that the choice had been between RSBASIC, written by the Ryan-McFarland Corporation, and Microsoft's BASIC compiler, which is compatible with the TRS-80 disk BASIC interpreter. In essence, Shirley said RSBASIC was chosen because of features — not price or per- formance. He even said you should buy the Microsoft product to compile existing disk BASIC programs. Radio Shack's choice of features over compatibility intrigued me. One of the reasons I bought the RSBASIC package was to see what those fea- tures were. System Overview RSBASIC's operation is different from most compiler-based develop- ment systems. Compiler systems are usually split into several programs that must be run individually to com- plete one cycle of modifying and run- ning a program. With such systems, you must first run an "editor" so you can type in your BASIC program, called the "source file." Next, you run the compiler that reads the source file and creates a machine-language pro- gram (the "object file") from it. Sometimes, a program called a "linker" or "binder" must be run to tie At a Glance Name Radio Shack Compiler BASIC Type TRS-80 BASIC compiler development system Author Ryan-McFarland Corporation Software Products Group Aptos, CA 95003 Distributor Tandy Corporation One Tandy Center Fort Worth. TX 76 1 02 (8)7) 390-3583 Price SI 49 Software Contains all software needed to run Com- piler BASIC on both the Model I and Model l/l TRS-80. Includes: line-oriented text editor; interactive BASIC development system with editor, compiler and run-time software; stand-alone run-time package with debugging capabilities Format Three 5 'A -inch floppy disks; Model I version requires TRSDOS 2.3B, which is provided with the package; Model III version requires TRSDOS 1 .3, which is also provided Computer TRS-80 Model I or III, 48K bytes of RAM. at least two disk drives Documentation Large manual with four main sections plus an appendix, 404 pages; complete descrip- tion of system use, language features, and technical information; the manual is not a tutorial, it assumes the reader is familiar with BASIC Audience Programmers in need of a BASIC compiler development system for the TRS-80 Model I or III 224 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc IMAGINE IT... Completely Redesigned. Now, the Grappler + . The original Grappler was the first graphics interface to give you hi-res screen dumps from your keyboard. The new Grappler + with Dual Hi-Res Graphics adds flexibility with a side-by-side printout of page 1 and page 2 graphics. Interfacing the Grappler + to a wide range of printers is easy as changing a dip switch. 4K of exclusive firmware makes the Grappler + the most intelligent, full-featured Apple® Printer Interface made. And, the Grappler + is Apple III compatible* The imitations are many, so insist on the #1 Apple Graphics Interface on the market. Insist on the Grappler + . Available now at most Apple dealers. 'Requires additional software driver. "Requires graphics upgrade. Orange Micro, Inc. 1982 ACTUAL APPLE II PRINTOUT USING GRAPPLER AND EPSON MX100 -WithThe Grappler + Printer Interface Circle 288 on inquiry card. The Grappler + Features: • Dual Hi-Res Graphics • Printer Selector Dip Switch • Apple III Compatible* • Graphics Screen Dump • Inverse Graphics • Emphasized Graphics • Double Size Picture • 90° Rotation • Center Graphics • Chart Recorder Mode • Block Graphics • Bell Control • Skip-over-perf • Left and Right Margins • Variable Line Length • Text Screen Dumps. The Grappler + works with Pascal and CPM. The Grappler + Interfaces with the following printers: • Anadex • Centronics • Datasouth • Epson* * • IDS • NEC • C-ltoh • Okidata* * 'jjOronge micro 3150 E. La Palma, Suite G Anaheim, California 92806 (714) 630-3620 CPM is a registered trademark of Digital Research, Inc. Apple is a registered trademark ol Apple Computer. Inc. Foreign Dealer Inquiries Welcome TX18351 1 CSM A Run-time disk, includes TRSDOS 2.3B: Pile. rile oize Description RUNBASIC/CMD 1 Stand-alone run-time executive RUNBASIC/OVL 16 Stand-alone run-time overlays SAMPLE/OBJ 1 Compiled sample program UPGRADE/CMD 1 Utility program, converts data disks from TRSDOS 2.3 format to 2.3B format Program disk, does not include TRSDOS: File Size Description BEDIT/CMD 4 Stand-alone BASIC editor LIST/BAS 1 BASIC program to print listing files pro- duced by RSBASIC SAMPLE/BAS 1 Sample program RSBASIC/CMD 3 Development system executive RSBASIC/OLF 38 Development system overlays RSBASIC/LIO 6 Development system overlays; apparently I/O routines RSBASIC/LIB 2 Development system overlays; apparently trig functions Table 1: Contents of Model I disks that come with RSBASIC. The Model III version includes the same software, but all on one disk with TRSDOS 1.3. The file size is measured in grans that are 1280 bytes. together separately compiled pro- grams and produce a single object file. After all this, you can finally run your BASIC program. If it has any bugs, you must start the entire pro- cess over again by running the editor to find and correct the bugs in your source file. This process is time- consuming; it can easily take 5 minutes or more to go through a single cycle. By contrast, RSBASIC operates more like the TRS-80 disk BASIC in- terpreter. Typing RSBASIC from the TRSDOS READY prompt puts you "in" RSBASIC; from there, you give commands to create, edit, and run BASIC programs, as in disk BASIC. If you run a program that has not been compiled, RSBASIC compiles it automatically before running it. In reality, RSBASIC, like most other compiler development systems, is composed of multiple programs. However, RSBASIC automatically brings its component programs into the computer from disk as needed, in- stead of requiring you to run them ex- plicitly from TRSDOS. The comparison between RSBASIC and the disk BASIC interpreter goes even further— RSBASIC does not produce Z80 machine code. It com- piles BASIC programs into an "inter- mediate code" that is then interpreted by a run-time package. If you want to sell programs compiled under RSBASIC, your customers must pur- chase a copy of this run-time package in order to use your programs. You are explicitly prohibited from giving the RUNBASIC program away with your own RSBASIC compiled soft- ware. The RSBASIC package is distribut- ed on three disks: two for the TRS-80 Model I, which I use, and one for the Model III. Both packages contain the same software, summarized in table I. The Model I system requires two disk drives, as the "development system" part of RSBASIC is too large to fit on a disk that also contains TRSDOS. The development system consists of the files listed under "Pro- gram Disk" in table 1. One of the more impressive things RSBASIC provides is program porta- bility between the TRS-80 Models I, II, and III. A program compiled on any machine can be run on any other by using the run-time system for the target machine. For example, you could write a BASIC program on your Model I, compile it, ship the compiled code to a Model II, and run it there using the Model II version of RUNBASIC/CMD. Using the RSBASIC System The easiest way to implement RSBASIC programs is to use the "full development system." This mode of RSBASIC is most like disk BASIC. The commands available are sum- marized in table 2; many should be familiar to disk BASIC users. The bad news is that this mode gives you the least amount of memory for your programs — 17,980 bytes under TRSDOS 2.3B on the Model I with 48K bytes of memory. To cramp things even further, both the source and object programs are kept in memory at the same time. To get the most memory for a pro- gram, you must use the "stand-alone run-time" system. Your program must be compiled first under the development system with the object file saved on disk. Under the stand- alone system, 26,800 bytes of free memory are available, almost 9000 more than under the development system. Furthermore, the source pro- gram is no longer taking up memory; only the object code, which is usually more compact, is in memory. Two ways are provided for enter- ing BASIC source programs. One is the editor contained within the development system; the other is a stand-alone editor called BEDIT. The development-system editor lets you add and delete lines of text, but it has no intraline editing mode similar to disk BASIC'S EDIT command. (Intra- line editing is the changing, deleting, and inserting of characters within an existing line of text.) A CHANGE command lets you substitute one string for another in a line or range of lines. BEDIT is very similar to the disk BASIC editor. It does have intraline editing. It also has a CHANGE com- mand for global text-string substitu- tion. I find it annoying that although both BEDIT and the development- system editor have global change commands, they use different syntax. Using BEDIT, you can create a 226 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 124 on inquiry card. Command APPEND AUTO BREAK CHANGE CLEAR COMPILE DELETE DISPLAY DUPLICATE GO KILL LIST LOAD MERGE NEW OLD RENUMBER RUN SAVE SIZE STEP SYSTEM TRACE Description Joins a BASIC source file from disk to the program in memory. The appended source code is renumbered starting at the current greatest line number plus 10. Automatically generates line numbers and lets you type in a BASIC program. Sets "breakpoints" in a BASIC program. Execution stops whenever a breakpoint is hit. Multiple breakpoints (limit not given) may be set. Substitutes one text string for another in a range of lines. Deletes all programs from memory. Compiles a source program on disk and produces an object program on disk. Optionally produces a listing file, memory map, and cross- reference. Deletes source code lines. Prints the current value of a variable on the screen — DISPLAY X prints the value of X. Copies a block of source program lines from one place to another in a program. Renumbers the moved lines and references to them in the program. Continues execution of a stopped program. Deletes disk files. Lists source program lines. A range of lines may be specified. A text string may be supplied and only those lines containing the string will be listed. Loads compiled programs or subprograms from disk. Loaded pro- grams are linked automatically to programs already in memory. Merges BASIC source programs from disk with the program in memory. Erases source programs from memory, but leaves object programs alone. Loads BASIC source programs into memory. Renumbers the entire program. No means is provided for renumber- ing only part of a program. Runs the program in memory and compiles it if necessary. Saves source programs on disk. Tells the number of bytes of free memory remaining. Also reports the size of the resident BASIC program. Executes a program one or more lines at a time. For example, after hitting a breakpoint, you could type STEP 5 to execute five more lines and then stop. Exits to TRSDOS. Displays the line number of the currently executing BASIC source code line. Table 2: RSBASIC commands. source program file and save it on disk. You can then enter RSBASIC and compile or run the source pro- gram from disk. Although BEDIT is more powerful than the development- system editor, I have found the latter to be sufficient and have not made much use of BEDIT. RSBASIC requires source pro- grams to be in RSBASIC string for- mat (see discussion under Data Types below) rather than as an ASCII file. This means that you cannot use an editor such as Scripsit to edit RSBASIC source files. This is unfor- tunate. It would be nice if a future version of RSBASIC allowed loading and saving source files in ASCII for- mat. One more gripe — you cannot exe- cute any TRSDOS commands while in RSBASIC. You cannot even look at a disk directory without exiting the system. Debugging Environment The ease of debugging programs developed under RSBASIC is some- where between the extremely flexible environment of disk BASIC and the more rigid approach of compilers such as Microsoft's. Similar debugging commands are offered under the full development system and the stand-alone run-time system. They differ mainly in the form of their arguments; where the development system uses line BUY DIRECT!! 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Keypad (23 Key) 1 1 5 Disk Emulator (294 K) 799 Sup R Mod 33 Sooper Spooler (16K) 299 Z-80 by Microsoft.... 248 Videoterm (80 col.) ... 258 Signalman Modem. . . 89 Synergy Card by Spies 1 69 RGB by Electrohome 159 ParallelCardlB'cable) 69 Z-Card by ALS 189 Versa Card 169 The Grappler Plus ... 1 19 Joystick by TG 46 In Fone CALL The Mill 319 Lower Case 29 Expan Chassis by Mtn 559 Winchester Hard Disk CALL Appll-Card 339 Strobe Plotter 659 Soft Term 109 System Saver 69 Amber Monitor by US1 1 79 Function Strip by Videx 59 Bubble Mem by MPCC ALL App-L-Cache 256K. . . 989 Vista Vision 80 269 ALF 9 Voice 149 Pkasso by IS CALL Premium Pak by M.S. 528 AD+DAbyMtn(nocable)269 Apple Cat II 339 WIzard-BPO 149 Wizard-SOB 219 Thunder Clock/Cal... 119 Smarterm 80 Col 288 16 Voice by Mtn Hard 297 8088 Card by ALF. . . . 295 SynerglzerPackbyALS579 212 Apple-Cat If The Clock by Mtn Hard 21 9 Voice Box(w/firmware) 1 49 The Dumpling-GX....129 SPECIALS Smart Modem* 1 200 by Hayes 549 Grappler+ 119 5V4" Super Drive by Fourth 299 Microprism (80 col) by IDS 629 16K Ram (2 yr. warranty) 63 Apple II software & hardware compatable > 64 K of RAM memory • Upper and lower case e Typewriter-style keyboard • Twelve key numeric pad e Alpha lock shift key • VisiCalc friendly • 50 watt power supply • Built-in fan ma0 m 1 \tf THE ALTERNATIVE 6502 and Z80 Microprocessors 64 K RAM, expandable to 128 K RGB and Composite Video Output Selectable 80 or 40 column text display High Resolution Graphics: 6 colors. 280 x 192 or 280 x 1 60 with four lines of text 8 bit Parallel I/O e RS-232c Serial I/O Detached Keyboard: All standard keyboard functions, Upper/Lower case characters, Numeric keypad, Cursor block, and 15 Programmable special function keys Built-in mounting for two 5V4 inch floppy disk drives Six Apple compatible slots for plug-in peripherals • Game paddle I/O" HE OKI DATA Microline 80 (Parallel) 359 Microline 82A (Bi-Directional) 439 Microline 83A 729 Microline 84 (Parallel) 1095 Microline 84 (Serial).. 1 195 NEC 7710 2395 7715 2399 7720 2799 7725 2895 3510 EX .CALL PC-8023A 489 ANADEX DP-9500A 1399 DP-9501 A 1399 )S Microprism (80 column) 629 Prism 1 32 (incl. sheet feed graphics, sprint, color) 1 649 EPSON MX-80 419 MX-80 F/T 538 MX-100 679 COMREX CR-1-S (2 K Serial) 869 CR-1-C (2 K Centronics) 839 TRANSTAR Tran 1 40 (40 ops. 1 32 col. Diablo code-compa!ibie)l 429 C. ITOH F-10 Printmaster (Parallel, 55 cps) F-10 Printmaster (Serial, 55 cps).. Prowriter 8510 AP (Parallel) Prowriter 8510 ACD (Serial) Prowriter II 1550 (15" Parallel) Prowriter II 1550 (15" Serial) . QUME 9600/45 Full Panel. . . . 1789 1789 439 599 719 769 .1995 SMITH-CORONA TP-1 (Parallel) 659 TP-1 (Serial) 659 TO ORDER: Phone orders invited using Visa, Mastercard, American Express or bank wire transfers. Visa, AE and MC service charge of 2%. Mail orders may send charge card number (include expiration date), cashiers check, money order, or personal check (allow 10 business days for personal or company checks to clear). Please add 3% ($5.00 minimum) for UPS shipping, handling, and in- surance. APO and FPO include 5% ($7.00 minimum) for postage. Calif, residents add 6% sales tax. Please include phone number on all orders. FOREIGN ORDERS include 12S1 BROADWAY EL CAJON^CA 1% handling — shipped air FREIGHT COLLECT only. Credit cards not accepted on foreign orders. All equipment is in factory cartons with manufacturer warranty. Opened products not returnable. Restocking fee for returned merchandise. Equipment subject to price change and availability. Retail prices differ from mail order prices. WE SHIPTHESAME DAY ON MOST ORDERS! Min. purchase $40. Deposit required on all COD's. •Excludes certain printers & monitors & foreign orders. Circle 95 on inquiry card. . 92021 (714) 579-0330 numbers and variable names, the run- time system uses hexadecimal ad- dresses. The principal debugging commands BREAK, DISPLAY, GO, STEP, and TRACE are described in table 2. As in disk BASIC, a STOP state- ment anywhere in your program passes control to you whenever it is executed. A more flexible option is available that does not require editing the program. This should be used since reediting causes recompilation. By typing BREAK m,n,o,..., where m, n, and o are line numbers, pro- gram execution stops whenever it reaches any of those lines. A command with no counterpart in disk BASIC is STEP n. It causes the next n lines of your program to be ex- ecuted. You can use this to execute one or more lines after control is passed to you from a BREAK. One thing that is sorely lacking is the ability to change the value of a variable from the command line. Variables can only be displayed, not altered. Also missing is the ability to execute an arbitrary BASIC state- ment from the command line, the so- called immediate execution mode. While in RSBASIC, you can use the LIST command at any time to view the program you are debugging. This feature contributes greatly to the ease of debugging under RSBASIC. Under the stand-alone system, all debugging commands must be en- tered with two characters, e.g., BR for BREAK, DI for DISPLAY, etc. (The two-character abbreviations can also be used under RSBASIC.) The only debugging command not avail- able under the stand-alone system is STEP. Another limitation to debugging under RSBASIC stand-alone systems is the fact that source code is no longer available. You cannot LIST or edit the program, and it is difficult to do much without a hard-copy listing of the source program as produced by the compiler. References to program lines and variables are via addresses printed on the compiler listing. Error messages are rather brief, mostly one or two words. I found it necessary to consult the manual in most cases. TRSDOS errors are reported by number rather than as an English message. It's difficult to believe they did this, considering that TRSDOS has a documented entry point that prints the text correspond- ing to an error number on the screen. Language Features The RSBASIC language has many features that are not in disk BASIC. Here are some of the more note- worthy: Long variable names: Six characters of every variable name are signifi- cant, e.g., RSBASIC treats NAME10 and NAME11 as two different vari- ables. Disk BASIC requires variable names to differ in the first two characters. Named subprograms with pa- rameters and local variables: This ca- pability provides "external sub- programs" similar to FORTRAN sub- routines. Listing 1 is an RSBASIC 230 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Don't go on a tear over paper correspondence. Join the computer age. Correspond in minutes, not days, with SSM's low-cost full-featured Transend 3 Electronic Mail software for the Apple II™. Transend's state-of-the-art, menu-driven design features password security, unattended operation, versatile text editing, and more. Supports most interfaces including 80-col. video cards and 110/300/1200 baud modems. Call SSM or your dealer for details. Also ask about Transend 1 and 2. Apple II is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. The Transformation People. SSM Microcomputer Products, Inc. 2190 Paragon Drive, San Jose, CA 95131 (408) 946-7400, Telex: 171171 Circle 366 on inquiry card. CASH FLOW PROBLEMS? A 1 1 I m *1 IT'S NICE TO KNOW SOMEONE WHO HAS THE SOLUTION. MicroAge is your Solution Store . . . that means at P MicroAge Computer Stores we have a wide selection of time-saving computer- ized business systems designed specifically to solve the daily cash flow problems every business- • man faces. ^^^^^^^ MicroAge has computer- -4^^^ ized business systems that quickly and affordably allow you to regain con- trol of your critical accounts receivable ... at last making it possible for you to carry out effective collection procedures on a consistent basis. MicroAge has accounts receivable program packages to automatically display and update account information; prepare trial balance including a balance-due and delinquency aging report, and take care of dozens of other tasks that eat into your time and profit! Computerized business systems from the Micro- Age Computer Store are available in the $5,000 to $15,000 range, to suit the individual budget of your small business or professional practice. MicroAge backs up every system with personal- ized service, warranty service and repair, instal- lation, systems consulting, even customer train- ing. Visit the MicroAge Computer Store in your area soon with your business problems, and let us help you with the solution. /MicroAge caupuTer srore The Solution Store" SM Circle 239 on inquiry card. VISIT THE STORE IN YOUR AREA: Anchorage Alaska (907)2/9-6688 Pnoenix Arizona (602)265-0065 Pleasant Hill California (415)680-1489 Santa Ana California (714) 558 7789 Norwalk, Connecticut (203)846-0851 Danbury. Connecticut (203) 797-1623 Greenwich. Connecticut (203)629-8171 W Palm Beacn. Florida (305)683-5779 Orland Park. Illinois (312)349-8080 Indianapolis. Indiana (317) 849-5161 Salrna, Kansas (913)823 759o Lexington. Kentucky (606)278-0304 Minneapolis Minnesota (612) 338 1777 St Louis. Missouri (314)567 7644 Omaha. Nebraska (402 ) 339 7441 Albuquerque New Mexico (505)883-0955 Rochester New v'ork (716)244-9000 Columbus Ohio (614)868-1550 Columbus, Ohio (614)451-8080 Oklahoma City Oklahoma k 405) 728 1837 lulsa. Oklahoma Houston Texas (918)250-9502 ( 713)270-904/ Allentown Pennsylvania Hurst, Texas (215)434-4301 (817)284-3413 Nashville. Tennessee Milwaukee, Wisconsin (615)327-9669 (414)257-1100 El Paso Texas Toronto, Canada (915)591-3349 (416)487-5551 I iouston. Texas ( 713) 440-7547 Coming Soon: Houston. Texas Montreal, Canada Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Jacksonville, Florida Cherry Hill New Jersey FOR FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY INFORMATION CALL (602) 968-3168 Hewlett-Packard on the professional use of personal There's a considerable differ computer and one that really fits. There are a lot of places where the basic one-size-fits-all type of per- sonal computer fits in really well. But if you're like most of the tech- nical professionals we know, you'd rather use a tool that was clearly designed for the job you're doing. That's why we've developed these five very different personal computers just for people like you. And configured each one specif- just like a real craftsman's tool fits your hand. Now we'd like to show you, in some detail, just what we mean. The HP-41. You might remember the series 9100 engineering computer we in- troduced in 1968 for $5000. Now, able computing system. Add a printer for hard-copy output. Or our 128k byte cassette for mass storage. Or add both; they'll only take up as much space in your briefcase as three paperbacks. You can even use your HP-41 as a remote data collector, then link it up with any HP Series 80 per- sonal compu- ter via HP-IL. ically to operate in technical environ- ments. To interface with instru- ments and other computers. To give you all the computing power and all the high-level graphics capability you need. We also offer you a full range of printers, graphic plotters, addi- tional memory systems, input de- vices, and communications links. Plus over 5000 software programs at last count. As a result, you can practically design your own system. And have a personal computer that fits your professional environment for a base price of $250, you can hold all the power of that system in the palm of your hand. All by itself, this hand-held computer can help a petroleum engineer evaluate gas or oil reser- voirs. Or help civil engineers do critical computations in the field. Add the new Hewlett-Packard Interface Loop (HP-IL), and you can turn your HP-41 into a powerful, port- The HP-85. Complete with an integrated tape drive, printer and CRT, this typewriter-size system fits easily in a crowded work area. Where you can use its impressive number- crunching power any number of ways. For waveform analysis. Re- gression analysis. Linear programming. Add the HP-IB interface, and you can control up to 14 instruments simul- taneously. Add our Data Communications Pac and you can tie into another All the power of our 9100 Series Desk-top Engineering Computer. Now you can hold it in the palm of your hand. computers ence between the one-size-fits-all Our 7470 Plotter. One of many peripherals that help make our personal computers really personal. on-site computer, a major data net- work, or a national timesharing service. You can even use this portable machine to do all these same jobs out in the field. And more. The HP- 87. The HP-87 sets a new level of per- formance for personal computers in its price range. You get built- in screen graphics, up to 544k bytes of RAM, and an 80-column integrated CRT. Plus the same flexible I/O structure for control applications as the HP-85. Be- cause of its extended memory, you can take advantage of a VisiCalc® PLUS worksheet with up to 16,000 cells. And since the HP-87 has a built-in HP-IB, it's easy to add in- struments, disc drives, printers, plotters, and even a graphics tab- let. To give you even more to work with, there's an optional CP/M® module. And all applications devel- oped for the HP-85 in BASIC are upward-compatible to the HP-87. The HP 9826. Designed to handle high-speed data acquisition and tests, the 9826 has a pow- erful MC 68000 CPU, a built-in flexible disc, up to 2 megabytes of read/write memory, and power-fail pro- tection. Plus a built-in HP-Bin- VisiCalc* is a registered trademark of VisiCorp CP/M* is a registered trademark of Digital Research, Inc. RS232 terface and a var- iety of other inter- face cards, so you're free to con- centrate on test- ing. Instead of sys- tem configuration. To give you even more flexibil- ity, you can run applications in HP-enhanced BASIC, HPL, or Pascal. We've also built a CRT display with advanced graphics into the system, so you can see and interpret your data the in- stant you get it. And since every- thing about this system is built for speed, we've developed a spe- cial rotary control knob that lets you edit programs, calibrate instru- ments, and control motor speed, all with fast analog inputs. The HP 9836. This full-function workstation does it all: design, computation, and high-speed testing. Because it gives you all the high-performance features of the 9826. And then some. With the 9836, you get a big, easy-to-read CRT. So- phisticated graphics capa- bility. Two flex- ible disc drives. Room for up to two megabytes of memory. And an even longer list of engineering software and peripherals to choose from. And those HP-IB HP-IL are just the five personal compu- ters we've devel- oped for technical professionals; we also make a full range of person- al computers for business professionals. So. Before you decide to adapt your routines to fit the needs or a one-size-fits-all computer, we think you should get in touch with us first. And see what it's like to have a personal computer that really is personal. Just return this coupon, and we'll send you full information on any or all the personal computers we make. Hewlett-Packard 1820 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303 I]d like to see which of your personal computers fits the way I work best. Please send more information on these models: □ HP-41 □ HP-85 □ HP-87 □ HP 9826 □ HP 9836 Name Title. Company. Address City/State/Zip. | 77136 HEWLETT PACKARD A wide variety of interfaces for technical environments, including HP-IB, HP-IL, RS 232, GPIO, and BCD. TCG-203 Please Circle The Product /Products for Which You Would be Interested in Receiving Information: HP-41— CIRCLE 182 HP-85— CIRCLE 183 HP-87— CIRCLE 184 HP-9826— CIRCLE 185 HP-9836— CIRCLE 186 FOR TRS-80 MODEL I OR III ^ IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER MORE SPEED 10-20 times faster then Interpreted BASIC. MORE ROOM Very compact complied code plus VIRTUAL MEMORY makes your RAM act larger. Variable number of block buffers. 31-char. -unique wordnames use only 4 bytes In header! MORE INSTRUCTIONS Add YOUR commands to Its 79-STANDARD-plus Instruction set! Far more complete than most Forths: single & double precision, arrays, string-handling, clock, graphics (IBM low-res. gives B/W and 16 color or 200 tint color display). MORE EASE Excellent full screen Editor, structured & modular programming Word search utility THE NOTEPAD letter writer Optimized for your TRS-80 or IBM with keyboard repeats, upper/lower case display driver, full ASCII. MORE POWER Forth operating system Concurrent Interpreter AND Compiler VIRTUAL I/O for video and printer, disk and tape no-Megabyte hard disk available) Full B080 or 8086 Assembler aboard (Z80 Assembler also available for TRS-80) Intermix 35- to 80-frack disk drives IBM can read, write and run M.3 disks M.3 can read, write and run M.I disks FORTH THE PROFESSIONAL FORTH SYSTEM FOR TRS-80 & IBM PC (Thousands of systems in use) MMSFORTH Disk Syslem (requires 1 disk drive, 32K RAM) V2.0 for Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I or III $129.95* V2.1 for IBM Personal Computer (80-col. screen) .... $248.95* AND MMS GIVES IT PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT Source code provided MMSFORTH Newslelter Many demo programs aboard MMSFORTH User Groups Inexpensive upgrades to latest version Programming staff can provide advice, modificalions and custom programs, lo fit YOUR needs. MMSFORTH UTILITIES DISKETTE: includes FLOATING POINT MATH (BASIC ROM routines plus Complex numbers, Reclan- gular-Polar coordinate conversions. Degrees mode, more); a powerful CROSS^REFERENCER lo list Forth words by block and line; plus (TRS-80) a full Forth-slyle Z80 assembler (requires MMSFORTH V2.0. 