BIT! THE SMALL SYSTEMS JOURNAL AUGUST 1985 VOL.10, NO. 8 $3.50 IN UNITED STATES $4.25 IN CANADA / £2.10 IN U.K. A MCGRAW-HILL PUBLICATION 0360-5280 THE AMIGA from Commodore DECLARATIVE LANGUAGES: Prolog, Hope, FP No mato what t youtein Candidate Search Update FILE: Reaunt, SEARCH DAT F: 5/20185 CLIENT: Sp/cndora Gourmet Baby Foods FIND EXPERIENCE - MarLaing Mmagc HELD = FomLUnfant SIZE = J0OV Eny/nyccs SALARY REQ., Utl-$SO.Cm P„ A LOCATION REQ.-Dami RELOCATABLE = K« Mame Experience Anlosz, Hank Brown, Dob 1978— Present Pin/.-Pinz Baby Food 1976—1978 Heath Baby Products 1 984— Present Liz for Kids 1982—1984 Bonnie Babe, Inc. Salary Education $45,000 S48.000 Haydcn, Steve 1979— Present Morrison. John West, Nick I leath Baby Products 1975—1979 Mummy Tummies 1977— Present Camilla Grocers, Ltd 1974—1977 Georgie Porgie of London / Ung dale/base management program you can store, retrieve and sort informa- tion in an almost unlimited number if combinations: As opposed In ,-,, the way you're probably doing it now. Above, we've located eligible candidates by salary and work experience. Bui database management is also handy for things like generating master mailing lists. Creating invoices. Sorting by zip code. Checking inventory. No files to lose. No crass-referencing your Rolodex" No paperclips. S.W " May 20, 1985 Mr. Greg Holm Vice President, Marketing Splendora Gourmet Baby Foods 2200 Michigan Place East Winnetka, Illinois Dear Mr. Helm: * a busy executive you know that accomplishing your many pro.essiona, objectives Is a lull-time lob. n8dic schedule to And the last thing you need IS to lake ig^i^^ajnf, can holpl search lor a new team player. M « h™ ffiHBHBjUrtUg , m ••■» service recruitment lirmwilh J^™^, setecla d. aggres- Ir^l succESSFUI.PtAce"Erns| LSifi sive ambitious. highly-qualMied professionals not unliko yourself. Our selective screening processes hBlp us locate candidates who not only meet yaur specitied work expsnence and salary requirements, but who are well suited to the corporaie culture of your company. "»■ — - culture ui yuui »"■ 1- One more reason we. nicy ™^^^X ™ u9 E ss ?==:*=;- -r re,erences ' casa «^d-^rs;:ssSa:^swi,e,chai,don 1 hesilate to call aaaJrVjMiaaiS - ^ In business, people often meet your letterhead before they meet you. Ever wondered what a type/vrillen page stiff' icilh ichite-oul says ahoul your business'' With The Macintosh Office you can even design and print your , own letterhead, plus com- bine publication quality text and graphics for a lasting first impres- sion. More important, you can send personal- ized letters to as many prospects as you have paper. Personality I Leadership Experience P tol 'Manufacturer's suggested retail price. © 1985 Apple Computer. Inc. Apple, lIx'Mile logo. IjistrWHIer.-ljijile'ldlk and MacDraw are trademarks of Apple Compute/: Inc. Macintosh is a trademark oj Mcintosh Laboratory Inc. and is being used with its express permission. Nabisco is a registered trademark of Nabisco, Inc. Modex is a registered trademark ofZepfy r American Gorporation, a subsidiary of ' li/silco.** Multiplan is a registered trademark it] 'Microsoft Corporation. uaness yam in business. : Analysis | □ CMU» (^] Candidal! □ C "" , "" U Each graph represents seven to ten pages of test information per candidate. Individual tests are available for your review at your request. As these comparative charts indicate, all candidates tested competitively in the four areas. However, based on further in- depth study, including extensive personal interviews, wp highly recommend you interview candidates 4 and 5 as soon as possible. Our office will be contacting you immediately to set up these interviews at your earliest con- venience. If a picture is worth a thousand words, business graphics like these could cut meetings and presentations in IxilJ. We've taken information onfive candidates stored in one sq/nmre f : , program, copied it into mother program, where it was used to create these com- parative bar graphs. Once your data is entered this particular software program pves von your choice of 42 difjerent graph cmifigura thus. You can preview your A material I whether it's candi 1 dates, coils or cookies I in .fm each configuration to AB decide which chart or graph most persuasively makes your point. meeli Ml Recruit-A-Suit Income Statement Fiscal Year Ending 9/30/84 01 02 Q3 04 Yair-end SALES Arm A.-crji F*M 30,000 19,000 .,-. ......j 17,000 78.000 Cnrrm.s-,:-.n^ 52.000 45.000 ■:.3.r.:-o 42,000 167.000 1 nl.V Attn rVr ■' 72,000 6*,O0O 70,000 59,000 265 000 Do Iron Food .14,000 46,000 42.000 39.000 171.0 no Commit i a na 68.000 72,000 64,000 62,000 2SG.000 T of ill Do 1 roil 112.000 Illl.Oi 10-j.lifjO 101,000 437,000 TOTAL SALES 1 84 .000 1(12.000 176.000 160.000 702.000 OPERATING EXPENSES Ann Arbor Payroll 30.000 30.000 33.000 30.000 123.000 Tmoa 2.500 2.500 2.600 2.500 10,100 Auto 1.200 1,200 1.200 1.200 4.BD0 retnhont BOO GOO GOO 600 2,400 Ron. 0,000 (1.000 8.000 B,000 32,000 Ulil.lios 500 500 500 500 2,000 i .-..■.■ . r,;;--,.;.: Jj 100 100 200 100 500 MwwWIng 3.000 3,000 4,000 4,000 14,000 T"rav»l 1,000 1.000 1.000 1,000 4.000 EnlortBinmom 1,500 1.500 1,760 1.500 0,250 Office Supplies 300 300 300 300 1.200 Ann Arbor ToM 40.701 ■lfi.700 53,150 ■19,700 200.250 Dfitroil Pavrnil 50.000 52.000 50.000 50.000 202.000 Taj os 4.200 4 400 4.200 4.200 17.000 Aula 2.400 2.400 2.400 2.400 9.600 Talophono 1.2Q0 1 5DO 1.500 1,200 5.400 Ron! 9.100 9,100 9, TOO 9.400 36.700 Ul.tilios. BOO 800 S00 800 3,200 ;■' ■ 250 '.-c: 200 650 Advertising 3,000 a.:,i.;a 3 500 3,000 13.000 Trsvol 1.200 5,500 1.200 1,400 5.300 EniortaJnment i 600 1,800 1.600 1.4O0 6,400 r.i[r;.-n Suppiifr. I DO 400 400 400 1(100 DflfroU tqijI 74.100 77.650 74,900 74.400 301.050 EXPENSES TOTAL 122.800 120,350 120.050 124,100 E01.300 NETPKE-TAX PROFIT 61,200 55.550 47.950 35.900 100.700 T-r? Y f produces a M von well know, business involves innumerable number-related tasks, not the least of which is generating income mid expense statements like Ibis one. Should you want to - I change any of the entered I items — to take a look at the effects of opening a new office i or decreasing your staff— a spreadsheet program like 1 hilliplan" * will automatically . •calculate the entire document. (Here, we've copied it into MucDraw™ and enhanced it for presentation purposes. ) . II not only saves hours of entering, double checking and erasing, but when teamed up with our LaserWriter printer, it produces a printout impressive enough to show a bank president. Fast enough for this afternoon's meeting Whether you're Nabisco™ or Ms. Priss' Cookie Company you worry about the bottom line. Write letters. Keep track of inventory. Keep your overhead under control. Pay taxes. Retrieve files. Schedule projects. Which is why you can dramatically increase your business' productivity with The Macintosh™ Office. The cornerstone of The Macintosh Otto is our Macintosh 512K computer. All you need to know about its powerful, 32-bit, mouse- driven technology is that it reduces the time it takes to become productive with a computer from well over a work week to just under a lunch hour. But more important, Macintosh runs more than 500 software .;,.... programs that .. can solve a multitude of business problems. / When you team up Macintosh with the second hardest worker in The Macintosh Office, our LaserWriter™ printer, you can bring a new level of professionalism to your paperwork. It produces publication-quality text and graphics in letters, internal documents, presentations, even business forms. There's no telling what it can save you in outside printing costs alone. And the LaserWriter can be shared with as many as 31 Macintosh computers. So it becomes more cost efficient with every Macintosh you connect to it. Butcher, baker, candlestick-maker. . . or Nabisco for more information about The Macintosh Office call 800-446-3000. No job too big. Or too small. TheMacinto&Office CONTENTS &fc »l| # / /nil "~< 80 '■' .: U A* < £ .:< _lf_JS_S_<_l k ' 148 FEATURES Introduction 80 The Amiga Personal Computer by Gregg WK/iams. }on Edwards, and Phillip Robinson 83 It has plenty of computing power and impressive color graphics. Ciarcias Circuit Cellar: Build the BASIC-52 Computer/Controller by Steve Garcia 104 Steve designs a cost-effective performance booster that can be used in serious applications. The DSI-32 Coprocessor Board, Part 1: The Hardware by Trevor G. Marshall. George Scolaro. David L Rand, Tom King. and Vincent P. Williams 120 When plugged into an IBM PC. the DSI-32 is a complete National Semiconductor 32032 microcomputer with 2 56K bytes of memory. Programming Project: Context-Free Parsing of Arithmetic Expressions by \onathan Amsterdam 138 This program lets you parse integer arithmetic expressions into executable form. THEMES Introduction 148 Prolog Goes to Work by Clara Y. Cuadrado and \ohn L. Guadrado 151 What Prolog is. who's using it. and why. Logic Programming by Robert Kowalski 161 It can be implemented as either a declarative programming language or a procedural programming language. Declarative Languages: An Overview by Susan Eisenbach and Ghris Sadler 181 Why we need another type of programming language. Program Transformation by )ohn Darlington 201 A researcher in functional languages explains a program-development methodology. Functional Programming Using FP by Peter G. \-\arrison and Hessam Khoshnevisan 219 This language lets you program without objects by facilitating the manipulation of functions. A Hope Tutorial by Roger Bailey 235 Learn how to use one of the new generation of functional languages. BYTE H5SN 0360-52801 is published monthly with one extra issue pel year by McGraw-Hill Inc Founder lames H McGraw 11860-19481 Executive editorial circulation and advertising olhces 70 Main 51 Peterborough. NH 014 58 phone 16031 924-9381 Office hours Mon-Thur 8 JO AM - 4 30 PM. Friday 8 30 AM — 1 00 PM Eastern Time Address subscriptions to BYTE Subscriptions. POB 590 Martinsville Nl 08836 Postmaster send address changes USPS Form 3579 undeliverable copies, and fulfillment questions to BYTE Subsctiptions POB 596 Martinsville Nl 08836 Second-class postage paid at Peterborough NH 03458 and additional mailing offices Postage paid at Winnipeg. Manitoba Registration number 9321 Subscriptions are 521 lor one year S38 for two years and S55 (or three years in the USA and its possessions In Canada and Mexico S23 for one year S42 for two years S6I lor three years S69 for one year ait delivety to Europe 17 100 yen for one year surface delivery to lapan S37 surface delivery elsewhere Air delivery 10 -.elected areas at additional rates upon request Single copy price is S3 50 in the USA and its possessions. S3 95 In Canada and Mexico S4 50 In Europe, and S5 elsewhere Foreign subscriptions and sales should be remitted In United States funds drawn on a US bank Please allow six lo eight weeks fot delivery of firsl issue Primed in the United States of America 2 BYTE • AUGUST 1985 COVER PHOTO BY AARON REZNY WITH APOLOGIES TO PABLO PICASSO VOLUME 10, NUMBER 8, 1985 REVIEWS Introduction 262 Reviewers Notebook by Glenn Hartwig 265 The Tandy 1000 by Rich Malloy 266 An inexpensive IBM PC-compatible system. IBM Pascal 2.00 by Patrick J. Finan .275 Improvements include better documentation and support of an 8087 coprocessor. Review Feedback 283 Readers respond to previous reviews. KERNEL Introduction 290 Computing at Chaos Manor: The West Coast Computer Faire by jerry Pournelle 293 A drive to San Francisco lets Jerry see a multitude of new products. BYTE Japan: COMDEX in Japan by William M. Raike 331 Bill describes many of the new products that were featured at the first-ever COMDEX show in Japan. BYTE U.K.: Declarative Update by Dick Pountain 341 Dick rounds out this month's "Declarative Languages" theme with reviews of two books and a look at two new language systems. According to Webster: Greetings and Agitations by Bruce Webster .... 355 More Macintosh products are discussed this month. BYTE West Coast New Microprocessor Chips by Phillip Robinson 369 Phil looks at Intel's iAPX 386. the 80C86. and Atron's "hardware-assisted" debugger for the 86 family. Circuit Cellar Feedback conducted by Steve Ciarcia 376 Steve answers project-related queries from readers. BYTELINES conducted by Sol Ubes 378 News and speculation about personal computers. Editorial: A Very Special Issue 6 Microbytes 9 Letters 14 Fixes and Updates 33 Whats New 39, 380 Book Reviews 49 Ask BYTE 70 Unclassified Ads 429 BYTE's Ongoing Monitor Box, BOMB Results 430 Reader Service 431 262 f>' ; I i 290 Address all editorial correspondence to the Editor BYTE POB 372 Hancock NH 03J49 Unacceptable manuscripts will be returned il accompanied by sufficient first-class postage Not responsible for lost manuscripts or photos Opin.ons expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of BYTE Copyright © 1985 by McGraw-Hill Inc All rights reserved Trademark registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office Where necessary permission is granted by the copyright owner for libraries and others registered with the Copyright Clearance Center iCCCl to photocopy any article herein for the flat fee of 51 50 per copy of the article or any part thereof Correspondence and payment should be sent directly to the CCC. 29 Congress St Salem MA 01970 Specify ISSN 0360-5280 83 SI 50 Copying done for other than personal ot internal reference use w thorn the permis- sion of McGraw-Hill Inc 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 North Zeeb Rd Dept PR. Ann Arbor Ml -18106 or 18 Bedford Row. Depi PR London WCIR m England Subscription questions or problems should be addressed to: BYTE Subscriber Service. POB 328 Hancock. NH 03 44 9 section art by maciek albrecht AUGUST 1985 • BYTE 3 Can You Name a Dual-Drive Color PC That Runs Lotus l,Z,3 and Costs Under $1500? Hints • It comes with a 14" RGB monitor much like the 14" monitor that comes with the $2495 Leading Edge PC. • It has dual 800K disk drives much like the $2495 Tandy 2000, but it also has the ability to read and write to popular 160K, 320K, and 360K IBM-PC formats. • It's an 8088, MS-DOS system with 256Kof RAM, but it comes with a better free software bundle than the 8-bit Kaypro including MS-DOS 2.1 1, HAGEN-DOS, DOS-TUTOR, WordStar 3.3, Easy Writer, Spell, Mail Track, PC File III, FILE- BASE, CalcStar, games, graphics, utili- ties, and two BASIC languages. • Although it's not PC-DOS compatible it will run hundreds of the same pro- grams as the IBMincludingdBASE II, Multiplan, the PFS series, Lotus 1,2,3 and even Flight Simulator. • During the dog days of summer computer sales, we've lowered the prices of both our color and monochrome systems. You can receive a free booklet on these systems by calling our machine at 1-800-FOR A FOX, and leaving your name and address at the beep. Your time is up the answer is: Color Fox $1497 also Fox Jr. . . . $899 Silver Fox . . $1297 Scorrsdole Systems, Lfd 617 N Scorrsdole Rd #B, Scorrsdole, Az 85257 (602)941-5856 The Silver Fox is sold exclusively by Scottadale Systems Ltd.. 617 N. Scoltadole Road SB, Scottadale. AZ 85257. Trademarks: Silver Fox. HAGEN-DOS, and Datemate, Scottsdale Systems Ltd.; WordStar and CalcStar, Micropro International; MS-DOS, and Multiplan, Micro- soft Corporation; FILEBASE, EWDP Software, Inc.; dBASE II. AshtonTate; IBM-PC. and IBM-PC DOS; International Business Machines Corporation. Ordering: Telemarketing only, Silver Fox price is for cash. F.O.B. Scottadale, prices subject to change, product subject to limited supply. We accept purchase orders from Fortune 1000 companies and major universities with good credit - add 2% Visa, Mastercard add 3%, AZ residents add 6%. Returned merchandise subject to a 20% restocking fee. Personal or company checks take up to 3 weeks to clear. No COD's or APO's. EVTE editor in chief Philip Lemmons managing editor Gene Smarte consulting editors Steve Ciarcia Ierry Pournelle Bruce Webster senior technical editors G. Michael Vose. Tfemes Gregg Williams technical editors Thomas R. Clune Ion R. Edwards Richard Grehan Glenn Hartwig, Reviews Ken Sheldon Richard S. Shuford Iane Morrill Tazelaar Eva White Stanley Wszola Margaret Cook Gurney. Associate Alan Easton. Drafting WEST COAST EDITORS E/.ra Shapiro. Bureau Chief. San Francisco Phillip Robinson. Senior technical Editor. Palo Alto Donna Osgood, Associate Editor, Son Francisco Brenda McLaughlin. Editorial Assistant. San Francisco NEW YORK EDITOR Richard Malloy. Senior Technical Editor managing editor, electronic publishing and communications George Bond user news editor. east coast Anthony I. Lockwood, Wfiaf's New USER NEWS EDITOR. WEST COAST Mark Welch. Microbes CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Jonathan Amsterdam, programming projects Mark Dahmke. video, operating systems Mark Haas, at large Rik Iadrnicek. CAD. graphics, spreadsheets Mark Klein communications Alastair 1, W. Mayer, software Alan Miller, languages and engineering Iohn C Nash, scientific computing Dick Pountain, U.K. William M. Raike. \apan Perry Saidman. computers and law Robert Sterne, computers and law COPY EDITORS Bud Sadler, Chief Dennis Barker Elizabeth Cooper Anne L, Fischer Nancy Hayes Lynne M Nadeau Paula Noonan lOAN VlGNEAU ROY Warren Williamson assistants Peggy Dunham, office Manager Martha Hicks Lisa Jo Steiner art ROSSLYN A. FRICK. Art Director Nancy Rice. Assistant An Director PRODUCTION David R. Anderson, Production Director Denise Chartrand Michael I. Lonsky Ian Muller senior vice president/publisher Harry L, Brown publishers assistant Beverly Iackson PERSONNEL Cheryl Hurd. Office Manager Patricia Burke, Personnel Coordinator ADVERTISING SALES 1603-924-61371 I Peter Huestis. 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Operations Manager, Exhibits planning and development Michele P. Verville. Manager Patricia Akerley. Research Manager Cynthia Damato Sands, Reader Sen-ice Coordinator Faith Kluntz. Copyrianfs Coordinator manufacturing/finance/services Daniel Rodrigues. Director accounting Kenneth A, King, Assistant Controller Vicki Weston. Accounting Manager Linda Short. D/P Manaaer Edson Ware, Credit Marie Caggiani Marilyn Haich Diane Henry Vern Rockwell IoAnn Walter typography Sherry McCarthy. Chief Typographer Nan Fornal Len Lorette Kathy Quist Donna Sweeney building services/traffic Anthony Bennett. Building Services Manager Brian Higgins Mark Monkton receptionists L. Ryan McCombs Cheryl Castro, Assistant Editorial and Business Office: 70 Main Street Peterborough New Hampshire 034 58 1603] 924-9281 West Coast Offices: McGraw-Hill. 435 Battery St. San Francisco. CA 94111. 