1 drive & 32K RAM) $39.95* FORTHCOM: communications package provides RS-232 driver, dumb terminal mode, iransfer ol FORTH blocks, and host mode to operale a remote FORTHCOM system (requires MMSFORTH V2 0. t drive & 32K RAM) $39.95* THE DATAHANDLER: a very last database management syslem operable by non-programmers (requires MMSFORTH V2.0. 1 drive & 32K RAM) $59.95* FORTHWRITE: last, powerful word processor w/easy key- strokes, Help screens, manual & demo files. Full proportional w/tabs. outdenting. Include other blocks, documents, key- board inputs. & DATAHANDLER Melds— ideal for form letters (requires MMSFORTH V2.0. 2 drives & 48K RAM) .... $175.00' MMSFORTH GAMES DISKETTE: real-time graphics & board games w/source code. Includes BREAKFORTH. CRASH- FORTH. CRYPTOOUOTE. FREEWAY (TRS-80). OTHELLO & TICTACFORTH (requires MMSFORTH V2.0. 1 drive & 32K RAM) $39.95* Other MMSFORTH products under development FORTH BOOKS AVAILABLE MMSFORTH USERS MANUAL - w/o Appendices $17.50* STARTING FORTH - best! $15.95* THREADED INTERPRETIVE LANGUAGES - advanced, analysis of FORTH internals $18.95* PROGRAM DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION - programming, good for Forth FORTH-79 STANDARD MANUAL - ol 79-STANDARD word set, etc ficial reference to $13.95* FORTH SPECIAL ISSUE. BYTE Magazine (Aug 1980) - A col- lector's item for Forth users and beginners $4.00' * - ORDERING INFORMATION: Software prices include manuals and require signing of a single computer license for one-person support. Describe your hardware. Add $2.00 S/H plus $3.00 per MMSFORTH and $1.00 per additional book; Mass orders add 5% lax. Foreign orders add 20%. UPS COD. VISA and M/C accepted; no unpaid purchase orders or refunds. Send SASE loi free MMSFORTH information Good dealers sought Get MMSFORTH producls from your computer dealer or MILLER MICROCOMPUTER SERVICES 61 Lake Shore Road, Natick, MA 01760 (617)653-6136 234 October 1982 © BYTE Publications lnc Listing 1: RSBASIC program illustrating the use of subprograms. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 000 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0000 0 0 1 0 0 025 0 03A 0 041 0041 0(H:l. 0041 0041 0041 004E 0 0 5 A 0 067 0 073 1 0 20 30 70 £10 90 110 120 130 140 150 160 165 170 180 190 200 210 220 230 235 240 250 260 270 280 290 300 Example showing use pf SUBPROGRAMS in RSBASIC. The first section of code is called the "main program" . It starts with the first line and ends with the END statement on line 30 0. REM rem REM rem REM REM REM REM INTI DIM REM REM REM REM FOR' :ger a--z ACL00) fB<100) Fill the numbers arrays A & E. : : with random 1=1 TO 100 a-int=a:NT SUMOFA "5 SUMOFB SYMBOLIC MEMORY MAP SCALARS 0 0FF 01013 ARRAYS 0 0E)5 0 0E)D I SUMOFB A(100) 13(100) INTEGER INTEGER 0109 SUMOFA INTEGER INTEGER INTEGER CROSS REFERENCE LISTING SCALARS I SUMOFA SUMOFB ARRAYS A B FINAL 255 •'TIS 28 28 180 260 280 140 140 190 270 290 190 20 0 20 0 260 280 210 SUMMARY (0 0FF) BYTES OF <01A2) BYTES OF SOURCE LINES SOURCE STATEMENTS PROGRAM LOCAL DATA *** COMPILATION COMPLETE *** 0000 310 SUB " SUMAFiRAY " 5 NUMZ» ARRAY'/. ( > , SUM5S 0000 320 REM 0000 325 REM ** Example of a SUBPROGRAM ** 0000 328 REM 0000 330 REM Purpose: Sum up the elements of 000 0 340 REM an INTEGER array. 0000 350 REM 0 0 0 0 360 REM Inputs : NUM/£ Number of elements in 0000 365 REM the array 0 000 370 REM AF^AY/i ( ) The array whose 0 0 0 0 380 REM elements are to be summed 0000 390 REM 0 0 0 0 400 REM Output ; SUMZ The sum of the elements 0 0 0 0 410 REM in ARRAYS < ) Listing 1 continued on page 236 WESTICO-The Software Express Service that really delivers: IISOFTWARE IIIFOR //PROFESSIONALS The day is fast approaching when computers will be as commonplace as the office water cooler. The Westico software specialists offer a variety of programs to meet the needs of the professional looking for efficient solutions to a variety of tasks. In addition to quality soft- ware, you can count on the Westico experts for help and advice. Here's just a sample of the more than 150 quality programs currently in stock: MicroGANTT — Sophisticated project planning system which uses Critical Path Method analysis. Interactively defines tasks which comprise a project and displays a Gantt chart of the resulting plan. Budget costs and work hours are also calculated and displayed automatically. An entire project can be included in a more global project as a single task. All data is easy to modify and can be dis- played or printed, Available for IBM Personal Computer and CP/M compatible computers. $395/$25. PTA — Professional time accounting for billing based on time. Maintains client master files, work in progress files, employee history files and detailed job files. Produces detailed accounting reports for manage- ment. $595/$40. MILESTONE'" — Critical Path Method project management. Displays and prints project plan in a summary cost/time table, by task or as Gantt charts. Project assumptions are easily revised to make "What if?" analyses. $295/$30. STATPAK — Statistics software library in Microsoft BASIC. Performs probability calculations, one independent variable statistics, discrete distribution functions, continuous distribution functions, regression analysis, means testing, survey data/contingency tables, non-parametric statistics and analysis of variance. Includes plotting and file management modules. $500/$40. LEGAL BILLING AND TIMEKEEPING — For law offices with up to 25 attorneys and a total of 35 time- keepers (including paralegals, secretaries, etc). All time and expenses are distributed to client accounts or other designated over- head accounts, Produces monthly client review sheets and ready-to- mail itemized bills. $895/$40. 2ALC — Makes it possible to manipulate numeric data auickly and easily. Spreadsheet simulator lets you examine and alter numbers and text within a grid that can cover up to 63 columns and 254 rows of data. Produces hardcopy reports. $295/-. — Financial planning tool. Does big financial planning jobs at micro prices for cash flow projections, financial forecasting, venture analysis, project planning and risk analysis. Models limited only by disk space. Report content and format totally under user control. $495/850. -For professional offices — architects, accountants, engi- neers, consultants, ad agencies. All the features of Legal Billing and Timekeeping including analysis of each professional's billings, aging of receivables, analysis of the work effort of each timekeeper. $895/$40. TARGET*" Planner — Interactive modeling and planning program. Features include matrices up to 1000 elements and IF. THEN, ELSE, GREATER and LESSER conditionals. Commands for MINIMUM. MAXIMUM, AVERAGE and SUM. $195/$25 TARGET Interchange — Enables TARGET Planner to read and write from and to other data bases. $139/$15. TARGET Task — Integrates the procedures of Performance Evalua- tion and Review Technique (PERT) and Critical Path Method (CPM). Manipulates a project schedule to reach a desired completion date, or predetermined expense budget. $329/$25. The Westico 24-Hour Computer Hotline (203) 853-0816 (300 baud) for detailed information and quick access ordering./ • Westico has more than 150 programs for professionals and businesses that use a wide variety of microcomputers includ- ing: TRS-80 Model II, Apple, Vector Graphic, Cromemco, North Star, Micro- polis, Ohio Scientific, Altos, Dynabyte, IBM, Intertec, Xerox, Zenith, Northern Telecom, AVL Eagle and more. We're work- ing hard to be your software company. COD, MasterCard and VISA accepted. Prices do not include shipping and are subject to change. In CT add V/fk sales tax. All sales final. Manual price may be credited toward purchase of software. Dealer inquiries invited. WES- 49 Copyright © 1982 Westico, Inc. 4 WAYS TO ORDER • Write Westico. Inc.. 25 Van Zant Street. Norwalk. CT 06855. • Can (203) 853-6880. • Telex 643-788. • Dial-up our 24-hour computer (300 baud) (203) 853-0816. mem Circle 411 on inquiry card. WESTICO The Software Express Service 25 Van Zant Street • Norwalk, Connecticut 06855 (203) 853-6880 • Telex 643-788 Circle 99 on inquiry card. ® *CP/M is a trademark of Digiidi Rese.nch CPIM FRUSTRATION You need POWER . . . The first super program thai puts YOU in control ol CP/M- POWER automatically numbers disk files. Just pick tile number to Copy, Erase, Reclaim, Rename, Type, etc. ...Your computer leeds the file names automati- cally. You do No typingl No typing errors... everl YOU DON'T NEED 8Y8TEM DISK IN ANY DRIVEI No mora BD08 ERRORS! YOU Test and Fix bad disksl Reclaim accidentally erased files or programsl Single step thru memory up or down! Search, View, Change memory or disk in a snapl See Status and File Size instantlyl Verify Checksums for programsl Load or Save programs at any address. YOUR MAJOR POWER COMMANDS: DIR COPY REN ERA TYPE TYPEH TYPEA TYPEX RUN EXIT SIZE CHECK STAT USER XUSER TEST SETDIR SETSYS SETRO SETWR RECLAIM DISK GROUP LOG DS SPEED SAVE LOAD READ WRITE READGR WRITEGR DUMP DUMPX DUMPH DUMPA MOVE FILL CM SEARCH JP EX GO USR1 USR2 U8R3 USR4 ? 50 prompted user-friendly functions lor housekeep- ing and a 60 page easy-read users' guide make POWER your mosl often used soflware. You'll use if everydayl POWER will be the last utility you'll ever need or your money back. POWER works with CP/M & MPM systems (any disk formal). *V,'- * * * RECOMMENDED PROFESSIONAL SOFTWARE ) PROGRAMMERS ASSOC. INC. ONLY $149 COD, FULLY GUARANTEED If you order POWER nowl Year Subscription to POWER HOT-LETTER ORDER NOW! TOLLFREE (800) 227-3800 Ext 28. IN CA: (800) 792-0900 Ext 28. COMPUTING! 2519 8 Greenwich, San Francisco, CA 94123. Listing 1 continued: 0 0 0 0 0 0 1) 0 0 0 I) 0 0 DOE 00 IF 002E 0 035 420 REM '♦30 REM 440 SUM'/, » 450 FOR :i>:l 460 SUM52 170 NEXT I 480 SUBEND TO NUMZ ■ B\mX * ARRAY"/ (I) SYMBOLIC MEMORY MAP SCALARS 0 062 t REAL *0060 SUM INTEGER ARRAYS X005E ARRAY () X005C NUM INTEGER INTEGER CROSS REFERENCE SCALARS LISTING I 450 460 470 NUM 3:1.0 450 SUM 31 n 440 460 460 ARRAYS ARRAY 31.0 460 FINAL. 92 24 21. 21 SUMMARY C005C5 BYTES OF (0 01.8) BYTES OF SOURCE LINES SOURCE STATEMENTS PROGRAM LOCAL DATA *** COMPILATION COMPLETE program illustrating the use of sub- programs. It contains a subprogram called SUMARRAY, which adds up all the elements in an integer array and returns the sum. Subprograms must physically follow the main program, as in this example. The compiler generates a separate memory map and cross- reference listing for each subprogram. The SUBEND statement (line 480 in listing 1) marks the end of a sub- program. Subprograms are executed by the CALL statement. The program in listing 1 contains two calls to SUMARRAY, one in line 260 and one in 280. The first call looks like this: 260 CALL "SUMARRAY"; 100, A( ), SUMOFA This calls SUMARRAY to add up the 100 elements of array A and put the result in SUMOFA. Line 280 calls SUMARRAY to add up the 100 ele- ments of array B and put the result in SUMOFB. The first line of the subprogram (line 310) contains the keyword SUB, the name of the subprogram "SUM- ARRAY," and the parameters to SUMARRAY. Parameters are place- holders for variables that will be used when the subprogram is run. The type (REAL, INTEGER, or STRING; more on these later) of each placeholder variable must match the type of the corresponding variable in the CALL statement. The percent signs ( % ) in line 310 are necessary in this case to inform the compiler that the parameters are integers. Even though the main program contains an INTEGER A-Z statement (same meaning as DEFINT A-Z in disk BASIC), you will get an error if you leave off the percent signs. Note that subprograms are called by name, not by line number as in a GOSUB statement. This is a nice feature since it is much easier to remember the name of a routine than the line number it starts on, especially when line numbers are changing due to program renumbering. You can call one subprogram from another subprogram, as well as from the main program. You cannot recursively call a subprogram from itself, however. Any variables used in a sub- program that are not listed in the header statement (the one starting with the keyword SUB) are "local" to that subprogram. Therefore, within a 236 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc subprogram, you cannot accidentally change the value of a variable in the main program. On the other hand, you cannot access variables in the main program unless they are ex- plicitly listed as parameters in the SUB statement. From limited testing, it appears that you can access files that have been opened in the main program while in a subprogram. This point does not appear to be mentioned in the manual. Subprograms make BASIC pro- gramming easier and less error-prone. They provide a way to break a pro- gram into manageable pieces that can be coded individually. You can build a library of subprograms on disk and append them to a program in mem- ory as needed. Since the APPEND command automatically renumbers as it appends, you don't have to worry about line number conflicts. Program chaining: Under RSBASIC, using the CHAIN command, one pro- gram can load another from disk and run it. What makes this different from disk BASIC'S RUN command is the fact that you can share variables between the two programs. The COM (common) statement lists those variables you want to share. For ex- ample: COM X, Y, Z(5,5) sets aside space for X, Y, and the 5 by 5 array Z. If you chain to a pro- gram that includes an identical COM statement, the variables X, Y, and all the elements of Z will retain their values when the second program starts running. This implementation of chaining uses position rather than name to connect variables from one program to the next. For example, if a program containing the COM statement above chained to another program with the COM statement: COM Y, X, Z(5,5) the values of X and Y would be swapped in the new program because their relative positions in the COM statements of the two programs are reversed. The most important use of chaining is to break a very large program into individual pieces when the whole pro- gram won't fit into memory at once. Data Types The only data type in RSBASIC that is identical to its disk BASIC counterpart is the 16-bit integer. To represent floating-point numbers, RSBASIC uses the type called REAL, which stores 14 digits of precision. This takes the place of single- and double-precision numbers in disk BASIC. REAL numbers are stored with BCD encoding (binary-coded decimal, two decimal digits per byte) By restricting your programming somewhat, RSBASIC disk files can be written to be compatible with Radio Shack's version of the COBOL language. and all arithmetic performed on them is decimal. Explaining this in detail is beyond the scope of this review, but in prac- tice it means that you cannot get numeric errors due to conversion back and forth between decimal and binary internal representations. Most professional accounting software uses decimal arithmetic. Manipulating 14-digit decimal numbers is time-consuming, however. An RSBASIC program using REAL numbers may run slower than a comparable disk BASIC pro- gram using single-precision numbers. REAL is most like disk BASIC'S dou- ble precision. RSBASIC does not have a single-precision data type. Strings are also implemented dif- ferently in RSBASIC. Disk BASIC allocates a varying amount of memory for strings, using only what is needed to store the current length of the string. RSBASIC allocates a fixed amount of memory, based on the length declared in a DIM state- ment. For example, the statement DIM NAME$20 dimensions the string variable NAME to be 20 characters long. Assignment of a string longer than 20 characters to NAME results in truncation. You can dimension a lot of variables at once with a statement like STRING *10 A-L This causes all string variables begin- ning with the letters A-L to be allocated 10 bytes of memory. If you do not use a DIM or STRING state- ment, the system will automatically allocate 255 bytes per string. You will quickly run out of memory if your program has many strings. This method of handling strings trades flexibility for speed; disk BASIC's "garbage collection" is not needed. Garbage collection is what disk BASIC is doing when a program that performs a lot of string opera- tions suddenly seems to stop; the system is moving strings around to reclaim space taken up by strings that are no longer in use. RSBASIC's method allocates a fixed area in memory for each string. This may take more memory than disk BASIC'S method since you must set aside the maximum size you will ever need for each string. You can use arrays of all three data types, INTEGER, REAL, and STRING, in RSBASIC programs. Unlike disk BASIC, which allows an unlimited (except by memory) number of array dimensions, RSBASIC limits you to two. This may be a problem for some applica- tions, but I have seen very few for which it would be. RSBASIC Disk Data Files RSBASIC's disk data-file structures are completely different from disk BASIC'S. In general, they are more powerful and, surprisingly, easier to use. The three types of file structures are sequential files, direct-access files, and indexed files (also called ISAM, for indexed sequential-access method). The three different file I/O (input/output) methods are stream I/O, formatted I/O, and binary I/O. October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc 237 The two types of records are fixed- length records and variable-length records. Records can be from 1 to 256 bytes long. You can use any I/O method with any file type. Direct-access and indexed files require fixed-length records, but sequential files can use both fixed-length and variable-length records. Formatted I/O is intrinsical- ly fixed length, so you can't use variable-length records with it. In all, this gives you an overwhelming 11 different ways to set up data files. RSBASIC's sequential files are con- ceptually similar to disk BASIC'S; a file is written record by record and read the same way. You cannot read a record in the middle of a sequential file without first reading all the preceding records. One important difference from disk BASIC'S sequential files is that there is no straightforward way to create or process a normal ASCII text file, e.g., one produced by an editor such as Scripsit. This is bothersome because Scripsit provides a very handy way to generate data files for disk BASIC programs. Text-processing applica- tions are also encumbered by this limitation. Direct access is similar to disk BASIC'S random-access file mode but much easier to use. You do not have to calculate "physical record numbers" and "subrecord numbers." Record blocking is handled automati- cally. Regardless of record length, you can retrieve the Nth record by specifying its record number; the system decides which sector(s) of the file contain the record. Indexed files, RSBASIC's most powerful type, have no counterpart in disk BASIC. A "key" must be specified when storing a record in an indexed file. The key may or may not be equal to some component ("field") of the record itself. The power of keys becomes evident when you have to retrieve a record; all you specify to the system is the key value associated with that record. Note that this is a single-key indexed-file method; you can asso- APPLE* APPLE II PLUS '999 Dist. by Bell & Howell MICROSOFT PREMIUM SYSTEM 61 8 Z80 SOFTCARD, 1BKRAM, VIDEOTERM, CPM USERS GUIDE VISICORP VISICALC '189 VISIDEX *189 VISIFILE '189 MICROPRO WORDSTAR '233 - CALCSTAR '148 SYSTEMS THE COMPUTER LEARNING TREE has it. Xedex Baby Blue for IBM: $ 579 A ATARI , 400 (16K) '298 850 Inter '179 NORTHSTAR . . 'LOW 800 (16K) '698 PacMan '34.95 i tp i pwinm UniU 410 Recorder ... '88 822 Printer '358 L " / TE LEV I DEO t L 1 w 810 Disk '448 830 Modem .... '158 _ MICRODECISION .. '1195 CX40 Paddles ..'17.98 CX853 RAM... '88 Includes: WordStar, CalcStar- — — — I SpellStar, MBasic-80, Bazic ■"ZZr/ KAYCOMP II '1795 ■ ,: 1500 PROGRAMS STOCK PRINTERS NEC 7700s 'LOW EPSON MX-80 '478 WITH GRAFTRAX STORE HOURS: MON. - THURS. 9:30 A.M. -9 P.M. FRI.&SAT. 10:00 A.M. -5 P.M. ' PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE TO ORDER CALL: 1-703-750-2631 7023 LITTLE RIVER TURNPIKE; ANNANDALE, VA 22003 ciate only one key value with each record. Key values can't have dupli- cates. It is the programmer's responsi- bility to decide how a unique key should be generated for each record. RSBASIC supports a DELETE statement for both direct-access and indexed files. You can delete a record by specifying its key (indexed) or record number (direct-access). Once a record has been deleted, it cannot be read again. Deleted records continue to take up space in a file. If the file gets too large, you must write your own program to read it and build a new file without the deleted records. Here is a rundown on the I/O techniques: • Stream I/O stores values in ASCII format. Commas are automatically generated to separate data items from each other in the file. PRINT § is used to write data; INPUT § to read data. Stream I/O is the easiest method to use. • Similar to PRINT USING in disk BASIC, formatted I/O uses a format statement that describes the layout of a fixed-length record. Used with a direct-access file, this accomplishes the same goal as disk BASIC'S FIELD statement, but with much less work. • Binary I/O is usually the most space-saving storage method. Data is saved very similarly to the way it is stored in memory. I like the fact that the awkward conversion functions (CVI, MKI$, etc.) of disk BASIC are not used by RSBASIC. Instead, you simply WRITE and READ the data and RSBASIC makes the conversions automatically. Having so many data-file storage methods to choose from is a little bewildering at first. Fortunately, for most applications, you can stick to a small subset of the methods: sequen- tial files using stream I/O, direct- access and indexed files using format- ted or binary I/O. By restricting your programming somewhat, RSBASIC disk files can be written to be compatible with Radio Shack's version of the COBOL lan- guage. This means that a BASIC pro- gram can read data files written by a COBOL program and vice versa. 238 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 90 on Inquiry card. Sony mixes business with pleasure. Sony announces a suc- cessful merger: the TCS-310. It'll take your dictation just as well as it plays your favorite music. This Sony comes with two built-in stereo microphones and has metal tape playback capability So both symphonies and statis- tics will sound great through its feather- weight stereo headphones. If you want to pack an even smaller Sony there's the M-1000. It fits in your shirt pock- et. Yet it records and plays back in stereo on a micro- cassette. It also features the adjustable MS stereo microphone. Set it one way for a conversation and another way for a convention. Either way you'll get a clean and precise record- ing with good stereo separa- tion. The Sony TCS-310 and M-1000. They make mixing business with pleasure a pleasure. THE ONE AND ONLY O 1982 Sony Corporation of America Sony is a trademark of Sony Corporaiion Models shown: TCS-310 and M-1000. with MDR-1L1 headphones MDR-1L1 headphones supplied with TCS-310 and M-1000. Circle 360 on inquiry card. Disk BASIC Statement or Function Up-arrow for exponentiation + for string concatenation &H hex number converts string of hexadecimal digits to an integer CDBL(exp) converts expression to double precision CINT(exp) converts expression to integer CONT restarts program after STOP or BREAK DEFDBL defines variables as double precision DEFINT defines variables as integers DEFSTR defines variables as strings DEFUSRn = address defines USRn (n ranges from 0 to 9) as a "user" machine-language routine callable with USRn statement ERROR(code) simulates error occurrence INPUT "prompt string"; variable list prints "prompt string' on screen and reads values into variable list INSTR (start.strl ,str2) searches one string for another, optionally starting at position "start" MID$(string,x,y) gets a substring of string starting at position x and with length y NEXT varl, var2, . . . Closes multiple FOR loops ON ERROR GOTO 0 Disables ON ERROR GOTO block PRINT@n for cursor positioning where n is a screen position; upper left corner is 0, lower right corner is 1023 RANDOM reseeds random-number generator RND(number) returns a random number from 1 to number unless number = 0; then returns a random number from 0 to 1 RUN "program" loads BASIC program and runs it SYSTEM loads a machine-language tape USRn(arg) calls a machine-language program and argument RSBASIC Statement or Function & HVL (hex number) CVD(exp) CVI(exp) GO REAL INTEGER STRING EXT "PROG" = address establishes "PROG" as a user machine-language routine callable with CALL statement ERROR code INPUT PROMPT = "prompt string"; variable list. Requires keyword PROMPT. POS(str1,str2) can't specify start posi- tion SEG$(string,x,y) NEXT with only one variable— use multiple NEXTs for multiple loops RESET ERROR PRINT CRT(x,y) x - row, y = column Seems easier to use than PRINT® RANDOMIZE RND(number) returns same number every time unless number is 0, which behaves like RND(O) in disk BASIC CHAIN program can save variables with COM state- ment SYSTEM returns you to TRSDOS CALL "PROG"; varl, var2, . . . calls machine- language program, passes multiple arguments Table 3: RSBASIC statements and functions different from those in disk BASIC that perform similar tasks. Complete instructions are given as to which features should be avoided in each language in order to maintain compatibility. RSBASIC Statements I have discussed RSBASIC with other owners and found that several are not using it because of the many differences from disk BASIC and their reluctance to learn a new BASIC dialect. If you are not willing to take on this chore, you will not get much out of this package. Radio Shack is open about this and does not recom- mend converting existing disk BASIC programs to run under RSBASIC. To give you a feeling for how dif- ferent the two languages are, I have compiled three reference tables com- paring language statements and func- tions in disk BASIC and RSBASIC. These tables do not include BASIC commands such as RUN and SAVE or disk data-file statements; they are discussed earlier in this review. In ad- dition to informing potential buyers about the RSBASIC language, the tables should be very useful to new owners of the package who are trying to learn the differences between RSBASIC and disk BASIC. Table 3 lists statements and func- tions providing essentially the same capability in both RSBASIC and disk BASIC, but named differently or used slightly differently. Table 4 shows statements and func- tions included in disk BASIC that have no counterpart in RSBASIC. Particularly worth noting are PEEK, POKE, INP, OUT, and VARPTR because there is no easy way to repro- duce these in RSBASIC; you must use machine-language subroutines. Table 5 lists statements and func- tions that are new in RSBASIC and provide capabilities not available in disk BASIC. Performance One of the main reasons for using a BASIC compiler instead of an inter- preter is run-time performance or program execution speed. In general, compiled code runs faster than inter- preted code because the source code is analyzed once to produce machine language that is run directly by your computer. You can understand my surprise, then, when I noticed that the RSBASIC manual doesn't mention faster execution as a benefit of com- pilation. After using the system and making some timings, I began to see why Radio Shack doesn't claim a speed advantage for compiled pro- grams. In some cases, compiled pro- grams actually run slower than the equivalent code under the disk BASIC interpreter! If you don't believe that, try this short example under RSBASIC and then under disk BASIC: 10 FOR 1% = 1 TO 10000: NEXT I % In my test, this runs more than twice 240 Octobtr 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Foreword by Douglas Hofstadter ■ fV» n... calligraphy... visual magic — Scott Kim's new book, Inversions, delights the eye and enchants the mind. Filled with intriguing designs, words that read the same right-side up and upside down, words-within-words, and unexpected symmetries, these compositions create a fresh way to look at the alphabet. The text includes the visual principles of symmetry, letter- ing, and problem solving that are basic to these images. The author also draws parallels to 70 Main St., 03458 Backword by Jef Raskin ■ related exercises in percep- tion in such diverse areas as art, music, word play, and mathematics. Scott Kim's original inversion designs first appeared in Omni magazine, inspiring an overwhelming reader response. An irresistible challenge, invertible writing appeals to everyone who loves beauty in mathematics and design. Scott Kim is a doctoral stu- dent in Computer Science at Stanford