14 1 51 362-4600 McGrBW-HIII 10O0 Elwell Court Palo Alto CA 94303 |4I5| 964-0624 New York Office: 1221 Avenue of the Americas New York. NY 10020, (2121 512-2000 Officers of McGraw-Hill Information Systems Company President Richard B Miller Executive Vice Presidents Frederick P lannOlt Con- struction Information Group. Russell C White. Computers and Communications Information Group. I Thomas Ryan Marketing and Interna- tional Senior Vice Presidents Francis A Shinal. Controller Robert C Violeue Manufacturing and Technology Senior Vice Presidents and Publishers Laurence Altman. Electronics Week. Harry L Brown. BYTE and Popular Computing: David 1 McGrath, Construction Publications Croup Vice President Peter B McCuen. Communications Information Vice President Fred O lensen. Planning and Development Officers of McGraw-Hill lnc Harold W McGraw |r Chairman, loseph L. Dionne. President and Chief Executive Officer Robert N Landes. Executive Vice President and Secretary Ralph I Webb. Vice President and Treasurer. Shel F Asen. Vice President Manufacturing George R Elsinger Vice Presi- dent Circulation. Ralph R Schulz. Senior Vice President Editorial (Publishing Operations). ■if nil BYTE • AUGUST 1985 Give yourself a Giff. Now you can network IBM PCs with a powerful, multitasking, multiuser system. Run popular MS-DOS™ programs like Lotus™ 1-2-3, SuperCalc 3 and WordStar.™ Plus all the thousands of CP/JVT programs. Plus true multiuser accounting, database manage- ment, and electronic mail. Gifford's MC-NET;™ running on our MC-186™ and IBM compatible PCs, gives you all this capability and more. It lets you grow a network that shares information and resources among hundreds of people. With full security. Advanced tele- communications. And the ease of use of a standalone PC. Get the whole stoiy on Gifford hardware, software and service. Just call 415/895-0798 and ask for a Giff Pack.™ Or write to us at 2446 Verna Court, San Leandro, CA 94577 Give yourself the Giff that keeps on giving. ©GIFFORD COMPUTER SYSTEMS A subsidiary of Zitel corporation THE MULTIUSER COMPANY' 2446VemaCourt,SanL£andro,CA94577 415/895-0798 Telex 704521 2050 North Loop West, Suite 116 Houston, TX 77018 713/680-1944 In Europe: London (01) 337-2372 Telex 28106 (UK) MONET and MC- 186 are trademarks of Gifford Computer Systems. MS-DOS, Cl'/M, Lotus 1-2-3, SuperCalc 3 and WordStar arc trademarks of Microsoft. Digital Research, Ixjtus Development Corporation. Sorcim/IUS Micro Software, and MicroPro International respectively. Inquiry 133 AUGUST 1985 EDITORIAL A Very Special Issue BYTE's readers like to stay on the leading edge of technology and to try things for themselves. We think this issue offers extraordinary opportunities for you to discover some of the most exciting devel- opments at the forefront of personal com- puting. The new Amiga personal com- puter from Commodore International is a machine to rekindle the enthusiasm that drives personal computing. Gregg Williams, Jon Edwards, and Phil Robinson have explained the Amiga's ar- chitecture in fascinating detail. The Amiga's custom coprocessors for the 68000 bring high performance. Dazzling graphics and audio and an open expan- sion bus make the Amiga the intellectual and technical heir to the Apple II. The Amiga's operating system is a full-color, icon-based windowing system with true concurrency. All the dazzle does nothing to inhibit the Amiga's performance in any serious application. The Amiga's price seems fair, too. With the 68000, three custom chips that con- trol graphics, audio, and peripherals, voice synthesis hardware with software to drive it, 2 56K bytes of RAM, I92K bytes of ROM, and input/output that includes an 800K-byte microfloppy, RGB analog, RGB digital, NTSC composite, two stereo jacks, a mouse, a parallel port, a high-speed serial port, and a disk port, plus the ex- pansion bus, BASIC, a word processor, a paint program, and four other pieces of bundled software, the Amiga retails for $1295. Add Tecmar's $995 hard disk and an RGB monitor, and you have a phenom- enal computer system. This issue also offers readers an oppor- tunity to build a true 32-bit computer sys- tem. Based on National Semiconductor's 32032, the Definicon DSI-32 coprocessor board for the IBM PC also uses the NS32081 floating-point chip and has the NS32082 memory-management chip as an option. FORTRAN, Pascal, C, and other languages are available. If you have an IBM PC with 15 watts of power to spare, the DSI-32 can move you a generation ahead in computing power. Phil Robinson was instrumental in bringing this exciting project to the pages of BYTE. Steve Ciarcia, preparing the blockbuster Circuit Cellar SB180 computer for September's 10th Anniversary issue, gives us the versatile and powerful BASIC-52 computer/controller (BCC-52) this month. Programmable in a ROM-based BASIC, the BASIC-52 and its on-board language are ideal for process control and are bus-com- patible with Steve's earlier Z8 controllers. The BCC-52 board utilizes the Intel 8052AH-BASIC microcontroller chip and includes 48K bytes of RAM/EPROM, an EPROM programmer, three parallel ports, a serial terminal port, and a serial printer port. lonathan Amsterdam's Programming Project shows how to parse integer arith- metic expressions into executable form. This software project is written in Pascal for the Apple 11, but lonathan has taken care to write portable code. He has also explained the roots of the project in linguists' work on context-free grammars. The article goes from theory of context- free grammers to a working Pascal version of a Texas Instruments-style four-function integer calculator. We'll be having at least one Programming Project in the feature section each month. Leading-Edge Software The feature section emphasizes hardware in part because the theme section is devoted to declarative programming lan- guages. Declarative languages are gaining popularity because they are ideal for parallel processing and because their pro- ponents claim they will increase the pro- ductivity of programmers. Thanks to contributions from a variety of authors, including several at the Im- perial College of Science and Technology in London, England, this language issue gives readers insights into relational lan- guages such as Prolog and functional lan- guages such as Hope and FP. (There is lit- tle on LISP because of a previous theme issue on LISP and additional LISP articles in the April 1985 issue.) Special thanks go to Susan Eisenbach of Imperial College and Tom Clune of the BYTE staff for put- ting this theme section together. Susan Eisenbach and Chris Sadler give an overview of declarative languages. Robert Kowalski. one of the pioneers of Prolog, explains logic programming as a form of processing that is congenial to human thinking and also easy to imple- ment on a computer. Clara and John Cuadrado tell who is using Prolog where and for what, lohn Darlington gives an ex- cellent account of the power that declara- tive languages gain from their "referential transparency— the fact that the meaning of a program fragment depends only on the meanings of its components, not on the history of any computation done before the evaluation of the fragment. Darlington provides examples written in Hope. Peter Harrison and Hessam Khoshnevisan give us a look at lohn Backus's functional programming lan- guage, FP, which builds variable-free pro- grams from a set of primitive programs by use of program-forming operations and recursive definitions. Finally Roger Bailey gives a lucid tutorial in the use of Hope that should bring you into the world of declarative languages. Al- though he didn't write an article, Victor Wu of Imperial College ported a version of Hope from an Apricot machine to the IBM PC. Victor's version of Hope together with Roger's fine tutorial mean that you can download Hope from BYTEnet Listings and try a declarative language for your- self. BYTEnet Listings also offers a public- domain version of Prolog. Sacrifices Made To get in the long articles on the Amiga, the DSI-32, and the declarative languages, we had to cut from this issue some articles and advisories that we badly wanted to run. We had less editorial space at our disposal than at any time since April 1981. The sacrifices included Books Received, Event Queue, Clubs and Newsletters, Chaos Manor Mail, all reviews except those of the Tandy 1000 and IBM Pascal 2.00, several strong feature articles, and additional strong articles on declarative languages. Our apologies to all editors and authors concerned. We will publish as many of the postponed articles as we can as soon as we can. We are considering electronic publication of some of the postponed material. — Phil Lemmons, Editor in Chief BYTE- AUGUST 1985 maxell FLJDPPYDISK Maxell Gold The floppy disk that keeps IBM PC letter perfect, helps Xerox 860 write great copy and puts more bang in Wang. Whether you're banging out a letter to Australia, creating a contract, or doing a case study on centipedes, dot every i with Maxell. The Gold Standard in floppy disks. Maxell is an industry leader in durability and error-free performance. There's a Maxell for virtually every computer made, and each comes with a lifetime warranty. That's why, when every word