U ORDER TOLL-FREE 800/258-5420 Disk BASIC Statement or Function not in RSBASIC ? abbreviation for PRINT ! single-precision type identifier, e.g., A! is single precision' &0 octal number converts string of octal digits to binary number CLS clears screen and homes cursor CMD"D" enters the machine-language debugger CMD "R", CMD "T" turns interrupts on and off, respectively, for cassette tape I/O CSNG(exp) returns single-precision number with value = exp DEFSNG defines variables as single-precision type ERL returns line number in which most recent error occurred FlX(number) truncates number FRE(string) tells amount of string space available INP(port) reads Z80 port OUT port, value writes to Z80 port LEFT$(string,size) returns first "size" characters of string RIGHT$(string,size) returns last "size" characters of string LET var = expression assigns value of expression to variable, LET is op- tional MID$(str1,start,size) = str2 replaces "size" characters in strl, starting at "start," by characters from str2 PEEK(location) returns contents of memory location POKE location, value sets memory location to value POINT(x.y) tells whether a particular graphics block is set RESET(x.y) resets a single graphics block at location x,y SET(x.y) sets a single graphics block at location x,y RESUME n restarts program execution at line number n after trapping an error with ON ERROR GOTO statement RND(number) returns random number from 1 to number unless number = 0, then a number between 0 and 1 VARPTR(variable) returns address of program variable or its descriptor variable Comments and Ways to Perform in RSBASIC No equivalent No single-precision type in RSBASIC No equivalent Use PRINT CHR$(28); CHR$(31); Use RSBASIC's debug- ging features or call machine-language routine No support for cassette tape No single-precision type in RSBASIC No single-precision type in RSBASIC No equivalent Use INT(number) if number > =0, else use INT(number) + 1 Not needed in RSBASIC, fixed string allocation Use machine-language routine Use machine-language routine Use SEG$(string,1, size) Use SEG$(string, LEN(string) - size + 1) LET not allowed in RSBASIC Build new string using SEG$ Use machine-language routine Use machine-language routine Use CRTI$ function plus BASIC code to pick point out of graphics character Use character graphics instead Use character graphics instead No equivalent in RSBASIC; use RESUME or RESUME NEXT RSBASIC same as disk BASIC if number = 0; else use INT(RND * number + 1) CALL to a machine- language routine passes program variables by their addresses Table 4: Disk BASIC statements and functions that have no counterpart in RSBASIC. Disk data-file statements are not included here. Circle 198 on inquiry card. Write or call for our brochure which includes our application note: uilding Computers — A Recipe" INTEGR4ND as fast under disk BASIC as under RSBASIC! I put together several benchmark programs and ran them under disk BASIC, RSBASIC, and Microsoft's BASIC compiler. I wanted to test the performance of string handling, array manipulation, and floating-point arithmetic. Let me preface the benchmark "B 242 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc C is better than ever. Whitesmiths, Ltd. is now shipping Release 2.1 of our highly acclaimed C Compilers for ten different operating system families on four architectures: CP/M,CDOS isis-ir Idris/BgO mm RT-11 SX-11M,RSTS/E,IA ldris/R11 ? UNI SB VAX-11: VMS UNIX/32V* MC68000: VERSAdos ldris/S68k 'Available in source form only. Idris is a trademark of Whitesmiths, Ltd. ■ UNIX is a trademark of Bell Laboratories ■ CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research ■ RSX-11M, RSTS/E, RT-11, LSI-11, PDP-11, IAS, VAX, and VMS are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation ■ VERSAdos is a trademark of Motorola Inc. We've added optimizations, sped up runtime routines, and (ahem) fixed all known bugs. The portable C library is more extensive than ever, with new math functions, pattern matching routines, and support for Ada-style exception handling. And it's easier than ever to interface to new environments. Native compilers are only $750, including shipping in the continental U.S. Cross compilers, for most combinations of host system and target machine, are $1350. A Pascal Compiler may be included for an additional $200. Old customers may upgrade for just half of the new price. And maintenance is now only 25% of the license fee per year. Now's the time to write or call. Distributors: Australia, Fawnray Pty Ltd. P.O.B 224 Hurtsville NSW 2220 570-6100 Japan, Advance Data Controls Corp. Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 03263-0383 United Kingdom, Real Time Systems, Newcastle upon Tyne 0632 733131 Whitesmiths, Ltd. Parkway Towers, 'BI 485 US Route 1 So. , Iselin, New Jersey 08830 (201 ) 750-9000 Telex: 645592 RSBASIC Statement or Function not in Disk BASIC Explanation X ! Y Integer division, X divided by Y CALL "PROG"; var list Calls a BASIC subprogram (see text) or an external machine-language program. Variables in var list are passed to the called program. COM var list Allocates a common area containing the variables in var list. These variables are preserved when you chain to another BASIC program with the same COM list. CRTG(x,y,string) Prints string containing graphics at location x,y on screen. Seems to be identical to PRINT CRT(x.y) string; perhaps different on Model III, unable to test. CRTI$(x,y,size) Returns "size" characters from screen starting at row x, column y CRTR(x.y) Moves cursor on screen by x rows and y columns relative to current position CRTX Returns row position of cursor on screen CRTY Returns column position of cursor on screen DIG(string) Returns number of digits in string EXPIO(expression) Base 10 exponential of expression HbAi(numDer) Returns string of hexadecimal digits with value "number" iKini it i r~ k 1 i i l_ INPUT LENGTH = number . . . Specifies maximum number of characters that can be typed in response to an INPUT statement INPU I UblNb string Allows input of formatted data from keyboard. String specifies number and size of fields, characters to skip over. LOGIO(expression) Base 10 logarithm of expression X MOD Y Remainder of integer division of X by Y ON BREAK GOTO n Whenever BREAK key is pressed, start executing line number n Hbbbl BHbAK Disables ON BREAK GOTO routine Hbbbl (jObUB Clears all pending GOSUB returns Hbb 1 Unb n Resets DATA pointer to line n ai in iinn f~\ ?~\ 1 1 . . i ; _ * SUB PROG ; var list Establishes a BASIC external subprogram (see text). The subprogram may be called and variables in var list passed to it. SWAP van, var2 Exchanges contents of varl and var2 XOR Logical Exclusive OR Table 5: RSBASIC statements that have no counterpart in disk BASIC. Disk data- file statements are not included here. Compilation Time (min/sec) Run Time (min/sec) Disk Program RSBASIC Microsoft RSBASIC BASIC Microsoft HILEVEL 0:52(0:20) 2:40 2:20 7:27 0:04 (listing 2) STRING 0:47 (0:18) 1:59 14:56 5:14 3:13 (listing 3) STRING2 0:48 (0:16) 2:00 1:22 1:31 0:43 (listing 4) FLOAT 0:52 (0:25) 3:09 4:37 0:36* 4:34 (listing 5) *See text for discussion of why this is relatively low compared to RSBASIC and Microsoft. Table 6: Compilation and run times for benchmark programs under RSBASIC, disk BASIC, and Microsoft's BASIC compiler. Times are listed as minutes:seconds. Two times are listed for RSBASIC. The first is for compilation using the COMPILE com- mand; then, in parentheses, for compilation using the RUN command. 244 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc results with the caveat that the only meaningful benchmark for you is your applications program. No ar- bitrary program can prove that one system is faster than another in all cases. I am presenting these results as a representative sample, but they can- not and should not be taken as con- clusive evidence of anything but the performance of these specific pro- grams. The results of my tests are shown in table 6. Both compilation times and execution (run) times are given for the RSBASIC and Microsoft BASIC com- pilers. Only execution times are given for disk BASIC as no compilation is required. In computing the compila- tion times, I used a utility program that allows a file of commands to be executed from disk. This allows tim- ings that are independent of typing speed. The time interval I chose to repre- sent compilation time starts with the invocation of the compiler and ends when the program actually starts run- ning. This includes loading the run- time support routines for both RSBASIC and Microsoft BASIC. This time is not usually counted as "com- pilation time," but I included it because it represents time spent under both compiler-based systems that is not spent under disk BASIC. Since RSBASIC has several ways to compile programs, I performed two measurements of compilation time. The first is most similar to Microsoft's operation. To compile the first bench- mark under RSBASIC, I used the following command file: RSBASIC COMPILE HILEVEL/BAS, HILEVEL/CMP SYSTEM RUNBASIC HILEVEL/CMP HILEVEL/BAS is the source file con- taining the benchmark program, already entered and saved on disk. The fastest way to compile under RSBASIC is to type RUN with the source file already in memory; the timings for this are given in paren- theses after the timings for the COM- PILE command. It is not quite fair to compare this shorter time directly to Circle 151 on inquiry card. Listing 2: Implementation of Eratosthenes's Sieve Prime Number Generator in RSBASIC. This benchmark program emphasizes array manipulation and integer Hon of DEFINT 0 000 1. 0 0 0 0 0 20 0 n n n '1(1 0 o o rj 35 n n (i n I u 0 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 0 60 0 0 0 0 70 0 0 0 0 80 0 0 0E 90 0 0 OB 1 0 0 0 015 1. .1. 0 0 024 .1.20 0 02'? 130 0 03-'* 140 0 03C 150 0043 160 n n4F 1 7(1 J. / u 1 on J. o u n r i a a •I Qll J. 711 n n 0 0 7 5 2 1 0 U U / \J 220 0 084 2.30 0 087 240 008E 250 0 095 260 0 0A2 270 0 0BI. 280 Eratosthenes Sieve Prime Number Program F r rom September 1981 BYTE P.188v A Hisfh-Level Lanslusss© Benchmark by Jim Gllbresth. iter at ion" REM - REM REM re:m REM REM - --- REM INTEGER A-Z SIZE «= 8190 DIM FLAGS (8191) PRINT "Onla 1 PRINT TIME it COUNT = 0 FOR I m 0 TO SIZE F r LAGS SIZE THEN 240 FLAGS (K ) w 0 K K + PRIME GOTO 20 0 COUNT = COUNT NEXT I PRINT COUNT , " PRINT TIME* END 250 1 PRIMES FINAL. SUMMARY 265 (0109) BYTES OF PROGRAM 16650 (410A) BYTES OF LOCAL DATA 29 SOURCE LINES 29 SOURCE STATEMENTS *** COMPILATION COMPLETE *** Microsoft's because (1) typing RUN does not save the compiled object file on disk— only the COMPILE com- mand does that, and (2) not as much memory is available under the RSBASIC mode as under RUN- BASIC— if a program is large enough, you must use the more com- pact RUNBASIC system as I did for the first compilation-time measure- ments. For the Microsoft system, I used the following command file: BASCOM HILEVEL/REL = HILEVEL/BAS L80 HILEVEL/REL HILEVEL/CHN-N-E BRUN HILEVEL/CHN The first line invokes the BASIC com- piler, called BASCOM, which reads the source file named HILEVEL/BAS and produces a relocatable object file named HILEVEL/REL. The second step invokes the linking loader L80. The next two commands tell L80 to load HILEVEL/REL, then produce a file named HILEVEL/CHN (CHN stands for "CHAIN" file) and exit to TRSDOS. The last command loads the Microsoft BASIC run-time module named BRUN and executes HILEVEL/CHN. The ratio of compilation times under RSBASIC and Microsoft BASIC was fairly uniform from one benchmark to another. The Microsoft compiler takes roughly two to three times longer than RSBASIC's slower ELCOMP Dealers welcome! BOOKS and SOFTWARE For ATARI-PET-OSI-APPLE ||-6502-VtC-20-Sinelair-TimBX ATARI ATARI ATARI ATARI ATARI BASIC - Learning by Uiirtg This new book Is an "Action"- Book. You do more than read It. Learn the Intricacy of ATARI- BASIC thorugh the short programs which are provided. The suggestions challenge you to change and -write program routines. Yes, it's exciting - Many of the programs are appropriate for beginners as well as experienced computer users. (Screen Drawings, Special Sounds, Keys, Paddles + Joysticks. Specialized Screen Routines, Graphics and Sound. Peeks and Pokes end special stuff ). 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Order-No. 605 839.00 2718 EPROM-Bumer Order-No. 607 649,00 8K E PROM/RAM Card Order-No. 609 829.00 Software for SINCLAIR ZX-81 and T1MEX 1000 Machine Language Monitor Order No. 2399 89.95 Mailing Litt Order No. 2398 619.95 Programming in BASIC and machine language with the ZX-81 (82) or TIMEX 1000. Order No. 140 (book) 69.95 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc 245 i Listing 3a: String-manipulation benchmark §1 in RSBASIC. 0 00 0 10 REM - - "■" 0 0 0 0 20 REM Sir in* Manipulation Benchmark *1» RSBASIC 0000 30 REM ■-- ■ - — — • - 00 0 0 10 REM 0 0 0 0 50 INTEGER A~Z 0 0 0 0 60 DIM A*20»B*20 *C*2Q »D*20 *X*1 » Y*l 000 0 70 PRINT TIME* 0 011 80 FOR I~l TO 50 0 0 0 0 IF 90 X*~CHR* < 32+INT < RND*32»1 ) > 0 0 13 1 0 0 Y*«CHR» < 32+INT < RND*32+ 1 ) ) 0 067 1 10 A*=STRING* ( 20 , X* > 0 077 120 B*=STRINGHi<20f Y*) 0 087 130 C*=SEG* 10 > 00A6 110 IF A*>B* THEN D*=*A* EI...SE D*s€i* 00B9 150 NEXT I 0 0 CO 160 PRINT TIME* FINAL. SUMMARY 285 (01 ID) BYTES OF PROGRAM 360 (0168) BYTES OF LOCAL DATA 16 SOURCE LINES 16 SOURCE STATEMENTS x** COMPILATION COMPLETE *** Listing 3b: String-manipulation benchmark §1 in disk BASIC (identical for Microsoft BASIC). 10 REM - ■ ■ 20 REM String Manipulation Benchmark #:!.>> Disk BASIC 10 DEFINT A-Z.S CLEAR 10000 50 PRINT TIME* 60 FOR 1=1 TO 50 0 0 70 A*=8TRING* < 20 t CHR* ( 32+RND < 32 ) ) 3 80 B*«STRING* < 20 > CHR* < 32+RND < 32 > > ) 9 0 C*«MID* ( A* »3 » 1 0 3 +MID* ( B* r5»10) 100 IF A*>B* THEN D*>A* ELSE D*«B* 110 NEXT I 120 PRINT TIME* compilation mode, which is most comparable to Microsoft's in the work it performs. RSBASIC's quick mode is consistently more than twice as fast as its slower mode. The Microsoft system spends most of its time running L80. The actual time spent in BASCOM was very short (10-15 seconds) for the benchmarks shown here. There was considerably more variation in the run-time com- parisons, as seen in table 6. They were measured using the system clock and the PRINT TIME$ statement that all three BASICs support. The first benchmark program I ran was the Eratosthenes Sieve Prime Number Generator program from "A High-Level Language Benchmark" by Jim Gilbreath in the September 1981 BYTE, page 180. My adaptation of this benchmark for RSBASIC appears as listing 2. Although RSBASIC is more than three times faster than disk BASIC, Microsoft BASIC is more than 110 times faster! Yes, it really does say 0:04 in table 6: 4 seconds for the run- ning time under Microsoft's compiler system. All three programs use in- teger arithmetic exclusively for this benchmark. The second benchmark does a lot of string manipulation (see listings 3a and 3b). While trying it out, I discovered that RSBASIC does not allow string expressions to be used within string functions. Line 70 of listing 3b is a perfectly legal disk BASIC statement that generates a 20-byte string of random characters: A$ = STRING$(20, CHR$(32 + RND(32))) It had to be split into two pieces for RSBASIC: X$ = CHR$(32 + INT(RND*32 + 1 )) : A$=STRING$(20,X$) A couple of other syntactic dif- ferences are in the RSBASIC and disk BASIC versions of this benchmark program, as you can observe by com- paring listings 3a and 3b: RSBASIC uses SEG$, & , and INTEGER where disk BASIC uses MID$, -I- , and DEFINT, respectively. RSBASIC does not have or need a CLEAR state- ment, which sets aside space for strings in disk BASIC. None of these syntactic changes ex- plain the rather surprising difference in execution times, especially between RSBASIC and disk BASIC. RSBASIC is nearly three times slower than the disk BASIC interpreter for this bench- mark! Microsoft BASIC is the fastest, a little more than one and a half times faster than disk BASIC. My guess is that the slowness of RSBASIC in this case may be caused by the way I had to simulate disk BASICs RND(N) function using the expression INT(RND*N + 1). This involves floating-point math, which RSBASIC can perform only with 14-digit preci- sion. Disk BASIC and Microsoft BASIC probably use 6-digit single precision to do RND(N). Since RSBASIC was rather slow in this benchmark, I put together a sec- ond string-manipulation program that doesn't include the RND func- tion. It performs three string assign- ments (amounting to a swap of two string variables' contents) and a string comparison, followed by one more assignment based on the result of that comparison. The RSBASIC version of the program appears in listing 4a; the disk BASIC and Microsoft ver- sion in listing 4b. 246 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc SH CHESTER DISK! Now, Up to FOUR IBM Personal Computers Can Share the Same PC-MATE Winchester Disk System. 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Listing 4a: RSBASIC version of string-manipulation benchmark §2. 0000 10 REM ■ - - - — - ■ " — 0 000 20 REM String Manipulation Benchmark *2» RSBASIC 0000 30 REM - 0 0 0 0 't0 REM 0000 50 INTEGER A-Z 0000 6 0 DIM A*2 0 r B*2 0 » C*2 0 v D*2 0 0000 70 PRINT TIME:* 0 014 3 0 A*~ " ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST " 00:19 90 B*= " 0 1234567890 123456789 " 00 IE 100 FOR I==l TO 50 0 0 0029 1. 1 0 D**A* 002E 120 A*™B* 0 033 130 B*»C* 0 038 140 IF A*>B* THEN D*==A* EI...SE D*=B* 004B 150 NEXT I 0052 160 PRINT TIMES FINAL, SUMMARY 20 0 <0 0C8> BYTES OF PROGRAM 346 <015A) BYTES OF LOCAL DATA 16 SOURCE LINES 16 SOURCE STATEMENTS *** COMPILATION COMPLETE **xc Listing 4b: Disk BASIC and Microsoft BASIC version of string-manipulation bench- mark #2. 10 REM - - - - 20 REM Strinsf Manipulation Benchmark #2» Disk BASIC 30 REM 40 DEFINT A-Z J CLEAR 10 0 00 50 PRINT TIME* 55 A*» " ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST " 58 B*= " 0 1234567890 123456789 " 60 FOR 1=1 TO 50 00 70 C*=A4 72 A*=B* 74 B*=C* 80 IF A*>B* THEN D**A* ELSE D*»B* 110 NEXT I 120 PRINT TIME* RSBASIC performs more respect- ably on this benchmark, beating disk BASIC by 9 seconds. Microsoft BASIC continued to be the perfor- mance champion, however, beating RSBASIC by 39 seconds. I have run several other string-handling bench- marks not included with this review, and they follow the results of this sec- ond test quite closely: disk BASIC is the slowest, RSBASIC is slightly faster, and Microsoft BASIC is usual- ly about twice as fast as disk BASIC. The final benchmark, shown in listing 5, tests floating-point arithmetic on the data type with the 248 October 1982 © BYTE Publication. Inc largest precision in each BASIC. For disk BASIC and Microsoft BASIC, these are double-precision floating- point numbers. RSBASIC uses type REAL with 14 decimal digits of preci- sion. This benchmark uses the transcen- dental functions cosine, tangent, and exponential. RSBASIC and Microsoft BASIC are essentially in a tie on this one. Performing real-number arith- metic like this is a torture test for most 8-bit machines such as the TRS-80 because its Z80 processor does not have machine instructions to do it— it has to be done in software. The run-time figure for disk BASIC is misleading— disk BASIC has a double-precision floating-point number type, but its transcendental functions calculate only in single- precision mode (arithmetic opera- tions are performed in double preci- sion). Thus, even though you have declared a variable to be double precision, as soon as you use a func- tion such as TAN on it, you lose half the precision and might as well be using single-precision variables. Since all the transcendental func- tions were performed in much faster single precision for the run under disk BASIC, it cannot be considered faster than RSBASIC or Microsoft BASIC in the sense of doing the same amount of work in less time. The time dif- ference is significant, however, if you only need single precision. This is because RSBASIC does not offer anything equivalent to disk BASIC'S single-precision type — you must use the slower type REAL whether you need the precision or not. Let me summarize run-time perfor- mance for you based on the above benchmarks and other tests not shown here. If your application involves mostly floating-point math, you will prob- ably find that neither of these com- pilers will help much and you can do as well under disk BASIC. If you use single precision a lot, RSBASIC will probably be slower than disk BASIC because it has only the slower type REAL. If you do lots of integer arithmetic, the Microsoft compiler can provide near machine-language speed. RSBASIC seems to be faster than disk BASIC, especially for larger pro- grams, but not as fast as Microsoft BASIC. The benchmarks used here show disk BASIC in a more favorable light than very large programs would. Disk BASIC becomes relative- ly slower as programs get larger and the number of variables increases because (1) it searches the entire pro- gram to find line numbers that are targets of GOTOs and GOSUBs, and (2) it performs a sequential search of program variables until it finds the one you are referencing or updating. Since both compilers (RSBASIC and YOUR NEC COMPUTER GROWS WITH YOU. NEC's Astra "—the expandable business computer. Be certain that the business com- puter you buy to solve your problems today won't add to your problems tomorrow. With the NEC Astra Series, as your business grows, you can expand from a single user desktop version all the way up to a powerful 16-station system. Yet the software which solves your business problems, from finan- cial modeling to general account- ing to word processing, remains the same. □ I want lo see a demo of the NEC Astra. □ I want more information on the NEC Astra. NEC Information Systems, Inc. 5 Militia Drive. Lexington. 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Floating Point Benchmark* RSBASIC 00 00 10 REM 000 0 20 REM 0 00 0 30 REM 000 0 10 REM 0 00 0 50 REAL. A--Z 0000 60 DIM A<100>*B<100>»C<100> 0 00 0 70 PRINT TIME* 0014 BO FOR 1=1 TO 100 0 025 90 A < I) =1**3 + 1**2 + I 0050 100 B=SGR> 0 06D 110 C(I>=»(C0S(I)*TAN)/EXP— Mfr. trademark-Blue Label $3.00 additional per item. wsmm SOFTWARE THE ULTIMATE SOFTWARE PLAN THE DISCOUNT SOFTWARE GROUP 6520 Selma Ave., Suite 309 • Los Angeles, CA 90028 • (213)837-5141 • ln"t TELEX 499-0446 DISCSOFT LSA • USA TELEX 194-634 (Attn: 499-0446) • TWX 910-321-3597 (Attn: 499-0446) Circle 137 on inquiry card. A BASIC and Pascal Benchmark, Elegance, Apologies, and FORTH A microcomputer user assesses the speed and convenience of some languages available now. I can practically guarantee some angry letters as a result of this col- umn. Today's question is, Are all BASIC programmers brain damaged, or only some of them7 It's a topic of more importance than you think, so I'll sneak up on it. A Benchmark, More or Less I'm involved in a couple of com- puter networks, and one of them has an excellent ongoing discussion of the future of small computers. The other night one of my network correspon- dents mentioned a benchmark he'd used, and the more I thought about it, the better I liked it. Designing benchmarks is a black art, and one I decline to get into too deeply; but it seems reasonable to have standard ways to compare pro- gram speeds. The danger, of course, is in losing your sense of proportion so that a few seconds in speed dif- ference is promoted into an absolute judgment that one program or lan- guage is "better" than another. Ob- viously, speed is only one of many criteria for determining software worth, particularly when it comes to languages. 254 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Jerry Pournelle c/o BYTE Publications POB 372 Hancock, NH 03449 Anyway, what my colleague on the net wanted was a program with a minimum of input/output (I/O). It should spend most of its time in com- putations, not peripherals. The benchmark he advocated created two 10 by 10 matrices and multiplied them. I thought about that awhile and modified it; what I ended with Speed is only one of many criteria for determining software worth, particularly when It comes to languages. was a bit more general in that the size of the matrices isn't fixed, and while I was at it I put in a checksum to be sure the machine got the right answer. Listing 1 (see page 256) gives the program in BASIC; listing 2 (see page 258) gives it in Pascal. After I generated the benchmark program, I ran it for a number of dif- ferent languages. The results are given in table 1; the programs were all run on the Compupro 8085/8088 dual-processor S-100 system with a 6-MHz 8085 and an 8-MHz 8088. The times shown in the table are those re- quired to run the program after it is loaded. The code sizes shown are in kilo- bytes as reported by the CP/M STAT utility. If two numbers are shown in the code-size column, one represents a required run-time package (another program that must be present for the compiled program to run). Unless the table states otherwise, the default precision of the language was used. In Pascal /MT+ this yielded 4.65E + 05, as compared to the "true" value of 465880 as given by the various BASICs, and 4.6588000000000E5 as given by Pascal-M. CBASIC and CB/80 (Digital Research's BASIC compiler) are more comparable to BASCOM (Microsoft's BASIC compiler) double precision than single precision. "No ints" means that the matrix indexes are not declared as integers and thus default to real number values. As the results show, this greatly increases run time. Text continued on page 262 S~ ba r THE ULTIMATE COMPUTER CONFLICT between the forces of the Colonists and the Kryon Empire. 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Personal or Com- pany Checks, allow 15 days to clear. Surface Freight Standard F.O.B. Origin. Include your tele- phone number. No COD's, please. Prices are subject to change without notice. Order desk hours are 9 to 5 CST. CALL OR WRITE (214) 931-9069 tStar Micro 16990 Dallas Parkway • Suite 151 Dallas, Texas 75248 ( Trademark ' Refundi am Prorated. • 'Extended Warranty offered _ . uyWenStar. Listing 1: A Microsoft MBASIC program to multiply matrices. MAT1.ASC 10 REM A PROGRAM TO DO MATRICES 20 DEFINT I- N 25 M = 20 : N = 20 30 INPUT "Number of rows ";M 40 INPUT "Number of columns ";N 50 SUM = 0 55 INPUT "ENTER ANY CHARACTER TO START" ;JIVE$ 60 GOSUB 150 1 DIMENSION 65 PRINT "DIMENSIONED" 70 GOSUB 200 1 FILL A 75 PRINT "A FILLED" 80 GOSUB 280 1 FILL B 85 PRINT "B FILLED" 90 GOSUB 360 ' FILL C 95 PRINT "C FILLED" 100 GOSUB 440 ' MULTIPLY 105 PRINT "MULTIPLIED" 110 GOSUB 540 1 SUM IT UP 120 PRINT "SUM = ";SUM 130 PRINT CHR$(7) 140 GOTO 9999 150 REM DIMENSION 160 DIM A(M,N) 170 DIM B(N,M) 180 DIM C(M,M) 190 RETURN 200 REM FILL A 210 FOR I = 1 TO M 220 FOR J = 1 TO N 230 A(I,J) = I + J 240 NEXT 250 NEXT 260 RETURN 270 REM ************* 280 REM FILL B 290 FOR I = 1 TO M 300 FOR J = 1 TO N 310 B(I,J) = INT((I+J)/J) 320 NEXT 330 NEXT 340 RETURN 350 REM ********** 360 REM FILL C 370 FOR I = 1 TO M 380 FOR J = 1 TO N 390 C(I,J) = 0 400 NEXT 410 NEXT 420 RETURN 430 REM ************** 440 REM ************ MULTIPLY 450 FOR I = 1 TO M 460 FOR J = 1 TO H 470 FOR K = 1 TO M 480 C(I,J) = C(I,J) + A(I,K)*B(K,J) 490 NEXT 500 NEXT 510 NEXT 520 RETURN 530 REM ************** 540 REM *************** SUMMIT 550 FOR I = 1 TO M 560 FOR J = 1 TO N Listing 1 continued on page 258 256 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc For top quality performance from your computer, use the flexible discs known for memory excellence. 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Loop IDS PRISM 80 $979 Includes sprint mode, dot plot and cut sheet guide PRISM 132 $1,649 Includes all of above and 4-color graphics C.ITOH Prowriter (Parallel) $479 Prowriter (Serial) $619 Prowriter 2 (Parallel) $709 Prowriter 2 (Serial) $759 Starwriter F10 $1,449 Printmaster F-10 $1,699 FRANKLIN ACE 1000 $1,849 Includes 64k memory, 5Va" disk, I/O ports and 12" monitor. "E-Z" COLOR board $230.00 For the Apple II or Apple II Plus. 16-Color, 256 x 192 resolution. Requires 3.3 DOS. Includes demo software and E-Z COLOR Editor. E— Z COLOR board for S100 Systems Call for price . MicroVox text-to-speech synthesizer No software needed, just send ASCII text serial and parallel interface included $280 TERMINALS & MONITORS TELEVIDIO 950 $995 TELEVIDIO 925-C $799 TELEVIDIO 910/910 Plus $599 AMDEK 13" COLOR- 1 $335 NEC 12" GREEN $159 Most major software also avail, at low prices. We can usually beat any legitimate quote on Hardware. Call for prices. DIGITAL DIMENSIONS 190 Chapel Road Manchester, CT 06040 1-800-243-5222 Orders Only Orders ft Info Call 203-649-3611 MC/VISA welcome, Allow 2-3 weeks for checks. COD ok. All prices include UPS ground freight in U.S. All orders shipped w/in 24 hrs. CT residents add 7Vi% sales tax, CPM is T.M. of Digital Research, Prices subject to change without notice. Listing 1 continued: 570 SDH = SUM + C(I, J) 580 NEXT 590 NEXT 600 RETURN 610 REM ************************8 9999 END Listing 2: A Pascal program to multiply matrices. B:MATRIX20.PAS PROGRAM matrix (input, output); CONST maxsize = 45; ra = 20; n = 20; VAR i,j,k,l : integer; A : ARRAY [1 .. m, 1 .. n] OF real; B : ARRAY tl .. n, 1 .. m] OF real; C : ARRAY [1 .. m, 1 .. m] OF real; Suirm : real; GUP, BELL : CHAR; PROCEDURE FILLA; VAR BEGIN END; i, j : integer; FOR i := 1 to m DO For j := 1 to n DO A[i,j] := i + j; PROCEDURE FILLB; VAR BEGIN i,j : integer; FOR i := 1 to n DO For j := 1 to m DO END; Procedure FILLC; VAR Bti,j] := truncC (i+j)/j) ; i, j : integer; Listing 2 continued on page 260 INFOWORLD RAVES ABOUT PERFECT WRITER! ii 'User friendly' is a trite, but true description of Perfect Writer. ii Personally, I found the full- screen text to be comfortable and in most respects superior. J J ii The documentation is superb. . . J J ii I believe Perfect Writer will serve individual writers very well indeed. J! J ii I can recommend the pro- gram as a model of clarity. J J Read for yourself what InfoWorld said about this incredible word processor! ii Perfect Writer would be my choice for a word processor in my home.JJJ ii Perfect Writer lives up to its name. This product appears to be a very solid piece of software. Text handling is convenient and versatile and you are given an unusually complete set of commands.jy All quotes are from InfoWorld's Perfect Writer software review, by John Ford, June 14, 1982. AND WE'VE GOT IT FOR JUST $249. No wonder our phones are ringing off the hook! After InfoWorld went wild about Perfect Writer, it's become the hottest piece of software we handle. Why? Because Perfect Writer is simply the best word processor you can buy at any price and 800-SOFTWARE is selling it for just $249. That's $140 off the manufacturer's suggested retail price of $389! What's more, we are the Perfect Writer experts — the first dealer to stock Perfect Writer in the entire United States! What does this mean to you? Product knowledge and support exper- tise you simply won't find any place else. Plus the giant inventory, fast deliv- ery and commitment to first class service you've come to expect from 800-SOFTWARE. But let us prove how good we are. Just pick up the phone and call us toll- free. We're waiting for your call. TO ORDER CALL TOLL-FREE: 800-227-4587 \n California, call: 800-622-0678 CA residents add sales tax. Or write: 800-SOFTWARE, INC. 185 Berry Street, Suite 6820 San Francisco, CA 94107 Purchase orders accepted. I Prompt UPS 3 day Blue Label service Call for shipping charges. ^800-SOFTWARE) AMERICAN! ■ EXPRESS CHECK THESE OTHER GREAT PRICES: Wordstar" $249 dBase II $495 SuperCalc $199 Copyright 1982 by CW CommuniCB- llons/lnc, Reprinted Irom InfoWorld. Circle 2 on inquiry card. Circle 257 on inquiry card. CP/M @ Users: Access IBM with ReformaTTer™ ReformaTTer conversion software lets you read and write IBM 3740 disk- ettes* on your CP/M or MP/M system. ReformaTTer is ideal for CP/M users who want • Access to large system data bases • Distributed data processing • Offline program development • Database conversion With ReformaTTer, you have the ability to • Bidirectionally tranfer complete files between CP/M and IBM • Automatically handle ASCII/ EBCDIC code conversion • Display and alter IBM 3740 direc- tory and data Enjoy the same advantages of main- frame access that other ReformaTTer users have. Customers like Upjohn, M&M/Mars, The United Nations, Arthur Young & Co., Sandia Labs, FMC Corp., and Stanford University all use ReformaTTer. So can you. Other versions of ReformaTTer con- version software include CP/M ** DEC (RT 1 1) TRSDOS Mod. II ** CP/M TRSDOS Mod. II DEC (RT 11) Order ReformaTTer today for only $249. *IBM 3740 basic data exchange format. Refor- maTTer requires one 8" floppy drioe. (415) 324-9114 TWX: 910-370-7457 467 Hamilton Av., Suite 2, Palo Alto, CA 94301 CP/M is a reg. trademark of Digital Research Please send complete information on the follow- ing versions of ReformaTTer Lj Please send ReformaTTer CP/M — IBM. My check for $249 (plus $5 shipping. Cal. Res. add 6V2% sales tax). □ Charge to my □ VISA ^ MasterCard. # exp. date Signature Name Company Street City State Zip Mail to MicroTech Exports, Inc. 467 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301 Listing 2 continued: BEGIN END; FOR i := 1 to m DO FOR j := 1 to m DO Cti, j] := 0; PROCEDURE matmult ; S:MATRIX20.PAS VAR BEGIN i, j, k : integer; FOR i := 1 to m DO FOR j := 1 to n DO FOR k := 1 to m DO C[i,j] := Cti, j] + Afi,k]*B[k, j] END; PROCEDURE summit; VAR BEGIN END; i, j : integer; FOR i := 1 to m DO FOR j := 1 to m DO Summ := Sunn + Cti, j] BEGIN {MAIN} SUMM := 0; Write ('input any darned number to start it. '); Readln(gup) ; FILLA; WRITELN ( 1 A filled. '); FILLB; WritelnC B filled. ■); FILLC; WritelnC C filled. '); MATMULT; WritelnC Multiplied. 1 ) ; SUMMIT; WritelnC Summ is : ^Summ : 8 ); BELL := CHR(7) ; WRITELN (BELL) ; END. 260 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc We're selling Tandon with abandon ! We are overstocked! Our warehouse runneth over with Tandon Drives. Help! Help us clear the decks and help yourself to significant savings on these excellent products. We've always been high on Tandon. (Even when we're not up to our knees in 'em.) They offer an unsurpassed storage capacity, a very advanced dual-head design, increased throughput — and proven reliability. So at these prices, you should definitely buy a drive. Buy two. Maybe someone you know is having a birthday soon. Buy one for them. Call immediately. At these prices, they won't last very long. Hopefully. Tandon's TM100 series of 5-inch mini-floppy disk drives all feature Tandon's patented read/write head design. 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BYTE October 1982 Butch Brown believed logic seeking heads" lived in the hippie district. Until he became an Orange Micro Printer Expert. Printers Can Be Confus- ing. Sometimes, even the informed persona) com- puter owner is caught short by the mound of technical differences in printers. After one visit to Orange Micro, Butch learned a logic- seeking print head skips over blank spaces and seeks the fastest path to die next printable character— for quick stock record printouts. We Educate First. With so many different printers out there with as many different features, we feel a printer education is in order. We take what you already know about computers and explain printers in the same terms. Our current customers seem to like that because of the friends they refer. (Nearly 50% of our business is referral,) It's Easy To Be An Expert. Orange Micro printer specialists are Uiere to make you feel comfortable with your newfound printer knowledge. And when you decide on the printer right for you, you'll know exacdy why you picked it from all the rest. With over 35 popular models to choose from, and a complete selec- tion of cables, options and interface accessories, we have everything you need to get your new printer up and operating in minutes. 'M We Have The Right J Printer For You. Bring along your toughest printer questions. ( >ur sail pie will answer them \ honestly and practi- cally. In less time than you'd imagine possi- ble, you'll be a printer expert too! After all, printers are our only business, so we always do a bet- ter job at finding the right one for you. Orange Micro Printer Stores 3150 E. LaPalma. Suite 1 Anaheim, CA 92806 (714) 6303622 13604 Ventura Boulevard Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 (213) 501-3486 3216 Scott Boulevard Santa Clara, CA 95051 (408) 980-1213 1104 \an Ness San Francisco, CA. 94109 (415) 673-0170 range fTlicro PRINTER STORE 5" and get an answer, as my 10-year- old did within a few minutes of sitting down at the TRS-80. Many will give up before they learn enough to use Pascal. Leave that, though. What annoys me about Pascal is not the language itself, but its enthusiasts. Perhaps Dijkstra had a point to make with his statement about BASIC and brain damage; at least he may have earned the right to say something of that sort. But we hear the minor acolytes of that priesthood echo such senti- ments in chorus, and that's another story altogether. But leave that too. What really drives me wild is when the Pascal en- thusiasts try to convince me that the language's bugs are all features. For example, if Pascal /MT+ tries to compile and runs across a state- ment such as Summit = Stuff + Glop; which the compiler can't handle, Pascal /MT + then reports ":= ex- pected". Or it will trundle along and sud- denly become confused. The compiler might suggest that you ought to have put a semicolon at the end of the line above even though, in fact, you have. (It's generally right; alas, Pascal is very picky about those semicolons, demanding them at the ends of most lines but forbidding them at the ends of others.) In neither case will the compiler remedy the defect. Some- times it's able to go on for a while so that it finds more than one error per attempted compilation, but that's by no means assured. Why is this? I thought I bought a computer to take care of trivial details, and here I am counting beans. Yet many of the high priests will solemnly assure you that the compiler must work this way, and any attempt to do things any other way is wrong. Item: The CASE statement, which some languages call "SWITCH," is (in BASIC) generally ON. . .GOTO or ON. . .GOSUB. CASE selects among various alternatives. What happens if it gets an alternative you never thought about? BASIC and most other languages Limited Franchise Opportunities Now Available. Call (714) 630-3620 Circle 289 on Inquiry card. Circle 205 on inquiry card. provide for a default, or allow you an ELSE, or otherwise let you deal with the situation. Pascal dumps your pro- gram. And believe it or not, the lan- guage's designers seem to think that's not a bug, but a feature. If you get unexpected alternatives, you ob- viously didn't think things through enough. Go back to square one and start over. (Hard cheese if you're pro- cessing real-time data that won't wait for you to devise a more elegant pro- gram.) (In fact, the lack of an ELSE or OTHERWISE in Pascal's CASE state- ment is so keenly felt that most imple- mentations, including Sorcim's Pascal-M and Digital Research's Pascal /MT + , have an ELSE as an ex- tension.) Item: Pascal makes you declare all your variables, and the compiler nat- ters at you in unfriendly tones if you forget. However, it does not require you to initialize variables, nor does it do it for you. In my benchmark Pascal program, I declared the sum- mation variable "Summ", but in an early version of the program, I forgot to initialize it to 0. The program com- piled and ran. It just didn't give the right answer. I could go on, citing Pascal's notorious deficiencies in string han- dling and general I/O, but I think I need not pile Pelion on Ossa. My point is that Pascal isn't very conve- nient; in the modern parlance, it's not really user-friendly. Depending on who you talk to, it may or may not be about as good as we have, but even its friends will generally concede that Pascal could be improved. Or most of its friends will concede. Alas, some will not; some insist that Pascal's unfriendliness is a feature — that the language is forcing you to think logically and thus write elegant programs. Who Needs Elegance? Much of the computer priesthood serves a strange god: not the user, but the ideal known as elegance. Be- cause no one knows what that means (or perhaps everyone knows, but each knows something different), ele- gance often translates as computer ef- ficiency. There was, perhaps, a time when that made sense — when computer resources were scarce and making maximum use of them was a good thing. Now, though, hardware prices are falling while capabilities sky- rocket, and the goal of elegance is questionable at best. Let me give an example. At the West Coast Computer Faire, I saw a new machine using the 68000 chip and got into a discussion of it with Carl Helmers, the former editorial director of this magazine. "It uses UCSD p-code as the oper- ating system," I said. "That's got to be the most inefficient thing I ever heard of." "So what?" Carl replied. "The chip is so fast you don't notice." Now Carl is far more of a Pascal enthusiast than I (his license plate reads "P-CODE"), but surely he was correct. Once the hardware achieves certain levels, then more efficient becomes the enemy of good enough. This is especially true in business con- texts, where what matters is produc- tivity. In the old days, computers were hideously expensive, and com- panies that bought more computer power than they needed could be in trouble. Unusable computer power was damned expensive. That's not true now. Every year the price of computer power falls while the cost of programmers rises, and now it's usually cheaper to have too much computer than to have too little and pay for "efficient" programming. CBASIC86 CBASIC86 running on the God- bout 8088 under CP/M-86 was ac- tually slower than CBASIC82 on the 8085; yet, the 8088 is a 16-bit machine. How can this be? First, it's obvious that CBASIC86 must be a nearly literal translation of CBASIC2. It can't possibly be op- timized for the 8088. Second, my engineering genius friend Tony Pietsch points out that given the first point, the 8088 has quite a lot of potential: here a first-cut program is running at speeds com- parable to code that's had many pro- grammer-years of work optimizing it for the 8080 family. 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GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS • GPIB : IEEE-488, 1975/1978ITMS9914) • TIMER : 100,1s to 18 hours (8253) • INTERRUPT : Universal interrupt control ler (AM 9519 ) • CLOCK : Real time, battery backup (MSM 5832) «BUSS- IEEE S-100 • SOFTWARE : All necessary handler programs included on 8"diskette • PRICE '. $550.00 ALL PRICES ARE FOB TOKYO AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE (Dealer inquiries invited) International Agent ! RENFUL COMPUTER LTD. Rm.G02. Hop Fat Commercial Centre, 490-492, Nathan Road, Kowloon, H.K. Tel : 3-320498(3lines) Telex : 37546 RENFL HX Cable Address : RENFULCOMP 'ShUertiatiemd QStptfemf&i Automation ISKco.,ird. HEIAN BLDG.2-5-16 OKUBO. SHINJUKU-KU. TOKYO ISO JAPAN PHONE:03-232-8570 TELEX:232<496 ISATOK CABLEMSAHEIAN October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc 277 Circle 329 on inquiry card. 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Includes 8253, Z-80 SIO, 1488, 1489, sockets, and DB-25 connector $49.95 MINIMUM KIT, serial parts. w/TINY CON- TROLLER BASIC A4T $249.95 MAXIMUM KIT w/2-2716's (monitor program and tiny basic) less 951 1 $249.95 A&T $329.95 EPROM PROGRAMMER KIT for 2708. 2716, 2732, 2764 w/28 pin "Textool" socket (Req. min. kit. monitor, ser. parts) $99.95 24 KEY KEYBOARD & 8 Digit LED readout, interfaces to 8279. Kit $59.95 Keyboard monitor and overlay for above kit $14.95 POWER SUPPLY. 5V2A, -5V%A. +12V'/ 4 A, -12Vy„A. Kit $44.95 OEM & Dealer Inquiries Welcome USA & CANADA include $3.50 postage and handling. We ship World Wide please include 15% for shipping. R.W. ELECTRONICS, INC. 3165 North Clybourn— B Chicago, IL 60618 (312) 248-2480 Finally, my 8085/8088 didn't cost me very much more than a single- processor system, and it will run CP/M-86. I'd never done that before, but it was incredibly easy: insert the CP/M-86 disk that comes with the Godbout, and hit reset. All the familiar CP/M commands worked. I could read the directory of not only my CP/M-86 master in drive A, but also the CP/M 2.2 disk residing in drive B. It was easy enough to copy the 'CBASIC86 programs over using the PIP command, and then copy over the program source and compile. Everything ran the first time, no hitches whatsoever. One of these days I'll get some CP/M-86 programs that are optimized for the 8088 pro- cessor, and then 111 have a time bomb. Until then I can use the 8085/8088 with Compupro's M-Drive, which I continue to use and love. Incidentally, the disk operations under CP/M-86 were incredibly slow; but Godbout, at least, supplies the source code to the BIOS (basic in- put/output system), and one day I'll optimize it for my disks and con- troller. I can do that because I can copy the BIOS sources from the CP/M-86 disk over to a CP.M-2.2 disk and edit it with my regular CP/M editor. Two Apologies As I've mentioned before, I've never learned PL/I. My late mad friend was quite enamored of the language and had intended to teach me; but alas his condition didn't per- mit that. Unfortunately, in a previous col- umn I reported from secondary sources that PL/I has no CASE state- ment. I was wrong, as a number of readers have told me in letters. PL/I does indeed have a CASE statement called SELECT. The syntax is rather more similar to BASIC'S ON. . . GOSUB than to Pascal's CASE (ex- pression) OF. Also, unlike (standard) Pascal, PL/I provides an OTHER- WISE statement to catch cases the programmer didn't think of. Secondly, a few months ago, I said that Microsoft BASIC'S random-access files were not ASCII (American Stan- dard Code for Information Inter- change) and could not be accessed by the sequential-file process. I had good reason to think this, and indeed I spoke with several people in Micro- soft's management who told me they'd consider changing the situa- tion. D. W. McKee, of San Jose, tells me I'm wrong. I quote from his letter: Although Microsoft's documen- tation does not make it clear, it is very possible to use ASCII random files. The procedure is as follows: 1. Open file as a random file in the normal way. The record length must include comma and dou- ble quote (") delimiters plus a carriage return and linefeed, in addition to the actual data. 2. Position the pointer to the beginning of the buffer with a GET # N, Rec.No. 3. Print each data element with a PRINT USING statement plus a comma between each data ele- ment. Appropriate use of the PRINT USING format ensures that you do not overfill the record length. If you try to write more characters into the record than your record length allows, an error will be generated. If you are sure that the data cannot overrun the record length, you can use the WRITE statement, which puts the commas in for you, but it also puts double quotes (") around all strings. For example: OPEN "R", #N, Filenames F$ = "#####•##" : Fl$ = "####.##" Comma$ = "," PRINT § N, USING F$; DATAl; : PRINT § N, Comma$ PRINT # N, Using Fl$; Data2 PUT # N, Rec.No Alternative: WRITE #N, DATAl; DATA2 PUT § N, Rec.No 278 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc The ultimate under $1000 printing machine The one machine solution to every application. For word processing, plotting and just plain printing. Save the expense of a costly daisy wheel. Eliminate the limited capa- bility of cheap matrix printers. And get plotting in the process!! Get the all new, advanced MT 160 multi- functional micro printer. You'll be amazed that such a small printer can house so much horsepower. Capability? You name it, this printer's got it. A resident Report Package puts you in the Word Processing world. . .letter quality characters, proportional spacing, margin justification, auto center- ing. A resident Graphics Package lets you plot whatever your micro wants to portray. The standard print mode lets you generate re- ports fast— speeds up to 200 lines per minute. Also, print eight diffe- rent resident character widths. There's more. Clip-on paper handling attachments let you use fan-fold forms, letterhead, cut sheets or continuous roll paper. The control panel has a "menu select" for machine configuration. When you look under the hood, you'll see what is meant by "solid construction." And the MT 160 is plug compatible to your micro. In short, the MT160 is the epitome of engineering excel- lence. And it should be. Afterall, Mannesmann Tally is the technol- ogy leader in matrix printing. MANNESMANN TALLY 8301 South 180th St. Kent, Washington 98032 Phone (206) 251-5524 IN DISTRIBUTION NOW! SYSPRINT: (214) 669-3666 WAYBERN: (714) 554-8200 US PLUS: (203) 234-0444 Circle 230 on Inquiry card. PGI DISTRIBUTION: (602) 967-1421 HALL-MARK: (214) 341-1147 WESTERN TECHNOLOGY: (303) 779-6644 TEK-AIDS INDUSTRIES: (312) 870-7400 BYTE: (415) 783-8272 WESTERN MICRO SYSTEMS: (408) 725-1660 MANNESMANN TALLY CANADA: (416)661-9783 THE BEST DEAL IN TOWN! THE FRANKLIN ACE1000 You just can't beat an ACE. Especially the Franklin ACE 1000. It's the professional personal computer with all the trump cards — it costs less, it includes 64K of RAM, upper and lower case, a numeric pad and VisiCalc keys, all features not found on the Apple II. Peripherals that work with the Apple II will work with the Franklin ACE 1000. Programs that run on the Apple will run on the ACE. Totally Apple compatible . . . yet, so much more! The Franklin Ace 1000 — price, power, quality, reliability — the best deal in town. Call or write today for the name of your local authorized Franklin dealer. FRANKLIN COMPUTER CORPORATION 7030 Colonial Highway Pennsauken, NJ 08109 609-488-1700 Circle 169 on inquiry card. Franklin ACE is a trademark of Franklin Computer Corporation Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc. VisiCalc is a registered trademark of Visi Corp. MEMOREX Flexible Discs DIRECT DEALER SALES ONLY Call collect for our special dealer program (213) 896-2485 FREE - 20% Bonus on 5VS" Mini-Disks through October 31, 1982. C O D.' s accepted, flft U.S. EXCHANGE 9391 Remick Ave. Pacoima, CA 91331 Circle 398 on Inquiry card. 5 Meg Hard Disk $600. 00 High reliability Shugart 8" SA1002 hard disk drives. Computer DYNAMICS 1 (803) 877-7471 105 S. Mai n St. Greer, S.C. 29851 Completely assembled sub- systems for IBM-PC, S-100, Heath-89 and STD bus. $1695. Kit $1500. Circle 87 on Inquiry card. Apple to IBM-PC Disk/File Transfer Utility Transfer entire disks, program files, data files or Visicalc files UCSD Pascal to UCSD Pascal DOS 3.3 to PC-DOS Apple transmitts through Apple serial interface card or equivalent; IBM receives at asynch- ronus communications adaptor or equivalent. Pascal utilities are written in Pascal and use REMIN: and REMOUT:, DOS utilities are writ- ten in Applesoft basic and PC-BASIC Utility package includes: • Apple Disk with transmission utility source • IBM Disk with reception utility source • Complete documentation including source listings, cable prints, operating instructions and general hints. • Both disks contain additional utilities to ver- ify correct serial line operation Pascal and DOS utility sets are $75 each, both sets for $1 25. Apple to IBM cable $30. 401-751-1000 NARR AG ANSETT SOFTWARE 40 WESTMINSTER STREET PROVIDENCE, Rl 02903 Circle 270 on inquiry card. Like-new products For free catalog, phone toll-free (800) 225-1008 In Massachusetts (617) 938-0900 Genstar REI Sales Company 6307 DeSoto Ave.. Sle. J / Woodland Hills. CA 91367 Circle 175 on Inquiry card. if you use CP/IW then you need DISK FIX! DISK FIX is a disk editor which can display, edit or copy any sector of a CP/M floppy and/or hard disk. The DISK FIX utility can be used to recover files from disks with dam- aged directories, to reconstruct files with bad sectors, to restore erased files and to do general disk editing. DISK FIX automatically configures to floppy and hard disks, just insert the program disk and it is ready to run. A single CPU license is available for $150. Call software HOT LINE 906/228-7622. The Software Stone 706 Chippewa Square • Marquette Ml 49855 ircle 356 on inquiry card. 4. To read these files, just enter: GET | N, Rec.No INPUT § N, Datal, Data2 You will note that the FIELD and related string conversion state- ments are not needed at all. These files can be read and edited by Wordstar, TYPEd by CP/M, etc. I have found this to be a very easy and reliable way to set up files, particularly those involv- ing frequent addition of more records. . . . The first several records can be used for keeping track of how many records are in the file and other similar nonre- peating records. I thank Mr. McKee, who has spent more time studying Microsoft BASIC record structures than I have. Avoid- ing the dreaded FIELD statement should make life a lot simpler; I only wish I'd been clever enough to figure this out for myself from the Microsoft user documents. Learning BASIC Predictably there's a flood of books about the computer revolution. I'm adding to it; as I write this, two major publishing houses are bidding for my computer book, and by the time this is printed, I'll surely have signed a contract. Both publishers have ex- pressed one concern: how will my book be different from the flood? Good question. I'm not sure. But one thing is certain: I will not write a book that starts off talking about the home computer revolution and ends up trying to teach you BASIC; and even if I were fool enough to do that, I'd certainly not offer you a book on word processing that contained the program listing of a text editor writ- ten in BASIC. The latter, alas, is what Donald McCunn did in his Write, Edit, and Print: Word Processing with Personal Computers. There's a good bit of useful information in the book. He has a decent survey of hardware, and some cogent comments about how machines work and what their limits CED PLAYERS SYLVANIA VIDEODISC PLAYER are. Unfortunately, at $24.95 ($34.95 hardbound) this is, I fear, a book anyone could do without. There may have been a time when a listing of code for a text editor written in Microsoft BASIC would have been useful, but surely that time has passed. His Word Worker editor may or may not be useful; the statement numbers run up to 12,500 in incre- ments of 5, and I'm not about to type all that into my machine. I will say that the code seems well commented, and if he writes code as well as he writes English it might well work. But ye gods, having done all that, you still have an editor in BASIC, and while I like BASIC for a lot of ap- plications, I think I'd rather chase geese for pens than have to use it to write an editor. The same author has also done a book called Computer Programming for the Complete Idiot. This is a bet- ter (and at $6.95 a much cheaper) book, which BYTE readers might consider buying as a gift for business- oriented friends who want to know what the TRS-80 Model I and Micro- soft BASIC can do. McCunn writes clearly, and as a survey, his book has a lot going for it. As a BASIC instruction manual, it falls to the ground, because the various BASIC commands are dis- cussed, not in any logical order, but in the order needed to type in a fairly simple payroll program. I doubt the program itself would be too useful, although I could be wrong about that; but it is used effectively as an ex- ample of the kinds of things BASIC can do. The level of sophistication can be gathered from his "chapter" on debugging programs. The chapter consists of fewer than 100 lines (about 2 pages). It ends by telling the reader about the command TRON (Trace On) and the Break key. McCunn's book isn't bad as an il- lustration of what BASIC can do, but if you want someone to learn the lan- guage, in my opinion there's only one book: Jerald R. Brown's Instant BASIC. This first edition (with yellow binding) of this collection of mad drawings, corny puns, silly illus- trations, and absolutely clear instruc- tions was what Mac Lean handed me when he and Tony Pietsch delivered Ezekial (my first computer). Now there's a second edition (with pink binding), which I presume is im- proved. Unfortunately, I can't tell; it's simply not possible to recreate the feelings I had when I was first trying to use Ezekial. I do know that every- thing I'd seen before Instant BASIC seemed unfriendly and incompre- hensible, and what a relief it was to get a book that had been written, not precisely for complete idiots, but for those who knew nothing about BASIC. Understand that the book is com- pletely mad. I particularly recall a rattlesnake crawling across the page saying "I am not a string, so don't thread on me!" Elsewhere it shows how to calculate the speed of a snail in miles per second (which is not a bad way to learn about very small numbers). ALLTOGETHERNOW RM/COBOL* TurboDOS 12* and MuSYS Network Slaves ATTENTION OEMs & SYSTEMS INTEGRATORS — Now you can add minicomputer software and low cost, point-to-point networks to any Z80-based microsystem. With MuSYS network slaves and RM/COBOL, you can fun most COBOL-based busi- ness applications software on your system. With TurboDOS 1.2 you're free to design the network that fits, even complex point- to-point setups where masters and slaves are equals and where hardware differences make no difference. TurboDOS breaks down the architectural barriers to networking, and its compat- ibility with MP/M II* plus the CB-80* and RM/COBOL compilers allows you to run multiuser software right out of the box. MuSYS network slaves, such as the NET/82*, come complete with everything else you need to add stations to your system: Z80A CPU, up to 128K bytes RAM, two serial ports and many other features. Yes, MuSYS can help you put it all together, complete with generous quantity discounts. Write or call today for all the facts. 