counts, you can count on Maxell. maxell IT'S WORTH IT ® maxell ■ ■QM If *5 •— o Maxell Corporation of America, 60 Oxford Drive, Moonachie, N.J. 07074 Inquiry 194 PC is a trademark of IBM Ccrp AUGUST 1985 -BYTE 7 YOUR DAYS OF BUYING GRAPHICS TERMINALS ARE OVER! Now there are two ways to use your PC to access popular mainframe graphics products like SAS/GRAPH*, TELLAGRAPH*. RS/1*, DISSPLA*, and PLOT-10*. Joining our popular SmarTerm 125 DEC* VT125 ReGIS graphics emulator, our new SmarTerm 4014 product gives you full Tektronix* 4010/4014 plus DEC VT102 emulation. View the entire graphics image on the PC screen, or use the powerful instant ZOOM feature to magnify a selected portion of the screen image to full Tektronix 1024 x 768 resolution. Using Picture Replay, pictures drawn by the host can be saved, sent to other users, examined in detail using ZOOM mode, and printed or plotted offline. Like all SmarTerm emulators, SmarTerm 4014 includes powerful text and binary file transfer facilites, PDIP* and XMODEM protocol support, and TTY mode to link you to popular time sharing services. By the way, if you only need text ter- minal emulation, be sure to ask about our SmarTerm 220, SmarTerm 100, and SmarTerm 400 products. Join the more than 25,000 "FIRST CLASS" people who use SmarTerm. Try it for 30 days with full refund privileges. Available from Computerland, your local software dealer, or Persoft, Inc. - 2740 Ski Lane Madison, Wl 53713 (608) 273-6000 - TELEX 759491 AFTER SMARTERM, WHAT YOU DO WITH YOUR OBSOLETE TERMINAL? Ill % M r ■ . ■ : ■ : i _ 1 1 IDEA CREDIT: Jill Roth of Chino, California. Send us your ideas for uses of obsolete terminals replaced by SmarTerm. The best ideas will be used in future ads. Write Persoft, Dept. MAILBOX, 2740 Ski Lane, Madison, Wl 53713. ■SMARTERM is a registered trademark ol Persoft, Inc ■PDIP is a trademark ol Person. Inc. 'DEC. VT and ReGIS ate trademarks ol Digital Equipment Corp. 'Tektronix and PLOT-10 ate registered trademarks ol Tektronix. Inc "SAS/GRAPH is a trademark ol SAS Institute, Inc. "RS/1 is a trademark of Boll Beranek and Newman. Inc. "TELLAGRAPH is a trademark ol ISSCO Graphics Corp 'DISSPLA is a trademark ol Conlrol Dala Corp persa/r ^ Inquiry 246 MICRO-BYTES Staff-written highlights of late developments in the microcomputer industry. Sinclair Rescued from Bankruptcy; Sir Clive Loses Clout In a marathon weekend session, Sinclair Research and Hollis Brothers & ESA Pic, a major distributor of office and educational equipment in the U.K., reached a buy-out agreement that saved the British computer maker from defaulting on more than £14 million of back bills. In the buy-out, Sir Clive Sinclair surrendered his controlling interest in the company and parted with his chairmanship. He will now serve as Sinclair Research's Lifetime Presi- dent and as a research consultant. Trouble had been brewing at Sinclair for some time: Christmas sales were disappointing, the QL computer failed to capture a market, the post-Christmas lull was deafeningly silent (industry wags claim that not a single Sinclair was sold during the first 60 days of 1985), and corporate cash was tied up in unsold inventory and research. The squeeze came when Thorn/EMI, producer of Sinclair's products, demanded that Sinclair clear its tab. Sinclair, unable to meet its obligations, then began moving toward liquidation. But in stepped Hollis Brothers, amid rumors that 10 Downing Street would be pleased to see Sinclair rescued. Hollis Brothers arranged to pick up £12 million worth of Sinclair stock. To finance the remaining debt, Sinclair will offer current shareholders a 3-for-l deal. Depending upon how investors exercise their entitlements, Sir Clive Sinclair will end up holding from 8 to 23 per- cent. He once owned more than 80 percent. More than 70 percent of Hollis Brothers & ESA Pic is held by Robert Maxwell, who is viewed in England with the same mixture of awe and annoyance as T. Boone Pickens in the United States. Maxwell will serve as Sinclair's board chairman, a position he already holds at London's Daily Mirror and the Pergom Press. Developments Bring Optical Discs Closer to Market Several developments in June suggested that low-cost optical discs and drives might arrive on the market fairly soon. Atari showed a compact-disc ROM (read-only memory) player at its booth at the Con- sumer Electronics Show in Chicago. The company also demonstrated software, developed by Activenture, that accesses the information in an encyclopedia stored in one-third of a 550-megabyte disc. Atari said it will sell CD ROM drives for less than $600 by the end of this year. CD ROM drives use the same 12-cm (4.7-inch) read-only compact discs used in stereo CD players but require additional error-checking and -correcting circuitry. Activenture said the enyclopedia disc might sell for about $200. Neither Activenture nor Grolier would confirm reports that Grolier's encyclopedia is on the optical disc. Just as 12-cm CD ROM drives seemed likely to hit the market, however, CD developer Sony announced it would be focusing its data-storage efforts on a 13-cm (5!4-inch) disc size to increase disc capacity and perhaps provide an upgrade path to write-once and erasable magneto-optic discs. The Sony "DataROM" 13-cm format was reportedly supported by several other Japanese companies at a standards meeting. National Memory Systems, Livermore, CA, announced two optical-disc products that in- clude interfaces and software for the IBM PC. The $19,900 NMS-007 uses Optimem's 1-gigabyte 12-inch optical drive and cartridges; NMS says that drive is available now. NMS also plans to offer the $5000 01-OL drive; it uses Optotech's 400-megabyte 5 '/4-inch drive and cartridges. New Products Use 65816 Processor A 4-megahertz version of the 65816 microprocessor, designed to provide more processor horsepower while maintaining compatibility with the 8-bit 6502, is now available to end users. Micro Magic, Millersville, MD. has unveiled MAX-816, an Apple II expansion card that adds a 4-MHz 65816 and 256K bytes of RAM. Micro Magic is developing an operating (continued) AUGUST 1985 -BYTE 9 system, MAX-OS, loosely based on UNIX, to take full advantage of the 65816. The firm also plans to add a 1024 by 1024 graphics card and a cache disk controller to accompany the MAX-816 board. While the basic MAX-816 card will be priced at less than $500 with 256K bytes, up to 1 megabyte can be added to the card, and the 65816 can directly address up to 16 megabytes of RAM. An earlier 65816 card ($395, 1 MHz) is available from Com Log, Scottsdale, AZ. Manx Software Systems, Freehold, NJ, said it expects to finish a 65816 version of its Aztec C com- piler late this year; the compiler will run on the Apple II under ProDOS and DOS 3.3. C Compilers Expand to New Systems Manx Software Systems reportedly expected to add native versions of its C compiler for the Commodore 64 and 128 and Apple's Macintosh, as well as an Apple II ProDOS version. The product line, including the $49.95 Apprentice C, was previously sold for the IBM PC and Apple II, with a cross-compiler offered for the Commodore 64. Manx will also provide native compilers for the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST later this year. Lattice also expected to provide versions of its C compiler for 68000-based systems, in- cluding the Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Sinclair QL, and Apple Macintosh. Both Lattice and Manx are porting cross-compilers to IBM's PC AT. Two MS-DOS Portable Computers Enhanced Hewlett-Packard unwrapped the Portable Plus, a 25-line, unbundled version of its Portable. While the Portable included a 300-bps modem, 256K bytes of RAM, and applications soft- ware in ROM, the standard Portable Plus provides only 128K bytes of RAM, plus MS-DOS 2.11 and utility software in ROM. A 300/1200-bps modem, ROM applications software, and expansion memory up to 896K bytes will be optional. Meanwhile, Australian computer maker Time Office Corp. will enter the U.S. market with the Kookaburra laptop computer. Previously available as the Dulmont Magnum, the Kookaburra includes a 25-line LCD, 256K bytes of RAM, an 80186 processor, a video-output port, MS-DOS 2.11, and several applications programs for less than $2000. Time Office also plans to introduce a line of Z80-/80186-based office workstations in the fall. NANOBYTES Actrix Computer Corp., Milpitas, CA, which emerged from Chapter 1 1 bankruptcy protec- tion in May, planned to announce new versions of its Actrix computer that are compatible with IBM's PC, XT, and AT models. . . . Altos Computer Systems, San lose, CA, has developed two multiuser systems. The 2086 is a $19,900 20-user system based on Intel's 80286 processor using the XENIX operating system; it cannot run PC-DOS programs. The 3068, a 30-user system using Motorola's 68020 32-bit processor, is available only to other manufacturers. ... At the Consumer Electronics Show, Melodian planned to unwrap a music system for the Commodore Amiga computer that it claimed will give the Amiga the capabilities of a $75,000 music synthesizer. . . . Tomy's new $500 Omnibot 2000 robot can be interfaced to an Apple II or Commodore and has two moving arms as well as the features of its predecessor, Omnibot .... Also at CES, Commodore announced a $600 10-megabyte hard-disk drive for its 64 ... . Fujitsu announced at NCC an 8086-based multiuser computer that uses both the Pick and the MS-DOS operating systems. . . . Han- nes Keller, Zurich, Switzerland, has developed WitchPen, a programmable word processor with spelling checker; WitchPad, a drawing program using standard IBM character graphics; Witchcraft, a BASIC database-management program generator; and HK, a text-oriented pro- gramming language. The programs, currently available in Switzerland, are slated for U.S. release next month .... Printer manufacturer Axiom Corp., San Fernando, CA, said that its newest daisy-wheel printers will use a "wedge-back" daisy-wheel technology. A wedge shape on the back of each letter on the print wheel is struck by an indented hammer, which reportedly improves print accuracy and speed .... STM introduced an IBM PC AT- compatible computer. Configured like IBM's basic AT but with 640K bytes standard, the STM AT will cost $3495 .... Faraday has reduced its IBM-compatible single-board com- puter to fit onto a single 5-inch IBM PC-style expansion card. While Faraday sells the cards primarily to OEMs, it will sell single Micro PC cards for $695 .... AST, Quadram, Ashton- Tate, and Borland have announced their support of a superset of the Intel/Lotus expanded memory specification. 