'TurboDOS Is a trademark of Software 2000, Inc.; MP/M II and CB-80 are trademarks of Digital Research, Inc.; NET/82 is a trademark of MuSYS Corp.; RM/COBOL is a trademark of Ryan-McFarland. — CORP Specialists in Multi-user Microsystems 1451 Irvine Blvd., Suite 11 Tustin, CA 92680 (714) 730-5692 TWX: 910-595-1967 CABLE: MUSYSTSTN - I 284 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 267 on inquiry card. FAZER ■ iqppini ft m UTERANY PRINTER'BUFFER MICROF/IZER Reset Ready Error Cop\ QUADRAM CORPORATION Time is money. You have a computer system because you know that it saves you money by simplifying procedures and reducing time normally involved in your work. Time is an important resource which should not be wasted. You are wasting valuable time if you ever wait for your printer. No waiting. Now with Microfazer by Quadram there is no more waiting. Microfazers are inexpen- sive universal printer buf- fers which any computer user cannot afford to be without. Any computer— any printer (or plotter!) whether parallel or serial. Microfazer receives informa- tion from the computer at ultra high speeds causing the computer to think the printer is printing just as fast as the computer can send. Microfazer holds the information until your printer can handle it, and then sends it on. Circle 320 on inquiry card. More copies. Microfazer is equipped with a copy feature allowing additional copies of the buffered information— from one to as many as you want— with the mere press of a button. When you need your information repeated, for whatever reason, it's always right there— inside Microfazer. Microfazer™ stack. Microfazer can be stacked with popular modems or other peripherals. Some models can plug directly onto the back of your printer. Install it in less than 60 seconds, and choose the amount of buffer memory you need— 8K, 16K, 32K, or 64K. One model even comes with up to 512 K! You may use several Microfazers in series to create just what's right for you. Take data in from a serial computer and out to a parallel printer. Or in from a parallel com- puter and out to a serial printer. Microfazer is just as flexible as you need it to be. Low price. Only $169 for 8K of buffering, $189 (16K), $225(32K)and $299 for a full 64K. Serial-to-Parallel, Parallel-to-Serial and Serial-to-Serial models have slightly higher prices. QUADRAM CORPORATION 4357 Park Drive/ Norcross, Ga. 30093 (404) 923-6666 If you have friends or relatives with access to a computer and any interest in learning BASIC, I don't believe you could do better than to give them this book and sit them down in front of a machine. (However, if they suf- fer permanent mental damage, I will not be responsible. I've warned you of Dijkstra's views.) Go FORTH, Young Man Recently I got an angry letter from an Apple enthusiast suggesting that I should retitle this column "CP/M Users" or "S-100 Bus Users." There's justice in that. Just at this moment all my computers are S-100 bus and CP/M, and I don't write much about things I don't use. However, what I have isn't accidental, either. Computer capabilities change like dreams. How, then, shall we keep up? Well, we can't. But we can try, and one way is to adopt a motto: "Iron is expensive, but silicon is cheap." That is, get a good standard bus machine, and when new modifi- cations come out, you can afford to buy a card every now and then. Of all the readily adaptable machines I've examined, the S-100 bus variety seems the most versatile and most likely to be in the forefront of the small -computer revolution. And do understand that when I give opinions like this, I've discussed them with I think I'd rather chase geese for pens than have to use BASIC to write an editor. many others who have a lot of knowl- edge and experience. Even so, I may be wrong — indeed, the way things change so in this field, I'm bound to be wrong sometimes. Another reader asks why I ignore FORTH, which has a respectable number of dedicated — dare I say fanatic? — devotees. Alas, I continue to agree with my mad friend: FORTH is not a higher-level language at all. Instead, it's a kind of assembly lan- guage that uses the programmer as a precompiler. This is not to say that you can't do magnificent things in FORTH, and in- deed I'm told that the language is nearly ideal for certain kinds of pro- grams. It's good with graphics, and Atari programmers are enthusiastic about its power for writing games and drawing elaborate maps and dis- plays. (Of course, Atari programmers have a heavy incentive to like FORTH: for a long time it was nearly the only powerful language available for their machines.) The problem is FORTH is unlike most languages and thus takes a lot of learning; and until recently you had to invest a good deal of time in the language before you could tell whether it was right for you. That has now changed. Whether or not you in- tend to learn FORTH, you can learn a lot from Leo Brodie's new book Start- ing FORTH. I very much liked this book; in- DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR COMPUTER IS TONITE V AMDEK 1. CONTRAST 2. POWER-BRIGHT 3. V-HOLD 4. H-HOLD VIDEO 100 12 BLACK* WHITE MONITOR FULL FACTORY WARRANTY $7995 for APPLE 16K RAM CARD! ♦language transparent *69 95 COEX factory warranty floffy D 5 1 /V-100 PER BOX ALL CERTIFIED - 100% GUARANTY $14900 ABOVE WITH HUB RINGS $16900 VISION-80 @ 80x24 Video Display Card *249°° Vista Computer Company's new Vision-80 board is a sophisticated yet easy to use video display card for the Apple™ computer. FLOPPY DISK DRIVE DESIGNED FOR $ S\ Q795 YODR APPLE® I TRACK ZERO MICRO SWITCH DOS 3.2.1* DOS 3.3 Fourth PASCAL* CP/M Systems CONTROLLER CARD FOR ABOVlf-99 00 EXTENDER CARDS for APPLE. • . .*16?s FOR I.B.M. . . • .*l9?s PROTOTYPING CARDS Applets I B M * 49 95 NEW FROM EPSON TO APPLE PARALLEL INTERFACE ! $49.95 CABLE INCLUDED Components Express, he 1380 E. Edinger, Santa Ana, CA 92705 (714) 558-3972 286 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 79 on inquiry card. VISUAL presents economic elegance and high performance in a low-cost terminal. $695 lis FEATURE COMPARISON CHART FEATURE VISUAL 50 Hazeltine Esprit ADDS Viewpoint Lear Siegler ADM-5 Televideo 910 Tilt and Swivel YES NO NO NO NO Detached Keyboard YES NO YES NO NO N-Key Rollover YES NO YES NO NO Audible Key Click YES YES NO NO NO Menu Set-Up Mode YES NO NO NO NO Status Line YES NO NO NO NO Full 5 Attribute Selection YES NO NO NO YES Smooth Scroll YES NO NO NO NO Line Drawing Character Set YES NO NO NO NO Block Mode YES YES NO NO YES Insert/Delete Line YES YES NO NO YES Bi-Directional Aux Port YES YES NO YES NO Columnar Tabbing YES YES NO NO YES Independent RCV/TX Rates YES NO NO NO NO Answerback User Programmable YES NO NO OPT. NO The VISUAL 50 represents a new approach in low cost terminals. Although it costs drastically less, it offers the features you expect from the high priced units. For example, the VISUAL 50 enclosure is econom- ically designed in light weight plastic and can easily be swiveled and tilted for maximum operator comfort. A detached keyboard, smooth scroll, large 7 x 9 dot matrix characters and non-glare screen are a few of the many human engineering features normally offered only on much higher priced terminals. Another distinctive feature of the VISUAL 50 is its emulation capability. VISUAL 50 is code-for-code compatible with the Hazeltine Esprit,™ ADDS Viewpoint/" Lear Siegler ADM-3A™ and DEC VT-52." Menu driven set-up modes in non-volatile memory allow easy selection of terminal parameters. And you're not limited to mere emulation. As the chart shows, the VISUAL 50 has features and versatility the older, less power- ful low cost terminals simply cannot match. The price of the VISUAL 50? Only $695 list. Call or write for full details on the latest in the industry's finest line of video terminals. Service available in principal cities through Sorbus Service, Division of Management Assistance, Inc. See for yourself Circle 405 on Inquiry card. Visual Technology Incorporated 540 Main Street, Tewksbury, MA 01876 Telephone (617) 851-5000. Telex 951-539 Circle 371 on inquiry card. SBC-800 S-100 IEEE STAND ALONE SINGLE BOARD COMPUTER USES Z-80A (2 or 4MHz) EATURES: RS232 Parallel and Ser.al I/O Pon • Pro- aUfl Baud Rale 1 10-9600 • Programmable Inter- QUR PRICE net!* • On Board EPROM • 1 K On Board RAM A.n-ni, ilrlerl anrl Tested. Regular $325 $ O Q COO CABLE $25.00 LJU FDC-1 S-100 IEEE 696 FLOPPY DISC CONTROLLER USES WD 1795-02 FEATURES: State of the art digital separator • 2.2CPM Bios lor SBC2/4 and FDC-1 • Drives both 6W or 8 " intermixed • Step Rales QUR PRICE cm also la- '■' ■ I • SD and DD Formais • Digital Pruwmle Compensation Assembled and Tested. CABLE S35.00 S-100 IEEE REALTIME CLOCK CALENDAR GIVE YOUR COMPUTER THE Hour- Minute- Second-Day Month- Year FEATURES: Solrwarc conttol inlontpls • Onboard OUR PRICE $ 139°° i; Battery mairrtalns clock v THE SYNERGY-CARD FOR YOOR APPLE II FEATURES: Parallel Port • Serial Port • Clock Calendar • Two Inter- val Timers • FJSR X-10 Ultrasonic Interlace • 1CK RAM. $ f ACjDO Synnrgv-Card with 16K RAM and Instruction I WW 0PT-1 Adds Parallel. Senal and Timers S59.00 ■ 0PT-2 Adds Clock Calander (must have Opl-1) 49.00 OPT-3 Adds BSR X-10 Interlace [must have Opt-l/-2| 39.00 Parallel Cable S3D .00 Serial Cable S20.00 HIGH QUALITY S-100 MAIN FRAMES 3 Models to Pick From FEATURES: Forced Air Cooling )B-25 Cutouts • +8VDC 0 25A and ± 1 6VDC © f)A Power Supply • From Panel Power and Reset Switches • Slots and Powei Supply lor 51V" or 8 Disc Drives MF+ with 8 Slots $450.00 MF+MD w/8 Slois and Power Supply for BW Drives 550.00 MF+DD w/8 Slols and Power Supply (or 8" Drives 700.00 Please add extra shipping for this item . . S12.00 APPLE II COMPATIBLE ASCII FULL rs KEYBOARD COMPACT SIZE FEATURES; N-Kuy Rollover Function • Full ASCII Code Outputs • High Flexibility lor Modification or Expansion HMD PniPf • TTL Luvni Outputs • On- Off indications fc*k#knn • Low Power Consumption tlCi^ Apple II Keyboard WW TANDON DISC DRIVES TM100-1 514" 40 Track SSDD 250K S248.00 TM100-2 5W 80 Track DSDD 500K 319.00 TM100-3 5%" 80 Track SSDD 5O0K 320.00 TM100-4 5W "160 Track DSDD 1000K 424.00 TM848-1 8 SLIMLINE SSDD 5O0K 424.00 TM848-2 8 SLIMLINE DSDD 1000K 569.00 EPROM's T-7 B up 2716 $395 S3. 55 2732 740 6.55 2532 849 7.55 2764 19.95 CALL MISC CDP-1854ACE (UART) Z-80A CPU RAM'S 50 up CALL CALL CALL CALL 50 u 6116P-3(150nS| 6.50 6.30 CALL 2H4L-2|200nS] 2.10 1.70 CALL 4164-2 (200nS) 7.90 7.49 CALL (150nS available) CALL S4.80 5.29 16K RAM EXPANSION KIT FOR TRS-80 MODEL III S1 2.95/8 JOGGING RADIO HEADPHONES ^^^f* ^ w I'UflCHA -- ^ SUNTRONICS CO., inc. — 12621 CRENSHAW BOULEVARD — HAWTHORNE. CALIFORNIA 90250 STORE HGURI MON.-FRI. 900am lo 6 30|,m +m&r iiUKtnuuHS SATURDAY 1 0:00am to 5:00pm IN CALIFORNIA OUTSIDE CALIFORNIA TOLL FREE (213) 644-1149 1-800-421-5775 Mail Order— Minimum Order: S10. Send Money Order or Check lo: P.O. BOX 1957— Dept. R. HAWTHORN E. CA 90250. Use your VISA or Mastercard (please include expiration dale). Add S2.00 postage and handling lo order. California residents add 6% sales lax. deed, I was given it in San Francisco and idly thumbed through it in the airport bar while waiting for my plane. Next thing I knew I was trapped. I read it while flying home, and then when I got home I continued reading; and when you consider that I'm not a FORTH enthusiast, and in- deed don't much care for the lan- guage, you'll have an idea of how well Brodie writes. I can't imagine why a book about FORTH, illustrat- ed with goofy cartoons of a smooth- talking interpreter, a masked execu- tioner, a tonsured dictionary-writing compiler, a numbers runner, and various monsters would fascinate me; but it did, and indeed kept me reading long after I decided that FORTH was not for me. If after reading Brodie you decide you want to use FORTH, I'm told that FORTH Encyclopedia by Mitch Derrick and Linda Baker is very good. Note that I do not myself endorse it. The authors gave me the book, and it seems to be written in English; but it's a reference work, not a text, and thus organized in a way that assumes you know more about FORTH than I'm ever likely to. People who do know FORTH seem to like it a lot.B Software Reviewed CBASIC $150 CB/80 (compiler version of CBASIC) \-V( )KA1I( )N Circle // <>n 1 1 m (■ 1 1 1 v card I72( ) IEK >th avi NtJi n.i . ill 1 1 1 vui , wasiiinuun vnex n> A SUBSII JlAU'Y < )l I Nl Ri JY S< III N< .1 S ' < )RP( )RATK >N (2< >6) 881 955( ) ing factors that affect each step of a product's life span is beyond the scope of this article. However, the results of my investigations revealed the following sequence of events leading to architectural stabilization: • First, engineers (or technical specialists) conceive of a new product class and build it for its own sake. • Engineers then use the product. • If the product promises to fun- damentally revise the quality of life for its users, the number of par- ticipating engineers will swell. (They sense the market potential and have visions of earning wealth and fame.) • Eventually, this growing en- thusiasm gains popular notice, and certain nonengineers purchase the product. These nonengineers find the architectures designed by engineers to be difficult to use; they recommend improvements but are willing to undergo difficulty in using the prod- uct. They are "enthusiasts." • Increasing demand increases pro- duction, which lowers the product's price. • People who are not willing to undergo substantial difficulty in using the product purchase it. These users are disappointed by the currently available products. They are con- sumers — they want the benefits with- out the difficulties. • More communication about the product occurs in the popular media. • If the product does not fill a truly fundamental need, its popularity sub- sides, leaving a core group of en- thusiasts that will then grow at a slower rate. The product will show a gradual evolution of architecture across time. • If the need for the product is truly fundamental, demand continues to grow, but actual market growth may slacken. • This growth of demand (potential market) motivates engineers and en- thusiasts to redesign the product to make it easy to operate. In other words, swelling demand precipitates the creation of a human interface that makes the device easy to use. • An easy-to-use version of the pro- duct finds a ready and willing market. • The first manufacturer to imple- ment ease of use soon gains a market edge. • Other manufacturers either follow suit or perish. This sequence, or one closely analogous to it, occurs in the evolu- tion of all product markets. For the microcomputer market, certain fac- tors have become clear. First, the microcomputer market has not yet achieved architectural stabilization. Second, the microcomputer appears to have all the elements necessary to cause architectural stabilization to occur; that is, its impact on users is of sufficient importance to force stabil- ization to occur. Third, the micro- computer market has currently reached that step of increased popular demand that should precipitate the development of an easy-to-use ver- sion of the product. It's no accident that human-factors engineering has risen to such promi- nence over the last year. It is a natural and necessary step in the evolution of the product classification from a tech- nical specialist's market to an enthusi- ast's market and finally to a consum- er's market. Thus the development of a human interface coupled with mass-produc- tion technology should be the key to opening the consumer market for the computer. Let me digress for a moment to observe that architectural stabiliza- tion occurs at many levels of observa- tion, not only with products such as those discussed here but also with subproducts — raw materials and their elemental forms. All undergo micro- cosmic architectural stabilization. Likewise, stabilization tends to occur in structures far larger than products: nations, families, and businesses. All exhibit variations of this same phe- nomenon. It thus appears that ar- chitectural stabilization is a fun- damental mechanism of systems evo- lution: the imposition of a mutually accommodative interface between two counter efforts, thoughts, forces, or intentions. In Search of a Human Interface The many clues that led to the de- CALL YOUR LOCAL DYSAN OFFICE CA: Los Angeles (213)907-1803 Orange County (714)851-9462 Sacramento (916)966-8037 San Francisco/Sunnyvale (408) 727-9552 DC: Washington (703)356-6441 GA: Atlanta *(404) 952-0919 IL: Chicago (312) 882-8176 (800) 323-5609 MA: Boston (617)273-5955 *(6 17) 229-2800 Ml: Detroit (313) 525-8240 MN: Minneapolis *(612)814-7199 MO: St. Louis (314) 434-401 1 NY: New York (212)687-7122 OH: Cleveland (216)333-3725 PA: Pittsburgh (412)261-0406 Philadelphia (609) 939-4762 IX: Dallas/Ft. Worth *(817)261-5312 WA: Seattle (206)455-4725 includes OEM Sales Dysan Diskettes are also available from all ComputerLand Stores, Sears Business Systems Centers, and many independent computer outlets nationwide. For the location of the Dysan sales outlet nearest you, contact Dysan at: (408) 988-3472 Toll Free: (800) 538-8133 Telex: 171551 DYSAN SNTA TWX: 9 10-338-2 144 H Dysan •/corporation Circle 142 on inquiry card. 296 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc WHAT IS THE TRUE COST OF A DISKETTE? If you said at least S 186.50*, you're probably close. * Confused? It's simple. The minimum cost of a one-sided, single den- sity 8" diskette equals the purchase price plus the cost of the time ^ to fully load the data onto the disc*. The adjacent diagram tells the i ^^""* l ^s story. As you can see, the purchase price of a diskette is a small / fraction of the total cost of ownership. So why not pay a I few cents more for the best diskette available? ^ If • That's where Dysan's qaality comes in. Dysan disk- ettes and mini-diskettes are manufactured to the toughest quality standards in the industry. Every diskette is tested between the tracks as well as on the tracks to insure you 100% error-free recording over the entire disc surface. Dysan quality protects your investment of S186.50. You know how costly time and data losses can be should your "bargain" diskette be faulty. Every penny you think you save on the purchase of magnetic media could cost you dearly. Why take the risk when you an have Dysan? 0 Dysan ^/corporation Our Media Is Our Message 520 f Patrick Henry Drive Santa Clara, CA 95050 *S4.00 represents Dysan's suggested retail price for a one-sided, single density 8" diskette, packaged ten to a box. Minimum total cost of ownership = S186.50 * S 1 82. 50 represents the cost of data loading (approximately 22 hours at 11 , 106 keystrokes/hour at a labor cost of S8.23/hour), based on 1981 Data Entry Management Association (DEMA) National Averages. o CMC SuperSystems™ 350K to 38 megabytes of built-in storage Plus . . . multi-user capability CMC's SuperSystems are offered in seven computers, from the Model 100 CPU terminal which boots directly off our hard disk system, to 38 megabytes of storage in 5% " hard disks built into the desktop computers. In between there are two 5 V floppy drives, available in 350Kb or 750Kb or 1.5 megabytes of disk storage. Our SuperFive, SuperTen and Super20 systems offer 6, 12 or 19 megabytes, respec- tively. Included also are CP/M 2.2 operating system and Microsoft Basic 80, diagnostics and communications software. Standard are two Z80A processors operating at 4mhz, full ASCII keyboard, numeric keypad and cursor controls, 64k RAM, battery-operated real time clock, lower case descenders, 25 lines by 80 character screen format, reverse video, two RS232 ports, and other features. CMC's SuperSystems offer you the best price/performance ratio in the industry. The seven models support accounting, word pro- cessing, programming and scientific applica- tions and a full range of standard software operating under CP/M. Our central hard disk system supports up to 64 users, with up to 80 megabytes of cen- tral disk storage. High resolution pixel graphics are available, too. Cost effective? You bet! For example, our SuperFive, with 6.38 megabytes of hard disk storage, lists for $5,995, or less than 94 cents per kilobyte. CMC was the first to offer a 5'A " hard disk in a desktop microcomputer. We've been shipping systems for more than a year. Now we're the first with a 19-megabyte mini- winchester. Our systems are reliable. Just ask the hun- dreds of dealers selling our SuperSystems. We offer service and technical support, and Module replacement, in the unlikely event you ever need it. Nationwide on-site service is available through CMC's dealer network. Prices start at $2495 See us at Comdex, Booth No. 4128 ■ |\#|m ■'■''"■! \ : k^^v i' vi ^4 !'i \ — \ ^^^■i B «v I ^^^Bi SB R «H ■ H ™ m ^HJv *k HI H ^ta^R^ ■ «B^» Vk^nn A Division of Computer Marketing Corporation 11058 Main - Suite 220 • Bellevue, WA 98004 • Phone (206) 453-9777 • Telex: 152556 SEATAC Call Toil-Free 1-800-426-2963 CALC SCHED DRAW System Controls File Controls ® # $ % $ a * 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 BOLD ITALIC 5IZE STYLE Typestyles E> LINE INSERT WORD t 1 Figure 1: The Human Applications Standard Computer Interface (HASCI) keyboard divides the computer system into a series of menus that link the user (as pattern recognizer) to the computer (as symbol manipulator). Virtually every application requires that certain fundamental actions be performable, and these fundamental actions are placed directly on the keyboard. velopment of our proposed human interface (HASCI) came primarily from fields far removed from the nor- mal realm of computer science. The difficulty was this: before an interface could be designed, the actual relation- ship of man and computer had to be defined. I had concluded early on that the entire question of artificial in- telligence could be ignored in the de- sign of an interface, which was for- tunate since no workable definition of intelligence exists. Rather, an inter- face involves questions of capability: What can people do, and what are they good atl This approach proved very profitable. Even if you were offered a million dollars to manually multiply two times two a million times, you would have a very difficult time completing the task; most humans would be psy- chologically incapable of completing the job. Yet virtually any computer can do it easily and with remarkable speed. Conversely, such problems as "recognize a certain person's voice," solved by almost any infant (especial- ly if the voice belongs to the child's mother), still represent a major chal- lenge to even the finest computers and programmers. An analysis of these problems sug- gests that people are much better than computers at recognizing patterns, while computers are much better than people at manipulating symbols. Following this logic, the ideal rela- tionship of computer and user should involve the computer as a symbolic manipulator and the user as a pattern recognizer. This explains the overwhelming popularity of word processors and spreadsheet calculators. One manipu- lates words and letters, the primary symbols of man. The other manipu- lates numbers, man's second most im- portant symbol set. It follows that a complete computer for the typical user should provide the facilities for manipulating all the primary symbols of man (words and letters, numbers, general symbols or drawings, and the temporal relation- ships between these symbols — time). We usually manipulate these sym- bols on pieces of paper, which if saved for later reference may be generically called documents. We re- quire a means of storing, retrieving, and indexing these documents and of communicating their contents to some other person. These considerations gave birth to a hardware-software synthesis. Rather than take the accepted path of generalization — designing the com- puter interface to accommodate any imaginable task — we conceived of an interface that would be specifically designed for symbolic manipulation tasks as described herein. The HASCI keyboard (figure 1) was the result. Fundamental Principles The described theoretical explora- tions led to the evolution of a number of principles that form the rationale of the HASCI standard. A detailed examination of these principles follows. The Computer Is a Tool The computer as symbol pro- cessor and the user as pattern recognizer complement each other well. In this arrangement, the weak- nesses of each can be ignored; their strengths added together form a synergetic whole far more powerful than either, and such a blending of strengths is the functional property of any tool. A hammer uses the advantages of a steel working face (hardness and mass) combined with the advantages of the human arm (motion and leverage) joined by an interface (the handle) to perform some task dictated by intellect. Similarly, the computer uses the advantages of electronics (rapid manipulation of symbols) combined with the capabilities of the human mind (pattern recognition), joined together by an interface (key- board and screen) in order to perform tasks dictated by intellect. In an ideal situation the relation- ship of user and tool approaches one of transparency . The user is able to apply intellect directly to the task; the Circle 70 on inquiry card. October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc 299 tool itself seems to disappear. This transparency is characteristic of all expert applications of tools — every- thing from hacksaws to racing cars. Thus, a study of tools as a class can provide us with a set of rules that are applicable to a computer interface: • The interface is a means of control- ling the tool. • The interface must accommodate the needs of both the application and the user. • The interface itself must present the information necessary for its use. • Mastery of the interface may re- quire practice. • With mastery, the interface must become transparent to the user. Clearly Label the Controls Televisions are easy to operate. They have a limited number of con- trols. A stereo may have far more controls — complex models have dozens. But in each case, the controls either produce an immediately observable effect or are very clearly labeled as to their function. In each case, a relatively casual comparison of the controls on the device with the results produced and the understand- ing provided by intellect makes oper- ation almost self-evident. Such is true of all mass-consumed products. How- ever, on the average computer, there are numerous functions that are in no way self-evident. Perform this test: walk up to a computer you're not familiar with and pretend it's the first computer you've ever looked at. Then guess how to save or load a file of informa- tion. Get it? No. way! You've got to study the manual and learn the code. You're required to learn and mem- orize the information. A little memory requirement is a positive thing: it makes the skill more valu- able. But when you must rely on memory, the interface is effectively in your head rather than on the machine. (Imagine the potential hazards if a power saw were designed this way.) We therefore see the necessity of providing controls for the major functions of the computer and of clearly labeling these controls. Ideal- ly, activating the controls should generate an instant feedback to the user: not just an audible "click" to prove the button was pushed, but also a significant change in status (such as a new message on the video display) indicating that something is happening. Transportable Knowledge The concept of transportable operator knowledge refers to the fact that users of consumer products ex- pect and demand that the skills they acquire in learning to operate one machine be applicable on any machine of the same class. For example, consider the type- writer. There are minor differences in the placement of certain controls, but a user who has learned on one type- writer can pretty well sit down at any typewriter in the world and type away. This is not because the task is overly simple: a typist must learn to HSjjl.TJJ INVITES YOU TO KSZIIiH H SAVE UP TO 40% PflMPARP 0UR PRICES bUIYIrAnC-ouR service RALSTON -CLEAR WATERS ELECTRONICS 536 N.E. 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PAYMENT: Cashier's checks, certified checks, money orders Add 3% for Visa & Master Charge. Allow 20 days for personal checks to clear. REFUNDS: 10% restocking charge on all returns or exchanges. No refunds on opened software. Call first. GUARANTEE: All products with full manufacturer 's warranty. Sanyo and Apple warrant y available. We have full repair and service facilities for all electronic repairs with HP, Dynascan, Pioneer, Sanyo and Apple trained and certified technicians. For any technical service call them for instant advice or questions right on their benches at 15031 479-1150. REPAIRS: Call for details on quality guaranteed discount repair and reconditioning service. We have been repairing electronic equipment fur 12 years and love it! CONTROLLER RANA ELITE I DRIVE CONTROLLER 4 DRIVES CCS 7710 A OR D SERIAL INT VIOEX 80 COLUMN VIDEX ENHANCER II VIDEX FUNCTION STRIP LOWER CASE ADAPTOR 16K RAM CARD MICROSOFT OR MPC ALS MICROTEK BAM- 1 /-8l) CARD (MICROSOFT) MICROMODEM (HAYES) SMART MODEM (HAYES) NOVATION MODEMS APPLE CAT AUTO CAT CAT 0 CAT MOUNTAIN A/D CONVERTER MOUNTAIN C.P.S. KBD 23 KEYPAD SUPR-TERM (80) COLUMN) SUP-R-MOD R.F. MODULATOR JOYSTICK (T.G.) 9" B&W MONITOR (SANYO) 12" BAW MONITOR (SANYO) 12" GREEN MONITOR SANYO) 1 2" GREEN MONITOR ZENITH) 12" GREEN MONITOR BMC) I 3" COLOR MONITOR SANYO) EPSON CABLE & INTERFACE EPSON GRAFTRAX PLUS HAYES CHRONOGRAPH $359 $479 J359 $79 $379 $119 $129 $239 $119 $69 (39 $149 $139 $99 $275 $2f.'J $209 $309 $209 $144 $159 $269 $149 $139 $299 $24 $45 $145 $189 $229 $119 $114 1385 $79 180 1195 410 PROGRAM RECORDER 8I00ISK DRIVE 820 PRINTER 822 PRINTER 825 PRINTER 830 MODEM 850 INTERFACE MODULE 853 loK MEMORY EXPANSION MPC 32K 175 ! 