10 BYTE- AUGUST 1985 worn ^J insTwuffltnr5 If you buy aTI 855 printer now, you won't have to upgrade to one later. Don't tack just any printer on your new PC for now, thinking that you'll get what you really need later. Start with the best, a TI 855 or TI 865 printer. That way you can put the money you'd have spent on a need- less upgrade on some other smart investment. You see, our OMNI 800™ Model 855 is actually three printers in one. For word processing, it deliv- ers letter-quality printing that rivals the best daisy wheel printers around. For data processing, it prints at 150 characters per second. And for your graphics, it reproduces screen or OMN! 800 is a trademark of Texas Instruments, Incorporated. monitor images in the finest detail. Of course, these advantages are all true of our TI 865 wide-carriage printer, too. What's more, since our printers are among the easiest to use, you can utilize all the capabilities built into your PC and software right from the start. Instead of sometime later. You even have a choice of over 30 different plug-in type fonts, any three of which can be printed on the same page without ever stopping the printer! Just touch the control panel and it happens. Simple. So every document looks just the way you want it to. Professional. 28227 ©1985 TI As for reliability, TI printers are legendary. Just ask any major airline. So don't downgrade your PC's performance with a printer you'll outgrow in a month. Get yourself a TI 855 or TI 865 printer now. It's easy. Just call 1-800-527-3500, ext. 801, for the TI Dealer near you. Texas ^^ Instruments Creating useful products and services for you. AUGUST 1985 'BYTE 11 If you believe these simple facts about hard disks, you'd be willing to pay more for ours .... fortunately, you won't have to J\ voiding hard disk failures and loss of data is just xjL one of the reasons to buy our hard disks. Hard disks can fail — there's really no other nice way to say it. Even IBM has problems deliver- ing ATs with hard disks that work. We're not talking about nice, clean, clear-cut failures where the drive seizes up, coughs, and rolls over and dies. We're talking about the insidious little creeping failures that sneak up over time — like a missing sec- tor here or a lost sub-directory there. There are precautions you can take to protect against failure and ultimate loss of data. Here is what we contribute toward mini- mizing the potential loss of your data. Best Drives Available First, we buy the best drives available. Sounds trite, doesn't it? I mean, a drive's a drive — right? Hardly. You should see some of the junk we get in our labs. Some have such high fail- ure rates that we even ques- tioned our own $10,000 hard disk tester. But when we tested other manufacturers' drives we were assured that our equipment was fine, which just confirmed that the bad hard disks were not only bad — they were real bad. But that's just the weeding out process. We then take each drive that we've put through our tester and test it again with the control- ler you've requested. We call this a "tested pair." DOS Doesn't Do It In case you're thinking that all this is an unnecessary duplica- tion of what DOS does for you, let me explain the disk facts of life. If DOS did what you may think it is supposed to do when you format the disk, DOS would map around these bad areas. Unfortunately, DOS doesn't do this. DOS 2.0 and 2.1 can't enter the bad tracks. DOS 3.0 can, but only on the IBM AT. Unfortu- nately, as the press has so well doeumentated, the AT's hard disk develops bad tracks later We do what DOS can't We believe the problem is so bad, we use a software program that performs a powerful test of your disk drive on all of the IBM or IBM compatible computers — PCs, XTs, and ATs. Our format takes hours to analyze the disk. But when we finish, you know that the bad tracks are really mapped out so you won't write good data that will disappear into a black hole. We even send you a printed statement of our test results. Our software allows you to type in the bad track locations from the list supplied by the manufacturers, so you'll never write good data to them — even if DOS didn't identify them as bad. The software even lets you save the location of these bad sections to a file, so that you can reformat your disk without spending hours retesting. We even include a program that will give you continuous comments on the status of your hard disk. No more waiting for that catastrophic failure. Average Access Time As you might suspect, some hard disks are faster than others in their ability to move from one track of data to another. The time it takes the hard disk to move one-half way between the beginning of the disk to the end is called the "average access time." The first generation of 10 meg- abyte hard disks had average ac- cess times of 80-85 milliseconds (msec). But computer users love speed, and guess what — the av- erage access time for the new 20 megabyte hard disk in the IBM AT is only 40 msec. (We sell an AT equivalent with only 30 msec access time!) There are some legitimate rea- sons for the shorter access time. It's particularly helpful when there are multiple users on the same hard disk. It's also impor- tant when running a compiler. But remember, before you get too wrapped up in the access speed, there's always that ST 506 interface which won't let data transfer from the hard disk to the computer any faster than 5 me- gabits/second. We've bypassed that choke hole, too. If you want the functional equivalent of a Ferrari with a turbocharger, or- der our 10 Mbit per second 108 megabyte hard disk with 18 msec of average access speed. Compatibility To be sure that your hard disk is 100 percent compatible with the IBM XT you don't need to buy the same hard disk that's in the XT. You can't even be sure what brand hard disk it is because IBM, like Express Systems, goes into the marketplace and buys hard disks from several vendors. However, they buy their XT hard disk controller from only one vendor — the same one we do. You can buy the IBM XT con- troller from IBM for $495 or you can buy from us, the functional equivalent, manufactured by the same company that makes it for IBM for only $195. Is it the ex- actly identical IBM XT control- ler? No, it's better. First, it takes less power, and secondly, it can control from 5 to 32 mega- bytes — the IBM controller can work with only 10 megabytes. It is 100 percent IBM XT compati- ble, and 100 percent is 100 per- cent. If you want to save a slot, we carry a version that lets you operate two hard disks and two floppy disk drives. More than 32 Megabytes You can operate with more than 32 megabytes (the limit of DOS) through the use of "device driv- ers." Express Systems can supply you with device drivers for our hard disks for over 32 megabytes formatted. But, if you don't have individual files, or databases that are large, you might want to con- sider one of our controllers that can divide our 65 megabyate (formatted) hard disk into two equal volumes of 32 megabytes each. Reliability We offer you a choice between iron oxide and plated media — the stuff that covers the hard disk and gives it its magnetic properties. Iron oxide is, — well, it's rust. If you inadvertently joust your disk, you may cause the low flying head to dig out some iron oxide. A little rust flake can ruin your whole day. Plated media is more resistant to damage, and if it happens, less data is lost. We offer both types of hard disks. The iron oxide is older 12 BYTE ■ AUGUST 1985 technology, and quite frankly, manufacturers understand it bet- ter. Their better understanding, combined with some of the spe- cial head locking mechanisms, gives us peace of mind when we sell you one. Hard disks consume power. Our small, half-high hard disks con- sume so little power that you can use them with your existing IBM PC power supply. If you plan to use lots of slots, you'll want to increase your power supply to