129 $249 $339 $579 $149 llfaS $79 $105 SOFTWARE VISICALC (ATARI) BASIC (ATARI) PACMAN (ATARI) OTHER ATARI PROGRAMS VISICALC VISIDEX VISIPLOT VISITERM VISIT REND /PLOT VISIPAC MICROLAB DAI A FACTORS D B MASTER (STONEWARE) SUP R-TEXT M WORDSTAR B.P.I. SOFTWARE (each) ZORK SARGON CHESS GALAX IAN VERBATIM DISKS MAXELL DISKS OPUS DISKS THE SOURCE LOCKSMITH 1145 175 1214 1499 1229 1179 1109 1349 1319 135 $29 $22 $29 $34 $23 185 $75 LIKE OUR PRICES? SEND FO R OU R CATA LOG ! DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED! 300 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 334 on inquiry card. PRINTS LIKE A DAISY... COSTS LIKE A MATRIX. Integral Data Systems introduces the only low-cost dot matrix printer on the market that features Maisey™ printing. Maisey printing is a technique that allows you to produce correspondence- quality text approaching that of more expensive daisy-wheel printers, but at much faster speeds. How fast? With Microprism Printer's™ dual speed capability, you can output at 75cps in correspondence-quality and UOcps in high-speed data mode. And it also features sharp, high -density graphics in an 84 x 84 dpi format. YouH get cleaner, crisper output than you ever thought possible in a single pass. Other standard features of the Microprism include proportional MM. M spacing, text justification and, of course, software compatibility with our more expensive Prism Printer™ line. The Microprism Printer is the perfect system mate that can handle all of your printing requirements . . . it's the best of both worlds. So if you've been waiting for the price of daisy-wheel printers to come down, or the quality of dot matrix to go up, now is the time to check out the exciting new Microprism Printer from Integral Data Systems. Stop in at your local dealer today and ask for a demonstration. If you need the name of the dealer nearest you, call us toll-free at (800)258-1386. Or write Integral Data Systems, Milford, NH 03055. MICROPRISM™ \\^y Integral Data Systems, Inc. Microprism Printer, Prism Printer and Maisey are registered trademarks o( Integral Data Systems, Circle 197 on inquiry card. Milford, nh. manipulate a hundred or more keys, switches, and levers to operate the machine in differing circumstances. However, the typewriter as an ar- chitecture is fully stabilized to per- form its appointed task. All type- writers have carriage returns, a means of setting tabs, a margin release, etc. These are sufficiently clear that an inspection of any machine rapidly reveals how to per- form these functions. Now consider the computer. Near- ly every software writer and hard- ware designer has a unique way of telling a computer to save and load a file. Even though virtually every operator needs to perform these func- tions with great frequency, every time you change machines or pro- grams you have to learn how to save and load all over again. (This is not to say that any one of these ways is wrong; rather, that on a consumer computer the basics should be done in one workable, learnable way.) It is ironic that the data-processing and computer science industries have given so much attention to trans- portability of software. The benefits of this transportability appear to ac- crue primarily to programmers, and while it's understandable that people should create tools that they them- selves need, transportable software eases only the programmer's burden. Transportable operator knowledge serves all users. In a similar vein, it becomes clear that arguing the benefits of 16-bit ver- sus 8-bit machines is analogous to arguing the merits of 8-cylinder ver- sus 4-cylinder engines. Your choice should be based on how much pay- load you expect to haul, not whether you get a steering wheel with the ve- hicle. Performance from the consum- er's standpoint is the ease with which desired tasks are accomplished: fast and difficult is still difficult. When we approach the matter in this light, we realize that consumers will expect computers, both complex and simple, to have interfaces that are virtually identical. For all intents and purposes, anything that can be run on a 68000 microprocessor should be able to run on an 8080; the difference should be in how fast and how much, not how. In terms of operating systems, while Unix may have certain advan- tages over CP/M (or vice versa), this is of no interest to the average user. Operating systems are tools for pro- grammers. The symbol manipulator should function as an intelligent inter- preter between the user and the oper- ating system, and that interpreter should function almost identically on any operating system. (Most applica- tions programs are considered as run- ning under an operating system. The interface, however, should be consid- ered as running over the operating system. It actually mediates between the operating system and the user just as would a programmer. In this case the interface is the expert who makes the difficult seem easy.) Design Out Technical Choices Early in the days of the S-100 bus, I put together a kit for a serial interface board (the 3P + S). It was quite marvelous and went together easily, that is, until I got to the "jumper op- tions." There were dozens of options. You could configure the system just about any way you might imagine: number of data bits, parity, stop bits, and so on. All fine except for one small problem: I was a novice com- puter user and had no possible way of knowing which of these options served my purposes. After a few days of messing about and getting nowhere I asked a computer expert for help. He had the board configured for my system in a matter of minutes. This highlights a typical problem. Because a computer can be con- figured in many ways, experts often want to build in every conceivable option because "you never know what the user may want to do with the system." However, we have already accepted the concept that the consumer computer is a tool for manipulating symbols. So we do have an idea of what the user will want to do. Even a so-called user-friendly sys- tem may have an incredible array of choices. I recently bought what was billed as a user-friendly electronic mail system. It offers me options of stop bits and parity and data rate- just like the old 3P + S. It also presents a vast array of choices of how to send the data: compacted for- mat, binary code, straight ASCII (American Standard Code for Infor- mation Interchange), and more. The designer of this code apparently con- fused "user-friendly" with "all possi- OCTOBER SPECIALS •t*^* 1 XEROX 820-11 §W DD - $1995' FEATURES: 4MHz, Z80A, CP/M BASED, 64K RAM, 12' HI RES SCREEN (24 x 80), DD DISK CONTROLLER, THIN LINE GRAPHICS, ENHANCED SCREEN FEATURES (H/L INTENSITY, REVERSE VIDEO), TONE GENERATOR, 2 RS-232 PORTS, ONE PARALLEL PRINTER PORT, ALSO BOOTS AS INTELLIGENT TERMINAL, S1 99 OPTION PACKAGE Save $46! • Z80BCPUSPEEDUP-Programmableto6MHz (Simple plug-in installation) t DISPLAY RISER • Elevates 4" or 5", Steel Construction • ACRYLIC GREEN SCREEN- Molded to lit CRT • NYLON ANTI-GLARE SCREEN - Stretches over CRT • SYSTEM DUST COVERS • 3 covers protect CRT, Drives i Keyboard ■PRICE INCLUDES THE NEW XEROX 820 II DISPLA Y/PROCESSOR. KEYBOARD and 2 TANDON DRIVES. $299 OPTION PACKAGE Save $63! • INCLUDES ALL THE THE S199 PACKAGE PLUS- $149 • Box ot 1 0 Diskettes (5 '/." SS/DD) $ 25 $ 29 • Surge-Protected Multiple Outlet Strip S 19 (6 outlets, circuit breaker, on'oft, light) S 19 S 19 • Enter Key lor Numeric Keypad (installed) S 19 • Cooling Fan fits in display/processor, quiet $ 35 $ 29 t Parallel Printer Cable tor 820-11 S 19 All options available separately — PLUS ADDITIONAL SAVINGS on other Hardware & Software! WORDSTAR SPELLSTAR MAILMEHGE $225 $115 DATASTAR CALCSTAR SOI $160 $135 XEROX 820 II SYSTEMS 5W' SS/DD -$1995* 5 1 // DS/DD - $2295* 8" SS/DD - $2695* 8" DS/DD - $2995* microVslEST Box 545, 1700 Front Street Fort Benton, MT 59442 CALL COLLECT TO ORDER: (406)622-5651 9-5MOT.M-F VISA, MC, Cash, OK, MO, COO: Wd 3% to VISA d IK. Add3%taSMr>^r^'tns.VaUPS.M«*numS2iO SUPERSORT $115 cm XEROX aaft-eao ll 3f « tiademerta ot XEROX Corp. lartt of the Digital Rfttraarct- Corp. 302 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc TIME-PROVEN While new printers with impressive specifications are introduced on an almost daily basis, only time will tell the true quality of the product. Over the past 2 years our customers have continued to buy the DS180 printer, not only because of its impressive performance and competitive price, but also because of our outstanding track record for product reliability and customer support. We have continually improved on the performance of the DS180 by incorporating such enhancements as dot addressable graphics, 6 user-selectable print sizes and a 2000 character buffer. These features coupled with 180 cps printing, parallel and serial interfaces, adjustable tractor feed and over 40 other programmable features, make the DS180 one of the most versa- tile matrix printers available today. Before you select your next printer, why not take a look at a time-proven performer— the Datasouth DS180. The DS180 printer is available nationwide through our network of sales/service distributors. data©®* computer corporation P.O. Box 240947: Charlotte, N.C. 28224: 704/523-8500 Tlx: 6843018 DASOU UW Circle 129 on inquiry card. Introducing better company planning, company-wide, with VisiCalc Advanced Version. More than 300,000 business professionals have discovered how much help our VisiCalc® program can be in planning, budgeting and forecasting. Now we can help businesses even more. VisiCalc Advanced Version does it all VisiCalc Advanced Version makes it easy to extend the problem-solving power, speed and accuracy of the "electronic worksheet" throughout an organization. With this program, you'll be able to leverage the knowledge of your most knowledgeable people. Make more productive use of more of your staff. And do a better, faster, smarter job. "I create a complex, yet easy-to- use worksheet. . ." The best way to do what every company wants to do better With VisiCalc Advanced Ver- sion, the people and depart- ments in your firm will be able to quickly develop their plans, in a uniform format, for easier consolidation into your overall plan. And everyone involved in your planning process will be able to make their most produc- tive contribution to the effort. Sophisticated planning made easy for everyone Using VisiCalc Advanced Version, knowledgeable indi- viduals within your company can create powerful, Prefor- matted worksheets, or "tem- plates," for nearly anything numerical. For example, the knowl- "Then, doing our department's budget is as easy as filling in the blanks!" "The program makes it practically impossible to make mistakes!" "I ask 'What if?' by changing any number. . . the netv results are instantly calculated" edge of a corporate financial officer can be applied to create templates for complete and consistent financial reporting. Then others in your company without extensive financial or computer expertise can easily use these templates to provide the desired information in a uniform manner. It's so easy. They simply "fill in the blanks" on the work- sheet. In seconds, the pro- gram performs all the com- plex calculations built into the worksheet, and displays the answers to problems that could have taken hours to solve by hand. Everyone can consider "What if...?" The speed and versatility of VisiCalc Advanced Version make it easy to explore alter- natives. Both template build- protect all these parts of a worksheet. It can shield con- fidential data a user need not see and also guide a user step- by- step through a worksheet. You can also insure that a user can't enter a label when a number is called for — and vice versa. And if users ever need additional guidance in com- pleting their worksheets, VisiCalc Advanced Version provides comprehensive on-screen help, at a touch of the"?" key. Multi-sheet consolidation and finished reports, too VisiCalc Advanced Version makes it easier to consolidate worksheet totals from various "With just a few keystrokes I consolidate the worksheets. . ." ers and worksheet users can change any number in a prob- lem and instantly see the new results. Everyone will be able to analyze the impact of deci- sions before they make them. Mistakes locked out, help built in With VisiCalc Advanced Ver- sion there's no worry about someone accidentally altering formulas, titles or any other important inform- ation. The program can "And produce presentation-quality reports for my boss." groups, departments or divisions into concise, presen- tation-quality reports. See for yourself Visit your nearest computer store for a demonstration of VisiCalc Advanced Version. Or write us at 2895 Zanker Road, San Jose, CA 95134 for a copy of our brochure. Discover how easy it is to use electronic worksheets in your com- pany for problem-solving, company-wide. VlSlCORF PERSONAL SOFTWARE™ © 1982 VISICORP VisiCalc and Personal Software are trademarks of VisiCorp. ble options accessible." (The term "user friendly" must surely rate as the inanity of the decade. When was the last time you thought of a tool as "friendly"? "Usable" and "useful" are the appropriate operative terms.) Burdening the user with decisions concerning technical choices in no way addresses the task to which the tool will be applied, i.e., the manipulation of symbols. The system should automatically test the lines and choose settings appropriate for the circumstances. The user is then free to concentrate on the act of manipulating symbols rather than on the hardware. (This is how trans- parency is achieved). Thus a rule of thumb evolved: technical choices irrelevant to the symbol-manipulation task at hand should be eliminated from the user in- terface. Predictability In order to ease the chore of learn- ing the HASCI system, we have at- tempted to keep the system as straightforward and predictable as possible. We try to allow different operations to be performed in a similar fashion whenever possible or appropriate. This does not require that there be only one way of doing each function, however. For example, you can move the video cursor by pressing cursor keys on the HASCI keyboard. These arrow keys, when pressed in com- bination with the Shift key, or in combination with arguments such as WORD, move the cursor by dif- ferent units. Even complete novices experience little difficulty with this scheme. Learning is accomplished by inspection and some experimenta- tion. Burdening the user with decisions concerning technical choices in no way addresses the task to which the tool will be applied. However, experienced users may find this method cumbersome; mov- ing their fingers from the main key- board to type on a different group of keys slows them down. For the more- than-casual user, Control-letter func- tions (where you press a control key and a letter key simultaneously in- stead of a separate cursor key) are much quicker. Therefore, the HASCI processor also recognizes control key combinations for these same func- tions. In this fashion both the novice or occasional user as well as the profes- sional are well accommodated. Simplicity In designing a user interface it's im- portant to keep simple things simple. More complex functions may be handled in a more complex manner because these will typically be used by more experienced users. It's easy for experienced users to forget just how overwhelming a microcomputer can be. We attempt to judge the value of any product solely by the number of features offered for a given price. But what of the neophyte? Novices can assimilate only so much in one gulp, and that gulp is apt to be a small one. A year and a half ago I tested the concept of a seven-function word processor, analogous to a four-func- tion calculator. My premise was that severt functions are absolutely neces- sary for a useful screen editor: text entry, moving the cursor, insert char- acter, delete character, save file, load file, and print file. With these func- tions, you can handle almost any word-processing task. More ad- vanced functions can expand these capabilities and increase ease of use. I tested the validity of this screen editor on a number of nontechnical users and found that they could be taught these basic functions in a few minutes of verbal instruction. And with only these functions, the system IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER CALL FOR PRICE & AVAILABILITY 16K MEMORY W/O DRIVES CALL 64K MEMORY, 2 DRIVES. COLOR ADAPTER CALL 64K MEMORY, 2 DRIVES, MONOCHROME & PRINTER ADAPTER CALL APPLE II SOFTWARE VISICALC 189 VISITREND/VISIPLOT 210 VISIFILE 199 VISISCHEDULE 250 VISIDEX 199 BPI BUSINESS SOFTWARE 335 WORDSTAR 299 HAYES MICROMODEM II 299 MICROSOFT Z-80SOFTCARD 299 CALL FOR PRICE & AVAILABILITY KAYPROII(KAYCOMPII) CALL MONITORS AMDEX LOW-RES 13" COLOR I ... .365 SANYO 9" B&W 165 ZENITH 12" GREEN (ZVM-121) 110 NEC 12" GREEN (JB-1201) 169 TAXAN RGB VISION I 350 TAXAN RGB VISION II 525 TAXAN RGB VISION III 600 DISKETTES BASF 5 M " SS/DD/HUB RING (10) . . 23 BASF 5 V* " WITH PLASTIC BOX (101 .25 Epson EPSON MX-80 CALL EPSON MX-80FT CALL EPSON MX-100 CALL NEC 8023 FRICTION/TRACTOR . . . .499 'NEC 3530 SPIN WRITER 1650 THE GRAPPLER INTERFACE 129 OKIDATA MICROLINE 82A 575 OKIDATA MICROLINE 83A 745 C.ITOH STARWRITER F-10-40PU . . 1495 C.ITOH PROWRITER 8510 AP 499 SMITH CORONATP-1 650 •OLYMPIA ES100 SERIAL PRINTER 1295 •SPECIAL OF THE MONTH MECrc -8000 PC-8001A 32K W/24K ROM 5-FUNC. KEYS 735 PC-8012A I/O & EXPANSION SLOTS W/32K 475 PC-8031 A DUAL DRIVES 735 BENCHMARK WORD PROCESSOR 379 WORDSTAR 299 ATARI 800 & 400 ATARI 800 (16K) 675 ATARI 400(16K) 295 410 PROGRAM RECORDER 75 810 DISK DRIVE 435 16K RAM MEMORY MODULE 89 850 INTERFACE MODULE 165 830 ACOUSTIC MODEM 159 ATARI VISICALC 199 ATARI WORD PROCESSOR 125 SHARP PC-1500 PC-1500 HANDHELD COMPUTER ..255 CE-150 PRINTER/CASSETTE INTERFACE 215 CE-155 8K RAM EXPANSION UNIT. 120 (800)854-1941 romm ihrir nrw (714) 565 - 7092 Outside Ca. Order Desk V^^I I ||i#\i Ww l VIVJ\_ Technical & California SERVING YOU 4688 CONVOY STREET, SAN DIEGO, CA 92111 risk FREE since 1979 CALL OR WRITE FOR COMPLETE PRICE LIST mail order TO ORDER: Please send cashier's check or personal check (allow 10 business days to clear). VISA and Master Card credit card ser- vice add 3%. Shipping, handling and insurance in U.S. add 3%. Minimum $5.00. California residents add 6% sales tax. Foreign orders add 10% tor shipping. Equipment is subject to price change and availability. All equipment carries warranty. Store prices may differ from mail order prices. a 306 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 84 on inquiry card. CONVERT YOUR TERMINAL TO NATURAL GAS. The possibilities are end- less with the new Microfit™ instant personal computer. Use it for energy . management. Or data base management. Or communications. Any 'personal computer application. It transforms your terminal into a complete CP/M* system in about 15 minutes. CP/M means thousands of ready-to-use programs to choose from. Which means you can convert that terminal to just about any use imaginable. Buy only what you need: microcomputer, microcomputer and disk drives, or fully configured system including terminal. Microfit retrofits all Lear Siegler ADM-3A and ADM-5's, in addition to Televideo 912 and 920 terminals. It doesn't affect your warranty. Microfit. It's a personal computer. And an on-line terminal. And much more. Call us Nationwide at (800) 854-2684, California (800) 532-3717 Or write to the address below for complete information. DATA SYSTEMS MARKETING 5710 Ruffin Rd., San Diego, CA 92123. Circle 122 on inquiry card. MICROFIT. TURNS ORDINARY TERMINALS INTO EXTRAORDINARY COMPUTERS. *CPM i> a registered trademark of Digital Research Corporal ion. Circle 426 on inquiry card. MODEM $ 129 95 No other acoustic modem gives you all these fea- tures at this low price. The MFJ-1232 Acoustic Modem gives you a combination of features, quality and performance that others can't match at this price. 0-300 Baud, Bell 103 compatible. Originate/ Answer. Half/full duplex. RS-232, TTL, CMOS level compatible. Use any computer. Cassette tape recorder ports save data for reloading or re- transmission. 6 pole active filter handles weak signals. Carrier detect LED indicates adequate signal strength for data recognition. Quality "muffs" gives good acoustic coupling, isolates external noise for reliable data transfer. Crystal controlled. "ON" LED. Aluminum cabinet. 110 VAC or 9 volt batteries. 9x1 '/2x4 in. Apple II, II Plus: software and cable for modem, MFJ-1231, $39.95. Plugs into game port. No serial board needed. It's like having an extra port MFJ-1240 RS-232 TRANSFER SWITCH. Swit- ches computer between 2 peripherals (printer, terminal, modem, etc.). Like having extra port. Push button switches 10 lines (pins 2,3,4,5,6,8, 11,15,17,20). Change plug or cable to substitute other lines. Push button reverses transmit- receive lines. LEDs monitor pins 2,3,4,5,6,8,20. PC board eliminates wiring, crosstalk, line inter- ference. 3 RS-232 25 pin connectors. 7x2x6 in. $OQ95 MFJ-1108 AC POWER CENTER. *J5J AQ, ds convenience, prevents data loss, head bounce, equipment damage. B\ Relay latches power off during power transients. Multi-filters isolate equip- ment, eliminate interaction, noise, hash. Varistors suppress spikes. 3 isolated, switched socket pairs. One un- switched for clock, etc. Lighted power, reset switch. Pop-out fuse. 3 wire, 6 ft. cord. 15A, 125V, 1875 watts. Aluminum case. Black. 18x2%x2 in. MFJ-1107, $79.95. Like 1108 less relay. 8 sockets, 2 unswitched. Other models available, write for free specification sheet. Order from MFJ and try it. If not delighted, return within 30 days for refund (less shipping). One year unconditional guarantee. Order yours today. Call toll free 800-647-1800. Charge VISA, MC. Or mail check, money order. Add $4.00 each for shipping and handling. CALL TOLL FREE . . . 800-647-1800 Call 601-323-5869 in MS, outside continental USA ENTERPRISES INCORPORATED 921 Louisville Road, Starkville, MS 39759 MFJ was truly useful. In fact, some of the users never asked if there were more functions. Even such a bare-bones editor proved to be a very useful tool, about as far ahead of a typewriter as the typewriter is ahead of clay tablets and sharp sticks. I am not recommending that a screen editor be limited to these func- tions. On the contrary, I believe that constantly increasing the power of the system to manipulate symbols is mandatory and very desirable. How- ever, the basics must not be obscured by the complexities of more advanced functions. The HASCI standard calls for a selection of the most desirable func- tions to be placed directly on the key- board with dedicated function keys. Many users will never venture beyond this — they will never feel the need to do so. More complex func- tions can be accessed via the use of Control-letter functions for access to specialized menus. Defang the Computer Over the years I've seen dozens of ways to get bitten by a computer. For example, one popular computer uses 8-inch drives for increased storage. There's a catch, however: the disks absolutely must be removed from the machine before it is turned off; failure to do so results in absolute and com- plete loss of all data on every disk in the system. Now it's easy to say, "Always remember to take out the disks," but in fact even experienced users occasionally fail to remember. They get so wrapped up in the job they're doing (as they should) that they forget that the hardware itself needs this critical piece of attention. Another computer hazard shows up in the use of editors. Have you ever deleted something and then wished you hadn't? I'd be surprised if you said no. I know of no more awful feeling than to have just erroneously deleted a document that I put a week's work into. The system should be smart enough to alleviate or entire- ly eliminate these dangers. One answer to this problem is to deliberately place a slower menu structure in the way of any potential- ly destructive action. This often takes the form of a query, such as: "Your action will cause (a certain conse- quence) to occur. Please confirm this before I continue." Another solution would allow you to change any decision even after the computer has acted on it. This is ex- pressed as an Undo function key. Literally, this key allows you to undo or reverse your decision. For exam- ple, pressing the Undo key within a menu would take you to the prior menu. Pressing Undo within an editor after you had made a deletion would bring back the deletion. However, in order to fully defang the system, you should not allow the operator to un- do everything. For example, suppose you just typed in three pages of text and pressed the Undo key: would you want the system to Undo your three pages of text? Hardly. The HASCI concept requires that designers allow people to be people, not machines. Even the best of us oc- casionally forgets the right sequence or fails to do some required part of a protocol. It is the responsibility of the systems designers to defend the right of users to be human beings. One shortcoming of many com- puter systems involves the use of modes. I don't see modes as inherent- ly bad; certainly a human being does only one function at a time— you can't do order entry and write a letter at the same time. However, the prob- lem in most system designs is that it is very difficult to change between func- tions. Suppose you are merrily typing away and you need to calculate a few numbers for the document. Should you have to save the file, load the cal- culator, perform the computation, print the results, and reload the editor, all just to enter the result of your calculation? That's the trouble with modes. They make it difficult to change between functions and trap the user in the complexities of system integration. Common symbol-ma- nipulation tasks and document- manipulation tasks should be accessi- ble with push-button ease. HASO allows you to change functions at will by pushing the appropriate control. Furthermore, when appropriate, if a prior function is recalled, you should 308 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc A HARD DISK COMPUTER AT A PRICE THAT'S HARD TO BEAT. *5,995 RTI INTRODUCES "THE COMPETITOR" • Micro-computer: Produced by ADDS Applied Digital Data Systems Inc., a subsidiary of NCR • CPU: 5MHz 8085A-2 • RAM: 64K Bytes, parity protected • DISK: 5 Megabyte formatted 5^ " HARD DISK • Mini-Floppy: 800 K Bytes formatted • INPUT/OUTPUT PORTS: - Serial port — console terminal (bidirectional) - Serial port — communications up to 9600 baud - 8 bit parallel port — Centronics type printer - 13 bit parallel port — Letter Quality printer • Service available through the NCR Corporation nationwide and worldwide network • Standard Software: - MUON (CP/M Compatible multi-tasking operating system) - BASIC interpreter (Micro Soft) • Dimensions: 15% " W x 15% " D x 8% " H • Weight: 35 lbs. Everything listed above. . .only $5,995! "The Competitor" is an integrated system, well-supported, with hard-disk and floppy backup that will run CP/M software in a large variety of business applications. We call it "The Competitor" because it is priced lower than many kits and hobby-grade products, yet offers more features, more reliability, more support. With it, you can start small — but not too small. You can run accounting (which usually requires hard disk), inventory. A/R, A/R word processing, mailing lists, bill- ing, budgeting, and more. Plus, you can expand by adding multi-user capabilities (up to 4 terminals), more disk capacity (10 megabytes), additional RAM memory (in (ilKB increments), and a second printer. For your minimum system, you will need a CRT terminal and a printer, which are priced extra. Terminal: ADDS Viewpoint — $639. • Movable keyboard • Micro-technology • Screen-tilt & Glare- reducing filter • 6 Built-in international character sets Printer: Centronics Model 739 — S649. 