be safe. We offer the same amount of power for your PC that comes in the XT. Some folks just never feel com- fortable buying mail order. They forget that Sears began as a mail order house or that IBM is now into mail order. But, if it helps, here is a partial list of customers who have felt comfortable to buy from us. IBM Sears American Express Honeywell U.S. Army MIT AT&T (Bell Labs) RCA Bausch & Lomb Lockheed Xerox Sperry Easy to Install If you're like most of us, raised on the boob tube rather than the Great Books, you'd rather see the movie than read the book. Well, now you can choose to read our installation manual or for only $9.95 more, you can get a VHS or Beta video cassette showing the simple steps for in- stallation. Our VHS or Beta Cassettes make installation easy. Warranty We offer you a one year war- ranty on our hard disks — the same as IBM on the AT and 90 days on the tape drives. (It's all the manufacturer gives us.) If Complete Hard Disk Kits Formatted Storage Capacity Plated Average Transfer PC or PC/XT AT in Mbytes Height Media Access Rate 10 Vz yes 85 msec 5 Mbits/s $ 625 $ 430 10 Full yes 85 msec 5 Mbits/s $ 625 $ 430 21 Vz yes 85 msec 5 Mbits/s $ 825 $ 630 21 Full no 30 msec 5 Mbits/s $ 1,535 $ 1,340 32 Vz ves 85 msec 5 Mbits/s $ 1,095 $ 895 32 Full no 30 msec 5 Mbits/s $ 1,775 $ 1,575 65 Full no 30 msec 5 Mbits/s $ 2,295 $ 2,070 108 Full yes 18 msec 10 Mbits/s $ 4,995 $ 4,995 Removable Hard Disk 10 Vz no 90 msec 5 Mbits/s $ 1,095 N/A Tape Systems and Subsystems Formatted Data Storage Transfer PC or PC/XT AT Capacity Height Rate (k/sec) 60 Mybytes Vz 88 $ 995 $ 995 60 Mbytes Subsystem 88 $ 1,295 $ 1,295 17.6 Mbytes Start/stc >p Subsys tem 24 $ 795 $ 795 Controllers All of our hard disk and tape controllers are available separately: Please call for prices. Subsystem Chassis Any of our disk or tape units are available in an external subsystem for an additional $250.00. You can mix & match any of our Vz high hard disks or tape drives together or add any single full height hard disk. Tape Cartridges $ 35.00 Express Certified 555 foot 310 Hci '/4-inch Data Cartridge Power Supply $ 99.50* 130 Watt Power supply "with the purchase of any drive anything goes wrong with your tape or disk drive or hard disk, send it back in the box it came in. However, we have found that we can usually solve the problem over the phone. So call first for a return authorization number be- cause we can't accept any returns without it. Comes complete All Express Systems products come complete with the appro- priate software, tape and/or hard disk controllers, and cables where required. Hard disks are formatted and tested with the PC DOS of your choice. All drive sizes are formatted capacities. If your application requires a stacking kit, power splitter ca- bles, daisy chain cable, or some other variation, we'll supply these items at a nominal charge. We even ship our hard disks with Command Assist™ an on- line DOS-like manual to give you help with your DOS commands. More questions? Because we spend so much at- tention on the front end with en- suring that our disks will arrive in working order, we have a cus- tomer service department that, unlike many of our competitors, has little to do. When you need us, you won't get a constant busy signal. Call our friendly, knowledga- ble customer service staff to get answers to your questions—be- fore or after the sale. Our peo- ple, who know the PC, can talk you through the sticky parts, and they'll respond to you quickly. Just call us. How to order Pick up the telephone and call 1- 800-341-7549, to order. We ac- cept Master Card, VISA, Amer- ican Express and Diners Club. Or send a cashier's check or (9 money order (We'll take a check, but you'll have to wait for it to clear) and tell us if you want one of our recommended config- urations or you want to mix and match yourself. Corporations with a DUNS number may send purchase orders for quantities over five. Call Toll Free 1-800-341-7549 Ext. 500 In Illinois call (312) 882-7733 Ext. 500 Express Systems, Inc., 1254 Remington, Schaumburg, IL 60195 ,-v>iWfeMMttL. Inquiry 116 Command Assist is a trademark of Micro Design International IBM* is a registered trademark of the International Business Machines Corporation. Express Systems, and Express Certified 555 are trademarks of Express Systems, Inc. LETTERS Quality, Mot Just Quantity In arguing that "the Macintosh is in har- mony with the broad lines of evolution in human communication" toward the visual, Jim Hoekema's letter on page 22 of the May BYTE ("The Macintosh Debate Goes On") offers as evidence that, as of 1981, there were 1,055,000 artists in the US, whereas a seventeenth-century burgher in Amsterdam probably saw some three or four hundred pictures in a lifetime. The particular example he chose is inter- esting. The pictures seen by our visually impoverished Amsterdamer probably included a few by fellow citizen Rem- brandt van Rijn (1606-1669). Poor old Rem- brandt, forced to muddle along with the primitive technology of the paint brush. But will even a single painting of his, taken all by itself, ever fail to stand up against all the visual images ever produced with "creativity" enhancers like the mouse, MacPaint, or whatever? The answer need not be based on abstract aesthetic prin- ciples. Putting it more mundanely, how likely is it that any art produced on a com- puter in 1985 will have the staying power to grace a cigar box three and a half cen- turies from now? In deciding how visually oriented we are, how we see should be as important as how much we see. When it comes to shaping the way we look at the world, no graph- ics program— not even if it bears a name like Rembrandt— will make as lasting a con- tribution as a graphic artist of the same name. William Lockeretz Brookline, MA Mac Memory Don Slaughter should spend less time writing to BYTE and more time reading it! First he griped about a lack of RAM-disk software for his 512K Mac ("Take Back Your Mac," February, page 22). Daniel Smith responded that not only is such software already available, but that it costs much less than Slaughter was willing to pay ("A RAM Disk for the Mac," May, page 24)! Now Slaughter is complaining that he needs a 1 -megabyte Mac, and that he won't be able to get a reasonably priced one (under $3 500) until next year (May, page 26). Wrong again! The April BYTE has a "What's New" item on the MegaMac on page 441. The company is MicroGraphic Images. Its telephone number is (818) 368-3482. It offers a complete Macintosh with 1 megabyte of memory for $3495. If you choose to upgrade a 128K Mac, the total cost could be less than $3000. Dennis Griesser Long Beach, CA Don't Blame the Computer Phil Lemmons's lanuary editorial ("Auto- nomous Weapons and Human Responsi- bility," page 6) was very amusing. Being a high school student 1 can easily picture what would happen if some of the stu- dents at Jonesville High were scheduled for lunch at 9 in the morning or at 3:10 in the afternoon. I'm sure the school mentioned in your editorial had things straightened out within a few days, and people were finding out how beneficial the computer would really be to them. As soon as everybody got over the lunch-period screw-up, they would realize how much easier things were going. People in today's society are scared of what they think they can't control. If they have to come in contact with a computer, perhaps an automatic bank teller, they're scared to death they will "punch the wrong button" and totally wipe out their life savings. People need to be told of the benefits of computers rather than some- thing to the effect that all computers are good for is screwing up your phone bill or sending junk mail. Humans are respon- sible for these mistakes and bothers. Magazines like BYTE do a fine job of clear- ing this up, but if people don't want to believe humans are responsible for these mistakes and not the computer, no number of articles, reports, or editorials will convince them; the only way I can see for them to realize this is to have to use a computer and understand what makes it work. Explain why the computer printed out a phone bill for $6539.97. Again there is the problem of people not wanting to come in contact with the computer, even to learn about it. In come the schools. Our school has increased the number of com- puters by 300 percent in the past year alone, with more on the way. Already students have taken an interest. Granted, not all of them, but enough to justify the purchase of the machines. The ones who scoff at the computers in the classrooms are simply destined to get a phone bill for $6539.97 and hear the person at the phone company tell them "the computer has made a mistake." If children can learn the basics of computer programming and hardware, then maybe when our genera- tion is older we can use the computer even more efficiently than we do now to simplify our lives and produce programs for school offices that tell the computer not to schedule lunch at 9:00 a.m. Michael A. Russell lonesville, VA Sanyo Satisfaction 1 read Robert M. Keith's letter ("Sanyo Sup- port," March, page 304) advising against buying a Sanyo just as I was about to order a Sanyo package by telephone from Computer Creations in Dayton, Ohio. The letter made me think twice, but I went ahead anyway. To my consternation the computer unit, which came as packaged at the factory, refused to format any disk, and I was stymied. But when I called Mr. lack Kaiser of Computer Creations and told him of my problem, he had the com- puter picked up from my house, sent to Ohio, and returned in good time all fixed, all at the company's expense. Although I had had no previous hands- on experience with a computer, I was able to write a letter the first day with Easy- Writer, and in the first two weeks have {continued) LETTERS POLICY: To be considered for publica- tion, a letter must be typed double-spaced on one side of the paper and must include your name and address. Comments and ideas should be expressed as dearly and concisely as possible. Listings and tables may be printed along with a letter ij they are short and legible. Because BYTE receives hundreds of letters each month, not all of them can be published, letters will not be returned to authors. Generally, it takes four months from the time BYTE receives a letter until it is published. 