1 10 cpi, 16.7 cpi and elongated print at a speed of 100 cps in the mono space mode and 80 cps in proportional space mode MUON Viewpoint are Trademarks ol ADDS CP/M CB80 PASCAL/MT+ are trademarks of Digital Research CBASIC is a trademark ol Compiler System. Inc. Wordstar Mailmerge Supersort Spellstar Datastar Calcstar are trademarks of Micro Pro International Accounting Plus is a trademark of Software Dimension. Inc. SOFTWARE: We've tested many CP/M packages and can assure you that they load, run and do everything expected. Because space is limited, we can only list a few of the most popular packages available from RTI. CP/M SOFTWARE: Languages — □ CBASIC ... $135. □ PASCAL/MT+ $315. □ COBOL $765. □ FORTRAN □ PL/1 □ CB80 CALL $450. S450. Word Processing — □ Wordstar $445. □ Mailmerge $135. □ Supersort $225. □ Spellstar $225. Accounting Plus — price/module S629. □ General Ledger □ Inventory □ Sales Order □ Payables □ Payroll Entry □ Receivables □ Point of Sale □ Purchase Orders Data Base Mgmt. □ Datastar $315. Other — □ Calcstar Yes. Please send me... □ "The Competitor" $5,995. □ The Terminal 639. □ The Printer 649. Total enclosed $ Please add state sales tax, where applicable. Shipping charges will be billed to you. Please check the components and software you want. Make check payable to Research Technology International. Prices are FO.B. factory. Send your order to: /RTI/ , BE5E*nCH TECHIVOLOGv ,NIEHNiHON»L 4700 Chase Lincolnwood, IL 60646 Name- Company. Address City, State, Zip_ Phone (_ -)- In a hurrv? Call RTI, toll-free, 800/323-7520. In Illinois. Alaska, Hawaii, or outside the USA, phone 312/677-3000. BYTE October 1982 309 Circle 364 on inquiry card. Back, by popular demand. Just a few years ago, illegal hunting and encroaching civilization had all but destroyed the alligator population in the south. They were added to the official list of endangered species in the United States. Now alligators have made a comeback. Conservationists intent on preserving this legendary reptile helped the alligator get back on its feet. Once again some southern swamps and marshes are teeming with alligators. With wise conservation policies, other endangered species have also made comebacks . . . the cougar, gray whale, Pacific walrus, wood duck, to name a few. If you want to help save our endangered species, join the National Wildlife Federation, Department 106, 1412 AII//> 1 6th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036. find that function configured as you left it. In an ideal implementation of HASCI, you should be able to turn the machine off, then power it back up and find it just as you left it, even if it was running a program at the time. What You See . . . The phrase "What you see is what you get" summarizes a concept of text display on word processors whereby formatting commands no longer ap- pear as obscure codes imbedded in the on-screen text. Instead, the com- mands appropriately modify the dis- played text so that you can see your specified formats on the screen before you print out hard copy. For exam- ple, if you indicate that a line is to be centered, it will appear centered in the displayed text. In addition, if you specify a change in type style, the altered text will appear in a graphic approximation of that style, enabling you to visually distinguish it from the surrounding text. When we got the first sample of the Epson MX-80 dot-matrix printer way back when, it already had a terrific selection of type styles available: em- phasized, double-emphasized, com- pressed, etc. This opened up a whole new era of correspondence-quality printing, where the perfection of a fully formed character is gladly traded off for vastly increased ver- satility coupled with adequate legibility. The MX-80 was, of course, only the start. The newest printers now offer as many as 60 or 70 dif- ferent type styles, and they also offer programmable character fonts. We may certainly expect to see the matrix densities of these machines increase very substantially over the next year or two, widening still further their performance gap over the fully formed character printers. But then as now, the problem was that the editors and personal com- puters available were designed to dis- play on their screens only one or at best two or three different type styles — far fewer than even the first MX-80 was capable of printing. This meant that although the printers had the capability, the com- puters were far behind in making this capability available in anything resembling an easy-to-use fashion. Most of us have had to settle for in- serting control codes using one language-like protocol or another. This is clearly unacceptable because it violates the "easy to learn" maxim. Here is a case where very useful symbolic manipulation features are very difficult to access. The answer is to design the system with this capability in mind, make these func- tions easy to access, and at least where desktop units are concerned, place these changes right on the screen. This establishes a feedback loop which makes the system easy to operate. "What you see is what you get " is more than a maxim. It is a crucial con sideration in the effort to make the symbol manipulators — computers- easy to use. Consumer Quality All the above principles and guide- lines add up to make the computer a consumable product. With the com- puter, as with any good stereo, televi- sion, or automobile, we expect to be able to gain access to substantial capabilities with little if any specialized knowledge. Manuals are for reference; you shouldn't need an advanced degree just to open the box. You should be able to set up the computer, hook up the cables in the obvious places, turn it on, and have it work right the first time and every time. Using computers to ad- vantage should be a game that everyone can win. Beyond Theory Now that the theory and principles behind the HASCI system have been explained, some obvious questions arise: "How can this idea actually be implemented on a personal computer? What specific keys do we need? What should they do? And what should be displayed on the monitor screen?" Next month, I will address these questions. Ill explain how an easy-to- use, consumer-quality computer should be designed, and 111 discuss a new com- puter, based on this concept, that should appear on the market very shortly. ■ 310 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc m& woe mmm S-100 STATIC MEMORY BREAKTHROUGH 3 Finally, you can buy state-of-the-art S-100/IEEE 696 static memory for your computer at an unprecedented savings. Memory Merchant's memory boards provide the advanced features, quality and reliability you need for the kind of operational performance demanded by new high-speed processors. Completely Assembled. These memory boards are not kits, nor skeletons — but top-quality, high- performance memories that are shipped to you completely assembled, burned-in, socketed, tested and insured with one of the industry's best warranties. Superior Design & Quality. Memory Merchant's boards are created by a designer, well known for his proven ability in advanced, cost-efficient memory design. Innovative circuitry provides you with highly desired features and incredible versatility. Only first-quality components are used throughout, and each board is rigorously tested to assure perfect and dependable performance. No Risk Trial. We are so convinced that you will be absolutely delighted with our boards that we extend a no-risk trial offer. After purchasing one of our boards, you may return it (intact) for any reason within 15 days after shipment and we will refund the purchase price (less shipping). NEW S-100 PRODUCTS COMING SOON: * DUAL8/16BITCPU BOARD * 128K8/16 BIT STATIC RAM * 256K 8/16 BIT DYNAMIC RAM 48K PARTIALLY POPULATED $519. 32K PARTIALLY POPULATED $409. 64K RAM, MODEL MM65K16S • 64KX 8-bit • Speed in excess of 6 MHz • Uses 1 50ns 1 6K (2K x 8) static RAMS • Ultra-low power (435 Ma. max. — loaded with 64K) • Bank Select and Extended Addressing • A 2K window which can be placed anywhere in the 64K memory map • Four independently addressable 16K blocks organized as: — Two independent 32K banks or — One 64K Extended Address Page or — One 48K and one 16K bank for use in MP/M 1 (option) • Each 32K bank responds independently to phantom • 2716 (5V) EPROMS may replace any or all of the RAM • Field-proven operation in CROMEMCO CROMIX* andCDOS*. • Compatible with latest IEEE 696 systems such as Northstar, CompuPro, Morrow, IMS, IMSAI front panel, Altair and many others. OEM and DEALER inquiries invited. ^memory ™ (aMmcrchant 14666 Doolittle Drive San Leandro, CA 94577 (415) 483-1008 FULL TWO-YEAR WARRANTY. The reliability of our boards, through quality-controlled production and proven performance, has enabled us to extend our warranty to a full two years. That's standard with us, not an option. This includes a 6-month exchange program for defective units. Shipped direct from stock. All Memory Merchant's boards are shipped direct from stock, normally within 48 hours of receipt of your order. Call us at (415) 483-1008 and we may be able to ship the same day. 16K RAM, Model MM16K14 16Kx8Bit 16K STATIC RAM $169. Bank Select & Extended Addressing Four independently addressable 4K blocks One 4K segment equipped with 1 K windows Uses field-proven 2114 (1Kx4) RAMS Low Power (less than 1 .2 Amps) Runs on any S-100 8080, 4 MHz Z-80 or 5 MHz 8085 system. Prices, terms, specifications subject to change without notice. •Cromix and CDOS are trademarks ol CROMEMCO ' MP/M is a trademark ol Digital Research Circle 238 on inquiry card. Generating Mohr's Circle Robert K. Fink Sinclair Community College 444 West Third St. Dayton, OH 45402 Mohr's Circle has always been a useful tool to semi- graphically find the principal stresses due to combined loads. The technique lends itself quite well to a personal computer. In addition, a video plot of the circle adds the ability to visualize the state of stress that exists at the point of interest. The program in listing 1, designed for the Radio Shack TRS-80, generates Mohr's Circle for stress analysis. Even though the plot is crude due to the TRS-80's low-resolution graphics, it still enables the user to extend the computation to secure the angles of inclina- tion to the principal stress planes. The program asks for the normal stress (S„) that exists on the first plane. Then, the normal stress for a second plane at a 90° angle to the first plane is entered followed by the shear stress (S„) that exists at the point. The com- puter then proceeds to convert stress components on planes in the body to their corresponding coordinates for the plotting of a point on a stress circle. The principal normal stresses and maximum (absolute value) shear stress are then computed and a stress circle is drawn to an appropriate scale to fit the screen. The units used here can be changed to any system, as can the scale factor in lines 400 and 410, to adjust for larger or smaller design values encountered. By means of a few terminology changes, the program can be converted to make Moment of Inertia calculations for any axis through an area. The program can also be used in a number of other Mohr's Circle areas of applied engineering mechanics dealing with orthogonal rela- tionships. ■ Figure 1: Mohr's Circle for combined stresses. Stresses on planes in la are represented as points on the stress circle, lb. 312 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Listing 1: A BASIC program that generates Mohr's Circle for stress analysis. Tension is entered as a positive value — compression as a negative value. See text for other details on using this program. \ ' THIS IS A SIMPLE PROGRAM TO SHOW QUICKLY* TH £ 2 ' PRINCIPAL AMD MAXIMUM SHEAR STRESSES AT A POINT 3 ' THE REQUIRED INPUT IS FOR ANY TV 0 KNOWN ORTHOGONAL 4 ' PLANES. WHEN IN°UT IS CALLED FOR PUT NORMAL STRESS 5 ' IN AS A + FOR TENSION* - FOP COMPRESSION. e • THE MOHR'S CIRCLE THEN DRAWN IS ROUGH BECAUSE OF 7 ' THE LOU RESOLUTION GRAPHICS BUT WILL ILLUSTRATE 5 • A GOOD REPRESENTATION OF THE STATE OF STRESS AT 9 ' THE POINT. 10 ' -- INPUT STRESS VALUES IN THE RANGE OF 20000 PSI PLOT 11 ' -- BEST* BUT SCALE CAN BE CHANGED IF SMALLER VALUES ARE 12 ' -- ALU AYS USED. 13 * 14 ' ** PRINCIPAL STRESSES BY MOHR'S CIRCLE ** 15 * ** RK FINK 3/80 VERSION 1.0 ** 16 • ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** * ** 17 ' 13 ' 19 ' ** SET UP COORDINATE FIELD ** 20 CLS:PI = 3. Ml 59 30 PRINTS26* "SHEAR": PRINT933* "STRESS": PRINT89 1 * "C CU) " 40 PRINT093 6* "( CCW) "*' : PRINT§44 2* "NORMAL": PRINT@ 50 6* "STRESS" 50 PRINT9573* "♦": PRINTS 51 4* "-" 60 FORX=0TO 114: SET(X* 22) : NEXT 70 FOR Y=0TO47 : SETC 64* Y) : NEXT 90 ' ** INPUT TWO ORTHOGONAL PLANE DATA ** 100 PPINT§ 1 61* ** : INPUT" 1 ST PLANE NORMAL STRESS (+/-) CPSI)"JN1 110 PRINT6225* *': INPUT" SHEAR STRESS (PSI)"** SI 120 PPINT§ 19 2* CHRSC 30) :PRINT§22 5* CHRSC 30) : PRINTS 161* CHRSC 30) *' : FORT= 1 TO 1 000 : NEXT: INPUT"2ND PLANE NORMAL STRESS ( + /-) CPSI)"**N2 140 PRINT91 61* CHPSC30) 190 ' ** CALCULATE VALUES AND PLOT TWO PLANES ** 200 C=CN 1+N2) /2: SM=SQRC CCN1-N2)/2)C2+S1C2) 210 MA=C C+SM) :MI=CC-SM) 220 H=2. 228 57* C CN 1/200 00) * 1 5) + 64: V=22- C C S 1/20000)* 1.5) : SETCH* V) 240 H = 2. 228 57*C ( N2/ 20000 ) * 1 5 ) + 64: V=22+C CS1/20000)*15): SETCH* V) 290 FORT=1TO1000:NEXTT 300 PRINT® 1 68* CHRSC 30) : PRINT9232* CHRSC 30) 390 ' ** PLOT THE CIRCLE ** 400 R=INT( ( SM/20000) * 1 5) 410 C=INTC CC/20000)*30) : C.P=C+64 420 FORQ=0TO2*PI STEP 0.1 430 X=R* CO 5 C Q ) : Y=R* S I N C Q ) 440 H=2. 228 57*X+CP: V=22-Y 450 IF ( H> 1 27 ) ORC V> 47 ) ORC H< 0 ) ORC V< 0 ) THEN NEXTQ 460 SETCH* V) : NEXTQ 490 * ** OUTPUT PRINCIPAL STRESSES ** 500 PRINT9S 50* "MAX. NORMAL STRESS = "; ABS C I NTC MA) ) ; " PSI ";:IFMA<0TH ENPRINT"COMPR. " ELSEPRINT"TENSI ON" 510 PRINT99 1 4* "MIN. NORMAL STRESS = "} ABS C INTC MI ) ) * " PSI ";:IFMI<0TH ENPP.INT"COMPR. " ELS ERR I NT" TEN SI ON" 520 PRINT9978* "MAX. SHEAR STRESS = "; INTC SM) * " PSI "J: GOTO 520 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc 313 MAXI MUSCLE MICRO MULTI ; 1 ; i ■ I" SINGLE USER , i LL ■ ■- ---Is -i i4 imiiii • SB-80/4. The affordable singleboard microcomputer with multi-user, multi-tasking muscle and brains. SB-80/4 A complete microsystem for the user who demands speed and storage capacity in single or multi- user applications. Our MULTI/NET operating system offers true CP/M compatibility, allowing for limitlessflexi- bilty and growth. Single Board Technology By utilizing the latest in large scale integration, engineers have packaged, into a singleboard, power and reliabilty usually found only in costly multi-board systems. This multiprocessor board allows each user (up to four) a dedicated Z80A micro- processor and 64K of RAM. The master-slave architec- ture, residing in the same enclosure, supervises all user requests for storage and peripherals through four channel DMA. Memory and Disk Storage 320K of 200ns dynamic RAM combined with five (5) Z80A microprocessors provides the hardware to independently multi-task the operation. A 4K byte of EPROM for bootstrap, monitor and diagonstic test is standard. On board interface for Winchester type disk controller allows from 5 to 104 megabytes of storage for applications that require large database files and records. The four parallel and six serial ports provide the muscle to support numerous peripherals. Software INFOSOFTs MULTI /NET provides the most efficient multi-processor operating system. This user- friendly, CP/M compatible, provides file lock-out, DMA, real time clock, and full vectored interrupt on all l/Os. BASIC, Fortran, Pascal, Cobol, and PL/1 languages are supported. Affordability The SB-80/4 gives you five (5) inde- pendent microprocessors in one multi-user system. It is the power, performance, and capacity of a mini at the price of a micro. Dealer and OEM inquiries are welcome. Nationwide field service through INDESERV. Colonial Data Colonial Data Services Corp., 105Sanford Street, Hamden, Conn. 0651 4 • (203)288-2524 • Telex:956014 ■CP/M is a registered trademark of Digital Research, Inc. Circle 72 on inquiry card. The Personal Computer as an Interface to a Corporate Management Information System Designing an intelligent terminal interface program for the Apple II Plus N. R. McBurney II 2561 Stockbridge Rd. Marietta, GA 30062 Using the Apple II Plus to help me manage my organization was far from my mind when I bought the machine. In retrospect, it seems in- evitable that it would happen. I supervise a group of programmers responsible for writing major business application software for General Electric Information Services Company's (GEISCO) Mark III time sharing service. As well as using the Mark III is a trademark of the General Elec- tric Information Services Company. Micro- modem II and Datacomm are trademarks of Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. DISSPLA is a trademark of the Integrated Software System Corporation. About the Author N. R. McBurney is southern region manager for GE1SCOS Systems Development and Con- sulting Department, which is responsible for developing customized business systems for GEISCO customers throughout the south. system to produce software to solve our customers' problems, we also make extensive use of the GEISCO system to manage our business. Dur- ing the press of day-to-day activities, I found it increasingly difficult to read My Apple II Plus gives me more flexibility than the more expensive equipment at work. and digest all of the information the system made available to me. Thus was born my excursion into interfac- ing GEISCO's system to my Apple at home. It seems ironic that for all of the computer resources at my disposal, my Apple II Plus provides me with more flexibility than the more expen- sive equipment at work. On a Sunday morning, I can call up the system, select the information I would like to review, scan the text on the screen, convert the information to graphic representation, and print the entire report (see photos la-c). I can do all of this away from the office, while sit- ting in my favorite easy chair and en- joying a cup of coffee. All of this is possible because I have developed an intelligent terminal pro- gram written in Pascal for the Apple II Plus, which when coupled with complementary programs running on the GEISCO system, allows me to get the information I need in the format I select at any time. While the applica- tion described is unique to the GEISCO system, the concepts can be applied to almost any commercial or in-house timesharing system. October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc 315 I Resource Utilization Fiscal M ■ 28 Current Yeek Year to Date Actual Quo! i Pet. Actual Quota Pet. txwnl Fundi Pool maim m (32,489 W, ffl $ll,5f $4,6' e ii.i 8 66.8* $154,39 $189,87 5 $233,488 J $94,161 tt.K mM Southern 5 $7,5, 5H $16, H 8 ma $264,26 i $327,56! 88.K External Fundir Pool funding g $3,864 $7,653 §M KM e f.te 1 167,8? $181,62 $122,68 ! $179,288 i $72,287 56. ft 163 8"i Atlanta External Fundir Pool funding $18,717 a $3,776 $3.1 $3,78 $1,49 4 187.8:; 8 MUX 2 -( $224,38 $3948 $29,46 5 $251,487 ; $27,388 1 $11,81! 65 fS [&M MM GTF Support $3,776 $5,19 i mx $68,58 5 $36,31; External Fundi r Fool funding 1 $1,242 — > Pr 38.8*4 mm mm $1,251 -'4 $35,786 $45,425 ess carriage return to continue ( — 186 i'. (lb) 1930- L I 1CDQ- O _c E-» 750- rj) § 900 (lc) Using a personal computer to com- municate with a timesharing system is relatively trivial (if you consider the purchase price of the related hard- ware trivial) and has been explored at length in the popular computing press. With integral modems such as the Hayes Micromodem II, all you have to do is plug in the hardware and then follow the well-presented and simple instructions to find yourself talking to a large mainframe from the comfort of your home. What you end up with, however, is what is deridingly referred to as a glass teletype — quieter than your average timesharing terminal and just as dumb! It doesn't have to be that way. The program I developed provides me with the following capabilities: vertical and horizontal tabbing, data compression, real-time printing, high-resolution graphics, and screen- oriented file listing. Missing from my list of features are file transfer utilities. There are several commer- cial products on the market to ac- complish file transfer, and I find little challenge in reinventing wheels. Photos la-c: The MIS menu generated by GEISCO's Mark HI is displayed on my Apple in photo la. After selecting the report I want to see, the information shown in photo lb is displayed. The ter- minal program also allows for display of graphic information, as seen in photo lc. Choosing a Language My early attempts at an intelligent terminal program were written in Ap- plesoft BASIC. Unfortunately, this was not a good choice; BASIC is much too slow. If you use all the tricks at your disposal, you can write an Applesoft program that just barely keeps up with 30 characters per sec- ond (cps) coming from the host com- puter. In other words, with a lot of ef- fort I could write a BASIC program that duplicates the dumb terminal capabilities I already have at my dis- posal. (Well, any language that pe- nalizes you for placing comments in your program can't be all good.) The terminal program for the Ap- ple is now written in Pascal. I can il- lustrate two good reasons for this choice by showing you what is in- volved in adding intelligence to a dumb terminal program. The chart shown in figure 1 is a diagram of a dumb terminal program. Using this as 316 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Chances are, when you bought your first disk drive, it was an Apple. Now that you're ready for a second, take a look 0 at Quentin. Our Apple*- Mate™ 5Va" Disk Drive is fully software transparent with Apple's DOS 3.3 operating system in full and half track operation. Add it to your present drive for greater capacity and faster access. Just plug it in and go to work. And the Apple- Mate has these High Performance advantages: Siemens system with over 10,000 lifetime hours. Shielded connecting cable also attached. LONG TERM DEPENDABILITY MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) — 8,500 power-on hours, and the unit has a one-year warranty. COUNT ON QUENTIN FOR QUALITY Quentin Research was building disk systems for the computer industry when Apple was a little bud on the big computer tree. We're known for product reliabil- ity and stand behind every system we sell you. But the best news may be the price— only $335.00 (40 .tracks). A special introductory offer when you order Apple- Mate directly from us. So when you're ready to boost the juice on your Apple, add-on the Quentin Apple-Mate. To order: Check, money order, Visa or Mastercard number. Calif, residents add 6% sales tax. Allow one week delivery. 19355 Business Center Drive Northridge, California 91324 (213) 701-1006 SIEMENS 7 DISK DRIVE The apple-beige unit is built around the highly reliable MORE JUICE FOR YOUR APPLE Special Introductory Price: $335.00 ) Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. fSiemens is a trademark of Siemens Corporation. 'Apple- Mate is a trademark of Quentin Research, Inc., which does not manufacture Apple computers. 125 on inquiry card. Control Characters Action Taken by Sent by Host Apple Upon Computer Receipt Explanation Escape (decimal 27) tabbing The next byte received will be inter- preted as the row (0-23) and the follow- ing byte as the column (0-79) to tab to. Control-B (decimal 2) character decompression The next byte received will be inter- preted as the number of times to display the following transmitted character. Control-D (decimal 4) switch to graphics mode Executes an initialization procedure to turn on and clear the high-resolution display. Control-Y (decimal 25) turn off graphics mode Exits graphics mode. Control-F (decimal 6) turn on printer All subsequent text is sent to printer as well as video display. Control-E (decimal 5) turn off printer Exits printer mode. Table 1: The intelligent terminal interface program uses predefined control characters transmitted from the host computer to initiate an action by the Apple. START DISPLAY CHARACTER Figure 1: A simplified functional diagram of a dumb terminal program. a starting point, I will identify two places to add intelligence to the pro- gram. First, when you detect that a key has been pressed, you can check it against a predefined list of characters and, if a match is found, then branch to other logic. For instance, you might decide that pressing the Escape key should turn on the printer. Another common approach is to use a predefined key to enter a command or menu mode where you can select from a list of options. This is the ap- proach used in the Hayes Datacomm package. For anybody who uses Pascal and wishes to communicate with a timeshared system, I strongly recommend the Hayes Datacomm package. Not only is it a very nice piece of sofware, but Hayes Micro- computer Products Inc. includes the Pascal source code. This source code is an excellent point of departure for a custom communications interface. Many of the routines shown in listing 1 are modified versions of procedures included in that package. The second place to insert in- telligence is after you detect receipt of a character from the host computer. Again, you can check the received character against a predefined list of control characters and take ap- propriate action. For example, when my intelligent terminal program receives a control-D (ASCII decimal 4), it switches to graphic mode. Keep in mind that all of this logic has to execute in less than 1/30 sec- ond if it's going to keep up with a 300-bps (30-cps) communications protocol. BASIC, at least Applesoft BASIC, can't handle that rate of I/O (and do anything useful). Apple's im- plementation of UCSD Pascal, on the other hand, handles it very well, with processing power to spare. I en- courage anybody who is serious about programming to explore Pascal. (In my opinion, and I realize I stand diametrically opposed to the majority of the readership of this publication, BASIC is a pitiful language for serious programming and of dubious value when used for its stated purpose of introducing peo- ple to programming.) The program described in this arti- cle uses the second of the two ap- proaches: it receives a special control character from the host to initiate some predefined action (see table 1) at the terminal. Examining the Program For the most part the program is self-documenting, one of the benefits of using Pascal (see listings la and lb, pages 320-338). The line numbers are not a part of the program but were added to make discussion of the pro- gram easier. I will discuss the Ter- minal procedure in lines 285 through 577, which is the primary part of the program. Within that group, lines 384 through 433 are concerned with system initialization and sign-on. Once that is accomplished, the pro- gram remains in the loop defined by lines 434 through 570 until the system sign-off. The CASE statement beginning in line 536 is where I added intelligence to the program. I used the approach discussed earlier in which a control or escape character received from the host computer precipitates a prede- fined action. If the character transmitted from the host (GEISCO) is an ASCII 27, 6, 5, 4, 2, or 127 (decimal), special action is taken. Otherwise, the character is passed to the WriteChr procedure (line 565) and displayed. Handling one of those six special characters requires some convoluted logic that can best be explained by an example. To clarify the logic and il- lustrate how certain characters transmitted by the host can cause a predefined action to occur, I will describe the events that cause tab- bing. Text continued on page 338 318 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc "»llo, aoc,.,o„' L"""" c * ■»-» i a ja 1 par it ol-A ( O — O. O- Contr I — - ^ S3 i a -o a x » ci C II Case )1A i s i !5 <- cj c_ ro c_ m oj a. c a. %~ % ^ ^ v lS in IS h 5 -2 >8 ^ 28 CO II § i 4> w 1 1 — 1 t5s 5 i 1 n n c p -O N rs rs. n Fs n K Si 3 I— ( 3; til S 3 CD I d o 5 3 — O in e- 8 -S cS S ! c o a B •JS C 0 •a -1 1 78 DO (Second 0 DO II I— t— >< II r— JE CD cvj m 0 <= c-g cm ■=> 0 <=> = 324 October J 982 © BYTE Publications Inc When We Announced Sage ii, 8-bit Computers Bit the Dust. 195 North Edison Way, Suite 14 Reno, Nevada 89502 (702) 322-6868 UCSD p-System is a trademark of the Regents ot the University of California. 16 BIT, 8 MHZ, 68000 MICROPROCESSOR. The new Sage II doesn't look exactly awesome. Some folks even mistake it for a disk subsystem. But the fact is, 8-bit microcomputers don't stand a chance against it. Minicomputers are shaking in their boots. And even a few mainframes are running scared. Because the Sage II is based on the incredible 68000. UPT0 512K, NOT COUNTING DRIVES. With its 24-bit address bus, the Sage II can address 16 megabytes. The stripped down version features a mere 128K RAM. On top of that, you can add another 384K of "RAM DISK" (on- board RAM that looks like a super- fast disk to the operating system). Then come the real disk drives. Your choice of 40 or 80 track, 320K to 1.3 megabyte, 5-1/4". A 10K program loads in half a second. p SYSTEM OPERATING SYSTEM. This optional, interactive operating system makes it possible to use programs currently running on 8-bit computers. It supports Pascal, FORTRAN 77, BASIC and 68000 Macro Assembler languages and a host of utility and applications programs. MORE FOR THE MONEY. Prices for the Sage II start at just $3,600 with one disk drive and 128K RAM. No other computer in history has offered so much performance per unit price. Call or write us today for the whole story. Circle 339 on Inquiry card. o IP ° H - a 1 | If 3 jci in «: ■a •O N t© O* O h N CO V -c -o *o -O -O N N N N N K CO Ch O >o ^ -o r> N N N N g C t- -* I g •■H £3 § ?S ^ c-j ?3 ^ O O 9 CS «S G C3 <= <=> <=> C=> 1 1 -.a <*- TO TO 1*1 £ ^ Qj IS a £ = e- 3: jz E? C-J -o a -3 ro -3 c 6 ; a S S g g g S3 gg o n [M o o o CD CTJ en g 326 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Announcing the Renault Alliance. COULD SOMETHING THIS EXCITING MAKE GOOD BUSINESS SENSE? 