14 B YTE • AUGUST 1985 THE ACCENT" IS ON EXMNDED MEMOR VWTHM Now, Maynard gives you 2MB of ^°X^ly Expanded Memory njrth Arcent. ( OH»» ^ ,or your personal oom|Uter Acoera ^ ^ sees ^ss^s&ssssss, at your fingertips, saving time and «nw g SagSSBiSBase- SSSS2S— — — — — Maynard Electronics Shaping tomorrow's technology. 430 E. SEMORAN BLVD., CASSELBERRY FL 32707 305/331 -6402 Inquiry 1 95 Why you should ignore 95% of the news Because NewsNet automatically finds the 5% you need. From our database of authori- tative, up-to-date business news, you get just the stories you want, delivered instantly to your microcomputer:"You choose your own, unique keywords, and NewsNet saves — -just for you — every new article containing those words. Or, you can find that critical 5 % on your own, #C with NewsNet's powerful kcywi >rd search- •sP^ ing and text scanning. Just what's in NewsNet's database? The full text of over 300 valuable business newsletters. In- depth news, written by experts, filled with analysis and interpretation. News from 3 i dif- ferent industries and professions — everything from Computers to Investments, from Manage- ment to Telecommunications. Plus extras such as wire services, online stock quotes, air fares, and business credit reports. Computer Neil's: Your Specialty is our Specialty. I [ere are just a few of the 25 Electronics and Computers newsletters on NewsNet: Mini Micro Hulk-lin Personal Computers Today Robotronics Age Newsletter Semiconductor Industry & Business Survey The Seybold Report on Professional Computing Stanley Klein Newsletter on Computer Graphics ONLINE BUSINESS NEWS Call Today! We'll send all you need to subscribe. (800) 345-1301 (in PA 215-527-8030) )4cw*Ncl Inc 9« llavcrliml Road. Ill mi Mawr, PA 19010 Inquiry 230 LETTERS established a spreadsheet and succeeded in drawing a few curves from data. Most of the instructions are clear, especially when read the second time, although I confess I had to spend an hour in the library to come up to the starting level in BASIC. 1 have no regrets about having taken a chance with a telephone order for a Sanyo. H. G. MacPherson Oak Ridge. TN An Apple Dealer Replies The letters in your April issue regarding Apple service and Apple manuals ("Apple II Blues." page 23, and "Where Are Apple's Manuals When You Need Them?" page 32) really hit me where I live: you see, 1 am an Apple dealer. As such. 1 find the treatment given to Mr. Lamar. Mr. Hine. and Mr. Raines unforgivable. Any product sold, no matter who makes it. is only as good as the dealer who sells it. The dealers in question certainly did a very poor job of serving their customers, to the point of not even knowing anything about the software being sold with the system in Mr. Hine's case. The 1200-bps problem was made known to all Apple dealers, as was the no-charge board-replacement policy for those cus- tomers experiencing difficulty. Any dealer who read his service bulletins would have been aware of this. Even if he could not read, a quick telephone call to any of the Apple regional offices would have con- firmed this. The pinouts of the Apple lie serial port were available for the asking from a variety of sources, all of which were readily ac- cessible to any dealer who made even minimal effort to find out. Some of these sources include Apple's own Technical Notes (issued in July of 1984). the Epson distributor for the area, the sheet included with the Apple lie serial cable, and several of the commercial interface-cable makers. Even when I could not purchase commer- cial cables I was making my own in the store to sell to my customers. Apple also issued technical information for the sec- ond disk port on the lie that allowed us to modify our existing Apple lie drives for use on the Apple lie before we got steady delivery on regular lie drives. Ah yes. manuals. Years ago. Apple did supply most manuals with the systems purchased. Starting with the introduction of the lie. technical manuals became op- tional, with only an owner's manual being included with the computer. In general, I agree with this policy because, as the type [continued] w*p Jfc ^v ^*** UNIX fs a trademark of AT&T Bell Laboralorics. LascrLink and The Skcduler are trademarks of Unisourcc Software Corp. VENDC/86 is a trademark and an implementation of VemurCom, Inc. UNIFY is a trademark of Unify Corporation. The Connector is a trademark of Unlforum Software Systems, Inc. -\ ■£ FREE v^yOPUS DISKETTE HEAD CLEANER With Purchase of OPCIS "Onfloppable" Floppies OPGS has a money saving offer to get you to try our floppies, the most reliable on the market today. Purchase 20 OPGS 5-1/4" diskettes and you can receive a Free UNIVERSAL HEAD CLEANER ($9.95 value), for use on single or dual-side drives. Purchase OPGS diskettes at your local computer store, send two box tops, a dated sales receipt, and coupon and we will send your Free Head Cleaner. Or - order by mail and receive Head Cleaner with your shipment Or - Call, Toll Free: 1-800-692-6905, Dept. "Mr to charge on your VISA or MasterCard. Now you have a money saving reason to try OPGS diskettes. You will have "NO BAD MEMORIES!" !l ! ^ s ms:i r ^ SEND TO: OPGS Computer Products '85 HEAD CLEANER OFFER DeptBYT 585, 150 Chicago Street Cary, IL 60013 Name Address City '"I .State. .Zip. . Boxes of OPGS 5-1/4" Diskettes: Phone ( ) □ Proof of Purchase Enclosed OR SHIP ME_ CHECK ONE: □ $19.95 Single-Side 10-pack □ $29.95 Dual-Side 10-pack Add $1.50 for shipping & handling (Illinois residents add 6% sales tax.) TOTAL ENCLOSED: $ (Check or Money Order Only) Charge to my: □ VISA □ MasterCard Account Number: Expiration Date: L Signature:. '] n\i\ \r\\\::> -uinusi m \TYPE MYFILE.TXT >COM1: Of course, the Morocco Principle saves time and money only if unidirectional transfer is sufficient. If not, communica- tions software is needed at both ends. Paul-Andre Desiardins Rabat. Morocco 8-bit ASCII Draft Standard During 1984, three draft 8-bit character- set standards were developed for the Latin languages of western Europe and the western hemisphere with identical 8-bit code tables. The ANSI draft is called 8-bit ASCII; the ECMA approved standard (ECMA-94) and the ISO draft standard (ISO DIS 8859/1) are called Latin Alphabet Nr 1. This standard code table is the first 8-bit one intended to facilitate processing by computers (the old 1968 and 1977 ASCII standards are 7-bit standards). Each of the 189 printing characters, including space, are one byte. All accented letters are includ- ed as single bytes to facilitate processing by software. Eleven U.S. word-processing characters are also included. Because there is sufficient room in the 8-bit code table for the characters most commonly used in these countries, there are no national or user options in the code table, unlike the old 7-bit ISO 646 stan- dard. Happily for the U.S., the left-hand side is 7-bit ASCII, so the 8-bit standard is upward-compatible with the 7-bit ASCII standard. Software-application writers and ter- minal vendors should make plans for sup- port of this standard. They should avoid using the eighth bit in ASCII data for other purposes, such as processing flags, pari- ty, etc. Rather than inventing their own character sets, users should study this new standard to see if it will suffice. Table I is the ANSI/ECMA/ISO 8-bit code table. The ANSI draft is out for public comment until July 14, 1985. Copies of (continued) 24 BYTE- AUGUST Inquiry 180 rUslC Accounting $ 49. 95 Dac Easy Gives You Seven Full Feature Accounting Modules In A Single Integrated Package. Accounting software doesn't have to be expensive to be the best. Dac Easy gives you a fully integrated accounting system with instant access to General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Inventory, Purchase Order, Billing and Forecasting. Imagine, you can generate over 300 reports from 80 different routines... all in a non copy-protected package. And, with Dac Easy you'll get a hand- some slipcase binder with easy-to-follow documentation. Best of all, Dac Easy Accounting can be used to manage either service or product oriented businesses. Find out for yourself why Dac Easy is the fastest selling accounting package on the market. Compare Dac Easy's features against other packages costing thousands more. Then, order your Dac Easy Accounting by calling our toll free number or returning the coupon below. General Information •Menu driven • Password protection • File capacity limited only by disk space •Support contract available General Ledger •Unlimited # of accounts with multi-level accounting, unlimited departments •3 Year account history for CRT inquiry • Pencil & pen feature to correct mistakes without reverse entries • Unique budgeting routine (see Forecasting) •CRT transaction inquiry, unlimited journals •Activity report, trial balance, financial statements, etc. Accounts Receivable • Open invoice or balance forward • 7 Customized columns lor aging report • Unl imited # of customers •Mailing labels and directories with 4 different sorts •Automatic finance charges • Supports partial payments •3 Year customer history for # of invoices, sales, costs, and profits •Customized text on statements •Cash flow analysis •Sales analysis • Automatic sales forecasting by customer, salesperson or customer type Accounts Payable • Check printing and up to 10 invoices paid per check •Automatic allocation of available cash to payables •Vendor directories with sorting by vendor code, name, or territory •Aging reports with 7 customized columns •Unlimited # of vendors • Mailing labels with 4 different sorts • 3 Year vendor history for CRT inquiry and printing Flexible payment calendar •Automatic forecasting of purchases •Unlimited allocations per invoice Inventory •Supports average, last purchase, and standard costing methods • Powerful physical inventory routines •Accepts any unit of measure like frac- tions/dozens/gross/hours / minutes, etc. • Automatic changing of costing methods •Time and product inventory •3 Year product history in units, dollars, cost, and profits •Automatic forecast of product sales •Automatic pricing assignments ■ Alert and activity reports with 1 1 sorts • CRT shows on-hand-'on -order/ committcd/sales/cost / profit/ turns/GROl Purchase Order • Usable for inventory and non-inventory jtems • Allows up to 99 lines per purchase order • Per line discount in % •Purchase Order accepts generic discounts/freight/taxes/insurance • Purchase Order accepts back orders & returns • Purchase journal • Automatic interfacing with General Ledger, Payables, and Inventory Billing • Invoicing on plain or pre-printed forms ■ Prints sales journal •Automatic updating of committed products in inventory •Ability to customize invoice for remarks •Allows return credit memo • interfaces with Inventory, Accounts Receivable and General Ledger Forecasting Unique program that automatically forecasts using your 3 year history • Forecast revenue and expense accounts • Forecast vendor purchases • Forecast customer sales, cost, and profit by customer or salesperson •Forecast inventory item usage by 4 automatic methods • Forecast by same as last year, or % base from last year, or trend, or least square trend line analysis method Minimum Hardware Requirements: IBM (PCjr, PC, XT or AT) 1 or other compatibles. 128K memory, one 5 l /i DSDD floppy disk, 132 column printer in compressed mode, 80X24 CRT, MS-DOS 2 , PC DOS' 2.0 or later. 1 Trademarks of International Business Machines. l Trademark of Microsoft Corporation. EByB/Accounting To Order Call Toll Free 1-800-431-0800 ASK FOR OPERATOR 18 For More Info Call: (214) 458-0038 c§ dac software, inc. 5580 Peterson, Suite 130 Dallas, TX 75240 Take advantage of our special introductory offer by ordering Dac Easy Accounting before July 31, 1985. Simply send in this coupon with your credit card number, money order or check for $49.95 plus $7.50 for postage and handling. In Texas, add 6'/s% sales tax ($3.06). Outside U.S., add $17.50 for postage and handling. No C.O.D. •After July 31, 1985, send $69.95 plus $7.50 for postage and handling (in Texas, add $4.28 sales tax). . Ml INKY ORDER Account No. Name _ MASTERCARD -Expires City — Phone _ .Zip. . Signature . 18 j 30-Day Money Back Guarantee: dac software, incorporated provides a 30-day i money back guarantee that all claims and features listed in this ad are true. inquiry 89 AUGUST 1985 iYTE 25 LETTERS Tbble 1: 8-bit ASCII Level 1. Note: Columns 0-7, 8-9, and 10-15 are specified in dprAHS X3.4-198x, ANSI X3. 64-1979, and dpAUS X3. 1 34.2-1 98x, respectively: they are shown for information only. Blank code positions [double asterisks) are reserved for future standardization. Readers are advised against directly implementing this chart. b B 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 b 7 1 1 l 1 1 1 1 l b 6 1 1 l 1 1 1 1 i b 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i bi b 3 o? b] 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 00 NUL DLE SP © P P ** DCS NBSP A D 5 1 01 SOH DC1 ! 1 A Q q ** PU1 i + A N i I 1 02 STX 0C2 " 2 B R b r * * PU2 t 2 s 8 > 1 1 03 ETX DC3 # 3 C S c « ** STS I 3 A 6 5 6 1 04 EOT DC4 $ 4 D T d 1 IND CCH tr ' A' 6 Q 3 1 1 05 ENQ NAK % 5 E U u NEL MW V h a a 1 1 06 ACK SYN a 6 F V f v SSA SPA ! ir £ '0' EB 1 1 1 07 BEL ETB 1 7 G w g w ESA EPA % c m P 'mz 1 OS BS CAN ( 8 H X h X HTS ** " E i e i 1 1 09 HT EM ) 9 I Y i y HTJ ** © i E b e " 1 1 10 LF SUB * J z I z VTS ** « 2 E u » » 1 1 1 11 VT ESC + K c k { PLD CS1 « * E u a = 1 1 12 FF FS < L \ i 1 PLU ST - 1/4 I u l il 1 1 1 13 CR GS - - M : m } RI OSC SHY 1/2 1 Y 1 y 1 1 1 U LSI RS > N - n - SS2 PM C5) 3/A I P 1 > 1 1 1 1 15 LSO US / ? - DEL SS3 APC ~ d I 1 Y 1> * GR C ) (C ) BSR X3.134.1 (8-bit ASCII Structure and Rules)andBSRX3.I34.2 (8-bit ASCII Sup- plemental Multilingual Graphic Character Set) are available for $1 5 each, along with a self-addressed mailing label, from X3 Secretariat/CBEMA, 311 First St. NW, Washington. DC 20001. Thomas N. Hastings Maynard. MA Don't Sell Software, Sell Ad Space I was recently talking to a few friends about software piracy. As a result of this discussion, I began to see a possible method to realize profits from this par- ticular situation. First off, computer piracy occurs because software is copyable and almost any protection scheme is break- able. The second reason is that many peo- ple are not willing to buy a piece of soft- ware but, through various rationalizations, justify themselves in obtaining copies of it. Finally, some software is actually over- priced and of low quality, so the customer (continued) r<> may not feel that in buying a piece of soft- ware he is getting his money's worth. This is our problem. If we assume that software piracy will always exist, that friends will pass along software to friends, then how can money be made in the software market where piracy steals away profits? Most software can be either considered entertainment or tools. For the purposes of my proposition, I'm only going to con- sider entertainment software (games). A certain game has a rather specific au- dience: The user has a specific machine (possibly specific hardware) and can reasonably be assumed to be of a certain age and socioeconomic class— a very specific market of users. Here is the pro- posal: Since a piece of software can be assumed to attract these users of a specific group, there is a natural group- ing to which advertising could be aimed. 1 am suggesting that instead of selling the entertainment to the user, sell the ex- posure of the program to advertisers and distribute the programs freely. What I am saying is, model the enter- tainment software distribution after other forms of entertainment, i.e., television. Television does not sell the entertainment its viewers (except examples like movie zhannels). it sells a captive audience to the advertisers and thus turns a profit. I relieve that the same principle could be ipplied to game software, though in a lore discreet manner. So develop the )rogram, make it basically self-explana- >ry. and sell advertising within the pro- gram. Also, since software is notoriously hard to modify, the ads would easily be carried throughout the entire distribution of the game. Methods of implementing this would be to include things like bill- boards on some game screens, maybe a full-screen ad that appears when the game is paused, ads at the beginning and end of a game, and other visible but nonintru- sive advertising. In this manner, the game would still retain all of its lure and glitter, but other elements conveying the adver- tising message would be included. So, 1 am suggesting that there is a way to make a profit and utilize a problem that is currently plaguing the software industry. Edward Dean Tate, |r. Seaford, VA Why the Restrictions? I would like to ask the software manufac- turers why unprotected software has more severe restrictions put on its use than does copy-protected software. A typical copy- protected software license says something {continued) 30 BYTE- AUGUST 1985 Inquiry 23 I 50^ We make it simple. An Interface disk or tape subsystem is simple to install an simple to use tor IBM PC, XT, AT, and most PC-compatibles For the PC and compatibles we give you: • External DiskSystems ,fc from 10 to 119MB. -Internal with 10 to 55MB. 10MB removable cartridge Winchester. 10MBTapeSystem: c ' - DualStor c with 10, 22, or 33MB of DmisiwwMi fixed storage plus mmummmtm irjMBtapeor 10MB remov- "' able Winchester. ■1 For the PC-XT, we give you: • Internal 10 to 55MB. • DoubleBarrel 1Ci is an internal