1983 RENAULT ALLIANCE. Absolutely! This is the new fleet car that lives up to American business demands. A unique blend of comfort, economy and technol- ogy. All designed to make Alliance a fleet ideal. Exceptional Mileage. In a word: outstanding! Alliance assures EPA CO HWY high mileage: ^ estmpg 52 est- That's better than so-called "gas-savers" like Escort, Chevette, Rabbit, Mazda GLC and Horizon. Surprising Roominess. Because business people need room. And as precise and compact as Alliance's external dimensions are, it's astonishingly spacious inside. More spacious than Horizon or Chevette. ** With more front and rear shoulder and hip room than Chevette, Escort or Horizon. More rear leg room, too. Alliance seats 5 adults comfortably. And though its external size approximates sub-compacts Civic, GLC and Rabbit, Alliance's interior dimensions place it in a larger class. Plus, it has a trunk exceptionally large for a car this size: 13 cubic feet. It's all just smart use of available space. Responsive Handling. Alliance is snappy and agile, with a 1.4 litre, 4-cylinder engine and a choice of automatic, "Use these figures for comparison. Your results may differ due to driving speed, weather conditions and trip length. Actual highway mileage will probably be less. California mileage lower. Competitive mileage figures based on 1982 EPA guide, gasoline powered. "Based on interior volume measured in cubic feet. tSee your dealer for warranty and rust program details. Circle 18 on Inquiry card. 4-speed or 5-speed manual transmissions. Its front-wheel drive, belted radial tires, rack and pinion steering and MacPherson stmts bring driving to life. With Alliance, driving is actually fun. Smooth Riding Comfort. Twin torsion-bar design, front and rear stabilizer bars and a long wheelbase work to retain a stable ride. The suspension works with the other parts of the entire car to produce excellent ride quality. Everybody rides comfortably. Quality Fit and Finish. This is where the workmanship tells. And this is where Alliance shines. Alliance utilizes an "Assembly Check" manufacturing process to monitor critical points. The result is remarkable overall appearance and body integrity. In sum, Alliance looks great, is solidly built and fits together right. Low Costs Fleet Managers Will Love. Now the best part: not only does Alliance sport a low initial price and get good mileage, it's also inexpensive to operate and maintain. Because every Alliance is covered by the exclusive American Motors Buyer Protection Plan, offering the only full 12-month/12, 000-mile warranty in the industry, plus Loaner Car Service, Trip Interruption Protection and Towing SAFETY J ISA M 0^ Coverage. And every Alliance is backed by the Renault Perforation From Corrosion Limited Warranty that provides for 5 full years of protection against rust corrosion. t Those warranties are transferable upon sale and help support resale when it's time to replace your fleet. That's the built-in value of Alliance. Check Alliance against the competition. You' be pleased to find that an exciting fleet car also makes exciting business sense. For more information, call or send in the coupon today. 0 RENAULT American Motors Fl We build the American Fleet l - Please send me all the details about the new - ' Alliance. Mail to: American Motors Sales Corporation, Fleet Operations, 27777 Franklin Road, Southfield, Ml 48034, or call (313) 827-4216. Name Company- Address _State_ -Zip- -J BYTE October 1982 327 ill I a. 3 1 I Hp * * ^ I .a .2 a ill; IP Jif li i r-i S a 1 ! I 1 i ij I I I ! - 1 III III lis ill ii £ x a as 1 ii u iri-;rl 5 I.. I * is: llllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllH 330 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc v3l WHEN AMERICAN BUSINESS HITS THE ROAD, AMERICAN BUSINESS MEETS AT HILTON. ////ion AMERICA'S BUSINESS ADDRESS* illillliliiiliiiiliiiililllillliliiliiiiiiliillilil I I * II i i ?i _ ii 4 J i ] i i \\ * ^ i!i |iSSg j|| i| in i M I Jr v J Jl ■* h s i 1 1 " 1 -"- " " 2 S I s 5 1 1 I s a ■ 1 s a ! 'llJ'-I'MiHiimil- ;! I iliiliii!lilfiiiliiii!iii!!l!l!iiii!lfli!iiiiiiiii 332 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Menu Master These ana many more unique features make Menu Master the frontrunner of menu systems: • Easy menu definition. You define a menu as easily as you write a letter. Anyone can design a simple menu in less than 10 minutes. • You design your own screen layout. MenuMaster does not restrict you to any pre-defined layout. • All video attributes are implemented. Highlighting, reverse video, etc. are used as easily as you use bold faced print with your word processor. s*tf *•* ^ ■ ^jjS* WS0IAB HEW - the leading CP/M™ supervison^4!kr • Cursor addressing fully implemented. • Simple commands change logged drive and user area without affecting menu operation. • Built-in menu definition language featuring conditional expressions (if-then-else, repeat until), case sentences and much, much more. • All variables are kept intact even when you leave the menu to run a program or to call another menu. • MenuMaster will even feed your programs data as if they were typed in at the keyboard. Choose from these operations by entering highlighted command letter Directory of files Status of files Copy files Erase files General ledger Word processing Enter command: ■ Why learn computerish - when MenuMaster speaks your language. MenuMaster - the easy way to CP/M Why learn and remember a lot of meaningless computer commands when your computer can talk to you in plain words, you can answer it just as plainly, and the computer can make decisions based on your answers. Anyone has the right to speak his own language. Claim your right now. MenuMaster puts it within reach - easily and cheaply. MenuMaster - the only flexible menu system. Sit down with your text editor and create your own menus. It's as easy as writing a letter. You needn't be a programmer to use MenuMaster - but if you are, the sky is the limit. MenuMaster - also the professional's choice. Transform long and tedious command sequences into a single keystroke, and let the computer remember all your variables for your. ManuMaster lets you easily create your own personal virtual operating system. m BORIPHD K» INTERNATIONAL world wide distribution of quality software BORLAND LTD. 69, Upper Georges Street Dun Laoghaire • Dublin, Republic of Ireland Phone 1 802514 Dealers: use 1 8025 21 Telex 92188 BORL El MenuMaster - the only complete menu system. Menus are easily defined - a simple menu is only a matter of minutes - yet MenuMaster also incorporates an entire programming language: the Menu Definition Language. This language allows simple as well as advanced programming constructs. No other menu system offers you this. Do not be content with less. MenuMaster demo kit - only $30. The demo kit contains working examples of MenuMaster operation and a complete set of manuals. The price will be deducted when you buy a complete system. Do you already own an old menu system? Pity, but all is not lost. Borland will refund you $50 if you include an invoice with your name on it for such a system with your MenuMaster order. This offer is limited to one MenuMaster per customer and is valid until January 1 st 1 983. Order your MenuMaster today - only $195. Cash, American Express, Master Charge, and Visa accepted. I hereby order: MenuMaster demo kit(s) at $30. MenuMaster complete system(s) at $195. Name Company Address Phone Telex Payment Circle 51 on inquiry card. XI/videk ...your guide to COLOR-II MONITOR High resolution 560(H) X 240(V) • RGB video Input • 80 X 24 character display capability • 16 color Intensity modulation for IBM MODEL DXY PLOTTER Economical X-Y coordinate plotter • 1 0 ' X 1 4 " plotting range • Centronics inter face • ROM expandable • 4 pens, hold ers and chart hold-downs included YOUR COMPATIBILITY CHART MORE COMPATIBILITY INTERFACES DUE SOON . . . 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Our research & development staff keeps abreast of progress in computer techology and equipment and strives to offer you state-of-the-art ad- vances in peripheral equipment. Amdek products are distributed nationwide and in Cana- da through major distributors. And, we have factory- trained manufacturer's representatives ready to serve you in every major marketing area. Amdek offices are located in Chicago, Los Angeles & Dallas. Just circle the reader service number, or contact us to receive complete technical specifications on these Amdek products. 2201 Lively Blvd. • Elk Grove Village, IL 60007 (312)364-1180 TLX: 25-4786 Circle 15 on inquiry card. ii ^ ii S § * * § * & I a fe 5 y 5 j (- t- 3 s s 4 La a 5 m i— » I TO 1 ro o o *> -o n m ui +> ct 1 * * 1 ^ ^ ^ i 3 I TO ,-4 " t-i N II II if *- TO '-h TO Q£ ro u cn o ii i ro 25 r-i ! u n «■ ^ • T-l tH II 5 ** ** CC fc II uL Cft U ! (is 1 a 1 2 u if «h n n t 8 in -o n 1 1 llll III e- at 1 •tH rinter >; c- Q. g » off p s 1 ■-^ *! £ p § ~ ii t c S M ? 2 .3 2 *♦ S •■-« S a si i2£ & 3 It: * 296. OQj THE APPLE COMPATIBLE ALTERNATIVE FRANKLIN BUSINESS SYSTEM Franklin Ace 1000 system • 64K • Disk Drive with controller card • 12" green phs. video monitor. Color optional $49.00 $1695.00 . SAVE S1DOO COMPARED TO APPLE SYSTEM^ r f^XEROX820 WORD PROCESSING SYSTEM (INCLUDES SOFTWARE) MSL OUR PRICE ,3495.00 $2749.00 746.00 A INCLUDES GRAFTRAX OUR MSL PRICE MX 80 HI 645.00 429.00 216.00 MX 80R IE 745.00 535.00 210.00 MX 100 H 995.00 669.00 326.01} PERSONAL COMPUTER POWERFUL CA-BASIC NEW AND C/M0S-RAM MSL OUR PRICE 5^, 1995.00 $599.00 396.00, OSBORNE PERSONAL COMPUTER INCLUDES SOFTWARE •CPM • MAIL MERGE • WORDSTAR • CB BASIC • SUPERCALC • M BASIC m . OUR PRICE 1795 00 1 595.00 NEC STUDENT SYSTEM 64K •NEC PC 80001 •NEC PC 8012 •NEC PC 8031 12" Grn. Pits. Video Monitor msl OUR PRICES*" ,2839.00 $2095.00 744.00 H commodore STUDENT SYSTEM 4032 - 32K 40 COL CRT 4940 - DUAL DISK DRIVE MSL OUR PRICED L 2590.00$1978.00 612.00 WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CORRECT TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. THIS AD SUPERCEDES ALL PREVIOUS ADS. Ayiir*Qn BUS|N Ess world 111 M II P WAREHOUSE ■3 18720 Oxnard, *108 u Tarzana. CA 91356 CUTSIDE CA CALL TOLL FREE 1 (BOO) 423-5886 IN CA |213) 996 2252 Name (Please print) Address City State _ -Z'P- Telex: 182852 Answer: MICKO TZNA 'Calilomia residents add 6% sales tax ""Add 3% Shipping & Handling - Add 3% surcharge lor credil cards Orders cannol he shipped unless accompanied by payment, including shipping, handl- ing and tax where applicable TOTAL ORDERS TAX IF APPLICABLE* SHIPPING & HANDLING" TOTAL ENCLOSED S Certified Check or M.O. Bank Wire Transfer CREDIT CARD » Exp Date , Allow 2 weeks clearance for personal check _ Signature MAXELL • DVSAN • EPSON • CCS • SHARP • CASIO • HP • VERBATIM • MEMOREX • SOROC • CORVUS • PERSONAL SOFTWARE • ' Circle 240 on Inquiry card. BYTE October 1982 343 Southern Region Custom Applications 40° m 105 w 100°w 95- w 90 » w 85 - w 80° w Figure 3: Map of the southeastern United States generated with pen-and-ink plotter on GEISCO's timesharing service using ISSCO's DISSPLA graphics package. (DISSPLA is a proprietary software product of Integrated Software Systems Corporation, San Diego, California.) FORMAT OF VECTOR WHEN TRANSMITTED FROM GEISCO: BYTE #1 BYTE #2 BYTE #3 76 543210 7654 3 210 76 543 2 10 PXxY PEN ADD 128 TO X IF ON ADD 256 TO X IF ON ADD 128 TO Y IF ON X COORDINATE Y COORDINATE YYYYYYY Figure 4: The plot vector format for transmission to the Apple. report generator needs to be written only once for a standard output device and the postprocessor will handle the idiosyncrasies of every other output device. The ability to do graphics in a time- sharing environment with my Apple is the most intriguing aspect of the postprocessor application for me. Many people are intimidated by com- puter graphics, but once the basic principles are understood, the pro- cedure is really quite simple. Con- sider the following example. The map of the southeastern United States shown in figure 3 was produced on a Zeta plotter (Nicolet Zeta Corpora- tion) using GEISCO's system and the DISSPLA graphics package. The pro- gram that produced the map can be seen in lines 1000-1350 of listing 2. What may not be evident from look- ing at the listing is that eventually this program, indeed almost all plotting programs, can be reduced to two sim- ple commands: 1. Raise the pen and move to a given location on the paper. 2. Lower the pen and move to a given location on the paper (i.e., draw a line). On the Zeta plotter these com- mands are accomplished in a sub- routine called Plot. Now, if I write my own Plot subroutine and use it to replace the version of Plot that the system would normally use, I can capture all of these commands and write them to a file for further pro- cessing (or transmit them in real time for that matter). My revised version of the Plot subroutine begins at line 1360 of listing 2. The statement at line 1080 of the calling program tells Plot what file to write the captured vectors to. Now that all of the vectors for the plot have been captured, a postpro- cessor will read that file and send the vectors to the Apple in some suitable form. The format of the vectors transmitted from GEISCO to the Ap- ple can be seen in figure 4. As you can see, it takes three bytes or characters, to transmit a vector to the Apple. At 30 cps, this means a theoretical throughput of 10 vectors per second. Because I now have a format to transmit plot vectors, all I have to do is tell the Apple to switch to graphics mode. In the terminal program in listing la, I have arbitrarily selected a control-D (ASCII 4) to indicate a switch to graphics mode. When the Apple detects receipt of a control-D from the host in line 555, it sets the program case-control variable (still KaseControl) to 7 and executes the initialization procedure. This pro- cedure, which turns on and clears the high-resolution display, takes con- siderably longer than 1/30 second to execute. In fact, it takes approximate- ly 1 second. Therefore, I transmit 30 nulls (decimal 0) following the trans- mission of the control-D from GEISCO to allow time for this activi- ty. Finally, the display of the Apple screen in photo 2 is the result of the transmission of the file of captured vectors. The plot consisted of 5801 vectors and took almost 10 minutes to display on the Apple. Generating Characters Before exploring the logic of the processing of transmitted plot vec- 344 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc Circle 432 on Inquiry card. BASF QUALIMETRIC A TOTALLY NEW DIMENSION OF QUALITY i qualimetric BASF RexyDisk From BASF comes a totally new level of excellence in magnetic media -the Qualimetric stan- dard, a standard so advanced that BASF FlexyDisks 9 are confi- dently backed by the industry's only lifetime warranty. The Qualimetric standard is main- tained without compromise through every step of BASF design, production, inspection, and testing. ..reflecting an unwavering BASF commitment to media fidelity and durability. 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Description: The Davong Syslems Memory Card is a convenient RAM memory expansion card for use in the IBM Personal Computer. The Memory Card may be placed in any free system slol. It is compielely compatible with all IBM Personal Computer software and hardware, and runs at Ihe same speed as IBM memory products. 64K RAM S225 192K RAM $499 256K RAM $599 Hard Disk System for the IBM R Personal Computer. ONLY $1595.00 Description: The Davong System's Hard Disk Drive fits conveniently inside the second tloppy disk location of the IBM Personal Computer chassis, providing more than 30 times the capacity of a floppy diskette, plus greater speed and reliability. The DSI-501 System is compatible with IBM software, and supports IBM DOS', The system includes all necessary components and software for installation. 12 MEGABYTES STORAGE S2195.00 TANDON DRIVE SPECIAL Double Sided/Double Density 320K BYTES STORAGE TM— 100— 2 NOW ONLY $274 SHIPPED ANYWHERE IN THE CONTINENTAL U.S.A. Call for TM-100-4 RGB Color Monitor SPECIAL! Princeton Graphic Systems only $599 with cable. 690 Dots Horizontal 16 colors Non-glare screen Sharp looking — matches IBM IBM SOFTWARE ENTERTAINMENT GALACTIC ATTACK $26 ZORK I $29 ZORK II $29 DEADLINE $39 CALL FOR NEW GAMES AT UNBEATABLE PRICES T and G JOYSTICKS . . . $44,95 ADAM AND EVE PADDLES $29.95 BUSINESS WORDSTAR $289 MAILMERGE $ 79 TAX MANAGER $199 256K VISICALC $189 VISITREND VISIPLOT $239 VISIDEX $189 EASY EFFECTIVE ACCOUNTING SYSTEM . . $389 SUPERCALC S219 SUPERWRITEP. $7*9 CALL FOR SOFTWARE NOT LISTED MAYNARD ELECTRONICS Floppy Disk Controller with parallel Floppy Disk Controller.with serial . $229 S259 Model Description ADD/3 + ADD/3 + D Asynchronous (Serial-RS232C) Communi- cation Adapter (expandable to two Ports) + Real Time Clock/Calendar (with software) $13 (Same as) ADD/3 + with built-in Second Asynchronous Port $16 ADD/4 + ADD/4 + D Parallel Printer Adapter + Asynchronous (Serial-RS232C) Communication Adapter (expandable to two Ports) + Real Time Clock/Calendar (with software) $16 (Same as) ADD/4 + with built-in Second Asynchronous Port $19 XE-16 XE-64 XD-16 XD-64 TASC MASTER " Intelligent Parallel Printer and Asynchronous (Serial-RS232C) Communication Adapter/Buffer (expandable to two Asynchronous Ports) 16K Memory $27 (Same as) XE-16 with 64K Memory $33 (Same as) XE-1 6 with built-in Second Asynchronous Port (16K Memory) $29 (Same as) XE-64 with built-in Second Asynchronous Port (64K Memory) $36 CE-125 ADD RAM + Expansion Kit: Asynchronous (Serial- RS232C) Port (to be used with ADD/3 + , ADD/4 + , TASC MASTER XE- 1 6 and XE-64) $39.9 (Same as) ADD/3 + with memory expandable from 64K to 256K 64K version $39 ADD RAM ELITE (Same as) ADD/4 + with memory expandable from 64K to 256K 64K version $42 Peripherals For All Computers PRINTERS NEC Spinwriter 7710/7730 $2339 8023A $ 48B EPSON (Grattrax Plus) MX-80 $ 429 MX-80FT $ 529 MX-100 $ 699 OKIDATA 80 no tractor $ 339 80 with tractor $ 399 82A no tractor $ 439 82A wilh tractor $ 479 83A $ 689 84A parallel $1029 84A serial $1139 2K Butter $ 55 Graphics B2A. 83A $ 79 C-ITOH F10 Word Quality Printer • 40 CPS Printing • Letter quality excellence Now Only $1395 Prowrller 120cps (Parallel) $ 469 Prowrtler 120cps (Parallel/Serial) $619 Prowriter (136 column) Parallel $ 699 Prowrlter (136 column) Parallel/Serial $ 749 All Epson. NEC, C-ITOH and OKIDATA dol matrix printer prices quoted are for immediate delivery inclusive of shipping, insurance and handling charges. INTEGRAL DATA SYSTEMS PRISM 132 Color printer wilh all options • 200 cps Sprint Mode • 4-color printing • Friction Tractor feBd $1595 Smith-Corona TPI . . $ 679 MONITORS Zenith ZVM-121 Phosphor, 15 MHZ $ 119 NEC 1201 Phosphor, 20 MHZ $ 179 NEC 01 12 Composite, Color $ 335 NEC 2112 RGB Color $ 899 Amdek 300 Phosphor $ 179 Amdek Composite, Color $ 349 Amdek IBM Compabible Color $ 749 BMC Green $ 89 BMC Composite, Color $ 279 (All BMC monitors have 12 month replacement warranties) Princeton Graphic RGB Color $ 599 For IBM Electrohome RGB $ 749 Electrohome IBM Cable $ 49 MODEMS Hayes Smartmodem, 300 baud $219 Hayes Smartmodem, 1200 baud $529 Hayes Chronograph $189 Novation Cat $145 Novation D-Cat $165 Novation Auto Cat $209 CERMETEK SCALL 1200 baud modem DISKETTES (5 1 /4 inch) SCOTCH WITH PLASTIC LIBRARY CASES (Boxes of 1 0) (48 Track single-sided, double density) $26.5 VERBATIM DATALIFE SS/DD (Boxes of 10) ... $24.9 VERBATIM DATALIFE DS/DD (Boxes of 10) . . . $39.9 ELEPHANT DISKETTES SS/DD (Boxes of 10) . $23.9 TERMINALS Televideo 910 $5 Televideo 912 $6 Televideo 920 $7 Televideo 925 $7 Televideo 950 $9 Adds Viewpoint $4 Call for Visual Terminals TELEVIDEO COMPUTERS TS802 $26! TS802H $46! TS806 (Multiuser) $51' TS800 $12! Apple Computer Products CALIFORNIA OMPUTER SYSTEMS ■ Async Serial In! D GPIB (IEEE-488) Inl ] Ana lo Dig Converter 1 Async Sena! (Term) 2 Sync Serial Inl 1 Apple Parallel Int ndarCfock Module jramable Timer $135 S239 S 99 SI35 $149 S109 $ 99 S 99 MOUNTAIN HARDWARE CPS Mulli-Funclion Card The Clock Superlalker Music System Expansion Chassis Romwnter Ram Plus 1169 $229 $159 $319 $599 $139 $149 MICROCOMPUTER BUSINESS INDUSTRIES pletime" Clock Card $89 **" Card (The Ultimate graphics interface cable — Parallel and Serial) $119 (See advertisement this Byte) 80 COLUMN CARDS FOR APPLE 3sper 80 Card $259 ;ion 80 Card (Vista) $269 lex 80 Card $249 RAM CARDS vong 1 6K Card $ 89 ;rosoft 16K Card $129 T AND G PRODUCTS me paddles $ 29 / Stick $ 44 lecta-port Expander $ 49 WE STOCK RANA DRIVES In our opinion, these are the best drives available for your APPLE II. Call for prices. Hard Disks + 8" Disks for Apple, TRS-80 $CALL ALSO APPLE ADD-ON 40 Track Compatible Drives $299 VISICORP.INC. Desktop Plan I Desktop Plan I Visifiles Visiplot BUSINESS SOFTWARE $229 $189 $189 $159 Visitrend Visiplot . ... $229 Visidex $189 Visiterm $ 79 Visicalc 3-3 $189 Visipak $539 STONEWARE DB Master $169 DB Utility Pack $ 69 MICRO PRO Apple CP M Word Star $219 Super Sort $119 Mail Merger $ 79 Data Star $179 Spell Star $119 Calc Star $119 APPLE WORD PROCESSING On line 's Sensational! Screenwriter II $89 Silicon Valley Associates Word Handler II $159 List Handler $ 79 Call for Continental, Dakin 5, Broderbund. Automated Simula- tions. Avant-Garde, Edu-Ware. Denver. Howard. Sirius Sensible, Synergistic Software, etc COMPUTE-R-CADE™ WE CARRYTHE REVOLUTIONARY GAME ARCADE BOOTH FOR ATARI AND APPLE COMPUTERS! CALL FOR INFORMATION AND PRICING MODEMS FOR APPLE Hayes Micromodem II Novation Apple Cat II 212 Apple Full Duplex (for Apple Cat II) 212 Apple Cat 212 Stand Alone Auto Cat RS232 $269 $299 $329 $629 $599 MODEM SOFTWARE Visiterm Transend il (Complete with a FREE subscription to the SOURCE) CPM FOR APPLE Microsoft Z80 Softcard $269 MISCELLANEOUS APPLE PRODUCTS Enhancer II i $119 Dana Apple Fan $ 39 Sup R Mod $27.95 System Saver $ 79 Videx Function Strip $ 69 NEC PERSONAL ZOMPUTER PRODUCTS >8001A Keyboard and processor unit, including 32K Ram, 24KB N- Basic Rom, cassette tape recorder interface, parallel printer interface, display interface $749 ;-8012A Modular expansion unit, including I/O bus extension, diskette adaptor, 32KB Ram, real-time clock, 8 priority interrupt levels, 6 slots for additional boards $479 >8023A Dot matrix printer — 1 00 cps, bidirectional printing, proportional printer $499 )-8031A Dual diskette unit, including two 163K byte diskette drives, interface cable, enclosure and operating system .... $749 C General Accounting System $259 C Accounts Receivable System $259 C Inventory Control System $259 C Payroll System $259 C Job Cost System $259 C Benchmark Word Processing $329 C CP M Operating System $125 C Report Manager $135 ita Base $459 'e carry the entire line of NEC/BPI software for the personal computer. Please call or write for information. ATARI Computer Products ATARI 800 Computer 810 Disk Drives 850 Interface Module . 830 Acoustic Modem . 16K Memory Module . 32K Memory Module . Paddle Controller (Pair; Joystick Controller (Pair) $675 ATARI SOFTWARE $459 Conversational French/German/ $189 Italian/Spanish, each module .... $ 49 $169 Touch Typing $19.95 $ 89 Asteroids $35.95 $ 99 Centipede $35.95 $ 19 Missile Command $35.95 $ 19 Pac-Man $35.95 Space Invaders $35.95 Star Raiders $39.95 Call for prices on APPLE COMPUTERS FRANKLIN ACE 1000 BASIS 108 Call for prices on Northstar and Texas Instruments products. Please call or write for our catalog. IN COLORADO (303) 279-2727 or (303) 279-2848 CALL "THE COMPUTER-LINE" 1 -(800)-525-7877 COMPUTERWORLD INTERNATIONAL, INC. SUITE 133, P.O. BOX 81. WHEAT RIDGE. COLORADO, U.S.A. 80034-0081 SHOWROOM: 1019 8TH STREET GOLDEN. CO 80401 TERMS: RETAIL MAIL ORDER: ADD 1% SHIPPING (MINIMUM $2.50) - UPS GROUND. WE HONOR ALL MANUFACTURERS WARRANTIES AND EXCHANGE FAULTY GOODS IMMEDIATELY. SPECIALISTS IN APO AND INTERNATIONAL DELIVERIES. ALL PRICES REFLECT A 2.9% CASH DIS- COUNT. PURCHASE ORDERS FROM ORGANIZATIONS WITH GOOD CREDIT ACCEPTED. Circle 98 on Inquiry card. Listing 2: The Plot program for the GEISCO system, written in FORTRAN 77. |||||ltBltilSi!aSiliS§§5SE!EStiai5ISlillsii!lSiili tin in! I; 1 111 ! I I li £! Si Is * 5 I it §1 s I S ? 3? li <{ ItJ If! g liiii ggggg I i I I I I ■J s s •I s I 1 I I il ll 111 gggggggggggggg 3 ggl§ ! I :S 5 - 3 „ - 11 if I I ° § I ! .5 348 October 1982 © BYTE Publications Inc COfTlPUTER WAREHOUSE CALL TOLL FREE ATARI Special 32K 800 System 800w/32K. recorder. Pac Man or Star Raiders, joysticks Call Above w/48K Call Pac-Man Special 400 W/16K, 2 joysticks. Pac-Man 800 (16K) 400 810 Disk Drive. 850 Interface. 410 Recorder . 830 Modem $655 $285 $440 $170 $75 $155 16K Memory $60 32K Memory $90 80 Column Board Call COMMODORE VIC-20 $180 Datacassette $60 Single disk drive $320 16K Memory $95 Tl 99/4A HOME COMPUTER 99 /4A Console Call 10" Color monitor $355 Disk controller $220 Disk drive $360 32K Memory $290 Expansion box $1 85 Expansion box disk controller. $1 85 Expansion box disk drive $290 Expansion box 32K memory. . $220 DISK DRIVES Lobo Apple 1st Drive $400 Apple 2nd Drive $350 Percom Atari D/D Drives Call MONITORS Zenith 12" Green Screen S1 15 Amdek Video 300 Call Color I $310 Color II Call Color III Call BMC Call Comrex 13" RGB Color $460 NEC JB 1201 $155 JB 1260 $115 MODEMS Hayes Smartmodem $2 1 5 Novation CAT $140 D-CAT $155 Apple Cat II $349 Auto Cat $235 1-800-528-1054 SOFTWARE CP/M IBM CP/M IBM Ashton-Tate Call Call Sorcim Supercalc $225 $225 WordStar Call Call Innovative MailMerge Call Call Software T.I. M. $425 $350 SpellStar Call Call CBasic $100 NA Visi-Calc NA $195 Microsoft Basic 80 $265 NA Easywriter II NA $275 WordStar, MailMerge, Spellguard $225 $225 SpellStar $449 $449 PLEASE ADD S5 PER SOFTWARE ORDER FOR SHIPPING. SPECIAL VISICALC SYSTEM Franklin Ace 1000, Lobo 1st Drive, Zenith Green Screen Monitor, Visicalc . S1800 PRINTERS Anadex Call Anacom Call C. Itoh F-10-Parallel $1375 F-10-Serial $1375 55CPS Series Call 8510 Parallel $425 Comrex cr-1-s Call cr-i-p Call cr-1-o Call Datasouth DS 180 $1260 Diablo 620 RO wo/ Tractors $1150 630 RO wo/Tractors $2050 630KSR wo/Tractors $2435 Epson MX-80 Call MX-80 F/T Call MX-100 Call NEC PC-8023A Call 3510 $1375 3510 Ex $1645 7710 Call 7720 Call Okidata Microline80 $305 Microline82-A $400 Microline83-A $650 Microline84 Call PMC DMP-85 $410 Smith-Corona TP-1 $650 Tally 1805/1802 $1490 1605/1602 $1325 MT160 $625 MT 180 Call Texas Instruments 810 Basic Call VIDEO TERMINALS Adds Viewpoint $490 Televideo 910 $570 910 Plus $570 920 $735 925 $730 950 $915 Zenith z-19 $680 ZT-1 Call COMPUTERS Altos ACS 8000-15 $3742 ACS 8000-2 w/CPM " $2650 Series 15D $2125 Series 5-5D $4240 Dynabyte Call NEC 8001 $730 8012 $470 8031 $730 Northstar Advantage Call Horizon II 64K QD $2625 Sanyo MBC-1000 $1520 Televideo Systems TS-802 Call TS-802H Call MOUNTAIN HARDWARE All products Call HOUSTON INSTRUMENTS Hi-Plot DMP-2 $825 DMP-7/8 $2025 Prices reflect 3% to 5% cash discount. Product shipped in factory cartons with manufacturer s warranty. Please add $8.00 per order for shipping. Prices & availability subiect to change without notice Send cashier s check or money order all other checks will delay shipping two weeks ITCD 2222 E. Indian School Rd. • Phoenix, Arizona 85016 \Jr*ul :fimli IBM Personal Computer DOS. Microsoft BASIC interpreter. A fast, 16-bit version of the industry standard. It opens the door to a wide range of existing application programs. Perfect Writer word processor. The ultimate word processor, that has been rated "excellent" by Infoworld (6-14-82). (Optional spelling checker available.) Multi-Plan spread sheet. Not just another "Visi- Clone," but a truly superior planning tool. Cross- linking of separate spread sheets provides previously unheard of capability. (Optional.) Complete language support with Microsoft Pascal, FORTRAN, COBOL, BASIC Compilers avail- able. You can choose the right language for any application. (Optional.) Best of all, the Gazelle is priced to sell as quickly as it runs. You can buy the fully tested Seattle Computer Gazelle from your local dealer for $5995. Add a terminal and printer and you are ready to go. Call toll free 1-(800)-426-8936 for more information about the world's best, and fastest, micro buy. 1 1 14 Industry Drive, Seattle, WA 9818R Circle 344 on Inquiry card. BYTE October 1982 351 GREAT IDPAC Down to Earth Products SDS-MULTIPLEXER/DISPLAY Three RS232C 1 lo 2 Switches Two Seven Segment Status Display (Can be used as a line monitor tor data communications link) (route RS232 to one of two devices) SDS-SINGLE BOARD COMPUTERS Z80A CPU 64K Bank Switch Memory 2 RS232 Channels 4 Timers IEEE 696 Buss Interface 4 Parallel ports NEC 765 FDC with PLL to all Shugart compatable drives (SOS-Master only) SIERRA DATA SCIENCES Fresno CA / Marketing Division, 21 162 Lorain Ave., Fairvlew Park, Ohio 441 26 (216) 331-8500 Telex. 980133 WDMR Circle 156 on inquiry card. Listing 2 continued: 2000 1610 IF(INIT)TH£N 2010 PRIOT/UrBble to open file '"+nLEOUT+"" 2020 PRINT, 'I/O error nunber ' ,IERROR(0) 2030 GO TO 1190 2010 ELSE 2050 INIT=.TRUE. 2060 CALL ZETA53(53,0,-1) 2070 CALL SYSTEM) 'PURGE '+FILE0UT) 2080 GO TO 1600 2090 ENOIF 21001 21201 i x 21303* i If IPEN is greater then one then * 211"* * plotting is terMinated and the * 2l5i)x x cH.rtpi.it file saved. * 2160* % x 21 80* 2190 1830 IF ( IPEN. GT.l) THEN 2200 ENDFILE(Ol) 2210 CLOSE (01, STATUS= ' KEEP ' ) 2220 PRINT , TRIMI . ( STRING ' K0UNT , ' (110) ' )) 2230 «+' plot vectors written to file , "+FILEOUT+"V 2210 NTIME=FL0AT(K0I.INT)/9.8 2250 PRINT, 'Plot Kill require epproxirvstly 2260 «'+TRIML!STRING(NTIrlE,'(I10)'))+' seconds to displsy.' 2270 RETURN 2280 ENDIF 2290* 2310* * * 2320* * Begin Main data packing section * ?330» * x 2310* xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 2350* 2360 KONTROL =0 2370 WORD=0 7380 IF 2160 NY=MAX0(NY,0) 2170 IF(NY.GT.127)THEN 2180 NY=NY-128 2190 KONTROL 4WTR0L+1 ! Set. bit zero ZSfli! ENOIF 2510 IF ( NX. GT. 255) THEN 2520 N>'=NX-256 2530 KONTROI.=KONTPOL+2 1 Set bit one 2.510 ENOIF 2550 TF(NX.GT.127)THEN 2560 NX=NX-128 2570 K0NTROI.=K0NTPOL+1 ! Set bit two 2580 ENDTF 2590 CALL IE:8T